Episodes
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Raymond Silverman, Professor Emeritus of History of Art, Afroamerican, and African Studies at University of Michigan, joins me on the latest Philosophy of Art and Science to discuss the Afroasiatic art of Aksum.
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This is an audio recording of my homily from the throne of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church’s bishop of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. I delivered this homily during communion, and the cameraman rightly took the camera away from the mystery of qwrban (qurban; sacrifice; communion), whilst keeping the audio recording on. I spliced the meaningless video away here for a smoother listen.
I mostly just read aloud chapters six and seven of the Acts of the Apostles, which I just sent you in written form in my last post. Enjoy.
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Episodes manquant?
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Raymond Silverman, Professor Emeritus of History of Art, Professor Emeritus of Afroamerican and African Studies, asked me to share this beautiful video with you on the creation of brana (manuscripts) in contemporary Ethiopia. As the subtitle says, it is an ancient art, but one not lost to the ash heap of history, rather it is a living, breathing art in no less a city than the namesake of this blog! Aksum.
There are also some good folks doing this work in the capital city Adees Abeba. I have one manuscript of my own, a family heirloom psalter of a couple hundred (if not a few hundred) years, that was willed to me by my paternal grandmother in 2019. If I learn qum tsihuf (standing writing; the traditional method of transcription) it would be my honor to one day recreate it by hand. In the mean time, I better digitize it for you dear reader and watcher.
Keep me and the parchment makers in your holy prayers.
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My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? (1-4)
-the faith (the trust we were entrusted with from the Lord of Glory) has no room for partiality, favoritism, differentiation by class (i.e. Beyonce, politicians, micro-celebrities)
-treat each human with dignity and respect, especially when they can offer you nothing in return
Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? (5-7)
-rich people use the court system to impose their will the way texas holdem players blind out opponents with low capital
If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. (8-13)
-the King’s law is to love your neighbor as yourself; this is not a command to love yourself, as the spirit of this age teaches, rather it assumes you already love yourself since you clothe yourself, feed yourself, bathe yourself, come to church, and use the bathroom in the bathroom rather than your pants
-love God by loving strangers and your enemies (pay your enemy to read you Scripture; offer to wash their car)
-adultery and murder are not just instantiated in deed, but in speech and in thought; stay alert
What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. (14-17)
-The so-called ‘Old’ Perspective and ‘New’ Perspective debate shows the Early Church interpreters to be right and Martin Luther and his spiritual children to be wrong; trust God, actions follow
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (18-end)
-demons are spiritual beings, they have doctrine and fasting (St. Moses the Ethiopian mentions fasting, scripture just speaks of their certainty of the spiritual realm)
-The common example of Abraham (Gen. 15:1-6) descendants like stars in sky; And the extreme example of Rahab (Joshua 2; 6:17-25), she of the oldest profession
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Stay in the boat, and be saved. Do not be afraid!
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This is the video followup to my last post. Blaise gave me a shoutout on his latest post, which references a talk I gave in Houston (Dec. 2019).
From his post:
During a Hebrew lesson with my mentor Fr. Paul Tarazi, a retired Greek Orthodox priest and biblical scholar from Palestine, he said something that struck me…
The two words that the NATO people use that are not found in the Semitic languages are the verbs (to have) and (to be). And those two are the downfall of Western civilization and an explanation for the current events in the news. It is crucial for understanding scripture. If you (are) nothing and you (have) nothing, you aren’t special.
He’s prolific. Follow him on Medium if you haven’t already.
My old talk:
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I am joined by Bethlehem on the latest Philosophy of Art and Science to discuss her journey of faith within the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church. She has found a lane as a lay woman in high-quality photography and videography of church services. And currently attends the Ladder of Light Saint Paul’s Ethiopian-led English-parish in the D.M.V. (D.C., Maryland, Virginia metropolitan area).
Her portfolio. And Youtube channel.
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blessed are you,
that beholds the depths,
and sits upon the bodiless throne guardians.
And blessed are you, dear reader, when I am on Summer Vacation, and have time to deluge your email box with content. This is an English homily I delivered earlier today. I also did a terse Ge’ez to English poem translation for my friends who just got married. I also recently did a guest spot (in mostly Amharic) on Melkamsew Abebe’s channel. Been busy.
Stay blessed.
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I explain, in English, a Ge’ez poem crafted for the bridegroom and bride by our mutual Ge’ez and liturgy teacher.
