"Ethiopia shall stretch out her hands to God."  Psalm 68:31

Ethiopia - An Ancient Civilization

Map of Ethiopia

While the wheels of civilization rolling around the Fertile Crescent, starting from the Middle East to Mesopotamia, including ancient Egypt, India and all the way to Chine, the land and people of Abyssinian were part of that civilization. The present day Ethiopia and its emperors were known to that ancient world by their wisdom and bravery.

The Bible tells us that when the flood waters receded, and Noah and his sons disembarked from the great ship, God told them to, "Be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it" (Genesis 9:7). Each of Noah's sons and their wives set out to do just that. His eldest son Shem, whom Jesus descended from, went into what is now Jerusalem. Japheth went into Europe and Asia Minor. Noah's third son, Ham, settled in Canaan, which is now Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and East Africa (Bible Commentary).

One of the areas that Ham's descendents settled is now present-day Ethiopia, one of the oldest countries in existence (Bible Commentary).

The first known civilization in Ethiopia was that of the mighty Aksumite Kingdom. Having established itself in 1000 BC, in northern Ethiopia, it eventually spread over all of northern and even central Ethiopia. The ancient city of Axum, which was started by the Aksumites, was Ethiopia's first capital city (Kurtz 45).

Axum, Ethiopia's most ancient city, and capital of one of the most glorious empires of the past, is one of the most illustrious links in the Historic Route. The Axumite Empire flourished 3,000 years ago. Its riches can still be pictured on the magnificent stelae or obelisks, the graves of King Kaleb and King Gebre Meskal, and the legendary bath of the Queen of Sheba.

During the reign of the Aksumites, King Solomon, who was in power from 970-930 BC, was visited by the Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10: 1-13). Different theories have been presented as to where the queen was actually from. One Ethiopian story, called the Kibra Negast, states that the queen was actually Queen Makeda (said to have reigned from 1005-955 BC in the coastal regions of Ethiopia). In conformity with the legend, Queen Makeda ventured from Abyssinia to Jerusalem to examine and acquire from the wise and great rule of King Solomon. Queen Makeda was proselytized to Judaism and she gained knowledge and understanding of Middle Eastern statecraft by study, instructions, and experience. When Queen Makeda resolved to go back to Abyssinia, King Solomon persuaded her to have super with him in his imperial palace. While staying over for the night, she was compelled to go to bed with the king. In his dreams that night the king saw that the Queen would beget him a son, and that God’s blessings would be with him and his country. When the child eventually grew, at the age of thirteen, he went back to Jerusalem to get his father's blessing. Then Menelik l was proclaimed Emperor of Ethiopia by his father King Solomon.  (Sorenson 23).

According to Ethiopia national legend, Menelik returned to Ethiopia together with many members of the Israelite tribes, including priests and Levites. He also smuggled the Ark of the Covenant and the Tablets of the Law out from Jerusalem, and brought them to Aksum. These learnt priests and Levites set up a place of worship to teach and instruct the Laws of Mose in the new land. It had been evident that since then Judaism was practiced by the royal families and most respected dignitaries of the empire which in turn had great influence on the conversion of common people. This was the beginning of the spread of Judaism throughout Ethiopia.

Three thousand years after the introduction of Judaism, today there are few remnants of these black Jews called the Falashas, who practiced a simple form of Judaism. Because they lived in near isolation, the Falashas had only the first five books of the Bible, known as the laws of Moses (Kurtz 31).

Introduction to Christianity

In the book of Acts we read that Philip baptized the first Ethiopian convert in the first century (Acts 8:24-40). It will be wise to leave the dispute of the geographical area covered by Ethiopian empire in those ancient times.

The introduction of Christianity to the people of Ethiopia brought new life to its civilization and unity. It is believed that Ethiopia has found strength in the church. From as far back as biblical times, the church has been the foundation upon which this magnificent country has developed.

