The Encyclopedia of World Religions

MOSES 239

God's action in histon,', and also human response moon can also be unsettiing, making one a "lu-
through individual faith. natic" or "moon person.")

MOON AND RELIGION, THE The relig Many religious celebrations are still set by
the moon, ISLAM follows a lunar calendar, and the
ious significance and symbolism of the moon.
The moon and the sun have both had an impor- Jewish P.^SSOVER and Christian E.ASTER are set by
tant role in religion as astronomical bodies with the moon; they come after the paschal ftill moon,
mxthological significance and an identification
with divine beings. But the significance of the tvvo which is the first fijil moon after the spring equi-
has been different. The sun has tended to be nox on the 21st of March. Traditional HINDUISM,
steady, jo\ial, life-gi\nng, but the moon is more Buddhism, and SHINTO have major services set
mysterious in tone. The moon deity can be either by the new and fiill moon. Though humans be-
a god or GODDESS, usually the opposite gender ings have now set foot on the physical moon and
from whatever the sun is in that m\thology. In know it to be a dead, rock)' sphere, the spiritual
the best-known Western m\tholog\', the Greek moon continues to exercise its enigmatic influ-
and Roman, it is female, the Greek i\rtemis and ence on the religious world. [See also SUN AND
Roman Diana (see NnTH.^NDiVnTHOl.OGY). She
is a strong, independent woman, a hunter and RELIGION, THE.]
wanderer in wild places, but the protector of all
her se.x. Male or female, the moon is divine ruler MORMON, MORMONISM See LATTER
of women and the female cycle, and is associated
with water and the sea. The moon is often DAY S.\INTS.
thought to be the divine giver of rain, and on a
deeper, more symbolic level to be an emblem of MOSES Ac. 1300 B.C.) central figure in the
rebirth and imnionalit\', for in its monthh' cycle (
it seems to die and then return to life. All this,
together with its complex path in the sk)' and its Hebrew BIBLE (Old Testament). He led the chil-
association with the night and its mysteries, make
the moon seem mystical and strange. dren of Israel out of slaver)' in Egypt and received

Yet the moon can also be a stead)' and reliable god's instructions on Mount Sinai, also called
governor of the social order and RITLWL patterns, Mount Horeb.

for its phases can be calculated precisely. Indeed, People sometimes speak of Moses as the
"founder" of JUDAISM. Moses is a central figure
the phases of the moon were probably the origin in the history of Judaism, but his role is
of the calendar. Our word "month" is related to somewhat different from those of JESUS, MU-
moon. So is an old word for meetings, "moot," HAMALAD, and the BUDDHA, who founded
CHRISTL^NITY', ISLAM, and BUDDHISM. These
for before artificial lighting tribal meetings and other figures gave the religions they founded a
religious festivals would often be held at night, at distinctly new and definitive shape. But in im-
the time of the fiiU moon. Sometimes the waxing portant respects the religion of Moses is said to
go back to ABRAHAM. At the same time, the
moon was considered benign, pouring out in- religion of ancient Israel took shape around the
creased blessing, and the waning moon danger- Temple in JERUSALEM, well after Moses' time.
ous. The ftill moon was often a symbol of fiill Judaism as we know it today, rabbinical Juda-
divine inpouring. In BUDDHISM it is a sign of ism, came into existence only with the destruc-
NIRV.-\x.-\ and full enlightenment, and the BUD- tion of the Temple in AD. 70.
DHA was said to have attained enlightenment on
the night of the full moon. (But too much fijll Nevertheless, Jewish tradition considers

Moses to be the author of the written TORAH, that
is, the first five books of the Bible (despite the
ston' of his death in Deuteronomy). He is also
said to have received the oral Torah on Mount
Sinai. Because the oral Torah forms the basis of

240 MOSQUE

Moses with the tablets ut the Ten Commandments. related to phenomena that occur in Egypt natu-
rally. For example, Moses turned the Nile into
(CouitesyofCorbis-Bettitmtin.)
blood. A certain microorganism, which grows in
the TALMUD, it is customan' to refer to "our
RABBI Moses." the river, actually at times turns the Nile red.

The only information about Moses is found The king of Egxpt reluctantly agreed to let
in the Bible. Outside sources do not even confirm the children of Israel go free. WTien he changed
his existence. The name Moses is Egyptian. And his mind, the escape took place with some drama.
most scholars think that some kind of E.XODUS In the wilderness, Moses received the Torah on
from Eg\'pt did occur, although the number of Mount Sinai. When the people proved unfaithfiil,
escaped slaves that is recorded in the Bible may God condemned them to wander in the wilder-
be quite exaggerated. Many date the exodus, and ness without entering the promised land of Ca-
thus Moses, to the time around 1250 B.C. Some naan. Moses himself lost the privilege of entering
like an earlier date around 1425. the promised land when in anger he lashed out at
God's instruction to draw water from a rock. At
At birtli, Moses is said to have been placed in die end of Deuteronomy, Moses dies aft:er look-
a basket, floated down the river, discovered b\' the ing upon the promised land from a distance.
daughter of the Egyptian king, and raised in the
ro\al court. Vet)- similar stories are told about Deuteronomy says quite clearly that no one
other, earlier great figures in the ancient Near knew where Moses was buried. This statement
East, such as Sargon of Akkad (c. 2350 B.C.). gave rise to stories that Moses w as taken up into
HEAVEN, as the nonbiblical books Tfje Assumption
After killing an Egyptian who was abusing a
Hebrew slave, Moses fled to the wilderness of of Moses and Jubilees assert. The New Testament

Sinai. There he married Zipporah, daughter of book of Jude (9-10) alludes to a Jewish ston- in
which the archangel Michael and the devil fought
Jethro, and received instructions from God to o\er Moses' body.
liberate the slaves in Eg\pt. God also appointed
MOSQUE A place for congregational PRAYER
Moses' brother .\ARON to be his spokesperson.
In an attempt to convince the Egyptian king and assembly in ISLAM. Muslims pray formally five
times a day. They may do so in an area set aside
to allow the Hebrew slaves to leave, Moses called for prax'er known as a mosque. This is especially
down 10 plagues upon Egypt. These seem loosely true of the noon prayer on Friday, which ought
to be done communally.

A mosque is a walled enclosure that may or
mav not have a roof All who enter the enclosed
area must take oft" their shoes. Those who are

entering to pra\' also wash themselves in prepara-

tion for prayer.

The requirements of communal WORSHIP
determine the fiirnishings of the mosque. Because
Muslims face MECCA when the\' pra\', all mosques
are oriented toward Mecca. They also have a niche
in the front wall known as a mihrab; it identifies
the qiblab, the direction toward Mecca.

In communal pra\er, the prayer leader,

mknown as the IM.AM, stands direcdy front of the

niche. The gathered congregation of men forms

MOSQUE 241

long parallel rows directly behind him. Together Other structural elements are often found in
thev go through the various postures of prayer, conjunction with a mosque. It has been ver\'
from standing to prostration. As a result, the
central area of a mosque consists of a large flat common for a tower to be affi.xed to the outside
surface without any fiirnishings. The area may be of a mosque. This tower is known as a minaret.
carpeted. It may also contain lines perpendicular Traditionally a man known as a muezzin climbed
to the qiblah to indicate to worshipers the best
the tower and issued the call to prayer five rimes
places to stand in rows. Traditionally women are a day. Toda\- loudspeakers and tape recorders
have replaced the muezzins in areas where that
not allowed to pray in the same area as men. That sort of technology' is widespread.
is because the prayer RJTU.VLS require postures
It has also been very common for mosques to
Athat might be distracting in mi.\ed company. have pools or fountains. These make it possible
mosque may have a separate area for women with
for worshipers to perform the ablutions or wash-
separate entrances for them.
ings that are required before prayer. Structural
It is customary for the imam to deUver a features commonl\- associated with mosques in-
sermon at the Friday noon ser\ice. Another fea-
ture on the inside of the mosque, then, is a place clude pointed domes and vaulted portals known
from which he may speak. Traditionally, this has
been a stepped platform known as a minbar. as ivpans. Islamic teachings strictiy forbid the rep-

resentation of human beings and animals. The

observance of this prohibition \aries in other

Members ot an Islamic mosque communit\'. (By permission ofAramco World/Katrina TJjomas.)

242 MOUNTAINS AND RELIGION

spheres of life, but it is strictly followed in Arabia and Palestine. Occasionally, mountains
mosques. Mosques are not, however, without have also been \iewed negatively in religion, as
decoration. Preferred forms of decoration in- the abode of demons and EVIL sorcerers, or as
clude geometrical figures and verses fi-om the disruptions in the world that signal its fallen
QUR'AN written in calligraphy. nature. For the most part, though, mountains are
looked at with religious awe as godlike or as
Muslims consider some mosques to be espe- "cathedrals of nature" that inspire \TSIONS and a
cially sacred. These include the great mosque at sense of wonder.
Mecca, in the center of which stands the KAABA;
the mosque at Medina, the town to which the MUDRAS A Sanskrit word meaning "rings,
Prophet MUHAMALAD immigrated and where he
and many of his early followers are buried; and signs, tokens." In HINDUISM and BUDDHISM,
mudras are postures of the hands and fingers that
the Dome of the Rock mosque built on the communicate religious meaning.

platform of the ancient Temple in JERUSALEM. According to tradition, Hinduism knows
more than 88 million mudras. The number of
MOUNTAINS AND RELIGION The relig- well-known mudras is much more limited.

ious significance and role of mountains. Moun- Mudras are used in RITUALS, classical dance,
tains have generally exercised a pov\erflil hold on
and sculpture. Two examples are seen in the
the religious consciousness. Representing places depiction of the god SIVA known as Nataraja,

lifted up from the level of ordinary human life, "King of the Dance." Siva holds the palm of his
they are the abode of gods, like the Greek Mount right hand toward the \iewer, fingers and thumb
Olympus (see GREEK RELIGION); the place of up, signalling "do not fear." His left hand hangs
di\ine re\elation to humanit%", like Mount Sinai down in a pose reminiscent of an elephant's trunk.
where MOSES received the Law fi-om GOD; or That image recalls Siva's son, the elephant-
locations where holy men go to practice austeri- headed god GAN'ESA.
ties and gain spiritual power, like several of the
sacred mountains of TIBETAN RELIGION and Buddhist rituals and sculpture use mudras,
I.APANESE RELIGION. They have also been places
of WORSHIP and S.ACRIFICE. The emirons of the too. One common mudra in images of the BUD-
holy cit\- of JERUS.ALEM contain two sacred DH,\ is similar to the "do not fear" mudra de-
mountains. Mount Zion where the ancient tem- scribed above. Another mudra shows the Buddha
ple was built and Mount Calvarx- where JESUS was touching the ground. Through that action the
crucified. Muslims, as part of the PILGRIALAGE to Buddha demonstrated his resolve when he was
MECCA, stand for an afternoon on Mount Arafat,
tempted by M\R.\.
where the Prophet MUHAMMAD delivered his
MUEZZIN From the ^Arabic word mu'addhin;
final sermon. In HINDUISM, BUDDHISM, and
J.AINTS.M, the world is said to be founded spiritu- the person who issues the call to PR,\raRin ISU\M.
Muslims make formal prayer to GOD facing
ally on Mount Mem, a m\thical mountain with MECCA five times a day (see S.\LW). Traditionally,
the time for prayer is announced by a muezzin.
its roots in the underworld and reaching up He may stand on top of a pillar known as a
through all the levels of realit>' to the HEA\'ENS.
It is reproduced in many of the temples and minaret. Turning to the four directions, he in-
pagodas of these religions. tones the call to prayer in Arabic: "God is most
great [four times]. I testifi' that there is no god but
Because of their sacred importance and role God [twice]. I testify that MLTLAMAIAD is God's
as sites of spiritual training and realization, moun-
tains have always been places of pilgrimage, fi-om Messenger [twice]. Come to prayer [t\\ice]. Come
Mount Fuji in Japan to the sacred mountains of to SALVATION [twice]. God is most great [twice].

MUHAMMAD 243

There is no god but God [once]." For the call to erable opposition fi-om the powerfiil members of
earlv morning praver, the muezzin twice adds the Meccan society'. After the death of Abu Talib in
619, the opposition to Muhammad became out-
statement, "Prayer is better than sleep," after the spoken and menacing. In the year 622, Muham-
mad and his followers were forced to flee secretiy
call "Come to salvation." from Mecca to Medina, a town roughly 300 miles
In the 20th centun.' many modem commu- to the north. There they allied with the previous
inhabitants, who agreed to recognize Muham-
nities replaced their muezzins with amplified mad's prophethood. This emigration, known as
recordings. the hijra (also spelled hejiira), marks the begin-
ning of the Islamic community'. Accordingly,
MUHAMMAD (570-632) The prophet who, Muslims date events AH., "in the year ofthe hijra"
( anno Hetjirae).
according to Muslims, received GOD's revelation
in the QUR'AN and established ISL-Wl. His impor- From the Meccan point of view, Muham-
tance for Muslims is emphasized by the central mad's alliance with Medina was an act of treason.
Islamic profession of FAITH: "There is no god but In turn, the Medinans raided Meccan caravans,
and war ensued. The fortunes of battle were
God [Arabic, ALL.\H], and Muhammad is his uneven, but the Medinans won a major victory at
the battie of Badr in 624. By 628 the warring
Messenger [Arabic, Rasuf].'" parties had established a truce. In 630 the Mec-
cans \iolated the truce, and in that year Muham-
Life mad finally entered Mecca in \ictory. He

Muhammad was bom in the year 570 in a clan of proclaimed a general amnesty, purified the KA.\BA
the Quraysh tribe in MECC\ (today in western
Saudi Arabia). His father died before he was bom (the central shrine in Mecca) of the many idols
that it contained, declared Mecca off-limits to all
and his mother soon aftenvard, so he was raised but Muslims, and established PILGRIMAGE to
first by his grandfather and then his uncle, Abu Mecca as a major Islamic IUTU.\L.
Tahb. Tradition reports that as a young man he
Muhammad died in the year 632 shortly after
developed a reputation for honestv' and virtue. He making a final pilgrimage to Mecca. He was

earned his living managing caravans, and at the buried in Medina. At the time of his death, the
age of 25 he married his employer, a wealthy Islamic community was already beginning to ex-
widow named Khadija. Only one of their chil- pand by establishing relations with peoples in
dren, a daughter, Fatima, survived to adulthood. other parts of the Arabian Peninsula.

Muhammad was in the habit of retiring to Teachings
the desert for reflection and MEDIT.-\TION. On
Muslims call the time before the prophet Mu-
one such occasion in the year 611, the .\N'GEL hammad a!-Jahiliya, "the times of ignorance."
Gabriel appeared to him with a message from During that period Meccan society was charac-
God. This event is venerated within Islam as the terized by POUTHEISM and social disorder. The
Night of Power. According to a widespread tra- disorder was due to the dismption of traditional
patterns of life, which were more suited to desert
dition, the first words that God spoke to the
prophet were these: "Recite: And thy Lord is the herding than to a thriving mercantile city.
Most Generous, who taught by the pen, taught
man that he knew not" (A. J. Arberr>', Tlic Koran The messages revealed to Muhammad and

Interpreted). preserved in the Qur'an had as their bedrock an

The revelations that Muhammad received insistence upon the absolute oneness of God

implied a radical reorganization of societ>'. They
envisioned a community' based on faith rather
than family relationships, and they emphasized
justice and concern for others rather than profit
and self-interest. As a result, they evoked consid-

244 MUSIC AND RELIGION

(Arabic, tatvhid). As one reads in the Qur'an: and Jesus, as well as figures from other traditions.
Muslims hold that while all preWous revelations
"Say: He, Allah, is One. Allah is He on WTiom all were distorted or changed by various communi-
depend. He begets not, nor is He begotten. And
none is like Him" (Qur'an 112, Muhammed ties, the revelation to Muhammad preserved its
Shakir). Verses such as these rejected more than purity. Thus, with Muhammad God's revela-
polytheism. In insisting on the absolute unity of
God, Muhammad rejected any notion that im- tion of divine truth became full and complete.
plies plurality, like the Christian notion of God as Initially the community presened these revela-
a TRINITY'. In insisting that God could neither tions orally along with some written fragments,
but within 25 years of Muhammad's death an
beget nor be begotten, he rejected any claim that authoritative compilation of the Qur'an had
JESUS was the son of God. Indeed, he insisted on come into existence.

keeping God and human beings in their respec- As the culmination of prophetic tradition
tive places: God is the creator upon whom the or, as Muslims say, the seal of the prophets,
entire universe depends; it is the duty of human
Muhammad represents more than the vehicle
beings to submit to God's will (Arabic, islam). for God's revelation. He also exemplifies the
Given this relationship, it follows that every
ideal way of responding to it. This conviction
human being must avoid two sins above all: the gave rise to the practice of collecting accounts
denial of the truth (Arabic, kufi') and mistaking of his sayings and deeds, known as HADITH. The
the created for the creator (shirk). The latter is Hadith provide guidance on religious matters,
but they also establish the way one should go
best seen in a \ en' broad sense. It refers to letting about many daily activities.
anything, such as money or clan loyalty or tradi-
tion, guide one's life in violation of God's will. In Islam does not separate religion fi'om other

this context Muhammad emphasized concern for areas of life but sees every facet of human exist-
ence as subject to God's commands. It is appro-
the less ad\antaged as well as the avoidance of priate, then, that Muhammad's significance
destructive social practices, such as drinking, extends far be\ond the narrowly religious. For
gambling, prostitution, and usur)', that is, charg- example, the Qur'an is the highest standard in
ing exorbitant interest on loans. The RESURREC- Arabic poetr\'. Of even broader significance, the
TION of the dead and a final judgment (see community' established through Muhammad

JUDGMENTOFTHEDEAD) also played a great role united the various peoples of the Arabian Penin-
in Muhammad's ethical oudook. These notions sula for the very first time. In doing so it changed
the face of the world's political, cultural, and
had not been prevalent earlier in the indigenous
religions of Arabia. militan,' history.

