Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
The
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (in
Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተክርስትያን
Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan) is an
Oriental Orthodox church in
Ethiopia that was part of the
Coptic Church until
1959, when it was granted its own
Patriarch by
Coptic Pope Cyril VI. The only pre-
colonial Christian church of
Sub-Saharan Africa, it claims a membership of close to 36 million people worldwide, and is thus the largest of all Oriental Orthodox churches.
Tewahedo (
Ge'ez ተዋሕዶ
tawāhidō) is a
Ge'ez word meaning "being made one"; it is related to the
Arabic word
توحيد tawhid, meaning "monotheism", or more literally "unification". This refers to the
Oriental Orthodox belief in the one single unique
Nature of Christ (ie, a belief that a complete, natural union of the Divine and Human Natures into One is self-evident in order to accomplish the divine salvation of humankind), as opposed to the "two Natures of Christ" belief (unmixed, separated Divine and Human Natures, called the
Hypostatic Union) promoted by today's
Roman Catholic and
Eastern Orthodox churches. According to the
Catholic Encyclopedia article on the
Henoticon [
1]: the
Patriarchs of
Alexandria,
Antioch, and
Jerusalem, and many others, all refused to accept the "two natures" doctrine decreed by the
Byzantine Emperor Marcian's
Council of Chalcedon in
451, thus separating them from the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox, who themselves separated from one another later in the
East-West Schism (
1054). The Oriental Orthodox Churches, which today include the
Coptic Orthodox Church, the
Armenian Apostolic Church, the
Syriac Orthodox Church, the
Malankara Orthodox Church of India, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and the
Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, are referred to as "Non-Chalcedonian", and, sometimes by outsiders as "
monophysite" (meaning "One Nature", in reference to Christ; a rough translation of the name
Tewahido). However, these Churches themselves describe their Christology as
miaphysite.
The Ethiopian Church claims its origins from
Philip the Evangelist (
Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 8). It became the
established church of the Ethiopian
Axumite Kingdom under king
Ezana in the
4th century through the efforts of a Syrian Greek named
Frumentius, known in Ethiopia as
Abba Selama, Kesaté Birhan ("Father of Peace, Revealer of Light"). As a boy, Frumentius had been shipwrecked with his brother Aedesius on the Eritrean coast. The brothers managed to be brought to the royal court, where they rose to positions of influence and converted Emperor Ezana to Christianity, causing him to be baptised. Ezana sent Frumentius to
Alexandria to ask the
Patriarch, St.
Athanasius, to appoint a bishop for Ethiopia. Athanasius appointed Frumentius himself, who returned to Ethiopia as Bishop with the name of
Abune Selama. For centuries afterward, the
Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria always named a
Copt (
an Egyptian) to be
Abuna or Archbishop of the Ethiopian Church.
Little else is known of church history down to the period of
Jesuit influence, which broke the connection with Egypt. Union with the
Coptic Church continued after the Arab conquest in Egypt.
Abu Saleh records in the
12th century that the patriarch always 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 observance of canonical consecration for all churches. These examples show the close relations of the two churches concurrent with the
Middle Ages. But early in the
16th century the church was brought under the influence of a
Portuguese mission.
In
1439, in the reign of
Zara Yaqob, a religious discussion between
Abba Giorgis and a French visitor had led to the dispatch of an embassy from Ethiopia to the
Vatican; but the initiative in the
Roman Catholic missions to Ethiopia was taken, not by Rome, but by
Portugal, as an incident in the struggle with the
Muslim Ottoman Empire and
Sultanate of Adal for the command of the trade route to
India by the
Red Sea.
In
1507 Matthew, or Matheus, an Armenian, had been sent as Ethiopian envoy to Portugal to ask aid against
Adal. In 1520 an embassy under Dom
Rodrigo de Lima landed in Ethiopia (by which time
Adal had been remobilized under
Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi). An interesting account of the Portuguese mission, which remained for several years, was written by
Francisco Alvarez, the chaplain.
