Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Of The Major
PW"estern Religions"
1t?, I ~ ,
African Origins Of The
Major Western Religions
Published 1991 by
Black Classic Press
Published with the permission of the author. Cover art by Tony Browder,
rendered from the original cover design by Yosef ben-locha nnan. We are
indebted to both Malik Azeez for preparing the Select Bibliography and
a ni Ford for preparing the Index for the B.C.P. edition of this work.
(el1970 Yosef ben-Joehannan
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P.o.llox 1341 4
Un ltimorc, M!) 21 Z03
OriginS
Of The Major
"Western Religions"
By
Yosef A,A. b en-Jochannan
1
. ,
IN lANA
S
r.l OOWoINGT Otv
AFRICAN ORIGINS OF THE
MAJOR RELIGIONS"
by: yosef ben-Jochanna
n
Chairman, Afr ican Studi es Department:
The Har lem Prepar ator y School of Ne\\' Yor k
N.Y.C ., N.Y .
Vi s iting Pr ofessor of History:
State Un i ver sity college at N' e\\' Paltz., New Pa ltz, N. Y.
Ad j unct Assoc . Pr ofessor of Hi s tory: Pac e College, New York
(New Yor lc. City and l'Jestch ester Campus).
Instructor of History: Haryrnount Co llege, Tar r ytown, Ne\"! Yor k .
Cultural and Hi s tor i cal to the Per mane n t
Afr ican I'1i ssi or.. s of the Un ited Na t i ons Or gani zation.
Dedica ted To: t he innocently r ecent born and those yet- to- be
African and African-American infants who must one day take
p l ace in mank ind's world as the i nheri tor s of the reli gions
thei r forebear e rs created, hoping that they may become the forc-
es o f change t o bring t h i s wor l d to its equilibrium once mor e
iii
.&'OEH
PREFACE 1 - iv
INTRODUCTION v -
SHANGO: A SotmCE OF APR ICAN RELIGIOUS.
Chapter I pp. 1 - 72
.3T. AUGUSTIN;::: AFRICAN INPLUBrICS ON CHTI I STIANI'l'Y.
Chapter I I pp. 73 - 137
HOSES : I\PRICAN INFLUBNCE ON JUDAISH.
Chapte r lII pp . 1 38 - 195.
BIL1\ L : AFrnCAN INFLUENCE ON 'ISLAM.
Chapter IV pp. 196 - 245.
KING, r-l0HAl1!1r;O, DIVI NE, I"f.AT'l'HE\-JS , AND GAJWE.Y : Re ligious Ne ",
Di mension s . Chapter V pp. 246 - 297 .
CONCLUSION: pp. 298 - 310 .
IJOTE:S: 9p . 31 1 - 342.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: pp . 343 - 355 .
'" God: R.a -
Sunb ur st
Sun God o f the Ni l e .
.0. = Symbol of the f ir st principles of rel i g i on. Coff i n Texts .
PyramJ..d \" i th All See ing Eye .
? = God: Oarnbal la!1 Ouedo , Voodoo . Afr ican .
Roo,-,ter.
f = Key of Li fe o f the llys teries. Gr and Lodge of Lu xor .
Ankh, Nile Va l ley Cr oss.
+ = God : Jesu s Chr i sto Chr i stiani ty ..
Cross , i'Jesternized Vers i on .
a! = God: Tradi tional Afr ican r e l i g ions.
Cr oss, Ni l e Va lley and Cen trql Afr 1cQ.
:: God: Ya\"eh . He br e",ism ( J udaism).
S ta.r of Oavid.
:: God: Alt l ah. I s l am.
Crescent of Ti gr i s and uphrates .
iv
All Fa ith i f 1
S a ll Faith is Tr u e
Truth is t he shatte red
In my riad b its j while each be l i e ves elfin
h i s l i t tl e b i t the \ .. hole to own
From:
THE: KASI DAH of
( as tr a n s!. by
HAJ I ABU e l - YEZDI
Sir Ri chard P . Bur ton )
v
PREFACE:
8veryti me I had the good f or tu ne to r esea rch into someone ' s
r e l igion I foune. " God" to be t.he i mage o f the peo p l e to 'I/hom
the r e lig ion belongs; tha t is pr oviding its phi l o s ophi c a l
conce!l t s are indi lJ enou s j not colo n ial. The col oni a l i s ti'! refer r e d
to is not e ssential ly o ne o f conqueror nor is i t one of the
conquer e d i n t he sense o f tr oop s and land , but of and
in thi s case, \\I!"I O have seen the shackles ,,'hic h
OO'Jnd t h e ir b odies r e move d f or over o ne- hundr ed yC? ars, but not
those of their mind.
Becau s e o f their mental to
Christianity, and Islam, the Africans and African- Americans '-Ilho
have for one reason or another been f orced t o abandon the ir mJn
indisen()u::; r e l i g i ons , nee d to knolt,' thei r roll? i n eit;,er of
these three . AS Cl person of Afr i c a n or i gin , I feel th at i t is
my obl i !}a t i on to enter t h i s f i eld , \'/ner e s o ma ny non- J\fr icans
h ave before me entered to s peak und \')r i te abo ut me . In 5 0
dcinl) : I shall sno,,} t!1at Judaism, Islam are
as much I\irican a. s t:"ICY are As ian i n "'rigin, 2, nd in nc Sl2nse
Surope an as the ti t I e , " 'dESTr':RH R.ELIGIONS" sUCJgc s l: .;
that the terms "Semi t ic " ane. "Hamitic " - ?,s they a re presently
aP9lied t o the early . founders o f these r eli Qi o ns - a:re E_=ist
in c harac t er a nd in t ent . The sole purpose is t o deny the
e;{is t ence of t'r'la t \-Jhic h most Eur o peans and i::ur opea n-Americuns
ca l l "Afr i cans South of the Sahara" and "Bantu," ar.lOn<1
other nomenc latures o f co n t e mpt i n t he deve l oL')ment o f
r el i g ion and t h o ught in ancien t North Afr i c a - part icularly
Sais (Egypt ). But the fact stil l remains with respect t o the
o f religion , that there I,} o u l d have been n o t::syptian
c ivi l i z ation (High- Cu lture) had t h e Af ricans - the s o-called
"Ne(,;' roes" - o f the Upper Nile Valley a nd CentrClI ,\ f r ica not
mi s=rated north alan!) the mo r e than and o ne - h \JOth ,
(I- , OCO) mi l es l ong Nile Ri ver into Sai:;; equally U1I.:!rc c oul d 1.: !
no " Judaism, Chr i st.i.<1 nity" or " TslOif.'\ " (thr:> daugh b'''r , c"rand-
oaw]h ter and gr e ,'lt- ') .L' und - r) 111 1 1\ I ( ' I'" ,, 1 I\tl- i c a n G d " ,\ " :1n ..1
the a l l .brl , b,.i " " out l L(l,lt h :, 11.[ 1:: 'YP( ; L\n
P,. ' -li" ion , Tl.S ;;llC'l'.JH in III ' "1,"1/ in" ,ind "P"L"lI'nlu" In II,c'
vi
nOOK OF THE: DEAD j a nd OS I RI S . J.
The r evelation s in this \wr k show tha t the Re ver e nd Mar t i n
Luthe r 's2 r evol t aqa; n st Papl
- ... Roma n Chr i stian i ty , as Hell as
,Tuda i sm and Isl a m, rema ined s t agna n tly rhet oric until t he
He-ver end Dr- . Nart i n Lu the r Ki n g , Jr . (no re la tio ns hip t o the
above ) i n tr oduced in to i t the e leme nt of "no n- viol ence" he
ropied f rom the Hindu t eache r , phi losopher , la\'/yer and
t a - f1a ha t ma (" the Sacred Oneil) r1ohandas Kar amchand
I,andh l. . And e '(en though Dr . King t rie d t o invoke the "anc e str al
I,' o'c ship" method of c.l. ll i n g upon the " soi r i t ','/or l d" ( in
i :hri s t ianity - " Sa in ts") , -1 l ike h,; s _ Jesus
"' '' Chri st , he \,/as
t o be heard by a n irrel i g ious na t i o n o f peopl e Gods
t o be
The t rad i t i 0 n al r eligion s o f the i n dise nous kfric a n peo ple>
Hid their descendan ts \<l h ich ar e notor i o u sly cal l ed " pagani s m"
Ind "fetish' ,, 5, , ,
1Sm oy a n r;agon l. sts of the so-called " I,'es ter n
" 'ligi o ns," are i n fact 'i:: he forer u nners of Nile Vul l l?Y
I i1
p
refor e, they are t h e c reator s of the "Hys t e r ies o f Sa i s "
( :') yp t) , Kush (Eth i opi a) and Nu:Oia CSudan) . 1'his is :Jhovm in
\)11' text o f this volume , al ong v/ith the fac t thct the "I:lysteries"
If rn deve lope d from the anc i en t r eligious rites of the i ndeCteno LlS
t l cans Hho once OCcupi ed t he land s a r o und t he ;najor
Central Af rica and al o ng the of the Nile
I vcr . That c i v il i zat i on in i\lkebu - lan L'l.ir ic
u
) travelled
om south to nor th ':1 }. th t he flo.;) 0 f;' the Nile River a nd all i t ::.
, \r,lponent parts . kl ith them they brOll ,;, ht re l i g ionG and
all of vlh i c h e Xi sted thousands o f yC!!ars b e f ore the
t nation in Greece , came i n t o beinry .
The s imi lar ity o etHeen eXisting reli gious practices i n
of Ues t , Centr al , East and South Africa wi th that o f the
III iCl'I t indi,}cno us Afr.i c ans o f Sa i s is not c
o
incide:1ta l ,
lIt it: c ommon t o the heritage l'Jhic h began alont:] the
" " ""It l akes " o f Centra l :\frica and the h e a d - v/uters of the Nile
I Y I , ::;hm." n in lhi:.; ..... or k .
'rhp(E" a t' '! p e o p c lnd o.1y . u' o und Ue WI/r Id wh o have suffered
I lo1rl y trnm ,r1r\ r':ucopc .:s.n-i\mcr ic'-1. n i mperia l ism _ a ided
bel lcl h y lhp 1".ni ' 1'8 "I dnd Cilc l:.;L L'1. ni t y _ '<Iho also
v ii
a ctiveJ.y e nr] a ged i n sl avery by s anc t ionin 9 its inst itution
th.r ou<]h -b"i ste:d quotat i o ns from thei r: min ven 5ions of t hc t uhich
7
is c a l led li The Holy and Suc red The_rel'ore,
i niormatio n of the na ture f ound i n this Nork may be c o nsidered
o f c ur r ent i mr,wr tanc e; bu t t her e never a pe.r i o d i n t he
h istor y of manki nd 1.>Jhen t hey '.'J ere o f ' no i mpor t ance . I I t is
s hmm t hat most e ur opea ns a nd have cons i s ten tly
u s ed the same infor!7.ation r:evea.l ed in th:5.s \-Jor k d isg u ised a s
they c hoo s e to cal l " Gr eek Phi losoP:ly,,8 a nd 11 1:Jes ter: n whet
Re l i g ions ; ,, 9 ti t l es of dir e c t Caucasian C'jhi te ) oriente d
eth ni c s u pe rior ity_ Th e mere t i tles by t h e Mse l v es s ugge s t t he
excl usivenes s of European and Europea n- Amer ican peoples
only .. 10 I t is r eco gni zed, h mJever, that this mG.Y no t be
s uf f icien t reas on t o s geC"lk out; a ga ins t t hi s type o f a c ade r.li c
d i shonesty , accor ding t o t ho3e Hho ,!ish no t to Br oc k t he boat"
of es tabl ished order of thing s 1 Vo l t hough knmli ng t hat II tr I.I t h "
is n Clt being ser ve d .. But t he mai n pur p os e of t h i s \".'ork is to
sho\.' t ha t ther e i s ano t her p has e to t l"'le IJrea t ne s s that is stil l
" NOTHER AFRICA; " t he MO'l' f{8R OF Nfl. NKIND, a sort of "GARDEN OF
EOE;N , "ll a l so t o provide a nother p erspective in i\ f r ica ' s najor
c o ntr i bution to 'dorld civil i z ati on Hh ich may we l l ass i st i n
rearrangi ng t he present a nd f u t ur e tene ts of r e ligious tho ugh t .
, Ri:DIT :
A , ... ork of t his d i mension could no t b e possi b le \'li t hout thr'
a s si stance f I'om o thers. My sincerest a ppreci <'l ti n i n t his
r e g ard is ext e nded to George Simmonds , my ,,! :; ('lI c i '1t.c
instructor, a t the Harlem Pr epa r atory Scho t , ) ; rlo- \J \'"(w!:, i oe
re-che c ki n g the (i ()cume n t s and r.Jc t ual If\! " I 111 II I , 'TI . Inrl 10 11 bHi
vi ii
Dori s Mose ly f or her gener al contr ibutio ns and checking t he ent i re
ma nu s crip t f or i t s s c h ol a r ly exc el lence. My youngest d aughter
Co ll ette Makeda, 1tJho read t he manuscript with r e gards t o its
easy flow o f infor mat ion , has bee n ext reme ly hel p f u l in many
" t her .. lays .
f1 y ma ny f riend s a t the various cente r s o f cont a c t a nd
learni ng i n H:-rl ern , especi a lly t hos e ."hom I me e t c ons t a n t l y at
t he Ar t hur Ol o nzo Schombur g Collection o f t he Countee Cullen
Ilranch o f t he Net-J Yor k City PUb l ic Li br ar y, cnd the Lec tur e
:;cr i e s of the Library, ha ve b een more than a n inspira t i on f or
i he l i t t le mor e t ha n h lO years nee ded to pre9are this wor k ..
are c o untless others , ,, ho in ma ny differ ent \'Iays, I ara
i 1\debted to; to t h em, I also extend my joy in the cOP"lple tL-m of
I ili s task.. Ho pef u lly, t h i s \-! ork mean s t o them the begi nni n g of
. \ i..'e t ter 'mder5ta nd i n'J o f t h e contr ibu t ions o f the peop les of
't fr.';i <::an o[" i gi n to the entire civiliza ticm.
Yosef ben - ,Jochannan
ix
IN'rRODUC'I' I ON
" Nn pos i tiv e religion that has moved ma n has
been able to start Hit]' a tabula rasa , and e xpress
i t sel f a s i f r e l i gion were beginning for the first
time, io f orm, if not in substance . The ne\"! sys ter.l
ri1us t be in cont ac t a l l along the line Hith the
old er ideas and !)r a ctices it finds in
1\ ne',. s c heme of f a itn can find a
hear ing o nly by a 9 pea1ing to r e ligious instincts
and susc e pt ibi li t ies that already exist; and it
c annot reach these \t1thout taking accoun t of the
trad itio nal f or ms in \,t hicll al l religious feeling
is e mbodied , a nd \'iithout speakin!] a \yh ich
men a ccust or.led to tj1e se old f0rms CeO unde!:::;tand . "
The above is the manner in ',.!hich Rober tson Smith be':!'on h is
classic study entitl e d "RE:LIGI ON Of 'Hf:: St:[jI 1'S . " But: t-tr . Spith
'
:
vJords cO:.lld be e;{tended t o include, that. ' no major relit;ion
of t oday i s exclusive o f mor al and philosophi c conc epts o f any
o t the peoples \-lith t1hom it had contac t in its eilr 1 iesi:. deve lo9-
'Thi s o f course , give credit to tho se Af rican and
/\s i an predecessors ',"ho the ones that really began the
re ligions \.,hicl1 a r e tOday called "Juda ism" (He br e ..,Jism) J "Chris_
tianity and Isl am" (r'1ohammedism) - former ly
If Nha t has been sai d so far could become common knm/l edgc ,
the gener a l public have no d i ff iculty i n r ecogni z ing t:-"al
nuch of \',hat they read in their ? or ah (Je\'/is h Holy nook or Five.
Boo!<s o f Noses ) J Chr i stian Holy Bible (any version - Roma n
Ca'':ho1ic or Pr-otestant and Sc i 0nU.s t ) 2.nd Hos lem
(Huslir:l) ]{oran o r Qur an , be conceded t o b e of Af r ican
ori '.: i ;'l , as ,:e l l as and adopted l ater by r:u):'o;Je?.ns and
Cur. opean- ,\merir:an s bef m:e they ar r i v e d in the : 'r:ll' l jCil $ - the
these rc1i (Ji ons are b'.\'::;:ht , rl'j cc! i n Jl c)f 11
and ,\ ::;i a n pe0:9lc5 ' con rllJu1 ion l; () h"11 , , ! I ,nl1 I nl" I Ii t ..
y.
into the of those who did leas t to start
I'hern , but most t o continue them as the'r 1
own exc usive domain.
To say at' this t ime that of the Hebr e w (Jewis h )
r' cligion a nd peoples , "ias an indig enous Af r ican (Black or
, ../ould create a catastrophic consternation am,")n g
l i!Colog ica 1 racists and br ing dO';1O all sorts of "an'ci - Semiticu
.,urges by the salile p eopl e 1 ..iho equally s t 1
a s r enuous y t'JOuld
I' II" itt hat " t
qyP ' , a t he s ame instance,
n l' !)ettiog that E ..... Y.o t is i _" I\fr' ca . Jh? B
.... . , . .... "y. e Cau'; e i::gypt , in
1f):: t European- American minds , is some s or t or a mythica l place
'm()te from any .olace near .'\"_-r ' Ca . Th
... . . lo S ,'/ 0uld no t 5 them
II.m saying that "r1oses fOu nd f 10at inq dO'.m t he Nil e River
111 . , b ulr ush baS]<e t,1I
2a
conveniently tho_t t he Nil e
IVll r: ' ::; Sour c e beo .. ins in Unanda, a1 t h t th
'J s o . a e r e ar:'e bom Niles I
/It ',hite l no the Bl ue ; a nd t h at t.he ':Jh:Lte Ni le i s nore than
'-lit -thousand miles 10 ns , f lo':.05,nry nor thl')ard s through Sudan
IUd L:d and t.1J " pt ( S.J.is) and f ina.l1y e:mptyi ng i n t o the
1 I ;jea . "?hey seen to forget thtit the
1'1'
fi i1e ' s r.win So urce o f \'1""tP..c co,'. e " ,_-' rom
'-' " - the ,s thiopi an
i
l,lH(l s - at !...i1ke 'tana,; and that t:'e o t;1er S0urce C'I[ the Ni l e _
,t '<J rl lHver .;tlso 5 tarts i n the and
I.
into :';udan - ',', here it j () ins b o th the Blue and ,; hii:e Hiles.
1'11 /: " ' /;:1 C;OrU1.\:; tHl':: I!'J.'..j " spo ken of in each of the so-ca l led
,"CRlI III mo:;, l Cnde nf eth'cs ar e
... based upon
MDinl1!J 0 " 1 (leVI by the ind:lJenous
n ' , - Uw !: o- c.lll"'<1 \110 _ () the Ni l e
11 i llvlti
II '11011 I ;I(,U 'l' r" J, r
I '. " lIlrl " '1'11011 Jlli\l ' 11/0'1'
xi
S E L t
,,2
T'A ,ec. ,,)eee used in Egy pt (Sais) and Ethiopia (Kush
or Cu s h) thousands of year s before the birt h of Noses of the
Hebre\.,. (Jewi Sh) Tor ah . Yet these b ;lo la\'Js, including all of
the other ten that make up so-calle d "'lle s\::ern Reli g ions'"
basic mora l codes, are stil l being t a.ugi) t as if the f i rs t t ime
t hey e ver carne to the kno\jledge of mank ind was \"hen they Here
allegedly II g iven to I10ses on Haun t Sinai .
1I
At l east, this
is the manner in which they are present ly taught in Europe ,
the ,\merieas and wherever European and European-Amer iean
r e ligi o us and economic control s are in evide nce.
It will be shoHn that t he statements so far ' may ' hold tr ue
'ti t h regard to the almost successful attempts t o make al l
philos o p h ical c oncept s in the major r e ligions cited as
beginni ng Hi th the usually mentione d " Greek Philosophy" and
" Greek Ph ilosopher s .
fI
In thi s sense t he Greeks are treated as
if they were in no \"Jay vJ hatsoever inf l u enced or taught b y the
Sgypt ians , Ethiopian s, and other indi genous Af r ieans a long the
Nil e Va ll e y - \<Jhence the philosophical c oncepts, nm-} called
" Gr eek Phi losophyH, were orig inated - thousands of year s before-
t h e c re ation of t he Gr eek nation. In t his regar d, Professor
G. G. N. James, in h is book entitled I1 STOLEN LEGACY,II states
on the ti t l e pa ge :
"The Gr e e ks v!ere not t he authors of Greek
Phi losophy, but the p eople of Nor th Af rica,
common l y called the Eg yp t ians . lI
Strange as it may seem, the a nc i ent I:: g yptian s are b eing
c a l led "Caucasian" by mos t European a nd j:u oprao. n-I\mcrlcan
educators; purposefully i gnoring Herod I;u ' II .cr Lp Li o n n! Llh' lll
in his book , THE HI TORIES - Dook (I.
:x i i
Coun t Con s tantine Francis Chas sebeuf DeVolney, vJho
' c cson ally v isited Egypt in 1 789 C. E. from h i s native Prance
( Lurope), wr ote i n h is book , RUIN!; OF Et1PIRES - p ubl ished in
1e 0 2 , t h e f o ll owing :
' "
The earth, under these ho l y l ands, produces
only thorns and brier s . Ma n so\.,.eth in anguish ,
a nd reapeth tears a nd cares . l.Jar, famine oesti-
l e nce, a ssail him b y turns . And ye t
these t he children of the prophets? 'Th e Mussul man
Chri stian, Jew, are they not the e l e c t c hildren '
of GOd, l oaded \'Jith favors and miracle s ? '.lhy,
t hen, do these privileged races no l onger e njoy
the same advan t ages ? ilhy are these f i e lds
sanctifi ed b y the b l ood of martyrs de or iv;d of
the ancient fertility? i'lhy hav e those' b lessi ngs
been bani shed and for so many
ages to other and climes ?
Co unt Volney's questions could be ask ed of the Af r i cans t.Jho
t oday being called " Negr oes , Bantus, Hottentots, Bu shmen,
Itd .=;, 11 a n d a hos t of other d egr adi ng terms, ancestors
, I ' , c espon sible for t he d eve l opment of t he religions mention ed
t" <.- i n; starting vlith the \'Iorsh ip of the Sun God - RA , t hen
G.i ng on to t he Gods - IIJehova h , Jesus Christ" and I1 Alla h . if
h r fir st ques tion must be :
Hmo.} much longer are we to r ema in outside of the
relig i ons ....Ie originated in our tr Hys ter ies " in Eg ypt
a nd o ther Hi gh-Cultures a.l o ng the Nil e?
'rhe a nS\oJer in t h is c ase \-,lould be s imple . At least, the
IIJl IO:' of Afr ica can still point to suc h r e lig i ous \'Iorks as
or le d in the BOOK OF THE DEAD (tr anslated from its orig inal
III 'o)ql y ph by Sir E. A. Walli s -Bu d ge) ; FACING fo lOUN'r KENYA by
I
t l ,t. c d i t i on , s Rui ns of Empi res , p. 7, Truth
h C" Comp,:my , Nel,ol 'or l" 1950.
xiii
Jomn Kenyatta, the edited vjOrks i n Janhei nz Jahn' s MUNTU.. Of
course there are countless others that sho ..., the variety of
depth 1n the phil osophical concepts of African traditional
religions - Judaism, Christianity and presently being
analyzed.
I n the BOOK OF THE DEAD., the origin of "Heaven" and HHe ll"
are clearly seen to be noth ing more than places, pOor ones at
that, of ttle indigenous Afr i cans of Egypt' s uNETHER i'JORLD
II
and "MYSTERIES" developed along the Nile Valley, all of \'IIhich
stemmed f rom civilizations that preceded the b irth of the first
Haribu (Hebrew of Jew) - Abraham (Avram or Abram) centuries before
the creation of the first Hebrew nation - Pa l estine. Therefore!
in t his toJork , the God RA is shown to be the " jealous God t!
who \/an t s " no other God s befo re me ,1! e tc. This, the
Hebrews copied in Egypt and changed i n the follOloJing manner;
7
Thou shalt have no Gods before me, sayeth Yvah.
In t he case of the Reverend Placide Temp l es ' book , BANTU
PHILOSOPHY, t his Roman Catholic priest fai l e d miserably to dispel
the confus ion in his O\oJn mind to prove t hat there are basic
philosophical concepts in trad itio nal African r eligions on an
equa l level o f s piritual consciousness to Judaism, Christianity
or Islam, yet he continued to show h ow much better Christia nity8
(his OHn religion) is than any of the so-called "Bantu!! religions
and "Bant u
ll
thoughts he e xamined.
Janheinz Jahn, who claims no special relig ious affiliation
or preference i n his \oJork, attempted to sho\'J many basic
phi losophical e lements in a few traditi onal African religions
\, hich are compar able to the three relig i ons cal l e d " Hestern
xiv
Re lig ions. II In his book, MUNTU: The New African Culture , pages
29- 30, as translated by l'-larjorie G.cene , Grove Press , Inc., New
York , 1961, from its original work in German entitled _
HUNTUS, publi s hed by Eugene Diederichs Verlag, Dussel dor f,
Germany, 1958j !''lr. Jahn gives the fo110\oJ 1ng account on Voodoo:
I . OLD ACCOUNTS OF THE CULT
Voodoo! 'fJord of dark vowels and heavily
rolling <: onsonants! Voodoo! r1ysterious nocturnal
sound of drums in the Haitian mountains o f abomina-
tions they have read about! Voodoo, ldolatry,
sorce ry; Voodoo, epitome of all impiety, a ll
depravity and terr or, witches' Sabbath of the
inferna l pot'Jers and ineradicable heresyl it/hat is
it all about ?
Some people have tr ied to der vie the word
from the dance of the Go l den Calf (veau d'or) ,
and it has also b een relat ed t o the heretical
side of t he Ualdeusians (Vaudoi s) \"/ho vlere
repu t ed to practice witchcraft.. In fact, the
pract ice of v/itchcr aft in the Hid-dIe Ages
\'IIas called I vaudoisie. '
The word is \'/rit ten in many dif'erent !'-/ays;
Vaudou, Vaudoux, Vodoo, etc. , but i t comes from
Dahomey in Africa, \'/ here i t means ' genius,
protective spirit' j in the Fon l anguage i t is
' Voduh' and in EHe lVudu.' The name of the cult,
lil::9 the cult itse lf, is of Hest African or i g in,
for the Haiti ans for the most part come from there .
The r eason Vlhy it v,as the relilJ i ou s conceptions of
Dahomey in particular t o prevai l in
Haiti is apparent from a London r epor t of 1 789
"J hich tel ls us that t en t o tNelve thousand slaves
were expor t ed yearly from the Kingdom o f
The English e xpor ted only seven to eight hundred
of these, t he Por tuguese about three thousand and
the Fr ench the r ema inder, in other \oJ ords more than
six to e i ght thousand a year, v/ho \.Jere s hi pped to
t he Pr e nch Anti lles, above a ll t he Saint Dominique ,
as the pr incipal ? rench colony of Haiti \"as then
c a lled.
The indication of the survival of
Afr ican cu l t s i n 1I a.1tl \'Ie O\'/ C to a n anonymous
French r epor t , \oJh lch S yc : ' Th e slaves are strictl y
forbidden. to PCoiCt.iCO t1 1e d hce which in Sur inam is
xv
of
c alled " Vi a tee-Mama
ll
and in our c oloni e s " t1ae d! Agua"
I'lother). They, therefore, malee a grea t secr e t
o f it and a ll we k nOti is that it h i gh l y i nf lame s
their'lmag inations. make immense efforts.to
do evi l thi ng s. The l eader of the p l ot fall s
s uc h tr anspor ts that he l oses c onsciousness .'
Moreau d e Sai ni.: - t-1er y , an sc::
ho1ar
,
la':Jye
r
, and politician \!hO \v a 5 bor; n ).n. I1.c;.r t l.nique
a nd practi s e d 1 a"; f or nl- ne ye ars lon Ha l. tl.
playing an important part i n the French
emp l oyed the l eisure hour s of the North-Amer l.can
exile for c ed o n h im t hrough his q uar r e l toJ i th .
Robespi e r
re
in describing in th7
social, and polit ical conditions lon Hal.tl..
In his \-l orks of vol umes this rel ative
of t he Empr e ss Josephine describes , . among other
thinas a Voodoo ceremony. ' Accordl. ng to the
Negr oes Voodoo means a grea t superna lural
being, a t hat knO\"IS t he t he present ,
and thr ough t he medium of the h l. gh a nd
of a Negress , f oretell S t he f uture . These h lo are
cal l ed King and Queen , Haster and N).stress, or
Papa a nd Nal'oa . I
The meet i ng t akes p l ace J he says, only
secretly a nd a t ni ght, far from profane eye s .
Tl"le ini t iated put on sandals and t l"leJ?selves
in r ed cloths. The Kins and Quee n Hear glXdles.
A ches t , t hrough t he boards of which <: an see
t he sno.ke, ::>erves a s a n altar. The a:Lth:r ul
Dresen t thei r v.' ishes , t hen the Queen leaps ':lP{")n
the c hest, f a l l s a t once i nto a
prophesy and give s her commands . ,'i acr ts
a r e brought; t he Ki ng a nd queen rec e ive them. J. lle
r eceipts are used t o meet t he expenses of the
commun i ty and to as s i s t needy member.s . TIlen f o lloH::;
an oath s i mi l ar. to that at t he opening of the
meeting and 'as fearf ul as the f irst, ' an oath 0_
secr ecy and obedience.
Jahn's de t ails of a "Voodoo ceremony" on pages 42 a nd 43
his book shO\oJ ve.,;y clearly the common re lationshi p beb,r een
traditional concepts i n J udai sm, Christi a ni ty, Islam and voodooi sm
which mos t twent ieth- century moderns do not know exis t.
He
continues on :
xvi
.,
In t h e Voodoo ceremony t he fir st loa to be
i nvoked is Legba. He is t he l ord of roads , a nd
streets, the Hermes of the Voodoo Olympus, the
prot ector of crossroads and door s, t he p:cotector
qf t he Hi s wi fe Ayi zan, is t he Goddes s of
t he markets and t he highest goddess of t he Arada
Olympus. Legba's s ymbol, his veve, is the cross
- a cross has, however, onl y its form, not
i t s common wi th the Chri stian c r oss .
The ver tl.cal boar d means the deep and the he i ghts,
the stre et of t he loas, the inv isi b l e ones Q The
f oot ,? f this ver t i cal \-,or l d-axi s is root ed i n t he
'Ilaters of the deep.. Here o n the ' island under t he
sea ' i s Guinea, Africa, t he l egendary home' here
t he l oas have their per ma ne nt places , fr om'which
theY, has ten str aight upward t o the l iving . Ever y
a l l every s tee, and especially the
l.n t he hounfor t , s ymbolizes the 'tre e
of the Gods' which uni tes the damp ear t h from
t.Jhich a l l t h ings spring, with heaven. 'he horizont:.al
bar of the c r os s signif i es the earthly a nd the human
Qnly at t he c rossroad, \.; her e the human a nd
divJ.ne axes r:leet , does contact with d.i..vinities t ake
p lace . And this c r ossroa d is guarded by Le gba.. In
Dahomey and Niger ia he i s t he in terpreter of the
god s who translates the requests and pr a ye r s of
men into their language . I n Haiti he has t he
func t i on of openi ng the barriere that s e par a t es
men f r om the l oas. He i s invoked in the vanva l ou
- rhythm a nd dance.
The mus ic and song of t he dance are very s i mi lar in pur pose
to tha t of the so- calle d II stor e fron t c hurches " of Har lem. ThUG
t he f ollO\'li n9 from Jahn I S de scr i p tion
Aitibo LegbaLuvri l aye pu
Papa Legb a , luvri baye pu mwe
Luvr i baye pu m' kapab ratre
A tu bon Legba ouvre la barriere Dour moi
Papa Legba , ouvre la barriere pour ' mo i
Ouvr e la barriere pour me fa ire c a pabl e
de r e ntre
The r e are many more stanza s to thi s songi however, the
reaGon f or not t he ent i re song, i s due to the fact that
I:he mai n purpose of noting i t \oJas not to l earn t he entire song,
only to ge t an insiqht i.nt Q the proj ec 'cion o f man and h is God
I: ; seen i n the Voodoo eel; ' rnoniLl. l dance a nd song.
xvii
On the island of Cuba, not '1;:00 far fr om Haiti , Voodooi s m
bec omes lIManiquismo" - a name which carr i e s 1n t he mind of
most European-Americans t he syno nymous me aning s of
magic,1r tls atani sm," !'idolatry," "heathen super s ti tion , " e tc.
9
Fernand Ortiz, one of t he foremost writer s on this subjec t
knmJn to European-Ame ricans, disclaime d any religious or i gin
'...,hatsoever for "Maniquismo
U
in his book, LA AFRICANIA DE LA
FOLKLORICA DE CUBA, La Habaoq, 1950. Ortiz c all e d it:
A secret s ociet y, a kind of a free ma s onry ,
t o which only the initiate, who ha s SNorn his
allegiance, may belong.
Ortiz , ....'ho is of Roman Catholic Christ ian or i g in,
overlooked the fact that Christianity is s till a "secret
s ociet yU in many lands today; and that it too v,as once so
labe led everYV/here. It was, and still 1s, a r e lig i on to "Ih ich
only t he "ini tiate s," who have sworn t heir alle giance , may
be long . But Ortiz 's posit ion is typically what happens when
an e xponent o f One (or no) relig ion pret ends to 'drite an
' unb ias ed anal y s i s' of a no ther person's religion .
If one is to take Ortiz' s premise a s the eri ter ia for t is
a "relig ionO a nd wha t i s a "seCret s ociety," t hen t he bapti s m
( Chris tening) and confirmation rites of the Christian initiations
must b e omItted , equally circumcision of the Je\1S and Mo slems ,
also , the exclus i on o f women from direct worship wi t h t heir men
in Or t hodox Judais m a nd I s lama Or, are these not "secre t ri tes?"
Ar e t hey no t spe c ial requireme n ts in ';Ihich only 'lS\-Jornll members
a l one ma y r i ghtfully i ndul ge?
The opinions a nd expressions already shown ar e 'but a mere
samp l ing of hm,' rel i gious per s o na l i t ies see each o ther s ' religion,
xviii
I
n. o t only the y see each o t he r in r e ligious roles j but hOvl
t hey a lso deny t he existenc e of each other's "God ." Of Course
the indi genous Af ricans , t he s o-cal l ed ItNegroes, Ni ggers , !/ etc.,
a nd t heir de s c e nda nts are not e ven enti t l t ed t o h ave t he res pec t
of bei ng c apabl e of crea t i ng a religion with Common philosophic al
i d e a lis m, much less having a God does not s e cure t he
e ndor sement of those Eur opean and European-Ameri c an j udges who ar e
in char ge of t he dep arbne n t of c er tification of fi t nes s and
qualificati on of religions a nd Gods . Since there are no African
or Africa n-Americans a llowed on the ' Board of God certi fiers , '
due to t heir inf erior c olor a nd rac e, t he tr a d i t ional Afr i can
ce lig i o ns must t hen r emain " s ecret societies, II \1hile the
:ertifiers' religi ons - Juda ism, Chri s tianity , s ometimes I Slam,
recei ve ' t he good God and r eligious s eal o f approval' j a ll o t her s
to t he pa gan depth of inf erior ity, and only can they
e xpect t o s e e God i f the y abandon their pa gan God a nd he a then
cQligi on f or one of the a pproved relig i o ns , pr e ferably
The Afr i cans a nd t heir de ::> cenda nts (Black People ) e verywhere
11 e ed nott de fend their t rad ition al r el i g i ous philos ophies and
philos opher ::; upon t he a pprova l of Eur opean and European- A ..il,erican
:.; t a ndardsj neither s ha ll t his \oJ ork even t ry t o so do. Why?
Uccause wi thi n t he three most a ccepted rel igi ons in Europe and
t he Americas - J uda i s m, Chr is tiani ty and Is l am, often c al l ed
", {e.Gte:c n Re lig ions ," Afr i cans have been the f ound er s of said
I c llgions a nd t heir teachings .:l l ong ' .... i t h t h e As ians hu ndr e d s
nf year s , t n some thousands of years befor e t hey ""er e
nOHn t o t.he peo!J l es of 'fhe fact tha t wi t hin the la5t
x i x
three to four hundred year s the rol e of the indige nous Africa ns
i n thes major rel igi o ns has been caref ull y and pur posefull y
denied, suppr esse d, a nd i n most cases , omitted , wi ll not stop the
' truth" about t heir i ndigenous Afr i can or i g i ns f r o m coming to
the surface. I n l i ght of a l l t hat has been so far s t ated ,
further revel ation of the gener a l and speci fic r o l e cer tai n
Afr i cans had in t he founding of a l l t hree r e l igions - Judaism,
Chr i sti a nity a nd I s l am - is being r e tol d ; all in t h e obj e cti ve
of " setting t he recor d straight," or r e vealing t he truth.
Hopef ully, f r om t his work , kn<i'Jid edge abou t some o f the
maj or indigenous Afr ica n contributors and thei r descendants in
the f oundi ng and deve lopment of Judaism, Christiani t y ( an exten siot
of Judaism) a nd Is l am (an extens i o n of Judaeo-Chr i stiani ty)
spread to those wh o do not no\-1 know t hat the religion
they practise and the God they worship ar e as much Afr ican
(Bl ack) as they are As ian (Ye llow a nd Brown ) and/or European (J,.olhil.
Since Chr i st i anity, the European-American version o f it,
is the major r e ligion i n the Ameri cas - the Caribbeans
i nc l uded - it is the center of focus to wh i ch this "lor k must
mai nl y a ddress i tself ; mor e over, because the vast ma jori t y of
Af rican peopl es a nd t heir desce ndan ts - both i n the we s tern
Hemi sphere a nd Africa - are c r iti cally cond i tione d a nd/ or
affected by i t.
Is l am, the major contender wi th European a nd European-
American oriented Christi ani t y for t he mi nds of the African
and Afr i can-Amer i can p e opl e, 1;/ill of necessity receive partic ulru
considerat i on with r egards to its foundation - which i s so
i nten se l y African (Eth iopian i n particul ar) in
xx
Judaisr.t, \vh ich tOday has very little or no rea l i nf luence
o n any l arge segme nt of the Af r ican peopl es anY",here, d ue
primarily to the inhuman pr ess ures oroug ht u pon the i ndigenous
Hebr e ...,s of -Africa o y Chr i stian Islami c miss i onaries i n thei r
conversion crusades, never theless be carefull y examined
Hith r egards to its previ ous control and influ(;:nce o n many
indigenous Afr ican societies ; equall y for i t s indigenous Africa n
or i g i ns wi ll be h i ghlighte d .
As t he c lamor f or " viole nt " or " non-vi o l e n t ' ! a c t i on
lO
challenges the mora l fibr e of thi s Ang l O- Saxon Greek-centr i c -
oriented Uni ted states of Amer i ca, ma ny noted religious
"prop!"1ets" withi n the major Bl ack communities asserte d themse l ves
as "spi ritual l eaders," a ll of whom believed they had r eceived
.<:; OJile sort of a calling :from a Caucasianized " God. II The most
noted of these are listed i n the o r der i n whi c h they appear ed
on the national or i nter nati o na l scene, thus, Father (I?eace)
Divi ne, Rabbi ':Jenb ... orth Nathe\"/s , Prophet "Sweet Daddy" Gr a ce ,
Prophet El ij a h Mohammed, and the Rever end Dr. . Hart i n Lu ther
Ki ng, Jr. To the se must be a dded the name of the Honor able
r1arcus Hoziah Gar ve y. He was not a mi n i ster of the gospel ;
ye t it was he who br ought a diffe ren t d i mens i on to Afr i can-
Amer i can Christianity which no other Bl ack ma n in t hi s area
t he world has e ver a t tempted.
The men above, a ll of Af rican or i gin , have produced a n
I mme asurable impact on that which i s l abel e d today "Judeo-
Christian civilization" and "whi te- power- structurell (goverrunent)
" me s wh i ch ar e used synonymously ';-/ ith the "Unite d oS tates of
Amcr icc;l . '!
xxi
In the case of Father Divine , he gave Jes us Christ much
more of a humanistic posture than any of his contemporar ies.
On the other hand, the Prophet Elij ah Hohamme d, reportedly of
a former Baptist preacher background , debunked European-
Amer ican style Chris t ianity and Judaism as cur rently practised.
Not onl y has the Prophet removed his follO\l/ers froro \"ihat he
called ,
.. . ,
The hypocr i sy of the lihi te devi l' 5 rel igion
etC. ,
but he a l so t he Mos l em Koran (Qu'ran)
to suit the needs of the Asiat ic Slack
peoples etc.,
according to the message being g iven to the IIdead Negroe s" his
foll owerS desire to save. Thi s is a basic tenet in the I!Nation
of I s lam" - t he correct name f or the so- called "Black Musl i ms ."
The Honourable Ma rcuS Garvey, late Pr eside nt-General of
the Univer s al Negro Impr ovement Associat ion , Inc.
sta r t ed a new Christian philosophy , and made J esus Christ a ppear
Bl ack for the peopl e who v.orshipped him througho u t the Harlems
of the n\1e stern world." Garvey took his image from t he Jesus
Chr i st depicted i n t he Ethiopian Koptic <Coptic) Church - the
oldest Christian Church and nation in existence .
This work ' S ultimate goal is to show the de fini te links
between Ju JU, Voodoo, and other exclusivel y indige nous
traditional African religions "li th Judaism, Christiani ty a nd
I s l am, among other r e ligions mare commonly kno\'10 to the European-
Amer i cans, and of course, to those o f other ethni c groupings.
It wi ll a l s o s how that ".hen Ju Ju and Voodoo , as well as other
traditio na lly Afr i can rel igions , me et the conver sion efforts
xxii
of e ither three so- called "!'-Je s tern Rel igions" - Judai sm, Chr ist-
iani ty and I s l am, the latter three must accommoda te the f irs t
two by adopting ma ny aspe cts of the bas ic tenets in order to
keep the new c onver ts. For this reason, and many o t her s not
being me n tioned her e, it is v irtuall y i mpossible to fi nd a n
African convert in Afr i ca I"/ho haS surrendered a ll of h is or her
traditi onal culture a nd r eligi o us pr ac tice s - especial ly c ustoms
associated wi th ances tral worship and oracl es - for European-
styl e J udaism and Chr i stianity or Asian Mohame t isrn (Islam).
Because of the same reason most Afr i can-American forms of
J uda ism, Christianity a nd Islam take o n concepts and e motional
outl ets not commo n among their European-American re ligious
contemporaries of t he three so-called "to/estern Rel i gions . \I
rTowever, no attempt wha tsoever wi ll be made to p r ove wh ether
Moses , Jes us Chr ist, Mohamet, 8i l a l or Ol edamre , and
a ny other Gods a nd pr ophets ....Jere Bl ack, i'/hi 'ce, Yel low, Srown,
Red or t echnicolot'j e xc ept i n cases \I/here they a l r eady have
been made to appear Cauca3ianized, a nd in fac t , are lc.no",n t o
be Afr ica n or of African o;. i gin. Thi s \r/ ork sha ll not attempt
1: 0 convey a ny speci a l poli t i cal , cul tural , eco nomic, moral or
r.c ligiou s mes sagej nor sha ll it r efrain f r om any area heretofore
ons i dered to be controvet"sial and a nti- established orde r b y
C('L' tain ethnic, relig i ous or pol i tical group ings. If this
'Itlrk to r ecei ve the endorsement of e veryone, then i t i s
crta. in that i t has s aid n othi ng meaning f u l , by v ir ture of t he
uhj ec t ma. t t er al o ne .
i\FRICAN 'fil E f 1r\J H ADOPTED BY 'fHE
xxiii
discovered in the pages of r ecor ded hi story ; a l so t hrough personal
1:cnO\oJledge and contact by t he author; this is a ll i t is int ended
to accomplish.
Scho larly excellence is t he goal this work attempts to
achieve. Thus, it is written on a level somewhere beh-Ieen the
college sophomore and the generally articulate reading public,
wh ich is the primary academic prerequisite for this course of
study.
For the reasons already stated there are very few footnot e s
on the pages of the The major notes ar e given at the
rear of t he book in sections entitle d: "Notes for Chapter No. 1
Shango , II etc. Th is method of documentation affords the reader
a free flow of the informa t ion "Jithout having to be immediately
distrac t ed by footnotes, of ...,hich the average reader mayor may
not be interested. By t he same token, the necessary notes and
documentations are still availab le t o the much more inquir ing
student or general reader \/ho may d e s i re to become involved in
urther research , or just to verify the a u t hor1 s sources of
informa'cion and references. At specific points in the \"J ork,
however, it became necessary to inser t in brackets certain
documentary or re lated not es and evidence as part of the int egra)
whole of t he f ree f l owing information, all of which deal t ',lith
recorded event s; otherwise the quali t y and uniqueness of thi s
vJ ork "'Jould not hav b een maintained.
La stly, another major objective of this vlOrk is to make the
pas t relate to t he living present by meanS of t he mat er ials
presented. The old (past) should be rele vant to t he contemporary
(present ) in order that the new (future) can bo b C!:J t planned,
xxiv
appr oached, and subsequently obtainedj i f t his be not ';; he reason
f or works such as this, but instead o nl y i ts his t or ic chronolo-
gica l findings, then t his wou l d have been a \"aste of good t ime
a nd academic research o
The role of t he Africans (some t imes c alled "Negroes, B<1ntus ,
Pygmies , Hot tentots, Bushmen, Niggers" and a h ost of other such
degrading terminologies) and their descendants in the f i eld
of religion, as in all other a reas o f human endeavour, is too
often ignored , and in too many cases , comp l etely denied. Because
of this existing condition it is necessary , if f or no other
l-eason, to bring to the forefront, once more, a feH of the
African (Bl ack) personal i t ies that preceded the Reverend Dr .
rtdrti n Luther King , Jr. 1.n trying to put religion into religious
c ongreg a t ions and institut i ons .
ll
I t is also necessary to sho\.,r
/ll\1ny of them as the peopl e who Her e most responsible for t he
lH'ig ination of t he philosophical concep ts by which European-
1\.... IC.c ica ns and Afr ican-Arner i cans are gu i ded as flmora l codes,"
; 111 o f \.Jhich t oday i s calle d " \>J es t ern Reli gion" and Hi'Jes t ern
1' 1d losoPhy .. ul
2
The events of the deat h of Ni nist e:c El Haj j Malik Sha bazz
- X - Little) and t he Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King,
lJ _ c aused certain del a y in t he c omp l e t ion of this ,.; ork \J hich waS
In I-e t han t hree year 5 in pr eparation. Th ose \\I ho knNI of this
\I()r lc in i ts e arlies t 3ta ge n will notice that Chapter V has been
I vjsed to meet:. the above events; a nd by doi ng so, t h e ent ire
I "nu!;:cript has had t o be rewr itten in many places . Th is new
.11rTII.!t\!>ion ha!> enhanced t he current v,"\l ue of t he material cont ent "
xxv
However, it Hi ll be noted that none of the personalities
ment ioned in this .. .jOrk is rated over any of t he others. If
this were done, the purpose for which this vJork i s created
would have suffered beyond repair. In closing, a nd with
respect t o the major contributions of all of the Africans
and people of African origin ment ioned herein, the following
African saying is given:
.. An offspr ing v/ithout a s pirit past is a
being without an ancestral tie ........ ....... .. .. .. ..
au thor unknown
xxvi
..
SHANGO: A SOURCE OF RELIGIONS
CHAPTER NUl1BER ONE
"Pagaism, Voodooism, Fetishism, Bl ack Magi c,
Obyah a nd Oledamare" are a ll but a mere sample of the many nar:les
relegated t o a feH of the righteously sacr ed religions of solely
tradi t ional indigenous African origin - according to most
Eur opean and European- American educators, theolog i ans and
general missionaries \'Jho believe \.dthin themselves that t l1ey
have been ordained by some God or the other to save mankind
from \I themsel ves. n Al though this messianic obsession i s in
itself disgusting enough, these labe l s have become more and
more extreme ly offensive to the peoples of African origin ,,,110
cherish their ancient traditional relig ious heritage that has
s urvived Asi a n, European and Europea.n-American slaver y and
col onializat ion. As such, this chapter, hopefully, endeavors
to poi nt out some of the f undamental l y indigenous Afr ican
moral, spiritual, and philosophi cal concepts i n these religions
are unkno ...m t o most foreigners, as vlell as to the vas t
majority of the s ons and daughters of the true "Garden o f Eden"
- fl.lkebu- lan, which the Gr eeks and Romans rename d " Africa, II
,\long with other such nomenclaturesa
Subsequent to the da\'Jn of Zinjanthropus boisie, approximately
and possibly before t l1is date, the i ndi genous
AP.t: i c a n peoples - the so- called "Ne groes , Bantus, Bushme.n,
riotLentots" and others bearing such labels of i nferiority s tatus
p1 c ed upon ther.. by tho i.I: glo. ve filil8lcrs and colonizer s from Asia
1
and Europe - have been honoring a "superi.or force" or "being. "
Sometimes this r'force" or Hbeing" is expressed i n its mate rial
s ense, or in its un- seeab le union i n the "Spirit (Nether) v10rl d"
- equal to the Christian "Hell" and "Heaven", Husli!':l
a nd Jewis h "Hereaf ter. "
Because of the concept of a "Spirit t'1orld" i n mos t of the
t raditionally ind i genous Afr i can religions there are a l so " good"
a nd IIbad" or r'evil" ancestor s a nd/ or "omens . " These could be
trans lated i nto " good" and "bad" angels a nd devi l s. Thus : The
Christian De vil ' His Sa t a ni c l\1ajesty' - woul d be as much a God
as \>l ould be Jesus Chr i s t , All a h Or Yvahj hOvleve r, he woul d be a
"bad \! or f allen God; " bad," not in the sen se t hat the anc e s tor
h i mse lf wou ld h ave been obnoxi ous, but in t he order of h i s past
as " good" or "bad" t hing s - equivalent t o the role of a "bad"
Satan (the Devi l , or Fallen Angel) with respect to a " good"
Jesus Christ , Jehovah Or Allah. For the Afr ican's contenti on i s:
i f God alone can make a ll things, and contr o l a ll t hings -
including !':lan, then there mus t be a t least one " good" God and
one "bad!! God; or the one God is bo t h " good" and "bad" in the
same instance.
