The Establishment of the Ethiopian Church

The thought of Frumentius then began to turn towards matters of faith. He sought out Christians among the Roman merchants settled at Axum, and encouraged them to establish meeting-places for prayer, helping then in every way he could, according them favours and benefits, and gradually spreading the seed of Christianity among the people. The young king himself became a convert. When he was old enough to rule the country alone, Frumentius and Aedesius asked him for permission to leave Axum. Aedesius returned home to Tyre, but Frumentius went to Alexandria and laid the whole affair before the newly- appointed patriarch, Athanasius, begging him to appoint a bishop to minister to the needs of the growing Christian community at Axum. The patriarch summoned a council of priests to consider the matter. It was agreed that Frumentius himself should be consecrated as the first Bishop of Axum. Thus he returned to propagate the faith in the land he knew so well so well. Although Rufinus does not specify the name of the country to which Frumentius went, other sources are more specific in this respect. A letter from the Emperor Constantius, written in 356 A.D to his “precious brothers”, Aezana and Saezana, rulers of Axum, concerns the Bishop Frumentius. Furthermore, the inscriptions and coins of the Emperor Ezana testify to his adoption of Christianity. In his earlier inscriptions he styles himself “Son of unconquered Mahrem”, but in the inscription after his victory over Nubia the employed anew terminology, speaking of “the Lord of heaven and earth”, and describing how he had destroyed the “images in their temples”, thus affirming his dissociation from paganism. A recently discovered Greek inscription belonging to Ezana leaves no doubt on this matter. It begins: “in the faith of God and the power of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost”. Likewise, the coins minted in the early part of Ezana’s reign bear the pagan symbol of the crescent and disc, while thos minted in the later part of his reign bear the sign of the cross.

The introduction of Christianity as the state religion marked a turning point in Ethiopia history. Christianity does not constitute a purely religious phenomenon on the country, but plays an integral role in all aspects of national life. The Church is not only a religious institution, but has for many centuries been the repository of the cultural, political and social life of the people. The true feeling of the people who first received Christianity seems to have been expressed in the names they bestowed upon Frumentius, which are Abba Salama. Kassate Berhan, “Father of peace and Revealer of light”. It is interesting to note that Ezana and Saezana appear to have baptized with names also signifying illumination – Abreha (He illuminated) and Atsbeha (He brought the dawn).

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In Ethiopia, the diffusion of Christianity did not follow the same pattern as in the Graeco-Roman world, where Christianity was confined to the lower levels of society for three centuries, and utterly rejected by the ruling classes. Only at the beginning of the fourth century did it begin to gain a few converts among members of the imperial family. In Ethiopia the converse was true. Christianity was introduced first in to the royal court, and from there gradually penetrated among the common people. Likewise, in the Roman Empire, the Apostles and later the Church fathers were actively engaged in the evangelization of the people; in Ethiopia, Christianity was voluntarily adopted.

The birth of Ethiopian Church took place at a time when the Arian heresy was at its peak. When Frumentius was consecrated, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, under the leadership of Athanasius, “the Column of Orthodoxy”, was the stronghold of the Nicene faith against Arianism. Constantius expelled Athanasius, however and installed an Arian, George of Cappadocia, in his place. The first ecumenical Council, where Arius was condemned as a heretic, took place in 325, Shortly before the establishment of the Ethiopian church, but the decision of the Council was nevertheless regarded as binding, and Ethiopia stood by Athanasius, and the Nicene Faith. In vain, Constantius, the son of Constantine the Great, tried to bring Ethiopia onto the heresy of Arius. It was for this reason that he addressed the orthodox group of any support, and ensures international recognition of Arianism. A certain Theophilus, a priest from Socotra, highly respected for his impeccable moral character, was entrusted with this mission to Axum, but he was apparently not even allowed to enter Aksumite territory. His mission failed, and Frumentius remained in Axum, to continue the teaching which he had learnt from Athanasius. The Ethiopian church holds Athanasius in special veneration. He was canonized as a saint, and his work, The Life of Saint Anthony, was translated into Ethiopic. One of the fourteen Anaphora’s of the Ethiopian Church is attributed to Athanasius. The 318 Father who participated in the First Ecumenical Council are also specially venerated, and another Anaphora of the Liturgy bears their name, as the Anaphora of the Three Hundred Fathers.