Whitewashing the Bible

    Jesus was not and is not a white man--neither were most of the people discussed in the Bible.
    5“I am black and beautiful,
    You daughters of Jerusalem,
    Like the tents of Kedar,
    Like the curtains of Solomon.
    6 Do not stare at me because I am dark,
    For the sun has tanned me. Song of Solomon 1:5-6 NASB

    definition
    Whitewash [1]
    noun
    1. : to alter (something) in a way that favors, features, or caters to white people: such as
      a : to portray (the past) in a way that increases the prominence, relevance, or impact of white people and minimizes or misrepresents that of nonwhite people
      b : to alter (an original story) by casting a white performer in a role based on a nonwhite person or fictional character

    Genesis

    • Adam is from the Hebrew word meaning red (Edom is from the same word)[2]
    • Red, like red clay--remember Adam was created from the "dust of the ground" (Genesis 2)
    • Dirt around the world actually matches human skintones (generally) and the dirt that would have been near Eden would have been the kind good for growing plants; this type of soil is dark brown or black
    • If two people possess only recessive traits (e.g., blue eyes), the cannot create a baby with dominant traits (e.g., brown eyes)
    • Two "pure" white people cannot give birth to a black baby
    • Two "pure" black people however can have white babies; there are also black people in Africa with naturally blue eyes and blonde hair

    The Non-Existant Curse of Ham

    • To justify the mistreatment of Africans, "Christian" Europeans came up with the non-existant curse of Ham (it is actually Ham's son Canaan that is cursed in Genesis 9)
    • The curse was said to be dark skin
    • Below are some things to consider about this "theory"
      • Canaan actually settles in the Middle East, not sub-saharan Africa
      • The Canaanites intermarry with the Israelites—specifically, the entire line of Judah stems from a Canaanite woman (Genesis 38)—so if the curse is dark skin, the Israelites could not have been white
      • Cush, Mizraim, and Phut who eventually migrate into the main African continent are never cursed

    Confusion of Nationality

    • The Israelites and the Egyptians had to look similar because they're always being confused for each other
    • Joseph's brothers don't notice he's Hebrew when they journey to Egypt during the famine. (Genesis 42:23)
    • Pharaoh doesn't say anything about his daughter taking in a Hebrew baby when he's just ordered all of them killed
    • The Midianites confuse Moses for an Egyptian (Exodus 2:19)
    • Paul is confused as an Egyptian (Acts 21:38-39)
    • Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus flee to Egypt to avoid Herod's decree; in fact the Israelites alway fled to Egypt iin times of trouble. Likely they blended in better, just as I would blend in better in Brazil than in Japan.

    The Curse of Whiteness?

    • DISCLAIMER: This is not meant to suggest that white people are white because they are cursed; it is merely to point out the irony of claiming a curse of blackness to inflict harm when the Bible suggests something closer to the opposite
    • In 2 Kings 5 a man named Gehazi, and all his offspring, is cursed with leprosy--the description is that he turned "white as snow" (2 Kings 5:27)
    • The leprosy of the Bible which is not the leprosy of today[3] is acutally associated with whiteness multiple times:
      • Miriam's leprosy is associated with turning white (Numbers 12:10)
      • Moses' white hand is called diseased (Exodus 4:6-7)

    References

    1. "Whitewash". Merriam Webster; visited February 2021
    2. "Strong's H119. אָדַם". Blue Letter Bible; visited February 2021
    3. Dr. Alan L. Gillen. "Biblical Leprosy: Shedding Light on the Disease that Shuns". Answers in Genesis. June 10, 2007
    Published on Tuesday, February 16, 2021
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