PHILOSOPHY II

ASSINMENT
Criticize the” Zerayacob’s &
Weldehawariyat’s Philosophy in the
Light of Teaching of the Holly Bible

Submitted to: GIRMAY G/ TATIWOS

Submitted By: Elias Defalgn

ST. FRUMENTIUS ABBA SELAMA KESATE

BERHAN THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE

DECEMBER, 2019
 1. INTRODUCTION

The Axumites Zere Yacob is the greatest Ethiopian philosopher whose treatise is a contribution to world
philosophy. Zere Yacob was born in Axum in 1592 A.D. His parents were farmers. He attended a church
school as a child. Being a brilliant student, he learned faster than other kids and became an instructor upon
graduation. He developed his own methodology of pedagogy and proved to be an excellent teacher.
People who were jealous of his intelligence plotted to have him killed by Emperor Susenyos who ruled
Ethiopia then. He ran away from Axum and found his way to Shoa. He hid in a cave in Shoa for two years
developing his philosophy until the death of the Emperor. He was then hired by Ato Habtu, a rich Amhara
from Shoa, to teach his son Woldeheywot. Later, Woldeheywot became Zere Yacob’s follower and a
philosopher by his own right. The works of Zere Yacob were published after his death by Woldeheywot for
fear of persecution.
Zere Yacob entertained rationalism at least 130 years earlier than European philosophers. His views on
religion and the search for truth were too advanced and radical for his age and even for our own time.
Zere Yacob wrote rationally about God and questioned the nature of man, religion, prayer, fasting, truth, the
law of God and of man, the nature of knowledge as well as marriage.
The Ethiopian philosopher Zere Yacob experienced a turbulent life and showed that he is one of the great
independent, wise and even shrewd minds of that time.

2. APROACHES

Zara Yacob's approaches in searching of God method could be roughly called a discursive subjection of
faith, any faith, to a critical examination by intelligence or natural reason, which takes the form of honest
searching or uncovering, called Hasasa or Hatata.
His main concern is the idea that reason itself is incomplete without God's guidance, yet reasonable human
beings must subject their faith to critical self-examination before they believe. Faith in God must come after
profound reasoning. All human perceptions, imaginations, judgments and apprehensions should be
carefully used. Nothing should be accepted without getting tested by intelligence or natural reason.
For Zara Yacob, truth is clearly revealed to whoever seeks it "with the pure intelligence sat by the creator in
the heart of each man" Faith then is not an irrational form of giving oneself to an unknown external power
called God. Faith can become a rational and reasonable activity of the mind. It is an act of the intelligence
that propels thoughtful and vigilant believers to believe only after activating their intelligence to
demonstratively provide the necessary and sufficient conditions for believing, in an overwhelming power,
such as God. The proposition that " God exits" to Zara Yacob means " I have proven to myself beyond
doubt that the power called God definitely exists and that I now believe, and further that from now onwards,
I will not subject God to doubt, since God has now become to me a clear object of rational faith. I now
totally believe.
The veteran Professor Getachew Haile argues that, the main source of his methods and approaches to his
philosophy may come from his attachment and experience with the catholic teachings.
ፍልስፍናው በመሠረቱ የሱ መሆኑን ግን በሁለት ምክንያቶች እጠራጠራለሁ። አንደኛ፥ ተፈላስፎ የእግዚአብሔርን
መኖር ያመነው፥ የሚያየው ፍጡር ሁሉ ያለፈጣሪ አይፈጠርም ከማለት ተነሥቶ ነው። ይኸንን ከቅዱስ ቶማስ
አኩይናስ (Thomas Aquinas, 1225-1274) ጀምሮ በካቶሊኮች ዘንድ የገነነ .ምክንያትና ውጤቱ. (The law of
causality) አስተሳሰብ ወርቄ የካቶሊኮቹ ተማሪ በነበረበት ጊዜ አልሰማውም ማለት ያስቸግረኛል።

