Thursday, September 04, 2003
THE PRIORY OF SCION MAY BE NOTHING BUT A HOAX if this essay from Sociology of the Esoteric and Science News, August 29, 2003, is correct. From the website: Virtually everything on the Internet about the Priory of Sion can be described as pure hokum that cannot be treated seriously. Again, excavations conducted beneath the Tour Magdala at Rennes-le-Ch�teau on 20 August 2003 in search of treasure yielded negative results � involving Professors Eisenman and Baratollo, who have both been working on this project since April 2001.... That an archaeological dig in the first place should have been carried out at Rennes-le-Ch�teau during recent years is in itself a statement of sheer ignorance on the part of those archaeologists and scholars concerned � it demonstrates that they failed to read reliable scholarly books on the subject matter that reproduced primary source evidence relating to the activities of the abb� B�renger Sauni�re and were instead impressed by pseudo-historical and sensationalist waffle. The life of the abb� B�renger Sauni�re is very well documented and bears no relation to the fantastic claims that have been written about him. Sauni�re was just an ordinary Roman Catholic French priest who happened to hit the jackpot when he sold masses during the conflict between Church and State in France 1885-1905 (advertising in religious papers, magazines and journals around the world). The fact is that he lived in poverty for most of his life except during those years just mentioned. Sauni�re�s estate was valued at 18,000 francs by the Cr�dit Foncier de France in 1913 when he asked it for a loan in order to clear his debts (he was offered 6,000 francs). 18,000 francs could easily have been raised through the selling of masses. Sauni�re died in both debt and in poverty in January 1917, following his interdiction as a priest by the Carcassonne Bishopric in 1911 for accepting more money than he was able to say masses for (his Notebooks demonstrate this). Sauni�re never regained his priesthood, contrary to popular accounts, and he did receive the Last Rites on his deathbed. These facts have appeared in two French notable books � Mythologie du tr�sor de Rennes by Ren� Descadeillas in 1974, and in Autopsie d�un mythe by Jean-Jacques Bedu in 1990. Both books contain references to primary sources.... The story of Sauni�re discovering a "treasure" was created by Noel Corbu when he opened a restaurant in the Villa Bethanie during Easter in 1955, and needed a publicity gimmick in order to attract custom to his establishment. In 1967 a book by G�rard de S�de was published that provoked a warning in the local religious journal from Monsignor Georges Boyer, the Vicar General of Carcassonne, who was later to outline the faults in de S�de�s book in a local newspaper. Many archaeological digs � both official and unofficial � have been carried out at Rennes-le-Ch�teau during the 1950s alone (both inside and outside the Church) and a very good account of these activities can be found in Mythologie du tr�sor de Rennes by Ren� Descadeillas. The first authorised excavation of the church at Rennes-le-Ch�teau happened during the late 1950s/early 1960s and was conducted by Professor Jacques Cholet from Paris. His investigations yielded negative results.... Looks like Dan Brown needed to do a little more homework before writing The Da Vinci Code. The essay includes various charges of anti-semitism, such as this one: Nor was Plantard only anti-semitic during the 1930s and 1940s - Godfrey de Bouillon, Mgr Marcel Lefebvre, Abb� Georges de Nantes - all names strongly associated with the Priory of Sion during the 1960s and 1970s - were all virulently anti-semitic. CarrieTomko@aol.com
Wednesday, September 03, 2003
BACK TO SPEAKING IN TONGUES FOR A MOMENT The Mormons do it. Religious Tolerance.org has an entry on speaking in tongues in which they recount an experiment with interpretation: An individual's ecstatic speech was tape recorded and played back separately to many individuals who sincerely and devoutly believed that they had received the gift of interpreting. Their interpretations were quite inconsistent. e.g. one said that "the utterances referred to a prayer for the health of someone's children." Another interpreted the speech as "praising God for a recent and successful church, fund-raising effort." It is obvious from that study that those particular interpreters were unable to extract significant meaning out of the glossolalia. However, they were probably not conscious of that fact. If the interpretation is no more accurate than that, there doesn't seem to be much point to it. This may surprise some--from the bottom of the website: Although the Pentecostal movement has enjoyed a rapid increase in membership in many countries around the world, the movement in Canada has been shrinking. It lost about 15% in membership between 1991 and 2001, according to the Canadian government's census office. It surprised me, anyway. I thought the movement was still growing. The website also makes the distinction between glossolalia and xenoglossia, and traces the history back to the late 17th century. Apparently the Mormons have given a name to the language spoken. They call it "Adamic," believe that everyone will have to learn it because it is the language of heaven, and recommend that earthlings get started early by using their Adamic-English Dictionary. CarrieTomko@aol.com
THE BLACKOUTS are still in the news. From WorldNetDaily's Joseph Farah comes speculation that terrorism probably was involved. CarrieTomko@aol.com
