I am very much confused by the announcement the Ethiopian Church yesterday(don't want to say where) that our fasting starts November 25th Sunday not on Monday the 26th but the calendar says so... Please can you tell me what day the fasting starts here in the US, 2007?
Thank you and God bless!
Sincerely Tiegest

Dear Tiegest:

Greetings in the Names of Our Lord Jesus Christ and Our Holy Mother the Virgin Mary!
Thank you for visiting our Web site and for your recent email. We indeed apologize for the undue delay of our response caused by our busy schedule.
The Prophet's Fasting (Tsome-Nebiyat) Period begins on Monday, November 26, and not on Sunday November 25, 2007, either in US or wherever you reside. This is marked in our Ethiopian 2000 Calendar of the Month of Hedar, posted on our web site in the Calendar section.
Even the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Canon, the Fetha-Negest, stipulates and approves the same computation and timetable, by specifying that the Fasting ought to start on the first day of the second half of the Month of H'dar, which means the 16th of Hedar, that is the 26th of November.
We do not understand why they are confusing the issue since it is clearly stated therein. Such minor misinterpretation reflects the unfortunate situation that pervades in most aspects of the Church's vocation perpetrated by Her clergy.

Servant of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God
________________

Why do we have to wear black thread on our neck. What is the meaning of it and does it protect us from evil thing?

Thank you for visiting our web site and for your e-mail question about wearing black thread on your neck (such thread in our religious context is called MATEB).
We have no idea who introduced this custom. It is something new to us. Who told you to wear it? Why didn't you ask that person who made you to wear it, whether he/she is a relative, a friend or a priest of the Church you attend, if you are a member any Church? Before you accepted to wear it, you should have asked and known the source and the truth about it, as this is an act that entails grave consequences involving your religion, worship and you relationship with God. Even if it is late, we commend you for sending us this inquiry. In this activity, one could suspect conspiracy of the evil, with the leading role of the Devil himself, that run secretly through his henchmen and followers to undermine your faith in God.
In our Church of Ethiopia: the Kingdom of God, the MATEB we all wear, is made up of three Tri-coloured filaments of Green, Yellow and Red, symbolizing the Rainbow, which is the sign of the Covenant that God established with Noah and his children, and which we, Ethiopians, still preserved as our National Flag.
However, the practice of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, in this regard is quite different from ours. As this Church, in reality, is not an Ethiopian Church, but a Church that the Egyptians claim to have founded in the 4th Century A. D., we refer to it as "the Coptic (or Egyptian) Orthodox Church in Ethiopia." According to the custom that the Egyptians introduced in this Church long ago, the colour of the Mateb that is tied on the neck of its members at the time of their Baptism continues to be black, white and red: the tri-colours of the Egyptian National Flag to this day.
If you are a serious and concerned Ethiopian, you need to be knowledgeable about such and all other minor and major issues concerning Ethiopia, the Ethiopians and Ethiopiawinnet. To achieve this goal, you have to read those books and publications publicized on our web site, including the Q & A section.
By fulfilling this Ethiopian commitment, you will, not only benefit from the acquirement of the priceless information on the Divine Truth about Ethiopia, the Ethiopians and Ethiopianness, but you will also save the valuable time and energy that we, on both sides, would unnecessarily spend in our exchange of emails. So, we urge you to do that before you try to send us any more questions on any item that relates to the above subject matters.

Servant of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God
_________________

Email from Eska, dated November 04, 2007:-

Ye Ethiopia ye mejemeryaw patreyalke man yebalale?

Be'Medhanitach'n Iyyesus K'r'stos inna beQ'dd'st Innatu D'ng'l Mariam S'm, ItyoPyawi Selamtach'n'n innaqerbll'wotallen.
Y'h melsach'n yezegeyyebb'wo bes'ra b'zat mehonun awqew y'q'rta indiadergull'n beq'dmiya inn'Teyy'q'wotallen.
YeG'bts Ortodoks Bete-Kr'stian, yeIgziab'her'n Iwnet wedesew hasset bemelewweT, "Kek'r'stos L'det behuwala be4gnaw m'it amet, igna nen yemeserretnat" bemmilwat be'ItioPia Ortodoks Bete-Kr'stian yetarik mezgeb meseret, yemejemmeryaw Patreyar'k "Abune Baslios" y'bbalalu. Yeteshomut'm beq'rbu kezare 50 ametat befit g'dm new.
Ye'igna yehonew, ye'ItioPia ye'Igziab'her meng'st zena mewa'ilach'n yemmiyarregagg'Tew iwneta g'n, yemejemmeriaw ye'ItioPia Liqe-Kah'nat (Patreyar'k), rasu Addam new. Kezzian ke'Addam inna Hewan zemen jemm'ro iskezare ballew ye7500 ametat w'sT iyyeteketattelu yeteshommut Liqane-Kah'nat quTrachew, inddezemenu r'zmet meTen b'zu new.

ItioPia: Ye'Igziab'her Meng'st Agelg'lot

E-mail from Yared Emanuel, dated October 27, 2007 via Selam For Ethiopia:-

Besme Ab wo Wold wo Menifs Quddus Ahadu Amlak Amin

I greet You sincerely. Since I read the book of venerable nebure 'id, I just would like to know if Ethiopia: the Kingdom of God is a parish Church of the Ethiopian Tewahedo Church, and if so, in which area of Usa and under which Liqe Kehnat. Or if it is just an organization or what... Thank You very much

Ethiopian Greetings in the Name of God!

Thank you for your email forwarded to us through JoinUs@SelamForEthiopia.com.

The entity and identity of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God is described extensively in the series of books produced by N'bure-Id Ermias Kebede Welde-Iyyesus, which you acknowledged to have read, and in the various publications posted on our web site. As portrayed therein, It is a Kingdom that God had established in Ethiopia with the advent of Adam and Eve, and that had survived for the past 7,500 years to this day, and that continues to exist forever within and among Faithful Ethiopians of the Holy Covenant.
It constitutes the main body called "the House of the People" and the two subordinate Houses of the Priesthood and the Administration; these are the precursors of the modern Legislative, the Judiciary and the Executive branches of state governments of secular nations respectively. So, the Church, i.e., the Ethiopian Tewah'do Church, is one of the two integral parts created by the House of the People to conduct and be responsible for the Spiritual Services of the Kingdom, while the parallel counterpart created by the House of the People to conduct and be responsible for the material services of the Divine Kingdom is the House of the Administration.
The physical, moral and spiritual Leaders and Heads of this Kingdom are The Priestly King Jesus Christ, the Incarnate God and The Living Temple Queen Virgin Mary, the Holy Mother of God. All the Servants ("Officials" in temporal term) in each Houses of the Kingdom are nominated, elected and appointed by the Assembly of the House of the People with the inspiration and guidance, and under the auspices of the Holy Spirit.
Now and all the time, Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God exists, is revealed and works in the lives, bodies, hearts and minds of the Faithful Ethiopians, male and female, young and old alike. These Faithful render their unaffected services, of their own will and freely, wherever they are, being genuinely true to their God. We, in this Services of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, are no exception; we consider ourselves to be among these Servants.
At present, the ongoing Divine Condemnation inflicted upon the current evil, adulterous and apostate Ethiopian generation, proscribe the formation of Parish Churches of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, overtly and physically, in mainland Ethiopia as well as anywhere else abroad, including in USA. However, the permanence of the life and services of the Church of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, of course, continues to be maintained, covertly and spiritually, through the enduring Faithful, within those same existing Parishes of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church that were established and function across Ethiopia and elsewhere, dispersed throughout the world. Such status remain effective until the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is purged by the Holy Spirit from its present crisis replete with a multitude of evils, and restored to its original, unadulterated and legitimate identity of the Church of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, with "Tewah'do" retained as its basic and accepted Doctrine.
Under the present circumstances, i.e., in the absence of any eligible and competent incumbent cleric or lay Servant in any of the Three Houses of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, the King and King of Kings (N'gus, N'guse-Negest), and the Priest and Archpriest (Kah'n, Liqe-Kahnat) for all the Faithful of this Kingdom is Jesus Christ Himself. And, each and every Faithful Ethiopian, in accordance with the Word of God and because of the Holy Covenant and through the Holy Spirit, is himself or herself the temple of God.

For further details and to be more enlightened on the subject-matter you raised, please visit our website, specifically the Q & A section.

EKoG Servant

3rd e-mail from Sintayehu Yared, dated Oct 31, 2007

Dear Editor;

I really thank you for your answer.
God bless you!!

Dereje Sentayehu Yared

2nd e-mail from Sintayehu Yared, dated October 22, 2007

Thank You very much again.

Your answers are very stimulating and they always call for more questions; since You encouraged me to raise questions, please allow me to ask other few things. It is not to take profit of Your precious time that I spend so many words, but only for the sincere sake of knowledge.

Finally, concerning Your suggestions to read Your books and site, I want to tell You I did. I bought Your book in February 2006 in Addis Ababa, Arat Kilo, then I begun to search more information on the web and I found the site. The reason why I wrote You is just because I found the book very interesting.

These are my further questions:

1. Your answer on dabtara and Liqawunt was referring to the present degenerated state in the Ethiopian Church. This is interesting. However, I was referring to their proper status in the Living Tradition of Ethiopia before the fracture with God. I was asking what should be their status in the Divine Covenantal Ethiopia. As far as I understood You told me that also in Living Tradition they could be both clergy and laity. This means that also laity were allowed, from ancient times, to reach higher position as intellectuals and doctors of the Church. Could You please confirm me if did I understand well? Thank You.
In fact this point to me is very important because it happened very often in Christianity, especially in the West, but also in Asia or Egypt, that the laity were forcefully alienated from actual roles in the Church or to become theologians. In many traditions this was reserved to priests, and most often only to monks. Thus the laity and the married became second class members of the Body.
Instead, if I well understood (and please I ask You to confirm if I did), in the Living Tradition of Ethiopian Church this did not happen because also faithful laity could become theologians, interpreters of the Bible and so on. Neither were these activities restricted to monastic circles. Please correct me if I understood something wrong.

2. You answered me that celibacy is not considered superior to marriage, because marriage is the foundation of the Covenant of Addam and Hewan, as You rightly explain in Your book. Obviously I agree and I trust Your answer. But this lead me to ask why, this being so, are the highest ranks in the priesthood required to be monks (obviously I am referring to Bishops / Liqe Kahnat)?

3. Why are the Faithful Laity not required to share the Q'ddus Qurban and why?

Thank You very much and please bless me.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God;
And in the Name of The Virgin Mary Our Holy Mother of God.

Thank you for your email and for the complements expressed therein. I am glad that you procured and read our recommended books, though you did not specify which of them are in your hands.

In our Living Tradition of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, the role and the status of the Debteras and Liqaw'nt are not different from the rest of the members of the Three Houses of the Divine Kingdom, except for their vocational duties, as it is for every individual in the membership of the latter. It was explained in our earlier response that the Church of Ethiopia, i.e., the House of the Priesthood, in which the Debteras and Liqaw'nt serve, is one of the two integral parts created by the House of the People, the other one being the House of the Administration or Government. There is no class distinction or alienation of members in our Ethiopian Living Tradition. Because of the Seven Holy Covenants in general, and, the Covenant of Melchizedek in particular, every Ethiopian, i.e., every member of the Three Houses, irrespective of race, age, gender, education and/or profession, is bestowed upon with the Divine Gifts of the: 1) Spiritual Birth, 2) Priesthood and 3) Kingship or Queenship through the Holy Spirit. As each Ethiopian is eligible for membership in each of the Three Houses, he or she is H'zbawi, Kah'n and M'luk respectively; i.e., he or she is all three in one, and one in three. Hence, every member, including the Debreras and the Liqaw'nt, ought to abide by the precepts of the membership or citizenship of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God.

Accordingly, the Debreras and the Liqaw'nt, in order for them to render their membership privileges, rights and duties valid, they have to be and remain ordained priests unless they lose such status on the ground of breach of the Matrimonial Sacrament and/or of their vows of celibacy. Even in such cases, the married ones are allowed to continue their services with their status intact, if the cause of the disruption was death, unfaithfulness or illegitimate refusal of a partner; and, in the case of the latter and the ex-celibate, the same procedure applies as long as they willingly commit themselves to the fulfillment of the Sacrament of Repentance for their wrong or sin, and continue their livelihood after their status is appropriately readjusted and normalized.

Classification, discrimination and alienation of the members by labeling the members and the constituent bodies as debtera, liqawnt, clergy, laity, married, celibate, monk, bishop, church and state never existed, even conceptually, in our Ethiopian Divine Constitutional Structure and Procedure at all. These terms and systems were only introduced by the advent of the Jewish tradition around 1000 B.C. and the Coptic (Egyptian) domination in 4th century A.D. Ever since then, the original, unadulterated and intrinsic Divine ways of our social and economic lives, our government structures and management, and the conduct of our worship of God were all systematically perverted. And the abuse, distortion and all kinds of misrepresentation of these Sacred Treasures of our Divine Heritage, enhanced by the manipulation of the Devil and his henchmen, persisted unabated to this day.

Based on the above stated fundamental premises, the answer to all your three questions could, therefore, be combined and summed up in one sentence: The issues raised in your questions are the results of the perversion committed by the above-mentioned epochal events and the sinister manipulations of the adversaries of God spearhead by the Devil himself. For your better understanding of this summation, let me itemize and paraphrase the positive answers in the order and context of your questions:

1) Yes, in the Living Tradition of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, not only the clergy, but also the laity was allowed, from ancient times, to reach higher position as intellectuals and doctors of the Church, even though there was never such differentiation formerly, until it consequentially resulted from the subsequent introduction of Jewish tradition followed by that of the Copts (Egyptians). This means, the laity was forcefully alienated from becoming theologians or effective players of their actual roles in the Church. The traditions that reserve these professions to the clergy, and most often only to monks, thus presenting the laity and even the married priests as second class members of the Body are entirely non-Ethiopian. In the Living Tradition of the Ethiopian Church, this should not and did not have happened, because the faithful laity could become theologians, interpreters of the Bible and so on; none of these activities was restricted to monastic circles.

2) To dare decree that those who are singularly competent and eligible for the highest rank in the priesthood, i.e., for the position of a bishop, are required to be only monks, is simply a despicable contradiction and perversion of the Divine Will and Teaching. Why? Because nothing was said by God, The Creator, about celibacy at the time of Creation, even, not much was said, by God The Incarnate, let alone to give such Divine commandment that deserves to become a Canon Law. But what God spoke much about then and in the New Testament Era was only about marriage, i.e., the primary Covenant that He made with Addam and Hewan which remains the foundation of the whole series of the Holy Covenant. So, the above tradition that contradicts the latter is not Ethiopian; it is manifestly alien, as explained earlier. The Divine Tradition of the Ethiopians is non-exclusive, but inclusive, i.e., whether the Ethiopian is married or celibate does not matter to appoint him as Liqe-Kahnat (bishop), as long as the individual is not precluded from membership of the Three Houses and is qualified for that position. This was the prevailing order in the Ethiopian Living Tradition until the advent of the Copts of the Egyptian Orthodox Church in the 4th century A. D. at which time the incumbent Axum Liqe-Kah'nat was a married priest.

3) It is true that only the Laity, including the Debteras and Liqaw'nt, particularly boys and girls, as well as young men and women, married or unmarried, in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church are still excluded from the requirement of sharing the Q'ddus Qurban. The reason is publicly known: It is totally because of the pervading and prevalent influence of the Devil that resulted in the diabolical misinterpretation and perverted teaching by the Debteras and Liqaw'nt of the Word and Teachings of Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Apostles. However, in the case of the Living Faith and Tradition of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, the Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ, i.e., Q'ddus Qurban, that symbolizes the Seventh and Final Covenant of Mercy, is the Eternal Seal and Crown of the whole series of the Holy Covenant, and which every Ethiopian, without exception, is required to fulfill by partaking from It, the Holy Eucharist.

