Answering the Protestant Challenge: Orthodox Christianity as Counterreformation in Southern Ethiopia

Abstract What makes Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity attractive to southern Ethiopians? Aari in the South Ethiopia Regional State formerly rejected Orthodoxy as the religion of their northern Ethiopian conquerors. Attempts made under the empire to convert Aari remained without lasting success. In recent years, however, Orthodoxy has gained followers among conservative Aari. I explain Orthodoxy's attractiveness in the light of the rapid post-1991 growth of Protestantism and the corresponding decline of the indigenous Aari religion. Contrary to the derelict institutions of the indigenous religion, the Orthodox Church is felt to have spiritual authority and to afford a viable ritual community. And while conservative Aari reject Protestantism as excessively egalitarian, individualist, and puritan, Orthodoxy resonates with them for placing value on hierarchy, mediation, and feasting. For conservative Aari, Orthodoxy thus offers an answer to the Protestant challenge. Becoming Orthodox allows conservatives to defend and rearticulate moral and spiritual values which have long guided them, while also accessing the prestige of a religion Aari associate with northern elites. This shows that understanding the attractiveness of Orthodoxy in contemporary southern Ethiopia requires appreciating the imperial history of south–north relations and the post-1991 history of religious liberalization.