Bedwardism, more properly the Jamaica Native Baptist Free Church, was a religious movement of

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

Origins

Bedwardism was founded in August Town, Saint Andrew Parish, in 1889 by Harrison "Shakespeare" Woods, an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

emigrant to Jamaica, and named for

Alexander Bedward Alexander Bedward (born 1848 in Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica, Saint Andrew Parish, north of Kingston, Jamaica - died 8 November 1930) was the founder of Bedwardism. He was one of the most successful preachers of Jamaican Christian revival, Reviv ...

(1848–1930), who was referred to as "That Prophet" and "Shepherd." It was one of the most popular Afro-Jamaican politico-religious movements from the 1890s to the 1920s. Bedwardism attracted tens of thousands of followers with a call for

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals ...

, as well as

socioeconomic Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their l ...

programs for the lower classes.

Beliefs

Bedwardian literature describes Bedwardism as a new religion, the successor to Christianity and Judaism. Its actual teachings differ little from those of most Christian denominations, stressing the importance of recognizing

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

as both God and man in part of the

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...

, as well as frequent fasting. Even so, because the movement likened the ruling classes to the

Pharisees The Pharisees (; he, פְּרוּשִׁים, Pərūšīm) were a Jewish social movement and a school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Pharisaic beliefs b ...

, it met with disapproval and even suppression by them. One of the few unique concepts of Bedwardism is the belief that August Town, Jamaica corresponds to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

for the Western world. . Bedward himself claimed at times to be the reincarnation of prophets including

Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu ( Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pr ...

Jonah Jonah or Jonas, ''Yōnā'', "dove"; gr, Ἰωνᾶς ''Iōnâs''; ar, يونس ' or '; Latin: ''Ionas'' Ben (Hebrew), son of Amittai, is a prophet in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran, from Gath-hepher of the northern Kingdom of Israel (Samaria ...

and

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

, and was ruled insane by courts on two occasions.

Death and legacy

The movement lost steam in 1921 after Bedward and hundreds of his followers marched into Kingston, where he failed to deliver on his claim to ascend into Heaven, and many were arrested. In 1930, Bedward died in his cell of natural causes.Edward White, ''Rise Up'' (5 October 2016) https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2016/10/05/rise-up/ Retrieved 30 July 2020. Many of his followers became Garveyites and

Rastafarians Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control of ...

, bringing with them the experience of resisting the system and demanding changes of the colonial oppression and the perceived white oppression. Rastafari casts

Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African ...

as a Messiah, while also casting Bedward in the role of

References

*Veront M. Satchell, "Religion and Sociopolitical Protest in Jamaica: Alexander Bedward of the Jamaican Native Baptist Free Church, 1889-1921" in ''Caribbean Culture: Soundings on Kamau Brathwaite'' by Annie Paul, Kamau Brathwaite, 2006. {{Religion in Jamaica Afro-American religion Religion in Jamaica New religious movements 1889 establishments in Jamaica

Origins

Beliefs

Death and legacy

See also

References