Contrary to most European and European- Amer ica n-styl e
Christian dogma tism, \'Ihich expounds the raci st belief that
" Black Af rci an" (Negro, Bantu, etc .. ) tradi tional r eligions are
solel y "visualist i c and i dolistic," the fact is tha t most
indigenous African traditi o na l r e ligions of pr e - Slavery and
pre-colonial European and Europea n-American periods that
survived are as f undame ntally philosophical and spiritual as
t he so-cal l ed "idealis tic religions.
rl
The na lur'vl clbjcc-t: s
2
used i n said- African t raditional reli gious practices to t"hi ch
Chr istian and Ho s l e m mi s sionaries object , serve only t o remi nd
the fai t hful of "divine pr esence" j and they are no different
in meaning t han t he exhibi t ion of a Hogen David ar ound a Jet'" 5
neck , a Crucif ix hanging on a Chri sti an I s chest, or a Ka I aba
(bl ack stone from Ethiopia) concealed on a Mos l em's per son:
l
all of \lhich nee Unatural
ll
(ma ter ialis t ic ) "objec ts!' to remind
them of t heir Gods.
Citations of an exampl e of the above r emarks ar e to b e
f ound in the " libati ons
l
' (sacr ifi c i a l drinking ) still being
pr a c t i sed by the indigenous Africans of traditi o nal l y Afr ica n
rel igi ons . The extent o f this c ustom is seen in the fact that
"the greatest of the Fathers of the Christian Churc h" _ St.
Augus tine (an indigenous Afr i c an), the most noted of Chris tendom's
"mor a l ists," c omrnented o n its us age in rel i gious devoti on quite
favorably. I t 1s no les s s acred , Augustine fel t, than t he
dr inking of "line during the Chr i stians ' t'Hol y CommUnion" i n
memory of the Las t Su pper (Passover Se der ) r or a Rabbi taking
his si ps of wi ne on the Sabbath Eve (Omeg Shabat Priday evening).
'(:: t t hese fundar.len t a l r.1a i ns t ays i n most traditional indi genous
.'(r i can rel igi o ... s tenchiogs have been empl o yed in the " Nys tery
': y:;leras " of North, East, lles t , Sou"!.: h, md Centra l Afr i ca more than
t 1l.!' c e-th ousand ye ars bef ore the bir th of the Hebr el-J reli gion ,
.... hicb is thou5ands of yeacs befoce t he Afcican of Zgypt _ fl10s e s _
. nf)).J05edly lef t h i s native 110meland on the Nile River bank.s to
the Africa n-Je H!> of Cgyp'..: in Cani3.an. Strange as i t may
" t'm, t h e libC'r"Clt. inn of hy Lhc Hebr e ...ls be an act of
II1l't 't. l u liarn ncl of 1J "'H'Ici d' lI \tc.l .i. t 1..:\I-:.o n p l .:tcc in lilt:' 19th or
3
20th century CaE. Nevertheless, the mere fact that peopl e have
said that God (Jehovah) ordered t his colonia l izat i on of one
gr oup of people , he made, by a nother, seems to j ustify said
barbarism in the minds o f most, even today . If the Egyptians
shoul d c laim tha t God ordered them into the same area taken f rom
the Noabites , Hit ti tes, Jebus ites, etc . , the same as he ordered
the Hebrews sometime ago, over three-thousand years ago , who
believe them?
To say that t he indigenous t'/est Africans I invol vement i n
the us e of alcoholic beverages (palm t.,. ine) f or libations
(rel igious invocations or secu lar toastings) i s the c ustom of
"pagans" and the " unciviliz e d, II Hhich is too often said, is to
l abe l equall y all "l'l e s t erner s" \.,rho drink \.,.ine ceremoniousl y
i n Hebr e\'.1 or Chris tian ritual s of b eing guilty of t he same .
Then is it God l y t'lhen a '.'Jhite man dri nks wi ne in a chur ch or
synagogue , but unGodl y in the Case of a Black man?
In Vood oo ceremonies , Liba tion
2
mar ks the per iod '",hen
certain ri tuals begin and others end . For exampl e, the Libation
r i tual durin9 the cer emony tha t precedes the pl acing of
sacrif i cial f oods on the mai n a l tar _ Bagi ( Ho l y of Hol ies) -
before the praye r of sacr ifice,3 al so marks the entrance of the
Papa l oa (High Priest)" This custom is as common among the
Af rican-Hai tians as it is among the t'lhydahs of Africa. In
Christian es pecia l ly dur i ng Hol y Communi on, i t is
cus t omary for the attendants (mass boys, priests, etc . ) to set
the altar with bread (host) in preparati on of the r ecital of a
I'!,)aga n
ll
ri ',;ual that dema nds:
4
" Take ye and eat this , Chr i st's body . .. " ," etc ..
for \,ine (alcohol) it is :
"Dr ink ye t his, Chr ist 's blood .. . .. , etc ..
The priest -or mi nister's fir s t drink (libation) before he dips
the hos t (Chri st's body) into the wine (Christ's blood )3a
a nd cal l s upon God (Chris t' s father) which i s s imilar to
invoking the spirit of the Yorubas of West Afr ica 's God ,
Ol edamare, and his Orisha s ( minor Gods) . Th i s is clear l y stated
in the tlTake ye this My bl ood, and dr ink in My memory , " etc. ,
a typi cal l y II paga n is t ic" and II cannibalisticu ceremony if
performed by Africans or African-Americans 1n voodoo .
4
Is this
ceremony not simi lar to the a nc i ent c us tom \"hen the Druids
S
of
Norther n Europe allegedly II drank their e nemies' b lood and
,\te their brains to capture t heir spiritual a nd physical
t; trength ? "
Is the re any major differ ence between t he practi ce:
.Jhen the Papa loa (Hi gh Priest - who i s similar in rank to a
fi oman Catholic Protestant Archbis hop, Jewish Chief
1(abbi, or 1-1os l em Grand I man) i s aided by hi s subordinate
lIoungan (pr ies t) and Mambo (pr i es tess) a t the begi nning of t he
nLi ng of the manges (sacrificial food) as the badgian (acolyte,
,,(," to the High Priest) Shakes the aSSon (rattl e made
I, Om a hollot'Jed gourde with dr i ed corn kernel ins ide) thr ee
I !mcs whi l e t he members of his congregation respond by bowi n g
I hI i. e heads ; and \,hen a Roman Catholic Bishop i n his ceremony
liar l nt) t he Ho ly Communion ; or '''he n a pr iest acts as the
\{ hop ' ::. d. colytc a nd !ihalc(,f; th': c h imer (incense holder) and the
II1.mc.:: . .:J iqn.! l t he congr gu. Llol\ to bm/ t)I Cir head::; to prayer,
5
while in the pursuing mome nts that fol l ow the choir soft ly and
sole ml y sings as h is "li ne ( libation) is carefully pour ed for
him by his acol yte (badgi a n) ?
I s the burni ng of Svleet incense in Voodoo ritual s "un_Godly, "
b ut "Godly" in Jewish , Chri stian,and ISlamic ceremonies ? I f
this is true, then "vJestern Relig ions" incense is the right way;
a nd maybe the choir in the ir religious ceremonies - wi th its
organ and/ or piano background music - is a l so the onl y one to be
rated "Godl y. " I f "Western Re l igions'" choi r s are t he onl y ones
a pproved by the authorized Gcds, it is onl y natural the
Voodoo choi rs with the ir background og un (triangul ar instruments
beaten by sticks) a nd tambours (series of drums)6 - mus t be
rendered Il un_Godly .. " \'i hy? Because a group of powerful men
(Eur opean and Eur opean-Americans ) vJ ho dominate and control
r el i g ious propaganda ordai ned it so.
God - or 'lodum, Jehovah, Ol edamare , J esus Christ, Allah,
and Saba Loas, neither one i s less the di vinity t h at e n ter s a nd
se i zes the right eous in a Pente costal, Bapti s t , or Voodoo
ceremony because He or She is called by ei ther one of these
names mencioned . In a. ny of t he fundamentall y so-ca lled " Save
Soul Churches
ll
of Afr ican- American and European- Amer ica n
sponsorship, one can easi l y note that Voodoo a nd J u JU ha ve been
co- opted in many of t heir f orms into t he J udaeo- Chr istian settiwI
that is common to Chr ist i a n s and J ews in the United S t ates of
America. With in this phenome nal development, the so- cal l ed
"Negro Spir itual" i s the most common a nd acceptable "pagani stic
incantat i on
ll
to European-American J e ws and vlhy?
Because t hey see such Afr i can-Amer i can i ncan l lion!:; ( "Negro
6
Spiri tual s!l) as r e ligious e nter tairunent by tr uly b l ack- face d
minstrel s (flNiggers/ e tc .).
Are the " Negro Spir itual s" 1n any vJay a deve l opmental
outgrowth of European-American- style Christi anity? Or , are
they not an extension of indigenous Africa n tr ad i tional
r e ligi o us chants that underwent European and Eur opean-American_
styl e Jewish and Chr istian influences? ' The l atter is definitely
the case. Of Course this conclusion lllill be ver y hea tedl y
de ni e d by those Hho wi sh no t to be labeled - among other
things
"pagans, savages , uncivilized, cannibal s , " etc. But
the fact s till remains that J u Ju, Voodoo, loJ itchcraft, and Magic,
nIl ba Sic e l e ments wi t hin the So-ca lled "Hester n Rel i gions
t
" have
been e mphasized in the African- American (Black ) owned and
c ontrolle d synagogues, churches, and mosques.
The h i s t ory of the African- Americans ' belated entrance i nto
/; u.ropean-American- style Christian Protestantism and Roman
is 1n its e l f evidence that the Af ricans, who were at
t he t i me chattel slaves of European and European-Amer ica n Jewish
rind Christian s l avemaster s, not wan ted by t he in-groups
(t he s lavemasters) o Could i t have been pos s i b l e t hat those
I\l r icans (who \oJe r e not a\-Jare of the fact t hat their fe llow
11'1di genous Africa ns - s uch a s Hos es, St . Augu stine, 511al and
,1t.11ar.:> - pr i marily made Judai sm, Chr i stiani ty,and Islam t he mass
'l.:Hlizat i ons they are) Hould have a.dopted the existing forms
rel i gious "Jorship t heir s l avemas ter s were us ing t o
It't in toto? Not at all ZO. The mere fact tha t t hey were
IIcclbly excl ud ed fr om 1111 f" ormD of Jewish, Chris i;i .l.n } a. nd I s lamic
7
(Ii Hestern Re l igions" ) rel i g ious worshi p ; and tha t t hey we::-e even
perse cu t e d and prosecuted for a ny a t t emp t at pr a c t ising e ithe::-
on 'thei r 0.,,10, is fur ther pr ime fac ie evidence t ha t there is
a distinctly different Judai sm, Christianity, and Islam developed
by t he African-Americans that is not at,tributabl e a nd/or
app licable to, and by,
The uniqueness
of t he ir CODmon eating habi t s represe nts no major dif ference s
between the two groups . For exampl e, t he Af r ican-Amer ican Has
for c ed t o develop an appetite for "chitterling , ham hocks, pig ' s
ears, tails and feet .. " \'Jhy? Because all o t her par ts of the pig ,
like al l other edible animals, were r eserved f or the European
a nd European- J\merican slavemasters - Christian a nd -
in a nd o ut of religion. In t he case of the so- cal led II He stern
Religions," the Af rica ns were even de n ied the r i gh t t o read any
boo1< Hhatsoever, t hat is, including the J ewish or Chris t ian
'THoly scriptur e , " much l es s the Mo slem' 5 - ,"'hich was not t o l e r ated
among the coloni sts , even after they became independent as t he
United states of America.
One mus t remember that the Africans, although crushed in
t he ir every attempt to participat e ""Ii t hin the culture of the
be stial environment of s' aver y, did communicate with eac h other
i ld d other p l a c
os Hhere t hey labor e d, throul)!1
in the cotton f e s an
Voodoo , Ju Ju , and other richly spit' i tual and re ligious de vot ion'
t hey deve l oped in their indigenous home l and - the continent of
Alkeb u-lan The bestiality of t heir slavemaster s
fur t her made 't hem lear n each other's relig ious songs and
chants.
became
8
T7 iS cong l omerate o f
the background f or the
re l i g ious e xul tati on , ther efore ,
l a t e r ""h ich i s t oday
err oneously called HNe gro Spirituals , " instea d of Af:cican
i ncan tat ions , or Voodoo It i s to be r emembered
t ha t t he slaves were Af ricans j no t " Negroes .. II IINegroes"
were ori gina ted by t he European slavemasters, so was " Negroland"
(See BLACK MAN OF THE NILE, by Yosef ben- Jochannan, Alkebu-la n
Books, New York
1
1970; Chapter I, pp . 1-48 , and pp .. 266-268.
There was nothing "Negro" about the development of the
" Spir i tuals . " They wer e deve loped by millions of Afr icans j
not o ne of whom was a "free man" j not one a "citizen"; not
one a "human being " unde r t he la\.,.s of Great Britain up until
1776 nei ther were they so considered a f t er the American
\'Jar of independence from Great Britaln, nor after their Fe deral
Constitution was wr i tten , and from t hence through the 14th
7a
Amendment of said document in 1885 Co E . j and to a very great
extent not even today in 1970 - more than 350 years after the
f i rst group o f Af ricans were brought to the United states of
:\ mer ica as indent ured and chatte l s laves .
Further proof lies in t he fact t hat Af r i cans on the
I':uropean and European-Amer ican s l ave farms , p lantation s , or in
the businesses and big houses sang their 'African Spiritual s'
.l nd chanted their other Voodoo and Ju Ju praises to Afr ica IS
Gods long befor e they coul d even understand what the Gods of
their Europe a n and European-American captors and s l avernas t er s
a ll abou t. This Eur opean-styl e Chris t i an God (Jesus Chr ist )
W' !J d ifferent to the Jesus Christ presented to them in Et hiopia
\ , He was introduced to the Romans in
"Far e de de may be to most
Ul etc and peo ple:J in t.. hc Uni L.c d s'tates of J\merica today
9
some sort of poetically broken Ye s! Cer tainl y poetic ,
and definitely broken in its Englis h. Yet , it came from a
"Negro Spiritual" that had its origin i n t he savagery of the
J ewishl ess and Chri s tianless slavemasters' sadistic cruelty and
genocide upon their helpless and defenseless African slaves .
"Fare de \'Iell , fare de well" that t he blm-Js from the master ' 5
bull-whip, with its metal pellets, would not maim another
African slave i f he (or she) was not l ucky enough to die from
the blows instead. This is !'Ihat these wor ds that were composed
during the world's worst era of genoc ide by one gr oup of mank ind' s
inhumanity tm'.1ards the other (European and European-Amer ican
physical and mental enslavement of the African peoples in
Africa, t he Caribbean Isl ands,and continental Americas)
saying ..
"Go down Moses, way down in Egypt's land, tell ole Pharoah
8
let my people go ..... , tI etc., may i n its elf suggest Jewish (Hebrew)
origin. Yet, in fact, i t was the poetic expression 'v/hich vias so
common in the Afr icans' rebellion of their disgus t and contempt
for their Christian and Jewi sh slavemasters t hat 'v,ere being
exul t ed . But, 'vJhy did the s laves use the name of a fe ilOYI
indigenous African - Moses ( a Haribu) - in their appeal for
freedom, and could not see t he justice in their other fel low
Af rican - Phar oah (King) Rameses II's reason for exiling his
fellow indigenous Africans of the Hebr ew religion (Jews)?
Because of many reas ons, most common of which are :
10
( A) They did not know that Noses was an indigenous
African, as they
(S)
(C)
(D)
Biblical Egypt had always been taught i n
churches and synagog ues a s a myt hical place
where Africans (whom t he s lavema s ters
renamed fl Negroes" ) did not exist .
Thev were brai m'll ashed into believing that
the enslavement of the Afr i can JeNs by their
fellow African worshippers of the God Ra was
an act aga inst t heir God (Jehovah of the Jews,
and Je sus Chr ist of the Chri stians)j but
t heir own s l avery, on t he other hand , was "the
will of God .
1I
And t hat their own enslavement was for their
own benefit, since "sl avery saved them from
being eaten by their much more cannibalistic
uncivilized pagan fellow Africans, who were
not as fortunate as they hear the
mes s age of Christ).
The hatred impl anted into the preceding words with r e gard
to Moses and his troubles with his f e llow African, Pharoah
Rarne s e s II , is sti ll s ung with greater passion :tn African-
American Churches than songs of their own enslavement - such as
"Ole Man River " and "Lift Every Voice a nd 5ing.,,9 In most of the
so- called "middle class" minded "Negro Churches"
- such as the "Negro" Presbyterians , Anglicans, Roman Catholics ,
l. utherans , Moravians , e tc . , these songs seem to be banned by a
kind of gentle men's agreement to, hope full y, bury their hist oric
PIl :5 t memor ies of chattel s l avery . In this manner, the
heneficiaries of slavery, their s lavemasters ' descendants , can
for get the fact that the s laves ' labor, which created
1d \'.1ealth, goes still unpa id.
"Lift Every Voice and Sing , " etc. , begins the once
4.mOUS "Negro Na tional Anthem" t.hat was c omposed by t he late
I tan-American - Jamcc vleldon Johnson. Ho .. /ever, it is still
t r Infj !l ung among the: l cs!3 .G ophl :..;ticatt.!d Afr i can-Americans (Blacks )
)lho r1hd no solace in con t inue d oxc l\.ls i on :i.n Eur op an-America.
11
But, today it, too, has become a part of the Voodoo and Ju Ju
'African-American Spiritual' of the cultural revolution. It
too has been relegated to be sung only upon occasions the
African-American is overshadowed by some white cou ld of misery -
such as the cold-blooded murders of the Minister Malcom X
(81 hajj Malik Shabazz) and the Reverend Dr . J.lartin Luther King,
Jr . But it must also give way -to the much more popular
" . ... \rlhen I Die I'm Gonna Walk Al Over God's Heavun , Heavun,
Heavun , II etc ... , vlhen the fallen brother or sister African-
American is a close and personal friend or blood relative. Why?
Because the latter song preaches resignati on and satisfaction
with s lavery; whereas the former slightly suggests a bit of
protest on the part of a people who are
still 1Z
muster a
their state of
mental s l aver y, yet conscious enough to
in t heir struggle for self e steem.
bit of protest
Voodoo and Ju Ju chants, and testimonials, can be heard in
the pr e aching of the Last Sermon on the Mount that echoed:
Free at last! Free at last! Great God
Almi ghty, I'm Free at last .... " "I've been up to
the Inountain top , and I I ve seen the Promised Land ,"
etc.
But with a crashing booming BANG f r om an assassin's weapon of
violence the life of the man on the mountain - a by-product of
Voodoo and Ju Ju , along with European and European-Americanized
J udaeo- Christianity, the Reverend Dr . Hartin Luther King, Jr .,
was "Free at last " Th.is man, vlho h ad me lodiously master ed
his Af rican chants, found only in the African-Ame r ican (so-calle d
nNegro" ) Baptist Church and other fltestimonial!! sharing . and
"Soul releasing " African forms of Chri::: t i nn e xper i ence around
12
t he entire world, had also revived Voodooism and Ju J u- i sm -
e ven to the point of provoking the love of the God Oledarnare
a nd His Orishas (mi nor Gods). Thi s ana lysi s may not find many
believers its proclamations ; but the fact remains that
Dr . King was typical in his approach as any Voodoo preacher
of today.
When Voodoo priests take a rooster in their divine
encantation and begin their dance to the God Dambal lah Ouedo
one Can hear the same in the spiritual crescendo of the
tambourine and piano-playing that accompany the religious
dancing with in the African-American testimonial that Dr. King
preaChed ; particularly when Obyah and Voodoo spirits take hold
of the ir worshippers - to the extent that t hey floating ly move
i nt o the ecstacy of religious trance. Th is form of Voodooistic
I. nvolvement has been adopted by thous ands of European-Americans
o{ varied brahces of Christianity wh ich are today called "sects II
Dy t heir much more " sophisticated" brethr en, who prefer to
j....,\1.ntain their emotionless dried-up middle-Class anal ytical
I nc hings of sel f-proclaimed "theologians" and !Tphilosophers, II
wh o teaCh beyond and above the understanding of their pariShioners,
I1II'tJ. nly to show their academic ski lls , rather than deal with their
needs.
" SOlT.L! \I This and mali gne d "exotic word" has
..... ( , 1'\ removed from its Voodoo orig i n into a n "Old Black Mag ic
lllO
", I "Wi t chcraft" ni ght-clubbing atmosphere , and from there to
'h morc popular and contemporary, but most contemptible ,
Ill n q of "Black Comedy." YC. L; II ,sOUL" was originally the
13
used in the religious ceremonial dance that once
entered, in a debased form, the European- American ent ertainment
wor Id from the Car i bbean as the "LIMBO DANCE. II
The "Limbo," a religious ceremonia l dance per f ormed by
t he priest of the Obyah rites in preparation for the adoration
ceremoni es adulating masculinity before the initiation
proceed i ngs of a young boy to be and start his road
into "manhood , II is as sacr ed as a Jewish Barmitzvah or a
Christian First Communion. In this ceremonial exhibition, it
is s aid that:
Man displays his greatest sense of power in
his ability to coordinate in perfect unison h is
mind and body in graciously rhyt hmic movements,
and as such reach perfect meditation with h i s
God through the intervention of ancestral spirits /
from the spirit world.
But, why did the overlords and slavemasters from Europe and
Britain ban t he "Limbo" in Africa and the ar i bbean Islands 1
Because the y feared its II paganistic inunorality" and the "Black
l.IJ.agic
IV
it was supposed t o emit. They saw it as a form of
llheathenism
ll
; of course, wi th a bit of cannibalism thr own in
for g ood measure, this reaction being typi cal of the so-called
trChr istian Missionaries
t1
that afflicted M ri ca and t he indige nour:
African peoples and their descendant s for over the past 4 76 year :.
(1 503-1970 C. E.l"
1503 or 1506 C.E. \4aS the year t he Right Reverend Bisho p
Bartolome de Las Casas of .t he Roman Ca thol ic Church had t he Kinq
and Queen of Spain and the Pope in Rome insti t ute t he infamous
"s l ave trade." Their fir s t victims being 1-10ers who had refused
t o become Christians af t er they we re toppl ed by the Christians .
The first number to be sent to Las Casas vIaS 4,000. The origiu;"l
s l ave por t was located on the of H y t l) (Ha.i t.i), which
the Spaniards had already renamed I1H:i.span.101 . 11
14
In ge neral , that which is presently called flLimbo Dance"
carne down to con t emporary Afr ican-Americans by Hay of African
Chr istianity which was adopted after Christinai ty Has infused
wi th Ju Ju-ism and Voodooism in lvest Africa and the Caribbean
Isla nds, before its arrival in the Uni t ed St a t es of
Is it not strange t hat in IIS ave Soul
l1
or l1Sanctifiedll
dancing the dancers' knees are never cro ssed? Yes !. But only
t o t hose who do not know that "crossing the Knees
l1
in a voodoo
dance is as much sacriligious as o ne trying to do a goose-step
d uring a Jewish or Christian r eligious procession before the
Ark of the Covenan t or the Al t ar. of Communion.. The history of
this most sacred reli gious t radition came dawn to the
and the African-Car ibbean f rom generations s ucceeding
lenerations (through action) even though not a sing le word was
lW!rmitted to be ''1ri t ten down ; all of which \-; as lIinspired by God, n
Ihe Afr i can God - l1VoodWn. 11 One see s the same corollary
.1n the Jewish , Chr isti a n , and Nos lem traditional r eligious
dunces or movements of the priests , rabbis, ministers,and ima ms ..
'('his tradition , the "Limbo Dance ,l1 as much the order of a
(:od of Africa - t hrough his l1 inspired Holy Prophe t sl1 that were
I .1led upon by Hi s l1angels,l1 as the Gods of Europe and Asia ", he
l led upon Mose s, Jesus Christ, and I1oharne t. Or is it
'hdl God, too, is guilty of l1racism,?f1 And that He , She or It,
uld never call upon an Af rican to be one of t he "Prophets711
tI ybO it 1s t hat Oledamare, the God of the Yorubas and millio ns
In(" o f I-les t Af rica , is not the equal of Jeh ova h, Jesus Christ
Allah.
15
If the European and European-American can see beyond his
( or her) mm narrow be li.e f that he alone is perf e ct ; and that
mankind did not h ave to call upon him to save humanity for a ny
God whatsoever, then, a nd only the n, is it possi b le for him
to see the influence Ju Ju , Magie , Obyah,
and most other forms of other pe oples I re ligion a nd God t ha t
preceded the creation of Judaism, Chr istianity, a nd I s lam,
had on them in their own beginning, a nd nOw .
In his book , BANTU PHILOSOPHY, the late Roman Ca t holic
priest _ Placide Temples _ wrote;ll
16
IN SEARCH OF A BANTU PHILOSOPHY
1. Life and death determine human behavior .
It has been often remarked t hat a European
who has given up , during his lif e, all pract ices
of the Christian religion , quickly returns t o a
Christian vie""point when suffering or pain raise
the problem of the preservation and surviva l or
the loss and destruct ion of h is being. Many
sceptics turn , in their last momen t s , t o seek
in the ancient Christian teaching of the vJes t ,
the practical anStoJer to the problem of redemption
or destruction. Suffering and de ath are ever t he
two gr eat a post l e s who lead many wanderers in
Europe at their las t moments to our traditional
Chr is t ian
In the same '/Jay among our Bantu ""e see the
evolues , t he "civilized," even the Chr i stians,
return t o their former ways of behavior whenever
they are over t aken by moral lassi tude , danger or
s uf fering. They do so because their ancestors
l eft t hem their pr actical solut ion of t he great
problem of humanity , t he probl em of li f e and death ,
of sal vation or destruct ion. The Bantu, only
converted or civilized s uperficially, r eturn a t t he
instance of a determining f orce t o t he behavior
ac t i visti cally dictated t o
Among the Bantu and, indeed, a mong all primitive
peoples, life and death are the a p osLl es of
f ide lit y to a magical vie w of l i("1 a. nd of recourse
t o tradi t ional magical pr.l.tic ": .
1 . Evolues: I preserve this term untran s late d
for lack of a suitable English equivalent . I t
signifies those who have passed o u t of -the traditiona l
ways of life and thought of t heir O'1ln ethnic group
and have taken over t hose of the West o (CoKo)
Hereif!. lies the basic problem i n 'rJh ich so many European and
European- American-style Chr istian a nd Asian Moslem mi ssionaries
a nd their Afr ican converts, also J ewish educators (Rabbinate),
f ind t hemselves hope l essly en t hralled. Reverend Temp l e s al so
tried to be 'limpartial," he said. His claim being the same as
a ll others who professed J udai sm, Chr istia ni ty or Islam, and at
the same instance, pretend t hat t heir O\'1fl prejudices can be
s c holarly subdued s ufficiently to make "impartial" analysis of
A.f r i ca I s trad i tiona I rel i g ions.. This premise is without a doubt
t: idicu lously preposterous.. And i t i s seen in its ugl i est pretext
by most Afr i cans a nd Afr i can- Americans who are most affected by
Ho'r} c an a per son bel i eve i n one God and be impar t ial in his
I' c:-lises of another God o f a diff erent philosophy than his own:
'r he possess ivenes s o f Reverend Father Pl ac ide Temples is
I)(",::; t seen in h is cla im that :
"In the same wa y among our Bantu, 'rJe gee the
e volues , the "civilized,1I even the , 'I etc.
"Our Ban tu" was not e ve n g iven usually dishonest
II troent of the quota tion marks whiCh would have to some
L' lOt, conceal ed the Reverend I s personal bias and obvious and
I"Il 'aront racism concer ning the word "civilized .. '1
Hcverend Temples opened up his wor k on the ver y first
paragraph, exhibiting what appear s to be the same
rl' oC racism and rel i gi ous b i gotry his \oJork was
PI ' ')'" dl y r..: or-rec t ing .
17
The title o f Chapter I , " I N SEAACH OF A BANTU PHILOSOPHY, \I
is itse lf at leas t provocativ e, if not openly insulting to the
overwhelming ma jority of the peopl es of Africa - t h e indigenou s
populationo Here 1 s a professed "man of God !! who a llegedly came
to Afr ica t o "civilize and Christianize the he athen Afr icans" j lla
yet , he had to l ook for a UBantu Philosophy .. " One can understand
the semantic probl em , because t he name " Bantu" in itself is a
creation of t h e racist colonial sl avemas t ers .."ho? like h i mse lf 9
came origina lly f rom Europe, and l a t er on, The United St ates of
This type of a r r ogance caused mass ge nocide to be
commi tted a gains t the indi genous Africans , the s l aver s , and
c olon5.zers renamed "Bantus" - a long with o t her names such a s
Hami t es, Pygmies , Negroes," e tc . But Reverend
Pl acide Temples \"Jas very well awa r e o f >chi s par t of history with
respect to his fellaH col onialist administrat ors and European-
styl e Chris t ian rn iss ion aires with whom he served , a nd t hose t hat
preced ed h im; a ll of t hem k nolt/ing t oo we ll t he correct name s t h e
i ndigenous Africans called t hemsel ves when they firs t arrived
in Africa. Nevertheless they forced t he Africans t o a dopt what
they c h ose to cal l "Christian names" - s uch a s !IJames, Geor g e,
Ph illip'" and other such names used by Br i t ish and
kings , \"ho \.;oer e some of the \"Jors t characters in world history.
Any group or peopl e ".;oi th a concept that created a God whi cl l
t hey have not seen , spoken to, or met , mu s t ha v e begun from a
p hilF3soph i cal premi se This i s seen in t he nUyster i es" the
J e ws (Hebrews) copied from their fe l low AfriQaps of Egypt
(Sai s) to produce their first Torah, which t h e Chr i s t:lan s
..
subsequently copied fr om the Jews t o e,..,od: U"IOir " Hol y Bible"
18
(all ver s ions) ; and the Tor ah and Bible the Hos l ems la"ter
adopted from t he Christians and Jews to prod uc e "their
At least, t he Father Temp l es coul d not f i nd i n
his " Bantu-God" ( or Gods) is uni qu e i y or iginal to any o f the
so- called ''V,'estern Rel igions . " It \"-/as deve l oped a l ong ""i t h
other tradit ions and exper i enc es the indige nous Afr ican s had,
rather t han upon European and Europe an-Ameri can-sty l e
Chri s t ian doctrines \>Jhich had not h ing in common \;lith
Sou "th or Central African c i vilizations before the European
(Whi t e Han) arrived a t t hese areas of Africa ( Alkebu-lan).
On the other h and Jack l1ende l sohn , a Unitarian Mi nister,
1 1" the second "Preface!! of his book e ntitled _ "GOD , ALLAH
AIlD J U J U, II used a n ent i rel y differ e n t approach in 1962 than
Templ es d id in 19 54 . He ope ned o n pages 9 and 10 with t"he
J .. 110wing remarks: 1 2
<I I accept African independence without
r eser v a "cions . This i s my " bias" and i t is we ll
to state i t a t t he beginning .. I a cJ<;nowl edge
al so without reserva"tions, the equal dignity
of Africans . I belie ve that Africans are under
no more Obligation to justify thei r free dom and
digni"ty than \"Ies t erner s are . Nor ar e they under
any less obligations. 'de - Af ricans and
- a re o f the same species .
!n pract ica l terms t he o utcome of African
fr e e dom will depend on many f orces, some of
which are purel y Others, hO',olever, are
much i n fl uenced by 'des ter n s e ntiments ! conduc t
and rel ations \oJi t h Afr ica.
A good many of these forces are pol itical a nd
econ.omic. They are \"/ri tte n abo ut profusely. Bu t
politics and economics are not the onl y for ces
shaping Afr ica IS uture. Re li.gion is also a f actor
t o be recleoned \ . .ri t h , a vi t all y important one ..
Li ttl-c enoug h hoJ. {: wri t ten of i t, especially
.i n t h e broad r il:) lt ion of t hi s book.
19
Questions of profound signi f icarx:e for Africans
and for the sentiments of ItJesterners about Africa are:
i'lhat is the future of Christiani ty as the
relig ious commitment of Africa's ri s ing leadership:
What is the futur e of Islam i n the same c ontext?
What normal base do African see being
bui l t under t h e newly i ndepe ndent s ociet i es? t1hat
do African intellectuals me a n when t hey appeal to
trad i t ional African spiri t ual values as such a base:
If mag ic 1s an inherent part o f such traditio nal
val ues, how does i t affect moral and i ntellectual
developme nt ?
Idhat kind of religious a nd moral training does
the African intelli gentsia advocate as par t of the
educational process?
\'lhat does tbe concep t of the separation of church
and s tate mean i n modern African society?
How does relig ious commitment relate to the
over a ll style o f l i fe of Afr i c a n l eadecs?
iJhat vital relevance is there , if a ny, in the
tr aditional Afr i can structure of "time, II the unsee n,
spi r it wor ld?
How does a ll of this r e l a t e to the a llure of
Communism as an alternative spiritual force?
Before commenting on Mendelsohn's "Preface , II it is necessary
to cite vJ hat he had to say in his dedication:
TO:
That s mall circl e o f men and women i n each
Africa n society, who hunger for what is essenti a l ly
African, even a s they thi rst for the best of the
"mrld's learni ng a nd modernity.. They are stil l e\V
in number, and are having no e asy t ime of it.
"'t he s mall circle of men and women i n eac h African society,1I
etc. J which Reverend Mendelsohn knows in his mind 11 are still
feltJ i n number
11
is but not nece s sarily true, and
needs cor r oboration. The bal ance o f his s tate ment i s jus t
another missionary's conclusion rr j udged to s uit
20
the pattern of something-el se dissimil ar to t hat he ItJ r o t e i n
the first paragraph of h i s"preface
u
shmYn underscored for emphasis o
The extract from t he "Prefac e,iI pages 9 and 10 , as hi ghl ighted
by the last ques t ion. Thus:
How does all of t his relate to the allure of
Communi sm as an al t ernative s piritual f or ce?
it not be log ical that the ind i genous Africans should , now ,
r.'e late mor e so to t heir Own traditional ffJu Jun reli gion wi th its
built-in Communalism, which is much more high l y advanced in terms
of human r e lations tha n that which i s tOday Ca lled If d emocr acy"
!' or their own religious solutions? Why i s t he question "lith
"elation, t o the Africans ' freedom a lways Communism more than
",) pital i s m, I s lam, Judaism or Chr i stiani ty - including
lillitarian sim, neither of which is conducive t o any of t he
Indigenous Afric an civilizations in exi stence ? Each of these
l orelgn II-isms" has had at l east four hundred years in Africa ,
px:cept Communism, t o prove itsel f in the eyes of the Africans
lid has utter l y failed ..
On pages 2 1 and 22 Reverend Mendelsohn stated the foll mJing :
What of the Christian miss ionary movement?
I ts slow but steady progress has no\.,.. r un headlong
int<? the. "new" Africa. The charges l eveled
are both humorous and biting.
I n their f r
7
ewheel ing moods , young Afr i cans
never seem t o of retelling the o l d ches t nu t :
" The missionar ies came to us and said, 'He want
t<? teach you to pr ay . I said. 'He wou l d
to l e arn to pr ay.' So t he Missionaries told
u s to c l ose our eyes. \'ie closed our eyes there
was a Bi b le in our hand s, but our l and wa; gone! "
21
If the good Reverend believes t hat this is no t true, he should
read accounts by h i s own forer unner s in t he missionary field ;
especially liTHE PLANTING OF CHRISTIANITY IN AFRICA, " by CoOP .
Grove, New York, 1948- 58 ? 4 Vols.
The Reverend conti nues:
But there are also bitter words - words repeated
endlessly across the breadth of Africa.
liThe Chr istian missionar y movement was an attempt
to quench t he African spirit. It tried to turn
Afr i cans i nto European Chr1stians. It k icked down
our cul ture to show us which side God is on .. II
"Missionaries are unrealistic about polygamy. II
IlWherever the white man stlll has the upper hand,
the missionaries remain strangely tolerant of r acial
d iscr imination .. !1
"The missionaries drag their feet \>shen it comes
to training Africans for church leadershi p and
authority. "
li The missions have been indifferent, even hosti le
toward African nationalism. There1s been no real
sympathy for the political aspirations gr ipping
young Af ricans. fI
If Mendelsohn, at this late date in Christian missionary
invovlement in Africa as an a djunct to colonialism, cannot
understand why Afr icans would turn to any ism other than
"capitalism" and Eur o pean or E.uropean-American- style "Christian-
ism!T fr om the <Wove alle ged comments , his slumber is very deep
indeed. There is not an African old enough to reason who is not
aware of the truth in the above charges; even Africans who have
unfortunately joined what. is being peddle.d as "Christiani t y "
in Afr ica to this very day by "men of the cloth" f r om Europe
and the Un1ted States o f America - the so- ca. lled toAfrica n
u
or
rTNative Cler gy" _ know these facts .. 'r l y k.now t:.h<Jt: isnperiali::.m.
22
colonial ism, chattel s l avery, and now neo- colonialism
5
were ,
and are, partners of European and European-AMerican-style
Christianity.
"Africa I S Tarnished Cross" is the name selected by Mendel-
sohn for the chapter in toJhich the preceding quotations are
shown. But should it not be Europe and European-America's
"Tarnished Cross11! Nhy i nsinuate that t he Christian Cross,
European and European-American-sty l e, is at al l African? The
ind i gen ous Africa n Pl?oples did not import this styl e of
Chr istianity into Africa. I t came ther e "'J i th t h e s l avemasters
lind its co-colonialist mate - imperiali sm, which it nows desires
Lo disavow.. Why? Because it too 1 s now under attack and being
rej ected for what it has proven to b e, in fact, i n the eyes
r the Africans and t heir ne\oJ nations .. Yet Ethiopi a n (Afr i can)
Chr ist ianity - f ormerly the "Koptic (Coptic) Church, the oldest
Chr istian Church in t he ....'or ld , is still r espected, and has no
iI 'I' dr ni shed Cross_II
"Religion In Afri ca Tod ay, " the subti t l e of
I f o l lo\..J s t he u s u al orde r in \oJh1ch t he traditional rel i g ions
!./ Afr ica have been l owl y rated by the mi ssionaries, as sho1tm in
lit') pattern fol l owed in his !:Jook I s title - "GOD I ALLAH AND
III .JU. " Since Af ric a is the main theme or subject of the entire
." k, why not JU JU, GOD,AND ALLAH? And 1s Jesus Chrlst any more
1.( .. 0 than JU JU and ALLAH? Fur thermore, should the Afr icans
Iw ya f o llO\..J everyone-else ? The a nswer is alr eady shown in t he
"i'\lnf"nL:; the a l leged Aricono: repeated to Reverend Mendelsohn ,
(II he Gcem:;; not to compr h n. It is seen in its contemptuous
1l\ItI L:; by hi;:; 1-0 1 1Q\" who ;; till contend that the
II II .. nro , who arc not t Fl \c(;n I I Ly r. lcy pllol-n N il o pre.:1ch death
23
and not life, are IIcannibals, heathens, pagans , one step near man, '11
and the likes of such comments and labels.
Commenting on t he expulsion of the French Roman Catholic
Bishop - the Right Reverend Gerard de Ml11eville h'J ho got booted
from the Republic of Guineas 25 August 1962 by President Sekou
Toure after he had served sixteen years of indulgence and
support of French colonialism without once ever opposing it, and
four years after the people of Guinea under the leadership of
their president won their indepe ndence from France, which he
could not adjust to) - Mendelsohn stated on pages 165 and 166
t he following :
This but one more in a continuing line of
of flaring signals indicating that the Christian
missionary e nterprise in Africa is in serious
trouble . Regardl e ss of how valuab le the missionary
contributi on to Africa has been , and might continue
to be, the sentiment s preads among African leaders
that the effort is no l onger appropriate to their
contine nt.
One must need say that Mende l sohm believes t hat the
African leader ship at one time or another considered European
and European-AIner iean-style Chr istian missi onaries II appropr iate. II
He may be surprised to know that they are there, not because they
wer e or are Ilappropriate, I' instead because they were, and still
are, supported by the military might of the nati ons of Europe
that impose d t hem upon the indigenous Af r i can peoples . And thal
t his imposition was used to stomp out indige nous tradition
AIrican r e ligions of t housands of years dur a tion. He continues
neverthe l ess:
24
" Missionaries should not {eel despondent
about this," say Africans . "Th lnl.llcctual and
religious loaves they have c IS upon the waters
have returned in the form of no 110n1111 ....11\ and our
determination to r un our own affair s. ! n t hat sense ,
missionaries have done their job well, a nd we thank
them. Their devotion, including often enough even
the s acrifice of their lives, has built schools and
hospitals , and widened the hori z ons of our religious
beliefs. Still t hey must .go. Not that the needs
of Afr i ca in education, medicine , and spiritual
growth are now met.. Par from it. II
Unfor t unately Revere nd I1endelsohn did not ident ify any of
"the Africans" Nho supposedly made these profound statements ox
pr aises for the ' mis sionaries . Africans who were not aware of the
systems of education in Africa before t he coming of the i'/ hite man
f rom Europe (and l ater the Americas) in search of food, mediCine ,
educati on,and other means of human comforts. But , again, the
quotation marks act to remove the Reverend's 0"10 reactions ,
Hpparently only.. However , his remarks s eem t o be in response
LQ President Toure's statement of 27 Augus t 1961 , in which he
III .. i d :
I' . ... no Catholic prelate will be accredited to
Guinea, unless he i s an African
1i
President Toure ' s prohibi tion was rather mild in comparison
'0 t he general feeling of other Africans in high positions , Hho
h"vc witnes sed the courtship and marriage between Christian
IIL::; i onaries and their church to the colonial administrators ,
'lid of course to the heads of the various Christian orders in
flu lr national headquar ters of the national gove,=nments to I;/hich
unfai...]jng loyalty - I;]hile c laiming God's (Jes us Christ 's)
This is best seen in t he case of all missionary
I mtp:; , by virtue of the colonial and neo-colonial power s '
IJIIIOL l l: y - t hrough f orce or economic s tronghold on the African
I lonG, which are fur lhcr perpet uated in each case '-'lhere t here
, , 1J '.lnctioned state roligion , C]c ncra ll y that which "!:: he former
25
colonizer set u p before l eavi ng physica lly - of Chr is t ianity,
European or: E'..lropean-Arner ican-styl e . As a result, this type
of r e ligious structure and the Europeanized Af ricans ;.Jho
operate them are obligated f or cont inued leader ship and control
by the former s l avemaster s and coloni zers . :If for no other
reasons, this is one of t he major o nes which the present
leader ship prefers not 0 ave con nu t h ti ed Unfortunately the
Reverend Nende lsohn is not the only "Chr istian" 'Vlho wants to
s ee Chr istianity i n Africa at all cost s , irrespective of the
Afr icans opinion about it . Like most of his colleagues, the
mi ssonar y sees new hospi tals, school s, medicine, and o t her s uch
material va l ues being of greater i mportance t o the Africans than
t he price the Africans had t o pay for these t h ings. This is
pr oviding one is to accept the position t hat tha Africans had
none of these facilities before c olonialism. It would be
f oolish to take t ime in refuting this ancient colonia list Tarz,, 11
and Jane type of Stanl ey and Livings tone mythologyo
One has t o lear n t hat the re-Afr i c ani:z.a tion of African
things that ;'ler e Europeanized for over four hundr e d years al so
i nc ludes the so-called !tlr/e s tern Reli gi ons
s
" a nd i n particular
those which ar e still bei ng passed off a s I!Christiani ty, 11 whicll
in real ity are nothi ng more than the religious accomodation ~ i
what is also cal l ed today "i'Jes t ern democracy" or the "Free \'Ioll 1
system of economi c individual slm. " Again, i t i s qui te unfor-
tunat e t hat the Africans 'are so much under ated by Cornmunis tG 11111
Capi t ali sts alike , e ach be liev ing that h is way is the only \ '/ oI Y
to t he anS\oJer to mankind t s pr oble m, c.=!.ch forqcl:.l:.i ng that eac h
man , i ncl uding Afr icans, can t hink {'OC l lLml'J 1! ; .1 n(l t!"IoJ.t it \1 11
26
gun powder, not Jesus Chr is t, Al lah, Jehovah , Marx, Mao or
any other God that mad e the Africans slaves for over four_
hundr ed years. Ther e fore the African God OLEDAMARE , once
more i n the his tor y of Afr i c a , becomes as much a recognized
"SUPREHE BE:ING" i n Niger ia and other parts of Africa a s the
God s "JEHOVAH, ALLAH'I and I' JESUS CHRIST" are elsewhere, and
ilS they were i n Africa f rom the beginning of ttle infamous
:; lave trade until political independence in Africa, a fact
\'Jhich too map.y Chr istia n missionaries cannot yet accept.
l'his recognition is ac t ually saying that OLORUM i s the "Master
Qf the Nether World" (o;.mer of Heaven) as much as Jesus Christ,
.Jehovah and/or Allah. And, of course, that He also rul es o ver
"very man in t he univer se f rom his "joyous heaven" ; just as He
r!1ai ntains a wre tched "spirit wor ld!! for thos e that fai l
1l 1edamare. Al so, t hat "0LEDAI1ARE IS THE GOD OVER ALL OTHER
':()OS.u Yes, thi s , the Afr i cans of this relig i on hold true,
"ccording to their "God-inspired men. II A noted Af rican scholar
Illd author dealt \-lith thi s s ame problem i n the f o llowi ng
l l ct l ogue:
"You say t h a t ther e is one s upr eme God who
made heave n and ear th, II said Akunn a o n one of
Mr. Brown IS vis its. " I'Je also believe in Him a nd
call Him Chukwu. He made a ll the world and t he
other gods 0 II
" There ar e no other o o d s ~ 11 said M r ~ Brown ..
"Chukwu is t:.he only God .ind all the others are
false. You carve a piece of ''load _ like that
one, " (he poi n t 02d at the rafters from whi ch
Akunna ' s carved :Ikenga hung ), Iland YOu call it
a god. But i t i s still a piece of "/ood,,"
"Yes ," said Akunna . "It is i ndeed a
of wood . The tr-=! e from l,hic t1. it came ;'/ as
by Chukwu, as indeed 0 11 miner gods were.
piece
made
But
27
He made them for His messengers s o t ha t we
could approach Him through t hem. It is like
yours e lf. You are t he head of the church .. !!
UNo, " protes ted l"lr. Brown. liThe head of
my c hurch is God Hims elf. II
"I know, or sai d Akunna, "but there must be
a head in this world among men. Somebody like
yourself must be the head he re.
1I
liThe head of my church in t hat sense is in
England."
"That is exactly what I am saying. The head
of your church is in your country. He has sent
you here as his messenger. And you have also
appointed your own messenger, and servants . Or
let me take another example, the District
Commissioner . He is sent by your king .. II
The above drama took place in the classic work, THINGS
13
FALL APART, by Mr. Chinua Achebe of Nige ria, west Africa.
This story relates how a European mi s sionary firs t entered
a particular v illage in Eastern Nigeria during t he early 1900 I S
and tried to change the peoples f rom their own tradi t ional
African God that served them faithfully for thousands of years
for his OIom God from Europe, of whom these Afr icans knew
nothing. It also deals vlith the value of t he living "Oracle"
(prophet) in African life , as a gainst the b e lief in appealing t n
"saints" (dead people) in European and European- American-style
Christianity. But the crwc of the above dialogue is seen in t l'I"
fact that the missionary had the audacity to come into Eastern
Nigeria and condemn t he peoples
'
God, calling i t " a piece of
wood." He f org o t that they could see their God, at least ,
\'Ihich vIas more t han he could say f or his.. Moreover, they knc h
'
where t o find t heir's when they wanted his ser vice; but could h.
find his when he wanted service?
28
The dialogue cont inued along the line that i s s t ill commonly
>.l sed by Christian, f'loslem, and other forei gn m:i.s s ionarie s in
t heir atte mp t to be litt l e the traditional Gods of Africa while ,
a t the same- ins t ance, honor ing their Gods of Europe, Asia ,
and the Unite d States of AmeriCa - J e sus Christ a nd Al lah in
par ticular. In this regard Mr . Achebe continues ; 14
rryou say t hat there i s one s upreme God \llho
made heaven and earth," said Akunna on one of
Mr. Brmm's "vie also belie ve in Him and
call Him He made all the ..,lOrld and the
other Gods ..-"
"There are no other gods , II said Mr . Brol ... n.
"Chukwu is the only God and all other s are
false. You carve a piece of wood ", etc., etc.
V1.t" . repeated e ver ything he had s t a t ed above i n this
Here, as one looks back a t t he last f ive paragraphs on
MJe 25 , it is s een t hat t he indigenous Africans defended their
11') i ons \oJ i th as mUCh vigor as did t he f oreign Eur o pean- style
'hristian mi s sionaries," like Hr. Brol,m , try t o sell t heir ' s .
". Achebe cont inues further in the next paragraphs; I S
" They have a queen , II said the int erpreter on
on his otm account .
"Yo';lr queen sends her messenger , the District
He .finds that he cannot do t he Hork
alone and 70 he appoint s kotma to hel p him. It is
t he s ame God, or Chukl'Ju. He appoints the
sHlaller gods to he lp Him because Hi s \'lOrk is t oo
9-r eat f or one person."
Not being abl e t o convince Hr. Akkuma (the African) t ha t h is
"J"I::SU:; CrmISTIt - h'as a supe ri.or diviner t o "CHUK\'JU, II
III ..m ( the Europcol.n fr om England ) resorte d t o economic ( b' hite )
I whie alway!> av i labl e t o colonialist Christian
".('" r lc l. whip AriC, II"\ :J \tho not convert into line.
