Viewing archives for KS4

Well, have you managed to avoid Slade, the Pogues, Michael Buble, Bing Crosby, Mariah Carey, Wham!, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, Chris Sievey, Cliff Richard, Elvis Presley, Band Aid……..?

Perhaps the only way to do this is to stay indoors with your fingers in your ears! I’m sure Ebenezer Scrooge would have avoided them all (‘Bah! Humbug!’), but I have just come across one school that is hosting a debate: this House believes Ebenezer Scrooge is a better role model for children than Father Christmas. What do you think? Being a Grumpy Old Man I might tend to agree with the motion, or, being a Grumpy Old Philosopher, I might prefer to change the motion and deny the validity of the binary choice……..

Either way, what is Christmas? I don’t mean what is the whole Biblical and traditional story(-ies), I mean what is it now for modern Britain? Thankfully the Daily Mail spoofs that to mention the word ‘Christmas’ would somehow cause offence to others are a thing of the past, but I have a friend who now insists on wishing me a happy vegetarian Winterval and urges me to engage more with the seasonal solstice and look forward in hope not evidently to the Christ-child but to more daylight. Hmmm.

There again, Advent is replaced by Black Friday and Cyber Week, carols by Jingle Bells, the joy of feasting by guilt over the poor, and the journey of the Magi by Elton John’s journey from his first piano. Is this all too negative? – no, but it is short-sighted. In a sense this is what Christmas always was – no wonder the Puritans banned it from 1644 to 1647! It has always been jolly and drunken for the majority. It started that way in ancient Rome, when Saturnalia moved to the 25th December. Its 4th Century AD rebranding as the birthday of Jesus followed a century of debate in the churches as to when Jesus was actually born (many days of the year suggested) but the replacement for Saturnalia became official soon after Constantine had embraced Christianity, of a sort, for the Empire.

Another origin is similar, the Sol Invicta cult of the Roman World, in which Constantine himself was brought up, which partied on 25th December, but the general idea is the same: a religious/secular festival in the gloom of midwinter. Plenty of other accretions to Christmas have come from similar festivals (Yuletide, for example), in the hope that ‘Christianising’ them would sanitise them.

So where does this place us today? Should we as Christians bow to what seems inevitable and have our Christmas whilst the world has its Xmas? I say a guarded ‘No’ to that. Why?

[i] There are many on the fringes of Faith, indeed adherents of other Faiths also, who want life to be more than shopping, reality to be explored, not turned Virtual; we can hold a candle for those people.
[ii] The Christmas stories are our cultural heritage, with a message of ‘Peace on earth’, of goodwill to all people, of remembering the rejected family with Baby in a manger about to become refugees in Egypt.
[iii] The staggering wealth of music, dramas and poetry speak of a society that desperately needs a central value beyond Brexit and the economy.
[iv] We need something better for our mental health than mere Mindfulness – we need something to be Mindful of, namely the hope that Bethlehem can bring us all as we explore its many meanings.

But the real Bethlehem today is a parable of the lives of so many people – under occupation by forces beyond its control, impoverished, walled in, drained of its Christian heritage, the Church of the Nativity in Manger Square commercially exploited – a parody at the heart of Christianity. One Bethlehem tours website (all-in package including Jerusalem and the Dead Sea) includes the comment that ‘For those not interested in Bethlehem there will be free time in Jerusalem’ – presumably the shopping malls of West Jerusalem? Bethlehem has now so little to offer even the commercial tourist.

In our schools we need to explore and exploit the nativity story: life under Roman occupation; an unpopular census for taxation purposes; an illegitimate pregnancy and family shame; an honourable carpenter protecting his young bride-to-be; the value of the family connections in their hometown of Bethlehem; the holy family squashed together in the animal quarter of a peasant house, occasioning ribald remarks from neighbours; the brutality and despotic fear of Herod and the child massacre that follows. Then there is the welcome from the lowly and near-dispossessed (shepherds); and from the wealthy overseas wise (the Magi), with their extraordinary royal gifts that must have seemed so inappropriate when they finally located Jesus, following the star to the Christ-child; then their refugee journey to Egypt.

If we can’t find parables in this shared narrative for our modern world then we seriously lack empathetic imagination.

So let us merge Christmas and Xmas (after all, X is the Greek letter at the start of Christ’s name), let us both use and celebrate the feast and give our gifts; and let us explore the depths of the narrative for our modern world, whose tinsel and plastic cribs are but a parody of reality.

This resource was written by Richard Coupe, one of RE:ONLINE’s Email a Believer team.

During National Interfaith week our Imam planted trees outside the mosque alongside the Chief Rabbi, this was part of Mitzvah day which is a day of faith-based action. I, along with some of my students, also participated. I think it is really important for our faith leaders to set examples for the rest of the community and images such as faith leaders working for the common good speaks volumes. Our students have linked up with young people from our neighbouring synagogue and have formed a social club

Outside mainstream education there is an impressive range of initiatives, projects, websites and resources, much of it galvanised by the excellent Inter Faith Network and their growing membership, who have been the pioneers and main inter-faith drivers for almost thirty years.

The Quran commands Muslims to “Vie, then, with one another in doing good works!” Planting trees in Islam is a form of charity and is a step in the right direction for helping reverse the effects of climate change. Muslims are required by Islam to keep the environment around them pure and clean. True Muslims are those who appreciate the beauty surrounding them. This may explain many of the Prophetic hadiths that talk about the merits of planting trees and other acts that benefit people.There is a hadith saying, “There is none amongst the Muslims who plants a tree or sows seeds, and then a bird, or a person or an animal eats from it, but is regarded as a charitable gift for him.” This is a form of sadaqah jariya which means that such an act will continue ton benefit a person after the person dies as well.

