The Evangelical Movement in Ethiopia Resistance and Resilience
Basic information
- Author(s):
- Tibebe Eshete
- Published: April 15, 2009
- Publisher: Baylor University Press
- Page count: 525
- ISBN: 9781602580022
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.
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.
Reviews
Baylor University Press - The Evangelical Movement in Ethiopia
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