Black Jesus, religious truth, and Tupac Shakur: Belief and the irony of faith
Date
2011
Authors
Zielke, Dustin
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Publisher
Illumine
Abstract
Tupac Shakur’s black Jesus should be understood through a distinction between belief and faith. The point of this distinction is not merely a matter of semantics. Rather, it helps illustrate how black Jesus challenges us to re-imagine religious truth and recognize the powerful role of irony in religious matters. Religious belief is commonly understood as a belief in a religious reality, or something that is objectively true. Tupac’s black Jesus, however, refers neither to an objective reality, nor a historical black Jesus. Nevertheless, he is a figure of religious devotion. Other scholars have noted the radical nature of Tupac’s black Jesus, but I suggest that they have overlooked, or understated, the unique way that Tupac’s black Jesus re-orients our idea of religious truth. Tupac’s black Jesus encourages religious truth to be understood as something that addresses individuals instead of regarding it as a Truth that is universally prescriptive, or potentially provable.
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Citation
Zielke, D. (2011). Black Jesus, religious truth, and Tupac Shakur: Belief and the irony of faith. Illumine, 10(1), 3–15. https://doi.org/10.18357/illumine101201110733