Inter-faith activity is defined as ‘the collaborative promotion of dialogue, co-operation, understanding and action of different faith groups in order to develop a more cohesive society’.

A cohesive society is one where there is a common vision and sense of belonging for all communities; the diversity of people’s different backgrounds and circumstances is appreciated and positively valued; those from different backgrounds have similar opportunities; and strong and positive relations are being developed in the workplace, in schools, and within neighbourhoods.

A lot can be learned outside the classroom and young students can meet religious leaders and ask them questions about anything they like.

Visiting sacred space is another excellent way whereby students can get a feel of what it is like to be a follower of a faith. There is awe and wonder when entering the space that is sacred to people of other faiths. I visited East London mosque during a meeting of the Religious Education Council. I was amazed to hear that almost two thousand people use the mosque every day for their daily prayers. Whilst I was there three coffins were being brought in whereby after the mid-day prayers people would then take part in the funeral prayers of the deceased. The mosque had a minaret and there were loudspeakers that were used for the call of prayer. I remember how unusual it was to hear the call to prayer on the streets of London!

There were fantastic displays on the walls where a verse was cited about a particular topic like marriage for example and then a small image was painted to illustrate the topic. Visiting East London mosque was nice for me during National Interfaith week because it is not a mosque I normally go to because I go to a mosque which is nearer to where I live. It was interesting to learn that part of the building used to be a synagogue and before it was sold they there were very good relationships between the two communities illustrating the peace and harmony that can result when people respect each other regardless of their faith or belief.

This resource was written by Aliya Azam, one of RE:ONLINE’s Email a Believer team.

I am frequently asked how Jesus could be God. So this is a brief study, under the general title of Leaders and Prophets, about this central belief of Christianity.

Christianity believes that God really came into this real, material world, being fully human whilst never losing His deity: he was not just a prophet. How did Christians ever arrive at such an idea? First of all we can look to the Gospels:

Jesus taught it: he said ‘I and the Father are one’ (John 10.30), ‘I am in the Father and the Father is in me’ (John 14.11)
Jesus showed it: his many miracles – ‘it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you’ (Matt. 12.28) – healing the sick and raising the dead
Jesus proved it by his resurrection

Secondly, after the resurrection, and the reception of the promised Holy Spirit (Jesus had said he himself would send the Spirit) the first Christians had a great deal of thinking to do, rather like this: Jesus must have been the Messiah, fulfilled Old Testament prophecy literally (‘Mighty God, everlasting Father’ – Isaiah 9.6) and be coming back again as he promised; only if he is really divine can he do all this. And when he said ‘before Abraham was, I Am’ (John 8.58) he made the most staggering claim: he is that Word of God, that Wisdom of God, that very image of God, through whom everything was made in the first place (Proverbs 3.19) and in whom we are made!

Thirdly, talk of God’s personified Wisdom and Word were current in Judaism at the time and, differently, in contemporary Stoicism – the divine Word (Logos) is the guiding principle, the inner formula, of the universe as a while. So John opens with the claim: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…..the Word became flesh and dwelt among us’.

St Paul articulated what this means in his letters to the Philippians and the Colossians: he identifies Jesus as pre-eminent over all creation (Colossians 1.15-20), the means by which creation was made and is sustained, and in whom ‘all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell’. He also explains (Philippians 2.4-11) that, in becoming man, Christ divested himself of divine privileges (omnipresence, omnipotence, etc.) and submitted to an ignoble death. So the incarnation is definitely in the Bible.

However, how this came to be understood over the ensuing centuries varied

Some Christians came to see Jesus as a man adopted by God because of his holiness, ‘Son’ of God in an exceptional way but not God in the flesh. Conversely some others were so keen on Jesus being God, or God’s Word, that the human element of Jesus was considered a mere minor addition, and possibly not really real anyway (Apollinaris, Sabellianism, Gnostics). Others argued over whether Jesus’ soul was divine, human, or both (Nestorius, Origen), and a major heresy argued that though he was divine and human together, God is so immutable and transcendent that the ‘god’ in Jesus must have been a lesser aspect of divinity, a special creation not eternal and not fully God (Arius). Did Jesus have just one unique nature (Monophysites) or two unmixed (orthodox definition)? Or two, unmixed indeed but actually separate (Cyril)? And so it went on!

It took the Councils of Nivea and Constantinople, in the 4th Century, to reach the most widely accepted definition in the Nicene Creed:

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.

Of course all these problems were caused by old views of humans – body and soul – and at a Platonic version of God, for whom matter was untouchable. Christianity had to break both moulds to get this definition of one Lord Jesus Christ, fully God and fully Man, a definition finally fully set out at Chalcedon in AD 451 – see http://anglicansonline.org/basics/chalcedon.html and note that even so there are variations within Christendom still. That’s the thing about God, He just won’t conform to our thinking! We have not got adequate categories to explain the Incarnation, that is clear, but it is the essential central mystery of Christianity.

Divided nature – what he does as God, what he does as man

This resource was written by Richard Coupe, one of RE:ONLINE’s Email a Believer team.

The relationship between the LGBTQ+ community and large parts of organised religion is complex. Some members of the LGBTQ+ community have been hurt by their experiences of organised religion and this has led to distrust.

I would like to say that Paganism is different. That Paganism is fully accepting toward LGBTQ+ people. But I can’t say that.
I can, however, say that the majority of Pagans are accepting toward LGBTQ+ people.

I think it is fair to say, though, that even among the small minority of Pagans who do in some way discriminate against LGBTQ+ people, the number who claim to do it on religious grounds are even fewer. This is because there is very little in Paganism that can be taken as somehow religiously proclaiming that homosexuality, etc. is wrong. So, if you do encounter one of the few Pagans that have issues with such things, my view would be that their discrimination is entirely their own and not something that has been transmitted to them as a ‘Pagan teaching’.

