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Bible History of the Negro
"Answers all vital Bible questions regarding the colored race, should be in every home and church." -Pittsburgh Courier, 1953
"Interesting, significant ... brings together all the references to the Negro in the Bible." -American Journal of Sociology, 1927
"The first of its kind in modern scholarship to detail the genealogy of Ham ... a biblical scholar of the first magnitude." -The Chronological History of the Roanoke Missionary Baptist Assoc. (2012)
Reverend Richard A. Morrisey (born 1858) was a first-rate African-American biblical scholar—a valedictorian of Livingston College and a Doctor of Divinity, president of the Greeneville College, and the pastor of a number of churches in the American South and in Pennsylvania.
In 1915, Morrisey published "Bible History of the Negro," with the hope of inspiring a greater desire to read the Bible" which he describes as giving "the Negro a place among the foremost races of the world, in wealth, in education, in honor and in religion—a history to which every member of the race may point with great pride and profound gratitude to Almighty God today; for the best way to judge the future of any people is by the past."
Morrisey's book of unusual interest importance brings together brings together all the references to the black race in the Bible,
•HAM,
•BATHSHEBA, THE QUEEN OF SHEBA,
•THE WIDOW OF ZAREPHATH,
•“WISE MEN FROM THE EAST,”
•GENEALOGY OF CHRIST,
•ONE OF THE TWELVE DISCIPLES,
•SIMON THE CYRENIAN,
•MEMBERS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH,
•NIMROD FOUNDER OF THE BABYLONIAN EMPIRE,
•MELCHIZEDEK,
•HAGAR AND ISHMAEL,
•RAHAB,
•WORKMEN OF THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON,
•PHILIP AND THE ETHIOPIAN,
•CANDACE, QUEEN OF ETHIOPIA.
In debunking Noah's curse of Ham as a justification for slavery, Morrisey writes that Noah "no doubt was angry at the time and spoke as one in such a temper in those times naturally would speak. Again, God had already blessed the descendants of Ham before Noah made his attempt to curse them; and God had placed his blessings upon them and had not withdrawn Noah had no power to revoke whatever God had done, however great his desire to pronounce a curse."
This book called "Bible History of the Negro Race" is indeed of unusual interest and importance. It may be rightly termed a brief history of some of the world’s most illustrious men and women.
"Interesting, significant ... brings together all the references to the Negro in the Bible." -American Journal of Sociology, 1927
"The first of its kind in modern scholarship to detail the genealogy of Ham ... a biblical scholar of the first magnitude." -The Chronological History of the Roanoke Missionary Baptist Assoc. (2012)
Reverend Richard A. Morrisey (born 1858) was a first-rate African-American biblical scholar—a valedictorian of Livingston College and a Doctor of Divinity, president of the Greeneville College, and the pastor of a number of churches in the American South and in Pennsylvania.
In 1915, Morrisey published "Bible History of the Negro," with the hope of inspiring a greater desire to read the Bible" which he describes as giving "the Negro a place among the foremost races of the world, in wealth, in education, in honor and in religion—a history to which every member of the race may point with great pride and profound gratitude to Almighty God today; for the best way to judge the future of any people is by the past."
Morrisey's book of unusual interest importance brings together brings together all the references to the black race in the Bible,
•HAM,
•BATHSHEBA, THE QUEEN OF SHEBA,
•THE WIDOW OF ZAREPHATH,
•“WISE MEN FROM THE EAST,”
•GENEALOGY OF CHRIST,
•ONE OF THE TWELVE DISCIPLES,
•SIMON THE CYRENIAN,
•MEMBERS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH,
•NIMROD FOUNDER OF THE BABYLONIAN EMPIRE,
•MELCHIZEDEK,
•HAGAR AND ISHMAEL,
•RAHAB,
•WORKMEN OF THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON,
•PHILIP AND THE ETHIOPIAN,
•CANDACE, QUEEN OF ETHIOPIA.