1. lib lhOd 0.1 fOJ.- ccd convcL"sjon ..,Ia::: a l \,J a y:; used \/l"Ienevcr the
29
missionaries ' log ic about their b londe J esus
Chr i st fail e d to conv ince and convert the Africans through
non-violent persuasion. f1r . Achebe c ontinues; l 6
30
"In t his way t Hr . Brown learned a good deal
abou t the religion of the clan and he crune to the
conc l usion that a frontal attack on i t !;,ould not
s ucce ed. And so he built a school a nd a little
hospital in Umuf i a . He !;/ent f r om f amil y to
family begging peopl e to send their children to
his school. But at f irst they onl y sent their
slave s or sometimes their lazy childr e n. Mr. Brown
begged and ar gued and prophesied. He said that the
leaders of the l and in the f uture \'/ould be men and
women had l e ar ned to read a nd write. I f
Umuf i a failed to send her children to the school ,
s trangers would come from other pl aces to rule
them. The y could already s ee that happening in
the Nati ve Cour t, where the D. C. wa s sur r ounded
by strangers who spoke his tongue . Most of t hese
strangers came f rom the distant t own o f Umuru on
the bank. of the Great River where the man
f irst went.
In the end, Mr. Brown r S ar g'Ul!\ents b e gan to have
an effect . More people came and l earned in his
schoo l, and he encouraged them with gifts of singlets
and tot.o!els. The y I-I ere not all young , these people whO
c ame to learn. Some of them were t hir ty ye ars old
or more . They l'lorked on their f arms in t he morning
and \i ent t o sChool in the afternoons . And it was
not long befor e the people began to say that t he
\llhi t e man 's medicine \'I as q uick in .. larking . Mr. Brm."n'
school produced quick results. A f e"l months in it
\i ere e nough to make one a court messenger or a cour t
clerk . Those Hho stayed longer became teachers; and
f r om Umufia laborers we nt forth into t he Lord's
vineyard. New churches \"er e established in the
surrounding vi llages and a feVl schoo ls with them.
From the be g inning religion and educatio n went hand
in hand.
Mr. Brmm' s mi ssi on from s trength t o stren(] tl,
because of i ts linl( wi t h the ne"J administration; i t
ear ned a new social pr estige . But Mr. Brown himsel r
",as breaking down in heal th. At f ir st he i gnored til "
\varning s ign s. But in t he end 111r . Brown had to
leave his f lock, sad a nd br oken.
II .. .. religion and education went hand in ha ndc. " The se are
t he words ViC. Achebe used to describe the manner in ",hi c h Mr .
l3r ol;1n Has able to capture the a ff ection of the Africans to hi s
God - Jesus Chr i st . I n other words; i f the Africans h'anted to
cat they h ad t o have the requ ired educati on and skil ls o f their
imposed COlonialist maste r s i n the " new gover nment " To
,ecure such needed food a nd educa tional skills they were forced
f all int o the waiting outstretched arms of the miss i o narie s
whos e religion, European-s t yle Christianity, they had rejected.
'l'Iley were caught by the a ge-old Afr ican proverb that says :
Jumping f rom the l og to the f ire is a
fatal solut ion t o the probl em.
One i s to assume that the God - Jesus Christ in
lilts specific c a s e - inspired His mi ssionaries to use \'Ihatever
tolnt ion of His "'l'EN COMMANDMENTS" ( which Hoses was supposed t o
I, rec eived on Hount Si nai , b ut i n f a ct co-opted from the
til I;)i: ive Con fessions") they f el t fi t ting in a ny c onversion
1 tu,l Li.on , pr ovidi ng it led to t he a c quisi t ion of neloJ converts ..
\v''l!.; t he preferred man ne r in !;, hich God (Jes us Christ) and
Il .nil won c onverts from the Gods - J u J u, Ol edamar e, Chuk\-1u ,
'1
1
\ in every par t o f Afr i ca f rom the beg i nni ng of the
'AY trade t o t he pt"e sent l ate 20t h century. HO\olever , thi s
lIlod i!.: oversha dowed by cha t tel s lavet", !;/hen
I h rtt'!; uy thp millions !;Jer:e b eaten into a ccepting Curopean-
r' hl" l :Jl. ianlty by slavemasters - many of whom were
1 III d rnlni.5i:crs of the church, many also being capt ains of
f" l nLi on . . h ip Hoses and t he " NeC)ative Confess ions"
11. Ii 1 n Chtlptcr 11.1 o r hi::; wor lc.
31
slave ships and of same.. The most notoriou s of the slave
ship owner s a nd capt ains \-Jas the Reverend John Hawkins of the
Church of England (Ang lican Church), whose flagship was named
JESUS CHRIST de LOBIC ..
17
But one must remember that there was
also another European- style Christian missionary , the Most
Reverend Bishop Bartolome de Las Casas of the Roman Catholic
Church , who in: circa 1503 or 1506 C.E. was responsible for the
institution of slave trading from Africa to the "New 'dorld.
1I
The first of such African slaves Nere the dethro ne d Moors f rom
Spain, more than 4000 of whom were shipped to the Island of
Hayte, wh ich the Spaniards had already renamed IIHi spaniola. 1117
Looking back to the Reverend Placide Temples book , BANTU
PHILOSOPHY, one sees certain fu ndamentals which a r e said to be
the basis for Ju JUt Voodoo, Shango, Damba llah Quedo , and all
other African, European , As ian a nd American religions; yet t hey
cannot be accepted as such by European and European- American
r e ligionists. V/hy? Because one man sees the other man's God
or religion as being inferior to his own. His God is no better
than his own image of If he feels that an African is
less than a European or European-American, he must a lso assume
that his God must have also made t he same conclusion. Therefor'"
the Jews are II the chosen peopl e . ... 1I
17a
for Jews and Christi,) 11
alike. But, are they lithe chosen people" for t he l10s1ems ,
Hindus, 8udhists, Yorubas, or even Christians 'vJho claim no
Jewish ethnological tie \vith the so-called IIJC!\.,ris h race
u17b
one hears so much about of late? Emphat i cally no t. In
conj unction with this point the Rev<.'!r<.'!nd Plac1.dc note d !
The "'Jhi te man, a new phenomenon in the Bant u
wor ld, could be conceived only according to pre-
existing categories of Bantu thought . He was,
therefore incor porated into the universe of forces,
in the position therein y.1hich 'Jas congruent with
the logic of the Bantu on tology . The technological
Skill of the \-Ihi te man impressed the Bantu. The
white man seemed to be the master of great natural
forces. It had, therefore, to be admitted that the
te man an e l der, " a superior hUman force ,
surpass ing the vital force of all Africans . The
vital force of the white man is such against
the Umangall or the app lication of active natural
force"s as the disposition of Africans 'vIas without
effect ..
Herein lies a basic error on Temples' He obviously
underestimated the ethics of the Africans, which he like all of
t \lC other colonialist called uBantu s, " - hospitality to all
Il...t; angers , in which reverence for another' s r e ligion is too
;' 1 l. n mist a ken by fore i g n missionaries as being "the Africans'
I :cpcession of II fear .. " The same holds true for any foreigner in
I tu' u midst who may be able to perform material feats which they
r IIwn not ye t done.
Outlining what he chooses to call "The General Laws of
1/ 1 1 n1 Causability," Temples listed the f ollowi ng : 19
I. Man (living oc deceased) can directly
reinforce or diminish the b eing of another man.
Such vital influence is possi b le f r om man to
lnunj it is indeed necessarily e f fective as between
the progenitoc, superior vital force - and his
progeny - a n i nferior for ce.. Thi s interaction does
not only when the recipient object is e ndowed,
i n of the endowing SUbj ect, with a superior
{occe, which he may achieve of himself, or some
vital external influence, or (especially) by the
Qct ion of God .
mp!.:J \y hi msel f OJ. "whi te man . If He \rJas only expressing his
II "r.h )o 1\ pr'orl cls" my 1...h . Did not the so-called u8antu
lt
have a
II1I 111 t'h "While Ha.n l" Sho uld t he Africans he called " Ba ntus"
I ,I}("\) " Black: me n ? " 1:5 i.t no t true t h a t 1. white" i s as much
n:, Wl1 Y U'l..l3 type of r a cis m i n religion?
33
II . The vi t al human force can d1rectly influence
i nferior force-beings (animals, vegetables or
mineral s) in t he ir being itself .
III. A r ational being (spirit, names, or living)
can i ndirect l y upon another rational by .
communicating his vital influence to an
force ( an1mal, vegetable , or mineral) through the
intermediary of ...,hich it inf luences the rat ional
Thi s influe nce will also have t he character
of a neces sarily effe cti ve a c tion, save onl y when
the object is inherentl y the stronger force, or is
reinforced by t he inf luence of some t hird party,
or preserves himself by.recourse. to forces
excee ding t hose which h 1S enemy e mploY1ng.
Temples had to journey all t he !;Jay to Africa and i valve
himsel f in a major s t udy in order that he might understand if
ther e is a philosophical basis for a,ny African traditional
reli gion. Upon what bas is could the Africans rest t heir
traditional religions other than a spLci t ual philOsophy?
However , Temples 1 t ype of missionaries are s till ac t ive in the
Harlems of the United St ates of America ; as they are still
f requented by so-called "Christian" and l1Isl amic
ll
mi ssionaries,
all of '" hom expres s freel y t heir utter cont empt for t he Af rican-
AlTl ericans' right to pr actice Voodoo, Magic , and J u J u as they
are being pr esently practised in the thousands of ll Store Front
Churches ll wher e Oracles
19a
called 11prophets" c hant Christ ian
songs, dispense Voodoo herbs and conduct bur nt offerings while
they make anoi nting oils j al l of whic h one can f ind in the
Hebrev.l (Je\.J i sh) Torah , Chri s tian Holy Bible , and l-losl em Koran .
\'Jhile s weet burnt-incense fill s the air of the I1Stor e Fr on
l
Churches 11 a nd 11 0r acles1 move into t heir incant ations t o communi
cate with the "Spirit i'Jor ld" the v/ ords arC' Chri.stia n but the
ceremony Voodoo. The b lessing of charm::; an(J "noi n tment wi th
oi l s a nd myrr h are a s much Voodooi !;tir ,1. I h Y ,\,(c :Judaic ,
Christian, or I s lamic.
The Third Book of Hoses, Leviticus , speaks of the pagani s'tic
llburnt offerings, " which are i n ever y sense the same as in most
Voodoo, JU Shangc or Obyah f easts. Thus Leviticus states :
20
1. The Lor d ca lled Moses , and spoke to him from
the tent of meeting, saying, 2. Speak t o t he oeopl e
of I s r ael , a nd say t o them, when any man of
br ings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring
your offering of cattl e from the herd or f rom the
flock.
3. If hi s offering is a burnt of f ering from
the herd, he shall offer a ma le without blemish ;-
he shall off er i t a t the door of the t e nt of meet ing ,
that he may be accepted before the Lord; he s hall
l ay his hand upon the head of the bur,nt offering,
and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement
for him. 5 . Then he s hall kill the bull before the
Lord j and Aaron's sons the priest s shall present
the blood, and throw the blood around a bout agains t
the altar that i s a t the door of t he tent of meet ing.
6 . And he s hall flay the burnt offer ing and cut it
lnto pieces; 7. and t he sons of Aaron t he pr iest
shall put fir e on t he a ltar, and lay ",oad in order
upon the firei 8 . and Aaronl s sons the priests shall
lay the pieces, the head, a nd the fat, in order upon
t he wood tha t is on t he al tar; 9. but i t s entrails and
i ts legs he shal l \.Jash ".lith Nater. And the priests'
shall burn the whol e on t he altar, as a burnt
off er ing, an offering by f i re , a pleasing odor to
t he Lord.
10 ... If h is (]ift for a bur nt offering is from t he
flock, from the sheep or goa t s, he shal l offer a
a male without blemi shj 11. and he shall ki ll i t
on the norths ide of the altar befor e the Lord, and
A. aron' s sons the pr i e sts s hall t hr ow its blood against
t he altar around about . 1 2. And he shall cut it into
piece s , with its head and i ts fat , and t he pr iest
.shall lay them in order upon the wood that is on t he
fire upon t he a l tar; 13. but t he entrails and the l egs
fliLu u:;tom 1s still being ma intained by
.WI ! or Fal asa ) of Ethiopia , East Afr ica.
I 1 t o on Xum Kippur, R0 3h Hashanah , and
III mnnt. , New Year ) il nd Pa s s over)_
the Beta Israel (Black
They per f orm this
Pes ach (Day of
35
he shall wash in water. And the priest shall offer
the who le, and burn it on the altar; if it is a
burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing
odor to the Lor d.
In Leviticus, under the l1LAW OF PEACE OFFERINGS," it is
also written: 21
32. If he brings a lamb as his offering for a
sin offering , he shall bring a female withou t
blemish, 33. and lay hi s hand upon the head of the
sin o ffering, and kill i t for a sin offering in the
place where they kill the burnt offering. 34. Then
the priest shall take some of t he blood of t he sin
off ering ... i th his fi nger and put i t on t he horns
of t he altar of the burnt offer ing , and pour out
t he rest of its b lood at the base of t he altar.
35. And all its f a t he s hall remove as the fat of
the lamb is removed from the sacr ifice of peac e
offerings and the priest s ha ll bur n it on the
altar, the offerings by fire to the Lord ;
and t he pr iest s hall make atoneme nt for him for
si n which he has committed, and he shall be
In the Uni ted States of AIDer ica pa l ms a re still being burnCI I
as "burnt o fferings" on Ash \'/ednesday of each year. and the sign
of the Crucifix painted with the ashes from the p alm on the
f orehead of each of the fai thful i n a !!pa gan cermonyll that i s
older than the Christian rel i gion . The ceremony of t he I1 hurnt
off ering " and "burnt palms ll are as o ld as t he orig in of its
Voodoo origin, just as the sacrifice of the II first male larob
'l
of its unb lemished mother was an ancient Egyptian c e r emon ial
tradition f or cleansing the soul t housands of years befor e an
Egypt ian named Moses even knew he was goi ng to be born , much
l ess recei ve a set of laws at Ht. Sina i . This ceremony is e'111011
to the rooster that i s sacrific ed to the God - Damballah Ouedo
in Voodooi sm, or the God - Oledamare - of the Yoruba r e lig i on
to pl ease His Or i s has (minor Gods) .
36
. .
In t he book , AFRICAN MYTHOLOGY, t he a uthor - Rever end God-
f rey Parrinder, states that t he 0090ns of western Afric a , around
t he bend of t he Niger Ri ver, s outh of Tombut (Timbuk t u or Timbuc -
t oo) , have -a r e ligion t ha t i s comparable i n mythology and spirit-
ual i ty to Judaism, Chr istiani t y, and Islam (the so-called rrWes tern
Explaini ng the Dogan's religion , \'Jhich Reverend Parrinder
Li a id was revealed to him by one of the i r sages named !lOgotemme-
1i on permission from the Elders (headmen), he wrote :
22
I n the beginning of the one God, Aroma, creat-
ed the sun and mOon like pots . his first
tion. The sun is whit e hot and surrounded by eight
rings of red c opper , and the moon is the same
shape wi th rings of white copper. The stars came
from pel lets of Clay that Amma flung into
To create the earth, he squeezed a lump of clay,
as he had done for the stars, and threw it i n to
space. Ther e it spread out f lat , wit h the nor th
at the top, and its members br anched out i n dif -
ferent directions like the body , lying flat wi th
its face upwards .
Aroma was lonely and drew ne ar t o the female
earth to unite himsel f \.,r ith it. But his passage
was barred by a red termite hill . He c ut
t his down and union took place, b ut the interf er -
ence made it defec tive and ins t ead of twins being
bor n, whic h would have been natural, a was
b orn i ns tead .. Th is jaCkal vias a trouble to him
afterwards . The myth justifies f emale cir cumc is-
ion , which is practised by the oogon and many
othe r African peo ples .
There was fur ther union between God and Earth
and t wins were bor n . They were like water and
green in color . Their top half was human and the
bottom half snake-like . They ha d r ed eyes and
forked tongues, s inuous arms without joints , and
their bodie s covered with s hor t gr een hair, shin-
ing l i.ke water. They had ei ght member 5 and \<J er e
bor n per f ect. The5e spirits wer e called Nummo,
a nd t he y went up to he aven to get instructions
f rom God, s inc e he wa :..: their fat her and the y '.Jere
mddc f rom h i 5 C: 3sence which is t he life- force of
the "Wor- ld, from wh.1ch c:omes all motion and ene r gy.
Th1::; Lor ee: 1:!:l wa br a nd the Nummo are in all water,
37
or s eas a nd rivers and storms , i n fac t they
are water. They are also light and emit it
constant ly.
Nhe n t he Nummo s piri ts l ooked d own from
the Sky they saw Mot her Earth, naked and i n
di s order. So they came down bringing the
bunches of fibres from he ave n ly plants which
t hey made into tow b unches to c l o the the
Earth in front and behind l i ke a woman. The
fibr es were mois t of t he essence of the Nam-
rna spirits. By means of t his clothing t he
Earth obtained a language , elementary but
sufficient for t he beginning .
The jackal t deceitful f irst born of God, \-Jas
jealous of hi s mot her's possess ion of language.
He s eize d t he fi ber s kirt in which the langu-
a ge was e mbod i ed . The Earth resisted this sin-
ful attack and hid in her own womb, symbolized
as a n ant hill i n which she chang ed into an ant.
The jackal pur s u ed her, and although the Ear th
dug down d eep, she was not able to escape. The
j ackal s eized his mothe r's skirt, gained the
power of speech, and so he is able t o reveal
the plans of the Supreme Be i ng to diviners.
The result of this unfili a l attack was
defilement of t he Earth, and Amma decided to
create live beings wi.t hout her.Bu t when he had
formed t heir organs t he Nummo spi rits saw that
there was a danger of twin births d i sappear ing .
So they drew a male and a fema le outline on the
gr ound , on top of one anothe r. And so it was,
and has been ever since, that ever y human being
has two souls at f irs t, man is b i-s exual . But a
man's female soul i s r emoved at circumcision,
when he becomes a true man; and the correspond-
ing event happens to a woman at exci s ion. The
myth s continue wi th the coming o f t he firs t man,
and though they stil l refer back to God , t hey
\rl i ll be cons i de r ed later under a s e parate head-
i ngo Neam'/hi 1e t he g ifts of God to man occur in
a number of mythS.
I f the above story, wi t h of its uni versality i n t he ,;
planati on of man ' s ori g i n , i s a myth, wha t is the story about
IIAdarn and Eve" a nd "creat ion" in the Fi rs t Book of Moses (Gent:
sis) fo110wi ng?23
38
1 In t he begi nni ng God crr-a t.. (I t Il l' he a vens
and the earth, 2 The e ar1...11 \"' 01 :. ",,1 !.Orm
and void, and dar kness was u pon t he face o f the
deep; and the Spir it of God was movi ng over the
f ace of the wa ters.
3 And God sai d , "Le t ther e be light j" and
there was ligh t . 4 And God saw t he l i gh t was
and God separ ated the l i gh t f rom the
darkness. 5 God called t he ligh t Day, and the
darkness he call ed Night. And ther e was even-
ing as there was morning one day.
6 And God said, "Let t here be a firmament
i n the mids t of the waters, a nd let it seper-
ate the wa ters f rom t he Yl ater s ." 7 And God
made the firmament and seperated t h e wat ers
which were under the f irmament from the waters
wh ich were above the f i r mament. And i t 'vias so.
S Gbd called the firmament Heaven . And there
was evening and there wa s morni ng, a second day o
9 And God said , IILet the water s under the
heavens be ga ther e d t.ogether i nto one place, a nd
let the dry land a ppear ." And i t was so. 10 God
called t he dry land Ear th , and t he waters t hat
\>Iere gathered t o gether he cal led Seas. And God
saw t hat i t was gOOd . 11 And God sai d, " Let the
Earth put forth vege t a tion , plants yi eldinq
s eed
9
a nd fr u i t trees bearing frui t in
hlhich is their seed, each a ccor d ing to its k ind ,
upon the Earth." And it wa s so. 12 The Earth
br ought forth ve ge t at ion , plants y i elding seed
acc or ding t o t heir own ki nds, and t r ees bear ing
fr: ui t in wh i ch there is seed , each accordi ng to
it s kind. And God saw that i t was good. 1 3 And
there was eveni ng a nd ther e wa s mor ni ng, a t h ird
day .
The s t or y cont inues with t he making of "light, seasons,
I,lr:-: , birds, sea monsters, other livi n g cr e atur es, " etc " But in
I '., 24 it beg i ns to take on animals a nd other forms ..,:hich man
with da i ly . Thus the making of c attl e, ma n , etc . :
24 And God said, "Le t the Ea r th bring for t h
livi ng c r eatures according to their ki ndsj
cattle and creeping thi ngs and beasts of the
arth a ccording to their kinds." And i t was s o .
And God ma de the b easts of the Earth a ccord-
ing to their: ki nds a nd the c &ttle to thei r kind s,
a nd ever yt h i ng that creeps upon t he ground ac-
cor.dinl) to its k ind . And God s a w tha t was g ood.
''nl l o ...Ji, n'1 the "creati On" of everything- else the Je ...l'is h Je-
t'l u i:.:l ... l'!l n J e suG Chri:; t , and Nor:lem Allah, wit h the help o f
39
one or more persons, created man - called IIAdam," according to
t he following :
26 Then God said , "Let u s make man in our
own image a f t e r our own likeness; and let him
have dominion over t he fis h of t he sea, and over
the b irds of the a i r, and over t he cattl e , and
over a l l t he Earth, and over. ever y creeping
thing t hing t hat creeps upon the Ear th.1l 2 7 So
God cr e ated man i n h is own image , in t he image
of God He created h imj male and f emale He c reat-
ed t hem. 28 And God blessed the m
9
and God said
to t hem, "Be frui t ful and multipl y , and fill t he
Earth and s ubdue it ; and have domini o n over the
f i s h of t he sea and over t he b irds of t he air
and over every l iving thi ng t hat moves upon t he
Earth . " 29 And God said , "Behol d, I have given
you e ver y plant y ielding seed wh i ch i s upon the
face of all the Earth , and every tree with see d
in i ts fruit j you shall have them for food. 30
And to every beas t of the Ear th , and to ever y
b i rd of the air, a nd to everything that creeps
on t he Ear th , everyt hing that has t he breath of
l ife, I have given every green plant for food."
And it was so. 31 And God s a w e v erything that
He had made, and behold it wa s very good . And
t here wa s evening and t here was mor ning, a
sixth day ..
Still not satisfied with what he had already created, God
dec ided to c r e ate a woman c al l ed "Eve\\ for His IIAdam.,\2 5 The a c: \
continues i n the following manner , a ccording to the s t ory:
15 The Lord God too k the man and put him in
the Garden of Eden to t ill it a nd kee p it . 16
And the Lord God C01iU\"la nde_d the man, s a y ing,
UYou may freely eat o f every tree of t he garden;
17 but of the tree of knovl e d ge of good and e v il
you s hall not e a t, for in the day t hat you e a t
of it you shall die ."
18 Then the Lord God said , lilt is no t good
t hat the man should be a l one; I will make him
a helper fit for h im. 19 So ou t of the ground
the Lor d God formed e very beast of the field
and every bird of t he air , a nd brought them to
man to see what he would c all them; a nd wha t-
"US!! is plural ( moce than one) . Who W<:I!; God to wh '>11 II
sai d "LET US MAKE MAN IN OUR OvlN IMAGE . . . ... ," e tc. It couli:.1 11( .1
have be en J esus Chri st as some i;r;i. d Lo i ociic::. ,\to ; was 1'10 1 111 '1
40
, .
?
e ver the man cal l e d every l i vi ng c reature ,
tha t wa s its name. 20 The man gave name s
to all c a tt le , and t o t he birds of the air ,
and to ever y bea st of t he f ield ; but for t he
the man t here wa s not found a helper f i t f or
him. 21 So t he Lord God caused a de ep s leep
to f al l upon t he man, and whil e he s l e pt
took one of his ribs and cl os ed up i t s plac e
with flesh; 2 2 and the rib which the Lord
God had t a ke n from the ma n He made into a wo-
man and brought her to t he man . 23 Then the
man said ,
!!This at l e a s t is b one of my bone s a nd
fle s h of my fles h ; she s hall be call e d woman ,
bec aus e she wa s taken out of Ma n .. \!
24 The ref ore a man lea ve s his father a nd
his mothe r and cl e aves t o his wife , and they
b e come one f l e s h . 25 And the man and h i s wife
were both naked , a nd were not a shamed .
From this point on, many t h i ngs happe ned; but t he
ul03't i mportan t - so far as this citat ion i s conce rned , a "Ser-
p.on!; t empted Eve ," etc ., i n t he Gar den of Eden; Adam a nd Eve
' Iwn 1I ..... ate the f orbidden fruit ... . , '1 etc .. ; they f ound out they
W"L L! !t ... . naked
1
a nd covered their nakedness .. .. c 1 " e t c. ; God follow-
II uy c ha sing t hem"fr om the Garden of Ede n; \I Eve repeate dly bec ame
1" f<J I"Iant a nd delivered her three oldest childr e n, al l s ons . Thus:
\f\C and Abe l , the f ormer k illed the latter and was driven from
' II " \. drde n of Eden into lI o the land of eas t of Eden .Qo , "
I '., where he " ... . knew h is wife and she c oncei ved and bor e Enoch .. I,
hi . t nl.:. i re drama did not in anyway inc lude Eve 's third Seth.
IIIIU'1 ly (!>no u g h, God must have made more people beside Adam a nd
, louwhr;r in order for Cain to have found hims e l f a wife when
It Ive i n Nod . I t c ould not have bee n his mother, the only wo-
,. III t he wo(' l d at the t ime a ccording t o t he s tory, because she
nui h;Jnl"l l:... h d with him; and she d i d not have a ny daught er up
I 'll t lm 01 CaLl i' ::; b a nrd :.; hmc n t:.
26
41
Before anal yz ing thes e myths - the c r eat ion of ma n by an-
o t her God should be For t h i s J omo Kenyatta, l ong
:before bec oming Pres ident of the Republ ic of East Afri -
ca , wrote the fo llowing i n the most authorita tive book on the
s ub j e ct entit l ed - FACING 110UNT KENYA . 27 I t i s a deep sea rch ing
anthropol ogical work wi t h wbich he tried to acquaint Europeans
and European- Amer ica ns of the tr adi t i ons , beliefs,and customs of
his own e t hnic grouping - t he Gikuyu pe ople .. He wrot e :
42
THE CONCEPTION OF A DEITY
The Gikuyu believes in one God , Ngai, the
c reator a nd giver of a ll things . Nga i moobi wa
indo c iothe na mohei kerende ind o ciothe. He
has no father, mo ther , or c ompanion of any ki nd.
Hi s work i s done in solitude . Ngai ndere i t he
kana nyina, ndere ge thia kana gethethwa . He lov-
es or ha t es people accor di n g t o their behaviour .
The creator l i ves in the sky. Nga i eik araga ma-
t ui ne, but has temporary home s on earth, si t ua t -
ed on t he mounta i ns, wher e he ma y rest dur ing
h i s vis i ts . The visits are made wi th a v i ew to
carrying out a kind of Uge ne r al inspection," ko-
roora thi, and to bring b l essi ngs a nd p'lmish..rnents
to t he peop le6 Korehere and o k i guni kana g i tei.
The common name used in speaking of the Su '"
preme Be ing is Ngai j this name i s used by thr e e
neighboring tribes, t he Masai, t he Gikuyu) a nd
vlakamba .. In prayers and sacri f ices Ngai is ad-
dressed by the Gikuyu as (posse ssor
o f brightness ). This name i s associated with
Kere-Nyaga ( the Gikuyu name f or Mount Kenya) ,
vihich means : Tha t which possesses brightness ,
or moun tai n of brightnes s.
The mountain of b ri ghtness i s bel ieved by the
Gi kuyu to be Nga i 's o ff i cial res ting-place, and
in their prayers they turn towards Kere- Ngai .
and, with their ha nds r aised t owards it, they
offer t heir sacr i fices, tak i ng the mountain t o
be t he holy ear thl y dwel ling- p l ace o f Ngai. Ken-
yororokero na kehuroko kia Mwe ne-Nyaga - li ter -
a l ly, and resting - or dwe l li ng- p l ace
of God. II
The Being thus d escr i bed c,Ll1nol tIe b y
ordinar y mort.a l e yes. He :I !: ,1 d1 1l. nt. n,...l nr'!
,
and takes but little inter es t in ind i viduals
in their daily walks of life . Yet a t the c r is-
es of the ir lives he is invariabl y called upono
At the ini tiati on, a nd death
of every communication i s establishe d
on h i s behal f wi t h Ng a i . The c eremon ies for
thes e four e ve nt s l eave no doubt as to t h e im-
portance of the spiri t u a l assis tance whi ch i s
essen t i a l t o them ..
Of the Gikuyu's Holy Place (wh i c h i s equival e n t, in deed,
o f any Hebrew synagouge , Chr i st ian church or Is l amic mosque) Mr .
Ke nyat t a wrote :
28
Apart from the off icial abode of Mwen e -Nyaga
at Kere-Nyaga on the north, t here are minor
homes such as Kea- Njahe (the mountain of the
Big Rai n ) o n the east ; (the mount-
ain of Cl ear Sky) on the south; Kea- Nyandarwa
(the mountain of Sl eeping Place or Hides) o n t he
west . Al l these are regarded with reverence as
gr eat p laces a nd mysteries symbolic of God Hana-
ge na or i or wa Ngai . The Gikuyu who has no'lltem-
pJes made wi th hands, " s elec t s h uge t rees, gener-
a ll y ffi?gumo or motamaye and mOkoyo tr ees, whi ch
symboll.se the mo unta ins . Under these trees he Ir/or -
ships and makes hi s sacri fice s t o 11\ ... ene- Nyaga.
These s acred trees are r egar ded i n the s a me manne r
as most Christians r egarded churches _ as the
"House of God. II
On t he ori g in of t he Gikuyu peopl e, Mr. Kenyatta s tated :29
to. the triba l l egend, we a re told
that the o f t hings, when mank ind
s t a rte d t o popul ate t he ear th , the man Gikuyu,
?f the tribe , was Cal l ed by the Mo-
(th
7
of the Universe) I and was giv-
e n as share the l and with raVi nes, t he riv-
er s , the f ore s t s, the game and al l the gifts
that the Lord of Nature (Megai) bes towed on man-
k ind. t.he same time, Mogai made a big moun,-
4Un he calle d Kere - Naga (Mount Kenya), as
Lh0 when o n Lnspec tion tour, and
d:1 a 51gn o f h1S wonders . He t h en took the man
Cl kuyu t o the t.op o f t he moun tain of mys tery ,
and the beau ty of the country that
' -10qll 1. h ild 91v e n nim. Whi l e ::;t i l l on t h e top of
t.hp moun tain, t he Moga i po i nte d o ut the Gikuyu
apo t f ull of liq tr ( mikoyo), right in the
or t he count ry. Atler the Moga i had
",hown Ule (j j kuy u t.hc rmnol" rna of the wonder fu l
I dod II had b("n t) i v QJl , he c omma nded him to
43
44
, .
descend and establish his homoste&.d on the si!llectad
place. which he nalIIed Mokorwe lA Gatbang&. Be!ore
they parted, Mogai told Giku,yu th&t , whenever he was
in need. he should make a saar1.f1ce and raise his
hands toward Kere-1"yaga (the mountain or I:IlYBtery).
and the Lord of Nature will come to his assistance.
G1Jruyu did as was commanded by the Mogai, and
when he reaohed the spot . he found that the Nogai
bad provided him with beaut1J'ul wii". '""'Ill Giknyu
nB.1I2fKi Moombi (oreator or moulder) . Both Uyad
h&ppl1y, c.nd bad nine daugbters and DO sons.
G1la1yu was very disturbed at not ha.ving a male
heir. In his despai r he cs.lled upon the Hogai to
advise him on the situation. HI3 responded quickly
and told Gikuyu not to be p6rturbe<i, bolt to MVEl!
patience and everything would be done according to
his wish. He then commanded him, saying: "Go and.
take one lamb and one kid trom yaur flook. Kill
them under the big fig troe (mokoyo) near :JOUr
homestea.d. Pour the blood and the rat of the two
animals on the trunk ot the tree. Then you a.nd
your fam.1ly mt1ke a big tire Wldor the tree And tnl'n
the m&at as a s&cr1!'ice to lIl8. your bene!aetor.
When you have done this, take home ;JOUl' w1f'e and
daughters; Aft.&r tb&t go baok to the sacred tre.,
and there 1QU v1ll rind nine handsolll8 yot1I1g men who
are 'Wil.l1ng to marry your daughters, under 8Ii3
condition tha.t will ple.s.a8 you and your tandly;'"
Gikuyu d1.d. as he was directed by the ..ogai or
Ngai . and so it ha.ppened that when Gikn,yu re'blrnad
to the saored tree, there he found the promised nine
young men who greeted. him warmly. For (I, tew
&'lmenb he ooul.d not utter a word, for he wag
with joy .. When be had r aoo'Vered. fJ"om
his emotiona1 &xci tement, he took t.he nine you tbs
to his homestead and introduced them to his
The strangers Y9l'e entert&1ned and hospitably
tr.at.ed according to the 800181 A ram val!!
ldUod and a Millet gruel prttp.lreci tor their food .
While this 14S being D".ade r ee.d,y I the youths WI"e
taken to IS. strea.m nearby to wash their tiroo limbs .
After t bis . they bad their maa1, aod OODvorsed
merrily with tba famil.y and then went to bed.
Early the next ItIOnUng G1.ko,ytl rose and woke
the young men to Mve their lIlQr:n1ng moal vith him.
wh6ll they finished e&ting. the question of mtt.rriage
\.'8.S diseussed. Gikuyu told the young _ n that if
they rlshod to marry b1.:5 daughters he could give
his consent only if they agr eed. to 11,. 1n hLs
under a 5,Y,te m.
The young men a greed to t h i s condition, for
t hey c ould not r esi st t he beauty of t he Gikuyu
daughters, nor t he kindness wh i Ch t he f amil y
had showed them. Th is pleased t he parents , for
t he y k ne w t hat t heir l ack of sons was not going
to be recompensed. The daugh t e r s, too, were
to have mal e companions , a nd after a
short time all of them were married , and soon
establis hed their own f amily sets. These were
joine d together under the name of Mhar i ya Mo-
omb i, i.e. Hoombi's fami ly group, in honour of
t heir mother Moombi .
The nine s mall families continued to live
together, with the ir parents (Gikuyu a nd Mo-
ombi) acting a s the head s of the Mbari ya Mo-
omb i . As time went on, eaCh f amily inc r eased
r a pidly, and Gikuyu and Moombi had many g rand
and great- grandchildren. When Gikuyu and Moobi
d i ed, their daughters inherited the ir movable
and immovable property whi ch t hey shared equal-
ly among them.
Further examination of other i ndigenous traditional African
t .' l i g ions should not be nece ssary at t hi s time. One shou ld be abl e,
., Ihis p:>.int to observe t hat the extent of my thology regarding "cre-
\l l on
Ol
within African r e ligions i s no more or no l e ss than within
Jllt:l " lr, m, Christianity, and Isl am. Yet, no one in e ithe r religion
. oul tl concede that the other i s as much God - crea ted as his or
It I Why? Becauseof' Man's drive to be the IImas t e r of all he sur-
'J vu . " As suCh, all that he is assoc iated with must be superior
! "" t IMl of o t hers who do not belong to hi s in- group.
'Ph biological explanation of how a s on came to the fami ly
d HOO/ll b.l. - accordi ng to the Gi ku yu - i s not onl y logical , bu t
1" II Ltl It::: application for twentieth- c entury thinking man . It
, 1., l lI l y more to reali.ty than God tak ing " earth" or "clay"
lid t ill u lcli nq man into e xi 5 t e nce. But the Gikuyu' s s tor y is sup-
'I V " my tholog ical paqanis mj" whereas, the "earth" and " c lay "
.I! 11)(.' J W'::; <l nd Chr i :::;t1i:1fl S , a l!:> o the Moslems, is " God-
45
inspired words" passed down through " .. . . Hi s hol y prophet s and
"Jrite rs .. " At l east , these are the teaching s o ne hears f rom the
earthl y repr e sentative s o f J udaism, Chr i stianity,and I'l h y ?
Becaus e of the s ame egotism me ntioned be forei a long with i t s nat -
ural outg rowth - moder n racism - that i nfiltrate d a nd c orr u pted
them t o t he extent t ha t " God" is see m in terms o f " b l a ck" a nd
"wh ite . "
Since e ac h theol ogian is within his own a uthori t a t ive righ ts
to inter pret the allege d "Hol y words of GOd,fi t hat is de pe ndi ng
u pon wh ich God i s being used at the time - the"holy words " - can
s a y a nything the e Xhor t er desires God
lt
to have s a id .
I nevitabl y, the f ollowing q uestion a l wa ys arises: " I f J e sus
Christ i s not the onl y One and true God, then why are s o many
people Christians ? " Of c ourse t h i s question wor ked t he other way
when ther e wa s no Jesus Chri s t , then t here mus t have been no
Chri s tian But amongst Christians this t y pe of log i c is
f using and the refore, "sacr ilc g1ous. II I f "sacr i le gious ," it i s
more t ha n likel y "pagan."
The pr e mise of a Good or Ba d, True or false, religion i s
card inal pr oblem wh i ch makes it almos t impo ss i b le for many r e -
searcher s to r e port f r eely , and without bias, on their
a bout the traditional African Gods withi n Voodoo , JuJu, Ob yah,
Mag ic, Wi t c hcraft , and all other traditioQal African religio ns rt ,
legated to "Animi s m" by Eur opean a nd European-American-style
Chr i s tian r e l igionis ts , Jewi s h "chosen people," and Moslem Jih .... t1
ists and other pa ter nal and maternal "pr otector s " of thei r Afr '!l
a nd Afr i ean-Americ a n ("Negro" ) c hi ldren. l' his mut;l t be dG:rne , 0 1
c o urse, because pe ople of African or i'l i n .:s 1 c k t he fl "
46
. .
ees s ar y c a pacity of the "lar ge brain" which is onl y to be f o u nd
in II Caucasians
ll
of Europ e a nd European-Ame rica .. At leas t th is
s eems t o be the basic premise upon wh ich traditional Afri.can re-
lig ions have been d egraded b y mos t who now labe l themselves
" Westerner s" in p l ace of their formerly pre stigious .. .
sians . ,, 29a
Upon furthe r examination of t he Dogan's God , one noted t hat
i n the c reation o f heaven and earth "clay " was al so used . But ac-
cor d ing to the same Oogons, man was not made from "clay ,'Tbut :
" the star s came from cl ay that
Amma" (God) "flung i nto spac.e oO "
I t i s further r evealed that:
IT . . Amma was lonely and drew to the f emale
Earth to unite hi ms elf with i t .. "
The same sexual relations hi p between God a nd a f e ma le exis t-
in J udaism, Christianity and I slam; as seen i n the followi ng ;
" 0 . The n God s a i. d, let us ma ke ma n in our i mage
af ter our e t c . '
ObviOUSl y, God would no t l i ke ly make man in hi s "own i ma gell
anot her But t his tra ditional myth s eems to be common
\
J1I 00
9 " We stern peo ples . " Whether or no t the tr a d i tional At r ican
j " I i rr ions ' "US" a s anima l or thing, it is ahJays IIf emale . " This
I)-c" lled "primitive" or " pagan" rational ization wa s, and s till
I I , :; ,;d. d to b e na t ur a lly " i ns t incti ve o" And no high degree o f
I1 r1 emi<; s ophi sticatio n wa s necessar y for anc i ent man to have
suc h a rationale . Yet , ever Y't, .. here in Af rica 1I0r igina l
j I il L" 1 :J hown to h ave had a " mothe r . II
'I')W c oncept o f " Sacred Trees" wi t hin t he relig i ons of t he
I I "IIMi o f N1C]iJc ia I Gi kuyu o f Kenya , Nbundus of A.ngol a ( Ngol a) ,
47
Twa (the so-called "Pygmies") of the Congo, and Burundj are em-
bodied with "soule!! Because "trees" do eat, move,and do other
things l ike most animals - ma n included; as suc h most indigenous
Africans recognized them as having Hspirit.
tI
This is the reason
some Af ricans can be seen pr a ying f or forgiveness whenever they
must cut dONn a tree . This custom gives rise to the reason why
most Christian missionarie s from Europe and European-America
mistakenly assume that lI. .Afr i cans worship trees . II
A IIspiri t " is not Ilpagani stic" when "\"'esterners
ll
appl y it
to mano Yet, it is \o.ihen Africans suggest that " there is a
spirit worl d " in which t heir ancestor s enter after death , and
'vlhich g uard them. If If God is a spir it," a t times j and man i!;
the spitUng"image of God, II then one should easil y see why ancc:Jt
ors become II s pirits" in African traditional religions. Obvious l y.
the Afr icans seem to be e mp loying the same mythological concep I "
built int o the so-called IIWestern re l igions" (as wri tten) j whC: l .
as most Europeans , European-Americans (Jews and Christians),
Asians (Hoslems) wou ld prefer sa id "paganis t ic customs"
could be extracted from t heir own reli g ion's IIHoly Book." Bu'l , ' II
do this would leave Judaism,and Islam without
"Saints , Spirits, Prophe ts, Ghosts , Angels ;' and a host of othl'l
f antastics which are s o commonl y f ound withi n Voodoo, JuJu, MoI,,1
and the entire gamut o f what is being called Afr ican 'Tpagai::; m"
and "animism j" and of course one cannot f or get the much mor e
usual terms - "heathenism" and lIcanni balism .. 1I
48
In the beginning the one God, Amma , cr eated
the Su n and, Noon l ike pots! his f irst invention
etci
2
according to the Dogons of Hest Africa.
In the beginning God created t he heavens and
the earth . .. .. , " etc.i
5
accordina to the Jews, Christians;and Mos lems of the United
States o f America ..
N9ai ,
etc .;5
the creator and giver of al l things . .. . , "
according t o the Gikuyu of Kenya, East Afr ica. But, what makes
the creation of either of these Gods of west Africa and East
A.fr ica (Anima and Ngai) any less than the cr,eation by the Gods
of North Africa and \vest Asia (Yvah or Jehovah and Jesus Chr ist) ..
I n each of t he three examples shown,the Gods o f Af rica and Asia
created the "Sun, Moon, Heavens, and I' all thi ngs . II The
Gods born in Asia, Jesus Chr ist and Al lah , adopted what the God
of North Africa - RA (the Sun GOd)- passed on to the African Jews
ucfore their Pesach (Passover ) t o es tablish their own God -
(Jehovah)
The course of t he latter chain of events spanned a period
i} 1 approximate ly 1 ,854 yearsj i.e. c1232 B.C.E., Hhen Moses tr i ed
fO f lee his native country Sais (Egypt) a nd copi ed the l aws he
,tlopted
I , qe dly
from hi s fe llow i ndigenous Africans o f Sais, he al-
re-established a t Mt. Sinai.
36
In 1 CQE . f ellow Jews be-
d isenchanted wi th t he way things were progressing f rom t he
,u0 c1232 B. C.E . in the worsh i p o f Yvah and c rea ted a new God in
'If' pc.r son of one "Jesus Christ. II But Jesus Chri s t II did not
'1 11"; t o bring a new reli g ion , lT etc .. (Chr istianity) , .. . ... only to
If I r. t it 11 (Judaism) . 37 It was onl y J e s us Chri st ' s martyrdom
Itli h, t her e by, created the IIChr i stians" (the Gr eek "Kristos, or
OWl,;C!.' 01" the anoi n Led one ) . Bu t in 622 C. E. (or A.H. 1) -
"the Year a fter the He gi ra!! - Hoharnet o f Ar a bia, a f ormer camel
d r iver, condemned bot h J ews and Chr is t i a ns f or failing the "One
God!! he c a l led " Allah" (from t he a nc i e nt Ar a b i an Go ddes s Al ' lat
that wa s wor shi pped in Arabia for thousands of years before Mo-
hame t ' s bir th) 3 7a and establ i s hed I s l am at the Oa si s of Ya thrib
Medi na, a nd t hereby , re- establis hed the c ontinuat i on o f t he UMys_
teries, 1I J ud ais m,and Chri s t i anity in Me cca d ur ing 6 32 C"E . (A.H.
10) . 38
In examining that \.'1hich has bee n mi s nomered UIrJes tern Relig-
ions ," one f inds no European or Europe an-Amer i c an playing any
rol e wha tsoever i n the creation of any of t he "God- heads. " And
t her e is no indication tha t any of t he drama s o f c reation t ook
plac e i n a ny part of All of the d ramas , s o f ar ment ioncII,
hav i ng took p lace in Asia - rH nor (today ' s r-lidd le East ) , t h e Ar..ll
ian Peni nsula of Asia, Nor th Af ric a , west Af rica,and Ell ,I
Africa. This, of c ourse, i s not t o i mply t ha t the r e was no cr,..,
tion' by a God o f ( or in) Europe . Wha t it doe s say, however, i::
t hat none of t he Gods, prophe ts ,or f o u nde r s of any of the thr v"
rel igions - Judaism, Chris tianity, a nd I s lam ... the so- called "w'
e rn Re ligions, " "/as indige nous to Europe ( a Caucas ian , or Hh.il
man ) . I t is furt her saying, t h at Juda i sm and I s lam, both, hall I lL
d i genou s Afr icans in t he l eader s hi p roles fr om t he fir st d ay ttl
the i r r e cor ded orig in. I n Juda i s m, af ter Abr aham, Isaac,and .J.
c o b, i t wa s f'loses and hi s., f e llow i ndigenou s h fr i can-Je1'lS of E'I 'I!
a nd t hose i n Kush ( Cu sh ' or. - Ethi'Opia} wher e Moses married o rlo' (o j
hi s many wives - which made his sis t er ( Mir i am) a nd brothe r l A. 1
o n) pr o t es t.
39
Is l am had Mohamet - whose gr a ndfather was o f (..11
orig in, a nd h is closest a d visor a nd r- o - foun(.l .... r o f Islam ... ,l.n 1\
50
',\ 0 f rom Ethiop ia ( Ku sh or Abyss ina) na med Hadzart Bilal i bn
Rahbab .
40
How d o a ll of t he s e a venues t o the Gods rel a t e t o African-
", mer i c a n s throughout the Americas a nd their Afr i c a n influenc ed
,o-called " we ste r n Relig ions?" The y have cr e ated a s ense o f re-
Itgiosity wh ich i s not to be f ound wit hi n any Europe a n- America n
,rligious settings. Th i s same sens e of r e lig ion i s reflected in
I l le " Blue s
ll
- t he sor rowf ul t estimonial t hat found i t s wa y into
4a
" l ilZZ. t l
Be c a u s e o f t h i s influe nce Mahalia Jacks on and Ar etha
I I <.Inkl ln , bot h Afr ican- America n s, Can s ing the "S tar Spang led
I q,ner" ( the Nat iona l Anthem' of t he Unite d St a t es o f America )
I ke no European-America n c an, wi t h " Soul .. " But behind thi s Voo-
l :;tic baCkgrou nd is a Bapti s t, Are tha ' s fa ther , a ver y we l l
1, ' )WI\ Christi a n Mi nister \v hO saw t o it t hat she "/as brought up in
c hurch ' s choi r. Mahali a Jac kson , also ,Dinah Hashington, Sar a h
I"., hn ,and man y o t her we l l k nown Bl ack s inger s o f equal billing
' " br o ugh t up in very s imilar backgrounds of c hurch and choi r.
"
11 1 t he Bl a c k, or Africa n-American, Bapti s t ba c kground ( l ike
I flfcican l-1ethodist Epi scopate) t he basic elements in voodoism
domina ted all for ms of mu sic by Africa n-Amer i cans ,
1, I i t has controll e d t he II s pir i tua l" a nd "Blues I " and o f
" J azz. ."
I n Hai t i , Cub a , Trini d a d , Puerto Ri c o , J ama i ca,and o ther i s-
nf t he Caribbean (h' e s t Indie s ) - al ong wi th t he South Amer j _
dn)i) nd - Voodoo, J uJ u ) Shang o , Ngai , Oamballah Oue do , Obyah,
'" ' li e c ompe t e i n t he ope n f or t he mi nd s of European-Americans,
1If\ , Afr i cunc , African-Amer-i.cans , a nd the indigenous peoples
lIfofli I <.:(1 II i ndians") . Because o f t.hi s t he Roman Ca t hol i c Chur c h
5 1
and other Christ ian "sect s , to including Protestantism, ...Jere forced
to embrace much of t hese trad i t ionall y "African spiri tualist-.. ie
mysticisma" Not only have t hey a d opted said traditional African
religious customs, they \oSee also f orced to adopt many tradition-
al religious customs of the indigenous peoples .
In the Black communities of the United States of America
loca l "store front churches" have become the tr ue centers of un-
inhibited Voodo i stic expressions . There , one can purchase al l
sor ts of roots; from " Love John the Conqueror!! to "Blood Roota II
Oils are equally available , from "Snake Oil" to p lai n old Pal m
Oi l . " "Grave yard dirt" and " Afrlcan Red Clay" can be had at a
little extra cost . IIMe tallic charms" ar e b l e s sed by "prophets" and
other divlners ; just as medallions and cruc ifixes are blessed by
Roman Catholic priests, Black stones (Kafaba) by Mosl em imans,
Mogen Davi ds by Jewi sh rabbis. Burnt incense also fills t he alr
as African and Afr ican-Arner ican s pir i tuals and other impor ted rf '
ligiou.s songs f r om Brazil, t he Car ibbean Islands, and west Africd
p lay to the softly dim-lit room ful l of worshipers waiting to c nl
municate with the "Nether 1.rJorld" (Next World. Ances tral t-Jorld).
Needless to say, charlatans have invaded the world of t he flMy.s -
teries," which some find to be extremely financiall y lucrative .
