CONTENDING FOR FAITH
~
The Received Text ~
ONCE DELIVERED TO THE SAINTS
CHAPTER XX
“CHRISTIAN ROSENCREUZ”
It was during the Rosicrucian Enlightenment
of the 17th century that the Rosicrucian Manifestos were published
anonymously. These mysterious publications heralded a future “reformation of the
whole wide world” to be inaugurated by the Fraternity of the Rosy Cross. First
there appeared the
Fama Fraternitatis of the Meritorious Order of the Rosy Cross (1614),
followed by the Confession of the Rosicrucian Fraternity (1615)
and, lastly, The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosencreutz (1616).
The first two manifestos were published anonymously. There is speculation that
Francis Bacon was the author, however, the manifestos have historically been
attributed to Johann Valentin Andreae who was a German theologian, Lutheran
minister and Grand Master of the Prieuré de Sion from
1637-1654.
According to three Rosicrucian Manifestos
published early in the 17th century, “Christian Rosenkreuz” was the founder of
the Rosicrucian Order or the Order of the Rose Cross. The first of these
manifestos, the Fama Fraternitatis Rosae Crucis published in 1614 in
Kassel, Germany, introduced the founder of the Rosicrucian Order only as “Frater
C.R.C.” The Fama was followed the next year by the Confessio
Fraternitatis and, the following year, The Chymical Wedding of Christian
Rosenkreutz, published in Strasbourg, disclosed the founder’s name as
Christian Rosenkreuz. The “legend” of Christian Rosenkreuz is summarized in the
Rose Croix Journal:
“The main part of the Fama related the
life and death of Christian Rosenkreuz (‘Rosy Cross’), a mythical figure
described as the founder of the Order. According to the Confessio,
Rosenkreuz was born in 1378 of a noble family in poor circumstances. At the
age of four he was placed in a monastery. When still ‘in his growing years’ the
young man set out, accompanied by a monk, on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. But the
monk died in Cyprus, and Rosenkreuz studied in Damascus, where he became well
known for his medical skill. Then he traveled to ‘Damkar’ in Arabia, where he
studied under a group of wise men ‘to whom Nature was discovered.’ These wise
men had been expecting Rosenkreuz. They taught him Arabic, physics, and
mathematics, and introduced him to the Book M, which contained the
secrets of the universe, and which he translated into Latin.
“Later, after studying botany and zoology in
Egypt, and magic and the Cabala at Fez, Rosenkreuz was equipped to teach the
learned of Europe how to ‘order all their studies on those sure and sound
foundations.’ He eventually returned to Germany, where he assembled seven
disciples, and the group of eight founded the Fraternity of the Rosy Cross.
It was determined that they would live in separate countries where they might
influence learned people. ‘Before dispersing, they agreed to profess nothing but
to cure the sick, without payment; not to distinguish themselves by any
particular costume; to meet annually in Germany; to nominate their successors
before dying; to adopt the initials R.C. as their seal; and to keep their
fraternity secret for one hundred years.’
“The Fama also declared that
Rosenkreuz died at the age of 106 [1484]
and was buried in a hidden tomb. This tomb was later discovered in 1604 by the
authors of the Fama. The tomb or vault lay behind a concealed door
bearing the words ‘I shall open after 120 years.’ Inside was a seven-sided vault
lit by a mysterious luminary set in the roof. In the center stood an altar,
beneath which they found the body of Rosenkreuz, ‘whole and unconsumed.’ The
tomb also contained a chest of mirrors and a copy of the Book T, “our
greatest treasure next to the Bible.” (Rosicrucian
Digest)
“Christian Rosenkreuz” was born in 1378, the
year in which the Great Schism began. It was also the year John Wycliffe stood trial
before the Catholic bishops at Lambeth, only to be acquitted of heresy courtesy
of the Queen Mother, Joan of Kent, who intervened in the proceedings. An
account of that trial is recorded in David Fowler’s book on
The Life and
Times of John Trevisa, Medieval Scholar:
“…Courtenay, as bishop of London procured the
citation of Wyclif to appear before Archbishop Sudbury at St. Paul’s in 1377…
Later that same year, the lobbying of Benedictines in the papal court resulted
in the promulgation of bulls by Gregory XI citing eighteen errors attributed to
Wyclif, and requiring his arrest and examination.
