The feud between the Two Cities: Re-examining the Case for the defense of…Poverty and ‘primitivity’ (By Dewele)

በስመ አብ ወወልድ ወመንፈስ ቅዱስ አሐዱ አምላክ አሜን

“አቤቱ ጌታዬ ሆይ ሥጋን ደስ ከማሰኘት አድነኝ” ውዳሴ አምላክ ዘቀዳም

The feud between the Two Cities: Re-examining the Case for the defense of…Poverty and ‘primitivity’ - in the age where financial success and egotism reigns

 “Two loves formed two cities: the love of self, reaching even to contempt of God, an earthly city; and the love of God, reaching to contempt of self, a heavenly one.”

St. Augustine

Anyone born in some remote ‘primitive’ corner of the world (like our country) relatively inaccessible to modern civilization and its technological achievements, if suddenly snatched from his blessed ‘ደሳሳጎጆ’ and thrown amidst a busy metropolitan like Manhattan, is bound to be shocked and overawed by the overt glamour and advancement of the western world (‘በህንጣ ላይ ህንጣ… በህንጣ ላይ ህንጣ… እንደው ምድረ ገነት አይደለምእንዴ?’ በማለት ሊደመም ይችላል). But once the initial jaw dropping emotional rollercoaster recedes, some insightful individuals (apparently those kinds that would definitely be tagged ‘ጸረ-ልማት’ by our government) soon find out that we are not as backward and ignorant as they initially thought. In fact some that dig a bit further may even find out that the blissful state of poverty we wrongly call our enemy may not necessarily be as evil as we presume it is. Let’s examine the facts surrounding the emergence of civilizations from a Christian perspective and see where it takes us …

• Book of Enoch (መጽሐፈ ሄኖክ) reveals much of civilization was taught by fallen Sons of God. Azazel and Symazia, leading a sect of Angels called ‘the watchers’ transgress God’s commandments and reveal to humans forbidden knowledge (how to make weapons, indulge in magic and astrology…). For their transgressions they get condemned to a life of imprisonment for a thousand years:

“…ወደ እነርሱም ይገቡ ዘንድ ጀመሩ ከእነርሱም ጋራ አንድ ሆኑ በግብር አወቋቸው ሥር መማስን ቅጠል መበጠስን ጋኔን መሳብን አስተማሯቸው … ፀነሱም 

… and they taught them charms and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants. And they became pregnant…”  (ሄኖክ 2:- 10(ትርጓሜ))

“… አዛዝኤል ሰይፍንና ሾተል መስራትን ጋሻ መሰጎድን ጥሩር መልበስን አስተማራቸው … አምባር መስራትን ጌጥ ማጌጥን ዓይን መኳልን … ቅንድብ መሸለልን … የተመረጠ የከበረ ከሚሆን ከደንጋይ የሚበልጥ ደንጊያን ከብረት የሚበልጥ ብረትን … ከብረት የሚበልጥ ብርን … ከብር የሚበልጥ ወርቅን … ከወርቅ የሚበልጥ ዕንቁን አሳዩዋቸው … እግዚአብሔር ነጭ ጥፍር ቢፈጥር በእንሶስላ ማቅላትን በደንጓ መጠቆርን በሕናም … የአለምን ለውጥ አሳዩዋቸው … ያንዱን ጽንስ ባንዱ ያንዱን ጽንስ ባንዱ ማኅፀን ማሳደርን … ፅኑዕ በደል ብዙ ሰሰንም ተደረገ ሳቱ አመነዘሩም ሥራቸውም ሁሉ ጠፋ … አሚዛራክ ጋኔን የሚስቡን ምትሐት ማሳየትን አስተማረ … ሥር የሚምሱትን ቅጠል የሚበጥሱትን አስተማረ … አርሚሮስ ምታት ማሳየትን አስተማረ … በራቅኤልም ኮከብ የሚያዩትን እንዲህ ያለ ሲወጣ እንዲህ ያለ ይደረጋል ማለትን … ኮከብኤልም እንዲህ ያለ ሲሆን እንዲህ ያለ ይደረጋል እያለ … ጥምኤልም ኮከብ የሚያዩትን እንዲህ ያለ ኮከብ ሲወጣ እንዲህ ያለ ይሆናል የሚሉትን … አስራድኤልም ጨረቃ በዚህ ስትወጣ ምህረት በዚህ ስትወጣ መዓት ይሆናል እያለ አስተማረ … በሰዎች ጥፋት ሰዎች ጮኹ ቃላቸውም ወደ ሰማይ ደረሰ … 

