Abyssinian Church
The Abyssinian Church, anciently called the "Ethiopian Church," traces it's history to about 330 AD, when Frumentius was consecrated its first bishop by Athanasius, patriarch of Alexandria. After the 6th century, however, Ethiopia was practically isolated from the rest of the Christian world by the surrounding Mohammedan power. Little is know of the Church's history until the early part of the 16th century, when Abyssinia received Jesuit missionaries and an embassy from Portugal.
The Abyssinians are Monophysites, holding that Christ has but one nature, the divide. They agree generally with the Copts in ritual and practice. The head of the Church is called the Abuna ("our father"), who must be a foreigner and, since he or she is appointed by the Coptic patriarch, is usually a Copt. The Abuna alone has the authority to anoint the king or to ordain priests and deacons. It's usual for a prospective priest to marry before ordination, as marriage is not permitted the clergy afterwards. The sacraments of the Church are two, Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Baptism is performed by the trine immersion of adults and the sprinkling of children; the Lord's Supper is preceded by a severe fast. Graven images, including crucifixes, are rejected, as are the beliefs in purgatory and transubstantiation, and the practice of extreme unction (annointing of the sick). The Virgin Mary is paid special homage, and one saint, Pilate, elsewhere unrecognised, is included in the ecclesiastical calendar.
Jewish influence is prominent in the Abyssinian Church. The likeness of the sacred ark, called the ark of Zion, is the centre of Abyssinian devotion, to which gifts and prayers are offered. The Jewish Sabbath is observed as well as the Christian Sunday. Levirite marriage (in which the brother of a deceased man is obliged to marry his brother's widow) is advised, and dancing still forms part of the church ritual, as it did in the Jewish temple. Circumcision is also practiced, but this has probably more of ethnic than religious significance.
The Abyssinian Bible, which is read in Geez, the liturgical language of the Ethiopian church, now a dead language, contains 81 books, 46 in the Old Testament and 35 in the New — the extra books comprising various apocryphal books as well as eight books of canon law.
