The "Walmart" Ethiopian Bible is the Rage

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"The Ethiopian Bible" OR Hebrew Bible in Ethiopian Language?

by Mitiku Adisu

The operative words are of course "treasury" "hidden" "lost" (as now finally found) "complete" and "including the book of Enoch." And to top it all, "books not found in Protestant and Catholic canon preserved in Ethiopia." This is not to say these books are without historical/cultural value, especially to those in academia.
The descriptors above are just a marketing ploy to get the attention, particularly, of a North American crowd bored, confused with the path cultural evangelical Christianity has taken in recent years, and in search of a new new experience. Some such person lectured me the other day that Christianity in its pristine condition is found only in Ethiopia! There we go!
The "Ethiopian" aspect of the title must be in reference to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church (EOTC)." If so, several clarifications are in order. First, the official EOTC bible has 81 books, not 88. Secondly, the identities and credentials of those promoting "the Ethiopian bible" is hard to track down (wink, wink). "Solomon's Gate Press" and a 2025 edition by "Anonymous and Michael T. Rowan." See if you can find who Michael T. Rowan is or who did the translation from ancient Ethiopian Ge'ez language.
While you are at it, check if in fact the translation and selection of these books were sanctioned by EOTC! How about checking if so-called "translation" was a King James Version of the Bible, which then added the Oxford Hebrew scholar Dr. Richard Laurence's 1821 translation of the Book of Enoch? [The complete version of the Book of Enoch in Ge'ez was (most likely stolen) and brought to Britain by the adventurer James Bruce.]
Finally, what is a 88-book bible without a guide? Mrs. Rebecca Norma Decker has come up just with such a guide: "The Ethiopian Bible In English Complete [Large Print]: A Historical and Canonical Guide to the 88 Books of the Orthodox Church" for $24.99 on Thrift Books.
My suggestion? Do your homework. Pray for discernment. Check the credentials of the translators. Above all, don't let your faith be hacked and/or be distracted from the heart of the Christian scripture. That is, Yahweh, the God of Israel, has finally revealed himself in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus it was who died for our salvation and rose from the dead to justify us before God. Jesus it was who sent the promised Holy Spirit to indwell and transform us into a new community.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it... The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth... Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. [Gospel of John 1:1-18]

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