In fact, there is a great deal in Paganism that not only signals an acceptance of homosexuality, transsexuality, etc. but actively recognises it as something that can be religiously recognised and celebrated.

A great amount of modern Paganism is constructed from features (both religious and social) of older cultures. It is no secret that the ancient Greeks and Romans, for example, had a rather progressive attitude toward homosexuality, at key points in their history. So it should come as little surprise that there are models within their religious and mythic traditions that can be taken as representative of LGBTQ+ qualities.
The God Dionysus, for example, was depicted as both an old man and as an effeminate youth. The God Pan is unapologetically pansexual. The deity Hermaphroditus (from where we get the word hermaphrodite) was the God of hermaphrodites and the effeminate and possessed both male and female physical features. Even the Goddess of Love herself, Aphrodite, was sometimes depicted with a beard and in Theselay she was celebrated with lesbian rites. And of course, Aphrodite is regularly invoked in the ancient poetry of Sapho, celebrating love between women.

But themes and concepts that can be significant to an LGBTQ+ expression of religion, are definitely not restricted to the Greeks and Romans. In Germanic mythology, we see a number of examples of gender-bending and switching of traditional gender roles and power structures.
In South America, the God Xochipili is the patron of male homosexuality.
Polynesia and the Pacific Islands contain a number of different deities and religious traditions involving gay relationships and bisexuality. Additionally, there are a number of examples of third-gender and gender-variant shamans. In fact, Shamanism generally has numerous examples of people, behaviours and practices worldwide, that fall under the umbrella of gender-variance.

There are actually more examples than I have space to list, but we can see that such themes are common across many ancient cultures, all over the world.

The degree to which LGBTQ+ themes are celebrated and discussed in the broader Pagan community will differ from place to place.
Paganism is a very personalised path and being as the majority of people are not a part of the LGBTQ+ community, it’s hardly surprising that those themes may not feature in the practices of a lot of people. Additionally, despite the broad acceptance of LGBTQ+ people, orientations, lifestyles, and love styles, there are large amounts of Paganism that are constructed in a very heteronormative way. They’re not exclusionary of LGBTQ+ themes and people, but at their most basic level they revolve around a certain core of celebrating the cycle of life as expressed through the female and male experience, and the union of the male and female to perpetuate life. Much of this has come out of the popularity of Wicca and other modern Witchcraft traditions.

So, while on the one hand Paganism is very inclusive, I could understand if the commonality of heteronormative themes might make an LGBTQ+ person feel excluded.

However, there are Pagan groups and paths that are exclusively LGBTQ+. For example, the Pagan tradition known as Radical Faerie, is exclusively made up of “lesbians, gay men, trans*, bisexuals, queer hetero people and anyone else in between” (quote from Radical Faeries of Albion: https://albionfaeries.org.uk ).

I think it is a strength of Paganism that it is not just LGBTQ+ inclusive, but that it possesses a wealth of myth, tradition, and iconography of an LGBTQ+ nature. That this creates even more opportunity for members of the LGBTQ+ community to not merely explore their spirituality among accepting people, but to explore a spiritual path that also reflects important aspects of who they are and can be celebrated with others who are also on a similar life journey.

Glossary
LGBTQ+ : Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans*, Queer, +others.

This resource was written by Luthaneal Adams, one of RE:ONLINE’s Email a Believer team.

Christians always look forward to Christmas, whatever our denominations, because it enables us to reflect once again on why we are Christians: we believe God decisively entered our world once and for all, in person, to redeem us; in so doing He had to become exactly one of us – and so begin the narratives in Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospels.

However, we are less confident on the period leading up to Christmas, Advent. What’s it all about? Well, we know that four clear Sundays before Christmas Day (hence the moving date for Advent Sunday) we are to make spiritual preparations for the celebration of the Incarnation. Over the centuries customs have varied widely: some have Lent-like fasts, many put up Advent wreaths and lights, or share special calendars to count off the days; then there are Advent carols, Christingle, a specific wreath with five candles lit Sunday by Sunday in many churches to remember the spiritual history leading up to the arrival of Christ (‘Advent’ means ‘arrival’), and no doubt other customs. So, what are we missing?

The Collect in the ASB prayer book for Advent includes:
…so that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead, we may rise to life immortal…
The original creed of Nicaea, the contemporary product in AD325 of the great Council of Nicaea states:
…[he] will come to judge the living and the dead….
And the New Testament frequently makes reference to the Second Coming, Jesus himself making reference to it in the eschatological discourse (e.g. Luke 21. 25ff), through the message of the angels at the Ascension, the epistles right up to the buffers of Revelation: “Amen. Come Lord Jesus!”

Why don’t we make more of this profound Hope? I suggest three main reasons:
a) Over the centuries we have seen so many ‘millenarian’ movements proclaiming the imminent end of the world – ‘The Pursuit of the Millennium’ is a fascinating yet worrying read;
b) Post-Enlightenment Christianity has become embarrassed to hold such a blatantly supernatural article of faith (Article IV of the 39 Articles, for example)
c) It hasn’t happened yet!

