If we tried to summarize the history of Western Christianity by simply naming cities, we might say: first Jerusalem, then Rome, then Wittenberg and Geneva. We’re often taught that even though our faith started in the Middle East, it rather quickly centered in Europe and then missionaries went out from there. But, it turns out that Martin Luther was very interested in – even inspired by – the Ethiopian Church and he wasn’t the only one.
It was a pretty widespread belief in the 16th century that Ethiopia was the first nation to convert to Christianity. Think about the story from Acts 8:26-40 about the Ethiopian eunuch who serves the Queen of Ethiopia. He’s moved by the Gospel and baptized by Philip. There are also church legends that the Apostles Bartholomew and Matthew travelled to Ethiopia to share the Gospel. Then there are the stories of a mythic, ideal Christian kingdom far from the rest of the church.
Martin Luther believed that his reforms meant a return to the historic church, the biblical church, the church of the Apostles, but how could he prove it? When he thought about the church in Ethiopia, he saw a church that was unconnected from popes, a church that developed without the influence of the Catholic church. It held great promise for him.
In 1534, Martin Luther regularly had dialogues and debates with other reformers and Catholic theologians. That year, to his surprise, a man sought him out. This was Abba Mika’el, a deacon from the Ethiopian church. Michael the Deacon didn’t speak Greek or Latin, but he did speak a little Italian. Excited, Luther invited an interpreter to join them. Luther, Michael the Deacon, and several other reformers continued to meet a number of times over a period of five weeks. By the end of this time, Michael and Luther agreed that they shared beliefs on the most important questions of Christian teaching and theology. They saw eye to eye about the Trinity, about scripture being translated into the language that regular folks spoke, and about clergy having the right to get married. They both believed that all present should receive both bread and wine at communion. In the end, they said that even though they had differences in their liturgies and ceremonies, they were not major enough to “undermine the unity of the Church [or] conflict with faith.” They both believed so deeply in the one Church of Jesus Christ that they declared themselves to be in full communion. Luther wrote Michael the Deacon a letter of recommendation so he would be welcomed by reformers as he traveled on.
Meeting and speaking with Michael the Deacon had a great impact on Luther. He mentioned it in letters and in sermons, which were then copied and published to a wider audience. Here was confirmation that Protestants weren’t destroying the unity of the church – they were restoring the church. One copy of one of these letters even describes Michael as a bishop rather than a deacon to lend his voice more weight.
But, over the years, Protestants were less enthusiastic about this connection with Ethiopia. In the late 18th century, new translations downplayed the encounter and referred to the foreigner as part of the “Greek Church.” By the late 18th and 19th centuries, there was a greater emphasis on reflecting the uniqueness of the Protestant movement arising within Germany. It is only recently that the writings have been retranslated and re-published.
We choose which stories we tell and how we tell them. Learning about Martin Luther and Abba Mika’el reminds us that Christianity has never spread from one culture, one theology, one human power outwards. God’s good news is global, shared by people all over the world. Why should we think of our faith as a lone beacon of Christ when his light shines from every continent?1
[1] Sources:
- https://divinity.uchicago.edu/sightings/articles/martin-luther-and-ethiopian-christianity-historical-traces
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_Orthodox_Tewahedo_Church
- https://bibliographie.uni-tuebingen.de/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10900/134136/Paulau_012.pdf?sequence=1
- https://scholar.archive.org/work/56zzkaqwzrfkzdae7cqps56yea/access/wayback/https://brill.com/downloadpdf/book/9789004505254/BP000006.pdf
- https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/opinion/contributors/2017/10/21/honor-reformations-african-roots/783252001/