The Next to the Last Great Awakening

Around June 23, 6 B.C.E. (comp. Luke 2:1,2) a baby boy was conceived by an unmarried Jewish girl named Miriam. She was in her early to mid teens. Her child, concieved outside of holy wedlock and born in a barn, was named Joshua or Y'shua in Hebrew (Isous is the Greek form), a name which means that the Hebrew Deity "YaHVeH saves" (DRP352). His name was not Jesus. As he grew into manhood Y'shua's life and ministry proclaimed that the God of Israel is the only hope of the world. Under normal circumstances, his conception would have resulted in the shunning of his mother (if not her stoning) and possibly her entire family. Conceived from such a socially and scripturally condemned union, Y'shua would have been branded a bastard and would have had little if any chance of leading a meaningful life (Isa. 57:3). This time it was different however, for you see, this child, according to millions of people around the world, this Isous, whom the English-speaking world knows of as Jesus, was none other than the Christ, the Son of the Living God; the Messiah of the Jews and origin of us all according to the world's largest religion. (John 1:1,2) Of him it is said:

"He is the most well-known historical figure in of all human history. All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, have not affected the life of humankind upon this earth as much as this "One Solitary Life."

Perhaps even more astonishing, it is said that his mother was a virgin whom HaShem, the God of Israel Himself impregnated by His Holy Spirit. It should be mentioned in passing that in the Bible the doctrine of the virgin birth is not clearly established as the Greek word employed, parthenos means "maiden" not virgin (GD 3933) and the Matthew quote cited as support has nothing to do with the Moshiach nor a virgin birth. Presumably, of course, a godly maiden, a parthenos, would also be a virgin, but the word itself does not mean this ( note 1 ). For the vast majority of Christians, be they Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, Protestant, etc. Jesus' virgin birth remains an essential religious tenant, an article of faith as confirmed in the Apostles' Creed and throughout greater Christendom (BC 15; KWB 47; IBJ 197).

Since the days of Rome's usurpation/transformation of Christianity, the West has focused on and debated the fundamental nature of Jesus' birth and the proper human response to it. Religious debate, revivals and awakenings have occurred throughout the diverse Christian traditions to the point that the doctrines of Master Y'shua have been largely obscured if not forgotten. Even in the East, the influence of Christianity and its debates has been felt. For instance, there can be little doubt that the popularity of bhakti-yoga, the Hindu Path of Devotion, Pure Land Buddhism, the devotionalism of Guru Nanak, and other teachings became more popular because of the Christian Faith. This is not to say they began there, but such teachings have been inspired by Christian devotionalism.

"Without devotion to the Name Divine is birth in the world gone waste. Such consume poison, poisonous their utterance; Without devotion to the Name, without gain they die, and after death in transmigration wander." (Guru Nanak, Raga Bhairon)

Once Roman Universalism (Catholicism) was established, very little dialogue occurred between Christian and non-Christian philosophers or religionists. The non-Christian world was condemned as "heathen" and largely forgotten and discounted as sources of truth and enlightenment.

One thing that makes the current Fourth Great Awakening unique is the degree of non-Christian participation (CE 3) and the decline of Christian relevance. Indeed it can argued that the emergence of Islam as a major Western religion is now setting the agenda of this Awakening. Christianity is still the world's largely religion but this is changing. If things continue as they are Islam will become the largest religion on earth soon. Hinduism, the oldest still existing religion, remain in third place but its philosophical influence is growing and taking root in western consciousness.

During the Third Great Awakening, as will be discussed below, Eastern traditions entered the dialogue of western thought, but it was not until our period that they have begun to exorcised any real influence. Concepts such as karma, transmigration, ahimsa, yoga, dhyana meditation and the like are all basic Eastern ideas that have been broadly incorporated into western culture and religion ( note 2 ).

Today the designations of east and west are far more arbitrary than many would care to believe (MiD 199). Throughout recorded history, explorers and other travelers have circumambulated the globe in search of the exotic. These people discovered regions with little or no outside contact with the West, however these were in the minority (S 13,14). Sikhism would be an example of such once non-western religions that are now commonplace in the West. Europe and America always had some communication with the East, and as a result, its ideas and insights have influenced us more than we tend to realize.