However, after the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch, a treasurer under Candace, the history of Christianity was silent until the fourth century. The Ethiopian Orthodox church claims to have been established in Ethiopia from the beginning of the fourth century, with its first center in what is now the province of Tigray in the northern part of Ethiopia.

Axum was one of the largest and greatest cities of the Roman Empire, and because Rome dominated Red Sea trading, it was only a matter of time before Christianity would reach Ethiopia's shore (Marcus 7).

However, recorded history tells us that in the fourth century a new era dawned on Ethiopia when a Christian philosopher from Tyre named Meropius was shipwrecked on his way to India. Meropius died but his two wards, Frumentius and Aedesius were washed ashore and taken to the royal palace. Eventually they became king Ella Amida’s private secretary and royal cupbearer respectively. They served the king well, and Frumentius became regent for the infant prince Ezana when Ella Amida died. Frumentius and Aedesius were also permitted to prosyletize the new religion in Aksum.  

When Ezanus took the throne in approximately 303, Frumentius contacted bishop Athanasius of Alexandria and begged him to send missionaries back to Aksum, since the people there had proved so ready to receive the gospel. Athanasius agreed that the need was urgent, and immediately appointed Frumentius to the task, which needed someone fluent in the language and sensitive to the customs of Aksum. He ordained Frumentius the first abuna or bishop of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Frumentius has since come to be known as the Abuna Salama or bishop of peace. He returned to Ethiopia in 305 and began a lifetime of evangelism, including converting Emperor Ezanus to Christianity. His mission was successful and, with the support of king Ezana, Ethiopia became a Christian nation.

In 350, Ezanus expanded his kingdom into Sudan and the Nile region to secure trade. After defeating the opposition, Emperor Ezanus thanked God for his protection, and for the next few centuries, no one is known to have challenged Axum's trading monopoly (Marcus 8).

The link between the Ethiopian church and the Patriarch of Alexandria was not broken until the 20th century, since the Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria has sent Ethiopia each of its succeeding Abunas. This has meant that the Ethiopian church has been ruled by Egyptians for sixteen centuries.

Towards the end of the 5th century nine monks arrived, probably from Syria, though perhaps from Egypt, and introduced monasticism into Ethiopia. Monasticism has remained a dominant feature of the Ethiopian church to this day.

These monks may have been driven out of Syria after the Council of Chalcedon for being Monophysite (my page) Christians. Monophysites (mono=one, phusis = nature) believe that the divine and human natures of Christ were fused into a single nature at his birth. The Ecumentical Council of Chalcedon, on the other hand distinguished between the divine nature of Christ and his human nature, declaring that Jesus had two distinct natures, and in the process declaring the the Monophysites heretical. At any rate, whether or not it was due to the Nine Saints, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, along with the Coptic Church of Egypt, and smaller churches in Syria,Turkey and Arminia, have remained non-Chalcedonian.. These non-Chalcedonian churches have formed a distinctively Southern branch of the worldwide church.

The nine monks also encouraged the translation of the Bible into Ge’ez, which was the language of the people at the time. The Ethiopian church continues to use Ge’ez as its liturgical language, though it is no longer a living language.

The long lasting popularity of Christianity was witness by the expansion of churches and monasteries in Axum which richly endowed with icons, and some of the historical crowns of ancient emperors.     

The 16th Century Cathedral of St Mary of Zion was built based on an earlier 4th Century church, and is the holiest church in Ethiopia. In its sanctuary is said to rest the original Ark of the Covenant.

In the 12th century a new dynasty was beginning to emerge in the highlands of Ethiopia. After the decline of the Axumite Empire, lamenting their lost grandeur, Ethiopia's rulers retreated with their Christian subjects to the lofty escarpment of the central uplands. There, protected by mountain battlements more formidable than anything the hand of man could fashion, they were able to repel an increasingly expansionist and militant Islam trapping and confusing their enemies in the precipitous maze of valleys that intersects the high plateau.