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Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not abandon my soul in the place of the dead, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Acts of the Apostles 2:22-27 KJV
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Nathaniel “Nate” Marshall aka The Blue Scholar joins me on the latest Philosophy of Art and Science to discuss “work, theology, prayer, and the ordering of the material world as it orders our interior world.” He’s an “apologist for manual labor.”
You can read him here and xeet at him here.
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I was invited by His Beatitude Archbishop Theophilus of Northern CA, Nevada, and Arizona to visit and preach at his newly established St. John the Baptist and St. Arsema monastery in the wilderness of San Miguel, CA; along the historic El Camino Real, which I studied in 4th grade.
I reference:
Gen 16; Ezekiel 20; Psalm 135 (136); 1 John 4
When I read a verse or two, or three, of any given chapter, you can safely assume that you are being invited to eat the whole chapter, at minimum, and the whole book, at maximum, thus being sucked into scripture. Trust the medley of metaphors.
I also mention:
St. Isaac the Syrian, St. John Saba the Spiritual Elder, and Aba Pambo of the Desert Fathers.
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Highlights:
-Mar Mari Emmanuel is a bishop of the East Syriac rite. Within this tradition you have at least the Assyrian Church of the East (who stand alone since the 2nd ecumenical council) and the Chaldeans who were grafted to the Catholic Church. Their West Syriac brethren that are in our Afroasiatic communion are under His Holiness Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, and there are Maronites grafted to the Catholic Church.
-mar is an East Syriac title meaning lord; mor is the West Syriac expression of the same title. we use it in the tewahdo tradition in reference to mar yishaq (St. Isaac the Syrian); one of the three monks whose works we have preserved in metshafe menekwesat (the book of monks). My rum (Eastern Roman; Greek Orthodox) Syrian friend, who runs a bomb Eastern Mediterranean restaurant in the Inland Empire, jokingly calls me Mar Elias. My first name is difficult for him to remember, but he knows a million Eliases.
-Not just linguistically, within the Semitic language family, but also genetically, Assyrians are one of the closest population groups to habesha within the West Asian cluster
-May this evil be turned to good; into a witness and confession of Christ throughout the world. May God grant Mar Mari Emmanuel strength and many, many years!
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Blaise Webster joins me on the latest episode of the Philosophy of Art and Science. He is a student of Old Greek, formal and informal Arabic, and Biblical Hebrew. And like me, he is a member of the Ephesus School Network, where he podcasts on Spotify and elsewhere. He also writes on Medium.
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This is my guest spot, originally published October 15, 2021 on Jonathan Pageau’s The Symbolic World Youtube channel.
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Originally published on my Youtube channel 03.09.2022. This was our second collaboration. Our first was my guest spot (60k views as of 04.06.24 on his show), from 10.15.2021. Jonathan Pageau is an Orthodox Christian, carver, writer, and public speaker.
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መዝሙር ፵ወ፬