At least as far back as the Persian ruler Darius I (c.500 B.C.E.), the West has had first hand knowledge of basic Eastern concepts ( note 3 ). By the time Alexander the Great conquered Darius III (Codomannus) at the Battle of Issus in 333 B.C.E. Western influence was permanently established in India (HA 6,7). Even the Buddhist architecture of Ashoka, with its pillars and winged lions owed much to western influence (S 13,14). Indeed, the link between India and the West, in architecture, language, economics, religion, and philosophy is of great antiquity.

After the Vatican subjugation of Europe however, the exchange of ideas between what the Christian Church viewed as the heathen East and the godly West was largely halted. As Rick Fields points out, in the West the Buddhists, regardless of how pure their ideals or sound their ethics were condemned as unrepentant heathens destined for eternal torment. Hence, Eastern thought was generally rejected in the West and most communication ceased (S 20).

It is incorrect to say however that during the Church's theocratic stranglehold on the West only its missionaries confronted Eastern religionists. While contact was minimal, it did occur. For instance, there were the travels of explorers such as Marco Polo (1254-1324). La Loubere, Louis the XIV's envoy to the king of Siam (1678-1679), discussed the difficult concept of nirvana in detail in his Description du Royaume de Siam (S 24). Likewise, in 1727 Englebert Kampfer, with his History of Japan Together with a Description of the Kingdom of Siam published the first English book on Zen Buddhism and introduced zazen, satori and Koans (S 24,25) ( note 4 ). Due to the religious intolerance that typified Medieval Christianity, meaningful dialogue between East and West remained quite limited until the Third Great Awakening in the late nineteenth century however.

What came to be known as Christianity began in Jerusalem (Acts 1:4; 2:1). Shortly after the Day of Pentecost, through the efforts of the Twelve Disciples (especially Peter and Paul), it quickly spread throughout Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Greece, modern Turkey, North Africa, Italy and Spain. Within three hundred years of its inception, Roman Christianity became the dominant religious and political force of the Roman Empire in the lands that bordered on the Mediterranean Sea. In the next six hundred years, it spread throughout Europe and beyond. With the rise of Islam however, the Church faced stiff competition.

Shortly after the death of Prophet Muhammad (June 8, 632), on August 26, 636 Byzantine fell before the Muslim armies at the battle of Yarmouk and all of Syria was taken over to the Taurus. In February 637, the Persian army was devastated at Qadasiya, just south of Hira. All of Iraq was occupied by the Muslim armies, including Ctesiphon, its capital (just south of Baghdad). In 640 Egypt was occupied by the Islamic Ummah; that same year the Persian Empire ceased to exist (IWH 377-398). In what remained of the Roman Christian Empire the Church was divided into two main bodies. The Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church was centered in Constantinople (now Istanbul in northwest Turkey), and the Roman Orthodox Catholic Church, remained centered in Rome (RNA 54). Both of these religious bodies, the Roman and Eastern Orthodox Churches can trace their origins to Emperor Constantine by whose authority modern Christianity and its essential doctrines were established.

Between 661 and 750 CE the armies of the Islamic Ummah conquered a large portion of the known world, China excepted. Determined that Allah's Shariah ( note 5 ) or laws were to be observed everywhere on earth, the forces of Islam flowed into Europe with seemingly unstoppable force.

The Merovingian House

The expansion of the religion-based kingdom of Mohammed Mustafa was finally halted in 732 at Tours in central France, by the "stout hearted army of Franks' and their leader Charles Martel" (grandfather of Charlemagne). Charles "The Hammer" Martel" ("Carolus Martellus," ca. 688 – 22 October 741) was directly associated with the Merovingian House from which many of us are convinced the soon coming Illuminati Rex Mundi (the Illumined Global Ruler) will soon arise. I discuss this elsewhere in various detail in my prophecy section, but the Merovingian House is the true rulers of the planet and have held this position for a very long time.

