The End of an Era: Meaning & Solace in Pre-Christian Society

The search for meaning and solace in the dangerous world before the birth of Christ

By John Issitt

Conditions of life until the 20^th century were pretty raw and sadly, they continue to be so for many people. Fighting, pestilence, lack of food and the abuses of others were the conditions most people were born into. If you were lucky and strong enough to survive childhood you could count your blessing. Then the perils of childbirth for women and the demands of war for men, were just two of the imminent dangers that brought mortality to front of your mind. Unless you were very lucky, living into your fifth decade was unlikely.

In the face of such hardship we could easily be tempted into Thomas Hobbes’s famous dictum ‘life is nasty, brutish and short’. But people, by and large, can’t live with such meaningless pessimism. They look for, ache for, solace and a feeling of belonging to something that orientates their life. Whether it is fate, the play of the Gods or the spirits of nature, people need to locate themselves in relation to their experience. Our logic-orientated brains have sought reasons – some kind of rational account of what, why and how.

The story of reason that we in the Christian west tell ourselves is that from around the 5^th century BC from the pre-Socratics and then the trio of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, reason was born in ancient Greece from which the civilized world emerged. Despite serious omissions in the story (for example China, India and Persia) this lineage interlaced with more ancient scriptural accounts is the one we imbibe through our culture and is traced through the history of philosophy and ideas taught in our universities. Very, very crudely, reason passes through Rome, onwards through Christ, gets lost in the ‘Dark Ages’ emerges in the Renaissance, gets reworked through the Reformation, Descartes and Newton before arriving at the ages of Enlightenment, Revolution and Modernity. Phew!

The story of reason demands a lifetime of scholarship but reason itself is also severely limited in helping us deal with life. Reason alone never delivers what the human spirit needs and as Mahatma Gandhi famously put it ‘Reason given the status of omnipotence becomes a monster.’ In the centuries between Socrates and Christ, reason was worked and used in three of our most enduring philosophies. Again very, very crudely: Scepticism – the belief that real knowledge of things is impossible, Epicureanism – that the world is made of the mere fortuitous combination of atoms, and Stoicism – that happiness can only be obtained by submission to natural law.

All three are components of the intellectual resources we operate with today – you can find them in the everyday talk of folk. But can you see how they each attempt to deliver a reasoned account of the human condition, but are each insufficient in helping us to live our lives. They are at best partial accounts and do not answer our internal ache to find meaning. As people in the centuries before Christ and Christendom faced their hardships, such philosophies would not have helped them much.

The intellectual conditions before Christ lacked what the Christ story provided – a way of finding meaning in adverse conditions. Maybe that is why Christianity took such an enduring grip on us.

John Issitt is the author of Agents of Reason.
Website: http://www.agentsofreason.co.uk/,
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Greatest Hits: Aimee Semple McPherson

By Delia DeLeest

Back before Jimmy Swaggart and Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker brought their scandals to the religious world, there was Aimee Semple McPherson.

After spending years as an itinerant Pentecostal minister in the early 1920s, Aimee pulled into Los Angeles with her mother and two small children in tow. Her husband, Harold McPherson, had filed for a separation in 1918 and was granted a divorce in 1921 on the grounds of abandonment. She was a woman called on a mission and she couldn't let something like a reluctant husband slow her down.

Within five years, her ministry had grown from going from town to town in her "Gospel Car"--a 1912 Packard decorated with religious sayings painted on the sides--to a multi-million dollar business. Starting off by giving sermons wherever she could find crowds, including boxing rings before and after matches, she raised enough money to fund the Angelus Temple for her church, The International Institute of Four Square Evangelism. The temple cost $1.5 million and included a $75,000 radio studio, seats for over 5,000 people, a nursery, a lonely hearts club, and a miracle room for the discarded wheelchairs and crutches of those followers who were healed of their earthly afflictions. Aimee had a good thing going.


In 1926, the world was shocked by the disappearance of Mrs. McPherson. Aimee had gone for a dip in the ocean. The last her secretary had seen of her before heading out on an errand, Aimee had been joyfully frolicking in the waves. When the secretary returned, Aimee Semple McPherson had disappeared. The faithful gathered to pray for her deliverance while others, spurred on either by evangelical zeal or the $25,000 reward for her recovery, diligently searched the area for their missing leader. In the resulting clamor, one man drowned, one died of exposure, and a young girl killed herself, distraught at the loss of her idol.

Finally admitting to the loss, a memorial service was held. Shortly after the service, Aimee's mother received a ransom note, asking for half a million dollars for the release of the evangelist. Believing her daughter to be dead and the note a fraud, she threw it away.

On June 23, 1926, thirty-five days after her disappearance, Aimee Semple McPherson stumbled out of the desert and into a small Mexican town just south of the Arizona border. She'd been held hostage, she claimed, trapped, drugged and tortured in a small desert shack. She'd only escaped after making her way thirteen hours through the desert to civilization. The world rejoiced.

But...(you just knew there was going to be a 'but,' didn't you?) Aimee's story had more loopholes than an afghan made by your far-sighted great-aunt Millie. Though she supposedly made her way thirteen hours across the desert, her shoes weren't worn and had grass stains on the sides. Grass stains in the desert? The shack she described could never be found, and even though she had disappeared while swimming, she returned fully dressed and wearing a watch given to her by her mother, which she'd not had with her when she'd gone to the beach. Aimee's house of cards was beginning to topple, but it wasn't over yet.

Coinciding with Aimee's disappearance was another missing person. Kenneth Ormiston, a married radio operator for the Four Square Church with whom Aimee had developed a close friendship, had also gone missing. After tracing his whereabouts, the District Attorney found that Ormiston, along with a female companion matching Sister Aimee's description, had been visiting various hotels and beach resorts all along the West Coast. Handwriting analysis matched some of the entries in the hotel registers with Mrs. McPherson's own penmanship.

Oops.

An investigation ensued and though the prosecution could find no clear-cut proof that Sister Aimee had committed fraud or obstruction of justice, there was also no proof she'd been kidnapped, either. The DA produced an array of witnesses, hotel chambermaids, bellhops, etc., who could identify the amorous couple, but then he mysteriously moved for an acquittal without any explanation. So, Sister Aimee got off scott free...or did she?

After the scandal, she went back to proselytizing, but things just weren't the same. She was no longer a media darling and people no longer blindly followed her lead. Her subsequent marriage in 1931 to a musician and actor further riled up her congregation, as it was, against one of the tenants of The Four Square church which stated that a person could not remarry while a previous spouse was still alive--Harold McPherson was still around and kicking, though he'd had no part in Aimee's life for years. She and her latest husband were eventually divorced in 1934. Aimee and Harold's son, Rolf, took over the running of the church, though Aimee was still around to give her standby sermon, "Story of my Life".

In September of 1944, Rolf went to Aimee's hotel room to pick her up for a scheduled preaching session and he found her dead in her room, an open bottle of pills next to her. Aimee's death was not believed to be a suicide, despite how it looked. The barbiturate that was found in her room was commonly found to cause a hypnotic effect that could easily lead up to accidental overdose.

