‘And we must look into ourselves, into the depth of our souls. We must become something we have never been and for which our education and experience and environment have ill-prepared us. We must become bigger than we have been: more courageous, greater in spirit, larger in outlook. We must become members of a new race, overcoming petty prejudice, owing our ultimate allegiance not to nations but to our fellow men within the human community.’ Haile Selassie I We must become something we have never been and for which our education and experience and environment have ill-prepared us. In this famous speech of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I, he is urging us to become something for which our education have ill-prepared us for. The Gospel of the Lion of Judah is a response to that heart felt call of Haile Selassie I to prepare the upcoming generations for the world he envisioned. Until this moment students at secondary schools rarely came in contact with the Utterance of the Rasta man. ‘Give us the teachings of His Majesty, for we no want no devil’s philosophy,’ as Bob Marley pleaded.

 

This book contains those timeless extracts of the vision of Haile Selassie I. It does not claim to be complete, but it wants to serve as a guiding light for the new generations. It merely wants to sow some seeds of the high ideals and morality of His Majesty in the still fertile minds of the youths. Seeds which might be nurtured and taken care after by the questions and tasks at the end of each chapter. With these tasks the students are invited to look into the world around them, but more important, invited to look into themselves, into the depths of their souls, to find their own answers to the demands of a new race. The Gospel of the Lion of Judah has been written, in the first case, for the Franklin A.D. With College in Klaaskreek, located in the beautiful wooded interior of the Republic Surinam, but can be used in any secondary school around the world. It may also be used by parents who want to share the vision of His Imperial Majesty with their up growing children. Last but not least it may be used by anyone, for as Haile Selassie always stated: ‘There is no end to learning and, that the process of education is life-long and never-ending and, there can be no time limit for learning and the pursuit of knowledge.’