The Early Merovingian World

In brief, Merovech (Meroveus or Merovius in Latin and Mérovée in French) founded the Salian Frankish Merovingian dynasty. According to tradition, Merovech was born of a sea god (his mother was raped by a "bestea Neptuni Quinotauri similis;" mero is the root of "mermaid"). This beast is known as a Quinotaur, which is to say, a five-horned sea bull. I share much more information on this essential House elsewhere, however in brief Merovech's son Childeric I (who reigned c.457–481) brought the House to prominence with his defeat of the Visigoths, Saxons, and Alemanni. The family name was latinized and harmonized with the Old High German proper name Marwig, which means "famed fighter." The Merovingian House is the principle seat of global Luciferian power on the earth. Consider that the Hebrew word 'Satan' (ha Satan) and the Arabic "shaitan" both stem from the Northwest Semitic root "śṭn" meaning "to be hostile" or "to accuse." It is through the House of Merovech that Lucifer carries out his accusations against humanity. The Merovingian bloodline is the royal lineage of most European royal families and many American political and financial movers and shakers.

The Bavarian Illuminati, the Bilderberg Group, the CFR, the Federal Reserve and so on all serve the pleasure of the Merovingian Elite. All the world serves their goals and soon they will announce the implementation of their Novus Ordo Seclorum.

The Merovingian House has wrestled with the Islamic Ummah for a very long time and are now once again seeking to conquer and control Islam in places like Iraq, Afghanistan and so on. More on this later.

This vitally important Battle of Tours in 732 that brought the Merovingians to power determined the religious and political future of Europe, the U.S. and the world. Because of Martel's defeat of political Islam and the subsequent globalization of their influence within and without the Roman and offshoots Churches, the West was given into the hands of the Nicean Christianity and, moreover, that of the Merovingian financial House while much of the East remained the domain of Islam (PWB 445). For clarity, political Islam is the "Ummah" and religious Islam is the "Deen" of Islam.

From the Battle of Tours until the present time, Nicean Christianity has remained the indisputable religious, social and legal authority in Western society since Tours.

However, both the traditional powers of Rome and the Merovingians have been competing to control Nicean Christianity ever since. This is not the place to go into this, however these two factions are preparing to combine their forces. Again, this is discussed in more detail elsewhere at this web domain. The struggle for control of western religion is therefore religious, political, cultural and economic. For this reason many of the Awakenings that have taken place have occurred within the west and within the United States, the country this study is primarily concerned with (RNA 10). By this I mean that for the most part the awakenings have been manifested as reform movements within Christian communities. There are, of course, exceptions to this.

The Jews in galut (or exile, i.e. the Diaspora) have manifested remarkable spiritual achievements throughout the Christian era as well. Elias del Medigo and his disciple Picus de Mirandula, in the fifteenth century, were quite influential in the development of Jewish Theosophy. In 1485 the De Substantia Orbis was released ( note 6 ). These texts foreshadowed the great Kabalistic Scripture known as the Zohar, which, between about 1500 to 1800, established itself as an essential source of Jewish doctrine and revelation equal in authority to the Bible and Talmud. No other Jewish writing can make such a claim (Z 7).

It was Rabbi Moses de Leon, not Picus de Mirandula, according to many authorities (such as Gershom Scholem), who actually authored the Zohar toward the end of the thirteenth century (HK 563). And not only Jewish scholars were drawn to the Kabala either, many Christians accepted and studied its mysteries as well. Cornelius Agrippa of Nettersheim, a Christian of the fifteenth century, prepared the first methodical description of the entire Kabala system. His three books, entitled De Occulta Philosophia are still standard textbooks on the subject (HK 452). The birth and development of Kabala, Hasidism and other forms of Jewish mysticism made significant contributions to Jewish thought and to some extent influenced Christianity as well.

Another example of non-Christian revival occurred among the Wiccan population ( note 7 ). In many ways the Christian rulers of Britain were more tolerant than those on the Continent during the Burning Times ( note 8 ) The British Throne enacted several laws against the Old Religion, but seldom enforced them. As a result, British Wiccans lived their lives with considerably less persecution while Continental Pagans suffered fierce persecution. The Pagans living under English rule, bid their time, hoping their Christian monarchs would mellow or be replaced by Pagans. By the twelfth century however, it became obvious that that would not happen. The New Religion was here to stay. As a result, Pagans throughout the Continent and the British Isles became emboldened and a major Pagan revival took place. Many of the ancient rites were brought back into the open again and Pagan leaders such as Helen Philipps of Pembroke, Mrs. Robinson of Kidderminster and Mabel Brigge of York, boldly proclaimed the rebirth of the Old Religion ( note 9 ).

