The Encyclopedia of WORLD RELIGIONS Revised Edition This book was developed and written by DWJ BOOKS LLC.

General Editor: Robert S. Ellwood University of Southern California

Associate Editor: Gregory D. Alles McDaniel College

Advisers and Consultants: Dr. Robert T. Anderson Department of Religious Studies, Michigan State University Dr. Frida Kerner Furman Department of Religious Studies, DePaul University Dr. Azim A. Nanji Director, Institutes of Ismaili Studies The Encyclopedia of WORLD RELIGIONS Revised Edition

ROBERT S. ELLWOOD Distinguished Professor of Religion Emeritus University of Southern California General Editor

GREGORY D. ALLES Professor and Chair, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies McDaniel College Associate Editor For my family and the future —Robert S. Ellwood,S General Editor To my children —Gregory D. Alles, Associate Editor

The Encyclopedia of World Religions, Revised Edition Copyright © 2007, 1998 by DWJ BOOKS LLC All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information contact:

Facts On File, Inc. An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001

ISBN-10: 0-8160-6141-6 ISBN-13: 978-0-8160-6141-9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The encyclopedia of world religions / Robert S. Ellwood, general editor; Gregory D. Alles, associate editor. — Rev. ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8160-6141-6 (alk. paper) 1. Religions—Encyclopedias. I. Ellwood, Robert S., 1933– II. Alles, Gregory D. BL80.3.E54 2006 200.3—dc22 2005056750

Facts On File books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call our Special Sales Department in New York at (212) 967-8800 or (800) 322-8755.

You can fi nd Facts On File on the World Wide Web at http://www.factsonfi le.com

Text design by Erika K. Arroyo Cover design by Ana Ple

Printed in the United States of America

VB SG 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

This book is printed on acid-free paper. . CONTENTS ,

List of Illustrations vi

List of Maps and Tables vii

Preface to the Revised Edition viii

Preface to the Original Edition ix

Introduction: What Is This Encyclopedia About? x

ENTRIES A to Z 1

Topical Outline 491

Selected Bibliography 496

Index 499 LIST OF . ILLUSTRATIONS ,

XJohn Chilembwe performing a XSakyamuni preaching the Lotus Sutra baptism ceremony 3 on the Vulture Peak 266 XBronze vessel used by Shang rulers XPortrait of Martin Luther 268 to feast the ancestors 15 XThe birth of Mahavira 272 XBotticelli’s The Annunciation 17 XPrajnaparamita 273 XSacred cow 19 XEngraving of Karl Marx 280 XZodiac 37 XMayan pyramid 285 XWooden bodhisattva 57 XKaaba crowded with pilgrims 286 XSitting Golden Buddha statue 63 XGilgamesh 290 XJohn Calvin, portrait 70 XHebrew tablets 300 XCanterbury pilgrims in 15th-century XDome of the Rock 302 manuscript 74 XShaman 314 XThe Cathedral of Notre-Dame 77 XPassover Haggadah 335 XCeltic goddess Epona 79 XGeorge Fox 367 XConfucius, engraving 100 XPage from the Qur’an 369 XSphinxes lining avenue of Temple of XMuslim women praying 373 Amon at Karnak 131 XAltar dedicated to Jupiter 396 XCharles Darwin 141 XExterior of the tomb of Jalal XNoah’s ark 152 ad-Din ar-Rumi 397 XSaint Francis of Assisi 157 XCeremony for the full moon 423 XMohandas Gandhi 170 XGuru Nanak 424 XStatue of Ganesa 171 XStatue of Siva 426 XA procession of believers sacrifi ces XThe Great Stupa 430 to Demeter 185 XStar of David 434 XMenorah 191 XAshkenazim synagogue interior 435 XIndian dancers practice for Navratri 199 XMahakala 451 XAncient Greek cup 208 XTorah scroll 453 XIsis nursing the child Horus 219 XVishnu statue 467 XJainism symbol 228 XVoodoo scene 469 XThe execution of Joan of Arc 242 XExecution of an arsonist witch XCarl Gustav Jung portrait 249 by burning at the stake 477 XMartin Luther King Jr. giving speech 254 XYin/Yang symbol 481 XKrishna and Radha 258 XPortrait of Bodhidharma (Daruma) 486

S vi LIST OF . MAPS AND TABLES ,

X The Jewish scriptures, consisting of the X Population of Jews in Europe before Torah, the Prophets and the Writings 51 and after the Holocaust 206 X Christianity at the time of the Schism, X The peoples of Islam 222 1054 86 X Religious sites in Japan 233 X Sites of divinities worshipped by the ancient Greeks 186

vii S PREFACE TO THE . REVISED EDITION ,

ratifi ed by the response to the initial publica- in the news, often in very controversial ways. Once G tion of The Encyclopedia of World Religions, again, faith has shown itself to be a major force the editors have prepared a revised and much behind political and international events, as well enhanced edition of this work. The new edition as within the hearts of individuals. Regardless of contains 100 new articles on as many fresh topics, how one feels about religion’s role in society, now from ACTS OF THE APOSTLES to VIETNAMESE RELIGIONS. more than ever, reliable and in-depth information Numerous suggestions for further reading have about the world’s religions—an understanding been added throughout. Many articles have also of its role both today and throughout history—is been updated and expanded. The entire encyclope- essential to responsible modern citizenship. It is dia has been carefully scrutinized to ensure accu- hoped that this encyclopedia will contribute to that racy, to include the latest scholarship and infor- vital understanding. mation, and to adequately represent recent world —Robert S. Ellwood events involving religion. General Editor The early years of the 21st century have turned out to be a time in which religion is much

S viii PREFACE TO THE . ORIGINAL EDITION ,

eligion is one of the most important areas of the sacred songs and scriptures of religions, and R human life. It has caused wars, inspired great above all by meeting and talking with people acts of compassion, and produced some of the of various religious backgrounds. In the United most exalted literature and philosophy known to States today, people of almost all backgrounds humanity. Yet it is often diffi cult to get informa- are accessible because temples of nearly all the tion on the world’s religious traditions, informa- world’s religions can be found in most large cit- tion that is not only simple and interesting to read ies. The religious world, in other words, not only but also objective, not partial to the point of view is found in books but is also a living reality all of one religious tradition or another. The purpose around us. of The Encyclopedia of World Religions is to help As you use The Encyclopedia of World Reli- you fi nd this kind of information. gions, you will fi nd that you often need to go from We need always to recognize that religion one entry to another to fi nd certain new words or can be looked at in two ways, from outside and ideas explained. To assist you in locating informa- inside. The “outside” point of view means identi- tion on topics related to the entry in which you fying some basic facts—for example, the history, begin to read, you will notice that some words teachings, practices, and organization of a religion, within an article serve as cross-references and facts that can be called out during research. The appear in SMALL CAPITAL LETTERS. A word in SMALL “inside” point of view means taking a close look at CAPITAL LETTERS indicates that there is an entry the people who live and worship in that tradition. within the encyclopedia for that word, an entry to To truly understand a religion as it exists for real which you can refer for additional information. Be people, then, you need to be able to get inside—to sure to look up any other words you do not under- begin to understand the feelings of a religion’s stand in a dictionary or other reference book. Best believers, their ways of looking at the world, and wishes, and welcome to the wonderful and fasci- the things that are most important in their religious nating realm of the world’s religions. lives. Gaining inside understanding does not mean —Robert S. Ellwood you have to agree with believers or even accept General Editor the representations of their beliefs; it just gives you the ability to empathize with, or have a feeling for, Editor’s Note: In this encyclopedia, Japanese names other peoples’ values. are written in the Japanese manner, with the sur- Although an encyclopedia like this one can name fi rst; the surname is also in small-capital easily provide material for the outside point of letters in cross-references. Terms derived from the view, it is hoped it will make you interested Chinese language are transliterated according to enough to want to also gather some inside per- the Wade-Giles system; when they appear as head- spectives through further reading, especially in words in an entry, the Pinyin is also given.

ix S . INTRODUCTION , What Is This Encyclopedia About?

dolescence is a time of curiosity—about one- studies. (On the difference between religious stud- A self, one’s friends, one’s world. The Encyclo- ies and theology, see THEOLOGY and RELIGION, STUDY pedia of World Religions, Revised Edition, aims to OF.) Fortunately, though, educators have begun to help young people satisfy their curiosity about a see the need for such education. For example, the very important aspect of their world: religions. American Academy of Religion now has a special Today more than ever young people in North committee devoted to teaching about religions America encounter a variety of religions. Because in secondary schools, and fi rst-rate publishers of changes to immigration laws made in 1965, it is have begun to publish books in religious studies now possible for people from what had previously designed to meet the needs of secondary school been “barred zones” to settle in the United States. students. In this climate, it seemed only fi tting to This includes a large number of people from places update this encyclopedia. where religions such as BUDDHISM, CONFUCIANISM, The aims of The Encyclopedia of World Reli- HINDUISM, ISLAM, JAINISM, Parsiism, SIKHISM, SHINTO, gions, Revised Edition, remain unchanged. It aims and TAOISM are practiced. Students today are much to address students directly. It provides them with more likely to have friends who practice these reli- accurate information about religions that they are gions or even to practice them themselves than likely to encounter. It also provides them with American students would have been in their par- information that they can use and understand. ents’ and grandparents’ days. Generally speaking, it contains three kinds of In addition, and signifi cantly, after the terror- entries: historical entries, comparative entries, and ist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon theoretical entries. on September 11, 2001, the religions of the world Historical entries discuss features of specifi c have received a great deal of public attention. It is religions. The most basic historical entries are those crucial for students to learn about these religions if on the major religions: BUDDHISM, Chinese religions they are to become responsible citizens. For exam- (see CHINA, RELIGIONS OF), CHRISTIANITY, HINDUISM, ple, a couple of years ago, at a Sikh gurdwara, I ISLAM, JUDAISM. Where appropriate, the editors met a priest who was run off an interstate highway have also included major entries on the persons after 9/11 by a truck driver who thought he looked who started or “founded” the religions: the BUD- like Osama bin Laden. Ignorance about religions DHA, JESUS, MUHAMMAD. Many other religions have and the people who practice them is something their own entries, too; for example, AZTEC RELI- that the United States can no longer afford. GION, CELTIC RELIGION, GREEK RELIGION, MANICHAEISM, Unfortunately, opportunities for young people NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGIONS, and PACIFIC OCEAN RELI- to learn about religions are limited. Much educa- GIONS. In addition, more specifi c entries generally tion in the United States does not include religious supplement the broader ones. Thus, in addition to

S x Introduction S xi

an entry on ZOROASTRIANISM, there are entries on are certainly not beyond criticism. For example, the PARSEES, ZARATHUSTRA, and the ZEND AVESTA. Wach related experience and expression in a way Comparative entries discuss features that that opens up all sorts of thorny philosophical appear in several or in all religions. They introduce problems. But Wach did identify three modes of students to many standard topics in the study of religious expression—the theoretical, the practical, religions. Examples include entries on GOD, GOD- and the sociological—that are helpful in organiz- DESSES, MAGIC, MYSTICISM, RITES OF PASSAGE, SACRIFICE, ing material for beginning students. Although our and SCRIPTURE. major entries use simpler words, Wach’s three But religions are not simply facts to be basic divisions remain. Moreover, entries generally recounted and compared. They are topics about discuss a religion’s history before considering its which to think. Here is where the theoretical theoretical, practical, and social aspects. entries come in. The most basic theoretical entry Finally, a few other useful distinctions should is the one on the Study of Religions (see RELIGION, be noted. For example, throughout most of the STUDY OF). Several more-specifi c entries discuss entries, readers will fi nd themselves directed by theories and movements in religious studies, for cross-references to related entries or entries that example, ANIMISM, DYNAMISM, FEMINISM, FUNCTION- offer additional information of interest. These ALISM, and TOTEMISM. Other entries discuss major cross-references appear in SMALL CAPITAL letters and thinkers and their ideas: Émile DURKHEIM, Mircea will serve to extend the scope and depth of the ELIADE, J. G. FRAZER, Sigmund FREUD, C. G. JUNG, encyclopedia. Bronislaw MALINOWSKI, Karl MARX, Rudolf OTTO, Also, usually within the initial defi nition of and Max WEBER. an entry, readers will sometimes fi nd references In selecting entries, the editors have kept in to Sanskrit, the ancient Indo-European language mind that young people are especially interested sacred to or infl uential among Hindus and Bud- in topics that address the world in which they live. dhists. Other references throughout, often found in Therefore, this encyclopedia supplements the gen- parentheses without explanation, constitute refer- eral entries on Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, ences to the Bible. Islam, Judaism, and PROTESTANTISM with entries on I want to close on a more personal note. Two these religions in America. It also gives preference groups of young people have inspired my work on to topics that young Americans are most likely to this volume. encounter, for example, the Christian theologian The fi rst group comprises several generations Thomas Aquinas but not the infl uential Buddhist of students in the SUMMERSCAPE program at philosopher Nagarjuna, who currently is less Drury College, Springfi eld, Missouri. During the 15 often studied in American schools, a situation that years that I taught in this program, I was amazed may change. In addition, for the revised edition, and impressed by the number of gifted and tal- we have updated key entries to take into account ented sixth to ninth graders who were willing to changes in the world and its religions since the spend two weeks of their summers taking what fi rst edition appeared. For example, The Encyclo- amounted to introductory courses in religious stud- pedia of World Religions, Revised Edition, includes ies and philosophy. These students consistently entries on COMPUTERS AND RELIGION and BRAIN, MIND, gave me more than I gave them. This volume is a AND RELIGION, among 100 others. It also devotes testimony to our time together. more attention to Christianity in Latin America, The second group includes my nieces, nephew, Africa, and Asia and to the Pentecostal movements and children. I was particularly gratifi ed several that have recently met with some success in these years ago to receive a call from a niece who lives in parts of the world. Houston. A friend had shown my niece her favorite The basic structure of many of the entries goes book in the school library. It turned out to be the back to the ideas of Joachim Wach. These ideas fi rst edition of The Encyclopedia of World Religions. xii S Introduction

Apparently it took considerable conversation after- more helpful than the fi rst one. I also hope that ward to convince the friend that my niece and I in its own small way The Encyclopedia of World were related. Religions, Revised Edition helps them grow into I do not expect, of course, that this volume informed and responsible citizens. will be every student’s favorite book. But I do hope —Gregory D. Alles student readers will fi nd the revised edition even Associate Editor WORLDWIDE ADHERENTS OF ALL RELIGIONS, MID-2004 Northern Number of Religions Africa Asia Europe Latin America Oceania World percent America Countries Christians 401,717,000 341,337,000 553,689,000 510,131,000 273,941,000 26,147,000 2,106,962,000 33 238 Affi liated Christians 380,265,000 335,602,000 531,267,000 504,747,000 223,994,000 21,994,000 1,997,869,000 31.3 238 Roman Catholics 143,065,000 121,618,000 276,739,000 476,699,000 79,217,000 8,470,000 1,105,808,000 17.3 235 Independents 87,913,000 176,516,000 24,445,000 44,810,000 81,138,000 1,719,000 416,541,000 6.5 221 Protestants 115,276,000 56,512,000 70,908,000 53,572,000 65,881,000 7,699,000 369,848,000 5.8 232 Orthodox 37,989,000 13,240,000 158,974,000 848,000 6,620,000 756,000 218,427,000 3.4 134 Anglicans 43,404,000 733,000 25,727,000 909,000 2,986,000 4,986,000 78,745,000 1.2 163 Marginal Christians 3,269,000 3,083,000 4,425,000 10,352,000 11,384,000 630,000 33,143,000 0.5 215 Multiple Affi liation -50,562,000 -34,528,000 -10,021,000 -80,962,000 -23,217,000 -2,252,000 -201,542,000 -3.2 163 Unaffi liated Christians 21,437,000 5,734,000 22,395,000 5,384,000 49,947,000 4,153,000 109,050,000 1.7 232 Muslims 350,453,000 892,440,000 33,290,000 1,724,000 5,109,000 408,000 1,283,424,000 20.1 206 Hindus 2,604,000 844,593,000 1,467,000 766,000 1,444,000 417,000 851,291,000 13.3 116 Nonreligious 5,912,000 601,478,000 108,674,000 15,939,000 31,286,000 3,894,600 767,184,000 12 237 Chinese Universists 35,400 400,718,000 266,000 200,000 713,000 133,000 402,065,000 6.3 94 Buddhists 148,000 369,394,000 1,643,000 699,000 3,063,000 493,000 375,440,000 5.9 130 Ethnoreligionists 105,251,000 141,589,000 1,238,000 3,109,000 1,263,000 319,000 252,769,000 4 144 Atheists 585,000 122,870,000 22,048,000 2,756,000 1,997,000 400,000 150,656,000 2.4 219 New-religionists 112,000 104,352,000 381,000 764,000 1,561,000 84,800 107,255,000 1.7 107 Sikhs 58,400 24,085,000 238,000 0 583,000 24,800 24,989,000 0.4 34 Jews 224,000 5,317,000 1,985,000 1,206,000 6,154,000 104,000 14,990,000 0.2 134 Spiritists 3,100 2,000 135,000 12,575,000 160,000 7,300 12,882,000 0.2 56 Baha’is 1,929,000 3,639,000 146,000 813,000 847,000 122,000 7,496,000 0.1 218 Confucianists 300 6,379,000 16,600 800 0 50,600 6,447,000 0.1 16 Jains 74,900 4,436,000 0 0 7,500 700 4,519,000 0.1 11 Shintoists 0 2,717,000 0 7,200 60,000 0 2,784,000 0 8 Taoists 0 2,702,000 0 0 11,900 0 2,714,000 0 5 Zoroastrians 900 2,429,000 89,900 0 81,600 3,200 2,605,000 0 23 Other Religionists 75,000 68,000 257,500 105,000 650,000 10,000 1,166,000 0 78 Total Population 869,183,000 3,870,545,000 725,564,000 550,795,000 328,932,000 32,619,000 6,377,643,000 100 238

. A ,

Aaron Brother of MOSES in the Hebrew BIBLE. abortion is not, therefore, murder. Liberal religion- According to the Bible, GOD appeared to Moses in ists believe that abortion is always a serious moral the desert and appointed him to free the people of decision, but that it can be justifi ed for such rea- Israel from slavery in Egypt (see EXODUS). Moses sons as saving the life or health of the mother, or objected that he had no public speaking abilities, the prospect of the child’s being born seriously so God appointed his older brother Aaron as his deformed. In the great majority of cases, abortion assistant (Exodus 4). as a means of birth control, that is, as a means to Aaron was instrumental in bringing about the terminate unwanted pregnancies, usually does not various plagues that eventually convinced the king have the approval of religious authorities. of Egypt to release the enslaved Israelites (Exodus Moreover, the issue is one not only of whether 5–12). On a less positive note, he is said to have abortion is intrinsically right or wrong, but also of manufactured a calf of gold for the people to WOR- who has the right to decide. Is it the mother’s right SHIP when they feared that Moses had perished on alone to decide if she will have a child? Or do oth- Mt. Sinai (Exodus 32). ers—the state, the medical profession, the father, Tradition holds that Aaron was the fi rst high the church—have the right to make that decision? priest of Israel. A group of priests associated with It is a complex and wrenching issue that many per- the Temple in JERUSALEM (middle 900s to 586 B.C.E.) sons, religious and otherwise, continue to wrestle claimed to be descended from him. They are with. known as Aaronides or Aaronites.

Abraham (Arabic, Ibrahim) Legendary ances- abortion and religion The intentional destruc- tor of Jews and Arabs, also revered by Christians tion by medical means of a human fetus in the and all Muslims. The BIBLE presents an image of womb prior to birth—a highly controversial ethi- Abraham that roughly corresponds to the way of cal issue for many religious people since it means life common in Canaan between 2000 and 1600 the taking of present or potential human life. On B.C.E. one side are those, calling themselves “pro-life,” According to the Bible, Abraham left the city who hold that a fetus is a person and that abortion of Ur in Mesopotamia and traveled to the land of therefore is murder. This is the view offi cially taken Canaan. In fulfi llment of a promise from GOD, he by, among others, Roman Catholics, many conser- and his wife SARAH had a son, ISAAC, despite their vative Protestants, and Orthodox Jews. However, advanced age. (The Bible says Abraham was 100 unlike ROMAN CATHOLICISM, Orthodox JUDAISM per- years old [Genesis 21.5]. Isaac’s son JACOB became mits abortion if the mother’s life is at stake. the ancestor of the Jewish people. Arabs trace Others, calling themselves “pro-choice,” con- their descent to Abraham through Ishmael (Arabic, tend that an unborn fetus is not a person and that Ismail), the son of Abraham and Hagar. Muslims

1 S 2 S Acts of the Apostles

consider Hagar Abraham’s fi rst wife. They attri- that were active at the time. Traditionally, however, bute the building of the most sacred of all Islamic Acts has been taken as the fi rst accurate historical shrines, the KAABA in Mecca, to Abraham. account of the early Christian church. A well-known story relates how God com- See also APOSTLES. manded Abraham to SACRIFICE his son. Jews tell this story about Isaac. Muslims tell it about Ish- mael. Abraham obeyed God without question. He Adam The fi rst human being in Jewish, Christian, stopped only when an ANGEL informed him that and Islamic tradition. The name Adam may also be God’s command was merely a test. Abraham’s faith translated simply as “the man.” The BIBLE seems to as seen in this incident is the theme of a book, Fear link this name to adamah, Hebrew for ground (Gen- and Trembling, by the Danish philosopher, Søren esis 2.7). As told in the second chapter of Genesis, Kierkegaard. the Lord GOD formed Adam from the Earth’s dirt, Abraham is a very important religious fi gure. breathed life into him, and placed him in the garden Three of the world’s most prominent religions, of Eden. After a futile attempt to fi nd a companion JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, and ISLAM, are often called for him among the animals, God put Adam into a “Abrahamic religions” because they see themselves deep sleep, took one of his ribs, and fashioned a as worshipping the God of Abraham. woman from it, whom Adam eventually named EVE. In Genesis 3 God expelled Adam and Eve from the garden because they disobeyed God’s command not Acts of the Apostles The fi fth book of the NEW to eat from the tree of knowledge (see FALL, THE). TESTAMENT. The Acts of the Apostles—commonly Jewish philosophers have seen Adam and his referred to simply as Acts—continues the Gospel of story as symbolizing all human beings. Christians Luke. Together, they make up a two-part work. The used the image of Adam in defi ning the special role gospel tells the story of Jesus; Acts tells the story of of JESUS. For example, PAUL saw Jesus as the sec- the early Christian church from Jesus’ resurrection ond Adam, undoing the consequences of the First to the arrival and missionary activity of the Apostle Adam’s sin (1 Corinthians 15.22, 45). For Muslims, PAUL in Rome. The fi rst part of the book is about Adam is the fi rst in the line of prophets that culmi- Christians at JERUSALEM. Memorable events include nates in the prophet MUHAMMAD. the receiving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the ston- ing of Stephen, and Peter’s vision, which justifi ed preaching about Jesus to non-Jews. The second part Adi Granth Punjabi for “fi rst book”; the sacred of the book tells the story of Paul: his conversion and book of the Sikhs. It is also known as the Guru his journeys in what are now Turkey and Greece, Granth Sahib. spreading the message of Christianity. In portions The Adi Granth contains almost 6,000 hymns of this second part the writer uses the fi rst-person written by Sikh GURUs and other SAINTS (see SIKH- plural pronoun, “we” (16.10–17, 20.5–15, 21.1–18, ISM). The hymns are mostly arranged according to 27.1–28.16). It is possible that these passages are the musical modes in which they are sung. from a diary that Luke kept. The tradition that Luke The fi rst and third gurus, NANAK and Amar wrote the Gospel of Luke and Acts does not go back Das (1479–1574), made collections of their own further than the end of the second century C.E. hymns and those of earlier religious poets. In Some scholars think that the story Acts tells is 1604 the fi fth guru, Arjan (1563–1606), added somewhat artifi cial. According to these scholars, other hymns to the earlier collections to make the the author of Acts presents as united two indepen- fi rst version of the Adi Granth. He installed it in dent and separate Jesus movements—one in Jeru- the most sacred Sikh shrine, the Golden Temple salem, the other in Antioch (Paul’s home base). at Amritsar. In 1704 the last guru, Gobind SINGH, The author also ignores other Jesus movements completed the Adi Granth by adding hymns by his Africa, new religious movements in S 3

father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, to the earlier version. Before Gobind Singh died, he established the book as the guru of the Sikhs. It is the ultimate authority on religious matters. Sikhs in fact treat the Adi Granth as their guru. Copies of the book are enshrined in Sikh houses of WORSHIP, known as gurdwaras. There they are unwrapped in the morning and wrapped up at night according to set RITUALS. During worship, the sacred book is fanned, just as if it were a living dig- nitary, and hymns from it are sung. In the presence of the Adi Granth, one should have one’s head cov- ered and remove one’s shoes.

Adonis An ancient Greek god. The Greeks knew Adonis as a god who was imported from the Reverend John Chilembwe, a Baptist minister in ancient Near East. His name seems to bear out this Nyasaland (present day Malawi), is seen here performing a baptism ceremony about 1910. The leader of one of idea. It seems related to the Semitic word adon, the many Christian movements that arose in Africa which means “lord.” during the colonial period, he was killed in 1915 during an Adonis fi gured prominently in The Golden uprising. (Library of Congress) Bough, a well-known collection of mythology by James George FRAZER. According to Frazer, Adonis was a typical god of vegetation. He died and rose The name “new religious movements” may again in imitation of plant life. The ancients did give the wrong impression. Most African new reli- indeed know some stories about Adonis being gious movements are actually forms of CHRISTIAN- restored to life. But these stories were told about ITY. North Americans and Europeans have called Adonis only at a very late period. them “new” because Africans who rejected Euro- According to some myths the GODDESSES Aph- pean and North American control developed and rodite and Persephone struggled over Adonis. As a led them. In fact, however, the African movements result, he spent part of the year with each of them often resemble the early Christianity described in in turn. According to another famous myth, told the BIBLE more than Christianity in North America by the Roman poet Ovid in his Metamorphoses, and Europe does. For example, like the earliest Adonis was a favorite of Aphrodite who was killed Christians, members of these movements often by a wild boar while hunting. believe in spirits, whom faith in JESUS allows them The women of Athens worshipped Adonis to control, and they often heal by the power of by planting gardens on their rooftops during the PRAYER. Some of these movements are now mem- hot summer months. When the plants died, they bers of the World Council of Churches (see ECU- mourned the god’s death. MENICAL MOVEMENT). Other African new religious movements build upon indigenous or native Afri- can traditions. A few have arisen within ISLAM. Africa, new religious movements in Religious movements that have arisen in Africa starting in ETHIOPIAN AND SEPARATIST CHURCHES the late 19th century. In the past one and a quarter Compared with activities in the Americas and centuries Africans have started thousands of reli- Asia, European colonization of Africa began rela- gious movements. tively late, in the 1870s. In the 19th century, North 4 S Africa, new religious movements in

American and European, especially British, Chris- Many African prophets made colonial authori- tians took missionary work very seriously (see MIS- ties nervous. As a result, some of the most famous SIONARIES). They also took their own superiority for spread their messages for only a short time, until granted, and they acted in ways that made their rac- the government stopped them. Nevertheless, their ist attitudes and presuppositions all too apparent. churches often continued. Several churches are Many Africans found the message of Chris- now quite large and well known. tianity attractive, and some of them joined mis- The prophet William Wade Harris (early sionary churches. But many also found the subor- 1860s–1929) (his middle name is an African name dination that they experienced in these churches pronounced way-day) received his revelations intolerable. For example, in 1890, the fi rst African from God while in prison for political activities. Anglican bishop, Samuel Crowther (c. 1807–91), Although he was from Liberia, his most effective suddenly and unjustifi ably lost his position. As a preaching was done in the Ivory Coast. Instead result of such treatment, many Africans left the of founding churches, he told his followers that churches run by Europeans and North Americans missionaries would come bringing the message and started their own churches. They called some of Christianity. In 1924 Methodist missionaries of these churches “Ethiopian.” Ethiopia provides a did come to the Ivory Coast for the fi rst time, but powerful symbol of African independence, because the Methodist Church in the Ivory Coast dates its it has an ancient Christian church and was only founding to 1914, the year of Harris’s missionary briefl y colonized. The fi rst Ethiopian churches activity. began in South Africa and Nigeria in the 1890s. The relationship between Harris and the Prominent among their founders in South Africa Methodist missionaries was not always good. For are an uncle and niece: Mangena Maake Mokone example, following the example of ABRAHAM, JACOB, (1851–1931), originally a Methodist, and Charlotte and others in the Bible, Harris allowed polygamy; Manye Maxeke (1874–1939), originally a Presby- the Methodists did not. Some of Harris’s followers terian. Both of them founded Ethiopian churches formed their own churches. Two churches in this related to the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) tradition are the Church of the Twelve Apostles churches in the United States. in Ghana, founded by Grace Tani (d. 1958), who thought of herself as one of Harris’s wives, and INDIGENOUS AFRICAN CHURCHES the Deima Church in the Ivory Coast, founded by Another set of churches had no historical rela- Marie Lalou (d. 1951). tionship with previously established Christian A prophet in the Belgian Congo who had a churches. African prophets started them. They go similarly short career but left a lasting legacy was by various names: African indigenous churches, Simon Kimbangu. After less than a year of minis- African independent churches, African-initiated try, which included healing, the government threw churches, and African-instituted churches. Kimbangu in jail, and he stayed there for decades. The prophets who started these churches His church, however, eventually received offi cial emphasized the ability to control spirits and heal government recognition. Named L’Eglise de Jesus- by the power of Jesus. They offered protection Christ sur la terre par le prophete Simon Kimbangu against witchcraft. They also urged people to aban- (The Church of Jesus Christ on Earth through the don traditional African religions and to destroy prophet Simon Kimbangu), it is the largest inde- their traditional religious images (see IMAGES, IDOLS, pendent church in Africa. ICONS IN RELIGION). Some who heard them, such as Some indigenous African churches have followers of the Congo prophet Simon Kimbangu emphasized fervent prayer, fasting, dreams, (1889?–1951), built large bonfi res to do just that. visions, and healing. These features characterize Members of these churches also often wear white the Aladura churches of Nigeria. (Aladura is a Yor- as a symbol of purity. uba word meaning “Owner of Prayer.”) An exam- African-American religions S 5

ple of the Aladura churches is the Christ Apostolic of Gabon at the beginning of the 20th century. It Church, begun in the 1920s. It rejects the use of built upon traditional cults of ancestors (see ANCES- either traditional or scientifi c medicine. The same TOR WORSHIP) but has changed over the years by the features also characterize the Zionist churches addition of various beliefs and ritual systems. In of South Africa. Zionist churches get their name some circles it is best known for its ritual use of because their inspiration originally came from the the plant iboga, a nonaddictive hallucinogen. Evangelical Christian Catholic Church of Zion, Illi- nois. Both Zionist and Aladura refer to groups of SIGNIFICANCE churches rather than to a single church. Africa is, arguably, the most vibrant home of While some founders of African churches have Christianity today, and the so-called African new been prophets, some have been more than proph- religious movements contribute to that vitality. ets: They have been Messiahs. A famous example Some have begun to spread beyond Africa to North is the Zulu religious leader, Isaiah Shembe (1867– America and other places. It remains to be seen 1935). He received a call from God in a vision and what kind of impact they will have worldwide in founded a church in the Zionist tradition known as the 21st century. the amaNazaretha Church. In 1912, after an expe- Further reading: Kwame Bediako, Jesus and the rience similar to the temptation of Jesus in the wil- Gospel in Africa: History and Experience (New derness, he received the power to heal and cast out York: Orbis, 2004); Christian History 22, no. 3 demons. He saw himself as a Messiah sent to the (2003) [issue on African Christianity]; Elizabeth Zulu, as MOSES and Jesus were sent to the Jews. Isichei, A History of Christianity in Africa (Grand His church’s worship practices include dances in Rapids, Mich.: W. B. Eerdmans, 1995); Philip traditional Zulu style and hymns that Shembe him- Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of self wrote. Global Christianity (New York: Oxford University OTHER AFRICAN Press, 2002); Jacob K. Olupona, ed., Beyond NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS Primitivism: Indigenous Religious Traditions and Modernity, (New York: Routledge, 2004); Frederick A large proportion of Africans practice Islam. New Quinn, African Saints: Saints, Martyrs, and Holy religious movements among African Muslims have, People from the Continent of Africa (New York: however, been relatively rare. Possible examples Crossroad, 2002); Bengt Sundkler and Christopher might include the rise of new brotherhoods within Steed, A History of the Church in Africa (New York: SUFISM. Cambridge University Press, 2000). Other African movements, however, have rejected Christianity and Islam altogether and have attempted to revitalize indigenous traditions. One example is the movement led by Alinesitoue Diatta African-American religions The religions of (1920–44), a Diola woman of Senegambia in West people of African descent living in the Western Africa. She resisted the infl uence of both Christian- Hemisphere. African Americans have had and con- ity and Islam, as well as that of the French colonial tinue to have a vibrant and rich religious life. government, by calling upon people to revive rain African-American religions in the Caribbean rituals and observe a traditional day of rest every and South America often preserve and adapt Afri- sixth day. Because of her success, the colonial gov- can traditions (see AFRICAN RELIGIONS). Good exam- ernment arrested her in 1943. She disappeared and ples are VOODOO from Haiti, SANTERÍA from Cuba, died in exile, though her death was kept secret for Candomble in Brazil, and Winti in Suriname. They more than 40 years. often combine African and European practices. Another indigenous revival movement goes by This combining is sometimes called “syncretiza- the name of Bwiti. It arose among the Fang people tion” or “creolization.” 6 S African-American religions

Many traditional religions interact loosely with Traditional Christianity did not meet the needs ROMAN CATHOLICISM. Those who practice them WOR- of all African Americans in the United States. Some SHIP African deities and spirits in conjunction with rejected it because of its connection with the for- Catholic SAINTS. All traditional religions expect the mer slave owners. African nationalist movements deities and spirits to help with problems and diffi - provided one important alternative. After Emanci- culties in everyday life. The deities and spirits may pation some African Americans called for a return reveal themselves through a medium. Worshippers to Africa. In the early 20th century, Marcus Garvey may also seek advice from a diviner. (1887–1940) emphasized black separatism and The religions of African Americans in the pride. The best known black nationalist movement United States developed differently. There the is the Nation of Islam (see ISLAM, NATION OF). It was dominant religious tradition was PROTESTANTISM. organized in the 1930s by Wallace Fard and Elijah Unlike Catholicism, Protestantism does not vener- Muhammad. Until a visit to Mecca in 1964, MAL- ate saints who can be identifi ed with African gods COLM X was its most effective spokesperson. Ras- and spirits. (In Africa, the high god is usually dis- tafarianism, a movement from Jamaica, is famous tant and as a result not worshipped.) In addition, for its music, reggae. It saw the former emperor African Americans enslaved in the United States of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie (1892–1975), as a sav- often did not have the opportunity to form their ior for African Americans. Before his coronation, own relatively isolated communities, as they did in Haile Selassie was called Ras Tafari. the Caribbean and South America. Other African-American alternatives to tradi- By 1800 many African Americans in the tional Christianity have also emerged. JUDAISM has United States were turning to Protestantism. They attracted some African Americans. They identifi ed tended to favor forms that emphasized conversion with the story of the EXODUS, in which the Hebrew experiences rather than a LITURGY. As a result, they slaves were freed from captivity in Egypt. Some became Methodists and Baptists (see METHODISM have founded Jewish sects. Other African-Ameri- and BAPTIST CHURCHES). On occasion these African can movements have borrowed and adapted ele- Americans founded their own denominations. For ments from Christianity. A good example is Father example, several black Methodist congregations Divine (c. 1880–1965), who used elements of tradi- formed the American Methodist Episcopal Church tional Christianity while preaching that he himself in 1816. In smaller numbers, African Americans was God. African Americans have also found reli- in the United States also joined the more liturgical gious inspiration in traditional African religions. A churches, such as the EPISCOPALIAN or ANGLICAN and good example is KWANZAA. Created in 1966, it is a Catholic churches. year-end festival that celebrates family values from African Americans obviously benefi ted greatly an African perspective. from the movement to abolish slavery. Black as well as white ministers were abolitionists. After Further reading: Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters: the Civil War and Emancipation, African Ameri- America in the King Years, 1954–63 (New York: cans participated in the Holiness movements. Like Simon & Schuster, 1988); Taylor Branch, Pillar of prewar Baptists and Methodists, these movements Fire: America in the King Years, 1963–65 (New emphasized religious experience. Then, at the turn York: Simon & Schuster, 1998); Eric C. Lincoln, The of the century, African Americans were instrumen- Black Muslims in America, 3d ed. (Grand Rapids, tal in forming PENTECOSTALISM. Gospel music is a Mich.: W. B. Eerdmans, 1993); Albert J. Raboteau, well-known product of these movements. In the Canaan Land: A Religious History of African mid-20th century, the Southern Christian Leader- Americans (New York: Oxford University Press, ship Conference, led by a Baptist minister, Martin 2001); Cornel West and Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., eds., Luther KING Jr., helped end legal segregation in the African American Religious Thought: An Anthology southern United States. (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox, 2003). African religions S 7

African religions The indigenous religions of cause disease without any conscious intention on Africa. This entry discusses African religions south the part of the supposed witch. Traditional Africans of the Sahara Desert. North of the Sahara ISLAM has may consult specialists who know how to coun- been the dominant religion since the 600s C.E. teract these forces. Sometimes traditional Africans People have lived in Africa for tens, if not hun- attribute diseases to “affl iction,” that is, to a spirit dreds, of thousands of years. Indeed, many believe that is possessing a person. In these cases the spirit that the genus Homo fi rst evolved in Africa. Homi- needs to be expelled. nid bones found at Olduvai Gorge in Kenya from African religions generally have RITES OF PAS- 1959 on seem to confi rm this belief. Some are over SAGE to make a transition from one stage of exis- two million years old. tence to another. INITIATION rituals are particularly The history of Africa south of the Sahara is not well developed. SACRIFICES and offerings are very known as well as we would like. That is true of the important components of African ritual practice. history of African religions, too. African religions Music, dancing, and arts, such as mask-making, do have venerable pasts. For example, African rock also make major contributions to the practice of paintings often have mythological and religious African religions (see MUSIC AND RELIGION, DANCE AND signifi cance. Some rock paintings date as far back RELIGION, ART, RELIGIOUS, and MASKS AND RELIGION). as 26,000 B.P. (before the present). It would be a Many African religions also assign special roles mistake, however, to think that traditional Afri- to chosen people. Such religious leaders include can religions were static and never changed, as priests (see PRIESTS AND PRIESTHOOD), prophets, was commonly thought in the late 1800s. Like all mediums, diviners, and kings. religions, they changed and developed. For exam- At the end of the 20th century, only about ple, in the last 500 years, many African peoples 10 percent of Africans practiced traditional reli- acquired kings. They often thought these kings gions. Roughly 50 percent practiced CHRISTIANITY were sacred. and 40 percent practiced Islam. During the late There are thousands of African cultures, lan- 19th and 20th centuries, Africans also developed guages, and religions. Obviously, it is impossible “new religions.” Many of these new religions were to describe them all. But some features of African indigenous Christian churches. They either broke religions appear fairly frequently. away from mission churches or were founded Many traditional Africans know about a “high by African prophets. Often they combined tradi- god” who created the universe. This god is dis- tional African themes with Christianity or Islam. tant and unconcerned with daily life. Africans tell Examples include the Aladura (“praying people”) many different stories to explain why. They also churches of Nigeria, which eventually broke tell stories about the beings who fi rst invented cul- away from their American parent church, and the tural products and social institutions. Other stories amaNazaretha Baptist Church, founded by the tell about fi gures known as TRICKSTERS. Zulu prophet Isaiah Shembe (d. 1935). Other new Some superhuman beings have a more direct religions fi t traditional religious practices into the impact on human life. They include beings some- organizational forms of Christianity and Islam. An times called gods and sometimes called spirits. They example is the Bwiti Church of Gabon. also include the souls of the dead. These souls may be venerated as ancestors. They may also be con- Further reading: Noel Q. King, African Cosmos: An sidered to be GHOSTS. Traditional Africans interact Introduction to Religion in Africa (Belmont, Calif.: with these beings by means of RITUALS. Wadsworth, 1986); John S. Mbiti, African Religion Healing plays a large role in most African reli- and Philosophy, 2d ed. (Oxford; Portsmouth, gions (see HEALING, RELIGIOUS). Traditional Africans N.H.: Heinemann, 1990); Benjamin Ray, African often attribute sickness and misfortune to WITCH- Religions: Symbol, Ritual, and Community, 2d ed. CRAFT and sorcery. In some cases witchcraft may (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2000). 8 S Afro-Brazilian religions

Afro-Brazilian religions See AFRICAN-AMERICAN and beautiful Earth where they all will live joy- RELIGIONS; BRAZIL, NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS IN. ously forever. The same themes—an individual judgment after death, then a general resurrection and new afterlife in world religions Belief in continu- Heaven and Earth at the end of the world—can ing life after death. Most religions hold that there be found in the Western family of monotheist exists an afterlife. The way in which this afterlife (believing in one God) religions besides Zoro- is pictured varies greatly among the world’s reli- astrianism: JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, and ISLAM. In gions. Some envision a shadowy other world or the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament to Chris- one similar to this one; some see eternal reward tians) there is little reference to the afterlife until or punishment in HEAVEN or HELL; some believe in the last few centuries B.C.E., after the Jews had REINCARNATION (or coming back to be born again) encountered Zoroastrian or similar concepts dur- in human or animal form; some envision ultimate ing their exile in Babylon. Modern Judaism has absorption into GOD or eternal reality. not emphasized the afterlife as much as some Many of the world’s early religions held that other religions. It is more concerned with the the afterlife was about the same for almost every- good life in this world and the survival of the one. The Ainu of northern Japan considered it a Jewish people. Many Jews acknowledge, how- world that was just the opposite of the present ever, that the righteous continue for all time to world, so that when it was day here it was night live in the presence of God. Jews have held dif- there; one alternated between the two. Native fering emphases, some stressing the immortal- Americans often viewed the world of departed ity (undying nature) of the soul and its reward spirits as being like this one but better; it was or punishment after death; others believe in the a place where crops and the hunt were always RESURRECTION of the body; a few have believed in bountiful and the weather mild. Among them, reincarnation; still others have just emphasized as among many primal peoples, the shaman (see life in this world. SHAMANISM) was an important religious fi gure Christianity, infl uenced by both Jewish beliefs who was believed able to travel between this and Greek concepts of the immortality of the soul, world and the next, bearing messages, invok- has given great importance to heaven as a place of ing gods and spirits, and guiding the souls (see eternal reward and happiness, and hell as a place SOUL, CONCEPTS OF) of the departed to their eternal of eternal punishment for the wicked. In ROMAN home. CATHOLICISM there is a third state, purgatory, where For the ancient Egyptians (see EGYPTIAN RELI- those neither ready for heaven nor bad enough GION), the afterlife was very important, above all for hell can suffer temporary punishment to purge for the pharaoh as the supreme human being in away their sins and fi nally enter heaven. Christian- charge of all others. The soul’s journey after death ity traditionally speaks of an individual judgment required elaborate preparations, such as making of the soul at the time of death, and then a bodily the body into a mummy. It was said that the soul resurrection of all the dead at the end of the world would be weighed against a feather to see how vir- with a fi nal judgment. Islam affi rms a day of judg- tuous it was. ment, when the righteous will be assigned to a In ZOROASTRIANISM it is believed that after death paradise fi lled with wonderful delights, and there the soul crosses a bridge to the other world, which is a more vaguely described place of punishment becomes a wide highway for the righteous but nar- for the wicked. row as a razor for the wicked. The latter then fall In the East, HINDUISM emphasizes reincarna- off into hell to be temporarily punished. On the tion based on KARMA, or cause and effect; for every last day God will resurrect (raise up and restore to thought, word, and deed there is a consequence. life in their bodies) all persons and create a fresh One can be reincarnated as an animal, human, or agriculture and religion S 9

in a heavenly or hellish state that will last until Death and the Afterlife: A Cultural Encyclopedia the good or bad karma is exhausted. The ultimate (Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2000). ideal is to become one with God, and so go beyond death and rebirth altogether. BUDDHISM is similar to Hinduism. There are six Aga Khan Persian for “great commander”; the places of possible rebirth, depending on karma: title of the leader of the Nizari Ismaili community in the hells, the realm of the hungry ghosts, the realm ISLAM. The Aga Khan is the IMAM or inspired leader of the asuras or titans (fi ghting giants), as an ani- of a community in SHI’ITE ISLAM known as the Nizari mal, as a human, or in one of the heavens. These Ismaili community. Aga Khan I (1800–81) received too last only as long as the bad or good karma, and the designation from the shah of Persia in 1817. the supreme achievement is to become a Buddha Later he rebelled against one of the shah’s succes- and enter NIRVANA, unconditioned reality beyond sors and immigrated to India. There he assisted life or death. In one important form of Buddhism, British military efforts and won British favor. PURE LAND BUDDHISM, those who express faith in The title has been passed down to succes- AMIDA Buddha will be reborn after death in the sors of the fi rst Aga Khan: His son Aga Khan II Pure Land, a paradisal realm from which entering (d. 1885), his grandson Aga Khan III (1877–1957), into Nirvana is easy. and his great-grandson Aga Khan IV (b. 1937). In In China, TAOISM speaks of becoming an addition to overseeing their community, the Aga immortal, a deathless one, in this world or a Khans have been active in politics and business. heavenly realm. There are ways to attain immor- For example, Aga Khan III, a philanthropist and tality through YOGA or MEDITATION, through taking statesman, led the All-India Muslim League in its medicines of immortality made by ALCHEMY, and early years. In 1937 he was elected president of the through virtuous living. CONFUCIANISM, because of League of Nations. its emphasis on the family, makes much of ances- tral spirits that continue to bless the living. They are venerated at ancestral tablets in the home, in Agni God of fi re in the VEDA. Vedic HINDUISM— family temples, and at the grave. a form of Hinduism that scholars often suggest Although images of the afterlife in the world’s entered India from the northwest around 1500 religions are varied, many of these images have B.C.E.—centers upon performing SACRIFICES. As in common three features. First, the afterlife is a a result, the fi re into which sacrifi ces are made place of judgment in which the injustices of this assumes tremendous importance. It is worshipped world will be corrected; the wicked will be pun- as the god Agni. In the sacrifi cial grounds three ished and the good rewarded. Second, the world fi res represent Agni in the three levels of the uni- religions’ concepts of the afterlife see it as—at verse: HEAVEN, atmosphere, and earth. least for the righteous—a place of ease and beauty As the “oblation-eater” (the one who devours that compensates for the hardness of this world. sacrifi ces) Agni is the divine equivalent to the Third, whatever its form, the belief means that priest. He is responsible for purifying the gifts of there is more to the fullness of human life than human beings and bearing them to the gods. He just this world, that our lives are lived out on a also brings the blessings of the gods to human larger stage. beings. In the sacred collection of hymns known as the Rig-veda, he is praised more than any god Further reading: Mircea Eliade, Death, Afterlife, and but INDRA. Eschatology: A Thematic Sourcebook (New York: Harper & Row, 1974); Hiroshi Obayashi, ed., Death and Afterlife: Perspectives of World Religions (New agriculture and religion See PREHISTORIC York: Greenwood Press, 1992); Richard C. Taylor, RELIGION. 10 S ahimsa

ahimsa Sanskrit word for “non-injury”; a central monotheism from Akhenaton. There is no evi- ethical principle in the religion of JAINISM. Many dence to support such an idea. Hindus and Buddhists also teach ahimsa. Jains believe that any injury to another being produces KARMA and binds people to the world of alchemy The practice of using chemical experi- rebirth. Therefore, Jains avoid injuring others as ments or processes for such purposes as making much as possible. As a result, they act out of a potions of immortality or transmuting commoner supreme respect for life. metals into gold. Alchemy was widespread in the At a minimum Jains adopt a vegetarian diet, Middle Ages and early modern times in Europe, because plants are thought to suffer the least China, and elsewhere. In Europe a supreme goal injury of all living things. Jains also care for sick of the practice was isolating what was called the and dying animals in sanctuaries. Some Jains fi l- “philosopher’s stone,” which was believed to give ter their water, wear a mask over their mouth and eternal life. Alchemy was intertwined with the nose, and sweep their path as they walk to avoid origins of modern science, and even as great a accidentally injuring unseen creatures. The most fi gure as Isaac Newton was involved with it. As austere Jains end their lives by giving up food and alchemy sought to transmute “base metals” into water altogether. nobler ones like gold, create better medicines, In the early 20th century Mohandas GANDHI and fashion the “elixir of life,” some fundamen- made ahimsa a central idea in his teachings. tal discoveries about chemistry and medicine were made. Even with these discoveries, alchemy itself fell out of favor by the end of the 17th century. Ahura Mazda See ZOROASTRIANISM. Chinese alchemy, which fl ourished from the fi fth to ninth century, was largely focused on the quest for immortality. Scholars of alchemy, such as Carl Akhenaton (ruled approx. 1350–1334 B.C.E.) a Gustav JUNG and Mircea ELIADE, have shown that king of Egypt He is remembered for changes he alchemy often had a profoundly religious or psy- made to EGYPTIAN RELIGION. chological signifi cance, in which various elements When Akhenaton came to the throne, Egyp- and chemicals were seen as symbolic of spiritual tian religion focused on the WORSHIP of the god qualities, and a whole procedure was like a reli- AMON-Re. In the sixth year of his reign, however, gious rite. Akhenaton made the Aton or sun’s disk the central god of Egypt. He changed his name from Amenho- tep to Akhenaton, “Servant of the Aton.” He also Allah The Arabic word for GOD; specifi cally, the moved his capital up the Nile from Thebes to a designation for God in ISLAM. The basic Islamic place he named Akhetaton, known today as Ama- attitude to God is given in the profession of faith: rna. Akhenaton and his wife Nefertiti worshipped “There is no god but God [Allah].” Islam empha- only the Aton; the people worshipped Akhenaton sizes the unity of God. In doing so, it explicitly and Nefertiti. rejects as polytheistic Christian notions that God is Akhenaton’s changes did not last long after a TRINITY and that JESUS was divine. his death. His successor, Smenkhkare, destroyed In Islam, God is the creator of the universe the settlement of Akhetaton and moved the capi- and its eternal ruler. It is the duty of all creatures, tal back to Thebes. The next king, Tutankhamen, including human beings, to submit to his will. restored the cult of Amon. (Muslims speak of God in the masculine.) God has Many have seen Akhenaton as the fi rst mono- revealed his will through a line of prophets. This theist (see MONOTHEISM), but that claim is too bold. line culminates in the prophet MUHAMMAD. Islam Some have even speculated that MOSES learned also looks forward to a RESURRECTION of the dead. Amish S 11

At that time God will welcome the righteous into she once hid in a heavenly cave as protest against the gardens of paradise. her brother Susanoo, a storm god, when he des- Allah is not the only designation for God in ecrated her celebration of the harvest festival. She Islam. Muslims also recognize 99 “most beautiful was enticed out when another GODDESS did a comic names.” One of them, al-Rahman, occurs at the dance and the gods laughed uproariously, making beginning of almost every sura or section of the her curious. Amaterasu’s primary place of WORSHIP QUR’AN: “In the name of God, al-Rahman [the mer- is the Grand Shrine of ISE, where her chief symbol, ciful], al-Rahim [the compassionate].” an ancient mirror, is enshrined. The highest form of art in Islam is calligraphy, artistic writing. Ideal subjects for this art include verses from the Qur’an about God and his most Amida Japanese name of Amitabha, a cosmic beautiful names. BUDDHA. Amida is best known as the principal fi g- ure in the form of BUDDHISM known as PURE LAND BUDDHISM (Jodo in Japanese), which is very popu- al-Qaeda See QAEDA, AL-. lar in East Asia. It tells us that many aeons ago on becoming a buddha, Amida vowed that, out of compassion, he would bring all who called upon altar A place, usually elevated, on which peo- his name in simple faith to his HEAVEN or Pure Land, ple offer SACRIFICES. Altars vary greatly. There are also known as the Western Paradise, after death. home altars, public altars, portable altars, station- Temples in the Pure Land tradition generally have ary altars, freestanding altars, and altars associ- an image of Amida in MEDITATION as a central object ated with temples. Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and of WORSHIP, and often works of gold and jewels to some Protestant Christians call the table on which suggest the wonders of the Pure Land. the EUCHARIST is celebrated an altar, too. At times this altar has been shaped like a sarcophagus and required to hold a RELIC. Amish Particular groups of MENNONITE Chris- Many altars have been quite simple. The fi rst tians. The most traditional Amish are the Old Greek altars were simply piles of ash from previous Order Amish. They are probably the most visible sacrifi ces. Other altars have been great works of and best known Mennonites. That is because, par- art. The Pergamum Altar to ZEUS (164–156 B.C.E.), adoxically, they are so assiduous in avoiding the now in a Berlin museum, measures roughly 100 ways of the world. by 100 feet wide by 30 feet tall; its seven-foot-tall The Amish split off from other Mennonites marble frieze shows the battle of the gods and in the 1690s. The issue was discipline. All of the the giants. Some classic early European paintings “plain people”—conservative Mennonites, Amish, are altarpieces. A good example is the Isenheim and Brethren—observe a strict discipline. It cov- altarpiece by Matthias Grünewald (c. 1455–1580). ers many areas of life, such as dress and the use Vedic Hindus constructed elaborate altars, too (see of modern inventions. In observing the discipline VEDA). The scholar Stella Kramrisch once sug- they claim to practice what the BIBLE teaches, espe- gested that piled Vedic altars provided the models cially Romans 12.2: “Do not be conformed to this for Hindu temples. world.” In the 1690s Jakob Amman (c. 1675–1725), a Mennonite elder, disagreed with other elders over Amaterasu SHINTO goddess associated with how to enforce the discipline. Following certain the sun and believed to be the ancestress of the verses in the Bible, he taught that those who vio- Japanese imperial house. In mythology, she is lated the discipline should be shunned. That is, said to inhabit the High Plain of HEAVEN. There no member of the community should associate 12 S Amish

with them. Other Mennonites thought that shun- TALISM, CHRISTIAN). They liked its emphasis on the ning was too harsh. It meant, for example, that one Bible and on cultivating a personal relationship might have to avoid one’s own children. with GOD. Amish groups have bishops, preachers, At one time Amish Mennonites lived in sev- and elders, all of whom must be men. To avoid eral parts of Europe: Switzerland, Alsace (east- pride, these leaders are chosen by lot from candi- ern France), southern Germany, Holland, and dates recognized as worthy of the offi ce. Russia. Today the Amish live in North America, A person becomes Amish by being baptized, where they began to settle around 1720. The earli- generally around the age of 15 or 16. Once bap- est immigrants settled in Pennsylvania, especially tized, a person is subject to the community’s dis- Lancaster County. Amish immigrants also settled cipline or way of life. Technically, unbaptized chil- in western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, dren are not subject to the discipline’s rules, and Missouri, and Kansas. In the last years of the many teenagers from Amish families experience 20th century many Amish were leaving Lancaster the wilder aspects of life before being baptized. County, Pennsylvania, and moving farther west, For example, some keep cars “hidden” in distant some to the Midwest. Land in Lancaster County pastures on their parents’ farms. Nevertheless, an had become too expensive. (It is traditional for Amish childhood does not simply conform to what Amish families to purchase farms for their sons is common in the surrounding society. For exam- when their sons become adults.) Many Amish also ple, the Amish do not think a modern education is found the publicity they were receiving in Lan- necessary for those who drive horses and buggies, caster County distasteful. do not use public electricity or telephones, use Amish beliefs and practices are very similar to horses to pull ploughs, and insist that men wear those of other Mennonites. The Old Order Amish untrimmed beards. In cases of need they may ask conduct their WORSHIP services in a dialect of Ger- their non-Amish neighbors for rides or to take tele- man known as Pennsylvania Dutch; this is the phone messages. All plain people are strict paci- language that they ordinarily speak. Other Amish fi sts; because soldiers in Europe wore mustaches, conduct their services in English. Old Order ser- their men are not allowed to have them. vices are known for the slow, prolonged manner Despite the extremely plain lifestyle of the in which they sing in unison; a single hymn may Old Order Amish, it would be a serious mistake to take as much as half an hour. Other Amish sing see them as unchanging. They change in different more quickly; like other plain people they sing ways. Many Old Order Amish own tractors. They without instruments and often in four-part har- use them for power. Amish farmers have invented mony. Old Order Amish worship in homes. Other many pneumatic (air-driven) farm tools. Amish Amish have constructed church buildings. Men buggies may look plain and old fashioned on the and women sit separately. Like other plain people, outside. But within the limits of the discipline, the the Amish celebrate the EUCHARIST in the context of interiors of many buggies are plush. Some even a “love feast.” At this special service, often held in have special sound systems. the evening, participants not only partake of the Eucharist but also wash each other’s feet. In doing Further reading: Carl F. Bowman and Donald B. this, they follow the example of JESUS, who washed Kraybill, On the Backroad to Heaven (Baltimore: his disciples’ feet at their last meal together (John Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001); John A. 13.3–15). Hostetler, Amish Society, 3d ed. (Baltimore: Johns The Amish have traditionally shied away from Hopkins University Press, 1980); Lucian Niemeyer, Bible study and THEOLOGY. In their eyes, study sym- Old Order Amish (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins bolized the sin of pride. But in the late 20th century University Press, 1993); William I. Schreiber, Our many Amish were fi nding EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY Amish Neighbors (Chicago: University of Chicago attractive (see EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY; FUNDAMEN- Press, 1978). Analects of Confucius S 13

Amon Also spelled Amun; the chief god of Egypt condemn Israel for social injustices. They condemn in the New Kingdom. At fi rst Amon was only the rich Israelites for taking advantage of and cheating god of a small place. Around 2000 B.C.E. his cult was the poor. brought to Thebes, the capital of Egypt. He became The book of Amos is relatively short; it con- identifi ed with Re, the sun god. When the New tains nine chapters. It belongs to the portion of the Kingdom began in 1570 B.C.E. Amon-Re became the Hebrew Scriptures (see SCRIPTURES, HEBREW) known god of the kings and the king of the gods. as “The Twelve,” which Christians call “the minor Egyptian gods are sometimes shown with prophets.” It mostly prophesies destruction, but the heads of animals; Amon had the head of a the fi nal few verses promise that after the destruc- ram. His major temples sat on the east bank of tion, YHWH will restore his people. the Nile at Karnak and Luxor near Thebes. During festivals Amon went visiting. During one festival a procession carried him from Karnak to Luxor. Analects of Confucius The most important During another he visited the tombs on the west book containing the teachings of CONFUCIUS (551– bank of the Nile. As Egypt’s wealth grew, Amon’s 479 B.C.E.), the founder of CONFUCIANISM. Confu- temples became immense, and his priests became cius was one of the most infl uential teachers who extremely powerful. ever lived. But he did not actually write down his Amon had a consort, Mut (mother), and a son, teachings. After his death, his followers gathered Khonsu (the moon). Some later thinkers claimed his sayings. They were eventually collected into a that all the gods were his manifestations. Others book, the Analects. The Analects was put together claimed that he was JUPITER. Ruins of Amon’s tem- perhaps in the third century B.C.E. ples still stand at Karnak and Luxor. They attract The Analects does not expound Confucius’s hundreds of thousands of tourists each year. ideas in a neat, orderly sequence chapter by chap- ter. It also does not contain stories about Confu- cius’s birth, activities, and death, as, for example, Amos (active mid-700s B.C.E.) a prophet of the GOSPELS do about JESUS. Instead, the Analects ancient Israel Amos is also a book in the BIBLE contains short statements, sometimes no more containing the sayings of this prophet. Amos was than a single sentence long, unconnected with one a shepherd who lived in the town of Tekoa in another. These statements claim to present Confu- Judea during the reigns of Uzziah, king of Judea cius’s teachings in his own words. The following (783–742 B.C.E.), and Jeroboam II, king of Israel saying is typical: “Tzu-kung asked, ‘Is there a sin- (786–746 B.C.E.). He claims to have received gle word which can be a guide to conduct through- messages from the GOD YHWH (“the Lord”) that out one’s life?’ The master said, ‘It is perhaps the foretold the destruction of Israel’s neighbors: word “shu [reciprocity]” Do not impose on others Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Moab, and the what you yourself do not desire’ ” (Analects 15.24 Ammonites. They also foretold the destruction [Lau tr.]). of Judah. But most of the messages were about In the Analects, Confucius instructs his stu- the coming destruction of Israel. At the time that dents, who were male, on how to become gentle- probably seemed unlikely. men. To Confucius a gentleman was more than The Israelites were worshipping YHWH with someone who is courteous and polite. He was lavish SACRIFICES and offerings. According to Amos, someone with moral depth. Confucius considered however, God rejected these. He also faulted Israel the gentleman to be the ideal of what it means for for its failure to repent. The book is not very most people to be human. (A few go beyond being specifi c about what Israel has done wrong. Some gentlemen. They are sages.) verses hint that Israel had offended YHWH by In Confucius’s eyes, what characterizes a worshipping other gods. A few verses explicitly gentleman is humaneness. Humaneness has two 14 S ancestor worship

parts. One part is the golden rule: As Confucius This entry uses the term ancestor worship formulated it, do not do to someone what you because it is in common usage, but many scholars would not wish them to do to you. The other part fi nd the term misleading. For one thing, the word talks about how one should conduct oneself: One worship does not refl ect the wide variety of ritual should always strive to do one’s best. acts that the living direct toward their dead rela- Confucius believed that people had to work tives. For another, not every society distinguishes hard to realize virtue to the fullest. Virtue had to be between the living and the dead the way North cultivated through a process that lasted a lifetime. Americans do, so not every society thinks of dead The process began at home, with obedience and relatives as ancestors. The classic examples of this respect—the “fi lial piety”—that children showed second point are people known as the Suku, who their parents. If one did not love one’s parents, live in Zaire. Confucius asked, how could one love other mem- The practice of ancestor worship is ancient. bers of society? The process of cultivating virtue Perhaps the best known example of ancestor wor- continued in society as a whole. It did so as people ship in the ancient world comes from China, where observed the rules of proper behavior. Confucius ancestor worship is still strong today. Bronze ves- believed that one nurtured virtue, which is ulti- sels from China survive that were used in making mately an internal quality, through one’s external offerings to the ancestors almost 4,000 years ago. behavior. (Compare some North American par- Ancestor worship is widespread. It is espe- ents, who teach their children gratitude, an inter- cially practiced in China, Korea, and Japan. It is nal quality, by telling them to say “thank you,” an also practiced in HINDUISM, to some extent in BUD- external act.) DHISM, and in the indigenous religions of Africa, Confucius expected his gentlemen to be mem- the Americas, Australia, and Oceania. Not every bers of the government. He had a very specifi c idea religion, however, worships ancestors. Jews, of how it was best for them to rule. By passing Christians, and Muslims today remember their laws and meting out punishments, Confucius said, ancestors but do not worship them. A ritual exam- one could maintain order, but one would not make ple is the Jewish custom of lighting the Jahrzeit people more virtuous. The better way to rule was candle or light on the anniversary of a person’s by being virtuous and observing proper behavior death. But those who engage in such activities oneself. That way, people would develop a sense do not give dead relatives gifts or expect benefi ts of shame and as a result govern themselves. These from them. ideals of government often strike North Americans Ancestor worship often begins with the funeral. as unrealistic. It is good to remember, then, that In societies that worship ancestors the funeral is for centuries the Chinese government ruled a very not simply a way that the living deal with grief. It large territory at least in part by putting Confu- is a RITE OF PASSAGE by which a dead or dying rela- cius’s ideals into practice. tive becomes an ancestor. In some cultures these funerals, reserved for older relatives rather than children who die, are joyous occasions. Some cul- ancestor worship Rituals directed to relatives tures also pay special attention to the treatment or who have died, based on the belief that the spirits placement of the physical remains. For example, of the dead continue to infl uence the living. Ances- the Chinese use FENG-SHUI to determine the location tors are concerned with the well-being of their for a tomb that will make the ancestor’s existence descendants, but also with upholding traditional as benefi cial as possible. morality and the traditional family structure. They People worship ancestors by giving them gifts, will bless those who keep traditional sacred val- sharing a meal with them, and recalling them ues, but they may turn malevolent against unwor- through RITUALS, among other means. Hindus pres- thy descendants. ent rice balls known as pindas to their ancestors angels S 15

at several special occasions. They also sponsor feasts in which the ancestors participate, although priests known as BRAHMINS actually eat the food. In traditional Chinese communities, the ances- tors are honored at three places: at a household shrine, where simple offerings may be placed daily before a tablet bearing the names of the recently deceased; at an extended family shrine, where large tablets bearing the names of male ancestors for six generations back are set up on tiers and honored; and at the cemetery, where the family traditionally cleans the graves and sets out offer- ings twice a year, in spring and fall. While Chris- tians today do not engage in ancestor worship in a strict sense, archaeology seems to indicate that the earliest Christians did. They visited the graves of their ancestors and enjoyed a meal there with them. Many people believe that neglected ancestors have the power to cause illness and misfortune. Especially in these cases it is important to be able to communicate with the ancestors: to learn what The Shang rulers of China had ritual vessels cast in bronze has offended them and what one can do to stop to feast the ancestors. This example was decorated with their anger. In Korea SHAMANS traditionally consult taotie (t’ao t’ieh) mask images, representing either a the ancestors in an effort to alleviate the sufferings fl esh-eating monster or a celestial being. (© Asian Art & of their clients. In parts of Africa people use vari- Archaeology, Inc./CORBIS) ous methods of divination to determine what is troubling the ancestors. People also expect the ancestors, if they are treated properly, to help them. Such help often ecological explanation is intriguing, but not all includes health and material well-being. The so- scholars accept it. called CARGO CULTS of Melanesia are based on the belief that the spirits of the dead will eventually return and distribute riches among the living. In angels Pure spirits devoted to the worship and one cargo cult people used telephones to commu- service of GOD. Most developed religious tradi- nicate with the ancestors. In another they built a tions have a class of beings that range between landing strip for the ancestors to use when they the human realm and the supreme God or Ultimate return in airplanes. The cults began in the 19th Reality. They include lesser gods, SAINTS, ancestral century when European explorers distributed gifts spirits (see ANCESTOR WORSHIP), BODHISATTVAS, and to the islanders. today even aliens from other planets. Angels are There may be more to ancestor worship than among the most prominent, especially in mono- fi rst meets the eye. One scholar has argued that theistic (believing in one God) religions. They are for one group of people in Melanesia ancestor believed to be pure spirits created directly by God worship was actually a way by which the peo- to praise and honor him in HEAVEN and to serve as ple, perhaps unknowingly, maintained a balance his messengers (the word angel comes from the between yams and pigs in their diets. Such an Greek angellos, messenger) on Earth. 16 S angels

Angels are important in the Western religious traditions, JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, and ISLAM. Here they have several roles. A hierarchy, including the mighty archangels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and others, is believed to praise and serve God in heaven. According to ancient sources, there are ranks of angels, in descending order known as Ser- aphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominations, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, and ordinary angels. A well-known story, hinted at in the Bible but developed by the poet John Milton and others, says that SATAN, the devil, was once a very high angel, Lucifer (Lightbearer), but rebelled against God and was cast out of heaven and into hell. Second, angels are messengers of God. Arch- angels and angels have performed missions for God crucial to the central narratives of these three faiths. In the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament The Annunciation by Botticelli. The archangel Gabriel to Christians) angels guarded the Garden of Eden announces to the Virgin Mary that she is to bear the son of after ADAM and EVE were driven out of that gar- God. (Alinari/Art Resource, N.Y.) den. They visited ABRAHAM with the promise of a son, and the prophet ISAIAH saw a six-winged cherubim, a kind of angel, in the temple. In Chris- tianity, it was the archangel Gabriel who visited pictured various spirits in this way, although some MARY to inform her she would become the mother ancient Hebrew angels, like the one Isaiah saw, of the Savior, JESUS, and angels appeared singing were also winged. Historically, angels may have in the skies at the time of his birth in Bethlehem. been a way to bring popular belief in many gods In Islam, the same archangel, Gabriel, delivered and spirits into harmony with belief in one God, the sacred scriptures, the QUR’AN to the prophet by making them all his servants. But belief has MUHAMMAD. On a more personal level, these faiths certainly been reinforced by accounts from numer- have traditionally believed that each individual has ous ordinary people who report angelic help and a guardian angel who guides and protects him or encounters. One such account is from the founding her. There is some popular belief that the departed of the Church of Jesus Christ of LATTER-DAY SAINTS, become angels after death, but this is not consid- the Mormon Church, by Joseph Smith (1805–44). ered orthodox. Beginning in 1823, the angel Moroni is said to have Third, angels are pictured as protectors. Great visited Smith in upstate New York, and directed archangels are patrons of nations and cities; lesser him to the golden plates containing the Book of angels of individuals are “guardian angels,” desig- Mormon, scriptures supplemental to the Bible in nated to help those persons and fend off tempta- Mormonism. Moroni is often portrayed atop Mor- tions from the demons. mon temples. Angels have traditionally been portrayed as In HINDUISM and BUDDHISM, the equivalent of beautiful human-like fi gures with wings. They angels are beautiful fi gures, apsaras or yaksas in often appear female but are said to be sexless, India, tennin or tennyo in Japan, said to inhabit although the greatest archangels are often repre- the heavens of the gods, the Pure Land, and even sented as male. The wings are partly due to the mountains and forests as playful or mysterious infl uence of ancient Greek and Roman art, which spirits. Some may tempt holy men, but in their Anglicanism S 17

most exalted conceptualization, as in the Pure lished an independent METHODISM. In the 19th cen- Land, they represent the wonderful joy of the tury the Oxford Movement sought to reaffi rm the world of gods and buddhas. The Taoist (see TAO- Catholic identity of the Anglican tradition. ISM) immortals also have some angelic characteris- English colonization from the 17th through the tics, and live in beautiful places in heaven or Earth 19th century helped spread Anglicanism overseas. accompanied by other worldly beings of angelic Originally Anglicanism was the established or offi - character. cial religion of the American colonies of Virginia, Lately there has been a renewal of interest in the Carolinas, and Georgia. After the Revolution- angels in popular culture in the United States. These ary War, American Anglicans formed an indepen- beautiful beings appear to have meaning to many dent Episcopal Church (see EPISCOPALIANISM). This moderns, just as they did for people of the past. church was in communion with the Church of England but did not pledge allegiance to the British Further reading: Gustav Davidson, A Dictionary throne. Since then other Anglican churches have of Angels (New York: Free Press, 1971); Rosemary arisen throughout the world. They are referred Guiley, Encyclopedia of Angels (New York: Facts to collectively as the Anglican Communion. The On File, 1996). churches of this communion are independent but recognize the Archbishop of Canterbury as “fi rst among equals.” Their bishops meet roughly every Anglicanism The form of CHRISTIANITY repre- 10 years, in what are called Lambeth Conferences, sented by the Church of England and churches in after the name of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s other parts of the world in “communion” or offi cial headquarters in London. association with it. In the early 1530s King Henry Anglicans have not defi ned themselves by VIII (1491–1547) of England wanted to annul his a detailed set of beliefs, as some churches have. marriage to Catherine of Aragon (1485–1536). They do, however, generally respect a set of Thirty- The pope refused to grant him an annulment, so Nine Articles adopted in the 1560s. According to Henry and Parliament, in the Act of Supremacy of these and other statements, Anglicans acknowl- 1534, declared the English church to be indepen- edge the BIBLE as the ultimate authority in matters dent of the PAPACY and the King to be the earthly of faith. Unlike adherents of FUNDAMENTALISM, they head of the church, with the Archbishop of CAN- have generally been open to modern methods of TERBURY remaining its ecclesiastical leader. Henry biblical interpretation. They also acknowledge the preserved Catholic teachings and practices. After Apostles’ Creed and Nicene CREEDS, and they teach Henry’s death, strong forces favored the more rad- the views of the TRINITY and the INCARNATION devel- ical changes of the Protestant REFORMATION. Hen- oped in the ancient church. ry’s daughter Elizabeth I (1533–1603) mediated Anglicans have defi ned themselves much between Catholic traditionalism and Protestant more by practice than by belief. In doing so, they reform. Under her the Church of England as we have emphasized WORSHIP as central to the church’s know it took shape. work. The most important document of the church Anglican churches see themselves as pursu- has always been the Book of Common Prayer. ing a middle way between ROMAN CATHOLICISM Renowned for its beautiful language, it translates and PROTESTANTISM. Since Elizabeth’s time several into English revised versions of the worship ser- movements have stressed one side or the other of vices used before the Protestant Reformation. It its rich heritage. In the 18th century the Church has forms for the administration of the traditional of England experienced revivals that emphasized seven SACRAMENTS, of which BAPTISM and the EUCHA- conversion experiences. A leader in this movement RIST are said to be most important. was John WESLEY (1703–91). He never actually left Another distinctive mark of the Anglican the Church of England, but his followers estab- churches is their emphasis on bishops. They have 18 S animals and religion preserved the apostolic succession of bishops. situation is signifi cant for several reasons, above That is, their line of bishops is claimed to extend all because the Anglican Communion, more than without a break back to the APOSTLES. Besides bish- most denominations, now includes as equal part- ops the Anglican churches have both priests and ners sizable national churches in diverse parts deacons. Since the 19th century they have also had of the world. It can serve as a sort of laboratory their own MONKS AND NUNS. illustrating the tensions and prospects in what One question sparked much controversy in has been called the “New Christendom.” More the late 20th century: Could women be priests and and more in the 21st century, the demographics bishops? The majority of Anglicans decided that of the Christian religion are changing, so that its they could. In the United States the fi rst woman real center of vitality and numerical strength is not priest was ordained in the 1970s and the fi rst in Europe and North America but instead in Asia, woman bishop in 1989. In England the fi rst woman Africa, and Latin America. Clashes are bound to priest was not ordained until 1994. occur because of the different values and cultural More recently, the questions of ordaining background of the older versus the younger but homosexuals and of blessing same-sex unions maturing wings of the religion. The test for Angli- or performing marriages for such couples have canism, as it experiences these confl icts, will be to divided the Anglican Communion and several show whether common bonds can be found that churches within it. At the 1998 Lambeth Confer- are stronger than the differences. ence, difference of opinion on the role of women Further reading: Paul D. L. Avis, Anglican and homosexuality, and on liberal versus con- Understanding of the Church: An Introduction servative doctrinal and moral questions gener- (London: SPCK, 2000); Susan Dowell and Jane ally, were evident between Anglican churches in Williams, Bread, Wine, and Women: The Ordination Western and developing countries. Churches in Debate in the Church of England (London: Virago, Britain, North America, Australia, and New Zea- 1994); Hugh G. G. Herklots, Frontiers of the Church: land tended to be liberal on such matters, though The Making of the Anglican Communion (London: there were signifi cant conservative factions within Benn, 1961). them. Churches in Asia, Africa, and Latin America tended, like their societies, generally to be tradi- tional in their values regarding gender and family. The latter churches were largely founded by mis- animals and religion The symbolism and sionary outreach from the older churches in the role of animals in religion. Animals have had 19th century, but they are now growing far more a profound signifi cance for religion as far back rapidly than the parent churches under their own as religion can be traced. The famous Old Stone indigenous leaders. At the conference, exchanges Age cave paintings of game animals undoubtedly on gender and sexuality were sometimes heated, had some kind of spiritual meaning. But mean- and resolutions favoring the more liberal attitudes ing and attitude have varied greatly from one often failed. religious culture to another. In hunting cultures, Since 1998, the division has become more where animals are a major source of food and pronounced. After the consecration of an openly their killing a mark of human prowess, hunting homosexual priest, the Reverend V. Gene Robin- is a religious activity, involving spiritual prepara- son, as bishop of New Hampshire in the United tion by such means as fasting, performing sacred States in 2003, talk began of a possible split in the dances before setting out, and observing taboos Anglican Communion. in the fi eld. PRAYERS may also be addressed to However, the Anglican Communion has his- the animal to be killed, and petitions made to a torically found ways to embrace a variety of points “Master of Animals” deity believed able to give of view and forms of practice. Its 21st-century or withhold game. animals and religion S 19

In many societies, especially early agricultural religious obligation. In JAINISM, AHIMSA, or harm- or pastoral (herding) ones, animals have often been lessness toward all animate life, is a way of affi rm- the subjects of religious SACRIFICE. One example is ing the sacred character of such life and the souls the religion of the ancient Hebrews. The rationale within it. Many Hindus and Buddhists also practice is varied: It is believed that the savor of the offered such harmlessness for spiritual reasons (see HINDU- meat pleases GOD or the gods; that the sacrifi ce to ISM and BUDDHISM). Sometimes certain animals are the highest of something economically valuable, as protected and not killed because of their meaning animals certainly were, indicates faith and devo- as the “totem,” the emblem or animal protector, of tion; that the life of the animal goes into the crops a community. Hindu India’s well-known “sacred and the community; or that the spirit of the animal cows” suggest compassion and the sacredness of is a messenger on behalf of the people to the gods. motherhood and all life to its people. If the fl esh, after being offered, is then consumed Animals also have widespread symbolic by the community, that sacred meal can be like a meanings in religion. Religious art is full of ani- holy communion with the gods and a way of reaf- mals. Sometimes gods are portrayed as animals, or fi rming their identity. as half-animal and half-human, like many Egyp- On the other hand, the protection of some ani- tian deities (see EGYPTIAN RELIGION) or the Hindu mals, or of all animals, can also be viewed as a GANESA, with an elephant head and a human body.

For Hindus cows have special status. This one is shown walking in the streets of Nepal. (Getty Images) 20 S animism

In CHRISTIANITY, the Holy Spirit is often portrayed a short step to apply it to the world of nature. Spir- as a dove. Many gods and Christian SAINTS have an its explained the growth of trees and animals, the animal companion or symbol: the bull of SIVA, the roar of the thunder, anything unusual. Indeed, for owl of ATHENA, the eagle of St. John. In such cases Tylor’s “primitives” the whole world was full of the animal is usually said to embody a particular spirits. Tylor buttressed his account with numer- virtue important to that fi gure: the bull as a token ous references to reports about the religion of liv- of fertility, the owl of wisdom, the eagle of soaring ing “primitives.” to the heights. There were, however, competing theories. Animals are our companions and relatives The anthropologist R. R. Marett said that there here on Earth. Yet because they cannot speak or was a stage even earlier than animism: not think exactly as we do, they are always objects of so much belief as emotional awe in the pres- mystery to humans. Given this, it is inevitable that ence of an impersonal force, something like religion would make much of animals. religious electricity. Marett called this religion preanimism or DYNAMISM. Prominent thinkers like Sigmund FREUD and Émile DURKHEIM picked animism Belief in spirits. Strictly speaking, the up on an idea of W. Robertson Smith. He had term animism refers to a theory about the origin of suggested that TOTEMISM was the earliest reli- religion. The theory is now widely rejected. Some gion. James George FRAZER hypothesized that a still use the word to refer to the religious beliefs stage of MAGIC had preceded religion. Wilhelm and practices of indigenous peoples. But the beliefs Schmidt said all these theories were wrong. The and practices to which animism refers vary widely. first religion had been the belief in a high god, As a result, what animists believe and do must be “primal MONOTHEISM.” determined on a case-by-case basis. There was really no conclusive evidence for In 1871 the English anthropologist Edward any of these views of religion’s origin. Further- Burnett Tylor (1832–1917) published an epoch- more, Tylor treated religion as if it were nothing making book, Primitive Culture. In it, he developed more than a set of beliefs. As anthropologists the theory that animism—the belief in spirits—was spent time with peoples outside of Europe, they the origin of religion. began to realize that Tylor and others had used At the time Tylor was writing, many authors their evidence in crude and misleading ways. were developing evolutionary theories of religion They gave up the search for the origins of religion (see EVOLUTION AND RELIGION). They assumed that and culture and studied contemporary religions evolution always moved in one direction: from the and cultures instead. simplest to the most complex forms. Therefore, to But Tylor’s infl uence had been enormous. fi nd the origin of religion, all one had to do was “Animism” had become a polite term for what peo- identify its simplest form. Tylor thought he had ple used to call “paganism,” “heathenism,” and found it: the belief in spirits. “savagery.” At the end of the 20th century some Tylor suggested how people fi rst came to still used the term. believe in spirits. A corpse is strikingly different from a living human being. But what makes it dif- ferent? Tylor said that “primitives” attributed the Anselm (c. 1033–1109) a medieval Christian difference to a spirit that animates the body, that thinker Anselm was a BENEDICTINE monk (see is, that makes the body alive. Tylor also pointed MONKS AND NUNS) who rose to become archbishop of to the difference between dreaming and waking. CANTERBURY, the most important Christian leader in He said that to explain the experience of dreams, England. After he died, the Roman Catholic Church “primitives” hypothesized that the spirit left the offi cially declared him a SAINT. He is venerated on body. Once the idea of spirit was born, it was just April 21, the date of his death. anti-Semitism S 21

Anselm is remembered most for the way he anti-Semitism Words, actions, and attitudes tried to prove that GOD exists (see GOD, THE EXIS- directed against Jews because they are Jews. The TENCE OF). He defi ned God as “the greatest object term was actually coined in 1879 by Wilhelm that can be thought of.” Then he argued that, given Marr, a German conservative politician, to identify this defi nition, God had to exist: A God who actu- an anti-Jewish racial policy that he and his fellow ally existed would be greater than any God who conservatives advocated. In the 20th century anti- was only imagined. Anselm also claimed that no Semitism led to the murder of roughly 6 million one could know what the word “God” means and Jews in the HOLOCAUST. still doubt that God existed. Some people have rejected Anselm’s proof. ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE ANCIENT WORLD Among them are the great Christian theologian Although the word was fi rst coined in 1879, anti- Thomas AQUINAS and the important philosopher Semitism is by no means new. After the conquests Immanuel Kant. of Alexander the Great (d. 323 B.C.E.), Greek- speaking or “Hellenistic” culture became the norm throughout the eastern Mediterranean region and Antichrist In Christianity, a fi gure opposed to the Near East. Those who favored Hellenistic CHRIST. The Antichrist is expected to come at the culture at times looked down upon Jews. Many end of time. Greeks valued reason in pursuit of the truth. Some In the NEW TESTAMENT (see BIBLE, BIBLICAL LITERA- of them saw the Jews’ reliance upon God’s revela- TURE) only the letters of John mention the Antichrist. tion (see TORAH) as superstition. Even more Greeks In these letters the Antichrist is the person “who saw the practice of CIRCUMCISION, an important sign denies the Father and the Son.” Furthermore, John’s of identity for Jewish males, as a distasteful muti- letters suggest that many Antichrists are already in lation of the body. the world. That, the letters say, is a sign that the last Hellenistic culture was not, however, the pri- days have already arrived (1 John 2.18–25). mary source of anti-Semitism in the ancient world; Although other New Testament writers did not CHRISTIANITY was. Some see evidence of anti-Semi- use the word “Antichrist,” they shared the belief in tism in the most sacred writings of Christianity, the a being or force opposed to JESUS. The book of REV- New Testament. Pertinent passages include Mat- ELATION has been particularly infl uential. Christians thew 23, John 8.34–47, and, most fatefully, Mat- have often taken one of the beasts in Revelation thew 27.25, in which “the Jews” proclaim them- to be the Antichrist. (See also 2 Thessalonians 2, selves and their descendants guilty of JESUS’ death. which anticipates the coming of an unnamed, law- Many biblical scholars see these and other pas- less opponent to Christ.) sages as motivated by fi erce competition between Speculation about the identity of the Antichrist Jews and early Christians. They do not consider has been rampant throughout Christian history. them historically reliable. At one time or another, Christians have identifi ed On the basis of such passages, ancient Chris- Simon Magus (a miracle-worker in the book of tian teachers could utter fi ercely anti-Semitic state- Acts), MUHAMMAD, particular popes and Byzantine ments. For example, John Chrysostom (c. 347–407), emperors, Napoleon, Adolf Hitler, institutions such a leader of the Orthodox Church in Asia Minor as the PAPACY, and ideologies such as communism (now Turkey), taught that Jews were viler than with the Antichrist. wild animals and that all Christians had an obliga- Some who have opposed Christianity and its tion to hate them. AUGUSTINE, bishop of Hippo and values have seen the Antichrist as a positive, not one of the most infl uential Roman Catholic think- a negative fi gure. The best example is the German ers, wrote a “Tractate against the Jews.” He taught philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who wrote a book that Jews should be humiliated in punishment for entitled The Antichrist. rejecting Jesus. 22 S anti-Semitism

ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE MEDIEVAL AND pendence,” these rights included “life, liberty, and REFORMATION PERIODS the pursuit of happiness.” Infl uenced by this kind of thinking, one European country after another During the Middle Ages, anti-Semitic activity removed legal restrictions that had been placed shifted from the regions around the Mediterranean on Jews. Especially during the 19th century Jews Sea to Europe. began in theory to participate equally as full mem- Jews were systematically barred from many bers of European society. economic institutions. The theologian Thomas In the late 19th century, however, a backlash AQUINAS taught that because Jews were guilty of arose. Some politicians used ideas about race and deicide (“killing God”), princes were permitted to genetics to develop an anti-Semitic program. They take their property whenever they wanted. Espe- attributed a barrage of vices to Jews and lobbied cially from 1200 on, Jews were required to live in for the reimposition of traditional restrictions. In separate areas, sometimes surrounded by walls. In the 20th century this backlash attained horrid pro- Italian these areas were called ghettos. portions in the Nazi HOLOCAUST. In the same period rumors about Jews Anti-Semitism persists today, but among abounded. They were said to conspire against Americans and Europeans overt anti-Semitism is Christianity, deliberately to desecrate the host generally confi ned to marginal groups such as the (communion bread) as they had desecrated Ku Klux Klan and the neo-Nazis. The establish- Christ’s body, and to kill Christian children and ment of the state of Israel in 1948 has prompted use their blood for RITUAL purposes. Some Euro- the rise of anti-Semitism in the Islamic world, pean Christians used the last charge to justify where it had previously been less prevalent. In the lynching Jews for over 800 years. Also during United States, anti-Semitic statements by leaders the Middle Ages, Jews were expelled from every of the Nation of Islam (see ISLAM, NATION OF) have country in Europe except Poland. They fell vic- contributed to tensions between the Jewish and tim to pogroms or massacres, for example during African-American communities. the CRUSADES and the Black Death (1348–50). In addition, some Jews were severely pursued by the Spanish INQUISITION. CONCLUSION The Protestant REFORMATION (the 16th century) Anti-Semitism has a long history. It has been espe- brought more of the same. For example, Martin cially common among European Christians and LUTHER thought he had purifi ed Christianity of their descendants. At least for the last 1,000 years, every impediment that had prevented people from this history has included severe atrocities. At the becoming Christian. He was offended that Jews same time, it would be very wrong to think of all did not convert. In 1543 he wrote a book, Against Christians and Muslims as anti-Semites. Especially the Jews and Their Lies. In it he encouraged his since World War II, many Christian churches and followers to burn down synagogues and steal land denominations have worked hard to develop an owned by Jews. appreciation and respect for JUDAISM. Further reading: David Cook, Contemporary ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE MODERN PERIOD Muslim Apocalyptic Literature (Syracuse, N.Y.: AND THE PRESENT Syracuse University Press, 2005); Edward H. The movement of thought known as the Enlight- Flannery, The Anguish of the Jews: Twenty-three enment (the 17th century to the 18th century) Centuries of Antisemitism, rev. ed. (New York: changed the position of Jews in European soci- Paulist Press, 1985); Rosemary Ruether, Faith ety. It taught that all human beings, by virtue of and Fratricide (New York: Seabury, 1974); Meyer being human, enjoyed certain basic civil rights. Weinberg, Because They Were Jews: A History of According to the American “Declaration of Inde- Antisemitism (New York: Greenwood, 1986). apocalyptic literature S 23

Aphrodite See VENUS. misery will be transformed or obliterated and a new world of joy and bliss will take its place. From such apocalyptic expectations, Jewish people in apocalyptic literature A kind of literature in the late Second Temple period (200 B.C.E.–70 C.E.) JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, and GNOSTICISM. An apoca- began to hope for a MESSIAH. lyptic book is called an apocalypse. The best Gnostic apocalypses are somewhat different. known apocalypse is the NEW TESTAMENT book of That is because of the way Gnostics think of the REVELATION. world and SALVATION. Like Christians, Gnostics The word “apocalyptic” comes from a Greek envision a liberation from the present existence. word that means “to uncover,” thus “to reveal But they do not connect that liberation with the something that is hidden.” The second meaning course of history. They envision it as a freeing of is a good indication of what apocalyptic literature elements of light and goodness that are mixed up does. with darkness and evil. Gnostic apocalypses, then, Apocalyptic literature provides knowledge to tend to talk not about history but about metaphys- which people otherwise would not have access. ics. They describe the hidden world beyond the It generally claims that its knowledge comes from world in which we live, and they describe what one—or both—of two sources. One source is a vision happens to the liberated soul. that a person on Earth has of the spiritual realm. Almost all apocalypses are “pseudonymous.” A good example is the second half of the book of That means that, although they claim to be writ- DANIEL in the Hebrew BIBLE (Daniel 7–12). A second ten by famous people in the past, they are not so. source for apocalyptic knowledge is a journey into The book of Daniel is one example. Although Dan- HEAVEN. Beginning in chapter four, the author of the iel claims to live during the Babylonian exile, his New Testament book of Revelation is basically tak- book’s content makes it clear that it was actually ing a guided tour of the spiritual realm. written about the time of the Maccabean revolt Whether they see visions or journey to heaven, (167–164 B.C.E.). Many apocalypses outside the those who are privileged to have these experiences Bible claim to be written by such famous fi gures need help in understanding what they encounter. as ADAM, Enoch, NOAH, ABRAHAM, MOSES, or, among That is because what they encounter combines the Gnostics, PETER, PAUL, and James. The New natural features in unusual and obscure ways. For Testament book of Revelation is an exception. Its example, Daniel sees a ram with horns of different author actually identifi es himself as John. Scholars sizes and a goat with one horn. The goat defeats debate whether this John had any relation to the the ram, loses its horn, and gains four more horns. apostle John. A little horn grows out of one of the four horns. The prophecies that apocalypses contain are Then it disrupts the SACRIFICES to “the prince of the very helpful in showing when they were writ- host” (Daniel 8.1–14). Daniel says that the ANGEL ten. Apocalypses often describe in very fi gurative Gabriel helped him understand this vision (Dan- language the recent history of the people among iel 8.15–17). Indeed, the authors of apocalyptic whom the writer of the apocalypse lived. The book literature often claim that spiritual intermediaries, of Daniel provides a good example. The ram in such as angels, helped them understand what they Daniel 8 is probably the Persian Empire, made up encountered. of Persians and Medes (the two horns). The goat is Many Jewish and Christian apocalypses pro- probably Alexander the Great. Alexander’s empire vide a special look at the course of world history. split into four parts (the four horns). From one of They often talk about periods of history, and they the horns, the Seleucids, came Antiochus IV. In associate these periods with fantastic symbols, 167 B.C.E. Antiochus outlawed traditional Jewish such as the horns in Daniel 8. They also envision sacrifi ces and built an ALTAR to ZEUS in the Temple a time when the present world of suffering and (“the abomination that desolates” of Daniel 9.27). 24 S Apocrypha

That sparked the Maccabean revolt. Daniel’s vision Apocalyptic ideas and images are not, how- predicts this abomination will last only 1,150 days. ever, limited to these Christians. A popular book Indeed, after about three and a half years the Mac- about indigenous Americans, Black Elk Speaks, cabeans expelled the Seleucids and rededicated records a great vision that resembles ancient apoc- the temple. That event is celebrated in the Jewish alyptic literature in many respects. Science fi ction festival of HANUKKAH. also develops apocalyptic themes. Some scholars speculate that apocalyptic lit- Further reading: Paul Boyer, When Time Shall erature has roots in ZOROASTRIANISM. Zoroastrian- Be No More: Popular Belief in Modern American ism was the offi cial religion of the Persians, who Culture (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University freed the Jewish people from exile in Babylon. Press, 1992); Stephen Cook, The Apocalyptic It envisions a fi nal battle in which good defeats Literature (Nashville: Abingdon, 2003); Amy evil. Apocalyptic literature also has its roots in the Frykholm, Rapture Culture: Left Behind in visions of ancient prophets. A good example is ISA- Evangelical America (New York: Oxford University IAH’s vision of GOD’s heavenly throne (Isaiah 6). Press, 2004); D. S. Russell, Divine Disclosure: An The earliest apocalypse may be as old as the Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic (Minneapolis: 300s B.C.E. But most Jewish apocalypses addressed Fortress Press, 1992). the uncertain time from the Maccabean revolt to the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. Apocalyptic thinking assured people whose political fortunes were uncertain that God was on their side. After 70 Apocrypha Books that Protestants do not recog- C.E. rabbinical Judaism largely rejected apocalyptic nize as part of the Old Testament but that Roman thinking. Catholics and some Orthodox churches do. Apocry- Apocalyptic thinking also appealed to a dif- pha is a Greek word meaning “hidden.” Protestants ferent movement that grew out of late Second use it for several books that they do not accept as Temple Judaism: Christianity. The GOSPELS of Mat- biblical. Catholics prefer the term deuterocanoni- thew, Mark, and Luke ascribe a minor apocalypse cal. This term means that although the books were to Jesus himself (Mark 13.5–37 and parallel pas- not part of the fi rst canon of the Old Testament, sages). It seems to refer to the siege of JERUSA- they are still authoritative. The books in the Apoc- LEM and the destruction of the Temple. The New rypha are Tobit, Judith, the Wisdom of Solomon, Testament book of Revelation is only one of sev- Ecclesiasticus (also known as the Wisdom of Jesus, eral apocalypses that the earliest Christians used. Son of Sirach), Baruch (including the Letter of JER- Ancient Gnostics also wrote apocalyptic literature. EMIAH), and 1 and 2 Maccabees, along with addi- Three of them—the apocalypses of Peter, Paul, tions to the book of ESTHER and three additions to and James—were found among the Nag Hammadi the book of DANIEL (The Prayer of Azariah and the Codices in 1945. Song of the Three Jews, Susanna, and Bel and the At the end of the 20th century apocalyptic lit- Dragon). Other apocryphal books that the Roman erature still exercised its fascination. It did so in Catholic Church does not accept as deuterocanoni- several ways. cal are: 1 and 2 Esdras, 3 and 4 Maccabees, The Many fundamentalist Christians adopted a Prayer of Manasseh, and Psalm 151. point of view known as “dispensationalism” (see EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY and FUNDAMENTALISM, WHY IS THERE AN APOCRYPHA? CHRISTIAN). They divided history into several “dis- CHRISTIANITY came into existence before the con- pensations” and read biblical prophecies, espe- tent of the Hebrew scriptures had been fi xed (see cially the book of Revelation, as predicting current SCRIPTURES, HEBREW). Because the earliest Christians events. Some recent popular literature has made spoke Greek, they used as their Old Testament a much of the RAPTURE, an apocalyptic motif. Greek version of Hebrew writings known as the Apollo S 25

Septuagint. This version contained more material in every generation she passes into holy souls and than what eventually became the Hebrew Bible. make them friends of God, and prophets, for God Some church leaders were always aware of the dif- loves nothing so much as the person who lives ference between the Old Testament and the Hebrew with wisdom.” Bible. It did not become important, however, until 1 and 2 Maccabees are about the sufferings the Protestant REFORMATION. At that time the Prot- of the Jewish people under Persian rulers in the estants decided to recognize only the books in the early 100s B.C.E. and how the Maccabees led them Hebrew Bible as having authority. In response, the to independence in 164 B.C.E. Perhaps the best- Council of TRENT declared in 1546 that the deutero- known story in these books is the story of the canonical books were just as authoritative as the rededication of the Temple. Jews celebrate this books in the Hebrew Bible. event at HANUKKAH.

CONTENT OF THE APOCRYPHA INFLUENCE OF THE APOCRYPHA Regardless of whether one believes that the books Although Protestants have rejected the Apocrypha, of the Apocrypha have authority, some of them are these books have had a major infl uence on Euro- remarkable. Some books tell folk stories. Judith is pean culture. For example, the composer Georg the story of a woman who saved her people when Friedrich Handel (1685–1759) wrote two oratorios the Babylonian army was laying siege to her city. based on the Apocrypha: Susanna and Judas Mac- She entertained the general of the opposing army, cabaeus. European painters often painted scenes got him drunk, and then, when he was sleeping, from Susanna, Tobit, and Judith. A striking exam- cut off his head with his own sword. Susanna is ple is Judith Slaying Holofernes by Artemisia Gen- the story of a woman whom two old men falsely tilleschi (1597–1651). The Apocrypha even played accuse of adultery because she has refused to have a role in the European discovery of the Americas. sex with them. Daniel, still a boy, proves that the After reading a verse in 2 Esdras, Christopher two old men were lying. They are put to death. Columbus (1451–1506) reasoned that the distance Tobit tells of a man who is blinded for doing a across the Atlantic from Europe to Asia could not righteous deed but recovers his sight. be very far. He was wrong, but he discovered the Two books of the Apocrypha, the Wisdom of Americas as a result. Solomon and Sirach, are considered WISDOM LITERA- TURE. They touch upon a great variety of topics, but Further reading: R. H. Charles, Apocrypha and some people fi nd them to be not so profound as Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament (Oxford: wisdom books in the Hebrew Bible, such as Job or Oxford University Press, 1998); Michael D. Coogan Ecclesiastes. For example, Ecclesiasticus assumes et al., eds., The New Oxford Annotated NRSV Bible that people can choose to be good all the time: “If with the Apocrypha, 3d ed. (New York: Oxford you choose, you can keep the commandments, and University Press, 2001); Daniel J. Harrington, to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice” Invitation to the Apocrypha (Grand Rapids, Mich.: (15.15). It also does not seem to recognize, as Job W. B. Eerdmans, 1999); Otto Kaiser, The Old does, the problem of undeserved suffering: “every- Testament Apocrypha: An Introduction (Peabody, one receives in accordance with his or her deeds” Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 2004). (16.14). These books do, however, celebrate Wis- dom personifi ed in highly poetic terms, as in this passage from Wisdom of Solomon: “[Wisdom] is a Apollo An ancient Greek god of social order and refl ection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the law. Artwork shows Apollo as an ideal young man, working of God, and an image of his goodness. just reaching maturity, often holding a bow or a Although she is but one, she can do all things, and lyre. He seems especially to have been the protec- while remaining in herself, she renews all things; tor of young men as they became old enough to 26 S apostles

enter public life. More broadly, Apollo was a god the 12; according to the NEW TESTAMENT (see BIBLE, of order and justice. As such, the Greeks routinely BIBLICAL LITERATURE), GOD chose Matthias to take his consulted him when they were thinking of estab- place (ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 1.15–26). lishing colonies. In addition, Apollo was associated The word apostle, however, does not refer with herding, music, and prophecy. It has been only to the 12 disciples. PAUL, the early mission- popular to suggest that Apollo was a god of the ary to the non-Jews of the Roman Empire, calls sun. That view was common among Hellenistic himself an apostle. He also calls James, the brother and Roman writers. (Hellenistic literature is Greek of Jesus and one of the most important leaders of literature after Alexander the Great [d. 323 B.C.E.]) the Jewish Christians in JERUSALEM, an apostle. But Apollo’s connections with the sun always Other writers refer to other persons as apostles. played a very minor role in his worship. Taken most broadly, apostles are the most promi- Apollo had two important sanctuaries. The nent leaders of the earliest Christian communities, fi rst was the sacred island of Delos in the Aegean regardless of whether or not they were among the Sea; the ancient Greeks said that Apollo and his original 12. sister ARTEMIS were born there. The second was the sanctuary at Delphi in central Greece, the site of a famous oracle, that is, a means of consulting the Apostles’ Creed See CREEDS. god. Apollo shared the sanctuary at Delphi with the god Dionysos. At Delphi, individuals or communi- ties would put questions to the Sybil, a priestess Aquinas, Thomas (c. 1224–1274) the most of Apollo. According to legend, she would breathe important Christian theologian of the European vapors, enter a trance, and provide an answer. Then Middle Ages Thomas was the son of an Italian Apollo’s priests would communicate the answer in count. He became a Dominican friar (see the form of ambiguous poetry. A famous example DOMINICANS) and devoted his life to teaching is the oracle given to Croesus: “If you go to battle, and writing THEOLOGY. His greatest book was the you will destroy a great kingdom.” Encouraged by Summa Theologica (1266–73), “the summary of all these words, Croesus attacked Persia—and lost theology.” his kingdom. Scholarly research suggests that the In Thomas’s day western Europeans were just procedures and responses at Delphi were actually discovering the ideas of the Greek philosopher more mundane. Questioners manipulated black Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.). Thomas found these and white beans, and the god supposedly used ideas very attractive. He insisted that truth was them to reveal yes and no answers. one, because GOD was one. Therefore, he argued, Europeans and North Americans commonly what human reason said was true could not be see Apollo as a god of enlightenment and reason. opposed to what God’s revelation said was true. A good example is the German philosopher, Fried- The two were compatible. But human reason rich Nietzsche (1844–1900). This image of Apollo could not discover everything. Therefore, God fi n- derives largely from Hellenistic and Roman myth- ished what reason began by revealing the fullness writers. Nevertheless, many see this Apollo as of truth. embodying distinctively Greek characteristics. Thomas included God’s existence among the truths that reason could discover. In fact, he pro- vided several classic proofs for the existence of apostles From a Greek word meaning “sent God (see GOD, THE EXISTENCE OF). He also felt that out”; the earliest leaders of the Christian church. although all human beings had a natural sense of The word apostle often refers to the 12 special dis- right and wrong, reason alone could not discover ciples whom JESUS “sent out” into the world. Judas truths such as the INCARNATION of God in JESUS and Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, was originally one of the triune character of God (see TRINITY). Eventu- archaeology and religion S 27

ally Thomas’s teachings became more or less the is, “How old is it?” Several methods help them. offi cial teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Unless a site is disturbed, more recent material lies on top of older material. Identifying the different layers of material in a site is known as stratigra- archaeology and religion The study of objects phy. It provides a relative chronology—an idea of that human beings made and used in the past, what is older and what is younger. Analyzing tree and the ways in which that study affects scholars’ rings from wooden objects can provide a relative understanding of religions and the claims religions chronology, too. In the second half of the 20th make. century archaeologists developed sophisticated physical tests for establishing actual dates. The WHAT IS ARCHAEOLOGY? most widely known is radiocarbon dating. It dates Religious people have been interested in artifacts items that were alive within the last 40,000 years from the past for a long time. For example, in by measuring the amount of radioactive carbon the eighth century B.C.E. people in Greece began they contain. to WORSHIP heroes (see HEROES AND HERO MYTHS) at In the fi rst half of the 20th century archaeolo- tombs from the Mycenaean period (ended roughly gists were interested in major artifacts such as tem- 1100 B.C.E.). But archaeology is the systematic, sci- ples and palaces. Besides developing methods of entifi c study of the things people made and used dating, they classifi ed material remains according to in the past. It has roots in grave-robbing and trea- types, for example, types of jars and oil lamps. Their sure-hunting. It also has roots in the sensational ideas about religion generally refl ected the ideas of excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum, Italy, the time, such as DYNAMISM; many scholars today that began in the 18th century, and of Troy and question those ideas. In the 1960s a so-called “new Mycenae in the 19th century. In the 20th century archaeology” arose. This kind of archaeology used scientifi c archaeology came into its own. statistics to analyze material remains, often those Archaeologists study artifacts in several differ- associated with everyday life. In doing so, it applied ent ways. Sometimes they make fi eld surveys, that models of religion and society that sociologists and is, they note what kinds of remains are visible on anthropologists had developed. The results were the Earth’s surface. Often archaeologists undertake intriguing, but sometimes controversial. limited excavations. They dig trenches at places where they know or suspect human beings lived. ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE STUDY To excavate an entire site is costly and time-con- OF RELIGIONS suming. It may also be a bad idea. Such excavation Archaeology provides the only hard evidence avail- destroys evidence that later archaeologists, with able for PREHISTORIC RELIGIONS. That is because prehis- new and better tools, might also be able to study. tory is defi ned as “before the invention of writing.” The fi rst archaeologists were interested in art It is possible to read too much into this evi- treasures, valuable materials such as gold, and dence. In 1956, Horace Miner published a good sensational headlines. With time, archaeologists example in the journal, The American Anthropolo- learned that careful study of the simplest remains gist. He claimed to be analyzing the “We’uns.” might teach them more. Remains are most signifi - They lived in a place called “Nacirema.” What he cant if the precise location where they were found actually did was apply archaeological language to is known. As a result, archaeology is not the ran- artifacts common in American society at the time. dom digging of treasure hunters. It is a painstak- (“Nacirema” is American spelled backwards.) The ing removal of detritus. The site and its objects are results were amusing. They also pointed out a very carefully mapped every step of the way. real danger: People of today may seriously misin- In analyzing the materials uncovered, one terpret artifacts from the past because they make of the fi rst questions archaeologists must answer assumptions about them that simply do not hold. 28 S archaeology and religion

Despite the dangers, archaeologists have a universal fl ood never occurred. On the one hand, provided a wealth of information about prehis- archaeologists have uncovered documents that toric religions. They have shown that religion make it possible to trace in a general way where goes back at least to the Neanderthal people, the writers of the Bible got the story. On the other, and perhaps even further. From the Paleolithic there is no evidence for the kind of cataclysmic period they have discovered evidence of religion fl ood that the Bible records. Evidence of such that includes cave paintings, statuary, and buri- a fl ood should be everywhere, and it should be als. Marija Gimbutas and others have studied unmistakable. the religious signifi cance of Neolithic fi gurines It is worth pointing out that archaeology does from eastern Europe. “Archaeoastronomers” have not question claims only of JUDAISM and CHRISTI- examined megalithic monuments like Stonehenge ANITY. Some indigenous North Americans think as well as temples in Mesoamerica. They note the that human life originated in the Western Hemi- way these monuments relate to the sun, moon, sphere. However, evidence from archaeology and stars, and planets. Some scholars, inspired by the other sources, such as comparative anatomy, make geographer Paul Wheatley, have explored the role this extremely unlikely. Hindus have traditionally religion played in the founding of cities. In south traced sacred events to times in the very distant Asia archaeology has uncovered a massive, early past. They have dated the events of the Mahab- civilization known as the Indus Valley or Harap- harata to roughly 3000 B.C.E. and the events of the pan civilization (see INDUS VALLEY RELIGION). Its Ramayana to roughly 867,000 B.C.E. (see RAMA, writing remain undeciphered. In China archaeol- RAMAYANA). The fi rst date is unlikely; the second is ogists have unearthed massive, early tombs (see inconceivable. CHINA, RELIGIONS OF). Archaeology does more than raise questions Archaeologists have also made tremendous about religious claims. It also makes those claims contributions to the study of historical religions. more vivid and meaningful. For example, archae- One way they have done so is by discovering ology has provided an understanding of cities and ancient texts that were previously unknown. Such ways of life pictured in the Hebrew Bible. It has texts include the hieroglyphs and calendars of also provided a more accurate and detailed image the Maya (see MAYA RELIGION), texts from ancient of what crucifi xion was like at the time of JESUS. Egypt and Mesopotamia (see EGYPTIAN RELIGION At the same time, archaeology can say very little and MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS), and texts that have about some very important religious claims. These transformed the understanding of the BIBLE and its include claims such as the following: GOD wants world. The last include Canaanite texts from Ugarit Jews to live according to the TORAH; Jesus is the and Ebla (see CANAANITE RELIGION), texts from Qum- son of God; the prophet MUHAMMAD received the ran known as the DEAD SEA SCROLLS, the Nag Ham- QUR’AN by divine revelation; the BUDDHA discov- madi Codices of ancient Gnostics (see GNOSTICISM), ered the path to NIRVANA. and texts of the Bible itself. SIGNIFICANCE ARCHAEOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS CLAIMS Archaeology has transformed the way people think Because religions make claims about the past, about religions. It has also transformed the way archaeological discoveries may have something people think about religious claims. Some religious to say about those claims. Sometimes archaeol- people have reacted negatively to these develop- ogy raises questions about religious claims. An ments, but others have seen them as an opportu- example is the story of the universal FLOOD. Televi- nity to rethink and reformulate religious truth. sion stations occasionally show programs in which “archaeologists” are searching for NOAH’s ark. In Further reading: Glyn E. Daniel, A Short History of fact, archaeology has made it virtually certain that Archaeology (London: Thames and Hudson, 1981); architecture, religious S 29

Marija Gimbutas, The Goddesses and Gods of Old traditions have always wanted to set aside sacred Europe (Berkeley: University of California Press, places for WORSHIP, seeing them as dwelling places 1982); Charles Keith Maisels, Early Civilizations of gods or as locations where the presence of the of the Old World (New York: Routledge, 1999); divine could be especially experienced. The caves P. R. S. Moorey, A Century of Biblical Archaeology of the Old Stone Age from as far back as 35,000 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1991); Harvey years ago, with their wonderful paintings of ani- Whitehouse and Luther H. Martin, eds., Theorizing mals located almost inaccessibly deep in the Earth, Religions Past: Archaeology, History, and Cognition were clearly sacred sites of some kind. As soon as (Walnut Creek, Calif.: Altamira Press, 2004). developing technology enabled human beings to do so, religious shrines were among the fi rst and grandest structures to be built. archetype Pattern or model. Two important From the temples and pyramids of ancient 20th-century thinkers about religions developed Egypt (see EGYPTIAN RELIGION) to the cathedrals and the term archetype in very infl uential ways: Carl temples of the Middle Ages and today around the Gustav JUNG and Mircea ELIADE. world, these buildings have often employed the Jung was a psychologist. He believed that all richest materials and called forth the fi nest skills of human beings shared a certain kind of uncon- architects and artisans. People have thought that scious, the “collective unconscious.” In his eyes, only the best is worthy of GOD or the gods, and the collective unconscious contained fundamental because such places are usually community cen- symbols or archetypes necessary to personal well- ters as well as places of worship, they refl ect the being. One example is the MANDALA, a geometric pride and common purposes of a town or society. diagram of squares, circles, and other designs In many places today, the church or temple is the around a center point. One of his followers, Erich oldest and most central building in a community, Neumann, developed an archetype that he called and one that in its history, design, and artwork is the “Great Mother” (see GODDESSES). Among other best thought to refl ect the culture as well as the places, Jung thought archetypes could be seen faith of the community. especially in dreams and myths. Buildings intended for worship provide a space, Mircea Eliade was a historian of religions. He or total environment, in which the religious real- divided human beings into two general classes: ity believed in by these people comes alive through “archaic man” and “modern man.” Eliade consid- the use of symbols and the evocation of memories. ered archaic man to be homo religiosus. That is, Everywhere one looks there may be a symbolic religion defi ned the way archaic people looked at reminder of some truth of the faith, or scenes that and lived in the world. In particular, archaic peo- recall previous times of worship or sacred events ple lived their lives according to archetypes. These participated in by oneself or one’s people. Often, it archetypes were revealed at the beginning of time has the special feel of sacred space; one may instinc- and recorded in myth (see MYTH AND MYTHOLOGY). tively talk in hushed tones and act differently in a By contrast, Eliade considered modern people to religious building than one does outside. This may be secular. But they have not lost the archetypes particularly be the case during rites or services. completely. They have simply become unaware Religious buildings are basically of two types: of them. As a result, Eliade said, religious arche- those that are seen primarily as the House of God, types recur in cultural forms such as art, literature, and those that are planned primarily for congrega- music, and fi lm. tional worship, an assembly place for the People of God. SHINTO shrines, Hindu temples, some Bud- dhist temples, and many of the ancient temples architecture, religious The design of build- are chiefl y homes of the deity. They are built as ings for specifi cally religious purposes. Religious one would, in the respective culture, construct the 30 S architecture, religious

palace of a king or other great fi gure who is vener- of the intermingling of life and the divine presence ated and honored. They present courts where visi- in all creatures. In the interior of the temple, often tors may come to pay respects and present peti- reached only after passing through outer chambers tions, as if in homage before such a personage. watched by guardian deities, one comes to the Food offerings and other services are presented garbha (“womb”), the place of the principal deity, regularly as in a royal court. But there is no room suggesting that reaching it is like fi nding one’s way for an entire congregation to gather in the temple, to the ultimate mystery and source of life. for that is not the purpose of the divine house. At The Islamic mosque, domed, spacious, and times of festival, persons may fi le by the divine austere, with the upward-reaching minaret beside presence in a steady stream, or gather in a court- it, fulfi lls its religious function excellently. It is a yard to watch the ceremonies. meeting-place for the House of ISLAM and a place Today Muslim MOSQUES, Christian churches, where the faithful are called to PRAYER, and it and Jewish SYNAGOGUES are primarily places for bespeaks with its clean empty space the infi nity congregational worship. The architectural empha- of the One God, Creator of the worlds, who can- sis is on providing facilities for large meetings, not be represented by any form or image made by with good acoustics for music and sermons, and human hands. an inspirational atmosphere for corporate wor- Christian churches in western Europe have ship. Some churches in the Roman Catholic and adopted several architectural styles through the Orthodox traditions, and some Buddhist temples, centuries. First was the basilica, an oblong build- fi nd ways to combine both the House of God and ing with a central passageway or nave and a raised People of God emphases, with shrines or ALTARS platform in front, based on the Roman court of for individual devotion and a sense of divine pres- law. It suggested the church as a place for impor- ence, but also room for larger services. The many tant meetings and proclamations. Then came the different styles of architecture found throughout Romanesque church, a squarish domed building the religious world each have their own messages. with high narrow windows that, in the Dark Ages The visitor to Japan, for example, will be struck when it fl ourished, strongly told of the church as a by the contrast between the plain, rustic, under- fortress, a place of refuge both physically and spiri- stated Shinto shrine, and the more massive Bud- tually in a troubled world. In the high Middle Ages dhist temple, perhaps with its skyward-reaching came the Gothic cathedral, whose high pointed pagoda. The Shinto structure tells of its roots in the ceilings and spires and wonderful stained-glass simplicity of ancient Japanese culture and of the windows spoke instead of aspiration heavenward. reserved, hidden nature of its KAMI or gods, who In the Renaissance and early modern period the are seldom portrayed in images or pictures. The ornate baroque style, found in churches from St. Buddhist temple, on the other hand, representing Peter’s cathedral in Rome to the Spanish missions a faith imported to Japan from the Asian main- of the southwestern United States, suggested rich- land, retains a touch of Chinese infl uence in its ness of depth and texture. The simpler Georgian architecture, and through the dark mysterious feel or Palladian style, with its careful proportions of of its interior a sense of the philosophical depths plain white interiors and exteriors, found in many plumbed by BUDDHISM. colonial American churches, refl ects Protestant Many Hindu temples, especially in the south of restraint. In the 20th century churches have been India, have high facades (mandir) so richly carved built in new styles made possible by new tech- they seem overfl owing with gods and mythological nologies for building as well as by new concepts beings, hinting at the richness of religious creativity of worship. There are churches made of poured in this tradition. Others are open to birds and troops concrete to resemble ships or tents, churches in of monkeys that share in the offerings along with the round with the pulpit or altar in the center, the gods. These temples suggest the Hindu themes churches underground or atop skyscrapers. Arctic religions S 31

The Jewish temple or synagogue also basically northern Europe differed from those of the Inuit adopted the model of the Roman basilica, because in Alaska, as well as from other peoples who lived its primary function after the Diaspora or disper- closer to them. But Arctic religions show some sion of Jews throughout the world was to serve as striking similarities, too. a place of meeting for worship and study. Features In the Arctic it is not possible to grow plants. of the ancient temple at Jerusalem, however, have The people who live there have to get their food also been used, along with other reminders of Near from animals or import it. Traditionally, they have East origins such as domed windows and doors. In hunted and fi shed. In Europe and Asia they have recent times Jewish temples and synagogues, espe- also kept herds of animals, such as reindeer among cially in the United States, have experimented with the Saami. (Recently Inuit in northern Canada have modern architectural forms. also experimented with herding caribou.) Throughout history architecture has been one Much of the religious life of Arctic people of the most important of all forms of religious art, focused on the animals. They believed that ani- capable of conveying messages as profound as any mals, like people, had souls. Hunters performed other art about the nature of the human relation rituals addressed to the souls of the slain animals. to the divine. Some scholars think that they were giving the souls of the animals gifts so that they would be happy Further reading: J. G. Davies, Temples, Churches, and return again. Especially important for most and Mosques: A Guide to the Appreciation of Arctic peoples were rituals for slain bears. They Religious Architecture (New York: Pilgrim Press, treated the bear as an honored guest and carefully 1982); Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane disposed of its bones. The Inuit in Alaska treated (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1959); whales in a similar way. Edward Norman, The House of God (New York: Arctic peoples believed that there were many Thames and Hudson, 1990); Phyllis Richardson, spirits in nature, not just the souls of animals and New Spiritual Architecture (New York: Abbeville people. Some spirits connected with features of Press, 2004); Harold Turner, From Temple to the landscape, such as mountains and lakes. Arc- Meeting House: The Phenomenology and Theology tic peoples often believed that special spirits con- of Places of Worship (The Hague: Mouton, 1979). trolled animal life. Each species had its own pro- tector; in addition, a special protector, whom mod- ern scholars sometimes call the Master or Mistress Arctic religions The religions of the far north- of Animals, had charge of many animal species. A ern regions of Europe, Asia, and North America. good example of such a protector is Sedna, whom The term Arctic religions usually refers to the tra- the Inuit thought of as the mistress of sea animals. ditional religions of Arctic peoples. Today, most of Many Arctic peoples also assigned a special role, them practice CHRISTIANITY. For example, the Inuit such as the role of creator, to the Sun, the Moon, (formerly called Eskimo) of North America mainly or both. practice ROMAN CATHOLICISM and ANGLICANISM. The People everywhere in the region had the same Saami (formerly called Lapps) in Norway, Swe- kind of religious leader, the shaman (see SHAMAN- den, Finland, and Russia practice LUTHERANISM and ISM). Some shamans inherited their positions; oth- EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY. The former Soviet ers received them as a result of special experiences Union tried to make the peoples in its far northern that they had. Shamans were healers. They often territories, such as the Samoyed, into atheists (see healed by traveling to the realm of spirits, as the ATHEISM). They had only limited success. Arctic peoples thought, trying to bring back the As the names just mentioned indicate, the soul that had left the sick person. In addition to Arctic is a large region. As one would expect, the healing, shamans performed hunting and fi shing traditional religious practices of the Saami in far rituals, helped people fi nd objects that they had 32 S arhat

lost, and performed funerals. They had relation- In time arhats became objects of popular WOR- ships with special animals, such as birds or fi sh, SHIP. In some Buddhist countries today infl uential who helped them do these things. monks are still said to be arhats. It is hard to know to what extent any of these practices continue today. Many seem to have dis- appeared completely, but occasionally research- Armenian Church The distinctive Christian ers fi nd that some people continue a practice that institution of Armenia. Armenia is a region in was thought to have vanished. In the territories of northeastern Turkey and northwestern Iran, and the former Soviet Union, people preserved some includes an independent commonwealth between traditional religious practices as a way to resist the Black and the Caspian Seas. No one knows unwanted pressure from outsiders. Still, religious exactly when CHRISTIANITY fi rst arrived there. In 314 people in the Arctic today often have other con- C.E. Tiridates, the king of the country, converted to cerns besides preserving traditional religious Christianity. Armenia then became the fi rst nation practices. For example, many are working hard to in which Christianity was the established or offi - combat various social ills found in the far north, cial religion. Armenian Christianity took distinc- such as alcoholism, sexual abuse, and suicide (see tive form in the fi fth century. At that time the BIBLE SUICIDE AND RELIGION). and many church writings were translated into See also NORDIC RELIGION. Armenian. The most distinctive feature of the Armenian Further reading: Ronald Hutton, Shamans: Siberian Church is its view of JESUS. In technical terms, Spirituality and the Western Imagination (London: the Armenian Church is “monophysite.” That is, Hambledon and London, 2001); Juha Pentikäinen, it rejects the teaching of the Council of Chalce- Shamanism and Culture, 3rd ed. (Helsinki: Etnika, don (451) that Jesus had two natures, divine and 1998); Harold Seidelman and James Turner, The human, united in one person. It teaches instead Inuit Imagination: Arctic Myth and Sculpture (New that the incarnate Word of GOD has only one York: Thames and Hudson, 1994). nature. Armenian worship practices closely resem- ble those of the Orthodox churches (see EASTERN arhat A Sanskrit word meaning “worthy, vener- ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY). So does the organization able”; a person who has attained enlightenment by of the Armenian Church. The head of the Arme- following the path of the BUDDHA. The arhat is an nian Church is known as the “catholikos.” He important fi gure in THERAVADA BUDDHISM, the form resides in Echmiadzin near Yerevan, the capital of of BUDDHISM found in southeast Asia. Theravada Armenia. A smaller group of Armenians recognize talks about four stages leading to enlightenment: as their head a patriarch who now resides in Bei- the stage of the stream-winner (one who will attain rut, Lebanon. enlightenment in a future life), the once-returner (one who will attain enlightenment in the next life), the nonreturner (one who will attain enlight- art, religious Painting, sculpture, architecture, enment in the present life), and the arhat. music, dance, poetry, drama, and stories that The fi rst arhats were the fi ve ascetics who are created for religious purposes. In its broad- heard the Buddha’s fi rst sermon. (Ascetics are per- est sense, art refers to all that is made by human sons who deprive themselves of luxuries and even beings to convey beauty, pleasure, and meaning of necessities for religious purposes.) Many others through its form, whether that be in matter, words, became arhats in the Buddha’s day. After the Bud- or sound. It even includes such “minor” arts as dha died or, as Buddhists say, entered the ultimate garden landscaping and jewelry making. All these NIRVANA, it became harder to become an arhat. arts have been given religious signifi cance and art, religious S 33

have had roles, often very important ones, in com- the background will be the gold of eternity, and the municating religious truths and inducing religious eyes of the saints will be large to represent their experiences. spiritual, all-seeing quality. These arts can be thought of as stained-glass In ROMAN CATHOLICISM, statues of the Virgin windows. If ultimate religious reality is like pure MARY and other saints are worshipped with adora- light, for us truly to be able to understand it, it tion. In HINDUISM and BUDDHISM, images of gods and needs to take color and shape. This is what reli- buddhas similarly help concentrate the meditative gious art tries to do. The greater the art, the more it PRAYERS of temple-visitors and provide insight into is able to give meaning to the light without weak- the splendor of the heavens and the spiritual riches ening it. they give the world (see IMAGES, ICONS, IDOLS IN RELI- At the same time religious painting and sculp- GION). Sometimes art can also represent desired ture have performed several different functions, answers for prayers and aspirations. The paintings sometimes separately and sometimes in combina- of animals on the walls of prehistoric caves may tion. One is to tell the narratives of the religion. have been a form of hunting magic used in rituals Art illustrates important scenes from the faith’s to help men slay those same animals in the world myths, histories, and visions of the future. Think above. Some later art offers scenes of heaven, the of all the pictures and statues of the BUDDHA at Buddhist Pure Land (see PURE LAND BUDDHISM), or the moment of his enlightenment or of JESUS as an ideal city as a focus for hope. an infant in the manger or on the cross dying Finally, religious art can portray the world for the sins of the world. Paintings and statues the way the religion wants to see it. An outstand- may also be of other events or fi gures: the lives ing example is the art of ZEN BUDDHISM. Many of of SAINTS, prophets, reformers; important shrines the ink-wash paintings associated with it are not or places. As for the future, consider scenes of of buddhas or even Zen masters, but of scenes of the Last Judgment in European cathedrals, or of nature: a mountain reaching into empty sky, a bird Maitreya, the Buddha to come, in Eastern temples. on a bamboo branch. Yet these are done with a In times past, when the great majority of people light touch suggesting that although all things are were illiterate, these pictures—in stained glass, in continually changing, nonetheless they all manifest sculpture, in paintings—were, together with the the buddha-nature. Some Hindu sculpture, like the spoken word, literally the storybooks and Bibles. famous portrayals of the god KRISHNA playing his But even those who were able to read frequently fl ute, or the god SIVA dancing, suggest that the cre- found that a visualization helped them hold the ation and activity of this world may be viewed ulti- scenes of faith in mind. mately as divine LILA, the dance or play of GOD. Another role of art is to serve as a focus for Religious art takes many different styles. Most DEVOTION. Paintings and statues are treated as often, especially when it is art intended to be used divinity. The devout kneel before them, burn in churches or temples as a part of WORSHIP, it fol- candles or present incense, and pray to the saint lows certain conventions of style and incorporates or deity represented as though present in the standard symbols. Some religious art is more realis- object. While few would perhaps think that the tic than others. There is, of course, a religious place spiritual entity is solely contained within the for decorative art, for abstract art, for art based on form, the latter does serve as an effective focus symbols, like the Christian cross or the Jewish star for concentration of mind, and is like a window of David, rather than living forms. Some Hindu gods into the heavenly or divine world wherein the and Buddhist BODHISATTVAS have many arms to sym- sacred being dwells. bolize their ability to do numerous acts of mercy In EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY, for exam- at once. Some Egyptian and Hindu deities (like the ple, icons or paintings of saints are highly vener- Hindu elephant-headed god GANESA) are in animal ated. They are thought of as openings into HEAVEN; form or combine animal and human elements to 34 S Artemis

symbolize certain qualities, like Ganesa’s wisdom. Some myths tells how she killed the mighty hunter With the exception of the Eastern Orthodox icon, Orion after he had insulted her. In an indirect way Christian art tends to be realistic when dealing with she was responsible for another death. Hippolytus, CHRIST or the saints. the son of Theseus, was devoted to Artemis. Jeal- In some religions, believers object to certain ous, the goddess Aphrodite engineered an amorous religious uses of art, usually on the grounds that intrigue that eventually resulted in Hippolytus’s they represent idolatry or the representation of the death. The playwright Euripides made this story infi nite God in a particular form at a particular famous in one of his plays. place. JUDAISM, for example, employs decorative art Artemis watches over the young from birth and art for educational purposes but avoids sacred to maturity. Ancient Greek girls would dance in statues or paintings in places of worship. ISLAM choruses in her honor as part of their rituals of rejects any attempt to portray God or the Prophet growing up. Girls of Athens served Artemis at the in art, and in MOSQUES there is only abstract orna- sanctuary at Brauron. They were known as arktoi, mentation, often calligraphed lines from the bears, apparently after a bear whom myths said Koran (see QUR’AN). Protestant churches may have the Athenians had once killed. stained-glass windows and prints or paintings, less often statues, as storytellers and reminders but not as objects of devotion in the Catholic or Eastern ascension, of Christ See JESUS. Orthodox sense. The use or nonuse of forms of art in worship has been a heated issue in religious history, the asceticism Self-denial and living a very simple subject of fi erce argument and even violent per- life for religious reasons. Seriously religious peo- secution. But for all the confl icts, few things have ple in virtually all traditions have given up things, brought more joy to religious believers than the especially things that appeal to the senses, for best of religious art within its tradition. the sake of religion. They have given up food by fasting, or by subsisting only on coarse and taste- Further reading: S. G. F. Brandon, Man and God less food. They have worn only rough clothes, or in Art and Ritual (New York: Scribner, 1975); even gone without clothes at all. They have lived Jane Dillenberger, Image and Spirit in Sacred and in cold caves or hard monastic cells. They have Secular Art (New York: Crossroad, 1990); Albert C. foregone marriage. They have meditated for hours Moore, Iconography of Religions: An Introduction under a hot sun, or in freezing mountains. They (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1990); Gerardus have deliberately induced discomfort by wearing Van der Leeuw, Sacred and Profane Beauty: The hair shirts or chains, sleeping on beds of nails, and Holy in Art (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, standing under waterfalls. A few have even muti- 1963). lated themselves. These states of self-denial are called asceti- cism—abstention from the natural pleasures of life Artemis An ancient Greek GODDESS. In mythol- for religious reasons. It ranges from what may be ogy she is APOLLO’s twin sister. Among other func- called “normal” asceticism, that of, say, a monk or tions, Artemis presided over the rituals that marked nun in an austere order with long hours of prayer a young woman’s coming of age. or meditation and a sparse but wholesome diet, to In character, Artemis is a virgin and a hunt- the greatest extremes of self-infl icted pain. Ascet- ress. In the battle of the gods in book 21 of the ics are found in the spiritual traditions of most Iliad, she comes off poorly. In effect, Hera disci- religions. Examples would include the MONKS AND plines her physically, and she runs to ZEUS for com- NUNS of ROMAN CATHOLICISM and EASTERN ORTHODOX fort. But Artemis is not always such a weakling. CHRISTIANITY, of BUDDHISM and of TAOISM, the Sufi Assemblies of God S 35

mystics of ISLAM, and the often more individual- edicts outlawed the killing of most animals. They istic SADHUS or “holy men” of HINDUISM. All tradi- urged various religious groups and orders to live tions have included both “normal” and sometimes together in peace. They also promulgated the vir- very saintly ascetics, and “extreme” ascetics. All tues of dharma throughout the realm. religions have also included devout lay men and Asoka is particularly remembered as a patron women who, sometimes very quietly and pri- of BUDDHISM and its order of monks (see SANGHA). vately, have practiced various forms of self-denial He is said to have called a Buddhist council at his and asceticism in the midst of an “ordinary” life. capital, Pataliputra, to settle disputed questions. What are the religious reasons for asceticism? He is also said to have sent his son to Sri Lanka to First, it can be an aspect of the love or compassion promote BUDDHISM. that is the great virtue of most faiths, for what one Most Indians revere Asoka as an ideal ruler. denies oneself one can give to the poor. In this way For that reason, the lions atop Asoka’s pillar at Sar- it not only does good, it also sets an example to nath in north-central India are a widely used sym- others. Second, it is a form of self-discipline, and bol. They appear, for example, on Indian money. to learn to discipline oneself is basic to following any spiritual path. It can be seen as a rejection of the physical body, viewed as the “lower” part assassins Popular name for a medieval Shi’ite of one’s nature, or even as a source of temptation Muslim community more properly known as the and evil, in favor of the spiritual dimension of life Nizari Ismailis. The Nizari Ismaili community is a (see CELIBACY). Third, it is seen as a way of doing group within SHI’ITE ISLAM about which much imag- repentance for one’s SINS, to work off the punish- inative lore has circulated. Europeans called them ment or “bad KARMA” they have accrued, and so to “assassins.” Arabs called them hashishiyah, that is, set oneself right. Finally, asceticism is believed to “marijuana smokers.” Travelers such as Marco Polo enhance religious experience. Fasting can help one (c. 1254–1324) spread rumors that the assassins to see visions, and a light diet can lead to effective were incited to murder by being drugged, taken MEDITATION; even pain can alternate with religious to gardens, and thus given a foretaste of paradise. rapture. There are psychological and physiological These rumors remain entirely unsubstantiated. reasons for some of this. Most importantly, though, The Nizaris broke away from the Fatimid asceticism always sends a religious message: GOD Ismaili community of Egypt in the late 1000s. As takes priority over the pleasures and entangle- so often in Shi’ite Islam, the dispute concerned ments of this world. who should be the next IMAM. They established a state in parts of Syria and Iran, which continued in existence until the 1250s. The rumors about them Asoka (early third century B.C.E.–c. 232 B.C.E.) certainly derive from military and guerrilla actions the third and last great emperor of the Maurya taken in defending and extending this state. dynasty in India He is known for propagating The Nizari Ismaili community still exists, but DHARMA (Sanskrit for “right order”) throughout his the name “assassins” is not associated with it. In realm. the early 1800s, the community’s imam received Asoka distinguished himself early in his career the title of AGA KHAN. by conquering the Kalingas, a people living in northeast India. The conquest of this people gave him sovereignty over almost the entire Indian sub- Assemblies of God An American denomina- continent and ushered in an era of peace. tion in the PENTECOSTAL tradition. The church was Asoka inscribed a series of edicts on pillars, founded in 1914 under the leadership of Eudorus rocks, and cave walls throughout his realm. A con- Bell (1866–1923), formerly a Southern Baptist and tinuous theme runs through them all: dharma. The then a Pentecostal preacher who believed, with 36 S astrology

many others, that the diverse and largely indepen- the basis of astrology. Over centuries it has devel- dent Pentecostal churches formed since the move- oped into complex methods of determining that ment began in 1906 should come together. Begin- infl uence in particular cases, combining precise ning with 531 groups and 6,000 members by the calculations with intuitive insight. Astrology is not end of 1914, the Assemblies of God have grown an essential component of any major religion, but rapidly to embrace some 2.3 million members in has had relationships with most of them. Some- the United States in 2004 and more than 30 million times, as in the case of HINDUISM, the Chinese worldwide. The movement has been particularly religions (see CHINA, RELIGIONS OF), and in some successful among Hispanic populations. Head- eyes JUDAISM and CHRISTIANITY, especially in the quarters are in Springfi eld, Missouri. Renaissance, the relationship has been relatively The Assemblies believe in the divine inspira- positive. Astrology has been viewed as a confi r- tion of the Bible (see BIBLE, BIBLICAL LITERATURE) and mation of the orderly working of the universe as traditional Christian teachings about the TRINITY a divine system or as GOD’s creation, and a legiti- and JESUS Christ as Savior. As a Pentecostal group, mate way of divining its secrets. Others, such as they put special emphasis on a BAPTISM of the Holy the Hebrew prophets, the Puritans (see PURITAN- Spirit, which they believe follows conversion and ISM), and many recent Jews and Christians—not baptism with water. The coming of the Spirit is to mention most scientists—condemn astrology as made known by the believer’s ability to “speak worthless, as destructive to the free will of both in tongues,” that is, utter words in unknown lan- God and humans, or as an entry into dangerous guages held to be divinely inspired. aspects of occultism. But astrology has retained In church, the “tongues” are usually inter- numerous believers today. preted by others who can understand them. WOR- Astrology is thought by most scholars to have SHIP consists not only of hymns, scripture reading, originated in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, and PRAYERS, and sermon in the usual Protestant manner to have then been developed into a thorough sys- but typically also includes spontaneous “amens,” tem by Greek thinkers during the Hellenistic period prayers, tongues, interpretations of tongues, and (approximately 300 B.C.E.–300 C.E.). It spread from even dancelike body movements. Spiritual healing the Mediterranean world to the Arab lands, India, is also important. The power to heal is considered a and China, acquiring many distinctive elements signifi cant gift of the Spirit. These spiritual endow- from those cultures so that now Indian and Chi- ments are thought to be clearly demonstrated in nese astrology have important differences from the ACTS OF THE APOSTLES and other NEW TESTAMENT Western astrology. All astrology, though, is based sources. As in Pentecostalism generally, the revival on the zodiac, the path through which the sun, of such powers and practices in the church today moon, and planets move through the sky. That is widely regarded as a sign we are entering the celestial band is divided into 12 “signs” or constel- End Times, that is, that the Second Coming of lations. Each of them have particular traits or qual- Christ and the Final Judgment will occur in the ities, such as the balance or equanimity of Libra, near future. The vitality and rapid growth of the or the secretive yet passionate nature of Scorpio. Assemblies of God can be taken as an example of So do the sun, moon, and planets: the emotional the dynamic of Pentecostalism worldwide in the moon, warlike Mars, and others. 20th and 21st centuries. Figuring the total impact of all these elements as they were confi gured at the time of one’s birth, or at important moments in personal or national astrology The belief that the position of the or world history, is the task of the astrologer. Many stars and planets in the sky affects the destinies astrologers today say that the art only determines, of individuals, and of larger human units such as so to speak, the hand one is dealt by fate; how one cities and nations, and even the entire world, is plays it is left up to the person, and so it does not atman S 37

through its association with powerful ideologies like communism. But though many people may be nonreligious for all intents and purposes, atheism as a deeply-felt personal commitment remains a minority stance.

Athena The most important GODDESS of the ancient Greeks. Athena was a warrior goddess renowned for her intelligence. In that regard she contrasts with Ares, the god of military chaos and unthinking violent rage. According to myth Athena was born from the head of ZEUS. She her- self remained always a virgin. Thus, the name for her most famous temple, the Parthenon in Athens, derived from the Greek word parthenos, “virgin.” Many cities worshipped Athena, but she was especially the goddess of Athens. At Athens A zodiac shown in an Italian manuscript page from the the major festival in her honor was the Panathe- portolan of Admiral Coligny (Erich Lessing/Art Resource, naia. During this festival an enormous procession N.Y.) paraded through the city. It accompanied a newly made peplos or embroidered robe, which was sus- pended from the masts of a ship-like cart. Then compromise free will. They also say it shows there the Athenians presented the robe to the image of is a fundamental pattern to the universe, and that Athena on the Acropolis. astrology demonstrates that our human lives have Because of her intelligence, Athena was the cosmic meaning because we are interconnected goddess of all skillful undertakings, especially spin- parts of that cosmic pattern. Others say the basis ning and weaving. In myth she was the patron of of astrology is false and that true religion has no many heroes, especially the crafty Odysseus. Her need of it. special animal was the owl. Images also show her with the aegis, a mythical object shown as either a cloak or a shield (interpretations vary). The aegis atheism Denial of the existence of any GOD or is decorated with the head of Medusa. Later gener- supreme supernatural being. Atheists have long ations have seen Athena, like APOLLO, as embody- been around. In ancient India, China, and Greece a ing characteristics distinctive of the Greeks. few philosophers said that the gods were only fi g- ments of human imagination, and everything that happens in the universe could be given a natural atman A term used for the inmost self in the explanation. Religionists have also accused one VEDANTA schools of Hindu philosophy. The Sankhya another of atheism. Christians have sometimes and YOGA schools have a similar concept. They call said that Buddhists are atheists because they do it purusha, “person.” Others, such as the Jains, talk not have a personal God as God is understood about the jiva, that is, the living component of human by the Western religions, even though BUDDHISM beings and animals, as opposed to inert matter. has most other features of what they would call The UPANISHADS are the last layer of the sacred a “real” religion. Atheism has probably grown in writings known as the VEDA. For that reason they the modern world with the rise of science, and are called Vedanta, “end of the Veda.” Among 38 S atonement other topics, the Upanishads are particularly inter- Vedanta took different positions. In any case, they ested in BRAHMAN, the reality that underlies the agreed that the atman had three basic characteris- world that we perceive, and atman, the reality that tics: sat, chit, and ananda—being, consciousness, underlies the human person. The sages of the Upa- and bliss. nishads wanted to know what the “self” was. They Ideas about the atman profoundly infl uenced did not have a single answer. Indeed, they did not Hindu teachings about life and death. According even use a single word for this self. Sometimes to the sage Yajnavalkya, the atman is reborn at they called it purusha. Nevertheless, the discus- death. It takes along with it the fruits of the actions sions in the Upanishads laid the foundations on done in this life. This process is known as SAMSARA. which much later Hindu thought arose. According to the BH AGAVA D -GITA, samsara does not One of the most important discussions took alter the atman: “It is never born; it never dies. It place between a father named Aruni and his son, does not, nor has it, nor will it become. Unborn, Svetaketu. It is recorded in the Chandogya Upani- eternal, perpetual, primal—it is not killed when shad. Aruni asks Svetaketu to open up a seed-pod the body is killed” (2.20). from a banyan tree, and then to open up a seed. Freeing the atman or purusha from continual He asks his son what he sees. Svetaketu answers, rebirth came to be the ultimate goal of some infl u- “Nothing.” That is the point. The atman, like the ential forms of Hindu religious practice. essence of life at the heart of the seed, is imper- ceptible. Yet from both impressive living beings grow. Similarly, Aruni asks Svetaketu to dissolve atonement See SALVATION. salt in water. Svetaketu can no longer see the salt, and he can no longer separate it from the water. The atman resembles salt dissolved in water. It is Augustine of Hippo (354–430) one of the most distinct from a person’s body, senses, mind, and important theologians of the ancient Christian desires, but it pervades them all and cannot be church Aurelius Augustine was born and raised in separated from them. North Africa. His mother, Monica, was a staunch The sages of the Upanishads had several ideas Christian, but Augustine did not at fi rst practice of what the atman might be. Some said the sun, CHRISTIANITY. He received an education in rhetoric others air, others ether, others breath (see PRANA). and taught it in Carthage. Later he moved to Rome Most important for later thought, some sages iden- and then to Milan, where he held a prominent post tifi ed the atman as consciousness. There are, how- as an orator. These skills served him well when ever, many kinds of consciousness. Not all of them he eventually became a spokesperson for Catholic are atman pure and simple. In waking conscious- Christianity (see ROMAN CATHOLICISM). ness the atman interacts with a world of material In matters of religion, Augustine fi rst inclined objects. In dreaming consciousness it interacts to MANICHAEISM. This religion taught that two with a world of subtle objects. Deeper than either opposed forces, light and darkness, created the of these is sleep without dreams. But according to world when they somehow came into contact. the Mandukya Upanishad deeper still is a fourth, In time, Augustine abandoned Manichaeism and nameless state. That is the atman. toyed with the ideas of ancient philosophers In some passages the Upanishads seem to known as Skeptics. They took a cautious attitude equate the atman—the reality underlying the toward the ability of human beings to know things human person—with the brahman—the real- for certain. In Milan, Augustine came under the ity underlying the world that we perceive: “This infl uence of Bishop Ambrose. From Ambrose he atman is brahman”; “I am brahman”; “All this learned the ideas of Plato and Plotinus. Plotinus is indeed brahman”; “You are that.” But other had taught that the many things of the world had passages seem to disagree. Different schools of all emanated from “the One.” Australian religions S 39

In August 386 Augustine had a profound Augustine wrote in his letters that he was “an experience. He heard a voice like that of a child African, writing for Africans . . . living in Africa.” saying, “Pick it up and read.” He picked up the But he also defi ned the terms that future European BIBLE and read a passage from PAUL’s letter to the theologians, Catholic and Protestant, would use in Romans. He was so moved that he renounced his trying to express their faith. His ideas infl uenced previous life-style (characterized by sexual immo- Protestant reformers like Martin LUTHER and John rality), adopted celibacy, and was baptized the CALVIN tremendously. At the same time, the Roman next EASTER. In 391 the people of Hippo in North Catholic Church considers him a SAINT. It celebrates Africa convinced him to become a priest. In 395 his feast on August 28, the date of his death. he became their bishop. He spent the rest of his life administering the church at Hippo, heading a monastery, preaching, teaching, and writing. His Australian religions The traditional religions highly infl uential books include the Confessions of the indigenous people of Australia. These (c. 400), an account of Augustine’s long road to people are generally called Aborigines. Human Christianity, and The City of God (413–426). The beings seem to have settled in Australia as second book attempts to show that Christianity did long ago as 40,000 B.P. (before the present). not cause the decline of the Roman Empire. They developed complex cultural and religious As a thinker, Augustine grappled with questions traditions. An example of both are their rock- that became classic in the history of European and paintings. Some of them are perhaps 15,000 years North American THEOLOGY. Where does EVIL come old. Traditional Australians lived in local groups from? If GOD already knows what human beings that had their own languages, cultures, and ter- will do, how can they freely choose their own acts? ritories. They supported themselves by gathering What must people do in order to be saved? Augus- and hunting. Complex trade networks covered tine developed his answers to questions like these the entire continent. in the course of attacking three different groups: In 1788 Europeans arrived. Many aboriginals Manichaeans, Donatists, and Pelagians. Donatists died from warfare and disease. Many others gave taught that members of the church must be pure up their traditional cultures and religions. They and that SACRAMENTS administered by sinful priests assimilated into European society and adopted were invalid. Pelagians said that human beings CHRISTIANITY. Today, traditional aboriginal ways could and should try to be morally perfect. continue only in northern and central Australia. In attacking these ideas, Augustine combined A major feature of Australian religion is the biblical teachings, especially teachings of the Dreaming. The name is not aboriginal; it was given apostle Paul, with Greek philosophy, especially by scholars. Traditional Australians believe that at the ideas of Plato and his many followers. God, fi rst the world had no form and content. But in Augustine insisted, is absolutely good. Evil comes a time known as the Dreaming, spirits appeared. into the world because God creates human beings They, too, are known as Dreamings. Their activi- who are free to choose. Since human beings are ties gave birth to human beings, other forms of free to choose, they will not always choose good. life, and features of the natural landscape. Tradi- In fact, once ADAM sinned, his transgression was tional Australians believe further that these spirits handed down to all of his descendants as original did not simply cease to exist. They are still pres- SIN. Original sin makes it impossible for human ent at specifi c locations. They are responsible for beings to be perfect on their own. They need the fl ourishing in the world of nature. They also give gift of God’s GRACE before they can do good. One life to a fetus in the womb. Therefore, traditional way they receive grace is through sacraments like Australians believe that each person has a share BAPTISM and the EUCHARIST. Sacraments are effective of spirit. At death, this share returns to the spirit because God is at work in them. realm and waits to be reborn. 40 S Avalokitesvara

Traditional Australians have identifi ed sev- female form. She is known in Chinese as Kuan-yin eral extremely important spirits. Scholars some- and in Japanese as Kannon. times call them All-Father, All-Mother, and Rain- Avalokitesvara is celebrated in two Buddhist bow Snake. All-Father was important in southeast scriptures, the LOTUS SUTRA and the Pure Land Australia. All-Mother is still important in northern Sutra. He—or she—is a supreme example of the Australia. She often has a male spirit as her asso- bodhisattva ideal. According to this ideal people ciate. Rainbow Snake is connected with the fer- should not seek NIRVANA for themselves. That tilizing rains. Some groups thought of it as male, would be selfi sh. Instead, they should donate some as female, and still others as both male and whatever good they have acquired to help all female at the same time. Some groups also identi- beings achieve release. fi ed Rainbow Snake with All-Mother. Many myths connect Avalokitesvara with the The purpose of aboriginal religious practices Buddha Amitabha, known in Japanese as AMIDA. is to foster life. They do so by establishing contact Pure Land Buddhists say that Avalokitesvara is one with the spirits and events of the Dreaming. The of Amida’s attendants in the Pure Land (see PURE spirit is often present in the form of an image or LAND BUDDHISM). Others say he is Amitabha’s son. emblem. A well-known example is the tjurunga of In any case, Avalokitesvara is often worshipped the Aranda people. It is a board, sometimes plain, separately. He is said to dwell on a mythical moun- sometimes decorated. Songs and acting recall the tain known as Potala or Potalaka. From there he events of the Dreaming. looks after the world during the time from the BUD- Life-cycle rites are important religious prac- DHA Siddhartha Gautama (c. 560–c. 480 B.C.E.) to tices. These include INITIATIONS for both males and Maitreya, the Buddha who is yet to come. females. Most major ceremonies have two distinct Avalokitesvara is the epitome of virtue and components. One component is public; everyone compassion. He devoted eons to meritorious in the community participates. The other compo- efforts. As a result, his ability to help beings who nent is secret; only initiates into a group can be are suffering knows no bounds. Worshippers call present. The secret groups are divided according upon him—or her—for help in any number of sit- to gender. In most places women as well as men uations. They may desire release from the three have secret groups and rituals. In most places, too, traditional Buddhist poisons of lust, anger, and religious and social power resides with the men. ignorance. Or they may want protection in times In Africa, Oceania, and the Americas indig- of danger, protection for travel on the sea, or long enous peoples developed religious movements life. Especially as Kuan-yin, this bodhisattva pro- to resist European colonization. One example is tects women and oversees childbirth. the GHOST DANCE of North America. Indigenous All Buddhists venerate Avalokitesvara. Bud- Australians did not generally develop such move- dhists in southeast Asia known as Theravadins ments. But in the latter part of the 20th century, call upon him as Lokesvara, “lord of the world.” strong movements did arise that pressed the This bodhisattva also has close ties to Tibet. He is government to recognize their rights to land. In said to have revealed the mantra Om mani padme conjunction with these movements, some took hum (literally, “Om the jewel in the lotus hum”), a new interest in traditional aboriginal religion one of the most important mantras in Tibetan and culture. Buddhism (see TIBETAN RELIGION). He is also said to take human form as the DALAI LAMA, the leader of Tibetan Buddhism. Avalokitesvara One of the most important BOD- There are several common images of Avalok- HISATTVAS in BUDDHISM, known especially for com- itesvara. One shows him resplendent with jewels, passion. Originally Avalokitesvara was male, but wearing a tall crown, and holding a lotus in his in east Asia Avalokitesvara became venerated in left hand. On the crown is the Buddha Amitabha. Aztec religion S 41

Another common image shows Avalokitesvara in Shi’ites maintain that, when MUHAMMAD died female form with 11 heads and a thousand arms. in 632 C.E., the leadership of the Islamic commu- The 11 heads may recall one of the meanings of nity passed to his male descendants. They call Avalokitesvara’s name, “lord of what is seen.” these leaders IMAMS. Shi’ites known as “twelvers” The thousand arms represent the bodhisattva’s maintain that there was a line of 12 imams. The limitless ability to shower her worshippers with twelfth imam has been in hiding since 874 C.E. benefi ts. An image very common in China shows The community is now led by ayatollahs, religious Kuan-yin dressed in fl owing garments, a serene, scholars who speak on his behalf. motherly expression on her face; in her arms she The ayatollah best known in North Amer- holds a jar the way a mother might hold a baby, ica at the end of the 20th century was Ruhollah and from the jar she pours water into a pond, a Khomeini (1900–89). In 1979 he instigated the sign of her benefi cent gifts. overthrow of the shah of Iran, became the head of state, and led Iran in an aggressively anti- American direction. avatar A Sanskrit word for “descent”; in HINDU- ISM the appearance of a god on Earth, especially the appearance of the god VISHNU. The BH AGAVA D -GITA Aztec religion The religion of the people who says that whenever evil waxes and virtue wanes, ruled the valley of Mexico (the region around Vishnu appears on Earth to restore order. There present-day Mexico City) when the Spanish con- are many avatars of Vishnu, but ten has become quered it in the 16th century. According to legend, the standard number. Temples in India are often the Aztecs migrated to the valley of Mexico from dedicated to Vishnu’s “ten avatars.” the north. Around 1325 C.E. they settled a marshy Ideas vary about who these ten avatars are. island in the middle of Lake Texcoco. Their patron The list often includes a tortoise on whose back god, Huitzilopochtli, had pointed the site out to the gods churned the ocean of milk; a one-horned them. By reclaiming land from the lake, they built sea creature who saved MANU, the ancestor of all a major city named Tenochtitlán (Mexico City, human beings, from the FLOOD; a boar who raised today). Three causeways connected it to land. By the Earth on its tusks when it sank into the oceans; the time the Spanish arrived in the 1520s, Tenoch- a dwarf who rescued the three worlds from an evil titlán had perhaps half a million inhabitants. By ruler; a man-lion who defeated an enemy immune that time, too, the Aztecs had established their to most creatures; Parasurama (“Rama with the dominance over the entire region. axe”); RAMA; KRISHNA; the BUDDHA; and Kalki, the The Aztecs had elaborate views of time and avatar who will come on a white horse and begin a space. Good examples of these are the famous golden age. Some Hindus think JESUS was an avatar Aztec calendar stone and illustrations from ancient of Vishnu, too. This is an identifi cation that Chris- pictographic books known as codices. The Aztec tians generally reject. views were very similar to those of the Maya (see MAYA RELIGION). The Aztecs resembled the Maya, too, in believing that they were living in the fi fth Avesta See ZEND AVESTA. world or, as they called it, the “fi fth sun.” A famous story, the “Legend of the Suns,” relates the fate of the previous four worlds and predicts the fate of ayatollah Also spelled ayatullah; religious schol- the fi fth. ars of highest rank in a branch of SHI’ITE ISLAM. Aya- The Aztecs worshipped several deities. tollah is an Arabic and Persian word that means Huitzilopochtli, “the Hummingbird of the “light of GOD.” It denotes the religious scholars Left,” was one of two deities worshipped at who lead a branch of Shi’ite Islam. the great temple in the middle of Tenochtitlán. 42 S Aztec religion

Construction workers in Mexico City discovered At fi rst the ruler of the Aztecs mistook the Spanish the temple by accident in 1978. The other deity warrior, Hernán Cortés, for Quetzalcoatl returning. worshipped there was Tlaloc, the god of rain. A Like virtually all ancient peoples, the Aztecs third god, Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, practiced RITUALS in their homes. In these rituals had a temple nearby. they used small fi gurines and incense burners. The Aztecs knew Quetzalcoatl in several forms. They also had a religion associated with ceremonial One was a priest-king of the ancient city of Tula. centers. It consisted of SACRIFICES, often human sac- This Quetzalcoatl diligently performed rituals. For rifi ces. For the Aztecs, the human body contained example, he offered blood from the calves of his the sacred forces that made order and life possible. legs and he bathed ceremonially. As a result, Tula These forces were especially concentrated in the prospered. At the same time, Quetzalcoatl refused heart and the head. As a result, sacrifi ces paid par- to perform certain rituals, such as human sacrifi ce. ticular attention to hearts and heads. According to one text, he sacrifi ced only snakes, The Spanish conquerors considered Aztec reli- birds, and butterfl ies. Because of indiscreet behav- gion to be the work of devils—literally. They tried ior, Quetzalcoatl was forced to abdicate his throne. to obliterate it. Nevertheless, elements of Aztec He traveled to the east and burned himself. His religion survived. They combined with the religion spirit arose to the sky to become the planet Venus. of the conquerors to produce a distinct tradition of Another legend said that he sailed off into the east. ROMAN CATHOLICISM. . B ,

Baal The most important god of the ancient Little is actually known about the Baal Shem Canaanites. The BIBLE records confl icts between Tov’s life. He is said to have worked wonders the priests of Baal and prophets of the Israelite god such as healing through a special name of GOD. YHWH (“the Lord”). Texts from ancient Ugarit dis- The Baal Shem Tov is important today because of covered in the 20th century present the god in a the religious movement he is said to have started. more positive light. In his day normative JUDAISM in eastern Europe Baal is actually a general word meaning stressed a detailed study of TORAH and a strict “lord.” In religious contexts, the specifi c lord in observance of Jewish RITUALS and a Jewish way question is usually the Canaanite god of rain, dew, of life. For the Baal Shem Tov, this form of prac- and fertile fi elds (see CANAANITE RELIGION). This tice distracted people from their highest purpose, god is said to ride on the clouds. He is also called communion with God. God’s light, he said, was “Prince Baal.” In Semitic languages, the phrase is all-pervasive. Therefore, communion with God Baal zebul. From it the NEW TESTAMENT derived the could and should be had in all of life. The means term “Beelzebul” (e.g., Matthew 10.25; Mark 3.22; to such communion included singing, danc- Luke 11.15, 18–19). But it used the term simply ing, and emotion-fi lled prayer. From these roots to refer to the chief demon; any reference to the Hasidism grew. Canaanite god had been lost. Baal was the king of the gods, a position that he took from the god of the sea, Yamm. The Canaan- Babel, Tower of The way the BIBLE explains the ites worshipped him as present in many local sanc- multitude of languages that human beings speak. tuaries. As a result, some texts speak of Baals in According to Genesis 11, the inhabitants of the the plural. The Canaanites also thought that Baal Earth decided to build a tower to reach to the HEAV- fought with the god of death, Mot. The outcome of ENS. The kind of tower that the writer seems to this struggle determined whether successive peri- have had in mind is the ziggurat. Ziggurats were ods of seven years would be fertile or barren. huge pyramids, built in several steps or paral- lel layers. On top of them Mesopotamians placed temples to their gods (see MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS). Baal Shem Tov (c. 1700–1760) the popular They were a typical form of religious ARCHITECTURE name of Israel ben Eliezer He was a Ukrainian Jew in ancient Mesopotamia. whom many consider to have founded HASIDISM. As Genesis tells the story, the god YHWH “Baal Shem Tov” means “Master of the Good (“the Lord”) was worried about what great things Name.” It refers to the miraculous powers that human beings might be able to accomplish. So he Israel ben Eliezer allegedly possessed. He is also created the various languages. Because the build- known as the “Besht.” This term is an acronym, ers could no longer communicate, they could not made from the fi rst letters of Baal Shem Tov. complete the tower. This disruption can be seen as

43 S 44 S Babylonian religion

GOD’s punishment on people who want to overstep TEACHINGS, PRACTICES, AND ORGANIZATION human limitations. The Baha’i faith sees itself as continuing the rev- Genesis derives the name Babel from the con- elation of God found in JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, and fusion of languages that resulted: the Hebrew verb ISLAM. The prophets of each of these traditions, meaning “to confuse” is balal (Genesis 11.9). Mod- it teaches, were genuine messengers from God. ern scholars are more inclined to see the name as Each of them fulfi lled the task assigned by God. referring to a region or place. Many suggest that it But Baha’is insist that the process of God’s revela- refers to the city of Babylon. Some have suggested tion will never end. Neither MOSES nor JESUS nor that it refers to a temple within Babylon known as MUHAMMAD was the last of God’s messengers. For Bab-ilu, the “gateway of God.” the contemporary world there is a new messenger, Baha’ullah. He was made known a new task: to unite spiritually all people. Babylonian religion See MESOPOTAMIAN Baha’is are enjoined to pray in private every RELIGIONS. day. In addition, local communities gather together on the fi rst day of every month. (Baha’i months are 19 days long). A major Baha’i festival is Noruz, Baha’i A religion founded in Iran in the second New Year’s. In accordance with Persian practice it half of the 19th century. The Baha’i faith sees itself is celebrated on March 21, the time of the spring called to unite spiritually all the peoples of the equinox. During the month prior to Noruz, Baha’is world. observe a fast. They neither eat nor drink from sunup to sundown; they eat and drink at night. HISTORY (Muslims observe a similar fast during the Islamic During the 1840s a religious fi gure in Iran known month of Ramadan. Moreover, Baha’is are never as the Bab (“gateway”) predicted the coming of permitted to drink alcohol. “the one whom GOD shall reveal.” In 1863, one During the 20th century a leading initiative of his followers, now known as Baha’ullah (1817– of the Baha’i community was the construction of 92), claimed to be that one. major houses of WORSHIP, one on each continent. The teachings of the Bab and of Baha’ullah The design of each house of worship refl ects sig- threatened the authority of orthodox Islamic nifi cant elements of its location. For example, the scholars. As a result, Baha’ullah spent much of house of worship in New Delhi, India, is in the his life in exile and in jail. From 1868 until his form of a LOTUS, a sacred plant in India. The brick death he lived in what is now Israel. For that rea- work of the house of worship in Panama refl ects son, the center of the Baha’i community is located stone work in the ancient temples of middle Amer- in Israel. ica. At the same time, all Baha’i houses of worship When Baha’ullah died, control of the com- share certain features. For example, they have nine munity passed to his son, known in the Baha’i doorways and nine-sided domes. Baha’is see the community as Abd al-Baha (1844–1921), and his number nine as a sign of the highest unity. There- grandson, Shoghi Effendi (1899–1957). It then fore, the doors and domes emphasize the unity passed to a board known as the Council of the that Baha’is believe characterizes God, all people, Hands of the Cause (1957–62) and fi nally to an and all religions. elected assembly, the International House of Jus- tice (1962–present). Further reading: John Ferraby, All Things Made The Baha’i faith fi rst attracted widespread New: A Comprehensive Outline of the Baha’i Faith attention with the missionary travels of Abd al- (London: Baha’i Publishing Trust, 1975); Peter Baha. By the end of the 20th century it had roughly Smith, The Babi and Baha’i Religions (New York: two million adherents. Cambridge University Press, 1987); ———, A baptism S 45

Concise Encyclopedia of the Baha’i Faith (Oxford: to JUDAISM take a ritual bath known as a mikveh. Oneworld, 1999); ———, A Short History of the This bath was also traditionally used by women Baha’i Faith (Oxford: Oneworld, 1997). after their menstrual periods. Today, baptism is best-known as the ritual by which people join the Christian church. For Catho- Banaras Also spelled Benares, offi cially Varanasi; lic, Orthodox, and some Protestant Christians, this for Hindus the most sacred city in India. Banaras ritual is a SACRAMENT. That is, it is a special way or sits on the banks of the sacred GANGES RIVER. It means of receiving GOD’S GRACE. To modern schol- has been important since antiquity. For example, ars Christian baptism is a RITE OF PASSAGE. It is a the BUDDHA (sixth-century B.C.E.) preached his fi rst ritual for passing from one stage of life to another. sermon in Sarnath, one of its outlying districts. In baptism people pass from being outside the Banaras is renowned for its stepped bathing Christian church to being members of it. places. These are known as ghats. Tremendous Unlike the Mandaeans, Christians baptize a numbers of people from all parts of India fl ock to person only one time. Once baptized, a person is Banaras to bathe. The city also boasts more than always baptized. That is true even for a person 1,500 Hindu temples. The largest number of these who renounces Christianity and then wants to temples honor SIVA. In addition, the city contains be Christian again. But Christians have disagreed representations of all of the most important sacred about when to baptize, how to baptize, and how it sites in India. works. These disagreements are part of the reason Banaras may have originally sat at a place to why there are so many different Christian churches ford the Ganges, that is, a place to cross it without and denominations. a boat. Today people come to the city to ford a The earliest Christians baptized people as they metaphorical stream, the stream of SAMSARA, and converted to CHRISTIANITY. Most of these people attain release from rebirth. As a result, Banaras is were adults. In ancient times, some people waited an especially auspicious place at which to die. to be baptized on their deathbeds. In other words, they practiced baptism as a rite of passage con- nected with death. They thought that if they were baptism RITUAL bathing or washing. Baptism is baptized at death, they would enter the world best known as the ritual by which people become beyond with all their sins forgiven. One person members of the Christian church. baptized on his deathbed was the Roman emperor Many religious groups have practiced baptism. Constantine (c. 280–337), famous for removing all For example, baptism is the central ritual of the laws against Christianity. Mandaeans, who live in southern Iraq and south- Christians continue to baptize adult converts eastern Iran. It is so important that others who live today. But for the most part Christian baptism is around them call them “baptizers.” The Mandae- either a birth or a puberty ritual. Catholic, Ortho- ans baptize in “living water,” which they call “Jor- dox, and some Protestant Christians generally prac- dan.” A priest immerses them completely three tice baptism as a birth ritual. That is, they baptize times in this water. Afterward they are anointed infants. Other Protestants, such as Baptists, gener- with oil. Ideally, Mandaeans are baptized every ally practice baptism as a puberty ritual. That is, Sunday. They have claimed that they are practicing they baptize people only when they have reached the religion taught by John the Baptist. an age of spiritual maturity. At that age, the think- Baptism seems to have been particularly ing goes, people are able to choose for themselves important to religions of the Near East around the whether or not they want to be Christian. time of JESUS. The people that we learn about in the Some Christians baptize by sprinkling with DEAD SEA SCROLLS seem to have baptized every day. water. This is the way those who baptize infants Jews baptize, too. According to tradition, converts prefer to baptize. Others insist that baptism 46 S Baptist churches

requires total immersion. They have argued over In the mid-17th century, church leaders like such details as the number of times a person has Thomas Helwys and John Smyth reacted against to be immersed and whether or not a person must this situation. In their eyes, the institution of the go into the water face fi rst. Christians also disagree state church meant that a person’s commitment to about how baptism works. Christians who bap- Christianity was not very serious. They began to tize infants generally insist that in baptism God is preach that only believers should be baptized. They active: His Holy Spirit stirs within the heart of the also began to insist that the relationship between baptized person. Other Christians insist that bap- believers and GOD was a private one. Government tism simply recognizes publicly a change that has should have nothing to do with it. already taken place in a person’s heart. The Baptists had their greatest success in the In any case, Christians generally see baptism North American colonies of Great Britain and, after as a rebirth. Those baptized die to an old life and the Revolutionary War, in the United States. Sev- rise to a new one. This symbolism is in fact com- eral distinct movements have shaped the Ameri- mon in rites of passage. The NEW TESTAMENT con- can Baptist churches. These include evangelism, nects the dying and rising of baptism with the abolitionism, modernism, and FUNDAMENTALISM. death and RESURRECTION of Jesus. In the 18th century the Baptist churches embraced the evangelistic movement (see EVA N - GELICAL CHRISTIANITY and FUNDAMENTALISM, CHRIS- Baptist churches A variety of PROTESTANTISM TIAN). This movement sought to instill in people a especially common in the United States. Bap- fervent, heartfelt faith in Jesus. It emphasized the tists accept only “believer’s BAPTISM,” that is, the need for conversion and a personal experience of baptism of those who have personally accepted SALVATION. In order to reach the people who most CHRIST. Traditionally they have also been some of needed to hear this message, preachers left church the strongest advocates of a separation of CHURCH buildings behind and held public meetings known AND STATE. as revivals. Baptists adopted these methods enthu- siastically. As a result, they found many adherents, HISTORY especially in the Old South and on the frontiers. In The Baptist churches resemble the Anabaptists of addition, they attracted a large number of African the Protestant REFORMATION in one very important Americans, both free and slave. respect: Both groups have insisted that only those In the mid-19th century, the Baptist churches persons should be baptized who were old enough split over the issue of slavery. They formed two to decide that they wanted to be baptized. The Ana- major “Conventions,” the Northern, which favored baptists, however, arose on the European continent abolishing slavery, and the Southern, which in the 16th century. They were the ancestors of the favored keeping it. For a variety of reasons, the MENNONITES and the AMISH. The Baptist churches Southern Baptist Convention was more success- arose in the British Isles in the 17th century. They ful. Today Southern Baptists outnumber any other developed in quite a different direction. Baptist group. At the beginning of the 17th century, people Toward the end of the 19th century North living in England generally thought that CHRISTI- Americans became aware of a movement called ANITY should be a state church, that is, a religion modernism. This movement applied critical meth- that the government offi cially accepted and pro- ods to the study of the BIBLE. It also generally moted. This was the view held by Roman Catho- favored an active agenda of social reform. Several lics and Puritans as much as by Anglicans (see prominent Baptists, such as the preacher Harry ANGLICANISM and PURITANISM). In the setting of a Emerson Fosdick and the biblical scholar Shailer state church, people were baptized as a matter of Matthews, assumed leadership roles in the mod- routine at birth. ernist movement. Baptist churches S 47

At the beginning of the 20th century a reaction an altar to receive communion, members of Baptist to modernism set in. Several groups advocated churches receive it where they are sitting. what they called the “fundamentals” of Christian- ity, including the view that every word of the Bible ORGANIZATION is literally true. In the fi rst half of the 20th cen- Baptists accept the NEW TESTAMENT teaching of the tury controversies between modernists and funda- priesthood of all believers. For them, this teach- mentalists rocked the Northern Baptists. Toward ing means that any person is qualifi ed to minister the end of the 20th century similar controversies to any other. But individual congregations appoint erupted in the Southern Baptist Convention. persons to perform the functions of pastor and deacon. TEACHINGS Baptists also strongly emphasize the indepen- Baptists recognize no CREEDS or statements of faith. dence of individual congregations. Some Baptist For them, the Bible is the fi nal and ultimate author- churches have remained isolated, but most have ity. As a result, the beliefs and teachings of differ- joined with other Baptist churches in regional and ent groups of Baptists differ widely. For example, national associations. Representatives of the indi- some Baptists emphasize that people are predes- vidual congregations make decisions about joint tined for salvation. Others are “free will Baptists.” activities at meetings of these larger associations. Baptists agree, however, that the Bible is the In principle, however, the larger bodies have no ultimate authority in all matters of faith. They gen- authority over the individual congregations. erally conceive of the religious life in terms that derive from the evangelistic movement: An indi- SIGNIFICANCE vidual must recognize her or his sinful condition, Baptists have been actively involved in foreign accept God’s gift of salvation, and be born again in missions, but they are sparsely represented out- order to be saved. As a result, Baptists emphasize side of the United States. Within the United States, that the church is a voluntary association. however, Baptists comprise the largest group of Protestants. Historically they were important in PRACTICES helping to separate church and state in American Baptist churches are nonliturgical. That is, they do law. Through public fi gures like Billy Graham, not use the LITURGY or mass, which centers on the Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson, they continued to EUCHARIST, that the Orthodox and Catholic churches infl uence American public life in the latter part of developed. The centerpiece of Baptist worship is the 20th century. Although some devout Baptists, the sermon (see PREACHING). Besides the sermon, like President Clinton, were moderate or liberal, Baptist services include music performed by solo- many Baptists have been associated with conser- ists and choirs, hymns sung by the congregations, vative causes, such as opposition to abortion (see and prayers. Baptists continue to use the revival ABORTION AND RELIGION). meetings that developed during the 18th century. They have also made effective use of mass media, Further reading: Nancy Ammerman, Baptist for example, radio and television. Battles: Social Change and Religious Confl ict in Baptists take their name from the practice of the Southern Baptist Convention (New Brunswick, baptizing only believers, that is, people old enough N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1990); Bill J. to choose Christianity. Early on in their history they Leonard, Baptist Ways: A History (Valley Forge, adopted the practice of baptizing by total immer- Penn.: Judson Press, 2003); James E. Wood, Jr., sion. Baptists also celebrate the eucharist or com- Baptists and the American Experience (Valley munion. But while Catholic and Orthodox Christians Forge, Penn.: Judson Press, 1976); R. Wayne Stacy, celebrate communion every Sunday, Baptists may A Baptist’s Theology (Macon, Ga.: Smyth & Helwys celebrate it once a month. Instead of approaching Publishing, 2000). 48 S bar/bat mitzvah

bar/bat mitzvah Hebrew meaning “son/daugh- immediately after death, known as Chikhai Bardo. ter of the commandment.” The term refers to a Then comes a transitional state known as Chonyid person of adult status in the Jewish community. Bardo. The fi nal state is the state of being reborn, It also refers more commonly to the RITE OF PASSAGE known as Sidpa Bardo. In between each state a that marks the beginning of adulthood. period of unconsciousness intervenes. People who A Jewish boy is considered to reach religious are so enlightened that they have no karma do not adulthood at age 13, a girl at age 12. All forms of experience these stages. JUDAISM hold bar mitzvahs for boys. In the 20th At the beginning of the fi rst stage, deceased century Reform and then Conservative and Recon- persons are unconscious and unaware that they structionist Judaism developed a corresponding have died. This condition lasts perhaps three and ritual for girls called bat mitzvah. a half to four days. The fi rst stage culminates in The bar mitzvah is typically celebrated during a vision of clear light. At fi rst the light is pure. a Sabbath SYNAGOGUE service. The heart of the cel- Eventually it becomes obscured by the refl exes of ebration consists of reading in Hebrew the TORAH karma. and Haftarah portions assigned for the day. These During the second stage the deceased see are portions selected from the fi rst and second part VISIONS. These visions result from the karma that of the Hebrew BIBLE, respectively. It is also com- was acquired during life on Earth and must now mon for the bar mitzvah to comment on the pas- work itself out. During the fi rst seven days the sages read. deceased see visions of peaceful deities, among Because it is newer, the ritual for the bat mitz- them the BUDDHAS associated with the center and vah varies. It tends, however, to be observed with the four cardinal directions: Vairocana, Vajrasat- the same procedures as a bar mitzvah. tva, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, and Amoghasid- A bar/bat mitzvah is a festive occasion. The dhi. They see these Buddhas in both their mas- celebration includes a meal with family and friends culine and feminine aspects. During the second and generally the receiving of gifts. It is also a seven days the deceased see visions of wrathful major step in one’s religious life. During the ser- deities, or rather, of the same Buddhas, but now vice one wears a prayer shawl for the fi rst time in a under their wrathful aspects. synagogue. Afterward, a male and, in more liberal During the second stage people believe that congregations, a female can be counted in the min- they actually have physical bodies. The third yan or quota needed to hold prayer services. stage begins when they realize that their bodies are only illusory. They begin to desire bodies, and this desire leads to rebirth. As desire arises, Bardo Thodol (Tibetan “Book of the Dead”) the deceased begin to see the world into which Properly, Bar do thos grol; a group of writings in they will be reborn, whether it be the world of Tibetan BUDDHISM that describe the passage between devas, asuras, human beings, animals, pretas, or death and rebirth. Tibetan Buddhism envisions an hell. (Devas, asuras, and pretas are mythological intermediary period between death and rebirth beings.) Each of these worlds is associated with known as bardo, the time “between (bar) the two a particular colored light: dull white, green, yel- (do).” Ideally the period lasts 49 days. (Forty-nine low, blue, red, and smoke-colored, respectively. is the square of seven, which is considered a sacred The third stage concludes when the deceased are number.) In actuality the length of the bardo may actually reborn. Only those who are reborn in the vary with the amount of KARMA a person has. The world of human beings advance along the way to writings of the Bardo Thodol describe what hap- ultimate release (see NIRVANA). pens during this period. Many Tibetans believe that one’s fi nal thoughts The Bardo Thodol identifi es three stages determine one’s existence after death. As a result, between death and rebirth. First comes the state they read the Bardo Thodol to a dying person or Bhagavad-Gita S 49 over an image of the corpse. These writings also epic, the Mahabharata. Its author is unknown. The form the basis of a ritual that seeks release for the epic is attributed to an ancient sage named Vyasa, living. Those who perform this ritual spend 49 “the compiler.” He is said to have dictated the days shut up in completely dark caves. During that Mahabharata to GANESA, the elephant-headed god. time they attempt to experience while still alive Like much of Indian literature the Bhagavad-Gita the events that the Bardo Thodol describes. This is diffi cult to date. Scholars usually assign it to the experience is helpful, they say, in attaining ulti- period between 200 B.C.E. and 200 C.E. mate release. The Bhagavad-Gita contains 18 chapters. They present a conversation between the warrior hero, Arjuna, and his charioteer, KRISHNA. The conversa- Benedictines One of the earliest and most tion occurs early in the morning before the begin- infl uential orders of Roman Catholic MONKS AND ning of a great battle. In the battle Arjuna and NUNS. Benedictines follow the rule of St. Bene- his brothers will fi ght against their cousins. The dict (c. 480–c. 547). This rule divides the day into problem for Arjuna is that many other revered fi g- times for worship, work, and study. It is moderate ures, such as Arjuna’s teacher, are fi ghting for his rather than harsh. For example, it does not greatly cousins. Seeing in the ranks of the enemy those to emphasize fasting or lack of sleep. By following whom he owes the utmost respect, Arjuna throws the rule Benedictines cultivate obedience, endur- down his bow and refuses to fi ght. ance, humility, and gentleness. During the conversation that follows, Krishna Benedictines were extremely important to Euro- teaches many important truths of HINDUISM. The pean civilization in the medieval period. The most poem is very complex, and no brief summary can important monastery was at Cluny, France (founded do it justice. But it is possible to identify some of 909/910). Benedictine MISSIONARIES were crucial in the poem’s main topics. bringing CHRISTIANITY to Europe. The two best exam- Krishna identifi es three paths in Hinduism, ples are probably Augustine of CANTERBURY (d. 604) which he calls YOGAs, “disciplines.” These are the and Boniface (c. 675–754), who brought Christian- path of insight, the path of action, and the path ity to the Anglo-Saxons and the Germans, respec- of devotion to Krishna alone as GOD. In the path tively. Benedictines were also intellectual leaders. of insight Krishna teaches the true nature of the They copied manuscripts and, like Rabanus Mau- ATMAN or self. Eternal and unchanging, the self rus (780–856), helped create cultural revivals. The does not experience change. Therefore, it cannot poetry and music of a medieval Benedictine nun, truly be born, die, or be injured. In the path of Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179), attracted consid- action he teaches the proper attitude with which erable interest in the late 20th century. to act. According to Krishna one should perform The Benedictines experienced a worldwide one’s DHARMA or duty without thinking about the revival from about 1800 to the second VATICAN “fruits” of one’s action. As a warrior, Arjuna’s duty COUNCIL (1962–65). As part of the revival, Benedic- requires him to fi ght. tine houses were founded in North America. At the One climax of the Bhagavad-Gita comes in end of the 20th century North American Benedic- chapter 11. The Mahabharata as a whole presents tines were active in promoting Christianity, teach- Krishna as a neighboring prince who has come ing, and providing health care. to help Arjuna and his brothers win back their kingdom. During the Bhagavad-Gita, Arjuna asks Krishna to reveal his true nature. What follows is Bhagavad-Gita A Sanskrit title meaning “The chapter 11, one of the masterpieces of the human Song of the Lord”; perhaps the most widely revered attempt to describe the encounter with God. of the Hindu scriptures. The Bhagavad-Gita is a poem Another climax of the Bhagavad-Gita comes near that makes up a small part of the mammoth Hindu the end of the poem. There Krishna summarizes 50 S bhakti

the path of devotion this way: “Abandoning all mystics shared a common vocabulary, metaphors, thought of proper action [dharma], seek refuge RITUAL techniques, and aspirations. In the region of in me alone. I will free you from all ills. Do not Bengal in northeastern India a saint named Caitanya fear” (18.66). began a movement of intense devotion to Krishna as Taken at face value, the Bhagavad-Gita encour- the supreme Godhead. In the mid-1960s this form ages soldiers to fi ght. The great Indian thinker B. of bhakti came to the United States. There it became G. Tilak (1856–1920) saw the Bhagavad-Gita as a known as the Hare Krishna movement. In the Pun- call to use armed violence and expel the British jab in northwestern India a religious leader named conquerors and rulers from India. But the Bhaga- NANAK (1469–1539) built a religious structure on vad-Gita was also a favorite scripture of Mohandas the foundations of bhakti, one that transcended the GANDHI (1869–1948). He read it allegorically and divisions between Hindus and Muslims. Those who used it to champion his way of opposing the Brit- follow him and the other nine gurus in his tradition ish with “soul-force” and nonviolence rather than are known as Sikhs (see SIKHISM). “body-force” and violence. Hinduism classifi es devotees into three main groups: worshippers of Siva (Saivas), worshippers of Vishnu (Vaishnavas), and worshippers of the bhakti A Sanskrit word meaning “devotion”; one feminine divine power known as sakti (Saktas). of the major “paths” or forms of HINDUISM. When Devotees often use images in WORSHIP, but some Hindus practice bhakti, they try to cultivate a per- worship is aniconic or imageless. One common sonal relationship with a god or a GODDESS. The practice is to repeat one of the god’s names for an general religious attitude is expressed well in the extended period. This practice led to the popular BH AGAVA D -GITA, where the divine KRISHNA invites designation “Hare Krishnas.” Devotees also use worshippers: “Abandoning all thought of proper poems and songs extensively. These poems and action [dharma], seek refuge in me alone. I will songs may be sung by groups of devotees in public free you from all ills. Do not fear” (18.66). as well as in private. The goal of bhakti is emo- The bhakti movement began in south India tional enthusiasm and ecstasy, which devotees around the seventh century. At that time its advo- consider to be the experience of the very presence cates included poets known as Alvars, who were of GOD. In bhakti this experience is equivalent to devotees of VISHNU, and Nayanars, who were devo- ultimate release. tees of SIVA. This early bhakti became popular for Devotees may develop a variety of relation- many reasons. It utilized the language commonly ships with God. For example, a devotee may be spoken as well as the priestly and scholarly lan- God’s servant, God’s child or, as in the case of the guage, Sanskrit; it offered religious rewards to worship of the child Krishna, God’s parent. But all despite their standing in the system of ritual from the Alvars and Nayanars to the present, one classes (varnas, see CASTE IN HINDUISM); and it relationship has been most common: that symbol- appealed directly to worshippers without requiring ized by sexual love. Usually the devotee claims to a priest as an intermediary. As a result, bhakti was be married to the God, perhaps in repudiation of a a major factor in the revival of Hinduism in India. human marriage. In Bengali Vaishnavism the more It helped Hinduism replace ascetic movements like profound relationship is said to be the extramarital BUDDHISM and JAINISM. affair. In relation to God as Vishnu or Siva, male as From the Tamil-speaking region of south India well as female devotees always assume the female where it began, bhakti spread to the rest of south roles of wife and lover. India. By the 14th century it had spread to north India as well. Especially in the north bhakti poets had close contacts with Muslim mystics known as Bible, biblical literature The sacred book Sufi s (see SUFISM). The Hindu devotees and Muslim of Jews and Christians, and similar writings by Bible, biblical literature S 51

ancient Jews and Christians. The name Bible ulti- did not. For both Jews and Christians, it took a mately derives from Byblos, a center of the papy- number of centuries to agree upon the canon of rus trade in the ancient world. The writings of the the Bible. Some see that long process as guided Bible and biblical literature were often preserved by GOD. on papyrus in ancient times. The Bible for Jews CONTENTS OF THE BIBLE AND OTHER Jews use a Bible that contains 24 books. Because it BIBLICAL LITERATURE is written in Hebrew, it is sometimes known as the Both Jews and Christians call their sacred writings Hebrew Bible or Hebrew scriptures (see SCRIPTURES, the Bible. They differ, however, on what writings HEBREW). A better name for it may be Tanakh. This make up the Bible. The distinction between the word is an acronym made from the fi rst letter of Bible and biblical literature more broadly comes each of the Bible’s three parts: TORAH (teaching), from the formulation of canons, that is, lists of Nevi’im (PROPHETS), and Ketuvim (writings). The authoritative books. Ancient Jews and Christians formulation of the canon for these three parts took produced a wealth of religious literature. Canons place over a period of more than 500 years, from allowed them to distinguish between books that the end of the Babylonian exile (538 B.C.E.) to a they accepted as authoritative and those that they council of rabbis in 90 C.E.