In debunking Noah's curse of Ham as a justification for slavery, Morrisey writes that Noah "no doubt was angry at the time and spoke as one in such a temper in those times naturally would speak. Again, God had already blessed the descendants of Ham before Noah made his attempt to curse them; and God had placed his blessings upon them and had not withdrawn Noah had no power to revoke whatever God had done, however great his desire to pronounce a curse."
This book called "Bible History of the Negro Race" is indeed of unusual interest and importance. It may be rightly termed a brief history of some of the world’s most illustrious men and women.
128 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 12, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 15, 2024
AN EXCELLENT SUMMARY OF BLACK PEOPLE IN THE BIBLE
Richard Alburtus Morrisey (born 1865; died ???) entered the ministry at age 21 in the A.M.E. Zion church, and was valedictorian of his class at Livingston College in North Carolina in 1892. He served as pastor or churches in four states, and was elected in 1908 as Corresponding Secretary of Missions; he later accepted a call to the First Baptist Church in Plymouth, North Carolina.
He wrote in the Foreword to this 1915 book, “This book… may be rightly termed a brief history of some of the world’s most illustrious men and women. I have used the word ‘Negro’ in this book to designate a descendants of Ham (Gen 10:6-20) mainly from a Bible standpoint… I am also aware that the question of a proper name for a race of so many different colors often arises. In the Negro race there are some persons black, some brown, others yellow, and still others so very nearly white that they can scarcely be distinguished from members of the white race… In many parts of North America, a Negro may be as much as seven-eighths white, since the term refers to any person who is of Negro descent, even in the smallest degree. It is in this sense that I have used the term Negro with reference to the Bible characters designated in this book… My object… is with the hope of inspiring a greater desire to read the Bible, especially among our young people. It is the only absolutely true and impartial book universally read today, containing the history of the ancient triumphs and glorious achievements of the race, assigning to the Negro a place among the foremost races of the world… a history to which every member of the race may point with great pride and profound gratitude to Almighty God today.”
He explains, “Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japeth (Gen 10:1). Now it is universally agreed by Bible scholars, theologians and ethnologists that the Negro race descended from Ham. If this be true, we must rely upon the Bible and the Bible only to give us … the truth as to who were the descendants of Ham and … then we have learned who were Negroes… The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan… then it is plain from the teachings of the Bible that the four sons of Ham, Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan were Negroes and their descendants. But who were the descendants of Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan? We find… the names of nations … such as the ‘Jebusite, Amorite, Girgasite, Hivite, Arkite, Sinite, Arvadite, Zemarite, Hamathite and the Canaanites.’ Wherever we find these races or nations in the Bible we know they are Negroes because they are descendants of Ham.” (Pg. 1-2)
He argues, “Now it is claimed by many that from [Gen 9:22-25]… ‘Canaan’ or the negro race, descendants of Ham and Canaan, is cursed, which is not true. When the flood was over Noah’s mission as a preacher was ended… When he drank wine to the extent that he became intoxicated, he was in no condition to utter a divine prophecy, or curse upon Canaan: for God never used men in such condition to curse or bless anyone. So the curse … upon Canaan was not from God at all, but the expression of Noah himself…” (Pg. 3) He adds, “In the Covenant with Noah God pronounced a blessing [Gen 9:1, 8-9] on all the sons of Noah, and their descendants, which included Canaan… We need no further proof… to show… that it is untrue to say that the descendants of Ham, or the Negro race is a divinely cursed race and therefore doomed to be an inferior race: for God placed a blessing upon Ham’s descendants the same as upon the descendants of Shem and Japeth.” (Pg. 4)