Did you realize from your reading of our publications, including the books, what we, in this Service, together with Faithful Ethiopians, are committed to accomplish through the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit? It is to liberate our Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God and Her Children from all the vestiges of such detrimental legacies of the adversaries of God.

For more details and relevant information on the subject-matter you raised in your emails, I encourage you to peruse our web site as usual, particularly, the Q & A section on the Home Page.

We pray for the success in your pursuit for the Divine Truth about Ethiopia, the Ethiopian and the Ethiopianness which finally would end up, of course, in finding your own identity and related major issues of grave concern to our survival.

N'bure-Id Ermias K. Welde-Iyyesus
Servant of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God

2nd E-mail from Yared submitted to: ekogyesus@aol.com :-

From Yared

My kah'n,

I do not have enough words to express my thanks to You for the promptness of Your answer and the time You spent for me. If even unworthy, I will remember You in my prayers. Your answers were englightening and solved many of my doubts, therefore I am grateful.

Honestly speaking, the only answer I did not understood is the one concerning dabtara and liqawunt. If You have time and I do not ask too much, I will be grateful if You could explain me better. My question was if these people who acquire highest Church education are ordained members, or if they are laity (Most books, also from Ethiopian scholars, affirm in fact that dabtara are non-ordained). Just to quote an example, Liqe Liqawunt Aleqa Ayalew Tamiru, who just passed away from this life, was he a ordained clergy or a laity member of the Church?

Sorry if I ask You, but if You do not belong to any of the synods, do You have a bishop to ordain clergy? It is not to be irrespectful not to affirm nothing of unlawful, I am asking this just to know.

Thank You very much, I wait for Your answers and yibarkugn

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God;
and in the Name of The Virgin Mary Our Holy Mother of God.

Thank you for your email in which you requested for more clarification on one of the responses that we provided you with to the questions you put forward to us in your earlier email. We are grateful for your compliments expressed in your recent email, especially for your thoughtfulness to remember us in your prayers which we value more than anything else.
Here are concise answers to your current queries:-
1) We have enlightened you on the position of our Church of Ethiopia with regard to the question of what should be done and what is being done about the status of the Debteras and Liqawnt: They have to be either ordained members of the Clergy or, at least, Holy Communion Partakers of the Church. However, the status quo of Debteras and Liqaw'nt in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewah'do Church is publicly known. Not even 2-5% of them are Partakers of the Holy Communion, let alone to be ordained members of the priesthood. They are not only non-ordained, but also non-partakers of the Holy Communion. This means they are not even qualified for membership in the Faithful Laity, if there is a Faithful Laity as such in this Church, because the Laity of the latter is also not required even to fulfill this rudimentary criterion, i.e., the partaking of the Holy Communion (Q'ddus Qurban).
2) As to Aleqa Ayyalew Tamm'ru, I could not confirm whether he was ordained or a recipient of the Holy Communion. While it is very likely to assume that he committed himself to the latter, it would seem unlikely to envisage the possibility of his acquiring the status of ordination, for reason of his apparent blindness.
3) Before dealing with another of your concerns, let us mention two points of relevance to the subject at hand:- a) You have the right to ask, and we have the obligation to answer any of your questions, provided that they are presented in decency and are meant for the enhancement of knowledge of the Divine Truth about Ethiopia, Ethiopians and Ethiopianhood. So, you do not need to apologize just for doing that. b) Don't forget that we do not use the term "bishop=PaPas", because it is foreign to Ethiopians, who retain their unprecedented seniority and their own civilization with a unique language of rich vocabulary, like Liqe-Kahnat for "bishop". Now to answer your question: Yes, at present, and, as always, we do have a Liqe-Kah'nat, an Arch-Priest; and He is Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself who, in the absence of human deputies, as we are experiencing today, ordains, through the Holy Spirit, members of our clergy. This remains in effect until the current hardship in which Ethiopia and Ethiopians languish is eradicated. In the meantime, however, we just have to wait for The Holy Spirit to purge the abuse, the corruption and all the evil out of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewah'do Church, and absolve its clergy and laity from their sins, so that they all become fit to execute, under His guidance, whatever is necessary for the fulfillment of the Will of Our Lord Jesus Christ and Our Holy Mother, The Virgin Mary.
4) We wonder whether you have visited our web site: www.ethkogserv.org so far. If not, please do so. To be more knowledgeable about Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, including its Church, i.e., the House of the Priesthood, as well as its Houses of the People and the Administration, you need to read our books and publications posted therein. You will find many of your questions and concerns fully answered therein.
Let the Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Blessing of Our Holy Mother The Virgin Mary always be with you.
N'bure-Id Ermias, Servant of EKoG

From Yared

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God

Venerable Father,

I am writing You because of some doubts which trouble me because I do not have any answer. Please answer me as soon as You can. Sorry if I tell You so.

1) Does the Ethiopian Church consider celibacy superior to marriage in the eyes of God and thus for reward in the life to come?

2) Are the ordained members of the Church (priests) to be considered better individuals (morally and humanely superior) than the other members of the Church, or do they simply need to be revered because of their ritual sacredness?

3) Are the dabtara and the liqawunt necessarily ordained members of the Church, or are they usually lay members?

Thank You very much, I hope for Your answers. Yibarkugn.
Your son

Dear Ato Yared:

Thank you for your recent email.
Before providing you with the answers to your questions, we need to identify the Church which you are referring to, so that we are not confused in dealing with the subject-matter. We assume you are referring to the so-called "Ethiopian Coptic Orthodox Tewah'do Church" whose clergy and laity at home and abroad had accepted and recognized its present status as currently run by its two synods, with the one at home and the other abroad. This Church is the one that continues to suffer under the Divine Condemnation, since its flagrant partnership, in 1967 E.C., with "the evil, adulterous and apostate generation" represented by the atheistic rule of the Derg, which partnership amounted to the denial of the Holy Covenant by the same Church.
In consideration of this fact, we, in the Services of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, could not answer for any of the actions committed by the abovementioned Church, and have nothing to do with the same Church, including its clerical and lay membership, as well as its hierarchical leadership and policy. Why? Simply because this Church is no more Ethiopian: It is a branch Church in Ethiopia of the Coptic (Egyptian) Orthodox Church, created in the years around 330 A.D., and is considered just like those Churches that are themselves branch churches in Ethiopia of their Head Churches based abroad, such as the Greek and the Armenian Orthodox Churches, the Catholic Church and the various Evangelical and Protestant Churches operating in Ethiopia.
The main Church in Cairo (or Alexandria, Egypt) that is called "the Coptic (Egyptian) Orthodox Church" and its branch Church in Ethiopia that is called "Ethiopian Coptic Orthodox Tewah'do Church" both claim publicly, officially and legally, to have, the latter, been established in the 4th Century A.D. Whereas the Church that we are serving is "The Church of Ethiopia" whose date of inception by God Himself goes back to the time of the Creation of Adam and Eve; and Her uninterrupted independent existence spans 7500 years of age.
This is how we express the Divine Truth about our "Church of Ethiopia" in the Prayer of Our Creed: "We believe in the One Church of The Holy Covenant that was founded by the Word of God, Jesus Christ, initially, in the Hearts of the Patriarchs, and later sustained by His Divine Messages through the Prophets, and finally brought to perfection through the Holy Spirit by His convocation of the Apostles, and where His Body and Blood is offered as Sacrifice for the Holy Communion with God, and where the Sacramental Blessings of the Holy Spirit are bestowed upon and communicated to all believers."
True sons and True daughters of Ethiopia, through the inspiration and invigoration of the Holy Spirit, are called to liberate, not only this victimized "Ethiopian Coptic Orthodox Tewah'do Church", that is "the House of the Priesthood" in the Constitution of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, but also the other two component parts of the Divine Kingdom, namely, "the House of the People" and "the House of the Administration", from their present domination by the Coptic (Egypian) Orthodox Church and the incessant influence of the Devil, finally to restore all the three Houses to their original, inherent and legitimate status of the age old Ethiopianhood.
Based on this Divine Truth, the answers to your questions are as follows, in the order you put them:
1) No, the Ethiopian Church does not consider celibacy superior to marriage in the eyes of God and thus for reward in the life to come. In fact, our Church of Ethiopia recognizes that it is the Sacrament of the Holy Matrimony (Marriage), and not celibacy, that was created, established and sanctified by God originally in the persons of Adam and Eve, and finally confirmed by the presence of the Incarnate God, Our Lord Jesus Christ with His Holy Mother The Virgin Mary, at the wedding ceremony in Cana of Galilee.
This is best defined in our Prayer of the Testimonial of Ethiopians on the Holy Covenant (posted on our website) that says, "We Ethiopians believe in our Ethiopianhood of the Holy Covenant that embodied and conserved the Seven Divine Covenants the Lord granted to humanity. Our God, in the Era of the Genesis, founded the Ethiopian Entity on the Covenant of the Soul, through the Matrimony of Adam and Eve."
2) The ordained members of the Church (priests), even if those who deserve it need to be revered because of their ritual sacredness, are not to be considered better individuals (morally and humanly superior) than the other members of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, the Church, being the House of the Priesthood, and one of the three branches of the Divine Kingdom. The priests are simply discharging their duties of the priesthood as a vocation (profession or occupation), just like any other member of the House of the People, i.e., the laity, and of the House of the Administration, i.e., the executive. Let me elaborate for you this point.
In our Church of Ethiopia, no one, either by custom or tradition, or by any man-made means, has the authority to claim to be above the Word of God inscribed in Scriptures, and interpret it in his or her way (2Pet. 1/20-21). And this Word of God is inscribed, not only in Scriptures (the Holy Bible), but also, more importantly, in our individual souls, i.e., in our hearts and minds, when we were, initially, created in the image of God, and finally, when we were born of God in the Holy Spirit, through the Sacrament of Baptism. You must realize that each Divine Word reveals Itself to every human-being when the latter presents himself or herself to God in complete Truth and in faithful Penitence, and makes Itself fully understood by him or her. This is the Nature and Power of the Word of God in the Holy Spirit.
So, any reference that one need to quote from the Old and New Testaments is Divinely meant to address every person, including yourself, who, believes and proclaims in public, that Jesus, born of The Holy Virgin Mary, is The Christ and The Son of God, just like St. Peter the Apostle and the Ethiopian Eunuch. As a result of such conviction, proclamation and performance, that person himself or herself becomes the Ark of the Covenant, (Ts'llat and Tabot), the Altar, the Sanctuary and Temple or the Church of the Holy Spirit. The Divine Pronouncement made by Our Lord Jesus Christ to St. Peter is not limited to the latter only, but to any and every human being who has the will and determination to declare publicly his or her faith in line with that of St. Peter. It did not take much time for this same incident to take place: The question put forward by the Apostle Philip and the positive response given by the Ethiopian Eunuch forthwith, followed by his request to be baptized immediately, was simply a recurrence of that episode that took place earlier between Our Lord Jesus Christ and St. Peter. (Mt. 16/13-19; Act. 8/26-39).
You must know that any Ethiopian, including yourself, when he/she believes to be a True Ethiopian of the Holy Covenant, he/she will realize that he/she is already filled with the Grace of God that empowers him/her to believe that he/she is crowned with the Holy Spiritual Birth from God, as Son or Daughter of God, and with the Priesthood, and with the partnership of the Priestly Kingship of Jesus Christ and the Maternal Queenship of The Virgin Mary. This heavenly status was procured because of our ancestor, the First Ethiopian Melchizedeq of the Old Testament and the Last One of the New Testament, who is the Consummate Ethiopian, Jesus Christ, born of the Consummate Ethiopian, The Virgin Mary.
3) In our Church of Ethiopia, as explained above, no member is different from the other except by profession; and no dabtara and an individual among the liqawunt is immune from the criterion that constitutes an Ethiopian, which means they have either to attain the status of the clergy, i.e., they have to be ordained members or Holy Communion partakers of the Church.
Just a reminder for you: If it is me whom you meant to address as "Father!", please do not do so henceforth, because, while I do not deserve it in any way, more importantly, it is a transgression, on my part, of the Word of Our Lord, Jesus Christ that proscribes His Followers "not to call anyone on earth our father, for, One is our Father, and He is who is in Heaven." (Mt. 23/9) So, as I am simply a Servant of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, it suffices for me to be addressed only as "My Kah'n!" or, "N'bure-Id."
N'bure-Id Ermias Kebbede Welde-Iyyesus
EthKoG Servant

From Ato Demiss K:

Tena yistiligne Nibre-Id Ermias Kebede Woldeyesus,
It is an honor to be able and have a chance to learn from someone like you. I am a humble knowledge seeker about everything Ethiopia. I just leaned today that I am having a boy, and vow to teach my son the ways of Ethiopia. I am in the process of moving to Ethiopia. I have been doing so for the last eight years. However, Egiziabeher did not make so for reasons that are not clear to me yet. It seems though, I am closer to moving now than ever. My plans were to move with my wife on December of this year. But again, Egiziabeher had other plans for us and gave us this blessed pregnancy; therefore we plan to move in September next year.
Nibure-Id Ermais, I have been working on many projects both in Ethiopia and here in the US using the name Abyssinia. However, with the grace of Egiziabeher, I met a young man by the name Alemeneh and was advised against the use of the name Abyssinia. Could you kindly shade some light on the subject, so I do not make further mistakes?
Waiting you answer humbly…

Dear Ato Demiss K:

Thank you for your recent email.
I congratulate you for your forthcoming baby boy and wish you all the best for all your enterprises.
As long as you are a faithful believer of God, in Our Lord Jesus Christ and Our Holy Mother The Virgin Mary, and if you remain committed to follow and live up to the precepts of His Commandments He will bless all your worthy undertakings and fulfill all your sacred desires four yourself, your family including your prospective son. However, to deserve such status you need to be a True Ethiopian. To prove yourself to be a True Ethiopian, you simply have to get to know about Ethiopia, the Ethiopian and Ethiopianhood. And this knowledge could be achieved only by reading the books and publications posted on our web site so that what God had already inscribed on your heart is revealed to you. Once you become knowledgeable about your identity, i.e., about the Divine Truth of who you are, then you will be in the best position to guide and teach your son about Ethiopia and Ethiopianhood, and raise him in the best way a True Ethiopian parent can afford to offer and attain.
Now, to come to the explanation of why it is advisable for you not to use the word of "Abyssinia", it is simply because of the following basic and historical reason: Its application has, from the perspective of True Ethiopians, some derogatory implication, as foreign adversaries of Ethiopia, like the British, were very keen to use the name "Abyssinia", which they derive from the Arabic word "Habesh". They rather persist to designate "Abyssinia" for Ethiopia and the Ethiopians than that of the proper, the original and the legitimate one of "Ethiopia". Why? Because, the Name of "Ethiopia" is widely mentioned in the Holy Bible, and they did not like this name to continue as the means of identification for Ethiopia and Ethiopians. So, they thought that the introduction of this foreign and unwarranted designation of "Abyssinia" would be one of the effective ways that would contribute to their sinister campaign they launched to remove the name of "Ethiopia" from its God-given, prestigious and everlasting position, and substitute in its place the name of "Abyssinia". But it did not work for them; and all their devious effort ended in futility.
I hope you will understand their malicious scheme, and surely you would not prefer to fall prey to their conspiracy. Why don't you use the name of Ethiopia itself?
N'bure-Id Ermias, Servant of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God

E-mail from submission on our website: ethkogserv.org :-

From: Yared

Dear Editor;

Recently my wife gave birth to a baby girl.The baby was born at 03:30AM on 31 of August. Most people that I talked to said August 31,2007 is Nehase 25,1999 in Ethiopian calander,however I and some other people argued that 03:30AM on Aug'31,07 is Nehase 24,1999. The reason given by me and others who supported my idea is that in Ethiopian time caculation new day begins at dawn 06:00am (12:00am) and Nehase 25,1999 begun at dawn 06:00am not 00:00am.So, would you please expalin how we Ethiopians calulate our time and when a new day begins.

Regards,Yared

Dear Ato Yared:

Thank you for visiting our website and for your e-mail generated from a form submission therein.

First of all, "Congratulations!" to you and your wife for having a new baby girl.

