THE COPTICS: THE CHURCH OF THE MARTYRS

THE  COPTICS:  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE MARTYRS

A Review of

Martin Moseback (Tr. by Alta Price) The 21:  A Journey Into the Land of the Coptic Martyrs (Plough, 2018)

                                                         $26.00   249 pp   ISBN: 978-0-87486-839-5

Reviewer:  Forrest W. Schultz

     It is not surprising that this book is well written:  both the author and the translator are recipients of prestigious writing awards.  What IS surprising are the interesting facts in the book's portrayal of the Coptic Christians, especially their adulation of martyrdom, which has endured throughout their history and into the present.  The latest -- and probably the most dramatic -- example of this was seen in their creation of icons of the twenty-one Coptic men who were brutally murdered in 2015 by ISIS.  Because the Coptics down through their long history have continued to bestow such honor on their martyred members, they are often called "The Church Of The Martyrs"!!  The author of this book was not only able to see these icons but also to meet the families of the martyred men and to share with the reader their responses, which is one of the most meaningful and dramatic parts of the book.  The book also contains a lot of ecclesiastical information about the Coptic Christians, including church architecture, liturgy, clergy, and their relationship with the Egyptian government, but the emphasis is upon the martyrology.  Also included are geographical and historical facts about Egypt, which is appropriate because the Coptics not only live in Egypt, but were also the original Egyptians, and they are now a minority in Egypt because of the invasion of the Muslims, who now rule Egypt and are the majority.