The Biblical Canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tawāhǝdo Church (EOTC)

Abstract The Ethiopian Orthodox Tawāhǝdo Church (EOTC) has the broadest biblical canon of the Christian world. However, one needs to admit that there is a constant. The majority of the books that were part of the canon in early period of Christianity in Ethiopia, in medieval Ethiopia, and in the contemporary period are also common to other churches. Further, some of the books that belong solely to the Ethiopian canon were excluded by other churches only after the fourth century. Before that period, these books were appreciated by some church fathers and some texts of authority. The same criteria valid for determining the canon elsewhere, namely apostolicity, orthodoxy, antiquity, and use are also applicable to the Ethiopian biblical canon. The criteria may of course vary depending on the book’s nature. Adaptability in welcoming and preserving the peculiar books as well as in interpreting them in the light of Christological doctrine and liturgy explains the history of the EOTC’s biblical canon.