One Christmas!

It is a pity to observe that Ethiopia is lagging far behind the world in everything – more importantly in the celebration of Christian festivals. Perhaps in a country where the antediluvian calendar itself is nearly eight years behind that used by the rest of the world this may not be very surprising. However, the fact stares Ethiopian Christians in the face that there are only eleven days to Christmas in this country when the rest of our brothers and sisters in the universal “Prince of Peace” had celebrated the great day only yesterday. To many modern-minded Ethiopians it seems that this country cannot just break away from its traditional psychological state of isolation from the rest of Christendom.

It is true that until the fourth century, all Christians were celebrating on January 6 the “manifestation of God” in the “birth and baptism” of Jesus. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, however, the eastern part of  the Empire was gradually coerced by Rome into accepting December 25 as Christmas because the day – the pagan Festival of the Unconquered Sun(or Saturnalia) – had a stronger following among the generality of the people from time immemorial. “This was never accepted by the Armenian, Alexandrine and the Ethiopian Orthodox churches.”  It was rightly believed by these churches that the festival of Saturnalia was irrelevant to Christianity – which was an understandable puritanical approach to religion.

However, the truth remains that Christianity has been everywhere grafting itself on a pagan stock since its birth. Had it – or any other religion – failed to do so it would not have survived for so long. What is more important is the dogma that a particular Church adheres to, and not on what day precisely Christians agree to celebrate a particular festival. Surely, as St. Paul – the pillar of Christianity – emphasizes in his spiritual missive to the Ephesians, what is more important is that there is: “One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” As the old saying has it, in religion in particular, a house divided against itself cannot stand.

Christmas is celebrated on January 6 by a minority of even Orthodox Christians – by Egyptian Copts, Armenian Christians and by followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. At the same time, however, all Orthodox Christians numbering 161,774,350 – probably under 35 million of them Ethiopians – in 1988 celebrate Easter on the same day. It is to be recalled that the Christian population of the world was 1,669,520,640 during the  year under consideration. In this global world in particular, it would have been very pleasing to God if Christians had decided to rally round what they all believe to be the “Saviour of the World” on identical days. As the Psalmist had put it, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.”

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has today proved to be an extremely  dynamic religious institution. For over 1,600 years now it has been showing its true mettle by demonstrating its resilience in the face of various threats to its continued survival. However, institutions that had lived in isolation from the rest of their religious sisters for many centuries are often prone to demonstrate certain unhealthy insular tendencies. Reforms in religious practices that are in accord with the spirit of the times that we are living in are therefore imperative if one is not to lose one’s flock to proselytizing religious denominations. At the same time also there is no conceivable reason in this day and age why all Christians should not celebrate identical Christian festivals on identical days – that is without sacrificing their dogmas.

To repeat what St. Paul had phrased so poetically, there is only “One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” These are some of our thoughts on the fast approaching Ethiopian Christmas. We can celebrate Christmas on December 25 with the rest of Christendom in accordance with our own tradition – that is without adulterating it with certain practices of extraneous pagan origin. And, oh, happy Boxing Day to our English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish readers – and to their descendants in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand possibly observing the tradition!