Fast facts
- Began
- 1st–4th centuries; distinct as a family after the Council of Chalcedon in 451
- Founder / origin
- Coptic tradition names Mark in Alexandria; Ethiopia's conversion is dated to King Ezana in the 4th century; Armenia adopted Christianity as a state religion in 301
- Followers
- About 60 million
- Figure from
- World Council of Churches member statistics and Pew Research Center estimates (2020)
- Where
- Ethiopia and Eritrea (the great majority), Egypt, Armenia, Syria, Kerala in India, and large diasporas in Europe and North America
- Scriptures
- The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo has 81 books — the widest in Christianity — including 1 Enoch and Jubilees, which no other church treats as scripture
- View of God
- ; one united nature in Christ (miaphysite), which is what Chalcedon rejected
Why they are separate
In 451 the Council of Chalcedon defined Christ as one person in two natures. The Alexandrian tradition insisted on one united nature, divine and human, without separation. The churches that refused Chalcedon — Coptic, Ethiopian, Eritrean, Armenian, Syriac and Indian — have been distinct ever since. They accept only the first three councils.
Modern dialogue has produced statements that the difference may be largely one of language, but the churches remain separate.
Distinctive practice
- The Ethiopian Tewahedo church keeps both Saturday and Sunday, practises male circumcision, and observes food laws close to those of the Torah, including avoiding pork
- Shoes are removed on entering the church, and men and women often stand separately
- Around 180–250 fasting days a year, depending on whether one is clergy or lay
- Ge'ez as the liturgical language; the Ark of the Covenant is believed by Ethiopians to rest in Axum
- Copts commonly tattoo a small cross on the wrist as an identity mark under long historical pressure
The Islamic view
Where it meets Islam, and where it differs
Common ground
- Removing shoes for worship, separate rows for men and women, circumcision, pork prohibition, extensive fasting — a striking amount of shared practice.
- The Prophet sent the first emigrants to the Christian king of Abyssinia, who protected them; that history is well known and warmly received by Ethiopians.
- Deep reverence for Mary and for the prophets (PBUT) of Israel.
Where Islam differs
- , and crucifixion, as with all Christians.
- The 81-book includes books no other Christians accept, which raises the question of who fixed the canon and by what authority.
- Veneration of saints and of the Ark; Islam allows no object of veneration.
Talking points
- Tell the story of the migration to Abyssinia and of the Negus, and of the verses of Surah Maryam recited before him. For an Ethiopian or Eritrean it is their own history.
- Their practice is already halfway to Islam in form — Sabbath, circumcision, no pork, fasting. Ask why so much of the Law was kept here and dropped elsewhere in Christianity.
- Ask, kindly, why their Bible has fifteen more books than a Protestant's, and what that says about how the was settled.
Avoid
- Do not lump them in with Catholics or Greeks. Their separateness is central to their identity.
- Copts in particular have a long memory of pressure and persecution; approach with visible respect and no triumphalism.
Sources
- Council of Chalcedon (451) and the miaphysite response
- Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the 81-book canon
- Ibn Ishaq, Sirah, on the migration to Abyssinia and the Negus
- Pew Research Center and World Council of Churches membership data
This overview describes the tradition as its own followers describe it. The Islamic view is kept in its own section above so the description stays honest.
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