The behavior of the least reverent is not a good measure for the rest of us. Shouldn't we look up to the best examples, instead of looking down on the worst as though we're better than them?
[quote author=Father Peter link=topic=11144.msg135399#msg135399 date=1302126095]
What I would dispute is that those who advocate Coptic as THE language of worship are truly multilingual since they are not native speakers of Coptic and their relation…
I really like your last post, Father Peter. Especially the part about there being room for both languages. ;)
And George, I agree with you about the unique window onto the spirituality of the Coptic Orthodox Church that can be gained from learning…
[quote author=Remnkemi link=topic=11113.msg135376#msg135376 date=1302096885]
Fr Peter, Jeremy,
You're both wrong. In New England, it's pronounced Wustah.[/quote]
Haha. Of course. Now I feel silly for making such an obvious mistake. Boston English …
[quote author=ophadece link=topic=11113.msg135368#msg135368 date=1302087080]
My understanding is yes dzheremi, though I think they still communicate in Arabic with people outside their own families.
oujai
[/quote]
I see. I did a little searching a…
[quote author=Remnkemi link=topic=11113.msg135330#msg135330 date=1302040855]
Let me also answer Dzheremi's question also. He asked "Isn't a "variation localized within a geography" the same as "variations within a specific geographical region"?" Wh…
It is always difficult to know exactly how to handle situations like this, where there is a social disparity between you and the person who can curb or intensify the problem. Since you are a young person still in high school, I would not recommend d…
Of course it counts, though. I didn't mean to imply it didn't count. Once we started going after Aidiid the locals turned against the Americans and the international forces (there were some Pakistanis who got killed too, if I remember correctly), so…
And let's not all forget that time when the Soviets beat the Americans to space. Come on..."we" don't even win all the time in space...a place where nobody else even is...!
Yeah, that's a really big part of the reason why I don't like these things: The skills needed to perform the liturgy without them atrophy and go away when we are overly reliant on technology.
[quote author=Remnkemi link=topic=11113.msg135281#msg135281 date=1302023354]
I'd like to get a little more specific. All languages have variations, as you said. What you are describing is a macro situation within a country. But each variation is loc…
[quote author=TITL link=topic=11163.msg135260#msg135260 date=1302010287]
dzheremi,
That link went waaaay over my head. I read it 6 times and I still don't understand. What does fish have to do with anything? So confused!
[/quote]
It is a joke. I …
I hope you're right, TITL. It seems that many technologies that supposedly make us smarter or at least make it easier to feel smarter (primarily the internet these days) have some very negative effects on our lives. Certain strengths of past generat…
[quote author=billious link=topic=11198.msg135247#msg135247 date=1301988204]
Technology has made us lazy!
[/quote]
This is basically it. Projectors and all that stuff might be great for a business meeting or a university lecture, but I don't think …
Fair enough. As usual, I'm not entirely sure that we are disagreeing as much as looking at things from different vantage points. And this makes sense, right? You are a British priest, worshiping in an indigenous British Orthodox Church. The closest …
Father Peter,
It occurs to me upon reading your latest post that I have been grievously misunderstood. I blame myself, of course, and I am sorry for not being clear enough, but just so we're clear now on what I've been trying to communicate: I am n…
I agree with the contention that the Orthodoxy of the Church is not dependent in any way on the language used in its rites and liturgies, but disagree that it would retain its Coptic character absent the use of the Coptic language in at least some d…
[quote author=Κηφᾶς link=topic=11144.msg135157#msg135157 date=1301896323]
+ Irini nem ehmot,
*sigh* When will people fight for Orthodoxy the way they do for a now dead language.
[/quote]
Do they not do this? ???
I am not trying to be flippant, b…
I don't know, Remnkemi...I do not think English is necessarily a very good template from which to draw distinctions for other languages which are so different from it (English having its own sound shifts that may or may not have analogues in other l…
Thank you, Remnkemi. It is the same in other churches, from what I have been told and experienced. Some people are deciding for others what will or will not attract or keep converts (or youth, the other group who are often evoked as a reason for aba…
While not perfectly related to both your questions, I think the prayer and talk given at the funeral of the martyrs of Alexandria presents us the best way to look death, whether by martyrdom or any other way. We do not simply die and that is it, as …
Thank you for clarifying, Fr. Peter. I understand now, and agree. In the same way that I have a visceral reaction against the use of phones and projectors in the church, I ought to have a reaction against laughing and making light of things in the c…
I don't think the problem is if people laugh or enjoy themselves, I think the problem might be if people remember the sermon because it made them laugh and enjoyed, rather than made them seriously reflect on the scriptures and the traditions of the …
Dear Father Peter, in reply to post #30:
You shouldn't, and you aren't. Don't misunderstand me, please. I'm not saying "Don't worship in English", I'm saying "don't jettison church tradition for the purpose of attracting converts." Perhaps it hasn'…
I'm a potential convert, and I want all the Coptic I can get. I want more Coptic than the Copts have. Who are all these converts out there who want into the church but only on their terms? Yes, the liturgy is already prayed in English (or Spanish, o…
I could not find "class" in the searchable version of Crum's dictionary available here, and Crum's dictionary is pretty much the standard reference work in the field. I also checked the more contemporary but much less exhaustive "Concise Coptic Dict…
Thank you everyone for your prayers and encouragement. Please do not stop now, because this situation requires even more. I've just returned from the podiatrist, where x-rays were taken...there was talk of crutches or a wheelchair...I don't know wha…
I'm glad you've found your way here. Be sure to check out some of the liturgies and hymns in the Media section. Some are quite rough, but provide a good idea of what you would hear in a Coptic church.