SlGNIFIC'WCE MUSIC AND RELIGION The attitudes to

For Muslims, Muhammad was only a human and use of patterned, humanly created sounds in
being chosen by God to be a messenger. Muslims the various religions.
teach that Muhammad was born like ever>'
The Value of Music
other person, that he died, and that he is buried
in Medina. Music plays a major role in most religions, but not
in all. Some religions have rejected it, at least in
At the same time, Muhammad is supremely part. Some orthodox Muslims forbid the religious
use of music, although for others it has played an
important as the last of a long line of prophets to important role in cultivating the spiritual life.
Traditional lAINIS.M rejects religious music, too.
whom God has revealed his truth. That line

begins with .\D.-\M, the ancestor of all people, and
includes many figures familiar to Jews and Chris-
tians, such as NOAH, D.WID, SOLOMON, ELIJ.^H,

MUSIC AND RELIGION 245

Jains consider it too sensual for religious pur- Amusical specialists. shaman's songs are often an
poses. The BIBLE refers to instruments used in the integral pan of his special role. In JUDAISM, mu-
JERUSALEM Temple, but for centuries it has been sicians known as cantors, not rabbis, often lead
traditional for Jews not to use instruments in synagogue services (see RABBI, R.-'iBBINATE). Mu-
S'i'NAGOGUE services. In the ancient and early
sic has been an important tool in establishing new-
medieval periods. Christians also allowed \ocal
music but rejected die use of instruments. They religious communities, too. Among European
saw them as pagan. During the REFORAIMION, Christians Martin LUTHER, who sparked the REE-
John C,\L\1N limited church music to the singing ORAL-^TION, and Charles Wesley, who played an
of psalms without instrumental accompaniment. important part in the founding of METHODISM,
Following Calvin's lead, some early Calvinists composed notable hymns. In India Guru NANAK
destroyed man)- church organs. Today, some
Christians, such as the more conservative .\MISH became the founder of the Sikh communitv- (see
and MEXNONITES, still allow onlv' vocal music. SIKHISM), and Caitanya organized devotion to
KRISHNA in Bengal in large part because they
Many religions, however, have warmly em- composed and sang devotional songs.
braced music. They give different reasons for
doing so. In India sound carries the power that Kinds of Religious Music

generates the universe. This is especially true of It is possible to divide music into two broad
classes: music primarily made with the human
the sacred syllable, "cm." Many peoples have voice, and music primarily made with some other
instrument. In general, religions have valued vo-
thought that music was created by gods or ances- cal music more highly than instrumental music.
tors. For example, shamans receive their songs Indeed, as noted above, some religions have re-
from spirits or ancestors during their journeys to ftised to allow- the use of musical instruments.
the other worlds. Other peoples have heard the
—In antiquity, songs one type of music
Avoice of gods or spirits in musical sounds. good
example is the bull-roarer, a piece of wood at- played major roles in SACRIFICES and temple ob-

tached to some sort of string and w'hirled in the Asenances. good example of the first is the

air. Indigenous peoples in Africa, Australia, collection of ancient Indian texts known as the
Oceania, and North ^America have considered the VED.\. The Veda contains hymns and songs that
sound of the bull-roarer to be the voice of a BRAHMINS used in pertbrming elaborate sacri-
fices. The Hebrew Bible provides good examples
religious being. of songs sung before a god in a temple; the book
of Psalms. The Psalms formed the basis for wor-
Religions also value music for its effects. ship in Jewish synagogues and Christian
churches. During the Reformation, Calvinists
When a BON priest plays the drum, Tibetans
cultivated the singing of the Psalter. Lutherans
believe that he ascends to heaven. In the Hebrew-
used songs known as hymns that were specially
Bible, D.^VTD, the fijture king of Judah and Israel,
written for congregations to sing. Since the Ref-
played music to calm King S.\L'L's spirits. Some
ormation many Protestant churches have devel-
Buddhists say that music puts the mind in a state oped rich traditions of hymnody.

in which it is receptive to enlightenment. In Indigenous peoples in Africa, the Americas,
Australia, and Oceania have beautiful and com-
Europe during the 19th and early 20th centuries plex traditions of religious songs. Not only do
shamans have their special songs. Songs also
many people said that musical experience was figure prominently in ver\- many rituals. In HIN-

very similar to the experience of God's presence. DUISM, singing to God is a major component of

A good example is the theologian and philoso-

onpher of religion, Rudolf O.

Religious music is often performed by indi-

viduals for their own purposes or by the commu-
nity as a whole. Many societies also have religious

246 MUSLIM

BHAKTI. Devotees meet in small groups at night Religions may give rise to special musical
and sing God's praises. Some Bengali devotees performances. These performances may focus on
concentrate simply on singing the names of Krishna music, especially vocal music, or they may com-
as God. As a result, their A^merican converts be-
came commonly known as "Hare Krishnas." bine music with other arts, such as dance or
drama.
Many religions have a special kind of singing
known as chanting. In Judaism and Islam, chant- African religions often combine music and
dance. So does Japanese SHINTO, in an event
ing is often called cantillation. Chanting is musi- known as kajjura. Performances in which Indo-
cal recitation, for example, musical reading fi-om nesian ^/7a»/f/n« orchestras accompanv the telling
the Bible. The basic idea is that the voice one uses of traditional m\-ths such as the R,\AL-\V.A.NA are
in ordinar\' speech is inadequate for reciting sa- well-known. Religion has also inspired some of
cred words, so one intones them instead. Chant- the masterpieces of European music. Johann Se-
ing is often done by religious specialists: cantors, bastian Bach's cantatas, passions, and B-minor
priests, reciters of the QUR'AN, monks. Some Mass, Georg Friedrich Handel's oratorios, includ-
Tibetan Buddhist monks have developed an in- ing the Messiah, Franz Joseph Haydn's The Crea-
triguing manner of chanting whereby a single tion, Ludwig van Beethoven's Missa solemnis,
voice can produce two pitches simultaneously, a Gabriel Faure's Requiem, and Johannes Brahms's
fifth or a sixth along with a deep tonic. German Requiem are just a few examples.

Some forms of chant are relatively simple. Significance
Each syllable receives a note or v.vo. Other forms
of chant are ven' ornate. Each sv'llable receives a There is a close relationship beriveen religion and
large number of notes. The first kind of chant is music. Music has contributed significandy to
called syllabic, the second melismatic. Chants in most, if not all, religious traditions. At the same
which syllables receive a moderate number of time, religion has inspired the creation of musical
masterpieces throughout the world.
notes are called neumatic. In the Gregorian
MUSLIM See ISLAM.
chants of the Roman Catholic Mass, chants that
MUSLIM, BLACK See ISL\M, NATION OF.
aim to instruct are syllabic, those connected with
ritual action are neumatic, while those that aim MYSTERY RELIGIONS Esoteric religions
to provide a basis for contemplation and reflec-
tion are melismatic. in the ancient Mediterranean world. Those who

At one time or another, religious people also practiced myster\' religions promised not to
have used musical instruments of even,' kind: speak with outsiders about the central RJTU.ALS
instruments that are solid and vibrate, such as of these religions. As a result, the rituals were
bells; instruments that have "heads" that vibrate, called "mysteries."
such as drums; instruments in which air vibrates,
such as flutes; and instruments in which strings In the ancient Mediterranean world, people
vibrate, such as zithers. Instruments are most often practiced religions defined by the specific
often used to accompany singing. For example, social and political communities to which they
indigenous North Americans often accompany belonged. Families, villages, and states all had
their singing with drum beats or flute music.
Instrumental music may mark the beginning and their own religious obsenances. Mysterx' relig-
end of rituals. In many temples people ring bells
to attract a deity's attention before they pray. It ions were different. People practiced mysten' re-
is relatively rare for purely instrumental music to ligions apart from families, \illages, and states. As
be bv itself the central RITU.-M, activirs'. single persons the>' joined special "associations."

MYSTICISM 247

These associations were formed soleh' in order to m\steries of Mithras appealed especially to Ro-

practice the mysteries. man soldiers. They practiced the mysteries in
special buildings known as "mithraea." Ever)'
People joined myster\' associations in a spe- "mithraeum" contained a picture of the god
cial way: They undenvent an INITIATION. As part Mithras killing a bull. The exact meaning of this
of the initiation, the>' promised never to reveal the picture is unclear. Other pictures depicted stars
content of the secret rites and teachings. The
and constellations.
Weancient initiates kept their promises ven,- well. In many ways ancient CHRISTIANITY' took

do not know nearly as much as we would like to the form of a mystery religion. Members joined
know about any of the mystery religions. Scholars the Christian community through an initiation
ritual (BAPTISM) after careftil preparation. Non-
ofi:en suppose, however, that these religions Christians were forbidden to observe the central
claimed to provide a blessed existence for souls ritual act, the celebration of the EUCI-L\RIST.
Christianit\' provided a way to ensure that one's
after death.
soul lived a blessed existence after death. Indeed,
Some m\steri' religions began with the the Greek word for the most important Christian
Greeks. The most important of them were cele- rituals, the SACRAMENTS, is mysteria, "mysteries."
brated at the town of Eleusis near Athens. They
were called the Eleusinian mysteries. Already in MYSTICISM States of consciousness inter-
the "golden age" of Athens, the fifiJi century B.C.,
these mysteries were becoming famous. preted as profound religious experience, or teach-
ings about them or derived from them. In
The mysteries of Eleusis had a specific niy-
tholog\': the stor)' of Demeter and her daughter common usage, the word mysticism can mean
Kore, sometimes called Persephone. The seasonal manv different things. For some it means that
rhnhms of growing grain seem to have provided
the Eleusinian mysteries with an important sym- which is irrational, or vague and "misty." For
bol. Kore was said to spend half of the year above
ground, and half of the year in the undenvorld. some it suggests the arts of OCCULTISM AND
About the central rituals, we know only that they ESOTERICISM, like ASTROLOGY or black AUGIC.
consisted of three components: things said, For others it means psychic powers such as telepa-
things done, and things shown.
thy. In religious studies, mysticism generally re-
Beginning about 200 B.C , other mystery fers to deep, intense states of religious
consciousness, such as those attained by persons
mreligions developed the ancient Mediterranean
Uke the BUDDHA, the Sufi (see SUFISM) mystics of
world. They used elements from places like ISLAM, the great masters of the KABBALAH or
Egypt, Turkey, and Persia. One set of mysteries HASIDISM in JUDAISM, or in CHRISTLANm',
centered on the Egyptian GODDESS Isis and her SAINTS on the order of FRANCIS OF ASSISI or St.
Teresa of Avila.
Aslain husband, Osiris. second centered on the
For them mysticism indicated a direct, per-
goddess Cybele, also known as the Magna Mater, sonal experience of GOD or divine realitv'. Often
"Great Mother," and her younger male atten- the experience is described in the language of
dant, Attis, who came from the region of what is oneness: The mystic will say, "I became one with
now Turkey. The god Mithras seems distantiy God." There also will be a sense of deep inward-
related to the Persian god Mithra. For a time ness about it; "I felt God deep in my heart"; "I
toward the end of the third century .^.D the knew enlightenment in every fiber of my being."
WORSHIP of Sol Invictus, the "Unconquered It can also be put in the terminolog\' of love: "I
Sun," became the oflScial religion of the Roman felt the love of God sweep over mc like the waves
of the sea."
Empire.

Each of these mysteries had its distinct teach-
ings, rituals, and communities. For example, the

248 MYSTICISM

The precise words in which mystical ex- Muslim Sufi and Jev\ish Hasidic practitioners,
perience is put will, of course, var\' trom one among others, can induce mvstical states.
religion to another. For those religions based on
an impersonal monism, like BUDDHISM or \'E- However, thoughtfiil teachers of mvsticism
D.\NTA Hinduism, it will be realizing enlighten- warn us that it is something far more subde than
ment, NIRVANA, or BRAHMAN as Satchitanaiida, a state that can be automatically brought about
"Being-knowledge-bliss," within one's true and by practices or techniques. They can help, but in
ultimate nature. For those religions like Judaism, the end mysticism is more of an art than a science.
Christianit)', and Islam that see God in terms of Even the greatest artists sometimes have better
personal MONOTHEISM, and stress that a created days than others, times when the streams of crea-
being like a man or woman can never be abso- tivit\- seem to flow well and others when thev run
luteh' the same as God the Creator, they will dr\'. So it is with the mystics.
speak of the mysticism of love, and of being
united with God in the same way a lover yearns Teachers of mysticism in fact describe various
to be united with the belo\ed.
stages of the mystical path. One of the best-
However, it is important to realize that the known books on the subject is Evelyn UnderhilFs
speech and writings of mystics, even the greatest, Mysticism. Combing reports of numerous mys-
are alwass an attempt to describe and mterpret an
experience that many of them nonetheless say is tics, she outiines five basic stages. First is the
beyond words. The words of description are not
the experience itself. —Awakening, when sometimes in a powerful con-

Two people may have an experience of deep \ersion or "born-again" kind of encounter with
joy and rapture. One may take it to be just a
—the di\ine one awakens to the reality' of the
psychological experience, the other a rehgious
encounter with the di\ine. E\en the second will spiritual life. This initial stage tends to be ver>-
probabh- interpret it in terms of a religion with emotional and erratic, though, and needs to be
which that person is familiar, whether it is monis-
tic or monotheistic. Even so, the great mystics stabilized in the Purgative or Preparati\e stage,
East and West have greatiy enriched their lan-
guages and literatures with beautiful and e\oca- when the wise practitioner will deepen and stabi-
ti\e attempts to communicate their deep and lize the spiritual life with a disciplined life and
subtle encounters with divine grace. regular prayer and meditation. This leads to the
Illuminative stage, a basically happy rime when
Many spiritual traditions teach techniques God seems to be near, prayers answered, and the
promises of religion fulfilled.
that help one to have mystical experiences. These
For some, howe\er, it is followed by some-
include, first of all, PRWER and especially MEDI thing distressing; the Dark Night of the Soul, as
it was called by the great St. John of the Cross.
TATION. Prayer is believed to bring one into
contact with God, while stilling the mind Now God seems to ha\e withdrawn his presence,
through meditation can allow the divine love or
di\ine presence to well up deep within. Prepara- and one is left as though on a desert at night
tion for meditation like YOG.\, sitting in the lotus without a compass. Many give up at this point in
posture, deep slow breathing, focusing the eyes despair. But the Dark Night is really a time of
or the mind on a single point, and chanting a deepening and of purging away even the subtiest
mantra or sacred set of syllables are all among the kinds of attachment to good religious feelings and
methods used. Others say that music, especially the like one ma\' ha\e, that one may come to know-
the beat of a drum, and dance like that done by God alone. For the Dark Night finally leads into
UnderhilFs supreme stage, the Unitive state,
when one is united with God on so deep a level
that the divine presence is always there, e\'en when
one is not thinking about it, and one is guided in
all one's doings bv love.

AfiTH AND MYTHOLOGY 249

Religious traditions have evaluated mystical The creation m\ths tell how God or the gods
made the world "in the beginning." People tend
experience differentiy. Some, such as PURE LAXD to believe that ifyou know where something came
BUDDHISM and certain strands in Protestant from, you know something very important about
Christianin,., have emphasized simple FAITH and it and how to handle it. Thus whether the world
harbored suspicions that too much erasing for came into being by divine design, or by accident,
mystical "states" gets in the way of reliance on or has just always existed, has imponant meaning
faith alone. Others might accuse mysticism of for us living on it. For example, the creation
being "escapist" and taking up time and attention
that would be better spent in the doing of good account of IUD.\ISM and CHRISTLVNTTY found in
works in the world, even though some of the the book of Genesis, at the beginning of the
greatest "do-gooders" from St. Francis to
GANDHI have also been great mystics. Probably Hebrew Scriptures, tells us that God made the

the majority- of religionists in the world, though, world as though it were something outside of
would say that while being a mystic may not be himself, like a carpenter making a box, then
necessarv' to SALV,\T10N, some mystical e.xperi-
ence can deepen and enrich one's spiritual life. looked on it and saw that it was \ery good. He

MYTH AND MYTHOLOGY A stor>' that is —then placed human beings also made as, so to
—speak, the work of his hands into that creation,
religiously important, and the study of such sto-
ries. For the average person, a msth is simply a and gave them instructions.
story that is not true: "that's just a m\th." In
religious studies, though, the meaning is rather The creation story tells us that the world and
different. It is taken to be a stor\- that expresses the Creator of the world are not to be confused.
the basic world view of a culture or religion in The world is to be honored because it was made
narrative form. It says some very important things
about the way in which the people telling the by God, but it is not the same as God. We humans
ston- think about GOD, human nature, the origin
can have a deep relationship of love, senice, and
and destiny of the world, how we should li\e our obedience to God, but we must not say that we
lives now, and how we can get into right relation- are God. All these ven- important ideas, central to
ships with the di\ine. For a myth is basically a Judaism and Christianit)-, are embedded in the
creation msth.
story, but it is a story about ultimate things. In
this respect, in the eyes of students of folklore, a Compare that account with one from the
myxh differs from a fable or legend or fair>Tale. VEDAS of India, which tells us that the world is a
Those ma\- be entertaining, and reveal such infor- sacrifice made by Prajapari, a Creator God who
made the world by diWding up his body so that
mation as how the fox lost his tail or a certain his bones became the mountains, his blood the
town got its name. But m\ths tend to tell how rivers, and so forth. Here is conveyed something
the world was made and how S.VL\'.\TION came told in much more philosophical language in later
into it. Some people may believe the m\th stories HINDUIS.M, that God is not a Creator separate
literally, others take them as poetic renderings of from the world, but the world is God, God in
disguise, God pla\ing hide-and-seek with himself,
ultimate things that are othersvise hard to put into and to know God we do not look outside of the
words or to understand. world, but into the depths of the world, into our
own itmermost nature.
Let us consider three t\'pes of religious m\th:
creation msths, hero/sa\ior m\ths, and m\-ths of All the many creation m\ths of the world
ESCH.\TOLOGY, or the end of the worid. doubtiess bear some such important message
about the true nature of the world as seen by their
tellers. One thing they tell that is important is that
at the beginning humans were close to their
Creator, one wav or another. But as time went

250 MYTH AND MYTHOLOGY

Gargoyle of Medusa. (Courtesy of the Imnnc Hani-

on, they lost that closeness, falling into forgetful- sa\ior is, like the heroes of m\T^h, a pioneer, a
leader, with superhuman powers that help set the
ness of it or, like ADAM and EVE, being expelled world right.

fi"om the primal garden. Finally, myths of the end may lead up to
Next examine the role, in myth, of the hero, stories of the end of the world and the end of rime,
like those of the Last Judgment in Christianin,',
like RAMA or KRISHNA in India, or in Western lore when it is said CHRIST will return to judge the
St. George who slew the dragon, who defeats living and the dead, or tlie coming of the fijture
EVIL and perhaps establishes an ideal kingdom. Buddha Maitreya in Buddhism. Often the end in
In some ways even the divine prophets and saviors m\TJi really represents a return to the paradise of
of the great religions have such a role as they show
the way back to right relationships with God or the beginning.
the divine. These would be stories like that of the
BUDDHA, who attained perfect consciousness Mvths like these and many others continue
through deep MEDITATION under the tree, or to ha\'e a tremendous power in the world. There
MOSES who received the divine law on Mount are the ninths of nations, of political movements,
Sinai, or JESUS who reestablished the possibility of particular sects and denominations of religions
of a right reladonship with God for humans that tell in mythic terms of their origins and their
through his death on the cross and his rising again world view. There are also personal myths. Prob-
to renewed life. In these stories, the prophet or ablv deep inside, most people in the world have a

M\TH AND MYTHOLOGY 251

Story thev like to tell themselves that helps them can tend to see evepi'thing as black and white,
understand who they are, what the\' are like, \\ hy absolutely good like the hero or bad like the
they do the things they do, and what their role in dragons against which he fights. It can stigmatize
the world is. Myths are powerful because at the whole groups of people, and is not very good at
profoundest level most of us respond better to working out all the nuances and degrees of good
seeing ourselves as actors in a ston' than as ab- and bad that occur in the real world. But it also
stract ideas; the ideas and beliefs come alive when
they are parts of a story, especially our own. gives hfe to some of the profoundest of human
Mythical thinking can also be dangerous, for it insights, and can motivate new heroes for today.
(See also HEROES AND HERO MYTHS

)

T>

NANAK (1469-1539) The first Sikh guru the idea of separating religion and government
first arose among some Protestants. These Prot-
and founder of the Sikh religion (see SIKHISM). estants were the Anabaptists of the 1 6th centun'
(see MEXNONTTES) and the Baptists and QU.VKERS
Nanak was born in the Punjab, the region of the of the 17th centur\- (see B.APTIST CHURCHES).
Before these movements, religion and national-
five tributaries of the Indus River in northwest
ism went hand in hand. A good example is JOAN
India and northern Pakistan. He grew up in a OF ARC who saw it as her mission fi-om GOD to

Hindu family. As a young adult he hosted evening help the heir to the French throne become king.
The first governments to separate themselves
Agatherings for devotional singing. Muslim mu-
—ft'om religion in technical terms, to "disestab-
sician accompanied him. —lish" religion were North American colonies of

At the age of 30 Nanak disappeared for three Great Britain, such as Pennsylvania. The first

days. On his return he proclaimed a religion that nation that officially separated religion and gov-
ernment was the United States. .-Vlthough the
transcended the dilferences between Hindus and United States is officially secular, it often thinks

Muslims and worshiped the one true GOD. He of itself in Protestant terms. In the early 20th

also rejected distinctions berix een castes and the centur)', it added the words "In God we trust" to
use of images in WORSHIP. The proper way to its money, and in 1954 it added the phrase "under
God" to the Pledge of Allegiance.
worship God, he taught, was through MEDITA-
The late 20th centur\- saw several powerfiil
TION and the singing of hymns. movements of religious nationalism. These move-
ments did not all adopt the same political stance.
Nanak traveled, teaching and singing and Islamic movements in the Middle East, Hindu

becoming the guru of a group of disciples (sishyas nationalism in India, and Christian nationalism in
the United States were reactionan,'. They wanted
Heor sikkhas). was the first in a lineage of 1 Sikh
—to restore the past or what they perceived the
gurus. His sayings are preser\ed in the Sikh holy
past to have been. At least one mo\ement was
book, the ADI GR.\NTH.
re\'olutionar\': the black nationalism proclaimed
NATIONALISM, RELIGIOUS Mo\ ements at various times by the Nation of Islam ( see ISLAM,

that link the pow er and tate of a nation with a NATION OF ) in the United States. And at least one
specific religion. In the second half of the 20th
cenrur)' religious nationalism was a major force in —movement lewish nationalists who settled on
many areas. Some called religious nationalism —the west bank of the Jordan Ri\er was coloniz-
"fundamentalism," an ana]og\' with fundamen-
talist CHRISTI.Axm' in the United States, even ing. It wanted to appropriate land that had pre-
though ftindamentalism has not traditionally \iouslv belonged to other people, and it used
been active in politics (see E\'AS'GELICAL AND
FUNDM1ENT.\LIST CHRISTL\NTT\").

