'Jesus had HIV' sermon sparks South African fury

[Ian David]

'Jesus had HIV' sermon sparks South African fury

"Today I will start with a three-part sermon on: Jesus was HIV-positive," South African Pastor Xola Skosana recently said in a Sunday church service.

The words initially stunned his congregation in Cape Town's Khayelitsha township into silence, and then set tongues wagging in churches across the country.

<snip>

However, as Pastor Skosana told those gathered in the modest Luhlaza High School hall for his weekly services, in many parts of the Bible Jesus put himself in the position of the destitute, the sick and the marginalised.

"Wherever you open the scriptures Jesus puts himself in the shoes of people who experience brokenness. Isaiah 53, for example, clearly paints a picture of Jesus who takes upon himself the infirmities and the brokenness of humanity," he told the BBC.

He is also quick to emphasise that he is using the metaphor to highlight the danger of the HIV/Aids pandemic, which still carries a stigma in South Africa's townships.

More:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11575773

Hat-tip to: http://twitter.com/lecanardnoir/status/29368022266

[Incognitus Czar]

1. oh wtf

If I was sleeping during that sermon, I'd sure be awake right about when he said that Jesus had HIV.

But, damn, that's a pretty ballsy and perhaps blasphemous thing to do using Jesus had HIV as a shock tactic.

[Ian David]

3. Jesus also suffered from sweaty balls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2Jy90PDiSA

[xchrom]

2. it's a good message of christ and in the spirit of desmond tutu. nt

[humblebum]

4. The perfect metaphor. nt