The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches.
The word Tewahedo (Ge'ez: ተዋሕዶ täwaḥədo) is a Geʽez word meaning "united as one" or "being made one" or "unified".
This refers to the Oriental Orthodox belief in Miaphysitism, which means one perfectly unified nature of Christ.
That is, a complete union of the divine and human natures into one nature is self-evident to accomplish the divine salvation of mankind, as opposed to the "two natures of Christ" belief commonly held by the Latin and Eastern Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, and most other Protestant churches.
The Oriental Orthodox Churches are known as "non-Chalcedonian", and, sometimes by outsiders as "monophysite" (meaning "One Single Nature", in allusion to Jesus Christ).
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Historical Roots and Development
John Chrysostom speaks of the "Ethiopians present in Jerusalem" as being able to understand the preaching of Saint Peter described in Acts 2:38.
Possible missions of some of the Apostles in the lands now called Ethiopia are also reported as early as the 4th century.
Socrates of Constantinople includes Ethiopia in his list as one of the regions preached by Matthew the Apostle.
A specific mention of "Ethiopia south of the Caspian Sea" can be confirmed in some traditions such as the Roman Catholic Church among others.
Ethiopian Church tradition tells that Bartholomew accompanied Matthew in a mission which lasted for at least three months.
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These missions are depicted in paintings by Francesco Trevisan (1650-1740) and Marco Benefial (1688-1764) in the Church of St.
Early Christianity became the established church of the Ethiopian Axumite Kingdom under king Ezana in the 4th century when priesthood and the sacraments were brought for the first time through a Syrian Greek named Frumentius, known by the local population in Ethiopia as "Selama, Kesaté Birhan" ("Father of Peace, Revealer of Light").
Union with the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria continued after the Arab conquest of Egypt.
Abu Saleh records in the 12th century that the patriarch sent letters twice a year to the kings of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and Nubia, until Al Hakim stopped the practice.
Cyril, 67th patriarch, sent Severus as bishop, with orders to put down polygamy and to enforce the observance of canonical consecration for all churches.
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During the Middle Ages, the Ethiopian Church also witnessed the rise of influential monastic movements that challenged established religious and political norms.
The period of Jesuit influence, which broke the connection with Egypt, began a new chapter in church history.
David Daniels has suggested that the Ethiopian Church has had a stronger impact on the Reformation than most scholars acknowledge.
According to Daniels, Martin Luther saw that the Ethiopian Orthodox Church practiced elements of faith including "communion under both kinds, vernacular Scriptures, and married clergy" and these practices became customary in the Lutheran churches.
In modern times, the Ethiopian Church has experienced a series of developments.
The 19th century witnessed the publication of an Amharic translation of the Bible, largely the work of Abu Rumi over ten years in Cairo.
Haile Selassie also played a prominent role in further reforms of the church, which included encouraging the distribution of Abu Rumi's translation throughout Ethiopia.
A third development came after Haile Selassie's restoration to Ethiopia, when he issued, on 30 November, Decree Number 2 of 1942, a new law reforming the church.
The Coptic and Ethiopian churches reached an agreement on 13 July 1948, that led to autocephaly for the Ethiopian Church.
This promotion was completed when Coptic Orthodox Pope Joseph II consecrated an Ethiopian-born Archbishop, Abuna Basilios, 14 January 1951.
With the fall of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church was disestablished as the state church.
The new Marxist government began nationalizing property (including land) owned by the church.
Formal relations between the two churches were halted, although they remained in communion with each other.
Following the fall of the Derg regime in 1991, and the coming to power of the EPRDF government, Merkorios abdicated under public pressure.
The church then elected a new Patriarch, Paulos, in 1992 who was recognized by the Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria.
The Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church was granted autocephaly from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church on 28 September 1993 following ratification by Coptic church Patriarch Shenouda III, but the two remain in full communion.
On 25 July 2018, delegates from the Patriarchate in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and those in the United States, declared reunification in Washington, D.C.
Back to the Ancient Faith | Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Song | Modern Spiritual Ballad- Ver 2
Faith and Practice
The faith and practice of Orthodox Ethiopian Christians include elements from Miaphysite Christianity as it has developed in Ethiopia over the centuries.
Christian beliefs include belief in God (in Geʽez / Amharic, ′Egziabeher, lit. "Lord of the Universe"), veneration of the Virgin Mary, the angels, and the saints, besides others.
According to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church itself, there are no non-Christian elements in the religion other than those from the Old Testament, or Həggä 'Orät (ሕገ ኦሪት), to which are added those from the New Testament, or Həggä Wongel (ሕገ ወንጌል).
A hierarchy of K'ədusan ቅዱሳን (angelic messengers and saints) conveys the prayers of the faithful to God and carries out the divine will, so when Ethiopian Christians are in difficulty, they appeal to them as well as to God.
In more formal and regular rituals, priests communicate on behalf of the community, and only priests may enter the inner sanctum of the usually circular or octagonal church where the tabot ("ark") dedicated to the church's patron saint is housed.
On important religious holidays, the tabot is carried on the head of a priest and escorted in procession outside the church.
It is the tabot, not the church, which is consecrated.
The Ethiopian Orthodox church is Trinitarian, maintaining the Orthodox teaching, formalised at the council of Nicea, that God is united in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Daily services constitute only a small part of an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian's religious observance.
An important religious requirement, however, is the keeping of fast days, during which adherents abstain from consuming meat and animal products, and refrain from sexual activity.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has 250 fasting days, 180 of which are obligatory for lay people, not just monks and priests, when vegan food is eaten by the faithful.
Priests intervene and perform exorcisms on behalf of those believed to be afflicted by demons or buda.
Dialogue with the spirit is another important part of the exorcism ceremony.
It helps the counsellor (exorcist) to know how the spirit was operating in the life of the demoniac.
Liturgical Language and Architecture
The divine services of the Ethiopian Church are celebrated in Geʽez, which has been the liturgical language of the church at least since the arrival of the Nine Saints, who are believed to have fled persecution by the Byzantine Empire after the Council of Chalcedon (451).
The Greek Septuagint was the version of the Old Testament originally translated into Ge'ez, but later revisions show clear evidence of the use of Hebrew, Syriac and Arabic sources.
The first translation into a modern vernacular was done in the 19th century by a man usually known as Abu Rumi (died 1819).
There are many monolithic (rock-hewn) churches in Ethiopia, most famously eleven churches at Lalibela.
Besides these, two main types of architecture are found-one basilican, the other native.