Inevitably, a fortress mentality took root: an intense suspicion of the motives of strangers, a hatred of intrusion and interference, a protective secrecy. During this period roughly from the seventh to the sixteenth centuries AD - the Ethiopians, encompassed by the enemies of their religion, were described by the British historian Edward Gibbon as having slept for near a thousand years, forgetful of the world by whom they were forgotten. It is true, moreover, that in holding back those who sought to destroy their faith, and the highlanders also effectively cut themselves off from the evolving mainstream of Christian culture. This is the only sense, however, in which they slept. Their unique, idiosyncratic civilization was otherwise very much awake - a singular and spirited affirmation of the creative power of the human intellect.

Many improvisations were so vital, so uplifting, that they have endured to the present day as living expressions of the central and lasting values of Christian Ethiopian culture. Paramount among these priceless legacies, like a great heart beating out an ancient but powerful pulse, is the monastic settlement of Lalibela on a natural 2,600-metre rock terrace surrounded on all sides by rugged and forbidding mountains in the northern extreme of the modern province of Wollo.

These eleven churches in Lalibela formed a museum of sacred architecture. In comparing these monolithic structures with other such structures in Ethiopia, it is obvious that the idea of hewing churches out of solid rock was inspired. What sets these structures apart are there amazing features, such as chiseled-out entryways, courtyards, and interiors, and the rich "geometric and linear" decorations. To achieve this awesome wonder, Emperor Lalibela recruited craftsmen from as far away as Egypt and the Holy Land (Marcus 12).

Historians estimate that the churches were built over a hundred year period by Egyptians, but the devout believe they were completed in 24 years with the help of angels. Whichever theory you favor, they stand in testimony to the power of the Ethiopian Orthodox faith, which half of Ethiopians still hold today with undiminished vigor. They unquestioningly believe that miracles stem from faith, focused through their saints and holy men. 

Europeans were very intrigued with Ethiopia during the Middle Ages because they believed it to be the only Christian nation outside of Europe (Kurtz 66). Legends began to circulate in twelfth-century Europe of a mysterious priest-king named Prestor John. This devout Christian ruled a kingdom strategically placed to ward off the Islamic influence (Marcus 14). 

The mystery of Prestor John sparked the image of Ethiopia as an awe-inspiring kingdom and a much-desired ally (Sorensen 24). This persona, along with a kingdom that was both peaceful and united (with exotic animals and people), combined to create an image of Ethiopia that was captured in the minds of Europeans and prompted them to eagerly thirst for Ethiopian resources (Marcus 14).

The Zagwe dynasty was overthrown in 1270 by Yekuno Amlak, who claimed to be a direct descendant of Menelik I, the son of King Solomon and Makeda, Queen of Saba. This claim made it very easy for him to proclaim himself emperor and to regain the Solomonic line in Ethiopia. This story, which is also told in the Kibre Negast, glorifies this monarchial line and associates Ethiopia with the Judeo-Christian tradition (Marcus 18).

In 1436, Zara Yakob was crowned king. Since the Islamic challenge was sometimes a reality and always a threat, Zara Yakob continued to mold Christianity into Ethiopia's main line of internal defense. Even the most radical clergy were integrated into the political economy further unifying church and state. Zara Yakob fought Muslim control of shipping around the Horn of Africa, and reports of his success made their way to Europe, which only added to the mystique of Prestor John. Some European leaders exaggerated the importance of Ethiopia hoping to dissuade Muslim influence in Egypt, Arabia, and Syria. Zara Yakob was a very strong ruler and because his successors were weak, this lead to the decline of the Solomonic Monarchy that ruled Ethiopia for centuries (Marcus 24-27).

In the history of Ethiopia there was a short period where the Catholics tried to take over the national dominance from the Orthodox Church. John Bermudez, a Portuguese who had been visiting Ethiopia during Ahmed Gran’s conquest, and who had slipped through to appeal for Portuguese aid, took advantage of the death of the abuna to claim that the dying patriarch had appointed him successor, and that the pope has appointed him Archbishop of Ethiopia when John Bermudez had been in Europe. There is no evidence that either claim was true, but the Portuguese in Ethiopia believed him and pressured king Galawdewos to adopt the Latin Roman Catholic Liturgy. A mission of Jesuits was sent out to further pressure the Ethiopian court, which resisted any thought of joining the Roman Catholic Church.

