Biblical Foundations of Monastic Life In Early Abyssinia
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Date
2002-02
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Publisher
Tangaza
Abstract
This essay will reflect about monasticism in Eritrea and Ethiopia and their
evangelisation since they have the same Christian history. In it, I will show how the
people of these two countries were attracted to monasticism in early ages through
the mediation of the word of God and how they have shared their faith with others.
In presenting this, for convenience sake, I will use the common name
'Abyssinia' in
the details of the research instead of repeating the names of these two countries
again and again. This essay is made up of three chapters and its objectives mainly are;
a) to show that the monastic vocation was a particular way of responding to
God's call to ascetic life as well as to evangelisation;
b) to present the deeper values, risks and challenges of being monk;
c) to show the role Abyssinian monks played in implanting inculturated
Christian faith, in translating scripture into local languages,
indigenisation of the liturgy, their active role of educating and through
the witness of their lives; and
d) to critically analyse both positive and negative aspects of monastic
evangelisation and suggest areas that could be adapted and improved. In the first chapter of this essay we shall see the active work of the word of
God in the lives of his own people and the way he called them to monastic vocations
abundantly. In the second part of the first chapter, I will focus on how the
Abyssinian monks have evangelised Abyssinia untiringly. I will also clarify plainly their goal, purpose, failures and achievements in the course of evangelisation. In this
chapter, I will use many quotations from the scripture which were indicated
repeatedly in many books written regarding Abyssinian monks as the main means of
inspiration for their monasticism. Then in the second chapter, I will give the modern
exegesis of these selected quotations by modem scholars.
In the last chapter, I will compare the daily early Christian life of Abyssinian
monks and their interpretation of scriptures and today's modem exegetes. Then I
will conclude my research with application and guidelines for adaptation and
reformation of these monks.
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Keywords
Monasticism, Biblical, Monks, Exegesis, Eunuchs, God, Wilderness