The dictionary defines a prophet broadly as a person who foretells future events or advocates a particular cause. A narrower definition is as a teacher of the supposed will of God. Thus, in general, the former deals with secular subjects, the latter with religious. In what follows, instances of both are discussed. It is hoped that even those readers who might be disposed to dismiss religious prophecy out of hand, will at least consider the evidence on its merits.
The end of the nineteenth century was a time of optimism. The remarkable advance in knowledge and skill of the Industrial Revolution gave promise of ever-increasing affluence and consequent life style, at least in the developed world. There was a naive belief that mankind had in some way "come of age", whatever that expression may mean. It was felt that such human brilliance would ensure that the foolishness of war would cease and a wonderful future lay ahead. While Darwin's theories suggesting that man was descended from the ape might be depressing at first sight, they also hinted at the possibility of further human evolution into a wonderful future. Also Freud's theories on the working of the mind raised the promise of a future free of guilt. For the less well off in society, Marx's forecast of the coming "Dictatorship of the Proletariat" was looked forward to also.
Thus the poet Tennyson (1909-'92) could write:
"For I dipped into the future, far as human eye could see,He did not foresee just how costly some "bales" would be; an atomic bomb is surely the most costly "bale" ever produced and even more costly in human lives when used. But Tennyson was not naive; he went on:-
Saw the vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be;
Saw the heavens fill with commerce, argosies of magic sails,
Pilots of the purple twilight, dropping down with costly bales."
"Heard the heavens filled with shouting, and there rained a ghastly dew
From the nations airy navies grappling in the central blue;"
And later returned to the Utopian vision:-
"Till the war-drum throbb'd no longer, and the battle flags were furl'd
In the parliament of man, the Federation of the world.
There the common sense of most shall hold a fretful realm in awe,
And the kindly earth shall slumber, lapd in universal law."
Now that the twentieth century has passed it is obvious to all that these naive hopes have not been fulfilled. True, the technical and material progress has excelled all expectations. The wealth and comfort enjoyed by mankind, at least in the so-called developed parts of the world have never been greater. Nevertheless extreme poverty still exists in the poorer areas and seems impossible to correct. But the developments of modern technology have also been used in the most destructive and murderous wars of all time. The discovery of atomic power has, for the first time, led to the possibility of mankind wiping out all life on the planet. The optimism of the end of the nineteenth century has been replaced by fear of the future. The belief and trust in the march of science is gone, or, at least greatly diminished. Wealth increases but the young resort more and more to alcohol and drugs while the suicide rate climbs.
The ideas which shaped the thinking of millions of people in the last century were mainly developed in the nineteenth. These were the ideas which led, among other things, to the slaughter and enslavement of millions, instead of the promised Utopia. We are now in a better position to examine these ideas. It is now possible to look at the truth or falsity of them, at the integrity of those who developed them, and at the wisdom (or otherwise) of those who promoted them. The following attempt to do this is necessarily brief and incomplete. For those who would wish for greater depth, it is hoped the links to other sites will be helpful. A list of books is also provided.
Marxism.
It can be said that Marxism was, at least in terms of the numbers of people affected, the greatest political movement of the twentieth century. It affected the lives of thousands of millions across the world and continues to do so. Even today, while in retreat elsewhere, it remains in control in the most populous country in the world. While many people were involved in its development, the man who gave his name to it was Karl Marx (1818-1883).
Marxist Theory.
The theories of Karl Marx were based upon his consideration of human history, particularly with regard to the position of the workers in and following the Industrial Revolution. He saw capitalism as enslaving the workers who would inevitably become poorer and more desperate. This, he thought, must lead to revolution and the destruction of capitalism, followed by the construction of a classless society. In this society there would, in general, be no private property and the community itself would be the universal capitalist with equality of wages for all. Forced labour would be replaced by free; joyful activity; the state, the family, law, religion would all be no more.
While Marx initially thought that this was inevitable, he later decided that it would have to be controlled by an elite group. He apparently was blind to the fact that this would immediately destroy the idea of equality for all. This group was set up as the Communist Party and soon became the most efficient and soulless tyranny the world has ever known. The party was based on an atheistic materialist philosophy with no belief in any higher authority or moral imperative other than expediency. Thus any action was not just allowable but was mandatory if it advanced the aims of the party. How anybody could imagine that such a system could ever lead to the envisaged perfect society with no laws, no crime and equality for all is incredible. But, no doubt, the cynical people in power had no such illusions, or indeed, any intention of actually working towards such a future. In fact, the society which resulted was probably the most unequal ever inflicted on humanity.
