JESUS AGAINST CONQUERERS AND WEALTH
By Dr Sefoko Ramoshaba
A Social Justice, Liberating, and Black Theology Proponent
http://www.sjli.co.za/
1. We Reject the Jesus of Empire
Black Theology rejects the distorted image of Jesus that has historically produced conquerors, emperors, capitalists, and colonial Christianity. The Jesus of empire dines with corrupt states, blesses billionaires, comforts political elites, and validates oppressive systems.
Our Black Jesus does not sleep in palaces, smile for cameras with presidents, pray with the wealthy while ignoring the poor, or remain silent in the face of injustice.
He was born in poverty, not in a palace or hotel, and he never accumulated wealth. Instead, he dispensed dignity, restored humanity, and stood with the despised.
2. Jesus as a Revolutionary of the Margins
The Jesus of Black Liberation Theology does not seek proximity to power. He walks with those society has cast aside:
- The sick,
- The disabled,
- The blind,
- The hungry,
- The criminalised,
- and the rejected.
He restored voices that religion and empire attempted to silence. He ate with tax collectors, sex workers, and sinners—not with kings, queens, presidents, prime ministers, billionaires, or corporate elites.
His gospel was a deliberate and confrontational challenge to systems that dehumanised the poor.
3. Capitalism as a Modern Baal
In our time, capitalism functions as a contemporary Baal. It exalts profit over people, markets over morality, and wealth over life.
Within this system:
- The poor are blamed for their poverty,
- The rich are celebrated for their exploitation, and
- The powerful are shielded from accountability.
Baal is no longer worshipped in temples.
His altars are now stock exchanges, corporate boardrooms, political alliances, and elite networks.
4. Epstein, Elite Abuse, and the Exposure of Modern Idolatry
The Epstein scandal did not expose a hidden world—it revealed the world as it already exists. It unveiled how elites exploit vulnerable bodies behind the protective armour of wealth, political influence, and legal immunity.
- This is not an isolated scandal; it is a structure.
- It is the logic of empire.
- It is the morality of capitalism.
Epstein’s island serves as a global metaphor: a place where powerful people consume bodies and evade justice.
5. Our Declaration
We affirm the following truths:
- Any theology that ignores injustice is ideological violence.
- Any church that protects power is a collaborator with the empire.
- Any Christianity that separates faith from liberation betrays Christ.
Jesus belongs to the poor, not the powerful.
Theology must be dangerous to systems of oppression. Liberation is not an optional add-on to the gospel; it is its very heart.
Therefore, we commit ourselves to:
- Unmasking modern forms of Baal.
- Resisting systems that commodify and dehumanise life.
- Reclaiming Jesus from empire and returning him to the oppressed.