NEW COMMENTS PROVIDER After attempting, yesterday, to resolve the problem with Enetation Comments, and having them tell me it was working just fine despite the fact I told them it wasn't, I've changed to BlogSpeak Comments, which is new I think. We'll see how this one works. CarrieTomko@aol.com
FROM THE MAILBOX...LEE PENN OFFERS THIS ANALYSIS OF ECUSA With the election of V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire in the Episcopal Church (ECUSA), the battle lines have formed in predictable fashion. Traditionalists, who oppose any relaxation of Church teaching against gay sex, are horrified. Liberals are elated, and moderates are going along calmly with the selection made by the Diocese of New Hampshire. However, a closer examination of the theology of V. Gene Robinson should give pause to ECUSA liberals and moderates alike, no matter what their views on the gay issue .... at least, if these liberals and moderates still can say the Nicene Creed without crossing their fingers behind their back. The fact is that Robinson's stated beliefs have implications that go far beyond the usually-debated issues of sexual behavior. 1. The elevation of Robinson builds in a double standard about marriage and divorce. Everyone is affected. During the ECUSA General Convention, there was a press conference for the Presiding Bishop that came to a swift and inglorious end when a reporter brought this to light: AOL link: Episcopal congress turns to 'marriage' - The Washington Times: Nation/Politics Text URL: http://washtimes.com/national/20030807-112745-4076r.htm Money quote: "Exactly how this will play out in church situations is unclear, judging from a press conference Wednesday in Minneapolis. There, Wendy Griffith, a reporter with the Christian Broadcasting Network, asked presiding Episcopal Bishop Frank Griswold about Bishop-elect V. Gene Robinson, who was confirmed Tuesday as the first openly homosexual Episcopal bishop. He is divorced and lives with his male partner. If, the reporter asked, a divorced male bishop could live with a man to whom he was not married, what about a divorced heterosexual male bishop living with a female lover? "Or," she added, "is being outside marriage only OK if you are gay?" "The Episcopal Church honors holy matrimony," Bishop Griswold said, "and certainly if a male were elected bishop and was living with a woman without benefit of clergy, that would be a significant problem." "So there's a double standard, then?" Miss Griffith asked, at which point church spokesman Jim Solheim abruptly ended the press conference." Bingo. Because the ECUSA authorities could not come up with a coherent answer to the reporter's question, they ended the press conference. 2. Some will say that same-sex unions in ECUSA will be done in a way that respects the consciences of those who believe that these are wrong, allowing both camps to coexist within the same denomination. With a different cast of players, that might be true. However, the leaders of the gay union movement in ECUSA have a different game plan in mind; they intend to follow the trail blazed by the supporters of women's ordination. Remember the chronology of that innovation: a. Illegal ordinations of women priests were done in 1974. b. The ECUSA Convention allowed ordination of women priests in 1976, and promised opponents that their consciences would be respected. No one would be forced to ordain a woman, and no parish would be forced to accept a woman priest. c. By the 1990s, ECUSA feminists demanded that, as a matter of justice, women have access to priesthood in every diocese. They got their wish in 1997, when a new canon was passed making it mandatory for all bishops to allow women priests in their diocese. There was a motion to rule out presentments (Church trials) of bishops who refuse to comply with the New Order; the idea failed. So ..... d. ECUSA went from "permission" to "mandatory" in 21 years. Such is the trail laid out by the proponents of women's ordination, and the President of Integrity, ECUSA's gay caucus, states the movement's intent to do the same. Sooner or later, the "intolerant," whose offense is to believe what they have always believed, will be wiped off the ecclesiastical map: AOL link: http://www.integrityusa.org/ShortTerm/Intensity--and Grace--Off the Scale.txt Text URL: http://www.integrityusa.org/ShortTerm/Intensity--and%20Grace--Off%20the%20Scale.txt Quotes: "Clearly the extreme conservative reaction to Gene's consent is the best indication of just how important this decision is for the Church. There can be no turning back for the Episcopal Church. Even in the most conservative settings, it is only a matter of time. They know that and it is why they seek to separate themselves from the body. .... I want you to know that I take personal responsibility for the decision to support the compromise, including, in the end, to support the removal of the provision for Enriching Our Worship rites in the resolution. In the moment it was clear to me that it was the only alternative to save us from a substitute that would have set us back a generation by declaring that there was no legislative solution to this issue. I cannot possibly emphasize how devastating that resolution would have been to our cause. As it were we were able to get a move forward, a clear recognition that blessings are taking place and tacit approval that they are. It is something we can work with (more on that in a bit). ..... One very important aspect of the resolution that passed (C051) is that for the first time in a resolution related to gay and