... And Azazel taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all coloring tinctures. And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways. Semjaza taught enchantments, and root-cuttings, 'Armaros the resolving of enchantments, Baraqijal (taught) astrology, Kokabel the constellations, Ezeqeel the knowledge of the clouds, Araqiel the signs of the earth, Shamsiel the signs of the sun, and Sariel the course of the moon. And as men perished, they cried, and their cry went up to heaven . . .”(ሄኖክ 2፦18-26 ትርጓሜ) …

• Traditions tell us that the generation of Set (ትውልደ ሴት) was angelic in character remaining in Debir Kidus (ደብር ቅዱስ) (The Holy Mountain) and restricting themselves to praising and praying to God. (They were not obsessed with earthly civilizations. A far cry from the preoccupations of the descendants of his brother – Cain (ቃየን))

• Prior to Set, Abel’s vocation is of contrasting nature with that of Cain. Abel (note that his name signifies sorrow/poverty) tended cattle (i.e. was herdsman/አርብቶ አደር/) while Cain (his name itself refers to gain/possession) initially devoted towards tilling the earth (i.e. was a farmer/settler). He did so with the purpose of gaining. (Later on after his curse when the earth ceased to give him her strength, he pursued a career of a vagabond and robbery (the way of the money-lenders/bankers). And settling/farming is the beginning of ‘civilization’ as a herdsman doesn’t have deposits/capital while farming naturally provides excess for storage. Storage/capital is the beginning of greed and control which are the founding pillars of Capitalism.

“ADAM and EVE had two sons: the elder of them was named Cain; which name, when it is interpreted, signifies a possession: the younger was Abel, which signifies sorrow… But Cain was not only very wicked in other respects, but was wholly intent upon getting; and he first contrived to plough the ground…” (Josephus, Antiquities, Book 1, Chapter 2, Paragraph 1.)

• Following the lead of Abel, the Patriarchal Fathers (Abraham, Issac, Jacob, & Job) lived pastoral life. Note that Abraham abandoned a quite advanced civilization of ‘Ur/Babylon’ to follow God’s path and lived on a tent (was rich but richness not in the form of capital (storage) but the blessings of cattle); no permanence in settlement evidenced.

• Cain on the other hand followed the path of settlement/possession. His being possessed by greed is soon evidenced in the offering that he brought; he saved the good and brought the worthless፡

“…when he [Cain] was honored with what grew naturally of its own accord, than he was with what was the invention of a covetous man, and gotten by forcing the ground”–(Ibid.)

• This implied that Cain, instead of being content with crops and fruits which grew naturally, he, due to his greed to get more, started farming – one of the reasons his sacrifice was not favored by God.

“However, he[Cain] did not accept of his punishment in order to amendment, but to increase his wickedness; for he only aimed to procure everything that was for his own bodily pleasure, though it obliged him to be injurious to his neighbors. He augmented his household substance with much wealth, by rapine and violence; he excited his acquaintance to procure pleasures and spoils by robbery, and became a great leader of men into wicked courses. He also introduced a change in that way of simplicity wherein men lived before; and was the author of measures and weights. And whereas they lived innocently and generously while they knew nothing of such arts, he changed the world into cunning craftiness...Nay, even while Adam was alive, it came to pass that the posterity of Cain became exceeding wicked, every one successively dying, one after another, more wicked than the former. They were intolerable in war, and vehement in robberies; and if anyone were slow to murder people, yet was he bold in his profligate behavior, in acting unjustly, anddoing injuries for gain.” - (Ibid, Para. 2)

• The road of doom for the family of Cain is foreseen by his taking farming as a vocation. HENCE WHILE EARTHLY MEN LUSTED AFTER EARTHLY CIVILIZATION, MEN OF GOD WERE MORE OR LESS CONTENT WITH A LIFE OF MONASTIC-TYPE SIMPLICITY AND DEVOTED THE REST OF THEIR TIME ON HEAVENLY MATTERS. (This is not to condemn farming as a vocation; a perfectly pious life is possible as a farmer; however compared to pastoral life farming served as a precursor to unintended life for man – a life of luxury devoid of Godliness as is exhibited in this exceedingly materialistic age. All the wickedness one man does to another is the consequence of the desire of man to live on the shoulders of another – a life way far from the one God intended).

