Gudina Tumsa

Gudina Tumsa (1929 – 28 July 1979) was an Ethiopian Lutheran and Evangelical Christian theologian and General Secretary of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY).

He was born in Bodji, Wollega, Ethiopia. Gudina helped form the Council for Cooperation of Churches in Ethiopia, an ecumenical and interdenominational council, and was elected its first chairman. Tumsa "gave his church a decisive push towards independence in theological thought and church practice", criticizing many aspects of Western Christianity. Much of his theology is contained in the letters he wrote to church leaders and the general public, as well as in the addresses he gave at various conferences around the world in the 1960s and 1970s.

Theology

Gudina Tumsa, Emmanuel Abraham, and Holistic Theology Gudina Tumsa is in many regards the father of the indigenous theological thought of the EECMY, and especially its Holistic Theology also known as "Serving the Whole Person" theology. In fact, a study of his theology and the theology of Emmanuel Abraham (a colleague, contemporary, and friend) comprises a large portion of the EECMY theology. Tumsa studied theology in the United States, and because of this gained a relatively broad understanding of mission and the church. Upon returning to Ethiopia, he "gave his church a decisive push towards independence in theological thought and church practice", criticizing many aspects of Western Christianity. Much of his theology is contained in the letters he wrote to church leaders and the general public, as well as in the addresses he gave at various conferences around the world in the 1960s and 1970s.

The main points of his theology center on a holistic hermeneutic that not only encompasses a broad ontology, but which also applies itself to both the life in this world and in the next. His theology can be portrayed as a type of liberation theology, but cannot be categorized strictly in this class; indeed, it contains a uniquely Ethiopian flavor, "a theology of liberation in the Ethiopian context", as Tasgara Hirpo describes it. Tumsa describes his own theology as a "holistic theology", writing in a memo to Abraham that "western theology has lost the this-worldly dimension of human existence"; according to him, his holistic theology is merely "an effort in rediscovering total human life" in all its width and breadth. He tended toward unity with the central powers rather than "rocking the boat," even though he saw his people suffering oppression. and has been called the "Dietrich Bonhoeffer of Africa" in the years following.

Gudina Tumsa Theological Forum In 2008, a group of youth Ethiopian theologians formed the Gudina Tumsa Theological Forum to "provide a platform for sound theological reflection on developments within the church and society at large."