Of the Israelites of the Exodus, he says, “The mixed multitude that marched through the red Sea with them were Ethiopians and native Egptians---black folks or Negroes; for Egypt was the original home of the Hamites, and they were still a powerful and numerous people in Egypt when the exodus took place. Many of them were closely related to the other races by intermarriage, which is proven by Gen 10:13-14.” (Pg. 8)
He states, “It seems evident from these passages of Scripture [1 Ki 2:13, 2 Sam 11:3 & 23:34] the King Solomon was of both Shemitic and Hamitic extraction; that his mother, Bathsheba, being a Gilonite and having married at first a Hittite, both of which races were original Hamites, we are amply justified in forming the opinion upon Bible grounds that Solomon, on his mother’s side, as of Ham, or Negro origin. He was a mixed blood negro, one of the greatest and mor illustrious characters in the Bible and in the history of the world.” (Pg. 25)
Of the Queen of Sheba, he points out, “we must first find out where was… the country over which she was queen? Sheba was a country in Ethiopia occupied by the descendants of Ham… Sheba being a province of Ethiopia and founded by the Cushites and inhabited by them, it is evident that the queen of Sheba was of that same race, an Ethiopian, or Negro woman. Ethiopians understood by the Greeks and Romans denoted any country peopled by the dark races. The Hebrews understood Ethiopia or African Cush to be the whole country south of Egypt and above Syene.” (Pg. 34-35)
He states, “Tharpas, the second wife of Moses, was of a different race and nationality from that of Zipporah. Zipporah was of Jewish descent or of the white race, while Tharpis was an Ethiopian, or of the black or Negro race… It is plain that the marriage of Moses to Tharpis, the Ethiopian, or black women did not meet with the sanction of approval of his sister Miriam and his brother Aaron… But the effort was in vain. God himself intervened on behalf of Moses, since he had committee no sin by marrying the Ethiopian woman.” (Pg. 39-40)
Of Rahab, he notes, “of what race was Rahab? … She was a Canaanite or of the Amorite race; because Jericho was inhabited by these races at that time and she was one of its inhabitants… These Amorites and Canaanites who inhabited Jericho were of the descendants of Ham, or of Negro origin… But the question may be asked, if she was of the Hamite races how did she become a member of the family of Abraham, David… and Jesus Christ… I reply that … she entered the family of the Israelites and of Jesus Christ by her marriage to an Israelite after the fall of the city of Jericho, and by that became the mother of Boaz [Ruth 4:21] whose father was Salmon, an Israelite… Her faith was richly rewarded, she becoming … an ancestress of the Messiah, one of the four women, all foreigners… named in Matthew’s (1:5) genealogy of Christ.” (Pg. 53-54)
He observes, “Nowhere else is the brotherhood of man and the Fatherhood of God more fully taught than the human kindredship of Jesus Christ to the Ethiopian, or Negro race and it is but the Spirit of Christ, the spirit of brotherly love (Rom 13:8) that has made the white religious denominations, such as the Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians and others, do so much towards the educational, moral and religious welfare of the Negro race, to their credit and praise…” (Pg. 55)
He points out, “We find in … the twelve disciples ordained by Christ … ‘Simon, the Canaanite.’ (Mt. 10:4; Mk 3:18)… Matthew and Mark… make no mention whatever of his… belonging to any other race, but the Canaanites people who were descendants of Ham.” (Pg. 59)
He notes, “Simon, the Cyrenian, took an important part in the crucifixion of Jesus, it having fallen to his for to bear the cross… Cyrene, the house of Simon, was in Africa. Hence he was an African---a member of the African or Negro race…” (Pg. 66-67)
Of the Ethiopian eunuch of Acts 8, he comments, “In this remarkable Bible story we see how that providentially the Gospel of Jesus Christ was, even in its early history, preached, not only to the white race, but to the black, or Negro race also. The Ethiopian people were the descendants of Cush, the oldest son of Ham (Gen 10:6) hence they were Negroes.” (Pg. 110)
It is wonderful that books about the presence of Black people in the Bible are being reprinted today; this book will be “must reading” for anyone studying this subject.
Richard Alburtus Morrisey (born 1865; died ???) entered the ministry at age 21 in the A.M.E. Zion church, and was valedictorian of his class at Livingston College in North Carolina in 1892. He served as pastor or churches in four states, and was elected in 1908 as Corresponding Secretary of Missions; he later accepted a call to the First Baptist Church in Plymouth, North Carolina.