Liberal Support.
The poor and dispossessed in many countries were understandably attracted by Marxist ideas. But, remarkably, many of the liberal intellectuals and those who regarded themselves as leading public opinion in the democratic world were also fooled. Thus George Bernard Shaw visited Russia for ten days in 1931, was feted by the authorities, dined with Stalin and surrounded by cheering crowds. In a speech which he delivered at the Trade Union Central Hall (later to be the showplace of Stalin's notorious treason trials) he said: "In Russia I have been convinced that the new Communist system is capable of leading mankind out of its present crisis and saving it from complete anarchy and ruin". He closed his eyes to the wholesale murder and torture taking place there as,indeed, did many others.
In 1944, Henry Wallace, Vice President of the United States, visited Magadan, one of the most notorious slave-labour camps in Siberia. He and his party were fooled by the removal of the guard towers, by keeping prisoners out of sight and by other cosmetic measures. He apparently never suspected that it was other than a happy, flourishing frontier town. Some years later Wallace said that it was not until long afterwards that he found out that slave-labour camps existed. But that fact had been common knowledge for many years previously, so how could he have been unaware of it.
These are just a few examples of the foolish illusions embraced by the liberal intelligentsia of the west. Volumes of adulatory articles poured out from the pens of those to whom the Communist Party officials among themselves cynically referred as "useful idiots". The journalist Douglas Hyde was for many years a convinced communist and news-editor of the communist "Daily Worker" in London, before converting to Catholicism. In his book "I Believed" he gives a chilling picture of the utterly immoral and ruthless operations of the Party as well as its efficiency in brainwashing the mainly idealistic young people who joined it.
These young people were full of enthusiasm for the movement and for the promise it gave of achieving a just society. But the leaders knew that such naive visionaries would be of little use to them. What they needed were teams specially trained and ready to do anything, anywhere, for communism. These were to be the "steel-hardened cadres" called for by Stalin, with no aim in life other than serving the party. Cadres Departments were set up to see to the development of such people and to ensure the "soundness" of their Marxism. Thus to the fully trained Marxist, there was no such thing as objective right and wrong, no such thing as loyalty to anything outside the movement or to natural virtues of friendship or patriotism. These people were full of arrogance and of contempt for the rest of the population but at the same time cravenly submissive to every edict issued by their satanic bosses in the Kremlin.
The complete control of international Communism by the Kremlin was very much in evidence during the second world war. Throughout the early months of that war, before the involvement of Russia, the party line was that it was a war between capitalist powers and it was hoped that these powers would wear themselves out and thus allow Communism to eventually take over. However, on the entry of Russia on the Allied side, instructions were immediately issued by the Kremlin for all communists to co-operate fully in helping to defeat the Axis powers. This about face was somewhat embarrassing for the members, but aside from some murmuring in private, was immediately put in force. The complete subservience to the bosses in Russia was very clearly demonstrated.
Marxism in Practice.
The sheer horror of the regime in the old USSR is now well documented and is accepted as true by all but the most extreme fanatics. It has been particularly well documented by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Even larger populations have been ground down in Communist China. Millions have suffered in Eastern Europe, in Cuba, in Korea and elsewhere. Indeed the scale of human suffering due to man's inhumanity to man under communism has never been exceeded in history.
Douglas Hyde revealed that in the 1930s the Communist leadership issued a world-wide directive to infiltrate the Catholic Church, which it recognised as its most formidable enemy. In the 1950s, Mrs. Bella Dodd, former high-ranking official of the American Communist Party said; "In the 1930s we put eleven hundred men into the priesthood in order to destroy the Church from within". The idea was to use the institution of the Church itself to promote a pseudo-religion resembling traditional Catholicism but not the real thing. How much this infiltration contributed to the serious crisis in the Church in the second half of the twentieth century is not known, but it certainly cannot be discounted. Who knows how many of these people moved up to high positions in the hierarchy and are still there.
But belief in the theory of Marxism is by no means dead; it still has not a few protagonists. Their contention, in general, is that the troubles experienced in application of the system were due to individuals such as Stalin and Mao Tse-Tung in positions of supreme authority. But this is to ignore the basic philosophy involved in the system; a philosophy which recognises no objective value, but considers anything acceptable which advances the "cause". Having regard to recent history, it is to be hoped that no further experiments will be inflicted on helpless populations and that Marxism will be consigned to the past, with all its misery and suffering.