So now you know the story of Sister Aimee. Isn't it interesting to know that in a decade known for its wild abandonment, even the religious leaders of the 1920's weren't immune to its lure?

Religious Beliefs: The Desert Fathers

By Bonnie Vanak

It was said about John the Little that one day he said to his older brother: I want to be free from care and not to work but to worship God without interruption. And he took his robe off, and went into the desert. After staying there one week, he returned to his brother. And when he knocked at the door, his brother asked without opening it: 'Who is it?' He replied: 'It's John, your brother.' The brother said: 'John has become an angel and is not among people anymore.' Then he begged and said: 'It's me!' But his brother did not open the door and left him there in distress until the next morning. And he finally opened the door and said: 'If you are a human being, you have to work again in order to live.' Then John repented, saying: 'Forgive me, brother, for I was wrong.

Sayings of the Desert Fathers

It appears like a barren wasteland, shimmering with heat and seemingly devoid of life. Egypt's Eastern Desert is a narrow strip of land between the Nile and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez, an area that covers about one-quarter of the entire country. Rugged, majestic mountains flank the land and both vegetation and rain are sparse. In summer, temperatures can climb to 115 F.

In the northern desert, close to the Red Sea, lived St. Anthony the Great. The religious icon became known as a founder of Christian monasticism, a leader of a group of devout monks known as the Desert Fathers. They were religious refugees who fled to the desert to embrace a pious life. They turned away from the cares of the world and chose to live a life of solitude to grow closer to God. The movement flourished after Christianity became a legal religion in Egypt in 313 A.D.

Life for these devout hermits was harsh as the environment they called home. The Desert Fathers were celibate ascetics who embraced the simple desert life as a means of learning discipline and separating themselves from worldly cares. They fasted often, never drank spirits and spent hours in prayer. They did work, weaving ropes and mats, and embraced the virtue of charity. Such a life was believed to produce spiritual clarity and wisdom and the starkness of the desert provided the perfect arena for contemplating God.

Eventually they initiated a routine lifestyle for ascetic life in the desert, forming communities that became the first Christian monasteries. They were spiritual mystics whose words were eventually collected by St. Anthony in a collection known as the Sayings of the Desert Fathers.

Anthony, considered to be the first Christian monk, was born in Egypt. When he embraced the monastic life, he shut himself away for long periods of solitude. He lived on bread and water and often would not eat before sunset. After settling into a cave in the Eastern Desert, he became a mystical icon and many disciples sought him out for his spiritual wisdom.

He died at the age of 105, and was buried by two disciples in a secret grave so his body would not be venerated. A monastery was founded after his death and built close to the site where he lived. You can visit St. Anthony's monastery (Deir Mar Antonios) today in northern Egypt. You can even journey to the cave where he lived, which is above the monastery.

For more information on the wisdom of the Desert Fathers, click here.

Religious Beliefs: Fall of the Knights Templar

By Penny Ash

For some two hundred years, the Knights Templar protected the faithful on their pilgrimages to Jerusalem, fought the Muslims, and gained wealth and power. They were respected and it was a prestigious thing to be accepted into the order. Many of the nobility joined once they had secured their estates and had an heir, leaving family and friends to focus on their souls. They flourished throughout the era of the Crusades. Then in 1307, it all fell apart.

So what happened? The fall was a combination of things, a series of poor military decisions, greed and jealousy from an outside source, and a weak Pope. The Knights suffered several major losses to the Muslims that pushed them out of Jerusalem, but they probably could have made a comeback from that. After all, fighting was what they were about for two centuries. What in my opinion brought them down was plain old garden variety greed and jealousy embodied by Philip the Fair, King of France. And he used the Church to do it.

In one source, I read that part of the problem was Philip had applied to join the order and was turned down. And it made him angry. But nearly everyone else agrees that it was Philip's greed, his lust for money that was behind it. He had already gone after the Jews and the Lombards, confiscating their wealth and land. Most likely he had planned his attack for a long time and he’d been a wee bit upset with the Church for years.

Philip, like most greedy men, spent more than he had. He was heavily in debt, so when Pope Boniface forbade the clergy to pay taxes, it made life unpleasant for Philip. His battle of wills with the Church began, and when Pope Boniface called on him for support against Aragon, Philip refused. Naturally this didn't sit well with the Pope and he retaliated, eventually offering the throne of France to the Austrian Emperor in 1302. Philip then managed to do in Pope Boniface and his successor, and by 1305, he made Bertrand de Got, his boyhood friend, into Pope Clement V. Everything was in place for his attack on the Knights Templar. And apparently they never saw it coming.

Philip IV practiced this sort of attack twice before and succeeded. Remember the Jews and Lombards? He had his own puppet Pope, and his greed knew no bounds. He made a dry run, or maybe a feint before the real attack, by attempting to unite the Templars with the Hospitallers. It didn't succeed and he put his plan into motion.

People of the day were heavily superstitious and Philip used this to his advantage. He ordered the Templars arrested on the charges of heresy--some 87 charges, including everything from denying Christ to the mode of confession they practiced and other heretical depravity. As twisted and greedy as his actions were, Philip deserves some credit for pulling off a perfectly timed arrest throughout France of the Knights Templar, in an era without our instantaneous communication. It took a month for orders to be sent out and received, and he managed to keep it secret until the time came to strike--so secret that Jacques de Molay, the Templar Grand Master, had no clue what was about to happen. He probably thought of Philip as something of a friend, since he was godfather to Philip's son, and de Molay had only the day before acted as pallbearer at the funeral of Philip's sister-in-law.

The arrests took place on October 13, 1307. It was a Friday. Was the day picked on purpose? I like to think so. In any case, the torture began immediately, and many Knights who confessed early were sent to join the Hospitallers or some other order. Unfortunately for Philip, he didn't get quite the treasure he was after. The puppet Pope showed a little initiative and transferred the lands and property of the Templars to the Hospitallers, and although they did arrest a huge number of Knights, many got away and went underground with what they could carry with them.

The Knights Templar were officially dissolved in 1312.

In the end, after suffering seven years of torture, de Molay confessed to some of the heresy charges, although never to the charge of homosexual practices. When he was taken to be burned at the stake in 1314, he recanted his confession and said the only crime he was guilty of was lying about his fellow Knights to get the torture to stop. Both Philip IV and Clement V died within one year of de Molay.

And the real mystery begins. What happened to the Templars who got away? Where did they go? Did they really form the Freemasons?

There are tons of websites covering the history of the Templars. I found these two to be the best for this post: Templar History and Alan D. Peters.

The Edwardian Church

By Evangeline Holland

Religion played its part in the conventional role in the ceremonies for passage rites in all groups, for birth, confirmation, marriage, and death. Though the upper classes felt it their duty to lead the masses in an outward show of piety, by the Edwardian era, religion played a smaller role in the life of society. However, in London, the Sunday morning church parade in Hyde Park was a social event not to be missed, and the upper classes would expect their servants to attend morning prayers, neatly-attired and somber as they marched to chapel--albeit early enough to return and attend to the toilettes and meals of the just-awakening family. But newer habits began to pervade all stratus of society, and week-ends began to eat into church-going habits, and the Anglican churches especially found it difficult to recruit clergymen.

