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Alexandria was a cosmopolitan city, established by [[Alexander the Great]], whose successors established the Ptolemaic dynasty, and ruled Egypt until they were conquered by the Romans.
Towards the end of the [[2nd century]] Christianity spread rapidly among the native Egyptian population, and the scriptures and liturgical texts were translated into several vernacular languages. This expansion led to an increase in the number of bishops, and the [[bishop]] of Alexandria, as the senior bishop, began to be referred to by the title "[[Pope]]" (before the bishops of [[Rome]] began using that title). With the establishment of the [[Alexandrian School|Alexandrian Catechetical School]], Alexandria became an important an important intellectual centre for Christianity as well.
Persecutions in the 3rd century gave rise to the [[monasticism|monastic]] movement, as people fled from the cities into the desert, and when the persecutions abated, some remained in the desert to pray. St [[Anthony the Great|Antony]] and St [[Pachomius the Great|Pachomius]] organised and regularised the monastic life, and it spread from Egypt to other parts of the Christian world.
In the 4th century Africa became the scene of [[theology|theological]] controversies that shaped the history of Christianity. The teaching of [[Arius]] was rejected by St [[Athanasius the Great|Athanasius]], and the [[First Ecumenical Council]] was called to deal with it in AD 325, at Nicaea, though it was originally a local African doctrinal dispute. The result was the [[Nicene Creed]], which was eventually expanded to become the '''Symbol of Faith''' ratified by the [[Fourth Ecumenical council]] at Chalcedon in 451.
Following the [[Fourth Ecumenical Council|Council of Chalcedon]], however, the Church in Egypt was divided: some supported the teaching of the council, others did not. Each group tried to control the Church, and get their candidates as Pope and Patriarch. Eventually in the [[6th century]], the split became a schism, and since then there have been [[Chalcedonian]] ("Melkite" or "Greek") and [[Oriental Orthodox|non-Chalcedonian]] (Coptic) popes and patriarchs.
One of the consequences of the [[schism|split]] was divided missions being sent to Nubia, where the Northern and Southern kingdoms were evangelised by non-Chalcedonian missionaries sponsored by the Empress St [[Theodora, wife of Justinian|Theodora]], and the central kingdom was evangelised by a Chalcedonian mission sponsored by the Emperor St [[Justinian I]]. The rivalry between the missions meant that they also used Greek and Coptic as liturgical languages, and did not follow the principle of translating into the vernacular. The result was that the Nubian Church eventually disappeared in about the 15th century, and the people (in what is today Sudan) became Muslims. The [[Ethiopian Church]] was more successful, but it was aligned to the Coptic group, and remained so aligned after the schism.