“At the very time all this was going on, the
government was seeking Wyclif’s opinion on the legality of preventing its wealth
from going abroad, even if the pope demanded it—and indeed he was doing so at
that moment. Wyclif of course affirmed the legality of such a procedure in very
strong language. Meanwhile, ecclesiastical efforts to have him arrested
continued, and he finally appeared before Sudbury in 1378, protected
by a prohibition by the king’s mother against any final judgment in the case
[birth of Christian Rosenkreutz?], with
the result that he was simply told not to express any opinions that might
scandalize the laity. This year also marked the death of Gregory XI and the
beginning of the beginning of the great schism, an event which no doubt further
weakened the efforts of any pope to make his voice heard in national affairs.
“England itself was at this time experiencing a
certain turbulence as a result of the collection of two burdensome subsidies
inflicted on the disgruntled population by a Parliament controlled by John of
Gaunt [Plantagenet]. The unpopularity of the
poll taxes was destined to erupt in the riots of June 1381 in London and
elsewhere, which were to shake the confidence of the entire nation (Covella,
1992, pp. 34-35). But whatever the forces that were at work nationally, Wyclif
himself was now embarked on a course from which there was no turning back. By
the time his De Eucharistica appeared in 1379, his few supporters that
remained among the friars were alienated, and even his colleagues on the secular
faculty were alarmed. The following year his old friend from Merton, William de
Barton, now chancellor of the University, appointed a committee…to report on his
teaching on the Eucharist. The adverse judgment of this group, by a vote of
seven to five, we have already observed. Wyclif’s reply to this judgment,
The Confessio, was issued on 10 May 1381, but in its wake came
accusations of complicity, the seculars accusing the regulars, in particular the
friars, of causing the uprising, and the latter pointing an accusing finger at
the heretical teachings of Wyclif condoned by the secular faculty. Considering
that Wyclif’s protection from prosecution was attributable to the power of John
of Gaunt, the friars went so far as to address a letter to he duke
[Gaunt], calling attention to the dangers represented by Wyclif and his
followers at Oxford. This letter was dated 18 February 1382 and was delivered to
Lancaster personally by the Carmelite Stephen Patrington. The friars were
particularly anxious to do something about Nicholas Hereford, named in an early
manuscript as a translator of the Bible, and a committed disciple of Wyclif’s.
The duke ignored the appeal of the friars, and on 23 February Hereford announced
in a sermon that the religious should hereafter be barred from receiving degrees
in the University. In March Wyclif himself published De Blasphemia, in
which the denunciation of ecclesiastical abuses became even stronger, and in May
he submitted a sharply worded petition to Parliament urging the rejection of any
and all papal assessments, and the taxing of possessioners in England.
Meanwhile, in Oxford on Ascension Day (15 May 1382), Hereford delivered a sermon
in English designed to alienate nearly everyone except the most fanatical of
Wyclif’s followers.” (The Life and Times of John Trevisa, Medieval Scholar,
David C. Fowler, University of Washington Press, 1995, pp. 76-78)
Clearly John Wycliffe’s
acquittal was the initial triumph of the Merovingian dynasty and the English
nation over the previously impregnable citadel of the Roman Catholic Church.
Which may explain why Wycliffe is honored as the “Morning Star of the
Reformation.” However, another event occurred in 1378 which sealed the fate
of the Roman Catholic Church. The Great Schism began on September 20, 1378 (Wikipedia).
“There were,
however, two events that sowed the seeds of his discontent with the
papacy. The first was the total submission of the pope to the demands of
the French, historically loathed by the English. The second was the
spectacle of rival popes excommunicating each other during the Great
Schism. These two episodes seemed to call into question both the pope's
political authority and his infallibility.” (“John Wycliffe, Father of
American Dissent”)
A little more than a
century later, the Protestant Reformation would divide Christendom.
