Orthodox Tewahedo refers to three

Oriental Orthodox The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysitism, Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 50 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches adhere to the Nicene Christian ...

Christian Churches with shared beliefs, liturgy, and history. The

Orthodox Tewahedo biblical canon The Orthodox Tewahedo biblical canon is a version of the Christianity, Christian Bible used in the two Oriental Orthodox Churches of the Ethiopian and Eritrean traditions: the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahed ...

is common to all churches, as is

Orthodox Tewahedo music Orthodox Tewahedo music refers to sacred music of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The music was long associated with '' Zema'' (chant), developed by the six century composer Yared. It is essential part of liturgical service in ...

. * The

Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church () is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Christian churches in Africa originating before European colonization of the continent, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church dates bac ...

, autocephalous since 1959. * The

Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church The Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church () is one of the Oriental Orthodox Churches with its headquarters in Asmara, Eritrea. It was given autocephaly by Shenouda III of Alexandria, pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church, after Eritrea gained its in ...

, autocephalous since 1993. * The

Tigrayan Orthodox Tewahedo Church The Tigrayan Orthodox Tewahedo Church is one of the Oriental Orthodox Churches with its headquarters in Axum, Tigray Region. It declared autocephaly on 7 May 2021, due to the alleged involvement of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in wa ...

, self-declared autocephalous since 2021. ''Tewahedo'' ({{langx, gez, ተዋሕዶ ''täwaḥədo'') is a Geʽez word meaning 'being made one' or 'unified'. This word refers to the

belief in the one composite unified nature of Christ; i.e., a belief that a complete, natural union of the divine and human natures into one is self-evident in order to accomplish the divine salvation of humankind. This position is known as

miaphysitism Miaphysitism () is the Christological doctrine that holds Jesus, the Incarnate Word, is fully divine and fully human, in one nature ('' physis'', ). It is a position held by the Oriental Orthodox Churches. It differs from the Dyophysitism of ...

and is in contrast to the "two natures of Christ" belief (unmixed, but unseparated divine and human natures, called the

hypostatic union Hypostatic union (from the Greek: ''hypóstasis'', 'person, subsistence') is a technical term in Christian theology employed in mainstream Christology to describe the union of Christ's humanity and divinity in one hypostasis, or individual perso ...

), which is held by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

See also