Tales and misconceptions on the origin of the dogmatic controversy of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church

Abstract

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church (hereafter, EOTC) saw the emergence of a severe dogmatic controversy in the early seventeenth century. The feud enormously threatened the unity of the church and the Ethiopian state for two and a half centuries. The essence of clerical accounts, rapine and allegorical portrayals of sectarian documents are unnoticed by the scholarly literature dealing with the issue. This paper aimed at exploring the context to better understand the origins of the anecdotes and misconceptions about the dogmatic controversy of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church. Important insights into the root causes, the subject matter, and the manner and time of the controversy are also provided. Primary sources such as polemic treatises, hagiographical traditions, and royal chronicles and secondary literature are consulted. A qualitative data collection tool and an integrated, thematic and chronological document analysis approach were also used. Exposition, in conjunction with narration and description, which is a mode of historical writing, is also employed. An investigation of the available sources indicates that the sectarian literature written on the origin of the controversy is characterized by anecdotes, rapine, and allegorical portrayals. It also reveals that the scholarly misconceptions about its origins, root causes, and major themes of the controversy are enormously shaped by the accounts and the social and political context, rapine and allegories. It is believed that the results of the study will benefit the EOTC and the government to settle religious conflicts. It principally gives insights for further research aiming at deconstructing the Euro-centric view that credited the root cause of the dogmatic feud to the EOTC’s supposed lack of dogmatic and hierarchical unity.