CHAPTER
XXIII
CATHARES,
ALBIGENSES, WALDENSES
Manicheism,
with its hierarchy and missionary system, had taken root in Europe and, with
its chief seat in Bulgaria, had thus found its way into Northern Italy and the
southern part of France.
Unquestionably
Manicheans in their beliefs and teachings, the Cathares (purifiers or pure)
held the unadulterated tradition of Manes. Their hierarchy was that established
by their founder. In the 12th century, their supreme chief was in Bulgaria
having under him, bishops, priests, deacons and simple Perfects. These composed
the class of Perfects who were distinguished from the second degree of
Believers.
As to
the Albigenses, their name derived from Albi, a town of Languedoc, covered not
one but many sects issued from Manicheism and Arianism, and counted also many
Jews or judaised Christians. Under this appellation of Albigenses, historians,
whether political or religious, have almost unanimously included the Cathares.
A revolt
against the then existing Church power of the 12th century is only too
comprehensible, when one recollects the excesses of which popes, bishops and
almost all dignitaries of the Church were guilty. The pioneers of the rebellion
had been Peter of Bruys (died 1126) and the monk Henri (died 1148).
They had
openly attacked the vices of the clergy and fallen victims, the first to his
own fanaticism (he was killed by the mob whose anger he had aroused by pulling
down a wooden cross to be used as burning wood for the purpose of cooking meat
on a Good Friday); the second was imprisoned by a bishop against whose vices he
had raised his voice. Both had attacked the beliefs and practices of the Church
; like the Baptists of today they rejected the practice of baptism for children,
and denied the dogmas of transubstantiation and redemption through Christ.
They
gained many adherents and left numerous disciples whose Manichean opposition to
the Church was identical with that of the Cathares. Upon such grounds fell the preaching
of Peter Waldo who, although he repudiated the dualist doctrine of the
Manicheans, formed a serious opposition to the Church. He created the sect of
the Waldenses divided in two degrees, Perfect and Believers. The former made a
vow of Poverty and as such took the names of Poor Brethren, the latter formed
the Outer or Third Order. From the South of France and northern Italy,
persecution drove the Waldenses to the Central and Northern provinces of France,
thence to England, then from Lombardy into Germany and Bohemia. John Wickliffe
(1324-1384) in England and John Huss (1369-1415) in Bohemia, were their
foremost representatives and in the latter country they formed the Bohemian
Brethren who later also took the name of Moravian Brethren or Religious Masons.
CHAPTER
XXIV
THE
MORAVIANS
OR THE
MORAVIAN BROTHERS OF THE ORDER OF RELIGIOUS FREEMASONS, OR ORDER OF THE MUsTARD-SEED,
OR THE CHURCH UNITAS FRATRUM, OR THE HERRENHUTER.
Margrave
Albert expelled the Jews from the town of Iglau, in Moravia, on the ground that
they had been in league with the Taborites, the subversive element among the
Hussites. The Taborites were Bohemians.
The
Moravian Brothers or Unitas Fratrum, a Gnostic sect, were founded in 1457 at
Kunewald, near Seftenberg, by Gregory ; the nephew of the Calixtine leader
Rokyzana. They were an offshoot of the Bohemian Brethren said to represent the
religious kernel of the Hussite movement.
At the
Synod of Lhota near Reichenau, in 1467, they constituted themselves into a
Church separate from the Calixtine or National church of Bohemia.
The
constitution of the society was revised at a second Synod held at Lhota under
the direction of Luke of Prague, who may be regarded as their second founder.
This reorganization enabled the society to grow rapidly. In the early years of
the 16th cent, the Unitas included nearly 400 congregations in Bohemia and
Moravia, with 150,000 members, and, including Poland, embraced three provinces
— Bohemia, Moravia, where the Jews are the best educated of the inhabitants,
and in a few small towns form a full half of the population, and Poland. Each
province had its own bishops and synods, but all were united in one church and
governed by the general synod.
The
Lutheran movement in Germany awakened lively interest among the Brethren, and
some unsuccessful attempts were made under the leadership of Agusta to unite
with the Lutheran Church (1528-1546); but when the Calvinist reformation
reached Bohemian, the Brethren found themselves more in sympathy with it than
with the Lutheran. The Jesuit anti-reformation, instigated by Rudolf and his
brothers Matthias and Ferdinand, found the Brethren a prosperous church, but
the pitiless persecution which followed the unsuccessful attempt at revolution
crushed the whole Protestantism of Bohemia, and in 1627 the Evangelical churches
there had ceased to exist. About the same time, the Polish branch of the Unity,
in which many refugees from Bohemia and Moravia had found a home, was absorbed
in the Reformed Church of Poland.
