Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church

[dramatic music] Axum, capital of an ancient African kingdom known as one of the world's four great powers in the first century BC.

Today, it's the holiest city in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

This religion's 36 million followers have no doubt where the Ark of the Covenant rests.

They know it's here, which is theory number six.

And to this day, the church that they founded claims to possess the Ark of the Covenant.

Every aspect of Ethiopian Orthodoxy has the Ark at its core.

There are tens of thousands of Ethiopian Orthodox churches in the world, and every one of them, to be consecrated, must have a replica Ark of the Covenant inside its Holy of Holies, its inner sanctum chamber.

On special occasions, the Ark of the Covenant replica can be brought out and paraded around, but even it remains covered because even these replicas are thought to have tremendous power.

The status quo six.

Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, which in practice means the Latin Patriarchate plus the Franciscans, Armenian Apostolic, Syriac Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, and Ethiopian Orthodox, Tewahedo.

Those six hold recognized rights at the shared holy places.

That's the club.

That's the strongest example Daniel's question points at.

It's an Oriental Orthodox monastery on the roof of the Chapel of St. Helena, about 1,800 square meters.

and its ownership is disputed between the Coptic Orthodox and the Ethiopian Orthodox churches.

Roof Monastery, 1800 square meters.

And to this day, the church that they founded claims to possess the Ark of the Covenant.

Every aspect of Ethiopian Orthodoxy has the Ark at its core.

There are tens of thousands of Ethiopian Orthodox churches in the world, and every one of them, to be consecrated, must have a replica Ark of the Covenant inside its Holy of Holies, its inner sanctum chamber.

On special occasions, the Ark of the Covenant replica can be brought out and paraded around, but even it remains covered because even these replicas are thought to have tremendous power.

It could be that this Ark is simply another replica.

But on the rare occasions when these guardian monks are interviewed, they state with absolute certainty that this is the Ark of the Covenant.

They believe it, as do tens of millions of followers of Ethiopian Orthodoxy worldwide.

I think it's safe to say that there is something very precious in this chapel.

And most of what people think they know about Angels and Demons comes from 1 Enoch, not from any canonical literature.

But it's only the Ethiopian Orthodox Church that gives it any status whatsoever.

But more seriously, for my book and purposes, is the Proto-Evangelion of James.

Everything that you've ever heard about Mary that is not in the canonical Gospels.

The Book of Enoch is an ancient Jewish religious work that was widely known in antiquity.

It is not part of the biblical canon used by most Christians today, although it remains canonical within the Ethiopian Orthodox tradition.

Fragments of Enoch were also discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls, demonstrating the versions of the text circulated among Jewish communities long before Christianity emerged.

And Enoch takes the mysterious, the mysterious story in Genesis six and expands it dramatically.

In fact, many authors and expert scholars in ancient biblical and Hebrew texts, believe that the book of Enoch was originally part of the biblical genesis.

In fact, the book of Enoch is still part of the canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and some Jewish, somewhere apart.

A church, some Jewish denomination.

We

Yeah.

It seems like the Ethiopian Orthodox church has it in their canon.

Yeah, they have a huge

canon.