INTRODUCTORY NOTES.

This Encyclopedia is not an unbiassed historical record. Readers are referred to other established reference works (e.g. Wikipedia) for a more accurate and detailed coverage of the religious scene. While I have striven mightily for accuracy in facts (such as one can determine any facts in history) my purpose is plain - and not hidden. It is to discuss and dissect all religion from an atheistic and materialistic viewpoint.

The propaganda organs of religion, often propped up by State assistance both direct and indirect (e.g. the monstrous and immoral tax-exempt status religion enjoys in many countries including my own), have for hundreds of years poured forth the unproved claims of its priests and pontiffs.

Christians, Islamics, Hindus, Buddhists, who so often demand freedom of worship for themselves (and I for one wholeheartedly support such demands), are all too ready to deny the same freedom for those who differ from them. While they continue to try to control society to suit their narrow view of life, I will continue to treat their doctrines with the contempt they deserve. After all, the views they try to foist on us are not only patently absurd and contradictory but no proof whatever is or can be offered for the outrageous claims they make. Let them believe such absurdities (e.g. dying and rising gods, virgin births) if they wish, in the privacy of their homes and temples. Let them proclaim such nonsense to the world, but let them not try to force others, whether through laws or other means, to bow the knee to their deities and adopt their particular moral and social views.

Among other books I am indebted for factual material about the religions of Asia, in particular Hinduism and Buddhism, to H.G. Rawlinson's India: A Short Cultural History (London, Cresset Press, 1937). Mr Rawlinson's title is too modest by half; his work is a fascinating and detailed account of the Indian scene and is highly recommended for further research. And everyone refers from time to time to The Golden Bough, Sir James Frazer's monumental work (running to 12 volumes in its original form).

NOTE 1: A strict alphabetical system of indexing is followed, ignoring all spaces, punctuation marks, etc. Dates: BCE - Before Christian Era; CE - Christian Era. Words in CAPITALS occurring within the text of articles indicate that the topics so noted are treated elsewhere in the encyclopedia. All Biblical references are from the English Revised Version, 1884, unless otherwise stated.

NOTE 2: This is a work in progress. Many entries are brief, just preliminary notes that I have made as I have come across interesting topics, sometimes they are merely anecdotes. Additions and corrections will be made from time to time.

© Felicity Press, Gympie, Australia, 2008. All rights reserved. 

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AARON. Hebrew high priest and brother of Moses, according to the Biblical tradition. However, as the reality of MOSES himself is doubted by many scholars one must attach similar grave doubts to Aaron, and this is highlighted in the story of the famous miraculous episode involving his staff or rod. See: AARON'S ROD.

AARON'S ROD. The term 'rod' has become today one of the many euphemisms for the penis. Do good Jewish and Christian parents realize the nature of the tale they tell their children when they relate the Biblical myth of 'Aaron's rod that budded'? The phallic symbolism involved in this episode in Hebrew history is legendary; the rod symbolizing the male principle. When the rod was said to bring forth almonds (Numbers 17:8) the reference, seemingly obscure, was not, as might seem at first sight to be the case, to semen but in fact to the female reproductive organ.

Almond-shaped openings are referred to in the obscure coded symbolism of the Bible for this purpose. Probably, as in so many other instances, the very earliest texts (such as they were; nothing much was written down for a thousand or more years) conveyed the true meaning; later gradually sanitized by the holy scribes transmitting the 'truth'. The sexual message had been transformed into a religious one!

ABBOT OF MISRULE. Also known as the Lord of Misrule. In medieval times an important citizen was appointed to preside over the Christmas revelries. As Christmas was originally a pagan, not a Christian, festival, purloined by the Church, to celebrate with fun, games and wine then, as now, seems entirely appropriate, however much Christians decry such naughtiness. For the true nature of the yuletide season see under: CHRISTMAS.

ABEN-ESRA. Reputedly the most learned rabbin of the Middle Ages, who was born at Toledo, Spain, c. 1088-89 CE. He travelled extensively but in later years lived in Rome, although he died in Spain, in 1176. He was a mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, poet. He earns a particular place in history as a forerunner of the later Higher Critics, doubting the veracity of holy writ, a notable achievement for his era!

ABODE OF LOVE. See under: AGAPEMONE, Church of the.

DARK HISTORY

In any event, when we look into the dark and foul history of the Church of Rome, what do we find? Buried in the crypts of many a nunnery were the aborted foetuses and tiny bones of newborn infants, the results of the sexual liaisons between the godly sisters and their equally godly brother monks.

And if we wish to add to the guilt of Rome, we could mention that to cry today, as some Roman Catholics do, that life is precious, even the life of the unborn fetus, is to ignore the fact that Rome condemned to death hundreds of thousands of people during the many persecutions it launched against 'heretics' throughout its bloody history, chiefly during the dreadful INQUISITION and later in the WITCHCRAFT blood-letting.

In a judgment delivered some years ago and quoted by Dr Paul Gerber on Australia’s ABC-radio, Justice Clark observed:

To say that life is present at conception is to give recognition to the potential rather than the actual. The law deals in reality, not obscurity, the known rather than the unknown. The law does not deal in speculation. The phenomenon of life takes time to develop and until it is actually present it cannot be destroyed. It's interruption prior to formation would hardly be homicide. The rites of baptism are not performed and death certificates are not required when a miscarriage occurs. No prosecutor has ever returned a murder indictment charging the taking of the life of a foetus as would be the case if the foetus constituted human life . . .

What constitutes conception itself is the subject of constant review as medical science progresses. It would seem that the better view is that conception is not so much an event as a process over time, particularly in the light of new techniques, such as fertilisation in vitro, implantation of embryos, artificial insemination, and even the building of artificial wombs.

Following the downfall of the Communist regime in Poland the country began reverting to its dark Catholic-dominated past. Soon the liberal abortion law instituted by the previous Government were abolished and in their place new laws were introduced specifying heavy penalties, particularly directed at doctors who perform abortions, even for humanitarian reasons. The heavy hand of Rome had once again fallen on the land.

In March 1995 Dr Wincenty Kroemeke, 59, was put on trial for having performed an abortion on Mrs Barbara Pawliczak in March 1994. The court was told by Mrs Pawliczak, who supports a 10-year-old daughter, that she became depressed when the State clinic turned down her request for an abortion. Her lover informed the authorities in a deliberate act of revenge 'to teach her a lesson . . . so she won't have anything to do with other men.' The doctor faced a two-year prison term if found guilty. President Lech Walesa, a bigoted Catholic, has strongly opposed moves to soften the law. Before the new law applied an estimated 100,000 abortions were being performed each year in Poland.

PRIMACY

In April 1995 a US lawmaker outraged many women when he claimed that North Carolina's fund providing abortions for poor women should be abolished. Republican Henry Aldridge, 71, asserted that women who are 'truly raped' do not get pregnant! 'The juices won't flow, the body functions won't work, and they don't get pregnant,' he added. An activist, Ms Margaret Henderson, responded with the comment: 'This is the first time I've heard of rape victims being blamed for becoming pregnant.' The proposal was later withdrawn.

A review published by the Australian Medical Association in April 1995 asserted that women who effectively harmed their babies by consuming drugs, alcohol or tobacco while pregnant should not be sued for damages. The AMA statement laid down the principle, in the doctors' view, that a woman's rights were 'always superior' to those of the unborn foetus. Commented Dr John Seymour, author of the statement: : 'The idea that a woman's rights as a citizen are compromised by her pregnancy is a very dangerous one.'

Doctors, the statement said, had no right to intervene against a woman's wishes. The report, headed Foetal Welfare and the Law, was sponsored by the Australian College of Paediatricians, the Royal Australian College of Gynaecologists, and the National Association of Specialist Obstetricians. The report was immediately condemned out of hand by the moral minority group Right to Life.

Clearly male-dominated societies do not want women to have control over their reproduction processes. American feminist lawyer Kathryn Kolbert has well stated the position: 'The reason abortion rights are so threatening is that they make a woman a totally autonomous person, and that is a threat to male control, and even to masculinity itself.' See also: ABORTION CLINIC ATTACKS.

ABORTION CLINIC ATTACKS.

US abortion clinics have been subjected to concerted attacks by Christian groups in recent years. Doctors, nurses and woman attending have been harassed and physically and verbally abused and attacked by the chanting, life-affirming, Christians surrounding the buildings. Their actions have even included bombings and outright murder and attempted murder. They have received support from the Ku Klux Klan. By mid-1994 it was reported that there had been 38 bombings and 88 arson attacks on such clinics. There were another 68 attempted attacks.

Dr David Gunn, 47, knew he could be in danger. He carried a gun in his car as he moved across three states and between the four clinics he worked in. But he felt a gun was out of place in the actual clinic building, even although he worked in a threatening situation (the clinic was regularly targeted by noisy aggressive 'pro-life' groups). On March 10, 1993, Dr Gunn was shot three times in the back as he was about to enter a rear door of the clinic.

The religion-crazed gunman was 31-year-old Frederick Griffin, a married man with two children. When police arrived he walked up to them and calmly said: 'I've just shot somebody.' The gun was in the grass nearby. He was arrested and charged with murder. Rather than expressing contrition over the cold-blooded murder many of the 'pro-lifers' cheered when they heard the news of the doctor's death. Some of their number expressed support for the murderer in TV programs aired since.

At first the pro-lifers tried to distance themselves from the gunman but their efforts were dealt a fatal blow when it was revealed that the chief organization engaged in the war against the women's clinics, Operation Rescue, a militant Christian front group, had launched a fund to support the killer and his family. It was also revealed that Griffin had been in charge of one of the protesting groups before the shooting! Griffin was refusing legal assistance as he faced the courts. He said he would use the Bible only to defend himself. As the Bible has nothing directly to say about abortion he would find this difficult!

RIGHT TO CHOOSE

The abortion fight in the USA has reached a very nasty stage. Although almost two-thirds of American citizens support women's right to choose, the anti-choice brigade are aggressive, noisy and dangerous, as has now been shown. Pledged to 'preserve life' they are also willing to take life in the process, a curious stance. Worse, in many cities and towns in 'conservative' areas, where the law is being broken by these mobs, police and the judiciary are siding with the 'pro-lifers' and not protecting people. No wonder doctors are donning bullet-proof vests! One story in thousands involving similar harassment: The 6-year-old daughter of a doctor working at a women's clinic was one day followed to her day-school by a group of ratbag Christian demonstrators who stood outside the school all day chanting slogans directed at the little girl.

In March 1994 Griffin was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Florida normally applies the death penalty but the prosecution had agreed not to seek the capital penalty in a pre-trial deal. Meanwhile, in August 1993, Dr George Tiller was shot in both arms outside his clinic in Wichita, Kansas. He lived. His alleged attacker was Rachelle Renae Shannon, 37, convicted and sentenced to eight years in jail for attempted murder. In May 1994 President Clinton signed a US bill making it a Federal crime for protesters to deny women access to abortion clinics.

On July 29, 1994 two more murders occurred, in Pensacola, Florida. Dr John Britton, 69, who was wearing a bullet-proof vest, was shot dead - in the head - along with a volunteer security escort, Mr James Barrett, 74. A female nurse was wounded. Police arrested an ex-Presbyterian minister, Paul Hill, 40, a well-known opponent of abortion clinics, and charged him on two counts of murder and one of attempted murder. Hill had expressed threats against the abortion clinic for a long period but police had taken no action and were accused of ignoring the danger. A new Federal law, Freedom of Access to Clinics, should have been used by the FBI to arrest Hill.

