April 20, 1967 R OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH * Facing Your Fears I REVIEW —Page 2 * A Layman's Thousandth and Herald Convert —Page 14 Among those who bore witness to their convictions in the dim light o f medieval times were The Albigenses of Southern France By DANIEL WALTHER Professor of Church History, Andrews University ITHIN the past 25 years for that reason at least, considered in from their foes. Their views were a number of important sympathy with unorthodox ideas. often described by the Inquisition in Wdocuments written by the The locale of the Albigensian epi- a hostile manner, and some of their Albigenses have been found. Special- sode was Occitania, in southwest practices were presented in a dis- ists in medieval history and many France. Later on, this area was torted way. For this reason the re- others seem fascinated by these dis- termed Languedoc, the "language of ports of what they believed and prac- coveries, which have been mentioned Oc" (oc meaning "yes"). The area, ticed are not always reliable. Though in the daily press and over televi- called Midi ("the south"), was many of their writings were destroyed sion. graced by a charming civilization by the Inquisition, some have been For Seventh-day Adventists the Al- whose intellectual and political cen- preserved. bigenses have a particular interest. ter was Toulouse. Incidentally, south- In the nineteenth century only a They are referred to on several occa- western France was not part of the few Albigensian documents were sions in The Great Controversy, kingdom of France at that time. available. Some important fragments along with their contemporaries the of their writings were published by Waldenses, though the two groups Sources of Information Von D011inger. We also have several were not in doctrinal agreement. Much of the information concern- apocryphal writings which they used Waldenses and Albigenses often de- ing the Albigenses came, of course, (To page 4) bated on basic concepts. Yet both be- longed to the underground "church of the wilderness"; Rome accused both of heresy; both considered Rome as the foe of true Christianity. They were under constant scrutiny by the Inquisition, which flourished almost 800 years ago. The Albigenses were most conspicuous of the numer- ous sects of that time. The politically astute Pope Innocent III used vari- ous methods to meet the distressing and menacing onslaught of these het- erodox groups. In their first and most dramatic phase the Albigenses of southern France had a brief existence, from about 1160 to 1244. They were con- temporaries of the famed trouba- dours, some of whom may have been at least sympathetic to Albigensian beliefs. The troubadours were the singing minstrels of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, who went from castle to castle to entertain the aris- tocracy. Several troubadours criti- Several hundred Albigenses held out in the castle of Montsegur for nearly a year. Its cized the Catholic Church and were, eventual fall marked the end of effective resistance on the part of the Albigenses. Vol. 144 No. 16 By DONALD G. REYNOLDS Minister, White Memcrrial Church Los Angeles, California 958 REVIEW AND HERALD RICHARD HUGHtS, AR 'M- AFRAID o my SilF1 0 espe- sciously recoghite and stimulate treatill of anxious mbrtients, daily at night," confi ed a usually by some real threat. Fear is seeking to find themselves. One may I twelve-year-old girl in a ospital external; anxiety is internal. This is seek freedom from slavery to himself ward. where problems are converted into by becoming absorbed in busy activi- "Are there ever shadows at ight?" physical. symptoms, and by this con- ties. Another may seek release _the doctor asked. version-reaction people are half sick through drink or by attending reli- After a moment's thought he re- all the time and all sick half the time. gious services. Yet all three miss what . plied, "The night is on long Anxiety is not like a sudden thun- they really need. adow." dershower that departs as quickly as A person who is lost doesn't know t The long shadows of fear ar every- it came, but like a steady drizzle where home is. Xihere, morning, noon, and night. that dampens one's vitality continu- The man who turns to mere activi- Their penetrating darkness s eks to ally. ties or to drink or gluttony does so blanket love and light and ma What are the effects of anxiety? It from a warped evaluation of life. The The dilemma of fear begs with does not