• The sons of Cain, however, were pursuing a life of earthly wisdom. The sudden rise of highly complex civilizations and the reported union of the Children of God (Fallen Angels??) and the Children of Man happened at the same time:

“… የሰው ልጆች ከበዙ በኋላ እንዲህ ሆነ … በእነዚያ ወራት መልከ መልካሞች ደመግቡዎች ሴቶች ልጆች ተወለዱላቸው … የሰማያት ልጆች እነርሱን አይተው ወደዷቸው … እርስ በእርሳቸውም ኑ ለእኛ ከቃየል ልጆች ሴቶችን እንምረጥ ለእኛም ልጆችን እንውለድ አሉ … And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: 'Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.'” (ሄኖክ 2፦1 (ትርጓሜ)) …

· Hence all so called ‘civilizations’ of the ancients that inclined them away from God and towards an earthly life of comfort and luxury (a system which benefited a few elite while the majority under a yoke of slavery and suffering ) was taught by these demons (the fallen children of God) who interbred with humans.

• Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Sumerian, Mayan and Aztec civilizations all erupted fully fledged and show no gradual progress. Before the emergence of these civilizations there were tribal settlements and then suddenly full-blown civilizations appeared out of nowhere. No in between progressive phase is evidenced which was very troubling/unsettling to Archeologists and historical analysts:

“How does a complex civilization spring full-blown into being? Look at a 1905 automobile and compare it to a modern one. There is no mistaking the process of ‘development’. But in Egypt there are no parallels. Everything is right there at the start.

The answer to the mystery is of course obvious but, because it is repellent to the prevailing cast of modern thinking, it is seldom considered. Egyptian civilization was not a ‘development’, it was a legacy.”

(John Anthony West, Serpent in the Sky, Harper and Row, New York, 1979, p. 13.)

“At a period approximately 3400 years before Christ, a great change took place in Egypt, and the country passed rapidly from a state of Neolithic culture with a complex tribal character to one of well-organized monarchy...

At the same time the art of writing appears, monumental architecture and the arts and crafts develop to an astonishing degree, and all the evidence points to the existence of a luxurious civilization. All this was achieved within a comparatively short period of time, for there appears to be little or no background to these fundamental developments in writing and architecture.”

(W. B. Emery, Archaic Egypt, Penguin Books, London, 1987, p. 38.)

• From where did these civilizations get their wisdom and such advanced technological insights?? The answer is found in the book of Genesis and Enoch – The source of this forbidden ‘wisdom’ both to the ancient civilizations as well as to that of the present one are demonic entities who are responsible for leading man down the wrong path:

“… ያን ጊዜ ሚካኤልና ገብርኤል ዑራኤልና ሱርያል በዚህ ዓለም በግፍ የፈሰሰ ብዙ የሰው ደምን … በዚህ ዓለም የሚሰራ ግፍን ሁሉ አዩ … ለጌታቸው ለንጉሱ እንዲህ አሉት … የአማልክት አምላክ የነገስታት ንጉስ አንተ ነህና … አንተ ሁሉን መርምረህ ታውቃለህና … ከአንተም ሊሰወር የሚቻለው የለምና … አዛዝኤል ያደረገውን እይ … በዚህ ዓለም ግፉን ሁሉ እንዳስተማረ … በሰማያት የሚሰሩትን በዓለም የተሰወሩትን እንደገለጠ እይ … And then Michael, Uriel, Raphael(??), and Gabriel… said to the Lord of the ages…Thou seest what Azazel hath done, who hath taught all unrighteousness on earth and revealed the eternal secrets which were (preserved) in heaven, which men were striving to learn…”(ሄኖክ 2፦27 ትርጓሜ) …

(Note that the false Alien Myth (exo-theology) nowadays fuelled and propagated/sustained by Hollywood was suggested following these unexplainable observations. Of course the Alien myth is a huge lie and the purported aliens are nothing but demons/fallen angels)

• The Israelites (in sharp contrast to every other people that lived around them) lived a tribal (so called ‘primitive’ in the eyes of worldly people) life; had no king to rule over them; followed the Ten Commandments and God every now and then raised leaders/judges who exercised judgment, punished the wicked, defended the people against periodic attacks of Gentiles (አህዛቦች). This was God’s will and apparently shows the state of societal life - a life of monastic simplicity with little regard to earthly needs and complete reliance on for survival - God approved for humanity. Yet they wanted the ways of the Gentiles and wanted a king appointed over them in spite of the expressed disapproval of God; However, He complied with their wishes.

