Yes, many Rastafarians believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate and an important figure worthy of worship. However, Rastafari is a decentralized movement with no universally accepted creed, so beliefs about Jesus differ considerably among Rastas. Some regard Jesus as the Messiah, the Second Coming, or Jah incarnate; others see him as a messenger of God, a human prophet, or the embodiment of divine teachings rather than God himself.
Rastafarians generally believe in one God, whom they call Jah, and many understand Jah through a Trinitarian framework involving the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. At the same time, they commonly reject the traditional European image of Jesus, arguing that Jesus was a black African and that Western societies corrupted Christianity and misrepresented its origins.
Why the answer is not the same for every Rastafarian
Rastafari is an Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control of the movement and much diversity exists among practitioners, who are known as Rastafari, Rastafarians, or Rastas.
Rastafari has continuously changed and developed. It is not a unified movement, and there has never been a single leader followed by all Rastafari. Different Rasta groups exist, each promoting different variations on its basic teachings. It is thus difficult to make broad generalisations about the movement without obscuring the complexities within it.
The scholar of religion Darren J. N. Middleton suggested that it was appropriate to speak of “a plethora of Rasta spiritualities” rather than a single phenomenon. Attempts to summarise Rastafari teaching have never been accorded the status of a catechism or creed. Instead, Rasta beliefs are open to interpretation, with Rastas emphasising the idea that personal experience and intuitive understanding should be used to determine the truth or validity of a belief or practice.
No Rasta, therefore, has the authority to declare which beliefs and practices are orthodox and which are heterodox. The conviction that Rastafari has no dogma “is so strong that it has itself become something of a dogma”, according Peter B. Clarke, a scholar of the sociology of religion.
Rastafari belief in Jah and Jesus
Rastas are monotheists, worshipping a singular God whom they call Jah. The term “Jah” is a shortened version of “Jehovah”, the name of God in English translations of the Old Testament.
Rastafarianism is a monotheistic religion that claims a single God. The Rastas refer to this God as “Jah” and, similar to Christianity, see Jah in the form of the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Ghost). Rastas emphasize that in the Holy Ghost form, Jah can be found within all human beings.
Rastas believe in the immanence of Jah, meaning that he is inherent within each individual. This is reflected in the common Rasta aphorism that “God is man and man is God”, and Rastas speak of “knowing” Jah, rather than “believing” in him.
Jesus is an important figure in Rastafari. Like Christians, Rastafarians honour Yeshua, the Christ, as worthy of worship. In fact, most Rastas consider themselves uncorrupted Christian people.
Rastas also agree with Christians that Jesus Christ is God incarnate. They believe, however, that the teachings and legacy of Jesus Christ were corrupted by Western Society, which they often refer to as “Babylon.”
How Rastas understand Jesus
Rastafarian interpretations of Jesus can be grouped into several broad positions, although these positions do not represent an official universal doctrine.
- Jesus as God incarnate: Some Rastas believe that Jesus Christ is God in human form and identify him with Jah.
- Jesus as the Messiah: Some regard Jesus as the promised Messiah and connect Haile Selassie with the Second Coming of Jesus.
- Jesus as a messenger: Other Rastas believe that Haile Selassie embodied Jesus’ teachings and essence but was not God himself.
- Jesus as a human prophet or teacher: Some practitioners respect Jesus without accepting traditional Christian doctrines about his divinity.
- Jesus as present in everyone: More pantheistic or New Age-oriented interpretations look for the Christ Spirit or Lion Spirit in all people.
One track sees Selassie as the second coming of Jesus Christ. The other, more Hinduistic in its theology, views Selassie as an avatar of sorts. This second track embraces a pantheism that looks for the Lion Spirit or Christ Spirit in all.
Other Rastas do not believe Selassie was Jesus, but think that he embodied Jesus’ teachings and essence. For them, Selassie is a messenger of God rather than a manifestation of God himself.
Members of the Twelve Tribes of Israel denomination, for instance, reject the idea that Selassie was the Second Coming, arguing that this event has yet to occur. Rastas holding to this view sometimes regard the deification of Haile Selassie as ignorant, in some cases thinking it as dangerous to worship a human being as God.
