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Church History, Part 9

Servants Preparation Curriculum

Lecture 56, Servants Preparation Curriculum

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Church History, Part 9 – Catholic Persecution and Orthodox Teachers

Objectives:

To study The Popes of the 6^th century
To learn about The Catholic Persecution of the Coptic Church
To acknowledge some famous Orthodox Teachers – St. Severus and Jacob Baradaeus
To understand the impact of the Persian invasion in The East and The Story of The Cross

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A Review of The 5^th Century

Pope Leo The 1^st of Rome decreed his tome

Leo’s Tome, that His Humanity and Divinity coexisted together, without Unity, at The Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD

The Church of Rome and Constantinople were at the top and The Alexandrian Church is at the bottom

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Pope Leo The 1^st

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Schism/Division in The Church

The Western Church (Capital - Rome) follows The Chalcedonian laws and is known as The Catholic Church

The Eastern Church (Capital - Constantinople) follows The Chalcedonian laws

The Non-Caledonian Church (Oriental - Orthodoxy) does not follow The Chalcedonian laws

Egypt, Syria, Ethiopia, Eritrean, and Armenia

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Schism/Division in The Coptic Church

Now, Egypt has two different popes: one for The Coptic non-Chalcedonian Church and one for The Chalcedonian Church

A wave of persecution was led by The Chalcedonian Church and was supported by the Roman Emperors who swept Egypt and attacked monasteries, priests, and average citizens forcing them to agree on Leo’s tome and the decrees of The Chalcedonian Council

Lecture 56, Servants Preparation Curriculum

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Church History, Part 9 – Catholic Persecution and Orthodox Teachers

Objectives:

To study The Popes of the 6^th century
To learn about The Catholic Persecution of the Coptic Church
To acknowledge some famous Orthodox Teachers – St. Severus and Jacob Baradaeus
To understand the impact of the Persian invasion in The East and The Story of The Cross

Lecture 56, Servants Preparation Curriculum

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Popes of The 6^th Century

John the 1^st (9/496- 5/505)
John the 2^nd(5/505 - 6/516)
Dioscorus 2^nd(6/516 - 10/518)
Timothy the 3^rd (11/518 - 2/536)
Theodosius the 1^st (2/536 - 7/567)
Peter the 5^th (7/567 - 7/569)
Damian (7/569 - 6/605)

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Peaceful Times (496-518)

John the 1^st (9/496- 5/505)
John the 2^nd(5/505 - 6/516)
Dioscorus 2^nd(6/516 - 10/518)
Timothy the 3^rd (11/518 - 2/536)
Theodosius the 1^st (2/536 - 7/567)
Peter the 5^th (7/567 - 7/569)
Damian (7/569 - 6/605)

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Peaceful Time (496 AD - 518 AD)

The Coptic Church enjoyed a peaceful time free of dogmatic persecution because the Roman emperors supported the Orthodox Faith during papacy of popes:

John 1^st
John 2^nd
Dioscorus 2^nd

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Forms of Persecution

Confiscating the Coptic Churches and handing them over to the Catholic/Roman followers

Stealing the altar, utensils (for example: the chalice, the paten), icons, etc.

Chasing the priests and the believers

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Persecution From The Chalcedonian Emperors

Timothy the 3^rd was ousted for 3 years because he refused Pope Leo’s Tome and Rules

Pope Theodosius the 1^st was ousted for 28 years and replaced by a fake pope: his own archdeacon
He spent the last 28 years of his life imprisoned in Upper Egypt (South Egypt)

They took Our Churches and gave them to Chalcedonian (Catholic/Melkites/Royal) followers

Lecture 56, Servants Preparation Curriculum

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Church History, Part 9 – Catholic Persecution and Orthodox Teachers

Objectives:

To study The Popes of the 6^th century
To learn about The Catholic Persecution of the Coptic Church
To acknowledge some famous Orthodox Teachers – St. Severus and Jacob Baradaeus
To understand the impact of the Persian invasion in The East and The Story of The Cross

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St. Severus

Pope of Antioch/Syria
512 AD - 538 AD

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St. Severus Cont.

St. Severus was elected on November 16^th, 512 AD as the pope of Antioch/Syria
During the consecration ceremony, he affirmed The Councils of Nicaea, Constantinople, and Ephesus
He condemned The Chalcedon council as well as Pope Leo’s Tome, and Nestorius’ and Eutyches’ teachings
Emperor Justin demanded that St. Severus affirm The Council of Chalcedon, to which he refused
The emperor subsequently ordered Irenaeus - Count of The East - to arrest St. Severus and cut out off his tongue

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St. Severus Cont.

