Christine CHAILLOT
( n. 19.. )

This book is an introduction to the life and spirituality of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt, including its liturgical and monastic traditions. A summary is given of its history, Church organization, missionary activity and diaspora, with a history of the Sunday schools and Youth movement. The reader will also find here a short presentation of Coptic language, literature and studies, including the literature of the Copts written in Arabic.
The Oriental Orthodox Churches include the Copts, the Armenians, the Syrian Orthodox of Antioch, the Malankara Orthodox in India and the Christians of the Ethiopian tradition, present also in Eritrea.

This book was written to give a brief introduction to the life and spirituality of the African Church born in the kingdom of Axum in the 4th century, in the land south-west of the Red Sea, which is known today as Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Oriental Orthodox Christians of these two countries have the same faith, the same liturgical practices and monastic asceticism, and a common literary production in the ancient Ge'ez language. A summary will be given of their history, the Church administration, the history of the Sunday Schools, missionary activity and the diaspora, and traditional and modern theological teaching. At different levels this Church Tradition is unique and provides a very good example of successful inculturation. The Oriental Orthodox Family also includes the Copts, the Armenians, the Syrian Orthodox of Antioch and the Malankara Orthodox in India.

Towards Unity provides a selection of important statements and materials about the historic theological dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. The intention of the book is to demonstrate the affirmation "that both families [of Orthodox Churches] have always loyally maintained the same authentic Orthodox Christological faith and the unbroken continuity of the apostolic tradition" (Second Agreed Statement, Chambesy 1990).
The publication includes the results of the non-official and official theological dialogues, and an introduction to the historical, liturgical, iconographic and contemporary missionary life of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. It also contains selected liturgical and other texts which express the Christological faith of the Oriental Orthodox Churches.
It is aimed at all those interested in this dialogue, and primarily at members of the Orthodox Church who desire to learn more about their Oriental Orthodox sisters and brothers, in order to explain the steps towards the restoration of full communion between the two families of Churches. It provides the general reader and specialist alike with the essential documents and information for understanding this unprecedented development in the history of Christian Unity.

The history of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch is an important testimony to Apostolic Christianity, not only around Antioch, but also in northern Mesopotamia, in Edessa, Nisibis and the surroundings. The ancestral language is Syriac, close to Aramaic spoken by Jesus Christ himself. On a modern map the cradle of the Syrian Orthodox is situated between the South East of Turkey, Northern Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. Nowadays the community is present in the Middle East, but Syrian Orthodox faithful are also found in great number in Kerala, (India), and around the world. Syrian Orthodox patrimony is rich not only in literature, but its spirituality is also to be discovered in its liturgical and monastic tradition. The Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East is part of the Oriental Orthodox family, together with the Copts, Armenians, Ethiopians, and the autocephalous Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in India.