For the Edwardian, there were three religious paths open to her or him: Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, and Chapel (or the conglomerate of Non-conformist sects). Roman Catholicism did cause a little flutter of horror in the breasts of die-hard Anglicans, but the Catholic sect in English aristocracy did create its own niche, particularly as the highest position in the land (Earl Marshal) had been held by the Catholic Dukes of Norfolk since the 14th century.

Chapel found favor with middle- and lower-middle class society, whilst the Church of England could be divided between High Church and Low Church. Those belonging to High Church were conservative, more aristocratic and had a great fondness for ritual, while those inclined towards Low Church, preferred worship be simpler and to touch the heart.

As church was another social event where one would see and be seen, aristocratic society had its places marked for fashion. In London, favored churches were St George's in Hanover Square, St Paul's in the upper-middle-class neighborhood of Knightsbridge, Holy Trinity in Sloane Street, and St Peter's in Eaton Street. Woe betide anyone who wasn't sitting in their family pew on Sunday in an ultra-fashionable church!

Religious Beliefs: We Die Three Deaths

By Jennifer Linforth

We die three deaths.

First when our bodies die, second when our bodies are swallowed by the ground and are out of sight, and third when our loved ones forget us.


That is a popular Mexican saying, one that is forestalled by a special day set by the Catholic faith to remember those that left us. The tradition of a feast for All Souls dates back to 998 when St. Odilo of Cluny first began the remembrance. From there it spread to other monasteries and orders throughout Europe. The day follows All Saint's Day to shift the focus from those in heave to those that might still be in purgatory. Masses and festivities honor the dead and the traditions are vast. Many think of the Mexican day of the day with its rich symbolism and colorful celebrations. But for this blog we lean to the unusual...

The curtain that divides the living and the dead thins during Seelenwoche--at least that is the belief of many Austrians. All Souls Day is a part of the Seelenwoche, or All Souls Week (October 30-November 1) in Austria, and is the Catholic remembrance of Saint Martyrs. When many think of All Souls Day the most popular images are that of the Mexican traditions for this day of the dead, but Austria's tradition is as rich as it is lovely.

Imagine graveyards, centuries old, glimmering solely by the light of candles and lanterns. Many Austrian villages especially during the Franz-Josef years, hosted the gerstemesse. This is a family celebration of lighting graveyards with luminaries in order to create a bridge between the living and the dead. The light provided a means for departed loved ones to find their way home to their families more easily. Often the cemeteries were guarded at night with hired hands instructed to keep the candles and lanterns lit at all costs. The graves are traditionally decorated with chrysanthemums and marigolds usually formed into a wreath.

At the Zentralfriedhof, the largest Viennese cemetery, the graves are decorated to reflect the Garden of Eden. Here, thousands will gather for picnics and music in celebration of the family unit. Children are given small gifts as they stroll villages in the tradition of heischemuzugen, which means 'asking for a small gift.' They do this in honor of the dead in exchange for a song.

At noon on All Souls Day the church bells would ring signaling the hour of Seelenauslauten, when the souls are released. Austrians believe the souls of the living can be anywhere. The bells are to help guide them beyond the living world and cross over into heaven.

And finally, food which is a central part of Austrian life has its role too. Symbolic meals set aside for departed loved ones on All Souls Day does not go wasted. It is traditionally dispersed to the poor.

This blogger has always found All Souls Day to be a unique part of religious observations. Personally on the day I always think of this quote:

Remember me with smiles and laughter, for that is how I will remember you all. If you can only remember me with tears, the don't remember me at all....

Images: All Souls' Day by Aladar Korosfoi-Kriesch (1910), oil on canvas, Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest

All Souls' Day by Franz Skarbina (1896), Old National Gallery, Berlin

Religious Beliefs: Martyrs of Solway

By Anita Davison

It is summer 1637 and the cathedral of St. Giles in Edinburgh is packed, among the congregation are serving women, seated on three-legged stools keeping places for their mistresses. Dean John Hanna appears carrying a brown leather bound copy of the English Prayer Book and the murmurs begin. He also wears a white surplice, not the black Geneva gown approved of by the Reformed Church.

Suddenly, a servant girl named Jenny Geddes hurls her folding-stool at the pulpit screeching "Daur ye say mass in my lug" (Dare you say mass in my ear). Her stool is followed by others, until the church is in uproar and the Dean pulls off his surplice for fear of being torn to pieces. David Lindsay, recently appointed Bishop of Edinburgh, tries to quieten the crowd but beneath a tumult of sticks and stones, the Dean and the Bishop take cover in the vestry.

This demonstration seem ludicrous today, but for the citizens of Edinburgh it was in deadly earnest. The Stuart King Charles I believed the Divine Right of the Monarch made him the spiritual head of the Church of Scotland. The Scots believed this was a position only Jesus Christ could hold.

In February 1638, a large crown gathered the graveyard of the old church of the Greyfriars; on a flat tombstone lies a parchment scroll the people are pressing round it to sign. Some weep as they write, some use blood drawn from their own arms. This is the National Covenant, a solemn pact that swears the signatories to loyalty to the Church of Scotland, and to resist all measures by the English Government to alter its prayer-book or its ceremonies.

No minority group of fanatics this, The Covenanters named 300,000 within months. Charles II, a tolerant easy going man who did not believe men should be persecuted for their religion, signed the National Covenant in 1651 when he sought Scots support against Cromwell.

When he returned to Whitehall in May 1660, he was forced to abandon his pledge as the Government, who controlled the Treasury, believed it necessary to enforce the supremacy of the King as head of the church in England and Scotland.

There was less resistance to the Anglican Church in Scotland between 1660 and 1680, but in the south-western counties of Ayr, Lanark, Wigtown, Kirkcudbright and Dumfries, the old Covenanting spirit lingered on. There the Kings' Judges and Magistrates were ruthless in punishing those who worshipped in any way other than that allowed by law. The most trivial acts of disloyalty were punishable by death, such as refusal to drink the King's health, and many were shot on the spot for 'fanaticism.'

In 1684, Gilbert Wilson, a Wigtonshire farmer and his wife attended conformist services. However, their children, Margaret (18), Thomas (16), and Agnes (13), became attracted to the teaching of the Covenanters and attended illegal 'conventicles' to hear their prayers and sermons. Mr Wilson was fined for his childrens' nonconformity, and treated like outlaws, the children took themselves into the hills of upper Galloway and spent months hiding from the troopers.

On the death of Charles II, in February 1685, the persecution was briefly relaxed when the new king, James II, himself a Catholic, tried to introduce relaxation of the laws against Dissenters, but the Anglican Church and Parliament fought him all the way.

Margaret and Agnes Wilson left their hiding places and went to Wigton to visit some of their fellow sufferers in the same cause, and particularly the aged Margaret McLauchlan, a Presbyterian widow in her sixties. Their brother Thomas, stayed in the mountains and was lost to history.

