Between Desert and City: The Coptic Orthodox Church Today - Paperback

by Nelly Van Doorn-Harder (Editor), Kari Vogt (Editor)

The Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt represents the largest Christian community in the Middle East today, but few works have appeared that discuss the situation of the contemporary Church. The Coptic Church has preserved ancient Christian traditions in a unique way. Not only has it survived centuries of living in a predominantly Muslim environment, but it has also managed to renew itself continuously during its long history. This book covers, for the first time, the most important aspects of the contemporary Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt and in the diaspora, bringing together new knowledge which would otherwise remain largely inaccessible except to a small number of specialists.

Author Biography

Nelly van Doorn-Harder teaches Islamic Studies at Duta Wacana University in Yogyakart, Indonesia. Dr. van Doorn-Harder is the author of Contemporary Coptic Nuns (1995) and has written several papers on the contemporary Coptic Church.

Kari Vogt is Associate Professor in the Department of Cultural Studies at the University of Oslo, Norway. She has written widely on Christian and Islamic issues, and is one of the two authors of Women's Studies of the Christian and Islamic Traditions (1993).