Is the Bible a White Man's Book?

[Erika24]

I don't think the bible is a white man's book since there is no proof of it. There are a few coloured saints as they appear in various articles on a number of websites.

 

[Muffled]

Hi all,

First, i hope i'm in the right debate here...So, would you say that people are justified to say that the Bible is a white man's book? How would you answer someone who claimed that it is? Thanks!

I believe biblically they would be wrong. The Adamic race has more in common with American, European and Asian indians.

I believe historically they would be correct. White people accepted the Bible early in history making it appear that the book is coming from white people.

 

[Muffled]

Hmnnn,

I would refer to the Ethiopian Eunuch.

Acts 8: 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road--the desert road--that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it." 30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked. 31 "How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth." 34 The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. NIV

I suppose one could add Thomas in India as well.

 

[Muffled]

Well, if you believe in creation at all, then it seems totally impossible that Adam and Eve were anything less than middle brown. There is one creationist who is very prominant who explained pretty thoroughly how it would be possible for all the ranges in skin color that we have today to have come from two people, if those people's skin were certain colors.

But what you also have to remember is, the Bible did not come from the "white man". It came from the middle east. My father-in-law also says that the black kids in his class are far more religious than the white, upper class kids - who tend to be less churched and more liberal morally.

I believe the idea that Adam and Eve were the progenitors of all the races on earth to be flawed.

 

[gnostic]

Hi all,

First, i hope i'm in the right debate here...So, would you say that people are justified to say that the Bible is a white man's book? How would you answer someone who claimed that it is? Thanks!

The Hebrew Scriptures (Tanakh) or Old Testament Bible were written by Jews for Jewish readers, and originally written in Hebrew.

The New Testament books and letters were originally written in Koine Greek for mainly Greek-speaking Gentile Christian readers and for Greek-speaking churches, most likely because Greek was used by former Hellenistic kingdoms and then by Middle Eastern provinces in the Roman Empire.

These included churches in Syria (eg Antioch) and in Asia Minor (now Anatolian Turkey), as well as in Greece and Macedonia themselves.

You need to remember since the death of Alexander the Great, Greek-speaking Macedonian generals divided Alexander’s empire, including Asia Minor, the Levant, Mesopotamia and Egypt. These were the fragmented empire outside of Greece and Macedonia. Koine Greek became lingua franca of Eastern Mediterranean.

Alexander’s General, Ptolemy, took Egypt, and during the 3rd century BCE, Alexandria became the capital and jewel of Egypt, which included the construction of its famed library. It was here that Jewish population migrated into Egypt, most likely to escaped from Seleucid dynasty ruling Syria. It is these Jews who translated Hebrew Scriptures into Koine Greek - hence the Septuagint Bible.

Hence, the New Testament were written in Greek for Greek-speaking Christians. Whenever the authors of gospels or of the epistles quoted the Old Testament, they always used and quote from the Greek source, not from the Hebrew or Aramaic sources.

And even in the 2nd century CE and later centuries, the famous church fathers, were mostly Greek speaking Christians.

The Greek language weren’t confined in Greece alone. And Christians were probably actual Greeks, but others weren’t, such as natives in Asia Minor, Syria, Judaea, Babylonia, Egypt and Libya.

 

[sojourner]

You'd think it'd be a semitic man's book, if anything...but I thought the idea behind the NT, at least, was that it was for everyone.

Strictly speaking, the texts are “for” their intended audiences — race, creed, color notwithstanding.

 

[Samael_Khan]

Hi all,

First, i hope i'm in the right debate here...So, would you say that people are justified to say that the Bible is a white man's book? How would you answer someone who claimed that it is? Thanks!

I would mention that it was written by Jews in the Middle East, and those in the Middle East are not "white". The first Christian nation was Armenia. One of the Christian nations was Ethiopia. The NT even speaks of the Ethiopian eunich.

The claim that the Bible is a "white mans book" are made by people who are ignorant of the bibles history. They are saying such a thing from an emotional standpoint, not from a point of knowledge. So they should be educated with facts.

But one can understand why they might think this, since it was the "white" nations that forced people to convert to Christianity during colonialism.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

Hi all,

First, i hope i'm in the right debate here...So, would you say that people are justified to say that the Bible is a white man's book? How would you answer someone who claimed that it is? Thanks!

