The December 2015 decision of rapper Jahaziel to renounce his Christian faith with a post on his Facebook page where he questioned the bible amongst other things, has raised a lot of skepticism about the rapper’s salvation as a Christian in the first place.
Towards the end of the month, Jahaziel came out in a post to renounce his faith saying he questions the bible infallibility and the foundation the Christian faith is built on.
Jahaziel wrote on his Facebook page:
“I need not explain myself to anyone,” he said, “but I feel the need to make a quick statement. A short while ago, I turned away from 20 years as a professing Christian. I had a good job with a church organization, a house provided by the church, a large social circle of like-minded people, a career in gospel music, a worldwide fan base, a respected reputation and status within Christian and non Christian circles … etc.
“Having left Christianity, I may have lost many/all of these things, but what I have is worth more than all of them combined. I have my integrity. When I first joined Christianity, I was told ‘you must believe this book is God’s infallible word’ … Before I’d even read the book!! How can one decide for themselves whether a book is accurate and true BEFORE they have even read & investigated the book thoroughly?!
“Anyway… contrary to many opinions, I have met some great people in church and learned some great principles from Christianity/the Bible. These principles, however, are not exclusive to any religion.
“I have experienced Christianity in literally 100’s of contexts, so my perspective on Christianity is quite an informed one. I have met many sincere Christians, both church goers and church leaders, and although I have not seen every one of the 40,000 Christian denominations currently in existence I think I have seen enough to personally make a general conclusion regarding Christianity in the broadest sense.
“Now, after 20 years of being vocal about the positives of Christian faith, I would like to take some time to be equally vocal about the negatives I have found. i.e Christianity and its controlling dictatorship, its historic blood trail, its plagiarized Bible stories, characters and concepts, the many human errors of the Bible and its contradictions, the brutal nature of its God, its involvement in the slave trade, the crusades, the inquisition, the witch hunts, its second-class view of women, its masculinization of God, its emasculation of men, its financial corruption … you get the drift.
“So YES I will go on, and I will not be silent as some have asked — my integrity will not allow me to be so passive against mass corruption. In all love. J”
Reactions…
The first to react was Jahaziel’s record label Xist Music with a press statement saying:
Xist Music: “There’s definitely no love lost between myself and Sean, and our brother Jahaziel,” Xist CEO T. Black said. “Every one of us has to take their own path when it comes to their relationship with God, and Jahaziel’s is simply taking him in a direction which is different from the one we claim here at Xist Music. But, we definitely wish him all the best, and he and his family are in our prayers.”
Michelle John: God Bless you Jahaziel !!! I’ve always known you to be a gifted man of integrity , and you have no judgement from me … Experiences I had with Christians have also left me scared and wounded and I dare say I’ve also caused wounds … But there’s a difference between a Christian and a believer … And somewhere in all of this God is watching us figure it out and still just waiting with unconditional love free of judgement and condemnation… I’ve known you for at least 10 yrs … If you’re up for it lets meet for a coffee /drink … Nothing but love for you bro and I’m just another creative sensitive soul trying to shine in my own unique God given way even though people condemn me for not fitting into the mould they designed for me …. I get it !!!!
Don’t give up on God … He won’t ever give up on you … Call me xx.
Edmund Fowler: HUM! Questions why do you feel you had to tell every one what you where going to do? and get mad when pep respond. to be honest just do what you have to do. who do you think you are hurting singing or rapping about JESUS DON’T make you a follower of CHRIST. judsa iscartiot was with JESUS his whole ministry. ITS YOUR HEART your love your desire your faith IN GOD YOUR FRUIT. we dont know you only by a song and thank you for them because someone who is going through somthing or needs a boost to get through the day is going to be bless so see on the team or off the team GOD WORD will never return unto him void. JESUS LOVE YOU SIR. I love you and pray that we all would not judge our brother instead keep him in pray. MUCH LOVE FAM #JC4LIFE
David Stacey Santiago: “When I first joined Christianity”. Sorry brother but that statement alone speaks volumes. One does not “join” Christianity. Being “born again” is a life transforming event that one experiences when they encounter Jesus Christ.
Faruk Salisu: Havent stopped praying for “J” since i got the news, Dear lord , so what where his convictions for all these years ? (so did you mean it when you sang, Regenerated, Keep it hot, Famous….etc). As a Muslim Convert, i can’t live 1 day without the lords love and prescence. “J” i’m not gonna stop praying for you mheeen….and still love you.
Christian Pace: Wow he sounds like an atheist or gnostic. Well the bible said in the latter day many would depart from the faith! It also talks about those who will not to heed to sound doctrine. Heart of deception at its best. To be honest he may have never really known God. If he did there’s no way he would have come to this!
What is your take? Kindly scroll down and use the comment section to let us know what you feel.
Listen, I hear a lot of judging going on here. Everyone is entitled to live how they want to, believe in what they want to and speak about it if they want to! If my cuz was ‘coming out’ then I doubt he would have had a ton of people feeling they had to express how much they disagree with how he has chosen to live, just goes to show what kind of judgmental world we live in. So it’s cool to be gay and shout it from the rooftops or go from George to Gillian and all of a sudden your met with ‘oh that’s so brave’ but to say you are not done with religion but you love God is wrong??? Tut tut tut. Do not come with oh my goodness I’m gonna pray for him, or that guy is lost! I love my cuz dearly and he can pray to God himself as he does not deny God. He is not lost, he has his own beliefs and his own opinions. In this day that we live in 2016, it’s SUPPOSED TO BE OK to live and let live…..but apparently that means as long as we stick to what the current trend deems to be apparently socially acceptable to you lot out there. A man went into the Big Brother house and said he refused to get into bed with another man and that he disagrees with same sex adoption because of his belief/faith, he was penalised, booed and rejected by the public and his fellow housemates. I was very suprised that not one Christian believer complained. Maybe he didn’t stick to the status quo. Rejected, ridiculed and judged because he spoke out on his own belief. Freedom of speech? I think obviously not! It’s patronising to here echos of ‘oh my goodness I’m gonna pray for him’ when you remain silent about some very obvious issues that are out there….Love u for life Cuz and who am I to judge you…
T x