William Wadé Harris
William Wadé Harris (c. 1860[1] – 1929) was a Liberian Grebo evangelist, who preached in Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana.[2]
Harris converted to Christianity in 1881 or 1882, and worked for the American Episcopal Mission as a school teacher and catechist. In 1910 he was arrested for his part in an insurrection, and he later indicated that while in prison he received a vision of the angel Gabriel.[2] Harris went out preaching in 1913, clad in a white robe and a turban.[3] He carried a bamboo cross, a Bible and a gourd rattle, symbolizing the African nature of his mission.[3] Harris identified himself with the biblical prophet Elijah.[3]
Harris preached an orthodox Christian message, with an emphasis on dealing with indigenous fetishes.[3] He burned the objects and called on his hearers to spurn occult practices. He approved of polygamy, and traveled in the company of several wives.[3] In an eighteen-month period in 1913-1914, Harris baptized over 100,000 new converts.[1][4]
Harris died in 1929 in extreme poverty. His preaching produced "Harrist" churches, although many of his followers joined established denominations, both Catholic and Protestant.[5] Jones Darkwa Amanor suggests that he can "be considered as the precursor of the Pentecostal Movement in Ghana,"[2] while Mark Noll notes that his form of Christianity was "not as thoroughly indigenized as the Zionist movements of South Africa."[5]
Shank argues that Harris's work "brought about a massive break with the external practices of traditional African religions all along the coast," including the disappearance of lascivious dance, huts for isolating women during their menstrual periods and a variety of taboos about days and places.[1]
See also
References
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- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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Further reading
- Shank, David A. Prophet Harris, the 'Black Elijah' of West Africa (Studies of Religion in Africa, No 10). Brill, 1994.
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