Why many Rastas reject the traditional image of Jesus
Rastas believe that Jesus was black, and that he is only depicted as white as a result of the West’s corruption of Christianity. Jesus is an important figure in Rastafari; however, practitioners reject the traditional Christian view of Jesus and the common depiction of him as a white European.
They believe Jesus was a black African, with white Jesus being a false god. Rastas often regard Christianity as the creation of the white man, a religion that has helped oppress the African diaspora, trapping them in a form of “mental enslavement”.
Many Rastas believe that the oppressors (white Europeans) and the oppressed (black Africans) cannot share the same God. Their objection is therefore not necessarily directed at Jesus himself, but at the ways in which Christianity was used to justify colonialism, slavery, cultural domination, and racial hierarchy.
Rastas object strongly to the name Jesus, preferring Yesus, Yeshua, or Kristos because the first ship commissioned to begin the British slave trade was the S.S. Jesus of Lubbock. Rastas suspect the conciliatory motives of Christian churches that historically permitted the conquest of the Americas and black slavery.
Jesus, Christianity, and “Babylon”
“Babylon” is a central concept in Rastafari. It generally refers to the political, economic, religious, and cultural systems that Rastas see as oppressive, imperialistic, and hostile to African dignity.
Rastafari is Afrocentric and focuses attention on the African diaspora, which it believes is oppressed within “Babylon,” meaning Western capitalist society. Many Rastas call for this diaspora’s resettlement in Africa, a continent they consider “Zion”, the Promised Land.
The teachings and legacy of Jesus Christ were corrupted by Western Society, which Rastas often refer to as “Babylon.” Rastas believe that the Bible’s true meaning has been warped through mistranslation and by deliberate manipulation by those seeking to deny black Africans their history.
Some Rastas believe that the God of white Christians is actually the Devil, and a recurring claim among Rastas is that the Pope is Satan or the Antichrist. Rastas also need to drop their idea that the Pope is the Antichrist.
The idea originated with the Pope’s blessing of Mussolini’s troops on their way to conquer Ethiopia, Rastafari’s spiritual homeland. A sincere apology and some act of penance from the Roman Catholic Church is definitely in order.
For many Rastas, “Babylon” is the real enemy rather than Jesus. The demonic structures of “Babylon,” the world’s ungodly systems, are the real enemy of the Rasta camp and the church-not each other.
Jesus and the Bible in Rastafari
Being an Abrahamic religion, Rastafarianism draws heavily from the Bible. Like Christianity, Rastafari treats the Bible as a holy book which is central to its belief system.
Rastas often adopt a literalist interpretation of its contents, utilising it as a source book from which to form their own beliefs and practices. They believe the Bible to be key to understanding both the past and the present and for predicting the future.
The New Testament Book of Revelation is considered the most important piece of scripture. The Bible’s final book, the Book of Revelation, is often seen as being particularly important for understanding the world’s present situation.
Many adherents of Rastafarianism believe that the written Bible makes up only half of the true Bible. These Rastas believe that the other half of the Bible can be found in one’s own heart.
Because of what they regard as the corruption of the Bible, Rastas also turn to other sources that they believe shed light on African history, including Leonard Howell’s 1935 work The Promised Key, Robert Athlyi Rogers’ 1924 book Holy Piby, and Fitz Balintine Pettersburg’s 1920s work, the Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy.
Many Rastas also treat the Kebra Nagast, a 14th-century Ethiopian text, as a source through which to interpret the Bible. Rastas commonly believe the Bible was originally written on stone in the Ethiopian language of Amharic, maintaining that it is an authentic account of African history that explains the Africans’ place as God’s favoured people.
They also regard the Bible as cryptographic, meaning that it has many hidden meanings. They believe that its true teachings can be revealed through intuition and meditation on the “book within” which allows them to commune with God.
Haile Selassie and the identity of Jesus
Rastafari is intrinsically linked with Haile Selassie, the Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He is the central figure in Rastafari ideology, and all Rastas hold him in esteem, although precise interpretations of his identity differ.
