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Synopsis
Survival and Modernization - Ethiopia's Enigmatic Present tackles the enigmatic question on Ethiopia's failure to modernize. The enigma springs from the absence in Ethiopia of the major deficiencies invoked to explain underdevelopment.
By combining sociological and political analyses with philosophical inquiries, the book attempts to explain how Ethiopia was driven into a wrong track through various historical detours, delays, indecisions, and uprootedness.
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About the Author
Messay Kebede has taught philosophy for many years at Addis Ababa University, and currently teaches at the Department of Philosophy, University of Dayton, Ohio.
From the Back Cover
The book tackles the enigmatic question on Ethiopia's failure to modernize. The enigma springs from the absence in Ethiopia of the major deficiencies invoked to explain underdevelopment.
Indeed, Ethiopia, a country with a long history of survival and independence, defined by a form of pristine Christianity colored with African traits, remains an enigma. With an imperial system based on conflict as well as the connivance between centripetal and centrifugal forces, a land-holding system supporting fluid yet stratified social classes, a cultural life combining a written tradition with folk thinking, nationalism with ethnicity and, what is more, a country which successfully resisted all the major invading forces of history, including colonialism, to the point that it was compared to Japan, Ethiopia had all the necessary prerequisites for a successful transition to modernity.
By combining sociological and political analyses with philosophical inquiries, the book attempts to explain how Ethiopia was driven into a wrong track through various historical detours, delays, indecisions, and uprootedness.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter Two: Myth and Power - Any inquiry into the survival of Ethiopia is confronted with the question of power. Ethiopia survived for so long (it may be conjectured) thanks to a system of power suited to the purpose of survival. The system rested on three overlapping bases: the imperial throne, the Church, and the nobility. The present chapter studies their manifold interrelations with a view to showing how they worked towards preservation. The study refers exclusively to the history of imperial Ethiopia; post-imperial Ethiopia, which began with the overthrow of Haile Selassie in 1974, is not included in this chapter, partly because post-imperial Ethiopia functions on a different plane, partly because its capacity for survival is the least of the characteristics it shares with imperial Ethiopia.
State and Church - Scholars have more often than not passed contradictory judgments on the Ethiopian Church. In particular, the exact meaning of the unity of church and state has never been elucidated in a satisfactory manner. Yet the understanding of the place of ideology and of its precise nature depends on the way the connection between church and state is conceptualized.
A too common accusation against the Ethiopian Church focuses on its lack of missionary zeal, or on the ignorance and worldliness of its priesthood. Extreme conservatism, associated with a deep-seated interest in the traditional landholding system, is another frequent reproach. The great dependence of the church on the state is generally believed to be the prime cause of these defects.
Thus, the spread of Islam was not halted because "the Ethiopian church . . . did not rise to the great challenge presented it by the expansion, for missionary work has never been a conspicuous part of its vocation."1 Observing how ignorant-even illiterate and superstitious the priesthood was-one could not but regret that it "should exercise so much power and influence, "2 all the more so as the backwardness of Ethiopia can be attributed in large measure to the extreme conservatism of the priests, who "have always been bitterly opposed to progress and to innovations."3 Last but not least, inalienable church tenures granted by emperors and believed to amount to one-third of the cultivated land made the Church more a land owner than a religious propagator, and thereby a zealous defender of the traditional system of land ownership.
Convinced that the Church was oblivious to its religious duties because of its absolute reliance on the state, Markakis could find no other term to qualify the position of the church vis--vis the state than that of "appendage of the throne."4 Illustrative of the total subordination of the church to the state was the foreign origin of the head of the Ethiopian Church, the Abuna. Appointed by Alexandria, the Abuna was an Egyptian, totally alien to the language and local customs of the Ethiopian Church. Though highly revered, he "had little power, and in some cases was little more than the tool of the reigning king." The traditional link of the Ethiopian Church to Alexandria actually reinforced its dependence on the imperial throne. Since obtaining a new bishop always required impressive imperial gifts to the Egyptian Sultanate, it came more under the imperial privilege of foreign affairs than under a purely ecclesiastical jurisdiction. So obtained, the bishop could only be an instrument of emperors. The dependence became greater as the Ichege, who was the head of all monastic orders and really in charge of the Church, was himself "attached permanently to the imperial court, acting as the emperor's chief adviser and administrator for ecclesiastical affairs."
Unsurprisingly, in this climate of total subordination, an independent missionary spirit could not develop. As a result, "the evangelization of the Ethiopian region followed very closely the expansion of the Christian state." The defense of imperial political dominance and monarchical absolutism took precedence over Christian teachings, the conversion of pagans, and the instilling of moral standards. For this political role, the Church was rewarded with large estates, which only accentuated its conservatism and dependence. The decline of the evangelical spirit inevitably entailed the deterioration of belief. Hence the minimal fidelity of the priests to the principles of Christian life as well as their inability to advance their evangelical commitments and mystical drive.
All the same, these criticisms convey nothing peculiar about the Ethiopian Church. Churches in Europe have been accused of greater crimes, as witnessed by the various schisms which racked Western Christianity. Each of these schisms pretended to redress in one way or another the deterioration of Christian belief and its priesthood.
Still, according to some students of Ethiopia, the state was dependent on the Church rather than vice versa. Patrick Gilkes, for instance, states that "theocracy is perhaps the best word to use in describing the imperial system. Religion was a major pre-occupation of the Emperors and a main function for the throne was the support for the Church."8 Nor is the view of the Ethiopian state as an instrument of the Church mere hyperbole. No Emperor, however powerful, has succeeded in keeping his throne while being in conflict with the Ethiopian Church. Recall the abdication of Susenyos after his conversion to Catholicism. For the same reason Iyasu I was murdered in 1706, and Yostos deposed in 1716. More recently, Lij Iyasu lost the throne because of his alleged sympathy for Islam. Most scholars attribute the isolation of Tewodros and his defeat by the British to his conflict with the Church following his decision to confiscate some of its properties. The custom of inalienable imperial land grants to the Church further substantiates the view of the Ethiopian state as the instrument of the Ethiopian Church. So too does the decisive role of anointment: far from being a mere formality or a recognition of a right, it was believed to be the real instance of consecration, the moment the Emperor was invested with actual power.
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