u/Kirkesden

I believe this is an important text for Gnostics trying to understand the early Indigenous Christians. This is written by an Indigenous Christian, a Phoenician man named Karim El Koussa, the book Jesus was a Phoenician. Has anyone read it?

El Koussa argues that Jesus was ethnically Canaanite (specifically Phoenician), not Jewish. He claims the Gospels were later edited to erase this identity. Key evidence he cites includes:

• Birthplace: He asserts Jesus was born in a Phoenician town named Bethlehem (in modern-day Lebanon), not the Judean Bethlehem.
• Lineage: He reinterprets the genealogies and family connections of Jesus and his disciples as belonging to Phoenician trade families rather than Jewish priestly or tribal lines.

A Different God The book fundamentally rejects the idea that Jesus worshipped the God of the Old Testament (Yahweh). Instead, El Koussa proposes:

• The Name "Yawshu": He claims Jesus's name derives from "Yaw," identifying him as a devotee of Yaw (or Yam), the ancient Canaanite god of the sea and storms, rather than Yahweh.
• "Immanuel" Reinterpreted: He argues the title "Immanuel" means "El with us," referring to El, the supreme head of the Canaanite pantheon, rather than "YHWH with us."
• Theological Shift: Consequently, El Koussa portrays Jesus not as the Jewish Messiah fulfilling Hebrew prophecy, but as a figure rooted in Canaanite mythology whose teachings were originally distinct from the monotheism of the Old Testament.