Christianity and Rastafari

Most rastas would say this; however, in this case it is not true. In order for former rastas to recieve baptism in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, they must reject the belief that Haile Selassie is Christ incarnate, etc. There were a few early baptisms that took place in the 60s where this did not happen, but this is now a mandate and was also for Bob Marley.

 

Except that the lyrics explicitly reject the notion of dying and going to heaven in Jesus' name.

 

No, he actually doesn't reject the "notion" of dying and going to heaven in Jesus' name, he rejects those who tell people not to live their lives or to stand up for basic human rights because everything will be alright in heaven.

Based on other conversations that I have had with you in other threads, I am sure you are aware of the influence of Augustinian thought on Western Christendom. It is a theology based largely on death, on suffering. Look at the differences between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, for example. In almost every Catholic church, Christ is exalted, in front, dead and nailed to a cross. In the Orthodox Churches, you will see him as the risen Pantocrator (emperor/ruler over all). In Rastafari, with His Majesty as Emperor of Ethiopia until just a few decades ago, this difference is even more pronounced. There was/is an energizing, life-affirming theology that runs through the core of Rastafari. This Nazarite doctrine shapes their view of death in general and informs their views on those who use it as the center of their faith, rather than the resurrection or the "God with us" philosophy of Rastafari.

 

This seems like a pretty clear rejection of the foundational Christian hope in the Kingdom of God to be consummated at the return of Christ, when all will be judged, evil vanquished, and believers in Christ resurrected in imperishable bodies. Instead, this song tells us to look for heaven on earth. This is antithetical to the teaching of Paul in 1 Cor. 15, which specifically says that we are to be pitied more than anyone if we base our hope only on this life. This doesn't mean that we are to be unconcerned about justice, but we are to have no illusions about the perfectability of this present order, which is destined to perish just like our corrupted bodies. Rather, we are to proclaim (and exemplify) the kingdom of justice that Jesus inaugurated.

Again, this sounds like an overt rejection of Christ's unique incarnation and atoning sacrifice on our behalf, in favor of an exaltation of man as God. According to Scripture, man is hopelessly alienated from God by sin, apart from faith in Christ and his redemptive work on the cross. The "western" theology of suffering is as indispensable to biblical Christianity as the "eastern" theology of triumph. We see in Rev. 5 that the Lamb is declared victorious and worthy to open the scroll of human history and judgment because he was slain from the foundation of the world. There is no Easter without Good Friday.

 

While I definately agree that there could be no Easter without Good Friday, I am talking about theological EMPAHSIS. In any Orthodox church, they also have icons of the crucifixion, and the burial.
Rasta is like this too, and while I don't personally defend it, there has been a shift away from Rastas concider the first incarnation. This happened also in the primative Christian church with the OT as they were consistently ostricized by the Judeans.

Combine this with white culture overlapping Christianity with slavery; here you will find the roots for any remaining animosity between Rastafari and the Christian churches.

 

My point is that the song doesn't criticize the false teaching of western churches on matters of social justice; it decries basic Christian theology.

 

Which part? "That Almighty God is a living man"? seems consistent with me.
The other part could be read as an attack against basic Christian doctrine, but I believe that because of the verse that proceeds it "sick and tired of your ism skism game", he is talking about the corrupters of Christianity. Also placed within the context of the song, this seems like a more plausible meaning to me.

I guarantee that rastas do not reject the principle foundations of Christianity. It is a philosophically indefensible possition for them to take. Haile Sellasie was given the title "defender of the faith", of which faith? The Ethiopian Orthodox Church. If you believe that Haile Sellasie is the second incarnation, then you also have to believe in the first.

I liked that article though. There has almost always been a somewhat large sub movement within the "true" rasta community (I mean this seperated from reggae fans, pot smokers who listen to Bob, etc) toward some more "orthodox" form of Christianity. I think this will be more true as time goes on, with access to information about the life of His Majesty on the internet, etc.

Rita Marely became a Christian in 1972! Judy Mowat became an Evangelical Christian sometime during the 80s. Even Peter Tosh was baptized (but was later kicked out). There have also been a proliferation of Christian bands within the reggae/dancehall scene.

 

I was abbout to ask this question...especially because they claim the 'Lion of Judas' title.

 

Most Rastas haven't rewritten the bible. Many would treat certain passages with some skepticism, believing it may have been tampered with by first the political processes after the middle of the 5th C., and then by the translation into English by King James. Some Rastas believe that language reflects elements of culture, and as such it reflects social structure as well. Again, some Rastas believe that unfortunately, when the Bible was put into English they used the language of oppressers, capitalists, slave masters, etc.

Many Rastas would like a full English translation of the Ethiopian Bible, which was in full use by Christians in the Mediterranean during the 4-5th C. but some books were removed by later Christians afraid of how people would read some of the books, such as Enoch. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church later included, but was more like apocrypha, the Kebra Negast, or "Glory of Kings" which legitamized/taught/whatever about the ancient Solomonic lineage of Ethiopian Kings, of which Haile Selassie was a part. Most scholars regard this addition to date from the 9th C. CE., but who knows ?

As far as Old v. New Testaments, most Rastas regard both as equally valid. Some place more emphasis on the Old Testament than would many mainstream Christians; however, it is the New Testament that both fully proclaims the nature of the divinity, and gives us further hope for the end times.

