In the early sixteenth century, Martin Luther and other Protestant Reformers challenged the authority of the Roman Catholic Church by appealing to Scripture and the practices of the early Church. In the course of this movement, Luther became aware of other ancient Christian traditions that existed independently of Rome, including the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. This tradition, which traces its origins to the apostolic age, maintained a form of Christianity that had developed outside the bounds of Western Christendom. Luther regarded the Ethiopian Church with respect, seeing in it a living example of authentic Christianity that had never been subject to the Pope yet had preserved essential elements of Christian doctrine.
In 1534, Luther had a significant encounter with Michael the Deacon, an Ethiopian cleric who had traveled to Europe. The two men engaged in theological dialogue and found remarkable agreement on several matters, including the sacraments and the centrality of Christ. Their conversation served to reinforce Luther’s conviction that the true Church was not confined to the structures of Roman Catholicism. The presence of Ethiopian Christianity, with its long and independent history, served as a powerful illustration of that point. Through Michael, Luther likely learned more about the Ethiopian Church's biblical canon and practices, which differed in notable ways from those of the Western Church.
One of the most distinctive features of the Ethiopian Orthodox canon is its inclusion of texts that were unknown or considered apocryphal in the West. Among these is the Book of Enoch, a work that had disappeared from the broader Christian world for centuries but survived in Ethiopia, preserved in the Ge'ez language. Although Luther did not include the Book of Enoch in his own canon, and there is no evidence that he read it in full, he would have become aware of its existence and status through his contact with Michael the Deacon. This awareness would have further underscored for Luther the idea that biblical canon was not universally fixed and that other ancient Christian communities preserved different yet deeply rooted traditions.
The Ethiopian Church's preservation of the Book of Enoch was particularly significant because the text had long been lost to the Latin West, known only through brief references in early Christian writings and in the New Testament Epistle of Jude. That the Ethiopian tradition not only retained the book but considered it scriptural added a layer of complexity to the Reformation's engagement with Scripture and tradition. It highlighted the diversity of Christian thought and textual transmission across centuries and continents. For Luther, such encounters affirmed that Christian truth was not the monopoly of any one ecclesiastical body, and that God had preserved His Church in various forms across the world.
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