Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity in a Global Context

Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity in a Global Context PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004505253
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity constitutes an exceptional religious tradition flourishing in sub-Saharan Africa already since late antiquity. The volume places Ethiopian Orthodoxy into a global context and explores the various ways in which it has been interconnected with the wider Christian world from the Aksumite period until today. By highlighting the formative role of both wide-ranging translocal religious interactions as well as disruptions thereof, the contributors challenge the perception of this African Christian tradition as being largely isolated in the course of its history. Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity in a Global Context: Entanglements and Disconnections offers a new perspective on the Horn of Africa’s Christian past and reclaims its place on the map of global Christianity.

Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity in a Global Context

Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity in a Global Context PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004505253
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Get Book Here

Book Description
Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity constitutes an exceptional religious tradition flourishing in sub-Saharan Africa already since late antiquity. The volume places Ethiopian Orthodoxy into a global context and explores the various ways in which it has been interconnected with the wider Christian world from the Aksumite period until today. By highlighting the formative role of both wide-ranging translocal religious interactions as well as disruptions thereof, the contributors challenge the perception of this African Christian tradition as being largely isolated in the course of its history. Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity in a Global Context: Entanglements and Disconnections offers a new perspective on the Horn of Africa’s Christian past and reclaims its place on the map of global Christianity.

The Orthodox Church of Ethiopia

The Orthodox Church of Ethiopia PDF Author: John Binns
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1786730375
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
Surrounded by steep escarpments to the north, south and east, Ethiopia has always been geographically and culturally set apart. It has the longest archaeological record of any country in the world. Indeed, this precipitous mountain land was where the human race began. It is also home to an ancient church with a remarkable legacy. The Ethiopian Church forms the southern branch of historic Christianity. It is the only pre-colonial church in sub-Saharan Africa, originating in one of the earliest Christian kingdoms-with its king Ezana (supposedly descended from the biblical Solomon) converting around 340 CE. Since then it has maintained its long Christian witness in a region dominated by Islam; today it has a membership of around forty million and is rapidly growing. Yet despite its importance, there has been no comprehensive study available in English of its theology and history. This is a large gap which this authoritative and engagingly written book seeks to fill. The Church of Ethiopia (or formally, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church) has a recognized place in worldwide Christianity as one of five non-Chalcedonian Orthodox Churches.As Dr Binns shows, it has developed a distinctive approach which makes it different from all other churches. His book explains why this happened and how these special features have shaped the life of the Christian people of Ethiopia. He discusses the famous rock-hewn churches; the Ark of the Covenant (claimed by the Church and housed in Aksum); the medieval monastic tradition; relations with the Coptic Church; co-existence with Islam; missionary activity; and the Church's venerable oral traditions, especially the discipline of qene-a kind of theological reflection couched in a unique style of improvised allegorical poetry. There is also a sustained exploration of how the Church has been forced to re-think its identity and mission as a result of political changes and upheaval following the overthrow of Haile Selassie (who ruled as Regent, 1916-1930, and then as Emperor, 1930-74) and beyond.

Ethiopian Christianity

Ethiopian Christianity PDF Author: Philip Francis Esler
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781481306744
Category : Christianity
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In Ethiopian Christianity Philip Esler presents a rich and comprehensive history of Christianity's flourishing. But Esler is ever careful to situate this growth in the context of Ethiopia's politics and culture. In so doing, he highlights the remarkable uniqueness of Christianity in Ethiopia. Ethiopian Christianity begins with ancient accounts of Christianity's introduction to Ethiopia by St. Frumentius and King Ezana in the early 300s CE. Esler traces how the church and the monarchy closely coexisted, a reality that persisted until the death of Haile Selassie in 1974. This relationship allowed the emperor to consider himself the protector of Orthodox Christianity. The emperor's position, combined with Ethiopia's geographical isolation, fostered a distinct form of Christianity--one that features the inextricable intertwining of the ordinary with the sacred and rejects the two-nature Christology established at the Council of Chalcedon. In addition to his historical narrative, Esler also explores the cultural traditions of Ethiopian Orthodoxy by detailing its intellectual and literary practices, theology, and creativity in art, architecture, and music. He provides profiles of the flourishing Protestant denominations and Roman Catholicism. He also considers current challenges that Ethiopian Christianity faces--especially Orthodoxy's relations with other religions within the country, in particular Islam and the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches. Esler concludes with thoughtful reflections on the long-standing presence of Christianity in Ethiopia and hopeful considerations for its future in the country's rapidly changing politics, ultimately revealing a singular form of faith found nowhere else.

"The Sacred and the Profane - Environmental Anthropology of Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity"

Author: Gebrehiwot Gebreslassie Zesu
Publisher: Anchor Academic Publishing (aap_verlag)
ISBN: 395489081X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 113

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Book Description
The Orthodox Tewahedo Christian doctrine in Ethiopian practice has different possibilities: (a) within church compounds the protection of nature (respect of creation), (b) outside the submission of nature, as the Bible demands – both are Christian behaviors! Church is not pro-nature. The Church itself has set up a partition into sacred and profane, with different rule for both spheres; both systems of rules exist parallel. The followers respect the plants and animals in the church compound as end by themselves than a means to their economic objectives; they respect them not for their economic value rather for their perceived duty; respect to God as Church is the house of God. The people do not consider the plants and animals in the Church as simply normal animals rather they are believed to have a metaphysical divine power. Hence, it is impossible to put the follower's ethical perspective in exclusive manner rather it is both anthropocentristic and deep ecological which can be determined by the nature of the space occupied by the recourses.