“የእስራኤል ሰዎች ሁሉ በአንድነት ተሰብስበው ወደ ሳሙኤል ወደ አርማቴም መጡ፡ እንዲህም አሉት፦ ‘ … እንደ አህዛብ ሁሉ የሚፈርድልን ንጉስ አንግስልን’ … እንዲህም ባሉት ጊዜ ሳሙኤል ወደ እግዚአብሔር ጸለየ። እግዚአብሔርም ሳሙኤልን አለው ‘በእነርሱ ላይ እንዳልነግስ እኔን ናቁ እንጅ አንተን አልናቁምና በሚሉህ ነገር የሕዝቡን ቃል ስማ … ነገር ግን ጽኑ ምስክርን መስክርባቸው በእነርሱም ላይ የሚነግሰውን የንጉሡን ሥርዓት ንገራቸው’ … ሳሙኤልም የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ሁሉ ንጉሥን ለፈለጉ ሕዝብ ነገራቸው። እንዲህም አለ፦ ‘በእናንተ ላይ የሚነግሠው የንጉሡ ሥርዓት ይህ ነው ወንዶች ልጆቻችሁን ወስዶ ሰረገላ ነጅዎችና ፈረሰኞች ያደርጋቸዋል … እርሻውንም የሚያርሱ እህሉንም የሚያጭዱ ፍሬውንም የሚለቅሙ የጦር መሣሪያውንና የሰረገሎቹንም ዕቃ የሚሰሩ ያደርጋቸዋል ሴቶች ልጆቻችሁንም ወስዶ ሽቱ ቀማሚዎችና ወጥ ቤቶች አበዛዎችም ያደርጋቸዋል … እናንተም ባሪያዎች ትሆኑታላችሁ በዚያ ቀን ለእናንተ ከመረጣችሁት ከንጉሣችሁ የተነሳ ትጮኻላችሁ በእነዚያም ወራት እግዚአብሔር አይሰማችሁም። ለራሳችሁ ንጉሥን መርጣችኋልና’” 1ሳሙ 8፦1-ፍጻሜ

• One of the temptations of Christ wherein the devil proposed to give Him all the kingdoms of the world after showing Him all their glory and might reveals to us who is in fact in charge of the earthly city and what one has to do in order to be successful in it. Pursuing the path of ‘progress’ in furthering the interests of greedy nations who in the name of patriotism seek to squash their neighbors has never been among the ‘tasks of the day’ checklist of pious Christians. Although prophet Daniel of Old Testament and Joseph of Armatia both held public offices, it was a life of exemplary service not a lucrative career that they were after. Moreover, their lives (especially that of prophet Daniel amply demonstrates what awaits just around the corner for those determined to go high up… an obligation to bow for the image of the government, i.e. sell one’s soul or ran the risk of ending up sharing a room with a bunch of lions. After all Our Lord’s saying should not be taken lightly … ‘it is better for camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven’ ማር 10፦25.

• After the rise of Christianity and becoming the religion of the royal courts, during the time of Constantine, the Roman Empire which was very advanced and highly ‘civilized’ declined. And all the while the Roman Catholic Church[1] was in charge of the kingdoms of Europe, the life of the people remained relatively simple, down to earth, and the era of capitalism did not rise until the Roman Church lost its control over the western world. Thus where Christianity reigned, modern conceptualization of civilization characterized by technological machineries, etc, was relatively not encouraged.

• It was this simplicity and religious piety exhibited in every sphere of societal life during the medieval times that ‘modern’ historians inappropriately label the dark ages. However, this tag is circumstantial and highly open to debate.From a Christian perspective it is the present age that should rightfully be labeled a dark and primitive age.  Man has increasingly become more like a baby surrounded by bewildering amount of sophisticated equipments that make it passive and receptively swallow the finished product without caring to know how it was made. Let us not forget, it is not the amount of sophisticated machines an individual is surrounded with that determines the extent to which one is civilized.