Beginning in 1232 (by order of Frederick II) the Christian rulers seriously sought to quell the spread of what they considered renewed heresies and forced their subjects to disavow all non-Christian religions on pain of death. On the Continent, this attempt culminated in the infamous Inquisitions. This increase in violent persecution was not only directed at the Pagans. It also extended to Muslims, Jews, and what were known as Judaizers, i.e. those Christians seeking to maintain or rediscover the Jewish origins of their faith as well.

In 1252 torture was first employed by order of Pope Gregory IX. In 1479 Ferdinand and Isabella, in conjunction with the Pope, issued the notorious Inquisition as an assault on the Marranos (Jewish converts) and Moriscos (converts from Islam). Many of these Marranos (literally "pigs" in Spanish) maintained their ancestral Jewish traditions while publicly professing Roman Catholicism in order to escape the growing persecutions. Likewise, the Moriscos ("people of the moors") were externally converts from Islam who converted in name and form only. This word, Morisco, is similar to the word Heathen used to describe those of the British Isles who maintained the Old Religion (these people largely lived in the heath or outer regions). The Inquisition was later extended to include Protestants, Streges ( note 10 ) and other so-called undesirables. In 1542, Pope Paul III established the Order of the Holy Inquisition as the highest court in the Land. The Spanish Inquisition was not abolished until 1814 (DRP 337,338). This darkest period of Christian history officially lasted 582 years, although its influence is still extant in Church attitudes towards non-Christian religions. From the current Official Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church we read the following:

• 7. Which Church is the true Church of Jesus Christ?
• The one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church...
• 8. Can any other Church except the Roman Catholic Church claim to be the Church of Jesus Christ or at least part of it?
• No other Church can claim to be the Church of Jesus Christ ... Ecumenism is the movement aimed at the reunion of Christians into the one true fold of Jesus Christ (BQ).

It was not until the reign of Queen Mary I (Mary Tudor, half sister of Protestant Queen Elizabeth I) that serious religious persecution began in the land of Shakespeare. When Mary Tudor ascended the British Throne (July 6, 1553), many radical Protestants were forced to flee to Calvinistic strongholds such as Strasbourg, Geneva and Zurich. Bloody Mary, as she is sometimes known, had almost three hundred religious dissenters executed. She brought a reign of Roman Catholic terror to the previously "liberal" Protestant haven. Under previous reigns, the Pagans were allowed limited freedom, but as Mary proclaimed Britain to be a Catholic country, things quickly changed and the Inquisition entered.

It is commonly believed among Pagan historians, that after Mary's death and the ascension of Elizabeth 1 ("the Virgin Queen") to the throne of England and Ireland as the final Tudor Dynasty monarch, that when the Protestant dissidents returned to England from the Continent, they brought with them a fear and hatred of Pagans they had previously not held. Regardless of the accuracy of this view, beginning in 1563 Witch persecution in England began in earnest.

Considering the fierceness of Pagan persecution on the Continent and the relative peace in England, the British Witches, assuming they had if not popular support then at least the tolerance of their British neighbors, continued to come out of their broom closets even as the Protestant exiles returned. They saw no reason Protestants and Pagans could not live together in peace and mutual respect as allies against their common Roman enemy. This mistaken assumption resulted in a major revival of the Old Religion as is demonstrated by John Jewel's (the Bishop of Salisbury and one of Queen Elizabeth's advisers) warning to the Queen, at some point between November 1559 and March 1560, that:

...this kind of people (I mean witches and sorcerers) within the last few years are marvelously increased within your grace's realm. These eyes have seen the most evident and manifest marks of their wickedness. Your grace's subjects pine away even unto death, their color fadeth, their flesh rotteth, their speech is benumbed, their senses are bereft. Wherefore, your poor subjects' most humble petition unto your highness is, that the law touching such malefactors may be put in due execution. For the shoal of them is great, their doings horrible, their malice intolerable, the examples most miserable. And I pray God they never practice further than upon the subject [sic] (The Works of Jewel, ed. Parker Society, 1845-50).

