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Tyreseian Coptic Church

The Most Holy Coptic Church of the Nazarenes
Classification	Non-Nicaean
Orientation	Miaphysitism
Polity	Presbyterian
Leaders	Presbyter Princeps Zephyrinus Victor I Rector Princeps Paul XXIII
Founder	Saint Paul (traditional) Saint Alban of Vigueria (traditional) Saint Euphrosynos of Adrianople
Origin	1st century Tyreseia
Members	18 million (official records)

The Tyreseian Coptic Church or Nazarene Copts, officially the Most Holy Coptic Church of the Nazarenes or simply Coptic Nazarism is a Sarpetic religion, operating as a distant offshoot of the Alban church. The faith is named after the now-abandoned Hellenic settlement of Kóptos; this town is taught by Church tradition to be its birthplace following the arrival of Saint Euphrosynos of Adrianople. Working from a Gnostic interpretation of the Two Treasures, Euphrosynos preached a wholly dualistic vision of Yeshua and of the Godhead that quickly took root in the communities of modern-day Tyreseia and other fringes of the Alban world. Diverging from St. Alban's vision of a purely monastic polity, Euphrosynos created a largely presbyterian structure that survives nearly unchanged to this day.

Still a largely Gnostic faith, the Coptic Church adopted elements of esoterism and mysticism over the centuries as part of a central belief that active pursuit of knowledge, especially through invention and exploration of the cosmos, brings the faithful closer to the Unbegotten and hastens the onset of the End Times. Despite this, Coptic monastic orders and societies exist, though they are not as numerous or as prominent as they were in their heyday.

At present, the vast majority of Copts live in Tyreseia, though smaller communities exist across the Periclean basin and elsewhere.

Principal Beliefs

The Coptic church believes in a proto-heavenly realm known as the Pleroma, ruled over by a supreme being known variously as the Monad, Godhead, God, or YHWH. The Pleroma, or fullness, serves as the realm of the Monad, as well as of various lesser spiritual entities known as Aeons and Archons. In the beginning, the Monad created these Archons, including Sophia and the Demiurge. In breaking with Alban teachings, Coptic traditions maintain these two as lovers or perhaps even spouses, though modern teachings leave this issue deliberately vague. Regardless, it is taught that the Demiurge and Sophia jointly created all of the physical Creation, with the Demiurge, sometimes ignorant of the Monad and sometimes in defiance of him, creating all that is evil and decadent in the world. Sophia, meanwhile, created all that could be spiritual in the world, creating paths to salvation through all that can be considered good. She had to hide these ideas and concepts behind esoteric rites and knowledge, however, due to her lesser power compared to the Demiurge and out of fear of his power. Some of these truths were left to humanity through the ages in the process described in the Old Testament, but this eventually proved insufficient to save the souls of the trapped from the Demiurge's corruption.

Later, as humanity continued its fall into wickedness, Sophia and the Monad are said to have conspired against the Demiurge and sent the Aeon known as Yeshua-Amitai to Earth to spread new doctrines of salvation to the people. It is through St. Alban's and St. Euphrosynos' interpretations of these teachings that the modern Coptic church defines itself and its teachings. The Coptic Church teaches that recognizing the Monad as the true source of divine power in all things is the first step toward salvation. From this, it is all humans' duty to pursue gnosis, or knowledge of the divine and its workings. This can either be done through study in certain worldly scientific fields, such as astronomy, geology and cosmology, or through the ritual consumption and exploration of various mystical and esoteric rites and texts.

History

Founding stuff

By the time of the 6th century, the Coptic Church had solidified its position in a post-Latin Periclean region, with the Presbyter Princeps establishing a primary see in the city of Tyria while the Rector Princeps established administrative headquarters in the city of Gadir. With the collapse of the hostile, Fabrian Catholic-leaning Latin Empire, the Coptic Church was suddenly free to grow and expand. The 8th century saw the establishment of over a hundred monasteries across modern-day Tyreseia, with many growing to own farm estates and other manorial land holdings. These sprawling religious complexes, rendered self-sufficient by their land deeds and isolated from secular society (and, as it often happened, from each other), quickly began pursuing inventions and advancements in both the mystical and physical realm. This subsequent 500-year boon to science and technology came to be known as the Monastic Golden Age, or more broadly the Coptic Golden Age. This period saw the first major additions to the scientific literature since the end of the Classical Era, as well as the development of the first form of the modern scientific method in 894 CE by the scholar-monk Georgius Mossos. Other key advancements include:

• The spherical astrolabe, essential for medieval timekeeping, astronomy, navigation, etc,

• The first use of a mastectomy to remove a breast tumor,

• The origin of the social sciences like sociology, historiography, and economics,

• The sulfur-mercury theory of metals, a key theory of alchemy,

• Mass developments of mathematical theories such as algebra, trigonometry, and geometry,

and many other advancements in the fields of law, philosophy, epistemology, astronomy, physics, geography, biology, healthcare, agriculture, and engineering.