St. Severus fled Antioch by boat to Alexandria where he was well received by Pope Timothy the 3^rd , the 32^nd pope
He stayed at the Monastery of the Ennaton with Pope Timothy the 3^rd
He issued many books defending The Orthodox Faith
Later, he was requested to attend The Council at Constantinople where they accused him of Nestorianism and banned his books

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El Zogag Monastery

He fled Constantinople with the aid of Empress Theodora and returned to Egypt
He resided at the residence of Dorotheus in the city of Sakha (Kafr El Sheikh) until his death on February 5^th, 538 AD
Dorotheus had Severus' body moved to the Zogag (Glass) Monastery: located nine milestones southwest of Alexandria along the coastal road

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More (Catholic) Roman Persecution

Pope Peter the 4^th, the 34^th pope
He was ordained in secret and spent his time in the monastery
He never visited his people or ordained bishops/priests

The number of priests and deacons declined

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More (Catholic) Roman Persecution

Pope Damian the 1^st, the 35^th pope
He was Pope Peter’s disciple
He spent his time in the monastery (El Natroon region)
He never visited his people or ordained bishops/priests

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The Weakening Orthodox Faith

The Coptic Orthodox popes and the Antiochian popes were forced to exile
The Orthodox Churches were either closed or given away to The Catholic Congregations
Many Coptic citizens were murdered by the Roman guards who tried to arrest the pope
There is no pope available to ordain new bishops or priests

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A Glimpse of Hope

Jacob Baradaeus
He was born in Constantinople/Turkey and grew up in a monastery as his father wished
He was blessed by Queen Theodora, a non-Chalcedon emperor’s wife

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Jacob Baradaeus

He was ordained a general bishop by pope Theodosius for The Orthodox people all over the world

He went all over the world preaching The Orthodox Faith while The Orthodox pope and bishops were in exile

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Jacob Baradaeus Cont.

544 AD - 578 AD

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Jacob Baradaeus Cont.

He revived The Orthodox Faith in the world
He ordained around 100,000 clergy:

Deacons, priests, bishops and 2 popes

The Catholic Church chased him all over the world and he went in disguise in a beggar’s garb
He died close to Alexandria around 578 AD

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The Church and The State

The state persecuted the church since the beginning in different forms:

St. Mark was martyred
Pope Peter the 1^stwas martyred

Many Christians were murdered by mobs, Jews, and atheists

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Attempted Resistance

The Coptic revolution against Governor Morris was started by 3 brothers
It ended with their hanging and confiscation of their land
The Copts were outnumbered by the well-equipped Roman soldiers

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Church History, Part 9 – Catholic Persecution and Orthodox Teachers

Objectives:

To study The Popes of the 6^th century
To learn about The Catholic Persecution of the Coptic Church
To acknowledge some famous Orthodox Teachers – St. Severus and Jacob Baradaeus
To understand the impact of the Persian invasion in The East and The Story of The Cross

Lecture 56, Servants Preparation Curriculum

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The Persian invasion of Egypt�618 AD - 619 AD

The Persians/Iranians invaded Egypt and stole valuable treasures, robbed the churches, burned homes, and killed many Egyptians
On their way back they stole The Cross from Jerusalem
Emperor Heraclius (628 AD) waged a war to expel the Persians and restore The Cross

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Flavius Heraclius - Restored the Cross

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The Discovery of The Cross

The story goes back to Emperor Constantine who had a dream about the sign of The Cross and heard a sound telling him, “By this you will conquer”

He made The Sign of The Cross on all the military equipment and defeated his enemy
He announced Christianity as the empire’s main religion
Then, there was a period of peace over the world

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Emperor Constantine - 306 to 337 AD

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Emperor Constantine - 306 to 337 AD Cont.

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Queen Helen, Emperor Constantine’s Mother - 324 AD

Came with military troops to locate The Cross
The Jewish peoples dumped their trash at the location of The Cross for many years
An old Jewish man told her a location where she found 3 crosses; so, to be sure, she placed a dead person on each cross when The True Cross raised the dead person

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The Conclusion

Egypt is weak divided between many different religious groups
The Roman army in Egypt was weak and fragile
Egypt has no army to defend the country
No one sees the great danger coming from the desert…ISLAM

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The Muslim Arabs from Asia Invaded Egypt

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The Muslim Arabs from Asia Invaded Egypt Cont.

Lecture 56, Servants Preparation Curriculum

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Church History, Part 9 – Catholic Persecution and Orthodox Teachers

Objectives:

To study The Popes of the 6^th century
To learn about The Catholic Persecution of the Coptic Church
To acknowledge some famous Orthodox Teachers – St. Severus and Jacob Baradaeus
To understand the impact of the Persian invasion in The East and The Story of The Cross

Lecture 56, Servants Preparation Curriculum

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Memorization Verses

“Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand” (Matthew 12:25)

“Now brother will betray brother to death” (Mark 13:12)

“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him” (Romans 10:12)

“the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18)

Lecture 56, Servants Preparation Curriculum