Article: Black History Month and Orthodoxy
Photo from Brotherhood of St Moses the Black
Victor Beshir writes an interesting article posted on the Preacher’s Institute website, entitled Orthodox Roots of African Americans. To summarise:
Many aren’t familiar the fact that a lot of Christianity developed in Africa. The Exodus story is about the Jews leaving Egypt, in Africa; there were prophets who went to Egypt, in Africa; Jesus lived there in his early life; some figures in the Bible were born in Africa, including St Mark (Libya) and Simon the Cyrenian (Tunisia).
Africa was not only one of the first to receive the Good News of Jesus (well before western Europe!), it was also a great contributor to the early Church in areas such as theology, biblical studies and monasticism, as well as many theologians and saints.
This didn’t stop when Africans were forced to America, but many Orthodox Africans would continue (under persecution) continue to meet to pray together.
African Americans being Orthodox continues to this day, most notably through the Brotherhood of St Moses the Black, led by Fr Moses Berry, and their annual Ancient Christianity & African-American conference. In Australia, the equivalent is the Australian Indigenous Orthodox Mission, led by Fr Seraphim Slade.
Ethiopia’s Jewish roots are particularly interesting (the book of Enoch is canonical in the Ethiopian Christian tradition!)
I wouldn’t doubt it for a second! We can easily recall the Ethiopian who Philip talked to in Acts (8:27-36), reading Jewish Scripture – clearly there was a long history of Judaism in Ethiopia.
The history of the Ethiopian Jews and the particular way ancient Christianity has been preserved (in Ethiopia and throughout all Judaism) is fascinating. R. Simcha Pearlmutter speaks of a ritual redemption ceremony conducted on all firstborn Jewish males, by the parents and involving the Kohen (High Priest). In this ceremony the child is “bought” with thirty shekels in a remembrance of “Yeshua ha-Ben” and who therefore belong to Hashem. Ecumenical councils do not enter to equation. Now as the “Jesus wave” sweeps through the “old religion”, all religion is redeemed of its “vestigial” paganism.
As God’s plan of salvation for mankind unfolds, the hidden hand of God can be seen “in” history and beyond it.
Interesting footnote: The Jewish Encyclopedia tells us that that ‘”Cush” in rabbinical literature is taken to be Ethiopia’ although “nations identical in name extend over parts of Africa, Arabia, and Babylonia”. “In a great many cases it is very difficult to determine whether the translators have used this Greek name correctly (as it appears in the book of Genesis).
The history of the Ethiopian Jews and the particular way ancient Christianity has been preserved (in Ethiopia and throughout all Judaism) is fascinating. R. Simcha Pearlmutter speaks of a ritual redemption ceremony conducted on all firstborn Jewish males, by the parents and involving the Kohen (High Priest). In this ceremony the child is “bought” with thirty shekels in remembrance of “Yeshua ha-Ben” (and who therefore now belong to Hashem). Ecumenical councils do not enter into the equation. Now as the “Jesus wave” sweeps through the “old religion”, all religion is redeemed of its “vestigial” paganism. As God’s plan of salvation for mankind unfolds, the hidden hand of God becomes visible “in” history and beyond it.
Interesting footnote: The Jewish Encyclopedia tells us that that ‘”Cush” in rabbinical literature is taken to be Ethiopia (although) nations identical in name extend over parts of Africa, Arabia, and Babylonia [....] In a great many cases it is very difficult to determine whether the translators have used this Greek name correctly (as it appears in the book of Genesis).
What I mean to say also, is that God did not require a priori, the seven ecumenical councils to save mankind. They are not the source of salvation (though they embody God’s salvific energies). Nor do Oriental Christians reject the fourth and fifth ecumenical councils, they merely state that they do not go far enough in delineating the distinctions between Christ’s two natures.
:)