Reputedly betrayed by a man named Patrick Stuart, the two Margarets and Agnes were arrested by troopers and ordered to demonstrate their loyalty to the King's authority and swear an oath of abjuration. All three refused and were brought to trial before Sir Robert Grierson, of Lagg, Colonel David Graham (brother to the bloody Claverhouse), Major Windram, Captain Strachan, and Provost Cultrain at Wigton, on the 13th of April 1685.

After the mockery of a trial, at which the girls were accused of attending the Battle of Bothwell Bridge when they were children, they were sentenced to death by drowning. This was to take place in Wigtown Bay, a leg of the Solway, where the wide sands extend two miles out. They were to be tied to stakes fixed in the sand so the incoming tide would drown them.

Gilbert Wilson sold almost everything he owned and borrowed from friends and family, managing to raise a hundred pounds, a vast sum. He rode to Edinburgh to buy his daughters' pardon, but was forced to choose between the girls. He chose the youngest, Agnes.

On the day of execution, Troopers marched the two women down to the sand, where Margaret MacLachlan was tied to a stake far out in the firth, so that the young girl should witness the death of her aged friend and hopefully recant.

The older Margaret was reputed not to have spoken at all as the sea crept toward her, at which one of her tormentors shouted: "It is needless to speak to that damned old bitch; let her go to hell."

The cold sea waters engulfed the old woman while Margaret Wilson, tied to the stone stake further in shore, was forced to watch her drowning struggles. It is reputed that a soldier mocked her.

Soldier: "What do you think of her now?"
Margaret: "I see Christ wrestling there. Do you think we are the sufferers? No; it is Christ in us."

When the limp form of the first Margaret was being tossed about by the swirling tide, the waters began to engulf Margaret Wilson, who sang the stirring words of Psalm 25.

When the water reached the young Margaret's head, the soldiers loosened her cords and held her above the water so she might, 'Pray for the King. For he is supreme over all persons of the church.' Margaret said she would pray for the salvation of all men as she wished no one to be condemned. The soldiers pushed her head under the water and tried again, even the crowd begged her to say the oath and save her life, but Margaret remained firm. The soldiers waded back onto shore and left her to drown in the incoming tide.

The bodies of the two Margarets were buried in the churchyard of Wigton, where a flat stone memorial lies. The stone stake Margaret Wilson was reputed to have been tied to stands as a memorial, although the sea has receded and the flood plain of the Cree is now a vast merse (salt marsh).

'Within the sea, tied to a stake
She suffered for Christ Jesus sake.'

The Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais painted Margaret Wilson in 1871. An x-ray shows the picture was originally a nude, the clothing added later to placate delicate Victorian sensibilities. The Martyr of the Solway hangs in the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.

Religious Beliefs: Religion by Ranking

By Vicki Gaia

Haven't we heard, again and again, the advice never to discuss politics and religion at a social gathering? It's bound to stir up bad feelings, and, frankly, you can never win the argument. Yet religion is a subject that's fascinated people through history. Wars are fought in the name of religion, lovers scorned, and countries divided.

I've searched the web for the top religions. The rankings I found are from around 2001. Here's the top 13 religions list by number of adherents, according to this website. There are challenges to this ranking, of course, and this is one list out of many.

1. Christianity: 2.1 billion

2. Islam: 1.5 billion

3. Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1 billion

4. Hinduism: 900 million

5. Chinese traditional religion: 394 million

6. Buddhism: 376 million

7. Primal/Indigenous: 300 million

8. African Traditional & Diasporic: 100 million

9. Sikhism: 23 million

10. Juche: 19 million

11. Spiritism: 15 million

12. Judaism: 14 million

13. Baha'i: 7 million

Here's another interesting list from the same website:

Top Religions in the U.S. (2001)

1. Christianity
2. Nonreligious/Secular
3. Judaism
4. Islam
5. Buddhism
6. Agnostic
7. Atheist
8. Hinduism
9. Unitarian Universalist
10. Wiccan/Pagan/Druid
11. Spiritualist
12. Native American Religion
13. Baha'i

According to another website, the growth rate of religions in the U.S. from the same time period shows an unusual tread:

Religions in the U.S. Based on Growth Rate (1990-2001)

1. Wiccan
2. Deist
3. Sikhism
4. New Age
5. Hindu
6. Baha'i
7. Buddhism
8. Congregational/UCC
9. Native American religions
10. Nonreligious/Secular
11. Muslim/Islamic
12. Christian
13. Taoist

Religious Beliefs: The Synod of Whitby

By Sandra Schwab

We can assume that the first Christians arrived in Britain during Roman rule. Yet there isn't much known about the spread of Christianity in Roman Britain due to the contradictory nature of the archaeological findings. And once the legions left the island and the Britons were overrun by the Anglo-Saxon invaders in the 5th century, all of the old Roman culture together with all traces of the Christian faith vanished. Now Thor and other Germanic gods were worshipped throughout England.

The real Christianisation of the British Isles began in 431, when the Pope sent Palladius as bishop to the Irish. Poor Palladius, however, is largely forgotten now because a year later more missionaries arrived in Ireland, among them St. Patrick. Yes, the St. Patrick. The guy is said to have singlehandedly converted the Emerald Island to Christianity as well as to have driven the snakes out of Ireland.

(That last point is a big, fat, whooping lie: When St. Patrick arrived in Ireland, there weren't any snakes to begin with. After the last ice age snakes simply weren't fast enough to reach Ireland before the water did and cut it off from GB. That's why there also aren't any moles in good, old Éire. Much to the delight of Irish gardeners, I'm sure!)

In subsequent years Ireland became a centre of Christian religion and learning as more and more monasteries were established. One of them is on Skellig Michael, a remote island off the coast of County Kerry. The monastery was built in 588 and probably housed about 12 monks.


Irish monks eventually spread Christianity to Wales, Scotland and northern England, where they established new religious centres such as Iona or Lindisfarne.

In 596 the Pope sent a very reluctant St. Augustine and other missionaries to Britain in order to convert the Anglo-Saxons in southern England. St. Augustine also founded the ecclesiastical capital of Canterbury and later became the first archbishop. The Anglo-Saxon kings were quite happy to convert to Christianity, mostly because they thought the hierarchical example of the Christian church would support their royal authority. Furthermore, monks were extremely useful as they could read and write.

But now we had a bit of a problem in good, old Britain: The southern English Christianity was based on the beliefs and practices of the Church of Rome--and these quite differed from those of the Celtic Church. For example there were disagreements about the organization of the church and, curiously enough, about the date of Easter. This conflict was eventually solved by the Synod of Whitby in 664.

The synod was called in by King Oswy of Northumbria. He followed the doctrines of the Celtic Church, but he had married a princess from southern England. Hence, he and his wife celebrated Easter on different dates, which, as you can imagine, was a bit awkward. Therefore, Oswy invited representatives of both churches to Whitby Abbey, where the matter was discussed. Oswy finally decided in favour of the Roman date of Easter, and thus in favour of the Church of Rome and their form of worship.