Introduction.
The influence of the ideas of Sigmund Freud on the 20th century can hardly be overestimated. His work and writing on the science of psychoanalysis (if science it can be called) were huge. His theories have been widely applied in attempts to explain mental processes, to interpret dreams, and to cure neurotic and psychotic disorders. As many people have built their careers on psychoanalysis and made big money thereby, there arose a vested interest in its promotion. This does not, of course, prove that there is necessarily anything wrong with the theory, but it does mean that criticism of its efficacy is usually strongly resisted.
Most books on the topic are written by psychiatrists, are uncritical and seem unaware of alternative ideas. But in recent years quite a few books and articles giving more objective views have appeared. More and more it appears that the commonly accepted Freudian ideas are deeply flawed to such a degree as to bring into question the whole of psychoanalysis.
In examining the work of Freud, we are heavily dependant on his reports and writings. This is due to the nature of the subject, the one to one relationship with his patients and the difficulty of objective verification of the results of treatments. Thus it is necessary to examine, if possible, his honesty and integrity as evidenced by his career. As will be seen, such an examination gives rise to troublesome doubts. In this review only an outline can be given. For more detail the reader is referred to the bibliography.
During a study period in Paris in 1885,when 25 years old, Freud changed his interest from physiology to psychology. In "The Assault on Truth" the author Jeffrey Masson examines previously unavailable information and shows that Freud, during this time also became aware of literature on the reality of sexual abuse of children in early childhood. On return from Paris, Freud started in private practice, studying neurotic behaviour in his patients. By the end of the 1880s, he was well established as an expert in neurology and was a lecturer at the University. He was happily married with a growing family and a lucrative private practice and seemed set to continue thus as a respected professional.
In the early 1890s things changed. From being strait-laced Freud changed to advancing views of unrestrained sexual behaviour. He suffered a change in personality, characterised by extreme mood swings. He became dictatorial over his followers and unable to accept any criticism of his theories. He started using cocaine, originally to cure headaches, but seems to have become addicted to it. Indeed, the changes in personality observed in him at this time are typical of patients suffering such addiction.
In April 1896 he presented a paper entitled "The Aetiology of Hysteria" to the Society for Psychiatry and Neurology in Vienna. At this time hysteria was quite prevalent, particularly in young women. Freud's new theory advanced the view that the cause lay in actual sexual abuse in early childhood, usually by older family members. He had arrived at this conclusion as a result of his knowledge gained during his stay in Paris and his examination of patients in Vienna.
As Freud said in a letter to a friend, "this paper got an icy reception" and almost immediately "the word has been given out to abandon me and a void is forming around me". There seems little reason to doubt that Freud felt that continuing to promote his ideas on infant abuse and its prevalence would seriously affect his career. These were times of great hypocrisy where a veneer of respectability was used to hide much evil. This was particularly the case in middle and upper middle-class society where Freud and his colleagues worked. His career was of great importance to Freud; he was a man of great ambition.
In September 1897 he wrote, in a letter to a friend, that he had changed his ideas and come to the conclusion that his patients troubles were not due to actual childhood experiences but rather to neurotic fantasies. From these new ideas emerged the theories of fantasy life, the so-called Oedipus complex etc., which formed the basis of psychoanalysis. Indeed, without these theories it is doubtful if psychoanalysis would exist. Nevertheless, in December 1997, Freud again referred to his earlier ideas and seemed to be reconsidering his previous about-turn. However, for the rest of his career, he concentrated on his new theories and refused to consider any suggestion that he might be wrong in doing so. He gathered around him admirers who hung on his words; those who did not do so were summarily dismissed. And so the "science" of psychoanalysis came into being and the lives of countless people were affected, rarely, if ever, for the better.
Freudianism.
In his book, "Decline and Fall of the Freudian Empire", Professor Hans Eysenck examines in detail the legacy of Freud and the efficacy or otherwise of psychoanalysis. Basing his findings on his own work and referring to a huge number of other publications, he concludes that Freudianism is deeply flawed, almost totally untrue and as a treatment does more harm than good. He suggests that in studying Freud and his work it is wise to believe nothing said by Freud or his followers about the success of treatments without careful study of the evidence. Freud was extremely secretive and rarely gave details of case histories, often pleading confidentiality as a reason. But there are some cases where the efficacy of his treatment has been independently studied.