Rosicrucian Jeff Nesbitt
put it this way in “Rosslyn
Chapel Revisited”:
“In one fell swoop,
the Christian world was cleft in twain. No longer would Rome be able to
raise great armies from its subject nations to crush heresies wherever
the Papal finger pointed. There was no longer just one big boy on the
block. Another had moved in. The mightiest church the world had ever
known had been ‘divided’ and ‘conquered’.”
Martin Luther’s
personal seal appeared on the third Rosicrucian Manifesto, The Chemical Wedding
of Christian Rosenkreutz, which was authored by Johann Andrea who was
Grand Master of the Prieuré de Sion from
1637-1654.
“Luther’s crest with a black cross on a red heart upon a white rose…set beside an expansion
on the letters, F. R. C., Futurae Reformatio Catholicae, signifying a
hope for a future Universal Reformation, similar to that heralded by the
first Rosicrucian texts from Tübingen.” (Da
Vinci Code Rosicrucians)
“F.R.C. or Frater Rosae Crucis is the
title awarded to advanced members of the Rosicrucian Order. This title
is awarded specifically to advanced members of the AMORC or Ancient
Mystical Order Rosæ Crucis. Through years of study the Rosicrucian who
has progressed to this level is understood to be at the master level of
understanding the teachings presented by this organization. For this
reason, only those who have been formally initiated into the 10th Degree
of the order are allowed to attach F.R.C. to their name.”
(Wikipedia)
Christian Rosenkreuz,
the mythical knight of the 15th century who is said to have launched the
Rosicrucian movement in England, was born at Wartburg Castle. Martin Luther
also
resided at Wartburg Castle in
1521-22 after his
excommunication by Pope Leo X
following German Diet of Worms.
There are other parallels between the Protestant Reformation and Christian
Rosencreutz.
“Rosencreutz was born in 1378 - as
indicated in the Confessio and cryptographically in the Chymische
Hochzeit - and his tomb was 'discovered' in 1604 after 120 years, he
died just about the time of Luther's birth in 1483 or 1484. The year
1604 was fraught with chiliastic significance: 'new stars' had appeared
in the constellations Serpentarius and Cygnus, mentioned specifically in
the Fama, which Kepler had written about in De stella nova in pede
Serpentarii (1606); a heavenly portent in the form of a fiery triangle
was observed that was thought to appear every 800 years, having heralded
Charlemagne and Christ before him; the third age predicted by Joachim of
Fiore was expected; and it was the year Studion completed his
millenarian prophecy. The Fama was thus situated auspiciously.”
(“Johann
Valentin Andreae's utopian brotherhoods”)
“1604-2004 – “The 400th Anniversary of the
Opening of the Rosicrucian Vault”
The opening of the tomb
of Christian Rosenkreuz was symbolic of the opening of the Rosicrucian Vault
(pictured above) which refers to the announcement of the existence of the
Invisible College by means of the Rosicrucian manifestos.
“Yates refers to this forgotten period of
European history as the ‘Rosicrucian Enlightenment’—an incredible time when an
outburst of curious and obscure Hermetic and alchemical manifestos, along with
other printed pamphlets, began to circulate across Europe.5 These publications
announced the dawn of a ‘New Age,’ and proclaimed a universal reform of science,
religion, and society. The authors were members of an ‘invisible college’ and
confessed themselves disciples of ‘Christian Rosenkreuz.’…
“Titled ‘The College of the Fraternity,’ it [the
accompanying illustration] appeared in a publication known as Speculum
Sophicum Rhodo-Stauroticum, by Daniel Mögling, alias Theophilus Schweighardt.