We apologize for the delay of our response caused by our busy schedule.

According to our Ethiopian system of computation of time, your baby was born on Friday, Nehassie 25, 1999 (August 31, 2007). This is because we count the day of the 24 hours, from the first instant of the time past midnight to the last instant of the time of the coming midnight. Even if we set and express the time of the birth of your baby to be kelelitu be9 se'at tekkul, again this is because it was still the extension of the night that had already begun at 1:00 o'clock last evening, Ethiopian Time, and was coming to end at dawn, i.e., keT'watu 12:00 se'at. However, the new day of Nehassie 25, 1999 that was inaugurated 3 and half hours before the daybreak, continued its course to the morning, and in the whole daylight, and finally half of the nighttime until the next midnight, as explained above.

Our computation of the "day", "ilet", as well as of the "daylight", "Me'alt", and the "nighttime", "Lelit", follows the Biblical Text, as well as the natural phenomenon. According to these basics, the cycle of one complete day comprises 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of nighttime, totaling 24 hours. The sun and the moon were created to divide the whole day of 24 hours into two parts of 12 hours each, called "daylight" of the sun and "nighttime" of the moon respectively; and accordingly, we follow this division for the designation of "Me'alt" and "Lelit", as well as for the assignment of the 12 hours for each phenomenon of daylight and nighttime. The daylight time duration that begins at daybreak, i.e., at the end of the 12th hour of the darkness and at the start of counting of the 1st o'clock in the morning Ethiopian Time, ends after 12 hours sunshine at 12:00 o'clock Ethiopian Time in the evening, from which time on, the nighttime duration of 12 hours continues until the daybreak of the next morning.

The 24 hours span of full day starts and ends just at the Zenith of Midnight. Why? The following evidences provide the explanation: 1) Midnight is the apex of the 24 hours cycle of the whole day, at which instant the pinnacle and intensity of darkness, i.e., negativity, begin to recede, and the omnipotence and prevalence of light, i.e., positivism, creep to be felt, take over and dominate, heralding the advent of the sunshine. 2) The religious belief and astronomical premise assert that the universe came into existence, Adam and Eve were created in the image of God, The Virgin Mary and Her Son, the Incarnate God Jesus Christ were born and resurrected, and Their Second Coming will be effected at that specific time; 3) This moment is the focal and starting point where and when the cycle of the annual calendar computation is based and calculated to produce the Days of Holy Celebrations and the durations of the Periods of Fasting of the whole year; 4)It is a standard canonical rule of our Church of Ethiopia that every ceremony of the day with regard to prayer, celebration or fasting should always begin immediately after the instant of midnight.

EKoG Servant

2nd E-mail from HailePetros submitted on our website: ethkogserv.org :-

Thank you for your response, but such a long-winded attempt to refute the only, true Tewahido Church of Ethiopia was to no avail. Sir, firstly, I would like to note that Itchege Tekle Hayamno't the Righteous one defended and confessed ORTHODOXY. O'r'to'do'k's means ORIGINAL TEACHING or WAY. How in the world could you dear to say, that because the word ORTHODOX is not ETHIOPIAN, it does not apply to the faith of Ethiopia or her people? Sir, the very word ETHIOPIA is not an ETHIOPIAN WORD! You are a false prophet who claims to be humble. The WORD: TEWAHIDO comes from the COPTIC and even ARABIC phrase meaning 'THE ONE INCARNATE NATURE OF GOD THE WORD." The name of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia is not "Ethiopian Coptic Orthodox..." Coptic is a word distinctly reserved for Egyptian Orthodox Christians descended from Pharoah. "The True Ethiopian, under the current circumstances, that is, in the absence of a legitimate, competent and eligible Confessor, would only resort to the Grace of God secured by the sacrifice and atonement of Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Father and the Son of The Virgin Mary." + "Each person becomes New with Jesus Christ, the Eternal Priest and Archpriest, King and King of Kings serving him or her as his or her immutable and faithful Personal Confessor."This is a Protestant and Islamic teaching. You complete deny Confession to a priest or bishop.You do err and do not know the scriptures. Sir, did the Lord Jesus Christ establish a priesthood to have it cease? If so, that means that the Holy Spirit is no longer the Paraclete and the words of the Lord, "Lo, I am with you always..." is negated. Confession is a sacrament, established and instituted by the Lord Christ Himself. The Holy Synod of Ethiopia is not divided and you are the apostate, along with those who establish false churches and cults, outside of the Holy Synod.You have the audacity to speak about the Holy Spirit and a human being's ability to receive Him just by being penitent, baptized and by submitting him/herself to Him (the Holy Spirit). Okay, please explain why those who were baptized were waiting for the Apostles to lay hands on them? If you read the Holy Bible and not the Book of Macedonia of Constantinople and the book of the Jehovah's Witnesses, you would understand this.Just like Protestants and uneducated Bible readers, you use single verses to defend your heresies."We claim that our church dates back to Adam and Eve 7500 years ago..." Sir, what a complete joke you and your organization are even to the devils (Acts 19: 15)!"no more resort to the Old Testament precepts; but, only the New Testament Salvation, Absolution and Mercy of the Holy Covenant, attained by Jesus Christ and The Virgin Mary..." Sir, do you know the words of our Lord Jesus Christ? You are Nestorian, perhaps, mixed with the Rabbibnical Order.Sir, Saint Mary, our Lady is the Mother of God, not the 4th Person of the Trinity. She is our Great Intercessor and points us to God, Her Beloved Son, His Father and His Holy Spirit.My friend, Muslims do not accept the Holy Gospel. What are you talking about?! You believe that you will inherit this Earth forever and live here for the rest of your life! "Ethiopia is the Kingdom of Heaven..." Who are you kidding?The Church, my friend is the Kingdom of Heaven...you don't believe Earthly things, so how can you believe the things of heaven?Please publish my message on your website along with the other e-mail. Stop wasting these poor people's time.

Sincerely,hailepetros

Thank you for your second email that complement your earlier one to which we responded on time.

I apologize for the delay of this response caused by our busy schedule.

First of all, I wish to request that you neither be agitated nor prejudiced when you get and start reading this email, as I have noticed from your past two emails that you seem to be so, but to be mentally relaxed and open-minded, and spiritually clean and faithful this time. On my part, it is with compassionate sentiment that I received and treated your emails from the beginning, not in resentment that appears to incite you, as the traces assert.

One can easily observe from your recent communication that you still continued to behave and act like an arrogant and a bigot Old Testament teacher who gives dogmatic instructions to his students, but getting more aggressive and indecent this time than in your preceding portion of our ongoing correspondence. You don't seem to be aware of the eternal pitfall towards which you are dangerously heading by such behaviour and action that amounted to, not only defying, but also overruling openly the Word of God that says, "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant over his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Be'elzebub, how much more will they call those of his household?" The Divine Word proceeds in its caution thus: "Do not be called 'Teachers'; for, One is your Teacher, The Christ, and you are all brothers. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Mt. 10/24-25; 23/8-12) Within the context of these Words of God and because of the Divine Truth of the Holy Covenant, what is expected of the Ethiopian is not arrogance, but humility, not bigotry, but tolerance, and not insolence, but decency.

