₦airaland Forum

When Constantine in 325 A.D. took ideas from African spirituality and created a control mechanism at the Council of Nicea he was trying to organize a system for using African spiritual ideas. The early Christian church had to deal with the fact that Christians had used many African ideas, the son of God, [Horus, from which came Orisha, Alusi, Lisa etc, was the Egyptian Son of God], eternal life, and the resurrection, in their religion. The sad fact is that since we have forgotten so much we do not know that we are the originators of religion.

Jen33,

Prof. Asante has just said above that Christianity is a series of African religious ideas -- originated by Africans, right?

How can Christianity be founded by African Ideas as Prof.Assante believes and still be a so called offense as "not an African God"?

It was ours, they stole it, they brought it back. Right? LOL SMILE

Horus,

If only it were that simple.

I think it was Dubois or maybe Douglass who added a disclaimer at the end of one of their books.

It basically said this:

People have mistaken me to be a non-Christian because of my words written against Christians. Not understanding that I am fully Christian and reject whole heartedly the idea that what is practiced in America as Christianity, is Christianity. (bad paraphraze)

His point was and mine too, was to show that there were 2 different types of Christians involved in the debate (any debate really) about American inhumanity to Black folks even though they were suppossedly Christians.  

The fake Christian.
The real Christian.

It was the same with the reference to the South African situtation, in my first post.

Basically the white christian teachers at the school, could not answer for the fact that they had none of the right thinking that the bible says a Christian should have.

Thus they were Christian in name only.

Bari-Kade,

I thought the temple priests always got a part of the tithes as the way that they "lived". This is why pastors are paid out of the tithes now, right?

Levites were not expected to work outside jobs but to instead "make money" by proceeds from tithes. This was their living.

Some say it was in the course of them doing their temple work on the sabbath, that they profaned the sabbath. Thus their job caused them to profane the sabbath.

I do not know.

And for the other oppressor. Arabs.

They also ignored what the Koran said about not being able to enslave someone who converts to being a muslim.

The Black slavery business was too profitable So a lot of times they would ignore any conversion of a Black person to Muslim and enslave them anyways.

Again, as Christians did, ignoring the parts of the bible that inconvenienced their profit related motive for coming to Africa, for oppression or slaves.

Aunty Mary:
Hi All

Long time my pipu, i don lost tay tay! but i remember una today as I stumbled accross this blog post and thought it raised some interesting
points, so knowing my Nairaland brothers/sisters have strong views, i say make i share the post with una, make una comment,

oya, over to you;

http://ironlaydee..com/2007/06/just-wondering-about-nigeria.html

Aunty Mary,

Everybody has to serve the God of their oppressor. God made satan also. In one sense. Doesn't answer your question though.

I come from a long line of Christian African Revolutionaries. So I consider myself to be serving the God of my anscestors. The God who freed my people from slavery. Which doesn't again answer your question.

I in an historical aspect see the God of the bible as something that our oppressor did not want us to know about.


"Never make an attempt to gain our freedom or natural right, from under our cruel oppressors and murderers, until you see your way clear--when that hour arrives and you move, be not afraid or dismayed; for be you assured that Jesus Christ the king of heaven and of earth who is the God of justice and of armies, will surely go before you. And those enemies who have for hundreds of years stolen our rights and kept us ignorant of him and his divine worship, he will remove." ___David Walker, a freeman. Written in 1829 (For colored people'sof the world.)

For some reason this Blackman did not see the oppressors as someone who wanted to show us Jesus Christ but instead kept us ignorant of Jesus Christ.

So for me historically, it is not so clear cut that the oppressors were in fact sharing their religion with us.

In Haiti the slaves were told, they could only worship the number 2 god, satan that is. Thus Juju (called Voodoo by AA) was allowed to gain prominence there.

In 1925, one of the first groups to break away from whites, were the church's of South Africa. Once they knew the bible, they knew that whites were in great violation of it.

This question would become important later in South Africa's history also. Christian schools set up to teach Africans to be nurses and teachers and other "lessor" jobs, it was felt they should be trained in, were questioned by their students about the part of the bible (the book of Amos specifically) that one should not oppress people. Yet whites were in South Africa oppressing them, even though they claimed to be Christians.

The white teachers had no answer for their students. The students began a boycott which would soon extend to even more Blacks begining to boycott schools.

As you should know young children were boycotting schools based on what had begun at this Christian school and were killed in mass by the police. This incident is called "The Soweto Massacre". The police killed about 670 children, I believe. Everybody knows that this event changed the anti-apartied movement forever. There was no going back after this.

I know again in America, Frederick Douglass in his famous 4th of July address said: I shall use this bible to trample on America. (pp) In otherwords for FD, the bible was the clear evidence of the wrongs that were being committed against Black Americans.

Americans outlawed reading and in particular the reading of the bible for Black Americans.

I know again Masters fought long and hard against Christians trying to come and evangelize their slaves, because of course, animals have no souls and thus Black slaves are not protected by the Laws of the Bible, since there is no soul in them to save, as there is suppossedly no soul in any beast to save.

These 3 historical cases, (AA in america, Haitains in the Carribean, South Africans) have always led me to believe that quite unlike as it is thought of.

The oppressor was never too keen on sharing Jesus Christ with us.

Until you bring the very verse in the Law where you get the exemption for making money, I'll still be asking that question. Cheers.

Bari-kade,

Okay. Your looking for a certain exemption about making money.

I don't know. That can be kinda confusing.

Technically all Levites made their living from their work in the temple and that would include what they did in the temple on the sabbath, right?

Did they profane the sabbath because of working and getting paid for their work on the sabbath?

Hmmm. That is an interesting question of why they "profaned" it.

bari_kade:
@Drusilla,

Glad you asked. Here:

I Corinthians 15:

"But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?" - vs. 35

"It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." - vs. 44

"the dead shall be raised incorruptible" - vs. 52.

Spiritual body is like the exact opposite of a "flesh body" right?

bari_kade:
@Drussilla,

If you believe that the Sabbath Day Law was meant to be profaned, good for you. But can you walk me through the entire LAW of the Sabbath in EXODUS for the "exemptions" you're advancing and let's see how they tessellate with working to earn money on such days as the germane excuse to profane the Sabbath?

Bari-kade,

That is all your argument. I just read several posts that there are no exemptions for the sabbath.

Being found blameless even if one profanes the sabbath, seemed to me to be a pretty big exemption.

I haven't looked myself but I believe Jesus that this exemption is in the Law.

Actually, there are exemptions in the Sabbath Law. Jesus states it.

Mat 12:5 Or have you not read in the Law that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath and are blameless?

Even priests profaned the sabbath and the Law says they were blameless.

The question that now begs to be asked, what has happened to the soul? Well, it simply doesn't exist anymore. Once there is no union of body and life force, there can be no soul.

Bobbyaf,

The soul however can be as Ezekiel shows resurrected. i.e. life brought back into the body brings back the soul, right?

thesilent1,

1Th 5:23 And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blamelessly at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I think it is scriptures where we get the idea of a triad being.

Bara-kade,

What about the idea that "no flesh can enter the kingdom of God", we must be changed into what Christ is, corruptible must put on incorruptible.

I'm not sure that our flesh body must stand before God.