Former Seventh-Day Adventist Church Pastor Joshua Maponga, who is now a vocal speaker on African philosophy, has claimed that God is neither Jesus nor a Christian.
Elder Maponga said, “I worked as a Christian for 33 years at the Adventist Church in Zimbabwe as a minister. When the Adventists realized my thinking, processing, reasoning, and interpretation were leaning towards an Afrocentric view, I discovered that the church fell short.
My religion felt like a miniskirt it was too short at the front, and when you covered the front, it was too short at the back. I had to stop and question if the God that white men brought to Africa, who allowed them to colonize Africans, take their land, and commit atrocities, was the same God who then said, ‘You are disobedient; you broke my commandments, so I am punishing you.’”
He continued, “Four hundred years later, I look at that narrative and say it is not right. Even as a theologian, the same Bible says that God would send you into slavery for 400 years and then bring you back to your land. According to my prophetic charts, the Bible indicates that slavery is over.
Joshua Maponga( image source X)
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Whatever crimes we committed against this God, we have paid for them. It is time for colonialists to go back home and give us our space, using the same Biblical narrative for those who are in that space.
The Bible does not permit colonialism to extend beyond my generation. I am here to declare that the era of colonialism with all its aspects, including governance, education, agriculture, entertainment, sports, recreation, health, and spirituality is over. It is time for the white Jesus to pack his bags and return home, and for Muhammad and Islam to return to Saudi Arabia.”
He concluded, “It is time for Africans to start asking uncomfortable questions. If the Chinese had colonized us, we would all be Buddhists. If Muslims had colonized us, we would all be Muslims. But because the British colonized us, we are told we are Christians.