The short answer is no. What follows here is a very abbreviated version of the longer answer. The book of Genesis tells of curses on Cain and Canaan. In ancient Jewish folklore the curse on Cain was linked with slavery and the curse on Canaan, somehow transferred to his father Ham, with a black skin. … Continue reading Does the Bible say black skin is a curse?
England
English Christianity – Part 6
METHODISTS Returning briefly to the Moravian Brethren, it was at one of their meetings in London that John Wesley felt his heart “strangely warmed” one evening in 1638. From that time he began to preach the Gospel wherever people would listen. He visited Count Zinzendorf and the Moravian settlements in Germany, and learned much from … Continue reading English Christianity – Part 6
English Christianity – Part 5
ENGLISH MENNONITES IN HOLLAND In May of 1610 there was a conference between the Waterlanders and John Smyth’s congregation. At this time a confession of faith was drawn up and signed by those participating and it appears that the Englishmen were now accepted as part of the Mennonite church. It may be that they were … Continue reading English Christianity – Part 5
English Christianity – Part 4
JOHN SMYTH AND THE MENNONITES John Smyth, a minister of the Church of England, was dismissed as a preacher of that church in 1602. He continued to preach without a license, becoming the spiritual leader of a number of like-minded people from Lincolnshire and adjoining areas of Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire. For a time these people … Continue reading English Christianity – Part 4
English Christianity – Part 3
CHURCH OF ENGLAND In 1529, while the Catholic church was under attack from Lutherans and Zwinglians on the continent, King Henry VIII persuaded Parliament to pass an act separating the Church of England from the authority of the pope. There were many in the English Church who hoped for a reformation, some motivated by true … Continue reading English Christianity – Part 3
English Christianity – Part 1
PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY The exact time when the Christian faith first reached the British Isles is lost in the mists of time. Traditions that the Apostle Paul or Joseph of Arimathea first brought the Gospel to England seem somewhat dubious, but cannot be proved or disproved at this distance in time. There is evidence, though, that … Continue reading English Christianity – Part 1
Flatlander Faith 