An Ethiopian Reading of the Bible

An Ethiopian Reading of the Bible PDF Author: Keon-Sang An
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1498220703
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
This book explores the biblical interpretation of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church (EOTC). In doing so, it illuminates the interpretation of the Bible in a particular historical and cultural context and presents a compelling example of the contextual nature of biblical interpretation. Those who visit Ethiopia experience its unique spirituality, which is significantly informed by the presence of the EOTC. The EOTC has existed from earliest years of the Christian church. It has also developed and maintained its own ecclesiastic tradition in the Ethiopian context and has its own distinctive way of reading the Bible. It is noteworthy, particularly in the African context, that it has its own commentaries on the Scriptures, which continue to serve as a vital tradition in the EOTC's interpretation of the Bible. This is evident in the contemporary hermeneutics and sermons of EOTC preachers. In its comprehensive consideration of the EOTC's past and present, this book examines the interplay between tradition and context in biblical interpretation and contributes to current biblical scholarship.

The Architecture and Liturgy of the Bema in Fourth- To-Sixth-Century Syrian Churches

The Architecture and Liturgy of the Bema in Fourth- To-Sixth-Century Syrian Churches PDF Author: Emma Loosley
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 900423182X
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 307

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Book Description
In fourth to sixth century Syria a nave-platform known as the Bema became popular in some regions before mysteriously disappearing; this study seeks to explain how these bemata functioned and which elements led to their decline.

The Life, Works, and Witness of Tsehay Tolessa and Gudina Tumsa, the Ethiopian Bonhoeffer

The Life, Works, and Witness of Tsehay Tolessa and Gudina Tumsa, the Ethiopian Bonhoeffer PDF Author: Samuel Yonas Deressa
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 150641849X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 297

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Book Description
This book opens a window into the lives and extraordinary witness of a Christian couple whose faithful life of service has earned the moniker of Ethopia’s Bonhoeffer. In Part One, the reader encounters the extant writings of Gudina Tumsa. Gudina’s ideas were by no means silenced by his murder. If anything, quite the opposite, as is so often the case with martyrs. Part Two is a highly personal account of Gudina and Tsehay’s life, witness, and sufferings. Aud Saeveras, a Norwegian missionary working with her husband in Ethiopia, got to know Tsehay during her many years in prison, often bringing her food. After Tsehay was finally released, Saeveras encouraged her to report the truth about what had happened. The result was this memoir, first written in Norwegian, then translated into German, and now for the first time in English. Saeveras frames the story, but most of the words are Tsehay’s. This collection concludes with an essay by Samuel Yonas Deressa on the impact that Gudina’s vision has had on the EECMY and the formation of the Gudina Tumsa Foundation with its various scholarly and development activities. Gudina lives on in the many Ethiopian Christians who continue to be inspired by his life and witness.

1 Enoch as Christian Scripture

1 Enoch as Christian Scripture PDF Author: Bruk Ayele Asale
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1532691173
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 142

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Book Description
Since its publication in English translation in 1821, the book of Enoch has enjoyed immense popularity in Western culture as a variety of religious groups, interested historians, and academics have sought to illuminate the Jewish context of Christian beginnings two thousand years ago. Taking the quotation of 1 Enoch in Jude 14 as its point of departure, the present study explores the significance of Enochic tradition within the context of Christian tradition in the Horn of Africa, where it continues to play a vital role in shaping the diverse yet interrelated self-understanding of Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant churches. As discussions on the importance of 1 Enoch from antiquity to the present take on new dimensions among increasingly global and diverse voices, 1 Enoch as Christian Scripture offers a rare orientation into a rich culture in which the reception of the book is "at home" as a living tradition more than anywhere else in the world today. The present work argues that serious attention to 1 Enoch holds forth an opportunity for church traditions in Ethiopia--and, indeed, around the world--to embrace some of their indigenous roots and has the capacity to breathe life into time-worn expressions of faith.

An Ethiopian Reading of the Bible

An Ethiopian Reading of the Bible PDF Author: Keong-Sang An
Publisher: James Clarke & Company
ISBN: 0227905490
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
In An Ethiopian Reading of the Bible, Keon-Sang An explores the distinctive biblical interpretation of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church (EOTC). He illuminates the interpretation of the Bible in a particular historical and cultural context and presents a compelling example of the contextual nature of biblical interpretation. Since the earliest years of the Christian church the EOTC has significantly informed the unique spirituality of Ethiopia. Drawing on his own experience of teaching theology in Ethiopia, Keon-Sang An provides a comprehensive consideration of the EOTC's past and present, and examines the interplay between tradition and context in biblical interpretation. An Ethiopian Reading of the Bible contributes much to current biblical scholarship and equips readers with the tools for a future of mutual learning.

An Ethiopian Reading of the Bible

An Ethiopian Reading of the Bible PDF Author: Keon-Sang An
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 149822069X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 261

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Book Description
This book explores the biblical interpretation of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church (EOTC). In doing so, it illuminates the interpretation of the Bible in a particular historical and cultural context and presents a compelling example of the contextual nature of biblical interpretation. Those who visit Ethiopia experience its unique spirituality, which is significantly informed by the presence of the EOTC. The EOTC has existed from earliest years of the Christian church. It has also developed and maintained its own ecclesiastic tradition in the Ethiopian context and has its own distinctive way of reading the Bible. It is noteworthy, particularly in the African context, that it has its own commentaries on the Scriptures, which continue to serve as a vital tradition in the EOTC's interpretation of the Bible. This is evident in the contemporary hermeneutics and sermons of EOTC preachers. In its comprehensive consideration of the EOTC's past and present, this book examines the interplay between tradition and context in biblical interpretation and contributes to current biblical scholarship.