The illustration was drawn, if not published, around
1604, about ten years before the appearance
of the Fama Fraternitatis—usually considered the first book to announce
the presence of the Rosicrucians to the world.” (Rosicrucian
Digest)
The Fama,
first of the Rosicrucian manifestos published in 1614, noted that in
1604, new supernovae, Cygnus & Serpentarius, were
observed in the heavens signaling the opening of a door in Europe,
according to the Journal of the Rose Croix:
“The heart of this article: the new
stars that appeared in 1604, if the chronology of the story is
calculated, give the same date at which the tomb of Christian Rosenkreuz
is said to have been discovered. C.R.C. was born in 1378, lived to an
age of 106, and lay undiscovered for 120 years. 1378 + 106 + 120 = 1604!
Thus, the opening of the door of the vault symbolizes the opening of a
door in Europe.” (Rosicrucian
Digest)
A curious statement in The Fama points to Martin Luther as an agent of the Rosicrucians:
“In this [Memorial]
Table stuck a great naile somewhat strong, so that when it was
with force drawn out it took with it an indifferent big stone out of the
thin wall or plaistering of the hidden door, and so unlooked for
uncovered the door, whereat we did with joy and longing throw down the
rest of the wall and cleared the door, upon which was written in great
letters – Post CXX Annos Patebo, with
the year of the Lord under it... For
like as our door was after so many years wonderfully discovered, also
there shall be opened a door to Europe (when the wall is removed) which
already doth begin to appear, and with great desire is expected of many.”
(Fama)
“Post CXX Annos Patebo”
- “At the end of 120 years I will disclose myself.”
“According to
Philip Melanchthon, writing in 1546, Luther nailed a copy of the
95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg that
same day — church doors acting as the bulletin boards of his time — an
event now seen as sparking the Protestant Reformation, and celebrated
every October 31 as Reformation Day.” (Wikipedia)
For more information
see:
The Protestant Reformation: Rosicrucian
Connections
WHO WAS CHRISTIAN ROSENCREUZ?
Donald R. Dickson, a Reader for Renaissance
Quarterly, interpreted the mystical concept of the “Chemical Wedding of
Christian Rosencreutz” as the union of the
Lutheran Reformation and Christian Hermetism.
“Christian
Rosencreutz (spelled with a k only in the title), presumably Andreae’s
own creation since the name, a symbol of the central idea of his Christian
philosophy, does not appear anywhere before 1605. The rose-cross came from his
family’s
coat of arms, which derived from Luther’s.
Andreae’s
originality was in uniting the age-old symbols of the rose, the cross, and the
wedding as a symbol of the union of the Lutheran reformation and Christian
hermetism...
“All three
Rosicrucian works are tied together through this imaginary hero Christian
Rosencreutz, whose name brought to mind the shield of Luther and his own honored
grandfather, Jacob Andreae. The creation of the name Christian Rosencreutz must
be credited to Andreae; no one has discovered its use prior to 1605.”
(“Johann
Valentin Andreae's utopian brotherhoods,”
Donald R. Dickson, Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 49, No. 4, 1996, pp.
760-802)
“Christian
Rosencreutz (spelled with a k only in the title), presumably Andreae’s
own creation since the name, a symbol of the central idea of his
Christian philosophy, does not appear anywhere before 1605. The
rose-cross came from his family’s coat of arms, which derived from
Luther’s. Andreae’s originality was in uniting the age-old symbols of
the rose, the cross, and the wedding as a symbol of the union of the
Lutheran reformation and Christian hermetism...” (“Johann
Valentin Andreae's utopian brotherhoods,” Donald R. Dickson,
Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 49, No. 4, 1996, pp. 760-802)
According to the
SRIA, an English Masonic Order
for Trinitarian Christians,
Christian Rosencreutz was never a person but
an intellectual movement which used the
Reformation to effect a marriage of convenience between Rosicrucianism and
Christianity:
“...according
to Schuchard, 'current scholarship suggests composite authorship by
Andrae and his colleagues at Tubingen’.
