Who Are The Coptic Orthodox?

In my previous post, I talked about a disagreement I had with a Coptic Orthodox fellow. The topic may seem a bit out of context if you don't know who they are and how they relate to the rest of Christendom. So I will talk a little bit about that here. 

The Coptic people are essentially Egyptian people. It's like an ethnicity, from what I gather. Historically, they are associated with the Orthodox Church(es), though, the exact nature of this relationship is what distinguishes them. You might be tempted to think that because they call themselves Coptic Orthodox, that they are Orthodox in the same way someone might be Greek Orthodox or Russian Orthodox. But many other Orthodox people will insist that the Coptic Orthodox aren't really Orthodox, and or even properly Christian. This is because they deny one of the ecumenical councils, the Council of Chalcedon. 

One of the defining pillars or standards of Orthodoxy are the ecumenical councils, that is, the councils that everyone basically agrees are true. So, for example, we believe in the deity of Christ as defined by the council of Nicea. If you reject Nicea, you are not a Christian. This is something even most Protestants would agree with. There are several councils of this nature, one of the is the council of Chalcedon. And because the Coptics reject this ecumenical council, they cannot be considered to be Christian any more than someone who rejects Nicea, like the Jehovah's Witnesses, can be considered a Christian. 

So what did Chalcedon teach? It taught that Christ has two natures, the divine nature and the human nature. Both are necessary for our salvation for it is the way Christ's sacrifice properly atones for us, and connects us to God. He has to be God for the sacrifice to be sufficient, and he has to be man for mankind to be redeemed. The Coptics deny this and say he has only one nature, or they are monophysite. Sometimes, they call themselves miaphysite, but this move doesn't work for a few reasons I may discuss in another post. But if Christ has one nature, it is either God, Man, or neither, but not both, but both is necessary.