To tackle these in turn:
a) We know even from the pages of the New Testament that an imminent Return of Christ (Parousia) was often expected, and that hope had to be realigned to the realities of the Christian life (2 Thessalonians 3.10, for example). Enthusiastic movements such as the 2nd Century Montanists plainly had some such expectation, and right through to the Jehovah’s Witnesses today this belief has been a great inspiration, even though all predictions have proved futile. It does lead many to re-assess whether such a belief should have any place granted this history. The simple answer is ‘No’; just because some people have got it wrong, the overall belief is not invalidated though it may need more careful consideration.

b) Familiar rationalism has created liberalism, which has been a valuable antidote to modern Fundamentalism and mindless, superstitious ‘faith’; poor Anselm’s credo ut intelligam (‘believe in order that I may understand’) has been misused to make blind ‘faith’ a virtue, which not even Jesus proposed – he told us to watch and not to let anyone deceive us, being ourselves as ‘wise as serpents’.. Realised Eschatology, its roots in the Johannine tradition, took off in the 20th Century, reinterpreting ‘eternal life’ to mean a virtuous quality of life rather than an endless quantity of life, and of course there is much to be said for this in terms of the moral and spiritual teachings of the New Testament and of Jesus himself. Albert Schweizer’s famous conclusion that Jesus was a failed eschatological prophet who flung himself to the cross trying to make God see his point of view, probably sums up the basis for redirecting the Second Coming hope towards a more spiritual and reasonable hope. But by the time the supernatural has been removed from the Gospel, Christology become Adoptionism, eternity become excellence in this world, and God merely the Ground of Our Being and not Trinity, there is not much left! Christianity is fundamentally supernatural or it is nothing.

c) For some in New Testament times the delayed Parousia was already a problem: ‘Where is the promise of His coming’ (2 Peter 3.4). This could, of course, mean we have always got it wrong if doubts existed even then, but Peter’s answer in this epistle is helpful: God does not work on our timescale, and if the Parousia is delayed, it is to give us time to turn to God rather than face judgement too soon, so live as if the Parousia is tomorrow, but plan to be here a long time! We sometimes call this ‘Now, and not yet’. Unfortunately, there is an industry of speculation among evangelicals, often based precariously on the Book of Revelation, to construct the agenda and scheduling of the Last Days, but since Jesus himself said that only the Father knows the times, it does seem pointless to pursue the Millennium through literalism in that most troubling of books.

In conclusion, Christians must hold on to the faith of the creeds and New Testament, that this chapter, entitled ‘Spacetime’, will conclude and another chapter begin. It is His Story and not our history, Otherwise, to recycle St Paul, we are of all people the most to be pitied. Advent tells us there is a great Hope to be eagerly awaited, whenever it may come, and that the arrival of the Son of God in the first place, and later his resurrection, are God’s promises to us that the Hope will be fulfilled: he will come again to judge the living and the dead. And to refer again to 2 Peter ch. 3: in the light of the Parousia, what sort of people should we be?

Enjoy the fun and Hope of Advent!

This resource was written by Richard Coupe, one of RE:ONLINE’s Email a Believer team.

In 2020 Latter-day Saints celebrate the 200th anniversary of the First Vision of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Who was this man? Firstly, it is important to note who he was not- he is not our Saviour, nor is he an object of our worship. I’m sure if he were here today, he would want us to focus on the life and teachings of his and our Master- Jesus Christ, but through Joseph Smith we learn many things about our Saviour.

So, who was Joseph Smith?

1.He was a man.

As we look at the life of Joseph, we see he had many human qualities that were to be admire. Often, we look at the Saviour and think how hard an example he is to live up to, but Joseph Smith- mere mortal that he was gave us an example of how we can follow the Saviour even with our limitations and imperfections. There are many stories from Joseph’s life that help us understand his ‘human qualities’.

I like to use an example from his life as I strive to remain steadfast in my faith. When he was challenged about his experiences, and in particular the First Vision (see below) he recorded:

I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages, and they did in reality speak to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true; and while they were persecuting me, reviling me, and speaking all manner of evil against me falsely for so saying, I was led to say in my heart: Why persecute me for telling the truth? I have actually seen a vision; and who am I that I can withstand God, or why does the world think to make me deny what I have actually seen? For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it; at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God, and come under condemnation (Joseph Smith History 1:25).

2.He was a Prophet.

Some may have a tendency to emphasize his human qualities and perhaps give them an excuse to dismiss some of the teachings of the Saviour which Joseph taught. Above all the important fact of Joseph’s life is that he was a prophet of God. We know his standing as a Prophet of God when we read D&C 135:3:

In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fulness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated!

A prophet is someone who teaches of Jesus Christ and warns the world as the mouthpiece of God. This began nearly 200 years ago in the Sacred Grove. On seeking for truth Joseph reached the conclusion that he needed to pray and ask God where his truth lay. Following this determination in the early spring of 1820 he retired to a grove of trees and received what is now termed, The First Vision:

After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.

But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.

It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him! (JSH 1:15-17).

In this event Joseph saw the Father and the Son, and also received a promise that at some future point the Church would be restored through him. There were many things that Joseph revealed and restored under the direction of the Godhead. He translated the Book of Mormon, received the priesthood under the hands of Peter, James and John, and organised the Church on April 6, 1830.

3.He was a teacher.

This is linked with Joseph being a prophet. A prophet is a teacher. His subject is Christ and the plan of salvation. Through Joseph we have greater understanding of the plan of salvation. How wonderful it is to read of the teaching experiences of the Prophet Joseph. Following the death of a friend he was asked to deliver a funeral sermon; in this he taught the doctrine of baptism for the dead which excited his audience so much that they left the meeting to run to the river and start straight away.

Joseph wasn’t born a teacher- though he was foreordained so to be. He developed as all of us do- line upon line, here a little and there a little. It is this same unlettered boy who first saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that delivered great sermons years later.

4.He was a revealer of truth.

This began with Joseph’s search for truth in his early years. He learnt how to seek revelation and recognize the promptings of the Spirit. This began early in his life; when searching for truth and coming to the conclusion he must ask God he was first of all reading the Bible:

I was one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; (JSH 1:11-12 emphasis added).