The Jewish scriptures, consisting of the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings 52 S Bible, biblical literature

Torah, sometimes translated “law” rather than It provides a symbolic account of how God will “teaching,” is for Jews the most important part of defeat those who are tormenting Christians and the Bible. It consists of the fi rst fi ve books, tra- establish a new HEAVEN and earth. ditionally attributed to MOSES. Through stories of For Protestants, the Bible consists simply of CREATION and the FLOOD; ABRAHAM, SARAH, and their an Old Testament that is identical with Tanakh but descendants; and the EXODUS, Torah teaches how is divided into 39 books and the New Testament. god wants his people to live (see TEN COMMAND- But for Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox MENTS). Christians the Old Testament contains more books Nevi’im contains two kinds of prophets. The than the Hebrew Bible. That is because Christian- “Former Prophets” detail how God was active ity arose before the canon of the Hebrew Bible was in his people’s past. They include the books of set. The earliest Christians used a larger collection Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. The “Latter of writings as their Old Testament, and Catholics Prophets,” describe how God was active at their and Orthodox Christians continue to do so. time. They include the books of ISAIAH, JEREMIAH, Catholics call the extra writings in their Old EZEKIEL, and The Twelve. (Christians print The Testament “deuterocanonical.” The term means Twelve as 12 separate books and call them “Minor that although these writings are not in the Hebrew Prophets.”) scriptures, they are equally authoritative. Protes- Jews consider Ketuvim the least important part tants call these books the APOCRYPHA. They include of the Bible. It contains a variety of books, such as story literature (Tobit and Judith), wisdom lit- PSALMS, Proverbs, Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles, JOB, erature (Wisdom of Solomon and the Wisdom of and DANIEL (see also WISDOM LITERATURE). Jesus Son of Sirach, also known as Ecclesiasticus), history books (1 and 2 Maccabees), writings attrib- The Bible for Christians uted to Jeremiah and his secretary Baruch, and Christians call the Hebrew scriptures the Old Testa- parts of the books of Esther and Daniel that are ment and recognize them as part of their Bible. To not in the Hebrew Scriptures, such as the story of this Old Testament they add another 27 books that Susanna. Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox they call the NEW TESTAMENT. The formulation of Christians differ somewhat on the deuterocanoni- the canon of the New Testament took place from cal books. In addition to the books that Catholics the second to the fourth centuries. accept, Eastern Orthodox churches also accept a The New Testament contains several types book that has several names, depending upon the of material. It begins with four GOSPELS, Matthew, collection in which it is found: 2 Ezra, 1 Esdras, Mark, Luke, and John. They present the “good and 3 Esdras. news” (or gospel) of CHRISTIANITY by recounting the life and sayings of JESUS. The ACTS OF THE APOSTLES Other Biblical Literature tells how the followers of Jesus, known as APOS- Jews and Christians have always known about TLES, spread that good news out from Jerusalem writings that were omitted from the Bible. Such through the eastern Mediterranean world (Turkey writings include books like the Shepherd of Her- and Greece today) to Rome. The most prominent mas and the Didache (the Teaching) of the Twelve apostle in Acts is PAUL, and the next portion of the Apostles. Before the canon was set, some people New Testament consists of several EPISTLES or letters thought of them as authoritative scripture. that he allegedly wrote. Some of them are almost In the early 19th century, European scholars certainly not by Paul. The New Testament also began to comb through ancient manuscript col- contains letters by other followers of Jesus—JAMES, lections in the Middle East. They also began to PETER, John, and Jude—and an anonymous letter uncover ancient writings in archaeological excava- known as Hebrews. The fi nal book, the REVELATION tions. In the process, they have found copies of to John, is an example of APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE. many works of biblical literature, some of which Bible, biblical literature S 53

had been lost and forgotten. Two discoveries from Compare “a person is justifi ed by faith apart from the 1940s have become particularly famous. The works prescribed by the law” (Romans 3.28) with DEAD SEA SCROLLS, discovered in 1948 in jars hid- “a person is justifi ed by works and not by faith den in caves, contained biblical texts from the sec- alone” (James 2.24). ond and fi rst centuries B.C.E. They also contained From ancient times, Jews and Christians have writings specifi c to the community that produced developed other means of interpreting the Bible. the manuscripts. The Nag Hammadi Codices, dis- They sometimes call this interpretation exegesis, covered in Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945, contain which means “reading out of” the texts. Some dis- many writings in the Coptic language, especially in tinguish exegesis from eisegesis. This very obscure the tradition of GNOSTICISM. (Codices means books.) word means “reading into” the texts. Among them was a complete copy of the ancient Gospel of THOMAS. Traditional Jewish Interpretations In modern times scholars have gathered 52 In Jewish tradition God did not just reveal himself writings left out of the Bible into a collection that to his people through written words. He also did so they call the Pseudepigrapha. It includes several orally, in the form of traditions handed down from apocalypses, books of wisdom literature, psalms generation to generation. Judaism has traditionally and prayers, books that expand on biblical stories, held that worshippers need this “oral Torah” to and a set of books called testaments, such as the make sense of the written Torah. For example, the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs. Unlike the Old written Torah says to keep the Sabbath holy, but and New Testaments, these testaments are actually what does that mean? The oral Torah answers that individual books. Other modern collections, less question. For example, it tells what kinds of things standardized but no less interesting, gather all that one can and cannot do on the Sabbath. Accord- remains of the various gospels outside the New ing to tradition, oral Torah began with Moses, Testament. the fi rst rabbi, and continued through rabbinical Jews and Christians do not recognize these discussions. Today the oral Torah is found in the texts as authoritative. Nevertheless, they are very TALMUD. important. They also help us understand much In antiquity and the Middle Ages, Jews better the religion of Second Temple JUDAISM (from interpreted the Bible in other ways, too. Many 538 B.C.E. to 70 C.E.) and early Christianity. They ancient interpreters favored a kind of interpreta- help us understand the processes that led the tion known as allegory. They thought that biblical books of the Bible to be written, standardized, stories such as the Tower of Babel may not have and accepted into the canon. Finally, they help us been literally true but were told to make some identify and appreciate the distinctive themes of point. Other interpreters favored the literal mean- biblical books. ing. In the Middle Ages some of them wrote com- mentaries on parts of the Bible, explaining what INTERPRETING THE BIBLE the text actually said. An important example is Many people use the Bible as a source of “proof the commentary on Torah by a writer known as texts.” That is, they want to demonstrate a point, Rashi (1040–1105). The approach of Moses Mai- so they look for a sentence that makes the point monides (d. 1204) was different. A philosopher, and quote it. Members of other religious com- he believed that God was one and incorporeal, munities, such as BUDDHISM, often approach their that is, had no body. His famous Guide of the religious texts in the same way. One problem with Perplexed demonstrated that, although the Bible this method is that it takes quotations out of con- speaks of God as having body parts such as a text. Another is that it usually depends uncriti- face and arms, he actually has neither. Thinkers cally upon a translation of the text. A third is that in the tradition of KABBALAH took yet a different people can use it to prove contradictory positions. approach. They found hidden, mystical teachings 54 S Bible, biblical literature

in the biblical books. The Zohar, a kabbalistic all of the Bible as equally true. For example, Mar- book, introduced the idea that the biblical text tin Luther said that the central message of the has four kinds of meaning. The four meanings are Bible was the teaching of God’s love in Christ. the literal (peshat), the allegorical (remez), the One should accept everything else that the Bible meaning related to HALAKHAH or living a Jewish had to say only to the extent that it helped com- life (derash), and the mystical (sod). Taking the municate this message. fi rst letter of each word, some called this system of interpretation pardes for short; the pronuncia- Modern Interpretations tion of the word alludes to paradise. In the 17th century, a Jewish philosopher, Baruch Spinoza (1632–37), anticipated modern biblical Traditional Christian Interpretations criticism. He did not assume that God had revealed Allegorical interpretation attracted many ancient truth in the Bible and then try to fi nd that truth. Christian interpreters, just as it attracted many He took the Bible as a human product and tried ancient Jewish ones. Christian interpreters con- to determine the extent to which it and Jewish nected allegories with a saying from Paul: “the traditions about it were historically true. Even letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3.6). before these efforts Spinoza’s ideas had gotten him Unlike Jews, however, ancient Christians tended expelled from the Jewish community. Eventually, to fi nd in the Hebrew scriptures prefi gurations of however, this form of interpretation came to domi- Jesus. This kind of interpretation is already found nate among academic biblical scholars in Europe in writings of the New Testament. Paul sees ADAM and North America—Jews, Protestants, and Catho- as a “type” of CHRIST (Rom. 5.14), and 1 Peter sees lics alike. the great fl ood as prefi guring Christian BAPTISM (1 These scholars have tried to determine how Pet. 3.18–22). Some early Christians thought that the biblical texts came to be written. One famous the entire Old Testament foretold Jesus. They were example is the “documentary hypothesis” of the willing to make liberal use of allegorical interpreta- origin of Torah developed by the German scholar tion to prove it. Julius Wellhausen (1844–1918). It sees Torah as Similar to the Jewish notion of pardes, Chris- combining four documents, denoted J, E, P, and tians in the Middle Ages formulated a fourfold D, written over several centuries. Another famous method of interpretation. Each text was said to example concerns the “synoptic problem,” that is, have four meanings: the literal, the allegorical how to explain the similar words and structures of (concerned with doctrine), the tropological (con- Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The common answer cerned with morality), and the anagogical (con- today makes Mark the source of Matthew and cerned with the believer’s fi nal destiny). But some Luke, along with a collection of sayings of Jesus in the Middle Ages emphasized just the literal that Mark did not use (see Q SOURCE). meaning of the Bible. Modern scholars have also tried to read the During the Renaissance scholars made intense books of the Bible not as timeless revelation but efforts to study the original languages of the Bible in terms of the contexts in which they were writ- in order to determine its literal meaning as pre- ten. Some psalms, for example, seem designed to cisely as possible. They also began to use ancient be used for the coronation ceremony of the kings manuscripts in an effort to reconstruct as accu- of ancient Israel and Judah. This kind of criticism rately as possible the original text of the Bible. can have radical results. For example, German crit- The Protestant Reformers benefi ted from these ics in the middle of the 19th century explored the approaches (see REFORMATION, PROTESTANT). They difference between the Aramaic world of ideas, rejected all meanings but the literal, which they in which Jesus and his disciples lived, and the determined by grammatical analysis and historical Greek world of ideas, in which Christian doctrine context. But the Reformers did not always accept developed (see DOGMA AND DOCTRINE). They pointed birth rituals S 55

out that in ancient Aramaic “son of God” simply Further reading: Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi meant a righteous person. In ancient Greek, however, Brettler, eds., The Jewish Study Bible: Jewish it had special connotations. Greek-speaking Chris- Publication Society Tanakh Translation (New York: tians later developed these connotations into the Oxford University Press, 2004); Benson Bobrick, doctrine of the INCARNATION. The scholars claimed, Wide as the Waters: The Story of the English Bible however, that Jesus and his followers would and the Revolution It Inspired (New York: Simon neither have understood nor accepted those later & Schuster, 2001); R. H. Charles, Apocrypha and ideas. Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament (Oxford: In the last 200 years archaeologists have con- Oxford University Press, 1998); Michael D. tributed much to our understanding of the Bible. Coogan et al., eds., The New Oxford Annotated Much of their work has confi rmed claims in the NRSV Bible with the Apocrypha, 3d ed., ed. Bible, but much of it has also called the Bible into (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001); Bart question. For example, the book of Joshua famously D. Ehrman, Lost Scriptures: Books That Did Not records the collapse of the walls of Jericho during Make It into the New Testament (New York: Oxford the Israelite invasion. According to archaeologists, University Press, 2003); William Yarchin, History however, Jericho had already been uninhabited for of Biblical Interpretation: A Reader (Peabody, a long time by the time of that invasion. The story Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 2004). was probably invented later to explain ruins that people could see. New Testament interpreters have been par- birth rituals Religious rites performed in con- ticularly interested in the life of Jesus. Many nection with a birth of a child. The mystery of birth have tried to reconstruct “the historical Jesus.” is recognized by RITUALS and observances in virtu- The controversial “Jesus seminar” has done this ally all religions. It is a joyous occasion for parents recently. Members of the seminar produced a book and the community, yet at the same time is recog- identifying the authentic and inauthentic sayings nized to be dangerous and perhaps also polluting, of Jesus by voting on each passage. Other schol- especially for the mother. During pregnancy, often ars, however, doubt that it is possible accurately special spiritual as well as physical precautions are to reconstruct the historical Jesus. For one thing, taken on behalf of her well-being and that of the the best attempts to do so have produced very child. In HINDUISM, for example, she may be cov- different images of Jesus. For example, according ered with fl owers and amulets. At the time of birth, to Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965), what was dis- she may be moved to a separate lodge apart from tinctive about Jesus was his “eschatological con- family and community, as in ancient Japan. The sciousness,” his sense that the world was about secluded mother may be accompanied by selected to end. More recent scholars have begun to reject women. But she is taboo to all others, including that view. even her husband, because of the pollution and Modern interpreters of the Bible take an sacred awe associated with the event. After birth, interest in many more methods and topics than the mother in many societies purifi es herself, per- those just mentioned. But it is also important to haps by a ritual bath. In the traditional usage of remember that not all Jews and Christians have the Church of England, she went to church for a embraced such views. For them the Bible is not a rite of thanks and blessing called the “Churching human product but contains ultimate truth. At the of Women,” and was expected to do this before beginning of the 20th century, an extreme reaction appearing socially. against this biblical criticism emerged in FUNDA- Birth rites for the newborn child are also com- MENTALISM. It insists that the Bible is the verbally mon. In Japan a child is presented to the local inspired word of God. As such the Bible is literally SHINTO shrine about a month after birth. In many true and without error. Christian traditions infants are baptized as soon 56 S Bodhidharma

after birth as convenient (see CHRISTIANITY and BAP- tain. There he sat facing the cave wall and meditat- TISM), thus accompanying physical birth with a ing for nine years. As often happens when meditat- sign of spiritual birth. In Hinduism, many stages of ing, Bodhidharma had diffi culty staying awake. To a small child’s life, such as the fi rst eating of solid alleviate this problem, he is said to have cut off his food and the fi rst haircut, are marked by life-cycle eyelids. Falling to the ground, they became the fi rst rituals. In JUDAISM young males receive CIRCUMCI- tea plants. (Zen monks cultivated tea to help them SION eight days after birth in a rite giving the child stay awake while meditating.) a Hebrew name and establishing religious identity. The distinctive approach that Zen takes to A Muslim father whispers the call to PRAYER in a Buddhism emerges from another legendary event. newborn infant’s ear so that the fi rst words he Emperor Wu is said to have asked Bodhidharma hears are sacred. what Zen was. Bodhidharma replied with four Birth is also fraught with larger symbolic brief statements: It does not depend upon words; it signifi cance for religion. Stages of the spiritual points directly to the human mind or heart; it sees life, particularly major initiations and religious into one’s true nature; it attains Buddhahood. encounters, are often seen as spiritual equivalents of physical birth, and are full of symbols to that effect (see INITIATION, RELIGIOUS). In the initiations of bodhisattva A Sanskrit word that literally means young men in some primal societies, the boys are “a being whose nature (sattva) is perfect wisdom buried under leaves or left in small, round, womb- (bodhi)”; an important fi gure in BUDDHISM. The like huts, and when they fi rst emerge are treated term is used differently in the various Buddhist like newborn infants. The Christian rite of baptism schools. It is especially important in the schools is said by the apostle PAUL to represent spiritual known as Mahayana. death and rebirth. Persons who have undergone In THERAVADA B UDDHISM, the Buddhism common profound conversion experiences often speak of in southeast Asia, a bodhisattva is a being who is themselves as “born again,” as though now doing on the way to becoming a BUDDHA. (A Buddha is spiritually what was once done physically. Birth is a being who discovers the path to enlightenment therefore a continuing presence in human life on and NIRVANA. In this school the most important all planes of being. bodhisattva was Siddharta Gautama (sixth century B.C.E.), the Buddha who appeared in this world, prior to his enlightenment. Theravada Buddhists Bodhidharma (sixth century C.E.) known in Japan often tell stories about this bodhisattva’s previous as Daruma; the fi rst patriarch of the Ch’an or Zen lives. Known as jatakas or “birth stories,” they school of BUDDHISM It is diffi cult to separate fact frequently take the form of animal fables. Some, from legend in accounts of Bodhidharma’s life. such as “The Monkey and the Crocodile,” have In any case, the details of his biography illustrate even become children’s stories in North America. signifi cant aspects of ZEN BUDDHISM. As the Another important bodhisattva in Theravada is the following shows, they sometimes resort to extreme present form of the Buddha Maitreya. Maitreya is events to do so. the Buddha who will come and usher in a golden Bodhidharma is said to have been a scholar of a age. At the present he lives in a heaven known as Buddhist scripture known as the Lankavatara Sutra. Tushita. He was brought from India to China by Emperor MAHAYANA BUDDHISM, the form of Buddhism Wu of the Liang dynasty, a Chinese emperor con- common in east Asia, developed a somewhat dif- cerned with fostering Buddhism. In disgust at the ferent idea of the bodhisattva. It urges all Bud- self-importance of the emperor, a violation of fun- dhists to strive to become bodhisattvas. damental Buddhist teachings, Bodhidharma left the According to Mahayana teachings the bodhi- capital and took up residence in a cave on a moun- sattva path begins when the thought of enlighten- Bon S 57

ment arises in the mind. This thought involves a Bon A religion in Tibet. It dates to the period desire for wisdom; it also involves compassion for before the coming of BUDDHISM in the eighth cen- others. The thought of enlightenment leads per- tury (see TIBETAN RELIGION). Practitioners of Bon are sons to make a series of vows. These vows in turn known as Bon-pos. determine their future efforts. Some Mahayana texts describe the bodhisat- tva path in terms of six perfections. Other texts add four more. The ten perfections are: giving, moral- ity, patience, valiant effort, concentration, wis- dom, skill in means, the vows of the bodhisattva, power, and knowledge. To cultivate these perfec- tions takes not years or centuries but lifetimes and eons. The more time spent as a bodhisattva, the more time there is in which to act out of compas- sion for the benefi t of other beings. So the longer the time spent as a bodhisattva, the better. Mahayana Buddhism tells many myths about bodhisattvas. It also has many cults dedicated to those bodhisattvas who have reached the highest levels of perfection. Such bodhisattvas are so great that they reside not on Earth but in HEAVEN. From heaven they act out of compassion for those who are suffering here on Earth and in other worlds. In Mahayana Buddhism three celestial bodhi- sattvas are most important. One of them is Mai- treya, whom Theravada Buddhists also recognize. Mahayana says that Maitreya is a fi gure of light who inspires Buddhist teachers and guides per- sons after death. Because he is coming to usher in a golden age, his worship has given rise to mes- sianic societies that have fostered political unrest and revolution (see MESSIAH). Another important bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism is Manjusri. He is said to be an eternal youth. Images show him wearing a fi ve-pointed crown, holding a book and a sword, and accompa- nied by a lion. According to Mahayana teachings, Manjusri could become a Buddha immediately, but he refuses to enter the ultimate enlightenment so long as a single other being remains in SAMSARA. The bodhisattva AVALOKITESVARA is renowned for compassion. Known in Chinese as Kuan- yin and Japanese as Kannon, he has often been envisioned in female form in China and Japan. A A bodhisattva is a follower of the Buddha who renounces the path to nirvana in order to help others seek helper in every need, he—or she—is a protector of enlightenment. This wooden image of a bodhisattva is women, especially women in labor. from Japan’s Heian period (794–1185). (Art Resource, N.Y.) 58 S Brahma

Before the coming of Buddhism, Bon-pos seem brahman A crucial idea in HINDUISM, especially to have practiced elaborate rituals to ensure the in the UPANISHADS and VEDANTA philosophy. Brah- fate of the soul, especially the souls of kings, after man refers to the reality that underlies and sup- death. In the eighth and ninth centuries, however, ports the world as it appears to the senses. Bon was suppressed in favor of Buddhism. It has Originally, brahman referred to the ritual for- been a minority religion ever since. mulas spoken during the SACRIFICES described in the After the ninth century Bon developed forms sacred books known as the VEDA. In this sense, very similar to Buddhism. Today it recognizes an brahman is related to two other words: BRAHMIN or enlightened being, similar to the BUDDHA, named “priest,” the name of the RITUAL class in Hinduism Tonpa Shenrap; he is said to have revealed the whose members performed the sacrifi ce, and Brah- truth of Bon teaching. It also has a monastic tradi- manas, the commentaries on the ritual texts of the tion, a large body of literature, and its own deities, Veda. The Brahmanas identifi ed rich webs of con- whom Buddhists have adopted as lesser gods. Bon nections between the world at large and the Vedic RITUALS are similar to Tibetan Buddhist rituals, but sacrifi ces. They refer to brahman as the energy they differ in some details. For example, Bon-pos that made the sacrifi ces work. circumambulate or walk around sacred sites coun- The Upanishads have a wider view of brah- terclockwise: Buddhists circumambulate clock- man. In them brahman is no longer limited to the wise. Bon priests also have a distinctive headcov- sacrifi ce. Instead, it is considered to be the unseen, ering: They wear black hats instead of the yellow unseeable support for everything that is seen. The or red hats worn by members of some Buddhist Upanishads teach many things about this brahman, schools. Only recently has Bon literature started to and what they teach is not always consistent. For become accessible to North American and Euro- example, some verses of the Upanishads claim that pean scholars. everything is brahman. Others deny that brahman can be identifi ed with anything. Many passages, however, assert that the brahman is identical with Brahma The creator god in texts of Hindu the reality that underlies the human person, which mythology known as the PURANAS. The Pura- is often known as ATMAN. nas identify three families of deities according to It is diffi cult to grasp what is unseen and function. The heads of these families are Brahma unseeable. The Upanishads try to understand the creator, VISHNU the preserver, and SIVA the brahman in many ways. One particularly impor- destroyer. The name Brahma is related to BRAHMAN, tant method that they use is known as regressive the word for the ultimate reality that, according to reasoning. A person takes up an object for con- the UPANISHADS and VEDANTA philosophy, underlies sideration, say, the body. She or he asks what all appearances. Indeed, in some contexts the two supports that object, then what supports the sup- words have the very same form. So it is possible port, and so on. The hope is that the procedure that modern readers have sometimes mistaken the will eventually work back to what supports or one for the other. sustains all things. A famous example occurs in Several myths connect Brahma with the ori- the text known as the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. gin of the world at the beginning of each cycle That Upanishad records a series of questions that of generation and decay. For example, one well- Gargi Vacaknavi asks her husband, Yajnavalkya. known image depicts Brahma as seated on a Gargi fi rst asks what sustains water. Then she goes LOTUS, which grows from the navel of Vishnu through a series that includes such items as wind while the latter sleeps on the coiled world-ser- and the worlds of sun, moon, and stars. Her ques- pent Sesha. Myths also tell of Brahma grant- tioning eventually leads her to ask what supports ing the gift of eternal life. Despite such myths, the world of brahman. At that point Yajnavalkya Brahma is rarely worshipped. warns Gargi that it is dangerous to ask too many brahmin S 59

questions: “Gargi, do not question too much, lest known as the VEDA. Some scholars have identifi ed your head fall off” (3.6). their ancestors as priests among the Indo-Europe- In the fi rst centuries C.E. thinkers attempted ans. The Indo-Europeans were supposedly ances- to systematize the teachings of the Upanishads in tors of the people who inhabit north India today, short formulas of two or three words. These “aph- as well as of European peoples such as the English, orisms” are so short that they are almost meaning- the French, and the Germans. less without a commentary. The most important About 2,000 years ago Hindu lawbooks known collection of these teachings was the Vedanta-Sutra as Dharmasastras carefully listed the duties and of Badarayana, also known as the Brahma-Sutra. privileges of brahmins. They also assigned brahmins Later, from roughly 500 to 1500, thinkers wrote the highest position in Hindu society, but not every- commentaries on these aphorisms and on the Upa- one has agreed. Many records from roughly 2,000 nishads themselves. In doing so, they founded sev- years ago tell about disputes between brahmins eral schools of philosophy known as Vedanta. and sramanas. Sramanas were wandering ascetics According to SANKARA, the best known of the who practiced religions such as BUDDHISM and JAIN- thinkers, brahman has three characteristics: being, ISM. (Ascetics are people who give up pleasures and consciousness, and bliss. Sankara actually identi- sometimes even the necessities of life for religious fi es two levels of brahman. In and of itself, brah- purposes.) A thousand years later brahmins were man is impersonal. But on a lower level, brahman often the butt of jokes in classical Indian drama. appears to human beings in the form of a person, The lawbooks focus specifi cally on the roles that is, as a god. Sankara’s Vedanta is known as of boys and men. Brahmin men often have other Advaita, which means “non-dual.” That is because occupations, but according to the lawbooks it is Sankara teaches that the reality of the world— best for them to be priests and to teach the Veda. brahman—and the reality of the human being— Public SACRIFICES described in the Veda still occur in atman—are “not two” different realities. India, but they are relatively rare. It is much more Other Vedanta teachers, such as Ramanuja common for brahmins to serve as spiritual teach- and Madhva, reject Sankara’s impersonal brah- ers for boys, a relationship that the boys are sup- man. For them, brahman is simply the personal posed to remember throughout their lives. Some God, known by various names as VISHNU, SIVA, and brahmins serve as priests in temples. In addition, Devi. For Ramanuja, the universe is the body of all brahmins are supposed to observe household this God. For Madhva, however, brahman or God rituals taught by the Veda. Good examples are the is completely different from the atman. sandhya or twilight rituals addressed mornings In the 20th century Vedanta was the most and evenings to the god Surya, the sun. In theory prominent school of traditional philosophy in the lives of women are limited: They are supposed India. Many of the most widely recognized philos- to obey in turn their fathers, husbands, and sons. ophers, but not all, favored Sankara’s views. So did In practice some Hindu women have been strong many accounts of brahman written by European and self-assertive. and North American scholars. Although all brahmins belong to the highest varna, it should be stressed that varnas are ritual classes, not economic ones. Brahmins may be the brahmin Also spelled brahman; in HINDUISM, a most ritually pure members of Indian society, but member of the highest of the four varnas or RITUAL some brahmins are extremely poor. At the same classes. According to tradition, the ideal occupa- time, brahmins have played an enormous role tion for brahmins is that of the priest (see CASTE IN in the government of India. Only 3.5 percent of HINDUISM). Indians are brahmins, but at the end of the 20th Brahmins descend from the priests who per- century brahmins held almost 70 percent of all formed the sacrifi ces described in the sacred books government jobs. 60 S brain, mind, and religion

Strict brahmins have traditionally observed the same time. These two systems are the system a number of rules. These rules were designed to responsible for being aroused, as when running maintain the brahmins’ purity. For example, if a tight race, and the system responsible for being brahmins came into physical contact with persons calm, as in deep relaxation. A third researcher has considered impure in ritual terms, especially Dalits examined Zen meditation in detail. He has tried to (“untouchables”), they had to perform a series of link the many different experiences people have rituals to wash away what they saw as defi lement. during ZAZEN with a large number of events in the During the 20th century, however, traditional con- brain—too many to summarize here. Clearly, these cerns with maintaining purity often gave way to ideas are complicated. Much more work needs to the pressures of modern urban life. be done before neuropsychologists will be able to agree on which explanations work best.

brain, mind, and religion From the 1980s on, STUDIES OF THE MIND scientists have been thinking seriously about what Cognitive scientists are not interested in “mysti- their studies of the brain and the mind might have cal” experiences. Most religious people, they say, to say about religion. We often think of the brain do not have such experiences. What they want to and the mind as identical, but they are not. The explain are the ideas that religious people have. brain is a physical object inside the head. It con- They especially want to explain why human sists of cells and undergoes chemical reactions beings, unlike other animals, believe in beings and electrical pulses. The mind is the collection that cannot be perceived by the senses, beings of our thoughts and experiences. Many scientists like gods, spirits, and demons. They, too, have think that these two are just one thing, a mind- many different, complicated explanations. One brain, seen from two different angles. Neverthe- researcher claims that the mind is programmed to less, it is still impossible to connect most ideas see humanoid and animal-like beings even where people have with specifi c chemical and physical no such beings exist. He points out that it is better events in their brains. As a result, scientists usu- for a person hiking in the woods to mistake a rock ally focus on either the brain or the mind. Those for a bear than a bear for a rock. A hiker who mis- who focus on the brain are called neuropsycholo- took a bear for a rock is in serious danger of being gists. Those who focus on the mind are called injured or killed. From such mistakes, he says, the cognitive scientists. belief in gods arose. Another thinker believes that religious ideas are precisely the kinds of ideas that THE BRAIN AND RELIGION the human mind most likes to think. They attract Neuropsychologists who study religion often attention because they violate expectations. For explore peculiar experiences that some religious example, spirits can move through solid objects, people call “mystical.” Some are experiences that and human minds fi nd that idea interesting. At God is present. Others are experiences of being one the same time, religious ideas do not violate too with the universe. Neuropsychologists believe that many expectations. If they did, people would not these experiences result from events in the brain, be able to remember them. Some call these ideas but they do not agree on what those events are. “minimally counterintuitive.” One researcher might believe that people experi- ence God as a result of electrical discharges in parts IMPLICATIONS of the brain known as the temporal lobes. (These At the beginning of the 21st century both neuro- lobes are found near the temples on either side of psychologists and cognitive scientists are trying the head.) Another might believe that a person will to refi ne their ideas and test them through experi- have an experience of “absolute unitary being” if ments. They, along with theologians, have also two different systems in the brain are stimulated at considered what their ideas mean for religious Brazil, new religious movements in S 61 people. Some brain and mind researchers are ada- There are many different Afro-Brazilian reli- mantly atheistic. They think scientists have suf- gions. Candomble is the oldest. It is also the most fi ciently explained that supernatural beings are African. It identifi es Yoruba spirits, called orisha, based only on processes within the brain. Others with Catholic saints. Traditionally, its leaders have see their research as making possible a new way been women, called maes de santo, that is, moth- for religious people to think about their religions. ers of the saint. They perform RITUALS such as ani- They call that way “neurotheology.” Despite such mal SACRIFICE. They also supervise people who are great differences, many researchers seem to agree “ridden” or possessed by various spirits. that religion is somehow programmed—“hard- Catimbo is another Afro-Brazilian religion. wired”—into the brain. As a result, human beings Unlike Candomble, it calls upon supernatural will always be religious. beings that the native peoples of Brazil worshipped. Like native religions, it also uses an intoxicant to Further reading: Justin L. Barrett, Why Would induce visions. Anyone Believe in God? (Walnut Creek, Calif.: Yet another new Afro-Brazilian religion is Altamira Press, 2004); Andrew Newberg, Eugene Umbanda. It has elements from Christianity, Afri- d’Aquili, and Vince Rause, Why God Won’t Go can religions, and native Brazilian religions. To Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief them it adds ideas from a 19th-century French (New York: Ballantine Books, 2001); Harvey spiritualist, Allan Kardec (1804–69), who taught Whitehouse, Modes of Religiosity: A Cognitive that people had many lives (see REINCARNATION). Theory of Religious Transmission (Walnut Creek, Pentecostal churches are rather different Calif.: Altamira Press, 2004). from Afro-Brazilian religions. In fact, Pentecostal churches deliberately attack the beliefs and prac- tices of Afro-Brazilian religions as “demon-wor- Brazil, new religious movements in Brazil ship.” Those who practice Afro-Brazilian religions has traditionally been a Catholic country because often complain that Pentecostals harass and dis- it was colonized by Portugal. In fact, Brazil has criminate against them. been ranked as the largest Catholic country in the Pentecostal churches attribute the violence world, but that is somewhat deceptive. Brazil is and drug traffi cking in Brazil’s cities to demons. To also home to thriving new religious movements. address these problems, they perform public exor- For a century or more people in Brazil have cisms. Like Pentecostals elsewhere, they empha- developed new religions built on African roots size a strict lifestyle and various gifts of the spirit. called Afro-Brazilian religions. More recently, The largest Pentecostal church in Brazil is the in the last 50 years, PENTECOSTALISM has grown Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus, the Univer- extremely rapidly there. Since the 1990s, the Cath- sal Church of God’s Kingdom or IURD for short. olic Church has been responding especially to the A self-appointed bishop, Edir Macedo (b. 1945), growth of Pentecostalism through media-friendly founded the IURD in 1976. Within 10 years it had “show masses.” grown to 3 million members. It now runs television Europeans were not the only people who came and radio stations and boasts churches in Portugal, to Brazil after the discoveries of Columbus. People South Africa, Great Britain, and the United States. of African ancestry came, too, often, of course, During the late 20th century, the future of the against their will. Although slaveowners tried to Roman Catholic Church in Brazil looked bleak. make Africans Christian, Africans also maintained People who practiced the Afro-Brazilian religions their earlier beliefs. In particular, the Yoruba people had often practiced Catholicism, too, but members from Nigeria managed to preserve their traditional of the new Pentecostal churches insisted that their beliefs and practices. As a result, Afro-Brazilian members belong only to them. Tens of millions of religions often use Yoruba gods and names. people left the Catholic Church. 62 S Buddha, the

In the 1990s young Catholic priests began to Siddhartha’s birth into our world was to be his respond in the spirit of the Pentecostal churches. last. It is said that he carefully chose the time and They sang with bands, danced, and put on stage location of that birth, to a princely family in north- shows, all in the service of their religion. The east India in the sixth century B.C.E. According to performances attracted many people. For exam- legend, his mother, Queen Maya, dreamed that ple, in November 1997 one controversial priest, four deities were carrying her bed to the Hima- Marcelo Rossi (b. 1967), drew a crowd of more laya Mountains. They were followed by a white than 100,000 people to a rally in a soccer stadium elephant. The white elephant circled the bed, in Sao Paulo. The theme was “I’m happy to be then plunged his tusk into Maya’s side. When she Catholic.” awoke, she discovered she was pregnant. This new form of Catholicism probably does During the sixth month of her pregnancy, not count as a new religious movement. But Maya went to visit her cousin. Along the way, she together with Afro-Brazilian religions and new stopped in a grove at Lumbini (today in Nepal). Pentecostal movements, it helps make for religious There she gave birth to Siddhartha prematurely. vitality and diversity in Brazil. Astrologers who read the body marks predicted a double destiny for the baby: He would either con- Further reading: José Oscar Beozzo and Luiz Carlos quer the world or renounce it. Siddhartha’s father Susin, eds., Brazil: People and Church(es), trans. wanted to ensure that his son chose to conquer the Paul Burns (London: SCM Press, 2002); André world, so they protected him from the EVILS of the Corten, Pentecostalism in Brazil: Emotion of the world and saw that his every wish was fulfi lled. As Poor and Theological Romanticism, trans. Arianne a result, Siddhartha lived the life of pleasure that Dorval (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999); many people only dream about, but in living that Toyin Falola and Matt D. Childs, eds. The Yoruba life, he found that it was insuffi cient. Diaspora in the Atlantic World (Bloomington: Siddhartha married and had a son. Then, Indiana University Press, 2004). at the age of 29, he made the fateful decision to explore the world outside his palaces. On succes- sive trips he encountered four new “sights”: an Buddha, the A title meaning “awakened” or older person, a sick person, a decaying corpse, “enlightened.” It is most commonly applied to Sid- and a wandering ascetic. Siddhartha had fi nally dharta Gautama (c. 560–c. 480 B.C.E.), the person confronted the realities of duhkha or suffering: old who founded the religion of BUDDHISM. Buddhist age, sickness, and death. He resolved to renounce mythology actually identifi es many different Bud- his life of pleasure and search for the solution to dhas. Siddhartha Gautama is the historical Bud- these problems. dha, that is, the Buddha who has appeared in our First he tried various techniques of MEDITA- world’s history. In some traditions he is known as TION. He mastered the skills quickly but found that Sakyamuni, “sage of the Sakyas,” because he was they did not provide the answers he was seeking. born in northeast India among a people known as Then, for fi ve years he practiced various ascetic the Sakyas. exercises, denying his body until he was so thin it was said one could feel his backbone through LIFE his abdomen. Close to death from these exer- Buddhists believe that when people die, they are cises, Siddhartha resolved to fi nd a middle way reborn (see SAMSARA). In keeping with this belief, between indulgence and denial. After sitting for an they believe that Siddhartha Gautama had many extended period under the so-called bodhi-tree in births prior to the birth in which he became the Bodh Gaya (today in Bihar state, India), he spent Buddha. Texts known as jatakas, “birth stories,” an entire night in meditation. During that night he recount events from some of these prior births. discovered the principles that govern the processes Buddha, the S 63

Statue of Lord Buddha located in Colombo, Sri Lanka (Getty Images) 64 S Buddha, the

of rebirth (see KARMA) as well as the path to release or desire, brought about by ignorance of reality. from suffering (see NIRVANA). As morning dawned, The disease, however, can be cured. The Buddha he achieved enlightenment (bodhi) and became taught that duhkha disappears once one eliminates the Buddha. craving. But that requires an entire transforma- Out of compassion for the sufferings of all tion of one’s thought, practice, and perceptions, sentient, or conscious, beings and at the urg- a transformation that results from practicing the ing of a Hindu god, the Buddha remained in his Buddha’s eightfold path. human body to teach others the path he had dis- Several principles underlie the Buddha’s teach- covered. He gave his fi rst sermons at the deer ing. One of them is “no-self” (Sanskrit, anatman). park in Sarnath (near BANARAS, India) to ascet- This principle denies that people have an eternal ics—persons who deprive themselves of luxuries soul or an unchanging self or essence, such as one for religious purposes—with whom he had been fi nds, for example, in the teachings of CHRISTIANITY living. Hearing his teachings, they too quickly and HINDUISM (see ATMAN). A related principle, “no- attained liberation (nirvana) and became the fi rst permanence” (Sanskrit, anitya), emphasizes that Buddhist ARHATS. change characterizes all existence. A third princi- During the remaining years of his life, the ple, “co-dependent origination” (Sanskrit, pratitya- Buddha wandered widely over northeast India, samutpada), highlights the interrelatedness of all teaching his path and ordaining followers—men at things. According to this teaching, everything is fi rst, later women, too—into the SANGHA, the order tied together in a complex net of causes, so that of wandering mendicants. At the age of 79 he ate there can be no “fi rst cause” from which all beings some spoiled food offered by a lay (unordained) derive. follower and died or, as Buddhists say, entered Many religions have worried about the origin the ultimate nirvana (parinirvana) in Kushina- of the universe or the fate of human beings after gara (today Kasia, India). His closest followers death (see COSMOGONY and AFTERLIFE IN WORLD RELI- decided to treat his body the way they would a GIONS). The Buddha urged his followers to ignore royal corpse: They cremated the Buddha’s remains these questions, not unlike the teachings of JUDA- and gave portions of his ashes to several kings. ISM. In the image of his famous “Fire Sermon,” Portions of these remains were later enshrined in human beings have awakened to fi nd themselves STUPAS throughout the Buddhist world. in a house on fi re. They should not worry about how the fi re started, nor should they be concerned TEACHINGS with what they will do after the fi re has been extin- Unlike MOSES, JESUS, and MUHAMMAD, the Buddha guished. They should direct all their efforts to put- did not advocate the worship of any particular ting the fi re out. god. He did not deny that gods existed, but he thought that because gods are living beings, they, SIGNIFICANCE too, ultimately need to escape from suffering. (In The Buddha is known as the Tathagata, Sanskrit the Buddhist view nothing is eternal, not even for “the one who went that way.” The historical gods.) Like a compassionate physician, the Bud- Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, is important not dha diagnosed and prescribed the cure for the suf- because he revealed the messages of a god but fering that plagues all sentient existence. because he discovered and taught the path that The Buddha’s diagnosis and prescription human beings can follow to attain release from are formulated most compactly in his FOUR NOBLE suffering. He is most revered in the tradition of TRUTHS. The Buddha identifi ed the symptoms of our Buddhism known as Theravada, predominant in illness as duhkha, suffering, but suffering in the southeast Asia. A formula that Theravada often sense that ultimate satisfaction is unavailable in invokes signals the Buddha’s importance: “I take this life. The cause of duhkha is craving, longing, refuge in the Buddha. I take refuge in the teachings Buddhism S 65

[Sanskrit, DHARMA]. I take refuge in the monastic began in the third century B.C.E. The dominant community [Sanskrit, sangha].” form of Buddhism at that time was Theravada, The other major tradition of Buddhism, pre- “The Teachings of the Elders.” This school adheres dominant in east Asia, is Mahayana; it assigns to the letter of Siddhartha’s teaching. Carried along the historical Buddha a somewhat lesser place. the oceanic trade routes southeast of India, Thera- It reveres the Buddha Sakyamuni principally for vada became the dominant form of Buddhism in having revealed the teachings and deeds of other Sri Lanka, Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), Buddhas and BODHISATTVAS, such as AMIDA and Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia (also known as AVALOKITESVARA, known in Chinese as Kuan Yin. Kampuchea). ZEN BUDDHISM goes so far at to caution people The second major wave of Buddhist expan- against becoming overly attached to the person sion began roughly in the second century C.E. By of the Buddha. (Recall that attachment and crav- this time Mahayana or “Great Vehicle” Buddhism ing produce suffering.) A well-known KOAN or had become dominant. Mahayana does not adhere Zen riddle states: “If you meet the Buddha on the strictly to the Buddha’s words. It strives instead to road, kill him.” recover the Buddha’s experience of enlightenment. Carried along the land trade routes from northwest Further reading: Sherab Kohn, The Awakened India, Mahayana became the dominant form of One (Boston: Shambhala, 1994); Walpola Rahula, Buddhism in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. What the Buddha Taught (New York: Evergreen, The third wave of expansion began in the sev- 1962); H. Saddhatissa. The Life of the Buddha enth century and carried Buddhism to Tibet and (New York: Harper & Row, 1976); Hans Wolfgang surrounding areas. The form of Buddhism that Schumann, The Historical Buddha (London, New became dominant in these regions is Vajrayana, York: Arkana, 1989). “Diamond Vehicle.” It emphasizes the special pow- ers of RITUALS, diagrams, and objects. In India itself Buddhism virtually died out. Buddhism A religion that traces its history back First it succumbed to a Hindu revival movement to the BUDDHA, Siddhartha Gautama (c. 560–c. 480 centered on devotion to various gods that began B.C.E.). Buddhism is widely practiced throughout about the eighth century C.E. This movement, southeast and east Asia. It also has strong tradi- known as BHAKTI, took lay supporters away from tional ties to Tibet (see TIBETAN RELIGION). In the 20th Buddhism. Then, starting in the 12th century century small but vigorous Buddhist communities Muslim invaders pillaged monasteries and con- were established in North America and Europe. vents and forced MONKS AND NUNS to abandon the order. Indian Buddhism began to revive, however, HISTORY toward the end of the 19th century. During the Siddhartha Gautama is said to have discerned 20th century some North Americans and Europe- the path that leads to release from suffering and ans became very interested in Buddhism (see BUD- rebirth (SAMSARA) at the age of 35. He lived almost DHISM IN AMERICA). to the age of 80. During his last 45 years he trav- eled widely in India, teaching and organizing the BELIEFS community of wandering ascetics (see SANGHA). Although one sometimes hears that Buddhists are By the time of his death or, as Buddhists prefer to atheists, this is not quite correct. Buddhism does say, his parinirvana (see NIRVANA), Buddhism was not generally deny the truth of other religions; fi rmly established. instead, it tries to supplement another truth with a During the next 1,200 years, Buddhism spread truth of its own. As a result, Buddhists often WOR- beyond India in three major waves. The fi rst wave, SHIP the gods that their non-Buddhist neighbors associated with the famed emperor of India, ASOKA, worship. But in Buddhism it is ultimately more 66 S Buddhism important to follow the Buddhist path than to wor- to such subtle thinking. It also developed elabo- ship gods. rate mythologies of celestial Buddhas and BODHI- One follows the Buddhist path to redress the SATTVAS. These beings practiced Buddhism not to root problem that all sentient or conscious beings benefi t themselves but to make it possible for all face: suffering (see FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS). Buddhism beings to achieve enlightenment. blames suffering, along with bondage to the world of ordinary existence and rebirth (samsara), on PRACTICES ignorance. Two kinds of ignorance are most impor- Just as Buddhism has not required its adher- tant. The fi rst kind leads people to think and act as ents to reject other religious beliefs, so it has not if they are eternal, unchanging selves or souls. The required them to refrain from other religious prac- second leads people to think and act as if things tices. As a result, Buddhist practice varies widely. persist, when in fact, Buddhism teaches, abso- Japanese Buddhists participate in SHINTO rituals. lutely nothing at all is eternal and unchanging. Buddhists in parts of southeast Asia engage in Ignorance of the truths of “no self” and “imperma- spirit-cults. nence” leads to attachment and craving, and they Some specifi cally Buddhist practices aim at in turn lead to suffering. To obtain release from achieving nirvana. THERAVADA B UDDHISM emphasizes suffering (nirvana), a person must overcome igno- following the Buddha’s Eightfold Path: right views, rance. That requires an intellectual acknowledg- right thought, right speech, right action, right live- ment of Buddhist truths, but it also requires much lihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right more. It requires a total transformation of one’s concentration. Most forms of Buddhism have well thought, action, and experience. developed traditions of MEDITATION. In Theravada, There are paradoxes hidden in these basic samadhi meditation focuses one’s concentration in truths of Buddhism, and Mahayana thinkers exp- turn on a series of exercises in order to correct cer- lored them. If one practices Buddhism to achieve tain vices; vipassana or insight meditation aims at nirvana, is one not craving nirvana? Again, if one a complete awareness of one’s surroundings. Prac- practices Buddhism to achieve nirvana, is one titioners of ZEN BUDDHISM sit and walk in medita- not acting as if one had a self that could achieve tion (ZAZEN and kinhin) and at times experience release? Moreover, if one accepts Buddhist teach- moments of satori, enlightenment. Such moments ings as true, are they not eternal and unchanging? may come during ordinary activities, too, so that Questions such as these led Mahayana thinkers Zen has developed many arts, from swordsman- to formulate views that are subtle and diffi cult ship to fl ower arranging. Other forms, such as PURE to understand. One such teaching, the “three LAND BUDDHISM, teach their followers to rely on the body doctrine,” suggests that the buddha who assistance of a Buddha. appeared in our world, Siddhartha Gautama, Not all specifi cally Buddhist practices aim at was only a manifestation in a world defi ned by enlightenment. Lay supporters within Theravada names and forms of what is beyond all names give charity, visit STUPAS, and perform other activi- and forms. Another very important teaching ties in the hope of acquiring merit. This merit will holds that everything is empty, including the result in a better rebirth in the next life and take content of Buddhist teaching. However, in order them one step closer to release. Instead of acquir- to attain this ultimate, nirvanic realization, one ing merit for oneself, Mahayana emphasizes acts may fi rst follow the pains of “relative” truths, of compassion to benefi t all beings. such as worshipping the manifested forms of the Buddha or seeing enlightenment as something to ORGANIZATION be gained. In the end, one will understand that During the 45 years of his wandering as the Bud- nirvana is here and now yet beyond name and dha, Siddhartha Gautama organized his commu- form. But MAHAYANA BUDDHISM did not limit itself nity into two groups, the Sangha, that is, the com- Buddhism in America S 67 munity of monks and nuns, and the lay supporters. an interest in it. They included the “New England This organization has been typical of Theravada transcendentalists,” a group of writers who gath- Buddhism. Monks and nuns beg for their food and ered around Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) in devote their lives to following the Buddha’s path. the 1830s and 1840s. More serious were the inter- Political authorities such as kings and queens have ests of a Russian noblewoman, Helena P. Blavatsky always been important lay supporters. (1831–91), and an American, Henry S. Olcott In Mahayana the distinction between the (1832–1907). In 1875 they founded the Theosophi- Sangha and lay supporters tends to be much cal Society in New York. Later they traveled to less rigid. The monastic life is not unknown, but south Asia and took Buddhist vows. Mahayana makes ultimate release available to those During the late 19th century Buddhism also who are not religious professionals. Furthermore, appeared on the West Coast. There it was not asso- in certain Mahayana traditions priests may marry, ciated with an intellectual elite. Rather, immigrants eat meat, and drink wine. Such behavior violates from east Asia who came to the West Coast and Theravada guidelines for monks and nuns. the island of Hawaii brought Buddhism with them. Although the Buddha made provision for an The Chinese fi rst came to California in the heady order of nuns, the number of nuns has tradition- days of the Gold Rush (1848–49). Japanese began ally been small. As Buddhism has begun to grow coming to the West Coast at the end of the 19th in Europe and North America, women are starting century. Among the Buddhist traditions that the to assume more active leadership roles. Japanese brought was a school very popular in Japan: the True Pure Land school (see PURE LAND SIGNIFICANCE BUDDHISM). Its adherents rely solely upon the power Buddhism is one of the world’s most important reli- of the Buddha AMIDA to be reborn in the Pure Land gions. At the end of the 20th century it had more after death. True Pure Land Buddhists formed the than 300,000,000 adherents. Buddhism has pro- Buddhist Church of America. It grew into a major foundly infl uenced philosophy, literature, and the institution. arts in Asia for over 2,000 years. In recent decades During the 1960s two other schools of Bud- it has also been extremely popular in some seg- dhism took root in American soil. NICHIREN Bud- ments of American society. dhism attracted many non-Asian adherents. It hon- ors the Japanese “prophet” Nichiren (1222–82) as Further reading: Kenneth Ch’en, Buddhism: the the BUDDHA for the present age and teaches its fol- Light of Asia (New York: Barron’s Educational lowers to chant a phrase known as the Daimoku: Series, 1968); Thich Nhat Hanh, The Heart of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo (Hail to the LOTUS SUTRA). the Buddha’s Teaching (New York: Broadway In 1991 the community split. The branch known Books, 1999); Richard H. Robinson, and Willard as Nichiren Shoshu preserves the tradition of Bud- L. Johnson, The Buddhist Religion (Belmont, dhist monks and maintains temples in Chicago, Calif.: Wadsworth, 1982); Huston Smith and Hawaii, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Philip Novak, Buddhism: A Concise Introduction and Washington, D.C. The other group, known as (HarperSan Francisco, 2003). Soka Gakkai, has no monks. Its members, led by lay leaders, gather at community centers spread widely across the United States. Buddhism in America Interest in and practice During the 1960s a different group of immi- of BUDDHISM in the Western Hemisphere. This entry grants also brought Buddhism to the United concentrates on Buddhism in the United States. States. In the previous decade, China had annexed Buddhism was already in the United States in Tibet and closed down its monasteries. Many the 19th century (1800s). On the East Coast some monks fl ed into exile. Their leader, the DALAI educated Americans of European descent showed LAMA, occasionally visited the United States. He 68 S Buddhist festivals

became highly visible, especially after he won the Buddhist festivals Festivals play a very impor- Nobel Prize for peace in 1989. Among his bet- tant role in the life of Buddhists. It is diffi cult, ter known followers was the movie actor, Richard however, to generalize about them. The different Gere. Some Tibetan monks established monaster- schools—Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana— ies and Buddhist schools in the United States. A celebrate different festivals (see MAHAYANA BUD- good example is the Naropa Institute in Boulder, DHISM, THERAVADA BUDDHISM, and VAJRAYANA BUD- Colorado, founded by the Tibetan monk Chog- DHISM). So do different regions, such as Sri Lanka, yam Trungpa. Burma, and Thailand, all countries where Thera- The Tibetan monks saw the United States as vada predominates. In most places Buddhists cel- an opportunity to teach the Buddhist DHARMA in ebrate festivals according to a lunar calendar in a foreign land. Other Buddhist groups did, too. which the months are defi ned by the phases of the One of the most important of these was the school moon. In Japan, however, Buddhists use the calen- known as Zen (see ZEN BUDDHISM). It has attracted a dar commonly used in the United States. large number of non-Asian followers in the United Important festivals commemorate events in States. Indeed, it has broadly infl uenced American the life of the BUDDHA. Theravada Buddhists believe culture. that the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and parin- American awareness of Zen dates from the irvana (“ultimate NIRVANA,” what non-Buddhists World’s Parliament of Religion held in Chicago in think of as his death) all occurred on the same day, 1893. Among the religious fi gures who attended a full-moon day that usually occurs in the month the parliament was a Japanese Zen master, Shaku of May. Some Buddhists refer to it as Buddha Day. Soen. Later, the books of a lay follower of Soen, In Theravada countries this is a very important D. T. Suzuki, helped popularize Zen in the United festival. Theravada Buddhists commonly celebrate States and around the world. In the 1950s Zen this festival the way they celebrate most festivals: attracted the attention of the Beat poets. By the They give food to the monks and the poor, they 1970s Americans of non-Asian descent had been dedicate themselves to the Five Precepts (instruc- certifi ed as Zen masters. By the end of the cen- tions on how to live, similar to the TEN COMMAND- tury Zen MEDITATION centers were common in many MENTS in JUDAISM and CHRISTIANITY), they listen to parts of the United States. DHARMA talks (sermons on Buddhist topics), and Zen has become a feature of the American they walk in a devotional manner around STUPAS, consciousness. Good examples are Robert Pirsig’s monuments where Buddha relics are kept. novel, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Mainte- Unlike Theravada Buddhists, other Buddhists nance (1974) and a World-Wide-Web site hosted celebrate the birth, enlightenment, and parinir- by America Online in 1996 called “Zen and the vana of the Buddha Sakyamuni, as they call him, Internet.” Such titles show the extent to which Zen on different days. For example, Japanese Buddhists has fascinated Americans. These uses of the word celebrate his birth on April 8, his enlightenment “Zen,” however, have little or nothing to do with on December 8, and his parinirvana on the 15th the practice of Buddhism. of February or March (traditions vary). Particularly striking is the celebration of Sakyamuni’s birth. Further reading: James Wilson Coleman, The New It is known in Japanese as Hanamatsuri, “fl ower Buddhism (New York: Oxford University Press, festival.” Japanese Buddhists decorate altars pro- 2001); Rick Fields, How the Swans Came to the fusely with fl owers to recall the fl owers in the Lake (Boulder, Colo: Shambhala, 1986); Lenore grove where Sakyamuni was born. They also pour Friedman, Meetings with Remarkable Women sweet tea on an image of the baby Buddha. Other (Boston: Shambhala, 1987); Richard Seager, Mahayana Buddhists pour tea on Buddha images, Buddhism in America (New York: Columbia too. According to legend, the skies rained sweet University Press, 1999). tea at Sakyamuni’s birth. Buddhist festivals S 69

RELICS of the Buddha play a large role in Bud- on achieving health and prosperity in the com- dhist practice. In Sri Lanka, the most important ing year, not on any specifi c Buddhist teaching or relic is a tooth of the Buddha. It has traditionally practice. been the sign of the rightful ruler of the island. It In China, Korea, and Japan, the most popu- sits inside a richly decorated gold reliquary that is lar festival for Buddhists who are not monks or kept for most of the year in a temple in the city of nuns is Ullambana. The Japanese call it Obon and Kandy. But once a year, in July or August, at the celebrate it on July 13–16. Ullambana honors the climax of several days of celebration, the decorated ancestors: It is believed that at this time the spir- gold reliquary with the tooth inside is brought out its of the dead return to earth. This is a joyous of the temple, mounted on the back of an elephant, occasion, not a macabre one. Buddhists celebrate and taken through the city in a large procession. Ullambana by decorating household altars and In addition to festivals focusing on the Bud- cleaning grave sites. They may also light bonfi res dha, Buddhists celebrate festivals in honor of BOD- and sponsor events such as dances to entertain the HISATTVAS and other prominent Buddhists. The Chi- spirits. At festival’s end, the Japanese make little nese celebrate a festival in honor of Kuan-yin, the boats, often out of leaves, attach candles to them, bodhisattva AVALOKITESVARA in female form. Espe- and fl oat them down streams and out to sea. cially important for Tibetan Buddhists is the fes- tival in honor of Padmasmbhava. For members of Further reading: Don Farber, Tibetan Buddhist Life the Jodo Shin school in Japan the most important (New York: DK Publications, 2003); Ruth Gerson, festival honors Shinran (1173–1262), the founder Traditional Festivals in Thailand (New York: of the school. Oxford University Press, 1996); Herbert Plutschow, The NEW YEAR FESTIVAL is a major celebration Matsuri: The Festivals of Japan (Richmond, U.K.: for almost all Buddhists. Because they use differ- Japan Library, 1996); Frank E. Reynolds and Jason ent calendars, they celebrate it at different times. A. Carbine, eds. The Life of Buddhism (Berkeley: The focus of New Year’s celebrations is generally University of California Press, 2000). . C ,

cakras A Sanskrit word meaning “wheels” or heart, the throat, the area between or above the “discuses.” In Hindu Tantrism, cakras (chakras) eyebrows, and the fontanelle on the top of the skull. are energy centers of what is known as the subtle Each cakra has its own deities, powers, abilities, or psychic body. diagrams, colors, and letters. One goal of Tantrism Tantrism usually identifi es six cakras. They is to move the vital energy at the base of the spine are arranged along the spinal column as follows: through the various cakras one by one. When the the base of the spine, the region of the navel, the energy reaches the highest cakra, the practitioner achieves enlightenment and liberation.

Calvin, John (1509–1564) one of the most import- ant leaders of the Protestant REFORMATION Calvin was born and educated in France. His father, a lawyer, had the young Calvin prepare fi rst for a career in the church, then for one in law. When his father died in 1531, Calvin turned from law to humanism, that is, to the study of the classics of ancient Greece and Rome. In 1533 one of Calvin’s close friends gave an address, at the University of Paris, which supported some ideas of Martin LUTHER. The theologians of Paris had earlier condemned these ideas. The friend had to fl ee for his life. Calvin was implicated in his friend’s views, and he had to fl ee, too. Around this time Calvin seems to have had a profound personal religious experience. In 1536 Calvin settled in Geneva, Switzerland. With the exception of three years spent in Stras- bourg (1538–41), he spent the rest of his life in Geneva. At fi rst he assisted the Reformation there. Eventually he led it. Calvin organized Geneva’s government, church, and schools. In his eyes, the government and the church needed to cooperate to ensure that the ide- als of the BIBLE were observed. As a result, Geneva John Calvin (Library of Congress) became a place where Christian regulations were

S 70 Canaanite religion S 71

strictly enforced. The infl exibility of the views was United States Calvinism is represented above all by not unusual at the time, but it did have unfortu- the Presbyterian Church, which derives from the nate consequences. The most famous example is Scottish Calvinist tradition. the case of Michael Servetus, who was burned at the stake in 1553 for teaching that GOD is one, not a TRINITY. Canaanite religion The religion of Palestine Calvin made his mark as a writer, a thinker, and Syria during the third and second millennia and an organizer. His many writings include a cat- (3000–1001) B.C.E. In the fi rst millennium B.C.E. echism, sermons, hymns, commentaries on the Canaanite religion came into confl ict with the Bible, and letters. But his most important book is worship of YHWH (“the Lord”), especially in the Institutes of the Christian Religion, fi rst published northern kingdom of Israel. in 1536. Throughout his life Calvin revised and Technically, the name “Canaanite” applies only expanded it. He published the last version in 1559. to the ancient inhabitants of Palestine. But people As a humanist, Calvin insisted on returning to also use it for all peoples and settlements that the original sources. In THEOLOGY, that meant the spoke languages known as “Northwest Semitic.” Bible. His reading of the Bible owes a great deal to These peoples inhabited the region between two the thought of the apostle PAUL and AUGUSTINE OF major ancient powers, Egypt and Mesopotamia. HIPPO. Calvin emphasizes that, as a result of origi- Not much is known in detail of their history. But nal SIN, human beings cannot live in the state for during the 20th century two major archaeologi- which they were created: communion with God. cal fi nds unearthed many Canaanite texts. Among Nevertheless, God redeems sinners, although they other topics, they shed light on Canaanite religion. do not in any way deserve to be saved. But God These fi nds were the ancient cities of Ugarit (dis- chooses to save some sinners and to condemn oth- covered 1929) and Ebla (discovered 1968). ers to hell. This is Calvin’s famous teaching of pre- The Canaanites worshipped several deities. destination. God saves people through the activity Two were the pair El (the Semitic word for “god”) of JESUS, the prophet, priest, and king. He also does and Athirat, also known as Asherah. El was the so through the Holy Spirit, who instills faith in the “father of gods and men.” He created the world. human heart. Athirat was the mother of the gods. Together, they Calvin recognized four offi ces in the church: were worshipped as king and queen. pastors, who preached and administered the SAC- Another pair of gods was BAAL, also known as RAMENTS of BAPTISM and EUCHARIST; teachers, who Hadad, and Anat, his sister and wife. The name instructed in faith; elders, who administered and Baal means “lord.” A god of the storms, Baal ensured discipline; and deacons, who assisted the is called “rider of the clouds.” Anat was a GOD- poor. The congregation was governed by a “consis- DESS renowned both for beauty and violence. Yet tory,” a body made up of pastors and elders. another goddess renowned for beauty and violence On some points Calvin differed from Martin was Athtart. Mesopotamians called her Ishtar; the Luther. One of the most signifi cant was the inter- BIBLE calls her Ashtoreth. pretation of the eucharist. Luther had insisted that A prominent Canaanite myth concerns the god Jesus’s body and blood were actually present in Baal. It tells how he fought and defeated the sea, a the bread and wine of the eucharist. Calvin taught son of El named Yamm. But when Baal faced another that they were present spiritually. As a result, the son of El, Mot, the god of death, he was defeated and Reformation gave rise to several distinct traditions. killed. His sister, Anat, avenged his death. Baal was Calvinism is one of the most important. Calvinist restored to life and in the end defeated death in bat- churches are known as “Reformed” (see PRESBYTE- tle. Earlier scholars thought this story refl ected the RIAN AND REFORMED CHURCHES). They predominate in yearly cycle of the seasons. Current opinion takes it Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Scotland. In the as referring instead to an irregular drought. 72 S Canada, religion in

Canaanite WORSHIP was much like worship in European Canada, centered around the St. Law- other parts of the ancient Near East. It centered on rence River, was essentially French and Catholic. SACRIFICES and offerings. The Canaanites performed But rivalry with Britain, as it established colonies these on at least two social levels. One level was on the Atlantic seaboard of what would become the city. The king oversaw its worship. The second the United States, was intense and resulted in a level was the local community. Individuals seem to few Protestant settlements in the area. In 1763, as have performed in local cults for themselves. They a result of the treaty ending the Seven Years’ War sacrifi ced at high places throughout the year. They (known in America as the French and Indian War), also held celebrations in conjunction with planting Canada passed from French to British rule. British and harvesting in spring and autumn. Like many settlers, soon abetted by Loyalists from the rebel- ancient peoples, the Canaanites had a complex lious Thirteen Colonies south of Canada, quickly system of RITUAL specialists. It is not clear what any occupied the territories now known as the Mari- of the specialists mentioned in the Canaanite texts time Provinces and Ontario. actually did. Soon the fundamental religious and cultural During the fi rst millennium, Canaanite religion alignment of Canada that has prevailed ever since in Palestine gradually gave way to the worship of was in place: Québec, the main area of original YHWH. But the worship of YHWH also adopted French settlement, French in language and culture Canaanite elements. In some sense, YHWH com- and Roman Catholic in religion; the Maritime Prov- bines the characteristics of El and Baal. He cre- inces, Ontario, and, in time, provinces further west ates the world. He is also a god of the storms. Like were mainly Protestant, with signifi cant Catho- Baal, he rides the clouds (Psalms 68.4) and defeats lic minorities. Protestants were originally largely the sea (PSALMS 89.9–10; JOB 26.12–13). It is also Anglicans from England, Presbyterians from Scot- possible that Canaanite agricultural festivals lie land, and members of smaller British denomina- behind the JEWISH FESTIVALS OF PASSOVER, Shavuot, tions. Roman Catholics from Ireland also came to and Sukkot. Canada. Canada is, however, like the United States (see UNITED STATES, RELIGION IN), a nation of immigrants Canada, religion in The complex religious her- and so a nation of religious pluralism. Over the itage of the nation of Canada. For thousands of years, German, Scandinavian, Dutch, and eastern years before European contact, Native Americans European newcomers brought Lutheran, Reformed, dwelling in what is now Canada practiced vari- and EASTERN ORTHODOX religious life to the north- ous forms of Native American Religions. In the far ern nation. Russian MENNONITES, seeking religious north, in areas bordering the Arctic Ocean, this freedom, arrived in 1874, and Chinese Buddhist heritage has been Inuit (Eskimo). Inuit spiritual railroad workers in the 1880s. A Jewish synagogue practice has particularly involved hunting religion was established as early as 1760 near Montréal. In (see PRIMAL RELIGION) and SHAMANISM. The Native the 20th century, SIKHS, Muslims (see ISLAM), and American religious heritage, evidenced in such HINDUS came to Canada in signifi cant numbers. common symbols as the “totem pole,” has been By the turn of the 21st century, Canada’s popu- important to many Canadians of both indigenous lation of 31 million was 45 percent Roman Catholic and European or other descent. and nearly 25 percent Protestant and other Chris- The Roman Catholic Church came to Canada tians, such as Mormon and Eastern Orthodox. The with French settlement in what is now Nova Scotia largest Protestant denomination was the United in 1603, spreading to the present Québec in 1608. Church of Canada, formed in 1925 as a union of With the settlements came Jesuit and Franciscan Methodists, Congregationalists, and some Pres- missionaries eager to spread Catholicism among byterians. Next largest was the Anglican Church the native population. During the 17th century, of Canada. Most other wings of Christianity were Canterbury S 73

represented, and Canadians also included some to powder, and put in drinks. This was said to 600,000 Muslims, 400,000 Jews, 300,000 Hindus, protect the victors against attacks by the souls of 300,000 Sikhs, and 250,000 Buddhists. Many Cana- the deceased, and also to be a way of acquiring dians were nonreligious. their energy. Other tribesmen have disapproved of In the latter half of the 20th century, religious the practice but claimed it is done by witches and life in Canada seemed to be in decline. It appeared sorcerers in order to gain magical power. In still to be at a midpoint between most of Europe, where other societies, such as some in New Guinea, parts church attendance has fallen precipitously since of the bodies of relatives, who had died naturally, the end of World War II, and the United States, were eaten as a benign way of expressing kinship where it has remained at a high level. All major and assuring their REINCARNATION within the tribe. denominations had decreased in membership Cannibalism has also sometimes been a part except Pentecostalism, which has increased. The of religious sacrifi ce. In Fiji the communal eating Roman Catholic Church, while growing in abso- of cannibal victims who had been sacrifi ced to a lute numbers, has seen attendance decline signifi - major god was said to be a way of cementing an cantly. Québec, once a stronghold of traditional alliance between chiefs. Among the Aztecs of Mex- French Catholicism, is now no more religious than ico (see AZTEC RELIGION) reports have alleged that anywhere else. It seems clear that Canada has a the bodies of the victims whose hearts and blood distinct religious culture that is fi nding a middle were regularly offered to nourish the sun were way between Europe and the United States. then eaten by priests and nobility. To eat offerings, human, animal, or plant, presented to the gods is Further reading: Reginald Bibby, Fragmented Gods: widely considered a means of having communion The Poverty and Potency of Religion in Canada with that god and with other worshippers. (Toronto: Irwin, 1987); Stewart Crysdale and Les Recently some scholars have argued that Wheatcroft, eds., Religion in Canadian Society accounts of the practice of cannibalism, repellent (Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1976); W. E. to most people, are greatly sensationalized. Can- Hewitt, ed., The Sociology of Religion: A Canadian nibalism has rarely if ever been reliably observed Focus (Toronto: Butterworth, 1993). fi rsthand, it is said, and accusations of human-eat- ing have come from informants whose real motive was to slander rival tribes, or from tellers of tall cannibalism and religion The eating of human tales who enjoyed shocking their listeners. The fl esh by other humans. It has been practiced in stories were then still more exaggerated by West- a variety of places throughout human history for ern colonialists to smear their “native” subjects as many reasons, only some of which can be con- barbaric and depraved, and so justify white rule. sidered religious. In extreme circumstances it has Doubtless there is much truth to this. The been done just to survive. In some cultures parts majority of anthropologists and religion scholars, of the bodies of defeated enemies have been eaten however, still believe that cannibalism has some- simply to degrade them and demonstrate the com- times been engaged in for religious reasons, though pleteness of the victory. In other instances, though, probably not as often as was once thought. elements of religious or at least spiritist belief have come in, through the association of canni- balism with war, sacrifi ce, and kinship or alliance Canterbury A town in England roughly 50 miles between the living and the dead and between dif- southeast of London. In 597 C.E. Pope Gregory I sent ferent tribes. a missionary named Augustine (not AUGUSTINE OF Among certain South American and African HIPPO) to the Anglo-Saxons in England. Augustine tribes, for example, the bodies of killed foes were was the fi rst missionary to the English. He settled reportedly cooked and eaten, or burned, reduced in Canterbury and became bishop there. The line 74 S cardinals

T. S. Eliot, and Becket, a play by Jean Anouilh. Before the Reformation, many pilgrims traveled to Canterbury to visit Becket’s shrine. The English writer Geoffrey Chaucer used that PILGRIMAGE in his famous Canterbury Tales (late 1300s). The book recounts many raucous and lively stories that pil- grims allegedly told on their way to Canterbury.

cardinals The chief administrative offi cers of the Roman Catholic Church. They can be dis- tinguished by their red clothing. Cardinals are appointed by the pope (see PAPACY, THE). In turn they elect new popes. At one time the number of cardinals was capped at 70, but today they number more than 100. Originally the cardinals were the bishops, priests, and deacons in the church at Rome and its immediate surroundings. These titles are pre- served in the three ranks in the College of Cardi- nals: cardinal bishops, priests, and deacons. But today cardinals generally administer the Roman see itself, that is, the Catholic Church in Rome, act as bishops in major churches around the world, and serve as ambassadors of the pope.

cargo cults Groups believing that the gods will send wonderful cargoes to their followers, often A 15th-century manuscript page of Geoffrey Chaucer’s native peoples in colonialized lands. Throughout Canterbury Tales (Image Select/Art Resource, N.Y.) parts of the world under colonial rulers, especially in the area of Indonesia and the South Pacifi c, reli- gious movements have arisen based on the promise of the archbishops of Canterbury stretches from of a prophet that rich cargoes were on their way Augustine to the present day without a break. to the impoverished natives. Although comparable During the REFORMATION King Henry VIII movements can be found as far back as prehistoric declared the English church to be independent times, and some cargo cults are still active today, from the popes in Rome. Since that time (1534) the most fl ourished during the height of European colo- archbishop of Canterbury has been recognized as nialism, approximately from 1850 to 1950. They the most important leader of the Anglican Church have much in common with millenarianism, or (see ANGLICANISM). belief in the imminent and sudden oncoming of a Canterbury is famous for its cathedral. It is world that was like paradise, and with movements also famous as the place where in 1170 St. Thomas like the 1890s GHOST DANCE of Native Americans Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury at the time, by which oppressed indigenous peoples whose cul- was killed. In the 20th century this event was ture was being destroyed by white settlers sought the subject of Murder in the Cathedral, a play by to recover it through magical means. caste in Hinduism S 75

In cargo cults as such, typically a teacher arises ISM, when “letting go” through song and dance within a colonialized native community who says and ribald humor is the rule. Clowning, drunken- that although the white rulers seem to have all the ness, and the mocking even of sacred things may wealth and advanced technology now, our ancient be in order at such times. Identities may also be gods and ancestors have not forgotten us. Some- changed as people wear masks and costumes (see times this prophetic teacher is himself thought to MASKS AND RELIGION). Carnival shows that religion be an incarnation or emissary of one of the old can sometimes be festive and fun. gods. Soon, he says, the gods will send a ship or, more recently, airplanes, laden with cargo for the natives, and this will be the beginning of a millen- caste in Hinduism Traditional social grouping nial age of happiness in which they and their ways in India into which persons are born. Each group will be vindicated. ranks higher or lower than other groups in terms of In order to prepare for the cargo, docks or air- its RITUAL purity. Thus, a caste is distinguished by strips must be built. At the same time, it is no longer limiting participation in rituals, including marriage necessary or appropriate to work for the old order and eating together, to members of the caste, as or put stock in the old order’s goods and money. At well as by specifi c occupations. The term “caste” the height of cargo cult enthusiasm, natives have usually refers to two distinct but related ways of ceased working for their colonial overlords, and organizing society; varnas, an ideal organization have stopped attending mission churches and mis- of human society into broad ritual classes, and sion or government schools. They have destroyed jatis, specifi c, localized groups within the varnas. their property, killing their animals and throwing away money to make room, as it were, for the new VARNAS cargo. In Sanskrit the word varna means “color.” Applied Needless to say, all this was very disruptive of to social groups it does not refer to skin color, the colonial economy and brought stern reprisals and although it may be translated as “class,” it from the European rulers. Although based in an does not refer to economic status, either. Varna updating of traditional religious beliefs, including refers instead to ritual status. It is quite possible millenarian themes, cargo cults were sometimes to belong to the highest varna and be extremely also infl uenced by Christian missionary teach- poor. The varnas were systematized roughly 2,000 ing about the Day of the Lord and the KINGDOM OF years ago in books of religious codes known as the GOD. It is clear they had political overtones as well. Smritis or the Dharmasastras. Before then, many While on the surface destructive and backward- scholars maintain that distinctions of varna existed looking, cargo cults sometimes in the long run but were not so rigidly drawn or applied. clarifi ed native issues and leadership in ways that The four traditional varnas are, in order of helped prepare for independence. descending ritual purity, BRAHMIN, kshatriya, vai- sya, and sudra. According to the Dharmasastras, a brahmin should be a priest, a kshatriya a ruler Carnival In Latin countries, a festival held just or warrior, a vaisya a merchant or businessper- before the beginning of the fasting season of LENT. son, while a sudra should meekly serve the other During Carnival, joviality and rich foods, including varnas. In addition, the varna system defi nes two meat, are enjoyed for the last time until EASTER. groups of persons who are so impure that they Mardi Gras in New Orleans is a good example. By fall outside the system altogether. The fi rst group extension, though, Carnival can be taken to refer comprises the so-called untouchables, offi cially to a type of festival found throughout the religious known today as Dalits. These were often people world, such as holi in HINDUISM and many of the whose menial jobs were thought to be extremely matsuri of SHINTO, or in some ways PURIM in JUDA- polluting, for example, hunters and those who 76 S cathedral

cleaned latrines. Pollution often comes from CASTE TODAY contact with body parts or with dead people or During the 20th century the caste system changed animals. The second group comprises foreigners. enormously. One of Mohandas GANDHI’s most cher- In traditional India “foreigners” were most often ished goals was the elimination of untouchability, Muslims. and the present constitution of India outlaws it. The focus of the varna system is on the purity The Indian government has also established vig- of males, since they are the ones who perform orous educational and employment quotas for household rituals. As a result, men may marry underprivileged groups. women from a higher varna, but a man who mar- Today caste is much less visible and perva- ries a woman from a lower varna loses caste. At sive in India than it was a century ago, but its the same time, men who cannot fi nd work in an infl uence has not disappeared. Prejudices against occupation appropriate to their varnas may do the low-caste people like the Dalits still remain strong jobs of lower varnas, but not higher ones. Thus, among the higher castes, and marriages, an over- sudras cannot become Vedic priests, for that whelming majority of which are arranged, are still would pollute the ritual. Finally, the three upper often performed within the boundaries of varna varnas—brahmins, kshatriyas, and vaisyas—are and jati. called “twice-born,” because the males born in these varnas undergo a “second birth,” initiation Further reading: Louis Dumont, Homo Hierarchicus into the study of the most sacred Hindu scriptures, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980); J. H. the VEDA. Hutton, Caste in India (Bombay: Oxford University Press, 1963); Ursula Sharma, Caste (Buckingham, JATIS N.Y.: Open University Press, 1999). The varnas represent the way certain thinkers thought society ought to be classifi ed. In actual practice, Hindus have belonged to a more restricted cathedral A type of church building in Chris- jati, Sanskrit for “birth group.” Jatis are relatively tianity. It gets its name because it contains the local groups that were ranked on the varna spec- cathedra or “chair” of the bishop. trum. There are literally thousands of jatis in Bishops are religious leaders in Catholic, Indian society. Orthodox, and some forms of Protestant CHRISTI- The occupation that members of a jati per- ANITY. They have charge of all the churches in a form is specifi ed quite narrowly: Members of certain area. In the Roman Catholic and Anglican one jati may be barbers or shoemakers, those of churches the area is known as a diocese. Other another may be grocers. Traditional marriages branches of Christianity use other names. also take place between members of jatis rather A cathedral is a bishop’s home church. It is than between members of the broader varna the most important church building in a region. classifi cation. That importance is generally refl ected in the size In general it is not possible to change one’s of the building. Cathedrals have tended to be mon- varna ranking because it is not possible to change umental structures. one’s jati. But even in traditional India a limited Until the middle of the 18th century, the cathe- amount of mobility was possible. It is not unknown dral was one of the most important architectural for the varna rank of a jati to alter when over sev- structures in Europe. As a result, up to the mid- eral generations its fortunes changed. At the same 1700s the history of European architecture was time, individuals of ability or ambition have not largely a history of the changing styles of cathe- always been limited to jobs within their jati. For drals. After the mid-1700s, cathedrals continued example, several dynasties of India were begun by to be built. But developments like the Industrial, persons of low status. American, and French revolutions made them less cathedral S 77

important. Architects turned their creative energies ship and BAPTISM. Unlike the law courts and bath to structures like government buildings—think houses, Greek and Roman temples were not very of the Capitol Building and the White House in well-suited for such activities. Washington, D.C.—train stations, theaters, muse- Later cathedrals in many different styles are ums, and eventually airports, offi ce buildings, and extremely impressive. Hagia Sophia in Constan- shopping centers. tinople (sixth century)—now a mosque in Istan- Many of the earliest Christians were Greeks bul, Turkey—is a supreme example of a Byzan- and Romans who converted to Christianity. The tine cathedral. Its massive, central dome seems to earliest cathedrals, however, were not converted fl oat in the air above a lighted, unearthly space. Greek and Roman temples. They were inspired by St. Peter’s in Rome contains the chair or throne law courts known as basilicas and certain kinds of St. Peter himself, at least as designed by the of bath houses. These kinds of buildings allowed Renaissance artist Giovanni Bernini (1598–1680). Christians to assemble in large groups for wor- Built in an early baroque style, the richness of the

The Cathedral of Notre-Dame located in Paris, France, is an example of a Gothic cathedral. Note the fl ying buttresses (left) supporting the cathedral’s ceiling and walls. (Getty Images) 78 S cats and religion

church’s decoration as well as the “arms’ that sur- celibacy The state of remaining unmarried and round the plaza in front of it were meant to draw abstaining from sex for religious reasons. In some people back into the Catholic Church after the religions living in a state of celibacy is considered Protestant REFORMATION. the way of perfection and the state appropriate Many people consider Gothic cathedrals to to its leaders or its most dedicated practitioners. be the most sublime cathedrals of all. The Gothic Examples of religious celibates are priests and style began in the area around Paris, France, in MONKS AND NUNS of ROMAN CATHOLICISM; bishops, the mid-1100s. Gothic cathedrals are long, nar- monks, and nuns in EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRISTI- row, and tall. On the inside tall columns support ANITY; Buddhist monks and nuns; Taoist monks; the roof. On the outside a kind of support called and Hindu sadhus or “holy men.” Other religions, a fl ying buttress supports the roof and the walls. such as CONFUCIANISM, JUDAISM, ISLAM, and PROT- Gothic cathedrals generally have arches that ESTANTISM in CHRISTIANITY have (with a few excep- come to a point at their doorways, windows, and tions) taught marriage as a virtual obligation, or interior roofs. Earlier cathedrals had arches that at least a state that in no way diminishes religious were round. Gothic cathedrals also have large virtue and should be open to all regardless of reli- windows fi lled with stained glass. The cathedral gious role. at Chartres, France, is especially renowned for its At the same time, what might be called “spon- stained glass. taneous” celibacy has occurred even in those Two extremely large church buildings in North faiths, in the case of persons so immersed in a reli- America refl ect the attitude that Gothic is the gious life that marriage was quietly dismissed as a supreme form of the cathedral. One is St. John the personal option. Examples have been (according Divine in New York City; the other is the National to some scholars) Jews of the ancient Essene or Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Qumran communities, certain Muslim Sufi mystics (see SUFISM), and Protestants such as the Shakers or John Chapman (“Johnny Appleseed”), or many cats and religion The symbolism and role of dedicated female Protestant missionaries and dea- the cat in religion. The cat, an animal at once conesses. Sometimes deeply religious persons of mysterious, independent, and familiar, has long homosexual tendency have found celibacy the best been felt to have special spiritual power. In way of life for them. Sometimes celibacy is entered ancient Egypt, the GODDESS of pleasure, Bast, was as a temporary state, as in the case of young men in symbolized by a cat, and her temple was full of some Theravada Buddhist countries, who become sacred cats, which were mummifi ed after death monks for a year or so before marrying and estab- (see EGYPTIAN RELIGION). On the other hand, in lishing themselves in the world. Sometimes celi- medieval Europe, cats, especially black ones, bacy is a kind of SACRIFICE or offering to GOD. were sometimes thought to be demonic, envoys Advocates of the value of celibacy say that it or even personifi cations of the devil and famil- allows one to channel sexual energy into spiritual iars of witches, and sacrifi ced to ward off ill-for- advancement, that it frees one to practice spiritual- tune. The HALLOWEEN black cat is a carryover from ity and serve others selfl essly without having to those unhappy days for cats. In ISLAM, the prophet allow for family obligations, and that it is a way MUHAMMAD is said to have been especially fond of attaining egolessness because it is a form of of cats and so they are well regarded. In Japan self-denial that can also support holy poverty and it has been considered bad luck to kill a cat. For obedience. It sets an example of a way of life that many people in the modern world, a pet dog or is above the passions and obligations of the world cat remains their closest contact with the wonder and ordinary human nature. The celibate ideally and mystery of the animal world. can live as a completely free person, free from self See also ANIMALS AND RELIGION. and from entanglements, completely offered to Celtic religion S 79

God or the spiritual quest, and can reach enlight- enment or serve God without hindrance. Yet celibacy is not easy and is not desirable for all. Controversies have arisen over the extent to which it should be required in such institutions as the Roman Catholic Church. Some forms of BUD- DHISM, especially among the Japanese, now per- mit priests and monks to be married. The ideals of celibacy and modern attitudes toward sexuality and marriage fi nd themselves deeply challenging to each other.

Celtic religion The religion of the people who lived in France and Britain at the time of the Roman conquest. The Romans called the Celts Galli, in English, Gauls. The Celts spoke a language related to German, Latin, Greek, Persian, and even Sanskrit, the clas- sical language of India. Many people have noticed intriguing similarities between Celtic and ancient Indian culture. These include similarities in reli- Associated with horses, Epona was an important Celtic gion and mythology. goddess. She is shown here in a limestone relief from At fi rst the Celts lived east of the Rhine River. Gannat, France. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, N.Y.) About 1000 B.C.E. they crossed the Rhine into the area of modern France. By 300 B.C.E. they also lived across the English Channel. Their descen- dants include the Scots, Irish, and Welsh. In 279 APOLLO, MARS, JUPITER, and Minerva. It is not clear B.C.E. some Celts sacked the Greek oracle at Del- what were the Celtic names of the gods Caesar had phi. Then they crossed into modern Turkey and in mind. The most important Celtic god seems to founded a state called Galatia (cf. the NEW TESTA- have been Lugh, also spelled Lugus, a god of tech- MENT book of Galatians). nology and invention. The names of several Euro- Celtic religion is diffi cult to reconstruct. pean cities preserve his memory: Lyon and Laon in Ancient writers, especially Julius Caesar, described France and Leiden in the Netherlands. A fascinat- it, but they described it in terms of their own reli- ing image of the Celtic god Cernunnos resembles gions. They also emphasized Celtic brutality. That the Hindu god SIVA. It also resembles a seated fi g- emphasis is often not reliable. Later Christians, ure from a seal of the Indus Valley Civilization (see especially in Ireland, preserved Celtic stories and INDUS VALLEY RELIGION). An important Celtic GOD- other elements of Celtic culture. But it is often diffi - DESS was Epona. She was associated with horses. cult to tell what is ancient Celtic and what is more Other Celtic goddesses gave their names to rivers recent and Christian. Archaeology and ancient in Europe. One example is the Rhine. inscriptions provide some help. Much Celtic religious activity centered on places According to Julius Caesar the Celts wor- in nature, such as groves of trees, high places, and shipped several gods that the more savage Ger- bodies of water. Later folklore recalls these sacred manic peoples did not; these corresponded to the places in stories of fairies. Archaeologists have Roman Mercury (the most important Celtic god), recovered Celtic offerings from bodies of water. 80 S charismatic movement

Caesar stressed that the Celts practiced SAC- Practices, such as speaking in tongues and faith RIFICE, especially human sacrifi ce. Indeed, he healing, spread among both Roman Catholics and described a RITUAL in which the Celts built a human Protestants. Church leaders were sometimes suspi- fi gure out of wicker, fi lled it with people, and set cious, and noncharismatic members often looked it on fi re, burning the occupants. Many scholars askance at charismatic practices. Nevertheless, have doubts about his account. It is worth noting after the initial enthusiasm died down, charismatic that some famous prehistoric monuments in Brit- groups have managed to maintain small but dedi- ain, such as the passage tomb at Newgrange, Ire- cated followings. land, and the megaliths at Stonehenge, England, In the 20th century, Pentecostalism grew more were not built and used by the Celts. They were rapidly than any other Christian movement, espe- built and used by earlier peoples. cially in the Southern hemisphere. Similarly, the The Celts had priests called DRUIDS. The Druids charismatic movement was not confi ned to North preserved the oral traditions of the people, served America. Charismatic practices made their way to as judges, conducted religious rituals, and divined. Britain and the European continent. They have also According to Irish traditions, the Celts divided the had a large impact on Christians in places as widely year into two equal parts. The most important fes- separated as Nigeria in Africa, Korea in East Asia, tival, Samain, took place on October 31/Novem- and far northern Canada among Inuit (Eskimo). ber 1. (Like the Jewish day, the Celtic day began Today, scholars also identify charismatic move- at sundown.) The festival of Beltine occurred on ments in other religions, such as BUDDHISM. Clearly, April 30/May 1. These festivals are the ancestors Buddhists do not attribute charismatic behavior to of Halloween and May Day, respectively. the Holy Spirit, but some of them have the same sort of practices. For example, in a Buddhist com- munity in Taiwan known as Ciji, members, espe- charismatic movement A Christian move- cially women, sometimes weep uncontrollably ment, emphasizing emotional, demonstrative reli- when they recite Buddhist scriptures (see SCRIPTURE, gious practices that began in the 1960s. It is similar BUDDHIST) or the name of a BUDDHA or BODHISATTVA. to PENTECOSTALISM but is found in other Christian They also sometimes weep when viewing a statue communities. of the Buddha. “Charisma” is originally a Greek word; it refers Charismatic movements sometimes appear odd to a gift of grace. People in the charismatic move- to outsiders. They have, however, made important ment see behavior such as speaking in tongues, contributions to religious life in the past 50 years. faith healing, vigorous weeping, or laughing as gifts of the Holy Spirit. They differ from Pentecos- tals by remaining in their own communities rather charms and amulets In popular religion, than founding Pentecostal churches. devices to assure the everyday protection of GOD In a narrow sense, the charismatic movement or the gods. Charms are properly words or simple refers to the appearance of charismatic practices practices of quasi-magical signifi cance that are said in Protestant and Roman Catholic churches in the or done to this effect, such as the frequent chant- United States during the 1960s. For Protestants ing of a mantra or short PRAYER under one’s breath the decisive year was 1960. That was when an as one goes about daily work, or saying “Bless Episcopal priest in Van Nuys, California, Dennis you!” to a person who has sneezed (originally in Bennett (1917–91), informed people that he had the hope that the soul would not escape through experienced the gift of glossolalia, speaking in the sneeze), or knocking on wood for good for- tongues. For Roman Catholics the decisive year tune. Amulets, or talismans, are small objects was 1967, when students in several Catholic uni- worn for the same purpose, although the word versities began to experience charismatic gifts. charm has sometimes come to be applied to these children, religion of S 81

objects as well. Amulets include religious medals dren are naturally selfi sh, embodiments of “origi- worn around the neck, sacred stones or tiny divine nal SIN,” and only through training, education, and images carried in purse or pocket, or nowadays religion can they learn to be good and to love God. religious pictures, small statues, or medals on the Perhaps children, like adults, are complicated dashboard of a car. Sometimes, especially in HIN- and there are ways in which both perspectives are DUISM and BUDDHISM, they may consist of a short true. Certainly children can be selfi sh, demand- sacred mantra or other text placed inside a small ing, and even very cruel, sometimes thoughtlessly, box. Many SHINTO shrines and other temples regu- sometimes out of malice, to animals, other chil- larly present amulets to visitors. While the use of dren, and adults. Sometimes these are things about charms and amulets may be regarded by some as which, as they grow older, they feel bad and con- superstitious, it is important to remember that for fess to God, asking his forgiveness. Whether it is many religious people they are seen not only as through disobedience, meanness of thought, word, bearers of sacred power in themselves, but also as and deed, or order things virtually all children, by tokens of one’s religious identity and reminders the time they grow up, have enough experience to of one’s spiritual commitment in the midst of the know personally what religions mean by sin and stresses of everyday life. Some people, of course, evil, and why they take it so seriously. wear religious jewelry and other sacred objects as At the same time, children often have experi- a general symbol of that identity, but without a ences that lay foundations for religion of a much belief in any special power in the object itself. Oth- more positive sort. They may, perhaps alone in ers hold that, in mysterious ways, special divine nature or a garden or even their room, sense on power can indeed by imparted in some degree to occasion an overwhelming feeling of peace, won- particular objects. der, and joy. They may have companions invisible to others that are like ANGELS or spirits. They may have a sense that something like their parents is children, religion of How children experience supporting them even when they are alone. religion and spiritual realities. Religions seem to All these experiences at fi rst have no name, have two very different views of what children are but if a child is raised in a religion, sooner or later like from a religious point of view. On one hand, she or he will probably think of them as experi- there is the idea represented by the poet William ences of God or buddhahood, of angels or of a Wordsworth’s famous lines in “Intimations of heavenly Father or Mother. The religion within Immortality”: which one is raised serves to give names and ways of thinking that help the child to “place” religious- … Trailing clouds of glory do we come type experiences both of wonder and of sin. Some From God, who is our home: children may feel a confl ict between their inner- Heaven lies about us in our infancy! most spiritual experiences and having to interpret And only after them according to a family religion; others may not. But dealing with that is part of growing up. Shades of the prison-house begin to close Frequently children greatly enjoy the festivals and Upon the growing boy special celebrations of religions. does that splendor “fade into the light of common Religious experience and tension both are day.” This is the view that children have naturally likely to be heightened by puberty and adoles- a particularly acute religious sense, and indeed are cence, when strong new emotions, a new sense of particularly close to GOD and heavenly glory. a need for a person’s independent identity, and a The other view, represented by AUGUSTINE OF yearning for idealistic beliefs, may be channeled in HIPPO, John CALVIN, and other more conventional religious directions. This is often a time of intense religious thinkers of several traditions is that chil- religious experience, conversion experiences, and 82 S China, religions of

rebellion against family and conventional reli- such as bronze bowls, to present gifts to ancestors. gion. Many religions try to help people fi nd a new A common way to divine was to stick hot rods into adult religious identity at this time through rites tortoise shells and examine the ways in which the like confi rmation or BAR/BAT MITZVAH. In all cases, shells cracked. though, we fi nd roots of adult religiosity, whatever The Shang rulers fell to rival rulers known it is, reaching deep into childhood, but then condi- as the Chou. The Chou justifi ed overthrowing the tioned one way or another by family and the reli- Shang by invoking the mandate of HEAVEN. Accord- gious institutions of the adult world. ing to this idea kings ruled on behalf of heaven; when they no longer maintained order, they lost heaven’s mandate to rule and deserved to be over- China, religions of The various religions prac- thrown. During the early Chou period Chinese ticed in China. These religions include the native believed ancestors resided in T’ien, “heaven,” and Chinese traditions of CONFUCIANISM and TAOISM, the worshipped them with grand feasts. Aristocrats imported tradition of BUDDHISM, and a loose set of performed elaborate festivals linked to the agricul- practices known as “popular religion.” tural calendar. It also became common to divine by throwing down stalks of the yarrow plant and ANCIENT BELIEFS AND PRACTICES seeing whether they would break. This practice The earliest known Chinese religions addressed eventually led to the writing of the classic book, two themes that have continued throughout Chi- the I CHING. nese history: respect for ancestors who have died and various practices known as divination. CONFUCIANISM AND TAOISM Divination attempts to determine the character of In the early eighth century B.C.E order began to the forces of the universe at given moments, for break down, and a period of political, economic, example, whether these forces are favorable when and religious unrest set in. During the sixth cen- undertaking a specifi c action. tury B.C.E., as this unrest continued, the two major Village life in China developed during the native Chinese religious traditions arose, CONFU- Neolithic or “new stone age,” which began around CIANISM and TAOISM. Over the next 600 years they 5000 B.C.E. Archaeology tells us only a little about received their classic forms from thinkers like Hsun religious activity in this period. Corpses were Tzu, Mencius, and CHUANG TZU. painted with red ochre and buried with grave Confucius (551–479 B.C.E.) taught the way of goods, such as tools and drinking vessels. At heaven. In effect, he transferred to living human Yuan-chin-miao corpses were laid out in a north- beings the respect and devotion traditionally given south direction. All of these features could indi- to ancestors. Confucius is said to have edited fi ve cate a belief in an afterlife. Beginning about 3500 ancient classics: the I Ching or Book of Changes, B.C.E. evidence appears of scapulamancy, that is, the Book of History, the Book of Poetry, the Book divining by examining cracks in the dried shoulder of Rites, and the Spring and Autumn Annals. His blades of deer and sheep. disciples preserved his own teachings in a book By the Shang dynasty (about 1800–1050 B.C.E.) known as the Analects (see ANALECTS OF CONFU- the Chinese knew of an afterlife presided over by CIUS). Early in the second century B.C.E. the Han Shang-Ti, “Lord on High.” The number of goods dynasty adopted Confucianism as its offi cial ideol- buried with important persons had grown to ogy. Eventually all Chinese offi cials had to pass immense proportions. At Hsiao-T’un, for example, rigorous examinations in the Confucian classics. the deceased was buried with 15 horses, 10 oxen, They also spent a good part of their time perform- 18 sheep, 35 dogs, fi ve equipped chariots and their ing the Confucian RITUALS. charioteers, and another 852 people. During this Taoism taught not the way of heaven but the period the Chinese used vessels made of bronze, way of nature. As encapsulated in the TAO TE CHING China, religions of S 83

(the “Way Power Classic”), this way never acts delib- AVALOKITESVARA, the BODHISATTVA known in China erately, yet it accomplishes everything. Taoists saw as Kuan-yin. Ch’an Buddhism—better known in action without deliberate intention—in Chinese, wu North America by its Japanese name, ZEN BUD- wei—as the model for human behavior. Applying DHISM—rejected speech and reasoning as distorting this principle to government, they suggested that truth; it advocated instead a direct, intuitive, inef- the government that meddles least in the lives of its fable awareness of things as they are. subjects is the best government. Taoists eventually In 845 C.E. the fortunes of Buddhism changed developed elaborate rituals and experimented with permanently—for the worse. In that year the exercises, herbs, and minerals (see ALCHEMY) in their “Great Persecution” of Buddhism took place, dur- search for a long life and immortality. They also ing which more than 40,000 monasteries were formed secret societies that occasionally attempted destroyed. Chinese Buddhism never recovered to overthrow the government. from this blow. It did not disappear, but it was In the centuries following Confucius, yet never again the leading Chinese religion. another set of views, the YIN/YANG THEORY, crys- During the Buddhist period Confucianism had tallized from very ancient roots. It analyzed the seemed unsophisticated, because it concentrated universe in terms of the complementary interac- so heavily on proper behavior. Starting around tion of two opposites, yin and yang. Among other 1000 C.E. Neo-Confucians made Confucianism characteristics, it saw yin as dark, moist, female, respectable once again. They developed a Confu- and receptive, yang as bright, dry, male, and cian metaphysics (theory of reality) comparable to active. It also identifi ed “fi ve actions” at work in that of Buddhism and Taoism. At the same time, the world: metal, wood, water, fi re, earth. The dif- broad segments of the Chinese population adopted ferences between Confucianism and Taoism paral- a Confucian outlook. Confucianism again became lel to those between yang and yin: Confucianism the dominant Chinese religion. But Confucian- stresses activity and Taoism receptivity. Just as ism did not exclude China’s other religious tradi- yang and yin are both necessary, so most Chinese tions. The most common view suggested that all have practiced elements of both religions. three teachings—Confucianism, Taoism, and Bud- dhism—were essentially one. BUDDHISM By the late 19th century European colonialism Buddhism fi rst arrived in China around the time of had disrupted the self-confi dence of traditional JESUS (fi rst century C.E.). During the next 500 years it Chinese society. Confucian values seemed weak gradually became established, primarily as a tradi- and outdated. The establishment of the People’s tion for MONKS AND NUNS. At fi rst the Chinese resisted Republic of China, as the Communist regime was Buddhism. The monastic life went counter to the called, in 1949 had even harsher consequences, traditional Chinese emphasis on the family, and the especially at fi rst. Numerous Buddhist and Taoist Buddhist desire to achieve release from ordinary monks, along with some Christian missionaries, existence (see NIRVANA and SAMSARA) was opposed to went into exile in Hong Kong and Taiwan, where the practical orientation dominant in China. traditional Chinese religion has been maintained. By the start of the Tang dynasty (618–906 C.E.), however, Buddhism had become not only the dom- RELIGION IN COMMUNIST CHINA inant intellectual tradition but a religion practiced The relation between religion and Communism by the people as well. Several different schools in China went through several stages. The fi rst fl ourished. T’ien-t’ai Buddhism classifi ed all the (1950–66) was a time of consolidation, when all varieties of Buddhism in a graduated scale; it saw foreign infl uences, including missionaries and the LOTUS SUTRA as encapsulating supreme truth. many of their followers, were forced into exile. PURE LAND BUDDHISM taught followers to rely upon Remaining religious bodies had to form “patri- the favor of the Buddha Amitabha (see AMIDA) and otic” organizations aligning the faith with the 84 S Christ new state and its ideology. Some churches and way China ultimately goes may say much about Buddhist temples became showplaces for outside the future of religion on this planet. visitors, although far more were confi scated and See also FENG SHUI; TIBETAN RELIGION. turned over to other uses. Uncooperative religion- Further reading: Wolfgang Bauer, China and the ists were persecuted. Search for Happiness (New York: Seabury, 1976); Then came the Great Cultural Revolution of Julia Ching, Chinese Religions (Maryknoll, N.Y.: 1966–69, when young Red Guards swept through Orbis, 1995); Daniel Overmyer, Religion in China the country destroying virtually everything “old,” Today (New York: Columbia University Press, including religion. Whatever religious life sur- 2003); Laurence Thompson, Chinese Religion: An vived went deep underground. But after the Cul- Introduction (Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, 1988). tural Revolution had run its course by around 1970, and especially after the death of Chinese Communism’s leader, Mao Zedong, in 1976, more pragmatic counsels won out. China became more Christ From the Greek word christos, meaning accessible to the world. Visitors reported that reli- “anointed”; a title applied to JESUS, the founder of gion seemed generally able to fl ourish openly, CHRISTIANITY. The earliest followers of Jesus most though under tight supervision. But the situation likely spoke Aramaic, which was the languages of in Tibet remained tense, and new religious move- Palestine in Jesus’ day. As a result, they would not ments outside offi cial control, such as the Falun have applied the Greek word christos, “Christ,” to Gong (which received worldwide publicity in 2000 Jesus. They would have used its Aramaic equiv- and after), were regarded as subversive and were alent, which is usually rendered into English as dealt with harshly. MESSIAH. However, China is a vast country, often secre- Within 15 years of Jesus’ death, however, MIS- tive, and reliable general information is not easy SIONARIES such as PAUL were actively spreading the to come by. Some reports say that, of a population message about Jesus to people outside of Palestine. of 1.2 billion, perhaps 300 million (25 percent) are At the time Greek was the common language of followers of various religious faiths, not counting the eastern Mediterranean, so they translated their those who only practice occasional forms of Chi- message into Greek. Jesus the Messiah became nese folk religion. The majority are Buddhist and Jesus the Christ, and the religion eventually came Taoist, but some 18 million Chinese are Muslim, to be known as Christianity. mostly in the far northwest. Protestants are said The word christos, “Christ,” quickly assumed to number 25 million in several denominations, the status of a proper name—Jesus Christ rather some offi cially recognized and some clandestine, than Jesus the Christ—and the name was limited and Roman Catholics 12 million, equally divided to Jesus. Today the name Christ is rarely associated between two organizations, one aligned with the with its original Greek meaning, “the anointed.” Vatican and another, descended from the days of “patriotic” religious groups, separated from it. On the other hand, there are those who claim Christianity The religion centered on belief that the number of Christians in China may reach in JESUS as the Son of GOD. Although it has rep- as high as 100 million, being largely unoffi cial fol- resentatives throughout the globe, Christianity is lowers who read the Bible privately and meet qui- especially prominent in Europe, the Americas, and etly in “house churches.” They say that in this way Australia. Christianity is rapidly growing in the world’s most populous nation. At the same time, the government HISTORY and the majority of Chinese are perhaps more sec- Jesus (c. 4 B.C.E./c. 30 C.E.) was a Jew who lived ular than in any other large nation on earth. The primarily in Galilee (today northern Israel). It is Christianity S 85

said that he wandered the countryside, teaching The 17th to the early 20th centuries were the and working MIRACLES. Pontius Pilate, the Roman great age of European colonialism. Christian mis- governor of Judea (today southern Israel), had him sionaries accompanied European conquerors and crucifi ed on charges of sedition against the Roman converted people all over the globe. Catholic mis- government, but his followers soon became con- sionaries had been active among the indigenous vinced that he had been raised from the dead. peoples of the Americas from as early as the 16th Some of these followers traveled as MISSIONARIES, century. The 19th century was the era of large and mostly throughout the Roman Empire. They taught infl uential Protestant missionary societies. that Jesus was the promised MESSIAH or CHRIST and During the 20th century there were several that he provided people with forgiveness for their important movements within Christianity. The ecu- SINS and eternal life. menical movement—named from the Greek word Until the fourth century Christianity was illegal oikoumene, roughly meaning “the whole world”— in the Roman Empire, because Christians refused tried to overcome the differences that divided Chris- to “venerate” or give a kind of worship to the tianity into many separate churches and to unite emperor. But Emperor Constantine (c. 280–337) Christians around the globe. A very different move- lifted the legal restrictions against Christianity, and ment, fundamentalism (see FUNDAMENTALISM, CHRIS- Emperor Theodosius (347–395) made all other reli- TIAN), arose in response to challenges posed by his- gions illegal. At this time Christians systematized torical and scientifi c investigation; it insisted that their teachings. The most important teachings said every word of the Bible was literally true. Still other that Jesus was both fully God and fully human (see movements addressed issues of equality and justice: INCARNATION) and that God was a trinity: Father (or Liberal Protestant churches began to admit women Creator), Son, and Holy Spirit. At the same time to leadership roles previously closed to them, while they came to fi nal agreement on which books in poorer parts of the world some Christians worked should be included in the NEW TESTAMENT, that is, for political and economic liberation. the specifi cally Christian part of the Bible. The Roman Empire had two parts, an eastern, BELIEFS Greek-speaking part and a western, Latin-speak- Christians have generally emphasized the role ing one. Starting in the fi fth century, the political of belief in bringing about SALVATION. As a result, ties that had held these two together snapped, Christian churches have insisted on a uniformity and Christians in the two regions gradually grew of belief more than many religions have. Christians apart. In 1054 the Great Schism severed relations often recite statements of belief known as CREEDS in between the Roman Catholic Church in the west public worship. (see ROMAN CATHOLICISM) and the Eastern Ortho- Most but not all Christians endorse the beliefs dox churches (see EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN- established by the seven ancient ecumenical coun- ITY). The offi cial causes included differences in cils (325–787). (Councils are meetings of bishops, church teaching and the relative positions of the the heads of churches in various areas.) These pope and the patriarch of Constantinople (see beliefs include the belief that God is a trinity, Father PAPACY, THE). (or Creator), Son, and Holy Spirit; that Jesus is the During the 16th century the western church son of God and thus unites two natures, divine and split. This event, known as the REFORMATION, led human, in one person; that Jesus was conceived to the creation of many Protestant churches (see apart from human sexual activity (see VIRGIN PROTESTANTISM). The Protestants insisted that only BIRTH); that forgiveness of sins is available through the Bible, not the papacy or the traditions of the Jesus’ death and RESURRECTION; and that at the end church, had authority in religious matters. They of time the dead will be raised and judged (see also used the common language in worship ser- JUDGMENT OF THE DEAD). Christians differ on which vices instead of Latin. books make up the Old Testament, but virtually all 86 S Christianity

Christianity at the time of the Schism, 1054

Christians agree on the 27 books that make up the the EUCHARIST. Catholic and Orthodox Christians New Testament. teach that the bread and wine actually become Christians have never been able to reach Jesus’ body and blood. Most Protestants teach unanimity on all beliefs. One very signifi cant dif- that they are only symbols of Jesus’s body and ference concerns the process by which sins are blood. forgiven. To what extent is salvation a gift from God, and to what extent do human beings need PRACTICES to perform certain actions in order to be saved? In recognition of Jesus’ resurrection on a Sunday, The Roman Catholic Church teaches that salva- most Christian churches have set aside Sunday as tion requires both God’s gift of GRACE and human a day for communal worship. Orthodox and Catho- actions. The most extreme Protestant view, “dou- lic worship centers on the celebration of the eucha- ble predestination,” suggests that God has deter- rist in the Divine LITURGY or the Mass. Readings mined whether a person will be saved or damned from the Bible, PRAYERS, and usually a homily (a even before that person is born. Another point on short address or sermon) are also parts of the cel- which Christians differ concerns the signifi cance ebration. Specially ordained priests must perform of the bread and the wine in the RITUAL known as the ritual of the eucharist itself, but in recent years Christianity S 87

steps have been taken to increase the participation being, the pope. The Orthodox churches are orga- of laypeople in other ways. nized along national lines—Greek, Russian, Ukrai- Protestant churches have tended to celebrate nian, and so on. Each national church is headed by the eucharist less frequently, in some churches as a patriarch or metropolitan. infrequently as once or twice a year. Protestant The congregational model is found among worship has emphasized PREACHING the word of many Protestants. On this model, authority resides God. Worship consists of a sermon, generally by a with the local congregation, which selects a person specially appointed minister, along with readings to be its minister. Usually congregations are joined from the Bible, prayers, and songs or hymns. together into larger regional or national groups. Most Christians follow a cycle of annual fes- However, fundamentalist and evangelical Protes- tivals linked to the life of Jesus: Advent prepares tants in the United States have founded a large for the coming of Jesus; CHRISTMAS celebrates his number of independent “Bible churches.” birth; Epiphany celebrates his manifestation as God incarnate; LENT, which begins on Ash Wednesday, CHRISTIANITY IN THE WORLD TODAY is a time for preparation and repentance; Palm Sun- At the beginning of the 21st century, Christianity day recalls Jesus’ entry into JERUSALEM just before was the world’s largest religion. Some 2 billion his death, Maundy Thursday his last meal with his people, about a third of the world’s population, followers, and Good Friday his crucifi xion; EASTER were at least nominally Christian or of Christian celebrates Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. cultural background. However, the role and impact One becomes a Christian through BAPTISM of the religion varied greatly from one place to (sprinkling with or immersion in water). Catholic another. Moreover, the Christian “center of grav- and Orthodox Christians generally practice bap- ity,” that is, where its greatest number and dyna- tism as a birth ritual. Some Protestants practice it mism are concentrated, was rapidly shifting from as a ritual of maturation, like BAR/BAT MITZVAH in Europe and North America to what is called the JUDAISM. In addition to baptism and the Eucharist, Third World or Southern Hemisphere, the coun- the Catholic and Orthodox churches recognize fi ve tries of Latin America, Africa, and southern Asia. other SACRAMENTS through which Christians receive Traditionally, Christianity has been considered God’s grace: confi rmation or chrismation, pen- chiefl y the religion of the white races of Europe ance, marriage, holy orders, and anointing with oil and their immigrant descendents in the Americas. for healing or as “extreme unction” for the dying. Since its origin within the Roman Empire, most sig- They also give special veneration to MARY, Jesus’ nifi cant Christian history appeared to take place in mother, and SAINTS, exemplary Christians from the Europe or the Mediterranean basin. This is where past. The Orthodox churches also emphasize the the papacy ruled, dominant theologies were devel- use of sacred pictures known as icons (see IMAGES, oped, theological wars were fought, the Protestant ICONS, IDOLS IN RELIGION). Reformation took place, and the major DENOMINA- TIONS were formed. Even Christianity in the Ameri- ORGANIZATION cas, including the United States (see UNITED STATES, Christian churches are organized according to two RELIGION IN), although it soon displayed some dis- models, the episcopal model and the congrega- tinctive features, has often been seen as little more tional model. than the transplanting of what was essentially a On the episcopal model, authority resides with European faith. a bishop (Greek, episkopos) or archbishop. Bish- Now, in Europe, although the great cathedrals ops are persons in charge of an entire area, and still stand and traditional Christian festivals are they oversee the activities of a variety of subordi- observed, the religion seems to have lost consider- nates, such as priests. The Roman Catholic Church able vigor. In a few places religious identity remains concentrates ultimate authority in a single human important and divisive, for example, whether one is 88 S Christianity, independent

Roman Catholic or Protestant in Ireland or is Cath- in ways traditional European and North Ameri- olic, Eastern Orthodox, or Muslim (see ISLAM) in can denominations perhaps never could. Many Bosnia-Herzegovina and surrounding areas. But in contain elements of SPIRITUALISM, Pentecostalism, most parts of Europe not more than a small percent- or SANTERÍA as well as such indigenous features age of the population attends church regularly. as ANCESTOR VENERATION and traditional music and In the United States, church attendance by the dance. The face of Christianity in the 21st century professedly Christian 85 percent of the population and after will defi nitely look different from that of is markedly higher than in Europe; the situation in the past. Canada is between those of Europe and the United States (see CANADA, RELIGION IN). But the 225 million SIGNIFICANCE Christians in the United States in 2000 represented Christianity is the largest single religion in the only a little over 10 percent of world Christianity, world today, practiced by roughly a third of the and that percentage will decline as the 21st century world’s population. For centuries Christianity has advances. Worldwide, according to projections, by made major contributions to European culture. 2025 half the world’s Christians will live in Africa During the 20th century, strong, independent and Latin America; by 2050, only about one- Christian churches also developed among those fi fth of the world’s then 3 billion Christians will who were not of European ancestry. be non-Hispanic “whites,” and some four-fi fths Further reading: David B. Barrett, George T. of Christians will be Hispanic, African, or Asian. Kurian, and Todd M. Johnson, eds., World Christian This is partly because of anticipated rapid popula- Encyclopedia, 2d ed. (New York: Oxford University tion growth in those parts of the world and partly Press, 2001); Harvey Cox, Fire from Heaven: The because Christianity is attracting converts there Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping as it loses adherents in regions that were once its of Religion in the Twenty-fi rst Century (Reading, heartlands. Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1995); Robert S. Ellwood, More signifi cant are the changes this demo- and James B. Wiggins, Christianity: A Cultural graphic (population) shift is making in the char- Perspective (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, acter of Christianity. In worldwide traditions such 1988); Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom: as ANGLICANISM, tensions between European/North The Coming of Global Christianity (New York: American and Asian/African/Latin American Oxford University Press, 2002); Daniel L. Migloire, wings of the denomination have already reached Faith Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to a critical point, as the former tend to be far more Christian Theology. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W. B. liberal than the latter on such issues as homosexu- Eerdmans, 2004); Ninian Smart, The Phenomenon ality and ordaining women. of Christianity (London: Collins, 1979); Williston Moreover, increasingly Christians in the South- Walker, A History of the Christian Church, Rev. Ed. ern Hemisphere regions of rapid growth is moving (New York: Scribner, 1984). away from traditional “mainline” denominations. PENTECOSTALISM, with its vibrancy, its strict moral standards, and its provisions for spiritual expres- sion on the part of virtually everyone in its con- Christianity, independent Christian churches gregations, has fl ourished. It is now estimated that that do not belong to a broader Christian institu- as many as one-fourth of active Christians in the tional organization. That defi nition would seem world are Pentecostal. Many other new forms of self-evident, but in fact it means different things, Christianity (see CHRISTIANITY, INDEPENDENT) have depending upon what broader institutional organi- appeared in Latin America, Africa (as many as zations prevail in a given place. 8,000 on that continent), and Asia, accommodat- In the years immediately after JESUS, there ing Christian expression to surrounding cultures seem to have been many communities that called Christianity, independent S 89

themselves Christian. Some banded together to such as the Roman Catholic Church, the Lutheran form larger associations; others, apparently, did Church, the Episcopal Church (see EPISCOPALIAN- not. With time, what we now know as normative ISM), and the Presbyterian Church (see PRESBY- Christianity developed out of a tradition that saw TERIAN AND REFORMED CHURCHES), which are tra- itself as in the line of Jesus’ APOSTLES. When, during ditionally state-supported churches in Europe, the 300s, Christianity became fi rst legal and then are supported by voluntary contributions in mandatory in the Roman empire, the “apostolic- the United States. In this climate, independent orthodox” tradition was established. Churches Christianity refers to churches that refuse to ally were organized by territories governed by bishops. themselves with any denomination. Independent In the Western half of the Roman empire the PAPACY BIBLE churches, founded by a person who feels assumed the role of overseeing all bishops. called to preach, are good examples found fairly Some Christian churches, such as the Coptic widely throughout the country. Sometimes these (see COPTIC CHURCH) and Nestorian churches, were churches enter into loose association with other independent of these structures, but it would be a churches, as long as the association does not misnomer to consider them independent Christi- require the establishment of a broader adminis- anity. They had their own institutional structures. trative structure. An example of such churches Christian movements also continued to arise that is the Undenominational Fellowship of Christian opposed some elements of ROMAN CATHOLICISM or Churches and Churches of Christ. These churches EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY. They were, how- refused to remain in fellowship with the Christian ever, condemned as heresy and found it diffi cult Church (Disciples of Christ) when the Disciples to fl ourish. established a denominational structure in 1968. Independent Christianity did not become PENTECOSTALISM, a powerful religious movement of viable until the Protestant REFORMATION. The term the 20th century, also produced many indepen- means something different, however, in different dent churches in this sense. geographical settings, such as Europe, the United In Africa, independent Christianity means States, and Africa. yet something different (see AFRICA, NEW RELIGIOUS In Europe Protestants in the tradition of Mar- MOVEMENTS IN). In Africa, independent Christianity tin LUTHER (1483–1546) and John CALVIN (1509–64) refers to two types of church. One is the church formed churches that received the support of the that was started by MISSIONARIES from North Amer- state. For example, their ministers had been trained ica or Europe but then broke away from the parent in state universities and paid salaries from tax reve- church. Churches often did this because the par- nues. Other churches refused to ally with the state. ent churches did not trust Africans to control their In the early days of the Reformation, the leading own institutions. The other type of independent churches that did not do so were the Anabaptist Christianity includes churches founded by African churches, such as the MENNONITES in the Nether- prophets or even messiahs. As a result of what they lands. With time, other churches independent of see as a revelation from God, they begin to preach, the state developed too. In Germany, for example, heal, cast out evil spirits, and attract a following. these included the Methodist Church (imported Some of these independent African churches have from England) and in some areas the Independent become large institutions. Some have also affi li- Lutheran Church, which disagreed with the state- ated with the World Council of Churches. supported Lutheran church (see LUTHERANISM). Christians have always cherished the idea of These churches represent independent Christianity unity, in the words of PAUL in the Bible: “one Lord, in that they are supported by voluntary contribu- one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4.5). That ideal tions, not the government. has not prevented them, however, from developing In the United States, all churches are inde- many different kinds of Christianity. Independent pendent churches in this sense. Even churches Christianity is an important means by which forms 90 S Christian Science

of Christianity not allowed by dominating institu- derives from the phrase “Christ’s Mass.” Christ- tional structures can develop and fl ourish. mas is probably the most popular Christian celebration. Further reading: Kwame Bediako, Jesus and the The earliest celebration of Christmas that we Gospel in Africa: History and Experience (New know about took place in Rome in the middle of York: Orbis, 2004); Elizabeth Isichei, A History of the fourth century. This is the period during which Christianity in Africa (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W. CHRISTIANITY was in the process of becoming the B. Eerdmans, 1995); Donald B. Kraybill, Who Are offi cial religion of the Roman Empire. the Anabaptists?: Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and A century earlier the Roman emperor Aurelian Mennonites (Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 2003). (ruled 270–275) had made the WORSHIP of Sol Invic- tus, “The unconquered sun,” the offi cial religion of the empire. In 274 he had required all subjects of Christian Science A Christian movement that Rome to celebrate the birth of the sun on Decem- emphasizes healing. Christian Science began in ber 25. This is the date when days in the North- Boston, Massachusetts. In 1866 Mary Baker Eddy ern Hemisphere begin to grow longer again. Many (1821–1910) experienced a sudden healing that she speculate that Aurelian’s celebration of the birth of attributed to GOD. In 1875 she published Science the sun was the origin of the celebration of Christ- and Health to expound her teachings about divine mas on December 25. healing. When the various churches showed little During the fourth century the celebration interest, she and several followers formed the fi rst of Jesus’ birth on December 25 spread. Many Church of Christ, Scientist, in 1879. Since that time churches in the eastern half of the Roman Empire— the teachings of Christian Science have spread the ancestors of today’s Orthodox churches (see throughout the world. EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY)—were already Christian Science teaches that all genuine real- celebrating Jesus’ birth and BAPTISM on January ity is spiritual. Sickness and distress result when 6. They continued to celebrate Jesus’ baptism people mistake the material for the real. Christian on that day. On December 25 they remembered Science denies that JESUS was God, but it sees itself his birth and the visits of the shepherds and the as thoroughly Christian. It uses Jesus’s healings as magi. Churches in the western half of the Roman the basis of its teaching that healing is possible for Empire—the ancestors of today’s Catholic and those who follow God’s spiritual laws. Protestant churches (see ROMAN CATHOLICISM and The Church of Christ, Scientist, maintains a PROTESTANISM)—thought of the day somewhat dif- register of “practitioners” or healers. These are not ferently. On December 25 they celebrated Jesus’ exactly ministers; they do not lead congregational birth and the visit of the shepherds. On January WORSHIP. Services consist of readings from Science 6, called Epiphany, they celebrated the visit of and Health and the BIBLE. On Wednesday evenings the magi. congregations hold services at which people pres- A rich variety of popular customs has devel- ent testimonies of being healed. oped around the celebration of Christmas. In North Many municipalities have Christian Science America Christmas observances include sculpted reading rooms. The church also publishes one of scenes of Jesus’ birth known as creches, special the leading American newspapers, the Christian songs known as Christmas carols, an evergreen Science Monitor. The Monitor does not, however, tree decorated with ornaments and lights, legends explicitly advocate the church’s teachings. about a popular fi gure named Santa Claus who gives gifts (especially to children), the sending of greeting cards, and midnight worship services. Christmas The Christian celebration of the Each of these elements has a different ori- birth of JESUS on December 25. The English name gin. Francis of Assisi (see FRANCIS OF ASSISI AND church and state S 91

FRANCISCANS) began the tradition of building In perhaps the most famous portion of the creches to celebrate Christmas in the late Middle book, Chuang-tzu dreams that he is a butterfl y. Ages. Christmas carols began in the late Middle Then he wakes up and wonders whether he is Ages, too. At that time it became customary on actually a man who is dreaming he was a but- Christmas to replace the kinds of hymns used for terfl y, or a butterfl y that is dreaming it is Chuang- ordinary festivals with songs of a more popular tzu. nature. The Christmas tree originated in Germany, although precisely when is unknown. In the 19th century, Queen Victoria’s husband, who was church and state The relationship of religion German, brought the custom to English-speak- and government in predominantly Christian areas. ing countries. Americans invented the legends of Throughout most of history and in all parts of the Santa Claus from a variety of sources, while the globe, governments have been interested in reli- custom of sending greeting cards began in Eng- gion. Indeed, for many peoples government was land in the 19th century. The oldest of the ele- actually supposed to perform statewide religious ments is the one from which Christmas takes its observances. Where distinct religious and political name: the celebration of an early morning mass, institutions existed, questions generally concerned eventually at midnight. their relative power. Medieval Europe provides a Despite the popularity of the festival, not all good example. The church and the political rul- Christians observe Christmas. When the festi- ers argued vehemently over who had the right to val was fi rst introduced, the church in JERUSALEM appoint priests. refused to recognize it for 200 years. The ARME- During the REFORMATION and its aftermath, NIAN CHURCH still insists on celebrating the birth Protestants such as the Anabaptists (see MENNO- of Jesus on January 6. Some Protestants have NITES and AMISH), Baptists (see BAPTIST CHURCHES), also rejected Christmas. To them, it is a human and QUAKERS insisted that religion should be a invention that has no basis in the BIBLE. One such purely private matter. Philosophers infl uenced by group was the Puritans (see PURITANISM). Because the intellectual movement known as the Enlight- of Puritan infl uence, Christmas was not widely enment tended to agree. For a variety of reasons, observed in the United States until the mid-1800s. their ideas fi rst took institutional form in North The “plain people,” such as the AMISH, still refuse America. to observe it. Most British colonies in North America origi- nally had offi cial or “established” religions. But by the time of the Revolutionary War, a movement to Chuang-tzu (Zhuangzi) (c. 369–c. 286 B.C.E.) a “disestablish” religion was in progress. Massachu- Chinese thinker important in the development of setts was the last state to disestablish religion. It philosophical TAOISM Chuang-tzu is known for a did so in 1833. In the early 1800s the state of Mas- collection of essays that goes by the same name, sachusetts still tried and convicted some of its citi- Chuang-tzu. Only selected essays in the collection zens for religious crimes such as HERESY. actually seem to come from Chuang-tzu. In 1789 the United States adopted its present Chuang-tzu’s language is highly imagistic. As Constitution. It was a strikingly secular document. a result, it is often diffi cult to determine the pre- The Constitution did not invoke GOD’s name. It cise meaning of the texts. The essays pose puzzles prohibited using religion to determine whether designed to teach that truth, goodness, happiness, someone could hold offi ce in the federal govern- and everything in life is relative—everything, that ment (Article 6, Section 3). But that was all it said is, except the Tao or way of nature. The Tao cannot about religion. It is likely that the framers of the be encapsulated in language. Rather, it can only be Constitution simply decided to ignore religious grasped intuitively. questions and leave them up to the states. 92 S church and state

In 1791 the Bill of Rights added 10 amend- compensation, and the court ruled in her favor ments to the Constitution. Two clauses of the First (Sherbert v. Verner). Amendment deal with religion. The fi rst says that Twenty-seven years later, in 1990, the court took Congress cannot pass a law that tends to establish a much narrower view of religious freedom. It said religion—not a religion, but religion in general. that religious freedom did not allow people to violate This clause is known as the Establishment Clause. laws that applied to everyone. It only prevented the The second clause says that Congress cannot pro- government from outlawing specifi c religious prac- hibit people from practicing their religion freely. It tices. The case at issue involved two Native American is known as the Free Exercise Clause. The Four- drug counselors. They lost their jobs because they teenth Amendment, passed later during the Civil had eaten peyote, an hallucinogen, in ceremonies of War, prohibited state and local governments from the Native American Church. (Their jobs required taking away rights granted at the federal level. As them to remain drug-free.) They, too, wanted unem- a result, the First Amendment now applies at all ployment compensation, but the court denied their levels of government, from the federal government request (Employment Division v. Smith). to school boards. The narrow view of religious freedom does During the second half of the 20th century, offer religious people some protection. For exam- many disputes arose concerning the interpreta- ple, in 1993 the Supreme Court ruled that a Florida tion of two religion clauses. In applying the Estab- town could not pass a law against animal sacrifi ce lishment Clause, the Supreme Court ruled that (Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. Hialeah). But governments could neither promote nor inhibit many people felt that the narrow view did not pro- religion. As a result, it declared unconstitutional vide enough protection. For example, what would many practices common in some public schools. prevent a state from convicting priests of serving For example, in 1962 the court ruled that schools alcohol to minors when they gave the EUCHARIST cannot write prayers and have students recite them to teenagers? A state that convicted priests could (Engel v. Vitale). Later, in 1985, the court also held claim that it was simply enforcing a law everyone that states cannot require public school students had to follow. to observe a moment of silent meditation (Wallace Concerns such as these led Congress to pass v. Jaffree). According to a 1992 ruling, a religious the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in 1993. In offi cial, whether priest, minister, RABBI, or IMAM, line with the broader view of religious freedom, cannot offer prayers at public school functions it required governments to demonstrate a compel- (Lee v. Weisman). ling interest before they violated religious freedom. Controversies also arose over the Free Exercise But in July 1996 the court declared this act uncon- Clause. That clause clearly has its limits. People stitutional, because Congress cannot tell the courts cannot simply do anything they want in the name how to interpret the Constitution. At the time of of religious freedom. For example, no one suggests writing, amendments to the First Amendment have that human SACRIFICE should be legal. But where been proposed in Congress, but it seems unlikely should the lines be drawn? that any new constitutional amendments on reli- In 1963 the court took a broad view of religious gion will be ratifi ed. freedom. It said that if the government wanted to deprive someone of religious freedom, it had to do Further reading: Sidney Z. Ehler, and John B. more than simply give a reason. It had to show Morrall, Church and State Through the Centuries that a “compelling interest” left it no choice but to (London: Burns and Oates, 1954); Edwin S. violate religious freedom. The 1963 case involved Gaustad, Church and State in America (New a Seventh-Day Adventist (see SEVENTH-DAY ADVENT- York: Oxford University Press, 1999); William Lee ISM) who had lost her job because she could not Miller, The First Liberty: Religion and the American work on Saturdays. She wanted unemployment Republic. (New York: Knopf, 1986). cinema and religion S 93

Church of God Name of several denominations FILMS THAT TELL RELIGIOUS STORIES in the HOLINESS and PENTECOSTAL tradition. Now Most religions tell stories, and fi lmmakers the worldwide, they originated in the United States. world over have found that religious stories can The two main Churches of God, designated by make good cinema. For example, the fi lm Atanar- the location of their headquarters, are the Church juat (2001) presents a traditional story of the Arc- of God (Anderson, Indiana) and the Church of tic peoples of North America. The fi lm Whale God (Cleveland, Tennessee). The former is a Rider (2002) explores tradition and change among leading expression of the 19th-century Holiness the Maori of New Zealand from the perspective movement, which taught that Christians can, of a girl who emerges as a leader of her people. after conversion and believer’s baptism, receive Kundun (1997) portrays the early life of the DALAI a second gift of the Holy Spirit called sanctifi ca- LAMA, while the Hindi fi lm Asoka (2001) drama- tion, the ability to live a holy life. This church tizes—and fi ctionalizes—the early life of emperor was founded in 1880 and follows congregational ASOKA, a major fi gure in the spread of BUDDHISM. organization. In the late 1980s fi lmmakers in India created a The larger Cleveland, Tennessee, church national sensation when they televised very long, traces its origins to 1886, though the name was serialized versions of two profoundly religious not adopted until 1907. It has put more emphasis EPICS, Ramayan and Mahabharaat. Sensational for than the other Church of God on Pentecostal-type its time, too, was Cecil B. DeMille’s epic, The Ten gifts of the Holy Spirit as evidence of sanctifi ca- Commandments (1956), as was the 1976 fi lm The tion. Speaking in tongues, divine healings, and Message about MUHAMMAD and ISLAM. Filmmakers ecstatic behavior show that the Spirit is at work have also found inspiration in the lives of Christian in a person and a congregation. Its organization SAINTS, such as Thomas à Becket (Becket [1964]), is comparable to that of METHODISM, with bish- FRANCIS OF ASSISI (Brother Sun, Sister Moon [1972]), ops and superintendents. The Church of God of and Thomas More (A Man for All Seasons [1966]). Prophecy, another Holiness/Pentecostal body, is The story of JOAN OF ARC was fi rst fi lmed as long an offshoot from it. ago as 1895. The Church of God in Christ is a largely Afri- One story that has attracted North American can-American denomination tracing its origin, and European fi lmmakers over and over again as does Pentecostalism generally, to the famous is the life of JESUS. Because Jesus is so special to Azusa Street revival of 1907 in Los Angeles. It many North Americans and Europeans, some fi lm- also embraces a combination of Holiness and makers have been reluctant to portray him. They Pentecostal features, and it has spread around have fi lmed stories in which they show Jesus’ the world. shadow, hands, or feet or even just the reaction of onlookers to him but do not show Jesus’ entire body or face. Two fi lms from the 1950s provide cinema and religion Ever since motion pic- good examples of this technique: Ben-Hur (1959) tures were invented in the 1890s, fi lmmakers have and The Robe (1953). The British comedy troupe been fascinated with religious themes. They have Monty Python parodied such fi lms, among others, explored such themes in a variety of ways. Some in Life of Brian (1979). fi lms tell religious stories. Others use religious ele- Other fi lmmakers have portrayed Jesus directly ments to tell different stories. Still others explore— in many different ways. The Greatest Story Ever or allow their audiences to explore—religious Told (1965) shows a formal, stiff, proper Jesus in a issues. Of course, fi lmmakers have made many fi lm with little action. The Jesus Film (1979) pres- instructional fi lms about religions, too. Such fi lms ents a very different Jesus: a friendly Jesus who, are usually viewed in classrooms rather than in the before he is arrested, constantly smiles and always cinema. This entry does not discuss them. sports neat hair, trimmed beard, and immaculate 94 S cinema and religion

clothes. Others fi nd the brusque Jesus in The Gos- nialism. They do so by challenging the British to pel According to Matthew (1964) by the Italian a cricket match. director Pier Paolo Pasolini more realistic. In The Most North Americans and Europeans would Last Temptation of Christ (1988) Martin Scors- probably miss the references to Krishna in Lagaan, ese portrayed a mentally fragile Jesus in order to but they may notice allusions to the Jesus story explore the struggles of a human being trying to more easily. Perhaps for that reason North Ameri- fulfi ll divine expectations. Two rock operas from can and European fi lmmakers have used elements 1973 provide a different, nontraditional take on of the story of Jesus widely. Jesus: Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell. Mel Gib- One series of Westerns—Shane (1953), Pale son graphically portrayed the physical sufferings of Rider (1985), The Quick and the Dead (1995), and Jesus in The Passion of the Christ (2004). Viewers perhaps other fi lms as well—provides an alterna- may fi nd, however, that none of these fi lms, or the tive to a savior who suffers and dies. They celebrate many other fi lms about Jesus, quite fi t their image a gun-slinging savior who comes to town, defeats of what Jesus was like. That is because stories that the forces of evil in a shoot-out, and rescues the are heard or read, unlike cinema, allow their audi- helpless townspeople. The fi lms tell this story from ences to imagine characters and settings as they see different angles. Pale Rider develops its story with fi t. People seem to have imagined Jesus in various the help of motifs not only from the Jesus story ways. but also from the Book of Revelation (see REVELA- Cinema can explore and highlight many TION, BOOK OF). The title of The Quick and the Dead dimensions and nuances of religious stories. In comes from the traditional translation of Christian this way, it continues to do in a new medium what CREEDS. It tells the story of a female savior who religious art, music, and literature have been doing openly rejects the teachings of Jesus. for centuries. An old tradition in EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRIS- TIANITY celebrates “holy fools.” Starting with the FILMS THAT USE ELEMENTS FROM writings of Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Friedrich RELIGIOUS STORIES Nietzsche in the 19th century, a motif in Western At times screenwriters invent entirely new stories. literature has also connected Jesus with madness They also frequently use elements and motifs from or insanity. Such fi gures are sometimes called stories that they and their audiences already know. “Christomaniacs” and are found in fi lms such as Among other things, these familiar elements make the Argentine fi lm Man Facing Southeast (1986), it easier for the fi lm to communicate. K-Pax (2001), and perhaps less obviously One Flew Many fi lms have used religious elements in Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) and Being There this way. Japanese anime fi lms are fi lled with (1979). mythic themes, including Christian ones. The Less frequently, fi lms make use of the Jesus Star Wars saga is fi lled with mythic themes, too. story told from a perspective of GNOSTICISM. Good It draws them mainly from the ideas of Joseph examples are Blade Runner (1982) and the The Campbell (1904–87), an interpreter of the psy- Matrix (1999). chologist Carl Gustav JUNG. Islamic resistance to foreign occupation forms the subject of Lion of the FILMS THAT EXPLORE RELIGIOUS ISSUES Desert (1981), which details the resistance led by Most fi lms touch upon the problems and chal- Omar Mukhtar in Libya against Mussolini’s Italy. lenges that human beings face, even if they do not Lagaan (2001), a Hindi fi lm available in many explore them with much depth. As a result, given video shops in the United States, uses Hindu enough ingenuity most fi lms can lead to refl ection themes. It alludes to stories of KRISHNA, Radha, on religious issues. There is little point in trying to and the gopis and to Krishna’s salvifi c LILA or play survey such fi lms comprehensively, but it might as it tells a story of Indians resisting British colo- be helpful here to list a few fi lms generally avail- circumcision S 95

able in video shops that are not, perhaps, widely (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, known to most Americans. 2003); W. Barnes Tatum, Jesus at the Movies: A A once popular director who often treated Guide to the First Hundred Years (Santa Rosa, religious themes is Ingmar Bergman (b. 1918). His Calif.: Polebridge, 1997). fi lms, such as The Seventh Seal (1957) and The Virgin Spring (1960), explore existentialist ideas, which deal with aspects of life that seem meaning- circumcision The cutting away of the male less and absurd. Schindler’s List (1993) is one of foreskin. The term is sometimes also applied to many fi lms that deal with the Shoah or HOLOCAUST. clitoridectomy, the cutting away of corresponding The earlier fi lm EXODUS (1960) recounts the found- female organs. ing of the state of Israel. Deepa Mehta (b. 1950) Circumcision is widely practiced among indig- has explored interreligious violence in her power- enous peoples, especially in Australia and East ful but graphic fi lm Earth (1998). It portrays events Africa. It is obligatory among Jews, Muslims, and in Lahore during the partition of India and Paki- Coptic Christians. Catholic, Orthodox, and Protes- stan in 1947. Himalaya (1999) deals with an issue tant Christians do not require circumcision. Start- found in many societies—the confl ict between ing in the last half of the 19th century, however, age and youth, traditional religion and modern circumcision also became common among Chris- science—from the perspective of people living in tians in Europe and especially in North America. It Nepal. The Burmese Harp (1956) uses BUDDHISM in did so allegedly for reasons of hygiene. The actual exploring the situation of Japanese soldiers faced medical benefi ts seem minimal. with defeat in World War II. An Iranian fi lm, Chil- Indigenous peoples have often practiced cir- dren of Heaven (1997), and a Kurdish fi lm, Time cumcision as part of the RITUALS that mark the male for Drunken Horses (2000), may be more ethical reaching adulthood (see INITIATION, RELIGIOUS). Prac- than religious. Both deal in powerful ways with tices vary widely, and so do the reasons given for brothers and sisters who look out for one another the practice. For some, circumcision is a way to in situations of poverty and war. The recent Span- remove residual feminine characteristics from the ish fi lm The Sea Inside (2004) explores the contro- maturing boy. In any case, it prepares the boy for versial issue of suicide and euthanasia (see SUICIDE future adult life, including sexual relations with AND RELIGION) by telling the story of Ramon Sampe- women. dro, a paralyzed Spanish man who committed sui- For Jews, Coptic Christians, and Muslims, cir- cide with the help of friends. Two Danish fi lms, cumcision is a sign of membership in the group. Babette’s Feast (1987) and Italian for Beginners It is an old rite. It was practiced in ancient Egypt (2000), fi nd religious fulfi llment in close human even before the time of ABRAHAM (see EGYPTIAN RELI- relationships. In doing so, they echo Christian GION). In Hebrew, circumcision is known as brit emphases on the communion meal and the word milah, “covenant of circumcision.” Colloquially, of God. Jews refer to it simply as bris. In Arabic, circumci- sion is called tahur, “purifi cation.” Further reading: Albert J. Bergesen and Andrew M. Jews circumcise men as a sign of God’s COV- Greeley, God in the Movies, preface by Roger Ebert ENANT with them. The command to circumcise (New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, was given to Abraham (Genesis 17.9–27). Under 2000); John Lyden, Film as Religion: Myths, Morals, MOSES it was extended to non-Jews who wanted and Rituals (New York: New York University Press, to eat the PASSOVER meal (Exodus (12.43–49). 2003); S. Brent Plate, ed., Representing Religion in Jewish boys are to be circumcised on the eighth World Cinema: Filmmaking, Mythmaking, Culture day after birth. Jews have traditionally required Making (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003); adult male converts to be circumcised, too. The Adele Reinhartz, Scripture on the Silver Screen Reform movement has not always insisted on this. 96 S clothing, religious

In JUDAISM a special religious functionary called a worn by MONKS AND NUNS is seen in some branches mohel performs the circumcision. Circumcision is of CHRISTIANITY, especially Roman Catholic, East- also an occasion for a party. ern Orthodox, and Anglican, and among Hindus, Circumcision is not mentioned in the QUR’AN. Buddhists, and Taoists. The color of the monas- It was, however, an Arabic practice before the rise tic “habit” or robe is often indicative of affi liation: of ISLAM, and the prophet MUHAMMAD was himself in the West, Franciscans wear brown (see FRAN- circumcised. Circumcision is thus considered man- CIS OF ASSISI AND FRANCISCANS), BENEDICTINES black, datory. In some Islamic traditions, circumcision is and TRAPPISTS and DOMINICANS white. Theravada required for males and recommended for females. Buddhist monks wear saffron (a yellow-orange), Other traditions say it is required for both. The age Mahayana Buddhist monks gray. Hindu monks or at which Muslims circumcise varies. Some Mus- sadhus vary considerably (some have gone com- lims circumcise on the seventh day after birth (the pletely naked), but some modern orders use a red- eighth day counting birth). Others circumcise later. dish-orange gown. As in Judaism, circumcision is often a time for a Priests and other religious leaders frequently party. have special dress too. In the Catholic-type tradi- In the Mediterranean region and the Islamic tions of Christianity, they often are attired in black world, the circumcision of girls has been seen as a or dark-colored suit or cassock (a long black gown) way of keeping their later sexual desires in check. and round white collar. It is while conducting ser- The amount of tissue removed, pain involved, and vices, though, that the full richness of religious physiological change varies widely. In some but garb may become apparent, though it ranges from not all cases female circumcision results in signifi - the simple sacred cord of BRAHMIN priests and the cant disfi guration. At the end of the 20th century black pulpit gown of some Protestants, to the rich and today, feminists have severely criticized these and colorful vestments of some Buddhists, or of practices. Catholic priests celebrating mass in colors appro- priate to the season of the church year, or bish- ops in cope and mitre (a high pointed hat), or the clothing, religious The symbolism and sig- temple priests of biblical Israel. In all cases, the nifi cance of clothing worn for religious purposes. dress is part of the religious symbolism; it properly Clothes have always served not only the practical does not glorify an individual but the offi ce and function of keeping people warm, and the universal the role in WORSHIP, and is a way by which that function of making people attractive according to person identifi es with it. the canons of their society while preserving some degree of modesty, but have also shown through well-known indicators such things as comparative clowns, religious Persons who dress and act wealth, ethnic background, and social status. They humorously in religious activities. In some Native have also had very widespread religious meaning, American cultures a solemn RITUAL by the priests though the way they have done this has varied will be followed by a burlesque (or comic) repeti- greatly. The conservative wings of most religions tion of the same by ritual clowns making fun of insist on modesty in dress, especially for women. it. Their performance may be related to the folk- In some cases all adherents of a religion, or all of lore role of the TRICKSTER, such as Coyote, who is one gender (most often women), have followed clever enough to break rules and fool the gods in rules in dress, such as the AMISH use of “plain” all sorts of ways. In medieval Europe some festi- clothes without buttons, or the Muslim prescrip- vals, especially those of CARNIVAL or the season tion that women should be covered completely. just before the fast of LENT, would install a “boy In other cases, special clothes are worn only by bishop” selected from among the choirboys who religious specialists and leaders. The somber garb would ridicule the functions of a church leader in computers and religion S 97

parodies that went to the extent of fake masses Computers and the Internet have benefi ted that substituted obscene songs for litanies and religious organizations in several ways. They have burned old shoes instead of incense. At the Jewish even benefi ted some ultraconservative communi- PURIM, solemn rabbis may be mockingly imitated ties that may otherwise appear old-fashioned, such by comedians or children. In the Roman Saturna- as the Lubavitch community of Hasidic Judaism. lia, held at the same time as modern CHRISTMAS and Computers allow organizations, including NEW YEAR FESTIVALS, roles would also be reversed religious organizations, to keep more accurate as masters waited on slaves, for a major feature of records and analyze them more quickly. They can religious clowns is the way they and their antics identify trends more easily—for example, when upset the usual social order and the expected way they are losing or gaining members—so that they of doing things. can respond to those trends. Some religious orga- Religious and other clowns particularly nizations and individuals have also used comput- appear in boundary times and situations, such as ers for study purposes. It is possible to store entire festivals that appear at the winter solstice, like volumes on a single CD and then to search those Saturnalia or New Year’s, or like Carnival around volumes quickly for information on a specifi c the beginning of spring, and among groups like topic. For example, CDs allow people to compare choirboys or students or marginalized clans in quickly many different translations of the BIBLE some Native American tribes that are ambigu- or to fi nd a HADITH on a specifi c subject. Some ously situated between priests and laypeople. wealthy organizations have even made individual, They often dress in costumes that combine stripes computer-aided learning a part of their educa- or dots of wildly contrasting color, and are baggy tional programs. and ill-fi tting. Through the Internet religious organizations All this gives clues to the meaning of clowns. can communicate with people over greater dis- They are meant to provide comic relief at solemn tances much more quickly. For example, a Hindu occasions, and simply to entertain. More than that, organization in India can now communicate vir- though, they also show something important about tually instantaneously by e-mail with one of its the sacred cosmos: It includes all opposites, high branches in South America, as can a community and low, funny and serious, that which fi ts and in Japan with one of its branches in Europe. Such that which doesn’t fi t. It is bigger than the neat cat- organizations may use e-mail to spread news, dis- egories of the human mind, and so it has to bring tribute new instructional materials, raise money, in those things that show up the pretensions and or even, in a few unfortunate cases, coordinate limitations of the mind. Humor is very religious violent activities. In addition, most religious orga- when it shows that we humans are not as great or nizations now have Web sites. These Web sites as perfect as we like to think we are, and religious make it much easier for people to learn about the clowns make that clear. organizations. For example, people with access to the Internet can now fi nd out quickly where the synagogue, church, temple, or mosque closest to computers and religion The development of their home happens to be. In fact, Web sites are a electronic computers in the second half of the 20th relatively inexpensive way for new and small reli- century changed many aspects of life, including gious organizations to establish themselves. religion. In particular, changes in religion have People have worried about what effects com- been brought about by the development of the per- puters might have on religion. For example, some sonal computer in the 1980s and of the Internet in have worried that computers might harm religious the 1990s. These effects are still taking place, and communities. Because of computers people would people are still trying to determine exactly what encounter each other less. Many people now think, they have been. however, that computers have been more helpful 98 S confession of sin

than harmful. They have especially helped mem- at the end of the sixth century B.C.E. Since then, bers of minority communities living away from Confucianism has often been the offi cial ideology their home base, such as Hindus and Muslims in of the Chinese state. North America, fi nd others who share their hopes and beliefs. They also strengthen such people’s HISTORY sense of belonging to the religion by allowing Confucius [Latin for K’ung-fu-tzu, “Master K’ung” them to participate in a virtual community. One (551–479 B.C.E.)] was a profoundly infl uential problem with such communities, however, con- teacher who emphasized that, because human cerns authority. For example, the advice a person beings are social creatures, a good society is impor- receives from a GURU, RABBI, or priest online may tant to a good human life. But he also realized that turn out to come from a well-meaning adult who a good society in turn depends on good, highly does not have the education that is expected in a motivated people. The fi rst goal, then, must be to religious professional—or even from a 13-year-old cultivate humaneness within oneself. He believed having fun. this was something all people can do. He is said Because human beings fi nd religion in so many moreover to have edited fi ve classic books of Chi- places, it would not be surprising to discover that nese thought, and his disciples gathered his own computers have taken on religious signifi cance for teaching into a collection known as the Analects some people. One might even say that computers (see ANALECTS OF CONFUCIUS). have already given the world one millennial cult, Later Confucians taught proper behavior in a cult built around expectations of disaster at the terms of fi ve relationships: ruler–subject, father– end of an age. In 1999 many people worried about son, elder brother–younger-brother, husband– “Y2K”: What disasters might strike if the world’s wife, and friend–friend. They also developed computer networks all failed on January 1, 2000? specifi c views of humaneness. Mencius (Chinese, The disasters people imagined and the steps they Meng-tzu) (c. 372–c. 289 B.C.E.) had an optimistic took to avoid them resembled what has happened view of the human being. Humaneness, he said, in many earlier millennial movements. is present in all human beings; it simply needs the right nurturing in order to blossom and fl ourish. Further reading: Brenda E. Brasher, Give Me That Hsun Tzu (c. 300–238 B.C.E.) disagreed. In his view Online Religion (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001); people are by nature evil and uncivil. To avoid the Gary R. Bunt, Virtually Islamic: Computer-Mediated evils that result from greed and contention, people Communication and Cyber Islamic Environments must be restrained by teaching and observances. (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2000); Heidi At the time Hsun Tzu was more infl uential. As Campbell, Exploring Religious Community Online: time passed, however, Mencius’s positions came We Are One in the Network (New York: P. Lang, to dominate Confucian thinking. 2005); Douglas E. Cowan, Cyberhenge: Modern In 195 B.C.E. the Han emperor offered a pig, Pagans on the Internet (New York: Routledge, a sheep, and an ox at the grave of Confucius. 2005); Jeffrey K. Hadden and Douglas E. Cowan, This act marked the beginning of the offi cial link eds., Religion on the Internet: Research Prospects between Confucianism and the Chinese govern- and Promises (New York: JAI, 2000). ment. To become a government offi cial, one had to pass grueling examinations in Confucianism and the Confucian classics. The cult of Confucius also confession of sin See SACRAMENT. became a major part of an offi cial’s duties. When the Han dynasty ended in 220 C.E., Confucianism was temporarily eclipsed. Its place Confucianism Infl uential East Asian spiritual at court was taken by BUDDHISM and TAOISM. But and ethical tradition. It originated with CONFUCIUS around 1000 C.E. the fortunes of Confucianism Confucianism S 99

began to rise again. Important neo-Confucian Each person has responsibilities. For example, a thinkers like Chu Hsi (1130–1200 C.E.) and Wang younger brother should respect an older brother. Yang-ming (1472–1528) provided Confucianism But if the older brother wants respect, he should with what it had seemed so severely to lack: a act only in ways that are worthy of respect. metaphysics (thought about the nature of reality) as lofty as that of Buddhism and Taoism. Confu- PRACTICES cianism became the dominant ideology of China. To practice Confucianism individual persons cul- It was also the senior partner in a religious union tivate virtue by carefully performing their respon- that included Taoism and Buddhism. sibilities. These include responsibilities that North By the 19th century, Confucianism had become Americans would call religious as well as those moribund. Many Chinese rejected it as old-fash- they would call ethical. For example, the philoso- ioned and powerless, especially in contrast to the pher Wang Yang-ming recommended sitting qui- newly arrived European powers. The democratic etly as a way to cultivate spirituality. revolution associated with Sun Yatsen (1866– The primary ritual of Confucianism, as the 1925) and then especially the communist regime Chinese state religion, was SACRIFICE. Confucians established by Mao Tse-tung (1893–1976) cut the performed sacrifi ces for ancestors, especially ties between Confucianism and the government. the ancestors of the emperor, for those who fi rst On the mainland, Confucianism suffered severely brought culture, and for Confucius himself. They during the Cultural Revolution of 1966–69, but the also performed sacrifi ces for spirits associated with Chinese state in Taiwan preserved Confusion ritu- political institutions, for the powers of nature, and als as part of its cultural heritage. for the universe as a whole. The elaborateness of a sacrifi ce depended TEACHINGS upon how important the occasion was. On the Confucianism focuses on how human beings most important occasions the sacrifi cial victims behave in society. It strives to identify the ideal included a pig, a sheep, or an ox. In performing way to live. the sacrifi ce, either the emperor or a high offi cial In Confucianism the ideal person is the noble would bow, present the offerings, and pray. At person. For Confucius, nobility did not derive from the same time, INCENSE was burned and musicians birth. It derived from cultivating true humaneness would play. (jen). This was done, Confucius believed, through the practice of RITUALS (li). The rituals Confucius ORGANIZATION had in mind, however, were not religious rites. No professional priests conducted the cult of Con- They were rituals of respect that one showed one’s fucianism. Scholars trained in Confucian teachings fellow human beings. One can begin to see how did. This was one of their duties as offi cials of the truly radical Confucius’s teachings were. He redi- Chinese state. When the emperor was present, he rected the focus of religious observance. The atten- took the leading role. tion one used to give to the ancestors one now A special government ministry was in charge gave to life in this world. of the state cult. Among other things, it provided The fi ve relationships within which people the materials used in the sacrifi ce, established the cultivate virtue mentioned above are clearly not proper procedures to be followed, and set the cal- relationships between equals. They are also clearly endar, so that the rituals would be performed at male-centered. Indeed, some Confucians have sug- the proper time. gested that since the relationship between a mother and her child is a natural one, the father–son rela- SIGNIFICANCE tionship should be seen as the foundation of soci- Confucianism has defi ned the traditional values ety. In any case, the relationships are not one-sided. and ideas of proper behavior in China. Although 100 S Confucius it is out of favor in communist China, it lives on in Taiwan. Confucianism has also profoundly infl u- enced traditional values and ways of life in Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. Further reading: Ch’u Chai, and Winberg Chai, Confucianism (Woodbury, N.Y.: Barron’s Educational Series, 1973); David S. Nivison, and Arthur Wright, Confucianism in Action (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1959); James R. Ware, The Sayings of Confucius [The Analects] (New York: Mentor, n.d.); Hsin-chung Yao, An Introduction to Confucianism (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000).

Confucius (551–479 B.C.E.) Latin for the Chinese name K’ung-fu-tzu, “Master K’ung”; a profoundly infl uential Chinese moral teacher whose thought gave rise to CONFUCIANISM Confucius was born in China at a time of unrest in the middle of the Chou period. Little is known for certain about his life, and many details that follow are legendary. It is said that Confucius’s family had some sta- tus but little wealth. Despite the family’s poverty, he received an education and hoped for a political career. He served the government in some minor Engraving of Confucius (Image Select/Art Resource, N.Y.) posts, such as overseeing sheep and cattle. Perhaps around the age of 40, he also began to teach. With time Confucius rose to a position of some respon- sibility, but he became disillusioned because he respect and li (RITUALS) that Chinese had tradi- was unable to infl uence the duke of Lu, his home tionally given to dead ancestors. Confucius also state. He resigned around the age of 54, and for made revolutionary innovations in the institu- the next 13 years he traveled around China, look- tion of teaching. Before his time, education was ing for a ruler who would put his ideas into prac- available only to those with the means to buy it. tice. He was unsuccessful, perhaps because his Confucius taught that education should be open teachings emphasized virtue at a time when rulers to all who had interest and intellectual ability, were looking for action. About fi ve years before regardless of whether they could pay. Despite his death he returned to Lu, where he taught and these radical innovations, Confucius saw himself may have held another offi ce. During his lifetime, not as an innovator but as a restorer of Chinese then, Confucius’s infl uence was minimal. After his traditions. In keeping with this self-image, he is death, his teachings came to exercise a profound said to have edited fi ve traditional Chinese clas- infl uence on the Chinese state. sics (see I CHING). Some suggest that Confucius should be seen As a teacher, Confucius did not aim to impart as a moral rather than a religious teacher. Indeed, knowledge or foster intellectual ability but to nur- Confucius’s teachings redirected to the living the ture a quality of the inner person known in Chi- Congregationalism S 101 nese as jen. The term is diffi cult to translate but the Analects: New Essays (New York: Oxford means something like “genuine humanity.” Confu- University Press, 2002). cius taught that people could realize this internal quality by means of external observances: They could become genuinely humane by performing Congregationalism A way of organizing Chris- their duties without thought of reward (yi) and by tian churches. It is especially associated with a observing the rules of propriety (li) that govern group of churches that has played a major role in relations between human beings. When applied the history of religion in the United States. to specifi c roles, Confucius referred to the process At its most general, Congregationalism insists of cultivating virtue as a “rectifi cation of names,” that local Christian congregations should be inde- that is, making reality conform to the names. For pendent and govern themselves. This does not example, Confucius taught that if one is called a mean that these congregations should not join parent or a child, one ought to behave like a par- together for joint activity. Indeed, most Congrega- ent or child. tionalist churches have been eager to work with In Confucius’s teaching, family relationships others who hold similar views. But it does mean are the cornerstone of society, and the respect of that congregations call their own ministers and children for parents is a cardinal virtue. Within determine for themselves how they will WORSHIP. society, Confucius advocates the principle of This “congregational polity” is quite different from reciprocity: “Do not impose on others what you the “episcopal polity” found in, for example, the yourself do not desire” (Analects 15.24). He also Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox churches, teaches that the best way to govern is not with and the Church of England. In an episcopal rules and punishments but through propriety and arrangement, the church is governed by a bishop. the moral example of the rulers. The bishop appoints priests and, in conjunction After Confucius died, followers gathered say- with other bishops, determines what beliefs and ings attributed to him into a volume known as the practices the church requires. Analects (see ANALECTS OF CONFUCIUS). It is the major As a name for a group of churches, Congre- source for Confucius’s ideas. Beginning with the gationalism is mostly a movement in the English- Han dynasty (206 B.C.E.), Confucianism became speaking world. It arose in England in the late 16th offi cially established in China. Civil servants were century as an alternative to the Church of England required to pass a grueling examination in the (see ANGLICANISM). Congregationalism has con- fi ve Confucian classics. Imperial offi cials main- tinued in England up to the present day. But the tained the cult of Confucius as part of their offi cial movement thrived in North America, especially in duties. Eventually every prefecture (a political unit New England. something like a county) in China—over 2,000 in In 1609 a group of Congregationalists fl ed to all—had its temple to Confucius. Although the Holland to escape persecution in England. In 1620 specifi c fortunes of Confucianism varied, Confu- some of them traveled to the shores of North Amer- cius’s teachings shaped offi cial Chinese life until ica. Their boat was the Mayfl ower, they landed at the Communist Revolution under Mao Tse-tung in Plymouth, they founded Plymouth colony, and 1949. It is likely that they continue to shape unof- they entered American legend as the Pilgrims. fi cial life today. These Congregationalists joined with the Puritans (see PURITANISM) who settled nine years later in Further reading: Herrlee Creel, Confucius and the the area of Boston. Congregationalism became the Chinese Way (New York: Harper, 1960); Raymond established or offi cial religion of the colonies of Dawson, Confucius (New York: Hill & Wang, 1982); Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. D. Howard Smith, Confucius (New York: Scribner, In the 1730s a Congregationalist minis- 1973); Bryon W. Van Norden, ed., Confucius and ter, Jonathan Edwards, started the fi rst “Great 102 S Constantine, Emperor

Awakening.” This was a time of increased religious battles and political maneuvers, Constantine emotion. Around 1800 the Congregationalists in managed to keep his position. In 324 he became New England experienced a split. Many Congre- sole emperor of the Roman empire. He ruled until gational churches abandoned the teaching that his death in 337. GOD was a TRINITY—Father (or Creator), Son, and Constantine attributed his success to CHRISTI- Holy Spirit—and became UNITARIAN. That is, they ANITY, to which he converted around the year 310. affi rmed that God was a unity and thus denied that In 312 he defeated a rival at the Milvian Bridge, JESUS was divine. Later in the 19th century, Con- which is near Rome. In the battle his troops gregationalists moved to positions then considered fought with a sign of Christianity painted on their liberal. In 1931 they merged with another group to shields. The next year Constantine and his cor- form the Congregational Christian Church. In 1961 uler issued the Edict of Milan, which removed all they merged with the Evangelical and Reformed laws against the practice of Christianity, making Churches to form the UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST. Christianity fully legal in the Roman empire for In the 20th century Congregationalism modi- the fi rst time. Constantine also tried to mediate fi ed some of its earlier emphases. The indepen- disputes between Christians. One concerned Don- dence of local churches is no longer a burning atism, or the idea that PRIESTS and bishops who issue, and most congregations accept some direc- abandon Christianity under persecution should tion from larger associations. For example, the gen- not be allowed to resume their positions later. eral church usually has a role in certifying persons Even more important was the dispute about Ari- as fi t to be ministers. In addition, Congregational- anism. It concerned whether JESUS, as Son of God, ists have begun to use set prayers and worship ser- was uncreated or the fi rst-born of all creation. To vices, which they had traditionally avoided. Wor- try to resolve this dispute, Constantine called ship services center on the sermon (see PREACHING). bishops together at the Council of Nicaea in 325 Congregationalists also recognize two sacraments: (see COUNCILS, CHRISTIAN). The Council’s decision BAPTISM and the EUCHARIST. They generally baptize became the basis for the later Nicene Creed (see infants. They have also tended to be among the CREEDS). most liberal of the Protestant denominations. For Constantine built a new capital for the empire example, in 1917 Congregationalists in England and named it Constantinople after himself (now ordained their fi rst woman minister. Istanbul, Turkey). He also sponsored the building Congregationalism is by no means the larg- of many churches. He was not baptized until he est Protestant denomination in the United States was on his deathbed. Because of all that he had or the world. But its cultural contributions have done for Christianity, he thought of himself as the been large. In England the poet John Milton and Thirteenth Apostle (see APOSTLES). the hymn-writer Isaac Watts were committed Con- gregationalists. In the United States, Congregation- alists have founded a number of colleges and uni- Coptic Church The predominant form of CHRIS- versities, beginning with Harvard (1636) and Yale TIANITY in Egypt. Egypt was an important center (1701). of Christianity in the ancient world. Tradition says that Mark, who wrote one of the GOSPELS, fi rst brought Christianity there. Leading early Christian Constantine, Emperor (c. 285–337 C.E.) Roman thinkers such as Origen (c. 185–c. 254) lived and emperor who supported Christianity Constantine’s taught in Alexandria, the cultural center of Egypt. father Constantius was emperor of the western half Bishops of Alexandria such as Athanasius (c. 295– of the Roman empire. When he died in 306, his 373) guided the development of Christian doctrine. troops declared Constantine emperor in his place. Other Egyptians became the fi rst Christian MONKS Constantine was then about 20 years old. Through AND NUNS. cosmogony S 103

In 451 the Christian bishops met in council two parents. These parents may be the earth and at Chalcedon (near Istanbul, Turkey) to deter- the sky, as in the mythology of Rangi and Papa in mine what Christians should teach about Jesus. certain Pacifi c Ocean societies (see PACIFIC OCEAN They decided that in Jesus two natures, divine RELIGIONS). The Enuma Elish, a Mesopotamian and human, were combined into one person. myth, calls the fi rst parents Tiamat and Apsu (see Most Egyptians disagreed. They taught that in MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS). They are the fresh and Jesus divinity and humanity were united into one salt waters whose mixing produces silt. (Think of nature. These Egyptian “monophysites,” as they a river delta.) One Egyptian cosmogony says that were called, became the Coptic Church. the creator fi rst produced the pair Air and Moisture Until the middle of the seventh century the (see EGYPTIAN RELIGION). emperor of Byzantium severely persecuted the Another kind of cosmogony begins with a cos- Coptic Church. He wanted to force it to adopt the mic egg. One of the UPANISHADS in India describes teachings of Chalcedon. But in 642 Arab Muslims the creation of the world from a primal egg. As the conquered Egypt, and the Coptic Church achieved egg splits, the bottom part of the shell becomes the peace. earth, the top part becomes the sky. The contents The leader of the Coptic Church is the patri- of the egg divide to become the various features of arch of Alexandria, known as the pope (not to be the universe. confused with the pope in ROMAN CATHOLICISM). In A third kind of cosmogony is “creation from 1971 Shenouda III became the 117th Coptic pope. nothing.” Religions that worship a high god or a By 1992 there were roughly 85 Coptic churches in single god favor this kind of cosmogony. The best the United States with a total of 180,000 members. known examples are JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, and Coptic churches are also found today in many ISLAM. Genesis 1 gives a “soft” version of creation other countries outside Egypt, including Canada, from nothing. God does not actually create from Great Britain, France, Germany, Australia, and Bra- nothing. He gives order to “the waters.” A well- zil. One of the most prominent Coptic Christians known Hindu hymn assumes creation from noth- in recent years has been Boutros Boutros-Ghali, ing, but it asks who can know how creation came secretary-general of the United Nations from 1992 about. “The one who looks down from the highest to 1996. heaven, that one knows—or perhaps even he does not know” (Rig-veda 10.129). Other religions say that the world as we know cosmogony A story of how the world came to it emerged from the bowels of the earth. Indige- be. Not all religions talk about the origin of the nous Americans of the southwest often tell of the world and of human life. For example, the BUD- emergence of the ancestors from within the earth DHA adamantly refused to address questions about and their transformation into people (see NATIVE origins. He said these questions were unimportant. AMERICAN RELIGIONS). Yet another kind of cosmog- Instead, one should analyze the world as it stands ony is the “earth-diver myth.” The earth comes and seek to gain release from SAMSARA, or rebirth. into existence when primal beings recover raw Few religions, however, have been able to take material from beneath the waters. The Yokuts, an such an agnostic attitude. When they talk about Indian people in California, told how the primal the origin of the world and human life, they usu- animals sent a duck down to bring up earth from ally tell stories or myths. These myths are known the bottom of the ocean. as cosmogonies. The American scholar, Charles H. Sometimes these types combine. For example, Long, has identifi ed fi ve different kinds of cosmog- an Egyptian cosmogony begins with creation from ony. For beginners his classifi cation is ideal. nothing, but the fi rst item created is the world-par- One kind of cosmogony, or story, attributes ent pair. There may also be other types of cosmog- the origins of the world to the sexual activity of ony. For example, a famous hymn in the sacred 104 S cosmologies

Hindu books known as the VEDA attributes the travel, all human beings experienced a world that world as we know it to the sacrifi ce of the primal had the same general shape: a surface of earth person (Rig-veda 10.90). and water covered by the dome of the sky. This is The rise of scientifi c theories of the origin of the world that GOD creates in the fi rst chapter of the universe and of life has raised problems for Genesis. It is also the image found in indigenous traditional religious cosmogonies. Some have American SWEAT LODGES. Some speculate that the responded by rejecting science. For example, some ancient Chinese saw this world in the turtle-shells Christian fundamentalists advocate what they call that they used for divination (see CHINA, RELIGIONS “creation science” (see EVOLUTION AND RELIGION). OF). Others have rejected religious cosmogonies out of To this model many religions add vertical lay- hand. Still others have taken a path in the middle. ers above or below the earth or both. In HINDU- They accept the scientifi c accounts so far as they ISM the sacred books known as the VEDA speak of go, but they claim to see in the religious accounts “three worlds”: earth, atmosphere, and sky. Early deeper meanings that science lacks. Japanese collections of mythology speak of three different worlds: heaven, earth, and underworld. Religions may use a natural symbol to connect cosmologies The image or models of the uni- these three worlds, say, a cosmic tree or moun- verse found in various religions. Most if not all tain. Some scholars call such a symbol an axis religions provide their followers with an image of mundi. Cosmologies may also involve more than what the world looks like. This image is known three layers. After the Vedic period Hindus gen- as a religion’s cosmology. Scientists have cos- erally began with a seven-layer universe. Then mologies, too. For example, the ancient astrono- they subdivided it and supplemented it. The Maya mer Ptolemy developed an image of the universe knew seven (or 13) layers of heaven and fi ve (or centered on the Earth. This was a geocentric or nine) layers of the underworld (see MAYA RELI- “Earth-centered” cosmology. Copernicus said the GION). GNOSTICISM spoke of the planetary spheres. Earth traveled around the sun. His was a heliocen- Religions may connect human life with celestial tric or “sun-centered” cosmology. events through ASTROLOGY. Religious cosmologies relate to human life. The preceding cosmologies emphasize the They may be very abstract. They also may envision vertical. Other cosmologies emphasize the hori- an infi nite number of worlds. But they never lose zontal. Indigenous American cosmologies associ- their focus on people and the way people experi- ate the four cardinal directions with various colors, ence the world. Religious cosmologies, then, are for example, west with black, north with white, more than geocentric. They are anthropocentric, or east with red, south with yellow. Hindu mythol- “human-centered.” ogy identifi es various “continents.” They take the Some cosmologies describe the paths along form of concentric rings around a central conti- which people move and the resources that they nent, known as Jambudvipa, and its central pil- use. Ideal examples are the cosmologies traditional lar, Mount Meru. Other religions imagine many among indigenous Australians (see AUSTRALIAN worlds or universes. For example, certain forms of RELIGIONS). These cosmologies associate features MAHAYANA BUDDHISM teach that there are an infi nite of the landscape and patterns of traveling with number of heavens or, more precisely, “Buddha mythical beings and events from the Dreaming, fi elds.” that is, the time of creation. Indeed, indigenous Yet another kind of religious cosmology is Australians traditionally believe that these beings more abstract. It identifi es the forces and princi- are somehow still present in the landscape. ples that underlie the world. Chinese traditionally Other cosmologies describe the world in terms see the world as resulting from the complementary of overarching structures. Before air and space interaction of two opposed principles, yin and yang councils, Christian S 105

(see YIN/YANG THEORY). Dualists such as Zoroastri- BUDDHISM, known as the Tipitaka, were put into ans see the world as a battleground between good fi nal form. and EVIL (see ZOROASTRIANISM). The Indian school of Some Buddhists have looked on meetings philosophy known as Sankhya divides the world held within the last 200 years as councils, too. An between two principles: spirit and nature. example is a council convened in Burma in 1954 to Modern science, of course, has developed a recite all of the scriptures recognized by Theravada very different cosmology. It places the Earth in a Buddhism. It celebrated the 2,500th anniversary of solar system, which sits in an arm of the Milky the Buddha’s parinirvana. Way galaxy, which is itself part of a galactic clus- ter. Some see this scientifi c cosmology as disprov- ing religion. Many religious people, however, hold councils, Christian Meetings of leaders of the on to and cherish the religious meanings underly- Christian church to discuss matters of belief and ing their traditional cosmologies. practice. Ideally, but not always in practice, a council includes Christian leaders from around the world. Most Christian churches recognize seven councils, Buddhist Meetings of Buddhist monks early councils as ecumenical or universal. Since to determine proper Buddhist teachings and ways the eighth century, councils have been particularly of life. Buddhists call these councils sangitis or important in ROMAN CATHOLICISM. Meetings of Prot- recitations. That is because they often involved the estant leaders usually have other names. recitation of Buddhist scriptures (see SCRIPTURES, The fi rst Christian council may have been the BUDDHIST). Some Buddhist councils were suppos- meeting between the apostle PAUL and the lead- edly ecumenical; that is, they included represen- ers of the JERUSALEM church described in the ACTS tatives from all Buddhist communities. Actually, OF THE APOSTLES (Acts 15). The seven ecumenical participation has often been more limited. councils, however, took place only after Christi- Buddhists held councils especially within the anity became legal. Indeed, the Roman emperors 500 years or so after the BUDDHA’s parinirvana (see called many of them. The Council of Nicaea (325) NIRVANA) in 483 B.C.E. (Non-Buddhists think of the declared that JESUS was God, “of the same sub- Buddha’s parinirvana as his death.) In reports stance with the Father.” The Council of Constan- about these ancient councils it is often diffi cult to tinople (381) produced the document now usually separate legend from actual events. called the Nicene Creed. The Council of Chalcedon According to tradition, the fi rst Buddhist (451) affi rmed that Jesus was “two natures, divine council took place during the rainy season (mid- and human, in one person.” Other ecumenical June through early September) in the year of the councils dealt with more subtle matters. Buddha’s parinirvana. At this council followers The last ecumenical council, held in Nicaea of the Buddha sought to preserve his teaching. in 787, is perhaps most important for EASTERN They recited together texts of monastic discipline ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY. It allowed the use of icons (the Vinaya) and the Buddha’s sermons (Sutras or or images in worship. Later, in 1351, a council of Suttas). Other early councils recognized by Bud- Orthodox churches approved hesychasm, a kind of dhist tradition include the Council at Vaishali in meditative prayer. 383 B.C.E., which resolved a dispute about loose In 1075 Pope Gregory VII decreed that only the practices by some monks; the council at Patali- pope had the authority to call a general council. putra, convened by the famous Emperor ASOKA The Roman Catholic Church has since held sev- around 247 B.C.E., which may have resulted in eral major councils. The Fourth Lateran Council sending missionaries to other parts of Asia; and (1215) accepted the term transubstantiation in the council at Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka in 25 describing the relationship between the bread and B.C.E. At this council the scriptures of THERAVADA wine of the EUCHARIST and Jesus’ body and blood. 106 S covenant

The Council of Constance (1415) condemned the cycles, stretching infi nitely into the past and the teachings of John Wycliffe (c. 1325–84) and Jan future. Other religions have cyclical views of the Hus (c. 1369–1415). The Council of Trent (1545– universe, too. 63; see TRENT, COUNCIL OF) formulated the Catholic Religions explain the origin of the universe in Church’s response to the Protestant REFORMATION. different ways. One familiar way is creation by a The First Vatican Council (1870–71) established GOD. This may be creation from nothing, as Jews, that the pope was infallible. The Second Vatican Christians, and Muslims usually think today, or it Council (1961–65) changed many of the Church’s may also involve creation by a god who works on practices. For example, it recommended singing preexisting matter, which is one way to read the the Mass in local languages rather than in Latin fi rst verse of GENESIS. Other stories may not tell of (see VATICAN COUNCILS). creation in a strict sense, but they do tell about the origin of things. One common story attributes the world to the covenant A legally binding agreement; espe- sexual activity of two divine beings. For example, cially the way in which the relationship between a Babylonian poem, the “Enuma Elish,” attributes GOD and human beings has been conceived in the world to the union of Apsu and Tiamat, sweet JUDAISM. In origin, a covenant was a formal agree- waters and salt waters. Navajo tradition tells what ment, often between two unequal parties and is sometimes called an “emergence myth.” Origi- political in nature. The people of Israel adopted nally, the ancestors lived in the center of the earth, the covenant form to express the nature of their but through a variety of means they arrived on relationship with God. the earth’s surface and organized the world that Jewish tradition recognizes several covenants, is known today. Another type of Native Ameri- such as the covenant with NOAH that applies to all can myth attributes the creation of the earth to an human beings and the covenant with ABRAHAM. “earth-diver.” For example, the Yokuts Indians of But “the” covenant is that made with the people California believed that a duck dove down deep under MOSES at Mount Sinai—called Mount Horeb below the surface of the waters and brought up in the book of Deuteronomy. In that covenant, dirt, from which dry land was made. Somewhat the god YHWH (“the Lord”) enters into a special similarly, ancient Japanese stories identifi ed relationship with the Jewish people. The covenant the islands of Japan with dirt that divine beings obligations begin with the TEN COMMANDMENTS. brought up from the bottom of the sea. A passage Later biblical writers continued to use the in the UPANISHADS, a sacred text in HINDUISM, envi- covenant idea. In refl ecting on his nation’s his- sions the origin of the universe as the splitting of a tory, the prophet JEREMIAH looked forward to a new primal egg. Different parts of the egg became parts covenant, which will be written in people’s hearts of the world; for example, the shells became the (Jeremiah 31.31–34). Christians claim that their sky and the earth. Another Hindu text, a hymn in religion is this new covenant. The QUR’AN also the Rig VEDA, attributes the origin of the world to talks about the relationship of people and God as the sacrifi ce of a primal person. A similar motif a covenant. appears in NORDIC RELIGION and some stories from Oceania. Jews, Christians, and Muslims generally think creation and world cycles Religious views on of time as beginning at creation and extending to the origin and course of the universe. Many reli- the Day of Judgment, but other religions think in gions tell about the origins of the world, but not terms of world cycles. That is, they think that worlds all do. For example, the BUDDHA refused to talk come into and go out of existence repeatedly. about the origin of the universe. Buddhists there- Human beings often measure time by refer- fore usually envision the universe as a series of ring to cycles such as months. Some people have cross S 107

used more than one cycle to keep track of time. Press, 1983); Barbara C. Sproul, Primal Myths: For example, the Maya calendar used two cycles, Creation Myths around the World (San Francisco: one 260 days long (20 “months” of 13 days each), HarperSanFrancisco, 1991); Barbara Tedlock, Time the other 365 days long (18 “months” of 20 days and the Highland Maya (Albuquerque: University each). Every 18,980 days or 52 years, the fi rst day of New Mexico Press, 1992); Keith Ward, Religion of the 260-day cycle coincided with the fi rst day of and Creation (New York: Oxford University Press, the 365-day cycle. When that happened, the Maya 1996). thought that a new world had begun. Fifty-two years is a relatively short world cycle. The Maya knew another world cycle, too, creeds Brief, offi cial statements of faith; from one that they calculated using a calendar known as credo, Latin for “I believe.” Some religions insist the Long Count. This cycle began in the year 3114 that their followers act in certain ways; others insist B.C.E. It will end on December 23, 2012. Some Bud- that their followers subscribe to certain beliefs. In dhists thought of a world cycle that was roughly the latter case, it is useful to have offi cial state- the same length, 5000 years. After that many years, ments of the required beliefs. Creeds developed in they suggested, the Buddha’s teachings will disap- CHRISTIANITY as brief statements of FAITH, generally pear, and another Buddha will arrive. used in WORSHIP services. Hinduism has some of the longest world cycles. The earliest and perhaps most widely used The basic unit is the yuga or age. There are four creed is the so-called Apostles’ Creed. Its precise yugas: the Satya (or Krita) yuga (1,728,000 years), origin is unknown, although it seems related to the Dvapara yuga (1,296,000 years), the Treta yuga professions of faith made by the earliest Chris- (864,000 years), and the Kali yuga (432,000 years, tians at baptism. The Nicene Creed is a statement not to be confused with the goddess KALI.) We are adopted by the Council of Nicaea (325 C.E.) and now about 5,000 years into the Kali yuga. then modifi ed by the Council of Constantinople But for Hindu ideas of world cycles, that is (381 C.E.). Its major concern is to insist that the only the beginning. According to one version, the divinity of JESUS CHRIST is the same as that of GOD four yugas make up an age of MANU. Fourteen ages the Father. The Athanasian Creed, which tradition of Manu make up a unit known as a kalpa, which ascribes to Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria in the is a day in the life of the god BRAHMA. When the day fourth century, further clarifi es the nature and rela- is over, the universe goes out of existence for the tionship of the three persons of the TRINITY: Father, same amount of time (that is, 60,480,000 years). Son, and Holy Spirit. Then it returns for the next day in Brahma’s life. This happens for a full life of 100 Brahma-years. At that point one needs to talk about another, even cross A Roman instrument of torture that larger cycle. became one of the main symbols of CHRISTIANITY. Existence and its meaning are one of the most Pre-Christian religions used the form of the cross— important issues with which religions deal. The two lines that intersect—in many ways. Two exam- length of the Hindu cycles (deliberately) boggles ples are the ankh, an ancient Egyptian symbol of the mind. Nevertheless, many scholars believe that life, and the swastika, a symbol of well-being in by talking about creation and world cycles religions ancient India. But the cross takes on special mean- make the world meaningful and intelligible. ing in Christianity because it was the instrument on and by which JESUS died. Further reading: Mircea Eliade, Cosmos and For its fi rst 300 years, Christianity was illegal, History: The Myth of the Eternal Return (New and Christians were reluctant to use the cross as York: Garland, 1985); Charles H. Long, Alpha: a symbol. But in 313 Emperor Constantine won The Myths of Creation (Chico, Calif.: Scholars an important battle after seeing a cross in the sky 108 S Crusades

and hearing the words, “In this sign you will con- In the course of the 11th century, the territory quer.” He removed the restrictions against prac- of Palestine came under the control of the Seljuq ticing Christianity, and Christians used the cross Turks. The Seljuqs were less welcoming than the widely for decorative purposes. At fi rst Christians earlier Muslim rulers had been to Christians who depicted bare crosses. Eventually artists also por- wanted to visit holy sites such as Bethlehem and trayed Jesus suffering on the cross, sometimes in JERUSALEM. In addition, the advance of the Seljuqs graphic detail. posed political and economic threats to the Latin- The symbol of the cross has played an impor- speaking parts of Western Europe. In response, tant role in Christian RITUAL. Cross-bearers have led on November 27, 1095, Pope Urban II appealed to processions, perhaps at fi rst in imitation of proces- Christendom to liberate the Holy Land. To entice sions put on for the rulers. Christians have marked people to participate in the efforts, he offered Cru- out a cross as they prayed by touching their fore- saders forgiveness of their fi nancial debts as well head, their heart, and their shoulders. In 326 Con- as of their sins. stantine’s mother, Helena, claimed to have discov- There were four major Crusades and a num- ered remains of the actual cross on which Jesus ber of minor ones. The First Crusade lasted from was crucifi ed. Christians have used these remains, 1096 to 1099. The major contingent, led by sev- and others, as relics to help them WORSHIP, espe- eral noblemen, crossed the Mediterranean Sea, cially in the Middle Ages. engaged the Turks in battle, and eventually man- The symbol of the cross has also been impor- aged to establish four Crusader states along the tant socially and intellectually. The CRUSADES got coast of Palestine. The most important was the their name from the red crosses that the crusaders Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. wore emblazoned on their shirts. Many theologians Surrounded by hostile forces, these states were have used the cross to guide their refl ections. An not genuinely viable. After 200 years they disap- ancient theologian, Justin Martyr (c. 100–c. 165), peared entirely. The second and third major Cru- saw the cross in every tool necessary for human sades were attempts to recover territory that the survival. Others have seen in the cross a symbol Crusader states had lost to Muslim counterattacks. of GOD’s domination over the entire universe. The The Second Crusade (1147–49) was a response to sufferings and death of Jesus stand at the center the fall of the Crusader state of Edessa; the third of Martin LUTHER’s thought. Therefore, many have (1188–92) to the capture of Jerusalem and other called it a “THEOLOGY of the cross.” territories by the great Muslim leader Saladin. The Not all Christians, however, have used visible Third Crusade, whose leaders included King Rich- representations of the cross. Churches infl uenced ard I, the Lion-Hearted, of England, was moder- by the thought of John CALVIN have not tradition- ately successful. ally displayed crosses or crucifi xes. Crosses were The Fourth Crusade (1202–04) illustrates well thought to violate the restrictions against worship- the questions that loom over the entire crusading ping images. In the 20th century many, but not all, enterprise. The Crusaders had assembled in Ven- Calvinist churches abandoned this restriction. They ice, but they could not pay for their passage. So now use crosses the way other Christians do. at the instigation of the Venetians, they sacked a mercantile competitor of Venice, Zara, a Christian city in Dalmatia across the Adriatic. They also took Crusades A number of movements in Catholic up with a claimant to the throne of the Byzantine Western Europe, especially during the 12th and Empire. He promised the Crusaders that if they 13th centuries, that aimed to free the “holy land” restored him to power, he would provide them with from Muslim rulers. The name derives from crux, the funds that they needed. The deal fell through, the Latin word for CROSS. The Crusaders wore large and the Crusaders sacked Constantinople, the cap- red crosses sewn onto their shirts. ital of (Christian) Byzantium, in 1204. Constanti- cults and sects, religious S 109

nople became the center of a Latin state, which did these words have come to have particular mean- not last out the century; the Crusaders also estab- ings in the sociology of religion, and “cult” espe- lished small states known as Frankish kingdoms in cially has acquired a very negative meaning in the the Greek Peninsula. They never engaged Muslims media and in the eyes of the general public. in combat. In the traditional sociology of religion, cults The Crusades have provided European culture and sects are religious “withdrawal groups,” with much legend and literature. They were a par- that is, groups of people who withdraw from the ticularly rich source of material during the Roman- dominant religion of the society in order to prac- tic movement in the early 19th century. They also tice what they believe to be a purer, truer, or bet- led to the founding of several religious orders. One ter religion, even if that means being associated order was the Knights Templar, a short-lived mili- only with a small body of like-minded believers. tary-religious order, originally based in Jerusalem, They are likely to regard the predominant reli- that turned to banking when the last of the cru- gion as lukewarm and hypocritical, if not plain sader states fell. Another was the Knights Hospital- wrong. These groups are bound to offer a strong, ers, an order originally charged with caring for the intensely-felt commitment or experience; this needs of pilgrims. It continues today as the Knights takes the place of looser but important commu- of Malta. nity and family and traditional bonds supported On balance, however, the main outcome of the by the conventional faith. Usually they have, or Crusades would seem to be senseless expenditure were founded by, a powerful leader of strong cha- and misery. Although technically warring against risma or personal appeal. Muslim armies, the Crusaders found excuses to Sociologists use the word “sect” to refer to attack others, many of whom had no adequate such a withdrawal group within a predominant or means of defense. In addition to Orthodox Chris- major faith, which presents a “purer” and more tians, such as those who fell victim to the Fourth intense version of the same. Examples would be Crusade, a large number of European Jews were the AMISH or JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES within CHRISTIAN- slaughtered by those infused with the crusading ITY, certain strict Hasidic groups (see HASIDISM) in spirit. Equally senseless was the so-called Chil- JUDAISM, and comparable movements within ISLAM dren’s Crusade of 1212. In this venture, children or HINDUISM. Usually followers of sects live close- from the area around the Rhine attempted to cross knit lives regulated in many important respects, the Alps under the leadership of a 12-year-old boy. from dress to diet to occupation, by the sect; this They wanted to go and fi ght for the Holy Land. of course sets them apart from the rest of society. Most died of hunger and exposure. Ten to 20 years Cult, on the other hand, means a withdrawal later rumors spread that some of these children had group based on an alternative or imported religion, been spotted, now grown up, working as slaves on like those in the United States grounded in Eastern galleys sailing the Mediterranean. religions or in an esoteric tradition like ROSICRU- CIANISM. Often they offer subjective practices like MEDITATION or chanting. Some may enjoy a close- cults and sects, religious An act of religious knit, regulated community, but may also have a WORSHIP, or a small intense religious group, often more diffuse following of people who just attend one considered controversial. In religion, the word their lectures or read their books and perhaps do “cult” can mean any kind of worship, especially the practice from time to time. that of a particular god or shrine, as in speaking It is important to realize that this scheme does of ancient Greece one might refer to the “cult of not apply too well to the fl uid religious situation in APOLLO.” Likewise, “sect” can denote any faction the United States. It is based on Europe, where a or group, especially a small one strongly devoted society typically has one state church or dominant to a certain belief. In the 20th century, however, religion—ROMAN CATHOLICISM in Spain, LUTHERANISM 110 S cults and sects, religious

in Scandinavia—against which withdrawal groups ent have acted in such destructive ways. But no are tiny and clear-cut entities. In America, while one calls their own religion a cult; that is always doubtless some religions are more dominant and an outsider’s label. The trouble is that the term considered more respectable than others, the scene imposed by an outsider may stereotype it before is far more pluralistic and is always changing. one has really looked at how it is different, and Groups once stigmatized as sectarian or cultish how different people within the group may have move up to become major faiths, as have the Mor- different experiences. Scholars increasingly just mons, Methodists, and Catholics. Others may lose speak of “new religious movements” and study infl uence they once had. People now move from them on a case-by-case basis. one to another with far less social penalty than in the past. For this reason the terms “cult” and Further reading: Robert S. Ellwood, and Harry B. “sect” should be used cautiously. “Cult” should Partin, Religious and Spiritual Groups in Modern also be used with care because it has come to have America, 2d ed. (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice a negative meaning. People use it to refer to reli- Hall, 1988); Timothy Miller, ed., America’s gious groups that are believed to be excessively Alternative Religions (Albany: State University of authoritarian, to destroy the freedom and values New York Press, 1995); Elizabeth Puttick, Women of members, to cut them off from their families in New Religions (New York: St. Martin’s Press, and community, and even to incite them to crimi- 1997); Stephen J. Stein, Communities of Dissent nal activity. Undoubtedly religions past and pres- (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003). . D ,

Dalai Lama The head of the Tibetan Buddhist haps even possessing people while they danced. community and traditionally the ruler of Tibet. The Shamans especially danced to create and express fi rst Dalai Lama assumed offi ce in 1438, although their ecstasy as their patron god danced through he was not given that title until 1578, when the them (see SHAMANISM). Mongol king, Alta Khan, gave the name Dalai Dance has been performed and interpreted in Lama to the head of the Tibetan religious commu- different ways. In HINDUISM, dance often expresses nity. Dalai means “ocean, all-encompassing”; lama the nature and mythology of the gods. The great means “supreme teacher.” god SIVA is called “nataraja,” king of the dance, and The fi rst Dalai Lama resided at the Tashil- his repertoire of 108 dances enacts the stages of hunpo monastery in central Tibet, but his succes- the world from creation to destruction. In SHINTO, sors have ruled from Lhasa. sacred dance is more often seen as an offering to The Dalai Lama is seen as an INCARNATION of the gods for their entertainment. So is it also in AVALOKITESVARA, a BODHISATTVA. Tibetan BUDDHISM China, though the solemn dance RITUALS of Con- teaches that rebirth occurs 49 days after death (see fucian students and mandarins also powerfully BARDO THODOL). Successive Dalai Lamas are found express the traditions and cohesion of their class. by identifying signs on a child born 49 days after In the more devotional wings of JUDAISM (HASIDISM) the death of the previous Dalai Lama. The candi- and ISLAM (SUFISM, the “whirling dervishes”), dance date also demonstrates knowledge of the previous expresses religious ecstasy or at least uninhibited, Dalai Lama’s possessions. loving PRAYER and fervor. In the Catholic traditions In 1959 the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso of CHRISTIANITY, folk dances have usually been tol- (b. 1935), fl ed into exile to escape Chinese rule. erated as a part of the celebration of holidays like In 1989 he received the Nobel Prize for peace for May Day or CHRISTMAS but have rarely had a part leading a peaceful resistance to the Chinese take- in formal WORSHIP itself. PROTESTANTISM has tended over. to reject dance altogether, or to regard it as purely secular. In recent times, however, there has been a dance and religion The signifi cance and role move in some quarters to revive sacred dance, of religious dancing. Like the music that usually even performing decorous and expressive modern accompanies it, dance has had a very wide role dances as parts of church or temple services. In in religion but has sometimes been regarded with Pentecostal circles, on the other hand, free and suspicion for its intoxicating effect and its associa- ecstatic dancing has increasingly arisen spontane- tion with sensual feeling. In primal societies, dance ously as a sign of the Holy Spirit. Some of the new frequently served the role of creating sacred times religions of Japan, like TENRIKYO and Odori Shukyo and places, dances being occasions of rich com- (the “Dancing Religion”), have made dance their munity activity when the gods were close and per- central act of worship. In one form or another,

111 S 112 S Daniel

dance seems sure to be a part of religion for a long The books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible time to come. recount many stories about David. Among them are his anointing while yet a boy by the prophet Samuel to be king, his battle with Goliath—the Daniel The title character in the book of Dan- giant champion of the Philistines—and his close iel in the BIBLE. He is likely based on a fi gure in relations with Saul’s son Jonathan. Less positively, Canaanite and earlier Hebrew literature. David is said to have engineered the death of Uriah Ancient texts discovered at Ugarit in Syria the Hittite in battle so that he in turn could marry during the 20th century reveal that, well before Uriah’s wife Bathsheba. At the end of his life any of the Bible was written, the Canaanites his sons fought to succeed him. These struggles knew a legendary hero named Dan’el. This fi gure included a failed coup attempt by Absalom. appears in the biblical book of the prophet EZEKIEL David was famed as a musician. Tradition (14.14; 28.3). attributed the biblical book of Psalms to him. In The book of Daniel records stories and VISIONS. the late Second Temple period (roughly 200 B.C.E.– They allegedly took place during the exile of the 70 C.E.), some Jews hoped for a MESSIAH descended Judeans in Babylon (586–539 B.C.E.). The book’s from David. Christians assert that this messiah account of this period is, however, very confused. was JESUS. Much of the book is written in Aramaic, a later lan- guage, and it does make detailed and accurate allu- sions to some later events. Therefore, it is customary Day of Atonement English for the Hebrew to ascribe the book to an anonymous author who phrase Yom Kippur; the most sacred of the “days lived during the Hasmonean revolt (167–164 B.C.E.). of awe” in JUDAISM. Jews observe the Day of Atone- Jews classify Daniel with the Ketuvim or ment on the tenth day of Tishri, the fi rst month “writings”; Christians consider it a prophetic book. of the Jewish year. This date falls in September or It is unique in the Hebrew Bible in that it is an October. apocalypse (see APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE). It does not The Day of Atonement is a time for restoring recount historical events. Instead, its purpose was one’s relationship with GOD. The Jewish people to call the Jewish people to remain faithful to their collectively repent of their SINS and receive God’s religious heritage, despite oppression and persecu- forgiveness. If one has offended human beings, tion. In giving reassurance, the book looks forward one should also make amends to them. to a RESURRECTION from the dead (12.2–3). This idea The BIBLE calls the Day of Atonement the “Sab- infl uenced later Christians, as did the fi gure of the bath of Sabbaths” (Leviticus 16.31). It is the most “Son of Man” (Daniel 7.13; cp. Mark 13.26). The solemn day of rest. Observant Jews do not eat or NEW TESTAMENT book of REVELATION borrowed much drink from one sundown to the next. (In the Jew- imagery from Daniel’s visions. ish calendar, days begin at sundown.) They spend the day at a SYNAGOGUE in PRAYER. The LITURGY for the Day of Atonement includes David (ruled c. 1000–960 B.C.E.) in the Hebrew several well-known prayers. An example is the Bible, king of Israel and founder of the ruling “Kol Nidre,” which asks forgiveness for breaking dynasty of Judah After the death of King SAUL vows made to God. It is as famous for its melody and his sons, David united the kingdoms of Israel as it is for its words. (today in northern Israel) and Judah (today in southern Israel). He took JERUSALEM (previously the stronghold of a people known as the Jebusites), Dead Sea Scrolls Scrolls roughly 2,000 years made it his capital, and brought the ark of the old found in caves on the northwestern edge of the COVENANT to it. Dead Sea. In February or March 1947, a 15-year- death and religion S 113

old Arab boy named Muhammad adh-Dhib acci- JUDAISM as we know it, rabbinical Judaism, was just dentally made one of the greatest discoveries in beginning. It is also the time when Jesus lived. modern archaeology. Accounts of what happened The scrolls tell us much about the community vary. According to one account, he was taking shel- at Qumran. Many scholars think it was a commu- ter from a thunderstorm. According to another, he nity of ESSENES. One scroll contains the rules for was looking for a lost goat. In any case, he entered the community. Its members followed a rigid dis- a cave in the Wadi Qumran, northwest of the Dead cipline designed to ensure purity. Another scroll, Sea. There he found jars containing scrolls from called “The War of the Sons of Light with the Sons about the time of JESUS. of Darkness,” describes a great battle at the end During the next 20 years scholars and Bedouin of time. Apparently, the community expected that found ancient manuscripts hidden in 11 different the fi nal battle between GOD and the forces of evil caves at Qumran. These manuscripts are what would take place in the very near future. It was many scholars mean by the Dead Sea Scrolls. They also waiting for two messiahs: a son of DAVID to were written between the third century B.C.E. and rule politically, and a son of AARON to take charge 68 C.E. Originally, they belonged to the library of a of religious RITUALS. monastic-type community located below the caves. Neither rabbinical Judaism nor CHRISTIANITY Some people take a more inclusive view of the came directly from the Qumran community. Nev- Dead Sea Scrolls. They use the term to designate ertheless, the scrolls allow us to see some of the ancient manuscripts discovered not only at Qum- variety of religious beliefs and practices that were ran but also in the entire Dead Sea region. Accord- current when both of them began. ing to this view, the Dead Sea Scrolls were written Further reading: James H. Charlesworth, Jesus and over a longer period of time. The oldest scrolls in the Dead Sea Scrolls (New York: Doubleday Anchor, the entire region were hidden by SAMARITANS when 1992); Robert Eisenman, The Dead Sea Scrolls and Alexander the Great conquered the region around the First Christians (Boston: Element Books, 1996); 331 B.C.E. The most recent manuscripts in the Florintino Martinez and Julio Barrera, The People entire region date from the time of the revolt of Bar of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Leiden: Brill, 1995); Geza Kokhba against Roman rule (132–135 C.E.) Vermes, The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English The Dead Sea Scrolls are extremely important. (New York: Penguin, 2004). They provide at least fragments of almost every book of the Hebrew BIBLE (Old Testament). These fragments—sometimes complete books—are cen- turies older than any other surviving copies. They death and religion Religious concepts and allow us to see what the books of the Bible were practices in relation to death and dying. It would like 2,000 years ago and how they grew into their be hard to imagine a religion truly indifferent to present forms. For example, some scholars have death, the end of an individual human life as we identifi ed what they see as ancestors of three dif- knew it in this world. That is because religion tries ferent versions of the Bible, all equally ancient. The to look at life from the largest possible perspective, three are the version used by the Samaritans; the in the light of that which is ultimate. It is death Greek version, known as the Septuagint, that the that forces people to look at their own lives in that earliest Christians used; and the “Masoretic text,” way. Knowing that one has only so much time in that is, the Hebrew Bible that we know today. this world means one must make choices and must The Dead Sea Scrolls are important for another choose the values on which to base those choices. reason, too. They provide new insight into the reli- Knowing that many religions say there is more to gious world of ancient Palestine between the Has- life than just the present short span on Earth, one monean revolt (167–164 B.C.E.) and the so-called wants to know what the rest of it is and how it Jewish Wars (66–74 C.E.). This was the time when relates to here and now. 114 S death and religion

In regard to the event of death, religion tends confessing SINS and asking GOD for forgiveness and to provide two things. First, it usually teaches a place in his realm after death—the individual about what happens after death, often including transition. After death, a group of volunteers from in that teaching accounts of an after-death judg- the community might care for the body, watching ment or rebirth, which will refl ect on the choices over it, washing it, dressing it for burial. Immediate one has made in life (see AFTERLIFE IN WORLD RELI- relatives observe deep mourning until seven days GIONS). Second, religions surround the experience after the funeral, traditionally staying at one place of death itself with rites and attitudes designating such as the home of the deceased during this time. it as a great experience of transition. The death- A meal is given them by others in the Jewish com- practices of various religions say much about their munity after the return from the cemetery. All this deepest values. clearly helps with working through grief and rees- Devout Hindus, for example, want to die on tablishing family and society bonds after the loss. the banks of the sacred river, the GANGES, partic- In ISLAM, death is also often preceded by ularly in the holy city of BANARAS. If that is not an affi rmation of faith. After death, the body is possible, they wish at least for their remains to washed, shrouded, and buried facing MECCA in imi- be brought there to be cremated, and the ashes tation of the posture of prayer—the symbolic reaf- thrown into the sacred river. The funeral pyre fi rmation of religious roots. Funeral and memorial should ideally be lit by the deceased’s eldest son. services follow, centering on recitations of parts These practices teach us several things: that death of the QUR’AN while the family receives condo- is a time for returning to one’s spiritual roots and lences—affi rmation of faith and reaffi rmation of the main symbols of one’s FAITH; that the physi- family and community ties. cal body is not important after death and can be Christian practices vary among traditions reverently returned to the elements from which it but repeat the same themes. Prayer is properly came: fi re, water, earth, and air; that death is a said with the dying person. In Catholic traditions time of transition in this world too, from father to these include confession of sins, absolution or son, when the social order rent by death must be forgiveness of them pronounced by a priest, fi nal symbolically restored. holy communion, and holy unction or anointing The same themes of individual transition, with oil—the “last rites.” These mark the indi- signifi cant dispersal of the remains, and fam- vidual transition and preparation for judgment ily and community healing occur in most tradi- after death. On this side the family gathers for tions, though the particulars may vary greatly. In the funeral, sometimes added to by a “wake” or TIBETAN RELIGION the words of the BARDO THODOL, or friends sitting up with the body in the home, and “Tibetan Book of the Dead,” may be whispered in a meal given the mourning family by relatives or the ear of the dying person as a kind of guide tell- the church community. The body is returned to ing what will be encountered—the Clear Light, the the earth by burial, or nowadays often cremated. BUDDHAS of the MANDALA—and how to respond to Death is dealt with in more intimate and personal them in order to gain liberation or a good rebirth. ways in religious writings. Some speak of a “good The physical remains may be just cut up and left death” as something to prepare for during all in a fi eld for carnivorous birds to consume to show of one’s life. Sometimes it is seen as a time to their unimportance. But memorial services to help be particularly close to the holy fi gures of one’s the deceased through the transition and bring the faith, the SAINTS and ANGELS and others. Popular family together continue afterward. religious art may show a deathbed surrounded by In JUDAISM, the dominant theme is the impor- angels, and the “Hail Mary” of Catholic piety asks tance of each individual to the community and MARY, the Mother of God, as though she were our the preciousness of each human life. When death mother too, to “pray for us now and at the hour approaches, the dying person might recite a PRAYER of our death.” Death is a precarious time, and yet devils and demons S 115 may be a welcome time, a time of judgment and devils and demons Personalized sources of of release, of the loss of loved ones here and the EVIL. The two words mean about the same thing, gaining of loved ones on the other side. Some- though demons may be subordinate to a princi- times it is also presented as a great adventure, a pal devil, or to SATAN, the chief of the forces of time for growth and learning of things now hid- evil in Western religion. Most traditional religions den. Above all, religions present death as a time have given a place to individual powers that work for meeting face to face with God or an ultimate wickedness in the world, and usually are related reality, in love and fulfi llment. The process of to a principle of cosmic evil. These entities may death, dying, and grieving has interested many be called demons or devils. For simple believers writers and readers in the second half of the 20th they may help explain many unfortunate things: century. sickness, madness, war, disasters. They may even have a positive role as an agent of the divine to punish the wicked. The more sophisticated may denomination A fairly large, well-established see demons as symbolic of important truths of branch of a major religious tradition, uniting FAITH: that evil exists despite a good GOD or uni- many local churches under a common national verse, that it affl icts and can even possess humans organization. The individual churches in a yet also comes from outside them, and fi nally that denomination hold to roughly similar beliefs, evil is a force of cosmic dimensions—perhaps part ways of WORSHIP, and forms of local governance. of a “war in HEAVEN” of God and his ANGELS against Unlike the cult or sect, the denomination is seen Satan and his demons—and so the defeat of evil as part of the religious mainstream. A religious requires divine action on a large scale. At the same pattern made up of a collection of denomina- time, the actual history and meaning of demons tions large and small, each more or less equal in various religions says much about them. Some- and in practice having responsibility mainly for times the gods of one era or religion are turned ministry to their own members, has been called into the demons of another that supersedes it. a “denominational society.” The United States of In ancient HINDUISM, for example, the asuras, America is undoubtedly the best example, though demonic deities, were originally good gods but the pattern can also be found in certain British became malevolent beings to the next race of gods, Commonwealth countries and in some respects gods like INDRA and VISHNU. The asuras are in con- in Japanese BUDDHISM; otherwise, it is really a reli- stant confl ict with those gods, but the latter always gious anomaly in a world of mainly one-religion outwit them in the end. Another class of demons or “church and sect” countries. are the raksasas, like Ravana in the great EPIC, the In the United States, the major Protes- Ramayana (see RAMA, RAMAYANA); they delight in tant groups—Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, causing misery to human beings. Lutheran—are called denominations. The Roman Many of these Hindu entities were borrowed Catholic, Jewish, and Eastern Orthodox traditions by BUDDHISM. The realm of the asuras is one of the in America also have had to act as denominations six places of rebirth, for those overly dominated by for all intents and purposes. Denominations have anger, violence, and stupidity; those condemned distinctive histories and usually a revered founder to the worst of those six places, the HELLS, are tor- or principal theological teacher. Their reason for mented by raksasas-like demons. But the most founding and historical background is generally important Buddhist demon is MARA, who tempted ethnic or located in a past religious confl ict. Ordi- the BUDDHA on the night of his enlightenment. Sig- narily, formal organization is along national lines nifi cantly, Mara is not so much consumed by evil except for overseas missions. Denominational loy- will as blinded by ignorance, unable to see that alty can be a factor in promoting the overall health the Buddha’s enlightenment could be of benefi t to of religion in a society. him too, though the Buddha is “teacher of gods 116 S devils and demons

and men” alike. For in Buddhism as in Hinduism the center of the Earth. There they not only plot the ultimate source of evil is not in the will but in their war against God waged through tempting ignorance of the true nature of reality. humans on the world’s surface, but also receive The demons in Western religion, like the West- the souls of those condemned to eternal torture ern Satan, are beings in rebellion against God out of and gleefully impose that punishment. This story evil will, though even here ambiguities may occur. is familiar to readers of Dante and Milton. In it An early example is Satan in the Hebrew scriptures’ evil in the world can be attributed both to perverse book of JOB. Here Satan appears as an adversary to human will and human entanglement in the cos- God in the sense of a prosecutor whose function is mic rebellion of Satan and his angels. The height to present an opposing point of view to the Lord, of Christian demonism was the 15th to 17th cen- in this case that Job should be unjustly affl icted turies, the period of the notorious witch-persecu- to test him. Other demonic fi gures, probably infl u- tions and of related elaborate beliefs in the powers enced by Babylonian examples, like Leviathan and of demons, their pacts with humans, their signs Rahab representing chaos, Lilith the demoness of and methods of operating (see WITCHCRAFT). But night, and Azazel the wilderness, also appear but the horrible injustice and cruelty to which such only on the margins of the divine story (see MESO- beliefs could lead produced a reaction, and they POTAMIAN RELIGIONS). went into decline with the 18th century and the However, by the sixth century B.C.E. and prob- “Age of Reason.” ably under the infl uence of ZOROASTRIANISM from Since then, liberal theologians and psycholo- Persia, JUDAISM became much more prone to see the gists have taken demons as allegorical personifi ca- world in terms of an eternal cosmic war between tions of the evil within the human consciousness. two opposing forces of good and evil, led by two In conservative Christian circles belief in the Devil personal commanders, God and Satan. and his demons often remains strong; much that is Zoroastrianism believed the universe was a bad is attributed to them, and there are RITUALS and battleground between the high god Ahura Mazda services for exorcism or the driving of demons out and the hosts of darkness under Angra Manyu of persons and places. or Ahriman. Hellenistic Judaism likewise saw In ISLAM, the opponent of God is Iblis or Shai- Satan as the adversary of God from the begin- tan, who fi rst disobeyed God by refusing to bow ning and the world infested by demons under his before his greatest creation, human beings. While rule. This is the world view carried over into the not always totally evil, he and his jinns (genies; NEW TESTAMENT and CHRISTIANITY. In mainstream spirits) and shaitans (demons) are ill-disposed rabbinical Judaism after the Diaspora of the Jews toward humans and keep trying to lead them throughout the world, belief in Satan and demons astray. Demon-doctrine is not a central feature of became less of a central force and today has Islamic thought, but acknowledgment of the real- relatively little importance, although it lives on ity of angels and demons is required of the ortho- in Jewish folklore about Lilith, about magicians dox, and there is a large store of popular belief and who had dealings with demons, about dibbuks or folklore about the jinns and shaitans. evil spirits, and about golems or artifi cial humans Though not as strong as it once was, belief created by sorcery. in devils and demons remains alive in the mod- Christianity in its traditional form perceived ern world. Some have contended that the horrors Satan as a fallen angel in age-long rebellion against of the 20th century, such as the demonic Nazi God, who corrupted ADAM and EVE in the Garden regime, show that it is not outdated to speculate of Eden and thus brought SIN to the world, and about the presence of such malevolent forces. It who continues to twist toward himself whom he is as though some intelligent energy of more than can out of his hatred for the good. Cast down from merely human wickedness possessed a brief hold heaven, Satan and his minions landed in hell at on an entire nation at that time, and has shown its dharma in Hinduism and Buddhism S 117

hand in other places from Cambodia to Bosnia as But in religious terms dharma refers most spe- well. However that may be, devils and demons live cifi cally to the moral standard by which human on as parts of many religious worldviews. actions are judged. The impact of this standard is very broad ranging. At its most universally human, Further reading: Peter J. Awn, Satan’s Tragedy dharma is sometimes said to be the Hindu equiva- and Redemption [On Iblis in Islam] (Leiden: Brill, lent of the English word “religion.” 1983); James W. Boyd, Satan and Mara (Leiden: Starting perhaps in the second century B.C.E., Brill, 1975); Wendy Doniger, The Origin of Evil in dharma was systematized in books known as Hindu Mythology (Berkeley: University of California Smritis or Dharmasastras, the most famous is the Press, 1976); Robert Muchembled, Damned: An Laws of MANU. These books recognize that differ- Illustrated History of the Devil (San Francisco: ent dharmas or ideals of behavior are appropriate Sevil/Chronicle, 2004); Jeffrey Burton Russell, The to different groups of people. It is customary to Prince of Darkness (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University identify these ideals in terms of the varna or RITUAL Press, 1988), and other works by this author. class into which one is born (see CASTE IN HINDU- ISM), the asrama or stage of life in which one fi nds oneself, and, although it is not often stated, one’s devotion, devotionalism Religious acts and gender. inward attitudes marked by deep emotional feel- Technically, the stages of life apply only ings of awe, love, and fervent commitment to GOD. to males of the highest three varnas: BRAHMINS, Movements like BHAKTI in HINDUISM, HASIDISM in kshatriyas, and vaisyas. In youth boys should JUDAISM, or the spirit of St. FRANCIS OF ASSISI and study the VEDA. In maturity they should marry, Franciscanism pietism and much of Evangelical- support a household, perform the household ritu- ism in CHRISTIANITY may be regarded as devotional. als, and have children, especially sons. In old age The devotionalist typically centers WORSHIP, in the they should retire. Some choose yet a fourth stage, mind and often on the ALTAR, on a vivid, precise a life of total renunciation. representation of the divine in some form: the god The traditional ideal for women stresses their KRISHNA, the Sacred Heart of JESUS, CHRIST on the subservience to men: in youth to their fathers, in cross, and god in one’s own heart. Simple prayers, maturity to their husbands, and as widows to their chants, and moving hymns, and even the dance of sons. This ideal has often made life very hard for PENTECOSTALISM are among the varied expressions Indian women. Nevertheless, powerful and inde- of devotion, though it may also be subjective and pendent women have emerged in every period of free-form. Devotional attitudes and movements Indian history. have done much to keep religion alive throughout the ages. BUDDHIST DHARMA Buddhism rejected the ritual classes of Hindu dharma. Indeed, it rejected Hindu rituals dharma in Hinduism and Buddhism From altogether. the Sanskrit verb dhri, which means “to sustain.” In Buddhism, dharma was originally identi- Dharma is the order that sustains the universe. fi ed with the BUDDHA’s teaching. Then it became Although it always retains this root meaning, it the teachings of Buddhism in general. With this is used somewhat differently in HINDUISM and meaning it appears as one of Buddhism’s three BUDDHISM. jewels. An example is the formula, “I take refuge in the Buddha; I take refuge in the SANGHA; I take HINDU DHARMA refuge in the Dharma.” In Hinduism, dharma refers to all forms of order. Buddhist dharma is summarized in the Bud- Thus, it can refer to the regular cycles of the sun. dha’s FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS. For THERAVADA Buddhists 118 S dialogue

the teachings of Buddhism make up a large collec- Christian churches, for example, Catholics and tion of books in the Pali language known as the Lutherans, established offi cial dialogues with one Tipitika or “Three Baskets.” These “baskets” or another. Some Christian groups established offi - collections are the basket of the Buddha’s sermons cial dialogues with representatives of other reli- (dharma, properly speaking), the basket of the gions, for example, Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists. monastic discipline, and the basket of philosophi- Indeed, the Second VATICAN COUNCIL saw dialogue cal speculation known as “abhi-dharma.” as the most appropriate means to use in mission- In MAHAYANA BUDDHISM, which is found espe- ary efforts. cially in east Asia, the word dharma sometimes In 1983 Leonard Swidler, a theologian, pub- takes on an even broader sense. The “three-body lished 10 ground rules for interreligious dialogue. doctrine” identifi es three different bodies (Kaya) He called them the “Dialogue Decalogue.” The fol- of the Buddha or three different manifestations lowing points drawn from his rules give a good of the Buddhist dharma. They are the earthly idea of what interreligious dialogue is about. (nirmanakaya), heavenly or “enjoyment” body X People participate in interreligious dialogue to (sambhogakaya), and absolute (dharmakaya). The learn what other people believe, not to teach historical Buddha is the ideal form in which the them what is true (rule 1). dharma appears in our world. But it is not the high- X Participants must accept one another as equals. est form of dharma. The heavenly body refers to For example, one cannot consider people of other the most excellent manifestations of dharma pos- religions savage, primitive, demonic, deluded, sible in worlds of name and form. In other words, or evil (rule 7). it refers to the Buddhas and BODHISATTVAS who live X Each participant has the right to defi ne what her in the various HEAVENS. Beyond name and form is or his view actually are. For example, if a person the dharma body itself. In this body the dharma insisted that a physical image was not GOD but underlies and sustains all that is. simply a means to help one WORSHIP God, one should not insist that that person was worship- ping the image or idol itself (rule 5). dialogue A method by which religious people in X Participants must be willing to look at their own the second half of the 20th century tried to under- religions critically (rule 9). stand one another. Dialogue was especially popu- X All participants must share their positions hon- lar among liberals of all three branches of CHRIS- estly. That means they must be willing to share TIANITY: EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY, ROMAN their doubts and hesitations as well as their con- CATHOLICISM, and PROTESTANTISM. victions (rule 3). Talking with people who practice a religion X In a dialogue people should compare the practices different from one’s own is certainly not new. of others with their own practices, their own ide- Akbar (1542–1605), a Muslim emperor of India, als with the ideals of others. In the past, people was noted for his religious tolerance. At his capital, had often used their ideals to condemn the prac- Fatehpur Sikri, he built a structure that provided tices of others. They had conveniently ignored him an elevated seat in the center of a room. Dif- problems with their own practices (rule 4). ferent religious teachers—Muslim, Hindu, Bud- dhist, and Christian—occupied elevated “pulpits” Swidler claimed that interreligious dialogue in each of the room’s four corners. In this way, was “something new under the sun.” Others Akbar entered into discussion with all four teach- claimed that only dialogue and the attitudes found ers simultaneously. in dialogue could save human beings from univer- During the 20th century, Christian denomi- sal threats, such as nuclear holocaust or an ecolog- nations and MISSIONARIES became increasingly ical imbalance that would poison the Earth. These interested in “interreligious dialogue.” Different claims are probably too enthusiastic. diet and religion S 119

Some have rejected interreligious dialogue ror of Diana.” Offerings at Aricia attest to Diana’s altogether. More traditional Christians have seen connections with childbirth: They include models dialogue as abandoning the basic calling of a Chris- of human sexual organs. Stories about the priests tian: to proclaim the truth of Christianity. Some of Diana at Nemi provided the title and structure non-Christians have seen dialogue as a new and to an infl uential study of religion published in the underhanded way for Christians to try to convert early 20th century, The Golden Bough by James them. In their eyes, those who advocated dialogue George FRAZER. were wolves in sheeps’ clothing.

diet and religion Religious regulations about Diamond Sutra A relatively brief MAHAYANA what people may eat and drink. Most religions Buddhist writing. It became important for practic- order and regulate what people eat and drink. ers of ZEN BUDDHISM as well as for other schools of Sometimes they make eating and drinking into BUDDHISM. RITUALS. Examples include the Japanese tea cer- The Diamond Sutra is one of a group of writ- emony and the Christian EUCHARIST. Sometimes ings known as Prajna-paramita sutras, that is, they teach their adherents to slaughter animals “discourses concerned with perfect wisdom.” in special ways or dedicate food to religious Originally an Indian book written in Sanskrit, it beings or for religious purposes. That is, they was translated into Chinese around 400 C.E. SACRIFICE and make offerings. Sometimes they The sutra records a conversation between the ask followers to give up eating, drinking, or BUDDHA and Subhuti, one of his most advanced both, either partially or entirely, for a limited disciples. The two rapidly recount a series of bold period of time. This is FASTING, which Muslims, paradoxes that encapsulate Buddhist wisdom. for example, do during the month of Ramadan. For example, the Buddha teaches Subhuti that if Religions also make rules about ordinary eating anyone suggests that the Buddha has taught any- and drinking. That is, they have dietary laws. thing, that person slanders the Buddha, because Dietary laws answer such questions as what truth cannot be taught. The sutra also teaches that foods people should and should not eat, who things that appear to us are transient, like objects may prepare and serve food, and when and how in dreams. much people may eat. There is probably no item on which all religions agree.

