The Canon · No. 043
Oriental Orthodoxy
Miaphysite churches; the non-Chalcedonian communion
451 CE – present · Abrahamic · Living · Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Armenia, Syria, India
IV. THE CLASSICAL & IMPERIAL WORLD — c.200 BCE – 500 CE
How many
About 60 million. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church alone has roughly 36 million members, making it the largest of them by far.
Who began it
No founder. These are the ancient churches of Egypt, Syria, Armenia and Ethiopia, which rejected the Council of Chalcedon of 451.
What it is for
Ordinary Christian ministry, sustained through fifteen centuries of minority status in Egypt and Syria and majority status in Ethiopia and Armenia.
What it worships
The Trinity; Christ.
What it holds
Miaphysitism: Christ has one united nature, at once divine and human, without mixture, confusion or separation — the formula of Cyril of Alexandria. Chalcedon's two natures in one person was read by these churches as dividing Christ. They have been called Monophysite for centuries, which they reject as a misrepresentation; that label properly belongs to Eutyches, whom they also condemned. Joint declarations from 1971 onward with the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches have concluded the difference was largely one of terminology, in Greek and Syriac, rather than of faith.
What it does
Very long liturgies, often three hours or more. Extensive fasting — the Ethiopian church observes up to 250 fast days a year for the devout, and around 180 for laypeople, making it arguably the most ascetic mainstream Christian body. The Coptic church retains ancient Egyptian language in its liturgy, the last surviving use of Egyptian. The Ethiopian church observes Saturday and Sunday sabbaths, practises circumcision, follows dietary rules resembling kashrut, uses liturgical dance and drums, and claims to hold the Ark of the Covenant at Axum, guarded by a single monk who may never leave the compound and whom nobody else may see it with.
After death
Standard Christian resurrection and judgment, with strong emphasis on intercession by the saints and prayers for the dead.
Its texts
The Bible, with the widest canon in Christianity in the Ethiopian church — 81 books, including 1 Enoch and Jubilees, preserved in Ge'ez and nowhere else in complete form. The Kebra Nagast, the Ethiopian national epic recounting the descent of the royal line from Solomon and Sheba. The Armenian and Syriac patristic corpora.
Its branches
Coptic Orthodox (Egypt); Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo; Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo; Syriac Orthodox; Armenian Apostolic; Malankara Orthodox Syrian (India).
Of note
Ethiopian Christianity is the great blind spot of Western religious education: older than most European churches, never colonised, with its own canon, calendar, script and monastic tradition, and roughly the size of the population of Canada.
Its timeline
- 451 CE Council of Chalcedon. Egypt, Syria and Armenia reject its formula; the first permanent division of the Christian church.
- c.480–600 CE Jacob Baradaeus reorganises the Syrian church, which becomes the Syriac Orthodox Church.
- 301 CE Armenia adopts Christianity as its state religion — traditionally the first nation on earth to do so.
- c.330 CE Frumentius converts the Axumite king Ezana; Ethiopia becomes Christian.
- 639–642 CE Arab conquest of Egypt. The Copts, long persecuted by Byzantium for their theology, initially fare no worse and in some accounts better.
- 1915–1923 CE The Armenian genocide. Approximately 1.5 million killed; the Ottoman Armenian church is effectively destroyed.
- 1959 CE The Ethiopian church becomes fully autocephalous, ending 1,600 years under the Coptic patriarch.
- 1971–1990 CE Agreed christological statements with Eastern Orthodox, Catholic and Anglican churches largely resolve the ancient dispute.
- 2011–present Sustained attacks on Copts in Egypt; the 2015 murder of 21 Coptic workers in Libya.
Sources
Not yet checked against named sources. This entry is the house's reading; until it is checked, treat each claim as unverified. Correct it, with a source.