Friday, December 20, 2024

#BlackJesus a Christmas Story


By Eric Stradford, U.S. Marine Corps, Retired

@YourBlackSmithShop promotes 21st Century reform of the historical Black Church.  It invites any of 2.4 billion followers of Jesus The Christ to engage as heirs of salvation in an unprecedented recovery of Stolen Peoples Equity.  The network promotes the common value, “ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE,”   within a sustainable framework for global repair and reconciliation.

The social action supports inclusion in United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 1, #NoPoverty2030 with under-valued assets of the planet’s historically marginalized.

The Truth About #BlackJesus  - A Letter To The Church At Philadelphia

In Conflict Resolution, truth is assessed through informed opinions based on facts and findings.  The Gospel of Jesus The Christ is an established narrative based on reports by Jewish authors starting somewhere between 400 BCE and 4 CE.  These four centuries are summarized through linear evidence in Matthew and circular evidence in John.

Sixteen prophets—Isaiah to Malachi—whose writings have come down to us lived during four centuries, from about 800 to 400 B.C. Most of them left chronological data by which the duration of their ministry can be determined, at least approximately.  The intertestamental period covers roughly four hundred years, from the last Old Testament prophesy Malachi 4 (c. 420 BC/BCE) to the New Testament appearance of John the Baptist in the early 1st century AD/CE.  The period is known by some accounts as the "400 Silent Years" because it was a span where no new prophets were raised, and God revealed nothing new to the Jewish people.

Findings about #BlackJesus are derived from three chronological timelines dating back to Noah’s sons Ham, Shem and Japheth. Individual belief in #BlackJesus bridges findings to facts.

The Shem version depicts #BlackJesus as a “Jew, called out of Africa.”    This version of truth includes chronological narratives in Matthew and Luke and faith-based perspectives in John and Revelation. 

The Japeth version reveals an enduring history of conflict seeking resolution.  Over time, they clashed with kin-folk and some landed in servitude to others.

Slavery has long been part of the human experience. For instance, the Israelites (Shem) were slaves in Egypt (Ham) for a time. The Israelites (Shem) then conquered the Canaanites (Ham). Later, the Babylonians (Ham) conquered the Israelites (Shem) only to subsequently be conquered by the Persians (Japheth). Noah's curse should not be used as an excuse for treating any people group more poorly than another.

Conversely, the fact that "the people of the whole earth" descend from this one family should encourage readers to view all people as fellow brothers and sisters in this one family of humankind.  Atonement for racism, poverty and war might be achieved through the reconciliation of God and humankind. 

The Ham

Ham’s narrative picks up after the deployment of Noah’s sons to populate three regions.  Ham’s assignment was to northern Africa in the region corresponding to modern-day Sudan. The larger region around Kush (later referred to as Nubia) was inhabited c. 8,000 BCE but the Kingdom of Kush rose much later. The Kerma Culture, so named after the city of Kerma in the region, is attested as early as 2500 BCE and archaeological evidence from Sudan and Egypt show that Egyptians and the people of Kush region were in contact from the Early Dynastic Period in Egypt (c. 3150 - c. 2613 BCE) onwards to about 350 BCE just after the end of the Malachi 4 in the Shem narrative.

Historically, The Bible leads one to believe that Noah built the ark in 2,348 BC. The Bible does not give the exact date when Noah built the ark. However, from the generational timelines in the book of Genesis 5 and 11, the ark may have been built 1,656 years from creation, which perhaps occurred in 4004 BC. Therefore, Noah could have built the ark in 2,348 BC.

Christmas 2024 A.D.

The Free African Society for the 21st Century (FAS2) is an emerging youth-led enterprise.  It originated as a social action of the Lay Ministry at Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal Church, Fort Washington, MD, USA.  Developing Consultants for the start-up FAS2 brand, advised church leaders at the 1999 Lay Biennial, Syracuse, NY; AMECONVO VI, Philadelphia, PA and the historic 2000 AMEC General Conference, Cincinnati, OH.  Agreement to partner with Generation Alpha Heirs of Salvation may offer one last chance for the Christian Church to be or not to be.

The Free African Society (FAS), founded in 1787, was a benevolent organization that held religious services and provided mutual aid for "free Africans and their descendants" in Philadelphia. The Society was founded by Richard Allen and Absalom Jones. It was the first Black religious institution in the city and led to the establishment of the first independent Black churches in the United States.

The African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas

Originally established as the African Church, The African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas was founded in 1792 by and for persons of African descent to foster personal and religious freedoms and self-determination. The original African Church was an outgrowth of the Free African Society, a mutual aid organization established in 1787 by Absalom Jones, Richard Allen and others, to assist the Black population in Philadelphia.

Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, PA

The Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1972. The congregation, founded in 1794, is the oldest African Methodist Episcopal congregation in the nation. 

The historic church building is located at 419 South 6th Street in Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The  current structure, completed in 1890, is the oldest church property in the United States to be continuously owned by African Americans.. 

The church was proposed in 1791 by members of the Free African Society of Philadelphia, including Absalom Jones, out of a desire to create a space for autonomous African-American worship and community in the city.

The Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Baltimore, MD

The Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church congregation is the oldest independent black institution in Baltimore. Its origins date back to the late 18th century, when blacks withdrew from the parent Methodist Church in protest against racially segregated seating and lack of representation in church hierarchy.

To exercise control over their own spiritual affairs, the dissenting blacks formed a "Free African Society," congregating for prayers and meetings in private homes. They soon adopted the name "Bethel," (a Hebrew word meaning house of God), and in 1817, acquired their first church building, the old German Lutheran Church on Fish Street (now Saratoga).

The African Methodist Episcopal Church

In 1816 an organizing conference in Philadelphia formally established the national independent The African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Daniel Coker, an eminent orator and educator who later became the first recognized missionary of the Church, joined the colonization party that went to Liberia in 1820. Coker hosted the 1st Quadrennial Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church where he was elected the new denomination’s first bishop.  He declined the post, however, and Richard Allen was appointed the following day.

The historic denomination grew out of the Free African Society (FAS) which Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, and others established in Philadelphia in 1787. When officials at St. George’s MEC pulled blacks off their knees while praying, FAS members discovered just how far American Methodists would go to enforce racial discrimination against African Americans. Hence, these members of St. George’s made plans to transform their mutual aid society into an African congregation.

The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church

The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, or the AME Zion Church (AMEZ) is a historically African-American Christian denomination based in the United States. It was officially formed in 1821 in New York City, but operated for a number of years before then. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology.

 

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