lesbian issues there was no knee-jerk bowing to the "traditional teaching." We stood on our own. That is an enormous psychological shift for the Convention and for the Church. Some have already speculated that the strategy of Claiming the Blessing has failed. I do not believe that is true. I take as primary sign of this the extraordinary measure of respect accorded our movement from folks on all sides of the issue. Few would disagree with the absolute inevitability of nationwide blessing of same-sex unions. Again, I know that many of you live in situations where that seems like a pipe dream. The spread of the ordination of women is instructive in this regard, however. The despair of women across the church after the House of Bishops "conscience clause" following the vote to ordain women in 1976 was similar to what many of you are feeling now. The number of dioceses was significant where it seemed at that moment change would be impossible for generations. Yet twenty-seven years later there are only three. Change happened because women and men hung in there and worked hard to advance the cause, both in supportive and non-supportive dioceses. Perhaps the most important thing in this regard for us is that we not separate into "haves" and "have nots." Those of us who live in dioceses where the blessings of same-sex unions are already a fact on the ground must continue move forward. We must urge our dioceses to develop official policies and liturgies and bring blessings into the light of day. That will have a positive effect on the whole church. Those of us who live in dioceses where blessings remain prohibited or closeted must not be tempted to despair, but must continue to be an alternative voice and find ways for the conservative majority to experience lesbian and gay clergy and lesbian and gay couples. That is how women's ordination was advanced. It is how our cause will be advanced as well." This is not just a rightist slippery-slope theory ; it is a strategic statement by one of the most prominent of ECUSA's liberals. 3. Robinson acknowledges that his election contradicts Scripture and tradition, and says that this is OK. AOL link: washingtonpost.com: Homosexuality, in the Biblical Sense Text URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A36743-2003Aug8?language=printer Money quote: "After his approval by the denomination's legislative bodies as bishop of New Hampshire, Robinson agreed with opponents that his election contradicts Episcopal teaching against homosexuality. But, he said, "just simply to say that it goes against tradition and the teaching of the church and Scripture does not necessarily make it wrong. We worship a living God, and that living God leads us into truth." What a reckless and revelatory comment! Relaxation of Church teaching on gay issues might, for some, be akin to widening the front door of the house and adding a broad ramp to replace the steep steps. Instead, by his own logic, Robinson proposes to do this remodeling by dynamiting the foundations of the house. 4. Robinson pursued the episcopacy with as much zeal as Bishop Spong has pursued heresy. Robinson ran in several dioceses before getting elected in New Hampshire. Robinson's behavior is very different from the saints, several of whom fled to avoid ordination or consecration .... and had to be ordained by force. 5. Robinson is a master of double-think in his approach to Scripture and Tradition. See the following exchange between him and an intervewer for the Church of England newspaper: CEN: As a bishop you will be a teacher of the doctrines of the Church. Will those doctrines be safe in your hands? GR: I think of myself, perhaps others don't, but I think of myself, in many, many ways as a very traditional person. I consider myself quite traditional in my approach to Scripture, tradition and reason. I guess I would say that I believe what I said when I became ordained a priest. I believe the Old and New Testaments to contain all things necessary to salvation and that I believe it is the Word of God. Where probably some of my brothers and sisters and I would disagree would be that I do believe that the Bible is the word of God and not the words of God. That indeed we are meant to use that not only as a basis for all that we think and do, but the primary one, that is to say the first and foremost. On the other hand, I don't believe in a God that stopped revealing God's self when the canon of Scripture was closed but continues to reveal God-self in the world and to all sorts and conditions of people. We have been led I believe by the spirit to ordain women even though Scripture says that women should be silent in Church. We have found a pastoral way of remarrying people who have previously been married, even though Scripture seems to be pretty clearly against that, even Jesus spoke to it. So I do believe there are times and ways in which God continues to reveal God's self, and sometimes, only occasionally, but sometimes, that seems to be in counter-distinction to Scripture itself. I think we need to do such things very carefully, very slowly, and with much prayer and with much fear and trembling." [End of quote] Got that .... ? Robinson is so averse to using traditional language about God (including use of masculine personal pronouns) that he has to say "God that stopped revealing God's self" rather than "God that stopped revealing Himself" to a Church writer - all the while, saying that he is "traditional." It gives a totally new meaning to the word "tradition." With all this, ECUSA has made its choice, and will live with the results. Kyrie eleison. Lee CarrieTomko@aol.com
