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Introduction
to the Doctrines of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church – Part I
In the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC),
religious teachings (ትምህርተ
ሃይማኖት) serve
as the means through which believers come to know the path that leads to God
and eternal life. Through these teachings, the Church cultivates an
understanding of the “righteous religion” (ርትዕት ሃይማኖት). Church scholars traditionally
classify religious teachings into two main categories: dogma—the foundation of
belief (መሠረተ እምነት / የእምነት መሠረት)—and canon, or
church ordinance (ሥርዓተ
ቤተክርስቲያን / ቀኖና). Within this
framework, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church teaches the five pillars of
mysteries as the foundation of its religious life. This essay provides an
introductory overview of these five pillars, beginning with a clarification of
key terms.
God: The word “God” (እግዚአብሔር) comes from Ge’ez: “እግዚእ” means “Lord,”
and “ብሔር”
means “world.” Thus, "እግዚአብሔር" signifies the Lord of the world—the Creator and
Ruler of all. Scripture does not begin by arguing for God’s existence; it
presupposes it: “በመጀመሪያ
እግዚአብሔር ሰማይንና ምድርን ፈጠረ።” (Genesis
1:1). In the Hebrew language, God is known by three names: El—ኤል (the
Almighty God—ኃያል
አምላክ), Yahweh—ያህዌ (Who exists
and will exist—ያለና
የሚኖር, also
who acts according to His will—እንደ ፈቃዱ
የሚሠራ), and
Adon—አዶን
(the Lord—ጌታ).
In Greek, He is called Alpha and Omega—አልፋና ኦሜጋ (the Beginning and the End—መጀመሪያውና መጨረሻው). The
term Divine—መለኮት—denotes
rulership (ገዥነት),
and God—አምላክ—refers
to the One who creates and rules—ፈጥሮ የሚገዛ።
Faith: The term “faith” (እምነት) is rooted
in Ge’ez and denotes believing (ማመን) and trusting (መታመን). To believe is to receive in the heart, as truth, what one
has heard and understood about God: “እንግዲያስ እምነት ከመስማት ነው መስማትም በእግዚአብሔር ቃል ነው።” (Romans 10:17). To trust (መታመን) is to confess
this faith openly, without fear or shame, before others: “ስለዚህ በሰው ፊት ለሚመሰክርልኝ ሁሉ እኔ ደግሞ በሰማያት ባለው በአባቴ ፊት እመሰክርለታለሁ።” (Matthew
10:32), and “ኢየሱስ ጌታ እንደ ሆነ በአፍህ ብትመሰክር እግዚአብሔርም ከሙታን እንዳስነሣው በልብህ ብታምን ትድናለህና” (Romans 10:9).
The Apostle Paul describes faith as “እምነትም ተስፋ ስለምናደርገው ነገር የሚያስረግጥ፥ የማናየውንም ነገር የሚያስረዳ ነው።” (Hebrews
11:1), and without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). The
Scripture proclaims that there is only one faith: “አንድ ጌታ አንድ ሃይማኖት አንዲት ጥምቀት። ”
(Ephesians 4:5).
Religion (ሃይማኖት), therefore, is to acknowledge
that the world has a Creator, and it is the way by which a person worships and
draws near to God, becomes His child, practices righteousness (ጽድቅ), and inherits
eternal life.
Dogma: Religious teaching is divided into
two categories: dogma and canon. The term "dogma" comes from
the Greek and refers to the foundation of faith. Dogma, as the
foundation of faith, cannot be added to, diminished, or improved. Even
in times of difficulty and trial, the faithful hold fast to it until death. For
example, God is the One who brought the world into existence from
non-existence: the Almighty who cannot be examined but examines all, the
Creator of everything, and the Lord of heaven and earth. God exists in three
persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—yet He is one in divinity,
creation, authority, rule, and will. Thus, He is three in person but one in His
divinity (essence). Humanity was freed from eternal death and slavery to the
devil, which came through Adam, by one of these three persons, the Son, Jesus
Christ. Such fundamental teachings are called dogma, or the
foundation of faith.