Here we have an author who is very shrewd, he presents an appeasement
(wedding), ie., a Marriage of Alchemy (Intelligentsia of Europe) with
the new Protestantism of Europe for political acceptance of the
Religious Brotherhood...
“...THE
OFFSPRING, of the Manifestos, was the Rosicrucian philosophy that
influenced Protestant Europe for the next several centuries...
“Hence,
may we say that ‘Rosicrucians’ were people who enjoyed the mystical and
esoteric way of life which eventually led to the Church’s reform. To
overcome the Church’s label of Heresy they enveiled their thoughts
within the science of Alchemy. This concept (destruction of the total
control of the Papacy) which began with Luther, included the 30-year War
(1618-1648) and reached the public with the publication of the so-called
‘rosicrucian manifesto’, The FAMA.
“CRC was NEVER a person,
rather it was an Intellectual Movement (of 100 years) which roughly
spanned 1517 (when Luther nailed his Theses to the Church door)
to 1614 (production of the Fama).” - “What
is Christian Rosencreutz?”
In 1605,
the Constitution of the Society of Rosy Cross was
published in
“The
Restoration of the Decayed Temple of Pallas”
and the Rosicrucian Enlightenment was underway. The
Journal of the Rose Croix states that the
Manifestos “announced
the dawn of a ‘New Age,’ and proclaimed a universal reform of science,
religion, and society.” However, there was one man who stood virtually alone against
the plans of the Rosicrucian Order to inaugurate a ‘New Age.’ Oxford
historian Frances Yates described in her book, The Rosicrucian
Enlightenment, how King James I of Great Britain single-handedly foiled
the Rosicrucian plan.
|
“Prague…became a centre for alchemical,
astrological, magico-scientific studies of all kinds… A Mecca for those
interested in esoteric and scientific studies from all over Europe.
Hither came John Dee and Edward Kelly, Giordano Bruno and Johannes
Keppler. However strange the reputation of Prague in the time of Rudolph
it was yet a relatively tolerant city. Jews might pursue their
cabalistic studies undisturbed… The Bohemian church, founded by John
Huss, was the first of the reformed churches of Europe…
“Bohemia was now in a state of open
rebellion against its Hapsburg sovereign. According to the rebels the
crown of Bohemia was an elective crown, to be offered to whomever they
elected, and not hereditary in the House of Hapsburg…
“On 26 August, 1619, the Bohemians
decided to offer the crown of their country to Frederick, Elector
Palatine…
“…to accept it was dangerous; it would
amount to a declaration of war against the Hapsburg powers…
“On the day of the coronation…German
verses were to be sung to a psalm tune… Wyclif came from
England, they explain, from whom Huss took his teaching, alluding to Wyclif’s
influences on the Hussite reformation; and now a queen comes to us
from England.
Jacobus, her lord father dear,
Through her has become
Our mightiest patron and support;
He will not desert us,
Otherwise we would suffer great
distress.
“Here we reach the heart of this great
tragedy of misunderstanding. For James was not supporting his
daughter and her husband; he was working for the other side in his
frantic cult of Spanish friendship; he was even now, when this print
was published, disowning all responsibility for his son-in-law’s
Bohemian enterprise to every court in Europe. Not only had no
military preparations been made in Britain for the support of this
enterprise, but James’s diplomacy was working against it, disowning it,
counteracting it, making every effort to curry favor with the Hapsburg
powers. James’ attitude, of course, immeasurably weakened Frederick’s
position and caused his other friends to doubt him. It had been assumed
James would be bound to support his daughter when the time of trial
came. She was the hostage ensuring her father’s good will. But when the
time came it was revealed that James was perfectly willing to desert
his daughter rather than incurring the Hapsburg anger.
“The whole question is extremely
complicated, and the rights and wrongs of it are complicated. James
stood for peace at all costs; he had wanted to achieve this by marrying
his children to opposite sides in the great conflict. Frederick and his
supporters had interpreted the marriage as full support for their side.