In spite of the unfortunate reciprocity perpetrated on your part, I respond hereby to all your controversial points raised in your email, without omitting an iota of it. I am certain that it is more advantageous for any one like you to learn from any one like me than not. If my response, as experienced in the previous one, seems ineffective in serving its purpose unto you, I trust that it would continue to serve others who would need this knowledge and benefit from my responses, as I believe it had served in the past. So, despite your persistent arrogance and unbecoming utterances of bigotry, which I consciously ignored and dismissed as an abnormal act, I proceeded, if not for you, for the sake of others, with my duty of providing you with our views on the recurrent controversies appeared in your email. In doing so, I was obliged to disregard the messy condition and sequence that are obvious in your email, and present them in the following formal order:
1) I wrote you at length with good intention; it was done to enlighten you on issues you needed to know more about, and with the belief that you may want to know not only human facts but also the Divine Truth about those issues. It is a deliberate distortion on your part to allege falsely that we, in the service of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, refute the True Tewah'do Church of Ethiopia, since the indigenous Ethiopian TEWAH'DO Doctrine is our cherished, everlasting and Divine Treasure, as we have affirmed to you in our previous response. Your seem to suffer with chronic problem of disability in concentrating on reading even any petty literature let alone our responses, because of your prejudice and obsession of the hatred you have on what we are promoting with regard to the cause of the Divine Truth about Ethiopia, the Ethiopians and Ethiopianhood.
2) It is a pity that you still are incapable to grasp the notion of the misuse of the term of "Orthodox" in the Ethiopian Church's designation. You need badly to understand that the usage of this term, besides its propensity to render the Church more vulnerable to doctrinal ambiguities, also implies domination, either by the Greeks or the Copts (the Egyptians) on our identity and nationhood of Ethiopianness, while Tewah'do suffices immensely for our comprehensive religious stipulations and doctrinal particulars. Since enough has been said and written on this subject, it proves futile, to describe for you anything more than that, here and now. Once again, I suggest, that you peruse, with clear conscience that is free from evil sentiments and determined dedication, those literatures that are posted for your convenience and information on our web site.
3) Do you realize how ignorant you are to the extent that your ignorance plunged you to complete mental blindness, when you write the following false statements: "the very word ETHIOPIA is not an ETHIOPIAN WORD! The WORD: TEWAHIDO comes from the COPTIC and even ARABIC phrase meaning 'THE ONE INCARNATE NATURE OF GOD THE WORD."? It is amazing how, by making these statements, you yourself expose your true identity as a non-Ethiopian. You may look externally and physically, or you may consider yourself or claim to be an Ethiopian. But, no, you are not. That may be the phantom of your image. Not only in the true sense of the appellation, but also internally and inherently, fundamentally and constitutionally, as well as ideologically and spiritually, you are not an Ethiopian. This is the measure of your being viewed in the eyes of the Holy Covenant and according to the precepts of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God. As such, we do not recognize or identify you as an Ethiopian. You must be either a Greek, or an Egyptian Coptic, or an Arab, or a renegade or perverted person. You seem to believe and rely solely on all what the adversaries of Ethiopia and of everything that is Ethiopian say or write from time immemorial until now. You are simply another quintessential, symbolizing the present Ethiopian generation. If so, you have already offered yourself as an easy prey for the sinister trap and subtle manipulations of Ethiopia's adversaries, native and foreign. Let me help you out of this quagmire, if you consent: Open not only your animal mind and your human mind, i.e., the minds of the flesh and the soul, but also, if you want to do so, I know you can, to open your spiritual mind. Try, first to learn, next to know, then to evaluate, and finally to hold fast to the truth, not the human or the Devil's, but the Divine Truth.
4) According to the Divine Truth, Ge'ez, as the vernacular of Adam and Eve, is the origin, mother and source of all languages, including Arabic, Coptic, Hebrew, Greek, etc. It is the Greeks who took the word Ethiops from the Ethiopians to signify the unique skin colour of the Ethiopian, as the Prophet Jeremiah said, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, (the Ethiopic word is: 'MELKUN') or the leopard his spots?", and not vice versa, as you alleged. Also, TEWAH'DO is purely a Ge'ez word that implicitly and explicitly articulates and epitomizes not "to mean the Nature of the One Incarnate God the Word", as you wrongly and deceptively put it, but TO CONNOTE "THE COMPLETE UNITY OF THE PERSON AND NATURE OF THE PERFECT HUMAN, COMPRISING THE SOUL AND THE BODY INHERITED FROM THE VIRGIN MARY, AND OF THE PERSON AND NATURE OF THE PERFECT DIVINITY OF GOD THE SON WHICH UNITY BECAME INHERENTLY THE ONE INCARNATE JESUS CHRIST. This is the interpretation of our Ge'ez term of TEWAH'DO, according to our Faith embodied in the Holy Covenant of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God.
5) Here, you are distorting the name of "Ethiopian Orthodox Tewah'do Church" into "The Orthodox Church of Ethiopia.", and again proved your ignorance, when you said, the latter is not "Ethiopian Coptic Orthodox ..." The facts and the realities are confirming the contrary: Now, whenever and wherever you meet every foreigner who comes to Ethiopia, or by traveling to any country across the world, if you are a Christian, he/she would tell you, "You are a Coptic," and recognizes the Ethiopian Church as "the Coptic Church". None of them would add or even mention the name of Ethiopia or Orthodoxy. If, by any chance, there happens for any one to be encountered with the opposite, it would be a surprise and an exception. Besides this, what is baffling is the fact that Ethiopians themselves, commoners as well as officials, whenever and wherever asked about their religious affiliation or about national traditions, in private and/or in public, if they are Christians, they always respond as "They are, or, it is Coptic." Do you know why this misrepresentation persistently continues to this day? It is because the Egyptian Orthodox Church still considers Ethiopia and the Ethiopians as Copts and as their subjects; and the Egyptians still continue to introduce Ethiopia and Ethiopians to the rest of the world, ecumenically and/or internationally, only as Coptic. This fact is confirmed by the official statement of the current Patriarch of the Egyptian Orthodox Church during his visit to Jerusalem. In order to enhance their claim of proprietorship of Ethiopian assets in the lawsuit which they instigated, he brazenly declared, there and then, that not only the land and the properties in the Holy Land, but also Ethiopia and Ethiopians themselves belong to the Egyptians. Hence, as long as the Ethiopian Church calls itself "Ethiopian Orthodox Church" or "Ethiopian Orthodox Tewah'do Church" it does not matter and makes no difference: It remains recognized, implicitly and explicitly, as "the Ethiopian Coptic Orthodox Tewah'do Church" by all.
6) It is again with wholeheartedness that I accepted, as a Blessing, your relentless and blatant statement in which you identified me as "a false prophet who claims to be humble". It reminds me of the many premonitions of Our Lord to His Faithful Followers enshrined in Mt. 5/10-12; 10; 12/22-37. I do not need to quote references from these verses; read them if you will; by then you will realize why I accepted as "Blessings" this and all the other vindictive allegations expressed by you elsewhere against me personally. In such cases, it is always more advantageous for the victim who abides by Our Lord's Word than for the assailant. The winner and the beneficiary of that trophy is, therefore, the victim, "Thanks to God!" As for me, I feel that I do not even deserve to be called "a false prophet"; because I am devoid of everything that false prophets have at their disposal: The financial resources, the material power and the secular wisdom. More than that, you ought to discern what the Divine Truth underscores on this specific subject: That not only false prophets, but even True Prophets are rendered non-existent after the Advent of Our Lord Jesus Christ who is Himself the consummation of all prophesies. Based on the human reality and the Divine Truth, as expressed above in both cases, I, therefore, say to you, that I AM SIMPLY A SERVANT OF ETHIOPIA: THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
7) Since you are already prejudiced, possessed with mental difficulty of understanding even minor matters and have shut up your mind for any kind of constructive enlightenment, it seems worthless to provide you with any educational facts that answer your questions. But, as stated earlier, if not for you, for the benefit of others who are keen to know more about the Divine Truth about Ethiopia of the Holy Covenant, I will proceed in responding to your controversial issues you raised in your email. The Gospel ( in Greek "Evangelion=Wengel", in Ge'ez: "B'srat", in Ethiopic: "M'ss'rach") was initially preached by the Ethiopian Jesus Christ, born of Ethiopia, The Virgin Mary, and later by Abemeleck, the Ethiopian Eunuch. The whole New Testament, the Gospel included, is, therefore, the possession of Ethiopians long before the Protestants even heard about it. Let it be known to you, who deny all that is Ethiopian, that, for those of us who are Ethiopians of the Holy Covenant, what is universally recognized as the Holy Bible is not only the one that is written in the hands of human scribes, but also more significantly that which God inscribed in our hearts. And this, the latter one, is the Divine Constitution that was given to us from the beginning by Our God, The Creator, with which we live and direct our lives, and render our services in Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God. Anything, be it human and/or satanic wisdom, religion, tradition, law, power or wealth, that is contrary to this Divine Constitution that God inscribed in our hearts, is rendered null and void, as far as we are concerned. No wonder that we quote our references only from this source, and from nothing else, such as sources that emanate from the anti-Christ Jews, Greeks, Copts, Arabs, French, German, English, or American, etc., except those which God brought to our custody and are in compliance with that of purely Ethiopian of the Holy Covenant. And no wonder that you, as an agent of our adversaries, have been surprised by such deed of ours in this regard. We, as Ethiopians, have no alternative but simply to resort to and refer only the Word of God and to our genuine Ethiopian Tradition of the Holy Covenant. So, be informed that Ethiopians are in possession of the Old and the New Testament Books, millenniums before the advent of early Christian Churches, let alone Protestantism.
8) The Muslims, viewing it from their own religious perspective, may not believe and practice, as we Christians do, what is written in the Torah (Orit) and in the Gospel. However, the fact of the matter is that both the latter Scriptures are recognized and, to some extent, referred to in their book of the Qoran. This can easily be illustrated by an important national event that was witnessed in the recent past in Ethiopia: A learned Moslem, Sheh Zekheriya, who, after his restoration and baptism to the Holy Covenant Ethiopian Tewah'do Faith, was given the Baptismal Name of "Newaye-Kr'stos", and ever since recognized by his adjusted name of Aleqa Zekkarias. A religious litigation was brought up against him and his teaching by Moslems in Ethiopia, with the incitement and aid of those abroad, at the Court of Atsie Menelik II. He won the case mostly by quoting relevant Gospel and Old Testament verses inscribed and referred to in the Qoran itself. If you are still zealous about this issue you raised, you may find a copy of the translation of the Qoran and undertake an effort to consult the same. What every well-versed person, including the Muslims themselves, knows and affirms in this respect, you, unaware of your own ignorance, continue to dispute shamelessly on the contrary. Had you read one of my books, especially, "ItioPia: Ye'Alemu Meffareja!", where I discussed the case of Aleqa Zekarias and about Ethiopian Muslims in greater details, you would have not raised this question. Your main problem seems to be that all your actions are prompted only by sudden impulses rather than by the attainment of reasonable knowledge that can be gained even by simple reading of relevant materials.
9) Despite your deliberate evasion of my previous questions, except being preoccupied with battering me with barrages of immature and offensive utterances, let me again put forward to you another relevant query that pertains to your continuous concern of going to a human confessor priest for the absolution of one's personal sin: Would you go, of your own free will, with your right mind and clear conscience, to a physician (a medical doctor), or a lawyer, or for that matter, to any professional whom you do not consider and approve to be competent, reliable and legitimate in his or her respective profession? Don't you investigate, evaluate and confirm of his or her competency and reliability, respectively, before you commit yourself or your case to that individual? I am sure, in this case, you will certainly do; because, here, you care much more and are excessively concerned for your bodily, worldly and social wellbeing than for the Spiritual and Divine one. If this is the conventional verdict exercised by you and everybody else, how much more would you, especially who claim to be a fanatic of the Ethiopian Coptic Orthodox Faith, need to care, be deeply concerned and feel responsible to deal with the wellbeing of your Soul and Spirit, as well as with your Faith and Relationship with God? If you are truly a religious person, don't you think that an equal, if not greater, consideration and care should be given to your mental and spiritual wellbeing, as well as to a matter that concerns your relationship with God? And, in order for you to secure such mental and spiritual wellbeing, and Divine relationship, that is, to be cleansed completely from your sins, don't you need to have a competent and reliable and, in this case, not only legitimate, but also an eligible confessor priest or bishop?
10) In our case, such a priest or bishop ought to be free from the Divine Condemnation that is currently inflicted upon the Ethiopian Orthodox Church which includes the whole clergy that comprises the priests and the bishops as well as the laity. And this Divine Condemnation resulted from the public denial of the Holy Covenant committed in 1967 E.C by the present generation of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church being the principal accountable body. This act of great significance, amounting to a horrendous transgression of Divine Covenant, was, still is and remains the grave sin, that constituted apostasy, evil and adultery in the worship of the Devil until absolved through Genuine Repentance by all concerned. In this regard, consider what the human governments, like the current Ethiopian one in power, inflict upon even on their own citizens when the latter are found violating their constitutions that are in force; they go to the extent of doing the unthinkable: they shoot and massacre their own peoples whom they pledged to protect. The human powers take such action merely in consideration of the defense and veneration of their secular constitutions. Then, how much more would have the members of the Church, i.e., the laity as well as the clergy, including you, to do for the respect and protection of God's Holy Covenants, i.e., His Eternal Constitution? Of course, this is immaterial and insignificant in your eye and in the eyes of your fellow so-called religionists. This is basically because of the modern trend of conventional mind-set that any thing and all matters that genuinely pertain to God, are considered as such and as an abomination, in the eyes of the present Ethiopian generation.
11) As if all these transgressions didn't suffice, the Clergy, i.e., the priests and the bishops, or the so-called members of "the Synod" of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church split themselves into two: The first segment is that which officially associated itself with the Satanic Rule of the "Derg", only finally to flee the country with the demise of the latter, its ally and patron, leaving its flock behind, abandoned, and now wandering in exile. The second segment is the one, that was installed by the incumbent secular and atheistic power, and presently dominates in the homeland; it follows the same pattern of alliance with the latter as the former Synod did with the Derg, carrying out its mandate of compliance with the foreign system that continue to be introduced into the country to the detriment of the latter's true identity and way of life. This generation of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church being the integral part and playing the leading role in the sinful act, deserved the culmination of the Word of Our Lord Jesus Christ that says: "an apostate, evil and adulterous generation!" If this is the reality, how on Earth would one, in his or her right mind, be capable to believe the existence of any priest or bishop whom you could reasonably conceive of as being qualified for exclusion from the abovementioned Divine Condemnation and truthfully claim to be worthy to be a Confessor? In my previous response, this was one of the questions I put forward to you that remained unanswered to date.
12) Under such circumstances, what do you think would happen to those Faithful Ethiopians who crave to remain loyal to the Holy Covenant and live up to its commitments? What was inconceivable and impossible for human beings is made conceivable and possible by God Himself, "Praise be to The LordQ": He became Man, and as such, an ordinary Priest and an Archpriest unblemished. Can you imagine for any possibility in which God would want to become Man, if ever there were human beings, even one, who, were capable of proving to God to be worthy of the position of the True Priesthood, as inscribed in the New Testament, particularly in the Epistle of the Hebrews and in the Book of The Revelation? This assumption is suggested, of course, with the exception of the Holy Virgin Mary, and that of the later Grace of the Holy Spirit brought about by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Indeed, the hypothesis presented above would never have occurred at all. When perilous and insurmountable spiritual crisis, such as the one in which we Ethiopians are currently immersed, arises, where would we have to resort to for our penitence, partaking of the Holy Communion and salvation? Nowhere, except to Him, Our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no human option except that of the Divine one; and that is the perfect remedy offered by Him, as stated above. I hope you wouldn't recommend for anyone, including yourself, the alternative of going to the Devil's worship for this remedy, as it is customary and prevalent among the members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
13) God knew the failures of human beings and their shortcomings, because He is their Creator. He knew beforehand that such conditions would come about any time in the existential process of humanity as well as in our individual lifetime, particularly, at the end of the time preceding His Second and Last Glorious Coming. That was why He needed to become Man; and He did become Man and fulfilled all that is needed by us, human beings, individually and collectively, for the attainment of the ultimate Life of Divinity in Eternity that He preordained to each one of us who aspire and are willing to commit ourselves faithfully to that Divine Destiny. Nothing, not even an iota of what we needed physically and materially, mentally and spiritually, remained undone by Him. It is all fulfilled to the maximum. And it is only for us individually to choose and decide to take advantage of that unique privilege, as that will power to make our individual choice and our own decision had already been granted to each one of us, first, by Divine Nature and finally by the Holy Grace of the Same Divinity but, this time, through His Self Atonement.
14) Let me quote to you from the Words of Our Lord that depicts your present attitude and behaviour in dealing with the issues you raised in your emails: "Because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand, therefore I speak to them in parables. And in them the prophesy is fulfilled, which says: 'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of these people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing; and their eyes they have closed." (Mt. 13/13-15) In accordance with these Words of God, you may still be unable to open your eyes and ears so that you may understand the core of the issues that you yourself raised in your emails, despite all the efforts that I exerted and still exert to expound them to you. You even went to the extent of demanding of me, in your own word, to "Stop wasting these poor people's time." But, let me ask you! Who are "these poor people" whom you are referring to as such? Of course, I know them just as you do: Yes, they are the laity who are under the iron-grip domination by the clergy of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Aren't they? And I know the reason why you referred to them as "these poor people." Is it not because they are not educated probably like you, and, because they are left to lead a wretched life under the yoke of domination by the clergy of your Church, while you and the latter, probably enjoying a comfortable and luxurious existence at their expense that you depicted them as "these poor people"? If they are considered to be "poor" in your evil eye, they are not poor, but WEALTHY in the eyes of God. If they appear physically and materially, mentally and spiritually dejected, again, it is because of the false evil teachings and of the maltreatment of the clergy of your Church. If they are regarded in your evil eye as "poor" - the designation also allotted to Ethiopia and Ethiopians by their foreign adversaries whom you are serving-, they are, IN THE DIVINE REALITY AND TRUTH, MENTALLY WISE, MORALLY HEALTHY AND SPIRITUALLY WEALTHY. Yes, these are exactly the very people to whom our services of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God are focused on and directed to: To liberate them from the age-long bondage and subjugation to the Devil and his henchmen, the clergy of your Church. Now you are manifesting that tendency of getting FRANTIC. You know, so do I, why you are the victim of such feeling now. I discerned that frenzy from the contents of your emails and sentiments reflected therein, even, at the first sight of your early one. The Devil detected what is stored for him with regard to the dismantling and destruction of his network of enslavement of "these poor people" in his worship, and of the current crusade of setting them free from this bondage by the Power of The Holy Spirit through the Services of Ethiopia: The kingdom of God. So, no wonder that you, as his agent and servant of his henchmen, and dedicated to fulfill that evil purpose, became frenzy, and regard the time that we devoted for the service of "these poor people" as something wasted; and urged us to stop. Yes, be aware that Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God stands, exists and continues its eternal existence for the services of "these poor people", again to quote your own designation of addressing them. I hope and pray that the day will arrive when you come to understand the Divine Truth and return, through Repentance, to your senses, at which time you will proclaim yourself to "these -same- poor people" such words as: "You, 'Wealthy, Healthy and Wise People of Ethiopia!' Let us proceed together in spreading out the Good Tidings of the Divine Truth about Ethiopia, Ethiopians and Ethiopianhood to the whole world!"
15) Again, for the benefit of others, and hoping that you will open your spiritual eyes and ears, and attempt to understand the question we are discussing, I will continue to give further explanation on the other issues of yours. You seem to be restricting the Divine Grace and Empowerment that the Lord, Our God, granted, through His Son God Jesus Christ, to every human being, including you. Here, the only stipulation required for that individual to fulfill for the attainment and maintenance of this privilege is just to remain truthful in his or her belief of and allegiance to the Holy Covenant. This means that, not only are you yourself bestowed upon by the Grace of the Holy Spirit with the Spiritual Birth and Investiture of the Eternal Royalty, but also with the Priesthood: You are gifted with the same spiritual privilege and power, others, notably the clergy have. You better know and accept the reality that the cause for the sake of which you are campaigning right now is not that of the clergy alone, as it seems to you, but a cause of your own. Thus, the Divine Truth is that: you, yourself, are an Ethiopian, which means that if you believe and fulfill your commitments of the Holy Covenant, you, yourself, are already a priest. The revelation of this Divine Truth remained stifled in an unduly prolonged secrecy, devised by the clergy of your Church for millenniums up until the 1967 when the crucial popular turmoil erupted that entailed the current tribulation on the present Ethiopian generation. The procrastinated secrecy involves the Divine Prerogatives of the Holy Covenant granted to each and every Ethiopian Believer: Because of the Holy Covenant, and specifically because of the Covenant of the senior and the first Ethiopian Melchizedek and the junior and last Ethiopian Melchizedek, Jesus Christ, you, yourself, are an Ethiopian, and as such, you are a priest yourself. This is what an Ethiopian is and means. This is the Eternal Divine Gift that the Incarnate God, through His sacrificial Crucifixion, Death and Resurrection granted to each one of us, Ethiopians, as well as to any and every individual human being for that matter. And this is what He requires each and all us to become, not to worship others, or to remain subservient to our fellow human beings. Any denial of and opposition to these Divine Truth and Divine Gift is only from the Devil and from his followers, and is considered as a contravention of the Word of God.
16) How can you attain such a consummate status? Allow me for a moment just to indicate to you and direct you to follow the footsteps of Simon who was later named Peter, by His Master. You may make yourself, just for a while, at first, Simon, and then at the end of the instant spiritual pilgrimage, Peter. But, don't say, "I cannot do that!" Of course, you can; God gave you by nature and by His Grace the capacity to do that. What is needed of you is simply the religious and spiritual will to do it. Also, don't be afraid, or reluctant or indifferent in this unique challenge. Now, provided that you are willing and accepted the challenge, there enters in you Simon, and begins to lead you into the miraculous transformation of becoming Peter the Apostle. That is exactly what God wants each and all of us to be: To transform ourselves by Faith, Will, Repentance and the Holy Communion to become Peter. Before engaging in this spiritual sacred venture, however, think that God made you, first, in His image, i.e., the being of your Soul, then, incarnated you with the human body in your mother's womb, and finally, bore you, in His Spirit, just like you are born from your parents in the flesh, and ultimately elevated you to become His Son in the Holy Spirit, His Heir of His Kingdom and His Servant of His Creation. This reality confirms to you that He already from the beginning granted to you the capacity to think, speak and do like Him, like God. You and I know very well, from the narration of the New Testament Books, that Simon, who later became St. Peter, the Senior of the Apostles was an ordinary and simple person like you and me. Worse than that, he was illiterate, worldly, sinner, fearful, faithless, pathetic, doubtful, betrayer, and a common fisherman by occupation. Think of him and compare yourself with him, because it is only you and God who knows your innermost sentiments. Now, what is the outcome of your evaluation? Do you find yourself comparable to Simon Peter, or better or worse than him?
17) Again, you and I know, from Scriptures, that Simon became Peter, i.e., the ROCK, merely because he confessed to His Master, The Lord, Jesus Christ, in public, by uttering this simple but decisive statement: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God!" I am sure you wouldn't refrain from declaring in public this same testimony as had Simon did. But that declaration would not be sufficient by itself; it must be founded on and corroborated by True Faith, like that of Simon's. If that is the case, you are already St. Peter. Aren't you? Yes, you are. You are Peter, the Rock, in the eyes of God, because you professed the same True Faith, which Simon professed: The analogous episode through which Abemeleck, the Ethiopian Eunuch, had undergone. And now, Our Lord Jesus Christ directly declares to you, those same Words He declared to Simon Peter: "Blessed are you, [your Baptismal name] for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in Heaven. And I also say to you, 'You are the Rock!' and on this Rock, I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on Earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on Earth will be loosed in Heaven." (Mt. 16/13-19) At that instant, you, the individual person, like Simon, become "THE CHURCH", "THE ROCK", "THE LIVING CHURCH" which the Incarnate God came to this World to build.
18) Have you ever heard of any church that Our Lord Jesus Christ had built any time and anywhere, while He was traversing the Earth for thirty three and a half years and twenty seven days? None. In fact, what was told, taught and done by Him, and all that happened in this regard was only the contrary: The Divine Message that focused on the demolition of the then-extant edifice of the Temple. The pre-eminence and the gravity of this Divine Message are well demonstrated and exemplified in the Crucifixion of Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and in the Martyrdom of His Follower Saint Stephen, as fulfilled and told in the New Testament Era: The Cause of both the earlier Crucifixion of The Master and the subsequent Martyrdom of the Disciple was nothing else but the objective demolition of the then-prevalent man-made Temple constructed on the inorganic material of this world, i.e., the Temple in Jerusalem and elsewhere, even that Genuine and Holy Temple in Which The Ark of The Covenant was enshrined. The Eternal Divine Cause did not simply end up there. But The Divine Will and Mission was concurrently executed: The substitution of the building of the Living Church in the human body, revived by Faith and the Holy Spirit, that became the Eternal Rock, all acquired through the Atonement of Our Lord Jesus Christ. (Act. 7/37-60). Had it ever been The Lord's Will and Mission to build temples on Earth, as had been done before Him, or churches, as has been continued to be done after the time of His Ascension to this day, He could have done it Himself conclusively; or, He would have said so to His Apostles and to His Disciples, as He had shown in His other Teachings. But He did not indicate that Divine Will and Mission even by implication. If it was His Will and Mission to do so, no believer, even you, would ever doubt the feasibility of that undertaking by Himself; It was within His Power to have executed it. Because it was not His Will and Mission, it did not happen. The Incarnate God revealed the purpose of His coming into this world primarily by speaking, acting and teaching about His Divine Will and Mission in this regard, and finally by giving His instruction to His Followers how to put them into effective and fruitful realization: To build His Divine Kingdom (or, according to your concept, His Church) in the Hearts of individual human beings who believe in Him. Yes, these Living Churches, these Ethiopians of the Holy Covenant, are the ones who come together in the Holy Spirit that constitute Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, in which the Church is an integral part.
19) Please be reminded that when Our Lord Jesus Christ, in rebuking the clergy of His time, commanded even those Jewish people subjected to the Old Testament Torah by saying to them categorically, "But do not do according to their works, for they say and do not do. He uttered this commandment immediately after His opening remark which reads, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. Therefore, whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do," Also, do not forget that this commandment was given prior to the Atonement and Redemption of Our Lord that inaugurated His Eternal Priesthood and Kingship, from which time on He reclaimed the Spiritual Authority of the ordinary Priest and the Arch Priest for Himself. As a result of the Divine Grace that this extraordinary phenomenon brought about upon humans who genuinely believe in Him and faithfully fulfill His Will, it was made possible for His Followers to resort to Him for the service of a Confessor, whenever the desperate need arises, like the situation which we, Ethiopians of the Holy Covenant, are currently experiencing and remain engulfed in.