• Similarly the time after Emperor Fasil wherein he cast all Jesuits and other foreign emissaries out of the country is calledthe dark age of Ethiopia by some scholars. True it is difficult to get any record of the events that took place during that time.However, orthodox Christians feel that the strong stance taken by the Emperor who was determined not to give in to persuasions and manipulations of the Jesuits (unlike his father) and thus preferring religious sanctity over technological progress was a decisive event that salvaged the religious and cultural integrity of the country. This is yet another clue that demonstrates the present conception of history is written from the point of view of Atheism and materialism. Consequently, the period of history where atheism and materialism were ill-developed is portrayed as primitive, dark, etc whereas an increasingly ignorant yet materially over saturated society is pictured in positive light.

• In fact capitalism is associated with the rise of Protestantismwhich provided a conducive atmosphere for greed and investment to flourish. (Read the book - Capitalism and the Protestant Ethic). Furthermore, the rise of protestant kingdoms/countries provided a safe base for occultists – the founding fathers of the modern Atheistic and materialistic world - who, until then, had been relentlessly hunted by the Roman Catholic Inquisition.

• Even nowadays Protestants –pseudo Christians - rapidly rise to prominent positions in capitalist systems since they are typically suited to such systems. It is enough to glance at what happened in our country with the introduction of capitalist system in 1991 G. C. (Ever wonder why western powers cry out whenever protestant evangelists get persecuted by governments of third world nations – the recent case being Eritrea? Apparently for those who look a little closer, citizens who get converted to Protestantism somehow lose their nationalistic/patriotic feelings and are more inclined towards acting as mercenaries. Kenya, Nigeria and more recently South Africa, are examples of protestant dominated countries that are NGO lovebirds and act as a base for western cultural influence.

• That the Kingdom of Israel soon fell into idolatry under the reign of Solomon is testimony that kingdoms characterized by acquisition of capital are inherently irreconcilable to the Way of God. In contrast, demonic influence soon creeps into such civilizations as they are bound to be corrupted once they start down the path of earthly lust and dominance.

• Hence the more reliant man becomes on the fruits of his works, the less he will submit to The Will of God. When man devises ways that enable him to control nature, suddenly he does not have any unpredictable phenomenon at his hand; consequently he ceases to submit to the Will of God; starts to feel like a god himself in charge of his own destiny thus rebelling at God. On the other hand, societies which rely on nature inevitably put God before them as do pastoralists and, to a lesser extent, farmers (they have to rely on rain for life which makes them realize of their weak and vulnerable nature).

• Most of the so called products of technology such as telephone, TV, radio, electricity, computers, when their ‘inventors’ are examined, one is astonished at the fact that they are unanimously associated with witchcraft, divination, and magic. Tesla, Einstein, Newton, Copernicus, Thomas Edison … all dabbled with the occult.

“…that Newton was a member of one or more of the secret societies warring against God and the human race, his involvement and the circumstances surrounding his involvement with the occult art of alchemy remove such doubt completely… especially to those who have some knowledge of the occult, that Newton was a secret-society initiate and adept. (Sir Isaac Newton and Modern Astronomy, pp.4)

The Illuminated Ones were very successful in various ways to discredit Christianity and establish their own agenda… The advancement of technology has greatly added to the fulfillment of their goals. Some of the greatest advancements in technology have come through Illumined minds such as Thomas Edison (who was both Jewish and a Rosicrucian), and Nikola Tesla who were friends and co-workers. Edison's daily associate was the Freemason George E. Stringfellow.

The Illumined Ones receive their illumination through various channels which correspond incidentally to the Hindi forms of salvation. Drugs, dances, channeling, rituals, and intuitive knowledge are methods to be enlightened or illumined. These types of activities have characterized the Mystery Schools since Ancient Egypt, Ancient India, and Ancient Babylon. Christianity would call illumination under many circumstances "demon possession." Nikola Tesla was quite open that his achievements (and some have called him the "greatest inventor" ever) came from intuitive knowledge. Other scientists have also received their ideas from some outside source of illumination.” (Be Wise as Serpents, pp. 382)

•  So, does having a car, modern furniture, computer, TV and all other spoils of ‘modern technology’ at our disposal make us civilized? What does it mean to be civilized? Do people who are physically malnourished, poor, hungry constitute uncivilized (primitive) society? True, technology does make life easier. But does having an easy life necessarily correspond with being civilized?

•  On the contrary, people who truly become more and more intellectual (spiritual wisdom) tend to abandon material necessities and focus on simpler living. Obsession with material comforts is obviously the characteristic of a less civilized society. (Take into account the rap culture that consistently pursues and exhibits unworthy materials).

