Are Rastafaris Christian?

[angels4u]

1 hour ago, thereselittleflower said:

If we take someone's words out of context, then we can  say anything we want about what they say and make it look like its relevant.

The walls around the Vatican have no relevancy to the walls he was speaking of in relationship to immigration at the border between the US and Mexico.  They belong to two totally different contexts and context is everything.

It is non sequitur that the walls or fences or any barriers where anyone lives should have to come down because they are against Trump's idea of a wall at our border.   The walls, barriers, fences signify completely different concepts.

I have fences around my property - does this have anything to do with immigration?

No.

Should I tear down my fences because I am against a wall at our border?

No.

My fences serve a completely different function than what Trump wants to build a wall for.

 

It is completely and totally non sensical to tell me I must tear down my fences because I am against Trump's idea of a wall at our border.

And I don't believe he's a christian either.   

 

Jesus said:

Matthew 7

• A Tree and its Fruit
  15"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.16"You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17"So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.

  
  Matthew 7:20
  Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

   

  Matthew 12:33
  "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.

   

  Luke 6:43
  "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.

   

  Luke 6:44
  Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers.

   

  Galatians 5:22
  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Do you see these as the predominate fruits?

 

 

 

Who don't you believe is a Christian? The Pope or Trump?

[Ezra]

12 hours ago, junobet said:

But I wondered: would you say that it’s Christian?

It's about as Christian as Voodooism.

[Ezra]

3 hours ago, Rick_Parker said:

That is probably true for 99 out of 100 Rastafarians. But, if even 1 out of 100 is born again (how many closet born again people are there who sit under Islam?), then there can be Christians within their ranks.

Not really.  Anyone who truly repents and believe will leave Rastafarianism as far as possible. So there cannot be a theoretical 1%. Repentance means turning away from all sins, idols, and false religions.

[Gargamel Bojangles]

i think people can be religious but not have a real relationship with God.  Kinda like just going through the motions

[junobet]

5 hours ago, Butero said:

The only people that are Christians are those that worship Christ.  This group worships a man other than Christ, so of course they are not Christian.  How is this even a serious discussion? 

Actually I’m quite surprised myself how much of a discussion this has attracted.

It was your thread by the way that made my wandering mind think of this one. The song mentioned in the OP begins with the line “Lucifer, son of the morning, I’m gonna chase you out of earth.”  It’s a classical Christian misinterpretation to associate Lucifer as mentioned in Isaiah 14 with Satan falling from heaven. Look at the text and you’ll find that it actually talks about a Babylonian king, whose star (i.e. Empire) will fall.

The point of my question here was: do Rastafaris worship Christ when they believe in the triune God and think Haile Selassie was Christ in the second coming? (even though Haile Selassie himself disputed to be Christ)

On a side note: By now I found out that these days not all Rastafaris hold Haile Selassie to be Christ, but that some just see themselves as part of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (one of the oldest churches there is).

[thereselittleflower]

1 hour ago, angels4u said:

Who don't you believe is a Christian? The Pope or Trump?

<facepalm>  (sorry I couldn't resist  I was just really surprised by the question)

I'm talking about Trump.

 

[thereselittleflower]

2 hours ago, MorningGlory said:

 

 

I have no idea why when I tried to quote you it is acting up so badly -  but there's nothing there lol

So I'm pasting it in 

 

3 hours ago, thereselittleflower said:

If we take someone's words out of context, then we can  say anything we want about what they say and make it look like its relevant.

T

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he walls around the Vatican have no relevancy to the walls he was speaking of in relationship to immigration at the border between the US and Mexico.  They belong to two totally different contexts and context is everything.

They are absolutely the same.  Vatican City is walled and guarded to keep people out who don't belong there.  How is that different from our border

 

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My fences serve a completely different function than what Trump wants to build a wall for.

 

 

 

 

How so? Aren't they to keep people and animals off your property?  No difference there.

 

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It is completely and totally non sensical to tell me I must tear down my fences because I am against Trump's idea of a wall at our border.

Who has told you to do that?  Or are you drawing a paralel between the Pope and Vatican City and yourself and your property? 

 

Think about it.

The Vatican walls were built almost  a millennium before it became a city state.    They weren't "borders" when they were built.   Just like the castle I provided a picture of has walls, should something of antiquity be destroyed because someone lives inside of them who disagrees with Trump?

 

So do you believe I should remove all my fences on my property because I don't believe we should put up a wall on the border?

 

 

 

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And I don't believe he's a christian either.

Therese, you more than others here know how wrong it is to say that.   

 

I said I don't believe.   I didn't say I know.

We do have to use discernment.    If someone pretends to be a sheep but is actually a wolf,  and is a highly placed public figure who intends to govern our country, don't we need to be very discerning and examine his all his claims?

 

Would you say this if you believed someone was the anti christ trying to trick people into believing he was  follower of Chirst?

 

When someone is advertising himself as something to take the most powerful seat of power in the world, shouldn't we point out a warning to our fellow brothers and sisters if we see a wolf where a sheep should be?

 

 

 

 

 

[thereselittleflower]

29 minutes ago, Gargamel Bojangles said:

i think people can be religious but not have a real relationship with God.  Kinda like just going through the motions

Absolutely.

 

[junobet]

1 hour ago, Ezra said:

It's about as Christian as Voodooism.

Really? Here’s from a Rastafari-Forum on the topic of Vodoo, and that’s one of the more polite remarks:

“Voodoo is black arts man and shamanism. It is Satanic and Jah doesn't want us to mess with that cult stuff. It should be condemned!”

http://jah-rastafari.com/forum/message-view.asp?message_group=3737

 

But mentioning Vodoo: on the BBC there’s a really nice “Father Brown”- Episode”, in which Father Brown is absolutely fascinated by religious syncretism. I suppose you’d sympathize more with his secretary who is absolutely abhorred that he allows an Haitian singer to practice a voodoo ceremony in the vicarage.

[Ezra]

1 minute ago, junobet said:

“Voodoo is black arts man and shamanism. It is Satanic and Jah doesn't want us to mess with that cult stuff. It should be condemned!”

So should worship of Haile Selassie (or whoever they currently worship).

Rastafari is an Abrahamic belief which developed in Jamaica in the 1930s, following the coronation of Haile Selassie I as Emperor of Ethiopia in 1930. Its adherents worship him in much the same way as Jesus in his Second Advent, or as God the Father.^[