After AI scanned one of the world’s oldest Ethiopian Bibles preserved in Lalibela, researchers uncovered long-overlooked post-resurrection teachings attributed to Jesus—revealing that ancient texts carefully guarded for 2,000 years may now reshape modern understanding of faith, a discovery as unsettling as it is awe-inspiring.

Lalibela—In late 2025, inside the dimly lit rock-carved churches of northern Ethiopia, a quiet technological experiment unfolded that is now sending shockwaves through the worlds of biblical scholarship, theology, and artificial intelligence.

An international research team, working alongside Ethiopian monastic authorities, completed the first full AI-assisted scan and analysis of one of the oldest continuous biblical traditions on Earth—the Ethiopian Bible—and what the system revealed has reignited a long-dormant question: what did Jesus teach after the resurrection?

The Ethiopian Bible, preserved in Ge’ez manuscripts and maintained for centuries within Ethiopia’s Christian tradition, differs significantly from the Western canon.

It contains books and passages unfamiliar to most Christians outside the Horn of Africa, many of which were transmitted through monastic lineages rather than imperial church councils.

For generations, these texts were known but rarely studied in depth due to linguistic barriers, fragile materials, and limited access.

That changed when high-resolution multispectral imaging and artificial intelligence were brought into the monasteries.

Using AI trained in ancient Semitic languages, handwriting analysis, and contextual cross-referencing, researchers digitized and analyzed thousands of manuscript pages stored in churches carved directly from living rock.

The system was not instructed to interpret theology, but to identify textual continuity, omissions, and anomalous passages across centuries of copying.

“We were looking for consistency,” said one project linguist.

“Instead, we found continuity pointing to something overlooked.”

Among the most debated findings were extended post-resurrection teachings attributed to Jesus—passages describing instructions given to his followers after rising from the dead but before ascending.

While the New Testament briefly mentions this period, it provides few details.

The Ethiopian texts, by contrast, devote significant attention to it.

According to preliminary translations, these teachings focus on inner transformation, ethical responsibility, vigilance against spiritual corruption, and warnings about future misuse of power carried out in his name.

One translated passage, discussed privately among scholars, describes Jesus cautioning his disciples that institutions would one day “speak with authority but listen without humility.

” Another emphasizes that divine presence is experienced through compassion and awareness, not domination or fear.

“These are not apocalyptic rants or secret codes,” said a historian of early Christianity who reviewed the material.

“They read like final instructions meant to endure misuse.”

What stunned researchers was not only the content, but its consistency.

The AI found that these passages remained remarkably stable across manuscripts copied centuries apart, suggesting they were intentionally preserved.

“This wasn’t marginal material,” one analyst noted.

“It was protected.”

The Ethiopian monastic community has long regarded these texts as spiritually formative rather than controversial.

A senior monk involved in the project explained their caution in sharing them publicly.

“These writings were not hidden,” he said.

“They were guarded, because words can be dangerous when power listens more than wisdom.

” Only after prolonged discussion did elders agree that modern translation and release were necessary.

“The world is asking different questions now,” the monk added.

“Perhaps now it can hear different answers.”

Reaction beyond Ethiopia has been immediate and divided.

Some Western theologians have welcomed the findings as further evidence that early Christianity was far more diverse than later doctrine suggests.

Others urge restraint, warning against framing the discovery as a correction of the New Testament.

“This doesn’t overthrow scripture,” said one biblical scholar.

“It expands the conversation.”

Skeptics caution that AI-assisted analysis can amplify patterns without understanding meaning.

“Technology can reveal text,” one critic said, “but interpretation remains human.

” Still, few deny the significance of the material itself.

The fact that such passages existed, endured, and were largely ignored outside Ethiopia has raised uncomfortable questions about how canon was shaped—and by whom.

For many observers, the emotional impact has outweighed the academic debate.

Readers who have seen early translations describe a tone that feels intimate rather than authoritative, urgent but not threatening.

“It feels like guidance, not command,” one reader wrote.

“Like a voice trying to prepare people, not control them.”

The research team plans to continue analysis and gradually release verified translations, stressing that peer review and cultural respect remain central.

Ethiopian authorities have made clear that the manuscripts will not leave the country and that interpretation must involve Ethiopian scholars at every stage.

As the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela return to their usual quiet, the reverberations of what was scanned there continue to spread.

Two thousand years after the resurrection story first circulated by word of mouth, artificial intelligence has not ended the mystery—but it has amplified a voice long preserved at the edge of the Christian world.

As one researcher reflected after the final scan was completed, “We didn’t uncover something new.

We uncovered something patient—waiting until humanity learned how to listen.”