The separation of religion and government is
relatively new. Throughout most of histor\' gov-
ernments have had their own religions. In Europe

252

NATURE AND RELIGION 253

religion to jusdfv' tliat action. These movements NATURE AND RELIGION The signifi-
general!)' used political action to tn,' to achieve
their ends. Some extremists also used physical cance of the natural world for religion. All rehg-
ions must deal not only with humanitv', but also
violence.
Religious nationalists generally perceived with the environment in which we dwell. They
must, in other words, have something to say
themselves as embattied communities, even about the plants and animals, the mountains and
when, as in India, they claimed to speak for an forests, the soil and sky and stars that are visible
overwhelming majority'. They saw themselves as and tangible. They must deal with nature.
reasserting a necessary union betvveen govern-
ment and religion ("The United States should be That is not always easy to do. Nature can be
a 'Christian nation'." j. They also saw themselves experienced in many ways. Sometimes it seems
as reasserting several other points: tradition and lush and beautiful and ftiendly bev'ond anvthing
its values against modemitv' and its depravities; else imaginable, and we believe nature must be
a religious view of the vv orld over a secular one;
the proper identitv' of a particular people over the very footstool of GOD or the manifestation of
the homogenizing global culture created by
multinational corporations and the mass media; divine realitv-. Yet at other times, in the wake of
national purity in the face of growing plurality; floods or drought or earthquake, nature appears
and power in the face of perceived povverlessness cruel and ruthless, the enemy of all human hopes
and disenfranchisement. and dreams. Yet again, there are times when we
are struck by the heartlessness of nature, the
The rise of religious nationalism caught suffering of so manv' creatures, and the hardness
many observers by surprise. In their eyes, global of the natural environment against which we must
communications and travel had held out great
promise. The nationalist ambitions in World War often struggle.
II had produced grisly horrors. The force of
secularism was supposed to be irresistible. In the Religions have contended with all these
second half of the 20th century a growing inter- perceptions. The members of some religions,
nationalism was supposed to taice the place of like T.^OISM and a few "nature mystics," have

nationalist loyalties. virtually been "pantheists," that is, people who
have thought God and nature virtually to be
At the end of the 20th century, it was impos- identical. The harshness of nature, they say, is
sible to predict the ultimate fate of religious the harshness of God, yet to know the heart of
nationalist movements. Were they the futile, last nature is to get beyond that and into a profound
gasps of those dissatisfied with the irresistible sense of wonder at the ultimate beauty of what
march of a global civilization? Would the sparks is in the world before and beyond humankind.
of violence that religious nationalism had already All one can do, they say, is attune oneself with
occasionally ignited once again light the flames of
fiUl-scale violence? Or were religious nationalist —the essence of nature the Tao, in Taoist lan-
movements genuine and convincing religious al- —guage and through it go beyond human con-
ternatives that would continue to attract follow-
ers in great numbers? cepts of good and evil.
At the other end of the spectrum are those
NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGION See IN
who, as in the ancient GNOSTICISM and
DIGENOUS AMERICAN RELIGIONS. MANICRVEISM, have emphasized the EML in na-
ture, and have said that nature could not have
been created by a good God. Many Gnostics said
that the world as we know it was created by a
lower god than the supreme Lord, who botched
the job and made the fallen natural and human
world around us; we ourselves are sparks of light

254 NEHEMIAH

from a higher realm who have become entrapped active at the same time, but many scholars argue
in this evil realm and must escape from it. that Ezra must have come after Nehemiah.

The positions of most of the major religions The book of Nehemiah is really the second
are somewhere in bet\vcen. HINDUISM and BUD- part of the book of Ezra. It tells mosdv of the
DHISM would say that nature contains beings, events of Nehemiah's governorship. It does so in
animals, demons, and others who, like ourseKes a first-person narrative that makes die book read
but with less capacity' for understanding, are as if it were the memoirs of Nehemiah himself
driven by ignorance and desire. Thus nature too
is suffering, but also bears the divine spark or the NEW RELIGIONS Religions that have ansen
BUDDHA-nature and can be freed through com-
passion. Some would say tliat the suffering of recenth', generally within the last few generations.
nature is at least in part a projection of our own
twisted consciousness onto it. Some religions are \er\' old, but new religions are

The western MONOTHEISM of JUDAISM, continually appearing as well.
CHRISTIANm', and ISLAM would generally say Thousands have arisen in the 20th centurv'
that nature is good insofar as it was created, like
us, by the one supreme God. Christianity would alone, especially in rapidly changing societies such

add that nature, also like us, has been touched by as Africa and parts of Asia. New religious move-
sin and is "fallen," so that its original pure and
true nature is hard to see. But, though it is ments tv'pically center around remarkable charis-
generally said that animals (and other beings in
nature) do not have immonal souls like humans, matic personalities who believe they have seen

they suffer in fallen nature and as creatures of God visions or had experiences that present a dramati-
cally new teaching or practice to die world, al-
dcser\e our compassion and help. though occasionally the new religion may be
In many ways, then, nature remains a deep constructed without a single leader. However, a
new religion must have not only a founding per-
mystery for religion, but also an arena for the son or idea, but also an audience and a situation
exercise of whatever love and VISION religion receptive to the novel perspective on ultimate
provides.
—truth. In changing times and we must remem-
NEHEMIAH A governor of Jerusalem in the
ber that most times are changing times for people
period after the Babylonian exile (586-539 B C),
and die name of a biblical book. The Persian king —actually in them old religious teachings, prac-

Anaxerxes I (ruled 464^23 B.C.) sent Ne- tices, and institutions may seem out of step with
the real world in which people live. Perhaps an
hemiah, one of his cupbearers, as governor to old tribal religion may not seem to have the right
JERUSALEM in 445 B.C. Nehemiah rebuilt die city tools to deal with a world of contact with Euro-
walls and made it safe to live in once again. Some pean culture, widi new ideas, economies, and
technologies; this was the situation out of which
—time later the date is not known with certainty CARGO CULTS arose. An old religion may seem
—Artaxerxes sent Nehemiah to Jerusalem for a hopeless to some at trying to explain all those new
realities in terms of a religious world view. Per-
second term as governor. On this occasion he haps a religious language whose images are of
camels, kings, and shepherds may not make con-
undertook religious reforms that emphasized a tact with some people whose real world centers
return to tradition and a rejection of intermar- more around cars, congresses, and corporations.
riage with non-Jews. The relationship of Ne-
hemiah's activities to those of EZRA is uncertain. A prophet may then arise to declare, here is a
The BIBLE gives the impression that they were new religion revealed by CiOD or a god who says

the old ways are really true, but here are some
ways of looking at the religion which show it is
really compatible with the new science. More-

NEW REUGIONS IN THE UNITED STATES 255

o\-er, the central God of the old belief is now NEW RELIGIONS IN THE UNITED STATES

changing the world faster than before, and all the Religions originating in the United States in the
progress you see around you is really leading up 19th and 20th centuries. The United States of
America, the first country in the world to enjoy
to the KINGDOM OF GOD; have FAITH this is so. fijll religious freedom and separation of religion
An example of this t)'pe in CHRISTIANITY would from the state, has long been a hotbed of new
be SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM. religious movements.

Note that die most successful new religions, Shortiy after independence, new denomina-
tions, like the Disciples of CHRIST and the Church
like the NEW RELIGIONS OF JAPAN, do not say of Christ, appeared in the wake of frontier reviv-
als. Later in the 19th century came the Church of
e\er)thing in the former faith is false and bad. JESUS Christ of L.'KTTER-DAY SAINTS (the Mor-
Rather, they will probably affirm the old, but put mons), Spiritualism (emphasizing communica-
it all in a new light, so that people can say of the tion with spirits of the departed through
new teaching, "This was really true all the time, mediums), and CHRISTIAN SCIENCE. The move-
but we didn't realize it undl now." It also must ment called "New Thought" late in that century
pro\ide potent inward motivation for breaking and in the next offered special emphasis on the
with die past and meeting the new needs it has healing power of mind and positive thinking:
uncovered. This probably will be obtained Divine Science, Science of Mind, Unity, the
through strong simplicit)- in leadership, organi- Church of Religious Science. Still later, religious
zation, and practice. The new religion will likeh' movements based on imported faiths fi-om the
have a single powerful prophet and a close-knit East, the VTDANTA societies and ZEN BUDDHISM,

organization, like a surrogate family, to counter- arrived.

balance the natural inclination of people to re- In the 20th centur\', still more religious
main with the old for the sake of family and movements arose. Some, like the frontier revival
communit)'. It probably also will single out some churches, were new forms of the dominant relig-
ion, CHRISTL-UMITY: The most important were
—simple, sure technique or practice a metiiod of Pentecostal churches based on belief in the power
—PR.AYER or MEDITATION, a dance or rite that of the Holy Spirit to give gifts like "speaking in
tongues." PENTECOSTALISM has now become a
comes reassuringly out of the past, but also is major religious movement worldwide. Others
strong enough to give people a powerflil and were new forms of mystical and Eastern faiths;
immediate experience. Features like these will YOGA groups, MEL1ITATION movements, Neo-
motivate people to spread the new teaching, and Paganism, and what has come to be called "New
in a few cases the new religion will be successfiil
enough to grow worldwide, like Mormonism Age" religion. A great impetus was given such
(see LATTER-DAY SAINTS) or the Unification
Church. movements by the spiritual upheavals of the
1960s, though it is important to realize they were
New religions are often controversial. Some present in America long before then.

have been regarded as dangerous "cults," (see What have been some common features of
American new religious movements over the past
CULTS AND SECTS, RELIGIOUS) a word that has
come to suggest a religious movement that makes two centuries? They have tended to be focused on
excessively high demands on its members' time, powerful subjective experience: conversion and
mysticism . It often takes a strong inner experience
energy, and freedom of diought. At the same, to "break the mold" of one's adherence to con-
most of the established religions of the world ventional religion. Often these movements have
began with many of the characteristics of new
religious movements.

256 NEW RELIGIONS OF JAPAN

had leadership by women, like many early Spiri- 2. MONOTHEISM or monism. The new religion
tualist circles and Pentecostal churches, or lead- may select one god or Buddhist realit\' out of
ership by members of racial minorities. the SHINTO or Buddhist pantheon and make
Sometimes they have explored new patterns of
family and communit)' life as well; polygamy in it central, so that in effect religious realit)'
early Mormonism, the communes established by
19th-centun' Spiritualists and Utopians or by the centers on one principle or divine will.
1960s counterculture. Like new religions gener- 3. Syncretism, or drawing fi-om several tradi-
ally, they have frequendy centered their practice
on a single important technique for contact with tions. Many of the new religions combine
the di\'ine world; Spiritualist mediumship, Chris- SHINTO ways of WORSHIP, perhaps including
tian Science healing, yoga, meditation. At the
same time, new religions like to stress their mod- dance, with Buddhist teachings like REIN-
ernity, commonly expressed through identifica- CARNATION, Confiacian morality, and perhaps
tion of their outlook on science; Christian Christian ideas about GOD.
Science, the Church of Religious Science. Except 4. This-worldly eschatolog>' and S.\LVATION.
in the conservative Christian movements, a com- Most of the new religions do not talk about
mon feature has been to talk of a mystical, imper-
sonal Absolute rather than a personal GOD, since going to HEAVEN aft:er death or salvation in
that fits with the kind of mystical experience another world. Instead they say that God is
important to many followers of new religions. bringing about a radically new paradisal order

As American society becomes more and here in this world; the present troubles are
more pluralistic and complex through immigra-
tion and individualism, it seems likely that its but the birth-pangs of a new age. If not in
religious life will likewise continue to display a this life, then through reincarnation we will
remarkable diversit\'. be born into it soon.
5. Emphasis on healing. Most of them began
NEW RELIGIONS OF JAPAN New relig essentially as spiritual healing movements.

ious movements that have emerged in Japan since 6. A sacred center. Most of them have a sacred
the early 19th centur\'. These are among the most
interesting and most studied of new religions center, even a holy city, to which people go
worldwide. They have obviously grown up in on PILGRIM.\GE.
tandem with Japan's phenomenal modernization
and the traumas of Japan's modern histor\', but A7. simple but definite process of entry. Join-
they ha\e features that compare with those of new-
religions even-where. These are a few charac- ing one of the new religions means making a
definite decision, yet it is easy enough that
teristics;
the simplest persons enter; they are for ordi-
1. Founding by a charismatic prophet. Gen- nar\' people, not just an elite. People have to
erally the founder, often a woman, like the
majority of the shamans of ancient Japan, take responsibility for their own spiritual life
has had a powerful VISION or religious ex- by joining, but anyone can do so.
perience communicating a new revelation, A8. single, simple, sure technique that is the key
and has the personahty to draw other peo- practice. This would be like chanting the
Daimoku ("Nn>w myoho rcnnie kyo") in SOKi\
ple into it.
GAKKAI, doing jorei or channeling light in
World Messianity, and so forth. Like all new-
religions worldwide, they tend to isolate as
their "trademark" one powerful practice that
anyone can do and that brings quite powerfiil
results for many people.

The well-established new religions of Japan
fall into three main groups. First are the "old"
new religions, like TENRIKTO (1838) and KONK-

NEW YEAR FESTIVALS 257

OKYO (1859), founded by peasant prophets, between old and new, or between different kinds
which have Shinto-r\'pe worship but are mono-
theistic. Then, there arc die Onioto (1892) of fortune for the ne.xt year. The colorfiil ceremo-
group of new religions, including not only
Omoto itself but also World Messianity (1935), nies that mark New Year's Day around the world
Seicho-no-Ie (1930), and Perfect Liberty
all reflect themes like these.
( 1946), started as a peasant religion stressing the
New Year's Eve may be seen as a time for
imminent coming of a new age. The original
foundress of Omoto was a peasant woman, Nao partying and "letting go," because it is like the
Deguchi, but her son-in-law, Onisaburo
Deguchi, expanded Omoto in several directions: old year or world returning to chaos before being
healing, art, radical politics, and spiritualism.
Partly as a result of government persecution in made again. It is also a time, as in traditional
the 1920s and 1930s, it spun off several other
movements. World Messianit\' continued the es- China, for paying debts, cleaning the house thor-
chatoiogical emphasis. The more consenative
Seicho-no-le has a science of mind kind of teach- oughly, and sending oft' the kitchen god with a
ing. Perfect Liberty, whose motto is "life is art,"
stresses the spiritual meaning of art. bit of honey on his painted lips to sweeten his
mood as he goes to heaven to report to the
Finally, there is a group of new religions
based on NICHIREN Buddhism: Reiyukai (1925), supreme gods on the family's conduct over the
Rissho Kosei Kai (1938), and the largest of all,
Soka Gakkai ( 1952). They emphasize the power past year. In China also. New Year's Da\' means
of the Nichiren chant, the Daimoku, to change
life for the better here and now. Changing life for honoring ancestors, reestablishing family bonds
the better in this present world, but through
contact with spiritual reality, is really the theme b\' paying calls, and a parade in which a great
of all the new religions of Japan.
—dragon weaves through the streets the dragon
NEW TESTAMENT See BIBLE, BIBLICAL
being a symbol oi yan£^ the male energy of sun
LITER.\TURE.
and growth whose half of the year then begins.
NEW YEAR FESTIVALS Religious com-
Elsewhere, New Year's Day may be symbolized
memorations of the beginning of a new year. In
virtually all traditional cultures, the change from by lighting a new fire, eating new foods, or (as in
an old year to a new year is a time of religious
significance. Sometimes it is celebrated, as in the Wales) sprinkling fresh water on houses. In many
modern Western calendar, on the first of January,
shortly alter the winter solstice. Or it may come, cultures, from England to Japan, New Year's Day
as in the Chinese calendar, around the beginning
of spring, or as in the Jewish calendar, in the fall. —has been thought of as a time when it being a
In any case, the commencement of a new year —time of turning the gatev\'ays to the other world
signifies something like a miniature recreation of
the world, when the old dissolves and a fresh start opened a bit, and mysterious gods and spirits
is made. It mav also be seen as a time of conflict could come through, and ancestors might return

in spirit to visit. Sometimes costumes are worn to

personify these entities by celebrators going from

door to door. This may also be the ultimate

ancestor of the tradition of nev\' year parades, like

the famous Rose Parade in Pasadena, California.

On a more serious note, the start of the new

year is a time for repenting of things done wrong

in the past, and for making resolutions to help one

do better in the fijture. The theme of conflict

between old and new, or between two sides, on

New Year's Day is reflected in the practice of new

year contests, whether tug-of-war as in some

places in Japan, or the football bowl games in the

NewUnited States. In all. Year's Day is a time,

though now often secularized, that has had deep

religious meaning in its past.

