RT Article
T1 Theosis in the Ethiopian Tradition: A Preliminary Assessment
JF Transformation
VO 40
IS 1
SP 49
OP 62
A1 Samuelson, Calum
LA English
PB Sage
YR 2023
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/183309722X
AB This essay represents the first formal attempt to identify themes of theosis within the Ethiopian Orthodox Tawāḥǝdo Church (EOTC). The first half explores four historical phases in the development of the doctrine of theosis: Ancient Pagan, Biblical, Patristic, and Medieval and Modern. It is argued that theosis finds strong support in the biblical corpus but that it is best to clarify which historical type one has in view due to its complex development. The second half of the paper considers themes of theosis within three genres of Ethiopic literature: Hagiography, Liturgy, and National Epic. New discoveries and insights are leveraged in order to demonstrate that although theosis lacks a precise equivalent in Classical Ethiopic, the literature of the EOTC demonstrates a strong familiarity with the basic contours of the doctrine of deification.
K1 Eastern Orthodoxy
K1 Hagiography
K1 Ethiopia
K1 Deification
K1 Theosis
DO 10.1177/02653788221139564