20) Don't go astray or make an arbitrary and chaotic interjections in your presentation of the issue at hand. We, emphatically and publicly stated that the Priesthood is one of the two integral Houses of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God; the other one being, the House of the Executive or the Government, both these Houses branching from the main body of the House of the People. Therefore, the Priesthood and the Sacrament of Confession are Sacred and Eternal to us; they can not cease by any means. Who would ever deny or negate the Word of Our Lord that says, "Lo, I am with you always..." except you? How on Earth would you venture to compare the present condemned clergy of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church with the Holy Apostles? No one questioned the fact that Confession is a Sacrament, established and instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself as well as the integrity of the Apostles who laid their hands on those who were baptized by the Holy Spirit? However, beware that, in the absence of competent, legitimate and eligible priests, such as the present time in which we are experiencing the same ordeal, it doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit remains dormant in Its Omnipresent and Omnipotent Divine Activities. No, in fact, such a situation even greatly enhances the Inspirational Activities of the Holy Spirit, as had been witnessed from the Day of Pentecost to the present. Mind you, the necessity of the presence of the priest and the water is not a prerequisite in the conduct of the Sacrament of Baptism over and above that of the Holy Spirit, but a follow-up requirement needed to give credence and to substantiate the Spiritual phenomenon of the birth from God that is invisible by making it visible to those Believers around the Service. You are simply trying to mislead others by quoting irrelevant verses and invoking unnecessary arguments. Our response to the issue in discussion is: At present in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, there are no clergymen, i.e., priests and bishops, who are competent, eligible and legitimate even by the standard of the Canon Law of the same Church, let alone by the criterion of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, to be worthy of becoming Confessors. The reason is: None of the aforementioned are free from the Divine Condemnation ordained by the High Priestly King Jesus Christ Himself, until they commit themselves to complete Repentance that amount to their self-restoration into the Faith and Precepts of the Holy Covenant.
21) Don't panic for what I am writing to you with respect to this issue! The present tragic ordeal of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is transitory. As stated above and elsewhere, this ordeal came about because the existing Ethiopian generation committed a grave sin by the transgression of the Holy Covenant. And it is within the means of the same generation to eliminate it, by simply repenting for its sins aforementioned. It is as simple as that. However, don't forget: The absolution was made simple, not because of the sake of simplicity; but because of the payment of the greatest price of all: The Sacrificial Death and Atonement of the Incarnate God, Jesus Christ, in Nakedness on the Cross. By the time when all the Houses of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, or the individual House, like the House of the Priesthood make the genuine commitment of the Sacrament of Repentance, then, every member of the clergy, i.e., the priests and the bishops, and of the laity, as the case may be, will be absolved of their individual sins; and the former will be restored to their respective positions of their priesthood with the ecclesiastical prerogatives and spiritual power of a Confessor in the Holy Spirit. Until then, any ordained priest of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, who happens to be exempted from the Divine Condemnation, either because he remained faithful to his Ethiopianhood of the Holy Covenant, or, because he restored himself through the appropriate process of the Sacrament of Repentance, is qualified to discharge his priestly vocation and to conduct any and all Church services that are within his credentials to members of the laity who need and require them anytime and anywhere. Please note that whenever and wherever a reference is made by us to "the Church of Ethiopia", it is only to mean and indicate to the True Church of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, either by implication and/or explication, and not "the Church" which you may still obstinately prefer to call the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, or the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewah'do Church; however, accepting the reality, we, would concur to refer to it as "The Coptic Orthodox Church in Ethiopia", as explained herein and in our previous response.
22) You do not seem to consider and visualize the grave consequences of the unwarranted and irresponsible retort you made to our statement of response which you quoted as follows: "We claim that our church, [the Church of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God] dates back to Adam and Eve 7500 years ago..." And you went on to the extent of despising this Work of God to be "a complete joke". For such utterance of sacrilege, even if you do not like it, I will quote Our Lord's admonition that clearly foretells the price to be paid: "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the Day of Judgment. For, by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." You spoke not only this blasphemy but also you labeled Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God as an organization, assigning Her and Her Servants to the Devil. Our response to all such allegations is none other than the Word of Our Lord that precedes the above verse: "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the Kingdom of God has come upon you... He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. Therefore I say to you, every sin or blasphemy will be forgiven to men, but the blasphemy... and whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven to him, either in this age or in the age to come." (Mt. 12/28-32)
23) As depicted in the earlier quotations, your lack of perception had plunged to such low level that you cannot see and feel the kind of curse and chastisement that are being inflicted upon the present Ethiopian generation, you being one of the kind. Because of the fact that the present Ethiopian generation, to which you belong, impenitently continue to attribute to God and His Works "the complete joke", look at the ongoing retribution that had descended overwhelmingly and persisted unabated upon the same generation that includes you, and the price the generation and you are forced to pay: Turmoil, massacre, repression, fratricidal war, hunger, famine, pestilence, such as HIV, loss of basic freedoms and homeland, imprisonment, displacement, vulnerability to and consumption by wild beasts, exile, mass exodus, ethnic cleansing, national dismemberment and all kinds of persecution, internally and internationally. The Divine anathema cast upon the generation for its contemptible and blatant transgression on God and His Works does not stop here: With a multitude of its elite scattered among peoples and nations on Earth as refugees, the generation, at home and abroad, is subjected to humiliation and mockery to the extent of becoming not only the joke, but also the current laughing-stock of humanity all over the world under the well-known banner: "Ethiopia and Ethiopians, the poorest and the worst nation among the international community!" While this is, sadly, a bogus reversal and distortion of the True Status of Ethiopia and Ethiopians, the Sacredness and Authenticity of the True Status of Ethiopia and the Ethiopians, by no means unaffected and still preserved as in the past, remains intact, now and forever, by and through the Servants of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God. These Servants, as Ethiopians of the Holy Covenant, rejoice with their Mother Country and Queen Ethiopia, Mother of God that Stretched out Her Hands, in Gratitude and Praise, to Her Lord Son God for His Indescribable and Eternal Endowments, not only to the True and Faithful Ethiopians, but also to the whole of humanity and the rest of His Creation.
24) You still pretend to act just like the learned or intellectuals, secular and religious personalities of the Old Testament Jews and the present Ethiopian Orthodox Church clergy who boast of their higher education and academic achievements over and above the common Ethiopian people. Possessed by such pretensions, you allege that I am "Just like Protestants and uneducated Bible readers" who "use single verses to defend" my "heresies." You wouldn't have even thought to liken my works of quoting from Scriptures with those of the Protestants, had you read what I wrote in my books, posted in our web site, about Protestants and Protestantism vis-à-vis Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, and comprehend the explanations I rendered you elsewhere in this regard. As to the "uneducated Bible readers" whom you seem to despise, it is to them that the Holy Spirit reveals the Divine Message, and allows them to fully understand and believe in the Word of God, as He did to all the Apostles and Disciples of Our Lord Jesus Christ. How far do you know whether or not the Prophets and the Apostles were educated? How many of them were literates? May be few of them. These were people who were adults, and because of their age, were more experienced in life than those educated youth of their time and of the present generation of your time. Didn't Our Lord forsake the haughty and the recalcitrant hypocrites, i.e., the Jewish clergy, the so-called educated or the leaned, the scribes and the Doctors of Law, and elected those whom the latter despised as illiterates? What you have done today against the Faithful Followers of God by vilifying them as "uneducated Bible readers" is a contradiction of the Teaching and Deed of the Incarnate God. And this despicable act of yours makes you Satan, as had happened to the Apostle Peter when he attempted to contradict the Will and Deed of God, as you did now. Considering the kind of fruit the educated are bearing nowadays, it would seem, in God's Eye and in the eyes of any reasonable human being, much better for any individual to remain illiterate. Yes, it is much better not to be educated in the human subject matters that are devoid of, or not founded on the Divine Teachings, rather than to be educated to the highest degree in any secular field of knowledge. This truth is sufficiently verified by the ongoing calamity that is meted out upon the present Ethiopian generation. This reality is endorsed by Our Lord's Word that says: "It is written in the Prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me." (Jn. 6/45) In another instance, this is what the Lord said, and continues to say to those who brag about their worldly educational achievements and status: "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life... Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you:- Moses, in whom you trust. For, if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for, he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My Words?" (Jn.5/39-47) According to this Divine Exposition every aspect of nature as well as every human intelligence, including scientific education, aspire, relate and lead towards this Divine Truth. By uttering even in writing those words composed in your email, and whose quotation preceded that of the above, again you have blasphemed directly on the Holy Spirit, and you are presently "condemned," and finally, you "will give account of it in the Day of Judgment," according to the Word of Our Lord.
25) For your own sake and salvation, I may also need to remind you the episode that took place between Our Lord Jesus Christ and that illiterate rustic Samaritan woman who came to fetch water from a well, and the dialogue that ensued between them, finally to crystallize into the most profound mystery of the worship of God ever told and elaborated by Our Lord Himself. Thanks, it was reduced to writing for the enlightenment and encouragement of His Followers. Could that Samaritan, despised by the learned Jews, be one of your "uneducated Bible readers?" Look, with whom Our Lord dealt with, even in such deep religious and doctrinal matter which He did not reveal even to His Apostles, let alone to those hypocrites whom you represent, the so-called educated (Jn. 4). I, on my part, rejoice for being counted as one of these people victimized by you. What better reading, quotation and reference will there be for any Ethiopian or Christian, irrespective of his or her level of education, other than those of the Words of the Incarnate God, Jesus Christ and His Apostles, as well as of the Old Testament? But you frivolously despised such sacred deed, i.e., the task of reading the Bible by individuals of common status. This is how the Ethiopian Orthodox Church conserved the status quo of its power of stagnation and corruption for centuries: By utilizing a series of vilifications of various kinds on those who eagerly search for the Divine Truth. No wonder that the desertion of a great multitudes of members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church to join other Churches and religions, be they Catholic and/or Protestant, or Islam, continues with each passing day with the situation exacerbated. This disaster is attributed exactly to such attitude, behaviour and treatment, perpetrated and employed by the clergy and individuals like you towards fellow members of your own Church.
26) You do not seem to be smart enough and manipulative in selecting and designating your words and characters: You are exposing your own true identity by acting yourself as a Protestant and a Nestorian, and now by turning your devilish tentacle and spreading your venom against Our Holy Mother the Virgin Mary. I presume you know that the Devil and his hosts are more dreadfully scared of and hate the Name of Saint Mary the Virgin and the Sign of the Cross more than anything else; even more than the Name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and that of Jesus Christ (James 2/19). Why? Because The Holy Virgin Mary and The Cross are the TWO PARTICULAR LIVING MEANS by which the Incarnate God defeated the Devil, relinquished sin and annihilated death, once and for all. Tell me: Would you have known, and could you have come to God without The Holy Virgin Mary? And vice versa? No, impossible. Could Salvation of Creation including Humanity have been imaginable and realized without God's Incarnation effected through Her? Whose Body, typifying the Cross itself, was victoriously crucified? Whose Blood was shed? And whose humanity died, resurrected, ascended to Heavens and would return gloriously for the Last Judgment? Whose Flesh and Blood are we Ethiopians and Christians partake in the Holy Eucharist? Is it not the Body and Blood of Saint Mary's The Virgin in which God became incarnate? Who is Jesus Christ, after all? Is He not The Covenant of Mercy in whom both The Son of God the Divine and The Son of The Virgin Mary the Human, constituting the Soul and the Flesh, united by the mystery of the Ethiopian Tewah'do? IYYESUS KRSTOS, in Ethiopic is and means, WOLDE-AB WOLDE-MARIAM. You cannot separate the Holy Mother of God The Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ The Incarnate Son of God as you may possibly can do in the case of humans, such as, for example, your mother and you. When you prostrate in worship of the Incarnate Son of God Jesus Christ, or of the Holy Cross on which the Incarnate Body of Our Lord is crucified, or of the Sanctuary where the Holy Image of "M'sle-Fiqur-Welda" is centrally placed, are you not prostrating simultaneously in worship of the Human Person and Nature of the Holy Virgin Mary and the Divine Person and Nature of God united and Incarnated by the Mystery of Tewah'do, just as the infant John the Baptist did while he was still in his fetal stage of his Mother's (Elizabeth's) womb? Do you deny all these facts that relate to the Holy Virgin Mary? Then, does such reality, or, to be more exact, the Divine Truth, make The Virgin Mary "the 4th Person of the Trinity?" Who said this? You alone. You said it and wrote it, because the Holy Spirit compelled you to prove and disclose to me and to everybody else, your true self, i.e., who you are: A human being through whom the Devil directly bellows, in desperation and anger, on his devilish attitude towards the True Case of The Holy Virgin Mary. And again for this reckless utterance of yours, you are presently "condemned," and finally, you "will give account of it in the Day of Judgment," according to the word of Our Lord, quoted above. As to the Doctrine of the Trinity, like the other related doctrines, it has its own sphere of exposition and interpretation, and is treated separately as such; and you should not have tried to mix up the case of the Virgin Mary with that of the Trinity.
27) In this regard, allow me to ask you a question that would involve you with the relevant case under discussion; and don't refuse to answer this one, as you had done previously; and don't be reluctant to answer me straightforward: When God resolved, in His Sublime Graciousness, to save and restore His Creation, i.e., the universe and humanity, that had suffered perversion and corruption, it is quite evident for everybody that He, God, preferred to act, not in the Heavenly and in the Divine Way, but, rather, in the Earthly and the human way. Now, based on this premise, I ask you to answer the following question: In your present standing, or, if you prefer to pretend to be the ruler of the world, even being in that position, who is greater: You, or your mother? I am sure your answer is "My mother!" Now, in this same human context, answer me: Who is greater? The Holy Mother Virgin Mary? Or Her Son Jesus Christ? I hope your answer is positive. However, whether it is positive or negative, you cannot change the reality. The actual fact, or, in the appropriate word, the Divine Truth, is that, The Holy Virgin Mary, as the Mother of God, is greater than Her Son God Jesus Christ; and correspondingly, Her Son God, as Her Creator God, is greater than Her, His Human Mother. Behold the Equilibrium God made of His own Will and Benevolence for the Love and Sake of humanity, fulfilling His Word of Promise He pronounced at the time of His Creation that envisioned the Human becoming God. This is exactly what God did, and what He wants us to realize and believe in the Mystery of the Holy Virgin Mary, which Divine Reality and Truth reflects and crystallized in the Faith of the Ethiopians of the Holy Covenant. I am sure you know what Nestorius said, and the Protestants say about The Holy Virgin Mary. While we are promoting what God did with regard to The Holy Virgin Mary, you are attempting to degrade The Mother of God from the Grace bestowed upon Her by the Almighty God, and demote Her from the Supreme Status She is Divinely installed in by assigning to Her the same designation that could be construed to be worse than that given to Her by Nestorius as "the mother of the human", proving yourself a Nestorian? Now, who do you think is the Protestant, the Ethiopic term being "Tsere-Mariam", and Nestorian? You or I?
28) You continue to affirm, by your heedless expressions in your email, that you are still living in the time, environment and belief of the Old Testament, just like those of your contemporary Jews and the present clergy of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Now, where is your Christianity, let alone your Ethiopiannness? When you said, "the Church is the Kingdom of Heaven", which Church, or which of the ecumenical Churches are you referring to, as none of them are worthy and qualified to be called the Kingdom of Heaven or God? If you mean the present Ethiopian Orthodox Church, you must either be out of your mind and suffering from complete blindness, or you are purposely trying to despise and disgrace once again the True Divine Kingdom of Ethiopia that we are serving. To prove this assertion of ours with regard to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, it suffices to present the current indecent status of the same and the true nature of the Church's ongoing ignoble undertakings that are being publicly observed by human beings domestically at home and universally abroad. Such dishonorable position in no way permits your Church to merit even to be considered as an ordinary secular establishment, let alone the Kingdom of Heaven. And where is this Church presently situated and exists? Is it not on Earth and in this world? If it is, as the reality asserts, so does Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God is situated and exists on Earth and in this world. Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God was established by God Himself with the creation of Adam and Eve, which Divine Truth you ridiculed and denied. But It was made to disappear and be concealed from the latter and their descendants as a result of their submission to the Devil. Fortunately, It survived in and transmitted through the hearts of those individual Trustees of the Holy Covenant. Finally, It had been restored, revealed and rendered to continue to exist now with His Ethiopian and Faithful Followers who are enjoying the first spiritual life of resurrection in this world. This humanly incredible, but prophesized, phenomenon was brought about and realized by the Advent of the Incarnate God Jesus Christ to Earth and His Atonement for His Creation. It is true that an attempt by the first humans and their offspring through their alliance with the Devil was perpetrated to contaminate this Divine Kingdom; but the attempt that survived for five thousand five hundred failed to achieve its goal. Finally it was foiled, and Thanks to the benevolence of the Creator, the Earth and its inhabitants were destined to be completely purged of the Devil and of his henchmen, as well as of sin and of death, ultimately to be replaced by the New Heaven and New Earth at His Glorious Second Coming. Isn't this Christianity all about. Were not these the core of the Divine Truth and Reality that Our Lord Jesus Christ taught His Apostles and Disciples? Isn't this the whole Teaching that Our Lord relates to us even now? Are not all the Messages of Scriptures (the Books of the Holy Bible: the Old and New Testaments) from Genesis to Revelation speak about these Divine Truth and Reality? If you allege, in your opinion, that all these Divine Truths and Deeds, told and written, under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit, are merely, to quote from your own writing, for the purpose of "kidding" others, again, you are hereby "condemned," and finally, you "will give account of it in the Day of Judgment," for this thoughtless utterance of yours, in accordance with the Word of Our Lord. If you cannot see and believe these Divine Truths and Deeds, you are not only unworthy to be an Ethiopian, or a True Christian of the Holy Covenant, but are also blind. And here is the relevant verse from the Word of Our Lord that directly and intimately applies to your case; and this Word was said by The Lord after He gave light to the physically blind person, and in response to His adversaries who reacted maliciously, as you do presently: "Jesus said, 'For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.' Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, 'Are we blind also?' Jesus said to them, 'If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore, your sin remains." (Jn.9/39-41)
29) Now you see and understand, why, Ethiopians, led by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, remain stagnant and decadent, morally, spiritually, culturally, religiously and materially for centuries. Even you and those of your kind who claim to live in modernity and to be educated have no sense of civility and the capacity to communicate by writing (or to speak verbally) with your fellow compatriots on those subjects that could bring us closer to understanding each other. (If you are educated in any way, to what extent it is, I do not know). All through our history, this was and continued to be the technique utilized by evil mediums like you, such as falsely attacking, character-assassinating, ostracizing, etc., primarily to discourage, but decisively to suppress, and finally to silence those who dared to defy existing evils and abuses, and speak out for the cause of the Divine Truth. Why? Simply because such Faithful Ethiopians were, for centuries, viewed by the allied evil establishments as potential threats. The latter dreaded the possibility of the former being instrumental in the disclosure to those despised and tyrannized "poor people and uneducated Bible readers" of the above-mentioned endemic plague that crippled the physical and social, mental and spiritual developments and progresses of the nation. So, those Faithful Ethiopians, being vulnerable and subjected to greater persecution, remain stifled to the present. Not any more! As you witness, the Servants of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, with the sole reliance on The Holy Spirit, proceed, as ever, with their commitments, to confront the challenge of the Evil Power and his henchmen with the Faith and Deed of the Holy Covenant to the end.
30) Up until now, I dealt with you in the belief that it is the Holy Spirit that had urged you to write me so openly and boldly. This is, of course, the healthiest way of all the approaches for best results to all concerned, not only on this specific subject, but also on all other matters. The same is expected of any earnest person, let alone the Ethiopian, who come to be involved in all sorts of social relationships and communications, either individual or collective. I invoked the Holy Spirit in our case at hand, because, had it not been for that urge, you wouldn't even have thought about doing so at all. It is very unlikely that those in the service of the Devil would dare to have chosen to take such measure; for, they know what would ensue once they embark on that course of action. So, they prefer to stay silent and carry out their subversive act of hostility in darkness and in stealth, about which Our Lord forewarned His Followers in His Word that I quoted for you in my previous email (Jn. 3/19-21). Once a communication is initiated between an interested person like you and me concerning our Ethiopianness, be it that of Faith or Identity, I will not let that person go without ultimately finding and arriving at the Divine Truth that would bring us to the attainment of mutual understanding to the satisfaction of both parties involved.
31) For me, you are the lost and wandering sheep, representing the present Ethiopian Generation, the Lost Flock of Sheep, who desperately needs to be restored to its genuine God-given Ethiopianness of the Holy Covenant. As one who, from the early days of childhood, had accepted, of his own free will, such a vocation offered to him by the Creator, I committed myself, in the pursuit of this duty, to the Service of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God as an unpaid full-life-time worker. This is the single reason why I responded to your second email with such greater details than I had done in my earlier one. I hope you, or, for that matter, any one who reads this email of response, would easily understand the incentive for my replies to be composed of such lengthy particulars: It is a result of the stimulus of such responsibility. So, let it be known that my responses, embodied in both my emails are all addressed, not only to you individually and in particular, but also more importantly and in general, to our contemporary Ethiopian generation to which you and I are affiliated as members.
32) Finally, let me give you some information about our web site: Our web site is meant only for those who seek more knowledge and guidance with regard to and are in search of the Divine Truth about Ethiopia, Ethiopians and Ethiopianhood, and nothing else. This theme had been, and is adequately publicized herein and elsewhere. It was in accordance with such principle that I wrote you our first response to your previous email. We took that measure and made such effort with the sole purpose and intention to enlighten you on those issues you seemed to be completely an apprentice and ignorant. The details and lengthy explanations rendered on every issue you raised were meant to provide you with some education so that you learn more and become knowledgeable in order to enable you finally to make your own justifiable judgment on every question you are confronted with. However, you seem to comply not with such principle, but to engage in unnecessary and useless squabble. This is what you proved to us through both your correspondences, your second email in particular, which is beyond our anticipation. We expected of you to follow the normal and decent method of action by taking your time, studying the text of our first response, and, if need be, critically analyze each item, and finally, after serious consideration and evaluation of the facts, make your own conclusion. It does not seem that you ever pursued that procedure. Rather, we found your email to be a collection of emotional outbursts, or, to be more exact, a result of religious bigotry. If you are among those who are of inclination towards such attitude, behaviour and act, or if you are serving other masters or objectives as a medium, this is not the appropriate place for you, as you might have presumably recognized and affirmed yourself by now.
33) In conclusion, I would like to elaborate on what has been stated in the foregoing paragraph (32): Yes, this web site is the Forum of, for and by Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God alone, and not of, for and by the Ethiopian Coptic Orthodox Tewah'do Church. Who we are and what our vocation is, including the Faith we adhere to and the Precepts we abide by are all adequately described on our web site and in the publications and books posted therein. If and when you have any question and opinion, and/or, if you want to know anything on the Divine Truth about Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, we are more than happy to serve you. Otherwise, since we have no affiliation with any other entity, religious or secular, including the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewah'do Church, from now on, you absolutely do not need to direct to us anything that has to do with the latter, i.e., the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewah'do Church. If you have any question to ask, or any opinion to express that relates to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewah'do Church or to any other entity, you may address that question or opinion straight to the concerned body, not to us, since our Service is not and could not be answerable to any of them. We serve and deal only with matters that relate to Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God. I hope this is quite clear to you now. If you do not believe in, or do not want to learn, or be enlightened about what we, in Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God believe or continue to learn, or to be enlightened about Ethiopia, the Ethiopians and the Ethiopianhood, you do not need to write and question us at all. None of us here who are preoccupied with the Service of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God want to spare even for a moment that you are trying to involve us. If you decline to comply with this exhortation demanding you to accept and follow our procedure stated herein, and attempt to communicate with us in a way you exhibited so far and contrary to the aforementioned procedure, such action of yours will be deemed as an infringement on our God-given rights. Just as we are bound to respect your rights in this regard, so also you are obliged to respect ours too. As you claim to believe in and to be member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, go ahead! It is your inherent and ligitimate privilege to do so! You should not have to bother us in any way. Why you chose to act in such manner from the beginning and continue to do so even more vigorously and relentlessly in your subsequent email, I do not know; and failed to understand the objective you aspire to achieve. What your motives for such acts are, as yet, incomprehensible and inconceivable to me. However, sensing from the contents of your first email that you may be a fanatic, I tried to explain to you, there and then in my earlier response, the danger of fanaticism, especially in religion. Not only that, but also, suspecting you might be a juvenile without proper education and adequate experience, I asked your age therein (to which request nothing was indicated to date from your side), and, simply presuming your immaturity, suggested the probability of your being an apprentice. Lacking any cooperation from your side also in this regard, I came to deduce that either you are an uninterested person in our offer of services, or you are an agent or instrument of any of our adversaries, known and unknown to us, using even pseudonym. If this is the case, beware the wrath of God who inevitably would render justice by paying the price due to every one that deserves it, including you. Probably you know it, and you might have seen it, if you have an eye that sees, in the Word of Our Lord. If not, God is Merciful to make you see it and learn from it, as He had done to all of us who are blessed to be seniors in age over you.
In order to save us the trouble of wasting our mutual time and energy, as well as to avoid the unnecessary engagement on controversial issues, I still urge you, and for that matter, any body else who happen to come across the email of response, to read the books and those publications posted on our web site, before trying to communicate with us in any way.
And don't worry! Your present email with our response will be posted in the proper section of our web site as we had done to your previous correspondence, and as you may probably ascertained the same by now. We did and will do it not because you anxiously sought it, but because it is our routine procedure to do just that.
Thank you for your patience and indulgence. Let us all be cognizant of the period of life in which we are now passing through in the physical body which has been prophesized long ago by the Divine Word as being the end of time when the Devil is already released from his imprisonment of the Millennium. At such crossroads, for those of us who believe in the Holy Covenant that exalts us to become True Ethiopians constituting the People of God, the Omnipresent and Omnipotent Holy Spirit is always with us all, and willing to provide each one of us with His Gifts that we need, as long as we remain Truthful and Faithful to Him. Once we are worthy to receive that Gift, all will be well, and we shall all become one in Him.