•  The world is sadly producing a generation which is far less intelligent, far less focused with intrinsic riches like the fine arts, religious morality and abandonment of egocentric world view; is far more addicted to cheap time wasting techno-toys, videogames, cars, etc. They work 20+ hours so as to earn more to buy these toys and momentarily enjoy fleeting pleasures; and then go back to work some more! It is this so called advancement that characterizes western nations that we are supposed to mimic. We are supposed to abandon our so called primitive (we have no idea what makes it primitive) culture and blindly copy the western mentality (a counter culture of primitive animalistic sports/soccer, Athletics …/, Rock music, degenerate pornography and the bizarre child-like world of Hollywood).
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•  Seemingly flourishing civilizations which were observed after they were taken over by Christianity seem to contradict this thesis; but in fact these instances also indirectly confirm the fact that the world view inherent in Christianity inevitably leads men to abandon egotistic ambitions in favor of a more monastic-type simple life. Take Ethiopia for instance, although originally the government was visibly pagan, after conversion it became an overtly Christian country during the time of Ezana and Saizana /Christened Abraha & Atsbaha/ in 4 A.D. The civilization continued to flourish for several centuries before it finally weakened due to external influence. Yet it reappeared in other forms and still continued for a couple of centuries more.Does this show earthly civilizations could be the work of the men of God (As with the case of the golden era of Solomon of Israel characterized by fame and glamour)? Not necessarily! Most post-Christian architectural wonders are almost entirely churches. Had not Ahmed Gragn destroyed it, we would have inherited a unique church built almost entirely out of gold? Every region of the country we go to, we see traces of a generation which has chosen to exhibit its level of advancement by divesting all its resources, body and soul, to building churches, which through their magnificence, glorify God. unlike the ‘Taj Mahal’ of India or the innumerable emperors of Rome and Greece who have built portraits of themselves in their zeal to make themselves immortal/transcend death, we find several kings who live on tents or other shelters which are hard to differentiate from the peasants hats whom they are ruling.  On the contrary tradition is filled with stories of Ethiopian Kings abandoning their throne willingly to become ordinary monks. All the notoriety and egotistic zeal to attain fame and glamour characteristic of pre-Christian Ethiopia (note the erection of the Obelisks) is markedly absent after the adoption of Christianity.

We have unfortunately been born into an age where our every day preoccupations are saturated with artificially constructed social problems which seem too childish to matter for the medieval mind. The screams of our material problems which daily swarm through our minds are increasingly swallowing the more relevant spiritual issues into the background. And being a member of this unprivileged generation, we may indeed find it difficult to isolate ourselves from our surroundings and develop some sort of immunity from this social calamity of materialism.Nevertheless, we should at least recognize that the true and ideal life that the Lord had instilled for us is a life of hermetic and ascetic simplicity. Consequently we should cease accusing our monastic tradition and the desert fathers and instead should look up to them for their prayers and spiritual guidance. As the saying goes … ‘if one is not able to run, at least he should clap for the one who could’.

But more importantly, does one society have to put one rock over another in order to be considered civilized? Does it have to be obsessed with materialistic needs and strive on looks to be taken as advanced? Is an empty stomach that bad? … ‘ጠላታችንን ድህነትን ተረት እናደርጋለን!’ … Is poverty our real enemy? We thought for us Christians the enemy was the devil; we thought poverty was actually our friend which reminds us our vulnerability and dependence on God for our very existence… thus leading us down the path of humble submission to the Will of God. We thought one was to shun material things and seek suffering of the cross in order to go through the narrow path less traveled.

Furthermore, modern trends are showing us that we do not necessarily have to flock sheep-like abiding by this perspective only – a point of view termed by modern day analysts as a euro-centric world view. As a number of historical philosophers have made abundantly clear, this is but one interpretation of the concept of civilization. Euro-centricity demands the presence of splendid buildings, and some other physical remnants to exist in order to accept a society as civilized.And by this account African tribal life which does not emphasize outward expression of wisdom obviously fails to be counted as an advanced society through European spectacles. But recently historians such as Ashanti through their Afro-centric world view (which stresses advanced societal life can be evidenced in African tribes which manifest their wisdom through advanced cultural heritage and oral tradition) are advocating the re-examining of what they perceive as an unfair belittling of African and Asian traditions.