258 NICHIREN

NICHIREN (1222-1282) Japanese Bud- dha had originally delivered the Lotus Sutra as a
dhist priest and reformer. Xichiren was bom to a
sermon. On the other hand, if the nation rejected
poor fishing family in a \illage called Kominato,
northeast of the present location of Tokyo. De- the Lotus Sutra, he said, many disasters would
spite his lowly background, he received an edu-
cation in a local Buddhist temple. From the age Hebefall it. pointed to a series of calamities
of 16, he traveled widely fi'om one temple and
school of BUDDHISM to another, seeking truth. around him: earthquakes, drought, famine, epi-
It was a time of much conflict and fighting in
Japan, and of the rise of new, simplified forms of demics. He also predicted that Japan would be
Buddhism. This caused Nichiren to be particu-
larly worried about two questions: Why, in the imaded fi-om outside, and claimed to have been
civil wars then going on in Japan, did armies often
lose despite all the PRAYERS and ceremonies of- right when the Mongols came in 1268. But Japan
fered on their behalf by Buddhist priests? and.
was saved in that fatefiil year by a typhoon (called
How can I be sure that I am myself saved?
the kamikaze, "divine wind") that destroyed the
Nichiren finally decided that the answers lay
in the power of the LOTUS SUTR.\, a great Bud- enemy's fleet; Nichiren said this was because at
dhist text, which had been regarded as the most
important of all by the Tendai school of Bud- least some Japanese had accepted his preaching.
dhism in which he had been raised. But Nichiren
Nichiren's teaching created much opposi-
said it was now the only scripture; all the others
tion. He was t\\ice e.\iled and once sentenced
were outdated.
Trust in it and it alone would bring success to death; legend has it that he was spared the

here and now, he said, whether for armies and the death sentence at the last minute, when the
nation or for indinduals; that trust was also one's
only sure hope for salvation. The Lotus Sutra was executioner's sword was struck by lightning. But
not just to be read, but chanted and worshiped
for the power that lay in its \en' words. Nichiren he started a religious movement, Nichiren
taught people a recitation called the Daimoku. It
consists of the words Namtt myoho ren^c-kyo Buddhism, which has had an important role in
("Hail the mar\elous teaching of the Lotus Su-
tra" ) chanted rapidly. The chant is best done in Japanese history and has grown rapidl)- in the
fi'ont of a shrine called the Gohonzon, a rectangu-
lar sheet of paper bearing the words of the Dai- 20th century in the form of some of the largest
moku and the names of some figures ft'om the
Lotus Sutra. Nichiren Buddhists today find this a of the NEW RELIGIONS OF J.APAN, especially
ver)' effective form of prayer.
SOKAGAKKAI.
Nichiren believed that all Japan must accept
NIRVANA Sanskrit for "blowing out"; in
his FAITH in the Lotus Sutra. He denounced
BUDDHIS.VI, the blowing out of the flames of
other religions as false, but said that if Japan as a craving that are responsible for continued rebirth.
whole would turn to the Lotus, it would be Nir\ana is the goal for which Buddhists strive.
blessed and «oiild be a center of light for the Parado.xically, it too can become an object of
craving. In that case the craving for nir\ana is an
world. He belie\ed that Japan's famous Mount obstacle to be overcome.
Fuji represented the mountain on which the Bud-
Theravada Buddhism, the form of Buddhism
common in southeast Asia, distinguishes two
forms of nirvana. These are called nirvana with
and nirvana without a "substrate" (roughly, a
base made up of mental and physical elements).
Nirvana with a substrate is the nirvana of the
person whose passions have been blown out but
who remains in the body until the consequences
of earlier, craving-motivated action (KARM\)
work themselves out. It is described as a calm,
cool bliss, beyond happiness and sadness. WTien
the final flickers of karma go out, one enters

parinirvana, that is, the ultimate nirvana, nirvana
without a substrate.

Theravada Buddhism teaches that there is no tween nirs'ana and samsara, like all distinctions, is
permanent self. Persons are simply temporan,' ultimately empty.
bundles of aggregates, held together by igno-
rance, cra\ings, and karma. These views lead to a NOAH In the BIBLE and the QUR'AN, the pa-
ver\' pointed question: Does a person continue to
exist after entering parinirvana? The Buddha re- triarch who survived the universal FLOOD to-
fused to answer this question. He said it did "not gether with his wife and family. All living human
lead to edification. '^ It simply distracted the ques-
tioner from seeking ninana. beings are said to be his descendants.

The Thera\ada teachings seem to contrast There are se\eral parallels to Noah in the
nirvana with S.\MSARA, the realm of continued world's religions. The Sumerian Utnapishtim, the
rebirth. Thus, they seem to think that nir\ana is Akkadian Atrahasis, and the Indian NL-VNU were
some sort of eternal state. The other major form
of Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, thinks differ- also said to have sur\ived a universal flood.
ently. Following the lead of the great thinker As the Bible tells the story (Genesis 6-9),
Nagarjuna, it maintains that the distinction be-
GOD decided to destroy the Earth because of its
wickedness. The barriers that kept the primal

waters above the sky and below the Earth gave
way, and a great flood ensued. But Noah, a

1

righteous man, and his family had built an ark According to Jewish tradition, all human be-
(boat) according to God's specifications. In it, ings are to obser\'e the covenant made with Noah.
they and representative animals sunived. The later covenant made with MOSES is binding
only on Jews. According to Christian tradition,
When the waters receded, God made a COXT- Noah and his family in the ark prefigure the saving
NANT with human beings. He promised never to
of Christians through the waters of B.\rTISM (
send another tlood, and he sealed his promise
Peter 3.20-22). MusHms hold diat Nuh (Noah)
with the rainbow. He also granted human beings was the first prophet through whom God pun-
ished people for their SINS. They may recite his
permission to eat meat lor the first time. Shortly stOA' when they begin a journey, for example,
thereafter, Noah planted a vineyard. At harvest PILGRIMAGE to MECCA.
time, he made wine, got drunk, and disgraced

himself.

o

OCCXJLTISMANDESOTERICISM Spiritual of wealth and power. It may also be that it

doctrines and practices that are considered secret. honestiy believes a spiritual perception or tech-
The world "occult" means hidden, and "eso- nique is too powerftil to be widely known; it
teric" means within, in the sense of something
concealed within something else. In the context would be dangerous in the wrong hands, and
of religious traditions, these more or less overlap- should be imparted only to one who has been
ping terms refer to teachings and practices that carefijUy prepared through training and initiation.
are not widely given out, but kept within a select It may be considered that it could not really be
circle. One example would be AL^NTRAS (sacred understood by one who knows only the words,
but has not had the experiences to go with it, just
words) and MUDRAS (sacred gestures) in HINDU- as a child cannot really understand what it is like
ISM and BUDDHISM, which are passed on from a to be adult until she or he has gone through some
vears of growth and change, or one caiuiot un-
guru or teacher to a disciple at the latter's initia- derstand higher mathematics until one has stud-
tion. Another would be in JUD.MSM, the special
s^Tnbolic meaning given Hebrew words and even ied the basics.
letters in the scriptures by students of the tradi-
tion known as K.\BB.\L.\H. Ancient GNOSTICISM Thus, it may be claimed, occult secrets just
is sometimes considered an esoteric version of carmot be grasped without background knowl-
CHRISTLANITi'. There are also occult and esoteric edge. Books on calculus are not exactiy kept
systems of thought and practice not closely tied hidden; they can be found in any good library or
to any major religion; in the West, a group of bookstore. But if one has not had the necessary
ancient teachings such as .^TROLOGY, alchemy, preliminarv' training in arithmetic and algebra,
palmistr\', and MAGIC are often collectively la- thev might as well be hidden. Occultists would
beled occultism. What these and all so-called say that some inner teachings of the spiritual life
occult or esoteric teachings tend to have in com- are like that. In fact, today books on many things
supposedly occult, from the lore of the stars to
mon is a belief in subde cause-and-effect relation- the lore of gemstones, are widely available, and

ships or "correspondences." These relationships occult orders offering initiations advertise in
are not easily understood until one is ready to
understand them. In occultism, they may be be- popular magazines. The consumer must cau-
nveen humanity and some aspea of the universe; tiously decide what their teachings are worth. At
for example, benveen a gemstone and a particular the same time, deeper occult secrets about the
mood, or between the position of the planets and relation of humanity' to the universe may be hid-
the course of one's life. den at the heart of ail the great spiritual traditions.

Teachings and practices can be occult or OCEANIC RELIGION See P.^Cinc OCE.\N
esoteric for several reasons. Sometimes, of course,
a group wants to keep its secrets close for reasons RELIGIONS.

262 ORDINATION

ORDINATION A RITUAL that appoints a In the past, Jews and Christians only or-
dained men to tlie rabbinate and ministry. In the
person to a religious office. North Americans 20th century, more liberal groups began to or-
usually associate ordination with Christian rituals dain women, too.
that make someone a priest or minister. Roman
Catholic and Orthodox Christians think of ordi- OTTO, RUDOLF (1869-1937) Influential
nation as a S.ACR.'VMENT. But other religious
groups ordain, too. Jews ordain BL\BBIS. Some German theologian, philosopher, and historian of
people speak of ordination when Buddhists be- religions. Otto taught Protestant theology at the
come MONKS .'ys'D NUNS. Used broadly, ordina- universities of Gottingen, Breslau, and Marburg.
tion can be applied to virtually every reUgion. His major concern was to analyze the experiences
that, he said, made all religion possible. He did
In ancient times, Jews and Christians or- so, especially in Jiis best-selling book, Tljc Idea of
dained in the same way, by "laying on hands." the Holy (1917).
Those with authority would place their hands on
top of the head of the person to be ordained. But According to Otto, religion depends upon a
Jewish and Christian ordination developed differ- human experience that is unlike any other. To
endy. Jews stopped laying on hands. They instead refer to this experience, he coined the word "nu-
presented rabbis with certificates testifying to minous."
their office. Then, in the 20th century, Jews
re\'ived the ancient practice. In the Middle Ages, Otto analyzed the numinous experience in
Christians not only retained the ancient practice, terms of three moments. As mysterium, it totally
they also elaborated on it. They presented the transcends human understanding and evokes a
person being ordained with many symbols of response of silent dumbfoundedness. As tremen-
office, such as special clothes and a staffi During dum, it appears as o\erpovvering and majestic and
the R£FOR.\L\TION, Protestants simplified the rit- evokes a response of trembling and a feeling of
ual once again or eliminated it altogether. creatureliness. As fascinans, the numinous ap-
pears as gracious and merciful and evokes a re-
sponse of love.

p

PACIFIC OCEAN RELIGIONS The rclig in English, and sometimes called gods. Some

ions of the peoples who lived on Pacific islands beings bore goodwill to people; others bore ill

before Europeans arrived. This area is sometimes will. Some were the souls of the departed. Most
called Oceania. Its religions are sometimes called islanders had elaborate ideas of what happened to
Oceanic religions. the soul after death. It journeyed, sometimes to
the unden\-orld, sometimes to the uppenvorld,
The Pacific Ocean contains more than and sometimes to a distant island.
10,000 islands. Some are immense, for example.
Pacific islanders pro\ ided scholars with clas-
New Guinea and the islands of New Zealand. sic examples of IXITL\TIOX rituals. They also had

Others are extremely small. The islands stretch elaborate ceremonies for the dead. Some of the
ceremonies involved beautiful artwork. The body
fi-om New Guinea in the west to Easter Island in of the dead received careftil attention. Sometimes
it was buried temporarily; sometimes it was ex-
the east, fi'om the Hawaiian Islands in the north posed. The bones of die dead often became im-
portant RITUAL objects.
to New Zealand in the south. The eastern half of
Most Pacific islanders used M\GIC of some
this region is called Polynesia. The northwestern sort in their daily life. Many societies also had
quarter is called Micronesia. The southwestern magical specialists. These were often men. But in
many places people sought out women for help
quarter is called Melanesia. in healing and in fiarthering love relationships.

People first setded in New Guinea 20,000 to Polynesia ga\e the English-speaking world
the words "mana" and T.\BOO. Things as well as
30,000 >'ears ago. The\' only began to setde persons could have M\N'.\. The word referred to
Micronesia and Polynesia much later, perhaps a powerful religious state. Such states were also
around 2000 B.C. The islands at the far ex- tabu, that is, they required persons to obsene
special prohibitions.
—tremes the Hawaiian Islands, Easter Island,
—New Zealand ^vvere settled even later, roughly Some Pacific Island societies were matrilineal
and matrilocal, that is, people traced their descent
A.D. 500 to 1000. In general, the islands of through their mothers, rather than their fathers,
Polynesia are more productive than those of and they lived with their mothers' families. Nev-
Melanesia and Micronesia. As a result, Polyne- ertheless, Pacific island religions remained
sians, unlike Melanesians and Micronesians, de- strongly male-centered. That was true even of
veloped complex hierarchies of social classes. religions in which goddesses were prominent. In
Chiefs and kings are very important figures in western parts of the region, religion was the secret
Polynesian religions. They are not so imponant

farther west.

The islands have their own languages, cul-
tures, and religions. An\' attempt to describe "the
religion" of the islands is bound to fail. But some
features did appear in many difterent places.

Pacific Ocean islanders paid attention to a
variety of spiritual beings, sometimes called spirits

263

264 PAPACY, THE

presen'e of adult men. They found the presence
of women polluting and therefore threatening.

At the end of the 20th centur>', few if any
Pacific Ocean religions sur\ived in traditional
form. Christian MISSIONARIES had converted
the entire area. During the 19th and 20th
centuries. Pacific Ocean islanders also devel-
oped distinct rituals known as CARGO CULTS.
These cults sought to make their followers
prosperous in material goods. They taught that
"white men" were going to bring them material
goods as gifts.

THEPAPACY, The institution that governs

the Roman Catholic Church. The papacy centers

on a man known as the Pope. (Women are not

allowed to hold this office.) The word comes

fi"om the medieval Latin word papa, which means
"father." In ROMAN CATHOLICISM the Pope is
the bishop of Rome. According to Roman

Catholic teachings, he is superior to all other

bishops. Therefore, he should govern the church

throughout the world. The congregations that
acknowledge his supremacy make up the Roman

Catholic Church. In addition to go\erning this Pope John Paul II (on tJie right) with Archbishop of
Canterbury George Carey, exchanging gifts during
church, the Pope also rules a small territoPi' in Carey's visit to the Vatican. {By permission of the
Episcopal News Service; photojjrapljy by Jim Rosenthal
Rome known as Vatican Cit\'. He is assisted by of the Anglican Communion News Sennce.)
an administrative unit, known as the Curia, and
when he speaks on matters of church teaching or
the College of CARDINALS, whose members he practice, he cannot make a mistake. His pro-
appoints. He also appoints the heads of the re- nouncements mu.st be accepted.

gional churches throughout the world. The\' are The actual powers of the popes has varied.
When CHRISTIANiTi' first spread, Rome was the
known as bishops. capital of an empire that ruled the entire region
of the Mediterranean Sea. Early on, the Roman
The papacy's claims to power go back to the church was influential. But other churches were
influential, too, for example, the churches at An-
New Testament. There JESUS tells PETER that he tioch, Alexandria, and, from the fourth century',

is the rock upon which the church will be built Constantinople.
During the fifth centun- A.D invaders from
(Matthew 16.18-19). He also gives Peter the
northern and eastern Europe sacked Rome: the
power to forgive SINS on Earth, or not, as he Visigoths in 410, the Vandals in 477. The papacy
chooses. According to Roman Catholic tradition, filled the political vacuum that was left. It
Peter was the first Pope. He passed down to

fiiture popes the powers that Jesus had given to

him. In the view of the Roman Catholic Church,
the Pope is die vicar of CHRIST on Earth. He sits

on the throne of Peter. According to a controver-
sial decree of the First VATICAN COUNCIL

(1869-70), the Pope is infallible. That means that

PARVATI 265

spoke with unquestioned authorin- in the Latin- emigrated from Persia (today Iran) to the region
speaking, western half of the empire. of Gujarat in western India (see ZORO.ASTRJAN
ISM ) . Tradition says they did so in response to the
But the bishop of Rome claimed more. He conquest of Persia by Muslims, which began
about A.D. 635. The name "Parsee" refers to
claimed universal prestige. At the Council of Persia, their country' of origin. Today a large
Chalcedon, Leo I (pope, 440^61) mediated a number of Parsees live in Bombay. They have
dispute between two warring factions of Greek- become influential in business, higher education,
speaking theologians. GregoPi' I (pope, 590- and the professions. In the 20th centun' signifi-
604) argued strenuously for the Pope's claim to cant numbers of Parsees also settled in London
rule the entire church. The Orthodox churches and Toronto.
never accepted this claim. In 1054 the Pope
and the Patriarch of Constantinople excommuni- Parsee priests are males who inherit their
cated one another. The schism remained until
1965, when each revoked his decree of excom- positions from their fathers. Five times a day they
munication. place fiiel on the eternal fires that burn in their
temples. As the\' do so, they recite PR.\yERS from
In 1076 Oregon- \TI (pope, 1073-85) ex- the Zoroastrian SCRIPTURES.
communicated and humiliated the Holy Roman
emperor, Henr\" TV. In doing so, he established According to tradition a person is a Parsee by
the power of popes over kings and princes. From birth; it is not possible to convert to the F.\ITH.
A.D. 1100 to 1300 the popes enjoyed unmatched At the age of seven, Parsee children undergo a
power in western Europe. At the end of this ceremony known as navjot. In that ceremony they
period Boniface VIII (1294-1303) claimed receive a white shirt and a sacred thread. The
complete supremacy over virtualK' all of creation. faithfial always wear these symbols of the Parsee
faith except when they are sleeping and bathing.
A document known as the Donation of Constan-
tine supported papal claims. It stated that Em- Parsees are well known for their traditional
fijneral practices. They place bodies of the dead
peror Constantine had given all of his power to in "towers of silence." There the bodies are eaten
the popes. by vultures. The idea behind this practice is that

After Boniface the political pov\er of the — —no element earth, air, fire, or water should be

papaq' gradually diminished. A number of events defiled by corpses. In the 20th century some
Parsees began to advocate electric cremation as
were responsible: a period during which the an acceptable alternati\e to exposure.

mpopes lived Avignon, France (1309-77), fol- PARVATI The consort of the god SI\'A in

lowed by a period in which n\o, then three, men Hindu mythology. Par\ ati's name derives from a
claimed to be pope ( 1 378-14 1 7 ); the demonstra- Sanskrit word for mountain (parvata). Indeed,
tion that the Donation of Constantine was a
she is said to be the daughter of Himavat, the lord
forgen'; the rise of national powers in Europe;
and the Protestant REFORMATION. of the Himalayas, ^-^s a GODDESS she is much less
independent tiian DURGA or Kah. Her major role
In the 20th century John XXIII (pope,
1958-63 ) attempted to modernize the church. But is as Siva's wife, but in this role she is indispensa-
successors such as John Paul II (pope, 1978- )
took a more conservative line. By the end of the ble. She tames the wild, limitless, austere energ\'
century the papacy was often at odds with the more
liberal North American Catholic Church as well as of the god and makes it available to human
liberation theologians in South America.
Abeings. famous line by the poet Kalidasa
PARSEES Zoroastrians who li\e in India and
equates the necessan,' relation of Siva and Par\ati
their descendants. Bv A.D 1000 Zoroastrians had
with that of a word's meaning and its sound.

266 PASSOVER

Panati is the mother of both of Siva's sons: children of Israel from slavery-. First he instructed
the elephant-headed god GANESA and the six-
headed god Skanda. According to the Siva- the children of Israel to smear their doors with
PUR.\NA, she gave birth to Ganesa all by herself.
One da\' she wanted to take a bath, but Siva was the blood of a sacrificed lamb. Then he sent the
a%\ ay, so she created Ganesa from the dirt of her ANGEL of death to kill the bomfirst- sons of the
body and set him to stand guard. Eg>ptians. The angel is said to have "passed

Par\'ati is generally shown accompanying oxer" houses of the children of Israel, whose
Siva. Certain religious texts known as TANTRAS
take the form of a dialogue between Parvati doors had been smeared with blood. He killed
and Siva.
only the first-bom sons in the unmarked houses
PASSOVER One of the most widely obser\ed
of the Egyptians.
JEWISH FESTI\-.U^. The Hebrew name for Pass-
The first two and the last two davs of Passover
over is Pesach.
Passover is celebrated from the 15th to Onare especially sacred for traditional Jews. those

the 23rd of the Jewish month of Nisan (in Israel, days one is not allowed to work. ( In Israel work
to the 22nd). This period occurs in late March
or April. Because the Jewish calendar is partly is not allowed only on the first and the last day of
lunar, Passo\er does not occur on any frxed date
in the Gregorian calendar used in North America Passover.) Jews obsene the central ritual of Pass-
and Europe.
over on the first two nights, generally at home
Passover combines two ancient festivals. One
was the S.\CRIFICE of a lamb. This Rrru.\L was with family members. This ritual is known as a
discontinued when the IERUS,\LEM Temple was seder, from the Hebrew word for "order." The
destroyed in .\ D. 70. The other was the feast of
unlea\ened bread. At its most ancient, this feast seder "haggadah" or ston,- recounts the events of
the exodus. One of its best known moments
seems to have been a spring hanest festival. In comes when a young child asks, "WTiy is tonight
celebrating it, the inhabitants of ancient Canaan
disposed of the pre\ious year's grain products and difierent from all other nights:" During the an-
used only grain from the new harvest. The prod-
ucts disposed of included the fermenting agent swer, the participants refer to certain foods:
used in baking, something like the starter used
to make sourdough bread. For about a w^eek, matzah or unleavened bread; horseradish in re-
they ate unraised or unleavened bread, because it
took that long for the starter made from the new membrance of the hardships endured in Eg\pt; a
grain to ferment.
lamb bone and a roasted egg, in memon' of the
Passover also has roots in the early history of
the Jewish people. It recalls the EXODUS from Passover sacrifice and the offerings once given in
Eg\pt under MOSES. This is the freeing of the
the Temple; a mixture of apples, nuts, and wine
children of Israel who were li\ing in Eg\pt as known as haroseth, said to stand for the monar
slaves. The name "passover" derives from an
that the children of Israel used as slaves in Eg\pt;
mevent recorded Exodus 12. There it is said that
a dish of salt\\ater that symbolizes the tears the
GOD \isited the Eg\-ptians with one final plague
slaves in Egypt shed; and some sort of green,
to conxince the king of Egxpt to release the
usually parsley, to represent the emergence of
new life in the spring. Special seder plates contain

depressions to hold these symbolic items.

