Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church

Lore & Background

The earliest account of an Ethiopian converted to the faith in the New Testament is a royal official baptized by Philip the Evangelist, one of the Seven Deacons (Acts 8:26–27). The passage describes how Philip helped an Ethiopian eunuch, a high official of the Kandake Queen of Ethiopia, understand a passage from the Book of Isaiah. After Philip interpreted the passage as prophecy referring to Jesus Christ, the Ethiopian requested that Philip baptize him, and Philip did so. 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 through a Syrian Greek named Frumentius, known locally as 'Selama, Kesaté Birhan' ('Father of Peace, Revealer of Light'). As a youth, Frumentius had been shipwrecked with his brother Aedesius on the Eritrean coast. The brothers rose to positions of influence and baptized Emperor Ezana. Frumentius is also believed to have established the first monastery in Ethiopia, named Dabba Selama after him. In 2016, archaeologists excavated a 4th-century AD basilica (radio-carbon dated) in northeastern Ethiopia at a site called Beta Samati, the earliest known physical evidence of a church in sub-Saharan Africa.

Reader's Guide

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church had been administratively part of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria from the first half of the 4th century until 1959, when it was granted autocephaly with its own patriarch by Cyril VI of Alexandria. The word 'Tewahedo' (Ge'ez: ተዋሕዶ tewaħido) means 'united as one' and refers to the Oriental Orthodox belief in miaphysitism, meaning one perfectly unified nature of Christ, a complete union of the divine and human natures into one nature. Around 500 bishops in the patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem refused to accept the dyophysitism doctrine decreed by the Council of Chalcedon in 451. During the Middle Ages, the Ethiopian Church witnessed the rise of influential monastic movements. Abba Ewostatewos founded the Ewostathian movement, which emphasized strict Sabbath observance and monastic independence, leading to tensions with the Coptic Orthodox Church. In the mid-15th century, his disciples secured recognition from the Alexandrian patriarchate, and the practice of observing both Saturday and Sunday as Sabbaths was officially accepted in Ethiopia. A century later, Abba Estifanos of Gwendagwende led the Stephanite movement, which rejected veneration of the cross and royal authority over the Church, provoking harsh persecution under Emperor Zara Yaqob.

Did You Know?

• The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church dates back to the Christianization of the Kingdom of Aksum by Coptic Orthodox missionaries in 330.
• The word 'Tewahedo' is a Ge'ez word meaning 'united as one,' referring to the miaphysite belief in one perfectly unified nature of Christ.
• In 2016, archaeologists excavated a 4th-century AD basilica at Beta Samati in northeastern Ethiopia, the earliest known physical evidence of a church in sub-Saharan Africa.
• The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church was administratively part of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria until 1959, when it was granted autocephaly.
• Around 500 bishops in the patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem refused to accept the dyophysitism doctrine decreed by the Council of Chalcedon in 451.