Exploring the Foundations of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church’s Faith

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.