Today’s guest is Rev. Dr. Pete Myers, a professor at Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology (EGST). He is a Semiticist and Old Testament scholar. He is married to Katy and father to Josiah, Seth and Levi. After training as an actor, Pete worked in churches for 5 years before doing a 4-year MTh in North London. He was ordained to the ministry in the Church of England 7 years ago while completing an MA by Research in Deuteronomy in the University of Gloucester and a Ph.D. in the Hebrew and Greek of Ezra-Nehemiah at Cambridge University.
Rev. Dr. Pete has published academic articles in several leading international journals, including the Journal of Semitic Studies and the Westminster Theological Journal. He has written popular level explanations of current theological issues that have been published by organisations such as the BBC and been interviewed on camera for the UK TV Channel 4. He has been a board member of 2 charities and was briefly a member of the editorial board for the Churchman journal.
Rev. Dr. Pete is sent to Ethiopia through Wycliffe UK and SIL AIM to be a full-time member of Faculty at EGST, where he lectures in Old Testament, Hebrew, and Greek and supervises student theses at the MA, MTh and Ph.D. levels. He currently serves as EGST’s MTh program coordinator and has been appointed editor-in-chief for EGST’s upcoming publication, the Ethiopian Journal of Theology.
The Ethiopian Herald approached him requesting him to share his views on Ethiopian culture and current issues. Excerpts:
Herald: How long have you been in Ethiopia?
Rev. Dr. Pete: Since August 2019.
Herald: How do you view Ethiopian cultures? Which culture do you appreciate most?
Rev. Dr. Pete: Culture is an expression of identity. Ethiopia is a wonderfully diverse country, with such a rich heritage of identities and cultures that stretch back thousands of years.
But, more than just Ethiopia the country, we all as individuals have more than one culture. In my case, I’m proudly British and also proudly Welsh-one of the countries that is part of the United Kingdom. I also feel deeply privileged to live in Ethiopia as a member of this society, and that is now also part of my identity. These aspects of my identity are all true at the same time. Every individual in Ethiopia also has a rich heritage of multiple identities and cultures: someone can be proudly Oromo and proudly Ethiopian at the same time. One of the things that excites me about Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is that he seems to understand and value the fact that we in Ethiopia have multiple identities, and that this rich heritage is a good thing.
Herald: Why are you interested to serve in Ethiopia?
Rev. Dr. Pete: Ethiopia has an incredibly rich history of deep scholarship, art, music, multi-cultural expression, etc. but I believe that Ethiopia’s best days are still in the future, not in the past. Ethiopia has more to offer the world than it needs to receive. I am a Semiticist and Old Testament scholar. My vision is that within 20 years’ time there will be 20 world-class Hebrew and Old Testament Ethiopian scholars in Ethiopia. As an academic, I hope to play a small part in helping Ethiopians realise their true potential.
Herald: I believe you are learning Amharic, why are you interested in our language?
Rev. Dr. Pete: Amesegenalo. I love Ethiopians, and learning Ethiopian languages is an important way of expressing that love. I’ve also picked up a bit of Thok Naath, and would like to learn some Oromo and others. But, since I live in Addis, Amharic is the most practical language for me to learn now.
As a Semiticist, Amharic is also a beautiful, fascinating, and unique Semitic language. Did you know that Modern Amharic is the result of a Semitic language originally similar to Ge’ez whose grammatical structure was deeply shaped by a language close to Oromo? I discovered this reading an article published by an Ethiopian scholar in one of the Addis Ababa University journals. This means that Amharic is the result of several languages coming together as one-much like Ethiopia itself is the result of multiple languages, peoples, and cultures coming together as one.
Herald: Currently, we are in the midst of COVID-19 that is disrupting everything across the globe. One of the things it is changing is the way education is delivered. As a result, you have been relentlessly working to encourage your students to join the Google education platform so that they will be able to follow your lecture. As a professor who is from the West, what differences you observed between Ethiopian students and that of the West? Have you seen any resistance from Ethiopian students in joining this new education modality?
Rev. Dr. Pete: This is a really difficult time for all of us. I am so privileged to work for an incredible institution, the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology. We have a superb IT department, who asked the Faculty to make use of Google Classrooms. Before arriving in Ethiopia, one thing that was deeply important to me was not to take over, but to sit under Ethiopian leadership, and make a contribution from my education and training. So, I’ve really just tried to do what I was told!
You are right to identify that there are differences between Ethiopian and Western students. COVID-19 is forcing the world to use computers and the internet. Western students grew up using computers and electronics from the age of 3 or 4. This makes the transition to online learning easier for them. Furthermore, English is the modern language of academia and scholarship. Naturally, this is a challenge for Ethiopian students at the highest level, for whom English is their 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th language in some cases.
However, this is precisely why Ethiopia has such potential to be a global academic center of excellence. The challenges students face from having less privilege, different cultures and working in multiple languages are what enable Ethiopian students to be more resilient and think in different and creative
ways. This is why I am so passionate about passing on my knowledge and skills to my students. I see an incredible fire burning and am keen to feed it and stoke it.
Herald: Some people believe that COVID-19 is the punishment from God while others argue against saying that God is not punishing the human being using coronavirus rather it is from the Devil. Which view do you support? Why?
