Ethiopian Christology

Gorgias Press just sent me a slender volume on a topic about which almost nothing else has been written recently in English: Ethiopian Christology. 

Mebratu Kiros Gebru, Miaphysite Christology: An Ethiopian Perspective (Gorgias Press, 2010), xii+112pp.

The publisher provides us with the following blurb:

As in the case of the Christology of the other non-Chalcedonian Oriental Orthodox Churches, Ethiopian Christology is usually nicknamed as Monophysite Christology - an erroneous Christological position which indicates the absorption of the humanity of Christ by its divinity . Disproving such a pejorative designation, this book contends that the Christological position of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) should correctly be termed as Miaphysite Christology, which highlights the one-united (tewahedo) nature of the Word of God incarnate. Besides, the book proves the orthodoxy of Ethiopian Christology, demonstrating how it is based on the Christology of St. Cyril of Alexandria (+ A.D. 444).

And the great scholar of Oriental Christianity, Sebastian Brock of Oxford, has this to say on the back of the book:

The Christology of the Oriental Orthodox Churches has all too often been misunderstood by the various Churches of the Chalcedonian tradition (Catholic, Orthodox, Reformed). Qesis Mebratu Gebru's study of the Christology of the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches is thus greatly to be welcomed, for it provides a clear and solidly based presentation of the teaching of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

In his preface and acknowledgments, the author tells us this is not a comprehensive study, but simply an introductory one for English-speakers unfamiliar with Ethiopian Christianity. The author further notes that the book originated as an M.A. thesis at the Toronto School of Theology, where he is currently a doctoral student.

This will be reviewed in Logos: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies, to which you may subscribe here.