During the course of the seder the partici-

pants drink four cups of wine. They leave a cup

of wine undrunk for the prophet ELIJ.AH in case

he should return, as Jewish tradition says he will.

Several features involve children. In addition to

asking important questions during the recital of

the haggadah, children may be asked to find a

piece of matzah that has been hidden. WTien they

do find it, the\' receive a rew ard. During the entire

Passover period Jews eat special foods. The foods
\ar\' with how strict the Jewish family is in its

PAUL, THE APOSTLE 267

practice. Some Jews simply eliminate leavened pians, Pfiilemon, and 1 Thessalonians. V'irtually
all modern scholars reject Hebrews as by Paul; it
bread; the %'cry strict eat only foods specially does not in fact claim that Paul wrote it. Most

blessed for Passover. modem scholars also reject 1 and 2 Timothy and

Passover is one of three PILGRIXUGE festivals Titus as by Paul, because they address problems
in JUDAISM. Shavuot (Pentecost or Weeks) and that did not yet e.xist when Paul died. Scholars
Sukkot (Huts) are the other two. The name have also questioned whether Paul wrote Ephe-
"pilgrimage festival" derives from ancient Israel- sians, Colossians, and 2 Thessalonians.
ite practice. The ancient Israelites tra\'eled or
made pilgrimage to Jerusalem in order to offer Paul converted primarily non-Jews to Chris-
the Passover sacrifice at the Temple. Today only tianity. Thiis sparked a major controvers)', because
the S.\jVL\RITANS observe Passover with a sacrifice. the earliest Christians w'ere all Jews. They ob-
They make their sacrifice on Mt. Gerizim.
ser\-ed the TORAH as a matter of course. The
PAUL, THE APOSTLE .\lso called Saul; the question became: Do people have to observe the
Torah to accept Jesus as the MESSLAHr The
most mfluential early Christian missionars-. His
—APOSTLES at Jerusalem Jesus' closest follow-
letters make up a large part of the New Testament —ers answered yes; Paul and his associates an-

(see BIBLE), Paul was born in the town of Tarsus, swered no. Some went even further. They said
now in southern Turkey. From his writings it is that in the new age of Jesus, people could do
clear that he had a good education in Greek. He
was also an extremely observant Jew. VVhen whatever they wanted.
CHRISTL-VN'ITi' first arose, he strongly opposed it.
But on the w ay to Damascus, now in Syria, he had In addressing this situation, Paul developed
a \lSION' of JESUS in HE.WEN. As a result, he
began to advocate Christianit\'. His message cen- his most distinctive ideas. Among other places, he
tered on the death and RESURRECTION of Jesus. summarized these ideas when he wrote to CJuis-
His writings say virtually nothing about what
Jesus taught or did during his lifetime. rians in Galaria: "a person is justified not by the
works of the law [observing the Torah] but by
Starting from Antioch on the Orontes River F,\ITH in Jesus CHRIST" (Galatians 2.16). Paul's
(far southern Turkey), Paul traveled throughout concern in this and other verses is JUSTLFIC.\TION:
what are now Turkey and Greece, establishing What makes people acceptable in God's sight? In
Paul's eyes, observing the Torah cannot do this,
Christian churches. On the basis of the book of because no one keeps the Torah perfecdy. In-
Acts, it is traditional to say that Paul made four stead, all people SIN and therefore desene God's
missionarv' journeys. Paul's own letters make this punishment. Only the death and resurrection of
Jesus can make people, both Jews and non-Jews
itinerary seem somewhat artificial. Paul's efforts alike, acceptable to God. In explaining these
sparked much unrest. During a \isit to JERUSA- views, Paul talks about GR.ACE and faith. The
LEM, he was arrested. He was transfered to Cae- saving work of Jesus shows God's grace because
sarea and spent two years there in prison. Then it is freely given (cp. the English word "gratis").
he was transferred to Rome. It is presumed that People receive that gift through faith in Jesus.
he died in Rome under Emperor Nero (ruled,
AD. 54-68). Christians began to make collections of
Paul's letters ver>' early. For example, 2 Peter, the
Tradition attributes 14 books of the New-
Testament to Paul. These are letters that Paul latest book in the New Testament, refers to these
letters (3.15-16). But people argued over who
allegedly wrote. Of these books, \'irtually all mod-
em scholars accept seven as genuinely by Paul; interpreted Paul correctly. The Gnostic teacher
Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philip- Marcion claimed to represent Paul's true teach-
ings (see GNOSTICISM). The Catholic and Ortho-
dox churches were more successftxl in claiming

268 PENTECOSTAL CHRISTIANITY

Paul's heritage. Paul's ideas of justification have had become more restrained. Perfection became
one of those topics most Methodists no longer
been particularly important in ROMAN CATHOLI- talked about. Methodist services became subdued
and "respectable."
CISM and rROTEST^W'TlSM. In particular, the>-
powerftilly influenced thinkers like AUGUSTINE Some longed for the old ways. They tried to
OF HIPPO, Martin LUTHER, and John CALVIN. remain within their churches and hold camp
These thinkers found in Paul's answers to specific meetings and cultivate perfection on the side. But
questions about observing the Torah, more gen- church officials became suspicious, and they were
eral principles upon which to build Christian forced to leave. They founded their own
teachings. churches. One of the most prominent is the
Church of the Nazarene.
PENTECOSTAL CHRISTIANITY A vari
Charles Fox Parham ( 1873-1929) was a Ho-
et>- of PROTESTANTISM that began in the United liness preacher and teacher. He ran Bethel Bible
States at the beginning of the 20th cenrun-. By College in Topeka, Kansas. He was disturbed by
the end of the centuPi-, the majorit\- of Pente- the state of the church and the world, and he
costals lived not in North America but in Latin taught that only another outpouring of the Holy
America, Africa, and certain countries in Asia. Spirit could renew the church. In 1901 a woman
studying at his college began to speak in tongues,
The name "Pentecostal" comes fi-om "Pen- that is, suddenly to speak an unknown language
in praise of GOD. Others soon received this gift,
tecost." Pentecost, often called Shavuot, is a JEW- too. Parham and his students spread the word
ISH FESTrV'AL that occurs seven weeks after across the i\merican southwest. Then in 1906, an
African American named William Seymour
AP.ASSOVTR. remarkable event happened at Pen- opened the Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles.
Seymour, too, had been a Holiness preacher, but
tecost in the year of JESUS' execution. As the book Parham converted him to Pentecostalism. People
of Acts tells the stor\', the Hoh' Spirit came upon flocked to Seymour's mission. From there Pente-
Jesus' followers. Tongues of fire appeared on top costalism spread to the rest of the countrx'. Pen-
of their heads. They also began speaking in lan- tecostalists had hoped to renew mainline
guages they did not know. The apostie PETER Protestantism, but they were totally repudiated.
gave a speech to Jews assembled for the festival They had to found their own churches. In the
that was the first public proclamation of the United States Pentecostal Christianity has been
message of CHRISTLANITi'. most successful in the hill regions stretching from
the southern Appalachians to the Ozark Moun-
Most Christians look upon these events as tains, as well as in northern and western cities.
wondertlil but unusual. They do not expect them
to occur today. Pentecostal Christians believe By 1910 converts had begun to carr\- Pente-
that all Christians can receive such gifts of the costalism to Europe, Latin America, Asia, and
spirit. The most important gift is the one received Africa. Aside fi"om Indonesia, Pentecostal Chris-
tianity did not do well in Europe and most parts
at Pentecost: glossolalia or speaking in tongues. of Asia. But it thrived in Mexico, South America
(for example, Brazil), and sub-Saharan Africa.
History Especially in Africa it resembled movements be-
gun by indigenous African preachers. One such
PENTECOST.ALISM began in the Holiness Move- preacher was Simon Kimbangu ( 1889-1951), a
ment. This movement was an offshoot of baKongo who began to receive revelations from
METHODISM. John WESLEY, the founder of
Methodism, had taught that once someone had
been saved, moral perfection was possible. The
first American Methodists had sought this pert'ec-
tion. They called the process sanctification. They
also held energetic revival services, often in "camp
meetings." But by the middle 1800s, Methodism

PENTECOSTALISM 269

Jesus and to heal in 1 92 1 . But indigenous preach- recognize the Father and the Holy Spirit as dif-
ers have often included elements of indigenous ferent persons of a TRINITY.
religions in their teachings. Therefore, American
Pentecostals have been reluctant to see their gifts At first Pentecostal worship services were
as genuine gifts of the Spirit. exuberant occasions at which the gifts of the

By the end of the 20th century there were —Spirit speaking in tongues, healing, prophecy,
many different factions of Pentecostalism in the —and energetic behavior were highly visible.
United States. Sometimes the split concerned
proper teachings. Most Pentecostal groups also They still are in minority churches and in many
divided along racial lines. In the 1960s a charis- Pentecostal churches overseas. White American
matic renewal mo\ement began in Protestantism, Pentecostal services have tended to become more
subdued.
then in ROMAN CATHOLK:i,SM. This movement
Organization AND Significance
resembled Pentecostal Christianity. Its adherents
spoke in tongues and practiced faith healing. But Pentecostal Christianity has been a vital religious
they worked hard to integrate their experiences force around the globe. It has been especially

into the teachmgs of their own religious bodies. successful among non-Muslim peoples who suf-
Other members of their denominations often
looked upon them with suspicion, but they were fered at the hands of European colonizers.
At the same time, Pentecostal Christianity'
not forced to leave.
has been a visible part of American life. i\lmost
Beliefs and Practices fi'om the beginning, Pentecostalism has produced

Pentecostals have not adopted a specific set of Apublic figures. good early example is Aimee
beliefs. In general, their beliefs are fijndamentalist
SempleMcPherson( 1890-1944), founder of die
(see EVANGELICAL AND FUNDAMENTALIST Foursquare Gospel Church. She captured head-
lines in the 1920s when, as it seems, she engi-
CHRISTL^NTT^'). neered her own kidnapping. Another prominent
Pentecostal healer was Oral Roberts, who estab-
What distinguishes Pentecostal Christians is lished a large complex in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In
their emphasis on the gifts of the Spirit. Among 1969, Roberts joined the United Methodist
these, the gift of speaking in tongues is the most Church. In the 1980s Pentecostals Jim and
important. Other gifts include healing, prophecy,
and the interpretation of tongues. Tammy Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart were some

Pentecostal churches differ on how to talk of the best-known television evangelists. Eventu-
about these gifts. Some Pentecostals, for exam- ally, however, they suffered public disgrace be-
ple, the Church of God in CHRIST, say that people cause of sexual indiscretions.
receive God's GR^CE in three different stages:
Other Pentecostal groups have been less con-
conversion, sanctification, and the (Pentecostal) troversial. They include University- Christian Fel-
gifts of the Spirit. Other Pentecostals, such as the lowship, Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship,
Assemblies of God, say that people receive God's
grace in two stages: the work of Calvary (which — —and not to be overlooked Pentecostal congre-
includes conversion and sanctification) and the
gifts of the Spirit. gations themselves. Many of the laner remain

Still other Pentecostals belong to the "Jesus unaffiliated with any denomination.
Only" movement. Most Christians baptize in the
name of the Father (or Creator), Son, and Holy PENTECOSTALISM Movement within
Spirit (see BAPTISM). But these Pentecostals bap-
tize only in the name of Jesus. They reftise to CHRISTLANITY emphasizing the power of believ-
ers to receive and demonstrate the power of the
Holy Spirit. Pentecostal phenomena include such
"gifts" as "speaking in tongues," by which per-
sons who have recei\ed spiritual power are able

)

270 PERSECl-mON, RELIGIOUS

to speak unfamiliar or unknown languages in a society has a single generally accepted religion,
praise of GOD and cli\ine healing. By the 1990s, as do the majorit\', religion naturally becomes a
Pentecostalism was a major force in world Chris- way of defining those boundaries and determin-
tianit\'. (See also PENTECOSTAL CHRISTL\NITi\
ing w-ho is part of the social order and who is not.
PERSECUTION, RELIGIOUS The mistreat The temptation then is to tr\' to get rid of the
latter. Only when religious freedom becomes part
ment and deprivation of rights of people because of what is held to characterize the societ\' and its

Aof their religion. melancholy feature of the values is this temptation averted.

history of religion is the way in which certain Religious persecution, moreo\er, is often po-
litical as well as religious. It may be expressed in
religions have often been considered unaccept- religious terms, but it is usually engaged in be-
cause the authorities or the communitv' thinks the
able by the state, or by the dominant religion in unacceptable religion is in some way a threat to
its power and its abilit)' to control things as well
collusion with the state, or even by independent as false on some theoretical level. Religions have
also been persecuted for economic reasons, such
"vigilante" groups within a societ^' determined to as the supposed wealth of the unpopular F.MTH
or its members. So long as some religions are
take the law into their hands. These religions ha\e considered more unacceptable than others, or
more threatening to the state and the social order
suffered persecution. The nature of the persecu- than others, forms of religious persecution are
likely to persist. (See also HOLOCAUST, THE.)
tion can range from the suppression of informa-

tion about the unacceptable religion in books and

other media, to the destruction or confiscation of

its propeny, the arrest of its members, and finalh'

the massacre of its adherents, often to the accom-

paniment of horrible torture. Examples are mani-

fold. Christians were persecuted under the

Roman Empire, and after the triumph of Christi-

anit\', Jews and those deemed "heretics," or hold- PETER, THE APOSTLE In the Christian

ers of incorrect beliefs, were persecuted within Xew Testament, the most important of JESUS'

Christendom. In early modern Europe and Nonh disciples or messengers. The Roman Catholic

America, "witches" were persecuted, tortured, Church appeals to Peter to support its claim that

and put to death. Comparable accounts could be the Pope is supposed to govern the church

given from the Islamic world, traditional China throughout the worid (see P.\rACY, THE).

and Japan, and elsewhere. Even in the contempo- According to the New Testament, Peter was
a fisherman by trade. He worked with his father
rar},' world, wars based on religion that amount to

persecution take place, and even in countries and his brother Andrew. Peter was one of the first
disciples Jesus called, and he was a member of an
supposedly recognizing freedom of religion, re-

ligious groups popularly regarded as "cults" or inner circle with James and John. His name was

otherwise unacceptable have suffered various de- Simon or Simeon; according to the New Testa-

grees of persecution. ment his byname, Peter, derives from Jesus him-

At the same rime, it should be realized that self Peter is portrayed as brash, almost foolhardy.

these and other persecutions did not take place Among many famous incidents is an occasion

equally at all times. Religious persecution tends when Peter tried to join Jesus as he walked on

to arise in times of crisis or rapid change in a Hewater. sank. Peter's fallibilit\' came to a climax
societ)', when it seems important to the authori-
the night Jesus was on trial. Peter denied knowing
ties or to popular opinion to maintain common
Jesus tJiree times in a row.

symbols of communin', and to draw sharp After Jesus' crucifrxion, Peter seems to have
boundaries between who's "in" and who is ex-
been the leader of the earliest church. Luke's

cluded bv the social order lest it self-destruct. If GOSPEL makes him the first to see the empt\- tomb

PILGRIMAGE 271

after the women discover it. Some New Testa- the fiiture bishops of Rome the position that he
ment passages mention liim first among those to received from Jesus. The church remembers Peter
uhom the risen Jesus appeared. According to the on several different days. The most important is

book of Acts, Peter preached the first public June 29, the festival of the apostles Peter and
sermon at the Jewish festival of Pentecost (Sha- Paul.
\-uot; see JEWISH FESTr\'.\LS). In PAUL'S letters
Peter appears first as the leader of the church in PHARISEES A prominent religious group in
IERUS.\LEM, then as a missionar\' to the Jews. Paul
may mean that Peter preached to the Jews in the late Second Temple IL'D.\ISM (roughly 200 B.C-
diaspora, that is Jews living outside Palestine. In
the important early dispute o\er whether Chris- A.D 70). The Jewish antiquarian Josephus (A.D.
tians of non- Jewish origin should be required to
obsene the TO!L\H, Peter seems to have taken a 37-after 93) wrote books on the Jews and their
mediating position. He agreed with Paul against
James that non-Jewish Christians did not need to Hehistor\'. identified several religious groups in
obsene the Torah. At the same time, he aroused
Paul's anger when he was reluctant to associate Judaism during the late Second Temple period:
fijily with such non-obser\ant Christians.
the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the ESSENES, and
Legend says that toward the end of his life
the Zealots.
Peter traveled to Rome. He became the first
The Pharisees centered their religious life on
bishop of the church there and was executed,
probably during the persecutions under Emperor the study of the TOR.\H and on the S^'NAGOGUE
Nero (ruled, 54—68). According to the non-
biblical Acts ofPeter, he insisted on being crucified rather than on the S.\CRIFICES of the Temple.

head downward. He felt that he was unworthy to Their primar\' constituency seems to have been
be crucified in the same manner as Jesus.
shopkeepers and merchants, and their leaders
Several ancient writings bear Peter's name.
were known as RABBIS. When the Temple was
Two letters in the New Testament claim to be
destroyed in A.D. 70, their descendants took
written by him. It is doubtful that Peter wrote the
first. It is almost certain that he did not write the charge of the community and tradition. They
second; it simply expands the letter of Jude. formulated rabbinical Judaism, the Judaism we
Writings outside the BIBLE that bear Peter's name
include the Gospel ofPeter,xhc Keryjjma ("Preach- know^ today.
ing") of Peter, the Acts of Peter, the Acts of Peter
and the Twelve Apostles, the Letter of Peter to The Pharisees appear frequendy in the New-
Philip, and the Apocalypse of Peter. According to
tradition, the bibhcal gospel of Mark was based Testament (see BIBLE). The GOSPELS highlight
on Peter's teacJiing. their differences from JESUS, who preached to the
poor, or from those who lacked the resources to
In the later histon,- of the church Peter has maintain the Pharisees' style of Judaism. Many
been most important in connection with the pa-
pacy. In Matthew 16.16-19, Jesus gives Peter his scholars have suggested that this portrayal is in-
name and makes him the foundation on which
accurate. It may reflect a situation of competition
the church will be built. The Roman Catholic
Church rests the Pope's claim to primacv' upon bet\veen Pharisees and the earliest CJuistians for
this saying. It claims that Peter passed down to
Jewish loyalt)- in the first centun^ .\.D.

