Christian Evangelists in Ancient Egypt : Outstanding Saints of Coptic Christianity

The Copt is an ancient Christianity in Egypt and is often reported to be opposed to the Islam in recent years. The population of Coptic Christians is currently about 10% of the total population in Egypt. While they are small in population, it is reported that Coptic Christianity has survived since the era of the "Acts of the Apostles" described in the New Testament "Copt" comes from the Greek word "Egyptian" and throughout history "Copts" has designated "Christians in Egypt" who were persecuted by the Arabs in the 7th century. The Copts accept the historical facts such as "the Holy Family Journey in Egypt" based on the script of the "Bible /Matthew" (the New Testament), "Mark the Evangelist," and the "Mission and Martyrdom at Alexandria." Western scholars, however, doubt the legend in Venice where the body of St. Mark, who was supposed to be in Alexandria, was found and laid to rest. Among the saints in Copt, Saint Anthony and Saint Paul are particularly adored. St. Anthony is called the "Father of the Monastery" and is highly evaluated by Western scholars, and the oldest monastery in Egypt owed its name to him. Another notable saint, St. Paul, is called "The Paul of Thebes" and like St. Anthony, he is known as a Christian hermit who lived in the dessert for ascetic practices. Even now Egyptians consider their hermit-type life as saint model to follow, such as when they spent time in a monastery placed in the remote desert. Unfortunately, most of the monasteries have been in ruins. However, monasticism featuring Coptic Christianity embraces cultural and religious tradition running from the ancient era, and there are conspicuous differences between Coptic monasteries and Western monasteries. At present, Coptic Christians are the minority group in Egypt, but in the mid-4th century when Egypt was province of ancient Rome Christianity was the established religion, and christians had great power as majority group. It is worthy of note that there was a history of religious persecution; the Jews and believers of ancient gods and goddess were persecuted by the Copts. Above all, the destruction of the Alexandria Serapeum in 391 AD and the murder of a Greek female Neoplatonist named Hypatia in 415 AD have been recorded as symbolic events in the history of Egypt. However, historical events such as the intrusion of the Persians into the Roman Empire, occupation by the Persian army in 619 AD, and conquering of Egypt by the Arabs from 641 AD to 868 AD made Egypt to be a country for the Muslims , and as a result, the Copts returned to be a group of the minority. The religious issues among the groups, the Egyptian Copts and the Muslims, are as complex as political issues, but religious reconciliation is the impending matter that has to be solved.