One such is that of the so-called Wolf Man which Freud and his followers regarded as an outstanding success. The name is derived from a dream which the patient had at the age of four and involved some white wolves. Freud somehow concluded that this dream was due to the patient having seen sexual behaviour between his parents prior to the dream. It seems remarkable that having dismissed childhood abuse as a problem, he nevertheless became obsessed with sexual explanations of neurosis. Having treated the patient for more than four years, he discharged him as cured. Sixty years later, this patient was interviewed by psychologist Ken Obholzer who wrote a book on the case. This book shows that the patient's symptoms continued over these sixty years after the claimed "cure". There was nothing to show that the psychoanalysis was in any way effective.
Another famous case of a cure claimed by Freud concerned a young woman referred to as "Anna O.". Freud decided that this girl's hysteria was due to an incident which she had repressed from consciousness. He claimed to cure the girl by his treatment though he knew this was not so. In fact she was not suffering from hysteria at all but from a serious physical disease, namely tubercular meningitis.
With regard to the many studies that have been made of psychoanalysis, it can be concluded as follows: Freud's explanation of mental processes seems mainly based on an imagination with an unhealthy obsession with sexual matters. There is no evidence that it cures neurotic disorders. With or without treatment, two-thirds of patients are cured after a few years. For the others, well-known methods of behaviour therapy are generally effective and of proven value. Freud's theories of the development of neuroses from sexual desires in early childhood remain totally unproven. Thus Freud used, for instance, the interpretation of dreams in a quite fantastic way in his claims.
The Psychoanalytic Club.
In his book, "Final Analysis", Jeffery Masson describes the process for becoming a member of the International Psychoanalytic Association. The word "process" seems more suitable than "training", as will be shown.
The main part of this process consists of the aspiring candidate being subjected to a personal analysis by an accredited member of the IPA. This takes a minimum of four to five years and often much longer. It is also hugely expensive as the examining member charges the usual high fees. The point of this analysis is to ensure that the candidate gets rid of his own mental problems and any personal bias or prejudice. As all candidates had to pass through this process it must be assumed that they all originally had more or less severe mental disabilities. Strange that such people could be considered suitable candidates. Furthermore the assumption is obviously made that they can be cured by psychoanalysis and then proceed to cure others. As the whole process is highly questionable this carries little credibility.
Masson's description of his personal experience in this process shows how bizarre it is. Subjected to humiliation and much verbal abuse, his patience in continuing was remarkable. But, as he says himself, consideration of the money already spent and the fact that only by holding out to the end could an interesting and lucrative career be attained, obviously helped. Of course, this was only one man's experience but indications are that it is not untypical.
On completion of this training, the candidate treats patients himself with partial supervision by a full member and then attends seminars where treatments are discussed. Following all this, if deemed to be satisfactory he is admitted to the International Psychoanalytic Association. He is now assumed to be a perfectly well adjusted human being, any character blemishes having been corrected during training. But, of course, if psychoanalysis is a failure, then so is the training analysis. The seminars, as described, are also of little help. So the resultant practitioners can scarcely inspire any confidence. Descriptions of the relations between the members of the association and of their views of their patients are distressing. Indeed, it appears that if psychoanalysis did work, the people most in need of it would be the practitioners themselves.
Conclusions.
Freud was a troubled person himself. Therefore his insights cannot be assumed applicable generally. They have not been proved in any way but there is ample evidence of the bad results of their application. Many, many people have subjected themselves to analysis over long periods in hope of alleviation of their problems, only to finish up worse off mentally, not to mention financially.
It is now maintained that Freud's teachings have retarded the study of mental problems rather than advancing it. By basing his work on what seems to have been a sexually obsessed imagination rather than strictly controlled (and difficult) scientific studies, he has led his followers down a road to nowhere.
The effect of Freudianism on the values of our civilisation has been and continues to be unquestionably malignant. The upbringing of children, sexual behaviour, traditional values have all been changed for the worse leaving society greatly impaired, at least throughout the so-called Western World.
To sum up, here is a quotation from Sir Peter Medawar, Nobel Prize winner for medicine:
"Considered in its entirety, psychoanalysis will not do. It is an end product, moreover, like a dinosaur or a zeppelin; no better theory can ever be erected on its ruins, which will remain for ever one of the saddest and strangest of all landmarks in the history of twentieth-century thought."
Evolution.
If there is one all-pervading theory from the past century, it is the theory of Evolution. But it is no longer regarded as just a theory but rather as a proven fact of history. However, as will be explained, this is not so. No proof has been demonstrated, and indications now are that none will ever be found.