With all this evidence in consideration, is the Orthodox Church supposed to defend her stance and say she was not the cause of poverty every time a ‘capitalist-protestant’ inspired finger (attack) is repeatedly pointed at Her? Is poverty such a bad thing for us to sternly demonstrate that we are contributing for ‘progress’ Shouldn’t we be proud of remaining poor firmly establishing our lives upon the true faith once delivered to the Saints instead of selling our souls for earthly riches? We wonder… 

As for us, we believe a resilient yes should be the answer. Yes we do prefer to honor our saints; we do not till the land on spiritual holydays… if that contributed to Ethiopia’s ‘poverty’, SO BE IT!After all, Christianity is the religion of the poor and the poor in spirit (not the ones who run rampant chasing after earthly glory and wealth) shall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven even if they remain outcasts in this earthly one… are we wrong?

Lastly, we shall depart with the wonderful words of an Axum high priest who, in the presence of a foreigner who apparently was astonished to see a high priest of such a prestigious church living in woeful conditions, responded by saying ‘THE LORD MADE US POOR ON PURPOSE SO THAT WE WOULDN’T GO ASTRAY LIKE THE REST OF THE WORLD…’

“ወንድሞቻችን ሆይ ወደ መንፈሳዊ ጥበብ ወደ መንፈሳዊ ኃይል ወደ መንፈሳዊ ተዘምዶ እንዴትእንደጠራችሁ እወቁ … ‘ጥበቡ እንደ ሰሎሞን እንደ ሲራክ ያለ ነው … እገሌ ጥበበኛ ነው’ ያሉትእንደሆነ ‘መክሮ አስተምሮ ጠላቴን ያጠፋልኛል መንግስቴን ያጸናልኛል’ ብሎ ይሻዋል … እርሱግን ይህን ሳይሻ ወደ መንፈሳዊ ጥበብ እንደጠራችሁ ዕወቁ … ‘ኃይሉም እንደ ጌዴዎን እንደ ሶምሶንእንደ ዮፍታሔ ያለ ነው … እገሌ ኃይለኛ ነው’ ያሉት እንደሆነ ‘ክንድ ይኾነኛል ጠላቴንያደክምልኛል’ ብሎ ይሻዋል … እርሱ ግን ይህን ሳይሻ ወደ መንፈሳዊ ኃይል እንደጠራችሁ ዕወቁ … ‘ተዘምዶውም እንደ አብርሃም እንደ ኢዮብ ያለ ነው … እገሌ ዘመዳም ነው’ ያሉት እንደሆነ ‘ጥግይኾነኛል አንድ በር ሁለት በር ይይዝልኛል’ ብሎ ይሻዋል … እርሱ ግን ይህን ሳይሻ ወደ መንፈሳዊተዘምዶ እንደጠራችሁ ዕወቁ …” (1 ቆሮ 1፦26 (ትርጓሜ)) “… እንግዲህ … ብልህ ሰው በጥበቡ አይመካ … ኃይለኛ በኃይሉ አይመካ … ባለጸጋ በብልጽግናውአይመካ … የሚመካ ሰው በዚህ ይመካ … እግዚአብሔርን ዕወቁት ልብም አድርጉት …” 1 ሳሙ 2፦9