LET WOMEN HEAR CONFESSION AND GRANT ABSOLUTION, SAYS BISHOP From the UK Telegraph... Women should be allowed to hear confessions and absolve sinners, a Roman Catholic bishop has suggested. Bishop Vincent Malone, auxiliary bishop in Liverpool, said that the Church should consider choosing lay women to be confessors because some people might prefer disclosing their sins to a woman rather than a man. Writing in a new book, he also said that other sacraments reserved for the all-male clergy might be opened to lay people, including the annointing of the sick. Bishop Malone said he was merely raising questions rather than "starting a revolution", and stressed that any reforms would have to be agreed by the whole Church before they could be implemented. But his radical views will challenge the traditional image of the male priest hearing confessions and reignite the debate over the role of women in the Church. Bishop Malone's comments will carry particular weight because he is the liaison between the English and Welsh Bishops' Conference and the National Board of Catholic Women. The story closes with this: The bishop's comments follow the decision by some churches and cathedrals to introduce glass-fronted confessionals after a series of sex scandals in the Church.The aim is to allow others to see what is happening, protecting children and adults from any risk of abuse by priests and to protect priests from false allegations. CarrieTomko@aol.com
Tuesday, September 02, 2003
DEMOLISHING THE DA VINCI CODE CRISIS Magazine - e-Letter September 2, 2003 ********************************************** Dear Friend, This is going to have to be quick, since I'm traveling right now. But I wanted to get this out to you immediately. As you probably know, a recent and astonishingly popular novel called The Da Vinci Code has been generating a lot of debate in Catholic circles. This mega best-seller claims that the Catholic Church has hidden "the truth" about Jesus Christ. And what is that truth? That Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, and had children. In short, the Catholic Church subverted the feminist, Goddess-worshipping Church that Jesus REALLY intended to found. I know. It sounds ridiculous. But the novel presents this as fact, and tries to back up the claims with evidence culled from Scripture, art, architecture, and history. Unfortunately, the book has been very successful in convincing people. In fact, last week I read a letter from a woman whose son is now rejecting Christianity after reading the book. This story is being repeated all over. Everywhere I go, I see people reading the book. And I'd be willing to bet that you yourself know at least one person who has read it... Well, if you're a CRISIS reader, you know that our current issue carries a feature-length demolition of the book. In fact, we've already been flooded with positive emails and phone calls praising the article. While I'm genuinely grateful for the kind words, I also know that a lot of people don't get CRISIS. No, don't worry, I'm not going to turn this into a subscription appeal. In fact, I'm going to do something that may seem strange... I'm going to give you article for free. A few minutes ago, we uploaded "Dismantling The Da Vinci Code" to our website. You can now read it here: http://www.crisismagazine.com/feature1.htm [This is Sandra Miesel's article--a good demolition of the book.] Giving away a hot article isn't the smartest way to keep a magazine in business... but this one is just too important to hold back. I want to make sure this devastating piece is available to everyone -- not just CRISIS readers. (I know our faithful readers will understand.) And so, in the spirit of getting this piece distributed as widely as possible, I hereby give you full permission to print it out, and distribute it as you wish. Please forward this email (with the article link) to anyone and everyone who you think would be helped by it. If you're a current CRISIS reader and you'd rather photocopy the original piece from the actual issue, please feel free to do that as well. In fact, some of our friends will be photocopying the article and handing the copies out to fellow parishioners. That's a great idea! Anyway you want to do it, you have full permission to reproduce and distribute the piece. Let's try to make sure The Da Vinci Code's scandalous claims don't go unanswered. I'll write more in a couple days. Best, Deal ***** LEARN THE REAL CAUSE OF THE CRISIS IN THE CHURCH ***** Sex abuse scandals... irreverent liturgies... homosexuality in the seminaries... liberal theology preached from the pulpit... You know all about the crisis in the Church. But you've never heard the full story. When did the collapse in the Church occur... and what REALLY caused it? Fr. Benedict Groeschel knows. He was there when it happened... 10 years BEFORE Vatican II. What he saw will surprise you. Click here to learn more: http://www.crisismagazine.com/products.htm [Cut and paste into your browser if the link isn't active] ************************************************************** To subscribe to the FREE CRISIS Magazine e-Letter, and get the latest news, views, and responses to current issues, send an e-mail to e-letter@crisismagazine.com and write "SUBSCRIBE" in the subject line. ************************************************************** To learn more about CRISIS Magazine, visit http://www.crisismagazine.com/subscribe.htm ************************************************************** If you no longer wish to receive the CRISIS e-Letter, please send an e-mail to mail@crisismagazine.com and write "CANCEL" in the subject line. ************************************************************** To change your e-mail address, please send an e-mail to mail@crisismagazine.com with "ADDRESS CHANGE" in the subject line. Please make sure to tell us your old and new e-mail addresses, so we can make the change. ************************************************************** Please forward this letter to anyone you think might benefit from it. CarrieTomko@aol.com
