Jamaica

The island nation of Jamaica is the third largest island in the Caribbean, located directly south of Cuba and west of the island of Hispaniola. A former British colony, its population of more than 2.5 million consists mostly of descendants of slaves from Africa, but there are also 19th-and 20th-century migrants from India, China, Europe, North America, the Middle East, and other West Indian islands. These groups, too, have greatly influenced Jamaican religious life.

As on other Caribbean islands, religion is central to daily life in Jamaica. Religion plays a major role in Jamaican society, politics, and expressive culture; for example, the islandwide festival of Jonkanoo (John Canoe) incorporates Christian and African religious traditions. Jamaica has more churches per square kilometer than any other nation in the Americas.

More than 80% of Jamaicans identify themselves as Christians. An overwhelming majority of Jamaicans belong to conservative (fundamentalist and/or evangelical) Protestant groups. Major Protestant denominations include Seventh-Day Adventists (10.8%), Pentecostals (9.5%), Church of God (8.3%), Baptists (7.2%), the New Testament Church of God (6.3%), the Church of God in Jamaica (4.8%), the Church of God of Prophecy (4.3%), Anglicans (3.6%), United Methodists (2.1%), Jehovah's Witnesses (1.6%), Brethren (1.1%), and Moravians [Page 614](1.1%). Four percent of the population is Roman Catholic. There is a long-standing Jewish presence; Jamaica boasts one of the first synagogues to be established in the Caribbean. Church-sponsored surveys report a total of 1,639,099 Protestants; 218,546 Roman Catholics; 209,189 Seventh-Day Adventists; 11,174 Jehovah's Witnesses; 300 Jews; and 5,463 Muslims. According to the 2006 CIA World Factbook, 34% of the Jamaican population reported themselves as belonging to “no religion” or “other religions.” “Other” religions included Spiritualism, Revivalism, and Rastafarianism. Religious pluralism abounds. Many Jamaicans attend their own churches and the services of other religious organizations as well.

Membership in Christian churches has remained stable. In some respects, Jamaican religious life has changed little since the mid-20th century. Major changes include the decline of Jamaican folk religion (Myalism) and transformations within the Pukumina and Revival groups, the rise and growth of Pentecostalism, and—most notably—the advent of Rastafarianism.

Revivalism constitutes Jamaica's most widespread African-derived religion. Its focus is on possession by both African and Christian spirits. Revivalism was an extremely powerful political and religious force between 1890 and 1920 under the leadership of Alexander Bedward. Following World War II, a number of Revival groups merged with North American Pentecostals. Other Revival groups remained independent.

Jamaican Pentecostals include bodies affiliated with North American denominations as well as indigenous congregations such as the Church of God in Jamaica and the New Testament Church of God. Jamaican Pentecostal churches are united by their emphasis on ecstatic experience and the gifts of the Holy Spirit: healing, prophecy, and speaking in tongues.

Jamaica is the birthplace of a worldwide religious movement known as Rastafarianism. More than 100,000 Jamaicans identify Rastafarianism as their primary religion, while many more Jamaicans accept the ideas of Rasta and other similar religious groups. Rastafarianism has become not so much a religion as a way of life. Rastas derive their teachings from the King James Bible (with an emphasis on the Old Testament) but read the Bible from a distinctively African point of view. Their religion is highly Protestant in outlook.

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