I made a conscious departure more than 33 years ago in Ethiopia from Christianity in general and practicing Orthodox Christianity in particular.
Shortly thereafter, I declined at a moment’s notice an invitation to join Protestant Christianity.
Nonetheless, I have no memory of lacking faith within my entire adult life.
Over the years, I have read various documents about Ethiopia’s ancient history.
I have wondered about faith traditions since ancient times.
I have tried to reflect the faith traditions in which I grew up with respect to the history of monotheism in the region.
It was when I was in this exercise that I stumbled upon a revealing book on the subject by Sigmund Freud. It is titled Moses and Monotheism, which was published in Germany in 1939.
A follow up to that history book was another book by Ahmed Osman. It is titled Moses and Akhenaten: The Secret History of Egypt at the Time of the Exodus, which was published in the U.S. in 2002.
About twenty years ago, I shared my thoughts about what I understood then on a now defunct discussion forum.
A long while later, I stumbled upon a short poetic narrative by the late Ethiopian Laureate Tsegaye Ghebremedin, which he wrote more than fifty years ago in Dirre Liban, Borana, Ethiopia.
In my view, the following three words that he used encapsulate his poetic narrative: ለካ ኣንተ ነህ!
In his poetic narrative, he invoked the title for a traditional faith leader. If I understood his poetic narrative correctly, it was in reference to Pharaoh Akhenaten, who later became Prophet Moses after the Exodus, according to Ahmed Osman.
This would suggest that Orthodox Christianity, instead of Protestant Christianity, has an organic root in Ethiopia that predates Exodus.
It was in my continuum of faith within that I came across views that divine matters don’t matter or don’t exist.
Paradoxically, I have become the one who argues that divine matters are a very serious matter.
I observe phenomena that are scientifically accurate that don’t have any scientific explanation that I know. They appear to validate the idea of omnipresent.
I observe phenomena that appear to fall on a trajectory that don’t have any scientific explanation that I know. They appear to validate the idea of omnipotent.
I do not believe the New Testament can explain these mysteries.
I am certain that I sound delusional.
I have an open invitation to anyone anywhere in the world to explain these mysteries and prove me wrong.
In the meantime, a thesis has occurred to me. It is that a formidable deity in or of Ethiopia that is resistant to the story of Jesus exists.
It makes me wonder what the traditional faith leaders in Ethiopia might have to say about the mysteries or if they lack explanations for them.