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THE EWF
IN JAMAICA
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| _____All
of the above developments took place independently of the Ras Tafari Movement,
which was still confined to Jamaica. An EWF chapter had opened there in
1938 and been almost immediately taken over by Rastafarians, in particular
by the prominent Elders Joseph Hibbert and Archibald Dunkley. Both men were
noted mystics and initiates of an all-Black "Coptic" Masonic lodge
in Costa Rica; some might therefore find it ironic that they more than anyone
else would prove responsible for the arrival of Orthodoxy in Jamaica! |
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THE JAMAICA
MISSIONS
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| _____In
1970, at Hibbert's invitation, Abba Laike Mandefro began to evangelize the
Rastafarians in person. In the course of a year he baptized some 1200 dreads
and laid the foundation for the church's subsequent growth. He also encountered
fierce opposition from those Elders who taught that Haile Selassie was Jah
in essence and demanded "baptism in Ras Tafari's name". In Montego
Bay, only one dread accepted Orthodox baptism; Laike Mandefro baptized him
Ahadu -- "One Man". |
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EWF RASTAFARI
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| _____Besides
the heretical syncretist groups, however, a legitimate Orthodox Rastafari
Movement continued to flourish as the backbone of the Jamaican church. The
EWF under the leadership of Dunkley and Hibbert had enormous prestige, being
tied both to the roots of the movement in Garveyism and directly to Jamaica.
The EWF retained the political and social aspects and the distinctive cultural
features of classical Rastafari while advocating a rigorously correct and
canonical Orthodoxy, venerating the Emperor as a holy living ikon of JAH
but not worshiping him. The first steps toward Orthodox Jamaica were being
taken -- albeit by people whose main secular goal was to leave the country
as soon as possible! |
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COMMENT FOR NON-ORTHODOX READERS: _____Orthodox
theology distinguishes : several levels of divinity. Only the Uncreated
is "God-in-essence"; humans : can become "divine by participation";
ikons are visible channels through : which divine energy enters the world.
The question which divides the : "canonical" brethren from non-Orthodox
groups is which of these : levels of divinity applies to Emperor Haile
Selassie. The Orthodox : say he is divine by participation and ikonicity,
and thus merits "douleia" : ("veneration"); the Tribes
say he is divine in essence and merits "latreia" : or absolute
worship. |
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