An Ethiopian Journal

Los Altos Lodge No. 712
by Earl D. Harris, P.G.M., Georgia Member, Southern California Research Lodge
http://www.calodges.org/no712/la-ethiopia.html

Last year when Worshipful Brother Lamar Pearson asked if I would deliver a paper to this August body I made two mistakes: First, I accepted; and second, I asked him what subject he would like me to address. To my question he promptly responded, “Why Ethiopia.” And that was almost my undoing.

While I was initially pondering the question, Brother Pearson went on to comment that he had never had anyone adequately explain why the ruffians, or criminals, in the Hiramic Legend had sought to escape by attempting to flee to Ethiopia. He went on to comment on the seeming impossibility of such a trip by ship or over the water from Joppa, noting that Joppa is on the Mediterranean Sea, Ethiopia is on the Red Sea, and the Suez Canal (which now connects the two) is but a recent man-made structure. Thus, in Solomon’s time there was no water route from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, and thus on to Ethiopia (other than around Africa).

And Brother Pearson was right .. at least to an extent. I too have inquired of my more learned Brethren and in general have been met by the most perplexing looks and a fairly standard “I don’t know.” inquiry in my limited Masonic library has also met with almost a void of information concerning Ethiopia. Mackey’s Revised Encyclopedia of Freemasonry shows an inclination to the thought that, if Ethiopia is found in the American and not the English and French accounts of the Hiramic Legend, its inclusion must be an American interpolation. (1) In his Masonic Encyclopedia, Henry W. Coil fails to even mention Ethiopia in connection with the legend. Examination of over a dozen American monitors and expose’s from William Morgan’s Illustrations of Masonry in 1827, to The Masonic Trestle-Board of 1843, to our own Masonic Manual, all support that part of the legend where the ruffians attempt to escape Solomon’s kingdom by boarding a ship sailing from the port of Joppa bound for Ethiopia. However, nowhere did I find any explanation of why the ship was bound for Ethiopia. Older English exposes, such as Samuel Prichard’s Masonry dissected of 1730, Three Distinct Knocks of 176O, and Jachin and Boaz of 1762, have no mention of such an attempted escape. The port of Joppa was mentioned in Three distinct Knocks and Jachin and Boaz, however, only in the sense of being near where the ruffians were eventually captured. Neither the attempt to board a ship nor Ethiopia itself is mentioned in any of these English accounts. Finding no support for any proposition in the literature available, a look at the geography and the political background may lend insight as to whether such a trip was even physically possible .. that is a trip by ship from the port of Joppa to the land of Ethiopia. Of the African nations only Egypt and Ethiopia can trace their history Into antiquity. Most recent discoveries have confirmed the presence of men in the Ethiopian area as early as 1.5 million years ago. Bas- reliefs dating about 1500 B.C. at Thebes show Ethiopians cultivating myrrh and incense. Egyptian hieroglyphics indicate a civilization in Ethiopia as early as the 2nd millennium B.C., and it is known that Egyptian pharaohs bought spices, myrrh, incense and other such precious goods from the Ethiopians during their reigns. It was called by the Egyptians “Punt,” or Land of God, as they believed certain of their divinities came from Ethiopia. It was also referred to as Habashat and later Abyssinia (2) From about 2000 B.C. until approximately 1100 B.C. Ethiopia was ruled by the northern Egyptian empires. (3) Known as Chus or Cush by the Hebrews, the Biblical Ethiopia was a region of the upper Nile basin, at times extending from south of the first cataract, then Nubia (now approximately the site of Aswan), and encompassing what is now lower modern Egypt and the Sudan, possibly extending into the north parts of modern Ethiopia or Abyssinia. (4) It is known that during the 21st Egyptian dynasty in the 11th century B.C., during the time of Kings Saul, David and Solomon, a powerful State was established in Cush, or Biblical Ethiopia, with Its capital at Napata, at approximately the third cataract in northern Sudan. Toward the end of the 8th century B.C. (less than 200 years after Solomon built the Temple) this State conquered Egypt and established the t or “Ethiopian” dynasty, (5) eventually extending its influence across north Africa from the Red Sea to the Atlantic. At this point several collateral items of interest may he considered: First, Westminster Historical Atlas of the Bible discloses that in Egypt a canal from the Nile to the extreme northwestern arm of the Arabian Gulf (or Red Sea – the arm we now know as the Gulf of Suez -) was dug long before Roman times and restored by (the Roman) Trajan (about 98-117 A.D. and that it furthered Rome’s) trade with countries east of the empire. (6) Could there have been a canal in Solomon’s time that connected the Nile with the Red Sea at the Gulf of Suez? Next, It is known that Solomon’s contact with Hiram of Tyre included not only the supply of some of the materials needed for the Temple but also cooperation with shipping, for which the Phoenicians were famous. In I Kings 10:27-28 it Is found that Hiram’s navy and Solomon’s servants sailed to the mysterious land of Ophir from which they brought gold and other rare items. Recently, in Peru’s highland jungle a U.S. explorer, Gene Savoy, discovered three ancient stone tablets, each measuring about 5 by 10 feet and weighing several tons. On these tablets are stylized inscriptions similar to Phoenician and Semitic hieroglyphics used in King Solomon’s time. One such inscription is said to be identical to the symbol that always appeared on the ships Solomon sent to Ophir, the Biblical source of his gold. Were Solomon’s gold mines actually in Peru? Did his servants sail across the Mediterranean and Atlantic or did they sail from the Red Sea, through Indian and Pacific Oceans to Peru? Although interesting these two theories are rather “far-fetched” and should be discounted for the purposes of this discussion. In all probability Solomon’s shipping contact with ports on the Red Sea or Arabian Gulf was through his own port of Exion-geber at the northern most point on the western fork of the Red Sea in the Gulf of Aqaba. It was here that he built a fleet of ships for the Red Sea trade and a large smelter for refining the ores of Arabah. (7) Solomon did obviously have contact with the Ethiopian culture, as especially witnessed by his visit from the Queen of Sheba. Actually, she was from an area known as Saba, now a part of Yemen, then a territory controlled by Ethiopia. The Arabian dynasty which began ruling in Ethiopia in the second century A.D. called themselves negus-nagast, or king of kings, In that they traced their decent to Menellk, whom they claimed to be the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. (8) But, again, this does not solve the problem of sailing from Joppa to Ethiopia. The answer to the physical problem of sailing from Joppa to Ethiopia has already been solved. Ethiopia in the Biblical sense was not Ethiopia of today. Its boundaries constantly changed even then. At times it was in the lower Nile region, even to lower modern Sudan and the northern part of modern Ethiopia. At other times It extended from the Atlantic Ocean, along the Mediterranean coast, down the Nile basin, across the Red Sea Into Arabia (Yemen and surrounding countries) One hundred years before the completion of Solomon’s temple It Is known to have had Its capital at Napata, a place near the third cataract In the Nile. And less than 200 years after the building of the Temple It controlled all of Egypt and was expanding along the Mediterranean coast. In Solomon’s time It Is not unreasonable to see that Nubia or Cush or Ethiopia was expanding rapidly northward along the Nile and was probably at or near the First Cataract, near what Is now Aswan. The practice of towing ships against the stream with draft animals was a well known practice even to the Egyptians, and was relatively cheap. This could be done even over the cataracts; thus making commerce up the Nile, especially with smaller boats, entirely feasible. It would be no special feat to sail from Joppa across a corner of the Mediterranean Sea, up the Nile at least as far as the first cataract, and on Into Biblical Ethiopia by the tow from draft animals. Now that it can be seen an actual journey could have been made by boat or ship from Joppa to Ethiopia (at least the Ethiopia of Biblical times), the question still remains .. Why was Ethiopia chosen as the ultimate place for escape? Although we fend little mentioned In Masonic literature concerning Ethiopia, we do find It mentioned many times In the Bible. Beginning In Genesis and ending In the New Testament book of Acts, we find Ethiopia mentioned not less than nineteen times. Other synonyms for “Ethiopia,” such as Cush of Chush or Chusthites, are also mentioned. At least one version of the Bible has several additional references. However, In almost all, Ethiopia is associated with other countries, notably Egypt and Libya, and almost always as a place far away. It is first mentioned in the second chapter of Genesis as the land encompassed by the second river, Gibon. (9) It Is spoken of as a place of mighty warriors and men of violence. (10) Even with a major seaport at Ezion-geber in the land of Edom on the Aqaba Gulf of the Red Sea where Solomon had his Red Sea fleet of ships, ( 11 ) a journey to the land of Ethiopia from Jerusalem was long, perilous and rough -over wastelands, mountains and then the sea.