The Bible was not written by Europeans but by Semites aka Jews.

 

[Muffled]

Strictly speaking, the texts are “for” their intended audiences — race, creed, color notwithstanding.

I believe that can be said of the Gospel but as is true with the Qu'ran a lot of it is ethnocentric.

 

[sojourner]

I believe that can be said of the Gospel but as is true with the Qu'ran a lot of it is ethnocentric.

The intended audiences of the Gospels were not white Americans.

 

[Muffled]

I would mention that it was written by Jews in the Middle East, and those in the Middle East are not "white". The first Christian nation was Armenia. One of the Christian nations was Ethiopia. The NT even speaks of the Ethiopian eunich.

The claim that the Bible is a "white mans book" are made by people who are ignorant of the bibles history. They are saying such a thing from an emotional standpoint, not from a point of knowledge. So they should be educated with facts.

But one can understand why they might think this, since it was the "white" nations that forced people to convert to Christianity during colonialism.

I suppose from an early African standpoint there were no books and animism was the main religion.

 

[Muffled]

The intended audiences of the Gospels were not white Americans.

I believe we are commanded to tell the Gospel to the whole world.

 

[Samael_Khan]

I suppose from an early African standpoint there were no books and animism was the main religion.

Depends which part of Africa you speak of. Egyptians certainly weren't animists at the time and they were Africans who had books as well. Carthage certainly had writing and a religion and it was a great empire.

Central and Southern Africa consisted of animists up until that time.

But the reason why they consider it a white mans religion is mainly because Europeans were the ones who forced the religion upon them and they don't actually know the early history of Christianiity.

 

[sojourner]

I believe we are commanded to tell the Gospel to the whole world.

That has little to do with the texts, themselves.

 

[74x12]

Hi all,

First, i hope i'm in the right debate here...So, would you say that people are justified to say that the Bible is a white man's book? How would you answer someone who claimed that it is? Thanks!

No, just seems that way sometimes. Early Christianity went all directions. Just look up the Assyrian church, the Coptic church, Ethiopian church. It just stuck more in Europe but it certainly was never exclusive to Europe.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

Hi all,

First, i hope i'm in the right debate here...So, would you say that people are justified to say that the Bible is a white man's book? How would you answer someone who claimed that it is? Thanks!

The Tanakh, or OT, was written entirely by Jews. Whether Jews are white or not depends entirely on whom you ask. If you ask Leftists, Jews are rich white priveleged sorts that are at the top of the totem pole, rather than those who get discriminated against. If you ask those on the extreme Right, Jews are not only are not white, but are vile semites. We can't win. But I do think that everyone agrees that the Tanakh was written by Jews, and not by Europeans.

 

[Muffled]

The Tanakh, or OT, was written entirely by Jews. Whether Jews are white or not depends entirely on whom you ask. If you ask Leftists, Jews are rich white priveleged sorts that are at the top of the totem pole, rather than those who get discriminated against. If you ask those on the extreme Right, Jews are not only are not white, but are vile semites. We can't win. But I do think that everyone agrees that the Tanakh was written by Jews, and not by Europeans.

I believe I am not so sure about Job.

 

[actsfourthirty]

Hmnnn,

I would refer to the Ethiopian Eunuch.

Acts 8: 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road--the desert road--that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it." 30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked. 31 "How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth." 34 The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. NIV

do how did the eunuch know about baptism?

 

[actsfourthirty]

Hi all,

First, i hope i'm in the right debate here...So, would you say that people are justified to say that the Bible is a white man's book? How would you answer someone who claimed that it is? Thanks!

Hi all,

First, i hope i'm in the right debate here...So, would you say that people are justified to say that the Bible is a white man's book? How would you answer someone who claimed that it is? Thanks!

All people Lk 2:10

Major covenants!

Adam
(Marriage covenant)

Noah
(Family covenant)

Abraham
(Tribal covenant)

Moses:
(National covenant)

Jesus Christ:
(Universal covenant)

New and eternal covenant founded by Jesus Christ! Matt 16:18

Universal (Catholic)
World universal

Lk 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. ( catholic universal)

Lk 2:31 prepared before the face of all (catholic) people

Jn 1:29 lamb of God who takes way the sins of the world

Jn 3:16 for God so loved the world

1 Jn 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Lk 2: 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. (All people universal)

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Folks responding to the OP might want to first check its date.