Later,
Ignatius Loyola wished to essay the task of conversion, but was forbidden. Instead, the
pope sent out
Joao Nunez Barreto as patriarch of the East Indies, with
Andre de Oviedo as bishop; and from
Goa envoys went to Ethiopia, followed by Oviedo himself, to secure the king's adherence to Rome. After repeated failures some measure of success was achieved under Emperor
Sissinios, but not until
1624 did the Emperor make formal submission to the
pope. Sissinios made Roman Catholicism the official state religion but was met with heavy resistance by his subjects and eventually had to abdicate in
1632 to his son,
Fasilides, who promptly returned the state religion to Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity. He then expelled the
Jesuits in
1633, and in
1665, Fasilides ordered that all Jesuit books (the Books of the Franks) be burned.
The Coptic and Ethiopian Churches reached an agreement on
13 July 1948 that led to
autocephaly for the Ethiopian Church. Five
bishops were immediately consecrated by the
Patriarch of Alexandria, empowered to elect a new Patriarch for their church, and the successor to
Abuna Qerellos IV would have the power to consecrate new bishops. This promotion was completed when Coptic
Pope Yosab of Alexandria consecrated an Ethiopian-born Archbishop,
Abuna Baslios,
14 January 1951. Then in
1959,
Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria crowned Abuna Baslios as the first Patriarch of Ethiopia.
|
Ethiopian priest with processional cross |
Patriarch Abune Baslios died in
1971, and was succeeded that year by Patriarch
Abune Tewophilos. With the fall of Emperor
Haile Selassie in
1974, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church was disestablished as the
state church. The new Marxist government began nationalising property (including land) owned by the church. Patriarch Abune Tewophilos was arrested in
1976 by the
Marxist Derg military junta, and secretly executed later that year. The government ordered the church to elect a new Patriarch, and
Abune Takla Haymanot was enthroned. The
Coptic Church refused to recognize the election and enthronement of Abune Tekle Haimanot on the grounds that the
Synod of the Ethiopian Church had not removed Abune Tewophilos and that the government had not publicly acknowledged his death, and he was thus still legitimate Patriarch of Ethiopia. Formal relations between the two churches were stopped, although they remained in communion with each other.
Patriarch Abune Tekle Haymanot proved to be much less accommodating to the Derg regime than it had expected, and so when the Patriarch died in 1988, a new Patriarch with closer ties to the regime was sought. The Archbishop of
Gondar, a member of the Derg-era Ethiopian Parliament, was elected and enthroned as Patriarch
Abune Merkorios. Following the fall of the
Derg regime in 1991, and the coming to power of the
EPRDF government, Patriarch Abune Merkorios abdicated under public and governmental pressure. The church then elected a new Patriarch,
Abune Paulos. The former Patriarch Abune Merkorios then fled abroad, and announced from exile that his abdication had been made under duress and thus he was still the legitimate Patriarch of Ethiopia. Several bishops also went into exile and formed a break-away alternate synod. This exiled synod is recognized by some Ethiopian Churches in North America and Europe who recognize Patriarch Abune Merkorios, while the synod inside Ethiopia continues to uphold the legitimacy of Patriarch Abune Paulos.
After
Eritrea became an independent country, the Coptic Orthodox Church granted
autocephaly to the
Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church with the reluctant approval of its mother synod, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church.
As of 2005, there are many Ethiopian Orthodox churches located throughout the
United States and other countries to which Ethiopians have migrated. There are about 37 million Ethiopian Orthodox members, or half the population, within the country.
Biblical canon
The Canon of the Tewahedo Church is looser than for most other traditional Christian groups. The Ethiopian "
wide" Old Testament Canon includes the books found in the
Septuagint accepted by the Orthodox plus
Enoch,
Jubilees,
1 Esdras and
2 Esdras, 3 books of
Maccabees, and
Psalm 151. However, their three books of the Maccabees are identical in title only, and quite different in content from those of the other Christian churches which include them. The order of the other books is somewhat different from other groups', as well. This Church also has a "broader canon" that includes more books.