Though Ethiopia was one of the more far reaches of the known world, It has long been known as a gathering place of many races .. a melting pot, where the Negro, Caucasian and Mongoloid, and blends In- between existed together. (12) A cross-roads for trade between Egypt (and other Mediterranean countries) and the of the East, Ethiopia also acquired many diverse customs and skills. In Its ancient capital of Axum, stands evidence of the skills of stone masons of the past in many magnificent ruins and in more than 125 obelisks. (13) As one of the more far reaches of the known cultures, and a place where skilled masons were obviously welcome, Ethiopia would be a most logical place for our three criminals to attempt to escape their sure reward for assassination committed. There they were far away from their crime, could be accepted for their skills, and could blend into the ethnic and racial conglomeration to possibly escape from even an extended search of such a mighty king as Solomon.

Why Ethiopia? Although our legend is largely fictional, Ethiopia would have been accessible by ship, even from Joppa, and was a practical choice. But as our legend is primarily a symbol or collection of symbols given to teach lessons, so too might the possibility of flight to Ethiopia be purely symbolic for the purpose of the legend.

Mackey, In his Symbolism of Freemasonry, has pointed out that Hiram Abiff Is, in the Masonic system, the symbol of human nature, as developed in the life here and the life to come; and so, while the Temple was .. the visible symbol of the world, its builder became the mythical symbol of man, the dweller and worker In that world.” (14)

He goes on to point out that man meets at least three obstacles in life’s pathway that could very well assassinate his character and moral growth. These are “Temptations (that) allure his youth, misfortunes (that) darken the pathway of his manhood, and (that ) his old age Is encumbered with infirmity and disease. (15)

Philosophers through the ages, Masonic and otherwise, have pointed out that within man’s own mind come the Ruffians which must be conquered in order for man to rise from the plane of his mere animal existence to the place of spiritual fulfillment in harmony with his Maker. In his short talk on Ruffians, (16) Reverend and Brother Joseph Fort Newton reminds us that three of the greatest Greek thinkers identified what they said to be the three causes of sin in the human heart. Socrates said the chef cause is ignorance, in that no man does evil unless he is so blinded by ignorance that he does not see the right. (17) Plato expanded upon this, saying that in spite of knowledge and the ability to see right and wrong clearly man still may do wrong if in a dark mood. Passion, he states, “stirs up sediments from the bottom of the mind and so clouds reason that even clear vision fails.” (18) Aristotle identified the third Ruffian to cause us to do evil as “moral perversion, a spirit of sheer mischief, which does wrong, deliberately and In the face of right, calmly and with devilish cunning, for the sake of wrong and for the love of It.” (19) The Ruffians have been characterized as “none other than the symbols of those lusts and passions welch in our own breasts, or in the breasts of others, make war on our characters and our lives,” … “the enemies to he feared by the soul are from within, and are nothing other than its own ignorance, lust, passions and sins. (20) Brother Allen Roberts In The Craft and its Symbols states these Ruffians of the soul are man’s constant companions, greed, jealousy and selfishness. (21) Brother George H. Steinmetz in his book Freemasonry – its Hidden Meaning, explains that the first Ruffian “Typifies material desires, greed, avarice and covetousness, which prompt the attempt to gain benefits regardless of the rights of others.” (22) The second “symbolizes the physical .. those attitudes of the mind rather than the material desires .. responsible for intolerance, bigotry, hatred and envy.” (23) The third he contends, arises when, not realizing that the Temple within him is not complete, man allows “Doubt” to strike down his “Faith” .. “Faith” that “which alone can give his desires.” (24) Illustrious Brother Albert Pike identified our Ruffians as the enemies and assassins of the social progress and individual welfare of mankind in general, specifically: the Kingcraft, which “strikes a blow at the throat, the seat of freedom of speech;” the Priestcraft, which “stabs at the heart, the home of freedom of conscience;” and the Mob-craft, which “fells his victim with a blow to the brain, which is the throne of freedom of thought.” Together they conspire to destroy liberty, without which man can make no advance.” (25) The actual symholism of the Ruffians may vary from interpretation to interpretation, from person to person, from situation to situation, from time to time, but such is the nature of symbols .. and rightfully so. The general concept remains the same; the Ruffians are those negative attributes of man or mankind which have the tendency to assassinate, to main, to kill, and to destroy our ability to bring ourselves into closer harmony with our Creator and to hailed a better society upon the precepts that God has given us. However these symbols are defined. When faced with TRUTH .. Divine TRUTH as symbolized by the judgement and wisdom of Solomon – when confronted with those eternal TRUTHS set forth by the Grand Architect of the Universe through the inspired writers of His Volume of Sacred Law – these Ruffians take flight. They attempt to hide in the remotest regions of man’s own self (Man’s internal Ethiopia), that place “to be found only through one’s own search for lost answers to the deeper and true mystery of what (man’s) life’s mission and eternity is and the failures of the weakness of the flesh.” (26) With TRUTH from GOD, man can find, can fight, can cope with and can finally conquer his inner Ruffians. Whether purely “an American interpolation” (27) to the Hiramic Legend, as contended by Brother Mackey when he pointed out that it was not found in the English or French accounts, or a genuine part of the Legend whose origins are lost in the mists of antiquity and simply not considered substantive by our English and French brethren, “Ethiopia” did exist as a place that could have been reached by ships from Joppa and does add symbolic significance to our Legend.

