November 18, 2020
2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. EST
Location: Online
A scholar of intercultural history, Luther studies, world Christianity, and ecclesiology, Dr. Stanislau Paulau explored the 1534 encounter between Martin Luther and Abba Mika’el (also known as Michael the Deacon), a deacon in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, in his 2019 dissertation. He is now authoring a forthcoming paper that highlights both critical questions and issues posed by the Luther-Michael encounter and why the topic deserves serious attention by scholars today.
This discussion of Protestant-Ethiopian Orthodox relations will highlight neglected contacts in the 1530s between Martin Luther, Philip Melanchton, and Abba Mika’el. David D. Daniels III, a leading scholar of the global context of the early Reformation period, will moderate a panel between Paulau and three other panelists versed in Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity and Orthodox-Lutheran dialogue to discuss the implications of Paulau’s paper and research. The discussants are Rev. Dr. Dagmar Heller, acting director of the Institute for Ecumenical Studies and Research; Solomon Gebreyes Beyene, research fellow at the Hiob Ludolf Centre for Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies; and Tim Wengert, emeritus professor of church history at the United Lutheran Seminary (Philadelphia). The discussion will be framed within three ecumenical contexts: 1) the substance and significance of the 1534 event being the first documented meeting of Protestant leaders and an Orthodox monk; 2) the pre-Regensburg conversation about resolving the Catholic and Protestant conflict; and 3) the intercultural context that frames what we now understand as Global North-South exchanges between Christians and the manner in which the Southern Hemisphere first entered the European Reformation.
This event is co-sponsored by Georgetown University’s Department of Theology and Religious Studies and its Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs in collaboration with the Ecclesiological Investigations International Research Network, the McCormick Theological Seminary, the Konfessionskundliches Institut, and Ecumenical Trends.
The Zoom Webinar link and instructions to join the call will be sent out on the morning of the event date to anyone who has filled out the RSVP form.
This event will be recorded and a captioned video will be posted to this page after the event date. Please RSVP to receive an email notification once it is posted.
