Peter Espeut

One of the functions of superstition is to deal with the uncertainties of the future: we consult horoscopes, ouija boards, tarot cards, tea leaf readers, palm readers, crystal balls, and the like to tell us what the future brings, and there are a variety of soothsayers and seers who will spin us a yarn if we cross their palms with silver, or nowadays with greenbacks. Behind it all is the belief in 'destiny' - that our future is already determined, and is written somewhere - and so the quest is to find the person who 'knows', the 'Oracle' as the Greeks called him.

There are those who see little difference between religion and superstition, maybe because in Jamaica the two are often practised side by side, or so closely intertwined that one interprets the other. The similarity between bush baths and baptism, between 'nointing with 'oil a dis' or 'oil a dat' and confirmation, the 'ketch up inna Myal' of Pukumina and the 'speaking in tongues' of the charismatics, the duppies with the angels and demons, has led to some confusion and to syncretism - the mixing of religions. This is why Christian fundamentalism is so dangerous. Because it is fundamentally anti-intellectual, it easily leads adherents into error, when a little scholarship would reveal deeper meanings and the truth.

Nature of biblical prophecy

Abraham Heschel is one of the foremost Jewish scholars of prophetic literature; Gerhard von Rad is one of the foremost Protestant biblical scholars. They and other scholars are agreed on the nature of biblical prophecy: that it is "an exegesis of existence from a divine perspective" (Heschel), commentary on the present in the light of God's law. Prophets emerged for the first time in Jewish history in the eighth century BC, and Von Rad explains their emergence as a response to (1) the degeneracy of Judaism because of syncretism; (2) the formation of the state of Israel, with her armaments and allies, led to diminishing reliance upon Yahweh and his protection; (3) the increasing social injustice caused by taxation of rural people to fund the urban state bureaucracy.

The true prophetwas essentially a critic of the state and religious authorities, someone who read the signs of the times and spoke fearlessly to those in authority; their message was of 'censure and castigation', but always concluded with a 'message of the hope of reconciliation'. The essential task of the prophet is to "declare the word of God in the here and now; to disclose the future in order to illumine what is involved in the present" (Heschel). So, e.g., 'Your enemies will triumph over you if you continue to oppress the poor'.

Meaning of prophesy

In common parlance, prophesy has come to mean 'foretelling the future', but that is a simplistic and fundamentalist understanding of scripture. Some speak of "restoring the office of prophet in the church" as if it had died out. We have never lacked those who speak out against corruption, police brutality, illiteracy and environmental degradation. Prophecy is not dead; I dare say it is growing in the Church.

In this Christian country, we are particularly superstitious: the horoscope is published daily in several newspapers; The Gleaner regularly published the predictions of 'Bambos' and others. We have had our Jamaican prophets such as 'Dr.' Charles Stewart, the 'Prophet of Haddo' (in Westmoreland) who attracted a large following because of his predictions. Alexander Bedward was the prophet who foretold that the "black wall would overcome the white wall"; he was right, but was sent to Bellevue. Leonard Howell and Claudius Henry follow in this tradition.

Now we have a set of persons who title themselves 'Prophet This' and 'Prophet That', who claim they can foretell the future. They 'know' who will win the next election. This has upset those of the party prophesied to lose who know that we are a fundamentalist country and the impact this can have on voting behaviour; they would have been happy if the prophecy was in their favour.

What bothers me is that these prophets call themselves 'Christian'. It is a constant struggle to keep religion free from superstition.