The following century, king Suseynos (1607-32) became Catholic in the hope of an advantageous military alliance with the west, but his successor drove the Catholic missionaries out of Ethiopia again when they tried to assert full-blown Catholicism. Alphonsus Mendes, who was sent out as patriarch of Ethiopia, demanded that all Ethiopian Christians be re-baptized, and the priests re-ordained, though he permitted the married priests to remain married. He prohibited the Ethiopian custom of circumcision, and insisted that Saturday be turned from the Sabbath as observed by the Ethiopians to a fast day as observed by Ethiopian Christians.

As time passed by Lalibela lost its importance and the centre of the Kingdom of Ethiopia was shifted to the western part of the country to a place called Gondar. It was founded by Emperor Fasilidas around 1635, and was famous for its many medieval castles and the design and decoration of its churches - in particular, Debra Berhan Selassie which represents a masterpiece of the Gondarene school of art.

Flanked by twin mountain streams at an altitude of more than 2,300 meters Gondar commands spectacular views over farmlands to the gleaming waters of Lake Tana thirty-five kilometers to the south. The city retains an atmosphere of antique charm mingled with an aura of mystery and violence.

The main castle was built in the late 1630s and early 1640s on the orders of Fasilidas. The Emperor, who was greatly interested in architecture - St Mary's in Axum was another of his works - was also responsible for seven churches, a number of bridges, and a three-storey stone pavilion next to a large, sunken bathing place, rectangular in shape, which is still filled during the Timkat season with water from the nearby Qaha river.

During the 1700s the Oromo people from the south attacked and raided the plateau region of Ethiopia. Unlike the Muslims, the Oromo people did not force their own religious beliefs or culture on the Ethiopians. In 1766, civil war broke out resulting in the beginning of the "age of the princes," which lasted until 1825 (Marcus 47). This period, also known as the zamena mesafint period, was best known for its slave trade. In the zamena mesafint, each province had its own king, and people felt loyalty to their own province, not to a country called Ethiopia (Kurtz 50).

Historically, Ethiopia has found its strength in the church. From its initial foundation from King Solomon and Queen Makeda, to the rise of Islam in the seventh century, to the resurgence of Christianity in the fourteenth century, the church has been and will continue to shape Ethiopia.

Orthodox Christianity lost considerable ground in nineteenth century Ethiopia, in part due to the expansion of the pagan or Muslim Galla, especially in the southern regions of Ethiopia, which had been a Christian stronghold. Many of the monasteries survived, because they were so inaccessible, but as pockets within a greater Muslim or pagan whole. Ethiopian Orthodoxy, which had very little by way of evangelistic impetus, had little appeal to the newcomers, who found Orthodox fasts odd an onerous and who no more understood the Ge’ez of the liturgy than their Christian neighbours did. The Church also suffered from the lack of leadership and ordinations for much of the nineteenth century, since the Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria, himself in deep difficulties, did not provide the Ethiopian church with its abuna, and when he did the abuna found himself powerless in the face of the disintegration of the Ethiopian state. Without a strong king to hold it together and direct the abuna, the church was essentially rudderless.

The fortunes of the church turned in the latter half of the century, when Egypt provided a new abuna, and when Ethiopia was once again centralized by a succession of kings who were genuinely devout and looked after the interests of the church. The most important of these kings was Menelik II, who succeeded in holding off and defeating the Italian attempts to colonize Ethiopia. His efforts and skills meant that Ethiopia was the only African state whose full sovereignty continued to be recognized by the European powers throughout the Scramble for Africa.

In the 20th century Ethiopia has seen the influx of Roman Catholic and Protestant missionaries and the foundation of a number of Protestant churches. Internally, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church won the right to appoint their own Abuna, rather than have the Abuna always be an Egyptian Copt appointed by the Patriarch of Alexandria.