Many of James’s subjects also interpreted it in this way and welcomed it
with enthusiasm as a continuation of Elizabethan tradition. But even
Queen Elizabeth might not have entirely approved of Frederick; she
had carefully avoided doing what he did, namely taking sovereignty of
a country claimed by another power. She had firmly refused to take
the sovereignty of the Netherlands, though she supported the cause.
“…the Thirty Years War which eventually
whittled away the Hapsburg power.” (Yates, pp. 20-22)
|
Had King James of
England not withstood the Rosicrucian plot to establish a beachhead in
Europe (which he did at the expense of his relationship with his own daughter
whom he never saw again), the New Age would have come to pass in the 17th
century. For more information, please listen to our audios on:
The Life and Times of King James I Unfortunately, there has not been
King James’ equal on the world scene since, and Rosicrucian plan is coming
to fruition 400 years later.
We note
the honorable mention given to John Wycliffe for his role in bringing to
pass the sad state of affairs in England and Europe that would lead to a New
Age! Can this be one reason Gail Riplinger has written a book which
gives Wycliffe a new image among KJV-Only Christians? If Wycliffe, the
“Morning Star of the Reformation,” was an agent of the Merovingian popes in Avignon,
this would explain why Gail has written, for all intents and purposes, an
attack on the Textus Receptus. And why she is teaching Kabbalism.
CHRISTIAN HERMETICISM
“Christian Rosenkreutz” is an allegorical romance
depicting Andreae’s philosophy of “Christian Cabalism.” The Rosicrucian
Manifestos heralded the restoration of the “true Christianity” based on a right
understanding of the Holy Scripture which could be attained by means of the
Jewish Cabala. The protagonist of the first and third Manifestos, a mythical
knight of a German Cathar family named “Christian Rosencreutz,” became an adept
Cabalist in the course of his travels en route to Damascus.
A portion of the second Rosicrucian Manifesto,
The Confessio, is devoted to the Holy Bible, the “characters and letters” of
which are said to contain “images” that are “keys” to predicting the future of
the Church and of understanding nature and science.
“Although that great book of nature stands open to
all men, yet there are but few that can read and understand the same…
“These characters and letters, as God hath here
and there incorporated them in the Holy Scriptures, the Bible, so hath he
imprinted them in all beasts. So that like as the mathematician and astronomer
can long before see and know the eclipses which are to come, so we may verily
foreknow and foresee the darkness of obscurations of the Church,
/Drosnin / and how long they shall last. From
the which characters or letters we have borrowed our magic writing, and have
found out, and made, a new language for ourselves, in the which withal is
expressed and declared the nature of all things. So that it is no wonder that we
are not so eloquent in other languages, the which we know that they are
altogether disagreeing to the language of our forefathers, Adam and Enoch, and
were through the Babylonical confusion wholly hidden.
/ angelic language
“…Wherefore we do
admonish everyone for to read diligently and continually the Holy Bible, for he
that taketh all his pleasures therein, he shall know that he prepared for
himself an excellent way to come to our Fraternity. For as this is the whole sum
and content of our rule, that every letter or character which is in the world
ought to be learned and regarded well; so those are like unto us, and are very
near allied unto us, who do make the Holy Bible a rule of their life, and an aim
and end of all their studies: yea to let it be a compendium and content of the
whole world. And not only to have it continually in the mouth, but to know how
to apply and direct the true understanding of it to all times and ages of the
world…
/ Mozeson
“…we do openly witness and acknowledge,
that from the beginning of the world there hath not been given unto men a more
worthy, a more excellent, and more admirable and wholesome Book than the Holy
Bible. Blessed is he that hath the same, yet more blessed is he who reads it
diligently, but most blessed of all is he that truly understandeth the same, for
he is most like to God, and doth come most near to him.” (The
Confessio)
An interesting commentary on these paragraphs is found in
The Impact of the
Kabbalah in the Seventeenth Century. The editors of the
Kabbala Denudata or “Kabbalah Unveiled” (1677-1684) believed the Kabbala
would be the key to attaining religious unity as well as a “correct
understanding” of the Bible, in contrast to Greek wisdom (e.g. Greek resources)
which have “muddied the waters of divine Hebrew wisdom”:
“The frontispiece of the Kabbala Denudata
shows the high expectations that Knorr and von Helmont had of the Kabbala in
terms of religious peace and unity. It also reveals their conviction that the
Kabbala offered a key to understanding the natural world as well… [G]entile
wisdom has clear limits—it does not reach to, or come from, heaven the way the
Kabbala does… Knorr attributed the divisions among Christians to their
misplaced dependence on Greek wisdom, which far from being the source of
true wisdom had simply muddied the waters of divine Hebrew wisdom.
