About Rastafari

God

Rastafari are monotheists, worshipping a singular God whom they call Jah. Rastas see Jah as being in the form of the Holy Trinity, that is, God being the God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Rastas say that Jah, in the form of the Holy Spirit (incarnate), lives within the human, and for this reason they often refer to themselves as "I and I". Furthermore, "I and I" is used instead of "We", and is used in this way to emphasise the equality between all people, in the recognition that the Holy Spirit within us all makes us essentially one and the same.

Some Rastas accept the Christian doctrine that God incarnated onto the Earth in the form of Jesus Christ, to give his teachings to humanity. However, they often feel his teachings were corrupted by Babylon. Many Rastas, in accordance with their assertion that "word, sound is power", also object specifically to the English pronunciation of his name as impure, preferring instead to use the forms in Hebrew (Yeshu) or Amharic ('Iyesus).

The Holy Trinity

Rasta doctrines concerning the Holy Trinity include stressing the significance of the name "Haile Selassie", meaning "Power of the Trinity" or "Might of the Trinity" in Ge'ez — the name given to Ras Tafari upon his baptism, and later assumed as part of his regnal name at his November 2, 1930 coronation by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

[Jesus Christ, Rastafari

Acceptance of the God-incarnate status of Jesus is central in Rastafari doctrine, as is the notion of the corruption of his teachings by secular, Western society, figuratively referred to as Babylon. For this reason, they believe, it was prophesied in the Book of Revelation – "And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel." – that Jesus would return with a new name that would be inscribed on the foreheads of 144,000 of his most devoted servants. Rastas hold that this was fulfilled when Haile Selassie was crowned King of Kings on 2 November 1930, whom they see as the second coming of Jesus or the coming of the holy spirit, and therefore Jah, onto the Earth.

Rastas say that Jesus was black, and that Western Society (or Babylon) has commonly depicted him as white for centuries in order to suppress the truth and gain dominion over all peoples.