CCC - ENewsletter - July 2019

Race, Religion & Racism, Volume 2
BOOK REVIEW

By Stanley O. Williford
Director of Publications

“Religion has been the most flagrant perpetrator of racism in the world, and the Christian Church in America has been the leading perpetrator.”

Those don’t sound like the words of one of the nation’s leading pastors, do they? But they were when Apostle Frederick K.C. Price spoke them more than two decades ago. At the time, he was pastor of the Crenshaw Christian Center megachurch in Los Angeles.

Some viewers were shocked, others were outraged, but many others were delighted and felt what Dr. Price was teaching over his Ever Increasing Faith telecast was the long-overdue truth and nothing but . . .

Apostle Price spoke those words during 76 hours of teachings on the subject of Race, Religion & Racism in the late 1990s. Those quoted words above begin the second volume of his Race, Religion & Racism books. [We reviewed the first volume in the May 2019 issue].

The opening chapter, which is titled The White Distortion: Interweaving Racism with Religion, continues:

“At first glance, to people who know God, this may seem paradoxical. How can religion, which we associate with the Word of God, be a perpetrator of something evil like racism? The answer is that religion is not necessarily the Word of God, and that has been the problem.

“People inject their personal ideas into religion, and with their personal ideas come their personal prejudices.”

“ . . . So when I say that religion has been the most flagrant perpetrator of racism in the world, and that the Christian Church in America has been the leading perpetrator, I’m not talking about the enlightened Word of God. I’m talking about how men have distorted the Word of God to foster their own racist attitudes, beliefs and practices.”

The first chapter is so pithy, and so revolutionary, that it is hard to read beyond it.

Here’s another bombshell from those first two pages:

“The primary motivation for this has been the fear of interracial marriage between black and white people, a fear that has been fundamental to white society since the early part of the 17th Century. When blacks were first brought to this country as slaves, the lie was propagated that Blacks were inherently inferior – really just animals –and therefore needed to be segregated from Whites, particularly from white women.”

He quotes from some of the pseudo-scientific racist and materials that were written about blacks to prove that they were subhuman. We’ll not use up space to quote them here.

The gist is that “Christianity has gotten a bad name around the world with people of color.”

This volume has more than 300 pages, with a large appendix, an extensive bibliography, a chapter index and a scriptural index. What these appendages ensure is that the book has been well researched and that those students of history who wants to check the facts for themselves can easily do so.

What has been shared in those first two pages is typical of what is found throughout the book, but there is so much more to come for the reader. Far too much to cite in this review. The volume is so chock-full of notable quotes and outstanding research that a suitable review would rival the book itself.

In that first chapter, Dr. Price takes aim at what “appears to be” racist teachings in the popular Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible, “one of the most widely read Pentecostal Bibles in the last half of the 20th Century. In a section called Notes on Acts of the Apostles, Dake listed “30 reasons for segregation of races.”

Apostle Price observes that that edition of Dake’s notes was written in 1963, “after the start of the Civil Rights Movement.” At the time of the writing of the second volume of Race, Religion & Racism, Dake’s 30 reasons for segregation of races had been in print for 37 years. Through the following seven chapters, Apostle Price punches large holes in many of those 30 reasons, easily refuting them with the Word of God. His refutation was so exact that in the 1992 edition of the Dake’s Bible 24 of those 30 reasons had been modified.

For example, Dake’s first reason reads this way:

God wills all races to be as he made them. Any violation of God’s original purpose manifests insubordination to Him (Acts 17:26; Romans 9:19-24).

Dr. Price writes:

“What I infer from this is that Dake is telling us that if you’re black, you must stay black, marry black, and in the most intimate ways that Blacks have communion, it should always be with Blacks. Similarly, Whites should remain exclusively with Whites. Reds with Reds, Yellows with Yellows, Browns with Browns.”

But in the second chapter titled, A Revelation from God, Apostle Price shows how Rahab, a Canaanite, or black woman, became part of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, illustrating that Jesus had black blood in Him. Also, Tamar, who bore two sons to Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, was likely a black Canaanite. Judah was in the line of Abraham. If that is so, that would make two black women in Christ’s genealogy. And in both instances, he notes, “the Bible has called our attention to these women in a Scripture that, aside from the two women, only mentions men.”

“All of us, of every race, have been lied to, Jesus has some Ham in Him, because Rahab was a Canaanite. And very possibly Tamar, who is also in the ancestry of Jesus Christ, was also a Canaanite. There is no way racists can weasel out of this.”

Apostle Price goes on to point to the union of David and Bathsheba, out of whose union came King Solomon. What Apostle Price proves is that races have been mixing throughout recorded time.

After the Race, Religion & Racism teaching, the Dake’s Bible quietly changed the listing title from 30 reasons for segregation of races to 30 reasons nations separated.

Other chapter headings include such subjects as How God Sees Races, What the Scriptures Do Not Say, The Sin of Misrepresenting the Bible, What God Is Really Saying, The Real Abomination, and several others.

This book – in fact, all three – is excellent for any student of black history, American history, religious history or any course on the effects of racism, on the history of the church in America, etc.