Soon after Mercia followed the example of Northumbria and as the kings of Mercia eventually controlled all of England south of the Humber, the Church of Rome became the established church in Anglo-Saxon England, while the Celtic Church lost its influence.

A rather curious literary testimony from the time of the Christianisation of the Anglo-Saxons is the poem "The Dream of the Rood," which clearly shows that even when people had been converted to Christianity, their beliefs often mirrored their former pagan religion. In addition, it also serves as an example how Christianity made use of the pagan Germanic context: The text of the poem not only only survives in the Vercelli Book of the late 10th century, but also as a shorter, fragmentary version chiseled on the borders of the Ruthwell Cross and written in Anglo-Saxon runes.

"The Dream of the Rood" deals with Christ's crucifixion, his death and resurrection. Yet despite this Christian frame, the poem is unmistakably Germanic in its descriptions and in its account of the crucifixion: Christ is described as a young Germanic hero, who strips himself for battle with his enemies. There are no references to his humiliations, exhaustion and weakness. Gory effects like the speaking, blood-dripping cross are added for further entertainment value (judging from the descriptions in Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxons loved gory battle scenes!). Here's an excerpt (my translation): in this scene the narrator has a dream vision of the cross which starts speaking to him:

"It was very long ago-- I remember it still--
that I was cut down from the edge of the forest,
removed from my root. Strong enemies took me there,
they made me into a spectacle for themselves there,
they ordered me to raise their felons;
men carried me there on their shoulders, until they set me up on a hill:
many enemies fastened me there. I saw the Lord of Mankind
hasten with great zeal, that he wanted to ascend onto me.
There I did not dare, against the word of the Lord,
to turn away or to fall apart when I saw
the corner's of the earth shake. I would have
felled all enemies; but I stood firm.
Then the young hero stripped himself--it was God Almighty!--
strong and brave; he ascended the high gallows,
courageous in the sight of many, when he wanted to redeem mankind.
I trembled when the warrior embraced me; yet I did not dare to bow to the earth
to fall to the regions of the earth, but I had to stand firm.
I was erected a cross; I raised the powerful king,
the Lord of Heavens; I did not dare to bend.
They pierced me with dark nails; on me, wounds are visible,
open malicious wounds; I did not dare to injure any of them.
They mocked us both together; I was all drenched in blood,
poured out from the man's side after he had sent forth his spirit.
On that hill I have experienced many
cruel events.

Religious Beliefs: Islam's Golden Age

By Lisa Yarde

From the eighth to the thirteenth century during Islam's Golden Age, rule by Muslim caliphs, sultans, emperors and emirs stretched from the Iberian Peninsula to China. These leaders fostered advancements in the arts, industry, literature, navigation, natural science, jurisprudence, philosophy and technology. Despite regional variations, their common faith bound the lands together in a common goal: religious expansion. Today, with over one billion Muslims in every corner of the globe, Islam is the second-largest world religion after Christianity.

Islam originated in the Arabian Peninsula, with a fundamental belief in the Jewish patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which is also shared by Christianity. By Muslim tradition, Isaac's half-brother, Ishmael, son of the Egyptian slave girl Hagar, is considered the progenitor of the Arab people. The prophetic tradition which began with Judaism and continued in Christianity is also found in Islam. In 610AD, a young merchant named Muhammad from the Arabian city of Mecca began to receive revelations from God. He devoted the rest of his life to spreading God's words, requiring complete surrender to His teachings. The literal meaning of a Muslim is one who "submits to the will of God." The messages Muhammad received were memorized and later transcribed into verses of the Koran, Islam's holy book.

Thirteenth Century Koran from Islam's Golden Age

From its earliest origin, Islam impacted the daily lives of its adherents and converts, in particular with the Five Pillars of Islam. Practitioners then as now were required to declare their faith (Shahadah), perform ritual daily prayer (Salah), give alms to the needy (Zakat), fast during the month of Ramadan (Sawm) and where possible, make the pilgrimage (Hajj) to Muhammad's birthplace, the city of Mecca. The declaration of faith is the foundation for all other beliefs and practices in Islam; to speak it is to say "I testify that there is none worthy of worship except God and I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of God." Muslims repeated it in prayer and converts gave a required testament to this creed to demonstrate their new found beliefs. Alms-giving remains obligatory for all who can afford it, similar to the Christian concepts of tithes in its fixed amount.

Of all the tenets of Islam, ritual prayers is the most apparent. Five times a day, Muslims still observe their compulsory devotions, often preceded by a call to prayer echoing from mosques. Friday prayers at the mosques remain especially important and are filled to capacity. The pilgrimage to Mecca and the fast at Ramadan are communal celebrations which stressed religious obligation. During the daylight hours of the fast, Muslims refrained from eating, drinking and other pleasures, to encourage the belief that God alone provides such comforts and to abstain from them is to grow closer to God. The pilgrimage, for those who could afford it, was a once in a lifetime opportunity to commune with fellow Muslims. Devotional acts ensued, including walking seven times around the Kaaba, the holiest place in Islam, believed by its adherents to be the work of the patriarchs Abraham and Isaac.

Modern-day Muslim Pilgrims near the Kaaba

Within a century of Muhammad's revelations, the expansion of the religion occurred. War and trade brought Islam out of the Arabian Peninsula. In the East, the new religion first spread among Turkic tribes in Central Asia into China via the Silk Road, followed by conquests in the Balkans, Southeast Asia and India. In the West, the Moors and Berbers began the Islamic conquest of North Africa in 643 AD and eventually reached sub-Saharan Africa and Spain.

When this expansion occurred, so too did a split among the religions adherents. There are two main denominations in Islam, Sunni and Shi'a. The leaders after Muhammad were described as caliphs or successors to the Prophet. The first two caliphs had been successful in maintaining a sense of communal unity. But tensions within the community surfaced during the era of the third caliph who was murdered by mutinous troops. They declared the new caliph to be Ali, a cousin of Muhammad who was an early convert and also the husband of Muhammad's daughter Fatimah. Muhammad's favorite wife Aisha, a daughter of the first caliph, defied Ali's rule and this struggle led to the divisions in Islam.

Conflict with Christianity, particularly the reconquest of Spain which began in the ninth century and the Crusades stifled the encroachment of Muslim rulers and their faith. While it flourished, Islam's expansion ushered in an age of discovery where Muslim communities encouraged and influenced the prevailing thoughts and ideals throughout many parts of the world.

Thursday 13: 13 Historical Religious Opinions

By Jacquie Rogers

Famous people have had an interesting variety of opinions on religion and its role in society. Today's Thursday Thirteen (and then some) addresses vastly different points of view on this subject.