Here also !!Bladc Hagic!! i s abused by too many who do not kno .....
\<Jith wha t they are f oolinga These hi gh l y sophisticated indigenolL
Afr i can traditional religious rites have been deemed "Wi tchcr a I I f"
by il l wisher s and the ignorant ; mos tly because such charlali) l1 ..
The terms "Witchcraft" and H\lJitc h Doc tor,ff neithe r of whi c l1 1
common to people of origin, are the c r eations of tt-lO::; ('
who can f ind no t i me to re spectfull y inves Liga t e f or the .sOllee
truth and enl i ghtenment .
52
have professed to be able to:
". a dperform evil deeds through Black Magic in
religion aa a ," etc.
"l,atchcraftf! i s as much sc ientific as the religious r ites of
Mary Baker Eddy f s !!Christian Science ol140a Its !!Witch DoctorsH
,ro as much I' scientis ts'
f
as the Chr istian scient i st .f prac ti t ion-
I r ::.. !! Yet, the "Reading Rooms " of the Christian Science organiza-
I Ion meet with revered acce ptance and tolerance by J ews, Chr istians,
md Hos l ems alikea On the other hand" Voodoo and other indigenous
traditional re lig ions must suf fer the disgusting designa-
I I b ll of 'fOccul t," to say t he l east; and mus t settle for an OCca-
Irmu. l Steinway Ha ll Auditorium or some off limit place where land-
!UI (1:3 seldom could rent other than for manufactur ing lof ts a
Even with all of the for I s lam? and t he flight from
'lid 11t..: rn and Christianity, a small but ever i ncr easing band of
, ICd.n- Ameri cans turn to one of the religions of thei r fore -
d her:; - the Yor u bas of West Africa - and g i ve praise to God _
I t\. ' IIl . U:C ( and others). Thousands mor e turn to Oamballah Ouedo
1II I Voodoo through their contact with pries ts from Haiti, Cuba,
1 L, a nd other parts of the Caribbeans, South Amer ica and Afri--
" 'l oOd number of l ocal African-Amer i cans have also become
I. tt l C':.;.ses a nd priests of high rank and recogni ti..on among inter-
,foll \d l brother hood of their f aith .. These priestes ses mar ch
111'1 t n the fineries o f t heir office wit h their priests along
, ot h Avenue, Harlem, New Yor k City, once more o n Sundays; just
Of \t-H1h..; , rabbi s , imans, ministers, nuns,and others dress up
111 11: hn bi. t .::; of the so-cal l e d rrWe s teol Religions." Wi t h the
(I l h,..ir o ffi c e s e mbr o i o cr e i n their clothing or other ob-
53
jects of said authority held in their hands, they lead the
faithful in the playing of skin and \"ind instruments at var :i-f!:':'"
places in the "Harlems" o f the United States of Amer ica .
Wha t made these Afr ican-Amer icans r eturn to the tradi tional
religions of the ir Mother land - Alkebu-lan (Afr ica by the Greeks
and Romans) - and turn their backs on Judaism, Christianity, and
Is l am, in spite of all the adverse propag anda against them? The
ans ...,ers are manYi some of which follows :
"A search f or indentity; A sense of pride; A de -
termination to have their own thi ng; A sense of
bel onging; To be abl e to say, " at last, 'this is
mine , ....Jhich I have created and have always kept
s acred. II
These things are very well tr ue; f or what i s "pride" w'ithoul
ownership (community at pr i vabe) ?
Another aspect of t he renaissance in indigenous African
ditional religions present l y spreading over the Af rican-American
commun i ties, especially i n the nor t hern and eastern urban center
of the United States of America is t o be found in the fo llowinq
words:
II And God created man in His own image, and
His own l ikeness ,!! etc ..
But for the first t ime in over f our-hundred years African-
Americans have rIa Black God" or "Gods" to whom they coul d rel il l ,
like the European-Americans related to the "White God
ll
image pen
vided by Michaelange l o and all of t he theolog ians of the variou
semi naries and yeshivas - whom t hey found in JuJu, Voodoo , Damb Ii
lah Ouedo, "Black" Hagic1and o t he r s . This revival, however ,
consistent with t he Doctor of Divinity's statement, that:
S4
" . . .. In modern times new r e ligions have come into
every part of Afr ica . Islam and Christianity bring
,
new doctrines, morality, history, s cripture , and
unive rsalism. ,,4l
Such seeming arrogance only tends t o convey that umorali ty"
a nd t he other values he ment i oned we re not in Africa before the
,l ppearance of his peopl e - the Europeans and/ or As i ans from Arab-
La. Therefore, that ..... hich is being revi talized among the African-
(Imericans is foreig n , rather than Afr ican . Yet, it existed hun-
deeds of years before the African - Bilal - made Islam what it i s
t oday; and before that .... hen Tertullian, Cyprian , St.
lod other Africans modernized Christi anity; and of course when
Judaism a r e ligion from the document
the "Neg_
Ill tive Conf essions" - he co-opted from his fellow Africans of the
I ,\ l"lgi.on of the God Ra.
The biased pr esumption that the i ndi ge nous Africans had to
!>I . li t the arrival of t he European col onial ist missionaries to
" ' Juire "morali ty, cul ture, and universalism" is a
'II dqe judgment -, that is inconsistent with ancient traditional
IIWI' and customs governing every aspect of indigenous African
"utl ltnal and rel i gious living . For example; the "monogamy" versus
!1 lYIJ;) my" issue wit hin African- Christianity and Judaism high-
,lit the point in question. Hhereas European, American , a nd
1\ Judaism and .. Christiani ty have now classified po-
uny as being II immoral" , even though there are no written Com-
1.0 this effect in the "Holy Books;" but t he vast ma j ority
I . I con peoples of the same religions have retained it .. The
r .l it peoples have asked , includi ng those who are Jews ( I srael-
J I Mo!;: lems:
Why iv polYlJamy " imlOorill " now, and i t was not
\"'\1(.'0 Abr a ham .l nd ,,1 1 of the other es-
S5
tab lished its "mora l ity: !' Did God order the
c hange?
On the o t he r hand t he Afr icans, i ncluding off icial s within
the lai ty and clergy of Christianity, nO\-J demand that:
Polygamy must again become to
t hose who se t the rules and more s w1th1n Ro-
man Catholicism and Protes tant ism.
Those ind igenous Africans involved with Judaism, the ttBlack
Jews
42
of Ethiopia - the Beta Israel or Falashas, have ref used to
make any change to suit Jews from Europe and the Uni ted St a t es or
America who have succumbed to thi s " Ii/esterntt social and moral cur.-
ton- !!monogamy" - t hat had i ts or igin in They have sup-
ported the Yeme n i te Jews ,43 now in Israel, against the European-
American and European tt pov.rer s tructure
tt
within the or t hodox rab--
binate of Israel on this issue.
Polygamy is a fundamental part of most indigenous Afr ican
religions ' "myths 'l c. nd I t also supports the entire
c ivi l and social struc ture of t he vas t ma jori ty of famil y l iv!lll'l
a nd the philosophy for life i n most African societies. Its
rupt ion by European And E: uropean-Arner ican-styl e Christian mi s:.:; I, ..
arie s , who attemp t ed to stomp i t out beginning f rom thei r i nvo l V
ment with t he s lave trade and the found ing o f colonialism in t il
continent of Africa, caused un t old suf fer i ng as million s of Iii
ilies were destroyed - t hereby the destruction of t he entiru
fibre of many clans , tribes) and in many cases, nat ions. Why? F OI
the sole p urpose of impos i ng value s a nd standards, which incil!'!
ed monogamy; all of which the Europeans a nd European-Amar i c: a llu .
because of some u known reason, bel ieved t ha t some God or GodtJ
endowed them with the rights 1: 0 :::. c t the ent ire world in thcl r
56
fl l.-ln image. HO\oJ ever, they ...Jere not Ni lling to show \>Jhy po.lygamy
, . moral in their own "Ho ly scr iptures " and not "moral" in the
Al ricans " Holy scriptures." And in so crushing the Africans po-
Iyqa mous societies t hey also s howed a perve rted pi ctur e of their
God - Je sus Christ, Nho was pr esented to the African peoples
I I , the worst exa mple of a pros tituted Christian t e ac h i ng a nd
I ipture any where. Jesus is Shown as a "celibat e," who shows
I" ::; ense wha t -so-ever of the masculinity a male is supposed t o
II .V". He was always shown with an aura of homosexua l i ty, t o the
' I i nl of ahJays being afraid to be around \vomen, a nd o f course
ove rwhelme d by men; all of this e ff ort bei ng carried o ut
II w- der to s hO\;I how much bet t e r it is t o be a celibate t han a
' 1
1
yq,l mis t. Never-the-less , they did not te 11 the legal monagal'!l. -
! wi l. h his il l egal polygamous harem (the common behavioral
., " 'L l) i n mos t "Wes tern Neither have they s hown that
II' lwo other God-heads , J ehovah and Al lah , have endorsed the
,1; Ly o f polyg amy over monogamy. This cannot be denied, a s
I. 1110 ever yo ne of the " prophe ts" and o ther "holy men" i n t he
I I, ( He br ew) Torah and the Moslem Koran prac ticed polygamy ,
II ',o] c)mon of Israel be ing the master harem keepe r of them a l l .
I' C. pr ovi s ions in the Hebr ew , Chris t i an, and Moslem IIscri p-
c.
,I r- ,Ili ng with a man's duty to his wi ves within pol ygamous
'III ' Li::;O rules gover n i ng the manner in whic h each wife is to be
, , (I ,1I1d trea t e d - which also included the tr eatment o f wo-
I .. l!1 1 lH' r c slaves and t heir ma s ters cohabited ",i th them and
\ Ii. III
III " 11 Y " .. was no :.;c.ripture . II in a ny Afr ican
t I. t i l n y Lhc c xi ::;ten c(' o f r col i gio us scripture in Koptic and
57
Gheese in the oldest Christian rel i g ious group in history - t he
!-: tj y>tian and Et h iopi an Chri s t ian churches i not to me ntion man' s
ear l iest reli gi ous script - hiBroglyphs- from North Afr i c a , a
script t hat became the bas is for all r el igions follo\o-l1 n g i or thu
Hriting t h e Twe people o f LibeL"ia , west Afr i ca, once u sed f or a l
purposes - stopping only " .... hen the y were converted t o Islam and
adopt ed Arabic in place of thei r own language, by In the
s tr ic te st usage o f lhe " .... ord or scr iptures , II wi th re la t i ons hi p to
the root I! scr ipt," t here ar e very feyl European languages \<.Iith
their own Ye t "scripture , ,, 44 as it i s c ommonly used in
its religious sig ni f icance among t h e masses, does not necessaril
hav e t o be in wri t-;;'en f orm, as all "scripture" stems from oral
tradition of half-truths, my t hs, beliefs ,and partial histor y.
Among t he Yorubas of Nigeria, l"est Africa j Fu lanis o f Sierra I ....
one a nd Akan, al so o f Afr ica ; Agi kuyu of Ke nya , East Afie,l,
and the Dj ukas of S urinam (formerly cal led "Dutch Guiana") o f
South America; also hundreds o f other nations, t he masseS r ecj\.
their common scripture in Voodoo, Black MagiC, Obyah, Hi tc hcr i.,Lf ! ,
Damballah Ouedo and other traditional African rel igio us riteG .
"Sc ripture , " in the loose sense of the wor d usage, was no
handed down from one to the other in the indige nous African n'
ligions than they were among a ny other group o f people -
eans and European-Americans i ncl l.l dedG Before t heir Jewish, Chi J
tia n,and Moslem (the so-called "ilJesteLn Religions") rel i g iouG \>11 I
ings ("scriptures") they wer e rehearsed a nd memorized, then ]"In!
into writing by a l legedly "God ins pired men." Must one assuml.'
that such teachi ngs (history p hiS myths) not
bef ore, and unt il, they wer e wri l:. t c t1 by pC! opl e , .... ho ) i. v rcl hl,;llIflJ
58
lil years a f t e r t he events they were reporting occured2 Is it not
11 ue that the s o-cal l ed "scr iptures" were being t a ught by t he
l orerunners that started these rel igions , mos t o f whom were not
Ve n consciDus a t the time t h'lt they ',."ere "God inspired men? " If
II hl ; t hen t he s ame recognition is due Voodoo and JuJu re ligious
lin c iptures ," a nd al l other re lig ious "scriptures " of other non-
' til f'l pean people s thr oughout the Planet Earth.. For it must be re-
I mbcr ed that very f ew "European l anguages" developed their own
, ,- .i pt , II a nd cauld have existed in their present form were i t not
Itl I\x .).bic "script" - f rom whence the ir charac t ers (alphabet ) are
I T I vcd
As for "universal ! t y, II
which the g ood Doctor o f Divinity _
'tI' 1 e nd Parrinder - also claimed African rel.!!;Jions lacked be f ore
.I tc i v a l of the Europeans as s lavemas ter s and colonizers, both
c e presented also as Eur o pean- style Christian mi ssionaries
I f ! Qqc ther as a combined institution of imper ialism), he is
' ...:L .i.n his ob5e rvation. However, thi s is providing that he
.. l ll La acco u n t - which he did not - that pr oselytizing t hrough
I I I \ ' . y force (armed violence) , as emp loyed by t h e E:uropean colon-
, \
\ ,
- the SO-called Christian missionaries included _ during
i x. IICr usades" in Africa and Asia, ha s never been done by any
11 \ rel igious group under the pretense of f ollowing the ir
II And t ha t none of the indigenous Afr ican reI i gious
,.,
(' v e t:" led their adhere nts in the ext erminati on of mi llions
II I - I .:md placed them into chattel slavery because they did
!l p t J uJ u, Shango, voodoo , or any otl"er African reli g ion Or
.. I. -1' h l ::; is not to [;21 Y, however, that the indigenous Af ri-
1141 not j lqh t w ,JI;"';' a mong Lhc:.msclvc ::; , and that many had relig-
59
ious implicat.1ons . Like all o ther groups, includ ing the Europea n:,
who are still fi ght ing among themse lves in Europe in ways unimag-
inable to t he aver a ge Af rican, the Africans - t oo - have foug h
each other . But the Af ricans never joined in f orced conversion 0
others to any of their relig ions \.,. hic h are of s olely traditional I
indigenous character. Why ? Because in e a c h case such is f orbidden
by r e l igious "scripture" passed dom in or al tradition. Only in
this sense they may have failed to show the type of "univer salily
the good Reverend was seel{ing to find, and obviously could not
f ind anywhere in Africa . Yet, each and ever y African religion 11'.1
be en accessible to anyone Hho wi s hes to e mbrace one or the other.
For example: As power ful as t he Empire of Ethiopia once t/as, eV"n
to the point of expanding her colonial empi re to t he Ganges Rivf
in India , Asia, she did not f orce her relig ion upon the Indian
peopl e s he conque r ed; t he same not being t r ue I.-Jhen t he var ious
European empires conquered the same are of Asia and others. Thi:
type of arrogance on the part of the Eur o pea n miss i onaries,
they wer e ordained to save the war ld, was never one of t he humh"
f ailings of the Ame ricans,and they have many.
If "universality" involves what the l e aders of European
Europe a n-Amer i can-style Christianity and As ian Is lam did to
peoples of Africa from the 7t h t hrough 20th . century C.E. in tlw
name of "Jesus Christ" (God) and " Allah, II the Af r i cans, hope[ u II
must remain r e lig ious i solationis t s. Bu t, if on the otherhand, I
means carrying t heir message to those who are f ree ly
heed, then and only then, JuJu, Voodoo , Oledamare , Ba ba Loa ,
bal lah Ouedo, and all other i ndi genous tradj.tional Gods and r ;' ll
60
Ions of Africa shal l continue t o be lIuniversal ist" i n t heir out-
I nok on t he need s of man f or a common re lig ion ; t hat is i f such
I ', needed. And v; ho is to decide that a ll of manki nd is to wor-
hi p "One God?" Who has been g i ven the answer t o a lI t
The God - 0 1edamar e , of the Yoruba religion, is emphatic in
hln demand that:
" every man must heed My Or i s ha s <minor
Saba Loa on t he otherhand c lai med:
" . am the God of a ll Gods, and Master of all
that moves , stand still , and ever , " etc.
If the last two Gods were not universal in t heir declarations
I t II as much equivalent righteousness as the Jewish, Christian,
I,d tlo;.l em Gods (Jehovah, Jesu s Chris t , Allah), all of whom a l-
I' d l y s ta ted :
" I am a jealous God, thou s hal t have no other
Gods b efore me etc .45
is i t that makes the las t t hree Gods of t he so- cal l ed
l" l n Re ligions" command " true aut hor i ty" and the others IIfalse-
I " Man . Yet each of t h:se God-heads (Af rican, Asian) has been
I to be t he II o ne and on l y true God, ruler of the uni-
I " etc . And that"all other Gods " ar e inferior to them.
I\nl1 U'cr of the bas i c religious foundat ions without which
I' t,.,I t)1l1d be no Judaism or Islam is II c ircumcision,,,46 a sacr ed,
d Ill n r L' ligious r i te in each and eve ry i ndigenous tradition-
) n :..; oc iety - includi ng t he ancient Nile Val l ey Africans
I rltd i nto Sai s ( Egypt ) i n order that the Hebrews could
ntl i t to others under t he ir influence. The only
, 11\ bt tHf'e n ;) 11 of lhe::;(! religions with r egards to"circum-
' II lnq .!d:E!. (Lhe a !..! 111I.! ini .iilte mole , or iu s ome cases
61
female,has t o be for the ceremony to be performed) . On the other
this rite -" circumcision"- is car ried to the female in many
African societ i es as part o f the traditional religi ous ceremoni
under the name of " excision,,,47a ri te that is uncommon i n eithCl
of the s o-called Rel i gions." Of course European-styl e
Talmudic Judaism, ChristianitY,and Isl am frown upon ,1
a "heathen practice." But the Hebrews - Be ta Israe l (Childr e n 01
the House of Israel), misnomer ed "Pa lashas or Falasa, of Ethiopl
East Africa - one of the olde st groups of "rorahdi c (traditional
ists) Hebrews today - still practice "excision." !iJhy? Because
there ar e no prohibi tions mentioned or i mplied in the ori g inal
Pive Books of Moses - commonly called " TORAH" wh ich the Chris
tians'version call e d nOLD TESTAf1ENT.
1I
J ehovah , Jes us Christ,ano
Al lah are all moo t on the issue of "excisionj " wher eas JuJu, VfN
dOo , Oledamare, Ngai and other African Gods are qui te d ef inib
in its approval.
"But man's female soul is removed at circumcision
when he becomes a true man; and the corresponding
events happen to a woman at. excision ," etc .
The above quotat i on comes fr om Reverend Geoffrey Parrin(\.
48
D.D .. , in his book - AFRICAN r-1YTHOLOGY, as h e attempted to li t
scribed the D090ns belief in creation. Yet one can see the Sil l1l'
illusions in the "Adam and E;ve in the Gar den of Eden" drama 1!1
this critique which the good doctor sees a s " my th" in the C,H.. '
of African religions, but to which he i s completel y blind. II
in his own - Christianity (Unitarianism). It i s to be remcml, ,'1 I
that "God" (the Hebrew or J ewish Jehovah) " took a rib from ! ,I I ,H
49
and made EveH., " etc . (mythical rraqic ). 1 11 t h j :-; my t hologi cal :;1' ).
transplant I t \Vas from m;}lc t o f nm011 c i I n thc c " " r 0 1 t h e ;,11;
62
\t IS "mythologi cal exci.sion" or sex transplant it was both "oJ a ys _
Itt lI e to female and fema l e to male? through circumci sion a nd ex-
!si on
If t he Judaeo- Christ ian Gods (YahHeh a nd
JI " -;US Chr ist)"made man from the c lay of the ear th! " a nd then
l Ook "a rib from the man" (Adam) and "made a woman
ll
(Eve); why
it i mpo ssible for a ny tradi ,tional African God to do a much
."' e reasonable feat through Ilcircumcision" and/ or Pexcision'!" Be-
q:;e it was not so stated in the "Holy scriptures" Ylritten b y
tllopean Jews and Christians, a nd i n that whi ch "las later writ-
by Arab Moslems I</ i th modi f ica tions to s uit Arabic
.mgely enough even Abraha m's ( the f irst Hebrevl J e ..,J) "cir-
I cls ion"(the method of which the Hebrew l earnt from the
II of Egypt) made his conversion from alleged " heathenism" or
I "tnism" to Ilpuri tylt " circumcision" being one of
IIlnjC bas ic ceremonies in a man becoming a Hebrew ( J ew) .. But
! lIons upon mill ions o f indi genous Afr icans , for thousands up-
I of years b e fore the bir th o f the first Hebre\>/ _
II 'm, h ad to pass through "circumcisi on"or " exci si on.1I Yet i t
I ,
reme mbered that in the City of Ur, Cha ldea (Chaldees ) ,
Ahraham was born , the people t here were already using the
Ila 0: both "cir cumc isi on" and "excision" \vhich they had
01 II I rom the Africans o f Egypt and Ethi opia ; both of t hese
-' I,t!, dt the time bei n g the leader:' of world c ulture . This
" Wol:.l car r ied on b y way of Abraham I s son - Isaac J and his
'_.IU d"cob,49 neither of whom were Caucasian a s one is ma.de
II"l thf"5C lii:l ys. The o f the se first HebreYJs had
111'1' l he nume WhO!'1 t. hny arri ved in Egypt a.nd lived alon g
(,( RivC"t' ( GJ nc a nd vJ hi t e ) and t he ,l\tbara River .
6 3
These " purifica t ion r ites " (circumcision and e xci sion ) \"er e in-
t egral parts o f e very Af ri c an c i vi li za tion (Hi g h-Culture ) thr ouqh
o ut the ent ire c ont inen t of Al keb u- lan ( Africa) , in pa_r tic u lar
alon g the mor e t han 4 ,100 mi le - l ong Ni l e Ri ver , a ll of which
h ave been written on var i rus papyri in exi stence in mu s eums all
over Eur ope, the United State s of America, Br itai n , Nor th Af r ic,l
and Eas t Afric a (Et hiop i a) . Is i t that the Gods o f Egypt a nd
o ther par t s of Alkeb u-lan di d not know wha t t hey were doing be-
for e Abraham wa s born, became a ma n , and then found his new God
'fa h\veh (Jehova h, Yavh, Al migh t y God ) - wh o h ad t o conf i rm t h a l
vJhat the Afr i can s were doi ng is c o rr e c t, i .e . " circumci sion" ,
not " exc i s i on? " Or i s it not t rue t hat the " my God i s better
your God " i s what makes one story " mytho logy " and
other" s acred writings ( s cr ipture ) b y inspired me n o f God? "
i s i t not equal ly tr ue tha t they al l s a y, "I be lieve,, 49 i t L ..i
not "I knowli it i s so? I n genera l , Hhat makes the Eur opean, Ell!
pean- Arne rican , and As i an " I be l ieve " divine (Godly) a nd that
Af r ican and Af r i can-Amei" ican dev il i sh (unGodly )? The answer j:.
very s i mpl e .. It i s p l a in a nd simp l e RACISI1 and RELIGIOUS BIGO'J I
othe r wi s e c a l l e d by its f i rst nomenc l a ture - " WHI TE SUPREMACY. "
But stranger t han f iction, mi llions o f those who could not r(" 1
i ster as " Cauc as i a n s
ll
for many ge ne r ations in the Un i t e d S l,)1
o f Ame r ica,but c a n d o so now, j oined the:ir new fe l l ov! II CaUC3 S,l,ll n
in Sa id " racism" a nd'lr e ligl.DllS bigotry, " yet they c ontin ue
er whenever those whom they tend to degrade counteract .
HOl edamare -" God of the Or ishas - God over al l o ther Gou
brot he r of the God Ra, t he repr e s e n tat.1v G d o f ONE wh o ' /+11<'
birth to the Gods o f Judaism a nd C:hr;i n l l niLy nnel I ::il a m ( Y, d "I\O/ .11
J
("!.OilS Chri st a nd All ah ), r ules SUf'!r eme over the univer se II ( a c -
I01:'d ing to the f o llowers o f his worship - the Yor uba- spe aki ng
"'I I i eans o f Ive st Af r ica, the Afr ican- Caribbeans a nd t he Af r ican-
tw' c l eans i n t he Uni ted Sta tes of Ame r i ca ; e spe c i a l ly at the ir
If I,rpl es i n Har lem, Ne w Yor k Ci t y , Net" Yor k Her e in 1-:arlem oru-
1M pr iests and pri e s t esses can be seen in the ir habits o f "Ihi te
I\d o ther c olors - a ccor di ng t o their rank . " ALAFIA" the ir greet-
H'1: " ALAf' IA" thei r parting t o all ; a nd , f ar eNell ) .
-G.)l.azrn a l echem or Shalom - in Arabic a nd Hebr ev) . Hhat i s the
h>t d i fference "! Lan guage s .. The fi r s t is str i c t l y Af rican; t h e
onu Africa n-As i an mi xture j the latter s tr ic tly Asian; not one
! eur o pean or Eur o pea n-Ameri c anj ye t they are of t he maj or
It q ; o ns being di Scussed in t his \.Jork .
Voodoo , J uJu , Ngai I "Bl ackll ria g i c , Juda i s m, Chr isti a n-
l ; ... lei. m, e t c. ! are a ll na mes of rel igi o:"Js i n which mankind ( a ll
I I inc l uding white ) tr ies to fi nd the a n s '.Jer to t he unk nm-m
,1 for l i fe itsel f . Her e in among these n a mes va-
)roups o f ma nki nd d ai l y murder ( cotmli t genocide) each other
the of 11 carrying t h e true mes sage of God . " Eac h
lliu'l " .. .. t hou shal t not kill , 11 etc., whenever o ne per son
I 0 hl n k o f ki l l ing a fe llOl'J human being.. Each cl a i mi ng t hat
11 1 i,; o n o ur s i de . !! \"henever the kil l ing i s cal l ed " ttJAR li _
1 t h Lime t houGil. nds , sometimes milli o ns , ar e slaugh t e r e d in
I It O[ " nat. i o nal i sm
lO
and "pat r i o tism to God and countr y."
I! lh: behavior [) oJ. l:: t c :t'n of huma n s i s bes t highlighted when
gr ou ps carr y i nCl t he same rel igious label beg i n t o
IIUII I', ll1cmc.clvc!:; i e a Cll c;:laiming I'God ' s" e ndorsement ..
II "r<ol'n dilctT\J'l1Q. in t.hc bib l I cal $ (J .l i t bf::!. t wc.e n Judah and
65
Israe l (Palestine ) , t he civ:i.l "Jar between Hebrews, with Yilh.,./eh
(Jehovah , Al mi ghty God) on both sides; Germans against Eng l ish
(both Christians), "'lith Jesus Chr i st on both sides; Turks aga inst
Arabs (both Mos l e ms) , with Allah on each s ide . Yet in
civil Har, i n Africa, i t. vas Ol edarnar e , Al l ah vs .. J esus
on tl.121r sides , and he l p ing each G In this l atter case t he Gods -
Ol edamar e and Allah def eated Jesus Christ (the centr a l gover nment
forces defeated the break-away Eastern Reg ion f or ce s), the final
outcome should have then i ndicated that iT .. ... the villI of God had
prevai l ed . " Or does t he II will of God
'
: onl y "prevail " \.;hen
Jehova h or Jesus t-l ins 'j From the reac t ion to the so-called
lINigerian - Biafran in t he Unit ed s t a t es of .Amer i ca,
res pect to the a lleged It genocide of t he Niger ian r a ce over t he
Ibo race,ti "God " d i d not " prevail . 1t t1hy r: Bec ause the pr evaili ,j '
God di d not contemplate the type of ending s aid \.;ar took. Thf.!
"race t hey drea med up f i zzl ed ; just as t hei r theory of
Northern, :'Iester n,and Southern Ni gerians being of one !Irace" an I
f el lm" Niger i ans o f the Ea s tern Region be ing of a_nother "race ."
Yet 1 a nd s ti ll) -these same peo p le c a nnot see their ONn "race
\-lar" in t he United S t a t es o f Amer ica.
I n the book, HA.N AND HI S GODS, by Homer Smi th, he wroL
THE GREAT NOTHER
From remote antiqui ty, the Egyptian knev] \"e ll
e nough t he y could no t i ndicat e upon t h eir maps tho
actual location o f mountains which uphe l d the sky .
They main tai ned t he cosmological f i ction because
i t was el astic , the invi s i b l e pi llars of heaven
being easi l y pushed f ar ther afield as knowl edGe
of nevi lands was brought horne by vent ure some \>Iartder' I
Ye t i t If/as with a cer tain tlt\lt t h e men of l iJ l
Ol d Kingdom conside red t heic country Lo t he c en t I
of t he wor ld, themse l ves 1:0 be t.he only c:iv iliz d
beings , i or a t Lhc :far t h :;t 11mlt!l of t. he ir trnv-
e l s t hey found only bnr.our lana t wh o!'Q Lhc :Cinar
, ,-
of a griculture, masonr y, sculpture , pa i nt-
and t he l i ke wer e q u i te unknown o The Egypt-
moreover: I wer e, never great explorers, .
thel.r expeditl.ons bel.ng c onfined to t he upper
reaches of the Ni l es or the Red Sea c oast or
f arthest ventur i ng across the I thmus o f Suez
l. nto the Sinai. Peninsula . Consequent l y even the
country of Syrl.a which l ay immediate l y beyond
t he wedge of Sinai r ema i ned for t hem an almost
unknown l and until t he period of the NevJ Empire
when Thotmes broug h t i t s western e d ge under the
dOUbl e crown.
II 9 members o f t he Old Kingdom considered their count ry to be
c enter of the \-lOr ld , themselves t o be t he only civili zed be-
'l . ," etc., accordi ng to t he above report by r1r . Smi t h" Thi s
!u ite a r evelation , when one considers t hat t he European and
( J ewish, Chr i stian or Mos l em) peopl es f o ll owed the Afr i cans
, ! tI\ '>-Ihom t hey mode led their own r el i gions .. Count Co Volney
qql(.)t:' ts Mr . Smi th ' s position in his own book _ RUINS OE' EMPIRE ,
IH' wrote :
II All religions orig inated in Af rica. II SI
Tu .i ndu lge in extens ive detai l ing of the diffe rences or sim-
I li t ies betvl een that whi ch is being called "
Re l i g i o nsll
I stil l rema ining solely t raditional and indigenous to
I ' I could onl y r esu l t in a f r u i tless game of r hetor i c. However,
"H I I be made ver y clear that t he Af ricans, those who are very
II ,n'1n i. :',ant of their h istorical he ritage, do not hol d J uda ism,
t Llnlt y or Is l am i n any higher esteem than h
t ey ho ld the i r
' e 'lqi ons whic h ha ve not been corrupted by 1
5 avery, col onial-
t., [uJ. lu.t:'.:l l genocide. It i s . t herefor e onl y befi ti ng that Mr .
I. b ook, MAN AND HIS GODS, be q UQted i n this regards
1'''' Once morc.
5
rhusly:
I:: PI W CUF:
I\ !J -he L.l. l l e n ngcl , man VJ oul d be 11;Q c;r ous ..
67
As an intelligent animal, he has reason to be
proud because he is the first who can ask him-
self, "Whi ther , ItJhy , and 'i'1hence?!! and confident
because he can know himself as a creature of
earth who has risen by his awn efforts from a
low state . If he would rise higher he must be
true to earth , he must accept that he is its
creature , unplanned , unprotected and unfavored,
co-natural all other living creatures and
1,\li th the air and water and sunlight and black
soil from which their dynamic pattern has been
fabricated by impersonal and indifferent forms .
In every wish, thought and action he is seeking
to escape the same protoplasmic disquietude that.
impels the meanest flesh crawling beneath his
He must find his values and his ends en-
entirely within this frame of
MrQ Smith continued his "Epilogue
H
as he cited the C l
of the anS\'.Ier to the argument between 'which religion is righ l
wrong: He wrote: 53
As an intelligent creature he explores his
world and here is the first value that is unique-
ly his : he is more intelligent than any other
creature , and from intelligence fired by curios-
i ty comes knowledge , and from knowledge come pow-
er and the manifold satisfactions by \'.Ihich he
surpasses all his fellO\.\I creatures. The sequence
has led him to abondon the forest and the cave
for the purposes and plans . But the need for
knowledge has burdened him with the ethnic of
tru.thj to lie willingly to himself or others, to
that which is suspect , however tentatively he
holds to truth, is to forfeit his opportunity
and jeopardize his dreams .. This is the essence
of all philosophy: to cherish truth for its
uniquely human value to search for it, to test
and retest it by conscious effort, to communi-
cate it, to be guided by it, to base upon it a ll
purposes and plans .
In the following paragraph MrQ Smith's conclusion t ' 1
as he t1rote : 54
60
But he who has purposes and plans must take a
choice , no other can make it for him. A proper
view of man finds no place for a pr iori 'shouhl '
or 'ought' or any categorical. bu t
only for this : that i f a so acts , t h<l t i s
hi s action (1. nd his a l onE' . Thi.s i=.;. t he
of a ll mor.-ali Ly : a ma n i ::O ce:::pon11blr .tor Lt""l c
c onseque nces of wh iJ tf' vc r c h olc-o h("' !l1.")k.f' ! .. 'I'he
degree to which he recognizes this and acts ac-
cordingly is a measure of his biological matur-
ity.
This chapter is being closed with II the last act of the
1 1 lx ian drama, the weighing of the 'heart' in the scales of Thoth
, II etc . , as taken from the BOOK OF THE DEAD, the 125ili Chapter -
, b o knovJn as the IINEGATIVE CONFESSIONS. II One viill see the simi-
l r l ty between that is toda.y called the IITEN COMMANDMENTS
"I' MOSES" and source of its origin - the "HYM OF ADORATION TO THE
I I Il OSIRISj" as follows:
55
1) I have not done
2) I have not committed rObbery with
3) I have done violence to no man.
4) I have not committed theft.
S) I have not slain man or ,,\loman ..
6) I have not made light the bushel .
7) I have not acted deceitfully.
8) I have not purloined the things which belonged
to the God.
9) I have not uttered falsehood .
10) I have not carr ied away food.
11) I have not uttered evil "iords .
12) I have not attacked man.
13) I have not killed the beasts which are the
property of the Gods.
I have not eaten my heart (i.e., done anything
to my regret).
15) I have not laid waste ploughed land.
16) I have never pried into matters.
17) I have not set my mouth in motion against any
man.
10 ) I have not given way to anger concerning my-
self without cause.
19 ) I have not defiled the ,,\life of a man.
:'0) I have not committed transgression against
any party.
.' 1 ) I have not violated sacred times and seasons .
:!2 ) I have not struck fear into any man.
J ) I have not been a mo.n of anger.
21) I have not made myself deaf to words of right
a nd truth.
I have not s lirred up strife ..
u ) I have not made no man
iJ, 7 ) T have not committ e d,.. acts of impurity or sod-
omy.
ilt) 1 na ve: not pa ten my t1' ..... nrt.
q ) 1 i :a vc \'1 0 l_ no man.
69
30) I have not ac ted with v iolence.
31 ) I have n ot judged has t i ly.
32 ) I have not taken ve n geance u pon t he God .
33) I h ave not mul t ipl i ed my s pee c h overmuc h .
34 ) I have not a cted wi th deceit, or worked
wickedne ss.
35 ) I h a ve n ot cur sed the ki n g.
36 ) I have not fou led water.
37) I have not made haughty my voice.
38) I have not cursed the God.
39) I have no t be haved "li th insolence.
4 0 ) I have not sought f or d isti nctions .
41) I have no t i nc reased my "J e al th except ,; i t h
such things as a re my O\"n posses s ions.
4 2) I have n ot t hought scorn o f the God who is
in the city.
Note that this " Drama " t ook p lace approximatel y mor e t han
o ne-thousand three-hundr ed years to one- tho us and three- hundred
and f ifty ye ar s ( 1 , 300 to 1, 350) bef ore Moses wa s s u pposedly
driven out o f ',ve s tern Sai s ( Egyp t ) to t he Easter n limi t s - r1t .
Sinai - by Pharoah Rameses II between cl 225 and 1232 B. C. E. Au
account of this d ocument was discovered .."r itten on a black j
s l ab (s tone) in the ruins of the Temp le o f Ptah a t Memph is ,
( r enamed Eg ypt by t he Heb rews a nd Gr eeks) . This stone , i tse ll.
only dates back to the cen t ur y B.C . E. It wa s by
baka - the Et hiop ian (Kushi t e) Phar oah of Egypt - f o u nde r of f
Templ e of Ptah. I t "JaS Phar o ah Shabaka's a ttempt to pr eserve , . ,
words of hi s ver y much mor e anc i e n t indi genous Af rican f I
Ir/h os e des cenda nts a r e t oda. y c alled "Negroes, Bant us, Pygmi c : .. , II
lotes l! and other such n ame s . I t i s e s timated (by Egyptologi:.1 1
t ha.t the orig inal s cr i pt was written aro u nd 1,300 years b e.lOI
Hos e s ( Moshe ) - t h e mes senger of Yahweh (Jehovah) , 2 57 5 yeQl
fore the birth of the Chr i stian s ' God - Jesus Chr i st, and .i , I
years before the Mos lem ( Hu slim) Prophe t o f Allah -
t hen, is i t t old t hat t he first time ma n WLl. G Cl iven only " '1' 1<;// "
70
t t" se one -hundred and fort y- seven (147) "CONFESSIONS" _ called
",'UMl'1ANDMENTS" - was whe n God a l leged lYI ' g a ve t:.hem t o Moses at
\ Hai 7 " Becaus e each re li g ion that fo llowed the o ther in t hi s r e-
lion c o -opted most of the myths a nd tradi t ional dogmas of the
n'l me r - Juda ism, through Mos es being no e xc eption to this r u le
t l"l istor i c al tradi t ion .
From t he Nil e Val ley Africans Hi g h-c ulture s, c ommonl y called
I", .i lizat ion s 1 " ma nkind a d o p ted t ha t Wllic h i s t oday cal led"re-
I 11 0 n. " But t hey a l l began in the "MYSTERIES. " They all came
;lfl Alkebu- lan (the cont i n e nt the Greek s and Romans renamed
J{a.. , JuJ u , Voodoo , l'1agic , itJ1tchcraft , Shango, Ngai, Darnba l l a h
,11\ .m d o the r traditional Gods and re li g ions of anc i ent Al kebu-
"
.!J:1e from the s a me source - the GREAT LAKES 56 Thi s
II! l" (" c a c hed its zenith i n Sa.i s (Egypt) _ Nor t h Africa, i n the
I ,
"'J { Ho lies i n Zimbabwe (renamed " RhOdes i a " b y Br i t ish colol)ial
fUIl :iLcrs ) ... !1onomo tapa, South Africa; in the \';est Afr i can
I - Ghana, Me l le (Mali), and Songha i (Songha y ) ; and Kus h
!dUli1 , for mer l y "Abyss inia" by Arab col onialis t s lav ers); al s o
t Olj .lY 's Soma lias), Ea s t Africaj thousands of year s befor e
lH\! "I Il: .iQn of the Hebrews ( Jewi sh ) IIADAr-1 AND EVE" and t he
" OJ" c.; UJ-:N" my th.
'"
" " v l d (' (Ice poin t t o the f act that. man k ind' s f ir st at tempt
t II 1n9 '-h at " t her e i s a God" is when he began t o wors hip
lhe God "RA," t he f ir s t "God" of th .
e lnd igenous Afr i
'"
Qddy " NEGROES, NI GGERS , BANTUS, AFRI CANS
'"
'rill': : ;AHM l\tl , OLACK APRICANS , PYGMIES, BUSHMEN, HOTTEN-
! !1/. I ["i TIl l.:: !;TR E:E'J' f m:NIGN NEGLECT ," and man y other such
71
de g rading t erms o f the s l ave trading a nd colonial days when t he
Afr i eans \-Iere subdued by t he Europeans under the pretext of
" PLANTI NG CHRISTI ANI TY I N AFRICA." It shoul d be need l ess to say
that the same had happene d to the Af r i cans of years
befor e the arrival of the Christ ians from El.trope, \vhen the
filoSlems f rom Arabi a i n the 6 t h Centut"y C.E . \"r i th the ir j iha.ds -
d th 1 d Of Nor th and East Africa. The Holy i'/ars - scourge e an 5
HebreHS (Je\<Js) can take no comfort from these expo s ure s , as thoy
too aided the Chriztians and l1os1ems in the e nslavement of the
t 1 t the He brews provided man y o f the Ar i can peoples; a eas
\vriter s \,.,ho morally justified the ens lavement of the Africans
t hroug h their warped .i nter pretations of t he Hebr e "" Torah
( Christ i an Old Tes t ament ) - as evide nce in the h'ri t i ngs o f the-
6 t h century C.E. Baby l o nian 1'al mudic scholar s (see
in BLACK HAN OF THE I E, _ N L by Y. ben-"toc han nan; fr om R . Patti 8r'1jl
R. Gr Clves ;
72
ST. AUGUSTINE: AFRICAN INFLUENCE IN CHRISTIANITY
(The " Christian Churc h Pathersll)
Chapter Two
The death o f t he l ast and gr e atest of the indigenous Afr ican
"Christian Church Fathers"
Saint Augus t ine, Bishop of Hippo
North Africa , was the ma jor event in Christen-
01, ; 111 ' 5 hi story which star ted the d ec line of power and contr ol by
1!,1' i ndi g enous Af ricans i n the Christian Church , especiall y the
' J/()r th Afr i can Church" ( t he "Mother Church") ..
St. Augustine was born at Tagaste, Numidia, Nor t h Afric a ,
November 3 54 C. E. , a t t he t ime Numidia was a Province of the
III!I,\n Emp ire .
l
Augustine 's bir t h having occured exact l y f orty
H :. after Emperor Constan t ine - " the Great"- b ecame sole r u l er
, 1 ho Roman Empire of t h e We s t and adopted Chris tian symbols
,I rr having dropped hi 9 IlDivine" role. Constan t i ne - "the Gr ea.t ",
la
h was cal l ed , mount ed t h e Roman Thr one in the ye ar 312 C .. E .. ,
than one- hundred (lOO) yea rs a f ter t he indige nous Af ricans ( I1Ne_
".) 1, ;. ) o f the Empire of Kush (Ethiopia) r Eas t Africa , had al-
Ill y p.:; tabl i shed Christianity as t he o ff icial r e lig ion of t heir
'll . Aug usti ne's birth fol l owed the martyr dom of one o f the
Iwo i ndigenous Af rican "Church Fathers" - St . Cyprian, the
IIOll I Car t hage ( 249- 258 C9 E. ). Cypr ian was t he Af rican mar -
ttl Il h oll e r e d t he se famous las t words; " Deo grat is "
b<: t o God) upon bei ng told that t here was an orde r stat-
" r L p l (>0.:;(' 5 Lha t 'r h.r Gc lu:.; Cyprian" ( his full name)
73
Ilbe beheaded with the sylOrd_!I
This order was by Roma n author i t ies , who were trying to
stomp out d urin g , a nd before Cypr ian f l e d int o
hiding (under ground ) to cont inue h i s teach ings o f the anci ent
versions of t he "Gospel o f Chri st"; not as i t has been corruptc(\
t odayo Thi s wa s during the reig n of Emperor Galerius, who later
on issued an Imperia l Edict granting tolerance to the Chri stian
communi ty .. Mrs . Ste v"art Er ski ne (considered an !lauthori ty" on
this phase of Christian Chur c h h i story), in her book - THE VAN-
QUI SHED CITIES OF NORTHERN AFRICA, p. 8 0 , with regards to t he
martyrdom, wrote that st. Cypri an face d death in 110nour as :
"He died ma gnificently, g iving
pieces of gold to t he
The same type o f praises could have been h e a ped upon other gr'"' I"
Af rica ns" lJ}ho made Christian1ty (al t h o ugh Europeanized ) what 1\
today ; such as Namphamo - t he "fi r s t o f t he Chr istian martyr :; ."
In conj u nc t ion wi th her "martyrdom" C. P. Groves i n h is book , '!'III
PLANTING OF CHRI STIANITY IN AFRICA , P . 59 , wrote :
4
A cer t ain Namphamo, c l aimed as t he first
martyr, also c ame from Numidi a, the name in
this case being Punico As f rom this point the
story of the Church i n Afr i ca unfolds before
us , ""e find a devot ion unde r persecution not
excelled and a ferve nt fi delity to
the faith expressed in Puritan ideals thaot
gave Montanism a second home in The
names Tertullian, cyprian and Augus tine add
an imperishable lustre to t he his t ory of the
Afr ican Church .
Added '-.lith Narnphamo were the sec ond and t hird Chris tiiJ ll " .
tyr s, Per petua and Pelici ta, bot h o f \'J hom \.,.ere a l s o indigc n(l1)
Africans o
At t h i s point , it is L .i. Ui.:rOd \ ICl" anolll c r nl
.. :i:ndO gc nous Af r i c ans, in Ll"dti 1,/orl:, :lpec1.llc;J l l y r efers In I
Il.nCesl:flL'::: 01 and pL"O!jcnL f\fcic/l n::1 \'/ 110 rH ludi\Y t"'tl lj,.ct "NV'i l " .
a ...., ntll s , Ii ttcnt Qt:::, PV{lnrl. :'1 , HIl ahfn(\II, " l . IIt VI,' "V
digenous Africans k n O\oJ n as t he three most important ITChurch Fathers'
of Christendom, Te rtul lian. He was born in sometime
luri ng t he year 1 55 I n his era, he was revered as " .0 .one of
' I,e most outstanding scholar s in rhetoric, Latin,and Gr e ek." Hi s
l11us tery of these disciplines l ed him into becoming the head of a
rl(mtanist communi t y in his own homeland 's capital city of Carthage .
I lll it was his depth in, and love for, La tin which caused him to
11\ I k e it the official l anguage o f the Hol y Roman Cat holic Ch urch
( n n outgrowth of the North Afric a n Ch urCh) and Orist endom in gen-
S
I 1'1 l .
Al though li sted last Tertulli a n , a c ontemporary of the most
fllt' d of t he indigenous African e mpElXrs of the Roman Empire -
IIlj mus Severus ( 146- 211 mus t be ment ioned in the order
I wh i ch he c hronolog ically arr i ved in the history of Christen-
1 I.
Iletore dealing with the role of 'rer tulli a n in the makings of
I" I ! l ;lOity, it is necessary to pr oject c ert a in background mat eri-
" , \ hO\o1 Christiani ty came to the northwest f rom northeast and
I A Lr lca as a power-block during t he he ight of Roman imperial-
01111 colonialism through out most o f Nor t h Africa ..
I U r'Jor th Africa, jus t befor e t he perio d o f Chr i stiani ty 's
I LJ:y into Rome - due t o Constantine li t he Gr eat" conversion
1" I1lh c e n t ur y - t here were many Hebr ew ( J ewish) "tribes" t hat
I uri lfJ<mous African (the so-called "Negr oes") origin. These
n ' 'W:.> , as al l other Roma nized-Africans o f this era, were
j,1 ! n n cCbc llion in Cyrene (Cyr e naica) during 115 againsJc
II and c(') l o nia l i s m. This r ebellion also marked
I rU\1 tV l o Y " mn[';'s jewish mi gration sou t hwacd i n to Soudan{Sudar
1\111, tl , li) I'If"! \'j olY 01 I-h e City o f" Acr ( A ir ) a nd i n t o the
7'.5
countries of Futa Jalon and Senegal which lie belo-
the parabolic curve of the Niger River's most northern reaches,
where the Ci t y of TUmbut (Timbuktu, Timbuctoo, etc.), Melle (MuJ'
present l y s t ands. Thes e Jews were divided into two main groups
and took separate directions fur t her sout hward into West and Cen
tral west Africa. One grou p joined t he Fulanis of Fu ta Jalon
from whom the pres ent populat ion of indigenous Africans of BOrI1U
and Kamen , in Nigeria, inherited their "Hebrew (Jewish) traditjo
This indigenous African Jewish penetration from North Africa i nt
the Soudan ' even reached the borders of Lake Tchad (Chad) in Cr' n
teal Africa .
6
The indigenous African tri bes , of the Hebr ew faith, of Cyl
naic a had mi grat ed there by way of NUmidia before the defeat Of
General Hannibal Barca a nd the c onq ues t of Carthage by Rome ill
202 B. C.E . Carthage , about 1000 B. C. E. was re-established by
nician mar iner s who had left the City of Tyre (around t oday' :;; tU
dle East) unde r the leader ship of Princess Elissar (Dido) of PhIl
nici a .
7
The place these mariners, the vast majority of whom W('.
mal e, first conquered and settle d on North Africa 's coa stlln(' I
today ca lled Tun isia - previously Kh art Hadas (the Ne w Town) b y
i t s ori ginal indige nous (so-c a lled "Negro") African populatioll .
These mariners , who later on ama l gamated wi th t he indigenous At
ricans of Khart Hadas and other r e gions around , also defeated
other indigenous Africans furt her west along the c oast of NOI ' II
tlSoudan" is a name given to the area of West Africa that W. I
physically colonized by France for over one-hundred ye.:lr::;. I,
s emb lance of political freedom came to the Fr e nch or iented 1\' I
t he majority, in 1961 C. E. through poli,tic a l a g itation.
76
Africa and established t he Ci t y of Lixus - wher e presently the
Kingdom of Morocco now stands. In Europe , along the Iberian
" cninsula, these African- As ian peop les also es t abl i s hed t he Ci t y
()f Cardiz - which is today called ttSouthern Spain, II f ormer l y
tt' eria. It is said, howe ver, that "the Phoenicians had already
through the "Pillo.,.! of Hercules" - today's " Straight of
Jth r a l tar'l, formerly called the "Straight of Tar i )ch" - taken
10m Gibrl 8 about 1100 B .. CaE .. 1 approximately one hundred
'f . 1L' S before they settl ed with the Africans of Khart Hadas .
