The introduction to Ethiopia on Monday and Kebra Negast made me look at Ethiopia in a completely different way. First of all, I didn't know that Ethiopia was Catholic. I had (foolishly) assumed that it was a collective of different religions, tribal and mainstream. Then, I had no idea that Ethiopia was so important in Catholicism. The story that we read shines a completely new light, because it discusses the positive relations between Israel and Ethiopia. The original relationship was between the Queen of Ethiopia and Solomon. She came to Israel to seek his wisdom, and he taught her for 6 months. The night before she left, they had sex, and she had his son. When the son grew up, he desired to find his father, so the Queen sent him to Israel. Of course, this is an account that make have creative fabrications, but there must be some real connection to accurate history. It does make sense, however, because Ethiopia and Israel are so geographically close. I suppose that the countries still have positive relations today, as we saw the video of the massive air lift of Ethiopian Jews to Israel. The Israelites seemed very earnest in their aiding the Ethiopian Jews.
Kebra Negast shows how Ethiopia affected biblical history. Without the Queen coming to Solomon, there would be no son of Solomon. If Ethiopia was not present, the Art of the Covenant would be elsewhere.
Kebra Negast also gives a historical account of how Ethiopia was converted to Christianity. According to the account, before the Queen of Ethiopia contacted Solomon, Ethiopia was a sun-worshiping nation. They worshiped the sun for its warmth, its ability to give life, and more. When the Queen of Ethiopia asked Solomon about the true higher power, he told her that the only true power was God. Right on the spot, she decided to convert her country to Christianity. I wonder when Ethiopia actually did convert to Christianity, because the conversion would also take lots of time and effort.
The story had a lot of interesting ideas in it, but I would personally like to know the true historical account of Ethiopia's conversion. If I knew the history, then I could compare the two stories and appreciate this account for its effect on the bible.
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The show "Jesus Camp" is quite scary. I saw a clip from one episode and it made me think about growing up in the presence of a certain belief. What's interesting is that it can be from both sides. I grew up in a scientific family, and i was taught that science governs the universe which leads to religion being wrong, without even looking at what religion is about. some religions don't contradict science, but growing up with science leading me early on in my life, it turned me away from all religions because i believed that they were wrong. This is the exact opposite of Jesus camp, though not extreme because science still tries to keep people's minds open.
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