The Encyclopedia of World Religions

374 S Rastafarians

juana), and reggae music. Dreadlocks, with roots in the Nazarite vow in the B IBLE (Numbers 6), mark the Rastafarians as distinctive; they have a number of symbolic resonances, starting with the beauty of a black person’s hair. The sacramen tal use of marijuana, Rastafarians believe, allows them to connect with one another and their deeper selves. Much reggae music incorporates Rastafar ian themes and as a result has been important in spreading the movement. These symbols ( see SYMBOLISM IN RELIGION ) receive their meaning from a deeper vision. Rasta farians see themselves as living in exile in Babylon. Forces of the surrounding society—the former Brit ish rulers, the cultural and economic dominance of the United States, the structures of Jamaican soci ety, and traditional Christian churches—oppress black people. Rastafarians reject those forces and celebrate Africa, especially Ethiopia. Traditionally, they have seen Africa as a paradise to which black people will one day return. That return will mark the end of their suffering. Like Jews and Muslims, Rastafarians do not eat pork. Some of them are vegetarians. They have been active in promoting black political and eco nomic power. Although they first arose in Jamaica, today Rastafarians are found in most places where people of African ancestry live. Further reading: Leonard E. Barrett, The Rastafarians (Boston: Beacon Press, 1997); Ennis Barrington Edmonds, Rastafari: From Outcasts to Culture Bearers (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003); Noel Leo Erskine, From Garvey to Marley: Rastafari Theology (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2005); Chanting Down Babylon: The Rastafari Reader, Nathaniel Samuel Murrell, William David Spencer, and Adrian Anthony McFarlane, eds. (Philadelphia, Pa.: Temple University Press, 1998).

directly up to heaven. From the perspective of the world, these persons will simply disappear as society otherwise continues on its course. But the raptured persons, now in heaven with Jesus, will be spared the chaos and wars of the subsequent “Tribulation” on earth, the horrific Last Days leading up to the Final Judgment and the “new heaven and earth.” The concept of the Rapture is based on certain biblical passages, especially I Thessalonians 4:16– 17 (“Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up . . . in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.”). But the Rapture was not a distinct part of Christian belief until around the middle of the 19th century, when a traveling preacher named John Nelson Darby used the term and made it an important part of his message. For him, one significant aspect of the teaching was that true believers constituted an “invisible church,” known only to God, that might well cut across denominational lines but would be made known on the day of Rapture. Darby’s ideas were then adopted by Cyrus I. Scofield, whose Sco field Reference Bible (first published 1909), widely consulted in the first half of the 20th century, made the Rapture concept well known. The bestselling Left Behind series of novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, beginning in 1995, gave the idea a new burst of popularity. The name Rastafarian comes from Ras (prince) Tafari, the name of the former emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie (1892–1975), before his coronation. The Rastafarian movement was inspired in part by a movement led by another Jamaican, Marcus Gar vey (1887–1940). Garvey preached black pride and advocated the return of black people to Africa. The coronation of Haile Selassie in 1930 filled many black people with hope for political and economic independence. Indeed, many Rastafarians have seen him as God’s messenger on earth. The best known Rastafarian aspects are the wearing of dreadlocks, the use of ganja (mari Rastafarians Members of a religious movement that began in Jamaica among people of African descent. They are also called Rastas.

Rebekah The wife of I SAAC in the B IBLE . In order to ensure that his son Isaac did not marry a Canaanite woman, A BRAHAM sent a servant to the region where his brother Nahor lived. The servant brought back Rebekah, the daughter of Abraham’s