The 21 Coptic Martyrs

Perhaps you remember the 2015 news stories about the Coptic martyrs. Recently, I finished reading The 21: A Journey into the Land of Coptic Martyrs by Martin Mosebach. This book details the author's journey to learn more about the martyred men. He desired to find out what their background story was that made them willing to be martyrs. In doing so, he learned about the men but more specifically learned about the Coptic Christians of Egypt.

Many readers are familiar with Protestant Christians, Catholic Christians, perhaps Orthodox Christians, but many haven't heard of Coptic Christians. Due to this gap in knowledge, Mosebach spends a great deal of time explaining the history and background of Coptic Christianity. This includes not only their beliefs and history, but also how their geographic location influences their spirituality and interaction with the Bible. As such, this book serves as part theological history, part travelogue, and part memoir to the martyred men. What stands out while reading the book is while growing up in their small Egyptian villages, they were no different than any other person in their village. Their bedrock was the church and they lived out their Coptic faith daily. While these men are now considered saints in the Coptic church, their allegiance to Christ is also lived out in their families and villages as a matter of course. This is a great resource to expand your view of world Christianity and highly recommended.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received The 21: A Journey into the Land of Coptic Martyrs from Plough via NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.