Host European and European-American wri t er s have conceded
1II11l even though t he t hr u st of Jewish i nvol vement \-,as in Egypt
tl lpL"C than three-hundred years before t heir alleged expUlsion -
.", over - about c122 5-1232 B.C.E., with Moses, by Pharoah (King)
'" !4 e s II) thousands of them. had already pr e ceded the Phoenicians '
If l Irati o n of 1000 B.C. E. into the northv!est regions of North
; I a ; but the se s a me writers have utterly neglected to state
Lhe He brel.ol s ( Jews ) amalgamated with the fellow Afr icans t hey
I'olh i n Egypt and points farther nor thl..,r est , southlo,!est, a nd e a st.
I\ppr ox ima tely sixt y- five years a fter t he Cyrena ica rebe l l i on
II ' , CoE ., and sometime before J u ly 18 0 C.E ., Christ ianity \'/a s
I into Northwest Africa . This d a te is approximately tr ue ,
II P. t her e Has never any mention of Christians there befor e in
,I Ihe records of the Roman imperia l government that coloni z e d
t ',,r . 'l'he f irs t mention of t he Chri s tians came about v!ith
I Iyrcl oll'l of ma n y of t heir numbers on 1 7 J u ly 180 C.E
nn cQc ord giving the exac t nUJ1l ber of the origina l grou p
, ""' tty of tho::;c t ried a nd [ und gui l t y of:
" .... comnI 1t.tint] Chri sti a n a cts against the
5 L.at.c ," etc.
77
were mentioned . They vJere five Homen and seven men - t\'lelve i n
all . Amongst these martyrs v,as t he ir t wen t y- two-year-old l eadt' I,
the person responsible f or t he total action of the group . She
a married woman, and the mother of one child. This woman ..
Perpetua - also of indigenous Afr ican b irth. It is t o be
noted , however, t hat at this period in histor y Ter tullian also
made his presence fel t as spiritual l eader of a ll of Chr i s tendl Q
also that Christendom l'iaS still centered in North Afric a, under
indigenous Afr ican (the so-called JINegr oes
ll
) control.
It must be remembered that the Chr i stians of Carthage \<len
indigenous Africans brought in f rom the neighboring s tate call,... '
"Numidial' as slaves for the Roman imperia lists Hho \"ere rulirv l
Carthage and other parts of North Africa at the t i me . I t i s
also to be noted that among these earliest of Chr istian
(of every color) were Perpetua's brother and the same Fe l iciL.,\
mentioned before, of \"hom it was said:
"Her ordeal caused the premature b irth of he r
only child a fe\" hours previous to her de ath as a
mar tyr for Jesus Chr is t , II etc .
And in her honor a chapel named PSt. Per pe tua" \<las b uil t. ;1: 1
still stands at \<Ihat vias the center of the a ncient Africa n e ll .
of Carthage - presently a part of Arab-controlled Republic
of Tunisia.. This chapel was c onstructed with stone pi llar::; .11"
other materials taken 1from runied structures t hat o nce ador ll"tI
the glorious City of Car thage during t he days of Ge neral Ha ll ll l!
Barca - the Afr ican ( "Negr o") who once ruled all of t he Ib...: ' I I'HI
Peninsula, par t s o f Southe rn Gaul (Prance),and all of Nor t h" ,
Ital y for more t han h "e nty ( 20) long ye ar s with more t ha n <,;. HI'
h undred thou s and indigenous Af r i can
7e
Strangely enough, the greatest of the ind i ge nous
who became 8mperor of the Roman Empire was charged by many
I:ur opean and European-American Christi an Ch urch historians o f
hei ng "the emperor who ordered the persecution and execution of
Pc.r petua and her folloNer s , 11 his name - Septimus Severus ( 146-
.:? l l C.E .). 9 But t he t r uth is t hat Emperor Septimu s Severus did
I1l1t mount the throne of the Roma n Empire until 193 C .. this he
III.. SUb seq uent to the murder of Emperor Marcus Aurelius ' 9 a son -
'r e us Aurelius Commodus Antoni us - about 1 7 Harch 1 77-180 C.E6
f'ptimus Severus t a t t he t ime of h i s elevation to the throne of
..
Empire of Ro me , \ ... as Romets gr eatest general, and a for mer
mag i s t rat e. It i s t o be fur t her noted that color was never
['ond i tion t o hi s ascende nc y to t he Roman throne, as only one
"rTI .ln Governor had fail e d to accep t this indigenous African role
1m erial Rome .. The disside nt was Allinus - Governor of Britany
IIqli'l nd, Scot l a nd, and Ireland). But Emperor Septimus
quick l y did away \tilth t h i s problem, as he defeated and
l ' tl'J Cl odius i n 197 C. E. dur ing the Batt l e of Lyons, France .
;;epti mu s Se ver u s ' v i c t or y over Clodiu5 placed an African
". '11' 0") in c o mp l ete contr o l of ever y nation a long both sides
rle '.l i terr a ne an Sea and e ve ry European nation along the At-
If Oce a n- up to, and i ncluding , Ang lol and It also
!lur t hi s period the pr esent II SOUTH ATLANTI C OCE,.<\N II vJas
t " 1 OCEAN. " Only t hat t/hich is today called "NORTH
II 'JI OCt:: l\N" \-Jil S con5idcr-cd in thi s ma nner .. The " ETHI OPIAN
I" ,",ppear c d o n m ps made by European c hartists a nd c.:u:-togr a -
lInl:j l t tlC l a t ter part o r t he 1 8 t h Ce ntur y C. E. See BLACK
t I 'l'UE !"J ILl'; , by Yosof bon- J" oc ha nna n, pp . 266- 268, for maps
, II. c andi Li ons .
79
placed this African in c harge of the entire Roman Empire at
time when the Roman military waS being corrup ted, due to the ex
tensive employment of mercenar ies . Monetary inf lation, coupled
with hi gh pr ices a nd over-burdening taxes on all classes of the
Roman peoples, also created Chaos in the emp ire. These condition
brought into being the widespr ead uncontrollable money-lend ing fU ..
the serious decline in taxes, to the extent that the Imperial
checquer found it extremel y difficult to collect the necessary
taxes for the Imperial Treasur y . During all of thi s t urmoil til.,
Roman State was being chal lenged by a "new religion" - "Chr i st I
ity," wh ich had crossed over fr om North Afr i ca and was givinq
ever y indica tion of causing f urther disaffect ion from the a l t.1I .t
disrupted Roman army, as it was already caus ing f ull-scale COlI
versions by too many of Rome's finest mil i tary officers - i nc.;l,
ing her best generals. This I1new re l i gious force, " in dire c L 1'10
open conflict with the existing official rel igion of the stal .
h ad e ven begun to gnaw away a t the a lready disorganized Rom,(11
body politic. The seeds of all t his h ad in fact started dur J ll1j
the reig n of Augustus Caesar (27 B! C. E. _ 14 C.E.);lO howevf'/!
at which time a "new God" was born amongst t he Hebrews (Jew: ,. I
h is name - IIJESUS CHRIST . "
The condi tions al r eady outlined, al ong wi th many mor c , l.
Emperor Septimus Severus , as Emperor of Imperial Rome, t o i I,
edict in 202 C.E In thi s "edict" he for bade any new conv(',
J udaism or Chr is t i a ni ty, nei ther of whiCh he intended to :; \ " ,1\ '
but instead check .. The - edict" has been purpos e fully ,,,
religious bigots a nd over- zealous racist ff:lna Li c :> a like .": 0111
dared tocharqe that Emperor SCVCt'U:; ,U"lel LilO other 11101 i I
00
Africans invol v ed wi th the contr o l of the Roman hierarchy Ii/as in
Lt self the cause of the decline of the Roman Empire. But, to t h i s
racist conte ntion t he "renO\:ilned authori tyl! in thi s area of Nor t h
Afr ican and Church history, Jane Soarnes, i n her book - THE COAST
OF THE BARBARY, pp. 30- 31 , wrote :
At the height of Roman power in North Afr i ca,
the popul ation of Ital y was actually decl ining
and there was never any vast number of Roman co-
lonist s in the racia l sense of t he word . The Ro-
mans knew nothi ng of those modern emotions which
are to us so powerful and omni present tha t we c a n
har dly imagine a c i vi lization from wh i c h they
s hou l d be a bsen t; s he had neither colour pr eju-
dice nor religi ous intolerance in the days of the
Republic . The Christian mar tyrs of the early
chUrch s uffered because they wer e fe lt to be a
menace to the propagating doctrines s ub-
ver sive to good order and d i scipl i ne: they were
r egarded as the Communi sts of thei r day. But hi gh-
I v cultivated Roman opi ni on cons idered all relig-
ions to be essen t ially t he d i verse man ifes t ations
of one great truth, and had no conception o f tha t
wh i te heat of mis sionizing zea l wh i ch would put
whol e populations of unbelievers t o t he sword or
send men t o the scaffol d and the fire i50r the
sake of a d i spu ted theologica l definit ionc
All t hat part of the make-up of men's minds
came lat er, as did t he acute sense of d ifferent -
iation of r ace and consequent antagoni sm which may
be summed up in the phrase "colour bar . "
On the otherha nd, many of today's religi ous f ana t ics continue
h ... r 'JC Emperor Septimus Sever us of ordering :
" the mar tyr dom of Per petua, l'''elicita and the
o ther Chr i s ti ans on 1 7 July 18 0 CoE., " e t c . j
' 11 c o urse of :
" the persecu t ion of t he Cpsistian Church .. "
1,1 dl:..; tractor s, to date, have failed t o account for the fact
" Jl t:l mus Severus d i d not become Emperor of Rome until 19 3 C.E. ,
I I f ' lI (1 3 ) long years the repor t ed persecution and mar -
j "1 1 ul 111. .... f e l l ow indj.gcnous Afr icans of the "new r el i g ion
ll
-
81
Christianity. Some hi storians, not knowing t hat t he alleged mar
tyrs were themse lves also indigenous Africans (blacks , "Negroe :.
u
,
etc.) like the emperor h imsel f, even dared to charge h im with:
" . . .. murdering the white Christians , II
in their attempt to introduce colour prejudi ce and raci s m in'\..:o
the hi stor y of a people who knew no t wha t the term or
were ..
vJhy did Emperor septimus Sever us issue the Ued ict" barrinq
" f urther Roman conver:sion to Judaism and Chritianity7t! For thc'
same reason any pr esident , king, emperor or dictator and other
types of suppress any religion which stands to
disrup t t he orderly func tions of t he es tablished governme n t. FUI
the same reason that the Nation of Islam (nicknamed "Black Mw!
l i msll)ll _ headed by the Prophe t Elijah Mohammed - i s being <II
missed by the r ulers of the Uni ted States of America as:
" oo.not amounting to a r e ligion in the str ict
sense of the word , II etc . i
and that Mohammed , its spiritual leader,is a:
prophet, who is fooling the Negroe s."
Al so, for the same reason t hat Mohammed Ali (Cas s ius Clay) i
considered a " mini ster of religion" by the Federal 101
United States of America , as they consider o ther boxers who 11
members of the Eur opean-American-style Christ i an cler gy. Yo t I,
er r epented murderers and t hieves in other acceptable r e l igion
( Judaism and Christianity) are accepted as having been:
" called by God to Hi s ministry."
The ministry, i.n t his case, is mostly Curopean-Amer ic:an- I: l 'I I.
Judaeo-ChristianitYi even Noslems from MeCCa c no t rCcoQI\ I " I
8 2
Ln this It ...,as, therefore , incwnbent upon Emperor
Severus , a s Emperor of Rome, to protect his
Yes, even to t he point of committing executions . For , i s i t
tlot true that every nation up to t h i s very per i od in man! s
hi story commit murder in the same fashion when they condemn
" suspected or convicted IItraitor" to death and carry out said
"edict , II which is much more sophisticatedly called:
11 "judgment by a jury of YO'lr peers? 11
!l rmy Illhits have compared t he Christ i a ns l"ithin t he Roman
t fllpir e , a t thi s period , ""ith the Communists of the United
C th ' 1 2 era:
U\ t es of American during the Senator JOGeph Nc a r y S
Ilr\ to a great de gree even today.
It is also true that there v,ter e t ho se hated both Je\.Js,
Ud Christi a ns l" ithi n t he Roman Emp ire .. And , mos t certainly, they
ul l .. d t o destroy Judai sm and Christ ianity.. But one must also
that thousands of Chris t ians \<.l ent out of their vl ay to be
I Lyrcd in oede r to :
!I \" in the blessings of Jesus Christ, II
II 1\ l hl.!Y believed, duri ng that period, uas about to make his
'('lIU c oming ." At that was the preva iling claim by the
j.1t I o f the "nevi .t"eli gion. " I t \'laS 1n this type of atmosphere
I J; I''I 'cor Septimus Severus began his r ule .. Because of it , he
83
made t he Praetor i an Guard u nive rsal and s t opped the practice of
having only legionnaires stationed in Italy t o fill v a cancies a :.
t;hey arose . In so doing, he also militarized ever y aspe ct of t.h
empire's civil administration wi t h retired generals, t o whom he
owed hi s asce ndency t o the t hrone . It was under these conditiof)ll
t hat Emperor Se ptimus Severus ' contemporary, anot her of t he Afr t .
"fathers of the Church I! - Tertullian, asslUTled control of t h e
Chri stian mind s of North Africa, the Nor t h African Church, and
inf luence over all of Christ e ndom, especially within t he Roman
Empire; but , Egypt and Ethiopiao
Tertullian inherited the history of a Ch urch which had
its African beginning with John Mar k - evangel is t, who did
his missionar y work in Egypt , \1h e re he e s tablis hed many churcl"u1
in t he City of Alexandria .
14
But i t was r e ally during the Ep.1 .
capat e of Demetrius of Alexandria (189-232 C. E.) tha t the No r-Ul
African Church got i t s r e al b eginning as a full y r e c o gnized
religiou s body. This, of course , d o es not mean that t he
beginning of Christianity in Africa s t arte d at t hi s juncture .
The refere nce to the Ethigpian conve rt in Ac t s viii, 26-40 , 1) 1
the King James Version of the Christian "Holy Bible" prove.::;
t he contr ary.
The North Africa n Church had already e stablished the Wo ! Itl
renowned " Cateche t ical School of Al e xandria" under t he 1. 1,
84
of a n Af rican named Pantae nus - its founder . It wa s at t his cen-
of Christendom and Christian scholarsh ip t ha t the worla l s rrunou s
rtnd most dis t inguished scholars of their time - Origen and Clem-
ent - served a s bishops along with Panta emus. It was also from
t hi s cent er that another African of Eg yptian b i rth left to found
I he world"s f irst monaster y o f hermatic living (the life of a her-
mi. t) . He was called - "Anthony t he He rmit of the Sahara," because
hp. withdrew to t hat are a to meditate in a life of pover t y after
lbandoning his wealth to the Egyptian stat e .
Tertuillan, b orn in Car.thage about 1 55 C.E . , wa s to become
Impor t ant i n Christ endom as was his conte mporary - the Emperor of
I'omc , Se p timus Severus , in government. But, hi s was not to be
In t h e piou sly spiritual phi losophy of his relig ion. His was the
,, .i. o-economic re lat ions hip of Christianity 00 man and hi s c u ltur-
i nvolvement; and t o ciVilization in general.. In l ight of t h is
' llvn lve ment ,Tertullian in One of his most famous \"Jorks ,
11 led DE ANIMA, the f ol l owing : 1 5
Surel y a g l a nc e a t the wide \'Jorld shows that
it is daily being more c u l t ivated and bet ter
peop led t ha n before . Al l places are now acces sible,
well k nol.-In, o p en to commerce . De lightf ul farms have
nmJ b lot t ed out e very trace of the dreadful \oJastes;
c u ltivate d fi e lds have overcome wood s; flocks and
herds have driven out wild beasts; sandy spots ar e
sown, rocks are planted j bogs ar e drained. Large
citi es now oc cupy land hardly tenan t ed bef ore by
cottages. Isl a nds are no l o nger dreaded; houses ,
peo ple, c i vil rule , civ ilizat ion, are ever Y\oJ here .
'1'1 ... man who wrote this had drawn the a t tention o f Christi ans
I,whore ; from the ir c i tadels in Egypt and Numid ia, to his o wn
I)undt n(} ::: in Carthage. And, to hi.s memor y the honoured English
,," 1. ' 11 - Miss Stewart Er s ki no, \'lrote:
16
'rhe three fJ ccot n a me s that bring honour t o the
85
African Church are Tertull ian, the first of the
Church writers who made Latin the Language of
Chr istianity; Cyprian, bishop and martyr; and
Augustine , one of the most famous of the "Fathers
of t he Church. ,.
Before his death, in 222 C.Eo, Ter t u l lian had the honor of
s eeing the Nor th Afr ican Church grot ... from twenty-three bishops I "
200 C.E. to approximate l y or eighty .. But to rea ll y
apprecia t e thi s Afr i can's r ole in the Chr istian Church, one h<1:. ,
refer to Professor C.P. Grove s' remarks o n page 70 of this book.
1
Cyp rian, like Tertullian, \"ras born in Carthage of i ndige llClII
African (so-calle d "Negro, 1I "Bantu ,1I e tc.) parentage who t'/ere /...1
, .. eal thy means. But Cyprian's exact date of b irth i s unknown. 11'->1/
"'!ver , it is knOtoJn t hat he VJas at least forty-six years old whC'Jl
he had h is" . .... he avenl y birth .. .. . " (the Phr a se he used for expJ oil,.
ing his decisi o n to l eave the \'JOr Id of a life o f wealth for Llt.d
of religion and poverty).
Cyprian's " heavenly birthli proved no prob lem to him , III
had held a professorship in ph ilosophy a t the University of ('",p
t hage and excelled i n r hetoric . This background l e d h im to bo
come Bishop of Carthage in ver y little time subsequent to h.i.! , .
ligious transformation.
The ascension of Cyprian to a bishopric al so led him to
his l1earthly death G" Por i t ,,,ras d uring his reign as Bishop Cl
Carthage that t he persecu tion of the Chr i stians of North AiL \ .
reall y 'Jo t undenmy. It was equa lly true for all of Roman 1-;\11 " I
The words of f'olrs .. St ewart Ersk ine best summed up his endi nCl ,
she wrote:
II he died magni f icentl y , givinq twenty-five
pieces of gol d t o the e ,: cc::ut,i oncrG. "18
Cypria n was fully awar e of the possibil i ty "chat he wou ld be
martyred, as the IIne w religion" he had embraced b ecame an irri-
tant t o the vast ma jority of the Africans of Carthage and their
overlords . He had already seen , and heard , Chr is t ians being
thrown to t he lions a t t he amphitheatres as t he crov/ds clamored:
" ...... t-/ashed and savedl1!
rhis exp ession having been originated by the Chris t i a ns of Egypt
dnd Numidia before i t was adopted by the brethren of Carthage as
,I rallying cry; ye t i t vms in other parts o f the Roman Empire be-
l ore its use in Carthage . Bu t as he expected, "their cries very
thereafter changed to:
" the Bishop t o the Lions!"
Like any o ther man, t his bi shop ItlaS not interested in his own
\1\l..:. lde, as he carr ied his teach ings underground ( n hiding ) t
he continued to lead the Christi an Assembly
,,,' years follm<ling . Cyprian, in h is characteristic style - wh i c h
exc lusively his, explai ned his plight a nd t e mporary saf e t y ,
"The v/h lte rose of the crmoJn of l abour mi ght
be as fair as the red r nse of martyrdom .. "
lot lnn \<las to cry Ollt in a sense of relief from the agony of
,1' IVI t he l a\"/ and never k no\"ri ng just v/ he n his end cnme at
h1m\::.; of the Imper i a l Executi oner, or by the c l a ....!s and jugu lar-
11 ,,"1 h::leth of t he lions .. Thus,! hi s IIDeo gratis" (thank God), in
"" '1 '1(0 Lo "the corrunand:
I I t pleases t hat Thrascius Cypr i an be
t", i l: h t he :.Mord.
IT1 9
I \ now 222 C.C., elevon years af ter "t he death oi Emperor
,111111" v""r ll L: ; 1I1d t he e leVA t i on o f h is onl y son - Caracal la -
86 87
on the thr one of the Roma n Emp ire. I t was also' n e ar the he i gh t nl
Emperor Caracalla'5 (212-217 C. B.) attempt to exterminate the
Chr i stians from the empire. Thi s per iod marked an era of o ne 01
mankind's most brutal highpoint s of g e noc ioe; where one group
exterminated the othe r because of the need to protect an empire .
It must be caref ully stated, t he extermination of t he Chri stiall
\'I as not because of their adher e nce to the "new religion, II ins f"'4
because of the teaching s of the religion t ha t affected Illaw an(1
order " as established by t he Imperial Government of Rome. The
Romans, at this period , would have exte rminated any group, re-
ligious or secular , becau se of their being a nnoyed a 'c a d y in<]
emp ire. Neither was it as some h i stor ians h ave tried : ,.
hard t o insin uate j nor was i t " color t" \'1h ich \'/ a s not a fac tor \ "
the s ocieties of t he ancients .
The persecut ion of the Chr i sti a n s a nd Jews, irrespective " I
r a. ce or color, h ad reache d its zeni th. And Emperor Car acal l o h ,.1
succumbed totally to the bestiali ty of h is c o lleag ues i n t ho II .
Senate and the army , who benefited ma terially from the conf i !, .d
of the personal and r eal properties of their martyred
Emperor Caracalla , h imself, however , was also mu rdered by ll, .,
army o f f icers o n 8 Apri l , 21 7 C. E. Sixty-seven years had po td l
Rome Vias not ruled by emperor s 11axi mianu s and Diocletian ( 2H1t
305 C.E.) , who f ollowed Caracalla and f ifteen other to t he I
t hrone (Hacri nu s to Carus ) . Yet, t he persecu tor s h ad
f or nineteen years a f t er Diocletian ' s r ise to pov,e r i n the \',u
slo ..'ling down somewhat in 303 C.E . - j ust h/O short year ::; h," , -,
emperors J'laxirn1anu s
'
and a bd1c: tion in 313 c . r:.
per s ecution of the ilCl:ll 1 '. LC'}'lprcl 1n nome , 1 fi t 1" 4
nn
Lhe Emperor Galerius' 1'1ay 305 or May 311 Imperial Edict - t1h i ch
" r a nted tol erance to wha t h ad become a Romani zed Christian Church o
r' he same Emperor Ga lerius ha d tri ed t o per s uade Emperor Diocl etian
declar e a " general persecu t ion of t h e Christians" on 23
I""br u ar y , 303 C. E. Th is is added proof that the persecution and
I' t' o s ecution of the Jews and Chr ist ians much more political
I ilfln religious t hroughout the Roman Empire , this being t rue even
llld. ng the greatest heigh t of the persecution s under 'che Emperor
ft t"l) cal la.
One year after t he abdicat ion of former Emperor Dioclet ian
11 4- 305 C.E:.) Emper or Cons tantine" the great" (306-33 7 C.E.) had
, ,(,line t he uncontested r u ler o f the Roman Emp ire of the vlesto In
It r . E. he h ad a lso b ecome Emperor of the East, a t which time he
, t \loI l1y adopted Chri s tian i ty and dropped all of t he pretense::; of
I I IIl vl n e Ri ghts - the relig ious custo m of his forerunners . Con-
I III inc "the grea tl! f o llo .. led his 0\010 conver sion by converting
' ''N Il army , through force; maki ng t hem carry sta ndards of t he
II j I L m Church - the so-called I'nev, religion .
11
Hithin a very
Y' l.l l a eer t he Il net/ relig ion" - North Af rican Christianity,
I pl'll dn t:'..cd European Chri stipni ty, h ad become the official re-
1" 11 {) 1 t. he entire r eunited (East a nd (.'lest) Roman Empire. This
Il u I ,.. 1 io.j LOUS and political p i cture of the Roman Empire when
II" 1l':l L o f the indig enous Afric a ns t h a t became one of
lil t r.t ' s "Father s of the Church"; a man, who \oJas b orn in the
'1', IlI o. ::O LC , Numidia, 1 5 November, 3 5 4 c . t: .: his name, Au-
1l1 l Cl" on called " Sa int Augusti ne" (354- 430 C. E.) . Note
lI.d ton of Numid l. o o c(;u[l i d an area of t he territories
h Itl ll l tll (' o! Al w 'r..!.n .";l nd L.ibya , North Africa.
I I t IIl t ll q 1'Il \ h 'tho ;'I t. d'" n l Lh ... 11omDI''). r:: mll i t:' c at the t ime
3 9
II
I
I
St. Aug ustine was old enough to be come t he Bishop of Hipp Re-
g ious, t o the point \j hece he h ad wc i tten the mos t profound phi-
l osophies on Christianity to date; the not ed h istorian - Jane
Soames, \'Jrote: 20
'I'he empire, essent ially a federat ion of
municipali ties, tried lmavai lingly to pre-
vent a movement which weakened and depopu-
lated the cities; and at t he same time de-
livered over the populace more and mace
compl etely into the hands of the great
landlord, \'Jhose .,.lea l th depended upon t hei r
l abour ..
It \o,'as in such a \'lOc l d, torn by c i vi l
strif e and thceatened by b arbarian inva sion
under the splendid but fading shadow of Rome,
tha t S t. Aug ustine's genius f loHered. The
Church in Afcica had produced great men b e -
fore this daYi the writings of Ter tullian
and st . Cypcian bot h tes tify to its keen in-
tel l ectual vitality; but neither aChieved
his sta ture - the l as t and noblest product o f
Roman I\frican civil i zat ion. lJe l earn a g reat
deal a bout that civil i z ation f com the CONFES-
SIONS, the pcoduct of a ment a li ty strikingl y
sympa t hetic to the European mind, bear-
ing the imprint.of its origI n .
The under scored words are to emphasize the val ue of St. 1\11
gustine's African background i n all of his \'lOr ks, including 11 11
Confessions . J a ne Soames cont inues in t he next paragraph:
St. Augustine is far more comprehens ibl e to J
European audience today than are most contempor ar y
North African authors - a fact which is in str ilcJll'l
d i sproof of modern racial theocies, for it i s
cO(lUTlunity of phi l osophy "'J h i c h makes foc affinity
f ar more than the accident of birth.
J a ne Soames cou ld have hardl y expl ained the question
cism surround i ng St. Augusti ne's Africa n (Negro) originj .I!. "
most adequately cited the ma j or importance in Augustine ':-:' ",\ , .,
" for i t is communi t.y of philof.i ophy which
makes for affini t.y f ar more I:I1.. n tho acc i d n l;.
of b irth."
!<.1 i t h t to the "CONPr-; ::>:rt N:; " m(on lion('ct bv Janl' :; 1 q tn{1
90
,\ !1other historian - r1rs Stewar t Erskine - wrote t he f ollowing:
2l
St Augustinels CONFESSIONS are the mos t f a -
miliar and intima t e documents, whether he is
approach ing God, to whom they were made, or man,
for whose benefi t they wece written down. He
conseals nothing a nd is e xtremely modern i n his
point o f view.
This Af rican (Black, "Negro, " etc . ), as " t he greates t of
t Church fat hers, II was a l s o one of the gr e a test thinkers a nd
phI l osophers of a ll time. Wi th reference to the greatnes s of st
ItqUS tine, profes sor George H. Sabine .... rote the following : 22
The moot .important Christian thinker of the age now under
diseuuion Wa! Ambrose's $" rea.t convert and pupil, St Augwtine.
Hi. J'hi losophy Wall only In a slight degree systematic, but hi.
min had encompassed almost all the learning of anci ent times,
and through him, to a very large elC:tent, it wu to the
Middle Aga. His writings were a mine of idea! in which later
writ ers, Catholi c and have dug. It il not nece.uary
to repeat all the poinLs upon wh.ich he was in luwtantial agree-
ment wi th Chtislian thought in general and whi ch have already
been mentioned in chapter. His most idea i,
the conception of a Christi an commonwealth as the culmination
of man', spiritual development. Through hi s authority this
eOllception became an ineradicable part of Christian
extendin&: not only through the Middle Ages but far down mto
modem limes. Protestants no Ie than Roman Catholic thioken
were controll ed by St Augustine's ideas upon this subj ect.
His great book, the Ciry of Cod, was written to defend ChJi5..
lianil Y against the pagan charge that it was responsible for the
deeline of Romj'n power and particularly for having caused the
lack. of the city by Alari e in 410. Jrftidentall y, however, he
developed nearly all his philosophi.cal idea.1, including his theory
of the significance and goal of human history by which he sought
LO place the history of Rome in i t! proper perspective. This
involved a reinst atement, from the Christian point of view, of
the ancient idea that man is a of two the ci ty of his
birth and the city of Cad ... 011 the one side siands the earthly
city, the $()(:iety Ihat is founded on the earthly, appetitive, and
P()ssc.uive impulsel of the lower human nature; on the other
s{ands Ihe city of God, the society that i3 founded in the hope of
heavenl y peace and spiritual salvation. The first is the kingdom
of Satan, its h..istory from the disobedience or the angels
and embodymg itself especi31ly in the pagan empi re! of Assyria
and Rome. The other 1lI tht kingdom of Christ, which embodied
itself first in the Hebrew nation and later in the Church and the
Chri.stiani:t:ed empire. Hutory is the drama tie story of the
lItruggle these two lIOCIetiCi and of the ultimate m8!tery
which mwt fa.ll to the city of God. Only in the Heavenly at)' II
pUa pouibla; oaJ, the lIpiritual kingdom It pcrma.oe:Dt.
Alllp,wtlne' 5 background began with his mother - Nonica , a
f" "ve rt , and his non- Chr is ti an fa t her - Patriciusj both
t'11 .,., . " . t'l t vWil lthy, but of r is t ocratic breeding. His father,
91
being a minor St ate official , afforded Aug us tine - at the age of
e l e ven - the c hance to be sent to Madausos { t he ancient Numidian
city bui l t by King Syphax)23 for his education . In s chool he l e lll
Greelc , which he ha ted. and he did very poorly. The best o f his foILI
jects being Cl assica l Latin - whi c h he considered next in impor-
tance to his own language and Rhe toric . Thi s, of c ourse, was J UG!
t he begi nning of his formal e d uca t i on j as he \.; as later on (in J "I n
C. E. ) s ent t o Carthage to compl ete hi s ad vance studies . Th is l .d
involvement required him to s pend three ye ars in very serious .. ",I
exacting s t udi es (370- 3 73 C.E.) . Four years later, August ine WOII
a pri ze for his drama t ic poem, and wrote his fir s t bo ole. - ON '1'1 11 0
BEAUTIFUL AND THE
Having completed h i s SCho oling , Augus t i ne further e njoyed II
"better things of life .
1I
He al so freq uented t he major houses ('II
" ill reput e ,n and paused to e n joy t he glad iators at the v
ious amphitheatre s , with an occa s i onal time for g amb ling .
t he hous es of pros ti tuti on he frequented did no t stop him fr olll I
ing in "common-law relations hi pll wi th a woma n f or a period 01
most eleven years j who bore him a Son by the name o f " Adeodn t \ 1
Aug u s tine made no atte mpt t o marry t hi s woman or legi t imizE! Id
son in the manner mos t European a nd EUl"Opean- Amer i can-s tyle ("h i t
tians a s sume is t he o nly moral way to Jesus Chr is t's acce ptil llll ' l
each forge t ting t ha t Jesus Chr ist supposedl y s a i d:
U'suf fer litt le children to come unto me , f or
such is the ki ngdom of he ave n."
Yet some writers claimed that :
" 0 he was v ery much a ttached to hi s son' 5
t,urch Father s ," who was later mad e a "Saint" b y his succes s or s ,
live d what some o f today's p uritanical and pious Jews
I Ll call a " d issipate d" life in hi s yout h -- . _unt:El he wa s a t least
'IIII 'nt y- e ight years ( 354- 382 C. E.) of age .
Aug ust ine credi t ed his pious ly aristocratic mo ther with being
!n person who was most responsible for his conver s ion to Chri S-'
Hi l ty. Yet he spoke of his meeting with his me ntor i n Milan , whose
"1'1( ' was Ambrose - later Saint Ambrose , a s a major fac t or in his
lvl ng Carthage for Ita l y without his mother's approval or know-
1t\0 . For t h is reason qtos t hi s torians credited Ambrose with being
pnn:.; ible for t h e conversion. At l e a s t Ambrose i s due part of
I, r.rcd i t, al ong with Augustine ' s mother Moni ca ..
,\ urJustine rema i ned i n Ita l y, living in Milan and Rome , where
""'t , f ol l owed by his be love d mother - Monica, later Saint Monica v
I Ill. t i me o f Monica ' s arr iva I in Ital y, Augustine had a l ready be -
( obristian bel i ever and pr ofe ssor of Rhe toric, bo t h of
II !J ror emensely. Aft e r spendi ng a per i od of time \.; ith her one
"" l y :J on , Augustine , Mon i ca prepared t o ret urn to her nati ve
On he r wa y back s he was fatally stricken at Ostia , Rome's
I"' I \II he r e s he wa s sub sequentl y l a i d i n her f i na l r e sting
'l'tw['c is not too much more kno\" n about this indi geno us
.11 w II ll1 n - mot he r of one of t he ',oJorld I s gr e a t est thi nker s o f
11111 . 'I' hul: which is known o f her comes f r om t he short b i ograph-
I . I Ci1 pr ovi d ed by her s on i n hi s own atte mpt a t g iving a pr e -
I' 'T1 o und of h :l s e ar l y l ife he gave in his CONFESSIONS .. Her
ulll1,",I " helve upon he r attempts to impose upon her
mot her. II II' loll J y- Cnt1r'lClc d religious bf"J ief - Nor th Af rican Chr is t i ani t y 0
In o t her words t his mortal man, ", lJ, ..-' ,'\tl' :"I o r the Chr i.: ol l .II ' I I I ,"". I n Cll n J.r <;1 wn from t he slci py inf ormat ion avail-
9 3
92
able a bout her life.
Aug ustine returne d to Car t hage shor tly af ter the unt ime ly
death of h is mo t herc At t h is point in his lif e he had bec ome
d e votedly a t t ached and involved in Chr i s t ian ethi cs and divine
ma tte r s. To some e x t ent i t was d ue t o t he shock the sudden d e a lh
o f his mother t t o whom he was dearly att ached, had on Fr om
t he se experienc es he deve l o ped his extraordi nary desir e for ttw
pe rmanent r e ligious sec l us ion he t ook in the monas t ery of North
Afri ca in later days ; this of cour se does not diminish his oth"J
loves that maqe his :final de c i s ion to fo l l ow said course, much
of whi ch will be deta iled later on in this c hapter.
Upon his return t o North Afr ica, fr om Rome a nd Milan,
gus ti ne ! s invol vemen t in spiritual matters was so outstandinq
that he was literally for c e d t o accept t he "Bishopr ic of Hi p p n
Regi us. II Augustine t ook command of t he Bishopric in the yea:r \ ' 1',
C. E. , as ordered by Pope Siricius ( l ater on Sa i n t - 384-399
C. E.l .
24
The elevation of Augustine to Bisho p of Hi ppo Reg i u s
him extra t ime f or a dded medi t a t ion a nd writing. From this Vdl ,
tage point he wrot e e xtensivel y wi thout res t ing between wor k I
Bu t ,of all his major works i t is the three major treatises ...
CONFESSI ONS, ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES , a nd the HOLY CI TY OF GOII
which most scholar s t o this ve ry day find to be a geles s l y IJI I,
found . Hi s mora l , r e ligious, pol i tical, a nd s o c ial fervor :t n t h ..
ar:e sti ll a ppl i cable to the present. A very short extracl l , .. ,,,
his CONFESSIONS is st.Jwn on page 102 of this work ; other s Lo
. d 25
as r e q ul.re
What has been so f il r :;hOWII .'uo lil 5t /lu'1 u!IoLi nc ' :::l life- 1 .. l '
94
"If i ly h is youthfu l background, a lso his r e ligious conversion a nd
u, llen acce leratio n i nt o promi ne nce a s a theo l ogian , p hi losopher,
nd Bishop. But Aug ustine also had the misfortune of becomi ng
),o p of Hi ppo Reg ious shortl y befor e Gaiseric (or Genseric ) l ed
J_tl r:lpaging Vanda l s ( Barbar lans)26 i n t o North Afri ca i'rom the
r ti'l n Peninsula ( Spain ) Gai s eric' s invas ion \1aS in suppor t of
Bonif a tius I disaffection from the Roman Empire in 4 29 C.E . ;
11 J1C! unvli s ely declar ed hi mself r uler of the Roman province
llo'" , I)is command in North Af rica . Dur ing t his s a me pe riod
I, nL l lli a n I I I !,las Emperor or t he Ro man Empir e ( 4 25- 455
). He t he son of Honor i us ' half-sister , Galla Plac idie
I I! Pl ocidia ) , l-, ho sole r u l er. Honorius also \'l as the former
i ,11 that defeated and murdered t he Smperor Cons t a ntine ne ar
III 411 He ,,,as , at the t ime, comma nder o f the army
I. mper or
1'/,(1 Va nd uls ' invi t a ti on to North Af rica by Gener al Bonifatius
lly ac cep ted because t hey were b e ing c ha sed from Spain by
V I llo t ll :'=; . The Visigoths had alread y c onque red Gaul (Pranc e)
1'./'; . under the l eadersh i p of Athaul f , the b rot her-in-law o f
' . .1110 :J ub:'3 equent l y died in Ita l y after s acking Rome on 14
4 10 C. E. By 416 C. E., Va llia ( 4 16- 419 C. S.) , who
1 1\ ALhL! 1l 1f hud e s t ablis hed t he f ir st Il Barba rian Ki ngdom. '!
I'Vlll n .l o ('),ll..JJ.l. h had already s t ar t e d wi th 8mpe ror Cons tan-
1m ill I . :l' h us , i n 423 C .. E. Johannes ( 4 23- 4 25 C. E. ) h ad forced
I " tn p [-/cr and u sur. ped t he Roman p ur p l e on the dea t h
" II , i\ L Ra ve n na I which he ha d mode h is capi tal in pref -
III n1 11111 , nnD ",hlch I"l io pccdcc es s ors used . But in
95
was murdere d by troops sent from the Roman Empire o f the Eas t b y
Theodosi us II.
Augustine's ebbing life had wit nes sed Rome' s di sintegr atloll
a nd the dawn of t he rule i n North Africa . As such, he w
obli ged to comment on these historic e vents in most o f hi s l a n t
works, whic h took on mor e o f the politi cal and s ocio-economi c
sages found i n the wri t ings of his f ello ..., Af rican f orerunners -
Tertullian and Cypr ian (also HSaint" Cypr ian).
Bef or e Augustine died on 28 August 430 C.E. the Vandal s 1"1" ,1
already ravaged Nor th Afr ica for a period of t hree months (' UI'
year ending 430 a nd during the beginning of 431 C.E .). But, lh'
extent of their barbar ity was neve r excelled b y any other grolll'
dur i ng the dawn o f t he Ch ristian Er a (C. E. ), except dur ing tIl\'
period wh e n t he Chri st ians themse l ves became the "new Barbar1dll
as t hey too ravaged the Middle-East and North Africa
26
fr om 1':' 1
rope.
On the day St. August ine di ed the curtai n fe ll on the Ii) : t
most noted of the truly " g reat Christ ian wr i t er s a nd ph ilo:'; ()l,I,.
But the second half o f t he Fourth Ce ntury C.E. Has to Hi t-nC! , ' I I
r evival of non-Chri st ian wri tings - the so-call ed IIpaga n Lilll !1
literature" - wh ich HaS no doubt as rich as the North Af rj ,111
Chrisl:ian Church l iterature i t was r epl acing . The great e s t I.l ,t
nific a nce ' . ."as t he fact that this period mar.ked t he retun1 o!
th ings cu l tur al to t he popul ace, r ather than to the mi d dll1 1 ,,1
uppe r c l asses for Hhom "Latin l iter ature" c atered in it::; 1';"1
style Chr is t i a n setting. Although the so-c alled "non-Chri..:;. l \ 11
lite rature" was much mor l.! i nvi gor atl.r"l q , bCCL\ \..I: . C of t h e ('Hl pll
pl aced o n it, it v,a s ne vcC'-l:.h - l c.co 1111.: 1\ l i b J) rt ui::; (lh.
11 philosoph er) who trans l ated Ar is t o t le 's Eg y p tian-based ilLOGIC"
t, !eh Ar is totle stole from the Africans of Egypt) into Lat i n from
or i ginal Hieroglyph and Greek in order t o ,."rite h is t'DE CONSO-
1 tlONE PHI LOSOPHAINE" wh ile he l anguiShed in prision ex-
,II Lon by Theodori c - t he Osthr o g oth - in 524 C. E. Bu t Boethius '
nil"mporaries no t at al l l ike Aug ust ine'S - who lived in the
'II til Century C.E. wit h men such as the Ga lic poe t Ausonius (Con-
tJ t o 379 C.E.) , and Claudius t he AleXandrian (cour t p oe t of emper - .
lIonorius and S t ilieho) .. Of course many European and European-
I 1'" I.1 1l historia n s (religious and secul ar) tend to r ate Pepys"
I"dn Rousseau' 5 b iographies on the same l eve l Hi t h that of
I J oe ' s CONr"ESSIONS . Many of them a l so tried to rate the "Lat-
t1t(>r s " - Lactant ius (d.c. 325 C.E. )j St Ambrose (340- 397 C. E.),
t'''I ' t Milan; St Jerome (340-4 20 C.E:. ) - who des erted Rome for
IiI . hll"'lT1 , where he transl ated the Christian Bibl e from Gr eek t o
lit ( 11C Vu l ga t e) , with t he ge nius of St Aug ust ine. HOvlever,
Ii, 'I Il Llemp ts, they g ave no comparati ve ana l ysis to t hese men's
t n., ! '.J ith t l1 0s e of S t Augus tine's, t hereby elimi na t ing t he
l it t 11C j.r own content i ons.
t. " t'; reck Fathers" - whom they tried to compare to t he "Lat -
Ifl n ) l1nd " Af rican F at hers" - were, Basil of Caesarea (3 30-
.); his brother Gr egor y of Nyasa (d.c. 39 4 C.E .); a nd
V"' fo1(lz i,:lllau s (32 9- 389 C. E.). They vJ e r e knO\.Jn a s " . ... the
liP' doc i ,J.n:; . " Included were a l so John Chr ysostom ( 329-389
trtf ll:"ch o f Con5tantinople (381 C. E.) i and Eusebius " ( 264-
.. )
OrL.hodox Bis hop of Caesarea. (315 C.E.) , noted f or hi s
11' ! onl u (i cd wi th Aria n C::u :;e b i us of Ni c omed i a.
96 97
HHISTORIA BCCLBSIATICA" and other h istorical YJOrks.
Not ing the IILatin" and "Greek Fathers" mentioned, historic,, 1
none of them produced a,ny major \oJork on t he level of St. Augus t1,
"CITY OF GOD, II "ON CHRI STIAN DOCTRINES," or "CONFESSIONSu; not
one of them even matched August i ne's "lesser \Jorks.
1t
Augustine's mentor, St. Ambrose of Tries (340-397 C.E.) - a
former Roma n Pr ovincial Gove rnor - who was later elected
Archbi shop of Milan (374 C. E. ) before his baptismal, who vJas
also responsible for making Emper or Theodosius do penance on til ..
basis t hat:
" t he ecclesiastical matters of a Bishop
is superior to an empe r or, 11
was also chief architec t of Stoic tradition, author of t he
"Duties of t he Cl e rgy" (accordi ng to Ci cero's "DE OFC'ICIS") -
t he standard t hes i s on e thics before Augustine ' s works. This
-
'tlork, Ambr ose's best, also failed t o e qual e i t her t he IIHOLY (.: 1:
OF GOD, II "CONFESSIONS ,II "ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES,;' or any
other of the IIlesser writings " of Augus t i ne.
l.'Jhat Augustine ' s works had over all of t he other flChu.tcll
Fathers" \."as his deep love for t he Hretche d a nd the poor, \, h ! I.
h e kne\-l s o well through his personal contacts as a young mall
when he visited houses of ill-repute I g ladiator s , gambliny
sa l oons , etc. j all of wh ich when he converted he brought 1:0 t ...
"School of Christ ian Theology" he founde d. He also fathom 'lI I II
inner secr ets of neo- Pla tonism and i1anichae ism - 'v,hi ch he
moderat ed by linking them with his understandings of indio I I ""
Afr i c an mytholog ical and Ancestral Spirit 'r'JorShip. The 1.d j-
b ."o are fundamentally I\.[r j ean Iwology nd llI<)rnJ
pr inciples \ ... hicl'l are today call (I " pn'llH'I 'i.,m" "nd II fr,H !Jhlt,m"
'( Europeans and European-Americans . Many Africans and Af r ican-
"\11 i.cas , Sons and daughters of convert!d slaves to European and
'II npcan- American-style Chr istiani ty (European- St yle) , aided a nd
, I Lcd by their Jewish (Hebre\J) and Islamic c Ohc;>rts, a l so
'1 dernn these Afr i c anisms in like manner.
There was another cr i tical asp ec t of St. Augustine ' s phil o-
'1ilI t c d i thoughts, as experienced i n his works, must be
01 i l,, :d to the depth of h is understanding of life and life's
), ! l.t.:al application as seen in i ts translation into spirituality.
best observed in the relat ionship be t ween St. Augustine
'I i t , c ommon-law son, Adeoda tus , whom he took wi th him wherever
\JiI nl. Even in t he year 384 C. B., t'/hen he vIas assigned a
h II 11'.11 Chair at Milan, he took his son wi t h h im; t his Has dur-
'111 ' period when his mother 1'1onica visited ...lhen he
1 nl i t o Rome, \/here he abandone d Hanichaeism whi l e under the
I HI n.::;C of his frie nd and ment or Abrose. (lat er saint), and
I ,I 1;0 indul ge i n ree ding t he neo- Platonists, he also carried
till uitll h i m. In 388 C .. E .. , he s et sai l for his return
I JIo.lr:lc- Numidia , North Africa, he carried h is son Adeodat us ..
II q" ' l y ::;I:ruck St.. Aug us t ine heavi l y o nce more, as Adeodatus
HI Y d Led i n 309 C. E. after a very shor t illness, a tragedy
1.1lC!.t' on to enr i c h Augu stine' s t houghts in his philo-
1(\(1 ..... 11::au and Y/ritings on Christian dograas a bout " carnal i n -
t' , lhc dei t y of Jes us Chr i st, t he s aint hood and immaculate
n f Hnr ylf and the " sainthood of Joseph," etc.
is t hat Alnbrose ... as Augusti ne 's t eacher in
"Ily; c ve.r: yo no o f said historians holdi ng said posit ion
, f .1t Lh fa.c t t hat Christl-unity was already corrunon in t he
I '1 I c., t rom wh rc- Augusti ne c ame to Hilan and Rome. Also
UIII I tnt: alr; o con trtbu tcd 11i::; .first att.emp ts at Christiani ty
I!' ' f til L
99
The legacy st. Aug us tine lef t t he e ntire wor ld i s included t
that wh i c h is today c a ll e d "GREAT \>IR ITERS OF THE WORLD:'
and other n o t ed inter n a ti ona ll y accep ted t i tles . Becaus e o f thJ
genius , however, his indigenous Afr ican ( "Negro, Bantu , Black ,"
etc . ) orig i n h as been carefull y camouflaged , s uppressed, or
othe rwi s e made to a ppear that he wa s onl y born i n North Africil,
but, t hat he was a " Caucasian." Of cour s e any African who was r
s ponsible for a ny thing whi ch Soc i ety" b ased i ts orig lll
a nd moralit y up on must have bee n a nythi ng o t her than a IINe gro, q
African Sout h of t h e Saha ra, II or plain old " Ni gger ,, " The extellt
of s t Aug us tine s leg a cy, the genius o f his indigenous African
or igin, incl ude s t he following works:
1.
2 .
The DRAMATIC POEM; which he for
a poetry competi t i o n in 3 77 C. E. 7
ON THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE FIT.28
3. P..GAINST THE ACADEMICS, ON THE HAPPY LIFE.
4. ON ORDER . 29
5 .
6.
7 .
8 .
9.
10.
ON MUSIC. 30
ON
OF
ON
THE MORALS OF THE CATHOLI C CHURCH AND
THE MANICHEANS.JI
CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
32
ON THE TRINITy . 33
CITY OF GOD . 34
RETRACTIONS . 35
In t he a bove lis t ed works entit led 1t RETRACTIONS" - Au!) 1
commented on a ll t h a t h e h a d already writte n under mor e Ul, I I '
hundred and (232) othe r sepa:rate t itles ; all 0 1 1011, 1
did not includ e h i s I1SERMONS" or " LETTERS, which h e had !) Vl " , \
publi s h i n a separ ate ser i e s.
100
To f athom more int o an understanding o f the inne r d e p ths o f
Augustine ' s thinking and philosoph ioc al pr Onouncements t h e f ol-
I .wl ng extracts are g i ven. Thus he wrot e on " c ommunion wi t h
I I v Ods :,,35
(VI) 13 . And ho w Thou didst d el i ver me out o f
t h e bonds of des ire, wherewi t h I wa s bound mo st
s tr a i t ly to c arnal concupisce nc e , and out of t h e
drudgery of wor l dl y things, I wil l now declar e ,
a n d confess un to Thy name , "0 Lord ? my helper and
redeeme r . " Ami d increasing a. nxiety , I waS doing
my won t e d b us iness, and d a ily sigh ing unto Thee .
I attend e d Thy Church . whene ver free f r om the
business under t he burden o f which I groan.
IJ n "car nal concupise nce " cited i n t h e a bove, h e wrote : 36
But now , t he more ardentl y I loved those
whose healthful a ffect ions I heard of, that they
h ad r e signed t h emselve s wholly to Thee to b e
cured, t h e more did I a b hOr myself, when com-
pared Hi t h them. For ma ny of my year s (some
twelve ) had now run out with me since mine , "
e t c . , etc., e tc .
