The Book of Mystery of Giyorgis of Sägla
This book presents the first English translation of the Mäṣḥäfä Mǝsṭir (“Book of Mystery”) of Giyorgis of Sägla. Giyorgis lived in Ethiopia during the late-fourteenth and early-fifteenth centuries and is the earliest-known prose author in the history of not only Ethiopia, but anywhere in Africa south of the Sahara. While he wrote many works, the Mäṣḥäfä Mǝsṭir is his most well-known and influential. The purpose of this monumental work was to educate lay Christians and monks in matters of orthodoxy in order to defend the Christian faith and it was intended for use in church worship. Giyorgis’ Mäṣḥäfä Mǝsṭir is an indispensable resource for studies in theology and history. This volume also includes the first English translation of Giyorgis' biography. This book is also a helpful aid for Christians in theological and devotional formation. This translation is being printed with Rehobot Printers, located in Addis Ababa, and is available now for pre-order.
We need to sell 400 copies of the book in order for it to be shipped from Ethiopia. As soon as we reach that goal and have the copies in the US, the pre-ordered books will be shipped. We greatly appreciate your patience while we wait for the books to arrive.
Dear Co-Labourers,
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! I write to you with exciting news of the release of a new book: The Book of Mystery of Giyorgis of Sägla. This book is the first English translation of an ancient Ethiopian work of systematic theology. I began this work six years ago when I translated one chapter of The Book of Mystery for another project. However, I felt called by the Lord to translate the entire book when I learned a very important fact about Giyorgis: he is the world’s earliest known prose author from Sub-Saharan Africa! It is an amazing fact that the world’s first-known book author from anywhere in Sub-Saharan Africa—from amidst all the languages, regions and religions of this part of the world—was a Christian theologian. This attests to the reality that Christianity has been in Africa from the very beginning and that Africans have made tremendous contributions to the Christian faith.
These contributions are often neglected or marginalized because these Church mothers and fathers wrote in African languages (such as Giyorgis’ native Geʿez) and they espoused a Miaphysite (“one nature”) Christianity that was unjustifiably rejected by the West as heretical. Giyorgis is the most renown theologian in the Ethiopian and Eritrean tradition and his masterpiece is his Book of Mystery, a thirty-chapter systematic theology covering the major doctrines of the Christian faith from an Ethiopian perspective. Organized to fit with the liturgical calendar and meant for public recitation, The Book of Mystery covers topics from the doctrine of God, christology, pneumatology, eschatology, sacramental theology and many other topics. Black theologians are often only promoted when we speak about Black Theology and it is very difficult to find systematic theological treatments of core Christian doctrine written by scholars of African descent. Giyorgis wrote this catechetical masterpiece in 1424 and it is now available for the English-speaking world.
We need your help to bring this book into physical print. As part of the mission to promote African and African-descended Christian voices, we are printing this book in partnership with an Ethiopian Christian publisher, Rehobot Printers. It is just as important to uplift the contributions of Black voices—past and present—as it is to support Black-owned organizations, on this continent and in the Motherland. Part of the struggle in partnering across the Atlantic in the exchange of literature is the immense shipping costs. We are asking that you help us by pre-ordering as many copies as you are able of this translation of The Book of Mystery to help us raise the necessary shipping costs to bring the books from Addis Ababa to the U.S. In order to attain the physical copies of the book, we need to reach the goal of 400 pre-sales of this book. We are asking you for two things: 1. Please pre-order as many copies for yourself, your church, school and/or library as possible and, 2. Please spread the word about this book in your networks as much as possible. I would be more than happy to share directly in your community about this project in person or virtually.
We are grateful for your commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to the empowerment of the Black community. This is an important work in which we are blessed to be co-laborers. I am grateful for your consideration of support in this project of sharing the voice of the world’s first Sub-Saharan African author.
In Jesus’ name,
Vince L. Bantu