Historyof Christianity in the lands of My Toil

HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE LANDS OF MY TOIL: PROF. M. M. NINAN
King Ezana ll ofthe Axumite Ethiopian Empire became one of the first nations to become a Christian
state beginning 330 AD. and one of the oldest surviving Christian nations in the world. Several
Christian monuments date back to King Ezana's time such as the Ta'akha Maryam {The Cathedral of
Saint Mary of Zionj one of the oldest Christian cathedrals on earth. which existed nearly three hundred
years before Islam and 700 years before Christianity was brought to Europe by North African
missionaries.
King Ezana’s granite steele (obelisk)
Ezana also had success in military campaigns. He conquered many kingdoms along the Red Sea and
its area. It is also recorded that in the 300 ADs, he conquered the Kingdom of Kush, which is now
modern Sudan. Meroe, also fell into the hands of the Axumites. In 350 AD, Ezana invaded the island
of Meroe and conquered it. Not only was Ezana successful in battle, he created several amazing and
beautiful structures such as King Ezana’s granite steele (obelisk), which is the tallest standing steel,
standing up to about 78 feet. Ezana is also credited as finding the Ark of the Covenant from the island
of Tana Kirkos. He brought it back to place it in the Cathedral of St. Mary of Zion which he built and
gave it to Ethiopian Christians.
In the 4th century AD the Ethiopian King Ezana made Christianity the kingdom's official religion. In
312 Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.
Since then it has maintained its long Christian witness in a region dominated by Islam; today it has a
membership of around forty million and is rapidly growing. The Church of Ethiopia (or formally, the
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church) has a recognized place in worldwide Christianity as one of
five non-Chalcedonian Orthodox Churches.As Dr Binns shows, it has developed a distinctive
approach which makes it different from all other churches.
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The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Christian Churches.
One of the few pre-colonial Christian Churches in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Ethiopian Orthodox
Tewahedo Church has a membership of between 45 and 50 million people, the majority of whom live
in Ethiopia. It is a founding member of the World Council of Churches. The Ethiopian Orthodox
Tewahedo Church is in communion with the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria having gained
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