ጐሥዐ ፡ ልብየ ፡ ቃለ ፡ ሠናየ ፡ አነ ፡ አየድዕ ፡ ግብርየ ፡ ለንጉሥ ፤ ከመ ፡ ቀለመ ፡ ጸሓፊ ፡ ዘጠበጠበ ፡ ይጽሕፍ ፡ ልሳንየ ። ይሤኒ ፡ ላሕዩ ፡ እምውሉደ ፡ እጓለ ፡ እመሕያው ፡ ተክዕወ ፡ ሞገስ ፡ እምከናፍሪከ ፤ በእንተዝ ፡ ባረከከ ፡ እግዚአብሔር ፡ ለዓለም ። ቅንት ፡ ሰይፈከ ፡ ኀይል ፡ ውስተ ፡ ሐቌከ ፤ በሥንከ ፡ ወበላሕይከ ። አርትዕ ፡ ተሠራሕ ፡ ወንገሥ ፡ በእንተ ፡ ጽድቅ ፡ ወርትዕ ፡ ወየዋሃት ፤ ወይመርሐከ ፡ ስብሐተ ፡ የማንከ ። አሕጻከ ፡ ስሑል ፡ ኀያል ፡ አሕዛብ ፡ ይወድቁ ፡ ታሕቴከ ፤ ውስተ ፡ ልቦሙ ፡ ለጸላእተ ፡ ንጉሥ ። ወንበርከ ፡ እግዚኦ ፡ ለዓለመ ፡ ዓለም ፤ በትረ ፡ ጽድቅ ፡ በትረ ፡ መንግሥትከ ። አፍቀርከ ፡ ጽድቀ ፡ ወዐመፃ ፡ ጸላእከ ፡ በእንተዝ ፡ ቀብአከ ፡ እግዚአብሔር ፡ አምላክከ ፤ ቅብአ ፡ ትፍሥሕት ፡ እምእለ ፡ ከማከ ። ከርቤ ፡ ወቀንአተ ፡ ወሰሊኆት ፡ እምነ ፡ አልባሲከ ፤ እምክቡዳነ ፡ አቅርንት ፡ ዘእምኔሆሙ ፡ አስተፈሥሓከ ፡ አዋልደ ፡ ነገሥት ፡ ለክብርከ ፤ ወትቀውም ፡ ንግሥት ፡ በየማንከ ፡በአልባሰ ፡ ወርቅ ፡ ዑጽፍት ፡ ወሑብርት ። ስምዒ ፡ ወለትየ ፡ ወርእዪ ፡ ወአፅምዒ ፡ እዝነኪ ፤ ወርስዒ ፡ ሕዝበኪ ፡ ወቤተ ፡ አቡኪ ። እስመ ፡ ፈተወ ፡ ንጉሥ ፡ ሥነኪ ፤ እስመ ፡ ውእቱ ፡ እግዚእኪ ። ወይሰግዳ ፡ ሎቱ ፡ አዋልደ ፡ ጠሮስ ፡ በአምኃ ፡ወለገጽኪ ፡ ይትመሀለሉ ፡ ኵሎሙ ፡ አሕዛብ ፡ ብዑላነ ፡ ምድር ። ኵሉ ፡ ክብራ ፡ ለወለተ ፡ ንጉሥ ፡ ሐሴቦን ፤ በዘአዝፋረ ፡ ወርቅ ፡ ዑጽፍት ፡ ወሑብርት ። ወይወስዱ ፡ ለንጉሥ ፡ ደናግለ ፡ ድኅሬሃ ፤ ወቢጻሂ ፡ ይወስዱ ፡ ለከ ። ወይወስድዎን ፡ በትፍሥሕት ፡ ወበሐሤት ፤ ወያበውእዎን ፡ ውስተ ፡ ጽርሕ ፡ ንጉሥ ። ህየንተ ፡ አበዊኪ ፡ ተወልዱ ፡ ለኪ ፡ ደቂቅ ፤ ወትሠይምዮሙ ፡ መላእክተ ፡ ለኵሉ ፡ ምድር ። ወይዘከሩ ፡ ስመኪ ፡ በኵሉ ፡ ትውልደ ፡ ትውልድ ፤ በእንተዝ ፡ ይገንዩ ፡ ለከ ፡ አሕዛብ ፡ እግዚኦ ፡ ለዓለም ፡ ወለዓለመ ፡ ዓለም ።
My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies; whereby the people fall under thee. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir. Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house; So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him. And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour. The king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee. With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king's palace. Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth. I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever. (Psalm 45, according to the Masoretes)
I have been obsessively watching this particular video, and the several other fine cuts and precious gems on the channel of Dcn. daweet girma; accompanied here by his fellow-laborer in Jaredian hymns Dcn. mihret melaku, who wrote our featured article on the etiquette and order of tsome dgwa, and their choirmaster the aptly named (perhaps a little too aptly) Prof. yaréd. They say, melak sim yaweTal, messengers (angels) select names. But sometimes, in the traditional schools of the EOTC, name changes happen to suit and fit the character of the person, and especially to baptize the at-times very gangster given names of some otherwise Orthodox christians.
In this video, you can watch and hear an entire psalm of daweed sung in a semitic tongue, dovetailed by at least two different traditions (teklé and gwenderine) of walking-stick choreography. During this season this historic St. Michael’s parish (where Malcolm X and MLK Jr. once walked) in Boston, MA, halfway through the Great Fast, has done ten full psalms in this manner. Were they in the homeland, and at a fully-armed and operational parish, they would do this with one hundred psalms…
Reminds me of the New Jerusalem, the Zion which is above.
This particular psalm is germane to our tradition, because it has been altered and edited to address our Lady the Holy Virgin Mary, instead of the Most High God, in the Anaphora of Mary. This is a controversial step. And should cause us to at least pause, ponder, and reflect. I remain functional in thinking and doing. Maybe it’s the right move. Maybe it’s not. But in our ‘yes and’ culture of Orthodoxy, we have the edited version in the Anaphora of Mary, and the original version in a misbak (psalm chanted during the eucharistic liturgy), and here chanted from the noneucharistic Jaredian book miiraf (resting place).
Glory to God, for all things.
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Editorial Note:
English Teaching roughly 15:00-45:00. Preceded by Amharic prayer and Amharic spiritual singing, and an English poem.