N'bure-Id Ermias Kebbede Welde-Iyyesus
Servant of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God

1st E-mail from HailePetros submitted on our website: ethkogserv.org :-

From: HAILEPETROS

Dear Sirs/Madams:

I hope that you are never claiming to be Tewahido in your religion. The word 'orthodox' is a Greek word. Ethiopia accepted the Greek language as AN OFFICIAL LANGUAGE along with Ge'ez for many centuries before and after the Incarnation of Christ our Lord. Explain what 'orthodox' is and means! How dare you tell and proclaim to these people that (1) Confession (n's'ha) is not necessary to a bishop or priest; or if they cannot find one, just to put on their (nech) white clothing along with taking a shower; fast 8 hours and then receive Holy Communion (qwe'r'ba'n)! The Lord Jesus Christ Himself said: Whosover sins you remit on earth, will be remitted in heaven; whosover sins you bound on earth, will be bound in heaven!(2) There is only 1(one) Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church, not two. There are wolves in sheep clothing such as yourself and the impostor Holy Synod in Exile.(3) Coptic Church is the Mother Church of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church and there will never be a separation from the See of St. Mark (the Holy Evangelist of God)! Only devils and Satan want them to separate.(4) Fish is a blood animal product (it is cold blooded). Was fish in the Garden of Eden? Was it eaten by Adam and Eve?! The Fetha Negast says that fish is a blood-animal product as do all other canons. Daniel and the prophets all said that they 'ate no pleasant food' or 'meats' during fasting...Learn, believe and teach Orthodoxy instead of deceiving poor people!(5) Divorce is a man-made law. Don't you read the Holy Bible?! Satan, distorting the scriptures to deceive people! One must confess sins and reconcile before they bring their gift to the altar! The Lord Christ said, "Do what they say, not what they do!" Even if the priest is harsh in giving penance, do what he says and the sins will be absolved!(6) There is only one FAITH in this world and One Church of Christ (Orthodox Tewahido). Did you believe St. Paul or do you want to be greater than him? You want to deceive the people. "One Lord, One FAITH, One Baptism! Ephesians 4:4" How can Catholics (Roman or Melchites), Eastern Orthodox or any other denomination come to the Orthodox Tewahido (&Coptic) Table of the Lord if they don't accept and believe HER DOGMA, ORDER and FAITH?! We don't accept the other denominations' baptisms or confirmations!(7) Abraham a Muslim?! What a diplomat you are, robbing these people of knowledge. Muslims/Buddhists/ Hindus/ Yogis/Jews/Crypto-Nestorians do not accept the Lord Jesus Christ! Abraham rejoiced to see the day of the Lord Christ! (8) Mahibere Qidusan praise God, that is why you don't accept them.IF YOU HAVE THE FAITH OF A MUSTARD SEED AND TELL THE TRUTH, DISPLAY MY E-MAIL AND MESSAGE PUBLICLY ON YOUR WEBSITE!

SINCERELY,HAILEPETROS

Our Lord Jesus Christ,
The Incarnate Son of God, born from Our Holy Mother The Virgin Mary,
Crucified, Died and Resurrected, Said,
"If you abide in My Word, you are My disciples indeed.
And you shall know the Truth,
and the Truth shall make you free."
(Jn. 8/31-32)

Thank you for visiting our website and for your email generated from a form submission.

We are glad that you were motivated to write us such an email as it served us as an incentive to provide you, and others like you, with essential educational inputs and more explanations on many important issues that our Service is committed to pursue, and that have relevance to the overall subject-matter of your email.

