Merahit said...Arius or Aryos as they say it in the abyssinian coptic church
is made to sound like it is another name for the devil.
Who is Arius? Was he a human being or was he the devil's incar-
nate as they made him look like?
Belom said.....You are right about that. The church hated Arius so much
that it made him look like he was a devil or devil's friend.
Actually he was a human being. In the early part of the 4th
century, Arius was a priest in Alexandria. He made himself
the most controversial and most hated priest among the
Eastern Orthodox Churchs only when he took a position on
the definition of the nature of christ which was contrary
to that of the church. He accused his bishop of confusing
the son with the father. His teaching made Christ a created
being. The church, whose belief in the divinity of Christ was
strong was terribly angred and summoned a meeting of an ecume-
nical council in 325 A.D. to settle the Arian dispute. In this
& susequent ecumenical meetings, Ariusism was suppressed by
force & he was driven out of the Empire to take refuge with
the Goths and other Barbarians. The Church excluded Ariusism
& replaced it with 'Homoousis' meaning the son is of the same
substance with the father.
MeraHit said...ummm...accused his bishop of confusing the father with son..
sounds like baba Ismail of Dehai :-)..just joking Bellom..I
may say something about baba Ismail (a dehai elder) latter on,
but I think you have answered my question on Arius.
She said.......my next question is, I know many Abyssinian coptics
think that the Greeks are tewahdos(coptic) and go &
get married and have their kids get babtized in the
Greek churcs here in America. But according to your paper,
there is big difference between the Greek Orthodox
Church and the Abyssinian Orthodox Chhurch. I myself was not
aware of such a diffrence..first time I heard. What
do say about this?
Belom said.....MerHit, if your question is 'is it right or is it wrong', my
friend I have two answers. If one goes to a Greek Church & gets
wedded & babtizes one's children just because one believes that
it is just as good as any other church, I am in full agreement.
but, if an Abyssinian coptic goes to A Greek church because
he thinks it a coptic one, I say it is wrong. The Greeks
Orthodox Church, the Russian, the One in Turkey and most
of Eastern European Churchs are not Tewahdos.
She said.......who are the tewahdos and what is the difference?
Belom..........Good questions my friend. The tewahdos are the Egyptians,
Armenians, the Jacobites of Syria, followers of the Church
of St. Thomas in Kerala, Southern India and the Abyssinian
Church in Eritrea and Ethiopia. To answer your question
about the difference...the non-coptics e.g. the Greeks
believe in the dual nature of Christ i.e. both human & divine.
They are known as 'Diophysites' meaning of 'dual nature'.
All coptics believe only in the divine nature of Christ.
They are known as 'monophysites'. Mono is one & physite means
nature.
MeraHit........How did all these happen? Weren't they all one big camp
called Eastern Orthodox church as opposed to the Roman
Catholic Church?
Belom..........Well, throughout the 4th Century the Eastern Churchs went
through all kinds of dogma/doctrinal disputes. It started
with Ariusism which was suppressed by force. The high
priests like Dioscorus of Alexandria & others came with
Definitions of the nature of Christ different than the original
belief of the churchs which was 'of dual nature'. There was a
well known meeting known as the 'council of chalcedon' where the
church reafirmed its position on the two natures in one person
ofChrist. But, the mass of the Christian population of Egypt &
Syria embraced the Doctrine of the Monophysites & refused to
accept the reafirmed position of the 'Council of Chalcedon'.They
broke away from the Unity of Christendom to become the Coptic
church in Egypt and the Jacobite Church in Syria, leaving
the Patriarichates of Alexandria, Antioch other Greek speaking
areas still in communion with Constantinople.
Merahit........Thanks for the details but I have few more questions. Which of
the two Camps of the Eastern Orthodox Churches was closer to
the Roman Catholic Church?
Belom..........Another good question. The Greeks and the rest of the
'Diopysites' have no doctrinal difference with the Catholics.
The Basic difference between the Greek Orthodxs Church &
the Roman Catholic is the exageration of the authority invested
in the person of the pope, to whom absolute primacy of juridic-
tion and infalibility are ascribed. Both the Catholics and Greeks
believe in the dual nature of Christ. So, there is no difference
of religious substance. Catholics & Coptics do have a serious doc
inal differences.
MeraHit........probably my last question..Where the first Abyssinian Christi-
ans Tewahdos or Diophystes like the Greeks?
Belom..........according to one of my references, entitled 'Christian Denominat-
ions' by Rev. Konrad Algermissen, no, they were not Tewahdos.
Abyssinians accepted Christianity in the early fourth century.
The first Bishop in Abyssinia father Frementius was representing
the Greek part of the Church of Alexandria which means that he
established a non-coptic church. According to Rev. Algermissen's
book, later on the Abyssinians embraced copticism.
Merahit........well, well, well I am done with my questions. I believe you have
a well reserched paper in your hand, & I believe it is also time
to go my friend.
Belom..........thanks a lot. Did you say a while ago you want to say something
about baba Ismail of Dehai..one of the Dehai elders?
MeraHit........Yes, yes, you are right. You know, I do selectively read Dehai
Archives especially those of the early ones such as that
of baba Ismail. When you said that priest acused his
his Bishop of confusing the father with son, I felt like I
was reading some of baba Ismail's early postings. I enjoy
reading his old postings...very deep, and intellectually
speaking his writings are worth spending the time. But
as much as I like his writings, his position on wife beating
still bothers me.
Belom..........glad you mentioned that. I too am one of his fans...his
postings, especially in the areas of philosophy and reliogion
which happened to be my area of interest, are interesting.
About his position on wife beating, I think he too knows that
his image in the Dehai-women has become not so good. I thi-
nk he is trying to make some image adjustment. In his recent
book entitled 'How to beat a wife without hurting her', for exa-
mple he gives some serious recommendations. He condemns the use
of sticks or canes in beating a wife. He said punching a wife
on the face or draging her with her hair from one room of the
house to the other should be a no no. He recommends slaping in
the face up to two times, not more than that, or pinching her
ears until it gets red. For the most part his book is very inte-
resting. He covered the subject of wife beating indepth with
a lot of historical and cross-cultural analysis.
MeraHit........you liked it because you are not a woman. Any forms of
domestic violence must be a no no. Now, my friend
I think it is time to go.
Belom..........yes it is. Now, when shal we meet again. Can we go out together
this week end?
MeraHit........Belom, I like to go out with you but your timing is not right.
This week-end which is starting to night, is one of those days
of the month that I like to rest and be with myself.
Belom..........I don't understand it. What do you mean?
MeraHit........I think you have been taking too much Philosophy and reliogion.
You should take some courses in human biology and women psycho-
logy. It will help you understand women better. Biologically
speaking, I am a regular woman, and what happens to a regular
woman every month happens to me too. So, change the date & will
have a good time.
Belom..........I know what you mean. I will check with you again.
They both gave a good night kiss to each other and agreed
to meet another time.
To be continued
Hawkum
T. Kflu
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