This passage highlights how the process of revelation happens through the Holy Spirit. He works in our minds and in our hearts. It strengthens me to know that this personal revelation is available to all of us, including me. Joseph once taught that “God hath not revealed any thing to Joseph, but what he will make known unto the Twelve & even the least Saint may know all things as fast as he is able to—bear them.”

As a Latter-day Saint I believe that knowledge and clarification of great truths were revealed through the Prophet Joseph including:

The nature of God
The Plan of Salvation
The priesthood of God
The apostasy and restoration
Book of Mormon
Word of Wisdom
Temple work

5.He was a martyr.

Joseph sealed his testimony with his blood- in June 1844 he was shot by a mob while being held in Carthage Jail. Joseph once declared:

“I am tired. I have been mobbed, I have suffered so much from outsiders and from my own family… I have to seal my testimony to this generation with my blood. I have to do it for this work will never progress until I am gone for the testimony is of no force until the testator is dead. People little know who I am when they talk about me, and they never will know until they see me weighed in the balance in the Kingdom of God. Then they will know who I am, and see me as I am.”

I was once on holiday in Cornwall and saw the following dedication on a war memorial; to me it sums up the mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith in teaching me of my Saviour and through him, my eternal destiny:

In proud and grateful memory of the men… who gave their all and in giving raised men’s ideals of what man may become.

This resource was written by James Holt, one of RE:ONLINE’s Email a Believer team.

Well, it’s that time of year again. Summer is coming to an end and the kids are back at school. But the end of summer also means that the wheel of the year is turning again and the first signs of autumn are beginning to manifest.

It also means that my favourite time of year is nearly here: Halloween!

Halloween, or as we Pagans call it Samhain, is probably our most popular and well-known festival. It’s the one that is most in the public consciousness, though usually for spooky decorations, fun costumes, parties, and the sudden appearance of a Halloween isle in the supermarket.

Although most people might not think of this time of year in terms of it being a Pagan holiday, it very much is and so many of the things associated with Halloween find their origins in our festival of Samhain.

This is a subject I’ve written and spoken about before, in multiple places. So, I’m going to cheat a little bit and save myself some time, by simply sharing an article on Samhain that I wrote in the past.

But for those of you looking for the cliffnotes summary:

Samhain is about recognising that death is a part of life.

It is a time for remembering the dead.

Wearing costumes, Jack O’lanterns, Bobbing for Apples, all have Pagan precedents.

Samhain was a fire festival, so bonfires have always been part of the festivities at this time of year.

For the full info, read on…

Samhain

In the modern world only Pagans and those who may be well informed are likely to use the word “Samhain”. For most people this age-old feast has been transformed into Halloween. But even Halloween retains traits of the ancient ways, still seen in our predisposition with the supernatural at this time of year.

Halloween is traditionally a time of ghosts and ghoulies, not to mention filling your belly with lots and lots of yummy foods. But these things aren’t really that far removed from the practices of our ancestors and here we will examine the beliefs and traditions that they held and the dedicated Pagans who still follow them today.

Origins

Samhain (pronounced “s’ow-in”) finds its most recognisable roots in the beliefs and practices of the ancient Celts.

To the Gaulic Celts it was once known as Trinouxtion Samonii. This translates as “three nights of the end of Summer”, which is when Samhain celebrations took place, around what we now call October/November. This was not just the end of Summer, but some believe it was also the end of the Celtic year. The land was slipping into a state of death, trees losing their leaves, the days are darker and shorter, and the crops are brought in for the final time that year. It is a time of endings.

Additionally, Samhain is also a time of blood. At this time of year, all farming is coming to a pause. Crops are done with and the animals, seeking food, come down from the higher pastures and return to the farm to be kept through the winter. Being as the farmers could not afford to maintain the entire herd throughout the winter, due to the shortness of resources, they would slaughter the most expendable members of the herd. The blood of these animals was seen as an offering to appease the spirits of the land, thanking them for their help in bringing forth the crops during the year and in the hope that they will provide the same help in the following year. It was a way to ensure that malign spirits didn’t turn on the property and its owners.

This belief in the power of blood even lasted through to the nineteenth century, where some places would still sprinkle the blood of a cockrel at the four corners of their houses in order to ward off negative spirits.

When the Dead Walk

Blood, death and darkness. Perhaps a traditional backdrop for our modern Halloween. But to the Celts, this may have been a time of darkness, but it was in no way a negative time of year.

Samhain was a between-time, resting between the living bright half of the year and the dead, dark half of the year. It is a time the land (and Gods) were entering into a state of death. The doors to the world of the dead were blown open at this time and the spirits of those that had died were free to wander the land.

It was traditional at this time to make these spirits welcome in the homes of their families. Doors and windows would be left open to allow them entrance and food would be set aside for them, so that they could partake of its “spiritual essence” and thusly enjoy the benefits of its nourishment.

This event was often envisioned as a great host of the dead wandering through the countryside, descending upon villages and towns, moving from house to house where at each stop, those who belong would remain behind to visit their relatives.

A common term for this was The Feast of the Dead, which is a term that is still used today by some Pagans.

This was a time for celebration, when the entire tribe – living and dead – would come together to celebrate the festivities. At the centre of these festivities was the ritual bonfire.

Fire in the darkness

One traditional practice in many Celtic communities was to extinguish all the lights in the village and light a single bonfire, central to everyone as a communal gathering point. Later, all the lights would be relit from the flames of this bonfire.

This practice was most widely and sacredly performed in Ireland, where Samhain was synonymous with the Feast of Tara. The Tara was the envisioned heart of the land, where every king of Ireland would come at the time of the feast. Nearby, at a sacred area called Tlachtga, a large bonfire would be constructed, ready for Samhain. Then the night before Samhain, all the lights in the land would be extinguished and the fire at Tlachtga would be lit. Once the fire was raging attendees would cast charms into the flames, symbolising their wishes for the coming year. Then torches would be lit from the bonfire and sent out across the land to relight it, beginning with its spiritual heart: the Tara.

