The Evangelical Movement in Ethiopia

Resistance and Resilience

by Tibebe Eshete

Published by: Baylor University Press

Series: Studies in World Christianity

Imprint: Baylor University Press

Sales Date: 2017-11-16

Paperback
ISBN 9781481307086
494 Pages

$54.99

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Digital
ISBN 9781602582750
494 Pages

$74.95

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Description
Contents
Authors
Praise

In this sweeping history, Tibebe Eshete presents a new view of Ethiopian Christianity. Synthesizing existing scholarship with original interviews and archival research, he demonstrates that the vernacular nature of the Ethiopian church played a critical role in the development of a state church. He also traces the effects of the political on the religious: the growth of other "counter-cultural" movements in 1960s Ethiopia, such as renewal movements, youth discontentment, and the Marxist regime (under which the church still flourished). This strikingly authentic work refutes the thesis that evangelicalism was imported. Instead, Eshete shows, it was a genuine indigenous response to cultural pressures.

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Part I: The Ethiopian Orthodox Church

1: From the Early Church to Early Modernity

2: The Challenge of Modernity and the Need for Reform

Part II: The Evangelical Church in Ethiopia

3: The First Three Centuries of Reformed Missions

4: The War Years and the Restoration (1936-1959)

5: Post-War Mission Impulses

6: Keys to Post-War Growth

Part III: The Pentecostal Church

7: The 1960s Rise of Pentecostalism

8: Independence and Persecution

Part IV: The Ethiopian Revolution (1974-1990)

9: The Political Seeds of Revolution

10: Early Church-State Relations under Communist Rule

11: Ecumenism and Flexibility

12: Underground "Free" Space and Lay Leadership

13: The Commitment Factor and the Role of Resistance in Church Growth

14: Evangelical Christianity and the Legacy of the Revolution

Conclusion

Informants

Glossary

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Tibebe Eshete is Assistant Professor of History and Religious Studies at Michigan State University. He is the author of Jijiga: The History of a Strategic Town in the Horn of Africa and My Journey: The Deranged Life and Divine Grace.

A pathbreaking analysis of the meaning and impact of the growth of evangelical Christianity in Ethiopia.
~James C. McCann, Professor of History, Boston University

This story is a triumph of historical scholarship.
~Joel A. Carpenter, Provost of Calvin College

This thoroughly researched book provides invaluable information regarding Ethiopian evangelical movements.
~Amy DeRogatis, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Michigan State University

A very welcome contribution to the understudied subject of the history of Protestant religion in Ethiopia.
~Liza Debevec, Journal of Religion in Africa

This thorough and carefully researched study introduces a little known but important episode of church history, Evangelical expansion and church growth.
~John Binns, Journal of Ecclesiastical History

I have found this to be a seminal and timely study, one that is fully in step with--and that contributes richly to--the history of global Christianity.
~Alemayehu Mekonnen, International Bulletin of Mission Research