Many Rastas believe that Haile Selassie was the Second Coming of Jesus, legitimising this by reference to their interpretation of the nineteenth chapter of the Book of Revelation. In viewing Haile Selassie as Jesus, these Rastas regard him as the messiah prophesied in the Old Testament, the manifestation of God in human form, and “the living God”.
Some perceive him as part of the Trinity, alongside God as Creator and the Holy Spirit, the latter called “the Breath within the temple”. Rastas viewing Haile Selassie as Jesus argue that both descended from the royal line of the Biblical king David, further highlighting that Haile Selassie’s Makonnen dynasty claimed descent from the Biblical figures Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.
The connection between Jesus and Haile Selassie is not accepted by every Rasta. In 1997 members of one branch of Rasta, The Twelve Tribes of Israel, declared their faith in Christ alone, but still maintain a place for Haile Selassie in biblical prophecy.
Haile Selassie’s own view
Throughout his life, Selassie persisted in denying that he was divine and directed people instead to his Lord - Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, devotion to the emperor continued to grow and has increased since his death in 1975.
During his life, Selassie described himself as a devout Christian. In a 1967 interview, Selassie was asked about the Rasta belief that he was the Second Coming of Jesus, to which he responded: “I have heard of this idea. I also met certain Rastafarians. I told them clearly that I am a man, that I am mortal, and that I will be replaced by the oncoming generation, and that they should never make a mistake in assuming or pretending that a human being is emanated from a deity.”
His grandson Ermias Sahle Selassie has said that there is “no doubt that Haile Selassie did not encourage the Rastafari movement”. Critics of Rastafari have used this as evidence that Rasta theological beliefs are incorrect, although some Rastas take Selassie’s denials as evidence that he was indeed the incarnation of God, based on their reading of the Gospel of Luke.
Some Rastas went from believing that Haile Selassie was Jesus and thus God incarnate to seeing him as a distinct entity. A third response within the Rastafari community acknowledged that Selassie’s body had perished, but maintained that his inner spiritual essence survived.
Another perspective within Rastafari acknowledged that Selassie’s body had perished, but maintained that his inner spiritual essence survived. A third response within the Rastafari community acknowledged that Selassie’s body had perished, but maintained that his inner spiritual essence survived.
Haile Selassie as a barrier between Rastas and Christians
While a common bond between Rastas and Christians, Selassie is also the largest barrier. What separates the two groups the most is the treatment by many Rastas of Haile Selassie as divine.
For Christians to reconcile the reverence that Rastas give him is extremely hard. Such reverence is due only to God. Christians can, however, respect Haile Selassie as a devout Christian emperor, friend of Billy Graham, and outspoken follower of Christ.
If desiring a dialogue with Rastas, Christians need to respect the Rastafari position that the emperor is the Davidic king of prophecy, though Christians certainly need not agree with it. All Rastas need to accept the emperor’s own self-denial of deity, as the Twelve Tribes of Israel have done, and follow his lead to full faith in Christ alone for salvation.
Rastas and Christians: shared beliefs
Rastas and Christians have much in common. Both movements are fiercely monotheistic. Rastas, like Christians, look to the Bible for divine counsel, keying off the Ten Commandments and Golden Rule to teach respect for God and God’s creation, preservation of life, mercy toward opponents, and moderation and holiness toward money, sex, power.
Many Rastas consider themselves uncorrupted Christian people. A large percentage of Rastafarians follow the lead of seminal preacher, Leonard Howell, who referred to Yeshua as “Our Lord” in his foundational book, The Promised Key.
Two significant figures in Rastafari were Christians. Marcus Garvey, an outspokenly Trinitarian Christian from a Free Methodist background, is deemed a prophet in Rastafari. More significant to Rastafari is Haile Selassie I, a devout Ethiopian Orthodox monarch.
The Oriental Orthodox Churches have declared Haile Selassie a defender of the Christian faith. In 1997 members of one branch of Rasta, The Twelve Tribes of Israel, declared their faith in Christ alone, but still maintain a place for Haile Selassie in biblical prophecy.