The bonfire has retained its place in modern British culture; however, it has now been co-opted by Guy Fawkes Night and its original heritage has been forgotten in favour of the more recent gunpowder plot.

In some communities, the bonfires served a double purpose, by also acting as a protective charm against supernatural menaces.

It was a time of year when the barrier between life and death was at its thinnest, dark had triumphed over light and the spirits of the dead were free to roam. But other things from the lands beyond life were also free to venture forth and cause whatever trouble they wanted. In this time of darkness, the bonfire served to bring light to the community and dispel the darkness from places where nasty other-world creatures may try to lurk.

So, in this way, the bonfires were like beacons that would guide in ancestral spirits as they wandered, while at the same time driving off more malevolent beings.

It is thought that the ancient Celts would have burnt animal bones in these fires as a special measure to ward off evil spirits, which is where we get our modern word “bonfire”, from these ancient “bone-fires”. These bone-fires were no doubt built using the bones of the cattle that were slaughtered for Samhain.

Death, Renewal and the promise of Life

We are now very familiar with the natural connection to death and the spirit world that are expressed at Samhain. But as has already been mentioned, this is not a time for grieving. In fact, this is as much a time for looking forward as well as looking back.

We are inclined at this time to remember those who have passed over to the land of the dead and all the times we have had with them. As the end of the harvest we are also inclined to look back over the spring and summer that have just passed.

Remember, this is not just another passing holiday; this is the mark of the end of the year. Think about the things that may run through your mind at the end of December. You are probably given to spare a thought for the year that has just gone and take stock of the things that have happened. Was it a good year? A happy year? In the mix of the festivities you quite probably remember a lot of the good times, as anyone would at a party. Well Samhain is a party too, it is a celebration, albeit a solemn one in many regards. So those involved would spare the same kind of thoughts to the past year, but in addition they would also look forwards at the year to come.

You may make New Year’s resolutions as the New Year rings in and December becomes January. For the ancient Celts it wasn’t too different. They would give thought to what they would do with their futures and so this also became a common time for doing simple forms of divination, often as a part of the merriment.

This also makes a lot of sense at this time of year, as Samhain is seen as the doorway between worlds. It is the bridge between one year and the next, when reality is at its thinnest. It is neither one year, nor the other. A time between times and thusly “time” was just as flexible as the walls between the worlds, making it a perfect event for divining the future.

If you lived back then, you may have witnessed a local getting their future romantic interests predicted by watching walnuts crack upon a roaring hearth fire.

Samhain is also about new beginnings – or at least, envisioning new beginnings.

At this time of year, nature has retreated and died, and this brings with it the image of the Goddess descending into the underworld as she also enters the state of death. In today’s neo-pagan religions (especially Wicca) this is commonly just “the Goddess” as represented through all of nature as the bringer of life and womb of creation. However, in the Celtic world this concept of the Goddess would have been overlaid with that of their local Goddess who either fit the bill of the seasonal change or who stood as the most sovereign among the Goddesses, as at this time of year the Goddess (whoever she may be) was viewed as the Sovereign Goddess. She, who in majesty, withdraws for the other worlds.

While the Goddess draws away from us and descends into the underworld, her consort sweeps across the land, taking part in the Wild Hunt. The theme of the Wild Hunt is perhaps best represented through the horned God Cernunnos, moving across the sky at the darkening of the year. This Wild Hunt of his signifies two things, firstly the culling of the herds that is being performed by the slaughter of livestock and secondly, the gathering of the souls of the deceased. We visualise him stalking animals as a hunter, bringing down those that are weakest so that the herd will be strengthened and the community better benefits, thusly the animal slaughters are depicted, but he is also king of the underworld and ready to join the Goddess in her sovereignty. So, the Wild Hunt marks his return to the underworld, gathering the souls of the dead as they finish their time on Earth.

As he descends in the underworld, he takes his place with the Goddess. There are many myths at Samhain that describe how the God takes his position with the Goddess, sometimes showing him dying in order to be with her, some showing him as a resident guardian to her in her time in the underworld, while others depict him in the guise of two Gods with one slaying another so that the first may go to the Goddess to reclaim her for the world. This act is a sacred sacrifice. The God has travelled the land gathering the spoils of the Wild Hunt and now for the good of the world, he himself dies so that he can return to the Underworld.

As the Lord of the other worlds, the God shall stand as protector to the Goddess during her time in the underworld. For this in itself is a significant time, as it shows us that death and the spirit world is not merely the cessation of life, but instead a womb from which the Goddess will be born anew with the coming of Spring.

In modern Paganism the significance of this message is very important. Through it we understand how death is a step in life and how the dark months of winter show us the beginning of the New Year, for in these dark times life dwells in the womb of the Earth and spiritually in the other worlds. So, the beginning of the New Year coincides with the beginning of the life of the land, here in the cosmic womb of the natural world.

Samhain into Halloween – what we do today

Any and all of these ancient practices can and do get recreated among modern Pagans, but alongside them time has also gifted us with some newer traditions that fit marvellously into the spirit of the season. For the modern Pagan there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t utilise both sides of the season, old and new. It’s your Samhain, so do what you need to enjoy it. It is, after all, supposed to be a festival.

Costumes

Dressing as ghosts and ghoulies has a very obvious connection to the holiday. With the belief that all sorts of creatures are around and about, dressing the part to celebrate can be a good bit of fun.

But this tradition may also have some roots that are older and deeper than we may realise. Indeed, in some Celtic communities dressing up was a regular practice. There would be people who would often dress in masks and outfits and play pranks upon their neighbours – usually with a light-hearted attitude.

