What is "bedwardism"

n. The Jamaica Native Baptist Free Church, a religious movement of Jamaica based on Christianity, and according to which Augustown in Jamaica corresponds to Jerusalem for the Western world.

Bedwardism, more properly the Jamaica Native Baptist Free Church, was a religious movement of Jamaica. It was founded in August Town, Saint Andrew Parish, in 1889 by Harrison "Shakespeare" Woods, an African-American emigrant to Jamaica, and named for Alexander Bedward (1859–1930), 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, as well as socioeconomic programs for the lower classes.

Bedwardian literature describes Bedwardism as a new religion, the successor to Christianity and Judaism. However, its actual teachings differ little from those of most Christian denominations, stressing the importance of recognizing Jesus Christ as both God and man in part of the Trinity, as well as frequent fasting. Even so, because the movement likened the ruling classes to the Pharisees, it met with disapproval and even suppression by them. One of the few unique concepts of Bedwardism is the belief that Augustown, Jamaica corresponds to Jerusalem for the Western world. . Bedward himself claimed at times to be the reincarnation of prophets including Moses, Jonah and John the Baptist, and was ruled insane by courts on two occasions. 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.