Diana A Roman GODDESS. Diana seems to have REGULATIONS CONCERNING MEAT been a goddess of the woods and perhaps of the One of the most common topics for dietary laws moon and its light. She was early identifi ed with concerns the eating of meat. Some religions do the Greek goddess ARTEMIS. In this capacity the not allow the eating of meat at all. Traditionally, Romans thought of her as a hunter, a midwife, and most Hindus of the highest religious status have a goddess of the crossroads. not eaten meat. Other Hindus consider some meat The most important festival of Diana took and animal products, such as milk, more accept- place on the Ides of August (August 13). During able than others, such as beef. Many Buddhists this festival women would wash their hair and have practiced vegetarianism. So have Jains, the carry torches from Rome to Diana’s most impor- Pythagoreans of ancient Greece, Manichaeans, and tant shrine, a grove at Aricia. The festival was also some Taoists. In the last decades of the 20th cen- especially important to slaves. tury a number of North Americans adopted veg- Diana had an ancient temple in Rome. Her etarianism. They often did so because they wanted grove at Aricia was on the shores of Lake Nemi. a healthy diet, a diet that was responsible to the In ancient times this lake was known as “the mir- environment, or both. 120 S diet and religion

Other religions allow the eating of meat but Many religions also regulate the consumption strictly regulate which meats may be eaten. The of alcohol. One of the fi ve precepts of BUDDHISM Jewish laws of kashrut—more colloquially, kosher rejects alcohol altogether. Some Buddhists, how- foods—are a good example. Traditional Muslims ever, ignore this precept, especially in Japan. JUDA- observe many of the same restrictions on meat ISM permits alcohol in moderation, but ISLAM strictly products as Jews. Christians do not. forbids it. Christian attitudes vary. Some Christians Observant Jews eat water animals as long as drink to excess when they celebrate certain ritu- they have scales and fi ns. Therefore, sole and trout als, such as CARNIVAL. Some Protestants, however, are kosher or acceptable; lobster, shrimp, eels, and avoid alcohol altogether. They even celebrate the catfi sh are not. Observant Jews also eat birds that EUCHARIST with unfermented grape juice. After meet certain requirements. But the best known World War I this Protestant attitude, represented kosher law concerns land animals. These animals by groups like the Women’s Christian Temperance must chew the cud and have cloven hoofs. Pigs do Union, helped to pass a constitutional amendment not chew the cud; therefore, observant Jews do not that made alcohol illegal in the United States. This eat pork—and many other meats as well. started the era of Prohibition (1920–33). Observant Jews also do not eat blood. This regulation requires special preparation of meat OTHER DIETARY LAWS before cooking. The BIBLE forbids boiling a kid in Many dietary laws detail what foods may be eaten. its mother’s milk. The RABBIS extended this rule: It But religions also tell their followers who may pre- is not proper to eat meat and dairy products in the pare, serve, and clean up food, as well as when same meal. Thus, cheeseburgers and pepperoni and how much a person may eat. pizzas are not kosher. Observant households often In traditional Hinduism dietary rules help have two sets of kitchen ware—one for meat meals, defi ne ritual classes (varnas) and castes (jatis) (see the other for dairy meals. After eating a meat or CASTE IN HINDUISM). According to these rules, a per- dairy dish, observant Jews also let an appropriate son should eat only cooked food that is prepared interval—say, six hours—pass before eating foods by someone of equal or higher status. Similarly, of the other variety. people should clean up only food that has been eaten by someone of equal or higher status. Bud- REGULATIONS CONCERNING OTHER FOODS dhism teaches that MONKS AND NUNS should not eat Religions have had less to say about plant food and after noon. MANICHAEISM taught that its elite, called dairy products, but they have not ignored them. “the elect,” must eat all the food that laypersons The followers of Pythagoras were forbidden to eat brought to them. beans. Members of the Nation of Islam (see ISLAM, NATION OF) are supposed to avoid certain vegetables WHY REGULATE DIET? that recall the experiences of slavery. Technically, People often wonder why others observe dietary Jains may eat only living beings that have a single laws that they do not. Some people attribute these sense. This principle prohibits them from eating laws to medical concerns. For example, some some plants as well as meat. (Most North Ameri- people think that observant Jews do not eat pork cans limit senses to animals, but Jains do not.) Tra- because pigs carry trichinosis. However, when the ditional HINDUISM distinguishes between two types Jewish dietary laws of kashrut were established, of food, pakka and kacca. Hindus who are most no one knew that pigs carried trichinosis. concerned about the purity of their diet eat only Many modern scholars trace dietary laws to a food that is pakka. They avoid onions and garlic different cause. They say that these laws help cre- as well as animal foods. They also eat food that is ate group identity. For example, the laws of kashrut prepared with clarifi ed butter, known as “ghee,” help distinguish Jews from non-Jews. There is rather than with oils from plants or animals. something to this claim. During the 20th century Dominicans S 121

people all over the world moved into modern, plu- attain enlightenment. Sitting in meditation was ralistic cities. When they left their traditional com- itself enlightenment. munities behind, many of them gave up their tradi- Dogen’s teachings disagreed with Buddhist tra- tional dietary practices. But group identity explains dition in important ways. He taught that all beings only when people observe dietary laws. It does not are Buddha-nature and that Buddha-nature is explain the particular laws that they observe. impermanence. Traditionally Buddhism had taught It is important to note what the religions that all beings have, not are, Buddha-nature, and themselves say about these laws. Buddhists say that Buddha-nature lies beyond impermanence. that it takes a clear, crisp mind to pursue enlight- Dogen’s most important writing is the enment, or understanding. Someone who is intoxi- Sh¯obh¯ogenz¯o or “The Treasury of the True DHARMA cated does not have such a mind. Therefore, they eye.” Today Soto Zen is one of the largest schools refrain from alcohol. Jains do not eat meat because of Japanese Buddhism. of their devotion to the principle of AHIMSA. Many observant Jews say that there is only one good rea- son for practicing the dietary laws. GOD instructed dogma and doctrine A religion’s offi cial beliefs them to do so. Who are human beings, that they and teachings. should second-guess God? Religions create unity in many ways. Members of a given religion may see themselves united by Further reading: K. C. Chang, ed., Food in Chinese shared behavior, which usually includes both par- Culture (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1977); ticipation in religious RITUAL and living according Isaac Klein, A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice to prescribed ways of life. A good example is tradi- (New York: Ktav, 1979); Frederick Simoons, Eat Not tional orthodox JUDAISM. Other religions stress cor- This Flesh: Food Avoidances from Prehistory to the rectness of belief. Members are united by shared Present 2d ed. (Madison: University of Wisconsin adherence to dogma (what the group offi cially Press, 1994); Reay Tannahill, Food in History (New believes) and doctrine (what it offi cially teaches). York: Stein & Day, 1973). These terms appear often in discussions of CHRISTI- ANITY, since Christianity grew by attracting people to a set of new beliefs rather than as a shared way disciples See APOSTLES. of life. Christians have recognized several sources of dogma and doctrine. Protestants derive Christian disciples of Christ See RESTORATION MOVEMENT. truth from the BIBLE (see PROTESTANTISM.) Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians derive Christian truth also from tradition (see ROMAN CATHOLICISM Dogen (1200–1253) a Buddhist monk who and EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY). Most, but not in the late 1220s founded the Soto school of ZEN all, Christians recognize the ancient CREEDS and the BUDDHISM in Japan In 1223 Dogen left Kyoto for decrees of the ancient church councils as defi ning China. He had already studied two schools of their dogma and doctrines. Individual churches BUDDHISM: Tiendai Buddhism and Zen Buddhism. often have their own special statements as well. In China he attained enlightenment, or a deep Examples include the Pope’s pronouncements in understanding of nature and the causes of sorrow. the Catholic Church and the “confessions” of vari- In 1227 he returned to Japan to teach the path that ous Protestant churches. he had followed. Dogen emphasized the practice of sitting in MEDITATION (ZAZEN) without any purpose. From Dominicans An order of Roman Catholic MONKS his point of view, one did not sit in meditation to AND NUNS properly known as the Order of Preachers. 122 S drama, religious

The Dominican order was founded by Dominic in been acting out stories of one sort or another for 1216. Like the Franciscans (see FRANCIS OF ASSISI AND as long as there have been people. For example, a FRANCISCANS), it is an order centered on mendicant cave in France has footprints that some claim go friars. Its members take vows of poverty, and they are back to early hunters. The footprints make a circle, not under the control of a diocese and its bishop. and some scholars suggest that the hunters made The Dominicans received as their special mis- them as they were acting out hunting scenes as sion the tasks of preaching and study. Preaching part of their rituals. had earlier been the privilege of bishops and those It is quite common for religions to use drama to whom they had delegated the task. The Domini- as a form of worship. One way to do so is to act cans, it was hoped, would effectively counter vari- out stories about gods and other supernatural ous heresies that were beginning to spread. Later beings. A good example is the Ramlila celebration the Dominicans played a major role in INQUISITIONS. in HINDUISM, which takes place in the fall. Ramlila Other Dominican accomplishments are more acts out the story of RAMA, an avatar of VISHNU, likely to win admiration today. The order has included as told in the RAMAYANA. Some perform just the the great theologians Albertus Magnus (c. 1200–80) bare outline of the story; others perform it in great and Thomas AQUINAS; the mystics Meister Eckhardt detail. The climax comes with the fi nal battle, (c. 1260–c. 1328), Johannes Tauler (c. 1300–61), and when Rama fi nally defeats the demon Ravana. It Catherine of Siena (1347–80); the reformer Savon- is common to build effi gies of Ravana and other arola (1452–98); the painter Fra Angelico (c. 1400– demons that are several times the size of a human 55); and the champion of Mesoamericans’ rights, being. These effi gies are stuffed with fi reworks and Bartolomé de las Casas (1474–1566). From the 16th set alight when Rama shoots a lighted arrow into through the 18th centuries, the Dominicans were them. Other famous dramatizations of religious in decline. Since the middle of the 19th century the stories include the dance drama and puppet the- order has experienced a revival. ater of Indonesia and depictions of the passion of Dominicans have been active in the United JESUS among native peoples of Latin America as States continuously from the year 1786. In 1806 well as at places like Oberammergau, Germany, the fi rst Dominican province, the Province of St. and Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Joseph, was established at St. Rose, Kentucky. The To the extent that acts of ritual or worship fi rst Dominican nuns arrived in the United States involve performance, they inevitably have a dra- in 1853. Today Dominicans are active in North matic side. For example, some people speak of the America teaching, promoting a life of contempla- Mass in ROMAN C ATHOLICISM as a sacred drama. More tion, and supporting missions overseas. clearly theatrical were dramas that some scholars believe characterized worship in the ancient Near East, for example, ancient Babylonia. Taking the drama, religious Religion has included drama part of a god, the king reenacted various stories. or theatrical performances in a number of ways. One concerned the humiliation of the god, during Religions use drama in RITUALS and as acts of wor- which the king was whipped and beaten. Another ship. Religions have also infl uenced dramas that told of the sacred marriage between a god and god- are performed primarily for entertainment. Not to dess. On some views these acts were clearly linked be overlooked is the opposition that some religious to the forces of the cosmos, such as the growth and people have to drama. decay of plants. The king’s reenactments of them were rituals that aimed to ensure the fl ourishing of DRAMA AS RITUAL AND WORSHIP his territory. Drama is originally a Greek word that means an Traditional healers known as shamans (see act or a deed, particularly deeds acted out on a SHAMANISM) have also performed a kind of ritual stage. Some scholars suppose that people have drama. Many shamans heal by traveling to the drama, religious S 123

realm of the spirits, because spirits are thought Nevertheless, religions have played important roles to make people sick. In that realm they discover in the development of kinds of drama that are usu- the cause of a patient’s illness and, in some tradi- ally associated with entertainment. tions, battle and defeat the evil spirits. Shamans It is customary to locate the beginning of may use dance, song, and drama as they act out Western drama with Greek tragedy and comedy. their encounters with beings in the spirit realm, Some of the religious infl uences on these plays are including their struggles with and victory over the hard to miss. Tragedies use religious stories, such illness-causing spirits. as the story of Oedipus, to explore the human situ- Another form of religious drama takes place ation. These tragedies were performed as part of a when a spirit overcomes a person, as happens festival in Athens known as the Greater Dionysia, when a spirit “rides” a person in the Caribbean in celebration of Dionysos. religion known as VOODOO. This, too, is a kind of During the Middle Ages, too, drama had a religious drama, but a spontaneous one which strong religious character. Guilds performed mys- members of the religion take to be not a perfor- tery plays to dramatize stories from the Bible. mance but the very actions of the spirit itself. Morality plays, such as Everyman, talked about The presence of supernatural beings may the human condition. From such roots, European bring about another kind of religious drama. Peo- drama of the Renaissance and later periods grew. ple who believe that GOD is actually present in a Religious infl uence on theater is hardly limited temple may perform dramas to please her or him. to Europe. In Japan, a form of drama known as This was the function of special women in Hindu Noh combines elements of SHINTO and BUDDHISM. temples known as devadasis, “servants of god.” Actors sometimes perform Noh plays for religious Their dancing acted out stories at the same time purposes, but they also perform them today to that it entertained the divinity present. entertain audiences. During the plays actors repre- Religious dramas are not restricted to adult sent gods, spirits of the dead, and demons. These actors. In many religions children, too, perform beings come on stage to relate their stories to the religious dramas in the context of ritual and wor- audience. ship. In JUDAISM children act out the events sur- In the 20th and early 21st centuries some rounding ESTHER’s saving of her people at PURIM. leading theater directors have paid close attention Many Christian children in North America drama- to the religious and ritual dimensions of drama. tize the story of Jesus’ birth around the time of Important leaders of this movement include the CHRISTMAS. Children in schools in India may also British director Peter Brook (b. 1925), the Ameri- put on plays about the life of Rama during Ramlila. can director Richard Schechner (b. 1934), and the These dramas provide ways for children to learn African director Wole Soyinka (b. 1934). religious stories by participating in them rather than simply listening to them. Actors identify with RELIGION OPPOSED TO DRAMA the characters, and as a result the stories begin to Not everyone has approved of drama, religious defi ne who they are. or secular. Perhaps the most famous person who opposed it was the Greek philosopher Plato RELIGION INFLUENCES DRAMA (c. 427–c. 347 B.C.E.). He accused dramatists and The line between drama performed as ritual and poets of lying about the gods. When he envi- drama performed as entertainment is often diffi cult sioned his ideal state, he excluded drama and to draw. For example, are Purim plays and plays poetry from it. about the birth of Jesus performed for religious Others have opposed drama, too. Many Mus- purposes, for entertainment, or both? It has been lim thinkers have opposed drama, just as they suggested that drama for entertainment began as have opposed two-dimensional representations of ritual. That statement may be an exaggeration. human beings and animals. Nevertheless, there 124 S dreams and religion

are dramatic traditions within ISLAM; for example, rightly predicting the fate of two fellow-prisoners more Muslims live in Indonesia, with its traditions from their dreams, and then foretelling the seven of dance drama and puppet theater, than in any good years and seven lean years on the basis of other country in the world. pharaoh’s dream. In the NEW TESTAMENT another Despite very strong traditions of drama within Joseph, the spouse of MARY the mother of JESUS, Hinduism, even in Hindu worship, the Laws of was told by an ANGEL in a dream that her child MANU did not look favorably upon drama. In Bud- was conceived by the Holy Ghost, and later was dhism, too, the ten precepts followed by MONKS AND warned in the same way to take the infant to Egypt NUNS, novices, and devout laypeople forbid atten- and avoid the wrath of Herod. The Greeks and dance at worldly amusements such as the theater. Romans also considered dreams to be messages Such amusements encourage attachment to sen- from the gods, though they recognized they were sory pleasure and, through the presentation of fi c- not always reliable. Penelope, in a famous pas- tions, distract the mind from waking up to reality. sage in The Odyssey, said that there are two gates In North America, too, some religious people through which dreams pass: the gate of ivory, have opposed drama. One such group to do so whose dreams are deceitful, and the gate of horn, were the Puritans (see PURITANISM). Today churches whose dreams are true. The ancients, like the in some traditions of PROTESTANTISM, such as the Chinese more recently, would also practice incu- HOLINESS MOVEMENT, either reject theatrical enter- bation or sleeping in a temple in order to receive tainment altogether or fi nd it highly suspicious as advice from a god through a dream. CHRISTIANITY a source of immorality and vice. has sometimes seen dreams as a means of divine It might be suggested that religious people revelation, but has also recognized that demons who oppose drama recognize the immense power can tempt the unwary through dreams. of performance and theater. They simply view The hazy and fl eeting nature of dreams has that power as evil, just as religious people who also had religious meaning. Buddhist literature use drama see in it as a potential source of great such as the DIAMOND SUTRA has spoken of this benefi t. world with its empty attractions as like a dream, a phantasm, a bubble, a shadow, a dew-drop, and Further reading: Richard Schechner, The Future a fl ash of lightning. Here dreams mean not revela- of Ritual: Writings on Culture and Performance tions of truth, but illusion and unreality. Yet East- (London: Routledge, 1993); Victor Witter Turner, ern accounts have also presented positive expe- From Ritual to Theatre: The Human Seriousness of riences of dreams, and there are advanced yoga Play (New York: PAJ Publications, 1982). techniques for controlling and using them. Twentieth-century analytic psychology in the tradition of Carl Gustav JUNG has given dreams a dreams and religion Dreams of religious sig- renewed spiritual importance as mirrors or indica- nifi cance. Dreams have been thought to have spiri- tors of what is going on in one’s psychic and spiri- tual importance in many traditions. The 19th-cen- tual life. Jung pointed to the marked similarity of tury anthropologist Edward Tylor, in fact, thought the symbolic language of dreams to the language that the origin of religion lay in the experience of of the world’s mythologies and religions, showing dreams. It seemed natural to think that fi gures that, rightly understood, one’s dreams could be appearing in those mysterious nighttime adven- like a personal story telling what is needed to fulfi ll tures might be gods or spirits of ancestors, and one’s life. Other modern psychologists, however, that their words or stories might bear divine mes- have said there is very little of real importance in sages. The ability to interpret dreams rightly was dreams, thus closing the door on a venerable reli- also a divine gift. In the biblical book of Genesis, gious tradition. In any case, dreams have always JOSEPH was able to win his freedom from prison by been important in the myths and religions of the druids S 125

world, whether as the voice of the divine or as In the mid-20th century, a new interest in the warnings not to get lost in fantasy and that which spiritual meaning of drug experience arose. One is passing away. important impetus for it was a book, The Doors See also VISIONS. of Perception (1954), by the famous mystic and novelist Aldous Huxley (1894–1963). Huxley viv- idly described the way the ordinary world became drugs and religion The religious use and mean- transfi gured and splendid as though it were all ing of mind-altering drugs. There are drugs both divine, like the way it was seen by great artists natural and synthetic that can produce experiences and Zen masters, after he had taken mescaline, similar to religious experiences: VISIONS, ecstasy, a substance made from peyote. However, Huxley cosmic journeys, what the poet Baudelaire called also believed such stimulants should be restricted “artifi cial paradises.” They can also produce inner to those truly mature and ready for them. Another HELLS as terrible as any that can be imagined. None- impetus was the invention of LSD (lysergic acid theless drugs have had a spiritual or sacramental diethylamide), a highly visionary synthetic sub- use the world over. Shamans of PRIMAL RELIGION stance. The use of drugs, allegedly for spiritual in Siberia and the Americas have taken hallucino- purposes, was an important aspect of the coun- genic mushrooms, peyote, datura, and other plant terculture of the 1960s. But the “drug culture” substances to help induce visions of the divine quickly fi lled with drug-induced crime, sickness, realms and messages from gods. Some scholars mental breakdown, and exploitation, and halluci- believe that soma, the famous sacred drink spoken nogenic drugs were outlawed everywhere in the of in the VEDAS of ancient India, may have been United States by 1966, with exceptions allowed for made from the fl y-agaric mushroom, and a few the Native American Church, where drug use has have speculated that the mysteries of Eleusis in continued to be a legal issue. Whatever role drugs ancient Greece may have employed the same hal- may have had in the religious life of the remote lucinogenic plant (see GREEK RELIGION). Today the past, they are generally not welcome in that of the Native American Church in the United States uses modern world, and most faiths see combating drug peyote, a hallucinogenic cactus, as a sacramental use as an important part of their mission to help substance to be taken in a reverential setting as a people live disciplined and productive lives. means of communion with GOD. (See NATIVE AMERI- CAN RELIGIONS.) However, religions such as JUDAISM, CHRISTIAN- druids Ancient Celtic priests. The word druid ITY, ISLAM, and the major eastern FAITHS have gen- means “wise one.” The druids formed a separate, erally rejected the use of drugs in religion, believ- elite class of Celtic society (see CELTIC RELIGION). ing that the visions and raptures they induce are They were close allies of the kings. According to spurious and not authentically from God. (Cer- Julius Caesar, the druids “watch over divine mat- tain nonmainstream Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist ters, administer public and private sacrifi ces, and sources, chiefl y related to TANTRISM, have seen rule all matters of religion” (Gallic Wars 6.13). some positive spiritual value in the materials, Caesar goes on to describe the druids as preserv- but for the most part as an initiation into reali- ing the sacred verses of the Celts in memory rather ties that ought later to be realized by nondrug than in writing, educating the young, and teaching means.) They have recognized and condemned that at death souls are reborn. the dangers that can lie in drug use: lethargy, In all of these characteristics the druids escapism, indifference to other issues of life, and resemble the BRAHMINS of India. Unlike brahmins, fi nally addiction to the point that one will neglect however, druids did not have to inherit their sta- responsibilities and commit crimes for the sake tus. They could choose to become druids. Other of the drug. ancient authors identify different kinds of druids: 126 S Druze, the

priests, poets, and soothsayers. Women could hold According to legend, the goddess Durga was the position of soothsayer. created when a powerful water buffalo demon, Druids ceased to exist when the British Isles Mahisha, began to savage the Earth. Each of the were converted to CHRISTIANITY during the fi rst gods tried to stop him, but they were unable to, millennium (1–1000) C.E. But during the 19th and so they decided to combine their powers into one especially the 20th centuries, people in Britain and being more powerful than any of them. Perhaps the United States tried to revive the order of dru- because the Sanskrit word sakti, divine power, ids. They not only used ancient traditions but also is feminine, the being they created was female, relied on images of the druids that arose as late as Durga. Her images portray her defeating Mahisha. the 18th century. Durga is one of several manifestations of the Goddess in HINDUISM. She is worshipped by fol- lowers known as Saktas. Her major festival is Druze, the A small religious community in the Navaratri, observed in Bengal in the cooler time of Near East. The Druze are an offshoot of SHI’ITE the year just after the monsoons (see HINDU FESTI- ISLAM. In 1017 C.E., a Fatimid ruler of Egypt named VALS). It celebrates Durga’s victory over Mahisha. al-Hakim became convinced that he was divine. Two MISSIONARIES, Hamza ibn Ali and Darazi, pro- moted his divinity. Shortly thereafter all three “dis- Durkheim, Émile (1858–1917) a French thinker appeared.” The Druze believe that they went into who helped invent the study of sociology He has hiding. A follower named al-Muktana assumed had an immense impact on the study of religions. leadership of the community. His letters, as well as Durkheim’s early writings contributed some those of Hamza and al-Hakim, form the communi- terms that scholars have used to study religions. ty’s sacred book. An example is the term “anomie.” It refers to the The Druze observe seven “pillars” or prac- social and moral disorder that arises when tradi- tices. These include always speaking the truth tional social forms break down. But Durkheim’s within, but not outside, the community; helping most important book for the study of religions members of the community by military means, appeared later: The Elementary Forms of the Reli- if necessary; and confessing the oneness of GOD, gious Life (1912). who was incarnate in al-Hakim. The Druze expect The Elementary Forms starts with the idea al-Hakim and Hamza to return at the end of time that TOTEMISM and TABOO in Australia are the most to establish universal justice. basic forms of religion. Although this idea is no The Druze do not accept converts. Their com- longer accepted, other ideas in Durkheim’s sys- munity consists of two groups, the initiated and tem have proven very useful. Durkheim proposed the ignorant. Only the initiated may read the Druze that religion serves to bind individuals to society. secret writings and attend the secret RITUALS. Druze It does so, he says, because religious symbols, also accept “dissimulation.” That is, for survival such as totems and gods, along with religious they may pretend to practice the majority religion rules objectify and represent society and its val- wherever they are. In the 19th and 20th centuries ues. Therefore, religious RITUALS actually celebrate the Druze were intensely involved in the military human society. confl icts of Lebanon and the surrounding regions.

dynamism Also called preanimism; a once- Durga A Hindu GODDESS, especially popular in popular theory of the origin of religion. At the end eastern India. She is usually shown with eight of the 19th century, scholars tried to identify the arms that hold weapons and riding either a tiger earliest form of religion. Many followed E. B. Tylor, or a lion. who suggested that the earliest religion was ANI- dynamism S 127

MISM. R. R. Marett (1866–1943), an anthropologist, dangerous. So people protected themselves by cre- disagreed. He said there was an earlier form of reli- ating TABOOS. Animism resulted when people asso- gion. He called it preanimism. Later, others called ciated personal characteristics with mana. it dynamism. Like all other theories of the origin of reli- According to Marett, before people believed gion, Marett’s theory was entirely speculative. His in spirits, they felt awe before the supernatural description of mana also distorted the Polynesian energy that pervaded the universe. Marett called idea. Today dynamism is no longer accepted. But this energy mana, a Polynesian word. Mana was the ideas that it made popular, mana and taboo, life-giving, but like electricity, too much of it was have taken on a life of their own. . E ,

Easter The most important Christian festival, a Orthodox churches, it means adhering to the time when Christians celebrate the RESURRECTION of decrees of the seven ancient, ecumenical councils. JESUS from the dead. According to the NEW TESTA- (The Roman Catholic Church and some Protestant MENT, Jesus was crucifi ed on a Friday. The follow- churches accept these decrees, too.) The councils ing Sunday he rose from the dead. These events were meetings of bishops to determine Christian took place around the time of the Jewish festival teaching, especially with regard to Jesus. Some of PASSOVER. As a result, Christians do not observe Eastern churches, such as the ARMENIAN CHURCH Easter on a set date. They observe it on a Sunday and COPTIC CHURCH, refused to accept the councils’ in spring around the time of Passover. That Sunday decrees. is the fi rst Sunday after the fi rst full moon after the The Orthodox churches see themselves as spring equinox (roughly March 21). continuing the traditions of the APOSTLES. Indeed, For Catholic, Orthodox, and some Protestant important centers of Orthodoxy were founded by Christians, the most “liturgically correct” way to apostles. Orthodox bishops also preserve “apos- observe Easter is with a vigil. This is a lengthy ser- tolic succession,” as do the bishops in the Roman vice late Saturday evening, which looks forward to Catholic and some Protestant churches. They go the resurrection Sunday morning. Another common back in an unbroken line of succession to Jesus’s practice is to hold “sunrise services” early Easter immediate followers. morning. In North America and Europe, Christians The Orthodox churches arose in the Eastern, also celebrate Easter with colored eggs. The eggs Greek-speaking Roman Empire. ROMAN CATHOLI- are said to symbolize the new life that the resur- CISM arose in the Western, Latin-speaking Roman rection of Jesus made possible. They probably also Empire. Political and cultural tensions between preserve ways of celebrating the coming of spring the two led to theological disputes in the 800s. that were common in Europe before CHRISTIANITY. In 1054 the Pope and the head of the Orthodox Not all Christians observe Easter. Some Protes- churches, the Patriarch of Constantinople, excom- tants reject it as a human invention. Among those municated one another. In 1204 the Fourth CRU- who do not observe Easter are the “plain people,” SADE viciously attacked Constantinople. Not until such as the AMISH. 1965 did the Pope and the Patriarch reestablish friendly relations. Orthodoxy comprises 15 independent territo- Eastern Orthodox Christianity One of the rial churches—for example, the churches of Con- three major branches of CHRISTIANITY. The Eastern stantinople, Russia, and Greece—and three other Orthodox churches are properly known as “the churches that are semi-independent in Crete, Fin- Orthodox Catholic Church.” land, and Japan. The independent churches call The word “orthodox” means “having the their chief offi cials either patriarchs, archbishops, proper opinions or beliefs.” In the case of the or metropolitans. The Patriarch of Constantinople

S 128 ecumenical movement S 129

is recognized as the fi rst among equals. The lead- patriarch of Moscow established the Orthodox ers of the Orthodox churches have never claimed Church of America, but not all Orthodox churches the political powers that the PAPACY claimed in in America belong to it. the West. That is because in the Eastern Roman See also ROMAN CATHOLICISM AND EASTERN Empire political power did not disintegrate the way ORTHODOXY IN AMERICA. it did in the West. Until 1453 the Byzantine Empire Further reading: John Binns, An Introduction to the patronized Orthodoxy. The Russian Empire took Christian Orthodox Churches (New York: Cambridge over that role until 1917. University Press, 2002); Emmanuel Clapsis, The Orthodox theologians have generally expressed Orthodox Churches in a Pluralistic World: An the truth of Christianity differently than Catholic Ecumenical Conversation (Brookline, Mass.: Holy and Protestant theologians. Catholics and Protes- Cross Orthodox Press, 2004); Timothy Ware, The tants have tended to think in judicial terms. They Orthodox Church (Baltimore, Md.: Penguin, 1963); have talked about original SIN, guilt, reparation, Nicholas Zernov, Eastern Christendom (London: and atonement. Orthodox theologians talk instead Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1961). about the divinization of humanity. In their eyes, human beings were made for communion with GOD. Indeed, human beings fi nd their fulfi llment in the divine. The INCARNATION and especially the ecumenical movement A movement among RESURRECTION of Jesus testify to that fulfi llment, Christian churches that seeks to reunite them. despite the obstacles that life in the world pres- Throughout its history, CHRISTIANITY has experi- ents. The church and its SACRAMENTS are the places enced divisions. The most important divisions where such communion and divinization take occurred in the fourth and fi fth centuries C.E., place today. when Christians such as Arians and Nestorians Like the Roman Catholic Church, the Ortho- were expelled as heretics; in 1054, when the Ortho- dox churches recognize seven sacraments. Their dox churches and the Roman Catholic Church central WORSHIP practice is the celebration of the split; and in the 16th century and later, during the EUCHARIST in the Divine LITURGY. Orthodox ser- Protestant REFORMATION. The ecumenical move- vices are long but are noted for their beauty and ment has attempted to overcome these divisions. mystical quality. Orthodox churches allow even It began in the early 20th century and continues infants to receive the bread and wine of commu- today. nion, provided they are baptized (see BAPTISM). The impetus for the ecumenical movement Orthodox churches also make rich use of sacred developed in the 19th century. At that time, mis- pictures known as icons (see IMAGES, ICONS, IDOLS IN sionaries from Europe and North America were RELIGION). They have well-developed traditions of taking the message of Christianity to other parts of monasticism. Although Orthodox priests may be the world. They discovered that divisions at home married men, bishops must be celibate. were not so important overseas. In fact, they found Orthodox churches have not won as many that these divisions confused people and made mis- converts through foreign missions as have Catho- sion work more diffi cult. In response, they started lic and Protestant churches. The rise of ISLAM in to look for ways to eliminate the divisions. the seventh century restricted their opportunities. In 1910 several missionary societies held a So did the relative weakness of the Christian terri- conference in Edinburgh, Scotland. Their goal tories in which they lived. But the Russian church was to formulate a common plan of action. Even- spread across Asia and then established missions tually these societies organized three groups to in Alaska. In the 19th and 20th centuries, immi- work on three sets of issues. One group was the grants also brought many other forms of Ortho- International Missionary Society, responsible for dox Christianity to the United States. In 1970 the coordinating activities so that missionaries did 130 S Egyptian religion

not compete to convert the same people. A second formed a World Buddhist Council and a World was the Commission on Life and Work; it dealt Buddhist Sangha Council. Even more encompass- with cooperation in serving other people. The ing is the Council for a Parliament of the World’s third was the Commission on Faith and Order; it Religions, organized in the 1990s. It brings rep- explored whether it was possible for churches to resentatives of all religions together, as it did, for come together on teachings about which they had example, in the summer of 2004 with its parlia- disagreed. In 1948 the two commissions combined ment “Pathways to Peace” in Barcelona, Spain. to form the World Council of Churches (WCC). In Not all churches, however, have participated 1961 the International Missionary Council joined in the ecumenical movement. Many conserva- them. tives prefer to emphasize their particularity and In the early years of the ecumenical move- view the ecumenical movement with suspicion. ment, Protestants took the lead. By the time the Some prominent churches in the United States WCC was founded, Orthodox churches were also do not participate in either the World or National actively involved. The Roman Catholic Church Council of Churches. They include the Southern (see ROMAN CATHOLICISM) has never joined, in part Baptist Convention, the Assemblies of God, and because some in the church think that the only the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. In addi- way for Christians to reunite is for all those who tion, at the beginning of the 21st century churches left the Catholic Church to rejoin it. Nevertheless, that did belong to these Councils were grappling the Second VATICAN COUNCIL (1961–65) opened the with issues that threatened to divide them once Catholic Church up to the ecumenical movement. again. The most controversial issue was whether Since then it has cooperated with the WCC. At churches should ordain sexually active homosex- the beginning of 2005 the WCC had 347 member uals and perform marriage ceremonies for gay and churches in more than 120 countries. It offi cially lesbian couples. defi ned itself as “a fellowship of churches which Further reading: Thomas E. FitzGerald, The confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Savior Ecumenical Movement: An Introductory History according to the scriptures, and therefore seek to (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2004); Ruth Rouse fulfi ll together their common calling to the glory of and Stephen Charles Neill, eds., A History of the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” the Ecumenical Movement, 1517–1968, 4th ed. The World Council of Churches was not the (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1993). only organization to grow out of the ecumenical movement. Churches around the world that shared the same heritage also formed global organizations. Two examples are the Lutheran World Federation Egyptian religion The religion practiced in and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. In ancient Egypt. addition, churches in individual countries came Much of the evidence for Egyptian religion together to form associations, such as the National comes from burial practices. Clearly, Egyptians Council of Churches in the United States. In some gave the afterlife a great deal of attention (see places churches with varying heritages merged. AFTERLIFE IN WORLD RELIGIONS). But their religion One such merger produced the Church of South dealt with life in this world, too. India. Some churches, too, opened up offi cial dia- logues with other churches. One result was that HISTORY some churches entered into full fellowship with Ancient historians divided the history of Egypt one another, agreeing, for example, to accept each into 30 dynasties or families of rulers. Modern others’ ministers. scholars have divided Egyptian history into sev- The ecumenical movement was part of a larger eral periods. Some were more important for reli- trend in the 20th century. For example, Buddhists gion than others. Egyptian religion S 131

Egyptian history begins around 3100 B.C.E. At B.C.E.) interrupted this disorder briefl y. At that that time a king whom the Greeks called Menes time the god AMON fi rst became associated with unifi ed Upper and Lower Egypt. Like virtually the southern city of Thebes. But Amon and Thebes every king after him, he claimed to be the god achieved much greater glory during the New King- HORUS on Earth. Menes established his capital at dom (Dynasties 18–20, 1570–1080 B.C.E.). Amon- Memphis, where Upper and Lower Egypt meet. Re became the national god. His temple at Karnak He built a temple for the nation there. The temple near Thebes became a powerful institution. served the god PTAH. During the New Kingdom, many people were During the fi rst part of the Old Kingdom buried with texts to help them in the next life. (Dynasties 3–6, 2650–2180 B.C.E.), the kings of Today these texts are known as The Book of Going Egypt built massive stone tombs. These include Forth by Day or, more popularly, The Egyptian the great pyramids at Giza outside Cairo. During Book of the Dead. During the 18th dynasty the the second half of the Old Kingdom, a new god, king AKHENATON directed his religious attention to Re, the sun god of Heliopolis, became dominant. the disk of the sun, known as the Aton. Some have Many texts about him have survived. seen him as an early monotheist. After the Old Kingdom, Egypt fragmented into In 332 B.C.E. Alexander the Great conquered local districts that competed with one another. Egypt. One of his generals, Ptolemy, began a Greek The Middle Kingdom (Dynasty 12, 2050–1800 dynasty there. It ruled Egypt until the Romans

Shown here are the sphinxes lining an avenue of the Temple of Amon at Karnak. (Getty Images) 132 S Egyptian religion

annexed the region around the time of JESUS. The a living god. The same word was also applied Ptolemies lavishly sponsored Egyptian religion. In to important nobles. In general, the Egyptians particular, they built great temples. Their temples thought human beings had three different parts at Edfu, Dendera, and Philae are especially well- that we might call “souls.” The ba was a bird- known. During this period the “mysteries” of the like spirit that went up into the sky at death. The Egyptian GODDESS Isis spread throughout the region ka was a spirit that resided in an image of the of the Mediterranean Sea (see MYSTERY RELIGIONS). person after death. The akh went to the realm CHRISTIANITY came to Egypt as early as the fi rst of the dead and sometimes returned as a ghost. century C.E. It thrived there, but some Egyptians A famous illustration from the so-called Book continued to practice the traditional religion. In of the Dead shows the heart of a dead person the fourth century C.E. Christianity became fi rst being weighed in a balance against a feather. The a legal religion, then the required religion. Some feather is the sign of Maat, goddess of truth and Egyptians persisted in traditional ways. In 415, justice. Christians stoned an Egyptian woman philosopher and mathematician named Hypatia. By the end of PRACTICES the fi fth century, the last functioning non-Christian Egyptian WORSHIP centered on temples. Temples temple in the Roman Empire, the temple of Isis at were buildings that housed images of the gods. Philae, had shut down. The RITUALS of the temples helped maintain the harmony of the universe and of human beings BELIEFS within it. Many writings tell us about Egyptian beliefs. They A series of reliefs from a temple in Abydos include writings from tombs: the Pyramid Texts shows what happened in these temples every day. (Old Kingdom), the Coffi n Texts (Middle King- A privileged group of priests entered the chamber dom), and the so-called Book of the Dead. These where the image lived. They bathed it, clothed it, and other writings often portray Egyptian gods with fed it, and praised it. As they left the chamber, the heads of animals. The heads helped distinguish they were careful to remove every trace of their one god from another. There is little evidence that footsteps. Egyptians actually worshipped animals. On special occasions called festivals the Most Egyptian gods began as the gods of par- images would leave their temples and travel. Dur- ticular places. When Egypt became unifi ed, priests ing festivals the gods were visible to ordinary at different temples tried to fi t all the gods together. people. Many temples also had places at the backs Different temples developed different systems. of their sanctuaries where common people could One infl uential system was the “ennead,” or consult the gods. group of nine gods, which developed during the Old Kingdom at Heliopolis. According to this sys- ORGANIZATION tem, the fi rst god, Atum, produced two others, The distinction between religion and politics that the god Shu (air) and the goddess Tefnut (mois- is common in North America was unknown in ture). These two produced the god Geb (the earth) Egypt. In theory the king was the chief priest of and the goddess Nut (the sky). Geb and Nut gave all Egyptian temples. The reliefs at Abydos show birth to two couples, Osiris and Isis, and Seth and the king worshipping the gods. In practice priests Nephthys. The EVIL god Seth killed his brother worshipped the gods on the king’s behalf. Only Osiris. Osiris’s son Horus avenged his father by the highest priests could enter the gods’ cham- killing Seth. Horus ruled as the living god of Egypt; bers. Priests who were experts in writing produced Osiris was the god of the dead. the many texts that are found in Egyptian tombs. The Egyptian language did not sharply sep- Temples also had many lower order priests that we arate gods from human beings. The king was might call servants. Eliade, Mircea S 133

SIGNIFICANCE all night in the hall. Toward the end of the night Although Jews, Christians, and Muslims may be they received some sort of revelation. Taking part reluctant to trace their beliefs and practices back in the mysteries was supposed to give people a to ancient Egyptian religion, some similarities are better afterlife. certainly suggestive. The name MOSES is Egyptian. The mysteries of Eleusis had some connec- Although Jewish MONOTHEISM almost certainly does tion to the story of Demeter and her daughter Kore not derive from the religion of AKHENATON, as some or Persephone. When the god of the underworld, have suggested, JUDAISM probably preserves gen- Hades, abducted Persephone, her mother Demeter, eral cultural elements that spread from Egypt to the goddess of crops, went into mourning, and the ancient Phoenicia, Israel, and Judah. The infl uen- plants on earth died. Eventually Demeter found tial Neo-Platonic philosopher Plotinus thought of her daughter in the underworld and negotiated her the universe as emanating from a single principle. release. But because Persephone had eaten some Triads of Egyptian gods may have infl uenced the seeds of a pomegranate, she could only spend six Christian notion of the TRINITY. At Luxor near The- months of the year on the earth, when plant life bes, Muslims hold processions of boats at the feast fl ourished; during the other six months, when of the SAINT Abul Hagag. They look much like pro- Kore was in the underworld, plants died. As a cessions at ancient Egyptian festivals. result, most scholars connect Kore with the sea- sonal growth of vegetation. In fact, ancient rumors Further reading: Adolf Erman, A Handbook of suggest that the revelation in Eleusis had some- Egyptian Religion (Boston: Longwood, 1977); thing to do with an ear of grain. Donald B. Redford, ed., The Ancient Gods Speak: In any case, in the early 390s C.E. the Roman A Guide to Egyptian Religion (New York: Oxford Emperor Theodosius, a Christian, outlawed the University Press, 2002); John H. Taylor, Death and mysteries. In 395 invaders sacked Eleusis. The the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt (Chicago: University mysteries disappeared forever. of Chicago Press, 2001); Claude Traunecker, The Gods of Egypt (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2001). Eliade, Mircea (1907–1986) in the second half of the 20th century, one of the most infl uential scholars of religion and myth Eliade, born in Eleusis A town in ancient Greece near Athens Rumania, was interested as a child in biology. that hosted the most famous mysteries in the His most creative contributions to the study of ancient world (see MYSTERY RELIGIONS). The Eleusin- religion resemble an area in biology known as ian mysteries were celebrated in the fall during our “morphology,” the study of underlying forms and months of September and October. Originally only patterns. It has also been important in the study Athenians could participate. Later, all Greeks were of language. admitted to the mysteries, and later still people Eliade’s work explored the “morphology” of throughout the Roman empire. “hierophany.” The idea is not as complicated as the At the beginning of the mysteries, participants words. Eliade believed that one aspect made all reli- gathered at Athens for an assembly. Then they gions special: In religion, the Sacred revealed itself. bathed in the ocean and fasted for three days. After He believed further that the Sacred revealed itself this they marched in a procession from Athens in certain forms or patterns that different religions to Eleusis. At the front of the procession was an shared. He called these patterns “ARCHETYPES.” image of the god Iacchos. No one knows precisely According to Eliade, any aspect of the world what happened when the participants reached could be and has been a means for revealing the Eleusis, but participants had to give a password Sacred. But some have been more prominent than to enter the hall of the mysteries, and they spent others. These include natural phenomena like the 134 S Elijah

sun, the moon, the earth, the oceans, and patterns that society, for many epics reveal in story form of death and rebirth associated with initiations and virtual libraries of information about attitudes, val- RITES OF PASSAGE. ues, RITUALS, beliefs, and styles of behavior appro- Although some scholars consider some of Eli- priate to their world. At the same time they tell lis- ade’s interpretations forced or artifi cial, his ideas teners about the key historical events and fi gures have been rich, exciting, and far-reaching. that ought to be common knowledge: the major battles, kings, and achievements of the people’s past. The religious world is inevitably part of these Elijah (ninth century B.C.E.) a prominent prophet stories. Examples of ancient epics with religious of ancient Israel (the “northern kingdom”) The overtones are the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, the book of Kings in the BIBLE recounts Elijah’s Aeneid of Virgil, the Mahabharata and Ramayana opposition to Canaanite WORSHIP and his advocacy of ancient India (see RAMA, RAMAYANA), the Kojiki of the worship of YHWH (“the Lord”) at the time of in Japan, and the great historical narrative running kings Ahab (ruled c. 869–850 B.C.E.) and Ahaziah through much of the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Tes- (ruled c. 850–849 B.C.E.). One of the best known tament and describing events from the Creation in events is his battle with the prophets of BAAL. He Genesis to the death of King David (1 Kings) and called down fi re from HEAVEN to ignite an ALTAR the exile in Babylon. soaked with water (1 Kings 18). According to the The great epics appeared as fi nished products Bible, Elijah did not die but was taken to heaven in at about the time that some people were trying to a chariot of fi re (2 Kings 2). understand how one can live in a world in which Elijah later became an important fi gure in so many bad things happen: wars, slaughters, Jewish tradition and folklore, most notably as the plagues, suffering, and loss. Epics were one way precursor of the messianic age. At the celebration of looking at this problem. As in all great stories, of the PASSOVER meal a place is set for Elijah in rec- there are moments of defeat and despair in epics ognition that he might return. as well as of triumph. At these times only hope and faith sustain the heroes and their people. But in the end they prevail, or at least the very heroism Enoch See APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE. of their suffering is shown to make it worthwhile. The pattern of epics suggests a guiding hand in the lives of great men and the events of history. epics, religious Long narrative stories, often Broadly speaking, the great age of epics, 1300 poetic, dealing with gods and heroes, and regarded B.C.E.–700 C.E., was the time of the origin of the as foundational to the identity and world view of major religions and their founders, such as MOSES, the people from which they come. They are not BUDDHA, JESUS, and MUHAMMAD. Like these faiths, quite myths in the grandest sense, stories of cre- and often coming to work in tandem with them ation and salvation that express in narrative form a (as in the incorporation of the Hebrew epic into culture’s most basic religious vision, but they may the BIBLE), epics assured people that however dark contain mythic elements and do the same thing for things may seem, GOD or the gods are in control the nation itself. Epics characteristically describe and victory will come at the end. events at the beginning of a nation or civilization, perhaps leading up to its golden age; they were probably based on oral tradition but later put into Episcopalianism The Episcopal Church, for- literary, written form. They recall days when long merly (before 1967) called the Protestant Episco- stories were told to while away evenings before pal Church, is the expression of ANGLICANISM, the books or television, in the process imparting cul- form of CHRISTIANITY of the Church of England, in tural perspectives important to anyone living in the United States of America. The words Episcopal eschatology S 135

and Episcopalianism mean “having bishops” and sacred scriptures of CHRISTIANITY. Of the 21 epistles refer to the way church governance is centered on in the New Testament, 13 are said to be by the the role of bishops as leaders of dioceses, which apostle PAUL, one by JAMES, two by PETER, three by include all churches in a geographical area. Bish- John, and one by Jude. The Epistle to the Hebrews ops alone can ordain PRIESTS and other ministers. In was attributed to Paul by tradition but does not this and other ways, this church follows traditional actually bear his name and is now believed to be Catholic patterns of organization and worship, by another hand. though it also has a Protestant side emphasizing Many scholars believe that some of the epis- the Bible, preaching, and freedom of individual tles were not written by the attributed apostolic interpretation. author but by admirers or followers of the apostle The Anglican tradition that was to become the writing in his name, a common practice in ancient Episcopal church fi rst came to America in 1607, times. However, the earliest of the epistles, prob- with the establishment of an English colony and ably including those generally recognized as hav- church at Jamestown, Virginia. By the time of the ing been written by Paul himself—those to the Revolutionary War, Anglican churches were found Thessalonians, the Corinthians, the Romans, the throughout the Thirteen Colonies. After the war Galatians, the Philippians, and Philemon—repre- they separated from the Church of England, form- sent the earliest Christian literature, that written ing the Episcopal Church. They were led by bish- closest to the time of Jesus. Only a little later are ops consecrated to that offi ce by bishops of the several other epistles, including Ephesians and Episcopal Church of Scotland, the minority Angli- those attributed to Peter, James, and John. can church there, since relations with the Church However, neither those nor any other of of England were still diffi cult. The Episcopal the epistles contain much about the actual life Church spread west with the new nation, although of Jesus, apart from his death on the CROSS and its greatest numbers have remained on the eastern his RESURRECTION. Their emphasis is basically the seaboard. In 2004 it had nearly two and a half mil- meaning of those events and the way to lead lion members in some 7,400 churches. a Christian life. Later epistles, such as I and II In the late 20th and early 21st centuries Timothy, Titus, II Peter, and Jude, deal more and the Episcopal Church was convulsed by divi- more with sound doctrine and good order in the sive issues. One was whether women should be young churches. ordained to the priesthood. Another centered on Other early Christian epistles, such as those a new, considerably changed edition of the Book of Barnabas, Clement of Rome, and Ignatius of of Common Prayer. Commonly called the Prayer Antioch, were and still are read for inspiration but Book, this book contains the forms of worship are not included in the New Testament. used in church. (Episcopal churches are supposed See also APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE; APOCRYPHA; to follow a set LITURGY and RITUAL.) Both the ordi- NEW TESTAMENT. nation of women and the new Prayer Book were authorized by the church’s General Convention in 1976. Then controversy arose over the ordination eschatology Religious doctrines about the end of homosexuals. Some dissenters left the Episcopal of human life and the end of the world. The word Church because of these issues, but the majority basically means the “study of the last things.” have adapted to change. Religiously, the “last things” can be seen as either See also ANGLICANISM. gloomy, the “twilight of the gods” or descent into an underworld like the Greek Hades or the Hebrew Sheol, or glorious, the RESURRECTION of the body epistles In the NEW TESTAMENT, letters attributed and the new HEAVEN and earth (see AFTERLIFE IN to one of the APOSTLES of JESUS, and included in the WORLD RELIGIONS). Individual eschatology includes 136 S Essenes

beliefs about death, judgment, heaven, HELL, or judgment will be by Jesus CHRIST, who will then REINCARNATION. World eschatology involves the des- come in glory to judge the living and the dead. tiny of the world as a whole: the future coming of MESSIAHS or saviors, the last judgment, the divine HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM destruction and perhaps recreation of Earth as a In the Eastern religions of HINDUISM and BUDDHISM, new paradise. individual eschatology is seen more in terms of KARMA, though its popular scenarios may include HISTORY personal judgment by the lord of the underworld, Idea of world eschatology as we know it probably Yama or Yenlo, and possible perdition to the hells did not begin until people started to think in terms or the realm of GHOSTS, or reward in one of the of historical time, not the cyclical time in which heavens, as well as human or animal reincarna- the world just repeated itself year after year and tion—all for as long as it takes to expend one’s age after age. This realization broadly coincides bad or good karma. World eschatology may be with the invention of writing and the emergence of ultimately within the context of cycles, but may world religions in which GOD or ultimate reality is more immediately include the coming of Kalki, the seen as doing something of immense importance fi nal avatar or divine appearance, or in Buddhism within historical time: giving the law to MOSES, sav- of Maitreya, the future Buddha. In popular lore ing the world in JESUS, showing supreme enlight- Maitreya’s coming realm is often seen as a para- enment in the BUDDHA, delivering the QUR’AN to disal age. New religious movements both East and MUHAMMAD. If God can act to save the world within West frequently have a highly eschatological cast. history, can there not also be a supreme consum- Further reading: S. G. F. Brandon, Man and His mation of history in which its meaning is fulfi lled Destiny in the Great Religions (Toronto: University and revealed, justice is done, and perhaps a new of Toronto Press, 1962); Norman Cohn, Cosmos, and better age begun? World eschatology comes Chaos, and the World to Come (New Haven: Yale from seeing the course of a world as a line, not a University Press, 2001); Mircea Eliade, Death, circle, commencing with creation and ending in a Afterlife, and Eschatology: A Thematic Source Book last judgment or supreme revelation that sums it (New York: Harper & Row, 1974); Wilson LaDue, all up and makes it meaningful. This would be the The Trinity Guide to Eschatology (New York: end of history. Continuum, 2004). WESTERN RELIGIONS This style of world eschatology may well have begun with the ancient Iranian prophet ZARATHUS- Essenes Members of a group of ancient Jew- TRA and his religion ZOROASTRIANISM. He taught that ish ascetic communities. These communities are the world is a battleground between Ahura Mazda, called “ascetic” because their members practiced the Lord of Light, and the principle of EVIL, the Lord rigorous self-denial. They existed from the time of of the Lie, Ahriman. As Ahura Mazda would defeat the Hasmonean revolt (167–164 B.C.E.) to the Jew- Ahriman, the prophet Zarathustra would return, ish wars (66–74 C.E.). all those who had died would be raised in a gen- For centuries the only information on the Ess- eral resurrection, and God would create for them a enes came from ancient writers, such as Philo, new and perfect earth. Ideas highly reminiscent of Josephus, and Pliny the Elder. In the mid-20th cen- these, perhaps infl uenced by Zoroastrianism, are tury a library of scrolls was unearthed at Qumran. found in the three great Western monotheistic reli- These scrolls are known colloquially as the DEAD gions, JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, and ISLAM. In their tra- SEA SCROLLS. Despite some differences in teaching, ditional forms, they emphasize a divine judgment most scholars believe that these scrolls represent of the world on the Last Day; Christianity says the the library of an ancient Essene community. ethics and religion S 137

The Essenes formed ascetic communities to ethics and religion Right behavior in the light which only males could fully belong. On enter- of religion. The word “ethics” means standards or ing the community, an Essene gave up his private norms of behavior expected by a society and justi- property and adopted a way of life that was strictly fi ed by religion or philosophy in such matters as regulated. He gave much attention to maintaining right and wrong, honesty, the legitimacy of certain purity. Sources differ on whether Essenes accepted practices (as in “medical ethics” or “business eth- a RESURRECTION of the body, but they clearly believed ics”), and, in “social ethics,” in respect to what in the immortality of the soul (see SOUL, CONCEPTS a society as a whole should do about issues like OF). They were also famous for being able to pre- poverty or whether war is ever justifi ed. The line dict the future. between ethics and a related term, morality, is fuzzy. Some have tried to connect the Essenes with But today “ethics” is usually taken to refer to the John the Baptist and JESUS. This seems unlikely. If philosophical and religious study of right behavior, the Essenes infl uenced rabbinic JUDAISM and emer- to the ideals of society, of certain professions, and gent CHRISTIANITY, they probably did so indirectly. of individuals in a public context, while “morals” refers more to a personal code of conduct. Any thoughtful ethical system begins with Esther A Jewish woman allegedly married to a view of the universe as a whole within which the Persian emperor Ahasuerus, and a book of the the ethics make sense. One could hold that ethics BIBLE that tells about her. begins with the will of GOD, with “natural law” or According to the book of Esther, Haman, the the way the universe works, or an assessment of vizier of Ahasuerus (Xerxes I, who ruled 485–464 what the results of an action would be, or even with B.C.E.), plotted to destroy the Jews. Esther, whom purely individual choice. Ethical views are divided the emperor did not know was Jewish, and her by philosophers into two types. Deontological eth- cousin Mordecai managed to thwart the plot. On ics are “oughts,” coming from something that is the day appointed for the attack on the Jews, the considered prior or given: the will of God, the laws Jews destroyed their enemies instead. of nature. Teleological or consequentialist ethics The book is not generally regarded as history. are determined on the basis of the consequences It probably derives from the time right before the or results of an action and whether it is good or Hasmonean revolt against the Seleucid Empire bad in the eyes of the person making the decision. (167–164 B.C.E.). It is important today because it A deontologist might say, for example, that killing is the basis for the festival of PURIM. During Purim is always wrong because God has forbidden it, and the book of Esther is read in the SYNAGOGUE with therefore capital punishment or any killing in war light-hearted revelry. is always sinful. Another of the same camp might say it is right if it is a matter of meting out true justice, since establishing justice is always God’s eternity Unending time and a state beyond will too. A consequentialist might respond that it time altogether. In popular usage the word often depends on how much good the capital punish- means days without end, the way the afterlife (see ment would do, or whether the war is a “just war” AFTERLIFE IN WORLD RELIGIONS) in HEAVEN or HELL is and how much benefi t winning it would bring. often popularly understood. But in the philoso- Many religious people would also say that the real phy of religion, eternity is more likely to mean will of God is love or compassion, not simple “do’s a state beyond time and space altogether, as the and don’t’s,” and that different circumstances may state of GOD, NIRVANA, or other ultimate, as infi - call for different ways of exercising love or caring nite, unconditioned reality. The term is also used about the real good of others, and they may range for the state of souls after death, as in entering from indulgence to fi rmness when people need “eternal life.” fi rmness. Another issue is intention: Do we judge 138 S Eucharist

ethics by the good intentions of parties, or only by “Evangelical” comes from the Greek word consequences? for GOSPEL or “good news,” euangelion. It means Thinking about ethics is an important part of “based on the gospel.” religion. Ethics are where the ideals of a religion During the REFORMATION Martin LUTHER and his intersect with the crucial problems of society and followers preferred to call themselves Evangeli- of everyone’s everyday life. Many ethical issues cal rather than Lutheran. Many Lutherans today today, such as abortion, war, public honesty, still use the term, for example, the Evangelical “mercy killing,” and others, are not easy to debate. Lutheran Church in America. Lutherans like this But religions must deal with them or risk being term because they emphasize the “gospel” or irrelevant. “good news” of SALVATION by GRACE through FAITH: that GOD saves people freely if they accept his gift. But in the English language Evangelical Chris- Eucharist The central RITUAL of CHRISTIANITY; tianity generally does not refer to LUTHERANISM. It also known as the Lord’s Supper or Holy Commu- refers to a very different kind of Protestant Chris- nion. The name “Eucharist” comes from the Greek tianity. This form began in England and North verb “to give thanks,” from the traditional PRAYER America during the 18th century. It is associated of the priest in performing the ritual. with a personal experience of conversion, revival JESUS established the Eucharist during his last meetings, and intense missionary activity. Evan- meal with his disciples. He distributed bread and gelical Christianity in this sense was the dominant wine among them and asked them to do likewise in religion in the United States after the Revolution- remembering him. Christians follow these instruc- ary War. tions in different ways. In EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRIS- TIANITY and ROMAN CATHOLICISM, the Eucharist is EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY the focal point of regular WORSHIP: the Holy LITURGY Most Christians believe that God acts in the world and the Mass, respectively. Anabaptist churches— through the Holy Spirit. Evangelical Christianity the MENNONITE, AMISH, and Brethren—celebrate it began from a distinctive view of how the Spirit only twice a year in the context of a communal acts. meal. Not all churches use wine, and some use Orthodox, Catholic, and most Protestant specially made wafers instead of bread. During the churches have traditionally taught that the Spirit Middle Ages it became customary for Roman Cath- acts especially in SACRAMENTS and, for Protestants, olic laypeople to eat only the bread; the wine was in preaching “the Word.” Evangelical Christians reserved for priests. In Orthodox churches, bread taught that the Spirit acts in the human heart. and wine are often taken together. They emphasized a personal, emotionally power- Christians have also differed on—indeed, ful experience of conversion. As a result, they are fought over—what the Eucharist means. For popularly called “born again” Christians. They also example, Roman Catholics believe that the bread taught that after Christians are saved, they should and wine actually become Jesus’s body and strive for “sanctifi cation” and moral perfection. blood. Many Protestants believe that they are One moral demand was extremely important in the only symbols. history of Evangelical Christianity: not drinking alcohol. It led eventually to the legal prohibition of alcohol in the United States from 1920 to 1933. Evangelical Christianity Kind of Protestant John WESLEY (1703–91), who founded the CHRISTIANITY. Evangelical Christianity has been Methodists, played an important role in the rise especially prominent in the United States, while of Evangelical Christianity in England. In the MISSIONARIES have also spread the movement United States, Evangelical Christianity began dur- throughout the world. ing the First Great Awakening. This was a revival evil S 139 movement that swept through the British colonies University Press, 1997); Amy Johnson Frykholm, in North America in the middle 1700s. Until the Rapture Culture (New York: Oxford University middle 1800s all major branches of PROTESTANTISM Press, 2004); Mark A. Noll, American Evangelical in the United States—Methodists, Baptists, Con- Christianity: An Introduction (Oxford: Blackwell, gregationalists, and Presbyterians—were evangeli- 2001). cal. They often stressed patriotism and opposed Catholicism. By the late 1800s Evangelical Christianity had Eve From the Hebrew Hawwah, perhaps related gone from the dominant religion to a religion on to the word for “living”; the name of the mother the outside. Many members of churches that were of all human beings in JUDAISM and in religions once Evangelical became attracted to modern ways it has inspired. In the BIBLE Eve appears in the of looking at the world. In response, Evangelicals second and third chapters of Genesis. There she is insisted that they could tolerate no compromise created from the rib of ADAM as a companion for with the world. It was in this climate that funda- him. It is she who fi rst listens to the serpent and mentalism was born. violates GOD’s command not to eat from the tree of Apart from fundamentalism, Evangelical Chris- knowledge. In punishment, she must bear children tianity remained relatively quiet until after World in pain (see FALL, THE). War Two. At that point evangelical thinkers like Ancient Christians sometimes looked on MARY, the American theologian, Carl F. H. Henry (1913– JESUS’ mother, as a second Eve, just as they looked 2003), tried to formulate a version of evangelical- on Jesus as a second Adam. They also justifi ed the ism that was conservative but not fundamentalist. subordinate position of women by recalling that The popular American preacher, Billy Graham, is Eve was created from Adam and led him into SIN often seen as part of this movement. The strictest (see 1 Timothy 2.11–15). fundamentalists rejected him because he agreed to Another ancient religious complex, GNOSTICISM, associate with more liberal Christians. used the fi gure of Eve differently. Gnostics often By the middle of the 1970s Evangelical Chris- inverted relations in Jewish stories. That happens tianity was again a major force in American life. with Eve in, for example, an ancient book “On the Liberal churches were losing members, but con- Origin of the World.” (Nag Hammadi Codices 2.5). servative churches were growing. “A born-again In that book, Adam is the lifeless creation of EVIL, Christian,” Jimmy Carter, was elected president. dark demigods. Eve is a representative from the Other Protestant churches, such as the Lutheran world of light and life. She sees Adam, pities him, Church-Missouri Synod and the Christian Reformed gives him life, instructs him, and lays the founda- Church, were moving in an Evangelical direction. tion for future SALVATION. At the end of the century Evangelical Chris- tianity became a force in American politics. Its members often, but not always, supported conser- evil That which is bad, yet is. Perhaps the most vative causes. diffi cult problem in religion is the problem of evil. See also FUNDAMENTALISM, CHRISTIAN. If GOD or ultimate reality is good, why is there evil? Evil is serious suffering in mind or body, especially Further reading: Karen Armstrong, The Battle for when the pain is seen as unjust and undeserved. It God (New York: Knopf, 2000); Randall Balmer, is that which is not as we believe it was meant to Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory; A Journey into be and should be: the innocent child upon whom the Evangelical Subculture in America, 3d ed. cruel tortures are imposed, the horrors of war and (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000); Joel plague, any being unable to fulfi ll the life for which A. Carpenter. Revive Us Again: The Reawakening it was born. Evil seems to be deeply ingrained in of American Evangelicalism (New York: Oxford our world, yet because religion wants to look at 140 S evolution and religion

things from a perspective above the world and Religions have also said that some apparent from which to interpret all that transpires in it, it evil is not really such, but has a purpose in evo- must say something about the reasons for evil. lution, in educating persons, or in teaching non- JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, and ISLAM basically see attachment, and so is experienced only by those evil as the result of the disobedience to God of of imperfect spiritual development. Yet the prob- creatures having the free will to obey or not. In lem of evil must undoubtedly be regarded as not some traditional stories, it was fi rst ANGELS, who completely solved. Many people who reject reli- on rebelling against God, then became DEVILS AND gion altogether do so on the grounds of its seeming DEMONS, although the notion of a devil is foreign inability to deal with the problem of evil in a world in Judaism. Then humans, as in the story of ADAM created by a good God. and EVE in the Garden of Eden, succumbed to evil of their own will though they were also tempted by a devil. By bringing in devils and demons as well evolution and religion The ways in which reli- as humans, these stories seem to be saying that not gion relates to evolution. Evolution is the idea that all evil is directly due to human agency. In Chris- life, and sometimes human culture, has developed tianity, there is also evil embedded in nature— from simple to more complex forms. fl oods, droughts, the cruelty of animals. Perhaps Evolution is an old idea. Some ancient phi- it goes back to a cosmic rebellion and “fall” before losophers, such as the Roman poet Lucretius humans came onto the scene. GNOSTICISM, a religion (c. 95–55 B.C.E.), had already written about it. But of the ancient world related to Judaism and Chris- evolution came into its own in Europe and North tianity, thought that our entire world was made America during the 19th century. Two kinds of by a “demiurge” or lower and incompetent god evolution are especially important with regard to with little good will toward humans, who botched religion. One is the theory that life on Earth has the job of fashioning this particular abode of life. evolved over a period of hundreds of millions of SALVATION is out of this world altogether, back to years. Today virtually all reputable scientists—and the Halls of Light from which we ultimately came, a good many religious people—accept this theory. before we were trapped in the demiurge’s mess of The second is the question of whether religion an evil world. itself has evolved. ZOROASTRIANISM adopted a dualistic view, say- The theory of the evolution of life is insepa- ing the world is a battleground between Ahura rable from the name Charles Darwin (1809–82). In Mazda, the Lord of Light, and Ahriman, the source 1859 Darwin published On the Origin of Species. of evil; in one view, these two are eternal prin- It made the theory of evolution unavoidable. Dar- ciples, though Ahura Mazda will eventually pre- win did not actually propose the idea that life had vail in this world. That perspective has probably evolved. Others, such as Jean Baptiste Lamarck infl uenced the other Western religions, as when (1744–1829), had already done that. Nor did Dar- in Christianity the role of SATAN as Prince of Dark- win argue that life evolved from nonliving matter. ness and great adversary of God is emphasized, That idea only came later. What Darwin did was and this world is seen as provisionally his domain. show how evolution could work. He proposed a In the East, evil is basically ascribed to KARMA, or theory of “natural selection.” In his view, forms cause and effect from our thoughts, words, and of life change constantly, if only in minor ways. deeds, and from ignorance, not seeing things as Only the best forms survive. The word “best” here they really are and so not rightly assessing the means best able to compete for resources and results of acts. There is not only individual karma, reproduce. but also group karma, of communities, nations, By the end of the 19th century the theory of the world as a whole, and one may be entangled evolution had been widely accepted by theologians in it as well. as well as by scientists. Exodus S 141

But in the 20th century a backlash against evo- lution arose among some American Protestants. This was fundamentalism (see EVANGELICAL CHRIS- TIANITY, and FUNDAMENTALISM, CHRISTIAN). Besides rejecting evolution, fundamentalists opposed his- torical methods of studying the BIBLE and a move- ment in Christianity that emphasized social reform. In 1925 fundamentalists and scientists squared off in the famous “monkey trial” of John Scopes in Dayton, Tennessee. He was accused of violating the law by teaching evolution in a biology class. In the middle 1970s fundamentalists began demand- ing that public schools in the United States teach “creation science” in addition to evolution. Almost all reputable scientists reject “creation science” as bogus. Unlike the fundamentalists, many have accepted evolution without rejecting traditional religion. Indeed, Darwin himself remained a com- mitted Christian all his life. Some have asserted that science is about facts, while religion is con- cerned with values. This was the position of the German theologian Albrecht Ritschl (1822–89). Others have maintained that biological evolution Charles Darwin (Library of Congress) explains material aspects of human life, but not its mental or spiritual side. This was the position of A. R. Wallace, an associate of Darwin’s, and of Rudolf OTTO, a philosopher of religion. Still oth- After World War I anthropologists rejected all ers, such as the Catholic priest Pierre Teilhard de of these ideas. More important, they rejected the Chardin (1881–1955), have taught that the human attempt to identify a single series of steps through spirit evolves. which religion had evolved into the forms we know During the 19th and early 20th centuries, today. Most English-speaking thinkers have remained some anthropologists, especially in Great Britain, suspicious of the topic of religion’s evolution. debated whether religion itself had evolved. Well before Darwin, the Scottish philosopher David Hume (1711–76) had suggested that all religion had Exodus The central story of the Hebrew BIBLE grown out of POLYTHEISM, the WORSHIP of many gods. and a formative event in the history of JUDAISM. The In the 19th and early 20th centuries some think- root meaning of the word “exodus” is “a going out.” ers claimed that religion began with other forms: During the Exodus, MOSES led the people of Israel the belief in GHOSTS (Herbert Spencer), a “disease out of slavery in Egypt. They wandered through of language” (Friedrich Max Müller), the belief the desert of Sinai for 40 years before entering the in spirits (E. B. Tylor), a powerful, nonpersonal, promised land of Canaan. During this time they electric-like force called mana (R. R. Marett). The entered into a COVENANT with the god who had freed most widely known fi gure may have been James them, YHWH (“the Lord”), at Mt. Sinai. There they George FRAZER. He divided human history into received the TEN COMMANDMENTS and, according to three stages: magic, religion, and science. Jewish tradition, the entire law (see TORAH). 142 S exorcism

The only information about the Exodus comes of JERUSALEM (587 B.C.E.) and words of hope from the Bible; no outside sources confi rm it. Most afterward. His prophecies are remarkable for scholars think that some slaves did escape from their symbolic, visionary quality. Among them Egypt, but they disagree on the details. For exam- are the throne of YHWH (“the Lord”) with its ple, they disagree on how many slaves escaped four living creatures (Ezekiel 1), the valley of and what route they took. They also disagree on dry bones (Ezekiel 37), and the vision of a new the date. Many date the Exodus to around 1250 temple (Ezekiel 40–48). B.C.E. Some prefer to date it earlier, around 1425. The symbolism of Ezekiel’s visions greatly The three major JEWISH FESTIVALS—PASSOVER, infl uenced later APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE, for exam- Shavuot, and Sukkot—commemorate the major ple, the New Testament book of REVELATION. events of the Exodus.

Ezra (586–539 B.C.E.) a priest important in exorcism The driving out of evil spirits by shaping JUDAISM in the period after the Babylo- religious means. A particular place, or a person, nian exile and the name of one biblical and two believed to be “possessed” by DEVILS AND DEMONS, apocryphal books According to the BIBLE, Ezra may be exorcised. In PRIMAL RELIGION, exorcism the priest went from Babylon to Judah in the is frequently a part of WITCHCRAFT and MAGIC. It is seventh year of King Artaxerxes. There were two practiced in Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, and Islamic kings with this name and opinions vary on which contexts, typically by specialist priests or lay sha- Artaxerxes is meant. Ezra’s arrival would date mans rather than by the regular clergy. In the either 458 or 398 B.C.E. NEW TESTAMENT, JESUS is described as casting out In Judah, Ezra opposed what struck him as demons, and saying that his doing so was a sign of the lax practices of the Jews, including intermar- the coming of the kingdom of HEAVEN. Accordingly, riage with non-Jews. He convinced Jewish men to the Christian church has generally had a place for divorce their non-Jewish wives; he organized Jew- the practice of exorcism, though it has not always ish life in accordance with the instructions given in been much emphasized. The Roman Catholic the TORAH; and he conducted a ceremony of dedica- Church has an exorcism RITUAL, which may be per- tion in which the Torah was read. Some think that formed by priests authorized to do so. In EVANGELI- he was acting as an offi cial of the Persian state. CAL CHRISTIANITY, FUNDAMENTALIST CHRISTIANITY (see Nevertheless, his activity exercised a profound FUNDAMENTALISM, CHRISTIAN), and PENTECOSTALISM, infl uence on the formation of Judaism. As a result, exorcism is sometimes done with scripture read- some call him the “father of Judaism.” He is also ing, intense prayer, and the laying on of hands. seen as a second MOSES, who would have received The exorcism of a possessed person is reportedly the Torah if Moses had not already done so. a very diffi cult and grueling engagement, both for At least three different ancient books go by the the exorcist and for the subject. Often, as in Jesus’ name Ezra. The biblical book of Ezra-Nehemiah own driving out of demons, exorcism is thought to continues the history told in the books of Chroni- be a prelude to spiritual HEALING. cles. It recounts in detail Ezra’s reforms and NEHE- MIAH’s building activities. The apocryphal book known as 1 Esdras (Latin for Ezra) in effect sum- Ezekiel (sixth century B.C.E.) A priest who marizes—with changes—most of Ezra-Nehemiah authored one of the prophetic books of the Hebrew as well as the end of Chronicles. The Book of 2 BIBLE, also named Ezekiel Ezekiel uttered Esdras is probably a Jewish apocalypse (see APOCA- both words of warning before the destruction LYPTIC LITERATURE) with a later Christian overlay. . F ,

fairies In traditional folklore, nonhuman, quasi- and make faith characteristic of JUDAISM, ISLAM, and supernatural but not divine beings who dwell on especially CHRISTIANITY. They stress ways in which this planet. Fairies, elves, gnomes, dwarfs, brown- what appears to be faith in other religions differs ies, trolls, and pixies are familiar names. While from the faith that characterizes Judaism, Chris- not strictly religious, belief in fairies is interesting tianity, and Islam. Others acknowledge these dif- and important for showing that the sense of won- ferences but argue that the religious elements of der that is one source of religion can have other other beliefs still count as faith. They think that manifestations than the reverence of GOD alone. the others have simply defi ned faith too narrowly. In some religious mythologies, one fi nds not only The paragraphs that follow use illustrations HEAVENS above and HELLS beneath, but also “hori- from various religions, not just Judaism, Christian- zontal” wonderlands somewhere on our plane. For ity, and Islam. Readers should realize that these example, Avalon, the Isles of the Blessed, and the illustrations offer rough approximations that not Eastern grottoes of immortals, are comparable to everyone would accept. Fairyland. VARIETIES OF FAITH Faith has different shades of meaning in religion. In faith The state of mind by which religious some contexts it means chiefl y fi delity, the ongo- people are able inwardly to accept and act on the ing loyalty of worshippers to GOD and of God to teachings of a religion. Faith is called for especially humanity even when all seems darkest. It is thus when there are few outward proofs that a religion really a kind of inner stability of character and is true. In the most famous defi nition of faith, that predictability of action. Muslims may express this of the Epistle to the Hebrews in the Christian NEW attitude in part when they profess their faith in the TESTAMENT, it is “the assurance of things hoped for, words of the shahadah: “I profess that there is no the conviction of things not seen.” God but God (ALLAH), and that MUHAMMAD is his Messenger.” This is certainly the attitude displayed IS FAITH FOUND IN ALL RELIGIONS? in the BIBLE by JOB. In the 1950s a professor at Harvard, Wilfred In ROMAN CATHOLICISM faith fi rst of all means Cantwell Smith (1916–2000), made a suggestion acknowledging the truths of the religion, which that extended this usage of the word “faith.” He are contained in the established DOGMAS AND DOC- said that instead of talking about religions scholars TRINES. The most basic expressions of these truths should talk about faith and cumulative traditions. are the CREEDS. Such teachings may be arrived at in Both common usage and Smith’s suggestion imply part by reason rather than simple acceptance. Prot- that faith is found in many, if not all, religions. estants, too, especially Protestant laypeople, some- Actually, scholars disagree about whether most times think of faith as believing in propositions, for religions involve faith. Some take a narrow view example, that the Bible contains no errors.

143 S 144 S faith

Many Protestant theologians stress that faith ing. Therefore, even reason requires some kind is not so much saying one believes certain “propo- of faith, namely, faith in the propositions from sitions” but rather an attitude of dependence and which it begins. A medieval Christian theologian, trust in God, especially as revealed in CHRIST. It is ANSELM of Canterbury (c. 1033–1109), summarized therefore an inward attitude and perhaps emotional this view with the phrase credo ut intelligam, “I disposition as much as an intellectual framework, believe, in order that I may understand.” though it may include the latter. A similar kind of A third position is possible. This is the posi- faith seems to be found in HINDUISM, for example, tion that faith and reason belong to two different when KRISHNA tells Arjuna toward the end of the domains. In this view the question of faith and BH AGAVA D -GITA, “Abandon all DHARMA; trust only reason mistakenly adopts an “intellectualist” view in me; I will free you from all evils; do not fear” of faith. It sees the content of faith as a series of (18.66). Consider, too, the trust that some adher- propositions about which reason can pass judg- ents of PURE LAND BUDDHISM place in the “original ment. In a different view of faith—for example, if vow” of the BUDDHA AMIDA and that followers of faith is seen as an attitude of trust—the question NICHIREN have in the LOTUS SUTRA or simply in the may disappear. power of chanting the praise of the Lotus Sutra in Others, however, fi nd this position too simple. the phrase “Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.” Faith may be an attitude of trust in God, but that Some believe that faith excludes doubt, but not attitude entails holding to some claims, like the all agree. The theologian Paul Tillich (1886–1965) claim that God exists. Some who take this view regarded faith as an openness toward an ultimate fi nd a tension between faith and reason. Indeed, reality wholly beyond one’s understanding. For they celebrate the tension and urge religious peo- him, even honest doubt was a form of faith. Some ple to have faith despite the absurdity of what one modern Buddhist teachers have presented faith believes or even, in extreme cases, because of the as simply a willingness to take, say, the Buddha’s absurdity. FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS as a “working hypothesis,” the fi nal truth or falsity of which will be determined WHERE DOES FAITH COME FROM? not in theory but in practice. Faith may be derived in various ways. Inner psy- FAITH AND REASON chological dynamics may push a person toward one or another religious system. It may come out Philosophers, especially Western philosophers of experience, whether of a mystical or conver- infl uenced by Christianity, have often pondered sion sort, or just an experience of life problems the relation of faith and reason. They have not that point toward a certain religion as the answer. come to any agreement. WORSHIP and living in a “community of faith” can One position suggests that faith completes rea- incline a person to want to share in that faith and son. This view was popular with medieval thinkers make it his or her own. such as Thomas AQUINAS. Some truths, these think- According to the QUR’AN, as well as many ers believe, can be established by reason, such as Christians, faith is a gift of God. For others, faith the existence of God, but that is not all the truth requires at some point making a “leap” and affi rm- there is. Faith completes reason with the views ing things beyond reason and sight alone. A faith that, for example, God is a TRINITY and JESUS was commitment thus becomes a choice freely and God. fully given. Some would say making such a choice Another position asserts just the opposite about one’s life is the whole point of faith, as it is view, that faith comes not after but before reason. of religion. That is, all reasoning starts from assumptions, propositions that the reasoner assumes to be true. Further reading: James W. Fowler, Stages of Faith: Without those assumptions, reasons can do noth- The Psychology of Human Development (San family and religion, the S 145

Francisco: Harper & Row, 1981); Paul Helm, ed., pent with SATAN. They told different versions of a Faith and Reason, Oxford Readers (New York: story in which Satan was a fallen ANGEL. Muslims Oxford University Press, 1999); Sharon Salzberg, also told how Adam and Eve quarreled after the Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience Fall and how God reconciled them at the Mount of (New York: Riverhead Books, 2002); Paul Tillich, Mercy in the sacred area around MECCA. Dynamics of Faith (New York: HarperPerennial, The story of the Fall is especially signifi cant 2001). in CHRISTIANITY. Traditional Christians see it as the event that made it necessary for JESUS to become incarnate and die on the cross. In the NEW TES- Fall, the A story told by Jews, Muslims, and espe- TAMENT PAUL develops these ideas most fully. He cially Christians. It explains why human beings no makes Jesus into the second or new Adam, who longer live in paradise close to GOD. undoes what the fi rst or old Adam had done. Later, Religious people have told many different under the infl uence of Paul, AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO stories to explain why the world we live in is not formulated the idea of original SIN. In this view sin everything we might wish for. According to several is not an act done against God’s will; it is a state stories told in ancient Mesopotamia, the gods cre- of life that began with the Fall. Because of the Fall, ated human beings to do the work they themselves all human beings live in sin from the moment they did not want do (see M ESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS). Other are conceived. Augustine’s views later became the peoples have told stories about successive ages in basis for John CALVIN’s notion that after the Fall, which the world gets progressively worse and we, human beings live in a state of utter depravity. unfortunately, are living in the last age. Examples That is, without GRACE they are unable to do what of this kind of story are Hesiod’s account of the pleases God. fi ve ages of the world, gold, silver, bronze, heroic, Not all of those who have told the story of the and iron; stories in India of the four yugas; and Fall of Adam and Eve have seen it as something the Japanese Buddhist notion of MAPPO. According negative. Many Gnostics believed that the god of to Gnostics and Manichaeans, the universe and the Jews who created the world as an evil, deluded people came into being when light and goodness being. For them the central religious problem was somehow became mixed with darkness and EVIL. ignorance; knowledge was the means to SALVATION. In this view, it is not the fall but creation itself that Salvation began when Eve violated the commands disturbs the original ideal state (see GNOSTICISM and of the evil creator and ate from the tree of knowl- MANICHAEISM). edge. Thus, what Jews, Christians, and Muslims The Hebrew BIBLE records another story, the see as the fi rst transgression was, for Gnostics, the story of the Fall. According to Christian interpreta- beginning of salvation. tion, it tells how the serpent tempted the mother of all people, EVE. The god YHWH (“the Lord”) had forbidden ADAM and Eve to eat from two trees, the family and religion, the Religiously, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good fundamental and most sacred natural unit of and evil. The serpent convinced Eve to eat from society. “Family” is an elastic term that can be the tree of knowledge. She did, and then tempted construed in at least two ways: as the “nuclear” Adam to do so, too. As a result, God expelled family, consisting of a father, a mother, and their Adam and Eve from the garden. He cursed Eve to immediate children; and as the “extended” fam- bear children in pain, and he cursed Adam to till ily, including grandparents, aunts, uncle, cous- the ground with diffi culty. Death was also a result ins, and all other relatives regularly involved of the Fall. with each other or, in some religious traditions, Later folklore elaborated this story. Jews, people sharing common ancestral shrines. There Christians, and Muslims came to identify the ser- are also single-parent families and same-sex 146 S fasting

families. Father-mother-child may be seen as an fasting Giving up eating or drinking or both. analogy or model of creation: the sky-father, the Eating and drinking are simple biological acts that earth-mother, the fruits of the earth and above all human beings generally do every day. Most reli- humanity as their children. The extended family, gions have found it useful to order and regulate moreover, may be seen as an image of the ideal them. They have told people what they may and organization of society, with the sacred king as may not eat or drink. the father of all. A religion’s dietary laws do this. They make Family structures vary, of course. In traditional restrictions that are permanent (see DIET AND RELI- societies, they may be patriarchal, ruled by the GION). Fasting imposes restrictions, too, but it father; matriarchal, ruled by the mother; patrilo- makes restrictions that are temporary. A fast may cal, with the bride dwelling in her husband’s fam- involve only specifi c items, or it may be total. In ily home; matrilocal, when the husband moves any case, fasting is a particularly pointed way to into his wife’s family home; polygamous (several involve one’s body in religious observance. It may wives for one man) or polyandrous (with several also be used to evoke mental events that occur husbands for one woman). In each case, HEAVEN when someone is deprived of food and drink. may be considered to be set up in something like When people fast, how long they fast, who the same way. The most common arrangement in fasts, what they give up in fasting, and why they traditional societies, however, is patriarchy. It may are fasting—these are questions that religions be a refl ection of the belief that GOD above is also a answer very differently. supreme father. Patriarchy may also be evidenced Some fasts are short; others are long. On the in careful attention to the shrines of male ances- DAY OF ATONEMENT, observant Jews fast from one tors, as in Confucian China, where it is seen as an sunset to the next (see JUDAISM). Catholic, Ortho- extension beyond the grave of “fi lial piety,” or the dox, and some Protestant Christians have tradi- obligation of children to parents (see CONFUCIANISM tionally fasted during the 40-day period before and CHINA, RELIGIONS OF). EASTER known as LENT. Muslims fast from sunrise Religious mythology involving family images to sunset for the entire month of RAMADAN (see is not restricted to the highest deity, however. As ISLAM). BAHA’IS fast in the same way for an entire we have seen, the earth is frequently portrayed as month, but the Baha’i month is only 19 days long. a mother. Siblings are also frequently important. Fasts may take place before life-cycle RITUALS. For Sometimes the primal parents of humanity are example, some Native Americans fast before seek- presented as twin brother and sister. On the other ing a VISION. Fasts may also take place before ritu- hand, two brothers may be rivals, like Cain and als performed for HEALING and renewal. Orthodox Abel in the Hebrew scriptures. Christians fast before receiving the EUCHARIST. The family is important as a center for reli- Some fasts involve the entire community: gious RITUALS, with a household ALTAR as an impor- the Day of Atonement, Lent, Ramadan. But even tant place for DEVOTION. Among devout Hindus, the here there may be exceptions. For example, those most important offerings are really those made in for whom the Ramadan fast may present diffi - the home, where food offerings are prepared by culties—the elderly, the sick, the very young, the wife and the husband acts as chief priest. In pregnant women, travelers—are not supposed JUDAISM, celebration of the Sabbath in the home, to fast. Other fasts involve small groups, for with Sabbath PRAYERS and meal, is a primary obli- example, those who will participate in an indig- gation. Most festivals of all religions, like CHRISTMAS enous American sweat lodge or Orthodox Chris- for Christians, have important home components. tians who will receive the eucharist at a particu- And most religions emphasize the importance of lar service. Still others may be entirely private. good, loving, and devout family life for all who are Hindu women often take personal vows that may set in families. involve fasting. feminism S 147

At the maximum, fasting involves total absten- The Woman’s Bible (1895). Beginning in the 1960s tion from food and drink. On the Day of Atone- many feminists turned sustained attention to ment observant Jews do not eat, drink, or smoke religion. Since then, they have studied women’s for 25 to 26 hours. Certain Jain SAINTS give up eat- contributions to religion. They have also sought ing and drinking as a way to bring on death (see to reformulate traditional religions or to develop JAINISM). But many fasts are partial. For example, it religions of their own. In addition, feminists who was once common for Roman Catholics not to eat have identifi ed themselves with religious commu- meat on Friday. nities have played prominent roles in working for The reasons people fast are as numerous as women’s rights. the reasons people practice religion. In ancient Greece, people fasted to get ready to be initiated WOMEN’S CONTRIBUTIONS TO RELIGION into secret cults known as “mysteries” (see MYSTERY In the past scholars often overlooked the contribu- RELIGIONS). Some people fast to purify their bodies tions that women made to religions. That still hap- or control their appetites and desires. The fast on pens today, but as a result of feminism women’s the Day of Atonement is part of a ritual asking for contributions have received more attention. Early GOD’s forgiveness. Jains fast in order to stop the feminist scholars who helped draw attention to accumulation of bad KARMA. Some people fast to women’s contributions include Marija Gimbutas acquire spiritual merit and benefi ts; for example, (1921–94), who specialized in the goddesses of a Hindu woman may fast to have the same hus- Old Europe; Judith Plaskow (b. 1947), a scholar of band in her next life. Christians fast at Lent as JUDAISM, and Rosemary Radford-Ruether (b. 1936), a reminder of their SINS. The Ramadan fast com- a scholar of the NEW TESTAMENT. memorates important events in early Islam. It also As a result of feminism, scholars have begun helps Muslims develop sympathy for the less fortu- to appreciate the important role of GODDESSES in nate, for whom fasting is a way of life. religions, such as the village goddesses so preva- In the 20th century, Mohandas GANDHI made lent in ordinary HINDUISM. They have come to rec- special use of fasting. He said that he fasted to ognize that male gods traditionally have feminine learn to control his senses and to atone for the sins dimensions, too, such as the Presence and Wis- of his followers. But his fasts were also very effec- dom of God personifi ed as feminine in the Hebrew tive political tools. In the time since Gandhi, many scriptures (e.g., Proverbs 1:20–33, 8:1–9:6) (see others have gone on hunger strikes to bring issues SCRIPTURES, HEBREW). of injustice to public attention. In addition, recent research has revealed that, even if JESUS, MUHAMMAD, and the BUDDHA were men, women played formative roles in the early feminism A way of thinking prominent in the years of CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM, and BUDDHISM. In some second half of the 20th and beginning of the 21st religious contexts, women are important leaders, centuries, concerned with overcoming the subordi- such as the female SHAMANS of Japan and Korea. nate position that women have often occupied in Women have made important contributions even societies. Feminism has been important in religions to heavily patriarchal religions. For example, many themselves as well as in the study of religions. In women in medieval Europe produced inspiring many respects, North American and European reports of their powerful mystical experiences. A feminists have taken the lead, but feminists have good example is Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179), been active in most parts of the globe. who is also prominent in the history of music. In the 19th century, feminists addressed such Feminists not only have drawn attention to issues as voting rights and access to education. prominent women but also have shown how At times they also addressed issues of religion, as important it is to pay attention, too, to the religious when Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902) edited lives of ordinary women, who make up a sizable 148 S feminism

proportion of almost every religion. Indeed, some include Elizabeth Schüssler-Fiorenza (b. 1938), a practices, such as the observance of vrats or vows Christian theologian, and Rita Gross (b. 1943), a in Hinduism and the experience of God in PENTE- well-known Buddhist feminist in North America. COSTALISM, have tended to be more characteristic of Feminists fi nd the issue of authority in reli- women than of men. gious communities extremely important. They have Feminists have also called attention to the ways worked hard to open up leadership roles to women in which religion contributes to women’s subor- that had once been reserved for men. As a result, dination and oppression. Some myths, including the Episcopalian church now ordains women as stories from the BIBLE, subtly or blatantly consign bishops and priests (see ANGLICANISM and EPISCO- women to subordinate positions. The same is true PALIANISM), and so do most mainline Protestant of many stories told by early Buddhists. Women churches. Reform Judaism became the fi rst branch have suffered from rituals as well, such as SATI of Judaism to ordain women to the rabbinate (see (widow burning) in traditional Hinduism and clito- RABBI, RABBINATE). In Buddhism monks seem always ridectomy (female CIRCUMCISION, also called genital to have had the predominant role, and in many mutilation) in many initiation rites (see INITIATION, parts of the Buddhist world the order of nuns had RELIGIOUS); many believe that these rituals violate disappeared. But as a result of the efforts of femi- the authentic teachings of their religions. Feminists nists, some Buddhists have sought to reestablish disagree, however, about the oppressive nature of the order of nuns. some practices, such as the wearing of head cover- Some groups, however, have resisted efforts to ings by Muslim women. open up leadership roles to women. At the begin- Scholars of religion have not accepted all ideas ning of the 21st century, only men can be priests associated with feminism. At the beginning of the in ROMAN CATHOLICISM and EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRIS- 20th century, the British scholar Jane Ellen Harri- TIANITY. There was a similar preference for male son hypothesized that before the patriarchal soci- leadership in most Evangelical, fundamentalist, ety of classical Greece, matriarchy prevailed. Many and Pentecostal churches worldwide, as well as in have found this idea attractive, but no unam- Orthodox Judaism and Islam. biguous case of matriarchy has ever been found. Many feminists fi nd the teachings of tradi- Feminists have also at times contrasted male tional religions unsatisfactory because they are too with female approaches to knowledge, including “androcentric,” that is, male-centered. Some have knowledge about religions. Some feminists have responded by trying to reformulate traditions. In one suggested that while males speak with authority important move, feminists have inspired scholars to as experts, telling others what to think, females examine the text of the Bible more carefully. Older emphasize dialogue and sharing in a manner that translations often use androcentric terminology avoids hierarchy and preserves a plurality of view- even when it violates the sense of the original texts. points. The second approach has much to recom- As a result, some newer translations, such as the mend it, but identifying these two approaches as New Revised Standard Version, use inclusive lan- male and female is a case of gender essentialism. guage. Feminists have also reformulated standard That is, it falsely presumes that all males or all doctrines and prayers, such as the LORD’S PRAYER, females share certain essential characteristics in to eliminate their androcentric focus. In 1995 the their approach to knowledge. UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST became the fi rst church in North America to produce a hymnal whose lan- CHANGING RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES guage was neutral with regard to gender. Over the last 50 years feminists have not only Feminists have inspired reformulations of changed the way people study religion. They have other traditions, too. Women have become much also changed the way people practice religion. more important as teachers in North American Prominent scholars at the forefront of such changes Buddhism than they have ever been in Asia. This feminism S 149

role has resulted in some changes. For example, feminist positions. Latina and African-American some women trained in Zen have sought to elimi- women have often felt that feminism was a move- nate male-oriented, martial elements that Zen prac- ment of white, privileged women. Its goals, such tice acquired in Japan (see ZEN BUDDHISM). For their as having more women become Chief Executive part, many Muslim feminists have grappled with Offi cers of companies, had little to do with the the meaning of the QUR’AN. They have claimed that lives that Latina and African-American women many of the traditional teachings that favor men were living. As a result, Latina women developed result from faulty interpretations of the Qur’an. a kind of thinking they call mujerista. From this Not all feminists are convinced that traditional perspective, they have, for example, criticized the religions can be saved from their patriarchal pasts. male-centered aspirations of people working for They have formulated their own rituals, beliefs, the benefi t of the Latino/Latina community. Simi- and communities. They often see themselves as larly, African-American women have developed a recovering a primal tradition of goddess worship variety of feminism known as “womanism.” that had been lost or suppressed. In North Amer- Feminist movements are found around the ica and Europe this desire has inspired the devel- world today. Their visions of women’s empower- opment of communities dedicated to Wicca. In ment often change from context to context. For Africa, too, some women have sought relief from example, many Protestant and Jewish feminists in male-dominated Christianity and Islam by recover- North America see abortion as an important right; ing native traditions. it is part of the struggle for women to gain control of their own bodies. In India, however, feminists WORKING FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS generally oppose abortion, because there people Many feminists working for women’s rights derive generally use abortion to get rid of unwanted their primary inspiration from their religious iden- female children before they are born. Feminists in tity. Their identities and goals vary widely. Here it the non-Western world sometimes feel that North is possible only to give examples. American and European feminists have little Some people distinguish three kinds of Roman understanding of the situations in which women Catholic feminism in North America. Reconstruc- elsewhere live but nevertheless try to dictate what tive feminism seeks to change offi cial teachings all women’s concerns should be. of the Catholic Church; it has been particularly interested in the church’s teachings on sexual- CRITICS OF FEMINISM ity and birth control. Moderate feminism takes Traditionalists within the various religions have less notice of teachings on sexuality; it seeks to often dismissed and condemned feminism. Conser- empower women within the Catholic Church, vative religious leaders in North America, Protes- making them responsible, independent members tants, Catholics, and Jews, have often viewed femi- of the church. Holistic feminism rejects what it nism as a threat to the divinely ordained orders of sees as the tendencies of the more radical femi- society. In many traditions, the aspirations of some nism of the 1970s to reject experiences that stand feminists have confl icted radically with the values at the center of many women’s lives. It empha- of conservative religious people over the issue of sizes women’s rights, but it also recognizes and abortion. respects the fulfi llment many women fi nd in the There has been opposition to feminism on a traditional roles of wife and mother. Unlike recon- global scale, too. For example, at the UN World structive and moderate feminism, holistic femi- Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995, the nism has little to say against the male-dominated Vatican, together with several Catholic countries structures of the church. (Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, Holistic feminism is not the only form of and the Philippines) allied with several Muslim feminism that has arisen as a reaction to earlier countries (Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, and Sudan) 150 S feng shui

to oppose feminist initiatives that violated their structure relates to land and water features that religious convictions. Catholic and Muslim cooper- surround it. A southern exposure is often consid- ation on these issues has continued into the early ered best. A hill or other natural feature should part of the 21st century. protect the site from behind, while a source of water should fl ow toward, but not directly at, the CONCLUSION front of the structure. In the 1990s and early 2000s the word “feminism” In addition, feng shui practitioners analyze acquired a bad reputation among some women. both the outside and the inside of structures. To do Although they actually supported many of femi- so, they use a compass based on traditional Chi- nism’s goals, they began to distance themselves nese ideas about the universe as well as sacred from the label. Still, feminism has changed the squares consisting of three rows and three col- lives of women around the globe, and it promises umns of numbers. These instruments as well as to continue to do so. other principles help determine ideal positions for parts of buildings such as doorways, hallways, liv- Further reading: Nancy Auer Falk and Rita M. ing rooms, sleeping rooms, bathrooms, and kitch- Gross, eds., Unspoken Worlds: Women’s Religious ens. For example, according to feng shui it is best Lives, 3d ed. (Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth/ to avoid front and back doors that are connected Thomson Learning, 2001); Jane H. Bayes and by a single hallway. Such a confi guration allows Nayereh Tohidi, eds., Globalization, Gender, and whatever benefi cial energy that fl ows into the Religion: The Politics of Women’s Rights in Catholic house through the front door to escape immedi- and Muslim Contexts (New York: Palgrave, 2001). ately out the back. Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, In Memory of Her: People may consult feng shui practitioners A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian while they are designing and building a structure, Origins, 2d ed. (London: SCM, 1995); Rita M. but they may also consult them while the structure Gross, Buddhism after Patriarchy: A Feminist is being used. If practitioners fi nd problems, they History, Analysis, and Reconstruction of Buddhism may propose remedies. One example is to place a (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993); mirror at a certain spot to counter ill effects. Judith Plaskow, Standing Again At Zion: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1990). fi re and religion The religious use and sym- bolism of fi re. Fire is one of the most important symbols in religion. Its light, purity, and energy feng shui Traditional Chinese art of situating suggest GOD, the soul, or newness of life, while on and designing the exteriors and interiors of build- the other hand, its destructive power indicates the ings. Feng shui has sometimes been called the burning wrath of God against EVIL, and the way all Chinese art of geomancy, “earth measuring.” The that comes into being in this world will go out of words literally mean “wind and water.” The main being and be destroyed in the end. goal is to order dwelling spaces in such a way that In the ancient Hebrew religion, fi re was used the inhabitants are exposed to benefi cial energies to burn whole offerings, suggesting the utter purity but protected from harmful ones. The dwelling and dedication of the sacrifi ce. Perpetual fi re was spaces can be either for human beings or for spir- kept burning in the temple in JERUSALEM, as it is in its. In other words, Chinese have used feng shui Zoroastrian temples and was by the Vestal Virgins to situate and design tombs as well as houses and of Rome (see ZOROASTRIANISM and ROMAN RELIGION). other structures. A principal deity of Vedic India was AGNI, the fi re The principles of feng shui are very com- god, for SACRIFICES were offered to him, and he in plicated. The most basic aspect concerns how a turn was the “messenger” to the gods who car- fl ood stories S 151

ried their essence to other realms (see VEDA). Cor- The Jewish Sabbath begins with the lighting of responding to fi re on Earth was the lightning in special candles, customarily by the women of the the sky and the sun in HEAVEN; Agni went between house. Fire in the world of religion takes as many those levels, and the sacrifi cial fi re on Earth was forms, and has almost as many meanings, as does believed to correspond to the processes of eternal fi re itself. creation and destruction. In HINDUISM, the bodies of the deceased are generally burned, returning them to the elements fl ood stories Also called the deluge; in mythol- and making them part of that process. In its purely ogy, a fl ood that covered the entire Earth and terrible and destructive aspect, fl ames are the destroyed almost all human beings. Although substance of HELL—the “Lake of Fire”—eternally extensive, localized fl oods have occurred, there is punishing the wicked, though in Roman Catho- no evidence for any worldwide fl ood. lic tradition the fi res of Purgatory have the more The fl ood story best known to most North benign though also painful role of purging away Americans and Europeans is the one told in the the impurity of SIN from those who do not deserve BIBLE (Genesis 6–9). In this story, GOD wishes to hell but are not yet ready for heaven. Fire has also destroy human beings because of their SINS. He symbolized life and the immortal spark that is decides, however, to save NOAH and his family. On the soul. Buddhist literature has used the image God’s instructions, Noah builds an ark in which of passing the torch, or lighting one fl ame from he, his family, and representative animals ride out another fl ame, to indicate the process of REINCAR- the fl ood. NATION. Statues of the BUDDHA sometimes show The biblical story appears to be part of a him with a fl ame above his head, pointing to his large, older tradition of fl ood stories that derive enlightenment. The Hindu UPANISHADS use the met- from Mesopotamian mythology (see MESOPOTA- aphor of a single fl ame that takes many different MIAN RELIGIONS). The story of GILGAMESH was put shapes to suggest how BRAHMAN, the One, assumes into fi nal form around 2000 B.C.E. In it, King Gil- the form of all the different entities in the universe. gamesh visits the two human beings who survived In the book of Acts in the NEW TESTAMENT it is said the fl ood, Utnapishtim and his wife. They have that the Holy Spirit descended on the APOSTLES as become immortal, and Gilgamesh wants to learn “tongues of fl ame,” making fi re an embodiment of how he can become immortal, too. Another Meso- spiritual wisdom and power at the same time, even potamian story, the story of Atrahasis (1600 B.C.E. as JESUS had said he would baptize with fi re. or earlier), tells a different account of the fl ood. Fire has also been employed as an instrument Indeed, it parallels Genesis closely. Human beings of divine HEALING. The ancient Celts would herd were making too much noise. After trying several cattle between two fi res, in the belief that this other remedies, the gods, led by Enlil, decided to would help preserve them from disease (see CELTIC destroy them with a universal fl ood. But the crafty RELIGION). It can be a guide, especially to the other god Enki told his faithful worshipper, Atrahasis, to world, as Agni guided the dead to heaven; and it build an ark. In it, Atrahasis, his family, and repre- can bring the dead back to life like the Phoenix sentative animals were saved. reborn out of his ashes. Finally, fi re, especially in Greek mythology knew a similar fl ood story. the form of soft and quiet candlelight, is widely Because of human wickedness, ZEUS sent a fl ood used to indicate and hallow sacred places. Candles to destroy the Earth. Deucalion and Pyrrha were are frequently burned before Christian and other saved in an ark; to repopulate the Earth they cast shrines as offerings and to demarcate their holi- stones, which turned into people. The mythology ness. Candles are found on the ALTARS of many of India knows a similar story, too. There the god churches, and lighting them is a preliminary mark- VISHNU takes the form of a great fi sh that pulls ing the beginning of the sacred time of a service. MANU, the ancestor of humankind, to safety on 152 S fl ood stories

Animals loading two-by-two into Noah’s ark (Library of Congress) folk religion S 153

a raft. Unlike the versions already recounted, in modern world many of its characteristics can be the Indian version no woman is saved. As a result, found among working-class and other ordinary Manu must fi rst create a daughter, Ila. With her he people in urban societies. Here it is often called repopulates the Earth. popular religion. It seems likely that the Greek story derives Two fundamental features of folk religion are, from Mesopotamian roots. It is more doubtful that fi rst, that it is primarily “cosmic” rather than his- the Indian story does. Indian mythology tells of torical in perspective, and second, that it is chiefl y several successive universes that are each over- passed on orally, through the words and examples whelmed by primal waters. But fl ood stories are of family, community members, and local-level certainly not limited to the region stretching from spiritual leaders, whether shamans, evangelists, Greece to India and through the Near East. Indeed, priests, or others. they are found on almost every continent. Cosmic orientation means that folk religionists For example, the Maya people of Mesoamerica generally have little sense of history beyond living (see MAYA RELIGION) tell an EPIC story known as the memory save as it is encoded in myth, but think Popol Vuh. It begins with successive attempts to more of how religion fi ts into their seasonal cycles create human beings. In one attempt the creators and local geography. If they are agriculturists, fes- fashion manikins. These prove unsatisfactory and tivals of planting and harvest are important. For all are destroyed by a fl ood. The Aztec Legend of the people in temperate climates spring and midwinter Suns (see AZTEC RELIGION) talks not about succes- celebrations are very common. Even if the people sive attempts to create human beings but about offi cially belong to a religion with a historical ori- successive suns or universes. During the fourth entation, like JUDAISM or CHRISTIANITY, the seasonal sun, called 4 Water, people lived 676 years. Then a aspects of festivals with a theoretically historical sudden fl ood rushed upon them, destroying their origin, like PASSOVER, CHRISTMAS, Mardi Gras, and world and changing them into fi sh. CARNIVAL, or EASTER, and the timeless aspects of the Some people take fl ood stories as history. Oth- occasion, are likely to become central in practice. ers take the view that the stories were written to (This is why the snow and Santa Claus features of convey religious messages. Their concern is to Christmas, and the rabbit and spring elements of identify what those messages are. For some, such Easter—a Christian holiday named after an Anglo- as the scholar Mircea ELIADE, fl ood stories fi t a uni- Saxon GODDESS of spring—are so prominent in folk versal mythological model. Water is both chaotic or popular Christianity.) The geographical bear- and creative. The fl ood represents a reversion to ing of folk religion is perhaps more pronounced in the primal chaos, but also the possibility that a some traditions than others; it means a tendency new, fresh, pure creation will emerge. Rather than toward venerated holy places, like sacred moun- fi t every myth into a single stereotype, it seems tains, trees, waterfalls, shrines, and PILGRIMAGE better to take each myth on its own terms and use places that are accessible to ordinary people—like more general interpretations only to the extent that Mount Fuji in Japan or the famous grotto at the the specifi c cultural context supports them. shrine of the Blessed Virgin MARY at Lourdes in France. A related characteristic of folk and popular folk religion The religious life of ordinary peo- religion is emphasis on religious marking of the ple who are not primarily oriented toward their individual’s life cycle. BAPTISMS, confi rmations, religion as it is presented by its formal history, but BAR/BAT MITZVAHS, weddings, childbirths, personal who know and practice it as it is communicated SAINTS’ days, and funerals, or the equivalents in and performed on family, village, or popular lev- various traditions, are likely to be extremely sig- els. In traditional societies, folk religion is gener- nifi cant family or even community events, entail- ally associated with peasant societies, but in the ing perhaps great preparation and expense. The key 154 S founders, religious

occurrences of personal life thus blend into occa- erate. But reading is done in a different way. In sions that keep community identity alive. RITES OF folk-religion versions of scripture-oriented faiths PASSAGE into adulthood are ways for a community to like Christianity or ISLAM, the BIBLE or the QUR’AN perpetuate its own life; burial rites for the deceased may play an important role, to be read, believed, become ways for the family and community to re- chanted, venerated. Yet they are not read or under- bond and reaffi rm their continuity after the loss. stood as they would be by a scholar of the faith’s Oral transmission, another fundamental fea- great institutions of learning, but in a direct way, ture of folk religion, means that folk religion is without historical perspective. The scripture is learned fi rst of all through the words of people one really another sign, amulet, miracle or source of knows locally and face to face, rather than through miracles—the greatest of all. much study or in the way the religion is known by While often passive so far as social or politi- its literary sources or elites, its BRAHMINS or bish- cal change is concerned, folk religion can rouse ops. Folk FAITH is acquired in many ways—from itself to become the voice of the common people parents, other family, peers, community example, and so to produce movements that intend major festivals, services, lodges, INITIATIONS, local clergy social change or even revolution, whether moral, and wise-women—but mainly in bits and pieces, social, or political. From out of the very nature of rather than as a logically coherent whole. As pop- folk religion, such movements are likely to be cos- ular religion becomes modern and urban, media mic, present-oriented, under visionary charismatic like radio, television, and massmarket books or leadership, full of belief in miracles and expecting magazines may be added to the means of trans- to be confi rmed by miraculous signs and victories, mission, so that shamans become television evan- up to and including direct divine intervention. But gelists. Very important, because of folk religion’s even if frustrated, folk religion movements like that living out of the present rather than out of his- of JOAN OF ARC can change the course of history. tory and institutionalization, is a leader’s capacity Folk religion and its modern popular religion to manifest direct and visible spiritual power, or version, with all their color and festivity, remain immediate impressive credentials. Like a shaman, important in the contemporary world. she or he should exhibit special charisma and pre- Further reading: Charles Leslie, ed., Anthropology ternatural-seeming states of consciousness; or like of Folk Religion (New York: Vintage, 1960); a priest, the ability to mount imposing and mystic- Robert A. Segal, ed., Anthropology, Folklore, and seeming services or ceremonies. Some very impor- Myth (New York: Garland, 1996); Peter Williams, tant religious leaders like the Japanese Buddhist Popular Religion in America (Chicago: University prophet NICHIREN and the founder of METHODISM, of Chicago Press, 1989). John WESLEY, have managed successfully to bridge the gap between folk and institutional religion, and on a lesser scale so have many local priests and pastors. founders, religious The six or eight persons Folk religion generally is quite open to belief who have been accounted the founders of the in MIRACLES and immediate demonstrations of world’s great religions have exercised far more supernatural power, both good and bad. Miracles infl uence in history than countless kings or presi- of HEALING and divine protections are commonly dents. These include ABRAHAM and MOSES for JUDA- acknowledged, as is belief in negative WITCHCRAFT ISM, ZARATHUSTRA (or Zoroaster) for ZOROASTRIANISM, or comparable uncanny EVIL. Omens, amulets, div- CONFUCIUS for CONFUCIANISM, LAO-TZU for TAOISM, ination, VISIONS, voices, signs, and MAGIC may be the BUDDHA for BUDDHISM, JESUS for CHRISTIANITY, taken seriously. and MUHAMMAD for ISLAM. (The traditional life sto- Oral transmission does not mean that people ries, and even the historical existence, of some of who maintain a folk religion are necessarily illit- these may be legendary, but that does not negate founders, religious S 155

the tremendous importance their name and story of the earlier UPANISHADS, who all asked the same have had for the hundreds of millions of people questions in their own ways. over many centuries for whom they have embod- What brought about this new kind of think- ied the supreme human ideal and to whom they ing? One factor was the prior invention of writ- have been the central conveyors of the divine, or ing, which meant that historical records could be the divine word, to humanity.) kept and studied and the teachings of the wise First we may note that all of these men lived recorded. Another was the emergence of ancient during a relatively short period in terms of human empires like the Greek, Roman, and Chinese, history as a whole: from about 2000 B.C.E. (Abra- which embraced different cultures and meant, for ham) to 632 C.E. (death of Muhammad). The Bud- some, increased opportunity for travel and refl ec- dha, the Chinese founders, Jesus, and Muhammad tion. It all amounted to a time when a new aware- all lived within only a little more than a millen- ness of change and diversity in human life was in nium, 560 B.C.E. (birth of the Buddha) to 632 C.E. the air, and there was yearning for new ways of (There have been other founders of smaller reli- looking at life. gions, some later, but none have had the world- How did the founders respond to this yearn- historical importance of these.) ing? For one thing, they did not completely con- This was a period of tremendous change for demn the prior religion but built on it. His follow- religion. In it, the foundation was laid for the ers heard the founder saying, in effect, “Here is a replacement or absorption of archaic religion, new way of looking at what you already know,” or based on traditional myths, RITUALS, and local gods, “Here in my life and teaching is a model that sums by religions based on the life and teaching of a up what went before and adds something signifi - founder who lived as a human being in historical cant to it.” In his teachings, Jesus began with the time. This meant that the focus of the new reli- prior spiritual teachings of Judaism, as he empha- gions was not the animal or plant of hunting and sized. Muhammad did not deny the holy city of agricultural religion or the tribal loyalty or loyalty Mecca; he instead gave it a new meaning. to a sacred king as in ancient Egypt or Babylon, Moreover, the founders gave the new outlook a but in a real sense was an individual human being. central symbol: themselves. Their religion—draw- By example and teaching, the founders asked in a ing on the invention of writing—was inevitably new and direct way, “What must I, as an individ- centered on a sacred canon of scripture, usually ual, do to be saved or enlightened, or accounted a based on their own teaching. More than the earlier moral being?” and “What is the meaning behind religions, their faiths taught a defi nite process of the often-terrible events of human history to me salvation. Specifi c things were to be believed and as an individual and to humanity as whole?” (The done in response to the question, “What must I do latter question lies behind, for example, the Confu- to be saved, enlightened, or moral?” In this way, cian keeping of historical records from which mor- they offered a defi nite model of human life, show- als were drawn and the Jewish, and later Christian, ing what it is now and what it can be at its best. emphasis on the histories in the Hebrew scriptures By these means the founders changed the and the believers’ attempts to understand how inner lives of millions and, through them and the God’s plan was working through them.) religious institutions that followed in their wake, The central core of this period, around the fi fth the course of history. century B.C.E., was called the Axial Age, or time of turning, by the philosopher Karl Jaspers (1883– Further reading: Robert Ellwood, Cycles of Faith 1969). It was indeed a time of epochal change in (Walnut Creek, Calif.: Altamira, 2003); Karl Jaspers, human thinking, the time not only of some of the The Origin and Goal of History (New Haven: Yale founders but also of the greatest Hebrew prophets, University Press, 1953); Barbara McFarlane, Sacred Greek philosophers, and Hindu sages like those Myths: Stories of World Religions (Portland, Ore.: 156 S four noble truths

Sibyl, 1996); Huston Smith, The World’s Religions The fourth noble truth tells us how. It spells (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1999); Joachim out the Buddha’s “Middle Way” between starv- Wach, The Comparative Study of Religion (New York: ing our senses and indulging them. The Buddha Columbia University Press, 1958). invites his followers to pay attention to, indeed, to change eight areas of life. As a result, the Buddha’s way is known as the eightfold path. four noble truths Four compact statements that The fi rst two steps in the eightfold path help express the basic teachings of BUDDHISM. Accord- us acquire wisdom. We need to convince ourselves ing to tradition, the BUDDHA Siddhartha Gautama of the truths of Buddhism. This is known as right discovered these truths during the night of his thought. But one can think the same thought with enlightenment. He then taught them in his fi rst many different attitudes. According to the Buddha, sermon, which he preached in the Deer Park near one should try to think without craving and leave BANARAS. greed, hatred, and delusion behind. This is right In the four noble truths, the Buddha thinks understanding. like a doctor. He sets out to cure the disease that The next three steps in the eightfold path focus plagues all sentient beings (beings who have con- on morality. We should avoid killing, stealing, and sciousness). The fi rst noble truth tells what the sexual misconduct. This is right action. We should symptoms of the disease are. The next noble truth also always speak the truth—right speech. Further- identifi es what causes them. The third noble truth more, a great deal of every person’s life consists sets out what can be done about the disease. The of working for a living. We should not do jobs fourth provides a detailed prescription. that harm other beings, such as hunting or selling According to the Buddha, we can describe the liquor. This is right livelihood. symptoms of our disease with a single word: duh- The last three steps involve concentration kha. Unfortunately, this word is diffi cult to trans- with the help of MEDITATION. We should be diligent late. It means “suffering,” but suffering in a very in our practice. That is right effort. We should also profound sense. According to the Buddha, ultimate work for right mindfulness and right concentra- satisfaction cannot be found in conditioned exis- tion. THERAVADA BUDDHISM is the form of Buddhism tence, that is, in this world or in any other. Even that adheres to the eightfold path most closely. moments of profound happiness are characterized In Theravada, right mindfulness and concentra- to some extent by duhkha. tion usually mean practicing two different forms The second noble truth tells us what the cause of of meditation, samadhi meditation and vipassana duhkha is: craving. Many later thinkers say that crav- meditation. ing itself derives from ignorance. We ignore the fact Buddhism teaches that those who practice the that we are temporary collections of elements pro- eightfold path are transformed. They experience, duced by outside causes and mistakenly think that think of, and act in the world differently. Eventu- we have selves. We also ignore the fact that every- ally they lose ignorance and craving, escape from thing around us is unstable and impermanent. There- duhkha, and enter NIRVANA. fore, we do not accept things as they are. Instead, we crave, and our craving produces suffering. The third noble truth holds out hope. The four unlimited virtues In BUDDHISM, four atti- disease from which sentient beings like us suffer tudes accessible to all, which can be cultivated is not an incurable cancer; in that case the only by meditation. They are Unlimited Friendliness, option is to make the patient as comfortable as Unlimited Compassion, Unlimited Sympathetic possible. Instead, our disease can be cured. If one Joy, and Unlimited Equanimity of Mind. They are eliminates craving, duhkha ceases. But how can said to be unlimited or immeasurable because anyone do that? there is no end to the extent to which they can be Francis of Assisi and Franciscans S 157

taken. Friendliness means giving encouragement and happiness to others. Compassion and Sympa- thetic Joy go together, since Compassion means the ability to share another’s suffering, while Sym- pathetic Joy refers to the equally important abil- ity to share in another’s joy. Equanimity or even- ness of mind means freedom from self-centered worries, and so enables one to express friendli- ness, compassion, and sympathetic joy without constraint or limit. In this sense, and guided by wisdom and the understanding of the true needs of others, which are also central Buddhist virtues, one could hardly be too friendly, compassionate, sympathetic, or even-minded.

Francis of Assisi and Franciscans (1181/1182– 1226) an Italian SAINT of the Middle Ages, and the orders of MONKS AND NUNS that he founded Francis was the son of an Italian cloth merchant. As a young man, he was a soldier, but he was taken prisoner and spent the good part of a year as a prisoner of war. Soon after his release he had a number of religious experiences. In one famous experience he heard a command to repair a chapel near Assisi. He went to his father’s store, took the cloth, sold it and the horse he was riding, and tried to give the money to the priest to repair the chapel. The result was a break with his father. An even more fateful experience came in Feb- ruary of 1208 or 1209. Francis heard words from the NEW TESTAMENT in which JESUS commanded his followers to travel and preach without any pos- sessions whatsoever (Matthew 10.9–11). Although he was not a priest, Francis began to preach. Sev- eral followers joined him, and in 1209 or 1210 the pope blessed his “order.” In 1212 Francis received a noblewoman named Clare into the monastic life. She became the head of an order of nuns. In the early 1220s Francis established a third “order” for men and women who did not wish to leave Painting from the 1400s of Saint Francis of Assisi their ordinary lives behind but were nevertheless (Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, N.Y.) inspired by Francis’s vision and lifestyle. Francis and his followers originally gave up to imitate Jesus as much as possible. Francis’s own all their possessions. They also had no permanent religious attitude is perhaps summed up best by homes. This lifestyle was part of Francis’s attempt the words “brotherhood” and “sisterhood.” Francis 158 S Frazer, James George

felt that all of GOD’s creatures were members of the of all of creation has inspired countless persons. same family. That meant that all human beings, of The Roman Catholic Church remembers him as a whatever class or nationality, were brothers and saint annually on October 4. sisters. So were natural phenomena: brother sun, Further reading: T. W. Arnold, trans., The Little sister moon, even sister death. As a result, Francis Flowers of St. Francis (New York: Dutton, 1940); is often associated in the popular mind with wild John R. H. Moorman, A History of the Franciscan animals and gardens. Order (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968); Michael In the centuries after Francis’s death, his fi rst Robson, St. Francis of Assisi: The Legend and the order, the order of monks, fragmented. The basic Life (London: Chapman, 1997); Donald Spoto, problem was the extent to which brothers should Reluctant Saint: The Life of Francis of Assisi (New be expected to live a life of poverty. In the 1300s York: Viking, 2002). the Pope recognized a group known as the Conven- tuals as the offi cial Franciscan group. Its lifestyle is less strict, and it emphasizes preaching and study. But today it is the smallest of the major Franciscan Frazer, James George (1854–1941) pioneering groups. The largest group, the Observants, emerged British anthropologist and author of the infl uential in the 1400s. It stands for a strict observance of book The Golden Bough Frazer was an “armchair Francis’s discipline. A third group, the Capuchins, ethnologist.” He wrote about peoples all around the arose in the 1500s. Its members adopted an even globe, but he never visited them. Instead, he based more austere life-style that inclined to the isolated his ideas on printed materials, letters, reports, and life of the hermit. conversations with travelers. His most famous The Franciscans do not often receive much work is The Golden Bough. It was fi rst published publicity. That is partly because of their interests in two volumes in 1890; by 1915 it had grown to in the poor, and partly because of their manner of 12 enormous tomes. working. But there are more Franciscan monks and Frazer called his volumes “A Study in Magic nuns in the Roman Catholic Church than monks and Religion.” For him, MAGIC was misguided sci- and nuns of any other order. Throughout history ence. When people used magic, they were trying women have been particularly active not only as to apply the laws of nature. They just applied the nuns but also as members of the “third order,” the wrong laws. They thought that there was a natu- order for those who do not renounce their ordinary ral connection between objects that either looked lives. alike or had been in contact. Some Franciscans have, however, become When magic failed, people adopted a differ- prominent. When Dominican theologians such ent attitude: religion. They concluded that per- as Thomas AQUINAS began to use the writings of sonal beings controlled the world. They pleaded Aristotle in developing their theologies, the Fran- with those beings for personal favors. Actually, ciscans strenuously opposed them. Those who did Frazer said, religion and magic are often found so included the theologian Bonaventure (1221–74) together. RITUALS connected with springtime and and the philosophers Duns Scotus (c. 1265–1308) harvest—dying and rising gods—were especially and William of Ockham (c. 1280–1349). John of prominent. Capistrano (1386–1456), best known in North Frazer’s successor, Bronislaw MALINOWSKI, America for a mission in California to which swal- started an entirely different way of thinking about lows return regularly, was a Franciscan. The most cultures and religions. As a result, Frazer’s ideas famous member of the “third order,” the order still are discredited today. But they have been very in the world, must surely be Christopher Colum- infl uential. For example, the American-British bus. In addition to moving people to join one of his poet, T. S. Eliot, gave Frazer the credit for inspiring orders, Francis’s vision of poverty and of the unity some of his greatest poems. Freud, Sigmund S 159

free will and determinism The idea that human control of everything, where does EVIL come from beings are able to choose their own actions. People (see THEODICY)? act, and when we act, we make decisions. Most Many Christian, Islamic, and Jewish think- of us feel that we have the option of choosing ers have discussed these topics (see CHRISTIANITY, between two or more alternatives. We may choose ISLAM, JUDAISM). In the NEW TESTAMENT PAUL taught one of them, but we could have chosen another, if that God chooses whom he will save. AUGUSTINE we wanted to. OF HIPPO argued that without God’s GRACE, human This sense provides a basis for the idea that beings could not will to do what was good. During our wills are free. Another important basis for the REFORMATION Erasmus strongly defended free that idea has to do with morality. It seems unfair will; Martin LUTHER strongly attacked it in his book to condemn a person who had no real choice. In On the Bondage of the Will. Luther and his follow- order to hold people responsible for their actions, ers later modifi ed these views. But John CALVIN and we need to be able to say that they could have Calvinism emphasized a “double predestination”— acted differently. predestination to salvation and to damnation. There is, however, an idea opposed to free Some Muslim thinkers have rejected the teach- will. It is the idea of determinism, sometimes ing of free will. “Determination,” they argued, conceived of as fate. According to this idea, what belongs to God alone. Beginning in the 10th cen- human beings do is already decided for them. A tury C.E. Jewish thinkers living in the Islamic world special form of determinism is predestination. It reacted to such claims. They argued that, accord- teaches that GOD has predestined or predetermined ing to Genesis, God created human beings in God’s what will happen in the future. For some Chris- image and likeness, God’s will is free; the human tians, God predestines one item in particular: who will must be free, too. will and will not be saved. During the 20th century, Christian and Muslim The tension between free will and determin- thinkers tended to favor free will over determin- ism is a classic topic in European philosophy and ism. But the old fatalistic cliché remains popular: in Christian, Islamic, and, to a much lesser degree, “When it’s your time to go, it’s your time to go.” Jewish THEOLOGY. The issue arises in other reli- The tension between free will and determinism also gions, too. appears today in a nonreligious context: debates on Many religious people feel that fate deter- public policy informed by contemporary psychol- mines certain events, such as the time of a per- ogy. Some stress that heredity and environment son’s death. In HINDUISM, BUDDHISM, JAINISM, and cause human behavior. Others insist that human SIKHISM one’s previous actions (KARMA) determine beings are accountable for their actions regardless the circumstances in which one will be reborn and of conditions. under which one will act. Note that karma does not determine what one will actually do. Determinism is particularly attractive to reli- Freud, Sigmund (1856–1939) the doctor who gions that teach MONOTHEISM. It can help emphasize founded psychoanalysis Freud grew up in the God’s greatness: “God is in control of everything.” Jewish community of Vienna, Austria. Trained If so, God must control our actions. For some, as a doctor, he became interested in people who determinism is a consequence of saying that God behaved unusually. In the course of working with knows everything. If God knows ahead of time his patients, he developed infl uential ideas about what a person will do, how can the person really human beings’ subconscious and unconscious have a choice? For others, determinism means that drives and desires. He applied these ideas to many human beings must rely upon God’s grace for SAL- areas of human life, including religion. VATION. They cannot earn God’s favor on their own. Freud suggested that religion began from But determinism raises problems, too. If God is in group feelings of guilt. In prehistory the father was 160 S Friends, Society of

the head of a horde. He kept all the women for For functionalists, function does not mean himself. One day in frustration his sons banded purpose. People do perform religious actions for together and killed him. Their guilt was respon- particular purposes. For example, in the middle of sible for the creation of religion. a drought people living in a farming community No one believes this story any more. Never- may pray for rain. But functionalists would not theless, many people agree with Freud when he consider the function of the PRAYER to be obtain- sees myths as expressing psychological realities. ing rain. That is because praying for rain does not Freud also wrote about RITUALS. He called actually produce it. Malinowski liked to say that them “collective neuroses.” Just as neurotic people the function of religious rituals was to fulfi ll bio- perform senseless, repetitive acts, religious people logical and psychological needs. Thus, a prayer for perform rituals. Clearly, Freud himself had little rain in the middle of a drought may function to interest in religion. He was convinced that when relieve anxiety. human beings left the childhood of their race A scholar who infl uenced Malinowski tremen- behind, the illusion of religion would disappear dously was Émile DURKHEIM. Unlike Malinowski, like a mirage. Durkheim emphasized social, not psychological, Freud’s ideas had a major impact on 20th- functions. For him, one important function of reli- century thought. But toward the end of the gion was that it integrated people into a society. century many criticized psychoanalysis as A later sociologist, Peter Berger, suggested that “pseudoscience.” religion functioned to legitimate cultural creations. For example, in North America children have tra- ditionally taken their father’s last name. But they Friends, Society of See QUAKERS. could just as easily take their mother’s. Religion, Berger said, helped make current practices seem legitimate. In the NEW TESTAMENT the apostle PAUL functionalism One of the most popular theories writes that the father is the head of the family, just of religion in the 20th century. Functionalism has as JESUS is the head of the church. been especially important to social scientists. Functionalism has had its critics. Some accuse The anthropologist Bronislaw MALINOWSKI it of justifying the way things are. According to coined the word “functionalism.” He used it them, functionalism assumes that society works. to describe what he thought scholars should do It overlooks aspects of society that may need to be when they study cultures, including religions. changed. Until his time anthropologists had tried to identify This criticism may apply to some function- the stages through which culture and religion had alists. It does not apply to all. For example, Karl evolved (see EVOLUTION AND RELIGION). A good exam- MARX made claims about religion that are similar ple is James George FRAZER’s famous book, The to functionalism. He called religion the opiate of Golden Bough. Malinowski suggested that scholars the masses. He meant that religion helped people do something else instead. He suggested that they tolerate miserable social circumstances. But for limit themselves to a single culture and study that Marx that was not a good thing. Like opium, reli- culture as a functioning whole. This starting point gion robbed the masses of energy. As a result, they determined the goal of studying religious beliefs or failed to do what was needed to eliminate their RITUALS. According to Malinowski, scholars should misery. explain these beliefs and rituals in terms of what Other critics of functionalism question just functions they fulfi ll, that is, in terms of what they how much it actually explains. Consider the exam- do for the culture as a whole. Almost every soci- ple of the farming community praying for rain. ologist and anthropologist who studied religions Psychological tests can show whether a particu- followed Malinowski’s advice until the 1960s. lar prayer actually alleviates anxiety. But does that fundamentalism S 161

explain why the community prays? Perhaps not. dutva—Hindu culture rather than Hinduism as a Other acts may alleviate anxiety, too. The commu- religion—under attack from two sources: secular- nity could SACRIFICE to the rain god, or it could sim- ism and Islam. They want to make India a Hindu ply hold a meeting at which community members state (see FUNDAMENTALISM, HINDU). shared their concerns. Islamic fundamentalism sees Islam, too, as under attack (see FUNDAMENTALISM, ISLAMIC). Muslim fundamentalists often consider Europe and espe- fundamentalism Movements that vigorously cially the United States as their ultimate enemy. assert traditional religion in the face of modern They urge stricter observance of SHARIAH, GOD’s developments. Fundamentalism arose within CHRIS- law for human beings. Fundamentalists living TIANITY in the United States at the end of the 19th under Islamic governments often see those govern- and beginning of the 20th century. Some scholars ments as being too lax in their support for Islam. insist that it is best to use the term only for Chris- Those born in Europe and, to a lesser extent, the tianity. It is now common, however, to talk about United States favor strictly following Islam as a fundamentalism in other religions, too, such as way to establish their identity as Muslims. Muslim ISLAM and HINDUISM. fundamentalists also see the state of Israel as an Modernism—industrialization; the develop- attempt by European powers to take territory from ment of the natural sciences, including the theory Muslims, as happened during the CRUSADES. of biological evolution; the rise of states whose Separate entries provide further details on populations practice a number of religions and Christian, Hindu, and Islamic fundamentalism. that are offi cially secular or neutral with regard to But it is also important to keep several more gen- religion; research in history and archaeology that eral points in mind. has called traditional religious claims into ques- First, fundamentalism is often a pejorative tion—all of these developments and more have term, that is, a term that people use for something presented challenges to traditional religions. Many they condemn. Perhaps for that reason, people do religious people have attempted to adjust their reli- not often speak of Jewish or Buddhist fundamen- gious convictions to these developments. Funda- talism, even though JUDAISM and BUDDHISM, too, mentalists have responded differently. They often have movements that reject modernism. For exam- think of themselves as preserving their religious ple, instead of Jewish fundamentalism we tend to traditions unchanged or as returning to the way speak of HASIDISM and, a very different movement, things were. In many cases, however, they are pro- ZIONISM. ducing something new. Nevertheless, they address Second, it is common to link especially Hindu modernism by opposing it. and Muslim fundamentalism with violence and ter- Modernism has had different effects on dif- rorism. We should be cautious. On the one hand, ferent religious traditions. For Christians in the some Christian fundamentalists have committed United States at the beginning of the 20th century, violent and terrorist acts, too. Examples include it called into question the accuracy of the BIBLE and antiabortion activists and, more loosely, Timothy teachings like the divinity, the VIRGIN BIRTH, MIRA- McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber. McVeigh had CLES, and the RESURRECTION of JESUS. Fundamentalist connections with a movement known as Christian Christians responded by making a list of “funda- Identity, which recommended bombing federal mentals” that Christians had to believe (see FUNDA- buildings. On the other hand, just as most Christian MENTALISM, CHRISTIAN). fundamentalists do not engage in violence, the same Unlike Christianity, Hinduism does not have is true of most Muslim and Hindu fundamentalists. basic beliefs. Instead, Hindu fundamentalism Third, fundamentalists may oppose some fea- has reacted to centuries of rule by Muslim and tures of modernism, but they still live in the mod- Christian rulers. Hindu fundamentalists see Hin- ern world. They are not old-fashioned and out of 162 S fundamentalism, Christian

date. For example, they have been very willing to (see SCRIPTURES, HEBREW). In addition, historians use modern inventions, such as television and the seemed to show that the Bible was in error about Internet, to promote their causes. crucial points. For example, Matthew and Luke seem to differ by at least ten years on the date of JESUS’ birth. Both cannot be right. Furthermore, fundamentalism, Christian Historically, a in showing how various doctrines (see DOGMA AND movement in American PROTESTANTISM that insisted DOCTRINE) developed over time, critical scholars that true Christians must hold certain fundamen- raised questions about fundamental Christian tal beliefs. One of them is the belief that every beliefs, such as the VIRGIN BIRTH, divinity, and RES- word of the BIBLE is verbally inspired by GOD and URRECTION of Jesus. literally true. Christian fundamentalists still hold Some theologians, who eventually became to the fundamental beliefs. In the last part of the known as liberals, tried to develop a kind of CHRIS- 20th and early part of the 21st centuries, they TIANITY that was compatible with these develop- also came to be associated with a broader range ments. Their inspiration came from a German of moral and political positions, such as opposi- theologian named Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768– tion to abortion and unions between homosexu- 1834). Schleiermacher rejected the literal truth of als and support for the Republican Party in the many traditional Christian teachings. At the same United States. time, he taught that religion was not about beliefs or about morals but about a feeling, which he THE CHALLENGE OF MODERNISM described at different times as a feeling of being a Developments in Europe during the 19th century part of the universe or as a consciousness of God. presented many challenges to traditional Christian For him what made Jesus special was not that belief. Perhaps the most famous challenge came Jesus was God but that Jesus had the strongest in 1859. In that year Charles Darwin published consciousness of God possible. his views on natural selection and evolution. His theory explained the origin of the forms of plant, THE FUNDAMENTALIST RESPONSE animal, and human life without referring to any Developments such as those given above, includ- divine purpose or guiding hand. Many thought ing the development of liberal theology, alarmed that science had overthrown the traditional Chris- many people. In European Protestantism church tian account of the creation of the world. leaders tried to keep liberals from spreading their The 19th century presented many other chal- views in churches. In ROMAN CATHOLICISM the Vati- lenges to traditional belief. With the advance of can directly and forcefully rejected modernism. the natural sciences, people began to doubt claims Among a large number of American Protestants about MIRACLES. Indeed, the Scottish philosopher the response took the form of FUNDAMENTALISM. David Hume (1711–76), had already argued per- The name fundamentalism came from a Bible suasively in the 18th century for a position that conference held in 1895 in Niagara, New York. Par- made it almost impossible to accept any claims ticipants adopted what they called fi ve fundamen- that miracles had occurred. That included claims tal beliefs that they thought all Christians should that someone had risen from the dead. hold. These are that the Bible is verbally inspired Scholars who studied the Bible added other by God and without error, that Jesus is divine, that challenges. They treated the books of the Bible like Jesus’ mother MARY was a virgin when he was any other human writing and in doing so explained born, that Jesus rose from the dead physically and many of their odd characteristics. A good example will return at the end of time, and that his death is the theory that TORAH, the fi rst fi ve books of the brought about what is known as a “substitutionary Bible, was not written by MOSES but emerged from atonement.” This view, fi rst expressed by ANSELM combining four sources, known as J, E, P, and D (c. 1033–1109), bishop of CANTERBURY, in the Mid- fundamentalism, Christian S 163

dle Ages, teaches that Christians receive SALVATION That changed in the late 1970s with the back- because Jesus, who had no SIN, died as a substitute lash against the liberalism of the 1960s. The efforts for ordinary human beings, who are sinners. of some popular fundamentalist preachers, such Christian fundamentalists have generally held as Jack Hyles (1926–2001) in Hammond, Indi- other views besides these fi ve points. For example, ana, and Jerry Falwell (b. 1933) in Lynchburg, many favor a view called “dispensationalism.” Virginia, had created mega-churches, with mem- This position uses the Bible and its prophecies bership numbering in the thousands and even the to interpret history. It identifi es seven “dispensa- tens of thousands. Fundamentalists also began to tions” or ages, the last of which will be the rule spread their message effectively through the media of Jesus for 1000 years (the “millennium”). Fun- of radio and especially television (see TELEVANGE- damentalists who adopt this position believe that LISM). Indeed, leading fundamentalists, such as Jesus will return, that Christians will be taken up Falwell, Pat Robertson (b. 1930), Jimmy Swaggart into the atmosphere to meet him (an event known (b. 1935), and Jim (b. 1939) and Tammy Faye (b. as the “rapture”), that all Jews will convert to 1942) Bakker, became public fi gures. Fundamental- Christianity, and that Jesus will rule the earth from ists organized their own groups for public action, Jerusalem. After these events will come the fi nal such as Falwell’s Moral Majority, founded in 1979. judgment. In addition, they began to oppose liberals in vari- Christian fundamentalists were quite adamant ous church bodies. Perhaps the most successful about their views, and they did not hesitate to example is the Southern Baptist Convention. Start- spread them vigorously. Perhaps the most famous ing about 1980, fundamentalists have dominated early confrontation between early fundamental- the formulation of Southern Baptist teachings and ists and the advocates of science was the trial policies and have managed to take control of its of John Scopes (1900–70), a biology teacher in educational institutions. Dayton, Tennessee, in 1925. Under fundamental- Christian fundamentalists have also made the ist infl uence, Tennessee had passed a law making teaching of evolution in public schools an issue the teaching of evolution illegal in public schools. once again (see EVOLUTION AND RELIGION). Instead Scopes admittedly violated the law. Some evidence of seeking to outlaw evolution, they have gener- indicates that the whole affair was a publicity stunt ally preferred to insist on equal time for views of to draw attention to the town. In any case, the trial the origin and development of life that they claim became a national event. Two famous lawyers are equally scientifi c. At fi rst they focused on “cre- squared off against each other, William Jennings ation science,” a set of views developed by Henry Bryan (1860–1925) for the prosecution and Clar- M. Morris (b. 1918) and advocated by his Insti- ence Darrow (1857–1938) for the defense. Radio tute for Creation Research, founded in 1970. More stations carried live broadcasts of the trial. There recently, some have concentrated on views known was never any real question that Scopes had vio- as “intelligent design,” developed by Phillip John- lated the law, but the trial brought much ridicule son (b. 1940), Michael Behe (b. 1952), and Wil- on Christian fundamentalism. Bryan, the advocate liam Dembski (b. 1960), among others. According of fundamentalism, died immediately after it was to this view, the order of nature is too complex to over. His death seemed to be a symbol of the fate have arisen by chance. of fundamentalism among the American public. As the name of the Moral Majority indicates, fundamentalists also became widely critical of what RECENT DEVELOPMENTS they saw as the moral degeneracy of American After World War II fundamentalism was not very society. Many of their concerns centered around visible in American life. Fundamentalists remained sexuality, an area in which conventional morality in their own churches, but they had little broader had been abandoned in the 1960s. Legalized ABOR- infl uence. TION became a contentious issue; some extreme 164 S fundamentalism, Hindu

fundamentalists went so far as to bomb abortion W. Paul Williamson, The Psychology of Religious clinics and kill doctors who performed legal abor- Fundamentalism (New York: Guilford Press, tions. Fundamentalists have also tended to see 2005). HOMOSEXUALITY as voluntary behavior and have condemned it as sinful. They strongly opposed the sanctioning of unions between homosexuals, fundamentalism, Hindu Movements that aim whether they be marriages or “civil unions.” More to make Hinduism culturally and politically domi- broadly, fundamentalists saw the American family nant in South Asia. HINDUISM has had fundamen- as threatened by a variety of movements, includ- talist movements in a religious sense, too, such as ing FEMINISM. They sought to protect it by empha- the Arya Samaj, a “return-to-the-VEDA” movement sizing what they saw as the biblically mandated that arose in the 19th century. The term Hindu roles for men and women. They also produced fundamentalism usually refers, however, to move- literature espousing their views, such as Hal Lind- ments that pursue the cultural and political ideal of sey’s (b. 1929) The Late Great Planet Earth (1970) Hindutva, literally, “Hinduness.” and, more recently, Tim LaHaye’s (b. 1928) “left Hindutva derives from the writings of V. D. behind” series. Such books were extremely popu- Savarkar (1883–1966). Unlike Mohandas GAN- lar in fundamentalist circles. DHI, Savarkar advocated armed resistance to Brit- Finally, at the end of the 20th and the begin- ish rule in India. In a book published in 1915 he ning of the 21st centuries Christian fundamentalists defi ned Hindutva as the common culture of India, were also active in American politics. Like evangel- a culture shared by people who practiced all of the icals more broadly, they tended to believe that the many religions there (see INDIA, RELIGIONS IN). An state should be subservient to God. These political object of patriotic pride, Hindutva marked out the views show strong parallels to similar interests in natural political boundaries of India “from sea to Islamic and Hindu fundamentalism (see FUNDAMEN- sea.” TALISM, HINDU; FUNDAMENTALISM, ISLAMIC). Some fun- Today, three main organizations promote Hin- damentalists sought to have the United States rec- dutva. They are often known by their initials: RSS, ognized as a Christian nation. Many became active VHP, and BJP. in the Republican Party. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar (1889–1940) founded By the beginning of the 21st century the center the Rastriya Svayamsevak Sangh (National Volun- of gravity in the Christian world had shifted away teer Association), or RSS, in 1925. It emphasized from North America and Europe to the southern national pride and personal training through phys- hemisphere, that is, to churches in Africa, Latin ical exercise. The government of India banned the America, and some parts of Asia. Christians in RSS in 1948 because Gandhi’s assassin had some these areas tend to be doctrinally and morally con- connections with it. The ban was removed in servative. In many respects, their views resemble 1962, but other bans have come and gone, so that Christian fundamentalism. the organization is sometimes legal, sometimes See also EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY. not. After India achieved independence in 1947 the RSS became active in opposing the secular Further reading: Richard T. Antoun, Understanding Indian state. Fundamentalism: Christian, Islamic, and Jewish A second Hindutva organization is the Vishwa Movements (Walnut Creek, Calif.: Altamira Press, Hindu Parishad (All-Hindu Congress), or VHP. 2001); Karen Armstrong, The Battle for God (New Founded in 1964 to promote Hindu unity and fur- York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000); Martin E. Marty ther Hindu culture, the VHP has branches around and R. Scott Appleby, eds., Fundamentalisms the globe, including in the United States (founded Comprehended (Chicago: University of Chicago in 1970). It defi nes Hinduism broadly to include Press, 1995); Ralph W. Hood, Peter C. Hill, and all religions that have arisen in India, including fundamentalism, Islamic S 165

BUDDHISM, JAINISM, and SIKHISM. It also takes an the aftermath, anti-Muslim fervor led to massacres active interest in projects for social benefi t, such as in other parts of India. medical relief and education. The VHP sees main- The envisioned temple to Rama has yet to be stream, secular society as antagonistic to Hindu- built. The latest outbreak of violence occurred in ism and Hindu causes. It also sees Hinduism as 2002. On February 27 a train carrying volunteer under attack by Islam; some VHP members feel workers returning from Ayodhya was attacked at threatened by the fact that Muslims are reproduc- the train station in Godhra, Gujarat. Over 50 vol- ing at a greater rate than Hindus. unteers were trapped in a train car and burned to The third Hindutva group is a political party, death, presumably by Muslims opposed to Hin- the Bharatiya Janata Party (Indian People’s Party) dutva programs. In the ensuing riots, more than or BJP. A successor to an earlier party known as the 500 people were killed throughout Gujarat, most Jana Sangh, the BJP was formed in 1980 through of them Muslims. the efforts of RSS members. It rose to prominence Hindu fundamentalists have seen the Septem- in the late 1980s as a result of Hindutva agitation, ber 11, 2001, attacks on the United States in terms and it ruled India several times during the 1990s of their own struggles. For example, one offi cial and early 2000s. When it fell from power in June spokesperson for the VHP in the United States has 2004, some partisans of the Hindutva movement equated the Hindu fundamentalist struggle against criticized its policies as having been too moderate Islam and the U.S. “war on terror” as two parts of or even anti-Hindu. the same struggle of civilization versus barbarity Hindu fundamentalists reject the example of and democracy versus tyranny. Mohandas Gandhi and the ideal of a secular state Further reading: Ainslie T. Embree, Utopias in enshrined in India’s constitution. They see Paki- Confl ict: Religion and Nationalism in Modern India stan and Bangladesh as rightfully parts of India (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990); and hold Gandhi responsible for their loss. They Gerald James Larson, India’s Agony over Religion also see secularism as violating India’s traditional (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995); culture and pandering to its enemies. These funda- David Ludden, ed., Making India Hindu: Religion, mentalists have attacked Indian Christians, as they Community, and the Politics of Democracy in India, did in tribal areas of Gujarat in western India in 2d ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005); 1999. But the main object of Hindutva antagonism Khushwant Singh, The End of India (New Delhi, has been Muslims. India: Penguin Books, 2003). A single symbol has served to focus Hindutva anti-Muslim sentiment: the supposed birthplace of RAMA, an AVATAR of VISHNU, at Ayodhya. Since the 1500s the place had been the site of a mosque fundamentalism, Islamic A common term for known as the Babri Masjid. Hindutva support- movements today that seek to revitalize ISLAM and ers claim that the mosque was built on top of a return to stricter observance of Islamic practices. destroyed temple, and they consider the mosque Especially because of the attacks of September 11, a symbol of what Muslims want to do to all of 2001, and suicide bombings directed against Israe- Hindu culture. In the late 1980s the leader of the lis in the Middle East, many outsiders associate BJP, L. K. Advani, toured India lobbying for the Islamic fundamentalism with terrorism and vio- demolition of the mosque and the building of a lence. That is not only true of people in the United temple. The VHP gathered bricks donated from States and Israel. Many Hindus, too, see themselves Hindus throughout the world to use in building the as engaged in a struggle against Muslim attempts new temple. Although the government promised to to destroy their heritage (see FUNDAMENTALISM, protect the mosque, on December 6, 1992, mobs HINDU). Only some Islamic fundamentalist groups, broke through the barriers and demolished it. In however, have engaged in terrorism and violence. 166 S fundamentalism, Islamic

To understand violent as well as nonviolent forms tion, newly independent Islamic governments of Islamic fundamentalism, one needs to know the failed to live up to expectations. In 1948 the United background out of which they emerged. Nations, largely through the efforts of North Amer- icans and Europeans, created the state of Israel. MODERN CHALLENGES Many Muslims saw it as a new Crusader state. TO TRADITIONAL ISLAM When Israeli forces quickly defeated Arab armies Islam fi rst arose in Arabia in the seventh century in the Six-Day War in 1967, Muslim self-esteem C.E., and it spread quickly. By the end of the cen- reached a profound low. tury Muslims ruled territory from Spain in the west It was in this context that Islamic fundamen- through North Africa and the Middle East to Persia talism emerged and grew. Some Islamic leaders (Iran today) and beyond in the east. Muslims saw attributed the weakness of Islamic states not to this tremendous expansion as a sign of GOD’s plea- the backwardness of Islamic traditions but to the sure (see ALLAH). Then, in the next several centu- states’ having abandoned God and his law. One ries, Islamic civilizations led the world in science, Iranian thinker, Jalal Ali Ahmad (1923–69), called mathematics, and technology and produced won- the problem “Westoxifi cation.” Especially since ders of architecture, such as the Alhambra in Spain 1967 many have heeded the calls to return to a and the Taj Mahal in India. To be sure, there were stricter or more faithful practice of Islam. The challenges. As a result of the CRUSADES Christians result has been a tremendous growth in what managed to carve out Christian states in the region people in North America often called Islamic fun- of Israel and Palestine for a century or two. But for damentalism. the most part, the Islamic Middle East remained dominant. It is also relevant, given the antagonism REVITALIZING ISLAM between Jews and Muslims today, that many Jews It is important to stress that not all Muslims today fl eeing persecution in Europe during the Middle are fundamentalists and not all Muslim fundamen- Ages and the INQUISITION found safety in the Islamic talists are terrorists. Two features above all charac- world (see ANTI-SEMITISM). terize Islamic fundamentalism. Muslim fundamen- Today, of course, the status of Islamic coun- talists reject the values and forms of American and tries is much different. In time Europe surpassed European society. At the same time, they make a Muslim powers in scientifi c development and mili- self-conscious effort to live their lives according to tary technology. From the 18th to the middle of the what they see as God’s dictates. 20th centuries Muslims found themselves ruled by Islam has traditionally presented itself as a European colonial powers. In the late 19th and total way of life. To Muslims, this makes sense, early 20th centuries the most gifted Muslims went because God is not confi ned to a box. As creator, to Europe—and later the United States—for educa- he has ordained the proper way for his creatures tion. Many of these people brought Western ideals to live in all spheres of life. Muslims call God’s law back home. Colonial rule also encouraged many SHARIAH. Muslims to abandon their traditions and adopt One consequence of this view is that Western Western customs. By the middle of the 20th cen- secularism—among other things the separation of tury infl uential Muslims had come to believe that church and state, religion and government—pres- traditional Islam was outmoded, and they blamed ents problems for many Muslims. (Many Christians what they viewed as this backwardness for their in the United States think in a similar way; they inability to resist colonial conquest. insist that the United States should be a Christian Many hoped that modernization would make nation.) For fundamentalist Muslims, a just state is Islamic areas of the world strong and prosperous one that obeys God’s law. That is, it rules in accor- again. That did not happen. Prosperity did come, dance with Shariah. When they see the modern, but it was largely limited to small groups. In addi- secular West as threatening this rule, they react by fundamentalism, Islamic S 167

struggling to protect it. That struggle is known in damentalism. Since the 1920s Turkey had been Arabic as JIHAD. the most secular state in the Islamic world, but by Despite the notion common in North America the end of the century a powerful political party, that jihad means “holy war,” most fundamental- the Refah party, advocated a return to Islamic ist Muslims do not see themselves as called upon practices. In Egypt the Muslim Brotherhood found to take up arms. Instead, they see themselves as many supporters, as did the Jamaat-i-Islami in called to observe the traditions of Islam and to Pakistan. Islamic fundamentalism has been par- encourage others to do so. They also feel called ticularly strong among Western-educated profes- upon to improve society through charitable orga- sionals such as doctors and engineers, so in addi- nizations. (Such compassion for others is a major tion to stressing the observance of Islamic prac- feature of Islamic teachings.) They deplore gov- tices, these organizations have often been active ernmental corruption and seek governments that in furthering health, education, and welfare. In are responsible in their use of money and treat- addition, political leaders like Mu‘ammar Gad- ment of people. Further, they oppose changes in hafi (b. 1942) of Libya (technically a socialist), values and lifestyles that they see as going against Anwar Sadat of Egypt, Zia ul-Haq (1924–88) of God’s will. One area where they—and others as Pakistan, and Jafar al-Numayri (b. 1930) of the well—see these changes occurring is in sexuality Sudan attempted to attract support by appealing and gender roles. Fundamentalist Muslims stress to Islam. Perhaps the most ruthless governmental modesty for women, often symbolized by wearing attempt to implement Islamic policies was that of a hijab or head-covering. In the late 1990s they the Taliban in Afghanistan. worked together with the Roman Catholic Church Some Muslim fundamentalists, the ones most in opposing some of the changes to traditional familiar in the United States, have gone further. society favored by feminists (see FEMINISM). They have embraced violence, just as some Chris- tian fundamentalists have. They see themselves as ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM engaged in a war with Western powers, ZIONISM, IN ISLAMIC STATES and the governments of what they see as nominally Since the 1970s Islamic fundamentalism has been Islamic states. Because these governments fail to growing at a tremendous rate in states where Mus- observe Shariah in all spheres of life, they have lims constitute the majority of the population. Two lost legitimacy in the eyes of the extreme funda- early events in particular provided inspiration. The mentalists, who feel that such governments should fi rst was the performance of the Egyptian military be overthrown. An early example was the assas- in the 1973 war with Israel. Anwar Sadat (1918– sination of Anwar Sadat in 1981. He had become 1981), the President of Egypt, had presented the unpopular not only for backing the separation of war as a challenge for Islam; the results seemed to religion and politics in 1979 but also for the dicta- confi rm that the future lay in returning to Islam. torial character of his rule. Then, in 1979, the people of Iran overthrew the It is important not to overlook the violence Shah, whose Westernizing government had been in which such groups engage. Well-known exam- increasingly corrupt. In actuality, Iranians with ples include the suicide bombings sponsored by many different political and religious convictions, HAMAS in Palestine, which is anti-Israeli but not liberals as well as conservatives, brought about the anti-Western, and the attacks against the U.S. and revolution. The establishment of Iran as an Islamic its allies by AL-QAEDA. These groups derive part of republic, however, and the rise to dominance of their appeal by acting on deep frustrations that the Ayatollah KHOMEINI left liberals frustrated and many Muslims feel. But groups like Hamas also gave hope to Muslim fundamentalists worldwide. derive their support from efforts that they share By the end of the 20th century, many Islamic with more moderate Muslim fundamentalists: states had experienced the effects of Islamic fun- charitable work for the betterment of society and 168 S fundamentalism, Islamic

a stress, unlike some other Islamic governments doned God, and follow God’s ways. Some who and groups, on honesty and responsibility to the teach Islamic fundamentalism in the West advo- people they represent. cate returning to Islamic lands. Others wrestle with just how to implement that insight in lands where REDISCOVERING ISLAM OUTSIDE Muslims are in the minority. THE “HOUSE OF ISLAM” A number of Muslims now live as sizable minori- WHAT WILL THE FUTURE BRING? ties in countries like France, Great Britain, and the In matters of religion predictions of the future are United States. Islamic fundamentalism appeals to notoriously unreliable. It is impossible to say with some of them, too. certainty what the ultimate fate of Islamic funda- Many Muslims living outside the “house of mentalism will be. At present, however, Islamic Islam” wrestle with questions of identity. What fundamentalism is a powerful force that affects not does it mean to be a Muslim for someone born in just Muslims but the entire world. the United States, for example, where CHRISTIANITY and more specifi cally PROTESTANTISM has shaped so Further reading: Lawrence Davidson, Islamic much of the public culture? For example, how can Fundamentalism: An Introduction, rev. and updated Muslims observe noon prayers on Friday, when ed. (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2003); Friday is a workday and they do not get enough John L. Esposito, Unholy War: Terror in the Name time off? This question is particularly diffi cult of Islam (New York: Oxford University Press, when Muslims experience discrimination either 2002); Bruce B. Lawrence, Shattering the Myth: from government policy, as in France, or from ele- Islam beyond Violence (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton ments of the society at large, as in Great Britain. University Press, 1998); Bernard Lewis, The Crisis Islamic fundamentalism provides an answer of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror (New York: to questions of identity that is particularly satisfy- Modern Library, 2003); Joseph E. B. Lumbard, ing because it is clear and addresses feelings of ed., Islam, Fundamentalism, and the Betrayal social inferiority: Muslims must hold themselves of Tradition: Essays by Western Muslim Scholars apart from the broader society, which has aban- (Bloomington, Ind.: World Wisdom, 2004). . G ,

games, play, and religion Kinds of human boundaries and a time-frame—sacred space and activity alternative to work. Often the serious time—within which certain rules are followed, tone assumed by much contemporary religion and people wear certain costumes indicating their seems to be at odds with games and play. But role. Each gives observers a chance to participate religious rite and games come ultimately from vicariously in the excitement, and to feel refreshed similar sources in human culture: the need to afterward. “take a break” and express through symbol and Here are some further ways in which games experience the full panoply of what it means to and play parallel the way religion interprets the be human. Religion may do this by showing that world, within that sacred space and time frame- people are more than just working drones, but work. These in part follow Roger Caillois’s book, also have a divine or eternal meaning. So does Man, Play, and Games. Competition in games is play, when it shows that people are not meant like an analogy of the battle of good and EVIL, just to work and contend with serious matters, GOD and SATAN, in the world. The combination but also to run, dance, throw balls or dice, fi nd of skill and chance, or divine GRACE or favor, the excitement of competing and pretending, required to be successful in many games is like even get into altered states of consciousness by the need for the same combination in real life, spinning and falling. and so gives instruction in dealing with it. Games It would be natural for these two then to often entail simulation, or “acting out,” as when begin together, and so they probably did, in children “dress up” or otherwise play games that ancient religious rites that were also times for mimic adult life; religion also tells us to identify dancing, playing, feasting, even loving. There with its SAINTS and heroes. Many athletes fi nd that are still reminders of that origin. The Olympic meditation or a state of clear awareness like that games of ancient Greece began with religious taught by ZEN BUDDHISM or the martial arts, living SACRIFICES and had a quasi-religious character (see in the moment and acting spontaneously, gives GREEK RELIGION). In Japan, sumo wrestling, tugs- them an edge. Finally, some kinds of play—spin- of-war, horse-racing, and other competitions can ning around, riding roller-coasters—induce a ver- be traced back to SHINTO rituals refl ecting in NEW tigo that psychologically can approach ecstasy YEAR FESTIVALS competition between the old year or trance. Play and religion can learn much from and the new, or different factions of a commu- each other. nity. Medieval tournaments began with a cele- bration of mass and were supposed to teach the values of chivalry. Gandhi, Mohandas K. (1869–1948) known Let us look in more detail at parallels of as the Mahatma (Sanskrit, “great-souled”); leader religious rite and a game, like a modern Ameri- of nonviolent resistance to British rule in colonial can football or baseball game. Both have defi nite India and father of Indian independence

169 S 170 S Gandhi, Mohandas K.

because he had bought a fi rst-class ticket. Gandhi remained in South Africa until 1914. During his stay he developed his fundamental notions of non- violent resistance, experimented with communal living and diet, and took a vow of brahmacarya (sexual celibacy). After he returned to India, Gandhi eventually joined the Indian National Congress, a group agi- tating for India’s liberation from British rule. He became the acknowledged spiritual leader of the movement, revered as the “Mahatma” and loved as “Bapu” (father). Because Gandhi’s tactics involved the public violation of laws, he spent much time in jail. India fi nally gained its independence in 1947 but at a severe price: British India was divided into two countries, India and Pakistan, despite Gandhi’s vigorous opposition, and much violence erupted between Hindu and Muslim communities. On January 30, 1948, Gandhi was assassinated by a member of a Hindu group that felt he had been too accommodating to Muslims.

Mohandas Gandhi, seated and writing with a fountain TEACHINGS pen (Library of Congress) Gandhi’s campaign against the British took many forms, such as the insistence on buying Indian goods and the spinning of one’s own cloth by hand. LIFE Gandhi also advocated Hindu-Muslim amity and Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, in the region the elimination of religiously rooted distinctions of Gujarat in western India into a family whose of caste, especially restrictions on the so-called members had held high-ranking government posts. untouchables, whom Gandhi called Harijans, or He also claimed to have been heavily infl uenced “children of GOD.” by the profound piety of his mother. Underlying all of Gandhi’s actions, however, In order to study law, Gandhi went to England was a profound religious vision. Gandhi thought in 1888, after vowing to his mother to avoid eat- of his goal not in the narrow terms of political ing meat, drinking alcohol, and engaging in sexual independence but in the broader terms of self- relations with English women. He kept these three rule. Because self-rule was necessary before one vows, but in other respects he tried very hard to deserved political independence, Gandhi urged his assimilate to British ways. The most visible sign followers to train their senses and desires through was his European dress. fasting and brahmacarya or sexual abstinence. In 1893, Gandhi was sent by his law fi rm in In keeping with this emphasis, Gandhi rejected India to South Africa on a case. There he experi- “body force” (violence) in favor of satyagraha (the enced the severity of restrictions imposed on Indi- force of truth). His basic tactics were to identify ans as on other non-European peoples. In one well- the injustice in a law, publicly refuse to obey it, known incident, he was thrown off a train when he and suffer the consequences. Gandhi felt that in insisted on traveling in a fi rst-class compartment this manner the injustice of the law would eventu- Ganges River S 171

ally be apparent to everyone, including those who promulgated it. Gandhi’s method of nonviolence ultimately rested on his confi dence in God not as a per- son but as a force, which he especially liked to call not Love but Truth. In 1925 he wrote of this force “I do dimly perceive that whilst everything around me is ever-changing, ever-dying, there is underlying all that change a Living Power that is changeless, that holds all together, that creates, dissolves, and re-creates. . . . I see it as purely benevolent. For I can see that in the midst of death life persists, in the midst of untruth truth persists, in the midst of darkness light persists. Hence I gather that God is Life, Truth, Light. He is Love. He is the Supreme God.”

SIGNIFICANCE In addition to profoundly shaping 20th-century India, Gandhi’s vision of nonviolence infl uenced leaders outside India, too. The best-known exam- ple may be the American civil rights leader, Martin Luther KING, Jr. Further reading: Louis Fischer, ed., The Essential Gandhi 2d ed. (New York: Vintage, 2002); Mohandas K. Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with the Truth (Boston: Beacon, A statue of the elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesa (Getty 1966); Raghavan Iyer, The Moral and Political Images) Thought of Mahatma Gandhi (New York: Oxford University Press, 1973); Stanley Wolpert, Gandhi’s Passion: The Life and Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi upset, and Siva promised to make amends by giv- (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001). ing the child the fi rst head he saw. That happened to be the head of an elephant. Ganesa is revered as the remover of obstacles Ganesa Also called Ganapati; a popular Hindu and lord of beginnings. Accordingly, he is invoked (see HINDUISM) god easily recognizable from his at the beginning of most ceremonial and important elephant’s head, broken tusk, and pot belly. He is occasions. Hindus who do not engage in the sec- also associated with the mouse. tarian WORSHIP of a single god often worship fi ve Ganesa is said to be the son of the god SIVA or, gods as a manifestation of the supreme. Ganesa is rather, of Siva’s consort PARVATI. One story about one of them. how Ganesa got his head tells that one day Siva came home after a long period of meditation alone. His way was barred by a son born in his absence, Ganges River The most sacred river in India. whom he did not recognize. In frustration, Siva It fl ows through the plains of north India from decapitated the child. The mother was naturally the Himalaya Mountains in the west to the Bay of 172 S Genesis

Bengal in the east. Hindus WORSHIP it as the GODDESS a result, God expelled them from the garden and Ganga (see HINDUISM). cursed them (see FALL, THE). Other famous stories According to well-known myths, the Earth in this part of Genesis include the FLOOD, which was polluted and needed Ganga’s waters to be only NOAH and his family survived, and the Tower made pure. But Ganga was reluctant to drop from of BABEL. At Babel God created confusion among HEAVEN. So the god SIVA agreed to break her fall. In people by creating different languages. the mountains, where Siva meditates, Ganga drops The second part of Genesis tells the story of onto his head, fl ows down his body, and spills four generations of the same family: ABRAHAM and onto the Earth. SARAH, ISAAC and REBEKAH, and JACOB (also known The Ganges is a powerful religious force. Wor- as Israel) and his wives and sons. Abraham’s fam- shippers make offerings to it. Typical offerings ily originally lived in the city of Ur, now in south- include milk and fl owers. Worshippers also bathe ern Iraq. He migrated to Canaan, now Israel and in its purifying waters. Because the Ganges puri- Palestine. There he had two sons: Ishmael, who is fi es, Indians cremate corpses on its banks and dis- the ancestor of the Arabs, and Isaac, the ancestor pose of the ashes in the river. of the Jews. The Bible emphasizes Abraham’s trust Today several sites along the Ganges are par- in God’s promise that he would have a son by his ticularly auspicious as places of PILGRIMAGE: Hard- wife Sarah, even though both were very old. It also war where the river meets the plain; Allahabad or tells of a sign of the special relationship between Prayag where the Ganges, the Yamuna, and the Abraham and God: CIRCUMCISION. Other well-known mythical river Saraswati fl ow together; and above stories from this part of Genesis include God’s com- all the holy city of BANARAS (Varanasi). mand to Abraham to sacrifi ce Isaac, the destruc- tion of Sodom and Gomorrah, Jacob’s dream at Bethel (“Jacob’s ladder”), and the saga of JOSEPH. Genesis The fi rst book of the BIBLE. Genesis, Joseph’s brothers were jealous of the special atten- meaning “origin” or “birth,” is the Greek name tion that Jacob gave Joseph, so they sold him into for the book. The Hebrew name is Bereshith, “in slavery. But Joseph became a high offi cial in Egypt [the] beginning,” which is the book’s fi rst word. and saved his family from starvation. Genesis contains some of the best-known stories in the entire Bible. COMPOSITION Tradition says that MOSES wrote the fi rst fi ve books CONTENT of the Bible, including Genesis. Modern scholars Genesis has two parts. The fi rst part, chapters tend to disagree. In the last 200 years they have dis- 1 through 11, deals with universal prehistory or covered and learned to read ancient writings from mythology. It contains stories and genealogies that Egypt and the Middle East. Some of these writings purport to relate to all people. The second part, resemble Genesis, but they are older. For example, chapters 12 through 50, contains prehistory or the story of Atrahasis from Iraq tells about the mythology that relates specifi cally to the children fl ood, which Atrahasis survived with the help of of Israel. the god Enki. The Egyptian Tale of Two Brothers is The fi rst part opens with a famous story of much like the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife. creation: a hymn celebrating the creation of the At times, then, the writers of Genesis seem to have world by GOD in seven days. A second story tells used well-known traditional stories in their book. of the creation of ADAM, the animals, and EVE, all Furthermore, Genesis seems to have been of whom lived in the Garden of Eden. This story assembled from several writings. Scholars have leads directly into the story of the fi rst SIN. Eve tentatively identifi ed three sets of these writings. and Adam violated God’s command by eating fruit They call one account J, because it always refers from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As to God as YHWH (“the Lord”; sometimes written Gilgamesh S 173

JHVH). Another account they call E, because it Lakota (or Sioux) people changed the Ghost refers to God as Elohim (“God”). A third account, Dance. They expected victory over whites. They P for Priestly, seems to contain material that would also expected special shirts to make them invin- interest priests, like the hymn of creation in Gen- cible. The Lakota dance made the American esis 1. Scholars have suggested that J comes from government nervous. The Wounded Knee mas- the southern kingdom of Judah after SOLOMON, E sacre (1890) was the result. AIM (the American from the northern kingdom of Israel after Solo- Indian Movement) revived the ghost dance in the mon, and P from the exile in Babylon. Genesis 1970s. itself, they suggest, was written either during that exile (587–538 B.C.E.) or shortly afterward. These are only suggestions based on the evidence that is ghosts Shades or remnants of the departed, currently available. which take visible form and appear to living human beings. Sometimes ghosts come to bear messages, GENESIS AND HISTORY sometimes to haunt the grave or places familiar Traditionally Jews, Christians, and Muslims have to the deceased. Usually though not always they taken the stories in Genesis to be literally true. are regarded with fear and apprehension; benign Most people know that there are disputes about visitors from the world of the dead are more often the stories of creation and the Flood. But in fact, referred to as spirits. Belief in ghosts is perhaps not there is no evidence that any of the events recorded a major focus of most religions, but it is related to in Genesis actually occurred. The most that can be beliefs about the AFTERLIFE, telling us that the dead said is that the second part of the book mentions can live on in another form and can still have rela- real places. It also presents Abraham, Sarah and tionships with the living and life on Earth. their descendants as living the kind of life people lived in Canaan in the period 1800–1600 B.C.E. Gilgamesh A legendary king of Uruk in ancient Mesopotamia. Gilgamesh may have lived in the Ghost Dance Religious movements among indig- mid-2600s B.C.E. Later the ancient Mesopotamians enous Americans in the last third of the 19th cen- worshipped him as a god of the dead (see MESO- tury (see NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGION). There were two POTAMIAN RELIGIONS). But he is best known as the ghost dance movements. The fi rst occurred around subject of an ancient EPIC. The best version of the 1870, the second around 1890. Wodziwob, an indig- epic is from tablets that date from the 600s B.C.E. enous American who lived on Walker Lake Reser- By that time the story had been in circulation for a vation, Nevada, led the fi rst movement. Wovoka, a thousand years. farmhand in Mason Valley, Nevada, led the second. As we know it, the epic explores the inevita- His father had been a follower of Wodziwob. bility of death. Gilgamesh is building the walls of Both movements shared the same basic ideas Uruk when Enkidu, a powerful but wild creature and practices. Each man had a VISION. He foresaw appears. At fi rst he sees Enkidu as a rival, but they the RESURRECTION of the dead, the return of the ani- become fast friends. Together they kill Humbaba, mals, and the restoration of the traditional way who guards a cedar forest. Then Enkidu is sen- of life. Wodziwob expected whites to disappear; tenced to die. Distraught, Gilgamesh tries to escape Wovoka expected indigenous peoples and white death himself. He journeys to see Utnapishtim, settlers to live in peace. To bring about this new the immortal who survived the FLOOD. Utnapish- era, men and women were to perform a certain tim shows Gilgamesh that he cannot even escape dance on several successive nights (see DANCE AND sleep. He does, however, teach him about a plant RELIGION). The dance was said to be the dance of of immortality. Through valiant effort Gilgamesh the ancestors—or GHOSTS—in HEAVEN. obtains the plant, only to lose it to a serpent in a 174 S Gnosticism

moment of carelessness. Resigned to his ultimate ing near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, made copies of fate, Gilgamesh returns to building the city walls. important Gnostic writings. These writings, called the Nag Hammadi Codices, were discovered in 1945. They are the most important source for the Gnosticism A religious trend in the ancient knowledge of Gnosticism today. Mediterranean world that emphasized knowledge Also in the third century the Persian prophet as the means by which people are saved. The Mani claimed to make perfect the revelations that name comes from the Greek word for knowledge, had been given to ZARATHUSTRA, the BUDDHA, and gnosis. The people who follow this trend are called JESUS. His preaching began the religion of Man- “Gnostics.” ichaeism. Many consider Manichaeism to be the Gnosticism has been viewed as a uniquely Gnostic world religion. At one time it stretched Christian heresy. But the movement actually from the Atlantic coast of Spain and Morocco to extends beyond CHRISTIANITY. It is also often inde- the Pacifi c coast of China. pendent of Christianity. Therefore many in the In the late fourth century C.E. Christianity 20th century considered Gnosticism a religion in became the offi cial religion of the Roman Empire. itself. In important ways, however, Gnosticism is Gnosticism became illegal, and the government not a single religion but a trend in thought. In that and the church sought to eradicate it. Neverthe- way it resembles FEMINISM in the late 20th century. less, throughout European history various move- There have been feminist movements within many ments seem to have revived Gnosticism. Examples religions. Some feminists have also cultivated an are the Cathari and the Bogomils in the Middle independent GODDESS worship because they have Ages. In Asia Gnosticism survived much longer. found traditional religions unsatisfying. Similarly, Some Gnostic groups still exist today. The best there have been Jewish, Christian, and Islamic known are the Mandaeans. They live in southeast- Gnostics as well as independent gnostic religions, ern Iraq and southwestern Iran. Mandaean priests for example, MANICHAEISM and Mandaeism. baptize their followers weekly (see BAPTISM). They claim this practice derives from their founder, John HISTORY the Baptist. The Mandaeans have also preserved Scholars do not agree on where or how Gnosti- sacred scriptures and teachings that have Gnostic cism began. Some have argued that it was inspired characteristics. by Persian myths, for example, the myth of the savior who must fi rst save himself. Others have IDEAS suggested that Gnosticism grew from Jewish and The name Gnosticism presupposes a teaching in Greek roots. which people are saved by knowledge. But the Some of the earliest Christians found Gnosti- knowledge that saves is not the knowledge one cism attractive. According to many scholars, the can get from studying, say, physics or chemistry. people against whom PAUL argued in his NEW TES- The saving knowledge is knowledge of the hidden TAMENT letters included Gnostics. In the second cen- truths about the universe and human beings and tury C.E. important teachers of Gnosticism emerged their relations to the highest GOD. This knowledge, within the context of Christianity: Marcion, Basi- like God itself, is inaccessible to ordinary human lides, and Valentinus. The ancestors of the Ortho- experience. In most Gnostic systems it is revealed dox and Catholic churches rejected them. by an emissary from the otherwise unknown God. In the late third century Christians began to For Christian Gnostics that emissary is Jesus. settle in the desert of Egypt as MONKS AND NUNS. Gnostic knowledge tends to be esoteric knowl- Gnostics found that environment attractive, too, edge. That is, it is secret knowledge revealed only perhaps because there they could avoid attacks to the initiated (see INITIATION, RELIGIOUS). There was from Christians. In the fourth century monks liv- never any centralized authority in Gnosticism, and Gobind Singh S 175

unlike Christians Gnostics did not meet in coun- tament”—was still valid; they also began to form cil to determine which teachings were acceptable their own “New Testament.” and which were not. As a result, Gnostic teachings On a more positive note, Gnosticism infl u- vary considerably. Two general topics, however, enced important elements of European culture dur- recur: the origins of the world and human beings, ing the 19th and 20th centuries. The Gnostic view and the progress of SALVATION. of the world appears, for example, in the poetry of Most Gnostic teachings on the origins of the the greatest German writer, Johann Wolfgang von world and human beings were dualistic. Such Goethe (1749–1832). The movement known as THE- teachings say that the world and its inhabitants OSOPHY sees itself as continuing the ancient Gnostic arose from the mixing of two opposed principles: teachings. Gnosticism also fascinated Carl Gustav light-goodness and darkness-EVIL. The Apocry- JUNG, one of the founders of modern psychology. phon of John, found in the Nag Hammadi Codi- Further reading: Stephan Hoeller, Gnosticism ces, provides a good example. According to it, (Wheaton, Ill.: Quest Books, 2002); Hans Jonas, the unknown God and his spouse gave rise to The Gnostic Religion, 2nd ed. (Boston: Beacon the spiritual world. One of his creations, Sophia Press, 1963); Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels (“wisdom”), produced a monstrous demiurge (New York: Random House, 1979); James M. who created the material world. Identifi ed with Robinson, ed., The Nag Hammadi Library (San the god of the Jews, this demiurge claimed that Francisco: Harper & Row, 1977). he alone was god. Human beings result from a mingling of the spirit of the unknown God with material reality. Gnostics tend to conceive of human beings, Gobind Singh (1666–1708) the tenth and last then, as composite beings who combine elements of the Sikh gurus (religious teachers) In 1675 of light and goodness with elements of darkness the Mughal ruler of India, Aurangzeb, a staunch and evil. They generally conceive of salvation as Muslim, executed the ninth guru of the Sikhs, Tegh the separation of the elements of light and good- Bahadur (see SIKHISM). That guru’s son, Gobind ness and their return to their original home, the Singh, became the tenth guru. realm of the unknown God. Some Gnostic writ- Gobind Singh was particularly adept as a war- ings detail the ascent of the soul through the vari- rior. On April 13, 1699, he institutionalized the war- ous planetary spheres back to its original home. rior ideal by founding the Sikh community known Indeed, some writings provide elaborate spells that as the Khalsa. He called all Sikhs to assemble, then the adepts should use as they make their way from asked for fi ve men to volunteer to be sacrifi ced. one sphere to the next. One at a time he took them behind his tent. Each time he came back with a bloody sword. Then he SIGNIFICANCE revealed that the blood was from sacrifi ced goats. Gnosticism is responsible for many features of Gobind Singh initiated the men by having them Christianity. These features developed as the ances- drink a sweet liquid stirred with a double-edged tors of the Orthodox and Catholic churches tried sword. Then he gave them the surname Singh to refute Gnosticism. For example, many Gnostics and enjoined them to observe several regulations. favored a view of Jesus as a divine messenger who These included the “fi ve k’s,” fi ve objects that all only appeared to be human. Orthodox and Catholic Khalsa Sikhs are to wear: uncut hair (kes), a comb Christians insisted that Jesus was in fact human. kept under a turban (kangha), a sword or dagger The Gnostic Marcion rejected the Hebrew BIBLE (kirpan), a steel bangle on the right wrist (kara), and accepted a new scripture made up of Luke’s and shorts (kacch). gospel and Paul’s letters. In response other Chris- Two of Gobind Singh’s sons were killed in bat- tians insisted that the Hebrew Bible—the “Old Tes- tle; the other two were executed. Before Gobind 176 S God

Singh died, he gave instructions that he would be of Israel from slavery in Egypt (see EXODUS). Many the last human guru. From that time on, the Sikhs people envision God as well as talk about God. have recognized a collection of the writings of ear- They worship God in the form of sacred images. lier gurus and other poets as guru. It is called ADI For example, Hindus have many elaborate images GRANTH or, more reverently, Guru Granth Sahib. through which they approach God. Some people talk about God philosophically. Among other topics, they try to determine just God The supreme object of WORSHIP. Out of what can be said about God. Some insist that one respect, some Jews write “G-d” instead of “God.” can talk about God only using negative terms. For They see this spelling as a way to avoid using example, the statement “God is infi nite” says that God’s name. God is not subject to ordinary limitations. Oth- Monotheists believe that there is only a single ers speak of God positively, for example, “God is God (see MONOTHEISM). Polytheists worship many love.” Most qualify that statement: God’s love is gods (see POLYTHEISM). But many polytheists also very much more profound than human love. In speak of God. They may think of God as the high- the 20th century, some philosophers and theolo- est god, or they may see all particular gods as man- gians were interested in symbols as ways of talking ifestations of the supreme God. about God. Yet another group of religious people insist that WHAT DOES “GOD” MEAN? it is not possible to talk about God at all. These are Probably no defi nition of the word “God” is com- mystics (see MYSTICISM). Some mystics claim that pletely satisfactory. Some people characterize God is so unlike anything in ordinary existence that God as supernatural. But others, such as Baruch God is beyond all speech and thought. All human Spinoza, have identifi ed God with nature. Some beings can do is experience God in silence. people characterize God as superhuman. But oth- ers see a human being as God; for example, some WHAT IS GOD LIKE? Christians see JESUS as the only God. The medi- Just as many religious people fi nd meaning in sto- eval philosopher ANSELM defi ned God as “that than ries about God, so many religious people tend to which nothing greater can be conceived.” But if think of God in personal terms. Indeed, some insist one is examining a variety of beliefs in God, as we that people can worship only a personal God. Dur- are here, Anselm’s defi nition will not work. The ing the 20th century, many North Americans ques- defi nition given above—God is the supreme object tioned the traditional Jewish and Christian images of worship—has its limitations, too. Some people, of a personal God. In their eyes, these ideas were such as the ancient Epicureans, have believed in too European and too male to be attractive to all a supreme God but have considered that God too human beings (see FEMINISM). remote to be concerned about human beings or Philosophers and theologians have tended interested in their worship. to describe God in terms of more abstract “attri- butes” or characteristics. Many Jews, Christians, HOW DO PEOPLE TALK ABOUT GOD? and Muslims have said that God is one, eternal, Religious people talk about God in several ways. unchanging, all-powerful, all-knowing, present Most people talk about God mythologically. That throughout the universe, and benefi cent. During is, they tell stories that treat God as a human-like the 20th century philosophers and theologians being. Hindus have many stories about God in the questioned many of these attributes: “Process forms of SIVA, VISHNU, KRISHNA, RAMA, and the GOD- theologians” suggested that God was always DESS. Jews, Christians, and Muslims share stories changing and developing. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a about how God created the world, almost destroyed Christian victim of the HOLOCAUST, taught that God it with a universal FLOOD, and redeemed the people suffers, too. God, the existence of S 177

In addition to identifying the attributes of God, to be fully human, God had to create people who philosophers and theologians have tried to identify could freely choose both good and evil. Others how God relates to the universe. On one extreme simply admit that there is no good answer to these is God’s transcendence: God is totally other. On questions. the other is God’s immanence: God is in the world (panentheism) or identical with it (pantheism). DOES GOD EXIST? Finally, some religions have adopted specifi c In ancient Greece the philosopher Xenophanes doctrines about God. Examples include the Chris- noted that people made the gods in their own tian ideas of the TRINITY and INCARNATION. image. He noted: “if oxen and horses . . . had hands, . . . horses would paint the forms of the WHAT DOES GOD DO? gods like horses, and oxen like oxen” (fragment Some Hindus say that God creates the world, pre- 15). In the time since Xenophanes, many philoso- serves it, and destroys it. God does these things in phers and theologians have tried to prove that God the form of three gods: BRAHMA, Vishnu, and Siva. exists (see GOD, THE EXISTENCE OF). Traditional Christians say that God both creates the In the 19th and 20th centuries, some promi- universe and redeems fallen humanity. Gnostics nent thinkers disagreed. The philosopher Ludwig deny that God created the world. For them, God Feuerbach said that God was simply a projection simply redeems the particles of light that creation of what humans valued most. Karl MARX, Émile dispersed among particles of darkness. In the 20th DURKHEIM, and Sigmund FREUD expressed similar century, some philosophers and theologians sug- ideas. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution caused gested that God was not active at the beginning but many to doubt God’s creative activity (see EVO- will be at the end of the world. That is, God is the LUTION AND RELIGION). The philosopher Friedrich supreme good to which all the universe is tending. Nietzsche celebrated “the death of God.” Nevertheless, at the end of the 20th century HOW COULD GOD . . .? an overwhelming majority of North Americans still Jews, Christians, and Muslims have puzzled over believed in God. two questions about God for centuries. The fi rst Further reading: Karen Armstrong, A History of question sets God’s omniscience—his knowledge God (New York: Knopf, 1993); John Bowker, God: of everything—against the ability of human beings A Brief History (New York: DK Publishing, 2002); to act freely (see FREE WILL AND DETERMINISM). The Jean Daniélou, God and the Ways of Knowing question runs: If God knows everything, then God (Cleveland: World, 1960); Richard H. Niebuhr, knows what I am going to do in the future; in that Radical Monotheism and Western Culture (New case, how can I act of my own free will? Many York: Harper, 1960). thinkers have proposed subtle answers to this question. Others simply assert that God knows everything, and that human beings act freely. They do not try to resolve the paradox. God, the existence of A standard topic in the A second question sets God’s omnipotence— philosophy of religion. Because God does not his ability to do everything—against God’s good- appear to our human senses the way a chair or ness (see THEODICY). If God is both omnipotent a desk or even these words do, how do we know and good, why do evil and bad things happen, God exists? especially to the good? Why does God allow some babies to be born without brains? Why does God CLASSICAL ARGUMENTS FOR THE allow people to torture and execute each other by EXISTENCE OF GOD the millions? To answer the second question, some Philosophers and theologians have proposed appeal to “free will.” In order for human beings many arguments to prove that God exists. Perhaps 178 S God, the existence of

the four most important are known in technical the entire series of generations would never have terms as the ontological, the cosmological, the begun in the fi rst place. teleological, and the moral arguments. The names That is certainly true when applied to human may seem obscure, but the ideas are often more life, or better, to life on earth. According to the cos- familiar. mological argument, the same principle applies to the whole universe. For the universe to exist there If God Is God, God Must Exist must at some point have been a fi rst, uncaused A medieval philosopher named ANSELM (c. 1033– cause, in other words, God. 1109) proposed the ontological argument. He argued that only a person who does not really How Can a Watch Exist without a Watchmaker? understand what the word God means can ask A third argument, the teleological argument, points whether God exists. out that nature is not a chaos. It has its own rules, According to Anselm, the word God means orders, patterns, and designs. But, this argument “the greatest being that we can conceive of.” If goes, order and design exist only as the result of we conceived of something greater than God, that planning and intelligence. Could a watch exist if something would in fact be God. Our original idea there were no watchmaker? Indeed, the more com- of what was God would have been a mistake. plex an order is, the greater the intelligence that is But, Anselm asked, what is greater, a God that required to create it. It requires more mental effort we only imagine, or a God who actually exists? to make a digital-display watch that also keeps His answer was, clearly, a God who actually exists. track of the date, times laps, and sounds alarms at As a result, it would be wrong to say that God selected times than it does to make a sundial. only exists in people’s imaginations. We can eas- But if order requires intelligence and complex ily conceive of a being who is greater than that order requires higher intelligence, what about the God, namely, a God who actually exists. Therefore, order and design of the entire universe? Everyone Anselm said, God must exist. admits that they are larger and more complex than any order and design produced by human beings. It All Had to Start Somewhere The teleological argument says that such magnifi - Anselm’s argument appeals to some people. But cent order shows that the highest intelligence was many people, even those who believe in God, sus- at work. In other words, the order of nature proves pect that it involves a verbal trick. the existence of God. A second argument for the existence of God In the late 1990s and early 2000s, some people is the cosmological argument. In effect, this argu- developed a version of this argument called “Intel- ment insists, “it all had to start somewhere.” This ligent Design.” They argued that evolutionary argument reminds us that things in the world are theory could not explain the origins of complex caused and have limits. But, the argument goes, organic structures like the eye. Therefore, they rea- for something to be caused and have limits, there soned, modern biology itself pointed to the exis- must be something uncaused and unlimited, in tence of God. other words, God. In technical terms, this argument depends God Must Exist for People to Be Moral on the idea that an “infi nite regress” is impossi- The German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724– ble. Consider yourself as a person. Your parents 1804) tried a different approach to proving that caused you to come into existence. Your grandpar- God existed. He did not start by refl ecting on the ents caused them to come into existence. The line nature of the universe at large. Instead, he said extends far back. But can it extend back—regress— that God had to exist if people were to be moral. forever? On one line of thinking, such an infi nite The argument is subtle, but many people have fol- regress is impossible. Without a fi rst set of parents, lowed his lead. God, the existence of S 179

Consider, for example, the requirement “Do have genuine faith, people need to take a “leap of not murder.” What authority stands behind such a faith.” Belief in God that results from arguments requirement? Certainly it is not simply consensus or balancing costs and benefi ts is not the kind of among human beings. Even if every other human faith God wants. being in our community agreed that murder was acceptable, we would want to say that murder is The Experience of God wrong. Indeed, the Reverend Martin Luther King A different approach appeals to experience. People Jr. made just such a claim when he appealed to a believe things in the world exist because they expe- higher law and disobeyed discriminatory laws. rience them. According to one approach, people According to the moral argument, this com- believe God exists because they experience God, mon moral experience shows that God exists. too. That is because God alone is capable of making One person who developed this argument moral requirements valid, despite what individual was the Christian philosopher Rudolf OTTO (1869– human beings think and say. If God did not exist, 1937). He described the experience of God as the what is right would simply be a matter of indi- experience of a mysterium tremendum et fasci- vidual opinion and whim. This chaotic situation nans—a profound mystery that was terrifying and is envisioned in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel The overwhelming but also comforting and appealing. Brothers Karamazov (1879–80). In that novel, one Otto agreed that our experiential knowledge character commits suicide to prove that God does was not quite like our knowledge of a chair or a not exist. desk. It was, he said, not certain knowledge but a hunch. (The German word that he used can also OTHER APPROACHES TO THE EXISTENCE be translated as “feeling.”) But, Otto pointed out, OF GOD hunches play a larger role in our thinking than The classical arguments try to use logical reason- many people are willing to admit. ing to show that God exists. Thinkers have taken other approaches in considering God’s existence, What God Really Is too. Like the classical theologians, they conclude Others suggest that the classical arguments mis- that God exists, but they arrive at the conclusion understand God and so try to prove the existence in different ways. of what God really is not. A good example of this position is process theology. God’s Existence Is a Good Bet Process theology sees reality as made up not The European philosopher Blaise Pascal (1623–62) of things or substances but of processes and rela- adopted a practical attitude to the question of tions. When process theologians apply these views God’s existence. In effect, he asked, What are the to God, they may call into question such views as costs and benefi ts of believing or not believing in that God is eternal and unchanging and that he God? is the fi rst source of all that is. For example, an Pascal reasoned that if we believe that God early process theologian, Henry Nelson Weiman exists and are wrong, it costs us relatively little. By (1884–1975), suggested that God is not an eternal, contrast, if we do not believe that God exists and unchanging, omnipotent person but “the source of are wrong, we might suffer a great deal. There- human good.” fore, Pascal said, the best bet is to believe that God Process theology has been particularly impor- exists. tant for people interested in questions of THEOD- Others, like the Danish philosopher Soren ICY. But process theology may also be helpful in Kierkegaard (1813–55), go a bit further. Kierke- dealing with the existence of God. Most people, for gaard says that faith in God is something that example, think that there is some source of human religious people have despite all rational proof. To good, even if they cannot describe it very well. 180 S God, the existence of

Possible Worlds and Modal Logic nition of a word. We can only demonstrate that In the 20th century philosophers began to use a something exists by arguing from what we per- kind of logic known as “modal logic.” This kind ceive with our senses. People who object to the of logic talks not about what is but about what cosmological and teleological arguments generally might be. For example, talking about possible use one of two counterarguments. One counterar- worlds helps clarify some philosophical issues. gument claims that there are other, better ways to These worlds may not be the world we live in, but explain the characteristics of the universe, such as they are worlds that we can imagine consistently, the theory of biological evolution. These people worlds that make sense. may view intelligent design the way they view a The American Protestant philosopher Alvin chemist who attributes the result of an experiment Plantinga (b. 1932) has used this kind of logic she or he cannot explain to an act of God; it is to develop a version of the ontological argument. better simply to say that we do not yet know the Like many arguments in philosophy, his argu- cause. The other counterargument says that the ment is subtle, and it requires more knowledge of cosmological and teleological arguments do not go modal logic than most readers will possess, but far enough. They prove that the foundations of the roughly it goes like this. It is possible for a world universe exist, or perhaps that what Hindus call to exist in which there is a being who is maxi- BRAHMAN exists, but they beg the question about mally great. But what does it mean to be maxi- whether we should call those foundations God. mally great? A maximally great being would be One problem with the moral argument is that it one that existed in all possible worlds, including requires a view of morality that was not popular our own. For such a being to exist in a possible with North American thinkers in the last half of world, it must exist in all possible worlds, includ- the 20th century. ing our own. People may also object to the other approaches Many philosophers doubt that this argument mentioned above. For some, the probability of actually demonstrates that God exists, and Plant- God’s existence may be so small that they see inga himself is willing to grant that. But what he little real benefi t in believing in God. Some may does claim is that the argument shows that it is equate Otto’s hunch with hunches about spirits rational to hold that God exists. Many philoso- and spooks, making it much less compelling. For phers also disagree that this conclusion follows some, the God of process theology may not be from Plantinga’s argument. what they mean by God at all; others may object that process theologians should stop talking about OBJECTIONS TO THE ARGUMENTS God and just talk about the world instead. Some European Christians have not been the only people people who accept the notion that knowledge has to use these arguments that God exists. For exam- foundations take a narrower view of those foun- ple, a school of Indian philosophy that specializes dations. Their view denies that God’s existence in logic, known as the Nyaya school, developed all is really a foundational proposition. Other peo- of the classical arguments except the ontological ple, known as “antifoundationalists,” reject the one. But not everyone has found these arguments notion that there are foundational propositions satisfactory. Some have argued against one argu- altogether. ment in making a case for another. For example, the Catholic thinker Thomas AQUINAS (1224–74) SUMMARY argued against the ontological argument in propos- Philosophers and theologians have not come to ing the cosmological one. any agreement about whether it is possible to Most people make the same objection to the prove that God exists. Many reject the attempt as ontological argument. They say that we cannot misguided. Others continue to develop and revise deduce that something exists simply from the defi - arguments for the existence of God. goddesses S 181

Further reading: John H. Hick, Philosophy rejected them. Scholars often prefer to talk about of Religion, Foundations of Philosophy series individual goddesses rather than the Goddess. (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1990); Gary Some goddesses are associated with the Earth and E. Kessler, Philosophy of Religion: Toward a Global fertility, but not all. In Egypt the Earth was a god, Perspective (Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, 1999); Geb, the sky was a goddess, Nut. The Greek god- Thomas Woodward, Doubts about Darwin: A dess ATHENA was a warrior and perpetual virgin. History of Intelligent Design (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Similarly, some goddesses are connected with the Baker Books, 2003); Matt Young and Taner Edis, moon and its phases. But others are connected eds., Why Intelligent Design Fails: A Scientifi c with the sun. A prime example is the SHINTO kami, Critique of the New Creationism (New Brunswick, AMATERASU. Her brother, Tsukiyomi, is the moon. N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2004). In the ancient Near East, too, the moon was often male, for example, Khonsu in Egypt, Nanna or Sin in Mesopotamia (see MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS). goddesses Female deities. The Goddess, capi- The most important Near Eastern goddess was the talized and singular, refers to the supreme deity planet Venus. She went by many names: INANNA, envisioned in feminine form. Goddesses have Ishtar, Astarte. The goddess ISIS was extremely played major roles in most religions. important during the Roman Empire. She was Sir- ius, the brightest star in the sky. ONE GODDESS OR MANY? Goddesses have also had many personali- At the end of the 20th century some North Ameri- ties. Some have been nurturing and maternal. A cans spoke of a single Goddess. For them, the names good example is the Virgin MARY. Christians do and myths associated with specifi c goddesses were not worship her as a goddess, but Roman Catholic simply manifestations of this Goddess. and Orthodox Christians venerate her (see ROMAN The image of the Goddess often includes other CATHOLICISM; EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY). ideas. One is the notion of a “primitive matriar- Other goddesses have been horrifi c. For example, chy.” In 1861 a Swiss lawyer, J. J. Bachofen, specu- the Hindu goddess Kali sits on corpses, wears lated that at the beginning of history women rather parts of human bodies, and always demands blood than men had ruled. This matriarchy was a time of sacrifi ce. Until the middle 1800s some Kali cults peace and justice. Religion centered on the WORSHIP demanded human sacrifi ce. But the same goddess of a goddess. Others have suggested that Goddess may combine the nurturing and the horrifi c. Thus, worship began at a specifi c time: when human Kali is also venerated as a mother who provides beings shifted from hunting, gathering, and herd- release from grasping and SAMSARA (see HINDUISM). ing to a way of life based on agriculture. Finally, goddesses have related to gods in a Other ideas concern the Goddess’s character. variety of ways. They have often occupied subor- In the fi rst half of the 20th century a Swiss psychol- dinate positions, sometimes as wives and consorts. ogist, Carl Gustav JUNG, developed infl uential ideas That does not necessarily deprive them of inde- about religious symbols. Jung suggested that reli- pendence. In Greek mythology, ZEUS may be the gious symbols expressed ARCHETYPES, unconscious most powerful, but Hera’s will is often done. Inde- patterns that all human beings shared. Inspired by pendent goddesses, too, may be important without Jung, several writers developed an image of the being supreme. Infl uential goddesses in India today Goddess. They connected her with the fertility of include the river GANGES, whose waters purify, and the Earth. They also connected her with the moon. Bharat Mata, “Mother India” herself. Its phases were said to parallel a woman’s men- strual periods. Infl uential popular writers, such as GODDESSES IN HISTORY Joseph Campbell and Starhawk, advocated these Most scholars trace the worship of goddesses ideas. Many serious scholars, including feminists, back to the Paleolithic period. This is the oldest 182 S gospels

period of human life. It ends around 10,000 B.P. goddesses as well as gods. Hindu villages have (before the present). Paleolithic remains include local goddesses that look after their needs. Written large numbers of female statues. The oldest date mythologies tell about different goddesses who are to 30,000 or even 40,000 B.P. The statues come in consorts to gods. They include SARASWATI, LAKSHMI, many shapes, fat and thin, realistic and stylized. Sita, and PARVATI. Hindus often say that the sakti or Scholars still debate what the images meant and power of a god is a goddess. Two especially pow- how they were used. erful goddesses in east India are DURGA and Kali. Around 10,000 B.P. agriculture began, and the Some Hindu traditions teach that all goddesses are Paleolithic gave way to the Neolithic. A Neolithic manifestations of a single, supreme being. She is community lived at Catal Huyuk in Turkey from simply called Devi, “the Goddess.” about 6500 to 5500 B.C.E. It seems to have wor- Ancient Americans such as the Incas, Mayas, shipped a mother goddess who is connected with and Aztecs worshipped goddesses (see INCA RELI- plant life and served by male attendants. Since there GION, MAYA RELIGION, and AZTEC RELIGION). So do are no written documents from this period (writing indigenous North Americans (see NATIVE AMERICAN was not yet invented), it is diffi cult to know what RELIGIONS). Recently some scholars suggested that to make of Neolithic remains. One scholar, Marija indigenous North Americans began to worship Gimbutas, tried to identify the different Neolithic mother earth only after contact with Europeans. goddesses of southeastern Europe by classifying Others strongly disagree. In any case, respect for the different types of statues these people made. the sacredness of the Earth is an important part of Writing begins by 3000 B.C.E. Then there is indigenous American religion today. plentiful evidence for the worship of goddesses. Goddesses played major roles in the religions of THE GODDESS TODAY ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Canaan, Greece, Traditional goddesses remain important religious and Rome (see EGYPTIAN RELIGION, MESOPOTAMIAN fi gures. In addition, some women and a few men RELIGIONS, CANAANITE RELIGION, GREEK RELIGION, and in North America and Europe have begun to wor- ROMAN RELIGION). As noted above, their symbols, ship the Goddess anew. They found in the wor- personalities, and spheres of activity varied con- ship of the Goddess religious strength, power, and siderably. JUDAISM tended to conceive of its god, support that they had not found in the traditional YHWH (“the Lord”), in masculine terms. But some European religions. have pointed out that YHWH has feminine sides, Further reading: Martha Ann, Goddess in World too: his Wisdom and his Presence (Shekhinah). Mythology (Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 1993); The traditional symbols of CHRISTIANITY—God as Elizabeth Bernard and Beverly Moon, Goddess Father and Son—are masculine. But the Roman Who Rule (New York: Oxford University Press, Catholic and Orthodox churches both venerate 2003); Adele Getty, Goddess: Mother of Living Mary as theotokos, “mother of God.” In many Nature (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1990); places the veneration of Mary seems to continue David Kinsley, The Goddesses’ Mirror: Visions ancient traditions of goddess worship. One exam- of the Divine from East and West (Albany: State ple is the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico. ISLAM, University of New York Press, 1989); Starhawk, like Protestant Christianity, has had little use for The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion goddesses or feminine images of the divine. of the Great Goddess. 20th anniversary ed. (San Goddesses have been extremely important in Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1999). east and south Asia. In China, Japan, and Tibet, a “goddess of mercy” known as Kuan-yin, Kannon, and Tara, respectively, has been very important. She is AVALOKITESVARA, a BODHISATTVA in feminine gospels Writings about the teachings and deeds form. Hinduism knows a tremendous variety of of JESUS. Gospels are a special kind of biography. grace S 183

Their primary concern is not to relate the life of are not found in Mark, so they seem to have fol- Jesus as accurately as possible, the way a modern lowed another common source. This source would biography might do. Instead, they want to present have been similar in form to Thomas but certainly the message of CHRISTIANITY, and they tell the life not identical with it. For the birth and resurrection of Jesus to do so. As a result of this, most modern of Jesus, Matthew and Luke used very different scholars have come to realize that it is not possible sources. to write a modern biography of Jesus on the basis Each of the synoptic gospels has its own dis- of the gospels. They do not provide the right kind tinctive concerns. For example, Mark emphasizes of evidence. what scholars call the “Messianic secret.” That is, The NEW TESTAMENT contains four gospels: in Mark Jesus continually tries to hide that he is Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Many other gos- the MESSIAH; this fact is revealed publicly only after pels circulated in the fi rst few centuries C.E. Several Jesus’ resurrection. The synoptics also tell the story of them have survived. Recently scholars have given of Jesus in distinctive ways. For example, Luke is one of these other gospels a great deal of attention: part of a two-volume presentation that continues the gospel of Thomas as preserved in the Coptic in the book of Acts. language. It consists entirely of sayings attributed The gospel of John is in a class by itself. It to Jesus. A few scholars have argued that Thomas does not follow the general order of events that preserves some sayings more accurately than the the synoptic gospels use. It also does not report gospels in the New Testament do. More traditional the same sayings. John presents Jesus as refl ecting Christians fi nd this assertion implausible. a great deal on his special identity. Many sayings Matthew, Mark, and Luke follow the same begin with the phrase, “I am,” for example, “I am basic scenario in presenting the life of Jesus. For the light of the world” (John 8.12). These sayings that reason they are known as “synoptic” gospels. include some that Christians cherish the most. The synoptics tell the same basic story from Jesus’ Tradition attributes John’s gospel to a disciple BAPTISM to his crucifi xion and burial. They diverge who was the closest to Jesus, a disciple whom when they tell about Jesus’ birth and his RESURREC- Jesus loved. For centuries many Christians pre- TION. Mark says nothing about Jesus’ birth. Mat- ferred it to the synoptics. The tendency today is thew tells about the visit of the wise men and the to see John as the latest of the gospels in the New massacre of infants under Herod. Luke tells of a Testament. In this view, it does not present Jesus’ journey to Bethlehem and a visit of shepherds; he most intimate words. It presents the way a certain associates these events with a census that took group of early Christians liked to think about him. place when the Romans replaced Herod’s son as ruler of Judea and appointed a proconsul to rule the area. As concerns the resurrection, Mark grace In CHRISTIANITY, the gift from GOD of power only tells about a group of women discovering an that makes SALVATION possible. According to ortho- empty tomb. Matthew adds appearances of the dox Christian theology, because of human SIN and risen Jesus to his disciples in Galilee. According sinful nature, all people deserve eternal punish- to Luke, the disciples stayed in JERUSALEM and sur- ment, but through the sacrifi ce of CHRIST on the rounding areas, and the risen Jesus appeared to cross, God has given Christians the gift or grace them there. of salvation even though believers may not have Scholars have long debated how to explain earned it. While good deeds are considered impor- these characteristics. Most now adopt the view that tant as a part of a life lived in the power of divine Mark was the fi rst gospel of the three. Matthew grace, it is not the deeds themselves that win sal- and Luke, they suggest, wrote their gospels by fol- vation but God’s grace received through FAITH. lowing Mark, sometimes word for word. Matthew ROMAN CATHOLICISM emphasizes the SACRA- and Luke also report some sayings of Jesus that MENTS, such as BAPTISM and holy communion, as 184 S Grail

means of grace; PROTESTANTISM emphasizes that The Grail legend has been attributed to many God gives grace where he will, that the scrip- sources, both pagan and Christian, and has been tures can awaken the faith that enables one freely given many allegorical interpretations. It remains a to receive it, and that the sacraments are simply symbol of the supreme human quest. “signs” of grace. But both acknowledge that God is not bound to any particular means or institu- tion in his giving of grace to the world. PURE LAND Greek religion The religion practiced in the BUDDHISM has a concept of salvation by means of ancient Greek states. The term refers especially the grace of AMIDA Buddha received through a faith to the period from the rise of the city-state in the that is comparable to the Christian. eighth century B.C.E. to the conquest of Greece by Alexander the Great in the 330s B.C.E.

Grail A chalice sometimes said to be that used HISTORY by JESUS in the Last Supper. Around the 12th cen- Greek religion had several precursors. From roughly tury, legends arose of knights who set out on a 3000 to 1450 B.C.E. the Minoan civilization thrived quest for the Holy Grail, reportedly kept in a mys- on the island of Crete. It seems to have worshipped, terious Grail Castle under the guardianship of the among other beings, an important GODDESS. From Fisher King, an invalid. His wound and the waste- 1450 to roughly 1100 B.C.E. the Mycenaean civiliza- land surrounding the castle were presented as tion dominated mainland Greece as well as Crete. symbols of human sin. If the Grail was found and The Mycenaeans worshipped many gods of the its meaning rightly understood, the wound would later Greeks, such as ZEUS, Hera, and Dionysos. be healed and the wasteland made to bloom. Of After about 1100 Mycenaean civilization col- the many variants of the legend, the best known lapsed; scholars dispute why. In any case, a wide- associate the Grail quest with the stories of King spread “Greek Renaissance” occurred during the Arthur, the renowned ancient British ruler. In eighth century B.C.E. Population grew; the polis— them, the quest was undertaken by the greatest usually translated as “city-state”—came together; knights of his Round Table. overseas trade and colonization fl ourished; writ- A knight who succeeded in fi nding and ing was developed; and poets composed works entering the Grail Castle saw a strange proces- now attributed to Homer and Hesiod. During this sion, in which an attendant bore a lance from period, too, Greek religion assumed its standard which a drop of blood fell (this is the spear that forms. With Homer and Hesiod the Greeks acquired pierced Jesus’ side on the CROSS), and a maiden common images of the gods. The new city-states carried the Grail, set with gems and radiating an built temples. Offerings at Mycenaean tombs led to unearthly light. Sir Percival, a well-meaning but the WORSHIP of legendary heroes. Sanctuaries for all foolish knight, was fi rst to see the procession but Greeks, such as the sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia, failed to ask the right question, “Whom does the began to host major festivals. Grail serve?” The second to fi nd his way into the Subsequent centuries were periods of elabo- castle, Sir Lancelot, was the noblest knight of his ration and refi nement. During the seventh and time but failed the test because of his adultery sixth centuries, Greeks began to build temples with Guinevere, Arthur’s queen. Finally, Sir Gala- in stone rather than wood and mud-brick. Great had, the son of Lancelot and the Grail maiden, leaders, like Draco and Solon at Athens, tried to a youth of impeccable purity born for this task, write workable law codes. Philosophers began to succeeded and, in some sources, then died in talk about the world not in terms of human-like mystic rapture as he gazed into the sacred vessel. divine beings but in terms of basic principles. But the Fisher King was healed and the waste- One of the earliest, Thales, suggested that water land restored to bloom. underlay all things. At the same time, individuals Greek religion S 185

known as tyrants took over governments. They city-states. Traditional religious practices did not often modifi ed inherited religions to suit their disappear, but they were often overshadowed by own personal ends. religions that were no longer tied to particular The fi fth century was a time of glory, espe- places. Among these religions CHRISTIANITY and cially in Athens. Athenian playwrights like ISLAM eventually came to dominate the old Greek Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides explored territories. some of the deepest questions that human beings face. Pericles oversaw the construction of monu- BELIEFS ments on the Acropolis at Athens. These included The Greeks did not have a common set of man- the most famous of all Greek temples, the Par- datory beliefs, as Christians and Muslims do. The thenon, dedicated to that city-state’s patron god- real focus was on common practices. Nevertheless, dess, ATHENA. the Greeks shared many stories about the gods During the fourth century Greek philosophy and some ideas about the universe. They toler- reached its pinnacle with Plato and Aristotle. ated only a limited amount of deviation from these But before century’s end, Alexander the Great beliefs. For example, an Athenian court sentenced had redrawn the map of the eastern Mediter- the famous teacher Socrates to death. The charges ranean and the ancient Near East. Large Greek- included rejecting the traditional gods, teaching of speaking empires replaced the relatively isolated new ones, and corrupting the youth.

A procession of believers sacrifi ces to Demeter, goddess of the Earth, in this fourth-century B.C.E. Greek votive relief. (Erich Lessing/Art Resource N.Y.) 186 S Greek religion

Sites of divinities worshipped by the ancient Greeks Greek religion S 187

A statement by the philosopher Thales gives mon Greek ritual act was libation. It consisted of a good idea of the Greek religious attitude: “all pouring liquid out for the gods. things are full of gods.” Homer conceived of the Households made offerings and libations to gods in human form. But his gods differed from the gods daily. Larger communities generally did human beings in several important ways. They so on special occasions known as festivals. Most did not die. They had their own food and drink. festivals were held every year according to a cal- Instead of blood, a special liquid known as ichor endar that varied from community to community. fl owed through their veins. They were also more Some festivals were observed by all Greek speak- powerful and deserved more honor than the stron- ers. A well-known example of these “pan-Hellenic” gest of human beings. festivals was the festival of Zeus at Olympia. It was The most important gods were celestial divini- the precursor of the modern Olympic games. In ties known as Olympians. Myths treated these addition to sacrifi ces, festivals often involved pro- gods as an extended family, headed by Zeus, cessions, games, and in some cases theatrical per- “father of gods and men.” Other prominent Olym- formances or other special ritual acts. pians included Hera, APOLLO, ARTEMIS, APHRODITE, Although the Greeks are famous for building and HERMES. The Greeks venerated other gods, too. resplendent temples, they did not worship inside Some of them, like ADONIS, were considered for- them. Greek temples were basically storage facili- eign imports. They also worshipped daimones and ties. The Greeks performed sacrifi ces at an outdoor heroes. Although the English word “demon” comes ALTAR. Altars for sacrifi ces to the Olympians were from the Greek word daimon, daimones (plural of mounded high; those for holocausts were low, daimon) were not demons in our sense. They were sometimes even holes dug in the ground. The altar vague spiritual forces. Heroes were great human and temple were the central features of a sacred beings from the past, like Theseus and Herakles. area known as the temenos. The Greeks believed that certain important events in life were “portioned out.” They did not ORGANIZATION often say by whom. It was clearly the responsibil- The Greeks did not require special intermediar- ity of Zeus to ensure that “fate” was accomplished. ies or priests to worship the gods. All individu- The most important event that fate determined was als could worship the gods themselves. But larger death. In general, the Greeks were not optimistic communities generally delegated religious tasks to about life after death. In the Odyssey the shade specifi c persons. Many of these communities—vil- of the hero Achilles tells Odysseus that he would lages and poleis or city-states—were political as rather live as a slave on Earth than rule over the well as religious. In that case religious function- realm of the dead. aries were basically offi cers of the state. But the Greeks also knew other religious communities that PRACTICES were not political units. These included groups The most important Greek RITUAL act was SACRIFICE. banded together to maintain certain sanctuaries, At home Greeks generally offered plant products to to worship a particular god, such as Dionysos, or the gods. Larger communities sacrifi ced animals— to ensure each other’s mutual welfare. usually domesticated animals but not always. The sacrifi ces offered to the Olympians were feasts that SIGNIFICANCE the Greeks and the gods shared. The gods received Greek religion is a relatively loose collection the blood, thighbones, fat, and smoke; the Greeks of practices rather than a carefully defi ned set received the internal organs and the muscles. of beliefs. It includes all practices by which the Heroes generally received a different kind of sacri- Greeks tried to make a better life for themselves fi ce, known as the holocaust. In this sacrifi ce, the through pleasing and placating a number of divine victim was completely burned up. Another com- and spiritual beings. It is no longer practiced, but 188 S gunas

the art, literature, drama, and philosophy that guru A religious teacher in HINDUISM and in some it inspired have greatly enriched the cultures of forms of BUDDHISM. In Sanskrit, the ancient lan- Europe and North America. guage of India, guru means “heavy” or “weighty.” In the context of education it refers to a teacher; Further reading: Francis M. Cornford, Greek in a religious context, to a “spiritual preceptor” or Religious Thought (London: Dent, 1950); William religious teacher. Gurus are important in Hinduism Guthrie, The Greeks and Their Gods (Boston: and in the forms of Buddhism known as Tantric Beacon, 1955); Jan D. Mikalson, Ancient Greek Buddhism or Vajrayana. VAJRAYANA BUDDHISM is the Religion (Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2005); Gilbert major religion of Tibet, and Tibetans call gurus Murray, Four Stages of Greek Religion (New York: lamas. Columbia University Press, 1912). Gurus and their disciples have special relation- ships. These relationships differ somewhat from the relationships between teachers and students gunas A Sanskrit word meaning “qualities” or in North American schools. Like teachers, gurus “attributes.” Indian thinkers have made lists of guide their disciples through the subject matter. gunas that vary in length and content. The gunas But disciples are also supposed to take their gurus most important from the point of view of religion as models of the religious goals that they are try- are those associated with the Sankhya and YOGA ing to reach and to imitate them. As a result, stu- philosophies. According to these schools, the world dents revere their gurus. They serve them and may of nature derives from a primal material potency even live with them. They may also meditate upon known as Prakriti. Prakriti has three gunas or qual- them and reverence them on their birthdays, for ities: the pure and transparent (sattva), the active example, by washing their feet. If for some rea- (rajas), and the dark and static (tamas). By some son the guru is not present, they may wash foot- unknown process the equilibrium between these shaped prints that stand for the guru’s feet. These three has been disrupted. Now they confl ict, and are common practices in south Asia, and converts their confl ict produces the world. to Hinduism or Buddhism in North America some- Like yin and yang in China (see YIN/YANG THE- times perform them, too. ORY), the three gunas have been used to classify a wide variety of objects. For example, the purest vegetarian diet has the guna or quality of sattva. Guru Granth See ADI GRANTH. . H ,

Hadith The Arabic word for “story” or “news”; prophet who was an eyewitness. Finally, the chain in ISLAM, reliable reports about the prophet MUHAM- of transmission had to be able to withstand the MAD. All Muslims profess, “There is no god but strictest scrutiny. Scholars of Hadith studied each GOD [see ALLAH], and MUHAMMAD is God’s messen- individual mentioned in the chain of transmission ger.” The second part of this statement means fi rst to determine whether that person was reliable. of all that Muhammad received God’s revelation They also studied the process of transmission from in the QUR’AN. It also means that, as God’s mes- one person to the next. For example, if A and B senger, Muhammad exemplifi es the ideal response were both reliable witnesses, but A had never left to God’s revelation. As a result, his life takes on Spain and B was never farther west than Egypt, the religious signifi cance. report was clearly false. Hadith are for the most part records of what In the late ninth and early 10th centuries C.E., the prophet Muhammad said, did, and allowed. scholars of SUNNI ISLAM made six authoritative col- They are second in importance only to the Qur’an. lections of Hadith. Their collections represent con- Together with the Qur’an, Hadith are the tradi- siderable effort: Scholars traveled widely to gather tional sources from which Muslims determine as many Hadith as possible. The collections also what is religiously true and proper. They defi ne represent considerable sifting. For example, al- what Muslims call sunnah, “tradition.” Bukhari, who made the most important collection, Many reports about Muhammad circulated in is said to have examined hundreds of thousands the decades after his death. Because the prophet’s of Hadith from all over the Islamic world. His fi n- example was valuable, some Muslims invented ished collection contains a little over 7,000. SHI’ITE Hadith to support their views or practices. They ISLAM has its own collections of Hadith. They were may not have done so with the deliberate intention made 400 to 500 years after the prophet lived, and of deceiving others. They may have honestly felt derive especially from the prophet’s cousin Ali and that they were reporting what the prophet had said his supporters. or done. In time, the number of Hadith prolifer- Each Hadith has two parts: the chain of trans- ated. It became necessary to distinguish authentic mission and the report itself. Many Hadith deal from inauthentic reports. with Muhammad’s pronouncements on central To do this, ancient scholars examined the way Islamic practices. For example, a large number tell in which a Hadith had been handed down. To be in detail how to observe the fi ve pillars of Islam: acceptable, a Hadith had to originate from a repu- profession of faith, formal daily prayer (SALAT), table person who was in a position to have reli- almsgiving, FASTING during the month of RAMADAN, able knowledge about what the Hadith claimed. It and PILGRIMAGE to MECCA. Others deal with mat- also had to have a known chain of transmission: ters that seem less important, for example, what For example, A learned from B, who learned from kind of dates one can sell, how not to react when C, who learned from D, the companion of the someone breaks wind, and the relative merits of

189 S 190 S halakhah

sneezing and yawning (cf. Sahih Bukhari 3.34.400; ity of things, when supernatural forces, such as 8.73.68; 8.73.245). spirits of nature and of the dead, could come into In the 20th century Muslims had varying atti- this world as on no other occasion. In Christian tudes to Hadith. Some Muslims with an interest in times Samhain was separated from New Year’s and “modernizing” Islam questioned the authenticity made the eve of All SAINTS (All Hallows, hence Hal- of Hadith. In doing so, they also questioned their loween) Day. The old characteristics were remem- authority. Other Muslims defended the Hadith bered and brought to the United States especially staunchly. by Irish immigrants. It is now a time for masks and changing roles and, at least in fun, believing in supernatural entities, good and bad. halakhah Hebrew word meaning “the way”; Jewish law in its most comprehensive form. JUDA- ISM is a way of life more than a set of beliefs. Hal- Hamas The Arabic word for “zeal;” an acronym akhah defi nes every aspect of this way of life, pri- for “Islamic Resistance Movement.” Hamas is a vate as well as public. Thus, it is extremely impor- Palestinian organization that seeks to recover all tant in Judaism. Indeed, it defi nes Judaism. traditional Palestinian land from the Jordan River The basis of halakhah is TORAH, that is, the to the Mediterranean Sea. That includes land cur- fi rst fi ve books of the BIBLE. RABBIS teach that Torah rently occupied by the state of Israel. contains 613 instructions on life. These instructions Sheikh Ahmed Yassin (1936–2004) founded are not, however, all suffi cient. Questions arise Hamas in December 1987, shortly after the fi rst when one tries to put them into practice, when one Palestinian intifada, or uprising, began. Earlier faces situations not discussed in Torah, and when Palestinian movements, such as Yasser Arafat’s the circumstances of life change. Other sources of (1929–2004) Fatah, had taken seriously that not halakhah include the rest of the Bible, oral Torah, all Palestinians are Muslims; a sizable minority are that is, the TALMUD, and custom. The oral Torah Christians. They had taken as their goal the cre- consists of interpretations that MOSES supposedly ation of a secular Palestinian state. Hamas adopted received orally on Mount Sinai and passed on to an Islamist position. It wanted to create an Islamic authoritative successors. state, and it saw its struggles in specifi cally Islamic The fi rst important compilation of halakhah terms as JIHAD. was the Mishna, made around 200 C.E. The com- Outside Palestinian territory Hamas has pilation with the most authority is the Shulhan become notorious and widely condemned for the Arukh of Joseph Caro (1488–1575). Today, besides activities of its militant wing, the Izzedine al-Qas- defi ning religious practice, halakhah is the offi cial sam Brigade. The best known of all are the attacks legal code in the state of Israel for some civil, but of Hamas suicide bombers on Israeli civilians. not criminal, matters. For example, halakhah gov- These are barbaric acts, but many Palestinians see erns procedures for marriage and divorce. them as justifi ed given the wretchedness of their living conditions and the hopelessness of their sit- uation. In the Gaza strip, for example, 1.3 million Halloween All Hallow’s Eve, October 31, a pop- Palestinians live on very little land; 80 percent of ular holiday emphasizing supernatural beings. This them live in poverty. American festival, with its orange and black colors Hamas has done more than violence, however; and witches, ghosts, and trick-or-treaters, is really it has also established effective social services in a continuation of Samhain, the ancient Celtic New Palestinian territories. It has constructed public Year’s Day (see CELTIC RELIGION and NEW YEAR FESTI- buildings such as libraries, clinics, and mosques. VALS). Like all such times of beginnings, Samhain It has provided food for the needy. It has also sup- was seen as a day and night breaking the continu- ported education and sports. In addition, Hamas Hanuman S 191

members have a reputation for being honest in their fi nancial dealings rather than corrupt, as the Palestinian Authority is thought to be. Israel sees Hamas as a major threat and has adopted a policy of assassinating Hamas leaders. That includes the founder, Sheikh Yassin, whom it assassinated on March 22, 2004. In addition, the United States has tried to eliminate funding to Hamas from overseas. Nevertheless, in January 2006, Hamas won a majority of the seats in elec- tions for the Palestinian parliament. Some observ- ers attributed its victory not to its anti-Israel stance but to its activities within the Palestinian territories. Still, the victory raised troubling questions about the future of the peace process and the relations of other countries to the Palestinian governing body. Further reading: Khaled Hroub, Hamas: Political Thought and Practice (Washington, D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies, 2000); Walter Laqueur, ed., Voices of Terror: Manifestos, Writings, and Manuals of Al Qaeda, Hamas, and Other Terrorists from around the World and throughout the Ages, (New A German Hanukkah lamp (menorah) in silver with an York: Reed Press, 2004). eight-headed mythical animal resembling a peacock, from the 18th century (Erich Lessing/Art Resource, N.Y.)

