The development of auricular confession6 in the Coptic tradition is a magnificent topic that has not yet received the attention it deserves from orientalists, liturgists, and theologians. Many scholars have studied the development of the âSacrament of Penance and Reconciliationââas titled in the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church7âas well as the doctrine of âbinding and loosingâ within the Roman and Byzantine traditions, yet very few have focused on the Oriental traditions, whether Armenian, Ethiopian, Syriac, or Coptic. Although the Coptic Orthodox Church was separated from Rome and Constantinople at the Council of Chalcedon in the fifth century (ADâ¯451) and was further detached by the Islamic invasion in the seventh century (ADâ¯641), we surprisingly find that her contemporary theology of the âSacrament of Repentance and Confessionââas it is generally called among the modern Coptsâis very close to that of the Byzantine and Latin Churches. However, she apparently took a different path, as we will discover, in developing her liturgical theology and reaching a conformity of praxis on such a debatable topic.
In the west, the practice of auricular confession was passed on from Celtic monasticism to the laity through penitential manuals, in which there was a âtariffâ by which the âmagnitude of sinsâ could be measured out and penance given. By the eighth century, this form of âprivateâ confession with its accompanying penitential rules had spread throughout the whole of Western Europe. However, the âsacramentâ was not codified within the canons of the Catholic Church except in the 13th century with the enforcement of Canon 21 of the Fourth Lateran Council (ADâ¯1215), which requires all adult Christians to confess at least once a year, to perform the penance designated to them, and to receive the Eucharist at least once a year, at Easter.8 The Copts, on the other hand, made such a move in penitential practice much later than the West. Like in the early church, post-baptismal forgiveness was not restricted to auricular confession to an ordained priest. The Coptic Orthodox Church continued to embrace the broadness of the patristic tradition, which maintains that remission of sins can be obtained through different means, such as love, almsgiving, forgiveness of offences, acts of contrition, confession of sins and receiving communion. Only major offences necessitate the involvement of the church and the administration of the bishop since they separate the sinner from the liturgical community. The first patriarch to require auricular confession as mandatory for salvation was Cyril ibn Laqlaq, the seventy-fifth patriarch of Alexandria (â â¯1243), who is the author of the treatise under study.
The implementation of auricular confession among the Copts as the only means to obtain post-baptismal forgiveness was not without difficulties. It faced fierce opposition from the ecclesial hierarchy in medieval times as they considered it something foreign to their sacred tradition. The first known attempt to introduce auricular confession as obligatory for salvation in the Coptic Orthodox Church was by the priest, Marqus ibn Qunbar (â â¯1208). When confronted and opposed by the Coptic bishops of his time, Marqus was subsequently condemned and excommunicated. He eventually joined the Melkite Church. Branded as a heretic, Marqusâ exegetical and theological works did not circulate widely within Coptic circles. Nonetheless, several works have survived the centuries as anonymous or pseudonymous texts. Within decades, Cyril ibn Laqlaq, the seventy-fifth patriarch of the Coptic church (ADâ¯1235â1243), made a second attempt to introduce auricular confession. Despite his failure to promote and legalize confession during his lifetime, the widespread distribution of his treatise, Book of Confession (or The Master and the Disciple in 22 Chapters (MD22)), had a significant impact on the practiceâs adoption.9 While few scholars have tackled the failed attempt of Marqus, no one has studied the second attempt by Cyril, which will be examined for the first time in this book.10
The present work begins with a thorough introduction to Cyrilâs life and work. Cyril ruled during a difficult time in church history, after the patriarchal seat was vacant for nineteen years, in which the Coptic community suffered not only from external challenges but also from internal divisions. Chapter One examines the ministry and the literary corpus of Cyril. The Book of Confession is well attested in the manuscript tradition with an inventory that exceeds eighty manuscripts. The vast inventory of manuscripts attests to its popularity among diverse Christian denominations throughout the Middle East. Chapter Two classifies different redactions, examines the primary resources used by the author, and demonstrates the main topics addressed in each chapter. After the introduction, the critical edition of the Book of Confession follows, accompanied by an annotated translation which is provided in parallel pages. Appendix 1 provides a glossary of terms, while Appendix 2 offers an inventory of the Biblical verses commented on in the Book of Confession.
Auricular confessionâi.e., confession âto the earââis the confession of post-baptismal sins to the priest who is authorized to forgive them in Godâs name.
An enormous amount of historical research on the sacrament of confession from the Western perspective has taken place in the late modern period, from the anti-Catholic work of Lea in 1896 (A History of Auricular Confesion and Indulgences in the Latin Church) to the recent work edited by Abigail Firey (2008) (A New History of Penance); among the prominent scholars who wrote on the history of penance: Jungmann (1932), Gy (1958), Poschmann (1964), Vogel (1966), Berrouard (1974), Adnes (1984), Dallen (1986), Favazza (1988), Fitzgerald (1988). The most recent studies of penance have a greater respect for historical context.
âAll the faithful of both sexes shall, after they have reached the age of discretion, faithfully confess all their sins at least once a year to their own (parish) priest and perform to the best of their ability the penance imposed, receiving reverently at least at Easter the sacrament of the Eucharist, unless perchance at the advice of their own priest they may for a good reason abstain for a time from its reception; otherwise they shall be cut off from the Church (excommunicated) during life and deprived of Christian burial in death.â H.J. Schroeder, Disciplinary Decrees of the General Councils: Text, Translation and Commentary (St. Louis: B. Herder, 1937), 259, 260.
Throughout this book, âMD22â is used to denote the Book of Confession (or the Master and the Disciple in 22 Chapters).
Georg Graf, Ein Reformversuch innerhalb der koptischen Kirche im zwolften Jatrhundert, Collectanea Hierosolymitana 2 (Paderborn: Ferdinand, Schöningh, 1923).