Author: jaygresh

Beyond Black Jesus: Seeking the Universal Depth of Early Christianity

December 21, 2022

The black image of Jesus Christ is not new. AME Bishop Henry McNeal Turner declared that “God is a Negro” not long after the Civil War. The fathers of black liberation theology such as James Cone and Giraud Willmore led many preachers to cast away the popular Nordic/European paintings of Christ and paint brown skinned … More Beyond Black Jesus: Seeking the Universal Depth of Early Christianity

FSMB 2022 Conference Reflections: Baptized In God’s Time and Way

October 20, 2022

Back in 2010, a young seminarian spoke at the Ancient Faith & Afro-American Christianity Conference in Aniston, Alabama. These were a few of his words: “And in many ways, if the Lord wills I know that if I have a ministry, it will be in many ways the fruit of the Brotherhood of St. Moses … More FSMB 2022 Conference Reflections: Baptized In God’s Time and Way

Of Desert Fathers & Maroons: Congolese Christian Experience

July 22, 2022

Usually when we think of African-American Christian leaders who spoke and acted out against injustice, a number of Civil Rights era figures come to mind; MLK (of course), Fannie Lou Hammer and the like. Or, if we want to talk about self-help leaders in our community, Elijah Muhammad and Marcus Garvey come to mind. Yet, … More Of Desert Fathers & Maroons: Congolese Christian Experience

How Christianity Came to Africa: Foundation of Nile Valley Gods

July 3, 2022

The deities and religious thought of Egypt and Nubia also prepared the way for the Christian faith to come into Africa. The region’s polytheist faiths had high expectations that were to be embodied by the pharaohs and embraced by all. The sun god, Ra, was the source of all good things. A king was to … More How Christianity Came to Africa: Foundation of Nile Valley Gods

How Christianity Came to Africa: Hebrew Preparation

June 30, 2022

As in the Levant, Christianity in Africa has roots in the Israelite/Jewish religion. The story of Noah’s descendants populating the earth has the descendants of Ham settling Egypt and points west and southward along the Nile River (Genesis 10:6~20). An ancient name for the Nile is Gihon, one of the four rivers mentioned in the … More How Christianity Came to Africa: Hebrew Preparation

How Christianity Came to Africa: Blacks of the Ancient Mediterranean

June 17, 2022

Between 10,500 to 7,300 BC, the area known today as the Saharah Desert was lush and habitable due to monsoonal rains falling on the land. There were enough waterways and wetlands to support crocodiles, hippopotamuses, and other aquatic beast as well as terrestrial creatures such as elephants and lions. Animal herders from the Nile River … More How Christianity Came to Africa: Blacks of the Ancient Mediterranean

Living an Orthodox African-American Christian Life: Embracing Our Saints

April 7, 2022

It never fails to amaze me how many conscious and woke brothers and sisters overlook African Christian Saints. It isn’t hard to find memes about the glories of the golden eras of Pharaonic Egypt on social media. Many African-Americans have had an affinity for various branches of Islam. There is a growing Hebrew Israelite identity … More Living an Orthodox African-American Christian Life: Embracing Our Saints