ሁለተኛ፥ ከሁሉም የሚገርመው .የኮከቦችን ቍጥር፥ ርቀታቸውን፥ ስለርቀታቸው ትናንሽ የሚመስሉን

ትልቅነታቸውን ማን ያውቃል?.ማለቱ ነው። ኮከቦች ትናንሽ የሚመስሉት በርቀታቸው ምክንያት መሆኑን
በቴለስኮፕ እንጂ መፈላሰፍ የሚደረስበት አይደለም። ይኸንንም የካቶሊኮቹ ተማሪ በነበረበት ጊዜ ከእነሱ አፍ
አልሰማውም ማለት ያዳግተኛል።

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS IN THE LIGHTOF THE TEACHING OF THE HOLLY BIBLES

A) His Good Teachings according to the Bible

Zara Yacob believes and teaches by giving emphasize that humans are all equal in the eyes of God. This
equality is expressed by the fact that God created all humans with intelligence. And because humans are
fated to die, they are equal. Death does not discriminate. It is the ultimate equalizer. The human body is not
entitled to immortality. Also, all persons, given their intelligences, can understand God's doctrines, through
revelation. These revelations constituted the moments of truth. False faith, is manifestly non-truth, and
cannot be revealed to persons, who are fated to experience truth.

Zara Yacob also observes that when we feel unjustly treated by God, we should not be tempted to give up
our faith in him. For God has his own mystical way of judging. What one considers just when measured by
human Law, is unjust according to God's Law. We will be rewarded for it in the other life. We live in two
worlds, the material one and the spiritual one. These two worlds are governed by two different laws, and
that what is unjust in one is quite just in the other. As Zara Yacob put the matter "In this world complete
justice is not achieved: wicked people are in possession of the goods of this world in a satisfying degree,
the humble starve; some wicked men are happy, some good men are sad, some evil men exult with joy,
some righteous men weep. Therefore, after our death there must needs be another life and another justice,
a perfect one, in which retribution will be made to all according to their needs and those who have fulfilled
the will of the creator through the light of reason and have observed the law of their nature will be
rewarded."

B) Monasticism VS Holly Marriage

For Zara Yacob, a style of existence, such as marriage is a legitimate practice whereas monastic life is not.
Marriage springs from the " law of the creator", monastic life does not. Put differently, by Zara Yacob's
metaphysical yardstick, a practice such as marriage discloses a clear and distinct idea that originates in
God's intention. When monastic life is measured against that yardstick, it proves to be inferior to married
life. He is challenging those " dogmatists" with the counter argument that the body was bestowed to
humans not for repression or denial but for a moderate joy. The believers need not be deprived of joy. The
body was given to us for a purpose, and that purpose is embodied in the constancy of marriage.

ዳግመኛም፥ የክርስቲያን ሕግ ከእግዚአብሔር ዘንድ (የተገኘች) ናት.አሉ። ለማስረጃዋ (የሚሆኑ) ታምራትም

ተገኝተዋል። ግን ጋብቻ ፈጣሪ (ካቆማቸው) ሥርዐቶች ውስጥ እንደሆነ ልቡናችን ይነግረናል፤ ያስረዳናልም።
ምንኲስና ታዲያ የፈጣሪን ጥበብ ይሽራል፤ ምክንያቱም ልጆች መውለድን ይከለክላል፤ የሰውንም ፍጥረት
ያጠፋል። የክርስቲያን ሕግ ምንኲስና ከጋብቻ ይሻላል. ስትል ውሸት ተናግራለች። ከእግዚአብሔር አይደለችም፤
ምክንያቱም የፈጣሪን ሕግ የሚያፈርስ (ሥርዐት) እንዴት ከእሱ ጥበብ ይሻላል? የሰው ሐሳብ የእግዚአብሔርን
ሥራ ሊያሻሽለው ይችላልን?

