An ancient Ethiopian Bible has revealed lost words of Jesus after His resurrection, hidden for 2,000 years, offering scholars astonishing insights into early Christian teachings and leaving the world both amazed and challenged by what history preserved outside the Western canon.

For nearly two thousand years, the world has remained unaware of a passage detailing Jesus’ words following His resurrection, preserved not in Western biblical texts but in an ancient Ethiopian manuscript whose origins predate many of the scriptures traditionally accepted by the Church.

The manuscript, part of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church’s canon, has long been safeguarded by monastic communities in the highlands of Ethiopia, far from the political and religious upheavals that shaped Christianity in Europe and the Mediterranean.

Scholars first began re-examining these texts in 2025, when high-resolution scans and digital imaging allowed detailed study without damaging the fragile manuscript.

Researchers from the Institute for Ancient Manuscripts in Addis Ababa worked alongside linguists and historians to translate the Ge‘ez language, revealing passages that diverge significantly from the familiar accounts in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

One particularly striking section describes Jesus addressing His disciples after rising from the dead, emphasizing forgiveness, spiritual enlightenment, and the importance of inner understanding in a way that does not appear in the Western canon.

“This is a window into a version of early Christianity that developed outside the Roman Empire,” said Dr.Selamawit Alemayehu, a leading biblical scholar involved in the project.

“It challenges long-held assumptions about what the first followers of Jesus actually heard and believed, and reminds us that Christianity was never a monolith.

These texts survived in Ethiopia precisely because they were geographically and politically isolated, preserving a perspective lost elsewhere.”

The Ethiopian Bible itself is remarkable not only for its preservation of unique post-resurrection teachings but also for its inclusion of numerous texts absent from most Western Bibles.

Books such as Enoch, Jubilees, and other apocryphal writings are part of the canon, reflecting a broader theological tradition that incorporates narratives and moral teachings often excluded or forgotten as Christianity spread across empires.

The manuscript provides evidence that early Christian communities in Africa maintained rich and independent interpretations of Jesus’ teachings.

Researchers note that the newly translated passages portray Jesus in intimate dialogue with His disciples, encouraging reflection, patience, and a deeper connection to God.

Unlike canonical texts that focus primarily on public ministry or miracles, the Ethiopian writings emphasize personal spiritual development and communal harmony, suggesting that the early Ethiopian Church preserved aspects of Jesus’ teachings that were marginalized or omitted in Western Christianity.

The discovery has provoked vigorous discussion among theologians and historians worldwide.

Some scholars argue that these texts may offer insights into the diversity of early Christian thought before the formalization of the Western canon through church councils such as Nicaea in 325 CE.

Others caution that while the translations are compelling, further study is required to understand historical context, manuscript variations, and potential transcription errors accrued over centuries.

Despite the scholarly debate, the public reaction has been equally intense.

Faith communities, history enthusiasts, and social media users are fascinated by the revelation that Jesus’ words survived in a remote manuscript for two millennia, untouched by Western oversight.

Workshops, virtual exhibitions, and public lectures are planned to allow broader audiences to explore the texts, while digital preservation efforts ensure that the fragile pages can be studied without risk of damage.

Dr.Alemayehu emphasizes the cultural and spiritual significance of the manuscript.

“It’s not merely about what the words say, but about what they represent — a continuity of faith and tradition maintained against the tides of history, a testament to the Ethiopian Church’s role as guardian of an alternative narrative of early Christianity.”

The rediscovery of these passages also raises broader questions about the formation of religious canons and the texts that were suppressed or lost in the process of standardizing scripture.

It underscores the importance of geographically diverse perspectives in reconstructing historical realities and highlights how political, cultural, and theological forces influenced which texts were deemed authoritative.

As translations continue and scholarly analysis deepens, one question remains: how many other manuscripts, preserved in remote or overlooked corners of the world, may contain similarly transformative insights into early Christian thought? For now, the Ethiopian Bible stands as a unique window into a version of Jesus’ teachings that remained hidden for 2,000 years, reminding the world that history, faith, and revelation are often far more complex than the canonical narrative suggests.

This extraordinary discovery not only illuminates the richness of early Christian heritage but also invites believers and scholars alike to reconsider the boundaries of sacred scripture and the diversity of voices that have shaped religious history.