1. "The true meaning of religion is thus not simply morality, but morality touched by emotion." Matthew Arnold (1822 - 1888)

2. "The principle of liberty and equality, if coupled with mere selfishness, will make men only devils, each trying to be independent that he may fight only for his own interest. And here is the need of religion and its power, to bring in the principle of benevolence and love to men." John Randolph (1773 - 1833)

3. "We do not destroy religion by destroying superstition." Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)

4. "Say nothing of my religion. It is known to God and myself alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life: if it has been honest and dutiful to society the religion which has regulated it cannot be a bad one." Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826)

5. "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people." Karl Marx (1818 - 1883), "Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right"

6. "In Christianity neither morality nor religion come into contact with reality at any point." Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900), The Antichrist

7. "God can be realized through all paths. All religions are true. The important thing is to reach the roof. You can reach it by stone stairs or by wooden stairs or by bamboo steps or by a rope. You can also climb up by a bamboo pole." Ramakrishna (1836 - 1886), pictured

8. "Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last." Charlotte Bronte (1816 - 1855)

9. "We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love, one another." Jonathan Swift (1667 - 1745)

10. "A little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, But depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion." Sir Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626)

11. "Religion consists in a set of things which the average man thinks he believes and wishes he was certain of." Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

12. "All humanity is passion; without passion, religion, history, novels, art would be ineffectual." Honore De Balzac (1799 - 1850)

13. "England has forty-two religions and only two sauces." Voltaire (1694 - 1778), pictured

And today's bonus:

"If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god." Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)



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Religious Beliefs: Baja California

By Karen Mercury

It's widely believed the island of California was named after a queen in a Spanish novel. Calafia ruled over black Amazons rich in gold, and these rumors fueled the imaginations of Spanish conquistadors. Cortés the Conqueror in 1532 sent a series of expeditions from the Mexican mainland to find this island, making landfall somewhere in Baja near La Paz. These voyages ultimately failed when they discovered, rather than nubile women handing them maps to the gold mines, crowds of equally naked but angry bajacalifornianos with pointy weapons, and the survivors were forced back to the mainland.

In 1539 Cortés sent over Ulloa, who first determined that Baja was a peninsula (although cartographers continued to depict California as a group of islands: Las Californias), naming the "Sea of Cortés" in his patron's honor. Ulloa rounded the peninsula's point in an attempt to find a Northwest Passage to the St. Lawrence, but on the return voyage his ship vanished without a trace, becoming one of those bizarre "Lost Ships of the Desert," legendary vessels that inexplicably began emerging from the sands of the Colorado River around 1870, to believe newspaper accounts of the time.

Cabrillo (who lent his name to yet another colorful San Francisco street), commissioned by the Viceroy of New Spain to find China, cruised by in 1542, and continued up the coast to the Russian River, completely missing what would be San Francisco, as many did owing to the thick blanket of fog hiding the inlet of that pacific bay. Lower California was left to the next wave of conquistadors: pirates.


The turbulent peninsular point became a watering hole for the "Manila galleon" trade ships plying the Acapulco to Manila route beginning in 1565. Spain looked to establish a permanent port, especially after avaricious Dutch and English pirates got wind of the richly laden trade route and began to methodically board and plunder, Sir Francis Drake one of the first of these rowdy buccaneers, adventurers attracted by word of the pearl beds. Woodes Rogers' fleet lay at La Paz to refit with Alexander Selkirk as sailing master, having been rescued the previous year. In desperation, the Spanish crown in Mexico City sent Vizcaíno to stop the ransacking and find a safer port, but about all he did was found La Paz.

Thwarted every step of the way in their efforts to colonize Baja, Spain tried a new approach: sending in the army of God in the form of Jesuit missionaries. The "Pious Fund of the Californias" was amassed with private and churchly contributions. The vice-regal license was given to undertake the conversion of natives, to enlist and pay soldiers, and to appoint or remove officials--on the condition that all be done at the Jesuit's own expense, but that possession be undertaken in the name of the King of Spain.

Jesuits had success in 1697 when in Loreto on the Sea of Cortés they founded the first of the jewels of the California coast--Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó. "Here the inhospitability of Lower California had finally been conquered and a colony had taken root in the face of hunger and mishap," John Steinbeck wrote of Loreto, the first city where Spanish was spoken in California. Hefting the image of the Virgin of Our Lady of Loreto in a sober ceremony, their quest to claim the area for Spain had begun. More Jesuits poured in, eventually establishing a network of 23 missions over the next 70 years.

The strategy for founding missions was first of all to find a site with water, difficult enough in that country "unattractive, indeed repellent, and without elements of riches." Also important was land with good soil and a considerable native population nearby, to give them someone to convert. At first, the Jesuits approached the bajacalifornianos with a peaceful attitude and won their trust with "slight rations of grain and porridge." Later the neophytes resisted control and began to steal, and commit "personal attacks, often repeated, of murderous intent." Along with God and promising pastures, the missionaries brought microbes, and by the end of the Jesuit epoch, the native population was less than 8,000. Although the missionaries forbade fostering the treasure of the pearl fisheries, rumor persisted that the friars were hoarding fortunes and engaging in smuggling.


In 1767, after a series of top-secret meetings in Spain, Kind Carlos III expelled all the Jesuits, sometimes at gunpoint. The king acted upon "urgent, just, and necessary reasons, which I reserve in my royal mind" to suppress the order throughout Spain's colonies. Since the Spanish missions of California were so remote, the decree didn't reach them until much later that year, but by the end of '68, Jesuits were dispossessed throughout Spanish dominions. Instantly the "black robes" of the Jesuits were replaced by the "gray robes" of the Franciscans with their divide and rule policy, and then by Dominicans in 1773.

While the Jesuits limited lay Spanish-Mexican settlement on the peninsula, afraid of corrupting influences and competing power centers, the missions under the Franciscans and Dominicans had to accept a growing lay presence and increased control from central New Spain. Kicking out the Jesuits opened up these territories to settlement and development--such as the founding of Los Angeles in 1781.

The first severe epidemics occurred in 1800-1810. The friars held the belief that epidemics were a punishment from God, so their hands were tied with acquiescence. Why try to alter God's will? Suffering only prepared Indian converts for a superior life in heaven. The mission came to an end in 1829, by which time the native neophyte population throughout Baja California Sur had become extinct.

Religious Beliefs: The Eddas and Norse Mythology

By Michelle Styles

Every day in English speaking countries, we see vestiges of the Norse religion. The days of the week correspond to Norse gods. So, Thursday is Thor's day and Friday Frejya's day. Wednesday is Odin's day and so on.

The term Yuletide references the Jul festival, but how much do we actually know of the religion and the religious practices?

It is very difficult to say. The main source of Norse religious belief are the Eddas--the poetic and prose Eddas that were written/collected in medieval Iceland. Snorri Struluson, the 13th century Icelandic chieftain is generally credited as being the author.

The main trouble with them is they were written down after the Viking age had ended and the religion had ceased to be practiced. So we know some of the myths, but not really the ritual. You could argue, I suppose, that December's St. Lucia Day with its candle-crowned maidens and star boys reflects how some of the ceremonies were carried out, but by in large, we don't know. Also given that other forms of literature had reached Iceland by that time, it is possible that they were contaminated, but the Eddas are the main reason why we know something about Norse religion.

Edda means literally "great-grandmother" and it is uncertain whether or not the Eddas were originally called that. The original codex have been long lost. They are collection intended to inform skalds on the tradition form of Icelandic or skaldic poetry. And were thus suppose to be the basis of all Icelandic poetry and literature tradition.

