Emperor Gelawdewos ዐፄ ገላውዴዎስ (አጽናፍ ሰገድ)
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Emperor Gelawdewos's (Atsnaf Seged) Confession of Faithየእምንት ምስክርነት በዓፄ ገላውዴዎስ In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. This is the faith of my fathers and the faith of my flock, which is the fold of my kingdom. We believe in One God and in His Holy Son Jesus Christ, His Word and His Power, His Counsel and His Wisdom, who was with Him before the world was created; and in the last days He came unto us, not laying aside (lit. being bereft of) the throne of His Godhead, and was made man of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Virgin Mary; and He was baptized in the River Jordan in the thirtieth year; and He was perfect Man, and He was crucified on the wood of the Cross in the days of Pontius Pilate (lit. Pilate the man of Pontus), He suffered, died, and was buried, and rose again on the third day, and then on the fortieth day He ascended to heaven in glory and sat on the right hand of His Father; and He shall come again in glory to judge the quick and the dead; and of His kingdom there shall be no end. And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Life-giver, who hath proceeded from the Father; and we believe in one baptism for the remission of sins and we hope for the resurrection of the dead unto life that is to come for ever. And we walk in the King's highroad (that is) plain (and) true, and turn not aside to the right hand or to the left from the doctrine of our Fathers, the Twelve Apostles, and of Paul, the spring of wisdom, and of the seventy-two disciples and of the 318 orthodox who were gathered together in Nicaea, and of the 150 in Constantinople and of the 200 in Ephesus. Thus I proclaim and thus I teach, I, Claudius, King of Ethiopia, whose reigning name is Asnaf Sagad, the son of Wanag Sagad, the son of Na'od. And concerning the charge that we honour the first Sabbath (i.e. Saturday), we do not honour it as the Jews do who crucified Christ, saying, 'His Blood be on us and on our children'. For those Jews do not drink water nor light a fire, nor cook food, nor make bread, nor move from house to house; but we so honour it that we celebrate thereon the Eucharist, and have love-feasts, even as our Fathers the Apostles have taught us in the Didascalia. We do not honour it as (we honour) the Sabbath of the first day of the week, which is the new day, concerning which David saith, 'This is the day which the Lord hath made, let us be glad and rejoice in it (or, we will be glad, etc.). For on it our Lord Jesus Christ rose again, and on it the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles in the upper-room of Zion, and on it He became incarnate in the womb of Saint Mary ever-Virgin, and on it He will come again to reward the righteous and to recompense sinners.' And concerning circumcision, we are not circumcised as the Jews, because we know the words of Paul the spring of wisdom, who saith, ' Circumcision availeth not, and uncircumcision availeth not, but rather a new creature, which is, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.' And again he saith to the men of Corinth, 'He that hath received circumcision, let him not receive uncircumcision.' All the books of the doctrine of Paul are in our hands, and teach us concerning circumcision and uncircumcision. But the circumcision that is practised amongst us is according to the custom of the country, like the tattooing of the face in Ethiopia and Nubia and the piercing of the ear amongst the Indians. And what we do (we do) not in observance of the Law of Moses, but according to the custom of men. And concerning the eating of swine's flesh we are not prohibited from it, as the Jews are, by observance of the Law. Him also who eats thereof we do not abhor, and him who eats not thereof we do not compel to eat, as our Father Paul wrote to the Church of Rome, saying, 'Let not him who eateth despise him who eateth not; and, God receiveth all'. The Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, all is clean to the clean, but it is evil for a man to eat with offence. And Matthew the Evangelist saith, 'There is nothing that can defile the man except that which cometh forth from his mouth, but that which is in the belly goeth forth and is contained in the draught, and is cast out and poured forth; and (thus) He maketh all meats clean'. And saying this He hath destroyed all the structure of the error of the Jews who are taught from the Book of the Law. My faith is also the faith of my faithful priests who teach by my command within my kingdom, and they depart not from the way of the Gospel, nor from the doctrine of our Father Paul, either to the right hand or to the left. And in the Book of History it is written that Constantine the King gave order in his reign that all Jews that were baptized should eat swine's flesh on the Day of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Howbeit (with us) even as a man is minded in his heart, he abstaineth from eating animal food. There are some who delight in the flesh of fish, and there some who delight in the flesh of fowl, and there are some who abstain from eating the flesh of sheep and every man as it seemeth good unto him follows his own inclination. This is the good will and pleasure of men. And touching the eating of animal food there is no law or canon in the New Testament. All is clean to the clean. And Paul also saith, ' Let him that believeth eat all things'. This is all that I desired to write, that thou mightest know the truth of my faith. It was written in the 1555th year from the Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, on the 23rd day of san'a in the country of Damot (Domot). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelawdewos ዐፄ ገላውዴዎስ (አጽናፍ ሰገድ) ʿäṣ́e gälawədewosə (ʾäṣənafə sägädə) |
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Emperor Gelawdewos's (Atsnaf Seged) Confession of Faith
የእምነት ምስክርነት በዓፄ ገላውዴዎስ
This is all that I desired to write, that thou mightiest know the truth of my faith.
It was written in the 1555th year from the Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, on the 23rd day of san'a in the country of Damot (Domot).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelawdewos
ዐፄ ገላውዴዎስ (አጽናፍ ሰገድ)
ʿäṣ́e gälawədewosə (ʾäṣənafə sägädə)