Melchite John's charities could not effect. It issued in a union between the Syrian and the Coptic Churches, both of which were of the Monophysite creed.
The deplorable surprise of the reign of Heraclius appeared only too soon. The man who had the genius to save the empire had not the common sense to govern it. Heraclius was one of the greatest generals the world has ever seen; he proved to be one of the most incompetent, blundering rulers who ever mismanaged a great empire. We do not expect a soldier to be a theologian, and Heraclius maybe forgiven for leaving the subtleties of Christology to his professional adviser, Sergius, the patriarch of Constantinople. But he cannot be excused for the inconsiderate way in which he forced what he intended to be an olive branch on to the people whom he desired to reconcile with orthodoxy. He did not even consult Benjamin, the patriarch of the national Church of Egypt at the time. Cyrus, his nominee for the Melchite patriarchate of Alexandria (in the year 630), was the very worst man to select as a conciliator. Cyrus took his appointment as an excuse for forcing his alien Melchite authority on the national Church of Egypt. His cruel policy was anticipated from the first. Benjamin the Coptic patriarch fled into hiding directly Cyrus landed (a.d. 631). He knew what this mission meant. The Coptic monks were now worse off than the British monks of Bangor, when Augustine, less than thirty years before this very time, had approached with orders to compel them to submit to Rome. They fled in all directions. So did many of the clergy of the national Church. All were seized with terror. And their fears were justified. Those who resisted Cyrus were severely dealt with—imprisoned, tortured, killed. Many, however, submitted, even among the bishops. There are few more pitiable passages in the history of the Church than this. Here we have a brief interlude between one non-Christian invasion and another—between the pagan Persian and the Mohammedan Arab invasion. During this short interval a Christian power is ruling in Egypt.