ANGLICANISM SINGING ITS SWAN SONG? Theo Hobson seems to think so. Can the same thing be said of the Catholic Church, albeit for different reasons? Crisis in credibility of the heirarchy parallels the Anglican crisis as Hobson sees it. CarrieTomko@aol.com
GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD Organic farming on a massive scale has not proved practical. Family farms have been driven off the land for decades, all with the helping hand of the bureaucrat. What would lead any critical person to believe that the corporate farm will ensure a dependable food supply? Americans so under appreciate the quantity, quality and selection of food, usually at cheap pricing; that most neglect the real costs of the GMO factor. Consolidation of agriculture into a linear and often vertically integrated consortium resembling a giant Cargill model, is dangerous. Now GMO patents are being granted. Just consider this one illustration. �The U.S. Supreme Court in the J.E.M. Ag Supply v. Pioneer case, rejected the arguments of the seed distributor that plants are not patentable under the main patent act. Instead, the court agreed with Pioneer holding that a plant breeder can achieve a full-blown patent under the general patent act, as well as mini-patents under the PVPA and the PPA, at the choice of the breeder. The case applies to all plants, GMO or conventional hybrids.� The significance is ominous. Whole lines of new plant advances will be proprietary and excluded from use or research by all scientists, university affiliated or private. Research will dry up in areas where full patent protection is not sought or available. Non-Monsanto varieties will become quickly obsolete - frozen in the 1990's state of the art. Publicly available seed banks, such as those maintained by universities, will be outmoded. Monopoly patents push the new vertical integration in crop agriculture like steroids. As smiling corporate faces promote "alliances," they systemically shut down competitors who don't have the right patented product. Wonder what the risk assessment was on this project? If we are what we eat, how long will it be until we will need to pay a fee to grow our own food! Somehow the relish of buying from approved suppliers inhibits our sustenance. The fruits of biotechnology food has a sour tang. One need not dine with �green fanatics� to recognize that all is not kosher with the regulation of the biotech food chain. The correct precautionary principle is to halt the corporate/state pact of greed and control. Failure to stop this cartel, means you will starve under the guise of a processed diet. You don�t need a think tank to make that assessment. CarrieTomko@aol.com
THE LATEST IN AUDIO TECHNICA OR THE FUTURE OF TOTALITARIANISM OR MAYBE JUST A CON? The voice you hear in your head may have been put there by someone with a new gizmo, according to this Newsweek article from the Raiders website: He�s standing in a corner of his cluttered San Diego office, holding a gizmo that looks something like a retro-futuristic waffle iron with a portable CD player Velcroed to its back. �Are you ready?� he asks, then points his invention directly at the head of someone who�s just entered the room 10 feet away. �Now, can you hear it? Can you hear it? Isn�t that unbelievable?� What the person across the room hears is, well, unbelievable: all of a sudden, the sound of a waterfall has materialized in his head. And, it turns out, no one else in the room can hear it but him. It�s as if the sound is coming out of thin air. As Keanu Reeves said in �The Matrix�: whoa. After more than a decade of trial and error and about $30 million in R&D, the 63-year-old Norris may be on the verge of changing the world as we hear it�and making some major money to boot. The Hyper-Sonic Sound System (HSS), as he calls it, can take an audio signal from virtually any source�home stereo, TV, computer, microphone, etc.�and convert it to an ultrasonic frequency that can be directed like a beam of light toward a target up to 100 yards away. Picture a car where parents can listen to the Eagles while their kids wild out to Eminem in the back seat. This is big audio dynamite�possibly the biggest breakthrough since modern speakers were conceived 77 years ago�and Norris knows it. CarrieTomko@aol.com