111 :. d isda i n f or his f e llOH indigenous Af ricans (Bl acks Ne-
" tc . ) o f North. Afri ca, who were for c ed into t he s ervice of
Ill ' ''' Or of Rome ( North Africa being a t the time a Province
' 111';' 1 i ,\ 1 Rome) brought forwa rd t he following : 3 7
14. Upon a day t hen , Neb ri d i us bei ng a b ses s
( I rec ollect not \"r h y) , 10, t here c ame to see me
a nd Alypius one Pontitianus, our c ountryman s o
iLlr a s beinq an ,I).frican, in hig h o f fice in t he
cour t. Wh a t he cou ld wi th us, I know
n o t , but we sat down to c onverse , a nd i t h a ope n
(:d Lha t upo n a table f or s ome game b e f ore us , he
a book , took , it , and c ontrary
Ln h i s expec t a tion, fou nd i t t he Apostle Pa,ulj
l oa:- he had thoug ht it some of those bo oks whi ch
1 V.' .l.S wearing myse lf in teaching .
1 V/ d S any doubt of the indi g enous African orig in of St
11 11 11I h1t - c o- e v e r, Au g u sti n e l e f t no doubt o f such orig in i n
II Wru c1t.!; lJnderscare d for emphas i s above. He ma d e n o effor t
V h r to C: lai m a n y Europea n and ac t ua l ly displayed
,IH I \"'I lnpl fot:' f e llow Af r i c an:.; Io n the service of t h e Roma ns.
101
On problems of hi s conversion from the ind ige nous Afri c a n
traditional religion of hi s f ather , the religion of Numidia, t o
Christiani ty , August ine wrot e :
38
J O
.... vJhe n , upon the reading of Cicero' s HOR-
TENSI US , I wa s s t irr e d t o a n earnes t l ove o f
wi sdomj and s t ill I wa s de ferring t o re j e ct
me r e e ar t hl y fel ici ty , a nd give myself to
s e arc h o u t t ha t '.rJhe r eof no t t he finding onl y ,
b u t t he ver y s e a r c h, wa s t o be prefe rred t o
t he t r e a sur e s a ndd Ici ngdoms of the wor ld,
t hough alread y f ound , and t o t he pleasur es of
t he body, t houg h s pre ad around me a t my will.
But I wr etched, most wr e t ched, in t h e very
comme nceme n t of my earl y youth, had begged
cha s t i ty o f Thee , a nd said , "Give me chasti ty
a nd c onti nenc y , onl y no t ye t. II For I feared
les t Thou shou l dest hear me s oon, and soon
cure me o f the d i sease o f c oncupiscence. which
I wishe d to have satisfi e d, rather than'ex-
tinguished . And I h av e wande r e d through crook-
ed vJays in a sacri legiou s s uperstition, not in-
deed assur ed t hereof , b ut as pref erring it to
the others whi c h I d i d not s e e k r eligiou sl y ,
but opposed ma liciously.
In his "disputations a ga i ns t t he academic ians " he wr o tu:
(IV) 7 . Now Has the day come wherein I was
indeed t o be f r eed o f my Rhe t oric Profe s s or-
s hi p , \"her eor in t hough t I ",'as a l r ead y f reed .
And i t was done. Thou did s t r escue my tongue
befor e t hou hads t r escued my heart
And I b l essed Thee , r ej oic ing j r e t iring wi th
al l mi ne to the v i l l a . What I the r e d id i n
writi ng, t ... h i ch waS nat" e nli sted in Th y service,
t ho ugh st ill , i n t hi s br ea thi ng- t ime a s i t
\,-Ie re , pa n t i ng f rom the sc hoo l of pride , my
books ma y wi t ness , as .....'e l l what I debated
with o thers, a s what wi th mysel f a lone , befor e
Thee : vJha t vl ith Nebrid ius , who was a bs e nt, my
epis t les v,itnes s. And when sha l l I ha ve
t ime to all Thy gr e a t benefits
us at t ha L time , es pe c:Lal ly when has ti ng on t o
yet great e r For my r e member a nc e r e -
c alls me , <J. nd ploQac ant i5 1 t t o me , 0 Lor d, to
confess to Th e a by wha t i nward goad ::; 'r ho ll t am (11... . 1
and hml thou h a s t e v e. ned me , 10we r in<;J t he
moun t ain :; a nd hl l l s o f my h i gh imal) i natl ons,
s tr aighten inq my c r ookednes:; , nnd my
rough way::; i imd how Thou also o\lbduf!ds t t h ....
br othol;!..C of my heart, Alypius , unto Ih .. Nrunc oj
Thy Only Bcg:ot.t.en, our. Loc o and S,\vi ur Juau3
Chri st , whi c h he wou l d not at f ir s t. vouc1lsa.fe
to h ave i n ser t e d i n our writings. For r a t her
vJOul d he have the m s a vour of t he lof t y "ce.-
dar s " of the School s , whic h t he Lord hath nOlo,
broken down , than o f t he who l es ome herbs of
t he Church, the antido t e agai n s t serpents q
On Script ure and on Conf ession he wrote:
40
And with a l oud cr y of my hear I cried
out I n t he next ver s e Oh in peace 10 Or for
" Th ' ,-
e Self - Same !" Oh vJhat s a id he,"I \,;i l l lay
me dOloJn and s l eep ," f or who shall hinder us
\1h:,re !'cometh t o t hat sayi ng whic h is '
Deat h is st"a ll owed up i n victor y " ? And
lhou surpassing ly a r t " the Sel f - Same , " Who ar t
not and Thee i s r e t wh i c h f or ge tte t h
all tall, for t her e i s none o t he r with The e
nor art we t o s eek tho s e many o t he r things '
whichart no t Thou a r t ; bu t Tho u Lor d , alon;
has made me dwe ll i n hope. I r ead, a nd kind led
nor f ound I \"ha t to do t o these de af a nd de a d
whom ha d been , a pestilent person, a
and b llnd bawl e r aga i nst those wri t ing s
are honied wi t h the ho ne y o f hea ven and
I>}i t h Th i ne own li gh t i and I was' con-
s ume d \-Jl th z e a l a t t he enemi es o f this
On t he i nde n tific at i on of his t eac her
4l
he stated:
A
13. The Va c ati on e nded , I gave
not l ce to t he to pr ovi de t he ir s chol-
ar s wi t h another ma ster t o s e l l wor ds t o them
for that I had both ma de choice to s e rve Thee)
my dif f icul ty of br eathi n g a nd pain
I n my cnest '.las not ,,".qu al to the
And by letters I si gn i f i ed to Thy Pr e l ate ,
man forme r e rror s a nd presen t
des l r ::s , begglng hls a dv i ce what of Thy Sc r ip-
tur es .l had be st read , to become r e adier a nd f i t -
r eceiving so great He recomme nded
Pr ophet : I bel ieve because he above
t he l S a m?re cl ear f or eshewer o f the Go spel
of of t he Ge nt i l e s . But I , no t un-
t h e i n h im, and i mag ining
Hhole t o b e It, lai d i t b y t o be re sumed
when be tter prac t i s ed in our Lor d ' s ' own word s .
l1l:1Stcr on the e mptying of the soul , he \oI rote : t1 2
Thou "taugh t me good r,;' a ther tha t " t o
tho a l l things are pw: c , " but t hat "i t i s
nvU unto the mil n tha.t ea.tet h with of f e nc e " .
llnd t h.,t " eve:r y cr."-' .:1 ture of Thine io8 good,
103
nothing to be refused, which i s r eceived with
thanksgiving II j and t hat Ilmeat commendeth us
not t o God" , and t hat IIno man s hou l d j udg e u s
in me a t or drink, " a nd that he eateth,
l et hi m not despi se him t hat eateth no t ; a nd
l e t no t hi m t hat eaeth no t , j udge h i m that
The s e things ha ve I l earne d , thanks to
Thee , pra1s e to Thee , my God , my Master, k nock-
of my e ars , e nli gh tening my heart; deliver me
out of all temptation. I fear not
Still holding to the PLatonist phi l osophy and arguing for
same , he s upported the po s ition i n the following manner:
43
I f , the, Plato defined the v/ i se man as one
who initi ates , knows, loves thi s God, and who
is rendered b l essed t hrough f el lowship with
Hi m in i s own b l essedness, v,hy disc uss wi t h
t he o ther phil os opher s? I t is evident that none
c ome near e r to us than t he Platonists . To them,
t heref ore , let t ha t fabulous t heology gi ve palce
which de l i ghts the minds of men with crimes of
the gods; and that civil theol ogy also, in which
impure demons, under the name of gods , have se-
duced the peoples of the earth given up to earth-
ly pl e as ures , desiring t o be honour ed by t he er -
rors of me n, and by filling the minds of t he ir
worshi ppers wi t h impure desires, exci ting them
t o make the representation of their crimes one
of t he ri tes of their worshi p, whilst they them-
s elves f ound i n t he spec t a t ors of t hese exhibi-
tio ns a most Pl e a i'ng spec tacle - a t he ology i n
whi ch, wha tever w honourable i n the templ e,
was defiled by it mixture with obsceni ty of t he
theatre , and whatever was base in the theatre
vindicated by the abomina tions of the temp le:; .
E' or those who could not accept the God of the "New Rcl j q I '
Christi a ni ty, he wrote :
44
104
Ha th no t God made foo lish t he wisdom of the
wor ld? For after t hat, in the wi sdom o f God
the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleas ed
them by t he foolishness o f preaching to s ave
those that be lieve . For the J ews requi re a
s i gn , and the Gree k s seek after wisdom; but
we preach One crucif i e d unto the Jews a stumb -
ling - block un to the Gr eeks fool i shness ; but un-
t o those v!hich are call ed, both Jews and Gr ck::
e tc. , e t c . , etc.
,1
Over the controversy o f Methuselah's a ge he wro te :
II from t his discrepancy between the Hebr ew
b,?oks and our own ar ises t he we ll-known que s -
b.on as to the age. of l'le t huselah ; f or it i s
computed that he for four teen years af-
ter the deluge, though Scr i pture relat es that
of all who then upon the e ar t h only the
eight soul s t he ark esc aped destr ucti on of
the flood, and of t hes e Methuselah was not
one. For a ccording t o our bOOks, Me thuselah,
be f ore he begat t he son whom he called La-
mech , 16 7 year s; the n Lame c h hims elf,
son Noah was born , l ived 188 year s,
toge t her make 355 year s. Add to t hese
the age of Noah at t he date of t he deluge
600 years, and this gi ves a tot al of 955 f rom
the b irth of MethUselah t o t he year of t he
f lood . Now all the years of the l ife of Me-
are computed to be 969; for when he
h ad 167 years, and had begotten his
son Lamech, he then lived afte r this 802
year s, which makes a t otal , as we said of
969 years . From thi s , if we dedu ct 9SS'years
from the bir th of MethUselah t o the flood
t here remains fourteen year s, which i s s up-
posed t o have l ived a fter the f l ood. And t here-
fore t hat, tho ugh he wa s not on
ear t h wh ich i t is a greed tha t every l i ving
which could not na t urally live in water
he was for a time wi t h his father
who had,been t r anslated, a nd that he lived '
there the f lood had passed a wa y. Thi s h y-
t hey adopt , that they may not cas t a
o n the trustworthiness of ve rsions \.,;h ich
t he has received i nto a pos i t ion of hi gh
a nd because they bel i eve t hat the
J e wlsh MSS, ra ther than our own ar e in error .
For they ,e t c . , etc. I etc
.r;t. Augustine 's keen mi nd , Shar p as i t is in the CONFESSIONS
\-I'l' Y' OF GOD, reached i ts hi gh poi nt ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
n"ca use he seemed to have be l ieved t hat his own writings Here
AUqu s tine, li1ce al l of . the members of hi s Chur
:. ,I mi n
! ,lil t! t he same book a nd r eii giOn f AUg ustl ne :-s seen con-
'I I' hr i st his God' t h rom w ence even h lS God -
s mo er - Mary and his G d' f
ph,:.prung . Is he s . t 0 sather-
"mw .is correct Jev!s were in error, and t hat
'nlJrc r eligion'of the not o nl y this aspect of
T f ," j t 'r. th rews l.ncorr e ct , bu t the e n t i re
I ':'1ll dat P;om t be t iani ty I whi ch has adopted
rews re
105
...
' inspired by God. I In this regards Augusti ne i s to be observed
in the following:
I . There are two thi ngs on wh ich all inter-
pre tation of Scripture the mode of
ascertaining the proper and the mode
of making known the mean i ng when it is ascer -
tained. We s h all treat first of the mode of as-
certaining next of the mode of making k nown,
the meaning - a great and arduous
and one that, if difficult to carry out, 1 t
I fear, presumptuous to enter upon . And pre-
sumptuous it woul d undoubtedly be , I were
counting o n my ovm s trength; but my hope
of accompli shing t he work rests on Him VJho h';l S
a lready supplied me with many thoughts on
subject, I do not fear but that He will go on
to s upply what is yet wanting when. once I have
begun to use \Ihat He ha s already g1.ven . a
possess ion which is not diminished by
shared with others, if i t i s possessed and not
shared, is not yet posse s sed as it ought to be
possessed. 'rhe Lord saith , "h'hosoever hath , t o
him s hall b e given.
1I
He wil l give, t hen , to
those who have; that i s to say, if they use
free l y and cheerfully wh at they have received,
He wi ll add to and per fect His gifts . The loaves
in the miracl e were only f ive and seven in numb-
er the disciples began to divide them among
hmngry p eople. But when once they began to
tribute them, though the wants of so many
sands were sati sfied , they filled baske ts
the fragment that \,Jere left. Now, just
bread increased in the very act of 1. t,
so t hose though ts which the Lord has .
vouchsafed to me with a v i ew to undertak1.ng
work wi ll
f
as soon as I begin to impart them
others be multi p lied by His grace, so that , In
this work of distribution i n which I have
engaged - so far from incurring loss and
I shall'be made to r ej oice in a marvellous I n-
crease of wealth .
He was very empha t ic on the only way t he Scriptures : : hi' I II1
be interpreted. On this he wrote :
4 6
1 06
2. All instr uction is either abou t t hings or
abou t signs but things are l earnt by means o f
signs. I use t he word "thing" in a s tr ict
sense to signify that whi ch i t.; ne v er e mpl oye d
as a sign of anythi ng el se : ( or wood ,
stone, cattl e and other t hingt; of t hat Ic: i nd.
Not , however, the wood which '.II read M !; 5
c a st into the h i l Ler w<) tf' r ... t o m,lk.(' t hem CI"OC' l ,
nor the stone which Jacob u s ed as a
nor the ram whiCh Abraham offered up in
place of his son , nor ,rr etc.
Of course he was as pr esumpti ve on the i neffability of God : 47
Have I spoken to God , or uttered His prai se,
1. n any worthy way? Nay, I feel that I have done
not hi ng more than desire t o speak; and i f I have
sa id a nyt h i ng, i t is not what I desired to say.
How do I know this , except from the fact that-God
is unspeakabl e? But what I have sa id, if it had
been unspeakable, Could not have spOken. And so
God is not even t o be called " u nspeakable " b e -
cause to say even t h is is to speak to 'rhus
there arises a c ur ious contradi ction of \i ords
because Of, it is not unspeakabl e i f it Can
7alled unspeakable. And t his opposition of words
1.S to be avoided bv si l ence t han to be ex-
plained away by speech. And yet God, a lthough
nothing worthy of His greatness can be said of
Him, h as condescended to accept the wors hi p of
m7n' s mou ths, and has deSired u s through the me -
of our own words to r ejoice in His praise.
For on this principle i t i s t hat He i s called
DEUS (God) . For the sound of t h ose two syllab l es
in i tself conveys no true knOwledg e of His na-
turej but yet a l l who know Lat i n ton gue are led
when that SOund r7aches their ears, to think Of'
a nature supreme 1n excellence and eternal in
exis t ence .
The question of what i s IIS acr ed
u
or rrprofanerr li ter ature has
It "round with mankind for quite a long time. On this subject
Jill t tne wrote the fallowi ng : 48
22. But when unacquainted with other modes of
life than their own meet with t he record of such
a ctions, unless they are restrained by authority
they look UpOn them as Sins, and do not consider'
that their own cus toms either in regard to marri-.
a ge, Or feasts, or dress, or the other necessi-
ties and adorro.ments of hUma n life , appear sinful
to the peopl e Of other nat ions and other times .
And, di s tracted by t h i s endless var i ety o f cus-
::;ome who were half asl eep (as I may say) _
tha t 1s, wh o were ne i t her sunk in the deep sleep
o f?l.l.y , nOr were able to awake into the light
of wl, s dom - have though t that there ...las no such
hinQ u S right, but that every nation
tonk lts Own r ight; a nd that, s ince
!IV roy n..Jt i on h;J. s i.I dif f e r e nt custom, and right
l"'C.mill.n i t becomes manifest
107
that there i s no such thing a s r ight at all.
Such me n did not perce ive, to take only one
example, tha t the "Wha tsoever ye
would tha t men shQuld do to you J do ye even
so to them,I' cannot be altered by any diver -
sity of national customs. And this precept,
v/hen it is referred to the love of God, de-
stroys all vices; whe n to the love of onels
ne ighbour, puts a n end to all cr i mes . For no
o ne is willing to defile his own dwelling ; he
ought not, therefore, to defile the dwelling
of God, that i s , hi mself. And no one wishes
an injury to be done hi m by another; be him-
sel f , therefore , ought not to do injury to
another ..
On Divinely inspired authors and authority he wrote:
50
9. Here, perhaps, some o ne inquires wheth-
er the author s whose d ivine l y inspired writings
constitute t he canon, which carries with it a
most who l esome author ity , are to be considered
wi se only, or eloquent as we ll . A quest ion which
to me, and to those who thi nk with me , is very
easily settled. For where I understand these
\.,.riters, it seems to me not only that ' nothing
can be wiser, b u t a lso t hat nothing can be more
eloquent. And I venture to affirm that al l who
truly under s tand what these writers say, perceive
at the same time that it could no t have been pro-
per ly said in any other way.
Augustinels writings, as seen in this work, although nlll,
a very limi ted amount of extracts from three of his most f runC.11
show much of the ins ight he revealed to his fellow ChristLlIl.
whi ch made them adopt his teachings as t he basic concept ::: .-.1
Chr is tianity (as developed in the North African Church undl"l
digenous Africans) from the Fourth through the pre sent Tw"ul)"
cen tury C.E.
For example: In speaking about, and agai nst, the Ma nlr-I "
Aug ustine called upon Scriptures - as he always d id - to "II
h i s audi ence . Th us; in t he CONFESSIONS, Book I, ( II! ), J . II.
wrote :
Do the heaven and e a.t't:h then c on luin t h ...e I 3111"
I ..
thou fillest them? Or dost t hou fi ll them and
yet overflow, since t hey do not contain thee?
And whither, whe n the heaven a nd the earth are
filled , pourest thou forth the remainder of
Thyself? Or, hast thou no need that augh t con-
tain t hee, who containest all th ings , s ince
what thou fillest thou fil l est cont ai ning it?
One sees that even in quest ioning things Augustine waS at
lilt ;";\l.me time emphasizing what he thought to be his " God I s com-
with repect to the ans"/ers. Thi s type of questionary-
ltl ct i ves have become the standar d procedural escape for members
111(" Chr istian clergy to this very date . And the clergy have
I'" empl oyed it as a means of answering a ll quest ions f or wh ich
,10 not have any hard and fast a nswer s, especially f or ques-
with the origin of God Hi mse l f , or the realism of
l ' 5
11
virgi n bir th.tt
!\Ur"J us ,tine not only taught hi s Christian brethren On Christian
I ! ll U 5 , he a l so ta ught them hm.,. to apply their own feeling s and
I of t he faith in his Book IV of this same quoted tit le .
mpli' : In Chapter 30, subt itled - liTHE PREACHER SHOULD COM-
DISCOURSE \-IITH PRAYER TO GOD. I' But it was Augustine
w!\o would do this best, as it i s seen in sub-section 63 of
1, lIvn menli oned work:
GJ . But whether a man i s going to address the
oplc or to d ic tate others will deliver or
I a d to the people t he ought to pray God to put
i nt I) his mouth a suitable d iscourse. For i Queen
l: Dlhcr pr ayed, when she wa s about to speak to t he
k I nf} tou hi nq the t C' mpora 1 welfare of her peopl e,
tM! God "/ ould put rlt words i nto her mouth , how
I'I\J ,h !!1(l.!;"i:l. o ug h t hf'" La P(uY for the same blessing
whe) t ., hQurr; i n woe d llnd do c trine :for the eternal
109
welfa re of men? Tho s e again, who are to de l iver
what others compose f or them ought , before t hey
recei ve their disc o urse? to pray for who
are preparing it ; a nd when they have i t ,
they ought to pray both that t hey themselves may
delive r i t we ll, and that those to the ad-
dr ess i t may g ive ear ; and when the d1sc ourse
has a happy issue, t hey ought to r
7
nder t hanks to
Him from they know such come, 50
that all the prai se may be His "in whose hand are
bot h we and our words. II
Typical of his t echnique, Augustine called upon t h e Book o j
Esther , 4 : 16 (Septu'agint) and Wisd . 7 : 16 y for Scriptures lh
wou ld gain for himsel f \.,rhat he obviously believed to be biblic .11
approval .
Even in recognizing his own limi ta t i o ns, Augus tine mad e i l
seem that t hrough h i mself and his own teachi ngs wer e the only WI
to salvation .. Thi s is bes t seen in the las t Chap ter i n ON CHR [
T1AN DOCTRINES, Book IV:
64 .. This book has extende d to a great er length
than I expected or desire d: reader
bearer who finds pleasure 1 n no t i t
He who thinks it to anX10US to
know its cont ents may r ead 1t) parts. He who
doe s not care t o be a cquainted with it need not
complain of its l e ngt h. I, h owever, g ive thanks
to God that with wha t little ability I possess I
hav e in these four books striven to depict, not
the sort of man I am my sel f (for my defects are
ver y many) , but the sort of man he OU9ht be .'
who desires to labour in sound, t hat 1S , 1n
tian d octrine, not for his own instruction. o nly, b il l
for that of others al s o.
Much of the dogmat ism in European and European-Amer:i. Cdn
style Chris t ianity today (as seen) comes f rom the posi t ion:.
a t t itudes in Augus t ine'S wri t ings. However , it is freque.nt ' "
S t ated that
110
"St. Augustine's brilliance was due to hi :;; . Gtwly
of the works of Homer, Socrates , Plato ,
Aris totle and other Greeks."
.(l1i le it is t rue t hat Augusti ne ardently studied the ItJ orks of t he
I. ,"e eks mentioned above, i t i s equally tr ue that t heir wor ks came
1own from the teaching s they received from the i ndigenous Af ricans
(t.he so-called "Negroes
ll
) of Egypt ( Sa is), Ethiopia ( Kush) nad other
Inrl i. g enous Afri cans of t he n a tions a long the three branches of t he
tl Ue- RiVe r (Dlue Nile , Hh i t e Nile , and At bara River) ; a l so fr om
Urrth , t<Jest, East, and Central Africa (Alkebu-lan)o Th i s is best
".:own in Y ben-Jochannan' s , BLACK MAN OF THE NILE, Alkebulan Books ,
t!, W' York, 1 970 . All of thes e Af ricans were infl uence d by other
lll,ti')e nous Africans further s outh o f l'1editerranean North Afri ca ,
hove a nd below the Equator. For example: Iflas it possible f or
DLo t le who was never known to have wr i tten a sing le book before
I.,f t: his na t ive Greece to suddenly wri t e over one -thousand (1000)
H. Id ter he j oined Alexander li t he great" in the invasion and
11' j lUf: t of Egypt in 332 B.C. E. .?5 1 And , was i t possible that he ,
I,d I hc t housands of Gr eek students he i mported int o Egypt for the
purpose of being taug h t by i ndigenous African teachers f rom
I,noks a n d other documents of the Royal Li b raries wh ich Alexander
1111 d and Ptolemy I (Gen'J..,Soter) seized, did not claim mos t of the
.,nou:; Afr icans ("Negroes ", e tc,,) works as t h eir own?5 2 None
I h II ' t wo quest ion s needs any lengthy explanat ion , for history
detailed the f act tha t the Royal Li brary, which Aris-
\11(1 P t olemy I renamed "Li brary of Alexand.r l a
9
It was u sed as
., 11 J o e training in a l l disciplines all o f the pre-Chr i s tia n
53
II t lldo n 1: 5 . And, they made very c e r tain tha t Egyptian and
I Il(U' v n("Jl..I:j Afric a n students were barred from f urt her studi es
I" Yol I l hc f i r s t tCZJ chor s f)f t hese and former Greeks wer e
1 Af l,- ic.J. n prien t n of the ItMys t e ries ." The Ch i ef Pries t
111
of the school was Manetho - the African
tory into "pre- dynastic
ll
a nd "dynasti c
tl
who d i vided Egyp t ian hi
54
per iods . Moreover; \./;,.11'\
it not the universal c u stom for all i nvading armi es, the Greekt.
i n parti cular , t o ravage their victims' women, l oot their
trea suries and treasures - i nc l uding a ll sorts of written docu-
ments, and sacl, their c ities? The Greeks - l ike the Persians ,
Assyrians, and Hyksos that preceded them into Egypt (Sa1s) as ' "
q uerors - ravaged Northeast Afr i ca, j ust as they ravaged every
where e l se t hey had conq uered, Eur ope no t excl uded .
This short d epartur e from st. Augustine's l egacy ver'Y
much nece ssary , in order that it be c l ear l y understood that hI'
'.>l e re not, to any great extent, i nfluenced by those who . 11
usual l y misnomered uGreek Philosophers" - per se .. But, that " 1,
genous Afr ican Phi l osophers!! of North Africa and a long the ent 1
4, 100 mil e - long Nile River Valley (from Uganda to the Meditcr.
ean Sea - former l y the Egypt ian Sea or Sea of Sa is ) and throu I
Africa \.Jere t he or i ginators of much of vJha t is a ll uded to b y
educator s " as of Greek origins .. 55 And that they , tnn ,
d irect l y influenced hi m. Even t hose indigenous Afr i cans, c rIl l j . 1
IIMys tics, " tiith the i r J u Ju and Obyah ( l-l i tchcraft), who wer: " ,, '
cont emporaries had their effects on him, and moulded much 01 1. 1
t hinki ng and phi l osophical expressions i n his writings.
To say that st. Augustine ' s expressions in any , or alJ . ..
\.Jorks \;lere developed, onl y as a resul t of h is studies un (l", 'h
ULatin Chur c h Father s ,1t and i n particul ar St. lunbr os e - .1' t I
completed his pr ofessor ship i n Mi l a n , along wi t h hi s r eadi"'1
the Greek works - such a s Virgi l' s AENAE
J
wou l d be t"O i qnol ' II
e arliest expe riences wi tt: his father ' s rclitl ion in 111:) n.'l ' I",
l12
I'ahgeste- Numi dia, Nor t h Africa . It wou l d be al so i g nor ing St ..
Augus tine ' s own background as a young man i n Carthage, North
Iri ca. And of course 1 t \>Jou l d be \;li llfully over looki ng the dep"th
' II' his own invol veme n t with his mother - Nonica _ a nd h i s son _
both of whose death stunned him most severel y ; a ll of
!I t ch he spoke a bou"t very strongl y in h i s CONFESSIONS . 56
It is impos sible for Augustine not to have been more t han
:: ua l l y inf luence d by hi s ind i genous African re lig ious background
hi h i s native Nor"ch Africa; espec ially sinCe he was a l r eady
I qh t: (28) years ( 35 4- 382 C.E. ) ol d when he l eft Africa (Carthage)
.1 his one , and onl y, visit to Europe ( Mila n a nd Rome) t o serve
.l pr of essor. Not onl y was he a f f e cted by h is i ndi gneous Afr i can
I I Jh-Cul ture (civilization) in Numidia and Cartha ge; but his
'WILil nt r.eflecti o ns o n " ce l ibacy" thr oughou t most of h i s wr i t ing s
1I11t-:"l. te the effects which his out- of- t'ledlock son 's b ir th had o n
t he son being referred to i s the one , and only, child August ine
I had - Adeodatu s . This mortal man, i rrespecti ve of being
I u"cd a IISAINT" by t hose ....lho are in charge of mak i ng saints
"r death (those who fo llo ..../ed h im by hundred of years with in
r ,....l i gion he he l ped to s tabili ze and to be come the pOl.oJerful
'"f ' it is today, e ven though h is descendants are nml barred f rom
Ii, () its doors) , was still haunted by h i s ear lier lif e before
rit ('red Christendom - which he revealed with deepest remorse
57
CONFESSIONS .
:: ta ted before; e xcept for St. Augustine 's CONFESSI ONS ther e is
Illllo, if any, i nfor mation avai l abl e on his father , Patrici-
,Il moLher - Monica and hi s son - Adeodatusj the lat ter obvi-
Jl "ve r amounting to much 1n h i s own righ t - in the Sense of
01, I d.e:; . Por , i t is also very ob vious tha t Adeoda tus died a t a
ytl1m.-! t19C ; this too is missing f rom Aug us t ine ' s story ..
11 3
To say that St .. Augustine' s early life , on the other hand ,
was a "sord id one," as so many have stat ed in hund.ceds o f workt.
deal i ng with "Sin" and IIRi ghteou s ness," i s a value j udgment whl. I
o nl y those whose particular lfNORALS" and "RELIGI OUS CONVICTION:: "
f o ll ow s uc h d i rectionsj for i t is obvi ous, or it shoul d be , th. a'
none of hi s early yout h indulgences wer e against the soci al
or relig i ous s c r uples of the major ity of the peo p l e of C ,
age befor e t he dominance of tha t c ountry's indigenous a nd trar"
tional cul ture , ,.,.hich inc l uded r e lig i o n a nd soci a l more s , by t I,.
peopl e of the "Net.,. Re lig i on" - s;..t}E..i sti anityo The truth of tho
ma t t e r is best expre ssed i n St . Augustine ' s own work; ""hen h('
that " each nation h as its own moral , " etc .
The fact t ha t St . Au gus t i ne ' s f a t her - Patr ici us -
it f itt ing to convert to t he " New Re ligion" from II I
had to have i ts ef f ect on hi m. It had t o have certain adver .;'"
acti ons on him, as his respect and deep love for h i s non-Clu 1 1
f a t her - Patr icius - was a s crucial as that for h is mother - r.,
ca - I.,. ho was a convert from the s a me r e l igi on of his fathe r
i chaeism, t o Christianity. Is it to be assumed that they d ill '"
carryover a ny of their bel iefs f rom Ma nichaei sm into Clu:.i.:...I ' ,.
If so, t hen Christ ianity is a l so f r ee fr om t he LI ", I
brevJism ( other wi se cal l ed "Judai sm" in modern times). The- :. t, ,
fact, i n t his specif ic argument, is that St . Augustine novllu "
menti oned any d i f ficult y between hi s parents as a res ul t o f I,
d ifferences in relig i ous persuasion s. And he did not inrJil- .ll.
eithe r parent tr ied to conv i nce t he o t her of which wa !J ht 1"1
or t.ffiONG way to relig i ous conscience . One Can the n c one l uol l, I
there was individual 'tol erance a nd [ I' e dom til ' .... n ' I1 .. 1
tlumidia a nd Carthage d ur ing St. Augus t ine's youthful days , both
"t')untr i es , at t he time, being Roman Pr ovi nc e s.
vlha t is so different i!'l St. Augu s tine t s VJ r i ting in "ON
/ ' HRISTIAN DOCTRINES" from other indiqenou s Africans expresse d
j 1\ Voodoo, Ju Ju , Damba llah Ouedo, a nd other tradi t ional Afr ican
I ,'11gion5, except for t he God-he ad _ ".JESUS CHRIST , II whi ch makes
'llC' l stianity "truth" and the others mentioned Ulie?" The answer
I , BELI EF; a nd some times this bel ief i s manifested \.,. i t h gun pow-
a nd /or economic persuasion - as s e en i n Mr . Ac hebe's book,
(JlI NGS FALL APART - in t he fir st Chapter of this work.
Chris t ianity, l i ke Judaism a nd Islam, i s not s tatic . It, too,
If In: to i ts 0\110 development from every culture a nd religion in
k h it comes i nto con tact, al l of i s evide nce in St. August-
' (l Nr i t ings t h r espect to " Liba t lons, Or acles , Greek Philoso-
I .t. ," etc. I n Egypt (Sais) Chris t ianity was basi cally i ndlgenous-
pt i iln in a l most e ver y aspect. As Chr i stiani ty moved across
t il Africa to Numidia and Carthage (bi rthp l a ces of t he
I Christian llFathers of t he Church") t he indigenous
I"un ::; there r efor med a nd adopted muc h of i t s Egy ptian forma t to
II I N'umidian a nd Carthagenian cultur e a nd r eligious c ustoms . And
" lItl:-:tianity e ntered each European coloni zed nati o n, t hroughout
. Lll e Amer i cas a nd t he isl a nd s of t he war l d , it became the
1>').1 1 re ligi on throu gh force and violence j yet Christianity Nas
,1 l o adopt many of the loca l taboos in or der to c o- opt the
I 1g10n . Th is was done i n the name of "JESUS CHRI ST," yet
.. Idler z marching wi t h g uns as t hey s ang "Orn'IARD CHRISTIAN SOL-
I l1ARCIIING UNTO WAR, HI'fH THE CROSS OF JESUS ," etc., at the same
1l ,'PI a :;inq all o t her r c l i g i ons,for getting the i r own oppression ..
J.,l S
This type of behavior is not only common to Christian institut ion
each and every other religious institution powerful enough to t.l
nance me rcenaries or build its own armies , s uch as the ancient
Hebrews (3e\Ols) in the Bible (Tora h, Ol d Testament) and Moslems
(Huslims) - through their have been wil ling, and did,
enforce its will upon aUNBELIEVER$" (those who had ot:her relig.l,
\olhlch their forerunners passed down to them); and they have don.
so a ll through hi story , s t opping only when t hey too become too w
militarily. But, Christianity, which s uffered a most horrible
g inning, today has become the major religion of the people who r'
fortune or misfortune it is to control the most extensive ar ::;(' 11 ,I
of weapons of destruction the wor l d has ever \'Ii t nessed. The
Christian nations have used such pot-/er to t heir own self ish 9"1 ,, .
they ar e also able to control t he l ess fortunate peoples of LII.
entire wor ld, along with Communism , in a manner whi ch mililonr.
cannot call "Christ-like
ll
, or even, "the Christian way of li,l. I "
as established in North Africa. This is still true , and i t \,/.\
especially so during the periods of imposed slavery when manY. I ... ,
purchased his brother in chains, and enforced colonialsim 1.,l J)nn
the indigenous Afr i can peopl es of Afr ica, As ia, and the AmC-r 1,
It \'las also true to some extent when most of t he smal ler n u l 1"11
grou pings in Europe were subjected to a similar type
Thes e acts are considered part of the same Christian
that t he African "Fathers of ChristendomI' - Tertullian, ' '( I
rian, and st. Augustine, crystalized in the North African
and influenced the European Church.. To this there is noL U,'
slightest bit of l1trut h . "
It is necessary, at this juncture, to eX ..lInine St: . AUC I' I It"
acceptance or rejection o f Lho Gr tl n cl Lo tin " Church ,
1 1. &
nc hing, also of the so-ca lled II Gr e ek In so
Ifllng , one must pay very careful a t t ention t o the exception Au-
1'- I i ne took to Cicero t s manne ri s m in refuting t he Stoic s. Por
lI
f1
ple: In Chapter 9, para . I , he wrote ;
And this het! (Cicero) "attemp ts to accom-
pl i sh by denying ther e is any knowledge of
future t hings and maintains wi th all his might
that there is no such knowledge either in God
or man , a nd t hat there is no pr e dictions of
Thus ? he bot h denies the foreknowledge
of God and attempts by vain arguments and by
opposing t o h imself certain or a cles very easy
t o be ref uted, to overthrow all prophec y, even
such as i s clearer than the light (though even
these oracles are not refuted by him).
Oes ides differing wit h Cicero, one finds Augustine holding
1(11 a.st to the Manichaeans belie f in !lorac les;" a carr yover
, I l,t G early indigenous religion wh ich he \-Ia s bor n into in his
Numi dia, North Afr i cae Yet, he a lso condemmed Cicero for
v ng in the Greek God - JUPITER , as he questioned Cicero's
I Inn t he following Homeric verses f rom t he ODYSSEY, Book XVIII,
I H,- 1 37;
Such are the minds of men, as is the ligh t
which Father Love, himself doth pour illustrious
o' er the frui thful earth.
" t ndigc nous African Reli gions " and " \.oJestern Re ligions
"
broad-
1 1,. (;c: Lain bas ic c haracteristics common to a ll religions. Yet
j nl.'H- '< MAN OF THE NILE , by Yosef ben-Jochannan, Alkebu-Ian
, tH/w ':lar k , 19 70, an e ntire Chapter deals with the
I IC.11"1 or igin of the so-ca lled !tGreek Philosophe rs" and
I j'h11o:;:ophy." That work is the founda t ion of this work .
II,' n Vlork begins the other stopped" There the entire his-
t 111 of how that which is being called "Greek Phi-
lilt, ,. ( .1 11)" about: f rom t11e indigenous Africans a long the Nile
'rl ll 1 I"'orl tr ibu tions of the Afri cans to Europe and the res t
I \r ' ,I lr1 , berore l;he or :i.gi n of " Adam and Eve", are told in
""11 1 l ' rn'l!-.; yo L .1 n <1cadE! mic posture i s
117
they are regarded as lipagani sm" by the curr e n t practitioners of
Christianity, Islam, and Judaism ""hen applied to Africa a nd tho
i ndigenous African peoples. This is a lso noted in St . Augustin
defense of tlChri stian or acles, " as he condemns the Greeks ' "Pa-
ga nism
lJ
- t hat which he chose to c all "Gree k mythology. " But , I
his ze a l , he then, like other s no\'/, f a iled to take note that til
II mythologyJI in t he so-called " irJester n Relig i ons " - Judaism a nd
Chri sti anity," somet imes Islam, stemmed f rom the orig inal sour
the sourc e in Afr ica where t he Greeks received t he ir fundame n t. tl
in phi losophy ..
"'Jhat i s a n lJoracl e " a ny\'/ay? In common parlance , i t is nn I
or l ess a for tune teller tha n any l oc a l J' Gyps y mysti c" one sc,'
around the nieghbor hood giving o u t numbers for the local book! ,
(ho rse pl ayers) . They were supposed then, as t hey are now, to i ,'
abl e to " prophecy t he f uture." Of c ourse, t he best o ne s were
who belonged to the rel igi on of the person they had served.
t he case of St .. Augustine, it wa s the "orac les" that damned
Gr eek Gods a nd blessed t he Hebrew and Chri stian Gods.
God, AI ' lah, no t having been created by Moharet during
l i fet ime, d ue t o Mohamet 's l a teness of birth - with r especL til
Augustine' s - many cent uries af ter , 570 C. E. , made it i mpo n:1 I t I
for Aug us tine to accept Al'lah in t h is light.
Augustine f urther a nsHered a question when he asked of I
in Chapter Nine, 4th paragraph, the fol lowing :
The third par t o f what i s today called "i'IE$TERN RELICI.ON"
I s lam - d id not e xi st duri ng S t. Augustine's lif etime ( 3Ji.l - \U
Augustine died more than one h undred and ninety-one ( 191 ) y. ,II
before Hohamet f ounded his reli g i o n a t the Oas i s of Yalttri.U .1 , 1
Medina, Arabia, in 622 c.e. (or AH . 1). For fu r t het' cletlt i l
Chapter Pour folloHing .
116
Neit her let us be afraid, lest a fter a1 1 1
we do not by will that whi ch we d o by wil l ,
because He (Jesus Cbr ist) whose f oreknow-
~ d g e is infa llib le, for eknew that We woul d
do it . He was this Hh i ch Cicer o was afr a id
of, and therefore opposed foreknovJ ledge.
The Stoics al so ma intained that a ll thi ngs
do not come to pass by nec e ssity, although
t hey contended that all things happen ac-
cording to destiny. hlhat is it, then, that
Cicero feared in the prescience of fut ure
things ?
Like mos t of his contempor ar i e s of Chr ist endom, h is pr ede- ,
"or s and fo llowers, Augus tine a l so despis ed scienti s,t s. At
l , he verba lly scorned them i nto oblivion .
One can see in Augus t i ne ' s writings the ut ter contempt he
I" f or CiceroJs posi t i on was not motivated by hatred for the
II , ]:'l ut for the position Cicero took on things spiritual ; which
I h,..y disagr e ed "'/i th Aug ustine's point of view with r espect to
uwn Cod - Jesus Chr ist, he had to c ondemn ; Aug us t ine's a t-
1I,It t n this r egard \;!as s till the common attitude o f modern
I I lldn c ler gymen and l aymen. Thi s is best seen when One reads
tl,I l o wing comments by Aug ustine
1
in hi s CITY OF GOO, Book
{"h"'lrLcr 14 :
But a s t his divi ne Mast er incul cat es tao
pr e cepts - t h e love o f God and t he l ove of
o ur ne ighbor - and as i n these pre cepts a
rnan f i nds t hree t hings he has to love - God ,
himsel f and hi s neighbor s - a nd that he who
love s God l oves himsel f ther eby , it fo llows
that he must endeavour to ge t his nei ghbor
Lo l ove God, s ince he is or der ed to l ove
hL8 neighbor as himself .
11 Wi) O part of the genius of St Augus tine, j ust as it was
1,1 two o Lhcr indiycnous Afr ican predece ssors - Tertullian
vpr 1 n. '1'1)(.: '1 , t oo , n e v ~ i ndul ged in character assass i-
IhoW1"1 in b.t'(-:J.ckcLs by the il.uthor of t hi s work.
119
nat i on of their opponents , but of t h eir works. Yet, i t cannot a.
said that they were not dogmaticall y " Chris t i an f a nat i cs.
1t
Thty
had t o be , because they h ad become the author i ties a nd ph i loso-
phers on uCHRISTI AN DOCTRI NES
u
, and o f CHRI STENDOH itsel f. Ex -
pect ing t he m t o have done other wi se wou l d be tan t amount t o CY.-
pec t ing t he presen t Pope in Ro me t o accept that Judaism or Is l ,lnl
would get you int o heaven as easily as Roman Catho l ici sm, or at I
b y way o f Protestanti sm. To expect t hat a Grand Rabbi or a Chj, r
Iman would accept the reve r s e in the case of Christ ian i ty woul ,1
be equal ly as abs ur d.
And, therefore, although o ur ri ghteous f ather 58
had s l aves and a dministered t he i r d omestic af fairs
so as to d i s t ingu i sh both t he cond i t ion of s l a v es
and t he he i rsh i p of sons i n r egar d to t he bless i nq:;
o f thi s life, ye t , in regard t o the wor shi p of God
(Jes us Chris t- ) i n whom we hope for ete rnal b l ess -
i ngs, they took an equa l ly l o ving over n i g h t of a l l
'members o f the i r household . 59
The above c omment f oll owed Chapter 15 - the l ast senten' I
St. Augu sti ne ' s b o ok , HOLY CI TY OF GOD, Book XI X; i n which he ., ]
wrote the f o llowi n g :
And ther e f ore the apos tl e admonishes s l a v es to
be subj ect to t he i r mas t e r s a nd t o serve t hem
hearti l y and wi th g ood will, so that , if they cnn-
no t be f reed by the ir mas ters, they may
make t heir s l avery in some sort fr ee , by serving
not in crafty fear, but in fa i t hfu l l ove, unt i l
a l l unr i ghteousness pass a way, a nd all principal-
i ty and ever y human pOItJer be brought t o noth ing I
a nd God b e a ll i n al l .
St. August ine's compassionate feeli n gs f or the slave::: I,.. ' -.I
speaki ng of d i d not make him r eact d ifferently t han I"le 1..:' l,j '. 1 I
to Ci cero's pos ition on " pr o phecy" or:' the "oracl es ." l ie.:
Words in bracke t s by the author of vol ume .
120
I 1I 1-,ke d , in this b r u tal r e l ationsh i p b e tween ma n to man
1
on with
I' nse of tranquility for t he s laves, that is, i f they maintain-
"l aw and or der" , and were obedien t to t heir ma sters a nd to
11;5 Chris L This type o f l ogic s ti ll permeate s the t h i nking o f
I r' r n Christia n s, as it prevails i n European- styl e Chr i st ian
"t es and practices wi thi n the so-ca lled "Chr i st i an nati ons of
II' and o ther smal l er communiti es, a k ind o f a
II K 'fHE BOAT, JESUS HILL TAKE CAR. E OF I T ALL . .. . philosophy. In
11\ . ' a r eas,St Aug ust ine 's philo s ophical, mor al,and s pi ri tua l
I hllUqh t s jn his wr i t i ngs ref l ected t he Roma nized - African upper
lidl , ' cl ass baCkground f r om whence he came . Th is wa s especi a l l y
... be c a u se of the f o llowi ng reasons: ( a) I t must be r e me mbered
I he \.Jas alr eady twenty-eight years o f age be f or e he began a ny
devot i on t o the "New Rel igi on" - Chri s tianity; (b) Tha t
r.ll hc t:' - Patr i cius , was a mi nor o f fi c i a l in the Provinc i a l
!mda U Gover nme n t of the i r nat i ve Numidia , a pos i tion which
I ! nc c o ndemned o ther Afri cans f or ho l di n g i n the Romans e m-
I ( C' ) That he had grown up wi t hi n a system, which normally
1111 (1 .J.nd be ne fi ted immensely from t he proceeds o f s l aver y; (d)
I I\U' l. he Nor t h Afr ican Chr is t i an Church, i t se l f , had become
I 11 I n s lavery - to the extent that many of its highest o f -
\ pn :f ited t o t he poi n t of becoming some of t he \"eal t h i e s t
." fl.l ,-' r:;; . These precedents l e d to the accep t a nce of s laver y
" 11 ml c base for European and European- America n " Chris'ci an"
IIII'fn\ , ,lppr o x imate l y 1, 0 30 years a f t er Augus t i ne ' s deat h -
'1'" 11ol .- l l n v!.b acce pted fr om Prince Henry(the s o-called"na v-
II ut l'ot" tl.l <J.:1 1 t he f" it:' s t five s l ave s kidnapped on the "'J est
11 1\1 , il Od 'J old rlUl::t sto len f rom t he same p l ace by his
121
fell o .." European "Christians." Th is conduct o f European-style
Christian depravity tha t e n han c ed Augus tine I s foll owers' coffer', I
both secular l y a nd rel i giously, was yet to be t h e basis for th,'
expan s ion o f s l avery, as it became t he maj or s ource of Chcis b..:11
dorn' s f inancial emp i re 535 year s l ate rj at which time t he Righ i
Rever end Bishop Bartol ome de La sCasas ( 1474-1566 C.E.) got Kin'!
Charles I of spain
59a
and Pope Clement VII CGiulio de .Medici)
to endor s e the inauguration o f t he infamous chat'eel slave t r ,,')
that i ntroduced the genocidal depopulati on of the entire con! I
n e nt of Africa (Alkebu-lan) a nd the forced migration of milli (III
of Africans to the "New World l' (the Caribbeans and the Amer i<.._,1
wh ich t o a great extent continues on t oday .
Since Au gustine did not conde mn slaver y in h is teaching:.; ;
s ilence gave comfort l a t er on to the Reverend John Hawkins -
ta in o f the notocious s lave ship, "JESUS (Christ) de LOBle, I .
murder and enslave Africans in t he name o f Christianity a n(i '
l izationo But slavery was a lso ordaine d by the Hebrews
against the Amalakites, Hittites, t1oabi tes, and others bef o! II
finall y committed genocide against them , just as the Eur o p"l lj,
Chr i stians sang their reli gious war chants , " ONWARD CHR I STI,,!!
SOLDIERS MARCHING ON TO WAR 0 , " etc . , i n memory of the " ('](0
OF JESUS" they carried as they e n s l aved the Muslims (MOSl m I
during the various "CRUSADE, " justifying their barbarou:; _,I.; \1
on what t hey claim was a "CALL FROM GOD (Jesu s Christ ) TO ' .A'J
THE
Augus t ine I S moralizat ion o f II salVation thcough 1'111
Eric Williams, DOCUMENTS OF WEST INDIAN HXSTORY,
(PNM Publishing Co .. , Ltd., Por t-of-Spain , Tr inida d , w. 1". l .
122
lI ould t h e slaves accept I laIN and order I by the Sta te-Church ,
'I ua l l y t heir masters, was grounded i n t he f o llowi ng passages o f
10.-. Hebr ew a nd Christian "Holy Scriptures, " wh ich were supposed ly
! j t t en by " Ho ly men inspired by God:' mea n ing of coucse onl y mal es
I t he Hebrew, Chc istian, and,maybe, o f the Mos l em religions . Thus,
odus, Chapter 21, Verses 1 - 25, e tc ., as noted in the LAWS CON-
'lINI NG SLAVERY:
21
"Now these arc the ordinances
which you shall set them,
1 When you buy a Hebrew slave, he
shall serve six years, and In the seventh
he shan go out free, for nothing. ) If
he comes In single, he shall go out
single: if he comes in matried, then
hi s wife shall go out with him. Ir hi.
roaster gi ves hlH! a wife and she beau
him SOI'lS or daughters, the wife and
h cr ch!ldrell be her master'. and
he go.) out alone. l :Out If the slave
plainly $:lYs, 'I love my m,lster, my
wife, and roy chil dren; I will not go
ou l rn:e,' 6 then his master shall bring
him to God, a nd he shall brlog him
to the door or the doorpost; and
master shall bore hi s ear Ihroll gh. with
a n jl,wli iI,!1:d he st!a!.! him fOf .
7 " When a man sell s his daughter
as a slave, she shall not go out a s the
(or hlmself, then he shall let her be
rt'dccmed; .he sha'!have 1].0 right to :>el l.
nat es her for his son, he deal with
her as with a daughter. 10 If he takes
;'mother wife to himself, he shall not
her food, her clothing, or
her marital rights. HAnd If he doe$
"ot do these three things for l)er, she
go out for nothing, without pay-
ment of money.