CHRISTIAN MURDERER

Hill, who claims such murders are justified, expressed no remorse and a newspaper photograph showed him smiling, evidently happy at his murderous adventure. Hill, defending himself, was later found guilty on Federal charges of harming or interfering with those who provide legal abortions. His reaction: to smile happily. He is still to face State murder charges. Following Hill's trial there was an escalation of attacks on clinics, no less than fourteen arson and bomb attacks occurring within the two week period following his conviction.

Meanwhile in Virginia, Washington, an abortion clinic in the suburb of Falls Church was fire-bombed. The FBI was investigating. And Father David Trosch, a Catholic priest in Alabama, was preaching that the deity smiled upon those who took life to save life. He threatened anyone supporting the pro-choice lobby, including the US President himself, that they would be 'terminated as vermin is terminated.' He was suspended by his bishop but organized a declaration maintaining his views. Commented Cardinal Roger Mahoney, a pro-lifer: 'Violence in the movement makes a mockery of all we stand for.'

It was reported in mid-1994 that a radical US Christian group known as the Army of God has been distributing a 113-page 'terror manual' - a book advising ways and means of destroying abortion clinics and murdering doctors, complete with suitable formulas for home-made bombs designed to make 'baby-killers tremble in their boots'. In November 1994 the anti-abortion violence spread into Canada when Dr Garson Romalis, a gynaecologist, was shot with an AK47 assault rifle through a window of his Vancouver home. He survived, although he was seriously wounded.

In September 1995 Robert Cook, 33, of Caledonia, Wisconsin (USA) was indicted by a US federal grand jury on theft charges. It was alleged that Cook had stolen $US260,000 to finance attacks on abortion clinics. Cook was arrested the previous month when police found cash, food, an assault rifle and two ninja-type hoods in his car. See also: ABORTION.

ABRAHAM. Abraham is an important figure of Jewish and Christian mythology and to some extent in Islamic as well. However, there is little evidence, other than the Bible's own claims, that Abraham was the figure he was made out to be. The Biblical account of Abraham was actually only written down some 1,200 years after his time! We must indeed make a leap of faith, such as is so often advocated in the Bible (with good reason, as otherwise nobody would pay the slightest heed to it), to accept that the account passed on by word of mouth for 1,200 years is true!

The very fact that Abraham appears in the story under variant names, i.e. Abraham and Abram, must make us suspicious. This might seem a small matter. At first glance, yes. It is a commonplace of history that names have come down to us in variant forms. But the Bible-boosters are not to be let off so lightly. Abraham is a pivotal figure in Jewish history. And the interesting point is that the two names as given have different meanings in the original Hebrew.

Not only so but each name occurs in distinct sections of Genesis that do not overlap, except where the editors have inserted the usual specious reason for the change (see Genesis 17:5). And any fair-minded reading of the two accounts leaves us in no doubt that two distinct original documents were used (a fact well known to scholars). Thus the original Abraham/Abram is, in truth, a far less certain historical figure than we have been led to believe.

And the episode where Abraham offers up his son Isaac as a sacrifice to the Hebrew tribal deity Yahweh is an interesting one. It indicates clearly that human sacrifice was probably practised by the early Hebrews, however much the scribes tried to sanitize this episode and, like movieland’s serial-story, have the young lad rescued at the last moment!

Your attention is drawn to a definite instance of human sacrifice, that involving JEPHTHAH, who burnt his daughter for Yahweh. But then in the Hebrew law as set down in Exodus 22: 29 provision was made for 'the firstborn of thy sons' to be given to Yahweh (Exodus 22:29). And this is not merely a symbolic 'giving', for the very next verse refers to the firstborn of sheep and oxen to be likewise 'given'; and it wasn't symbolic for these latter, it was the real thing! So Isaac was a lucky lad.

Abraham also had an incestuous marriage. In Genesis 20: 12 we learn that he married his father's daughter. 'And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife.'

ABRAM. See under: ABRAHAM.

ABSOLUTIONS. See under: PARDONS.

ABU BEKR 'Ayishah bint. Ayishah was a child bride of Muhammad. According to tradition she was, in the manner of the time, first penetrated by the Prophet's sacred penis when but 6 years of age. So say some authorities; others say she was 9; whatever the exact age it was young. The wives and daughters of Muhammad were, according to some historians (the histories conflict in many matters) subjected to frequent intercourse and his youngest daughter, Umm Kulthum, became, according to Arab history, a 'proverbial example' of adultery and debauchery.

ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, The. The book of the New Testament next after the four Gospels. Unlike many other New Testament books the Acts was accepted by most Christians as 'canonical' from an early period. It is said to be written by St Luke, usually referred to as a historian. Regrettably St Luke was either a careless historian or else he was an accurate recorder of the conversion of St Paul and there's something wrong in that affair.

There are three accounts of this dramatic and important event, i.e. Paul’s conversion, in the book of Acts and they differ in important details. So either St Paul was hallucinating as a result of sunstroke on the Damascus road or else St Luke was careless. Whichever explanation is taken by Christians it leaves them with a problem: their inerrant Bible has erred! But then if we compare Luke's Gospel with the other three we find there are discrepancies laid on thick!

In 1913 Eduard Norden in his work, Agnostos Theos demolished the authenticity of the Book of Acts as a document of history; rather it is best described as historical fiction. Mr Norden’s arguments have stood the test of time. See also: PAUL, Saint.

ACUPUNCTURE. Does acupuncture work? If so, how? In acupuncture the needles are either twirled manually or electric current is applied. This produces localized pain at the needle site. It is believed by observers that concentration on this pain has the effect of reducing pain elsewhere, a commonly observed phenomenon. A study of trigger-zones and sites of pain unrelated to the segmental nervous system reveals that about 70 percent of the trigger-zones correlate with acupuncture points.

There is some relationship between the application of pain in this way and the effects of hypnosis. It has been suggested that the conditions surrounding the patient experiencing acupuncture are not dissimilar to conditions conducive to hypnosis. In this connection it is interesting to note that only about 10 percent of patients are able to undergo surgery under acupuncture. Under hypnosis some 10 percent to 15 percent are able. Studies suggest a correlation between the two and in practice it has been found that subjects reporting good results from acupuncture are also found to be good subjects for hypnosis. So perhaps it is all in the mind.

A.D. See re usages of A.D. and B.C., etc, under: CALENDAR, The.

ADAM. The first man, according to the Bible. By the Bible's own chronology he appeared on earth in 4,004 BCE, and soon after arriving from the other world, had an operation on his ribcage to produce Eve. Curiously, when Adam and Eve were supposedly living in the Garden of Eden, they were in fact right in the middle of a highly organized and developed civilization which had already been flourishing for some thousands of years in that area. Perhaps even tens of thousands. Someone must have forgotten to tell Yahweh there were humans aplenty already there! Maybe the Garden of Eden was actually a Zoological Garden and the two Hairless Apes were prize exhibits? But the presence of masses of people at least explains where Adam's sons got their wives from, a perpetual puzzle to believing children!

It is important to notice that St Paul and other New Testament writers believed in Adam. Implicitly. In one reference after another the New Testament refers to Adam as an individual human being. One man Christ (for there were not more) is contrasted with one man, Adam (1 Corinthians 15:21). Christ is not a generic term here (as some Christians would say, trying to wriggle out of their problems), nor some sort of allegorical figure; neither is Adam. Yet again, read the words of Romans 5:12: 'Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the world....' Moreover, in verse 14 this same man is linked historically with Moses: 'Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses.'

Are Christians, then, telling us that Moses also is an allegorical figure? Some of us might think that he is but the fundamentalists, at least, would never agree to this. And the genealogies of Genesis, too, treat Adam as a historical figure (Genesis 5:1-5). We are even informed that Adam died! It would be some curiosity indeed if an allegorical figure were to die! And he had children and his children's children went on to produce the Chosen Race. The line of succession is clearly spelled out: Adam, Seth, Noah, Abraham, Moses.

Christians, if they are to claim for themselves that sacred name, must accept that Adam and Eve are actual historic persons, with all the implications flowing from such acceptance. Otherwise the Christian teaching of the Fall, and everything that follows logically from such a belief, lies broken in shards. If the First Man is banished from history, what then of the Last Man? The whole doctrine of the Birth, Life, Death, Resurrection and alleged Second Coming of Christ depends on the concept of Man's Fall. And that Man was none other than the Adam of Genesis who, with his wife Eve, rebelled against the deity. If Man did not fall then Christ did not have to die.

ADAMITES. Or Adamians. A religious sect, of Gnostic tendencies, whose members lived naked 'like Adam' in an attempt to return to man's innocent state before the Fall. Some write that they abstained from all sensual gratifications but it appears more likely that they used their doctrinal posturing to indulge in some of the pleasures of the flesh. They were said to practise coitus reservatus, i.e., intercourse without orgasm, delighting in the pleasures of foreplay.

They first arose in the second century and rejected marriage as well as clothing but in time possibly degenerated into a worse moral state than those they railed against. They went about within their own groups naked, and may have practised self-flagellation in private as a form of  MORTIFICATION.

In the early part of the 15th century a fanatical sect of the same name appeared in Bohemia and Moravia (also known as Picards or Brethren of the Free Spirit). They believed in the abolition of the priesthood and a community of wives. At their nightly meetings they went naked. Some of their number, at least, would no doubt have taken part in the processions of FLAGELLANTS moving around Europe during the time of the Black Death. John Zisca, famous general of the Hussites, attacked the Adamites, who were bringing discredit on his army, killed some and committed others to the flames. There were still some of their persuasion around in 1849.

The Adamites were known for running through the streets naked as a form of protest against persecution. An 18th century painting depicted the sect members, male and female, running quite naked through Amsterdam in a 16th century protest. The term ANABAPTISTS is also applied to such groups and there appears to be some confusion as there were many groups who had outlandish ways of protest.

ADAM'S PEAK. A high mountain in the south of Sri Lanka (2260 m. or 7420 ft). On a platform at the summit of the granite peak there is a deep impression like a monster's footprint, an object of pilgrimages attracting immense numbers of people. The Muslims believe that after Adam was expelled from Eden, he did penance on this spot by standing on one foot for a thousand years. The Buddhists, however, believe the indent is the Sri-pada, or holy footprint of the Buddha. As the location does seem to be somewhat removed from the traditional home of Adam, perhaps the Buddhists are right! I suspect, however, that the Buddha himself would deny the claim.

ADLER, Margot. Adler is a descendant of Alfred Adler, the famous psychiatrist. She was initiated into Gardnerian witchcraft in 1971. She is author of an important book dealing with modern witchcraft in North America, Drawing Down the Moon. She is or was an important figure on the American scene, often acting as de facto spokesperson for the movement and appearing in television interviews.

ADRIAN 6th, Pope. See under: HADRIAN 6th, Pope.

AFRA, Saint. Saint Afra was reportedly a prostitute before taking up the religious life.

AGAPEMONE, Church of the.
In 1859 the Rev Henry James Prince, onetime English Anglican clergyman, opened a quasi-religious establishment, known as the Agapemone (Greek for Abode of Love), near Bridgewater in Somerset. Prince raised subscriptions for his project publicly through the south-coast region of England and set up his harem (for that was what it was) in a country house at Spaxton. It was open to the public and was more-or-less financially successful.

