This week in Christian history: Bob Marley baptized; Billy Sunday dies; pope defends indulgences

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, November 03, 2024

Bob Marley converts to Orthodox Christianity – Nov. 4, 1980

Reggae singer Bob Marley performing a concert at the Rainbow Theatre in London, England, in 1977. | Screengrab: YouTube/Roots Rockers

This week marks the anniversary of when famous reggae musician Bob Marley converted to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church months before he died from melanoma at the age of 36.

Marley was most known for being a follower of Rastafarianism, a small Jamaica-based religion in which many adherents believed that Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie was the messiah.

Near the end of his life, Marley became interested in joining the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and was baptized by Archbishop Abuna Yesehaq, giving the singer the new name of Berhane Selassie, which means “Light of Trinity.”

In advance of a large public funeral held for the singer on May 21, 1981, the Marley family paid their respects at a service held at the Ethiopian Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity in Kingston, Jamaica, which was presided over by Yesehaq.