There are some variations in the definition of the term "evolution". However, the general understanding is that it means the fully materialistic evolution of all life on earth, using chance changes and depending on natural selection to ensure "survival of the fittest". No outside influence or power is considered to be involved in this process.
To most people, mention of evolution immediately evokes the picture of ape evolving into man. This picture, showing the supposed stages from hairy creature to present-day man, is to be found in most primary text-books on the subject. In the book "Icons of Evolution", it is shown that for decades, biology students have been taught things about evolution that are simply untrue. The following are among examples cited:-
The famous Miller-Uray experiment of 1953 produced some of the chemical building-blocks of life by sending an electric spark through gases thought to simulate the earth's primitive atmosphere. This belief has since found to be wrong and consequently the experiment is now considered valueless.
Simularity of the pattern of bones in different creatures is not necessarily evidence of evolution; it is as good, if not better, an argument for intelligent design.
Haeckle's drawings of embryos of different creatures ostensibly showing great simularities are inaccurate and also do not represent early stages of development. The latter, when examined, show great differences between all the embryos.
"Archeopteryx", so called, was supposed to be the missing link between reptiles and birds It is now agreed by palaeontologists that it is not so.
The famous case of the "peppered moths" was called "the most spectacular evolutionary change ever seen". In fact all it showed was a change in the proportions of two varieties of a pre-existing species of moth. Also the photos were faked.
Four-winged fruit-flies produced by careful laboratory breeding of mutations. However, the extra "wings" lacked flight muscles and had no function and offered only an impediment to flight.
Naturally, of the whole story of the evolution of life, the transition of ape to man is of most interest to everybody. It is also that which has had and continues to have the greatest effect on modern thought and ideology. But the big question is; is it true? How convincing is the evidence?
The Fossil Record.
The only hard evidence for the existence of creatures now extinct is in the form of fossils consisting of remains or impressions hardened and preserved in rock. In Darwin's time, fossil evidence of creatures linking ape and man was not found. As he himself stated this was "the most obvious and gravest objection against my theory". His belief was that future investigation would uncover these "missing links".
Searches of the fossil record have now been carried out all over the world and on a vast scale. The missing links have not been found. But what then, it will be said, about "Java Man", "Peking Man", etc. The names applied to these fossils always suggest that complete skeletons have been unearthed, but this has never happened. What have been found are some bone fragments or a few teeth, which have apparently been enough to confirm the wishful thinking of the discoverers. Here are a few examples, quite typical.
"Java Man" (1891). An ape-like skull-cap, followed, a year later, by a human leg bone, nearby. Many years later, the discoverer admitted to having found two human skulls in the same stratum, which would have destroyed the claim."Piltdown Man" (1908). A complete skull; this was a fraud, made by joining the skull of a modern man with the jaw of an orang-utan. But for forty years it was guarded from investigation in a safe of the British Natural History Museum.
"Nebraska Man" (1922). One tooth! This was later found to be the tooth of an extinct pig!
There are other examples, ranging from the highly speculative to the ludicrous. Considering the huge efforts expended over a hundred years and the pathetic results of the search, it seems now safe to assume, as is admitted by palaeontologists, that the "missing link never existed.
But it must not be thought that it is only between ape and man that evolutionary links are missing. All indications from the fossil record show that gradual changes bridging different species have not been discovered. Thus the fossils, the only possible hard evidence for evolution, have signally failed to produce that evidence. Of course, gradual changes within a given species can occur. Such changes are similar to those caused by plant and animal breeders through the ages. But there is a limit to the amount of variation which can be produced. Attempts to exceed this limit lead to failure through sterility or reversion to the original. In no case is it found possible to change to a new or different species. Believers in evolution are disconcerted to find that new species appear suddenly, as it were, out of nowhere; the intermediate types are not there. Also, the "old" species live on and thrive, rather than being replaced by the "new".
To explain away this difficulty, a new theory, to which the name "punctuated equilibrium" was applied, appeared in the 1970's. This suggested that speciation (the development of new species) did not take place in main population groups, but rather in small groups which had become separated by some feature of topography or by emigration. In the small groups it is suggested that evolutionary changes could take place rapidly so as to leave little or no fossil record. It is further postulated that the new species so formed would later rejoin the main population and thus leave the fossil record now found.