This was to symbolise the breaking of barriers that was occurring in the world. As the common rules of time and space came to waver, so to did the rules of community behaviour and people could feel free (to a point) to do some things that they would not normally be allowed to do, by breaking the flow of ordinary behaviour. In this fashion, people would dress up in order to look outrageous and add to the merriment.

Some researchers also suggest that it would have been common practice at this time for any Celts out on the Samhain nights, to wear costumes as disguises, so that they would not be recognised as human if they happen to cross paths with any unfriendly spirits.

Jack-O’lanterns

The history of the Jack-O’lanterns is a rather divided one and seems to be the end result of two different things.

According to some traditions, the Jack-O’lantern finds its origins in Ireland, where it was a practice to carve out root vegetables (primarily turnips) and place either a piece of coal or a candle within them, in the style of the modern Jack-O’lantern. This was done with a double meaning: firstly, the light from the candle acted as a guide for friendly spirits, so that they might be able to find their way and be guided in, while the scary face was a deterrent to malevolent spirits and drives them away.

If is thought that this practice didn’t specifically pertain to Samhain and that it may have occurred at other times of year as well but keeping in mind the dual purpose of the traditional Samhain bonfire, it isn’t hard to see how this tradition might have got started.

Additionally, there is the folklore tale about an unlucky Irishman by the name of Jack, who is said to have caused some kind of great mischief in his life and eventually had a run-in with the Devil. Well, as it turns out, Jack was actually a rather shrewd thinker and managed to trick the Devil and trap him until he promised not to take Jack’s soul to Hell. The Devil agreed in exchange for his own freedom.

Of course, when Jack came to die, he was left in a bit of a pickle. Being far from an upstanding citizen he was refused entrance to Heaven and the Devil kept his word, barring him from Hell.

Jack wondered what he would do and where he would go, so the Devil mockingly made him a lantern with which he would endlessly wander the world seeking a place to rest.

From this folk tale he became known as Jack of the Lantern or Jack O’Lantern.

When the Irish immigrated to North America they brought the tradition of the Jack-O’lantern with them, but somewhere along the way they found it was easier to carve pumpkins than it was to carve turnips, bringing us to the modern Jack-O’Lantern that we have today.

Bobbing for Apples

This tradition actually goes back further than the Celts, finding its origins in the ancient Roman Empire. The Romans once celebrated their own festival of the last harvest around the time of late October, called the Feralia. During this time, they celebrated by honouring the Goddess Pomona, the Goddess of fruit trees. The apple was a sacred symbol of Pomona and was used in celebrations of this festival.

When the Romans invaded the Celtic lands, the practices of the Romans blended a little with that of the Celts and so the symbolic reference to apples was passed across. Today we still celebrate this via the tradition of apple bobbing.

Even today this time of year remains a time for fun and frolics, when we all have a good excuse to dress up and enjoy ourselves.

For many Pagans this is a time to welcome the dead and give honour to the Gods, but whether you call it Samhain or Halloween, everyone is free to join in the fun, throw parties or if they wish just stay in and watch horror movies. So, make it a good one!

This resource was written by Luthaneal Adams, one of RE:ONLINE’s Email a Believer team.

One of the things which continues to amaze me about the digital age is the way we get news from the world over within hours of it happening, and can ‘see’ the world from our computer screens. Without travelling from home, I know what the new House of Worship in Chile looks like, I have a beautiful picture in mind of the terraced gardens of the Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel in Haifa, and I could follow events of last year’s International Convention as they happened.

It’s easy to forget that it wasn’t always like this. In 1982, when I was a new adherent of the Bahá’í Faith, news of the British community came through the monthly British Bahá’í Journal; messages from the Universal House of Justice (our world administrative body) came printed on golden-yellow paper, mailed through the letterbox; urgent messages (the passing of a much-loved and respected fellow Bahá’í, for example) came as telegrams to the British National Spiritual Assembly to be included as mail-outs to the Bahá’is of the country or announced at Feasts and gatherings.

We are so much more closely connected these days, and at a time when society feels increasingly fragmented, these connections are a lifeline.

The events currently dominating the Bahá’i networks are centred around the celebrations for the bicentenary of the Birth of the Báb on October 28^th this year. The Báb, Divine Educator and Prophet-Herald to Bahá’u’lláh, was born in 1819 in Shiraz, Persia. ‘Báb’ is a title which means ‘Gate’. Whilst calling the peoples of the world to spiritual reformation, The Báb was preparing the way for a new Manifestation of God: Bahá’u’lláh.

The Báb’s story is one of dignity, heroism, and ultimately sacrifice. His short life (He was just 31 when He was excecuted) was characterised by an innate wisdom, sharp perception and such sweetness of character that people were prepared to give their lives to spread His teachings. He was sentenced to death by the Persian authorities who were unsettled by His demand for a high standard of personal and public behaviour, and by the devotion of rapidly growing numbers of His followers. Several thousands of His followers were put to death in the ensuing years, and yet from these beginnings the Bahá’í Faith was ultimately to grow and be carried around the world.

“It was His own mission, the Báb declared, to herald the coming of this promised Manifestation of God. The Báb explained that the new Manifestation would usher in an age of peace and justice that was the hope of every longing heart and the promise of every religion. The Báb instructed His followers to spread this message throughout the country and to prepare people for this long-awaited day.” [^1]

A newly-launched website, https://bicentenary.bahai.org/the-bab/ dedicated to celebrating this special Holy day, carries videos, articles and photos, and will be added to over the coming weeks as events happen. The Báb’s story can be read in full detail (including accounts from foreign ambassadors and chroniclers of the time who met Him, and who witnessed His execution.) News from every part of the globe of communities gathering to pray, share food and celebrate together feature alongside artworks inspired by the life of the Báb, His teachings and stories of His followers.

