The Spirituality of Black Hebrew Pentecostals

Front matter

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Bigh Kelou Portecosteld

CHAPTER 2: Black Hebrew Pentecostalism — A General Introduction .... 35

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CHAPTER 6: Conclusion —The Unique Identity of Black Hebrew

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I first give thanks to Yahweh and His Son Yahshua for without their help I would have never reached this pivotal moment in my life.

My gratitude goes out to Professor Rian Venter who has mentored me throughout this arduous process and endured with me as a teacher and a friend. May Yahweh bless him and his family.

I would also like to thank the theology librarian Senovia Welman for her committed effort in assisting me in gathering research data.

My deep appreciation goes out to my wife Brenda who tolerated the absence of her husband in a foreign land, and to my seven children Michael, Mark, Samuel, Aaron, Melinda, Janel and Jeremy. Over the years, they were forced to experience many lonely hours without a father because he was busy advancing his education.

Dedicated to my loving mother Gertrude E. Sherron (late) who never ceased to believe in my ability to achieve, and to my father File Sherron (late) who introduced me to the Messiah and prophesied years ago what I would do. In this dissertation, his vision has come to fruition.

The new interest in spirituality forms the background to this book. In step with prominent scholars in the field of spirituality, the following working definition for spirituality has been adopted: Spirituality is an experience in the presence of the Creator and the dynamic transforms us. The spirituality of various religious traditions has been described. Black Hebrew Pentecostalism is one rich tradition that has been hidden from the view of scholars. This book is an attempt to address this issue, in particular whether there are unique features to this religious tradition and its corresponding spirituality.

Two communities in New York (USA) have been selected for the above purposes. A specific contribution has been made to the discipline of spirituality by mapping a qualitative method for studying the spirituality of a religious tradition. In conversation with major scholars a unique set of constituent dimensions for spirituality has been identified.

In studying the two communities of Temple El Shaddai and Gideon Knights Freedom Church of Jesus Christ specific attention was paid to the following issues: contextual background, distinctive spiritual features, normativity and authority, theological views, notions of transcendence, distinctive morality, as well as the dynamics of the divine-human relationship and its impact on spirituality.

In order to determine synthetically the profile of the spirituality of Black Hebrew Pentecostalism, it is essential to consider related spiritualities (e.g. that of the Lembas communities, Pentecostalism, Traditional Africa and African-Americanism) and various religious typologies. These help highlight the main and unique elements of Back Hebrew Pentecostal spirituality.

This specific religious tradition has unique features that have resulted in a unique spirituality. Some of the main constituent elements are the following:

" Black Hebrew Pentecostalism integrated the perspectives of various religious traditions — Judaism and Christianity — to form a unique tradition of its own. The faith and concomitant spiritual practices are experienced as coherent.

= A strong focus on social identity accompanies this spirituality. Without social realities such as racism this spirituality cannot be appreciated.

= Identity markers such as symbolism, ritual, theological conviction and ethical practice function strongly to determine and maintain spiritual identity.

= Normativity and authority which inevitably influence spirituality are located in both the leader of the community and the Bible.

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Time-cycles function prominently, in particular concerning the honoring of the Sabbath and Old Testament Feasts.

Morality and strict moral codes are intimately intertwined with spiritual experiences. The naming of the divine is exceptionally critical and is another outstanding characteristic of this spirituality.

Spiritual maturity can be defined in terms of power and this is related to the social identity of the tradition.

The spirituality integrates the life of followers and supports them to cope with existential challenges.

Fede Sartbroduclion

The spirituality of two Black Hebrew communities in America is considered the culmination of my interest in spirituality. My curiosity in spirituality began with my quest to understand the spirituality of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In my study of Bonhoeffer, I discovered an emerging global interest in spirituality. Sheldrake (2006:16) comments that the concept of spirituality is steadily to be applied beyond the confines of religion. Spirituality is moving into new areas, such as social issues. According to him, there is an earnest desire to delve deeper into the purpose of life as whole in order to detect “a vision of the human spirit and what enhances it” (Sheldrake 2006: 16) .