A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON IRAQ from Sandro Magister. The news coverage of the postwar period in Iraq, including that of �L�Osservatore Romano,� focuses almost exclusively upon victims, assaults, attacks, and sabotage. And there's plenty of material. The latest and most serious is the massacre in Najaf on August 29, in front of the Ali mosque (in the photo), which is the heart of the Shiite Muslims. And yet, in the land of the Tigris and the Euphrates there is plenty of material for good news as well. The religious and civic arenas are seeing the beginnings of �new dynamics that promise to transform dramatically the current situation in the Middle East.� And these are positive dynamics against which the attack in Najaf is a sign of fierce opposition. This much is affirmed by a solidly competent analyst: Khaled Fouad Allam, a Muslim, Algerian by birth, a student of Mohammed Arkoun at the Paris university of Sorbonne, an Italian citizen since 1990, professor of Islamic studies at the universities of Trieste and Urbino. A couple of encouraging points from the article: � �The Americans know very well that there is no political alternative for the Middle East apart from democracy. And in effect, the problem of democracy is the problem of the Arab-Islamic world. Thus the strategy of the U.S. government is much more pertinent than is commonly thought.� Perhaps someone should tell the Holy Father? � �The war in Iraq and the intervention of the United States put Europe to the test: but it is a sick Europe, incapable of situating itself in the world, at a moment in which international alliances are changing all across the planet.� CarrieTomko@aol.com
THREEFOLDING Is a concept that turns up from time to time in world government circles. It comes from a Theosophical source. Rudolf Steiner presented the concept in Germany in 1919. An essay which served as the Afterword to Steiner�s Towards Social Renewal � Rethinking the Basis of Society, published in 1999 by Temple Lodge Publishing is available online. This essay describes Steiner�s attempts to change the course of world history by influencing the German government, the failure of his efforts, and the resulting founding of Waldorf Schools to promote Steiner�s ideas. It goes on to discuss the implications today for the EU and NATO. Threefolding is a concept that was introduced at the State of the World Forum, and U.N. Millennium Summit in September 2000. Threefolding concerns a tri-partite sectioning of civil society�government, business/community, and the private sector. Steiner collected his materials from the Akashic Record, as evidenced by this quote from an Anthroposophist describing one of Steiner�s books: We have access to what arises in time through our senses, and to what originates in the eternal through super-sensible sight of what is called the Akashic Record or Chronicle. There is no electronic viewing screen for studying the Akashic Record. The only instrument delicate enough is the human being, one who is trained in the initiatory methods of super-sensible sight. Steiner was such a human being and he reports on his viewing of the Akashic Record in these lecturs that are reproduced for us in this book. Steiner spent forty years preparing for his �sapiritual mission of marrying initiation wisdom and modern scientific consciousness.� By means of his �initiation wisdom� Steiner is able to research the Akashic Record, and by means of his �modern scientific consciousness� he is able to cogently report on his findings in a way that speaks to the modern scientific reader. The Skeptic�s Dictionary describes the Akashic record this way: The Akashic record is an imagined spiritual realm, supposedly holding a record of all events, actions, thoughts and feelings that have ever occurred or will ever occur. Theosophists believe that the Akasha is an �astral light� containing occult records which spiritual beings can perceive by their special �astral senses� and �astral bodies�. Clairvoyance, spiritual insight, prophecy and many other untestable metaphysical and religious notions are made possible by tapping into the Akasha. If the Akasha is an �astral light�, then what is an astral light? Turning to a Theosophical source, I found: �the true and uncompromising Kabalists admit that, for all purposes of Science and philosophy, it is enough that the profane should know that the great magic agent called by the followers of the Marquis de St. Martin�the Martinists�astral light, by the mediaeval Kabalists and Alchemists the Sidereal Virgin and the Mysterium Magnun, and by the Eastern Occultists Aether, the reflection of Akasa--is that which the Church calls Lucifer�. [emphasis in original] Quoting Eliphas Levi, the essay goes on to say, �Lucifer, the Astral Light�is an intermediate force existing in all creation...� All of this came to light in the process of Googling �speaking in tongues.� One more curious tidbit unrelated to the above Threefolding material is that Steiner channeled the German von Moltke. CarrieTomko@aol.com
Monday, September 01, 2003
CHARISMATICS have been discussing the so-called "Rome prophecies" in Amy Welborn's blog. (See side panel for a link.) One poster gave the URL. Here's the website. A frightening prophecy. Given in 1975. 28 years ago. Perhaps it wasn't meant for my lifetime or yours. In any case, below the prophecy is a "Home Page" link. Click it to get to this webpage. Scroll down to the links. Yup...Toronto Airport Church...in other words, Toronto Blessing. The bark like dogs and oink like pigs folks. YIKES! Another link in the website will take you here. It is clearly spelled out in this website that the sign that participants have accepted Christ as saviour is speaking in tongues. No other evidence is offered. Baptism in the Spirit is evidenced by speaking in tongues. For this conference at least, Baptism in the Spirit is the new sacrament that gives evidence of our individual salvation through Jesus Christ. It's not Catholic theology. I see that there is a place to read and sign a resolution in support of Israel. Has the Catholic charismatic movement connected itself with the Israeli cause? And what is All Nations Church that it should have the charismatic blessing? Just what is going on here? CarrieTomko@aol.com