Hanukkah The Jewish festival of lights. It is cel- ebrated for eight days every year, beginning on the become the central feature of Hanukkah: lighting 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev. an eight-branched candelabrum known as a meno- Hanukkah is one of the Jewish festivals that rah. The most traditional menorahs burn oil, but non-Jewish North Americans know best. That is today many Jews use candles. Some RABBIS have because it falls around the time of CHRISTMAS and even sanctioned the use of electric lights. now involves the giving of gifts. A popular game is played in celebration of Hanukkah celebrates the victory of the Mac- Hanukkah. It uses a dreidel, that is, a small top cabees over the former Greek rulers of Israel and that one spins with one’s hand. A dreidel has four Judah in 164 B.C.E. According to the book of 2 Mac- fl at sides onto which Hebrew letters are inscribed. cabees, the festival began with the rededication of In Israel these letters are “n,” “g,” “h,” and “p,” the Temple in that very year. Its eight days of cel- the beginning letters of a four-word Hebrew sen- ebration made up for the failure to celebrate the tence that recalls the reason for Hanukkah: “A festival of Sukkot a few months earlier because of great miracle happened here.” Outside Israel the the war. last letter is “sh,” not “p,” because the sentence The TALMUD preserves a later story that is reads “A great miracle happened there.” now invariably connected with Hanukkah. On rededicating the temple, the Maccabees found only enough oil to burn for one day. Miraculously, Hanuman A hero in the Indian epic the it burned for eight. This story supports what has RAMAYANA. 192 S Hasidism

Many Hindus worship Hanuman as the ideal but the poor and the uneducated. His teachings devotee or worshipper of the gods. emphasized a kind of mystical communion with The Ramayana tells how a demon in the for- GOD that could and should be found in any sphere est kidnapped king RAMA’s wife, Sita. To rescue of life. her, Rama made an alliance with the forest mon- When the Baal Shem Tov died, his mantle keys. Hanuman, the general of the monkey armies, was taken up by his followers, especially Dov Ber discovered that Sita was being held in the city of (d. 1772). Dov Ber turned his house into a court, Lanka. While spying in Lanka, he was caught, and similar to those of the minor nobility. People would his tail was set on fi re as a form of torture. Hanu- fl ock to hear him hold court, that is, to preach and man escaped and set all of Lanka ablaze. Later, teach. His disciples formed courts or “houses” of Rama’s brother, Laksmana, was wounded in battle their own. Each of them became the center of a by a poisoned arrow. When it looked as if he would community. The leadership of the communities die, Hanuman fl ew to the far north. (As the son of soon became hereditary. Fathers would pass it the wind god Vayu, Hanuman can fl y.) He brought down to their sons or occasionally their sons-in- back the top of a mountain where a medicinal law. Thus, a distinctive feature of Hasidism was herb grew. As a result, Laksmana was saved. After born: the special relationship of the community to Rama rescued Sita and killed the demon, Hanu- its leader. man returned to Rama’s capital with Rama and The Hasidic leader is known as a tzaddik, a Sita. From there he oversaw the affairs of state for “righteous one.” As Hasidic Jews see it, a tzaddik 16,000 years. has no SIN of his own. Instead, he takes upon him- Images of Hanuman show him with a human self the EVIL done by his community and transforms body but a monkey’s face and tail. He also holds it into good. Thus, the tzaddik stands between the a large mace. One common image shows him fl y- community and God. He is the sole authority in ing through the air holding the mountain with the the community over private as well as public mat- medicinal herb. Another shows him standing and ters. It is inspiring just to be in his presence. holding open his chest to reveal Rama and Sita in Hasidic teachings and practices vary from his heart. This symbolizes his utter devotion to one community to another. Hasidism arose, how- Rama, whom many Hindus worship as GOD. ever, as a movement that played down the form of Hindus have built many temples to Hanu- Judaism customary in eastern Europe at the time. man in northern India. In Ayodhya, Rama’s city, This form emphasized studying TORAH and TALMUD worshippers visit structures in which they believe and meticulously acting on what one had studied, Hanuman actually lived. God’s instructions. In Hasidism, by contrast, one strove to experience an intimate communion with God. This attitude still characterizes most Hasidic Hasidism From the Hebrew word hasid, mean- groups. ing “pious”; a movement within JUDAISM. Hasidism During the 20th century, many Hasidic commu- began in the 18th century as a rejection of a rigid nities moved from eastern Europe to either Amer- legalism and intellectualism in favor of an emo- ica or Israel. In 1941 the most infl uential Hasidic tional, heartfelt religion. Today it is most often community set up its headquarters in Brooklyn, thought of as an ultraconservative form of Judaism New York. It is often called the Lubavitch com- that clings tightly to the ways of the past. munity, after the town in Belarus (an independent Hasidism began with a wandering healer and nation formerly in the Soviet Union) where it was teacher in eastern Europe known as the BAAL SHEM fi rst located. Its technical name is Habad Hasidism. TOV, the “Master of the Good Name” (c. 1700–60). The Lubavitch community emphasizes study more Like most wandering healers and teachers at the than most Hasidic communities do. It has also time, he addressed not the elite of the community taken a leading role in promoting Jewish tradition- healing, religious S 193

alism. But in doing so, it has not hesitated to make Many Christians have sought SALVATION as eternal use of the most modern technology. From 1950 life in the midst of their current reality, sometimes until his death in 1994 Rabbi Menachem Mendel seen as a vale of tears. Theravada Buddhists, very Schneersohn led the Lubavitch community. At the numerous in southeast Asia, distinguish NIRVANA, time of his death his followers were speculating the goal of religious practice, from life in this that he might be the promised MESSIAH. world, SAMSARA. But most Christians and Buddhists Hasidism has consistently opposed chang- think that religious practice benefi ts them here and ing the Jewish way of life to fi t Gentile ways. In now, too. And many other religious people expect particular, Hasidic Jews have been very critical of religion to help promote a better life or a thriv- Reform Judaism. They have also opposed ZIONISM. ing and fl ourishing life primarily in this world. They have seen this latter movement, which led to Among other things, they expect religion to heal the founding of the state of Israel, as an attempt them when they are sick. In many cultures, as evi- to force God to usher in the Messianic age. Some dence of the importance of religious healing, the Hasidic Jews have gone so far as to claim that the fi rst physician is said to have been a god. HOLOCAUST was God’s punishment for the sins of The infl uential scholar Mircea ELIADE devel- Reform Judaism and Zionism. oped a model of how religions heal. He suggested that for religious people disease is not just a mal- function. It is a disruption in the being of the Hathor A GODDESS of ancient Egypt. The name entire cosmos. In order to heal, one must restore, Hathor means “house of HORUS.” It links her with or better, recreate the entire cosmos. Not only the the sky. Hathor was given form as a cow or as a sick person but the cosmos itself must return to human fi gure with a cow’s head. In the latter case, the moment of creation and be renewed. This can the disk of the sun rests between her two horns. happen in a number of ways. A healer may recite In mythology from the Old Kingdom of Egypt the COSMOGONY—the myth of creation—and include (2650–2180 B.C.E.) Hathor is the wife of Re, the sun in it the mythology that tells of the creation of the god, and the mother of Horus. Because the king is medicine that she or he is about to give (see MYTH the living Horus, Hathor is also the mother of the AND MYTHOLOGY). Or a RITUAL may place the sick king. Later, Isis was said to be the king’s mother. person in a fetal position. This position signals a Nevertheless, illustrations from the New Kingdom return to the womb and a rebirth. (1570–1080 B.C.E.) often show Hathor as a cow giv- Eliade’s model can be helpful. At the same ing the king milk. time, one must be careful in using it. The model In addition to this role, Hathor was a goddess may tempt us to distort what religious people of lovers and childbirth. Her main temple was at say and do so that their words and actions fi t the Dendera. In the area around Thebes she took on model. It may also tempt us to read into words and a somewhat different character. She was called actions symbolic meanings that might not be there “the lady of the west” and was associated with or ignore other meanings that are there. the dead. WHAT CAUSES ILLNESS? Religions attribute illness to many causes. Some- Hawaiian religion See PACIFIC OCEAN RELIGIONS. times they attribute them to personal beings. Traditional AFRICAN RELIGIONS often attribute sickness to the acts of other human beings. That healing, religious Religious techniques for over- is, they talk about WITCHCRAFT and sorcery. Accord- coming physical and mental illness. Whatever else ing to a well-known study of the Azande, witch- it may be, religion is a means used by individu- craft was a substance in a person’s abdomen. als and communities to help promote a better life. It harmed other people. Sometimes those who 194 S healing, religious

possessed witchcraft did not even know what they in North America also extract foreign objects from were doing. the body of the sick person. Indigenous peoples have also attributed sick- A healer with special powers has also been ness to possession by spirits. They are hardly important in CHRISTIANITY. Of all the founders of alone. According to the NEW TESTAMENT, JESUS cast major religions, Jesus fi ts the image of charismatic out demons. Folk traditions in ISLAM have known healer most closely. He passed on the gift of heal- local spirits that could harm as well as help peo- ing to his APOSTLES. In time most Christians turned ple. Some scholars suggest that indigenous North to other means for healing. But in the 19th and Americans tended to talk about two different 20th centuries the idea that some Christians had causes of disease. They tended to attribute physi- the gift of healing reappeared in North America. cal illness to possession by a spirit; they attributed One of the most famous healers was Oral Roberts mental illness to the departure of a person’s soul. (b. 1918), who built his own medical center in Yet another personal source of sickness and Tulsa, Oklahoma (see PENTECOSTALISM). disease are the gods or GOD. At the beginning of In addition to special healers, religions have the Iliad, APOLLO shoots his arrows into the Greek found healing in rituals and changes in life-style. camp and causes a plague. The book of Deuter- When indigenous people attribute illnesses to onomy promises that YHWH (“the Lord”) will offended ancestors, they may acknowledge their affl ict those who do not observe the TORAH. The offenses and make an offering to restore good rela- affl ictions include “consumption, fever, infl amma- tions. Among the Japanese, water—for example, tion . . . boils . . . ulcers, scurvy, and itch” (Deuter- bathing in a hot spring—has been an important onomy 28.22, 27). way to seek health. Catholic and Orthodox Chris- Many religions, especially in Asia, attribute tians have a SACRAMENT of healing; a priest anoints disease to nonpersonal causes. Indigenous North a sick person with oil. In the ancient Mediterra- Americans often thought that a foreign sub- nean world sick people often slept in the sanctuary stance—say, a feather—had entered the body and of the god Asklepios; they left behind many testi- needed to be extracted. The ancient Chinese traced monials to show that the god had visited them at illness to a disruption of the harmony of nature. night, often in dreams, and healed them (see GREEK Ayurveda, a Hindu body of medicine, teaches that, RELIGION). Taoists have stressed that one should live in addition to personal causes, diseases result from in harmony with natural processes. They have also an imbalance in the body’s three “humors,” wind, experimented with medicines that produce health, bile, and phlegm. Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains long life, and immortality (see TAOISM). also attribute disease to actions (KARMA) in this or Some religious people have also seen the a previous life. source of healing in ideas and attitudes. From Few religions have limited themselves to a sin- New Thought and CHRISTIAN SCIENCE to “the power gle cause for disease. Most of them give a variety of positive thinking,” such movements have had of explanations, personal and nonpersonal. much infl uence in North America.

METHODS OF HEALING HEALING IN 20TH-CENTURY AMERICA At one time or another religious people have used During the 19th and 20th centuries, nonreligious, virtually every element of religion in search of heal- scientifi c medicine made tremendous advances. ing. Many indigenous religions rely on specially But people in North America have not abandoned initiated healers called shamans (see SHAMANISM). religious healing. Some continue to reject medi- Shamans generally fi ght the spirits that are making cal techniques on religious grounds. For example, people sick. They often travel to the spirit world JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES refuse blood transfusions. to do battle. If they win, the people recover; if Some continue to turn to FAITH and mind based they lose, the shamans may die. Many shamans healing. Alternative medicines, such as Ayurveda, heaven S 195

have become very popular in some circles. Twelve- tute for the word GOD. This usage is also found in step recovery programs are effective in countering the gospel of Matthew. In Hinduism various gods alcoholism and other conditions; they have a sig- dwell in heavens; in Mahayana Buddhism BUD- nifi cant religious component. Those who practice DHAS and BODHISATTVAS dwell there, too. GNOSTICISM scientifi c medicine have also often recognized the taught that EVIL archons ruled the seven planetary important role that spiritual well-being plays in spheres. Far above them at a virtually inaccessible healing physical and mental illness. distance was the realm of the unknown God, a realm of goodness and light. Further reading: Mircea Eliade, Shamanism In some religions heaven directs human (New York: Pantheon, 1964); David Harrell, All actions. CONFUCIANISM did not say much about Things Are Possible: The Healing and Charismatic what heaven was, but it did teach that people Revivals in Modern America (Bloomington: Indiana were to follow the “way of heaven.” More broadly, University Press, 1975); Morton Kelsey, Healing Chinese rulers claimed to rule by the “mandate of and Christianity (New York: Harper & Row, 1973); heaven.” Heaven can also be a source of justice. In Thomas G. Plante and Allen C. Sherman, eds., the sacred books known as the VEDA, the sky-god Faith and Health: Psychological Perspectives (New Varuna looks down from heaven with his thousand York: Guilford, 2001). eyes and notes whether people do good or evil. According to the image dominant in North America, heaven is a place to which people go heaven A realm above the earth. Traditional after they die. This kind of heaven is not limited CHRISTIANITY conceives of heaven as a realm where to Christianity. Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains see the redeemed go after either death or the fi nal judg- the various heavens as places where people whose ment. This image is the dominant one in North actions in life have been especially good—who America. have very good KARMA—are reborn after death (see Sometimes heaven simply refers to the region JAINISM). PURE LAND BUDDHISM gets its name from above the atmosphere. Most religions have some- the heaven that the Buddha AMIDA has created in thing to say about this region. What they have to the distant west. Those who rely upon him are say differs tremendously. The beginning of the reborn into the Pure Land and enjoy its delights book of Genesis talks about the sky as the fi rma- until one day all sentient or conscious beings will ment that holds back the “waters above.” Reli- enter enlightenment together. gions in the Mediterranean region around the time In ZOROASTRIANISM, Christianity, and ISLAM of JESUS often talked about several different lay- heaven is the abode of those who are found wor- ers of heaven, one atop the other. These were the thy at the fi nal judgment. The three religions have spheres of the planets, of the sun and the moon, used different metaphors to describe this wondrous and of the fi xed stars. Ancient Mesoamericans place. The book of REVELATION refers to it as a new seem to have conceived of the layers of heaven as JERUSALEM and describes it as a wondrously jew- the different levels through which the sun ascends eled city. The QUR’AN often refers to it as a garden, and descends during the day (see MAYA RELIGION). which contrasts starkly with the desert climate HINDUISM and BUDDHISM have described any num- in which Islam arose. Rivers supply the garden ber of heavenly worlds. These often have little, if with abundant water, plants grow luxuriantly, and anything, to do with what can be seen in the sky. celestial beings cater to the whims of those who However religions conceive of heaven, they are found worthy of heaven. The particular vision usually associate special beings with it. In ancient of heaven seems to fulfi ll a given people’s aspira- Egypt the sky was itself a GODDESS, the goddess Nut tions after utopia. (see EGYPTIAN RELIGION). Jews of the Second Temple At the same time, heaven is not limited to period occasionally used “heaven” as a substi- some far off place. It also provides ideals on which 196 S hell

to model life here on Earth. Jesus taught that the unpunished in this life, they do not emphasize this KINGDOM OF GOD or of heaven was at hand. This belief. preaching has inspired some Protestants in North Hell properly speaking appears in ZOROASTRIAN- America to try to reform society. Heaven has also ISM, Christianity, and ISLAM. The ancient Israelites inspired artists such as architects. In places as far had close contact with Persians during and after apart as Spain, Iran, and India Muslim landscape the Babylonian exile (587–539 B.C.E.). Many schol- architects have taken the Qur’an’s descriptions ars have suggested that the Persian religion, Zoro- of heaven as the basis for the gardens they have astrianism, gave its teachings about hell to Chris- designed. An inscription set up in Shalamar Bagh, tianity and Islam. In any case, all three religions Kashmir (India), gives evidence of their success: conceive of hell as a place where the unredeemed “If there be a Paradise on the face of the earth, it is wicked go, generally for eternal torment. Fire has here, it is here, it is here.” been the most popular torment in hell, but not the The development of modern astronomy has only one. Occasionally hell has been thought of made it diffi cult for people to ascribe literally to as absolutely cold. Both Zoroastrianism and Islam traditional views of heaven as a realm immediately also tell of a narrow bridge over an abyss. After above the sky. Nevertheless, religions that have death persons must walk across the bridge. The traditionally talked about heaven have not aban- wicked lose their balance and fall to their eternal doned the teaching. Their followers think of it as a torment. spiritual ideal rather than an astronomical place. Some sayings in Islam indicate that the pun- ishment suffered in hell might not actually be eter- nal. Christians, too, have at times been reluctant to hell A realm or realms, usually thought of as make hell an eternal abode. The ancient Christian below the Earth, to which evildoers go after death. teacher Origen (c. 185–c. 254) pointed to a refer- Hell fi gures prominently in the teachings of tradi- ence to universal restoration in the NEW TESTAMENT. tional CHRISTIANITY, but many other religions have According to him all creatures would eventually be analogous concepts. restored to GOD. Hell was more like a penitentiary, Many religions associate the dead with a realm where those unredeemed on Earth reestablished a below the surface of the Earth. They often seem to proper relationship with God. Many liberal Chris- do so because they bury the dead. For them the tians in the last two centuries have also reinter- underworld is not necessarily a place of punish- preted hell or rejected the idea altogether. ment, but it is not a place that one would choose to Religions of south and east Asia have gener- be, either. Such a view appears, for example, in the ally handled the idea of hell differently. HINDUISM, ancient Mesopotamian story of INANNA’s descent to BUDDHISM, and JAINISM believe in a lengthy series the underworld; in ancient Greek notions of Hades; of rebirths known as SAMSARA. Hell is one place in the realm to which Izanami, one of the world’s where those whose actions have been particularly parents in early SHINTO mythology (see IZANAGI AND bad may be reborn. Indeed, in all three religions IZANAMI), goes after she dies; and in the realm of hell is more than a single place. Hell is a whole Xibalba in the Maya EPIC, Popol Vuh. In several of series of worlds or universes. There is no single these examples the underworld is associated with description of these various worlds that any one testing and trials. of the religions accepts. Instead, the worlds of hell The Hebrew BIBLE presents a view of life after have become a fertile ground for the mythological death that is very much like the preceding views. imagination. Indeed, the Hebrew Bible does not focus on the Writers and artists have found hell to be a realm of the dead, and that attitude has carried powerful subject. Indeed, some have observed that over into JUDAISM. Although Jews generally believe artists often produce much better works when their in a retribution after death for EVIL acts that remain subjects involve sin, death, and hell, than when heroes and hero myths S 197

they involve virtue and HEAVEN. Well known Euro- a god of thieves, merchants, and shepherds and a pean depictions of hell include Dante’s Inferno, patron of literature. which describes in delightful detail a descent Perhaps the most important myth about through the various levels of hell; the English poet Hermes is the story of his birth. On the day he John Milton’s Paradise Lost; and the almost surre- was born, Hermes invented the lyre, then stole the alistic paintings of Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450–c. cattle of APOLLO. Although angered by the theft, 1516). Apollo was very fond of the lyre. In exchange for it, he allowed Hermes to keep the stolen cattle.

heresy Beliefs considered dangerously wrong by religious authority or by popular opinion. The heroes and hero myths Extraordinary human word “heresy” comes from a Greek word meaning beings and stories about them. The word “hero” “choosing,” in the sense of choosing for oneself comes from the Greek. In ancient Greece heroes rather than in accordance with the consensus of a were great people from the past. That does not larger group. In religion, particularly CHRISTIANITY, mean they were particularly admirable. For exam- this term is used to describe a belief considered by ple, Cleomedes of Astypalaea was a champion the religion’s teaching authorities or mainstream boxer. One day he went on a rampage and killed opinion to be false, and dangerous to the SALVA- 60 schoolchildren. The ancient Greeks found this TION of those who hold it. Christianity has always action as reprehensible as people of today would. had its heretics, from the GNOSTICISM of the early But because Cleomedes’s action was so extraordi- centuries down to medieval groups like the Albig- nary, the Greeks worshipped him as a hero. ensians. At the time of the Protestant REFORMATION, Heroes were worshipped at what was claimed Protestants and Catholics regarded each other as to be their tombs. The Greeks generally gave heretics. Persons regarded as heretics have fre- heroes the same kinds of SACRIFICES as they gave quently been subjected to brutal persecution and to gods of the earth. The blood of the animal was horrible punishments, including burning at the drained into a trench. Then the animal was burned stake. Because of this tragic history, the use of up completely. Some of the heroes became central the term has fallen out of favor in many Christian fi gures in EPIC tales and other legends. Examples circles today. include Achilles, Odysseus, Theseus, Oedipus, and Herakles. It is not always clear how these stories related to the WORSHIP of heroes. Hermes An ancient Greek god. In character, In the 19th and 20th centuries, scholars of reli- Hermes is a TRICKSTER. He both marks boundaries gion and folklore came to use the term “hero” in and crosses them. a somewhat different way. For them a hero was a The name Hermes is related to “herm.” A man or woman prominent in mythology but not herm is a pile of stones used to mark boundaries. divine. One of the best known writers about heroes In ancient Greek, herms were taken to be images in the 20th century, Joseph Campbell, defi ned the of the god Hermes. Communities practiced local ARCHETYPE or fundamental image of the hero as fol- RITUALS at them. lows: “The hero . . . is the man or woman who As the god of the boundaries, Hermes is ide- has been able to battle past his personal and local ally suited to be a messenger. Art often shows him historical limitations to the generally valid, nor- as a messenger, wearing a cap with wings and mal human forms.” Despite the partial inclusive- holding a herald’s staff. He also escorts the souls of ness of this defi nition, Campbell—and many oth- the dead to the underworld. Thus, in the last book ers—tended to conceive of the hero in masculine of the Odyssey he escorts the souls of the suitors terms. He most often saw preeminent women in whom Odysseus has killed. In addition, Hermes is the form of the “great mother.” Some say that this 198 S Hindu festivals

male-centeredness derives from the people who deeply infl uenced the fi lmmaker George Lucas. He tell hero-stories; it may just as likely derive from used them as the basis for his well-known movie the scholars who study them. trilogy, Star Wars. Heroes stand out from the crowd because of their remarkable abilities and achievements. Hom- er’s heroes routinely lift boulders that “two men of Hindu festivals Religious celebrations in Hindu today” could not begin to budge. Beowulf defeats communities (see HINDUISM). Hindus celebrate the dragon Grendel, who previously wreaked most festivals once each year. But the Indian year destruction far and wide. The military exploits of is quite different from the Gregorian year observed Lakshmi Bai (d. 1858), the rani (queen) of Jhansi, in North America and Europe (January 1 through a town of central India, have become legendary December 31). It is based on cycles of the moon, there. Some heroes embody superior qualities that and the number of days in both months and years are as much moral or spiritual as physical. In the are different from what is found in the Gregorian Ramayana, a Hindu epic, Rama and his wife Sita calendar. Hindus regularly adjust the year so that exceed all other human beings in virtue (see RAMA, the months occur during roughly the same season, RAMAYANA). but it is not possible to say that a Hindu festival, Some scholars have identifi ed typical features such as Holi, occurs on a specifi c Gregorian date, of a hero’s career. These features are helpful, pro- the way CHRISTMAS, for example, falls on Decem- vided they do not obscure the distinctive char- ber 25. In this way, Hindu festivals are like the acteristics of a particular story. The writer F. R. Jewish holiday PASSOVER and the Christian holiday S. Raglan noted several characteristics of a hero. EASTER. They include birth through supernatural means, a The Hindu year generally begins around either battle with a supernatural enemy, such as a demon the spring or the fall equinox (when the day and or a dragon, and a special destination after death. night are the same length). Each month is divided Campbell said that a hero’s career followed the into a bright half or fortnight, which is the time structure of RITES OF PASSAGE: separation, triumph between the new and the full moon, and a dark over trials, and return. Each stage presented many fortnight, between the full and the new moon. possibilities for variation. For example, triumph The renowned expert on Hindu religious prac- could take the form of marriage to a GODDESS, tice, P. V. Kane, identifi ed more than 1,000 differ- reconciliation with the creator-father, becoming ent Hindu festivals. Some are observed only in cer- divine, or stealing the drink of immortality. tain regions; others are observed throughout India. Founders of religions sometimes take on the The observance of all-Indian festivals may, how- characteristics of heroes. Examples include MOSES, ever, vary from place to place. Festivals generally JESUS, and the BUDDHA. Indeed, the Buddha’s biog- combine elements of a fair or carnival with reli- raphy contains a tension between two different gious RITUALS, narrowly speaking. Many are color- ideals of world-conquest: the military conquest ful, and Hindus decorate their temples with strings that the Buddha’s father wanted for his son, and of colored fl ags and lights that North Americans the spiritual conquest that the Buddha achieved. may associate with store openings and Christmas, During the 20th century the ideal of the hero or respectively. heroine was applied to nonreligious fi gures: politi- Some festivals celebrate major events in the cians (Abraham Lincoln), military leaders (George life of a god. Dussehra, celebrated during the Patton), sports fi gures (Muhammad Ali), and lead- bright fortnight of October–November, begins with ers of social causes (Susan B. Anthony). Comic Navaratri. The name means “nine nights,” and the books and fi lms celebrated a number of fi ctional nights are generally associated with the battle of heroes and “superheroes,” such as Superman, Bat- DURGA and the buffalo demon. The 10th day marks man, and Wonderwoman. Joseph Campbell’s ideas Durga’s victory; in some places it also marks Hinduism S 199

October–November, is the festival of lights. Wor- shippers observe it by placing a multitude of lamps outdoors in the evening. Holi (the full moon of March–April) is a north Indian ritual that allows for excessive play. Worshippers spatter one another with colored powders or, if they are mischievous, dirt and muck. South Indians honor sacred cobras on Naga-pancami (the fi fth day of the bright fort- night of August–September). In Rakshabandhana (the full moon of August–September) sisters sym- bolically protect their brothers by tying colored threads around their wrists. In western India Makarasamkranti (in mid-January according to the position of the sun) is a day for competitive kite- fl ying. Competitors coat the strings of their kites with sharp materials such as powdered glass. Then they try to fl y their own kites in such a way as to cut the strings of the other kites. Not all Hindu festivals are observed every year. Four times in the course of a 12-year cycle Hindus observe Kumbh Mela. This is a PILGRIMAGE festival held in succession at spots where, it is said, drops of the elixir of immortality once dripped on the Earth: Prayaga (Allahabad), Hard-war, Ujjain, and Nasik. Recent celebrations have drawn literally millions of worshippers. Those who celebrate acquire merit and are cleansed of defi lements through a ritual bath.

Indian dancers practice in traditional dress as they prepare for the upcoming Hindu festival of Navratri, or Nine Nights, in Ahmadabad, India. (AP Photo/Siddharth Hinduism A set of religions that arose and are Darshan Kumar) especially practiced in India. Hinduism is some- thing of an umbrella term. It includes any Indian religious practice that does not claim to belong to another religion. Nevertheless, most of these RAMA’s victory over Ravana. Sivaratri occurs on the religions share certain characteristics, such as 14th day of the dark fortnight of February–March. acknowledging the authority of the sacred texts It is particularly sacred to worshippers of SIVA. known as the VEDA. They observe it by ritually anointing a consecrated lingam, a symbol of the god. Krishnajayanti, on HISTORY the eighth day of the dark fortnight of August– The fi rst religious practices on the Indian subcon- September, celebrates KRISHNA’s birth at the hour tinent that we have any distinct knowledge of are of midnight. Ramanavami, on the ninth day of the those of the Indus Valley civilization (fl . 3500–1500 bright fortnight of April–May, honors the birth of B.C.E.) (see INDUS VALLEY RELIGION). Our knowledge Rama. of these practices is, however, limited to physical There are many other popular festivals. Divali artifacts that are diffi cult to interpret. These arti- or Dipavali, on the 14th of the dark fortnight of facts include seals that seem to show a person in 200 S Hinduism

costume meditating and a pool that seems designed (acknowledging and worshipping GOD as one), for RITUAL bathing. and some are atheists (denying that God exists). According to traditional European scholarship, Instead of worshipping a personal God, Hindu the religion of the Veda was brought to India about atheists may postulate that a single, nonpersonal 1500 B.C.E. Traditional Indian scholarship sees it as reality underlies the world of appearances (see having originated in India much earlier. The prac- BRAHMAN). Hindus who are monotheists generally tices that we know the most about were elaborate see the many Hindu gods as different manifesta- public SACRIFICES sponsored by wealthy patrons and tions of the one same God. performed by priests. Some parts of the Veda give The Veda celebrates gods like INDRA, AGNI, evidence of what may have been more popular Surya, Varuna, and, a little later, Prajapati. The practices: spells and incantations used for medical gods of the Puranas are generally grouped together purposes. under the triad of BRAHMA the creator, VISHNU the Starting perhaps around 600 B.C.E. speculation preserver, and SIVA the destroyer, together with their on the Veda gave rise to philosophical texts known consorts SARASWATI, LAKSHMI, and PARVATI. Actual as the UPANISHADS. Somewhat later more practi- Hindu worship tends to focus on a somewhat dif- cally oriented scholars systematized the Hindu ferent triad: Vishnu with his avatars KRISHNA and way of life in Smritis or Dharmasastras, the most RAMA (sometimes the BUDDHA and JESUS, too) and important of which was the Laws of MANU. Over his consort Lakshmi; Siva with his consort Parvati many centuries mythological material developed and his son GANESA; and Devi, the goddess, espe- into a body of literature known as itihasa-PURANA. cially in the form of DURGA and KALI. Much wor- It includes the mammoth epic poem the Mahab- ship focuses, too, on the deities of the local village, harata and an especially revered portion of it, the often female, who may or may not be identifi ed BH AGAVA D -GITA. with the pan-Indian deities just named. From 500 to 1500 C.E. Hinduism as we know Despite this plurality, most Hindus share a set it today took shape. Beginning in south India, a of beliefs about the structure of life and the uni- movement of devotion to deities (BHAKTI) drew verse. They believe that upon death, living beings people who had supported BUDDHISM back to Hin- are reborn. The conditions of their rebirth are duism. Hindus started to build temples to house determined by whether their action (KARMA) has their gods and goddesses. The orthodox schools been morally good or bad. The universe, too, alter- of philosophy, especially the various forms of nates between creation and destruction, although VEDANTA, were formulated. TANTRISM, a tradition the number of years in each cycle is immense. of esoteric rituals, provided alternative means to Most Hindus also acknowledge that the ultimate release. Eventually an elaborate and sophisticated religious goal is to attain release (moksha) from religious literature grew up in the languages of the cycle of rebirth (SAMSARA). everyday life. PRACTICES BELIEFS Hindu practices are just as diverse as Hindu Virtually all forms of Hinduism acknowledge the beliefs. authority of the Veda, but that does not mean that The codes of DHARMA, religiously sanctioned they derive any specifi c content from it. There is order, discuss practice in terms of a sanatana no Hindu creed, and Hinduism encompasses many dharma, an order that applies universally. Accord- different beliefs. ing to this order, what one is supposed to do is For example, some Hindus are polytheists determined by the varna (ritual class; see CASTE IN (worshipping more than one god), some are heno- HINDUISM) into which one is born and the asrama theists (acknowledging many gods but devot- (stage of life) in which one happens to be. In ing themselves to one), some are monotheists youth, males of the top three varnas are to study Hinduism S 201

the Veda; in maturity they are to marry, support a class (varna). For those families who participate in household, and produce children, especially sons; Vedic ceremonies, the GURU or spiritual preceptor is in old age they relinquish their duties. Some even an important authority. take a fourth step, known as sannyasa, in which Astrologers are seen as important spiritual they totally renounce their possessions and iden- advisers. Many Hindus consult them on all impor- tity and search for ultimate release from repeated tant occasions, especially birth and marriage. rebirth. Hindus also consult renunciants (SADHUS). In the Hindu law codes give much less freedom to past century or so these have included such prom- women. According to the Laws of Manu, “Her inent fi gures as RAMAKRISHNA Paramahamsa, Sri father guards her in childhood, her husband guards Aurobindo, and Ramana Maharshi. Renunciants her in her youth, and her sons guard her in old age. are usually members of institutions, for example, A woman is not fi t for independence.” This hardly the monasteries founded by the great Indian phi- does justice, however, to the many Hindu women losopher SANKARA. through the centuries renowned for their accom- plishments in intellectual, political, military, and HINDUISM TODAY religious realms. For example, many of the doctors Since the 19th century, Hinduism has faced many in India today are women. challenges. One was how to react to British rul- Accompanying this life cycle is a series of RITES ers, who considered Hindu traditions backward. OF PASSAGE known as samskaras. The most impor- The Brahmo Samaj, founded by Raja Ram Mohan tant is probably the initiation of the boy into Vedic Roy (1772–1833) sought to modernize Hinduism. study. Those who study the Veda ideally perform The Arya Samaj, founded by Dayananda Saraswati Vedic rituals throughout their working years and (1824–83), sought instead to purify Hinduism by retirement. Vedic twilight rituals, known as sand- returning to its Vedic roots. hya and performed morning and evening, punctu- A second challenge was how to deal with liv- ate the rhythms of daily life. ing in non-Hindu territories. Starting in the 19th By far the most common worship practice century Hindus emigrated to eastern and southern in Hinduism is PUJA, worship of a god in image Africa, the West Indies, Australia, Great Britain, form either at home or at a temple. A number Canada, and eventually the United States. Those of festivals punctuate the Hindu year (see HINDU who did so have been formulating what it means FESTIVALS). Pilgrimage to sacred sites sometimes to be Hindu in these lands (see HINDUISM IN AMER- involves millions of devotees at a time. A number ICA). Especially since the 1960s some Hindus have of spiritual disciplines (YOGAS) attempt to produce been traveling outside of India as missionaries. ultimate release from repeated rebirth. Not to be Yet another challenge was how to respond to overlooked, too, are the many vows that Hindu British rule in India. What was the appropriate way women make. Although Hinduism often highlights for Hindus to fi ght the British? In the 19th century the religious role of men, women are important B. G. Tilak read the BH AGAVA D -GITA as calling Hin- teachers of their children. For example, Mohandas dus to armed struggle. In the early 20th century, Gandhi attributed his religious seriousness to the however, Mohandas GANDHI used it to advocate profound religious devotion of his mother. nonviolence. India won its independence in 1947. Since then, ORGANIZATION Hindus have argued vigorously about whether India Hinduism is above all a religion of the family. It is should be a secular or a Hindu state. The heirs of possible to be a devout Hindu and never set foot Gandhi, the Congress Party, have favored a secular in a temple. Families do, however, participate in state. Others have advocated the ideal of Hindutva, broader religious institutions. All Hindu families “Hindu-ness.” According to this ideal, Hindutva is are classifi ed in terms of caste (jati) and ritual not a religion but the traditional culture of India. 202 S Hinduism, new movements in

All Indian citizens should embrace it, even if they ments within Hinduism began to appeal to people are Muslims, Christians, Parsis, Sikhs, or Jains or of non-Indian as well as Indian ancestry. They even have some other religious identity. began to seek converts and establish centers out- A number of organizations advocate the Hin- side of India. This entry will concentrate on such dutva ideal (see FUNDAMENTALISM, HINDU). They movements. For a discussion of recent movements include the RSS (National Service Society), the VHP within Hinduism that have a political orientation, (World Hindu Congress), and the BJP (Bharatiya see FUNDAMENTALISM, HINDU. Janata Party), a political party that has ruled India According to one common scheme, Hindus off and on in the 1990s and early 2000s. follow one of three margas or paths, the paths of In agitating for Hindutva, these groups have insight, moral action, and devotion to the gods. taken as their symbol the alleged birthplace of This is a convenient scheme for talking about new Rama. A MOSQUE had stood on the site, but on religious movements in Hinduism, too. In general, December 6, 1992, crowds favoring Hindutva tore movements in the paths of devotion and moral it down. Their actions sparked riots in which thou- action have had only limited appeal to non-Indi- sands of people, mostly Muslims, were killed. In ans. Non-Indians, especially in North America and 2001 violence against Muslims once again broke Europe, have preferred movements that promise out, especially in the western Indian state of insight, wisdom, and inner peace. Gujarat, that resulted in hundreds of deaths. In the The path of action traditionally defi nes DHARMA summer of 2004, the BJP lost the national elec- according to the family into which one is born. It tions. It is, however, too early to tell what the ulti- has not had much concern for people who are not mate outcome of the push for Hindutva will be. born within Hindu families. It is diffi cult, there- fore, for movements in the path of action to appeal SIGNIFICANCE to non-Indians. It is true that the nonviolent teach- Hinduism is the religion of roughly one-seventh of ings of Mohandas GANDHI have inspired many peo- the world’s population. In addition, it has given ple around the world. This inspiration has never, the rest of the world a rich tradition of religious however, led to the development of a unifi ed and thought, literature, and art as well as examples of independent religious community. profound religious devotion. There is much popular interest in Hindu gods in North America and Europe. Feminists often Further reading: Kim Knott, Hinduism: A Very Short fi nd the goddess KALI attractive. Many people use Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press, images of Hindu gods to decorate homes, offi ces, or 2000); R. K. Narayan, Gods, Demons, and Others other buildings, but they often do not actually wor- (New York: Bantam Books, 1986); Patrick Olivelle, ship these gods. The best example of a movement trans., Upanishads (New York: Oxford University that fosters devotion to a god is probably the Inter- Press, 1998); Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, national Society for KRISHNA Consciousness (ISK- Dancing with Siva: Hinduism’s Contemporary CON), whose members are sometimes called Hare Catechism, 5th ed. (Kapaa, Hawaii: Himalayan Krishnas. Other devotional movements tend just to Academy, 1999). serve the needs of Hindus living outside of India. An example with some connection to devotion is the Himalayan Academy of Satguru Sivaya Subra- Hinduism, new movements in There is no maniyaswami. It publishes Hinduism Today in the centralized authority for HINDUISM that is analogous United States and promotes the worship of SIVA. to the PAPACY within ROMAN CATHOLICISM. In a sense, Movements within the path of insight tend to then, new movements appear within Hinduism be of much greater interest to people who were whenever a new teacher or holy person attracts not born into Hindu families. The oldest such orga- followers. During the 20th century some move- nization in the United States may be the Vedanta Hinduism in America S 203

Society. It is a branch of a movement founded by the BH AGAVA D -GITA. Although their writings used Vivekananda (1863–1903), a disciple of the Ben- Hindu-sounding concepts, such as the “over- gali saint RAMAKRISHNA Paramahamsa (1836–86). soul,” their understanding of Hinduism was not At regular meetings members of the Society listen profound. to talks about such themes as BRAHMAN being the At the end of the 19th century, Hinduism gained ultimate reality of the universe and of all beings considerable visibility in North America as a result of within it. Two movements devoted to simpli- the World’s Parliament of Religion, held in Chicago fi ed versions of Hindu MEDITATION are Transcen- in 1893. Most of the participants in the Parliament dental Meditation (TM), founded by Maharishi were Christian. But a representative of Hinduism Mahesh Yogi (b. 1917), and the Rajneesh Foun- named VIVEKANANDA, a follower of the Bengali SAINT dation, founded in 1974. Both groups are no lon- RAMAKRISHNA, made a strong impression on partici- ger as popular in the United States as they once pants and observers. Soon after the Parliament he were. Another group that stresses meditation, the founded the VEDANTA Society, which taught Hindu Brahma Kumari or “princess of BRAHMA” move- philosophy in many American cities and attracted ment, founded in 1937, is notable for the leader- some high-profi le adherents, including the writers ship roles that women assume. Aldous Huxley and Christopher Isherwood. One feature of Hindu new religious move- Until the 1960s, Hinduism in the United States ments that often troubles outsiders is the manner was mostly limited to an interest in certain aspects in which participants are often expected to treat of Hindu philosophy. That was not true of other the teacher or GURU. Followers of Rajneesh, also places in the Western Hemisphere. For example, known as Osho, were expected to consider him as during the 19th century indentured servants were a god incarnate. Similarly, followers of Sri Sathya brought from India to the West Indies. They brought Sai Baba, who teaches the unity of the world’s reli- their religions along with them. An early novel of gions, worship him as an AVATAR of god and a lov- V. S. Naipaul, A House for Mr. Biswas (1961), gives ing deity. Both have been accused of sexual mis- a portrait of their community. conduct by former followers. In the mid-1960s, the United States changed There is certainly room for caution in assess- its immigration laws. The number of people of ing anyone’s claims to special status. At the same Indian descent living in the United States began time, claims to divine status do have precedents in to grow. As a result, the practice of Hinduism as a Hinduism. For example, the Swaminarayan move- religion supplemented the earlier interest in Hindu ment, founded in 1801, is prominent among Hin- philosophy. dus from Gujarat and very active in social relief Public attention often focused on missionary activities. Its members consider themselves devo- efforts directed at North Americans of non-Indian tees of God, but they also revere their founder, descent. Many young Americans tried meditation Swaminarayan, as Lord. techniques purveyed by traveling gurus. The Inter- national Society of KRISHNA Consciousness, an off- shoot of Krishna worship in the Bengal region of Hinduism in America Interest in and practice eastern India, became highly visible. Founded in of the traditional religions of India in the Western 1965 by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Hemisphere, especially North America. Interest in ISKCON instructed its followers to adopt traditional HINDUISM among European North Americans began Indian dress, distributed literature, conducted in the 1830s and 1840s. At that time New England devotional singing in public places, and founded Transcendentalists such as Ralph Waldo Emerson communes and restaurants. (1803–82) and Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) The practice of Hinduism by Indian immi- studied selected writings of Asian religions, includ- grants received much less public attention than ing Hindu scriptures such as the UPANISHADS and did the Hinduism of American converts, but it 204 S Holiness movement

involved a signifi cantly large number of people. In the early 1800s many American Methodists Indeed, by the end of the 20th century even ISK- did not have much use for Wesley’s teachings about CON was primarily serving the needs of immi- sanctifi cation. Others, however, did, such as the grants from India. Much of Hinduism is practiced revivalist preacher Charles G. Finney (1792–1875), household by household. Many Indian Americans president of Oberlin College in Ohio. In striving regularly performed daily household RITUALS and for perfection, the founders of the Holiness move- the special rituals associated with different stages ment actively sought to improve American society. of human life, from birth to death. In addition, Among other issues, they promoted the abolition Indian American communities began to build tem- of slavery, peace, social work in city slums, and ples. The fi rst Hindu temple in the United States, women’s rights. the Venkateshvara temple outside Pittsburgh, was The early Holiness movement differed from dedicated in 1976. Immigrant Hindus also formed most Protestant churches at the time in insisting various associations. The Visva Hindu Parishad that women could hold any church offi ce. In fact, or “World Hindu Congress” is a good example. in the Holiness churches, many women did hold One pressing need for Hindu families was how high offi ces. Examples include Antoinette Brown to teach Hinduism to children born in America. (1825–1921), ordained in 1853 as the fi rst female To meet this need, Hindu communities developed minister in an American church, and Alma White educational institutions such as Sunday schools. (1862–1946), who was, she herself said, the fi rst In general, the resources and clientele available woman in the history of Christianity to hold the for Hindu institutions in North America were con- offi ce of bishop (consecrated in 1918). In addition, siderably more limited than in India. As a result, many Holiness preachers worked among the urban American Hindu temples and organizations often poor. An example, fi rst organized in Great Britain, combined gods and loyalties that had been kept is the SALVATION ARMY. separate in India. In the early days, the Holiness movement took By the end of the 20th century Hindus, espe- two forms. Some churches left larger Methodist cially Hindus of Indian descent, constituted a bodies to form their own independent churches. thriving community in North America. American One example is the Wesleyan Methodist Church, Hinduism was thriving along with them. founded in 1843. Another is the Free Method- ist Church, founded in 1860. Other people who favored Holiness teachings stayed within the larger Holiness movement A movement within PROT- churches and tried to infl uence them. The organi- ESTANTISM that emphasizes the possibility of perfec- zation that brought them together was called the tion, that is, of living without SIN. The Holiness National Campmeeting Association for the Promo- movement began in the United States during the tion of Holiness, founded in 1867. The word camp- 19th century. Efforts of missionaries have spread it meeting in the name referred to a form of meeting throughout the world. common since the Second Great Awakening (see The Holiness movement grew out of the teach- REVIVALISM). Through campmeetings Methodism ings of John WESLEY (1703–91) and METHODISM. had spread widely among settlers on the frontier; Indeed, Holiness churches see themselves as main- in the 1830s, that had meant the area west of the taining true Methodism. Wesley taught that, after Appalachians but east of the Mississippi. Christians were justifi ed (forgiven of their sins and Toward the end of the 19th century, Method- put right with GOD) through God’s grace at bap- ist bishops began to be especially strict in trying tism, they could receive a second gift of grace that to control the activities of members who preached provided sanctifi cation, that is, that helped them entire sanctifi cation. As a result, most of these live a life without sin. The goal of all Christians, he groups left the Methodist church to found churches taught, should be to seek perfection. of their own. The most important of these churches Holocaust, the S 205

are the Church of the NAZARENE and the CHURCH OF tatorial powers under emergency rule, as permitted GOD (Anderson, Indiana): by the German constitution. Government action In the 20th century Holiness churches tended against Jews began almost immediately. to align themselves with the fundamentalist move- During the period from 1933 to the outbreak ment (see FUNDAMENTALISM, CHRISTIAN); that is, they of World War II, the German government system- tended to emphasize the entire BIBLE as the ver- atically deprived Jews of their property and of all bally inspired word of God. At the beginning of civil rights. For example, in 1933 Jews lost civic the century, some Holiness churches called them- equality and were prevented from practicing many selves Pentecostal. They meant by this the second professions. The Nürnberg laws of 1935 outlawed gift of the Spirit that brought about sanctifi cation. sexual relations between “Aryans” (persons who But they rejected speaking in tongues and became were supposedly of pure German ancestry) and sharply critical of PENTECOSTALISM. Some Holiness Jews. During this same period, there were out- churches did, however, allow faith healing prac- breaks of violence against Jews. The most notori- ticed together with scientifi c medicine. ous was Kristallnacht (German for “the night of The social activism of the earliest Holiness broken glass,” November 9–10, 1938), when the believers waned in the 20th century. Holiness Nazi paramilitary severely vandalized German- churches became widely known instead for stress- Jewish businesses and synagogues. Despite the ing a Puritanical lifestyle: no tobacco, liquor, gam- violence, many Jews were reluctant to leave Ger- bling, or attendance at theatrical performances. man territories. They had lived in Germany for The old National Campmeeting Association served generations and had survived successive waves of as an umbrella group for many of these churches sporadic persecution. Many others wanted to leave under various names: the National Holiness Asso- but were unable. ciation, the Christian Holiness Association, and The outbreak of war in 1939 brought a drastic then the Christian Holiness Partnership. change. As Germany conquered territories, espe- Already in the 19th century members of the cially to the east, the number of Jews living under Holiness movement took foreign missions seri- German rule swelled. Jews were required to wear ously. Today, many members of the movement, yellow badges in the shape of the star of David; perhaps the majority, live outside the United others whom the Nazis considered undesirable States. had to wear different badges. The Nazis contem- plated an “ethnic cleansing” of Europe by export- ing Jewish residents to a colony in, for example, Holocaust, the (Hebrew, Shoah) The impris- Madagascar. Eventually, however, they deter- onment and systematic killing of millions of peo- mined on a “fi nal solution” to the “Jewish prob- ple, especially Jews, by the Nazis in Germany and lem”: They deported Jews to concentration camps German-occupied Europe from 1933 to 1945. The where they were exploited for labor and then word holocaust is derived from Greek for a sac- killed when no longer useful. In addition, Nazis rifi ce wholly consumed by fi re. Sometimes the conducted hideous medical experiments on those equivalent Hebrew word, Shoah, is used. incarcerated. By January 1942 the “fi nal solution” was in full operation. Auschwitz, Buchenwald, HISTORY Belsen, Dachau, and Treblinka may be the best- Anti-Semitic violence has occurred in Europe from known camps, but there were, in all, more than the Middle Ages on (see ANTI-SEMITISM), but in the 300 death camps. Holocaust it grew to monstrous proportions. The Resistance to the deportations did occur. One Nazis came to power in Germany as part of a coali- example is the Warsaw ghetto uprising of April tion government in January 1933. Their virulently 1943. But knowledge of the camps was extremely anti-Semitic chancellor, Adolf Hitler, assumed dic- limited, and in many Jewish communities it seemed 206 S Holocaust, the better to cooperate in the deportations than to reports of the mass exterminations, they did noth- face immediate, violent reprisals from the Nazis. ing to disrupt railway access to the camps. Doing Although the Allies fi ghting Germany had reliable so would have been relatively easy and effective.

Population of Jews in Europe before and after the Holocaust holy, idea of the S 207

All told, almost 12,000,000 people lost their Further reading: Lucy S. Dawidowicz, The War lives during the Holocaust. Roughly half of these against the Jews, 1933–1945 (New York: Holt, were Jews, a third of the Jewish population in the Rinehart and Winston, 1975); Ann Frank, The world. Other victims included communists, gyp- Diary of a Young Girl (New York: Pocket Books, sies, homosexuals, and the mentally ill. 1953); Martin Gilbert, The Holocaust (New York: H. Holt, 1987); Richard Rubenstein, After Auschwitz REACTIONS (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1966). One reaction to the Holocaust has been the attempt to bring the perpetrators to justice. In trials held in Nürnberg, Germany, from Novem- holy, idea of the Concepts of that which is set ber 1945 to October 1946, the Allies tried and apart because of its divine power. Religion presup- convicted several Nazi leaders. Since then, other poses a split-level universe. To the traditionally Nazi leaders have also been brought to justice. religious person, the world is not homogeneous. The most notorious was Adolf Eichmann, the Religious people are likely to have a defi nite aware- overseer of the concentration camps, who was ness of spiritual places, whether churches or tem- executed in 1962. ples or PILGRIMAGE sites, as different from ordinary A second reaction to the Holocaust has been places, such as homes or offi ces. There one speaks the attempt to memorialize the victims. Struc- in a hushed voice and makes special gestures in a tures at former camps, such as Auschwitz, remind reverent way. the world of the atrocities committed there. So Two words are used in English to describe do monuments and museums like the Holocaust these kinds of places and experiences: holy and Museum in Washington, D.C. Works of literature, sacred. They have been the subjects of two impor- such as the powerful novel, Night, by the Nobel tant books on religion, The Idea of the Holy by Prize-winning author Elie Wiesel, convey a sense Rudolf OTTO and The Sacred and the Profane by of the horrors of the camps. In addition, a new day Mircea ELIADE. Refl ecting the way the two words has been added to the Jewish calendar, Yom ha- have somewhat different nuances, Otto empha- Shoah, Hebrew for Holocaust Day. sized the powerful, mysterious, “numinous,” A third reaction to the Holocaust was increased shuddery if not terrifying yet also fascinating and support for establishing a Jewish state in the terri- attracting quality of holy times and places and the tory of Palestine (see ZIONISM). Before the Holocaust divine being within them. These ranged from the many Jews opposed this goal or were lukewarm burning bush and the summit of Mount Sinai as in supporting it. After the Holocaust only Hasidic MOSES knew them to divine encounters of today. Jews continued to oppose the idea (see HASIDISM). Eliade discussed more human sacred places and On May 14, 1948, Israel was offi cially declared a times, such as those of temples and festivals. state. A Jewish state, Israel is seen as a haven for But he recognized that they depend ultimately all Jews in times of persecution. on “theophanies” or divine manifestations that Finally, many Jews and Christians have seen marked them out and set them apart. the Holocaust as a challenge to FAITH. It seems to Either way, religion in anything like its tra- call into question many of their cherished beliefs ditional form needs to have at its core awareness about GOD. Some have found resources in their tra- of the holy and the sacred. It must recognize that ditions to deal with these atrocities. Others have GOD or ultimate reality is wholly other than the felt it necessary to modify or abandon traditional human world, confronting it with awesome power assertions. For example, some have concluded that and presence. God cannot be omnipotent. Others have concluded Religion adds something else. It says that that after the Holocaust it is no longer possible to between the holy and the ordinary world are “doors believe in God. and windows.” God can reveal himself to people, 208 S homosexuality and religion

and people can rise up to glimpse the divine. These “doors and windows” are the province of religion, for they are the words, scriptures, mysti- cal or visionary experiences; the shrines, temples, RITUALS, sacred dances, holy days and sacred sites, which communicate what is holy to the world.

homosexuality and religion Religious attitudes toward sexual relations between persons of the same sex, and the ways in which religions have used those relations. In the United States during the late 20th century, homosexuality was a con- troversial issue in both politics and religion. In the 1990s the state of Colorado passed a referendum against granting “special rights” to homosexual men and women (gays and lesbians). The Supreme Court overturned it. In the same decade a commit- tee of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America presented a draft of a statement on sexuality that urged love and respect for homosexuals. Contro- The hero Achilles, at right, bandages his wounded friend versy forced the draft to be withdrawn. Patroclus in a red-fi gure scene on an Athenian cup, c. 500 B.C.E. The painting conveys Patroclus’s distress and The Christian church has generally opposed Achilles’ sympathetic concentration. Although the Iliad homosexuality. Indeed, CHRISTIANITY has at times never portrays Achilles and Patroclus as lovers, the Greeks seen all sexual behavior as tainted by SIN. Many after Homer came to view the pair as models of aristocratic Christians see homosexuality as a disruption of military male homosexuality. (Margaret Bunson) the order that GOD created. They also point to pas- sages that condemn homosexuality in the BIBLE: Leviticus 18.22 and 20.13 or Romans 1:26–27. repeated and even strengthened the Bible’s injunc- Traditional Christians certainly reject any sugges- tions against homosexuality. In ISLAM the QUR’AN tion of homoeroticism—love between two persons rejects the sexual practices of Sodom and Gomor- of the same sex—in the relationship between, for rah (26.165–173); this has generally led Muslims example, DAVID and Jonathan in the Hebrew Bible to dismiss male homosexuality. (Muslim tradition or JESUS and the disciple “whom he loved” in the does not say much about female homosexuality.) GOSPEL of John. During the 20th century, more liberal Jews and There have, however, been other voices within Muslims, like their Christian counterparts, began the Christian community. Some point out that Chris- to rethink traditional attitudes. tians blithely ignore other injunctions in Leviticus, Not all cultures and religions have had nega- such as the dietary laws. Some suggest that the tive attitudes toward homosexuality. Some cul- proper Christian attitude should be governed by tures and religions have made positive use of it. God’s love, which extends to all people. By the end In many cases, the meaning that the word “homo- of the century some academic theologians were sexual” often has in the United States is too nar- actively writing gay and lesbian THEOLOGY. row. Homosexual may not refer to a person but Other religions besides Christianity have tradi- to behavior. The same person may be expected tionally condemned homosexuality. In JUDAISM and to engage in both homosexual and heterosexual TALMUD and later law books (see HALAKHAH) have behavior. Hosea S 209

Many cultures have expected men to form was killed by his brother and enemy, Seth. Osiris’s homosexual relationships with boys. There is less wife, Isis, gave birth to Horus and hid him in papy- evidence of women forming homosexual relation- rus marshes to keep him safe. Eventually, Horus ships with girls, but that has occurred, too. The grew up and avenged his father’s death by defeat- ancient Greeks provide good examples of such ing his uncle. relationships among both men and women. They Between them, Osiris and Horus, father and provided the education boys and girls needed to son, shared the task of ruling. Osiris was king of become mature men and women. In some cultures the dead, Horus king of the living. The Egyptian these kinds of relationships are integral parts of king was said to be Horus incarnate. After the Per- INITIATION rituals. Homosexual RITUAL activity was sian conquest of Egypt in 525 B.C.E. and the end seen as necessary for the boys to become hetero- of Egyptian independence, the mythology of Horus sexual men. killing Seth to avenge Osiris was sometimes given a Many Hindus reject homosexuality as unthink- “nationalistic” twist. It held out hope that an inde- able. BUDDHISM celebrates the life-style of MONKS pendent Egyptian kingdom would be reestablished. AND NUNS and tends to urge sexual restraint. Nev- Horus had two chief sanctuaries, at Bekh- ertheless, a Hindu and Buddhist tradition known det in Lower (northern) Egypt and Edfu in Upper as TANTRISM sometimes makes use of sexual ritu- (southern) Egypt. He also had several different cult als. These rituals usually strive to unite opposites names. For example, Harpokrates referred to Horus (male and female), but homosexual rituals have the child and his secret upbringing. Harakhte was not been unknown. In addition, Buddhism has Horus of the horizon, the god as associated with sometimes seen homosexual relationships as less the sunrise. harmful to a monk’s spiritual progress than het- erosexual ones. Among indigenous peoples, shamans may Hosea A book in the BIBLE, and the name of the practice homosexual behavior (see SHAMANISM). In prophet whose words it supposedly contains. The traveling to the spirit world, they routinely cross book of Hosea belongs to the collection of proph- boundaries that limit ordinary human beings. ets known as “The Twelve.” They may refl ect this crossing of the boundaries in Hosea was a native of the northern kingdom of features of their ordinary life. Thus, shamans may Israel. This kingdom consisted of the 10 tribes who wear clothing of the opposite sex; they may also had rejected SOLOMON’s son Rehoboam and formed enter into homosexual relationships. For example, their own kingdom under Jeroboam around 922 the Chukchi, who live in northeastern Siberia, B.C.E. Hosea began to prophesy during the reign of permitted shamans to engage in only homosexual Jeroboam II (786–746 B.C.E.). activity. In international affairs the kingdom of Israel was larger and more important than the southern kingdom of Judah. But in terms of religion many Honen See PURE LAND BUDDHISM. thought that it was too lax in its WORSHIP of the tra- ditional god YHWH (“the Lord”) and too tolerant of other deities. Horus A GOD in ancient Egypt, depicted either The prophet Hosea is best known for drama- as a falcon or with a human body and a falcon’s tizing this laxness and YHWH’s continuing con- head. His eyes were the sun and the moon. cern for Israel. On GOD’s instructions he married Some myths made Horus the son of the god a prostitute. She bore three children, although Re and the goddess HATHOR. But he was especially Hosea might not have been the father. Then she known as the son of the god Osiris and the god- left him. Nevertheless, Hosea bought her back. dess ISIS. According to a well-known myth, Osiris The message was this: Although Israel has acted 210 S humanism, religious

like a prostitute in worshipping other gods, YHWH Thus in some Native American cultures “RIT- will not forsake her. UAL CLOWNS” would follow the serious priests about and do humorous burlesque versions of their sol- emn rites. In medieval Europe it was customary on humanism, religious As used today, a reli- certain festivals to name a child as “boy bishop” gious philosophy of life that emphasizes attention for the occasion, dress him in appropriate robes, to human needs and values in this world, rather and encourage him to make fun of the real rul- than to GOD, the AFTERLIFE, and otherworldly con- ers of the church. In many mythologies the fi gures cerns. Those who believe that putting the good of known as TRICKSTERS appear, like Coyote in Native human life and society in this world fi rst, while American lore or LOKI in Germanic legend. He plays living perhaps with a sense of wonder and awe cruel tricks on people, outwits the gods, has a pro- toward human life and nature, can be seen as tak- digious appetite, but like Prometheus stealing the ing a religious path, though one without God in fi re will sometimes use his cleverness for human the traditional sense, and may be called religious good. In some cultures like old Russia, there was a humanists. Characteristically humanists hold that place for the “holy fool,” a devout half-wit whose only that which can be learned through science remarks and mocking laughter sometimes struck or direct observation can be regarded as known home. Some societies even have humor-based for sure, and that a good, useful, and happy life festivals, like Holi in India, whose main features can be lived based only on this kind of knowledge. include raucous pageants and good fun based on Many would add that religion in the traditional the mythologies of gods. One of the “new reli- sense is outmoded, unneeded, and causes more gions” of Japan, Seicho no Ie, has a quasi-religious trouble than good. There are a number of religious rite called “laughing practice” that consists simply humanists in Unitarian-Universalist churches, and of laughing (see JAPAN, NEW RELIGIONS IN). Laughing in the American Humanist Association. as a token of the presence of the Holy Spirit has also appeared in Christian PENTECOSTALISM. Attitudes may vary, but basic to all religions is humor and religion Fun, satire, and laughter the belief that there is a difference between what that have a role in religion. Humor has often been the world seems to be, and claims to be on its disdained by the more solemn sort of religionists, own terms, and what it really is. It may claim to such as the Protestant Puritans (see PURITANISM). be real, to be perfect or capable of getting there, Yet humor can have a positive religious role. People and that its important people are really important. laughing together create a community. Humor can Religion knows otherwise: The world, it says, is defl ate the pride and pomposity that is usually a illusion and only GOD is truly real; it is sinful and religious SIN, and show the importance of the meek in ignorance rather than perfect; and the impor- who not seldom outsmart the mighty. Humor pro- tant people may not really be as important as sim- vides a way of dealing with the irrationality of the ple, humble, and obscure SAINTS who see things universe, which seems to be there despite the best as they really are. Humor can be a most useful efforts of theologians, and it can tap off the tension means of puncturing the illusions that keep us built up by serious religious rites. from religious truth. . I ,

I Ching “Classic of Changes”; an ancient Chi- a hexagram, because it contains six lines. The I nese book used to divine the forces at work in the Ching starts with a hexagram of six unbroken or universe (see CHINA, RELIGIONS OF). The I Ching is yang lines. Next comes the hexagram in which all the most important of the fi ve classics that CONFU- six lines are broken or yin. The book continues CIUS (551–479 B.C.E.) supposedly edited. The other until it exhausts all 64 possible combinations of six four are the Book of History, the Book of Poetry, broken and unbroken lines. the Book of Rites, and the Spring and Autumn In and of themselves, the hexagrams are Annals. The I Ching dates at least to the fourth meaningless. The I Ching provides their mean- century B.C.E., perhaps even earlier. It had become ings. It provides a name and brief description for an important book in CONFUCIANISM by the second each hexagram. Then it provides two more sets of century B.C.E. meanings, known as “judgments” and “images.” The Ancient Chinese used several methods All three—name, judgment, and image—are rather to divine or discern the cosmic forces that were vague. That makes it possible for the person con- in operation at any given time. One method was sulting the book to adapt the meanings to suit her to cast stalks of the yarrow plant. The object was or his own situation. to see whether the stalks would break or remain To use the I Ching, one must be in the proper whole. Those that broke were said to be yin; those state of mind. One refl ects on one’s question, then that did not were said to be yang (see YIN/YANG THE- tosses either yarrow stalks or coins. By examining ORY). As a result, the ancient Chinese represented the tossed stalks or coins one identifi es two differ- yin with a broken line (––). They represented yang ent hexagrams. The fi rst hexagram provides infor- with an unbroken line (—). mation on the current state of affairs. The second A single stalk, whether yin or yang, does not hexagram identifi es the changes that are coming. give much information about the universe. Cosmic Turning to the I Ching one looks up the names, forces are too complex to be described by a sim- judgments, and images associated with the two ple “yes” or “no” answer. So the ancient Chinese hexagrams. Each person must decide individually grouped lines together. The basic grouping con- how the names, judgments, and images apply to tained three lines drawn horizontally, one on top her or his life. of the other. The fi gure that resulted was known as a trigram. One can see four trigrams around the central yin-yang diagram on the South Korean images, icons, idols in religion The reli- fl ag. gious use of pictures and statues. The religions Mathematics tells us that it is possible to draw of the world run a gamut in terms of the object eight different trigrams. But the system used in the of WORSHIP on ALTARS and in shrines, from those I Ching is more complex still. It groups two tri- who venerate three-dimensional statues of gods, grams together. The resulting fi gure is known as buddhas, or SAINTS with candles, incense, and

211 S 212 S imam

food-offerings, accompanied by prostrations or form as gods, buddhas, and saints? Or do we kneeling, to those who totally reject all such wor- fi nd God best by taking away all that is not God, ship. In the former camp would be much of HIN- all that is man-made, worshipping him only as DUISM, BUDDHISM, and ROMAN CATHOLICISM, together spirit and with the help only of words, not of with much of PRIMAL RELIGION and ancient EGYPTIAN things seen? These are questions that still divide RELIGION, GREEK RELIGION, and ROMAN RELIGION. On the religious world. the latter side would be ISLAM, JUDAISM, and Prot- estant Christianity. However, mediating positions can be found between extremes. EASTERN ORTHODOX imam Arabic word meaning “leader.” The word CHRISTIANITY venerates sacred pictures of saints, is used in very different ways in ISLAM. In SUNNI called icons, but not three-dimensional statues. ISLAM an imam is a leader of a MOSQUE. He is rec- Many Protestants will accept pictures of biblical ognized for his understanding of the FAITH and his and other religious scenes, often in the form of upright life. His duties include preaching the ser- stained-glass windows, together with crosses on mon at the Friday noon PRAYER service (see SALAT). altars and occasionally even statues, so long as In SHI’ITE ISLAM the word takes on quite a dif- they are not actually worshipped. Jews will usu- ferent sense. Shi’ites are distinguished by their ally accept pictures and symbols so long as they conviction that the leadership of the Islamic com- do not attempt to depict the divine and are not munity should have passed through the prophet worshipped in the place of the divine. MUHAMMAD’s cousin Ali, husband of the prophet’s Those who reject the worship of images call daughter Fatimah, to his grandchildren and their such images “idols” and their veneration “idola- male descendants. These leaders, who were denied try,” holding that they are honored in the place their rightful rule over the entire Islamic commu- of the true GOD, and that such worship is highly nity, are called imams. offensive to God. Those who do use images in Shi’ites hold that these imams should exercise worship usually respond that this is not the case, both political and religious authority. However, though ways of interpreting the use of images even when they were not in political power, they may vary. Sometimes it is said that, though the continued to exercise religious authority by inter- statue is not exactly a god or saint in itself, it does preting Islam to their communities and preserving have a defi nite and permanent relationship to the its values. holy entity, who chooses to dwell in or, as it were, Different Shi’ite factions recognize different behind or above the image, so that worship of the lines of imams. The largest and most conservative form is defi nitely received by the divine being. group, known as the Twelvers, believe that their Others would say the image is only a symbol or 12th imam went into hiding in 873 C.E. and will reminder of the divine, though one that it is quite reappear at the end of time. Another major group, appropriate to use. the Ismailis, believe that the line of imams contin- Nonetheless, the question of using images ues today. For example, a branch or subgroup, the or not has been the stuff of bitter religious con- Nizari Ismailis, recognize the AGA KHAN as their fl ict and even bloody persecution. It was an 49th imam. issue in the Protestant REFORMATION in Europe, and in the confrontation of Hinduism and Islam in India. Two different views of religion, and of Inanna The most important Sumerian GODDESS. the relation to religion of works of art and of the Inanna’s name means “Lady of the Sky.” She her- visual sense, lie behind the confl ict. Do we use self was associated with the planet Venus. She was that which is seen, and is made by human hands identifi ed with the Akkadian and Babylonian god- usually in human form, to lift us to the sacred, dess Ishtar, was related to the Canaanite goddess because the sacred can in fact live in human Astarte (see CANAANITE RELIGION), and is in some Inca religion S 213

respects similar to Aphrodite and VENUS among the who was known as the Inca, patronized temples Greeks and the Romans. of the various peoples whom he controlled. These Inanna was a goddess of sexuality and fertil- peoples, in turn, sent objects to be offered in the ity. Accordingly, her most sacred city, Uruk, was temples at Cuzco. Sometimes they even sent their reputed to be a city of prostitutes. At times Inanna own children. The “four regions” in the Inca name was also associated with the battlefi eld. for their empire were four quadrants—north- Perhaps the best known story about her tells east, southeast, northwest, and southwest—that of her descent to the underworld, ruled by her sis- extended from Cuzco and its central temple, the ter Ereshkigal. As Inanna proceeds toward Eresh- Temple of the Sun. kigal, she loses articles of clothing one by one. The Inca—that is, the emperor—claimed In her sister’s presence, she becomes like a dead to be the son of the Sun, the Inca god Inti. Inti slab of meat. Revived by a servant, she returns to was particularly associated with gold. His temple the Earth to fi nd her alleged lover, Dumuzi, not at Cuzco was the most important Inca shrine. It mourning her absence at all. She has him hunted stood where two rivers met. The Inca may have down and killed. thought that these two rivers resembled the Milky Way. Other Inca deities included: Mama-Kilya, the moon and the wife of the sun, to whom silver was Inca religion The religion of the people who sacred; Viracocha, who created much of the world ruled much of the Andes region in South America and human culture; Pacacamac, who ruled over just before the Spanish conquest. In 1527 Fran- the lowlands and the sea; Pacamama, his wife, cisco Pizarro fi rst arrived in Peru. He found a sin- mother earth; and Illapa, who was responsible for gle power in control of the west coast of South the weather. America and the Andes Mountains, from what is To these and other gods the Inca presented now Ecuador to central Chile. This power, the Inca sacrifi ces. Sacrifi ces to the sun took place every Empire, was called Tawantinsuyu, “region of the day. One of them was the clothing that the emperor four quarters.” It ruled from its capital at Cuzco. wore. The emperor wore a new cloak each day, The Incas were relative newcomers to power. and each day it was burned in offering to the They had ruled for only about a hundred years. sun. The Inca also sacrifi ced at festivals. The two In asserting their rule, they had conquered many most important took place around the solstices different peoples, each of whom had their own in December and June. The Inca presented to the cultures, languages, and religions. Inca religion, gods animals, plants, beer, cloth, statues—and, at then, represents only a fraction of pre-Columbian times of extreme importance, human beings. Andean religions. Unfortunately, none of these Another important Inca practice was divina- peoples used writing. We know about Inca reli- tion. The kind of sacrifi ce, the cause of a disease, gion from two basic sources: archaeology (see the time for battle—all were determined by divina- ARCHAEOLOGY AND RELIGION) and accounts written tion. Means of divination included taking oracles after the Spanish conquest. The authors of these from sacred objects, observing spiders, “reading” accounts were often people of mixed indigenous coca leaves, drinking narcotics, and examining and Spanish ancestry. New discoveries continue the lungs of a sacrifi ced llama. Special priests to add fresh insights. For example, in 1995 climb- performed RITUALS of sacrifi ce and divination and ers discovered the preserved body of a young Inca tended the temples. Specially chosen women also woman, 13 or 14 years old, on Mount Ampato in served the temples. southern Peru. She appears to have been offered The Spanish vigorously tried to eliminate the there as a SACRIFICE. religion of the Andean peoples. As a result Inca Religion was an important part of the way religion, that is, the religion of the empire, dis- the Incas governed their empire. The emperor, appeared when the empire fell. Local religious 214 S incarnation

practices survived even as the people converted to use incense in this way. Religions may also use ROMAN CATHOLICISM. incense simply to create a pleasant atmosphere, as is done in ISLAM as well as in the Japanese tea ceremony. incarnation A divine being becoming human. The term “incarnation” is usually used in the con- text of CHRISTIANITY. It refers to the process through India, religions of Until 1947 the name India which GOD the Son (see TRINITY) became human referred to the Indian subcontinent, that is, the ter- in the person of JESUS. This notion is similar to, ritory of the modern states of India, Pakistan, and although not identical with, the Hindu idea of the Bangladesh. For religions, this has been one of the AVATARS of Lord VISHNU. richest regions in the world. Scholars are divided on the question of whether Evidence for religious activity on the Indian Jesus himself claimed to be divine. In any case, subcontinent goes back into prehistory. The earli- writings in the NEW TESTAMENT make that claim. est major civilization, the Harappan or Indus Val- For 500 years Christians argued and struggled to ley civilization, fl ourished in what is now Paki- formulate precisely what that claim meant. stan between 2500 and 2000 B.C.E. All we know In the end two meetings of bishops, known about the INDUS VALLEY RELIGION comes from tan- as councils, decided what Christians were sup- talizing hints associated with material remains, posed to believe. The Council of Nicaea (325) tried such as pictures on clay seals and a large pool to clarify how Jesus related to God as revealed, for bathing. for example, in the Hebrew BIBLE. It asserted that Only traces of the Indus Valley religion have Jesus, God the Son, was not a creature that God survived, but two religions that arose in India in had made; instead, he had the same being as God the sixth century B.C.E. are much better known: the Father. The Council of Chalcedon (451) tried JAINISM and BUDDHISM. Both of these religions began to end arguments about how Jesus could be both from movements of wandering monks. Both also human and divine. It adopted the formula that he rejected animal sacrifi ce and sought release from was “two natures in one person,” fully God and the defi lements of KARMA or action. fully human at the same time. Jainism has remained confi ned to India. There it is practiced today by two sects. The Svetambara, or white-clad, are common in western India. The incense Fragrant substances made from spices Digambara, whose monks are sky-clad (that is, go and gums that are sometimes burned for religious naked), are common in southern India. According purposes. Religions use incense for many purposes. to the 2001 census there are about four and a quar- Some religions, like that of the ancient Greeks, use ter million Jains in India, making up .4 percent of incense to purify an area from pollution and pro- the population. tect it from EVIL. Some religions use incense as an Buddhism has spread far beyond India and offering. The presentation of dhupa (incense) is a developed several distinct regional forms. In standard feature of Hindu PUJA. It is also used as south and southeast Asia THERAVADA BUDDHISM an offering and sign of devotion in Roman Catho- predominates; in East Asia MAHAYANA BUDDHISM lic and Eastern Orthodox Christian WORSHIP. Some predominates, while VAJRAYANA BUDDHISM is the Buddhists use incense as a sort of initiatory ordeal religion of Tibet. Oddly, Buddhism disappeared for monks (see MONKS AND NUNS). Incense cones are from the land of its founding until 1956, when Dr. placed on the skin and lighted. They leave a per- B. R. Ambedkar, the main author of the Constitu- manent scar. Some religions use incense to accom- tion of India, led a mass conversion of untouch- pany PRAYERS. The incense rises into the air the way ables to Buddhism. Since 1959 Buddhist exiles prayers rise to gods or ancestors. Chinese religions from Tibet, including the DALAI LAMA, have also Indra S 215

lived in India. The 2001 Census counted almost 8 in the 2001 census, or more than 827,000,000 peo- million Buddhists in India, about .75 percent of ple—practice HINDUISM. Hinduism is, however, dif- the population. fi cult to defi ne. It basically consists of all Indian In the 1500s SIKHISM arose in India. Originally religious practices that do not belong to some other a peaceful tradition, its adherents were forced to religion. Especially since the late 1980s India has develop a martial tradition in order to defend them- witnessed violent clashes between Hindus on one selves. Sikhs are quite visible in North America side and Christians and especially Muslims on the and Europe today, because Sikh men wear turbans other (see FUNDAMENTALISM, HINDU). and sport long beards. In 2001 over 19,200,000 People known as “tribals”—people who have Sikhs lived in India, almost 1.9 percent of the total lived in jungle regions and until recently outside population. the money economy—often count as Hindus. Not all religions of India arose there. Several Some tribals insist, however, that they have their have come from elsewhere. Until recently, a small own religions. Indeed, tribal people often do not but vigorous community on the southwestern worship the major Hindu deities. Instead, they per- coast practiced JUDAISM, but most Indian Jews have form animal SACRIFICES—largely absent from Hin- emigrated to Israel. duism—to their own local deities. According to tradition, CHRISTIANITY in India The Indian subcontinent is one of the most goes back to the APOSTLE Thomas. Many Indians religiously varied places on earth. That diversity have also converted to Christianity to escape the has caused strains, but it has also resulted in much CASTE system (see CASTE IN HINDUISM). About a religious creativity. fourth of all Christians in India, especially Thomas Further reading: Paul Dundas, The Jains, 2d ed. Christians, live in the southwestern state of Ker- (New York: Routledge, 2002); Klaus K. Klostermaier, ala, where they make up about 19 percent of the Hinduism: A Short History (Oxford: Oneworld, population. Indian Christians, including adherents 2000); Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, of ROMAN CATHOLICISM and PROTESTANTISM, live else- 2d ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004); where in India, too. In 2001 Christians made up a Sooni Taraporevala, Parsis: The Zoroastrians of little over 2.3 percent of the total population, num- India: A Photographic Journey (London: Overlook bering more than 24,000,000. Duckworth, 2004). More Muslims live in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India than anywhere else in the world. (Indo- nesia has more Muslims than any of these coun- tries individually.) ISLAM fi rst came to India around Indra The most prominent of the Vedic gods. the year 1000 C.E. For centuries Muslims ruled In the sacred writings of India known as the VEDA much of India. They made immense contribu- Indra is the chief of the gods. His abode is the sky, tions to Indian arts and culture. Besides living in his weapon the thunderbolt. He is called sahas- Pakistan and Bangladesh, Islamic states, Muslims raksha, “thousand-eyed,” and he leads a band of made up slightly more than 13.4 percent of the warriors known as the Maruts. population of India in 2001, numbering just under In many ways Indra resembles the gods of 138,200,000. Greek mythology. Prone to violence, he eats and Less known are the Parsis, who practice a drinks to excess. He is especially fond of soma, form of ZOROASTRIANISM. They came to India from an intoxicating plant extract whose precise identity Persia, now Iran, to escape Muslim rule. They are a is unknown. When intoxicated he boasts. Indra is small but prosperous community in western India, also renowned for fertility. He is said to have got- numbering perhaps 200,000. ten several human women pregnant. By far the largest number of Indians—about One of the most important stories about 80 percent of the population of the country of India Indra concerns his killing of the demon Vritra, 216 S Indus Valley religion

releasing the life-giving waters (see Rig-Veda 1.32). ALS of purifi cation by the society’s leaders. Finally, Some see in this story a reference to the release of more recent scholars have also claimed to detect the eagerly awaited monsoon rains. evidence of Vedic rituals (see VEDA) at Indus Valley By the time of the Brahmanas (perhaps 1000– sites, for example, remnants of fi res constructed 600 B.C.E.), Indra was beginning to lose his impor- for Vedic SACRIFICES. tance. The mythology of the PURANAS even makes Most scholars agree that elements of Indus fun of him, telling lewd stories about occasions Valley religion continued in later HINDUISM, but dis- when he was humiliated. agree about exactly what elements continued.

Indus Valley religion Religion as practiced in initiation, religious A RITUAL used to make the Indus Valley civilization, also called the Harap- someone a member of a religious group. In some pan civilization. Around 3500 B.C.E. a city-based places, but not in the United States, the religious way of life began to emerge in the plains of the community is identical to society as a whole. In Indus River Valley (Pakistan today). By about these places, initiation rituals make people full 2500 B.C.E. settlements at sites like Mohenjo-Daro adult members of the society. and Harappa were at their peak, with populations Writings on religious initiation often make two between 25,000 and 50,000. A thousand years questionable assumptions. The fi rst assumption later, the Indus Valley civilization had disappeared. limits “real” initiation—initiation in its fullest and At its greatest extent, it reached down into Gujarat truest form—to indigenous societies, sometimes in western India and also spread to the northeast called “archaic” or “primitive.” The second ques- above the Thar Desert, covering an area more than tionable assumption views male rituals as some- three times that of the state of California. how typical. For example, the well-known scholar Indus Valley sites are characterized by care- Mircea ELIADE made the following claims about fully constructed brick buildings, straight streets initiation: (a) male initiation rituals are more prev- laid out on a grid pattern, advanced engineering of alent than female; (b) male initiations are group water, and careful burial of the dead. More recent affairs whereas female initiations are done for indi- scholars have tried to connect its people with the viduals; and (c) the reason for the difference is that Elamites, an ancient people of the Persian Gulf, male initiations deal more with culture (society’s and the Dravidian-speaking peoples of south India forms and values), while female initiations deal today. more with nature (bearing children). Because the Indus Valley script has not been Other scholars question these claims. They deciphered, it is diffi cult to say much about the suggest that female initiations may be more com- religion with certainty. A famous seal depicts mon than male. They point out that it is not clear what appears to be a horned human-like being that female initiations are mostly individual affairs, in MEDITATION, surrounded by massive animals—a because female initiations have been less studied. fi gure reminiscent of the later Hindu god SIVA in They also suggest that if female initiations are indi- his aspect as Pasupati, lord of animals. Another vidual affairs, this may not result from biology. It famous fi gure, with beard, slanted eyes, trefoil gar- is just as likely that female initiation rituals simply ment, and headband, appears to show a religious refl ect the systematic exclusion of women from and political functionary. Other apparently reli- dominant social structures. gious artifacts may emphasize the powers of sexual Many initiations take place at the time of reli- fertility. That emphasis would be in keeping with gious maturity. In indigenous communities, this the civilization’s agricultural base. The Great Bath often correlates with sexual maturity. “Major” reli- at the center of Mohenjo-Daro—39 feet by 23 feet gions usually stress nonsexual elements, but they by 8 feet deep—could have been the site of RITU- still initiate people in their early teens. JUDAISM Isaac S 217

has bar and, in liberal congregations, bat mitzvah the early 1200s local princes and bishops were (see BAR/BAT MITZVAH). CHRISTIANITY has confi rma- responsible for discovering and punishing here- tion or, for some Protestants, BAPTISM. Upper caste tics. In the early 1200s, however, the Pope estab- Hindu boys undergo several rituals, especially the lished his own inquisition. Those in charge were upanayana. In this ceremony they receive a sacred often DOMINICAN friars who reported directly to thread and begin to study the sacred texts known the Pope. This inquisition was active especially as the VEDA. The traditional initiation ritual for in northern Italy and southern France. It was Hindu girls was marriage (see MARRIAGE AND RELI- directed especially against heretics known as GION). That is because according to Hindu tradition Cathari and WALDENSIANS. By the 1400s it was a girl should be married before she begins to have also investigating charges of WITCHCRAFT. menstrual periods. This practice is much less com- During the 1400s Christians managed to con- mon today. quer all of Spain. (Spain had been largely Mus- Religions initiate people on other occasions, lim since the late 600s.) In order to Christianize too. MONKS AND NUNS undergo an initiation to the territory, the conquerors required all Jews and join their orders. In some Buddhist countries, Muslims to leave, even though many families had young people traditionally become adults when lived in Spain for centuries. To ensure that every- they take monastic vows for a limited period of one living in Spain was Christian, the rulers, in time. In the ancient Mediterranean world, people cooperation with the Pope, established the Span- were initiated into special “mystery societies.” ish inquisition. This inquisition was particularly The most famous example is the mysteries of interested in persecuting maranos and moriscos— Eleusis in Greece (see MYSTERY RELIGIONS). People Jews and Muslims, respectively, who pretended to sometimes receive religious offi ce through initia- practice Christianity in order to avoid being forced tion. The best example is probably the traditional to leave. healer known as the shaman (see SHAMANISM). The inquisitors were notorious for their bru- Communities are usually said to “ordain” rather tality. A prime example is the fi rst grand inquisitor than initiate priests (see ORDINATION). The distinc- of Spain, Tomas de Torquemada (1420–98). There tion is somewhat artifi cial. were, however, some restraints. A few overly zeal- Initiations often follow the structure of RITES OF ous inquisitors lost their positions and even wound PASSAGE. They usually involve instruction to enable up in prison. The inquisitions required those who persons to fulfi ll their new roles. Boys who under- repented of heresy to attend masses, make PILGRIM- went labi initiation among the Gbaya in the Camer- AGE, wear yellow crosses, or spend time in prison— oons learned by doing. They lived on their own in sometimes for the rest of their lives. They turned the forest for several years. Other religions impart over to the secular government those who refused “book learning.” Hebrew instruction precedes bar to repent or who lapsed after repenting. The gov- and bat mitzvah; religion classes precede confi r- ernment burned these offenders at the stake. mation. Some initiations, such as CIRCUMCISION or JOAN OF ARC, John Hus, Giordano Bruno, and the removal of hair, alter the body as well as the Savonarola are among those who lost their lives mind. in the inquisitions. The scientist Galileo received a lesser sentence. Even Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the JESUITS, had to appear twice before the inqui- inquisition, the A religious court established sition. by the Roman Catholic Church in the early 1200s to try and convict heretics. Heretics are people who are members of the church by BAPTISM but Isaac In the BIBLE, the son of ABRAHAM and who do not believe and practice CHRISTIAN- SARAH and the father of JACOB. With his father ITY according to the church’s teachings. Until Abraham and his son Jacob, Isaac is one of the 218 S Isaiah

three traditional male ancestors of the people of servant who suffers, the prophet was probably Israel. But unlike Abraham and Jacob, he is not talking about the people of Israel itself. the main character in many stories. The book of Isaiah addresses three different The name Isaac means “he laughs.” The Bible historical situations facing the southern kingdom connects the name with the behavior of Abraham of Judah and its descendants. Given the date of and Sarah when they were told they would bear a these situations, scholars conclude that the book son in old age: They laughed (Genesis 17.17–19, contains the words of at least two and perhaps 18.12–15, 21.6–7). three different prophets. For convenience, they call The Bible tells how Abraham was willing to SAC- them First, Second, and Third Isaiah. RIFICE Isaac at GOD’s command (Genesis 22). It also First Isaiah is Isaiah, the son of Amoz, after tells how Abraham arranged for Isaac’s marriage to whom the whole book is named. He prophesied in REBEKAH (Genesis 24), and how Rebekah helped her the time of kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Heze- son Jacob deceive Isaac and steal the blessing that kiah (roughly 742–701 B.C.E.; Isaiah 1–39). At this should have been Esau’s (Genesis 27). time Judah’s political existence was threatened. Among Arabs, Isaac’s counterpart is Ishmael, First, its neighbors to the north, Syria and Israel, the son of Abraham and Hagar. For example, Mus- formed an alliance to try to place a puppet ruler lims believe that Abraham was commanded to sac- on the throne of Judah. Then Assyria, a growing rifi ce Ishmael, not Isaac. superpower, annexed Syria and Israel and threat- ened to do the same to Judah. Isaiah responded by identifying the ultimate cause of the military Isaiah A prophetic book in the Hebrew BIBLE It threat: The rulers of Judah had acted improperly. preserves some of the most beautiful prophetic Isaiah also issued a series of oracles against other statements from ancient Israel. nations. At the same time, he insisted that God Christians have traditionally read the prophets would keep his promise. Despite the threats, a of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) as predicting descendant of DAVID would remain on the throne the coming of JESUS as the MESSIAH. They found of Judah. it particularly fruitful to read Isaiah this way. The The setting and tone of Second Isaiah (Isaiah GOSPEL of Matthew quotes a Greek translation of 40–55) are completely different. In 587 B.C.E. Judah Isaiah 7.14 that predicts the birth of a child from fell not to Assyria but to Babylon. The conquerors a virgin. This passage provided the precedent for destroyed the Temple built by SOLOMON in JERUSALEM the important idea that MARY, Jesus’s mother, was and deported the leadership of Judah to Babylon. a virgin (see VIRGIN BIRTH). The latter part of Isa- Second Isaiah addresses these exiles with moving iah contains several sections known as the songs words of comfort, hope, and encouragement. He of YHWH’s (“the Lord’s”) servant. Christians saw also develops a very profound view of Israel’s God these songs as predicting the sufferings and death as the creator of the entire universe. Second Isaiah of Jesus. was probably prophesying just before the conquest Recent biblical scholars have tended to adopt of Babylon by Cyrus, the emperor of Persia, in 539 a view of prophecy much closer to the traditional B.C.E. He celebrates the rise of Cyrus. He even calls Jewish attitude. In this view, prophets spoke on him God’s messiah, which means anointed one GOD’s behalf to his chosen people. They addressed (Isaiah 45.1). issues of their own day. Thus, the Hebrew original With Third Isaiah (Isaiah 56–66) the scene of Isaiah 7.14 does not mention a virgin; it speaks abruptly changes once more. The exiles have only of a young woman. This woman may have returned to Judah, and the Temple has been been the queen; the prophet may have seen the rebuilt. (The Temple was rededicated in 515 B.C.E.) child she was carrying, the future king, as a sign of This portion of Isaiah addresses the returnees with God’s promise. Similarly, in talking about YHWH’s words of both comfort and warning. Isis, Isaic religion S 219

Ise Site of one of the most important SHINTO shrines. Ise is located in southern Honshu, Japan’s largest island. It is home to several shrines. The inner shrine is sacred to AMATERASU, the KAMI of the sun and the ancestress of the Japanese emper- ors. The most important building contains one of the symbols of the Japanese imperial family: the sacred mirror. The shrine buildings are constructed in a very old style. They sit on stilts. They also have massive wooden pillars at each end and thatched straw roofs. On each end, the crossbeams of the roof form something of a giant X. The buildings are reconstructed every 20 years, perhaps because they are made of natural wood. According to a RITUAL centuries old, offerings of food—including rice, vegetables, and fruit grown on the shrine grounds—are made to the kami twice a day. New clothing is presented twice a year, in spring and autumn. Several million pilgrims visit Ise each year. The shrine also hosts a large number of festivals. Of these the most important is the Shi- kinensengu, the reconstruction every 20 years. The buildings of Ise shrine were reconstructed for the 61st time in 1993. The shrine itself cele- brated its bimillennium (2,000th anniversary) in 1996.

Isis, Isaic religion A GODDESS of ancient Egypt and her worship in the Greco-Roman world. In The goddess Isis nursing the child Horus. This Hellenistic Egypt, Isis was the daughter of Geb and Nut (Earth version of the Egyptian goddess Isis wears a fringed cape around her shoulders and vine branches in her hair. (Erich and Sky), wife of Osiris, and mother of Horus. Lessing/Art Resource, N.Y.) Osiris was a god of fertility who was also identi- fi ed with the deceased pharaoh. After his funer- ary rites, the divine ruler came back to life in the Underworld as Osiris, reigning there as king of the and as a goddess of fertility, controller of the Nile’s dead. A myth tells us that when Osiris was slain by life-giving fl oods. Her symbols included the cow, his brother, Seth, Isis gathered together the parts the serpent, and the sistrum, a jangling musical of his dismembered body and, with the help of instrument used in her worship. Thoth, the god of funeral rites, was able to revive In Greco-Roman times, especially in the him. Isis was seen as the ideal wife and support days of the Roman Empire, the WORSHIP of Isis for her husband, as model for the queen of Egypt, became popular throughout the Mediterranean and as queen of the dead. In popular worship, she world. Isaic temples and RITUALS were noted for was invoked as protector of woman, especially in the beauty and dramatic quality of their music, childbirth; as giver of life and rebirth, as for Osiris; dances, processions, and festivals. The cult was 220 S Islam

one of the most famous of the MYSTERY RELIGIONS. Islam expanded rapidly. Within a century of Candidates underwent an impressive initiation the prophet’s death, it extended from Spain and that simulated participation in the death of Osiris Morocco in the west through the Near East and and his resuscitation by Isis. In general, Isis was Iran to central Asia in the east. In 750 the Abbasid seen as the Great Mother, identifi ed with all other dynasty succeeded the Umayyads and, ruling from great goddesses, and addressed as “O Thou of Baghdad, presided over a magnifi cent civilization. countless Names.” Some have suggested that her During this period Islam developed sophisticated worship infl uenced Christian devotion to MARY, traditions of philosophy and profound schools of the mother of JESUS. MYSTICISM, known as SUFISM. After the fall of the Abbasids in 1258, the Islamic world was divided among regional powers. Islam Arabic for “submission,” specifi cally, The powerful Turks overthrew Constantinople in submission to the will of God; a religion that took 1453 and lay siege to Vienna, Austria, in the 1520s fi nal form in Arabia after revelations to the prophet and again in 1683. The Mughals produced great MUHAMMAD (570–632 C.E.). People who practice monuments of South Asian civilization, including the religion are called Muslims (earlier spelled the famed Taj Mahal, a mausoleum in Agra, India. Moslems). From South Asia, Islam spread east to Indonesia, the most populous Islamic country today. In Africa HISTORY south of the Sahara, Muslims also developed sev- Muslims call the time before the prophet Muham- eral long-lasting societies. mad al-Jahiliya, “the times of ignorance.” At that In the 18th and 19th centuries, European time seminomadic herders, caravaners, and towns- colonizers overran much of the Islamic world and people lived in Arabia. Their primary loyalty was ruled it until after World War II (1939–45). Some to their clans, and their religions were polytheis- Muslims, including Turkish reformers, reacted by tic and local. The revelations to Muhammad pro- rejecting Islamic traditions as outmoded. They claimed that human beings owed primary loyalty adopted a secular worldview informed by mod- to the one true God, whom alone they should obey ern science. Others, like the South Asian poet (see ALLAH). As a result a new community, the Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938), maintained that Ummah of Islam, was created, based not on blood Islam provided a spiritual grounding for science. relationship but on shared FAITH. Muslims date its From the 1930s on in North America some African existence from the hijra (also spelled hegira), the Americans found meaning in the teachings of Eli- fl ight of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca jah Muhammad, who led an organization known to Medina in 622. as the Nation of Islam (see ISLAM, NATION OF); After the prophet’s death, the revelations he many Muslims in other parts of the world question had received were collected and compiled into a whether Elijah Muhammad was actually teaching book known as the QUR’AN. Over the next 300 years, Islam. scholars collected stories of the prophet’s deeds and sayings, the HADITH. At the same time, several Islam in the World Today schools of thought arose. The most important dis- At the beginning of the 21st century, Islam fi nds agreement divided a minority of Muslims, known itself second only to CHRISTIANITY in its number as Shi’ites, from most other Muslims, known as of active adherents among the religions of the Sunnis (see SHI’ITE ISLAM and SUNNI ISLAM). Sunnis world. The sharp decline in the practice of BUD- accepted the Umayyad dynasty, which ruled in DHISM and the other traditional religions of China Damascus, while Shi’ites claimed that the proph- after the communist triumph in 1949 contributed et’s male descendants should lead the community to Islam’s status as the world’s second-largest of Islam. religion. Islam S 221

Moreover, seldom in the history of the reli- Many modernized Muslims did not fi nd the gions of the world has the outer status of a reli- fruits of such progress as gratifying as they had gion changed as dramatically as has Islam since been promised, and instead they only felt spiri- the beginning of the 20th century. In 1900, most tually lost and alienated from their own culture. Muslims lived under the humiliating colonial Some had studied in Western countries and came rule of professedly Christian overlords—British, back feeling that the West was itself far from ideal. French, Dutch, or Russian—or in weak and back- Indeed, much about it offended them. Their idea ward Muslim empires, the Ottoman and Persian. instead was to create a society that, in a way they Most of the Muslim world was sunk in poverty and contended Islam itself had not been for many cen- underdeveloped. Many, among both Muslims and turies, was thoroughly and consistently Islamic. non-Muslims, had a sense that Islamic culture was It should follow the SHARIAH, or code of Islamic stagnant, its day perhaps past. law; give Islamic teachers and scholars an impor- In 2000, the situation was radically different. tant role in government; distribute wealth fairly Virtually all Muslim societies were independent in accordance with Islamic ideals of justice and nations by then, and some had become wealthy brotherhood; and resist all non-Muslim infl uence and technologically advanced, mostly from oil in such matters as dress, family life, education, revenue. Vibrant new Islamic cultural and politi- and the role of women. cal movements insisted that, far from dead, Islam This was the program of the revolution in was a contemporary way of life that had much to Iran in 1979, which overthrew the monarchy of offer the world in the various moral and economic the pro-Western Shah to create such an Islamic crises it now faced. But Islam’s new confi dence state. Similar movements, though not as success- and assertiveness sometimes led to harsh confron- ful politically except for a while in Afghanistan tations with the non-Muslim world around it. and Libya, have become important and infl uential Many of these confl icts stemmed from Mus- elsewhere. Some have resorted to violence (see lim unease. Islamic economic and political gains AL-QAEDA and HAMAS). Others, in relatively stable were far from evenly distributed. Some nations, nations such as Turkey, Malaysia, and Indonesia, like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, were rich, while oth- have been content to function as normal political ers, like Bangladesh and some of the Muslim Afri- parties. In still other lands, such as Algeria, Egypt, can states, remained among the poorest on earth. and Iraq, the situation remained complex, volatile, Some Muslim governments, while independent, and uncertain. were corrupt and undemocratic. Some Muslims Early in the 21st century, there were scattered felt that, despite independence, the West still exer- signs of growing moderation on both sides, as cised far too much infl uence, both economic and “Islamic revolution” countries like Iran began to cultural, in their societies. They saw Muslim offi - liberalize somewhat and secularists recognized the cials as too easily swayed by Western alliances and stature of Islam as a civilization. But the future money. Some devout Muslims believed that their shape and role of the Islamic one-fi fth of the world young people were being seduced by false Western remains open. fashions, values, and loose sexual mores. A further important factor has been the large- Recent Islamic history has been largely shaped scale immigration of Muslims to other places, by the underlying problem of what an authentic especially Europe, North America, and Australia. Muslim society in the modern world would be like Despite some tensions in the host countries, these and how it could be actualized. The fi rst responses immigrants are discovering basic Islamic values in tended to say that to be relevant, Islamic societies settings where they have to be clearly defi ned over must modernize, westernize, and to a great extent against what is merely cultural, and in the process secularize. By the 1970s, however, a powerful reac- they are exploring new ways to be Muslim. Many tion against such policies had set in. others are also meeting Muslims as neighbors and 222 S Islam

The peoples of Islam

friends for the fi rst time, rather than a people talked GION). Muslims believe that Christians commit this about in the news. But tensions remain high, espe- sin when they claim that JESUS was God incarnate cially in the wake of the Iraq War and acts of ter- (see INCARNATION). So do people who place any goal rorism attributed to Islamic extremists. above following the will of God, such as the pur- suit of wealth. BELIEFS Muslims believe that God has everywhere The basic beliefs of Islam are expressed in a state- revealed himself to his creation in some form. ment that all Muslims profess: “There is no God but They also believe that prophets in a line beginning God, and Muhammad is his Messenger (Rasul).” with ADAM and including such fi gures as ABRAHAM, Islam maintains that God is absolutely one, MOSES, and Jesus have disclosed special revela- without a second, neither begetting nor begotten. tions from God. Muslims call the communities that Thus, it strongly rejects the Christian notion of the follow these revelations “People of the Book.” But TRINITY. Islam also maintains an absolute distinc- through the activity of Shaytan (more commonly tion between the creator and creation. To confuse known in North America as SATAN), these revela- creation and creator is to commit the fundamen- tions were misunderstood. With Muhammad, the tal SIN of idolatry, that is, the association of other line of God’s prophets comes to a climax, and things with God (see IMAGES, ICONS, IDOLS IN RELI- God’s revelation to human beings is complete. This Islam S 223

implies that the Qur’an is the complete and fi nal It also teaches compassion for those for whom manner in which God addresses human beings. fasting must be a way of life. Those who are preg- And because God would not give his most sacred nant, sick, old, or traveling are not expected to truth to just anyone, it also implies that Muham- fast. The month of fasting ends with a feast, the mad provides the model of how human beings Id al-fi tr. should respond to God’s revelation and implement The last pillar of Islam is PILGRIMAGE to Mecca justice in the world. (hajj) (see MECCA, PILGRIMAGE TO). This is a formal In addition, Muslims believe in ANGELS, one ritual that takes place during the fi nal month of of whom, Shaytan or Iblis, rebelled against God. the Islamic year. Ideally, all Muslims should make They also believe that there will be a fi nal judg- pilgrimage once in their lives, but they may not ment at the end of time (see JUDGMENT OF THE DEAD do so if they are too sick to travel, if their absence and RESURRECTION) and that the faithful will enjoy would mean hardship at home, or if they incur an eternal existence in Paradise (see HEAVEN). economic hardship to do so. On the tenth day of the month, Muslims throughout the entire world PRACTICES SACRIFICE a goat, sheep, or cow. Known as Id al- In discussing how Muslims practice their religion, Adha, this feast commemorates the story of God it is customary to identify fi ve “pillars” of Islam. commanding Abraham to sacrifi ce Ishmael (for All Muslims practice these pillars, although they Jews and Christians, ISAAC). differ over details. The Islamic calendar is based on the cycles of The fi rst pillar is profession of the faith (sha- the moon rather than on the solar year. As a result, hadah). A Muslim cannot truly submit oneself to over an extended period the Ramadan fast and God’s will without professing the divinity of God pilgrimage to Mecca will have occurred in every and the special place of the prophet Muhammad. season of the year. This also applies to Ashura, The second pillar is obligatory PRAYER (SALAT). which Shi’ites observe on the tenth day of the fi rst Muslims may pray at any time, but they are also month, Muharram. It commemorates the death of enjoined to pray more formally fi ve times a day. Husayn, son of Ali and grandson of Muhammad, (Many Shi’ites incorporate these prayers into three the third Shi’ite imam, who lost his life in battle at daily prayers.) They face the town of Mecca (the Karbala (in Iraq) in 680 C.E. compass direction varies depending on where in The fi ve pillars do not appear as such in the the world they happen to be), adopt several pos- Qur’an. They come from the Hadith. Some Mus- tures, and recite a series of prayers. Noon prayer on lims occasionally speak about six pillars, adding Fridays is, when possible, done as part of a congre- JIHAD to the fi ve above. Although jihad has come to gation at a MOSQUE. There an imam also preaches a be associated in North America with “holy war,” SERMON to the assembled congregation. it technically refers to the struggle against tempta- The third pillar of Islam is almsgiving (zakat), tion. This struggle can involve warfare if one is for the Prophet urged his followers to care for the called on to defend the faith in response to military poor and the needy. In Islamic countries almsgiv- aggression. ing has generally been administered by the govern- ment. Private charity is also widely practiced. ORGANIZATION The fourth pillar is fasting during the ninth Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims differ over how the com- month of the Islamic calendar, the month of RAMA- munity should be organized. For Sunnis, political DAN (sawm). From sunup to sundown during that and religious leadership may be exercised by dif- month Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, ferent persons. Traditionally, caliphs and sultans and sexual activity. The fast recognizes signifi - oversaw matters of internal order and external cant events in the early history of Islam, such as defense. Today different offi cers, namely, presi- the fi rst revelations to the prophet Muhammad. dents and prime ministers, fulfi ll these functions. 224 S Islam

Religious authority resides with the ulema, schol- terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, U.S. Presi- ars of Islam. dent George Bush rightly stated that these acts For Shi’ites, political and religious leadership were not representative of Islam. It is sometimes are ideally exercised by the same person, the male hard for people to remember that. descendant of Muhammad known as the imam. A At the end of the 20th and beginning of the Shi’ite community known as the twelvers believes 21st centuries, Muslims, like people of other reli- that the imam, last seen in 873 C.E., is exercising gions, have been wrestling with the impact of authority while in hiding. Their religious leaders, globalization and technological change on their headed by the AYATOLLAHS (“refl ections of God”), are lives. In many respects Muslims have embraced considerably more independent than their Sunni these developments. Computers and the Internet counterparts. Another Shi’ite community, known provide good examples (see COMPUTERS AND RELI- as the Nizari Ismailis, believe that the imam is still GION). Resources for learning about and practicing present in the world. Known as the AGA KHAN, he Islam are widely available on the Internet. More- exercises authority over a worldwide community. over, e-mail allows Muslims in Alberta, Canada, Like some schools of Christianity, Islam has for example, to remain in much closer contact with not traditionally recognized the ideals of separation people in areas where Islam is more prevalent. of religion and government and of religious plural- At the same time, contemporary changes ism that have now become common in Europe, present challenges. Many Christians in the United North America, and other parts of the world. Like States worry about the morals their children other societies, contemporary Muslim societies are encounter in movies and on television. Muslims addressing the issues posed by the modern ideal of do, too. Muslims are also particularly sensitive, as the secular state. other previously colonized people are, to ideas and practices imposed on them from the outside. As a ISLAM TODAY result they sometimes favor alternatives to ideals The most frequent images of Islam that readers that Westerners cherish. For example, the United in the United States are likely to encounter today Nations Declaration of Human Rights recognizes connect it with FUNDAMENTALISM and terrorism (see as a basic human right the right to proselytize (to FUNDAMENTALISM, ISLAMIC). It is important to keep try to convince other people of the truth of one’s these images in perspective. Europeans and North own beliefs). This right is particularly important Americans have a tradition of “demonizing” Mus- for traditions of CHRISTIANITY with strong mission- lims—of unfairly thinking of them as less than ary traditions. Many Muslims, however, prefer fully civilized or even fully human—that goes back not to encounter people trying to convert them, all the way to the Middle Ages. especially when they are living in Muslim states. In the late 20th century some Muslim commu- For that reason, the Islamic Declaration of Univer- nities, like some Christian and Hindu communities, sal Human Rights does not recognize the right to became more religiously conservative. Examples proselytize. include Islamic states such as Turkey, which for One movement that deserves more attention much of the 20th century had been adamantly sec- than it has received in North America is Islamic ular, and immigrant Muslim communities, such as FEMINISM. Muslim feminists are sometimes puzzled Muslims born to immigrant parents in Great Brit- by the issues that interest Westerners. For example, ain. Some Muslims, especially in the Middle East, many Muslim feminists do no think issues of dress have taken up arms against what they perceive as are that important. At times, some have even cho- threats to their religion and freedom (see AL-QAEDA sen to wear the veil, as Iranian feminists did before and HAMAS). Many non-Muslim groups have per- the 1979 Revolution. They wanted to show their formed similar acts of violence, but their targets solidarity with other Muslims. Muslim feminists have not always been the United States. After the have tended to focus more on other issues, such Islam, Nation of S 225

as education for girls and women, equal access to later by Martin Luther KING Jr. It stressed black health care, adequate nutrition, and equal treat- separatism as the only viable means to a thriving ment before the law. African-American community. The Nation of Islam began in Detroit in the SIGNIFICANCE early 1930s. A man named Wallace D. Fard, also Since the time of the prophet Muhammad Islam known as Wali Farrad Muhammad, began preach- has been one of the world’s major religions. At the ing. He claimed to bring a message to African beginning of the 21st century roughly one-fi fth of Americans from Mecca, the town in Saudi Arabia the world’s population practiced it, including more associated with the life and activities of the prophet than four and a half million North Americans. In MUHAMMAD. Fard disappeared in 1934. His chosen addition, Islam has given the world rich cultural successor, Elijah Muhammad (born Elijah Poole), traditions, including art and architecture, litera- proclaimed him the promised MESSIAH and Mahdi, ture, and philosophy. or bringer of divine justice. Until his death in 1975, Elijah Muhammad directed the community from Further reading: Ahmed Ali, trans., Al-Qur’an: Chicago. In the 1950s, a convert to the Nation, A Contemporary Translation, (Princeton, N.J.: MALCOLM X, became its best known spokesperson. Princeton University Press, 1988); Karen Armstrong, However, Malcolm left the Nation to found his own Islam: A Short History (New York: Modern Library, organization in 1964. Among other things, he had 2002); Lawrence Davidson, Islamic Fundamentalism made a PILGRIMAGE to Mecca (see MECCA, PILGRIMAGE (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1998); John L. TO) that year, and he had been impressed by the Esposito, The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality? universalism of SUNNI ISLAM. After Elijah Muham- (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992); John mad’s death, his followers split. Elijah Muham- Esposito, ed., The Iranian Revolution (Miami: mad’s son, Warithuddin Muhammad, changed the Florida International University Press, 1990); name of the organization to the American Muslim John L. Esposito, Unholy War: Terror in the Name Mission. He established it as a branch of Sunni of Islam (New York: Oxford University Press, Islam. Others, led by Louis Farrakhan, rejected this 2003); Seyyed Hossein Nasr, The Heart of Islam: move and reorganized the Nation once again. Enduring Values for Humanity (San Francisco: The Nation of Islam has its own distinc- HarperSanFrancisco, 2002). tive mythology (see MYTH AND MYTHOLOGY). Eli- jah Muhammad taught that originally all human beings were black and practiced Islam. The white Islam, Nation of An important African-Ameri- race was created by an evil scientist named Mr. can religion that derives from the teachings and Yacub. Whites were inferior to blacks; they were activities of Elijah Muhammad. Members of the also devils, and they taught Christianity. To test Nation of ISLAM are known as Black Muslims. blacks, GOD had allowed whites to rule the Earth The Nation of Islam was founded in the 1930s. for a period of 6,000 years, but their rule was about It was not the fi rst manifestation of Islam among to end. At that point blacks would once again African Americans. Muslims were among the Afri- assume their rightful place. This mythology helps cans brought to North America as slaves. But the Black Muslims understand the African-American Nation of Islam inherited two other, more recent experience and gives them hope for the future. traditions of African-American thought. The fi rst In keeping with such views, the Nation of advocated Islam as the appropriate religion for Islam rejected any attempts at integration with African Americans. It rejected CHRISTIANITY, the whites. It advocated black separatism and urged religion of the slave-owners, as an instrument of African Americans to establish their own busi- oppression. The second tradition rejected the ideal nesses. Indeed, it demanded that the United of integration advocated by W. E. B. DuBois and States government establish a separate state for 226 S Islam in America

blacks. It also provided African Americans with a During the 19th century, Muslims from other lifestyle that emphasizes personal responsibility. parts of the world settled in the Caribbean region. Thus, Black Muslims observe strict rules regard- They came from places as diverse as British India, ing diet and dress (see DIET AND RELIGION). They Java, and China. Some came as indentured ser- are forbidden to use alcohol, tobacco, or illegal vants. They generally maintained their national drugs, and women are taught to dress modestly. identities. For example, while Indian Muslims They also refuse to fi ght in the armed forces. On retained their Islamic identity, they shared a com- these grounds the champion heavyweight boxer, mon culture with Indian Hindus. Muhammad Ali, refused to be drafted during the During the 20th century, immigration to the Vietnam War. Americas from the Muslim world increased tre- Many complain about the anti-white teach- mendously. Especially during the second half of ings of the Nation of Islam. Both Malcolm X and the century many Muslims came to North America Warithuddin Muhammad eventually rejected these for higher education, in pursuit of economic oppor- views. In the 1990s, many also accused Louis Far- tunities, and as refugees. The immigrant Muslims rakhan of blatant anti-Semitism. Nevertheless, quickly established Islamic institutions. During the some believe that the Nation’s message of self-reli- 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s they built MOSQUES in such ance, pride, and personal integrity made a strong, places as Maine, Connecticut, South Dakota, Iowa, positive contribution within the African-American New York City, and Edmonton, Alberta. They community. formed chapters of Islamic associations, such as the Red Crescent (the Islamic equivalent of the Red Cross). They established Islamic educational Islam in America The practice of ISLAM in the institutions to pass on Islamic teachings and tradi- Western Hemisphere. Muslim seafarers from Spain tions to their children. One important problem was and northwest Africa may have come to the Ameri- hardly unique to Muslims: how to negotiate the cas before Columbus. In any case, Muslims were tension between a traditional Islamic way of life expelled from Spain in 1492, and some seem to and the way of life prevalent in North America. As have gone to the new world, because in 1543 in JUDAISM and Christianity, the solutions defi ne a Charles V ordered Muslims to be expelled from wide spectrum of responses to these tensions. Spanish lands overseas. That order makes sense Also during the 20th century, some African only if Muslims were in fact living in Spanish lands Americans rediscovered Islam. In 1913 Noble overseas. By the end of the 20th century almost Drew Ali established the Moorish Science Temple every nation in the Americas was a home to Mus- in New Jersey. It eventually died out. But another lim communities. community was much more successful: the Nation Before the 20th century, most North American of Islam (see ISLAM, NATION OF), founded in the Muslims were of African descent. They were slaves 1930s by Wallace D. Fard and his successor, Eli- on southern plantations. Scholars estimate that as jah Muhammad. As originally founded, the Nation many as 20 percent of the slaves may have been of Islam had little in common with SUNNI ISLAM or Muslims. Some were clearly educated and literate. SHI’ITE ISLAM. But after his visit to Mecca in 1964, Accounts written by slaves in Arabic survive from a former spokesperson for the Nation, MALCOLM the period before the American Civil War. Slave- X, adopted Sunni Islam. In 1976 Elijah Muham- owners as well as some other Christians pressured mad’s son, Warithuddin Muhammad, transformed all non-Christian slaves to convert to CHRISTIANITY. a portion of his father’s community into a Sunni As a result, Muslim slaves practiced their religion group, the American Muslim Mission. Many Afri- in secret, but by the start of the 20th century, their can-American Muslims (as distinct from the Black descendants had lost most of the Islam that had Muslims of the Nation of Islam) cherish the mem- been brought to the new world. ory of Bilal, an African slave whom the prophet Izanagi and Izanami S 227

MUHAMMAD freed. According to tradition, he was make the fi rst land. On it they mated and produced the fi rst MUEZZIN. their numerous progeny, until Izanami died giving birth to the fi re god and went to the underworld. Izanagi followed after her but was unable to rescue Izanagi and Izanami In SHINTO mythology, the his consort since she had already eaten of the food primal parents. They are the father and mother of the underworld. So he returned to the surface and respectively of the KAMI (gods), islands, and peo- bathed in the ocean to cleanse himself of the impu- ple of Japan. They descended from the high plain rities he had acquired in the land of the dead. Out of of HEAVEN on a fl oating bridge, the rainbow, from his washings he produced AMATERASU, the sun GOD- whence they churned the ocean with a spear to DESS, as well as the moon and storm deities. . J ,

Jacob Hebrew patriarch; also known as Israel. sara. At least in its present form Jainism grew from According to the BIBLE, Jacob was the son of Isaac a broad movement in northeast India in the sixth and the grandson of ABRAHAM. There is no way to century B.C.E. At that time sramanas—men and to verify whether he actually lived. Many scholars a lesser extent women—gave up ordinary family feel that he, like Isaac and Abraham, may simply life. They also rejected the SACRIFICES described in be a legendary ancestor. the sacred books known as the VEDA. Instead, they The Bible tells several well-known stories wandered, begged for food, and devoted them- about Jacob. A younger brother, he deceived his selves to teachings and practices that promised blind father and cheated his older brother, Esau, spiritual liberation. The most famous religion to out of his father’s blessings. Fleeing, he slept with grow out of this movement is BUDDHISM. Jainism his head on a rock, saw ANGELS ascending to and is another. descending from HEAVEN (the well-known “Jacob’s Buddhism is practiced all over the world, but ladder”), and consecrated the place as Bethel. He Jainism remains confi ned to India. In the centu- worked 14 years for his Uncle Laban in order to marry his cousins, Leah and Rachel. With them and two concubines he fathered the ancestors of the 12 tribes of ancient Israel. On his way to meet his brother Esau, Jacob wrestled all night long with what most readers take to be an angel or divine being. In the process, he received the name Israel. It may mean “GOD rules.”

Jainism A religion in India. Jains get their name because they follow the teachings and example of the jina, which means victor. For them, the victor is MAHAVIRA (sixth century B.C.E.). He discovered the way to conquer the forces that keep people bound to continuous rebirth, known in Sanskrit as SAMSARA. Jains claim that their religion is millions of years old. For them, Mahavira is the 24th in a line of tirthankaras or ford-makers. These are people who have made fords across the stream of sam- Jainism symbol

S 228 James S 229

ries after Mahavira, it spread along trade routes visit temples. There they WORSHIP before images of to southern and western India. These are its two the tirthankaras. Jain temples include some of the strongholds today. In the fi rst century C.E. the com- most famous religious monuments in India: the munity split. The cause was a dispute over what lush marble temples at Mount Abu and some of those who wander must give up. One group insisted the richly decorated temples at Khajuraho. that they must give up clothes entirely. Their com- At the end of the 20th century there were only munity is called Digambara, “sky-clad.” Another about four million Jains in the world. But in cham- group insisted that it is enough if the wanderers pioning ahimsa and vegetarianism, Jainism has had wear only a simple white cloth. Their community a profound impact on Indian society. For example, is called Svetambara, “white-clad.” Digambara it strongly infl uenced the leader of the Indian inde- Jains are particularly strong in the south Indian pendence movement, Mohandas GANDHI. state of Karnataka. Svetambara Jains tend to live Further reading: John E. Cort, Jains in the World in the west Indian state of Gujarat. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001); Paul Digambaras and Svetambaras have differ- Dundas, The Jains (New York: Routledge, 1992); ent sacred books, but they share the same basic P. S. Jaini, The Jaina Path of Purifi cation (Berkeley: beliefs. Like Hindus and Buddhists, Jains believe University of California Press, 1979); Michael that people are continually reborn. This rebirth Tobias, Life Force: The World of Jainism (Fremont, results from action (Sanskrit, KARMA). Unlike Hin- Calif.: Jain Publishing, 1991). dus and Buddhists, however, Jains say that a par- ticularly fi ne kind of matter is involved in this pro- cess. Whenever the human life-force, the jiva, acts, this fi ne matter sticks to it and weighs it down. James The name of three APOSTLES in CHRISTIAN- The goal of Jain practice is to cleanse the jiva of ITY, as well as the name of a book in the NEW TES- karmic matter. When the jiva is clean, it rises to TAMENT. In Greek the name is Iakobos, a variant of the highest point in the universe. There it remains the Hebrew name Yakob, Jacob. Scholars debate undisturbed forever. whether the James who wrote the New Testament The Jain community has two unequal levels. book is one of the apostles or yet a different person MONKS AND NUNS adopt a lifestyle based on wander- with the same name. ing and begging. Laymen and laywomen maintain households and work. On both levels women are THE APOSTLES NAMED JAMES generally in an inferior position. Three Christian Apostles had the name James. Two MONKS AND NUNS are said to be closer to ulti- of them were also disciples of JESUS; that is, they mate liberation. A cardinal rule that governs their followed him during his lifetime. The third is gen- behavior is noninjury (Sanskrit, AHIMSA). Svet- erally referred to as Jesus’ brother. ambara monks and nuns wear cloths over their Of the two disciples, James the son of Zebe- mouths, sweep the paths where they walk, and dee is much better known. In the synoptic GOS- strain their water to avoid harming little living PELS (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), he, together beings. The most advanced Jains go even further: with his brother, John, and Simon, later renamed In old age they enter liberation by refraining from PETER, belonged to the innermost circle of Jesus’ eating and drinking until they die. disciples. Among other things, these three wit- Laymen and laywomen follow ahimsa, but to nessed the transfi guration of Jesus. James and his a lesser extent. As a result, all Jains are strict vege- brother once angered the other disciples by ask- tarians. Jains have also established several animal ing to sit at Jesus’ right and left hand when he sanctuaries. In addition, laymen and laywomen returned in glory. The ACTS OF THE APOSTLES records give food and drink to monks and nuns—gifts that Herod (not the Herod in the stories of Jesus’ that help them make spiritual progress. They also birth) had James killed by the sword. It gives no 230 S Japan, new religions in

further details. According to Spanish legend, James’ The book contains much moral advice. It par- bones were taken to Spain. There, in 813 C.E., his ticularly encourages people to be careful about tomb was discovered. This place, Santiago (Saint what they say. It gives even more attention to James) de Compostela, served as an inspiration questions of wealth and poverty. It warns Chris- to Christian forces seeking to reconquer Spain. It tians not to favor the rich over the poor. It also has also been a major destination for Christian pil- tells the wealthy to act properly in their business grims. Indeed, during the Middle Ages pilgrimage dealings and to use their wealth to take care of to Compostela stood in rank only behind pilgrim- those in need. ages to JERUSALEM and Rome. The Christian church James is probably best known for its obser- remembers this James on July 25. vations about faith and works. The Apostle Paul A second disciple of Jesus was named James, wrote that Christians are saved by faith apart James the son of Alphaeus. Although his name from works of Torah. James urges Christians not appears in the list of Jesus’ disciples, no stories to abandon what he calls the “royal Torah”: “You are told about him. The Catholic Church remem- shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Unlike Paul bers him on May 1, the Orthodox churches on this book teaches that “a person is justifi ed by October 9. works and not by faith alone.” Many of its teach- Much more important for the establishment ings echo the teachings of Jesus in the synoptic of Christianity was a third James, referred to as gospels, for example, the Sermon on the Mount the brother of Jesus. Many scholars consider him (Matthew 5–7). actually to have been Jesus’ brother. According to Further reading: Bruce Chilton and Jacob Neusner, some traditions, however, MARY, Jesus’ mother, eds., The Brother of Jesus: James the Just and His always remained a virgin. Indeed, some ancient Mission (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Christian teachers suggested that this James was Press, 2001); Robert Eisenman, James, the Brother either Jesus’ stepbrother or his cousin. James was of Jesus (London: Faber and Faber, 1997); John the leader of the early Christians in Jerusalem. Painter, Just James: The Brother of Jesus in History He came to be considered an Apostle. The BIBLE and Tradition, 2d ed. (Columbia: University of gives him a key role in discussions with the apos- South Carolina Press, 2004). tle PAUL about converted Gentiles. James agreed that although Jewish Christians should continue to observe TORAH, Gentile converts did not need Japan, new religions in New religious move- to. Later, this James became known as James the ments that have emerged in Japan since the Just because of his devotion to Torah. The Jewish early 19th century. These are among the most historian Josephus (37 c.–100 C.E.) records that he interesting and most studied of new religions was stoned to death. The Christian church remem- worldwide. They have obviously grown up in bers him on May 1. tandem with Japan’s phenomenal moderniza- THE BOOK OF JAMES tion and the traumas of Japan’s modern history, but they have features that compare with those Besides being the name of three apostles, James of new religions everywhere. These are a few is also the name of an EPISTLE, or letter, in the characteristics: New Testament. It presents itself as written by James to the “Twelve Tribes in the Dispersion.” 1. Founding by a charismatic prophet. Generally Christians usually interpret this phrase as mean- the founder, often a woman, like the majority of ing the whole Christian church. Much of what the shamans of ancient Japan, has had a power- James teaches, however, is compatible with Juda- ful VISION or religious experience communicat- ism. Many modern scholars doubt that an apostle ing a new revelation, and has the personality to wrote James. draw other people into it. Japan, new religions in S 231

2. MONOTHEISM or monism. The new religion may the Omoto (1892) group of new religions, includ- select one god or Buddhist reality out of the ing not only Omoto itself but also World Messi- SHINTO or Buddhist pantheon and make it cen- anity (1935), Seicho-no-Ie (1930), and Perfect Lib- tral, so that in effect religious reality centers on erty (1946), started as a peasant religion stressing one principle or divine will. the imminent coming of a new age. The original 3. Syncretism, or drawing from several traditions. foundress of Omoto was a peasant woman, Nao Many of the new religions combine Shinto ways Deguchi, but her son-in-law, Onisaburo Deguchi, of WORSHIP, perhaps including dance, with Bud- expanded Omoto in several directions: healing, art, dhist teachings like REINCARNATION, Confucian radical politics, and spiritualism. Partly as a result morality, and perhaps Christian ideas about of government persecution in the 1920s and 1930s, GOD. it spun off several other movements. World Mes- 4. This-worldly eschatology and SALVATION. Most sianity continued the eschatological emphasis. The of the new religions do not talk about going to more conservative Seicho-no-Ie has a science of HEAVEN after death or salvation in another world. mind kind of teaching, a positive thinking empha- Instead they say that God is bringing about a sis. Perfect Liberty, whose motto is “life is art,” radically new paradisal order here in this world; stresses the spiritual meaning of art. the present troubles are but the birth-pangs of a Finally, there is a group of new religions based new age. If not in this life, then through reincar- on NICHIREN Buddhism: Reiyukai (1925), Rissho nation we will be born into it soon. Kosei Kai (1938), and the largest of all, Soka Gakkai 5. Emphasis on healing. Most of them began (1952). They emphasize the power of the Nichiren essentially as spiritual healing movements. chant, the Daimoku, to change life for the better 6. A sacred center. Most of them have a sacred here and now. Changing life for the better in this center, even a holy cry, to which people go on present world, but through contact with spiritual reality, is really the theme of all the new religions PILGRIMAGE. of Japan. 7. A simple but defi nite process of entry. Join- In the last decades of the twentieth century a ing one of the new religions means making a fresh set of religious movements, sometimes called defi nite decision, yet it is easy enough that the “new new religions,” arose in Japan. Some of them simplest persons enter; they are for ordinary could be identifi ed with the world-wide NEW AGE people, not just an elite. People have to take MOVEMENT, which has had a large following among responsibility for their own spiritual life by join- the Japanese. Some were, at the same time, new ing, but anyone can do so. forms of BUDDHISM or Shinto. 8. A single, simple, sure technique that is the One with Buddhist roots was Agonshu, key practice. This would be like chanting the founded in 1978. It teaches a form of Shingon or Daimoku (“Nam myiho renge kyo”) in SOKA esoteric Buddhism (see JAPANESE RELIGION). Its wor- GAKKAI, doing jorei or channeling light in World ship centers on a spectacular fi re RITUAL called, as Messianity, and so forth. Like all new religions in Shingon, goma, believed able to burn away evil worldwide, they tend to isolate as their “trade- KARMA in those who participate in it with faith. mark” one powerful practice that anyone can Another movement of Buddhist background is do and that brings quite powerful results for Shinnyo-en, “Garden of Absolute Reality,” which many people. was established in 1936 under a different name The well-established new religions of Japan but only more recently has become prominent. The fall into three main groups. First are the “old” new two founders, husband and wife, were deep stu- religions, like TENRIKYO (1838) and KONKOKYO (1859), dents of Shingon. They lost two sons to incurable founded by peasant prophets, which have Shinto- childhood diseases; seeing spiritual signifi cance in type worship but are monotheistic. Then, there are this, they believed the death of the “holy brothers” 232 S Japanese religion

meant that the spiritual path between this and the Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism invisible world is now fully opened and its power (New York: Henry Holt, 2000); Harry Thomsen, of salvation unleashed for the world. To receive The New Religions of Japan. (Tokyo and Rutland, that power, they taught a special form of guided Vt.: Tuttle, 1963). meditation. A new religion that has been aggressively promoted is Kofuku no Kagaku (Science of Hap- Japanese religion A religious complex com- piness), based on the teachings of Ryuhu Okawa, prised of SHINTO, various forms of BUDDHISM, and who founded it in 1986. Believing himself to be a new religions plus elements of TAOISM, CONFUCIAN- special revealer of God’s truth, Okawa taught that ISM, and CHRISTIANITY. the religions of Japan are like happiness stems from love, knowledge, develop- a series of layers. New forms are added on top of ment, and self-refl ection. He also taught that a older strata, but the old seem never to die out. Thus world catastrophe is imminent, after which a uto- Japanese religion is a very complex mixture. Many pia will arise. Japanese have a relation to at least two religions, Mahikari (Divine True Light) began in 1959. Shinto and Buddhism, and affi rm the basic ethi- Its founder had been a member of the Church of cal principles of Confucianism without practicing World Messianity. Like the latter, it teaches a prac- it as a religion. Taoism and Christianity in nearly tice of radiating the divine light through the palm all its forms have also had infl uence in Japan, and of one’s hand. in addition, a number of new religions have arisen The most notorious of the recent new religions in the 19th and 20th centuries. is Aum Shinrikyo (Teaching of OM, the Divine Prin- ciple), which was responsible for a deadly nerve- SHINTO gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995 under The oldest layer or stratum is Shinto, which may the direction of its leader, Shoko Asahara. He had be translated as the “Way of the Gods.” This reli- founded the religion in 1984 to teach methods of gion represents a perpetuation of the religion of Buddhist yoga and meditation. However, the fol- ancient and prehistoric Japan, when the society lowers became a withdrawn, tightly knit commu- was divided into many clans, each of which had its nal group who anticipated a coming purifying event own patronal deity. Some of these, together with (see APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE), which they apparently other gods, are now the KAMI, or gods of Shinto, thought the attack would precipitate. The instiga- a polytheistic religion. This FAITH is now recogniz- tors of the crime, including Asahara, were tried able by its distinctive torii or gateway, represent- and convicted, but a remnant has kept the group ing entry to its lovely shrines, and by its colorful alive, changing its name to Aleph. The tragedy led matsuri, or festivals. to much debate in Japan about new religions, even though no other new religion has perpetrated an BUDDHISM offence of this magnitude. Buddhism came to Japan around the sixth cen- Some of the new religions of Japan have suc- tury C.E., imported from Korea. It represented a cessfully expanded overseas, especially among more advanced level of culture than Japan had Japanese immigrants in Brazil and the United at the time, and with it came new arts and skills, States. They have often served as envoys of Japa- including writing and even the Confucian classics, nese culture as well as religion. from the continent. Buddhism soon also became a faith by which the rulers of Japan tried to unify Further reading: Helen Hardacre, Lay Buddhism the nation, since it was not identifi ed with any in Contemporary Japan (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton of the local clans. But though there was tension, University Press, 1984); Robert Jay Lifton, Shinto did not disappear, as did the old religions Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, of Europe around the same time as Christianity Japanese religion S 233

Religious sites in Japan

became dominant. Rather, in the case of Japan, the denominational forms. During the Heian period old religion continued alongside the new as theo- (794–1185), the two most important forms were ries arose saying that the Shinto kami were guard- Shingon and Tendai. Shingon was a type of eso- ians of the BUDDHA’s temples, or students of the teric Buddhism that emphasized the presence of Buddha, or even the same spiritual forces under the Buddha-nature here and now, in each person local Japanese names rather than the universal in their present body, which can be realized with Buddhist forms. the help of hand gestures, chants, and visualiza- However, in the Middle Ages, Buddhism was tion meditations. It used many mandalas or mystic the most active and visible religion. It took several paintings and statues of cosmic buddhas, giving 234 S Japanese religion

great impetus to art. Tendai stressed the suprem- do such “martial arts” as Zen archery and swords- acy of the LOTUS SUTRA but tolerantly allowed many manship. They are seen as ways of expressing the forms of practice to develop under its aegis, since universal Buddha-nature in spontaneity of expres- it thought there were many paths for people in dif- sion. Zen and its arts fl ourished especially in the ferent stages of spirituality. In the end, it became Muromachi period (1336–1573); during this time, almost as given to esoteric practices as Shingon. Japan suffered like Europe in its Middle Ages from Both Shingon and Tendai were complex, sophisti- feudal wars, and as in Europe it was monasteries, cated styles of Buddhism; each was headquartered particularly Zen, that kept culture alive. in its own vast mountaintop monastery. CHRISTIANITY KAMAKURA BUDDHISM The short Momoyama period, 1573–1600, was the The next period in Japanese history, the Kamakura fi rst golden age of Catholic Christianity in Japan. (1185–1333), brought a new class to power, the sam- Jesuits under St. Francis Xavier and later Francis- urai warlords, and also new Buddhist movements: cans, following Portuguese lines of trade, brought PURE LAND BUDDHISM, NICHIREN, and ZEN BUDDHISM. the faith to the island empire and, amidst troubled Each was a reaction against the complexity of Heian times, at fi rst had remarkable success. But the Buddhism, in favor of radical simplifi cation and Tokugawa house came to power as shoguns or mil- popularization. The new people, warriors prepar- itary dictators in 1600 and persecuted Christianity, ing to die on the fi eld of battle, as well as peasants fearing that it would lead to more foreign infl uence and shopkeepers, wanted to learn of some single, if not foreign rule. Where it survived it was forced simple, sure key to SALVATION, which was accessible deep underground. The Tokugawa, who ruled from not just to monks, but also to those facing death in 1600 to 1868, tried to keep out nearly all foreign battle, or in the midst of everyday life. Faith was ideas and to organize society along strict Confu- the answer. Pure Land Buddhism, taught by Honen cian lines. (1133–1212) and his disciple Shinran (1173–1262), said that all one really needs is to have faith in MODERN JAPAN the vow or promise of the Buddha AMIDA to bring By the 19th century, there was growing social fer- all who call upon his name into the Pure Land or ment within and growing outside pressure from Western Paradise after death. Honen founded the Europe and America to open up the country. Even- Jodo-shu sect of Pure Land and Shinran the Jodo- tually, in the so-called Meiji Restoration of 1868, shinshu sect, both major DENOMINATIONS of Japa- the shoguns were retired and the emperor restored, nese Buddhism today. Nichiren (1222–82), a fi ery nominally, to direct rule. Christian missionaries prophet, taught faith in the Lotus Sutra, expressed returned. Part of the Meiji ideology was to bring through a chant; his message also spawned major back ancient Shinto as a national religion of patrio- denominations and the largest religious movement tism and loyalty to the throne. At the same time, in 20th-century Japan. Japan was being built up as a modern industrial and military power. This was the situation that led ZEN to the extreme nationalism and militarism of the Zen came to Japan from China as a separate institu- 1930s and 1940s and Japan’s World War II surren- tional presence, and two major denominations, in der in 1945. Shinto and the “imperial will” were the Kamakura period. It appealed especially to the used, often cynically, by the militarists as supports samurai class because of its emphasis on self-disci- for their policy; religion was under tight govern- pline and an austere way of life, and also because ment control during this period. of the artistic creativity it fostered. Traditional Jap- After 1945 Japan enjoyed religious freedom. anese arts, like rock gardens, fl ower arrangement, Shinto reorganized itself independent of the state. No plays, and the tea ceremony, have Zen roots, as Buddhism, though shorn by land reform of estates Jehovah’s Witnesses S 235

that had supported temples and monasteries, found which had never previously been combined into its place as Japan’s prosperity increased. The great- a single word.) est growth, however, was in the so-called new reli- Jehovah’s Witnesses consider themselves gions, like Tenrikyo, Konkokyo, and above all the Christians. Some of their teachings differ, however, Nichiren-related Soka Gakkai movement (see JAPAN, from the beliefs of other Christians. On the basis NEW RELIGIONS OF). These religions had deep roots in of their reading of the Bible, Witnesses believe that Japanese cultural attitudes, yet were not tainted by God is Jehovah, not a TRINITY. They also believe association with the prewar regime as were main- that JESUS was not divine but the fi rst of God’s crea- line Shinto and Buddhism. They also found ways to tures, that he was killed on a stake, not a cross, relate to the needs of ordinary individuals. and that he rose from the dead as a spirit, not a So it is that new things, from Buddhism to the person. Because of these and other beliefs, some latest new religion, have piled up on top of the still- Christians refuse to recognize the Witnesses as a living Shinto substratum of Japanese religion. But form of CHRISTIANITY. virtually all have in common basic Japanese reli- The movement began with a Bible study group gious attitudes: acceptance of pluralism or many organized by Charles Taze Russell in Allegheny, faiths, traditionalism, and a support of Confucian Pennsylvania, now a part of Pittsburgh, in 1872. moral values centering on family and community That group adopted a millenarian view; that is, loyalty. it believed that the end of times was at hand. It quickly grew, and in 1909 it moved its headquar- Further reading: H. Byron Earhart, Japanese ters to Brooklyn, New York. Originally organized Religion: Unity and Diversity, 4th ed. (Belmont, as the Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society in 1881, it Calif.: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2004); Robert S. adopted the name Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1931. Ellwood and Richard Pilgrim, Japanese Religion: A The Witnesses believe that the “Gentile Cultural Perspective (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Times” ended in 1914. They further believe that Hall, 1985); Ian Reader, Religion in Contemporary when Christ returns, those who have been faith- Japan. (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, ful will be raised from the dead to live on Earth 1991); Michiko Yusa, Japanese Religious Traditions forever. Specially anointed persons, numbering (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2002). 144,000, will be transformed and taken to heaven to rule there with CHRIST forever. The Witnesses have predicted that the second coming of Christ Jehovah’s Witnesses A Christian movement would occur on several dates, but these predic- that began in the United States in the 1870s. Wit- tions have not come true. nesses is the name that members believe God Witnesses meet three times a week for WOR- wants them to use for themselves. Jehovah is an SHIP and study. One meeting is usually on Sunday. old rendering of YHWH, the name of God used in They meet in special structures known as Kingdom the Hebrew Scriptures (see SCRIPTURES, HEBREW). Halls, but some meetings also take place in homes. (Written Hebrew originally had no vowels, so Elders or offi cially recognized assistants lead the God’s name was written YHWH. But in antiq- meetings, which include PRAYER, singing, and dis- uity Jews stopped speaking God’s name and used cussions of the Bible, guided by offi cial publica- a different word instead: Adonai, “The Lord.” tions. Witnesses also practice how to teach the When vowels were added to the text of the BIBLE, Bible and their beliefs in public. Indeed, witnesses the writers used the vowels for Adonai, because are probably best known for their door-to-door no one actually said YHWH. Jehovah resulted proselytizing and their publications, The Watch- when early English translators, whose knowl- tower and Awake! All Witnesses are expected to edge of Hebrew was limited, tried to combine the proselytize, and their activities are carefully orga- consonants of YHWH and the vowels of Adonai, nized and recorded. 236 S Jeremiah

Several other practices have also made the worship of all gods besides YHWH (“the Lord”). Witnesses stand out: They refuse blood transfu- He also tried to make the temple in Jerusalem the sions, they refuse to celebrate CHRISTMAS, EASTER, only place where the people worshipped YHWH. and birthdays (they celebrate the “Memorial of Although these changes were religious, they also Christ’s Death”), and they are neutral regarding meant that Josiah was declaring independence governments and wars. Their faith forbids them to from Assyria and trying to unify his kingdom. pledge allegiance to any government or to salute Indeed, according to some scholars, the TEN COM- any fl ag. Especially the last characteristics have MANDMENTS have the same form as Assyrian trea- provoked governments around the world, result- ties, but they make the people subjects of YHWH, ing in persecution and even death. As a result, the not the king of Assyria. Witnesses have been at the forefront of legal efforts In 609, Josiah died fi ghting Egypt, an ally of to guarantee religious freedom. As of August 2004, Assyria, and Egypt made one of his sons king. But the organization claimed to have about 6,500,000 in 605 Babylon defeated Assyria and Egypt, and members in over 230 countries. Judah became a Babylonian possession—until it rebelled. In 597, the Babylonians conquered Jeru- Further reading: Andrew Holden, Jehovah’s salem and gave Judah a new king, another son of Witnesses: Portrait of a Contemporary Religious Josiah. When that king rebelled, the Babylonians Movement (New York: Routledge, 2002); M. James destroyed Jerusalem in 587 and simply took Judah Penton, Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah’s over. It was during these stormy days that Jere- Witnesses, rev. ed. (Toronto: University of Toronto miah prophesied. Press, 1997). CONTENT Jeremiah’s prophecies mostly predict the destruc- Jeremiah a prophet in Judah during the late sev- tion of Judah. He started making those prophecies enth and early sixth centuries B.C.E. and a book in about the time Josiah, already king, turned 21. He the Hebrew BIBLE that contains his prophecies Jer- said Judah would be destroyed because it had aban- emiah began to prophesize around 627. He was last doned YHWH, worshipped other gods, and had sub- heard from after the fall of JERUSALEM 40 years later, mitted to Assyria and Egypt. These were precisely in 587. He dictated his prophecies to a man named the abuses that Josiah sought to correct fi ve years Baruch. In fact, part of the book of Jeremiah con- later. But Josiah’s sons did not continue his religious tains records about Jeremiah written by Baruch (fl . policies, so Jeremiah continued to prophesy destruc- early sixth century B.C.E.). These prophecies and tion. He said that YHWH would use a “power from records are closely related to the complicated his- the north” to destroy Judah. That power turned tory of the times. out to be Babylon. Eventually Jeremiah urged the people to surrender to Babylon and accept the con- CONTEXT sequences. Judah would be free again, he said, but Jeremiah lived at a time when momentous events only after 70 years. At that time GOD would establish were taking place in the Middle East. A century a new covenant. Christians later identifi ed the new earlier the empire of Assyria had destroyed Israel, covenant with CHRISTIANITY. the “northern kingdom.” The “southern kingdom,” Like other prophets, Jeremiah gave his mes- Judah, had become a subject state. But in 622 min- sages in deeds as well as words. For example, to isters presented the king of Judah, Josiah, with a symbolize that Judah would lose its independence, book they had found in the temple in Jerusalem. he wore a yoke. To symbolize that it would be This was probably an early form of the book of restored, he bought a fi eld. Deuteronomy. In response, Josiah began a massive Many government offi cials did not like Jeremi- redesign of his kingdom. He tried to eliminate the ah’s prophecies. Many prophets opposed him, too. Jerusalem S 237

When Jeremiah urged surrender to Babylon, his Jews to return home, but many decided to stay in opponents considered him to be a traitor in time Babylon instead. The resettling of Jerusalem and of war. They imprisoned him and even tried to kill the rebuilding of the Temple under such leaders him by abandoning him in a dry well. as NEHEMIAH and EZRA went slowly. Later, in 164 When the Babylonians did conquer Judah, B.C.E., after a revolt led by Judas Maccabeus, Jeru- they gave Jeremiah complete freedom (Jeremiah salem became the capital of a thriving Jewish king- 40.4–5). But that was not to last. After a series dom, known as the Hasmonean kingdom. of political assassinations, a group of Judeans In 63 B.C.E. the Romans defeated the Hasmo- were afraid that Babylon would punish them. Jer- neans. They eventually made Herod king to rule emiah advised them to stay in Judah, but they the territory for them. Although he was unpopu- fl ed to Egypt instead. They took Jeremiah along lar, Herod did expand the Temple to its most glo- with them. There he ended his days prophesying rious form. After Herod’s death in 4 B.C.E., the much as he had begun: The Jews in Egypt would political situation became increasingly unstable. be destroyed because they had abandoned YHWH From C.E. 66 to 74 Roman armies fought with Jew- and were worshipping other gods. ish freedom-fi ghters. They destroyed the Temple for good in C.E. 70. The western retaining wall of the temple mount became an important place Jerusalem A city sacred to Jews, Christians, where Jews mourned this loss. After a revolt in and Muslims. Its sacredness is intertwined with 132–135, the Romans renamed Jerusalem and its history. expelled all the Jews. Jerusalem became for most Around the year 1000 B.C.E. Jerusalem was Jews a mythical, ancient city, essential to their a stronghold of people known as Jebusites. King identity but of no direct, practical signifi cance. DAVID (ruled roughly 1000–961 B.C.E.) captured the RABBIS preserved the regulations concerning the city. He made it the capital of a united monarchy of Temple in the Mishnah. Prophecies concerning Israel and Judah. His son SOLOMON (ruled roughly the restoration of Jerusalem also seemed to point 961–922 B.C.E.) built a temple there for the dynas- to future glory. ty’s god, YHWH (“the Lord”). This is the structure In the fi rst century, JESUS, the founder of CHRIS- Jews know as the First Temple. TIANITY, was active in the region. He was tried, When Solomon died, the united monarchy executed, and, Christians believe, rose from the split into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah. Jeru- dead at Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, too, his clos- salem became the capital of Judah, and David’s est followers created the fi rst church. In this way descendants continued to rule there. Israel built Jerusalem became an important site in the Chris- alternative sanctuaries at Dan and Bethel, but tian Holy Land. The places that tradition associ- some, including some very vocal prophets, still ates with Jesus, especially the Via Dolorosa—the favored Jerusalem. King Josiah of Judah (ruled path he took on his way to being executed—have 640–609 B.C.E.) instituted a religious reform. Ear- become important destinations for pilgrims. Chris- lier the people of Judah seem to have offered SACRI- tians have also called the world to be established FICES at local sanctuaries. Josiah made the Jerusa- when Jesus returns “the new Jerusalem.” lem Temple the only acceptable place of sacrifi ce. In 635 Jerusalem fell to Muslim rule. Because This meant that Jews would travel to Jerusalem to Muslims revere fi gures like ABRAHAM, David, and celebrate the major festivals of PASSOVER, Shavuot, Solomon as prophets, they, too, consider Jerusa- and Sukkot (see JEWISH FESTIVALS). lem a sacred place. In 691 they built a shrine, the In 587 B.C.E. the Babylonians sacked Jerusa- Dome of the Rock, on the temple mount. Islamic lem, destroyed Solomon’s Temple, and deported tradition has identifi ed a rock outcropping in this the Judean elite to Babylon. In 539 B.C.E. Cyrus, shrine as the place from which MUHAMMAD was king of Persia, conquered Babylon. He allowed the taken up one night into HEAVEN. 238 S Jesuits

From 635 to 1948, Jerusalem remained under in the 18th century from spokespersons of the Muslim rulers, with one exception. In 1099 Crusad- Enlightenment, such as Voltaire. ers from Catholic western Europe captured Jerusa- Jesuits started mission work in connection lem and established a Christian kingdom there (see with European overseas colonization. Francis CRUSADES). It lasted until 1247. In 1948, Jerusalem Xavier established a church in south India in 1541; was divided. The Jewish section became the capi- he entered Japan in 1549. In 1582 Matteo Ricci tal of the new state of Israel. During the 1967 war brought Roman Catholic Christianity to China. Like the Israeli army took the entire city. It remained their educational work, Jesuit missionary practices under Israeli control for the rest of the century. In evoked controversy. The Jesuits adapted CHRISTIAN- the second half of the 20th century Palestinians ITY to the culture of the people to whom they were also claimed Jerusalem as the capital for the state preaching. Others saw this as a distortion of true they wished to establish. Christian teaching and practice. By the mid-18th century, opposition to the order was at a high point. Portugal, Spain, and Jesuits Members of the Society of JESUS of ROMAN France expelled the Jesuits from their territories CATHOLICISM. The society of Jesus is a religious and colonies. Finally in 1773, Pope Clement XIV order made up of both priests and brothers. Priests dissolved the order. But within 40 years the cli- are men ordained to the offi ce of priesthood and mate had changed. In 1814 Pope Pius VII restored thus able to celebrate the EUCHARIST. Brothers are the order. Although opposition did not cease, since members of the society who are not ordained. 1814 the Jesuits have once again devoted them- The founder of the society was Ignatius Loyola selves to education and missionary work. (1491–1556). Ignatius was a soldier. While he was Jesuits have long been active in North Amer- recovering from a cannonball injury, he experienced ica. In 1566 Jesuit MISSIONARIES preached to indig- a religious conversion. As a result, he wrote a book enous Americans in what would later become entitled Spiritual Exercises (1523–35; approved, Florida; in 1570 other Jesuits preached in what 1548), entered school, and attracted several follow- would later become Virginia. The fi rst Catholic ers. From this seed his order grew. In 1540 Pope bishop in the United States, John Carroll (1735– Paul IV gave his approval to the order, which was 1815) of Baltimore, was a Jesuit until the order extremely active in the Counter-Reformation, the was dissolved. Today, Jesuit schools include such movement within the Roman Catholic Church that prominent universities as Georgetown University responded to the Protestant REFORMATION. and Loyola University. Unlike previous orders, Ignatius’s order relied upon a strong, central authority known as the superior general. Also unlike previous orders, Jesus (c. 4 B.C.E.–c. 30 C.E.) the founder of members of the Society of Jesus were not required CHRISTIANITY According to Christian tradition, to wear a special habit nor to spend a considerable Jesus was born from a virgin named MARY (see part of their days chanting WORSHIP services. Mem- VIRGIN BIRTH) who was engaged to a man named bers take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Joseph. Jesus’ importance for Christians is Their aim is to work wherever instructed “for the emphasized by a portion of the Nicene Creed (see greater glory of GOD”—the society’s motto. CREEDS), which many Christians use regularly in Jesuits have engaged in primarily two kinds WORSHIP: “We believe in one Lord, Jesus CHRIST, of activity: education and mission work. From the the only Son of GOD.” beginning, their schools provided a rigorous edu- cation in the humanities, philosophy, and THEOL- LIFE OGY. They came to dominate education in Catholic The BIBLE presents two different stories about the Europe. They also evoked resentment, especially birth of Jesus. The GOSPEL of Matthew tells that Jesus S 239

Jesus was born in Bethlehem to Joseph and Mary sis on the KINGDOM OF GOD and the coming of the during the reign of King Herod the Great (d. 4 Son of Man may link him to other, more obscure B.C.E.). MAGI—the Bible does not say how many— movements that seem to have expected some sort came from the east to present to the child gifts of social and political upheaval. Some late 20th- of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then Joseph, century scholars emphasized Jesus’ connections to warned by an angel in a dream, took Mary and the peasant classes in Galilee. They also saw both Jesus to Egypt to protect the baby from the jeal- Jesus’s moral teachings and his way of living—his ous rage of Herod, who ordered all baby boys to wandering—as a Jewish Galilean version of the be killed. moral advice and way of life of Greek-speaking The gospel of Luke tells a different story. It philosophers known as Cynics (not to be confused connects Jesus’ birth with a census that occurred with “cynic” in its ordinary English sense.) when Quirinius was governor of Syria. On the Jesus was executed by crucifi xion under the least strained interpretation, this event occurred Roman governor Pontius Pilate, whom sources when the territory of Judea (now southern Israel) outside the Bible depict as particularly cruel. The was transferred from Herod’s son and successor to Bible records that on the night before his trial and Roman rule in 6 C.E., 10 years after Herod’s death. execution, Jesus celebrated a fi nal meal with his According to Luke, the ANGEL Gabriel announced to disciples (see APOSTLES). During the meal, Jesus Mary that she was pregnant. Because of the census, distributed bread, which he had broken, and wine Mary and Joseph journeyed to Bethlehem. All the to his disciples. This act became the model for one rooms were taken, so Jesus was born in a stable. of Christianity’s most important acts of worship, Angels announced Jesus’ birth to shepherds, who the EUCHARIST. Jesus’ crucifi xion began early on a came and worshipped him. When he was eight days Friday morning. He is said to have died around old, Jesus was circumcised; then he was presented 3:00 P.M. The gospels record how Jesus’ body was at the Temple in JERUSALEM, where two pious older removed from the CROSS that afternoon and placed people, Simeon and Anna, praised him. in a sealed, guarded tomb. The next Sunday morn- According to the gospels, Jesus began a spe- ing several followers found the tomb unsealed, cial mission when he was baptized by John the unguarded, and empty. On that basis, and on the Baptist in the Jordan River. With a band of close basis of appearances of Jesus to them, these follow- followers, he wandered the countryside from Gali- ers proclaimed that Jesus was the MESSIAH whom lee (now northern Israel) to Judea and sometimes God had raised from the dead (see RESURRECTION). farther afi eld, teaching and working MIRACLES, He is said shortly thereafter to have ascended into especially HEALING. As preserved in both the Bible HEAVEN, and he is expected to return again at the and books outside the Bible, Jesus’ teachings took fi nal day of judgment (see JUDGMENT OF THE DEAD). several basic forms. The most well-known teach- ings include parables, stories told to teach a reli- TEACHINGS gious lesson, and beatitudes, statements beginning According to one account, Jesus identifi ed two pre- “Blessed are . . .” eminent commandments: Love God and love your Scholars have tried to place Jesus in several fellow human beings (Matthew 22.34–40, Mark historical contexts. He has some affi nities to early 12.28–34, Luke 10.25–28). In the famous Sermon rabbinical JUDAISM (see PHARISEES). For example, on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), Jesus shows how Jesus taught in SYNAGOGUES, his followers called far these commandments extend. For example, he him RABBI, and his teachings about love, the com- teaches that if someone strikes a person on one mandments, and PRAYER (for example, the LORD’S cheek, that person should turn the other cheek and PRAYER) are all reminiscent of rabbinical teachings, allow it to be struck, too, and that if someone takes especially the teachings of the school of the Jew- a person’s coat, that person should give away her ish sage Hillel. At the same time, Jesus’ empha- or his cloak, too. 240 S Jewish festivals

At the same time, Jesus is said to have pro- the metaphor of begetting—fathering a child—to claimed that the kingdom of God was at hand. He the idea of creation; it declared that God the Son connected this with the return of a fi gure known as was “begotten not made, of one Being with the the Son of Man. He urged his followers to watch for Father.” Roughly 125 years later, at the Council the coming of the kingdom, for it would come as a of Chalcedon, the Christian church settled upon thief in the night. He is also said to have given his a common set of formulas to express who Jesus followers signs that would indicate the coming of was. These formulas emphasized that “the one the day of the Lord, beginning with the destruction and only Son [of God], our Lord Jesus Christ” was of Jerusalem (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21). actually, fully, and perfectly divine and human at Finally, several sayings found in the gospel the same time, two “natures” perfectly united in of John pertain directly to Jesus’ own identity. In one “person.” these passages Jesus connects himself very closely Later Christians developed many different with God, whom he calls “Father,” for example, images of Jesus, for example, Jesus as the ruler of “The Father and I are one” (John 10:30). He also the universe, Jesus as a sacrifi ce and ransom, and characterizes his relationship with his follow- Jesus as the model of how to live a perfect life. ers in metaphors: “I am the bread of life”; “I am Throughout all of these variations, the teachings the light of the world”; “I am the vine, you are of Chalcedon have continued to defi ne Christian the branches” (John 6.35; 8.12; 15.5). One of the orthodoxy. In the last 200 years, however, some best loved of these passages reads: “I am the good thinkers have seen a great gulf between the “Jesus shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life of history” and the “Christ of FAITH.” Christians for the sheep” (John 10.11). Some scholars ques- infl uenced by this manner of thinking have often tion whether the words about the coming day of preferred to talk about Jesus not as God but as a the Lord and the teachings in John actually come great moral teacher and example. from Jesus. Further reading: Marcus Borg, Jesus in SIGNIFICANCE Contemporary Scholarship (Valley Forge, Penn.: Trinity Press International, 1994); John Dominic The earliest Christians became convinced that Crossan, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography (San Jesus was God’s anointed one—the Messiah or Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1994); Howard the Christ—prophesied in the texts of the Hebrew Clark Kee, What Can We Know about Jesus? (New Bible. They also identifi ed him with the preexistent York: Cambridge University Press, 1990); Jaroslav principle—the Logos or Word—through which God Pelikan, Jesus through the Centuries, rev. ed. (New had created the world (e.g., John 1.1–14; Colos- Haven: Yale University Press, 1997). sians 1.16–17). Within the fi rst few centuries of Christianity, thinkers developed the idea that God is a TRINITY, one God in three persons. They did so partly on Jewish festivals RITUALS that are celebrated the basis of baptism “in the name of the Father, once a year in JUDAISM. The most important Jew- and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” On this ish festivals are the Days of Awe and the PILGRIM- view Jesus was God incarnate, that is, God who AGE festivals. The Days of Awe, more commonly has become a human being (see INCARNATION). called High Holy Days, are Rosh ha-Shanah (“Head The Christian church began to establish an of the Year,” New Year’s) and Yom Kippur (DAY authoritative teaching about who Jesus was at OF ATONEMENT). The pilgrimage festivals are Pesach the Council of Nicaea (325 C.E.). The council (PASSOVER), Shavuot (Weeks or Pentecost), and condemned the ideas of a teacher named Arius, Sukkot (Huts or Booths). The pilgrimage festivals who taught that the Son of God was the fi rst are often simply called “the festivals.” However, being whom God created. The council preferred they are also called pilgrimage festivals because in jihad S 241

ancient times people observed them by making pil- through its roof. Jewish families hang fruit and grimage to the Temple in JERUSALEM. other natural objects as decorations within the Rosh ha-Shanah occurs on the fi rst and, for sukkah. They often eat their meals there. Some traditional Jews, the second day of the Jewish even sleep there. month of Tishri. Yom Kippur occurs on the tenth Immediately after Sukkot, on the 23rd of Tishri, of Tishri. In the Gregorian calendar, these dates is a minor festival called Simhat Torah (“Joy of the fall in September or October. Torah”). During the synagogue service on this day, Rosh ha-Shanah services emphasize that GOD the last verses of Torah (the fi rst fi ve books of the is the supreme ruler of the universe. They also BIBLE) are read from the book of Deuteronomy. They emphasize God’s activities in revealing himself are immediately followed by the fi rst verses in the and redeeming his people. At morning services the Bible, the creation account in Genesis. Thus, in the reading and discussion of passages from the TORAH, course of a year, all of the Torah—or at least repre- such as ABRAHAM’s expulsion of Hagar and bind- sentative portions from every part of the Torah—is ing of ISAAC, provide central dimensions of moral- read aloud in Sabbath services. ity and faith. During the course of the services a The two remaining pilgrimage festivals take shofar, an ancient musical instrument made from place during the spring. Like Sukkot, they were a ram’s horn, is blown. At home, Jews often eat originally agricultural, but they also celebrate apples dipped in honey in the hope that the new important events in Israel’s prehistory. Pesach year will be sweet. (Passover), from the 15th to the 22nd or 23rd of Repentance is an important theme of Rosh ha- Nisan, recalls the freeing of the Israelites enslaved Shanah. It culminates in Yom Kippur. On Yom Kip- in Egypt. Fifty days (a week of weeks) later, on the pur Jews are supposed to fast from before dusk to sixth and, outside Israel, the seventh of Sivan, Sha- an hour after dark the next day, a period of roughly vuot (weeks) celebrates the giving of the Torah on 25 to 26 hours. During this period they do not eat, Mount Sinai. These festivals occur from late March drink, or wash. Yom Kippur services include a to early June. PRAYER known as the “Al Chet.” This prayer lists, in Other Jewish festivals are more minor but order, SINS whose names begin in turn with every certainly not unimportant. They include PURIM, letter of the Hebrew alphabet. A public and collec- Yom ha-Shoah (HOLOCAUST Day), Yom ha-Atzmaut tive confession, this prayer symbolically confesses (Israel’s Independence Day), Tishah Be’Av (Ninth every possible sin. Yom Kippur restores one’s rela- of Av, which recalls the destruction of both SOLO- tionship to God, but not one’s relationship to other MON’s and Herod’s Temples in Jerusalem), and a human beings. If one has sinned against another festival especially popular with Jewish children in human being, one should ask that person’s for- North America, HANUKKAH. giveness before the start of the festival. A few days later, on the 15th of Tishri, the atmosphere changes from solemn to celebratory. jihad Islamic notion of the struggle against SIN This is the beginning of the festival of Sukkot. and EVIL. Jihad is often translated as “holy war,” Originally Sukkot was a harvest festival. It also but its meaning is actually broader. recalls the 40 years that the Israelites wandered For Muslims the goal of life is to submit one- in the wilderness, and it served as a model for self to the will of GOD. But forces opposed to God the American celebration of Thanksgiving. Suk- tempt human beings to abandon God and pursue kot gets its name from sukkah, a makeshift tem- other goals. In every arena of life, then, people porary dwelling built for the festival. A sukkah should struggle to resist temptations and evil. This must have three sides and an entrance way, it struggle is called jihad. must be made entirely of natural materials, Jihad includes a personal, internal struggle and one must be able to see at least three stars against temptation (jihad of the heart). It also 242 S jivanmukti

The execution of Joan of Arc, from Les Vigils de Charles VII, by Martial de Paris, 15th-century manuscript illumination (Ms. Fr. 5054, fol. 7, Bibliotèque Nationale, Paris; Giraudon/Art Resource, N.Y.)

includes attempts to combat error and spread the jivanmukti A Sanskrit word meaning “liberation truth of ISLAM orally and in writing (jihad of the while living.” Hindus believe that the self (ATMAN, tongue and the pen). In addition, because Islam jiva) is bound in a series of rebirths (SAMSARA) as a does not dichotomize or split religious and secular result of its actions (KARMA). By practicing various spheres, Muslims believe that it may also be nec- psycho-physical disciplines, a person may become essary to fi ght for God’s truth with military means free of these bonds and achieve the state of release (jihad of the sword). or liberation. When that happens, the self cannot Muslims have disagreed about what jihad simply abandon the body immediately. The effects of the sword entails. Muslim scholars tradition- of past actions still need to work themselves out. ally taught that rulers should engage in jihad to Jivanmukti refers to the state of being liberated extend Muslim rule over the entire world. (This while still living in the body. Some schools, such ideal applied to political control; it did not advo- as the Saiva Siddhanta, recognize several stages of cate forced conversion.) In the late 19th and the jivanmukti. Persons who achieve jivanmukti are 20th centuries, modern Muslims tended to limit called jivanmuktas. military jihad solely to wars of self-defense. In the second half of the 20th century, some Mus- lims who embraced religious NATIONALISM advo- Joan of Arc (c. 1412–31) a French woman who, cated aggressive military jihad even against fel- inspired by voices, spurred on the French against low Muslims. the English in the Hundred Years’ War When Job S 243

Joan was 13, she began to hear voices. She later they meet with God. Satan patrols the earth and said these were the voices of Saints Catherine and enters into conversations with God. Sometimes he Margaret and of the archangel Michael. The voices raises sticky questions, as he does about Job. told Joan that it was her responsibility to help Charles, son of King Charles VI, acquire the throne CONTENT of France. As a result of Joan’s activities, Charles Job combines poetry with prose. Most of the book did become Charles VII. is poetry, but the beginning (Job 1–2) and the Following the instruction of the voices, Joan end (Job 42.7–17) are prose. So is a brief part wore men’s clothing and joined the French army in the middle when a new speaker arrives (Job as a commander. Her presence reinvigorated the 32.1–5). French troops. Her fi rst success came in May 1429, The beginning sets up the story. Job is both when she broke the siege that English troops rich and righteous. God notices Job’s faithfulness, had made by completely surrounding the city of and he boasts about it to Satan. Satan replies that Orleans. That July Charles VII was consecrated Job is faithful only because he is rich; if he lost his king in Reims. family, possessions, and health, he would curse In 1430 Joan was captured by the English. The God instead. God wants to prove Satan wrong, so INQUISITION tried her for HERESY. Its verdict required he gives Satan permission to destroy Job’s riches, her to repudiate the voices and wear women’s to kill off his children and grandchildren along clothing. For several days she did so. But when with his servants, and to destroy his health. Once she returned to her former ways, she was burnt at this has occurred, three friends come to comfort the stake. Job. The poetic part of the book begins with their In the mid-1400s, Charles VII managed to conversations. have the verdict against Joan overturned. After all, The friends mostly take the position that he had became king largely because of her activi- God rewards the virtuous and punishes the ties. In 1920 the Catholic Church recognized Joan wicked. Therefore, if Job is suffering, it must be as a SAINT. She is remembered annually on May 30, his own fault. He should repent, and then God the day of her death. will reward him. In response, Job protests that he has done nothing to deserve his suffering. He says he wishes he had never been born; he also Job One of the best known books of the Hebrew says that he wants to talk with God face to face. BIBLE, and the central fi gure in that book. Job In chapter 32, a younger man begins to speak. belongs to the part of the Hebrew Bible known He is angry that the friends have not criticized as the Ketuvim, Writings. It deals with questions Job more effectively. He says Job is wrong to of THEODICY: “Why do good people suffer?” Some question God. He also says that if people learn people may believe that it reports actual events. from their afflictions, they come out better in Many scholars, however, think that it was a work the end. of literature and that Job himself was a hero in At the climax of the book, God himself appears. folk tales. No one knows when the book was In chapters 38 to 41, he speaks to Job out of a written. whirlwind. God does not explain or justify what One of the peculiarities of Job, at least from has happened to Job. Instead, he overwhelms him, the point of view of later Jews, Christians, and presenting himself as the Lord of the Universe. In Muslims, is the fi gure of SATAN: He is not the devil. response, Job admits he was wrong to question The Hebrew word from which “Satan” comes really God. God then scolds Job’s friends for thinking he means “accuser.” In Job, Satan may be one of the had done something to deserve his suffering. He “sons of GOD,” as they are called in the book. For also restores Job’s fortunes, and Job lives to a ripe example, he comes along with these sons when old age. 244 S Jodo Shinshu

MESSAGE book with his name, GOD commanded Jonah to go The book of Job does not display any concern that to Nineveh and preach repentance. But Nineveh God would allow Job’s family, servants, and ani- was the capital of the Assyrian Empire, mortal mals to be killed off simply to win an argument. enemies of Israel and Judah. Jonah had no desire Some fi nd that disturbing. But the focus of the to preach there, so he booked passage to Spain. book is Job himself, and its strength lies in the way When a storm came up, Jonah was judged it treats his suffering. It does not settle for easy responsible. He was thrown overboard and was answers to the question “Why do the good suffer?” swallowed by a great fi sh. In the fi sh’s belly he In fact, God does not give Job an answer to that repented. Spit out on dry land, Jonah went to question. Instead, the book rejects the simplistic Nineveh and preached. His preaching had such point of view that good people prosper while bad success that the whole empire repented. But Jonah people suffer. It also explores the emotional pangs was disgusted by this turn of events. So God sent of undeserved suffering. At the same time, it sug- a sign to teach him that he should be concerned gests that, in the presence of God, even those who for all people. suffer unjustly must acknowledge God’s greatness. The story of Jonah is a fi ctional account. Some Not everyone agrees with this solution or even sees people question whether Jonah could have lived it as a solution. But many religious people have in the belly of the fi sh, but the real diffi culty is found in it the strength to endure suffering. the supposed conversion of Nineveh. It never hap- pened. The book probably dates from the fi fth or Further reading: Ralph E. Hone, ed., The Voice out fourth century B.C.E. It addressed the Jews who of the Whirlwind: The Book of Job (San Francisco, had returned from exile in Babylon. Many of them Calif.: Chandler, 1960); Bill Thomason, God on Trial: wanted to form a strictly exclusive community. The The Book of Job and Human Suffering (Collegeville, book of Jonah urged them not to overlook God’s Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1997); Bruce Zuckerman, concern for their neighbors. Job the Silent: A Study in Historical Counterpoint (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991). Joseph A son of JACOB and great-grandson of ABRAHAM in the BIBLE. Joseph is the subject of many Jodo Shinshu See PURE LAND BUDDHISM. stories in the book of Genesis (37–50). A favorite son, he receives from his father a multicolored coat. In jealousy his brothers waylay him, sell him into Jodoshu See PURE LAND BUDDHISM. slavery in Egypt, and tell his father that he has died. In Egypt Joseph works for Potiphar, a mili- tary offi cer. When he is falsely accused of sexual John, Saint See GOSPELS. harassment by Potiphar’s wife, he is thrown in jail. There he languishes until pharaoh (the king) sum- mons him to interpret a dream about seven fat and John XXIII See PAPACY, THE. seven thin cows. Joseph predicts good harvests for seven years, followed by seven years of famine. The king appoints Joseph to supervise the Jonah A book in the BIBLE. It tells the story of stockpiling of food for the famine years. When his a prophet by the same name. The book of Jonah family comes to Egypt from Canaan in search of belongs to the collection of prophets known as food, Joseph is reunited with them. In time the “The Twelve.” descendants of Jacob become enslaved in Egypt. Jonah was a prophet who lived in the eighth Many detailed records from Egypt have sur- century B.C.E. (see 2 Kings 14:25). According to the vived, but none of them mentions Joseph. Some Judaism S 245

elements of his story are clearly legendary. For had certain inalienable rights. As a result, Jews example, the story of Potiphar’s wife essentially began to be integrated into European society. The repeats the Egyptian “Tale of Two Brothers.” That fi rst signifi cant “emancipation” of Jews came with tale was told even before the time of Abraham. the French Revolution in 1789. Emancipation posed two challenges. The fi rst was the issue of what it meant to be Jewish in a Judaism The religion centered on the covenant secular state. Different responses gave rise to the revealed to MOSES at Mount Sinai and preserved Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform movements in the TORAH, the fi rst fi ve books of the Hebrew (see JUDAISM IN AMERICA). At the same time, Jews BIBLE. Judaism is a major religion. In addition, had to confront the backlash of conservative Euro- both CHRISTIANITY and ISLAM see themselves as con- peans (see ANTI-SEMITISM), seen most gruesomely tinuing the ancient traditions of Judaism. in the HOLOCAUST. One signifi cant response to anti- Semitism and the Holocaust was ZIONISM and the HISTORY creation of the state of Israel in 1948. The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) preserves the sacred stories of Judaism. It tells the history of the BELIEFS people of Israel from their fi rst ancestors, ABRA- As a religion, Judaism is much more a way of life HAM and SARAH (perhaps 18th century B.C.E.) to the than a set of beliefs. The Talmud, for example, attempts to rebuild the kingdom of Judah (now concentrates on what one needs to do in order to southern Israel) after the Babylonian Exile (ended follow God’s commandments, not on what one 539 B.C.E.). ought to believe. Judaism as we know it began when the Nevertheless, Jews have generally held several Romans destroyed the Second Temple in JERUSA- beliefs. These include the conviction that there is LEM in 70 C.E. After that event, a group of religious one, eternal, omniscient, incorporeal God who scholars known as RABBIS formulated the Jewish created the universe, that he alone deserves WOR- way of life on the basis of the Torah, the fi rst fi ve SHIP, and that he revealed the unchanging Torah books of the Bible attributed to Moses. The rabbis to Moses as a guide to life. Jews have generally compiled rules of behavior into a collection known spoken of God in male terms, but feminine images as the Mishnah, then recorded the meanings of of the divine are not unknown. Primary examples those rules in the TALMUD. include God’s creative Wisdom in Proverbs (see From roughly 600 to 1789, Jews developed this WISDOM LITERATURE) and God’s Shekinah or mani- way of life in several different directions. Jewish festation in the mystical writings. thinkers like Maimonides (1135–1204) and Judah Halevy (before 1075–1141) thought intensely about PRACTICES the relationship between GOD’s revelation and The goal of Judaism is to make life holy, to grace human reasoning. Other Jews sought to grasp intu- the temporal with the eternal and the material itively the ultimate truth beyond all words and lan- with the spiritual. Jews do this by following God’s guage; they developed Jewish mysticism, known commandments (mitzvot), so far as they can. as KABBALAH. Beginning in the 18th century, Jews These commandments are taken as a sign of God’s in eastern Europe began to emphasize a religion love and concern. Furthermore, in Judaism God is of the heart as opposed to external observances. like a compassionate parent. God forgives people They began the movement known as HASIDISM. when they sincerely repent of their wrongdoings. Until 1789, Jews, especially those living in The notion common among some Christians that Europe, were denied civil rights. But in the 17th the “God of the Old Testament” is a stern “God of and 18th centuries, an intellectual movement the law” presents a totally misleading picture of known as the Enlightenment taught that all people Judaism. 246 S Judaism

The central Jewish observance is keeping the stand, and the glass that the groom breaks with Sabbath, the time from sundown Friday to sundown his foot at the end of the ceremony. Judaism also Saturday. Jews rest on the Sabbath in imitation of has distinctive funeral practices. When Jews learn God’s resting on the seventh day of creation. Sab- that a close relative has died, they are supposed bath observance varies in strictness in the different to tear their clothes. They also observe various Jewish movements, but the ideal is always one of periods of mourning; the most intense lasts from a Sabbath rest. At the Sabbath meal on Friday eve- the moment of death until burial is over. Judaism ning, the mother of an observant family will light does not as a rule allow cremation. Embalming is the Sabbath candles and welcome Queen Sabbath. forbidden, and ideally the corpse should be buried Observant Jews also generally attend a service at the within 24 hours. SYNAGOGUE or temple on Saturday morning or, among the more liberal, on Friday evening. This service con- ORGANIZATION sists of readings from the Bible, PRAYERS, and songs. Judaism is organized according to local congre- During the course of the year, there are several gations that join together to form national orga- major and many minor festivals (see JEWISH FESTI- nizations. A congregation maintains a synagogue, VALS). The most holy days are Rosh ha-Shanah (the which is a place for prayer, study, and fellowship. New Year) and Yom Kippur (DAY OF ATONEMENT), It also supports a rabbi, a person who, after inten- which occur in the fall. On Yom Kippur, Jews fast, sive study, is ordained to serve a congregation’s collectively confess their SINS to God, and receive spiritual needs (see ORDINATION). In Reform, Recon- God’s forgiveness. The other major festivals are structionist, and more recently Conservative Juda- Pesach (PASSOVER), Shavuot (Pentecost or Weeks), ism, women have been ordained to the rabbinate. and Sukkot (Tabernacles). Originally celebrations Orthodox and Hasidic Jews ordain only men. of the harvest, these festivals were later connected Rabbis are generally respected for their learn- with the liberation of the people of Israel from slav- ing and their service to the community, but within ery in Egypt (see EXODUS), the giving of the Torah to Hasidism, the rabbi, or rather the rebbe, assumes Moses on Mount Sinai, and the wanderings in the an extraordinary position. The leader of a commu- wilderness. The minor festivals include HANUKKAH, nity that may span the globe, the Hasidic rebbe PURIM, Simhat Torah, and Holocaust Day. is thought to be blessed with special insight into Like most other religions, Judaism sancti- God’s revelation and will. His person is especially fi es the rhythms of life. During RITUALS performed revered, his word is taken as close to divine revela- soon after birth, Jews enter into the covenant with tion, his advice is sought on all matters, and even God and receive their names. The ritual for boys his presence is spiritually uplifting. is CIRCUMCISION, known as brit milah, “covenant The state of Israel, established after the Holo- of circumcision,” or more colloquially as bris caust, has a special place in the Jewish world. and performed on the eighth day of life. Rituals Its political leaders have no religious authority, for girls vary; the traditional ritual is for fathers but by its constitution every Jew in the world to introduce baby girls to the community at the may become an Israeli citizen. Most Jews outside synagogue service. When boys and, in the more Israel strongly support the state. A few Hasidic liberal traditions, girls reach the age of 12 or 13, Jews have rejected Israel as a human attempt to they become BAR or BAT MITZVAH, “son or daugh- do what only God should do, restore the glories ter of the commandment” respectively, that is, of ancient Israel. members of the adult Jewish community. The ceremony involves reading a portion of the Torah JUDAISM IN THE WORLD TODAY in Hebrew and then commenting upon it. Distinc- One important topic for modern Jews is what it tive features of a Jewish wedding include the hup- means to follow HALAKHAH, the Jewish “path.” pah, the canopy under which the bride and groom Many followers still consider halakhah to embody Judaism in America S 247

the commands of God, but others see it as a code ism remains a major religion. In addition, Judaism of customs that people are free to adopt or adapt has enriched other religions of the world, such as according to their own consciences. In keeping Christianity and Islam, and individual Jews have with this distinction, some Orthodox Jews main- made major contributions to the world’s culture. tain that women cannot be rabbis, are not permit- Further reading: Nicholas de Lange and Miri Freud- ted to read Torah in services, cannot count toward Kandel, Modern Judaism: An Oxford Guide (New a minyan (traditionally, the number of men York: Oxford University Press, 2005); Abraham required for a prayer service), and cannot hold Heschel, Between God and Man: An Interpretation their own prayer services. Other Jews, however, of Judaism (New York: Free Press, 1965); Jacob believe that women hold an equal place in society Neusner, The Way of Torah; An Introduction to and religious practices. Judaism, 2d ed. (Encino, Calif.: Dickenson, 1974); Jews from various religious backgrounds also Herman Wouk, This Is My God (Garden City, N.Y.: differ on other controversial topics, such as homo- Doubleday, 1959). sexuality (see HOMOSEXUALITY AND RELIGION). Fur- thermore, because Judaism is a small community that does not proselytize, particularly important are issues relating to interfaith marriage and how Judaism in America The practice of Judaism to regard children of such marriages. (Tradition- in the Western Hemisphere. This entry focuses ally, a child’s mother must be Jewish for the child specifi cally on JUDAISM in the United States. By the to be considered Jewish.) end of the 20th century, that Jewish community Relationship with non-Jews also continue to was second in importance only to the Jewish com- demand attention (see ANTISEMITISM). For exam- munity in Israel. ple, the last of the survivors of the Holocaust As a result of the European intellectual move- are now very old or dying, and, in an effort to ment known as the Enlightenment (18th century), avoid new surges of antisemitism, many Jews Jews received full civil rights. That fi rst happened are actively trying to document their experiences on American soil. With American independence before they can no longer do so. Also, in North and the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, Jews America, Jews are sometimes the targets of vig- could participate in the federal government, hold orous attempts to convert them to other reli- federal offi ce, and seek legal recourse in the fed- gions, especially by Evangelical and fundamen- eral courts. The status of Jews in the various states talist Christians (see EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY; was somewhat different. For example, at that time FUNDAMENTALISM, CHRISTIAN). Most Jews regard some states still required legislators to profess their those attempts as annoying and disrespectful. belief in GOD “the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.” Particularly troubling at the beginning of the This requirement excluded from the government 21st century is the degree of antisemitism and not only Jews but also everyone who was not a violence against Jews in the Middle East, espe- trinitarian Christian (see TRINITY). cially the terrorist attacks on Jews in the state of The fi rst Jewish community in what would Israel. As seen in the world media, the devasta- later be the United States was established in New tion caused by such acts as terrorists’ suicide Amsterdam (later New York City) in Septem- bombings tends to drown out the voices, on both ber 1654. At the end of the 18th century (1800), sides, of those working for peace. roughly 2,000 Jews lived in the United States. Most of them had assimilated to a large extent into SIGNIFICANCE American society. Assimilation—for example, the At the end of the 20th century roughly 15 million use of English in WORSHIP, the adoption of a Gentile people practiced Judaism. Although this is only a diet—was destined to be the issue on which the small percentage of the Earth’s population, Juda- American Jewish community would divide. 248 S judgment of the dead

During the 19th century, two waves of Jewish judgment of the dead The idea that after peo- immigrants approached this issue in two different ple die, their lives are assessed. It is especially ways. Until roughly 1880, most Jewish immigrants important in CHRISTIANITY and ISLAM. were of German background. They developed far- Religions have many different teachings about reaching ideas about how to adapt Judaism to the what happens after death (see AFTERLIFE IN WORLD American situation. After several attempts through- RELIGIONS). Some teach that all people lead the same out the century, Reform Judaism fi nally coalesced kind of existence, an existence that is not particu- in the 1870s. In that decade, the Union of American larly desirable. Examples include the religions of Hebrew Congregations was formed in Cincinnati. It ancient Mesopotamia and Israel. Other religions established Hebrew Union College to train rabbis. teach that reward for a good life and punishment Then from 1881 to 1914, a second wave of for a bad one occur according to “natural” laws. Jewish immigration arrived at American shores. Examples are notions of KARMA in HINDUISM, JAINISM, The new immigrants came from eastern Europe. and BUDDHISM, and the “bridge of the requiter” that They vastly outnumbered the Jews already liv- Zoroastrians say the dead must cross (see ZOROAS- ing in America. They also rejected Reform Juda- TRIANISM). Still other religions teach that after peo- ism in favor of maintaining their traditions, and ple die, they must answer to a judge or panel of some formed the Jewish Theological Seminary of judges for what they have done. Strictly speaking, America. In 1913 they also established the United judgment of the dead refers to this last teaching. Synagogue of America. These became the central Some religions of the ancient Mediterranean institutions of Conservative Judaism. Although world contain hints of a judgment of the dead. this new form of Judaism accepted change as inev- The Egyptian Book of Going Forth by Day con- itable, it also insisted on making changes that still tains a well-known image of a person’s heart respected Jewish traditions. being weighed in a balance after death. In one After World War I, Orthodox Judaism coalesced. pan stands the heart; in the other rests a feather. Its premier institution was Yeshiva College, later The feather symbolizes Maat, the Egyptian GOD- Yeshiva University, founded in 1928. A Conservative DESS of truth and justice (see EGYPTIAN RELIGION). thinker, Mordecai Kaplan, added yet another variety Some Greeks also taught that the dead appeared of Judaism to the American mix: Reconstruction- before a panel of judges. According to Plato, in ism. Reconstructionism emphasizes Judaism not his Apology, the philosopher Socrates identifi ed as a religion but as an everchanging civilization. these judges as Minos, Rhadamanthus, Aeacus, With the rise of Hitler, Reform Jews began a move Triptolemus, and other demigods. The Jewish to recover traditions that they had abandoned. After New Year, Rosh ha-Shanah (see JEWISH FESTI- World War II, ultraconservative Hasidic communi- VALS), is sometimes called the Day of Judgment. ties settled in the United States (see HASIDISM). A But JUDAISM has tended to be less specifi c about prime example is the Lubavitch community in New what happens after death than its younger cous- York City. ins, Christianity and Islam. The opening verses In the second half of the 20th century, Ameri- of the QUR’AN emphasize the importance of the can Judaism was still negotiating the confl ict judgment of the dead in Islam: “In the name of between preserving traditions and adapting to the ALLAH, the Benefi cent, the Merciful. All praise is American environment. One very important issue due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, the Benefi - concerned the place of women in the community. cent, the Merciful, Master of the Day of Judg- Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism ordained ment” (Qur’an 1.1–3). women to the RABBINATE. The Orthodox refused Christians and Muslims share many ideas to do so. The Conservative movement eventually about the judgment of the dead. They generally decided to ordain women, but some within the think that the souls of the dead are already with community continued to resist this move. GOD. At the same time, they expect a fi nal judg- Juno S 249

ment at the end of time. In this fi nal judgment, God, or an agent acting on God’s behalf, will sepa- rate “the sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25.32). In both religions, written records of a person’s life form the basis of the judgment. Those destined for paradise go to the right; those destined for HELL go to the left. According to the Qur’an, JESUS himself will return at the last day and testify against the Christians, who blasphemed by making him divine (Qur’an 4.159). The judgment of the dead is a prominent theme in Christian art. (Islam does not allow art- ists to portray people.) In the time known as the Romanesque period (roughly 1000–1150), artists such as Gislibertus delighted in portraying terri- fying images of the last judgment. Later, the last judgment fi gured in the macabre paintings of Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450–1516). Of the many works on the theme, Michaelangelo’s Last Judg- ment, on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome (1536–41), is perhaps the most notable. The theme of the judgment of the dead, or Portrait of the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung (Snark/ rather, judgment day, has also fascinated North Art Resource, N.Y.) Americans in the 19th and 20th centuries. Count- less religious groups, mostly Protestant, have pro- claimed that the day of judgment was at hand. he calls ARCHETYPES. Archetypes are symbols that all Popular culture has also picked up on the phrase. people share. They exist in the “collective uncon- For example, in 1991, a movie featuring body- scious,” and they function like language. They building champion Arnold Schwarzenegger was provide the psychological “words” that people use entitled Terminator 2: Judgment Day. to make sense of their worlds. One example is the archetype of the mother as found in various myths. Perhaps the most famous follower of Jung in Jung, Carl Gustav (1875–1961) a Swiss psy- the second half of the 20th century was Joseph chologist famous for his ideas about the collective Campbell. A student of mythology, Campbell is unconscious As a young man Jung was impressed well known for his ideas on the archetype of the with the ideas of Sigmund FREUD, the founder of hero (see HEROES AND HERO MYTHS). psychoanalysis. Eventually, however, he broke with Freud. Freud sees religion as a symptom of imma- Juno One of the most important GODDESSES of turity and even mental illness. Jung sees religion the ancient Romans. Juno was enshrined, together as helping to make a well-integrated person. That with JUPITER and Minerva, in the ancient temple is, religion helps the different parts of a person’s on the Capitoline Hill in Rome. She was one of the psyche fi t together. major goddesses of the city. According to Jung, symbols make this inte- Juno’s special sphere was the life of women, gration possible. Religious symbols are especially particularly childbirth. As a protector in childbirth important. Jung talks about them in terms of what she was worshipped as Juno Lucina, “Juno who 250 S Jupiter

brings to light.” She was also worshipped in other and oaths. His priests presided over the most sol- forms, such as Juno Sospita, “Juno the Deliverer or emn form of Roman marriage. Preserver,” Juno Moneta, “Juno who warns,” and The days in the middle of the month known as Juno Regina, “Queen Juno.” “Ides” were especially sacred to Jupiter; they may Juno was most often represented as a mature once have been full moon days. The festival of the but young woman. As Juno the Deliverer she was dedication of the Capitoline temple took place on shown bearing arms. An important festival was the Ides of September. It became the occasion for the Matronalia, held in honor of Juno Lucina on major Roman games. March 1. The story of how she protected the Capi- tol in 390 B.C.E. may have given her the name Juno Moneta. The Gauls were trying a sneak attack justifi cation An important idea in Roman Cath- under cover of night. The honking of Juno’s geese olic and Protestant theology. Justifi cation is one of gave them away. the topics that Christians debated the most during Eventually the Romans identifi ed Juno with the REFORMATION. the Greek goddess Hera. The English month of “Justifi cation” is a term that Christians bor- June takes its name from her. rowed from law courts. In the courts it meant “being declared not guilty.” The apostle PAUL used the word to talk about the forgiveness of SINS. He Jupiter The supreme god of the Romans. The said that, although people are guilty of sin, GOD name Jupiter is related to the Greek name ZEUS justifi es them freely. Therefore, Christians did and the Sanskrit name Dyaus Piter. This relation- not have to observe the TORAH (“the law”). They ship connects Jupiter with an ancient sky god wor- simply needed to have FAITH in JESUS’ death and shipped as father. When the Romans encountered RESURRECTION. Greek culture, they identifi ed Jupiter with Zeus. Orthodox Christians have not talked much From the founding of the Roman Republic in about justifi cation, but Roman Catholics and Prot- 509 B.C.E., Jupiter shared a temple on the Capi- estants have. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO used the idea. toline Hill with JUNO and Minerva. The Romans Then, during the Reformation, it became an issue called this Jupiter “Optimus Maximus”—“Best and on which the church split. Martin LUTHER insisted Greatest.” He was their supreme god. that people are justifi ed by faith alone, apart from The Romans worshipped Jupiter under many works. Justifi cation is a gift received in faith. By other names, too. They include Jupiter Lucetius contrast, Roman Catholics have thought of justi- (“Bringer of Light”), Tonans (“Thunderer”), Ful- fi cation as a process. Persons prepare for God’s gur (“Lightning Hurler”), Elicius (“Giver of Heav- justifi cation. Then they receive it through faith, enly Signs”), and Latiaris (“God of the Latins”). hope, love, and SACRAMENTS such as BAPTISM and Like other sky gods, Jupiter watched over treaties penance. . K ,

Kaaba Arabic for “cube”; the central shrine of No one knows quite where it came from. It shares Islam, located in Mecca, toward which devout some characteristics with earlier forms of Jewish Muslims pray. The Kaaba is one focus of the mysticism, but the way it talks about GOD is dis- annual PILGRIMAGE to Mecca in ISLAM (see MECCA, tinctive. Kabbalah began as an esoteric tradition. PILGRIMAGE TO). That is, it was a private, even secret subject that a The Kaaba is a cubical structure made of black student explored under the guidance of an experi- granite, roughly 42 feet by 36 feet by 55 feet high. enced master. The most important writing to come It has only a single door and no windows. Inside it from Spanish kabbalah was a book named the are only gold and silver lamps. The Kaaba is gen- Zohar, the “Book of Splendor.” When Jews were erally covered by a black cloth embroidered with expelled from Spain in 1492, kabbalistic activity gold thread known as the kiswah. During pilgrim- shifted locations. No place became more important age time, the “skirts” of this cloth are raised, so than Safed in Palestine. It was there that the great that pilgrims can see the actual structure. kabbalist Isaac Luria (1534–72) lived and taught. The Kaaba is said to occupy the spot on Earth In talking about God, kabbalists identifi ed directly under God’s heavenly throne. According a polarity between what they called the Ein Sof to legend, ABRAHAM and his son Ishmael built the and the sefi rot. Literally, Ein Sof means “endless, Kaaba. At that time the ANGEL Gabriel brought a infi nite.” This is God at the greatest distance from black rock down from HEAVEN and gave it to them. human beings: unnameable, unknowable. Sefi rot The rock is now encased in silver in one of the literally means “numbers.” It refers to God’s vari- corners of the Kaaba. ous powers or characteristics, usually 10 in num- At the time of the prophet MUHAMMAD (570– ber: kingdom, foundation, eternity, splendor, 632 C.E.), the Kaaba was fi lled with idols. But in grandeur, mercy, stern judgment, wisdom, under- the year 630, Muhammad returned to Mecca after standing, and thought. Kabbalists teach that these having fl ed for his life. He emptied the Kaaba of sefi rot somehow proceed or emanate from God. all images and established pilgrimage to Mecca as Explanations of how they do so vary. In any case, a major RITUAL of Islam. During pilgrimage Mus- kabbalah usually represents the sefi rot as different lims circle the Kaaba seven times in imitation of parts of a cosmic man or tree. the angels, who continually circle GOD’s heavenly Isaac Luria added to kabbalah his own very throne. distinctive and infl uential ideas. He taught that creation occurred when God withdrew or con- tracted into himself (tsimtsum). When that hap- kabbalah From the Hebrew word for “tradi- pened, the universe arose in the space that was tion”; from the 12th century C.E. on, the main form left. Light emanated from God and entered vessels of Jewish mysticism. Kabbalah arose in northern that were fi nite in size, but it shattered them. That Spain and southern France in the 12th century. shattering created darkness and evil and resulted

251 S 252 S Kabir

in the mixing of sparks of the divine light with human religious authority and took the GOD who dark, material substance. As Luria saw it, the goal dwelled within their hearts as their guru. of religious practice is to restore the divine sparks Kabir was born into a Muslim family of to the light of God (tikkun). Doing so prepares the weavers. At some point he was heavily infl u- way for the MESSIAH to come. enced by Hindu traditions. In the end he rejected Besides developing these ideas, kabbalah gave all sacred scriptures and much religious RITUAL, new signifi cance to following the Jewish way of Hindu and Islamic alike. He sought instead life. It teaches that human actions actually alter the true God within, the one Reality. His ideas God. Observing the instructions of TORAH strength- resemble ISLAM in emphasizing that there is only ens God; violating them weakens God. Kabbalists one God and in rejecting caste. His ideas also also recommend more specifi c practices. Generally resemble HINDUISM in that they include notions they urge the aspirant to contemplate God in prayer. of KARMA and rebirth. By that means his or her intellect will enjoy com- Kabir composed his poems not in the lan- munion with God. One kabbalist, Abraham Abu- guage of the educated but in the language of the lafi a (c. 1240–c. 1291), formulated techniques that ordinary people. The poems quickly became popu- remind one of certain practices in yoga: breathing lar throughout north India. Kabir exercised a great exercises, recitation of God’s names (cf. MANTRA), infl uence on NANAK, the fi rst guru of the Sikhs. and bodily motions to accompany the recitation Indeed, Kabir’s poems appear in the sacred book (cf. MUDRAS). As a result of these practices, the lim- of the Sikhs, the ADI GRANTH. He did not himself its of the self were supposed to disappear and the establish the group known as the Kabirpanth, person was united with God. “Kabir’s path,” but the group continues today to Kabbalah is still pursued today. It has also try to put his insights into practice. had a wider infl uence. Especially the kabbalah of Isaac Luria played a signifi cant role in the rise of HASIDISM. In addition, kabbalistic ideas infl uenced Kali A Hindu goddess, worshipped especially in important European thinkers and poets, for exam- the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. In San- ple, Pico della Mirandola, Gottfried Leibniz, and skrit, the classical language of ancient India, the William Blake. word kali means “black.” Images depict the god- dess Kali with black skin. A goddess associated Further reading: Arthur Green, A Guide to the with the blood of the battlefi eld, her appearance is Zohar (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, striking. Her face grimaces as she sticks her tongue 2004); Kabbalah Simply Stated: A Conversation from her mouth, dripping blood. She wears only a with the Rabbi (St. Paul, Minn.: Paragon House, skirt of severed human forearms and a necklace 2004); Lawrence Kushner, Kabbalah: The Way of human heads. In her hands she holds a man’s of Light (White Plains, N.Y.: Peter Pauper Press, severed head and a sword. She often stands on the 1999); Daniel C. Matt, trans., The Zohar (Stanford, motionless body of the god Siva, who is lying on Calif.: Stanford University Press, 2004). his back. Despite these features, Hindus worship Kali as a benefi cent mother. She stands on Siva because, Kabir (1440–1518) an Indian saint Saint Kabir is according to one school of Indian philosophy, the best known for his poetry, which combined Islamic male principle is inactive, while the female prin- and Hindu elements into a single religious path. ciple is active. The severed body parts symbolize Kabir belonged to a religious movement in release from SAMSARA, continual rebirth. Devotees medieval India known as the “sants.” This move- worship Kali by sacrifi cing animals such as goats. ment appealed to people of the lowest CASTES This is one of the few instances of animal SACRI- from all religious backgrounds. The sants rejected FICE in mainstream Hinduism. (Indians known as King, Martin Luther, Jr. S 253 adivasis, the “original inhabitants” or commonly taught in the BH AGAVA D -GITA, is the discipline or “tribals,” also sacrifi ce animals.) The most famous yoga of uniting oneself with GOD through righteous temple to Kali is the Kalighat temple in Kolkata action in the world. The term also commonly refers (Calcutta). In fact, it is from this temple that the to the consequences of actions, even actions of the city of Kolkata took its name. mind, reminding us that every thought, word, and deed will have consequences for the doer, good or Further reading: June McDaniel, Offering Flowers, bad, depending on the nature of the action. The Feeding Skulls: Popular Goddess Worship in West consequence may come out in one’s future life, Bengal (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004); though karma is not limited to reincarnation. Rachel Fell McDermott, Singing to the Goddess: Poems to K¯al¯i and Um¯a from Bengal (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001); Rachel Fell King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929–1968) the most McDermott and Jeffrey J. Kripal, eds., Encountering important leader of the civil rights movement in K¯al¯i: In the Margins, at the Center, in the West the United States Martin Luther King Jr. was (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003). born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. His father and grandfather were Baptist ministers, and King followed in their footsteps. He took degrees from kami The gods of SHINTO. Some kami are nature Morehouse College in Atlanta, Crozer Theological spirits, dwelling in great trees, waterfalls, rocks, or Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, and the mountains. Some are the spirits of famous persons School of Theology at Boston University. During regarded as kami after their deaths. Most origi- these years he was profoundly infl uenced by the nally functioned as protectors of particular com- writings of Henry David Thoreau, especially his munities, clans, families, or occupations, though essay on “Civil Disobedience,” the social gospel of some are worshipped by the nation as a whole. Walter Rauschenbusch, the nonviolent resistance Although they are limited rather than all-powerful movement of Mohandas GANDHI, and a school of gods, in the eyes of believers, the Shinto kami add theology in Boston known as “personalism.” A a sense of life and divine presence to the beauti- visit to India later in life reinforced the impact of ful Japanese landscape. The Shinto shrines seen Gandhi’s teachings on King. almost everywhere in Japan, with their distinctive King’s fi rst pastorate was in Montgomery, Ala- torii crossbeamed gateway, are all home to one or bama. At that time the Montgomery public trans- more kami. Some shrines honor families of kami: portation system required blacks to sit in the back father, mother, and child. One of the most distinc- of buses. King was chosen to lead a boycott in pro- tive sets of shrines, which are found throughout test of this practice. It made him into a national the Japanese islands, are those to Inari, a god of fi gure. Soon he founded the Southern Christian fertility and prosperity. They have bright red or Leadership Conference to organize otherwise frag- orange torii with images of foxes, messengers mented civil rights efforts. of this god, on either side of them. The ancient King’s goal was to overcome the barriers that Shinto mythologies, found primarily in the books separated whites and blacks. King expressed this called Kojiki and Nihonshoki (or Nihongi), tell the goal perhaps most eloquently in the famous “I Have story of how kami made the Japanese islands and a Dream” speech that he gave during the March on became ancestors of its imperial house. Washington in August 1963: “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin karma Sanskrit word meaning action and the but by the content of their character. . . . I have a consequences of action. The word karma is used dream that one day the state of Alabama . . . will in HINDUISM, BUDDHISM, and JAINISM. Karma-YOGA, be transformed into a situation where little black 254 S King, Martin Luther, Jr. boys and black girls will be able to join hands with refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. little white boys and white girls and walk together It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no as sisters and brothers. . . . When we let freedom longer be ignored.” ring . . . we will be able to speed up that day when King remained the dominant infl uence on the all of GOD’s children, black men and white men, civil rights movement until 1965. Some of his actions Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will failed, but many achieved results. The widest suc- be able to join hands and sing in the words of the cess came when the United States Congress passed old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last! free at last! thank the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act God Almighty, we are free at last!’ ” of 1965. The widest recognition came when King King also advocated distinctive tactics for received the Nobel Prize for peace in 1964. pursuing integration: active but nonviolent resis- Beginning in 1965, younger members of the tance. These tactics owed a great deal to Gandhi’s movement became impatient with King’s non- nonviolent campaigns. In his famous “Letter from violent methods. They began to advocate a more Birmingham Jail” (Spring 1963), King expressed active black power. In 1966 King tried to overcome the idea behind these tactics. “Nonviolent direct segregation in northern American cities. He tar- action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such geted Chicago, but his efforts there failed. In 1967 a tension that a community which has constantly King spoke out strongly against the Vietnam War.