Waaijman (2002:2) regards spirituality as a daily occurrence in our lives. According to him, spirituality is quietly present in our consciousness and in our very existence as human beings. Schneiders (2005:15) agrees with Waaijman that spirituality forms an integral part of our lives. She argues that spirituality is not a doctrine. On the contrary, spirituality is an on-going experience of life. The purpose of spirituality “is life integration” (Schneiders 2005:15) .

Encouraged by the writings of Schneiders, Waaijman, and Sheldrake I became curious about the spirituality of Black Hebrew Pentecostals, a community of which I have been a part for over 30 years. The importance of the historical information cannot be denied because so many people are unfamiliar with Black Hebrew Pentecostalism.

An important question must be addressed with reference to the spirituality in two Black Hebrew Pentecostals communities in New York: Does the spirituality of Black Hebrew Pentecostals contain distinct features? What is spirituality? To what can we compare the spirituality features of the Black Hebrew Pentecostals?

Schneiders (2005a:15) argues that spirituality is an ongoing experience of life as well as an integration of life. Some Black Hebrew Pentecostals consider themselves to be original Jews - the descendants of Abraham. As a result of this, they conclude that Jesus is Black. This strong Jewish identity is a unique feature of their spirituality, generally not shared by Black Baptists, Methodists and Catholics. Black Hebrew Pentecostals give their children Bar Mitzvahs and Bat Mitzvahs. Mainline Black Baptists, Methodists and Catholics do not generally follow these Jewish rites.

The observance of the 7% Day Sabbath and the seven Jewish Holy Days are distinctive features of Black Hebrew Pentecostals. Another belief is that the White Jews are Edomites from the tribe of Edom. They are the descendants of Esau.

Schneiders, Waaijman, Sheldrake, Kourie and others have written on the discipline of spirituality. Their work on defining spirituality and forming methodological approaches to the study of spirituality has been invaluable.

The writing of Downey (1977:120) is a critical study of the spirituality of Black Hebrew Pentecostals as a new field of knowledge. Chapter one focuses on the unique spirituality of two Black Hebrew Pentecostal communities. Obviously there will be similarities and differences between the two Black Hebrew Pentecostal groups.

According to Kourie (2006:19), the term spirituality is difficult to define. Unlike many of her contemporaries, she expounds on the ambiguity of spirituality with more insightfulness. She argues that the difficulty in defining spirituality lies in the “equivocal meanings attributed to it” (Kourie 2006:19) Black Hebrew Pentecostals interpret spirituality as how much of God’s spirit a member has to heal the sick, raise the dead or cast out devils in Jesus’ name. Black Hebrew Pentecostals have little knowledge of the human spirit and the study of spirituality as this has not been discussed in the church. However, when the topic is introduced in the church it is met with different reactions.

Kourie is aware of the varied approaches to spirituality and the difficulties in defining it.

A major contribution to the scholarship of the Black Hebrew Pentecostal community is research about the spirituality and the unique faith of these believers. This is vital data for the discipline of spirituality.

This book is briefly outlined as follows: Chapter one deals with the spirituality of religious communities, including the definition of Spirituality. The work of authors such as Waaijman, Schneiders, Perrin, Endean, Sheldrake, Downey, Froehlich, Smit, Ware, and

Berg will be considered.

Waaijman examines the forms of spirituality. Schneiders considers spirituality as a discipline and studies spirituality as an existential phenomenon. Perrin argues that spirituality has a place within human experience that does not include religion alone but all aspects of human existence. Endean contends that spirituality in the form of a more monastic nature was common practice in the mid-1950s in the Catholic Church. Sheldrake separates spirituality from theology. Theology is more theoretical than spirituality. Downey (1977:115) states that Christian spirituality refers to “a lived experience”. Froehlich agrees with Schneiders’s method of researching spirituality. Smit formulates a methodology in an attempt to explain why spirituality differs from theology. Ware’s interest in typological spirituality begins with her exploring different types of spirituality. Berg states that qualitative research attempts to search for answers to questions.

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