DECEPTION OVER THE ABUSE SCANDAL SEEMS TO GO ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP I see that in this case it was a girl instead of a boy in this story from Dallas: The Vatican promoted a U.S. priest through its international diplomatic corps despite high-level warnings in the 1990s that he had sexually abused a girl, according to interviews and records.The case is believed to be the first in which the Vatican has been found harboring an abuser in its ranks. In a message to American Catholic leaders during last year's abuse crisis, Pope John Paul II said: "There is no place in the priesthood or religious life for those who would harm the young."Alerts about Monsignor Daniel Pater went to the Vatican from his home Archdiocese of Cincinnati and a former official at an elite seminary in Rome. That official told The Dallas Morning News that nothing happened after he twice spoke with Bishop James M. Harvey, a friend who was a longtime Vatican state department executive and now heads the pope's personal staff.Harvey acknowledged Friday that he had known "there'd been some problems" with the American priest but said that he hadn't known details and was not in a position to affect the priest's career."I presumed everything was OK, that there wasn't anything to it or the accusations were false," the bishop said in a telephone interview from Rome. "I just presumed that when he continued, that everything was OK."In fact, a lawsuit against Monsignor Pater had ended with a confidential payment to his accuser in 1995 and the priest's stay in a treatment center. Pater said in a brief interview Friday that he had recently quit his Vatican job and was "very sorry for what happened."At the time of his resignation, he was the Vatican's No. 2 diplomat in India. He is now visiting family in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, where he abused a young parishioner before joining the Vatican's foreign service in the early 1980s.Archdiocesan spokeswoman Tricia Hempel said Pater acknowledged the abuse when first confronted about a decade ago. "The Vatican knew the status of the case," she said.Hempel said Pater, 50, remains a priest in good standing, even though U.S. bishops passed a one-strike-and-you're-out policy last year in Dallas. His eligibility for ministry will be decided later this year by a local review board and Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk, she said. CarrieTomko@aol.com
I KNOW WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE COMMENTS BOX They want a donation. I even tried to give them one. But the secure website where they are collecting refused to accept my contribution. Twice. Still the comments box will only bring up comments some of the time for me. The rest of the time I get the money request. Sigh. CarrieTomko@aol.com
Sunday, August 31, 2003
SPEAKING IN TONGUES NEVER CEASED according to this Pentecostal website which says: 5) The Early Church Martyrs slain by Pagan Rome �spoke and sang in unknown tongues� according to Dean Farrar in the book �Darkness to Dawn�. 6) Chrysostom Bishop of Constantinople whose life and ministry spanned the close of the Fourth and the beginning of the Fifth Century stated: �Whoever was baptised in Apostolic days, he straightway spoke with tongues." With the rise of Papal power in Europe and the onset of the Dark Ages, the Bible became a banned book, the church substituted Babylonian error for Bible Truth, and the true followers of Christ were persecuted. Truly the lamp of God did burn but dimly and the powerful gushing flow of God�s Spirit was reduced to a tiny trickle, yet even then tongues never ceased. From the Twelfth to the Fifteenth Centuries, there continued to be outbreaks of glossolalia amongst those faithful pre- Reformation witnesses, the Waldenses and Albigenses. 7) Martin Luther � According to Dr. Theodor Sauer in his book �History of the Christian Church�, the great Protestant Reformer was: "A prophet, evangelist, speaker in tongues and interpreter in one person endowed with all the gifts of the Spirit.� 8) Phillip Schaff - in �The History of the Christian Church� claims that speaking in tongues continued to appear from time to time during religious revivals amongst the Quakers, Huguenots and early Methodists. 9) The Huguenots - During the time when these French Protestants were being cruelly persecuted by the Roman Catholic King Louis XIV during the late Seventeenth and early Eighteenth Centuries, there was a great move of the Holy Spirit amongst the so-called �Church in the Desert� accompanied by speaking in tongues, and other supernatural manifestations. 10) John Wesley � Supports this contention when replying to Dr. Middleton who had written against the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, the founder of Methodism states in the mid-Eighteenth Century: �Sir, your memory fails you � speaking in tongues has been heard more than once, no further off than the Galley�s of Dauphany�. 11) Thomas Walsh � one of Wesley�s foremost preachers wrote in his diary, 8th March 1750: �This morning the Lord gave me a language that I knew not of, raising my soul to Him in a wonderful manner.� 12) Charles Finney � the great Nineteenth Century Revivalist wrote: �I received a mighty baptism of the Holy Spirit ... I wept aloud with joy and love and I do not know but I should say I literally bellowed out the unutterable gushings of my heart.