A few
families, however, especially in Moravia, held religious services in secret,
preserved the traditions of their fathers, and, in spite of the vigilance of
their enemies, maintained some correspondence with each other. In 1722, some of
these left home and property to seek a place where they could worship in freedom.
The
first company, led by Christian David, a mechanic, settled by invitation from
Count Zinzendorf ' on his
1. Said
to have been head of the Rose Croix, succeeding
Theophilus
Desaguliers ; he was Spener's godchild.
estate
at Bertheldsdorf near Zittau, in Saxony. They were soon joined by others (about
300 coming within seven years), and built a town which they called Herrenhut.
The small community at first adopted the constitution and teaching of the old
Unitas. The episcopate had been continued, and in 1735, David Nitschmann was
consecrated first bishop of the Renewed Moravian Church. The new settlement was
not, however, destined to be simply a revival of the organization of the
Bohemian Brethren. Zinzendorf, who had given them an asylum, came with his
wife, family, and chaplain to live among the refugees. He was a Lutheran who
had accepted Spener's pietism, and he wished to form a society distinct from
national churches and devoted to good works. After long negotiations, a union
was effected between the Lutheran element and the adherents of the ancient
Unitas Fratrum. The emigrants at Herrenhut attended the parish church at
Berthelsdorf, and were simply a Christian (Gnostic) society within the Lutheran
Church. (Ecclesiola in ecclesia). This peculiarity is still to some extent preserved
in the German branch of the church, and the Moravian Brethren's Congregation
within the Evangelical Protestant churches, which enables them to do
evangelistic work without proselytizing. The society adopted a code of rules in
1727, and ordained twelve elders to carry on pastoral work. This was the
revival of the Unitas Fratrum as a church.
Besides
congregational work, special home missions were and are carried on in each
province. In the German province there is a peculiar home mission called the
Diaspora, 2 which dates from 1829. 3
The
Moravians came to England in 1724, brought by Count Zinzendorf. The following
extract from the work of an Anglican Bishop, written in 1751, shows that they
were not particularly appreciated in that country as a force for good !
"
Of what dangerous Consequence the Moravian System is to Government and Civil
Society, appears by their progressive Multiplicity of Prevarications, Lies,
Frauds, Cheats, and juggling Impostures, (Greatly detrimental to Princes and
States, as well as ruinous to private Persons) which have so plainly been
proved by Mr. Rimius, and others, particularly in ' the History of the
Moravians, very lately published, from the public Acts of Budingen, and other authentic
Vouchers. ' Of this Nature are their devouring the whole substance of any
wealthy Convert, and declaring that the Society may say to a young rich Brother
' Either give up all that thou hast, or get thee gone. ' — Sending away any of
the Society to the remotest Parts of the World, at a Minute's Warning, by the
Authority of the Saviour, who will have it done Post-haste :
'
Whereby any, though his Majesty's Subjects, whom they suspect, or that dislike
their Proceedings, or, for prudential Reasons, must be married up, or may discover
any of their Iniquities, are instantly sent into Banishment, and condemned to
Transportation ; not for any Crime, but for their Virtue and Duty, Which is
more than all the Authority of Great Britain can do, for any Crime, without an
open and legal Trial, Making Marriages void, though before contracted, unless
the carnal Cohabitation has been performed in the Presence of the Elders. —
Seducing Men's Wives and Daughters, and then keeping them by Force, or sending
them out of the Way ; and allowing no Power of Earth to reclaim them, though
the Parents beg it on their Knees : —
Taking
away the natural Authority of the Parents, and making their Children disobey
and renounce them, under Pretence of obeying the Saviour, the Father that
created them : ' thereby making the Fifth Commandment of no Effect. — Sometimes
bribing, and sometimes threatening States, as Occasion serves, and denouncing
Argumenta Regum, if they are opposed and telling Princes, that such or such a
Place in their Dominions, was founded by the Saviour for his Theocracy ; which
he won't fail to maintain. ' — These Things have been proved upon the
Moravians, both as to Doctrine and Practice, by divers Instances. And that in
Fact they claim an Independency on Government appears from the ' Letter to the
Regency of Budingen, from the Count (Zinzendorf) and his Brethren, wherein it
is said, in plain Terms, ' That all the Sovereigns on Earth must consent to the
Theocracy in the Moravian Brotherhood, or have no Brethren in their Dominions.
' I need not add, that Theocracy signifies an immediate Government by God,
which of Course exclude th all Civil Authority. "
The
Moravian dogma was Spiritism which generally means Black Magic.
