Eschatology (ነገረ ዳግም ምጽአት/ የዓለም ፍጻሜ): Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Perspective – Part III

This final part of our eschatology series explores two doctrines often debated in Christian theology—the Rapture and Purgatory—through the lens of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. While Rapture is widely accepted in evangelical circles and Purgatory in Roman Catholic traditions, these teachings are not recognized by the EOTC, which upholds a view rooted in the clear and public Second Coming of Christ and the finality of judgment after death.

The Rapture (ንጥቀት/ በምስጢር መነጠቅ)

The rapture, as taught in many modern evangelical circles, claims that faithful Christians will be suddenly and secretly taken up into the air to meet Christ before a period of great tribulation (Matthew 24:21-22), leaving the rest of humanity to face suffering. This idea is mainly drawn from interpretations of passages like 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. However, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) rejects this doctrine, as it finds no basis for such an event within the broader context of Scripture or its tradition.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 states, “ጌታ ራሱ በትእዛዝ በመላእክትም አለቃ ድምፅ በእግዚአብሔርም መለከት ከሰማይ ይወርዳልና፥ በክርስቶስም የሞቱ አስቀድመው ይነሣሉ፤ ከዚያም በኋላ እኛ ሕያዋን ሆነን የምንቀረው፥ ጌታን በአየር ለመቀበል ከእነርሱ ጋር በደመና እንነጠቃለን፤ እንዲሁም ሁልጊዜ ከጌታ ጋር እንሆናለን።”

This passage is often used to support the idea of a rapture, where believers are taken up into the air to meet Christ. However, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) understands this verse as referring to the public Second Coming of Christ, not a secret event before the tribulation. The Church interprets “በክርስቶስም የሞቱ አስቀድመው ይነሣሉ” to mean “በክርስቶስ አምነው የሞቱ ሰዎች አስቀድመው ይነሣሉ።” Similarly, the Church understands, “ከዚያም በኋላ እኛ ሕያዋን ሆነን የምንቀረው፥ ጌታን በአየር ለመቀበል ከእነርሱ ጋር በደመና እንነጠቃለን” as “ከዚህ በኋላ ሕያዋን ሆነን የምንኖር እኛ፥ ከእነሱ ጋራ አንድ ሆነን በክብር አናርጋለን።” This means that those who died in Christ will rise first, and the living will join them in glorification and ascend together with them. Moreover, the Church teaches that Christ’s return will not be secret or hidden, but public, visible, and accompanied by great heavenly signs, as stated in 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 above.

Likewise, the clear portrayal of Christ’s return in Matthew 24:30–31 opposes the idea of a secret rapture. The passage shows that Christ’s second coming will be seen by all and accompanied by glory and great heavenly signs. The gathering of the dead and those who alive is not hidden, but a visible and powerful declaration of Christ’s divine authority: “የሰማያትም ኃይላት ይናወጣሉ። በዚያን ጊዜም የሰው ልጅ ምልክት በሰማይ ይታያል፥ በዚያን ጊዜም የምድር ወገኖች ሁሉ ዋይ ዋይ ይላሉ፥ የሰው ልጅንም በኃይልና በብዙ ክብር በሰማይ ደመና ሲመጣ ያዩታል፤ መላእክቱንም ከታላቅ መለከት ድምፅ ጋር ይልካቸዋል፥ ከሰማያትም ዳርቻ እስከ ዳርቻው ከአራቱ ነፋሳት ለእርሱ የተመረጡትን ይሰበስባሉ።” (Matthew 24:30–31)

Additionally, Revelation 1:7 reveals, “እነሆ፥ ከደመና ጋር ይመጣል፤ ዓይንም ሁሉ የወጉትም ያዩታል፥ የምድርም ወገኖች ሁሉ ስለ እርሱ ዋይ ዋይ ይላሉ። አዎን፥ አሜን።” This passage further emphasizes that Christ’s return will be visible to all; it will not be a secret event reserved for the faithful alone. The idea of a sudden and hidden rapture contradicts the plain teachings of Scripture.

The Purgatory (ጊዜያዊ ከኃጢአት የሚነጻበት ቦታ)

Purgatory, as taught in the Roman Catholic Church, is believed to be a temporary state after death where souls undergo purification through fire or torment before entering heaven. According to this doctrine, many souls are not deemed good enough for heaven, nor bad enough for hell, and thus, they must endure purgatorial torment to be purified.

However, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) rejects this teaching. The EOTC affirms that there are only two eternal destinies: eternal life or eternal punishment. After death, there is no intermediate state for purification or redemption.

The Church Rejects Purgatory

A key passage often cited by the Roman Catholic Church to support the doctrine of purgatory is found in 1 Corinthians 3:13, where St. Paul writes, “በእሳት ስለሚገለጥ ያ ቀን ያሳያልና፥ የእያንዳንዱም ሥራ እንዴት መሆኑን እሳቱ ይፈትነዋል።.” However, a careful reading reveals that what is subjected to fire is not the person, but the person’s work. The “fire” mentioned here is not a literal flame causing suffering or purification after death, but rather symbolic of the righteous judgment of God. This is further supported in Hebrews 12:29, which affirms that “አምላካችን በእውነት የሚያጠፋ እሳት ነውና።” The divine fire represents God’s holy presence and justice, not a temporary place of torment. At the Second Coming, as described in 2 Thessalonians 1:6–7, Christ returns with His angels to judge the world in glory, seated upon a throne of fire:  “ጌታ ኢየሱስ ከሥልጣኑ መላእክት ጋር ከሰማይ በእሳት ነበልባል ሲገለጥ፥ መከራን ለሚያሳዩአችሁ መከራን፥ መከራንም ለምትቀበሉ ከእኛ ጋር ዕረፍትን ብድራት አድርጎ እንዲመልስ በእግዚአብሔር ፊት በእርግጥ ጽድቅ ነውና።”(2 Thessalonians 1:6–7). Therefore, the judgment focuses on one’s deeds, not on a purgatorial process of purification. This view aligns with the Church’s teaching that the final judgment is immediate and based on one's earthly life, rather than involving a transitional state after death.