This complicated theory smacks of desperation in the protagonists who refuse to accept the clear evidence against evolution shown by the fossils. In "The Blind Watchmaker", Richard Dawkins devotes a chapter to this theory. While he disagrees with some details of it, he accepts it as a credible theory. Indeed he considers it to be "the obvious answer" to the difficulties in all cases of gaps in the fossil record. It is difficult to see anything "obvious" about such special pleading, for which there is no evidence whatsoever.
Possibly the greatest problem shown by the fossil record is that known as the "Cambrian Explosion", said to be of about 600 million years ago. Nearly all types of animals appear suddenly in this, with no trace of evolutionary ancestors. The believers in evolution have not succeeded in explaining away this awkward fact.
The age of the Earth.
The theory of evolution requires that the Earth be billions of years old to allow time for the supposed developments. The so-called "geological column" showing the various ages such as Jurassic,Triassic, etc. is mainly based upon the positions in the thickness of the sedimentary rocks on the surface of the earth. The present rate of build-up of this sediment is taken as about 0.2 mm. per year. Using this figure, a thickness of say 13,000 metres would correspond to an age of about 65 million years. However, this assumes that the sedimentation rate has remained constant over these vast ages. This belief is known as "uniformitarianism" and is unprovable and highly suspect. Thus, for instance, full-grown trees have been found vertically preserved in sedimentary rock. This could only have happened if the rate of sedimentary deposition was then very high as otherwise the tree would have rotted long before it could be entombed.
Radioactive dating techniques are also used in an endeavour to determine the age of rocks. However, such methods require knowledge of the original level of radioactivity in the samples, the state of the rock and the level of radiation over long periods. Such knowledge is not generally available, so the inaccuracy can be considerable. Thus, for instance, a study of rock known to be due to a volcanic eruption in 1801, gave potassium-argon radioactivity dates from 160 million to 3 billion years!
Molecular Biology.
The claim of the theory of Evolution is that it explains how life arose from non-living matter and developed by natural means to finally produce human life. As already pointed out, the last stage, linking man to earlier animal life, remains unproven and there are no indications that this position will change.
Leaving aside the really fundamental question of how anything exists, all physical substances are composed of atoms and more complex atomic groupings known as molecules. Molecular Biology is the study of bio-molecules which make up, as it were, the nuts and bolts of biological systems and thus of all living things .
Molecules are exceedingly small, far smaller than can be examined by the most powerful visual microscope, limited as it is by the wavelength of visible light. The electron microscope, developed in the mid-twentieth century, allows the examination of much smaller objects, but still does not make molecules visible. For these studies still more complex devices are required and are now becoming available. Truly remarkable information is now coming to light from this difficult work.
The cell is the basic unit of living matter. All living organisms consist of one or more cells. Thus bacteria consist of single cells whereas a human is composed of billions of cells. Until recently the cell was thought to be a very simple thing. We now know that nothing could be farther from the truth. A cell, no more than one thousand of an inch in size, is a fantastically complicated system. To visually examine this system, it would need to be magnified hundreds of millions of times. This would make visible something similar to a huge fully automated factory full of assembly plants, processing units, communication and control systems with a centralised memory bank of huge storage capacity. The robot-like "mechanisms" consisting of functioning protein molecules would be seen to exist in a multitude of specialised designs. In addition to this the cell has the capacity to reproduce itself over and over again.
Of such marvels is every living thing composed. The theory of Evolution envisages life starting in a very simple form and progressing to ever-greater complexity. Now we know that the cell, the basic constituent of all life, is an immensely complicated unit, much more complicated than man has yet managed to achieve with all his vaunted progress; we have a long way to go before fully understanding it. The idea that this marvel somehow happened by chance is surely totally unreasonable. The development of life from non-living matter is inexplicable and gives no support to the theory of Evolution.
Refusal to admit lack of evidence.
There are huge difficulties in substantiating the theory of evolution. New attempts at overcoming them are continually produced, only to be subsequently refuted as new information becomes available. When faced with any suggestion that the theory cannot be true, the stock answer is that it must be as there is no other possibility. They say this, not because their studies of evolution prove it; it manifestly does not. Rather they assume from the start that creation is impossible and then use the theory to justify this belief. As Richard Dawkins openly admits, "Darwin made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist". Thus he admits that his atheism came before his Darwinism. Is this then the real motive underlying the promotion of evolution? If so, it can scarcely be described as scientific!
Indeed, more and more modern science is showing how naive is the idea of evolution and how much more complicated things are than was fondly imagined.
Background.