Martin Luther King Jr. delivering his memorable “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington, D.C., 1963 (Archive Photos) kingship and religion S 255

At the end of his life he was reaching out to the Christians have identifi ed this kingdom with the disadvantaged of all races. In April 1968 he trav- church. Protestants in the United States, like Chris- eled to Memphis, Tennessee, in support of a strike tians everywhere, have been inspired by the ideal by sanitation workers. There, on April 4, he was of the kingdom to work for many social reforms. assassinated by James Earl Ray while standing on a hotel balcony. King’s contribution to contemporary American kingship and religion The religious role and culture is immense. In recognition of his leadership signifi cance of traditional sacred rulers. In many and achievements, every state in the United States traditional societies the king is more than just the observes Martin Luther King day on the third Mon- ruler of the state. He also has qualities of a priest day in January. and even a god. History tells us of such fi gures as the pharaoh of Egypt (see EGYPTIAN RELIGION), the Further reading: Lewis V. Baldwin, There Is a Balm emperors of China and Japan (see CHINA, RELIGIONS in Gilead: The Cultural Roots of Martin Luther King, OF and JAPANESE RELIGION), and the maimed king in Jr. (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991); ———, To the Holy GRAIL stories of King Arthur, whose land Make the Wounded Whole: The Cultural Legacy of withered as the monarch fell wounded. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, The basic idea is that the king and the land 1992); Clayborne Carson and Kris Shepard, eds., A are bound up together, and the king faces heaven Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Dr. on behalf of the land. He is the mediator between Martin Luther King, Jr. (New York: Warner Books, HEAVEN and Earth. Sometimes the sacred king has 2001); Richard Deats, Martin Luther King, Jr., Spirit- this function because he himself is believed to be Led Prophet: A Biography, foreword by Coretta Scott virtually divine. The pharaoh in ancient Egypt was King (New York: New City Press, 2000). thought to be identical with the god HORUS, and would become OSIRIS, lord of life and death, after his own death. The Chinese emperor was called kingdom of God A Christian term for the ideal son of heaven, and the Japanese ruler was said to society and world. As presented in the BIBLE, the be descended from AMATERASU, the sun GODDESS. kingdom of GOD is a central element of JESUS’ Beliefs like these gave the king legitimacy in teaching. According to the GOSPEL of Mark (1.15), the eyes of heaven as well as of his subjects, and Jesus taught, “The kingdom of God has come made his laws, ideally, enactments of the will of near.” (The gospel of Matthew speaks of the king- heaven. Western MONOTHEISM, in JUDAISM, CHRISTIAN- dom of HEAVEN.) Many of Jesus’ parables tell about ITY, and ISLAM, could not exactly identify the king the kingdom. His sayings talk about entering the with God, since for monotheism there was only one kingdom. The LORD’S PRAYER teaches Christians to God and that God was in heaven, but kings were pray, “Your kingdom come.” sometimes given titles that evidenced a close rela- For most Christians, the kingdom of God is tionship. The caliphs in Islam were called “Shadow coming in the future. CHRISTIANITY teaches that of God,” and for many centuries, Christians talked Jesus will return. When he does so, he will judge seriously about the “divine right of kings.” human beings. He will also usher in the kingdom Of course, such an exalted position also had of God. The book of REVELATION in the NEW TES- its disadvantages, as the maimed king learned, TAMENT presents a highly picturesque account of for heaven could hold the king responsible for what will happen. what happened in the lands entrusted to him and At the same time, Christians look upon the judge how well he executed his charge. The kings kingdom of God as a present reality—in imperfect of ancient Babylon had to confess their SINS with form. According to Luke, Jesus taught, “The king- tears before the gods on New Year’s Day if they dom of God is among you” (Luke 17.22). Many hoped to continue as heaven’s viceroy on Earth (see 256 S koan

MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS). The Chinese spoke of the Civilizations of Mesoamerica: A Reader (Malden, sovereign’s “mandate of heaven” to rule the “mid- Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, 2000). dle kingdom,” and if a dynasty became unworthy, the mandate might pass to another. When the ruling dynasty had lost the mandate, natural disasters— koan A riddle or puzzling saying used to pro- earthquakes, fl oods, droughts—as well as social voke enlightenment, especially in the Rinzai school upheavals would indicate that heaven was dis- of ZEN BUDDHISM. One koan is very well known in pleased, the house in power had lost its mandate, North America: “Show me the sound of one hand and it was time for a better emperor to take power. clapping.” Many RITUALS of kingship make clear the reli- Koan were fi rst systematized by the great Zen gious character of the offi ce. The coronation of master Hakuin (1686–1769). Because they present European kings, like the rite installing the king the mind with an insoluble problem, MEDITATION on or queen of England, takes place in a church or koan should frustrate the meditator and ultimately cathedral in the midst of a religious service. The force him or her to surrender reliance on language new Japanese emperor communes with his divine and reason. In Zen Buddhism, language and rea- ancestors in a mysterious SHINTO midnight cere- son are thought inevitably to distort reality. There- mony called the Daijosai. Annual kingship ritu- fore, they must be overcome. als also make the same point. The emperors of A student receives a koan from a Zen mas- China and Japan ritually planted the fi rst rice each ter and is expected to return with an answer. Seri- spring and offered the fi rst fruits of the harvest in ous students work on a single koan for a year or the fall. At a dramatic winter solstice ceremony more. Nevertheless, the answer must be spontane- at the ALTAR of Heaven in Beijing, the Chinese ous rather than premeditated. Although students emperor would pray directly to heaven on behalf refl ect on their koan during meditation, many of the people. stories relate how Zen practitioners unexpectedly Sacred kingship is in serious decline in the discovered answers to their koan while engaged in modern world, but remnants of it remain, and quite menial activities. sometimes have been transferred to the secular state. In the United States, people often talk of the country as established under God’s guidance, Konkokyo One of the “new religions” of Japan but say that to keep his blessing it is important for (see JAPAN, NEW RELIGIONS IN), based on revelations both leaders and ordinary citizens to follow God’s in 1859 to its founder, Kawate Bunjiro (1814–83), commandments. Now as ever, humanity wants its called Konko Daijin. The revelations were from political institutions to have sacred meaning and a deity called Tenchi Kane no Kami, offi cially divine sanction. translated as “Parent God of the Universe.” They called Kawate to a ministry of mediation between Further reading: Julia Ching, Mysticism and humans and the divine. The religion has WORSHIP Kingship in China: The Heart of Chinese Wisdom in a SHINTO style but is monotheistic (see MONO- (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997); THEISM). A distinctive feature is a practice called Dale Launderville, Piety and Politics: The Dynamics toritsugi, mediation, whereby believers can for- of Royal Authority in Homeric Greece, Biblical Israel, mally receive personal spiritual guidance from a and Old Babylonian Mesopotamia (Grand Rapids, priest; it has sometimes been compared to con- Mich.: W. B. Eerdmans, 2003); John Pemberton III fession in the Roman Catholic Church. The reli- and Funso S. Afolayan, Yoruba Sacred Kingship: “A gion also puts great emphasis on the presence of Power like That of the Gods” (Washington, D.C.: mitama or ancestral spirits guiding us today. It has Smithsonian Institution Press, 1996); Michael E. spread throughout Japan and to Japanese commu- Smith and Marilyn A. Masson, ed., The Ancient nities around the world. Krishna S 257

Koran See QUR’AN. In opposition, a movement called Tonghak (East- ern Learning), or Ch’ondo-kyo (Way of Heaven Teaching), arose to resist foreigners; its activities Korean religion Religious traditions of Korea. led to the Sino-Japanese War on 1894, after which Lying between China and Japan the Korean Pen- Japanese infl uence and subsequent rule controlled insula has a distinctive religious heritage. It was Korea until 1945. strongly infl uenced by Chinese culture, from CHRISTIANITY grew in Korea, especially after the whence it received CONFUCIANISM and BUDDHISM, end of World War II. After the Philippines, Korea and was a major channel of communication of the is the most Christian country in east Asia. Korea same to Japan. Yet Korea has also maintained its has also produced new religious movements, the own identity. best known worldwide being the quasi-Christian The ancient religion of Korea centered on SHA- Unifi cation Church of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. MANISM. Going into trance states, shamans would Korea remains a mix of religious traditions and transmit the words and power of heavenly gods or movements. gods of the locality. Shamanism persists today as Further reading: Kim Chongsuh, ed., Reader in an important feature of popular spirituality, espe- Korean Religion (Kyonggi-Do Songnam-Si: Academy cially in the form of shamanesses called mudang, of Korean Studies, 1993); James Huntley Grayson, who perform colorful rites known as kut for heal- Korea: A Religious History, rev. ed. (New York: ing, expelling EVIL spirits, or delivering divine mes- Routledge, 2002); Lewis R. Lancaster and Richard sages. Shamanism has been especially important K. Payne, ed., Religion and Society in Contemporary as a religious venue for women in a highly patri- Korea (Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, archal culture. University of California, 1997). Buddhism entered Korea from China in the fourth century C.E. and quickly established itself. The golden age of Buddhism was the period of the Koryo dynasty, 935–1392. The dominant form Krishna A Sanskrit word meaning “black”; the of Buddhism in Korea has been Mahayana, with name of one of the most beloved of Hindu gods. monks meditating in the Zen (sun in Korean) man- According to Hindu mythology, Krishna is an AVA - ner, and popular devotion centering on PURE LAND TAR of the god VISHNU. For many worshippers, how- BUDDHISM, the BODHISATTVA known as AVALOKITES- ever, Krishna is himself the supreme GOD. Indeed, VARA (Korean, Kwan-um), and the coming BUDDHA many scholars believe that Krishna was at fi rst an Maitreya (Korean, Mi-ruk). independent deity. Only later was he incorporated The next dynasty was the Yi, 1392–1910. It into the myths of Vishnu. Stories of Krishna are emphasized Confucianism instead. Indeed, in numerous and have given rise to some of the mas- some ways the old Korea of those centuries was terpieces of Indian literature. virtually an ideal Confucian state, with emphasis Ancient traditions know Krishna as a prince, on literature, the traditional examinations for entry a hero, and a sage. In this form Krishna is called into public service, and vast national temples. But Vasudeva. Vasudeva Krishna appears in the great this society was very restrictive of women and was Sanskrit EPIC, the Mahabharata. That epic pits too conservative to meet the challenges of mod- fi ve brothers, the Pandavas, against their cousins, ern times. Korea was called the “Hermit Kingdom” the Kauravas. Krishna has ties to both groups. because of its unwillingness to receive visitors or In the fi nal battle of cousins against cousins, ideas from outside, but by the mid-19th century, his troops fi ght on behalf of the Kauravas, while the outside was forcing its way in. Krishna himself advises, but does not fi ght for, Roman Catholic and Protestant MISSIONARIES the Pandavas. The famous Hindu scripture, the were active, bringing with them Western learning. BH AGAVA D -GITA, records a conversation between 258 S Krishna

An 1825 Indian miniature of Krishna and Radha on a canopy (Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, N.Y.) Krishna S 259

Krishna as adviser and Arjuna, one of the fi ve able to everyone, but each person experiences God Pandava brothers. as being totally engaged with him or herself. Krishna may be Vishnu on earth, but he still Krishna also has a favorite lover, named dies. After the Mahabharata war, he moved to Radha. Hindus who worship Krishna often see western India and the city of Dwarka. There an themselves as friends of Radha or Krishna, assist- arrow shot into his foot by mistake killed him. ing them in their love-play. Indeed, play underlies Other stories tell of the birth and youth of many of the stories of Krishna. These stories show Krishna. This Krishna is known as Gopala, “cow- Krishna devotees that God relates to the world herd,” because he grows up among a cowherding through lila, play. people. Krishna’s parents are not cowherds. He is An important source for the stories about born into the ruling lineage of Mathura, a district Krishna, both Krishna as a baby and child and in north central India. But Mathura is in the hands Krishna as an adult, is the Bhagavata PURANA, of the wicked ruler Kamsa. In order to keep him sometimes called the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Jay- safe, the gods secretly entrust the infant Krishna to adeva’s rather explicit poem, the Gita-Govinda, a cowherding couple. After Krishna grows up, he celebrates the love between Radha and Krishna. returns to Mathura, kills the wicked Kamsa, and Krishna and his tales provide the subject of many assumes the throne. other works of literature, too. Krishna Gopala is a mischievous child and an In art Krishna is shown with dark blue skin. He enchanting lover. The very young Krishna is fond is also often shown playing the fl ute, with which of stealing freshly churned butter. On one occa- he enchants the gopis. Statues in temples often sion, too, it is said that a witch came to poison him show him standing with Radha. The lovemaking with her milk. But the baby Krishna was unaffected of Radha and Krishna and ras-lila have provided by the poison. He drank so hard and long that he painters with favorite subjects. Artists in Rajasthan sucked the very force of life out of the witch. A who have used these subjects for their miniature somewhat older Krishna is said to have convinced paintings have made a particularly important con- the people of the region not to worship the Vedic tribution to Indian art. god Indra. In his anger Indra sent a torrential rain. Several important Hindu festivals celebrate But Krishna lifted up Mount Govardhana and held Krishna. Holi occurs in spring and is known for the it over the people as a gigantic umbrella. colored powders with which worshippers decorate Krishna’s relations with the gopis, the cow- one another, sometimes raucously. Janmastami, herding girls, provide favorite stories, for they the celebration of Krishna’s birth, takes place in express in graphic terms the relations of God and late summer. the human soul. On one occasion, the gopis were The community of Krishna worshippers best bathing in a river. Krishna stole their clothes, known in North America today is ISKCON, the which were sitting on the riverbank. Then he International Society for Krishna Consciousness. climbed a nearby tree, taking the clothes with him. Its members are often called “Hare Krishnas” He refused to give them back until each gopi had because they frequently chant the “Hare Krishna” come naked to the foot of the tree to retrieve them mantra. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada herself. The idea behind this story is that we can- (1896–1977), an immigrant to the United States, not hide anything from God. Before God, our souls founded ISKCON in 1966. The community stands, are as good as naked. however, in a tradition of Krishna worship that On another occasion, Krishna danced with began in the 16th century with the eastern Indian the gopis at a village celebration. Each gopi left saint Caitanya. By the beginning of the 21st cen- convinced that Krishna had spent the night danc- tury ISKCON claimed to have roughly 260,000 ing with her alone. This dance, called ras-LILA, also members as well as temples, rural communities, expresses a religious truth. God is actually avail- and restaurants in 71 countries. 260 S Krishnaism in the West

Some practices once made ISKCON notorious. Hawley, Krishna, the Butter Thief (Princeton, N.J.: One was sankirtan, the public chanting of praises Princeton University Press, 1983); Barbara Stoler to Krishna. Since ISKCON members wear Indian Miller, ed., Love Song of the Dark Lord: Jayadeva’s clothing and adopt Indian styles, such as shaved Gitagovinda (New York: Columbia University heads for men except for a particular lock of hair, Press, 1997); E. Burke Rochford Jr., Hare Krishna in they made a striking appearance chanting in public America (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University places in the United States. Another controversial Press, 1985). practice was the distribution of free literature about Krishna in public places such as airports. Although laws now limit the public distribution of literature, Krishnaism in the West The WORSHIP of the the movement still publishes a great deal, espe- Hindu god KRISHNA by the International Society for cially writings by its founder, Prabhupada. Krishna Consciousness. Popularly known as the Members of ISKCON observe a strict diet: Hare Krishnas, this form of BHAKTI or DEVOTIONAL- They eat no meat and also avoid onions, garlic, ISM was brought to the United States from India in and mushrooms. In some parts of the world it has 1965 by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami (1896–1977). not been easy for them to do so. Perhaps for that Since then its chanting, dancing devotees in saf- reason ISKCON manages restaurants that serve fron robes and shaven heads have been a color- appropriate food. In addition, ISKCON temples ful presence on American streets. Although its generally provide free meals to the public on a numbers have never been large, the movement daily basis. has been controversial because of its attraction Other ISKCON activities include programs to to young people. By the 1980s, however, many of ensure the welfare of members’ children (once a the worshippers in its temples in the United States topic of public critique), prison ministries, and were ethnic Hindus. the maintenance of cow sanctuaries. Although the movement began as a missionary endeavor, its temples have become important spiritual centers kundalini A Sanskrit word for “serpent”; in TAN- for Hindus who have emigrated from India. TRISM, the energy of life. People who practice Tant- ISKCON has constructed a major complex rism envision the energy of life as a coiled serpent in Mayapur, the town in the Indian state of West that sleeps at the base of the spine. Through Tant- Bengal where Caitanya was born. It includes a ric practices this energy is awakened. It gradually large temple centered on its founder, Prabhupada. proceeds up the spine through the various CAKRAS Two other sites in India are also important to ISK- or energy centers. As it does, it appropriates the CON members: Puri, where Caitanya lived, and characteristics of these cakras, for example, the dei- places in Mathura associated with Krishna. These ties who reside in them. Each appropriation gives places are also sacred to Krishna devotees unaffi li- the practitioner ever new experiences, insight, and ated with ISKCON. They draw millions of visitors powers. When kundalini reaches the highest of every year. these centers, it unites with the god whose power it is. The result is illumination and blissful release Further reading: Edwin F. Bryant, ed., Krishna: The for the worshipper. Beautiful of God (Srimad Bhagavata Purana, Book X) (New York: Penguin, 2003); J. A. Van Buitenen, ed., Bhagavadgita in the Mahabharata: A Bilingual Kwanzaa A Swahili word that means “fi rst fruits Edition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, of the harvest.” Kwanzaa is an African-American 1981); Edward C. Dimock and Denise Levertov, In holiday. African Americans celebrate it for seven Praise of Krishna: Songs from the Bengali (Chicago: days beginning December 26. In 1966 Maulana Ron University of Chicago Press, 1981); John Stratton Karenga, an African-American activist, founded Kwanzaa S 261

Kwanzaa. He wanted a holiday in the time around use them to greet each other. They also light seven CHRISTMAS and HANUKKAH that was specifi cally Afri- different candles, one for each principle. can American. He also wanted to celebrate the The candleholder is placed on a straw mat values, especially family unity, that had sustained along with ears of corn (one for every child in African Americans throughout the centuries. the family, but always at least one), fi rst fruits, At the heart of Kwanzaa are seven principles gifts, and a unity cup used to pour offerings to (in Swahili, Nguzo Saba): unity, self-determination, ancestors. Children may receive gifts every night. responsibility, cooperation in economic endeavors, They may also simply receive gifts on December purpose, creativity, and FAITH. Celebrants recall 31. On that night the most festive celebration these principles on seven successive days. They takes place. . L ,

Lakshmi Also known as Sri; the Hindu GODDESS have lived during the sixth century B.C.E. Not much of wealth and prosperity. She is also worshipped is known about his life, however, and what little is by Jains (see JAINISM). Lakshmi is the consort of reported reads like legendary material developed the god VISHNU. When he descends to Earth in his to illustrate Taoist teachings. various AVATARS, Lakshmi often accompanies him. The central event recorded about Lao-tzu For example, when Vishnu took form as a dwarf, concerns his retirement. A worker in the Chinese Lakshmi appeared as Padma or Kamala; when he archives, he is said to have resigned his position took form as RAMA, she appeared as Sita. at an advanced age due either to discontent or People worship Lakshmi in order to prosper, political unrest. Having resolved to leave China, whether that prosperity is conceived of in agri- he mounted a water buffalo and headed off to cultural or monetary terms. She is often shown the west. At the border he was stopped by a gate- with LOTUS blossoms, for the lotus symbolizes keeper, Yin Hsi. Unable to pay the toll with cur- fl ourishing. A common image shows her standing rency, he gave the gatekeeper his wisdom instead: atop a lotus fl ower and holding lotuses in her two He dictated the 5,000 characters that make up upraised hands. At times she is shown with two the central Taoist classic, the Tao Te Ching, the white elephants. “Classic of the Way and Its Power.” Allowed to The festival of lights, known as Divali or pass, Lao-tzu rode off into the west. Among other Dipavali, is particularly sacred to Lakshmi (see things, this story illustrates the Taoist principle of HINDU FESTIVALS). It takes place in October or wu-wei, the abandonment of deliberate, acquisi- November. On this occasion Hindus offer the god- tive action. dess food, money, clothing, and jewels. Men also Other stories about Lao-tzu also illustrate gamble, for Lakshmi is the goddess of good luck. Taoist teachings. For example, Taoists believe that people who act entirely in harmony with nature do not dissipate any vital energy. The most modest lama, lamaism See TIBETAN RELIGION. claims suggest that Lao-tzu lived to an advanced age of, say, 160 or 200 years. Taoists were also intensely interested in ALCHEMY, a “science” that Lao-tzu (Laozi) (sixth century B.C.E.) Chinese tries to mature substances that have been born for “old master” or “old man”; the alleged founder prematurely. One legend relates that Lao-tzu of the Chinese religion TAOISM Lao-tzu is also spent a considerable amount of time inside his the name of a book attributed to Lao-tzu, more mother’s womb. When he was born, he was commonly known as the TAO TE CHING. already an old man. Lao-tzu has long been identifi ed with Lao Still other stories refl ect tension between Tan, an older contemporary of CONFUCIUS (551–479 Taoism and its religious neighbors in China. For B.C.E.). If that identifi cation is correct, he would example, some say that when Lao-tzu left China,

S 262 Latter-day Saints S 263

he went to India. There he became the BUDDHA ent Christian denominations. That left the young and taught Buddhist DHARMA. There are indeed Smith confused. At the age of 14 he received a rev- some similarities between Taoism and BUDDHISM; elation from GOD the Father and JESUS that cleared for example, the Sanskrit word for the Buddha’s up his confusion. He learned that all varieties of teachings, “dharma,” was fi rst translated into Chi- Christianity then being practiced were wrong. nese as “Tao.” But the story also bears witness to In 1827 Smith claimed that he had discovered, the antagonistic relations of the two religions. Sim- with the help of an ANGEL named Moroni, gold ilarly, Taoist accounts like the CHUANG-TZU dispute plates near his father’s farm. The gold plates dis- the ANALECTS OF CONFUCIUS, which show Lao Tan appeared, but several witnesses claimed to have to be Confucius’s respected teacher. In the Taoist seen them before they disappeared. With the help writings, Confucius comes off as a fool who is too of special instruments, Smith translated the writ- dull to understand Lao Tan’s teachings. ings on the plates into English. The result was In time, notions of Lao-tzu’s longevity gave the Book of Mormon. Smith published the book in way to the idea that he was immortal. Beginning 1830. In the same year he offi cially organized what in the second century C.E., the Chinese state estab- would become the Church of Jesus Christ of Lat- lished sacrifi ces to Lao-tzu. Some Chinese treated ter-day Saints. him as a savior to whom they could pray for help. Smith and his followers moved from New Others made him into the physical embodiment York to Ohio and later to Missouri. Eventually they of an eternal principle that continually incarnated founded the town of Nauvoo, Illinois, on the banks itself to advise the Chinese kings. Religious lead- of the Mississippi River. In Nauvoo Smith taught ers known as the Celestial Masters saw themselves things that disturbed more conservative Mormons. as Lao-tzu’s representatives on Earth. The faithful He taught that a man could have more than one have dedicated a large number of shrines to Lao- wife, that human beings who practiced Mormon tzu in these forms. teachings would become divine, and that those who had died without knowing the truth could be saved Further reading: Stephen R. Bokenkamp, Early if family members were baptized on their behalf. Daoist Scriptures (Berkeley: University of California Smith’s teachings aroused opposition among Press, 1997); Livia Kohn, God of the Dao: Lord Lao non-Mormons. Indeed, persecution had driven the in History and Myth (Ann Arbor: Center for the community from Ohio and Missouri. In 1844 Smith Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, 1998); was killed by a mob after being imprisoned in Car- Livia Kohn and Michael LaFargue, eds., Lao-tzu thage, Illinois. He is buried in Nauvoo. and the Tao-te-ching (Albany: State University of After Smith’s death, the community split. Most New York Press, 1998). Latter-day Saints followed Brigham Young, leader of the governing body of the church at the time Smith died. He and his followers continued to accept the Latter-day Saints People who practice an Amer- teachings and practices that Smith had begun in ican offshoot of CHRISTIANITY. They are popularly Nauvoo. In 1846 they moved to Utah. They became called Mormons. the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Other community members rejected the HISTORY Nauvoo teachings. The largest group of dissent- The Latter-day Saints trace their history back to a ers insisted that Smith’s descendants should lead prophet named Joseph Smith Jr. (1805–44). Smith the community. (In this they somewhat resemble lived in upstate New York along the banks of the Shi’ite Muslims [see SHI’ITE ISLAM], who insist that Erie Canal. This was at the time of the Second descendants of the prophet MUHAMMAD should lead Great Awakening in American religious life. People the Islamic community.) As a result, they followed in the area enthusiastically supported many differ- Smith’s son, Joseph Smith III. They made their 264 S Latter-day Saints

headquarters at Independence, Missouri, because Distinctive Mormon RITUALS include BAPTISM during his lifetime, the prophet had identifi ed Inde- and endowment. Mormons generally baptize pendence as Zion. This group became the Reorga- around the age of eight. They also baptize by proxy nized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. those who have previously died. This has led them In Utah the Latter-day Saints openly pro- to be intensely concerned with genealogy. The rit- claimed the practice of polygamy. They also talked ual of endowment provides a Latter-day Saint with of establishing a Mormon kingdom. This led to dif- special temple clothes that are worn under regular fi culties with the United States government. After clothing. Saints also learn secret passwords and President James Buchanan sent in the army in handshakes. 1857, Young lost his position as governor of the In personal life Latter-day Saints observe rules territory. It was not until 1890, however, that the and cherish values that others sometimes fi nd church abandoned its teaching on polygamy. very strict. They are encouraged not to use alco- From the very founding of the church, Latter- hol, tobacco, coffee, and tea. They must observe day Saints were active in mission work. That activ- a dress code. In addition, good members of the ity continues up to the present. They have been church tithe, that is, they give 10 percent of their especially successful in Europe and the Western income to the church. Hemisphere. ORGANIZATION BELIEFS Traditionally only males hold offi ce in the church. Mormons accept the BIBLE as the word of God. They become deacons, teachers, and priests when They maintain, however, that it has been translated they turn 12, 14, and 16 years old, respectively. At improperly. The proper translation, they believe, the age of 18 they may become elders and enter predicts the coming of Joseph Smith. Mormons also into missionary work for 18 months (A smaller accept the Book of Mormon. It tells of Hebrews who number of women undertake missionary work in allegedly immigrated to North America around the their early twenties.) Until 1978 only white men year 600 B.C.E. Their story involves themes famil- could be priests in the Utah-based church. In 1978 iar from the Hebrew Bible: SIN, punishment, and men of color were admitted to the priesthood. repentance. The Book of Mormon also teaches that The Reorganized Church has always recognized Jesus appeared in the Western Hemisphere as well black priests; it has also opened the priesthood as in Palestine. to women. The Latter-day Saints who belong to the church Several executive bodies govern the church. based in Utah have many distinctive beliefs. They The most important are a three-member Presi- teach that human beings can become divine, and dency, the Council of the Twelve APOSTLES, and the that this has already happened in the case of God. Quorum of the First Seventy. A General Conference, They teach that what orthodox Christians consider which all Mormons may attend, approves actions three persons of the TRINITY are actually three dis- by these bodies. On the local level Mormons are tinct gods. They teach a detailed scenario for the organized into congregations. RESURRECTION of the dead and the end of the world. They teach that God’s revelations continue today. SIGNIFICANCE In particular, their prophet-president receives rev- In many ways Mormonism is typical of religions elations from God that apply to the whole church. that have arisen in the United States. Its charac- teristic concerns have been with the possibility PRACTICES of progress, the end of the world, and acceptable Latter-day Saints worship in both temples and behavior. Today Mormons are known for empha- meeting-houses. Only practicing Mormons can sizing the traditional family. They are also known enter a temple. for valuing hard work. An important example is liturgy S 265

the large number of young people in their late lila A Sanskrit word for “sport” or “play.” Hin- teens and early twenties who devote 18 months of dus explain the relation of God to the world in sev- their lives to the work of the church. eral ways. One way uses the term lila. God creates and sustains the world by playing, that is, through Further reading: The Book of Mormon (Salt Lake action that lacks any purpose or self-interest. The City, Utah: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day term lila is not limited to any particular Hindu sect. Saints, 1982); Claudia Lauper Bushman and For example, those who worship Siva see the dance Richard Lyman Bushman, Mormons in America by which Siva creates the world as lila. But lila (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999); Terryl L. has been especially important for worshippers of Givens, The Latter-day Saint Experience in America Vishnu. It is most especially important for those (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2004). who worship the young Krishna. The mythology of the youthful Krishna emphasizes his mischievous, playful exploits. His Lent In Christ ianit y, the period of 40 days before worshippers see their ultimate goal as participating East er, beginning with the day known as Ash forever in Krishna’s play. Wednesday. Lent has traditionally been a time of fasting and penitence, though the discipline may range from an almost complete fast to abstaining Lilith A female demon in Jewish folklore. Lilith from meat on certain days to a personal practice of seems to be historically related to the Babylonian giving up luxuries. Lent is observed in the Roman spirits known as Lilu and Lilitu. She appears only Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and some once in the Bible, in Isaiah 34.14. In later folklore Protestant churches. she is said to snatch children, especially babies, to threaten women in childbirth, and to seduce men, especially in the middle of the night. Accord- Lévi-Strauss, Claude (1908– ) French anthro- ing to some traditions she was Adam’s fi rst wife, pologist and a leading fi gure in a kind of analysis renowned—and rejected—for her independence. called structuralism Lévi-Strauss was concerned She also came to fi gure prominently in kabbal ah. with exploring the way people think. In doing so, Traditionally, Jews used amulets, or charms, to he created an approach called structuralism. It was ward off Lilith. Today, they generally dismiss her as inspired by work in linguistics, that is, the scien- outdated superstition. In the late 20th century, how- tifi c study of language. (Linguistics is different ever, some Jewish feminists saw in Lilith’s inde- from learning to read or speak a language.) pendence from Adam a positive mythic image of Lévi-Strauss tried to identify the codes that womanhood, which they have sought to recover. enabled human beings to think. He was especially interested in human beings that earlier anthropolo- gists had called “primitive” or “savage.” Accord- liturgy An ordered form of worship, especially ing to Lévi-Strauss, mental codes were made up of in Christ ianit y. The word liturgy comes from a “binary oppositions,” such as nature and culture, Greek word meaning “public work.” Before Chris- or raw and cooked. tianity, a liturgy was any public work that people Lévi-Strauss focused most of his attention on with money had to sponsor. These public works mythology. He argued for a striking position. In his included religious festivals. view, one did not fi nd the meaning of a myth in In Christianity liturgy refers to a fi xed order the story itself or its symbolism. A myth’s meaning for worship. It applies especially to the order for was the code that underlay the myth. Structural worship used to celebrate the EUCHARIST in Ortho- analysis was the way to uncover that code. dox and Catholic Christianity (see EASTERN ORTHO- See also RELIGION, STUDY OF. DOX CHRISTIANITY and ROMAN CATHOLICISM). In the 266 S Loki

Orthodox churches this worship service is actually called the Divine Liturgy. In Catholic churches it is called the Mass. During the REFORMATION some Protestants, such as Anglicans and Lutherans, retained the tra- ditional liturgy (see ANGLICANISM and LUTHERANISM). Other Protestants rejected it. They adopted freer forms of worship in an attempt to return to the practice of the earliest Christians. During the 19th and 20th centuries there was a liturgical revival. Catholics tried to make the Mass more accessible to ordinary people. Protes- tants tried to recover traditional forms of worship that had been abandoned.

Loki A god in Norse mythology. Loki is an ambiguous fi gure. Renowned for his cleverness, he helps the gods. For example, he gives birth to the god Odin’s horse, who has eight legs. (Among other abilities, Loki can change sex.) He also helps the god Thor get his hammer back. At the same time, Loki opposes the gods. He fathers Fenriswolf, the enemy of the gods. He also kills the god Balder with a mistletoe arrow. Loki’s fate is like that of Prometheus in Greek mythology: He is tied to a rock. In Loki’s case, the Sakyamuni preaching the Lotus Sutra on the Vulture ties that bind him are his own sons’ intestines. A Peak, accompanied by two disciples and the bodhisattvas poisonous snake hangs above him. His wife sits Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthampapta. Silk embroidery on by his side to catch the poison that drips from its hemp cloth from Cave 17, Dunhaung. This is one of the largest examples of Chinese embroidery known. (Erich mouth. Legend says that Loki will return at the Lessing/Art Resource, N.Y.) end of time. He will lead the armies of his daughter Hel, “death.”

lar, even simpler prayer appears in the GOSPEL of lord of the animals See PREHISTORIC RELIGION. Luke (11.2–4). It has been customary in some churches to conclude the Lord’s Prayer with a doxology or Lord’s Prayer Also known as the “Our statement of praise: “For the kingdom and the Father”; the most sacred PRAYER in CHRISTIANITY. power and the glory are yours forever. Amen.” JESUS teaches his followers the Lord’s Prayer as This practice appears to be very old, because the part of the famous Sermon on the Mount (Mat- Didache, a book of Christian instruction written thew 6.9–13). The prayer is made up of seven in the middle of the second century, ends the petitions, each of which resembles prayers that Lord’s Prayer with a doxology. Later the doxol- RABBIS at the time taught. According to Jesus, the ogy found its way into some manuscripts of the prayer embodies the ideal of simplicity. A simi- gospel of Matthew. Luther, Martin S 267

lotus An aquatic fl owering plant of special reli- Luther, Martin (1483–1546) German priest gious signifi cance in HINDUISM and BUDDHISM. The whose disagreements with the Roman Catholic range of meanings connected with the lotus and its Church began the REFORMATION. bloom are extensive. In connection with LAKSHMI, the Hindu GOD- LIFE DESS, the lotus symbolizes wealth, beauty, and fer- Luther was born on November 10, 1483, in Eisleben, tility. One common image shows Lakshmi stand- Germany. His father, a businessman in the mining ing on an open lotus and holding two lotus blooms industry, sent Martin to school, with the intention in her upraised hands. of having him become a lawyer. But one day in July In TANTRISM the outline of an open lotus 1505 Luther was walking through a severe thunder- appears in many YANTRAS and MANDALAS, which are storm. According to tradition, he called out to the symbols for the forces of the universe. Lotus forms patron saint of miners, “Saint Ann, save me, and I also defi ne the various CAKRAS, which are energy shall become a monk!” Having survived the storm, centers of the human person. he entered the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt. Because the lotus grows from mud but remains Ordained to the priesthood, he was sent in 1508 clean, it sometimes symbolizes a going beyond to the recently founded University of Wittenberg, or transcendence of the world. Examples include where he soon became professor of the BIBLE. lotuses in association with the Buddha Amitabha During this period, Luther was wracked with (AMIDA) and the BODHISATTVA known as AVALOK- worries about the certainty of his SALVATION. How could ITESVARA. Amitabha and Avalokitesvara shower he do enough to make satisfaction to GOD for his SINS? gifts of compassion on human beings but remain Reading a passage from the apostle PAUL’s letter to untouched by the world. The lotus is also asso- the Romans helped alleviate his anxieties: “The one ciated with YOGA. The cross-legged sitting posture who is righteous will live by faith” (Romans 1.17). that yoga practitioners frequently adopt is the well- Refl ection on this passage and others led Luther to known lotus position. his characteristic insistence that human beings are saved by God’s GRACE received through FAITH. In Luther’s day the Roman Catholic Church Lotus Sutra A Mahayana Buddhist scripture. had a virtual monopoly on religion in Europe (see The Tendai and NICHIREN schools of Japanese BUD- ROMAN CATHOLICISM). Luther unintentionally ended DHISM consider the Lotus Sutra absolute truth. this monopoly and started the Protestant Reforma- The Lotus Sutra was written in Sanskrit around tion. In 1517 a preacher named Johannes Tetzel the fi rst century C.E. and translated into Chinese had begun to sell what were known as plenary in the third century. It develops a very high view indulgences in a nearby town. They were called of the BUDDHA. It teaches that the Buddha is an plenary indulgences because Tetzel promised eternal being that appeared in history in the form that if people bought his indulgences, they would of the Buddha Sakyamuni (Siddhartha Gautama). receive forgiveness for all their sins. Disturbed by It also invites people to attain enlightenment not this practice, Luther posted 95 theses or statements by following the path of THERAVADA BUDDHISM but for debate on the door of the Castle Church at Wit- by relying on the grace and favor of various BOD- tenberg on October 31. The theses were published HISATTVAS. Chapter 25 is particularly important; it elsewhere, and the debates quickly grew to include celebrates the bodhisattva AVALOKITESVARA. fundamentals of church teaching and authority. The Japanese nationalist Buddhist leader Luther’s differences with the Catholic Church of Nichiren (1222–82) established a school of Bud- his day proved to be profound and irreconcilable. dhism centered on chanting the phrase “Namu He was excommunicated on January 3, 1521. Myoho-Renge-Kyo,” roughly, “Hail to the marvel- Technically an outlaw, Luther received sup- ous teaching of the Lotus Sutra.” port from several German princes. From May 1521 268 S Luther, Martin

insisted that people attain a right relationship with God only as a result of God’s grace, not of anything that they do. They learn about God’s gift through the Bible, the ultimate religious authority, and they accept it through faith. Luther called these ideas the GOSPEL, as dis- tinct from the law, which human beings cannot fulfi ll and which therefore leads to condemna- tion. But Luther was not one to resolve opposi- tions quickly. God’s Word, he said, always comes to human beings as both law and gospel. Chris- tians are at one and the same time justifi ed and sinful. And God himself, as human beings experi- ence him, has two aspects: the hidden God who insists on justice and the revealed God of grace and mercy. Luther teaches in his Small Catechism that people should respond to this God with fear, love and trust.

SIGNIFICANCE By the 1520s Luther’s dispute with the leaders of the Catholic Church had incited people with some- what different perspectives to rebel as well. The result was a split of Western European Christian- ity into two branches, the Roman Catholic Church Portrait of Martin Luther (Scala/Art Resource, N.Y.) and the Protestant churches (see PROTESTANTISM). In response, the Catholic Church reformulated its teachings at the Council of TRENT (1545–63) and through March 1522 he lived in hiding at the Wart- eliminated abuses about which the devout had burg Castle overlooking Eisenach. After returning complained for years. to Wittenberg, he devoted the rest of his life to But Luther’s signifi cance was more than reli- organizing the breakaway church. He translated gious. Even though the Reformation resulted in the Bible as well as the Mass (see LITURGY) into Ger- religious fragmentation and wars, it helped to man. To encourage congregational participation in crystallize a feeling of political and cultural inde- WORSHIP, he wrote a number of hymns, such as the pendence among German peoples. And because well-known “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” And Luther insisted that God comes to human beings he wrote two catechisms, a smaller and a larger not through human actions but through God’s one, for use in teaching laypeople the fundamen- Word, his interest in and impact on the German tals of the Christian faith. In 1525 Luther married language was immense. His writings, especially a former nun, Katherina von Bora. Together they his translation of the Bible, helped to establish a had six children. He died in Eisleben, the town of common German idiom and made him a pioneer his birth, on February 18, 1546. in the development of modern German literature.

TEACHINGS Further reading: Susan C. Karant-Nunn and At the center of Luther’s thought stands the notion Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks, eds., Luther on Women: of justifi cation. Following the apostle Paul, Luther A Sourcebook (New York: Cambridge University Lutheranism S 269

Press, 2003); Martin E. Marty, Martin Luther (New In the 1700s another intellectual and cultural York: Penguin, 2004); James A. Nestingen, Martin movement, the Enlightenment, infl uenced some Luther: A Life (Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress Press, Lutheran theologians. Thinkers and philosophers 2003); Jaroslav Pelikan and Helmut T. Lehmann, of the Enlightenment rejected MIRACLES and super- eds., Luther’s Works (CD-ROM; Philadelphia and naturalism. Theologians whom this movement St. Louis: Fortress Press and Concordia Publishing infl uenced advocated a religion strictly consistent House, 2002). with the laws of nature. In the early 1800s the king of Prussia tried to join Lutheran and Calvinist churches (see PRESBY- Lutheranism The branch of CHRISTIANITY TERIAN AND REFORMED CHURCHES) into a single Protes- that marks its rise directly from Martin LUTHER. tant church. Some Lutherans reacted strongly both Lutheran churches sometimes call themselves to the Enlightenment and to the “church union.” “evangelical.” This term goes back to German They insisted on preserving the traditional teach- usage. It means something quite different from ings of Lutheranism as found in written summa- “Evangelical Christianity” in the British context ries known as the “confessions.” (see EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY and FUNDAMENTALISM, At the same time, large numbers of Lutherans CHRISTIAN). began immigrating to the United States. Lutherans had lived especially in the mid-Atlantic region even HISTORY earlier: But American Lutheranism grew tremen- Martin Luther began the Protestant REFORMATION dously from the immigrations of the 19th century. in October 1517, when he nailed 95 “theses” or The Lutheranism that resulted was extremely frag- propositions to be debated to a church door in mented. People of various nationalities—Germans, Wittenberg, Germany. The Reformation eventu- Swedes, Danes, Norwegians, Finns—preferred to ally produced many forms of PROTESTANTISM. Those WORSHIP in their own languages in their own national who followed Luther’s teachings became known churches. At the time of the Civil War, the oldest as Lutherans. In Europe they are found especially American Lutherans even split into Northern and in Germany and Scandinavia. Southern churches. In addition, Lutherans infl u- Lutheranism spread in the 1500s to Scandina- enced by the confessional movement in Germany did via, where it became the established or offi cial reli- not consider other Lutherans genuinely Lutheran. gion of various states. In Germany Lutherans lived The watchword of the 20th century was uni- in a state of war—literally—with Catholics until fi cation. But Lutheran unifi cation was not total 1648. Then Lutheranism became the established unifi cation. At the end of the century there were religion of various German principalities. In both two major American Lutheran bodies. The larger settings, in a war for survival and as state church, body, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran leaders emphasized the need to maintain included the Lutheran churches founded in colonial “pure doctrine,” which meant the truth of Christi- days as well as many of the 19th-century national anity as Luther had taught it. Lutheranism became churches. The other body, the Lutheran Church- a detailed set of beliefs to which people had to Missouri Synod, preserved the heritage of the Ger- subscribe. man confessional movement of the 19th century. A reaction to this kind of religion began in the On a global scale, 20th-century Lutherans began to late 1600s. It was called Pietism. Pietism empha- work together in the Lutheran World Federation. sized what it saw as a genuine religion of the heart, as opposed to a sterile religion of the head. BELIEFS When Pietists put this emphasis into practice, they Lutherans acknowledge the BIBLE as the Word of founded charitable institutions such as orphan- GOD. They differ on what that means. Some insist ages. They also engaged in missionary work. that every word of the Bible is literally true. Others 270 S Lutheranism

say that, while the Bible may contain historical and rist Jesus’ body and blood are really present, scientifi c errors, what is important is the message regardless of the faith of the person who eats the underlying the biblical account. bread and drinks the wine. Lutherans also accept a distinct set of writings Lutheran worship services generally preserve known as “confessions.” After the ancient CREEDS, the form of the Catholic Mass, but they have two writings from the Reformation are the most always been in the ordinary language of the peo- important confessions: the Small Catechism and ple. Lutheran worship also has a distinctive tra- the Augsburg Confession. The Small Catechism is a dition of hymn writing and singing that stretches book Luther wrote to teach the basics of Christianity back to Luther himself. to children. The Augsburg Confession is an account of Lutheran beliefs that Lutherans presented to the ORGANIZATION Holy Roman Emperor at Augsburg in 1530. Lutheran congregations belong to state and Lutherans insist on one basic principle: SALVA- national churches. No offi cial, council, or organi- TION by GRACE through FAITH. They teach that peo- zation has authority over all Lutheran churches. ple are sinners and cannot earn a proper relation- Lutherans often call those in charge of the ship with God. Therefore, God sent his son JESUS churches in a specifi c region “bishops.” The to establish that proper relationship. This proper power of bishops is balanced by elections both relationship is given freely as a gift. Human beings within individual congregations and in regional do not need to do any “good works” in order to and national assemblies. receive it. They simply have to accept God’s gift. Each Lutheran congregation has one or more This acceptance is known as faith. ordained ministers, who may be married. At the To express these ideas, Lutherans often dis- beginning of the 21st century, Lutherans were tinguish between “law” and “gospel.” The law is split over whether women could be ministers. The what a person must do. It is useful, for example, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America accepted in governing people. But following the law cannot women ministers. The Lutheran Church-Missouri save people. The gospel is the message of God’s Synod did not. gift of salvation. SIGNIFICANCE PRACTICES Lutheranism has been most important in Ger- Traditionally, Lutherans talk about two “means” or many, Scandinavia, and places where emigrants ways by which human beings receive God’s grace. from those countries settled in sizable numbers. They call them “Word” and SACRAMENT. It has not, however, had great infl uence on the “Word” refers to communicating the gospel. broader currents of American religious history. In In Lutheran worship services this takes place in the United States the most infl uential form of Prot- two main ways: through readings from the Bible estantism has tended instead to be Calvinism. and through the PREACHING of a sermon. “Sacrament” refers to two acts that Lutherans Further reading: Richard Cimino, ed., Lutherans say were established by Jesus himself: BAPTISM and Today: American Lutheran Identity in the Twenty- the EUCHARIST. Lutherans insist that both sacra- fi rst Century (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W. B. Eerdmans, ments are effective not because they are human 2003); Eric W. Gritsch, Fortress Introduction to acts but because in them God gives his grace to Lutheranism (Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress Press, human beings. In keeping with this view, Luther- 1994); Martin E. Marty, Lutheranism: A Restatement ans continued the Catholic practice of baptizing in Question and Answer Form (Minneapolis, Minn.: infants. They have also insisted that in the Eucha- Fortress Press, 1995). . M ,

magi The priests of Persia (Iran) before ISLAM. verbial sticking of pins into a doll in Caribbean cul- In the time of classical Greece and Rome, the magi ture; perhaps a hair or some other item belonging were the traditional Persian priests. They practiced to the intended victim can be used to put the doll ZOROASTRIANISM and were very important in preserv- in harmony with that person. “Correspondence” is ing its writings. The Greeks respected their wisdom the idea, found in ancient Greek magical texts, that a great deal. They also felt that these priests had there are magical relationships between apparently special, secret knowledge. This attitude gave us disparate things, as between gemstones, parts of the English words “magic” and “magician,” which the human body, certain chants and spells, and come from magi. astrological signs. These correspondences can be According to the GOSPEL of Matthew (2.1–15), used to work magic both good and bad. magi came to visit JESUS soon after his birth. The Finally, there is the magic of evoking super- BIBLE does not say anything specifi c about them. natural aid. The traditions of RITUAL magic or Early legend suggested that they were kings. In the high magic, going back to the Middle Ages and Middle Ages these kings were said to be three in before, are meant to call up gods, ANGELS, demons, number. They were given names and kingdoms: and other spirits to help the magician and to do Balthasar, king of Arabia; Melchior, king of Persia; his will. The vivid performances of this school, and Caspar, king of India. involving the ceremonialist standing for his own The Orthodox churches celebrate the visit of protection in a magic circle, and evoking an entity the magi on CHRISTMAS Day. The Catholic Church into a triangle with the help of sword, wand, and and some Protestant churches celebrate it on vehement words of command, are the height of Epiphany (January 6). magical drama. Many practitioners of magic teach that the ulti- mate meaning of the art lies in the power of will. magic The use of means outside ordinary cause The mind can change things on its own if thought and effect to achieve desired objectives. In modern is powerful and concentrated enough; the instru- times, it implies means outside the laws of con- ments of magic, like a doll or gems, or the evoca- ventional science and technology. It would mean tions of ritual magic, are really simply devices for the employment of seemingly irrelevant gestures helping the magician concentrate his or her will. or chants (abracadabra or magic spells), or even Although it is sometimes said that magic and just concentrated thought, to reach a goal, rather religion are two completely different things, there than ordinary labor or engineering. is clearly some overlap. Religious PRAYER and rites There are several types of traditional magical can be used like magical charms, while magic can means, as defi ned by Sir James George FRAZER. call forth feelings of awe toward the mysteries of “Sympathetic magic” indicates doing to an object the universe, which approach the religious. Both what you want done to something else, like the pro- involve ideas of supernatural forces and powers,

271 S 272 S Mahavira by whatever name they are called. Religion, how- Zealand (New York: Routledge, 2004); Randall ever, sorts them out rigorously between good and Styers, Making Magic: Religion, Magic, and Science bad, and ideally is concerned with a highly giving, in the Modern World (New York: Oxford University loving, and moral way of life. Magic can be more Press, 2004). ambiguous. Further reading: Alice B. Child and Irvin L. Child, Religion and Magic in the Life of Traditional Peoples Mahavira (sixth century B.C.E.) a Sanskrit word (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1993); meaning “great hero”; a title applied to Vardha- Claire Fanger, ed., Conjuring Spirits: Texts and mana, the founder of JAINISM. Jains consider him Traditions of Medieval Ritual Magic (University the 24th tirthankara or “ford-maker.” A tirthan- Park, Penn.: Pennsylvania State University Press, kara is one who makes it possible to ford or 1998); Kathryn Rountree, Embracing the Witch cross the stream of SAMSARA (rebirth) and achieve and the Goddess: Feminist Ritual-Makers in New liberation.

The birth of Mahavira, the founder of Jainism, is shown here in this Kalpa Sutra manuscript page. (Borromeo/Art Resource, N.Y.) Mahayana Buddhism S 273

Mahavira lived in roughly the same place and time as the BUDDHA—northeast India in the sixth century B.C.E. Like the Buddha, he was part of a movement that rejected the RITUALS of SACRIFICE described in the sacred books known as the VEDA. At the age of 30, he asked his brother—his par- ents had died—for permission to renounce ordi- nary life. Receiving it, he adopted the lifestyle of a wandering beggar. Instead of shaving his head, he pulled out his hair. Either immediately or after 13 months—traditions vary—he gave up every last possession, including the wearing of clothes. As a beggar Mahavira strictly observed AHIMSA, that is, noninjury. He practiced severe austerities and suffered vile abuse from others. Roughly 12 years after his renunciation he achieved complete insight. He is said to have then reformed the teach- ings of an earlier tirthankara, Parsva. He also reor- Prajnaparamita, the virtue of wisdom or insight, is expressed in the Prajnaparamita Sutras, important ganized the institutions that Parsva had established. philosophical texts in Mahayana, or “Great Vehicle” In doing so he created Jainism as we know it. Buddhism. Wood, sheet copper, and silk cloth. (Erich At the age of 72 Mahavira entered the ultimate Lessing/Art Resource N.Y.) NIRVANA.

Buddhist texts as the LOTUS SUTRA, the Heart Sutra, Mahayana Buddhism The form of BUDDHISM the Diamond Sutra, and the Garland Sutra. prevalent in China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. By the fi rst century C.E. Mahayana had con- It differs from THERAVADA BUDDHISM in signifi cant solidated into a distinctive Buddhist party with its ways. Mahayana means the “Great Vehicle,” that own scriptures, teachers, and practices. The great- is, a large and commodious vessel for carrying est Mahayana philosopher, Nagarjuna (c. 150–c. aspirants from ordinary life to enlightenment. It 250 C.E.) taught two basic principles: that SAMSARA arose gradually in the early centuries of Buddhism (the “wheel of existence”—our ordinary life) and over the issue of whether laypersons as well as NIRVANA (its opposite, and the ultimate goal of Bud- monks could follow Buddhist practices fully and dhist realization) are really one and the same, and become enlightened. that the best metaphor to describe this kind of The party that in time became Mahayanists universe is to call it Emptiness or Void. In other took the more liberal view. Soon they also advo- words, Nirvana is not some place to which we cated the reconciling of popular religious rites with “go” in the AFTERLIFE. It is here and now, a state Buddhism and taught that the BUDDHA was really of mind rather than a place, and the universe as a transcendent being who came into our world as perceived by that state of mind can be called Void, a teacher. As a liberal and innovative movement, not because there is nothing in it but because it Mahayana accepted new doctrines and revelations offers nothing to grasp hold of by mind or hand, attributed to the Buddha. Its canon of scripture con- any more than one could grasp a fl owing river. The tains numerous books outside the Theravada Tripi- world is fl uid, continually changing, and continu- taka. These are often said to be teachings of the ally blissful to those who know how to swim with Enlightened One that were hidden until the world its fl ow. These insights lead to or interpret several was ready for them. They include such famous distinctive features of religious Mahayana: 274 S Maitreya

1. We are, Mahayana believes, really in nirvana us as a teacher in this world, like the historical and enlightened Buddhas right now. We just do Buddha, or within ourselves. This perspective not realize it. But we “have” or dwell in a uni- can help us understand Mahayana temples and versal Buddha nature. practices. 2. Any means to enable us to realize that nature is It was in this Mahayana form that Buddhism all right. Therefore Mahayana has many paths spread into the northern tier of Buddhist countries, to enlightenment: Zen MEDITATION (see ZEN BUD- forming schools and denominations emphasizing DHISM), the elaborate RITUALS of TIBETAN RELIGION, various aspects of the complex Mahayana world- faith in AMIDA in PURE LAND BUDDHISM, chanting view, but commonly also embracing its broad and from the Lotus Sutra in NICHIREN Buddhism, or tolerant nature. the simple awesome experience of being in a Mahayana TEMPLE. Further reading: Edward Conze, Buddhism: Its 3. Mahayana says there are innumerable buddhas Essence and Development (New York: Harper throughout the universe, not just the one histor- Torchbooks, 1959); Holmes Welch, The Practice of ical Buddha, and they can all be of help to us. Chinese Buddhism 1900–1950 (Cambridge, Mass.: Mahayana temples may contain images of sev- Harvard University Press, 1967); Paul Williams, eral of these “cosmic” buddhas, such as AMIDA. Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations According to Pure Land Buddhism, Amida (New York: Routledge, 1989). vowed countless ages ago to bring all who call on his name in faith into his “Pure Land” or Heaven, from which entry into nirvana is easy. Maitreya The BUDDHA who is to come. BUDDHISM Sometimes he and other transcendent buddhas has taught about many buddhas besides Siddhar- are arranged into a MANDALA, or pattern, for tha Gautama (563–483 B.C.E.), the Buddha of our devotional purposes. world. One such teaching concerns the Buddha 4. Mahayana also emphasizes the role of the Maitreya. His name comes from maitri, a word BODHISATTVA, one who fully realizes the truth in Sanskrit, the ancient language of India, which of samsara and nirvana, lives in the Void, and means “friendship” or “benevolence.” works actively in the world out of wisdom and Buddhists believe that all things change. compassion to help all beings along the path Change characterizes the Buddha’s teachings, too. to enlightenment. A favorite is AVALOKITESVARA, Eventually these teachings will lose their appeal who as Kuan-yin in China and Kannon in Japan and be forgotten—according to some stories, after is worshipped as a goddess of mercy. Sometimes 5000 years. But the Buddhist DHARMA or teaching bodhisattvas are seen as active expressions of will not be lost forever. When the time is right, a buddha, as Avalokitesvara is of Amida. In a another buddha will appear who will once again deeper sense, we can all realize we are bodhi- teach the truth. That buddha is Maitreya, who now sattvas, just as we are all Buddhas. resides as a BODHISATTVA in a HEAVEN called Tushita. 5. In time Mahayana developed a teaching that Unlike many bodhisattvas, Maitreya is revered there are three forms of expression of the uni- by Buddhists of all schools—Theravada, Mahay- versal buddha nature: the Absolute, or nirvana, ana, and Vajrayana (see MAHAYANA BUDDHISM, or what we may think of today as the dance THERAVADA BUDDHISM, and VAJRAYANA BUDDHISM). He of the atoms and galaxies, the universe as a is not always, however, given the same respect. whole conscious and unconscious; the Heav- From about 300 to about 600 C.E. the rulers of enly expression, thinking of the cosmic bud- China especially favored Maitreya. Then they seem dhas and bodhisattvas as like heavenly beings to have become interested instead in PURE LAND because this is the way our minds work; and the BUDDHISM and its Buddha, Amitabha (Japanese, Earthly, when universal buddhahood appears to AMIDA). Starting around 1000 C.E., however, the Malcolm X S 275

Chinese began to portray Maitreya as a laughing and his associates promoted integration. Malcolm holy man with a big belly. In this form he remains advocated separation. In his eyes, African Ameri- popular today. cans could develop a sense of dignity only if they Throughout the centuries Maitreya has inspired had their own nation and their own businesses. much Buddhist MILLENARIANISM in various parts of Integration would simply continue to make blacks Asia, that is, enthusiastic movements built on the dependent upon whites. Malcolm expressed this in belief that Maitreya was about to appear. Some rul- typical fashion when he reacted to King’s famous ers claimed to be Maitreya. Sometimes believers, “I Have a Dream” speech. Malcolm said that while inspired by the teachings about Maitreya, banded Dr. King was having a dream, most African Ameri- together to overthrow the government. Many today cans were living a nightmare. still look for Maitreya to come. Malcolm also differed from King on what tactics were acceptable for their followers. King emphasized nonviolence and civil disobedience. Malcolm X (1925–1965) The best-known preacher In Malcolm’s eyes, that was the wrong approach. It of the Nation of Islam, popularly known as the did not invite African Americans to discover their Black Muslims He advocated black nationalism own dignity and self-worth. It simply invited them and black pride. to suffer more public degradation and humiliation. Suffering, disruption, and criminal behavior Malcolm said that African Americans should pur- characterized Malcolm’s childhood and young sue their goals “by any means necessary”—a state- adulthood. He was born Malcolm Little in Omaha, ment that disturbed many white Americans. Nebraska. His father, Earl Little, was a Baptist min- Malcolm eventually became leader of the sec- ister and follower of Marcus Garvey, who preached ond most important temple in the Nation of Islam, black separatism. The Little family lived under Temple No. 7 in Harlem. But in 1963 he compared threats from white racist groups. When Malcolm the assassination of President Kennedy to “chick- was six, his father died—allegedly murdered by ens com[ing] home to roost.” This incensed the whites. leader of the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm’s mother found the strain of raising and Malcolm left. In 1964 he made PILGRIMAGE to the family alone too much to bear. She was hos- MECCA. There he encountered traditional ISLAM. He pitalized. Malcolm lived for a while with a fos- experienced fi rsthand its teaching that all people, ter family in Michigan. Then he dropped out of regardless of color, are brothers and sisters. It was school and moved to Boston to live with his sister. his second eye-opening experience. In Boston and later New York he ran drugs and When Malcolm had become a Black Muslim, engaged in burglary. Eventually he was caught he had adopted the name Malcolm X. After visit- and imprisoned. ing Mecca he changed his name again, to El-Hajj It was in prison (1946–52) that Malcolm Malik el-Shabazz. He renounced the teaching that discovered the Nation of Islam (see ISLAM, NATION white people are devils and adopted SUNNI ISLAM. OF). It changed his life. The Nation’s teaching that He also began to talk about human rights rather “the white man is the devil” made intuitive sense than civil rights. But Malcolm did not have the to Malcolm. Even more important, in the Nation of chance to develop these ideas. He was killed in a Islam Malcolm found pride and self-respect as a per- ballroom in Harlem in 1965. Offi cial reports attri- son of African descent. On release from prison, Mal- bute his death to gunmen operating under orders colm proved to be especially good at public speak- from the Nation of Islam. ing and in using radio and television. He became In the 1990s there was a “Malcolm revival” the most effective Black Muslim spokesperson. among African Americans. His message of pride, Malcolm’s goal was quite different from that self-suffi ciency, and personal responsibility seemed envisioned by Dr. Martin Luther KING Jr. King to many to be just what the community needed. 276 S Malinowski, Bronislaw

Further reading: The Autobiography of Malcolm circle or square is further subdivided in conformity X, with the assistance of Alex Haley (New York: with the axes, often by means of concentric circles Ballantine Books, 1999); David Gallen, ed., A or other designs. Malcolm X Reader (New York: Carroll & Graf, A mandala is a schematic representation of 1994); Bruce Perry, Malcolm: The Life of a Man the cosmos. Its various areas are often seen as Who Changed Black America (Barrytown, N.Y.: the abode of various deities, BUDDHAS, and BOD- Station Hill, 1991). HISATTVAS. By using mandalas in rituals and as objects of MEDITATION, practitioners aim at realizing within themselves the central force that sustains Malinowski, Bronislaw (1884–1942) anthro- the universe. pologist who was born in Poland and worked in Mandalas have been rendered in a variety of England Malinowski was one of the founders media. They have provided the grids upon which of the movement known as FUNCTIONALISM. He is architects have built Hindu temples. Similarly, the important for several reasons. mountain-like STUPA at Borobudur in Indonesia is Before Malinowski’s time, those who studied a massive Buddhist mandala. Mandalas have also the religions of indigenous peoples simply relied been executed in less permanent media, such as on reports of travelers, missionaries, and colonial paint or ink on paper or cloth, and with colored offi cials. Malinowski actually lived among the powders or sands. Tibetan thang-kas or scroll Pacifi c islanders about whom he wrote. He estab- paintings are particularly well-known examples of lished the practice of “fi eldwork,” which is now these sorts of mandala. expected of all anthropologists. Malinowski also developed important ideas about religion, MAGIC, and myth. As he developed Manichaeism Religion founded by the prophet these views, he criticized the ideas of thinkers like Mani (c. 216–c. 276 C.E.). At one time or another Émile DURKHEIM and Sigmund FREUD. Manichaeism was practiced in Europe and Asia, In Malinowski’s view, religion functioned to from Spain to China. It died out for good around comfort people when they experienced anxiety or 1500. The name comes from “Manichaeos.” This tragedy. Magic was an activity to which people term transcribes the title, Mani Hayya, “Mani the resorted when they could not be sure that practi- Living,” into Greek. cal, goal-oriented activity was going to work. Myth Mani was born around 216 C.E. in what is provided a society with its “charter.” It made soci- today southeastern Iraq. In the year 240 an angelic ety legitimate by tracing its parts back to the activ- messenger, “The Twin,” appeared to him. It told ity of religious beings. him to leave his religious community and begin Malinowski’s ideas dominated the study of teaching. He did. religion by anthropologists until the 1960s. Since Mani saw himself as the Seal of the Prophets. that time many anthropologists have been more He combined into one supreme truth the partial interested in religious symbols and meanings. truths that the BUDDHA, ZARATHUSTRA, and JESUS See also RELIGION, STUDY OF. had taught. Mani carefully recorded his teach- ings in writing so that his own views would not be distorted. These writings, however, have largely mandala Sanskrit for “circle”; a sacred diagram disappeared. In addition to writing, Mani traveled used in HINDUISM and BUDDHISM, especially in secret widely. His fi rst missionary journey took him to the RITUALS known as Tantric rituals. The same basic area near present-day Pakistan. Mani’s teaching shape underlies most mandalas: a point at the aroused the opposition of the Zoroastrian priests. intersection of two perpendicular axes, located at Under their infl uence, Bahram I, king of Persia, the center of a square or circle. The area of the interrogated Mani for four days, imprisoned him Manu S 277

for 26, and executed him. These events, known as ichaean. As a result of this opposition the head “the Passion,” took place around 276 C.E. of the Manichaean hierarchy shifted his residence MISSIONARIES must always translate their to Samarkand, now in southern Uzbekistan. Man- visions of truth into terms that other people can ichaeism also suffered in east Asia. The Chinese understand. The same was true of Mani and his government banned Manichaeism in 843. Never- followers. In some places Manichaean beliefs theless, Manichaeism seems to have survived for appeared more Christian. In others, they appeared several centuries in China as a secret society. It more Zoroastrian or Buddhist. In general, Mani fi nally died out around 1500. Manichaeism was taught that the world was made of two principles, also the basis of medieval Christian “heresies” in light and darkness. These principles were not cre- Europe, like that of the Albigensians or Cathars ated. They have existed from eternity. Mani also (12th–13th centuries). divided the history of the universe into three stages. in the past, light and darkness were sepa- rate. Now, light and darkness are mixed together mantra Sacred words or phrases in HINDU- and battle one another. In the future, they will ISM and BUDDHISM. Originally mantras were state- again be separated. Manichaeans help free light ments made during the SACRIFICES described in the from darkness. sacred books known as the VEDA. As RITUAL words Like the Buddhist SANGHA, the Manichaean they had power over the universe. Over time the community consisted of two classes. Manichaeans meaning of the word mantra expanded. It came to called them the elect and the hearers. The elect include any powerful word or phrase. had several levels of leaders: a maximum of 360 Mantras may produce benefi ts in this world. stewards under the direction of a maximum of 72 They may also lead to liberation. In traditions of deacons under a maximum of 12 APOSTLES led by YOGA it is common to meditate on mantras. In the a fi gure some call the Manichaean pope. Women devotional traditions of BHAKTI mantras often com- could be members of the elect, but they could not bine various names of GOD. A good example is the hold any higher offi ces. mantra that gives “Hare Krishnas” their nickname: Manichaean hearers performed several RITU- “Hare KRISHNA Hare Krishna . . .” ALS. They prayed four times a day. They fasted on Buddhists use mantras in much the same way. Sundays and for a month prior to the major festival Some Japanese followers of the Buddha AMIDA (celebrated at the spring equinox). They confessed repeatedly say the nembutsu, a phrase that means their SINS. They tithed; that is, they gave a tenth of “Praise the Buddha Amida,” to be reborn in Ami- their earnings to the elect. They also renounced da’s Pure Land at death. A common mantra among violence. Tibetan Buddhists reads Om mani padme hum, lit- The Manichaean elect abstained from vio- erally, “Om, the jewel in the lotus, hum.” lence, sex, and impure food, including all meat. They were always to tell the truth; they also had no possessions. The ideal life for the elect was one Manu The fi rst man in Hindu mythology. Most of wandering. With time, however, Manichaeism, North Americans are familiar with the story of like BUDDHISM, developed monastic institutions at NOAH and the universal FLOOD. Manu fi gures in a specifi c places. Manichaeans believed that when similar story. Hindu mythology relates that, thanks the elect ate the food that the hearers gave them, to the help of VISHNU in one of his AVATARS or appear- they purifi ed it, releasing particles of light. ances on Earth, Manu survived the fl ood. He was Christian, Muslim, and Zoroastrian rulers all the only human being who did so. When Manu set vigorously persecuted Manichaeism. For example, foot on dry land, he performed various RITUALS that in 527 the Roman Empire, which was Christian, produced a “daughter,” named Ida or Ila. With her made it a crime punishable by death to be a Man- he populated the Earth. 278 S Maori religion

As the fi rst man, Manu is also the ultimate ing the night that follows, Siddhartha attains ancestor of all royal dynasties. He gave rise to the enlightenment. solar dynasty through his son Iksvaku and to the Later Buddhist tradition talks of literally mil- lunar dynasty through his grandson Pururavas. An lions of Maras or demons. Their overseer is the ancient sage, Manu is also alleged to have authored Mara who tempted Siddhartha. the most infl uential of the Hindu law books, the Laws of Manu. marriage and religion The religious background and meaning of the institution of marriage. Mar- Maori religion See PACIFIC OCEAN RELIGIONS. riage, the socially recognized union of a particular man and woman for the purpose of living together and (if of the right age and capable) procreating mappo Japanese for “latter law.” It is the notion and raising children, is found in every culture of that we are living in a degenerate age in which no the world. It is basic to the establishment of the one can achieve enlightenment through one’s own family, the foundational institution of all societies. efforts. It is therefore acknowledged by the religions of all Mappo is the last of three stages of history. cultures to be sanctioned by the divine powers that In the fi rst, people practiced the BUDDHA’s teach- made the world and regulate the social order. In ings and attained enlightenment. In the second, it many societies and religions, marriage is also seen became rare for those who practiced the Buddha’s as a religious state in its own right, not just a civil way to attain enlightenment. Today people are circumstance, and the wedding or marriage cere- unable even to practice the Buddha’s way. mony that establishes it as a religious rite. The pair Japanese Buddhists believed the age of mappo may be brought together by family, or community began in 1052. The idea became very signifi cant arrangement, sometimes without ever having met, for medieval Japanese BUDDHISM, especially the or of their own will on the basis of love. In many PURE LAND BUDDHISM schools founded by Honen societies, marriages seal important family alliances (1133–1212) and Shinran (1175–1262). These two as well as individual preferences and may include preached that in the age of mappo our own power major expense, usually on the part of the bride’s is inadequate. Therefore, we must rely on the family, in the form of dowries and the wedding “other-power” of the Buddha AMIDA. celebrations. Some religions in their traditional form, such as traditional CONFUCIANISM, ISLAM, and JUDAISM, Mara A Sanskrit word for “death”; the embodi- have regarded marriage as virtually obligatory, ment of EVIL in Buddhist legend. Mara constantly or at least essential for one’s full completeness strives to frustrate the efforts of the BUDDHA and as a human being fulfi lling one’s adult role in the his followers. community. Others, like HINDUISM, BUDDHISM, and Mara’s most famous appearance in Bud- CHRISTIANITY, have recognized CELIBACY, as MONKS dhist traditions occurs just prior to Siddhartha AND NUNS, priests, or even laypersons, as a valid Gautama’s enlightenment as the Buddha. Mara alternative to marriage. In some cases, it is con- is disturbed that Siddhartha will escape from sidered to be spiritually superior to the married the realm of desire and rebirth (see NIRVANA). state. Therefore, he appears before Siddhartha and However, the great majority of human beings tempts him. The temptation culminates when throughout history have been married, frequently Mara offers Siddhartha his three daughters, Dis- in RITUALS demonstrating the religious character of content, Delight, and Desire. Siddhartha refuses. the occasion. These rites characteristically empha- When the sun goes down, Mara departs. Dur- size both the community and family nature of martyrdom S 279

the event and its obviously special meaning for members of a fi ghting caste with its own code the couple. The act of joining in marriage may be of conduct, like the chivalry of Europe’s medi- symbolized in various interesting ways: by tying a eval knights or the bushido of Japan’s samurai. sacred string between the two in Hinduism, dip- Sometimes particular skills of combat, called ping hands together in a bowl of water in Burmese martial arts, are perceived to have value as spiri- Buddhism, exchanging rings in Christianity, and in tual training or as a means of exercising spiritual Judaism eating together in a place of seclusion. insight as well. This has especially been the case The regulation of mating and procreation for with certain arts of swordsmanship, archery, or the good of society as a whole is probably among hand-to-hand engagement developed in India and the oldest functions of human religion. Issues such east Asia. Among the martial arts best known in as appropriate conditions for divorce or annulment the West are Chinese kung-fu, Okinawan karate, of a marriage, interracial marriages, interreligious Korean taekwando, and Japanese judo (wres- marriages, and same-sex marriages, although not tling), kendo (swordsmanship), kyudo (archery), new, have been the subject of much religious and the modern general method called Aikido. debate in the 20th and 21st centuries. Marriage, These terms, ending in do (in Chinese, tao), family, and the moral issues surrounding them meaning “way,” suggest that these arts, like budo remain a central concern of all religion. or bushido, the way of the warrior, are seen as See also FAMILY AND RELIGION, THE. indicating an entire way of life as well as a par- ticular skill. According to tradition, the spiritual source of Mars The second most important Roman god. the east Asian martial arts was the Shaolin monas- Mars was the second god in a very ancient triad tery in China, where the monk BODHIDHARMA, who of Italian gods: JUPITER, Mars, and Quirinus (a god also had brought the Chan (Zen) school from India of the common people). He was a god of war. He to China, devised fi ghting skills to afford his monks was also a god of agriculture, at least in the sense exercise and defense. Combining both Taoist and that he protected fi elds. The Romans worshipped Buddhist (chiefl y Zen) themes, they emphasize the Mars especially in March and October. These activation of chi (in Japanese, ki), the life force months began and ended the seasons for fi ghting or spiritual energy that with training can be pro- and planting. When the Romans encountered the jected and directed through spontaneous action. Greeks, they identifi ed Mars with Ares. The warrior is then one who has realized the full Mars had his own high priest (fl amen). At potential of his inner life, who acts in accordance some of his festivals ancient priests known as the with nature, and who has the ability to live in the Salii danced in antique armor. Mars also enjoyed present moment with total awareness. Thus, he is a particular kind of SACRIFICE. It was a sacrifi ce of a able to act immediately and spontaneously with pig, a sheep, and a bull. When the Romans declared precision to achieve the goal, whether hitting the war, one of the two consuls (highest political lead- target with an arrow or felling a foe with a single ers) shook his sacred spears and cried out, “Mars, blow of the sword. stay awake.” According to Roman mythology, Mars was the father of Romulus, the founder of Rome. The month March gets its name from him. martyrdom Giving up one’s life instead of renouncing one’s religion. The word “martyr” comes from a Greek word meaning “witness.” martial arts and religion Fighting techniques A martyr’s death “witnesses” to her or his reli- viewed as spiritual practices. In many societies gion. Martyrs inspire those who remain behind. the way of the warrior has been seen as having They also provide them with examples to imitate. a religious signifi cance. Sometimes warriors are Religions may teach that martyrs receive special 280 S Marx, Karl

rewards in the next life. The NEW TESTAMENT book THE APOSTLES 7). Those who died in ancient per- of REVELATION imagines the martyrs ruling with secutions include the apostles PETER and PAUL. JESUS for a thousand years (20.4). Islamic tradition The Martyr’s Mirror, by Thieleman J. van Braght, teaches that martyrs stand closest to GOD’s throne. preserves the memory of Anabaptist martyrs who In ISLAM, martyrdom is closely connected with giv- were killed for their beliefs at the time of the Prot- ing one’s life for God or in defense of the FAITH (see estant REFORMATION. The most famous Muslim JIHAD). martyr is probably Husayn, the son of Ali, who is Martyrs have been especially important in especially revered in SHI’ITE ISLAM. He was killed in JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, and ISLAM. Judaism has a 680 C.E. when he tried to assume the political and long history of martyrdom. One important ancient religious position that his grandfather, MUHAMMAD, example is Rabbi Akiba ben Joseph. Some tradi- had held. tions say he was burned to death in a TORAH scroll, others that he was fl ayed alive for teaching Judaism in public. The fi rst Christian martyr was Stephen, Marx, Karl (1818–1883) German social thinker who was stoned to death for blasphemy (ACTS OF Marx is important as the founder of a socialist movement, Marxism, that many people in the 20th century saw as a religion in itself. He is also impor- tant for his ideas on religion. Marx accepted what earlier critics had written about religion. Therefore, he did not write much about religion himself. What he did write draws attention to the relationship between religion and economics, especially the struggle between the rich and the poor. Marx’s most famous sentence on religion calls it the “opiate of the people.” Just as the wealthy turn to opium to relieve their pain, Marx said, poor working people—the proletariat—turn to religion. But this move only saps the proletariat of strength. Instead, they should eliminate the class structure that keeps them in poverty. Then they will no lon- ger need religion. During the 20th and early 21st centuries, many theologians accepted much of Marx’s criticism of religion. They saw it as a call not to reject religion but to reform it.

Mary Often called the Blessed Virgin Mary or Our Lady; the mother of JESUS. In the BIBLE Mary appears especially in the GOSPEL of Luke. There she is prominent in stories about Jesus’ birth and one story about his childhood. Indeed, Luke claims that Mary is his source for these stories (Luke 2.51). In An engraving of Karl Marx (Image Select/Art Resource, the gospel of Matthew, Mary appears in stories N.Y.) about Jesus’ birth and early years that are not found Mary, apparitions of S 281

in Luke. In Mark, Jesus’ mother (unnamed) tries to ment of Jesus’ conception, and Mary’s purifi cation convince him to quit making a spectacle of himself in the Temple after Jesus’ birth. Many Christians (3.31–35). In John, she stands at the foot of the call upon Mary to intercede for them with Jesus cross (19.25–27). Mary last appears in an assembly and God. One way to do this is with the PRAYER Ave of the fi rst Christians (ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 1.14). Maria, “Hail, Mary . . .” Many great works of Euro- Christians have many teachings about Mary. pean art depict Mary. She is often shown with the These teachings sometimes have very old sources baby Jesus or standing at the foot of the cross. In outside the Bible. An especially important example the last 500 years, Mary has also appeared to vari- is a writing called the Protoevangelium of James. ous people (see MARY, APPARITIONS OF). The most important teaching about Mary is the Not everyone accepts these teachings, claims, VIRGIN BIRTH. This teaching says that Mary became and practices. Orthodox Christians reject the idea pregnant with Jesus before she had sexual rela- that Mary never sinned. Most Protestants reject tions. Almost all Christians maintain this position. all veneration of Mary. Traditional Muslims Roman Catholic Christians add that Mary remained accept the virgin birth of Jesus, but Jews and a virgin for the rest of her life. Protestants object to many modern scholars, including more liberal this. They point out that the NEW TESTAMENT talks Christians, reject it. Many feminists also criticize about Jesus’ brothers. Catholics hold that these the image of Mary as continuing male-centered brothers were not children of Mary. stereotypes. Others, however, fi nd her an inspira- In the ancient church, the idea that Jesus had tion. She was an unwed mother who belonged to a mother was especially important in arguments a politically oppressed group. She also saw her with Gnostics (see GNOSTICISM). Gnostics denied son grow up to lead a group considered radical that Jesus was a real human being. In the fourth and dangerous and as a result be executed—an century Christians also argued over whether Jesus experience with which mothers in the developing was the creator or a created being. They decided world can identify. on the fi rst option. As the Nicene CREED puts it, Further reading: Sarah Jane Boss, Mary (New York: Jesus is “begotten, not made, of one being with the Continuum, 2004); Carl E. Braaten and Robert W. Father.” But that led to another question: If Jesus Jenson, eds., Mary, Mother of God (Grand Rapids, is GOD, should Christians call Mary “Mother of Mich.: W. B. Eerdmans, 2004); Jaroslav Pelikan, God?” In the fi fth century two councils of bishops Mary through the Centuries: Her Place in the History decided that they could use this phrase. of Culture (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University The Roman Catholic Church also adopted Press, 1996); Jenny Robertson, Mary of Nazareth other teachings about Mary. From ancient times (New York: Continuum, 2001). many Catholics had believed that Mary never com- mitted an actual SIN. The medieval philosopher Duns Scotus taught that she was free from original sin, too. The second idea, known as the “immacu- Mary, apparitions of Reported appearances of late conception,” became offi cial Catholic teach- MARY, the Mother of JESUS. Through the centuries ing in 1854. In 1950, the Catholic Church offi cially Christians, above all those in ROMAN CATHOLICISM, adopted another teaching about Mary: She did have told of seeing visions, miraculous pictures, not die but was taken physically into HEAVEN. This and other manifestations of Mary, who is often teaching is known as the assumption. referred to as Our Lady. When she has spoken in No Christians WORSHIP Mary, but Roman Catho- these appearances, she has offered both words of lic and Orthodox Christians “venerate” her. Devo- encouragement and stern admonitions to the faith- tion to Mary was particularly important to Pope John ful, generally in very simple language. Paul II (1920–2005). Holy days celebrate her birth, Numerous such apparitions of Mary, as of immaculate conception, the ANGEL’s announce- other SAINTS, were recounted in the Middle Ages. 282 S Mary, apparitions of

Most were of chiefl y local interest. The sites of a series of extraordinary experiences of seeing the few became centers of national or even interna- Lady radiant as the sun. They received from her tional pilgrimages, such as Our Lady of Walsing- messages again urging prayer and repentance, as ham in England (based on a vision of 1061) or of well as prophecies concerning future world devel- Loreto in Italy (1291). opments (some of them revealed only much later), But it has been only in modern times that including war, persecution, and the fate of Russia. apparitions of Mary began to take on unique During the tumultuous years of Word War II and importance in Catholic Christianity. The fi rst in the cold war, many Catholics found these prophe- the modern series must be the appearance of Our cies of great interest. Lady at Guadalupe, Mexico, in 1531 to Juan Diego, Many other modern apparitions have been an Indian whose account was initially rejected by proclaimed at sites ranging from the United States the white conquerors of his country. This appari- to Egypt to Japan. The most famous undoubtedly tion had far more than local signifi cance, for in is a series of visions seen at Medjugorje, Bosnia- it Mary took Indian features, and the recipient of Herzegovina, beginning in 1981. As with many of the vision was Indian. Our Lady of Guadalupe has the others, the chief visionaries were children, and become a major symbol of identity for Mexicans, the messages urged repentance. It and many other particularly Indians, and has been recognized as recent apparitions have been controversial within patroness of all the Americas. the church. But the four greatest modern appear- The “Great Century” of modern apparitions ances—Paris, La Sallette, Lourdes, and Fatima— of Mary, however, was approximately the years have the full approbation of the Roman Catholic 1830 to 1930, when a series of visions in France Church and have been very infl uential. and Portugal profoundly affected the inner life of These apparitions have important common modern Roman Catholicism. In 1830 Our Lady characteristics. Most have occurred in out-of-the- appeared to a nun, Catherine Labouré, at her con- way places, far from centers of power or popula- vent in Paris. From this event stemmed the popu- tion. All have come to humble persons, often chil- lar devotion of the Miraculous Medal, a talisman dren, who are poor and poorly educated. They thus worn around the neck that depicts beams of light serve as counterweights to religion of authority and streaming from each of Mary’s palms, as in Cath- sophistication and affi rm the importance to heaven erine’s vision. In 1846 the Virgin Mary appeared of those oppressed on earth. The fact that it is a to two shepherd children at La Salette, high in the woman who appears affi rms the feminine side of French Alps. Both were very poor and neglected the divine. Psychologists such as Carl Gustav JUNG children, and it was a time of great hardship for have discussed this important feature of devotion to peasants because of blight. Our Lady said that was Mary. Often, in the apparitions, Mary says that out because of human sin. She urged repentance and of her motherly compassion she is restraining the the recitation of simple prayers. righteous anger of GOD and his Son against human In 1858 Our Lady appeared to Bernadette sin, but she cannot do so much longer; therefore Soubirous, another child of poor background, at humanity must repent and turn to God. Lourdes, in the far south of France. Here also the Apparitions of Mary and their communications visitor conveyed messages urging repentance, and have often appeared naive on the surface, but the she revealed to Bernadette a grotto whose waters plain-spoken message and their coming to simple would be effective for healing. Lourdes has since and impoverished people is part of their meaning. become a place of pilgrimage for millions, espe- They have unquestionably enriched the spiritual cially the sick, who have sometimes reported lives of many. miraculous healings. From 1915 to 1917 three peasant children Further reading: Ruth Harris, Lourdes: Body and herding sheep near Fatima, Portugal, reported a Spirit in the Secular Age (New York: Viking, 1999); Mary Magdalene S 283

Thomas A. Kselman, Miracles and Prophecies in In Western Christianity—ROMAN CATHOLI- Nineteenth-Century France (New Brunswick, N.J.: CISM and PROTESTANTISM—much of the speculation Rutgers University Press, 1983); Jaroslav Pelikan, about Mary has focused on sexuality. In a sermon Mary through the Centuries (New Haven, Conn.: Yale delivered on September 14, 591, Pope Gregory I University Press, 1996); Sandra L. Zimdars-Swartz, identifi ed Mary with a prostitute whom Jesus had Encountering Mary: From La Salette to Medjugorje healed. Ever since, tradition has regarded her as a (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1991). prostitute who repented and received forgiveness. That vision of Mary is portrayed in the rock musi- cal Jesus Christ Superstar (1970; fi lm, 1973) and Mary Magdalene More properly Mary of Mag- in the controversial fi lm by Martin Scorsese The dala; a follower of JESUS. The GOSPELS in the NEW Last Temptation of Christ (1988), based on a novel TESTAMENT say more about Mary of Magdala than with the same title by Nikos Kazantzakis (English about any other woman besides MARY, Jesus’ translation 1960). In 1969, however, the Catholic mother. She has also been the subject of much Church declared that the identifi cation of Mary speculation. with a prostitute was a mistake. EASTERN ORTHO- According to the gospels Jesus cast seven DOX CHRISTIANITY never did accept the tradition that demons out of Mary Magdalene (Luke 8.2). She is Mary was a prostitute. also said to have stood at the foot of the CROSS dur- Many artists have painted Mary as a repen- ing Jesus’ crucifi xion. tant sinner, perhaps because that was an accept- Mary is best known, however, for being the able way in which they could paint female nudes. fi rst person to learn of Jesus’ RESURRECTION. In Another common subject has been Mary meeting Mark and Luke, Mary and women with her dis- the risen Jesus in the garden, as recorded in the cover that Jesus’ tomb is empty. They learn of Gospel of John. Artists and art historians often his resurrection from a man or two men dressed refer to this scene with the words that Jesus spoke in white. In Matthew, Jesus actually appears to to Mary: Noli me tangere, “Do not touch me”—a Mary and the others after they fi nd the empty command given because Jesus was not yet puri- tomb. John recounts a more detailed encounter fi ed. Artists infl uenced by Eastern Orthodoxy have between Mary and the risen Jesus. Jesus appears also painted another scene: It shows Mary before only to Mary, but Mary mistakes him at fi rst for the Roman emperor Tiberius, holding a red egg. a gardener. The story is that Mary traveled to Rome to tell Ancient writings not included in the BIBLE (see Tiberius about the resurrection of Jesus. Tiberius NEW TESTAMENT, APOCRYPHAL) hint that Mary was an replied that a person could no more rise from the important authority among early Christians. One dead than that an egg could turn red. Mary picked such writing is the Gospel of Mary, parts of which up the egg, and it turned red. have been lost. What remains tells that Mary had a At the end of the 20th and the beginning of secret vision of the risen Jesus, in which he taught the 21st centuries many people took a great deal that “the true seed of humanity exists within you. of interest in Mary. A popular book, The Da Vinci … Those who search for it will fi nd it.” Accord- Code (2003), claimed that she was the wife of Jesus. ing to this gospel, Andrew and Peter improperly Feminist scholars saw in Mary an early Christian rejected Mary’s vision, but Levi rebuked them for authority—indeed, the person on whose testimony doing so. all of Christianity was based—whose importance a The early Christian teacher Hippolytus iden- male-centered church structure had overlooked. tifi ed Mary as an APOSTLE. Tradition eventually came to consider her the “apostle of the apostles” Further reading: Holly E. Hearon, The Mary because she told the apostles the news of Jesus’ Magdalene Tradition: Witness and Counter-witness resurrection. in Early Christian Communities (Collegeville, 284 S masks and religion

Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2004); Karen L. King, The rally arises: If multiplicity and difference do not Gospel of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the First characterize reality, what is the source of the mul- Woman Apostle (Santa Rosa, Calif.: Polebridge tiplicity and difference that everyone perceives? Press, 2003); Marvin Meyer and Esther A. de The Advaita answer is maya. Multiplicity and dif- Boer, The Gospels of Mary: The Secret Tradition ference are merely appearances. They arise from of Mary Magdalene, the Companion of Jesus ignorance of the true nature of reality. Because of (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2004); Jane maya, our perceptions are mistaken, in the way Schaberg, The Resurrection of Mary Magdalene: that a person may step on a rope at night and mis- Legends, Apocrypha, and the Christian Testament take it for a snake. (New York: Continuum, 2002).

Maya religion The religion of the people living in masks and religion Disguises put on for reli- the Yucatan Peninsula and northern Central Amer- gious reasons. The wearing of masks as a part of ica before Europeans discovered the Americas. The a religious occasion is a common feature of PRIMAL Maya may be considered the classic civilization of RELIGION, and though not a central aspect of most pre-Columbian America. Their culture established contemporary religion, is still seen at HALLOWEEN, patterns that all other Mesoamericans adopted. The in various traditional European quasi-religious fes- Maya civilization began as early as 300 B.C.E. The tivals (St. Nicholas Day, Mardi Gras), and in some classic period, associated with sites such as Tikal in sacred dances of such traditions as SHINTO, TIBETAN Guatemala, ran from roughly 300 to 800 C.E. At the RELIGION, and HINDUISM. end of the classic period Maya civilization did not Masks are frequently employed in Native disappear; the postclassic Maya built wonders such American religions. The fundamental purpose as those at Chichén Itzá in Mexico. of RITUAL masks is to enable the wearer to iden- Maya culture fully deserves the name “civili- tify with or represent a god or spirit, including zation,” a term that denotes a way of life based demonic and ancestral spirits. This can be done for on cities. Maya culture concentrated at ceremonial dramatic purposes, as when mask-wearing is part centers. The most outstanding religious features of of a sacred play, dance, or rite in which supernatu- these centers remain: tall, stepped pyramids. They ral entities must be portrayed in order to instruct provided a base for Maya temples and a platform an audience, or as an offering to the deities them- for the performance of RITUALS. The well-known selves. They can also, as in the case of shamans Maya ballcourts, shaped like a capital “I,” were the going into trance, be a part of the performer’s own sites of ritual ballgames. subjective identifi cation with a god or spirit. Many Maya rituals were primarily sacrifi cial. The religious masks are of remarkable artistic power Maya sacrifi ced animals and, especially in the post- and afford deep insights into the culture’s spiritual classic period, human beings. They also presented consciousness. offerings of their own blood. They collected blood from a variety of body parts: tongues, arms, legs, earlobes, and genital organs. For example, in one maya A Sanskrit word for “appearance,” some- ritual the queen pulled a thorned rope through her times translated “illusion.” Maya is especially tongue. This use of blood may shock some North important in the Indian philosophical school Americans today, who tend to overlook the exten- known as Advaita VEDANTA. sive use of blood imagery in CHRISTIANITY. Some According to Advaita Vedanta, there is no ulti- scholars suggest helpfully that in giving blood, the mate difference between the reality that underlies Maya entered into a relationship of exchange with the universe (BRAHMAN) and the reality that under- the forces of life in the universe. These forces gave lies the human person (ATMAN). The question natu- the Maya life; the Maya gave them life in return. Mecca, pilgrimage to S 285

The most remarkable feature of Maya civiliza- tion was its elaborate conception of space and time. The Maya divided space into four quadrants sur- rounding a center point. The four quadrants rep- resented the four cardinal directions. Each direc- tion, as well as the center point, was associated with a tree. Each was also associated with a color: blue-green for the center, red for the east, black for the west, white for the north (perhaps better, the zenith), yellow for the south (perhaps better, the nadir). During the day the sun was said to traverse seven (or 13) layers of sky; during the night it tra- versed fi ve (or nine) layers of the underworld. The Maya calendar was extremely elaborate. It was based on patterns or “rounds” of recurring series, similar to the days of the week and the months of the year in North America today. One pattern combined a series of 20 names and 13 numbers, for a round of 260 days. A second pat- tern contained 18 “months” of 20 days, followed by fi ve extra days, for a round of 365 days. The two patterns ran simultaneously. Once every 52 years the fi rst dates in each of the two rounds would coincide. Scholars call each 52-year period a “calendar round.” The longest running Maya dating system was the Long Count. It began in 3114 B.C.E. It will be completed on December 23, 2012 C.E. A Mayan pyramid, the Temple of Inscriptions, in Palenque, In the 16th century, Spain conquered the Mexico (Getty Images) Maya, as it did the rest of Mesoamerica. But Maya religion did not disappear. It gave a distinctive character to the rituals, festivals, and saints in the the British Isles, May Day was a continuation of religion of the conquerors, ROMAN CATHOLICISM. Beltane, the pre-Christian Celtic spring festival. Its celebration remained important in rural England Further reading: Davíd Carrasco, Religions of into the 19th century. Remnants of the old May Mesoamerica: Cosmovision and Ceremonial Centers Day can still be found in special dances, proces- (Prospect Heights, Ill.: Waveland Press, 1998); sions, the erecting of maypoles, and the gathering Lynn V. Foster, Handbook to Life in the Ancient of spring fl owers for may-baskets in various places Maya World (New York: Facts On File, 2002); Popol in Britain and North America. Vuh: The Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life, trans. Dennis Tedlock, rev. ed. (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996). Mecca, pilgrimage to One of the “fi ve pillars” of ISLAM. In Arabic, the PILGRIMAGE to Mecca is known as the Hajj. Mecca is the site of the holiest shrine May Day The fi rst day of May, traditionally a day in Islam, the KAABA. The Kaaba is said to have been of celebrating fertility and the coming of spring. In built by ABRAHAM and his son Ishmael. Before the 286 S Mecca, pilgrimage to

rise of Islam, people in the region used to make the coast of the Red Sea. They put on a simple, pilgrimage to the Kaaba. In the year 630 C.E., the white garment worn specifi cally for the pilgrim- prophet MUHAMMAD purifi ed it of the 360 images it age. They also vow not to cut their hair or their fi n- contained. He also established pilgrimage to Mecca gernails or to engage in sexual activity during the as an important Islamic RITUAL. All Muslims should course of the pilgrimage. To enter the sacred area, try to make pilgrimage to Mecca at least once. But which includes the other sites to be visited as well this requirement should not pose any hardship. as Mecca, a person must be able to demonstrate Muslims are not allowed to make the pilgrimage if that she or he is Muslim. The Saudi government they have debts or must incur debts to do so, if they does not recognize separation of religion and gov- are too ill to travel, or if their participation would ernment, so the government controls entrance to mean diffi culties for those left behind. the sacred area. Since 630 C.E. very few non-Mus- Pilgrimage takes place during the fi rst half of lims have entered the sacred area. One who did the last month of the Islamic year. (Muslims use a was the English explorer Richard Burton (1821–90) lunar calendar, so as the years go by, the date of in 1853. the pilgrimage slowly progresses through all the The fi rst act most pilgrims perform is a ritual seasons.) Pilgrims traditionally arrive at Jidda on circling of the Kaaba. They circle the Kaaba seven

A bird’s-eye view of the Kaaba crowded with pilgrims (Library of Congress) meditation S 287

times, in imitation of the ANGELS, who are continu- hood and brotherhood of all human beings. After ally circling GOD’s heavenly throne. During the cir- making pilgrimage to Mecca in 1964, the Black cling, pilgrims also kiss or at least gesture in the Muslim leader, MALCOLM X, began to teach that not direction of a black stone built into the corner of all white people were devils, as he had previously the Kaaba. It is said that the angel Gabriel brought thought. this stone down from heaven as a sign of God’s favor to Abraham when he built the Kaaba. Further reading: Ann Parker and Avon Neal, The next act consists of running back and Hajj Paintings: Folk Art of the Great Pilgrimage forth seven times between two hills, then drink- (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, ing water from the well of Zamzam. This action 1995); F. E. Peters, The Hajj: The Muslim Pilgrimage recalls the plight of Abraham’s wife Hagar and her to Mecca and the Holy Places (Princeton, N.J.: son Ishmael. Abandoned by Abraham at this spot Princeton University Press, 1994); Michael Wolfe, in the desert, Hagar frantically ran to what she ed., One Thousand Roads to Mecca: Ten Centuries thought were pools of water at the foot of the hills. of Travelers Writing about the Muslim Pilgrimage When in desperation she returned to her son, she (New York: Grove Press, 1997). found that in playing he had kicked open an arte- sian well. Pilgrims recall that all human beings, like Hagar and Ishmael, depend upon God’s gra- meditation Quieting the mind in order to focus cious gifts to sustain life. deeply on religious experience and religious real- The most important ritual of the pilgrimage ity. For some people, meditation just means to takes place from noon to sundown on the ninth think deeply and seriously about something. In a day of the month. Pilgrims stand at the Mount of religious context, however, it is more likely to indi- Mercy and the Plain of Arafat in front of it. Here cate either visualization of a religious topic, such they beseech God for forgiveness. Islam teaches as a symbol or a scene from the scriptures, with that at this spot God reconciled ADAM and EVE appropriate feelings and thoughts, or a stopping of when they quarreled. It also teaches that at this the activity of mind altogether in order to experi- spot all of us will appear for the fi nal judgment at ence religious reality directly. the end of time. The former method, visualization, is particu- On the tenth day pilgrims hurl stones at three larly associated with ROMAN CATHOLICISM in the pillars. Then, if fi nances permit, they sacrifi ce a Counter-Reformation period (16th–17th centu- goat. In doing this, they recall the faithfulness of ries) and in the writings of such SAINTS as Ignatius Abraham and Ishmael. When God commanded Loyola and Francis de Sales. Devotees were asked Abraham to sacrifi ce Ishmael, the devil appeared to picture in their minds scenes from the life of to Ishmael and urged him not to cooperate. In CHRIST or church teaching. Visualization is also response, Ishmael threw stones at the devil. At the found in BHAKTI (devotional) HINDUISM in relation to last minute, God rewarded Abraham and Ishmael its gods, and in BUDDHISM, especially TIBETAN RELI- by substituting the sacrifi ce of a goat. At Mina, too, GION, wherein one’s patronal BUDDHA or BODHISATTVA pilgrims leave the special state of pilgrimage by is evoked before one’s inner eyes through a com- having at least three of their hairs cut. They may bination of MANTRA (chant), MUDRA (hand gesture), also visit Mecca and circle the Kaaba again. Many and mental concentration. In JUDAISM, meditation pilgrims take the opportunity of their journey to has particularly been associated with KABBALAH and visit other sacred sites, such as the town of Medina concentration on Hebrew letters and words. where the prophet Muhammad is buried. Quieting the mind in order to go beyond all Over a million Muslims make pilgrimage to forms and concepts in the mind, sometimes called Mecca every year. It is a powerful, visual demon- contemplation or contemplative prayer rather than stration of the universality of Islam and the sister- meditation in the West, is found in older versions 288 S Melanesian religion

of Christian MYSTICISM, which were under the infl u- From the 17th to the 19th centuries, many Men- ence of Neoplatonic philosophy with its teaching nonite groups immigrated to the United States and that fully to experience the One the contemplative Canada. The earliest immigrants were important in person should rise above all thought to absorption the settlement of Pennsylvania. Perhaps the best in oneness. This form of meditation can be found known group is an offshoot called the AMISH. They in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox mysti- separated from other Mennonites in the 1690s. At cism in all periods. issue was how to enforce the community’s disci- In the East, ways of stopping the stream of pline or way of life. The Amish believe that those consciousness (or the “monkey mind” as it is who violate the discipline should be shunned, in sometimes called) are widely taught. The idea other words, totally avoided. Other Mennonites behind these “one-pointed concentrations” is that fi nd this penalty too harsh. Today, other subtle dif- if the mind can be brought to rest on one object, ferences also separate the Old Order Amish from the stream of consciousness will cease; eventu- the “plain” or most traditional Mennonites. For ally perhaps even that one point can be taken example, even plain Mennonites allow buttons on away. Such point of focus may be visual: a simple clothing; the Old Order Amish allow only hook- symbol, a candle fl ame; auditory, as a mantra and-eye fasteners. chanted inwardly; or mental, a point of light, a Although Mennonites have drawn up state- picture, a word held still in the mind. The idea of ments of belief, they recognize the BIBLE as the this kind of meditation is to let the mind take a only authority. Mennonite WORSHIP services tend vacation, ceasing its activity in order to fi nd out to be simple, emphasizing reading from the Bible, what it is when it is not thinking about anything preaching, and congregational singing. Menno- in particular. According to the religious philoso- nites sometimes celebrate the EUCHARIST or com- phies behind such practices, that will enable it to munion in the context of a “love feast.” This get in touch with its true nature: BRAHMAN, Bud- involves not only eating and drinking but also dhahood, GOD. washing one another’s feet in imitation of JESUS at his last supper. In accordance with a teaching in the NEW Melanesian religion See PACIFIC OCEAN TESTAMENT, Mennonites have deliberately tried not RELIGIONS. to conform to the ways of the world. For some, but only for some, that has meant a rejection of modern dress and conveniences. For example, Mennonites A Christian group named after “black bumper Mennonites” have black cars with Menno Simons (1496–1561), a Dutch priest. Dur- no chrome. Most Mennonites, however, nurture ing the Protestant REFORMATION, groups in Swit- a life-style of simplicity and discipleship while zerland and the Netherlands came to reject the wearing contemporary clothing and using mod- practice of infant BAPTISM. They believed that only ern conveniences. persons who were able to attest to their FAITH From the 1530s on, Mennonites have refused should be baptized and that people who had been to carry arms, hold public offi ce, and take oaths. baptized as infants should be baptized again. As a That behavior has caused various governments to result, they were known as Anabaptists, “re-bap- question their loyalty. But the tradition of pacifi sm tizers.” Some of the earliest Anabaptists used force and, more broadly, the desire to put the teach- in trying to order society in accordance with GOD’s ings of Jesus into practice have given Mennonites commands. But by 1535 their attempts had failed. a well-developed social conscience. Unlike some Ever since then Anabaptists have followed Menno liberal branches of North American PROTESTANT- Simons in advocating a strict separation of church ISM, Mennonites have not generally tried to reform and state. They are now known as Mennonites. society. Instead, they have been extremely active Mesopotamian religions S 289

in disaster relief, in promoting world peace, and rians imagined that the gods of their city-states in fostering economic development, especially met in assembly. At any given time, the most among indigenous Americans and people living infl uential god in the assembly was the one in the Third World. The Mennonite Central Com- whose city had the most power on Earth. Each mittee (MCC), founded in 1920, coordinates these city’s gods resided in image form in temples. efforts for the Mennonite and Brethren churches Servants—that is, priests—tended to their needs. in North America. (The Brethren are similar to the They were supported in part by the land that the Mennonites but have a different history.) At the god owned. beginning of the 21st century the MCC was active For several centuries various city-states com- in more than 50 countries worldwide as well as in peted for power. One city would take control of an the United States and Canada. area. But its rule never lasted very long. In about 2350 B.C.E., that pattern began to change. Rulers arose who sought to dominate all of Mesopota- Mesopotamian religions The ancient religions mia. In the end two regional powers, Babylon and of the area that is now Iraq. Mesopotamian reli- Assyria, competed with each other to be supreme. gions existed from the beginnings of city-based When Assyria was in charge, its god Assur was culture down to 539 B.C.E., when Mesopotamia thought to be the greatest; when Babylon ruled, its was conquered by the Persian Empire. god Marduk was supreme. But neither the Assyrians nor the Babylonians HISTORY could maintain their rule indefi nitely. They could Mesopotamia means “the land between the riv- not resist the rising power of Persia to the east, ers.” It refers to the land between the Tigris and in the area known today as Iran. In 539 Cyrus the Euphrates rivers. In ancient times the north- the Persian conquered Babylon and thus became ern and western half of this region was known as the ruler of the entire region. If Cyrus’s victory is Assyria. The southern and eastern half was known remembered today, that is because he allowed the as Babylonia. Both regions fi gure prominently in Jews who were living in exile in Babylon to return the BIBLE. The Assyrians destroyed the northern home to JERUSALEM. kingdom of Israel; the Babylonians destroyed the southern kingdom of Judah, and with it SOLOMON’s BELIEFS temple in JERUSALEM. In the earliest days, Babylonia The names of some Mesopotamian gods clearly was itself divided into two parts. Its northwestern connect them with forces in nature. Inanna’s name half was known as Akkadia; its southeastern half means “mistress of the sky,” Enki’s means “lord was known as Sumer. of the earth.” But the Mesopotamians thought Around 3500 B.C.E. civilization, that is, city- that their gods looked like human beings. They based culture, emerged in Sumer. Earlier there had also thought that the gods of the different cities been small cities in other parts of the Near East. were relatives of one another, and that they met in But Sumer appears to have been the earliest civi- assembly to discuss their differences. lization. The historian Samuel Noah Kramer once By the third millennium B.C.E. (3000–2001 claimed that “history begins at Sumer.” He had in B.C.E.), Mesopotamians had ranked their gods in mind the many “fi rsts” that the Sumerians could order of importance. The highest god was An, god boast. They devised the fi rst system of writing; of the sky and father of the gods. Enlil, the god they were the fi rst to have mass production (they of wind and storms, was the leader of the assem- had mass-produced dishes); and they built the fi rst bly of gods. Other important gods included Nin- monumental temples. hursaga (GODDESS of the foothills), Inanna and her The Sumerians lived in independent city- lover Dumuzi, Ereshkigal (queen of the dead), states, each with its own special god. The Sume- and Enki. These gods were eventually eclipsed in 290 S Mesopotamian religions importance by Assur, god of Assyria, and Marduk, “Enuma Elish” tells how the world came to be. god of Babylon. One story attributes human sickness and disease The Mesopotamians developed a rich litera- to a drunken argument between the god Enki and ture. It explored some topics that are still profound the goddess Ninhursaga. today. The story of GILGAMESH tells of a powerful The story of Atrahasis is equally pessimistic king who is disturbed by the fact that all people, about the place of human beings in the world. himself included, must die. A poem known as The gods did not wish to work, it says, so they killed a god, mixed its blood with dirt, and made human beings. But human beings were too noisy for Enlil, so he tried to kill them off with a great FLOOD. He failed, but only because Ea—Akkadian for Enki—told Atrahasis to build an ark. When the fl ood came, Atrahasis, his family, and representa- tive animals entered the ark and were saved.

PRACTICES AND ORGANIZATION The Mesopotamians thought that their gods lived in heaven, but they also felt that the gods dwelled on Earth in image form. These images were kept in special buildings known as temples. It was there that much of Mesopotamian RITUAL took place. Two kinds of rituals were performed at the temples. In daily rituals the needs of the gods were met. Priests would change the image’s clothes according to a regular schedule. They also placed food in front of the image at meal times for it to eat. When the god was fi nished, the food would be distributed among the priests themselves and perhaps the king. A second kind of ritual comprised the festi- vals that occurred throughout the year, such as the New Year’s ritual. On these occasions the sacred image was brought outside the temple, and people besides priests would take part in the celebration. Some infl uential scholars have called the festivals sacred dramas. They have identifi ed several differ- ent dramas: the sacred marriage, death, the jour- ney, ritual plowing, and ritual combat. Not all Mesopotamian worship centered on images in city temples. Individuals had their per- sonal gods, whom they thought of as parents. They worshipped these gods daily on altars at home. In The hero Gilgamesh, holding a serpent in one hand, with addition, Mesopotamians were particularly inter- a lion cub tucked under his arm (Bonomi, Nineveh and Its ested in learning the will of the gods. They believed Palaces, 1875 [after Bottal]) that at times gods appeared to them in dreams. messiah S 291

They also believed that they could determine the The word “messiah” is not used in the Hebrew character of the universe at a given moment by BIBLE (Old Testament) in any of these ways. Instead, examining the entrails of sheep and, in the later the word refers to people who have received a spe- period, by watching the stars and planets. cial offi ce through a RITUAL of anointing. It refers especially to priests and kings. The Hebrew Bible SIGNIFICANCE does contain passages that envision a future golden Although Mesopotamian religions are no longer age. But none of the visionary passages connect practiced, they have left behind a rich legacy in the this restoration with a fi gure called the messiah. world’s oldest literature. As the story of Atrahasis ISAIAH comes closest to doing so. He calls Cyrus, shows, Mesopotamian religions also had an impact the king of Persia, YHWH’s (“the Lord’s”) messiah on the religion of ancient Israel, and through it on (Isaiah 45.1). That is because, acting on YHWH’s JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, and ISLAM. behalf, Cyrus had conquered Babylon and allowed the Jews to return home. Further reading: Jeremy Black and Anthony A little before the time of Jesus, the idea of Green, Gods, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient a messiah was joined to expectations of a future Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary (London: bliss coming at the end of time. Jews began to look University of Texas Press, 1992); Jean Bottero, for many messiahs. Some of them were priestly in Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia (Chicago: nature; some were kingly. A community connected University of Chicago Press, 2001); Diane Wolkstein with the DEAD SEA SCROLLS seems to have expected and Samuel Noah Kramer, Inanna, Queen of two messiahs, one of each kind. Heaven and Earth: Her Stories and Hymns from In this climate the early followers of Jesus pro- Sumer (New York: Harper & Row, 1983). claimed that he was the messiah. They combined the idea that the messiah will come at the end of time with a notion that the messiah had already messiah An English adaptation of the Hebrew come. They also separated the ideal of the mes- word mashiah, which means “anointed with oil.” siah from the nationalist aspirations of the Jewish Technically, the messiah is a fi gure in Jewish tra- people. Very early on CHRISTIANITY became a move- dition. He will come in the future to restore the ment among non-Jews rather than Jews. glories of Israel at the end of time and establish With the destruction of the Second Temple peace among the nations. Christians claim that the (70 C.E.) and the failure of Bar Kokhba’s revolt messiah has already come in the person of JESUS. (135 C.E.) expectations of a messiah grew within In fact, the word CHRIST—and thus the name for JUDAISM. These expectations addressed the life of the religion—derives from the Greek word for an excluded and persecuted minority. Not only “anointed with oil.” did Moses Maimonides (1135–1204) list belief in More loosely, messiah refers to any religious a coming messiah as one of the 13 beliefs that fi gure who will come and rescue a group of people all Jews shared; messiahs often actually came. from situations of suffering and usher in a golden The most famous was Shabbatai Zvi (1626–76). He age. The Mahdi of ISLAM fi ts this description. He proclaimed himself the messiah and gained a large will come at the end of time to reestablish order following among Jews in Turkey. Some of his fol- and faith in GOD when all around has become lowers refused to abandon their belief in him even chaos. Similar fi gures, more or less messianic, when, under pressure, he committed the unpar- include the future incarnation of the Hindu god donable sin of converting to ISLAM. VISHNU known as Kalki; the BUDDHA who is to come The experience of such false messiahs had its known as Maitreya; and many religious leaders effect. Today many Jews downplay any expecta- among colonized peoples in the 19th and early tions that a messiah will come. But some, such 20th centuries. as Abraham Kook (1865–1935), have connected 292 S Methodism

ZIONISM with messianism. And shortly before RABBI Methodism was particularly successful in the Moses Menachem Schneersohn, the leader of the United States. Because its ministers traveled, they Lubavitch Hasidic community, died in New York in could meet the needs of settlers pushing the fron- 1994, many of his followers expected that he was tiers west. But Methodism paid for its success with the messiah. division. African Americans found themselves second-class members of the white-dominated Further reading: Wim Beuken, Seán Freyne, and churches. They formed the African Methodist Epis- Anton Weiler, ed., Messianism through History copal Church (1816) and the African Methodist (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1993); Richard Episcopal Zion Church (1820), which still fl ourish S. Hess and M. Daniel Carroll R., ed., Israel’s today. During the Civil War, the Methodists split Messiah in the Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls into Northern and Southern churches. During the (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2003); 19th century other Methodist churches were orga- Jerry Rabow, Fifty Jewish Messiahs: The Untold nized as well. The Holiness movements empha- Life Stories of Fifty Jewish Messiahs since Jesus sized ecstatic religious experiences; they caused and How They Changed the Jewish, Christian, some people to leave Methodism altogether (see and Muslim Worlds (New York: Gefen Pub. PENTECOSTALISM). House, 2002). During the 20th century fragmented Method- ist groups reunited in both Britain and the United States. In Britain the largest Methodist body is the Methodism A variety of CHRISTIANITY begun by Methodist Church, formed in 1932; in the United John WESLEY (1703–91). Wesley was a priest in the States it is the United Methodist Church, formed Church of England (see ANGLICANISM). In 1738 he in 1968. Methodist MISSIONARIES have also met with experienced a “strange warming” of his heart. It considerable success overseas. led him to undertake a distinctive form of minis- Methodism respects the traditional teachings try. Instead of preaching in a particular parish, he of Christianity, but unlike some other churches it traveled and preached throughout the country. His does not insist on doctrinal unity. It prefers instead preaching emphasized the power of GOD’s GRACE to emphasize that God’s spirit has the power to to save sinners, a personal relationship with God, change lives and to encourage Christians to cul- and the possibility of developing Christian perfec- tivate a personal relationship with God. Thus, tion. Wesley preached especially to the poor. He Methodism has a profound personal dimension. At also authorized laypersons to preach. the same time, Methodists have actively embraced Wesley formed his followers into a society social concerns. within the Church of England, but that relationship Methodist WORSHIP sometimes takes the form to the church did not last. One reason it did not of a LITURGY; sometimes it is freer. Services gener- was the North American experience. Methodists ally include the PREACHING of a sermon, readings had brought Wesley’s form of Christianity to the from the BIBLE, PRAYERS, and singing. Hymn-singing British colonies of North America. Francis Asbury, has been a particularly important part of Method- a blacksmith by trade, was the most successful ist worship life. John Wesley promoted the use of early preacher. After the Revolution American hymns. His brother Charles wrote some of the best Methodists did not want to remain in the Church loved hymns in the English language, for example, of England. In 1784 they organized an independent the well-known CHRISTMAS carol, “Hark, the Herald church. That same year Wesley established a Gen- Angels Sing.” eral Conference in England to govern his society Methodist churches have different institu- when he died. In 1795, four years after Wesley’s tional structures in different parts of the world. death, the Methodists in Britain also broke with The Methodist churches in the United States are the Church of England. episcopal; that is, they are governed by bishops. millenarianism S 293

Traditionally Methodism employed itinerant minis- millenarianism Religious movements that ters, sometimes called “circuit riders.” These min- expect SALVATION to come very soon in this world. isters would travel from group to group, preach, (The word comes from the Christian belief, taken and supervise spiritual progress. Today Methodist from the book of REVELATION, that speaks of a ministers in the United States are more tied to spe- coming millennium, or golden age of a thou- cifi c localities. sand years.) Millenarianism expects salvation to come to believers as a group, to come in this Further reading: Riley B. Case, Evangelical and world through a miraculous total transformation Methodist: A Popular History (Nashville: Abingdon of it into a paradise. Usually these beliefs have an Press, 2004); Stephen Tomkins, John Wesley: A apocalyptic character (see APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE) Biography (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W. B. Eerdmans, as well, that is, they say that though things may 2003); John H. Wigger, Taking Heaven by Storm: seem to be very bad, and getting worse and worse Methodism and the Rise of Popular Christianity in in this world, that is really just preparation for the America (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2001). new world. Suddenly, when least expected by all except those in on the secret, GOD will act, per- haps a savior will appear, a surprising and radical Micah A book in the BIBLE, and the name of changes will take place. Then the FAITH of those the prophet whose words it supposedly contains. who believed in the coming change, even during Micah is one of the prophetic books that make up the darkest hours, will be vindicated. the collection known as “The Twelve.” A good example would be CARGO CULTS, those Micah is the least well-known of a group of movements in colonialized areas, especially in eighth-century prophets in ancient Israel and the South Pacifi c, which said that ships or planes Judah. Other prophets in this group included ISA- would come from the old gods to bring to native IAH, Amos, and HOSEA. They emphasized worship- peoples goods like the white man’s, and that this ping YHWH (“the Lord”) alone and furthering would start a golden age. In the Buddhist world, a social justice. succession of movements has been based on the Like Isaiah, Micah was a prophet in the south- expectation that Maitreya, the coming BUDDHA of ern kingdom of Judah. He witnessed the fall of the future, would arrive soon. Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom, to In JUDAISM and CHRISTIANITY, a succession of Assyria around 721 B.C.E. and the Assyrian siege of millenarian movements has predicted the immi- JERUSALEM 20 years later. Unlike Isaiah, Micah came nent coming of the MESSIAH. In Judaism, perhaps from the countryside, not the capital city. the best known is that centered on Shabbatai Zvi Micah prophesied that Jerusalem would actu- (1626–76), whose claim to be the messiah caused ally be destroyed—a prophecy that was relatively great excitement within that tradition. In Christian- rare. Among Christians he is best known for ity, SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM was originally based on associating the Messianic ruler with Bethlehem. the teachings of William Miller (1782–1849), who Micah also envisioned a time of universal peace predicted the second coming of CHRIST in 1844. in stirring and infl uential images: “they shall beat The JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES have also kept alive mil- their swords into ploughshares, and their spears lenarian faith. Some more liberal Christians have into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword interpreted millennial belief to mean a gradual, against nation, neither shall they learn war any progressive coming of the kingdom of God. more” (Micah 4.3). Millenarianism usually implies a discouraged view of the world, a strong sense of the differ- ence between the way things are and the way one Micronesian religion See PACIFIC OCEAN would wish them to be. It may sometimes seem RELIGIONS. to be merely “wishful thinking,” more wanting 294 S miracles

to escape from the world than wanting to change terranean world sick people often slept in the it. Yet millenarian movements have often had a temple of Asklepios; some experienced dreams profound historical impact. They have vigorously and were miraculously healed. Mountain ascet- expressed the discontent of mistreated people, and ics in Japan known as yamabushi healed the sick mobilized them for eventual action on political as and cast out demons. In the United States today well as religious levels. Their visions of a better some people offer miraculous healings over tele- future have inspired both utopians and reformers. vision sets. They have started religious movements that, some- Christianity claims miraculous powers for times with changes, have survived as important JESUS. The NEW TESTAMENT presents him as heal- denominations. And they have repeatedly demon- ing, casting out demons, and performing other strated the richness and power of religious VISIONS miracles. BUDDHISM says the BUDDHA could perform of the ideal world. miracles but was skeptical of them. He once met a person who, after years of spiritual discipline, could walk on water. He lamented that this person miracles Extraordinary events that people claim had wasted so much time; it is relatively cheap to point to religious truth. It is not quite correct to hire a boat. According to the QUR’AN the prophet say that miracles are “supernatural” events. Some MUHAMMAD’s miracle was having received God’s religions says that miracles happen by perfectly revelation of the Qur’an. natural but unusual processes. In the Muslim tradition of SUFISM those close Many people throughout history have used to God are believed to have performed miracles. miracles to argue that their particular religions are Christian SAINTS are believed to have done so, too. true. Those who practice Hindu YOGA claim that Indeed, the Roman Catholic Church declares people siddhis, miraculous powers, show that they have to be saints only if they have performed authenti- reached certain stages of realization. Celsus, an cated miracles. The Virgin MARY has miraculously ancient opponent of CHRISTIANITY, thought that appeared to Roman Catholics on many occasions. Christian claims were nothing special compared RELICS often perform miracles, too. with pagan miracles. In fact, people in virtually Not everyone accepts miracles. The ancient every religion have experienced miracles. Roman philosopher Cicero rejected them. The two Some miracles are events that affect our natural most important leaders of the Protestant REFOR- surroundings. The anthropologist Clifford Geertz MATION, Martin LUTHER and John CALVIN, encour- once noted how some residents on the island of aged their followers not to look for miracles. In his Bali saw spiritual force at work in a large, rapidly Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748), growing mushroom. In the fall of 1995 images of the Scottish philosopher David Hume laid down a the Hindu god GANESA created a stir in India and principle upon which many have rejected miracles. around the world when they seemed to drink milk. According to Hume, we can accept evidence that Miracles of nature may be connected with SALVA- a miracle has occurred on only one condition: If it TION and deliverance. When YHWH (“the Lord”) would be an even bigger miracle for the evidence freed the people of Israel from Egypt, he did so of the miracle to prove unreliable. with many miracles. In the 1960s lava from Mount Many still fi nd miracles meaningful today. Agung on Bali miraculously missed a temple of According to the Protestant theologian Paul Tillich, SIVA that it should have destroyed. any event that reveals God is a miracle, regardless Miracles do not happen just in nature; they of whether it violates the laws of nature. The psy- happen to human beings, too. Miraculous heal- chologist Carl Gustav JUNG explored miracles in his ings are ideal examples (see HEALING, RELIGIOUS). notion of “synchronicity.” Philosophers of science Shamans (see SHAMANISM) heal by means that we such as Paul Feyerabend have argued that “world- might consider miraculous. In the ancient Medi- views” that reject miracles are no more valid than missionaries S 295

those that accept them. Just as signifi cant, many ist Christians were passing themselves off as “mes- religious people still retain their traditional views. sianic” Jews. In this way they hoped to convert For them, miracles are part of what happens when unsuspecting Jews to Christianity. Such excesses human beings encounter religious power. are not limited to Christianity, but North American readers are likely to understand these examples more readily. missionaries People who attempt to convert other people to their religion. Not all religions BUDDHIST MISSIONS proselytize, which is the attempt to convert others. According to tradition, the BUDDHA himself sent In many religions, people practice their own reli- out the fi rst Buddhist missionaries. He instructed gions, and they expect other people, usually living monks to carry the DHARMA of Buddhism in every in other places, to practice theirs. Good examples direction. The places where Buddhism is prac- are JUDAISM, some of whose branches also do not ticed today are a witness to their success. Only a accept converts, and the Japanese religion SHINTO. small number of Buddhists live in India, the land Other religions have not proselytized for practical where Buddhism arose. But Buddhist missionaries reasons. The PARSEES—modern Zoroastrians—are a from India had a profound infl uence on southeast, good example. They do not even accept converts. east, and central Asia. Buddhist missionaries from According to tradition, when the Parsees migrated China established large Buddhist communities in to India, they were allowed to live there on one Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. condition: that they promise not to proselytize. Buddhism has generally spread in two ways. Other religions, however, have seen it as a Buddhist monks often traveled with merchants. religious duty to spread their truth throughout the They walked the ancient routes to southern world. If success is measured by the number of India; they traveled by ship to southeast Asia; people converted, the most successful proselytiz- and they followed the Silk Road to China. Rul- ing religions have been BUDDHISM, CHRISTIANITY, and ers who favored Buddhism have also spread it. ISLAM. At best, missionaries present their religions Examples include ASOKA, an emperor in India in and allow other people to accept or reject them the third century B.C.E., and rulers in China and in complete freedom. They adapt their messages Japan. to fi t the cultures of the peoples whom they are After roughly 1000 C.E. there was relatively proselytizing. They also exhibit a genuine concern little missionary effort in Buddhism. But starting for other people, for example, by sharing medical in the late 19th century, Buddhists began to pros- advances. Albert Schweitzer is a good example of elytize once again. They did so largely in response a medical missionary. to European colonization and Christian missionary Not all missionaries have observed these prin- efforts. Buddhist missionaries created a small Bud- ciples. Some missionaries have achieved conver- dhist revival in India. Starting in the 1960s, they sion through physical coercion. For example, after also attracted many North Americans and Europe- defeating the Saxons (an early German people) ans to Buddhism. in battle, Emperor Charlemagne gave them two choices: Be baptized or die. Many missionaries CHRISTIAN MISSIONS have declared local cultures depraved and sinful. Tradition says that JESUS, like the Buddha, sent his For example, in the 20th century some African followers out into the world to spread his message. Christians still refused to use traditional African The most famous early missionary was the apostle music in worship because European and North PAUL. He carried the message of Christianity to American missionaries had earlier condemned it. non-Jews living in the northeastern Mediterranean Some missionaries have also resorted to deception. region (modern Greece and Turkey). Tradition At the end of the 20th century some fundamental- says that other apostles were missionaries, too. 296 S Mithra

The COPTIC CHURCH claims to have been started by messages from GOD, Islam stretched from Spain Mark, who wrote one of the gospels. Christians in through all of North Africa to present-day Iran. In the southwestern Indian state of Kerala claim that later centuries it spread in much of central Asia, the apostle Thomas started their church. Africa south of the Sahara, and in south and south- In its fi rst few centuries, Christianity spread east Asia. Indeed, Indonesia is today the most pop- especially in the Roman Empire, which controlled ulous Islamic country. the area around the Mediterranean Sea. Beginning The main networks for the spread of Islam in 600 C.E. Christian missionary efforts focused on were trade, education, and expansion led by mili- Europe. The Roman Catholic Church converted tary rulers. This was true of the early expansion in western, northern, and central Europe. The Ortho- North Africa and the Near East. It was also true of dox churches were active in eastern Europe and the expansion of Islam into south Asia. In south especially Russia. Monks were extremely impor- Asia people adopted Islam because they found its tant to this process. They often established their teachings and civilization attractive. Many also communities in lands that were not previously found that Islam allowed them to escape from the Christian. limitations of their caste (see CASTE IN HINDUISM). With the discovery of the Americas and the beginning of European overseas colonization, MODERN DEVELOPMENTS Christian missionaries turned to areas outside of During the 20th century many Christian missionar- Europe. Indeed, Christian missions often played a ies became embarrassed by some of the activities very important role in spreading European domi- of their predecessors. They no longer told others nation over the rest of the world. In the 16th and that Christianity was right and other religions were 17th centuries, Roman Catholic missionaries con- wrong. Instead, they practiced interreligious DIA- verted Mexico, Central America, and South Amer- LOGUE. In such dialogue people tried to understand ica to Christianity. They were also active in India, each other’s version of the truth. China, and Japan. In the 19th century Protestants At the same time, missionaries associated with caught the missionary fervor and formed many Pentacostal Christianity were very active in Latin missionary societies. Missionaries from most Prot- America and Africa. In Latin America, they often estant churches were extremely active in Euro- converted people who were Roman Catholics. In pean colonies overseas. That is especially true of addition, North America itself became a fertile missionaries from Great Britain, the United States, mission fi eld for other religions. Hindu, Buddhist, and Canada. Muslim, Sikh (see SIKHISM), BAHA’I, and other mis- sionaries were all active in North America. Their MUSLIM MISSIONS success was generally limited, but they did help The QUR’AN teaches that no one should be forced make North America more religiously plural. to accept Islam by physical coercion. People should become Muslims because they are persuaded that Further reading: Meg Greene, Mother Teresa: A Islam is true. But Europeans and their descendants Biography (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, have tended to emphasize the role of military 2004); Stephen Neill, A History of Christian Missions power in the spread of Islam. That is due, at least (New York: Penguin, 1986); Ruth A. Tucker, From in part, to past European history. Islamic armies Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of threatened Europe on several occasions, from the Christian Missions, 2d ed. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: battle of Tours, France (732 or 733), to the con- Zondervan, 2004). quest of Constantinople (1453) and the sieges of Vienna, Austria (1529, 1683). Islam spread rapidly at fi rst. One hundred Mithra A deity originally from Persia, where years after the prophet MUHAMMAD began receiving he became a leading subordinate of Ahura Mazda monks and nuns S 297

in ZOROASTRIANISM. In the days of the Roman in religious practice by observing the basic “pre- Empire, Mithra moved west to become the cen- cepts” or instructions. This relationship between tral fi gure in a religion called Mithraism. He was monks and nuns on the one hand and lay sym- identifi ed with light and was closely associated phatizers or supporters on the other also char- with the sun. In Mithraism the god is usually acterizes JAINISM and the now-defunct religion portrayed killing a bull, the animal representing known as MANICHAEISM. darkness and chaos; this sacrifi ce made possi- In other religions, monks and nuns are more ble the creation of the world. Mithraism, which peripheral. For example, Christianity did not grow offered several stages of initiation, a ceremonial up around, nor is it centered around, monks and meal and a sort of BAPTISM, was popular among nuns. Instead, monks and nuns arose later as spe- soldiers in the Roman army and was an early cialists within some Christian traditions. Christians rival of CHRISTIANITY. respect monks and nuns for their special religious devotion, but they do not consider monasticism a lifestyle that they will need to follow someday in monks and nuns Men and women who adopt order to achieve salvation. HINDUISM, TAOISM, and a special, religious way of life. This life usually ISLAM also have monasticism of this kind. means that they do not marry, have families, or In both kinds of monasticism, people go work at secular jobs. through a special initiation ritual to become Not all religions have monks and nuns. JUDA- monks and nuns (see INITIATION, RELIGIOUS). They ISM has taught that marriage and family life are may also spend several years as “novices” to see religious duties. Protestants have generally rejected whether this life is right for them. As novices and monasticism, too. But monasticism has been then as monks and nuns they follow a discipline. important in many religions, including BUDDHISM, Disciplines generally regulate diet (see DIET AND JAINISM, ROMAN CATHOLICISM, and EASTERN ORTHODOX RELIGION). They may also require monks and nuns CHRISTIANITY. to wear special clothes. But above all, disciplines organize daily activities. They make time for reli- A GENERAL DESCRIPTION gious practice—in Christianity, perhaps the daily Monks and nuns always belong in some way to services known as hours, in ZEN BUDDHISM ZAZEN a wider religious community. That is true even or seated MEDITATION. They may also require monks if they have no permanent homes or live off by and nuns to spend time in study and labor. themselves (hermits). If a group of people adopts a Most religions that have monks also have nuns. special life-style but has no connection to a wider But religions have often been more willing to allow religious community, its members are not monks men to adopt this lifestyle than to allow women and nuns. They belong to a sect, for example, the to do so. For example, it is said that although the ESSENES in the late Second Temple period of Juda- BUDDHA established an order for nuns, he did so ism (the time of JESUS). reluctantly. Indeed, within Theravada Buddhism Monks and nuns typically relate to the more the order of nuns has died out. Attempts are now general community in one of two ways. In some under way to revive it. religions they constitute the core of that commu- nity. For example, in THERAVADA BUDDHISM monks MONKS AND NUNS IN ASIAN RELIGIONS and nuns devote themselves full-time to practic- The oldest monastic traditions in the world are ing the Buddha’s teachings. They make up the found in Buddhism and Jainism. These two reli- SANGHA. Lay Buddhists hope someday to adopt the gions arose during the sixth century B.C.E. in India. monastic lifestyle, perhaps in a future life. In the They did so among groups of ascetics known as sra- meantime, they provide monks and nuns with the manas. No one know precisely when the sramana necessities of life. They also make a beginning movement began. In the time of the Buddha and 298 S monks and nuns

MAHAVIRA followers of this tradition rejected the life a retired soldier named Pachomius (c. 290–346) of the householder and wandered the countryside formed the fi rst Christian community of monks. He begging. They also rejected the religion of house- also founded a community of nuns for his sister. holders, that is, the SACRIFICES described in sacred Different rules organize monastic life in Chris- texts known as the VEDA. tianity. Of these, the most important are the rules Both the Buddha and Mahavira formed their of Basil of Caesarea for the Orthodox churches and religions around groups of monks and nuns that Benedict of Nursia for the Roman Catholic Church are sometimes called SANGHAS. In time these (see BENEDICTINES). In both the Orthodox and Cath- communities split over issues of teaching and olic worlds, the monastic ideal infl uenced the way practice. churches were organized. For example, all Ortho- Today there are two major groups of Jain dox bishops are usually monks, and all celibate monastics: Digambara and Svetambara. The names priests ordained in the Roman Catholic Church refer to the clothing that these monastics do—or can also become bishops. Roman Catholicism also do not—wear. Digambara monks are “sky-clad”; developed several different monastic “orders.” Of they wear no clothes. Svetambara monks and nuns these, the Benedictines have historically been the wear white clothes. most important. (Technically, DOMINICANS, Francis- In theory, all Buddhist monks and nuns cans, and JESUITS are “religious” but not monks.) observe a discipline whose Sanskrit name is pra- Roman Catholic monks and nuns have made tre- timoksha. The pratimoksha is recorded in differ- mendous contributions to European culture, espe- ent languages, and each version has a different cially during the Middle Ages. number of regulations. All versions place more restrictions on nuns than on monks. A few Bud- MONKS AND NUNS IN THE dhist schools, such as the True Pure Land school TWENTIETH CENTURY in Japan, have abandoned many of these regula- The 20th century saw important developments in tions (see PURE LAND BUDDHISM). For example, their the practice of monasticism. The Buddhist monas- priests marry and live in society. In China, how- tic community in China and Tibet suffered tremen- ever, Taoism created monasteries and convents in dously as a result of the communist revolution in imitation of Buddhism. 1949. Elsewhere in Asia, monks and nuns took Hinduism also has a place for those who part in efforts to expel former colonial rulers. Many want to reject the ways of the world. Such people Americans will never forget the images of Vietnam- become SADHUS and SADHVIS. Ideally, a Hindu man ese monks burning themselves during the Vietnam adopts a monastic lifestyle at the end of his life. War. In postcolonial Asian countries some monks But many do not wait that long. Even more never have supported violent nationalist movements, for adopt it at all. example, Buddhist monks in the Sri Lankan civil In the eighth century C.E. the great Hindu phi- war. Some Buddhist monks and nuns also moved losopher, Sankaracarya (see SANKARA), established to North America. By the end of the 20th century several important monasteries. Today some sadhus a number of North American Buddhists had taken and sadhvis are important leaders of conservative monastic vows (see BUDDHISM IN AMERICA). Hindu movements (see FUNDAMENTALISM, HINDU). During the 20th century Christian monks and nuns continued their traditional activities, such as CHRISTIAN MONKS AND NUNS teaching and social work. In North America mon- Christian monasticism began in Egypt. The fi rst asteries also began to hold retreats of limited dura- Christian monks and nuns were hermits; each lived tion for those who had not taken religious vows, by himself or herself. They were inspired by the especially college students. Some Christian monks example of St. Anthony (c. 251–355), who lived and nuns also began conversations with those in the Egyptian desert for 20 years. A little later who practiced other forms of monasticism. For Moon and religion, the S 299

example, the Trappist monk, Thomas Merton, was the whole universe has one origin, one rule, and very interested in Buddhist techniques of medita- one center of meaning. Things do not work just by tion. By the beginning of the twenty-fi rst century impersonal fate or laws of science, but ultimately several Catholic monks and nuns had also taken by the personal will of a supreme intelligence. To initiation as Zen teachers. many people this thought is very reassuring. Per- A few Protestants became interested in monas- sonal monotheism also says that people can have ticism during the 19th century; that interest con- a close relationship with this personal God, as one tinued into the 20th century. A good example of would with another person, through loving PRAYER Protestant monasticism is the community of Taize, and service. Monotheisms tend to see God as male, France, founded in 1940. or to use masculine language for God. Monotheism also most often says that the per- Further reading: Karl Suso Frank, With Greater sonal God is the Creator of the universe. If God Liberty: A Short History of Christian Monasticism is in control of the cosmos through his personal and Religious Orders (Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian will, at some point he must have started the pro- Publications, 1993); Kim Gutschow, Being a cess through a personal act of creation. Further, if Buddhist Nun: The Struggle for Enlightenment in the the universe began at some defi nite point, it pre- Himalayas (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University sumably will end at some point in time, or rather Press, 2004); Tim Vivian, trans., Journeying into at the end of time. This means that monotheistic God: Seven Early Monastic Lives (Minneapolis, religions usually take history seriously. They say it Minn.: Fortress Press, 1996). began through God’s creation and will end when his plan is completed, at a last judgment, and with the beginning of a paradisal world. monotheism Belief in one personal GOD. It may Personal monotheism also has God working in be contrasted with POLYTHEISM, or belief in many the world, in history, toward the accomplishment gods, and with monism, usually taken to mean of his purpose. If God is personal, and can act freely that everything is really part of one impersonal in accordance with his will, it would be surprising absolute, like the BRAHMAN of Advaita VEDANTA if, having made the world, he did nothing to help Hinduism. it keep on track as it moves to the fulfi llment of the The three great Western religions, JUDAISM, divine plan. Thus monotheistic religions generally CHRISTIANITY, and ISLAM, see themselves as tradi- say that God has indeed revealed himself within tionally monotheistic. They all stem ultimately human history, through sending prophets and sav- from the faith of ABRAHAM and from the religion of iors, through sacred scriptures, through MIRACLES ancient Israel. Another very important monotheist and the divine guidance of his SAINTS and the true religion is ZOROASTRIANISM, the FAITH of ancient Iran, religion. But because God respects the men and which may have infl uenced the Western monothe- women he has made, these signs are not such as isms. It should also be pointed out that Hindu devo- to override human freedom. tion to one of the great gods or GODDESSES, such as Monotheistic religions have then tended to VISHNU, SIVA, or DEVI, is generally actually mono- emphasize God’s sovereignty, God’s will, and God’s theism of that deity, for though the worshipper action in history, and also human response through may grant that the god may be worshipped under individual faith. other names, it is honored as the one supreme sus- tainer of the universe. Another religion of India, SIKHISM, is defi nitely monotheistic. Moon and religion, the The religious signifi - Monotheistic religion has a different character cance and symbolism of the moon. The Moon from polytheism or monism. By emphasizing one and the Sun have both had an important role in God, monotheism says that, despite appearances, religion as astronomical bodies with mythological 300 S Mormon, Mormonism

signifi cance and an identifi cation with divine giver of rain, and on a deeper, more symbolic level beings. But the signifi cance of the two has been to be an emblem of rebirth and immortality, for in different. The Sun has tended to be steady, jovial, its monthly cycle it seems to die and then return to life-giving, but the moon is more mysterious life. All this, together with its complex path in the in tone. The moon deity can be either a god or sky and its association with the night and its mys- GODDESS, usually the opposite gender from what- teries, make the moon seem mystical and strange. ever the sun is in that mythology, the Greek and Yet the Moon can also be a steady and reliable Roman, it is female, the Greek Artemis and Roman governor of the social order and RITUAL patterns, Diana (see MYTH AND MYTHOLOGY). She is a strong, for its phases can be calculated precisely. Indeed, independent woman, a hunter and wanderer in the phases of the Moon were probably the origin of wild places, but the protector of all her sex. Male the calendar. Our word month is related to moon. or female, the moon is divine ruler of women and So is an old word for “meetings,” moot, for before the female cycle, and is associated with water and artifi cial lighting tribal meetings and religious fes- the sea. The Moon is often thought to be the divine tivals would often be held at night, at the time of the full moon. Sometimes the waxing moon was considered benign, pouring out increased blessing, and the waning moon dangerous. The full moon was often a symbol of full divine inpouring. In BUDDHISM it is a sign of NIRVANA and full enlighten- ment, and the BUDDHA was said to have attained enlightenment on the night of the full moon. (But too much full moon can also be unsettling, making one a “lunatic” or “moon person.” Many religious celebrations are still set by the moon. ISLAM follows a lunar calendar, and the Jewish PASSOVER and Christian EASTER are set by the moon; they come after the paschal full moon, which is the fi rst full moon after the spring equi- nox on the 21st of March. Traditional HINDUISM, Buddhism, and SHINTO have major services set by the new and full moon. Though human beings have now set foot on the physical moon and know it to be a dead, rocky sphere, the spiritual moon continues to exercise its enigmatic infl uence on the religious world. See also SUN AND RELIGION, THE.

Mormon, Mormonism See LATTER-DAY SAINTS.

Moses (c. 1300 B.C.E.) a central fi gure in the Hebrew BIBLE (Old Testament) He led the children This is an abbreviated example of artistically re-created of Israel out of slavery in Egypt and received GOD’s tablets that Moses brought down from Mount instructions on Mount Sinai, also called Mount Sinai. (Getty Images) Horeb. mosque S 301

People sometimes speak of Moses as the Mount Sinai. When the people proved unfaithful, “founder” of JUDAISM. Moses is a central fi gure in God condemned them to wander in the wilderness the history of Judaism, but his role is somewhat without entering the promised land of Canaan. different from those of JESUS, MUHAMMAD, and the Moses himself lost the privilege of entering the BUDDHA, who founded CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM, and promised land when in anger he lashed out at BUDDHISM. These other fi gures gave the religions God’s instruction to draw water from a rock. At they founded a distinctly new and defi nitive shape. the end of Deuteronomy, Moses dies after looking But in important respects the religion of Moses is upon the promised land from a distance. said to go back to ABRAHAM. At the same time, Deuteronomy says quite clearly that no one the religion of ancient Israel took shape around knew where Moses was buried. This statement the Temple in JERUSALEM, well after Moses’ time. gave rise to stories that Moses was taken up into Judaism as we know it today, rabbinical Judaism, HEAVEN, as the nonbiblical books The Assumption came into existence only with the destruction of of Moses and Jubilees assert. The NEW TESTAMENT the Temple in 70 C.E. book of Jude (9–10) alludes to a Jewish story in Nevertheless, Jewish tradition considers Moses which the archangel Michael and the devil fought to be the author of the written TORAH, that is, the over Moses’ body. fi rst fi ve books of the Bible (despite the story of Outside sources do not even confi rm his exis- his death in Deuteronomy). He is also said to have tence. The name Moses is Egyptian. And most received the oral Torah on Mount Sinai. Because scholars think that some kind of EXODUS from Egypt the oral Torah forms the basis of the TALMUD, it is did occur, although the number of escaped slaves customary to refer to “our RABBI Moses.” that is recorded in the Bible may be quite exagger- The only information about Moses is found ated. Many date the exodus, and thus Moses, to in the Bible and related writings. At birth, Moses the time around 1250 B.C.E. Some like an earlier is said to have been placed in a basket, fl oated date around 1425. down the river, discovered by the daughter of the Egyptian king, and raised in the royal court. Very similar stories are told about other, earlier great mosque A place for congregational PRAYER and fi gures in the ancient Near East, such as Sargon of assembly in ISLAM. Muslims pray formally fi ve Akkad (c. 2350 B.C.E.). times a day. They may do so in an area set aside After killing an Egyptian who was abusing for prayer known as a mosque. This is especially a Hebrew slave, Moses fl ed to the wilderness of true of the noon prayer on Friday, which ought to Sinai. There he married Zipporah, daughter of be done communally. Jethro, and received instructions from God to liber- A mosque is a walled enclosure that may or ate the slaves in Egypt. God also appointed Moses’ may not have a roof. All who enter the enclosed brother AARON to be his spokesperson. area must take off their shoes. Those who are In an attempt to convince the Egyptian king entering to pray also wash themselves in prepara- to allow the Hebrew slaves to leave, Moses called tion for prayer. down 10 plagues upon Egypt. These seem loosely The requirements of communal WORSHIP deter- related to phenomena that occur in Egypt naturally. mine the furnishings of the mosque. Because Mus- For example, Moses turned the Nile into blood. A lims face MECCA when they pray, all mosques are certain microorganism, which grows in the river, oriented toward Mecca. They also have a niche in actually at times turns the Nile red. the front wall known as a mihrab; it identifi es the The king of Egypt reluctantly agreed to let the qiblah, the direction toward Mecca. children of Israel go free. When he changed his In communal prayer, the prayer leader, mind, the escape took place with some drama. known as the IMAM, stands directly in front of the In the wilderness, Moses received the Torah on niche. The gathered congregation of men forms 302 S mosque long parallel rows directly behind him. Together Other structural elements are often found in they go through the various postures of prayer, conjunction with a mosque. It has been very com- from standing to prostration. As a result, the cen- mon for a tower to be affi xed to the outside of a tral area of a mosque consists of a large fl at sur- mosque. This tower is known as a minaret. Tra- face without any furnishings. The area may be ditionally a man known as a MUEZZIN climbed the carpeted. It may also contain lines perpendicu- tower and issued the call to prayer fi ve times a lar to the qiblah to indicate to worshippers the day. Today loudspeakers and tape recorders have best places to stand in rows. Traditionally women replaced the muezzins in areas where that sort of are not allowed to pray in the same area as men. technology is widespread. That is because the prayer RITUALS require pos- It has also been very common for mosques to tures that might be distracting in mixed company. have pools or fountains. These make it possible A mosque may have a separate area for women for worshippers to perform the ablutions or wash- with separate entrances for them. ings that are required before prayer. Structural fea- It is customary for the imam to deliver a ser- tures commonly associated with mosques include mon at the Friday noon service. Another feature pointed domes and vaulted portals known as iwans. on the inside of the mosque, then, is a place from Islamic teachings strictly forbid the representation which he may speak. Traditionally, this has been a of human beings and animals. The observance of stepped platform known as a minbar. this prohibition varies in other spheres of life, but

Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, or al-Quds, 1860–80 (Library of Congress) muezzin S 303

it is strictly followed in mosques. Mosques are not, world that signal its fallen nature. For the most part, however, without decoration. Preferred forms of though, mountains are looked at with religious awe decoration include geometrical fi gures and verses as godlike or as “cathedrals of nature” that inspire from the QUR’AN written in calligraphy. VISIONS and a sense of wonder. Muslims consider some mosques to be espe- cially sacred. These include the great mosque at Mecca, in the center of which stands the KAABA; the mudras A Sanskrit word meaning “rings, signs, mosque at Medina, the town to which the Prophet tokens.” In HINDUISM and BUDDHISM, mudras are MUHAMMAD immigrated and where he and many of postures of the hands and fi ngers that communi- his early followers are buried; and the Dome of the cate religious meaning. Rock mosque built on the platform of the ancient According to tradition, Hinduism knows more Temple in JERUSALEM. than 88 million mudras. The number of well- known mudras is much more limited. Mudras are used in RITUALS, classical dance, mountains and religion The religious signifi - and sculpture. Two examples are seen in the depic- cance and role of mountains. Mountains have gen- tion of the god SIVA known as Nataraja, “King of erally exercised a powerful hold on the religious the Dance.” Siva holds the palm of his right hand consciousness. Representing places lifted up from toward the viewer, fi ngers and thumb up, signal- the level of ordinary human life, they are the abode ling “do not fear.” His left hand hangs down in of gods, like the Greek Mount Olympus (see GREEK a pose reminiscent of an elephant’s trunk. That RELIGION); the place of divine revelation to human- image recalls Siva’s son, the elephant-headed god ity, like Mount Sinai where MOSES received the GANESA. Law from GOD; or locations where holy men go to Buddhist rituals and sculpture use mudras, practice austerities and gain spiritual power, like too. One common mudra in images of the BUD- several of the sacred mountains of TIBETAN RELI- DHA is similar to the “do not fear” mudra described GION and JAPANESE RELIGION. They have also been above. Another mudra shows the Buddha touch- places of WORSHIP and SACRIFICE. The environs of the ing the ground. Through that action the Buddha holy city of JERUSALEM contain two sacred moun- demonstrated his resolve when he was tempted by tains, Mount Zion where the ancient temple was MARA. built and Mount Calvary where JESUS was cruci- fi ed. Muslims, as part of the PILGRIMAGE to MECCA, stand for an afternoon on Mount Arafat, where the muezzin From the Arabic word mu’addhin; the Prophet MUHAMMAD delivered his fi nal sermon. In person who issues the call to PRAYER in ISLAM. Mus- HINDUISM, BUDDHISM, and JAINISM, the world is said lims make formal prayer to GOD facing MECCA fi ve to be founded spiritually on Mount Meru, a mythi- times a day (see SALAT). Traditionally, the time for cal mountain with its roots in the underworld and prayer is announced by a muezzin. He may stand reaching up through all the levels of reality to the on top of a pillar known as a minaret. Turning to HEAVENS. It is reproduced in many of the temples the four directions, he intones the call to prayer and pagodas of these religions. in Arabic: “God is most great [four times]. I tes- Because of their sacred importance and role as tify that there is no god but God [twice]. I testify sites of spiritual training and realization, mountains that MUHAMMAD is God’s Messenger [twice]. Come have always been places of pilgrimage, from Mount to prayer [twice]. Come to SALVATION [twice]. God Fuji in Japan to the sacred mountains of Arabia is most great [twice]. There is no god but God and Palestine. Occasionally, mountains have also [once].” For the call to early morning prayer, the been viewed negatively in religion, as the abode of muezzin twice adds the statement, “Prayer is bet- demons and EVIL sorcerers, or as disruptions in the ter than sleep,” after the call “Come to salvation.” 304 S Muhammad

In the 20th century many modern commu- to Medina, a town roughly 300 miles to the north. nities replaced their muezzins with amplifi ed There they allied with the previous inhabitants, recordings. who agreed to recognize Muhammad’s prophet- hood. This emigration, known as the hijra (also spelled hegira), marks the beginning of the Islamic Muhammad (570–632) the prophet who, accord- community. Accordingly, Muslims date events A.H., ing to Muslims, received GOD’s revelation in the “in the year of the hijra” (anno Hegirae). QUR’AN and established ISLAM His importance From the Meccan point of view, Muhammad’s for Muslims is emphasized by the central Islamic alliance with Medina was an act of treason. In turn, profession of FAITH: “There is no god but God the Medinas raided Meccan caravans, and war [Arabic, ALLAH], and Muhammad is his Messenger ensued. The fortunes of battle were uneven, but [Arabic, Rasul].” the Medinas won a major victory at the battle of Badr in 624. By 628 the warring parties had estab- LIFE lished a truce. In 630 the Meccans violated the Muhammad was born in the year 570 in a clan truce, and in that year Muhammad fi nally entered of the Quraysh tribe in MECCA (today in western Mecca in victory. He proclaimed a general amnesty, Saudi Arabia). His father died before he was born purifi ed the KAABA (the central shrine in Mecca) of and his mother soon afterward, so he was raised the many idols that it contained, declared Mecca fi rst by his grandfather and then his uncle, Abu off-limits to all but Muslims, and established PIL- Talib. Tradition reports that as a young man he GRIMAGE to Mecca as a major Islamic RITUAL. developed a reputation for honesty and virtue. Muhammad died in the year 632 shortly after He earned his living managing caravans, and at making a fi nal pilgrimage to Mecca. He was buried the age of 25 he married his employer, a wealthy in Medina. At the time of his death, the Islamic widow named Khadija. Only one of their children, community was already beginning to expand by a daughter, Fatima, survived to adulthood. establishing relations with peoples in other parts Muhammad was in the habit of retiring to of the Arabian Peninsula. the desert for refl ection and MEDITATION. On one such occasion in the year 611, the ANGEL Gabriel TEACHINGS appeared to him with a message from God. This Muslims call the time before the prophet Muham- event is venerated within Islam as the Night of mad al-Jahiliya, “the times of ignorance.” During Power. According to a widespread tradition, the that period Mecca society was characterized by fi rst words that God spoke to the prophet were POLYTHEISM and social disorder. The disorder was these: “Recite: And thy Lord is the Most Generous, due to the disruption of traditional patterns of life, who taught by the pen, taught man that he knew which were more suited to desert herding than to not” (A. J. Arberry, The Koran Interpreted). a thriving mercantile city. The revelations that Muhammad received The messages revealed to Muhammad and implied a radical reorganization of society. They preserved in the Qur’an had as their bedrock an envisioned a community based on faith rather than insistence upon the absolute oneness of God (Ara- family relationships, and they emphasized justice bic, tawhid). As one reads in the Qur’an: “Say: He, and concern for others rather than profi t and self- Allah, is One. Allah is He on Whom all depend. He interest. As a result, they evoked considerable begets not, nor is He begotten. And none is like opposition from the powerful members of Meccan Him.” (Qur’an 112, Muhammed Shakir). Verses society. After the death of Abu Talib in 619, the such as these rejected more than polytheism. In opposition to Muhammad became outspoken and insisting on the absolute unity of God, Muhammad menacing. In the year 622, Muhammad and his rejected any notion that implies plurality, like the followers were forced to fl ee secretly from Mecca Christian notion of God as a TRINITY. In insisting music and religion S 305

that God could neither beget nor be begotten, he As the culmination of prophetic tradition or, as rejected any claim that JESUS was the son of God. Muslims say, the seal of the prophets, Muhammad Indeed, he insisted on keeping God and human represents more than the vehicle for God’s revela- beings in their respective places: God is the cre- tion. He also exemplifi es the ideal way of respond- ator upon whom the entire universe depends; it is ing to it. This conviction gave rise to the practice the duty of human beings to submit to God’s will of collecting accounts of his sayings and deeds, (Arabic, islam). known as HADITH. The Hadith provide guidance on Given this relationship, it follows that every religious matters, but they also establish the way human being must avoid two sins above all: the one should go about many daily activities. denial of the truth (Arabic, kufr) and mistaking Islam does not separate religion from other the created for the creator (shirk). The latter is areas of life but sees every facet of human exis- best seen in a very broad sense. It refers to let- tence as subject to God’s commands. It is appropri- ting anything, such as money or clan loyalty or ate, then, that Muhammad’s signifi cance extends tradition, guide one’s life in violation of God’s far beyond the narrowly religious. For example, the will. In this context Muhammad emphasized Qur’an is the highest standard in Arabic poetry. Of concern for the less advantaged as well as the even broader signifi cance, the community estab- avoidance of destructive social practices, such as lished through Muhammad united the various drinking, gambling, prostitution, and usury, that peoples of the Arabian Peninsula for the very fi rst is, charging exorbitant interest on loans. The RES- time. In doing so it changed the face of the world’s URRECTION of the dead and a fi nal judgment (see political, cultural, and military history. JUDGMENT OF THE DEAD) also played a great role Further reading: Martin Forward, Muhammad: in Muhammad’s ethical outlook. These notions A Short Biography (Rockport, Mass.: Oneworld, had not been prevalent earlier in the indigenous 1997); Maxime Rodinson, Muhammad: Prophet of religions of Arabia. Islam (New York: I. B. Tauris, 2002); Ibn Warraq, SIGNIFICANCE ed., The Quest for the Historical Muhammad (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 2000). For Muslims, Muhammad was only a human being chosen by God to be a messenger. Muslims teach that Muhammad was born like every other person, that he died, and that he is buried in Medina. music and religion The attitudes to and use of At the same time, Muhammad is supremely patterned, humanly created sounds in the various important as the last of a long line of prophets to religions. whom God has revealed his truth. That line begins with ADAM, the ancestor of all people, and includes THE VALUE OF MUSIC many fi gures familiar to Jews and Christians, such Music plays a major role in most religions, but not as NOAH, DAVID, SOLOMON, ELIJAH, and Jesus, as in all. Some religions have rejected it, at least in well as fi gures from other traditions. Muslims hold part. Some orthodox Muslims forbid the religious that while all previous revelations were distorted use of music, although for others it has played an or changed by various communities, the revela- important role in cultivating the spiritual life. Tra- tion to Muhammad preserved its purity. Thus, ditional JAINISM rejects religious music, too. Jains with Muhammad God’s revelation of divine truth consider it too sensual for religious purposes. The became full and complete. Initially the community BIBLE refers to instruments used in the JERUSALEM preserved these revelations orally along with some Temple, but for centuries it has been traditional for written fragments, but within 25 years of Muham- Jews not to use instruments in SYNAGOGUE services. mad’s death an authoritative compilation of the In the ancient and early medieval periods, Chris- Qur’an had come into existence. tians also allowed vocal music but rejected the 306 S music and religion

use of instruments. They saw them as pagan. Dur- in the founding of METHODISM, composed notable ing the REFORMATION, John CALVIN limited church hymns. In India Guru NANAK became the founder music to the singing of psalms without instrumen- of the Sikh community (see SIKHISM), and Caitanya tal accompaniment. Following Calvin’s lead, some organized devotion to KRISHNA in Bengal in large early Calvinists destroyed many church organs. part because they composed and sang devotional Today, some Christians, such as the more conser- songs. vative AMISH and MENNONITES, still allow only vocal music. KINDS OF RELIGIOUS MUSIC Many religions, however, have warmly It is possible to divide music into two broad classes: embraced music. They give different reasons for music primarily made with the human voice, and doing so. In India sound carries the power that music primarily made with some other instrument. generates the universe. This is especially true of the In general, religions have valued vocal music more sacred syllable, “OM.” Many peoples have thought highly than instrumental music. Indeed, as noted that music was created by gods or ancestors. For above, some religions have refused to allow the example, shamans receive their songs from spir- use of musical instruments. its or ancestors during their journeys to the other In antiquity, songs—one type of music—played worlds. Other peoples have heard the voice of gods major roles in SACRIFICES and temple observances. or spirits in musical sounds. A good example is the A good example of the fi rst is the collection of bull-roarer, a piece of wood attached to some sort ancient Indian texts known as the VEDA. The Veda of string and whirled in the air. Indigenous peoples contains hymns and songs that BRAHMINS used in in Africa, Australia, Oceania, and North America performing elaborate sacrifi ces. The Hebrew Bible have considered the sound of the bull-roarer to be provides good examples of songs sung before a the voice of a religious being. god in a temple: the book of PSALMS. The Psalms Religions also value music for its effects. When formed the basis for worship in Jewish synagogues a BON priest plays the drum, Tibetans believe that and Christian churches. During the Reformation, he ascends to heaven. In the Hebrew Bible, DAVID, Calvinists cultivated the singing of the Psalter. the future king of Judah and Israel, played music Lutherans used songs known as hymns that were to calm King SAUL’s spirits. Some Buddhists say specially written for congregations to sing. Since that music puts the mind in a state in which it is the Reformation many Protestant churches have receptive to enlightenment. In Europe during the developed rich traditions of hymnody. 19th and early 20th centuries many people said Indigenous peoples in Africa, the Americas, that musical experience was very similar to the Australia, and Oceania have beautiful and com- experience of God’s presence. A good example is plex traditions of religious songs. Not only do the theologian and philosopher of religion, Rudolf shamans have their special songs, but songs also OTTO. fi gure prominently in very many rituals. In HINDU- Religious music is often performed by indi- ISM, singing to God is a major component of BHAKTI. viduals for their own purposes or by the commu- Devotees meet in small groups at night and sing nity as a whole. Many societies also have religious God’s praises. Some Bengali devotees concentrate musical specialists. A shaman’s songs are often an simply on singing the names of Krishna as God. integral part of his special role. In JUDAISM, musi- As a result, their American converts became com- cians known as cantors, not rabbis, often lead syn- monly known as “Hare Krishnas.” agogue services (see RABBI, RABBINATE). Music has Many religions have a special kind of singing been an important tool in establishing new reli- known as chanting. In Judaism and Islam, chant- gious communities, too. Among European Chris- ing is often called cantillation. Chanting is musical tians Martin LUTHER, who sparked the REFORMATION, recitation, for example, musical reading from the and Charles Wesley, who played an important part Bible. The basic idea is that the voice one uses in mystery religions S 307

ordinary speech is inadequate for reciting sacred music. Johann Sebastian Bach’s cantatas, pas- words, so one intones them instead. Chanting is sions, and B-minor Mass, Georg Friedrich Handel’s often done by religious specialists: cantors, priests, oratorios, including the Messiah, Franz Joseph reciters of the QUR’AN, monks. Some Tibetan Bud- Haydn’s The Creation, Ludwig van Beethoven’s dhist monks have developed an intriguing manner Missa solemnis, Gabriel Faure’s Requiem, and of chanting whereby a single voice can produce Johannes Brahms’s German Requiem are just a few two pitches simultaneously, a fi fth or a sixth along examples. with a deep tonic. Some forms of chant are relatively simple. SIGNIFICANCE Each syllable receives a note or two. Other forms There is a close relationship between religion of chant are very ornate. Each syllable receives and music. Music has contributed signifi cantly to a large number of notes. The fi rst kind of chant most, if not all, religious traditions. At the same is called syllabic, the second melismatic. Chants time, religion has inspired the creation of musical in which syllables receive a moderate number of masterpieces throughout the world. notes are called neumatic. In the Gregorian chants of the Roman Catholic Mass, chants that aim to Further reading: Albert L. Blackwell, The Sacred instruct are syllabic, those connected with ritual in Music (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox action are neumatic, while those that aim to pro- Press, 1999); David W. Stowe, How Sweet the vide a basis for contemplation and refl ection are Sound: Music in the Spiritual Lives of Americans melismatic. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, At one time or another, religious people also 2004); Lawrence E. Sullivan, ed., Enchanting have used musical instruments of very kind: instru- Powers: Music in the World’s Religions (Cambridge, ments that are solid and vibrate, such as bells; Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1997). instruments that have “heads” that vibrate, such as drums; instruments in which air vibrates, such as fl utes; and instruments in which strings vibrate, Muslim See ISLAM. such as zithers. Instruments are most often used to accompany singing. For example, indigenous North Americans often accompany their sing- Muslim, Black See Isl am, Nat ion of. ing with drum beats or fl ute music. Instrumental music may mark the beginning and end of ritu- als. In many temples people ring bells to attract mystery religions Esoteric religions in the a deity’s attention before they pray. It is relatively ancient Mediterranean world. Those who practiced rare for purely instrumental music to be by itself mystery religions promised not to speak with out- the central RITUAL activity. siders about the central RITUALS of these religions. Religions may give rise to special musical As a result, the rituals were called “mysteries.” performances. These performances may focus on In the ancient Mediterranean world, people music, especially vocal music, or they may combine often practiced religions defi ned by the specifi c music with other arts, such as dance or drama. social and political communities to which they African religions often combine music and belonged. Families, villages, and states all had dance. So does Japanese SHINTO, in an event their own religious observances. Mystery religions known as kagura. Performances in which Indo- were different. People practiced mystery religions nesian gamelan orchestras accompany the telling apart from families, villages, and states. As single of traditional myths such as the Ramayana (see persons they joined special “associations.” These RAMA, RAMAYANA) are well-known. Religion has associations were formed solely in order to prac- also inspired some of the masterpieces of European tice the mysteries. 308 S mysticism

People joined mystery associations in a special picture is unclear. Other pictures depicted stars way: They underwent an INITIATION. As part of the and constellations. initiation, they promised never to reveal the con- In many ways ancient CHRISTIANITY took the tent of the secret rites and teachings. The ancient form of a mystery religion. Members joined the initiates kept their promises very well. We do not Christian community through an initiation ritual know nearly as much as we would like to know (BAPTISM) after careful preparation. Non-Christians about any of the mystery religions. Scholars often were forbidden to observe the central ritual act, suppose, however, that these religions claimed to the celebration of the EUCHARIST. In addition, Chris- provide a blessed existence for souls after death. tianity provided a way to ensure that one’s soul Some mystery religions began with the Greeks. lived a blessed existence after death. Indeed, the The most important of them were celebrated at the Greek word for the most important Christian ritu- town of Eleusis near Athens. They were called the als, the SACRAMENTS, is mysteria, “mysteries.” Eleusinian mysteries. Already in the “golden age” of Athens, the fi fth century B.C.E., these mysteries were becoming famous. mysticism States of consciousness interpreted The mysteries of Eleusis had a specifi c as profound religious experience, or teachings mythology: the story of Demeter and her daughter about them or derived from them. In common Kore, sometimes called Persephone. The seasonal usage, the word mysticism can mean many differ- rhythms of growing grain seem to have provided ent things. For some it means that which is irratio- the Eleusinian mysteries with an important sym- nal, or vague and “misty.” For some it suggests the bol. Kore was said to spend half of the year above arts of OCCULTISM AND ESOTERICISM, like ASTROLOGY or ground, and half of the year in the underworld. black MAGIC. For others it means psychic powers About the central rituals, we know only that they such as telepathy. In religious studies, mysticism consisted of three components: things said, things generally refers to deep, intense states of religious done, and things shown. consciousness, such as those attained by persons Beginning about 200 B.C.E., other mystery like the BUDDHA, the Sufi (see SUFISM) mystics of religions developed in the ancient Mediterranean ISLAM, the great masters of the KABBALAH or HASIDISM world. They used elements from places like Egypt, in JUDAISM, or in CHRISTIANITY, SAINTS on the order of Turkey, and Persia. One set of mysteries centered FRANCIS OF ASSISI or St. Teresa of Avila. on the Egyptian GODDESS ISIS and her slain hus- For people like these mysticism indicated a band, OSIRIS. A second centered on the goddess direct, personal experience of GOD or divine real- Cybele, also known as the Magna Mater, “Great ity. Often the experience is described in the lan- Mother,” and her younger male attendant, Attis, guage of oneness: The mystic will say, “I became who came from the region of what is now Turkey. one with God.” There also will be a sense of deep The god Mithras seems distantly related to the Per- inwardness about it; “I felt God deep in my heart”; sian god MITHRA. For a time toward the end of the “I knew enlightenment in every fi ber of my being.” third century C.E. the WORSHIP of Sol Invictus, the It can also be put in the terminology of love: “I felt “Unconquered Sun,” became the offi cial religion the love of God sweep over me like the waves of of the Roman Empire. the sea.” Each of these mysteries had its distinct teach- The precise words in which mystical experi- ings, rituals, and communities. For example, ence is put will, of course, vary from one religion the mysteries of Mithras appealed especially to to another. For those religions based on an imper- Roman soldiers. They practiced the mysteries in sonal monism, like BUDDHISM or VEDANTA Hindu- special buildings known as “mithraea.” Every ism, it will be realizing enlightenment, NIRVANA, “mithraeum” contained a picture of the god or BRAHMAN as Satchitananda, “Being-knowledge- Mithras killing a bull. The exact meaning of this bliss,” within one’s true and ultimate nature. For mysticism S 309

those religions like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam ativity seem to fl ow well and others when they run that see God in terms of personal MONOTHEISM, and dry. So it is with the mystics. stress that a created being like a man or woman Teachers of mysticism in fact describe vari- can never be absolutely the same as God the Cre- ous stages of the mystical path. One of the best- ator, they will speak of the mysticism of love, and known books on the subject is Evelyn Under- of being united with God in the same way as a hill’s Mysticism. Combing reports of numerous lover yearns to be united with the beloved. mystics, she outlines fi ve basic stages. First is However, it is important to realize that the the Awakening, when—sometimes in a power- speech and writings of mystics, even the greatest, ful conversion or “born-again” kind of encounter are always an attempt to describe and interpret an with the divine—one awakens to the reality of experience that many of them nonetheless say is the spiritual life. This initial stage tends to be beyond words. The words of description are not very emotional and erratic, though, and needs the experience itself. to be stabilized in the Purgative or Preparative Two people may have an experience of deep stage, when the wise practitioner will deepen joy and rapture. One may take it to be just a psy- and stabilize the spiritual life with a disciplined chological experience, the other a religious encoun- life and regular prayer and meditation. This leads ter with the divine. Even the second will prob- to the Illuminative stage, a basically happy time ably interpret it in terms of a religion with which when God seems to be near, prayers answered, that person is familiar, whether it is monistic or and the promises of religion fulfi lled. monotheistic. Even so, the great mystics East and For some, however, it is followed by some- West have greatly enriched their languages and thing distressing: the Dark Night of the Soul, as it literatures with beautiful and evocative attempts was called by the great St. John of the Cross. Now to communicate their deep and subtle encounters God seems to have withdrawn his presence, and with divine grace. one is left as though on a desert at night without Many spiritual traditions teach techniques a compass. Many give up at this point in despair. that help one to have mystical experiences. These But the Dark Night is really a time of deepen- include, fi rst of all, PRAYER and especially MEDITA- ing and of purging away even the subtlest kinds TION. Prayer is believed to bring one into contact of attachment to good religious feelings and the with God, while stilling the mind through medita- like one may have, that one may come to know tion can allow the divine love or divine presence God alone. For the Dark Night fi nally leads into to well up deep within. Preparation for meditation Underhill’s supreme stage, the Unitive state, when like YOGA, sitting in the lotus posture, deep slow one is united with God on so deep a level that the breathing, focusing the eyes or the mind on a sin- divine presence is always there, even when one is gle point, and chanting a mantra or sacred set of not thinking about it, and one is guided in all one’s syllables are all among the methods used. Others doings by love. say that music, especially the beat of a drum, and Religious traditions have evaluated mystical dance like that done by Muslim Sufi and Jewish experience differently. Some, such as PURE LAND Hasidic practitioners, among others, can include BUDDHISM and certain strands in Protestant Christi- mystical states. anity, have emphasized simple FAITH and harbored However, thoughtful teachers of mysticism suspicions that too much craving for mystical warn that it is something far more subtle than a “states” gets in the way of reliance on faith alone. state that can be automatically brought about by Others might accuse mysticism of being “escap- practices or techniques. They can help, but in the ist” and taking up time and attention that would end mysticism is more of an art than a science. be better spent in the doing of good works in the Even the greatest artists sometimes have better world, even though some of the greatest “do-good- days than others, times when the streams of cre- ers” from St. Francis to GANDHI have also been 310 S myth and mythology

great mystics. Probably the majority of religionists has just always existed, has important meaning for in the world, though, would say that while being us living on it. For example, the creation account a mystic may not be necessary to SALVATION, some of JUDAISM and CHRISTIANITY found in the book of mystical experience can deepen and enrich one’s Genesis, at the beginning of the Hebrew Scriptures, spiritual life. tells us that God made the world as though it were something outside of himself, like a carpenter mak- Further reading: Emilie Griffi n, ed. Evelyn ing a box, then looked on it and saw that it was Underhill: Essential Writings, (Maryknoll, N.Y.: very good. He then placed human beings—also Orbis Books, 2003); Gershom Scholem, Major made as, so to speak, the work of his hands—into Trends in Jewish Mysticism (New York: Schocken that creation, and gave them instructions. Books, 1995); D. T. Suzuki, Mysticism, Christian The creation story tells us that the world and and Buddhist (New York: Routledge, 2002). the Creator of the world are not to be confused. The world is to be honored because it was made by God, but it is not the same as God. We humans myth and mythology A story that is religiously can have a deep relationship of love, service, and important, and the study of such stories. For the obedience to God, but we must not say that we average person, a myth is simply a story that is are God. All these very important ideas, central to not true: “that’s just a myth.” In religious studies, Judaism and Christianity, are embedded in the cre- though, the meaning is rather different. It is taken ation myth. to be a story that expresses the basic world view of Compare that account with one from the a culture or religion in narrative form. It says some VEDAS of India, which tells us that the world is a very important things about the way in which the sacrifi ce made by Prajapati, a Creator God who people telling the story think about GOD, human made the world by dividing up his body so that his nature, the origin and destiny of the world, how bones became the mountains, his blood the rivers, we should live our lives now, and how we can get and so forth. Here is conveyed something told in into right relationships with the divine. For a myth much more philosophical language in later HINDU- is basically a story, but it is a story about ultimate ISM, that God is not a Creator separate from the things. In this respect, in the eyes of students of world, but the word is God, God in disguise, God folklore, a myth differs from a fable or legend or playing hide-and-seek with himself, and to know fairytale. Those may be entertaining, and reveal God we do not look outside of the world, but into such information as how the fox lost his tail or a the depths of the world, into our own innermost certain town got its name. But myths tend to tell nature. how the world was made and how SALVATION came All the many creation myths of the world into it. Some people may believe the myth stories doubtless bear some such important message literally, others take them as poetic renderings of about the true nature of the world as seen by their ultimate things that are otherwise hard to put into tellers. One thing they tell that is important is that words or to understand. at the beginning humans were close to their Cre- Let us consider three types of religious myth: ator, one way or another. But as time went on, they creation myths, hero / savior myths, and myths of lost that closeness, falling into forgetfulness of it ESCHATOLOGY, or the end of the world. or, like ADAM and EVE, being expelled from the pri- The creation myths tell how God or the gods mal garden. made the world “in the beginning.” People tend to Next examine the role, in myth, of the hero, believe that if you know where something came like RAMA or KRISHNA in India, or in Western lore St. from, you know something very important about George who slew the dragon, who defeats EVIL and it and how to handle it. Thus whether the world perhaps establishes an ideal kingdom. In some came into being by divine design, or by accident, or ways even the divine prophets and saviors of the myth and mythology S 311

great religions have such a role as they show the story they like to tell themselves that helps them way back to right relationships with God or the understand who they are, what they are like, why divine. These would be stories like that of the BUD- they do the things they do, and what their role in DHA, who attained perfect consciousness through the world is. Myths are powerful because at the deep MEDITATION under the tree, or MOSES who profoundest level most of us respond better to see- received the divine law on Mount Sinai, or JESUS ing ourselves as actors in a story than as abstract who reestablished the possibility of a right rela- ideas; the ideas and beliefs come alive when they tionship with God for humans through his death are parts of a story, especially our own. Mythical on the cross and his rising again to renewed life. thinking can also be dangerous, for it can tend In these stories, the prophet or savior is, like the to see everything as black and white, absolutely heroes of myth, a pioneer, a leader, with superhu- good like the hero or bad like the dragons against man powers that help set the world right. which he fi ghts. It can stigmatize whole groups of Finally, myths of the end may lead up to stories people, and is not very good at working out all the of the end of the world and the end of time, like nuances and degrees of good and bad that occur in those of the Last Judgment in Christianity, when it the real world. But it also gives life to some of the is said CHRIST will return to judge the living and the profoundest of human insights, and can motivate dead, or the coming of the future Buddha MAITREYA new heroes for today. in Buddhism. Often the end in myth really repre- See also HEROES AND HERO MYTHS. sents a return to the paradise of the beginning. Myths like these and many others continue Further reading: William G. Doty, Myth: A to have a tremendous power in the world. There Handbook (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, are the myths of nations, of political movements, 2004); Phil Cousineau, ed., The Hero’s Journey: of particular sects and denominations of religions Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work (Novato, that tell in mythic terms of their origins and their Calif.: New World Library, 2003); Robert A. Segal, world view. There are also personal myths. Prob- Myth: A Very Short Introduction (New York: Oxford ably deep inside, most people in the world have a University Press, 2004). . N ,

Nanak (1469–1539) the fi rst Sikh guru and ernments have had their own religions. In Europe founder of the Sikh religion Nanak was born in the idea of separating religion and government the Punjab, the region of the fi ve tributaries of fi rst arose among some Protestants. These Prot- the Indus river in northwest India and northern estants were the Anabaptists of the 16th century Pakistan. He grew up in a Hindu family. As a young (see MENNONITES) and the Baptists and QUAKERS of adult he hosted evening gatherings for devotional the 17th century (see BAPTIST CHURCHES). Before singing. A Muslim musician accompanied him. these movements, religion and nationalism went At the age of 30 Nanak disappeared for three hand in hand. A good example is JOAN OF ARC days. On his return he proclaimed a religion that who saw it as her mission from GOD to help the transcended the differences between Hindus and heir to the French throne become king. The fi rst Muslims and worshipped the one true GOD. He governments to separate themselves from reli- also rejected distinctions between castes and the gion—in technical terms, to “disestablish” reli- use of images in WORSHIP. The proper way to wor- gion—were North American colonies of Great ship God, he taught, was through MEDITATION and Britain, such as Pennsylvania. The fi rst nation the singing of hymns. that offi cially separated religion and govern- Nanak traveled, teaching and singing and ment was the United States. Although the United becoming the GURU of a group of disciples (sishyas States is offi cially secular, it often thinks of itself or sikkhas). He was the fi rst in a lineage of 10 Sikh in Protestant terms. In the early 20th century, it gurus. His sayings are preserved in the Sikh holy added the words “In God we trust” to its money, book, the ADI GRANTH. and in 1954 it added the phrase “under God” to See also SIKHISM. the Pledge of Allegiance. The late 20th and early 21st centuries saw several powerful movements of religious national- nationalism, religious Movements that link the ism. These movements did not all adopt the same power and fate of a nation with a specifi c religion. political stance. Islamic movements in the Middle In the second half of the 20th century and the begin- East, Hindu nationalism in India, and Christian ning of the 21st century, religious nationalism was nationalism in the United States were reaction- a major force in many areas. Some called religious ary. They wanted to restore the past—or what nationalism “fundamentalism,” an analogy with they perceived the past to have been. At least one fundamentalist CHRISTIANITY in the United States, movement was revolutionary: the black national- even though fundamentalism has not traditionally ism proclaimed at various times by the Nation of been active in politics (see EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY Islam (see ISLAM, NATION OF) in the United States. and FUNDAMENTALISM, CHRISTIAN). And at least one movement—Jewish national- The separation of religion and governments ists who settled on the west bank of the Jordan is relatively new. Throughout most of history gov- River—was colonizing. It wanted to appropriate

S 312 Native American religions S 313 land that had previously belonged to other people, Native American religions The religions of and it used religion to justify that action. These the peoples whose ancestors lived in the Ameri- movements generally used political action to try cas before Columbus. Separate entries discuss the to achieve their ends. Some extremists also used religions of the major pre-Columbian civilizations: physical violence. Maya religion, Aztec religion, and Inca religion. Religious nationalists generally perceived The indigenous peoples of the Americas have themselves as embattled communities, even never constituted a single group. They represent when, as in India, they claimed to speak for an many languages, cultures, and religions. For exam- overwhelming majority. They saw themselves as ple, before Columbus arrived, the Americas were reasserting a necessary union between govern- home to civilizations in the Valley of Mexico, the ment and religion (“The United States should be lowlands of the Yucatan Peninsula, and the Andes a ‘Christian nation’.”). They also saw themselves Mountains. Some peoples in the eastern United as reasserting several other points: tradition and States had large settlements near mounds that its values against modernity and its depravities; served as bases for temples. The Anasazi in the a religious view of the world over a secular one; Southwest built impressive residential communi- the proper identity of a particular people over the ties. Both the inhabitants of the Great Plains and homogenizing global culture created by multina- the inhabitants of the Amazon basin lived by hunt- tional corporations and the mass media; national ing and gathering. Nevertheless, they had signifi - purity in the face of growing plurality; and power cantly different ways of life. They also had signifi - in the face of perceived powerlessness and cantly different religions. disenfranchisement. General statements about Native American reli- The rise of religious nationalism caught gions inevitably distort them. Such statements may, many observers by surprise. In their eyes, global however, give some indication of their character. communications and travel had held out great Most traditional Native American religions promise. The nationalist ambitions in World War aimed to further life in this world. They involved II had produced grisly horrors. The force of sec- give-and-take relationships with persons who rep- ularism was supposed to be irresistible. In the resented the powers of nature. Outsiders usually second half of the 20th century a growing inter- called these persons gods or spirits. When these nationalism was supposed to take the place of beings had a particularly close relationship with nationalist loyalties. one group of relatives (a lineage), they were some- At the beginning of the 21st century, it was times called totems. The giving and taking took impossible to predict the ultimate fate of religious the form of offerings, SACRIFICES, and PRAYERS. It nationalist movements. Were they the futile, last furthered traditional means of earning a living: gasps of those dissatisfi ed with the irresistible hunting and agriculture. It also helped heal (see march of a global civilization? Would the sparks HEALING, RELIGIOUS). Outsiders often call religious of violence that religious nationalism had already healers shamans (see SHAMANISM). occasionally ignited once again light the fl ames Shamans played major roles in most of the tra- of full-scale violence? Or were religious national- ditional indigenous religions of South America. In ist movements genuine and convincing religious addition, most South Americans traditionally told alternatives that would continue to attract follow- stories about a creator. But they did not worship ers in great numbers? It seems certain, at least, this creator much because the creator had little that the takeover of Iraq in spring 2003 by the to do with daily life. Twins fi gured prominently United States and the United Kingdom has led to in the traditional religious stories and RITUALS of an increase in religious nationalism among some South America. For example, the Ge in eastern Bra- Muslims, including those associated with the radi- zil worshipped the sun and the moon, both male. cal group AL-QAEDA. Across northern South America, from the Atlantic 314 S Native American religions

A religious fi gure among the Algonquian-speaking Native Americans was the shaman, or medicine man. This drawing shows an Algonquian shaman preparing his medicine. He sings sacred songs as he mixes various ingredients together while shaking a rattle. (Library of Congress)

to the Pacifi c, the jaguar received a great deal of natural beings or sometimes also to a nonpersonal, religious attention. supernatural power. Dreams provided an important Traditional religions of North America varied source of communication with the supernatural. greatly. To the east of the Mississippi lived well- Houses, often big enough for several families, were off agricultural communities as well as woodland thought to mirror the structure of the universe at hunters. In this region tribes and villages entered large (sky, earth, directions, and so on). into larger confederations and alliances, notably, In the southern lands east of the Mississippi the Iroquois confederacy centered in what is now people depended heavily on agriculture. As a upstate New York and the Five Civilized Tribes of result, Green Corn ceremonies fi gured prominently the American Southeast. in their religions. These people told many stories People in the northern part of the region wor- and folktales, such as earth-diver stories about the shipped spiritual realities known in different lan- creation of the world and stories about the antics of guages as manitou and orenda. Opinions differ TRICKSTERS. Some of their communities were wealthy over whether these terms always referred to super- enough to have full-time priests. Especially impor- Native American religions S 315 tant for their descendants is the memory of their or destroying their own property. Shamans, who forced resettlement west along the “Trail of Tears.” acquired their powers through prayers or visions, West of the Mississippi, in the region of the Great performed the roles of healers. From visions, too, Plains, Native Americans had different lifestyles people learned about dances, an important kind of and religions. Some groups, such as the Hidatsa and ritual performance. Pawnee, lived in villages, but many others, such as In much of what is now Canada and Alaska, the Comanche and Lakota, were nomadic hunt- native peoples believed that spirits controlled the ers. Crucial to these people’s religion was a VISION, herds of animals on which their lives depended. which provided them with their personal spiritual They sought to ensure good relations with the ani- helpers. Native Americans on the Great Plains often mals through ritual. For example, they protected sought visions through practices such as prolonged the remains of a slain animal from being eaten by fasting. Helpers would often appear in the form of dogs. In some cases they talked with the slain ani- birds or animals. These people often practiced elab- mal politely, offered it gifts such as tobacco, and orate rituals. An example of such a ritual is the Sun held feasts in its honor. In the far north, Eskimos Dance, which some groups held every summer. It told stories about the person who controlled sea was common for participants to purify themselves life. Some called her Sedna. in a SWEAT LODGE before the rituals. The European invasion of the Americas In what is now the southwestern United States, changed Native American life immensely and people known as Pueblos had elaborate ceremonies brought pressure to convert to CHRISTIANITY. Many to further growth and encourage rain. Kachinas, Native Americans did adopt Christianity, but many masked fi gures, played an important part in them. also continued traditional practices at the same Also well-known are kivas, chambers partly under- time. For example, the well-known Lakota fi gure ground in which Pueblo religious societies met. Black Elk (c. 1863–1950) was buried holding both The Navajo hold elaborate series of rituals known his sacred pipe and a rosary. as “sings,” used to heal and create social and nat- Native Americans have also used religion to ural harmony. Their sand paintings and weaving resist European incursions. Many Native Ameri- work often illustrate their complex notions of the cans had visions about resistance. They include structure of the universe and the emergence of the such fi gures as Handsome Lake (1735–1815; Sen- Navajo people from the center of the Earth. eca), Smohalla (c. 1815–95; Wanapum), John Slo- Among the Native Americans of California, as cum (1841–97; Squaxin Island Tribe, Coast Sal- among many other Native Americans, shamans or ish), Wodziwob (d. c. 1872; Northern Paiute), and medicine men played important roles as healers. Wovoka (c. 1856–1932; Northern Paiute). The last These people also used religious means, as was two spurred on the GHOST DANCE. common, to further the growth of crops. In addi- In the past several decades religion has infl u- tion, Native Americans in California had ritual soci- enced militant indigenous resistance movements, eties into which people were initiated. In southern such as the American Indian Movement, often California one such society cultivated visions by known by the acronym AIM. Religion has helped ingesting a hallucinogen known as datura. motivate legal action to redress grievances, for Perhaps the best-known feature of Native example, the efforts to recover ceremonial lands. It Americans of the Northwest coast is the totem pole. has also played a major role in reviving indigenous The images carved on totem poles represent super- culture. Examples include the Native American human beings. Particularly important supernatural Church, well known for its use of peyote; the Sun beings for these people were the salmon, on which Dance; teachings about the sacredness of the earth; their lives depended. These people held elabo- and sweat lodges. Native American teachings, rate ceremonies known as potlatches, in which sometimes newly invented, have also fi gured prom- the wealthy outdid one another in giving gifts inently in New Age teachings in North America. 316 S nature and religion

Further reading: Dee Alexander Brown, Bury My beauty of what is in the world before and beyond Heart at Wounded Knee (New York: Henry Holt, 2001); humankind. All one can do, they say, is attune Vine Deloria Jr., God Is Red, 3d ed. (Golden, Colo.: oneself with the essence of nature—the Tao, in Fulcrum, 2003); Sam Gill, Native American Religions: Taoist language—and through it go beyond human An Introduction (Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, 1981); concepts of good and evil. Ake Hultkrantz, Religions of the American Indians At the other end of the spectrum are those (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981); Clara who, as in the ancient GNOSTICISM and MAN- Sue Kidwell, Homer Noley, and George E. Tinker, A ICHAEISM, have emphasized the EVIL in nature, and Native American Theology (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis have said that nature could not have been created 2001); Joel W. Martin, The Land Looks After Us: by a good God. Many Gnostics said that the world A History of Native American Religion (New York: as we know it was created by a lower god than Oxford University Press, 2001). Peter Matthiessen, In the supreme Lord, who botched the job and made the Spirit of Crazy Horse (New York: Viking, 1991); the fallen natural and human world around us; we John G. Neihardt, ed., Black Elk Speaks: Being the ourselves are sparks of light from a higher realm Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux (Lincoln: who have become entrapped in this evil realm and University of Nebraska Press, 2004). must escape from it. The positions of most of the major religions are somewhere in between. HINDUISM and BUD- nature and religion The signifi cance of the DHISM would say that nature contains beings, ani- natural world for religion. All religions must deal mals, demons, and others who, like ourselves but not only with humanity, but also with the envi- with less capacity for understanding, are driven ronment in which we dwell. They must, in other by ignorance and desire. Thus nature too is suf- words, have something to say about the plants and fering, but also bears the divine spark or the BUD- animals, the mountains and forests, the soil and DHA-nature and can be freed through compassion. sky and stars that are visible and tangible. They Some would say that the suffering of nature is at must deal with nature. least in part a projection of our own twisted con- That is not always easy to do. Nature can be sciousness onto it. experienced in many ways. Sometimes it seems The western MONOTHEISM of JUDAISM, CHRISTIAN- lush and beautiful and friendly beyond anything ITY, and ISLAM would generally say that nature is good else imaginable, and we believe nature must be the insofar as it was created, like us, by the one supreme very footstool of GOD or the manifestation of divine God. Christianity would add that nature, also like reality. Yet at other times, in the wake of fl oods or us, has been touched by SIN and is “fallen,” so that drought or earthquake, nature appears cruel and its original pure and true nature is hard to see. But, ruthless, the enemy of all human hopes and dreams. though it is generally said that animals (and other Yet again, there are times when we are struck by beings in nature) do not have immortal souls like the heartlessness of nature, the suffering of so many humans, they suffer in fallen nature and as creatures creatures, and the hardness of the natural environ- of God deserve our compassion and help. ment against which we must often struggle. In many ways, then, nature remains a deep Religions have contented with all these per- mystery for religion, but also an arena for the exer- ceptions. The members of some religions, like TAO- cise of whatever love and VISION religion provides. ISM and a few “nature mystics,” have virtually been “pantheists,” that is, people who have thought God and nature virtually to be identical. The harshness Nazarene, Church of the A church in the Holi- of nature, they say, is the harshness of God, yet to ness tradition, founded in the United States. The know the heart of nature is to get beyond that and Holiness movement is an outgrowth of Methodism into a profound sense of wonder at the ultimate that emphasizes sanctifi cation, that is, the develop- New Age movement S 317

ment of moral perfection. The Church of the Naz- and the name of a biblical book. The Persian arene resulted from mergers of several churches king Artaxerxes I (ruled 464–423 B.C.E.) sent in this tradition, starting in 1907. It was originally Nehemiah, one of his cupbearers, as governor named the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene, but to JERUSALEM in 445 B.C.E. Nehemiah rebuilt the word Pentecostal was dropped when the Pen- the city walls and made it safe to live in once tecostal Church became associated with speaking again. Some time later—the date is not known in tongues (see Pentecostalism), which Nazarenes with certainty—Artaxerxes sent Nehemiah to do not do. The name Nazarene refers to JESUS, who Jerusalem for a second term as governor. On came from Nazareth. this occasion he undertook religious reforms Like many Protestants, Nazarenes accept the that emphasized a return to tradition and a BIBLE as the Word of GOD and maintain that people rejection of intermarriage with non-Jews. The are saved from SIN by God’s GRACE through Jesus relationship of Nehemiah’s activities to those of rather than through anything people do. Beyond EZRA is uncertain. The BIBLE gives the impression this, Nazarenes also believe that “entire sanctifi ca- that they were active at the same time, but many tion” is possible. This sanctifi cation comes after scholars argue that Ezra must have come after the regeneration of BAPTISM, and it eliminates origi- Nehemiah. nal sin and instills in the Christian a spirit of com- The book of Nehemiah is really the second part plete devotion to God. of the book of Ezra. It tells mostly of the events of In pursuit of this perfection or holiness, Naza- Nehemiah’s governorship. It does so in a fi rst-per- renes have embraced a strict lifestyle, outlined in son narrative that makes the book read as if it were their COVENANT of Christian Conduct. The church’s the memoirs of Nehemiah himself. membership may alter this covenant in keeping with changing understandings of the Christian life. Among other things the covenant in effect in the New Age movement The term New Age or summer of 2004 required Nazarenes to avoid any New Age Thinking is a general label used since form of entertainment, such as radio, television, or the late 20th century and after to cover a num- cinema, that promoted socially dangerous values, ber of interrelated spiritual interests. They include such as violence, pornography, and the occult; belief in “alternative healing” or “holistic health” gambling, including state run lotteries; dancing; (acupuncture, homeopathy, diet-based cures, and the use of tobacco, liquor, or hallucinogenic etc.), astrology, crystals, a strong affi rmation of drugs. In keeping with these provisions, Naza- the power of thought to change oneself and real- renes use only unfermented grape juice when they ity, the “channeling” of great teachers or “masters” celebrate communion (see EUCHARIST). The church through trance, reincarnation and karma, and a has also strongly condemned homosexuality and general sympathy with nature and ecology. Many the legalization of abortion. speakers and best-selling books, tapes, and videos, The churches that came together to form the such as those of the actress Shirley McLaine, have Church of the Nazarene were active in overseas popularized the concepts. missions even before the mergers that created Though one can fi nd numerous groups and the church. At the beginning of 2006 the church bookstores recognizable as New Age, the move- reported a total membership of 1.6 million mem- ment has produced no major, long-lasting organiza- bers, more than 60 percent of whom lived outside tion. Nevertheless, several important centers refl ect the United States. its spirit, such as the Findhorn community in Scot- land and the Association for Research and Enlight- enment in Virginia Beach, Virginia, established by Nehemiah (586–539 B.C.E.) a governor of the famous “sleeping prophet” Edgar Cayce (1877– Jerusalem in the period after the Babylonian exile, 1945), considered a precursor of the New Age. 318 S new religions

The New Age movement has roots in the in one part of the universe, including the heavens, ancient world, especially Platonic philosophy. and others, including human beings. Movement of Some of its ideas, such as astrology and cosmic the stars and planets can affect events on earth energy, have long enjoyed a sort of underground and the lives of its inhabitants. Gemstones or col- coexistence with the dominant religions of Europe ors can be in harmony with various days of the and North America for centuries. Their outlook week or organs of the body, and thus can affect the might be considered an alternative to the spiritual potency of healing energies. mainstream. This side surfaced strongly in the No less important are New Age beliefs 19th century in New England Transcendentalism, about consciousness. It is usually assumed that SPIRITUALISM, and NEW THOUGHT, and in movements consciousness and matter are both universal like THEOSOPHY. The term New Age itself goes back forces, like two sides of the same coin, so one to that period. But its most immediate predeces- can always affect the other. New Age follow- sor was the famous “counterculture” of the 1960s. ers attempt to use meditation and concentrated Many New Age concepts and practices became thought to change health and even events in the popular in that era, and the New Age movement outer world. New Age people accept what earlier began in the wake of the 1960s. thinkers called the “great chain of being” doc- For all its diversity, the New Age movement trine: Centers of consciousness can rise above has certain common core ideas. Most basic is the humanity just as they can descend below it concept of energy. Many philosophies, both East- into animals and plants; the higher conscious- ern and Western, have postulated a basic, universal ness would be what we call spirits, saints, mas- energy, much like the “Force” in Star Wars, most ters, angels, and demigods, up to God Supreme. intense in biological organisms, that drives and For many New Age people these entities are regulates all things. When it is balanced and fl ow- important as companions and guides and can ing freely in a person, she or he is in good health. sometimes be “channeled” or enabled to speak When it is not, there is disease. But there are pro- through human mediums during trances. cesses, for example, acupuncture and YOGA, to Though perhaps perceived as less vogue than remove blockages and restore the energy’s proper they were around the 1980s, New Age attitudes fl ow. New Age approaches to healing and health have continued to be powerful in popular culture generally are grounded on this energy concept. in the 21st century. They are called “alternative medicine” because Further reading: James R. Lewis, The Encyclopedic they differ in this respect from mainline medicine, Sourcebook of New Age Religions (Amherst, N.Y.: which is centered more on fi ghting and destroying Prometheus, 2003); Shirley MacLaine, Out on a Limb, disease-causing organisms. Rpt. (New York: Bantam, 1999); J. Gordon Melton, Some New Age adherents believe that energy New Age Encyclopedia (Detroit: Gale, 1990); Sarah can also be worked with in its universal aspect. Pike, New Age and Neopagan Religions in America Certain objects, such as crystals, may be particu- (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004). lar sources or transmitters of it. Properly placed crystals can send cosmic energy to a person and help restore his or her own energy. Some New Age teachers have postulated “energy vortexes” or new religions Religions that have arisen “power spots” on Earth, for example, Sedona, Ari- recently, generally within the last few generations. zona, and Mount Shasta in California, where the Some religions are very old, but new religions are energy is especially accessible. continually appearing as well. Others believe that cosmic energy also oper- Thousands have arisen in the 20th century ates through what the ancients called “correspon- alone, especially in rapidly changing societies dences,” subtle lines of force between phenomena such as Africa and parts of Asia. New religious New Testament S 319

movements typically center around remarkably powerful prophet and a close-knit organization, charismatic personalities who believe they have like a surrogate family, to counter-balance the nat- seen VISIONS or had experiences that present a dra- ural inclination of people to remain with the old matically new teaching or practice to the world, for the sake of family and community. It probably although occasionally the new religion may be also will single out some simple, sure technique or constructed without a single leader. However, a practice—a method of PRAYER or MEDITATION, a dance new religion must have not only a founding person or rite—that comes reassuringly out of the past, or idea, but also an audience and a situation recep- but also is strong enough to give people a powerful tive to the novel perspective on ultimate truth. In and immediate experience. Features like these will changing times—and we must remember that most motivate people to spread the new teaching, and times are changing times for people actually in in a few cases the new religion will be successful them—old religious teachings, practices, and insti- enough to grow worldwide, like Mormonism (see tutions may seem out of step with the real world LATTER-DAY SAINTS) or the Unifi cation Church. in which people live. Perhaps an old tribal religion New religions are often controversial. Some may not seem to have the right tools to deal with a have been regarded as dangerous “cults,” (see world of contact with European culture, with new CULTS AND SECTS, RELIGIOUS) a word that has come ideas, economies, and technologies; this was the to suggest a religious movement that makes exces- situation out of which CARGO CULTS arose. An old sively high demands on its members’ time, energy, religion may seem hopeless in terms of a religious and freedom of thought. At the same, most of the world view. Perhaps a religious language whose established religions of the world began with many images are of camels, kings, and shepherds may of the characteristics of new religious movements. not make contact with some people whose real world centers more around cars, congresses, and corporations. New Testament The second part of the BIBLE A prophet may then arise to declare, here is a that Christians use; for Jews, the Bible consists of new religion revealed by GOD or a god who says the three parts, TORAH, PROPHETS, and Writings. Chris- old ways are really true, but here are some ways of tians refer to the entire Hebrew scriptures as the looking at the religion which show it is really com- Old Testament (see SCRIPTURES, HEBREW). To it, patible with the new science. Moreover, the central Christians add 27 books about JESUS and his earli- God of the old belief is now changing the world est followers. These 27 books are called the New faster than before, and all the progress you see Testament. around you is really leading up to the KINGDOM OF GOD; have FAITH this is so. An example of this type THE FORMULATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT in CHRISTIANITY would be SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM. It took a little more than 300 years for Christians Note that the most successful new religions, to put the New Testament into fi nal form. The idea like those in Japan (see JAPAN, NEW RELIGIONS OF), that some Christian writings were sacred seems to do not say everything in the former faith is false have arisen early. The book of 2 Peter (see PETER, and bad. Rather, they will probably affi rm the old, EPISTLES OF) in the New Testament already refers to a but put it all in a new light, so that people can say collection of PAUL’s letters. But the Gnostic teacher of the new teaching, “This was really true all the Marcion (mid-second century C.E.; see GNOSTICISM) time, but we didn’t realize it until now.” It also seems to have been the fi rst to suggest that there must provide potent inward motivation for break- be an authoritative selection of Christian writings. ing with the past and meeting the new needs it has As a Gnostic, Marcion rejected the Hebrew Bible uncovered. This probably will be obtained through because he thought that “the God of the Jews” was strong simplicity in leadership, organization, and EVIL. He suggested replacing it with the letters of practice. The new religion will likely have a single Paul and the gospel of Luke, both edited, however, 320 S New Testament

because he thought they had been corrupted by a different view of Jesus from those in the synop- pro-Jewish additions. tic gospels. The events in John follow a different Christians who disagreed with Marcion order, and John’s Jesus refl ects on large questions responded by drawing up lists of books they a great deal, especially questions about who he is. accepted. The earliest known lists are the so-called Famous examples include the “I am” sayings—for Muratorian Fragment (late second century C.E.) example, “I am the good shepherd”—and John and a list in the writings of Irenaeus, a bishop of 3.16: “For God so loved the world . . .” The names Lyons, France (c. 200 C.E.). Both accept the four of the gospels are traditional. Many scholars think GOSPELS, the ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, thirteen letters that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were not the of Paul, 1 and 2 JOHN, and REVELATION. They also actual writers of them. accept books that were later rejected, such as 1 Clement and the Shepherd of Hermas. Acts The canon of the New Testament, that is, the The book of Acts is a sort of sequel. It continues authoritative list of accepted books, was fi rst fi nal- the gospel attributed to Luke. It tells the history ized in the Easter letter of bishop Athanasius of of the early church from the appearances of the Alexandria in 367 C.E. He accepted the current set risen Jesus to his followers, especially at Pente- of 27 books. Other writers, such as bishop Euse- cost, to the arrival of the apostle Paul at Rome. bius of Caeserea, provide evidence that the inclu- The fi rst part deals mainly with the disciples of sion of JAMES, Jude, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Hebrews, Jesus at JERUSALEM. Among other things, it shows and Revelation was questioned in the early fourth them wrestling with the question whether the mes- century. In the end, Christian authorities accepted siahship of Jesus was just for Jews or whether it into the canon only books that they thought were was for Gentiles, or non-Jews people, as well. The written by apostles and that were used in worship second part tells about Paul, who was not one of services by the major apostolic churches. Jesus’ disciples but who converted to CHRISTIANITY after persecuting Christians. Acts records several CONTENTS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT journeys that Paul made through Asia Minor (now The New Testament consists of several kinds Turkey) and Greece, spreading the message of of material: four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, Christianity farther and farther. Some passages in John); the book of Acts; letters from various apos- this part are in the fi rst-person plural (“we”) and tles, especially the apostle Paul; and an apocalypse may be from travel diaries that Paul’s companion known as the Revelation to John. Luke kept.