Hebrews 9:27 states, “ለሰዎችም አንድ ጊዜ መሞት ከእርሱ በኋላም ፍርድ እንደ ተመደበባቸው...” This verse affirms that after death comes judgment, not a state of purification, but heaven or hell. The doctrine of purgatory stands in contradiction to this clear teaching, which emphasizes the nature of judgment after death.

It is important to note that the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church prays for the departed, asking God to forgive them. However, the Church does not teach that there is a temporary place or state where souls are purified after death. Rather, the prayers are directed to God, who may grant mercy at the final judgment. God willing, we will explore this topic— “Prayer for the Dead” (ጸሎተ ፍትሐት) in a future essay.

Luke 16:26 asserts, “ከዚህም ሁሉ ጋር ከዚህ ወደ እናንተ ሊያልፉ የሚፈልጉ እንዳይችሉ፥ ወዲያ ያሉ ደግሞ ወደ እኛ እንዳይሻገሩ በእኛና በእናንተ መካከል ታላቅ ገደል ተደርጎአል አለ።” The parable of the rich man and Lazarus clearly shows that the state of the soul after death is obvious—either in paradise or in torment. There is no passage or transition between the two, and no third state of purification. The idea of purgatory, which suggests a temporary place for cleansing before entering paradise, directly contradicts this passage.

Revelation 20:12–13 points out, “ሙታንንም ታናናሾችንና ታላላቆችን በዙፋኑ ፊት ቆመው አየሁ፥ መጻሕፍትም ተከፈቱ፤ ሌላ መጽሐፍም ተከፈተ እርሱም የሕይወት መጽሐፍ ነው፤ ሙታንም በመጻሕፍት ተጽፎ እንደ ነበረ እንደ ሥራቸው መጠን ተከፈሉ። ባሕርም በእርሱ ውስጥ ያሉትን ሙታን ሰጠ፥ ሞትና ሲኦልም በእነርሱ ዘንድ ያሉትን ሙታን ሰጡ፥ እያንዳንዱም እንደ ሥራው መጠን ተከፈለ።.” This passage clearly presents the final judgment as a single event after the resurrection, where each person is judged according to their deeds. It does not mention a temporary state of purification; thereby rejecting the concept of purgatory.

2 Corinthians 5:10 says, “መልካም ቢሆን ወይም ክፉ እንዳደረገ፥ እያንዳንዱ በሥጋው የተሠራውን በብድራት ይቀበል ዘንድ ሁላችን በክርስቶስ በፍርድ ወንበር ፊት ልንገለጥ ይገባናልና።” This passage emphasizes the irrevocable nature of judgment following death and the resurrection. It underscores that after life on earth, there is no place or condition for further purification.

The belief in Purgatory contradicts several biblical teachings:

1. The Sufficiency of Christ's Sacrifice

The Bible teaches that Christ's sacrifice is completely sufficient to cleanse believers from all sins — no further purification after death is needed. Hebrews 10:14 states, "አንድ ጊዜ በማቅረብ የሚቀደሱትን የዘላለም ፍጹማን አድርጎአቸዋልና።"

Similarly, Jesus' last words on the cross, recorded in John 19:30 — "It is finished" ("ተፈጸመ") — proclaim that the salvation Christ came to achieve was fully accomplished. If human suffering or purgatory could satisfy Divine Justice, Christ would not have needed to endure the cross for our redemption. The purification of souls is accomplished through the blood of Jesus Christ, not through the material fire associated with Purgatory.

Additionally, 1 John 1:7 records, "የልጁም የኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ደም ከኃጢአት ሁሉ ያነጻናል።" This verse demonstrates that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. If Christ’s death fully cleanses us, then the need for further purification after death would undermine the completeness of His sacrifice.

2. Immediate Destination After Death

The Bible teaches that after death, souls immediately enter either a state of blessing (heaven/paradise) or a state of condemnation, with no middle, temporary place for purification. In 2 Corinthians 5:8, St. Paul indicates, "ታምነናል ይልቁንም ከሥጋ ተለይተን በስደት መኖር በጌታም ዘንድ ማደር ደስ ይለናል።" St. Paul does not suggest that after death we go to a purgatory state, but rather that we will be present with the Lord.

Philippians 1:23 states, "በእነዚህም በሁለቱ እጨነቃለሁ፤ ልሄድ ከክርስቶስም ጋር ልኖር እናፍቃለሁ፥ ከሁሉ ይልቅ እጅግ የሚሻል ነውና።" In this verse, St. Paul is not referring to an intermediate place of purification after death. Instead, he affirms that death immediately brings him into the presence of Christ, which is far better.

3. Purgatory is Inconsistent with Jesus’ Words

The doctrine of purgatory has no foundation in Scripture. For instance, Jesus tells the thief on the cross, "Today, you will be with Me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). If purgatory existed, why was the thief not sent there first? Purgatory clearly contradicts both the words of Christ and the broader message of Scripture.

Conclusion

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church firmly rejects both the idea of a secret rapture and the concept of purgatory, affirming instead the visible return of Christ and the immediate judgment of souls. The Church’s teachings on the Second Coming and the Final Judgment of Christ call the faithful to live in vigilant preparation—not for hidden events or transitional states, but for the glorious return of the Lord and the eternal destiny that awaits.