Prince was born in Wales 1811 and died in 1899. Early in life Henry showed a predisposition to the church, attending his local one frequently. He even expressed a desire to be a clergyman but his mother had other ideas and saw to it that he was trained as a doctor. He practised for three years but eventually sickness caused him to withdraw from the profession. For a time he had to live on what his mother could spare from her income running a boarding-house. Eventually he recovered and was soon about to experience a major turning-point in his life. He happened to have a fine speaking voice and was, as well, handsome, with soft grey eyes and a slender figure. Women were naturally attracted to him as a result.

An elderly lady lodger, who had inherited some funds, paid the young man to read passages of the Bible to her. Her favourite passage was that Biblical piece of gentle erotica, the Song of Solomon, and one day, while reading from this stimulating and uplifting text, the lady burst into tears, flung herself passionately upon the startled man and expressed her love for him. This event, not surprisingly, came as a revelation to him. Now any reasonable young man offered anything would, we might expect, ask for something really useful. But so gone was this man on his religion that he announced what he wanted most of all was to attend a theological college so as to become a clergyman. The lady, being religious, too, and caught up with the inspired words of Solomon, was delighted with such a fine suggestion and gave Prince the money to pay his fees. In gratitude Prince married her. Honourable fellow! Sadly, the marriage did not last long as the woman, being, as I said, elderly, soon died.

Thus began the next phase of the life of Prince as he began studies at the Theological College at Lampeter, which trained men for the Church of England. Now at this time the Established Church was a very moderate, liberal institution, taken as a whole, one which accepted into its ranks just about anybody. But the new man was a dreadful boat-rocker. He wanted changes made, especially in the attitude to Christian doctrine. What is more, the bounder even demanded of the college Principal that he, too, should mend his ways!

HIGHER FORCES

Prince called upon Higher Forces to aid his cause. Apparently he felt he had a better case before the Almighty than did the college Principal. He soon gathered together some of the more zealous students in private prayer meetings, outside the stream of regular college activities, meetings that went on for long periods. Some dissension arose over this but the authorities could do little as prayer meetings were, after all, a suitable spiritual activity to be engage din by Christians.

But more trouble followed. The Principal, the Rev. Alfred Ollivant, had about this time been promoted in the Church hierarchy and gave a dinner-party for the students to celebrate this event. Drinks were imbibed, as the manner was in such liberal Christian circles. But when the toast was about to be drunk, Prince, who was present, rose and objected. He said that rather than propose a toast they should all fall on their knees and pray for the Principal's soul! He then marched from the room, leaving all somewhat dismayed. From then on Prince was very unpopular with everyone but a select group of zealots from among the student body. The group continued in gathering for prayer and called themselves, to the intense annoyance of the Principal, the Lampeter Brethren.

In time the Church authorities awarded Prince, albeit reluctantly, the degree of Doctor of Divinity, with an appointment as a curate to follow. This latter, too, was granted reluctantly and the powers-that-be made sure he was located in a fairly insignificant backwater, the village of Charlynch, in Somerset. The year was 1840. Prince was undaunted. He set to work to convert his immediate superior (for he was merely the assistant) the Rector, and won this prize! Now it may seem odd that a rector (or vicar, in some parts) should be in such a position and 'unconverted' but this was the way things were in the national Church at that time. This was a somewhat specially noteworthy action as the Rector, the Rev. Samuel Starkey, was the son of Lady Mary Alicia Coventry and was, through her, connected with a large cross-section of the aristocracy of England.

SUDDEN CURE

The Rev. Henry James Prince was now something of a celebrity. His preaching was popular and drew good crowds and Prince was elated. He told Starkey, now a great admirer of the younger man, that he had absorbed the spirit of GOD. Indeed, when the rector experienced a sudden recovery from a mysterious illness, he attributed the cure to Prince. Some of the women of the church now approached Prince, asking him to hold special prayer meetings for ladies only. What a very nice idea! There soon followed regular meetings, with prayers and readings from one particular book above all others - the Song of Solomon.

Prince came to be attended upon by a band of adoring women, the wives and daughters of the local farmers, and also womenfolk from nearby great houses. He was carried away with his audience and enthusiastically kissed the ladies. Now, somewhat understandably, uproar arose from among the husbands, fathers and brothers. But surely a cleric could kiss his lady parishioners? After all, the Word itself commanded Christians to 'greet one another with a holy kiss.' But, dear me, Prince was accused of going farther than mere kissing, an accusation denied by the women, although they did so with some degree of tantalizing ambiguity.

The readings from the most erotic book in the Bible continued, and so did the strife. Men forbade their womenfolk to go to the meetings, debate raged. The whole area was in a state of uproar until the Bishop of Bath and Wells descended upon the village and calmed everybody down. Everybody, that is, except Prince. The Bishop suggested politely (in the manner of English bishops) to the latter that he move on to other pastures in another diocese and promised his help in securing a living. Prince refused and the bishop became less polite, forthwith relieving the upstart of his curacy.

Enter another Bishop, the Right Rev. Dr Allen, Bishop of Ely, who unwisely, as it soon turned out, took into his fold the errant curate. He was given work at Stoke but in some forty months there the Reverend Henry Prince had caused an even greater uproar than he had at Charlynch. The Bishop of Ely had to admit that his brother Bishop at Bath and Wells knew what he was about. Prince was now out of a job for the second time. Inspiration struck. He would hire a hall and turn it into his own church. Meanwhile the sister of the Rev. Samuel Starkey, Julia, had fallen in love with Prince and made up her mind to marry him. Julia was considered a beauty in her time. Later events were to show that Julia loved Prince deeply and remained loyally devoted to him through thick and thin.

LAMPETER BRETHREN

So they married and, with a small sum of money Julia brought, Prince hired his meeting-hall in Brighton. They lived across the road from the hall. He called the hall The Adullum after the cave in which the poor and outcast sheltered in David's time. To this place came some of the members of the original student band forming the Lampeter Brethren, many now holding livings in the Church. They were soon joined by a band of devoted females, as always, and Prince launched a series of addresses somehow linking the Judgment theme with the Song of Solomon.

Meanwhile, his former rector, now principal ally, Samuel Starkey, had separated from the official Church and was preaching at Weymouth, Dorsetshire. Here he had been experiencing a great measure of success in attracting people from all walks of life to the cause. And not shrinking from their prophetic role, the men gave themselves out to be the Two Witnesses foretold in the book of Revelation (not the first nor the last to claim this for themselves).

It was summertime when Prince launched his Brighton project and the meetings were at first successful, but as winter set in numbers fell until, on some evenings, especially in the dreary month of November, there was no congregation at all. Prince was dispirited and began to lose faith in himself. On some cold wintry evenings not even his faithful female followers attended.

In all such movements it is often difficult to obtain, at such a distance in time, an accurate account of what happened. Events that pass unnoticed and unrecorded at the time will often, later, prove to be significant but by then details will have been lost. However, for whatever reason it appears that the movement gained a new lease of life and money began to flow in. Starkey himself had funds and offered help. Mrs Starkey came from a wealthy family and promised an annuity of £80. A man named Maber and his four sisters put together what was then a huge sum - £10,000.

ABODE CONSTRUCTED

By 1849 money was piling up and Henry Prince announced he was building his Agapemone or Abode of Love (spiritual love, that is, he assured everyone). Near the town of Bridgewater the group bought 20 acres and behind high walls spent two years building a luxurious retreat. It is claimed that the disciples who entered the Abode handed over all their worldly possessions but this may have been a distortion of the truth. In any event some sixty recruits entered into the place and Henry Prince's dream had been realized. What happened in the years that followed depends on who tells the story! Within months rumours were circulating as to strange goings-on within the walls of the Agapemone. There was talk of drunken orgies, sexual licence and of wife-swapping. That there may be at least some substance in the claims is indicated by the nature of a document issued by Prince the very year of the foundation of his Abode of Love.

Prince was a zealous pamphleteer all his life and in these writings poured forth his interesting, and to the orthodox, alarming, concepts of religion mixed with the pleasures of the flesh. In this movement, as in so many others through history, we see the struggle of the religious soul attempting to reconcile the natural impulses of the mortal flesh with the strict dogmas of the faith.

Among his pamphlets, which were sold profitably, was How You May Know Whether You Do or Do Not Believe in Jesus Christ. It was claimed that he came later to believe that sexual relations within his society would be completely innocent. Reportedly Prince engaged in sex with a Miss Paterson after prayers on one of the sofas and in full view of the congregation. When Miss Paterson became pregnant, Prince told the faithful there would be no birth, but there was, upon which event Prince proclaimed that this was Satan's last act of defiance against God! Some lady disciples left, others remained faithful. Outsiders described inmates as 'silly captive women.' But at the height of its popularity the Abode housed about 1,000 people.

In 1859 Prince issued Brother Prince's Journal, and Account of the Destruction of the Works of the Devil in the Human Soul by the Lord Jesus Christ through the Gospel. This document calmly sets forth a doctrine of sinless perfection (which, too, has raised its head many times before), the concept that through the grace of GOD the believer is kept from sinning. Thus such a person, in effect, attempts to hedge about his dalliances with a cloak of spiritual respectability.

PRINCE SUED

But scandal of one kind or another was never far way. In 1860 the Agapemone hit the headlines when Ralph Nottidge sued Prince for the return of £5,725 which his sister Louisa had given the man. In court Nottidge related how his three sister had been 'almost insanely infatuated' with Prince and Louisa had set up house near the Abode. Eventually the brother had persuaded her to return home and, fearing for her sanity (for she believed Prince was divine and that he was able to make her immortal) had her examined. She was sent away to a mental home but eventually released and immediately after moved into the Agapemone and signed over the money. The court ordered Prince to return the funds to Louisa's estate.

When, seven years later, a meeting of local citizens was held to protest activities in the Abode, it was claimed by one speaker that in four years no less than fourteen disciples had been so disgusted by what went on they had escaped - over the wall. This claim is a trifle curious as at no time was it suggested disciples were not free to leave as they wished. The citizenry wanted the inhabitants of the place run out of town, but nothing happened.

From time to time stories surfaced alleging the pledging of money to Prince and his entourage. Emphasis was placed on 'spiritual' marriage, in other words men and women being joined in matrimony but not having children. This, claimed critics, ensured that their estates went to the group. The later years passed more-or-less quietly, Prince living in his Abode until his death in 1899. Commented the Globe Encyclopedia, in 1876: 'The sect vegetates rather than lives in the sleepy luxury of Spaxton, and must perish with its founders.' It was helped considerably, however, in 1874 when a wealthy London merchant moved in with the founder, signing over a large fortune in the process. The man offered himself as Prince's butler! Thus the eccentricities continued.

The new money gave a big fillip to the cult, which somehow got itself linked up with another bizarre character, also a onetime Anglican cleric, the Rev. T. H. Smyth-Piggott, who had an even more incredible public life than Prince. He had been operating a curious establishment in London, known as the Ark of the Covenant and also attracted about his person an entourage of female disciples. He was quite a character of notoriety and public derision. He bore children with names such as Glory and Life. In 1909 Smyth-Piggott was found guilty of 'immorality, uncleanness and wickedness of life.' When he heard that Prince had died he announced that he was his true successor and eventually moved into the Agapemone. The stories of goings-on continued until, at length, the Bishop of Bath and Wells was moved to stop the man preaching, at least outside the walls of the Abode of Love. At one time a police guard was even mounted to enforce the ruling.