ወንድ ሚስት ሳትኖረው ብቻውን ይኖር ዘንድ እንደማይገባው አወቅሁ፤ ምክንያቱም ይህ (የብቸኝነት) ኑሮ ወደ
ኀጢአት ይስባል። ሰዎች በሚሠሩት መጥፎ ሥራቸው እንዳይጠመዱ ተፈጥሯቸው ባልሆነ ኑሮ (ለምሳሌ
በምንኲስና) ይኖሩ ዘንድ አይገባቸውም። ለቀድሞዎቹ እንደተባለ፥ወንድ ብቻውን ቢኖር ጥሩ አይደለም.፤ ሚስት
ይፈቀድለታልና።

But according to the Holly Bible ,Early Christian monasticism drew its inspiration from the examples of the
Prophet Elijah and John the Baptist, who both lived alone in the desert, and above all from the story of
Jesus’ time in solitary struggle with Satan in the desert, before his public ministry.  The Carmelites find
inspiration in the Old Testament prophet Elijah.

From the earliest times within the Christian Church, there were probably individual hermits who lived a life
in isolation in imitation of Jesus's 40 days in the desert. 

C) Fastings

According to Zara Yacob, God does not order absurdities such as "Eat this, do not eat this; today eat,
tomorrow do not eat, do not eat meat today, eat it tomorrow... neither did God say to the Muslims: 'eat
during the night, but do not eat during the day.’" For Zara Yacob, these are unreasonable laws by human
beings. God could not possibly stand behind them. These absurdities could not have emanated from
human intelligence. God does not subject the human body to such traumatic deprivations. God loves his
children too much to create cruel laws that disfigure the body not to say the soul. God knows the power of
necessity, and the difference between necessity and luxury. As Zara Yacob put the matter, " For God
created man with the same necessity for food on each day and during each month. The Jews, the
Christians and the Muslims did not understand the work of God when they instituted the law of fasting; they
lie when they say that God imposed fasting upon us and forbade us to eat; for our creator gave us food that
we supply ourselves by it, not that we abstain from it”. These absurd practices are guided not by truth
revealed to human intelligence but by false faith, and false faith can be recognized, if one works at it, and
strives to know the truth.

እንደዚሁም እግዚአብሔር ከንቱ ነገር አያዝም፤ (እንዲህም) አይልም፤ይኸንን ብላ፤ ይኸንን (ግን) አትብላ። የቤተ
ክርስቲያንን የጾም ሕጎች የሚጠብቁ (ሰዎች) እንደሚመስላቸውም፥ ዛሬ ብላ፥ ነገ አትብላ፤ ዛሬ ሥጋ አትብላ፥ ነገ
ግን ብላ. አይልም። እስላሞችንም እግዚአብሔር ሌሊት ብሉ፥ ቀን ግን አትብሉ እና ይኸንን የሚመስለውን
አላላቸውም፤ ምክንያቱም ጤናችንንና ተፈጥሯችንን የማያበላሸውን ሁሉና በየቀኑም ሕይወታችንን (ለማቆየት)
የሚበቃንን ያህል እንበላ ዘንድ እንደተፈቀደልን ልቡናችን ያስተምረናል። አንድ ቀን መብላት፥ አንድ ቀን መጾም
ጤና ያበላሻል፤ የመጾም ሕግ ለሰው ሕይወት መብሎችን ከፈጠረና በልተናቸው እንድናመሰግነው ከፈቀደ ፈጣሪ
ሥርዐት ውጪ ነው። ከበረከቱ እንከለከል ዘንድ አይገባንም። የጾም ሕግ የተሠራው የሥጋን ፍትወት ለመግደል
ነው. የሚሉኝ ካሉ (እንዲህ) እላቸዋለሁ፤ በሰው ላይ ያለ የሥጋ ፍትወት ወንድ ወደሴት የሚሳብበት፥ ሴትም
ወደወንድ የምትሳብበት የፈጣሪ ጥበብ ነው። ይኸንን በታወቀው፥ እሱ ፈጣሪ በአቆመው ሥርዐት፥ በሥጋዊ
መገናኘት ካልሆነ በቀር (በሌላ መንገድ) ማብረድ አይገባም፤ ምክንያቱም ፈጣሪያችን ይኸንን ፍትወት በሰውና
በእንሳሰት ሥጋ ሁሉ በከንቱ አላስቀመጠውም። ይኸንን ፍትወት በሰው ሥጋ ላይ የተከለው ለዚች ዓለም
የሕይወቱ መሠረት እንዲሆንና ፍጥረትን ሁሉ በአቆመለት ሥርዐት መንገድ እንዲያጸናው ነው።