As for
their moral code, it can be summarized in the few following words of Count
Zinzendorf in a dialogue with Mr. Wesley. " We reject all Self Denial, we
trample it under Foot. We Believers do what we please, and no more. "
Claiming
to be free from all law by their Marriage with Christ, they refuse to be bound
by any law at all : either of the Old Testament or the New.
To bring
all Sects under his sway, Roman Catholics, Socinians, Fanaticks, Chiliasts,
Anabaptists etc., Count Zinzendorf made a new translation of the New
Testament... "This was the practice of almost all the Gnostic Heretics, in
order to deceive, and draw disciples. Nor did they make any Scruple of
Omissions, Expungings, or any Corruptions that might serve their Purpose...
"
Missionaries were sent abroad, everything being done by the Saviour's
Injunction... " Heaven, for them, is to consist in their being metamorphosed
into Female Angels, for a carnal Enjoyment of Christ in his human Nature, in
the eternal Bed-chamber... " Where in the Scriptures do you find
panegyrical Hymns in Honour of your Phallus ? " 4 asks Lavington.
For what
follows we refer the reader to page 140 of the Bishop's book.
Count
Zinzendorf is said to have been the head of the Rose Croix from 1744 to 1749.
He was on intimate terms with John Wesley, the founder of Methodism.
Of all
its names, that of " The Order of Religious Freemasons " is the most
significant today. It should also be remembered that the head of this order was
also the head of the " Esoteric Rosicrucians " of the time !
CHAPTER
XXV
THE
ANABAPTISTS
(Founded
1521)
The
Anabaptists were founded in 1521 by Nicolas Storch, Mark Stubner and Thomas
Muncer.
Their
Heresies were founded on the following Lutheran maxim interpreted subversively
: A Christian man is master of everything and is subject to no one. They
further claimed that infant baptism is null, therefore adults only can be
baptized.
"
If the Anabaptists ", writes Hoeninghaus, a German Protestant writer, in
La Reforme contre la Reforme, were not all equally intolerant, they were
nevertheless all equally detested, hated, and persecuted by the Protestants
much more than by the Catholics. "
Queen
Elizabeth ordered them to be excluded from
England.
Madden,
in Phantasmata, describes their religion in the following terms :
"
We find among them claims to intercourse with God and angels — to the gift of
prophecy — to the power of driving out evil spirits — to the right of
persecuting opponents — to visions, ecstasies, trances, convulsive seizures
attributed to supernatural influences — and all these evidences of epidemic
religious mania in countries which were Protestant. " '
At
certain periods in its history, this sect wielded great power and Madden further
writes that in Westphalia " for a length of time, the entire senate was
composed of theomaniacs. As the republic was composed alone of fools and
madmen, it is incredible to what a length they carried their excesses in
Munster : each magistrate proposed for the rule of government the wild chimeras
of his own imagination, disguised under the imposing name of revelation. It was
a sad spectacle to hear the deliberations of a senate composed altogether of
fanatics : some being inspired in a perfectly contrary way to that suggested to
others : nevertheless, each one adhering to the dictates of his inspiration,
because he believed that a special revelation had been made to him. When such
things, says Calmeil, take place in a country, where pseudoprophets are
tolerated who disseminate terror, and run about the streets without any
clothing, when the multitude set these things down as super-human phenomena ;
when the inspired of both sexes walk about thus in public places in the midst
of their disciples and apostles, the will of the Supreme Being is supposed to
serve as a rule and direction to all the extravagances that mortals fall into,
and it is difficult to say where will end the excesses of this religious
delirium... The Anabaptists, when they fell into the hands of their enemies,
allowed their fingers, tongue, nose and ears, to be cut off, nay, even suffered
themselves to be drowned by hundreds in torrents, rather than desist or depart
for a moment from the orders they imagined came from God. "
In 1525,
Luther headed an alliance of the Princes and governments to repress these
excesses, and they were defeated at the Battle of Frankenhausen in that year,
their leader Thomas Muncer being seized and beheaded.
In 1536,
John of Leyden proclaimed himself King of the New Jerusalem but his glory was
of short duration. He was taken by " the ungodly " and put to death.
The
principal leaders of the sect were John Mathias, John Bockhold, David George,
William Hacket, Kotterus, Kuhlmann and Dabricius.
"
The principal offshoots of the Anabaptist fanaticism in Germany, Holland, and
Switzerland, were the Adamites, the Apostolics, the Taciturn, the Perfect, the
Impeccable, the Liberated Brethren, the Sabbatarians, the Clancularians, the
Manifestarians, the Bewailers, the Rejoicers, the Indifferent, the
Sanguinarians, the
Antimariens.
"
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