Alfred Charles Kinsey, the great promoter of sexual "liberation", was born in New Jersey in 1894 . He was reared in a strict Protestant family with more exposure to stories of punishment and hell-fire than to heaven and the mercy of God. Until he went to college, Kinsey seemed to accept this outlook and to be a most devout Christian and was also a most promising student at high school.
Under pressure from his father, he spent two unhappy years at an Institute of Technology, but he rebelled as he wished to study biology. He then broke with his father and was forced to make his own way through college. He still attended church regularly but was not now so fervent. On graduation he was admitted to Harvard where he obtained a doctorate in science. He also turned away from religion and saw science as a means of liberation from it and from its moral restrictions.
In 1920, Kinsey obtained a job at Indiana University and in 1921 married Clara McMillen. At this time he appears to have changed in personality, becoming opinionated and domineering. He wrote a number of books on biology, which sold quite successfully. He had now come to despise religion and as his children grew up made sure they were given full sexual information and freed from any guilt in this regard. He encouraged nudity in family life and also on field trips with his students. His homosexuality was now known to his wife and she cooperated with him in his extremely promiscuous behaviour with people of both sexes. In 1938 Indiana University set up a course on marriage and the family and Kinsey, strangely enough, was put in charge of it. During the course he concentrated on sexual research to such a degree that complaints about it caused it to be terminated after two years.
In 1947 Kinsey founded the Institute for Sex Research in the university, ostensibly as a serious scientific discipline but in reality to promote a sexual revolution in society. In this "research" staff members and their spouses were encouraged to wife and husband swapping and homosexuality. Outside subjects were also brought in to facilitate the "studies". These sexual activities were commonly filmed while keeping the identities secret.
In order to promote his ideas outside the institute, Kinsey published the books, "Sex in the Human Male" (1948) and "Sex in the Human Female" (1953). In these books all kinds of sexual behaviour were examined in a dispassionate scientific manner with no distinction between normal and abnormal and no judgement of good or evil. The books claimed to show that all kinds of acts considered abnormal or deviant were extremely common and were carried out by all levels of society; only being hidden because of social or religious taboos. Thus the aim was to get rid of such restrictions so that these activities would be everywhere acceptable. The statistics published in these books seemed to justify Kinsey's views. Ideas Promoted. As is well known, Kinsey claimed that at least 10% of the male population is homosexual. In arriving at this figure, he should, of course, have taken a representative sample of the male population. But he did not. He purposely concentrated on interviewees with prison and/or sex offender history and on many male prostitutes. He also made no allowance for the known fact that it is those who least represent normal society values who are most likely to volunteer for interview. This was pointed out to him but was ignored. Thus his procedure was quite unscientific. This, taken together with his obsession to promote sexual licence, must make his published figures not just doubtful, but really totally untrustworthy.
With regard to paedophilia, Kinsey was in favour of adult-child sexual activity; he devotes a chapter in his book to arguing for its acceptance. It seems, however, that the main source of his information was one man who had, from childhood, been engaged in every form of sexual activity; with young and old, male and female, and with many species of animals. Kinsey looked upon this monster as a fully emancipated person behaving perfectly naturally. This was as he thought how all people should behave if they were not restricted by society or religion. Today there are groups who agree and wish to have paedophilia legalised.
Finally Kinsey wished to remove the taboo on sex between human beings and animals; normally known as bestiality. To quote from his book on this matter, he finds remarkable "the degree of abhorrence with which intercourse between humans and animals of other species is viewed by most persons who have not had such experience".
Thus Kinsey was totally concentrated on asserting that the only correct approach to all manner of sexual activity was the "scientific" one, which should be quite dispassionate and free from all questions of right or wrong. Indeed, in this view, right and wrong have no meaning; all that matters is what can be considered "natural". By using data obtained from carefully selected non-representative sources in a very unscientific way he produced results suggesting that extremely high levels of sexual deviancy were "natural" and therefore acceptable. Using his great talent for persuasion, he was very successful in promoting these views. It is difficult to say how much he contributed to the moral breakdown of our present society but it certainly seems that his malign influence on it may well have been considerable.
Darwin is usually credited with being the originator of the theory of evolution but he was preceded in these ideas by the French naturalist Lamarck (1744-1829). The latter studied the relationship of species in 1801 and in publications in 1809 and 1815 expressed his ideas of their changeability and of the evolution of the animal world. But neither was Lamarck the first to propose the idea that all living things developed from simple beginnings unaided by a controlling intelligence. To find the first expression of such thoughts it is necessary to go back over two thousand years to the Greek philosopher Epicurus (431-270 BC).