“…the Kabbalah alone is able to unlock the
secrets of the Old and New Testaments… The…first volume of the Kabala
denudata emphasizes the encyclopedic nature of the Kabbalah. Not only does
it provide a theology that will unite Christians, Jews and pagans, but it
offers a morality and ethic that calms the passions besetting the soul…”
Kabbalists believe the Hebrew letters are a
“divine script” as well as “images” that reveal by their “shapes and sounds” the
nature of things:
“The ‘topos’ of the ‘Book of Nature’ also appears
in the Manifestos. Two books are available to mankind, nature and
Scripture, the one mirroring the other. The dual nature of the divine script
printed both in things and on the biblical page provides the rationale for the
belief that the Hebrew letters are images of things and reveal by their
shapes and sounds the nature of things…
[quotes
passage above from the Confessio]
“The notion that the Bible is the font of all
knowledge, if it is understood correctly, which is so central to van Helmont and
[Christian Knorr] van Rosenroth, is clearly stated in the Confessio.
Indeed the following passage is similar to von Rosenroth’s preface to the
Alphabet of Nature… [quotes passage
above
from the
Confessio]” (The
Impact of the Kabbalah in the Seventeenth Century,
p. 81)
The Kabbalists’ view of the Hebrew letters is
essentially Gail Riplinger’s teaching that the letters of Scripture were
created/written personally by God and that the “shape” and “sound” of each
letter should be analyzed to determine its meaning.
“The historical and current shape of each
letter is a tremendous clue to its meaning… (Awe, p. 1115)
“Q. How do letters convey meaning?
“A. Words and letters often resemble their
meaning…. Most words are a mix of these:
·
Pictorial, optical and geometrical: the
shape of the letter…
·
Aural and acoustic: the sound of the
letter; how its pronunciation reproduces the thought referred to… (Awe,
p. 1159)
“Before anti-Semitic German ‘scholars,’…linguists
often traced words back to common Hebrew roots… English has been traced back to
Hebrew… ‘In fact, it is our hypothesis that the phonetic alphabet, monotheism,
and codified law were introduced for the first time to the Israelites by Moses
at Mount Sinai in the form of the Ten Commandments’… ‘The written letter
replaced the graven image’ … God said the letters on the stone tablets were
ones, ‘which I have written…the tables were the work of God and the writing
was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.’” (Awe, p. 1171)
A ROSICRUCIAN MASTERPIECE
Is Gail Riplinger just dabbling in Kabbalah or is
she a “Christian Kabbalist” whose hidden agenda is
to introduce Christians to the occult methods used by Jewish Kabbalists to
interpret Scripture?
If Mrs. Riplinger is, in fact, functioning as a
“Christian Kabbalist” in the Christian community, we would expect to find
Rosicrucian symbols and concepts in her book. In fact, there are many
Rosicrucian symbols, motifs and code words subtly incorporated throughout In
Awe of Thy Word. The examples in the following pages are representative of numerous
others in the book. Occult symbols from various other sources have been
included for comparison purposes.
But first, a word from David
Bay, which seems more applicable to Gail Riplinger’s
book than the King James Bible:
“A former Satanist
told me that all witches place great stock in symbols. They believe that,
once a symbol is created, it begins to throb with occult energy from the
demonic realm. Symbols literally are believed to be transfer points of great
supernatural energy. It makes no difference whether the symbol is on the
ground or the floor of a building – as it in with all rituals
– or in a
painting, or on a piece of paper. Once they are created, they begin to throb
with enormous demonic power.