Today however Christianity is no longer the only significant religion in the West. Hosts of Eastern religious traditions are making profound inroads into the West and the importance, not to mention the legitimacy, of Vatican-created Christianity (as reflected in all denominations) is being openly debated by archaeological and textual finds, the sciences, Humanistic philosophy and so on. Due in part to the current philosophic and scientific suppositions of cultural relativism many people are questioning the basic assumptions upon which traditional Western religions, especially Christianity, are based. They find these traditional beliefs lacking in substance, yet continue to feel the need for spiritual insights and experiences. This situation was the impetus for the current Fourth Great Awakening ( note 11 ). Along with this questioning the new religion of Secular Humanism is expanding and may, with regards to actual relevance, already be the world's largest religion. Secular Humanism is the outer face of Merovingian Luciferian religion.

He [Lucifer] did not complain in any way about the bad reputation he enjoyed all over the world, assured me that he himself was the person the most interested in the destruction of superstition, and admitted to me that he had only been afraid for his own power one time, and that was the day when he had heard a preacher, more subtle than his colleagues, shout out from the pulpit:

"My dear brothers, never forget, when you hear the progress of enlightenment vaunted, that the devil's best trick is to persuade you that he doesn't exist!"

"Fundamentalist Christianity" is currently enjoying a state of revival even as Christianity's influence over society continues to wane. Whereas the more traditional forms of the religion are losing members and political/social authority, this branch continues to grow despite the fact more and more often Christianity is being viewed as a cult. Christian Fundamentalists claim to be the true reflection and restoration of Jesus' original teachings. They typically reject both branches of Orthodox Christianity, i.e. Roman and Eastern, as well many of the traditional mainline Christian denominations. They point to what they consider the apostasy of many Christian organizations and individuals, citing the biblical condemnations of lukewarm Churchianity as the cause of Christianity's decline ( note 12 ). This situation, they remind us, was predicted for the last days (LGPE). So while some churches seek to update their teachings in an effort to make them more inclusive, more politically correct and relevant for modern people, these Fundamentalists do the exact opposite. They actively seek to root out all hints of 'modernism,' and what they see as 'compromises with the world' of Satan. What they fail to realize that their beliefs, just as surely as those of the modernists, arose from the Merovingian House and the Vatican. The teachings of Y'shua were essentially Jewish not Roman.

Even as the Protestant Reformers (who achieved their zenith in the sixteenth century), sought not the disintegration of the Roman Catholic Church, but rather its reformation (a need that many Roman Church leaders had acknowledged for nearly two centuries), so too contemporary Fundamentalist Christians seek to ignite a Church-wide revival. They hope to spark 'lukewarm Christians' to repentance and a return to what the Fundamentalists deem traditional, biblical Christian beliefs and values. Of the remainder of 'lukewarm Churchianity,' they believe the following is written:

Revelation 18: 1-8:

1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

Typically, the belief is that these lukewarm, non-Fundamentalist Christians will, in the always-near future, join together, often said in league with the Roman Papacy, to embrace the coming Antichrist and his false prophet. Prior to this time, such Christians still have time to repent and embrace the 'Fundamentals of the Christian Faith' as taught at Revelations 3:20.

In support of this understanding, Fundamentalist Christian scholar C.I. Scofield ( note 13 ) writes:

There are two forms which Babylon is to have in the end-time: political Babylon (Rev. 17:8-17) and ecclesiastical Babylon (Rev. 17:1-7) ... Ecclesiastical Babylon is all apostate Christendom, in which papacy will undoubtedly be prominent; it may even very well be that this union will embrace all the religions of the world (SB. Rev. 18: 2 footnote).