ይህ ፍትወት ከወሰን እንዳያልፍ የሚያስፈልገንን ያህል (ብቻ) እንብላ፤ ምክንያቱም ጥጋብና ስካር ጤንነትንና
ምግባርን ያበላሻል። ግን እሑድ እሑድና በበዓለ ኃምሳ (ጦም በሌለበት ጊዜ) የሚያስፈልገውን ያህል የሚበላ
ኀጢአት እንደማይሆንበት፥ እንዲዚሁም በዓርብ ቀንና ከፋሲካ በፊት ባሉት ቀናት የሚበላም ኀጢአት
አይሆንበትም፤ ምክንያቱም እግዚአብሔር ሰውን በየቀኑና በየወሩ ሁሉ እኩል ከመብላት ፍላጎት ጋራ ነው
የፈጠረው። አይሁድም፥ ክርስቲያኖችም፥ እስላሞችም የጾምን ሕጎች ሲያወጡ ይኸንን የእግዚአብሔርን ሥራ
ልብ አላሉትም። እግዚአብሔር ጾምን በሥርዐት አቁሞልናል፤ መብላትንም ከልክሎናል. ሲሉ ይዋሻሉ፤ ምክንያቱም
ፈጣሪያችን እግዚአብሔር የምግባችንን መብሎች የሰጠን እንድንመገባቸው እንጂ፥ ከነሱ እንድንከለከል አይደለም።

But contrary to Zera Yacob Both the Old Testament and New Testament teach the value of fasting, which is
abstaining from food or drink in order to focus on prayer and seeking God's will. Through many examples of
people in the Bible who fasted, we can know that God grants supernatural revelation and wisdom through
this practice. Scripture tells us that fasting will help us grow a more intimate relationship with Christ and will
open our eyes to what He wants to teach us.

Luke 18:12  I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
Acts 14:23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting,
committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.

D) Scriptures

Zara Yacob hesitate the truth of the holy scripture by saying that

እኛ ስላለንና ፍጡሮች እንጂ ፈጣሪዎች ስላይደለንም፥ የፈጠረን ፈጣሪ አለ. ማለት አለብን። ሳስብ ከቆየሁ በኋላ
(እንዲህ) አልኩም፤ በቅዱሳቱ መጻሕፍት ውስጥ የተጻፈው ሁሉ እውነት ነውን? ብዙ አሰብኩ፤ ግን ፈጽሞ
አልተረዳሁም። ምሁራንንና ተመራማሪዎችን ሄጄ ልጠይቅ፤ እውነቱን ይነግሩኛል. አልኩ። ከዚህ በኋላ አስቤ
(እንዲህ) አልኩ፤ ሰዎች (ብጠይቃቸው) በልባቸው ካለው በተቀር (ሌላ) ምን ይመልሱልኛል? ምክንያቱም፥ ሰው ሁሉ
ሃይማኖቴ ትክክለኛ ነች፤ በሌላ ሃይማኖት የሚያምኑ በውሸት ያምናሉ፤ የእግዚአብሔር ጠላቶች ናቸው. ይላሉ።

And again, he also questions Old Testament Canons and Histories by saying that they are not
real but false;