Even if the content of your email, in substance as well as in spirit, is devoid of propriety, as any unbiased reader could easily perceive, we maintain our guiding principle of responding, in decency, to your controversial and aggressive opinions conveyed therein. In doing so, we have no choice but to follow the pattern and the sequence of your haphazard presentation.

Yes, we, in the Service of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, do claim Tewah'do to be the basis of our doctrine of Christology, because it is indigenous, unadulterated and purely Ethiopian; and, it belongs to Our Church only, we mean the Church of the Holy Covenant of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, that is of, by and from God. But, we are neither "Orthodox", nor "Coptic", as you claim your Church, i.e., the Ethiopian Coptic Orthodox Tewah'do Church to be, because, both words of designation are non-Ethiopian, and connote recognition of submission or subjugation to, or colonization by foreign domination, if not physically, spiritually. And, from time immemorial, the true Ethiopian never allowed, allows, or will allow himself or herself to that status of degradation; he/she remains always a faithful subject of the Kingdom of God whose spiritual and ecclesiastical, physical and secular sovereigns are only Our Lord Jesus Christ and Our Holy Mother The Virgin Mary. Whenever we need to convey or express the meaning of "orthodox", we simply use the G'i'z word "r't'i't".

If there was any wrong done, or deviation committed in this and/or other respects by any of our past generations, it is the duty of True Ethiopians of the present generation to correct it, just as it is for the latter to uphold those legacies that are consistent with the Divine Truth about Ethiopia.

Here are short statements of reply to your email, itemized in the order you put them:

1) As to confession, let us present you with a simple question: The current apostasy of the clergy as well as of the leadership of your "Ethiopian Coptic Orthodox Tewah'do Church", aggravated by the bilateral excommunications of both sides of the divided synod, is widely known, not only by individuals, but also by the universal human community. Under such state of affairs, to which priest or bishop would you possibly go for confession with sincere and faithful repentant heart and mind? According to your email, it is quite evident that you, as an active member of the said Church, may respond positively to my question, and may go to any priest or bishop for confession.

But, no, no True Ethiopian of the Holy Covenant would ever do that. The True Ethiopian, under the current circumstances, that is, in the absence of a legitimate, competent and eligible Confessor, would only resort to the Grace of God secured by the sacrifice and atonement of Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Father and the Son of The Virgin Mary. That True Ethiopian of the Holy Covenant, he or she, under such conditions of the present clergy, is given free access to come, through personal repentance and the Holy Spirit, to the Eternal Confessor Priest and High Priest Jesus Christ, to receive complete remission of his or her sins, and then, partake the Holy Communion.

By the way, no one, either by custom or tradition, or by any man-made means, has the authority to claim to be above the Word of God inscribed in Scriptures, and interpret it in his or her way (2Pet. 1/20-21). And this Word of God is inscribed, not only in Scriptures (the Holy Bible), but also, more importantly, in our individual souls, i.e., in our hearts and minds, when we were, initially, created in the image of God, and finally, when we were born of God in the Holy Spirit, through the Sacrament of Baptism. You must realize that each Divine Word reveals Itself to every human-being when the latter presents himself or herself to God in complete Truth and in faithful Penitence, and makes Itself fully understood by him or her. This is the Nature and Power of the Word of God in the Holy Spirit.

So, the references you seemed to quote from the New Testament in your email are Divinely meant to address every person, including yourself, who, believes and proclaims in public, that Jesus, born of The Holy Virgin Mary, is The Christ and The Son of God, just like St. Peter the Apostle and the Ethiopian Eunuch. As a result of such conviction, proclamation and performance, that person himself or herself becomes the Ark of the Covenant, (Ts'llat and Tabot), the Altar, the Sanctuary and Temple or the Church of the Holy Spirit. The Divine Pronouncement made by Our Lord Jesus Christ to St. Peter is not limited to the latter only, but to any and every human being who has the will and determination to declare publicly his or her faith in line with that of St. Peter. It did not take much time for this same incident to take place: The question put forward by the Apostle Philip and the positive response given by the Ethiopian Eunuch forthwith, followed by his request to be baptized immediately, was simply a recurrence of that episode that took place earlier between Our Lord Jesus Christ and St. Peter. (Mt. 16/13-19; Act. 8/26-39)

You must know that any Ethiopian, including yourself, when he/she believes to be a True Ethiopian of the Holy Covenant, he/she will realize that he/she is already filled with the Grace of God that empowers him/her to believe that he/she is crowned with the Holy Spiritual Birth from God, as Son or Daughter of God, and with the Priesthood, and with the partnership of the Priestly Kingship of Jesus Christ and the Maternal Queenship of The Virgin Mary. This heavenly status was procured because of our ancestor, the First Ethiopian Melchizedeq of the Old Testament and the Last One of the New Testament, who is the Consummate Ethiopian, Jesus Christ, born of the Consummate Ethiopian, The Virgin Mary.

2) Currently, whether we accepted it or not, there are two Synods of the Ethiopian Coptic Orthodox Tewahido Church, not one only, as you tried to affirm in your email. No, you should not attempt to negate the reality! The excommunications hurled by your two combating "Synods" against each other have been accepted by the whole clergy and laity of your Church, at home and abroad. As a result of this unwarranted and unilateral measure by the two opposing sides, the Grace of the Holy Spirit had receded, and the Sacramental Services of the priesthood has ceased to function at all, in accordance with the Canon (Law), that is, your Fetha-Negest, of your Church. You might have read about this issue of the excommunications, extensively dealt with, on our web site home page.

Every body knows the interpretation of the parable of "the ravenous wolves in sheep's clothing", signifying the "false prophets", presented by Our Lord Jesus Christ. He provided us with the clue as to how we can easily distinguish the false prophets from the True Prophets in His statement that reads: "You will know them by their fruits." Our Lord did not stop by this quotation; but went further to expound what the term of "their fruits" would mean. To this effect, he said, "Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but a bad tree bears a bad fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them." (Mt. 7/15-20)

When Our Lord continues to elaborate, elsewhere, the meaning of His Parable, quoted above, He said, "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for, a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things; and an evil man, out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil things. (Mt. 12/33-35)

Now, does any ordinary human-being with a common sense and normal sanity, let alone a religious and spiritual person, would lack the ability to perceive what kind of fruit is being continuously produced by the laity and the clergy that comprises the monks, bishops, archbishops and patriarchs, i.e., the leadership of your Church? How about the writing and the contents of your email? What does one deduce from it? Let your own conscience and the conscience of any Ethiopian and non-Ethiopian give the verdict, leaving, of course, the final and the supreme Judgment to the Almighty God.

As to the kind of fruit we produce in our Services, the Divine Logo and the Banner of our designation of "Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God", speak by themselves. They are proof of where we belong, with whom we are allied and whom we serve: And this is the realm of the Holy Spirit. Nothing is concealed, unnatural and destructive in our vocation, commitment and duty that are being run in the physical, moral and spiritual daylight, as displayed in our printed publications and internet sites. Everything about our Service is universally known. We had openly and publicly declared that we are Faithful Believers and Servants of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Mother The Virgin Mary through our Services of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God. We took this stand by rejecting the Devil openly and publicly. We have embarked on all these obligations in accordance with the Word of Our Lord that says, "Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in Heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in Heaven." This is the fruit we are producing. Again, it is for your conscience and the conscience of others to differentiate and then, to classify our fruit into the category that is justifiably appropriate, leaving, of course, the final and the supreme Judgment in this regard to the Almighty God. (Mt.10/32-33)

Even if we take literally the interpretation of Our Lord's parable, quoted above, it suffices to cite, as an example, the style of clothing of one of the servants in our Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God Services. This Servant is clad, not in sheep clothing, i.e., in wool, but only in his national toga (shemma), whose fabrics were made from cotton grown locally, home-woven and hand sewn. He is engaged, on one hand, in spreading out the Good News of the Holy Covenants that Ethiopia and the Ethiopians preserved to this day, specifically, the Divine Truth, revealed, lived and preached by Jesus Christ and His Holy Mother The Virgin Mary. On the other hand, he is engaged in exposing the distortions and malpractices exercised by your Church and condemned by Our Lord Himself.

Yet, we see our adversaries in your Church, disguised and dressed in foreign suits made of the wool of the sheep, live and work treacherously as wolves in apparent peace and prosperity among the flocks of sheep, collaborating with the human wolves of this world. So, in the Words of Jesus Christ, this Servant and his colleagues who are in the Service of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, are blessed to be amongst those that are sent by Him as sheep within the herds of wolves. As such, these Servants of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God engage, openly and in public, the Devil and his hosts in the spiritual fight that is incessantly ongoing between the latter and our Divine Patron the Holy Spirit, witnessing for and promoting, at the same time, the cause of Ethiopia, the Ethiopians and Ethiopianhood of the Holy Covenant that Our Lord Jesus Christ and Our Holy Mother The Virgin Mary were sacrificed for.

Not us, but those who serve the evil purposes of the adversary of God seem to be determined to continue to deceive the common and poor people to whom they refer as "the masses". However, their effort would result in futility, because the decisive and the appointed time have come for the ultimate fulfillment of Our Lord's prophetic final judgment.

You may probably know that we, in the Services of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, do not recognize both your Local Synod located in Ethiopia and the Synod abroad, because of the transgression and denial committed by the laity, clergy and the hierarchy of your Church against the Holy Covenant. As far as we are concerned, our Church of Ethiopia, which is one of the two Houses elected by the House of the People, the other being the House of the Administration, continues to flourish in its existence from the time of Adam and Eve to this day, despite the relentless persecution that was unleashed, ever since, by the Evil Power, known by the various names: the Serpent, the Devil, the Dragon, Satan, the Evil Spirit.

3) You seem to be confused yourself, and try to confuse us and others with regard to the question of which or what Church you are referring to. We assume you are referring to the so-called "Ethiopian Coptic Orthodox Tewah'do Church" whose clergy and laity at home and abroad had accepted and recognized its status as currently run by its two synods. This same Church is the one that continues to suffer under the Divine Condemnation, since its flagrant partnership, in 1967 E.C., with "the evil, adulterous and apostate generation" represented by the atheistic rule of the Derg, which partnership amounted to your Church's denial of the Holy Covenant.

In consideration of this fact, we, in the Services of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, have nothing to do with this Church of yours, including with its clerical and lay membership, as well as with its hierarchical leadership and policy, because this Church of yours is no more Ethiopian: It is a branch Church in Ethiopia of the Coptic (Egyptian) Orthodox Church, created in the years around 330 A.D., and is considered just like those Churches that are themselves branch churches in Ethiopia of their Churches based abroad, such as the Greek or the Armenian Orthodox Churches, the Catholic Church and the various Evangelical and Protestant Churches operating in Ethiopia.

The main Church in Cairo (or Alexandria, Egypt) that is called "the Coptic (Egyptian) Orthodox Church" and its branch Church in Ethiopia that is called "Ethiopian Coptic Orthodox Tewah'do Church" both claim publicly, officially and legally, to have, the latter, been established in the 4th Century A.D. Whereas the Church that we are serving is "The Church of Ethiopia" whose date of inception by God Himself goes back to the time of the Creation of Adam and Eve, and Her uninterrupted independent existence spans 7500 years of age.

This is how we express the Divine Truth about our "Church of Ethiopia" in the Prayer of Our Creed: "We believe in the One Church of The Holy Covenant that was founded by the Word of God, Jesus Christ, initially, in the Hearts of the Patriarchs, and later sustained by His Divine Messages through the Prophets, and finally brought to perfection through the Holy Spirit by His convocation of the Apostles, and where His Body and Blood is offered as Sacrifice for the Holy Communion with God, and where the Sacramental Blessings of the Holy Spirit are bestowed upon and communicated to all believers."

True sons and True daughters of Ethiopia, through the inspiration and invigoration of the Holy Spirit, are called to liberate, not only this victimized "Ethiopian Coptic Orthodox Tewah'do Church", that is "the House of the Priesthood" in the Constitution of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, but also the other two component parts of the Divine Kingdom, namely, "the House of the People" and "the House of the Administration", from their present domination by the Coptic (Egypian) Orthodox Church and the incessant influence of the Devil, finally to restore all the three Houses to their original, inherent and legitimate status of the age old Ethiopianhood.

4) Is the issue of whether or not eating fish at a fasting time religiously worth for you to be concerned so much about, and mention such insignificant matter, while, presently, we are at the crossroads of the final days of Divine Judgment? As to this question, over and above what was already explained in the literatures of our web site, now, it suffices to quote what St. Paul wrote to the Romans: "He who eats, eats to the Lord, for, he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. ...But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For, we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. ...For, the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." (Rom. 4).

Who you are, and the status of your religious faith is evaluated by what you think, say and do. On our part, and, advisably, on your part as well, we need not spend our valuable time and vocation in focusing and elaborating on this matter of insignificance? Even if your F't'ha-Negest is explicit or ambiguous on this issue, whether or not you eat fish in any of the fasting periods does not matter in our Ethiopian Church of the Kingdom of God.

If you still insist to deal with it further, it is for you to be concerned and to address any and/or every question in this regard for the clergy of your Church. If you prefer to do that, you must realize that you can no more effectively use the provisions of the F't'ha Negest as a reference, even for spiritual cases and proceedings of your Church, let alone for secular matters. This is because it was violated and rendered null and void by its own clergy in a number of high issues, one of which is the nomination, election and appointment of bishops. We do not think you know or even heard the fact that it provides that no Ethiopian monk would ever be nominated, elected and appointed for the position of a bishop whatsoever, except those who are native Coptic Egyptians. In that provision, the Ethiopians are not only barred for nomination, election and appointment, but also restricted even to propose the name of that Coptic Egyptian who would be appointed to serve as their country's bishop.

This Canon (Church Law) was claimed to have been enacted and promulgated by the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. And it is for this kind of book of church law, that you seem to be so zealous about, and diligently exert to convince even us to accept it as a worthy Canon. No, without the necessary and appropriate revision made from the Ethiopian Holy Covenant perspective, we would not accept, refer and apply it as a legal document.

We, in the Service of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, do not deceive people. As you witness yourself, we only preserve and promote the Word of God and the Teachings of Our Lord Jesus Christ that are enshrined in the Holy Bible that God inscribed in our hearts and minds from the time of Adam and Eve to this day, and as was transmitted from generation to generation in our Tradition that is based on the Holy Covenant, as explained here and elsewhere from the Ethiopian standpoint. Yes, we do not deviate from that Divine Word, Truth and Teachings and from our Ethiopian Tradition that God inscribed on the tablets of our Hearts.

It is the laity, the clergy and the leadership personified in your divided synod of your Church who shamelessly and publicly collaborated and continue to collaborate with the adversary of God, in their futile attempt to destroy all the Divine Works that God established, maintained and resuscitated in Ethiopia from the days of the Genesis to the present time. And this Divine Creation is embodied in Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God. By their current, blatant and traitorous deeds, the clergy and leadership of your Church are the ones who deceived not only themselves and their flocks whom they betrayed and abandoned to the wolves to be freely snatched, dismembered and devoured, but also their God and His Virgin Mother of the Holy Covenant.

5) We do not understand why you mentioned the word "Divorce". It has never been, is never and will never be the way of life for us, Ethiopians. In fact, our initial Covenant, exemplified by Adam and Eve, is the Sacrament of the Holy Matrimony. And this is substantiated and confirmed by our daily Prayer of the Testimonial of Ethiopians, which prayer is posted on our website.

Please be knowledgeable to the fact that your quotation: "Do what they say, not what they do!" and other references made by Our Lord Jesus Christ were only meant to show and affirm to His contemporary Jewish people that He is the True Messiah who became man from The Virgin Mary in fulfillment of the Prophecies and for the completion of the Ten Commandments. By His Crucifixion, Death and Resurrection, that is, by His ultimate triumph over Evil, Sin and Death, human beings, irrespective of their gender, age, race, colour, ethnic or religious affinity, education and social status, were granted full physical, mental and spiritual freedom as long as they do not deny, of their own will, this Divine Gift, and as long as they confirm it by their public acceptance of the Faith through their initiation in the Sacrament of Baptism. From that stage on, there is no more subjugation to Evil, Sin and Death; no more resort to the Old Testament precepts; but, only the New Testament Salvation, Absolution and Mercy of the Holy Covenant, attained by Jesus Christ and The Virgin Mary, prevail in the body, soul and spirit of the True Believer. Everything of Creation is renewed. Each person becomes New with Jesus Christ, the Eternal Priest and Archpriest, King and King of Kings serving him or her as his or her immutable and faithful Personal Confessor.