Gospels Epistles of Paul The gospels recount the words and deeds of Jesus. The apostle Paul wrote several letters to Chris- Strictly speaking, they are not biographies, for tian churches in Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome. their purpose is to present not Jesus’ life but the Tradition attributes 10 such letters to Paul. Schol- religious message about Jesus the MESSIAH. Mat- ars agree that most, if not all of them were writ- thew, Mark, and Luke are called “synoptic gos- ten by him. Often Paul wrote to churches that he pels” because they present in much the same way founded or visited. He gave them advice on what the story of Jesus’ adult activities and his trial and they should and should not do and answered their crucifi xion. They differ on Jesus’ birth: Mark says questions. For example, Christians at Thessalon- nothing about it, while Matthew and Luke present ika apparently wanted to know what happened to two different stories. They also present the discov- people who died before Jesus returned. ery of the empty tomb somewhat differently, and The letter to the Romans is a little different they differ a great deal in their accounts of Jesus’ from the rest. Paul wrote it to Christians that he appearances after his RESURRECTION. John presents hoped to visit. It is extremely important, because New Testament, apocryphal S 321

in it Paul systematically presents his views, includ- do a better job. They include the oldest complete ing those about the saving signifi cance of Jesus’ manuscripts of the New Testament, which date death and resurrection. from the fourth and fi fth centuries, as well as fragments of writing on papyrus, some of which Other Epistles are even earlier. In “critical editions” textual crit- Besides the epistles of Paul, the New Testament ics give their guess as to the best readings. They contains 11 other letters from the earliest years also provide the most important variations, telling of Christianity. The letters to Titus and Timothy which readings occur in which manuscripts. Most attributed to Paul are almost certainly not by him. of the variations concern individual sentences. They refl ect how someone infl uenced by Paul For example, some manuscripts add a sentence would respond to situations that Paul himself could to the end of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6.13: not yet have faced. Other letters include an anony- “For yours is the kingdom, power, and glory for- mous letter to the Hebrews and letters attributed ever, Amen.” But the oldest complete manuscripts to James, Peter, John, and Jude. A major theme in omit this sentence. A few variations concern entire these letters is how Christians should live. sections. For example, two endings exist for the Gospel of Mark, but scholars think that neither of The Revelation to John them was in the original. The book of Revelation is an apocalypse (see APOC- Further reading: Raymond E. Brown, Introduction ALYPTIC LITERATURE). The word apocalypse indicates to the New Testament (New York: Doubleday, that the book uncovers knowledge that is hidden. 1997); Michael D. Coogan et al., eds., The New Early Christians wrote several apocalypses. The Oxford Annotated NRSV Bible with the Apocrypha, book of Revelation in the New Testament reports 3d ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001); a vision received by John of Patmos. Opinions dif- Paula Fredriksen, From Jesus to Christ: The Origins fer about whether this was the same John who of the New Testament Images of Jesus, 2d ed. (New wrote the gospel and the letters. In highly symbolic Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2000). language Revelation tells of the heavenly struggle between the forces of God and the forces of Satan. Many of its images have become well known, such as the seven seals, the four horsemen, the whore of New Testament, apocryphal Books produced Babylon, the beast with the mark on its forehead, by early Christians that were not included in the and the lake of fi re. The book ends with an inspir- NEW TESTAMENT. Early Christian communities pro- ing account of the new HEAVEN and new earth that duced a variety of books. Eventually, in the fourth God will create and a plea to Jesus to return soon. century C.E., churches that stood in the tradition of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox Christi- THE TEXT OF THE NEW TESTAMENT anity came to agree on a standard list of authorita- The books of the New Testament were originally tive books, known as a canon, for the New Testa- written in Greek. None of the original manuscripts ment. Books that they did not include make up has survived, and the old texts that do survive are the apocryphal New Testament. (Protestants [see not all the same. Scholars known as textual critics PROTESTANTISM] also use the name Apocrypha for try to reconstruct the lost originals as accurately books in the Old Testament that they do not accept as possible. The fi rst person to do so was a Dutch but that Catholics and Orthodox Christians do.) scholar named Erasmus (1466–1536). He com- The books in the apocryphal New Testament pared several Greek manuscripts to come up with come from many sources. Some represent the what he considered the best reading. But the man- views of the same communities that produced the uscripts Erasmus used were rather late. Discover- books in the New Testament. Books like 1 Clem- ies within the past 200 years have helped scholars ent, the Shepherd of Hermas, and the Didache or 322 S New Thought movement

Teaching of the Twelve Apostles were once quite books of Acts tell tales, some of them rather tall popular. They simply failed to meet the require- tales, about the apostles; among them, however, ments for being included in the New Testament. are traditions that are rather widely known, such For example, 1 Clement was written by an early as the story in the Acts of Peter that he was cruci- pope (see PAPACY), not an APOSTLE. fi ed upside down. One epistle, ascribed to Titus, Other books come from communities whose urges Christians to avoid sexual relations alto- teachings are quite different from what we now gether, even if they are married. (Sexual abstinence consider CHRISTIANITY. Some represent views known was, in fact, common among early Christians.) The as GNOSTICISM, an ancient religious movement that Apocalypse of Peter contains vivid descriptions of stressed salvation through secret knowledge, not heaven and hell. FAITH. Others come from communities that we can Although Christian churches today do not no longer easily identify because they have been accept these books as authoritative, they cast inter- largely forgotten. Christians today may fi nd the esting light on the diversity of views that counted contents of these books odd, such as the stories as Christian before Christianity defi ned itself offi - they tell about JESUS and the sayings they attribute cially during the fourth and fi fth centuries. to him. Nevertheless, some people who considered themselves Christians at other times thought of these books as containing religious truth. New Thought movement A popular American Like the New Testament itself, the New Tes- spiritual movement emphasizing the fundamental tament apocrypha include many kinds of books: importance of the mind in creating what each of gospels, ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, epistles, sermons, us sees as real and the power of thought to affect apocalypses, and other kinds of writing thought to healing and success. Beginning as a distinctive reveal divine truth. Many are ascribed to familiar movement in the late 19th century, New Thought apostles, such as James, John, Paul, Peter, Philip, had roots in the long-standing idealist tradition of and Thomas. Others are, unlike any of the books of philosophy, which says that mind or conscious- the New Testament, associated with the names of ness is the basic reality. What we call the world is, prominent women: the Gospel of Mary (meaning for the idealist, a projection out of consciousness, MARY MAGDALENE), the Acts of Thecla (a compan- whether from the mind of God or from that of the ion of Paul), and even a gospel written by EVE. Still individual. New Thought’s immediate background other books name the communities that used them, was the 19th century revival of this tradition by wrote them, or to whom they were addressed, such German idealist philosophers and their counter- as the gospels of the Hebrews, the Egyptians, and parts in New England Transcendentalism, espe- the Ebionites and Paul’s Letter to the Laodiceans cially Ralph Waldo Emerson. and Third Letter to the Corinthians. Scholars today The New Thought spiritual movement, some- think that most if not all of these names are wrong. times called “mind-cure” or “metaphysical” reli- (That is true for many books in the New Testament, gion, went a step further. Its founders, including too.) They were most likely given by the writers to Phineas Quimby (1802–66) and Emma Curtis Hop- make the books seem authoritative. Most of the kins (1853–1925), were not content just to say the- writings date to the second century C.E., although oretically that mind is all but wanted also to show some scholars have placed the Gospel of THOMAS in how the supreme power of mind can be employed the fi rst century. on behalf of health, happiness, and prosperity. It It is diffi cult to generalize about the con- was a time when America was changing, grow- tent of all of these books. They allegedly recount ing, and prospering as new technologies and new the childhood of Jesus or the secret teachings of opportunities appeared. To some, it seemed that Jesus, or they simply portray a different Jesus than ways of thinking should change too, in order to is described in the New Testament. The various be open to new endless possibilities and unleash New Year festivals S 323

the power to realize them. It was religion for an Joel Goldsmith, and Charles and Myrtle Fillmore optimistic, confi dent society and for people who of Unity. wanted to feel that way too. Further reading: Charles S. Braden, Spirits in New Thought stresses that God and his world Rebellion: The Rise and Development of New are wholly good and that it is only our negative Thought, Rpt. (Dallas, Tex.: Southern Methodist thinking that keeps us from seeing and appreciating University Press, 1987); Donald Meyer, The Positive this. But if we truly believe that we can be perfectly Thinkers (New York: Pantheon, 1980); Norman healthy or that our legitimate goals in life can be real- Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking, Rpt. ized, then we are already well on our way to health (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003). and success. To focus thought in this way, advocates urge meditation or concentration, sometimes recom- mending chantlike affi rmations as well. New Thought produced several small religious New Year festivals Religious commemorations denominations, including the Church of Divine Sci- of the beginning of a new year. In virtually all tra- ence, the Church of Religious Science, and Unity. ditional cultures, the change from an old year to a Note the frequent use of the word science in New new year is a time of religious signifi cance. Some- Thought; its practitioners say that their approach times it is celebrated, as in the modern Western is based on a scientifi c knowledge of how thought calendar, on the fi rst of January, shortly after the works, not merely on blind faith. winter solstice. Or it may come, as in the Chinese CHRISTIAN SCIENCE, although obviously closely calendar, around the beginning of spring, or as in related to New Thought, does not consider itself the Jewish calendar, in the fall. In any case, the part of the New Thought movement. It says that commencement of a new year signifi es something although New Thought teaches the power of like a miniature recreation of the world, when the thought to heal and change reality, the Christian old dissolves and a fresh start is made. It may also Science teaching of Mary Baker Eddy (1821–1910) be seen as a time of confl ict between old and new, declares instead that there never was anything or between different kinds of fortune for the next wrong with reality or ourselves; it is only our erro- year. The colorful ceremonies that mark New Year’s neous thoughts that were at fault. Day around the world all refl ect themes like these. Numerous other “inspirational” speakers and New Year’s Eve may be seen as a time for par- books, some of them best-sellers, clearly have tying and “letting go,” because it is like the old sources in the movement. In the mid-20th century, year or world returning to chaos before being made Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) was widely again. It is also a time, as in traditional China, for known. Although he was a minister in mainline paying debts, cleaning the house thoroughly, and denominations, his books, such as The Power of sending off the kitchen god with a bit of honey Positive Thinking, Guide to Confi dent Living, The on his painted lips to sweeten his mood as he Tough-Minded Optimist, and You Can If You Think goes to heaven to report to the supreme gods on You Can, virtually sum up the New Thought mes- the family’s conduct over the past year. In China sage in their titles alone. Over and over, with the also, New Year’s Day means honoring ancestors, help of simple slogans and homespun anecdotes, reestablishing family bonds by paying calls, and Peale presented his method for successful living: a parade in which a great dragon weaves through Set goals, believe you can accomplish them, do not the streets—the dragon being a symbol of yang, give way to the mental drainage of gloomy, defeat- the male energy of sun and growth whose half of ist thoughts. His tradition is continued in the “pos- the year then begins. Elsewhere, New Year’s Day sibility thinking” of Robert Schuller of the Crystal may be symbolized by lighting a new fi re, eat- Cathedral in California. Other important 20th-cen- ing new foods, or (as in Wales) sprinkling fresh tury New Thought teachers have been Emmet Fox, water on houses. In many cultures, from England 324 S Nichiren

to Japan, New Year’s Day has been thought of as nation or for individuals; that trust was also one’s a time when—it being a time of turning—the gate- only sure hope for salvation. The Lotus Sutra was ways to the other world opened a bit, and mys- not just to be read, but chanted and worshipped terious gods and spirits could come through, and for the power that lay in its very words. Nichiren ancestors might return in spirit to visit. Sometimes taught people a recitation called the Daimoku. costumes are worn to personify these entities by It consists of the words Namu myoho renge-kyo celebrators going from door to door. This may also (“Hail the marvelous teaching of the Lotus Sutra”) be the ultimate ancestor of the tradition of new chanted rapidly. The chant is best done in front of year parades, like the famous Rose Parade in Pasa- a shrine called the Gohonzon, a rectangular sheet dena, California. of paper bearing the words of the Daimoku and On a more serious note, the start of the new the names of some fi gures from the Lotus Sutra. year is a time for repenting of things done wrong in Nichiren Buddhists today fi nd this a very effective the past, and for making resolutions to help one do form of prayer. better in the future. The theme of confl ict between Nichiren believed that all Japan must accept old and new, or between two sides, on New Year’s his FAITH in the Lotus Sutra. He denounced other Day is refl ected in the practice of new year con- religions as false, but said that if Japan as a whole tests, whether tug-of-war as in some places in would turn to the Lotus, it would be blessed Japan, or the football bowl games in the United and would be a center of light for the world. He States. In all, New Year’s Day is a time, though believed that Japan’s famous Mount Fuji repre- now often secularized, that has had deep religious sented the mountain on which the Buddha had meaning in its past. originally delivered the Lotus Sutra as a sermon. On the other hand, if the nation rejected the Lotus Sutra, he said, many disasters would befall it. He Nichiren (1222–1282) Japanese Buddhist priest pointed to a series of calamities around him: earth- and reformer Nichiren was born to a poor fi shing quakes, drought, famine, epidemics. He also pre- family in a village called Kominato, northeast of dicted that Japan would be invaded from outside, the present location of Tokyo. Despite his lowly and claimed to have been right when the Mongols background, he received an education in a local came in 1268. But Japan was saved in that fateful Buddhist temple. From the age of 16, he traveled year by a typhoon (called the kamikaze, “divine widely from one temple and school of BUDDHISM wind”) that destroyed the enemy’s fl eet; Nichiren to another, seeking truth. It was a time of much said this was because at least some Japanese had confl ict and fi ghting in Japan, and of the rise of new, accepted his preaching. simplifi ed forms of Buddhism. This caused Nichiren Nichiren’s teaching created much opposition. to be particularly worried about two questions: Why, He was twice exiled and once sentenced to death; in the civil wars then going on in Japan, did armies legend has it that he was spared the death sentence often lose despite all the PRAYERS and ceremonies at the last minute, when the executioner’s sword offered on their behalf by Buddhist priests? and, was struck by lightning. But he started a religious How can I be sure that I am myself saved? movement, Nichiren Buddhism, which has had an Nichiren fi nally decided that the answers lay in important role in Japanese history and has grown the power of the LOTUS SUTRA, a great Buddhist text, rapidly in the 20th century in the form of some of which had been regarded as the most important of the largest of the new religions of Japan (see JAPAN, all by the Tendai school of Buddhism in which he NEW RELIGIONS IN), especially SOKA GAKKAI. had been raised. But Nichiren said it was now the only scripture; all the others were outdated. Trust in it and it alone would bring success nirvana Sanskrit for “blowing out”; in BUDDHISM, here and now, he said, whether for armies and the the blowing out of the fl ames of craving that are Nordic religion S 325

responsible for continued rebirth. Nirvana is the There are several parallels to Noah in the goal for which Buddhists strive. Paradoxically, it too world’s religions. The Sumerian Utnapishtim, the can become an object of craving. In that case the Akkadian Atrahasis, and the Indian MANU were craving for nirvana is an obstacle to be overcome. also said to have survived a universal fl ood. THERAVADA BUDDHISM, the form of Buddhism As the Bible tells the story (Genesis 6–9), GOD common in southeast Asia, distinguishes two forms decided to destroy the Earth because of its wick- of nirvana. These are called nirvana with and nir- edness. The barriers that kept the primal waters vana without a “substrate” (roughly a base made above the sky and below the Earth gave way, and up of mental and physical elements). Nirvana with a great fl ood ensued. But Noah, a righteous man, a substrate is the nirvana of the person whose pas- and his family had built an ark (boat) according to sions have been blown out but who remains in God’s specifi cations. In it, they and representative the body until the consequences of earlier, craving- animals survived. motivated action (KARMA) work themselves out. It When the waters receded, God made a COV- is described as a calm, cool bliss, beyond happi- ENANT with human beings. He promised never to ness and sadness. When the fi nal fl ickers of karma send another fl ood, and he sealed his promise with go out, one enters parinirvana, that is, the ultimate the rainbow. He also granted human beings per- nirvana, nirvana without a substrate. mission to eat meat for the fi rst time. Shortly there- Theravada Buddhism teaches that there is no after, Noah planted a vineyard. At harvest time, he permanent self, and this leads to a very pointed made wine, got drunk, and disgraced himself. question: Does a person continue to exist after According to Jewish tradition, all human entering parinirvana? The Buddha refused to beings are to observe the covenant made with answer this question. He said it did “not lead to Noah. The later covenant made with MOSES is bind- edifi cation.” It simply distracted the questioner ing only on Jews. According to Christian tradition, from seeking nirvana. Noah and his family in the ark prefi gure the saving Thinkers in the tradition of MAHAYANA BUD- of Christians through the waters of BAPTISM (1 Peter DHISM disagree with the Theravada analysis of 3.20–22). Muslims hold that Nuh (Noah) was the nirvana. Following the lead of the great thinker fi rst prophet through whom God punished people Nagarjuna, they generally maintain that all dis- for their SINS. They may recite his story when they tinctions are ultimately empty, including the dis- begin a journey, for example, Mecca (see MECCA, tinction between nirvana and SAMSARA, that is, the PILGRIMAGE TO). realm of continued rebirth. That is to say that nir- vana is not a separate state of existence that one enters; it is simply perceiving the world as it is, Nordic religion The pre-Christian religion of apart from our grasping and attachment. In addi- Scandinavia, including Iceland. Nordic religion tion, Mahayana Buddhists generally reject the idea was part of a larger religious complex known as that nirvana is a goal that individuals pursue for Germanic religion that consists of the pre-Chris- themselves. Rather, motivated by compassion, they tian religious beliefs and practices of peoples stress nirvana’s communal aspect. In the words of who spoke languages known as Germanic. In a BODHISATTVA vow: “I cannot be happy unless all the southern Germanic regions, such as England sentient beings are happy.” and Germany today, people converted to Christi- anity relatively early. Germanic speakers further north converted later: the Danes in the 900s, the Noah In the BIBLE and the QUR’AN, the patriarch Icelanders around 1000, the Norwegians slightly who survived the universal fl ood together with his later, and the Swedes by 1100. As a result, more is wife and family. All living human beings are said known about their pre-Christian religious beliefs to be his descendants. and practices. 326 S Nordic religion

Several sources provide information about Animal and sometimes human SACRIFICE played Nordic religion. One of the most important is early a major role in Nordic religion. For example, a Icelandic literature: the Eddas and skaldic poetry. well-known carving in Sweden shows a man being The single most important early Icelandic writer hanged on a tree, apparently a sacrifi ce to Odin. is Snorri Sturluson (1179–1241). These early writ- Sacrifi ces originally took place at outdoor sanc- ings tell stories about the gods, but it is often dif- tuaries, such as rocks and waterfalls. Eventually fi cult to separate pre-Christian from post-Christian Nordic peoples built wooden temples, perhaps elements. Other sources that provide information because of Christian infl uence. A particularly fi ne about Nordic religion include archaeological exca- temple is said to have been in the city of Uppsala vations, inscriptions written in runes, ancient art- in Sweden. No Nordic temple has survived, but work, and writings by outside observers such as perhaps they looked like wooden stave churches Adam of Bremen and Saxo Grammaticus. in the region today. Nordic stories identify two groups of gods, Archaeology tells us about Nordic burial the Aesir (generally military gods) and the Vanir practices. Particularly well-known are tombs that (generally fertility gods). In the distant past these include ships. Some Nordic people may have two groups fought with one another, but they then thought that death involved a journey to the west made peace. Another story tells how the trickster across the sea. Others seem to have located the god, LOKI, engineered the death of the god Balder, afterlife in the far north or in an underworld. Nor- the son of Odin (known as WOTAN further south). dic people sometimes called the realm of the dead When Balder was born, his mother, Frigg, had Hel. They did not, however, conceive of it as a made him invincible against all the weapons she place of punishment, the way Christians have tra- named. She did not mention the wood of the mis- ditionally conceived of HELL. tletoe. Balder died from an arrow of mistletoe. During the last 200 years there has been much Nordic speakers told different stories about the interest in Nordic religion. Not all of this interest creation of the world. According to one of these has been benefi cial. For example, some Nazis stud- stories, which resembles one found in a famous ied Nordic religion because they saw it as the true hymn of the Rig VEDA, the world came from the religion of the Aryan peoples. Speakers of English killing and dismembering of a giant named Ymir. are familiar with more benign survivals of Nor- Perhaps best known of all Nordic stories, however, dic religion. The names for Tuesday, Wednesday, are those about the end of the world, called Ragn- Thursday, and Friday derive from the Nordic gods arok. At that time, the god Odin, the highest god, Tyr, Odin (Wotan), Thor, and Frigg, respectively. will die in battling against the wolf Fenrir. (The See also ARCTIC RELIGIONS. spirits of slain human warriors who have been liv- ing with him in his castle, Valhalla, will join him Further reading: Brian Branston, The Lost Gods in the battle.) The god THOR will die battling the of England (London: Constable, 1993); H. R. Ellis serpent who surrounds the world, Jörmungand. Davidson, Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe: Early The cosmic ash tree, Yggdrasill, at whose foot the Scandinavian and Celtic Religions (Manchester, U.K.: well of wisdom sits, will shake and perhaps fall. Manchester University Press, 1988); Peter Berresford The sun will go out, the sky will go black, and the Ellis, A Brief History of the Druids (London: Robinson, earth will sink beneath the ocean. This will not, 2002); E. O. G. Turville-Petre, Myth and Religion of however, be the true end. The earth will rise again the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia (New and peace will be restored. York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1964). . O ,

occultism and esotericism Spiritual doctrines powerful to be widely known; it would be danger- and practices that are considered secret. The word ous in the wrong hands, and should be imparted “occult” means hidden, and “esoteric” means only to one who has been carefully prepared within, in the sense of something concealed within through training and initiation. It may be consid- something else. In the context of religious tradi- ered that it could not really be understood by one tions, these more or less overlapping terms refer to who knows only the words, but has not had the teachings and practices that are not widely given experiences to go with it, just as a child cannot out, but kept within a select circle. One example really understand what it is like to be adult until would be MANTRAS (sacred words) and mudras she or he has gone through some years of growth (sacred gestures) in HINDUISM and BUDDHISM, which and change, or one cannot understand higher are passed on from a guru or teacher to a disciple at mathematics until one has studied the basics. the latter’s initiation. Another would be in JUDAISM, Thus, it may be claimed, occult secrets just the special symbolic meaning given Hebrew words cannot be grasped without background knowledge. and even letters in the scriptures by students of the Books on calculus are not exactly kept hidden; they tradition known as KABBALAH. Ancient GNOSTICISM is can be found in any good library or bookstore. But if sometimes considered an esoteric version of CHRIS- one has not had the necessary preliminary training TIANITY. There are also occult and esoteric systems in arithmetic and algebra, they might as well be hid- of thought and practice not closely tied to any major den. Occultists would say that some inner teachings religion; in the West, a group of ancient teachings of the spiritual life are like that. In fact, today books such as ASTROLOGY, ALCHEMY, palmistry, and MAGIC on many things supposedly occult, from the lore of are often collectively labeled occultism. What these the stars to the lore of gemstones, are widely avail- and all so-called occult or esoteric teachings tend able, and occult orders offering initiations advertise to have in common is a belief in subtle cause-and- in popular magazines. The consumer must cau- effect relationships or “correspondences.” These tiously decide what their teachings are worth. At relationships are not easily understood until one is the same time, deeper occult secrets about the rela- ready to understand them. In occultism, they may tion of humanity to the universe may be hidden at be between humanity and some aspect of the uni- the heart of all the great spiritual traditions. verse; for example, between a gemstone and a par- ticular mood, or between the position of the plan- ets and the course of one’s life. Oceanic religion See PACIFIC OCEAN RELIGIONS. Teachings and practices can be occult or eso- teric for several reasons. Sometimes, of course, a group wants to keep its secrets close for reasons of om The most sacred syllable in HINDUISM. Hindus wealth and power. It may also be that it honestly consider the syllable om a symbol of primal total- believes a spiritual perception or technique is too ity—the whole that contains all things—and the

327 S 328 S ordination

most important of all MANTRAS or sacred sounds. Then, in the 20th century, Jews revived the ancient They intone or chant it at the beginning and end practice. In the Middle Ages, Christians not only of prayers and religious recitations, among other retained the ancient practice, they also elaborated occasions. It is known as pranava, “humming,” on it. They presented the person being ordained and ekakshara, “the one syllable.” with many symbols of offi ce, such as special It is customary to say that the syllable om clothes and a staff. During the REFORMATION, Prot- contains three sounds, a, u, and m. As a result, it estants simplifi ed the ritual once again or elimi- is sometimes written “aum” in English. The three nated it altogether. sounds stand for very many things, including the In the past, Jews and Christians only ordained three parts of the universe (earth, atmosphere, sky) men to the rabbinate and ministry. In the 20th cen- and the three major gods (BRAHMA, VISHNU, SIVA). tury, more liberal groups began to ordain women, The most philosophical interpretation says that too. At the end of the 20th and beginning of the the three sounds stand for the three states of con- 21st century many Buddhist women, too, were sciousness: waking consciousness, dreaming con- attempting to reestablish the order of nuns in sciousness, and sleep without dreams. It also says areas where it had died out, such as the Theravada that the silence that follows the syllable stands for countries of southeast Asia. the fourth state, the indescribable source of all that exists (see BRAHMAN). The symbol that Hindus use for om ( ) has Orphism A religious movement in ancient become well known in North America. It is† found Greece associated with the mythical singer on T-shirts, CD covers, skateboards, and tattoos, Orpheus. Orphism seems to have arisen in the area to name just a few places. Many Hindus, however, around Athens in the sixth century B.C.E. It was fi nd the way that American popular culture uses also practiced in southern Italy and in the region this, their most sacred symbol, disrespectful. Peo- of the Black Sea, regions in which the Greeks had ple using the symbol for om should remember that colonies. Orpheus and Orphism are depicted in to many people it is a sacred symbol that should scenes painted on vases, mentioned in references not be used just for fun. in writers such as Plato and ancient poems that go by its name, and represented in a few recent archaeological discoveries. Although knowledge ordination A RITUAL that appoints a person to of Orphism is limited, these sources reveal some a religious offi ce. North Americans usually asso- things about Orphic practices and teachings. ciate ordination with Christian rituals that make People who followed Orphism were strict veg- someone a priest or minister. Roman Catholic and etarians: They ate no meat (see DIET AND RELIGION). Orthodox Christians think of ordination as a SACRA- What is more, they refused to SACRIFICE animals to MENT. But other religious groups ordain, too. Jews the gods. Such sacrifi ces were part of the festivals ordain rabbis. Some people speak of ordination that held Greek states together, but according to when Buddhists become MONKS AND NUNS. Used Plato the Orphics gave the gods only honey-soaked broadly, ordination can be applied to virtually cakes and fruit. every religion. Orpheus, whom they followed, was said to In ancient times, Jews and Christians ordained have come from Thrace, that is, far northern Greece. in the same way, by “laying on hands.” Those with A famed singer, he could charm wild beasts. When authority would place their hands on top of the his wife Eurydice died of a snakebite, he went to head of the person to be ordained. But Jewish and the underworld and won her release. He was told Christian ordination developed differently. Jews not to look at her until they reached the surface of stopped laying on hands. They instead presented the earth. Unfortunately, he violated this instruc- rabbis with certifi cates testifying to their offi ce. tion and lost her forever. It is said that, faithful Otto, Rudolf S 329

to his dead wife, Orpheus rejected advances made ander of Macedon’s conquests (Alexander the by women of Thrace known as Bassarae. He died Great, 336–323 B.C.E.), the cult of Osiris combined when, in wild rituals devoted to Dionysos, the Bas- with that of Apis, a sacred bull that was kept in sarae ripped him to pieces. Memphis; when the bull died, it was mummifi ed The Orphics also told a story about the origins and a new bull was chosen. The result was a god of human beings. The Titans, who were wicked, known as Serapis. The worship of this god spread ate the god Dionysos. In anger ZEUS slew the Titans throughout the Mediterranean world as one of the with his thunderbolt and made human beings from MYSTERY RELIGIONS. the ashes. This story teaches that human beings Artwork often shows Osiris as a mummy with have a divine core (Dionysos) trapped by evil (the arms crossed. Despite the connection with the bull, Titans). Indeed, according to Plato the Orphics the later Serapis was imaged as a seated, majestic taught that the body was the prison of the soul. male, modeled on the image of Zeus. The most They may have also believed in rebirth. Orphic popular Osiris temple was at the Egyptian town of religious practices seem to have aimed at freeing Abydos. There the road along which a procession the soul from its prison and at avoiding punish- traveled during the Osiris festival became a popu- ments in the underworld after death. lar place to be buried. Further reading: Ruth Schumann Antelme and Stéphane Rossini, Becoming Osiris: The Ancient Osiris A god of ancient Egypt identifi ed with the Egyptian Death Experience, trans. Jon Graham dead Pharaoh or king. The worship of Osiris goes (Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions, 1998); Plutarch, back to the third millennium (3000–2001) B.C.E. Moralia, vol. 5, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, Our best account of the stories of Osiris comes Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1960); Ian Shaw, from the Greek writer Plutarch, who lived in the Ancient Egypt: A Very Short Introduction (New late fi rst to early second century C.E. According York: Oxford University Press, 2004). to him, Osiris’s wicked brother and rival, Seth, tricked Osiris, killed him, and eventually cut his body into 14 pieces, which he scattered here and there. Osiris’s wife, Isis, searched for and man- Otto, Rudolf (1869–1937) infl uential German aged to fi nd all of the pieces except for the sexual theologian, philosopher, and historian of religions organs. She reassembled them and brought Osiris Otto taught Protestant theology at the universities back to life as the god of the underworld. Then of Göttingen, Breslau, and Marburg. His major con- the assembly of the gods decided that HORUS, the cern was to analyze the experiences that, he said, son of Osiris, should be king in his place. In accor- made all religion possible. He did so, especially in dance with the wishes of Isis, however, they did his best-selling book, The Idea of the Holy (1917). not put Seth to death. According to Otto, religion depends upon a In the earliest times that we know of, Osiris human experience that is unlike any other. To refer was identifi ed with the dead king and so was the to this experience, he coined the word “numinous.” ruler of the dead. By about the year 2000 B.C.E., Otto analyzed the numinous experience in terms large numbers of Egyptians came to believe that of three moments. As mysterium, it totally transcends ordinary dead people could also become Osiris human understanding and evokes a response of and attain immortality after death. To do so, they silent dumbfoundedness. As tremendum, it appears had to perform the right RITUALS. These rituals pre- as overpowering and majestic and evokes a response pared them for a test after death, when their hearts of trembling and a feeling of creatureliness. As fasci- would be weighed in a balance against a feather, nans, the numinous appears as gracious and merci- which stood for truth. Much later still, after Alex- ful and evokes a response of love. . P ,

Pacifi c Ocean religions The religions of the bore goodwill to people; others bore ill will. Some peoples who lived on Pacifi c islands before Euro- were the souls of the departed. Most islanders had peans arrived. This area is sometimes called Oce- elaborate ideas of what happened to the soul after ania. Its religions are sometimes called Oceanic death. It journeyed, sometimes to the underworld, religions. sometimes to the upperworld, and sometimes to a The Pacifi c Ocean contains more than 10,000 distant island. islands. Some are immense, for example, New Pacifi c islanders provided scholars with classic Guinea and the islands of New Zealand. Oth- examples of INITIATION rituals. They also had elabo- ers are extremely small. The islands stretch from rate ceremonies for the dead. Some of the ceremo- New Guinea in the west to Easter Island in the nies involved beautiful artwork. The body of the east, from the Hawaiian Islands in the north to dead received careful attention. Sometimes it was New Zealand in the south. The eastern half of this buried temporarily; sometimes it was exposed. The region is called Polynesia. The northwestern quar- bones of the dead often became important RITUAL ter is called Micronesia. The southwestern quarter objects. is called Melanesia. Most Pacifi c islanders used MAGIC of some sort People fi rst settled in New Guinea 20,000 to in their daily life. Many societies also had magi- 30,000 years ago. They only began to settle Micro- cal specialists. These were often men. But in many nesia and Polynesia much later, perhaps around places people sought out women for help in heal- 2000 B.C.E. The islands at the far extremes—the ing and in furthering love relationships. Hawaiian Islands, Easter Island, New Zealand— Polynesia gave the English-speaking world were settled even later, roughly 500 to 1000 C.E. the words mana and TABOO. Things as well as In general, the islands of Polynesia are more pro- persons could have mana. The word referred to ductive than those of Melanesia and Micronesia. a powerful religious state. Such states were also As a result, Polynesians, unlike Melanesians and tabu, that is, they required persons to observe Micronesians, developed complex hierarchies of special prohibitions. social classes. Chiefs and kings are very important Some Pacifi c Island societies were matrilineal fi gures in Polynesian religions. They are not so and matrilocal, that is, people traced their descent important farther west. through their mothers, rather than their fathers, The islands have their own languages, cul- and they lived with their mothers’ families. Never- tures, and religions. Any attempt to describe “the theless, Pacifi c island religions remained strongly religion” of the islands is bound to fail. But some male-centered. That was true even of religions in features did appear in many different places. which goddesses were prominent. In western parts Pacifi c Ocean islanders paid attention to a vari- of the region, religion was the secret preserve of ety of spiritual beings, sometimes called spirits in adult men. They found the presence of women English, and sometimes called gods. Some beings polluting and therefore threatening.

S 330 pacifi sm, religious S 331

By the beginning of the 21st century, few if Islam share an ideal of peace, known as shalom any Pacifi c Ocean religions survived in traditional in Hebrew and salaam in Arabic. Their histories, form. Christian MISSIONARIES had converted the however, have led them to pursue this ideal dif- entire area. During the 19th and 20th centuries, ferently. Some parts of the Hebrew scriptures cel- Pacifi c Ocean islanders also developed distinct rit- ebrate brutal, religiously motivated warfare (see uals known as CARGO CULTS. These cults sought to SCRIPTURES, HEBREW). Rabbinical Judaism, however, make their followers prosperous in material goods. has traditionally emphasized witnessing to God’s They often taught that “white men,” (their ances- truth in the face of oppression and not respond- tors) were going to bring them material goods as ing to violence with violence. Throughout much of gifts. history, then, Jews have been pacifi sts. One excep- tion to this rule was the actions of some Jewish terrorists leading up to the founding of the state pacifi sm, religious Refusal, motivated by reli- of Israel. gious principles, to engage in acts of violence or Unlike Jews, Muslims have often held political war. Nonreligious people have embraced pacifi sm, power. Furthermore, many have seen the QUR’AN too, and religious people may adopt pacifi sm for as teaching that Muslims are required to defend reasons other than religious ones. But the world’s Islam by military means, if necessary. This view of religions have given rise to some of the most JIHAD has led some people, including scholars, to important traditions of pacifi sm (see, however, WA R assert that Islamic pacifi sm is impossible. Never- AND RELIGION). theless, Muslims known as Sufi s (see SUFISM) have Extremely infl uential traditions of religious often taken jihad to be not a military but a personal pacifi sm derive from ancient India. Religious paci- struggle against temptation. Moreover, Abdul Ghaf- fi sm in its fullest form may be found in JAINISM. far Khan (1890–1988), a leader in the movement Jains advocate complete AHIMSA or noninjury. In that led to the creation of Pakistan, was a staunch pursuing this ideal, Jains avoid all violence against Muslim, a close personal friend of Mohandas GAN- other human beings. They even refuse to consider DHI, and an advocate of unconditional nonvio- any statements to be absolutely true. To do so, lence. He saw no contradiction between pacifi sm they say, would injure those who see the world and Islam. Today many Muslims, like many other differently than they do. people around the world, actively work for peace. BUDDHISM arose at the same time as Jainism. It, Among Christians pacifi sm has often charac- too, embraces the ideal of ahimsa. Some claim that terized outsider movements—small groups that there is no justifi cation within Buddhism for war have broken away from the Christian mainstream. of any kind. One well-known example of Buddhist In the Middle Ages both the WALDENSIANS, mem- pacifi sm from ancient times is the emperor ASOKA. bers of a 12th-century movement in southern Early in life he fi nished the conquest of India that France condemned as heretics, and the followers of his ancestors had begun. But the conquest was so John Wycliffe (c. 1320–84) were pacifi sts. Anabap- bloody that in remorse, it is said, Asoka adopted tist groups that arose during the Reformation and Buddhism and renounced violence. Today Bud- later, like the MENNONITES, AMISH, and Brethren, are dhists are very active in promoting peace. Orga- pacifi sts. So, too, are members of the Society of nizations that do so in North America include the Friends, often known as QUAKERS. A famous exam- Buddhist Peace Fellowship and the Zen Peace- ple was William Penn (1644–1718), who refused to maker Order. Infl uential Buddhist spokespersons use violence against native Americans. In the past for peace include the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat 100 years Christian pacifi sts in the United States Hanh (b. 1926) and the DALAI LAMA (b. 1935). have opposed war, such as the war in Vietnam. JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, and ISLAM have also had They have also advocated that countries disarm. pacifi st movements. In one sense Judaism and Many Christians, however, reject pacifi sm. They 332 S Paganism, Modern

prefer a theory that justifi es certain kinds of war, ples. Increasingly, themes from non-European cul- the “just war theory.” tures, African, Asian, and Native American, have Perhaps the most prominent religious paci- found their way into Modern Paganism as well. A fi st in the last 100 years was a Hindu, Mohan- substantial part of Modern Paganism is Wicca, or das K. Gandhi (1869–1948), often known as the WITCHCRAFT, which tends to be eclectic, adapting Mahatma. Gandhi advocated what he called “soul- ideas and RITUALS from many sources or creating force” rather than “body-force.” The goal, he said, its own. (Modern Wiccans emphasize that their was to persuade opponents of the truth, not to witchcraft has none of the negative connotations coerce them by using or threatening to use vio- sometimes associated with the word but is entirely lence. Those who use soul-force, however, must a benign, nature-oriented faith.) be prepared to suffer or even die. Although he was Modern Paganism has sources in folklore, a Hindu, Gandhi received inspiration from non- romanticism, and a few early revivals, especially Hindu sources, such as the Sermon on the Mount in England. But as a major movement it is essen- in the gospel of Matthew and the writings of Leo tially a product of the 1960s and the great spiri- Tolstoy (1828–1910). Gandhi’s ideas profoundly tual upheaval of that era. Many people found infl uenced the American civil rights leader Martin themselves alienated from conventional Western Luther KING Jr. (1929–1968), among others. religion and sought a way closer to nature and its cycles, sensitive to feminism and the spiritual Further reading: Peter Brock, Varieties of equality of men and women, and bearing a roman- Pacifi sm: A Survey from Antiquity to the Outset tic sense of identity with the distant past. The col- of the Twentieth Century, 4th ed. (Syracuse, orful participatory rituals characteristic of Modern N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1998); A Call to Paganism, featuring circle dances, rich robes, and Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Dr. Martin attractive offerings of fruit and fl owers, appealed Luther King Jr., ed. Clayborne Carson and Kris to dwellers in stark modern cities. These dramatic Shepard (New York: Warner Books, 2001); Eknath rites evoke an immediate sense of sacred space Easwaran, Nonviolent Soldier of Islam: Badshah and time that makes religious reality more tangible Khan, A Man to Match His Mountains, 2d ed. for some than do the services of ordinary churches (Tomales, Calif.: Nilgiri Press, 1999); The Essential and temples. Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, What are some major themes of Modern Work, and Ideas, ed. Louis Fischer, 2d ed. (New Paganism? First, the desire to be in close touch York: Vintage Books, 2002); David R. Smock, spiritually with nature. Many rituals are outdoors, Perspectives on Pacifi sm: Christian, Jewish, and if possible in natural woodland settings, and har- Muslim Views on Nonviolence and International monize with the turning of the seasons. The sol- Confl ict (Washington, D.C.: United States Institute stices and equinoxes are signifi cant ritual times. of Peace Press, 1995); Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Many Neo-Pagans are concerned with current Peace, ed. Arnold Kotler (Berkeley, Calif.: Parallax ecological issues, seeing them as having an impor- Press, 1987). tant spiritual dimension. Many believe deeply that nature is infused with divinity, perhaps with spirits still in trees, hills, and springs as in ancient times. Paganism, Modern Contemporary movements They see their belief as a new cosmic religion ori- that have tried to revive or reconstruct in a way ented to the tides of nature rather than to events appropriate to today’s world the religious style and persons in human history. of the ancient or pre-Christian world. Modern Second, they emphasize the importance of the Paganism, or Neo-Paganism, includes groups that feminine as well as the masculine in the divine. base their spiritual practices on the religion of the Some are worshippers of the GODDESS, the Great ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Celts, and Nordic peo- Mother, as well as of GOD. Some Wiccan groups, papacy, the S 333

called Dianic (see DIANA), are entirely made up of Curia, and the College of CARDINALS, whose mem- women. Those that are composed of both men and bers he appoints. He also appoints the heads of the women usually have equal parts for both genders, regional churches throughout the world. They are as priests and priestesses or as participants. To known as bishops. them this is an important corrective to the male- The papacy’s claims to power go back to the centered practices in many conventional religions. NEW TESTAMENT. There JESUS tells PETER that he is Third, many Pagans, as they revive the gods the rock upon which the church will be built (Mat- and goddesses of ancient times, see them as repre- thew 16.18–19). He also gives Peter the power senting parts of themselves and thus helping them to forgive SINS on Earth, or not, as he chooses. understand themselves. Often deities are viewed According to Roman Catholic tradition, Peter was as archetypes, as in the psychology of Carl Gustav the fi rst Pope. He passed down to future popes JUNG. If Pagans accept POLYTHEISM, belief in many the powers that Jesus had given to him. In the gods and goddesses, that belief refl ects their sense view of the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope is of the divine’s nuance and complexity both in the vicar of CHRIST on Earth. He sits on the throne nature and in themselves. of Peter. According to a controversial decree of the Modern Paganism has no central organization First VATICAN COUNCIL (1869–70), the Pope is infal- but is expressed through numerous local groups. lible. That means that when he speaks on matters Many are now linked through Pagan Internet sites. of church teaching or practice, he cannot make a Estimates of the number of Modern Pagans in the mistake. His pronouncements must be accepted. United States vary widely. The actual powers of the popes has varied. When CHRISTIANITY fi rst spread, Rome was the Further reading: Margot Adler, Drawing Down capital of an empire that ruled the entire region the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers of the Mediterranean Sea. Early on, the Roman and Other Pagans in America (New York: Penguin church was infl uential. But other churches were USA, 1997); Sarah Pike, Earthly Bodies, Magical infl uential, too, for example, the churches at Selves: Contemporary Pagans and the Search for Antioch, Alexandria, and, from the fourth cen- Community (Berkeley: University of California tury, Constantinople. Press, 2001); Starhawk, The Spiral Dance: A During the fi fth century C.E. invaders from Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Goddess (San northern and eastern Europe sacked Rome: the Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1999). Visigoths in 410, the Vandals in 477. The papacy fi lled the political vacuum that was left. It spoke with unquestioned authority in the Latin-speak- papacy, the The institution that governs the ing, western half of the empire. Roman Catholic Church. The papacy centers on a But the bishop of Rome claimed more. He man known as the Pope. (Women are not allowed claimed universal prestige. At the Council of Chal- to hold this offi ce.) The word comes from the cedon, Leo I (pope, 440–461) mediated a dispute medieval Latin word papa, which means “father.” between two warring factions of Greek-speaking In ROMAN CATHOLICISM the Pope is the bishop of theologians. Gregory I (pope, 590–604) argued Rome. According to Roman Catholic teachings, strenuously for the Pope’s claim to rule the entire he is superior to all other bishops. Therefore, he church. The Orthodox churches never accepted should govern the church throughout the world. this claim. In 1054 the Pope and the Patriarch of The congregations that acknowledge his suprem- Constantinople excommunicated one another. The acy make up the Roman Catholic Church. In addi- schism remained until 1965, when each revoked tion to governing this church, the Pope also rules a his decree of excommunication. small territory in Rome known as Vatican City. He In 1076 Gregory VII (pope, 1073–85) excommu- is assisted by an administrative unit, known as the nicated and humiliated the Holy Roman emperor, 334 S Parsees

Henry IV. In doing so, he established the power of become influential in business, higher educa- popes over kings and princes. From 1100 to 1300 tion, and the professions. In the 20th century the popes enjoyed unmatched power in western significant numbers of Parsees also settled in Europe. At the end of this period Boniface VIII London and Toronto. (1294–1303) claimed complete supremacy over Parsee priests are males who inherit their posi- virtually all of creation. A document known as the tions from their fathers. Five times a day they place Donation of Constantine supported papal claims. fuel on the eternal fi res that burn in their temples. It stated that Emperor Constantine had given all of As they do so, they recite PRAYERS from the Zoroas- his power to the popes. trian SCRIPTURES. After Boniface the political power of the According to tradition a person is a Parsee if papacy gradually diminished. A number of events her or his father is a Parsee, it is not possible to were responsible: a period during which the popes convert to the FAITH. At the age of seven, Parsee lived in Avignon, France (1309–77), followed by a children undergo a ceremony known as navjot. period in which two, then three, men claimed to In that ceremony they receive a white shirt and be pope (1378–1417); the demonstration that the a sacred thread. The faithful always wear these Donation of Constantine was a forgery; the rise symbols of the Parsee faith except when they are of national powers in Europe; and the Protestant sleeping and bathing. REFORMATION. Parsees are well known for their traditional In the 20th century John XXIII (pope, 1958– funeral practices. They place bodies of the dead 63) attempted to modernize the church. But suc- in “towers of silence.” There the bodies are eaten cessors such as John Paul II (pope, 1978–2005) by vultures. The idea behind this practice is that took a more conservative line. That meant that the no element—earth, air, fi re, or water—should be papacy was occasionally at odds with the more defi led by corpses. liberal North American Catholic Church. One pre- In the 20th century some Parsees began to sumes that Pope Benedict XVI (pope, 2005– ), advocate electric cremation as an acceptable will continue the direction established by his pre- alternative to exposure. In a few places they decessor, John Paul II. even began to raise the possibility of converting to the faith. Further reading: William J. La Due, The Chair of Saint Peter: A History of the Papacy (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1999); Philippe Levillain, ed., Parvati The consort of the god SIVA in Hindu The Papacy: An Encyclopedia (New York: Routledge, mythology. Parvati’s name derives from a San- 2002); Michael J. Walsh, ed., Lives of the Popes: skrit word for mountain (parvata). Indeed, she is Illustrated Biographies of Every Pope from St. Peter said to be the daughter of Himavat, the lord of the to the Present (London: Salamander, 1998). Himalayas. As a GODDESS she is much less inde- pendent than DURGA or KALI. Her major role is as Siva’s wife, but in this role she is indispensable. Parsees Zoroastrians who live in India and She tames the wild, limitless, austere energy of their descendants. By 1000 C.E. Zoroastrians the god and makes it available to human beings. had emigrated from Persia (today Iran) to the A famous line by the poet Kalidasa equates the region of Gujarat in western India (see ZOROAS- necessary relation of Siva and Parvati with that of TRIANISM). Tradition says they did so in response a word’s meaning and its sound. to the conquest of Persia by Muslims, which Parvati is the mother of both of Siva’s sons: began about 635 C.E. The name “Parsee” refers the elephant-headed god GANESA and the six- to Persia, their country of origin. Today a large headed god Skanda. According to the Siva-PURANA, number of Parsees live in Bombay. They have she gave birth to Ganesa all by herself. One day Passover S 335

she wanted to take a bath, but Siva was away, so she created Ganesa from the dirt of her body and set him to stand guard. Parvati is generally shown accompanying Siva. Certain religious texts known as TANTRAS take the form of a dialogue between Parvati and Siva (see TANTRISM).

Passover One of the most widely observed JEWISH FESTIVALS. The Hebrew name for Passover is Pesach. Passover is celebrated from the 15th to the 23rd of the Jewish month of Nisan (in Israel, to the 22nd). This period occurs in late March or April. Because the Jewish calendar is partly lunar, Pass- over does not occur on any fi xed date in the Grego- rian calendar used in North America and Europe. Passover combines two ancient festivals. One was the SACRIFICE of a lamb. This RITUAL was discon- tinued when the JERUSALEM Temple was destroyed in 70 C.E. The other was the feast of unleavened bread. At its most ancient, this feast seems to have been a spring harvest festival. In celebrating it, the inhabitants of ancient Canaan disposed of the previous year’s grain products and used only grain from the new harvest. The products disposed of included the fermenting agent used in baking, The reading of the Haggadah takes place at a Passover something like the starter used to make sourdough seder, like the one in the background of this picture. bread. For about a week, they ate unraised or The Haggadah read here has been written completely in unleavened bread, because it took that long for the Hebrew, although many are written in both Hebrew and English. (Ya’acov Sa’ar, Government Press Offi ce, Israel) starter made from the new grain to ferment. Passover also has roots in the early history of the Jewish people. It recalls the EXODUS from Egypt under MOSES. This is the freeing of the children He killed only the fi rst-born sons in the unmarked of Israel who were living in Egypt as slaves. The houses of the Egyptians. name “passover” derives from an event recorded The fi rst two and the last two days of Pass- in Exodus 12. There it is said that GOD visited the over are especially sacred for traditional Jews. On Egyptians with one fi nal plague to convince the those days one is not allowed to work. (In Israel king of Egypt to release the children of Israel from work is not allowed only on the fi rst and the last slavery. First he instructed the children of Israel day of Passover.) Jews observe the central ritual to smear their doors with the blood of a sacrifi ced of Passover on the fi rst two nights, generally at lamb. Then he sent the ANGEL of death to kill the home with family members. This ritual is known fi rst-born sons of the Egyptians. The angel is said as a seder, from the Hebrew word for “order.” The to have “passed over” houses of the children of seder “haggadah” or story recounts the events of Israel, whose doors had been smeared with blood. the exodus. One of its best known moments comes 336 S Paul, the apostle

when a young child asks, “Why is tonight differ- an extremely observant Jew. When CHRISTIANITY ent from all other nights?” During the answer, fi rst arose, he strongly opposed it. But on the way the participants refer to certain foods: matzah or to Damascus, now in Syria, he had a VISION of unleavened bread; horseradish in remembrance of JESUS in HEAVEN. As a result, he began to advocate the hardships endured in Egypt; a lamb bone and Christianity. His message centered on the death a roasted egg, in memory of the Passover sacrifi ce and RESURRECTION of Jesus. His writings say and the offerings once given in the Temple; a mix- virtually nothing about what Jesus taught or did ture of apples, nuts, and wine known as haroseth, during his lifetime. said to stand for the mortar that the children of Starting from Antioch on the Orontes River Israel used as slaves in Egypt; a dish of saltwater (far southern Turkey), Paul traveled throughout that symbolizes the tears the slaves in Egypt shed; what are now Turkey and Greece, establishing and some sort of green, usually parsley, to repre- Christian churches. On the basis of the book of sent the emergence of new life in the spring. Spe- Acts, it is traditional to say that Paul made four cial seder plates contain depressions to hold these missionary journeys. Paul’s own letters make this symbolic items. itinerary seem somewhat artifi cial. Paul’s efforts During the course of the seder the participants sparked much unrest. During a visit to JERUSALEM, drink four cups of wine. They leave a cup of wine he was arrested. He was transferred to Caesarea undrunk for the prophet ELIJAH in case he should and spent two years there in prison. Then he was return, as Jewish tradition says he will. Several transferred to Rome. It is presumed that he died in features involve children. In addition to asking Rome under Emperor Nero (ruled, 54–68 C.E.). important questions during the recital of the hag- Tradition attributes 14 books of the New Testa- gadah, children may be asked to fi nd a piece of ment to Paul. These are letters that Paul allegedly matzah that has been hidden. When they do fi nd wrote. Of these books, virtually all modern schol- it, they receive a reward. During the entire Pass- ars accept seven as genuinely by Paul: Romans, over period Jews eat special foods. The foods vary 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, Phi- with how strict the Jewish family is in its prac- lemon, and 1 Thessalonians. Virtually all modern tice. Some Jews simply eliminate leavened bread; scholars reject Hebrews as by Paul; it does not in the very strict eat only foods specially blessed for fact claim that Paul wrote it. Most modern schol- Passover. ars also reject 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus as by Passover is one of three PILGRIMAGE festivals in Paul, because they address problems that did not JUDAISM. Shavuot (Pentecost or Weeks) and Sukkot yet exist when Paul died. Scholars have also ques- (Huts) are the other two. The name “pilgrimage tioned whether Paul wrote Ephesians, Colossians, festival” derives from ancient Israelite practice. and 2 Thessalonians. The ancient Israelites traveled or made pilgrimage Paul converted primarily non-Jews to Christi- to Jerusalem in order to offer the Passover sacrifi ce anity. This sparked a major controversy, because at the Temple. Today only the SAMARITANS observe the earliest Christians were all Jews. They observed Passover with a sacrifi ce. They make their sacrifi ce the TORAH as a matter of course. The question on Mt. Gerizim. became: Do people have to observe the Torah to accept Jesus as the MESSIAH? The APOSTLES at Jerusa- lem—Jesus’ closest followers—answered yes; Paul Paul, the apostle also called Saul; the most and his associates answered no. Some went even infl uential early Christian missionary. His further. They said that in the new age of Jesus, letters make up a large part of the NEW TESTAMENT. people could do whatever they wanted. Paul was born in the town of Tarsus, now in In addressing this situation, Paul developed southern Turkey. From his writings it is clear that his most distinctive ideas. Among other places, he he had a good education in Greek. He was also summarized these ideas when he wrote to Chris- Pentecostalism S 337

tians in Galatia: “a person is justifi ed not by the ers. Tongues of fi re appeared on top of their heads, works of the law [observing the Torah] but by FAITH and they began speaking in languages they did not in Jesus CHRIST” (Galatians 2.16). Paul’s concern in know. The apostle PETER gave a speech to Jews this and other verses is JUSTIFICATION: What makes assembled for the festival that was the fi rst public people acceptable in God’s sight? In Paul’s eyes, proclamation of the message of CHRISTIANITY. observing the Torah cannot do this, because no Most Christians look on these events as won- one keeps the Torah perfectly. Instead, all people derful but unusual. They do not expect them to SIN and therefore deserve God’s punishment. Only occur today. Pentecostal Christians believe that all the death and resurrection of Jesus can make peo- Christians can receive such gifts of the spirit. The ple, both Jews and non-Jews alike, acceptable to most important gift is the one received at Pente- God. In explaining these views, Paul talks about cost: glossolalia, or speaking in tongues. GRACE and faith. The saving work of Jesus shows God’s grace because it is freely given (cf. the Eng- HISTORY lish word “gratis”). People receive that gift through Pentecostalism began in the HOLINESS MOVEMENT. faith in Jesus. This movement was an offshoot of METHODISM. Christians began to make collections of Paul’s John WESLEY (1703–91), the founder of Method- letters very early. For example, 2 Peter, the latest ism, taught that once someone had been saved, book in the New Testament, refers to these let- moral perfection was possible. The fi rst American ters (3.15–16). But people argued over who inter- Methodists sought this perfection in a process preted Paul correctly. The Gnostic teacher Marcion they called sanctifi cation. They also held energetic claimed to represent Paul’s true teachings (see revival services, often in camp meetings. But by GNOSTICISM). The Catholic and Orthodox churches the middle 1800s, Methodism had become more were more successful in claiming Paul’s heritage. restrained. Perfection became a topic most Meth- Paul’s ideas of justifi cation have been particularly odists no longer talked about. Methodist services important in ROMAN CATHOLICISM and PROTESTANTISM. became subdued and more respectable to follow- In particular, they powerfully infl uenced thinkers ers of other denominations. like AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO, Martin LUTHER, and John Some Methodists longed for the old ways. CALVIN. These thinkers found in Paul’s answers to They tried to remain within their churches and specifi c questions about observing the Torah, more hold camp meetings and cultivate perfection on general principles upon which to build Christian the side. But church offi cials became suspicious, teachings. and forced them to leave. They founded their own churches. One of the most prominent is the Church of the NAZARENE. Pentecostalism A variety of PROTESTANTISM that Charles Fox Parham (1873–1929) was a Holi- began in the United States at the beginning of the ness preacher and teacher. He ran Bethel Bible Col- 20th century. By the beginning of the 21st century, lege in Topeka, Kansas. He was disturbed by the many estimate, Pentecostals accounted for roughly state of the church and the world, and he taught one-fourth of all the world’s Christians. The major- that only another outpouring of the Holy Spirit ity lived not in North America but in Latin Amer- could renew the church. In 1901 a woman study- ica, Africa, and certain countries in Asia. ing at his college began to speak in tongues, that The name Pentecostal comes from “Pentecost,” is, to speak an unknown language. Others soon known in Hebrew as Shavuot, a JEWISH FESTIVAL received this gift, too. that occurs seven weeks after PASSOVER. A remark- Parham and his students spread the word able event happened at Pentecost in the year of across the American Southwest. Then, in 1906, JESUS’ execution. As the ACTS OF THE APOSTLES tells an African American named William Seymour the story, the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus’ follow- (1870–1922) opened the Asuza Street Mission in 338 S Pentecostalism

Los Angeles. Seymour, too, had been a Holiness Although Pentecostalism arose in the United preacher, but under Parham’s infl uence he had States, today its center of gravity is in the south- become Pentecostal. People fl ocked to Seymour’s ern hemisphere. Especially starting in the 1950s it mission. From there Pentecostalism spread to the has thrived in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, rest of the country. and certain countries in Asia. These churches have Pentecostalists had hoped to renew mainline even begun to send missionaries to Europe. Protestantism, but they were repudiated and had to found their own churches. In the United States BELIEFS AND PRACTICES Pentecostal Christianity has been most success- In general, Pentecostal Christians’ beliefs are fun- ful in the hill regions stretching from the southern damentalist (see FUNDAMENTALISM, CHRISTIAN). Pen- Appalachians to the Ozark mountains, as well as tecostals have tended not to adopt specifi c state- in Northern and Western cities. ments of faith, such as CREEDS. What distinguishes By 1910 converts had begun to bring Pente- Pentecostal Christians is their emphasis on the costalism to Europe, Latin America, Asia, and gifts of the Spirit. Among these, the gift of speak- Africa. Especially in Africa Pentecostalism resem- ing in tongues is the most important. Other gifts bled movements begun by indigenous African include healing, prophecy, and the interpretation preachers. One such preacher was Isaiah Shembe of tongues. (c. 1870–1935), who founded the amaNazaretha Pentecostal churches differ on how to talk church in South Africa and thought of himself about these gifts. Some Pentecostals, for exam- as the prophet of the Zulus. Another was Simon ple, the Church of God in CHRIST, say that peo- Kimbangu (1889–1951), a baKongo who began to ple receive God’s GRACE in three different stages: receive revelations from Jesus and to heal in 1921. conversion, sanctifi cation, and the (Pentecostal) American Pentecostals have sometimes been reluc- gifts of the Spirit. Other Pentecostals, such as the tant to see the gifts of these indigenous preachers Assemblies of God, say that people receive God’s as genuine gifts of the Spirit. That is because these grace in two stages: the work of Calvary (which preachers have often included elements of indig- includes conversion and sanctifi cation) and the enous religions in their teachings. gifts of the Spirit. Soon after it arose, Pentecostalism began Still other Pentecostals belong to the “Jesus to split into different groups. Splits sometimes Only” movement. Most Christians baptize in the occurred because of arguments over proper teach- name of the Father (or Creator), Son, and Holy ings. Most Pentecostal groups also divided along Spirit (see BAPTISM). But these Pentecostals baptize racial lines. Such divisions were present at the very only in the name of Jesus. They do not recognize beginning. William Seymour had to sit in the hall- the Father and the Holy Spirit as different persons ways to listen to Charles Parham’s classes because of a TRINITY. Parham, infl uenced by the Ku Klux Klan, would At fi rst Pentecostal worship services were exu- not let Seymour in the classroom. berant occasions at which the gifts of the Spirit— In the 1960s a CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT began in speaking in tongues, healing, prophecy, and ener- other Protestant groups and then in ROMAN CATHOL- getic behavior—were highly visible. They still are ICISM. In many ways this movement resembled in minority churches in North America and in many the Pentecostal churches. Its adherents spoke in Pentecostal churches elsewhere. White American tongues and practiced faith healing. They man- Pentecostal services have tended to become more aged, however, to integrate their experiences into subdued. the teachings of their own religious congrega- Pentecostal worship tends to be nonliturgi- tions. Other members of their denominations often cal. It emphasizes singing—often simple melo- looked on them with suspicion, but they were not dies with lines repeated many times—fervent forced to leave. praying, preaching, and people giving testimo- Pentecostalism S 339 nies about their religious experiences. The style Especially in Africa and Latin America people of Pentecostal worship is contemporary. Pente- have found it attractive. There are a number of costals have been willing to adapt contemporary reasons for this. Unlike many other preachers, styles, musical instruments, and technology for Pentecostal preachers have not hesitated to prom- use in worship. ise success and prosperity. Such promises echo the The majority of Pentecostals are women. Some traditional concerns of religions in these regions, studies suggest that Pentecostal women are more which often tried to help people achieve material open to religious experiences and talk about them in well-being. They also appeal to needy people, as more detail than Pentecostal men. Offi cial Pentecos- Pentecostalism seems especially to have done in tal church leaders, however, continue to be men. Latin America. Pentecostal preachers have also advocated PENTECOSTALISM IN THE UNITED STATES a morally strict lifestyle. This lifestyle has often Pentecostal Christianity has been a visible part of countered certain characteristics of male-domi- American life. Almost from the beginning, Pen- nated cultures. A good example is the culture of tecostalism has produced public fi gures. A good machismo in Latin America, which people in the early example is Aimee Semple McPherson (1890– region often associate with Roman Catholicism. 1944), founder of the Foursquare Gospel Church. Pentecostals preach against drinking and gam- She captured headlines in the 1920s when, as bling. They deplore marital infi delity and male it seems, she engineered her own kidnapping. violence against women. They urge people to take Another prominent Pentecostal healer was Oral responsibility for their actions, and they advo- Roberts (b. 1918), who established a large com- cate values such as thriftiness and cleanliness. plex in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1969, Roberts joined Women often fi nd these emphases appealing. It is the United Methodist Church. In the 1980s Pente- not surprising, then, that Pentecostalism in Latin costals Jim (b. 1939) and Tammy Faye (b. 1942) America attracts about twice as many women as Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart (b. 1935) were some it does men. It is also not surprising that people of the best-known television evangelists (see TEL- who become Pentecostals often fi nd that their EVANGELISM). Eventually, however, they suffered lives improve. When they abandon a lifestyle that public disgrace because of sexual indiscretions. involves drinking, gambling, and spending a great Pentecostals have not traditionally been prominent deal of money, they have more resources at their in American government, but perhaps the most disposal. prominent American Pentecostal in the early years Pentecostalism has yet another advantage of the 21st century was John Ashcroft (b. 1942), over more traditional forms of Christianity in these the U.S. Attorney General 2001–2005. regions. Pentecostal organization is looser than the People such as Oral Roberts and John Ashcroft structure of the Roman Catholic Church and the may occupy prominent places in the public imagi- various Protestant churches. As a result, Pentecos- nation, but they should not overshadow the impor- talism changes to fi t local conditions more easily. tance of various Pentecostal groups. Such groups It often spreads through the activities of an inde- include University Christian Fellowship, Full pendent preacher, who can adapt to local condi- Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship, and—not to tions quickly without having to convince his or her be overlooked—Pentecostal congregations them- superiors of the need to do so. Pentecostals have selves. Many of the latter remain unaffi liated with also been willing to improvise by using readily any denomination. available materials—vacant storefronts, overhead projectors rather than hymnbooks, easily learned PENTECOSTALISM ELSEWHERE songs, informal and emotional worship—instead Outside of North America, Pentecostalism has of insisting on traditions that come from other grown with tremendous speed since the 1950s. times and places. 340 S persecution, religious

Many have criticized Pentecostalism in the 2001); The Century of the Holy Spirit: 100 Years of southern hemisphere as spreading not Christianity Pentecostal and Charismatic Renewal, 1901–2001, but capitalism and a lifestyle based on consuming ed. Vinson Synan (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, material goods. Those who are attracted to libera- 2001); Elaine J. Lawless, God’s Peculiar People: tion theology have expressed that criticism quite Women’s Voices and Folk Tradition in a Pentecostal sharply. (Liberation theologians, infl uenced by Church (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, Marxism, have seen the goal of Christianity as the 1988); David Martin, Pentecostalism: The World elimination of poverty and oppression; some have Their Parish (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2002); favored bringing this about by violent means.) The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal But liberation theology no longer enjoys the favor and Charismatic Movements (Grand Rapids, Mich.: that it once did. Furthermore, Pentecostals counter Zondervan Pub. House, 2002); Grant Wacker, that they are doing people more good than armed Heaven Below: Early Pentecostals and American rebellion ever did. They are helping them integrate Culture (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University productively into the changing worlds in which Press, 2001). they fi nd themselves. Some Pentecostal churches are churches founded by American missionaries, but local persecution, religious The mistreatment and preachers have probably been most important deprivation of rights of people because of their in the spread of Pentecostalism. Their churches religion. A disturbing feature of the history of reli- include the so-called AICs—an acronym whose gion is the way in which certain religions have fi rst letter stands for African, whose last letter often been considered unacceptable by the state, stands for churches, but whose middle letter has or by the dominant religion in collusion with the been rendered a number of different ways, includ- state, or even by independent “vigilante” groups ing independent, indigenous, and initiated. Latin within a society determined to take the law into American Pentecostalism has been particularly their hands. These religions have suffered perse- strong in Brazil and Chile and in central American cution. The nature of the persecution can range countries such as Costa Rica. In Asia it has done from the suppression of information about the well in India, Indonesia, and Korea. Some claim unacceptable religion in books and other media, great successes for Pentecostalism in Europe, too, to the destruction or confi scation of its property, including the former Soviet Union, but others the arrest of its members, and fi nally the massa- argue that the successes there have really not been cre of its adherents, often to the accompaniment of very large. horrible torture. Examples are manifold. Christians were persecuted under the Roman Empire, and SIGNIFICANCE after the triumph of Christianity, Jews and those deemed “heretics,” or holders of incorrect beliefs, When Pentecostalism fi rst arose 100 years ago, were persecuted within Christendom. In early many people looked down on it and expected it to modern Europe and North America, “witches” be a passing fancy. Today outsiders still fi nd much were persecuted, tortured, and put to death. Com- to reject in Pentecostalism. Nevertheless, Pentecos- parable accounts could be given from the Islamic talism turned out to be one of the major Christian world, traditional China and Japan, and elsewhere. movements of the 20th century and is now a major Even in the contemporary world, wars based on force in Christianity around the world. religion that amount to persecution take place, and Further reading: Between Babel and Pentecost: even in countries supposedly recognizing freedom Transnational Pentecostalism in Africa and Latin of religion, religious groups popularly regarded as America, ed. André Corten and Ruth Marshall- “cults” or otherwise unacceptable have suffered Fratani (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, various degrees of persecution. Peter, the apostle S 341

At the same time, it should be realized that byname, Peter, derives from Jesus himself. Peter these and other persecutions did not take place is portrayed as brash, almost foolhardy. Among equally at all times. Religious persecution tends to many famous incidents is an occasion when Peter arise in times of crisis or rapid change in a soci- tried to join Jesus as he walked on water. He sank. ety, when it seems important to the authorities Peter’s fallibility came to a climax the night Jesus or to popular opinion to maintain common sym- was on trial. Peter denied knowing Jesus three bols of community, and to draw sharp boundaries times in a row. between who’s “in” and who is excluded by the After Jesus’ crucifixion, Peter seems to have social order lest it self-destruct. If a society has a been the leader of the earliest church. Luke’s single generally accepted religion, as do the major- GOSPEL makes him the first to see the empty tomb ity, religion naturally becomes a way of defi ning after the women discover it. Some New Testa- those boundaries and determining who is part of ment passages mention him first among those the social order and who is not. The temptation to whom the risen Jesus appeared. According then is to try to get rid of the latter. Only when to the book of Acts, Peter preached the first religious freedom becomes part of what is held to public sermon at the Jewish festival of Pente- characterize the society and its values is this temp- cost (Shavuot; see JEWISH FESTIVALS). In PAUL’s tation averted. letters Peter appears first as the leader of the Religious persecution, moreover, is often church in JERUSALEM, then as a missionary to political as well as religious. It may be expressed the Jews. Paul may mean that Peter preached in religious terms, but it is usually engaged in to the Jews in the diaspora, that is, Jews living because the authorities or the community thinks outside Palestine. In the important early dispute the unacceptable religion is in some way a threat over whether Christians of non-Jewish origin to its power and its ability to control things as well should be required to observe the TORAH, Peter as false on some theoretical level. Religions have seems to have taken a mediating position. He also been persecuted for economic reasons, such agreed with Paul against James that non-Jewish as the supposed wealth of the unpopular FAITH or Christians did not need to observe the Torah. At its members. So long as some religions are con- the same time, he aroused Paul’s anger when he sidered more unacceptable than others, or more was reluctant to associate fully with such non- threatening to the state and the social order than observant Christians. others, forms of religious persecution are likely to Legend says that toward the end of his life persist. Peter traveled to Rome. He became the fi rst bishop See also HOLOCAUST, THE. of the church there and was executed, probably during the persecutions under Emperor Nero (ruled, 54–68). According to the nonbiblical Acts Peter, the apostle In the Christian NEW TES- of Peter, he insisted on being crucifi ed head down- TAMENT, the most important of JESUS’ disciples or ward. He felt that he was unworthy to be crucifi ed messengers. The Roman Catholic Church appeals in the same manner as Jesus. to Peter to support its claim that the Pope is sup- Several ancient writings bear Peter’s name. posed to govern the church throughout the world Two letters in the New Testament claim to be (see PAPACY, THE). written by him. It is doubtful that Peter wrote According to the New Testament, Peter was a the fi rst. It is almost certain that he did not write fi sherman by trade. He worked with his father and the second; it simply expands the letter of Jude. his brother Andrew. Peter was one of the fi rst disci- Writings outside the BIBLE that bear Peter’s name ples Jesus called, and he was a member of an inner include the Gospel of Peter, the Kerygma (“Preach- circle with James and John. His name was Simon ing”) of Peter, the Acts of Peter, the Acts of Peter or Simeon; according to the New Testament his and the Twelve Apostles, the Letter of Peter to 342 S Peter, epistles of

Philip, and the Apocalypse of Peter. According to are suffering, presumably some form of persecu- tradition, the biblical gospel of Mark was based tion, perhaps from their neighbors (see 4.1–6), or on Peter’s teaching. perhaps from the government. In the later history of the church Peter has been In this situation 1 Peter exhorts Christians to most important in connection with the papacy. In live properly. It gives general advice, such as to Matthew 16.16–19, Jesus gives Peter his name and refrain from insincerity and slander, and it identi- makes him the foundation on which the church fi es the sufferings of Christians with the sufferings will be built. The Roman Catholic Church rests the of Jesus. 1 Peter also gives more specifi c advice. Pope’s claim to primacy upon this saying. It claims It tells Christians to obey the government. It tells that Peter passed down to the future bishops of slaves to put up with being beaten, even if they are Rome the position that he received from Jesus. The being beaten for no reason. And it tells wives to church remembers Peter on several different days. obey their husbands and seek spiritual rather than The most important is June 29, the festival of the physical beauty. The advice to husbands is much apostles Peter and Paul. shorter and assumes that they are in a position of power. Many scholars suggest that 1 Peter urged per- Peter, epistles of Two short books in the NEW secuted Christians to be model citizens and not to TESTAMENT said to have been written by PETER, an arouse suspicion. This may have been much-needed APOSTLE of JESUS. In the early centuries of Christian- advice at the time. For example, slave revolts were ity several writings circulated under the name of not uncommon in the Roman empire, and Jesus Peter. They include the Gospel according to Peter, had been executed on the charge of insurrection, the Acts of Peter, the Revelation to Peter, and sev- that is, rebelling against the government. eral epistles or letters. Only two of the letters were later accepted into the BIBLE. By the end of the sec- 2 PETER ond century C.E., some, but not all, Christians con- It may be doubtful whether Peter the Apostle wrote sidered 1 Peter to be an authoritative book. (There 1 Peter, but it is almost certain that he did not write was no New Testament yet.) None of the sources 2 Peter. The book refers to a collection of Paul’s for such topics include 2 Peter. By the early 300s, letters that Christians were misinterpreting; a col- all churches had accepted 1 Peter, but they dis- lection of Paul’s letters was probably not available agreed about 2 Peter. By the end of the 300s, how- in Peter’s lifetime. It also seems to assume that its ever, the disputes about whether to accept 2 Peter readers know the fi rst three GOSPELS, which were had ended. not written until after Peter died. In addition, part of 2 Peter (2.1–8) parallels the book of Jude (4–16). 1 PETER Finally, the specifi c issues that 2 Peter discusses 1 Peter claims to be written by Peter from Rome to are very different from those in 1 Peter. churches in Asia Minor, now Turkey. But in the ancient Much of 2 Peter is invective against people world it was common, and not considered dishonest, who teach false things and entice Christians to to write books under someone else’s name. Many behave in ways that the author considers immoral. scholars think that 1 Peter concerns a situation that The statements are very general, and readers can came too late for Peter to have addressed it. If this use them against many people with whom they is the case, the letter is another writer’s attempt to disagree. The only specifi c issue that 2 Peter men- explain what Peter would have said. tions is one that seems to have been a problem 1 Peter seems to address Gentiles who have for many of the earliest Christians. Although the converted to CHRISTIANITY. They are being treated apostles proclaimed that Jesus was going to return as outsiders; 1 Peter refers to them as exiles and soon for the last judgment, that had not happened. aliens. It also refers to a “fi ery ordeal” that they 2 Peter urges Christians to remember that GOD pilgrimage S 343

experiences time differently from human beings. PROTESTANTISM), have signifi cant examples of pil- He urges them to remain faithful until the day of grimage as part of their tradition. judgment. Medieval Christians went to JERUSALEM and the Holy Land; the alleged cutting-off of access to Further reading: Paul J. Achtemeier, 1 Peter: A these sacred places was a principal reason for the Commentary on First Peter (Minneapolis, Minn.: CRUSADES. Modern Roman Catholics go to Jerusa- Fortress Press, 1996); John H. Elliott, 1 Peter: A New lem, Bethlehem, and Rome, and also in great num- Translation with Introduction and Commentary bers to shrines, especially where apparitions of the (New York: Doubleday, 2000); Jerome H. Neyrey, Blessed Virgin MARY are believed to have occurred: 2 Peter, Jude: A New Translation with Introduction Lourdes in France, Fatima in Portugal, Guadalupe and Commentary (New York: Doubleday, 1993). in Mexico, and others. Eastern Orthodox Christians travel to the Holy Land and also to famous shrines and monasteries in their homelands. Many Jews Pharisees A prominent religious group in late go to Israel in a pilgrimage mood, visiting such Second Temple JUDAISM (roughly 200 B.C.E.–70 sacred places as the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. C.E.). The Jewish antiquarian Josephus (37–after Hindus fl ock to the banks of the sacred GAN- 93 C.E.) wrote books on the Jews and their his- GES RIVER, especially at such holy cities as BANARAS tory. He identifi ed several religious groups in and Rishikesh, and to countless shrines of gods Judaism during the late Second Temple period: and SAINTS throughout the land. In China and the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the ESSENES, and Japan sacred peaks, like Taishan in China, Mount the Zealots. Kailas in Tibet, and the celebrated Mount Fuji in The Pharisees centered their religious life on Japan, draw innumerable pilgrims; something the study of the TORAH and on the SYNAGOGUE rather about the clear, clean atmosphere of a mountain than on the SACRIFICES of the Temple. Their primary height suggests entry into a sacred realm. It is constituency seems to have been shopkeepers and well known that all Muslims, once in their life- merchants, and their leaders were known as RAB- time, try to make the hajj, the pilgrimage to the BIS. When the Temple was destroyed in 70 C.E., holy city of MECCA in Saudi Arabia. Islam also their descendants took charge of the community boasts many shrines of saints that draw spiritual and tradition. They formulated rabbinical Juda- travelers as well. ism, the Judaism we know today. Pilgrimage is based on a common religious The Pharisees appear frequently in the NEW assumption that the geography of the Earth is not, TESTAMENT. The GOSPELS highlight their differences so to speak, spiritually homogenous, but that some from JESUS, who preached to the poor, or from places are more open to contact with divine power those who lacked the resources to maintain the than others. That may be because of association Pharisees’ style of Judaism. Many scholars have with a sacred person or event, which has there left suggested that this portrayal is inaccurate. It may its mark, or because of a divine VISION or revela- refl ect a situation of competition between Phari- tion, or just because GOD has in some way blessed sees and the earliest Christians for Jewish loyalty it. Thus to be there is to be close to sacred power. in the fi rst century C.E. Second, the very act of pilgrimage can be seen as a spiritual exercise, like PRAYER or MEDITATION or YOGA or going to a service, but with one’s feet or pilgrimage Travel for religious reasons, partic- by other means of travel. Many people want to ularly to visit a site that is considered especially express their religion by doing something active, sacred and a source of blessings to those who and pilgrimage is one way of doing it. It combines approach it. Virtually all religions in the world, religion with an activity many people fi nd pleasant with the exception of Protestant Christianity (see and educational. 344 S politics and religion

Third, since pilgrimage is frequently done in a Pharaoh, a god. On earth he was the god HORUS; group, its religiously social meaning must not be after his death he became the god OSIRIS. overlooked. A pilgrim band can become a closely- In south and east Asia, too, government and knit set of people with a shared spiritual experi- religion were closely connected. Starting in about ence. Many commentators have noted that, on pil- 1100 B.C.E., Chinese emperors claimed to rule grimage, ordinary barriers of rank and status and according to the Mandate of Heaven. Later, offi - even gender fall away as the band gets farther from cials in the Chinese government spent a great deal home and closer to the sacred site before which all of time performing the cult of CONFUCIUS. In India are equal. Sometimes, as on the Muslim hajj, pil- different rulers promoted different religions, such grims of all backgrounds wear the same plain white as HINDUISM and JAINISM. One famous emperor, garments in the holy city to symbolize this. The ASOKA, promoted harmony among all religions but ideal goal of a pilgrimage is to reach a place both especially favored BUDDHISM. Buddhism provided outward and within oneself where one can break the basis for government in other parts of south down all barriers to complete openness between and southeast Asia, too, such as Sri Lanka, Burma, persons, and between the human and the divine. and Thailand. This is an ideal that may not always be reached. In South America before the arrival of Colum- Like everything human, even the most religious bus, the Inca emperor was said to be divine. Aztec things, pilgrimage can doubtless be corrupted and state rituals at the Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlán debased. But it is surely better for humans to set (now Mexico City) are notorious for the human forth on pilgrimage than to set out on missions of SACRIFICES that were performed. pillage and war. Greek and Roman states had their offi cial reli- gious practices, while each of the “Abrahamic” FAITHS—JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, and ISLAM—has sup- politics and religion In the United States, as in ported governments. In ancient Israel a close con- many other countries today, religion and politics— nection linked the kings with the Temple in JERU- church and state, as they are often called—are sup- SALEM. Today, Israel is a Jewish state. In the early posed to be separate. Indeed, most people agree 300s C.E. the emperor CONSTANTINE made Christian- that religious freedom is a good thing, although ity a legal religion; in the late 300s C.E. the emperor they disagree on what that means. It may seem Theodosius made it the only religion allowed. surprising to Americans that in the history of the Christianity remained the offi cial religion of Euro- world, such a separation of religion and politics pean countries and governments established by is a very recent development and an exception to Europeans until the founding of the United States. a widely prevalent norm. In most places through- Islam has not accepted the idea that religion and out most of history, religion and politics have been government are separate spheres. For most Mus- closely linked. lims the best government is the government that observes God’s laws. RELIGION AND GOVERNMENT People have given several reasons for such a BEFORE THE MODERN ERA close relationship between religion and govern- Until about 300 years ago, most people assumed ment. One reason is that religion makes a govern- that religion was necessary to good government. ment seem legitimate. For example, some Chinese It would have been diffi cult to fi nd a state that did thought that so long as an emperor ruled with the not have a connection with religion. Mandate of Heaven, he was the rightful emperor. The fi rst cities arose in southern Mesopota- Another reason is that only religion can provide mia (southern Iraq today). They grew up around the morals society needs to survive. Even reli- temples, and the priests of the temples ruled them. gious skeptics have believed this. For example, Ancient Egyptians considered their king, called the Roman orator Cicero (106–43 B.C.E.) wrote that politics and religion S 345

neither he nor other offi cials of the Roman Repub- ists” believe that the Amendment erects an abso- lic believed in the traditional Roman religion. Nev- lute “wall of separation” between church and state ertheless, they believed that it was necessary for or religion and government. “Accommodationists” them to perform the traditional rituals to maintain believe that it prevents government from favoring proper order in the state. one religion over another, but not from encourag- ing religion. SEPARATION OF RELIGION AND GOVERNMENT POLITICS AND RELIGION TODAY Starting in the Protestant REFORMATION (16th cen- The former Soviet Union considered religion tury), Europe experienced devastating religious dangerous. Until its fall in 1991, it and its Com- wars. People who favored different kinds of Chris- munist allies tried to eliminate religion entirely tianity fought and killed one another. As a result, and promote ATHEISM among their people. Techni- some philosophers began to claim that religion cally, the People’s Republic of CHINA recognizes should be a private matter, not a matter for gov- freedom of religion, but at some times, such as ernments. Some Christians advocated this view, the Cultural Revolution (1967–77), it has tried too, among them Anabaptists such as MENNONITES, to eliminate religion, too. Much more common members of BAPTIST CHURCHES, and QUAKERS. These today, however, are efforts to reintroduce reli- groups argued that governmental support harmed gion into government and to strengthen its role religion. It meant that people adopted a religion in government. because they had to, not because they were com- Among Muslims the most famous example mitted to it. of such efforts is the Iranian Revolution. In 1979 Like other governments at the time, most Iranians overthrew the Shah, a secular ruler, and British colonies in North America began with established an Islamic Republic, led by the Aya- offi cial religions. For example, Massachusetts tollah KHOMEINI. In many other Islamic countries was a Puritan colony. In the early days it exe- people have become frustrated with secular gov- cuted Quakers and sent Baptists into exile. But ernments, too. They see these governments as too both Rhode Island, founded by exiles from Mas- Westernized. They also see them as lacking moral sachusetts, and Pennsylvania, chartered to Wil- standards, in part because they have been dictato- liam Penn (1644–1718), a Quaker, rejected the rial and fi nancially corrupt. Many insist that the idea of an offi cial religion. Some but not all of the only proper government is one set up in accor- founders of the United States also rejected the dance with God’s law, SHARIAH. Political parties in idea of an offi cial religion. For example, Thomas states with Muslim majorities that had been very Jefferson (1743–1826) and James Madison secular have successfully pursued such goals. An (1751–1836) did; George Washington (1732–99) example is the Refah Party in Turkey (see FUNDA- and John Adams (1735–1826) did not. The First MENTALISM, ISLAMIC). Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits an The situation in India is a little different. “established” or offi cial religion. Originally, how- To outsiders it often looks as if powerful move- ever, it applied only to the federal government. ments—the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Vishwa Massachusetts was the last state to give up its Hindu Parishad, and the Rastriya Swayamsevak offi cial religion. It did so in 1833. Sangh—are introducing religion into politics (see Today many other countries in the world FUNDAMENTALISM, HINDU). Indeed, their policies have no offi cial religions. Two notable examples have received strong support from some but not are France and India. But opinions differ on what all sadhus and sadhvis (see SADHU, SADHVI). Per- exactly separation of religion and government haps the most famous such supporter has been means. In the United States people interpret the Uma Bharati (b. 1959); she has held many high First Amendment in two main ways. “Separation- government positions, including the position of 346 S Polynesian religion

Chief Minister (governor) of an Indian state. From For example, some Christians have bombed abor- the inside, however, these movements often see tion clinics and killed medical personnel who pro- themselves as pushing not religion but traditional vide abortions. However, most Americans realize culture, Hindutva (Hindu-ness) rather than Hindu- that these people do not represent all Christians, ism. They want India to acknowledge that it is a though many Americans do believe that extremist Hindu state and to promote Hindu culture. Their Muslims and Hindus represent all people of their activities have led to violence against Muslims faiths. and, to a lesser extent, Christians. Further reading: N. J. Demerath, Crossing the The United States has a long tradition of Gods: World Religions and Worldly Politics (New separating religion and government, but it also Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, has strong traditions of mixing religion and gov- 2003); One Electorate under God? A Dialogue on ernment. As followers of John CALVIN (1509–64), Religion and American Politics, eds. E. J. Dionne the Pilgrims and Puritans believed that the state Jr., Jean Bethke Elshtain, and Kayla M. Drogosz should obey and further God’s law (see PURITAN- (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, ISM). More recent practices mix religion and gov- 2004); Religion Returns to the Public Square : Faith ernment, too, such as printing the phrase “In and Policy in America, Hugh Heclo and Wilfred God We Trust” on U.S. money since the 1920s, M. McClay, eds. (Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins adding the phrase “under God” to the Pledge of University Press, 2003); Kenneth D. Wald, Religion Allegiance in 1954, and opening sessions of Con- and Politics in the United States (Lanham, Md.: gress with a prayer. Not everyone sees such acts Rowman & Littlefi eld, 2003). as religious. For example, in 2003 the Chief Justice of Alabama, Roy Moore (b. 1947), lost his offi ce. He had erected a monument to the Ten Command- ments in the rotunda of the state’s judiciary build- Polynesian religion See PACIFIC OCEAN ing and then refused to move it when ordered to RELIGIONS. do so. But Moore claimed his monument was not religious. It simply acknowledged the basis of all American law. polytheism Belief in many gods. Polytheism Some Americans want to see more religion in may be contrasted with MONOTHEISM or belief in government. Prominent conservative Christians one GOD, or with ATHEISM, belief in no god what- like Pat Robertson (b. 1930) and Jerry Falwell soever. Most archaic religions, like EGYPTIAN RELI- (b. 1933) subscribe to what some call “domin- GION, MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION, GREEK RELIGION, and ion theology.” They want the United States ROMAN RELIGION were polytheistic, though they to acknowledge that it is a nation under God’s may have believed that somewhere there was a dominion or control and act accordingly. Since supreme god or principle. Religions like HINDU- the 1980s many of their followers have tried to ISM, MAHAYANA BUDDHISM, and TAOISM today may put these ideas into practice through activity in appear to be polytheistic, but many of their adher- the Republican Party. Some have even said that ents would insist that the many gods or BUDDHAS the abbreviation G.O.P., from the party’s nick- and BODHISATTVAS one sees in their temples should name, “Grand Old Party,” really means “God’s be regarded more like, say, the SAINTS in ROMAN Own Party” and that a vote for Republican candi- CATHOLICISM: glorifi ed human beings who have dates is a vote for God. attained near-divine holiness and so can help us, Like some people in other parts of the world, or else as personifi cations or aspects of the One. certain Americans with these views have aban- Some would say that SHINTO in Japan is the most doned political processes. They have sought to nearly polytheistic religion found today in a major make their ideals reality through acts of violence. advanced society. prayer S 347

Polytheism has very ancient roots. In primal In THERAVADA BUDDHISM, prajna, along with tribal societies, one can fi nd belief in various spir- morality and MEDITATION, defi nes the path to libera- its—ancestors, spirits of places like mountains and tion. In this context prajna means being persuaded woods, of animals—as well as usually a ruling that Buddhist teachings about the world, about the high god. Generally each tribe, and later each city, predicament of sentient or conscious beings, and would have its guardian or patronal god too. But it about the means of release are true. was in the ancient empires like Egypt and Babylon In MAHAYANA BUDDHISM prajna is one of the that polytheism really grew. As many tribes and most important of the “perfections” that practi- cities were combined into larger empires, all their tioners nurture. In general Mahayana emphasizes local gods might become parts of a vaster pan- both compassion and wisdom as cardinal virtues. theon of gods. At the same time, as human life But in some schools, such as the school of Nagar- became more complex, gods of specialized occu- juna, prajna becomes supreme. pations came to be honored by their followers. For Mahayana Buddhism, prajna is intuitive Sometimes a heavenly bureaucracy paralleled that insight into the nature of all things. So important of the empires of Earth. It was against this greater was this perfection that it became personifi ed as and greater complexity of polytheism that mono- Prajnaparamita, “the perfection of wisdom,” and theism fi nally rebelled. was said to be the mother of the Buddhas. Some But wherever found, in remaining tribal soci- of the most important Mahayana texts are the Pra- eties, in the archaic world, in Japan or elsewhere, jnaparamita Sutras, such as the Heart Sutra and polytheism is important because it communicates Diamond Sutra. a different VISION of the sacred than monotheism. As the theologian Paul Tillich once put it, polythe- ism is a matter of quality as well as quantity. It is prana A Sanskrit word meaning “breath.” The term not just that the polytheist has many gods while has profound religious signifi cance in HINDUISM. the monotheist has one; it is that this makes the In the UPANISHADS, prana stands for the vital whole experience of God different. For the mono- energy. In this it resembles pneuma and spiritus, theist, the whole universe is unifi ed under one rule the Latin and Greek words for “breath” or “spirit.” and one will. For the polytheist, it is divided up, Occasionally the Upanishads even identify prana pluralistic, nuanced: There is a separate god for with BRAHMAN, reality itself. this sacred tree and that sacred waterfall, for love Hindus have generally taken a different view and for war, and each can be sovereign in his or of prana. They have taught that the vital breath her own time, but all are also fi nite and none can circulates through the body and enlivens it. As a rule the whole show. Decisions in a polytheistic result, psychophysical disciplines have given much universe must be made by divine consensus, not attention to breathing. For example, breath control fi at. A few people today, in Neo-Pagan movements, (pranayama) is the fourth stage of the royal YOGA are attempting to recover something of the spirit of systematized by Patanjali in the Yoga-sutras. polytheism.

prayer Communication with a religious being, pope See PAPACY, THE. such as a god, spirit, ancestor, or SAINT. Religion involves many forms of communication. Some- times religious people are convinced that a reli- prajna A Sanskrit word for “wisdom.” In HINDU- gious being has communicated with them; this ISM prajna is occasionally linked to the GODDESS of is revelation. Often religious people instruct and learning, SARASWATI. But prajna is most often asso- exhort; this is teaching or PREACHING. People may ciated with BUDDHISM. express religious desires. If such desires are not 348 S prayer

directed to beings such as gods or ancestors, these Prayer may be a simple verbal act, but it also are wishes or spells. Prayer is communication may involve the person’s body. Muslims perform addressed to a god or some other religious being. ablutions before the daily prayer known as SALAT. It is one of the most important forms of communi- As they pray, they assume a series of postures, cation found in religions. such as standing, bowing, and prostration. Hasidic Prayers vary widely. Some prayers are extem- Jews seem to bob back and forth as they pray; their poraneous. They arise from the needs and thoughts movements actually are continual acts of bowing of the moment. Others are planned or written ahead in the presence of God. Hindus may pray to a god of time. Some Protestants prefer extemporaneous with their hands in pranjali. They hold their palms prayers. They feel that people should address GOD together at their chests; their fi ngers and thumbs directly in their own words, just as they would in point upward. Christians adopted this gesture for a conversation. Other forms of CHRISTIANITY often prayer; they also use several others. Some mark use formal, written prayers, such as the prayers out a cross on their foreheads, chest, and shoul- of the Mass in ROMAN CATHOLICISM or the Divine ders; some kneel. Some religions teach people to LITURGY in the Orthodox churches. cover their heads when they pray. Individuals pray; so do groups. Any means by Religious people have also invented exter- which human beings communicate can and has nal objects to help them pray. Many religions use been used in prayer. Prayers can be spoken out rosaries—strings of beads used to count prayers loud. In the most sacred part of the Divine Liturgy repeated over and over again. Hindus who wor- in the Orthodox churches, the holiest prayers are ship SIVA use rosaries made of large seeds known muttered softly. Prayers can be danced. They can as rudrakshas. Tibetans use other devices: prayer be acted out. Some prayers are silent. That may fl ags and prayer wheels. The fl ags and wheels mean people recite words in their minds. It may have prayers printed on them. Each time they blow also mean that they sit in silence, open their hearts, in the wind or rotate, Tibetans say the prayer has and wait for illumination. been offered. Spoken prayers take a variety of forms. Some Thinkers of different religions have classifi ed prayers are poems. For Jews and Christians, the prayers in terms of their purposes, such as suppli- supreme examples are the PSALMS in the Hebrew cation, adoration, thanksgiving, and confession. In BIBLE. Prayers spoken by groups may be lita- reality, people have used prayers for every purpose nies: A leader recites various requests known that requires them to address religious beings. One as petitions; the rest of the group responds with especially common form of prayer is a request. a fi xed formula. Some prayers involve the rep- Most requests would seem to leave the etition of the same word over and over again, response up to the beings addressed. But some much like a MANTRA. One example is the JESUS particularly interesting prayers actually fulfi ll their prayer that some Orthodox Christians use; they own requests. The eucharistic prayers that Catho- repeat the name of Jesus. A similar example is lic and Orthodox priests and some Protestant min- the nembutsu that Japanese Pure Land Buddhists isters recite do this. They ask the Holy Spirit to repeat: Namu Amida butsu, “Praise to the Bud- descend upon the bread and wine. But the very act dha AMIDA” (see PURE LAND BUDDHISM). Still other of asking is said to consecrate these elements. prayers recite lists. On the DAY OF ATONEMENT Some religions have particularly sacred Jews ask God collectively to forgive SINS. One prayers. For Jews, the most sacred prayer is the prayer lists representative sins that begin with Shema. Observant Jews recite it two times a day. every letter of the Hebrew alphabet in succes- It begins with verses from Deuteronomy 4: “Hear sion. Hindus honor gods with prayers in which [shema], o Israel; The Lord is our God, the Lord is they praise their sahasra-namas, their “thousand one.” That part of the service is followed by “Eigh- [and eight] names.” teen Benedictions.” Another very important prayer preaching S 349

in JUDAISM is the Kaddish. It is a doxology recited at N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1996); Marcel Mauss, the conclusion of sets of prayers during worship. On Prayer, W. S. F. Pickering, ed. (New York: Jews recite a special form of the Kaddish at funer- Durkheim Press/Berghahn Books, 2003); Rehras = als and for mourning. Evensong: The Sikh Evening Prayer, Reema Anand For Christians the most important prayer is the and Khushwant Singh, trans. (New York: Viking, one that Jesus taught, the LORD’S PRAYER. The NEW 2002); Christopher L. Webber, ed., Give Us Grace: TESTAMENT presents two versions of this prayer. An Anthology of Anglican Prayers (Harrisburg, Pa.: Christians generally use the fuller version in the Morehouse, 2004). GOSPEL of Matthew. Especially Roman Catholics use another prayer, the Ave Maria: “Hail, Mary [ave Maria], full of grace . . .” preaching Religious speech-making. Preaching Praying can be the central act of worship. This is a way to teach, to convert, to inspire, to exhort, is true of the SYNAGOGUE service in Judaism and salat to critique, and probably to do other things as in ISLAM. It is also true of the many “ways” that the well. Navajo people in the southwestern United States Many religions have had preachers. But observe. Many indigenous Americans hold prayers preaching has been especially important to Prot- in a special building known as a SWEAT LODGE. In estant Christianity. At the time of the REFORMATION, the sweat lodge, sweat-inducing steam and fragrant Martin LUTHER raised the pulpit—the stand from aromas such as sage combine with praying to pro- which preachers speak—higher than the ALTAR. duce a refreshing and renewing experience. This act was a powerful sign. For many Protestants In American public life during the last half preaching is the center of WORSHIP. By contrast, for of the 20th century prayer, especially prayer in Catholic and Orthodox Christians worship centers public schools, was one of the most controversial on the celebration of the EUCHARIST. issues. The fi rst amendment to the U.S. Constitu- Preaching may take place in many contexts. tion prohibits the government from supporting RABBIS, ministers, and IMAMS preach during weekly any religious act (see CHURCH AND STATE). Several congregational services. On the American fron- Supreme Court rulings declared widespread prac- tier, wandering preachers held meetings known as tices of praying in school unconstitutional. Exam- revivals just for the purpose of preaching. Some ples include having students recite a prayer in the have preached, so to speak, on the streetcorners. morning before school, having a religious profes- DOMINICAN friars did this during the Middle Ages; sional—priest, minister, or RABBI—offer a prayer John WESLEY did it during the 18th century. A at school ceremonies, and having a student say a much different style of preaching is the sermon prayer that he or she had written at the beginning that a Zen (see ZEN BUDDHISM) master gives to his of a sporting event. disciples. He delivers it during prolonged sessions In some areas schools violated the law of Zen effort. His manner of delivery is formal and until someone objected. At times conservatives restrained and he often repeats the same sermon attempted to amend the Constitution to allow verbatim. school prayer. Many organized religious groups, Many sermons are expository. That is, they from Baptists to Buddhists, spoke out against comment upon sacred SCRIPTURES. For example, their efforts. The controversy illustrates at least rabbis may expound the Hebrew BIBLE; Christian this much: Whatever their preferences, prayer is preachers may expound the Old and NEW TESTA- a religious practice that Americans still take very MENT; imams may comment onn the QUR’AN; a Zen seriously. master may comment on Buddhist sutras. Preach- ers in liturgical traditions generally comment on Further reading: Robert S. Alley, Without a Prayer: assigned passages. Others choose their own top- Religious Expression in Public Schools (Amherst, ics. At times they may preach a series of sermons 350 S prehistoric religion

that explore, say, a book of the Bible or develop a It had, obviously, no written scriptures, and was complex theme. not centered on a single pivotal historical event In some religions preachers are those ordained like the time of MOSES, CHRIST, or BUDDHA. Rather, to a special offi ce. Rabbis, priests, some Christian it would have been “cosmic,” meaning that its ministers, and Zen masters fall into this class. Oth- sacred time was based on the turn of the seasons, ers preach because they feel they have a special and its sacred places were perhaps mountains, calling to do so. Imams preach because the com- caves, and shrines in the same locale where its munity recognizes their learning and stature. followers dwelt. Its lore would have been told in Protestant preaching has often been strictly remembered myths (see MYTH AND MYTHOLOGY), oral. But other preachers have made extensive songs, and dances. use of visual aids. In the third century B.C.E. the Much of the actual religion of people before Indian emperor ASOKA sent “ministers of DHARMA” history is now forgotten forever, but its general throughout the countryside to teach BUDDHISM to the character can be estimated from two sources: people. His Edicts indicates that these “preachers” remains recovered by archaeology and comparison based their “sermons” on drawings or paintings of with the religion of recent or contemporary non- Buddhist stories. In medieval Japan traveling Bud- literate tribal people. Both must be used with cau- dhist nuns used much the same technique. tion, but they are all we have. At one time in the Protestant world, ser- The fi rst stage of human culture is what is mons were important elements of culture. People called the Paleolithic Age, or Old Stone Age. Paleo- attended sermons for entertainment as well as edi- lithic people were hunters and gatherers using stone fi cation. Respected preachers were public fi gures. tools, but without metal or agriculture. Among the They published their sermons in countless books. earliest remains that defi nitely suggest religious People bought and read these books the way peo- themes are burials and the famous cave paintings ple today buy and read science fi ction and mystery of up to 40,000 years ago. In some archaic burials, novels. the bones of the dead are covered with red ochre, Although preaching has become less impor- the color of blood and life, and are buried in fetal tant in American culture, it is not negligible, either. posture, suggesting thoughts of return to the womb During the second half of the 20th century, many and perhaps rebirth. This tells us that people were Jewish and Christian preachers abandoned the probably already confronting death through reli- dogmatic and moralistic sermons that had been gion and may have been thinking of life beyond common. They tried to preach in the manner of it—ideas always important to religion. a storyteller. Social reformers and revolutionaries The great cave paintings from the Pyrenees found preaching to be a powerful tool. Two ideal region of France and Spain are even more sugges- examples are Martin Luther KING Jr. and MAL- tive and puzzling. Certainly they show distinc- COLM X. Preachers also readily adopted powerful tively human creativity and imagination. But what new means of communication, such as radio and do they mean? Perhaps they were hunting MAGIC, television. Some conservative and fundamentalist designed to help take the animals they so vividly Christian preachers have even become television portray. Perhaps the cave art galleries—which are personalities. deep underground, far from any living areas and diffi cult to reach—were sacred temples and, if we could but crack their code, the pictures records of prehistoric religion The religion of the earli- sacred events or myths. They may have been used est humans, before the invention of writing. Pre- for initiation too. In one cave, a soft area is covered historic religion had the same central concerns with numerous small footprints, as though from as all religion, but was different in signifi cant the dance steps of youthful initiates into the mys- ways from religion as we generally know it now. teries of the tribe. Presbyterian and Reformed churches S 351

All these things suggest themes found today that the coming of agriculture meant the death of in the religion of many tribal peoples. There is the a goddess, out of whose body came the abundant idea of soul, a life-principle separable from the products of the fi eld. In Neolithic religion, more body and having a separate destiny, perhaps going than before, appeared animal and human SACRIFICE, to another world, perhaps being reborn in this one. headhunting, and perhaps cannibalism as a reli- Hunting magic that wins the favor of the gods in gious rite. opening and closing the forests and the goodwill of At the very end of prehistory comes an inter- the animals important to the survival of the tribe, esting development that seems a precursor of the is essential. Some form of initiation of young men, large-scale building of ancient civilization—mega- and often of young women, into the tribe is also lithism, or the making of megaliths like at Stone- very common. For the tribe is a spiritual unity, a henge and other sites in Britain, huge upright reality also refl ected in its dances and stories. To stones clearly with some sacred meaning. Parallel become a true part of it is the most important thing to them are the mazes of Malta and the large tombs in a person’s life. of Japan. After this came the tiny marks by which One or two of the early cave paintings have engineers and merchants kept dimensions and suggested to some observers another fi gure in accounts, and a little later historians kept records, much recent Paleolithic religion, but which may and priests transcribed as scripture the words and go back a very long ways indeed: the shaman deeds of their gods. At this point prehistoric reli- (see SHAMANISM). A shaman is a religious special- gion became the religion of history. But many of ist who typically has had a special call and initia- the basic themes of religion—gods, temples, ritu- tion greater than the ordinary, and who is a special als, the role of religious specialists, myths, religion mediator between this world and the next. The as the upholder of community values—had already shaman is a healer, driving out EVIL spirits or fi nd- been laid down. ing lost and strayed souls. Going into trance, she Further reading: Cynthia Eller, The Myth or he may communicate in the voices of gods or of Matriarchal Prehistory: Why an Invented ancestors, or even travel to the other world. The Past Won’t Give Women a Future (Boston: shaman is the prototype of many later religious Beacon Press, 2000); Marija Gimbutas, The personalities: the priest, the prophet, the medium, Living Goddesses, Miriam Robbins Dexter, ed. the poet and bard. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999); The Neolithic or New Stone Age is basically Timothy Insoll, Archaeology, Ritual, Religion stone age society after the discovery of agricul- (London: Routledge, 2004); Steven Mithen, The ture. Beginning some 12,000 years ago, probably Prehistory of the Mind: A Search for the Origins in Asia, it meant the onset of sedentary communi- of Art, Religion, and Science (London: Thames & ties. Religiously, agriculture meant a revolution no Hudson, 1999). less profound than was the social and economic impact of farming. Attention moved to the Earth, to the mother GODDESS who is often identifi ed with the Earth, and to the cycle of seasons with seed- Presbyterian and Reformed churches Prot- time PRAYERS and harvest festivals. All in all, agri- estant churches that follow the teachings of John culture meant a new emphasis on goddesses and CALVIN (1509–64). Technically, any churches that the sacredness of the Earth. In some places it also follow John Calvin’s teachings are Reformed meant a darker development in religion, for farm- churches. Presbyterian churches are Reformed ing has its anxious side and brings a fuller real- churches that are organized in a particular way. ization of the relation of death and life: Like the They are governed by assemblies of ministers and seed, the seeming death of one thing can mean elected lay representatives. The name “Presby- the life of another. Neolithic mythology often told terian” comes from the word “presbyter,” which 352 S Presbyterian and Reformed churches

means “elder.” The representatives at Presby- dominated the American religious scene. As the terian assemblies are often called presbyters or frontiers expanded west, Baptists and Methodists elders. were better able to meet the needs of the pioneers. Churches of British, especially Scottish, origin They became the dominant churches of 19th-cen- use the name “Presbyterian.” Churches that started tury America. in continental Europe use the name “Reformed,” MISSIONARIES planted Presbyterian and for example, the Dutch Reformed. Reformed churches in many parts of the world. Indonesia, formerly a Dutch colony, and Korea HISTORY have very large Reformed churches. Presbyterian John Calvin led the REFORMATION in Geneva, Swit- churches fl ourished among British immigrants in zerland, from 1541 to 1564. He had a distinctive Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Dutch set- THEOLOGY and a distinctive VISION of what a Chris- tlers known as Boers brought the Dutch Reformed tian society should be like. Church to South Africa. That church provided a On the continent of Europe, Calvin’s teachings religious sanction for apartheid. Apartheid was came to dominate religious life in the Netherlands. the legal separation of whites and blacks to ensure Reformed churches became minority churches in white rule. France, Hungary, Bohemia, and Poland. After the In the 19th and 20th centuries, Reformed Peace of Westphalia in 1648, some German princes churches have pursued Calvin’s twin interests— decided to have Reformed rather than Lutheran or theology and the proper organization of society— Catholic churches in their realms (see LUTHERANISM in exemplary fashion. Prominent Reformed theo- and ROMAN CATHOLICISM). logians have included the “father” of liberal the- The Reformed tradition infl uenced Scotland ology, Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834), the very early in its history. An important leader there prominent “neo-orthodox” theologians, Karl Barth was John Knox (c. 1514–72). Eventually the Pres- (1886–1968) and Emil Brunner (1889–1966), and byterian Church became the established or offi cial the American brothers, Reinhold Niebuhr (1892– religion of Scotland. South of Scotland, in England, 1971) and H. Richard Niebuhr (1894–1962). The many people favored the Reformed tradition, too. Reformed traditions have also worked actively for They were called Puritans, because they wanted to social reform and improvement. Reformed theo- purify the English church of Catholic infl uence (see logians played prominent roles in the Confessing PURITANISM and ANGLICANISM). The Puritans were Church, some of whose members opposed Nazi not successful; the Church of England retained its policies in Germany. Catholic heritage. Nevertheless, the Edict of Tol- eration (1689) permitted English Presbyterians BELIEFS and other English Protestants to form their own Like most Protestants, Calvinists recognize the churches. BIBLE as the ultimate religious authority. Indeed, Reformed traditions came to North America a strong current in Calvinism has insisted that very early. The Dutch Reformed Church was the Christians may only accept practices that are established religion of the colony of New Nether- positively mandated in the Bible. Calvinists also land, which later became New York. The Puritans recognize the ancient Christian CREEDS. They wor- of New England were staunch Calvinists, but they ship GOD as a TRINITY and confess that in JESUS favored CONGREGATIONALISM rather than Presbyteri- two natures, divine and human, were joined in anism. Scotch-Irish immigrants brought Presbyte- one person. rianism to the North American colonies. German Calvin agreed with Martin LUTHER in empha- immigrants from the region of the Rhine brought sizing that human beings cannot earn their own their own Reformed traditions. After the Revolu- SALVATION. They must be saved by God’s GRACE. He tionary War, however, other Protestant churches also emphasized the absolute majesty and power priests and priesthood S 353

of God. In doing so he taught that God chooses to ORGANIZATION save some sinners but to consign others to HELL. Not all Reformed churches have adopted a Presby- That teaching has led to some disputes in the terian form of organization. Some have preferred past, but most Reformed thinkers have preferred Congregationalism. A few have even had bishops. to leave questions of salvation in God’s hands. But many Reformed churches are Presbyterian. They have emphasized other themes instead: This means that they see all ministers as having that God is the mighty lord of history, active in equal status; they do not allow bishops. It also the world through his grace, and human beings means that assemblies made up of ministers and should praise him and seek to follow the path elected elders govern the church. Assemblies meet that he has established—not to earn salvation at different levels, from the local congregation to but to express their recognition of God’s glory the national church. The Reformed tradition has and goodness. taken particularly seriously one function of the elders: the maintenance of church discipline. PRACTICES During the Reformation, Luther and his followers SIGNIFICANCE adopted the policy of rejecting only those Catho- The Reformed tradition is one of the oldest and lic traditions that they thought violated the mes- most important forms of PROTESTANTISM. It played a sage of the Bible. Calvin and his followers went major role in shaping the traditional outlook of the further. They allowed only those practices that United States. It gave Americans the idea that their they thought the Bible directly commanded. The nation is special or chosen by God, an idea that sermon became the central feature of Reformed is theologically questionable. It also provided the WORSHIP (see PREACHING). Another prominent fea- motivation for certain traditions, such as observing ture was singing Psalms rather than nonbiblical Sunday as a day of rest. songs. Calvin himself produced a Psalter—Psalms set to simple music—and many others followed. Further reading: Renée House and John Coakley, The Reformed tradition has tended to shy away ed., Patterns and Portraits: Women in the History from weekly celebration of the EUCHARIST. It also of the Reformed Church in America (Grand disagrees with both the Catholic and the Lutheran Rapids, Mich.: W. B. Eerdmans, 1999); Donald K. ideas that Jesus’ body and blood are really pres- McKim, Presbyterian Beliefs: A Brief Introduction ent in the bread and wine of communion. Calvin (Louisville, Ky.: Geneva Press, 2003); Jan Rohls, taught instead that the eucharist brings Christians Reformed Confessions: Theology from Zurich to into Jesus’ presence. Barmen (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Calvinists take very seriously their calling to do Press, 1998); James H. Smylie, A Brief History of God’s work in the world. As a result, the Reformed the Presbyterians (Louisville, Ky.: Geneva Press, tradition has cultivated a particular attitude toward 1996). life in the world. That attitude is one of earnestness and seriousness rather than idleness and frivolity. The sociologist Max WEBER (1864–1920) suggested priests and priesthood A class of religious spe- that this attitude came about because Calvinists cialists in many religions. A priest differs in some needed to convince themselves that they belonged ways from other specialists, like a shaman (see to God’s chosen or elect. This, he said, was the SHAMANISM), minister, or teacher, or like a Jewish origin of capitalism. Although Weber’s idea about RABBI or Muslim IMAM. The priest’s work involves the origin of capitalism may be wrong, his charac- presenting a formal service of offering, commonly terization of the Calvinist way of life was correct. interpreted as a SACRIFICE; it is generally presented at Calvinists believe that those who live an upright a special place, most often a sacred table or ALTAR. life will prosper. The priest may well have special training in the 354 S primal religion

teaching of the religion and have a role as instructor work of priests over the generations has kept many and pastor. She or he may also have had profound religions alive. religious experiences that make one a mystic or an ecstatic, impart a charismatic personality, or even that make one a shaman or prophet. But that is not primal religion The religion of humans living the essence of priestly offi ce. It is understood to in tribal societies before, or independent of, the be a formal position, built into the formal institu- invention of writing. This style of religion has been tional structure of a religion and imparted through called “primitive religion,” but that term now has ordination by an authorized person. In Christian the wrong connotations, suggesting it is elemen- priesthood, like that of ROMAN CATHOLICISM, EAST- tary and unsophisticated. Actually, primal religion ERN ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY, or ANGLICANISM, ORDINA- can be very sophisticated in its myth (see MYTH AND TION is imparted by a bishop who is believed to MYTHOLOGY) and SYMBOLISM. Primal is intended only be in a lineage of such ordinations going back to to indicate that this form of religion was fi rst and the APOSTLES themselves, who were appointed by is the basis on which all other religion was built CHRIST; this is called “apostolic succession.” Ser- historically. vices conducted by priests, whether the Catholic This collection of patterns of religious life was Christian EUCHARIST or mass, or the sacrifi ces of once presumably universal but has gradually given the temple in ancient Israel, or the offerings of the way to subsequent developments: the religions of BRAHMINS of India, are usually performed in a pre- the ancient empires like EGYPTIAN RELIGION or Chi- determined, ritualistic way, with emphasis more nese religion (see CHINA, RELIGIONS OF); the rise of on precise correctness of word and gesture than on the major religions founded in historical times, feeling. A reverent, devotional mood on the part such as BUDDHISM and CHRISTIANITY; and fi nally the of the priest is certainly encouraged, yet it is usu- development of other ways of life in recent times. ally said that the effectiveness of the rite for other Now only small and scattered groups of peoples believers does not depend on the feeling or worthi- live in truly tribal, primal religion societies. But ness of the priest, but simply on the correct doing carryovers from primal religion can be found in of the rite by a duly authorized offi ciant. all later faiths, and understanding it can illuminate Priesthood may be vocational or hereditary. much about human life today. In the former, persons enter it because they feel called to the offi ce, and generally undertake formal THEMES OF PRIMAL RELIGION training in preparation for ordination. In principle, Primal religion today includes the traditional faiths that is the case with the Christian and Buddhist as diverse as NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGIONS, AFRICAN priesthood. In some cases, as with Roman Catho- RELIGIONS, ARCTIC RELIGION, PACIFIC OCEAN RELIGIONS, lic priests and many Buddhist monks, priests prac- and the religions of tribal peoples in India. Some tice CELIBACY, giving up marriage for the sake of are hunters and gatherers; some practice early the vocation. In others, such as Eastern Orthodox forms of agriculture. They are far from all the and SHINTO priesthood, and Buddhist priesthood in same. Nonetheless certain themes can be found Japan, the priesthood often appears to be heredi- widely, if not universally, throughout societies that tary in practice though vocational in its ideal. practice forms of primal religion. These are themes Strictly hereditary priesthood, like that of related to cosmic religion, gods and spirits, INITIA- ancient JUDAISM and of the Brahmin priests in Hin- TION, SHAMANISM, hunting religion, and agricultural duism, is restricted to certain families or castes as religion. a matter of principle. These priests properly receive training before entering into the sacred offi ce, COSMIC RELIGION but their ultimate authorization is transmitted by The historian of religion Mircea ELIADE used the birth. Sometimes disparaged, the steady, faithful term cosmic religion to refer to religion centered on primal religion S 355

nature and the turn of the seasons rather than on family altar. Or again, it may become a power- historical events (as for example, JUDAISM centers ful ancestral spirit (see ANCESTOR VENERATION) who on the EXODUS or Christianity centers on the life and guards descendents still in this life but also pun- death of JESUS). For cosmic religion, the location of ishes them if they violate TABOOS or moral codes. Or the Sacred, as Eliade called the object of religion, is different aspects of the soul may perform all three here and now, in nature and the temple—a sacred of these functions. mountain, tree, or site where dances or sacrifi ces Related to belief in soul are the great dances are performed—or in the “sacred time” of seasons (see DANCE AND RELIGION) and festivals that primal and festivals. Every NEW YEAR FESTIVAL is like a peoples often observe. In them they may take on repeat of the creation of the world. Virtually all the appearance of, and even feel themselves one primal religion is imbued with the cosmic religion with, gods or ancestors. For example, in AUSTRA- outlook. Indeed, much of the cosmic lingers today LIAN RELIGIONS, dancing festivals, which may con- just behind the historical perspective. In Christi- tinue for days, were considered participation in anity, for example, Christmas commemorates a the Dreamtime, the other world of gods, ancestors, historical event, the birth of Jesus, but the Christ- and mythic events. Dances held before hunting or mas tree, and the holiday’s close proximity to New planting, or in celebration of success in the fi eld or Year’s, are cosmic religion symbols. harvest, may use costumes and symbols indicat- ing identifi cation with the mythic fi rst hunters or GODS AND SPIRITS farmers. Primal religion is religion of many spiritual forces: divine spirits, spirits of nature, ancestral INITIATION spirits. But often there is a supreme GOD, or group For many primal religion societies, life is a series of of gods, who fi rst made the world and placed initiations (see INITIATIONS, RELIGIOUS). It is through human beings in it. There are many beliefs as to them that members become more and more a part how the world came into existence. In some, the of the tribe and prepare themselves for the after- world was born of the mating of the deities of life. The most important are usually those of young heaven and earth. Sometimes humans emerged women and men who, at puberty or adolescence, out of the earth, or they came down from heaven. become full members of the society. Imitation is Sometimes they were taught the skills of civiliza- often compared to a second birth, or a death and tion by a TRICKSTER deity, such as Coyote in Native rebirth, and inevitably the way it is enacted con- American stories or the more tragic Prometheus tains symbolism suggestive of birth and death. of Greek myth, who stole fi re from heaven to give For example, among New Guinea societies, it to humanity. Sometimes, in stories reminiscent the young men were taken by the older men to of ADAM and EVE in the Garden of Eden, humans a lodge deep in the jungle. The women would were at fi rst close to the gods but through some look on anxiously as they left, for they were told error or rebellious act fell away from that inti- that the boys were to be eaten by a monster, who macy. In some cases the FALL was associated would release them only on the condition that they with the discovery of agriculture. In response the sacrifi ced a suffi cient number of pigs. In the lodge, supreme God may have withdrawn from daily a great noise was made by a device called a bull- interaction with the world, leaving the fi eld to roarer to emulate the growling of the beast, which spirits of nature and ancestors. frightened the boys. They then received CIRCUMCI- The SOUL, or spirit within, may be thought of as SION and, while in the lodge, learned the secret lore a separable, undying part of oneself. In the AFTER- of the tribe. LIFE it has its own destiny. It may go to another Sometimes the young men ritually passed world underground, in a sacred mountain, or over through the legs of the older men, in imitation of the sea. Or it may remain around the hearth or physical birth. When they returned, like newborn 356 S primal religion

children they were fi rst fed only soft food, but soon is able to “open” or “close” the forest, making the they were recognized as full-fl edged men of the game easy or impossible to fi nd, was invoked. This tribe. However, in some such societies further ini- being favors hunters who approach the quarry with tiations were possible, like higher degrees, which reverence, thank the animal for giving himself to gave members greater and greater status and pre- them, and use every part of the kill. pared them for encounters with the gods at DEATH. Gathering, often the province of women, is no In some examples, the initiation was more less important and in fact in many primal societies individual, like that of the Native American Paw- gathering produced a much higher proportion of nee youth, who went on a “vision quest”: He was sustenance than hunting. The gatherers had spe- expected to remain alone in the wilderness until cial knowledge of the earth spirit, who provided he had received a dream or vision of his guardian these “gifts” out of her bounty. spirit. Initiation for girls often occurs individually AGRICULTURAL RELIGION rather than in a group as with boys, taking place at It may have been women also who fi rst “discov- the onset of puberty. It may entail such practices ered” agriculture, if it was they who fi rst noticed as isolating the young woman in a special lodge, that discarded seeds from gathered crops could singing over her by other women of the tribe, and produce the same near to home and who may in making marks such as tattoos. Sometimes the rite time have learned to domesticate animals as well. is part of a series that leads directly up to marriage, (Early agricultural societies are called Neolithic, the wedding ceremony being the culminating ini- or “New Stone Age.”) Nonetheless, in mythol- tiation for a woman. Female initiation is just as ogy, agriculture is often seen as a kind of forbid- important and common as male. den knowledge, stolen by a human or divine rebel against the primal gods, perhaps by killing a deity SHAMANISM and taking agricultural crops out of the divine Some initiations are special to certain people. The body. most important is typically that of the shaman, Agriculture brought hardships as well as ben- an individual believed to have a special call from efi ts to societies. It can be more monotonous and the gods enabling him or her to experience SPIRIT labor intensive than hunting or gathering and, POSSESSION or to travel in spirit to the realm of the moreover, seems to involve the grim principle of gods or ancestors. The shaman is therefore like a life for life. It was in connection with early agricul- mediator between this world and the divine (see ture that extensive CANNIBALISM, human and animal SHAMANISM). SACRIFICE, and headhunting came into use, basically in the belief that they would increase the harvest. RELIGION OF HUNTING AND For example, sometimes parts of a sacrifi cial vic- GATHERING SOCIETIES tim would be placed around a fi eld or, like the Among the fi rst humans, and in some societies shrunken heads made by the Jivaro of the upper today, food and other necessities are obtained Amazon, “danced” through the fi elds so that life- through hunting and gathering. (These are called energy could fl ow from them into the crops. Paleolithic, or “Old Stone Age,” societies. See PRE- In agricultural religion, often the Sky was a HISTORIC RELIGION.) Inevitably this quest involves a male god, perhaps of the Sun (see SUN AND RELI- religious dimension, for it is essential to life itself. GION) or of the Moon (see MOON AND RELIGION), and It is necessary to prepare spiritually for a hunt. the earth was a mother goddess. Many great god- Some hunters would prepare by FASTING or observ- desses of antiquity, such as ISIS, Demeter, Ishtar, ing a special diet (see DIET AND RELIGION) and by KALI or AMATERASU (see GODDESSES), seem to be of remaining silent while leaving for the fi eld. Some- this background. Because in agriculture the sea- times a “master of animals,” a divine spirit who sons of planting and harvest are so important, prophecy S 357

rituals and festivals connected with them became People in the 19th and 20th centuries con- prominent landmarks of the year. These still con- tinued to claim to receive messages from gods. tinue in such popular spring celebrations as PASS- Prophets arose among the indigenous peoples of OVER and EASTER, and Thanksgiving in the fall. Out North America and Africa. Contact with European of archaic agricultural religion emerged the ancient settlers and colonizers had produced hardships for religions and religious founders (see FOUNDERS, RELI- these peoples; indeed, it had often destroyed their GIOUS) of literate societies. traditional ways of life, when it did not destroy the people themselves. Prophets spoke to these Further reading: Mircea Eliade, Cosmos and situations. They also addressed crises unrelated History (New York; Harper Torchbooks, 1959); to European incursions. Prophets arose among Mircea Eliade, A History of Religious Ideas, Vol. 1 European Americans, too. The best known may be (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978); Sam Joseph Smith, who founded the LATTER-DAY SAINTS, D. Gill, Beyond “The Primitive”: The Religions of commonly known as the Mormons. Pentecostal Nonliterate Peoples (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Christians claim that people today may receive the Hall, 1982); Stephan D. Glazier, Anthropology of gift of prophecy (see PENTECOSTALISM). In 19th-cen- Religion (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1997); tury Iran a resurgence of prophecy gave rise to the Johannes Maringer, The Gods of Prehistoric Man BAHA’I faith. (New York: Knopf, 1960). Prophets generally deliver a message to a group or society rather than to a private individual. Some prophecies address the immediate concerns of a prophecy Words spoken by a human being on specifi c community, while others are more univer- behalf of GOD. In common English a prophecy tells sal in scope. The prophets of ancient Israel relayed something that will happen in the future, often in prophecies of the fi rst kind. Earlier prophets—Mir- the distant future. Christians have often, but not iam, Deborah, Samuel, ELIJAH, Elisha—only spoke always, looked upon prophecy in this way. They their words. The words of important prophets from have taken the prophecies recorded in the Hebrew the eighth century on—AMOS, HOSEA, ISAIAH, JER- BIBLE as referring to JESUS. Some have also applied EMIAH, EZEKIEL—came to be written down. Jewish biblical prophecies to current events. In religion tradition holds that prophecy ended in 400 B.C.E. in general, however, prophecy also has a different Other prophets have relayed messages that meaning. It refers to messages that human beings are universal. The most prominent examples are transmit for a god or gods. Such messages may prophets who founded major religions: ZARATHUS- say something about the future, but they may not. TRA, Mani, and MUHAMMAD. Both Mani and Muham- Even when they talk about the future, they most mad saw themselves as conveying God’s fi nal and often refer to events that are about to occur. complete revelation and therefore bringing the line Prophecy was particularly important in the of prophets to a close. Mani and Muhammad also religions of the ancient Near East. It was one way saw Jesus as one of the prior prophets. Some may by which people learned the wills of the gods consider Jesus’ activities to be closer to those of a who had power over events. Religions that derive charismatic healer or a moral teacher. from the ancient Near East—ZOROASTRIANISM, JUDA- In the last half of the 20th century, psychol- ISM, CHRISTIANITY, MANICHAEISM, and ISLAM—have ogists carefully studied what happens “when important traditions of prophecy. People some- prophecy fails.” Many people choose not to aban- times speak of prophets in HINDUISM, BUDDHISM, don the prophecy. They deal with the “cognitive and east Asian religions, too. An example is the dissonance” that results in a number of ways. Japanese “prophet” NICHIREN, although he was not For example, William Miller had predicted that a prophet in the sense that he communicated a Jesus was going to return in 1844. He did not, but message from a god. rather than surrender the prophecy, leaders of the 358 S prophets, biblical

SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS interpreted it in such a the unseen. The prophets in the biblical tradition way that the prophecy had been fulfi lled. talk a great deal about remaining loyal to God and making society more just. They often thought of justice as returning to the way things used to be. prophets, biblical The name of a group of reli- Prophets sometimes acted out their messages, as gious specialists in ancient Israel, as well as of a when ISAIAH walked naked through JERUSALEM and collection of books in the Hebrew scriptures (see JEREMIAH wore a yoke. They also occasionally chal- SCRIPTURES, HEBREW). Religious people have often lenged their opponents to contests, as in the con- wished for messages from their gods. In the areas test between ELIJAH and the prophets of Baal. But around what is now Israel and Palestine during the most typical activity of the prophets was to the second millennium B.C.E. (2000–1001 B.C.E.), speak messages from God. Often their prophecies special classes of people claimed to receive such took the form of poetry. messages. Similar people existed in ancient Israel The earliest biblical prophets—those whom and Judah (the northern and southern kingdoms, the Bible considers genuine—include fi gures such respectively), too. We now call them “prophets,” as Miriam, the sister of MOSES, and Deborah, the although that word comes from ancient Greek judge. The prophet Samuel helped set up the mon- rather than ancient Hebrew. Some of these proph- archy, while the prophet Nathan was an important ets seem to have received their messages as words; and sometimes critical adviser of King DAVID. After others seem to have had visions. They were active the monarchy had split into northern and south- in ancient Israel from before the monarchy (before ern kingdoms, Elijah and Elisha were active in the 1020 B.C.E.) until about the year 400 B.C.E. northern kingdom. They called upon the people The BIBLE distinguishes between true and false to remain faithful to the worship of YHWH. AMOS prophets. This judgment refl ects the views of later and HOSEA also opposed the worship of other gods, times, when it was clear which prophets had been though few of these prophets’ sayings are recorded. correct and which had been wrong. At the time The prophets whose words were gathered into when the prophets were active, it would have been major books came a little later: Isaiah around 700 much harder to tell. Some prophets did speak for B.C.E., Jeremiah around 600 B.C.E., and EZEKIEL the GOD YHWH (“the Lord”), while others only during the exile in Babylon (597–539 B.C.E.). The spoke for other gods, such as BAAL and Asherah. prophecies of two anonymous prophets became But it was fairly common for people in ancient part of the book of Isaiah. “Second Isaiah” was Israel to worship those other gods, and they took active during the Babylonian exile, while “Third their prophets seriously. In addition, prophets of Isaiah” was active after the exiles returned home. YHWH often argued with one another and gave According to tradition, prophecy ceased in contradictory messages. Israel about the year 400 B.C.E. Certainly after A superfi cial reading of the Bible might sug- that time the inhabitants of Judea tended to favor gest that prophets were lone fi gures who stood writings known as APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE. These up to authority, spoke the word of God, and then writings make the fate of God’s people depend vanished. However, a careful reading of the Bible not so much on their return to YHWH and their shows that there were regular groups of prophets seeking of justice but on the outcome of a cosmic in ancient Israel and Judah, and at various times struggle between God and forces opposed to God. prophets seem to have been full-fl edged members But the ancient Judeans still respected the older of the king’s court. prophets. By about 200 B.C.E. they had begun to Prophets often seem to have been called to collect, edit, and combine the sayings of Isaiah, prophesy as a result of extraordinary experiences. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and “the Twelve” to form the In this experience they are somewhat like SHAMANS second part of the Hebrew scriptures, Nevi’im, in other religions, who also communicate with “the Prophets.” Protestantism S 359

Further reading: Rodney R. Hutton, Fortress During the Reformation, Martin LUTHER insisted Introduction to the Prophets (Minneapolis, Minn.: that human beings could not earn their own SALVA- Fortress Press, 2004); David L. Petersen, The TION. Salvation was a gift given freely by God. This Prophetic Literature: An Introduction (Louisville, may be the central Protestant insight. But inter- Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002); John F. pretations of it vary. Strict Calvinism teaches that A. Sawyer, Prophecy and the Biblical Prophets, rev. God chooses to save some people but condemn ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993). others (see John CALVIN). Methodism stresses that all may be saved; once saved, a person should pur- sue moral perfection. Protestantism One of the three major branches Almost all Protestants gather for WORSHIP on of CHRISTIANITY. Protestantism resulted from the Sunday. But there are exceptions. Seventh-Day REFORMATION. That event produced several dis- Adventists worship on Saturday (see SEVENTH-DAY tinct churches and traditions: the Lutheran, the ADVENTISM). The heart of Protestant worship has Reformed and Presbyterian, the Anabaptist, and always been the sermon (see PREACHING). During the Anglican or Church of England (see LUTHERAN- Protestant services congregations sing psalms ISM, PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED CHURCHES, MENNO- or hymns together. They also listen to readings NITES, AMISH, and ANGLICANISM). Later events added from the Bible and recite PRAYERS. Most but not all more churches to Protestantism. These include Protestants recognize two SACRAMENTS: BAPTISM, or QUAKERS, Congregationalists, Baptists, Methodists, the RITUAL for joining the church, and the EUCHA- the Pentecostal churches, and groups about which RIST, a sharing of bread and wine or grape juice. “mainline” Protestants have some suspicion, for Unlike Sunday services in the Catholic and Ortho- example, the LATTER-DAY SAINTS, also known as dox churches, Protestant Sunday services do not Mormons and the JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES (see CON- always include the Eucharist. GREGATIONALISM, BAPTIST CHURCHES, METHODISM, and Protestants organize their churches in many PENTECOSTALISM). In the 19th century, Protestants different ways. Some churches have bishops. Pres- became intensely interested in missionary work. byterian churches are governed by assemblies of As a result, many Protestants now live outside the elders. Congregationalist churches insist that each traditional Protestant homelands of northwestern individual congregation be self-governing. Most Europe and nations made up of European settlers. Protestant churches have ordained clergy. The In the 20th century, Pentecostals were especially more liberal churches ordain women. successful in spreading their faith in Latin America During the 20th century, many smaller Protes- and Africa. tant churches merged to form larger bodies. Some Protestants differ widely in their beliefs, prac- mergers joined different groups who shared a com- tices, and ways of organizing churches. That is mon heritage. Examples include the Presbyterian why there is no single Protestant church. But they Church in the United States and the United Pen- share some general features. tecostal Church. Other mergers joined Protestants During the Reformation, Protestants rejected who had different heritages. Examples include, the PAPACY. They insisted that the ultimate authority in the United States, the United Church of Christ, in religion was the BIBLE. Some insist that the Bible which combined Congregationalist and Reformed is entirely without error, but others disagree. Many churches, and the Church of South India, which Protestant churches also acknowledge the ancient combined Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, Christian CREEDS. With the creeds, they conceive Dutch Reformed, and Congregationalist churches. of GOD as a TRINITY, Father (or Creator), Son, and During the 20th century, many Protestants Holy Spirit. Many Protestant groups have also writ- also took part in the “ecumenical movement.” This ten specifi c summaries of their own beliefs. These movement tried to overcome the divisions separat- summaries are known as “confessions.” ing not just Protestant groups but all Christians. In 360 S Protestantism in America

1948 Protestants and Orthodox Christians created could give evidence of a conversion experience the World Council of Churches. Individual Protes- could be full-fl edged members of their commu- tant churches also entered into DIALOGUE with Cath- nity. The emphasis on a personal experience of olics, Jews, and members of other religions. Not all SALVATION continued through many later move- Protestants approve of these activities. Some see ments. It sparked the First Great Awakening in them as abandoning God’s revealed truth. Another the mid-1700s; the Second Great Awakening on powerful movement within Protestantism during the frontier in the early 1800s; Holiness move- the last 100 years has been FUNDAMENTALISM (see ments in the latter part of the 19th century; Pen- FUNDAMENTALISM, CHRISTIAN). tecostal Christianity in the 20th century (see PEN- TECOSTALISM); and, of broader appeal, a tradition Further reading: Karl Barth, Protestant Theology in of revivals. The revival tradition in turn inspired the Nineteenth Century: Its Background and History many 20th-century preachers as they began to use (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W. B. Eerdmans, 2002); the new media of radio and television. Given this John Dillenberger and Claude Welch, Protestant continued emphasis on a religion of experience, Christianity: Interpreted through Its Development, it is perhaps fi tting that William James wrote the 2d ed. (New York: Macmillan, 1988); Martin E. fi rst important American book in religious stud- Marty, ed., Varieties of Protestantism (New York: ies on just this subject: The Varieties of Religious K. G. Saur, 1992). Experience. American Protestantism has also been activis- tic. That is, it has sought to create a better society. Protestantism in America The practice of The largest reform movements of the 19th century PROTESTANTISM, one of the three major branches of were the movements to abolish slavery and the CHRISTIANITY, in the Western Hemisphere. This entry use of alcohol. At the end of the century, liberal focuses on Protestantism in the United States. Christians pursued the “Social GOSPEL.” More con- At the end of the 20th century, the largest servative Christians, such as the SALVATION ARMY, single Christian body in the United States was preferred the work of “rescue missions.” In the the Roman Catholic Church. In fact, it had been 20th-century, Protestant activism continued with the largest American religious body for roughly the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s 150 years. Nevertheless, the public culture of the and, for more conservative Christians, the crusade United States and its defi ning ideals have tradition- to end legalized abortion of the 1970s through the ally been Protestant in character. 1990s. By the beginning of the 21st century the The 13 British colonies that became the United activism of conservative Evangelical Christians States were overwhelmingly Protestant. Nine of was making its presence felt in support of conser- the 13 had a kind of Protestantism—or Protestant- vative Republican candidates in elections at vari- ism in general—as their “established” or offi cial ous levels. religion. Protestant activism looks to the future. So does American Protestantism developed several dis- Protestant millennialism. Millennialism empha- tinctive characteristics. These include an emphasis sizes that JESUS is going to return soon and usher on experience, activism, and millennialism. These in a golden age. The Adventist groups of the 1840s traits do not characterize all Protestant bodies. For are textbook examples of millennialist movements example, sacramental traditions, such as ANGLICAN- (see SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM). Millennialism also ISM and LUTHERANISM, are considerably different. became a common feature of fundamentalism But these traits characterize the Protestantism that (see EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY and FUNDAMENTALISM, has had the most impact on American public life. CHRISTIAN). The New England Puritans emphasized expe- By the beginning of the 21st century, the rience (see PURITANISM). At fi rst only those who Protestant character of American public life was Psalms S 361

threatened. The population of the country was are similar poems in other books of the Bible. becoming more plural religiously, and its pub- Compare, for example, Psalm 18 with 2 Samuel 22. lic culture was becoming increasingly secular. There is also an ancient collection of psalms known These changes sparked a large response from as the Psalms of SOLOMON. Psalms are not consid- conservative, evangelical Protestants. They ered poetry because they rhyme. Instead, they put sought to recall the United States to its moral together two or occasionally three short statements roots. In doing so, they were active in American in a single verse. Often the statements parallel one politics from the local to the national level. In another. For example, Psalm 145 begins: effect, many called for a return to the situation I will extol you, my GOD and King, in which Protestantism was the “established” or and bless your name forever and ever. offi cial religion of the United States in fact, if Every day I will bless you, not in law. and praise your name forever and ever. Further reading: Sydney E. Ahlstrom, ed., Scholars have tried to group psalms according Theology in America: The Major Protestant Voices to their content, but they have come up with differ- from Puritanism to Neo-Orthodoxy (Indianapolis: ent groupings. It may be helpful to say that Psalms Hackett, 2003); Randall Balmer and Lauren F. includes, among other kinds of poems, hymns of Winner, Protestantism in America (New York: praise, laments, songs of thanksgiving, psalms that Columbia University Press, 2000); Douglas recount events from the past, and songs that refl ect Jacobsen and William Vance Trollinger Jr., ed., Re- on the nature of God. forming the Center: American Protestantism, 1900 to The book of Psalms seems to name certain the Present (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W. B. Eerdmans, melodies that should be used in the singing of 1998); Mark A. Noll, Protestants in America (New specifi c psalms. For example, apparently Psalm York: Oxford University Press, 2000). 56 was to be sung to the tune of “The Dove on Far-Off Terebinths.” It also contains other terms whose meaning has been forgotten but that may Psalms A book of the BIBLE that contains ancient be directions for singing. One example is the word Hebrew poems or hymns; more broadly, the kind selah, which appears frequently in Psalms. Some of hymns or poems that this book contains. Psalms people speculate that it marks spots for musical is the fi rst book in the part of the Hebrew Bible interludes. known as Ketuvim, “writings.” In Hebrew it is No one knows when the Psalms were fi rst called Tehillim, “Praises.” It contains 150 psalms, collected. Guesses range from the 400s to the divided into fi ve groups called “books.” Some of early fi rst century B.C.E. The DEAD SEA SCROLLS— the psalms are among the best-known parts of the roughly from the time of Jesus—include many Bible. scrolls containing psalms. These scrolls show that people at the time still disagreed on the THE COMPOSITION AND exact number of poems to include in the book. CONTENT OF PSALMS In addition, although the scrolls agree on which By the time of JESUS it was already customary to psalms belong in Books 1 and 2 (Psalms 1–72), refer to King DAVID as the author of the book of they disagree about which psalms belong in the Psalms. In actuality, however, the psalms in this last three books. But although the text of Psalms book seem to have many different authors. Psalms may not have been entirely fi xed, people at the itself refers to different groups of PRIESTS as the time still seemed to recognize the book of Psalms authors of some psalms. as having special status. For example, Jesus The book of Psalms does not contain the only refers to the TORAH, the PROPHETS, and Psalms psalms that were written in ancient Israel. There (Luke 24.44). 362 S Ptah

THE USE OF THE PSALMS world in the same way that the kings of Egypt Long before the time of ancient Israel, it was com- created an ordered world: by giving commands. mon for priests in the Middle East to recite poems This method of creation reminds some scholars in praise of the gods as part of daily worship in of the way in which GOD creates the world in temples. This is certainly the way the Psalms were Genesis 1. used in the Second Temple in JERUSALEM (fi fth cen- tury B.C.E. to 70 C.E.). Scholars presume that this is also the way the Psalms were used in the First puja Sanskrit for “honor,” or WORSHIP; the com- mon way of worshipping gods in HINDUISM for Temple (mid-900s to 587 B.C.E.). Later Jews and Christians have used the roughly the last 1,500 years. Psalms in worship, too. The standard Jewish lit- Puja is generally directed toward the divine in urgies use 84 of the psalms. In the Middle Ages, image form. The underlying idea is that GOD, who monks recited the entire book of Psalms once a is far beyond human approach, has consented out of GRACE and favor to take up residence in a par- week. During the Protestant REFORMATION, some of the strictest Protestant churches, such as the ticular image. One treats the image as one would Reformed Church in Switzerland, allowed Chris- treat God if God were present in his or her proper tians to sing nothing but Psalms in church. The form. tunes that they used for these Psalms, such as “Old Puja is performed both at home and in tem- Hundredth” (used for Psalm 100), later became ples. It has three parts: giving, viewing, and receiv- used for newly written hymns. ing. Either directly or through a pujari (priest), Many Psalms are famous, but perhaps the the worshipper presents various ministrations to most famous of all is the Twenty-third Psalm. It the god. These may include bathing the image in has provided comfort to countless suffering peo- water, milk, or coconut milk, dressing it, perfum- ple. It begins, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall ing it, ornamenting it with fl owers, powders, and not want.” jewels, offering it food, waving lights and burning incense before it, and chanting SCRIPTURES and recit- ing PRAYERS. Darsana, viewing the image, is also an important act of worship. It gives the worshipper Ptah A god of ancient Egypt. At fi rst Ptah was a glimpse of what is in reality beyond all sight. simply the god worshipped at the town of Mem- Finally, the worshipper receives the god’s bless- phis. Around 3000 B.C.E. Menes unifi ed Egypt. ings. This prasada is generally symbolized physi- He made Memphis his capital, because it stood cally in water, a spoonful of which may be sipped at the place where Upper and Lower Egypt met. and sprinkled over one’s self, or food. The latter Ptah became a god important for all of Egypt. He may be the family’s meal, offered to the god before was often shown standing rigidly upright, a cloth eating, or the bits of coconut, nuts, or fl owerettes wrapped tightly about his body, holding a scepter of sugar often dispensed at temples. directly in front of him in both hands. See also IMAGES, ICONS, IDOLS IN RELIGION. Ptah is best known for his role in the so-called Memphite THEOLOGY. This is the story of creation that the priests of Memphis told. It is known today Puranas From the Sanskrit word for “ancient, from a document that dates to roughly 700 B.C.E. old.” Puranas are the chief mythological books in Most scholars assume the original story is much contemporary HINDUISM. older. Tradition assigns the Puranas, like the Mahab- In the Memphite theology, Ptah creates by harata, to an author named Vyasa, literally, “the thinking in his heart and speaking words from compiler.” Each Purana is supposed to discuss fi ve his mouth. In other words, he creates an ordered topics: creation, dissolution, the genealogies of Pure Land Buddhism S 363

gods and ancestors, the ages of the worlds, and do it in one bound or not at all. Hence salvation the history of the solar and lunar dynasties. In fact, is attained by a simple act of faith. In China (see the Puranas discuss much more. CHINA, RELIGIONS OF, KOREAN RELIGION, and VIETNAM- Although the number of Puranas is large, ESE RELIGION), Pure Land is the characteristic Bud- 18 are singled out as major. Some divide them dhism of ordinary laypeople, while Chan or Zen is into three groups of six, identifi ed with the gods the practice of monks. BRAHMA, VISHNU, and SIVA. The most loved of all In Japan, Pure Land eventuated into two main Puranas is the Bhagavata. It recounts in full the denominations started in the Middle Age: Jodo-shu tales of the youthful KRISHNA. (Pure Land sect), founded by Honen (1133–1212), and Jodo-shinshu (True Pure Land sect), founded by his disciple Shinran (1173–1262). Both stress Pure Land Buddhism An important movement the importance of chanting the Nembutsu (Namu in East Asian BUDDHISM; also called Amidism. In Amida Butsu, “Hail Amida Buddha”) as the act contrast to the emphasis on MEDITATION in some of faith, and say that this faith is what is really other forms of the religion, Pure Land may be important. Salvation, Honen and Shinran taught, called a Buddhism of SALVATION by FAITH alone. For comes from the GRACE or power of Amida, not from the central idea is that the BUDDHA called Amitabha one’s own efforts. This is true Buddhism, they (Emiduo-fo in Chinese, AMIDA in Japanese) ages said, because to depend on the grace of another ago vowed out of compassion for all suffering sen- rather than on oneself is real egolessness, and the tient beings that all who called upon his name in whole point of Buddhism is to realize the empti- faith would be saved by being brought after death ness of the ego and the continuity of one’s whole into his HEAVEN, called the Western Paradise or being with the universe as a whole. Amida, some Pure Land. say, can be thought of as a personifi cation of that The teaching began in India, where it was universe. fi rst taught that great buddhas like Amida (not Shinran was even more radical than Honen. to be confused with the historical Buddha, the Sometimes called the Martin LUTHER of Japan, he founder of the Buddhist religion) have a para- understood that if Pure Land is true, faith alone is disal universe extending around them as a kind what matters, not rites or priesthood or anything of aura. Persons deeply attuned to one of these else. Therefore, though a monk, like Luther he buddhas can enter this paradise through faith. gave up monastic CELIBACY to marry and have chil- Amida, out of infi nite love for all creatures, dren. He emphasized that even the greatest sinner made his paradise accessible simply by faith. can be saved by simple faith expressed through His heaven or Pure Land is a wonderful place the Nembutsu. Jodo Shinshu temples have mar- in itself, described in the old Indian Pure Land ried priests and relatively simple temples with scriptures as fi lled with trees covered with jew- only an image of Amida and a statue of Shinran eled nets and beautiful music played by angelic in front. Pure Land became particularly popular beings. Furthermore, in the Pure Land it is easy among Japan’s peasant population and its grow- to do the fi nal meditations that will lead to the ing class of merchants and craftsmen. Often it ultimate liberation, NIRVANA. took the form of colorful Nembutsu dances, per- Coming to China in the early centuries C.E., formed while singing the sacred chant. In all of and thence to Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, Pure East Asia, it has made Buddhism and the hope Land was infl uenced by Taoist ideas of paradise of salvation accessible to high and low alike. In (see TAOISM) and also by a Chinese perception the United States Pure Land Buddhism has been that salvation cannot be divided up into stages present since the late 1800s. During World War but must be realized all at once, just as one can- II it organized itself as the Buddhist Churches of not leap over a canyon in several jumps, but must America. 364 S purifi cation, religious

purifi cation, religious Making oneself clean ance of the Jewish people from a planned massa- or pure in a religious sense. Virtually all religions cre in ancient Persia. The date of the massacre had have some concept of that which is pure—that is, been set by casting lots—thus, the name. which is as it should be, and which is of the same Purim is celebrated on the 14th day of the pure nature as the soul and the divine—and of that Jewish month of Adar, generally in March. It is which is polluted, in other words, the opposite: preceded by a fast on the 13th day. At the heart of dirty, dangerous, of a nature that separates one the celebration is a festive reading of the book of from the divine. ESTHER in the SYNAGOGUE. Esther tells the story of Pollutants may be inward: EVIL, “impure” the plot against the Jews and how it was thwarted. thoughts, sinful ideas, bad attitudes. They may be The name of the person responsible for the plot expressed in behavior: sinful deeds, the violation was Haman. Whenever his name is read, congre- of TABOOS, doing RITUALS incorrectly. Or they may be gations often use loud noisemakers to keep his external or occasional. Many societies, for exam- name from being heard. ple, have notions that such things as feces, blood, Jews celebrate Purim with other lighthearted childbirth (see BIRTH RITUALS), sickness, the pres- activities. These often include costume parties and ence of death or a corpse, are inherently polluting the performance of plays. Purim is also a time to and may require ritual purifi cation before the per- give gifts to friends and charity to the poor. son exposed to them can be considered pure and perform certain religious acts, or even be accepted in society. Sometimes certain animals are consid- Puritanism A movement within Protestant ered impure, either inherently or as foodstuffs, as CHRISTIANITY. Puritanism was active in England and in the traditional dietary rules of Orthodox JUDAISM its North American colonies in the late 16th and the and ISLAM, which forbid eating the fl esh of the pig. 17th centuries. It took its name from its program: It Sometimes, as in the Hindu caste system, some wanted the Church of England (see ANGLICANISM) to human beings, and their occupations, are regarded be purely Protestant (see PROTESTANTISM). as impure to those of higher status, and so contact King Henry VIII began the English REFORMA- between them must be limited. TION as a political rather than a religious move. Ritual ways of removing impurity are very Henry’s only objection to the Catholic Church was common. Often a person who has indulged in that it would not grant him a divorce. Therefore, he inward pollution or SIN should confess and do nationalized the church in his realm (see NATIONAL- penance to make up for it, as in ROMAN CATHOLI- ISM, RELIGIOUS). By the time of Queen Elizabeth I CISM. External and other kinds of pollution may the Church of England had assumed a compromise be removed by such acts as ritual bathing, ritual form. Its beliefs, practices, and structures were sweeping gestures, the ritual use of water, salt, or neither Roman Catholic nor Protestant but some- fi re (all widely regarded as purifying), and the like. where in between. Frequently religious services begin with ritual ges- The Puritans opposed this compromise. They tures purifying the area and the persons present, favored Protestantism. They fi rst objected to the like the sprinkling of holy water in the Catholic Catholic vestments that the Church of England traditions of CHRISTIANITY or the waving of an ever- required its ministers to wear. But this objection green branch in SHINTO. Even when ritual expres- was only a symptom of a much more profound dis- sions of purity versus pollution are not present, agreement. At issue were central features in THE- they are often felt and dealt with inwardly. OLOGY and church organization as well as WORSHIP practices. Some Puritans left the Church of Eng- land. Indeed, some had to fl ee England itself. But Purim Hebrew word meaning “lots”; the name most stayed in England and its church. Puritanism of a Jewish festival. Purim celebrates the deliver- was a movement, not a separate Christian body. Puritanism S 365

In theology the Puritans followed John CALVIN. RIAN AND REFORMED CHURCHES, CONGREGATIONALISM, They emphasized the majesty and power of GOD. and BAPTIST CHURCHES). They also emphasized that all human beings were The story of Puritanism in the United States is born into a state of SIN. No one, they taught, was more eventful. In the early 1600s, some Puritans capable of earning God’s favor. Nevertheless, God gave up the attempt to reform the Church of Eng- in his mercy has chosen to save some sinners. He land. They decided instead to establish a model gives FAITH to those whom he chooses to save. The Puritan commonwealth in North America. Even- Puritans analyzed the process of coming to faith in tually, Puritan churches appeared in each of the detail. It centered on an experience of being born North American colonies. again through God’s GRACE. American Puritans In England Puritans had mostly been outsid- expected the elect to be able to give evidence of ers. In New England Puritanism was the estab- this experience. lished or offi cial religion. As an offi cial religion, Before 1649 the Puritans had little actual effect it showed a repressive side. Orthodox Puritans on the Church of England. They did, however, expelled people like Roger Williams and Anne contribute signifi cantly to the Civil War that pitted Hutchinson, who had different religious ideas. In the English Parliament against the king. After the 1659 and 1661 they executed four people because execution of King Charles I in 1649, the Church they were QUAKERS. In 1692 some Puritans held of England moved in a Puritan direction. But in the infamous Salem witchcraft trials, which cost 1660 the monarchy returned. The old church came 20 people their lives. back with it. In 1689 the Act of Toleration ended But Puritanism has also greatly infl uenced the the dispute. The Church of England as formed in way Americans think of themselves. Some Ameri- Elizabeth’s day was the offi cial church. But those can politicians, such as Ronald Reagan (president, who favored other options could establish legally 1981–89), provide a good example. When they recognized churches. Depending upon their partic- speak of the United States as a model to the rest of ular views, Puritans formed Presbyterian, Congre- the world, they essentially refl ect the self-image of gationalist, or Baptist congregations (see PRESBYTE- the American Puritans. . Q ,

qabbalah See KABBALAH. The principal targets of al-Qaeda are the United States, its interests, and its allies. Notorious al-Qaeda attacks include the August 1998 truck Qaeda, al- Arabic expression meaning “the bombings of American embassies in Kenya and base”; a loose organization founded in the early Tanzania and the attacks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1990s by Osama bin Laden (b. 1957) and other in 2003, as well as the attacks of September 11, mujahideen who fought in Afghanistan against 2001. It has alliances with other groups, such as the Soviet invasion. It is best known for attacks the Jemaah Islamiyah, which carried out bomb- against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon ings in Bali in 2002 and Jakarta in 2003. in the United States on September 11, 2001. The goals of al-Qaeda are often defi ned in neg- In 1979 the Soviet Union occupied Afghani- ative terms. A statement issued by bin Laden in stan. In response, fi ghters (mujahideen, people 2003 reads: “We—with God’s help—call on every engaged in JIHAD) came to the region and fought Muslim . . . to comply with God’s order to kill the to expel the Soviets with the help of the United Americans and plunder their money wherever and States. Among them was Osama bin Laden from whenever they fi nd it.” Understandably, this atti- Saudi Arabia, the son of a wealthy businessman. tude repels people in the United States and other After the Soviets were expelled, bin Laden and Western countries. In traditionally Islamic coun- his fellow mujahideen were dismayed at the infl u- tries, some people admire bin Laden for standing ence the United States was exercising in the Middle up to the United States, which they see as inappro- East, especially on countries like Saudi Arabia and priately interfering with their lives. Most Muslims, Egypt. They founded al-Qaeda to struggle against however, strongly disapprove of al-Qaeda’s tactics. this infl uence by force. Some say they simply replaced the Soviet Union with the United States and its allies as the object of their antagonism. Q source (New Testament) A document that Originally based in the Sudan, al-Qaeda moved to scholars have hypothesized is a source used by the Afghanistan in 1996, where it ran training camps authors of the GOSPELS of Matthew and Luke. “Q” for its members. refers to the German word Quelle, “source.” The Al-Qaeda is a loose connection of cells. Each hypothesis that this source existed helps scholars cell is a small group of people, perhaps, three, joined explain the “synoptic problem” (described later). together to accomplish a specifi c task. Because it is They use the fi rst letter of a German word because a secret organization, some details are not known. German scholars fi rst came up with the idea. It seems certain, however, that al-Qaeda has asso- The synoptic problem is this: Matthew, ciates in as many as 60 countries around the world Mark, and Luke are called “synoptic Gospels” in such diverse places as the United States, Great because, although their accounts of JESUS’ birth Britain, and the Philippines. and RESURRECTION differ, they tell the story of Jesus

S 366 Quakers S 367

from his baptism to his crucifi xion in much the same way. In fact, they repeat many of the same words, phrases, and sentences. That raises the synoptic problem: How can these similarities be explained? The most common explanation is that Mat- thew and Luke both used the Gospel of Mark as their basis; the Gospel of Mark is simpler and appears to be older. But Matthew and Luke also contain a large number of sayings of Jesus that are not in Mark. Because Matthew and Luke use these sayings in very different ways, many scholars pre- fer to think that they used a common source rather than, say, that Luke used Matthew as a source. They call that source “Q.” No one has ever seen Q, but in the 1940s another book, the Gospel of THOMAS, was dis- covered that contains only sayings of Jesus. That discovery made the Q hypothesis more plausible. Some scholars have even tried to use the sayings that Q would have contained to reconstruct the “Q community,” that is, the group of early Christians who would have used and preserved these sayings of Jesus. Further reading: Mark Goodacre and Nicholas Perrin, eds. Questioning Q: A Multidimensional Critique (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2004); Burton L. Mack, The Lost Gospel: The George Fox, the preacher considered to be the founder of Book of Q and Christian Origins (San Francisco: the Society of Friends (Library of Congress) HarperSanFrancisco, 1993); James M. Robinson, ed., The Sayings of Jesus: The Sayings Gospel Q in English (Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress Press, Light to illumine their hearts; when it did, they 2002). trembled. The Friends met under the inspiration of a preacher named George Fox (1624–91). He is Quakers Members of a Christian group that is considered to be the founder of the movement. more properly known as the Society of Friends. Because Quakers believed that God stirred in Traditionally Quakers do not rely on SCRIPTURE or every human heart, they had little use for the church teachings. They rely on the Inward Light ordinary trappings of CHRISTIANITY: scriptures, of GOD. CREEDS, doctrines, BAPTISM, the LITURGY, ordained The Society of Friends was organized in Eng- ministers. They also rejected the then common land in the 1650s. The name Quaker comes from practice of an established religion, that is, a reli- the way in which early members of the society gion that the government legally recognized. In reacted to the experience of God’s Light. They the spirit of JESUS’ teachings, they dressed plainly. met outdoors in groups and waited for God’s They also refused to take oaths, bear arms, or use 368 S Qur’an

titles when addressing people. In their regular several institutions of higher learning, including meetings, they met—and still meet—in silence, such colleges and universities as Earlham, Haver- waiting for God’s revelation to come to someone ford, Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, Cornell, and Johns present. That person then shared God’s revela- Hopkins. The spirit of Quakerism fi nds expression tion for discussion. Because God’s Light is found in the philanthropic activities of the American in every heart, Quakers never forbade women to Friends Service Committee. In 1947 the commit- hold positions of leadership, as many branches of tee, along with its British counterpart, received the Christianity have. Quakers have also been active Nobel Prize for Peace for its relief activities follow- in social causes. ing the devastations of World War II. The oldest tradition in the Society of Friends Further reading: Hugh Barbour and J. William is quietistic. It emphasizes a passive waiting upon Frost, The Quakers (Richmond, Ind.: Friends United the Inward Light of God. In the early 1800s some Press, 1994); Brent Bill, ed., Imagination and Quakers found the tenets of evangelical Christian- Spirit: A Contemporary Quaker Reader (Richmond, ity attractive (see EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY and FUN- Ind.: Friends United Press, 2002); Eleanor Nesbitt, DAMENTALISM, CHRISTIAN). These tenets emphasized Interfaith Pilgrims: Living Truths and Truthful the BIBLE as God’s revealed word and Jesus as sav- Living (London: Quaker Books, 2003). ior. As a result, the society split. In the early 1900s, the Quaker teacher Rufus Jones added another strand to the tradition. He taught a form of ethical Qur’an Also spelled Koran; the sacred book MYSTICISM. in ISLAM. The Arabic word “Qur’an” means rec- Because Quakers often rejected practices that itation. Muslims believe that the Qur’an is the their neighbors considered normal or normative, supreme revelation of GOD to human beings. they have been persecuted. In 1659 and 1661, the It consists of Arabic poetry received from God authorities of Massachusetts Bay Colony executed and recited by the prophet MUHAMMAD (570–632 four Quakers for practicing their religion. Other C.E.). In theory the book governs every aspect of colonies, such as Virginia, had equally harsh laws Islamic life. against Quakers, although in Virginia Quakers were never executed. During the Revolutionary War HISTORY American Quakers were persecuted because they Muhammad was accustomed to retire occasion- refused to fi ght. In the late 1700s Quakers emanci- ally to the desert for spiritual retreats. On one such pated their slaves. In the 1800s they became active occasion in the year 611, Muslims believe that God in the abolitionist movement and the Underground spoke to him. This event is known as the “night Railroad. of power.” Quakers have made other prominent contribu- Islamic tradition associates this event with tions to American and British life. As is well known, a particular surah or chapter of the Qur’an. The a Quaker, William Penn (1644–1718), founded angel Gabriel appeared to Muhammad and com- Pennsylvania. The colony followed Quaker prin- manded him, “Recite.” Muhammad asked, “What ciples in its concern for religious toleration, paci- shall I recite?” The angel answered in the words fi sm, and respect for indigenous Americans. Brit- of surah 96: ish Quakers founded prominent fi nancial institu- tions, including Lloyd’s of London and Barclay’s Recite in the name of your Lord Who created. Bank. The early champion for women’s rights, He created man from a clot. Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906), and the American Recite: your Lord is Most Honorable, presidents Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) and Rich- Who taught (to write) with the pen ard Nixon (1913–94) were of Quaker background. Taught man what he knew not. In the 19th century American Quakers founded (96.1–5, M. H. Shakir, altered) Qur’an S 369

prophet’s lifetime people recorded portions of the revelations on scraps of material that happened to be available: bits of leather, papyrus leaves, ribs of animals. They also committed the revelations to memory. Tradition attributes the work of compiling the Qur’an to Zaid ibn Thabit. Indeed, it attributes it to him twice. During the term of Abu Bakr (caliph, 632–634), the fi rst caliph or leader of the Islamic community after Muhammad’s death, many peo- ple who had memorized the revelations were killed in a great battle. Abu Bakr was worried that the revelations might be lost. Therefore, he commis- sioned Zaid to gather into a book as many of the revelations as he could fi nd. The resulting work was passed down to the next caliph, Umar (caliph, 634–644), and then to Umar’s daughter. Uthman (caliph, 644–656), the caliph after Umar, became concerned that there were many dif- ferent versions of the Qur’an, and that these might cause confusion. Therefore, he commissioned Zaid to assess the various versions and add verses that were genuine to his earlier work. When Zaid was fi nished, Uthman ordered that all competing ver- Page from the Qur’an written in Kufi c writing in the 11th sions be destroyed. In fact, all other versions of the century. Surah al-Rum (XXX, The Romans), verses 24 and Qur’an were not destroyed, but for all intents and 25: “. . . after it (the Earth) is dead: verily in that are signs for those who are wise. And among his signs is this, that purposes they were. Uthman’s version is simply heaven and earth stand at his command. Then when he considered the Qur’an today. calls you by a single call from the Earth . . .” (Victoria & Albert Museum, London/Art Resource, N.Y.) CONTENTS The Qur’an consists of poetic verses revealed to the prophet Muhammad at various times during a At fi rst Muhammad doubted the reliability of period of 22 years. It does not tell connected sto- his experiences. The doubts became more intense ries, the way parts of the BIBLE do. It also does when the messages from God stopped briefl y. But not systematically present the teachings of Islam, the messages resumed, and until the end of his in the way, for example, that a CREED or a confes- life Muhammad continued to receive messages sion might. Rather, it contains distinct verses on that Muslims attribute to God. Sometimes these a large variety of topics. Many of them addressed messages came as a ringing in Muhammad’s ears. concerns that were pressing in the Arabic com- Sometimes the ANGEL Gabriel delivered them. And munity at the time they were given. Muhammad sometimes Muhammad heard the voice of God reported to the community what he received from himself. God. Because he did so, when the Qur’an speaks Muhammad did not write the Qur’an, either in the fi rst person (“we”), the pronoun refers not in the sense that he composed it as an author or to Muhammad but to God. that he recorded it as a scribe. According to tra- The Qur’an is Arabic poetry. Indeed, those dition, Muhammad could not write. During the who speak Arabic insist that it is a form of 370 S Qur’an

poetry whose beauty is incomparable. Translat- The central themes of the Qur’an are the fun- ing poetry is diffi cult in any case. One can repro- damental teachings of Islam. God is one, and God duce the literal meaning, but not the allusions is unique; there is no other like him. He created and effects upon which poetry depends. Muslims all that is, including human beings. The duty of have been reluctant to translate the Qur’an at all. human beings, as of all creatures, is to serve their The Qur’an preserves the very words of God, and Creator. They do this by following his command- any translation would no longer present God’s ments. These commandments cover every sphere own words. of life, not simply RITUAL or religious observances. The verses of the Qur’an are gathered into At the end of time God will raise all people from 114 units known as surahs. It is a little mislead- the dead. He will welcome the righteous into the ing to call surahs “chapters.” Some of them are gardens of paradise, but the evil he will dispatch extremely long; others consist of only four lines, to HELL. more like a stanza than a chapter. In general, the longer surahs are toward the beginning of the SIGNIFICANCE Qur’an; the shorter ones are toward the end. Mus- It is almost impossible to overestimate the sig- lims also distinguish between those surahs that nifi cance of the Qur’an in the Islamic world. It the prophet received when he was living in Mecca, embraces all of life. The fi rst words a baby hears and those he received after he had immigrated to should come from the Qur’an. So should the last Medina. The Medinan surahs tend to be longer words that a dying person hears. Between birth than the Meccan ones. Therefore, the revelations and death the Qur’an provides guidance and com- of the Qur’an run roughly in reverse chronological fort. Some even ascribe to it magical power. order. The latest revelations come fi rst, the earliest Muslim thinkers have tried in several ways ones come last. to describe the special status of this book. The All surahs except the ninth begin with a phrase Qur’an itself refers to a heavenly book of which known as the Basmalah: “Bismillah al-Rahman al- the earthly revelations are copies. Many say that Rahim,” “In the name of God [ALLAH], the Mer- the Qur’an is an attribute or characteristic of God, ciful, the Compassionate.” Muslims use the fi rst namely, his speech. Some have insisted further surah, known as the Fatihah, very frequently in that that speech is not something external to God. their WORSHIP. It reads: For them the heavenly Qur’an is itself an essential part of God. In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Further reading: Michael Cook, The Koran: A Very All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of Short Introduction (New York: Oxford University the Worlds. Press, 2000); Farid Esack, The Qur’an: A Short The Merciful, the Compassionate. Introduction (Oxford: Oneworld, 2002); The Master of the Day of Judgment. Koran: With a Parallel Arabic Text, N. J. Dawood, Thee do we serve and Thee do we trans. (New York: Penguin Books, 2000); Kristina beseech for help. Nelson, The Art of Reciting the Qur’an (New York: Keep us on the right path. American University in Cairo Press, 2001). The path of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed favors. Not (the path) of those upon whom Thy wrath is brought down, nor of those who go astray. (Shakir tr., altered) . R ,

rabbi, rabbinate From a Hebrew word mean- began to perform many new duties that were pas- ing “my master, my teacher”; the leader of the toral and social in nature. Jewish community, and the offi ce of leadership, In the United States today rabbis resemble respectively. The offi ce of rabbi—the rabbinate— Protestant ministers and Catholic priests. They has assumed different functions and structures at attend seminaries, are ordained, and are then different times and places. Today’s rabbis perform hired by congregations. As leaders of congrega- functions that ancient and medieval rabbis did not tions one of their chief responsibilities is to lead perform. Furthermore, the rabbinate in the United SYNAGOGUE services on the Sabbath and holidays. States differs considerably from the rabbinate in That includes preaching sermons on a regular Israel. Nevertheless, the rabbi has been the chief basis, something traditional rabbis did only twice religious leader of JUDAISM since the destruction of a year. Other responsibilities of American rabbis the Temple in 70 C.E. include performing weddings and funerals, teach- The rabbinate—and with it modern rabbinical ing, especially teaching the youth, visiting the sick Judaism—grew out of the branch of ancient Juda- and performing other pastoral duties, organizing ism known as the Pharisaical movement. PHARISEES and leading the social life of the congregation, were people whose religion centered on the study and—not an insignifi cant role—representing the of TORAH. According to tradition, the term “rabbi” Jewish community to its non-Jewish neighbors. was fi rst used in Palestine after the destruction of The rabbinate in Israel is considerably differ- the Temple. ent. In Israel, unlike the United States, the rabbin- Originally, rabbis were experts in both writ- ate is a state-controlled institution. HALAKHAH (Jew- ten and oral Torah—the fi rst fi ve books of the ish law) is the offi cial law in most civil matters, BIBLE and the discussions that were eventually and one of the primary functions of rabbis is to act recorded in the TALMUD. Because Torah contains as judges in civil, but not criminal, proceedings. instructions on how to live, the rabbis became Another is to ensure that halakhah is observed in, judges. When other forms of leadership died out, for example, the preparation of food. Only rarely if the rabbis gradually became the leaders of Jew- ever is being the rabbi of a synagogue in Israel a ish communities. In the Middle Ages the rabbin- full-time job. ate became a full-time occupation. It also became One of the most important changes to the common for each locality to recognize one, and rabbinate in the 20th century was the admission only one, rabbi. During the 19th century most of women. Although halakhah permitted women European countries gave Jews full civil rights. to teach and to preach, it did not traditionally Among other things, that meant that they were allow them to serve as witnesses or judges. There- subject to the laws of the state and could use state fore, women had been excluded from ordination. courts to pursue their legal claims. As a result, Reform Judaism rejected this restriction and, in rabbis stopped acting as judges. Instead, they 1972, became the fi rst group to ordain women to

371 S 372 S Rama, Ramayana

the rabbinate. By the mid-1980s, Reconstruction- ists (see FUNDAMENTALISM, HINDU). On December 6, ist and Conservative Judaism had also begun to 1992, partisans of Hindu nationalism destroyed a ordain women. mosque at the alleged site of Rama’s birth, touch- ing off anti-Muslim violence throughout India.

Rama, Ramayana Legendary hero of ancient India, and the most important account of his story. Ramadan The ninth month of the Islamic cal- Although ancient Indians told many stories about endar, during which Muslims fast from sunup to a hero named Rama, the Ramayana was the most sundown. The fast during Ramadan is one of the important. In it, Rama, a young prince of the city fi ve pillars of ISLAM. of Ayodhya, must go into exile in the forest for Because Muslims use a lunar calendar that 14 years at the command of a greedy stepmother. is not adjusted to the solar year, Ramadan cycles While there, his wife Sita, who had accompanied throughout the months of the Gregorian calendar him, is carried off by the chief of demons, Rav- used in North America and Europe. When Rama- ana. Rama enlists the help of the forest monkeys dan falls in December, the days of fasting in the to search for Sita. A monkey general, Hanuman, northern hemisphere are relatively short; when fi nds Sita in Ravana’s fortress, Lanka, which some it falls in June, they are relatively long. Muslims traditions identify with the island of Sri Lanka. make adjustments for people living in the far Together with his brother, Lakshmana, and armies northern or southern portions of the globe, where of monkeys, Rama lays siege to Lanka, rescues at some times of the year the sun never rises, and Sita, and defeats and kills Ravana. He then returns at other times it does not set. to Ayodhya to rule and ushers in a golden age. Fasting during Ramadan, known in Arabic The fi rst version of the Ramayana was a poem as sawm, is a full fast. Muslims should not eat, of 24,000 Sanskrit couples written at least 2,000 drink, smoke, or engage in sexual intercourse years ago by a sage known as Valmiki. (The exact from sunup to sundown. The purpose of the fast, date is disputed.) Most Hindus today use other, however, is spiritual discipline, and it should not more recent renditions of the story, such as Tulsi endanger a person’s health. Those who are sick, Das’s Hindi version or Kamban’s Tamil one. The traveling, pregnant, nursing, or too old to under- events of the Ramayana have provided the sub- take the fast without danger are exempt from the ject for very many works of art not only in India fast. Some who are exempt, such as travelers, but also throughout south and southeast Asia. In must make up the fast at a later date. The end recent years comic books and an extremely popu- of the fast comes when a reliable person sights lar television series have also told the story. the crescent of the new moon, which marks the Hindu tradition identifi es Rama with an AVA - start of the next month. That is the occasion for TAR of the deity, Lord VISHNU. In addition, Hin- a feast known as the Id al-Fitr, the “festival of dus—and other Indians as well—see the charac- fast-breaking.” ters of the story as ideals of how to live one’s life. Muslims give a variety of meanings to the For example, Rama is the ideal ruler and husband; Ramadan fast. Above all they fast because GOD Sita is the ideal wife; Hanuman is an exemplary commanded them to do so in the QUR’AN. In addi- religious devotee. Festivals such as Ramanavami tion, the “Night of Power,” that is, the night in and Dussehra celebrates the events and charac- which God’s revelations to his messenger MUHAM- ters of the Ramayana, and Hindus often invoke MAD fi rst began, falls toward the end of Ramadan. Rama’s name. Indeed, He Ram! (“Oh Rama!”) Therefore, Muslims use this month as an oppor- were the last words that Mahatma GANDHI spoke. tunity to refl ect on God’s revelation. During the As a powerful symbol of Hindu identity, the Rama- course of the month many Muslims recite the yana has also been important to Hindu national- entire Qur’an. Rapture S 373

Muslim women pray facing Mecca, on the fi rst day of Lebaran or Id al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan. (Getty Images)

The fast has other meanings, too. For exam- Mother as supreme Godhead. Into this vision of ple, some say that voluntary fasting teaches them personal deity he integrated the impersonal BRAH- compassion for the poor, who may have no choice MAN of SANKARA’s Advaita VEDANTA. He also had but to fast all the time. visions of and worshipped ALLAH and CHRIST, whom he saw as manifestations of the Mother. All religions, Ramakrishna taught, were different Ramakrishna (1836–1886) a very infl uential paths to the same goal. Hindu SAINT He is often referred to as Ramakrishna Eventually, Ramakrishna became the catalyst Paramahamsa. The second name means “the for a Hindu revival movement in eastern India. His supreme ascetic.” disciple VIVEKANANDA was the most infl uential of Ramakrishna was a priest at a temple of the those who spread his ideas. GODDESS Kali near Calcutta. From an early age, he experienced trances when he was overcome with religious emotion. Later, he experienced similar Rapture In popular Christian APOCALYPTIC LIT- trances in visions of the goddess Kali as Mother. ERATURE, the Rapture (from Latin for “taken up” or After several years of spiritual struggle and “caught up”) refers to a belief that, before openly searching, Ramakrishna came to develop an inclu- coming for the Last JUDGMENT OF THE DEAD, CHRIST, will sive vision of reality in the nurturing arms of the secretly return to take those who truly believe in him 374 S Rastafarians

directly up to heaven. From the perspective of the juana), and reggae music. Dreadlocks, with roots world, these persons will simply disappear as society in the Nazarite vow in the BIBLE (Numbers 6), otherwise continues on its course. But the raptured mark the Rastafarians as distinctive; they have a persons, now in heaven with Jesus, will be spared number of symbolic resonances, starting with the the chaos and wars of the subsequent “Tribulation” beauty of a black person’s hair. The sacramen- on earth, the horrifi c Last Days leading up to the tal use of marijuana, Rastafarians believe, allows Final Judgment and the “new heaven and earth.” them to connect with one another and their deeper The concept of the Rapture is based on certain selves. Much reggae music incorporates Rastafar- biblical passages, especially I Thessalonians 4:16– ian themes and as a result has been important in 17 (“Then we who are alive and remain shall be spreading the movement. caught up . . . in the clouds to meet the Lord in the These symbols (see SYMBOLISM IN RELIGION) air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.”). receive their meaning from a deeper vision. Rasta- But the Rapture was not a distinct part of Christian farians see themselves as living in exile in Babylon. belief until around the middle of the 19th century, Forces of the surrounding society—the former Brit- when a traveling preacher named John Nelson ish rulers, the cultural and economic dominance of Darby used the term and made it an important part the United States, the structures of Jamaican soci- of his message. For him, one signifi cant aspect of ety, and traditional Christian churches—oppress the teaching was that true believers constituted an black people. Rastafarians reject those forces and “invisible church,” known only to God, that might celebrate Africa, especially Ethiopia. Traditionally, well cut across denominational lines but would be they have seen Africa as a paradise to which black made known on the day of Rapture. Darby’s ideas people will one day return. That return will mark were then adopted by Cyrus I. Scofi eld, whose Sco- the end of their suffering. fi eld Reference Bible (fi rst published 1909), widely Like Jews and Muslims, Rastafarians do not consulted in the fi rst half of the 20th century, made eat pork. Some of them are vegetarians. They have the Rapture concept well known. The bestselling been active in promoting black political and eco- Left Behind series of novels by Tim LaHaye and nomic power. Although they fi rst arose in Jamaica, Jerry Jenkins, beginning in 1995, gave the idea a today Rastafarians are found in most places where new burst of popularity. people of African ancestry live. Further reading: Leonard E. Barrett, The Rastafarians (Boston: Beacon Press, 1997); Ennis Barrington Rastafarians Members of a religious movement Edmonds, Rastafari: From Outcasts to Culture that began in Jamaica among people of African Bearers (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003); descent. They are also called Rastas. Noel Leo Erskine, From Garvey to Marley: Rastafari The name Rastafarian comes from Ras (prince) Theology (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, Tafari, the name of the former emperor of Ethiopia, 2005); Chanting Down Babylon: The Rastafari Haile Selassie (1892–1975), before his coronation. Reader, Nathaniel Samuel Murrell, William David The Rastafarian movement was inspired in part by Spencer, and Adrian Anthony McFarlane, eds. a movement led by another Jamaican, Marcus Gar- (Philadelphia, Pa.: Temple University Press, 1998). vey (1887–1940). Garvey preached black pride and advocated the return of black people to Africa. The coronation of Haile Selassie in 1930 fi lled many black people with hope for political and economic Rebekah The wife of ISAAC in the BIBLE. In independence. Indeed, many Rastafarians have order to ensure that his son Isaac did not marry a seen him as God’s messenger on earth. Canaanite woman, ABRAHAM sent a servant to the The best known Rastafarian aspects are the region where his brother Nahor lived. The servant wearing of dreadlocks, the use of ganja (mari- brought back Rebekah, the daughter of Abraham’s Reformation, Protestant S 375

nephew Bethuel. As portrayed in the Bible, she is tin LUTHER, posted on a church door 95 “theses” a woman who can infl uence the course of events. or propositions that he wanted to debate. Luther Sometimes she must resort to deception to do so. objected to the manner in which a Dominican friar Like her mother-in-law SARAH, Rebekah had was raising money nearby (see DOMINICANS). The diffi culty conceiving children. She eventually friar promised that if people gave him a certain gave birth to twins, Esau and JACOB. According amount of money, all their SINS would be forgiven. to the Bible, these two were the ancestors of the The issue quickly grew beyond an academic Edomites and the Israelites, respectively. Rebekah discussion. Copies of Luther’s theses appeared favored Jacob, the twin born second. She helped in many places and helped stir up dissatisfaction deceive the old and blind Isaac, so that he gave with the church. Meanwhile Catholic authorities the blessing for the fi rst-born son to Jacob rather tried to silence Luther. In 1521 the church excom- than to Esau. Then she helped Jacob fl ee from his municated him. The rift between the church and enraged brother. Luther’s supporters had grown too wide to bridge. Luther and his followers organized their own churches. In doing so, they altered many Catholic redemption See SALVATION. practices. They eliminated whatever contradicted the BIBLE, as they read it. They translated the Bible and the Mass from Latin into the language people Reformation, Protestant A movement in west- ordinarily used. They eliminated MONKS AND NUNS. ern European CHRISTIANITY in the 1500s. During the They allowed clergymen to marry. Above all, they Reformation many Christians broke away from the rejected the authority of the Catholic Church and Roman Catholic Church (see ROMAN CATHOLICISM) looked to the Bible as their only authority. As and formed their own, independent churches. They they read it, the Bible taught that human beings were known as “Protestants” (see PROTESTANTISM). received GOD’s forgiveness freely (see GRACE). They They protested against the teachings, practices, did not have to do good works to be saved. They and institutions of the Catholic Church. The move- only had to have FAITH. ment itself is known as the Reformation because it aimed to reform, that is, to correct abuses and CALVINIST REFORMATION errors in the church. Luther’s example inspired others. Soon religious But Protestants did not disagree only with rebellion had broken out in many different cities Catholics. They also disagreed with each other. and regions of the Holy Roman Empire. Another As a result, the Reformation produced a variety important center was Switzerland. There the of Protestant churches: Lutheran churches, espe- reformers eliminated not only what contradicted cially in Germany and Scandinavia (see LUTHERAN- the Bible, but also whatever the Bible had not ISM); Reformed (Calvinist) churches, especially in actually commanded. Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, and Scot- In the early 1520s a parish priest named Hul- land (see PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED CHURCHES); drich Zwingli (1484–1531) held religious debates the Church of England (see ANGLICANISM); and Ana- before the town council of Zurich. He convinced baptist churches such as the MENNONITES and the the council that certain common practices, such AMISH. Each made its own contribution to the story as using images in worship, were unbiblical and of the Reformation. So did the Catholic reaction, should be abolished. He also convinced the coun- known as he Counter-Reformation. cil that the Catholic view of the EUCHARIST was wrong. Zwingli’s view of the Eucharist differed LUTHERAN REFORMATION from Luther’s, too. The two reformers met in 1529 The Reformation began in Germany on October but could not come to any agreement. Two years 31, 1517. On that date a university professor, Mar- later Zwingli was killed. Much more politically 376 S Reformation, Protestant active than Luther, he died helping to defend Zur- The earliest Anabaptists were inspired by uto- ich against the armies of Swiss Catholics. pian visions, that is, visions of how to create a The most infl uential leader of the Swiss Ref- perfect society on Earth. Some of them led armed ormation was actually French: John CALVIN. Hav- uprisings. In the early 1530s they took over the ing fl ed from France, Calvin eventually settled in town of Münster in Germany. When Catholics and Geneva. His own religious views emphasized the other Protestants retook the town after a siege, the overwhelming majesty of God. Calvin picked up results were disastrous. Such events managed to on Luther’s teaching that human beings cannot give the Anabaptists a very bad name. do anything to save themselves. Calvin reasoned In the early 1530s, however, a Dutch priest that since not all are saved, God must predes- named Menno Simons (1496–1561) began to teach tine some for salvation and others for damna- a different form of Anabaptism. Simons noted that tion. Something like Zwingli, Calvin saw himself it was impossible for Anabaptists to take control called to act politically as well as religiously. He of the political structures. Therefore, they should reformed the laws and educational system of withdraw from political life and practice nonvio- Geneva, attempting to make it into a Christian lence. Simons’s spiritual descendants, the Menno- commonwealth. nites and the Amish, still cherish these ideals.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND COUNTER-REFORMATION In England the Reformation was almost entirely a Once the Reformation began, it could not be political movement. When the trouble with Luther reversed. Its momentum was too great. But the fi rst broke out, King Henry VIII attacked Luther’s Catholic Church did respond. views and defended the Catholic Church. The Pope The most important element in the Catholic called him “defender of the faith.” Henry always response was the Council of Trent (see TRENT, preferred Catholic teachings and practices. But COUNCIL OF), which met from 1545 to 1563. later he wanted a divorce that the Pope would Reformers like Luther had originally called for a not grant. In response, Henry declared the English council to mediate the dispute between the Catho- church independent and got his divorce. lics and the Protestants. But only fi rm Catholics After Henry died, the Church of England expe- participated in the Council of Trent. The council rienced a stronger move to Protestantism under reaffi rmed the authority of the Catholic Church those who ruled on behalf of Edward VI, who was and maintained Catholic teachings in the face of still a child. Edward’s stepsister, Queen Mary, tried Protestant opposition. to reestablish the Catholic Church. Her cruel mea- The Society of Jesus (see JESUITS) also sures earned her the nickname “Bloody Mary.” worked vigorously for the Counter-Reformation. Under Queen Elizabeth the English church reached Baroque art was an important tool, too. Many a compromise position between Catholicism and Protestants had rejected art as idolatry. The Protestantism. Catholic Church sponsored art as a way to make itself more attractive. ANABAPTIST CHURCHES During the 1520s some Europeans thought changes SIGNIFICANCE OF THE REFORMATION were coming too slowly. Many of these people felt The Reformation was much more than just a theo- that it was wrong to baptize infants (see BAPTISM). logical dispute. It changed the face of Europe. It Only those people should be baptized who could produced a Europe that was much more divided decide for themselves that they wanted it. As a politically as well as religiously. It was an important result, they rebaptized adults who had been bap- step in the development of European nations as we tized as infants. This earned them the name Ana- know them today. It also encouraged the develop- baptists, “rebaptizers.” ment of national literatures and styles of art. relics S 377

Further reading: Madeleine Gray, The Protestant Not every religion that teaches reincarnation Reformation: Belief, Practice, and Tradition teaches the same views. The religions that arose in (Portland, Ore.: Sussex Academic Press, 2003); ancient India have very complex ideas about how Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Reformation (New York: reincarnation occurs. These religions stress the Penguin Books, 2005); Lewis W. Spitz and William operation of KARMA: The actions of this life deter- R. Kenan, eds., The Protestant Reformation: Major mine the conditions of the next one. A good person Documents (St. Louis, Mo.: Concordia Publishing will have a good rebirth, a bad person a bad rebirth. House, 1997). But each religion and school has a different way of explaining how the process works. For example, many Hindus say that an eternal, unchanging reincarnation The idea that a person is reborn ATMAN or self is reborn. Buddhists teach rebirth, when he or she dies. Reincarnation goes by many but they deny that there is any eternal, unchanging different names. Sometimes it is called “metem- atman. Some books describe in detail what hap- psychosis,” from the Greek words for “soul” and pens between death and rebirth. An ideal example “change of place.” Sometimes it is called “trans- is the Tibetan book of the dead, the BARDO THODOL. migration,” because the person is said to wander A Sanskrit scholar of some standing once taught to a new body. Sometimes people call reincarna- an editor of this encyclopedia how to recognize tion “rebirth.” Some Hindu texts actually speak of dreams and imaginings that were memories from redeath. In discussions of reincarnation, one often a previous life. He had himself identifi ed the place encounters the Sanskrit word SAMSARA. One scholar and approximate time of one of his more recent has aptly translated this word for the cycle of births lives. and deaths as the “run around.” North Americans who believe in reincarna- Jews, Christians, and Muslims do not usu- tion often fi nd the idea comforting. They see it as ally talk about reincarnation. When they talk a reprieve from the black, empty night of eternal about what happens after death—and Jews death. Peoples who believe that children are reborn tend to focus on this life—they talk about eter- ancestors basically see reincarnation as positive, nal life, a RESURRECTION of the dead, and a fi nal too. But religions originating in India often view judgment (see JUDGMENT OF THE DEAD). But many samsara as being in the end negative. The ultimate other peoples believe that persons are reborn goal of religious practice is to escape from an end- when they die. Some indigenous peoples in the less series of rebirths or reincarnations. The most Americas, Australia, the Pacifi c Ocean region, common names for this goal are moksha (“libera- and Africa have complex ideas about rebirth. tion”) and NIRVANA. For example, some believe that every child is an ancestor returning to Earth. Many ancient Greek philosophers believed in reincarnation. The most relics Objects “left over” from a holy person or famous example is the “myth of Er” at the end of SAINT. These may be body parts or personal items, Plato’s greatest work, The Republic. Many people such as clothing. whose religions began in India—Hindus, Bud- Religions that use relics insist that their dhists, Jains, and Sikhs—simply accept reincar- practitioners do not actually WORSHIP them. They nation as a fact of life. During the late 19th, 20th, venerate them and use them as aids to refl ec- and early 21st centuries some North Americans tion. They also often expect relics to heal and also believed in reincarnation. They included grant favors. people who subscribed to THEOSOPHY and Asian At times Muslims venerate relics. An example religions like HINDUISM and BUDDHISM. They also is hair from the prophet MUHAMMAD. But relics have included people in the public eye, such as the been especially important in BUDDHISM and ROMAN movie actress Shirley MacLaine. CATHOLICISM. Buddhists have built monumental 378 S religion, defi nition of

structures known as STUPAS to house relics of the to defi ne religion as those ideas and practices that BUDDHA. Similarly, the Second Council of Nicaea have to do with belief in God, gods, or spirits. Oth- (787) required ALTARS in all Christian churches to ers, however, have contended that some Eastern contain relics. examples of the sort of practices that “look like” Buddhists have tended to venerate parts of the religion, such as Confucian RITUALS or even Bud- Buddha’s cremated body. A particularly important dhist MEDITATION, do not necessarily involve the part has been the Buddha’s tooth housed in Kandy, Western concept of God. They have therefore Sri Lanka. Whoever owned it ruled the country expanded the idea to anything that gives one a Christians have venerated relics of the saints, the sense of awe, wonder, or of connectedness to the Virgin MARY, and JESUS. Christian relics were espe- universe: Friedrich Schleiermacher called it that cially common in the Middle Ages. which produces feelings of dependence on some- With the high demand for relics, unscrupu- thing greater than oneself. Rudolf OTTO saw as the lous people have traded in fakes. The pious have ground of religion a sense of a reality tremendous, also made honest mistakes. An example of the lat- yet fascinating and “wholly other”; this could be ter is the Shroud of Turin. Tradition said Jesus was the Buddhist NIRVANA as well as God. Paul Tillich buried in it. Some scientifi c tests date it to the late said religion is the state of being grasped by one’s medieval period. “ultimate concern.” Others have preferred a defi nition based more on religion’s social or ritual role. Émile DURKHEIM religion, defi nition of Explaining what religion saw religion mainly in “totems,” festivals, dances, is. Religion is one of those words people tend to and other symbols or practices that both repre- feel they know the meaning of until it comes to sented and created the unity of a tribe or society. providing a precise defi nition that covers all cases Mircea ELIADE made fundamental to religion the of what one wants to call religion, excluding every- experience of “sacred space” and “sacred time,” thing else. Then it can be surprisingly diffi cult to that is, places and occasions that are separate, defi ne—fi rst of all, because religion embraces so “nonhomogeneous,” demarcated off from the ordi- much. nary or “profane” world. He recognized, however, Religion can range from one’s innermost and that these can be interior as well as out there; the subtlest feelings to large and powerful institutions experiences of PRAYER or meditation can make for that can seem as much political as religious, to folk an inward sacred space and time even in the midst customs that appear on the borderline between of everyday life. religion and culture. Many traditional societies, in Perhaps it must be acknowledged that any fact, do not clearly distinguish between religion defi nition of religion can only be fairly complex. It and the social order or popular culture; indeed, the might be possible to start with the idea that religion religion scholar W. Cantwell Smith has argued that does, in fact, need to deal in some way with what- the notion most of us have of a religion as a sepa- ever is seen as ultimate, unconditioned reality, call rate, detachable area of human life apart from the it God, Nirvana, or even the absolutely ideal social political, economic, social, and cultural spheres is order. Then one could take into account the three a quite modern idea that would be meaningless to forms of religious expression as put forward by many people in the Middle Ages and before. the sociologist of religion, Joachim Wach. These At the same time, attempts at defi nition can are: the theoretical, that is, the beliefs and stories and have been made. Some people, especially in of a tradition having to do with ultimate reality the Christian West, from Enlightenment Deists or its manifestation in gods and revelations and (believers in GOD but not in “supernatural” reli- the like, answering to the question “What do they gion) like Thomas Jefferson and Voltaire, to the say?”; the “practical,” practices or forms of WORSHIP pioneer anthropologist E. B. Tylor, have wanted with the same object, answering to the question religion, history of S 379

“What do they do?”; and third, the sociological, Historians of religion take yet a different dealing with issues of leadership, organization, approach. They seek to understand what religious institutions, and relations with the larger society. people claim and what religions are about, partly All real religions, by this understanding, have both by talking to religious people, partly by studying an ultimate point of reference and an expression in religions historically, and partly by comparing reli- all three of these forms. If there is only the theo- gions with one another. They put the question of retical, it is philosophy rather than religion. If only religious truth to one side and consider religion practices, it is MAGIC rather than religion. If only the simply as something human beings say and do. sociological, it is a club. But put them all together (However, many historians of religion have hoped with a reference to some understanding and expe- eventually to discover religious truth as well.) His- rience of ultimate reality, that which one cannot torians of religion sometimes say that in putting go beyond in comprehending the meaning of the aside the question whether the claims of religion universe, and it is religion in the sense the word is are true, they are “bracketing” it. They borrow this used in speaking of the traditional religions, such term loosely from a fi eld in philosophy known as JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM, HINDUISM, or BUD- as phenomenology, which talks about “phenom- DHISM. While this approach may not coincide with ena”—that is, about “what appears” to the senses everyone’s personal defi nition of religion, it may and the mind—rather than about whether those be useful for looking at and distinguishing religion appearances are true. (The British-American socially or historically. scholar of religions Ninian Smart [1927–2001] once referred to this attitude as “methodological agnosticism”: Scholars are free to believe what religion, history of A way of studying religions they will, but as scholars they think as if they were that arose in Europe and North America in the agnostics.) late 19th and early 20th centuries. The name is In treating religion this way, historians of somewhat misleading. The books and articles religion generally claim that there is something that “historians” of religion wrote did not all deal called religion which is sui generis, a Latin with history. Other names sometimes used for phrase meaning “in a class by itself.” These this way of thinking about religions include the scholars mean that just as it is possible to study comparative study of religions and the phenom- society as society, literature as literature, and enology of religion, an unusual term that is dis- music as music, so it is possible to study religion cussed below. in and of itself, rather than as belonging to some other fi eld such as psychology or sociology. THE BASIC APPROACH The Rumanian-born French-American historian Most people are familiar with theology, even if of religion, Mircea Eliade (1907–86), once put they do not use that word. Theology attempts it this way: “a religious phenomenon will only to say what religious truth is, which is a topic be recognized as such if it is grasped at its own of great interest to many religious people. Other level, that is to say, if it is studied as something people try to explain how it is that people come religious. To try to grasp the essence of such a to have religions. Some, but not all, who try to phenomenon by means of physiology, psychol- do this consider religion to be false. Still other ogy, sociology, economics, linguistics, art or any people try to engage in what is known as interreli- other study is false; it misses the one unique gious dialogue, sharing their religious views with and irreducible element in it—the element of one another. They may want to learn about and the sacred” (Patterns in Comparative Religion, p. develop respect for other people, and they may xiii). A word that is often used in these discus- also hope to discover an ultimate truth that all sions is reductionism. Historians of religion reject religions share. any approach that tries to “reduce” religion to 380 S religion, history of

something that is not religion. Many people fi nd Another early scholar was Gerardus van der that this position makes sense, but many schol- Leeuw (1890–1950). He developed the phenom- ars fi nd it debatable. enology of religion, in both senses of the term. At Historians of religion are interested in any way the heart of religion he placed power, and he dis- of understanding religion that adopts this position. cussed the basic forms of religion in terms of the One way that does so is the study of history. For religious object (e.g., GOD), the religious subject, example, when and where did BUDDHISM arise? and the interaction between the two. What did the BUDDHA do? What did he teach? Who Otto and van der Leeuw were Europeans. were his followers, and how did they guide Bud- Important for the development of the history of dhism after his parinirvana (what non-Buddhists religion in the United States was a scholar named call his death)? That is all useful historical knowl- Joachim Wach (1898–1955). He sought refuge in edge. Another approach is sometimes called phe- the United States from Nazi Germany because of nomenology, and the use of that word a second his Jewish ancestry. Wach talked about religion as time makes for some confusion. This approach an expression of the experience of “ultimate real- can also be called typology, morphology, or per- ity.” That experience, he said, expresses itself in haps even just comparative study. It tries to iden- three basic forms: “theoretical,” that is, in beliefs tify what is common among religions and what is and stories; “practical,” that is, in RITUALS and ETH- unique to each. For example, what are the basic ICS; and “sociological,” in the structures of reli- patterns of SACRIFICE practiced in religions? What gious communities. are the basic kinds of MYTH? Somewhat different was Mircea Eliade, who Most historians of religion have also been has already been mentioned. He was particularly interested in psychology, sociology, and anthro- interested in the patterns according to which the pology. What they have meant by the psychology Sacred, as he called it, manifested itself in human and sociology of religion has, however, often been consciousness. Important for his thinking is the somewhat different from the kinds of psychology idea that religious people defi ne their lives by ref- and sociology taught in American high schools erence to patterns established at the creation of the and universities. world. He called these patterns “archetypes.” Ninian Smart, among his many contributions, PROMINENT HISTORIANS OF RELIGION suggested that religion had six dimensions: ritual, It is not possible to name all of the historians of mythological, doctrinal, ethical, social, and expe- religion who have made important contributions. riential. He also often talked about “worldviews” Mentioning a few prominent names may give a rather than religions. He did so because, although further idea of what this way of studying religions communism presented itself as scientifi c and anti- is about. religious, it actually had many of the same features Rudolf OTTO (1869–1937) was a Christian as religions. Protestant theologian and philosopher who pro- Eliade and Smart taught in the United States vided some basic ideas in the history of religion starting in the 1960s and 1970s. They trained many and also inspired many scholars to pursue it. He is scholars. One weakness that their students noticed best known for claiming that religion is the result in their teachers’ work was that it was too general of a unique kind of experience that human beings and superfi cial. As a result, historians of religions have. In a famous book, The Idea of the Holy, he trained since the 1960s have tended not to think in called this experience “numinous.” He said that such grand terms. Instead, they have focused on the experience of the numinous, which Jews and specifi c topics within a religious tradition, such as Christians might think of as the direct experience the stories and worship of the Hindu god GANESA of God, is totally unlike any other experience that or the practices of female shamans in Japan (see human beings have. SHAMANISM). religion, study of S 381

CRITICISM This kind of thinking includes Jewish, Christian, At the beginning of the 21st century many schol- and Islamic theologies, as well as Hindu, Buddhist, ars had expressed strong doubts about the history Jain, Confucian, and Taoist philosophies. All of of religion. They doubted whether it makes sense these movements have to some degree infl uenced to talk about religion as a single thing that exists the study of religions in North America. But the across cultures. They asked whether it makes most infl uential tradition has been that of Europe. sense to fault scholars for trying to explain reli- In Europe critical refl ection on religion arose in gious thought and behavior in terms of human ancient Greece. Ancient writers known as mythog- psychology or sociology, and whether this pro- raphers compiled myths and legends. Geographers hibition is not opposed to the ideals of scholarly and travelers described the religions of the people work. Furthermore, they have accused Otto, van they visited. Above all, Greek and Roman philoso- der Leeuw, Wach, and Eliade of presenting Jew- phers like Xenophanes, Euhemerus, Lucretius, and ish and Christian ideas as if they were found in all Cicero strongly criticized the gods of mythology, religions everywhere. without necessarily denying some higher GOD or These criticisms raise important questions. At force altogether. the same time, events in the early 21st century In the fourth century C.E. CHRISTIANITY became such as the September 11, 2001, attacks, point the offi cial religion of the Roman Empire. For more out just how important it is for people to know than a thousand years it defi ned the setting with about the world’s religions. Work by historians of which Europeans studied religions. Theologians religion who study specifi c religions and religious worked out Christian teachings in great detail. They topics can play a crucial role in providing that also took up topics in the philosophy of religion. knowledge. For example, they tried to prove that God exists (see GOD, THE EXISTENCE OF). But despite some rich Further reading: Mircea Eliade, Patterns in cultural exchanges among Jews, Christians, and Comparative Religion (Lincoln: University Muslims, knowledge of other religions generally of Nebraska Press, 1996); Charles H. Long, remained marked by profound antagonism. Signifi cations: Signs, Symbols, and Images in In the 17th and 18th centuries the movement the Interpretation of Religion (Aurora, Colo.: known as the Enlightenment gave rise to a search Davies Group, 1999); Russell T. McCutcheon, for “natural religion.” “Natural religion” meant the Manufacturing Religion: The Discourse on Sui few propositions that all religions were (falsely) Generis Religion and the Politics of Nostalgia (New thought to share: belief in God, in the soul, and in York: Oxford University Press, 1997); Ninian rewards and punishments after death. At the same Smart, Worldviews: Crosscultural Explorations of time, the growth of European colonialism meant Human Beliefs, 3d ed. (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: that Europeans became more aware of the outside Prentice Hall, 2000); Jonathan Z. Smith, Map Is world and scholars had more material at their dis- Not Territory: Studies in the History of Religions posal. At this time, too, thinkers like David Hume (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993). began to write accounts of religious history that diverged from the story found in the BIBLE. During the 19th century historical approaches religion, study of Careful refl ection, writing, to religions, including Christianity, fl ourished. and speaking about religions, generally within the At times the tension with orthodox theologians context of an educational institution. was severe. By the end of the century people had begun to study religions comparatively and as HISTORY facets of human society, personality, and culture. For centuries thinkers have carefully formulated During the 20th century these approaches to reli- and elaborated the teachings of their own religions. gion—humanistic, sociological, psychological, and 382 S religion, study of

anthropological—fl ourished. In addition, the old It may also make it diffi cult to recognize the dis- attitude of missionary conquest gave way. Many tinctive characteristics of other religions. theologians became interested in learning about In the course of the 20th century, represen- others, not converting them. A preferred method tatives of many religions have come together for was interreligious DIALOGUE. By the beginning of the interreligious dialogue. The goal of this enterprise 21st century, many scholars had begun to explore is not to convince others of one’s own religious the roots of religion in the human brain (see BRAIN, truth. It is to listen to another person in order to MIND, AND RELIGION). learn about that person’s beliefs and practices. Advocates say that if dialogue is to work, all partic- WAYS TO STUDY RELIGIONS ipants must share their beliefs and practices openly It is possible to study religions in several ways: and honestly. By the beginning of the 21st century, from within a religious tradition, from a perspec- however, strong movements often known as FUNDA- tive that treats all religions equally and on their MENTALISM were reasserting traditional teachings of own terms, and from a perspective that analyzes such religions as Christianity, HINDUISM, and Islam, religion as a part of society or the human personal- often from an exclusionist position. ity. One may call these three standpoints theologi- cal, humanistic, and social scientifi c approaches to Humanistic the study of religions, respectively. In contrast to THEOLOGY, which openly adopts a specifi c religious perspective, the humanistic study Theological of religions tries to take each religion on its own JUDAISM, Christianity, and ISLAM have traditionally terms. Some have suggested that this approach claimed that they have grasped religious truth bet- requires a stance of “methodological agnosticism.” ter than other religions. Indeed, they have at times That is, for the purposes of study, one refuses to claimed to be the sole source of religious benefi t. make a judgment about the truth of various reli- A standard Christian formula runs, Extra eccle- gions. This approach has taken two major forms: sia nulla salus, “there is no SALVATION outside the historical studies and comparative studies. church.” Furthermore, Christians have seen Chris- Conceived narrowly, the historical study of tianity as the true continuation of ancient Judaism. religions studies how religions change over time. Muslims have seen Islam as the culmination of More broadly, this approach studies a religion or Judaism and Christianity. These religions certainly one of its elements. Examples would be books have a right to their claims to truth. But when about specifi c features of HINDUISM, Buddhism, or other religions are seen as threatening or mistaken, Christianity. In the last half of the 20th century his- the typical approach to them is “heresiology” and torians were especially interested fi rst in religious “apologetics.” That is, it becomes common to list symbols and meanings, then in the ways religions the errors of other religions and defend the truth exercised or undercut power and domination. of one’s own. The danger, too often realized, is In the late 19th century the goal of the com- misrepresentation, distortion, and ill-will. parative study of religions was to rank religions In China and Japan it has been traditional for from the crudest to the most advanced. During people to practice more than one religion. In such the 20th century, scholars generally rejected this an environment, one religion may suggest that it is approach. Throughout much of the century they a more perfect statement of another religion. Japa- studied what religions shared. For example, Rudolf nese BUDDHISM and SHINTO have made this claim OTTO described how human beings experienced about each other. Many Hindus—and others as the sacred. Mircea ELIADE tried to identify the fun- well—have taken a different approach. They have damental patterns by which the sacred showed seen all religions as different paths to the same itself to human beings. During the last quarter of goal. This viewpoint is certainly well-intentioned. the 20th century scholars became less interested in religion, theories of origin of S 383

what religions shared and more interested in how religion, theories of origin of For many people, they differed. the origin of religion (see RELIGION, DEFINITION OF), or at least of their own religion, is obvious. It began Social-scientifi c with the special revelation of divine truth to the Some social scientists have been very critical of founders of the religion (see FOUNDERS, RELIGIOUS), religion. For example, the psychologist Sigmund or with a special experience of enlightenment, FREUD thought religion was a psychological illu- such as that of the BUDDHA (see RELIGIOUS EXPERI- sion. Sociologists infl uenced by Karl MARX have ENCE). Others, however, have sought to understand seen religion as a force by which those with wealth religion in more natural ways (see RELIGION, STUDY and power dominate the poor and powerless. OF). Even some who accept the basic truth of reli- Other theorists have seen the contributions gion may acknowledge that human beings came of religion more positively. The psychologist Carl to the realization of those truths through slow and Gustav JUNG thought religion was a powerful force natural historical processes. Still others may per- leading to an integrated personality. The sociologist ceive a combination of natural development and Émile DURKHEIM thought religion reinforced society’s special revelation in the origin and progress of most important values and thus helped it function. faith from the fi rst humans to the present. There The anthropologist Claude LÉVI-STRAUSS thought are also those who consider all religion to be a myths embodied fundamental codes (see MYTH AND human invention. MYTHOLOGY). These codes defi ned how the people who told the myths conceived of the world. THEORIES FROM ANCIENT TIMES In the United States there has been a strong TO THE ENLIGHTENMENT emphasis on studying religions “empirically.” Such theories of the origin of religion go back to This kind of study carefully constructs hypothe- ancient times. Prodicus of Ceos (fi fth century B.C.E.) ses and then tries to test them. Those who follow and Euhemerus (c. 330–260 B.C.E.) argued that the this approach gather data through such means as gods were really heroic humans who were later questionnaires and surveys. Then they analyze the considered divine; this doctrine is called euhemer- data with the help of statistics. At the beginning ism. Critias (fi fth century B.C.E.) said, like many of the 21st century, two approaches in particular later skeptics, that religion was devised to frighten attracted social scientists in North America: an people into morality. Plato (427–347 B.C.E.) thought economic study of religious groups and a neuro- that religion, or at least religious myth, could be scientifi c study of religious experiences and ideas a “noble lie” used to promote morality and good (see BRAIN, MIND, AND RELIGION). social order. In China at about the same time, Hsun Tzu (c. 300–228 B.C.E.) taught that Confucian reli- CONCLUSION gious rites (see CONFUCIANISM) were not really for There is probably no single best way to study reli- the sake of dubious gods but were performed as gion. People have different questions about reli- models of the social order and of “safe” ways of gion that they want answered. The approach that expressing emotion. they take depends at least in part upon the ques- By and large, though, the ancient and medi- tions that they have. eval worlds accepted religion as based on divine revelation and authentic human experience, to Further reading: Peter Connolly, ed., Approaches be received by faith and interpreted by reason. In to the Study of Religion (London: Cassell, 1999); modern times, beginning with the 18th-century William E. Paden, Interpreting the Sacred: Ways Enlightenment, alternative naturalistic views again of Viewing Religion (Boston: Beacon Press, 2003); arose. Philosophers such as Voltaire (1694–1778), Daniel L. Pals, Seven Theories of Religion (New while not entirely denying the existence of reli- York: Oxford University Press, 1996). gious reality, regarded most of the superstructure 384 S religion, theories of origin of

of religion—its churches, RITUAL, and doctrine (see ers. In the perfect society to come, religion would DOGMA AND DOCTRINE)—as superstition, probably not be necessary. crafted by PRIESTS to keep the masses subservient. Early-20th-century views of religion tended to emphasize social and psychological factors. Émile THE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURIES DURKHEIM (1858–1917) pointed to the societal ori- In the 19th century, theories about religion gins of religion in the “social effervescence” of a abounded, now aided by far more actual anthropo- tribe or group in dance and festival. The father logical fi eldwork than previously. The great pioneer of psychoanalysis, Sigmund FREUD (1856–1939), anthropologist Edward B. Tylor (1832–1917) theo- viewed religion as the relic of an unspeakable pri- rized that religion started in ANIMISM, or belief in the mal crime for which religion atones: the primal SOUL separable from the body. He thought this con- patricide, or killing of a father by his sons. Freud- cept must have been fi rst suggested by the experi- ianism tends to see all of religion as a “projection” ence of dreams, in which the sleeper apparently of childhood experiences: all-powerful parents left the body to travel to far places where he or she made into gods, childish guilt needing punishment could meet souls of the deceased. It was no great and wanting expiation, desire for “magical” ways extrapolation to develop a doctrine of the AFTERLIFE to deal with intractable life situations. from animism. Souls could be found in other enti- A disciple of Freud who later broke with him, ties as well, in animals or the moving wind and C. G. JUNG (1875–1961) viewed religion as stem- sun, which could be made into gods. This further ming from the almost infi nite world of the uncon- step led to POLYTHEISM (belief in many gods) and scious, whose nameless but powerful currents fi nally to MONOTHEISM (belief in one GOD). could be named and crystallized by means of However, Andrew Lang (1844–1912), a dis- “archetypes,” fi gures familiar from MYTH and reli- tinguished Scottish folklorist, was disturbed by gion. These include the Great Mother (ISIS, KALI, reports that, contrary to animist theory, some MARY), the Wise Old Man (ZEUS, God the Father), undeveloped peoples nonetheless believed in a the Hero, the Divine Maiden, and the Shadow quasi-monotheistic “high god.” He proposed a pri- (SATAN, Mara). mal monotheism whose deity was the creator and Other thinkers, more strictly in the history fi rst lawgiver. of religion tradition, looked for the origin of reli- On the other hand, R. R. Marett (1866–1943), gion in a single psychological capacity. For G. van an English anthropologist, traced religion back der Leeuw (1890–1950) religion was the quest past animism to a pre-animist state of “anima- for power. For the infl uential Rudolf Otto (1869– tism,” sheer divine energy known by such names 1937), it was the sense of the “numinous,” that as mana or wakan. Sir James Frazer (1854–1941), which is “wholly other” to humans and is both in his much-cited The Golden Bough, put magic in terrifying and fascinating. Mircea ELIADE (1907–86) fi rst place, saying religion began with sorcery and made basic the experience of the Sacred, which only gradually conceived of gods. can be thought of in terms of the special feeling Also in the 19th century, but adopting a differ- a believer has in a great cathedral, temple, or any ent perspective, Karl MARX (1818–83) put religion place long hallowed by belief in the presence of a in the context of his fundamentally economic con- god or in a time of religious festivity. The Sacred is cept of the evolution of human society. In the feu- set against the Profane or ordinary world, and reli- dal and capitalist stages of society, which depended gion involves the interaction of these two realms of on the exploitation of one class by another, religion human experience. provided sanctions and explanations for injustice, offered emotional release for the exploited (through RECENT THOUGHT devotion to gods and expectation of reward after More recent thought has tended away from seeking death), and salved the consciences of the exploit- the origin of religion in any single key experience religious experience S 385

or idea and more toward seeing it as just a part of ability to act for the benefi t of others in a commu- human culture generally. Religion’s development nity even to the point of self-sacrifi ce, had survival goes along with the emergence of memory, lan- value for early humans and therefore was sanc- guage, art, and story. Certain features of religion tioned by religious myths and symbols. clearly have roots extending far back to early human In the end, though, it is important to realize ancestors: ritual behavior, and by some reports the that human religion is a complex thing. Probably ability to express awe in a particularly “numinous” all that now goes under the name of religion does place. But such attitudes could not become fully not have a single common origin, and no one the- religious until the awakening of what the Nobel ory explains it all. Prize winner Gerald Edelman (Bright Air, Brilliant Further reading: Paul A. Erickson, A History of Fire, 1994) has called higher-order consciousness, Anthropological Theory (Peterborough, Ont.: Broad- which includes the notion of a personal self, an view, 2003); David Lewis-Williams, The Mind in ability to imagine long-term past or future possi- the Cave (New York: Thames & Hudson, 2004); bilities, and a view of the self as an actor with Eric Sharpe, Comparative Religion: A History various possible choices. Edelman argues that this (LaSalle, Ill.: Open Court, 1986); Edward O. kind of consciousness appeared with Homo sapi- Wilson, Sociobiology (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard ens, the kind of human we are, who emerged per- University Press, 1975). haps 50,000–100,000 years ago. Among the early expressions of this distinctive human self-aware- ness may have been the famous cave art. David Lewis-Williams (The Mind in the Cave, religious experience Feelings, often intense, 2002) linked cave art, SHAMANISM, and religion in that are associated with a sense of religious aware- an interesting way. He says that Homo sapiens ness and interpreted religiously. They are various may fi rst have entered the new higher-order con- in type. The term mystical experience is often sciousness using drumming, rhythmic actions, used for profound, peaceful, timeless states that and intense concentration to induce trances in are thought to be experiences of oneness, of unity which they might recall memories, dream, and with the divine without separation. They may, as see VISIONS—and possibilities—outside the pres- in BUDDHISM or VEDANTA Hinduism, be considered ent. These practices are all characteristic of sha- to be realizations of the impersonal divine essence manism, which Lewis-Williams, among others, that is already within; or, as in religions with a suggests was the fi rst form of what is now called personal GOD, such as CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM, or human religion (see PREHISTORIC RELIGION). BHAKTI Hinduism, occasions of drawing very close Shamans were adepts of the new kind of con- to God in love, so that the two become one in sciousness. Art, including cave art, was, in Lewis- the way that two lovers might. PRAYER can produce Williams’s view, a way of recording what they a rich sense of communication with God but not saw, as it were to keep the visions alive. That was oneness in the mystical sense. Even guilt can be a undoubtedly also the purpose of early religious religious experience, less pleasant perhaps, of sin- practices like dancing, telling stories that became fulness and the way it separates one from God; it myths, and making special sacred places. Religion, can lead to amendment through confession, pen- in this view, began as a kind of expanded lan- ance, and a change in one’s way of life. Intellec- guage to convey a new human consciousness. At tual religious experience can be a mainly mental the same time, religion would also have acquired realization of a religious truth, perhaps stimulated social functions, giving communities symbols of by sermon, lecture, or reading, accompanied by their cohesion and enforcing moral norms. the exaltation one feels at such understanding in Another recent theory is that of sociobiologists an important matter. Aesthetic religious experi- like Edward Wilson. They argue that altruism, the ence is the feeling of being deeply moved that one 386 S restoration movement

may have from religious music, art, or poetry; it other may interpret it as a sense of the presence is not in itself unity with God, though it can lead of God, based on prior beliefs about God and how to that and in any case have a signifi cant impact and where he may be felt. Only the second would, one one’s life. Conversion experiences are those strictly speaking, be a religious experience. For of any nature, though often highly emotional, that religious beliefs can induce religious experience, produce a major change in one’s religious outlook but they also are what interprets experience as and commitment. religious. At the same time, religion without expe- A sense of divine guidance, though perhaps rience would be a paltry thing and probably not not always intensely felt, can be regarded as expe- long endure. riential religion, especially when it occurs at criti- cal moments in one’s life. So is an overall steady sense of divine presence. Experiences of the pres- restoration movement A movement in the early ence of religious entities, less than the Ultimate, 1800s among Protestants in the United States that such as ANGELS or SAINTS, may also be religious led to the formation of the Christian Church (Dis- experiences, for they partake in the sacred world ciples of Christ), the Christian Churches/Churches and such beings certainly share in the divine of Christ, and similar churches. It is sometimes power. Visionary experiences, which appear to be called the “Stone-Campbell movement” after the given to some people, are religious experiences last names of its instigators, Barton W. Stone and presented before the eyes, and perhaps also the Thomas Campbell. ears if one hears sacred or divine voices. Usu- Barton Stone was a Presbyterian minister who ally they are accompanied by strong feelings of sponsored the Cane Ridge Revival in Cane Ridge, wonder and awe as well. (Terrifying visions from Kentucky (1801). Afterward, he became convinced within the religious world view, as of demonic that Christians should abandon the CREEDS that fi gures or the fi res of HELL, are also possible and they had formulated and follow only the BIBLE as may have a strong admonitory effect.) Miracles, authoritative. He and a small number of fellow whether “psychic” phenomena like telepathy or ministers who shared his ideas formed what they clairvoyance (seeing things far away) or precogni- called the Springfi eld Presbytery. In 1809, how- tion (seeing the future), or physical miracles like ever, they dissolved the Presbytery and issued a healings or the biblical walking on water, are often document titled “The Last Will and Testament of regarded as divine gifts. They can evoke a sense of the Springfi eld Presbytery.” It is an important mile- wonder and gratitude, which certainly is religious stone in the history of the restoration movement. experience as well as is the confi rmation of divine From that point on, Stone and his associates called reality. (They are also, however, sometimes taken themselves “Christians.” They saw themselves as to be deceptive lures of the devil.) Most religions in unity with all Christians everywhere. would insist that a truly authentic religious experi- Thomas Campbell had come to the United ence, in contrast to one that is deceptively induced States from Scotland and served as a Presbyterian by psychological factors or the wiles of demonic minister in western Pennsylvania. Like Stone, he forces, must result in both true belief and a moral rejected all creeds. In 1808 he and like-minded and godly way of life. followers founded the Christian Association of It must fi nally be noted that religious experi- Washington, Pennsylvania. It took as its motto, ence is an interpretive category, not necessarily one “Where the scriptures speak, we speak; where the built into the experience itself. Two people may Scriptures are silent, we are silent.” At fi rst Camp- have very similar experiences of rapture and joy bell aligned himself with Baptists in the area, but while walking in the woods. One may interpret it eventually differences forced them to separate. In in a quite natural way, as a psychological response 1830 he and his fellow believers became known as to the beauty and peace of the surroundings. The Disciples. resurrection S 387