He wrote in the Foreword to this 1915 book, “This book… may be rightly termed a brief history of some of the world’s most illustrious men and women. I have used the word ‘Negro’ in this book to designate a descendants of Ham (Gen 10:6-20) mainly from a Bible standpoint… I am also aware that the question of a proper name for a race of so many different colors often arises. In the Negro race there are some persons black, some brown, others yellow, and still others so very nearly white that they can scarcely be distinguished from members of the white race… In many parts of North America, a Negro may be as much as seven-eighths white, since the term refers to any person who is of Negro descent, even in the smallest degree. It is in this sense that I have used the term Negro with reference to the Bible characters designated in this book… My object… is with the hope of inspiring a greater desire to read the Bible, especially among our young people. It is the only absolutely true and impartial book universally read today, containing the history of the ancient triumphs and glorious achievements of the race, assigning to the Negro a place among the foremost races of the world… a history to which every member of the race may point with great pride and profound gratitude to Almighty God today.”
He explains, “Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japeth (Gen 10:1). Now it is universally agreed by Bible scholars, theologians and ethnologists that the Negro race descended from Ham. If this be true, we must rely upon the Bible and the Bible only to give us … the truth as to who were the descendants of Ham and … then we have learned who were Negroes… The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan… then it is plain from the teachings of the Bible that the four sons of Ham, Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan were Negroes and their descendants. But who were the descendants of Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan? We find… the names of nations … such as the ‘Jebusite, Amorite, Girgasite, Hivite, Arkite, Sinite, Arvadite, Zemarite, Hamathite and the Canaanites.’ Wherever we find these races or nations in the Bible we know they are Negroes because they are descendants of Ham.” (Pg. 1-2)
He argues, “Now it is claimed by many that from [Gen 9:22-25]… ‘Canaan’ or the negro race, descendants of Ham and Canaan, is cursed, which is not true. When the flood was over Noah’s mission as a preacher was ended… When he drank wine to the extent that he became intoxicated, he was in no condition to utter a divine prophecy, or curse upon Canaan: for God never used men in such condition to curse or bless anyone. So the curse … upon Canaan was not from God at all, but the expression of Noah himself…” (Pg. 3) He adds, “In the Covenant with Noah God pronounced a blessing [Gen 9:1, 8-9] on all the sons of Noah, and their descendants, which included Canaan… We need no further proof… to show… that it is untrue to say that the descendants of Ham, or the Negro race is a divinely cursed race and therefore doomed to be an inferior race: for God placed a blessing upon Ham’s descendants the same as upon the descendants of Shem and Japeth.” (Pg. 4)
Of the Israelites of the Exodus, he says, “The mixed multitude that marched through the red Sea with them were Ethiopians and native Egptians---black folks or Negroes; for Egypt was the original home of the Hamites, and they were still a powerful and numerous people in Egypt when the exodus took place. Many of them were closely related to the other races by intermarriage, which is proven by Gen 10:13-14.” (Pg. 8)
He states, “It seems evident from these passages of Scripture [1 Ki 2:13, 2 Sam 11:3 & 23:34] the King Solomon was of both Shemitic and Hamitic extraction; that his mother, Bathsheba, being a Gilonite and having married at first a Hittite, both of which races were original Hamites, we are amply justified in forming the opinion upon Bible grounds that Solomon, on his mother’s side, as of Ham, or Negro origin. He was a mixed blood negro, one of the greatest and mor illustrious characters in the Bible and in the history of the world.” (Pg. 25)
Of the Queen of Sheba, he points out, “we must first find out where was… the country over which she was queen? Sheba was a country in Ethiopia occupied by the descendants of Ham… Sheba being a province of Ethiopia and founded by the Cushites and inhabited by them, it is evident that the queen of Sheba was of that same race, an Ethiopian, or Negro woman. Ethiopians understood by the Greeks and Romans denoted any country peopled by the dark races. The Hebrews understood Ethiopia or African Cush to be the whole country south of Egypt and above Syene.” (Pg. 34-35)
