New Book By Oromo Theologian and Intellectual Wake Jeo Gerbi Coming Soon: "Religion and Politics in the Horn of Africa: Evangelical Christianity and Politics in the Oromo Context in Ethiopia"

February 17, 2016

Wake Jeo’s new book, entitled “Religion and Politics in the Horn of Africa: Evangelical Christianity and Politics in the Oromo Context in Ethiopia,” will be released in March 2016. It is published at one of the popular publishing company which is named Forfattares Bokmaskin in Stockholm, Sweden.

About the Author

Wake Jeo Gerbi is an Oromo theologian and intellectual who was born in 1980 in Wallaga, Ethiopia. He is a preacher who has been actively involved in the Oromo people’s struggle for national self-determination starting from his elementary school age. Gerbi has diverse academic backgrounds. He received his MA in Theology and MA in Religion, Society and Global Issues from the Norwegian School of Theology. Currently, he is studying Intercontextual Theology while he is also taking courses from other academic areas like Law and Philosophy at the University of Oslo. He has written different articles and presented several papers at different conferences. In 2008, he had been teaching theology course on part-time bases at Mekane Yesus Seminary, in the Department of Music. He was also a part-time teacher of theology at Oslo International Bible College in Norway in 2012. Currently, he is serving as a volunteer Evangelist in the Oromo Evangelical Church in Oslo and lives with his wife, Bedane Bekuma, their daughter Wada and his siblings Ayantu, Bacha and Korsa.

About the book

Religion and Politics in the Horn of Africa: Evangelical Christianity and Politics in the Oromo Context in Ethiopia is a very informative, scholarly and inspiring book which deals with issues of Evangelical Christianity and politics in the Ethiopian Empire. It presents new perspectives that deepen our understanding of Christianity and politics in the context of the Oromo. Since the book is multifaceted by its nature, the topics it discusses are: diverse but intertwined, important but controversial. The book anchores its main discussion on the areas of religion and politics for which it draws data from the history of colonization, political and cultural marginalization of the Oromo leading to human and natural resources exploitations, and human rights violations which have been undertaken for instance by the TPLF-led Ethiopian government. Since religious misunderstandings have contributed to the aggravation of these issues, they are important in their own rights for this book. Therefore, by providing theological, sociological and philosophical arguments against apoliticism, the book convincingly urges the entire Oromo people in general and apolitical Oromo Christians in particular to involve in the current national struggle for peace and justice. What is more, the book provides very valuable insights that can be used in political and religious dialogue to overcome any internal and external obstacles of economic, cultural, religious, and political freedom of the Oromo people and other ethno-national groups in Ethiopia. Moreover, by contextualizing the concept of Liberation Theology which puts God on the side of the oppressed, hermeneutically interpreting the Theology of Hope in the context of Oromos’ situation, and analyzing and critically reflecting on the historic sacrifices that the Oromo heroes and heroines have paid for the sake of liberation of their people, the book argues that independent Oromia is not beyond the reach of the Oromo. Generally, this book is of importance for ordinary people, religious and political leaders, and college and seminary students and teachers.