PILGRIMAGE Travel for religious reasons,

particularly to visit a site that is considered espe-
cially sacred and a source of blessings to those

who approach it. Virtually all religions in the

world, with the exception of Protestant Christi-
anit)- (see PROTEST.antism), ha\-e significant ex-
amples of pilgrimage as pan of their tradition.

Medieval Christians went to IERUS.\LEM and
the Holy Land; the alleged cutting-off' of access
to these sacred places was a principal reason for
the CRUSADES. Modern Roman Cathofics go to

272 POLYNESIAN REUGION

Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Rome, and also in closely-knit set of people with a shared spiritual
great numbers to shrines, especially where appa-
ritions of the Blessed Virgin i\L\RY are believed to experience. Many commentators have noted that,
have occurred: Lourdes in France, Fatima in Por- on pilgrimage, ordinary' barriers ofrank and status
tugal, Guadalupe in Mexico, and others. Eastern and even gender fall away as the band gets farther
Orthodox Christians travel to the Holy Land and from home and closer to the sacred site before
also to famous shrines and monasteries in their which all are equal. Sometimes, as on the MusUm
homelands. Many Jews go to Israel in a pilgrim- hajj, pilgrims of all backgrounds wear the same
age mood, \isiting such sacred places as the Wail-
ing Wall in Jerusalem. plain white garments in the holy cit\' to s\Tnbohze
this. The ideal goal of a pilgrimage is to reach a
Hindus flock to the banks of the sacred place both outward and within oneself where one
GANGES RATR, especially at such holy cities as
BANARAS and Rishikesh, and to coundess shrines can break down all barriers to complete openness
of gods and S.AINTS throughout the land. In bet\veen persons, and between the human and
China and Japan sacred peaks, like Taishan in the di\ine. This is an ideal that may not always be
China, Mount Kailas in Tibet, and the celebrated reached. Like evenliiing human, e\en the most
Mount Fuji in Japan, draw innumerable pilgrims;
something about the clear, clean atmosphere of a religious things, pilgrimage can doubtiess be cor-
mountain height suggests entr\' into a sacred rupted and debased. But it is surely better for
realm. It is well known that all Muslims, once in humans to set forth on pilgrimage than to set out
their lifetime, tr\' to make the hajj, the pilgrimage on missions of pillage and war.
to the holy cit\' of MECCA in Arabia. Islam also
boasts many shrines of saints that draw spiritual POLYNESIAN RELIGION See P.ACmc OCE.^N

travelers as well. RELIGIONS.

Pilgrimage is based on a common religious POLYTHEISM Belief in many gods. Poly-

assumption that the geograph\' of the Earth is theism may be contrasted with MONOTHEISM or
not, so to speak, spiritually homogenous, but that behef in one GOD, or with ATHEISM, belief in no
some places are more open to contact with divine god whatsoever. Most archaic religions, like
power than others. That may be because of asso- EGYTTIAN RELIGION, MESOPOT.\MLAS RELIGION,
ciation with a sacred person or event, which has GREEK RELIGION, and ROM.\K REUGION were
there left its mark, or because of a di\ine \1SION pohtheistic, though they may have believed that
somewhere there was a supreme god or principle.
or revelation, or just because GOD has in some Religions like HINDUISM, Maha\'ana BUDDHISM,
and T.AOISM today may appear to be poKtheistic,
way blessed it. Thus to be there is to be close to but many of their adherents would insist that the
sacred power. many gods or BUDDH.\s and BODHISATTV'.AS one
sees in their temples should be regarded more
Second, the ver)' act of pilgrimage can be seen like, say, the S.MNTS in RO.nl\N CATHOLICISM:
as a spiritual exercise, like PR-WERor MEDITATION glorified human beings who ha\e attained near-
or YOG.\ or going to a service, but with one's feet
divine holiness and so can help us, or else as
or by other means of travel. Many people want to personifications or aspects of the One. Some
would say that SHINTO in Japan is the most nearly
express their religion by doing something active, poUtheistic religion found today in a major ad-
and pilgrimage is one way of doing it. It combines vanced societ)'.
religion with an acti\it\' many people find pleasant
and educational. Pohtheism has ver>' ancient roots. In primal
tribal societies, one can find belief in various
Third, since pilgrimage is frequendy done in
a group, its religiously social meaning must not —spirits ancestors, spirits of places like mountains

be overlooked. A pilgrim band can become a

PRA\"ER 273

—and woods, of animals as well as usually a ruling persuaded that Buddhist teachings about the
world, about the predicament of sentient or
high god. Generally each tribe, and later each cit\', conscious beings, and about the means of release
would ha\e its guardian or patronal god too. But are true.
it was in the ancient empires like Egypt and
Babylon that pohtheism really grew. As many In Mahayana Buddhism prajna is one of the
tribes and cities were combined into larger em- most important of the "perfections" that practi-
pires, all their local gods might become parts of a tioners nurture. In general Mahayana emphasizes
vaster pantheon of gods. At the same time, as both compassion and wisdom as cardinal \irtues.
human life became more comple.\, gods of spe- But in some schools, such as the school of N'agar-
cialized occupations came to be honored by their juna, prajna becomes supreme.
followers. Sometimes a heavenly bureaucracy par-
alleled that of the empires of Earth. It was against For Mahayana Buddhism, prajna is intuitive
this greater and greater complexit)' of pohtheism insight into the nature of all things. So important
that monotheism finally rebelled. was this perfection that it became personified as
Prajnaparamita, "the perfection of wisdom," and
But wherever found, in remaining tribal so- was said to be the mother of the Buddhas.
cieties, in the archaic world, in Japan or else-
where, polytheism is important because It PRANA A Sanskrit word meaning "breath."
communicates a different \lSION of the sacred
than monotheism. As the theologian Paul Tillich The term has profound religious significance in
once put it, pohtheism is a matter of quality as HINDUISM.
well as quantity. It is not just that the pohtheist
has many gods while the monotheist has one; it In the UPANISHADS, prana stands for the \ital
energy. In this it resembles pneuma and spiritus,
is that this makes the whole experience of God the Latin and Greek words for "breath" or
"spirit." Occasionally the Upanishads e\en iden-
different. For the monotheist, the whole universe tify' prana with BR.\HNL\N, realit>' itself
is unified under one rule and one will. For the
polytheist, it is divided up, pluralistic, nuanced: Flindus have generally taken a different
There is a separate god for this sacred tree and \iew of prana. They have taught that the \ital
that sacred waterfall, for love and for war, and breath circulates through the bodv and enlivens
each can be sovereign in his or her own time, but it. As a result, ps\chophysical disciplines have
all are also finite and none can rule the whole
show. Decisions in a poKtheistic universe must given much attention to breathing. For example,
breath control (pranayama) is the fourth stage of
Abe made by di\ine consensus, not fiat. few the royal YOGA s\stematized by Patanjali in the

people today, in neo-pagan movements, are at- Toga-sutras.
tempting to recover something of the spirit of
polytheism. PRAYER Commtmication with a religious

POPE See P.\rAC\', THE. being, such as a god, spirit, ancestor, or SAINT.

PRAJNA A Sanskrit word for "wisdom." In Religion involves many forms of communication.
Sometimes religious people are convinced that a
HINDUISM prajna is occasionally linked to the religious being has communicated with them;
GODDESS of learning, S.\R.\S\V.\TI. But prajna is this is revelation. Often religious people instrua
most often associated with BUDDHISM. and exhort; this is teaching or PRE.\CHING. Peo-
ple may express religious desires. If such desires
In Theravada Buddhism, prajna, along with are not directed to beings such as gods or ances-
moralit\' and MEDITATION, defines the path to tors, these are wishes or spells. Prayer is commu-
liberation. In this context prajna means being nication addressed to a god or some other

274 PRAYER

religious being. It is one of the most important ablutions before the daily prayer known as SALAT.
forms of communication found in religions. As they pray, they assume a series of postures,
such as standing, bowing, and prostration. Ha-
Prayers var\' widely. Some prayers are extem- sidic Jews seem to bob back and forth as they pray;
poraneous. They arise from the needs and xhcir mo\ements actually are continual acts of
thoughts of the moment. Others are planned or bowing in the presence of God. Hindus may pray
written ahead of time. Some Protestants prefer to a god with their hands in pranjali. The\- hold
extemporaneous pra\ers. They feel that people their palms together at their chests; their fingers
should address GOD direcdy in their own words, and thumbs point upward. Christians adopted
just as they would in a conversation. Other forms
of CHRlSTL^xm' often use formal, written pray- this gesture for prayer; they also use several oth-
ers, such as the prayers of the Mass in ROM\N
CATHOLICISM or the Di\ine LITURGY in the Or- ers. Some mark out a cross on their foreheads,
thodox churches. chest, and shoulders; some kneel. Some religions
teach people to cover their heads when the\' pra\'.
Indi\iduals pray; so do groups. Any means by
which human beings communicate can and has Religious people ha\e also invented external
been used in prayer. Prayers can be spoken out
loud. In the most sacred part of the Divine Lit- objects to help them pray. Manv religions use
urgy in the Orthodox churches, the holiest pray-
ers are muttered softly. Prayers can be danced. —rosaries strings of beads used to count prayers
They can be acted out. Some prayers are silent.
That may mean people recite words in their repeated over and over again. Hindus who wor-
minds. It may also mean that they sit in silence, ship sr\'A use rosaries made of large seeds known
open their hearts, and wait for illumination.
as riidrakshas. Tibetans use other de\ ices; prayer
Spoken prayers take a variet\' of forms. Some flags and pra\'er wheels. The flags and wheels have
prayers are poems. For Jews and Christians, the prayers printed on them. Each rime thev blow in
supreme examples are the Psalms in the Hebrew the wind or rotate, Tibetans sa\' the prayer has
BIBLE. Prayers spoken by groups may be litanies: been offered.

A leader recites various requests known as peti- Thinkers of different religions have classified
prayers in terms of their purposes, such as sup-
tions; the rest of the group responds with a fixed plication, adoration, thanksgi\ing, and confes-
formula. Some prayers inxoU'e the repetition of sion. In realit)', people have used prayers for
the same word o\er and o\er again, much like a even' purpose that requires them to address re-
MANTRA. One example is the lESUS prayer that
some Orthodox Christians use; they repeat the ligious beings. One especially common form of

Aname of Jesus. similar example is the tiembutsn prayer is a request.

that Japanese Pure Land Buddhists repeat: Namii Most requests would seem to leave the re-
Amida biitsu, "Praise to the Buddha .VMID.V' (see sponse up to the beings addressed. But some
PURE L.AND BUDDHISM). Still other prayers recite
particularly interesting prayers actually ftilfill their
lists. On the DAY OF .\TONEMENT Jews ask God
collectively to forgive SIN'S. One prayer lists rep- own requests. The eucharistic prayers that Catho-
lic and Orthodox priests and some Protestant
resentative sins that begin with ever\' lener of the ministers recite do this. They ask the Holy Spirit
Hebrew alphabet in succession. Hindus honor to descend upon the bread and wine. But the verv'
gods with prayers in which they praise their
act of asking is said to consecrate these elements.
sahasra-immns, their "thousand [and eight] names."
Some religions ha\e particularly sacred pray-
Prayer may be a simple verbal act, but it also ers. For Jews, the most sacred prayer is the Shema.
ma\' involve the person's body. Muslims perform
Obser\'ant Jews recite it r*vo times a day. It begins
with verses from Deuteronomy 4: "Hear
[shema], o Israel; The Lord is our God, the Lord
is one." That part of the sersice is followed by
"Eighteen Benedictions." Another ver>' impor-

PREACHING 275

tant prayer in JUDAISM is the Kaddish. It is a to exhort, to critique, and probably to do other
doxolog)' recited at die conclusion of sets of
prayers during worship. Jews recite a special form things as well.
of the Kaddish at fiinerals and for mourning.
Many religions have had preachers. But
For Christians the most important prayer is
the one that Jesus taught, the LORD'S PRA\'ER. preaching has been especially important to Prot-

The New Testament presents two versions of this estant Christianitv'. At the time of the REFORAL^-

prayer. Christians generally use the fuller version —TION, Martin LLTHER raised the pulpit the
—stand from which preachers speak higher than
in the GOSPEL of Matthew. Especially Roman
Catholics use another prayer, the Ave Maria: the ALTAR. This act was a powertiil sign. For many
Protestants preaching is the center of WORSHIP.
"Hail, Mar\- [ave Maria], full of grace . . ." By contrast, for Catholic and Orthodox Chris-
Pra\ing can be the central act of worship.
tians worship centers on the celebration of the
This is true of the SYNAGOGUE service in Judaism
and salat in ISLA\L It is also true of the many EUCH.\RIST.
"ways" that the Navajo people in the southwest-
em United States observe. Many indigenous Preaching may take place in many contexts.
Americans hold praxers in a special building
known as a S\veat LODGE. In the sweat lodge, R.\BBIS, ministers, and LVLWIS preach during
sweat-inducing steam and fragrant aromas such
as sage combine with pra\ing to produce a re- weekly congregational services. On the American
freshing and renewing experience.
frontier, wandering preachers held meetings
In American public life during the last half of known as revivals just for the purpose of preach-
the 20th centur\- prayer, especially prayer in pub- ing. Some have preached, so to speak, on the
lic schools, was one of the most controversial
issues. The first amendment to the U.S. Consti- streetcomers. DOMINTC.VN friars did this during
tution prohibits the government from supporting
the Middle Ages; John W'ESLEY did it during the
an\' reUgious act (see CHURCH AND STATE). Sev-
A18th century. much different stv le of preaching
eral Supreme Court rulings declared widespread
practices of pra\ing in school unconstitutional. is the sermon that a Zen (see ZEN BUDDHISM)
Examples include having students recite a prayer
in the morning before school and having a rehg- Hemaster gives to his disciples. delivers it during

— —ious professional priest, minister, or R.\BBI of- prolonged sessions of Zen effort. His maimer of

fer a prayer at school ceremonies. delivery is formal and restrained and he often
In some areas schools violated the law until
repeats the same sermon verbatim.
someone objected. At times conservatives at-
tempted to amend the Constitution to allow Many sermons are expositors'. That is, they
school prayer. Many organized religious groups, comment upon sacred SCRIPTURES. For example,
from Baptists to Buddhists, spoke out against rabbis may expound the Hebrew BIBLE; Christian
their eftbrts. The controversy illustrates at least preachers may expound the Old and New Testa-
this much: Whatever their preferences, prayer is ment; imams may comment on the QURAN; a
a religious practice that Americans still take Zen master may comment on Buddhist sutras.

verv' seriously. Preachers in liturgical traditions generally com-
ment on assigned passages. Others choose their
PREACHING Religious speech-making. own topics. At times they may preach a series of

Preaching is a way to teach, to convert, to inspire. sermons that explore, say, a book of the Bible or

develop a complex theme.

In some religions preachers are those or-
dained to a special office. Rabbis, priests, some

Christian ministers, and Zen masters fall into this

class. Others preach because they feel they have a
special calling to do so. Imams preach because the

community' recognizes their learning and stature.

Protestant preaching has often been strictly
oral. But other preachers have made extensive use

276 PREHISTORIC RELIGION

of visual aids. In the third century B.C. the Indian have been told in remembered myths (see MYTH
AND MYTHOLOGY), songs, and dances.
emperor ASOKA sent "ministers of DHARMA"
throughout the countr\'side to teach BUDDHISM Much of the actual religion of people before
history is now forgotten forever, but its general
to the people. His Edicts indicates that these
"preachers" based their "sermons" on drawings character can be estimated from two sources:
or paintings of Buddhist stories. In medieval remains recovered by archaeolog)' and compari-
son with the religion of recent or contemporary
Japan traveling Buddhist nuns used much the non-literate tribal people. Both must be used with
same technique. caution, but they arc all we have.

At one time in the Protestant world, sermons The first stage of human culture is what is
were important elements of culture. People at- called the Paleolithic Age, or Old Stone Age.
tended sermons for entertainment as well as edi- Paleolithic people were hunters and gatherers
fication. Respected preachers were public figures.
They published their sermons in countiess books. using stone tools, but without metal or agricul-
People bought and read these books the way
people today buy and read science fiction and ture. Among the earliest remains that definitely
mystery novels.
suggest religious themes are burials and the fa-
Although preaching has become less impor- mous cave paintings of up to 40,000 years ago.
tant in American culture, it is not negligible, In some archaic burials, the bones of the dead are
either. During the second half of the 20th cen- covered with red ochre, the color of blood and
tury, many Jewish and Christian preachers aban- life, and are buried in fetal posture, suggesting
doned the dogmatic and moralistic sermons that
had been common. They tried to preach in the thoughts of rettirn to the womb and perhaps
manner of a storyteller. Social reformers and revo-
lutionaries found preaching to be a powerful tool. rebirth. This tells us that people were probably
already confronting death through religion and
Two ideal examples are Martin Luther KING, Jr.
and MALCOLM X. Preachers also readily adopted —may have been thinking of life beyond it ideas
powerfiil new means of communication, such as
radio and television. Some conservative and fian- always important to religion.

damentalist Christian preachers even became The great cave paintings from the Pyrenees
region of France and Spain are even more sugges-
television personalities. tive and puzzling. Certainly they show distinc-
tively human creativit\' and imagination. But
PREHISTORIC RELIGION The religion what do they mean? Perhaps they were hunting
MAGIC, designed to help take the animals they so
of the earliest humans, before the invention of vividly portray. Perhaps the cave art galler-
writing. Prehistoric religion had the same central
concerns as all religion, but was different in sig- —ies which are deep underground, far ft'om any
nificant ways from religion as we generally know —living areas and difficult to reach were sacred
it now. It had, obviously, no written scriptures,
and was not centered on a single pivotal historical temples and, if we could but crack their code, the
event like the time of MOSES, CHRIST, or BUD- pictures records of sacred events or myths. Thev
DHA. Rather, it would have been "cosmic," may have been used for initiation too. In one
meaning that its sacred time was based on the cave, a soft area is covered with numerous small
turn of the seasons, and its sacred places were footprints, as though from the dance steps of
perhaps mountains, caves, and shrines in the same youthful initiates into the mysteries of the tribe.
locale where its followers dwelt. Its lore would
All these things suggest themes found today
in the religion of many tribal peoples. There is tiie
idea of soul, a life-principle separable from the
body and having a separate destiny, perhaps go-
ing to another world, perhaps being reborn in this
one. Hunting magic that wins the favor of tiie

PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED CHURCHES 277

gods in opening and closing the forests and the animal and human SACRIEICE, headhunting, and
goodwill of the animals important to die sur\i\al
of the tribe, is essential. Some form of initiation perhaps cannibalism as a religious rite.
of voung men, and often of young women, into At the very end of prehistory comes an inter-
the tribe is also very' common. For the tribe is a
spiritual unity, a reality also reflected in its dances esting development that seems a precursor of the
large-scale building of ancient civilization
and stories. To become a taie part of it is the most megalithism, or the making of megaliths like at
Stonehenge and other sites in Britain, huge up-
important thing in a person's life. right stones clearly with some sacred meaning.
Parallel to them are the mazes of Malta and the
One or two of the early cave paintings have large tombs of Japan. After this came the tiny
suggested to some obser\'ers another figure in marks by which engineers and merchants kept
much recent Paleolithic religion, but which may dimensions and accounts, and a litde later histo-
go back a very long ways indeed: the shaman (see rians kept records, and priests transcribed as scrip-
ture the words and deeds of their gods. At this
ASHAMANISM). shaman is a religious specialist point prehistoric religion became the religion of
who typically has had a special call and initiation history. But many of the basic themes of religion
greater than the ordinary, and who is a special
—gods, temples, rituals, the role of religious spe-
mediator between this world and the next. The
shaman is a healer, driving out EVIL spirits or cialists, myths, religion as the upholder of com-
finding lost and strayed souls. Going into trance,
she or he may communicate in the voices of gods —munity values had already been laid down.
or ancestors, or even travel to the other world.
The shaman is the prototype of many later relig- PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED
CHURCHES Protestant churches that fol-
ious personalities: the priest, the prophet, the
medium, the poet and bard. low the teachings of John C.\LV1N (1509-64).
Technically, any churches that follow John
The Neolithic or New Stone Age is basically Calvin's teachings are Reformed churches. Pres-
byterian churches are Reformed churches that are
stone age society after the discovery of agricul- organized in a particular way. They are governed
ture. Beginning some 12,000 years ago, probably by assemblies of ministers and elected lay repre-
sentatives. The name "Presbyterian" comes from
in Asia, it meant the onset of sedentary commu- the word "presbvter," which means "elder." The
nities. Religiously, agriculture meant a revolution representatives at Presbyterian assemblies are
no less profound than was the social and eco-
nomic impact of farming. Attention moved to the often called presbyters or elders.
Earth, to the mother GODDESS who is often Churches of British, especially Scottish, ori-
identified with the Earth, and to the cycle of
seasons with seedtime PRAreRS and harvest festi- gin use the name "Presbyterian." Churches that
vals. All in all, agriculture meant a new emphasis started in continental Europe use the name "Re-
on goddesses and die sacredness of the Earth. In formed," for example, the Dutch Reformed.
some places it also meant a darker development
in religion, for farming has its anxious side and History
bnngs a fiiller realization of the relation of death
and life: Like the seed, the seeming death of one John Calvin led the REFORMATION in Geneva,
thing can mean the life of another. Neolithic Switzerland, from 1541 to 1564. He had a dis-
mythology often told that the coming of agricul- tinctive THEOLOGY and a distinctive VISION of
ture meant the death of a goddess, out of whose what a Christian society should be like.
body came the abundant products of the field. In
Neolithic religion, more than before, appeared On the continent of Europe, Calvin's teach-

ings came to dominate religious life in the
Netherlands. Reformed churches became minor-

—

278 PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED CHURCHES

in- churches in France, Hungarv', Bohemia, and Apartheid was the legal separation of whites and
Poland. After the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, blacks to ensure white rule.
some German princes decided to have Reformed
rather than Lutheran or Catholic churches in In the 19th and 20th centuries. Reformed
churches have pursued Calvin's twin interests
their realms (see LL'THERANISM and ROMAN CA- theolog)' and the proper organization of society

THOLICISM). — in exemplar)- fashion. Prominent Reformed
The Reformed tradition influenced Scotland
theologians have included the "father" of lib-
very' early in its history. An important leader there eral theology, Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-
was John Knox (c. 1514-72). Eventually the 1834), the prominent "neo-orthodox" theolo-
Presbyterian Church became the established or gians, Karl Barth ( 1 886-1968 ) and Emil Brun-
ner (1889-1966), and the American brothers,
official religion of Scodand. South of Scodand, in Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971 ) and H. Richard
England, many people fa\ored the Reformed tra- Niebuhr (1894-1962). The Reformed tradi-
dirion, too. They were called Puritans, because tions have also worked actively for social reform
they wanted to purify the English church of and improvement. Reformed theologians
Cathohc influence (see PUR1T.\NISM and ANGLI played prominent roles in the Confessing
CANISM). The Puritans were not successful; the Church, some ofwhose members opposed Nazi
Church of England retained its Catholic heritage. policies in Germany.
Nevertheless, the Edict of Toleration ( 1689) per-
mitted English Presbuerians and other English BELIEFS

Protestants to form their own churches. Like most Protestants, Cal\inists recognize the
BIBLE as the ultimate religious authority. Indeed,
Reformed traditions came to North .America a strong current in Cal\inism has insisted that
\'er\' early. The Dutch Reformed Church was the Christians may only accept practices that are posi-
ti\ely mandated in the Bible. Cal\inists also rec-
established religion of the colonv of New Neth- ognize the ancient Christian CREEDS. The\'
erland, which later became New York. The Puri-
tans of New England were staunch Calvinists, worship GOD as a TRIN'ITi' and confess that in

but they fa\'ored CONGREGATION,\LISM rather JESUS two natures, divine and human, were joined
than Presbnerianism. Scotch-Irish immigrants in one person.
brought Presbnerianism to the North .\merican
colonies. German immigrants from the region of Calvin agreed v\ith Martin LLTHER in em-
the Rhine brought their own Reformed tradi- phasizing that human beings cannot earn their
tions. After the Revolutionary War, however, own SALV.ATION. They must be saved by God's
other Protestant churches dominated the Ameri- GRACE. He also emphasized the absolute majest)'
can religious scene. As the frontiers expanded and power of God. Cahin taught ftirther that
west. Baptists and Methodists were better able to God chooses to save some sinners but to consign
meet the needs of the pioneers. They became the others to HELL. Some Reformed thinkers have
dominant churches of 19th-century America.
been uncomfortable with this notion of predesti-
MISSIONARIES planted Presbyterian and Re- nation. For example. Jacobus Arminius (1560-
formed churches in many parts of the world. 1609), a Dutch theologian, taught that people
Indonesia, formerly a Dutch colony, and Korea had the freedom to choose whether to believe in
have very large Reformed churches. Presbyterian the GOSPEL (see FREE WaLL,AND DETERAIINISM).
churches flourished among British immigrants in But this teaching has struck most CalWnists as a
"slippen,' slope" leading back to Catholic teach-
Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Dutch set- ings of "works righteousness."
tiers known as Boers brought the Dutch Re-

formed Church to South AJrica. That church
provided a religious sanction for apanheid.

PRIESTS AND PRIESTHOOD 279

Practices formed tradition has taken particularly seriously
one function of the elders; the maintenance of
During the Reformation, Luther and his follow- church discipline.
ers adopted the polio,' of rejecting only those
Catholic traditions that they thought \iolated the Significance
message of the Bible. Calvin and his followers
went further. They allowed only those practices The Reformed tradition is one of the oldest and
that thev thought the Bible directiy commanded. most important forms of PROTESTANTISM. It
The sermon became the central feature of Re- played a major role in shaping the traditional
formed WORSHIP (see PRE.\CHING). .Another oudook of the L'nited States. It gave Americans
prominent feature was singing Psalms rather than the idea that God would reward their countn,- for
non-biblical songs. Calvin himself produced a its taithfuiness. It also pro\ided the motivation for
certain traditions, such as observing Sunday as a
— —Psalter Psalms set to simple music and many day of rest.

others followed. The Reformed tradition has PRIESTS AND PRIESTHOOD A class of
tended to shy away from weekly celebration of the
EUCH,-\RIST. It also disagrees with both the Areligious specialists in many religions. priest
Catholic and the Lutheran ideas that Jesus' body
and blood are really present in the bread and wine differs in some wavs from other specialists, like a
of communion. Calvin taught instead that the
shaman (see SHAAIANISM), minister, or teacher,
eucharist brings Christians into Jesus' presence. or like a Jewish RABBI or Muslim IMAM. The
Calvinists take very seriously their calling to
priest's work involves presenting a formal ser\ice
do God's work in the world. As a result, the
Reformed tradition has cultivated a particular of offering, commonly interpreted as a SACRIFICE;
attitude toward life in the world. That attitude is
one of earnestness and seriousness rather than it is generally presented at a special place, most
idleness and frivolit)-. The sociologist Max WEBER often a sacred table or alt.ar. The priest may well
(1864—1920) suggested that this attitude came
about because Calvinists needed to convince have special training in the teaching of the rehg-
themselves that they belonged to God's chosen
or elect. This, he said, was the origin of capitalism. ion and have a role as instructor and pastor. She
Although Weber's idea about the origin of capi-
talism mav be wrong, his characterization of the or he ma>- also have had profound religious expe-
Calvinist way of life was correct. Cahinists believe
that those who live an upright life will prosper. riences that make one a mystic or an ecstatic,

Organiz.'\tion impart a charismatic personality, or even that

Not all Reformed churches have adopted a make one a shaman or prophet. But that is not
Presb\terian form of organization. Some have
the essence of priestiy office. It is understood to
prefered Congregationalism. A few have even
be a formal position, built into the formal insti-
had bishops. But many Reformed churches are
Presbnerian. This means that they see all minis- tutional structure of a religion and imparted
ters as having equal status; they do not allow
bishops. It also means that assemblies made up of through ordination by an authorized person. In
ministers and elected elders govern the church.
Assemblies meet at different levels, from the local Christian priesthood, like that of ROMAN CA-
congregation to the national church. The Re- THOLICISM, E.\STERN ORTHODOX CHRISTL^N-

ITl', or ANGLICANISM, ORDINATION is imparted
by a bishop who is believed to be in a lineage of

such ordinations going back to the .\POSTLES

themselves, who were appointed by CHRIST; this

is called "apostolic succession." Senices con-

ducted by priests, whether the Catholic Christian

EL'CHARIST or mass, or the sacrifices of the temple

in ancient Israel, or the offerings of the BRAHMINS

of India, are usually performed in a predeter-

mined, ritualistic way, with emphasis more on

280 PRIMAL RELIGION

precise correctness of w ord and gesture than on PROPHECY Words spoken by a human be-

Afeeling. reverent, devotional mood on the part ing on behalf of GOD. In common English a

of the priest is certainly encouraged, yet it is prophec)- tells something that will happen in the
usually said that the effectiveness of the rite for fiature, often in the distant ftiture. Christians have
other belie\ers does not depend on the feeling or often, but not always, looked upon prophecy in
worthiness of the priest, but simply on the correct this way. They have taken the prophecies re-
doing of the rite by a duly authorized officiant. corded in the Hebrew BIBLE as referring to lESUS.
Some have also applied biblical prophecies to
Priesthood may be vocational or hereditary. current events. In religion in general, however,
prophecy also has a different meaning. It refers to
In the former, persons enter it because they feel messages that human beings transmit for a god or
called to the office, and generally undertake for- gods. Such messages may say something about
mal training in preparation for ordination. In the ftiture, but they may not. Even when they talk
principle, that is the case with the Christian and about the fiiture, they most often refer to events
Buddhist priesthood. In some cases, as with Ro- that are about to occur.

man Catholic priests and many Buddhist monks, Prophecv was particularly important in the
priests practice CELIB.\CY, giving up marriage for religions of the ancient Near East. It was one w-ay

the sake of the vocation. In others, such as East- by which people learned the wills of the gods who
had power over events. Religions that derive from
em Orthodo.x and SHINTO priesthood, and Bud-
—the ancient Near East ZORO.«TRL\XISM, JUD.V
dhist priesthood in Japan, the priesthood often —IS.NI, CHRISTL\XITi', .\L\NTCH.\EIS.M, and ISUlM
appears to be hereditar\- in practice though voca-
have important traditions of prophecv-. People
tional in its ideal. sometimes speak of prophets in HINDUISM, BUD-
Strictiv hereditars' priesthood, like that of
DHISM, and east Asian religions, too. An example
ancient JUDAISiM and of the Brahmin priests in
Hinduism, is restricted to certain families or is the Japanese "prophet" NICHIREN, although he
castes as a matter of principle. These priests prop- was not a prophet in the sense that he communi-
erly receive training before entering into the sa- cated a message from a god.
cred office, but their ultimate authorization is
transmined by birth. Sometimes disparaged, the People in the I9th and 20th centuries con-
steady, faithful work of priests over the genera- tinued to claim to receive messages from gods.
tions has kept many religions alive. Prophets arose among the indigenous peoples of
North i\merica and Africa. Contact with Euro-
PRIMAL RELIGION The reUgion of prelit- pean settlers and colonizers had produced hard-
ships for these peoples; indeed, it had often
erate peoples living in tribal societies. The word destroved their traditional ways of life, when it did
"primal" is preferred to "primitive" or other ter- not destrov the people themselves. Prophets
minologx' and reminds us that this religion is spoke to these situations. They also addressed
continuous with that of the Earth's first known crises unrelated to European incursions. Prophets
religions. While primal religion varies consider- arose among European Americans, too. The best
ably, common features include a belief in spirits
of nature and ancestral spirits, rNITLATIONS, known may be Joseph Smith, who founded the
hunting rites, and SHA.VLANISM. Primal religion L.\TTER DAY S.'MNTS, commonly known as the
can be divided into two stages. Paleolithic or Mormons. Pentecostal Christians claim that peo-
"Old Stone Age" ( the religion of hunting and ple today may receive the gift of prophecv'. In
gathering peoples) and Neolithic or "New Stone
Age" religion (that of early agriculturists). It may 19th-centur\^ Iran a resiu-gence of prophecv' gave
emphasize the Earth as Mother and rites of plant-
ing and harvesting. rise to the B.\HA'I faith.

PROTESTANTISM 281

Prophets generally deliver a message to a ERS, Congregationalists, Baptists, Methodists,
group or societ)- rather than to a pri\ate indi\id- the Pentecostal churches, and groups about
which "mainline" Protestants have some suspi-
ual. Some prophecies address the immediate con- cion, for example, the LETTER D.^Y SAINTS, also

cerns of a specific community', while others are known as Mormons (see CONGREGAnoN.\LISM,
more universal in scope. The prophets of ancient B.\PTIST CHURCHES, METHODISM, and PENTE-
Israel relayed prophecies of the first icind. Earlier COSTAL CHRISTIANITY). In the 19th centur)%
Protestants became intensely interested in mis-
—prophets Miriam, Deborah, Samuel, F.LIJAH, sionar\' work. As a result, many Protestants now
—Elisha only spoke their words. The words of live outside the traditional Protestant homelands
of northwestern Europe and nations made up of
important prophets fi-om the eighth century on European settiers.

—Amos, HOSE.\, IS,M\H, Jeremiah, EZEKIEL came Protestants differ widely in their beliefs, prac-
tices, and ways of organizing churches. That is
to be written down. Jewish tradition holds that
prophecy ended in 400 B C. why there is no single Protestant church. But they
share some general features.
Other prophets have relayed messages that
are universal. The most prominent examples are During the Reformation, Protestants re-
jected the PAPACY. They insisted that the ultimate
prophets who founded major religions: authoritN' in religion was the BIBLE. Some insist
that the Bible is entirely without error, but others
Z,\RATHUSTR.\, Mani, and MUH.\M.\L\D. Both disagree. Many Protestant churches also acknow-
ledge the ancient Christian CREEDS. With the
Mani and Muhammad saw themselves as standing
creeds, they conceive of GOD as a TRINITi', Father
in a line of prophets. They saw themselves as (or Creator), Son, and Holy Spirit. Many Protes-
conve\ing God's final and complete revelation
and therefore bringing the line of prophets to a tant groups have also written specific summaries

close. Mani and Muhammad also saw Jesus as one of their own beliefs. These summaries are known
of the prior prophets. Some may consider Jesus'
as "confessions."
acti\ities to be closer to those of a charismatic
healer or a moral teacher. During the Reformation, Martin LUTHER
insisted that human beings could not earn their
In the last half of the 20th centur\-, psycholo- own S.\LV'.-\TION. Salvation was a gift given freely
gists carefiiUy studied what happens "when by God. This may be the central Protestant in-
sight. But interpretations of it vary. Strict Calvin-
prophecy fails." Many people choose not to aban- ism teaches that God chooses to save some people
don the prophec\'. They deal with the "cognitive but condemn others (see John C\LVIN).
dissonance" that results in a number of w a\s. For Methodism stresses that all may be saved; once

example, William Miller had predicted that Jesus saved, a person should pursue moral perfection.
Almost all Protestants gather for WORSHIP on
was going to return in 1844. He did not, but
Sunday. But there are exceptions. Seventh-Day
rather than surrender the prophecy-, leaders of the Adventists worship on Saturday (see SENTNTTI-
SEXTNTH-DAY AD\'ENTISTS interpreted it in such DAY ADNTNTISM). The heart of Protestant wor-
a way that the prophecv' had been flilfilled. ship has always been the sermon (see
PREACHING). During Protestant services congre-
PROTESTANTISM One of the three major gations sing psalms or hymns together. They also
listen to readings from the Bible and recite PR.\Y-
branches of CHRISTLANITl'. Protestantism re- ERS. Most but not all Protestants recognize two
sulted from the REFORALxnON. That event pro-
duced several distinct churches and traditions: the
Lutheran, the Reformed and Presbnerian, the
Anabaptist, and the Anglican or Church of Eng-
land (see LUTHERANISM, PRESBYTERIAN .\ND RE

FORMED CHURCHES, MEXXONITES, .WIISH, and
ANGLICANISM). Later events added more

churches to Protestantism. These include QU.\K-

282 PROTESTANTISM IN AMERICA

SACRAMENTS: BAPTISM, or the RITUAL for joining Roman Catholic Church. In fact, it had been the
the church, and the EUCHARIST, a sharing of largest American religious body for roughly 150
bread and wine or grape juice. Unlike Sunda\-
services in the Catholic and Orthodox churches, years. Nevertheless, the public culture of the
Protestant Sunday services do not alw a\s include United States and its defining ideals have tradi-
tionally been Protestant in character.
the eucharist.
The 13 British colonies that became the
Protestants organize their churches in many United States were overwhelmingly Protestant.
different ways. Some churches have bishops. Nine of the 13 had a kind of Protestantism-or
Presbyterian churches are governed by assemblies
of elders. Congregationalist churches insist that —Protestantism in general as their "established"
each individual congregarion be self-governing.
Most Protestant churches haxe ordained clergy. or official religion.
The more liberal churches ordain women.
American Protestantism developed several
During the 20th centur\', many smaller Prot- distinctive characteristics. These include an em-
estant churches merged to form larger bodies. phasis on experience, activism, and millennialism.
Some mergers joined different groups who These traits do not characterize all Protestant
shared a common heritage. Examples include the bodies. For example, sacramental traditions, such
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the United as ANGLICANISM and LLTHER.ANISM, are consid-
Pentecostal Church. Other mergers joined Prot- erably different. But these traits characterize the
estants who had different heritages. Examples Protestantism that has had the most impact on
include, in the United States, the United Church
of Christ, which combined Congregationalist and i\merican public life.
Reformed churches, and the Church of South
India, which combined Anglican, Methodist, The New England Puritans emphasized ex-
Presbyterian, Dutch Reformed, and Congrega-
perience (see PURITANISM). At first only those
tionalist churches. who could give evidence of a conversion experi-
ence could be hall-fledged members of their
During the 20th century, many Protestants community. The emphasis on a personal experi-
also took part in the "ecumenical movement." ence of SALVATION continued through many
This movement tried to overcome the divisions later movements. It sparked the First Great
separating not just Protestant groups but all Awakening in the mid- 1700s; the Second Great
Christians. In 1948 Protestants and Orthodox Awakening on the frontier in the early 1800s;
Christians created the World Council of Holiness movements in the latter part of the 19th
century; PENTECOSTAL CHRISTL\NIT5f in the
Churches. Individual Protestant churches also 20th centurv'; and, of broader appeal, a tradition
entered into dlalogue with Catholics, Jews, and of revivals. The revival tradition in turn inspired
members of other religions. Not all Protestants manv 20th-centurv preachers as they began to
use the new media of radio and television. Given
approve of these activities. Some see them as this continued emphasis on a religion of experi-
abandoning God's revealed truth. ence, it is perhaps fitting that William James
wrote the first important American book in re-
PROTESTANTISM IN AMERICA The ligious studies on just this subject; The Varieties

practice of PROTESTANTISM, one of the three of Religious Experience.
major branches of CHRISTIANITY', in the Western American Protestantism has also been activis-
Hemisphere. This entrv' focuses on Protestantism
in the United States. tic. That is, it has sought to create a better society.
The largest reform movements of the 19th cen-
At the end of the 20th century, the largest tury were the movements to abolish slavery and
single Christian body in the United States was the the use of alcohol. At the end of the century,
liberal Christians pursued the "Social GOSPEL."