Stone, Campbell, and their associates met in resurrection The notion that the bodies of the Lexington, Kentucky, in 1832. They determined dead will rise and regain life. This notion is found that they agreed on basic teachings and decided to especially in CHRISTIANITY and ISLAM but also in unite. From that date the Christian Churches and JUDAISM. Of the three, only Christianity teaches the Disciples of Christ formed a “brotherhood.” that resurrection has already happened once in the Because their ultimate goal was to restore the person of JESUS. original unity of the Christian church, the name The idea of resurrection does not fi gure prom- restoration movement arose. Today many scholars inently in the Hebrew BIBLE (Old Testament). In within the tradition do not like this name. In ret- fact, it appears only in the very late book of DAN- rospect, it seems to refl ect views about Christian IEL. It is anticipated in EZEKIEL’s VISION of dry bones unity that were unrealistic. coming together again (Ezekiel 37:1–14), but this Despite the hopes for unity, the development vision foresees not a resurrection of the dead but a of the movement was largely characterized by divi- change in fortune for the nation of Israel. For the sion. Very conservative churches accepted Camp- most part the Hebrew Bible envisions a dry, dreary bell’s dictum of speaking only when the Bible existence for the dead in a place it calls “Sheol.” spoke and rejected the use of instruments in wor- In the so-called intertestamental period ship. They offi cially separated themselves from the (roughly 200–1 B.C.E.) the notion that the dead other churches in 1906 as the Churches of Christ would be raised at the end of time seems to have (Non-instrumental). These churches have since become fairly common among Jews (see 2 Macca- divided into smaller units over issues such as the bees 7.14, 12.43; 4 Ezra 2:23). It became so possibly use of a common cup in communion (see EUCHA- under the infl uence of the Persians, who liberated RIST) and the holding of Sunday School. With the the Jews from captivity in Babylon. From them it rise of the CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT Churches of Christ passed into Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. with a Pentecostal orientation arose from this tra- Within Judaism the notion of resurrection dition (see PENTECOSTALISM). They sometimes allow appears, for example, in Maimonides’s famous the use of music. summary of Jewish teaching known as the “Yig- Another split came in the 1930s. Some mem- dal,” a poetic version of which is often used in ber churches favored the so-called higher criti- SYNAGOGUE services. While affi rming the resurrec- cism of the Bible and a more unifi ed church struc- tion of the dead, however, traditional Judaism has ture. Others opposed that criticism and favored focused on sanctifying this life, not anticipating a a looser church structure. The two groups split. future one. The Reform movement, infl uenced by Those who favored a looser structure call them- the European intellectual movement known as the selves Churches of Christ and Christian Churches. Enlightenment, has been reluctant to affi rm that They tend to be found among rural churches in the dead will be raised. It prefers to speak instead the Midwest. The others eventually constituted of “eternal life,” a phrase that can be interpreted in themselves as the Christian Church (Disciples various ways. of Christ) in 1968. Disciples tend to be found The resurrection of the dead is much more among urban, northern churches. They also tend important within Christianity and Islam. It fi gures to emphasize issues such as diversity and social in the notion of a fi nal judgment that both reli- justice. gions share. In addition, Islam as well as Christian- At the beginning of the 21st century, the ity connects the resurrection of the dead with the Churches of Christ (Non-instrumental) had roughly return of Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 15, PAUL develops 1,500,000 members in the United States, the a particularly detailed scenario for the resurrec- Churches of Christ and Christian Churches about tion. He teaches that at the sound of the last trum- 1,072,000 members, and the Christian Church pet, the dead, along with those still living, will (Disciples of Christ) about 805,000 members. assume a spiritual, imperishable body, in contrast 388 S Revelation, book of

to the physical, mortal bodies that they had in life. Many examples of apocalyptic literature are The QUR’AN teaches that those who are found righ- “pseudonymous.” That means that although they teous at the fi nal judgment will enter the gardens were written more recently, they were attributed to of paradise, whereas those who are not righteous a famous person of the past: ADAM, Enoch, ABRA- will suffer torment. HAM, MOSES. Even the biblical book of DANIEL is Muslims believe that Jesus did not die. There- pseudonymous. The book of Revelation is unusual fore, he was not raised from the dead; he was in that it reveals the name of its actual author: taken up into HEAVEN without dying, as Enoch and John, imprisoned on the island of Patmos. It is not ELIJAH were. But Christians believe that the fi nal clear how this John relates to John the APOSTLE of resurrection of the dead has been foreshadowed in JESUS, to the GOSPEL of John, or to the letters of the resurrection of Jesus. Indeed, the resurrection John in the New Testament. of Jesus is the pivotal event on which all of Chris- In the fi rst three chapters, John addresses seven tianity rests. Among other things, it provides the churches in what is now Turkey. He encourages concept that even in this world religious life means them to be faithful in the practice of Christianity. dying to SIN and rising to new life. The other 19 chapters contain visions of heaven It is impossible to establish Jesus’ resurrection and heavenly events. These visions are equal to as an historical event. As a matter of principle, aca- any science fi ction fantasy. They use many images demic history knows no way to establish the occur- from the Hebrew BIBLE. For example, the “four liv- rence of MIRACLES. The earliest Christians appealed ing creatures” with different faces (4.6–8) closely to two types of evidence in proclaiming the resur- resemble creatures described in ISAIAH (6.1–3) and rection of Jesus. The fi rst comprises reports of fi nd- EZEKIEL (1.5–11). The visions are organized accord- ing Jesus’ tomb empty. The second comprises the ing to series of sevens: seven seals (6.1), seven testimony of those who claimed to have seen the trumpets (8.6), seven plagues (15.1). Mixed in risen Jesus, for example, PETER, James, and Paul with these “sevens” are visions of a woman and (see 1 Corinthians 15.5–8). After dating the writ- beasts. At the climax of the book, the armies of ings of the New Testament and carefully assessing CHRIST defeat the forces of SATAN. When that hap- what was proclaimed at different periods, some pens, a new heaven, new Earth, and new JERUSA- scholars have come to the conclusion that the earli- LEM replace the world that now is. est Christians testifi ed to Jesus’ resurrection on the Christians have discussed the meaning of these basis of encounters with the risen Jesus alone. visions for centuries. Many images clearly allude to the city of Rome and its empire (for example, 17.9 and 18). Modern scholars see the book as comfort- Revelation, book of Also called the Apoca- ing early Christians at a time of severe persecution lypse; the last book of the NEW TESTAMENT. The by Roman authorities. Many think that the book book of Revelation belongs to a kind of writing was written during the persecution by Emperor known as APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE. This kind of writ- Domitian (ruled, 81–96 C.E.). Some favor an ear- ing was especially common in late Second Temple lier persecution under Nero (ruled, 54–68 C.E.). JUDAISM (roughly 200 B.C.E.–70 C.E.), early CHRIS- The letters of Nero’s name add up to the famous TIANITY, and ancient GNOSTICISM. Apocalyptic lit- sum 666, associated with the idea of Satan or evil erature communicates hidden knowledge. Writers (13.18). (In ancient Greek the same symbols were receive this knowledge in one of two ways. Either used for letters and for numbers.) they have VISIONS or they make a journey to the Some suggest a practical reason for the elabo- HEAVENS. Apocalyptic literature generally sees the rate symbolism of the book: It helped the author world as a battle between warring forces, good and and readers avoid being detected by the empire. The EVIL. It provides hope that the forces of evil will be visions are also appropriate to the author’s goal of defeated in the near future. encouraging the persecuted. They tell in wondrously revivalism S 389

graphic terms that what the churches experience is The intensity and fervor with which the Puritans not the ultimate reality. In the end, their tormentors had once pursued their faith had diminished. They will be defeated by much greater forces. had been forced to take various measures, such as Throughout history Christians have tried to the “half-way COVENANT,” to keep family members read Revelation in terms of the events of their own in the church who could not testify to personal time. Some still do. In the last half of the 20th and experiences of conversion. beginning of the 21st centuries some Christians in In this context, an itinerant (wandering) the United States saw political enemies such as preacher from England, George Whitefi eld (1714– Muammer El-Qaddafi of Libya, Saddam Hussein 70), toured the colonies, drawing large crowds and of Iraq, Osama bin Laden, the Soviet Union, and instilling religious excitement. Local preachers, even such an apparent friend of the United States such as Jonathan Edwards (1703–58), also con- as Mikhail Gorbachev as the fi gures behind the tributed to the movement. The Great Awakening book’s symbols. Many also expected the “millen- was part of a broader movement in European Prot- nium,” a thousand-year period in which Jesus will estantism that emphasized “heart-felt” religion. It reign with the martyrs (20.1–6). produced METHODISM in England and America and These interpretations may strike some as a movement known as Pietism in the Protestant unfounded and even bizarre. For those who culti- regions of the European continent. vate them, however, they defi ne the shape of con- The enthusiasm of the Great Awakening temporary history. eventually died down, but a succession of other movements followed. The Second Great Awaken- ing began shortly after the United States achieved revivalism A form of religious practice typical independence. It addressed the situation of people of PROTESTANTISM in the United States. Characteris- living on the frontier, far away from urban life and tics of revivalism include an emphasis on powerful any established churches. Wandering preachers religious emotions; large, infrequent meetings led visited these people from time to time and held by visiting ministers rather than ministers residing “camp meetings.” These meetings were enthusias- where the meetings are held; and an emphasis on tic affairs with catchy songs, bodily gestures such conversion, rededicating oneself to moral behav- as clapping, and an emphasis on accepting JESUS ior, and sometimes healing. and joining the church. Religions often experience movements of Successive waves of revivalism adapted their renewal and revitalization. Examples include HIN- techniques and messages to the changing situa- DUISM in the mid-19th century, BUDDHISM at the end tion of the American population. In the 1830s of the 19th century, and ISLAM toward the end of Charles G. Finney and other revivalists dealt with the 20th century. In ROMAN CATHOLICISM a period of urgent moral issues of the day, such as slavery increased religious excitement often follows spe- and women’s rights. A revival in the late 1850s cial occurrences such as Marian apparitions (see also helped people in cities deal with strain caused MARY, APPARITIONS OF). Among people in Melanesia, by a fi nancial crash. In the decades around and millenarian movements such as CARGO CULTS can after 1900 revivalists such as Dwight L. Moody count as revival movements (see OCEANIC RELIGIONS and Billy Sunday adapted emerging techniques of and MILLENARIANISM). business and advertising for spreading the mes- Protestantism in the United States has a long sage of Christianity in a revival setting. In the tradition of renewal movements in the form of years after the Second World War, Billy Graham’s revivalism. This tradition extends back to the First crusades, as his revivals were called, presented Great Awakening before independence. revivalism in a form that respectable, middle-class By the fi rst half of the 18th century, American Americans could appreciate. A couple of decades Protestantism had come to seem stale and routine. later, televangelists adapted revival forms to the 390 S rites of passage

possibilities of communication created by televi- People sometimes look upon these transitions sion (see TELEVANGELISM). with anxiety. Therefore, rites of passage are some- Because of their emphasis on moral rededi- times called “life-crisis rituals.” Rites of passage cation, revivals have fostered a kind of Christian routinely occur at birth, puberty, marriage, and activism. The camp meetings of the Second Great death. Almost every religion has rites of passage Awakening sowed the seeds of the temperance for these occasions, although there may be some (no-alcohol) and women’s suffrage (right to vote) exceptions. For example, Protestants who use BAP- movements. They also fostered abolitionism. By TISM as a puberty rite may not observe religious rit- the beginning of the 20th century, however, the uals in conjunction with birth. In North America, moral activism of revivals had become largely however, the broader society provides rituals for associated with a conservative emphasis on tradi- marking the occasion. These include baby show- tion. Moody and other revivalists at the time were ers, sending out birth announcements, in earlier instrumental in the rise of Christian FUNDAMENTAL- days passing out cigars, and perhaps a welcome- ISM (see FUNDAMENTALISM, CHRISTIAN). Billy Graham’s home party. crusades promoted a moderate conservatism, but Rites of passage mark biological changes and the revivalism of the 1980s and beyond, in the developments: birth, physical maturity, and death. era of Ronald Reagan, Newt Gingrich, and others, But they do not take place only on the day of one’s became militantly antiliberal. birth or death. That is because the stages and tran- Revivalism remains a factor on the religious sitions marked by rites of passage are just as much scene of the United States. Many local Protestant social and cultural. Indeed, in the minds of the par- churches hold periodic revivals as a means of ticipants, social and cultural changes may be the regenerating enthusiasm in their members. Those most prominent. For example, Protestants who bap- who cannot or choose not to attend revivals now tize at an age of accountability might be shocked have ready access to them on religiously oriented to hear baptism described as a “puberty rite.” For television stations. In the late 1990s a revival move- them physical maturation has little or nothing to do ment known as the Promise Keepers addressed with the ritual. The biological terms remain, how- what it saw as the deteriorating situation of the ever, the most convenient ones to use. American family by appealing specifi cally to men. There are many important birth rituals. Some At its large, men-only meetings held in sports sta- Christians baptize infants and anoint them with diums, participants dedicated themselves not only oil. Jews circumcise boys on the eighth day after to being better husbands and fathers but also to birth as a sign of their covenant with God (see CIR- reclaiming their biblical roles as head and fi nal CUMCISION). Muslims circumcise, too. Traditional authority in the family. high-caste Hindus have an elaborate series of ritu- als focused on male children. It extends from the conception of the child to the child’s fi rst haircut rites of passage RITUALS that take place at at the age of three. Many societies require mothers important junctures in a person’s life. A Belgian and newborn children to observe a period of seclu- anthropologist named Arnold van Gennep identi- sion immediately after birth. fi ed rites of passage for the fi rst time in 1909. They Puberty rituals are often called INITIATIONS. As are one of the most important kinds of rituals. They already noted, some Christians practice baptism defi ne the different stages through which human as a puberty ritual; others practice confi rmation. life proceeds, such as childhood, adulthood, and In JUDAISM the standard puberty ritual is bar mitz- parenthood. They also transfer a person from one vah for boys and, in more liberal congregations, stage to another. For example, the rite of marriage bat mitzvah for girls (see BAR/BAT MITZVAH). In some transforms two single people into a married couple Buddhist countries boys take the initial vows of a (see MARRIAGE AND RELIGION). monk for a short time. It is part of their growing rites of passage S 391

up as adult members of the Buddhist community. very traditional settings, the father giving the bride According to tradition, highcaste Hindu boys went away. (What does it say about the relative impor- through a prolonged period of religious study in tance of this ritual for men and women that the conjunction with maturing intellectually and spiri- entrance of the groom is not so elaborate?) tually. In the best known rite, a boy between the The liminal rites—the rites at, say, the ALTAR— ages of eight and 12 was “invested with” or given mark the transformation in any number of ways. a sacred thread to wear draped over his left shoul- The bride and groom usually make vows. They der. In traditional HINDUISM, it became common often exchange rings. They may receive special for girls to be married before menstruation. As a blessings. In the last half of the 20th century many result, the wedding was their puberty ritual. couples created rituals of transformation that had Funeral practices are equally varied. Jews and special meaning to them. Many others adopted Muslims bury the dead in a simple wooden cas- innovations that they saw at the weddings of rela- ket and white shroud. Hindus bury especially holy tives and friends. people, but they cremate most corpses and deposit A number of post-liminal rites incorporate the the ashes in water, such as in the sacred river GAN- new married couple into the community. These GES. Parsees have traditionally washed the corpse may include a line in which the newly married and then solemnly exposed it so that birds of prey couple greets all the guests, photographs of the could devour the fl esh. The above examples sim- couple taken in that special period just after the ply talk about what to do with the corpse. They do ceremony, eating and drinking together, throwing not begin to note the rituals associated with the the bouquet and the garter, and dancing. It is also process. customary in North America for the newly married Van Gennep proposed a scheme that is help- couple to observe a period of seclusion. It is called ful in understanding rites of passage. He identi- a honeymoon. fi ed three clusters of rituals: “liminal” rites, that is, More recent scholars have added to our under- rituals that take place at the boundary (cf. limen, standing of rites of passage. A psychologist has Latin for threshold) between two stages of life; noted that the ordeals that are sometimes associ- “pre-liminal” rites, rituals that occur before that ated with puberty rituals help make these rituals time; and “post-liminal” rites, those that occur seem more special afterward. The anthropologist afterward. Each set of rites has distinct purposes: Victor Turner found the concept of the liminal or Pre-liminal rites separate the person concerned “liminality” useful in many other settings as well. from the old state of life; liminal rites bring about In many parts of the world today, people have a change; post-liminal rites integrate the changed been abandoning traditional rites of passage. But person into the community and restructure it. as a class, rites of passage remain important. They A “typical” North American wedding (shaped mark special occasions, such as graduations. They a great deal by PROTESTANTISM) illustrates each of make people members of special societies, such these stages. Before the wedding, various actions as sororities and fraternities. By the beginning of separate the bride and groom from their previous the 21st century, some women in North America state: announcing the engagement in the newspa- had developed rites of passage to celebrate other per, the gift of an engagement ring, wedding show- important moments in their lives, such as the ers for the prospective bride, a bachelors’ party for onset of menopause. Indeed, the phrase “rites of the prospective groom. The wedding itself is held passage” is an example of a scholarly term that has in a special, ritual space that functions as a thresh- passed into popular or general use. old: a church or chapel, a garden or a place of special signifi cance to the persons being married. Further reading: Jean Holm and John Bowker, The rituals by which the bride enters this space eds., Rites of Passage (New York: St. Martin’s Press, also mark separation: a grand procession and, in 1994); Ronald L. Grimes, Deeply into the Bone: 392 S ritual

Re-inventing Rites of Passage (Berkeley: University their experiences there to be different from those of California Press, 2000); Victor Turner, The Ritual in daily life. They can expect to be in close touch Process: Structure and Anti-Structure (New York: with the divine, because the time and place are Aldine de Gruyter, 1995); Arnold van Gennep, The particularly open or “transparent” to the sacred. Rites of Passage (Chicago: University of Chicago Second, the time and place usually also hark back Press, 1961). to the great sacred times of the religion, as the Jew- ish PASSOVER recalls the EXODUS or the Christian Holy Communion the Last Supper of JESUS, or in general ritual The deliberate repetition of conventional recalls the times and places of sacred story when and stylized words and actions with special signifi - the divine presence was strongly felt in the world. cance. Ritual is very important to religion, where Rituals often present what may be called “con- such acts may seem to be meaningless apart from densed symbols” of those events, like the ritual bits the religious context and interpretation. Ritual may of bread and wine in Christian Communion, which vary from the highly stylized acts of a Vedic rite or for believers “trigger” thoughts of the whole story, the colorful drama of the Eastern Orthodox LITURGY just as the sight of an old photograph may recall a to the simple silence, with a handshake at the end, whole episode in one’s life. Ritual acts can release of a QUAKER meeting. religious feelings precisely through their routine But it must be realized that virtually all religion, nature, in that if well practiced and interiorized from the most elaborate to the simplest, has ritual they come more or less automatically, like dancing in the sense that things are done in a conventional, or playing the piano when well accomplished, and traditional way, and with words and movements this can produce an inner reduction of tension and that make no sense apart from the religion. This feeling of peace, allowing one’s thoughts and feel- is as true of a plain Protestant service as of a high ings to move easily to the religious object. Finally, mass or an ancient SACRIFICE. It is as true of a highly ritual, as a religious act done together, reinforces formal service choreographed like a dance as of an the cohesion of religious communities, the author- emotional and seemingly spontaneous devotional ity of the religious leaders performing them, and or Pentecostal type of event, so long as much of it the institutional structure of the religion making is done—as such things as hymns and hand-rais- them available. ing inevitably are—in customary and conventional See also SYMBOLISM IN RELIGION. ways. Even private PRAYERS and MEDITATION are often done ritually, in a customary manner. What kinds of rituals are there and what mes- Roman Catholicism One of the three main sages do they convey about the divine and about branches of CHRISTIANITY. The word “catholic” humans and their ways of WORSHIP? If it is a rich, means universal. Roman Catholicism is universal ancient, formal ritual, it tells us the best way to in two senses. It extends around the globe, and reach the divine is by getting outside of ourselves more important, it sees itself as the proper bearer through participation in something old, close to of the universal Christian tradition. It is called our roots, and aesthetically beautiful. If it is free Roman because it considers the bishop of Rome to and seemingly spontaneous, it says we get in touch be the supreme leader of Christianity. The bishop with the divine by losing inhibitions and giving of Rome is called the Pope (see PAPACY, THE). vent to inner feelings. Similar questions about reli- gious leadership, symbols, and communities can HISTORY also be asked about ritual events. For much of the past, the history of Roman Cathol- Most religious rituals have some features in icism is the history of Christianity, then of Chris- common. First, they set apart a sacred time and tianity in western Europe. The Roman Catholic place for the rite. Participants inwardly expect Church—the church of western Europe—did not Roman Catholicism S 393

break offi cially with the Orthodox churches—the central Catholic teachings. While many Protestants churches of eastern Europe (see EASTERN ORTHODOX were rejecting the works of human hands as idola- CHRISTIANITY)—until 1054 C.E. The Protestants left try, the Catholic Church was commissioning mas- the Catholic Church only during the REFORMATION terpieces of baroque art. Especially with the help in the 16th century. of the newly founded Society of Jesus (see JESUITS), Nevertheless, the roots of a distinct Roman Catholic MISSIONARIES preached Christianity in Asia Catholicism are very old. They go back to a general and the Americas. cultural split in the Roman Empire. The language Among the British colonies of North America, and culture of the eastern half of the empire were Catholics had the closest ties to Maryland. A Cath- Greek. Those of the western half of the empire olic, Cecil Calvert, received the fi rst charter for were Latin. The bishop of Rome claimed very Maryland. The fi rst Catholic bishop in the United early to be supreme among bishops. According to States was the bishop of Baltimore, John Car- tradition he was the successor of PETER, the most roll (elevated 1789). Bishop Carroll was a cousin important of JESUS’ disciples and the fi rst bishop of Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of of Rome. Bishops in the eastern half of the empire Independence. During the 19th century the Ameri- never recognized this claim. Jesus’ APOSTLES had can Catholic Church grew tremendously as people founded their most important churches, too. emigrated from Catholic countries such as Ireland, By roughly 500 C.E., east and west were going Italy, and Poland. their separate ways. Political institutions in the west During the 19th and 20th centuries, Catholics had largely collapsed. The Pope maintained order. in the Protestant countries of Europe as well as the Under his direction, Christianity was brought to United States were objects of persecution, some- northern Europe, for example, to England and Ger- times vile and severe. In this context the election many. By 800 C.E. the Holy Roman Empire ruled of a Catholic, John F. Kennedy, as president of the central and western Europe. When the Pope and United States was a major, positive event. During the head of the Orthodox churches excommuni- the same period, the church wrestled with mod- cated each other in 1054, the dispute was between ern, scientifi c thought. The First VATICAN COUNCIL distant cousins, not brothers. (1869–70) rejected modern ideas and asserted the The Middle Ages were a formative period supreme position of the Pope. The Second Vatican for Roman Catholicism. Pope Gregory I (pope, Council (1962–65) took a more conciliatory posi- 590–604), the Emperor Charlemagne (742–814) tion. By the beginning of the 21st century strong systematized the LITURGY of the Mass. A long line conservative currents were fl owing through the of thinkers, stretching from AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO to church. Thomas AQUINAS, formulated Catholic teachings. Builders constructed impressive churches in the BELIEFS Romanesque style, then churches in the Gothic Catholics affi rm the truths of Christianity as for- style that still take one’s breath away (see CATHE- mulated not only in the ancient CREEDS and coun- DRAL). Monks, nuns, and friars practiced a way of cils but also in all councils of Catholic bishops life rooted in religious devotion. Mystics, many of and in pronouncements of the Pope. They main- them women such as Julian of Norwich and Hil- tain that God is a TRINITY, Father, Son, and Holy degard of Bingen, reported intense VISIONS of the Spirit, and that Jesus is both fully divine and fully divine. But this was also the time of the INQUISITION human. and the CRUSADES. In formulating the truths of Christianity, When the Protestants revolted in the Reforma- Catholics have tended to use different terms than tion, Catholics responded with the Counter-Refor- Orthodox Christians. The Orthodox churches have mation. At the Council of Trent (see TRENT, COUNCIL tended to talk about human beings becoming OF) they reformed certain practices but reaffi rmed sacred or divine. Catholic thinkers have tended to 394 S Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy in America

use the more legal language of original SIN, atone- AND NUNS, people who devote themselves to a reli- ment, and redemption. These are, however, only gious life instead of marrying. tendencies. Catholics differ from Protestants on any num- SIGNIFICANCE ber of points. Protestants accept only the BIBLE Roughly one-sixth of the world’s population is as the source of religious truth; Catholics accept Roman Catholic (in 2004 roughly 1,098,000,000 church traditions as well. Protestants have tended people). Roman Catholicism has made immense to emphasize that God’s GRACE saves, not human contributions to the cultural heritage of Europe. It works; Catholics insist that grace works together is also an important part of life for many people with human effort. Protestants have tended to see around the globe. ritual actions only as signs of religious truth; Cath- Further reading: Thomas Bokenkotter, A Concise olics teach that God imparts his grace in the SACRA- History of the Catholic Church (New York: MENTS. Protestants have tended to focus exclusively Doubleday, 2004); James T. Fisher, Catholics in on Jesus; Catholics venerate Jesus’ mother MARY, America (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000); too, as the vehicle by which God became fl esh. Richard P. McBrien, Catholicism (San Francisco: They also venerate past SAINTS. HarperSanFrancisco, 1994); Richard P. McBrien PRACTICES et al., eds., The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, Catholics recognize seven sacraments: BAPTISM, 1995). confi rmation, the EUCHARIST, penance (confession of sins), marriage (see MARRIAGE AND RELIGION), ORDI- NATION, and the anointing of the sick. The centerpiece of Catholic WORSHIP is the Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy in Mass. This is a traditional, liturgical celebration of America The practice of the religion centered the eucharist. Since the Second Vatican Council, on JESUS in the Western Hemisphere. This entry Catholics have celebrated the Mass in local lan- focuses on only two of the three major branches guages rather than in Latin. They have also placed of Christianity, ROMAN CATHOLICISM and EASTERN a greater emphasis both on congregational partici- ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY. A separate entry discusses pation, such as singing, and the homily (sermon) PROTESTANTISM IN AMERICA. as a way of instructing the participants. CATHOLICISM IN NORTH AND ORGANIZATION SOUTH AMERICA Catholics actually recognize two supreme authori- Columbus brought Catholicism to the Western ties: meetings of bishops known as councils, and Hemisphere. He captained a ship named the Santa the Pope. The relation between these two has Maria (Saint Mary). He named the fi rst island he changed throughout history. encountered San Salvador (Holy Savior). His dis- The Pope governs the church from Rome. He coveries began an era of Spanish and Portuguese is assisted by an administrative staff, known as the colonization that had a well-formulated religious Curia, and a select group of bishops, known as the policy: Make the Indians Christians. College of CARDINALS. The Catholic Church divides As a result, indigenous Americans from Mex- the world into territories known as dioceses. A ico to Tierra del Fuego became Catholic Christians. bishop administers each diocese. Within dioceses But they did not simply surrender their own reli- priests and deacons serve parishes. The church gious traditions. They developed a rich Catholi- strictly reserves its offi ces for unmarried men. cism that combined earlier religions with Christi- In addition to bishops, priests, and deacons, anity. A good example is the cult of the Virgin of the Catholic Church has a long tradition of MONKS Guadalupe. At Guadalupe in 1531 the Virgin Mary Roman religion S 395 appeared to an indigenous Mexican in indigenous such issues as the place of women in the church form. and the practice of birth control. The Roman Catholicism of Central and South America remained allied with the colonial govern- ORTHODOXY IN THE UNITED STATES ment and the small minority who, after Spanish Russian missionaries fi rst brought Orthodox Chris- and Portuguese colonization, owned the land. tianity to the United States. In the late 1700s they Those who sought independence often opposed worked in Alaska. In time the Alaskan church the church. After independence, the church gener- moved its headquarters to San Francisco. In 1970 ally allied itself with the wealthy and powerful. It the patriarch of Moscow declared the Orthodox seemed to have little compassion for those who Church of America independent. worked the land. In the 1960s this stance changed. Not all Orthodox Christians accepted this Liberation THEOLOGY identifi ed economic justice as church. Immigrants from many Orthodox coun- the proper work of the church. The hierarchy in tries, especially Greece, maintained their own Rome, however, had suspicions about this politi- national churches. They adopted some features cally oriented theology. from religious life in America, such as pews in Like the Spanish and Portuguese MISSIONAR- church buildings and the use of some English in IES in Central and South America, French Catholic the Divine LITURGY. In general, however, the dif- missionaries were active in North America. As a ferent national churches have remained resolutely result, Roman Catholicism is now the majority reli- separate. gion in CANADA, by a slim margin. It is especially important in Quebec. There people have preserved their Catholic heritage along with their French Roman religion The religion of the Roman peo- identity. ple before CHRISTIANITY became the offi cial religion Roman Catholicism was present in Florida as of Rome. Much Roman religious activity took place early as 1514 and in the American southwest from in the home. Households presented offerings to the 1580s. Nevertheless, the dominant religious many gods. These gods included the Lar familiaris culture of the United States has been Protestant. (perhaps associated with the fi elds), the Penates Catholicism, however, has been very important in associated with the storeroom), Vesta (the cooking more localized regions, such as the state of Mary- fi re), the genius (the spirit of the family’s patri- land. The fi rst American Catholic bishop was John arch), and Janus (the two-faced god of the entry- Carroll of Baltimore, who became a bishop in 1789. way). Some of the gods received offerings every His diocese was the entire country. day. The purpose was not to win HEAVEN or achieve During the 19th century many Catholic immi- enlightenment. It was to ensure that the house- grants came to the United States from countries hold thrived. Ultimately, the patriarch of the family such as Ireland, Italy, Germany, and Poland. They (paterfamilias) was responsible for all household made the Catholic Church the largest single reli- worship. gious body in the United States. Catholic immi- The purpose of the religious observances of the grants often encountered hostility from Protes- Roman state was the same: to ensure that the state tant neighbors. But by the second half of the 20th fl ourished. The strategy was basically the same, too: century anti-Catholic sentiment and behavior had Maintain good relationships with the gods through largely disappeared. Thus, in 1960 a Catholic, John performing various RITUALS, often by celebrating F. Kennedy, could be elected president. festivals. Some of the state gods corresponded to The American Catholic Church has tended to the household gods. Rome had its hearth—served be more innovative and less traditional than Cath- by special priestesses known as vestal virgins. It olic churches in other areas. This stance has led at had Penates, Lares, and a Janus, too. Communities times to confl ict with the hierarchy in Rome over also worshipped the ancestors (Manes). 396 S Roman religion

on the Capitoline Hill: the supreme god, Jupiter Optimus Maximus, along with JUNO and Minerva. In early times, Roman gods lacked personality and mythology. Many seem to have been simply abstract powers: Victory, Harmony, the Boundary Stone. From a small settlement on the Tiber River, Rome came to rule all the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. As its power grew, its religion grew, too. From neighbors in Italy known as the Etruscans Romans learned to worship images of gods and to house them in roofed buildings, that is, temples. From the Greeks they borrowed mytholo- gies. By 200 B.C.E. many Roman gods had Greek alter-egos: Jupiter was ZEUS, Juno was Hera, Mars was Ares, and so on. The Romans did not simply identify traditional gods with foreign ones. They also imported foreign gods. During the republic they began to worship the Greek healer Asklepios, the “Great Mother” from Anatolia (ancient Turkey), and Bacchus. During the empire (began roughly 30 B.C.E.) they learned to WORSHIP ISIS of Egypt, MITHRA of Persia, and Sol Invictus of Syria. When the empire was established, the emperor also became the object of a cult. That does not mean, however, that he became a god. The imperial cult took many forms. Emperors were declared gods when they died, or they were wor- shipped along with the goddess Roma when alive, or portrayed as the supreme priest, or designated as specially chosen by the gods. Priests supervised Roman religious practices, but they rarely did so as a full-time job. Important priests included the “King of Rituals” (rex sacro- rum), the “Highest Priest” (pontifex maximus), ancient priests known as fl amens, the vestal vir- gins, the salii who danced at festivals of Mars, and the augurs, who determined whether times were right for conducting state business, includ- Copy of an altar dedicated to Jupiter (Lesley and Roy Adkins Picture Library) ing war. Toward the beginning of the fourth century C.E., it became legal for Romans to practice Chris- The Roman state worshipped other gods too. tianity. By the end of the century, it had become The earliest known include JUPITER, MARS, and Qui- mandatory. Some Romans continued traditional rinus. At the beginning of the republic (tradition- worship for a time. But in the end, Christianity ally 509 B.C.E.), Romans worshipped a triad of gods replaced the old Roman religion. Roman religion S 397

The exterior of the tomb of Jalal ad-Din ar-Rumi, the founder of the Mawlawiyah order of mystics (SEF/Art Resource, N.Y.) 398 S Rosicrucianism

Rosicrucianism From Latin for “rosy cross,” Rumi: A Treasury of Wisdom from the Poet of a collective label for teachings and groups that the Soul: A New Translation (San Francisco: developed in the tradition of European ALCHEMY HarperSanFrancisco, 2000); Shems Friedlander, and OCCULTISM. The Rosicrucian name began with Rumi and the Whirling Dervishes, music by Nezih the publication in 1614 of a booklet called Fama Uzel, foreword by Annemarie Schimmel (New Fraternitatis (Fame of the Fraternity), presenting York: Parabola Books, 2003); Annemarie Schimmel, the legend of a certain Christian Rosenkreutz who Rumi’s World: The Life and Work of the Great Sufi had sought for wisdom in the East and brought Poet (Boston: Shambhala, 2001). it back to his native Germany. The book claimed that a secret fraternity was based on his teach- ings. Although most seekers were unable to fi nd Russia, religion in Religion in Russia and the the group, several orders, including modern ones, former Soviet Union. EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRISTI- teaching esoteric lore have taken the name. ANITY was formally introduced into Russia and accepted by the Principality of Kiev, then the major Russian state, in 988 C.E. Rumi (1207–1273) very infl uential Sufi (Muslim Since then, religion in Russia has been chiefl y mystic) Rumi’s full name is Jalal al-Din Rumi. associated with the Russian Orthodox church, still His followers call him Mawlana, “our master.” the traditional faith of the great majority of the His poems in Persian are masterpieces, and his population. This church was intimately connected religious insight was the ultimate inspiration for an with the state in the days of the czars, and for order in SUFISM often called Whirling Dervishes. most people Russia and Orthodoxy were one and Rumi, the son of a teacher of theology, was the same thing. The church has long been noted born in what is now Afghanistan. For political for its lengthy but beautiful LITURGY, rich musi- reasons his family moved to a town called Konya, cal heritage, onion-domed churches, and colorful now in Turkey. In 1244 he met a mystic named painted icons (pictures of JESUS and the SAINTS). Shams al-Din, and his life changed completely. It also has a tradition of deep spirituality, center- After the meeting, various events in daily living ing around identifi cation with the suffering and would evoke in him a profound sense of love. RESURRECTION of CHRIST and the ideal of the “fool He expressed this sense spontaneously in poetry. for Christ,” or saint indifferent to the outward cir- Eventually followers made two collections of his cumstances of life. At the same time, the predomi- poems, named the Divan-i Shams and the Math- nance of Russian Orthodoxy in czarist times often navi. According to those who know Persian, trans- led to persecution of Jews and other non-Ortho- lations do not begin to capture the beautiful lan- dox minorities. guage of these books. They celebrate love and the With the Communist revolution of 1917, ATHE- loss of oneself in the beloved, the rebirth that fol- ISM was offi cially imposed on Russia and, in prin- lows death, and prayer as communication with the ciple, religion was left to wither away as a pre- ultimate beloved, God. modern, outmoded institution. In practice, how- After Rumi’s death his son organized his fol- ever, the situation was more complex: The Com- lowers into a Sufi order. It is technically known munist Party and the state sometimes viciously as the Mevlevi order, but members of the order attacked and persecuted religion and sometimes are sometimes called Whirling Dervishes. They do (especially during World War II) befriended it in a slow, twirling dance. In the process, they lose order to rally the loyalty of both believers and themselves in the experience of God. nonbelievers and present a favorable image to the outside world. At all times, however, the gover- Further reading: Philip Dunn, Manuela Dunn nance of religious bodies, especially the Russian Mascetti, and R. A. Nicholson, The Illustrated Orthodox church, was closely controlled, and Russia, religion in S 399

religious leaders who stepped out of line were from regions that were then parts of the Russian severely punished. Empire. After the collapse of communism in 1989, the Under the new religious freedom of the 1990s, picture changed dramatically. During the 1990s still more new religions arose in Russia, and others, religious belief, under the new regime, appeared like the Hare Krishna movement (see KRISHNAISM IN to increase greatly. Churches were reopened, reli- THE WEST), were introduced. One result was a con- gious leaders were involved in public life, and troversial new law on religious freedom in 1997 that religion was highly visible in the media. Minor- put fi rm restrictions on the activities of new reli- ity movements new and old endeavored to take gions and groups brought in from outside Russia. advantage of the novel openness to spiritual life in Traditional ethnic minorities include Muslims all its varieties. (see ISLAM), some 7.6 percent of the population in Despite czarist and Soviet oppression, Russia 2000, and a smaller number of Jews and Buddhists has long harbored dissident and minority religious (see J UDAISM and BUDDHISM). Relations between them groups. An early example is the Old Believers, and the Christian majority have often been painful. a group formed in the late 1600s by those who Jews suffered from discrimination and persecution opposed reforms introduced into the Russian under both czarist and communist rule. In the early Orthodox church by the Patriarch (chief bishop) 21st century, Chechnya, mostly Muslim, attempted and the czar. Other early dissidents were Russian to secede from Russia, with violent results. varieties of radical Protestants, such as the Douk- Russia, a vast land with newfound freedom hobors, strict pacifi sts (see PACIFISM, RELIGIOUS) and but a tradition of religious policy imposed from followers of the “inner light” who rejected SACRA- above, remains in a spiritual ferment that holds MENTS and other outward forms of religion, and possible consequences for the world as a whole. the Molokans, also pacifi sts and followers of inner guidance, some of whose practices resemble those Further reading: John Anderson, Religion, State, associated with PENTECOSTALISM. and Politics in the Soviet Union and Successor In the 19th century Western missionaries States, 1953–1993 (New York: Cambridge University introduced other forms of PROTESTANTISM, espe- Press, 1994); Jane Ellis, The Russian Orthodox cially the BAPTIST CHURCH, the JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES, Church: A Contemporary History (Bloomington: SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM, and PENTECOSTALISM. SPIRI- Indiana University Press, 1986.); Jane Ellis, The TUALISM also appeared in Russia, and two major Russian Orthodox Church: Triumphalism and fi gures in modern OCCULTISM AND ESOTERICISM, Hel- Defensiveness (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1996); ena P. Blavatsky (1831–91), cofounder of THEOSO- Shireen Hunter, Islam in Russia (Armonk, N.Y.: M. PHY, and Georges Gurdjieff (c. 1872–1919), were E. Sharpe, 2004). . S ,

Sabbath See JUDAISM. In addition to baptism and the Eucharist, the seven sacraments include: confi rmation or chris- mation, penance, marriage (see MARRIAGE AND RELI- sacraments The most important RITUALS for GION), holy orders (see ORDINATION), and anoint- Catholic, Orthodox, and most Protestant Chris- ing. Both the Catholic and the Orthodox churches tians. Orthodox Christians also call sacraments baptize infants. The Catholic and Anglican Church “mysteries.” recognize a sacrament of confi rmation. In this Not all Christians acknowledge sacraments. ritual baptized persons reaffi rm their acceptance For example, QUAKERS do not. But all of those who of Christianity once they are old enough to speak do, accept at least two sacraments. These two are for themselves. The Orthodox churches recognize BAPTISM and the EUCHARIST. Baptism—either immer- instead a sacrament of chrismation. This ritual, sion in or sprinkling with water—is the ritual by which preserves the most ancient practice, occurs which people enter the Christian church. The immediately after baptism. It is an anointing with eucharist is the sharing of bread and wine that is oil and a laying on of hands. somehow linked to the body and blood of JESUS. In penance Christians confess their SINS, either Over the last 2,000 years Christians have disagreed individually before a priest or as a group, and strongly over the proper way to perform these rit- receive words of forgiveness. Marriage joins two uals as well as their proper meaning. These dis- people together as husband and wife. The sacra- agreements played a large part in the splintering of ment of anointing is a ritual performed for spiritual CHRISTIANITY into many different groups. and physical healing. At various times it has been For the fi rst thousand years of Christianity, the practiced as a ritual for the dying. Holy orders sets term “sacrament” was somewhat fl uid. It desig- aside men for special offi ces within the church. nated other rituals besides baptism and the Eucha- The most prominent of these are the offi ces of rist. In the Middle Ages, a Catholic thinker named bishop and priest. Both Catholic and Orthodox Peter Lombard (c. 1100–60) identifi ed seven sac- churches limit ordination to men. The Catholic raments. The great medieval theologian, Thomas Church ordains only unmarried men. The Ortho- AQUINAS, followed him. This became the standard dox churches ordain married men as well, but they teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. In the do not permit an unmarried man who is ordained 16th century the Protestant Reformers universally to marry later. They also do not allow married rejected the seven sacraments. They generally priests to be bishops. favored only two. In the 17th century, however, the Different churches emphasize different aspects Orthodox churches accepted the teaching of seven when they talk about the sacraments. The Ortho- sacraments (see EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY). dox churches have generally spoken of sacraments They practice them somewhat differently than the as providing a foretaste of HEAVEN on earth. The Catholic Church does. Catholic Church has traditionally emphasized the

S 400 sacrifi ce S 401

validity of sacraments as conveying God’s GRACE, terms of what is sacrifi ced, who performs the sac- quite apart from the qualities of the person per- rifi ce, who or what allegedly receives it, who ben- forming them. Lutherans say that sacraments con- efi ts from it, what occasions it, where and when vey God’s grace when they are received in FAITH it is performed, and how it is supposed to work. (see LUTHERANISM). Calvinists say sacraments are Examples can only begin to hint at this variety. signs of God’s grace, but they do not convey it (see In ancient Greece festivals to the Olympian PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED CHURCHES). gods were something like barbecues to which both Some writers use the term “sacrament” for gods and mortals were invited (see GREEK RELIGION). important rituals in other religions, but the word The community led the victims in procession to an has too many Christian connotations. Applying it elevated open-air ALTAR. The gods descended from to non-Christian rituals almost always results in the sky. The sacrifi cers slaughtered, butchered, misunderstanding. and cooked the animals. Only the gods received some portions. Mortals received the rest. Sacrifi ces known as “hecatombs” were the largest feasts. At sacrifi ce One of the most important religious them the Greeks killed and cooked a hundred (or RITUALS. Sacrifi ce is the giving up of objects or the more) oxen. killing of animals or persons for religious pur- The priests of ancient India known as BRAHMINS poses. developed an elaborate complex of sacrifi ces. They The most common form of sacrifi ce is the reli- sacrifi ced animals, dairy products, and an intoxi- gious killing of animals. Indeed, animal sacrifi ce is cating liquid called soma. Wealthy patrons spon- in some sense the ruler by which scholars measure sored major sacrifi ces and received their benefi ts. all other sacrifi ces. If a ritual act resembles animal In time brahmins gathered the chants, rules, and sacrifi ce, it is a sacrifi ce. In the course of history explanations for the sacrifi ces into sacred books human beings have made sacrifi ces of virtually known as the VEDA. They suggested that the sac- anything and everything at their disposal: plants; rifi ce worked because of connections between ele- smoke; dairy products; material products such as ments of the rituals and elements of the universe. cloth, paper, statues, money, alcohol, drugs, and Peoples who lived in urban Mesoamerica before cooked food; rocks and minerals; speech; human the arrival of Columbus also had well developed blood and body parts; even entire human beings. sacrifi cial systems. The sacrifi ces of the Aztecs are notorious (see AZTEC RELIGION). People often offered THE PRACTICE OF SACRIFICE their own blood to the gods. At times—it is very No one knows exactly when the practice of sacri- diffi cult to say just how often—they offered entire fi ce began. Most animal sacrifi ces involve domes- human beings. They either cut off their heads, ticated animals. Therefore, some scholars have cut out their hearts, or drowned them. (Ancient suggested that sacrifi ce began when people fi rst Greeks and Indians occasionally sacrifi ced human domesticated animals. In this view, sacrifi ce was beings, too.) the proper way to kill such animals for meat. Evi- Some religions and religious movements have dence for this view is scanty. It requires several rejected sacrifi ce. The Aztecs looked back to a controversial assumptions: that human culture mythological Toltec leader, Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, went through a single series of developmental who eliminated many sacrifi ces, including human stages; that the culture of, say, prehistoric hunters sacrifi ce. In India during the sixth century B.C.E. closely resembled that of hunters today; and that BUDDHISM and JAINISM rejected sacrifi ce entirely. rituals of the Paleolithic period cannot properly be Some Hindus, too, came to deemphasize sacri- called sacrifi ces. fi ces in favor of ascetic exercises. The Persian There is no such thing as a typical sacrifi ce. prophet ZARATHUSTRA eliminated animal sacrifi ce; Sacrifi ces vary in a number of ways. They vary in he retained only the sacrifi ce of the sacred liquid 402 S sadhu, sadhvi

known as haoma. Some Jewish prophets insisted grounds. Others objected to it because they favored that justice and a pure heart were more important animal rights, or at least the humane treatment of than sacrifi ces. When the Romans destroyed the animals. A few religions, however, did sacrifi ce Second Temple in JERUSALEM in 70 C.E., JUDAISM animals. An example is SANTERÍA, a religion with gave up sacrifi ces altogether. During the PILGRIM- African roots. True to its heritage, Santería requires AGE to MECCA Muslims offer a sacrifi ce in memory its adherents to sacrifi ce chickens. of ABRAHAM’s faithfulness when GOD asked him to Toward the end of the 20th century the town sacrifi ce his son. A major feast marks this day. of Hialeah, Florida, was disturbed that adherents Christians do not sacrifi ce animals, but they of Santeria were sacrifi cing chickens. So it made have often used the image of sacrifi ce in talking animal sacrifi ce illegal. In June 1993, the U.S. about JESUS. The Catholic and Orthodox churches Supreme Court overturned the law. The court teach that the EUCHARIST makes present the sacri- found that Hialeah’s law had only one purpose: fi ce of Jesus on the cross. Protestants often use the to prohibit a religious practice. That violates the language of sacrifi ce to talk about personal moral- First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (see ity instead. CHURCH AND STATE). The First Amendment guaran- tees all Americans the right to practice their reli- THEORIES OF SACRIFICE gions freely and without government interference. People who sacrifi ce have many different ideas That guarantee extends to practices that may be about how sacrifi ces work. Scholars do, too. Their unpopular, such as animal sacrifi ce. theories are suggestive, insightful, and sometimes Further reading: Maurice Bloch, Prey into Hunter: outlandish. None are defi nitive. The Politics of Religious Experience (New York: One common theory has maintained that sac- Cambridge University Press, 1992); Jeffrey Carter, rifi ce is a gift to gods or spirits. A formula that the ed., Understanding Religious Sacrifi ce: A Reader Romans addressed to their gods sums this theory (New York: Continuum, 2003); The Girard Reader, up nicely: do ut des, “I am giving to you, so that James G. Williams, ed. (New York: Crossroad, you will give to me.” Another theory has seen 1996). sacrifi ce as an occasion for human beings to com- mune with the sacred; this communion brings all sorts of benefi ts. Adolf Jensen, an anthropologist, once suggested that sacrifi ce originally reenacted sadhu, sadhvi Hindu holy men and women, events that certain myths ascribed to the beginning respectively. There are considerably more sadhus of the world. Walter Burkert, a scholar of Greek than sadhvis. religions, derived sacrifi ce from the need to cope The names sadhu and sadhvi denote people with the anxiety that comes from killing animals. who are pursuing a sadhana, a way of life that Rene Girard has argued that sacrifi ce was a way to leads to some ultimate goal. According to Hindu defl ect violence that threatened to destroy society tradition (see HINDUISM), during the last stage of from within; sacrifi ce directs that violence onto the life a man renounces his possessions, family, and sacrifi cial victim instead. In a much different vein, identity and wanders while pursuing spiritual lib- some have suggested that Mesoamericans sacri- eration. In actual practice, sadhus and sadhvis fi ced human beings in order to make up for a lack adopt a life of renunciation at many different ages, of protein in their diet. some of them very young. It is virtually impossible to count or clas- SACRIFICE TODAY sify the many different kinds of sadhus and sad- At the beginning of the 21st century animal sacri- hvis. Some are entirely independent and live off fi ce was a controversial practice in North America. by themselves. Many others belong to organized Some North Americans objected to it on religious groups. These groups are distinguished from one sakti, Saktism S 403

another by their teachers, teachings, gods, dress, JUDAISM, the GURU and SADHU in HINDUISM, the sage body-marks, and other factors. The relative rank in CONFUCIANISM, and the ARHAT, the BODHISATTVA, of sadhus and sadhvis emerges at festivals like the and the lama in BUDDHISM. Kumbh Mela. There holy men and women line up in order of rank to proceed to the RITUAL bath. Not all Indians respect sadhus and sadhvis. sakti, Saktism The manifestation of GOD in Some see them as freeloaders. Some sadhus are female form in HINDUISM and the groups that wor- in fact con artists or criminals on the run. They ship it. Sakti is a word in Sanskrit, an ancient lan- have given those who are genuinely religious a guage of India, that means “power” or “energy.” bad name. During the course of the 20th century It is a female divine principle and the power of all sadhus and sadhvis became very active in Indian the gods. At a higher level of abstraction, some politics. In general they are confi rmed traditional- Indian schools of thought distinguish between ists, so they often opposed the government’s policy spirit and nature. Spirit is male, nature is female. of neutrality toward religion. They also tended to Spirit is also eternal and unchanging—inactive and champion reactionary causes. Groups of sadhus inert. Nature is active, energetic, and creative. As and sadhvis were important supporters of the such, some people consider it better to worship Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a pro-Hindu politi- the active principle or sakti. People who worship cal party that governed India during the 1990s and sakti in its various forms are called saktas. Taken early 2000s. together, their beliefs and practices are called Saktism. Sakti is as much an abstract principle as a saints Holy people. Especially Christians use divine being. It may refer to the highest god or to the term “saint.” In the NEW TESTAMENT, PAUL the the consort of a god, especially SIVA. In personal APOSTLE calls all Christians “saints.” Most Protes- form sakti is most generally known as Devi, “the tants use the word in the same way. They do not Goddess.” Hindus know many GODDESSES, whom recognize a special class of Christians known as they usually revere as mothers. They may think saints. of all of them as different forms of Devi or as dif- Catholic and Orthodox Christians, however, ferent, independent goddesses. Some goddesses call special Christians saints. They have a position have fi erce characters; others are benign. Two in the church similar to the position of heroes in well-known fi erce goddesses are DURGA and KALI. the army. They are special because of their per- Benign goddesses include Annapurna, Gauri, and sonal characteristics, not simply because they hold PARVATI. In addition, most villages have their own an offi ce. goddesses. A common goddess at this more popu- Martyrs are saints (see MARTYRDOM). So are lar level is the goddess of smallpox. She is wor- Christians who perform MIRACLES—often after shipped in order to keep the disease away. death. Catholic and Orthodox Christians vener- Many Saktas worship the goddess through ate—but do not WORSHIP—saints. They preserve PUJA. They pray and offer gifts to her with the their RELICS and visit their shrines. They also dedi- help of images and sacred symbols, such as the cate special days to each saint. Christians celebrate Sri-cakra-yantra. This yantra consists of a series the lives of saints in literature known as “hagiog- of fi ve triangles pointing down and four pointing raphy.” Orthodox Christians venerate pictures of up, surrounded by stylized lotus petals, which are saints known as icons (see IMAGES, ICONS, IDOLS IN themselves surrounded by a rectangular border. RELIGION). One distinctive feature of such worship among Other religions have persons similar to saints. forms of Hinduism is that saktas’ gifts may include These include especially the wali or “friend [of the SACRIFICE of animals, such as goats. Animal sac- God]” in ISLAM, and also the tsaddiq in Hasidic rifi ce especially characterizes the worship of Kali 404 S salat

and the village goddesses. Saktas also sometimes Further reading: Wendell Charles Beane, Myth, engage in practices that show special devotion or Cult, and Symbols in S¯akta Hinduism: A Study the possession of special powers, such as walking of the Indian Mother Goddess (Leiden: Brill, on fi re or entering into trances. 1977); Agehananda Bharati, The Tantric Tradition Saktism is closely associated not only with (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1977); Georg devotional worship but also with tantric YOGA (see Feuerstein, Tantra: The Path of Ecstasy (Boston: TANTRISM). Through this yoga Saktas seek ulti- Shambhala, 1998); Sir John Woodroffe, Sakti and mate realization and release. Tantric yoga aims to S¯akta: Essays and Addresses, 8th ed. (Madras: awaken the internal life force. This force is a form Ganesh, l975). of sakti, and it is often envisioned as KUNDALINI, that is, a coiled serpent sleeping at the base of the spinal column. When awakened, the kundalini is salat The Arabic word for formal PRAYER; the sec- visualized as moving upward through the sush- ond pillar of ISLAM. Salat is not informal petition of umna. In this school of thought, people possess GOD, which Muslims may do at any time as need not only a body made up of coarse matter but also arises. It is formal, prescribed prayer. For devout a subtle body made up of fi ne matter or energy. Muslims salat defi nes the rhythms of daily life. It The sushumna is a part of the subtle body. It is brackets and interrupts one’s daily activities. It situated along the spinal column and serves as a therefore helps to consecrate one’s whole life to channel for energy. The kundalini moves through the service of God. seven centers of the subtle body known as CAKRAS, Adult Muslims follow the example of the “circles.” The uppermost cakra is located at the top prophet MUHAMMAD and pray fi ve times a day: in of the skull. When the kundalini reaches it, the the early morning, at noon, in mid-afternoon, in practitioner experiences ultimate realization and the evening, and at night. In cases of special need, release. the noon and midafternoon prayers may be com- Saktas use many techniques to achieve these bined. So may the evening and night prayers. In results. Their techniques tend to emphasize the Muslim countries businesses routinely make allow- use of feminine and material elements. Some ances for salat during the workday. Employers in practitioners belong to groups that are called non-Muslim countries may make allowances, too. “left-handed.” Their activities violate normal Afternoon prayers do not take any longer than social conventions. These activities include the a coffee break. In any case, Muslims are not to use of intoxicants, the eating of meat, and the pray at the precise moment of sunrise or sunset or ritual practice of sexuality—all in search of ulti- when the sun reaches the zenith. That might give mate realization. the impression that they are worshipping the sun. The worship of goddesses is very old on the All the prayers may be done in any place that Indian subcontinent. It appears to have been is quiet and clean. One may not wear shoes. It is prevalent in the Harappan or Indus Valley period, best to pray with at least one fellow Muslim, if almost 5,000 years ago. From these roots Saktism possible, but if necessary individuals may pray came into being by about the year 500 C.E. Today, alone. The only exception to these rules is the Fri- right-handed Saktas, those who observe normal day noon prayer. Men are to perform that prayer conventions, are prevalent in southern India. with a congregation in a MOSQUE. Women may join Left-handed Saktas are prevalent in northern and them there, but they may also perform the Friday especially eastern India. Perhaps the most famous noon prayer at home instead. At the Friday prayer Sakta was RAMAKRISHNA Paramahamsa, a priest of service, the prayer leader, known as an IMAM, gives the goddess Kali in Kolkata (Calcutta). An ecstatic, a sermon. he had visions not only of Mother Kali but also of Before salat, Muslims must clean themselves. JESUS and MUHAMMAD. One should not present oneself before one’s creator Salvation Army S 405

in an impure state. In most cases cleaning involves cued. CHRISTIANITY calls this situation SIN. The washing one’s hands and forearms, face, and feet, myth of the FALL tells how sin began. In dualistic rinsing the mouth and nose, and wiping one’s religions, such as ZOROASTRIANISM, GNOSTICISM, and head, neck, and ears. Because of this requirement MANICHAEISM, the problem is that good and EVIL, one generally fi nds pools of water in mosques. At light and darkness have been mixed together. In the same time, Islam arose in a desert climate, and HINDUISM, BUDDHISM, and JAINISM, the problem is it makes a special provision for that climate. If no that people are bound in SAMSARA, that is, they are water is available, going through the motions of continually reborn. This bondage is often traced to washing will satisfy the requirement. a more basic problem: ignorance. Muslims recite the actual prayers themselves Some religions save individual human beings. facing the direction of the KAABA in MECCA. In a Christianity often saves individual sinners. Other mosque this direction is noted by a niche on the religions save communities. Perhaps the best wall. Some Muslims carry specially adapted com- example of salvation in JUDAISM is the EXODUS, in passes to allow them to fi nd the qiblah, as the which the whole people was saved. Some reli- direction of Mecca is called. The prayers are recited gions, such as Zoroastrianism, teach that an ele- in Arabic, and they must be recited from memory. ment of the cosmos, such as light or goodness, will When prayers are done in a group, a respected and be saved. Some Christians expect the salvation of capable member of the group stands in the front as the entire universe. imam. A man must lead groups of men or mixed Many religions teach their followers how to groups. A woman may lead groups of women in help bring about salvation. But many religions prayer. also emphasize that people need help from the Muslims pray two or more sets of prayers at outside. They teach about saviors, such as JESUS a time. Each set consists of prescribed prayers or perhaps the Buddha AMIDA and the bodhisattva accompanied by prescribed postures and gestures. AVALOKITESVARA. It begins by reciting the fi rst surah or section of the QUR’AN while standing, for most Sunnis with hands crossed, for Shi’ites with hands at one’s sides (see Salvation Army An organization to spread CHRIS- SHI’ITE ISLAM and SUNNI ISLAM). Other postures TIANITY. Its structure imitates that of an army. include leaning forward in a bow, prostrating by William Booth (1829–1912) was a Methodist placing one’s forehead and hands on the ground, minister (see METHODISM). He and his wife worked and sitting. With each change of posture, the per- among the poor in London. In 1878 he hit upon the son recites “God is most great.” When prayer is idea of organizing his mission as an army for GOD. ended, the person praying recites a greeting to the Booth became general for life. Ministers became right and to the left: “Peace be upon all of you and offi cers of various rank. Converts signed Articles the mercy and blessings of God.” of War and became soldiers. They were organized Children may begin to observe this duty at age into groups called corps. A group of corps makes a seven. They should do so by age 10. But they are division; a group of divisions makes a territory. not absolutely required to do so until they reach These military images appealed to the milita- puberty. Children may join the adults in the Fri- ristic and nationalistic spirit of the late 19th cen- day prayer service. When they do, the boys stand tury, and Booth’s idea of a Salvation Army proved behind the men. Girls pray with the women. very successful. It quickly spread overseas. It now has centers throughout the globe. It has had its greatest success in the United States. salvation Rescue in a religious context. Salva- The teachings of the Salvation Army are fun- tion presupposes that there is a situation from damentalist (see EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY and which persons or things need to be saved or res- FUNDAMENTALISM, CHRISTIAN), but the group refuses 406 S Samaritans

to discuss issues that might confuse the unedu- nizes the hostile relations between the two groups cated. Its WORSHIP services are designed for popular (Luke 10.29–37). appeal. What is most distinctive of the army is the Today only about 650 Samaritans survive. thorough way in which it carries out the military Roughly half live near Tel Aviv and are citizens image. Its offi cers wear uniforms. Its members of Israel. The other half live in the area of Nab- play Christian hymns in military-style bands. Its lus, near Mount Gerizim, a strongly Palestinian publication is The War Cry. area. The Israeli-Palestinian Peace Agreement of The Salvation Army continues to be very September 28, 1995, guaranteed all Samaritans active in “rescue mission” work. It seeks not just freedom of religion and access to holy sites. The to convert the poor but also to assist those who, Palestinian Elections Law approved in December for whatever reason, need material support. Unlike 1995 reserved one seat on the 83-seat Palestinian more liberal branches of PROTESTANTISM, it has shied Council for the Samaritans living near Nablus. away from social reform—that is, the attempt to reorganize society in a way that eliminates the causes of poverty and other evils. samsara Sanskrit word for the continuous cycle of redeath and rebirth in which all beings live; thus, ordinary existence. The notion of samsara is Samaritans A people in central Israel who shared by both HINDUISM and BUDDHISM. claim to be descended from the Israelite tribes of Notions of rebirth are probably age-old on the Ephraim and Manasseh; indeed, they call them- south Asian subcontinent, but the idea of samsara selves Israelites as well as Shamerim, “keepers of came to prominence in both Hinduism and Bud- the law.” The English name comes from Samaria, dhism roughly in the sixth century B.C.E. the name of the capital of the ancient kingdom of For centuries priests who performed the Israel. According to Jewish tradition, the Samari- sacrifi ces described in the VEDA had detailed the tans are not Israelites but are descended from benefi ts of the sacrifi ces to their wealthy patrons. peoples transplanted to the region when Assyria The primary benefi t was a long number of blissful conquered Samaria in 721 B.C.E. years spent in svarga, heaven. Around the sixth Samaritans are strict monotheists. They WOR- century B.C.E. certain sages began to speak of what SHIP God under the name YHWH (“the Lord”). happened when those benefi ts ran out: redeath, Their SCRIPTURES contain only the TORAH or Pen- followed by rebirth. The conditions of rebirth tateuch, that is, the fi rst fi ve books of the BIBLE. were determined by the qualities of one’s action They also revere MOSES and look forward to a fi nal (Karma). day in which God will restore their claims and take About the same time, the BUDDHA was ana- vengeance on the wicked. lyzing the condition of all sentient or conscious The most sacred site for Samaritans is Mount beings. On his analysis, all beings experience a Gerizim. They built a temple there in the late 300s, continuing process of rebirth as a result of their but it was destroyed by the Jewish priest and ruler craving-motivated acts, acts characterized by John Hyrcanus in 128 B.C.E. The Samaritans still hatred, greed, and ignorance. celebrate PASSOVER at Mount Gerizim. They also Hindus explain the process of rebirth in a vari- strictly observe the Sabbath. ety of ways, but key to all of them is the notion of In the ancient world there was considerable an eternal, unchanging self, sometimes called the animosity between Samaritans and Jews. Those ATMAN, which undergoes the various births. The who returned from exile in Babylon saw the situation in Buddhism is more diffi cult, because Samaritans as interlopers and refused Samaritan Buddhists deny that there is any eternal, unchang- help in rebuilding the Temple in JERUSALEM. JESUS’ ing self. They tend instead to speak of samsara in well-known parable of the good Samaritan recog- terms of a continuity of causality, a continuous Santería S 407

series in which each craving-motivated event is life (he died around the age of 30) Sankara both the result of a prior event and the cause of systematized the Advaita (non-dualist) school a future one. It is thought that this causal chain is of VEDANTA—with profound consequences. He not interrupted even by death. developed his views in commentaries on the Both Hinduism and Buddhism have developed UPANISHADS, the BH AGAVA D -GITA, and the Vedanta- schools of thought that downplay the signifi cance sutras; he traveled throughout India, debating the of samsara. Like KRISHNA in the BH AGAVA D -GITA, leaders of rival schools and converting them to his many Hindus have taught that since the self is eter- point of view; and he founded four monasteries, nal and unchanging, it can experience neither birth one in each of India’s regions. These monasteries nor death. The cycle of samsara occurs, then, only are among the most respected of India’s religious on the less real level of appearances. Mahayana institutions today. In doing all this, he helped to Buddhists have tended to follow the great teacher revive HINDUISM and contributed to the decline of Nagarjuna in asserting that NIRVANA, release, is not BUDDHISM and JAINISM in India. separate from samsara. Rather, nirvana is simply a Central to Sankara’s position is the insistence manner of living within samsara. that BRAHMAN, the ultimate reality underlying all that we perceive, is not dual. Sankara developed this view by identifying four levels of reality. From sangha “Group” in Sanskrit and Pali; the name lowest to highest, these are the self-contradictory for the religious communities of BUDDHISM and (for example, a square circle), the illusory (for JAINISM. The sangha is one of the three “jewels” in example, a mirage), the pragmatic (in which we which all Buddhists take refuge. ordinarily live), and the ultimate (brahman). San- Sometimes sangha refers to the entire religious kara teaches that we “superimpose” lower levels community of monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen. of reality on the next higher level. For example, at It often refers more narrowly, however, to the com- night a person may step on a rope and mistake it munity of MONKS AND NUNS. No centralized authority for a snake. That person superimposes the illusion oversees the entire sangha in either Buddhism or of a rope onto the pragmatic reality of a snake. Jainism. Instead, the sangha consists of self-govern- Similarly, Sankara says, we superimpose the per- ing local groups. This arrangement has led to dis- ceptions of pragmatic reality onto brahman. sension and division, so that different communities follow different traditions of “discipline.” In the earliest days members of both the Jain Santería A popular religious movement origi- and Buddhist sanghas wandered the countryside nating in Cuba that combines African and Roman begging. They settled in one place only during the Catholic themes. Santería, “The Way of the Saints,” rainy season when travel was diffi cult and hazard- developed among African slaves in Cuba, and has ous. With time wealthy patrons endowed monas- spread throughout the Caribbean and the United teries and convents. The life-style changed drasti- States. In it, Catholic SAINTS are identifi ed with tradi- cally, but the distinction between lay and religious tional African deities (see AFRICAN RELIGIONS), mainly remained. In some Buddhist schools, however, this Yoruba from the area that is now Nigeria and Benin, distinction has almost completely broken down. For and worshipped in colorful rites that include veg- example, in several schools of Japanese Buddhism, etable and animal SACRIFICES. Santería ALTARS and it is no longer meaningful to speak of the sangha. costumes are often magnifi cent works of art. The most impressive ceremonies are those in which the deities, called orishas, “mount” or possess initiated Sankara (eighth century C.E.) also spelled Shan- devotees. The possessed one will then speak and kara. Also known as Sankaracarya; the most act in ways characteristic of that god. The rites by infl uential Indian philosopher During his short which a devotee becomes an initiate of a particular 408 S Sarah

deity, able to mediate that god through possession, present their instruments to her in the hope of are long and elaborate, involving a lengthy period of obtaining her blessings during a performance. isolation and instruction. On the other hand, many people use simple everyday Santería practices for divination and luck. Satan The chief EVIL being in JUDAISM, CHRISTIAN- Santería has fl ourished in the late 20th and ITY, and ISLAM. In the Hebrew BIBLE Satan appears early 21st centuries, both in Cuba (despite the rev- most prominently in the book of JOB. There he is olution of 1959) and in the United States, where not the familiar fi gure of later times. He is an ANGEL Cuban exiles have made it a presence in most in GOD’s court. His function is to make accusations major metropolitan areas. Although it has occa- against human beings to God. sionally been controversial in the United States A little before the time of JESUS, Satan took on because of its use of animal sacrifi ce and alleged more familiar form. He became an adversary of magical practices, it appears to be well established God who tempts human beings to SIN. In the NEW and has drawn some non-Cuban adherents. TESTAMENT he constantly opposes Jesus. He appears as a tempter in the QUR’AN, too. There he is also called Iblis. Jewish, Christian, and Islamic images Sarah Also spelled Sarai; in the BIBLE the wife of Satan and his functioning differ in detail. All of ABRAHAM and also his half-sister (see Genesis three, however, associate Satan with the serpent. 20.12). Sarah is best known for her diffi culties in The image of Satan common in North America—a becoming a mother. She did not become pregnant horned being with pitchfork and tail—seems to for many years, and it was assumed that she could derive from medieval Christian folklore. not have children. As the Bible tells the story, Abra- Neither Judaism, Christianity, nor Islam makes ham then had a son with her servant, Hagar. The Satan equal in power to God. All of them insist that son’s name was Ishmael. In jealousy, Sarah even- God will ultimately vanquish Satan. Indeed, for tually drove Hagar and Ishmael away. Arabs rec- Christians that victory has already been won in the ognize Ishmael (Arabic, Ismail) as their ancestor. death and RESURRECTION of Jesus. But some have Stories of Hagar (Arabic, Hajar) and Ishmael are taken a more positive view of Satan. For example, especially connected with the region of MECCA. the Sufi al-Hallaj (c. 857–922: see SUFISM) took After the birth of Ishmael, Abraham and Satan as his model. As he saw it, Satan faithfully Sarah were visited by messengers from GOD. The fulfi lled the role God had assigned him, despite the messengers promised Abraham a son by Sarah. consequences. Because Sarah was past menopause and, therefore, beyond child bearing, she laughed. Nevertheless, she became pregnant, and the child was named sati (suttee) The practice in which a Hindu ISAAC, after a Hebrew word related to laughter. widow immolates herself (burns herself to death) on her husband’s funeral pyre. It is, understand- ably, one of the most controversial practices in Saraswati The Hindu GODDESS of learning and HINDUISM. the arts. Saraswati is usually said to be the con- Sati is a Sanskrit word that means “good sort of the god BRAHMA. She is often shown with woman.” It is also the name of a wife of the Hindu a stringed instrument known as vina. Sometimes god SIVA, who burns herself to death. The British she is accompanied by a goose, her vehicle or ani- rulers of India often spelled it suttee. It was never mal attendant. universally required for a widow to commit or, Unlike Brahma, Saraswati is actually wor- more properly, “become” sati. The most authorita- shipped. Students invoke her as the goddess of tive ancient lawbook, the Laws of MANU, says more learning. So do various Sanskrit texts. Musicians than once that a widow is expected to submit to science and religion S 409

the authority of her son and says nothing about Samuel anointed Saul as the fi rst king of Israel. sati. Nevertheless, the position of widows in tra- Initially Saul’s military efforts met with success. ditional Hindu society was often not good, and in But the fi ghting was diffi cult, and Saul seems to some places the practice of sati developed. It was have suffered emotionally. As the Bible tells it, he particularly widespread in the western Indian state also became obsessed with a younger rival named of Rajasthan, famed for its warrior traditions, and DAVID. Saul and his sons lost their lives in battle in the eastern Indian state of Bengal. at Mount Gilboa. After this event, the much more Feminist thinkers have often taken sati as a successful David became king. sign of the broader ill treatment of women in tra- ditional India. They fi nd a model for it in the story of Sita, the wife of RAMA in the RAMAYANA. Many science and religion The relationship of scien- Indian women consider Sita to be the ideal woman. tifi c knowledge to traditional religion. No issue has To prove to her husband that she was pure, Sita more profoundly disturbed the modern world than threw herself into a fi re prepared for ritual sacri- confl ict between science and religion. Not only do fi ce, although according to the story the fi re did the two use different methods for the ascertaining not harm her in any way. Feminists have also sug- of truth, in their pure forms they also end up with gested that women have been forced to immolate radically different views of the ultimate nature of themselves against their will; traditional Hindus the universe, with consequent confl icting views of often reject this suggestion. the origin, nature, and destiny of humans. These The British fi rst outlawed sati in 1829. The last confl icting views in turn produce contrasting ideas legal incident occurred in 1861. But although sati on how human life should be lived, above all in its is not common today and offends many, perhaps moral and psychological dimensions. Or so many most, Hindus, it still occurs. One recent incident spokespersons for each side have declared, though was the sati of Roop Kanwar in Deorala, Rajasthan, there have also been important attempts to medi- on September 4, 1987. Pilgrims now visit the town ate the two. to worship at the site where she committed sati. Science in the West, since its origins in the 16th century, has sought to determine the truth Further reading: Lindsey Harlan and Paul B. of nature through careful empirical observation, Courtright, eds., From the Margins of Hindu including precise measurements, induction from Marriage: Essays on Gender, Religion, and Culture what is observed to general hypotheses, deduc- (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995); John ing other possible consequences of the principle, Stratton Hawley, ed., Sati, the Blessing and the then testing them and the original law through Curse: The Burning of Wives in India (New York: repeated observation, in controlled experiments Oxford University Press, 1994). when possible. Its overall picture of the world develops through consensus among persons qual- ifi ed to do such work, and in theory is always Saul (11th century B.C.E.) the fi rst king of ancient prepared to change its views in light of new evi- Israel In the 11th century B.C.E. the tribes of Israel dence. Religion on the other hand characteristi- lived in the hill country between the Jordan River cally bases its teachings on divine revelation or and coast of the Mediterranean Sea. They were nonrational inner experience, presented through banded together into a loose confederation. But authoritative books and teachers, though revela- they were weaker than the Philistines, people who tion and doctrine may certainly be supported and lived along the Mediterranean coast. As the BIBLE amplifi ed through rational means like those of tells the story, they decided that they needed a science. Nonetheless, the resulting pictures of the king. They did so despite opposition from Samuel, world have contrasted greatly in recent centuries: the prophet of their god YHWH (“the Lord”). Science has overwhelmingly offered a material, 410 S Scientology

impersonal, mathematical universe—though one have the right to “play God” by altering lifeforms, in which these terms must be qualifi ed at the most or making computers that practically think? And advanced reaches of physics and psychology. The does this suggest that the originals of body and religious worldview, though not in confl ict with mind also could have come into being without the science on some levels, is one in which mind and traditional God? consciousness are much more important, with On the other hand, could it be that such a Divine Mind as Creator or Sustainer, and the works are simply exercises of the power God gave human soul or spirit of central signifi cance. humanity over the Earth, but we still need God The confl ict began with the new astronomy of to keep from going too far? Unfortunately, another Copernicus, centered on the Earth revolving around feature of modernity has been the terrible discov- the sun rather than being the center of the system ery that science can be abused to produce EVIL as as in the older view accepted by most religions, well as good, from the alleged depersonalization though in time virtually all religionists concluded of human life in the industrial or technological city that a fl at or central Earth was not really crucial to the atomic bomb and other refi ned weapons of to religious truth and came to terms with it. More destruction. In the eyes of many, even the great traumatic was the 19th-century confl ict between advances in medicine and agriculture have led to Darwin’s evolution and the biblical account of cre- crises of overpopulation and the prospect of eco- ation in Genesis, climaxing in the direct creation logical disaster. Can we resolve such issues with- of ADAM and EVE by GOD. Here the two views of out the help of religious values? These are prob- human beings seemed to many irreconcilable: lems whose solutions may await further develop- Either humans are creations of God and the BIBLE ments in the confl ict, or harmonization, of science is true, or they are natural, evolved over time as and religion. are the animals, and God is not necessary. To some the issue seems still to be in those opposing terms. But many more liberal religion- Scientology A religious movement founded in ists were able to conclude that the Bible is only a 1952 by the science fi ction writer L. Ron Hubbard, book of principles, not a textbook in science; God on the basis of his best-selling book Dianetics. Its can still be the ultimate creator, while science just fundamental practice is individual counseling, tells us how it was done over previously unimagi- which enables individuals to discover the cause nable spans of time. At the same time, spokesper- of their problems in “engrams” or conditioned sons for other religions, especially BUDDHISM and responses caused by occasions of fear and suffer- Vedanta HINDUISM, and in some ways also JUDAISM ing, implanted in this or previous lives. One can and ISLAM, claimed that their FAITHS were “more then “go clear” by removing them by Scientologi- scientifi c” than the CHRISTIANITY dominant in the cal means. The tightly organized and economi- West, since they ordinarily do not require a literal cally active movement has been controversial in reading of the old creation story. In the case of the United States and several other countries. It VEDANTA and Buddhism, there are also some simi- remains, however, prosperous and successful. larities between their views of karmic cause and effect and the interrelatedness of all things and Albert Einstein’s scientifi c theory of relativity and scripture In all major living religions, a body of the more advanced frontiers of cosmology. words or writings declared to have been revealed Moreover, in the 20th century, new issues by the highest authority and containing the fullness have arisen, especially in connection with bioen- of spiritually important truth: the BIBLE of JUDAISM gineering and “artifi cial intelligence.” These are and CHRISTIANITY, the QUR’AN (Koran) of ISLAM, the often as much ethical issues important to religion Sutras of BUDDHISM, the VEDAS of HINDUISM, the as theoretical challenges to religion. Do humans Confucian Classics, and so forth. In Hinduism, the scripture S 411

Vedas were not committed to writing until compar- sovereign over the world of change, and that this atively modern times, having been, because of their God has revealed himself in the world in particular great sacredness, transmitted orally from father to times. In the Christian NEW TESTAMENT, this revela- son, or master to disciple, for many generations. tion is in the person of Jesus CHRIST. Responding to Otherwise the written form of the scripture came the growing individualism of the times, the scrip- early as the sacred text is considered important as tures of these then-new religions emphasize ways a book or set of books, though the spoken word to individual salvation and living an individually is always in the background, and scriptures are responsible life. often considered most powerful when spoken or The establishment of the “canon” of scrip- chanted aloud, sometimes in the original tongue, ture, that is, which books are offi cially regarded like Hebrew in Judaism, Arabic in Islam, or San- as part of the sacred list and which are excluded, skrit in Hinduism. But the background, content, was not always an easy task. In early Buddhism and role of scriptures in different religions varies and Christianity, for example, it was decided in the considerably. end by councils of monks and bishops respectively First, it must be noted that the existence of centuries after the founding of the religion; while written scripture obviously depends on the inven- some books had been long accepted by general tion of writing, and could not have come into consensus, others, like the epistle to the Hebrews being before that event two or three millennia or and the Revelation of St. John in Christianity, were so before the common era. Before then, the lore of long disputed. By now, however, the tradition of religions was oral, passed on by word of mouth in the whole religion has long since approved an the form of myths and traditions. Thus scriptures accepted canon. were made possible by the invention of writing. Scriptures have many functions in religion Scriptures came into being in a time of gathering besides being regarded as a source of authorita- empires, of a growing sense of individualism, and tive truth, and even their truth can have different of awareness that we live in historical time—that meanings. Some conservative Christians regard is, that things change and do not change back. the Bible as literally true, even on historical and Above all, it was the time of the great religious scientifi c matters; others recognize it as contain- founders: MOSES, the BUDDHA, CONFUCIUS, LAO-TZU, ing important principles but accept that its books JESUS, and MUHAMMAD. All these men had messages were written in the context of the world view of to help people contend with the new world of writ- ancient times and may contain myth, poetry, and ing, empires, history, and individualism. Scriptures outdated ideas as well as relevant truth. Many were part of that message, and vehicles of it. Buddhists regard their more philosophical texts as Scriptures contain many things: histories, as suggestive of insights beyond words that must be in the Hebrew scriptures and the Kojiki of SHINTO then realized in MEDITATION. Scriptures are studied, Japan, to help people see that GOD or the gods meditated on, preached out of, read aloud in ser- are working in history and so one need not be vices, chanted (in Hinduism and Buddhism, the afraid of change; laws and rituals, as in parts of very sounds themselves are key seeds of religious the Hebrew scriptures and the Confucian books, experience), sung as hymns, used as sources of to help people keep alive traditions of the past in folk wisdom. the face of change; rules and attitudes for right liv- Scriptures are also important as symbols of ing, as in the Qur’an; wisdom and poetry for the the identity of religious communities; members are sake of fullness of life and praise to God; philoso- people who have this in common. They promote phy as in the UPANISHADS part of the Vedas and the the spread of literacy. They seal the authority of Buddhist Sutras to help people realize the timeless religious leaders, who are their proper interpret- in the midst of time. The scriptures of Judaism, ers, and validate the religion’s paths to individual Christianity, and Islam show that there is a God SALVATION. Yet they also can legitimate independent 412 S scriptures, Buddhist

prophets and reformers, who can go back to the All schools recognize three basic kinds of original scriptures to fi nd their new ideas, perhaps sacred scripture. These kinds are called pitakas ideas that they say the established leaders have or baskets. The scripture as a whole is called the set aside, and challenge their authority with them. Tripitaka or “Three Baskets,” a name particularly Scriptures can stir things up as well as keep them associated with the Theravada canon. (Theravada under control. Scriptures are basic to the life of Buddhists usually write Tipitaka, the name in religion as we know it. Pali, the language in which their sacred books are written.) The three baskets contain the rules for MONKS AND NUNS, known as the vinaya; sermons scriptures, Buddhist The sacred books of BUD- preached by the Buddha, known as sutras or, in DHISM are unlike the sacred scriptures with which Pali, suttas; and philosophical texts, known as readers may be familiar. For one thing, most North abhidharma or, in Pali, abhidhamma. The indi- Americans associate sacred scriptures with a closed vidual books that each basket contains are too canon, a “rule” of authoritative writings that does numerous to list here, but some important com- not make room for any additions. For another, they ponents include the Theragatas and Therigatas imagine scriptures as being long, perhaps, but still (poems by ancient monks and nuns), jatakas relatively manageable. For example, it is possible (stories of previous lives of the Buddha), and to bind the BIBLES that Jews and Christians use apadanas (the lives of remarkable Buddhists told as well as the QUR’AN into single volumes. These as examples). The Theravada canon was alleg- characteristics do not describe Buddhist scriptures. edly closed around the time of Jesus. That may One school of Buddhism, the Theravada (see THER- not be historically accurate. The collections asso- AVA DA BUDDHISM), does have a canon that is offi - ciated with different regions, such as Sri Lanka cially closed. The Tibetan canon, in the tradition and Burma, differ somewhat. of VAJRAYANA BUDDHISM, is closed in fact, if not offi - Buddhism came to China in the early centuries cially. But the canon of MAHAYANA BUDDHISM is not C.E., and Buddhists actively translated Buddhist closed. Books can still be added to it. Furthermore, texts into Chinese. As a result, several Chinese all Buddhist schools have many more sacred books versions of the vinaya for monks and nuns exist. than could ever be bound into a single volume, at The Chinese did not translate the sutra and abhid- least a single volume with readable print. Finally, harma texts completely. But more important for different schools of Buddhism differ much more the practice of the religion, Mahayana Buddhism about which books are sacred than do, for exam- in East Asia has recognized a number of sutras ple, Protestant and Catholic Christians, who differ that the Theravada does not recognize. These texts on the APOCRYPHA, or Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims, allegedly record the secret teachings of the Bud- who accept the same Qur’an. dha. They were written relatively late and contain Like JESUS and MUHAMMAD, the BUDDHA, known distinctive Mahayana teachings, such as teachings to Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhists as Sakya- about buddha nature and the Pure Land. The most muni, taught orally. He did not write any books. important Mahayana sutras include the Diamond Tradition records that, after his parinirvana (which Sutra and Heart Sutra (see DIAMOND SUTRA), part of non-Buddhists see as his death), his disciples gath- a group called the “perfection of wisdom” sutras; ered in India in a place called Rajagriha. The Bud- the Lankavatara Sutra, particularly important for dha’s cousin and secretary, Ananda, led them in Ch’an or ZEN BUDDHISM; the LOTUS SUTRA, a major reciting the Buddha’s teachings. In theory, at least, text for a school known as Tendai as well as for these teachings constitute the sacred scriptures of NICHIREN Buddhism; and three sutras particularly Buddhism. Within about two centuries, however, important to PURE LAND BUDDHISM: the shorter and different schools of Buddhism had arisen, and the longer Amitabha Sutra and the Meditation each was developing its own set of scriptures. Sutra. scriptures, Hebrew S 413

Like Mahayana Buddhists, Tibetan Buddhists books in the Protestant Old Testament (see PROTES- recognize many texts as authoritative that are not TANTISM) They are simply divided and counted dif- in the Tipitaka of the Theravada. Their canon has ferently. The Catholic and Orthodox churches have two parts. The Kanjur or “Word of the Buddha” several other books in their Old Testaments (see contains the vinaya, many sutras, and texts known ROMAN CATHOLICISM and EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRISTI- as tantras. The Tenjur or “Teachings” contains a ANITY). Protestants place these other books in the wide variety of texts, including tantras and com- APOCRYPHA. mentaries on the sutras and the abhidharma. Readers may wonder how Buddhists deal with THE FORMULATION such a large and varied set of sacred scriptures. It OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES is impractical, perhaps impossible, for anyone to Perhaps the best name for the Hebrew scriptures is be familiar with all of the texts. Indeed, since the Tanakh, an acronym derived from the three parts Mahayana canon is not closed, no one can ever into which Jews divide the Bible: TORAH (teach- know all of the Mahayana sacred scriptures. The ing), NEVI’IM (prophets), and KETUVIM (writings). Theravada claim to base their teachings solely on For Jews this is the order of the importance of each the Tipitaka. Different Mahayana schools tend part: Torah is most important; Ketuvim is least to emphasize different scriptures. Sometimes the important. (For Christians all three parts have most important text will not even be a sacred equal authority.) Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim is scripture. A school of Zen Buddhism known as also the order in which Jews accepted the books Soto pays most attention to the writings of its as authoritative. founder, DOGEN. Nichiren Buddhists consider the Most modern scholars believe that Torah com- Lotus Sutra the perfect revelation of the Buddha, bines several sources. One source appeared in the superior to all others. Their chief practice is not, southern kingdom, known as Judah, perhaps dur- however, to study the text, as Muslims might study ing the ninth century B.C.E. It uses a proper name the Qur’an. Instead, they simply recite its praises for God: YHWH, which out of respect is usually with the phrase “Namu Myoho-Renge-Kyo” (“Hail simply rendered in English as “the Lord.” A second to the marvelous teaching of the Lotus Sutra”). source appeared in the northern kingdom around the eighth century B.C.E.; it refers to God generi- Further reading: Buddhist Scriptures, Donald S. cally as “Elohim” (God). The book of Deuteron- Lopez, ed. (New York: Penguin Putnam, 2004); omy constitutes a third source, discovered in the The Dhammapada, John Ross Carter and Mahinda temple during the reign of King Josiah (640–609 Palihawadana, trans. (New York: Oxford University B.C.E.), while priests during the Babylonian Exile Press, 2000); The Essential Lotus: Selections from (587–539 B.C.E.) or afterward systematized legal the Lotus Sutra, Burton Watson, trans. (New York: procedures to provide the last source. Torah as a Columbia University Press, 2002); Perfect Wisdom: whole seems certainly to have come into existence The Short Prajñ¯ap¯aramit¯a Texts, Edward Conze, by the time of the priest EZRA (late fi fth or early trans. (Totnes, England: Buddhist Pub. Group, fourth century B.C.E.). 1993); Songs of the Sons and Daughters of Buddha, At the same time that Torah was being for- Andrew Schelling and Anne Waldman, trans. mulated, various religious leaders in ancient (Boston: Shambhala, 1996). Israel, known as prophets, were making their pronouncements. According to tradition, PROPH- ECY continued in ancient Israel until around 400 scriptures, Hebrew The BIBLE used by the Jews, B.C.E. The sayings of some of the prophets were which Christians call the Old Testament. Jews use collected into books. It seems certain that a col- a Bible written in Hebrew that consists of 24 books. lection of books known as the Prophets existed by In content these books are identical with the 39 around 200 B.C.E. 414 S scriptures, Hebrew

By the time of JESUS, the Hebrew Bible was to the perspective of these books as “deuteron- not yet complete. Jesus refers to Torah (“the law”) omistic” because they view the history of Israel and the Prophets and sometimes the Psalms (for in terms of distinctive ideas in the book of Deu- example, Matthew 5.17; 22.40; Luke 24.44) but teronomy, especially the idea that God will bless never to Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings. Israel for keeping the covenant but punish and Instrumental to the collection of the Writings and even destroy it for violating the covenant. the closing of the “canon” or authoritative list of The second kind of prophets are called “Lat- books was a council of rabbis led by Johannan ben ter Prophets.” These include the books known as Zachai at Jamnia in the year 90 C.E. Although not ISAIAH, JEREMIAH, EZEKIEL, and the Twelve. From a all of the rabbis wanted to include all of the books Jewish perspective these prophets describe how now in the Writings, they eventually decided on a God was active in their time. Christians have gen- canon of 24 books because there are 24 letters in erally seen them as foretelling the future, espe- the Hebrew alphabet. cially events concerning Jesus. A verse from Isaiah can provide a good example of the difference. The CONTENTS OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES Jewish Publication Society’s translation of Tanakh renders Isaiah 7.14: “Assuredly, my Lord will give Torah you a sign of His own accord! Look, the young Torah means “teaching”; it has sometimes also woman is with child and about to give birth to been translated as “law.” The books of Torah are a son. Let him name him Immanuel.” The King called teaching, because in them God teaches his James version translated the same verse, “There- people how he wants them to live. These teachings fore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, are given in mitzvot, commandments. The rabbis a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall have identifi ed 613 mitzvot in Torah. call his name Immanuel.” Modern scholars tend Torah comprises the fi rst fi ve books of the to agree that at the time Isaiah was giving a sign Bible, traditionally attributed to MOSES. The fi rst of hope by referring to a pregnant woman in the book, Genesis, provides a universal prehistory king’s court, perhaps the queen. or mythology, followed by stories about ances- tors of the people of Israel: ABRAHAM and SARAH, Ketuvim ISAAC and REBEKAH, and JACOB, his wives, and his The Writings comprise a variety of sacred books, children. The other four books, Exodus to Deuter- such as PSALMS, Proverbs, Ezra-Nehemiah, Chron- onomy, center on Moses. They tell of the freeing icles, JOB, and DANIEL. Of these, perhaps the most of the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt, the important is the book of Psalms; the psalms or giving of the commandments on a mountain that poems that it contains have been used by Jews and Exodus calls Sinai and Deuteronomy calls Horeb, Christians in worship since ancient times. Chroni- and the wandering of the Israelites in the desert cles retells the story of Israel’s history down to the for 40 years. exile in Babylon, while Ezra-Nehemiah tells about the return from Babylon and the rebuilding of the Nevi’im Temple in Jerusalem. Proverbs and Job are exam- Judaism recognizes two kinds of prophets. The ples of WISDOM LITERATURE. Proverbs gives advice fi rst, called “Former Prophets,” include the books for living, while Job wrestles with the problem of of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. Christians undeserved suffering. The book of Daniel is a well- often refer to these books as “historical.” Calling known story written in the time of the Maccabean the books prophets highlights how they differ from revolt (168–164 B.C.E.) but set in the time of the history as we know it: Their goal is not to record Babylonian exile. It urges Jews to remain faithful human deeds and events but to identify how God to the covenant and predicts that the Maccabees was active in the past. Modern scholars often refer will be successful in their revolt. seasons and religion S 415

THE TEXT OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES ple live in them. They do so, among other ways, by One characteristic of the Hebrew scriptures that giving attention to seasons. The seasonal dimen- may seem peculiar is the wide variety of versions sion of religion is often especially important for that exist for many of the books. The text that Jews people like hunters, gatherers, and farmers, whose consider authoritative, also used by Christians, livelihood makes them aware of the rhythms of is known as the Masoretic text. That is because nature. scholars known as Masoretes fi nally established it One way religions pay attention to the seasons as authoritative around the year 1000 C.E. But there is by telling stories. A well-known story from the are also very different versions for many of the ancient Greeks tells about Kore or Persephone, books. For example, the Samaritans have a version who was abducted by Pluton and eventually had of the Torah, or Pentateuch, that differs consider- to spend six months a year below ground and six ably from the Jewish version. The Greek text of the months above. Most people connect this story in Hebrew scriptures known as the Septuagint con- some way with the seasons and the rhythms of tains very different versions of the Latter Prophets, plant life. for example, the prophet Isaiah, as well as of some A more visible way of celebrating the seasons of the writings, such as Esther and Daniel. is through public RITUALS. Public RITUALS often mark In the past people saw different versions of important points in the agricultural calendar. Two the Hebrew scriptures as corruptions of the origi- important SHINTO FESTIVALS take place at the time of nal text. Discoveries of ancient manuscripts such planting in spring and harvesting in autumn. But as the DEAD SEA SCROLLS have tended to change the agricultural calendar is not always defi ned by that view. They seem to show that for many of spring and autumn. Two HINDU FESTIVALS, Dussehra the Hebrew scriptures there never was an origi- and Divali, mark the end of the rainy season and nal text, written by a single author, from which all the planting of winter crops. the others diverged. Instead, various people seem Still other seasonal festivals mark events in to have collected various materials together under the solar year. The ancient Romans celebrated the the same name, for example, Isaiah. As time went rebirth of the sun at the time just after the winter on, different religious communities established solstice on December 25. European folklore pre- standardized versions of these books. serves memories of celebrations of the summer solstice on Midsummer Night’s Eve. During the Further reading: Lawrence Boadt, Reading the Old summer, although not on a specifi c date, Native Testament: An Introduction (New York: Paulist Americans on the Great Plains often celebrated Press, 1984); The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in Sun Dances (see NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGIONS). English, Geza Vermes, trans., new ed. (New York: Many religions mark the beginning of the Penguin Books, 2004); The New Oxford Annotated NEW YEAR, although the dates on which they do NRSV Bible with the Apocrypha, 3d ed., Michael D. so vary considerably. One common feature of New Coogan et al., eds. (New York: Oxford University Year festivals is excess. Some scholars connect this Press, 2001); Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, The excess with a disappearance of the old order, fol- New JPS Translation According to the Traditional lowed at the end of the festival by the establish- Hebrew Text (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication ment of a new order. Society, 1985); Joseph Telushkin, Biblical Literacy: The conditions of modern life often distract The Most Important People, Events, and Ideas of the people from the rhythms of the seasons. Neverthe- Hebrew Bible (New York: William Morrow, 1997). less, many rituals common in North America have a seasonal dimension, even if it is not always very apparent. The JEWISH FESTIVALS of PASSOVER, Sha- seasons and religion Religions celebrate envi- vuot, and Sukkot correspond to important times in ronments, make them meaningful, and help peo- the agricultural year of ancient Canaan. CHRISTMAS 416 S Seventh-Day Adventism

falls on the date of the old celebration of the rebirth tion of sexuality. The social order is fundamen- of the sun, and EASTER is a spring celebration of tally based on marriage and the family, and so new life. requires a morality in which sexuality is affi rmed but kept within wedlock. However, the quest for salvation, in some eyes, may call for CELIBACY, or Seventh-Day Adventism An American Chris- at the other extreme, the use of sexual RITUALS tian group best known for worshipping on Saturday outside of marriage. rather than Sunday. Adventists expect the immedi- The conventional view is that sexuality is a ate return (“advent”) of JESUS. A Baptist minister sacred gift to be used within marriage for pro- named William Miller (1782–1849) predicted that creation, since a fundamental human obliga- Jesus would return to Earth in 1843 and then in tion is, in the words of the book of Genesis, to 1844. He did not, but a few remained convinced “be fruitful and multiply.” Fertility is a common that Miller got the date right. Instead of returning, religious theme; just as there are prayers for rites they taught, Jesus had entered the heavenly sanc- on behalf of the fertility of fi elds and animals, so tuary to examine the Book of Life. wedding rites are likely to contain veiled sexual These people became Seventh-Day Adventists. symbols like the wedding ring, and PRAYERS for They took this name because, unlike other Adven- children. Some gods, like the Hindu SIVA and his tists, they decided that Christians were supposed companion, Nandi the bull, or the SHINTO Inari, to WORSHIP on Saturday, not Sunday. They were have clear fertility meaning. Some primal societies also convinced that one of their early leaders, Ellen have had orgiastic festivals to promote fecundity, Harmon White (1827–1915), had the gift of PROPH- and obvious sexual symbols can still be seen in ECY. Although the community began in the United some Shinto celebrations. Nonetheless all major States, it has been very successful overseas. religions strongly uphold marriage as the way of Seventh-Day Adventists have emphasized veg- life for most people, holding that sexuality is to etarianism and a good diet. They indirectly made be expressed fully only within it. Often in prac- a very important contribution to American life: tice, however, there is a double standard between breakfast cereal. The head of an Adventist health men and women. Some religious cultures are very institute in Battle Creek, Michigan, Dr. J. H. Kel- particular that brides be virgins, but seem less con- logg, experimented with cereals for his patients. cerned about males. Eventually he and his brother, W. K. Kellogg, went At another extreme there is TANTRISM in HINDU- into business making corn fl akes. One of Dr. Kel- ISM and BUDDHISM, which uses sex or its symbols logg’s patients also went into the cereal business: as a sacrament or sign of the divine. In the Hindu C. W. Post. Tantric ritual called maithuna or “union,” the male identifi es with Siva, the female with his sakti or energy and the creation; thus they enact the union sexuality and religion The relation of religion of HEAVEN and Earth, God and the world. This is a to the sexual nature of human life. Human sexual- common theme of the art of Vajrayana of TIBETAN ity has always raised issues for religion and been RELIGION, though there the rites are usually done viewed many different ways. Sexuality can be symbolically. Similar usage can be found in TAOISM. viewed as a source of temptation that leads one There is also the widespread practice of celi- away from GOD.; on the other hand, it is a source bacy, or forgoing active sexual expression for the of a powerful energy that some have been bold sake of spirituality. It is followed in ROMAN CATHOLI- enough to say can be redirected and used in the CISM by priests, and by celibate MONKS AND NUNS quest for God. As for religion, its two main func- within the Catholic traditions of CHRISTIANITY, and tions, maintaining the social order and offering a in Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism. means to SALVATION, can be at odds on the ques- See also HOMOSEXUALITY AND RELIGION. shamanism S 417

Shakers An American communitarian move- she sees a VISION or has another sign that a guid- ment. The Shakers were an offshoot of the QUAK- ing spirit has come who then will help the novice ERS. They began in England in 1747. They got their control and use spiritual powers. The prospective name because their WORSHIP services involved adept next may seek training from a senior sha- much energetic activity, including shaking. This man. In Japan blind girls have sometimes become was taken to be a sign that the Holy Spirit was shamanesses. Shamans often have elaborate dress present. and accoutrements. They may wear robes and In 1774 the Shakers came to the United States ornate hats, and beat drums to help them go into under the leadership of Ann Lee (1736–84). They trance. Their performances may include dance and considered her a prophet and eventually a personi- drama as they go about their two main duties, to fi cation of the female aspect of God. “Mother Lee” speak to the gods and heal the sick. taught that people who remained celibate could There are two main kinds of shaman: “posses- achieve perfection. sion” shamans and “traveling” shamans. The for- The Shakers formed several communities from mer stay in one place, so to speak, in their ecstatic Maine to Indiana. Their communities stressed celi- trance, but call down gods and spirits to possess bacy and the equality of the sexes. The residents of them and speak through their lips. Such shamans the communities held all property in common. can receive the spirits of the departed and so let The Shakers were most numerous in the mid- their loved ones hear their voices again. They dle 1800s, when they had around 6,000 members. also communicate the instructions of gods, and By the end of the 20th century they were virtu- do healings with the help of the gods who have ally extinct. Though small in number, the Shakers entered them. made important contributions to American society. “Traveling” shamans are believed, in trance, to These include their music, crafts, and distinctive, be able to fl y through the air or dive into the Earth simple but elegant furniture. to visit the land of the dead, recover lost or stolen souls, or speak to the gods above. Sometimes these scenarios are quite dramatic public performances. shamanism The practice of religious special- The Altaic shaman would climb an upright tree ists who have been specially trained and initiated trunk representing the way from Earth through the to go into trance and contact the spiritual world various heavenly spheres above. On each level the directly. The shaman is an important fi xture of shaman would call down to the audience of his religious life in PRIMAL RELIGION, preliterate tribal tribespeople, describing the particular paradisal cultures, and traditional societies of many parts of realm he was now entering. Eskimo shamans, in a the world. The word shaman and classic examples crowded but darkened room, would enact a vivid come from Siberia and central Asia. But shamans ritual, with sound effects, of going into the Earth to can also be found throughout the Americas, where seek the central realm of their deities. they have sometimes been called “medicine men,” Shamans have often been associated with in China, Korea, and Japan (where they are most healing. Sickness was frequently believed to be often female), and elsewhere. Signifi cant traces of caused by the loss of one’s soul. Shamans in North shamanism can be seen in the background of most America’s Pacifi c northwest, in the presence of sick of the major religions of history. persons and the family, would dramatically enact One becomes a shaman in two ways: through their journey to the other world in search of the lost heredity or special vocation. In the latter case, the soul, including the crossing of treacherous rivers prospective shaman often displays highly bizarre and combat with guardian demons. When they had behavior, as though going mad; this is a sign the found the strayed spirit, they would bear it back in gods have singled out this person. The future sha- triumph, singing its song. One can imagine how man may go out into the wilderness until he or such a performance would revive and perhaps even 418 S Shariah heal the patient! Another view of sickness was that mental states. (Some have suggested that the elec- it was the result of invasion of the sick person by tronic dance music known as techno that is played EVIL spirits. Other shamans would heal the sick by at raves has this effect, too.) Practitioners believe sucking out or driving out the malevolent entity. In that in these states they come into contact with any case, the shaman tends to diagnose and then the spirit world or more broadly with the whole treat the illness in terms compatible with the world world of nature. Their spirit helpers, along with view of his culture. the knowledge of plants and crystals that they have Shamanism also had a profound impact on the learned in their altered states, give them the ability early development of human culture. One could to heal. Some movements calling themselves sha- say that shamans were the fi rst physicians, psy- manic make use of a wide range of healing tech- chologists, poets, and prophets. Shamanism also niques, such as aromatherapy, rain drop therapy, had a deep relationship with the beginnings of art and Reiki (a healing practice based on touch) as and story, for the shamans created or used these well as shamanic journeying and soul retrieval. in their costumes and performances to a greater Neoshamanism rejects sharp boundaries degree than anyone else. They could also serve as between human beings and animals and often magicians and priests, and custodians of tribal lore. seeks to restore wholeness on a cosmic as well as To be sure, shamans have sometimes been sleight- an individual level. In this respect it has a strong of-hand artists, resorting to trickery to achieve ecological character. their effects. Yet, all in all, they greatly expanded Modern medicine attributes whatever healing the horizons of human experience and ability. benefi ts neoshamanic practices have to psycho- The rise of science, modern medicine, elec- logical factors. Many medical professionals are tronic communication, and global business has also suspicious that many claims about healing not meant the end of shamanism; it has produced are unproved and overstated. At the same time, new forms of shamanism instead. In a country a patient’s psychological state does contribute to with a strong shamanistic tradition like Korea, sha- healing, and shamanic techniques may have some manism continues to thrive, but the concerns of demonstrable positive effects. the people who seek a shaman’s assistance have Further reading: Mircea Eliade, Shamanism: changed. Formerly people sought healing. Today Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy (New York: Bollingen they are just as likely, or more likely, to seek help Foundation, 1964); Michael Harner, The Way of the and advice in uncertain business dealings. Shaman: A Guide to Power and Healing (New York: In North America and Europe, a different Bantam Books, 1982); I. M. Lewis, Ecstatic Religion: approach to shamanism has arisen, sometimes A Study of Shamanism and Spirit Possession, 3d called “neoshamanism.” More critical of capital- ed. (New York: Routledge, 2003); Shamanism: ism and business practices, it provides an alter- A Reader, Graham Harvey, ed. (New York: native sense of meaning in the modern world for Routledge, 2003); Margaret Stutley, Shamanism: people who fi nd traditional JUDAISM and CHRISTIAN- An Introduction (New York: Routledge, 2003); ITY no longer effective. Piers Vitebsky, Shamanism (Norman: University Starting in the 1960s North Americans and of Oklahoma Press, 2001). Europeans began to take a great deal of interest in anthropology. In the process they discovered shamanism. An early, infl uential popularizer of shamanism was Carlos Castaneda (1925–98). The Shariah An Arabic word meaning path; in ISLAM most infl uential such anthropologist today may be GOD’s revealed law for human beings. Islam holds Michael Harner (b. 1929). that God, as creator, desires human beings to live Neo-shamanism uses rhythmic techniques in certain ways, and that he has revealed those such as drumming and dancing to induce special ways to humans (see ALLAH). That revealed law is Shi’ite Islam S 419

known as Shariah. It is distinct from fi qh, human derives from the Arabic phrase, Shi’at ’Ali, “the attempts to formulate God’s law. party of Ali.” It refers to those who support the God has revealed Shariah through two sources, claim that Ali, a cousin and son-in-law of the the QUR’AN, God’s revelations to the Prophet prophet MUHAMMAD, and his descendants are the MUHAMMAD, and the HADITH, reports about what rightful rulers of the Islamic community. A large the Prophet said and did that have been carefully majority of Muslims reject Shi’ite claims and prac- scrutinized to ensure their accuracy. According tice SUNNI ISLAM. Sunni and Shi’ite Islam differ to these sources there are some actions that God somewhat with regard to beliefs and practices, but requires human beings to perform and some that the major difference concerns who is the rightful God absolutely forbids. Other actions fall some- ruler of the Islamic community. The dispute goes where in between, as being either preferable to do, back to the time of the prophet’s death. preferable to avoid, or neutral. Although the Qur’an and Hadith contain Sha- HISTORY riah, human beings must interpret them. In SHI’ITE During his lifetime, the prophet Muhammad led ISLAM the proper interpretation is associated espe- the community of Islam both religiously and politi- cially with the descendants of the Prophet, the cally. He was the ultimate religious authority. He Shi’ite IMAMs, and in practice today with religious also supervised the life of the community and led authorities known as AYATOLLAHs. In SUNNI ISLAM its armies against its enemies. interpretation is the job of legal scholars or jurists. When the prophet died, the question of who These jurists endeavor to determine precisely what should succeed him remained unsettled. According the texts mean. They also reason from analogy, to Sunni Islam, Muhammad died without appoint- in part because situations arise today that could ing a successor. The community entrusted its not have been anticipated in Arabia at the time political affairs to a political leader, and it allowed of God’s fi nal revelation. An individual jurist may scholars to decide religious issues. By contrast, issue a fatwa, a statement of what the law requires. Shi’ite Islam maintains that a single person was Such a legal opinion is instructive, but it is not to exercise both religious and political leadership, binding. More binding is the unanimous consensus as the prophet had done. Indeed, Shi’ites claim of jurists. A verse in the Qur’an says that the com- that before the prophet died, he appointed such a munity of the faithful will never agree on error. leader, his cousin Ali. Ideally, Shariah constitutes the law of a Muslim Ali’s connections to the prophet were partic- state. In practice, most Muslim states have used Sha- ularly close. He was the son of Abu Talib, who riah in some areas, such as personal law, and made had raised Muhammad and protected him from their own laws in other areas, such as criminal law. his enemies within the Quraysh tribe. He was also In recent decades Muslim feminists have argued that the prophet’s son-in-law, the husband of Muham- many traditional rules that disadvantaged women mad’s daughter Fatima. He was the father of the are not Shariah but improper interpretations on the prophet’s only grandsons, Hasan and Husayn. And part of past legal scholars (see FEMINISM). Fundamen- he was the fi rst male who accepted God’s revela- talist Muslims take a different position. They con- tions to Muhammad. demn the secularism that they see around them as When the prophet died, Ali did not succeed an abandonment of God’s revelation and advocate him. The community selected three successive the application of Shariah in most or all spheres of leaders known as caliphs: Abu Bakr (caliph, 632– life (see FUNDAMENTALISM, ISLAMIC). 634), Umar (caliph, 634–644), and Uthman (caliph, 644–656). These caliphs were social, political, and military leaders, but not religious ones. Shi’ites do Shi’ite Islam A variety of ISLAM practiced by not acknowledge them as legitimate. Ali did rule as about 15 percent of all Muslims. The name “Shi’ite” fourth caliph from 656 to 661, but there was much 420 S Shi’ite Islam

unrest at the time. His grasp on the government Eventually he will emerge from hiding and restore was never fi rm. true Islam. In the meantime he inspires religious Upon Ali’s death, his son Hasan abdicated in scholars, known as mujtahidin or AYATOLLAHS, who favor of the powerful, ambitious, and militarily lead the community. In the 16th century a twelver successful Muawiyah (caliph, 661–680). He lived Shi’ite dynasty, the Safavids, took control of Iran. the rest of his life in retirement and died in 669. The Shi’ite community was instrumental in bring- At that point Hasan’s brother Husayn became the ing about the Iranian revolution of 1979. rightful IMAM, the name Shi’ites give the leader of the community. Muawiyah died in 680, and BELIEFS, PRACTICES, AND ORGANIZATION Husayn saw an opportunity to assert his claims. Like all Muslims, Shi’ites practice the fi ve pillars But while he was traveling to gather supporters, of the FAITH. They accept the QUR’AN as authentic. he and his family were intercepted at a place in They also recognize the authority of the proph- southern Iraq called Karbala. Negotiations failed, et’s words and deeds as recorded in the (Shi’ite) and a massacre followed. Husayn’s head was sent HADITH. to the new caliph, Yazid, in Damascus. Only one of The major difference between Sunni and his sons survived. Throughout the world Shi’ites Shi’ite Islam is over who should govern the com- remember this event every year with mourning in munity and how. As already noted, the Shi’ites an observance known as Ashura. say a single person known as the imam should During the next several generations the Shi’ite rule both politically and religiously. For them, the community split over who was the rightful imam. imam is God’s own witness on Earth. He possesses Three major groups emerged. They are commonly perfect religious knowledge. called “fi vers,” “seveners,” and “twelvers.” As a result, Shi’ites also differ from Sunnis on Fivers favor the claims of a grandson of how the Muslim community learns what is right. Husayn named Zayd to have been the fi fth imam. According to Sunnis, the Qur’an and the Hadith He and his followers insisted that it was their duty of the prophet teach what is right. The consensus to overthrow illegitimate rulers with force. They of religious scholars determines what they mean. had limited success. In the late ninth century they When one confronts situations not found in the established a state in Yemen, where fi vers contin- Qur’an and the Hadith, as happens today, religious ued in power until 1963. scholars determine what is right by reasoning from Seveners and twelvers differ over the question analogy. of who was the seventh imam. Seveners say it was Shi’ites reject both the consensus of schol- Ismail, the older son of the sixth imam. His father ars and reasoning from analogy. They add to had appointed him imam, but he died before his the Hadith of the prophet the pronouncements father did: Seveners insist that Ismail’s appointment of imams. To determine what is required today, stands anyway, and they followed Ismail’s son. In some communities, such as the Nizari Ismailis, the 10th century a sevener established the Fatimid consult their imam; others, such as the twelvers, dynasty, and seveners ruled Egypt for roughly 200 consult a recognized religious scholar, who rea- years. From the Fatimids came the Nizari Ismailis, sons independently. This reasoning results in the a group known in the Middle Ages as the ASSAS- issuing of a legal pronouncement known as a SINS, and a small community with its own religion fatwa. One of the most notorious fatwas of the known as the DRUZE. Today the Nizari Ismailis are 20th century was pronounced by the leader of a peaceful and peace-loving community. They rec- Iran, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. He called ognize the AGA KHAN as their imam. upon Muslims to kill a novelist, Salman Rushdie, The twelvers are the largest Shi’ite group. because, Khomeini claimed, Rushdie had blas- They recognize the 12th imam as the last. In 873 phemed God and the Qur’an in one of his books. C.E., they say, the 12th imam went into hiding. One should emphasize that this particular fatwa Shinto S 421

is extreme, unusual, and controversial, even in HISTORY Shi’ite communities. In the Middle Ages kami and buddhas were often Shi’ites have often lived as a persecuted worshipped together. The kami were considered minority. They have seen “dissimulation” as an guardians of the buddhas, or sometimes special appropriate response. That is, they may outwardly Japanese forms of the same spiritual power seen act like their neighbors and practice Shi’ite Islam in Buddhism as a Buddha. But in modern times in secret. The most distinctive Shi’ite observance Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples have been is Ashura. It commemorates the assassination of kept separate. This is largely because the nation- Husayn on the 10th of Muharram, often through alistic governments that ruled Japan from 1868 up the performance of “passion plays.” until the end of World War II in 1945 wanted to make Shinto a separate patriotic cult, untouched SIGNIFICANCE by anything of foreign origin like Buddhism (see At the beginning of the 21st century, Shi’ite Islam NATIONALISM, RELIGIOUS). The extreme nationalists was familiar to North Americans as the offi cial reli- emphasized that the emperor of Japan was himself gion of Iran and the majority religion of Iraq. It a kami and descended from Amaterasu, kami or was often associated with reports of violence in the goddess of the sun. He was therefore worthy of all news media. But in all ages, including the present, honor and sacrifi ce (see KINGSHIP AND RELIGION). the vast majority of Shi’ites have practiced their However, Shinto as a religion is much more religion in peace, sometimes despite severe perse- than an example of religious nationalism. The kami cution. They have also made major contributions of most shrines are peaceful deities, protectors of to global culture. Examples include the famous al- families and local communities, honored in festi- Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, founded by the vals that have their roots in the agricultural year. Fatimids in 970 C.E., and the glorious architectural They were there long before the extreme national- monuments of Isfahan, Persia (now Iran). ists, and have outlasted them. Though the emperor Further reading: Michael M. J. Fischer, Iran: From of Japan is still installed with very ancient Shinto Religious Dispute to Revolution (Madison: University rites, his religious and political role is now almost of Wisconsin Press, 2003); Heinz Halm, Shi’ism, always seen as purely symbolic. 2d ed. (New York: Columbia University Press, BELIEFS AND PRACTICES 2004); Etan Kohlberg, ed., Shi’ism (Burlington, The visitor to present-day Japan will see evidence Vt.: Ashgate, 2003). of Shinto on every hand. In most places one is not too far from a Shinto shrine or jinja large or small. Large city shrines are on parklike grounds, with Shinran See PURE LAND BUDDHISM. grass and one or two old trees. In the country- side, shrines are often in places of striking natural beauty: on a mountainside, by a waterfall, beside Shinto Japanese religion of the indigenous gods the ocean or a lake or a rushing stream. Wherever of the country. The word Shinto means “the way of situated, the entry to a Shinto shrine is marked by the gods.” This is to distinguish it from the way of the distinctive gateway called a torii, which has the BUDDHA, or BUDDHISM, the other great religious become a symbol of Shinto as recognizable as the tradition of Japan (see JAPANESE RELIGION). Shinto is Christian cross or the Jewish Star of DAVID. Pass- the WORSHIP of the KAMI, or ancient Japanese gods. ing under the torii, the visitor will approach the Many of those worshipped now were there long shrine itself, a small wooden building. In the front before Buddhism arrived in Japan in the sixth cen- will be a sort of porch, perhaps containing such tury C.E. and are still honored in the Shinto shrines characteristic Shinto symbols as a drum beaten of Japan today. during sacred dance, gohei or zigzag strips of 422 S Shinto festivals paper fastened to an upright pole, and in the cen- past. Spiritually, it emphasizes the importance of ter a mirror indicating the presence of divinity. In purity, for the kami and their shrines are thought a section behind the porch an eight-legged offer- to be very pure places, and one can purify one’s ing table may be seen. Behind it, steep steps lead own mind and heart by closeness to them. As a up to massive closed doors. These doors, usually polytheistic religion, one affi rming many gods and closed, open into the honden or inner sanctuary goddesses, Shinto suggests that the divine can be of the shrine, where a special token of the kami found in many different local forms, and by this presence is kept. means is close to the lives of communities and Persons passing a shrine often pause to pray. people. They will come to the front of the shrine, clap their Further reading: Thomas P. Kasulis, Shinto: hands twice or pull a bell-rope, bow, and whisper The Way Home (Honolulu: University of Hawaii a PRAYER. Priests present offerings at shrines peri- Press, 2004); C. Scott Littleton, Shinto: Origins, odically. The great occasions of a shrine, however, Rituals, Festivals, Spirits, Sacred Places (New York: are its annual matsuri or festivals. Then the shrine Oxford University Press, 2002); John K. Nelson, really comes to life. Festivals are planned and pre- A Year in the Life of a Shinto Shrine (Seattle: pared for weeks, and usually draw large crowds. University of Washington Press, 1996); Inoue They have a happy, holiday atmosphere, but begin Nobutaka, ed., Shinto, A Short History (New York: with solemn worship and prayer. RoutledgeCurzon, 2003). First the priests enter the shrine in their white or pastel robes and black eboshi or high rounded hats. The chief priest next purifi es the shrine and the assembled crowd through a gesture like wav- Shinto festivals Celebrations held at SHINTO ing an evergreen branch. Then the offerings are shrines in Japan. The Japanese celebrate a great slowly and carefully advanced and placed on the number of festivals, many of them connected with offering table. Offerings are usually beautifully Shinto, the indigenous Japanese religion. Some arranged dishes of rice, seafood, fruit, vegetables, are celebrated nationwide; others are festivals spe- salt, water, and sake or rice wine. When they are cially celebrated at a particular shrine. all in order, the chief priest stands behind the table As the ancient religion of Japan, Shinto has and chants a norito or prayer. Then the offerings many connections with farming. Two very com- are slowly removed. mon Shinto festivals are the festival to pray for a After that, the matsuri changes to its fes- good harvest, held in the spring, and the harvest tive mood, kept a little differently in each shrine festival, held in the fall. Shinto is also connected according to local tradition. A carnival may open with growth on the human level, and some festi- on the shrine grounds. Maidens may perform vals celebrate the growth of children into adults. sacred dance. The kami may be carried vigorously They include a festival on November 15, at which through the streets in a palanquin called a miko- parents present at a shrine sons aged three and shi, borne on the shoulders of young men. Many fi ve and daughters aged three and seven; a festival shrine traditions are famous and draw spectators for girls on March 3, a festival for boys on May to the pageantry of their matsuri from afar. Cele- 5, and a festival at which people who turned 20 brated attractions include grand parades, bonfi res, years old in the preceding year visit a shrine on horse or boat races, dances, and much else, all January 20. usually in colorful traditional costumes. Shinto festivals are both solemn rituals and joyous, even ribald affairs. At the shrine itself SIGNIFICANCE priests purify the sacred area; worshippers then For many Japanese, Shinto is important because it bow, present offerings to the KAMI, pray, and enter- provides links to the rich traditions of their nation’s tain the kami with music and dance. Offerings Sikhism S 423 include water, salt, sake (rice wine), vegetables, (June 17), and various forms of horse races at the and seafood products, but nothing that has blood, Soma Wild Horse Chase Festival (July 23–25). such as meat. Worshippers commune with the kami by drinking sake that has been presented at the shrine. Sikhism A religion from northwest India that Festivals also resemble great fairs. It is very traces itself back to 10 GURUS, beginning with common to celebrate festivals with a procession in Guru NANAK (1469–1539). Today the Sikhs vener- which several worshippers carry portable shrines ate above all a book of writings known as the ADI for the kami in parades through the streets. Other GRANTH or Guru Granth Sahib. common events at festivals include plays, sumo wrestling, and feasting. Some festivals have events HISTORY that are peculiar to them. Examples include kite Guru Nanak lived in the Punjab, “the region of the battles at the Hamamatsu Kite-Flying Festival (May fi ve rivers” in northwest India. At the age of 30 he 3–5), dances performed by unmarried women hold- had an extraordinary religious experience. After- ing lilies for the Lily Festival at the Isakawa Shrine ward, he began to preach a distinct religious path

From the Illustrations to One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets: Emperor Sanjo (r. 1012–1016). A ritual for the full autumn moon; a priest holds a gohei, a paper or cloth offering used in Shinto rituals, and an acolyte offers a cup of sake. Courtiers kneel in prayer. (Erich Lessing/Art Resource, N.Y.) 424 S Sikhism

became prosperous in business and agriculture. With the establishment of India and Pakistan in 1947 and 1948, some Sikhs began to agitate for the establishment of a separate Sikh state to be called Khalistan. In the 20th century a mod- est Sikh community also began to grow in North America and Europe, especially in the south- western United States. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks Sikhs in the United States experienced discriminatory treatment and violence because some people wrongly associ- ated their distinctive appearance with Osama bin Laden and AL-QAEDA.

BELIEFS Every morning Sikhs pray a PRAYER known as the Japji. It summarizes Sikh teachings about GOD: He is one and true; he is the creator; he is present in This miniature portrait made on ivory shows Guru Nanak, all the universe but is not subject to the laws of founder of the Sikh religion (Victoria & Albert Museum, rebirth. Sikhs believe that God cannot be found in London/Art Resource, N.Y.) images. Instead, they fi nd God in his name, in the 10 gurus, and in the Guru Granth. Sikhs believe that by following God’s path people can become that went beyond the differences between Hindus pure and, over a succession of rebirths, eventually and Muslims. Nanak was followed in succession by unite with the eternal. nine other gurus or teachers. The fi fth guru, Arjun, began building the most sacred shrine of the Sikhs, PRACTICES the Golden Temple at Amritsar in northwest India. Sikhs WORSHIP together in a building known as a He also collected writings from his predecessors gurdwara. There the Guru Granth rests upon an into a book known as the Adi Granth. elevated platform, where it is decorated with fl ow- From 1526 northern India was ruled by the ers and fanned. During worship Sikhs listen to and Mughal dynasty. The Mughals were Muslims. At participate in singing from the Guru Granth. They fi rst relations between the Sikhs and the Mughals also present gifts to the Guru Granth and receive were good. But in 1605 Jahangir came to the a sweet in return. Sikh holidays include the birth- throne. He tortured and executed Guru Arjun, days of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh and because he thought Arjun had adulterated Islamic the anniversary of Guru Arjun’s martyrdom. teachings. In response, the Sikhs saw themselves as called to be soldiers as well as saints. In the ORGANIZATION face of continuing persecution, the last guru, Guru Most Sikhs are members of the khalsa. They GOBIND SINGH (1666–1708), established a Sikh com- observe what are known as the “fi ve k’s” (in the munity known as the khalsa. He also ended the Punjabi language each stipulation refers to a word line of human gurus and transferred his authority beginning with “k”): They do not cut their hair, to the Adi Granth. including beards in the case of men; they carry In the 19th century the Sikhs decided Brit- combs; they wear special steel bracelets; they carry ish rulers were preferable to Muslim ones. Many swords; and they wear a special kind of pants. Sikhs became soldiers in the British army. Others Male Sikhs generally wear turbans over their hair. sin S 425

Sikhism has no formally ordained priests, As a result, God sent his son JESUS to die on the although certain sects recognize living gurus. CROSS. Some Christians view this act as a “substi- A committee known as the SGPC oversees Sikh tutionary atonement.” In dying on the cross, Jesus shrines in India, where the vast majority of Sikhs paid the penalty that human beings owed to God still live. Its members are elected. because of their sin. Like Jews, Christians distinguish sins of omis- SIGNIFICANCE sion and commission and intentional and uninten- Once considered a sect of HINDUISM, Sikhism has tional sins. Protestant and especially Roman Cath- come to be recognized as a religion in its own right. olic thinkers have classifi ed sin in other ways. At the beginning of the 21st century, it claimed In the fourth century C.E. a British monk roughly 20 million adherents. named Pelagius taught that children were sinless. They resembled ADAM before the FALL. In response, Further reading: Gurinder Singh Mann, Sikhism AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO developed the idea of original (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2004); W. sin. It says that human beings are from the start H. McLeod, Sikhs and Sikhism (New York: Oxford born into a condition that is corrupted by sin. As University Press, 2004); Patwant Singh, The Sikhs a result, it is inevitable that all human beings will (London: John Murray, 1999). sin in thought, word, and deed. These sinful acts are called actual sins, to distinguish them from inherited original sin. sin A violation of GOD’s instructions. Although Roman Catholic thinkers also classifi ed sins the idea of sin is important in JUDAISM, it is espe- as more and less severe: mortal and venial sins, cially so in CHRISTIANITY. respectively. According to Thomas AQUINAS, a The goal of Judaism is to sanctify life, that is, mortal sin turns a person away from God. There- to make life holy by following God’s instructions. fore, mortal sins must be forgiven in the SACRA- Judaism recognizes that people are tempted to act MENT of penance. A venial sin only disturbs a per- in ways that violate God’s instructions. In other son’s relationship with God. Tradition speaks of words, they are tempted to sin. Indeed, at some seven deadly sins: pride, envy, anger, sloth, ava- time or other every person sins. Even MOSES, who rice, gluttony, and lust. Protestant thinkers reject received the TORAH from God personally, was not the distinction between mortal and venial sins. without sin. For them, all sins equally disrupt one’s relation- The RABBIS, or those who made Jewish law, ship with God. Only God’s GRACE can restore this have classifi ed sins. Some sins are sins of com- relationship. mission: People do something that violates God’s Most religions recognize that human beings instructions. Some sins are sins of omission: Peo- are less than perfect, but they do not think of ple fail to do something that God has instructed. this imperfection as sin. The classical scholar E. People do some sins intentionally. But people can R. Dodds once distinguished two types of culture, also sin without intending to do so or even being “shame-cultures” and “guilt-cultures”. According aware that they have sinned. In any case, Jews to Dodds, some cultures, like the early Greeks, believe that, like a compassionate parent, God for- emphasize public shame at failure. Others empha- gives persons who sincerely repent. On the DAY size guilt that results from improper actions. In OF ATONEMENT Jews fast, pray, and collectively ask Judaism and Christianity, guilt may be seen as a God’s forgiveness for their sins. Jews do not, how- psychological counterpart to sin. ever, see SALVATION from sin as the most important Just as important, not all religions have goal of Judaism. conceived of ethical injunctions as instructions For traditional Christians, sin has created a from God. In HINDUISM, BUDDHISM, and JAINISM, condition from which all people need to be saved. bad actions do not offend a creator who has 426 S Siva

god”; and Trimukha, “the three-faced god.” Wor- shippers of Siva are known as Saivas or Saivites. In Sanskrit, the name Siva means “auspicious.” It gracefully links this god to a fi erce god of the VEDA, Rudra, “the howler.” Some have found evi- dence of Siva WORSHIP in seals from the Indus Val- ley Civilization (see INDUS VALLEY RELIGION). South India, too, may be a signifi cant source of Siva wor- ship. The Tamil name Sivan, “the red one,” closely resembles the Sanskrit name Siva. Siva is especially associated with religious austerities and YOGA. His mythology moves back and forth between extremes of severe renuncia- tion and sexual excess. He is easily recognized by his matted hair, his trident, his animal-skin cloak, the third eye in the middle of his forehead, and his blue throat. Siva’s throat turned blue when he drank poison that was spreading on the surface of the primal ocean. Siva is also associ- ated with ash. His followers smear ash on their foreheads and sometimes their bodies in imita- tion of the god. Siva’s special abode is Mount Kailasa in the Himalaya range. His consort is PARVATI. Siva beheaded her father Daksa when he failed to invite Siva to a sacrifi ce. Siva has two sons, Skanda, who was early identifi ed with the south Indian god Statue of the Hindu god Siva (Getty Images) Murugan, and the elephant-headed god GANESA, the remover of obstacles. Siva’s vehicle, the mas- sive bull Nandi, often stands in front of his tem- ples. The rudraksha, a large, coarse, beadlike seed, commanded human beings how to act. The criteria is also sacred to Siva. From it Saivas construct of good and bad are simply given, and the conse- malas or rosaries to use when reciting the god’s quences of action (KARMA) usually result from the names or MANTRAS. operation of natural processes. Several kinds of Siva image are famous world- wide. One depicts Siva as Nataraja, “king of the dance.” In it Siva dances on top of a demon and Siva Also spelled Shiva. One of the most impor- within a circle of fl ames. With two hands he cre- tant gods of HINDUISM. In Hinduism, BRAHMA, ates and destroys the universe. With two other VISHNU, and Siva are thought of as the gods of cre- hands he calms the viewer’s fears and points to the ation, preservation, and destruction, respectively. means of release. Another well-known image is Siva Siva, the god of destruction, is commonly known Ardhanari, half man and half woman. The image by several other names. These identify his impor- emphasizes the intimate connection between the tant characteristics: Mahadeva, “the great god”; male god and his female sakti or power. The most Nilakantha, “the blue-throated god”; Pasupati, famous Siva image of all is the image enshrined in “the lord of animals”; Bhairava, “the terrifying temples. It is an upright cylindrical shaft known Solomon S 427

as a lingam. The lingam rests in a yoni or basin, ing the formula Nam Myoho Renge Kyo (“Hail the which catches libations. Originally the lingam and marvelous teaching of the LOTUS SUTRA”), called the yoni depicted the human sexual organs in stylized Daimoku, and recitation of the Lotus Sutra. Toda form. Polished egg-shaped stones, such as stones also emphasized benefi ts, like healing and prosper- from the Narmada River, are particularly popular ity, from chanting here and now. He encouraged as lingams. aggressive recruiting practices, and also popular There are several different subgroups of Saivas. cultural activities. Soka Gakkai was criticized for The Pasupatas, now extinct, took their name from its aggressive tactics, but grew very rapidly during the cattle that they associated with the god. Saiva- the 1950s. Siddhanta is especially popular in the far south of After Toda’s death in 1958, Soka Gakkai mel- India. It insists that the theology of Siva is the ulti- lowed a bit, but remains both powerful and con- mate truth (siddhanta). Another southern move- troversial. A related political party was founded, ment, Vira-Saivism (heroic Saivism), emphasizes and in the 1970s the movement built a vast new social reform. It is also called Lingayat (lingam- temple at the foot of Mount Fuji. Beginning in wearing), because its adherents wear lingams on the 1960s, the movement also spread successfully necklaces. Kashmir in the far north was also home to the United States and other countries outside to several distinct subgroups of Saivism. Japan. In the 1990s a bitter dispute between the The most important Saiva text may be the lay leadership of Soka Gakkai and the priests of Svetasvatara UPANISHAD. It identifi es Siva with all the religious organization led to a split between reality. Saivas also have distinctive collections Soka Gakkai and Nichiren Shoshu. Soka Gakkai is of mythology and RITUAL (PURANAS and Agamas). now a vigorous, independent international organi- According to tradition the great Indian thinker zation. It promotes a colorful, streamlined, well- SANKARA was a Saiva. So were the great Kashmiri organized form of Buddhism, which its followers philosophers Abhinavagupta and Srikantha, who say is the Buddhism of the future. formulated a special form of VEDANTA philosophy. The major Saiva festival is Sivaratri (see HINDU FESTIVALS). During this festival worshippers bathe Solomon (10th century B.C.E.) a son of DAVID the decorated lingam. and king of Israel and Judah; revered in CHRISTIANITY and ISLAM as well as JUDAISM The BIBLE tells of Solomon’s reign in 1 Kings 1–11 and 2 Chronicles Soka Gakkai Considered the largest of the “new 1–9. religions” of Japan, claiming some 16 million Solomon was the son of David and his wife members. Soka Gakkai (“Value-creation Society”) Bathsheba, whose fi rst husband David had killed. began as a lay organization of the NICHIREN Shoshu After winning the struggles to succeed his father, denomination of BUDDHISM. It was founded by Solomon ruled over an extensive empire in rela- Makiguchi Tsunesaburo in 1937 as an educational tive peace. society emphasizing the importance of human He is remembered for his building program. benefi t as well as abstract truth in education. But The most important of his buildings was the Tem- Makiguchi was also a devout Nichiren Buddhist, ple in JERUSALEM. This was the fi rst Temple to be and saw the relation between his educational phi- built on the site. Its plan, which the Bible describes losophy and Nichiren’s emphasis on benefi ts from in detail, followed Phoenician models. religious practice here and now. He died in prison Solomon is also famous for his wisdom. One during the war because of his refusal to participate famous story tells how he decided which of two in SHINTO worship. But the movement was revived competing women was really a baby’s mother. He in postwar Japan by Toda Josei, who reorganized it ordered the baby to be cut in half. One woman on religious lines. Practice consists chiefl y of chant- pleaded with the king to let the baby live and 428 S soul, concepts of

give it to the other woman. The other woman teries of consciousness can be explained through agreed that the baby should be cut in two. Solo- the brain and its psychology. mon realized that the fi rst woman must be the baby’s mother. Recognizing Solomon’s wisdom, Jews and spirit possession An altered state of conscious- Christians have traditionally attributed to him ness, usually producing unusual behavior, inter- three books in the Bible: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, preted within its religious culture to be the result of and the Song of Songs, sometimes called the Song a spirit entering the subject and taking control over of Solomon. (See WISDOM LITERATURE.) his or her mind and body. It can be either benign At the end of his reign, Solomon’s empire split or malevolent, depending on whether the posses- into two parts, Israel in the north and Judah in the sion is by good or demonic spirits. In the former south, with much of the discontent coming from case, possession can be deliberately induced by forced labor on Solomon’s building projects. chanting, drum-beating, ecstatic trance, or RITUAL as a part of religious activities. Examples can be found in PRIMAL RELIGION, SHAMANISM, Haitian VOO- soul, concepts of Ideas about the spiritual DOO, Afro-Brazilian religions like Macombo, Spiri- essence of a person. In most religious traditions, tualism, and elsewhere. In Voodoo, for example, there exists some concept of a soul or spirit in in the context of religious services persons may human beings, which is distinct from the physi- dress in the part of a god, dance or otherwise go cal body and has religious importance. The soul into trance, and, undergoing impressive personal- is invisible to ordinary eyes, though words for it ity changes, “become” that deity for a time. During in several languages associate it with the breath. this time the possessed one is treated like the deity, Being nonphysical, the soul is commonly believed made much of and even prayed to by the congrega- to survive the death of the body (see AFTERLIFE IN tion. Divine possession can also happen spontane- WORLD RELIGIONS). It then may receive the reward or ously, as a religious experience. punishment earned in its earthly life, whether in Cases of malevolent spirit possession call for a spiritual HEAVEN or HELL, in a new REINCARNATION, a different religious response, that of the exorcist or in a resurrected body. Some traditions have also or specialist in driving out EVIL and demonic spir- believed in the preexistence of the soul in a heav- its. Traditional and even contemporary accounts enly realm or in previous INCARNATIONS before its of demonic possession make hair-raising reading coming into the present life. as they describe the horrible grimaces and bizarre Beliefs about the exact nature of the soul behavior of the affl icted one. The process of EXOR- differ. In HINDUISM it is in essence divine as the CISM is said to be a diffi cult and grueling one, for atman or divine within. BUDDHISM rejects the idea the demon struggles and will not go out easily. In of a separate, eternal soul, though it believes in TAOISM priests use ritual swords, in ROMAN CATHOLI- reincarnation. The Western monotheistic religions, CISM holy water is employed in this spiritual war- JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, and ISLAM, generally believe fare, but in the end it is a battle of wills and the that each soul is a new creation of GOD, rather than relative power of good and evil. itself divine, infused into each person at concep- tion or soon after. Some PRIMAL RELIGIONS believe in multiple souls, perhaps refl ecting a person’s differ- Spiritualism A religious movement based on ent moods, and perhaps with different after-death communication with the spirits of the departed destinies: reincarnation within the family or tribe, through persons called mediums. Typically the hovering around the grave, going to the heavenly medium goes into trance and speaks words believed world. Nonreligious persons, on the other hand, to be from the spirit, although other means, such as reject the idea of a soul, believing that all the mys- the Ouija board or rappings, may be used. The spir- Spiritualism S 429

its are often of deceased loved ones but may also be higher and higher planes, guided by lofty teaching of great teaching fi gures on “the other side.” spirits. Modern Spiritualism began in 1848, when Spiritualism declined somewhat in the 1860s, the two young Fox sisters, Margaretta (aged 11) hurt by fraudulent mediums and national preoc- and Kate (8) in upstate New York reported hear- cupation with the Civil War, but revived after- ing mysterious rappings in their house, which ward, as it often has following wars as bereaved they ascertained to be a departed spirit attempt- survivors seek to contact loved ones lost in bat- ing to communicate in something like the newly tle. Spiritualism also spread around the world invented Morse Code. News of this event spread from the United States, taking root in England, rapidly, and before long such communications France, Australia, New Zealand, and Latin Amer- by rappings, and soon enough by voice medi- ica especially. The fi rst Spiritualist churches and umship, spread across the country. In the 1850s denominations, in contrast to home circles and Spiritualism became a vogue. “Home circles” study groups, appeared around the 1890s. Spiri- gathered around mediums, Spiritualist lecturers tualist “camps” and then communities, like Lily drew large crowds, and controversy concerning Dale in New York state and Cassadaga in Florida, the authenticity of the phenomenon fi lled the appeared and survive today. During the 1920s pages of the press. Spiritualism had another revival, sparked in part Despite its newness, Spiritualism also claimed, by the convert and tireless lecturer on its behalf with some reason, to be “the oldest religion in the Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930), the creator of world,” going back to ancient SHAMANISM. Yet it had Sherlock Holmes. a special appeal for a new age that considered itself In the second half of the 20th century tradi- scientifi c and democratic. Spiritualists declared that tional Spiritualism seemed in decline. But its place now for the fi rst time religious tenets concerning has largely been taken by the NEW AGE MOVEMENT, the spiritual world and the afterlife could be tested which has shown many similar attitudes and ideas. scientifi cally, by experiments and fi rsthand expe- What the New Age calls channeling seems similar rience, and did not have to rely merely on FAITH. to mediumship, although it is usually more con- The new religion also saw itself as democratic, cerned with communications from ancient teach- since anyone with the talent for it could become a ers of high wisdom than messages from loved medium; the role did not depend on education or ones. The view of the afterlife presented by near- church appointment. Many women, who certainly death experiences, a characteristic New Age inter- could not hope to exercise comparable spiritual est, as well as by various teachers associated with leadership in a mainline church in the 19th cen- the movement, is not very different from that of tury, became prominent Spiritualist mediums and Spiritualism. speakers. Early Spiritualists also tended to support Many large and important new religious move- the progressive social and political causes of the ments around the world, especially in Latin Amer- time, such as the abolition of slavery, the rights ica, Africa, and East Asia, give important place to of women, new methods of education, and prison shamanistic or mediumistic communication with reform. spirits and have clearly been infl uenced by 19th Spiritualism quickly developed a general century Spiritualism as well as by local cultures. doctrine of the afterlife, largely based on teach- They respond to what is clearly a universal need. ings like those of the Swedish mystic philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) and the Vien- Further reading: Ann Braude, Radical Spirits: nese developer of hypnotic trance Anton Mesmer Spiritualism and Women’s Rights in Nineteenth- (1734–1815). It saw life after death as educative Century America (Bloomington: Indiana University more than punitive. After death the spirit enters Press, 2001); Arthur Conan Doyle, The Wanderings the “Summerland” and from there advances to of a Spiritualist, Rpt. (Oakland, Calif.: Ronin, 430 S stupa

1998); R. Laurence Moore, In Search of White Eight kings received his remains and enshrined Crows: Spiritualism, Parapsychology, and American them in mounds known as stupas. In the third cen- Culture (New York: Oxford University Press, 1977); tury B.C.E. the Indian emperor ASOKA is said to have Christine Wicker, Lily Dale: The True Story of the dug up the remains and built 84,000 stupas. Many Town That Talks to the Dead (San Francisco: other stupas were built later. HarperSanFrancisco, 2003). Stupas take different shapes. In India and Sri Lanka stupas are often large hemispheric mounds surrounded by a fence. A good example is the stupa A Buddhist shrine that contains a relic ancient stupa at Sanchi, India. The stupa at Boro- of the BUDDHA. Stupas are also known as dagobas budur, Indonesia, is a massive, terraced mound, (southeast Asia), pagodas (east Asia), and chor- each terrace smaller than the one below it. Its tens (Tibet). carved decorations depicting the life of the Buddha When the Buddha died or, as Buddhists say, are world-famous. In east Asia stupas are towers of entered the parinirvana, his body was cremated. as many as 13 layers.

The Great Stupa from the south, located in Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh, India (Borromeo/Art Resource, NY) suicide and religion S 431

The stupa is not generally a place for congre- Rabia (d. 801), one of the greatest of the early gational WORSHIP. Instead, worshippers may cir- Sufi s, was so fi lled with love for God that she lost cumambulate the stupa, leave offerings, refl ect on all concern for whether she went to paradise or Buddhist truths, and meditate there. hell. Jalal al-Din RUMI (1207–73) celebrated the joy of union with God and the anguish of separation from him in renowned Persian poetry. Other Sufi s Sufi sm MYSTICISM in ISLAM. The word Sufi sm have likened the soul to a moth that is drawn to seems to derive from the Arabic word suf, which the fl ame of a candle, that is, to God—with inevi- means “wool.” table consequences. The prophet MUHAMMAD died in C.E. 632. By One common Sufi practice is dhikr. This is the year 700 the Islamic world stretched from the continual chanting of a verse containing one Spain in the west all the way to Persia, where Iran of the names of God (see ALLAH). The chanting is today, in the east. Many Muslims, including aims to produce an intense awareness of God’s the rulers known as caliphs, enjoyed wealth well presence. A more controversial practice is the use beyond anything available to Muhammad and his of music. Overwhelmed by the music, some may companions. But this wealth offended some, who break into dance. The Mevlevis, the order founded thought it led to dissolute living. They adopted an by Rumi, practice a kind of dance that has won austere life-style that they considered more fi tting them the name Whirling Dervishes. The disciples to servants of God. Among other practices, they stand in a circle around the master. Each twirls wore clothes of wool (suf) and perhaps for that around, and as he does so the entire circle of dis- reason were called Sufi s. ciples revolves around the master. (Think of the Sufi s turned very early to the cultivation of planets rotating as they revolve around the sun.) mysticism. They were led in this direction by sev- On a more popular level, laypeople may make eral persons who had intense, personal experiences PILGRIMAGE to the tombs of powerful SAINTS. Many of GOD’s reality and presence. These early Sufi s believe that the saints work MIRACLES after death as often did and said things that offended traditional they did in life. Muslims. For example, al-Bistami (d. 874) was In the 20th century, Sufi sm was an embattled fond of the phrase, “Glory be to me!” He wanted institution. Muslims who wanted to “modernize” to emphasize that God dwelled at the very core of Islam considered Sufi sm to be outmoded supersti- a human being. Two hundred years later thinkers tion. Others saw “modernization” as abandoning such as al-Ghazali (1058–1111) formulated Sufi sm Islam for foreign practices and wanted to reassert in a way that the orthodox could accept. Islamic tradition. In their eyes, Sufi assertions of Early Sufi sm was not tightly organized. In a union between God and human beings violated general, masters passed down secret teachings to the fundamental principles of Islam. Nevertheless, their disciples. But by the 13th century Sufi s had some Muslims continue to fi nd inspiration and organized themselves into brotherhoods. At the spiritual depth in Sufi teachings. head of each brotherhood stood a leader known as a shaykh or pir, whose offi ce was inherited. Some shaykhs were thought to work miracles. At the suicide and religion Because most religions same time the brotherhoods began to attract “lay” have much to do with death and morality, it is not followers—people who were interested in Sufi sm surprising that they also have much to say about but did not devote their lives to it. suicide. Several dramatic instances of religiously Sufi sm cultivates the experience of a profound motivated suicide in the second half of the 20th closeness between God and the soul. Some Sufi s and the beginning of the 21st century have espe- talk about a union of God and the soul. Others say cially brought the topic to the attention of North that personal identity dissolves in God altogether. Americans. 432 S suicide and religion

Some ancient Greeks and Romans consid- themselves to death, sitting in perfect calm. To ered suicide an honorable and appropriate way the shock of many North Americans, Vietnamese to die, if done properly and under the appro- Buddhist monks did the same thing in 1963 to priate circumstances. Exemplary fi gures who protest the war that was ravaging their country. committed suicide include Socrates (c. 470–399 Somewhat different is the Japanese practice of B.C.E.), Lucretia (a legendary heroine of early seppuku, a way in which members of the Japa- Rome, traditionally sixth century B.C.E.), and the nese warrior class, the samurai, sought an honor- Roman philosopher Seneca (c. 4 B.C.E.–65 C.E.). able death in the face of defeat or disgrace. They There are examples of noble suicides in the BIBLE, did so by ritually disemboweling themselves. An too. The best-known is probably Samson. Later, assistant would also decapitate them, that is, cut however, Jews and Christians came to condemn off their head. suicide. The most infl uential thinker to do so In North America media attention has focused was AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO. In his City of God (fi fth recently on two kinds of religious suicide. One century) he argued that suicide is always a SIN, kind is represented by the suicide attacks by Mus- regardless of the circumstances, and must always lims in the Middle East and elsewhere. The Sep- be avoided. MUHAMMAD, too, taught that people tember 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and who commit suicide are condemned to HELL. At the Pentagon are dramatic examples of this kind the same time, JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, and ISLAM of suicide. It is important to remember that many praised martyrs, that is, people who were killed Muslims, as well as non-Muslims, fi nd these acts for their faith. In early Christianity martyrdom reprehensible. Those who perform them probably was seen as a “baptism by blood.” Islam teaches, do not see them as suicide but as acts of ultimate as some early Christians did, that martyrs reach devotion in the service of GOD. This view might paradise before the fi nal judgment. What some seem a little more understandable, though still not people consider martyrdom, however, others acceptable, if it is compared to the practice of hon- may consider suicide. oring soldiers after death for having undertaken HINDUISM, BUDDHISM, and JAINISM have gener- suicide missions. ally condemned wanton suicide as well. Never- The second kind of religious suicide that has theless, they have permitted suicide under certain received media attention is mass suicides, such circumstances. Jains in old age who wish to end as those committed by members of the People’s their life in the best way possible do so by a pro- Temple in 1978 and the Solar Temple and Heav- cess called sallekhana. They stop eating and drink- en’s Gate in 1997. Such suicides are equally shock- ing and eventually die. Some spiritually developed ing, but they are not completely unique. Previous Hindus also end their lives at an advanced age. mass suicides have included the suicides of Jews Much more controversial has been the practice of at Masada in 74 C.E. and in Worms, Germany, in SATI. In this practice a widow, often but not always 1096. What seems unusual about the 1997 suicides, a Hindu, burns herself on her husband’s funeral however, is that they were not directly responding pyre. Probably not every case of sati has been vol- to perceived persecution. untary, and many Hindus condemn the practice, as do many non-Hindus. Further reading: Kenneth Cragg, Faith at Suicide: Although Buddhism generally condemns sui- Lives Forfeit: Violent Religion—Human Despair cide, it allows it in certain cases. One example (Portland, Ore.: Sussex Academic Press, 2005); is as a self-sacrifi ce that benefi ts other people. Arthur J. Droge and James D. Tabor, A Noble Death: In the LOTUS SUTRA a BODHISATTVA known as the Suicide and Martyrdom among Christians and Jews Medicine King offered his own body to alleviate in Antiquity (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, the suffering of all beings. Some Chinese Bud- 1992); S. Settar, Inviting Death: Indian Attitude dhists seem to have imitated him by burning towards the Ritual Death (New York: Brill, 1989). Sunni Islam S 433

Sun and religion, the The religious role and sig- designated his cousin and son-in-law, Ali, to be nifi cance of the Sun. The source of the Earth’s light the leader of the Muslim community. Leadership and heat, and the most prominent feature of the of the community should then have passed down unclouded daytime sky, the Sun has had an impor- to descendants of Muhammad and Ali. Shi’ite tant role in religion. It is a natural as a god or sym- Muslims know these descendants as their imams. bol of light, day, sovereignty, and consciousness. Sunni Muslims took a very different approach. Many ancient sacred kings have claimed descent They maintain that the prophet Muhammad died from the Sun, including those of Egypt, Japan, without designating a successor. Instead, he indi- and the Incas. While the Moon is no less impor- cated that the community should itself come to tant in ancient mythologies, it represents changing a consensus on who would lead it. The commu- and cyclical things, together with rain and fertil- nity chose in succession four leaders called the ity, while the Sun is steadiness and power, like the “rightly guided caliphs.” After them, several dynas- Sol Invictus, the “Invincible Sun” of an ancient ties claimed the caliphate (rule over the Islamic Roman cult. Often the Sun is masculine, though world), among them the Umayyads of Damascus sometimes, as in the case of the Japanese Amat- (ruled, 661–750, in Spain until 1031), the Abbasids erasu, it is associated with a goddess. In the major of Baghdad (ruled 750–1258), and the Fatimids of historical religions, the Sun may continue to have Egypt (ruled 909–1171). The caliphate was abol- a symbolic meaning. In CHRISTIANITY it has been ished when the Ottoman Empire collapsed after associated with CHRIST, and CHRISTMAS, his birth- World War I. day, was earlier the birthday of both Sol Invictus Shi’ites expected their imams to be both politi- and the god MITHRA. cal and religious leaders, but Sunnis assigned to See also MOON AND RELIGION, THE. the caliphs only the political role of preserving unity, law, and order. Caliphs protected the com- munity against threats from abroad and disorder Sunni Islam The branch of ISLAM to which the from within. Sunnis assigned to religious scholars vast majority of Muslims belong. Islam has two the task of preserving and applying the revelation main branches. About 15 percent of all Muslims given through Muhammad. These scholars, known practice SHI’ITE ISLAM. They live throughout the as the ulama or the “educated,” work in harmony Islamic world, but especially in Iran, Iraq, Leba- with the political authorities. They serve as judges non, and Yemen. Most of the remaining Muslims and legal consultants, teachers, prayer leaders, and are Sunnis. in other positions as well. The name “Sunni Islam” comes from the Ara- Members of the Sunni ulama belong to one bic word sunnah. It means “tradition” or “cus- of four different legal schools. The Hanafi school, tom.” In Arabia before the time of the prophet founded by Abu Hanifah (699–797), is dominant MUHAMMAD, sunnah referred to the tradition and in the Near East and in south Asia. The Maliki customs of each tribal group. Islam replaced those school, founded by Malik ibn Anas (715–795), is customs with a sunnah of its own. Actually, Sunni dominant in north and west Africa. The Shafi ’i and Shi’ite Islam each have their sunnah or cus- school of Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi ’i (d. 820) toms. Each also traces this sunnah back to the is dominant in east Africa and southeast Asia. The same two sources. One is the QUR’AN. The other is Hanbali school of Ahmad ibn Hanbal (780–855) the example of the prophet (see HADITH) and, for is very small. Today it is mostly found in central Shi’ite Islam, of its IMAMS. Saudi Arabia. Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims have much in com- All of these schools use several sources to mon. They disagree, however, on how the commu- determine what Muslims should do: the Qur’an, nity of Islam should have been organized. Shi’ite the Hadith of the prophet, the consensus of legal Muslims maintain that the prophet Muhammad scholars, and reasoning by analogy. According to 434 S sweat lodge

tradition, the period in which scholars needed to think independently ended in the 14th century. During the 20th century, the Islamic commu- nity faced new situations and challenges. Some Muslims who had received a secular education rejected traditional Islamic learning. But many legal scholars took active roles in independence movements. In most places, their advice is still valued. Further reading: Donna Lee Bowen and Evelyn A. Early, ed., Everyday Life in the Muslim Middle East (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002); Huseyn Hilmi Isik, The Sunni Path (Saddle Brook, The Star of David, or Magen David (Hebrew for “shield N.J.: Hizmet Books, 1993); Garbi Schmidt, Islam of David”), is a conventional symbol of Judaism and the in Urban America: Sunni Muslims in Chicago Jewish people, consisting of two overlapping triangles that (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2004). form a six-pointed star. (Getty Images)

sweat lodge An important RITUAL structure for symbolism in religion The use of concrete most of the native peoples of North America. A objects to point to religious meaning. Few things sweat lodge is more or less a religious sauna. It is are more important to religion than symbols. This an enclosed structure in which water is poured on is because religion always points toward that which hot rocks to make steam. Those inside the struc- is invisible, even beyond human understanding, ture sweat from the heat. They also pray and sing. and which can be indicated only by something less Participants fi nd the experience purifying, healing, than the ultimate. This is the role of symbols, to and refreshing. stand in for the ultimate. A sweat lodge is often a dome-like frame cov- To understand symbols, we need to distinguish ered with canvas, bark, or skins. The entrance them from signs. A sign just indicates something is low to the ground. Participants enter on their is there, like a roadsign telling how many miles hands and knees. Some sweats are for men only. it is to the next town. But a symbol in some way Many sweats allow women, provided they are is part of that which it symbolizes, and calls up not menstruating. In mixed sweats participants the feeling associated with it. Thus the cross on a wear light clothing. In traditional ones they Christian church, the Star of DAVID on a SYNAGOGUE, sweat naked. or the star and crescent on a MOSQUE, for believers Rocks are heated in a fi re outside the lodge. in the religion is not just a sign indicating what They are brought in at regular intervals and piled kind of building this is. The symbol also suggests up in a pit in the center. The symbolism of the the whole range of associations that go with the lodge alludes to the four directions, the Earth, and FAITH it symbolizes: the sacrifi cial death of CHRIST, the sky. Indeed, some see the sweat lodge as a min- the sufferings and hopes of Jews, the romance of iature universe. The “fl oor” is the Earth’s surface; MUHAMMAD’s journey from MECCA to Medina when the dome is the sky. Others interpret the lodge in he was guided only by the light of the crescent sexual terms. The lodge itself is the womb of the moon and a star. Symbols are ways of entry into world. It is impregnated by the heat of the sun, the culture of a religion: the other churches, syna- symbolized by the heated rocks. gogues, and mosques in which one has worshipped, See also NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGIONS. friends and relatives of the faith—the chain of symbolism in religion S 435 associations can go on and on. Religious people their particular symbols. Lights and candles, vest- moreover feel comfort in the fact that they will see ments worn by religious leaders, sacred books on many of the same familiar symbols in all houses of the ALTAR—all these are symbols as well as just what their religion. they are, for they evoke associations that lead one Symbols are numerous. Today each religion deeper into the faith. It is not always necessary to seems to have a “main” symbol, like those just know a one-to-one meaning for each symbol in a mentioned. But enter a religious edifi ce and you religion. These kinds of things can have meanings will see many more. In Hindu temples each of the special to each person, and the main point anyway gods is not only a symbol in his or her own right is not to put it into words but to let the symbol lead of spiritual lines of force, but also is surrounded one beyond words. by more symbols, like the moon and serpents of This is particularly true of what might be called SIVA or the conch shell and discus of VISHNU. Even general symbols. Certain things seem to appear the deity’s hand gestures are symbols in their own over and over in the world’s religions as symbols: right. In CHRISTIANITY the SAINTS and APOSTLES have things like sun, moon, water, tree, heroic fi gures

The interior of an Ashkenazim synagogue in Jerusalem (Library of Congress) 436 S synagogue

and mother fi gures. The specifi cs may vary: In one main worship place in JUDAISM. It is a place of tradition the tree may be the tree of the knowl- PRAYER, a place of study, and a place of fellowship. edge of good and evil in the garden of Eden and No hard and fast rules prescribe what a syna- a poetic name for the cross on which CHRIST died, gogue must look like, but synagogues tend to have in another it may be the central pillar connecting several features. HEAVEN and earth, or a place where gods descend. On the far wall, opposite the doorway, is an But always it is connected with life, wisdom, and elevated chest called the ark. It contains Torah reaching to heaven, as water is with purity and scrolls. Above the ark is an eternal fl ame, tradition- rebirth. As the theologian Paul Tillich said, a sym- ally an oil lamp. bol participates in that which it symbolizes. Another feature of the synagogue is the bimah, See also MOON AND RELIGION, THE; SUN AND RELI- an elevated place from which the Torah is read. GION, THE; WATER AND RELIGION. Traditionally it is in the center of the room. In more liberal congregations it is against the wall where the ark is. In that case, the bimah looks something synagogue Jewish place of WORSHIP. Reform and like a stage. occasionally Conservative Jews may call a syna- Although in some respects synagogues may gogue a temple. resemble churches, there are many features often In the late Second Temple period (200 B.C.E.– found in churches that would never be found in a C.E. 70) Jews worshipped in two different kinds of synagogue. For example, a synagogue would never place. One was the Temple, where GOD’s presence contain symbols of CHRISTIANITY, such as a CROSS dwelled. The other was the synagogue, where one or crucifi x. studied the TORAH. But in C.E. 70 the future Roman In more traditional synagogues, men and emperor Titus destroyed the Temple in JERUSALEM. women sit separately. Women sit either in balco- From that time on, the synagogue has been the nies or in the back. . T ,

taboo A prohibition. The term taboo derives Jewish state failed. As a result, Jews were barred from the Polynesian word tapu, which means “for- from even entering the city of Jerusalem. bidden.” In Polynesia, objects are tapu because These events posed a challenge: how to syn- they contain mana. Mana is a sacred, effective thesize from traditions that could no longer be energy that one needs to treat with care. practiced a religion for those living in exile. The At the end of the 19th century, anthropolo- challenge fell to the RABBIS, who specialized in gists generalized these Polynesian notions. They the study of the TORAH. In response, they created theorized that religion—and MAGIC—began when Judaism as we know it today. Their efforts are pre- people recognized mana in objects and established served in writings known as the Mishnah and the taboos. These ideas infl uenced important thinkers Talmud. like Sigmund FREUD and Émile DURKHEIM. Mishnah is a Hebrew word meaning teaching Scholars now recognize that tapu and mana or repetition. According to the rabbis, MOSES did are specifi c to Polynesia, not universal. But people not write down all of the instructions he received continue to use the word taboo for prohibitions, from God on Mount Sinai. Rather, he memorized especially religiously signifi cant ones. All societ- some instructions and handed them down orally. ies have a taboo against incest, although not every It is this oral Torah that was recorded in the Mish- society defi nes incest the same way. Many soci- nah. Tradition says that the Mishnah was recorded eties have taboos against certain foods (see DIET around the year 200 C.E. by the leader of the Jews AND RELIGION). And by tradition, many indigenous in Palestine, Judah ha-Nasi (c. 135–c. 220). Australian men were never allowed to meet their The Mishnah has six “orders” or parts. These mothers-in-law. are further divided into 63 tractates and 531 chap- People often try to explain taboos in terms of ters. The six orders discuss (1) agriculture, (2) natural causes. Thus, one forbids incest to avoid appointed times, such as festivals and Sabbaths, genetic defects. Sociologists also see taboos as (3) women, especially in relation to marriage important ways to create order in society. and divorce, (4) damages, that is criminal and civil law, (5) ordinary Temple procedures, and (6) regulations concerning purity. As the North Talmud (with Mishnah) In JUDAISM, the author- American scholar Jacob Neusner has pointed out, itative codifi cation of and commentary on the oral a good deal of the Mishnah discusses the Jerusa- TORAH. In 70 C.E., Roman troops destroyed the Tem- lem Temple, even though the Temple was in ruins ple in JERUSALEM. This event made it impossible to and Jews could not set foot in Jerusalem. These practice the religion of ancient Israel and Judah. portions of the Mishnah do not describe how one That religion centered on presenting offerings and should live today. Rather, they preserve the heri- SACRIFICES to GOD at the Temple. Then in 135 C.E. tage of the past and stand as a sign of hope for Bar Kokhba’s attempt to create an independent the future. Other portions of the Mishnah discuss

437 S 438 S Tantrism

the repeated occurrences of ordinary life. Unlike in cosmic processes. Tantrism often deliberately the BIBLE, the Mishnah has very little to say about transgresses limits and inverts established orders. historical events. As a result, other traditions have at times looked After the Mishnah was compiled, rabbis dis- upon it with disdain. cussed and debated its meanings. The Talmud— Hebrew for “study”—contains the results of their HISTORY discussions. It follows the organization of the It is generally diffi cult to write a history of reli- Mishnah, taking up and exploring each topic in gions in India. It is even more diffi cult to write a turn. At times it seems as if the rabbis are entirely history of Tantrism. Tantrism has generally been off the subject. At others it seems as if they are practiced in secret. trying to split the fi nest of hairs. In any case, their Tantrism may have its roots in local, popular discussions testify to an intense, intellectual ethos practices. Hindu and Buddhist Tantrism seem to in which it was just as religious to study the law have come into existence in India by the end of as to observe it. the sixth century C.E. During the next one thou- There are two “recensions” or versions of the sand years, Hindu Tantrism was at its height. Its Talmud. The Jerusalem Talmud was compiled in practitioners wrote important Tantric texts, such as Galilee, despite its name, during the fi fth century Tantras (handbooks of doctrine), Agamas (RITUAL C.E. It comments on 39 of the 63 tractates in the manuals), and Samhitas (collections). These texts Mishnah. The Babylonian Talmud was compiled in use Sanskrit, the language of learned BRAHMINS. Babylonia, today Iraq, around 600 C.E. It comments Therefore, Tantrism probably developed among on 37 tractates. The two overlap considerably, so the religious elite. Temples built during this period not every tractate of the Mishnah has Talmudic also reveal prominent Tantric infl uence. The commentary associated with it. The Jerusalem famous temples at Khajuraho (950–1050 C.E.) are Talmud limits itself more narrowly to explaining good examples. the Mishnah and resolving apparent contradictions By about 1500 Tantrism was beginning to lose in it. The Babylonian Talmud also contains essays its creativity. But in the late 19th and early 20th that comment on the Bible. Since about the year centuries, Europeans and North Americans started 1000 the Babylonian Talmud has been considered taking an interest in Hindu Tantrism. Their interest authoritative. As a result, scholars have studied stimulated a minor revival in India. the Jerusalem Talmud less. In Buddhism, Tantrism is seen as a specifi c In the 18th century, legal restrictions against yana or “vehicle,” the Vajrayana, “Diamond Vehi- Jews began to be eliminated, and Jews began to cle,” or Mantrayana, “Mantra Vehicle.” Vajrayana participate in the life of the broader societies in was common in India during the eighth century which they live. As a result, Talmudic study no when Buddhism spread from India to Tibet. It longer has the impact it did when the rabbis were became the dominant religion of Tibet (see TIBETAN the legal experts and judges for self-suffi cient Jew- RELIGION). That country eventually housed a vast ish communities. Nevertheless, Talmudic study store of Buddhist Tantric texts. Vajrayana was also remains an important means of communing with exported to China. In fact, some of the earliest Bud- God. dhist Tantric writings are in Chinese. From China Kukai took Tantric Buddhism to Japan. There it became Shingon, a school still popular today. Tantrism A movement in HINDUISM, BUDDHISM, and to a lesser extent JAINISM. The basic goal of BELIEFS Tantrism is to appropriate the creative energies Because it is a movement found in several dif- of the universe. To reach this goal, practitioners ferent religious contexts, Tantrism does not have visualize cosmic powers and ritually participate a single coherent body of thought. Furthermore, Tantrism S 439

many Tantric texts are written in what is known At a more abstract level. Vajrayana sees libera- as “twilight language,” a symbolic language tion as a union of male and female. In Buddhist whose full signifi cance cannot be understood Tantrism the female in PRAJNA, “wisdom.” The except with the help of a code revealed only to male is upaya, “skill is means,” that is, a person’s the initiated. ability to practice the Buddhist path. The union of There are, however, some common Tantric the two, wisdom and the ability to practice, even- themes. One theme deals with the creative duality tually produces enlightenment. between male and female. Tantrism often gives the female the higher place. Another theme concerns PRACTICES the links between the macrocosm or structure of Both Hindu and Buddhist Tantrism make heavy use the universe and the microcosm or structure of the of ritual diagrams (YANTRAS and MANDALAS), ritual human being. Finally, Tantrism often conceives sounds (MANTRAS), and ritual gestures (MUDRAS). of liberation as reuniting the male and the female These diagrams, sounds, and gestures vary from into one. tradition to tradition, but they are all thought to In Hindu Tantrism the ultimate Godhead is embody the powers of the universe. In both Hindu formless. But on a less than ultimate level the God- and Buddhist Tantrism the diagrams, sounds, head is sexually dual, having both a male and a and gestures allow practitioners to acquire sacred female form. The female form, known as Sakti or power and ultimately to achieve release. Practitio- the god’s power, is responsible for the creation of ners acquire the power of these diagrams, sounds, the world. At the same time, Sakti is the source and gestures by meditating on them. of liberation. When Sakti reunites with the male To construct and use a mandala is a relatively principle, the original unity is restored. benign act. Tantrism is also known, however, for According to Hindu Tantrism these macro- a variety of rituals that deliberately invert estab- cosmic processes fi nd their refl ections on the lished order and transgress normal bounds. Such microcosmic level. In the human person Sakti is acts require special control, for the goal is not to generally imaged as a coiled serpent asleep at the enjoy forbidden fruits. It is to use the things of the base of the spine (KUNDALINI). When the serpent world to conquer the world, to overcome desire by is aroused, it rises and eventually unites with the acting out what desire demands and yet remaining masculine principle at the top of the skull. When it untouched by desire. does so, the result is liberation. Perhaps the best known system of such rituals VAJRAYANA BUDDHISM uses different ideas. are “the fi ve elements” found in Hindu Tantrism. Before Vajrayana arose, MAHAYANA BUDDHISM had These elements are also called “the fi ve m’s,” developed a pantheon of Buddhas and BODHISAT- because the Sanskrit word for each starts with TVAS. Vajrayana carried this process further. It the letter “m.” The fi ve are wine (madya), meat identifi ed even more Buddhas and bodhisattvas, (mansa), fi sh (matsya), parched grains (mudra), assigned them feminine consorts or counterparts, and sexual union (maithuna). Like Hindu Tant- and delighted in images of the wrathful and the rism, Buddhist Tantrism recognizes sexual rituals. horrifi c. Vajrayana also linked the macrocosm and Such rituals call for extreme concentration. If they the microcosm. It identifi ed the various Buddhas are performed to fulfi ll carnal desires, the conse- and bodhisattvas with different parts of the body. quences are drastic. A person followed the path to liberation by visual- izing these various beings and thereby acquiring ORGANIZATION their powers. In fact, one might say that in Vajray- Tantrism is a religion of small, private, secret ana, Buddhists imagined themselves as enlight- groups. For that reason, it is diffi cult to know how ened beings in order to achieve enlightenment and many people practice it. The basic organization is do so more quickly. that of a teacher (GURU) and disciples. 440 S Taoism

The fi rst ritual is initiation. In initiation, like ALCHEMY (transforming metals into medicines members join the group. They swear to maintain that were thought to grant immortality) and MEDITA- secrecy, and they begin their training in the secrets TION that began around the fi rst century C.E. These of Tantrism. In the course of Tantric practice they two trends help to distinguish two major stages in allegedly attain various supernormal powers. the history of Taoism. But it would be incorrect to There have been many attempts to classify dif- think that philosophical and religious Taoism were ferent Tantric groups. Perhaps the most common entirely separate movements. classifi cation distinguishes right-handed and left- handed Tantrism in Hinduism. Right-handed Tan- HISTORY trism limits itself to the use of mandalas, yantras, The founder of Taoism is known as LAO-TZU, “Old mantras, and mudras. Left-handed Tantrism prac- Master.” He may have lived in the sixth century tices ritual acts that are otherwise forbidden. B.C.E., or he may be only legendary. It is said that Lao-tzu dictated the classic book of Taoism, the SIGNIFICANCE TAO TE CHING, as he was leaving China in old age. Although Tantrism strictly speaking is confi ned to In any case, by the fourth century B.C.E. a book in small groups, its infl uence has been great. Much of 5,000 Chinese characters had come into existence present-day Hinduism contains some Tantric ele- that advocated yielding to the way of nature in all ments. For example, all Hindu temples are built on things. It called the prime characteristic of that mandalas. In Tibet, Vajrayana produced a vibrant way wu-wei, action that lacks deliberate intention. national religion. Its leader, the DALAI LAMA, won A later book developed these insights further. It the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. was named CHUANG-TZU after the person who sup- posedly wrote it. Further reading: Agehananda Bharati, The Tantric In the fi rst century C.E. several movements Tradition (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, used these fi gures and books to develop rituals 1977); Georg Feuerstein, Tantra: The Path of and institutions. Some looked for a golden age Ecstasy (Boston: Shambhala, 1998); David Kinsley, to come in the future. This age was known as Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine: The Ten the great peace. Those who followed Taoist prin- Mahavidyas (Berkeley: University of California ciples were expected to rule during that peace. Press, 1997); Reginald A. Ray, Secret of the Vajra Inspired by such teachings, many secret move- World: The Tantric Buddhism of Tibet (Boston: ments tried to usher in the golden age. Among Shambhala, 2001); David Gordon White, ed., them was an attempt to overthrow the Han Tantra in Practice (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton dynasty in 184 C.E. University Press, 2000). Another Taoist movement that began in the same period is known as “the way of the heavenly masters.” Its founder claimed to have received rev- Taoism A Chinese religion; pronounced with elations from Lao-tzu, whom he considered to be a an initial “d,” and therefore also spelled Daoism. god. Among other things, the movement promised Taoism teaches that by living in harmony with the to heal the sick. It also provided its members with Tao (pronounced and sometimes spelled Dao) or a series of books or “registers” in which to record the way of nature, it is possible to prolong life and their spiritual progress. even become immortal. The fi rst millennium (1–1000) C.E. was the Scholars have often distinguished two differ- golden age of Taoism. Taoists developed elaborate ent trends in Taoism: philosophical Taoism and RITUALS. They also perfected many techniques that religious Taoism. Philosophical Taoism refers to were said to lead to long life and, if done just right, ideas put forth roughly from 600 to 200 B.C.E. Reli- immortality. Occasionally Taoism became the offi - gious Taoism refers to movements and practices cial religion. Different kingdoms required their Taoism S 441

subjects to perform Taoist practices, for example, is not forced by deliberate intention. The earliest to celebrate the birthday of Lao-tzu. Taoist texts also apply these ideas to government. The fi rst millennium C.E. was also the time That government is best whose subjects are hardly when BUDDHISM came to China. Taoists often aware of the government’s activities at all. opposed Buddhism, and they convinced several Later Taoism develops a full range of mythologi- rulers to outlaw it. The two religions did, however, cal ideas. It teaches that there are many immortals. infl uence one another. Taoist ideas helped trans- Some immortals are connected with the world at form Buddhism. This can be seen especially in large. Others are connected with the human body. the school known in China as Ch’an and in Japan Taoism has other teachings, too: about islands of as ZEN BUDDHISM. Perhaps under Buddhist infl u- the immortals in the eastern ocean, where elixirs ence, Taoists developed monasteries and convents of immortality may be found; about the fi ve sacred funded by the state. mountains in China, the most sacred of which is Throughout most of the second millennium T’ai Shan in the eastern province of Shantung; (1001–2000) C.E. Confucianism dominated offi cial and about the life-giving properties of various sub- Chinese religion. The offi cial outlook promoted the stances, such as gold. In addition, Taoism analyzes unity of the three religions, Confucianism, Taoism, the human being in detail. For Taoism, the most and Buddhism. During this period Taoism devel- important life-force is the original breath known as oped forms more suited to the needs of private chi. Chi and other life-forces concentrate in three individuals than of the offi cial cult. centers: the head, the heart, and the navel. These With the victory of communism in mainland three “fi elds” are where the three “holy ones,” the China in 1949 and especially the Cultural Revo- three most important immortals, dwell. They are lution of the late 1960s, Taoism suffered tremen- also home to three beings known as “worms” that dously. Because the government objected to both devour the vital energy and bring about death. old traditions and religion, it opposed Taoism. In the 1980s some Taoist institutions were rebuilt and PRACTICES Taoist WORSHIP resumed. Meanwhile, Taoist prac- There are two main kinds of Taoist practice: exer- tice fl ourished in Chinese communities elsewhere, cises to prolong one’s life and large, elaborate ritu- especially on Taiwan. als for the well-being of the community. The exercises to prolong life try to preserve TEACHINGS or restore the vital energy with which a person is The earliest Taoist texts celebrate the Tao. Accord- born. Certain practices, called the “external elixir,” ing to the beginning of the Tao te Ching, it is involve eating and drinking, especially the eating impossible really to give the Tao a name. It is sim- and drinking of metals. For the ancient Chinese, ply indescribable. At the same time, the Tao is the gold symbolized the state that all Taoists sought. mother of all things. It produces everything in the It could neither be destroyed nor corrupted. The world, including ourselves. “external elixir” attempted to synthesize gold from The earliest texts advocate that human beings baser substances, especially lead and mercuric sul- should live in harmony with the Tao. Consider, for fi de (cinnabar). In theory one acquired long life example, water fl owing in a stream. What does it either by using vessels made with synthesized gold do? Strictly speaking, it does nothing. It simply or eating and drinking it. These practices are the yields to the forces exerted on it. It falls because of source of what came to be known in Europe and the force of gravity; it moves out of the way when it North America as alchemy. hits a boulder. Yet in simply yielding, water proves Around 1000 C.E. the “external elixir” was to be stronger than the boulder. It wears the boul- replaced by an “internal elixir.” In these practices der away. Taoists fi nd this example instructive. Taoists do not eat or drink physical substances. The best human action, they say, is action that They perform rituals instead. The rituals include 442 S Tao Te Ching

meditation and breathing and gymnastic exer- (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, cises. 2001). Like the two “elixirs,” the great public rituals, known as jiao, provide long life to the priests who perform them. They also give peace, health, and Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) The most important protection to the community as a whole. In these book in TAOISM. The book is also called LAO-TZU colorful festivals, the three “holy ones” are invited after the person who, tradition says, wrote it. Mod- to a feast. Technically, only the Taoist priest offers ern scholars are reluctant to say who compiled the the feast, but members of the community also par- book or when. Some date it as late as the third ticipate with rituals of their own. century B.C.E. Tao Te Ching literally means “Way Power Clas- ORGANIZATION sic.” It contains 5,000 Chinese characters. They Taoism has had both MONKS AND NUNS. But the make up two parts that together contain 81 “chap- number of nuns has always been extremely small, ters.” The fi rst part is supposedly about the Tao and the majority of Taoist priests are not monks or way. The second is supposedly about the te or but live in families. power of the way. The chapters are actually short, In Taiwan today there are two orders of priests. enigmatic paragraphs whose precise interpreta- Those with red headbands perform only rituals of tion is diffi cult. Despite that diffi culty, or perhaps EXORCISM. Those with black headbands also per- because of it, the Tao Te Ching has been translated form the major public festivals. into English more times than any other Chinese Some Taoist communities, such as “the way of book. the heavenly masters,” have been carefully struc- The famous opening words of the Tao Te Ching tured. Today the head of the community, some- announce its central theme, the Tao. They also say times called a pope, still claims to be a descendant that it is impossible to talk about the Tao: of the original founder. At times Taoists have also The Tao that can be spoken of is not the formed secret societies dedicated to the overthrow eternal Tao; of the Chinese government. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. SIGNIFICANCE The nameless is the origin of heaven In addition to its immense contribution to Chinese and earth; society, Taoism attracted the attention of Euro- The named is the mother of all things. peans and North Americans in the 20th century. Always rid yourself of desires in order to Ideas from the early Taoist texts became popular. observe its secrets; So did physical exercises such as T’ai Chi and Tao- Always allow yourself desires in order to ist-infl uenced martial arts (see MARTIAL ARTS AND observe its manifestations. RELIGION). These two are the same, but they have different names as they are produced. Further reading: Russell Kirkland, Taoism: An Being the same, they are called mysteries: Enduring Tradition (New York: Routledge, 2004); profound mystery, the mystery of mysteries Catherine Despeux and Livia Kohn, Women in —the gateway of all mysteries. Daoism (Cambridge, Mass.: Three Pines Press, 2003); Jennifer Oldstone-Moore, Taoism: Origins, (Translated by Witter Bynner) Beliefs, Practices, Holy Texts, Sacred Places (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003); N. J. Girardot, Another passage that expresses that the Tao James Miller, and Liu Xiaogan, ed., Daoism is beyond words runs as follows: “whoever knows and Ecology: Ways within a Cosmic Landscape does not speak; whoever speaks does not know.” televangelism S 443

There is a good reason, then, for the puzzling too, the inhabitants of eastern Tibet held great language that the book uses. No one can express summer festivals in her honor. directly what the book is trying to say. The Tao is not only nameless. It also has no intentions or purposes. Thus, the Tao Te Ching Tathagata A Sanskrit word meaning “having insists that the Tao never acts. Nevertheless, the gone [gata] or come [¯agata] thus [tatha¯ ].” The Tao is “the mother of all things.” The Tao Te Ching term is designation for the BUDDHA. It applies uses many different images to express the creative especially to the Buddha after his parinirvana (see power of the Tao. One is mathematical: “The Dao NIRVANA). produced the one, the one produced the two, the In the oldest traditions of BUDDHISM the Bud- two produced the three, and the three produced the dha is not a god whom Buddhists WORSHIP. He ten thousand.” Another image appeals to nature: is a human being who is venerated because he “There is nothing softer and weaker than water, blazed the path to ultimate release from SAMSARA and yet there is nothing better for attacking hard or rebirth. To achieve release, human beings must and strong things.” follow him. According to the Tao Te Ching, the Tao should As a result, the Buddha was called the Tatha- be our guide in life. The book rejects CONFUCIUS and gata, “the one who went that way.” Buddhists also his emphasis on proper behavior. In carefully pre- read the term as “the one who came thus,” refer- scribing behavior Confucius carves blocks of stone, ring to the Buddha’s teaching of the dharma in the so to speak, and thus destroys them. According to world. The title is said to date back to the Buddha the Tao Te Ching, one should simply accept the himself. stone as it is, uncarved. Governments, too, should imitate the Tao. The best rulers do not govern with iron fi sts. “The best leaders value their words, and televangelism The use of television to spread use them sparingly. When they have accomplished religious messages. The word “evangelism” refers their tasks, the people say, ‘Amazing: we did it, all specifi cally to spreading the message of Christian- by ourselves!’ ” ity, but other religions, too, have begun to use tele- The above quotes and observations only begin vision for similar purposes. to reveal the contents of this remarkable book. It Television fi rst became widespread in the bears careful rereading and calm refl ection. United States in the 1950s. At that time, several mainline churches experimented with televi- sion broadcasts. For example, in 1958 the United Tara A Buddhist GODDESS worshipped for protec- Lutheran Church of America began work on a car- tion. Tara is the female counterpart of the BODHI- toon series, “Davey and Goliath.” In 1960, how- SATTVA known as AVALOKITESVARA. Although her cult ever, the federal government ruled that broadcast- arose in India, she is most popular in Tibetan Bud- ers did not have to give nonprofi t organizations dhism (see TIBETAN RELIGION). There, monks and such as churches a certain amount of their airtime laypeople alike WORSHIP her as a deity who protects without charge. As a result, interest in such pro- them from all sorts of dangers. It is sometimes gramming among producers fell off. said that Tara gives protection from eight dangers: In the 1980s, televangelism came into its own, elephants, lions, serpents, thieves, vampires, sea largely among conservative Protestants (see PROT- monsters, fi re, and chains. Artists have been par- ESTANTISM). These people formed their own broad- ticularly fond of depicting the eight Taras who save casting networks, such as the Christian Broadcast- worshippers from these threats. ing Network, founded by Pat Robertson (b. 1930), By tradition, traveling troupes of players acted and the PTL network, founded by Jim Bakker (b. out tales of Tara and her deliverances, By tradition, 1939). In addition, many Christian televangelists 444 S temples in world religions

emerged as well-known personalities, among them spent 27 percent of their airtime on fundraising. Yet Robertson; Bakker and his wife, Tammi Faye (b. other televangelists, such as Mother Angelica and 1942); Jerry Falwell (b. 1933); Jimmy Swaggart (b. the programs “Days of Discovery” and “Tomorrow’s 1935); and Rex Humbard (b. 1919). According to World” spent virtually no airtime raising money. some estimates, in the mid-1980s these televan- Televangelists tend to support political candidates gelists were reaching 15 million households each from the Republican Party, but most do not spend week and attracting 25 million viewers. a signifi cant amount of airtime discussing politics. After the mid-1980s, however, public interest An important exception is Pat Robertson’s 700 Club, in televangelism had begun to drop off. Then, in which in 2000 devoted 34 percent of its broadcast the late 1980s, the movement suffered tremendous time to discussing politics. shocks when it was learned that two leading tel- Although people in the United States are most evangelists, Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart, were familiar with televangelists who are English-speak- both guilty of sexual misconduct. People became ing Protestants, the phenomenon extends more more suspicious of people whom they knew only broadly. Programs in Spanish have begun to appear from television images. They also began to ask for the large number of Spanish-speaking people in serious questions about the money-raising and the United States. Jewish groups (see JUDAISM) and money-managing practices of televangelists. ISKCON, the “Hare KRISHNA” movement (see HIN- Many predicted in the late 1980s and the DUISM), have also begun television broadcasts. early 1990s that televangelism was doomed. As Christian televangelism has also appeared out- readers with access to cable television probably side the United States, for example, in many Afri- know, those predictions have not come true. The can and Latin American countries. In these coun- audience for televangelists did drop off. Televan- tries it sometimes encounters problems that it does gelists have also found it more diffi cult to raise not face in the United States. For example, laws in the money they need to keep their enterprises on Great Britain do not allow religious groups to raise the air. Nevertheless, televangelism has continued money through television broadcasts. They also do into the early 21st century. It also has developed not allow people to broadcast claims of miracles; new formats. Besides broadcasts of revivals, prayer in the eyes of British authorities, that amounts to meetings, Bible studies and discussions, and inter- fraud. In 1998 Muslims in Nigeria objected to the views, conservative Christian networks also have airing of televangelistic programming. They man- experimented with, among other formats, game aged to prevent the broadcasts from airing in Mus- shows. Such programs have drawn audiences who lim regions. fi nd the values of programming on the major secu- lar networks unacceptable. According to a study done in 2000, the major temples in world religions See ARCHITECTURE, televangelists in the United States tend to be white RELIGIOUS. (90 percent) and male (80 percent). They also tend to be Protestant, although one prominent exception was a Roman Catholic woman, Mother Angelica Ten Commandments A set of biblical precepts, (b. 1923) of the Eternal Word Television Network. recorded in Exodus 20.1–17 and Deuteronomy Many people, at least those who do not watch tel- 5.6–21, sacred to both Jews and Christians. Jews evangelists regularly, have the idea that evangelists and Christians revere many different guides to spend a large percentage of their time raising money. behavior, for example, “you shall love the Lord It is true that some do. The 2000 study showed that your GOD with all your heart and soul and might” Jerry Falwell spent 22 percent of his airtime rais- (Deuteronomy 6.5 cf. Mark 12.30); “you shall love ing money and another 27 percent promoting prod- your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12.31); and “do ucts; Oral (b. 1918) and Richard (b. 1948) Roberts to others as you would have them do to you” (Mat- theodicy S 445

thew 7.12). Indeed, according to rabbinical tradi- Tenrikyo One of the “new religions” of Japan. tion there are 613 mitzvot (commandments) in Tenrikyo was founded by Nakayama Miki (1798– TORAH, the fi rst fi ve books of the BIBLE. But the Ten 1887) as a result of a commission she received Commandments are the most important. while in trance in 1838 to serve as herself the According to the Bible, the Ten Command- shrine of “the true and original GOD,” also called ments were the fi rst instructions given to the Oyagami, “God the Parent.” Tenrikyo emphasizes people of Israel at Mount Sinai (or Horeb) when the story of the creation of the world received they entered into a COVENANT with God. As such, through the Foundress, and says that God is try- they can be seen as analogous to the stipulations ing to call human beings back to himself through that rulers in the ancient Near East passed down revealing this story to the world through her. The whenever they took charge of a people. For Jews worship is based on attractive dances enacting the and Christians today, however, they are of univer- creation story, and sweeping away “dusts” that sal signifi cance. have accumulated since then. It is headquartered The commandments may be divided into two in Tenri City, a large town near Nara that is cen- “tables” or parts. The fi rst part deals with obliga- tered on the religion and where one fi nds a striking tions human beings have to God. They are not to temple, university, hospital, hostels for pilgrims, WORSHIP any God but YHWH (“the Lord”); they and administrative buildings. The religion is wide- are not to make any images for worship; they are spread in Japan and has been brought to other not to use the name YHWH improperly; and they countries, largely within communities of Japanese are to observe the Sabbath rest. As a result of the immigrants. (See JAPAN, NEW RELIGIONS IN.) third commandment, it has become common in JUDAISM never to utter the name YHWH. When the SCRIPTURES are read, the word Adonai, roughly, “the theodicy An attempt to answer a theologi- Lord,” is substituted for God’s name. In accordance cal question: If GOD is good, omnipotent, and with the fourth commandment, observing the Sab- omniscient, why is there EVIL and suffering in bath is one of the major practices of Judaism. the world? Theodicy has been one of the most The second table or part of the Ten Command- persistent and troubling questions in JUDAISM and ments deals with relationships between human CHRISTIANITY. That is because Jews and Christians beings. It is similar to prescriptions found in other want to say several things about God: God desires religions, for example, the Five Precepts in BUD- good for creation, including human beings; God DHISM: Respect your parents; do not murder; do is all-powerful; and God knows everything. If all not commit adultery; do not steal; do not testify three of these statements are true, it becomes falsely; and do not covet or desire what belongs diffi cult to explain why evil and suffering exist. to someone else. Although certainly not a com- Archibald Macleish expressed this diffi culty clev- plete and suffi cient guide on how to act, these six erly in his play, J.B.: “If God is God he is not commandments provide basic guidelines for life in good; if God is good he is not God; take the even, society. take the odd.” The same diffi culty confronts a The Ten Commandments are an important child whose mother or father is killed in an auto- symbol of Judaism. They are often depicted in the mobile accident: “Why did God let Mommy—or form that recalls the two tablets that MOSES received Daddy—die?” from God (Exodus 31.18): as two rectangles, taller One response says that, despite our experi- than they are wide, with rounded tops on which are ences of suffering and evil, God has in fact made inscribed in Hebrew the fi rst letters of each com- the best world possible. This was the position of mandment. In this form, the commandments can the German philosopher G. W. Leibniz (1646– often be seen in SYNAGOGUES, displayed above the 1716). But this position is not without its critics. doors of the ark where the Torah scrolls are kept. In his book Candide the French writer Voltaire 446 S theology

mercilessly attacked the idea that “all is arranged Theodicy has not been so large a problem out- for the best in this best of all possible worlds.” side Judaism and Christianity. Most Muslims insist Many have tried to show, however, why evil that human beings should not question God’s and suffering must exist in the best possible judgments. Zoroastrians, Gnostics, and other dual- world. Many Jews and Christians have explained ists see the universe as a battleground between the evil and suffering in terms of free will (see FREE forces of good and evil. Hindus, Buddhists, and WILL AND DETERMINISM). God wanted, they say, to Jains attribute evil and suffering to KARMA, that is, create human beings, not robots. Therefore, he acts done in previous life. gave them the opportunity to make choices. It is inevitable that some people choose to do evil. The traditional objection to this view is that not theology A subject of study, especially within all suffering results from human actions. What CHRISTIANITY. The word “theology” comes from about a child who dies of cancer? The ancient a Greek word that means “talk about GOD” As a Christian thinker AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO had an defi nition of theology, this phrase is too narrow. answer. He said that natural catastrophes and Theology talks about many other topics, too. Clas- hardships entered the world when human beings sical theological topics include the nature of God, fi rst sinned. God’s relation to the world and to human beings, Another explanation says that evil and suffer- and SALVATION. ing are actually good for people. They help people In general, theology tries to state the truths of grow and mature. If people lived in paradise, they a particular religion, most often Christianity, from would remain childish and never develop their full the perspective of someone who practices that reli- potential. The ancient Christian thinker, Irenaeus, gion. But theology does not simply assert basic developed this view. beliefs. CREEDS and confessions do that. Theology There is, however, a problem with the responses tries to state a religion’s truths in ways that stand given above. They basically tell people that they up to careful examination. cannot expect God’s help when they most desper- ately want it. If evil and suffering are an inevitable DO ALL RELIGIONS HAVE THEOLOGY? part of the world, or a necessary consequence of Theology has been extremely important for Chris- free will, or part of “growing up,” what good is tians. During the medieval period, western Europe God in the midst of evil and suffering? developed universities. In these universities the- Faced with the question “why?” in the midst ology was the most important subject of study. of human tragedy, many RABBIS, priests, and min- People called it “the queen of the sciences.” Today isters simply answer, “We do not know.” Another theology no longer holds this position. But the option says that God is good but cannot do every- Christian heritage has strongly infl uenced what thing, Rabbi Harold Kushner took this position in the word “theology” means. his popular book, When Bad Things Happen to Many cultures have developed traditions of Good People (1981). A third view emphasizes that thinking that use abstract propositions. In such God suffers with people and sustains them. Chris- cultures some people try to state the truths of tians look to JESUS suffering on the cross; Jews their religion in rigorous and sophisticated ways. speak of God suffering along with his people. Dur- But it is questionable whether these efforts are ing the 20th century, the HOLOCAUST raised the issue “theology.” of theodicy very forcefully. Some found that in the It is possible to speak of Jewish and Islamic face of such immense evil, they could no longer theology. But one must be careful. Christianity believe in God. The Nobel Prize-winning novelist has tended to defi ne itself in terms of beliefs. By Elie Wiesel expressed this position in his moving contrast, JUDAISM and ISLAM have tended to defi ne novel, Night. themselves in terms of practice. Rigorous, intel- theology S 447

lectual thinking in these two traditions has often explaining the Bible as understood by the Fathers had a different focus from theology: in Judaism the of the church. study of the TORAH, both written and oral, and in Theologians also take up many particular Islam the study of jurisprudence (fi qh). topics. They often discuss what God is like, how Hindu traditions of thought about the self people can know about God, and, in Christianity, and the world are usually called “philosophy.” the TRINITY and INCARNATION. Other topics include “Orthodox” schools accept the authority of the God’s relationship to the world (COSMOLOGY), God’s sacred books known as the VEDA; other schools relationship to human beings (anthropology), how reject it. Some schools of both varieties are actu- salvation takes place (soteriology), and what will ally atheistic. Others give God or the gods little or happen at the end of time (ESCHATOLOGY). no attention. BUDDHISM has sophisticated traditions of thought, but it is better to call them philosophy THEOLOGY TODAY or even buddhalogy than theology. To label Con- After World War I, the dominant school of theol- fucian, Taoist, and SHINTO thinkers “theologians” ogy was Neo-orthodoxy. Its primary spokespersons would be odd. were two Swiss theologians, Karl Barth and Emil Brunner. According to this school, a theologian’s TOPICS IN THEOLOGY task is to expound the Word of God. But for Barth Christians and others use the word “theology” in and Brunner the Word of God meant something both a broad and a narrow sense. In the broad different from the Bible. It meant the self-revela- sense, theology includes any and every subject tion of God, especially in JESUS. Infl uential thinkers taught in a school of theology or a seminary. Dif- related to this school but not strictly Neo-ortho- ferent schools organize their curricula differently, dox include Paul Tillich and the American brothers so there is no single list of such subjects. Some Reinhold and H. Richard Niebuhr. identify four areas of theology: biblical, historical, Beginning in the 1960s, other currents of the- systematic, and practical. Biblical theology deals ology became extremely infl uential. One of them with the BIBLE. Historical theology deals with the was “liberation theology.” It addressed the situa- history of the religious community, for example, tions of oppressed peoples, especially Latin Ameri- the church. Systematic theology deals with the can peasants, women (see FEMINISM), and African community’s beliefs and morality. Practical theol- Americans. Other theologians became acutely ogy teaches people how to meet the needs of a aware of religious plurality. Some of them entered community, for example, PREACHING, teaching, WOR- into DIALOGUE with representative thinkers of other SHIP, and pastoral care. religions. Some also began work on comparative In a narrow sense, theology refers to the study or global theologies. of systematic theology, especially to the study of More recently, some theologians have been beliefs. (The study of morality is called “ethics.”) exploring the implications of research into the Here again, there is no standard list of topics that structures of the mind and brain for religion. They all theologians address. Theologians choose and call their work “neurotheology” (see BRAIN, MIND, arrange topics in ways that will best allow them AND RELIGION). to express their views and insights. Some topics, Before World War II, American schools, col- however, are fairly common. leges, and universities that taught about religion Theologians often identify the sources of generally taught theology. They offered courses knowledge that they consider valid or binding. in Bible, in the history of Christianity, in theology Protestant theologians usually depend upon the narrowly conceived, in ethics, and in “comparative Bible. Roman Catholic theologians depend upon religion.” Schools affi liated with a religion often traditional teachings of the church as well as still teach religion this way. Many Catholic schools the Bible. Orthodox theologians see their task as are good examples. 448 S theosophy

After World War II some American schools, sophical Society in New York in 1875 by a Russian colleges, and universities began to teach religion woman, Helena P. Blavatsky, and an American, in a different way. This approach has come to be Henry Steel Olcott. This movement has spread called “religious studies.” Theology recognizes throughout the world, and has been particularly special, religious sources of knowledge (revelation, instrumental in introducing Eastern religious and tradition); religious studies does not. Theology also spiritual ideas to the West. Its basic premise is that attempts to state religious truth for members of a there is an “ancient wisdom” underlying all exist- religious community; religious studies attempts ing religions as well as much of science and phi- to state truths about religion that do not require losophy, and its object is to recover and study that membership in a specifi c religious community. wisdom. The ancient wisdom teaches the oneness At the end of the 20th century, there was no of all things, the PILGRIMAGE of the soul through agreement on whether theology should have a many lives and worlds, and the coming and going place in religious studies. In addition, some con- of lives and universes according to great cycles. servative religious people felt that religious studies The headquarters of the largest theosophical soci- did in fact state religious truth for a specifi c “reli- ety is in Adyar, India. It has had an infl uence on gious” community. It stated truths for a secular modern art and the New Age movement. community that rejected religion.

SIGNIFICANCE Theravada Buddhism The “Way of the Elders,” Past theologians—AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO, Thomas the form of BUDDHISM predominant in Sri Lanka, AQUINAS, Martin LUTHER, and John CALVIN—have Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia, and produced masterpieces of European thought Laos. Theravada is understood by its adherents and literature. Even theologians who are not so to be a conservative, traditional style of the reli- famous make an important contribution to their gion. It follows as its scriptures the Tripitaka, the religions. They state those religions in ways that oldest Buddhist texts. These books give what are thinking people fi nd both religiously and intellec- undoubtedly the earliest extant versions of the tually compelling. BUDDHA’s words and teachings. Theravada thus emphasizes such foundational precepts of Bud- Further reading: Helen K. Bond, Seth D. Kunin, dhism as the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, the Eightfold Path, and Francesca Aran Murphy, eds., Religious and the FOUR UNLIMITED VIRTUES. Theravadins stress Studies and Theology: An Introduction (New the difference between the SANGHA (the monastic York: New York University Press, 2003); Gary B. order) and laypeople, and Theravada MONKS AND Ferngren, ed., Science and Religion: A Histori- NUNS are expected to follow strictly the ancient cal Introduction (Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins Buddhist monastic rule. University Press, 2002); Daniel L. Migliore, Faith A monk can hope, after many lifetimes per- Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Chris- haps, to become an arhat, that is, a liberated being, tian Theology, 2d ed. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W. B. by meditation, especially vipassana meditation, the Eerdmans, 2004). meditation of analysis. Vipassana helps the medi- tator realize that life as ordinarily lived is full of suffering, always changing, and without a separate theosophy A modern spiritual movement. The individual self at its center. Beyond that level of word, meaning divine wisdom, refers generally to experience lies NIRVANA the opposite of everything schools of religious thought that emphasize mysti- changing, suffering, and individual. cal knowledge of the inner workings of the divine. Nonetheless, having been the religion of the More specifi cally, however, it is the name of a fi ve countries above for many centuries, Theravada modern spiritual movement founded as the Theo- Buddhism has popular and folk religion aspects as Thomas, gospel of S 449

well. Theravada countries have a striking number the communist Khmer Rouge (1975–79). Thailand of ornate temples, each containing a gilded image has been spared the worst but has undergone the of the Buddha. Rather than meditate like monks, traumas of rapid modernization. Through all these laypeople typically try to make good KARMA, or vicissitudes, Theravada Buddhism has offered the merit, by such practices as gilding images of the peoples of these nations a place of inner refuge Buddha, giving support to the monks, perform- and symbols of continuity with the culture of their ing acts of everyday charity and compassion to all past. beings. They may then in time win REINCARNATION Further reading: Winston King, Theravada as a monk on the way to arhathood. They may Meditation (University Park: Pennsylvania State also gain rebirth in one of the Buddhist heavens, University Press, 1980); Winston King, A Thousand splendid places even if short of NIRVANA, but their Lives Away (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University time there lasts only as long as the good karma Press, 1964); Robert Lester, Theravada Buddhism in they have obtained holds out. Southeast Asia (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan In all Theravada lands except Sri Lanka young Press, 1973). men ideally enter a monastery for a year or so. They learn the basics of the religion and experi- ence another way of life than that of the outside world. Most do not remain monastics, but those Thomas, gospel of An ancient collection of who do become elder monks and revered spiritual sayings of JESUS allegedly recorded by Thomas the teachers, highly honored by laypeople and junior Apostle. The BIBLE contains four GOSPELS (books monks alike. about what Jesus said and did), but many more BUDDHIST FESTIVALS are important to popular gospels have survived from antiquity. Two of them Buddhism in Theravada lands. The chief annual are said to have been written by an apostle of festival is Wesak in the spring, commemorating Jesus named Thomas. According to one of them, the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and entry into the Gospel of Thomas, Thomas was Jesus’ twin nirvana. On this day, trees are watered, candles brother. (In Aramaic, the language of Palestine in and incense are burned, and rockets are set off. the time of Jesus, Thomas means “twin.”) A month later, the rainy season begins, which for Theravadins is a time of special religious discipline, THE INFANCY GOSPEL OF THOMAS rather like Lent for some Christians. The monks The “Infancy Gospel of Thomas” tells about Jesus remain in retreat in monasteries. Many laypeople as a boy, a topic about which the NEW TESTAMENT resolve to follow Buddhist morality more strictly says very little. It ends with a story that the Gos- than otherwise. At the end of the retreat, another pel of Luke tells, too: how Jesus stayed behind in great festival is held with traditional dances and the temple at Jerusalem and worried his parents. the formal presentation of gifts to the monks. But other stories present a Jesus who is quite dif- In the 20th century, the Theravada world suf- ferent from what most Christians imagine. When fered considerably from war and rapid change. playmates made fun of birds Jesus was mak- When Sri Lanka and Burma (later Myanmar) won ing out of clay, he brought them to life. When freedom from Britain, monks played a leading role a boy kicked open a dam and drained a pond in the independence movements. Subsequently Sri that Jesus had made, Jesus cursed the boy, who Lanka was shocked by internal confl ict between the then shriveled and died. At one point Jesus got Buddhist Singhalese and the Hindu Tamil minority, into an argument with his teacher; he cursed the and Myanmar has experienced political repression. teacher, who seems to have died, too. Apparently, Cambodia and Laos were caught up in the dev- the people who preserved this gospel were most astating Vietnamese War; subsequently Cambodia interested in Jesus’ powers to work wonders, not suffered under the particularly brutal regime of in his virtue. 450 S Thor

THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS originally had many ideas about who Jesus was, what he taught, and what it meant. In other words, there The other gospel supposedly written by Thomas were originally a great variety of different Christiani- is simply known as the Gospel of Thomas. From ties. The Gospel of Thomas is sometimes said to be a the point of view of scholars who study Jesus, it is book belonging to Christians known as Gnostics (see much more important. In 1945, a complete man- GNOSTICISM). According to one scholar, Elaine Pagels uscript of this gospel turned up in the desert of (b. 1943), its basic message is not that Jesus is God Egypt as part of the Nag Hammadi Codices. (Codi- but that God dwells in all of us. As Jesus says in ces are ancient books; Nag Hammadi is the place Thomas, “There is light within a person of light, and in Egypt where they were found.) it shines on the whole world” (verse 24). The Gospel of Thomas contains 114 sayings of Jesus—or at least sayings attributed to Jesus. Further reading: The Gospel of Thomas: The Some of them are familiar from the Bible. For Hidden Sayings of Jesus, Marvin Meyer, trans. example, in Thomas Jesus says, “Blessed are the (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1992); Elaine poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” and he Pagels, Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas tells a parable about a man who goes out to sow (New York: Random House, 2003); Stephen J. seed. Other sayings, however, are cryptic: “Lucky Patterson and James M. Robinson, The Fifth is the lion that the human will eat, so that the lion Gospel: The Gospel of Thomas Comes of Age, Hans- becomes human. And foul is the human that the Gebhard Bethge et al., trans. (Harrisburg, Pa.: lion will eat, and the lion still will become human” Trinity Press International, 1998); Thomas at the (verse 7; scholar’s translation). The last saying in Crossroads: Essays on the Gospel of Thomas, Risto the gospel, which some scholars think was added Uro, ed. (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1998). later, even presents salvation as for men only. The apostle PETER questions MARY’s right to be among the apostles, because she is a woman. Jesus assures Thor A god of ancient Germanic and Scandina- him that he will fi rst make Mary into a man, for vian mythology. Thor was associated with thun- women who become men can participate in the der, rain, and farming, and was a champion war- kingdom of God. rior. He personifi ed the values of the warrior class: The Gospel of Thomas is important for several He was hospitable, a defender of the weak, and reasons. First, scholars long thought that ancient quick to respond to any slights to his honor. He Christians had made collections of Jesus’ sayings rode a chariot drawn by goats through the sky, and (see Q SOURCE). Now they have evidence for that wielded the hammer that was his symbol. Rough idea. Second, some of the material in Thomas and redbearded, Thor was robust though not as appears to be very old. For example, scholars had profoundly wise as WOTAN (Odin); perhaps for this long expected that Jesus’ parables were at fi rst reason he was the most popular of gods among remembered only as parables and that the expla- ordinary people who saw in him a divine fi gure nations in the Bible came later. Thomas contains more like themselves. His name is perpetuated in one simple version of the parable of the sower and our day Thursday. no explanation. In fact, some sayings in Thomas may record what Jesus said more accurately than the Bible does. Tibetan religion The religions traditionally Perhaps Thomas is most important, however, practiced in the cultural expanse of Tibet. Besides because it tells something about the earliest Chris- the political territory known as Tibet today, this tians. After several centuries the Christian church area includes territories to the east annexed by eventually came to adopt certain books and ideas China in the 1950s along with adjacent regions in and to reject others. But Thomas shows, Christians Bhutan; Mongolia, and the former Soviet Union. Tibetan religion S 451

Mahakala (Mgon po) is one of the protective deities of Bhutan and of the Drukpa Kagyupa school. (Erich Lessing/Art Resource, N.Y.) 452 S Tibetan religion

BUDDHISM is the dominant Tibetan religion, but BON texts. The Tenjur (“Translation of Teachings”) and popular practices are also important. contain later commentaries and other works. Bon texts, too, were divided into these two groups. HISTORY During the 14th century, the important Little is known of Tibetan religion before the eight Gelukpa school of Buddhism arose as a reform century C.E. Tradition calls this early religion Bon, movement within Kadampa. It is known as the but if that is right, the Bon religion has clearly “yellow hat school,” because its members wear changed between then and now. yellow hats, as distinct from the red hats of At least from the sixth century C.E. the ancient their early political rivals, the Karmapa (a sect Tibetan religion glorifi ed kings as the sons of god. of Kagyupa) and the black hats of Bon priests. The fi rst king was said to have descended from Eventually the leader of the Gelukpa sect received HEAVEN. Early kings were thought to have returned the title DALAI LAMA. bodily to heaven. Later kings most defi nitely died. In the mid-17th century, the fi fth Dalai Lama They received elaborate funerary RITUALS that acquired full political control of Tibet. He did so included the SACRIFICE of horses, sheep, and yaks. because his patron, a Mongol leader, defeated the The ancient Tibetans believed in sacred beings patron of the rival Karmapa school in battle. The who dwelled in the sky. They also knew less kindly fi fth Dalai Lama built Potala Palace in Lhasa. From beings of the underworld. They thought the under- there subsequent Dalai Lamas ruled Tibet until world consisted of water. 1950. In that year, the Chinese took control of Tibet. In the seventh century C.E. Tibet was unifi ed In 1959 the Dalai Lama fl ed to exile in India. for the fi rst time. In the next century Tibetan kings From the 1950s to the 1970s, Tibetan monks imported Buddhism, presumably to provide their and their institutions suffered tremendously at newly unifi ed realm with a “world class” religion. the hands of the Chinese government. The Chi- In the battle for supremacy that followed, the Tan- nese forced many monks to leave the order and tric Buddhism of India, known as VAJRAYANA, won destroyed their monasteries. From the 1960s on, out over the Chinese Ch’an tradition, known in Tibetan Buddhist centers have been active in Japan as Zen (see TANTRISM and ZEN BUDDHISM). An North America and Europe. In the 1980s, rebuild- important event in the struggle was the council held ing began in Tibet itself on a small scale. in Lhasa 792–794 C.E. (see COUNCILS, BUDDHIST). Tibet became the leading center of Vajrayana Buddhism. BUDDHISM AND BON In the middle of the ninth century the Tibetan Tibetan Buddhism and Bon share many charac- monarchy collapsed. Tibetan Buddhism collapsed teristics. Both are centered on large monasteries. along with it. But within a hundred years a Bud- Both revere teachers who revealed the truths of dhist revival began. Another hundred years later KARMA, rebirth, enlightenment, and release—for Bon was beginning to take the form that it has Buddhists the Buddha, for Bon, Tonpa Shenrap. today. Perhaps because it was a minority religion, Both religions possess scriptures divided into two it developed teachings and practices that closely collections, Kanjur and Tenjur. Both also make resemble Buddhism. heavy use of Tantric features such as MANDALAS Tibetan Buddhism modeled itself on the Indian and MANTRAS. Typical Tibetan paintings known as Buddhism of the time. That is, it developed large thangkas illustrate the use of mandalas. A com- monastic institutions. Tibetan monks belonged to mon Buddhist thangka shows a circle divided into one of four schools: Kadampa, Kagyupa, Sakyapa, the various worlds into which one may be reborn. and Nyingmapa. Tibet also became a repository for Clutching the circle on all sides is a hideous demon a large number of Buddhist texts. The two groups with long, fang-like teeth. of texts became known as Kanjur and Tenjur. The Tibetan religion also includes popular or Kanjur (Word of the BUDDHA) contain canonical “unnamed” practices. These are RITUALS that all Torah S 453

laypeople as well as Buddhist and Bon monks Lopez, ed., Religions of Tibet in Practice (Princeton, observe. For example, it is common for Tibetans N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1997); John to write PRAYERS on the perimeters of wheels or on Powers, Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism (Ithaca, fl ags. When worshippers spin the wheels or the N.Y.: Snow Lion Publications, 1995). wind blows the fl ags, each revolution or move- ment is equivalent to saying the prayer. Tibetans also work to acquire merit—spiritual credit that Torah Hebrew meaning “teaching”; the most will benefi t them in future births. One impor- revered part of the Hebrew BIBLE. The fi rst fi ve tant way to do so is for laypeople to give gifts to books of the Hebrew Bible, traditionally said to monks. This important act sustains the monastic have been written by MOSES, are known as the institutions. Torah. The fi rst book, Genesis, tells the story of Another common Tibetan practice is PILGRIM- the creation of the world and the lives of ABRA- AGE. Worshippers traditionally traveled to destina- HAM and his immediate descendants in Canaan. tions such as Lhasa, the seat of the Dalai Lama, and The last four tell of the freeing of the people of Mount Kailasa, the most sacred Tibetan mountain. Israel from bondage in Egypt (see EXODUS) and There they circumambulated the sacred places and objects, Buddhists in a clockwise direction, Bon- pos counterclockwise. In addition to worshipping Buddhist or Bon deities, Tibetans have preserved from pre-Buddhist days the idea that aquatic spirits live beneath the Earth. When human activity disturbs these spirits, they must be pacifi ed. Tibetan legends tell of an earthly paradise in the snowy regions to the north, hidden by the mountains and known as Shamb- hala. They also tell of a mythical king named Geser. Tibetans locate him in the past, present, and future, all three. In the remote past, Tibetans say, Geser descended from heaven to Earth to restore order. In the present he protects his worshippers from danger and provides advice. Tibetan Bud- dhists say that he will come in the future to drive out enemies and institute a golden age.