The following prayer is one of many revealed by the Báb:

O Lord! Unto Thee I repair for refuge and toward all Thy signs I set my heart. O Lord! Whether travelling or at home, and in my occupation or in my work, I place my whole trust in Thee.

Grant me then Thy sufficing help so as to make me independent of all things, O Thou Who art unsurpassed in Thy mercy! Bestow upon me my portion, O Lord, as Thou pleasest, and cause me to be satisfied with whatsoever Thou hast ordained for me.

Thine is the absolute authority to command.[2]

See https://media.bahai.org/ for photos and videos of Bahá’í Holy Places and the world-wide Bahá’í community. “The Bahá’í Media Bank provides photographs for download, intended for non-commercial purposes only. Copyright and terms of use can be found on the Legal Information page.”

2 The Báb, Selections from the Writings of The Báb. Hear this prayer put to music at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I-QXlILQqQ

Further Reading

RE:ONLINE resource Táhirih -The Pure One (1817 – 1852) speaks about the Táhirih, the Báb’s first female disciple

RE:ONLINE resource Bahá’i Holy Day in July: The Martyrdom of the Báb

For a comprehensive account of the early history of the Bábi and Bahá’í Faith:

Nabil, The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl’s Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá’í Revelation,

Bahá’i Publishing Trust, 1932 Edition

https://www.bahai.org/the-bab/life-the-bab

https://www.bahai.org has lots more information

This resource was written by Debbie Tibbey, one of RE:ONLINE’s Email a Believer team.

The Bahá’i year, in common with most religions, has certain days which are regarded as Holy days, commemorated or celebrated by the Bahá’i community.

One of these special days falls in July each year, on either 9th or 10th depending on the solstice. On this day Bahá’is commemorate the Martyrdom of The Báb, (which means “the Gate” in Arabic), an event so shocking that were it not independently documented it would seem more legend than true story.

The Báb is regarded by Bahá’is as both a Messenger of God and the Herald of Bahá’u’lláh. Born in Shiraz, Persia, in 1819, His given name was Siyyid ‘Ali- Muhammad. He was a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, and was known for His gentle nature, keen perception and wisdom even from a very young age. In 1844 He declared His mission to begin the spiritual and moral renewal of the peoples of the world, a process which would see the emancipation of women, and unite the peoples of the world. He also taught that another Messenger of God, the fulfilment of the world’s great religions, was soon to appear.

The Báb’s teachings, His call for a return to moral rectitude, His claim that He was a divinely inspired ‘Educator’, and the following which grew around Him, were huge challenges for the clerics and authorities of the time. Eventually, in 1850, a decree was made for His execution. The Báb was arrested and sentenced to death by firing squad. The following account is from Hassan Balyuzi’s book, The Báb: The Herald of the Day of Days[1]:

Sam Khan (Commander of the firing squad) approached the Bab: ‘I profess the Christian Faith and entertain no ill will against you. If your Cause be the Cause of truth, enable me to free myself from the obligation to shed your blood.’ To this the Báb replied: ‘Follow your instructions, and if your intention be sincere, the Almighty is surely able to relieve you from your perplexity.’

The Báb and His disciple were suspended by ropes from a nail in the wall, the head of Mirza Muhammad-‘Ali, Anis, resting on the breast of the Báb. Seven hundred and fifty soldiers were positioned in three files. Roofs of the buildings around teemed with spectators.

Each row of soldiers fired in turn. The smoke from so many rifles clouded the scene. When it lifted the Báb was not there. Only His disciple could be seen, standing under the nail in the wall, smiling and unconcerned. Bullets had only severed the ropes with which they were suspended. Cries rang out from the onlookers: ‘The Siyyid-i-Báb has gone from our sight!’

A frantic search followed. The Báb was found, sitting in the same room where He had been lodged the night before, in conversation with His amanuensis. That conversation had been interrupted earlier in the day. Now it was finished and He told the farrash-bashi to carry out his duty. But the farrash-bashi was terror-stricken and ran away, nor did he ever return to his post. Sam Khan, for his part, told his superiors that he had carried out the task given to him; he would not attempt it a second time. So Aqa Jan Khan-i-Khamsih and his Nasiri regiment replaced the Armenians, and the Báb and His disciple were suspended once again at the same spot. The Nasiri regiment fired. The bodies of the Báb and His disciple were shattered, and their flesh was united.

Further accounts exist from contemporary foreign journalists and officials who witnessed or were told of the event, including one from Sir Justin Shiel, Queen Victoria’s Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in Tehran to Lord Palmerston, the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, July 22, 1850.

The remains of the Báb and Anis were retrieved at night by the Báb’s friends and eventually interred on Mount Carmel in Israel, a place of pilgrimage for Bahá’is across the world today.

1 Balyuzi, H.M. (1973). The Báb: The Herald of the Day of Days. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. pp. 154–161. ISBN 0853980489.

Further reading:
Nabíl-i-Zarandí (1932). Shoghi Effendi (Translator), ed. The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl’s Narrative (Hardcover ed.). Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá’í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0900125225.

This resource was written by Debbie Tibbey, one of RE:ONLINE’s Email a Believer team.

The Bahá’i year, in common with most religions, has certain days which are regarded as Holy days, commemorated or celebrated by the Bahá’i community.

The remains of the Báb and Anis were retrieved at night by the Báb’s friends and eventually interred on Mount Carmel in Israel, a place of pilgrimage for Bahá’is across the world today.

1 Balyuzi, H.M. (1973). The Báb: The Herald of the Day of Days. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. pp. 154–161. ISBN 0853980489.

This resource was written by Debbie Tibbey, one of RE:ONLINE’s Email a Believer team.