PURANAS 283

More conservative Christians, such as the SALVA- In the Memphite theologv', Ptah creates by
TION ARMY, preferred the work of "rescue mis- thinking in his hean and speaking words from his
mouth. In other words, he creates an ordered
sions." In the 20th-centur\\ Protestant activism world in the same way that the kings of Egypt
created an ordered world: by giving commands.
continued wixh the civil rights movement of the This method of creation reminds some scholars
1950s and 1960s and, for more conservative
Christians, the crusade to end legahzed abortion of the way in which GOD creates the world in
of die 1970s through die 1990s^
Genesis 1.
Protestant activism looks to the fijture. So
does Protestant millennialism. Millennialism em- PUJA Sanskrit for "honor," or WORSHIP; the
phasizes that JESUS is going to return soon and common way of worshiping gods in HINDUISM
usher in a golden age. The Adventist groups of
the 1840s are textbook examples of millennialist for roughly the last 1 ,500 years.
movements (see SE\^NTH-DAY .\D\'ENTISM). Puja is generally directed toward the divine

Millennialism also became a common feature of in image form. The underlying idea is that GOD,
fundamentalism (see EVANGELICAL AND FUNDA- who is far beyond human approach, has con-
MENTALIST CHRISTIANITY). sented out of GR.\CE and favor to take up resi-
dence in a particular image. One treats the image
By the end of the 20th centurv', the Protes- as one would treat God if God were present in his
tant character of ^^merican public life was waning. or her proper form.
The population of the countrv' was becoming
more plural religiously, and its public culture was Puja is performed both at home and in tem-
becoming increasingly secular. These changes ples. It has three parts; giving, viewing, and re-
sparked a large response from conservative, evan-
gelical Protestants. They sought to recall the ceiving. Either direcdy or through a piijari
United States to its moral roots. In doing so, they (priest), the worshiper presents various ministra-
were active in American politics from the local to tions to the god. These may include bathing the
the national level. In effect, many called for a image in water, milk, or coconut milk, dressing
return to the situation in which Protestantism was it, perfiiming it, ornamenting it with flowers,
the "established" or official religion of the United powders, and jewels, offering it food, waving
States in fact, if not in law. lights and burning incense before it, and chanting
SCRIPTURES and reciting PR-\YERS. Darsnna,
PTAH A god of ancient Egvpt. At first Ptah was viewing the image, is also an important act of
worship. It gives the worshiper a glimpse of what
simply the god worshiped at the town of Memphis. is in realitv" beyond all sight. Finally, the worshiper
Around 3000 B C Menes unified Egvpt. He made receives the god's blessings. This prasada is gen-
Memphis his capital, because it stood at the place erally symbolized physically in water, a spoonfiil
where Upper and Lower Egvpt met. Ptah became of which may be sipped and sprinkled over one's
a god important for all of Egvpt. He was often self, or food. The latter may be the family's meal,
shown standing rigidly upright, a cloth wrapped offered to the god before eating, or the bits of
tightly about his body, holding a scepter directly in coconut or flowerettes of sugar often dispensed
front of him in both hands. at temples. (See also IMAGES, ICONS, IDOLS IN
RELIGION.)
Ptah is best known for his role in the so-called
Memphite THEOLOGY. This is the storv' of crea- PURANAS From the Sanskrit word for "an-
tion that the priests of Memphis told. It is known
today from a document that dates to roughly 700 cient, old." Puranas are the chief mythological
B.C. Most scholars assume the original stor)- is books in contemporarv' HINDL'ISM.
much older.

284 PURE LAND BUDDHISM

Tradition assigns the Puranas, like the Ma- Land was influenced by Taoist ideas of paradise
habharatit, to an author named Vyasa, hterally,
"the compiler." Each Purana is supposed to (see TAOISM) and also by a Chinese perception

discuss five topics: creation, dissolution, the that salvation cannot be divided up into stages but
genealogies of gods and ancestors, the ages of
the worlds, and the histon,' of the solar and must be realized all at once, just as one cannot
lunar dynasties. In actual fact, the Puranas dis-
leap over a canyon in several jumps, but must do
cuss much more.
Although the number of Puranas is large, 18 it in one bound or not at all. Hence salvation is

are singled out as major. Some divide them into attained by a simple act of faith. In China (see
three groups of six, identified with the gods
BRAHMA, VISHNU, and SIVA. The most loved of CHINA, RELIGIONS OF, KOREAN RELIGION, and

all Puranas is the Bhnjjarata. It recounts in fiall VIETNAMESE RELIGION), Pure Land is the char-
the tales of the youthfiil KRISHN.^.
acteristic Buddhism of ordinary laypeople, while
PURE LAND BUDDHISM An important
Chan or Zen is the practice of monks.
movement in East Asian BUDDHISM; also called
Amidism. In contrast to the emphasis on MEDI In Japan, Pure Land eventuated into two
TATION in some other forms of the rehgion. Pure
Land ma\' be called a Buddhism of SALVATION main denominations started in the Middle Age:
by FAITH alone. For the central idea is that
the BUDDHA called Amitabha (Emiduo-fo in Jodo-shu (Pure Land sect), founded by Honen
Chinese, AMIDA in Japanese) ages ago vowed
out of compassion for all suffering sentient (1133-1212), and Jodoshinshu (True Pure Land
beings that all who called upon his name in
faith would be saved by being brought after death sect), founded by his disciple Shinran (1173-
into his HEAX'EN, called the Western Paradise or
Pure Land. 1 262 ) . Both stress the importance of chanting the

The teaching began in India, where it was Nembutsu Natnu Amida Butsu, "Hail Amida
first taught that great buddhas like Amida (not to
be confused with the historical Buddha, the (
founder of the Buddhist religion) have a paradisal
universe extending around them as a kind of aura. Buddha" ) as the act of faith, and say that this faith
Persons deeply attuned to one of these buddhas
can enter this paradise through faith. Amida, out is what is reallv important. Sal\ation, Honen and
of infinite love for all creatures, made his paradise
accessible simply by faith. His heaven or Pure Shinran taught, comes from the GRACE or power
Land is a wonderful place in itself, described in
the old Indian Pure Land scriptures as filled with of Amida, not fi-om one's own efforts. This is true
trees covered with jeweled nets and beautiful
music played by angelic beings. Furthermore, in Buddhism, they said, because to depend on the
the Pure Land it is easy to do the final meditations
that will lead to the ultimate liberation, NIRVANA. grace of another rather than on oneself is real

Coming to China in the early centuries AD, egolessness, and the whole point of Buddhism is

and thence to Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, Pure to realize the emptiness of the ego and the con-

tinuity of one's whole being with the universe as

a whole. Amida, some say, can be thought of as a

personification of that universe.

Shinran was even more radical than Honen.

Sometimes called the MARTIN LUTHER of Japan,

he understood that if Pure Land is true, faidi

alone is what maners, not rites or priesthood or

anything else. Therefore, though a monk, hke

Luther he ga\e up monastic CELIBACY to marr\'

and have children. He emphasized that even the

greatest sinner can be saved by simple faith ex-

pressed through the Nembutsu. Jodo Shinshu

temples have married priests and relatively simple

temples with only an image of Amida and a statue

of Shinran in front. Pure Land became particu-

larly popular among Japan's peasant population

and its growing class of merchants and craftsmen.
Often it took the form of colorful Nembutsu

dances, performed while singing the sacred chant.

PURITANISM 285

In all of East Asia, it has made Buddhism and the not present, they are often felt and dealt with
hope ot salvation accessible to high and lov\' alike. inwardly.

PURIFICATION, RELIGIOUS Making one PURIM Hebrew word meaning "lots"; the

self clean or pure in a religious sense. Virtually all name of a Jewish festival. Purim celebrates the
religions have some concept of that which is deliverance of the Jewish people from a
planned massacre in ancient Persia. The date
—pure that is, which is as it should be, and which of the massacre had been set by casting lots

is of the same pure nature as the soul and the —thus, the name.

—divine and of that which is polluted, in other Purim is celebrated on the 14th day of the
Jewish month of Adar, generally in March. It is
words, the opposite: dirt>', dangerous, of a nature preceded by a fast on the 13th day. At the heart
that separates one fi"om the divine. of the celebration is a festive reading of the book
of ESTHER in the S^'N.^GOGUE. Esther tells the
Pollutants may be inward: EVIL, "impure" story of the plot against the Jews and how it was
thoughts, sinfial ideas, bad attitudes. They may be thwarted. The name of the person responsible for
the plot was Haman. WTienever his name is read,
expressed in behavior: sinftil deeds, the violation congregations often use loud noisemakers to
keep his name from being heard.
of TABOOS, doing RITUALS incorrecdv. Or they
may be external or occasional. Many societies, for Jews celebrate Purim with other light-
hearted acti\ities. These often include costume
example, have notions that such things as feces, parties and the performance of plays. Purim is
blood, childbirth (see BIRTH RITUALS), sickness, also a time to give gifts to friends and charity to
the presence of death or a corpse, are inherendy the poor.
polluting and may require ritual purification be-
fore the person exposed to them can be consid- PURITANISM A mo\'ement within Protes-
ered pure and perform certain religious acts, or
even be accepted in society. Sometimes certain tant CHRISTIANITV'. Puritanism was active in Eng-
animals are considered impure, either inherently land and its North American colonies in the late
1 6th and the 1 7th centuries. It took its name from
or as foodstuffs, as in the traditional dietar\' rules its program: It wanted the Church of England
of Ortliodox JUDAISM and ISL\M, which forbid (see .ANGLICANISM) to be purely Protestant (see
eating the flesh of the pig. Sometimes, as in the PROTESTANTISM).

Hindu caste system, some human beings, and King Henry VIII began the English REFOR-
their occupations, are regarded as impure to those MATION as a political rather than a religious move.
of higher status, and so contact between them Henry's only objection to the Catholic Church
must be limited. was that it would not grant him a divorce. There-
fore, he nationalized the church in his realm (see
Ritual ways of removing impurity are ver>' NATIONALISM, RELIGIOUS). By the time of Queen
Elizabeth I the Church of England had assumed
common. Often a person who has indulged in a compromise form. Its beliefs, practices, and
inward pollution or SIN should confess and do structures were neither Roman Catholic nor Prot-
penance to make up for it, as in ROMAN CATHOLI- estant but somewhere in between.
CISM. External and other kinds of pollution may
be removed by such acts as ritual bathing, ritual The Puritans opposed this compromise.
They favored Protestantism. They first objected
sweeping gestures, the ritual use of water, salt, or to the Catholic \estments that the Church of
fire (all widely regarded as purifying), and the like.
Frequentiy religious ser\'ices begin with ritual
gestures purifying the area and the persons pre-
sent, like the sprinkling of holy water in the
Catholic traditions of CHRISTIANITY or the wav-
ing of an evergreen branch in SHINTO. Even when
ritual expressions of purin,' versus pollution are

286 PURITANISM

England required izs ministers to wear. But this official church. But those who favored other op-
objection was only a symptom of a much more
profound disagreement. At issue were central tions could establish legally recognized churches.
features in THEOLOGY and church organization Depending upon their particular views, Puritans
as well as WORSHIP practices. Some Puritans left formed Presbrterian, Congregationalist, or Bap-
the Church of England. Indeed, some had to flee
England itself But most stayed in England and tist congregations (see PRESBYTERIAN AND RE
its church. Puritanism was a mo\ement, not a FORMED CHURCHES, CONGREGATIONALISM,
and B.APTIST CHURCHES).
separate Christian body.
In theolog\' the Puritans followed John The stor\' of Puritanism in the United States
is more evenlfiil. In the early 1600s, some Puri-
CAL\1N. The\ emphasized the majest\' and pow er tans gave up the attempt to reform the Church of
of GOD. Thev also emphasized that all human England. They decided instead to establish a
model Puritan commonwealth in North America.
beings were born into a state of SIN. No one, they Eventually, Puritan churches appeared in each of
the North American colonies.
taught, was capable of earning God's favor. Nev-
In England Puritans had mosdy been outsid-
ertheless, God in his mere)' has chosen to save
some sinners. He gives F.MTH to those whom he ers. In New England Puritanism was the estab-
chooses to save. The Puritans analyzed the proc-
ess of coming to faith in detail. It centered on an lished or official religion. As an official religion, it
experience of being bom again through God's showed a repressive side. Orthodox Puritans ex-
pelled people like Roger Williams and .\nne
GRACE. American Puritans e.xpected the elect to Hutchinson, who had different religious ideas. In
be able to give evidence of this experience. 1659 and 1661 they executed four people be-
cause they were QUAKERS. In 1692 some Puritans
Before 1649 the Puritans had Uttle actual held the infamous Salem witchcraft trials, which
effect on the Church of England. They did, how- cost 20 people their lives.
ever, contribute significandy to the Ci\il War that
But Puritanism has also greatly influenced the
pitted the English Parliament against the king. way ,\mericans think of themselves. Some Ameri-
After the execution of King Charles I in 1649, the can politicians, such as Ronald Reagan (president,

Church of England mo\ed in a Puritan direction. 1981-89), proxide a good example. When they
But in 1660 the monarchy returned. The old
church came back with it. In 1689 the Act of speak of the United States as a model to the rest
Toleration ended the dispute. The Church of of the world, they essentially reflect the self-image
England as formed in Elizabeth's day was the of the American Puritans.

Q^

QABBALAH See K.\BB.\L\H. The oldest tradition in the Society of Friends
is quietistic. It emphasizes a passive waiting
QUAKERS Members of a Christian group upon the Inward Light of God. In the early 1800s
some Quakers found the tenets of e\angelical
that is more properly known as the Societ)' of Christianit\- attracti\e (see E\.\NGELICAL AND
Friends. Traditionally Quakers do not rely upon FUND.\.\1ENT.\LIST CHRISTL\NTn'). These tenets
SCRIPTURE or church teachings. They rely upon emphasized the BIBLE as God's revealed word and
the Inward Light of GOD. Jesus as sa\ior. As a result, the societ\' split. In the
early 1900s, the Quaker teacher Rufiis Jones
The Societ\' of Friends was organized in Eng- added another strand to the tradition. He taught
land in the 1650s. The name Quaker comes from a form of ethical .vnSTICISM.
the way in which early members of the society-
reaaed to the experience of God's Light. They Because Quakers often rejected practices that
met outdoors in groups and waited for God's their neighbors considered normal or normative,
Light to illumine their hearts; when it did, they they have been persecuted. In 1659 and I66I,
the authorities of Massachusetts Ba\' Colony exe-
trembled. cuted four Quakers for practicing their religion.
Other colonies, such as Virginia, had equally
The Friends met under the inspiration of a harsh laws against Quakers, although in Virginia
preacher named George Fox ( 1 624—9 1 ) . He is Quakers were never executed. During the Revo-
considered to be the founder of the movement. lutionar\' War American Quakers were persecuted
Because Quakers believed that God stirred in because they refused to fight. In the late 1700s
every human heart, they had little use for the Quakers emancipated their slaves. In the 1800s
ordinar\- trappings of CHRISTL\xm': scriptures, they became active in the abolitionist movement
CREEDS, doctrines, B,\PnSM, the LITURGY, or- and the Underground Railroad.
dained ministers. They also rejected the then
common practice of an established religion, that Quakers ha\'e made other prominent contri-
is, a religion that the go\emment legally recog- butions to American and British life. As is well
nized. In the spirit of JESUS' teachings, they known, a Quaker, William Penn (I644-I7I8),
dressed plainly. They also refused to take oaths, founded Pennsyhania. The colony followed
bear arms, or use tides when addressing people. Quaker principles in its concern for religious
toleration, pacifism, and respect for indigenous
—In their regular meetings, they met and still Americans. British Quakers founded prominent
—meet in silence, waiting for God's revelation to financial institutions, including Lloyd's of Lon-
don and Barclay's Bank. The early champion for
come to someone present. That person then women's rights, Susan B. Anthony ( 1820-1906),
shared God's revelation for discussion. Because and the American presidents Herbert Hoover
God's Light is found in ever\' heart, Quakers
ne\'er forbade women to hold positions of lead-
ership, as many branches of Christianitv- have.
Quakers have also been active in social causes.

287

288 QUR'AN

(1874-1964) and Richard NLxon (1913-94) the messages resumed, and until the end of his life
were of Quaker backgroimd. In the 19th centun'
American Quakers founded several institutions of Muhammad continued to receive messages that
higher learning, including such colleges and uni- Mushms attribute to God. Sometimes these mes-
versities as Earlham, Haverford, Swarthmore, sages came as a ringing in Muhammad's ears.
Br\-n Mawr, Cornell, and Johns Hopkins. The Sometimes the ANGEL Gabriel delivered them.
spirit of Quakerism finds expression in the phil- And sometimes Muhammad heard the voice of
anthropic acti\ities of the American Friends Sen- God himself
ice Committee. In 1947 the committee, along
with its British counterpart, received the Nobel Muhammad did not write the Qur'an, either
Prize for Peace for its relief activities following the
devastations of World War II. in the sense that he composed it as an author or
that he recorded it as a scribe. According to
QUR'AN Also spelled Koran; the sacred book
tradition, Muhammad could not v\Tite. During
in ISL.\M. The .\rabic word "Qur'an" means reci-
tation. Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the the prophet's lifetime people recorded portions
supreme revelation of GOD to human beings. It of the revelations on scraps of material that hap-
consists of Arabic poetr},- received fi-om God and pened to be available: bits of leather, papyrus
leaves, ribs of animals. They also committed the
recited by the prophet MUHAMMAD (AD.
revelations to memor\'.
570-632). In theor\' the book governs ever\' Tradition attributes the work of compiling

aspect of Islamic life. the Qur'an to Zaid ibn Thabit. Indeed, it attrib-
utes it to him n\ice. During the term of Abu Bakr
History (caliph, 632-634), the first caliph or leader of the l
Islamic communit)- after Muhammad's death,
Muhammad was accustomed to retire occasion- ^
man\' people who had memorized the revelations
Onally to the desert for spiritual retreats. one were killed in a great barde . Abu Bakr was worried

such occasion in the year 611, Muslims believe that the revelations might be lost. Therefore, he
commissioned Zaid to gather into a book as man\-
that God spoke to him. This event is known as of the revelations as he could find. The resulting

the "night of power." work was passed down to the next caliph, Umar
(caliph, 634—644), and then to Umar's daughter.
Islamic tradition associates this event with a
Uthman (caliph, 644-656), the caliph after
particular surah or chapter of the Qur'an. The Umar, became concerned that there were many
different versions of the Qur'an, and that these
angel Gabriel appeared to Muharrunad and com- might cause confusion. Therefore, he commis-
sioned Zaid to assess the various versions and add
manded him, "Recite." Muhammad asked, verses that were genuine to his earlier work. VNTien
Zaid was finished, Uthman ordered that all com-
"What shall I recite?" The angel answered in the
peting versions be destroyed. In fact, all other
words of surah 96: versions of the Qur'an were not destroyed, but
for all intents and purposes they were. Uthman's
Recite in the name of your Lord Who created. version is simply considered the Qur'an today.
He created man from a clot.
Contents
Recite: your Lord is Most Honorable,
The Qur'an consists of poetic verses revealed to
Who taught (to \%Tite) with the pen the prophet Muhammad at various times during
Taught man what he knew not. a period of 22 years. It does not tell connected
stories, the way parts of the BIBLE do. It also does
(96.1-5, M. H. Shakir, altered).

At first Muhammad doubted the rehabilit\' of
his experiences. The doubts became more intense
when the messages firom God stopped briefly. But