Rev. Dr. Pete: The “cause” of suffering is not simple, and has more than one answer. For example, while Satan caused Job’s suffering, Satan could only act as far as God allowed it (Job 1:12; 2:6). In a certain sense, then, Job says that he has received evil from God’s hand and did not sin by saying this (Job 2:10). Suffering is a normal part of the Christian life as Christians emulate Jesus (Mark 8:34). God works all things according to his will (Ephesians 1:11). So Christians can be encouraged that even when they do suffer, it is not because God is angry with them, but God has a good purpose behind it (Romans 8:28).
Why any specific person suffers is mysterious. God often does not reveal why things happen: the secret things belong to him (Deuteronomy 29:29). It is interesting that God never told Job why he was suffering. The exact same suffering might serve to punish one person, to discipline another, or to display God’s glory in someone else-because Jesus tells us we can’t look at people’s suffering and draw conclusions about their faithfulness (Luke 13:4). Man looks on the outside, but God looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). Our focus should be on how we respond to suffering. We should respond in love. Love him by praying and praising him. Love others by washing our hands and maintain social distance.
Herald: Some religious leaders seem to deduce that coronavirus is one of the signs of the End of the World. How do you see their views? Is really the world is nearing its ending?
Rev. Dr. Pete: This world has been ending since Jesus defeated death and left the grave empty. And the creation has been groaning with signs of the final end since the beginning (Romans 8:19-23).
As for times and seasons: we do not know when things will happen, so we should be ready for the end to come any moment, coronavirus or not. Jesus was very clear about this (Mark 13:32-37). Christians should not be acting differently whether Jesus arrives tomorrow or in 1,000 years.
The Bible’s prophecies about the future are covered in mystery. From the beginning, this has always been the way. An example I often use is Simeon, a faithful Jew, who was an old man when Jesus was born and even prophesied over him (Luke 2:25- 35). Imagine you went back in time to see Simeon in 40BC, four decades before Jesus was born. Would Simeon have known at that time that Isaiah’s prophecy that God’s child would be called “Immanuel” would only be a figurative title, and not Jesus’ actual name (Isaiah 7:14)? Would Simeon have known at that time that the command not to break the bones of the Passover lamb (Exodus 12:46) would be literally fulfilled in the soldiers not breaking Jesus’ legs on the cross (John 19:36)? Simeon would not have known these details in 40BC. Simeon held firmly onto God’s promises in the scriptures, and so recognised Jesus when he arrived, but there were many details of the future he did not know. The same is true for us today.
Pastorally, it is the role of Christian ministers and Christian scholars to point away from themselves and toward Jesus (John 3:30). I recently worked with a Christian leader who kept telling people that he had special confidence that we are living in the very end times. But, doing this drew attention toward himself and away from Jesus.
I can also tell a personal story that may be helpful. My grandparents on my mother’s side are now dead. They loved Jesus. When they were very young, they were given lots of promises by a church pastor that they would have a great signs-and-wonders ministry, and that the end of the world would come “soon, in their lifetime”. As a result, they missed out on many opportunities in life. I remember talking to my granddad not long before he died in his 80s about his deep disappointment about how his life had been affected by promises that turned out not to be true. Praise God that he still held onto the firm promises of scripture, but, he had been deeply, deeply hurt by unwise things that had been said to him as a young man.
For reasons such as these, I encourage Christian ministers and academics to be wise and pastoral, and so to avoid claims about when specifically the end of the world might come.
Herald: What would you suggest for religious leaders, faith community and others in Ethiopia to play their roles in minimizing the spread of the coronavirus?
Rev. Dr. Pete: Pray. Follow the government’s instructions. Encourage others to do the same.
Herald: I have learned that though you cancelled the formal classes, you are still meeting and helping your students in small groups, unlike other instructors. This prudent commitment is very helpful to share particularly for Ethiopians where life is impossible without working every day. Would you share with us your motive, determination, and decision to continue serving (working) along with making necessary precautions?
Rev. Dr. Pete: First, obviously at EGST we are being careful to obey the law and be safe. We do not meet with more than 4 people, and we maintain social distance. I am meeting with students one to one. We will also change our practices as the law and instructions from government change.
Second, Paul worked extremely hard to set an example for us (2 Thessalonians 3:6-12) and told us not to grow weary in doing good (2 Thessalonians 3:13). I’m impressed by how hard Ethiopian students work, and as their teacher I am their servant, so should set an example in dedication. In fact, most students work too hard: they have one or two jobs outside of their graduate studies. For the good of the whole Ethiopian church, we need some students exclusively dedicated to academic learning and research. I would take this opportunity to encourage Christian ministers to be sensitive to the Spirit’s prompting about those on their staff or in their congregations whom God might be calling to a full time academic ministry. Who could you set aside exclusively for such training and work, as an investment not just for your congregation this year, but for the benefit of the whole church for a generation?
Herald: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Rev. Dr. Pete: I believe that global leadership of the future church will come from Africa, not from the West. This shift is already underway.
To develop global leaders, Africa needs to invest in people. This means training Christian academics to the highest level across all the disciplines and subjects. It means learning lessons from global history about how to apply the best of African culture to global problems without becoming arrogant toward or dismissive of those who are different. And it means developing a deep knowledge of the Bible and an ability and willingness to use it to criticise our own assumptions, culture, and background.
It is so easy to fail to see the importance of rigorous-full time-research-based academic training. The immediate always looks more important than the long-term.
In Africa’s emerging role as a global leader, Ethiopia has an incredible opportunity to ensure the continent becomes a powerful force for global good. That’s why I’m at EGST, but I would like to end by asking readers this: What will you do with that opportunity?
The Ethiopian Herald April 21/2020
BY WAKUMA KUDAMA