Sixteenth century Christian Reformers such as Martin Luther (1483-1546), Calvin (1509-1564) and Zwingli (1484-1531) ( note 14 ) did not intend to leave the Roman Church. They merely hoped to reform it. One event triggered Luther's actions, or more correctly, acted as 'the straw that broke the camel's back'. In 1517, the Church began selling indulgences to the German Catholics. These Catholics were told that in exchange for their assistance in building Rome's St. Peter's Cathedral, they would receive full pardon for all sins, past, present and future. Furthermore, all their loved ones who reside in purgatory ( note 15 ) would be granted immediate access to Heaven! That was too much; Luther and his compatriots had to speak out in opposition. At the Diet of Speyer in 1529 this group of Catholic Reformers signed and posted a petition consisting of ninety-five theses to express their dissatisfaction with certain aspects of the Roman Church and its doctrines ( note 16 ). I post these demands elsewhere.

This document, known as the protestatio, or the protest inadvertently placed the negative label of Protestantism on their religious descendants. The term is negative because it represents the Reform movement as anti-Catholic rather than Pro-Reform. The result of making the Protestant movement appear anti-papal is clearly seen in statements such as the above quote by Dr. Scofield. For Protestants living after the Reformation, the Catholic Church was vilified. Clearly, this was not the intention or the desire of the Reformers. The Protestant Fathers saw much good in the Roman Catholic Church. They still regarded it as the Church Jesus had built. They merely wanted to purge it of certain weaknesses and return it to what they considered Biblical theology. The hierarchical inflexibility of the Church prevailed however, and the Reformers were excommunicated.

The Papacy first ordered Luther's superior to silence him, but to no avail. The Reformers were adamant. Next, Luther was commanded to go to Augsburg, Germany for a hearing. There Cardinal Cajetan, the Papal legate, personally ordered Luther to desist and publicly withdraw his protests against the Church. Luther refused, demanding that scriptural evidence should judge the matter. This resulted in a debate at Leipzig with Catholic apologist John Eck. During this debate, Luther was coerced into rejecting the infallibility of the Pope and Church. Because of this 'heresy', a papal bull was issued ordering the destruction of Luther's writings. Instead of obeying the order, Luther publicly burned the bull in protest. Shortly thereafter, Luther was excommunicated from the Holy Roman Orthodox Catholic Church and, in 1520, he declared the beginning of the Protestant Reformation in his tract On Christian Liberty with the words: A Christian man is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian man is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all (IBC 78-81).

The Roman Church had elevated Papal authority and Church tradition above the scriptures. Martin Luther was a biblical conservative, both politically and theologically and he accepted no authority in either realm that did not arise from his reading of the Bible. He and his peers, especially Calvin (each in his own way), stressed the importance of God's absolute transcendence, the importance of personal revelation and the subsequent faith it invoked, the preaching and ultimate authority of the Bible (even above Church Tradition and Papal authority) and the observance of rites prescribed in the New Testament only. They also demanded a much higher standard of ethical conduct for the Church hierarchy. Again, even though all these points were already being discussed within the medieval Church, the Reformers believed them to be down played by the labyrinth of medieval theology and corrupted by the notorious abuses of the Church hierarchy and clergy. While the Reformers sought to establish individual freedom and expression, what they created, according to Geddes MacGregor, were, "orthodoxy's too rigid and liturgies too limited to accommodate the light the Reformers sought to kindle (DRP 507,508). Hence, the new Protestant Churches, although established on the principles of religious liberty, quickly became as intolerant as their Roman counterparts were. Indeed, as mentioned above, the Protestant exiles instigated the brutal persecution of non-Christian British subjects during the Burning Times.

The Church had traditionally been viewed as the bastion of intellectual thought. The hierarchy had always produced the most well educated people. Indeed, it was sometimes illegal for non-clergy people to be literate at all. But, as time passes, things change. Due in large part to the frequent religious conflicts, turmoil and controversies of the seventeenth century, this authoritative position was forfeited during the eighteenth century in what came to be known as the Age of Enlightenment (das Aufklärung) ( note 17 ). Newly educated Europeans began questioning and then rejecting the Roman Church's claims of theocratic exclusive jurisdiction and its mandates on morality, its mystical pretenses were elided and ridiculed. Rumors of secrete societies began to be whispered and previously hereticized philosophies began coming into the light of day. In Germany, das Aufklärung reflected this growing dissatisfaction with the Church self-proclaimed authority and teachings. The Enlightenment had among it ideals the need for religious toleration. This view was admirably expressed in Lessing's Nathan der Weise and manifested in the political policies of Frederick the Great. While the Enlightenment demanded religious toleration and plurality, it also insisted than any religious system wishing to be taken seriously had to make reason the basis of its religious (and all other) truths.