Why Ethiopia? It is only logical.

END NOTES

1. Albert G.Mackey, Encyclopedia of Freemasonry. (Macoy Publishing & Masonic Supply Company, Inc.) Vol. I p. 341.

2. Encyclopedia Britannica, Macropaedia, Vol. 6 p. 1006

3. Encyclopedia Judaica, P. 943.

4. Louis F. Hartman, Encyclopedia dictionary of the Bible, (C.SS.R., 1963) p. 386.

5. Ibid.

6. George F. Wright and Floyd V. Filson, Westminster Historical Atlas to the Bible, P. 88.

7. The Bible, I Kings, 9:26.

8. Encyclopedia Judaica, P. 943.

9. The Bible, Genesis 2:13

10. Ibid., II Chronicles 14:9, II Kings 19:9; etc. 11. Ibid., I Kings 9:26

12. Olivia Vlahos, African Beginnings, (Vicking Press, 1967), p. 30

13. Edna Kavia, The Land and People of Ethiopia, (J.B. Lippincott Co., 1965), pp.44-46

14. Albert G. Mackey, Symbolism of Freemasonry, (Macoy Publishing & Masonic Supply Co., Inc.), p. 231.

15. Ibid., p. 233.

16. Joseph Fort Newton, Short Talks on Masonry, (Macoy Publishing & Masonic Supply Co., Inc.) p. 117

17. Ibid., p. 120.

18. Ibid., p. 120.

19. Ibid., p. 121.

20. George S. Draffen, “The Hiramic Legend,” The Short Talk Bulletin, Vol. 67 No.10, October 1989. (The Masonic Service Association)

21. Allen E. Roberts, The Craft And Its Symbols, (Macoy Publishing & Masonic Supply Co., Inc.), p.82.

22. George H. Steinmetz, Freemasonry – Its Hidden Meaning (Macoy Publishing & Masonic Supply Co., Inc.), p. 167.

23. Ibid., p. 168.

24. Ibid., p. 169

25. Newton, p. 117 at p. 118.

26. Carl Wussow, Why Ethiopia, (Silas H. Shepherd Lodge of Research, Kiel, Wisconsin; March 28, 1987)

27. Mackey, Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Vol. I, p. 341.

 

Webpage of the Dead Masonic Poets Society: Craftlodge.org
---------------------------------------------------------

If you would like to reply to an article... Reply or Forward to
FrmTheEast@Aol.Com ...and it will forwarded it out to all on the list.
=============================================================
Please Feel Free to Forward this Message to those Brethren that You Think
would be Interested.

http://www.muslimsforjesus.org/Christians%20and%20Islam/Negus,%20King%20of%20Ethiopia-Protector%20of%20the%20First%20Muslim%20Emigrants/Negus,%20King%20of%20Ethiopia-Protector%20of%20the%20First%20Muslim%20Emigrants.htm

LETTER TO NEGUS, KING OF ETHIOPIA :

In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

From Muhammad (peace be upon him) Prophet of Allah to Negus King of Ethiopia.

I praise Allah, except Whom there is none to be worshipped,  who is the Ruler of the world. He is innocent and pure free from all blemishes, defects, flaws, or shortcomings). He gives refuge  and sustains all.

I do admit that Isa (Jesus) (peace be upon him) son of Mariam (Mary), was  the soul from Allah and His word (Order), he was infused to Mariam, who was clean and proof against evil. And Isa (peace be upon him) was born of Mariam. Allah created him from His soul and breath in the  same manner as He created Adam (peace be upon him) with His own hand. I invite you towards Allah the One who has no associate. Believe in  Him and join me in obedience to Him. Follow me and accept my prophethood because I am the Messenger of Allah. I have wished  – you well in conveying the message of Allah in all sincerity. It is up you to accept my sympathetic advice. Extend the same invitation to your subjects. I am sending my cousin Jaffer (R.A.A.) with the other Muslims. When they reach you, treat them hospitably, by setting aside the vanity and pride of a ruler.

Peace be on him, who followed the right path.

Note: As mentioned earlier, after the Holy Prophet began to preach Islam, the Quraish became the bitterest enemies of Islam. In the beginning they taunted, teased and maltreated the Muslims. But by and by their opposition took the shape of tyranny. Their treatment of the Muslims, particularly of the poorer ones was so brutal, that they felt extremely unsafe in Mecca and feared annihilation at the hands of the Quraish. At that stage, (6th year before Hijri i.e. 614 A.D.) the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) allowed the Muslims to temporarily migrate to Ethiopia, as he expected a good treatment by the King of Ethiopia. The Muslims began to migrate to the neighboring country of Ethiopia. This continued till the famous Migration of the Holy Prophet, after which the migrants began to return to Medina The last caravan returned from Ethiopia in 7th Hijra – about 629 A.D. when the second Caravan went to Ethiopia, the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) addressed a letter to the King of Ethiopia.

The Quraish could not tolerate that the Muslims should live in peace even in Ethiopia. They sent a delegation to Negus and pointed out to him that the Muslims had a strange faith which was altogether new and requested that the Muslims should be sent back. The King concluded from the Muslims about their beliefs. On that occasion Jaffar (R.A.) made a very impressive speech, saying.