This is a guest spot from this time during the Great Fast seven years ago, in collaboration with United Orthodox Tewahdo Youth. They were an idealistic bunch of young people, whom from everything I can tell, were an offshoot of mahibere qidusan in the English language. I have now seen several official gibee gubaé (premises conferences) popping up on college campuses across the U.S. as they did for the first time decades ago in Ethiopia.
I have mixed feelings. On the one hand they are almost all highly educated (in the secular sense) and excellent in their chosen professions, and give generously to projects in the name of God (Psalm 69:9; John 2:17). Training varies wildly member-to-member, but they sponsor many church scholars. They raise money for up-keeping of monasteries. And they reach across sundry verbal and nonverbal language barriers.
What is the end goal? And what is the structure? The message I have found to be one of neotraditionalism or neoconservatism (not the foreign policy position). There is a beauty in bringing about modest church attire homogeneity, but this should always be matched by internal struggle against sin. The milieu of these organizations is both the nascent autocephaly granted us gradually in 1929, 1950, and 1959, and the political chaos ushered in by the Marxist-Leninst derg regime followed by the TPLF regime which substituted class communism for race communism, and just when we thought we had respite with the reunification of the holy synod in 2018, the oromuma regime began doing more of the same.
Attempts to shake Egyptian Coptic control were made from time to time, but it was not until 1929 that a compromise was effected: an Egyptian monk was again appointed abuna, but four Ethiopian bishops were also consecrated as his auxiliaries. A native Ethiopian abuna, Basil, was finally appointed in 1950, and in 1959 an autonomous Ethiopian patriarchate was established
In this context, the most Orthodox behavior of obedience to a bishop was forgotten or intentionally neglected. These organizations pop up here and there with different names, and rarely are connected with a bishop. What does scripture say?
“So Samuel said: Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22).
And the early church fathers?
See that you all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery as you would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is administered either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Universal Church. It is not lawful without the bishop either to baptize or to celebrate a love-feast; but whatsoever he shall approve of, that is also pleasing to God, so that everything that is done may be secure and valid.
The Epistle of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans
As soon as his beatitude Archbishop Theophilus of Northern CA, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico seized this organization, under the auspices of the holy synod of the EOTC, inexplicably, they withered away. A few name changes and similar organizations have arisen since, and I hope they are aligned with their respective archbishops and archdioceses.
As for the archdiocese of Southern CA, we are highly organized, and in direct submission and obedience to his beatitude Archbishop Barnabas; who learned under the same teacher whom mahibere qidusan acknowledges as their spiritual founder, Archbishop Gregory, of blessed memory, of Lake ziway monastery. In his book sima tewahdo (tewahdo testimony) Archbishop Barnabas says everything he has learned is from Archbishop Gregory and the Messenger of Light admasu jemberé.
Anyhoo, God can use anyone anywhere at anytime. Even a literal jackass (Numbers 22). Really. Take my joking seriously. And so when called upon to share the evangelion of Christ the King, I do not shy away for sectarian reasons. God forbid. I do my duty. And so I did, seven years ago, across perceived enemy territory within the church.
I was tasked with addressing the story of the Paralytic, whose Sunday coincided, or were provided, this year in the Greek Rite and the ge’ez Rite. Have a blessed week of metsagw3/metsagwi.
And again he entered into Comfortville after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house. And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them. And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there was certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. (Mark 2:1-12 KJV)
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P.S.
I am scheduled to teach at ኆኅተ ሰማይ መጥመቀ መለኮት ቅዱስ ዮሐንስ ወቅድስት አርሴማ የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ አንድነት ገዳም በካሊፎርኒያ the Gateway to Heaven Saint John the Baptizer of Divinity and Saint Hripsime Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Monastery in San Miguel, California on April 20th, 2024. Godwilling, I will see you there.
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This was originally published on May 8, 2023 on Derek Cummins’ A Dose of Theosis Youtube channel. He is a former Protestant Pastor interested in cradle stories and convert journeys to Catholicism and Orthodoxy (Greek and Afroasiatic). He pleasantly surprised me with a particular interest in the Afroasiatic.
For those of you who are new here:
* I don’t usually post this frequently, but you are blessed by me being on Spring Break, and having the time to bring you these gems hidden on the internet that I know how to find quickly and redistribute to you here, with my colored commentary.
* In Orthodox Prayer Routine I address ‘theosis’ and ‘deification’. TL;DR the goal in life is not to become a Nietzschean übermensch (superman), or platonically metamorphosize into Jonathan Storm, but to become a biblically restored edenic אדם (adam; groundling) of the עפר (3far/afar; dust) of the אדמה (adamah; ground).