AGAPETISM. From the Greek meaning 'other than carnal love.' A practice first described in the Christian context around the middle of third century. Women slept with men, yet claimed not to have sexual congress. In most eras of human history virginity in the female has been prized by the male, a powerful factor in the rise of the cult of the Virgin Mary. The practice thus developed whereby young virgins would sleep, usually entirely nude (for that has been more often than not the mode adopted for sleeping by humans through the centuries, as it is even today in many societies) with a male while the couple claimed not to have had sexual congress. This was termed agapetism.

Whether or not the ladies retained their virginity, the practice stirred up the ire of Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, who decreed that if a young woman announced that she had successfully passed through such a test of chastity, she must submit to a midwife for examination! It is not recorded what the young bedfellows thought of the experience of lying all night beside an attractive naked female, without so much as experiencing a quick bit of fun! Or an erection!

Another story involved Cyprian questioning a nun as to her claim of remaining virginal after spending a night thus bedded down. The prelate told the poor women that even if she passed the normal test of virginity (through examination of the generative organ) she was still guilty of sin if 'parts of her body', i.e. the mouth, had been employed in lovemaking.

One of the great Fathers of the Church, Saint Jerome, recorded his experience of ghostly bed-companions, come to tempt his flesh. According to the holy man troops of beautiful naked females danced about him at night as he attempted to sleep, while trying to keep his thoughts pure. In a later era, another saint, Aldhelm of Malmesbury, had his resolution tested in an alarming the manner. He went to bed between two real girls ('unam ab uno latere, alterem ab altero').

Virginity was as much a preoccupation of the Christian doctors as it was (and still is!) of others inside and outside the Church. The naughty goings-on in the third century were not the first such occurrences. As early as around 100 CE an account was written anonymously (but believed by some to have been penned by Hermas, brother of a Catholic bishop), a fantasy-story of this bygone era, which incorporated the concept of agapetism. The storyteller is introduced by a shepherd to a company of twelve females. Night approaches and the narrator asks the girls where he is to sleep. 'You will sleep with us,' they reply, 'but as a brother not as other men, for you are indeed our brother and in future we shall serve you, for we love you.' There follows a scene where one of the maidens, who seems to be a leader, kisses the man, followed by each of the others.

More titillation follows. The virgin ladies remove their clothing, even undergarments, placing them on the floor to form a sort of bed, telling the man to lie upon this. 'Next they prayed, and I prayed with them,' the narrator continues, 'and I remained with them, praying, until two o'clock in the morning.' At length the shepherd returns and questions the ladies, asking: 'I hope that you did not abuse him.' (A touch of male chauvinism here!) The ladies reply, 'Ask him.' The final word of this curious tale is somewhat enigmatic, for the narrator simply states: 'Lord, it gave me pleasure to spend the night with the women.'

Why such curious activities? Did these ladies really wish to test their resolve or was it an excuse to practise something otherwise forbidden? A sly way of going to bed with a man? The fact that Church authorities, at least at some stages, had women tested after such activities, indicates that some participants at least must have succumbed to the pleasures of the flesh. On the other hand an opposite tendency was seen among some women who prized their virginity. Sometimes a married couple did not consummate their marriage. It was not an uncommon feature of life through the Christian ages. An Anglo-Saxon queen was actually canonized by the Church for refusing to have intercourse with her husband!

In England in 1859 a curious establishment was founded, known as the Church of the AGAPEMONE. It was the best known and most successful of a number of similar bodies. The history of the development of these ideas in later times will be found under: BUNDLING.

AGNI. A central feature of the worship of ZOROASTRIANISM was the fire-shrine, in which a sacred fire was kept burning upon an altar, tended by the fire-priests. Early reliefs picture the king standing before the fire-altar under an open sky. The fire itself is fed with carefully selected wood. Modern Parsees uses sandalwood, and services are held five times a day. The sacred fire was a gift from the deity Ahura Mazda. It symbolized light and purity and was inherited from earlier Aryan religion. Thus, Zarathustra himself was said to be tending a fire-altar already in existence when Ahura Mazda revealed himself. It is through this fire worship that we see one of the many strong links between the religion of India and that of Persia.

One of the greatest gods of the Rig-Veda (the ancient Hindu scriptures) is Agni (ignis). This god is fire personified in all its forms in heaven and upon earth. In over two hundred hymns in the Rig-Veda, Agni is lauded. A curious link with water is also formed in these poetic outbursts. In the lightning breaking from the clouds in the rain-drenched sky Agni is born and reborn, descending to earth in the lightning-bolt. The natural forces of fire and rain and lightning, so awesome at times in their power and fury, played a major role in religious development.

We see this clearly in some of the Jewish writings, which also reflect probable links with the worship of Agni. In the first chapter of the prophecies of Ezekiel we find the Prophet seeing visions of Yahweh. 'And I looked, and behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud, with a fire infolding itself (RV marginal alternative: 'flashing continually'), and a brightness round about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire came four living creatures....' and 'as for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches; it went up and down among the living creatures: and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning....And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness of a man upon it above....I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about him' (Ezekiel 1:4-5,13,26,28).

The crazed visions of Ezekiel may have been drug-induced, as some believe, but the true origin of the basic imagery is clearly evident. Ezekiel prophesied a little after Zarathustra's time and the same influences that permeated all religion in that region would surely have been active in the Babylon of Ezekiel's exile.

In the Eastern tradition the abode of Agni is also the sun, the great fire in the sky, and thus Agni is linked with a long line of solar deities stretching back through immemorial time. And he is born anew each day when he bursts forth from his hiding-place in the wood of the two fire-sticks that are rubbed together to kindle the sacred flame on the altar. Agni is, in fact, a kind of priest of the gods. He conveys in his flames and smoke the sacrificial offerings and worship of the people to the very seats of the divinities on high. Believers even looked upon their household fires as sacred. Agni is man's good friend, a guest in every home, driving away demons and bestowing prosperity and all material good.

Agni's flame still lingers with us even today as worshippers in the churches of Catholicism and Orthodoxy are mesmerized by the flickering flame of the votive candles. Are not these Christian priests still participating in the ancient rites that had their origins in the Aryan religion? Agni bore the prayers of the worshippers to the gods above. The flame of the candle, we are told, likewise bears aloft the hopes and prayers of the worshippers. But even Protestants do not entirely escape the long reach of the past. Agni is with them whenever they participate in the ceremony of 'Carols by Candlelight', bearing aloft the sung prayers of the participants.

AGNOSTICISM. The philosophy that expounds the idea that nothing is known or can be known about the nature of deity or the ‘spiritual world’ beyond the material world in which we live. An agnostic would appear to stand halfway between the religious believer and the adherent of ATHEISM.

AIDS HYSTERIA. When HIV-AIDS first began to be noticed in 1983 there was widespread hysteria. Religious groups especially pointed the finger of condemnation at homosexuals, even although AIDS first arose in a heterosexual community in Africa. There were calls for isolating AIDS victims and, indeed, all homosexuals, in colonies much as lepers were once isolated. In 1976 in Philadelphia there had been an outbreak of Legionnaire's Disease during a veterans' convention. There had been a similar upsurge of hysteria. However, in August 1978, the same disease struck the Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis. The same hysteria was strangely absent.

AKBAR PADSHAW. Properly Jalál-ad-dín-Muhammad-Akbar. 'Akbar' means 'the Great'. Greatest of the Mogul emperors who, at an early age, doubted the inspiration of the Koran. Born in 1542, he became ruler at a very early age and thereafter had an illustrious career. It was said of him that he was never defeated on the field and never baffled by a fortress. At its greatest extent his kingdom stretched across 1,600 km. Although brought up and ruling as a Muslim, Akbar thought the founders and prophets of all religions, including Muhammad, were pretenders. He was a deist in that he believed in a supreme GOD and tried hard to unite the Hindus and Muslims under his rule. He was long remembered in the East as a 'benefactor of the human species.'

ALAMO, Tony. See under: HOLY ALAMO CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

AL ARQAM. A mystical Islamic Sufi sect that in mid-1994 was claiming 100,000 adherents in Malaysia and others elsewhere. The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dr Mahathir, in July 1994, expressed concern at the growth of the sect and asked Islamic scholars to investigate its basis. Soon after this he announced a ban on the movement and that it would be investigated as a secret society. Led by Mr Ashaari Muhammad, 57, Al Arqam members believe in a doomsday scenario similar to fundamentalist Christians. They think a messiah-figure will appear out of Asia prior to the final End Time. They have preached the nearness of this event since 1968. Their more orthodox critics claim that the men of the sect use women as sex-slaves.

In September 1994 Mr Ashaari claimed that the Prophet Muhammad had appeared to him in a dream and criticized Dr Mahathir. In October 1994, following strong pressure being exerted by the Malaysian Government, Ashaari Muhammad appeared on national television and recanted his 'deviationist' beliefs.

ALBIGENSES. The Albigenses, the French branch of the CATHARI, were one of many groups of dissenters from the Church of Rome who were subjected to fierce persecution as heretics. In the 12th century the Albigenses mainly occupied areas in southern France. These people came within the orbit of Count Raymond 6th, Earl of Toulouse, and both the earl and the King of France tolerated their presence until the Third Lateran Council in 1179. The Council proclaimed a holy crusade against all dissenters, especially the Albigenses and the WALDENSES and in 1181 a crusade was launched against the heretics. Eventually this action petered out and the anti-Church groups began to grow again.

For a time both the earl and the king equivocated and sought to avoid stirring up strife among the people but the Pope, Innocent 3rd, was insistent that the heresy should be rooted out. Then, in 1208, Peter of Castelnau, the Papal Legate, was murdered. This action was greeted with horror by many people, who believed Count Raymond was responsible, and so the Pope now had the ammunition he needed to insist on action being taken against the heretics. Soon an army was being raised, headed by Simon de Montfort, a Catholic zealot. The dissidents, peaceful and useful citizens, who numbered many hundreds of thousands scattered through numerous towns and villages, were destined to suffer appalling terror over a number of years. No help was forthcoming from northern France as the nobles there, zealous of the south's wealth, backed the invaders, hoping to profit from the resulting chaos.

Tens of thousands of people, including thousands of children, many mere babes, suffered through the next 30 years. Large numbers who escaped the battle sword, were tortured and burnt at the stake, the authorities not hesitating to subject children to this horrible death along with their parents. This incident propelled forward moves within the Church to set up a formal mechanism to suppress heresy, namely the INQUISITION. An old engraving of an execution of a 'heretic' by fire:

It was in this crusade that a statement was supposedly made that has rung through history. It is quite possible that it was never said but its intent was carried out with frightening ferocity by the good churchmen. The story goes that when Beziers, the first city, was taken, the Papal Legate was asked whether the Catholics should be spared the sword. However, the official feared that many heretics would feign allegiance to the Church and thus escape punishment. He therefore commanded: 'Kill them all [i.e. everyone in the city], for God knows his own.' Louis 8th, who reigned from 1223 to 1226, continued to wage war against the Albigenses. He was followed by Louis 9th, a deeply religious man, who maintained the slaughter and suppression.