Canon: The word "canon" is
Greek and means "order" (ሥርዓት). "Canon" refers to the
ordered way of life by which Christians, who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ,
are guided. Unlike dogma, canon may be revised according to the
circumstances of time and place through the discernment of the Church Fathers
or the Holy Synod. It may be expanded, adjusted, or reduced when pastoral
necessity requires. For example, in our church, the normative number of priests
required to administer the Divine Liturgy is five. However, if some are
unavailable due to circumstances beyond their control, the liturgy and the
honoring of the Eucharist may be administered by fewer priests, even by two or
one.
Regarding the necessity of Order in the Church, St.
Paul writes, “ነገር ግን ሁሉ በአገባብና በሥርዓት ይሁን።” (1 Cor. 14:40). He also states:
“ወንድሞች ሆይ፥ ከእኛ እንደ ተቀበለው ወግ ሳይሆን ያለ ሥርዓት ከሚሄድ ወንድም ሁሉ ትለዩ ዘንድ በጌታችን በኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ስም እናዛችኋለን። እኛን ልትመስሉ እንዴት እንደሚገባችሁ ራሳችሁ ታውቃላችሁና፤ በእናንተ ዘንድ ያለ ሥርዓት አልሄድንምና።” (2
Thess. 3:6–7).
Canon (order) is established by the Fathers of the
Church, and those who teach the Gospel are obliged to transmit to the faithful
the canon handed down by the Fathers. Scripture bears witness to this practice:
“በከተማዎችም ሲዞሩ በኢየሩሳሌም የነበሩት ሐዋርያትና ሽማግሌዎች የቈረጡትን ሥርዓት ይጠብቁ ዘንድ ሰጡአቸው። አብያተ ክርስቲያናትም በሃይማኖት ይበረቱ ነበር፥ በቍጥርም ዕለት ዕለት ይበዙ ነበር።” (Acts
16:4–5).
Church: According to the Church scholars (ሊቃውንተ ቤተክርስቲያን), the
Church is the living relationship between God and His creatures. It has three
interconnected meanings. First, the Church is the fellowship (ኅብረት) of
Christians—the unity of believers (1 Corinthians 11:18). Second, the Church is
the dwelling place (መኖሪያ) of Christians, the house of God. Just as the word "house"
signifies a dwelling (መኖሪያ),
so "church" signifies the dwelling of Christians and the house
of God, as the Lord said, "ርግብ ሻጪዎችንም፦
ይህን ከዚህ ውሰዱ፤ የአባቴን ቤት የንግድ ቤት አታድርጉት አላቸው።" (John
2:16). It must be emphasized that when we speak of the church building (ሕንጻ ቤተ ክርስቲያን), we also
refer to its sacred ministry. Third, the term "Church" refers
to the believers (ምዕመናን), the body of each Christian within the Church, as
Scripture testifies: “የእግዚአብሔር
ቤተ መቅደስ እንደ ሆናችሁ የእግዚአብሔርም መንፈስ እንዲኖርባችሁ አታውቁምን?” (1
Corinthians 3:16). All the above verses affirm that the Church is ultimately
derived from and grounded in Christ.
The foundations of faith (የሃይማኖት መሠረት) of the Ethiopian Orthodox
Tewahedo Church are the Five Pillars of Mysteries (አምስቱ አዕማደ ምስጢራት). To
belong to the faith of the EOTC is to accept these mysteries as the doctrinal
foundation of belief and to live in communion with God, who rules all things
according to His will. Their number being five is traditionally grounded in the
teaching of St. Paul, who emphasizes clarity and edification in instruction: “ነገር ግን ሌሎችን ደግሞ አስተምር ዘንድ በማኅበር እልፍ ቃላት በልሳን ከመናገር ይልቅ አምስት ቃላት በአእምሮዬ ልናገር እወዳለሁ።” (1
Corinthians 14፡19).
Conclusion
This essay, as the first part of the introduction
to the doctrines of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, has presented the
Church’s key theological terms and teachings—God, faith, religion, dogma,
canon, the Church itself, and what the EOTC recognizes as doctrine: the
Five Pillars of Mysteries. Together, these elements form the foundation of
the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo belief and practice. To belong to the EOTC,
therefore, is to receive the Five Pillars of Mysteries as the foundation of
faith and life and to live in continual communion with God, who orders and
governs all things according to His will.
The second part of this essay will further explore
the doctrines of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
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