SIGNIFICANCE In earlier years, Europeans and North Americans found it diffi cult to travel to Tibet. As a result the region evoked images of magic, mystery, and a mythical paradise. During the 20th century, a more realistic image of Tibetan religion began to emerge. There are still aspects of Tibetan religion, however, that scholars know little about.

Further reading: Per Kværne, The Bon Religion The Torah, the fi rst fi ve books of the Hebrew Bible, is of Tibet: The Iconography of a Living Tradition used in the form of a scroll in synagogues and prayer (London: Serindia Publications, 1995); Donald S. services. (Image Bank) 454 S totemism

their wanderings in the wilderness. Moses is the sia, sinks to the level of a zoologist who [classifi es] central fi gure of the last four books. whales with fi shes, and bats with birds.” The Torah received its name because it con- tains instructions on how to live. The most famous instructions are the TEN COMMANDMENTS, which God Trappists The popular name for the Order of gave to Moses on Mount Sinai. In all, the RABBIS iden- Cistercians of the Strict Observance, a branch tify 613 mitzvot or commandments in the Torah. of the larger order of Cistercian MONKS AND NUNS These commandments always require inter- in ROMAN CATHOLICISM. The Cistercians were pretation. For example, when exactly does the Sab- founded at Citeaux, France, in 1098; the Trap- bath begin? As a result, rabbinical tradition holds pist wing of the movement derives from reforms that there is an oral Torah, which was also received instituted by Armand-Jean Le Bouthillier de by Moses on Mount Sinai. It was codifi ed in books Rancé, who became abbot of a monastery at La known as the TALMUD. Trappe, France, in 1664, hence the name Trap- The Torah that is used in WORSHIP is written by pist. Cistercians are enclosed contemplatives hand on scrolls of parchment. The precious scrolls who live austere lives devoted to ASCETICISM, are kept in the front of the SYNAGOGUE in a chest PRAYER, and MEDITATION. The Trappists have prac- known as an ark. In more liturgical congregations, ticed this way of life more rigorously than most the Torah scrolls are removed and paraded through other orders. Until changes were made in the late the congregation when they are to be read. 1960s following the second VATICAN COUNCIL of the Roman Catholic Church, Trappists ordinarily lived in complete silence, communicating by a totemism A religious complex that many once system of hand signs when necessary, and fasted thought was the earliest form of religion. Late strenuously (see FASTING), abstaining from meat, 19th-century anthropologists “identifi ed” totem- fi sh, and eggs. Now, although their lives are cer- ism. It was allegedly found among the peoples of tainly simple and disciplined by ordinary stan- Australia, Oceania, and North America. But they dards, some speech and other forms of individual could never agree on what totemism was. Com- expression are allowed. mon characteristics included: a society organized Traditionally, Trappist monasteries have been into exogamous groups (people could not marry located in rural areas and have striven to be self- within the group), the notion that each group sustaining agricultural communities. Many today descended from a “totem” or animal ancestor, a still specialize in producing and selling agricultural prohibition on eating or using one’s totem, and a products. At the same time, study and writing have ritual in which the group ate the totem. not been neglected. Undoubtedly the most famous Two scholars made the idea of totemism pop- modern Trappist was Thomas Merton (1915–68), ular: William Robertson Smith, who saw it as the a convert to Catholicism who entered the Trappist earliest form of SACRIFICE, and James George FRAZER. monastery of Our Lady of Gethsemane in Ken- The sociologist Émile DURKHEIM and the psycholo- tucky in 1941. His autobiography, The Seven Sto- gist Sigmund FREUD used the idea in developing rey Mountain (1948), excited great interest in the their theories of religions. Later, the anthropologist Trappist life and caused the numbers of Trappists Claude LÉVI-STRAUSS transformed totemism as he to grow dramatically in the 1950s. Merton wrote developed his own ideas about social classifi cation. many other books, including The Waters of Siloe American anthropologists took the lead in (1949), a history and description of the Trappist showing that totemism (but not totems) was a fi g- movement. ment of the scholarly imagination. In 1912 Robert Trappists continue their life today. Many Trap- Lowie wrote: “any ethnologist who identifi es . . . pist monasteries, noted for their hospitality and totemism [in America] with totemism in Melane- spiritual guidance, are popular places for pilgrim- tricksters S 455

age and retreats. There are also Trappist nuns, Both human and animal tricksters may have exag- called Trappistines. gerated or incongruous features. In keeping with the light-hearted nature of trickster stories, these are often features that would appear indecent in Trent, Council of A council of the Roman Cath- a more serious context. For example, in some sto- olic Church convened in the 16th century in reac- ries the North American Coyote has a male sexual tion to the Protestant REFORMATION. In CHRISTIANITY organ so large that he must carry it in a backpack. a council is a meeting of bishops from all over the Tricksters are characterized by excess. They world to make decisions on teaching and practice. are extremely clever—so clever that they often out- From 1545 to 1563 bishops of the Roman Catholic wit themselves and appear incredibly stupid. As Church met in council at Trent, a town in northern already noted, their physical features may exceed Italy. The purpose was to respond to the threats what is generally considered proper. These features posed by the Protestant Reformation. The Holy may be too large, of the wrong shape, or attached Roman Emperor also hoped that the council would at the wrong place. Above all, tricksters violate the reunite Catholics and Protestants. The most infl u- conventions of proper behavior. Sometimes they ential participants were Spanish and Italian. wear clothes properly reserved for the other sex or Even before the Protestant Reformation Catho- another species. Sometimes they make public, cre- lics like Erasmus (1466–1536) had criticized many ative use of bodily substances—feces, fl atulence— of the practices of the Catholic Church. The bish- that are properly disposed of privately. Tricksters ops took steps to rectify these abuses. often mock the activities of more proper RITUAL At the same time, the bishops stood by Catho- specialists. They may change shape, eat to excess, lic tradition on the points to which Protestants had engage in acts of incest, steal, boast—do just about objected. Among other points, the council defi ned anything that is ludicrous, outlandish, or offensive. which books Catholics considered to be part of the In behaving in this way, tricksters are not EVIL; they BIBLE. It also insisted that the bread and wine of are funny. Indeed, tricksters tales often contain the EUCHARIST changed into JESUS’ body and blood, messages about how one ought to act. that priests could not marry, that the church deter- At times tricksters are involved in creating mined the correct interpretation of the Bible, and the world and human culture—precisely because that a person needed to perform good works in they violate convention (see MYTH AND MYTHOL- order to be saved. OGY). This is true of both Raven and Coyote in indigenous North American stories. According to one common story Raven manages to steal tricksters Amusing, antiheroic heroes. Trick- the sun from a chief who had been hiding it. He sters are comic fi gures in traditional stories. They returns it to the world and restores light. In Cali- are called tricksters because they often attempt to fornia stories Coyote often creates the world in gain advantage by tricking others. As often as not conjunction with a creator whose behavior and the tricks backfi re upon the tricksters themselves. demeanor are more socially acceptable and admi- People most often see tricksters in stories told by rable, for example, Eagle or Wolf. He may provide indigenous Americans and Africans. a humorous counterpart to the activities of the Tricksters take a variety of forms. They are other creator, as he does for example in an Earth- often animals. Common animal tricksters include diver story once told by the Yokuts of California. Coyote and Raven among indigenous North Amer- Or he may be responsible for the creation of sick- icans, Rabbit and Spider among indigenous Afri- ness and death. cans, and Fox among indigenous South Americans. Africans who came involuntarily to North Tricksters may also take human form. South Amer- America as slaves brought elements of their tra- ican stories tell about tricksters who are twins. ditional culture with them. One element seems to 456 S trinity

have been trickster stories with a rabbit as a cen- called the Holy Ghost. Some now prefer the term tral character. That would appear to be the ulti- Creator for the fi rst person of the trinity.) They mate origin of stories Joel Chandler Harris pub- asserted that these three were distinct persons, lished in the late 19th century. He attributed them equal in glory and majesty and alike in being to an old African-American storyteller he called uncreated, unlimited, eternal, and omnipotent. At “Uncle Remus.” the same time, these ancient Christians insisted that there was only one God, not three. They used the metaphors of “begetting” (fathering a child) trinity The Christian teaching of one GOD in and “proceeding” (coming out of) to describe three persons. The BIBLE presents JESUS as having how the three persons related to one another. a particularly close relationship with God, whom The Son, they said, is “begotten” by the Father, he called “Father.” It also speaks of God’s “spirit,” while the Holy Spirit “proceeds” from the Father. and according to the GOSPEL of Matthew the risen Roman Catholics and Protestants, but not Eastern Jesus instructed his followers to baptize “in the Orthodox Christians, add that the Spirit also pro- name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy ceeds from the Son. Spirit” (28.19). The word “trinity,” however, never In the 18th century, some people began to appears in the Bible. adopt a “unitarian” view of God. These Chris- Later, in the fourth and fi fth centuries, Chris- tians denied the teaching of the trinity and taught tians formulated with great precision the teach- that God is one. Other Christians admit that the ing of one God in three persons: Father, Son, and notion of a trinity strains logic, but they feel that Holy Spirit. (In earlier English the Holy Spirit was the logical diffi culties refl ect the mystery of God. . U ,

UFO religions Religious movements based on More substantial was the Aetherius Society, messages believed to be communicated by visitors founded in London, England, in 1954, by George to Earth who have arrived on UFOs (unidentifi ed King, when a voice told him he was to become fl ying objects, also called fl ying saucers). Such “the voice of the Interplanetary Parliament.” The religions began with reports of “fl ying saucers” in Aetherius Society has established churches in 1947 and the following years. Before long, “con- several countries to promulgate these messages tactees”—those claiming to have had personal from other worlds. It has been particularly inter- contact with UFO visitors—came forward, deliver- ested in performing ritual “operations” intended, ing messages to Earth they said they had received under higher guidance, to defend Earth against from spacemen. Typically, the messages warned evil assailants. the people of Earth that they must stop atomic test- Also founded in 1954 under UFO infl uence, ing and warlike behavior; if they did so, the space the Unarius Society, headquartered near San people, far in advance of earth both morally and Diego, emphasizes reincarnation and the impend- technologically, would help humans make Earth ing return of the visitors. Colorful rituals have been into a paradise and would welcome Earth into the developed to express its UFO-given teachings and fellowship of advanced worlds across the galaxy. to greet friends from outer space. The fi rst important contactee was George The Raelian movement, established in France Adamski, who said he had met a man from Venus in 1973, attracted attention around the end of the in 1952. But though Adamski was a popular lec- 20th century because of its emphasis on biotech- turer and writer on this and other UFO encounters, nology and its claim to have achieved success- only small and short-lived groups appeared around ful cloning. This was understandable, for a basic him. Another 1950s contactee, Daniel Fry, was more teaching of Raelianism is that human life on Earth successful in forming a group. After a claimed UFO was created by scientists from another planet who encounter at White Sands, New Mexico, includ- want to return to Earth to meet their creations. ing a half-hour ride from there to New York and But whether they do so is up to Earth; the religion back in 1954, Fry founded Understanding, Inc. His is intended to spread this news and help make contacts professed to be the remnants of a past preparations. supercivilization on earth that had destroyed itself More ominous than these was the Heaven’s through war, and they did not want that disaster Gate movement, known for its mass suicide on repeated. Understanding, Inc., comprised informal March 27, 1997. Its adherents apparently believed discussion “units” based on Fry’s talks and writ- that a spaceship was coming in the wake of Comet ings. As many as 60 such groups were listed at the Hale-Bopp to meet the faithful, and that by means movement’s heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, but by of death they could attain the “next level” and be century’s end Understanding, Inc., was in serious ready to enter a new world. Misguided religious decline. belief can have tragic consequences.

457 S 458 S Unitarianism

The famous psychologist Carl Gustav JUNG Unitarian churches appeared in England and (1875–1961) has said that, for believers, UFOs rep- the United States in the late 18th and early 19th resent “technological angels.” That is, they pres- centuries, largely as an outgrowth of, and in reac- ent modern, space-age equivalents to ancient reli- tion against, Calvinist (see CALVIN, John) PURITAN- gious motifs: angels, gods, saviors, departed spirits ISM. In North America, Unitarianism arose chiefl y descending to Earth from above. For a few people, in New England, where the Puritan heritage was the UFOs widely reported in the second half of the strong. The new outlook initially retained the 20th century have taken on this role. Calvinist Creator-God and the Puritan’s stress on the importance of a good life while rejecting Further reading: George Adamski and Desmond Calvinism’s gloomy notions of human depravity Leslie, Flying Saucers Have Landed (New York: and of God’s “irrational” election of only some British Book Centre, 1953); Douglas Curran, In to salvation. The great Boston preacher William Advance of the Landing: Folk Concepts of Outer Ellery Channing (1780–1842), often considered Space (New York: Abbeville, 2001); Carl G. the theologian and father of American Unitarian- Jung, Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things ism, proclaimed a rational Christianity based on Seen in the Sky (New York: Signet, 1969); Susan the fatherhood of God, the essential goodness of Palmer, Aliens Adored: Rael’s UFO Religion (New humans despite SIN, and the example of Jesus as Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2004); a perfect human being to be emulated. A number Christopher Partridge, ed., UFO Religions (New of once-Calvinist churches, largely in eastern Mas- York: Routledge, 2003). sachusetts, adopted this kind of theology. In 1825 they formed the American Unitarian Association as a separate denomination. Across the Atlantic, Unitarianism A liberal PROTESTANT movement a British Unitarian Association was formed on the in Europe, Britain, and the United States originally same day. based on denial of the TRINITY. Unitarian means As the 19th century advanced, Unitarianism in emphasizing just the unity or oneness of GOD. America spread westward with the frontier. At the Characteristically, Unitarianism likewise rejects same time, in both Britain and the United States, other traditional doctrines related to the trinity, Channing’s rational, biblical Unitarianism was such as the divinity of JESUS CHRIST and SALVATION challenged by the more intuitive, mystical vision exclusively through him, in favor of a view of of the English romantics and of New En gland Jesus as simply a great moral teacher and exem- Transcendentalists like Ralph Waldo Emerson plary human being. (1803–82). In the 20th and 21st centuries, some Modern Unitarianism began with radical REF- Unitarians no longer call themselves Christians ORMATION anti-Trinitarian movements in 16th- and or believers in God but proponents of religious 17th-century Poland and Transylvania, but these HUMANISM. While not endorsing a deity or anything were eventually suppressed. The Enlightenment supernatural, they consider churches and worship spirit of the 18th century, stressing the importance of the Unitarian type to be good settings for the of reason and ethical conduct in religion while celebration of the joys of human life and the discounting supernaturalism, produced a revival affi rmation of the highest human ideals. of Unitarianism. The distinguished minister and Unitarian churches are congregational; that is, scientist Joseph Priestley (1733–1804) advocated each congregation has the authority to call its own a liberal religion he called Unitarian Christianity in minister and determine its own forms of worship both England and America. Many eminent Ameri- and life. All advocate complete freedom of belief. cans of that era, such as Benjamin Franklin and In 1961 the American Unitarian Association joined Thomas Jefferson, have been considered Unitar- with the Universalist (see UNIVERSALISM) church, ians in all but name. another liberal body of New England background, United Church of Christ S 459

to form the American Unitarian Universalist The Evangelical and Reformed Church united Association. two churches with different backgrounds. One was the Reformed Church in the United States. Further reading: John A. Buehrens, Our Chosen Immigrants from Germany and Switzerland had Faith: An Introduction to Unitarian Universalism established it in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in (Boston: Beacon Press, 1989); Earl Morse Wilbur, 1793. As Reformed Christians, they accepted a Our Unitarian Heritage: An Introduction to the statement of faith known as the Heidelberg Con- History of the Unitarian Movement (Boston: fession. The second group was the Evangelical Beacon Press, 1956); Conrad Wright, ed., A Stream Synod of North America. Immigrants from Ger- of Light; A Sesquicentennial History of American many, including both Reformed and Lutheran Unitarianism (Boston: Unitarian Universalist (see LUTHERANISM) Christians, founded it in 1840 Association, 1975). near St. Louis, Missouri. In addition to the Hei- delberg Confession, they accepted important Lutheran documents: Luther’s Small Catechism United Church of Christ A mainline Protestant and the Augsburg Confession. In 1934 these denomination in the United States. The United two groups merged to form the Evangelical and Church of Christ (UCC) came into existence 1957. Reformed Church. It brought together two groups: the General Coun- The United Church of Christ brought all of cil of Congregational Christian Churches and these churches together into a single denomina- the Evangelical and Reformed Church (see CON- tion. It continues the tradition of the Evangelical GREGATIONALISM and PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED and Reformed Church by having a Statement of CHURCHES). The history of these groups shows just Faith, but it also continues the tradition of the how complicated Christian life in the United States Congregational Churches by not forcing individual has been. Their union into a single body defi nes congregations to follow that statement. In other the character of the UCC: “In essentials unity, in words, the UCC does not insist on a unity created non-essentials diversity, in all things charity.” by excluding those who disagree with a particu- The roots of the General Council of Congrega- lar vision of Christianity. Instead, it seeks unity by tional Christian Churches extend back to the found- celebrating different Christian visions. It takes as ing of New England. Both the Pilgrims who settled its motto the words of Jesus: “That they may all at Plymouth in 1620 and the Puritans who settled be one.” at Massachusetts Bay in 1630 were Congregation- The UCC is perhaps best known for its com- alists. They believed that individual congregations mitment to social justice. The traditions it inher- or local Christian groups should be free to make ited in 1957 include the movement to abolish slav- their own decisions. This belief contrasts with the ery and a movement known as the social gospel to hierarchical model of ROMAN CATHOLICISM, in which help people impoverished by industrialization. It the Pope and the bishops oversee all Catholic par- has continued these traditions, among other ways, ishes. For many years Congregational churches in by emphasizing inclusiveness. Through Andrew North America remained separate, but in 1871 they Young (b. 1932), a UCC minister, it contributed a formed the National Council of Congregational prominent voice to the civil rights movement. It Churches. At the same time, several churches that ordained the fi rst openly gay minister in the his- had broken away from the Baptists, Methodists, tory of Christianity in 1972. In 1976 it became the and Presbyterians formed a second group known fi rst church body in the United States to have an as the General Convention of the Christian Church African-American president. And in 1995 it issued (see BAPTIST CHURCHES and METHODISM). In 1931 a hymnal that referred to God as female as well as the National Council and the General Convention male. Because these steps characterize a very lib- merged to form the General Council. eral Protestantism, it is important to recognize that 460 S United States, religion in

the UCC also includes members who are conserva- Jefferson, who thought that without state support, tive evangelicals. religion might wither away. Instead, the opposite In the early 21st century more than 6000 con- effect has occurred. There is far greater religious gregations within the United States belonged to the participation in the United States than in Europe, United Church of Christ. In addition, the UCC had which has state church traditions, or in most other offi cial partnerships with churches in 70 countries comparable developed countries. around the world. This is partly because “pluralism,” or a wide diversity of groups, all offi cially equal and with- out state support, has created a competitive, “free United States, religion in As a religious soci- enterprise” situation in religion, so that many ety, the United States is in many ways unique feel responsible for supporting their own church in the world. While the nation is predominantly or temple over others. It must also be recalled Christian (see CHRISTIANITY), virtually every reli- that America is a nation of immigrants, and that gion in the world can be found in America, prac- the tradition of supporting churches and temples ticed by both immigrants and converts. Statistics stems in large part from times when a familiar at the beginning of the 21st century show the religious institution was a vital anchor, a spiritual population of 280 million to be about 85 percent and social center alike, for newcomers to a strange Christian—20 percent Roman Catholic (see ROMAN and often baffl ing land. For African Americans, CATHOLICISM) and the remainder Protestant (see churches were virtually the only institutions they PROTESTANTISM), EASTERN ORTHODOX, LATTER-DAY truly controlled, so they took on important cultural SAINTS, and others. Of the total population 2 per- signifi cance. cent are Jewish (see JUDAISM), 1.5 percent Muslim Moreover, the United States is virtually the (see ISLAM), 1 percent Buddhist (see BUDDHISM), only immigrant society in which the majority of and 0.4 percent Hindu (see HINDUISM); there are immigrants were at odds with the religious and also members of NEW RELIGIONS, of other Asian political power structure of their native lands: religions, and of NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGIONS and Dissident Puritans (see PURITANISM), Baptists, and people who are nonreligious. Methodists from England; Roman Catholics from Moreover, the Protestant part of the Christian Ireland and Poland, where they once lived under population is divided into many DENOMINATIONS, discriminatory non-Roman Catholic regimes; Jews including such well-known bodies as METHODISM, escaping persecution in Russia, Germany, and else- BAPTIST CHURCHES, EPISCOPALIANISM, PRESBYTERIAN AND where. All these and many others sought freedom REFORMED CHURCHES, LUTHERANISM, UNITED CHURCH OF to practice their religion. There is thus an inner CHRIST, and others. Indeed, the United States has tradition of independence, of honoring the right to been called a “denominational society.” Unlike dissent and freedom of religious thought, which, most Christian (and other) countries, where one though sometimes threatened, persists throughout church, often traditionally a state church, is likely American life. In practice, even religions with very to embrace the great majority of the population, different ways of operating elsewhere have had to like Lutheranism in Scandinavia or Roman Catholi- accept the “ground rules” of a pluralistic, equal, cism in Spain, in America the leading role is taken free enterprise religious society in America, and by a collection of churches. they have often found that they fl ourished better Behind this reality lies the traditional and in it than ever before. constitutional separation of church and state. In Because of its heritage and the nature of the principle, no religion is favored over any other, groups that have made it up, American religion and each must fend for itself without assistance as a whole tends to be distinctively centered on outside its own membership. In the early days of inner, subjective experience as opposed to social the Republic, there were those, including Thomas and cultural bonding. The strong Evangelical and Upanishads S 461

Pentecostal (see EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY and PEN- and obligation to all persons, to be more important TECOSTALISM) churches make much of personal than particular nations or communities. conversion and expression. So in their own ways do SPIRITUALISM, NEW THOUGHT, the NEW AGE MOVE- MENT, and many other characteristic American Upanishads Sanskrit for “sit at the feet of”; the movements that emphasize a subjective, mind- name given to more than a hundred separate texts and-feeling basis for religion. All these features that make up the last part of the VEDA, the most have kept many Americans highly committed to sacred of Hindu writings. Their most important religion and, so long as personal freedom is main- themes are two notions central to HINDUISM, the tained, its institutions. self or ATMAN and the BRAHMAN or universal reality. The Upanishads are also known as the Further reading: Catherine Albanese, America: VEDANTA, Sanskrit for “the end of the Veda.” They Religions and Religion (Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, preserve esoteric knowledge, originally shared 1981); Harold Bloom, The American Religion (New with only selected groups of gifted students. Even- York: Simon & Schuster, 1992); Andrew Greeley, tually these writings became the foundational texts The Denominational Society (Glenview, Ill.: Scott, for the most signifi cant schools of orthodox Indian Foresman, 1972). philosophy, the Vedanta schools. The Upanishads may be seen as records of con- versations and discussions about the most basic universalism The belief that all souls, how- questions of existence. To judge from the texts ever sinful, will eventually be saved. Within Prot- themselves, these discussions were not limited estant CHRISTIANITY (see PROTESTANTISM), this view to priests but included both nobles for whom the had its fi rst modern institutional expression in priests performed RITUALS and prominent women. the 18th century. People affected by the liberal, Given their origin, the texts cannot be expected to rational attitudes of the Enlightenment looked have a tight structure or a uniform perspective. again at traditional ideas and decided that eter- As Vedic literature, the Upanishads were occa- nal damnation to hell was incompatible with a sioned by the performance of Vedic rituals. They loving, fatherly GOD. In North America, worship stand in a tradition that sought to explain how Vedic groups were formed by those who had left other SACRIFICES could affect the world and thus benefi t churches, or been expelled from them, because the sponsor of the sacrifi ce. But most Upanishads of their universalist persuasions. In 1790 they have very little concern for the actual rituals them- formed the Universalist Church of America in selves. They concentrate instead on the topics of Philadelphia under the leadership of Hosea Bal- the self and the world, or rather, the realities that lou (1771–1852). This denomination fl ourished underlie the self and the world that we consciously in parts of the United States in the 19th century, perceive, atman and brahman, respectively. largely in rural areas, but eventually declined. In The sages of the Upanishads use several differ- 1961 the Universalist Church combined with the ent methods in exploring these topics. They oper- equally liberal American Unitarian Association ate with a rich and complex series of classifi cations (see UNITARIANISM) to form the Unitarian Univer- and draw numerous correlations between the self salist Association. and the world. They also construct series in which The term universalism is also used to refer to a each item presumably requires or depends upon general belief that there is validity in all religions, the next; the eventual goal is to work back to what or that the universal religious impulse ought to all items require. Another technique is to develop be given priority over particular expressions of it special interpretations of sacred formulae and syl- in our understanding of religion. Ethically, it can lables. For example, the relatively brief Mandukya mean regarding the needs of humanity as a whole, Upanishad contains refl ections on the parts of the 462 S Upanishads sacred syllable “om”—in Sanskrit, a+u+m. The famous saying, tat tvam asi (Chandogya Upanishad fi rst element is the state of being awake, the sec- 6.8–16). For nondualists, such as the philosopher ond the state of dreaming, and the third the state SANKARA, this saying has three words, tat tvam of deep, dreamless sleep. Beyond these three is a asi, “you are that.” The reality that underlies the fourth state, pure atman or self, which is the word self that we experience (the atman) and the world “om” in its entirety. that we experience (brahman) are the same. For Because the Upanishads are compilations, dualists, however, this verse has only two words, they support many different points of view. Differ- tattvam asi, “Indeed, you are.” On their reading, ent schools of thought have tried to give a system- the verse asserts that a self or soul (atman) exists atic presentation of Upanishadic teachings, but in distinct and independent of universal reality (brah- doing so they have given opposite interpretations man). The most common view interprets the Upa- of even the very same verse. A good example is the nishads from a nondualist perspective. . V ,

Vajrayana Buddhism Literally, the “thunderbolt close, and the student believes that obedience to or diamond vehicle,” an esoteric or partly secret that mentor is essential. school of BUDDHISM, forming the basis of Mongo- The guide may assign the student a particu- lian and TIBETAN RELIGION and the Shingon school lar fi gure from the mandala who represents his of JAPANESE RELIGION, among other expressions. It personal buddha-nature or ideal and transmits its arose in the sixth and seventh centuries C.E. within secrets to him. The novice then, by reciting that Indian Buddhism as the Buddhist form of TANT- fi gure’s mantra, making its mudra, and visualiz- RISM. Fundamentally, Vajrayana emphasizes the ing its form as portrayed in sacred art, endeavors presence of the Buddha-nature, that is, the pure more and more to identify with it and recognize it principle realized by a BUDDHA at his enlighten- as his own true nature. In some cases the fi gure’s ment, in all beings here and now. Enlightenment union with the female wisdom has been enacted for all is just a matter of recognizing that inner by rituals of the Tantric type, but more often in natural power and presence. This, according to Buddhist Vajrayana the union has been mental and Vajrayana, can be achieved by various ritual and meditative. experiential means, especially MANTRA, MUDRA, and Undoubtedly the best-known classic work of visualization MEDITATION. Vajrayana Buddhism is the BARDO THODOL (Tibetan Vajrayana recognizes a great number of “cos- “Book of the Dead”). A guide to the after-death mic” buddhas and BODHISATTVAS beyond the “histor- journey, it vividly exemplifi es key aspects of Vajray- ical” Buddha. They represent centers of conscious- ana. On that pilgrimage, the traveler encounters ness within and beyond the individual that can be the buddhas of the central Vajrayana mandala, in activated to help in the quest for enlightenment. both peaceful and terrifying aspects, and must rec- These beings are usually arranged in mandalas, ognize in them his own true nature. He will do so or signifi cant patterns. In Vajrayana, the mascu- if he has practiced visualization and so realizes he line buddha and bodhisattva fi gures are often por- has, as it were, put them there by his own mind. trayed embracing a female fi gure, who represents Vajrayana ultimately depends on an idealistic or wisdom. The fi gures can also appear in peaceful “mind-only” philosophy, which says that human or terrifying forms, indicating different aspects of beings create their own world, and their own their nature; however, both are ultimately good heaven and hell, out of their minds, through their and the contemplation of both leads to ultimate desires, fears, angers, and moments of enlighten- enlightenment, though by different psychological ment; this is the fi nal meaning of the peaceful and dynamics. terrifying buddhas. A further characteristic of Vajrayana is the Vajrayana Buddhism, especially in its Tibetan importance it places on the role of a GURU or spir- form, has become increasingly popular in the itual guide, called a LAMA in Tibet. Typically the United States and other Western countries. This bond between a student and the guide is very popularity is partly due to the infl uence of the

463 S 464 S Vatican Councils

highly respected DALAI LAMA, its best-known expo- usually play a much larger role in their religious nent, but also to the subtle psychological insight it lives. seems to many to employ. HISTORY Further reading: John Blofeld, The Way of Power The Veda is known as sruti, “what is heard.” Tra- (London: Allen & Unwin, 1970); Miranda Shaw, ditional Hindus believe that it contains the sounds Passionate Enlightenment: Women in Tantric that arose at the very moment of creation, heard, Buddhism (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University remembered, and repeated by the sages. Press, 1994); Robert A. Thurman, The Tibetan The Veda as we know it is an entire library of Book of the Dead (New York: Bantam, 1994). literature that rose in conjunction with the practice of public sacrifi ces in ancient India. Its oldest por- tions are written in a distinctive language, Vedic, Vatican Councils Two councils of the Roman which is an older relative of classical Sanskrit. On Catholic Church held in Vatican City about a some interpretations the oldest portions of the hundred years apart. In CHRISTIANITY a council is Veda reveal evidence of migration and conquest. a meeting of bishops from all over the world to European and American scholarship has tended to make decisions on teaching and practice. Vatican associate these passages with the “Aryan invasion” City is a small, independent state that the Pope of India around 1500 B.C.E. Some today dispute rules within the city of Rome. The Roman Catholic whether this invasion ever occurred and date the Church has held two councils in the Vatican. They Veda much earlier. contrast sharply. The Vedic texts were preserved orally for cen- The fi rst Vatican Council (1869–70)—Vatican I turies. Indeed, they were written down for the fi rst —rejected much of the social, political, and phil- time only within the last 500 years. Indian schol- osophical thinking of modern Europe. Its most ars developed very elaborate methods for preserv- important single act was to establish the doctrine ing the texts unchanged. The reliability of these of papal infallibility. According to this doctrine, methods seems to have been confi rmed by modern when the Pope makes religious pronouncements, scholarship. For generations students memorized he cannot be mistaken. certain Vedic phrases that seemed to be meaning- The second Vatican Council (1962–65)—Vatican II less. Historical linguists have now recovered their —took just the opposite approach. It emphasized meanings by coming to understand the process the need for the Catholic Church to modernize. For of linguistic development. The Veda has been example, Vatican II encouraged Catholics to say the preserved by several different sakhas or schools Mass in the language that they used in everyday of priests, each of which looks to a sage as its life. Until that time Catholics had said the Mass in founder. As a result, there are different versions of Latin. Vatican II also encouraged congregations to the major texts. participate in the Mass rather than simply observ- ing it. Catholics around the world have widely CONTENTS adopted these recommendations. Leaving aside the many kinds of supplementary lit- erature, we may say that there are four main strata or chronological layers of Vedic literature. The Veda (or Vedas) Sanskrit for “wisdom”; the col- oldest texts are the samhitas (roughly 1500–1000 lection of the most sacred texts in HINDUISM. The B.C.E.). They are collections of RITUAL formulae that position of the Veda is unlike that of the BIBLE in were used by the priests in performing the public JUDAISM and CHRISTIANITY or the QUR’AN in ISLAM. sacrifi ces. Because different priests had different Although all Hindus respect the authority of the ritual tasks, there are four major samhita collec- Vedas, other texts, such as the EPICS and PURANAS, tions. The oldest of all, the Rig-Veda(-samhita), is a Venus S 465

collection of hymns in praise of the gods who were universe, and the ATMAN, which is the reality that invited to attend the sacrifi ce. The Sama-veda is a underlies human beings. collection of songs. The Yajur-veda is a collection The most widely known form of Vedanta is of ritual formulae. The Atharva-veda is actually a called Advaita, “nondualist.” It was developed by collection of spells and chants used for domestic the great Indian thinker SANKARA (eighth century purposes, since its priests had nothing in particu- C.E.). Advaita Vedanta maintains that there is ulti- lar to say at the public sacrifi ces. The later parts mately no distinction between the brahman and of this literature, especially the relatively late last the atman. The reality that underlies the universe book of the Rig-Veda, contain hymns that begin a is the reality that underlies the human person. On tradition of profound speculation on the nature of the other extreme is the Dvaita or “dualist” school the universe. of Madhva (13th century C.E.). Madhva argued The next layer of Vedic literature consists of the that brahman and atman are two distinct realities. Brahmanas (roughly 1000–800 B.C.E.). These are He also taught, unlike Sankara, that each person commentaries on each of the Vedic samhitas. They has a separate atman. explain the meaning of the rituals, give instruc- The other Vedanta schools occupy positions tions on how to perform them, and relate stories somewhere between these two extremes. The that were loosely inspired by sacrifi cial practices. most important is the Visishtadvaita or “qualifi ed In general, they explain the effect of the sacrifi ce nondualism” of Ramanuja (11th century C.E.). The as resulting from intimate connections between the name comes from Ramanuja’s disagreement with SACRIFICE and the universe at large. The Aranyakas Sankara. Sankara says that we can know brahman (roughly 800–600 B.C.E.) and the UPANISHADS (600 apart from any qualities or characteristics. But B.C.E.–200 C.E.) continue the tradition of commen- Ramanuja insists that we know brahman only as tary that the Brahmanas began. But especially in “qualifi ed” or having characteristics. That is, we the Upanishads the sacrifi cial ritual has withdrawn know brahman only as GOD. into the background, and refl ection concentrates on the nature of the self (ATMAN) and the world (BRAHMAN). Venus An ancient Roman GODDESS. The most ancient Romans did not WORSHIP Venus, but SIGNIFICANCE their “cousins,” the Latins, did. Some scholars The Veda is a splendid, full collection of ancient say she was originally a goddess of fertile fields. religious literature that includes moments of pro- In the 200s B.C.E., the Romans identified Venus found insight. All Hindus respect its authority, and with the Greek goddess Aphrodite. In later Hindu priests still occasionally perform large Vedic mythology, she became the goddess of the sex- sacrifi ces. ual attractiveness and fertility of women. She often assumed this form in Renaissance art. At the same time, the Romans worshipped Venus Vedanta A Sanskrit word meaning “the end of as “Verticordia.” In this personification, Venus the Veda.” Vedanta is the most important of the six “diverts the hearts” of young women from illicit “orthodox” philosophical schools in HINDUISM. sexual activity. Actually, there are several different Vedantas. According to the Greek poet Homer, Aphro- All of them rely upon the same sources: the UPA- dite was the mother of the Trojan hero Aeneas. At NISHADS, the Vedantasutras, in which an ancient Rome, the Julian family claimed that it descended author named Badarayana systematized the teach- from Aeneas and therefore from Venus. Julius Cae- ings of the Upanishads, and the BH AGAVA D -GITA. sar built a temple to Venus as his ancestress. This Vedanta thinkers concentrate on two topics: the Venus appears in Vergil’s famous epic poem, the BRAHMAN, which is the reality that underlies the Aeneid. 466 S Vietnamese religions

Vietnamese religions Religion in Vietnam is a the ideas of LAO-TZU and CHUANG-TZU. It empha- complex mixture that includes many different tra- sized such practices as communicating with spirits ditions. This complexity is due in part to the coun- through seances, HEALING by religious means, lay- try’s history. China ruled Vietnam for more than ing out tombs and houses through the art of FENG a thousand years (111 B.C.E.–939 C.E.). Then, after SHUI, and telling the future by such means as using centuries of independence, the French conquered the Chinese book the I CHING. the country and made it into a colony (1883–1939). All of these religions existed together. The A Communist government offi cially opposed to educated elite favored Confucianism, the farm- religion took control of Vietnam in 1974. ers favored village religion and Taoism, and peo- Most Vietnamese have been farmers living ple looked to Buddhism to deal with death and in villages. They have worshipped the protecting beyond. But all formed part of a loose association. deity of their village. Each village has had a dif- The coming of ROMAN CATHOLICISM, favored by the ferent protector. Some villages have worshipped French colonial rulers, changed that. Many Viet- heavenly gods, but others have worshipped namese converted to Roman Catholicism. Indeed, thieves, prostitutes, or rebels—whatever being the Roman Catholicism was more successful in Viet- inhabitants thought would assist and protect them. nam than anywhere else in East Asia, except the Villagers traditionally maintained an ALTAR for this Philippines. Catholics were supposed to reject all deity in a public building where members of the other religions. Not everyone did so, but those who village met to make decisions. did made life in the villages diffi cult. They refused Besides worshipping village deities, the Viet- to cooperate in village worship. Some of their non- namese have known many other religious tradi- Catholic neighbors also saw them as disloyal. tions. Vietnam is sometimes considered a Buddhist Vietnam has also known several new reli- country, but its BUDDHISM is unusual. The Chinese gious movements. In the 19th century an apoca- brought Buddhism into northern Vietnam. As a lyptic movement known as Buu Son Ky Huong result, the Buddhism that traditionally prevails became popular in the south. It developed around there is MAHAYANA BUDDHISM in two forms: Thien the idea that the Buddha MAITREYA was going to Buddhism, related to Chinese Ch’an and Japanese appear soon and restore pure Buddhism. In 1939 ZEN BUDDHISM, and Tinh-do, the Vietnamese form a new movement, Hoa Hao, arose when a 20-year- of PURE LAND BUDDHISM. In the south, however, old man claimed to be the reincarnation of the Buddhism came from Khmer people living in the founder of Buu Son Ky Huong. In 1926, another Mekong delta. Their Buddhism was the rather dif- new religious movement, Cao Dai, appeared after ferent THERAVADA BUDDHISM, the Buddhism of Cam- an experience that its founder had at a seance. bodia and other Southeast Asian countries. Organized like the Catholic church—it even has The Chinese brought more than just Buddhism a pope (see PAPACY)—Cao Dai recognizes not only to Vietnam. They also brought CONFUCIANISM and Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian deities but also TAOISM. During the Chinese period Confucianism, JESUS, MUHAMMAD, and such unlikely fi gures as which emphasizes propriety and learning, formed Pericles and Victor Hugo as gods. Both Hoa Hao the worldview of the ruling elite. After indepen- and Cao Dai were active militarily in the war dence in 939, Confucianism suffered a temporary between North and South Vietnam that followed setback, but later Vietnamese rulers returned to it. World War II. The religion of the court also had some important Today, the situation of religion in Vietnam is protecting deities of its own: the dragon king and uncertain. The government has taken some steps the turtle god. to ensure that religions will not threaten it. At the Taoism was more a religion for ordinary peo- same time, Vietnamese who have left Vietnam ple. In Vietnam as in China, it did not emphasize have brought their religions with them. The most the ideas that most Americans associate with it, famous is probably the Buddhist Zen monk, Thich Vishnu S 467

Nhat Hanh (b. 1926). An advocate for global peace, he is widely popular with Buddhists of North American and European ancestry.

virgin birth Birth from a woman who has never had sexual relations. It is especially important in CHRISTIANITY. Virgin birth is a special form of a very com- mon myth (see MYTH AND MYTHOLOGY): birth from mothers who have become pregnant by supernatu- ral means. Indigenous Americans tell several vir- gin birth stories. For example, the Inuit tell how Raven was conceived when his virgin mother swal- lowed a feather. In the Mahabharata, a Hindu epic (see HINDUISM), a virgin named Kunti has a son, Karna, after Surya, the sun, impregnates her and then restores her virginity. Although the BUDDHA’s mother, MAYA, was not technically a virgin, she is said to have had no sexual relations at the time when she became pregnant with the Buddha. The virgin birth of JESUS is a central dogma (see DOGMA AND DOCTRINE) for most Christians. For them Jesus’ mother, MARY, became pregnant through the agency of the Holy Spirit. This activity is not thought of as sexual. The NEW TESTAMENT sees the virgin birth of Jesus as fulfi lling a proph- ecy of ISAIAH (Matthew 1.23), but only the Greek text of Isaiah refers to a virgin. The Hebrew text simply refers to a “young woman” (Isaiah 7.14). Roman Catholics have deduced that Mary remained a virgin all of her life. Protestants gener- ally reject this idea and say that Mary had children through ordinary means after Jesus was born. In Vishnu from Konarak, Orissa, created in the Ganga dynasty the last two centuries more liberal Christians have in the 13th century (Scala/Art Resource, N.Y.) taken the virgin birth not as a biological fact but as a metaphorical expression of the special character of Jesus. takes form on Earth to restore order. Vishnu’s large number of worshippers are known as Vaishnavas. Vishnu One of the most important gods of HIN- The name Vishnu appears as early as in the DUISM. In Hinduism, BRAHMA, Vishnu, and SIVA are VEDA. Worshippers also call upon Vishnu under thought of as the gods of creation, preservation, several other names, such as Narayana, Vasudeva, and destruction, respectively. The BH AGAVA D -GITA and Hari. Some scholars think that these names captures Vishnu’s character well. It states that probably refer to non-Vedic gods who were once whenever DHARMA wanes and EVIL waxes, Vishnu independent. Later these gods were brought into 468 S visions

the Vishnu cult. Vishnu is said to take form on belonged to this sect. Other prominent Vedanta Earth in several AVATARS, meaning “descents.” The philosophers have also worshipped Vishnu, among standard number of avatars is 10, but traditions them Madhva. vary on the identity of the 10. The two most promi- Vaishnavas have produced many masterpieces nent avatars are the well-known heroes RAMA and of Indian religious literature. Their writings include KRISHNA. These two have become objects of WOR- India’s two major EPICS, the Mahabharata and the SHIP in their own right. Indeed, some worshippers Ramayana (see RAMA, RAMAYANA), the philosophi- of Krishna see him, not Vishnu, as the supreme cal poem known as the Bhagavad-Gita, several GOD. collections of myths, especially the Bhagavata- Vishnu’s special abode is the HEAVEN known PURANA, and poems by important devotees such as as Vaikuntha. He has several consorts or female Nammalvar, Kabir, Surdas, Tulsidas, Mirabai, and counterparts, among whom the most important Tukaram. are Sri, LAKSHMI, and Bhu. Sri and Lakshmi are GODDESSES of prosperity and wealth. Their symbol is the LOTUS. Bhu is the Earth. Vishnu’s vehicle or visions Visual images, generally of gods, SAINTS animal counterpart is Garuda, a mythical bird. His and other religious beings. Visions appear sud- sacred plant is tulasi, a variety of basil. Worship- denly before the eyes and seem to have no natural pers offer its leaves to the god. A kind of black explanation. Visions have been reported in virtu- stone is also sacred to Vaishnavas. It is called Sala- ally all ages and within all religious traditions. In grama, from the name of the village where many the West, Roman Catholic visions of the Blessed specimens have been found. Virgin MARY, as at Guadalupe, Lourdes, or Fatima, There are several ways to portray Vishnu. One or of the ANGEL who showed himself to Joseph common image shows him standing. His skin is Smith, the founder of the LATTER-DAY SAINTS (Mor- dark-blue. His four arms hold a conch, a discus, monism), are well known. Native Americans, a mace, and a lotus, symbols of his power to pro- especially those who lived on the Great Plains, tect and govern. In addition, Vishnu wears an age- deliberately sought visions as an important step old jewel known as Kaustubha. He also sports a in becoming an adult. Whatever their explana- twist of hair on his chest known as the sri-vatsa. It tion in religion or in psychology, visions have had attests to the presence of Sri or Lakshmi. a profound impact on religious history. Like the Another common image of Vishnu shows visions of Mary, they have often served to con- him asleep on the cosmic serpent Sesha. Accord- fi rm the FAITH of those within a tradition. But like ing to mythology, Vishnu sleeps on Sesha during Smith’s vision, they have also served as impetus the time between the end of one universe and the for the visionary to found a new religion (see beginning of the next. When he awakes, a lotus SHAKERS). For many religious persons, seeing is sprouts from his navel. On it sits the god Brahma, believing. creator of the world. There are several different subgroups of Vaish- navas. The most encompassing classifi cation Vivekananda (1863–1902) the chief disciple of divides them into Bhagavatas and Pancaratrins. the Indian saint, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa On some accounts, Bhagavatas stress the avatars Vivekananda founded the VEDANTA Society and of Vishnu, while Pancaratrins speak instead of the Ramakrishna Mission. He was also the fi rst four vyuhas or emanations from Vishnu. A group advocate of HINDUISM to have a major impact on known as the Sri-Vaishnavas is especially promi- North America and Europe. nent in South India. They take their name from Vivekananda taught the Advaita school of the emphasis they place on Vishnu’s consort Sri. Vedanta combined with devotion and social con- The prominent VEDANTA philosopher Ramanuja cern. He gained wide attention in 1893 when he Voodoo S 469

addressed the World’s Parliament of Religions in Caribbean. The Dominican Republic occupies the Chicago. The address brought Vivekananda speak- other two-thirds. ing engagements, much media attention, and many The name comes from vodun. This word Western followers. means spirit in a language spoken in the nation Vivekananda’s infl uence was not limited to of Benin, West Africa. Outsiders coined the name. spreading Hinduism abroad. When he returned They have also spread many rumors about the reli- to India, he founded the Ramakrishna Mission. In gion. The origin of the name does, however, indi- doing so, he did much to advance the cause of cate something important. Voodoo preserves and social reform at home. adapts many African religious beliefs and prac- tices. Those who practice the religion say they are “serving the spirits.” Voodoo A religion practiced by people of Afri- Haiti was a French colony (established in can descent in Haiti, and by people who have emi- 1697) that produced sugar. It was home to a large grated from Haiti. Haiti is a country that occupies number of slaves originally from West Africa. the western third of the island of Hispaniola in the Inspired by the French Revolution (1789), the

Ceremony Couzin Zaka (a Voodoo scene) by A. Pierre, Haiti, 20th century (Manu Sassoonian/Art Resource, N.Y.) 470 S Voodoo

slaves revolted. In 1804 they established their and singing. The goal of the drumming, dancing, own country, the fi rst republic ever established by and singing is to bring about spirit-possession. A Africans. Records from this time are scarce. Never- spirit takes control of a human body, uses it as theless, it seems that Voodoo played a part in the its “horse,” and in that way communicates with slave revolt. The religion combines African spirit human beings. Major spirits have their counter- worship with aspects of ROMAN CATHOLICISM, the parts among the Catholic SAINTS, and Voodoo fes- offi cial religion of Haiti. tivals often take place in conjunction with Cath- Those who practice Voodoo believe in a olic festivals. At times the Catholic Church has supreme GOD. They call that God Bondye, from attempted to suppress Voodoo, because it found the French phrase for “good God.” But Voodoo the mingling of African spirits and Christian saints practitioners consider Bondye distant and inacces- offensive. sible. Their religious life centers instead on various Although it is possible to serve the spirits on spirits. These spirits are above human beings, but one’s own, Voodoo also has its own religious spe- not so high as Bondye. Some spirits are ancestors; cialists. A male priest is called a houngan; a female others are associated with natural phenomena. priest is called a mambo. They oversee festivals, They are organized into “nations.” One common practice divination, bless, and heal. Voodoo also system speaks of two nations of spirits: sweet spir- has its anti-social side. Those who practice Voo- its, which are kindly, and hot ones, which are pow- doo call that side the “work of the left hand.” It erful and energetic. People serve spirits that their involves serving spirits that one has bought and mothers and fathers served. They also serve the using the bodies of the recently deceased for slave spirits of the areas where they live. labor (zombies). At its simplest, one serves spirits by lighting Toward the end of the 20th century economic candles, saying PRAYERS, and giving offerings. But deprivation and political instability forced many Voodoo knows larger observances, too. The RITUALS people to fl ee Haiti for North America. As a result, at major festivals include the sacrifi ce of an ani- Voodoo spread to Miami, New York City, and other mal (often a chicken), feasts, drumming, dancing, places in the United States. . W ,

Waldensians A group of Christians expelled Both of these views refl ect important aspects from the Roman Catholic Church in the 12th cen- of our experience. In the period after the Protestant tury. The Waldensians originated from the teach- REFORMATION, rival Christian groups fought some of ings of a man named Peter Valdes or Waldo. In the the most devastating wars in European history. 1170s Waldo began preaching at the town of Lyons Today there are seemingly unresolvable confl icts in southern France. His preaching resembled that between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ire- of Francis of Assisi in stressing simplicity and pov- land, Muslims and Jews in the Middle East (note erty (see FRANCIS OF ASSISI AND FRANCISCANS). that not all Palestinians are Muslims), and Hin- Waldo and his followers got into trouble with dus and Muslims in South Asia. At the same time, the church authorities. That was because they used these confl icts may seem to contradict what the the BIBLE in the ordinary language of the people, religions involved really stand for, whereas people rather than Latin, and preached even though they who oppose war, like Mohandas GANDHI, the DALAI were not priests. The Waldensians were excommu- LAMA, and Martin Luther KING Jr., seem to repre- nicated in 1184. In 1211 80 of them were burned sent their religions better. to death in Strasbourg, now in France. After these This last view is overly idealistic and unre- events, many Waldensians became highly critical alistic. All religions have produced advocates for of practices in the Catholic Church and of a few peace, but they have also produced advocates for Catholic beliefs. war. At the same time, it cannot be demonstrated The Waldensians settled in the Alps at the bor- that religion has caused more wars than any other der of France and Italy. During the time of the REF- social force. First of all, it is impossible to catalogue ORMATION they adopted many Reformation beliefs. all of the wars that human beings have fought. It is Beginning in the mid-1800s members of the com- also impossible to determine which wars religion munity immigrated to South America, especially is responsible for and which ones it is not. Most Uruguay. Some also immigrated to the United wars have many causes. States. Most Waldensians in the United States have Three topics can help illuminate the compli- been accepted into the Presbyterian Church (see cated relations between religion and war: some PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED CHURCHES). ways in which religion has taken important sym- bols from war, some ways in which religion has legitimated or justifi ed war, and some ways in war and religion War is organized, violent con- which religion has limited, or tried to limit, war. fl ict between two opposed, unifi ed groups. Accord- ing to some people, religion has been responsible WAR IN RELIGIOUS SYMBOLISM for more wars than any other social force. Accord- Religions have often taken symbols from warfare. ing to others, religion leads to peace and therefore In the 19th century Great Britain was the major is opposed to war. military power in the world, so perhaps it is not

471 S 472 S war and religion

surprising that British Christians used military SACRIFICES were part of a military complex, and symbols. Examples well known to most Protes- vice versa. The Aztecs needed to sacrifi ce human tants include the hymns “Onward, Christian Sol- victims to nurture the forces of the universe, and diers” and “Stand Up, Stand Up, for Jesus, Ye Sol- these victims were people whom they had cap- diers of the Cross.” An earlier example from the tured in war. time of the Reformation is the famous hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” An important hymn RELIGIOUS LEGITIMATION FOR WAR from the American Civil War is the Battle Hymn of Religion is a powerful force for uniting a group of the Republic: “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the people. In fact, social science research has consis- coming of the Lord.” Although these hymns use tently shown that religion sharpens the boundaries military imagery, Christians who sing them may between people who belong to a group and those distinguish between spiritual battle and physical who do not. In doing this, religion helps create combat. conditions in which warfare can erupt. In JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, and ISLAM the tradi- Religion does more than help create condi- tion of using military symbolism reaches back tions for warfare, however. Because warfare has into antiquity. Some scholars think that the GOD such a prominent role in religious symbolism, reli- YHWH (“the Lord”) was originally the war god of gious people can see their own wars in terms of the twelve tribes of Israel. Ancient ZOROASTRIANISM what the religion teaches. In this way, religion can saw the universe as a cosmic struggle between the legitimate or justify war. It makes war seem desir- forces of good, headed by Ahura Mazda, and the able and necessary. For example, it allows a war- forces of evil. APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE took up the ring party to imagine that it is participating in the theme of cosmic warfare. It appears prominently, cosmic struggle between God and evil. for example, in the NEW TESTAMENT book of REVELA- One prominent Christian example is the CRU- TION. Islam does not see God as engaged in combat SADES. Pope Urban II (1042–1099; pope, 1088– with any rival, but among human beings on earth 1099) called the fi rst Crusade in 1096 to “free” it does distinguish between “the house of Islam” the “Holy Land”—the land of ancient Israel and and “the house of confl ict,” that is, non-Muslim Judah, where JESUS and his disciples lived—from regions. Muslim rulers. This and other Crusades were ter- Military symbols have played a prominent role ribly brutal. Christians justifi ed them, however, in HINDUISM, too. Perhaps they are nowhere more by referring to the struggle of God against the prominent than in the BH AGAVA D -GITA. In this clas- forces of evil. They similarly justifi ed the wars to sic text the god KRISHNA urges the reluctant war- reconquer Spain. rior Arjuna to fi ght. As a warrior, Arjuna should Muslims use the notion of JIHAD in much the fulfi ll his DHARMA—do his duty—and let God worry same way. Technically, jihad refers to the strug- about the consequences. It is possible to interpret gle against evil. Muslims can and do take jihad to this text in a nonviolent, spiritual manner, but not refer to the struggle of individual Muslims against everyone has read it that way. temptation. Some organizations, however, like AL- BUDDHISM celebrates the path discovered by the QAEDA, HAMAS, and Islamic Jihad claim that armed BUDDHA, who abandoned the possibility of world acts of terrorism, as well as full-scale wars, are acts conquest to pursue NIRVANA or ultimate release. of jihad. Nevertheless, militaristic styles have inspired some One scholar of religions, Mark Juergensmeyer forms of Buddhist practice, such as ZEN BUDDHISM (b. 1940), has suggested that the identifi cation of in Japan. human war with the grander warfare celebrated In the case of the Aztecs of ancient Mexico, in a religion’s symbols has several consequences. religion seems to have done more than drawn Among others, it promises religious rewards to symbols from warfare (see AZTEC RELIGION). Aztec those who fi ght. For example, Pope Urban prom- water and religion S 473

ised the Crusaders that all their sins would be water and religion The religious symbolism forgiven. It provides a social network that can be and signifi cance of water. Water is one of the rich- used to motivate people to support the war. It also est and most prevalent of religious symbols. Like turns enemies into demons. Doing that may allow most symbols, it can have many meanings, not all people to commit atrocities that they would other- consistent: Water can be chaos, destruction, life, wise fi nd unthinkable. purity, and rebirth. Water fi rst of all can represent the primordial RELIGIOUS ATTEMPTS TO LIMIT WAR chaos before the world completely took form: “In Although religions can legitimate war, they may the beginning,” the fi rst chapter of Genesis tells also act as a brake on war. Since the time of us in the BIBLE, “the earth was without form and AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO, Christians have tried to iden- void . . . and the Spirit of GOD was moving over tify the conditions that make war just or proper. the face of the waters.” In Japanese mythology the They have commonly said that (1) the war must primal parents fi rst came down upon an endless be fought for a just purpose; (2) all other alter- ocean, and out of it congealed the fi rst island (see natives must have been tried and have failed; IZANAGI AND IZANAMI). Water is the raw material, (3) the warring party must carefully distinguish or the formless context, out of which real creation between people who are fi ghting (combatants) commences. Returning to the waters, then, as in and those who are not, although inevitably some RITUAL bathing and BAPTISM, can be like a return to people will die as “collateral damage;” and (4) the beginning so that one can, as it were, start off the amount of force used must be proportional to life again fresh, as though newly made. the threat, that is, it must not be excessive. Such Because it is shapeless and spreads out to a “just-war” theory may limit the kinds of wars in cover everything, water can also be destructive. In which people engage. Unfortunately, warring par- the Bible, the Great Beast in the book of REVELATION ties can also use just-war theory in their wartime came out of the sea. When God wished to destroy propaganda. what he had made, he sent a great fl ood. Many Religions have also developed traditions of FLOOD STORIES can be found in world mythology (see PACIFISM, that is, traditions that reject war and vio- MYTH AND MYTHOLOGY). But the fl ood is not truly the lence either in whole or in part. Religious pacifi sts end. The stories also contain as account of SALVA- in North America today include the so-called peace TION out of the waters: NOAH’s Ark, for example, churches, namely, the MENNONITES, the AMISH, the and the great Hindu sage MANU who, by means of Brethren, and the QUAKERS. They also include Bud- power gained through PRAYER and fasting, was able dhist organizations such as the Buddhist Peace Fel- to survive a universal fl ood and, in the form of a lowship and the Zen Peacemaker Order, as well great fi sh, rescue other beings. as people inspired by the teachings of Dr. Martin Thus life can come out of water, as it does Luther KING Jr. on nonviolence. in rain, a great gift of HEAVEN. Water is also in the womb and so is a symbol of birth. The Christian Further reading: J. Harold Ellens, ed., The rite of baptism, consisting of washing or immer- Destructive Power of Religion: Violence in Judaism, sion with water, represents new birth by a symbolic Christianity, and Islam (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, return back to the womb and the primordial chaos 2004); Mark Juergensmeyer, Terror in the Mind in order that one may come out again, clean and of God, 3d ed. (Berkeley: University of California renewed (see SYMBOLISM IN RELIGION). Indeed, water Press, 2003); Oliver McTernan, Violence in God’s is widely spoken of as a source of immortality. The Name: Religion in an Age of Confl ict (Maryknoll, River of Life was said to water the Garden of Eden, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2003); John P. Reeder Jr., Killing and the QUR’AN speaks of the rivers of paradise. and Saving: Abortion, Hunger, and War (University The prophet Jeremiah called GOD “the fountain of Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1996). living waters,” and the book of Revelation says that 474 S Weber, Max

the new, heavenly JERUSALEM contains “the river of for BUDDHISM, JESUS for CHRISTIANITY, and MUHAM- the water of life, bright as crystal.” Ponce de Leon MAD for ISLAM. When these fi gures die, authority sought for the Fountain of Youth in Florida, and shifts. It may shift to people whom tradition recog- the quest for an elixir of life based on water has nizes as authoritative, for example, Jesus’ APOSTLES. been a staple of MAGIC and ALCHEMY everywhere. Or it may shift to certain legal-rational procedures Water is also purifying, as the fl ood of Noah for ordering the community, such as councils or purifi ed the world, and rites of purifi cation involv- meetings of bishops. Each type of shift to another ing water are very common. After ritual or other authority is called “routinization.” pollution, bathing is recommended as a sacred as well as practical act. SHINTO priests bathe before a sacred ceremony, and shrines are often located Wesley, John (1703–1791) a minister in the by the purifying waters of a rapid stream. In the Church of England who founded Methodism John Catholic mass, the priest ceremonially washes his Wesley was the son of a priest of the Church of hands. England (see ANGLICANISM). He studied for the Symbolically, water is often linked with the ministry and was himself ordained a priest in moon because of the tides, and with women 1728. At the time he was also a fellow of Lincoln because of their related cycles (see MOON AND RELI- College, Oxford. GION, THE). In psychology, it is also often taken John’s brother Charles had started a study to represent the unconscious out of which come group among Oxford students. Members of this dreams and intuitions. Water is thought to be as group met regularly to study Christian devotional pervasive and mysterious as God, and the prophet literature; they took communion frequently; and Isaiah foresaw a time when the glory of God would they fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays. In time cover the Earth, “as the waters cover the sea.” they also took an interest in working among the poor. Other students labeled them “Methodists,” because they went about their religion so methodi- Weber, Max (1864–1920) German scholar who cally. The name was meant to be a putdown. John helped found the area of study known as Wesley eventually became leader of the group. sociology Weber’s contributions to the study of In 1735 Wesley was appointed to minister to religion were immense. His most famous book is settlers in the colony of Georgia. He spent almost The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. two years there, but his ministry was not effective. There he argued that PROTESTANTISM and its values He discovered that the settlers had little interest in were responsible for the rise of capitalism. As his own “high church Anglicanism.” At the same capitalist structures had begun to arise before time, Wesley became impressed by missionaries of the Protestant REFORMATION, this particular thesis the Moravian Brethren. The Brethren emphasized a is probably wrong. Nevertheless, many still personal experience of the certainty of salvation. fi nd Weber’s ideas signifi cant tools for studying Back in England in 1738, Wesley had such religions. an experience. He was listening to a reading One powerful set of ideas concerns the author- from Martin LUTHER’s writings, and he became ity on which religions depend. Weber identifi ed convinced of Luther’s fundamental teaching that three different kinds of authority: charismatic (the people are justifi ed by GRACE through FAITH apart personal authority of particularly striking individu- from anything they might do. At the same time, als), traditional, and legal-rational. He also identi- his heart was touched by the feeling that JESUS fi ed a typical historical progression from one type to had indeed died for him. Wesley traveled to the another. Many religions, he suggested, begin with continent to confer with the head of the Brethren, striking individuals, that is, they depend at fi rst Nikolaus von Zinzendorf. Then he started out on upon charismatic authority. Think of the BUDDHA his own mission. wisdom literature S 475

Wesley’s religious outlook differed from the wisdom literature: Proverbs, JOB, and Ecclesiastes. Calvinism that was dominant in England at the Two apocryphal or deuterocanonical books (books time (see CALVIN, John). Calvinists taught that GOD found in the Greek Old Testament but not in the elected some people for SALVATION and others for Hebrew scriptures; see APOCRYPHA) belong to this damnation. Wesley taught that God’s grace had the class, too: the Wisdom of Solomon and Ecclesias- power to save all human beings. He also taught ticus, also known as the Wisdom of Jesus Son of that it was possible to be certain that one was Sirach, or simply Sirach for short. Scholars some- saved. times discuss PSALMS and Song of Songs along with Wesley’s religious practice also differed from wisdom literature, but these are more properly common practice. Wesley refused to acknowledge poetic books. the boundaries of the parishes within which min- During the 19th and 20th centuries, scholars isters were supposed to preach. He traveled from unearthed and deciphered massive amounts of lit- place to place preaching. He often preached among erature from the ancient Near East. Among other industrial workers who had no religious home. writings, they found works similar to the biblical Although Wesley hoped to win other ordained books of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. Parts of ministers for this type of ministry, the demand was the Bible’s wisdom literature seem to be based on greater than the supply, so he enlisted the help of these other works. For example, a section in Prov- lay preachers. erbs called the “Words of the Wise” (22.17–24.34) Wesley’s teaching, his traveling, and his use refl ects teachings of an Egyptian wise man named of lay ministers aroused considerable opposition. Amenemope. It also won followers. In 1784 Wesley incorporated It is diffi cult to say who wrote most of the a Methodist Conference that was independent wisdom books or when. The books talk about of the Church of England. It was to carry on his everyday life, so they make little reference to his- work after his death. Wesley also left behind many tory. Some portions claim to derive from King infl uential writings, including his Sermons and his SOLOMON (Proverbs 1.1; Wisdom of Solomon); one Journal. He also wrote, translated, and published collection claims to have been gathered by scribes hymns. working for King Hezekiah (Proverbs 25.1). Sir- Wesley never wanted to found a new church. ach may be the exception to the rule. It presents He always wanted to renew the Church of Eng- itself as the work of a specifi c author: Jesus, son land. Nevertheless, his innovations and his man- of Eleazar, son of Sirach, a biblical scholar who ner of working placed him squarely outside the lived and taught in JERUSALEM. It also contains an established church. After his death, the Method- introduction by the author’s grandson, who lived ist Conference split from the Church of England. in Egypt after 132 B.C.E. and translated the book Methodism became one of the dominant forms of into Greek. CHRISTIANITY in the United States after the Revolu- Modern scholars suggest several sources tionary War. It also gave rise to offshoots like the for wisdom literature: royal courts, families, and Holiness Churches (see PENTECOSTALISM and SALVA- schools (see Sirach 51.23). Most wisdom literature TION ARMY). seems to have been written after the Babylonian exile (586–539 B.C.E.). The students also seem to have been male; wisdom is personifi ed as female, wisdom literature Sacred literature that empha- and they are urged to pursue her. sizes how to live daily life. Wisdom literature is Each wisdom book has its own character. a modern category, unlike TORAH and PROPHETS, Proverbs contains many brief sayings known which are ancient names for parts of the BIBLE. as aphorisms. It takes a generally positive atti- Scholars generally consider three books in the tude toward life in the world: GOD rewards those Hebrew scriptures (see SCRIPTURES, HEBREW) to be who are prudent and work hard; those who are 476 S wisdom literature

foolish and lazy suffer. The book personifi es Wis- Jesus Son of Sirach” (51.1). Not all of the advice dom as the fi rst of God’s creations. Indeed, it says translates well today. The section on children she helped God create the universe (Proverbs 8). It begins: “He who loves his son will whip him often, also teaches that “the fear of YHWH (”the Lord”) so that he may rejoice at the way he turns out.” is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9.10). Not all of Sirach is so brutal: “The whole of wis- Job is much less complacent about prosperity dom is fear of the Lord, and in all wisdom there is and suffering. SATAN, the accuser (not the devil), the fulfi llment of the law” (19.20). appears in God’s heavenly court. He questions Psalms is a collection of 150 hymns. Accord- whether Job is simply praising God because he ing to tradition, King DAVID wrote them, but their is rich and enjoying life. God and Satan decide to true authorship is obscure. Some relate more spe- check this out. Job loses his wealth, his children cifi cally to wisdom themes than others. A good and grandchildren, and his health. The book then example of one that does is the fi rst Psalm: “Happy relates speeches by Job, several of his friends, and are those . . . [whose] delight is in the Torah of eventually God. These speeches raise the classic YHWH, and on his Torah they meditate day and problem of THEODICY; Why do good people suffer? night.” The book does not answer this question. It simply Song of Songs is sometimes known as Can- shows that when Job is confronted with the maj- ticles or Song of Solomon. It got the last name esty of God, he is struck speechless. because tradition suggested that Solomon wrote it, Ecclesiastes is even more pessimistic. It teaches as he allegedly wrote Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and that all is vanity, all must die. But this pessimism the Wisdom of Solomon. Song of Songs is a col- makes many passages in the book profound. Prob- lection of love poetry. In much of it, one lover cel- ably the most famous passage begins: “For every- ebrates the beauty of the other. Jews have some- thing there is a season, and time for every matter times said that the book really celebrates YHWH’s under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to love for his people, Christians that it celebrates the die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is relationship of CHRIST and his church. planted . . .” (Ecclesiastes 3.1–2). Images and concepts in the wisdom books The Wisdom of Solomon seems to present infl uenced JUDAISM and CHRISTIANITY. The books Jewish perspectives on Greek ideas. For example, were also used in worship. For example, Song some Greeks believed that the SOUL is immortal. of Songs is used in the celebration of PASSOVER, The Wisdom of Solomon talks about immortality, Ecclesiastes in the celebration of Sukkot or “Tab- too, but it links it to righteousness and unrigh- ernacles” (see JEWISH FESTIVALS). Wisdom litera- teousness. “The righteous live forever, and their ture also infl uenced GNOSTICISM. For Gnostics reward is with the Lord” (5.15). That is true even Sophia (Greek for “wisdom”) was no longer a of righteous people who die young. The unrigh- creature who helped the creator god. She was teous, however, those who pursue riches and fi ne his superior. She also provided the divine insight living and oppress the poor, widows, orphans, that would undo the mess that the creator had and the old, will fi nd that their good things sim- made of the world. ply vanish. They have made a covenant with death (1.16). Further reading: Dianne Bergant, Israel’s Sirach resembles Proverbs, although it is less Wisdom Literature: A Liberation-Critical Reading aphoristic. The section headings in the Greek text (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997); H. Wayne give an indication of its content: “Self-control” Ballard Jr. and W. Dennis Tucker Jr., eds., An (18.30), “Discipline of the Tongue” (23.7), “The Introduction to Wisdom Literature and the Psalms, Praise of Wisdom” (24.1), “Concerning Children” (Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 2000); (30.1), “Concerning Foods” (30.18), “Hymn in Roland E. Murphy, Wisdom Literature and Psalms Honor of Our Ancestors” (44.1), and “Prayer of (Nashville: Abingdon, 1983). witchcraft S 477 witchcraft The use of MAGIC or sorcery by per- or ward off enemies. Such practices are like the sons or groups outside the mainstream of society. well-known burning of candles of different auspi- But the term “witchcraft,” like “witch,” has been cious colors by some people today, or the use of used in different ways in different times and places. “love potions.” Performed independently of the Witchcraft has often been regarded with suspicion offi cial religion by ordinary people or by local spe- by the social mainstream. But in modern times, it cialists like a village “wise woman,” these prac- has also referred to a religious movement. Here the tices are sometimes called witchcraft. In primal topic will be discussed in three parts: witchcraft in societies, disasters also are often blamed on the primal and ancient religion (see PRIMAL RELIGION), work of malevolent witches, known or unknown, alleged witchcraft and the witch persecutions in and their EVIL spells can be countered by other spe- medieval and early modern Europe, and witchcraft cialists, sometimes called witch doctors. today. In Europe, with the rise of CHRISTIANITY, such In early, ancient and peasant societies every- practices continued, but at a fairly low level. where, there is much use of simple magic and sor- Often they were regarded tolerantly by the Chris- cery, such as charms and humble offerings to pro- tian church. But around the 15th century, in an duce rain or fertility, assure successful childbirth, atmosphere of anxiety engendered by the rise of

This German woodcut, dated 1533, shows the execution of an arsonist witch by burning at the stake. (Foto Marburg/ Art Resource, N.Y.) 478 S worship

modernity, and, in the 16th century, by the REFOR- interpreted as good thoughts). It has colorful MATION, a wave of hysteria about witchcraft swept RITUALS for the seasons and for getting in touch over Europe, lasting till about 1700. In both Catho- with nature’s gods and GODDESSES. being closely lic and Protestant countries, persons—almost all aligned with the ecological and feminist move- women—were accused of witchcraft, unjustly ments, Wicca has found a place in the spiritual tried, and killed, most commonly by burning (see world of the early 21st century, and many of its JOAN OF ARC). Children were encouraged to inform adherents identify with the persecuted witches of against parents, husbands against wives, relatives three or four centuries ago. and neighbors against one another. Witnesses were paid to testify, and professional witchfi nders received fees for each suspect they brought in. Then worship Religious activities directed toward or the alleged witches’ confessions were obtained done in the service of a superior being, such as through horrible tortures. Witches were accused of GOD. Some have defi ned worship as the human making pacts with the devil, fl ying through the air response to an encounter with the “holy” or on broomsticks, gathering in diabolic covens, hav- “sacred.” ing animal “familiars,” and the like. Almost all of Worship is an idea and practice that is lim- this, though it lives on in the popular imagination ited in its application. To start with, some religious about witches, was undoubtedly a fi gment of the acts are not directed toward a superior being, so witchfi nders’ imaginations. The whole dreadful they are not forms of worship. A good example witchhunting mania, which may have numbered is Buddhist MEDITATION. It simply seeks to cultivate a million or more victims, was certainly the result an awareness of the way things are (see ZAZEN). of serious social sickness and mass delirium. One Furthermore, the term “worship” seems to imply of the last major outbreaks was the famous witch- a certain serious, concentrated attitude of mind. trials in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. Nineteen But people often perform religious actions as a persons were executed after a group of young matter of rote. For example, a baseball or softball girls became hysterical while playing at magic, player may make the sign of the cross when she and the suggestion was made that they had been or he comes up to bat. It would be diffi cult to talk bewitched. meaningfully about that action as worship, but it Turning to modern witchcraft, we may note is religious. that belief in traditional witchcraft in the sense of As a result, scholars of religion often avoid ancient magic remains alive in many parts of the the term worship. They prefer to speak of RITUALS world, including India, Africa, and Latin Amer- instead. But for many who practice religions, wor- ica. Occasionally there are sill accusations of evil ship is the best word to describe the most intense witchcraft, associated with Satanism or devil WOR- and intentional form of religious action. SHIP, even in the United States. At the same time, a revival of Paganism has WHO WORSHIPS? grown remarkably as a new religious movement People worship privately as individuals. They also in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere in worship in a variety of communities. In North the last half of the 20th century (see PAGANISM, America, Jews and Christians form special congre- MODERN). One important wing of this move- gations that meet on a weekly basis. In many times ment is called Witchcraft or, in a term many and places, worship has been largely a family of its adherents prefer, “Wicca.” It is a benign activity, for example, in ancient Greece and Rome movement having nothing to do with Satanism and in HINDUISM today. In some countries, religious or anything evil. It is centered on belief in the observance has been a matter of the state; these spiritual importance of nature, the equality of are countries with established or offi cial religions. men and women, and the power of magic (often For Muslims, the worshipping community is the worship S 479

House of ISLAM, which goes beyond any political Roughly in 6000 B.C.E. a community at Catal boundaries. Huyuk in modern Turkey apparently dedicated Most worship communities have leaders: RAB- many rooms to the worship of a GODDESS. Sacrifi - BIS, cantors, priests, ministers, deacons, IMAMS—in cial worship often takes place at an ALTAR. Ancient family worship, fathers or mothers. Many worship Greeks, like other peoples, performed some acts communities also have subcommunities that per- of worship in sacred groves or woods. Among the form special tasks. Many congregations in North Mayans and Aztecs as among ancient Babylonians America have choirs. The structure of worship some important altars sat on top of tall pyramids. communities may also refl ect gender and racial Much worship has taken place at temples—places exclusiveness, sometimes despite an egalitarian- where a divinity is present, often in the form of a ism in the general society. In Orthodox JUDAISM, statue. Congregations often meet in special build- a worshipping community must have at least 10 ings for worship, such as SYNAGOGUES, churches, men (males). In Catholic and Orthodox CHRISTIAN- and MOSQUES. ITY, only men may be priests. Hindus do not allow non-Hindus to enter certain temples. WHEN DO PEOPLE WORSHIP? Some worship activities take place every day. Mus- WHAT IS WORSHIPPED? lims formally pray fi ve times a day in the direc- Religions often reserve the term “worship” for tion of MECCA (see SALAT). Some traditional Hindu activities done in relation to the supreme being or householders perform rituals at the “twilights,” beings. Other worshipful activities may be called dawn and dusk. Some Christian MONKS AND NUNS “veneration.” perform a series of daily services: vigils, matins, Some Christians venerate MARY, the mother prime, tierce, sext, nones, vespers, and compline. of JESUS. Buddhists often venerate accomplished In addition, many religions have calendars of beings known as BODHISATTVAS. Christians, Mus- special festivals. The Islamic calendar is strictly lims, and Jains, among others, venerate SAINTS. lunar. As a result, Islamic observances, such as Especially Christians and Buddhists venerate REL- the Ramadan fast, move throughout the year. The ICS. Ancient Romans were required to venerate the Jewish calendar is partly lunar, partly solar. As a emperor. These acts may resemble worship strictly result, PASSOVER and Shavuot occur in the spring, speaking, but they often differ from it in subtle Rosh ha-Shanah and the DAY OF ATONEMENT in the ways. fall. Other festivals, such as CHRISTMAS, occur on Many religions also identify certain forms of specifi c dates in a solar year. Finally, some festi- worship as improper. In Judaism and Christian- vals take place only after several years. For exam- ity, the fi rst commandment forbids the worship ple, the Aztecs performed the New Fire Ceremony of any god but YHWH (“the Lord”). The second after every 52 years. commandment forbids the use of cult images. In Islam, shirk is a cardinal SIN. It means giving any IN WHAT WAYS DO PEOPLE WORSHIP? created object the respect and adoration that only There is practically no limit to the actions that wor- the creator deserves. ship can include. Worshippers speak to religious beings in PRAYER. They sing to them in songs and WHERE DO PEOPLE WORSHIP? hymns. They offer them gifts. They kill animals Some forms of individual worship can take place and sometimes people in SACRIFICE. Religions that anywhere. But human beings often set aside spe- use images often treat the images as honored cial areas for the performance of rituals, including guests: They wake them, bathe them, clothe them, worship. Some speculate that the European caves perfume them, feed them, entertain them, and put painted in prehistory were areas where ancient ini- them to bed. Some worshippers eat and drink; con- tiation rites took place (see INITIATION, RELIGIOUS). sider the EUCHARIST in Christianity. Some worshippers 480 S Wotan preach and teach (see PREACHING). Ordinary life The word “worship” excludes many important may also be seen as worship. In Judaism study religious activities. But for religious people who of the TORAH is a profound act of worship. Many interact with superhuman beings, worship may Christians see a life lived in service to others as a well be the most important activity in human life. life of worship. Further reading: Thomas F. Best and Dagmar SIGNIFICANCE Heller, ed., Worship Today: Understanding, Practice, Ecumenical Implications (Geneva, Switzerland: A worshipper may give different reasons for wor- WCC Publications, 2004); Stephen P. Huyler, ship than someone observing it from the outside. Meeting God: Elements of Hindu Devotion (New Worshippers may say that they worship because Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1999); Susan they will get some reward in return or because it J. White, A History of Women in Christian Worship refreshes them. They may worship to give visible (Cleveland, Ohio: Pilgrim Press, 2003); Terry W. expression to their inner feelings. They may also York, America’s Worship Wars (Peabody, Mass.: say that they worship to give God, for example, the Hendrickson Publishers, 2003). honor and praise that God deserves. Others may worship simply because they feel it is the right thing to do. Outside observers may note how worship Wotan The father and chief of the gods in Ger- helps create and maintain the identity and soli- manic and Scandinavian mythology. Also called darity of a group. They may talk about how wor- Odin, Wotan represented fate. He presided over ship contributes to psychological integration and Valhalla, the home of the gods, and rode through well-being. They may suggest that worship rein- the sky gathering the souls of the dead. In many forces basic beliefs and values. They may also see ways he was like a great shaman (see SHAMANISM), worship doing less admirable things, for example, magician, and poet. He was worshipped with SAC- reinforcing the superior status of a specifi c class, RIFICES. The name of the day Wednesday is derived gender, or race. from Wotan. . Y ,

Yama The god of death in Hindu mythology. In yin/yang theory A specifi c philosophical school the VEDA Yama is known as the fi rst person who in China, but more broadly a manner of conceiving died. In the PURANAS his mythology takes on full of the world in terms of the harmonious interac- form. There Yama rules the underworld from tion of complementary opposites. This article dis- his palace Subhavati. He is also the judge of the cusses the latter. dead. Prehistoric Chinese used various techniques Artwork often shows Yama holding a noose of divination that may have infl uenced the devel- and a mace. Myths say that he has two four-eyed opment of the yin/yang theory. In one technique, dogs, Syama and Sabala. The water buffalo is his hot iron rods were applied to the shoulder blades vehicle; the crow and pigeon are his messengers. of deer and tortoise shells. The cracks that resulted Yama is also associated with the south, the direc- revealed how the forces of nature were disposed at tion of the dead. the time of the test. In another technique, diviners would cast sticks and notice which sticks broke and which did not. Originally, though, yin and yantra A sacred diagram in India. Hindus and Buddhists who practice TANTRISM use yantras as objects of MEDITATION. In Tantrism yantras provide emblems of sakti, the divine, creative energy. They are two dimen- sional diagrams, made up of lines, primary shapes, and arcs organized around a central point. Yan- tras are associated with MANTRAS, sets of powerful sounds. Large, elaborate yantras are also known as MANDALAS. Perhaps the most famous yantra is the Sriyan- tra. It consists of nine triangles of gradated size, arrayed around a central point. Five triangles point downward; they symbolize the feminine power of sakti. Four triangles point upward; they symbolize the masculine power of SIVA. The triangles are sur- rounded by concentric LOTUS petals, which are sur- rounded in turn by concentric circles. The whole complex is set within a more or less square border. It symbolizes four walls with gates at the cardinal directions. Yin/Yang symbol

481 S 482 S yoga yang referred to the weather. Yin was a cloud-cov- the careful observance of the rules of propriety ered sky; yang was a clear, sunlit sky. within the bounds of social relationship. Taoism According to the developed yin/yang theory, is a softer, more passive tradition—yin. It empha- the world results from the harmonious interaction sizes lack of deliberate intention and harmony with of opposites. Neither opposite can exist by itself; natural processes. Thus, the central Taoist text, the for example, the word “black” would be meaning- Tao te ching, advises: “Know the male, but keep to less without “white.” Moreover, neither opposite the way of the female” (1.28). is ever encountered in pure form; and the oppo- sites are constantly intermingling. A well-ordered world, as opposed to chaos, results when yin and yoga Literally, Sanskrit for yoke; by extension, yang intermingle harmoniously. An example would any of a number of spiritual disciplines and reli- be the relationship between black and white in the gious paths in India, especially the “royal yoga” words on this page. of Patanjali. In its broadest usage, the term “yoga” It is possible to see the opposition between yin becomes virtually synonymous with religion. For and yang in a wide variety of contrasts: black and example, the BH AGAVA D -GITA uses yoga for several white, blue and orange, cold and hot, moist and spiritual paths that are often said to defi ne the dry, valley and mountain, earth and sky, female options available to Hindus. It identifi es jñana- and male, even and odd, passive and active, recep- yoga, the yoga or path of insight, KARMA-yoga, tive and aggressive, soft and rigid. It would be the yoga or path of RITUAL and ethical action, and wrong, however, to view good and EVIL as a simi- BHAKTI-yoga, the yoga or path of devoting oneself lar opposition; both yin and yang are good. Evil and one’s actions to a god. results from a disruption in their harmony. Usually, however, yoga refers to any number As a way of ordering the world, the yin/yang of different psychophysical exercises designed theory is supplemented by the theory of the fi ve to achieve some ultimate end, such as liberation elements (wu hsing): wood, fi re, earth, metal, from continuous rebirth. Hatha-yoga is the yoga and water. For example, in classifying the cardinal most commonly practiced outside of India. Its directions east is associated with wood, south with focus is on maintaining various physical postures, fi re, west with metal, north with water, and the combined with breath control. Its goal is physical center with earth. The fi ve elements relate to each health and mental relaxation. other in several ways. For example, they give rise Tantric yoga is a set of meditative practices to each other (for example, wood produces fi re); characterized by a distinct set of ideas (see TAN- they also overcome each other (for example, water TRISM). Practitioners of Tantric yoga conceive of overcomes fi re). the energy of the universe as a serpent resting at A common way to represent the yin/yang the- the base of the spine (KUNDALINI). Through their ory is as a circle divided in half by an S-shaped practices, the adept practitioners seek to awaken line, one side dark, the other light, but with a disk this energy and steer it through the six CAKRAS or of the opposite color in the thickest part of each regions through which the spine passes. Ultimately half. The diagram represents the continuous inter- the aroused energy enters the cakra of the skull, penetration of yin and yang and their perpetual and a blissful enlightenment ensues. admixture. Yin and yang can also be seen underly- Yoga was systematized as a philosophical ing many Chinese cultural products, such as paint- school in the Yoga-sutras of Patanjali (probably ings and drawings, gardens, and literary works. second century C.E.). The practices with which China’s two major, indigenous religious tra- Patanjali worked may be age-old. Engravings on ditions, CONFUCIANISM and TAOISM, also refl ect the seals found at sites of the Indus Valley civilization interaction of yin and yang. Confucianism is a (fl . 2500–1500 B.C.E.) seem to show a fi gure sitting “rigid” and active tradition—yang. It emphasizes in a meditative posture (see INDUS VALLEY RELIGION). yoga S 483

In any case, Patanjali gave the royal yoga its ulti- amount of time; second, to prolong these equal mate form as a path with eight “limbs” or stages. phases, so that the retained breath can circulate as The basic idea behind the royal yoga is concen- much as possible. tration. The practitioner concentrates successively When one’s posture is stable and one’s on different elements of the personality, calming breathing is rhythmic, one’s sense of awareness of them until they are at a state in which they require one’s surroundings is heightened. The next stage no attention. The process of concentration moves addresses these heightened senses. Using the met- progressively inward, until the practitioner reaches aphor of a turtle, Patanjali suggests that we must the very core of his or her being. withdraw our senses from the world. This involves An extended metaphor helps make sense of more than simply closing one’s eyes. Rather, one applying the term “yoking” to these practices. The must learn how to turn one’s senses on and off, so self is envisioned as a passenger in a chariot run- that, for example, one can turn off one’s sight even ning out of control. The driver of the chariot, the though one’s eyes are open. intellect or ego (there is no good translation) takes The goal of the sixth stage is to dissolve the hold of the reins of the mind and uses it to bring mind. The practitioner learns to concentrate the the chariot to a halt. Then the self may step off and mind solely on a single point. He or she meditates be in isolated purity. on a MANTRA (saying) or YANTRA (diagram) that has The fi rst two limbs of Patanjali’s yoga—yama been given by one’s teacher, analyzing its constitu- and niyama—deal with what is most external to the ent parts and the role of the mind in conceiving self: the way in which it acts in the world. These the object. “restraints” and “observances”—like not injuring, The seventh stage moves beyond the analyti- not stealing, studying the SCRIPTURES, and turning cal mind to a continuous awareness of the object over the fruits of one’s actions to GOD—prepare the of MEDITATION as a whole. At this stage practitioners practitioner for the steps to come. It is said that are said to receive special powers. An example they must not be observed simply in waking con- is the ability to project a lotus, have it levitate in sciousness but in every form of consciousness that the air, and to sit upon it. Practitioners are urged a person experiences, dreams included. to try these powers to test the quality of their The next two limbs deal with the body: pos- meditation. ture (asana) and breath-control (pranayama). Finally, practitioners enter a state in which The stage of posture does not aim at contorting consciousness of a distinction between subject the body into marvelous shapes. Rather, a prac- and object disappears. What is ultimately left is titioner should adopt a posture that is stable and pure self (ATMAN), without distinctions. This state, that can be maintained for a long period of time known as samadhi, is the goal of yoga practice. It with a minimum of discomfort. In traditional is equivalent to ultimate release (moksha). India, where European-style chairs were not used, The state of samadhi does not at fi rst per- the well-known LOTUS position met those goals sist indefi nitely. Those who have attained sama- perfectly. dhi but remain in the body are known as jivan- As concerns the act of breathing, Yoga theory mukta, liberated but still living (see JIVANMUKTI). identifi es at least three phases: inhaling, retain- They teach others who wish to achieve the same ing the breath, and exhaling. The second phase results. is extremely important, because Indian tradition When liberated persons die, there is no need thought that at this point the breath circulated to cremate their bodies. Cremation signals purifi - throughout the body and animated it. The goal cation in preparation for rebirth, which the liber- of breath-control is twofold: fi rst, to regulate the ated do not experience. Indeed, it is questionable breathing so that it is rhythmical, that is, so that whether one should describe these liberated beings the three phases of breathing each take the same as being dead at all. Throughout their careers as 484 S yoga

teachers liberated beings go into meditative states Further reading: Elizabeth De Michelis, A History as a lesson to their students. In some views, what of Modern Yoga: Patañjali and Western Esotericism we take as death may simply be a prolonged lesson (New York: Continuum, 2004); Ian Whicher and in breath-control—a lesson in liberation that lasts David Carpenter, eds., Yoga: The Indian Tradition an eternity. In any case, the bodies of the jivan- (New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003); The Yoga-sutra muktas are buried, and their tombs become places of Patañjali: A New Translation with Commentary, of PILGRIMAGE. Chip Hartranft, trans. (Boston: Shambhala, 2003). . Z ,

Zarathustra (fi rst half of fi rst millennium There are two major traditions of Zen. The B.C.E.) the founder of ZOROASTRIANISM As a Soto school stresses zazen more. In the Soto tra- historical personage, Zarathustra (also known dition meditators sit around the perimeter of an as Zoroaster) remains shrouded in mystery. He enclosure, facing the outside wall. They adopt a was Persian, but the time when he lived and comfortable posture with spine straight, shoulders his precise activities are known only vaguely. hanging, and the hands resting in the lap, palms Scholars generally date him sometime between up and the tips of the thumbs touching. Ideally, 1000 and 500 B.C.E. His religious poems, known the knees touch the fl oor and the feet rest, soles as Gathas, provide the major evidence for his up, on the opposite thighs. (Other leg positions teachings. are available for the less limber.) Practitioners are In contrast to the then dominant polytheism, encouraged to attend to their posture and breath- Zarathustra attributed the creation of the world ing. DOGEN, the founder of Soto, considered zazen to a single being, Ahura Mazda, the “wise lord.” more than a means of achieving enlightenment. He is attended by seven lesser spirits, the Amesha He considered just sitting, if done properly, to be Spentas. These in turn are opposed by EVIL spir- enlightenment. its known as daevas. The world in which human The other school of Zen, known as Rinzai, beings live is the site of the struggle between these uses riddles called KOAN as well as seated medita- two forces, but Zarathustra taught that in the end tion. In the Rinzai tradition, meditators face the good would triumph and the current world would interior of the room and thus each other. During be destroyed by fi re. meditation, they attend to their koan. Iranian religion derived from the same heri- tage as the VEDA in India. Prior to Zarathustra it had focused, as Vedic religion did, on animal sacri- Zen Buddhism A variety of BUDDHISM found fi ce. Zarathustra may have eliminated the sacrifi ce especially in Japan. It attempts to recover a per- of animals as defi ling and therefore unworthy of son’s “original mind” through MEDITATION. The Ahura Mazda and replaced it with a pure SACRIFICE word Zen is the Japanese version of the Chinese of fi re. At least that was later Zoroastrian practice. word Ch’an, which in turn reproduces the Sanskrit word dhyana, “meditation.”

zazen Seated MEDITATION in ZEN BUDDHISM. Bud- HISTORY dhism cultivates an awareness of things as they The “founder” or fi rst patriarch of Zen was an are. Many activities can foster this awareness. The Indian Buddhist named BODHIDHARMA. An expert in most specifi cally religious is sitting in meditation. a scripture known as the Lankavatara Sutra, Bod- It is the Zen practice that people living in North hidharma was brought to China around the sixth America are most likely to encounter. century as part of a campaign to nurture Buddhism.

485 S 486 S Zen Buddhism

A story from his life illustrates the Zen emphasis on meditation. It tells how, upon arriving in China, Bodhidharma spent nine years in meditation fac- ing the wall of a cave. Another important fi gure in early Ch’an was Hui Neng (638–713). The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch tells how Hui Neng defeated a rival for the position of sixth patriarch. He did so in a contest to write a poem that most exhibited the mind of enlightenment. For years the Ch’an school was divided between partisans of the two rival patriarchs. Eventually Hui Neng’s branch won out, but it, too, split. Its two forms were known in Chinese as Lin- chi and Ts’ao-tung. Lin-chi used enigmatic riddles (in Japa- nese, KOAN) in the hopes of provoking a sudden enlightenment. Ts’ao-tung cultivated a gradual enlightenment through the practice of sitting in meditation without any purpose or goal (in Japanese, ZAZEN). In the early 13th century two monks brought these schools to Japan. Eisai received training in Lin-chi, known in Japanese as Rinzai, while DOGEN received training in Ts’ao- tung, known in Japanese as Soto. In Japan both schools fl ourished. During the Middle Ages the aristocratic-mili- tary classes who ruled Japan took a particular interest in Zen. Warriors were especially fond of the attitude of mind that Zen cultivated. As a result, Zen contributed to the strict martial ethic known as bushido. Somewhat later, the great Zen master Hakuin (1686–1769) systematized the koan or riddles that Rinzai Zen uses. Eventually the infl uence of Zen extended to many Japanese arts. That is because, according to Zen, the original mind can be cultivated in any Portrait of Bodhidharma (Daruma) from the late 16th human activity. Zen arts of swordsmanship and century (Erich Lessing/Art Resource, N.Y.) archery recall the special relationship between Zen and the military class. The poet Basho (1644–94) developed haiku, a type of poem now well-known in North America, as a means of cultivating Zen In the 20th century, Zen spread to North mind. Other prominent Zen arts include garden- America and Europe, where it found devoted fol- ing, especially waterless gardens of rock and lowers. An important early fi gure in this move- gravel, the tea ceremony, Noh drama, calligraphy, ment was the lay writer D. T. Suzuki (1870–1966). and fl ower arranging. In the second half of the 20th century, Japanese Zen Buddhism S 487 businesses found it helpful for their employees to they face one another and contemplate koan. Zen attend retreats at Zen monasteries. practice supplements zazen with kinhin, a walk- ing meditation that helps to circulate the blood. At BELIEFS intervals of, say, twice a year, communities hold It violates the spirit of Zen to talk about Zen intense periods of meditation, perhaps a week beliefs. Zen believes that words, thought, and long, known as sesshin. reason always distort reality. They distort reality In the Rinzai school zazen is punctuated by because they attempt to “grasp” it instead of sim- visits to one’s master (roshi). These strictly pri- ply observing and accepting it. Zen practice helps vate, one-on-one interviews are a sort of mental one relinquish this mental grasping. wrestling match. The disciple must answer the The experience of relinquishing or release assigned koan in a way that shows insight but that is known as satori. Satori is not a state of “no is spontaneous and unpremeditated. Upon hearing thought,” which is achieved by deliberately forcing an inadequate answer, the master curtly dismisses the mind to cease. It is simply the not-so-simple the disciple by ringing a bell. act of “not thinking,” the recovering of one’s origi- Although the above are Zen practices, Zen nal mind. does not recognize a hard and fast distinction Given these attitudes, Zen could hardly have between religious and nonreligious practices. As a set of beliefs or propositions to which its practi- already noted, it is possible to realize the original tioners subscribe. Instead, Zen tries to use words mind through various arts. In addition, all Zen and ideas to subvert the way we ordinarily use practitioners must work. Indeed, in monasteries words and ideas. One typical Zen strategy is to kitchen work is said to be more important than pose a riddle that can have no solution. This is the zazen. Zen may also characterize a manner of liv- strategy of the koan. The most famous koan reads, ing. That way of living defi nitely does not involve “Show me the sound of one hand clapping.” A sec- incessantly puzzling over koan. ond Zen strategy is to write poetry that exhibits simplicity and a profound, aesthetic acceptance of ORGANIZATION things as they are. This is the strategy of the haiku, The basic relationship in Zen Buddhism is the such as Basho’s famous poem: “The old pond, ah! relationship between the master and the disciple. / A frog jumps in, / The water’s sound.” Yet a third Strictly speaking, masters are not teachers, because strategy is to tell stories that somehow illustrate Zen cannot be taught. They are more like experi- Zen mind. D. T. Suzuki tells of a father who taught enced guides. Masters put their disciples in situ- his son the family business—thieving. He took his ations in which the disciples may spontaneously son out one night and, deceiving him, locked him experience the mind of Zen. Traditionally, master in a nobleman’s safe. The son’s creative mental and disciples live in a monastery or, less commonly, effort in escaping from the locked safe is similar to a convent. Novices, known as unsui, include both the efforts of a Zen practitioner in cultivating the those who are pursuing satori and those who are mind of Zen. training to manage Zen temples. Besides meditat- ing and working, disciples in a monastery must PRACTICES also beg. In keeping with the Buddha’s insistence The most distinctive Zen practice is zazen, seated on a middle way, they also enjoy periods of exu- meditation. The preferred position is to sit with berance and relaxation. both legs crossed, the soles of the feet pointed up, In North America and Europe most Zen prac- the hands resting one on top of the other in the titioners are laypersons rather than resident monks lap, the tips of the thumbs gently touching. In the and nuns. Ideally they visit meditation centers Soto school, mediators face a wall and strive for on a regular basis, including weekend retreats of a mind devoid of purpose. In the Rinzai school, intense meditation and work. Traditionally, Zen 488 S Zend Avesta

has been male-oriented, but especially in North thunderbolt. He looks after those who require spe- America and Europe women, too, have assumed cial protection: suppliants and travelers. He also prominent roles. punishes those who break oaths. According to Homer, Zeus is “the father of SIGNIFICANCE gods and men.” His dwelling is on Mount Olym- Although Zen is not the most popular form of Bud- pus. There he presides over a somewhat dysfunc- dhism in Japan, its infl uence on Japanese life has tional divine family. Hesiod tells how Zeus came to been profound. During the 20th century Zen also power by deposing his father Kronos. A few myths became one of the most popular schools of Bud- hint that Zeus himself may one day be deposed. dhism in North America. Zeus’s adventures in marital infi delity became, quite literally, legendary. Further reading: Soko Morinaga, Novice to Master: In classical times (600–350 B.C.E.) Zeus was An Ongoing Lesson in the Extent of My Own the highest god of the Greek states. His major Stupidity (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2002); sanctuary was at Olympia. There the Greeks cel- Eshin Nishimura, Unsui: A Diary of Zen Monastic ebrated their common identity in a great Panhel- Life, drawings by Giei Sat¯o (Honolulu: University lenic festival. According to tradition, the Olympic Press of Hawaii, 1973); Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, games held every four years in conjunction with Beginner’s Mind (New York: Weatherhill, 2003). this festival began in 776 B.C.E. Artwork showed Zeus as a bearded man, with bulging muscles and at times unclothed. Zend Avesta Also called simply the Avesta; the sacred collection of writings in ZOROASTRIANISM. The texts of the Zend Avesta are very old. Some seem Zionism A Jewish movement in the late 19th to go back to ZARATHUSTRA himself. But the writ- and 20th centuries. Its goal was the founding of a ten collection did not come into existence until the Jewish state. middle of the fi rst millennium (1–1000) C.E. The In late-19th-century Europe many judged the Zend Avesta that we have today preserves only a worth of a people by whether or not they had their portion of the original. own nation-state. Theodor Herzl (1860–1904), a The most important part of the Zend Avesta is newspaper reporter, wanted Jews to receive full a collection of poems known as Gathas. Many say respect among Gentiles and escape the dangers of that Zarathustra himself wrote them. They resem- European ANTI-SEMITISM. He argued that these goals ble the hymns of the Rig VEDA in India. required Jews to have their own state. In 1897 he The Gathas make up part of a section known as founded the World Zionist Congress to work for a the Yasna, “Sacrifi ce.” When a Zoroastrian priest Jewish state. performs the SACRIFICE, he recites this section. Zionists overwhelmingly favored the ancient Other sections of the Zend Avesta include the homeland of Israel as the proper site for a Jewish Yashts, hymns to different ahuras (good spirits), state. In the early 20th century Zionists began and the Vendidad, laws that someone who wishes settling in Palestine, which was then part of to remain pure must observe. the Ottoman Empire. During World War I Great Britain’s Balfour Declaration promised that, if the Allies won, territory would be set aside for Zeus In Greek religion the most powerful of a Jewish state. But it was only after World War the Olympian gods. Zeus seems to be descended II, the murder of millions of European Jews in from a god of the sky whom Indo-Europeans wor- the HOLOCAUST, and considerable Zionist agita- shipped. At least his name is related to a Sanskrit tion that the state of Israel was established on name for a sky god, Dyaus. Zeus’s weapon is the May 14, 1948. Zoroastrianism S 489

At fi rst many Jews were sceptical of Zionism. Beginning about 635 C.E. Muslim armies The sceptics included ultraconservative Hasidic invaded and then conquered Persia. The vast Jews as well as very liberal Reform Jews. After the majority of Persians converted to Islam. As a result, Holocaust, Zionism became common in all forms perhaps only 25,000 Zoroastrians, known as Gab- of JUDAISM except HASIDISM. Later, although Zion- ars, remain in Iran today. They are concentrated in ism generally implied support for Israel, some radi- the remote cities of Yazd and Kerman. cal Zionists are considered overly zealous. By 1000 C.E. Zoroastrians from Persia began settling in the western Indian region of Gujarat. There they are known as PARSEES, because they Zoroastrianism A religion begun in Iran by the came from Persia. For centuries the Parsees prac- prophet ZARATHUSTRA. Its followers WORSHIP only ticed agriculture, but under British rule in the 19th one GOD, Ahura Mazda. Zoroastrianism teaches century they entered business, education, and that the world is the site of a struggle between the professions and became very infl uential. In good and EVIL. It also maintains that there will be a the 19th century Parsees began to leave India and fi nal judgment after death. settle in trading outposts of the British Empire. In the period after Indian independence in 1947 sig- HISTORY nifi cant Parsee communities were established in No one knows when Zarathustra lived. Some date London and Toronto. him close to 1000 B.C.E. Others date him in the sixth century B.C.E. In any case, he lived in eastern BELIEFS Iran and reformed the traditional Iranian religion. The sacred collection of writings of the Zoroastri- He advocated the worship of Ahura Mazda (Lord ans is known as the Avesta or ZEND AVESTA. Among of Wisdom) as the one true God. He also con- other writings it contains hymns by Zarathustra ceived of the traditional daevas—a word related to known as Gathas. Because Zoroastrianism has suf- the English word “deity”—not as gods but as evil fered throughout its history, only part of the Avesta spirits. He eliminated the SACRIFICES that the daevas survives today. originally received. The central fi gure of Zoroastrian worship is Zoroastrianism fl ourished under the Persian Ahura Mazda, also known as Ormazd. He is eter- emperors known as the Achaemenids. The emper- nal and uncreated and is said to have seven heav- ors Darius (ruled, 522–486 B.C.E. and Xerxes (ruled, enly attendants, led by Spenta Mainyu, sometimes 486–465 B.C.E.) made it the offi cial religion of their translated as “Holy Spirit.” Opposed to Ahura empire. The precise relations between Zoroastrian- Mazda is Angra Mainyu, “Evil Spirit,” also known ism and the traditional Persian priests known as as Ahriman. MAGI are disputed. Zoroastrians think of the world as a battle- After the conquests of Alexander the Great ground between these two sides. The heavenly (356–323 B.C.E.), Zoroastrianism adopted a very attendants of Ahura Mazda have chosen to follow low profi le. Little was heard of it again until Truth. Angra Mainyu and the daevas have chosen to the Sassanids came to power in Persia (ruled, follow the Lie. Human beings are now called upon 224–636 C.E.). At that time, Ahura Mazda to choose Truth over the Lie, goodness over evil. became known as Ormazd; the evil spirit oppos- Zoroastrians also teach that there will be a ing him became Ahriman. Several offshoots of fi nal battle at the end of time. In that battle Ahura Zoroastrianism also appeared. These included Mazda will defeat Angra Mainyu once and for all. MANICHAEISM, a once prominent religion whose They also teach that human beings are judged after adherents were spread from the Atlantic coasts death. They must walk across the Bridge of Rec- of Europe and North Africa all the way to the ompense, which traverses an abyss. For a deceased Pacifi c coast of China. person who has followed the Truth, the Bridge is 490 S Zoroastrianism wide. He or she crosses easily and enters the pres- In recent decades this practice has been the ence of Ahura Mazda. But if the deceased has fol- subject of some discussion within Zoroastrian lowed the Lie, the Bridge becomes as narrow as a communities. Those who live in areas where there razor’s edge, and he or she falls into the abyss. is not a large concentration of Zoroastrians fi nd it diffi cult to maintain the tradition. Some bury the PRACTICES dead. Others advocate electric cremation as a via- The most common symbol of Zoroastrianism is fi re, ble alternative to exposure. for Zoroastrians think that fi re is supremely pure. Indeed, Zoroastrian temples are known as fi re tem- ORGANIZATION ples. They contain fi res that burn continuously in One can be a Zoroastrian only if one’s father is large metal vessels. Five times a day priests tend a Zoroastrian. The community does not accept the fi res. They add fuel and recite prayers from the converts. Parsees say that they had to agree not Avesta. to accept converts in order to gain permission to Observant Zoroastrians bathe ritually for pur- live in India. poses of purity. Their daily life is also divided into A man may become a priest if his father was a fi ve different PRAYER periods. The most important priest. He receives special instruction, traditionally Zoroastrian festival is New Year’s. Known as No from his father. He also undergoes special RITUALS Ruz or “New Day,” it is a joyous celebration held to invest him with the offi ce of the priesthood. around the time of the spring equinox. At the age of seven for Parsees, 10 for Gabars, SIGNIFICANCE boys and girls become members of the community The number of Zoroastrians in the world is not through a ritual known as navjot, “new birth.” On large, perhaps 150,000. Nevertheless, Zoroastrian- this occasion they receive a white shirt and a sacred ism is a major and ancient religion. In addition, thread. They wear them for the rest of their lives. signifi cant elements of JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, and The Zoroastrian practice best known to outsid- ISLAM may be of Zoroastrian origin. These elements ers is probably the funeral, although it is simply one include beliefs in ANGELS, in the devil, in a fi nal facet of a rich religious life. Zoroastrians believe that judgment, and in a RESURRECTION of the dead. it is wrong to pollute any of the four elements, earth, air, fi re, or water. Therefore, they have traditionally Further reading: Mary Boyce, Zoroastrians: Their not buried or cremated their dead. Instead, they Religious Beliefs and Practices (London and New have placed the corpses in specially constructed York: Routledge, 2001); Peter Clark, Zoroastrianism: wells known as “towers of silence.” Relatively An Introduction to an Ancient Faith (Portland, Ore.: quickly, vultures eat the fl eshy parts of the corpse. Sussex Academic Press, 1998); Sooni Taraporevala, The bones are then dried by the sun and gathered Parsis: The Zoroastrians of India: A Photographic into special holding areas or ossuaries. Journey (London: Overlook Duckworth, 2004). . TOPICAL OUTLINE ,

The outline that follows groups the entries in The Encyclopedia of World Religions under these main headings. (All headings are also entries, except for headings in square brackets [].)

[Ancient Religions] Hinduism [Selected Nations, Buddhism [Indigenous and Cross- Religion in] Christianity Cultural Religions] Shinto [Comparative Topics] Islam Sikhism Confucianism Jainism The Study of Religions [East and Central Asian Judaism Taoism Religions] New Religions

[Ancient Religions] Manichaeism Zoroastrianism Maya religion Parsees Aztec religion Mesopotamian religions Zarathustra Canaanite religion Gilgamesh Zend Avesta Baal Inanna Egyptian religion mystery religions Buddhism Akhenaton Eleusis Amida Amon Isis, Isaic religion arhat Horus Mithra Asoka Osiris Nordic religion Avalokitesvara Ptah Celtic religion Bardo Thodol Gnosticism druids Bodhidharma Greek religion Loki bodhisattva Adonis Thor Buddha, the Apollo Wotan Buddhism in America Athena prehistoric religions Buddhist festivals Diana primal religion councils, Buddhist Hermes Roman religion Dalai Lama Orphism Juno dharma in Hinduism and Zeus Jupiter Buddhism Inca religion Mars Diamond Sutra Indus Valley religion Venus Dogen

491 S 492 S Topical Outline four noble truths Christianity in America Lutheranism four unlimited virtues Christianity, independent magi koan Christmas Mary Lotus Sutra Congregationalism Mary, apparitions of Mahayana Buddhism Constantine, Emperor Mary Magdalene Maitreya Coptic Church Mennonites mappo councils, Christian Methodism Mara creeds Nazarene, Church of the Nichiren cross New Testament nirvana Crusades New Testament, Apocryphal prajna dogma and doctrine ordination Pure Land Buddhism Dominicans papacy, the samsara Easter Paul, the apostle sangha Eastern Orthodox Pentecostalism scriptures, Buddhist Christianity Peter, epistles of Soka Gakkai ecumenical movement Peter, the Apostle stupa Episcopalianism Presbyterian and Reformed Tara epistles churches Tathagata Eucharist Protestantism Theravada Buddhism Evangelical Christianity Protestantism in Vajrayana Buddhism Fall, the America zazen Francis of Assisi and Puritanism Zen Buddhism Franciscans Q source (New Testament) fundamentalism, Christian Quakers Christianity gospels Rapture Acts of the Apostles grace Reformation, Protestant Amish Grail restoration movement Anglicanism Halloween Revelation, book of Anselm heresy revivalism Antichrist Holiness movement Roman Catholicism apostles incarnation sacrament Aquinas, Thomas India, religions in Salvation Army Armenian Church inquisition, the Seventh-Day Adventism Assemblies of God James Shakers Augustine of Hippo Jehovah’s Witnesses televangelism baptism Jesuits Thomas, Gospel of Baptist churches Jesus Trappists Benedictines Joan of Arc Trent, Council of Calvin, John justifi cation trinity Canterbury King, Martin Luther, Jr. Unitarianism cardinals kingdom of God United Church of Christ Carnival Latter-day Saints universalism cathedral Lent Vatican Councils charismatic movement liturgy virgin birth Christ Lord’s Prayer Waldensians Christian Science Luther, Martin Wesley, John Topical Outline S 493

[Comparative Topics] ethics and religion monotheism evil mountains and religion abortion and religion evolution and religion music and religion afterlife in world religions exorcism mysticism alchemy fairies myth and mythology altar faith nationalism, religious ancestor worship family and religion, the nature and religion angels fasting New Year festivals animals and religion fi re and religion occultism and esotericism apocalyptic literature fl ood stories pacifi sm, religious archaeology and religion folk religion persecution, religious architecture, religious founders, religious pilgrimage art, religious free will and determinism politics and religion asceticism fundamentalism polytheism astrology games, play, and religion prayer atheism ghosts preaching Bible, biblical literature God priests and priesthood birth rituals God, existence of purifi cation, religious brain, mind, and religion goddesses reincarnation cannibalism and religion guru relics cats and religion healing, religious religion, theories of the origin celibacy heaven of charms and amulets hell religious experience children, religion of heroes and hero myths resurrection church and state holy, idea of the rites of passage cinema and religion homosexuality and religion ritual circumcision humanism, religious sacrifi ce clothing, religious humor and religion saints clowns, religious images, icons, idols in religion salvation computers and religion incense Satan cosmogony initiation, religious science and religion cosmologies judgment of the dead scripture creation and world cycles kingship and religion seasons and religion cults and sects, religious lotus sexuality and religion dance and religion magic sin death and religion marriage and religion soul, concepts of denomination martial arts and religion suicide and religion devils and demons martyrdom Sun and religion, the devotion, devotionalism masks and religion symbolism, in religion diet and religion May Day taboo drama, religious meditation theodicy dreams and religion messiah theosophy drugs and religion millenarianism visions epics, religious miracles war and religion eschatology missionaries water and religion eternity monks and nuns wisdom literature 494 S Topical Outline witchcraft jivanmukti Kwanzaa worship Kabir Malcolm X Kali Native American religions Confucianism karma Ghost Dance Analects of Confucius Krishna Sweat Lodge Confucius Krishnaism in the West Pacifi c Ocean religions I Ching kundalini Rastafarians Lakshmi Santería [East and Central Asian lila shamanism Religions] mandala Spiritualism mantra tricksters Bon Manu Voodoo China, religions of maya feng shui mudras Islam Japanese religion om Aga Khan Korean religion Parvati Allah Tibetan religion prana al-Qaeda Vietnamese religions puja assassins yin/yang theory Puranas Ayatollah Hinduism Rama, Ramayana Druze, the Ramakrishna fundamentalism, Islamic Agni sadhu, sadhvi Hadith ahimsa sakti, Saktism Hamas atman Sankara imam avatar Saraswati Islam in America Banaras sati (suttee) jihad Bhagavad-Gita Siva Kaaba bhakti Tantrism Mecca, pilgrimage to Brahma Upanishads mosque brahman Veda muezzin brahmin Vedanta Muhammad cakras Vishnu Qur’an caste in Hinduism Vivekananda Ramadan dharma in Hinduism and Bud- Yama Rumi dhism yantra salat Durga yoga Shariah fundamentalism, Hindu Shi’ite Islam Gandhi, Mohandas [Indigenous and Cross- Sufi sm Ganesa Sunni Islam Ganges River Cultural Religions] gunas African religions Hanuman African-American religions Jainism Hindu festivals Arctic religions Mahavira Hinduism in America Australian religions Hinduism, new movements in cargo cults Judaism Indra Islam, Nation of Aaron Topical Outline S 495

Abraham Pharisees, the Shinto Adam prophets, biblical Amaterasu Amos Psalms Ise anti-Semitism Purim Izanagi and Izanami Apocrypha rabbi, rabbinate kami Baal Shem Tov Rebekah Shinto festivals Babel, tower of Samaritans bar/bat mitzvah Sarah Sikhism covenant Saul Adi Granth Daniel scriptures, Hebrew Gobind Singh David Solomon Nanak Day of Atonement synagogue Dead Sea Scrolls Talmud The Study of Religion Elijah Ten Commandments animism Essenes Torah archetype Esther Zionism dialogue Eve Durkheim, Émile Exodus [New Religions] dynamism Ezekiel Africa, new religious move- Eliade, Mircea Ezra ments in feminism Baha’i Genesis Frazer, James George Brazil, new religious move- halakhah Freud, Sigmund ments in Hanukkah functionalism Japan, new religions in Hasidism Jung, Carl Gustav Konkokyo Holocaust, the Lévi-Strauss, Claude New Age movement Hosea Malinowski, Bronislaw New Thought movement Isaac Marx, Karl Paganism, Modern Isaiah Otto, Rudolf Rosicrucianism Jacob religion, defi nition of Scientology Jeremiah religion, history of Spiritualism Jerusalem religion, study of Tenrikyo Jewish festivals theology UFO religions Job totemism United States, new religions in Jonah Weber, Max the Joseph worship Judaism in America [Selected Nations, kabbalah Taoism Lilith Religion in] Chuang-tzu Micah Canada, religion in Lao-tzu Moses India, religions of Tao Te Ching Nehemiah Russia, religion in Noah United States of America, Passover religion in SELECTED . BIBLIOGRAPHY ,

lthough the writers and editors of this ency- The Koran: With a Parallel Arabic Text, N. J. Aclopedia and the members of the editorial Dawood, trans. New York: Penguin Books, board are all original scholars in their own right, 2000. the ideas in this book are not entirely original or Narayan, R. K. Gods, Demons, and Others. New new. The writers have regularly consulted a vari- York: Bantam Books, 1986. ety of basic sources in preparing this volume, and The New Oxford Annotated NRSV Bible with the we list them here. Apocrypha, 3d ed., Michael D. Coogan et al., eds. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. Encyclopedias and Dictionaries Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, The New JPS Trans- The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, lation According to the Traditional Hebrew John Bowker, ed. Oxford: Oxford University Text. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, Press, 2005. 1985. Encyclopaedia Judaica, Cecil Roth, ed. New York: Tao te ching: A Literal Translation with an Intro- Macmillan, 1972. duction, Notes, and Commentary, Chichung The Encyclopedia of Religion, 2d ed., Lindsay Jones Huang, ed. Fremont, Calif.: Asian Humanities et al., eds. Detroit: Thomson/Gale, 2005. Press, 2003. HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion, Jonathan Z. Upanishads, Patrick Olivelle, trans. New York: Smith et al., eds. San Francisco: HarperSan- Oxford University Press, 1998. Francisco, 1995. New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2d ed. Detroit: Thom- General Surveys son/Gale, 2003. Eliade, Mircea. The Sacred and the Profane. New The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3d rev. ed., Simon York: Harper Torchbooks, 1961. Hornblower and Antony Spawforth, eds. Ellwood, Robert, and Barbara McGraw. Many Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. Peoples, Many Faiths: An Introduction to the Religious Life of Humankind, 8th ed. Upper Sacred Texts Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2005. Buddhist Scriptures, Donald S. Lopez, ed. New York: Penguin Putnam, 2004. The Study of Religions Charles, R. H. Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of Eliade, Mircea. The Sacred and the Profane: The the Old Testament. Oxford: Oxford University Nature of Religion. New York: Harper & Row, Press, 1998. 1961. Ehrman, Bart D. Lost Scriptures: Books That Did Ludwig, Theodore M. The Sacred Paths: Under- Not Make It into the New Testament. New standing the Religions of the World. 3d ed. York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2001.

S 496 Selected Bibliography S 497

Paden, William E. Interpreting the Sacred: Ways of Martin, Joel W. Native American Religion. New Viewing Religion. Rev. and updated ed. Bos- York: Oxford University Press, 1999. ton: Beacon Press, 2003. Pals, Daniel L. Seven Theories of Religion. New Sharma, Arvind, ed. Our Religions. San Francisco: York: Oxford University Press, 1996. HarperSanFrancisco, 1993. Robinson, Richard H., et al. The Buddhist Religion: Smith, Huston. The World’s Religions. San Fran- A Historical Introduction, 3d ed. Belmont, cisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991. Calif.: Wadsworth, 1982. Rudolph, Kurt. Gnosis: The Nature and History of Specifi c Studies Gnosticism, Robert McLachlan Wilson, trans. Balmer, Randall. Religion in Twentieth Century San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1987. America. New York: Oxford University Press, Stein, Stephen J. Alternative American Religions. 2001. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Braude, Ann. Women and American Religion. New Thompson, Laurence G. Chinese Religion, 5th ed. York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, 1996. Burkert, Walter, Greek Religion, John Raffan, trans. Zaidman, Louise Bruit, and Parrel, Pauline Schmitt. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, Religion in the Ancient Greek City, Paul Cart- 1985. ledge, trans. Cambridge: Cambridge Univer- Bushman, Claudia Lauper, and Richard Lyman sity Press, 1992. Bushman. Mormons in America. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. ANCIENT RELIGIONS Butler, Jon. Religion in Colonial America. New Boyce, Mary. Zoroastrians. London: Methuen, York: Oxford University Press, 2000. 1985. Capps, Walter H. Religious Studies. The Birth of a Godwin, Joscelyn. Mystery Religions in the Ancient Discipline. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1995. World. New York: Harper, 1981. Carrasco, Davíd. Religions of Mesoamerica: Cosmo- Morenz, Siegfried. Egyptian Religion. Ithaca: Cor- vision and Ceremonial Centers. San Francisco: nell University Press, 1973. Harper & Row, 1990. Ross, Anne. The Pagan Celts: The Creators of Diner, Hasia R. Jews in America. New York: Oxford Europe. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1986. University Press, 1999. Gaustad, Edwin S. Church and State in America. 2d EAST ASIAN RELIGIONS ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Bahm, Archie J. The Heart of Confucius. New York: Joselit, Jenna Weissman. Immigration and Ameri- Harper & Row, 1971. can Religion. New York: Oxford University Earhart, H. Byron. Japanese Religion: Unity and Press, 2001. Diversity. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, 1982. Kepel, Gilles. The Revenge of God: The Resurgence Ellwood, Robert S., and Richard Pilgrim. Japanese of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism in the Mod- Religion: A Cultural Perspective. Englewood ern World, Alan Braley, trans. University Park: Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1985. Pennsylvania State University Press, 1994. Hoover, Thomas. Zen Culture. New York: Random Mann, Gurinder Singh, Paul David Numrich, and House, 1977. Raymond B. Williams. Buddhists, Hindus, and Thompson, Laurence G. Chinese Religion. An Intro- Sikhs in America. New York: Oxford Univer- duction, rev. ed. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, sity Press, 2002. 1969. Markman, Roberta H., and Peter T. Markman. The Thomson, Harry. The New Religions of Japan. Flayed God: The Mythology of Mesoamerica. Tokyo and Rutland, Vt.: Charles E. Tuttle, San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1992. 1963. 498 S Selected Bibliography

Welch, Holmes. The Practice of Chinese Buddhism. Maringer, Johannes. The Good in Prehistoric Man. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1964. New York: Knopf, 1960. ———. Taoism: The Parting of the Way. Boston: Turner, Victor. The Ritual Process. Ithaca: Cornell Beacon Press, 1957. University Press, 1977.

PRIMAL RELIGIONS Eliade, Mircea. Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. New York: Pantheon, 1964. . INDEX ,

Locators in boldface indicate main entries. evil 140 Angra Manyu 116, 489 Locators in italic indicate illustrations. war and religion 472 animal sacrifi ce 92, 401–402, 407, 408, Locators followed by m indicate maps. Zarathustra 485 470 Locators followed by t indicate tables. Zoroastrianism 489, 490 animals and religion 18–20, 19, 31 AIM (American Indian Movement) 315 animism 18, 126–127, 384 Akbar (emperor of India) 118 Anouilh, Jean 74 A Akhenaton (king of Egypt) 10 Anselm 20–21, 144, 176, 178 Aaron 1 alchemy 10, 262, 441 anthropology abortion and religion 1 Alexander III the Great (king of Macedon) James George Frazer 158 Abraham 1–2 131, 329, 489 Claude Lévi-Strauss 265 Genesis 172 Ali (cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad) Bronislaw Malinowski 276 Isaac 217, 218 212, 419–420 religion, theories of origin of 384 Jacob 228 Ali, Muhammad 226 sacrifi ce 402 Joseph 244 Ali, Noble Drew 226 taboo 437 Kaaba 251 Allah 10–11 totemism 454 Mecca, pilgrimage to 287 Alta Khan (Mongol king) 111 anti-Catholic persecution 393 monotheism 299 altar 11, 479 Antichrist 21 Moses 301 altrusim 385 antifoundationalists 180 Rebekah 374–375 Amaterasu 11, 219, 227 anti-Semitism 21–22, 226, 247, 488. See Sarah 408 Ambedkar, B. R. 214 also the Holocaust Ambrose 38 Abu Bakr (caliph) 369, 419 Anurdhapura, council at 105 American Indian Movement (AIM) 315 Abulafi a, Abraham 252 apartheid 352 American Muslim Mission 225, 226 Abu Talib 304, 419 aphorisms 475–476 Amida 11, 40, 234, 274, 278, 363 Acts of the Apostles 2, 105, 229–230, 320, apocalyptic literature 22–24 Amidism. See Pure Land Buddhism 336 Daniel 112 Amish 11–12, 288 Adam 2, 140, 145, 172 millenarianism 293 Amitabha. See Amida Adamski, George 457 New Testament 321 Amman, Jakob 11 Adi Granth 2–3, 176, 252, 312, 424 prophets, biblical 358 Amon 10, 13, 131 Adonis 3 Rapture 373–374 Amos 13 Advaita Vedanta 59, 284, 407, 465, 468 amulet. See charms and amulets Revelation, book of 388–389 Africa, new religious movements in 3, Anabaptists war and religion 472 3–5, 7, 89, 338–340, 444 Baptist churches 46 Apocrypha 24–25, 52, 142, 475 African-American religions 5–6, 93, Christianity, independent 89 Apocryphon of John 175 260–261. See also Islam, Nation of Eucharist 138 Apollo 25–26 African Methodist Episcopal Church 292 Mennonites 288 apostles 26. See also Acts of the Apostles African religions 7, 193–194, 407, nationalism 312 Eastern Orthodox Christianity 128 455–456, 469–470 politics and religion 345 epistles 135 Afro-Brazilian religion 61 Protestant Reformation 376 James 229–230 afterlife in world religions 8–9, 137, 173, Analects of Confucius 13–14, 101 Mary Magdalene 283 248–249, 428 ancestor worship 14–15, 15, 69, 100 missionaries 295–296 Against Jews and Their Lies (Luther) 22 angels 15–17, 16 Paul (apostle) 336–337 Aga Khan 9 Anglicanism 3, 17–18 Peter (apostle) 341–342 Agni 9, 150–151 Canterbury 74 Apostles’ Creed 107 agriculture 351, 355–357, 422 Christianity 88 apostolic succession 17–18, 128, 354 ahimsa 10, 19, 121, 229, 273, 331 Episcopalianism 134–135 Aquinas, Thomas 26–27 Ahriman 116, 136, 140 Methodism 292 anti-Semitism 22 Ahura Mazda Puritanism 364, 365 faith 144 devils and demons 116 Protestant Reformation 376 Francis of Assisi and Franciscans 158 eschatology 136 John Wesley 474 God, existence of 180

499 S 500 S Index

Aquinas, Thomas (continued) Babel, Tower of 43–44 Bible, biblical literature 50–55, 51 Roman Catholicism 393 Babri Masjid mosque 165, 202 David 112 sacraments 400 Babylon Esther 137 sin 425 Daniel 112 evolution and religion 141 archaeology and religion 27–29, 55 Ezra 142 Ezekiel 142 archetype 29, 133, 181, 197, 249, 333 Isaiah 218 fundamentalism, Christian 162–164 architecture, religious 29–31, 76–78, Jeremiah 236, 237 Genesis 172–173 430–431 Jerusalem 237 hell 196 Arctic religions 31–32 kingship and religion 255–256 homosexuality and religion 208 arhat 32, 448, 449 Lilith 265 Hosea 209–210 Aristotle 26, 158, 185 Mesopotamian religions 289 Isaac 217–218 Arjuna 49, 472 polytheism 347 Isaiah 218 Armenian Church 32, 91 Bachofen, J. J. 181 Jesus 238–240 art, religious 32–34, 40–41, 249 Badr, Battle of 304 Job 243–244 Artaxerxes I (king of Persia) 317 Baha’i 44–45, 146 Jonah 244 Artemis 34, 119 Bahram I (king of Persia) 276–277 Lutheranism 269–270 Arthur (king of the Britons) 184 Bakker, Jim and Tammy Faye 163, 339, Mary 280–281 Asahara, Shoko 232 443, 444 Mary Magdalene 283 Asbury, Francis 292 Balfour Declaration 488 Mennonites 288 asceticism 34–35, 136–137, 157–158 Ballou, Hosea 461 messiah 291 Ashcroft, John 339 Banaras 45, 114 Micah 293 Ashura 420, 421 baptism 45–46 New Testament 319–321 Ash Wednesday 265 Assemblies of God 36 prophets, biblical 358 Asia 182, 196. See also specifi c countries Baptist churches 46 Psalms 361–362 Asoka 35, 65, 331, 344, 350, 430 Christianity 87 Rebekah 374–375 assassins 35 Lutheranism 270 Sarah 408 Assemblies of God 35–36 Noah 325 science and religion 410 Assyria 236, 289 Protestant Reformation 376 scriptures, Hebrew 413–415 astrology 36–37, 37 sacraments 400 Solomon 427–428 Asuza Street Mission 337–338 water and religion 473 suicide and religion 432 Athanasius of Alexandria 102, 320 Baptist churches 6, 46–47, 253 Ten Commandments 444–445 atheism 37, 398 bar/bat mitzvah 48, 246 Thomas, gospel of 449–450 Athena 37 Bardo Thodol (Tibetan “Book of the Torah 453–454 Athens 37, 185 Dead”) 48–49, 114, 377, 463 Council of Trent 455 atman 37–38 Barth, Karl 447 Waldensians 471 brahman 58 Basho 486, 487 bin Laden, Osama 366 samsara 406 basilica 30, 77 birth rituals 55–56, 87 Upanishads 461, 462 Becket, Thomas 74 bishops 17–18, 76, 135, 354, 394 Vedanta 465 Bell, Eudorus 35–36 Black Muslims. See Islam, Nation of yoga 483 Benedictines 20–21, 49, 298 Blavatsky, Helena P. 67, 399, 448 Atrahasis 151, 290, 291 Benedict XVI (pope) 334 Bodhidharma 56, 279, 485–486, 486 Augustine of Canterbury 49, 73–74 ben Joseph, Rabbi Akiba 280 bodhisattva 40–41, 56–57, 57, 267, 274, Augustine of Hippo 38–39 Bennett, Dennis 80 463 anti-Semitism 21 Berger, Peter 160 Bon 57–58, 306, 452–453 John Calvin 71 Bergman, Ingmar 95 Boniface VIII (pope) 334 the Fall 145 Bhagavad-Gita 49–50 Book of Common Prayer 17, 135 justifi cation 250 avatar 41 Book of Mormon 263, 264 Roman Catholicism 393 bhakti 50 Book of the Dead. See Bardo Thodol sin 425 Hinduism 200, 201 (Tibetan “Book of the Dead”) suicide and religion 432 Krishna 257, 258 Booth, William 405 theodicy 446 Vishnu 467 “born again” 138 Aum Shinrikyo 232 war and religion 472 Bosch, Hieronymus 249 Australian religions 39–40 yoga 482 “boy bishop” 96–97, 210 authority, in religious movements 474 Bhagavata Purana 258 Brahma 58, 107, 408 Avalokitesvara 40–41, 57, 69, 111, 274, bhakti 50 brahman 58–59 443 Buddhism 65 atman 38 avatar 41, 257, 372, 468 Hinduism 200 Brahma 58 Avesta. See Zend Avesta Krishnaism in the West 260 Hinduism, new movements in 203 Avignon papacy 334 mantra 277 prana 347 ayatollah 41, 224, 419 meditation 287 Ramakrishna 373 Aztec religion 41–42, 73, 153, 401, 472 music and religion 306 Sankara 407 Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, A. C. Upanishads 461, 462 258, 259 Vedanta 465 B Bharati, Uma 345–346 Brahmanas (Vedic literature) 465 Baal 43, 71, 134 Bharatiya Janata Party (Indian People’s brahmin 58, 59–60, 401 Baal Shem Tov 43, 192 Party; BJP) 165, 202 brain, mind, and religion 60–61 Index S 501

Brazil, new religious movements in 61–62 Buddhist festivals 68–69, 449 Chaucer, Geoffrey 74 Brothers Karamazov, The (Dostoyevsky) Burkert, Walter 402 children, religion of 81–82 179 Burma (Myanmar) 449 Children’s Crusade 109 Brown, Antoinette 204 Burton, Richard (1821-1890) 286 Chilembwe, John 3 Brunner, Emil 447 Bush, George W. 224 China, People’s Republic of 83–84, 345, Bryan, William Jennings 163 Byzantine Empire 108, 128, 129 441, 452 Buchanan, James 264 China, religions of 82–84 Buddha 62–65, 63 ancestor worship 15 Amida 11 C Buddhist festivals 69 Buddhist dharma 117 Caesar, Julius 79, 80, 125, 465 Confucianism 98–100 creation and world cycles 106 Caillois, Roger 169 Confucius 100–101 Diamond Sutra 119 Caitanya 50, 306 feng shui 150 Lao-tzu 263 cakras 70, 260, 482 I Ching 211 Mahayana Buddhism 273, 274 calendar 107, 223, 285, 300, 372 kingship and religion 255, 256 Maitreya 274–275 Calvert, Cecil 393 Korean religion 257 messiah 291 Calvin, John 70, 70–71 Lao-tzu 262–263 samsara 406 Christianity, independent 89 Maitreya 274–275 scriptures, Buddhist 412 the Fall 145 Manichaeism 277 Shinto 421 free will and determinism 159 New Year festivals 323 stupa 430 miracles 294 politics and religion 344 Tathagata 443 music and religion 306 Pure Land Buddhism 363 Buddhism 65–67. See also specifi c forms of Presbyterian and Reformed churches religion, study of 382 Buddhism, e.g.: Theravada Buddhism 351–353 Taoism 440–442 afterlife in world religions 9 Puritanism 365 Vietnamese religions 466 angels 16–17 Protestant Reformation 376 yin/yang theory 481–482 architecture 30 Calvinism 108, 352–353, 458, 475 Zen Buddhism 485–486 art 33 Campbell, Joseph 94, 181, 197, 198, 249 Christ 84, 291, 373–374 atheism 37 Campbell, Thomas 386, 387 Christian Church (restoration movement charismatic movement 80 camp meetings 204, 389, 390 denomination) 386, 387 China 83 Canaan 1–2, 141 Christianity 84–88, 86m. See also specifi c creation and world cycles 107 Canaanite religion 43, 71–72 Christian religions, e.g.: Roman Catholi- devils and demons 115–116 Canada, religion in 72–73 cism diet and religion 120 Candide (Voltaire) 445–446 Adam 2 drama 124 cannibalism and religion 73 Africa, new religious movements in dreams and religion 124 canon 321, 411, 412 3–5 eschatology 136 Canterbury 73–74, 74 African religions 7 fi re and religion 151 Canterbury, Archbishop of 17, 20–21 afterlife in world religions 8 guru 188 Canterbury Tales (Geoffrey Chaucer) 74, animals and religion 20 homosexuality and religion 209 74 anti-Semitism 21, 22 India 214–215 capitalism 353, 474 apocalyptic literature 23 Japanese religion 232–235 Capitoline Hill 249, 250 architecture 30 Korean religion 257 cardinals 74 Arctic religions 31 Lao-tzu 263 cargo cults 15, 74–75, 293, 331 baptism 45–46 lotus 267 Carnival 75 Bible 52, 54 mandala 276 Carroll, John 238, 393, 395 Canada 72–73 mantra 277 Carter, Jimmy 139 China 84 meditation 287 Castaneda, Carlos 417 dance and religion 111 miracles 294 caste in Hinduism 59–60, 75–76, 120, 215 death and religion 114–115 missionaries 295 cathedral 30, 76–78, 77 devils and demons 116 monks and nuns 297–298 cats and religion 78 dreams and religion 124 mudras 303 cave paintings 18, 350, 385 Egyptian religion 132 music and religion 306 Cayce, Edgar 317 evil 140 nature and religion 316 celibacy 78–79, 416 free will and determinism 159 pacifi sm 331 Celtic Religion 79, 79–80, 125–126, 190 fundamentalism 161 preaching 350 chakras. See cakras Gnosticism 174 relics 377–378 Chalcedon, Council of 32, 103, 214, 240, healing 194 soul 428 333 hell 196 suicide and religion 432 Ch’an Buddhism 441, 485–486 homosexuality and religion 208 Tantrism 438–440 Channing, William Ellery 458 Japanese religion 234 Taoism 441 chanting 306–307, 324 judgment of the dead 248–249 theology 447 charismatic movement 80, 338 Korean religion 257 Tibetan religion 452 Charlemagne 295, 393 martyrdom 280 Vietnamese religions 466 Charles I (king of England) 365 messiah 291 war and religion 472 Charles V (Holy Roman Emperor) 226 miracles 294 yantra 481 Charles VII (king of France) 243 missionaries 295–296 Buddhism in America 67–68 charms and amulets 80–81, 265 monks and nuns 297–299 502 S Index

Christianity (continued) conversion 247, 336, 490 Dharmasastras 59, 75 monotheism 299 Copernicus 104, 410 adh-Dhib, Muhammad 113 music and religion 305–306 Coptic Church 102–103 dialogue 118–119, 382 mystery religions 308 Cortés, Hernán 42 Diamond Sutra 119, 124 Native American religions 315 cosmic religion 153, 354–355 Diana 119 nature and religion 316 cosmogony 103–104, 193 Diatta, Alinesitoue 5 Noah 325 cosmological argument 178, 180 Diego, Juan 282 prayer 348 cosmologies 104–105, 106–107 diet and religion 119–121, 226, 364, 374. priests and priesthood 354 councils, Buddhist 105 See also fasting religion, study of 381, 382 councils, Christian 105–106, 128. See also Digambara 229, 298 resurrection 387, 388 Vatican Councils diocese 76, 394 Roman religion 396 councils, Roman Catholic 394 Disciples of Christ (church) 387 salvation 405 counterculture 125, 318, 332 dispensationalism 23, 163 Satan 408 Counter-Reformation 238, 287, 376, 393 Divali 199, 262 sin 425 covenant 106, 325, 445 divination 211, 213 symbolism in religion 435 Coyote 210, 455 Dodds, E. R. 425 theodicy 445 creation and world cycles 103–104, Dogen 121, 485, 486 theology 447 106–107 dogma and doctrine 121, 143 war and religion 472 creation myth 310, 326 Dome of the Rock 237, 302 witchcraft 476–477 creeds 107, 143 Dominicans 26, 121–122, 217 Christianity, independent 88–90 cross 107–108, 239 “dominion theology” 346 Christian Science 90, 323 Crowther, Samuel 4 Donation of Constantine 334 Christmas 90–91, 123 crucifi xion 107, 239 The Doors of Perception (Huxley) 125 Chrysostom, John 21 Crusade, Fourth 128 Dostoyevsky, Fyodor 179 Chuang-tzu 91 Crusades 108–109, 166, 238, 472–473 Doyle, Arthur Conan 429 church and state 91–92 Cuba 407, 408 drama, religious 122–124 Christianity, independent 89 cults and sects, religious 109–110, 319, the Dreaming 39, 40, 104 Egyptian religion 132 432, 457–458 dreams and religion 124–125 fundamentalism, Islamic 166–167 Cultural Revolution 84, 99, 345, 441 drugs and religion 125, 374 Protestantism in America 360 Cyrus II (king of Persia) 218, 237, 289, druids 80, 125–126 sacrifi ce 402 291 Druze, the 126 United States 460 DuBois, W. E. B. 225 Church of England. See Anglicanism Durga 126 Church of God 92 D Durkheim, Émile 126 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Daimoku 67, 231 animism 18 See Latter-day Saints dairy products 120 functionalism 160 Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. Hialeah Dalai Lama 111 religion, defi nition of 378 92, 402 Avalokitesvara 40 religion, study of 383 Cicero 294, 344–345 Buddhism in America 67–68 religion, theories of origin of 384 cinema and religion 92–95 India 214–215 taboo 437 circumcision 95–96, 246, 390 Tibetan religion 452 totemism 454 Cistercians 454–455 Vajrayana Buddhism 463–464 dynamism 18, 126–127 City of God, The (Augustine) 39, 432 dance and religion 111–112, 355 “Civil Disobedience” (Thoreau) 253 Daniel 22–23, 112, 387 Civil Rights movement 6, 253–255, 275, Darby, John Nelson 374 E 459 Darius (Perisan emperor) 489 Easter 75, 128, 265, 300 Clement XIV (pope) 238 Dark Night of the Soul 309 Eastern Orthodox Christianity 128–129 Clinton, Bill 47 Darrow, Clarence 163 art 33 clothing, religious 96 Darwin, Charles 140, 141, 141, 162, 410 Bible 52 clowns, religious 96–97, 210 David 112, 237, 361, 409 Christianity 85–87 collective unconscious 29, 249 Da Vinci Code, The 283 Christmas 90 Columbus, Christopher 25, 158, 394 Day of Atonement 112, 146, 147, 348, 425 councils, Christian 105 commandments 239, 245 Dead Sea Scrolls 45, 53, 112–113, 136, Eucharist 138 Communion. See Eucharist 361, 415 feminism 148 Communism 83–84, 398–399, 441, 466 death and religion 113–115, 431–432 magi 271 computers and religion 97–98 Deer Park 156 missionaries 296 concentration camps 205–206 Deguchi, Hao 231 monks and nuns 298 Confessions (Augustine) 39 Deguchi, Onisaburo 231 papacy 333 Confucianism 82, 98–100, 100, 257, 441, Demeter 133, 308 prayer 348 466, 482 denomination 115, 460 Roman Catholicism 393 Confucius 13–14, 82, 100–101, 211, 443 determinism 159 Roman Catholicism and Eastern Congregationalism 87, 101–102, 459–460 Deuteronomy 301, 444 Orthodoxy in America 395 Constantine I (Roman emperor) 45, 85, devils and demons 115–117, 142 Russia 398–399 102, 107–108, 344 devotion, devotionalism 33, 117 sacraments 400 Constantinople 102, 108–109 dharma in Hinduism and Buddhism 35, saints 403 Constantinople, Patriarch of 128–129 68, 117–118, 200–202, 263 Ecclesiastes 475, 476 Index S 503

ecumenical movement 85, 129–130, epistles 135, 230 Fear and Trembling (Kierkegaard) 2 359–360 Erasmus 321, 455 feminism 147–150, 224–225, 332–333 Eddy, Mary Baker 90, 323 eschatology 135–136, 311 feng shui 150 Edelman, Gerald 385 esoteric religion. See occultism and fertility 213, 416 Edict of Milan 102 esotericism festivals Edict of Toleration 352 Essenes 136–137 Buddhist 68–69, 449 Edwards, Jonathan 101–102, 389 Establishment Clause 92 Carnival 75 Edward VI (king of England) 376 Esther 137, 364 Diana 119 Egypt 8, 141, 142, 236, 237, 244–245 eternity 137 Durga 126 Egyptian Book of the Dead 131 ethics and religion 137–138, 178–179 Greek religion 187 Egyptian Book of the Going Forth by Day Eucharist 138 Hindu 198–199, 199 248 altar 11 Inca religion 213 Egyptian religion 130–133, 131 Amish 12 Jewish 142, 240–242, 246 Akhenaton 10 John Calvin 71 Judaism 246 Amon 13 Christianity 86, 87 Juno 250 cats and religion 78 diet and religion 120 Krishna 258 Coptic Church 102–103 Eastern Orthodox Christianity 129 Lakshmi 262 fundamentalism, Islamic 167 Jesus 239 Mesopotamian religions 290 Hathor 193 liturgy 265–266 New Year 69, 323–324, 415, 490 Horus 209 Lutheranism 270 Passover 335–336 Isis, Isaic religion 219–220 Mennonites 288 primal religion 355 kingship and religion 255 Presbyterian and Reformed churches Purim 364 mystery religions 308 353 sacrifi ce 401 Osiris 329 Protestant Reformation 375 seasons and religion 415 politics and religion 344 sacraments 400 Shinto 422–423, 423 polytheism 347 sacrifi ce 402 Feyerabend, Paul 294–295 Ptah 362 Council of Trent 455 Finney, Charles G. 204, 389 Eichmann, Adolf 206 Evangelical Christianity 12, 46, 138–139, fi re and religion 150–151 Eightfold Path 156, 448 443–444 First Amendment 92, 345, 402 El 71, 72 Eve 139, 140, 145, 172 First Great Awakening 101–102, 138–139, Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, The evil 139–140 389 (Durkheim) 126 exorcism 142 First Temple. See the Temple in Jerusalem Eleusis 133, 308 Gnosticism 175 fi ve elements, theory of 482 Eliade, Mircea 133–134 incense 214 Five Pillars of Islam 189, 223, 372, archetype 29 Satan 408 404–405, 420 fl ood stories 153 spirit possession 428 fi ver Shi’ism 420 healing 193 theodicy 445–446 fl ood stories 28, 151–153, 152, 325, 473 holy, idea of the 207 Zoroastrianism 489 folk religion 143, 153–154 initiation 216 evolution and religion 140–141, 141, 163, Fosdick, Harry Emerson 46 primal religion 354–355 410 founders, religious 154–156 religion, defi nition of 378 Exodus 141–142 Four Noble Truths 64, 66, 117–118, 144, religion, history of 379, 380 Aaron 1 156, 448 religion, study of 382 African-American Religions 6 four unlimited virtues 156–157, 448 religion, theories of origin of 384 Moses 300–301 Fox, George 367, 367 Elijah 134, 336 Passover 335 Fox, Margaretta and Kate 429 Eliot, T. S. 74, 158 salvation 405 France Elizabeth I (queen of England) 17, 364, Ten Commandments 444, 445 Joan of Arc 242–243 376 Torah 453–454 kabbalah 251 Emerson, Ralph Waldo 67, 322, 458 exorcism 142, 428, 442 Mary, apparitions of 282 empiricism 383, 409 Ezekiel 142 nationalism 312 Employment Division v. Smith 92 Ezra 142, 317 politics and religion 345 Engel v. Vitale 92 Vietnamese religions 466 England 101, 474–475 Waldensians 471 the Enlightenment F Francis of Assisi and Franciscans 90–91, anti-Semitism 22 fairies 143 157, 157–158 church and state 91 faith 143–145 Franklin, Benjamin 458 Judaism 245 the Fall 139, 145, 172, 355, 405 Frazer, James George 158 Judaism in America 247 Falwell, Jerry 47, 163, 346, 444 Adonis 3 Lutheranism 269 Fama Fraternitatis 398 animism 18 religion, study of 381 family and religion 145–146, 201, Diana 119 Unitarianism 458 278–279 evolution and religion 141 universalism 461 Fard, Wallace 6, 225, 226 magic 271 Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding Farrakhan, Louis 225, 226 religion, theories of origin of 384 (Hume) 294 fasting 119, 146–147, 223, 372–373 totemism 454 epics, religious 134 Father Divine 6 Free Exercise Clause 92 Episcopalianism 17, 134–135 Fatima, Portugal 282 free will and determinism 159, 446 504 S Index

Freud, Sigmund 159–160 Gimbutas, Marija 28, 147, 182 H animism 18 Gingrich, Newt 390 Hadith 189–190, 220, 223, 305, 419, 420 Carl Gustav Jung 249 Girard, Rene 402 Hagar 1–2, 218, 287, 408 religion, study of 383 glossolalia. See speaking in tongues haiku 486, 487 religion, theories of origin of 384 Gnosticism 174–175 Haile Selassie 6, 374 taboo 437 apocalyptic literature 22, 23 Haiti 469–470 totemism 454 Eve 139 Hajj. See Mecca, pilgrimage to Fry, Daniel 457 evil 140 al-Hakim 126 functionalism 160–161, 276 the Fall 145 Hakuin 256, 486 fundamentalism 161–162, 411 Mary 281 halakhah 190, 246–247 fundamentalism, Christian 162–164 nature and religion 316 al-Hallaj 408 Baptist churches 46, 47 New Testament 319–320 Halloween 78, 190 Christianity 85 New Testament, apocryphal 322 Hamas 167, 190–191 cosmogony 105 occultism and esotericism 327 Handel, Georg Friedrich 25 evolution and religion 141 Thomas, gospel of 450 Han dynasty 82, 98, 101 Holiness movement 205 Gobind Singh 2–3, 175–176, 424 Hanukkah 191, 191 homosexuality and religion 208 God 176–177 Hanuman 191–192 Pentecostalism 338 God, existence of 21, 26, 177–181, 355 Hare Krishnas 50, 306, 399. See also Salvation Army 405–406 goddesses 147, 181–182, 219–220, 262, International Society for Krishna fundamentalism, Hindu 164–165, 202, 351, 356. See also specifi c goddesses, Consciousness (ISKON) 372 e.g. Venus Harner, Michael 417 fundamentalism, Islamic 165–168, 221, Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von 175 Harris, Joel Chandler 456 224 Golden Bough, The (Frazer) 3, 119, 158, Harris, William Wade 4 funeral 14, 391, 490 160 Harrison, Jane Ellen 148 gospel, law vs. 268, 270 Hasidism 43, 192–193, 245, 248, 252 gospels 182–183, 320, 343 G Hathor 193 grace 183–184 healing, religious 193–195 Gabriel 16, 239, 251, 304 baptism 45 African religions 7 Gadhafi , Mu’ammar 167 Christianity 86 Arctic religions 31–32 games, play, and religion 169 the Fall 145 Christian Science 90 Gandhi, Mohandas K. 169–171, 170 Martin Luther 268 fi re and religion 151 ahimsa 10 Lutheranism 270 Jesus 239 Bhagavad-Gita 50 Methodism 292 miracles 294 caste in Hinduism 75 Church of the Nazarene 317 shamanism 417–418 fasting 147 Paul (apostle) 337 heaven 146, 195–196 fundamentalism, Hindu 165 Presbyterian and Reformed churches Hedgewar, Keshav Baliram 164 Hinduism 201 352–353 hell 8, 196–197 Jainism 229 Puritanism 365 Helwys, Thomas 46 Martin Luther King, Jr. 253, 254 Protestant Reformation 375 Henry, Carl F. H. 139 pacifi sm 331, 332 sin 425 Henry IV (Holy Roman emperor) 333–334 Ganesa 171, 171, 294, 303, 334–335, 426 John Wesley 474, 475 Henry VIII (king of England) 17, 74, 364, Ganges River 45, 114, 171–172, 343 Graham, Billy 47, 139, 389, 390 376 Garden of Eden 172 Grail 184 heresy 89, 174–175, 197, 243 Garvey, Marcus 6, 374 Great Awakening 389. See also First Great Hermes 197 Geertz, Clifford 294 Awakening; Second Great Awakening Herod I (king of Judea) 237, 239 Genesis 172–173 Great Britain 170, 201, 471–472 heroes and hero myths 197–198, 310–311 Adam 2 Great Schism 85, 86m Herzl, Theodor 488 Tower of Babel 43–44 Greece, ancient 21, 197, 209, 381 hijira 220, 304 cosmologies 104 Greek religion 184–188, 186m. See also Hildegard of Bingen 49 dreams and religion 124 specifi c Greek gods, e.g.: Apollo Hindu festivals 198–199, 199 Eve 139 drugs and religion 125 Hinduism 199–202 the Fall 145 fl ood stories 151 afterlife in world religions 8–9 Joseph 244 heroes and hero myths 197 ancestor worship 14–15 myth and mythology 310 mystery religions 308 angels 16–17 sexuality and religion 416 Orphism 328–329 animals and religion 19 Torah 453 politics and religion 344 architecture 30 water and religion 473 sacrifi ce 401 art 33–34 Geneva, Switzerland 70–71 Gregory I (pope) 73, 283, 333, 393 cosmologies 104 Gentilleschi, Artemisia 25 Gregory VII (pope) 105, 333–334 creation and world cycles 106, 107 Gere, Richard 68 Gross, Rita 148 dance and religion 111 Germanic mythology 450, 480 Grünewald, Matthias 11 death and religion 114 Germany 205–207 Guadalupe, Our Lady of 282 devils and demons 115 Ghaffar Khan, Abdul 331 Gujarat 229, 334 diet and religion 119, 120 Ghost Dance 173 gunas 188 drama 122–124 ghosts 173 Gurdjieff, Georges 399 eschatology 136 Gilgamesh 151, 173–174, 290, 290 guru 2–3, 188, 203, 463 faith 144 Index S 505

fi re and religion 151 Islam 224 art 34 fundamentalism 161 mosque 302 cats and religion 78 guru 188 Shi’ite Islam 420 China 84 India 215 Sunni Islam vs. 433 circumcision 96 jivanmukti 242 immaculate conception 281 Crusades 108, 109 lotus 267 Inanna 212–213 death and religion 114 meditation 287 Inca religion 213–214 devils and demons 116 monks and nuns 298 incarnation 129, 214, 240, 428 diet and religion 120 monotheism 299 incense 214 drama 123–124 nature and religion 316 India evil 140 pilgrimage 343 Asoka 35 faith 143 politics and religion 345–346 Banaras 45 free will and determinism 159 prajna 347 bhakti 50 fundamentalism 161 prayer 348 fl ood stories 151, 153 fundamentalism, Hindu 165 puja 362 Mohandas K. Gandhi 169–171 hell 196 reincarnation 377 Ganges River 171–172 homosexuality and religion 208 samsara 406, 407 Parsees 334 India 215 soul 428 politics and religion 344–346 Jerusalem 237–238 suicide and religion 432 Rama, Ramayana 372 judgment of the dead 248–249 symbolism in religion 435 religions of 214–215. See also specifi c Malcolm X 275 theology 447 religions, e.g. Hinduism martyrdom 280 war and religion 472 yantra 481 Mary 281 Hinduism, new movements in 202–203 yoga 482–484 messiah 291 Hinduism in America 203–204 Indra 215–216 miracles 294 Hitler, Adolf 205, 248 indulgences 267 missionaries 296 Holi 199, 210 Indus Valley religion 199, 214, 216, monotheism 299 Holiness movement 6, 93, 204–205, 482–483 mountains and religion 303 316–317, 337 initiation, religious 216–217 music and religion 305 the Holocaust 21, 22, 205–207, 206m, 446, Australian religions 40 pacifi sm 331 488, 489 homosexuality and religion 209 pilgrimage 343 holy, idea of the 207–208 monks and nuns 297 politics and religion 344, 345 Holy Communion. See Eucharist mystery religions 308 prayer 348 “holy fools” 94, 210, 398 Pacifi c Ocean religions 330 resurrection 387, 388 Holy Land 237, 343, 472 primal religion 355–356 Satan 408 Holy Roman Empire 375, 393 rites of passage 390–391 suicide and religion 432 Homer 184, 465, 488 the Inquisition 122, 217, 243 theology 447 homosexuality and religion 18, 135, 208, intelligent design 163, 178, 180 war and religion 472 208–209 International Society for Krishna Zoroastrianism 489 Honen 234, 278, 363 Consciousness (ISKON) 202–204, Islam, Nation of 6, 120, 220, 225–226, Hopkins, Emma Curtis 322 258–260 226, 275 Horus 193, 209, 255 Internet 97, 224 Islam, radical 366 Hosea 209–210 “Intimations of Immortality” (Wordsworth) Islam in America 226–227 Hsun Tzu 98, 383 81 Israel. See also Jacob Hubbard, L. Ron 410 Iranian religion 485, 489–490 Amos 13 humanism, religious 209, 382–383, 458 Iranian Revolution (1979) 167, 221, 345 covenant 106 Humbard, Rex 444 Iraq 289–291 David 112 Hume, David 141, 162, 294 Irenaeus 320, 446 Elijah 134 humor and religion 210 Isaac 1, 2, 172, 217–218, 228, 374–375 Exodus 141 Hutchinson, Anne 365 Isaiah 23, 218, 265, 291 fundamentalism, Islamic 166, 167 Huxley, Aldous 125, 203 Ise 219 Hamas 190, 191 Hyles, Jack 163 Isherwood, Christopher 203 Hosea 209–210 Ishmael (son of Abraham) 1, 2, 218, 251, Isaiah 218 287, 408 Jerusalem 237 I Isis, Isaic religion 132, 209, 219, 219–220, Moses 300–301 ibn Ali, Hamza 126 308, 329 prophets, biblical 358 I Ching 100, 211, 466 ISKON. See International Society for Samaritans 406 The Idea of the Holy (Otto) 207, 329 Krishna Consciousness (ISKON) Saul 409 Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus (Univer- Islam 220–225, 222m. See also specifi c Ten Commandments 445 sal Church of God’s Kingdom; IURD) 61 forms of Islam, e.g.: Shi’ite Islam Israel, 12 tribes of 228 “I Have a Dream” speech (Martin Luther Abraham 1–2 Israel, modern King Jr.) 253–254, 275 Adam 2 the Holocaust 206 images, icons, idols in religion 211–212, Africa, new religious movements Jerusalem 238 362 in 5 Judaism 246, 247 imam 212 African religions 7 rabbi, rabbinate 371 Aga Khan 9 afterlife in world religions 8 Zionism 488, 489 ayatollah 41 architecture 30 Izanagi and Izanami 227 506 S Index

J Eucharist 138 ordination 328 Gnosticism 175 pacifi sm 331 J. B. (Macleish) 445 gospels 182–183 prayer 348–349 Jacob 217, 218, 228, 244, 375 Grail 184 prophecy 357 Jainism 228, 228–229 healing 194 resurrection 387 ahimsa 10 incarnation 214 sacrifi ce 402 animals and religion 19 Islam 222 salvation 405 diet and religion 119–121 Jehovah’s Witnesses 235 Satan 408 fasting 147 Jerusalem 237 sin 425 India 214 Lord’s Prayer 266 theodicy 445 Lakshmi 262 magi 271 theology 447 Mahavira 272–273 Mary 280–281 war and religion 472 monks and nuns 297, 298 Mary Magdalene 283 Judaism in America 247–248 pacifi sm 331 messiah 291 judgment of the dead 248–249 sangha 407 missionaries 295 Juergensmeyer, Mark 472 suicide and religion 432 New Testament 320 Jung, Carl Gustav 249, 249 Tantrism 438–440 New Testament, apocryphal 322 archetype 29 Jalal ad-Din ar-Rumi. See Rumi Pharisees 343 dreams and religion 124 James 229–230 resurrection 388 Gnosticism 175 James, William 360 Thomas, gospel of 449–450 goddesses 181 Japan, new religions in 230–232 trinity 456 Mary, apparitions of 282 humor and religion 210 Unitarianism 458 miracles 294 Japanese religion 235 virgin birth 467 religion, study of 383 Konkokyo 256 Jesus Christ Superstar 283 religion, theories of origin of 384 Soka Gakkai 427 “Jesus Only” movement 338 UFO religions 458 Tenrikyo 445 Jewish festivals 142, 240–242, 246 Juno 249–250 Japanese religion 232–235, 233m Jewish scriptures 51t Jupiter 250 Buddhist festivals 68 Jews. See Judaism justifi cation 250, 337 dance and religion 111 jihad 167, 223, 241–242, 331, 472 Ise 219 jivanmukti 242, 483 Izanagi and Izanami 227 Joan of Arc 242, 242–243, 312, 477 K kingship and religion 255 Job 116, 243–244, 408, 475, 476 Kaaba 251, 285–287, 405 Korean religion 257 John, gospel according to 21, 183, 281, 388 kabbalah 53–54, 251–252, 265, 287, 327 Nichiren 324 John Hyrcanus I (ruler of Judaea) 406 Kabir 252 polytheism 346, 347 John of Capistrano 158 Kaddish 348–349 Pure Land Buddhism 363 John of Patmos 321 Kali 252–253, 373 religion, study of 382 John Paul II (pope) 281, 334 Kalpa Sutra 272 Shinto 421–422 John the Baptist 239 kami 227, 232–234, 253, 421–423 Shinto festivals 422–423 John XXIII (pope) 334 Kane, P. V. 198 Vajrayana Buddhism 463 Jonah 244 Kant, Immanuel 178 Zen Buddhism 486 Jones, Rufus 368 Kaplan, Mordecai 248 Jaspers, Karl 155 Joseph 124, 172, 239, 244–245 Kardec, Allan 61 Jefferson, Thomas 458, 460 Josiah (king of Judah) 236, 237 Karenga, Maulana Ron 260–261 Jehovah’s Witnesses 235–236, 293 Judah 112, 142, 218, 236–237, 293 karma 253 Jenkins, Jerry 374 Juda Halevy 245 afterlife in world religions 8 Jensen, Adolf 402 Judaism 245–247 Bardo Thodol 48 Jeremiah 106, 236–237 abortion and religion 1 eschatology 136 Jerusalem 237–238 afterlife in world religions 8 evil 140 Crusades 108 architecture 31 fasting 147 Jesus 239, 240 art 34 Jainism 229 Judaism 245 Bible 51–54 reincarnation 377 Micah 293 circumcision 95–96 sin 426 mountains and religion 303 dance and religion 111 Theravada Buddhism 449 Nehemiah 317 death and religion 114 Tibetan religion 452 Paul (apostle) 336 devils and demons 116 Kellogg, J. H. and W. K. 416 pilgrimage 343 diet and religion 120 Kennedy, John F. 393, 395 Psalms 362 Egyptian religion 133 Ketuvim 52, 414 Jesuits 234, 238, 376, 393 evil 140 Khalsa 175, 424 Jesus 238–240 homosexuality and religion 208 Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah 41, 167, Armenian Church 32 Jesus 239 345, 420 Bible 55 martyrdom 280 Kierkegaard, Søren 2, 179 Christianity 84–85 meditation 287 Kimbangu, Simon 4, 338 cinema and religion 93–94 messiah 291–292 King, George 457 cross 107 millenarianism 293 King, Martin Luther, Jr. 253–255, 254 Easter 128 monotheism 299 African-American Religions 6 epistles 135 music and religion 305, 306 Mohandas K. Gandhi 171 Index S 507

God, existence of 179 Lowie, Robert 454 Marcion 175, 319–320, 337 Nation of Islam 225 Lubavitch community 192–193, 248 Marett, R. R. 18, 127, 384 Malcolm X 275 Lugh (Lugus) 79 marijuana 374 pacifi sm 332 Luke 2, 183, 239, 255, 280, 366–367 Mark 102, 183, 255, 281, 296, 367 kingdom of God 239, 240, 255, 319 Luria, Isaac 251–252 Marr, Wilhelm 21 kingship and religion 255–256 Luther, Martin 267–269, 268 marriage and religion 278–279. See also Knights Templar 109 anti-Semitism 22 weddings Knox, John 352 John Calvin 70, 71 Mars 279 koan 256, 485–487 Christianity, independent 89 martial arts and religion 279 Kofuku no Kagaku (Science of Happiness) Evangelical Christianity 138 martyrdom 279–280, 403, 432 232 justifi cation 250 Martyr’s Mirror (Thieleman J. van Braght) Kojiki 253 Lutheranism 269 280 Konkokyo 256 miracles 294 Marx, Karl 160, 280, 280, 383, 384 Kook, Abraham 291–292 music and religion 306 Mary 139, 239, 280–281, 467 Korean religion 257 Protestant Reformation 375, 376 Mary, apparitions of 281–283 kosher foods 120 John Wesley 474 Mary I (queen of England) 376 Kramer, Samuel Noah 289 Lutheranism 269–270 Maryland 393, 395 Kramrisch, Stella 11 Mary Magdalene 283–284 Krishna 49–50, 257–260, 258, 265, 468, masks and religion 284 472 M Masoretic text 113, 415 Krishnaism in the West 260 Macedo, Edir 61 Mass 122, 393, 394 Kristallnacht 205 Macleish, Archibald 445 Massachusetts 91, 101, 345, 459 kundalini 260, 404, 439, 482 magi 239, 271 mass suicides 432 Kushner, Harold 446 magic 271–272 matriarchy 148 Kwanzaa 260–261 James George Frazer 158 Matthew Bronislaw Malinowski 276 gospels 183 Pacifi c Ocean religions 330 Isaiah 218 L prehistoric religion 350, 351 Jesus 238–239 Labouré, Catherine 282 witchcraft 476–478 magi 271 LaHaye, Tim 163, 374 Mahabharata 49–50, 200, 257, 468 Mary 280–281 Lakshmi 262, 267, 468 Mahavira 228, 229, 272, 272–273, 298 Q source 366–367 Lalou, Marie 4 Mahayana Buddhism 273, 273–274 trinity 456 Lamarck, Jean Baptiste 140 bodhisattva 56–57 Matthews, Shailer 46 Lang, Andrew 384 Buddha 65 Maxeke, Charlotte Manye 4 Lankavatara Sutra 56 Buddhism 65, 66 maya (Sanskrit term) 284 Lao Tan 262, 263 Buddhist dharma 118 Maya religion 153, 284–285, 285 Lao-tzu 262–263, 263, 440, 442 Buddhist festivals 68 May Day 285 Last Judgment (Michaelangelo) 249 Diamond Sutra 119 McLaine, Shirley 317 Last Supper 138, 184, 239 Korean religion 257 McPherson, Amiee Semple 339 The Last Temptation of Christ 283 Lotus Sutra 267 Mecca 301, 303, 304, 408 The Late Great Planet Earth (Lindsey) 163 nirvana 325 Mecca, pilgrimage to 285–287, 286 Latin America 339, 340, 444 prajna 347 Islam 223 Latter-day Saints 16, 263–265 samsara 407 Kaaba 251 law 418–419 scriptures, Buddhist 412, 413 Malcolm X 275 Laws of Manu 124, 200, 201, 408–409 Tantrism 439 Muhammad 304 Lee, Ann 417 Vietnamese religions 466 pilgrimage 343, 344 Lee v. Weisman 92 Mahikari (Divine True Light) 232 meditation 287–288. See also zazen “Left Behind” novels 163, 374 Maitreya 274–275 Buddha 62, 64 Leibniz, G. W. 445 bodhisattva 56, 57 Buddhism 66 Lent 75, 146, 265 eschatology 136 four noble truths 156 Leo I (pope) 333 messiah 291 four unlimited virtues 156 “Letter from Birmingham Jail” 254 millenarianism 293 koan 256 Lévi-Strauss, Claude 265, 383, 454 Vietnamese religions 466 mandala 276 Lewis-Williams, David 385 Malcolm X 6, 225, 226, 275–276, 287 mysticism 309 Lhasa, council of 452 Malinowski, Bronislaw 158, 160, 276 worship 478 liberation theology 340, 447 mana 127, 141, 330, 437 yantra 481 lila 258, 265 Mandaeans 45, 174 yoga 483 Lilith 265 mandala 276, 439, 481 zazen 485 Lindsey, Hal 163 Mani 174, 276–277, 357 Zen Buddhism 485, 487 liturgy 112, 265–266, 393 Manichaeism 38, 174, 276–277, 316, 489 Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina 282 Loki 210, 266, 326 mantra 277, 327, 328, 483 Mehta, Deepa 95 Long, Charles H. 103 Manu 107, 277–278 Memphis, Egypt 362 Lord’s Prayer 255, 266, 349 Mao Zedong 84, 99 Menes (king of Egypt) 131 Lord’s Supper. See Eucharist mappo 145, 278 Mennonites 11–12, 89, 288–289 lotus 267, 483 Mara 115–116, 278 Merton, Thomas 299, 454 Lotus Sutra 40, 234, 266, 267, 324, 432 March on Washington (1963) 253 Mesmer, Anton 429 508 S Index

Mesoamerica 284–285 Genesis 172 Ghost Dance 173 Mesopotamia 173–174, 344 Judaism 245 goddesses 182 Mesopotamian religions 145, 151, 173, Ten Commandments 445 humor and religion 210 289–291, 290 Moses Maimonides 53, 291 masks and religion 284 messiah 252, 291–292, 293 mosque 30, 301–303, 302 music and religion 307 Metamorphoses (Ovid) 3 mountains and religion 303 prayer 349 Methodism 6, 204–205, 292–293, 337, Mount Kailasa 426, 453 sweat lodge 434 474–475 Mount Sinai 106, 141, 245, 300, 301, 445 tricksters 455 Mevlevis 431. See also Whirling Dervishes mudras 303 visions 468 Mexico 41–42, 282 muezzin 302, 303–304 nature and religion 316, 332 Micah 293 Muhammad (prophet of Islam) 304–305 Nauvoo, Illinois 263 Middle Ages 22, 157–158, 210, 393, 446, Allah 10 Nazarene, Church of the 316–317 486 Hadith 189 Nazism 205, 326 millenarianism 74–75, 275, 293–294 Islam 220, 222, 223 Nehemiah 317 millenialism 98, 360, 389 Kaaba 251 nembutsu 348, 363 Miller, William 293, 357–358, 416 Mecca, pilgrimage to 286 Neolithic Age 82, 182, 351 Milton, John 102 mountains and religion 303 Neo-Paganism. See Paganism, Modern Miner, Horace 27 prophecy 357 Nero (Roman emperor) 341 miracles 294–295 Qur’an 368, 369 Neumann, Erich 29 folk religion 154 suicide and religion 432 neurotheology 61, 447 fundamentalism, Christian 162 Muhammad, Elijah 6, 220, 225, 226, 275 Neusner, Jacob 437 Jesus 239 Muhammad, Warithuddin 225, 226 Nevi’im 52, 414 religious experience 386 mujahideen 366 New Age movement 231, 317–318, 429, resurrection 388 al-Muktana 126 448 saints 403 music and religion 25, 305–307, 309 New England 101–102, 458, 459 Mishnah 190, 437–438. See also Talmud Muslims. See Islam New England Transcendentalism 67, 203, missionaries 295–296 mystery religions 133, 147, 217, 219–220, 318, 322, 458 Africa, new religious movements in 307–308, 329 New Kingdom 13, 131 3–4 mysticism 60, 251–252, 287–288, 308–310, new religions 318–319 Christ 84 398, 431 New Testament 319–321. See also specifi c Christianity 85 Mysticism (Underhill) 309 books and gospels dialogue 118 myth and mythology 310–311 Antichrist 21 Evangelical Christianity 138 cinema and religion 94 anti-Semitism 21 Jesuits 238 fl ood stories 151, 153 Bible 52 Korean religion 257 Grail 184 devils and demons 116 Latter-day Saints 264 heroes and hero myths 197–198 dreams and religion 124 Presbyterian and Reformed churches Claude Lévi-Strauss 265 exorcism 142 352 Loki 266 gospels 183 Russia 399 Bronislaw Malinowski 276 incarnation 214 Mithra 296–297 Manu 277–278 Mary Magdalene 283 modernism 46, 161–162 moon and religion 300 Moses 301 Mokone, Mangena Maake 4 Native American religions 314 papacy 333 “monkey trial.” See Scopes Trial prehistoric religion 350 Pharisees 343 monks and nuns 297–299 religion, theories of origin of 384 Q source 366–367 Benedictines 49 sun and religion 433 Satan 408 Dominicans 121–122 Thor 450 virgin birth 467 initiation 217 tricksters 455 New Testament, apocryphal 283, 321–322, Jainism 229 virgin birth 467 341–342 sangha 407 water and religion 473 New Thought movement 318, 322–323 Taoism 442 “myth of Er” (Plato) 377 New Year festivals 69, 323–324, 415, 490 Trappists 454–455 Niagara Bible Conference (1895) 162–163 monophysitism 32, 103 Nicaea, Council of 102, 214, 240 monotheism 159, 176, 255, 299, 428 N Nicene Creed 107, 281 Moody, Dwight L. 389, 390 Nag Hammadi Codices 53, 174, 175, 450 Nichiren 67, 234, 267, 324 Moon, Syn Myung 257 Nanak 2, 50, 252, 306, 312, 423–424, 424 Nichiren Buddhism 67, 231, 234, 267, moon and religion 299–300, 474 National Campmeeting Association 204, 427 Moore, Roy 346 205 Niebuhr, H. Richard 447 moral argument for the existence of God nationalism, religious 312–313, 421 Niebuhr, Reinhold 447 178–179 Nation of Islam. See Islam, Nation of Nietzsche, Friedrich 21, 26 Mormons. See Latter-day Saints Native American religions 313–316, 314 Night (Wiesel) 206, 446 Moroni 16, 263 Canada 72 Nihonshoki 253 Morris, Henry M. 163 church and state 92 Ninety-fi ve Theses 267, 269, 375 Moses 300, 300–301 cosmogony 103 nirvana 273, 274, 324–325 Aaron 1 cosmologies 104 Nizari Isamailis 9, 224, 420. See also covenant 106 creation and world cycles 106 assassins Exodus 141 drugs and religion 125 Noah 151, 152, 325, 473, 474 Index S 509

Nobel Peace Prize epistles 135 mysticism 309 Dalai Lama 111 the Fall 145 salat 404–405 Martin Luther King, Jr. 254 Gnosticism 174 worship 479 Quakers 368 missionaries 295 preaching 87, 157, 349–350, 353, 475 nonviolence 170–171 resurrection 387–388 preanimism. See dynamism Nordic religion 266, 325–326 saints 403 pre-Christian religion 325–326, 346–347 al-Numayri, Jafar 167 Paul, epistles of 320–321 pre-Columbian America 284–285, 313–315, nuns. See monks and nuns Paul IV (pope) 238 344 Peale, Norman Vincent 323 predestination 71, 86, 159 Penn, William 331, 345, 368 prehistoric religion 27–28, 350–351 O Pennsylvania 12, 345, 368 Presbyterian and Reformed churches 71, occultism and esotericism 327 Pentecost 337, 341 351–353, 459–460 Oceanic religions. See Pacifi c Ocean Pentecostalism 337–340 Priestley, Joseph 458 religions African-American Religions 6 priests and priesthood 96, 353–354, 396 the Odyssey 187, 197 Assemblies of God 35–36 primal religion 354–357 Okawa, Ryuhu 232 Brazil, new religious movements in drugs and religion 125 Olcott, Henry S. 67, 448 61 exorcism 142 Old Kingdom 131, 132, 193 Canada 73 masks and religion 284 Old Testament 16, 24–25, 52, 113, 245, Christianity 88 reincarnation 377 413–415. See also specifi c books or fi gures Church of God 93 shamanism 417 om 306, 327–328 dance and religion 111 soul 428 omnipotence of God 445–446 Holiness movement 205 witchcraft 476 On the Origin of Species (Darwin) 140 humor and religion 210 Primitive Culture (Tylor) 18 ontological argument 178, 180 missionaries 296 Promise Keepers 390 oral traditions 154, 412, 464 restoration movement 387 prophecy 293, 357–358 ordination 328, 350, 400 persecution, religious 340–341 prophets, biblical 358–359. See also original sin 81, 145, 425, 446 Persephone 133, 308 specifi c prophets Orphism 328–329 Persia 271, 296–297, 489–490 proselytizing 224, 295 Orthodox Christianity. See Eastern Ortho- Pesach. See Passover The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of dox Christianity Peter (apostle) 333, 341–342, 342–343 Capitalism (Weber) 474 Orthodox Judaism 248 Peter, epistles of 342–343 Protestantism 359–360. See also specifi c Osiris 209, 219, 255, 308, 329 Pharisees 343, 371 Protestant churches and movements Otto, Rudolf 329 philosophy 184, 185 African-American Religions 6 evolution and religion 141 pilgrimage 172, 237, 343–344 Apocrypha 24 God, existence of 179, 180 pilgrimage festivals 240–241, 336 charismatic movement 80 holy, idea of the 207 Pilgrims 101, 346, 459 Christianity 85, 87 religion, defi nition of 378 Pius VII (pope) 238 Christmas 90 religion, history of 380 Pizarro, Francisco 213 church and state 91 religion, study of 382 Plantinga, Alvin 180 drama 124 religion, theories of origin of 384 Plaskow, Judith 147 Eucharist 138 Ottoman Empire 221 Plato exorcism 142 Augustine of Hippo 38, 39 faith 143–144 drama 123 grace 184 P Greek religion 185 justifi cation 250 Pacifi c Ocean religions 330–331 judgment of the dead 248 Martin Luther 268 pacifi sm, religious 331–332, 473 Orphism 328, 329 Lutheranism 269 Paganism, Modern 332–333, 477 reincarnation 377 Mary 281 Pagels, Elaine 450 religion, theories of origin of 383 missionaries 296 Paleolithic Age (Old Stone Age) 181–182, Platonism 318 monks and nuns 299 350, 356 poetry 49–50, 134, 252, 369–370, 486, 487 nationalism 312 Palestine 71, 113, 190–191, 238 politics and religion 344–346, 349 preaching 350 papacy 74, 333–334, 341, 342, 394. See Polo, Marco 35 Protestant Reformation 375 also specifi c popes polygamy 4, 263, 264 Roman Catholicism 394 Parham, Charles Fox 337, 338 Polynesia 330, 437 sin 425 Parsees 215, 295, 334, 489, 490 polytheism 176, 333, 346–347 televangelism 443–444 Parvati 171, 334–335, 426 Ponce de Leon, Juan 474 virgin birth 467 Pascal, Blaise 179 Pope(s). See papacy; specifi c popes Max Weber 474 Pascal’s wager 179 Post, C. W. 416 Protestantism in America 360–361 Pasolini, Pier Paolo 94 Prabhupada. See Bhaktivedanta Swami Psalms 348, 353, 361–362, 476 Passover 134, 241, 300, 335, 335–336 Prabhupada, A. C. psychology 249 Pataliputra, council at 105 prajna 347 Ptah 362 Paul (apostle) 336–337 prana 347 Ptolemies 131–132 Acts of the Apostles 2 prayer 347–349 Ptolemy I (king of Egypt) 131 John Calvin 71 Islam 223 Ptolemy of Alexandria 104 Christ 84 Lord’s Prayer 266 puja 201, 214, 362 councils, Christian 105 magic 271 Puranas 58, 216, 362–363, 481 510 S Index

Pure Land Buddhism 363 Re (sun god) 131, 193 Daniel 112 Amida 11 Reagan, Ronald 365, 390 Ezekiel 142 Avalokitesvara 40 Rebekah 218, 374–375 kingdom of God 255 Buddhism in America 67 Reformation, Protestant 375–377 martyrdom 280 China 83 anti-Semitism 22 New Testament 321 faith 144 Apocrypha 25 war and religion 472 grace 184 Bible 54 revivalism 389–390 Japanese religion 234 John Calvin 70–71 Ricci, Matteo 238 Korean religion 257 Canterbury 74 Richard I the Lionhearted (king of Mahayana Buddhism 274 Christianity 85 England) 108 mappo 278 Christianity, independent 89 Rinzai 256, 485, 487 Vietnamese religions 466 church and state 91 rites of passage 390–392 Pure Land Sutra 40 Evangelical Christianity 138 African religions 7 purgatory 8, 151 heresy 197 ancestor worship 14 purifi cation, religious 364 images, icons, idols in religion 212 baptism 45 Purim 97, 123, 137, 364 justifi cation 250 bar/bat mitzvah 48 Puritanism 364–365 liturgy 266 children 82 Christmas 91 Martin Luther 267–268 Christianity 87 drama 124 Lutheranism 269 folk religion 153–154 politics and religion 346 Mennonites 288 heroes and hero myths 198 Presbyterian and Reformed churches music and religion 306 initiation 217 352 politics and religion 345 Zoroastrianism 490 Protestantism in America 360 preaching 349 Ritschl, Albrecht 141 revivalism 389 Presbyterian and Reformed churches ritual 392 Unitarianism 458 352, 353 baptism 45–46 United Church of Christ 459 Protestantism 359 birth rituals 55–56 Psalms 362 circumcision 95–96 Puritanism 364 Confucianism 99 Q Roman Catholicism 393 cross 108 al-Qaeda 167, 366, 472 sacraments 400 diet and religion 119 Q source 366–367 Council of Trent 455 Eucharist 138 Quakers 331, 367, 367–368, 417 Waldensians 471 family and religion 146 Quimby, Phineas 322 war and religion 471 Sigmund Freud 160 Qur’an 368–370, 369 Max Weber 474 initiation 216–217 Allah 11 witchcraft 477 Judaism 246 angels 16 Reformed churches. See Presbyterian and kingship and religion 256 covenant 106 Reformed churches magic 271 faith 144 Reform Judaism 193, 371–372 mandala 276 Hadith 189 reincarnation 8–9, 73, 377, 428, 449 Manichaeism 277 Islam 220, 223 relics 69, 108, 377–378 mantra 277 judgment of the dead 248, 249 religion, defi nition of 378–379 marriage and religion 278–279 missionaries 296 religion, history of 379–381 masks and religion 284 Muhammad 304, 305 religion, study of 169, 207–208, 381–383. Maya religion 284 pacifi sm 331 See also specifi c scholars, e.g.: Otto, Mecca, pilgrimage to 286 Ramadan 372 Rudolf Moon and religion 300 resurrection 388 religion, theories of origin of 383–385 Native American religions 315 Shariah 419 religious experience 385–386 ordination 328 Shi’ite Islam 420 religious freedom 460, 461 priests and priesthood 354 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (1993) purifi cation 364 92 rites of passage 390–392 R the Renaissance 54, 465 sacraments 400–401 rabbi, rabbinate 245, 246, 371–372, 437 The Republic (Plato) 377 seasons and religion 415 Radford-Ruether, Rosemary 147 Republican Party 346, 444 sweat lodge 434 Raglan, F. R. S. 198 restoration movement 386–387 Tantrism 439 Rama 192, 372, 468 resurrection 387–388 Taoism 441–442 Ramadan 146, 147, 372–373, 373 Daniel 112 Voodoo 470 Ramakrishna 373, 468 Easter 128 Roberts, Oral 194, 339, 444 Ramanuja 465, 468 Eastern Orthodox Christianity 129 Roberts, Richard 444 Ramayana 191–192, 307, 372, 409, 468 epistles 135 Robertson, Pat 47, 163, 346, 443, 444 Rancé, Armand-Jean Le Bouthillier de 454 Jesus 239 Roman Catholicism 392–394 Rapture 23, 373–374 Mary Magdalene 283 abortion and religion 1 Rastafarians 6, 374 Paul (apostle) 336, 337 African-American Religions 6 Rastriya Svayamsevak Sangh (National Satan 408 Thomas Aquinas 27 Volunteer Association; RSS) 164, 202 Revelation, book of 388–389 art 33 Rauschenbusch, Walter 253 Antichrist 21 Augustine of Hippo 38–39 Ray, James Earl 255 apocalyptic literature 22, 23 Benedictines 49 Index S 511

Bible 52 Rome 333, 344 samsara 38, 65, 252, 273, 406–407, 443 Brazil, new religious movements in Rome, sack of 333 sanctifi cation 138, 337 61–62 Rosenkreutz, Christian 398 sangha 64, 66–67, 298, 407, 448 Canada 72, 73 Rosh ha-Shanah 241, 248 Sanjo (Japanese emperor) 423 cardinals 74 Rosicrucianism 398 Sankara 59, 298, 407, 427, 465 charismatic movement 80 Rossi, Marcelo 62 Sanskrit 50, 253, 438 China 84 Roy, Raja Ram Mohan 201 Santería 402, 407–408 Christianity 85–87 Rumi 397, 398, 431 Sarah 217, 218, 408 Christmas 90 Rushdie, Salman 420 Saraswati 408 councils, Christian 105–106 Russel, Charles Taze 235 Saraswati, Dayananda 201 Crusades 108–109 Russia, religion in 398–399 Satan 408 death and religion 114–115 angels 16 Dominicans 121–122 devils and demons 115, 116 drama 122 S evil 140 Eastern Orthodox Christianity 128 Sabbath 246, 454 the Fall 145 Eucharist 138 sacraments 45, 183–184, 270, 328, 394, Job 243 exorcism 142 400–401 wisdom literature 476 faith 143 Sacred and the Profane, The (Eliade) 207 sati 408–409 feminism 148, 149 sacrifi ce 401–402 satori 66, 487 grace 183–184 Abraham 2 Saul 409 the Inquisition 217 African religions 7 Savarkar, V. D. 164 Japanese religion 234 Agni 9 Scandinavia 325–326, 450, 480 Jesuits 238 altar 11 Schleiermacher, Friedrich 162, 378 justifi cation 250 animals and religion 19 Schmidt, Wilhelm 18 liturgy 266 cannibalism and religion 73 Schneersohn, Moses Menachem 193, 292 Martin Luther 267, 268 Celtic Religion 80 school prayer 92, 349 Mary 281 Confucianism 99 Schuller, Robert 323 Mary, apparitions of 281, 282 diet and religion 119 Schüssler-Fiorenza, Elizabeth 148 meditation 287 Greek religion 187 Schweitzer, Albert 55 miracles 294 Inca religion 213 science and religion 37, 140–141, missionaries 296 Isaac 218 409–410, 429 monks and nuns 298 Islam 223 Scientology 410 papacy 333–334 Kali 252–253 Scofi eld, Cyrus I. 374 Peter (apostle) 341, 342 Mars 279 Scopes Trial 141, 163 pilgrimage 343 Maya religion 284 scripture 410–412 prayer 349 Mecca, pilgrimage to 287 scriptures, Buddhist 412–413 Protestant Reformation 375, 376 Nordic religion 326 scriptures, Hebrew 358, 413–415, 475. sacraments 400 Santería 407 See also specifi c books saints 403 worship 479 seasons and religion 415–416 sin 425 Sadat, Anwar 167 second coming 36, 235, 293 Trappists 454–455 sadhu/sadhvi 298, 402–403 Second Great Awakening 204, 263, 389, Council of Trent 455 Safed, Palestine 251 390 Vatican Councils 464 St. Anthony 298 Second Temple in Jerusalem 245 Vietnamese religions 466 St. Benedict 49 sect. See cults and sects, religious virgin birth 467 St. Boniface 49 seder 335–336 visions 468 St. Peter’s Basilica 77–78 self-immolation 408–409, 432 Voodoo 470 saints 242–243, 252, 294, 403, 407 September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks x Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy sakti, Saktism 403–404 fundamentalism, Hindu 165 in America 394–395 Sakyamuni 65, 68 fundamentalism, Islamic 165 Roman Empire salat 348, 404–405 Islam 224 Christianity 84–85 Salem witch trials 477 al-Qaeda 366 Constantine I (Roman emperor) 102 salvation 405 religion, history of 381 Gnosticism 174 Christianity 85 Sikhism 424 Isis, Isaic religion 219–220 grace 183–184 suicide and religion 432 Jerusalem 237 Martin Luther 267 Sermon on the Mount 266 Manichaeism 277 Lutheranism 270 sermons 349–350, 353 missionaries 296 millenarianism 293–294 Servetus, Michael 71 Mithra 297 Protestantism 359 Seth 209, 329 mystery religions 308 Protestantism in America 360 700 Club 444 religion, study of 381 Pure Land Buddhism 363 The Seven Storey Mountain (Merton) Roman Catholicism 393 Unitarianism 458 454 Roman Empire, Eastern. See Byzantine universalism 461 Seventh-Day Adventism 293, 416 Empire John Wesley 475 sexuality and religion 78–79, 416, 439 Roman religion 150, 395–397, 396, Salvation Army 405–406 Seymour, William 337–338 402. See also specifi c Roman gods, Samaritans 113, 406 Shabbatai Zvi 291, 293 e.g.: Juno same-sex marriage 18 Shakers 417 512 S Index shamanism 314, 417–418 Smith, Joseph, Jr. 16, 263, 357, 468 Tanakh 413, 414 afterlife in world religions 8 Smith, W. Cantwell 143, 378 Tani, Grace 4 Arctic religions 31–32 Smith, William Robertson 18, 454 Tantric rituals 276, 416 dance and religion 111 Smyth, John 46 Tantrism 438–440 drama 122–123 social justice 459–460 cakras 70 drugs and religion 125 Society of Friends. See Quakers guru 188 healing 194 Society of Jesus. See Jesuits homosexuality and religion 209 homosexuality and religion 209 sociological modes of religious expression kundalini 260 Korean religion 257 xi, 169, 383 lotus 267 Native American religions 313–315 sociology 126, 474 sakti, Saktism 404 prehistoric religion 351 Socrates 185, 248, 432 sexuality and religion 416 primal religion 356 Soen, Shaku 68 Tibetan religion 452 Shariah 166, 221, 345, 418–419 Soka Gakkai 231, 235, 427 Vajrayana Buddhism 463 Shavuot 241. See also Pentecost Solomon 237, 427–428, 475, 476 yantra 481 Shembe, Isaiah 5, 338 soma 125, 215 Taoism 440–442 Sherbert v. Verner 92 sorcery 476–478 afterlife in world religions 9 Shi’ite Islam 419–421 Soto Zen 121, 413, 485 angels 17 assassins 35 Soubirous, Bernadette 282 China 82–83 ayatollah 41 soul, concepts of 351, 355, 428 Chuang-tzu 91 the Druze 126 South America 213–214, 344, 395 Lao-tzu 262–263 Hadith 189 Southern Baptist Convention 163 Tao te ching 442–443 imam 212 Southern Christian Leadership Conference Vietnamese religions 466 Islam 220, 224 253 yin/yang theory 482 salat 405 Soviet Union 345, 366 Tao Te Ching 82–83, 262, 440, 441, Shariah 419 Spain 213, 217, 251 442–443 Sunni Islam vs. 433 speaking in tongues 36, 80, 337, 338 Tara 443 Shingon Buddhism 233, 234, 438 Spinoza, Baruch 54 Tathagata 443 Shinnyo-en (“Garden of Absolute Reality”) spirit possession 194, 428 Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre 141 231–232 spirits 18, 31 teleological argument for the existence of Shinran 234, 278, 363 Spiritualism 318, 428–430 God 178 Shinto 421–422 sramana 59, 228, 297–298 teleological ethics 137 Amaterasu 11 Sri. See Lakshmi televangelism 339, 389–390, 443–444 architecture 30 Stanton, Elizabeth Cady 147 temperance movement 390 Ise 219 Stone, Barton W. 386, 387 Temple in Jerusalem, the Izanagi and Izanami 227 Stone-Campbell movement. See restoration Aaron 1 Japanese religion 232, 234 movement fi re and religion 150 kami 253 stupa 276, 430, 430–431 Jerusalem 237 music and religion 307 Sufi sm 50, 111, 331, 398, 431 Jesus 239 water and religion 474 suicide and religion 431–432 Solomon 427 Shinto festivals 422–423, 423 Sumerians 212–213, 289 synagogue 436 shrines 219, 343, 430–431 Sun and religion 433 Talmud 437 Siddhartha Guatama 56, 62–67, 156, 278 Sunday, Billy 389 Ten Commandments 106, 141, 444–445, Sikhism 423–425, 424 Sunni Islam 433–434 454 Adi Granth 2–3 Hadith 189 Tenrikyo 445 bhakti 50 imam 212 terrorism Gobind Singh 175–176 Islam 220, 223–224 fundamentalism 161 India 215 Nation of Islam 225 fundamentalism, Islamic 165 Kabir 252 Malcolm X 275 Hamas 190 Nanak 312 salat 405 Islam 224 Simons, Menno 288, 376 Shariah 419 Japan, new religions in 232 sin 425–426 Supreme Court, U.S. 92 Judaism 247 Genesis 172 suttee. See sati al-Qaeda 366 grace 183 Suzuki, D. T. 68, 486, 487 Tetzel, Johannes 267 homosexuality and religion 208 Svetambara 229, 298 Thales 184, 187 original. See original sin Swaggart, Jimmy 163, 339, 444 theodicy 177, 206, 243–244, 445–446, 476 Puritanism 365 sweat lodge 349, 434 Theodosius I the Great (emperor of Rome) salvation 405 Swedenborg, Emanuel 429 85, 133, 344 Satan 408 Swidler, Leonard 118 theology 446–448 Sistine Chapel 249 symbolism in religion 249, 434, 473–474 Thomas Aquinas 26–27 Sita 192, 262 synagogue 31, 343, 435, 436, 454 Augustine of Hippo 38–39 Siva 172, 265, 303, 334, 426, 426–427 synoptic gospels 183, 320, 366–367 John Calvin 71 Siva-Purana 334 God, existence of 177–180 slavery 226–227, 407, 469–470 Rudolf Otto 329 Smart, Ninian 379, 380 T religion, history of 379–381 Smenkhkare (king of Egypt) 10 taboo 126, 127, 330, 437 religion, study of 382 Smith, Joseph, III 263 Talmud 191, 245, 371, 437–438, 454 Theosophical Society 67, 448 Index S 513

theosophy 448 Twelver Shi’ism 41, 212, 420 Vigils de Charles VII, Les (Martial de Paris) Theravada Buddhism 448–449 Tylor, Edward Burnett 18, 124, 126–127, 242 arhat 32 141, 384 virgin birth 281, 467 bodhisattva 56 Virgin of Guadalupe 394–395 Buddha 64–65 Vishnu 467, 467–468 Buddhism 66, 67 U avatar 41 Buddhist dharma 117–118 UFO religions 457–458 Krishna 257, 258 Buddhist festivals 68 Umar (caliph) 369 Lakshmi 262 four noble truths 156 Underhill, Evelyn 309 lila 265 Mahayana Buddhism 273 Understanding, Inc. 457 Manu 277 nirvana 325 underworld 196, 213, 219, 227 messiah 291 prajna 347 Unitarianism 456, 458–459 Rama, Ramayana 372 scriptures, Buddhist 412 Unitarian Universalist Association 461 Vishwa Hindu Parishad (All-Hindu Vietnamese religions 466 United Church of Christ 102, 148, 459–460 Congress; VHP) 164–165, 202 Thich Nhat Hanh 466–467 United States, religion in 460–461 visions 315, 468 Thomas (apostle) 296 universalism 461 Vivekananda 203, 373, 468–469 Thomas, gospel of 367, 449–450 Universalist Church 461 Voltaire 383–384, 445–446 Thor 450 untouchables 75 Voodoo 123, 428, 469, 469–470 Thoreau, Henry David 253 Upanishads 461–462 “Three Baskets.” See Tripitaka (“Three atman 37–38 Baskets”) brahman 58–59 W “three-body doctrine” 118 cosmogony 103 Wach, Joachim xi, 378–380 Tibetan Buddhism fi re and religion 151 Waldensians 217, 331, 471 Bardo Thodol 48–49 Hinduism 200 Wallace, A. R. 141 Buddhist festivals 69 prana 347 Wallace v. Jaffree 92 Dalai Lama 111 Siva 427 war and religion 331–332, 471–473 scriptures, Buddhist 412, 413 Veda 465 water and religion 473–474 Tara 443 Urban II (pope) 108, 472–473 Watts, Isaac 102 Tibetan religion 452 Utah 263, 264 WCC (World Council of Churches) 130 Vajrayana Buddhism 463–464 Uthman (caliph) 369, 419 Weber, Max 353, 474 Tibetan religion 57–58, 114, 287, 450–453, weddings 246, 391, 416 451 Wellhausen, Julius 54 tikkun 252 V Wesley, Charles 292, 306, 474 Tilak, B. G. 50, 201 Vaishali, Council at 105 Wesley, John 17, 138, 204, 292, 337, Tillich, Paul 144, 294, 347, 378, 436, 447 Vajrayana Buddhism 463–464 474–475 Tipitaka/Tipitika. See Tripitaka (“Three Buddhism 65 Westphalia, Peace of 352 Baskets”) guru 188 Wheatley, Paul 28 Titus (Roman emperor) 436 scriptures, Buddhist 412 When Bad Things Happen to Good People Tonpa Shenrap 58, 452 Tantrism 438, 439 (Kushner) 446 Torah 453, 453–454 Tibetan religion 452 Whirling Dervishes 398, 431 bar/bat mitzvah 48 Valdes, Peter 471 White, Alma 204 Bible 52–54 van der Leeuw, Gerardus 380, 384 White, Ellen Harmon 416 halakhah 190 van Gennep, Arnold 390, 391 Whitefi eld, George 389 James 230 Varieties of Religious Experience, The Wicca 149, 332–333, 477 Judaism 245 (James) 360 Wieman, Henry Nelson 179 kabbalah 252 varna 59, 75–76, 117, 200–201 Wiesel, Elie 206, 446 Moses 301 Vatican Council, First 393, 464 Williams, Roger 365 Paul (apostle) 336–337 Vatican Council, Second 118, 130, 393, 464 Wilson, Edward 385 Peter (apostle) 341 Vatican Councils 464 wisdom literature 25, 428, 475–476 Pharisees 343 Veda 464–465 witchcraft 217, 332, 476–478, 477 rabbi, rabbinate 371 Agni 9 Woman’s Bible, The 147 scriptures, Hebrew 413, 414 altar 11 women, oppression of 148 synagogue 436 brahman 58 women, ordination of Torah, oral 190, 437, 454 Hinduism 200 Anglicanism 18 Torquemada, Tomas de 217 Indra 215 Congregationalism 102 totemism 126, 454 myth and mythology 310 Episcopalianism 135 Transcendentalism. See New England samsara 406 feminism 148 Transcendentalism Upanishads 461–462 Holiness movement 204 Transcendental Meditation 203 Vishnu 467 ordination 328 Trappists 454–455 Yama 481 Quakers 368 Trent, Council of 25, 268, 376, 393, 455 Zarathustra 485 rabbi, rabbinate 371–372 tricksters 96–97, 197, 210, 455–456 Vedanta 37–38, 59, 461–462, 465. See also women and religion trinity 133, 214, 240, 264, 456, 458–459 Advaita Vedanta feminism 147–150 Tripitaka (“Three Baskets”) 118, 412, 448 vegetarianism 119, 229, 328 Hindu dharma 117 Turner, Victor 391 Venus 465 Hinduism 201 Tutankhamen (king of Egypt) 10 Vietnamese religions 466–467 Hinduism, new movements in 203 514 S Index women and religion (continued) Tower of Babel 43 Dogen 121 Holiness movement 204 Canaanite religion 71, 72 worship 478 primal religion 356 covenant 106 Zen Buddhism 486, 487 sati 408–409 Elijah 134 Zen Buddhism 485–488, 486 Spiritualism 429 Exodus 141 art 33 Wordsworth, William 81 Ezekiel 142 Bodhidharma 56 works, faith vs. 250 the Fall 145 Buddha 65 World Council of Churches (WCC) 130 Genesis 172–173 Buddhism 66 World Missionary Conference (Edinburgh, goddesses 182 Buddhism in America 68 1910) 129–130 Hosea 209–210 China 83 World’s Parliament of Religion (1893) Isaiah 218 Diamond Sutra 119 203 Jehovah’s Witnesses 235 Dogen 121 World Trade Center attacks. See September Jeremiah 236, 237 Japanese religion 234 11, 2001 terrorist attacks Jerusalem 237 koan 256 World War I 488 prophets, biblical 358 preaching 349 World War II 205–206, 234, 248, 488 Samaritans 406 Taoism 441 worship 478–480 Saul 409 Vietnamese religions 466 architecture 29–31 scriptures, Hebrew 413 war and religion 472 Christianity 86–87 Ten Commandments 445 zazen 485 devotion 117 war and religion 472 Zend Avesta 488, 489 liturgy 265–266 wisdom literature 476 Zeus 187, 488 preaching 349 yin/yang theory 83, 211, 481, 481–482 Zinzendorf, Nikolaus von 474 Protestantism 359 yoga 482–484 Zionism 193, 488–489 Shakers 417 gunas 188 Zohar 251 Wotan 480 karma 253 Zoroastrianism 489–490 Wu (Liang emperor) 56 lotus 267 afterlife in world religions 8 Wycliffe, John 331 mantra 277 apocalyptic literature 23 sakti, Saktism 404 devils and demons 116 Siva 426 eschatology 136 X Yom Kippur 241. See also Day of Atone- evil 140 Xavier, Francis 238 ment fi re and religion 150 Xerxes I (Persian emperor) 137, 489 Yoruba 61, 407 hell 196 Young, Andrew 459 magi 271 Young, Brigham 263, 264 Mithra 296–297 Y monotheism 299 Yama 481 Parsees 334 yantra 481, 483 Z salvation 405 Yassin, Sheikh Ahmed 190, 191 Zarathustra 136, 401–402, 485, 489 war and religion 472 YHWH zazen 485 Zarathustra 485 Amos 13 brain, mind, and religion 60 Zend Avesta 488 Baal 43 Buddhism 66 Zwingli, Huldrich 375–376 Revelation