The threat of Islam

The explosion of Islam into this mostly Christian kingdom had been long in the making. Islam had come to Ethiopia in 615 when a group of persecuted Muslims fled to Axum. Their leader, the prophet Mohammed, said that Ethiopia was "a land of righteousness where no one was wronged." During the latter part of the seventh century, Muslims swept over Africa and the Mid East forcing many people to convert to Islam in what is known as a jihad, or a Holy War (Kurtz 46).                

Though the Islamic armies had tried numerous times to defeat the Christian nation, it wasn't until 1528 that Ahmed "the left-handed" finally succeeded. By 1535, Ahmed had a kingdom that spread from the Red Sea to Ethiopia's interior. In that same year Ethiopia's Emperor Dengel sent a cry for help to Europe. Portugal responded and in 1541, after six terrible years of war, they delivered four hundred musketeers. When the Ethio-Portugese army caught up with the Muslim armies, the fighting continued for two long and agonizing years. On February 25, 1543, Ahmed was killed, and the Christians gained control of Ethiopia once more (Marcus 34). The fighting had left the country poorer, with many cattle killed and people taken away by the Muslims and sold as slaves in Arab lands (Kurtz 49).

Evangelical Christianity in Ethiopia

The founding of Evangelical Christianity in Ethiopia was based on the western missionaries' endeavor. Though the first Protestant pioneer missionary to Ethiopia, a German Lutheran called Peter Heyling, arrived in 1633 there was no significant evangelization except the translation of the Gospel of John into Amharic. This was the first time common people could read the Gospel in their own language. He worked less than 20 years in the country and initiated a movement inside the Ethiopian Orthodox Church that indeed paved the way for Protestant missionary enterprises in the 19th and 20th century.

The first evangelical organization to commence work in Ethiopia was the Church Missionary Society (CMS). The first messengers of this organization, Samuel Gobat and Christian Kulger, came to Ethiopia in 1830. Their aim is not to revitalize the ancient Churches through distribution of the Holy Scriptures and other Christian Literature (Sæverås 1974:15)

A Swedish Lutheran mission, the Swedish Evangelical Mission (SEM) started mission work among the ransomed slaves from Ethiopia and people from the present day Eritrea in 19th century, while they were waiting for open doors to reach the Oromo people. These missionaries, together with ransomed indigenous people, made several expeditions to reach the Oromo people.

Though evangelical missionaries were not allowed to go into the interior of Ethiopia, they were training indigenous people who were ransomed from slave trade at the border in the present Eritrea. From there they were able to send the native evangelists to reach their people. At the end of the 19th century, indigenous Christians began to proclaim the Gospel. When the country opened her door to western missionaries different Lutheran Missions from Europe and America could come and started evangelistic work in different parts of the country.

The Swedish Evangelical Mission (Svenska Forsterlandsstiftelsen) had begun work in 1866 at Massawa, and in 1904 in Addis Ababa. The United Presbyterian Church of America commenced work at Sayo, West Wallaga in 1918. The Missionssällskapet Bibeltrögner Vänner (MSBV), who opened a centre in Eriterea in 1912, extended into Ethiopia in 1921. The German Hermannsburg Mission came to Ethiopia in 1927. The same year Sudan Interior Mission (SIM) arrived and founded its first station. Alfred Buxton of the Bible Churchman's Missionary Society paid Ethiopia a preliminary visit in 1932 and full work was begun when he returned in 1934 with a party of recruits (Trimingham 1950:27-31).

Mennonite Mission (Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions) started in 1949. The Norwegian Lutheran Mission (Norsk Luthersk Misjonsamband) came to Ethiopia in 1948 and begun work in South Ethiopia. Danish Ethiopian Mission in March 1949 and American Lutheran Mission came 1957.