Some rastas use the Holy Piby. This WAS a rewriting of the Bible, but was not commonly used and had even become extremely RARE by the 80s. In fact, the Holy Piby had become so rare during this period, that academics that studied Rastafari had only been able to find ONE COPY!!! in all of Jamaica. This copy was not only incomplete, but had also undergone many changes in and of itself. Since the advent of the internet, I have seen versions available online, but I am not sure how authentic they are to the original. Nevertheless, the guy who wrote this, Leonard Howell, is widely regarded in the Rasta community as an early evangelizer, but also a fraud who made himself out to be an incarnation of Haile Selassie amongst his followers and also before the Jamaican courts who promptly locked him up in an insane asylum.

 

Well guys, I found my truth in RasTafarI!

I would like to produce a link which also debates on this topic - read the Rasponses, I hope it helps you to form an opinion with more insight on di truth.
PLUS you DO KNOW that that link was taken from a "CHRISTAFARI" site, as far as I've seen there isn't any actual evidence shown *pulls angry face*, its obviously going to be biased!
Blessings xx
http://groups.msn.com/RASCOMTheRastafarianCommunity/general.msnw?action=get_message&ID_Message=5164&ShowDelete=0&CDir=-2

 

Any man is a son GOD thus a Christian,Any man is a son of JAH thus a Rasta. Christians celebrate life through wine, Rastas celebrate through Herb. But every son of our GOD JAH fights against our spiritual babylon in a the same way

 

I have to say that article is kinda lame. His article breeds that rumor mill authorship that confuses people on what the facts are.

The first thing that got me was that he said it was impossible to confess Rastafari and Christ at the same time. He said that to most Rastas, confessing Christ is even BLASPHEMY! This is completely false. Even if it is true in some circles, to make it as a blanket statement for all rastas is simply riddiculous. Almost every true and devout Rasta that I know confesses Christ. Even the false ones and ones confess him in word, so it is certainly not blasphemy!

The other part of the article he talks about Bob's conversion. Again, all the information he uses, he is getting second-hand from Tommy Cowan. While this is not necessarily bad, he could have at least checked his facts. For example, it would be virtually impossible for Bob to have said, "I need to be baptized now!" and to have recieved baptism then and their on demand. While it is true that he was baptized in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and that in order to do this he had to have renounced his belief in Haile Sellasie, it certainly didn't happen in a day. Rita had been baptized since 1972 and talking to him about it at least since that time. Once he had made the decision, he would have had to have been accepted as a catechumin, which is usually a year long-process (can be shortened depending on your enrollment date's proximity to Easter, or unless you are an infant). You must be schooled in EOC doctrine and ceremony even to know the rite of baptism, ie. the renunciation of satan, the catechumin's robes, the order of bathing and annointing, the role of the eucharist and all of this within the important context of Good Friday to Easter. Blah, blah,...

Okay, third and last point on why this article sucks: the author is trying to convince people who like bob and reggae, or the more serious rasta, that going down the Christian path is the only right way and that Christianity has all of the answers. He then goes on to tell about Tommy Cowan's experience within a Christian Church. This "Christian" church does not fully accept him as a member of thier congregation. They don't let him come up to the front to give his testimony?! Sound like hypocrites to me.

 

I never met a Rasta who did not believe Jesus to be The Son of God

here's a Quote from Peter Tosh's - I Am That I Am (acoustic cd w/ interview)

interviewer's question: "what is a Rastaman?"

Peter Tosh's answer: "The man who follow the life of Christ - The same who live the Life of Christ - NOT INTEND to subordinate to colonialism and imperialism and capitalism"


so much division and so much factions - when will we stop thinking the way people with hate problems want us to think
..........make way for the positive way...........

 

yeah that's what I mean Goldmund, -
The responses to the article prove it to be wrong in itself, if you read them, apparently some people from IRASCOM wrote and complained about the article and they gave a completely airheaded uncaring reply that just looked like they'd farted it out to try and make it all better.

 

Wow. those words are hot as fire!

And yes, the boys with Christafari are good people, but indeed biased. Not only biased, but they are actually trying to push their beliefs on you! Still the fact remains, Bob could not have been baptized at that point in time in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and not have renounced his faith in the omnipotence of Haile Selassie. I am certain that he carried some form of the faith in his heart, for those of us who have seen certain things, can never forget. Many Jesus Dreads believe that Christ worked through His Majesty, and was sooooo close to him in almost all things that it would be right call him an "icon of christ". Even many in Twelve Tribes have been leaning this way for some time, INCLUDING PROPHET GAD!!!

But after almost 10 years of pondering these questions, I still am not 100% sure. His Majesty fullfills so many biblical prophesies concerning the second coming it is astoning, even for someone with a fairly secular/academic mind.

May God bless you Peace_sells!

 

Thats interesting Goldmund you raise a good point, as far as what the difference between the two is probably just the same thing that seperates Christians and Jews, in that Christians believe Jesus was the messiah, Jews don't. Rastas recognize Haile Selassie I divinity, Christians don't

 

the difference is that they are more in touch with the earth trying to lead a simplistic way of life,trying to avoid many misleading and ungodly ways which have crept its way in many churches

 

Actually maternal lineage suggests we are from southwestern African coast.