Because medieval Iceland was a highly literate society, great care was taken to preserve the Eddas by repeatedly copying them. The first English translation of the Eddas dates from 1770 and Bishop Percy. In 1809, Sir Walter Scott printed his own version with additions and the popularity of the Eddas in the 19th century world was firmly established.

When you go to Rejkjavik, it is possible to visit the Culture House and see the remaining manuscripts. The exhibit is very accessible with a wide of variety of the originals displayed. Included in the exhibit is an exhibit of work dedicated to those works that have been inspired from the Eddas and the other sagas. So for example, Tolkien's Middle Earth and Wagner's Ring Cycle as well as WH Auden, Longfellow, and Jorge Luis Borges are highlighted.

It is through the Eddas that we are first allowed a glimpse into the world populated with elves, dwarfs, giants and gods and our literature is far richer for it.

Religious Beliefs: Aimee Semple McPherson

By Delia DeLeest

Back before Jimmy Swaggart and Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker brought their scandals to the religious world, there was Aimee Semple McPherson.

After spending years as an itinerant Pentecostal minister in the early 1920s, Aimee pulled into Los Angeles with her mother and two small children in tow. Her husband, Harold McPherson, had filed for a separation in 1918 and was granted a divorce in 1921 on the grounds of abandonment. She was a woman called on a mission and she couldn't let something like a reluctant husband slow her down.

Within five years, her ministry had grown from going from town to town in her "Gospel Car"--a 1912 Packard decorated with religious sayings painted on the sides--to a multi-million dollar business. Starting off by giving sermons wherever she could find crowds, including boxing rings before and after matches, she raised enough money to fund the Angelus Temple for her church, The International Institute of Four Square Evangelism. The temple cost $1.5 million and included a $75,000 radio studio, seats for over 5,000 people, a nursery, a lonely hearts club, and a miracle room for the discarded wheelchairs and crutches of those followers who were healed of their earthly afflictions. Aimee had a good thing going.


In 1926, the world was shocked by the disappearance of Mrs. McPherson. Aimee had gone for a dip in the ocean. The last her secretary had seen of her before heading out on an errand, Aimee had been joyfully frolicking in the waves. When the secretary returned, Aimee Semple McPherson had disappeared. The faithful gathered to pray for her deliverance while others, spurred on either by evangelical zeal or the $25,000 reward for her recovery, diligently searched the area for their missing leader. In the resulting clamor, one man drowned, one died of exposure, and a young girl killed herself, distraught at the loss of her idol.

Finally admitting to the loss, a memorial service was held. Shortly after the service, Aimee's mother received a ransom note, asking for half a million dollars for the release of the evangelist. Believing her daughter to be dead and the note a fraud, she threw it away.

On June 23, 1926, thirty-five days after her disappearance, Aimee Semple McPherson stumbled out of the desert and into a small Mexican town just south of the Arizona border. She'd been held hostage, she claimed, trapped, drugged and tortured in a small desert shack. She'd only escaped after making her way thirteen hours through the desert to civilization. The world rejoiced.

But...(you just knew there was going to be a 'but,' didn't you?) Aimee's story had more loopholes than an afghan made by your far-sighted great-aunt Millie. Though she supposedly made her way thirteen hours across the desert, her shoes weren't worn and had grass stains on the sides. Grass stains in the desert? The shack she described could never be found, and even though she had disappeared while swimming, she returned fully dressed and wearing a watch given to her by her mother, which she'd not had with her when she'd gone to the beach. Aimee's house of cards was beginning to topple, but it wasn't over yet.

Coinciding with Aimee's disappearance was another missing person. Kenneth Ormiston, a married radio operator for the Four Square Church with whom Aimee had developed a close friendship, had also gone missing. After tracing his whereabouts, the District Attorney found that Ormiston, along with a female companion matching Sister Aimee's description, had been visiting various hotels and beach resorts all along the West Coast. Handwriting analysis matched some of the entries in the hotel registers with Mrs. McPherson's own penmanship.

Oops.

An investigation ensued and though the prosecution could find no clear-cut proof that Sister Aimee had committed fraud or obstruction of justice, there was also no proof she'd been kidnapped, either. The DA produced an array of witnesses, hotel chambermaids, bellhops, etc., who could identify the amorous couple, but then he mysteriously moved for an acquittal without any explanation. So, Sister Aimee got off scott free...or did she?

After the scandal, she went back to proselytizing, but things just weren't the same. She was no longer a media darling and people no longer blindly followed her lead. Her subsequent marriage in 1931 to a musician and actor further riled up her congregation, as it was, against one of the tenants of The Four Square church which stated that a person could not remarry while a previous spouse was still alive--Harold McPherson was still around and kicking, though he'd had no part in Aimee's life for years. She and her latest husband were eventually divorced in 1934. Aimee and Harold's son, Rolf, took over the running of the church, though Aimee was still around to give her standby sermon, "Story of my Life".

In September of 1944, Rolf went to Aimee's hotel room to pick her up for a scheduled preaching session and he found her dead in her room, an open bottle of pills next to her. Aimee's death was not believed to be a suicide, despite how it looked. The barbiturate that was found in her room was commonly found to cause a hypnotic effect that could easily lead up to accidental overdose.

So now you know the story of Sister Aimee. Isn't it interesting to know that in a decade known for its wild abandonment, even the religious leaders of the 1920's weren't immune to its lure?

Religious Beliefs: Nice Guys, Jerks, and the Romance Writer

By Anna C. Bowling

The topic of religious beliefs comes to Unusual Historicals at a very appropriate time. Right now, I am moderating an online workshop on writing the inspirational romance, and preparing to give the message (others might use the term "sermon" or "teaching") at house church this week. Faith is an important part of my life, and that carries over into my writing. Though I haven't written for the inspirational market before, who knows what the future will bring? For the moment, I'm having fun with general market historicals and dabbling in time travel.

A little personal information before we get into the topic proper. I consider myself nondenominational Christian. I prefer a more intuitive sort of worship, but the DH likes more structured prayers. Among our friends, we have those of the Jewish persuasion; secular, Reformed and Messianic sorts; others who would class themselves as some combination of Buddhist, Wiccan or different pagan paths; the not-really-spiritual; plus Catholic and various protestant and non-denoms. When I wore my Blackbeard t-shirt with the infamous pirate's flag on it into a local store this past autumn, the clerk commented that it was the "time for the scaries" celebrations back in his home in India, around the same time as we have Halloween here in the USA. I've learned a lot from all of them, even though we don't agree on everything. Some things, yes. Some things, maybe. And some, well, we have to agree to disagree, and carry on carrying on.

Today, we might call such a mix of friends normal and have, as I did, an interesting discussion with the clerk over different celebrations. Some of the best conversations can be among friends of differing outlooks, sharing why they walk the path they do. In that, I think I can safely say we're blessed (or lucky, if you prefer), but in previous times (and some parts of the world even today, sadly) where different faiths might make friendships difficult, not to mention love affairs and even--gasp--marriage. Families on either side might have something to say against such a relationship, and even take drastic measures to keep it from happening, while others might prefer to find common ground and respect differences.