Marcus Garvey and Christian belief
Many within Rastafari also look to Marcus Garvey as a prophet of the movement. In the early 1900s, Garvey led a movement to create an Africa homeland for blacks. This encouraged the strong sense of Afrocentrism in Jamaica and the Caribbean.
When witnessing, it might be helpful to share the following from an address Garvey delivered in 1928 at the Century Theater in London:
“I believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost; I endorse the Nicean Creed; I believe that Jesus died for me; I believe that God lives for me as for all men; and no condition you can impose on me by deceiving me about Christianity will cause me to doubt Jesus Christ and to doubt God. I shall never hold Christ or God responsible for the commercialization of Christianity by the heartless men who adopt it as the easiest means of fooling and robbing other people out of their land and country.”
Why some Rastas describe Rastafari as a way of life
Rastafarianism is a modern religious movement that has arisen from the tenets of Judaism and Christianity. Also known as the Rastafari movement, Rastafarianism is not a traditional highly organized religion, like its ancestors, Judaism and Christianity.
Some Rastas seek to dispose completely of the notion that Rastafarianism is a religion at all. These Rastas prefer to think of Rastafarianism as a “way of life.”
Many Rastas nevertheless reject descriptions of Rastafari as a religion, instead referring to it as a “way of life”, a “philosophy”, or a “spirituality”. Many Rastas or Rastafarians-as practitioners are known-nevertheless dislike the labelling of Rastafari as a “movement”.
The term “Rastafari” derives from “Ras Tafari Makonnen”, the pre-regnal title of Haile Selassie, the former Ethiopian emperor who occupies a central role in Rasta belief. The term “Ras” is a title of nobility equivalent to a duke or prince in the Ethiopian Semitic languages; “Tafari Makonnen” was Selassie’s personal name.
As well as being the religion’s name, “Rastafari” is also used for the religion’s practitioners themselves. Many commentators-including some academic sources and some practitioners-refer to the movement as “Rastafarianism”. However, the term is disparaged by many Rastafari, who believe that the use of -ism implies religious doctrine and institutional organisation, things they wish to avoid.
The historical background of Rastafari
Rastafari originated among impoverished and socially disenfranchised Afro-Jamaican communities in 1930s Jamaica. A reaction against Jamaica’s then-dominant British colonial culture, it was influenced by both Ethiopianism and the Back-to-Africa movement promoted by black nationalist figures such as Marcus Garvey.
The religion developed after several Protestant Christian clergymen, most notably Leonard Howell, proclaimed that Haile Selassie’s 1930 crowning as Emperor of Ethiopia fulfilled a biblical prophecy. By the 1950s, Rastafari’s countercultural stance had brought the movement into conflict with wider Jamaican society, including violent clashes with law enforcement.
When Ras Tafari Makonnen became emperor of Ethiopia and took the name Haile Selassie I in 1930, he was lauded with the titles “Lion of Judah, Elect of God, King of Kings.” Many believed the Messiah had arrived.
Throughout his life, however, Selassie persisted in denying that he was divine and directed people instead to his Lord - Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, devotion to the emperor continued to grow and has increased since his death in 1975.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Rastafari gained increased respectability within Jamaica and greater visibility abroad through the popularity of Rastafari-inspired reggae musicians, most notably Bob Marley. Enthusiasm for Rastafari declined in the 1980s following the deaths of Selassie and Marley, but the movement has survived and maintains a presence in many parts of the world.
Jesus and Rastafari’s Afrocentrism
Rastafari’s understanding of Jesus is inseparable from its Afrocentric worldview. The movement’s greatest continuity lies not in doctrine but in the sociological threads running through it.
These include the movement’s Afro-centrism; its rejection of Western imperialism; its hope for a black Messiah; its desire to provide adherents with a positive self-identity; and its will to effect change in social and political structures, in the natural environment, and in each human being.
Rastas also believe that Africa, and especially Ethiopia, has been promised to them by Jesus Christ. They refer to these Holy lands as Zion. They also believe that they are the real Children of Israel.