Most importantly, it is an excellent book for all Americans to read.

https://eifm.netviewshop.com/shopDetail/FPB53S



*Race, Religion & Racism, Volume 2* BOOK REVIEW By Stanley O. Williford Director of Publications “Religion has been the most flagrant perpetrator of racism in the world, and the Christian Church in America has been the leading perpetrator.” Those don’t sound like the words of one of the nation’s leading pastors, do they? But they were when Apostle Frederick K.C. Price spoke them more than two decades ago. At the time, he was pastor of the Crenshaw Christian Center megachurch in Los Angeles. Some viewers were shocked, others were outraged, but many others were delighted and felt what Dr. Price was teaching over his Ever Increasing Faith telecast was the long-overdue truth and nothing but . . . Apostle Price spoke those words during 76 hours of teachings on the subject of Race, Religion & Racism in the late 1990s. Those quoted words above begin the second volume of his Race, Religion & Racism books. [We reviewed the first volume in the May 2019 issue]. The opening chapter, which is titled The White Distortion: Interweaving Racism with Religion, continues: “At first glance, to people who know God, this may seem paradoxical. How can religion, which we associate with the Word of God, be a perpetrator of something evil like racism? The answer is that religion is not necessarily the Word of God, and that has been the problem. “People inject their personal ideas into religion, and with their personal ideas come their personal prejudices.” “ . . . So when I say that religion has been the most flagrant perpetrator of racism in the world, and that the Christian Church in America has been the leading perpetrator, I’m not talking about the enlightened Word of God. I’m talking about how men have distorted the Word of God to foster their own racist attitudes, beliefs and practices.” The first chapter is so pithy, and so revolutionary, that it is hard to read beyond it. Here’s another bombshell from those first two pages: “The primary motivation for this has been the fear of interracial marriage between black and white people, a fear that has been fundamental to white society since the early part of the 17th Century. When blacks were first brought to this country as slaves, the lie was propagated that Blacks were inherently inferior – really just animals –and therefore needed to be segregated from Whites, particularly from white women.” He quotes from some of the pseudo-scientific racist and materials that were written about blacks to prove that they were subhuman. We’ll not use up space to quote them here. The gist is that “Christianity has gotten a bad name around the world with people of color.” This volume has more than 300 pages, with a large appendix, an extensive bibliography, a chapter index and a scriptural index. What these appendages ensure is that the book has been well researched and that those students of history who wants to check the facts for themselves can easily do so. What has been shared in those first two pages is typical of what is found throughout the book, but there is so much more to come for the reader. Far too much to cite in this review. The volume is so chock-full of notable quotes and outstanding research that a suitable review would rival the book itself. In that first chapter, Dr. Price takes aim at what “appears to be” racist teachings in the popular Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible, “one of the most widely read Pentecostal Bibles in the last half of the 20th Century. In a section called Notes on Acts of the Apostles, Dake listed “30 reasons for segregation of races.” Apostle Price observes that that edition of Dake’s notes was written in 1963, “after the start of the Civil Rights Movement.” At the time of the writing of the second volume of Race, Religion & Racism, Dake’s 30 reasons for segregation of races had been in print for 37 years. Through the following seven chapters, Apostle Price punches large holes in many of those 30 reasons, easily refuting them with the Word of God. His refutation was so exact that in the 1992 edition of the Dake’s Bible 24 of those 30 reasons had been modified. For example, Dake’s first reason reads this way: God wills all races to be as he made them. Any violation of God’s original purpose manifests insubordination to Him (Acts 17:26; Romans 9:19-24). Dr. Price writes: “What I infer from this is that Dake is telling us that if you’re black, you must stay black, marry black, and in the most intimate ways that Blacks have communion, it should always be with Blacks. Similarly, Whites should remain exclusively with Whites. Reds with Reds, Yellows with Yellows, Browns with Browns.” But in the second chapter titled, A Revelation from God, Apostle Price shows how Rahab, a Canaanite, or black woman, became part of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, illustrating that Jesus had black blood in Him. Also, Tamar, who bore two sons to Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, was likely a black Canaanite. Judah was in the line of Abraham. If that is so, that would make two black women in Christ’s genealogy. And in both instances, he notes, “the Bible has called our attention to these women in a Scripture that, aside from the two women, only mentions men.” “All of us, of every race, have been lied to, Jesus has some Ham in Him, because Rahab was a Canaanite. And very possibly Tamar, who is also in the ancestry of Jesus Christ, was also a Canaanite. There is no way racists can weasel out of this.” Apostle Price goes on to point to the union of David and Bathsheba, out of whose union came King Solomon. What Apostle Price proves is that races have been mixing throughout recorded time. After the Race, Religion & Racism teaching, the Dake’s Bible quietly changed the listing title from 30 reasons for segregation of races to 30 reasons nations separated. Other chapter headings include such subjects as How God Sees Races, What the Scriptures Do Not Say, The Sin of Misrepresenting the Bible, What God Is Really Saying, The Real Abomination, and several others. This book – in fact, all three – is excellent for any student of black history, American history, religious history or any course on the effects of racism, on the history of the church in America, etc. Most importantly, it is an excellent book for all Americans to read. https://eifm.netviewshop.com/shopDetail/FPB53S

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