The aim of the first missionaries was not to establish new Protestant denominations, but to revitalize the Old Church and to reform it. The Anglican Evangelical Mission called 'The Bible Churchmen's Missionary Society' affirmed this in its publications of 'nine points (Sæverås 1974: 25-26). These nine points strongly favor the ministries of the EOC and the mission society as a partner in ministry. Several Protestant missionaries from different mission societies had come to Ethiopia in the 19th century with the same view of reforming the EOC rather than organizing new congregations. As missionaries started their work divergent views appeared. The discussions of forming congregations by mission societies, the rejection of the baptism of the Orthodox Church by Roman Catholics and Adventists and similar issues were the concern of the first missionaries and mission societies (see Sæverås 1974:23).

The pioneer evangelicals in the western part had established contact before the arrival of western missionaries. The leaders were gathered for a conference at Naqamte in 1907 to discuss a common policy. After a discussion of the difficulties that they had met at their various places, they resolved to continue with their evangelism without hesitation (Aren 1978: 431-432). These early contacts among the evangelicals continued and in 1944 more formal conferences, where minutes were taken, started to be arranged for closer organizational fellowship between evangelical groups. Dr. Erik Söderström reported the joy of a Conference of Ethiopian Evangelical Churches that took place in December 1944 arranged by the indigenous people. Several meetings were held and the constitution and doctrinal statement of the church was drafted and discussed.

The Lutheran missions were the earliest presence in Ethiopia and developed into the Mekane Yesus (the Place of Jesus) Church, formed in 1959 as a federation of three mission churches. Mekane Yesus is strongest in the south and west of Ethiopia, which are areas which were opened to missionaries because there was not a strong Orthodox presence, and exert great influence through the Voice of the Gospel radio program, which, unfortunately was nationalized in 1977, though it now broadcasts from a station in the Seychelles.

The Sudan Interior Mission began its work in the South of Ethiopia in the 1920s. It progressed steadily but unspectacularly, baptising four converts in 1932 and perhaps a hundred by the time they were driven out of Ethiopia by the invading Italians in 1938. When SIM returned five years later, they discovered a flourishing church of a hundred congregations and 20,000 members. That number grew to 100,000 by 1960 when revival once again swept the church bringing its membership to 500,000 by 1974. The Kale Heywat (Word of Life) church, which grew out of the SIM churches has continued to flourish and grow since the restoration of religious freedom in 1991.

The Mennonite mission came to Ethiopia after World War II as a relief agency, but received permission to evangelize soon after. Two distinct churches grew out of the influence of the Mennonite mission. The Meserete Kristos (Christ is the Foundation) church has remained an important part of the wordwide Mennonite fellowship, while the Mulu Wengel Church has insisted on maintaining its independence from western ties.

The Mulu Wengel (Full Gospel) church grew out of the Heavenly Sunshine Bible study, begun by a group of high school students learning English and a Mennonite doctor, though it was also decisively influenced by the teachings of the Finnish Pentecostal Mission, and has never had formal connections with any western mission.

A large number of Mulu Wengel members joined Meserete Kristos when Mulu Wengel was outlawed by the government in 1972. Meserete Kristos followed Mulu Wengel’s lead in cultivating the charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit. As a result the Meserete Kristos church has become far more charismatic and Pentecostal than most of its sister Mennonite churches. Orthodox Christians refer to all protestants as "Pentes" or Pentecostals, a testimony to the influence of the Pentecostal movement on Ethiopian protestantism, despite the official disapproval of the Kale Heywat Church and the Mekane Yesus church. Both Meserete Kristos and Mulu Wengel churches practice faith healing, exorcism of demons, and glossolalia.

In 1982 Meserete Kristos, then a church of 5,000 members was outlawed, this time by the Marxist government, which came to power in 1974. It suffered intense persecution for nine years. When religious freedom was granted again in 1991 and the believers assembled, Meserete Kristos discovered that they now numbered 50,000, a tenfold increase during the time of persecution. MKC is now growing at a rate of approximrry ately 20% per year.

excerpts compiled from various sources