Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church dates back to 328 AD although some accounts put its establishment at 330AD. A major event which necessitated the establishment of the church happened when two brothers who had been kidnapped and suffered a shipwreck were taken to the palace of the king of Aksum where they served the king. They soon warmed themselves to the heart of the king, subsequently influencing the king to accept the Christian faith. Frumentius, the older of the two, looking for an opportunity to further the prospect of the faith in Ethiopia having obtained the permission of the successor to the throne after the demise of his master travelled to Egypt to seek the leave of the Egyptian Coptic Pope to appoint a leader for the Ethiopian church who will further organise and lead the church in the Aksum empire (current day Ethiopia). After receiving some clerical/ecclesiological training, Frumentius was sent back to Ethiopia as the first Abuna or patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church. The church continued to grow and was involved with other orthodox churches across the world until the Chalcedon conference where a position was taken on the nature of Christ and the implications of his incarnation. This debate split the universal church into two. One group accepted the two natures of Christ, vis; his humanity and his divinity. They held that both co-existed independently and that Christ was both human and divine without one co-mingling with the other. The group formed what is today known as the Eastern Orthodox Church. They uphold the Chalcedonian definition which pontificates that Jesus Christ has two natures, divine and human, united in one person without confusion, change, division, or separation. This belief is known as Dyophysitism. According to Eastern Orthodoxy, these two distinct natures of Christ coexist harmoniously within one hypostasis (person), thus, preserving both the full divinity and full humanity of Christ. On the other hand, the Oriental Orthodox Churches reject the Chalcedonian definition and adhere to Miaphysitism, which holds that Christ has one united nature. They affirm that He is both fully divine and fully human. They hold that this single nature of Christ results from the perfect union of His divinity and humanity. Although the term Miaphysite was historically misunderstood as monophysitism (the belief in only one nature), Oriental Orthodoxy makes the clarification that their view emphasizes the complete integration of both natures into one. This group was considered heretical by the former as the argument for and against the perfect union between Christ's two natures split the hitherto unified universal church into two. The Eastern Orthodox churches consists of the Roman Catholic church, the Russian Orthodox church, the Ukrainian Orthodox church, the Romanian orthodox church, the Greek Orthodox church. On the other hand, the Oriental Orthodox churches consist of the Syriac Orthodox church, the Armenian Orthodox church, the Indian Orthodox church, the Egyptian Orthodox church, the Ethiopian Orthodox church and the Eritrean Orthodox church. The church prides itself to be in possession of the original Ark of the Covenant which, according to them was brought to Ethiopia by the son whom their famous queen; the queen of Sheba had with king Solomon of israel. According to them, the son had visited Israel and upon his return to Ethiopia, was accompanied by notable priests under the instruction of his father. Being aware of the importance of the Ark to true worship, the priests had conspired together to make away with the original Ark and replace it with a caricature. Their plan worked as Solomon discovered their plot rather too late. This Ark has long being a major identity of the Ethiopian church but its presence and the role it has played in advancing the interest of the church has been criticised by critiques who object to its use in land acquisition in the country. Several other Arks have been made by the church and each local assembly of the group is recognised only when it has within its premises an Ark signifying the presence of the Supreme Being. These Arks are said to descend to the church and any land adjoining the church where the Ark is supposed to have descended upon is taken over as the church land. The church buildings are either spherical, rectangular while those church monuments dug-out from caves and rock take the shapes intended as they are being carved out. The region of Lalibela is home to many these churches dug out of rocks and caves. In addition to the church buildings, monasteries form a major part of the religious architecture of the church. They have served as centres of theological and ecclesiastical education and devotion and continue to shape the church doctrine, views as well as sustain its response to several issues including social, healthcare and humanitarian responses in both local and global contexts. The church recognises many local pilgrimage sites in the country. Many of these sites were made popular during king Lalibela's reign when Israel was under Islamic occupation, making pilgrimages to the Holy Land difficult. Mountains, hills, islands and other sites were therefore built and maintained to serves as pilgrimage sites in the country. Some of these sites have been named world heritage centres by UNESCO. In its several centuries of existence, the Ethiopian Orthodox church remained in communion with other Oriental orthodox churches and was in fact under the administrative control of the Egyptian Orthodox church which appointed and consecrated the Patriarch or pope of the Ethiopian Orthodox church from its founding till 1959 when the latter obtained autocephalous or independence to be self-administered. The Ethiopian Orthodox church for over a millennium has survived several attempts targeted at diminishing its influence in the country as it successfully dispelled both Islamic and Roman attempts at conquering Ethiopia and diminishing the church influence both in the defunct Aksum empire and the modern day Ethiopia. The church has been influential in the country helping regimes and governments succeed in governance. However, it has also faced several challenges from hostile regimes and administrations. The church has well established liturgies, sacraments and a formidable priesthood which oversee its affairs. Several saints have had considerable impact on its doctrines and have shaped the views and response of the church to local and global situations. The church adopted Ge'ez, an ancient language of the Aksum region having adopted it as their liturgical language. Their scriptures and writings of their most influential monks and saints remain sources of inspiration to the church. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church has one of the most expanded scriptures. They recognise 81 canonical books made up of 45 Old testament books and 36 New Testament books. Currently, it uses Amharic as its language of communication. The use of these official languages by the church has caused schism and divisions in the multi lingual and ethnically diverse country of Ethiopia with the latest split resulting in the breakaway of three archbishops from the southern Oromia region of the country. The church has promised to be more inclusive and sensitive to the feelings of its diverse population going forward. This was one of the conditions precedent to the reconciliation of the groups. The Ethiopian orthodox church has been instrumental in preserving nature as its eco-theological position sustained through out the country has implications for the preservation of flora and fauna, providing habitat for several species of organisms. This policy has also served to reduce surface water evaporation in that region as several rivers and streams flowing through the thick natural forests across the country have been protected under the forest shades for centuries. This notable contribution to forest preservation notwithstanding, there have been accusations regarding the methods used by the church in land acquisition. The church indeed has a long history as it has impacted Ethiopia in a lot of ways.