This belief can be seen in the strong Afrocentrism evident in Rastafarianism. Also present in Rastafarianism is the concept of “Black Pride.” Many early Rastas believed in the idea of black supremacy, but later, Rastafarianism evolved to accept people of all ethnicities, as they came to believe that the religion should belong to all humans.
Early Rastafari often espoused black supremacy as a form of opposition to white supremacy, but this has gradually become less common since the 1970s. Most Rastafari are of African descent, and some groups accept only black members, but non-black groups have also emerged.
Rastafari as a form of Christianity or a reform movement
Rastafari is a post-colonial phenomenon that can trace some of its roots to Christianity. In fact, many who have embraced this system of belief came out of the churches and see Rastafari as a reform movement within Christianity.
Some Rastas consider themselves Christian. Like Christianity, Rastafari treats the Bible as a holy book which is central to its belief system. A growing movement within Rastafari is calling Rastas away from their New Age beliefs and idolization of Haile Selassie I-and to a Trinitarian, orthodox Christian faith.
As Caribbean churches have recently become more welcoming of Rastafarians, reggae music, and Afrocentrism, a greater rapprochement between Rastas and Christians has developed. Growing numbers of Rastas have entered Christian churches and taken Jesus as their Saviour while continuing a dreadlocked Rasta lifestyle.
One branch of the messianic track of Rastafarianism - the Twelve Tribes - appears to have moved in a more biblical direction in recent years. As was noted in Part One, the more these particular followers have delved into Selassie’s writings and his life, the more they realize that he was a follower of Jesus.
Spencer insists that the best opportunity for evangelism is with such people and that the work involves “moving them from worshipping Haile Selassie as God to worshipping Haile Selassie’s God - Jesus.”
Rastafari ceremonies and religious practice
There are two major ceremonies that members of Rastafarianism engage in. One ceremony is called reasoning, and consists of a gathering of Rastas who smoke cannabis and discuss political, philosophical and ethical issues of the day.
Groundation, the other major ceremony of Rastafarianism is a holy day during which Rastas sing, dance, smoke cannabis and recite a prayer very similar to the Christian Lord’s Prayer.
Rastas refer to their practices as “livity”, which includes adhering to Ital dietary requirements, wearing their hair in dreadlocks, and following patriarchal gender roles. Communal meetings are known as “groundations”, and are typified by music, chanting, discussions, and the smoking of cannabis, the latter regarded as a sacrament with beneficial properties.
Rastafari often claim the flag of the Ethiopian Royal Standard as was used during Haile Selassie’s reign. It combines the conquering lion of Judah, symbol of the Ethiopian monarchy, with red, gold, and green.
Ganja and other differences from orthodox Christianity
The Rastafarian use of cannabis, called ganja, is also a great barrier for Christians. Some Rastas, like the outspoken Mutabaruka in his poem “Dispel the Lie,” are already critiquing this addictive blight.
As Marcus Garvey campaigned against ganja and Haile Selassie outlawed its use in Ethiopia, the Church at large rejects it. The major doctrinal barrier would be the view of Selassie as God and the view of ganja as a sacrament.
Other Rastafarian attitudes and beliefs are blocking more Rastas from embracing orthodox Christianity as their own-but these too are being challenged. Conservative Rastas, like the Bobo Dreads, need to reexamine their subjugation of women to the extent that menstruating women can be enclosed in-house and fed through a small aperture for a 21-day period each month.
The Rasta male propensity for polygyny (serial unmarried mates) must also cease. Rastas insist that promiscuity, child abuse, and homosexuality in Christian churches must also end if Rastafarians are to take Christians seriously.
Salvation, transformation, and the meaning of Jesus
Rastas often believe salvation to be earthly, in terms of systemic change, and have a sketchy theology of the afterlife. Rastafari’s appeal often centers in its social consciousness rather than in its religious principles, and the prime purveyor of Rastafarian theology is reggae.
Rastafari speaks to the desire to bring about justice and equity in society and political structures, as well as to the desire to heal the planet and heal the self. Christianity is about nothing if it is not about transformation - through Jesus Christ.