“They were an extremely ignorant and pagan nation who worshipped self-made idols. Debauchery, cruelty and eating the dead was their way of life, but Allah sent a Prophet (peace be upon him) who changed their lives altogether. He admonished them to worship Allah only and to regard Him as their Master. He preached to them always to be truthful; and not to misappropriate a trust, treat neighbors kindly, avoid bloodshed and all that Allah has prohibited. Worship Allah, the One observe fasts and pay Zakat. This was the crime, for which their countrymen forced them to leave their hearths and homes and they had to take refuge in Ethiopia.”

The King of Ethiopia was highly moved by the speech and clearly announced that he would not allow such pious people to be tyrannized.

The Muslims, thereafter, always had a deep regard for Ethiopia and never did they think of attacking that country. They conquered big countries like Iran, but never touched the neighboring Ethiopia.

By Dom Colin Battell
SOURCE: www.benedictines.org.uk/theology/2005/battell.pdf

 

Introduction

 

Pope John-Paul II in his apostolic letter, Orientale Lumen (1995), speaks of the Eastern Churches as ‘an integral part of the heritage of Christ’s Church’. He goes on to say that the eastern contribution and especially its monasticism is necessary for ‘the full manifestation of the Church’s authority’. East and west should not be seen to be in opposition but to be complementary, the ‘two lungs’ necessary for a healthy body.

In a famous phrase, Khomiakov could speak of ‘a new and unknown world’ with reference to Eastern Orthodoxy. That is perhaps less true now than when he wrote as a result of easy travel and encounters through the Orthodox diaspora. While at first sight such encounters might seem to be with a strange and exotic form of the Christian faith, close contact soon reveals a fundamental similarity with Catholic belief and experience. What we have in common is far greater than what separates and divides us.

If Russian and Greek Orthodoxy, for example, might seem unfamiliar, for most people this is far more true of the Oriental (ie non-Chalcedonian churches) and in particular the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. According to recent figures from the Ethiopian Patriarchate, there are 40 million believers, including 40 Archbishops, 400,000 clergy, and 1000 monasteries. This makes it the largest of the Orthodox family of Churches after the Russian Church.

To enter the world of Ethiopian Orthodoxy is to be confronted with what at first may seem an exotic and certainly unique form of Christianity. This is the result of its distinctive history and geographical isolation even from other Christian communities.

Perhaps this should hardly be surprising. To the Biblical writers, Ethiopia stood for the back-of-beyond, the extreme limits of the imagination. Cf Are you not as the Ethiopians to me? Amos 9:14 and Psalm 87:4 . For them Ethiopia stood for anywhere beyond the fifth cataract of the Nile. Herodotus identifies it with the kingdoms of Nubia and Meroe. The much quoted verse from the Psalms: ‘Ethiopia will stretch out her hands to God’ originally had reference to the incredible universal extent of Yahweh’s sovereignty.

Certainly, Ethiopia was thought of as remote. Homer’s Odyssey could refer to the ‘distant Ethiopians, the farthest outposts of mankind, half of whom live where the sun goes down and half where the sun rises’.

The word Ethiopia come from the Greek ‘Aithiops’ meaning literally a burnt face .

The description Abyssinian comes from the people known as the Habasha, but is not used by Ethiopians themselves.

According to the Roman martyrology, St Matthew was the apostle of Ethiopia and he died there. By the fourth century there were some Roman merchants there who were Christian. In the Emperor Haile-selassie’s (his name means ‘might of the Trinity’) reign (1930-1974) tourist posters described the country as ‘the oldest Christian Empire in the world’ and certainly from about 332 the rulers were Christian almost without a break until the communist take-over in 1974. The leader during the communist years Mengistu Haile-Mariam also clearly has a name that shows his Christian antecedents.

Ethiopian tradition affirms that not all were converted from paganism but that some were Jews and some were animists. ‘Before the coming of Christianity, one half of the people was under the Mosaic Laws, the other half was worshipping the serpent’.

In the Fetha Negast (the Book of the Law of the Kings) a work which contains secular and ecclesiastical material (insofar as the two can be separated in Ethiopia), the queen of Sheba from Ethiopia was converted to Judaism by her visit to King Solomon’s Court. ‘From this moment I will not worship the sun, but the Creator of the sun, the God of Israel’. Although the Fetha Negast is a 13th century work in its present form, it is acknowledged to contain material dating from a much earlier period. As we shall see there is a strong Hebraic influence in Ethiopian Christianity.

 

 

The story of Rufinus

 

The story of the conversion of the first Ethiopian king, Ezana, is told by Rufinus of Aquileia. Two boys Aedesius and Frumentius were among a party who were shipwrecked and put in at the port of Adulis on the Red Sea. They were from Tyre in Syria. Their companions were slaughtered but being young the boys were taken to Axum, the capital of Ethiopia at that time, and attained positions of influence at the royal court. This was probably at the time that the Ge’ez language was replacing Greek as the language of the court. Aedesius who was less intellectual than his confrere was made chief steward to the king while Frumentius became his secretary and treasurer. Being foreign they were perhaps seen as independent of internal politics and intrigues and therefore trustworthy. On the death of the king, the Queen acting as regent for her son Ezana asked Aedesius and Frumentius to stay and assist her in ruling the country. Since they were Christian they promoted Christianity and encouraged the building of prayer houses for the Roman merchants who were present in the country. When Ezana became old enough to take over the reins of power, Aedesius returned to Tyre while Frumentius went to Alexandria and told the great St Athanasius that there were now Christians in Ethiopia but no bishop or clergy.

Athanasius decided to consecrate Frumentius himself and send him back as the first bishop. ‘What other man shall we find in whom is the Spirit of God as in you, who can accomplish these things?’ St. Frumentius is known in Ethiopia as Abba Salama (Father of Peace) and Kesate Berhan (Revealer of light). The story of Rufinus is confirmed by inscriptions celebrating victory over the Nubians and by the letter of Constantius, the Arian successor of Constantine, encouraging Ezana not to follow Athanasius. Aksumite coinage also testifies to the conversion of the king to the Christian faith.

