In the name of The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit One God Amen.
The word Orthodox/ኦርቶዶክስ/ came from two Greek words, ORTHOS – direct, right and DOXA – belief, religion. It is used to signify the teachings on the nature of Our Lord, Our God and Our Saviour Jesus Christ based on the expressions used by St. Athanasius and St. Cyril, pillars of our faith. Their orthodox expression is “The One Nature of God the Incarnate Logos” to describe Christ’s nature.
Tewahido /ተዋህዶ/ is a Geez /the ancient language of Ethiopia/ name used to signify the unity of God’s / the Son/ Divinity with His humanity in the body of Jesus Christ. It holds the idea that our Lady St. Virgin Mary is “Mother of God”/ Theotokos/, She gave birth to the Incarnate Logos, where the divine nature of Christ
was united hypostatically with His human nature in Her womb without confusion, without mingling, without separation, without alteration or without transmutation. Tewahido/Miaphysis/ is quite different from monophytism[1], which was taught by Eutyches claiming that the human nature of Christ was fully absorbed by His divine nature.The Tewahido teaching rejects both Apollinarius[2] and Eutyches.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church, Tewahido or EOTC afterwards, is an apostolic /archaic/ Christianity unchanged nearly two millenia due to historical and geopolitical isolation. The region was cut off from the rest of the Christian world since the rise of Islam in the 7th century.
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church is not Coptic– unlike what most western Christians consider, although historically it was put under The Coptic Orthodox Church jurisdiction – a form of spiritual injustice. The differences in Liturgy, Architecture, Iconography and other material and spiritual values between them are solid testimonies for this. The EOTC believe in the same pre Chalcedon , three Ecumenical Councils, as do the other Oriental Orthodox Churches.
Due to this historical relationships, the two sister Churches (Coptic and Tewahido) adhere to almost similar concept of Spirituality and Biblical Christianity. Coptic monastic patriarchs St. Antony, St. Makarius, St. Moses the black (attributed to be Ethiopian origin), St. Pauli (the first hermit) and others are well known and highly revered in Ethiopian monastic communities.
Even though many kings /St. Harbai, Emperor Johannes IV…/ tried the complete autocephally from Coptic Church, it wasn’t achieved until Emperor Haile Silasse and during St. Cyril VI as Coptic church patriarch, in 1959.
The incoming of the Nine monastic Christians from Byzantine, who arrived to Axum from Byzantine Empire in the 5th Century fleeing persecution from pro Chalcedon Christians, followed by indigenous Saints like St. Yared, St. Tekle Hymanot, St. Gebre Menfes Kidus, Abuna Ewostatius, Abuna Zena Markos, Aba Giorgis (The Ethiopian- Cyril)…etc help Tewahido to be well sustained and flourished in most parts of Ethiopia through ages.
Generally, EOTC culture is influenced by these main factors;
- Judaism, which came with the Ark of the Covenant.
- The monastic life of the Nine Saints.
- St. Yared, the great hymnist who started using 'hymn notations' - symbols analogous to 'musical notes'
- Indigenous and unique spiritual values /the underground Lalibela architectures, the seatat of Aba Georgis,’ Quine[3]’, ‘Melka Melk’[4] , ‘Andimpta’[5]. . . etc/
Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity is the most conservative in culture, and the most ornamented by colorful spiritual traditions and history. EOTC is the only Church with Judaic roots transformed into Christianity by its own children without any blood spill. The Ethiopian Eunuch is among the first non-Jewish converts to embrace Christianity in 34 A.D. (Acts 8:26-40). Tewahido was accepted first in the royalty, then to the ordinary people, unlike the other Churches. Furthermore, EOTC has uniquely preserved its alphabets, its own annual calendar, Holy Land heritages, post and antediluvian scriptures, and monastic traditions.
[1] The pro-Chalcedonian Churches misunderstood the Oriental Orthodox Churches’ belief in Tewahido/Miaphysis/ as monophysites during the Church Schism at the controversial Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD.
- Miaphysis = unity of humanity and divinity into one nature.
- Monophysis = claims the two natures of Christ were united at the Incarnation in such a way that one Christ was essentially divine although He assumed from the Virgin Theotokos the flesh and attributes of man.
[2] Apollinarius preached the Divine Nature of Christ, but did not believe in His complete human nature; he considered that the human nature of Christ was not in need of a soul and thus He was without soul because God the Logos provided the needed life. As this implied that the human nature of Christ was incomplete, the Holy Ecumenical Council of Constantinople held in 381 A.D. condemned Apollinarius and rejected his idea declaring it a heresy.
[3] Quine is a gold and wax poem of Biblical theme, where the golden message is used for praising God and His saints. It can also be used to express joy/sorrow or any feelings, for Kings, patriarchs etc.
[4] Melka Melks are praises in poem /to our Lord, our Lady, and Saints/ which start with ‘body parts’.
[5] Andimpta is a way of searching the multiple messages conveyed by Biblical teachings.
