Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church: Difference between revisions

| icon_alt =

| name = Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church

| native_name_lang = am

| image = Addis abeba, chiesa della trinità, esterno 01.jpg

 

===Influence on the Reformation===

David Daniels has suggested that the Ethiopian Church has had a stronger impact on the Reformation than most scholars acknowledge. For [[Martin Luther]], who spearheaded the [[Reformation]], Daniels says "the Ethiopian Church conferred legitimacy on Luther's emerging Protestant vision of a church outside the authority of the Roman Catholic papacy" as it was "an ancient church with direct ties to the apostles".<ref name = "Daniels2017">{{cite web|url= https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/opinion/contributors/2017/10/21/honor-reformations-african-roots/783252001/|title=Honor the Reformation's African roots|last= Daniels|first=David D.|date=21 October 2017| work =[[The Commercial Appeal]] |access-date=9 April 2018}}</ref> According to Daniels, Martin Luther saw that the Ethiopian Orthodox Church practiced elements of faith including "[[communion under both kinds]], vernacular Scriptures, and married clergy" and these practices became customary in the [[Lutheran Church|Lutheran church]]es. The Ethiopian church also rejected [[papal supremacy]], [[purgatory]] and [[indulgences]], which the Lutherans disagreed with, and thus for Luther, the Ethiopian church was the "true [[Proto-Protestantism|forerunner of Protestantism]]".<ref name="Daniels2017" /> Luther believed that the Ethiopian church kept true apostolic practices which the Lutherans would adopt through reading the scriptures.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Martin Luther and Ethiopian Christianity: Historical Traces | publisher = The University of Chicago Divinity School|url= https://divinity.uchicago.edu/sightings/articles/martin-luther-and-ethiopian-christianity-historical-traces|access-date=2022-01-28}}</ref>

 

 

An important religious requirement, however, is the keeping of [[Fasting#Oriental Orthodox|fast]] days, during which adherents abstain from consuming meat and animal products, and refrain from sexual activity.<ref name="worship" /><ref name="Molvaer" /><ref name="dw2017-03-22">{{Cite news | author=James Jeffrey | title=Ethiopia: fasting for 55 days | url=http://www.dw.com/en/ethiopia-fasting-for-55-days/g-38067533 | publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]] | date=22 March 2017 | access-date=24 March 2017 }}</ref> The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has 250 fasting days, 180 of which are obligatory for laypeople, not just monks and priests, when [[Veganism|vegan]] food is eaten by the faithful. During the 40-day Advent fast, only one vegan meal is allowed per day.<ref>{{Cite news|title=A 40-Day Vegan Fast, Then, At Last, A January Christmas Feast|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/01/01/373834051/a-40-day-vegan-fast-then-at-last-a-january-christmas-feast|access-date=2021-06-15|website=NPR.org|language=en}}</ref>

#Fast for Hudadi or Abiye Tsome [ሁዳዴ/ዓብይ ጾም] (Great Lent), 55 days prior to [[Easter]] (''[[Fasika]]'').<ref name="nenewe">{{Cite web | title=Tsome Nenewe (The Fast of Nineveh) | url=http://www.debreselam.net/index/?p=789 | publisher=Debre Selam Medhanealem Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church | location=[[Minneapolis]] | date=28 January 2015 | access-date=30 March 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405110705/http://www.debreselam.net/index?p=789 | archive-date=2015-04-05 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="arega">{{Cite web | author=Robel Arega | title=Fasting in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church | at=Why Fifty-Five Days? | publisher=Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Sunday School Department – Mahibere Kidusan | url=http://eotcmk.org/site-en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=56&Itemid=1 | access-date=30 March 2017 | archive-date=31 March 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331025244/http://eotcmk.org/site-en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=56&Itemid=1 | url-status=dead }}</ref> This fast is divided into three separate periods: Tsome Hirkal (ጾመ ህርቃል), eight days commemorating [[Heraclius]]; Tsome Arba (ጾመ አርባ), forty days of [[Lent]]; and Tsome Himamat (ጾመ ሕማማት), seven days commemorating [[Holy Week]].<ref name="nenewe" /><ref name="arega" /><ref name="keraneyo-medhanealem">{{Cite web | title=Great Lent - Abiy Tsom - ዐብይ ጾም First Sunday - Zewerede - ዘወረደ | url=https://www.keraneyo-medhanealem.com/post/great-lent-abiy-tsom-%E1%8B%90%E1%89%A5%E1%8B%AD-%E1%8C%BE%E1%88%9D-first-sunday-zewerede-%E1%8B%98%E1%8B%88%E1%88%A8%E1%8B%B0 | publisher=Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Keraneyo Medhane Alem | location=[[Toronto]], [[Ontario|ON]] | date=3 March 2021 | access-date=27 February 2023 }}</ref>

#Fast of the Apostles, 10–40 days, which the Apostles kept after they had received the [[Holy Spirit]]. It begins after [[Pentecost]].

===Debtera===

{{Main|Debtera}}

A debtera is an itinerant lay priest figure (not a member of the priesthood) trained by the Ethiopian Church to function principally as a [[scribe]] or [[Cantor (church)|cantor]]. But often he is also a folk healer, who may also function in roles comparable to a [[deacon]] or [[exorcist]]. Folklore and legends ascribe the role of magician to the debtera as well.<ref>{{cite book|author=Encyclopaedia Aethiopica|authorlink=Encyclopaedia Aethiopica|title=Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: He-N|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l4WUdKWGcYsC&pg=PA4|year=2003|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-05607-6|page=4}}</ref>