Horrors abounded, including burying people alive. In 1211 the castle of Cabaret fell to the papal hordes and the lady of the castle suffered this horrible fate - buried in a pit, covered with stones. In 1229 the Treaty of Paris was drawn up whereby Raymond, Earl of Toulouse, submitted his people to the papal yoke and swore allegiance to Rome. He was compelled to give his daughter in marriage to one of the king's brothers in return for being spared. And before his submission was fully accepted he was stripped naked and whipped, when he was 'so grievously torn by the stripes that he could not go out by the same place through which he entered.'

Most of those who escaped the sword were afterwards condemned to either death or penal servitude by the INQUISITION and by the end of the 13th century the name of their movement had been effectively wiped out by the Catholic hordes.

ALEVIS. A liberal Muslim sect, more liberal than the Sunnis.

ALEXANDER 6th, Pope.
Pope Alexander 6th, otherwise Rodrigo Borgia (Spanish: Borja), was one of the best known and most notorious members of that infamous family. Not only did he have sexual relations such that no cardinal or pope should engage in but under his reign nepotism flourished in the Vatican, with cardinals being required to purchase their appointments and indeed, many murders occurring, the estates of the murdered ones (some of them cardinals) passing into Borgia hands. Rodrigo Borgia was Cardinal of Valencia, Spain, when elected Pope, with some degree of assistance from well-placed promises and favours dispensed. His crowning took place on August 26, 1492.

The two other well-known members of the Borgia family were his son Cesare and his daughter Lucrezia, both illegitimate, and not the only offspring he fathered either! Not that this seemed to bother Pope Alexander, who for a long period openly kept his latest mistress Julia Farnese (Cesare and Lucrezia were by an earlier liaison) at the Vatican and who made no effort to disown his children. Indeed, one of the first somewhat scandalous acts of the new Pope was to lease the palace of Santa Maria, Portico, in which he set up (at the expense of church funds) his then 12-year-old daughter Lucrezia. This palace was alongside the Church of St Peter's and was connected to that church by a secret underground passageway. A further secret way led from the church to the Vatican and to the Pope's own private apartments.

Although the granting of ecclesiastical office in return for payment was not unknown in the Vatican, such activity was to reach new heights under Alexander. One of the first of many transactions involved an agent from Mantua approaching the papal court seeking an appointment as cardinal for his brother Sigismondo. He was politely informed that 'Madonna Lucrezia was excessively fond of pearls.' But this same venal Pope was the one to introduce into the Church the notorious INDEX OF PROHIBITED BOOKS. (It must be added, to be fair to him, that he was one of the few Spanish prelates who refused to have anything to do with the INQUISITION in his home country.)

One observer of the scene, Ferrante of Aragon, wrote to the King of Spain:

The new Pope leads a life which is a public scandal, without having regard for the position which he occupies. He cares for nothing other than to advance the fortunes of his children by fair means or foul. Rome is overrun with soldiers. They are more numerous than the priests. As for the Cardinals, they are either terrorized into silence or driven like della Rovere [a candidate for the Papal office] out of Rome.

June 12, 1493, was set down as the day for Lucrezia's wedding (but the first of three), a date decided upon after consulting with the astrologers! It was a strange way for the Head of Christendom to seek guidance, but not more strange than the fact that this same Head was officiating at the wedding of his own 13-year-old daughter! Thereafter the family settled down somewhat, enjoying such spectacles as bullfights staged in public squares (which Lucrezia adored) and entertainments that went on right through the night, in which Cesare and Lucrezia pleased their father with their 'lascivious' dancing. During this period there were veiled hints that the Pope received in his chambers a number of young girls, brought there by his sons, and smuggled into the Vatican disguised as pages.

There was a curious episode when Alexander moved in 1501 to legitimize a mysterious child that appeared on the scene, known as the Infante Romano, a 3-year-old boy. A Papal Bull decreed that 'the noble Giovanni de Borgia, natural son of the Duke Valentinois [Cesare] and of a Roman spinster, should by special apostolic authority be made legitimate.' The Pope then issued a second secret Bull declaring that 'the aforesaid Duke was not responsible for the defect in the child's legitimacy, and though in the future the said Giovanni Borgia might be described in deeds and documents as the son of the Duke of Valentinois, this was in no way to prejudice his rights, he being in fact the child not of the Duke, but of himself, Pope Alexander 6th, and of the same Roman spinster.' These documents are in the official records of the Church and it is clear from what is written that Alexander had not given up his philandering.

As time moved on Cesare began asserting himself. For a while he held the office of Cardinal but tired of this. He was a man of action and wanted to go into battle to win lands and possessions. Like his father Cesare was a womanizer and eventually fell victim to syphilis, his face showing the telltale marks of passion. Cesare's unbridled ambitions frightened his father but he let him have his head. And as Cesare went on the field with his hired mercenaries, it was with the knowledge that their pay and provisioning had been wrung from many unwilling sources, not least from estates confiscated after cardinals or bishops or others succumbed mysteriously to death. In all this the Pope acquiesced and even lent a hand.

As the years moved on there were more deaths, there was the convenient divorce of Lucrezia, engineered by her father (during which it was solemnly asserted that the lady was virgo intacta), there were more unwed children, one, a son, to Lucrezia. There were festivals held in which those taking part staged 'obscene' masques, much to the amusement of Pope Alexander and his daughter who looked on. Then there was the scandal of prisoners in the papal fortress of St Angelo being slowly murdered via poison introduced into their food. During one of the many blood-lettings visitors to Rome reported seeing as many as twenty corpses hanging from the gallows on St Angelo Bridge in one day.

And then there was Lucrezia's second wedding ceremony, during which some bishops and cardinals drew swords and battled together, almost wounding the Pope in the mêlée. In any event Lucrezia and her new husband had already shared a bed long before that ceremony. But this marriage was not to last much longer than the first. Lucrezia's second husband, Don Alfonso of Aragon, whom she at least loved (unlike her first) was struck down by an assailant in the pay of her brother Cesare.

It was around the time of Lucrezia's second marriage that a particularly notorious evening's entertainment took place - on the night of All Hallows Eve, 1501 - when the Pope and Lucrezia attended a banquet in Cesare's apartments. To this were invited fifty prostitutes, described by one observer as 'the lowest in Rome'. After the meal the women entertained all present (including His Holiness) with 'singing and dancing of a licentious character', gradually removing items of clothing until in the end they were all fully nude.

Among the entertainments that night was one called the Ballet of the Chestnuts. As the Pope sat upon his throne he threw chestnuts into the mass of naked women on the floor. Each had to hold aloft a lighted candelabra as she tried to catch chestnuts. Thereafter Cesare's lieutenants enjoyed sex with the women as the Pope and Lucrezia looked on. It is even suggested that Lucrezia participated in the Ballet as it is also suggested that Lucrezia and Cesare had sexual relations with one another and had done so before, the mysterious child Giovanni being the result of such a union.

In the last months of his reign Alexander lived up to the ghastly reputation of the Borgias as poisoners. So great was the fear of falling victim to the family's murderous intrigues that many of Rome's cardinals found excuses to absent themselves from the city. One who stayed, an Orsini, actually celebrated Mass before the Pope just two days before he was arrested and thrown into the dungeons of St Angelo, the papal prison. There he was poisoned off. Even as the Pope, some weeks later lay dying (said to be of natural causes) Cesare's men forced their way into the papal chambers and demanded of the chamberlain the key to the treasury. See also: CARDINALS.

Pope Alexander as depicted in an old engraving:

ALGERIA. Basically a Muslim country, Algeria has been torn by strife in recent years. Many of its people have been strongly influenced by liberal Western ideas while opposed to them are the fundamentalist Islamics. In June 1990 the Government allowed an election and the Islamic Salvation Front, a rabid fundamentalist body won office with an overwhelming majority. The incumbent Government, alarmed at the prospect of the fundamentalist taking control and then abolishing democratic institutions, retained power. Martial law was imposed and there has been continual strife since.

In 1990 fundamentalists harried bathers, both male and female, on Algerian beaches because they showed their bodies in swimming costumes. In the summer of 1991 it was reported that the bathers had returned to the beaches. In 1994 even schoolgirls were not safe in Algeria, where the headscarf, known as the hijab, must be worn to school - or else! Schoolgirls were reportedly been murdered for failing to don this, yet another symbol of female submission. But on the other side teachers were arrested and imprisoned by the Algerian Government for encouraging their pupils to wear the scarf.  The teachers were not necessarily agreeing with the fundamentalists but wanted to protect the girls from assault.

In February 1995 the militants shot dead the leader of a Berber feminist group, Ms Nabila Djahnine. During the 1995 month-long period of Ramadan, a period of 'prayer and fasting', the militants set off a car bomb that killed 42 persons in central Algiers! Thus did they celebrate their religion. In March 1995 Islamic gunmen wounded three schoolgirls when they opened fire on a school. They had warned parents not to send their children to school 'otherwise the death penalty will be carried out'. Women especially were being targeted for not wearing the veil or even for daring to work. Among victims: A female senior judge, shot and injured, a top TV journalist, and a 15-year-old girl, abducted from her school class, after which her throat was cut.

ALLEN, A.A. Evangelist and faith healer who once claimed that a pocketful of $1 notes turned into $20 notes miraculously, enabling him to pay a large and urgent bill.

ALOYSIUS, Saint. Mortified himself with self-flagellation. He is actually depicted in a portrait standing by a table upon which is a crucifix, a skull and a whip. See further under: MORTIFICATION.

ALTRUISM. Erin Pizzey related in her book Infernal Child (London, Gollancz, 1978) how a young woman, a stranger, phoned her one day and said she would like to give some money towards the woman's refuge she had started. The woman, quite unknown to Ms Pizzey, heard something of her plans, then wrote out a cheque for £10,000. She had inherited the money and believed she shouldn't take money for which she had not worked. She left and was never heard from again. Did religious faith move the lady? Or is there such a thing as genuine altruism?

AMANA COMMUNITY, The. A small sect of German-born immigrants who went to America and settled in Iowa around the middle of the 19th century. They, like so many other groups, claimed to hold the truth whereas others were undoubtedly lost. They described themselves as the True Inspiration Congregation or Community. They were much given to 'inspiration' - receiving messages they believed came direct from GOD to the individual believer.

The sect traces its beginnings to the early part of the 18th century. In 1719 Brother John Frederick Rock was journeying here and there in German parts giving forth messages that, he asserted, he had directly received from the Spirit. Members admit that the inspiration tended to die out now and then among their number. But they say that the years 1749, 1772, 1776 and 1816-18 were propitious times for receiving message from on high.

By 1818 the German group had a lady instrument (as they term their contact with heaven), one Barbara Heynemann, a 'poor and illiterate servant-maid' from Alsace, to guide their affairs. But Ms Barbara seems to have failed them, at least for a time, as in 1820 she was demoted from her exalted rank and forced to work as a household drudge in one of the member's homes. It appears young Barbara had found love - 'she had too friendly an eye upon the young men' and was being tempted by 'the Enemy'. Various ups and downs followed and she eventually did marry George Landmann. In time she was restored as a prophetess and all was forgiven.

