Racism has ‘distorted’ Christianity since Jesus’ time, theologian says
White supremacy remains so prevalent in Christianity today because it took root in the early church, theologian Anthony Reddie told a Baylor University conference this month.
Reddie, a professor of black theology at Oxford University in England, said in his Feb. 15 speech that white supremacy has “distorted” Christianity since the time of Jesus Christ, according to Baptist News Global.
The conference, hosted by Baylor’s Truett Seminary, focused on racism in the world church.
“The most egregious thing that we have to wrestle with is the normalization of white supremacy,” Reddie said.
Although Christianity “was created as a movement for those who are marginalized and oppressed,” he said white leaders quickly began using the religion as a weapon to seize land and oppress other cultures.
Reddie traced the distortion back to the early Christians who blamed the Jews for killing Jesus, instead of Roman leader Pontius Pilate, according to the report.
“Pilate represents white supremacy, and white supremacy now becomes normalized and effectively becomes the religion of Jesus, the religion of God,” the professor said.
As time went on, more and more people began to believe Jesus was a white European, like them, Reddie said.
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