God Please Save Your Planet...from us.

Chapter Three- Pavement in Paradise

I initially considered naming this chapter: The Redemption, Subjugation, and Conversion of Cush. Then I realized I might lose my audience. So, I went for a completely misleading title. But now that I've brought it up, this chapter will focus on a story that many people have not heard. It is a story that is laced throughout the Jewish and Christian canons. It may also have contributed to some of the alternate perceptions found in the Islamic Quran.

Did you know that the Ethiopian Bible contains 88 books? The traditional biblical canon as seen from a mainstream Christian perspective contains 66 books. Has the complete Bible totaling only 66 books ever made you wonder? The number 7 has long carried a significant meaning of completion to believers in the Abrahamic God of scripture. The number 77 amplifies this numerical perfection. So then why did God limit his inspired scripture to a mere man's number?

If you are of Jewish heritage then you recognize 24 sacred books. That at least has a logic, being the double of twelve, which is also significant to a student of holy scripture. Christians divide the same Old Testament texts up into 39 books, which holds no significance, since it is just shy of 40.

So, who is right? Is it 24, 66, or 88? For that matter what about the Quran? There is even another Ethiopian version that takes the number all the way up to 157. This is exhausting, is it not? Who has established our numerical canonical text anyways? Was it God, as many believe? Was it the Church? The answer to this question is highly debated.

Let's return to the days of Constantine. After his conversion to Christianity, he set to work by trying to unify the divided factions of Christianity that existed in his time. Since its inception, professed christians had been bickering over how to view God, and how Jesus fits into the equation. Was he God? Was he God's son? Was he both? Was he a created being, or an angel? Where does holy spirit fit into the equation?

Long before Constantine's time, four main factions promoted four different versions of the divine nature of God. The Gnostics could not agree on the true nature of Jesus. Some held him to be the manifestation of God on earth. Others held him to be an enlightened human. Then there were the believers in Monarchiamism, which held the view that Jesus was God the Father on earth in human form as the Son of God. Other christians held the Trinitarian perspective, seeing God as one divine being revealed in three different co-equal, co-eternal natures. The fourth view held that Jesus was a created being. The first of God's creations. He was neither co-eternal, nor co-equal with God the Father. This view came to be known as Arianism by Constantine's time. However, it can be traced back to a man named Origin.

Arius was a contemporary of Constantine, as was another man by the name of Athanasius, who promoted the Trinitarian perspective. These two main factions had created much division in the christian world of Constantine's Roman Empire. This debate over the nature of Jesus of Nazareth had to be settled, and Constantine decided to play referee in the great debate. There was more than one church council held, but the most famous was held in a place called Nicaea.

After much debating the majority held the view that Jesus Christ was indeed God manifested in the flesh. This eventually led to the Trinitarian world view held by the majority of christians today.

All other perceptions of God were held to be in error, or heretical. No specific church council had established the correct canon of scripture, but this council in Nicaea played a significant role in determining how the canon would unfold. Once doctrine took center stage, scripture would be accepted only if it aligned with accepted doctrine. Therefore, many of the writings which made it into the Ethiopian Bible were not accepted as inspired scripture, since they contained what were considered, heretical views.

Ironically, this meant rejecting some texts that were actually quoted in accepted inspired scripture. For instance, the inspired letter of Jude quoted the uninspired book of Enoch. Go figure. The Revelation or Apocalypse of John was seen as inspired, but the letters of Clement were not. Many texts that circulated for centuries in various Christian communities were discarded in favor of the official Church canon in Rome. In reality, it was the Church's established doctrines that led to the inquisition against heresies.

There would be no room in this newly established Holy Roman Empire for alternative views. All other perspectives were effectively paved over for centuries to come. It was no longer up to the average christian to discern the truth in a Beroean-like fashion. The Church would now search the scriptures, and tell their followers whether or not it was so.

How do these events affect us today? Significantly! Many of these ancient texts have been unearthed in recent decades, and some people are beginning to wonder whether all of these texts should have been rejected. Ironically, one country in particular has held onto texts long forgotten by mainstream christians.

This war torn area, plagued by famine, which claims to hold the biblical Ark of the Covenant, has also preserved many ancient texts that have been long forgotten. These ancient people known as Ethiopians have a rich history, and may hold clues to understanding many accepted biblical texts.

They trace their roots back to the biblical deluge of Noah, claiming descent from Cush, the son of Noah's son Ham. They also claim connection to the famed King Solomon of ancient Israel, through their ancient Queen of Sheba. One of their people named Ebed-Melech was a companion of the Jewish prophet Jeremiah. They even get a mention in the Christian book of  "Acts of the Apostles" when Philip the evangelizer baptizes an Ethiopian official, whom he finds immersed in the writings of Isaiah the prophet. This ancient land known as the "Horn of Africa" has definitely played a significant role in biblical history.

So then, why has virtually no one heard of this country in this context? It was literally the second country after Armenia to accept Christianity. So, why on earth has its story been paved over? It is one of the oldest nations on earth, and it has survived all of its previous national contemporaries.

Perhaps, the answer lies in the hubris of the global north. As I was growing up in the 1980's and 90's, all I ever heard about this country was famine and starvation. But why were they starving? What had devastated this ancient civilization that once rivaled ancient Egypt? Who paved over this ancient Paradise?

In a way, I guess everyone did. They were still a thriving society in the time of the Roman Empire, but with the rise of Islam they became isolated from the rest of the Christian world. By the fifteen hundreds they had been reduced along with the rest of the people of Africa to a commodity to be sold into slavery (although perhaps not as prolifically, since they were still a force to be reckoned with). Nonetheless, they maintained their national sovereignty despite being divided up by northern nations.

They preserved their culture and heritage, and perhaps even an ancient relic believed lost to history. Only time will tell. Ethiopia has proven to be a true survivor on the world stage. But it also reveals the devastating effects the colonial juggernaut has had on our global community, and overall climate. This is one of the countries most affected by climate change. There is very little paradise left in this ancient gem of a nation. There is mostly pavement and dust, but it, and its people continue to survive.

They have out lived nearly every other ancient contemporary, except the one who seemed to mention them with almost brotherly affection in their sacred writings. The people of Ethiopia are by no means alone in their quest for survival. We now come to where, for many christians, this story begins. A people who have survived against all odds will be the topic of the next chapter. Let's focus on one of the most profound moments in Jewish history on the next page.