Henry VIII broke from the Catholic church so he might divorce his barren first wife and seek a more fertile bride...and kept on seeking. Houses in England constructed during that time might have had priest holes--secret rooms, sometimes no more than a closet or the size of a coffin, where Catholics hid from those seeking to do them harm. Catholics and Puritans didn't mix well during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, and yet both found themselves faced with losses during the English Civil War.

Merely being Jewish during the time between world wars in Europe meant incredibly high stakes, never knowing when the knock on the door would end life as they knew it. Even so, bonds of friendship, love and marriage have formed across faiths for centuries, with no signs of stopping. Similarly, ask any member of a congregation, meeting, synagogue, coven, etc, about the group dynamics, and you'll hear about annoyances, betrayals, pet peeves, and bad habits, as well as heartwarming stories of support, generosity and going the extra mile. At a given moment, that depends largely on the individuals involved. This is what I've found most important in exploring a character's spirituality: the individual.

Plainly put, there are nice guys and jerks in all belief systems. While it's easy to rely on stock figures--the wise, mystic Easterner who sounds like he moonlights as a fortune cookie writer; the dour Puritan who never smiles, hates everything, and probably has never read his Bible because he's too busy smacking people with it; and so on--a writer can get far more mileage by showing the individual rather than the stereotype. For example, what images come to mind when I say "the Pope"? For some, the leader of their faith. For others, someone they wouldn't invite to dinner unless something lethal were on the menu.


For me, the first thing that I think of is Pope John Paul II wearing Bono's sunglasses, with both men looking appropriately impressed. That picture touches on a side of the man many may not think of at first, but doesn't it make him all the more human?

Which, of course, is a great tool for writers, especially those of romance. One of my favorite uses of spirituality in romance is Laura Kinsale's SHADOWHEART, where Allegretto, the hero, believing himself to be damned already, finally gives in to the heroine's pleas to go to confession. She won't until he will, and he believes there's still hope for her. He won't put her soul in jeopardy, and so he changes. Annette Blair's Amish historical, THEE I LOVE, shows an Amish community making a difficult decision to place what is right above a circumstance that might force them to do otherwise. Francine Rivers' "Mark of the Lion" trilogy shows a wide spectrum of first-century spirituality and good, bad and ugly behavior among not only the early Christian Church, but Jewish, Roman and German communities of the period.

It's the variety of the individual that makes every relationship unique, and as romance writers, that's one of our biggest goals: to make our couples stand out as lovers, so that readers will long remember them and want to visit again and again. Religion may play a small, large or somewhere-in-between part in a particular character's life, and those around them may have a wide range of faiths, but all have the same needs: to love and be loved. Individuals read our stories, and that's a special relationship, one to nurture. No matter what a character's religious persuasion (or lack thereof), if we as writers can make a reader connect with their deepest feelings, cry with their losses and rejoice in their triumphs, then we've done our job.

Religious Beliefs: Robin Hood & the Church

By Carrie Lofty

With the emergence of any profound social or religious movement, the need to secure the willing approval of the populace becomes essential--or else the movement fails. And no movement in English history was as violently contested as the Reformation, when Henry VIII broke from the Catholic Church and founded the Church of England, leading to bloodshed between Catholic and Protestant adherents in the realm.

Prior to the Reformation, ballads of Robin Hood's derring-do had existed for centuries. The earliest written ballad is Robin Hood and the Monk, penned in (roughly) 1461, which offers us a complex and nuanced view of how religion filtered through the popular consciousness--and, by comparison, how drastically the later Robin Hood stories worked toward securing popular support for Protestant faiths.

In Robin Hood and the Monk, Robin is a devout follower of Mary. His devotion is so great that he insists on traveling into town to offer prayers at her church. This sparks an argument with Little John, who believes Robin's frequent pilgrimages will get him into trouble. Sure enough, a monk reports Robin to the Sheriff of Nottingham, leading to Robin's arrest. Only after penitent prayers--and the timely intervention of Little John and the merry men--is Robin freed. They humiliate the sheriff, but more interestingly, they murder the monk and his page.

What to make of this?

Obviously, reverence for Mary during the 15th century held a great deal of importance, in that Robin risks capture to act on his devotion. But then he is betrayed by a monk, a man of the Church. After his release, Robin's anger toward the sheriff is relatively mild, warranting a mere bit of humiliation, but he strikes out with violence against the monk. Perhaps this suggests a certain lenience--and even the expectation of corruption--from men such as the sheriff, but a more harsh hatred toward hypocritical church officials.

This dual approach--belief in Mary and the tenants of the Church, but disdain for its earthly officials--may suggest how eager the population was to see corruption purged from the Church. They didn't necessarily want an entirely new faith, but they demanded change. Robin Hood, as an aristocratic hero intended for a yeoman audience, helped them live this fantasy through the creation and perpetuation of his myths.

During Elizabeth I's reign, when she and her government effectively shored up power for Protestantism, popular entertainment favoring Protestant causes proliferated. In the works of Shakespeare and others, bishops became buffoons and priests become villains.

The Robin Hood myths changed as well. Religious figures from the Catholic Church transformed into lascivious and greedy characters, often conspiring with wicked noblemen to deprive Robin's people of a just living. In Robin Hood and the Bishop of Hereford, Little John strips the bishop of his cloak and discovers 300 gold pieces. Eventually the bishop is left with only his boots and his life, and he's thankful for that much. The tone of the ballads changed as well, becoming more lighthearted. Humiliation was the order of the day. Corrupt officials were mocked and exposed, not murdered, thus securing Robin's place as a true and faultless hero. No more pesky ambiguity.

Other characters from the Catholic Church became true villains, again in concert with noblemen who backed either Catholicism or personal gain at the expense of good (Protestant) people. In Of Robin Hood's Death and Burial by Sebastian Evans, an abbess conspires against and eventually kills Robin, which reinforces the notion that a hero as great as Robin Hood could only be killed by treachery--never by a fair contest of skill against skill. This "death by betrayal" became a prominent feature of all post-Reformation retellings.

Popular media (ballads, stories, and eventually movies) since the Reformation have placed Robin Hood and his good deeds squarely against such corruption. While the Sheriff figures prominently in every representation from the late 19th century forward, he is often backed by powerful officials who either finance or influence his villainy.


In this clip from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves--a late 20th culmination of these changes to the myth--the bishop marries Marian to the Sheriff against her will. His villainy is doubly reinforced by his association with the sheriff's pet witch and their reliance on the dark arts, and he pays the ultimate price when he is pushed to his death by Friar Tuck. Tuck offers a pleasing alternative to the corruption, showing that independence and spiritual purity are preferable to fancy clothes, artificial doctrine, and the potential for clerical abuse.

As with all good myths, the stories of Robin Hood are flexible enough to change with the times, finding value in reflecting and reinforcing the timbre of society. Only by taking control of popular moral outlets such as these myths can proponents of social and religious movements hope to find acceptance among the populace and secure long-lasting change.

For more Hood-tastic information, see the invaluable Robin Hood Project.