 

 

Coptic Links

 

From this we see the close links from the beginning between the Ethiopian and Coptic Churches. The tradition begun by St Athanasius continued until the late 50s of the 20th century with the Patriarch of Alexandria sending the Abuna to lead the Ethiopian Church. Obviously there were difficulties in having a foreigner who often did not speak the language as head of the Church on earth, but there were no Ethiopian bishops until the 20th century. The calendar of 12 months of 30 days and one of 5 or 6 with New Year’s Day on September 11th is also Coptic. (It should be noted here however that Ethiopians are not Copts a word derived from the Greek for an Egyptian. However close the links may be Ethiopians are clearly not Egyptians.)

The Ethiopian Church shared in the Alexandrine Christology and hence the rejection of the Council of Chalcedon which it saw as failing to safeguard against Nestorianism. Nowadays, it would probably be true to say that this is not seen as a fundamental theological difference. Indeed the rapprochement between the Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian Orthodox Churches should perhaps be seen as a major ecumenical break-through (western ecumenists please note!). It is also wrong to describe Ethiopian Christians as monophysites. Ethiopian Christology is essentially that of St Cyril. The official title of the Ethiopian Church is the Ethiopian Orthodox Twahido (ie united nature) Church. The key phrase in Cyril writings is ‘mia physis tou logou theou sesarkomene’ (one incarnate nature of the Word of God) – ie ‘mia’ (one, not necessarily alone) not ‘mone’ which would mean ‘only incarnate nature of the Word of God’. In this St Cyril thought he was quoting St Athanasius though in fact the phrase comes from Apollinaris. There have been fierce Christological disputes within the Orthodox Church down the ages but the Twahido doctrine is the official teaching of the Church. Correctly understood, this does not mean as is sometimes alleged that the humanity of Christ was dissolved or swallowed up in his divinity. The Christology of the Ethiopian church is that of Severus of Antioch and St Cyril. As a modern writer, Peter Farrington, has put it, the Oriental Churches ‘utterly repudiate any teaching in which the distinctions of the natures of divinity and humanity cease to exist in the incarnation or any teaching which damages the complete and perfect reality and divinity of which Christ is.( But equally) in the incarnation and for our salvation, the Word of God has deigned to unite, in a manner past our understanding, humanity with his divinity such that even as there is no confusion or separation equally there is no division or separation, but we see ‘One Christ’ and one Lord as the creed confesses’.

So, from the 4th century apart from the odd aberration such as the Jewish, Queen Yodit (Judith) in the 10th century. Ethiopia was Christian ruled by a monarch who saw himself as vice-regent of God (the lion of the tribe of Judah) and head of a theocratic state.

From the beginning Christianity was very closely identified with the social, political and cultural life of the people. Of course it took time for the faith to spread. Unlike the Roman Empire where Christianity took hold, broadly speaking, first among the lower echelons of society and gradually worked upwards to the conversion of Constantine, in Ethiopia the opposite was true. The court was the first to be

Christianized and then the faith percolated downwards to the people. Certainly for centuries Orthodox Christianity has been an integral part of everyday life in a way that is scarcely conceivable to secularized westerners.

 

 

Jewish influences

 

Here is a form of Christianity strongly Hebraic in character that has experienced neither the Reformation nor the rationalism of Enlightenment thinking. Ge-ez is a Semitic language and other Jewish influences include circumcision on the eighth day.

This does not mean that Ethiopians are unaware of Pauline teaching. In any case they do not believe they were converted from paganism but from Judaism. ‘We are not circumcised as the Jews because we know the words of St Paul who says circumcision avails not, but the circumcision that is practised among us is according to the customs of the country like tattooing on the face in Ethiopia and Nubia and the piercing of the ear among the Indians. And what we do, we do not in observance of the law of Moses but according to the customs of men’. Other Jewish influences include the following of the distinction between ‘clean’ and ‘unclean’ foods as legislated for in Leviticus. The Sabbath is also observed as well as Sunday. There was a long and bitter controversy about this in the 14th century and for a time the supporters of Sabbath observance led by Eustatewos were outlawed but the issue was resolved in their favour at the Council of Metmaq in 1450 by the Emperor Zara Yacob. Moreover boys are usually baptized 40 days after birth and girls after eighty days cf Leviticus 12:1ff

There is also a class of ecclesiastical professionals known as debteras who sing and perform a kind of liturgical dance to the accompaniment of drums, sistra and with prayer sticks (maqwamia) rather in the manner of the Old Testament Levites.

The division of Churches into three sections also follows the pattern of the Jewish Temple. Every Church is divided into the Meqdes (the Holy of Holies where the altar is situated and which only the clergy may enter), the Qiddest or place of Communion and the Qene Mahlet where the singers perform. Men and women have their separate entrances and are accommodated separately too. The whole of the church compound is regarded as part of the Church. Some who are doing a penance given to them by their spiritual father (nefs abbat) for certain sins do not enter the building. Shoes are removed on entering the church. Currently a massive church building programme is being undertaken and even during the communist years (1974-91) two huge monastic parish churches were built in Addis Ababa. Churches can be round or octagonal especially in the south of the country reflecting the domestic architecture or basilica style as is common in the north and are often decorated with scenes from the Gospels and the lives of the saints in the very distinctive style of Ethiopian iconography.

Large numbers of clergy are attached to each church as two priests and three deacons are normally needed to service the Liturgy .The Church is involved in aid and development work but this is usually done by the laity as liturgical functions are a full time job for the clergy. Careful preparation is needed for the reception of Holy Communion and the bread and wine are prepared by the deacons in a special building near the church known as the Bethlehem (house of bread).

Another Jewish influence is in the veneration for the Ark of the Covenant (tabot). The original ark according to Ethiopian tradition was brought from Jerusalem by Menelik I son of King Solomon and the queen of Sheba to Axum where it still remains in the Church of Debre Tsion Mariam closely guarded by a monk who after his appointment to the post of Guardian never leaves the compound. The manner of its transport to Ethiopia has been the subject of much speculation. (For a particularly fanciful account see Graham Hancock’s The Sign and the Seal cf Raiders of the Lost Ark etc.)

A replica of the ark is found in every Church, indeed it is the sign of the building’s consecration and without it ceases to be a Church. Covered in richly embroidered cloths the arks are carried in procession on the heads of the priests on important festivals and are honoured with the greatest reverence.

 

 

The Nine Saints and the Monastic Tradition

 

The fifth century saw an important development with the arrival of the Nine Saints from Syria. They were perhaps among the refugees from the Byzantine Empire who refused to accept the Chalcedonian Christology. All of them were monks and all established monasteries which became very important centers of learning and evangelization. It would indeed be true to say that all evangelization and all education in Christian Ethiopia was in the hands of monks until modern times. Monks trained all the secular clergy and secular officials as well. (As in other Orthodox Churches, clergy may get married before ordination, but bishops are chosen only from the monks).

Many of these monasteries are still flourishing eg that of Debre Damo near the Eritrean border, still only accessible by rope. Its founder Abba Aragawi was conveniently provided with a snake in order to ascend and make the foundation.

Wisely he insisted that the snake’s head should be at the bottom! All Ethiopian monks trace their genealogy to one of the Nine Saints.

The Nine Saints translated the Bible into Ge’ez probably using the Septuagint for the Old Testament. They also translated some extra books as well as monastic writings so that the Ethiopian canon is much more extensive than any other church including works such as the Shepherd of Hermas, the Didascalia, Enoch, Jubilees, Synodos etc.

As with some other Orthodox churches there is no definitive text of Scripture. It raises interesting questions about whether the canon of Scripture is closed or open, at least potentially, to further development.

St Aragawi received his monastic habit from Theodore, a disciple of St Pachomius.

There were Ethiopian monks in the Egyptian desert from early times eg St Moses the Black who was head of a band of robbers until his conversion. He was changed one day when he and his group attacked a monastery, intending to rob it. Moses was met by the abbot whose peaceful countenance and warm manner overwhelmed him. He immediately felt remorse for his past sins and joined the monastery. For years he was continually tormented by his past ways and especially by lust until the prayers of his abbot St Isidore the Great miraculously healed him. Near the end of his life he became a priest and formed a monastery of 75 monks, the same number as his robber band and was martyred in 405 at the age of 75.

So there has been a continuous monastic tradition in Ethiopia from this time though there are some gaps in our historical knowledge. Axum declined in the 9th century and later the Zagwe dynasty emerged which was responsible in the 12th century for the famous churches at Lalibella carved out of the solid rock and recognized as one of the architectural wonders of the world. This dynasty was replaced in 1270 by the Solomonic, which traced its origins to the Queen of Sheba and her Son Menelik I whose father was King Solomon.

The great monastic revival of the 14th century led to the establishment of the monastery now known as Debre Libanos whose founders were St Tekle Haimanot and St Ewstatewos two very great influential Christian leaders through whom the monks of today trace their origins. The monasteries provided a counter-balance to a heavily established and controlled Church.

In their extremes of austerity the monks provide a prophetic and eschatological ministry in the Ethiopia Church. The bahtawi are an independent class of hermits who represent the anchoritic tradition – modern successors of St John the Baptist rebuking all including the emperor himself without fear or favour. As Shimei reviled King David, so the bahtawi have been know to hurl abuse at all and sundry including the emperor. Some live completely separately from society, unseen by all, their bones occasionally discovered after their deaths in the remotest of places. Others lived in trees (dendrites) or small holes in the ground. Often they live on leaves and bitter roots and reduce sleep to an absolute minimum. (One who had found his way to New York was taken to a mental institution after being found praying half-naked in the snow!).Those living in wilderness zones on the edge of the empire had the effect of expanding the empire because they invariably attracted followers. Evangelization was not systematic but the effect was to extend the frontiers of Christianity by being so successful in converting the surrounding population.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the spirituality of the laity in Ethiopia is essentially a monastic spirituality. Some emperors even saw themselves as monkkings.

‘When Lalibella established the throne he submitted himself to a fast more severe that that of the monks because to him the kingship appeared as the monastic life’. This may have been the ideal but of course there was always a tension between this and the reality. Emperors may have been the vice-regent of God on earth and protectors defenders of the faith but they were not its exponent even though they may have assisted in the settling of disputes eg regarding Sabbath observance. Moreover their moral laxity often came in for monastic chastisement

 

 

Fasting

 

Monastic austerity is seen in the great emphasis on fasting. cf St Benedict’s somewhat unfashionable ‘love fasting’. The clergy fast 256 days a year, the laity 180.

On these days no meat or animal products are eaten and one meal is taken after the Liturgy which takes place on those days at mid-day, finishing around three-o’clock.

All Wednesdays and Fridays except in Eastertide are fast days (cf the Didache) and Lent lasts 56 days with an additional 16 days added in commemoration of the conquest of the city of Harar. There is also a major fast of 15 days before the feast of the Dormition of our Lady and Holy Week is observed very strictly indeed often with a complete fast from food and drink during the Triduum. The Fethe Negast says ‘fasting is abstinence from food and is observed by man at certain times determined by law to obtain forgiveness of sins and much reward, obeying thus the One who fixed the Law. Fasting also serves to weaken the force of concupiscence so that the body may obey the rational soul’.

Not to take part in fasting would still result in ostracism in many rural areas and many will fast strenuously who perhaps do not practice their faith much in other ways. The laxness of western Christians in this respect scandalizes the Ethiopian faithful. Ethiopia is not a secular society in the western sense. The cadres who went into the university to preach atheism during the communist years following the fall of Haile-Selassie were mostly laughed at. Cf Psalm 53:1

Saints such as St Tekle Haimanot were renowned for their asceticism. His life was seen as a sign of the angelic life to the extent that he is often pictured with wings. He surrounded himself with eight spears to prevent himself from falling asleep while praying. The true ascetic we are told does not need to eat or drink or if he does then the natural waste will be miraculously disposed of. We are in the world of the Desert Fathers here. Such asceticism is greatly admired if not always emulated. It is seen as an ideal to which all should aspire and as a superior form of the spiritual life rather than as a special vocation. This finds an echo in Pope John Paul II’s words in Orientale Lumen: the monasteries are a reference point for all the baptized.

 

 

Feasts

 

But as well as fasts there are feasts too. Major saints have their feast day celebrated every month and the faithful flock to the church named after him or her on that day.

On important festivals the tabots are brought out in procession on the heads of the priests.Other major feasts with a distinctive ritual and enormous popularity include Timqet (the Baptism of the Lord) when water is blessed and the faithful sprinkled or even bathe in it! And Mesqel which celebrates the finding of the True Cross by the Empress Helena in the 4th century. Bonfires are burnt in recognition that she was led to the correct place by a mysterious smoke rising from the ground.

 

 

St Tekle Haimanot

 

The founders of monasticism as known today are St Ewstatewos, the upholder of the Sabbath observance in the 14th century and St Tekle Haimanot. The life of St Tekle Haimanot may be given as an illustration of the world in which we are moving.

St Tekle Haimanot was from a family of priests. Miracles attended his birth. His first recorded words were to object to receiving his mother’s milk on a fast day! He learned the psalms by heart and was ordained at 15. He traveled round the countryside demonstrating the power of Christ He met the devil occupying a tree which was worshipped by the local people. He ordered the tree to come to him and it was uprooted killing 21 people in the process. He raised these from death and such was the ‘dynamis’ that went out of him he also raised the dead of a neighbouring grave-yard. Since they were unbaptised, he baptized them then reburied them. He converted a pagan king and studied in three monasteries for many years under the great monastic saints Basalota Mikael, Iyesus Moa and Yohannes of Debre Damo.

Stability as propagated by St Benedict is unknown in Ethiopia. A monk may attach himself to a teacher for many years then move on to another. After three pilgrimages to the Holy Land he founded the monastery of Debre Asbo in Shoa, today known as Debre Libanos. It was here he prayed for seven years on one leg until the other dropped off and was given wings. Many miracles are recorded as the result of his prayers. Such stories raise questions about our common pre-suppositions. As children of the Enlightenment we tend to ask: did it happen? cf the quest for the historical Jesus, and the careful research of the Societe des Bollandistes in their patient weeding out of legendary material to preserve the historical elements in the lives of the saints.

We need to understand these stories on their own terms not from the perspective of a modern historian (cf Fr Raymond Brown’s tongue-in-cheek reply when asked if the New Testament was true: yes, everything except the facts!).

A strong belief in the miraculous and its practice following the New Testament is seen a strong tool for evangelization. The Christian missionary has to carry conviction in a society where the exercise of magic is a normal source of power.

Exorcisms and confrontations with evil spirits are seen as normal. The faith spreads by demonstrations of power as well as by catechesis. Animism is successfully challenged and the power of Christ is seen to be superior to all others. The conversion of King Matalome by St Tekle Haimanot is a symbol of the struggle with the monarchy. The monasteries were centers of influence sometimes opposed to the king and challenged the easy-going moral standards of the court. It has to be remembered that in Ethiopia for many centuries there were no city churches, bishops or councils – only monasteries.

 

 

Monastic Rules

 

The monastic rules followed go back to St Pachomius and St Anthony with local adaptations and are set out in the Book of the Monks and the Fethe Negast. There are three professions symbolized by the girdle or belt (kedet), the skull cap (qob) and the scapular (askema) There are hundreds of monasteries mostly smallish but with some having as many as 500 monks. Usually monasteries started as a place of retreat for the founder who then attracted followers who came to ask for prayers and for education. A modern phenomenon resulting form the loss of land after the communist take-over in 1974 has been the emergence of an urban monasticism which has led to a Sunday School movement for adults as well as children. In the big cities there were no monks at first. Now many parish staff and administrators are monks. The emergence of this was also linked with the achievement of autocephalous status and the need for a patriarchal bureaucracy. Inevitably there is a certain tension between the demands of urban life and monasticism – the word for monastery – goddam – literally means a place of solitude and quiet. As one monk put it the pure ‘tedj’ (honey mead) of the rural areas is better than the watered down version available in the cities! The monks have introduced evening prayers in church which are well attended and promoted popular piety as well as being involved in catechetical teaching. Those with preaching gifts are much appreciated and long sermons are preferred in a way that those used to the sound-bite may find difficult to appreciate.

 

 

Education

 

Ethiopia has the only ancient written culture in sub-Saharan Africa. Church schools are still active and there was no other education until the late 19th century. The educational system is highly complex. Clergy may seem often poorly or even shabbily dressed and may seem to be lacking in the most elementary principles of modern western education especially the sciences but that is not to say that they are uneducated. Many have spent years in disciplined study and are immensely erudite in a tradition completely foreign to western models. The educational system is also largely based on a tradition of oral culture. In contrast to a system that promotes individual creativity and independence of mind Ethiopian Orthodox education comes from a traditional society where the purpose is to fully integrate pupils into society.

That is not to say that lively theological debate and discussion is excluded – far from it – and there were long periods especially of Christological controversy before the Twahido doctrine emerged as normative in the 19th century.

Education begins with the Reading School (nebab Bet) which teaches the syllabary and the reading of religious books in the Ge’ez language. Reading is aloud and the murmuring of the law of the Lord day and night that this produces would certainly win St Benedict’s approval. Then the first letter of St John is learnt by heart followed by the Psalms, the Gospels and the Miracles of Mary. The Psalms (Dawit) are most important in Ethiopian spirituality, monastic and lay. They are read or chanted aloud and memorized since few books are available even for the Liturgy. The Qidane Bet or Liturgy School teaches the deacons and priests and educates them in their liturgical functions – the Liturgy is steeped in Scripture. The aim is to produce a mind-set steeped in the Word of God.

In the Higher Schools the debteras are often the teachers – they also have a ministry of healing linked with holy water and herbal remedies and are consulted to interpret dreams.

.

Church music in Ethiopia goes back to St Yared in the 6th century who is said to have been influenced in his compositions by the song of the birds. It uses a pentatonic scale and while Middle Eastern in character it differs from Coptic music. There was no notation until the 16th century. It is mostly restrained and slow and in strophic and ametric form. It also includes the hymns performed by the debteras at the end of Mass and the use of drums, sistra and prayer-sticks Music is performed without any books

The Qene Bet (poetry school) teaches a highly sophisticated poetry, the fruit of long pondering on the Scriptures (= Lectio Divina) It is highly creative and requires enormous skill. It generates lively discussion about the merits of a particular composition It uses word-plays so that there is a surface meaning and a deeper hidden meaning (wax and Gold) in a way that is difficult to convey in translation.

Because it requires great skill many of its practitioners attain to high positions in the Church. It takes many years to become a teacher in this field and a minimum of 12 years of full study is required for those who attend this school.

Finally, the Metsehaf Bet or Literature School studies the literature of the Church and especially the Amdemta Commentaries. These are collections of the comments of the Fathers of the church mostly on the Scriptures. Again all is memorized. Only recently have these commentaries received any attention from western scholars such as Roger Cowley. The teacher comments on the texts , not critically but to expound the text in a way that puts the student under the text. It is said to take 40 years to follow the complete course!