He states, “Tharpas, the second wife of Moses, was of a different race and nationality from that of Zipporah. Zipporah was of Jewish descent or of the white race, while Tharpis was an Ethiopian, or of the black or Negro race… It is plain that the marriage of Moses to Tharpis, the Ethiopian, or black women did not meet with the sanction of approval of his sister Miriam and his brother Aaron… But the effort was in vain. God himself intervened on behalf of Moses, since he had committee no sin by marrying the Ethiopian woman.” (Pg. 39-40)
Of Rahab, he notes, “of what race was Rahab? … She was a Canaanite or of the Amorite race; because Jericho was inhabited by these races at that time and she was one of its inhabitants… These Amorites and Canaanites who inhabited Jericho were of the descendants of Ham, or of Negro origin… But the question may be asked, if she was of the Hamite races how did she become a member of the family of Abraham, David… and Jesus Christ… I reply that … she entered the family of the Israelites and of Jesus Christ by her marriage to an Israelite after the fall of the city of Jericho, and by that became the mother of Boaz [Ruth 4:21] whose father was Salmon, an Israelite… Her faith was richly rewarded, she becoming … an ancestress of the Messiah, one of the four women, all foreigners… named in Matthew’s (1:5) genealogy of Christ.” (Pg. 53-54)
He observes, “Nowhere else is the brotherhood of man and the Fatherhood of God more fully taught than the human kindredship of Jesus Christ to the Ethiopian, or Negro race and it is but the Spirit of Christ, the spirit of brotherly love (Rom 13:8) that has made the white religious denominations, such as the Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians and others, do so much towards the educational, moral and religious welfare of the Negro race, to their credit and praise…” (Pg. 55)
He points out, “We find in … the twelve disciples ordained by Christ … ‘Simon, the Canaanite.’ (Mt. 10:4; Mk 3:18)… Matthew and Mark… make no mention whatever of his… belonging to any other race, but the Canaanites people who were descendants of Ham.” (Pg. 59)
He notes, “Simon, the Cyrenian, took an important part in the crucifixion of Jesus, it having fallen to his for to bear the cross… Cyrene, the house of Simon, was in Africa. Hence he was an African---a member of the African or Negro race…” (Pg. 66-67)
Of the Ethiopian eunuch of Acts 8, he comments, “In this remarkable Bible story we see how that providentially the Gospel of Jesus Christ was, even in its early history, preached, not only to the white race, but to the black, or Negro race also. The Ethiopian people were the descendants of Cush, the oldest son of Ham (Gen 10:6) hence they were Negroes.” (Pg. 110)
It is wonderful that books about the presence of Black people in the Bible are being reprinted today; this book will be “must reading” for anyone studying this subject.
November 30, 2020
So Informative
I have always thought that Black people played a major role in the Bible. We descend from greatness. Our history solidifies it. This book was very informative.
I have always thought that Black people played a major role in the Bible. We descend from greatness. Our history solidifies it. This book was very informative.
May 26, 2021
Ebook wasn't available on Amazon, but found it on Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bibl...
November 3, 2021
Amazing Read
This book is an wonderful work, by providing book, chapter and verse, it guides the reader through the journey of God's people.
This book is an wonderful work, by providing book, chapter and verse, it guides the reader through the journey of God's people.
June 5, 2020
Black lives do matter...
Funny how God often chose the least likely for the most important roles.
Funny how he often chose the least likely for the most important roles.
Funny how God often chose the least likely for the most important roles.
Funny how he often chose the least likely for the most important roles.
May 31, 2020
Great book
This was a wonderful read. Now I understand where African Americans came from and they contribute there wonderful talents for the Kingdom of GOD.
This was a wonderful read. Now I understand where African Americans came from and they contribute there wonderful talents for the Kingdom of GOD.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews