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Copts are more confident about the connection between the Holy Family's journey and the founding of their church. "The church in Egypt is the only church in the world which has been prophesied in the Old Testament," says Father Philoxenos of the Monastery of al-Muharraq. He explains that the tradition of the flight to Egypt is rooted in the prophecy of Isaiah 19:1. This verse speaks about the idols of Egypt trembling before the Lord. "That was fulfilled when our Lord came to Egypt.

"Important too is verse 19: 'In that day, there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt.' This verse refers to the altar in the Monastery of al-Muharraq that lies in the middle of Egypt," Father Philoxenos says. "The flight of the Holy Family to Egypt was the beginning of the church in Egypt and made Isaiah say, 'Blessed be Egypt my people'" (Isa. 19:25, KJV).

Coptic church leaders make the story contemporary by encouraging individuals and families to receive Jesus into their homes and lives.

Pope Shenouda, writing in Watani, explained that the people of Egypt did not pray for the Holy Family's visit. They did not ask for his grace, yet this grace was offered to them. Pope Shenouda says as Egypt opened its heart to the Holy Family, so we should open our hearts to God. "What is the benefit if God comes for all Egypt, but does not come into your house?"

Cornelis Hulsman, based in Cairo, Egypt, is editor of Religion News Service of the Arab World and coauthor of Be Thou There: The Holy Family's Journey in Egypt
(AUC Press 2001).

Copyright © 2001 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

A ready-to-download Bible Study on this article is available at ChristianBibleStudies.com. These unique Bible studies use articles from current issues of Christianity Today to prompt thought-provoking discussions in adult Sunday school classes or small groups.

Cornelis Hulsman's Be Thou There: The Holy Family's Journey in Egypt is available at Amazon.com.

For more on the Holy Family's flight to Egypt and the early life of Jesus, see Arab.net's history of Eygpt, the Catholic Encyclopedia's Chronology of Jesus's Life, and Egypt Online's Holy Family in Egypt site.

Christianity Today's holiday pages have articles about the first Christmas and more.

Also, an excerpt from Michael Collins' The Story of Christmasdetails the first years of Jesus' life.

For more information about the Coptic church, see Coptic.net

Last year, the Detroit News covered local Coptic celebrations of the second millennium anniversary of Jesus' visit to Egypt.

In 1997, Cornelis Hulsman and Timothy C. Morgan reported on Egypt's Coptic church thriving in the face of bloody carnage, legal restraint, and discrimination.

For more Christianity Today coverage of Egypt, see our world report.

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December 3 2001, Vol. 45, No. 15