Author(s) :

Alemayehu Jote Tulu.

Volume/Issue :

Abstract :

Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church (hereafter, EOTC) is an ancient Church that has passed through several progresses. This review article describes brief historical accounts of the origin and development of the Church in connection to Ethiopian states. When organizing the paper, published and unpublished sources from religious and historical fields were critically reviewed. Sources from Amharic versions were carefully translated to English; and yet Amharic versions were directly used where it is difficult to find equivalent English version. Despite all the efforts made to use the sources cautiously, the reviewer honestly alleges that the data in this review article is by no means exclusively indisputable. There are significant inconsistencies among writers. The sources of the variation could attribute to the authenticity level of the sources and long-established stories the writers used, as well as to the personal and religious prejudice and subjectivity of the writers. To minimize the inconsistencies of facts and figure (dates), maximum efforts were made to follow the most reliable sources and the most accepted traditions. The reviewed sources indicate that the Ethiopian state system and Christianity had been functioning in strong harmony since their inception to the half of the 20th century. As far as the history of introduction of Christianity to Ethiopia is concerned, several hypotheses are put forward, both before and after the Christ Era. The coming of Jews with Menelik I in the 10th century B. C. and the arrival of the two Syrian boys in the 4th century are the most overwhelming traditions. It was also reviewed that the Christological dispute that emerged among Christian theologians in the 3rd and 4th century was finalized dividing the theologians into Orthodox and Roman Catholic horizons. Further, it was described that EOTC had been under the Patriarchate leadership of Alexandria, Egypt for 16 centuries until the diplomatic effort of Atse Haile Silassie made it possible to have local Patriarch in the mid-20th century.

No. of Downloads :

1