12 "Whoever a man so that
tIC dies shall be put to death. 11 But if
III' did not lie In walt for him, but God
Ic't him ([1\1 Into' ills hand, thcn I wiH
appoint for you a-place to" which he
may 1\1'1'. I'Dut If a man willfully
attacks another to k!!l him Ircacher-
him from my
IS "Whoever strikes his father or
hl.ll mother Sha ll be put to death,
16 "Wh04iver steals a m.an, whether
he sells him or Is found in possession
of hlm, shall be put to death,
17 ':WhOever curses hIs father or
hl.s mother 5h311 be put to death,
18 "\Vhen men quarrd and one
stdkes the other with a stone or with
his fi st a nd t he ma n does not die but
sr:N.
be that struck h im sha ll be clear; only
be shall pay for tile loss of his time,
and have 1\lm Ulofoll ghl\, healed ..
10 "When a m", n st rikes his slave,
male or (\: ffl:lle, wit h a rod and the
slave dies tll'lder hi s hand, he shalt be
puni shed. 11 ilut If the slave survives
punished;
22 "Wh,'" 1'I'I00n , trlve t ogether, alld
hlltt a WOlllall 11'11 b child, so that there
Is iI. 011 ,,,:. '11"11, \1\1' . and yet no harm
follows, the ,lllC who hurt her shall'
be fined, :tCl:t'ldlng the woman's
husband lay upon him; and he
shnll pay as tile Judges detcmlinc. II If
an.y harm follo w" then you shall give
?'06t
IS burn for burn, wound for wound,
stri pe for stripe,
A 11 '1 \I:.; t :i. ne s \ .. ri tings on thi s subject (then) was in reali ty
1 r ,., inement of the moral a nd spir itual j u stification for
.... INnp oraries to follow; as he , being the Christian "Fat her
f In lrch" at the t ime , could not accept tha t the " Hol y Scrip-
(Vl )J. CA' l' P' lhbl e) wece un j u s t. As s uch , he completely appeased
,lVr-m ..\ :;l0 cS, Jewish and Chr i s tians al i ke , to t he fu l lest
Id alli l ily , as seen in the last sentence of his CITY OF
(0) XJX , ChL"l ptc r. 20. HI""' wro te:
123
For the true b le ssi ngs of t he s oul are not
enjoyed j for that is no true , ... isdorn VJ hich does
not d ire c t all its prudent obs e rvations , manly
acti ons virtuous self r estr a int and jus t ar-
to that end in wh ich God (Jesus
Christ)- sha ll be a ll and a ll in a secure
e ternity a nd per fec t pe ace .
One mu st under stand , hOI-lever, that St. August ine (an in-
digenous African, a so-called "Negr o," etc.) d id not acqu iesce
t o rac ial, r e lig ious or national ide ntificat i on as the means hy
whi ch a s pecific gr oup was most fitted for e nslavement - a s do
the Cal v inists, Latter Day Sa int s (Mor mons), and oth e r h' hi te Prn
t e stant , Roman Ca tholic/and Jewish (Hebrew) s e cts in the s outh,
southeas tern and soutwestern sections o f Af rica; a l s o o t hers ot
these contemporari e s in t he United Sta tes of Ame r i ca .
inst i tuti on of s l a very when e v er y type of humanity was
sl a vemasters who wer e as varied as their slaves, ,,, h ich
Europeans, As ians, a nd Afr icans as masters a nd slaves .
of f a ct , Augustine's home land was a part of the "COAST OF THe'
BARY,!! Jane So ame s' book , o f lik e name, so correctly descri h
Later on Christia n writer s of a ll t ypes - including the Roman
Catholic Chr i stian Mi ss i ona r y Raymond Lull of the world f amoll:.
!lLULL REPORTS,,59b (who did everyt hing with in his power
a mar tyr for Chr istendom) also carne and lived t o stem t he
I s lam. It was also a p lace '<Ihere the vast major i ty o f the
carne, from a s far off as Angloland ( Eng land or Brita in), and \/
o f European origin (Ca ucasian, or l,.ihite) .
In dealing wi t h polit ical mat t ers St. August ine severely '
ciz ed Cicero t S \.,. ork , " DE REPUBLICA, II in which Ci cero s uppor tod
irlords in brackets by the author of this volume.
1 2: 4
., ipio Afer ' s (Afri c anus, Or Scipi o the Africa n) definition of
lw; t wha t is t he vita l fabr ic of a ny r epublic o As Such, one f inds
! . Augustine
writing the following remarks in h i s CI TY OF
, Ie XIX , Chapter 21 :
CHAP. u. Whether tllere ' tier was IJ Rol'1alJl'I ",.
p.lJlh IUIsweri", to tile definitio'U (JJ 5dpic
j" Cicero's dilJ!o!.fll
l'his, Iben. is the place wbere J sho<l ld (ulfill
the promise gave in tbc secood book of tlli'
( alld. e;rpl a;n, brieO), and cl e.arl)' as pos-
sible tbat, If we arc to accept tbe defin itions laid
down b)' Scipio in Cicero's De Repflblita, there
never "".5 a. Romall republi c; (or he brieO)' de-
fille5 a rrpubli c ;u 1be weal of t he peopl e. And if
this definit ion be true, Ihere never wasa Roman
republi c, f Of lhe people' s weal was never at-
t.ll.iuoo amOllg tbe for the people ac-
c?rding to hi, defi nition, is an :l.ssembli'ogc
clated b)' a COmmOn acknowledgmeul oi rigbt
and b)' a commnnity of int ere5li . And what hc
means by a common of right
he uplains at large, ihowin/f that a republic can_
not be administ ered without jU5tice. Wbere,
ther efore. there is no true jU$lice t hete can be
no ri/fht. which ;sdone b), ri ght is imtl)'
done , what is Wljustl)' dane cannot be done
h)' righl. For the unj U3L invent ions 01 mell arc
"ci.tber to be considered nor 'poken of as rjjhls ;
'''I. eveu tbey themselves say that right is thar
wlu (h tlows ffOm (he fountain of j'lstice. and
dnJy the defi nit ion whicb i; commonl), given by
w.ho ,:"isconceiYe (h,1/ ,ri ght is'
Ih'l which lS uscl ul to Ihn parly". Thus
where there is not tru e jns(it-e tbere can'be
of men associ lied b)' A common ae-
knowltd!r'lcnl of right , And tberefore t bere can
be no people, as defined by Scipio or Cicero '
. and if no people, the.ra no \l'eal of the peope lq
onl), of some prolIliscuous m.ultitudc
of of people. CODSl'queIlUy, if the rt-
publ iC 1.5 t.he weal of Ibe people. and Ihere il In
people If It be not a!SOCi ated by a common Ie.
k.uowledgment of rigbt, and if there i.s 110
,:"bere lbere is 110 justice, Ihm !TlQjl w.
tamly It follow$ tJut lbere i$ no republic wbtr
there riO .imtkc. Further, j ustice h iliat
lue whlcb gIVes everyone bis due. Where tblO,
is the of man. wben he desert s
aud 'yIelds bimself to impure demoos? h
thIS (0 glye eyer), orle his due? Or is l::e 'i'l'M
k/:eps piece of ground (ram the
er,.ol nd '1/0 a moln who has no rigbt to it,
unjust, wbll e hc who keeps back hlmsell Irom
:he who made bim, and wi cted spiro
1$ Just ?
AlI qus t ine' s wri t ings in t h e CITY OF GOD a nd ON CHRI STIAN
l'I Jn:s s howed that he had such contempt for man 's SOCiety on
I. 1 hd L he f el t i t neces s ar y at a l l time s to ignore the ma t eri-
t " 1 the spir i tual . He, t h erefore, wrote in condemnat ion of
t rill . d id not, i n h is e s timation, meet prevailing b i bl i cal
VII ( '11 Le ) and phi losophi cal prophecy , wh i ch he bas ed u pon
t /HI va lues -as he under stood them6
til " !M p Ler 37 of ON CHRI STIAN DOCTRINES, Book I I I, St. Au-
I"
this \o,riters obs er vati o n , out l ined t he spiritua l
II/,nn wh ich he c ondanned the f a i l ur e o f man t o dev elop
t o be a " .. tr ue repub lic
o
o
ll Thus, in outlin-
I 11,.. e.l l I (-! cl " 'r he Seven th Ru le of Tichonius ; II he wr ote :
125
Ca. ,"P. 37. TA, rule 01 TichonilU
55. The seyenth role of Ticbonius 3nd tbe
last , is tile devil and his body. Fot be is
lhe hea d of t he wi cked, who .:He in a sense his
body, and destined 10 go with him int. o the pun-
of ever la'>tin8 6fe, just as Christ is the
heAd of the Churcb, whi cb is Hig body, destined
to be with Him ill HI. dernal kingdom and
Slory. b.S the fint rule, which is
ClUed of Ihl Lord aM Bil 6011)" directa UI,
wheo Script ure gpealu of 01M! &Dd the same pet-
8GD, t o tw to undemud which part of
the epplies to the he.J.d and which !o
the body ; so this last role bows us tlut state-
ments 1fe mll.de about the devil,
whose l rutb. is not so eviclent in reg.ud 10 hi m-
self as in regard to his bodYi a!\d his body i ,
made up not only of tbose who are
out of the ,,"J Y, but of U) o$e also who, though
the)" to for 3 l ime l!1ixed
up y;ilh the Church, uotilthcy depart from thi,
life , or until tbe chd f is separated f rom the
whe,lt a. t the Jast greal winnowing. For example,
is i n Is3iah, "How he is h .ll en h om
helven, Luci fer, son of the morning!" I .tnd the
oth er statements of the COnlell:t whi ch, under
t he fi gur e of the king of Babylon, arc made
about the same are of course to be un-
derstood of the devil ; and yet t he
"-hich is made in th e same pl'ee, "He is ground
down on the earth . .....ho .endeth t o all nat ions,'"
nol !i tly appl y to the head him_
f or, a lthout: h the devil sends hi s angels to
n:al ions, yet it body, not himsel, that
is ground down on t he earth, eu ept that he
himself is in hi s body, which is beaten sm3-lIl ike
the du st which the wind blows from the faee of
t he etvth.
I n Bo ok IV, o f the above work r Chapter 2 , however, He r e r ..
ed hi s own position by s uggesting tha t it i s right t o u se fal'
hoods in defense o f Chr i st ianity. Of c ourse, he did no t ment j C:lII
the word "Chri st i anity" s peci f i call y, being tha t h e was a fiLl:
of t he a r t o f rhe toric, wh i c h he relied upon ver y heavil y in 1,1
analys i s. For e xampl e , o n t he i s s u e of ITrhe toric " August i ne WI
CHAC>. t. This Ulor i: 11 01 illl fll dcd tJ.I a treallSt!
on , /:eloric
I. Txl9 work: of min e, which is entiUed On
Christian DOC/""" wu lit t.he commencement
divided into two For, af t er a pre f:ace, jn
which I anl " ered by anticipation those who
were lik.el y t o lake exception to the work, I
u id, " There are two things on which int er
of Scri pture depends: the mode of as-
certaining the proper meaning, nnd the mode of
P\D.-ltiug known the mea.Qing it h ascer-
tained. I !h:dl treAt fi rst of the mode of ascer
taining, next of lbe mode of making known, tbe
meaning." I A$, lhen, I have already sai d a great
deal about t he mode of tlscerlaining the mean
ing, and have gi ven three books to this one part
of t he subjed , I shall only a few thi ngs
.boul l he mode of known the
in order if possible to hring tbem.ll within lhtl
0' O!le hook, and so fi ni sb thl'. wholo
IVOI II. io four books.
2. In tbe fi n t place, tben, I 'Wish by Hue pre.-
amble to put .. stop to lhe expectatlOfl! 01 ,ead
e1'!l who may t blftk thai I am about t o lay down
rules of rhetoric f Ucl!. u I ban learnt, .nd
laught 100, in the secular schools, anil to w;un
them Iholt they need not look for any such (rum
me. Not that I think such ruleS of no use, lollI
that whatever use they have is to be leolrllt ..
I!.' here; and if any good man happen 10
have leisure for leJ r ning them, he is not to
me to teath them either in "this worli. or any nl It
".
Augustine c ontinue d f rom this p o i nt to speak o f the ill l'
had to acquire bef ore he could become a skil l ma ste r in " I h.
in Chapt e r 3 , and culminate d it with the du ties of :-:aid OJ ,I ."
a Chris t i a n t e acher i n Chap t e r 4 . As usual, he had to <Id ol ]1 1
1 26
Iloan al v a l ues of Chris t i a n puri t y f or this skill a l s o - as h e
"1I 'Ci c ated on t he necessi t y f or II The Sacr ed ..."ri ters eloquenc e
til \"isdom . 1I One can o n ly wonder if t hi s mas t er o f !irh e t oric"
It r10et ic spir i t ual i t y recogni zed h imself for t he genius he was .
nn t , these writi ngs cer t ainly bet rayed his i nner s e lf in th is
\.--t l on .
.:-" (Igus t i ne ' s as suredness a b o ut Chri s tiani t y and t h e wor l d t o
" HEAVEN , " br i ngs t o memor y the following r emarks in the He-
w '''; cr iptu res
1
as s t a t ed in t he Tor ah (Five Bo ok s of Moses ),
hl :1 (Sec ond Book ), Cha p t e r 14 , Ve r s es 13 a n d 14 :
And Mose s sa i d un t o the people : "Fear ye not ,
s tand still, a nd see the salvation o f the Lord .
wh ich He wi ll work for you t oday; f or wher eas ye
have s e en the Eg yptia ns toda y , ye shall see t hem
a gain no more fore ver. The Lor d wi l l fi g ht for
you, and y e shall h o ld your peace ."
" SI X-DAY WAR " in June, 1967 Co E., be t vlee n t he As i a n pop-
t, tl Lhat present l y occup y and con tr o l Egy p t and the Eur opean
\1 po pulation tha t occupy and control I s rael
! Ii cry f r om t h e prophecy s t ated .. These t wo new forei gn en-
'ml l' n bi , probably , '.'!oul d have caused St . Aug us t ine ver y s er iou s
1 I Il ("'li i on if he were a live today ; a s h e would have realize d
111 of the pr ophecies he held t o be infallible with r egards
I I . <l nd Eg yp t wer e i n f act the He l;J o u l d h a ve not-
' t( J he r il e b rews ( J ews) n or Egyptians (Mos lems ) are pr e -
lHt \t. genous to either na tion (Israel or Palestine and Egypt
) .
Vl ll (].::t Lc Bible - t he offic i a l La t i n "Old" a nd " Ne w
I j nm whlc: h St. Aug us t i ne b ased h i s author ity on Christiani ty
",
PlIly o ne of t h e ma n y Lntin ve r sions during the period
1 2 7
af ter La t i n \.,tas made the officia:" l a n guage of the Roman Cat ha ! 1
Church by Tertulli an (one of the indi g e nous Afr ican ItFat he r s O f
the Ch urch") . It was al so from t his ver s ion t ha t mo st of t he 'f ilII
mon vernacular ver s ion s that fo l lowed were made . During t h.i:.: I"
riod Latin was t he l ang ua ge of t he ent ire Roman Ern p ire; but
Chri s tians in Et hiopi a ( t he fir st Chr istian na t ion in history)
spoke Gheez (or Gee z ) - t hen t he na tion a l language of Et hiop i ,. ,
wh i ch is today only u sed for t he pur p ose o f r eligi ous cere mOil I.
it too has beel'"! r e p laced by the n e\</ na tional l a ngua ge o f ).1 t
a pia, AMHERIC, in secular mat ters. I t must be a l so no t ed , til. !!
the Greek Chr i s t i ans us ed Greek - the language in which the I II
Chris t ian Bible, the SEPTUAGINT , wa s wr i tten. 0 The ol d es t bod.
Christians in the wor l d, as an institut i on, the Copts of EqYlI1
\.J rote Kop tic or Coptic.
When Chr i s t ians, tod a y, begin to unde r s t and that the o. 1,
a l 'rext of the Vu l ga te Bibl e fo llowed many Gr e ek and Coptic
s ions , wh i c h b efore them fol l owed nany o the r Hebrew a nd Ar.- IIII "
s i ons of t h e Tor ah (Five Books o f Hos es, t he Christians Ol d I
ment) , hope fu lly , t h ey wi ll begin t o ques tion j ust how mi l' I,
the current a llegedly " original s tories " with i n a n y of t; lw/Il II
trul y va lid or t r uthful . 'r he Vul gate ver si on, however, I II
onl y version in St. Augustine and St.A1nbros e . alon q w ) I I
o ther " Church Father s , labored. Therefor e, t ha t ".J hic h C"11l11
di screpa ncies in SLAugus tine ' s wor ks, with respec t to I '
vers ions of the Chr i stian "Hol y ""Bi b l e, ar e real l y for \ 11" II""
'r hi s does not mean that the firs t Chr i s [.ian wri L1.ogc tJ I,
Greek. Th e o ldest Chri stian wr i t i ngs known Lo d ate WCJ:' (.' I II I I
(Copt ic) , t he l anguage of the Egypti il.n Church o f NorLh 1\ 11 I
the Koptic Church.
128
Ir t confl i c ting inte r pr etations by contemporary t rans la t or s who
IVP digresse d f rom t h e orig inal VU l ga te version
60
(Text ) wh i c h
/l llls ti ne f ol lo\.Jed .
In conjunc tion with t he la tter remar k s , the following work
lno t he r of t h e indigenou s Af r i cans , known to the wor ld a s t he
, I her s of the Chur c h ,I' Ca e ci l i u s Cypr ianus (St Cypr ian), while
lI ap o Carth a ge ( 249- 258 C. E. ), ' . .;as wri tten:
6 l
II
The pitiful Jll ditioll of the lapsed-the resulr of ge.neral hwty
(4-6).
4. These crowns of the marryrs, these spiriwal
rrimnphs of che confessors, these outsrandin,g exploi(s of
our brethrcn C:l.lll1ot, lb.s, rem,ove one cause of sorrow:
that the Encmy's violence and slaughrer has wrought
havoc amongs[ us lnd has torn away something fro m our
. very heart :md ic co [he ground. What: shall I do, dear
brethren, in face of this ? My mind tosses rhis way and
thac-what: shall I say? How shall I say it? Tears and nor
words ean alone express the grief which so deep a wOlmd
in our body calls for , which the great gaps in our once
numerous flock evoke from our Who could be so
callous, so stony-he;med, who so unmindful of brotherly"
love, as to remain dry-eyed in the: presence of so many of
his own kin who are broken now, shadows ofcheir for mer
selves, dishevelled, in the ttappings of grief? \Vill he not
burst into rears at sight of them, befote fi ndino- words for
his sorrow ? Bdieve me, my brothers, r share distress.
and can fmd no comfort in my o ......n escape and safety;
for the shepherd feels [hc wounds of his fl ock marc than
they do. My hean bleeds with each ot:J.e of you, I share
the weight of your sorrow and distress . I mourn with those
chat mourn, I weep with. those rhar weep, wirh the fallen
I feel I have. fallen myself. My limbs too were struck by
(he arrows of the lurking foe, his angry sword my
body roo . When persccution rages, the mind of none
escapes fr ee and unscathed : when my brethren fell, my
hear: t was struck and I fell at their si.de.
\bov c quot a t ion is a n Engli sh t rans l ati on by Naurice Be-
.1 . I ( r Om the Lat i n origi na l of l"rHE: LAPSED. !! He also
!:l .. " THE UNI TY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH," of
129
which t he f ollowing is taken:
62
130
THE UNI TY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
The dt'vil's !/Jiles m!/st be IIIIII/Qsked (lIld OVCfcome by obedience
to Christ's (O/J!!lilUl l ls (r-2).
1. Our Lord solemnly us: 'YOH are the saIl of the
((ltd!,' ;l\1d bids us in our love of good to be nor only
bur prudcm :l$ wdl. Accordingly, dearest brethren,
wli:l( ehc ollghr we to do bll r be on ouc gu.1rd md
vigihmly, in order co know the sn:l!CS of our cn[ry foe
and (0 :tvoid them? Orherwise, putting on Chrisr
who is the Wisdom. of God the F:uher , we mav be fOll nd
co have Co iled ilt w; sdom fo r the cne of our souls. It is nOl
persecution <11one th:u we ought to fcu, nor those forces
lh:H in open w:tr1re r:l.Ilgc ::tbro.ld (Q overthrow and defeat
rbe scrv:lnts of God. It is easy cnOllgh to be on one\' gllard
when the danger is obvious; one c:m scir up one's comage
for rhe fighr when rhe Enemy shows himself in his rrue
colours. There is more need co (C'H :md beware ... (
Enemy When nc creeps up secretly, wHen he bcgu:lcs us
by a show of pc:lce and steals forw::t rd by chose hidden
lpproaches which h:tve elrned him dlC illllle of the
Serpent.' Such is ever his crafe: lurking in rhe dark, he
ensr.;,res men by rrickery. Th:H WlS how ae rhe very
beginning of the world he aecl!ived and by ly.i.ng words of
ihrrcry beguiled the ungul rded credulity of a simple soul;
thac was how he tried co tempe Our Lord Himself, lp-
proaching Him in disgnise, as rhOl.1gh he could once more
creep npon his vierim l lld deceive Him. Bur he was
rccagruzed and bearen back, l nd he was defeated precisely
througn bemg detected and unmasked.
, .
2. Here we <'I. fe gIven an example how to break comp:my
wirh rhe ' old man,' how co follow in the steps of Chrisr
to victory, so dt<l.t we may not c:lrelessly smmbl e again
inco che snare of dearh, but bcing :t li ve to ehe d:l. ngcr, hold
f."\sr ro che immOl"{:!:llry given us. And how call we hold .
f.isr to immorraliry lmless we observe chose cOlllmanJ-
mems of Chris[ by whieh de:lrh is dcfe:t red and
Hc Himsel f assures us: . If ,holl ",ilt attain to life, keep tlw
COIII/!ll1lldmeHfS'; and again: . ye do Il!hat I cO/lllII(]lId YOII, J
("(lit YOI! JlO IOllger servants bla friends.' He s:tys that it i ..
chose who so <l.ct chat arc strong ;llld firm; it is they that
He founded in, l11:lssivc security U}'0rt :l rock, they th.,1
arc established in lll1shabble solidity, proof :"tg:1 ill <:r ;111 thL"
storms and hurric:mL'1 el f dIe '\\"prld 'lIilll dlflt /If"lm'lh III )'
words (llId doeth 'hem: He says, ' I rvilllihCll to (he IIJisc mQII
b."il! his 1r0/lJe IIpOI/ lIte rock. The mill feU, the jloods rosc,
. file wmds (alli e twd '/; ('Y crashed (zgl1illSt that hOi/$c: but ii fcll
110t. For it was fOlfllded (fPOII the rock.'
We 111uSt rhcrr.:fore carry our His words : wkltsoevcr He
tlught and did, th:tt mllst we lcam and do ourselves.
Indeed how call a mall say he believes in Christ if he docs
not do Whl t Christ cOIllIn:tnded him to do? Or how sh:tH
a man v"'ho \:vhen lInder eomm::md will nOt kcep [,irh,
hope to recclve t he rcward of f.1ith? He who docs noe
keep to the trtle w'J.y of salv::l. tioll will lncvit:r. bly f.1hcr
and- strlY; caught IIp by some gust of error, he wi ll be
tossed about like windswept dust : w:'Ilk he lll:r.y, be will
make no advance row:lrds Iris sl lvarion.
c ont i nued in Chapter s 3 t o 5 to \-Jarn against " here-
IUd noting that fl Christ founded the Church on Pe-
" I. \ One can see t he ver y di t t d
s 1nc between S t .Cy-
Ii .ind s t Augustine, a l s o Tertullian's, works i n t he followi ng
, I t aken from one of the latter' s ma sterpieces, THE TREAT-
t i n
HERMOGENES i I, as tr ans la ted i nto English from the Or ig i-
Text by J . H. Waszink. I n describing Her mogenes , 64
(,, 111.10 wr ote:
FOREWORD. WHO IS HERMOGENES?
Cll. I J When
l
dealing with heretics, to shorten the d.iseus-
sian, we follow the pracrice of laying dov,rn against them.
:l rule based on the lateness <of their appear-
.. Fot In l S far as lhe of truth is earliec, reporting
:\5 it dld <. Jmong other thmgs,) the occurrence in the
furure of hercsies, just so far on <dl brer a priori
hI! rcg:\!ded as heresies, as ie is thdr future cxiscenccwhich
W:l$ annollflced by the older rule of truth. 2. Now tIle
Jo.crrinc of Hcrmogenes is such a new doctrine. He
hndly, a man who up co the prcsenc is living in thc world,
and. moreover, ::t born heretic; he is, further, a turbulent
Il1J l t, who rakes loquaciry for eloquence, regards jmpu-
dC- I) C staunchnc. of char-acter, and considers the
'Iudcrillg of individ n:"tls (lie normal t<l.sk of:l good Con-
131
science, Apart from this, he exercises (be ;l.ft of painting, a
thing forbidden <by the Law), and marri es continuousl y:
he Law of God in the interest of his IL1St, :md
despises it in rhe interest of his ar t. He is a f.l1sifier ill , wo
respects, with his cautcry and with his pen, ond :I ll
:tdulceraror in every with regard boch to his
prc.lching :\nd to rhc Aesh. (Nor ' is rhis smprisi"ng): ro
begin wLth, (he conc.:tgion coming from marrying people
pcoduccs a bad smell. and, secondly. the Aposde' s Her-
mogelles did nO[ stick to the cule of f.,idl eic\t(.;r.
3. Bm ler us fOrger che man- it is his docrrine wh.ich r
have co look 1mo. He does nor seem ro :tckllowlcdge :\11-
t' rher Lord, but he makes:l different being. of Him whom
he :tcknm .... lcdgcs in a din(.!rell t way; Hay, since He wi ll nor
have ic' ril:tr ie was our of norhiug rhar He Inlde all thi ngs,
he r.:lkcs from Him everyrhing which constitures His
dlviui ty. 4 TllUs he nlL'IIed ilW.:IY from the Christi:l11s ro
{he philosophers. ti'om rhe Clll1rt.:h to rhe AC;ldclllY and
the Porch, .:Ind from (here h.:- took che idea of pUfr ing
maner on the S:1111C level wi th the Lord- fo r in his opi nion
ntlCCer, roo, has always existed, being neirher born nor
created, widlOlJ[ any begilUling or end, and i t is frail!
matter thar the Lord afcerward5 made III things.
In the followi ng two chapters Tertull ian o utli ned Hermp II I
mai n position, as he saw t hem. Chapter 2 alone i s ci t e d hr' I'
1 32
THE BASIC ARGUMENTS OF HERMOGENES
ell, 2.] To thi s fmc lnd ucterly lighdess shade this very
bad paincer has given colour by melns of the following
l rgumencs. His fundamental dlesis is thOle rhc Lord mlde
lU rhings eirher Out of Himsel f, a t out of norhi ng. or ou(
of somerhing, in order dlat. upon dcmon5craring char He
. could neither have made rhem our of Himself nor our of
nothing. he m:l.y consequently affirm rhe remaining '
possi bility- that He made rhem out of something; and.
next, thor dlOC somethi ng was marcer.
2 . He says chat He could not have mlde (:dl chings> our
of Himself, because whatever (hings rhe Lord had nude
our of Himself would hlve been paces of Him; bue rhar He
cannor be divided inca p:trIS, si nce, bcin:; the Lord, He is
indivisible lnd unehallge:tblc and always rhe saI ne. hlrcher.
if He had 111.ldc s01l1l:rhing alit of lhat
would hove beell part of l-fimsel f; but everythi ng. borh
:har which was made and which He W;lS to make. musr be
considered imperfect, because it would be made of a p:l.rr
and because He would make i. of:l. part. 3. Or if, being
whole. He had made the whole. He must h.a ve been whole
;1nd not whole at the same rime, since it would have befit-
(cd Hi m to be both whole. in order to make Himself, 'and
not whole, in order that He might be made ou;: of Himself.
Now rh.is is extremely difficul r, for if He existed, He could
nor be made, bur would exisr <al ready>. whereas i f He did
nor exist, He could not ( in that case> milke anything be-
callie He would be nothing. But He wbo ahnys exists,
he asserts,) does nor come into existence but exim fo r
ever and ever. So (he concludes clue> He did not nl:lke :Ill
[hings out of Himsclf, since He was noe of snch a condi-
rion that He could have made rhem out of Himself.
4. Further, rhlt He could not hlve made them am of
. nothing is lsserred by him on the following orgum.em: He'
defmes the Lord as a good, even a very good. being, whose
desire co m:l.ke good lnd very good things is as strong as
He is (good and very good>: nay, He desires lnd makes
nothi ng that is not good and very good. Therefore, good
and very good thjngs on ly should have been made by Him,
in accordance \\'i rh His condition. It is found. however,
rhar evil things as well have been made by
not by His decision and His wilt for then He wOllld not
have made anything uti-fitting or-l1l1wof[hy of
Now that which He rhus did not make by His own deci-
sion must be understOod (0 have been nl:tde from {he
fluitiness of somerhing. which withol!( a doubt ril:t(
it origi nated from ma[ter.
I t1 Oefense of his Chris tian teachings, and t o protect the
,I t lon of the Vul gate Bible of the Chr i sti an Church used dur-
III I. ..... jqn as " Father o f the Church , " Tertul-lian wrote the
I f II i : : e ntire t reat i se .. The following ext ract is fr om Chap-
I II Ch pter 5 through 45 he used quotations from every book
I d l ' n Bibl e Text to refute Her mo gene s .. He wrote : 66
a) Mauer as EqIJal to God
(' h. Ar [his POlllt I sh:dl finally begin (0 discuss mar-
1('1, th:1f, :1ccordin,g 10 Hcrm0g..:ncs. God makes disposi-
1 33
cion of ie, WhCll ::c the S<1111e time it is presenced as eq ually
equally unmade, eqLdly ercrnal, with ncithcr bc-
gilU1ill g nor end. For wbt ocher essencial properry ofG?d
is rhere: than crermry? Wh3t other essence has eterlllry
rhan ever ro h;tvc exiS(ed :md to go on exis ring forever
bce:1usc of irs privilege of being witham a bcgiJUling and
without an end? .2. If this is the special properry of God, it
must belong to God .1 10ne, si nce it is His speci:tl pro perry-
for clcarly if it should be assigncd to some mhcr being lS
well, it will no longcr be tbe specill property of God. but a
ptopcrry sharcp with Ih:\[ being [Q which ie is also assigned.
3. For rl/oligh there be thl1t are called gods 10 name, :vhether
in heaven or ill earth. yctfor liS there is bilt Oile Gon, the Father,
of 1!'li.OITl arc all things; and therefore j( is stil l more neces-
sary thac in our conviCtion thar should belong co God alone'
which is che speci:tl propcrry of God, and which,;Ls I h;Lve
said. (i f shaced with anorher bei ng,) would be no longt:r
His specill pl',?perry. since it would to an.-
orher being (as well>. Now, if God IS thIS Onc), lr.
muse be a Wlique th.ar i t may. belong to
One. 4. Or wh:Jc will bc uniql1c and smgubr, If not rhat
co which nothing equal can be produced What will be
prinCipal, jf not th:t.t wl.lich is ;111
"n chings and fr om WhlCh tl1mgs have
5. It is by having thcsc alone that He IS
and by having them .:t lolle, rh.:tt He 15 Onc. another bemg
should them (1.$ well. rhen there \-v111 ;"L S many
oods as rhere ace beings which posscss rhe qnairtlcs proper '
God. Thus it is chat Hennogcl1.es brings In two
he introduces matter as equal to God. 6.13ut God must. be
One, beC;"L"LlSc rbat is God which is supreme; but nothmg
can be supremc save th.:H which lS unique; bur can
be unique if something Coln be on a lejvcl :vl.rh 1;:; but
. matter wi ll be puc on a level wlth God. WHen It IS author-
iCltivcly declared to be eternal.
Ter t ul l ian c losed h is treatise on Her mogenes i n the : .. lIlI
drama t ic fas h i on i n wh ich he o pe ned it. I n the closi ng on, ,I
see s t he same brashne ss which made him s tand out so dUo, ' II
from St.. Augu sti ne and St.Cyprian. For whereas his o t he.r= t WII .'
d i genou s Africa n successors, ' IF a the rs of the Church ," \.1 ( -' .
theologians concerned primarily wi th "'soul " .:ll'l d " h .] v 11
134
n l ry ,n also II law and or der in the Church
ll
; he, o n the o t her hand,
j'. engage d with chal lengi n g i ndivi d uals ( i ncludi ng t h e h i erarchy
1 the Chur c h in Rome and Nor th Afr ica ) who d a red to differ with
If. he felt was " t r uth" in relationship t o his oltm religious ten-
in r espect to t he role of the Church a nd s ocial a ction a s
67
,lns t its heavenly g o als o f sending people to heave n o He wrote :
IPILOGUE
4. And thus. in a$ as it bs been cstablished that
)H3rCCr did nor cxist (also fot" rhe reason rhae it cannot havc
bcen su ch a$ j[ is represented), in so far is it proved rhat all
rhiugs were m:tde by God out of nothing. I would :l.dd
only thar by dclinc::l ril1g a condi rion of mattcr qui te
liI,-c his confused, mrbulcilc. with a dis-
ordcred, r3sh, and violent l11otion-Hennogenes has put
0 11 c:;.:hibirion a sample of his art: he has paimed his 0"""'1
p<)[[ r;ll t .
1'here are many books listed in t he b i bl iogr aphy t h at t h i s
OIl used in preparing t his c hapt e r which s h o u l d a lso prove to
i r e me ly he lpfu l to anyone wh o \"r ishes t o p ursue in greater de-
l he indigenous Afr ican " F a ther s o f the Chur c h" works. There
Itl l lllY other tra nslations from the orig i nal La t i n Te xt s into
1'1 1 tnqu a gesj t he mos t common being i n Fr ench, En g lish , and
I h.I ' !it. Aug ustine , there is not very much wr i tten about St .
I n "nd Te rtullian l ives before they beCame the spiri tual
nf. Lhe North Afr ican Christian Ch urch and all of Chris-
11 The r e i s not much a bout their persona l l i ves
III' Ir rL.: ign as phil o sophers o f their rel i gion either ..
I rll l il"if" bri ef sketchy backgr ound of themselve s, as s t at-
I II It' no t hinq o f t he i r non- Christi a n l i ves as i nd i -
135
ge nous Af ricans with the ir own tradi t ional African religions
vlould have b e en known. Of course, the re wer e many who dar ed t il
make c ertain a s sump tions about their live s, but 'tJithout any SUl
cess whatsoever.
One c an only wonde r vJ hy Tertullian \..;as not made a "Saint'"
He certainly did as muc h for Christianity and Christendom to Tn
them what they are today as did the o ther two indigenous
(so-called "Negroes , " etc.) "Fathers of t he Church" - st. CYI"
and st o Augustine. Added to all of this , he was an activ ist ,
than a philosopherj a kind of a 16th Centur y C. E. Catholic rll 1
- Mart in Lut her - a nd t he 20the Century C.E. Protestant mini =-'
Dr. Mar tin Luther King, Jr ., cong lomerate. Ter t u llia n mate!, .,l l
Chr istian ideal ism with physical action; "'lhereas the othe r :; . ,'
back and philosphi z ed On Christian Doctrine and Ethic s . M'WI
some day this African , Dr .. Mar t in Lu ther King, Jr . , a lso, 51).1 -1 I I
made a HSaint" in his Church . Hm/ever, the lack of s uch COllI I I
tion does not in anyway what s oever les sen his great ness . ' 1'11 1
mor e so true, when one considers that the greatest pacifi.:; l ,d
modern - times - Mohandas ( lithe Sacr ed Oneil) Karamchand Ghanc.ll
will never become a HS a int,11 solely because he was not il t;1\i t I
confessant . I t would have been unlikely, however, that CYIIJ I ,
and Augustine would have made I1saint hoodl! i n the racist WO.I \. 1
the 20th Century C.E., especially when considering tha t tJII y
indi ge nous Africans (who are today called by suc h namo::; ,-l:.h
,h
-.
Bantus , Africans South of the Sahar a , Hot ten tots, Bushmn. I
Coons,lland a hos t of other derogat ive supe r lat i ves to t.:.h,. II I I "
peopl e ) 9 even though totally Judaeo-Christia n in their e vrll y
One could suspect that t her e ar e very f w HChr1s ti . n Chil i I li t
136
lI 'l ited States of Ame rica wher e they \,' ould have been toler a ted ,
''Illc h les s welcomed. Yet, they were the originators of mo s t of
t 11'-' b as ic t enets which all o f Christe ndom toda y believe.
The onl y reas on t ha t the thr ee indigenous Af r i can Popes of
Roma n CatholiC Church have not been e xamined here s hou ld be
'Ivlousj i f not , i t i s because t hey have done nothing outstand-
"'1 in the hi story of Chri ste nd om, l ike most of their f ell ow Popes
til l not outs tanding l eader s .
137
MOSES : AFRICAN
JUDAISN
Chapt e r Three
To speak o f a n "ALNI GHTY i n the context used by Jew.' .
Christians, and Moslems is impossibl e without g oing b ack to thj
roots of said b e lief . In so dOing , one has to delve beyond t til
origin o f Judaism (the Hebrew re ligion a nd peoples) - the parl'!d
of the three rel i gions mentioned ,'ehristianity - the chi l d, atld
Is l am - the grandc hild. All eyes have to be centered on tlw
indi genous African r eligions of the Ni. l e Va lley from Iflhence ,III
three derived, re l i gion s which are today called the 'IEGYPTIMt
RELIGION" a nd/or "MYSTERIES." But, in order to delve into till
depths of the study of traditional African religions o f Egypt
other l a nds along the banks of t he more than 4,100 mi les l e l1 j ' t.
o f the Nile Ri ver 1 one needs a complete set of volumes o n l h
subject alone. Never - the-less, a f ew bas i c citations of t h.' II.
African religion u pon which Judaism, Chr i st i ani ty , a nd Isl a m
the so-ca lled "WESTERN RELIGIONS"- r est are hereby e n tere d \1 '"
a nd examined ,
Foe e xamp l e : The conce pt of the making o f man (creaLinll)
"ONE" - the Sun- God RA, who was sometimes identified witll II"
God OSIRIS, was in f act deal ing ..... ith a monotheistic God o v''I,
though pol ytheism seemed to be the basic f oundation of: Ut I ' /I I .
can re li g i ons of Sais (later. cal l ed "EGYPT" by the Heb.ci, ..... :. , ' I
and Roman s). Yet one sees J in the BOOK OF THE DEAD - D:' I I j 1ll
lated from Hier o glyph to English by S i c E . A. W,ll l i .::;-Bud q".
tee clxxxi i , 1.15, OS iris shown onl y C; d ..... ho c ould 111,1
138
tllher i t "ever lasting and eternal l i f e;" also that he a lone h ad
till ' powee to
cause men and women to b e born again "
ITIP .
The same God, OSIRIS, \."as responsib l e to r-epresent nONE" -
., "SUPREME BEING," as He " e l oved l i f e a nd ha ted death jn
h \(' havi ng been shown in the f o l lowing extract from Chapter cliv.
l ite BOOK OF THE DEAD :
" Homage to thee , 0 my d i vi ne father Osir i s,
thou hast t hy being with thy members. Thou d i dst
not decay, t h ou didst not turn into worms, thou
didst not rot away, thou didst not become cor-
ruption , thou didst not putref y I Shal l not
decay, I shall not rot, I shall not
I shall have my being, I shall l ive, I shall
germinate, I shal l wake u p 1n peace My body
sha ll be and it shall n e ither fall
into ruin nor be destroyed of f this
The a bove prayer was by Pharoah Thotmes III ( 1 504- 1550 B.C.
II, the God Os i ris. One can see the basic values of death a nd
II f',\l_ment f rom this episode and its corruption in the Hebrew
Il rol lowed many h undreds of years l ater.
I II the book, FIRST STEPS IN EGYPTIAN, p. I 79ff, the a ut hor
II r:. A Wa lliS- Budge, "ONE" is i dentified through the Gods -
- as the "SOUL OF RAt! i n the
Idy of God. " But , "ONE I s" identity as an absolute fact of
II !lIl ft ! ma n ifestation of the IISUPREME: BEING" - the "GOO OVER
[ 1I1.({ ("; OS" - the one a nd only I!GOD ALMIGHTY" - i s best noted
11 11") 110 ...Ii.ng e xtract f rom the BOOK OF THE DEAD, Chapter c l xxxi:
" Homa ge to the e, 0 governor of Amentet, Un-
, \I (' c , the l ord 0;[ Ta -tchesert , 0 thou ..... ho r i sest
I ! k(' RD Ver il y I come La see t hee and to rejoice
,\ thy b ..... au t i e:;; . His is thy d i sk, his rays
11 ' Lhy hi:; i s t hy crown; his majesty
1'1, 1[ ,'/ 11 U\c L:n ., lizh tra.nslation derived. See
'1 'I 'II L m :I\():
139
1s they majesty ; his bea u ty risings are t hy
risings : beauty 1 s t h y bea uty; the awe
which hl.S is t he awe which is thine; his
odour . 1.s thy odour; his hal l is thy hall; his
seat 1.S thy e t c., e tc ., etc.
The indigenous Africans ' o f Egy pt (Bl a c k people from Cenl .
East Africa 's Great Lakes) religious belie f in "ONE" ,,,as cit d
f ollows by C.P.T1ele in the ENCYCLOpeDIA BRITANNICA, Vol. XX ,
p . 367:
" the adoration of one God above all other s
as the specif ic tribal god or a s the lord over
a particular people, a national or relative mon-
otheism, like that of the ancient Israelites
t he worship of an absolute sove reign exacts '
passive obedie nce . Thi s practical monotheism is
totally different from the t heoretical monothe-
ism, to which t he Ar yans , Hith their monistic
speculat ive i d ea of the godhead , are much nearer.
However, it mus t b e a lso noted that Professor 'tiele was not (1".,1
ing wi th t he Africans o f Egy p t (Egyptians ) , but t he Haribu (II.
br e vIs, today called e rrone o usly "Jews " ) - who had already 11\1'
Egypt ( Sais) and est a b l ished their o ...m national cul ture anu I
ligion upon t he prinCiples t hey learnt whil e t hey were in I::'I V' "
and in fact, what they were born unde r. At least , t heir Id
wer e in fact n a tive-born Africans of Egyp t , of the Hebr e w f 1 th
Nevertheless Professor T1ele, in his own work, HISTOIRE
DES ANCIENNES RELI GIONS, Paris , 188 2, stated t hat there \'H: ' f
contradi c t ory and irre concilab le phenomena in the Africa n ::' I"
Egypt r eligious phi losophy:
140
1. A livel y sentiment of spir itual i t y of God
united to the coarsest mate r ial is tic re-
presentations of d i f fer ent divi nities.
2. A senttment, not less live ly, of t he 'unity
of God, uni t ed t o a n e xtr e mely gr e a t mul -
tipl icity of divine per sons .
Be tween the declaration in Ma x Mu ller I S work, HI DOf;W!' II
1011:5, p.285, in wh ich he indicat e d that t he q ua lity of t h e I. ONEil
.. s the c r eator of heaven a nd ear t h - was onl y a " . 99 phase o f
. 1i gious t hough ttl among t he a ncient Nile Va lley Af ricans of
' IYI, t, a nd that of profes s o r C. P. Tiele, a lread y s hown above;
I t the fac ts remain somewher e i n t he e x p l a na t i on given by pr o f -
,\or J. Liebma n I s book , EGYPTIAN RELIGION I Le ipzi g , 1884, in
l'I (' h he he ld t he follo ...,ing :
" When we. for ins tance , take t he I nd o-Europeans,
\olhat do we f ind t here? The San s kr i t Hord DEVA is
identical with t he Latin DEUS , a nd t he northern
TIVI, TIVAR: j as now t he word in La t in a nd north-
ern l anguage s i g nif i es God it must also in San-
the b e ginni n g have ha d the s a me signifi-
cat ion. That is to s ay, t he Arians , or Indo-Euro-
peans , mu st have comb ine d the idea of God \."i th
t his word, as e arly as when t hey s t ill lived to-
ge t her in t he i r orig i na l home . Be cause , if t he
\"or d i n t he ir pre-hi stor ic ho me had had another
more primitive sig ni f icat ion, t he wo nder would
have happened, tha t the ...,ord h a d a ccidental l y
gone t hr ough the same developme n t of s i gnific a-
tion with al l these people a f ter t heir separa t ion.
As t his i s qui t e impr ob a b le, the h' ord must have
had the s i g ni f ica tion o f God i n the ori ginal I ndo-
European l a ng uage. One cou ld go e ven f ur t her , II
e t c ., etc., e t c.
prof e ssor Liebman' s t he o r y was very ext ensive, t h is
I ,.x. t rdct f rom t he whole s hould be s uf ficien t f or the pur pose
... I, rI he rein. Ye t , pr ofessor Liebman was d e aling pr imari l y
1111 m{Jil ning of t he Egyp t ian ver b "nuter , " which is t he Latin
"11 k u " and Sans krit "deva," wi th re s pect t o the ma n ner in
I. m .... l l n i ng o f the word "nut erl' 1 J1 or i t s v ariant
. +} changed as i t wa s integr ated int o e ac h
Hl' JU.). g C G that a dopted i t s usage ', the same having t ake n
. , 1111''1 l:lIe Hebr ew ( J ewish) YAHWEH o r English GOD .
COO' frt.S wer e not n e'tJ 't!hen the fir s t of t he Har ibU ( He-
I IV 'Y Lhen c;)l l e d - en tered Sais ( Egypt), with
141
Abraham and h is family ( around c1640 B.C.E.)- as shown in the
Book of Genesis, Chap t e r 13, Verses 1 : 18. They ..... ere in exi str',,,
a very long period before the building o f t he first major Pyr ,I"
of Saqqara by Pharoah Djoser (whom the Greeks called "zozer")
the other major works, t hose by phar oah Khuf u (whom the
or "Kheops", Mycerenius, a nd Khafra (whom t he Grl"
ca lledChephrenll) , in a per i od covering from 3, 1 00 to 2,258 0 . 1
more than 618 years the l ast one was bui l t bef ore the bir th I, r
the f irst Haribu (Hebr ew or Jew), Abram (Avram or Abraham) '-" .1'
born , more than 1,500 years before the concept of " Adam a nd !';v
was developed by the Hebrews. Ther e fore, one can s a fely say III
atheism" was i ndeed the prime factor in t he r eli g ion o f tlw
of t he Nile Va lley, es pec ial l y i n t he Eg ypt ian "Mys L(' ,
Sys tem" t housands o f year s before t he exis tence of t he HeoP' w
YAHWEH (Jehovah), and o f cour se thousand s more bef ore the er " l'
of the Chr i stian and Moslem Gods - Jes us Christ and Al lah. " ,,,.
mort a lity" was also a very basic concept wi t hin the same !lY.'
d ur ing t he same period , giving r i se to t he "NETHER WORLD" ci
ed so adequate ly in the BOOK OF THE DEAD. Theil Book of thf! I) ,J.
being t he name g iven the works of t he a nc i e n t indigenous AIr
of Egypt (the egypt ians and other Nile Valley Africans ) 01111 ,,,
and recording o f man' s " l ife a,fter death", whic h t he
r i b u copied and d istor ted under the name of the "HEREAp"rf, n ."
It i s sug gested t hat a copy of each o f t he fo llowi ntl
BOOK OF THE DEAD ; OSIRIS; THE GODS OF THE EGYPTIANS ; III
FIRST BOOK OF EGYPT- beco me part of the col l ec tion or I
er' s libr a ry; especial l y with respect t o the or igi.n o f Ih.
religious concept s most Jews, Christi a ns . a nd 1'1os1cma :; 1 1 1 I I. , I
14 2
l1" i g i nated wi th the so-called "inspired men of God " t heory still
I,j'ing expounded by "men o f t he cloth." Thes e works are translat-
,\ f rom or iginal Coffin and Pyrami d Texts i n Hierog l yphs i n to
I\fl lish by scholars called "Egyptol ogis ts. " HOHever , another of
he major works needed in the set is MAN AND HIS GODS ; also the
orks o f Count C. Volney - RUINS OF EMPIRES ; and that o f P,rofes-
George G. M James - STOLEN LEGACY.
wi th the above background a nd unders tand ing from whence t he
'IIH": Cpt of " monotheism" f ir st came, one Can r ead ily enter the
1\ l owing discussion wi th muc h greater insight a nd appreciati on
the r ole the i ndi genous Afr i cans (ca lled " Negroes, " e tc .) and
!' I e traditional r el i g ions had, a nd sti ll have , i n Judaism (or
rf' wl sm) _ the re l i gion the Afr i c a n Haribus ado pted from their
" '.PC and sister Africa ns of the tradi tional rel igion of t he
! II j P o f " ONe" or liRA," as r e presented by the God - OSI RI S.
Three main regio ns a nd three ma in ki nds o f
wander ing a nd imper f ectly settled people
..... ere in those remote days of the f irst CiVlll-
zat ion i n Sumeri a and e a r l y Egypt . Away i n t he
for ests o f Europe were the blond Nordic peopl es,
hunte r s and herdsmen , a lowl y r ace . The pr i mi-
tive civili zat i ons saw very l ittle o f th i s r ace
be fore 1500 BeC ..
'I' hl' above quota tion i s taken from H. G. Itlells, A SHORT HIS -
III '('!IE WORLD ' .. I t sroul.d aid somewhat in beg inn ing thi s chapter .
., I y , it wil l f ur ther o pen peop l e's mi nd to t he point where
, 1(\ ,)void the pi t fa ll C .. P . Snow r eflected in h i s comment on
"0111t':" Darwi n' s book, THE NEXT HILLION YEARS. Sir Cha r les
I' H\d :j on o f t he Victorian sc i entist bear ing the same name)
I' 1 n Illn wor ks with e v i d e nce t ha t deni es " any j us t i fication
1'1 . juu.ic t.:,u and stated that i n" the not t oo dis t ant fut ure
I 'II f/hi If' IWoP.lC:'> wil l Wrts t economic and military pm ... er f rom
143
t he Whites." To this P e Snow wrote:
2
It means , incidenta lly, that the racial dis-
crimination which ha s b een the leas t c r e dit-
able featur e of t he per iod of 'tlhite hegemony
is not only wicked; it is worse t han wicked
i t is crimi nall y fooli sh. '
Str a ngely e nough the New York Times periodical o f Apr i l ,
1969 , quotedfue same C. P . Snow as havi ng backed the pos i t III
of a "chosen people" above other peoples f or t he " J ewish r ae ... ..