ለተመራማሪ ግን እውነት ፈጥና ትገለጣለች፤ ምክንያቱም ፈጣሪ በሰው ልብ ውስጥ ባስቀመጠው ንጹሕ ልቦና
የሚመረምር (ሁሉ) የተፈጥሮን ሥርዐትና ሕጎች አይቶ እውነትን ያገኛል። (ለምሳሌ) ሙሴ ፈቃዱንና ሕጉን
እንድነግራችሁ ከእግዚአብሔር ዘንድ ተላክሁ አለ። ከሱ በኋላ የመጡቱ (ሰዎች) በምድረ ግብጽና በደብረ ሲና የተሠሩ
ናቸው. ብለው የታምራት ታሪክ ጨመሩበትና የሙሴን ነገር እውነት አስመሰሉት። ለተመራማሪ
ግን (ይህ ሁሉ) እውነት አይመስለውም፤ ምክንያቱም በሙሴ መጻሕፍት ውስጥ ከፈጣሪ ጥበብም ሆነ ወይም ከተፈጥሮ
ሥርዐትና ሕጎች ጋራ የማይስማሙ መጥፎ ጥበብ ይገኛል። ምክንያቱም የሰው ፍጥረት እንዳይጠፋ ልጆች ለመውለድ
በፈጣሪ ፈቃድና በተፈጥሮ ሥርዐት ወንድና ሴት በሥጋዊ ግንኙነት ይገናኙ ዘንድ ታዟል።37
እግዚአብሔር በሰው የተፈጥሮ ሕግ ውስጥ ያቆመው ይኸ (የሥጋ) ግንኙነት 38 እርኵኵስ ሊሆን አይችልም፤
ምክንያቱም እግዚአብሔር የጁን ሥራ አያረኲስም። ሙሴ ግን (የሥጋ) ግንኙነት ሁሉ እርኲስ ነው አለ። ግን ይኸንን
የሚል ውሸተኛ እንደሆነና ይኸንን የፈጠረውንም ውሸተኛ እንዳደረገው ልቦናችን ይነግረናል።

But the Holy Scripture is a collection of books written over multiple centuries by those inspired by God to do
so. It is the primary witness to the Orthodox Christian faith, within Holy Tradition and often described as its
highest point. It was written by the prophets and apostles in human language, inspired by the Holy Spirit,
and collected, edited, and canonized by the Church.
Because it is a faith document, we must respect its integrity as the final revelation of the Orthodox Christian
faith.

4. CONCLUSION
What is truly outstanding about him is that contrary to the domestication of the rise of the Enlightenment
solely to European cultural households and universities, here was a religious thinker, who managed to
arrive at one central motto of the Enlightenment, as Kant put it, "Have faith in your own Reason." Zara
Yacob discovered this motto of Reason's legislative power from the depth of his heart seasoned by a long
and serious philosophic life in the imposing mountains of Ethiopia. He discovered the power of his mind to
interrogate tradition, to critically examine the Gospels, to have faith only in God, whom he accepted as the
symbol of Reason, and the creator of all human beings, when he dissociated himself from the influence of
evil men, indifferent autocrats, and bad propagators of religious doctrines.
The very problem, based on Christianity, Zera Yacob made when analysis scriptures and religion is that he
relays very much on reasoning rather than using it as a tool in knowing the scripture and of course the
creator of this world. His strong belief in the power of Reason may lead him to neglect or give little attention
to faith and mysticism.
As clearly stated in his article, He didn’t classify himself as a Christian.
ከሰዎች ጋራ ክርስቲያን እየመሰልኳቸው ኖርኩ። ግን በልቤ ውስጥ እሱ እንደገለጸልኝ፥ ከሁሉ ፈጣሪ፥ ከሁሉ
ጠባቂ፥ ከእግዚአብሔር በቀር (ሌላ) አላምንም።

5. BIBLIOGRAPHY

 መጽሐፍ ቅዱስ

 ሐተታ ዘዘርአ ያዕቆብ በሚባል ስም የሚታወቀው የወርቄ የሕይወት ታሪክ , በጌታቸው ኃይሌ, ኮሌጅቪል
(ሚኒሶታ) ፳፻፮ ዓ.ም.
 The Meditations of Zara Yaquob , Teodoros Kiros, Suffolk University
 Wikipidia