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Post by A Boy Named KING on Apr 16, 2024 13:34:26 GMT -5
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Post by zarahan on Apr 28, 2024 0:17:39 GMT -5
Those verses refer to what is symbolic or metaphorical. "Eyes like blazing fire" does not literally mean that there is a man with fire coming out of his eyeballs. Hair white like wool is also metaphorical- referring to a sense of purity, and also the judgement aspect of Christ when in the Biblical prophecy, he will rule the earth in judgement: (Acts 17:31 "because he [God] has set a day in which he is going to judge the habitable earth in righteousness by the man whom he has appointed, giving the proof of it to all in having raised him from among the dead. .." All this could be represented by the vision Daniel had, of an angelic being. Angles in the Biblical narrative are the ones who often execute divine judgment.
According to the well known Biblical teaching though, the present time is not one of judgment, but one of grace- meaning all men can have their sins forgiven and be reconciled to God- get a clean slate- before passing over the portal between life and death, by acceptance of Christ's atoning work, not just that he may have been a prophet in Palestine, but his person and work. Most cultures recognize an afterlife, and consequences following based on action and motives while in this life.
This is worth looking into because some think that an afterlife based on conduct in the present world is something white people came up with. But this is not so at all. It is a universal concern in many cultures. The Egyptians for example were very concerned about it. The Yoruba of West Africa also envisioned an afterlife: there would be a place of peace, happiness and purity, but for the unjust or evil, there would be another place of despair and anguish- the envisioned it as a wasteland of broken pots, symbolic of all human pride, ambition. corruption and self-indulgence- broken down and waste. In some Yoruba teaching it is known as Orun Padi is the land of potsherds, it is the spiritual realm where people who commit evil during their lifetime go to dig their pit of sorrow.
Orun Padi is analogous in part to the Judeo-Christian Sheol/Gehenna, the Greco-Roman Hades/Tartarus, and the various dark and despairing afterlife places of Hinduism, and Buddhism. The Yoruba also had a reincarnation belief but that would not kick in until soul paid the price in the sorrowful wasteland. How long would a soul have to suffer? A century? A millennia? No one knows for sure. And the reincarnation offers no guarantee that there would not eventually be a repeat of sins or evil, meaning another never-ending round on the sorrowful cycle, as additional sins and offences are committed in the "new" life.
The Egyptians opted more for a "balance sheet" approach. The soul would be weighted on the scales of Maat, with the right balance bringing escape from the zone of despair. The problem with the balance sheet is that the 3-fold moral weight will trip up all humans: that is, actions, thoughts, and motives. People can LOOK or act good OUTWARDLY, but what are their inward motives? Some celebs may give to charity, but their underlying motive is not really charitable, but to look good and get favorable publicity. This is a common condition of humans. Actions may look right but the underlying motives are something else. Then there are thoughts. Again, everything may look perfectly right and correct OUTWARDLY, but what are the thoughts inside the head? Many a respectable man would not put his hands on an attractive woman not his own, but in his thoughts, he might be fantasizing about raping her. Here again is another trip-up- thoughts, which are subject to moral scrutiny in the afterlife just like actions. Almost all moral systems consider not only outward actions that you can see, but what is INWARD a well, and this is a great dilemma for a human. The balance can never be in favor of the human soul due to wrong thoughts, actions and motives. If you can be tripped up by any of the three things: actions, thoughts or motives, what or who can make things right in the afterlife?
Christian faith hold for a one time forgiveness of sins through belief in Christ and his atoning work. No endless cycles of trying to get it right, because given human nature, there will always be greed, injustice, lying, murder, in all 3 dimensions: thought, motive and deed. Other faiths use different angles to approach the problem. ------------------------------- -----
The above being said though, the metaphorical verses need not be used literally to see Jesus as "black African." Given the frequent swarthy and brown complexions of people in the Palestine region, it is not hard to see Jesus being sent to the back of the bus during the Jim Crow era to be with the brothers. Some Brown-skinned Italian immigrants were lynched in the Jim Crow era- and part of the reason for their demise was that they were seen as being too familiar with the blacks- were not too proud to do business with them, or treat them with respect. Second, Jesus was hated by the "establishment" of his day because he was not too proud to hang out with, or minister to the despised and downtrodden. In apartheid South Africa and many parts of the US, even outside the Jim Crow region, this would "taint" him- make him "black"- persona non grata.
Third, Jesus can be seen as metaphorically "black" because he was not afraid to speak truth to power- to speak up against injustice and corruption and hypocrisy. See John 8- the big shots gathered to stone a woman taken in adultery, but Jesus said: "Let he among you who is without sin cast the first stone." They all departed in shame because their hypocrisy was exposed. Why didn't they also charge the MAN with adultery, rather than singling out the woman? See also Mathew 21: 12-13 where he cast the money-changers and merchants out of the holy temple. "My house shall be called a house of prayer, but yet have made it a den of thieves." The establishment of the day didn't like that because they were in on it and reaped profits from commercialization of the temple and the faith. In the African American prophetic tradition, there have been persons not afraid to speak truth to power. Many of these ended up ostracized, run out of town or received a bullet for their trouble- ML king is the classic example.
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Post by A Boy Named KING on Apr 29, 2024 11:57:14 GMT -5
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Post by zarahan on May 2, 2024 0:52:59 GMT -5
" his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude." This verse is symbolic and metaphorical, suggesting the dread power of one that will bring the judgment of God. This could be an archangel. There is no ordinary human being with lightning popping over his face, or fire coming out of his eyes, or having arms and legs made of gleaming metal. The section is metaphorical, and while it could be prophetically fulfilled, does not mean that an ordinary, literal flesh and blood man is in view. A fuller section of the verses read: Daniel 10-6 to 10-12: 10:6 and his body was like a chrysolite, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as torches of fire, and his arms and his feet as the look of burnished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. 10:7 And I Daniel alone saw the vision; and the men that were with me saw not the vision, but a great quaking fell on them, and they fled to hide themselves..
10:11 And he said unto me, O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words which I speak unto thee, and stand ; for unto thee am I now sent. And as he spoke this word unto me, I stood trembling. 10:12 And he said unto me, Fear not, Daniel; for from the first day that thou didst set thy heart to understand, and to humble thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come because of thy words. As can be seen from the context, Daniel saw this powerful figure in a VISION. He did not see a literal, ordinary human being. No ordinary human has a body made of green chrysolite. The language used is obviously symbolic. A body "like" a gemstone has a lot of symbolic meaning. Notice also that the powerful figure versus 11-12 - was one "sent" to Daniel to make him understand the prophecies. Angels are sometimes "sent" to relay messages to humans. A similar powerful angel sent to the Apostle John appears in the Book of Revelation, and John too, like Daniel, falls before the feet of the mighty angel.. Don't fall into the trap of literalism with a "black" twist. There is more than enough historically or culturally to make a dark-skinned or "black" Jesus possible. Consider too that by Western cultural definitions the racial category "black" includes people with brown skin. But this refers to ordinary humans, not angelic beings.
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Post by A Boy Named KING on Jul 2, 2024 11:26:54 GMT -5
this is the color of burnished bronze: This is why the people of the Holy Bible were Black people and Samsons seven braided hair this is wool hair Hair like wool is effectively inside the black Race
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