Arts and literature also prospered under this Golden Age, with techniques and styles in fields from architecture to painting developing beyond Latin traditions into new, native schools. The 10th century saw both the work on both the sciences and the arts branch out from the regular clergy into the secular world. In 1095 CE, one of the world's first universities, Collegium Bibliothecae Tyriensis, was established in Tyria through funding by the local Merchant's Guild. The halls of the Collegium were quickly filled by scholars, polymaths, and lecturers from numerous fields and nations, and its shelves were filled with modern and ancient works covering every subject from biology to philosophy. Students from far-flung locations, too, were known to visit the Collegium to study under the masters of their field: records exist of students traveling to study astronomy under polymath Phameas the Boetharch from places as far away as modern-day Ghant and Uluujol, likely using fellow Collegium scholar Gisco il-Pisari's recent invention of the spherical astrolabe to reach him.

For many of the scholars of the Golden Age, this pursuit of knowledge was inextricably intertwined with the pursuit of Coptic gnosis, and as the Golden Age progressed, the monasteries that had started the age began to turn away from secular pursuits entirely, turning to more esoteric and mystical matters at some time following the Tyrian Collegium's establishment. The end of widespread monastic patronage taxed the momentum of secular scientific progress, and many scholars identify this event as the start of the decline of the Golden Age. Despite this declaration, however, it is known that the monastic orders were still producing esoteric and mystic works at a rapid pace, and disseminating them to the secular clergy and other orders. During this latter period of the age, from the 12th to the 14th century, numerous fleeting and fragmentary schools of Coptic thought formed from the competing abbeys.

Organization

The Coptic Church lacks the ascetism, monastic emphasis, and disdain for ritual practice of the Alban church. The network of churches serve as networks to spread divine and esoteric knowledge to the initiated faithful, as well as centers to encourage worshippers to pursue gnosis in the correct directions to connect with the Monad through Sophia's works. Monastic orders, though not central to the Coptic Church, still serve important functions.

In keeping with its dualistic cosmology, the Coptic Church maintains a dualistic logistical structure through two co-equal executive heads: the Rector Princeps and Presbyter Princeps. Each administers a different portion of the Church, with the

Controversy

Most modern controversies surrounding the Coptic Church come from the Rector Princeps' control of the outward flow of finances. For instance, in 2004, numerous protests were lodged with the National University of Tyreseia following a ₰2.5 million endowment from the Church towards the Department of Religious Studies. Critics denounced this move as an attempt to introduce bias into the Department's curricula, while the Coptic Church defended its actions in a bull, stating the Rector Princeps was "merely trying to foster debate and discussion, as well as ensuring the presence of the Most Holy Church in debates on Tyreseian religion." Following this, the Tyreseian Supreme Workers' Council severely restricted the rules on religious organizations donating towards secular educational facilities.

In November 2009, a similar scheme to finance the Astronomy department of the Tsabratan University of Science using a shell corporation was uncovered by the Tyreseian newspaper Res Publica. Following an investigation by the Tyreseian Republican Guard, a total of ₰4 million was siezed from the University and the shell company, leading to 40 arrests and the resignation of the then-Rector Princeps, Euphrosynos XI. Such a resignation was unprecedented, as no leader of the Coptic Church had ever left office beyond death or involuntary exile up to that point. The motive for such a brazen violation of the educational donation laws remains unknown to this day, but is frequently theorized to relate back to the Coptic Church's doctrine on pursuing knowledge for the faithful at all costs.

Media coverage of the Tsabratan University of Science payment scandal generated a counter-controversy, especially due to ill-informed international reporting. The most publicized incident

Bactria

Kingdom of Bactria Βάχλο (Bactrian)
Flag Vergina Sun
Capital	Eucratideia
Religion	Manichaeism
Demonym(s)	Bactrian
Government	Unitary constitutional monarchy under a de facto military dictatorship
• King	Antimachus IV Soter
• President of His Majesty's Most Holy Council of Rule	General Diodotos Basileios
Legislature	Boule (unicameral)
Establishment
• Arrival of the Hellenes	200s BCE
Currency	Bactrian drachma (BCD)
Time zone	UTC+7? (Western Ochran Time)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy (CE)
Driving side	right
Internet TLD	.bc