Parallel or Divergent Paths: The Impact of Religious Revival on Coptic Christian Education in the Orthodox Church of Alexandria in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

Abstract

The current study examines how Coptic religious revival shaped religious education. It uses historical method to gather and analyze both primary and secondary sources. Key results include the rise of the Sunday School Movement and the reform of theological education. The study also finds that religious education became integrated into formal school environments. Coptic Christian education underwent a change by adopting a parallel approach to revival. This was guided by a strong doctrinal fidelity, which preserved a unique Coptic identity and resisted foreign proselytization. At the same time, the Church developed divergent paths by strategically adapting Western educational models. Finally, internal revival dynamics also led to different divergent spiritual and pedagogical emphases (Shubrā and Giza) resulting in a heterogeneous landscape of religious education.