empty tomorrow of its prob- person who comes to church is headed Adam, the monarch of creatio . Fear lems, but it does empty today of its in the right direction, but he will was sin's first consequence; th refore, power. It does not enable a person to never experience release from his bur- with the genesis of fear came tie first escape evil, but it makes him unfit to den unless he does more than occupy disease known on earth. The word cope with it when it comes. Worry a seat. If men could, be .freed from "disease" is used here in its trictest and anxiety are thinking turned their anxieties, half of the hospitals sense, "dis-ease." A person w o has toxic. They are like jarring music that in the United States would, be em fear is certainly not at ease. goes round and round arid never tied. Fear is as real as life and deat When we face our fears we discover comes to a climax or conclusion. Fear We may not be able to see' it, weigh the fear of defeat, the fear of eople, is going over the same ground end- it, ut it into a test tube, or analyze the fear of this ideology or t t, the lessly, and coming out where you it. ut it is there. fear of self, the fear of nonacce tance, started. Most of all, we fear ourselves. The the fear of self-deception, the ear of To paraphrase Emerson, fear is a admonition to "love thy neighbour as conflict, the fear of forgiveness off self circle whose circumference is every- thyself" (Matt. 19:19) points •out the and others, and the fear of sep ation. where and whose center, is nowhere. value of self. We fear lack of accept- When we speak of these fears e gen- Thinking progresses from one place ance by the group, We are anxious erally refer to them in the con ext of to another; anxiety remains static. because we are unwilling to forgive anxieties. Fears are not- alto the!' a The problem in life is to change ourselves, much less to forgive others. misfortune unless they end in he pa- worry into, thinking and anxiety into Unfortunately, we fear sin, or the ralysis of perpetual anxiety. creative action. Like the ancient god acts of sin, when we should fear the Anxiety is a feeling of ap rehen- Janus, fear has many faces and wears separation from God which is the re- sion, of tension and uneasine , that different masks. sult of sin. In the face of temptation does not stem from logic or a eason- Release from fear comes when we Joseph declared, "How then can I do able cause. By contrast, fear is an, face it. Men, women, and youth this great wickedness, and sin against emotional response which i con4.Aidindly grope and stumble down life's God?" Most of us do not think be- REVIEW. AND WALD, April 20, 1967 4 Itt Et. 4k yond the act of sin. We continue able to -do that' eas t, 'Fob`: all these things do ring,- only half aware that in.::s9.doing:, why take ye thought for the rest? Con- the nations of the world seek after: ,,we are separating ourselves from .God. sider the lilies how they grow: they and your Father knoweth that ye have iY "A-,person in this state of. Ieligintis toil not, they spin not; and yet I say need of these things. But rather seek conflict should heed the admonitions unto you, that'Solomon in all his glory ye the kingdom of God; and all these the ravens: for they.. nei was not arrayed like one of these. If things shall be added unto you" dier sow nor reap; which..;neither..: then God so clothe the grass, which (Luke 12:24-31). have .storehouse nor barn; and God is to day in the field, and to morrow is Fear is needless (verse 24). Fear is feedeth them: how much more are ye cast into the oven; how much more hopeless (verses 25, 26). Fear is faith- bettet.than the fowls? And which of will he clothe you, 0 ye of little faith? less (verses 27, 28). Fear is useless yOu':iiiith taking thought can add to And seek not ye. what ye shall eat, or (verses 29, 30). Fear is futile (verse his stature one cubit? If ye then be not what ye shall, drink, neither be ye of 31). Every normal life includes conflicts, fears, and anxieties. We become frus- trated and Unhappy, not because these everyday problems arise, but when we fail to solve them • satisfactorily. "Every person's emotional history is a delicate thread of individuality woven around the, common spool of humanity." The Bible contains 365 "fear nots," one for every day of the year. It also contains the solutiOn for. fear. "Love contains no fear—indeed fully devel- oped love expels every ', particle of fear, for fear always contains some of the torture of feeling 4uilty.