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Article Open Access http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/ssp.2025.09.008

Faith Under Secular Fire: A Sociology of Religious Crisis in the West and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Defiance

Belay Mulat*, Yijie Wang, Hu Liang

School of Public Administration, Department of Sociology, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, Jiangsu, China.

*Corresponding author: Belay Mulat

Published: August 28,2025

Abstract

This study examines the transformative pressure of secularism and materialism on religion, contrasting the commercialization of sacred spaces in the West with the resilient resistance of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Employed with qualitative and quantitative data analysis towards the religious arena, of modernism faith culture demise, religious follow, and modernism resistance. Classical sociologists such as, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Auguste Comte, and Herbert Spencer, have contributed to the intellectual climate that raised secularism and diminishing the role of religion in European society. In the Western world, the primary emphasis has shifted towards money and material possessions, resulting in the commodification of religion, which contradicts the teachings of Jesus, transforming places of worship into dens of robbers! Whereas, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church maintains its integrity through deep historical roots, strong community, and unwavering doctrine. The research argues that to counter modernity’s erosion of faith, a return to penitent simplicity and ancient tradition is necessary, moving away from materialistic compromise. Therefore, the study advocates for a rejuvenation of Western Christianity, moving away from the veneration of material wealth and the lineage of modernism, in order to rediscover fundamental religious truths.

Keywords

Ethiopia; Europe; Secularism; Classical sociology; Religious decline

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How to cite this paper

Faith Under Secular Fire: A Sociology of Religious Crisis in the West and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Defiance

How to cite this paper: Belay Mulat, Yijie Wang, Hu Liang. (2025). Faith Under Secular Fire: A Sociology of Religious Crisis in the West and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Defiance. Sociology & Social Policy2(2), 87-99.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/ssp.2025.09.008