It was while Barbara was prophesying that an amazing encounter took place. William Allen, a QUAKER minister from London, visited the community in Germany. The Quakers were interested in the goings on among the German pietists. Now the Quakers had their own brand of inspiration, being, or so they believed, directly in contact with GOD too. So William Allen proposed to the German brethren that a meeting be held at which the 14th chapter of John's Gospel would be read. He felt sure he would be inspired to holy utterances at this gathering. Imagine his dismay when no inspiration seemed to fall upon him; instead the German lady sounded forth with her own inspired words. Allen marched off in high dudgeon. Claiming later that the Quaker inspiration was every bit as real as theirs, Allen was told in no uncertain terms that this was not so. The Quakers did not have the proper consecrated instruments to declare the Lord's will.

In 1842 Christian Metz, one of the inspired ones, was told by GOD that they should remove themselves from German soil, where they had experienced a certain degree of persecution, and travel to America. Like so many similar groups they had upset the community in which they lived, refusing to take oaths or send their children to public schools. Thus they moved to America and joined in the babel of religious tongues already there.
The group was rather uptight about sex. 'Fly from the society of women-kind as much as possible,' runs one rule, 'as a very highly dangerous magnet and magical fire.' And a catechism for children teaches: 'Have no pleasure in violent games or plays; do not wait on the road to look at quarrels or fights; do not keep company with bad children, for there you will learn only wickedness. Also, do not play with children of the other sex.'

AMARNATH CAVE. A giant cave in Srinigar, Kashmir, where once each year Hindu pilgrims gather in large numbers to climb into its heights to view a giant ice phallus, symbol of the fertility deity Shiva. In August 1994 the pilgrims were disappointed. Higher than usual temperatures had resulted in no phallus! Some pilgrims believed it was an omen, signifying the anger of Lord Shiva against a sinning world.

AMERICAN FAMILY ASSOCIATION. Headed in the early 1990s by the Reverend Donald Wildmon. The organization, a fundamentalist Christian group, had an active program of criticizing radio and television programs, especially where sexual themes were present. AFA ran its own radio show, Issues and Action, and, in the words of its head, looked for 'sex, violence and profanity and the portrayal of Christians' in the media. A budget of $6 million was quoted for the organization in 1991.

AFA specially targeted the National Endowment of the Arts, being disturbed by the particular art sponsored by this body. The NEA had long been the target of religious right-wingers, especially when displaying works like those of controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Incidentally, when a Mapplethorpe show, with a wide range of his works, reached Australia it was received without fuss.

ANABAPTISTS. A broad term employed to describe a whole range of sects whose chief characteristic was denying the validity of the baptism of children. They dated from the 16th century Reformation era. Some of these groups had extreme views and practices, and were condemned equally by both Papists and Protestants. Indeed, one of their leaders, Felix Mantis, so enraged Zwingli, a Protestant reformer, that he suffered execution by drowning in 1523. But in their turn the Anabaptists were not reluctant to take up the sword against their enemies.

According to Motley in The Rise of the Dutch Republic the leaders of the sect 'were among the most depraved of human creatures, as much distinguished for licentiousness, blasphemy, and cruelty, as their followers for grovelling superstition.' Two Germans, Muncer and Hoffman, were among early leaders. They were followed by a Dutchman, a baker by trade, John Matthiszoon of Harlem. The baker, upon gaining the headship of the sect, announced that he was Enoch returned, and later - that he was King of Zion. His assistant, John Boccold of Leyden, became notorious. Together these men took charge of the city of Munster, where they confiscated property, plundered church buildings, raped females and murdered males who refused to join their rowdy gang.

From Munster they sent forth disciples, who headed armed bands, to endeavour to convert, by force if necessary, the people of Amsterdam and Leyden, but without success. The citizens of both places resisted with arms. However, the doctrines of the Anabaptists had penetrated Amsterdam and the madness erupted there. On a cold winter's night in February 1535, seven men and five women, inspired, so they claimed, by the Holy Ghost, threw off all their clothing and paraded naked through the streets, crying as they went: 'Wo, wo, wo! the wrath of God! the wrath of God!' Upon being arrested they steadfastly refused to put on their clothes, claiming: 'We are the naked truth.' All twelve were executed shortly after this.

However, the martyrs inspired more to follow and the madness spread throughout the Netherlands, persecution following. Torture, beating and execution failed to halt the spiritual plague. An armed force sent by the Bishop of Munster succeeded in arresting the Prophet, who was put to death with red-hot tongs. The State and Church now turned in fury upon the followers, young and old. None was spared and tens of thousands suffered, large numbers of them entirely innocent of any connection with the crazy sect. Charles of the Netherlands and Queen Dowager Mary of Hungary were equally determined to treat the heretics ruthlessly.

In 1535 the Queen issued an edict at Brussels, condemning all heretics, which included the larger Protestant groups as well, to death. Those males who repented of their heresy were still to die but by the sword rather than by burning at the stake. Those females who repented were to suffer the tender mercy of being buried alive rather than being burnt! During the next twenty years the persecution raged, the hands of the persecutors being strengthened by a further edict in 1547, both royal decrees being rigidly enforced. There are some links between the Anabaptists and another group known as the ADAMITES.

ANGELS. Sir E. Ray Lankester once naughtily called angels 'celestial poultry'. Angels seem to be in favour in recent times, at least in the USA, where seemingly anything irrational finds a ready audience. (This statement made with apologies to the many rational people who live that country!) It was reported in 1994 that as many as 150 books on angels had been published in recent times, a figure doubtless much higher now. Considering the fact that neither the Christian Bible nor the Islamic Koran provide much actual material on the subject it is difficult to know how all these authors could find so much to write about. It was reported also that almost three-quarters of Americans believe in angels!

In April 1993 Suzanna D'Amour, a resident of the Queensland (Australia) Shire of Maroochy, was engaged in a battle with her local council over crowds that had been gathering at her Woombye property. Ms D'Amour had, it seemed, seen a vision. She had purchased the 4-hectare block of land with a bank loan, she said, after her guardian angel advised her to do so. The angel had a hood and a beard, according to Ms D'Amour.
Locals complained of singing and noise coming from the angelic compound. Visitors were also driving over other people's land to get to see the miracles. Reports of what they saw included spinning suns and a shaking cross.

ANGLICAN ABUSE. The Catholic Church is not alone in the matter of child sexual abuse. There were hints of possible abuse occurring in Sydney’s Anglican community when in October 1995 the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Harry Goodhew, apologized for the delay in introducing guidelines to deal with allegations of abuse. One social worker said she had dealt with at least five allegations by parishioners against church workers in a two-year period. The Sydney Morning Herald said that a draft copy of a 1993 report referred to several instances of sexual abuse. These included unwanted touching, verbal harassment, fondling, kissing, voyeurism, oral sex and vaginal or anal penetration.

ANGLICAN CHURCH. The Anglican Church in Britain recorded an estimated 1,387 churches closed down or sold off in the twenty-five years between 1969 and 1994. A few key churches still display vigour, especially charismatic (neo-Pentecostalist) ones such as Holy Trinity, Brompton, Knightsbridge, where staid Anglicans and others reportedly roll around in the aisles as in the Pentecostalist denominations. It was reported in August 1994 that one-time Page Three girl, Samantha Fox, had been influenced by this movement and was attending services at Holy Trinity. Samantha, who, it has been reported, had a breast-reduction operation, does not regret her Page Three bare-all days but is now 'going straight'.

ANTICHRIST. The name given to the chief of the enemies of the god Christ. Christians have written and preached much on this dark character, yet his name occurs in but four verses in two Biblical letters, 1 John and 2 John. Throughout the centuries many personages have been accused by Christians of being the Antichrist. Needless to say the Pope or, for that matter, several Popes, figured high on the list of favourites; the Protestant list, that is. Nero, Napoleon, Hitler, the Duke of Edinburgh, Yasser Arafat, and many more, have all been accused of being that dreadful beast. Students of prophecy have vivid imaginations.

In 1948 an occult practitioner, Jack Parson, of California (where else?), took it upon himself to become the Antichrist. In 1949 he issued The Book of Antichrist setting forth his claims to that exalted title. Nobody seems to have recognized his claim.

In January 1983 a religious sect in Memphis, Tennessee, took a policeman hostage, claiming he was a representative of the Antichrist. He was killed by the sect, who engaged in a shootout with the police. According to a South Carolina Bible scholar (unnamed) the then (1988) Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev bore the mark of Satan, making him his agent on earth. 'The evidence is overwhelming that Gorbachev is the Antichrist,' claimed the man. His birthmark resembled the red dragon of Revelation, with tail! The numerical value of Gorbachev's name is 666. The Russian word for 'peace' pronounced 'mir' also means 'world'. 'When Gorbachev says he wants peace he wants the world,' said the man.

ANTONIANS, The. Several groups claimed links with St Antony of Egypt, who in the 3rd century gave away his possessions and went to live the life of a hermit in the desert. There he is said to have fought demons under the guise of wild beasts. Early in the 18th century a young woman in the Congo region of Africa, Kimpa Vita, aged about 20, was in contact with the Catholic missionaries. She was baptized as Beatriz. The lady was, so she later related, on her death bed when she had a vision of St Antony, dressed as a Capuchin. She knew it to be the Egyptian saint as he told her so and he also told her that he had been sent by God to preach through her.

St Antony's mission was to hasten the restoration of the kingdom of God. Those who opposed the message would suffer terrible punishments. Beatriz further claimed that she had died but than in place of her soul St Antony had taken up residence. Beatriz gave away her possessions and took to the hills, soon developing a following, a sect that became known as the Antonians. She developed some distinctive doctrines, including the teaching that St Antony was the 'second God' who held the keys of heaven. The ancient kingdom of the Kongo would be restored, she said.

Every Friday Beatriz 'died' in imitation of the passion of Jesus. This enabled her to ascend into heaven and to intercede with God (while she dined with the deity) and plead the cause of the Negroes. She was born again each Saturday. Beatriz even managed to imitate the Virgin Mary, producing a son - from where? She did not know; he came from heaven! Beatriz claimed that the Kongo was the true Holy Land and even that Jesus was born there. Her disciples were enjoined not to worship the cross, because Jesus died on it. She declared polygamy was lawful.

Beatriz prophesied many things, among them that the area would reveal hidden and valuable mines, filled with precious stones and metals. Further, she was thought to work miracles. Twisted trees straightened as she walked past them. Her disciples treated her like royalty and sought to possess any item she had touched. Noble ladies cleared the path for her to tread upon. It was claimed that many who were ill who visited her received back their health.
Eventually it all became too much for the Capuchins. They had the Kongo ruler in their control so now they moved against Beatriz. She was arrested and the ruler thought he would banish her to another place. Not so, said the Capuchins. They demanded nothing less than the false prophet's death by fire. This took place on July 2, 1706.

An eyewitness description from one of the Catholic priests told how the slim, girlish figure, clutching her baby son, was brought before a judge, who appeared dressed head to foot all in black. On the ground nearby sat some of her disciples, also to be judged. The sentence was pronounced: 'Under the false name of St Antony she [Beatriz] had deceived the people with heresies and falsehoods. Consequently the king, her lord, and the royal council condemned her to be put to death at the stake, together with the infant . . .' The woman and her baby were thrown alive onto a great pile of wood and more wood piled on top of their bodies, after which they were set alight. And that was the end of the sect of the Antonians.

