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How Did Christianity Influenced Ethiopia

Satisfactory Essays

Hanna Solomon
December 1, 2017
Professor Apel
HIS 111

How Christianity Influenced Ethiopia

What is Christianity? Christianity is the religion based, monotheistic, teachings of Jesus Christ. It is one of the largest religions with over 2 billion followers across the world. Ethiopia, located in East Africa, has been qualified as one of the most populated countries in the world and second-most populated nation in Africa. It is officially known as "The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.” As recently recorded, Ethiopia’s population has grown to about 95 million people, with Addis Ababa as its largest city and capital. Ethiopia is full of different religious beliefs, cultures, and languages but the largest religious influence comes from Christianity. It was also the only country in Africa to maintain authority and defeat European colonial power. So how did Christianity really influence Ethiopia?

Christianity has expanded in the northern part of Africa for many years. During the 4th century reign of the Aksumite (Aksum) emperor Ezana, Ethiopia was one of the first regions to endorse Christianity. It was brought to Aksum through merchants trying to spread the word and religion of Jesus Christ. Ezana’s decision to support Christianity was …show more content…

Ezana’s hope was to unify the diverse people of the Aksumite kingdom. Ezana had then confirmed that Christianity had been declared the official religion of Ethiopia. They were the only African region to survive expansion of Islam as an official Christian country. About two-fifths of all Ethiopians follow the culture of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, one of the largest Orthodox Churches of Ethiopia. Christian beliefs include the belief of God and the Virgin Mary. The Orthodox teaches that God is unified in three forms: The Father, The Son, and The Holy

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