The Ethiopian Orthodox Church: A Study in Indigenization

Abstract

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church ir a fascinating study in indigenization. Its deep rootage in the lives of the people ir evidenced by the way in which the Church h a been preserved since the fourth century in spite of repeated threats from enemies within and outside of Ethiopia. The church has Christianized important aspects of Old Testament and Hebrew culture as well as certain remnants of primal religion. It adapted beliefs and symbols which reflected and reinforced African traditiom, and either absorbed or transfigured that which suited its purposes. The Ethiopian Church ir an indigenow church, not an indigenized one. The process of its indigenization ir described and important lessons from thir rather natural development are identified that help in understanding the importance of critical contextualization. The successes and failures of the Ethiopian Church provide perspective for contemporary attempts at contextualization.This study is significant for understanding African Christianity but also has missiological implications for the wider world.

Meat abstinence and its positive environmental effect: Examining the fasting etiquettes of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church

“…As suggested by Barclay and other scholars, Christianity should find a way in forging taboos to curb the problem through avoiding meat consumption. However, despite the subsuming allegation regarding Christianity's impact on the environment, I have argued in this article that Orthodox Christianity in Ethiopia, because of its Judaic foundation or of the veneration and emulation of the Old Testament as well as of its local construction (see Shenk, 1988;Trimingham, 1952: 24;Ullendorff, 1968), already has taboos and food related proscriptions, which have deterred the impacts that mass meat consumption would have brought about on the environment. In other words, the fasting tenets that include not eating meat for more than half a year by more than one-third of Ethiopia's population positively contributes to the environment as well as to the economy.…”

“…Therefore, as noted before, the country's early history of Judaism as well as internal process of indigenization (Shenk, 1988) made the food proscriptions of the Church sound like a hybrid of Judaism and Christianity (see Ullendorff, 1968: 20). As Adrian Hastings observes, the fact that the EOTC was isolated for many centuries, rendering its socio-cultural requirements very different, means it developed a unique ecclesiological, liturgical, and artistic tradition, but the most unique feature is its Hebraic substructure (Hastings, 2008).…”

“…(The Law of the Kings, Chapter XXIII, my emphasis) ''The spoiling of the body'' sounds parallel to observance of Kashrut ''in order to remain pure'' (Hartman, 2011: 156), and ''the second part'' is similar to Christian food norms in the New Testament as stated in Paul's account on food in Rom 14:1-22. Therefore, as noted before, the country's early history of Judaism as well as internal process of indigenization (Shenk, 1988) made the food proscriptions of the Church sound like a hybrid of Judaism and Christianity (see Ullendorff, 1968: 20). As Adrian Hastings observes, the fact that the EOTC was isolated for many centuries, rendering its socio-cultural requirements very different, means it developed a unique ecclesiological, liturgical, and artistic tradition, but the most unique feature is its Hebraic substructure (Hastings, 2008).…”

Sharpening the Identities of African Churches in Eastern Christianity: A Comparison of Entanglements between Religion and Ethnicity

“…According to Calvin Shenk (1998) and John Binns (2016), in fact, the EthOC embodies an indigenous Christian path in Black Africa. Since the fourth century, it has developed important aspects of early Christian and Hebrew cultures as well as some facets of a primal religion.…”

The Spatial Ecology of Power: Long‐Distance Trade and State Formation in Northeast Africa

“…36 Initially of limited reach beyond the Court and towns, from the late 5th and 6th centuries, Christianity spread to the countryside through the work of a number of Syrian, Greek, and Armenian monks, supplanting the existing Semitic-Cushitic polytheisms and the worship of sun or moon gods. 37 The spread of Christianity provided a normative cultural framework within which trade could be conducted, but it did not prevent political conflicts from erupting within the wider circuits. In the 6th century in particular, Byzantium and Persia were engaged in intermittent warfare and the Sasanids established a port in Muscat in order to expand their trade.…”