This of course r efutes the above position he held wi t h respcI
Sir Char les Darwin Jr' s statements in his book quoted above . Ihl
it wou ld seem that C. P . Snow's remar ks , in t h is respect, aL" I
be g iven no extraordinary a tten t iono Why ? Because there ar c ', '
Jews tOday of almost eve ry ethnic group in Europe, Africa, A' I
the Americas, arrl mos t o f the habitab le islands of t he world. 'I'
a re Yemenite and Cochin Jews from Yemen and India (Asi a) I I'n(,
whom are i n the State of Israel currentl y. The Beta Israel, , . ..
manl y called " Fa lasha" (Falasa), in Ethiopia , East Africa ( :"In. "
whom are in Isr ael - a very sma ll amou nt) r are the blackeD i , ,11, ,1
most anc ient in Hebrew ( Jewish) trad i t ionss The Swedes and N",
wegians of the Europe an Jews , on the o therhand, are the wh l'
I n the !i ltlester n Hemi sphere , " the so-ca l l e d "New World," tho' I' ,
States o f Ameri ca includ ed , all of thes e types of J e ws ar' I ..
is tence , pl us variou s other combinati ons of them. Th er e (JI ( ', I,
this extraordinarily wide spectrum of colors a nd e t h nic C) J tU11
o ne finds the conglomerate whic h is today called the " :Jcw1 Ih
people. ,,4 And , i f t hey were ever a "sepa r ate r ac e" a t o. ny l 1111'
the anc ient past , they are not now.
Th i s Chapter cont::irues:in a high degree with t ile " trlJ.I I." '"
"fals ehood" of the "Story o f Mas s ," not; \.. I,c. ::;L:l nl."ll ,..-d ,, 1
144
ever existing at a ll , but as to his ind i genous African or igin ,
Alld the origin of the message he is alleged to have brought to
!ll ilkind a fter the Pe sach (Passover) from We s t e rn to Eastern Eg ypt
r 1'11. Sinai) .
regards to Mose s or igin t he SECOND BOOK OF MOSES (Exo-
,e l ), Chapter 2, Verses 16 : 19 states:
But Moses f1M "tom Pharaoh, and
stayed In the land of Mld",an; and he
sat down by a well . ,. Now the prtest,
or Mld'i,1m had seven daughters; and'
they came and d rew water, and tilled
the ttOug'lS to water their father's
flock, 17 The shepherds came and
drove them away: but Moses stood up-'
alld helDed them, and watered thelt'
.flOck, II When t hey carne to tbf:l t
fat her Reli 'el. he said, "How l!i It that
you come so soon today?" 19Thty
" an Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the Sheherds
lf
., i s t he abov e declar a tiono Not a Jew. It shou ld be obvious
Illyone that the priest of Mid
1
ian
1
s daughters recognized t10 ses
II indige nous African - "an Egypt ianlf - "a Negro" - "a Ba n t u. "
V " l'co g nized h im the Same as they ',.;ou ld have r ecognized a n y
,lew i n Afr ica at t his period in history. Thi s ver se, among
1\ verses , s ubstantiatl'J s the indigenous Africa n c haracter -
of t he Haribus (Hebrews or Je", s) , pr oving at the same
tha t there was no more difference in the physica l make-
,I t lI t: J e ws than any other indigenou s African of any dif f e rent
I J I (lUO conviction a long the enti r e Nile Valley civilizations
1'1 nt day Ug a nd a to the Medi t erranean Sea). Al so, t ha t
... ' 1 r DOt. stigmati zed as they were in Easter n Europe over hJO
nt! yoar ;.:; lat er, by having to wear spec ial garments or
"II nO' 01; ide n t ificati on tha t have made them
nil ' o m the ge neral po pulationj this was at a t i me
I I ). WI' Hor e. no t per mi. t ted to regi ster a s Caucasions
" ,
1,1 Of cout"sc , there were no " Semites!!
.. " t l p" \nvcn Lcd LlL lhnt with Hoses by certain e thno-
145
log i sts, thi s profession having not existed, neither i t s racL.n ,
nor i ts r e lig ious bigo tr y .
The i dentificat ion of the t ype of Afr icans Mo ses \ ... as born
among is s t ated in Herodotus, HISTORIES , Book II j Thus:
liThe ColC: h ians , Eg yptians and Etl110pian s have
thick lips, broad nose, wooly hair , and t hey
are b urnt o f sk in . 1I
Her odo tus I words were needed in t hose days , for anc i ent nI l.
had not yet developed ( neither did he have the sophist ica t 1 ""
whereby he could see two or t hree "races
ll
of ma nk i nd coming II I
of the same ,. Adam a nd Eve; II no more t han he coul d have seen t it
d iffer e nt "races" evol ving from the same "ape like" Mister .:t n ..J H
Zi nzathr opus boisie of Kenya , East Africa , more than 1,750 , 111'1 1
year s ago. They were not as sophisticatedly racist as ye t .
Religious his tory r e veal s t hat t he J e ws l i ved i n EgypL '"'
approximate ly a li tt le more t han 400 years ( s omewhere be tw(" II
c 1640 and 123 2 B.C . E.) before Mose s (Mos he) l ed t hem t owarUI. I I.
"Promised Land" d uring t he reign of Rameses II sometime b tWf."
1298-1232 B. C.E. Tha t from the time their tiny number s, C"'V1 nl
to be exact, e ntered the f irst of t heir fathers - Abr ,dl ",,
t hey were all "Jel c omed a nd enjoyed all of t he pr ivi leg e ::; J WI' I
ed all other people in Egypt, depe nding u pon their class(':";. I" I
as such, many Jews, as many of the o t her indigenous Af r ie,III
came high government officials within ma ny pharoahs' ( k irlr1;' )
inet, most noted of them was Joseph - who became " Pr i.rnt , nl, 1
ter d ur i ng the re i gn of Pharoah Horenhe b or Kamose. Th;:1 L MOt I
himsel f, wa s br o ug ht up a s a member of the Royal F.1mily (, I I'll
See BLACK HAN OF THE NILE, by Yose f ben-J' oC:hanna n , I I
Books, Ne\-I York , 1970 , chapter deilli ot) wJ t h f o :ssi l - mo n .
146
I Pep I I s first daughter This is true , bec:ause Mose s was
"pposed l y eighty (80) t o ninety (90) years of age (depending on
hkh version of wh i c h b i b le one i s reading at the time) when h e
f rom l-lester n Egypt to\'Iards Eas tern Egy pt ( Mt .. Sinai)
' un' t'.ime between 1298 and 1 232 B.C .. E.
4a
It is extreme l y important t o no t e t hat t here are no r ecords
II , L the Jews, pr i or to any ment ion of Moses, brought into Sai s
I " .l,: h they called "Egypt!! in their mythology about the sons o f
, a nd Isaac ) a n y scrolls or books what soever .. There are no
,(,cds t hat t hey had any home l and whe re they had establi shed a
insti tutions of hig her l e ar n ing or an or ganized
11'ILo n before t hey entered Sais (Egypt ) from their nomadic
III t n the As ian The fir st r ecord of them in Egypt
of their small settlement ar ound the Nile Delta on the
I t" r-r anean Sea , near the cities where there vias a
indus tr y - a pproximately c 1640 to 1630
fl o ur iShing
4b
B. C. E.,
V.l.t ma j ori t y or t hem r esiding around t he seaport of As wan.
thi s earliest background of the o r i g i nal Har i bus (Jews)
, 11 f' !)e d ly "gave the world" t ha t "Jhic:h is t oday call e d " Ju-
1 "I , " I upon traditi ona l African values establi shed thou-
" i ye ars by indigenous Nil e Va lley Africans (the So-called
II I .. II ," a nd others), from Uganda in Central Eas t Africa to the
I " $ a (no';-J the Me di t erranean) in North Afr ica before the
I, , d I he f irst Jew, Abraham, for their philosophical
I I I" r.pi.r - tual and moral foundations of " Judai sm" t oday and
I y' . \1 IJrC based upon the So-called "TEN Cot'JMANDMENTS " in
VI, IIOOK!; OF' MOSes (Tol:"al1). Yet, all of these 11Comrnandment s"
II I. ,., "' r: on - v!hich most people do not know exist - are
147
almost exact copies of laws and relig ious philosophical
\/hi ch the African Je\Ols, as they were by t hat time, lived under
during thei..c more than four hundred (400) years i n Egypt and ol t.
parts of North Africa .. Because of this background the indi genoll
African ident ity i s purposel y excluded from Judaism, as presentl
being taught in synagogues and schools within the United State:.
America. To make certain this image of a non-African beginninq ,.,
the Jews is perpetuated, and the fo l lowing terms are created :
"AFRICANS SOUTH OF THE SAHARA, NEGROES , BLACK .AFRICANS, SEMITI('
AFRICANS, HEMITIC AFRICANS, TROPICAL AFRICANS, CAUCASOID AFHICI\14
HOTTENTOTS, PYGMIES," and a host of other Africans wh ich are l,.... .
n\l1l'lerous to try and list here. These terms , and others J we re ,I"
ded t o satisfy the political, cultural , relig ious and psychol{1'11
cal separation of man y sections o f Af rica (Al kebu-lan) , from \'
nor thern limits and much of its eastern territories. Therefon' ,
one hears of "Egypt, Libya, TuniS i a, Morocco, J\lgeria, Ethiopl " ,
and Africa.
1I
Of course, the average person Nho digests this I vr
of seman tical experimentation of racist scholars becomes im})!.!".1
with the opi nion that Africa is separate f rom the countries 11 t
bef ore the " ... and Atr ica .. II With the fait ac comp li of North fll, I
and East Africa removed from the balance o f the continent of All
set in the minds of people everywhere an established fact, .\ :.
taught in " t'/estern" educational institutions, it was then vet ':
eas y for the educators to remove the indigenous Africans, 131 " , I
(also called "Negroes , II even "col oureds" sometimes) , from CV" I
having anything whatsoever to do with these areas o f Afr i e o \ltd I
their a llegedly first entrance as " slaves from Nubia .
1I
YI'I,
See page 266 of Yoscf ben-Joch tlnnan'::; book , OL CK Ml\N 01' TIP
NILE, for t he names Aric.'l WIlS callod hy l h
148
he s ame Nubia (Sudan) being referred to is where the major
. ,ltaracts - one through six - are located, k nown as IIUPPER EGYPT."
"his is the location where most of the gr eatest str uctures of Nile
VAl ley-Han High- Culture (civil ization) were erected .. Also ; it is
I htough the s ame Nubia that the Nile River and i t s tributaries
'I.m! before it reaches Egypt (Lower Egypt). The same Nile River
' r1u tes the ancient indigenous Africans travelled from its source
I II Central Africa (Uganda) when they bui lt their earliest High-
. 1l 1tures (civilizations) to t he point of their zeniths in Egypt,
11111.d a, Kus h (Ethiopia) , Punt (the Somalia area of East Africa),
uu'di a, Libya, Khar t Haddas (Carthage or New Town) , and other
" "Ci S in North and East Afr i ca . Bef ore time, however, other
I t I.eans had travelled and reached arCh itectural, e ng ineering,
. I" n t i fic, phi losophical and relig i ous greatnes s, and to the Ze-
,Il h of their culture , in southern Afr i ca - ZIHBABltIE (the Portu-
q called i t Zimboae, the British called it Rhodes ia) in the
" 'I(.! s t Afr ican land- based empire - NON0r.10TAPA (the entire area
lfi uthern Afr ica, from the Zambesie River to the Cape of Good
!'III" (the Port uguese !!Cabo de Tormentos").
Moses and Judaism, like Jesus Christ and Christianity (the
H,thtcr of Judaism) , had their or i g ins in the Nile Va lley civi-
I 10ns. And of course I s lam, \.,.ith her God - Allah (the grand-
II Jl l t:,f" 1' of Judaism, and caughter of Christ ianity) cannot escape
It.di genous African ori gin, e ven if t he Ka ' aba" 5a shou l d be
II,tlmed by the Moslems of the Holy City of Necca.
I n ::o upport o f the stat ements already made in reference to
" bl ;lck: stone
tl
- a piece of a f allen meteor found in Ethiopia
\1 r" l od int o Arabia when the Ethiopians of East Africa ruled
At .. b1d. n ['c ninsula hundr eds of years before Islam was founded.
149
Moses,the fo llowi ng facts are re-emphasized:' Moses, his br oth"l
Aaron and his s i ster Mirriam were a l l i ndigenous Africans of EIJY\'
Bibl ical hi s tor y s tates that t hey wer e bor n i n Egypt , North Afrl .
during the r e ign o f Pepi I, Pharoa h of Egypt, wh ich began in 1 311 1
B.C.E .. and con t inued for twenty (20) year s after (1298 B.C.E.)."
Not only these few Jews were indigenous Africans, but almost eVj'l
last Jew fleeing from western Egypt t o the "Promised LandI! in
Egypt, - No unt Sinai - were indigenous Africans. Those wI ..
are today called IINegroes" (and the like s) a r e descendants o f t h,'
same people. The sour ce of t hese f acts c a n be found in the Hebr.
Torah (the FIVE BOOKS OF MOSES) , t he Chri sti an Holy Bible (alJ
versions of i t) and the Mos lem Koran, amo ng other major schol. 1!
works on the sub j ect, all of which could be found throughout LII I
and other works .. Thus i t is written :
Andthe re was a famine in the land : And Abraham
(Avram) wen t down into Egypt (Af r1ca) f to so-
journ there; for the famine was gr ievous i n t he
land.o o , etc.
Sir E. A. 'L'Ja l li s -Budg e , Professor James H. Breasted, PrOf ,
sor Geor g e G. M. J ames, Jos e phus, a nd a host of o t her outstanrl iu I
Egyptologists, all e l aborated ext ensively on the life of the. 11)
d1genous African Jews i n ancient Egypt befor e the ir flight tt (}III
Pharoah (King) Rameses II,sometime between 1298 and 1232 B.L.L
as shovm in the chronology o f BLACK MAN OF THE NILE, pp. 101 01))' \
11 3.
Though not using the name Jews or Hebrews (Har i bu s ), mOl. !
modern historians dea ling with this period in gyptian h i s tOI v
Wor ds in bracket by a uthor f or particular emphas is on tI1J. :. 1,1
See Genesis, Chapter 1 2, Ve r se 10 of the Hebre w Torah.
150
l-H:ote o f " Semiti c peoples" t hat e n tered Egyp t around t he year
111 00 Yet, none of these wri t e rs could find any r ecords ,
than t he He brew Torah (FIVE BOOKS OF MOSES) 1 to validate
lny historical e vidence related to the HPASS OVER." This is not
say that ma ny Jews \..,rere, or wer e no t, s l aves in Egypt; or that
Il lc y did, or did not, labour in t he b uilding of one or mor e of
I \I P minor and least i mpor t ant of t he pyramids . Bu t, i f t hey did ,
j t was h ot because o f t heir II r el igion" or "ethnic" groupings because
111(- EQyptians, as we l l as other ancient peopl es of that era i n
HI :-: t: ory , were unaware of "race hatred" or " color prejudice," also
I " l i g ious bigotry , " i n any form common to Twentieth (20tJl) Cen-
I III y CoE . thinking . This may be, of course, diffi cult for most
ll\ f'r' i c ans to accept, irrespective of raCe, c reed or color , sinc e
III' r i c ans have never k nown a period in their h i s tory (sinc e t he y
10 t he country
f r om t he indigenous peo pl es t hey call III n _
I , , 11 :; 11) whe n racism a nd r eligious bigot ry wer e n o t part and par-
I (H t he basic struc tur a l fabric of the gove rnment of the United
I d e :,; of America and t he pr ivate sectors, o then .... ise called IIfree
II r r'r.-ise." As suc h , most Americans seem unable to understand
.,.. ,Iny other civili z ation, past or present , cou l d have devel o p-
1 I ,;oc iety free of r e ligiOUS bigotry and rac i a l hatred.
"
Hhcreas , urace , " for whatever the word mean s today, had n o
1 l og on a ncient Egyp t i a n society ;lI relig ion' l d id . Not only was
I l 'l l on" a f actor with f oreigners, but amongst various indige-
pl)ill- O') hs (kings). For example : The boy pharoah , Tut-ankh-amen
II, n:. he is affectiona t e ly known),changed t he worship of t he
111 11 God - AMEN. Pharoah Akhnaten {Akhanaten, Iknaten,
ATEN.
5b
1, ' I'IIL ' :} t, ILher - ;i.n- l a w, had c han ged it to t he God -
151
However I at no time was there a war or a n y per iod of per secu tiol)
in Egypt because of "re l igious intolerance .
1i
But, i t is in"re-
ligious tolerance" that the story o f the lndigenous Af ricans i n
fluence in Judaism, past a nd present, i s writte n; thus , the
Over drama; showing the Africans of the religion of the God -
AMSN of Egypt as devils, and the African J ews of the God - YAHWI<JI
as !lGod's choosen people . "
Some additional insights be ga ined by a revi ew of the
life of Moses, according to the ancient Hebrew biblical histor y ,
which \I,as adopted by the Chris tians and Mo sl e ms. I t would seem
that " Moses was born of the tribe of Levi," at a period when
the indigenous African Hebrews were already ens l aved by fe l l O\.,r
Africans of another religion in Egypt, North Af r ica.
5b
Moses vJas saved through his mirac ulous di scovery by the p i t ' l
cess I maid, supposedly h is own sister I who sei zed h i m f rom"
floating down the Ni le River in a b ulrush basket ." Hi s mot her w,,
supposedly J to have hid him in t he basket t o save hi s life I S ! II'
the Pharoah, Rameses I t Nas k illing al l of the Hebrew males bOI II
throu ghout the Kingdom of Egypt, etc .o
The pr incess gave fuses t o a woma n y who was in fac t hiD ()'rJ r,
7
mother J t o nurse him; s he was paid by the princess for her lP'
v ice s t o her own ch i l d.
Hi S n a me , Moses, meant "draNn out f rom the wat er," I,
t o the Egyptian p r i ncess - who a llegedly had no name, but s lll \
I n "choosen people," t he seeds of religious binr-. , f ,
and a V1.d r a C1. s m wer e p l anted. For what were the 11 choosen PI ' 011 1, ..
P7r secut ed or prosecuted '] Th is was written a t a pe riod in mtlT1 '
h 1. s t o-:-y foundation of bigotry was be ing e s tabl.i s h t: rI I,. ,
the f 1. r s t t1.me 1. n human history. All of t he o f t.hat LilTl"
" choo sen people " were to sui t the ir Ot.,rn prejud i c:u fI nd r ol)Clr.l!I .
}5;
Jl ,ve him his name.
8
Moses murdered his fellow Egyptian , who was not of t he He-
I I C'o</ faith; this supposedl y happened before he had received the
. J'r-:N COMMANDMENTS
ll9
a t Mou nt Sinai.
There is no record t hat he did anyt hing t o free " h is peopl e "
0" to t he time that he mur dered his fellow Egyptian; nor that he
",, ' r gave up h i s l ife of lUxury from s uppor t h is mother re-
Ived from t he pr incess for h is s u pport, all of which was stated
" have c ome f rom t he daughter of the pharoah, Pepi I ( his first
1 uq hter),IO the same g irl who saw him floating down the Nile Riv-
I n t he " .bulrush basket . "
It was onl y whe n Moses ha d t o flee Pharoah Ramese II's anger
\u:;e he had murdered Rameses repr esentative - the soldier , did
beg i n to pl an the "EXODUS" of his fellm" indigenous Egyp-
o ( t he Hebrew Fai t h from Western to Eastern Egypt (from the
IJlIl lIi e nd of the Nile River De l ta to Mount Sinai) . ll
l!er e, Moses is seen f l e e i n g one of the same laws he was sup-
nil t o have r eceived from God (Yah\.,reh , Jehovah) along with the
U (:OM11ANDMENTS.1I I t i s ob vious that t he same God of the Hebrews
h"", .. h) , or some othe r God , must have given the same \'TEN COMMAND-
'H 'j l ' l q the other Egyptians of the religion of the God RA before
IvUldod it out to Mos es on Mount Sina i , because Hos es was run ning
" l I PC being prosecute d for violat ing the l aw that states:
THOU SHALT NOT KILL
' ,l nl i l a rly, the BC<l)mmand mentl! whi ch st a ted to the Hebr ews :
THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF
I -n v l oL, ted by Moses wl1 e n he killed h i s fello'A indigenous
11 II I CH' ol h' r or Sais ( r-:g ypt ).
153
There are hundreds of source mater ials which reveal evidorll_
that s Ubs t a ntiate the indigenous Afr ican origin of the other n it
HCommandmen ts,,; lla such da ta not o nly prove the ir African ori q\h
but in most cases the author of each document or la\ ....
Genes is, Chapter 3, Ver Ses 7 and 8 , the "Lord" (God, or Y ,Ih
weh ) is shown aiding and abe tting Noses to steal his neighbor' .
proper-ty , as Jehovah promised Hoses the "Caanite, Hi ttite , AmM \
Jebus i te, Per i zzi tes l a nd flowing with milk and honey. 1I
11b
\'/ h . 11
was the difference between these invas ions Moses and his fellfllJ
Hebre,'Js were pl a nning to cOll\C'li t , and they later committed, and
made by t he pharoahs o f Eg ypt against other peoples and lancl n "'1
the suggestion s a nd approval of the God, RA , of Egypt (Sais) .
Jews (Hebre,.,.s ) were only taking a page from t he h istory they l
\'Jh ile they to/ere still indi genous Africans i n Egypt . As a ma ll
of fac t, t hey were st ill in Egypt when the "LordI! - Yahweh _
"
posedly approved t heir coloniali st invasion and confiscation ti l
eration) of other peoples I lands. He had already parceled 0\ 11
these lands to the other peoples and nations who, obviousl y , tllll
have assumed them to be their , own, since He (the "Lord l!) had l'
t hem the lands t hey were occupying before He had conspired wI!"
Moses to liquidate them (commit genoc i de) for t he benefit o j
his newl y Hchosen people
n
- the Har i bus (Hebre\-,/s or J ews)
The par allel of the story , where Hoses and hi s brothel" A.t
confronte d Pharoah II and said:
Thus sayeth the Lord, the God of Israe l: Le t my
peopl e go, t hat they may ho ld a feast unto f1e
in the wilderness .12
is being echoed i n the cries o f African-Americans
the America s t oday Up until this day t he .Q.kldu: i n .. . 1 ,
154
22a
It'1 g "Let my people go; but many substitute J im Crow's
f or ttPharoah
t
s land" \"ith as mUCh , or possibly more , fer vor
lhdn did t he African Hebrews (Jews) of Egyp t during Hoses' e ra
they sang their songs of liberation from their fellow Africans .
tZ4ng e as it may seem, t he first people to sing th i s song were
ht! Afr ican-Amer icans - ther e being no record wha tsoever to t he
.,fltr ary.
Pharoah Rameses II i s made to look l ike a raving mani a c, a
.. t nd cf an ancient Adolf Hi tIer of the ItEgyptian II The
ypt ians , of course, were supposed to have had no ancestral con-
1 lion with the ancient i ndi genous African Haribus (Jews). Thi s
.. not true, because the ancient African Haribus of Egypt, the
Hd les, gave birth to hundreds o f thous ands of offspring . This
IIH1it ion the HebreNs could not avoid, that is, providing they
i n fac t s laves of t heir fel low Africans that worshipped the
1 Rn. It is common k nowledge happens to the women of an
lftved people, t he Har ibus (Hebrews or Jews) being no exception
this If t he Haribu s ,,,,ere of a " separate r a ce,tt tl Semitj.c
lt
, therwi se , \'-Ihen they e ntered Egypt, they certainl y were not any
., t. hing \"hen t hey \.'I ere forced o u t of Egypt four hundred (400)
r I l a ter . One must remember that their l ast fe\ ... years Here
111 i.n t he o,.-, orse form of bondage under the other Africans who
, lppe d -the God Ra - according to the Second Book of Mose s)
, IIfJ. This story is corroborated by the fac t that they were
' ,t;. c venty" yJhen they entered Egypt, accordj.ng to t he
I OK or MOSES, Genesis, Chapte r 46 , Verses 1 t hrough 27.
t l. to the "Negro Spri t ual" by the name, ULET MY PEOPLE: GO,"
\01.) (; no o t h er song bv that name recorded i n Jewish history.
155
These i ndigenous Afr icans, today c a lled "Negroes, Bantus
etc.; the originator s of t he Pyramid a nd Coffin Texts, the
OF THE DEAD, the f1emphi te Drama,and other such works, by the
thousands, in relig i o us and secular proses , had a l ready spokell
of a monotheisti c God in t he person of RA (the Sun God), the (;u.1
tha t existed before Noses and Abraham, even before Adam and E'I
They had deve l oped in e a c h munici pality a ser i es of God s for ( . I t
s i tuationj but the greatest of a ll Gods, RA, commanded the SI IU'I
r o l e of having minor Gods, as did t he Jews, Christians, and M(,
lem Gods; each saying :
I Ali A JEALOUS GOD , THOU SHALT HAVE NO
OTHER GOD BEFORE
This "COMMA.NDHENT, 11 as 1 t is pres en tly call ed, needs no clar 1, 1
tion. It is no d i f ferent f rom t he Cororoandment which was rend I
t o the indigenous African peopl e s of Egypt i n the Mys t er ieG I,V
God RA.
In the Passover drama scene, it was not t he indigenous ,1
a l one who journeyed f r om t he City o f RAMSES to Succoth with Uf
fellow African - Moses; t hey ...Jere:
" about six hundred thousand men on foo t , beside
children. And a mixed mu l titude up a l so YJ i th
l3
t hem; a nd flocks and herds , even very much cattle .
And the Lord said u nto Noses a nd Aaron : "This 1:..:
my ordinance of the passover; ther e shall non-Hebr e w
(alien) eat t he reof; but every man's servant that
bought for money y when tho u hast circumc ised him,
then sha ll he eat .
1 4
It seems rather strange that the indig e nous Afr ican J"H
i nc l uding t he "mixed mUl t itude,'" shou ld be fleeing Egypt bIll 'I
A second pOint is t hat the African- Amer icans (Blacks , "New t.
etc . ) are frorn the same African background of the oril] ina J. 1111 !
and Egyp t i ans - formerly known as the "PEOPLES OF' THI:: NI LE I
even before the b ir th of the fir st Haribu - Til l;1 " ..
as much t he pr operty of Bl ack Jews' as it 14 Whi te
See page s 57 and 50 of thi.::; vo l l.lme fat' t.. h IlYMN OF' AIIO! i'" I P
THE GOO OSIRI S jalso No ta 55 , Ch npt.et: 1 , 0. t l10 r eo o f t:h JI. \1111 f
156
f!ICy were being he l d as slaves by fe llow Africans; whe n , in the
Ime book, EXODUS, Chapter 1 2, Verses 37 - 51, the J ews are s peak-
II') about their 0\...0 "sl aves" which t hey stopped a nd bought in
'1 ypt. Note, a lso, t hat they did not allow "non- Jews" amongst
" to eat o f the meat until they were circumcised"
Imll de Jews) . 14a Thi s meant two things; (a) t he indige nous African
II w:: f orced their non- Jewish r e ligious Egyptian- Afr ican br others
" ,1 sisters to convert to Judaism if they wanted to '1 eat of the
IIr" and e nj oy whatever e l se the Jews were having; (b) t hey
I Irican Jews - Negroes , etc.) had, themse l ves, become sl ave own-
I . This i s not t o say t hat the practi se of s laver y by the indi-
nous Af rican J ews was any better or any worse than t he non- Jewi sh
I h.; tt n s .. It is saying, however, t hat mankind seems only to "lorry
tojl! SELF; s e l f as an i ndividua l person, fami l y , tribe , nation or
,1111' of allied na t i ons i even t he b iblica l peo p l e - the "choosen
." l c " were guilty of thi s type of human fai lure.
Oe 'Eore goi ng further ,one has to remember that Moses and a ll
t II I.: other African Jews from Egypt ment ioned in the Passover
1111 were preceded in Egypt by the f irs t J ew , Abr aham , who was a
,!d'-' D. n (Cha ldees) from the City of Ur. Along wi th Abraham were :
" Sarah, hi s wife a nd Lo t h i s brot her I s son ,
and all their subs t ance that the y had gathe
1S
d,
and the soul s they had g o tten i n Harar ," e t c .
, I h , mass migr ati o n by the pr edecessors of Moses actually took
wi t h the e ntrance of Joseph i n to the indigenous Africans'
(f:f] ypt , a nd possibly par ts of Libya a nd Numidia), accordi ng
' I.,. Uoo k o f Genesis. Thusj it is wr i t t e n:
" . Then Joseph wen t in and tol d Pharoah j saying:
157
'My fat her and my br ethren and their flocks and
their herds , and all t ha t they have are come o ut
of the land Ca naan ; and behold, t hey are in t he
land Goshen. And f r om h i s br ethren he select ed
five men, and pr e s e n t ed them un t o Pharoah . And
Pharoah said unto hi s br e thren: 'What is your
occupation? I And the y said u nto Pharoah:
servants are shepherds , \" e and our fathers bot h.'
And they sai d unt o Pharoah: 'In thy land we come
unto sojurn, for t here is no pasture for thy s e r-
vants' flocks; for the famine is sad in the land
of Canaa n " (Genesis, Chapter 41, Ver ses I -
4)
The story drew to i t s end ing with Joseph introducing his fath' "1
Jacob, to receive the Pharoah 's grant of " a hundred and thirt y
years " o f sojour n ing ( Ge ne si s , Chapter 41, Verse 9). It e nt h
with t he followi ng:
An d Jos e ph p laced his fat her and h is br e t h ren,
and gave them a possession in the land of Eg yp t ,
in the b est of the land, the land o f Rame s es" (I),-
as Pharo a h commanded. And Joseph s us t aine d hi s
f ather, and h i s br e thren and all h is f athe r' s
hous eho ld, with br ead, according to the wa nt of
the ir c hildren.-
There ar e many f ac t ors a b o u t the entrance of the As ian 1111' I
bus (Je ws) f rom Canaan (approximately where Phoenicia was lo( .t '
into the Af ricans' home land,14b which was never emp has i zed , 1,1
cause o f the ir c omp l e mentary nature in regards to t he ir [. It.
hos t s.
Th us it s hould be noted:
(a) During t h i s period the Jews, formerly call e d Hebr e w
from As ia wer e a starving lot ; j u s t as the Iri sh who f led 'Il' I
t o t he Uni ted S ta t es of Amer ica d ur ing the Ir i s h Pot a t o F il m [ ,I ,
(cl8 48- l890 C.E.) . The Africans, wh o gave food, water.
- \v'ord in bracke ts b y the author of this vol ume.
Ge nes i s , Chapt er 4 1, Verses 11 and 12.
158
nd land to t hese very unfortunate nomads from As ia had to be of
" "Y h i g hl y relig iou s character. Obviousl y, t he y wer e "godly!! in
vI'r y Sense that t he word is present ly used t odaY i at least as
r as Charity is concerned.
( b ) T here i s no indic ation t hat t hos e lowl y As i an Je\o,TS had
uy f ormalized education of a s t a nda rd i n a ny wa y c omparable with
h"t wh i c h the indigenous Afric ans of Egypt had d e ve lopedo Neit her
I he re any evidence that t hey had a se t cod e o f e t hics and mora l s
II L were contrary, or in support, of t hos e t hey met in t he African
tid - Egypt. None of them appe ared t o have had any talent wh ich wa s
ynnd the basic needs o f a nomad i c peopl e; at best t hey were shep-
I ":1 when they entered Egypt .
(c) It had to be Pharoah Ra meses I or Pharoah Khamose ruling
t lv"' t ime of Joseph's e ntr y i nto Egypt (Sais) . For, if the Je,o,Ts
and African) s pent f our - hu ndred (400) years in Egypt, which
! I J d ur ing t he o f Pharoah Ra me s es II (1298-1232 B..-C.E,,),
I . date of entrance had t o be about c 1232 + 400 "" 1632 B. C.E .
nqc ly e no ugh ) t his was abo u t t he same period \'O' hen the Hyksos
11 Ilhf"r:cI King s ) i nvaded Egyp t f rom around t he same area t he As i a n
. \ 11egedly c ame - Ca naa n, l Sa in c 16 7S B .. C. E G
(d ) The Af ricans accep t e d their Asi an broth ers a nd s i s t e r s,
Iin/" Lbu:::I , as e qua l s , a nd int e gr ated the m int o Egyp t i an society
',lIl :Fl to their s ocia l and e conomic classes . Thus, f rom t he
I , I,ty of the i r e n".;ry in Af rica they were amal gamated a nd in-
1+ li with Egypt. ians .
Ilr to this pe r i od the Asian Je'.4s had not establ iSh ed a gov-
r1 lll lywhccc , other t ll.'l n trtba l groupings. The maj or p yr a mids
1111 rl y bu il l: hy the l? hu.t"oi'lh:'J (renamed "Che o ps " by the
159
Greeks ), Khafra ( renamed Chephr en by the Gr e eks) and
a period c overing 2680 - 2258 B. C. E. , the lInd thr ough Dy-
nast ies j as such , t he Jews could not have slaved on the bui ld ill,
o f the Sphinx o f Ghi :oeh or any of the ma jor pyramid structure:..; I
Egypt pr i or to c16 32 B.C.E . It mu st be a lso noted that Imhote p , '
t he architect , prime minister and f irst p h ys i c i an (called " Goo
Medi cine
ll
) , a nd Pharoah Djoser (cal l ed "Zozer
l1
by the Gr e ek.s) 11. 1,1
built the first Step Pyrami d at Saqqar a in 3100 B. C.B.
None of these Asi an Jews were Caucasians, or even of Caw"
sian or igin; therefor e no blond s, redheads or brunnettes one a ..
today as Jews are in any s e n se authentically Jews more s o t hall
black, yellow, and brown o ne sees from Afr ica and As ia.
There ar e ma n y more i mporta n t ana l yses that c ould be d rll wil
from this b i bl i cal story , but such is beyond the s cope o f thi
worh:. There a re, of cour s e, many thousands of wor ks on the :;\ 11,
wh ich go into in-depth detailing , ma ny of which are listed 1 11 I
b i b l i ography a t t he rear of this volume.
The newcomer s prospered or suffered l ike any other Eg y pt I .. ,
in thi s African l and. Their first generation t o be bor n in 1.:' 11" 1
was treated like a ny othe r Afri can, as t here were no r ac i al . '
l i gious or nat ional segc-egation noted at that t i me in a ny P. II
of Africa (Alkebu- l an) .
Here i n Africa, f or the first time , the Asian Jews , nml I
ti.an nationals , had begun t heir f ir s t introduction into t: h(' " II I I
\florl d
ll
( t he ",/or ld o f t he great beyond), religi ous scr ip\. m !H"I
* If Imh otep wa s a p h ys ician more t ha n t wo-thousand (2000 ) y
before the birth of Hipocrates ; wh y is Hj poc;:.rates c a lle d "I h,
father o f medicine
tt
i nstead of the " f ,at hC.r. of Europe. a n m<... d l , I I!
Note that Imhotep is c al led " Ae :;;c.'upalius i n t he s o-coll ,t! !' II '
pocrates Oath" ; in whi ch he i s "l: li e God or Ho dicine .
160
I yr amid Texts," "Monothei sm" - t he wor sh i p of "One God above a ll
11'1 her Gods" - the wor ship o f t he maj or God , RA (the Su n ) , and
"I't)(i n Texts ll (also of t he "Nether World!!) - the story of li fe
"yond and after death - the "Her e a fter .
1I
At this juncture the bas ic philosophical conc ept whi ch sup-
,.1'1.-.clly d istinguish " heathens" and Ifpagans" f rom J e ws, Chris t i a ns,
fit! !l-10s1ems comes i nto shar ply confl icting ide ologies between
I tLer s on bot h sides of the Ye t , no t one can be proven
II h, any be t t e r than. the others. Then; what is there i n " pagan-
In" and lfheatheni sm" wh ich Jews, Christians, a nd j\10slems no long-
I t\c,.lctise tha t make them f eel superior to those who sti ll ob -
1 Vf' 3 uch r e ligious t e ne t s , which ever yone copied from t he Great
' . " nd Ni le Val ley indige nous Afr i cans relig ious theori es?
J :.; there any difference between t he ancient As ian Jews con-
l em to t he indi ge nous Af rican Mysteries f ound in Egypt than
A I r: l.can- Amer icans Conver sion to European a nd Eur opean-Amer ican -
I , L: llr istianity , other than t he f a ct that t he small band o f
, r 8 WS entered Africa o f their m-JO f ree will j a nd whereas t he
I In-Americans' ancestors wer e capt ur e d a nd kidnapped in Af r i -
",Id f orced to mi g ra t e into s l aver y in the A!ilericas? In both
n .... i Lher ha d much c hoi ce a s to which reli g i on they would fo l-
Vl'L , t he indigenous Af r i cans, f rom every section of Africa
11 1m-
J
a n) entered the Americas with sUbs tantial root s in the i r
I I'll ,) 1""1 : " which is more than the As ian J e ws coul d have said f or
Iv(': ; whe n t hey fir st entered EgypL However, like t he As ian
,Ill j nclirye nous Afr i can s , who v.,rer e e n slaved in the Car ibbeans
t Am(' r i t.:a:;) par t i cularly i n the Uni ted Sta t es o f America,
1111 1 I r l II"I c I c r e l i gi on in p laces where they were a llowed to
161
practise their own i ndigenous fai ths. For example, the Yor uba I '
l i9i on o f Cuba, Ha iti, Brazil,and other parts o 'r the Caribbean
Islands a nd Sout h Amer ica is as highly developed as its Jewi ;; h,
Moslem, and Christian counterparts i n these same areas .
In the Americas and Europe the i ndigenous Africans were
forced to adopt Judaeo- Christianity and Islamic standards; ",/I"I !. ,.
as in Afr ica (Egypt ) it '.oJas the As i ans and Europeans having l.o
adopt to the Myster i es a nd other i ndigenous Afr ican tradi tionl' 1
r el i g ious standards, my thology, and taboos . There s hould be no,
f l i ct or reason for shame ove r these r evelations by
or religious group , as it would have been impossible for the \'
Asian Jews in Egypt, who had become Egyptian nat ionals even It.
f ore their first generation was born i n that African land, Jl(oI
have become Afr icanized like the Afr i cans i n Amer ica under I "
lar conditions not to have b ecome European-Americanized . Only
those who feel some sense o f "raci al", "e t hnic" or "religion' "
superior i ty may fi nd reason to re sent the comparisons beinq 1'),1 1
her ein j thoug h not be ing abl e to refu te the fac ts , never- I;l ... I
Yet , such protest could be understood - though not toler alr'f1 .
cause o f the "Tarzan and Jane" Hollywood mov i e i mage or thl } "
and Livingstone Darkes t Af rica
H
stereotype "Negrophobia,"
both sti ll attached to thi ngs Afr i can by those control , t "
great extenc, the wr i tten and spoken \-Jord ..
The whol e concept of a "God" or " Gods" came out o f- L111' )j!'
Valley African civilizations thousands upon thousands 01 V' -,'
fore Sumner (the Kingdom of Hamurabi ) was establ i s hed rllOlll 1 !
banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers . 'l'hJt It/ as mor' It , ll, II
sands of year::; befor e AbraJ1arn - the 'f i r !!!. t H(>bc \-/ ( J e w) - "'"
162
I ., t he City of Ur , Chaldea. This concept, wh ich had gone thro ugh
V"t y e xtens i ve Changes and revisions for t housands o f years be-
nr e the arrival of the As i a n Je\"/s, al l seventy- seven (77) of
, lcm , in Afr ica, was i n its zenith when Abraham, Isaac, J acob, and
1t>3c ph e ntered t he land at t he end of t he Nile River - Sais, wh i c h
!v-y la ter cal led "Egypt . II
The indigenous Africans of Egypt had a lready become profi-
L' nt in the sciences that allowed them to; (a) emba l m their deadj
II) name the bodies in the celestial unive rsej (c) name their
, .\ and minor Gods;
':olar Calendar in
(d) develop agriculturej (e) establish
16
4 ,100 B. C. E. ; ( f) deve lop a fertility
.,I trol tampon r ecipe; 17 (g) bu ild temples to the Gods - including
Ifl world wonde r, the Sphinx of Gezeh (Giza); (h) develop eng ineer-
( i ) devel op medicine - inc ludi ng internal surger Yi
18
(j) de-
p pharmacol ogy and many other disc iplines too nwnecous to try
o utline or define at this time. They even wrote poetry
lit t stories during said period a long with their histor ical
I' ! f' vements in the sciences. Al l of thi s the small group of ha l f -
vl ng Asian Jews met, and \'Iere exposed too, from the first day
'I e n tered Africa out of the As i a n desert, where they were nomads.
11'1 time in their history is there any record of them being ex-
41 to s uch before their encounter \-,l i th the indigenous
I , n!i of the Nile Va lley, who had settled in Sais, Egypt, for the
, lnd s of years before the Jevo/s came. This, then appears to be
'Itnning of what is today called "Judaism, Judaeo-Christianity,
I L,ml ty;' and "Islam." It i s a l so at this j uncture that a l l of
4\nCt!p ts , be they material or spiritual, wh i c h are in any rnan-
'IUHll't; t e d t o either o f these general l y labelled " WESTERN RELIG-
163
IONS"l9 or i g inated.
The se fac ts are pr imarily r evealed in order t hat a better
derstanding of and fiction in that Hhich is t Oday cal:! ,"1
" holy" and lIunholy" scr i ptures can be revealed . They are, of
course, extended t o incl ude the "paganism" t ha t exist in J udl'Jl
Chris t i ani ty,and Is l am. The reas o n for no t s howing t his r e l atl,
shi p in other major r e li g i o ns is due to the f act that they o rl
not label e d "WESTERN RELIGIONS, II even t hough most of them hL\v
been, to a lar ge extent, responsi b le for the thr e e
desi gnated.
For examp le, o ne finds that t he "PROVERBS" i n the Juda('!('
Chr istian uHo"'l y Books", al l egedy "written by inspir ed men o f ' I
(the Hebrew God , Yahweh or Jehovah ), ItJer e llwritte n by King ,Std. I
of Israe L " Bu t , is it not a fact that most of the same " i?r. l";lv
as they have been called, i f not a ll , ar e to be found in a '1 .11
t::ial of poetr y a nd songs by an indigeno us Af ric an - Pharoah (t
A.men-em-ope (1405-13 70 BoC oE o), who l i ved mor e than t hr e e -hILr,, "
(300) year s before the r e ign of King Solomon (976-936 B. C. 1. I
A f ew examples of that which is called the "PROVERBS
II
ar c II I 'HII
for yo ur compariso n with the orig ina l source - "THE TEACHINI
AMEN-EM- OPE .. II Note that ther e are many Eng l i s h ver sions [1 1101 I,
l ati o ns o f the al l eged "PROVER BS OF' KING SOLOMON. " All 01 til'
however , relate to the same meaning as the following"
164
THE COMPARATIVE WORKS
The Teachi ngs o f A.men- em-ope
Pharoah of Egypt (1405 13 70)
Gi ve thine ear, and hear
what I say,
And appl y thine heart to
apprehend j
The so':"' c a lled"Pr ov('Irtw" j "
Sol omo n of Israe l ( 9'1L j
Inc line thine ear , 0"'\ 1111 I"
wor d s ,
And a ppl y t hi ne lieu\:. t t' i
appr ohendj
It is good for t hee to
p l ace t hem in t hine
heart,
Le t the rest i n t he cas _
ket of the bel ly.
Tha t t hey may act as a
peg Upon thy t ong ue
Consider thes e t h ir ty
chapt e rs j
The y de l i ght, they in-
struct .
Knowledge how to a nswer
him that s peake th ,
And how t o c arr y back a
r epor t t o one that
sent it .
Bewar e of robbing the
poor ,
And of oppres sing the
afflic ted .
.....
Assoc i ate not wi th a pas-
si.o'na te man,
Nor appr oach him for COn-
versations;
Leap no t to cleave to
:;;uch a one,
Tha t t he terror carr y t hee
no t away .
A s c r i be who is Skill fu l
in his bus i ness
1' ir.de th himse l f worthy to
be a Co ur tier 0
., ., ....
For it i s p l e asant i f t hou
them in thy bell y,
That t he y may be fi xed upon
thy lips .
Have I no t written f or thee
thirty sayings ,
Of counsels and k nolr/ l edge 1
Tha t t hou ma yes t make k nown
trut h to him that speake t h .
. ....
Rob not the poo r for he is
poor,
Neither the lowl y in
t he gate.
. .. ,.
Associate not wi th a passion-
ate man ,
Nor go with a wra thf ul man ,
Les t thou learn hi s
And ge t a snare t o thy soul .
.....
A man who i s ski l l fu l in hi s
i n his busines s
Shal l stand before king s .
Oil ...
'J.'J"H:! plagiar ism o n Solomo n I s part canno t be o verlooked ; as
10)(-1 of t en c opied Amen-em- ope 's work in too many instances \1ord
t 0 1 d.
Por a dded comparis ons one on ly ne e ds to SeCure books
lI t!. l i sted in t he bibliogr aphy of this wor k .
19a
165
The above revel ati on i s mi nor by c ompar ison to the fact Il,
the entire "TEN COr-W'lANDMENTS ", \oJh ich Moses i s reported t o hav('
ceived o n Mt Si nai , are just "Ten" of the more than o ne - hundr;" /'d
and for ty-seven ( 147 ) l aws the indigenous Afric ans had writte ll
before t he f ir st Har ibu ( Jew), Abraham, entered Sai s ( Egypt>, h l.1
s ti l l were in us e when, and after, Moses l eft \>lest er n Egypt [ u'
Nt . Sinai d ur ing the EXODUS drama spoken of in the '1'hl
c an be bes t observed in the excer pts from the IINEGATIVE CONF'J-:
5 6 9 and 70. Chap ter I. of this , volume S t r an9(> 1-, SIDNS" on page
enough, wherever t he "Ten Commandments " a r e being taught t he ,!
pr esen ted as a deve l opment that wa s void of any indigenous /I. r I
origin or invol vement. This is best demons trated i n the f o ] llO\I'
commen ts ove r the fai lur e o f educa t ional i nst i tution s in tl'w rl .,
States of AlDe r ica to t ake into account a greater degr e e of !':lI r ,
Amer ican J ewish her i tage i yet, from s imi lar s ources the s
a gai ns t African-Ame rican heritage wi thin the same education.! I
sti tutions are being resi s ted very f iercely . Bu t t he follOl,;! r" ,
article should be s ufficient proof a s to why Afr ic an-Ame ri';: (lll t .
-1::or y, not "Ne gro hi story," i s of impor tance to every Amer i e ,'11
r es pective o f r ace , creed, na tional origin, sex or col or, "I,
166
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, MAY 18,1969
A Study Say, Textbooks Err on Hi,tory
By IRVING SP1EGEL
The American Jewish .Com
miuee reported yesterda.y that
a study of history and &ocial
textboOlu uled in Junior
lfId unior high achool. through.
Ouf the tOuntry had ShoW1l
"many errors and misconcep
tions" about Jews and a dis-
of ltJe1r aelUevemenllr.
Tbt,. lindlnJi or} the study.
u -
tenslve aCAdemic backrrounds,
was made public by Brrtn.m H.
Gold. executive viu pre&ident
or the committee, at' 63d
annual Ineeting at the Waldorf
f .. toria Motel.
The mllor ponlon ,,1 1I'l10
wat devoted lCI II til'-
tallf)(l examlnatJOn ot 4!l ttll t
book.s IUld other inMnl('IJ(tIiJl l
material in Lhroll,lll\
out the coun try,
n xlJr Mr. Gold Nl ld, __ If
.u seued on boll i_ or dll ,
hllldlina 01 Biblical Il.Ild po, ...
Bi blical tim@s, the MidcUe A&ft'l
the modem era anQ the a utb-
Hshment of Israel U a natlM,
the Nazi period, and
tlon. by J ews to American 50;
cieV,'. .
study Ulted. a ts(tlook
tbtitied "A Hlltory ot the
tlnlt-ed State . ... by Alden. and
Magenia, published by the
American Book Company in
is no listing for the
Jews !.n the index, no mention
ot the presence of Jews among
the early 8ettiers in the Uni ted
S'"'te& ... rto men tion or My
Jewish contribution," the report
SIIIII,
I
AftOther book, "The Amer ican
Story" by Gavian and Hamm,
D, C. Heath and Company,
lon, 1959, the st udy said,
1'IO.tntion ot the " large J'eWl , h
rnI.IratJon to t his country and
III cont ributJon" or of "HttlM'a
ot the Jews."
"There Is very little lrrtorma
Iloa on I!IJ'uJ. e:oIdlJ)t to men-
tiO'll" iU' ihe study
tlted was "A Global Hla-
tory of Ma.:l ," by [.erten S.
... .........
1,4 Di.rtgard (Dr AcnitPmftlb
1$ SItDUln in Higl. Scholl'
Mldtrials, Plmfl f inds
I
StavnanOs, Allyn IlOd Bacon,
Ine" Boston, 1962_
, Hltt.cH1' ot Hebrews I
""'. ttxt .devotes half or 41
to the filet tha t six
million Jews were murdered
dunn!!: World War II. is
t l!lterr-ed to as one of the CO!t.5
1
'ot the war," the study sa.id,
Accol'dina t.c the study, ''The
Worl d Story," by Bruun anel
Haines, D_ C. Heath and Com-
pany, Bolrton, 1963, in relating
l
the history of the early He-
breW3, concl udes wi lli the fol
10wlng statement:
' 'Their [the p,?phels']
ings, together _th the earY. er
record s of the Hebrews. we. "I
later put together to (om: the
Old Testament of the Chnstltl.lI