The Teachings of Dona Beatriz and William Wade Harris

       Hailing from a small community in the war torn country of the Kongo, Dona Beatriz had connections with the supernatural from a small age. She was trained in the work of communicating with the spirits in the other realm. She was called to do the work of the Lord, (or Saint Anthony), in 1704. While lying, nearly dying with fever, Dona Beatriz was visited by Saint Anthony. The vision she received from him would be the driving force for the rest of her life. Nearly 200 years later, on the West African Coast, William Wade Harris had recently converted to Christianity. He was working for the American Episcopal Mission as a school teacher and catechist. Being part of a violent uprising caused him to get sent to prison. While he was in prison a similar thing happened to him that had happened to Dona Beatriz. He received a vision from the Archangel Gabriel. Gabriel’s message would also lead Harris throughout the rest of his life.

Dona Beatriz and William Wade Harris are profound African Christian leaders. Their lives were dedicated to one purpose: spreading the word of the Lord to Africans. While their teachings shared the same purpose, they went about them in different ways and had quite a few variances. This paper will examine the similarities and differences among the two African evangelists, the outcome of their teachings and the reason for the surplus of their converts.

The teachings of these two African Christians can be seen very different with only a few similarities. Dona Beatriz pronounced that Saint Anthony was nearly a second God. He was extremely vital to the Christian way of life and worship. She started by preaching that Jesus was angry at the Kongelese for their ongoing war, and that it was necessary to say three “Hail Marys” and ask for forgiveness (Thorton, 105).  She also believed that Jesus and the other early Christian figures were in fact, from the Kongo and were Kongolese. This caused a bit of an irritation with the Catholic Church and they refused to believe her. After her first communication and vision from Saint Anthony, Dona Beatriz had weekly visits and talks with God himself. Her main focus of her teachings derived from many traditions of the Roman Catholic Church in the Kongo, but she put her own spin on it. For example, she converted the prayer “Salve Regina” into “Salve Antoniana” (Thorton, 215-220). This was turned into her anthem for her Antonioism movement. She also preached that God was only concerned with the believer’s intentions, not with the sacraments or good works that they did.

 William Wade Harris did not have as many radical teachings as Dona Beatriz did however. Harris preached rather orthodox Christian messages. He did not come up with new ideas on Christianity as Beatriz had. Harris created an image of himself that relayed his African nature, as to not ward off indigenous people. He dealt with indigenous fetishes that went completely against Christian teachings. He burned objects that were not Christian and he called upon healers to quit their witchcraft ways of healing. Alas, with all of the rejection of indigenous ways, he did approve polygamy and had several wives in his company.

Both of these teachers had things that would offend the Catholic Church (polygamy, claiming Saint Anothony next to God, and claiming that Jesus and his followers were from the Kongo) but they had some teachings that were good for the population. These teachers brought Christianity to indigenous people whether it was the ‘right’ Christianity or not. They both derived from the same principles and taught that Jesus is the savior. The outcomes of their teachings shed more light on the effectiveness of the lessons they brought.

William Wade Harris did not have as grisly an end as Dona Beatriz. Because her teachings were so radical in such a strict Catholic dominant nation, she was eventually condemned as a heretic and witch and was sentenced to burn at the stake (Thorton, 180). Although she was met by an untimely demise, her movement was not. She was outlived by her Antonianism movement. Her teachings continued to live on after her death but not for very long. A few years later, many of her noble followers were forced to reject their faith and rejoin the Catholic Church. Although the movement itself died, its ideas lingered on for quite a while. There were hints of it even in the Americas (thanks to the Kongolese slave trade) and other places as well. William Wade Harris however, was not execute; he merely died of old age. In only 18 months of his preaching, Harris baptized over 32,000 new converts of which created 160 congregations (Shank, 160). “Harrist” churches were also founded but most of the new converts went to already established churches (Shank, 160). Harris gained the name the “black Elijah” and is known as the precursor of the Pentecostal movement in Ghana. Harris definitely has a less grim path than Dona Beatriz. This is most likely in cause to the way he taught his beliefs. He did not create anything new for the faith, he just added a few old bits here and there, whereas Beatriz tried to change old ideas into new ideas.       

The social and political environment within which these teachers emerged had a great effect on the outcomes of their teachings.  Dona Beatriz emerged from a civil war torn country that was tired of war. The country had been at war for far too long, the slave trade was at a peak from the war and the population was tired and hopeless. The teachings that Beatriz preached, spoke of hope, pride and forgiveness for these people. The idea of Jesus and his first Christian figures being from the Kongo made these people feel like they had some sort of purpose or pride in their heritage. They looked to Saint Anthony for hope and courage in this depressing time. Dona Beatriz spoke to the leaders of each side and pleaded with them to join her cause and put an end to the fighting. Because her teachings were hopeful and powerful, she was cast aside by the powerful. The lower class and middle class clung to her because she was their only hope. But in the end, it was the powerful that were her downfall and death.

The politics and society were not as troubled during the time that Harris emerged. He started preaching in the colonial ruled west gold coast of Africa. The British and French ruled most of the area that he was in. Not many evangelists had reached the places they he did though. Many of the new converts testified that they had never even seen a white missionary before, that they were converted by the “Black Elijah” (Shank, 59). The areas he went to were full of superstition, witchcraft and even cannibalism (Shank, 60). He dived into it and had a great success rate of converting these indigenous people. Because he created an African nature about him, he had a high success rate with the indigenous people. He did not have to face the wrath of power, slave trading and civil wars like Beatriz did, he merely faced those who had never heard of Christianity altogether.

The history of Christianity in Africa across time and space can be examined in the teachings and tellings of Dona Beatriz and William Wade Harris. Dona Beatriz’s teachings took place in the late 17^th and early 18^th century Congo, while Harris’ teachings took place in the 20^th century West Africa. Both of their teachings had a profound impact on their people. Because they were native to the country and the people, they had a better impact than white missionaries would. Throughout this course it has been revealed that black missionaries and preachers have a better success rate than their white counterparts. Whether it is 100 years ago, or 300 years ago, indigenous Christian teachers have a great impact on the landscape of African Christian population. Their history shows us that no matter what type of Christianity you are preaching, the one that is followed by Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant or others, it is better grasped and held on to by the indigenous people if it comes from someone of the same color, culture and background.

The history of these two teachers teaches us about the relationship between mission-Christianity and African evangelists. Mission-Christianity is the spreading of Christianity through missions, while African evangelists are those who have converted and want to spread the word of Christianity to their fellow Africans. Mission-Christianity is difficult for many Africans to accept because of the treatment the white missionaries would bestow upon the African people. They did not always practice what they preached, so to speak. The indigenous people found it much easier to grasp the information and faith from people who had had similar experiences and cultures that they had. Explaining Christianity from an African’s point of view is much easier to accept than if a person from Great Britain tried to explain it to them. Dona Beatriz and William Wade Harris teach us that it is easier for Africans to teach Africans about Christianity than it is for white people to teach Africans about Christianity.

Kongelese native Dona Beatriz and indigenous William Wade Harris prove that Christianity is better grasped by Africans when it is preached to them by other Africans. Both of these natives gathered thousands of new followers to the Christian faith in few short years, when it took Christian missionaries centuries to bring Christianity to some African countries. Saint Anthony and Archangel Gabriel visited these two teachers and started a journey for them that would lead to the conversion of thousands of new Christians across Africa. Because of their African heritage and trust in the faith, they easily gained thousands of followers. Their teachings may be different from each other, their country’s society and politics unalike but the amount of people that they converted to Christians is not arguable.