APHRODITE. Greek goddess of love and beauty, known as Aphrodite Kallipygos ('beautiful buttocks'). The name 'Aphrodite' comes from aphros = foam. The Romans worshipped the same goddess under the name Venus. She is also coupled with the sea-nymph Dione. According to Homer the Goddess of Pure and Heavenly Love, generally love meant in the sexual sense rather than the love of a house-wifely type! According to the mythology she was created from Heaven's testicles [or the testicles of Uranus, dismembered, by his son Cronos] thrown into the sea: 'But the genitals . . . so kept drifting a long time up and down the deep, and all round kept rising a white foam from the immortal flesh; and in it a maiden was nourished . . . Then forth stepped an awful, beauteous goddess; and beneath her delicate feet the verdure throve around; her, gods and men name Aphrodite, the foam-sprung goddess.'

Aphrodite ascended to the heights of Olympus, to dwell with the other gods. She was mother of Eros (Cupid) and Aeneas. Her own offspring included Eros, Hermaphrodite (dual-sexed) and Priapus (god of virility). The word aphrodisiac is taken from the name of the goddess. The worship of Mary in her manifestation as Star of the Sea obviously derives much from the worship of Aphrodite. The common descriptions of Aphrodite carry phraseology echoed in that attending Mary. She was clothed with verdure, decked with immortal garments, her brow encircled with wreaths of purest gold, and so on. However, Aphrodite was unfaithful. But then perhaps Mary, too, sinned. To claim a virgin birth was a common means of hiding an otherwise unexplained pregnancy.

APOCALYPSE, The. This is a title applied to the Book of Revelation, the last book in the Christian New Testament, although strictly speaking the term 'apocalyptic' has broader connotations. The Jews and Zoroastrians had similar literature, writings devoted to the theme of the end of the present order and the ushering in of a new age. This End is, one should point out, forever receding into some dim distant future.

The Christian Apocalypse (Revelation) is a fanciful work that pretends to be a revelation of coming events direct from Yahweh, deity of the Jews, to John, the writer, but in fact draws its real inspiration almost wholly from earlier prophetic writings and is more a Jewish work than a Christian. At the time it was being penned by John, who may well have been under some sort of mushroom-induced trance, the Christian Church was already split into two warring parties. (The warfare was to increase markedly through the coming centuries.) John's Revelation reflects the views of the party of Jesus' followers gathered in Jerusalem, who were opposed to the Pauline party. In the end the latter was triumphant for it was Paul's view that moulded Christianity as it emerged into history.

The word apocalypse is taken from the Greek word meaning 'uncover.' One of the central curiosities of this book is the infamous number 666, the so-called Mark of the Beast. This number is evidently a mis-translation and its interpretation by the early Christians as referring to the Emperor Nero is, if quite erroneous, at least a little more logical than its many interpretations by Christians in more recent times!

The Aztecs of Mexico believed in a world-cycle of 52 years, at the end of which might be an apocalypse. When the 52nd year arrived the priests extinguished the fires on the altars and household utensils were broken in shards. For five miserable days the populace waited in fear and trembling, expecting the worst. On the heights of the temple the priests scanned the sky, awaiting anxiously the return of the Pleiades, a sign that the world would continue. As the stars were seen in the sky the the altar fires throughout the land were re-lit. See also: REVELATION, Book of, and: SECOND COMING.

APOLLONIA, Saint. Saint Apollonia was one of the early Christian martyrs. She had her teeth pulled out by her Roman persecutors and thus the Catholic Church later, and appropriately, made her the patron saint of the dentists!

APOLLONIUS OF TYANA. Born c. the year 3 CE, died c. 97. Apollonius, a Greek philosopher, was a well-known miracle-worker of the 1st century CE, who is said to have visited Taxila in India and met up with the Magi along the way. There are many interesting parallels between Apollonius and Jesus of Nazareth and following his death he was worshipped by many. Philostratus thought he was a sort of heathen Saviour, and certainly in some senses he was a rival to Jesus Christ.

APOSTICALS. (Or Apostolics, or Apostolic Brethren, or Order of the Apostles). The name given to a group of sects that arose in France and Germany in the 12th century, of an ascetic frame of mind, although there were similar groups as far back as the 4th and 5th centuries in Asia Minor. Saint Bernard contended against them strenuously. Their tenets were almost the same as those afterwards held by Gerhard Segarelli or Sagarelli, a weaver of Parma. The latter, who arose towards the end of the 13th century, was rejected, for some cause or other, by the Franciscan order and gained his revenge by setting up his own church.

Segarelli gave much attention to meditation and thought and as a result began a movement towards a simple way of life, as, he believed, was followed by the Apostles. About 1260 he appeared in the garb of an apostle, preaching and gathering a band of followers into a kind of free society, bound by no oath. They were opposed to the possession of property and to marriage, and lived in idleness, begging, but were attended by 'spiritual sisters'.

At first there was no conflict with Church authorities but in time the mood changed and Segarelli was arrested by the Bishop of Parma. He was eventually released but the Pope decreed that communities not directly sanctioned by papal authority were to be abandoned. In 1290, with the accession of Nicholas 4th to the papal throne, a new outbreak of debate occurred, the Apostolic Brethren denouncing the Pope and the worldly church. Segarelli, along with many followers, both men and women, was burned as a heretic at Parma in 1300.

In 1304 a new teacher of these views arose, in the person of Dolcino, of Novara, who appeared in Upper Italy with thousands of followers, opposed to the Pope. He was a disciple of Segarelli but went further, giving himself out after the latter's death as an angel of God, a sort of messianic figure. Three times he fell into the hands of the INQUISITION and each time recanted. A crusade was preached against the sect in 1305 and after defending themselves gallantly on Mount Zebello (diocese of Vercelli) against the Bishop and his army, famine overtook them and the papal forces seized them.

The accounts say that he and his wife, Margaretha, were publicly torn to pieces with red-hot pincers by the good orthodox Christians, the torture being drawn out over a whole day. The pieces of mangled body were then cast into the flames. Remnants of the Apostolicals persisted in Lombardy and the south of France until 1368. Other accounts mention their influence in Spain and Germany, up until the beginning of the 15th century.

APOSTOLIC CHURCH. The name Apostolic Church is used by several Christian bodies, including the New Apostolic Church and the Catholic Apostolic Church. The implication is that such a church closely follows 'original' Apostolic tradition as set down in the New Testament. As is shown elsewhere this is an impossibility as the New Testament is a product of the Bishops of the Western (Catholic) and Eastern (Othodox) Churches, produced in the 4th century. There is no 'original' documentation.

Such denominations are usually offshoots of the larger Pentecostalist movement, which, like a hydra-headed monster sprouts new branches every few years. And these branches in turn sprout still more. The Four Square Gospel Church was another. Among more recent names used by some Pentecostalists are the Assemblies of God and the Church of God. However, over in the Middle East the Holy Apostolic Assyrian Church is a church of an entirely different complexion. The Ancient Church of the East split with this body.

The habit of attaching the epithet 'Apostolic' to bodies of believers is an ancient one, each succeeding apostolic group claiming they adhere to the doctrines of the original Apostles whereas all others have departed from them and are headed for perdition. Some Gnostics took such a title in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th centuries; other groups in France and Italy later. The MORMONS today are ruled by latter-day Apostles. See also: PENTECOSTAL MOVEMENT.

APPENDIX. The presence of that seemingly useless organ the appendix in the human body, one which, incidentally often causes much trouble and has to be surgically removed, is yet another proof of evolution. Why would the Creator endow man with such a useless organ? No, the appendix is a leftover from man's past. Its original apparent intention was to neutralize chlorophyll in the days when our forbears, grazing on all four legs, ate grass. Presumably many thousands of years hence it will shrivel away and disappear. Perhaps not in Seventh-Day Adventists or other vegetarians, though!

APPLEWHITE, Marshall. Leader of the Higher Power or Heaven’s Gate UFO cult that committed mass suicide in San Diego, California, in March 1997. Applewhite was, about thirty years prior to this, choir director in a church and became involved with a married woman who was also a member of the same church. He became known as Do and she became known as Ti and they began a UFO cult in the 1960s, calling themselves Bo and Peep. They claimed they had the ‘perfect, non-sexual relationship’. It has been suggested since that Applewhite was a homosexual.

AQUINAS, Thomas. The 13th century theologian Thomas Aquinas is notable for propounding one of the chief - and oft-quoted - 'proofs' of the existence of a deity, namely the cosmological argument. Everything we experience has some cause, so the argument runs; an infinite series of causes is inconceivable, there must be some First Cause, some prime mover, an 'uncaused cause'. Voilà, GOD must be the First Cause who (or which) initiated the whole chain of cause-and-effect.

Phew! What a leap! Now a mere mortal such as I should not be attacking the great reverend Mr Aquinas but I must be honest and say I think this argument leaks somewhat. Personally, I do not find an infinite series of causes all that inconceivable. 'Malgré moi, l'infini me tourmenté' cried Alfred Musset. For me there is no such despair in the idea of the infinite. In any event, Doctor Angelicus, aka Thomas Aquinas, would doubtless ask us to accept that his deity existed from infinity to infinity, or as it says in the Book, 'from everlasting to everlasting.' And this then means that it all comes down to the same thing in the end.

But let us suppose for a moment that we agree with this specious argument. By what possible leap of mental gymnastics do we suppose that the Christian GOD is the First Cause? I see no logical necessity for reaching such a conclusion. Perhaps, rather, we could have the Devil, old Lucifer himself, as First Cause? There are certainly sufficient grounds for backing his candidature for the post of GOD. After all the world is shot through with evil and it would be entirely reasonable to suppose the First Cause is, ipso facto, itself evil. That is, if we really knew how to define evil!

From a 1984 newspaper report: 'A boy has been born in Andhra Pradesh, southern India, with six extra fingers and six extra toes. The child has an elongated head and a long nose. Local people suspect he may be the incarnation of the elephant-headed god, Ganeesh, and have been bringing monetary offerings to the baby.'

Is it evil to endow a small child with sixteen fingers and sixteen toes and a funny head? Is the child the work of the Devil as First Cause? Or is it Yahweh, god of the Jews and father of Christ, who thus displays his bounty? Or another god? But there is more than meets the eye immediately in this second proof. Perhaps the being himself (or herself?) may not have existed as First Cause but as Second or Third Cause, having been fathered and/or mothered by still earlier deities, as indeed it is revealed to us in some early religious systems. In fact, there may be an infinite series of deities begetting deities and which generation of the genus Deity is really the First?

'But, Mummy, where did GOD come from?' is a question that betrays not the naïvety of the uninformed child but its uncorrupted honesty, and that is surely more than we can say about many adults. There is not the slightest logical necessity why we should put the Christian GOD or any other godling down as First Cause. All we may safely say is that we do not know the First Cause, if there has to be such. To derive the conclusion from such logical debate that there is a GOD back there at the beginning is an impossibility. Doctor Angelicus may be preaching natural theology but in practice his notions are derived wholly from 'revealed' truth.

But then, was Mr Aquinas all that wise? He once wrote: 'Witchcraft is so enduring that it permits of no remedy by human operation.' In other words, Mr Aquinas fervently believed in witches! In some detail, too. Take this passage from the same learned theologian: 'Because the incubus demon is able to steal the semen of an innocent young man in nocturnal emissions and pour it into the womb of a woman, she is able by this semen to conceive offspring whose father is not the demon incubus, but the man whose semen impregnated her, because it became effective by the virtue of him from whom it was dissipated. Therefore it seems that a man is able, without a miracle, to be at one and the same time, both a virgin and a father.' Ah, what a great thinker this is!