End Part One

The Fourth Great Awakening

Part 1
Go to: Part 2

Part 3

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NOTES

1. Note 1: That she was in her teens is indicated, in the Greek, by the word parthwnoos which means maiden (GD 3933). Return
2. Note 2: Of course, the law of karma was expressed in Jesus' teaching: you reap what you sow, and meditation is to be found among Christians independent of direct Eastern influence. Likewise for transmigration and non-violence. The Eastern explanations and presentations of these concepts however have fine-tuned the practices of the pre 1960 Western practitioners and introduced them to the masses. I might add that pre-Christian Wiccacrafte (the Pagan religion practiced by much of pre-Christian Europe, especially Britain) held all of these tenants, though again there is some divergence. For instance, the traditional Crafte accepts reincarnation rather than transmigration. Return
3. Note 3: Darius I took possession of Gandhara and Hindukush. Later, Indian troops formed an alliance with Persia and fought the Greeks at Thermopylae. Return
4. Note 4: Zazen: Sitting meditation
   Satori: Sudden awakening or enlightenment
   Koans: Fundamental principle which is directly experienced; a story which points to this experience. Return
5. Note 5: Literally pathway, the path which Allah wills people to follow. Return
6. Note 6: It was edited and republished by Issac Reggio in Vienna in 1833. It is this edition which is best known. Return
7. Note 7: Wicca is a Pagan religion which was widely observed throughout the British Isles and Europe prior to the political ascendancy of Christianity. Return
8. Note 8: The Burning Times refer to the period of legal English Witch persecution which lasted 173 years, from the reign of Elizabeth I (1563) to that of George II (1736). The Inquisitions (which are sometimes referred to as the Burning Times as well) lasted from 1814-1232, 582 years. Return
9. Note 9: All three of these women were burnt at the stake due to their religious convictions. Return
10. Note 10: I.e. Spanish Wiccans. Return
11. Note 11: Or, is the current period of uncertainty due to the Awakening? Return
12. Note 12: In the Book of Revelation Jesus describes seven churches. According to most Fundamentalists, these refer to seven Church Ages. This interpretation is based largely on the works of the Rev. Clarence Larkin (DT). According to this view, the present dispensation is the seventh and final. It is known as the Church of Laodicea and reflects the hypocrisy of the modern pseudo-Christian religion. Of this Church Jesus said: I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot. So, then, because thou art lukewarm ... I will spew thee out of my mouth. Fundamentalists believe themselves to be among the few who open the door to this truth and receive Divine favor (Rev. 3:14-19). Rev. Larkin, incidentally, taught during the Third Great Awakening. Return
13. Note 13: Rev. Scofield, who is still considered by many to be one of the most authoritative Christian teachers, lived and worked during the Third Great Awakening. Return
14. Note 14: The three men were quite different in their approach. It has been said that if Luther was the prophet of the Reformation, then Calvin was its theologian (RNA 89). Zwingli, a Catholic priest, worked to keep the Protestants in the Church. Return
15. Note 15: Luther rejected the Church's teaching concerning the existence of Purgatory. Return
16. Note 16: According to legend, these demands were nailed onto the doors of the university chapel, as if in rebellious outrage. For what its worth, Luther's spiritual decedents point out that this particular chapel door was the usual town bulletin board. The Reformers merely sought to evoke public (especially Church) discussion of their issues (IBC 79,80). Return
17. Note 17: It should be remembered of course that the Enlightenment was foreshadowed by the work of the old rationalists such as Descartes, Leibniz and Spinoza, as well as the rise of modern (old paradigm) science in the 17th century. Return