These are the verses theosoids wrest unto their own destruction:
Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
2 Peter 1:1-4 NKJV
the interpretation:
2 Peter builds off of Jude and canonizes Paul. 1-2 need no explanation as we have already encountered them many times before. “Glory and excellence”, I hope this is clear. Again, looking ahead, toward the glory. “partakers of the divine nature”, people make a big deal about that, regarding theosis, but this doesn’t make sense. Remember, the vision of God, blessed are the pure hearts, because they will see God. See means, to be in His presence, facing his countenance, and not His ire. In other words, you go to him, in a situation, beyond the judgement, that you have succeeded. It is like when you say, “I want to make an appointment to see someone.” Meaning, being in his presence. But not His thronal presence of judgement, but His thronal presence of fellowship at the table. And the word here which is partakers is again, friends, κοινωνία (koinonia). A word, in a certain literature, when it has a connotation, you cannot force it in a different direction. In other words, we would be sitting in the divine council, in the divine room.
-Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi, Orthodox Audio Bible Commentary: The New Testament Audio
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This was originally published March 20, 2024 on Subdeacon Daniel Kakish’s aptly named The Lion’s Den Youtube channel. This was my first appearance there, but he has been a guest on my channel before. In fact, it was even before Philosophy of Art and Science was a thing, and my only podcast was Tewahido Bible Study.
In this guest spot on The Lion’s Den, I commend Subdcn. Daniel for defending Afroasiatic Orthodox Christianity in the extremely online debate circuit, but even more for hosting an irl bible study that also examines Syriac Patristics (i.e. Mor Efrem, Jacob of Serugh) which lure-in technically Catholic Maronites and Chaldeans who are interested in studying their fathers. In that vein, since they are also our fathers in the ge’ez rite, Subdcn. Daniel and I read aloud Wednesday’s portion of the widasé maryam (Marian Praise) attributed to Mor Efrem, and I ask him to verify whether or not it is at least in the style or school of Efrem.
Photo taken by Dr. Candace Lukasik, Assistant Professor of Religion at Mississippi State University, “Joyful Palm Sunday from Alqosh, Nineveh”
And whereas St. yaréd the Aksumite may be well-deservedly the most famous father of the tewahdo tradition, there is a new wave of prominence, here and at-hand, for another father par excellence, aba geeyorgees (Fr. George) of segla.
Augustine Dickinson, Doctoral Student at Universität Hamburg (a giant in the field of Classical Ethiopic and Ethiopian Studies writ large) in Germany, runs a melk (rhyming poetry that can be chanted) gathering and analyzing account on Meta (formerly Facebook). From there, Sub Dcn. Daniel and I discuss a poem about aba geeyorgees.
From an unreleased vault, Subdcn. Daniel and I look at Dcn. Mehari Zemelak Worku, Phd. candidate’s forthcoming (at the end of the semester for the university, and perhaps a couple years for the general public) dissertation, 15th Century Ethiopian Orthodox Ecclesiology in Giyorgis of Sägla’s Mäṣhafä Mǝsṭir'; specifically ch. 2’s narrative of the saint. In the coming year, Godwilling, the Pacific Northwest will be blessed with dcn. meharee and I’s further collaboration irl for ge’ez, Amharic, scripture, and patristics.
Subdcn. Daniel and I discuss Prof. Habtemichael Kidane’s Old Testament Lessons in the Säʿatat of Giyorgis Säglawi. An article of considerable length that looks at the specific Liturgy of Hours, or Breviary, of aba geeyorgees, while acknowledging there are others (including one dcn. meharee and I have been working on since 2021, for which there will be Godwilling a few forthcoming publications). Prof. Habtemichael also looks at the tsome digwa, which our brother dcn. mihret recently covered here on ARB.
There is a newly made Aba Giorgis Film Instagram account, for a forthcoming film, that seems active, and a less active Meta account. Produced by Theophoros (God-bearing) Pictures (and negodguad “thunder” production), directed by my mogshé (nametwin) Henok Ayele, shot by Abeyo Nibret, and written by Samuél Gutta, Frézer Fréw, and Dagim Sisay.
God is glorified through his holy ones and saints.
P.S.
in conversation with Future Cancelled Knowledge, I have compiled this list of languages with a word for nametwin.
Please add to our list:
Amharic - mogshé/mokshé
tigriña - mokhsee
Brazilian Portuguese - xará (shara)
Russian - tiozka
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aksum.substack.com/subscribe - Montre plus