ARK, Noah's. See under: NOAH'S ARK.

ARK OF THE COVENANT. A sacred religious symbol constructed by the Jews at the command (they say) of Yahweh, their tribal deity. It took the form of a rectangular timber box overlaid with gold both inside and out. The Ark was carried about by the Israelites from the time of the supposed Exodus from Egypt. After Moses met with the deity on Mount Sinai (or Mount Horeb - the Bible's confused story gives both mountains) he deposited the Tables of Stone carrying the Ten Commandments in the Ark. What he did with the additional commandments (for there were more than ten!) is not known. Some are so morally repulsive that they would best be lost.

When Solomon's Temple was constructed in Jerusalem the Ark was placed within an area known as the Holy of Holies. Only the High Priest was allowed to enter this inner sanctum and view the Ark and then only once each year. Around BCE 587 Jerusalem fell to invaders and the Ark seems to have disappeared at this time. But even this is uncertain as Jewish historians today say it might have disappeared then or in the first century CE. Whether or not it was still around for the intervening 600 years is a puzzling and unanswered question!

In July 1994 a self-elected Biblical scholar from the American Deep South, Vendyl Jones by name, claimed he knew where the Ark was buried and wanted the Israelis to allow him to dig up the site. But the Israelis said Mr Jones was not a qualified archeologist and refused to co-operate.

The film Raiders of the Lost Ark, produced in 1981, used the missing Ark of the Covenant as a centrepiece in a tale of adventure. Mr Jones has since claimed that the story was derived from an original screenplay written about him in 1977. The story had, he claimed, changed hands several times before it ended up in the form of the film. However the creators of the film have denied any connection between Indiana Jones and Vendyl Jones.

ARK SEARCH ASSOCIATION, Inc. Australian body, headed by Dr Allen Roberts, which claimed to have found remains of NOAH’S ARK in Turkey. In April 1997 Dr Roberts and the organization were sued in an Australian court by Professor Ian Plimer, a Melbourne geologist, over allegations of deceptive practice under trade practices legislation [outcome of case unknown.].

ARMAGEDDON, Battle of. The Battle of Armageddon figures prominently in the literature of many churches and sects. The Jehovah’s Witnesses get themselves into quite a lather of excitement over this battle, and they are not alone. It has been the subject of many books, not to mention hundreds of thousands of sermons. Now one would expect to find an extensive description in the Bible of this great final clash between the forces of righteousness and the forces of evil. Not so! Just one reference in one verse - Revelation 16:16, where the writer refers to a battle to take place at (more correctly, as in the RV) Har Magedon, said to mean the hill or mountain of Megiddo.

As it happens, there is in fact no mountain in Megiddo! But some think the place referred to is at Mount Carmel. This could be the correct location as it is there that the evil spirits meet together, according to the Mandeans. Or perhaps John is drawing upon Jewish history in the Old Testament, for it was at Megiddo that the Jews had a victory over the Canaanites (Judges 5:19). As good a name as any to attach to the Last Battle of all. And about as fictitious as the rest of the drama of the End of the World as preached by Christians. See also: APOCALYPSE, and: SECOND COMING.

ARMSTRONG, Herbert W. and Garner Ted. See under: RADIO CHURCH OF GOD.

ARYAN NATIONS CHURCH. The Aryan Nations Church of Jesus Christ Christian, of Hayden Lake, Idaho, USA, is a white supremacist group. Church members have engaged in paramilitary training and it is claimed they have set up computer networks over which anti-Semitic and other racialist materials have been disseminated. It has strong links with the Ku Klux Klan. Sometime in 1989 the Church announced it had discovered that Don MacLean's song, Bye Bye, Miss American Pie, is actually a piece of biblical prophecy that reveals 'the decisive struggle between America and the heathen armies gathering on the Central American doorstep.'

ARYAN RELIGION. The original Aryan religion centres around the worship of the Shining Ones, known as Devas, celestial beings dwelling in the other world. The chief is Dyaus-pitar, equating with Jupiter, or the Sky Father. In time his star faded and his place was taken by Varuna, a deity bearing some resemblance to the Hebrew Yahweh, ruler of the universe, omniscient. Associated with Varuna are other deities, Surya, or the Sun (also known as Mitra and Savitri). The Sun's beautiful consort is Ushas, or Aurora, lauded in the Vedic hymns as the bride adorned for her husband. There is much here to link the Aryan concepts with the religion of Egypt, with its solar deities.

Yet another deity, and a mighty popular one with the people, is Indra, the sort of Thor of the pantheon, a warrior in a war-chariot, armed with thunderbolts, imbibing soma juice as he goes into battle against evil. Indra slays the dragon Vritra, another serpent, and battles the Dasyu.

AGNI, or Ignis, is the god of the Sacred Fire, burning upon the family hearth.

Soma is a sacred juice but bears some of the characteristics of deity. It grew in mountain regions and the juice, prepared with suitable ritual, produced an intoxicating drink used in sacrificial ceremonies. It is the nectar of immortality and much attention is given to it in the Rig Veda. The actual plant involved is uncertain; it has been suggested it may even have been marijuana.

There are many other members of the celestial pantheon, even rivers being worshipped. Nevertheless as the religion evolved there is evidence of a drawing together of the scattered whole, a sense in which the various gods come to reflect but aspects or faces of a supreme Being who is behind all. 'He is the True One, though the wise call Him in many names,' says the Scripture. There is, however, one curious aspect of the religious view expressed in the Rig Veda. Referring to creation, the hymn puzzles over the origin of all things, and adds: 'The Gods themselves came later into being.'

The early sacrifices were of animals, not people. Horses, oxen, rams were used, accompanied by the drinking of the soma. The Brahmin priests, like their Jewish counterparts, the Levites, took great care to perform the sacrifices in very precise ways. One slip meant failure. And the sacrifices were expensive. And, like the priests of Christian Europe, the Brahmins in time dominated much of society working behind the throne.

There is no concept of resurrection in the religion. Ideas of life after death are very vague. There is, however, a strong belief in a hell, into which are thrown the unrighteous, a bottomless pit as in the Christian notion.

In time the Vedic gods give place to the HINDU pantheon. Brahma, Vishnu and Siva especially, and Hanuman and Ganeesh. Orthodox Hindus regard the Vedas as divinely revealed to Rishis or seers. These were handed down through generations by word of mouth and some Brahmins were often able to recite virtually the whole of the 100,000 verses. One book of the ten Vedas largely comprises magic spells and formulae. There are other scriptures, too, including the Upanishads and the Sutras.

It is interesting to note that Greek observers, such as Megasthenes, writing of the Hindu religion they encountered, described the gods by familiar names, Heracles, Dionysus, and Zeus Ombrios, thus evidently equating them. Heracles was identified with Krishna, Dionysus probably with Siva and Zeus Ombrios with Indra. The latter releases the rainclouds and the thunder. At the time Megasthenes was writing no mention is made of idols or temples.

At the period of the formation of the Upanishads (around BCE 800-600) there were changes in the religious outlook. There was a feeling that life is evil, a pessimism that sought relief and release from life's problems. There also developed belief in the World Soul (Atma), an all-permeating force. The transmigration of the soul is introduced and the notion of rebirth. The bad person is reborn as a dog or a hog, the good becomes Brahmin or Vaisya. The notion of Karma arises; his action in one life affecting another..

A natural result of such speculations is seen in the notion of penances, these in turn developing into yoga. The penances are often painful, even grotesque, in nature. When Alexander the Great (4th century BCE) entered the city of Taxila, capital of Gandhara, he and his men were surprised at many strange sights. One was of fifteen ascetics sitting naked outside the city walls 'practising almost inhuman penances'. One even burnt himself to death.

ASCETICISM. As an example: Sir James Stephen, an Evangelical Anglican, in an act betokening asceticism, ceremoniously emptied his snuff box out of a window. He tried a cigar once and, according to his son, found it 'so delicious' he never smoked again. Asceticism is a mild form of MORTIFICATION. No whiplashes or HAIRSHIRTS; just denial and pettyfogging observances.

ASTROLOGY. US astrologer to diplomats and politicians, Caroline Casey, stated that January 15, 1991, chosen as the deadline for the first Iraq action (the first Gulf War), was a disastrous day. It was the day of a solar eclipse, with the sun, moon, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus & Mercury lined up in Capricorn. Mars would be setting over Kuwait at the time of the eclipse and would be lined up with the Fixed Star Alcyone, the Weeping Maiden of the Pleiades. Mars would be directly over Mercury in George Bush's personal chart. This also happened on August 29-30 and December 14-18, both dates when he talked war, according to astrologers. As is now well known the first action against Iraq was highly successful. Perhaps the seer didn’t realize she was a bit ahead of herself and was really foreseeing the second Iraq action? See also: REAGAN Family.

ATHEISM. Atheism is the philosophy that denies all religious belief, as distinct from AGNOSTICISM, where the person simply says ‘he does not know’. There have always been those who do not believe in the various deities, known by various names (and often persecuted!) but now the term ‘atheist’ is generally applied to such unbelievers. See also: HOLYOAKE, George.

ATHEISM IN THE USA. Madalyn Murray O'Hare, the foe of Christians, appeared on the Donahue Show in mid-1992. Mrs O'Hare did not deny the right of people to worship as they will but campaigned strongly for the separation of Church and State, as clearly provided for in the US Constitution. She told Donahue's audience of how Christians would contact her and in their charity express the wish that she would die of cancer or leprosy!

The US census returns showed 9% to 11% of people stating they were atheists. Madalyn O'Hare says that no society is more religious than that of the USA. 90% declare their belief in GOD and eight out of ten go to church regularly. Yet, there is more wife beating, more child abuse, more drug abuse, and higher crime rates than just about anywhere else in the world. Complaining about the tax-exempt status of religion in her country, O'Hare pointed out that if all the taxes were collected on religious institutions so much revenue would be brought in that it would be longer necessary to tax individuals! The same tax-exempt status applies in Australia.

Mrs O'Hare's daughter, Robin, was actually jailed in Texas for refusing to testify in court on the Bible. Marlon Brando when testifying in court refused to use the term 'so help me God.' In Chicago an atheist boy refused to pledge 'under God' at school and found himself in all kinds of trouble. President Bush once declared that he considered an atheist could not be a citizen. President Bush apparently forgot that he had some fine atheist citizens in his country, including Kathryn Hepburn. Kate's paternal grandfather was a minister of religion but her mother was anti-religious (possibly with good reason!). Kathryn Hepburn was a declared atheist and said she looked forward at death to a nice long rest. She commented, near the time of her death: 'I think it's a relief to be alive if you can enjoy life, and a relief to be dead if you enjoy sleeping.'

ATTIS. One of a number of deities in the dying-rising clan. Attis was worshipped originally in Asia Minor but the faith eventually spread through the Roman Empire. It is difficult to determine just what was believed about Attis but it appears he was castrated at one point or that he castrated himself, or in any event, that he was impotent. Attis is said to have been turned into a fir by Cybele, or died in some way. Eventually, however, he was resurrected. The worshippers of Attis partook of some form of memorial feast not dissimilar to the Christian communion. There is little doubt that elements of Attis-worship entered into the formation of Christian doctrine.

AUCA INDIANS. See under: ECUADORI