ወስብሐት ለእግዚአብሔር

ደጋፊ ምንባባት፦

1.  “አሁንም አንች ቅምጥል ተዘልለሽ የምትቀመጭ ‘እኔ ነኝ ከእኔም በቀር ሌላ የለም …’ የምትይይህን ስሚ አሁን ግን በአንድ ቀን እነዚህ ሁለት ነገሮች በድንገት ይመጡብሻል” ኢሳ 47፦8
2.  “ከዝሆን ጥርስ በተሰራ አልጋ ላይ ለሚተኙ በምንጣፋቸው ደስ ለሚሰኙ ከበጎችም መንጋጠቦትን ከጋጥም ውስጥ ጥጃን ለሚመገቡ ከበገናው ድምፅ ጋር አስተባብረው ለሚያጨበጭቡሰዎች ይኸውም የማያልፍ ለሚመስላቸው … በጽዋ የቀላ ወይን ለሚጠጡ እጅግ ባማረ ሽቱምለሚቀቡ በዮሴፍ ስብራት ለማያስቡ ወዮላቸው” አሞ 6፦4
3. “ባለጠጋ ሰው ለራሱ ጠቢብ የሆነ ይመስለዋል አስተዋይ ድሃ ግን ይመረምረዋል” ተግ 4፦11
4. “ከእኔ አስቀድመው በኢየሩሳሌም ከነበሩት ሁሉ ይልቅ ብዙ የበጎችና የከብቶች መንጋዎችነበሩኝ … ብርንና ወርቅን ለራሴ ሰበሰብሁ … የወይን ጠጅ ጠማቂዎችንና አሳላፊዎችንምአበዛሁ … ከሁሉ ይልቅ ከበርሁ … እነሆ ሁሉ ከንቱ ነፋስንም እንደ መከተል ነበር … ከፀሐይበታችም ትርፍ አልነበረም” መክ 2፦8
5. “ድሃውን ስለ ድህነቱ ይንቁት ዘንድ አይገባም ኃጢአተኛውንም ሰው ስለ ባለጸግነቱ ያከብሩትዘንድ አይገባም” ሲራ 10፦23
6.  “ለሁለት ጌቶች መገዛት የሚቻለው አገልጋይ የለም ያለዚያ አንዱን ይወዳል ሁለተኛውንምይጠላል ወይም ለአንዱ ይታዘዛል ለሁለተኛውም አይታዘዝም እንግዲህ ለእግዚአብሔርናለገንዘብ መገዛት አትችሉም” ማቴ 6፦24
7. “ሰው አለሙን ሁሉ ቢገዛ ነፍሱንም ቢያጣ ለሰው ምን ይረባዋል?” ማቴ 16፦26
8.  “በእሾህም መካከል የወደቀው ቃሉን ሰምተው የባለጠግነት ዐሳብ የኑሮም መቆርቆር የተድላናየደስታ መጣፈጥም የሚያስጨንቃቸውና ፍሬ የማያፈሩ ናቸው” ሉቃ 8፦14
9. “ስለምትበሉትና ስለምትጠጡት ለሰውነታችሁም ስለምትለብሱት አትጨነቁ ነፍስ ከምግብትበልጣለችና ሰውነትም ከልብስ ይበልጣልና” ሉቃ 12፦24
10. “እንደ ስጋ ብትኖሩ ትሞታላችሁ” ሮሜ  8፦13
11. “እላችኋለሁ በመንፈስ ኑሩ እንጅ የሥጋችሁን ፈቃድ አታድርጉ ሥጋ መንፈስ የማይሻውንይሻልና … የሥጋ ስራው ይታወቃል እርሱም ዝሙት ርኩሰት መዳራት ጣዖት ማምለክ ሥራይማድረግ መጣላት ኩራት የምንዝር ጌጥ ቅናት ቁጣ ጥርጥር ፉክክር ምቀኝነት መጋደል ስካርይህንም የመሰለ ሁሉ ነው … ይህን የሚያደርግ የእግዚአብሔርን መንግስት አያይም” ገላ 5፦16
12. “በእውነት ባልቴት የሆነች ብቻዋን የምትኖር ተስፋዋ እግዚአብሔር ነው ሌሊትና ቀንምበጸሎት ተፀምዳ ትኖራለች በጨዋታ ተድላ የምታደርግ ግን በሕይወቷ ሳለች የሞተች ናት” 1ጢሞ 5፦5
13. “ነገር ግን በኋላ ዘመን ክፉ ጊዜ እንደሚመጣ ይህን ዕወቅ ሰዎች ራሳቸውን የሚወዱ ገንዘብንምሚወዱ … ከእግዚአብሔር ይልቅ ተድላን የሚመርጡ  ይሆናሉ” 2ጢሞ 3፦1
14. “ሙሴም በአደገ ጊዜ የፈርዖን የልጅ ልጅ እንዳይባል በእምነት እንቢ አለ ለጊዜውም በኀጢአትከሚገኝ ደስታ ይልቅ ከእግዚአብሔር ሕዝብ ጋር መከራ መቀበልን መረጠ” ዕብ 11፦25
15.  “ጻድቅ ሎጥም እያየና እየሰማ አብሯቸውም እየኖረ በክፉ ሥራቸው ከዕለት ወደ ዕለት ጻድቅትነፍሱን ያስጨንቋት ነበር” 2ጵጥ 2፦8

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[1] The Roman Catholic Church is a more authentic tradition-based church not unlike to our Orthodox Church. Though there are some theological differences, in almost all societal issues our cause is essentially identical with the Roman Catholic cause…