From this it should be seen that many of the clergy are highly educated. This is a living tradition. The Coptic monastic revival in recent times has been attributed in part to an Ethiopian, Abd al -Masih el- Habashi , the teacher of the renowned Matthai el-Meskin of the monastery of St Macarius in the Wadi el-Natrun He lived in a cave there from 1935-1970 and is a modern successor of Moses the Black who was also Ethiopian.

 

 

Concluding Remarks

 

As in Russia and Eastern Europe the Church underwent a testing time during the communist years but perhaps emerged stronger and purified as a result of the experience. Sometimes the Church could be compromised in its witness by its close relations with the state. The Church and especially the monasteries also lost their extensive land holdings though some urban property has been restored including the Theological College in Addis Ababa. The Church is popular in the best sense of the word and much loved by the ordinary people even though there may be criticism of the hierarchy. Here is an example of a truly inculturated Church with a rich monastic tradition. Whatever problems may be confronted as a result of western influence and the secularism that so often attends urbanisation, it is an Ethiopian article of faith that the psalmist’s prophecy will be fulfilled and ‘Ethiopia will continue to stretch out her hands to God’ (Psalm 68:31 ).

Source: http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/delany/maspt3.htm

“…

But to deny to black men the privileges of Masonry, is to deny to a child the lineage of its own parentage. From whence sprung Masonry but from Ethiopia, Egypt, and Assyria, all settled and peopled by the children of Ham?

Does any one doubt the wisdom of Ethiopia? I have but to reply that in the days of King Solomon’s renown and splendor she was capable of sending her daughters to prove him with hard questions. If this be true, what must been her sons!

A striking and important historical fact will be brought to bear, touching the truthfulness of this matter; and discarding all profane and general, I shall take sacred history as our guide.

Moses was quite a young man, and, consequently, could not have been endowed with wisdom, when, seeing the maltreatment of an Israelite by the Egyptian, he slew him, burying the body in the sane; when, immediately after, the circumstances having become know to Pharaoh, he fled into Midian, a kingdom of Ethiopia.

He here sought the family of Jethro, the Ethiopian prince and Priest of Midian, in whose sight, after a short residence, he found favor, and married his daughter Zipporah, Zipporah, being a princess, was a shepherdess and priestess, as all priests were shepherds, and Moses, consequently became a shepherd, keeping the flocks of Jethro, his father in law, watching them by day and by night, on hill and in valley. Here Moses continued to dwell until called by the message of the Lord to sue before Pharaoh for the deliverance of Israel.

(It is frequently referred to by modern writers, as an evidence of the reverses of circumstances in the life of man, who, with some degree of surprise, tell us that king David was once a shepherd, and attended flocks. This is no strange matter, when it is remembered that all princes in those days were priests, and all priests as a necessary part of their education, had to be shepherds.

As we may reasonably infer, there were two objects in view in the establishment of this singular mythological ordinance. The first was that the shepherd, by continually looking out for a change of weather, and thereby gazing up to the heavens, might keep his mind more fixed upon the high calling that awaited him, administering at the altar, and thus assimilate the person of his deity; and the second, that by attending the sheep, he might be impressed with their innocence, and thereby learn the true character that should distinguish him before the gaze of the inquisitive eye.

Of the seven daughters of Midian, the children of Jethro, all, as will be seen, were shepherdesses and consequently all priestesses).

Moses became a shepherd, consequently, keeping the flocks of Jethro his father in law watching them by day and by night, on hill and in valley. Here Moses continued to dwell, until called by the message of the Lord to sue before Pharaoh for the deliverance of Israel.

From whence could Moses, he leaving Egypt when young, have derived his wisdom, if not from the Ethiopians? Is it not a reasonable, nay, the only just conclusion to infer that his deep seated knowledge was received from them and that his learned wife, Zipporah, who accompanied him by day, and by night through the hills and vales, contributed not a little to his acquirements?

Certainly this must have been so; for the Egyptians were a colony from Ethiopia, and derived their first training from them, the former, as the country filled up, moving and spreading farther down the Nile, until at length, becoming very numerous, they separated the kingdom, establishing an independent nations, occupying the delta at the mouth of the river.

Where could there a place so appropriate be found for the study of those mysteries as upon the highest hills and in the deepest valleys? Is it not thus that the mysteries originated, the habits of the shepherds with their flocks, leading them to the hills and valleys?

It was also in Ethiopia where God appeared to Moses in a burning bush; and here where he told him, ‘Put off thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place wheron thou standeth is holy ground.’ And this ‘holy ground’ was in Ethiopia or Midian, the true ancient Africa. Truly, if the African race has no legitimate claims to Masonry, then it is illegitimate to all the rest of mankind.

Upon this topic I shall not farther descant, as I believe it is a settled and acknowledged fact, conceded by all intelligent writers and speakers, that to Africa is the world indebted for its knowledge of the mysteries of Ancient Freemasonry. Had Moses or the Israelists never lived in Africa, the mysteries of the wise men of the East never would have been handed down to us.

Was it not Africa that gave birth to Euclid, the master geomatrician of the world? And was it not in consequence of a twenty five years’ residence in Africa that the great Pythagoras was enabled to discover that key problem in geometry, the forty seventh problem of Euclid, without which Masonry would be incomplete? Must I hesitate to tell the world that, as applied to Masonry, the word, Eureka, was first exclaimed in Africa? But, there I have revealed the Masonic secret and must stop!

Masons, brethren, Companions, and Sir Knights, hoping that for this disclosure, by a slip of the tongue, you will forgive me, as I may have made the world much wiser, I now commit you and our cause to the care and keeping of the Grand Master of the Universe.”

I want to read this book!

Survival and Modernization: Ethiopia’s Enigmatic Present – A Philosophical Discourse
by Messay Kebede

“The book is written with vigor, clarity, and decisiveness. It first raises the alternative theories meant to explain Ethiopia, then it works beyond those easy answers to convincing insight. The highlights of these insights include: Survival as the essence of Ethiopia. The Solomonic disposition as allowing multiple claimants to rulership. The asbence of racial, ethnic, and color lines, matters upon which everyone else in the world seems to insist. The special quality of Ethiopian Christianity as an authentic spirituality rather than an imposed system. The self-defense of the empire under the pressures of European colonial expansion. Yet, for all this outstanding history, spirituality, independence, and even geography, Ethiopia is sinking, having failed to modernize in a way that respects its soul. This crisis in confronting modernization is explored with originality in this book whose every page glows with intelligence and passion, the combination that befits a philosophical treatment of the world.”