An Ethiopian “Catholic” Moment

In the fall of 2012 something significant occurred in
Ethiopia. After Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s death, Hailemariam Desalegn was
sworn in as the new prime minister. Not only is Hailemariam the first
Protestant to occupy the office, he is also a member of the Apostolic Church of
Ethiopia, which is a Oneness Pentecostal church formerly connected to the United Pentecostal Church International
headquartered in Missouri. Much like John F. Kennedy’s run for the presidency prompted a national discussion about religion and Catholicism in the American experiment, Hailemariam’s emergence has had an impact on religious discourse in Ethiopia. It is a “Catholic” moment in the history of the country, which up to this point had been led by members of the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church.

Since the emergence of the new political landscape dominated
by the Ethiopian Revolutionary People’s Democratic Front (ERPDF) in 1991, Protestantism
in Ethiopia has grown to the point where it now accounts for almost 21 percent of the
population. Numbering over 5 million adherents each, the two largest churches
are the Kale Heywet Church (KHC), which is primarily Baptist, and the Lutheran Evangelical
Church Mekane Yesus (ECMY). In fact, the ECMY is the third largest Lutheran
body in the world. The two largest Pentecostal churches are the Full Gospel
Believer’s Church and the Hiwot Berhan Church, both of which trace their
origins to Finnish and Swedish Pentecostal missions. Together they number just
over 1 million members. Along with other denominations, these churches are part
of the Evangelical Churches’ Fellowship of Ethiopia.

While there are clear theological distinctions between these
churches, the line between Pentecostal and non-Pentecostal is blurring due to
the influx of charismatic phenomena into the ECMY and KHC. What has happened is
that some Protestant churches have accommodated charismatic beliefs about the
gifts of the Spirit, praying in tongues, etc., into their worship and church
life. Many of these developments have been traced out recently in the work of Tibebe
Eshete and Jörg
Haustein and a special edition of the journal PentecoStudies
dedicated to Ethiopian Pentecostalism. Much of what I have to say relies on
this research.

Because of its strong commitment to the unity of God over
against Trinitarianism, the Apostolic Church of Ethiopia (ACE) to which Hailemariam
Desalegn belongs is not a member of the Evangelical Churches’ Fellowship. Briefly,
Oneness Pentecostals utilize a different baptismal formula, preferring to
baptize converts “in the name of Jesus” or “in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” Based on Acts 2:38 (“repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus
Christ”), this formula underscores the Oneness commitment to God’s absolute
unity. Thus a popular description of Oneness Pentecostalism is “Jesus Only” in reference to the preferred baptismal formula. The names Father, Son, and Holy Spirit point toward different revelations
of the one God, which is most fully revealed in the name Lord (=Father) Jesus
(=Son) Christ (=Spirit). There is a functional trinitarianism that eschews
theoretical accounts of a divine threeness. Oneness Pentecostalism has a strong
affirmation of the incarnation also, which means it cannot be classified as a
form of Unitarianism or even a modern-day version of modalism. Nevertheless,
the differences are stark enough that Trinitarian Pentecostals in Ethiopia
consider Oneness Pentecostalism to be cultish while Oneness Pentecostals re-baptize
all converts and tend to connect salvation to their baptism.

By all accounts Hailemariam Desalegn remains active in his
commitment to the ACE although reporters
usually describe Hailemariam as the first Protestant prime minister. With the
new Ethiopian constitution in 1994, Ethiopia was divided into ethnic regions.
Part of the intention was to minimize religious identity and organize national
life around ethnicity instead. This was coupled with a clear affirmation of the
separation of church and state in the constitution. Hailemariam rose to power
in the southern region, becoming the Ethiopian equivalent of a U.S. governor over
the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region in 2002 before
advancing to the national government.

In an article on Hailemariam, Haustein makes several points that
are worth pondering. First, the EPRDF had a Marxist background and many of its
members minimized religion, including the previous prime minister Meles Zenawi.
In contrast Hailemariam has discussed his faith commitments openly. At the same
time, Hailemariam has been forceful in maintaining a separation of church and
state as a way to keep all religious groups on board. Thus Hailemariam signals
a transition in how religious discourse can enter political discourse while
also affirming other religious traditions. This is an important step toward preserving religious freedom.

Second, Hailemariam seems to be using his position as an
opportunity to bring the Apostolic Church of Ethiopian more into the Protestant
fold. According to Haustein, in an interrview for Enqu magazine Hailemariam was asked whether the ACE was a cult that focused on “Jesus Only.”  Hailemariam’s response was to claim that the designation was misleading and the ACE believed in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Due to the complicated way in which Oneness Pentecostals utilize such language, it remains to be seen what this means, but he has publicly committed to Trinitarian
language. 

What many do not realize in their appraisal of Oneness Pentecostalism
is that it represents in many respects a return to the debates that ensued
after the Council of Nicaea. One of the key theologians of the United Pentecostal
Church International was a Persian named Andrew David Urshan who had grown up
in what is now the northeastern corner of Iran. Urshan maintained that there
was a mysterious threeness in God and embraced the technical Syriac term for
persons (qnoma). Urshan also equated
the apostolic faith with Assyrian Christianity to the point of defending
Nestorius and claiming that the western church went astray with its language of
person. In my view Urshan never ceased to be Trinitarian, but he choose to
express his understanding of God through Syriac terms that most Protestants in
the United States could not relate to. Hailemariam’s efforts to mainstream
Oneness Pentecostalism in Ethiopia may provide an opportunity for greater
dialogue along these lines even in the United States.

Third, the Ethiopian experience provides an interesting
mirror for the U.S. that accentuates identity politics. The EPRDF has
successfully kept religion as a background political discourse by placing the
focus of democratic life around ethnic and regional identities, which go
together. Hailemariam’s rise to power relies on ethnic connections given his
religious background in Oneness Pentecostalism, which is a barrier even to
fellow Pentecostals who are Trinitarian. Yet, Protestant groups have minimized
these differences in the wake of Hailemariam’s rise because it provides an
important political moment for all Protestants in Ethiopia with respect to the
two largest religious groups, the Orthodox and Islam. One wonders if Christians
in the US might overcome the forces of identity politics and find their common
Christian heritage to be a source of strength and unity.

Finally, Hailemariam’s ascendancy might just be the final
nail in the coffin of the historical paradigm that suggests Pentecostalism is
too “other worldly” a form of Christianity to be engaged in political and
cultural life; that Pentecostal views of the end somehow lead to an escapist
outlook of disengagement. I have always thought that this theological
interpretation of Pentecostalism did not have much going for it and I’m glad
that Hailemariam adds another piece of evidence against it. A “Catholic” moment
indeed.