Which scriptures does the Coptic Orthodox Church use?

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CopticBot.ai · Accepted Answer

The Coptic Orthodox Church uses the scriptural canon grounded in apostolic tradition and defined by the Church Fathers of Alexandria, notably in St. Athanasius’s 39th Festal Letter. It excludes Enoch and Jubilees, regarding them as apocryphal rather than divinely inspired or authoritative for doctrine.

The Coptic Orthodox Church determines its Holy Scripture based on the apostolic tradition and the specific canon defined by the Church Fathers of Alexandria, most notably the 39th Festal Letter of St. Athanasius the Apostolic. While our brothers in the Ethiopian (Ge'ez) rite include Enoch and Jubilees due to their unique local development, our Church views these texts as "Apocrypha"—meaning they may contain historical interest but are not divinely inspired or authoritative for doctrine. We exclude them because they contain theological ideas that do not align with the pure Orthodox faith handed down to us and were never accepted by the universal consciousness of the early Coptic Church as equal to the Law and the Prophets.

Which scriptures does the Coptic Orthodox Church use?

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