Toward a New Hermeneutic of Covenant

Abstract

The first three chapters analyzed three different paradigms of the Ethiopian worldview and briefly indicated their strengths and weaknesses. In the wax and gold paradigm—still dominant in Ethiopia—we saw that historically, covenant-thinking is of basic importance. In the first chapter, I established that covenant is the main creator of surplus history, therefore of surplus meaning, in Ethiopia. It is a “transcendental” notion that has stayed undiminished despite several social and political changes, and it has also surpassed ethnic differences. However, this should not imply that the use of the notion is always plausible. As the analyses in the foregoing chapters indicate, it was used as a tool for the forceful expansion of the empire, creation of a culturally and ethnically hegemonized unitary nation, and the formulation of philosophy that stifled positive social change and development. However, since Ethiopian identity is largely shaped by this notion, it seems appropriate to rethink the notion of covenant as a starting point to formulate a framework that retains the salient aspects of the three different paradigms and overcomes their weaknesses. The leading question of this chapter therefore is: How can we use the notion of covenant to provide a perspective that is true to Ethiopian identity and open to positive social change in the future?