MONTEGO BAY, St James

The Reverend Clinton Chisolm will launch Revelations on Ras Tafari, his latest book containing stinging criticisms of the sections of the Christian church, Professor Rex Nettleford and the late Dr Ikael Tafari, at the Burchell Baptist Church Hall on Market Street in Montego Bay tomorrow.

Backed by exhaustive research, the feisty read sees the former Jamaica Observer columnist and controversial clergyman detailing potentially explosive perspectives on the origins of the Ras Tafari movement, misconceptions concerning Emperor Haile Selassie’s names and titles and alleged connections with King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, and Chisolm says is the sad reality that racism and inverse racism live on within sections of the Christian Church among others.

“Ikael’s contention that ‘the supposed bones of Jesus, Mary Magdalene and their son, Judah were found in Jesus’ 2000-year-old family tomb in Talpiot, Jerusalem’ reflects the same kind of uncritical use of sources that plagued Professor Rex Nettleford’s essay in Chanting Down Babylon in 1996,” writes Chisolm in one of many angles on the Rastafarian dialogue.

In chapters dedicated to each of the objects of his criticism, Chisolm outlines forensic arguments debunking their contributions to the dialogue on Ras Tafari.

It’s not all acerbic; by way of consolation in the chapter entitled ‘Professor Rex Nettleford and the Jesus Ossuary,’ Chisolm writes “Professor Nettleford’s reading and use of Joan Blackwell’s article may be a pardonable blunder on the part of an eminent scholar but it highlights the need for us to read everyone critically.”

Other issues covered by the book include what Chisolm describes as the mistaken belief that modern Ethiopia is mentioned in the Bible.

Chisolm also points out weaknesses in the Kebra Nagast, which is regarded in some quarters as the authentic account of how the biblically celebrated Queen of Sheba and King Solomon met; how the Ark of the Covenant was transported to Ethiopia and the conversion of the Ethiopians to Christianity.

Drawing on his training in biblical languages, the former Baptist Pastor also points out the folly of the Rastas pronunciation of ‘Jesus’ and ‘Jah’.

Revelations on Ras Tafari follows Chisolm’s 1990 audio book, Rastafarianism Evaluated.

The holder of two Master’s Degrees Chisolm, who is also a Fellow of the International Academy, has been researching the truth claims of the Ras Tafari movement since 1970.

He has been in live, televised and other recorded discussion sessions with several noted Caribbean Rastafarians including Mutabaruka, Bunny Wailer, Dr Ikael Tafari, Dr Leahcim Semaj and Miguel Lorne and served as consulting editor for the 1998 book Chanting Down Babylon: The Rastafari Reader.

A graduate of the Jamaica School of Music, the Jamaica Theological Seminary, the University of the West Indies, the University of Sheffield (England), the International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism and Human Rights (France) and Biola University (USA), Chisolm, a native of Montego Bay, has been living in the United States with his wife Flora since 2004.

Regional manager at the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) Leslie Williams, will be the guest speaker at the 7:30 pm launch which will be followed by a book sale and signing.