Language
The divine services of the Ethiopian Church are celebrated in the
Ge'ez language, which has been the language of the Church at least since the arrival of the
Nine Saints (Abba Pantelewon, Abba Gerima (Issac, or Yeshaq), Abba Aftse, Abba Guba, Abba Alef, Abba Yem'ata, Abba Liqanos, and Abba Sehma), who fled persecution by the
Byzantine Emperor after the
Council of Chalcedon (
451). The
Septuagint version was translated into Ge'ez.
Sermons are delivered in the local
language.
Architecture
There are many
monolithic churches in Ethiopia, most famously the twelve churches at
Lalibela. After these, two main types of architecture are found one square or oblong, traditionally found in
Tigray; the other circular, traditionally found in
Amhara and
Shewa (though either style may be found elsewhere). The square type may be due to basilican influence, the circular is an adaptation of the native hut. In both forms, the sanctuary is square and stands clear in the center and the arrangements are based on
Jewish tradition. Walls and ceilings are adorned with
frescoes. A
courtyard, circular or rectangular, surrounds the body of the church. Modern Ethiopian churches may incorporate the basilican or native styles, and utilize contemporary construction techniques and materials. In rural areas, the church and outer court are often
thatched with mud-built walls.
Ark of the Covenant
The Ethiopian church claims that one of its churches,
Our Lady Mary of Zion, is host to the original
Ark of the Covenant that
Moses carried with the
Israelites during the
Exodus. However, outsiders (and women, be they insiders or not) are not allowed into the building where the Ark is located, ostensibly due to dangerous biblical warnings. As a result, international scholars doubt that the real Ark is truly there, although a case has been put forward by controversial popular writer
Graham Hancock in his book
The Sign and the Seal.
Throughout Ethiopia, Orthodox churches are not considered churches until the local bishop gives them a
tabot, a replica of the tablets in the original Ark of the Covenant. The tabot is six inches (15
cm) square and made from
alabaster,
marble, or wood (see
acacia). It is always kept in ornate coverings to hide it from public view. In an elaborate procession, the tabot is carried around the outside of the church amid joyful song and dance on the feast day of that particular church's namesake, and also on the great Feast of T'imk'et, known as
Epiphany or Theophany in Europe.
Similarities to Judaism
The Ethiopian church places a heavier emphasis on Old Testament teachings than one might find in the Roman Catholic or Protestant churches, and its followers adhere to certain practices that one finds in Orthodox or Conservative
Judaism. Ethiopian Christians, like some other
Eastern Christians, traditionally follow dietary rules that are similar to Jewish
Kashrut, specifically with regard to how an animal is slaughtered. Similarly, pork is prohibited, though unlike Kashrut, Ethiopian cuisine does mix dairy products with meat. Women are prohibited from entering the church during their
menses, and, like married Orthodox Jewish women, are expected to cover their hair with a large scarf (or
shash) while in church. As with Orthodox
synagogues, men and women are seated separately in the Ethiopian church, with men on the left and women on the right (when facing the altar). However, women covering their heads and separation of the sexes in the Church building is common to many
Oriental Orthodox,
Eastern Orthodox and
Catholic Christians and not unique to Judaism. Ethiopian Orthodox worshippers remove their shoes when entering a church, in accordance with
Exodus 3:5 (in which
Moses, while viewing the
burning bush, is commanded to remove his shoes while standing on holy ground). Furthermore, both the
Sabbath (Saturday), and the Lord's Day (Sunday) are observed as holy, although more emphasis, because of the
Resurrection, is laid upon the Sunday.
*
Ethiopian Religions - Christianity, Islam, Judaism & Paganism*
Bilingual Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church site - English version (Sponsored by the Addis Ababa Synod and Patriarchate)
*
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (older site, low bandwidth, sponsored by Synod in Exile)
*
Tewahedo Songs & Records*
About Saint TekleHaymanot the Ethiopian*
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Switzerland*
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Phoenix*
CNEWA article: Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church*
Ethiopian Churches in South Africa*
Abbink, J. A Bibliography on Christianity in Ethiopia. Leiden: African Studies Centre, 2003 (
PDF)
*
Biblical Canon
