Charles Edwards (1915–1994), known as "King Emmanuel Charles" by his followers, was the founder and leader of the "Ethiopia Africa Black International Congress, True Church of Divine Salvation (E.A.B.I.C.)". Charles is regarded to have established the "Churchical Order of

Melchizedek In the Hebrew Bible, Melchizedek was the king of Salem and priest of (often translated as 'most high God'). He is first mentioned in Genesis 14:18–20, where he brings out bread and wine and then blesses Abraham, and El Elyon or "the Lord, Go ...

" which governs this Congress functioning as Church and State. On March 1, 1958, the E.A.B.I.C was formed, now headquartered in Bull Bay, Jamaica. This group of Rastafari soon became known as

Bobo Ashanti The Bobo Ashanti (also variously called Bobo Shanti and Bobo Shanty), also known as the Ethiopian African Black International Congress (E.A.B.I.C.), is a religious group originating in Bull Bay near Kingston, Jamaica. The Bobo Ashanti are one of ...

, adopting their name from the Ashanti tribe in

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

. It is common knowledge that most Jamaicans descend from the Asante(Ashanti). Charles taught that the African diaspora scattered across the Earth and predominantly in the west are the descendants of the

Israelites Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

and his followers acknowledge him as the "Black

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

" in this dispensation to return all slave descendants to their original homeland,

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. For this reason this Congress was formed and Church developed agitating for the "Freedom, Redemption and International Repatriation" of his people. Charles fought relentlessly for the rights of his people and soon became publicly respected and given the titles 'Black

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

in Flesh'. He is held by the Bobo Ashanti to be a member of their

Holy Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three ...

. Charles taught that "God dwelleth in flesh" and the celestial trinity of God manifested in flesh upon Earth is fulfilled in the capacity of "Prophet, Priest and King". The "triune" positions of the Bobo Ashanti trinity are as follows:

Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) (commonly known a ...

as the "Prophet", Emmanuel Charles as "Priest", and

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...

as "King".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Charles Jamaican Rastafarians 1915 births 1994 deaths