� 13) D. L. Moody � John Davidson. an intimate friend of the world-renowned evangelist claimed that he also enjoyed the Gift of Tongues: 14) Dr. F. B. Myer � after a visit to Russia in the late Nineteenth Century, wrote to the �London Christian� magazine claiming that amongst the Baptists of Russia and Estonia he witnessed marvellous manifestations of Spiritual Gifts - including speaking in tongues. We could go on to look at other examples but these will suffice to prove that from the Upper Room in Jerusalem in the First Century to the outpouring at Topeka Bible College at the start of the Twentieth Century - TONGUES NEVER CEASED. The website is not friendly to Rome and Catholicism. And the manifestations of tongues set out by the writer of this essay begin in the Catholic Church, but slip into movements which were declared to be heresies by Rome, while at the same time this manifestation ceased in the Catholic Church. Is the Holy Spirit fickle? Is the Holy Spirit indifferent in providing manifestations of His presence, so that He will appear to bless heresy in many of its abundant forms? If glossolalia is evidence of the action of the Holy Spirit, we are gravely wrong in dismissing Gnosticism as a heresy, apparently, because the Holy Spirit seems to approve of it. But what to do about that unfortunate teaching of the Gnostics that places God the Father and Creator in an inferior position (Demiurge) to the Superior God (Pleroma), the Lightbearer more commonly known in Catholic circles as Lucifer? This Theosophical website defines the Pleroma: Thus, the true and uncompromising Kabalists admit that, for all purposes of Science and philosophy, it is enough that the profane should know that the great magic agent called by the followers of the Marquis de St. Martin -- the Martinists -- astral light, by the medi�val Kabalists and Alchemists the Sidereal Virgin and the Mysterium Magnum, and by the Eastern Occultists �ther, the reflection of Ak�sa -- is that which the Church calls Lucifer. That the Latin scholastics have succeeded in transforming the universal soul and Pleroma, the vehicle of Light and the receptacle of all the forms, a force spread throughout the whole Universe, with its direct and indirect effects, into Satan and his works, is no news to any one. Also we shouldn't overlook the fact that the Theosophists, the Martinists and other esoteric groups practice channeling of which the Church and Scripture highly disapprove. It does seem that Pentecostalism puts us in a very difficult position when it comes to defending the historical Truths of Catholicism. I don't think we can claim that speaking in tongues is the work of the Holy Spirit while at the same time claiming that all of these manifestations of it which were taken to be a sign of the approval of the Holy Spirit were heresies. We can make one claim or the other, but not both of them. CarrieTomko@aol.com
GLOSSOLALIA AND SPIRITUALISM seem to find themselves at home with each other in this on-line book devoted to Theosophy, where the following appears: Among major movements that paved the way for Theosophy, the one perhaps most directly conducive to it is Spiritualism, for the founder of the Theosophical Society began her career in the Spiritualistic ranks. On account of this close relationship it is necessary to outline the origin and spread of this strange movement more fully. The weird behavior of two country girls, the one twelve and the other nine, in the hamlet of Hydesville, near Rochester, New York, in the spring of 1847, was like a spark to power for the release of religious fancy; for Margaret and Kate Fox were supposed to have picked up again the thread of communication between the world of human consciousness and the world of disembodied spirits, and thus to have given fresh reinforcement to man's assurance of immortality. From this bizarre beginning the movement spread rapidly to all parts of America, England, and France. In nearly every town in America groups were soon meeting, eager for manifestations and fervently invoking the denizens of the unseen worlds. Various methods and means were provided whereby the disembodied entities could communicate with dull mundane faculties. Many and varied were the types of response. Besides the simple "raps," there were tinklings of tiny aerial bells, flashings of light, tipping of tables, levitation of furniture and of human bodies, messages through the planchette, free voice messages, trumpet speaking, alphabet rapping, materialization of the hands and of complete forms, trance catalepsis and inspiration, automatic writing, slate writing, glossolalia, and many other variety of phenomena. Mediums, clairvoyants, inspirational How is it, then, that over on Amy Welborn's blog where a discussion of speaking in tongues is taking place, that some posters speak so favorably of the practice? Am I to believe that the Holy Spirit is in the process of granting His special gifts to those who worship the enemy of the Trinitarian God? Lucifer plays an important role in Theosophy. Channeling is a Theosophical practice, and that is something the Church forbids. The Church has condemned Theosophy in the past. While it's true that we have borrowed practices from Pagans in days gone by, the purpose of those borrowings was to bring converts gradually into the faith. Is the process being reversed here, considering that Theosophy is older than the Catholic Charismatic Movement? Are we borrowing from other religions in order to become converts to a foreign faith? Surely every Catholic would answer "no" to that rhetorical question. So how does a Charismatic explain involvement with this spiritualist practice? What does a Catholic Charismatic believe the Theosophists are actually doing when they practice baptism of fire and glossolalia? CarrieTomko@aol.com
