P'ent'ay

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P'ent'ay or Pentay is a slang term widely used in modern Ethiopia, and among Ethiopians living abroad, to describe Ethiopian Christians who are not members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The term is an abbreviation of the word "Pentecostal." The P'ent'ay community itself is divided into various splinter groups, with three major denominations: the K'ale Hiywot or Word of Life; Mekane Yesus or Lutheran; and Meserete Kristos. Some P'ent'ay sects have been influenced by the Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which represents mainstream, traditional Ethiopian Christianity, but for the most part they are very Pentecostal in their worship and theology.

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Beliefs

All P'ent'ay branches in Ethiopia believe that one should be saved by believing in Jesus as Lord and Saviour for the forgiveness of sins. They believe in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the one essence of the Trinity (Matthew 28:19-20, also Psalms 2:7, Mark 9:7, Luke 22:29, Luke 3:22). All P'ent'ays also believe in being "born again" (dagem meweled) as it is written numerous times in the Gospel of John, and demonstrated by one's baptism in the Holy Spirit as well as water baptism. In contrast to most other Pentecostals in the world, Ethiopian Pentecostals believe speaking in tongues is one of the signs, but not the only sign, of "receiving Christ", which should include a new lifestyle and social behavior.

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History

Modern Ethiopian Pentays have origins from the Azusa Street Revival in the United States led by Charles Fox Parham and the African American William J. Seymour. But the whole Pentecostal movement is passed down and based on the Day of the Pentecost. Accordingly, the Ethiopian Pentecostal church has origins from Philip the Evangelist.

As it organized in the 4th century, within the Ethiopian Aksumite Kingdom, the Christian church grew larger and more influential to the political power distribution. Thus according to Ethiopian historical texts, its association with the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church strengthened. During this period, most Ethiopians followed the Septuagint bible including all of the 'Deuterocanonical books' for a total of 81. Meanwhile, the Councils of Bishops in the Roman Empire following Constantine followed the Old Testament canon that had been established by the Sanhedrin at Yavne in c. 80, paring the total down to only 66 books. These customs kept all devout Christians together and in sync for several decades. But later, a contradiction in interpretation led to a less-known clash between those Christians who accepted the canon of other Churches, rejecting the Deuterocanon of the Septuagint. According to historical literatures from the Addis Ababa Mulu Wongel Church, Ethiopian devout Christians who didn’t approve of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church got exposed to the Protestant movements occurring in Europe in the 16th and 17th century. With growing dispute on the additional texts of the Orthodox Church, the alleged changing of the original meanings of the Bible did little to decrease the attendance of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. However it was only during early 1900’s that American and European missionaries spread Protestantism with Mennonite and Pentecostal Churches through the Sudan Interior Mission (SIM.) When SIM continued its movement after a brief ban during Ethiopia’s war with Italy, it is written that the missionaries were taken aback by the fruits of their initial mission. Ethiopian Pentay Christians still face persecution in rural regions, however there is a growing tolerance between the Ethiopian Orthodox, Muslims and the growing population of Pentay Christians in the urban areas of the country. According to www.adherents.com, the Pentecostal population is growing quickly with even faster rates in the third world countries. Yet, with the dominance of the Ethiopian Orthodox church and the growing Muslim population, Pentay Christians are projected to approach only 25%-27% of the nation's population by the year 2015.

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Statistics

According to the most recent 2005 record of world religion members, the Ethiopian Pentecostal/Charismatic members cover a bit over 16 percent of the country as Pentays of Ethiopia. Word of Life (or Kale Hiywot 5.6 million) church, Mekane Yesus, Churches of Christ, Misgana Church of Ethiopia, Hiwot Berhan Church, Emnet Kristos, Meserete Kristos, Light of Life Church, Mulu Wongel (Full Gospel Believers Church) and other churches constitute the slightly over 12 million Pentay members of Ethiopia.

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See also

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Links and References

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