“Thus, it is of
great significance that all these Satanic symbols were originally placed on
the original 1611 KJV Bible. The Rosicrucians who created these symbols
really and truly believed that they were creating ‘centers of occult power’
which would throb with demonic power 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. I
believe that Bacon and King James firmly intended to create a Rosicrucian
Bible, filled with occult symbols which were ‘throbbing with Satanic power’,
designed to move the entire English-speaking peoples of the world into the
‘Mystic Christianity’ called Rosicrucianism...
“As
you continue to understand, these pagan Rosicrucians and Freemasons led by
Sir Francis Bacon had their hands all over the original 1611 King James
Bible. They took perfectly good text and added page after page after page of
Rosicrucian artwork, some of which tells a hidden story, while others are
just symbols. These Masonic handshakes are very real and very telling, for
they tell the story that Bacon and King James conspired to produce a Rosicrucian masterpiece when they published this Bible.”
(David Bay, “Horror
of All Horrors”)
In the Spring of 2006,
David Bay published his case that the King James Bible was a “Rosicrucian
masterpiece” and that King James was himself a Rosicrucian who “gave that
manuscript to Sir Francis Bacon, who possessed it for about one year, until
1611, when he handed the manuscript back to the King, who promptly sent it
to his official printer.”
Cutting Edge Ministries’
shocking (albeit unproven) revelations were not a quiet affair, but
generated waves of protest and a full-blown controversy among Christians on the Internet. Watch Unto Prayer did a 4-part audio
series exposing the deception of Cutting Edge Ministries. (See: “Did
Francis Bacon Edit the King James Bible?”)
Strangely, Gail Riplinger remained silent, offering no defense of King James
or the King James Bible to counter the devastating accusations of David Bay. Why???
The extensive use of Rosicrucian symbolism in Gail Riplinger’s
book, In Awe of Thy Word, goes a long way
toward explaining the strange phenomenon of the quintessential “King James-Only defender”
standing down, so to speak, while the King James Bible was viciously
attacked as a “Rosicrucian Bible,
complete with masterful Luciferian artwork.”
Even so, considering the multitude of Rosicrucian symbols in Mrs.
Riplinger’s book, the latter phrase is a better description of In Awe of Thy Word
than the KJV.
In New Age Bible Versions, Gail Riplinger demonstrated her clear
understanding that symbols are Satan’s mode of communication since he must carry
out his evil plan clandestinely.
“There are two ways of communication: 1.)
direct and explicit (i.e., the word of God and its doctrines) 2.) indirect
and implicit (i.e., symbols and rituals). God uses the first method; Satan
uses the second method.” (New Age Bible Versions, p. 101)
Notwithstanding Mrs. Riplinger’s firm grasp of this principle,
In Awe of Thy Word
is loaded with occult symbols...too many to give Gail the benefit
of the doubt.
Before proceeding to the evidence, a final
word is in order from David Bay concerning the power of occult symbols which
are concealed from the uninitiated:
“Occultists
the world over believe that, once a symbol is created, it acquires
power of its own, and more power is generated when such symbol(s) are
created without the profane [uninitiated] knowing about it. And, the
greatest power of all is created in the symbol(s) if the uninitiated
NEVER discover that the symbol exists... The occultist firmly believes
that a symbol or a set of symbols possesses inherent power once they
are created. Therefore, occultic doctrine teaches that these Satanic
symbols would act as a powerful electric-type grid once they were set
in place. This power grid would constantly pulsate with
Luciferic power 24 hours a day, seven days a week...” (David Bay, “Masonic
Symbols of Power”)
APPENDIX I
Grail Riplinger’s
“Rosicrucian
Masterpiece”
CONTEND FOR THE FAITH:
THE TEXTUS RECEPTUS
