Page 80 - LD215 History of the Church in Africa A4 final

A History of the Church in Africa

quantity of which was greater than any that had ever been given
to Israel—the Queen of Sheba also directed her praise to God.
Solomon reciprocated by presenting gifts to the queen,
responding to “every desire she expressed” (1 Kings 10:13).
Ethiopian theologians interpret this phrase to mean that
Solomon and the queen had a romantic relationship which
resulted in the birth of a son, Menelek. The legend of Menelek is
preserved in a thirteenth-century document known as the Kebra
Nagast. (66–67)

Other scholars hold that the Queen of Sheba was Semitic and from
Abyssinia or Yemen, which was probably one country at that time. The
Acts narrative mentions another anonymous Ethiopian queen in the
story of the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26–39). Hays states: “The Greek
text refers to her as kandakes which some translations turn into a proper
name, Candace. However, kandakes appears to have been a title held by
female rulers of the Ethiopian kingdom that was headquartered in Meroë”
(quoted in Burton, 67). It is evident that Luke, the author of Acts, wanted
his writings to include a record of the spreading of the gospel to Africa. “If
this is a primary theological point of Luke in this passage (Acts 8), then it
invites us to contemplate the fulfillment of this paradigm in subsequent
history” (Keener, 113).

We have referred to the Nile River as a mighty force flowing from the
continent of Africa. The source of the river was a great fascination for
explorers traveling in Africa during
the nineteenth century. Its source
was proven to be in the great lakes
Groups of people area of the African interior and the

living along the Nile highlands of Ethiopia. It formed
a long corridor from present day
River corridor were Uganda and Ethiopia to the coast of

included in God’s Egypt. As we have noted concerning
the beginning of the church, God the
plan of redemption. Creator used nature for the spreading
of the gospel. Groups of people living
along the Nile River corridor were
included in God’s plan of redemption. Witnessing to these communities
was the mandate of the church (Acts 1:8).

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