6) As explained earlier, Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God on Earth was established and came into existence in the middle of the highlands of present Ethiopia when God the Father, through His Word and Son God, Jesus Christ, created Adam and Eve in His image 7,500 years ago. This Kingdom is composed of the Main House of the People, i.e., the Legislative, and the two integral Branch Houses that stem from the latter: The one is the House of the Administration responsible for the secular matters and services, and the other is the House of the Priesthood responsible for spiritual matters and services that we refer also as "the Church of Ethiopia", the one and only universal Church with the doctrine of Tewah'do. For this basic and profound reason, we do not accept the designation of "Orthodox" to our Ethiopian Church, as described above.

Let me elaborate further the reason why we could not and should not accept this designation: The foreign word "Orthodox", whether it is Greek, as you affirmed, or whether it is derived from the G'i'z word "R't'i't", as we maintain, carries with it several confusions, connotations and ambiguities when it is applied with the Ethiopian Church. The negative, unfavourable and damaging nature of this word "Orthodox" goes to the extent of falsely implying religious precedence and domination either by the Greeks or the Coptic Egyptians over Ethiopia and the Ethiopians. It also entails self-inflicted subordination of Ethiopians to the abovementioned aliens. The misguided school of thought that adopts the appendage of "Orthodox" on the title of the Ethiopian Church is, therefore, categorically rejected by us.

With your present attitude of mind and conviction, you have no right to invoke the name of the Apostle Paul. You may probably do so only by calling his previous name, Saul, because, that could have relevance to the case in point, as it involves you and your conduct in parallel to that of the then Saul. Didn't you read the Book of the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of Saint Paul thoroughly? Immediately after his conversion to Christianity, he became a different and new man, and was diametrically opposed to the establishments of the Jewish people, the clergy and the leadership, as well as the Jewish Old Testament Teachings of the Law, all that he zealously fought for previously. As a result, he was considered their potential and arch enemy, just as we, in this Service of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, are presently considered to be in your eyes and in the eyes of your Church's laity, clergy, hierarchy and establishments. This is simply because we follow the footsteps and courses of Saint Paul in his teaching and revelation of the genuine Christian Faith that amounts to True Ethiopianhood.

We wish and pray that, you and zealots like you, one day, may be challenged by the omnipotent confrontation of the Holy Spirit in similar way that Saul had experienced, before he was subdued and converted into the new being of Paul, and became the True Servant of Our Lord Jesus Christ. By then, you too would follow suit and come to serve the causes of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God with renewed spiritual force and zeal that would change the attitude of your generation for the better, just like Saint Paul, who, with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, accomplished in transforming the thinking and life of his contemporary generation, at home and worldwide.

7) As regards the Muslims, don't you see the individual, family and communal lives of the present Muslims religiously and socially resemble that of Abraham's? Don't you know that the present Arabs and Muslims all over the world claim to be the descendants of Ismael whom Abraham had begotten from Aggar? Is it not conducive to relate this fact to the present Muslim community, particularly, those born in Ethiopia, and who are the offspring of those converted to Islam by coercion, especially during and after the invasion of Ahmed Gragn, and bring them back to the embrace of their Mother Ethiopia? Is it not worthy of us to provide them with a chance to restore themselves to their original and inherent Ethiopianhood of the Holy Covenant?

To this effect, the Divine Truth could be revealed to them by letting them realize again the fact that, in consideration of their present religious status of Islam that could be presumed to be in parallel with that of Abraham who was one of the prototype of the primary Covenants of the Soul (Kidane-L'buna) preceding the Ark of the Covenant (Kidane-Orit) which they, the Muslims, duly accept together with the Gospels. This sort of exposition of the real situation would only facilitate their conversion to Ethiopianhood of the Holy Covenant. Does such positive and comprehensive presentation of an important case of the Divine Truth render the presenter to be labeled as a diplomat?

What would you say about Our Lord Jesus Christ, when he rebuked James and John, retorting to their request for Him to allow them "to command fire to come down from heaven and consume the Samaritans" because "they did not receive Him", after He had sent messengers to them to do so, while He was on His way to Jerusalem? He said to His disciples, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For, the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them!"? In your view, would you dare even to imagine that Our Lord Jesus Christ acted like a diplomat when He uttered those Words in favour of the Samaritans who turned upon Him in hostility for the miracle of salvation He previously did for them, thus repealing the verdict of His Disciples? Not at all.

8) Let me tell you in a brief statement about Mah'bere Q'ddusan, since you have mentioned its name controversially in your email: Our Service of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, with its integral part of the Church of Ethiopia, has tried, as related in the section of "Letters" of our website, to approach this association with extended hands for good relationship. But, the reaction of the leadership of the latter turned out to be unfavourable. And we were compelled to withdraw our extended hands. Also, for various obvious reasons, we refrained from recognizing the association as genuine and acceptable, until the association in general, and its leaders and individual members in particular, prove themselves to be the Martyrs John the Baptist and STifanos, the Deacon.

Do we need to relate the accounts of Saints John the Baptist and STifanos the Deacon? No, because, everyone knows well enough about the faithful services and martyrdoms of both Holy Men. To deserve to be called Mah'bere Q'ddusan and to be its member, requires more than what is being done and pursued by the leadership and the membership of the same. The uncompromising and the prerequisite condition for membership in this organization, should require martyrdom, more than anything else. By martyrdom, we do not mean the shedding of one's blood or the jeopardizing and sacrificing of one's life for the cause of the True Ethiopianhood. That is the Special Gift of God to those Elected only. By martyrdom, we mean what each one of us who claim to be True Ethiopians, as Faithful servants of Jesus Christ and The Virgin Mary, ought to do on our part: And that is, first to believe in the Divine Truth about Ethiopia, the Ethiopians and the Ethiopianhood; and then, to live It ourselves; and finally, to speak about It publicly without fear, but only with the fear of God.

However and unfortunately, what we are currently witnessing from this association and its members is not this noble and sacred act of martyrdom, but the resemblance of the undertakings and manipulations of "false prophets", or politicians, to the extent of collaborating with the adversaries of God of the Holy Covenant of Ethiopia.

Look at Our Leaders Jesus Christ and His Holy Mother, The Virgin Mary, as well as their Followers, who serve us as our Examples and role models: They all could have avoided persecution, crucifixion and martyrdom, by conforming with the contemporary and prevailing state of affairs, as do the present generation of Ethiopia, that is composed of the laity, clergy and the leadership of your Church, including Mah'ber-Qddusan, of course. But these, the latter, did not prefer to pay that sacrifice for their Ethiopian Faith of the Holy Covenant. Those, the former, did what their Faith required them to accomplish. First and foremost, they lived It; then they taught and preached It; finally, they died for It as Martyrs.

Today, what Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God needs are young men and women out of her Sons and Daughters who stand and fight for the Divine Truth in spiritual dynamism, who are even prepared to sacrifice their lives for the sacred cause Saints John the Baptist, STefanos, the Deacon, PeTros, the Patriot, Mary, the Magdalene and Krstos Semra, the Mediator were Martyrs. Yes, this is what is expected of the youth of the present generation like yourself, as exemplified by True Ethiopians of the Holy Covenant that include those of us, in this Service of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God.

As Ethiopia has been cleansed and sanctified, once and for all, by the Crucified Body and Blood of Our Lord God Jesus Christ, and by the Motherhood and Covenants of The Virgin Mary, the Devil and his authority that seem to prevail nowadays in Ethiopia and among the Ethiopians, must be driven out. This would mean the Devil being driven out of the individual person of every Ethiopian, so that our Sacred Land with Her Tripartite Houses of Services and the world are ready for the Glorious Coming of Jesus Christ. By such determined and devoted act of committed Sons and Daughters of Ethiopia of the Holy Covenant, the Kingdom of God that currently exists within and among His Faithful Ethiopians of the Holy Covenant, is revealed and reign in all domains of the Universe, and as renewed in Its wholeness and completeness of perfect entity and eternity in accordance with the written Word of God and the Revelation of the Holy Spirit.

So much for the topics you raised in your email. Now, we would like, in conclusion, to add some words of admonition and advice with the object of bringing you to the positive side of matters that are so far dealt with in this response. We deduce from your writing that you did not seem to have read my books and publications that are posted on our website. If you are genuinely in search of the Divine Truth about the whole concept of Ethiopia, the Ethiopians and Ethiopianhood, please do read them, in order for you to be more knowledgeable in the issues contained in your email. In fact, you seem to be sentimental and irritated, instead of being contented and rejoicing, by the Messages on our website; why? Would it be because you did not attain the status of True Ethiopianhood? If not, what else could it be?

May we ask how old you are? And how far or how deep do you know about the religion and identity of the Church of Ethiopia that we serve, as well as that of your so-called the Ethiopian Coptic Orthodox Tewah'do Church? If you are young and an apprentice, and one who is sincerely in search of the Divine Truth about Ethiopia, the Ethiopians and Ethiopianhood, but still unsatisfied with the Messages brought to you by the literatures you read on our web site, then, we request you to wait, pray and see. Yes, as you grow up and closely examine things through various experiences and intimate events you may encounter and participate, you will certainly find out where Satan is busily engaged in his malicious activities and remains influential.

You will definitely find him working, not only covertly and in pervasiveness, but also overtly and in stark audacity, within your Church, a Church that had deliberately renounced proclaiming to be, itself, the Kingdom of God, and committed itself voluntarily in the latter's service. It renounced the Divine Trust and Vocation of the Holy Covenant, simply, because of fear of reprisals from the Devil and his henchmen, the secular human governments, and purposely continuing to call itself a Church, just as the rest of the ecumenical Churches do, as a camouflage for deception. But the Devil also has a church, even a kingdom; and, he does not want people to be confused. So, he forced your Church, as well as the whole universal (ecumenical) Church, not to invoke even the Name of the Kingdom of God, but only to call their institution, the Church.

By enforcing the application and execution of such sinister stratagem upon these Churches, including yours, the Devil manipulated the latter to the extent of rendering them to issue canonical licenses to their lay members to serve two masters: The clergy and their spiritual institution, the Church, on one side; and the politicians and their secular institution, the government, on the other, inflicting upon their flocks the satanic concept of duality. Sadly, this heinous deed is being carried out under the pretext of legitimacy.

If you did not realize this fact so far, or, at least the reality that is quite conspicuously evident and prevalent in your own Church based at home and abroad in exile, we plead with you to open your spiritual eyes and to do so without delay. If you do not want to realize the aforementioned fact and accept the reality, then, the mere manifestation of such lack of perception would prove either the existence of some deficiency within you that makes it difficult for you to comprehend even simple and ordinary things, or, you are compelled by inclination to choose partnership with the adversary of God. If the latter case would be your choice or the category into which you are grouped, no wonder that you were obliged to write us such an email. You cannot have the capacity to know and recognize the identity of our Church of Ethiopia, where this Church proclaims to be the Spiritual Serving Branch of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God.

For us, True Ethiopians of the Holy Covenant, there was established with Creation and ever since exists only one Kingdom, proclaimed, at the final days, primarily by John the Baptist, and then by Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself; and that Kingdom is Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God that constitutes the House of the People, the House of the Administration and the House of the Priesthood, as explained earlier. This Divine Truth is explicitly stated in our Prayers of our Creed, the Testimonial, and the Glorification of the Lord and the Exaltation of The Virgin Mary. There is no any other kingdom, church, government, entity or institution that parallels or substitutes It. If there are, they are considered to be counterfeits, human or diabolic.

As to yourself, the indicator of who you are, that is, whether you are a True Ethiopian or not, is distinguished and proved by your free will to accept the Divine Truth about Ethiopia, Ethiopians and Ethiopianhood, brought forth and revealed above and in the written Messages posted on our website; if you feel the sacred spiritual joy within yourself when you hear, read and know the Good-Tidings therein, which amounts to acceptance of the Divine Truth, and since it is solely the Holy Spirit that inspires you to do so and rejoice, it is only then that you would definitely realize that you are a True Ethiopian. The reverse of this state, is proof of the opposite.

Now, you easily see and know who you are, because you did not accept and rejoice within yourself when you have learnt about the Divine Truth about Ethiopia, the Ethiopians and Ethiopianhood; rather, you went to the extent of engaging in the use of indecent and violent words in your email directed towards Servants of our Service in general. Who do you think allows, incites and encourages someone like you to embark upon such evil undertaking? The Holy Spirit? No! It is certainly the spirit of the adversary of God, as Our Lord, Jesus Christ retorted to St. Peter when the latter acted that way, as you did now. (Mt.16/21-23).

Beware of fanaticism, especially the religious one. When one falls victim of this passion, serious danger is imminent upon that person; not only his spiritual mind would be rendered void, but also his physical mind will be affected and engulfed by evil cloud of ignorance that he stops to visualize matters and evaluate things in their natural perspectives in general, and, more significantly and in particular, the Divine Truth. Don't try to think, speak or write, and act when overwhelmed by such obsession; it is a sign of the possession by the evil one, and not that of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, as you may imagine.

Your indecent utterances that you put in words in your email, and which we do not need to reiterate here, amount to reckless and uncalled for manners generated, most probably, by such tendency. We hope you will refrain from such misconduct in the future. You might have heard the Gospel Message which says that Our Lord Jesus Christ identified the Jewish people including their teachers and the learned, clergy and high priests of the House of Israel as "evil, adulterous and apostate generation". Why? Because, they were misinterpreting the Word of God and abusing their spiritual authority only to satisfy their carnal and worldly desires and to their advantage, just like the ones that follow suit and employ the same pattern of attitude and action within the current Church establishments to which you are affiliated.

This and the many Divine Reprimands uttered by Our Lord towards the Jews resulted only in producing deep hatred on Him within themselves that culminated in delivering Him to the heathen power of the Romans and sentencing Him to die by Crucifixion. Why did they hate Him in the first place to the extent of killing Him? He put the answer in an unambiguous clarity of His own Words of condemnation for such attitude: It was because, "the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But, he who does the Truth comes to the light that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God." (Jn. 3/19-21)

This is exactly what we, Servants of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God are pursuing; yes, we expose, with full commitment to our Holy Covenant of the Ethiopianhood, the wrongs and misdeeds, evils and falsehoods being carried out by the institutions created and function in the Name of Our God of Ethiopia and the Ethiopians. And this is the reward with which we are reciprocated that amounted to hatred and persecution fomented and allowed to be executed by the laity, clergy and the hierarchy of your Church that includes you.

Taking into serious consideration the details that are stated in this response, and meditating on the whole subject matter that have relevance to the issue in question, we earnestly ask you to repent and come forward to serve, wherever you are and will be, the causes of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God, just as Saints John the Baptist, the Apostle Paul, STifanos, the Pioneer of Martyrdom and the Ethiopian Patriot PeTros did for the same cause..

Finally, let us close our response to your email with this remark based on yours: None of us, in this Service, claims to have the Faith of a mustard seed that you requested "if we have one", with which, you hoped, we would be empowered to post your email on our website. Had one of us here been gifted with that minute Faith, we could have done miracles of moving trees and mountains. But, seemingly, none of us is worthy even to be considered to that exalted status. However, we can assure you beyond any reasonable doubt that, as it is our sole vocation, we have been telling so far, and shall tell in the future, the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Divine Truth. And, please be informed that, as it is our routine procedure to publicize educational and informative texts, your email together with this response will be posted on our website, specifically, in the section of Q & A, even if you did not request for it.

N'bure-Id Ermias Kebbede Welde-Iyyesus
Servant of Ethiopia: The Kingdom of God