Only through Him is true transformation possible, and only through Him can we have eternal salvation. For many Rastas, however, salvation is also connected with liberation from Babylon, restoration of African dignity, and the transformation of unjust social structures.
Reggae music “speaks” to people outside of Jamaica, William David Spencer says, because it is a music of protest. “Those who are experiencing oppression within their respective countries relate.”
Some members of the movement have a deep antagonism toward those they view as the oppressors. The movement’s Afro-centrism, its rejection of Western imperialism, its hope for a black Messiah, and its desire to provide adherents with a positive self-identity all shape the way Jesus is understood.
Christianity, colonialism, and the misuse of Jesus’ name
Rastas suspect the conciliatory motives of Christian churches that historically permitted the conquest of the Americas and black slavery. Christians need to separate Yeshua from the oppression done in his name.
One should also avoid trying to defend or excuse the evil done in Jesus’ name in the past. William Spencer advises, “When evangelizing Rastas, move to the parable of the wheat and tares: the farmer plants the field and weeds spring up in the midst of the wheat. Simply say, ‘This is what happens in the Christian church. The evil one has put false people in who engage in lying, cheating, stealing. These weeds are not Christians…’”
We must also admit that genuine Christians have not always behaved in ways that honor the Savior. We must not defend the indefensible.
In recent years, however, Judeo-Christianity has been blamed for the world’s environmental crises as critics have misread the biblical mandate of Genesis 1:28 to subdue the earth. Christians also have been faulted for their part in the spread of Western imperialism, and individual Christians have not always presented the best witness for Christ.
First, Christianity should not be blamed for the abuse of the world’s resources. Rather, sinful human beings have disobeyed the Lord’s command to be stewards of the earth. Second, we must admit that some missionaries were “blind to their own ethnocentrism” and were thus “predisposed not to appreciate the cultures of the people to whom they went” and subsequently “developed them according to Western standards and suppositions.”
Of course, this has not been true of all missionaries. The vast majority were well-intentioned, desiring only to share Jesus Christ.
How to understand an individual Rasta’s belief in Jesus
When sharing the gospel with Rastafarians, one should view each Rasta as an individual and not as a “member” of a system. The first step, therefore, is to embrace the Rasta as a friend and to ask questions to discern who the person is and what he or she actually believes.
What will count is your own authenticity and your willingness to share yourself. A presentation of the gospel to a Rasta must be divorced from any Western definition of the gospel.
Many Rastas are open to a consideration of the Bible and to discussions of Jesus Christ. In fact, one branch of the messianic track of Rastafarianism - the Twelve Tribes - appears to have moved in a more biblical direction in recent years.
In contrast to such confessions of the Christian faith, many Rastas are more New Age or Hindu in orientation. Consequently, the approach with these people should be to counter the concepts of pantheism, or self-divinity.
One approach is to take the individual through the Bible to demonstrate the inconsistency of pantheism with the Scriptures. Another is to use the “world-view-independent principles of evaluation” posited by David K. Clark and Norman L. Geisler in their Apologetics in the New Age.
They suggest that philosophical ideas be tested to see if they meet reasonable standards of consistency, coherence, comprehensiveness, and congruity.
Direct answer: do Rastafarians believe in Jesus?
Many Rastafarians do believe in Jesus, but they do not all understand him in the same way as orthodox Christians. Rastas commonly honour Jesus as Yeshua, Kristos, the Messiah, or God incarnate. They generally connect him with Jah and accept the Bible as a central source of spiritual authority.
At the same time, some Rastas reject the traditional white European image of Jesus, regard Western Christianity as a corrupted form of his teaching, or interpret Jesus through Afrocentric, pantheistic, or New Age ideas. Some identify Haile Selassie with Jesus or the Second Coming, while others insist that Selassie was a human prophet and a follower of Jesus rather than God.
Therefore, the most accurate answer is that Rastafarians often believe in Jesus, but Rastafari has no single official doctrine defining exactly who Jesus is. The belief of an individual Rasta may range from Trinitarian Christian faith to reverence for Jesus as a black African prophet, teacher, Messiah, or manifestation of Jah.
tags: #do #rastafarians #believe #in #jesus