The aim of Epicurus was to show how to achieve human happiness by getting rid of fear. He considered the reasons for fear to be twofold; fear of the gods and fear of death. To overcome these he advanced the idea that the universe was infinite in extent and eternal. His belief in the infinity of the size of the universe was based on his inability to imagine an end to it. How strange that anybody could seriously construct a theory of the universe on such a basis. Still using his imagination, he saw all things as composed of individual particles (atoms) which, in constant random motion over aeons of time would accidentally link up to form everything and every body in the universe. While the gods might exist, he considered that if they did, they had no interest and no effect on the purposeless development of the material world. These theories of Epicurus were popularised later by the Roman poet Lucretius (99-55 BC) in his great work "De Rerum Natura". The aim of this was to get rid of all religious belief and to base all human happiness on the pursuit of pleasure, or at least on the avoidance of pain.
Similarly, the claims that the ideas of Kinsey with regard to sexual freedom represent something new in human thought are also false. Lucretius had been two thousand years ahead of him, as had the many other followers of Epicurus.
Marxism also is the application of ideas in politics which were advanced much earlier by the Greek philosopher Plato (429-347 BC) in his "Republic". This was probably the first utopian vision enunciated in history. Plato saw society as composed of three classes; the guardians, the military and the workers. These would be rigid divisions. The guardians, carefully chosen and trained would, of course, be philosophers and would be in total control. The similarity to Marxism is obvious. Plato envisaged a smoothly operating, benign system with all classes co-operating in harmony. But Plato never went beyond theory to practice. If he had, no doubt he would have discovered that such theories, neglecting as they do the human factor, produce anything but utopia.
In one definition, science is defined as "a branch of knowledge conducted on objective principles involving the systematic observation of and experiment with material phenomena". A key word here is "objective", which is defined in this context as "dealing with facts uncoloured by feelings or opinions". No doubt all scientists would agree with these definitions. But scientists are human and being human may not always live up to these standards.
A notorious historical example of scientists maintaining discredited theories against the evidence is that of the "Phlogiston Theory". During the eighteenth century the true nature of combustion as due to a chemical reaction with the oxygen in the air was not known. Instead, it was suggested that all combustible bodies contained a substance, given the name of phlogiston, which was released on combustion, producing flame and heat. Even when it was shown by experiment that the products of combustion were heavier than the original material, belief in the theory was still maintained. To explain away this difficulty, it was suggested that phlogiston had a negative weight. Of course, no evidence was produced for such a remarkable idea. Phlogiston , indeed , only existed in the fertile imagination of the scientists. But the theory still held sway for almost one hundred years, so obstinate and blinkered were its protagonists. But, it will be said, this was the eighteenth century; science is now completely open and unbiased in examining new ideas. So scientists say, but do they practice what they preach? A few cases can be cited to show otherwise.
Albert Einstein ranks with Galileo and Newton as one of the greatest men who helped explain how the universe works. He was very friendly with another man, much less well known, but also involved in developing startling new theories. They had many discussions, over the years, on these theories and on Einstein's death, a book by this man was the only one found open on his desk.
This man was Immanuel Velikovsky, a Russian Jew born in 1895 in Russia. He graduated in medicine in 1921. Having worked in many places, he was in Tel Aviv in Israel in the thirties. He became interested in the Biblical account of the Exodus and commenced a study of it and of stories of similar events in ancient history and legend from all over the world. After ten years of study he published "Worlds in Collision"13 where he proposed the theory that these events were due to the birth of the planet Venus from a comet and its near approach to the Earth at that time. Velikovsky put an immense amount of work into this and subsequent books. It became an immediate best-seller.
The theories of Velikovsky.
From China, Japan and India, from Iceland, Hawaii and Mexico and many more, old stories told of a time when fiery "dragons" fought in the sky and terrible catastrophes with mountainous waves and huge earthquakes devastated the world. There did indeed appear to be a remarkable consistency in these accounts and in the details of the Sun standing still and of huge electrical discharges in the heavens. There was also an agreement in dates, as painstakingly explored by Velikovsky.
With regard to the planet Venus, it did not appear in ancient astronomical references before the time of the Exodus. Earlier descriptions of Venus from Mexico, Chaldea and India told of its having a luminous tail or a "beard"; this would suggest a comet. Furthermore it was said to be huge and to rival the Sun in brilliance. So Velikovsky suggested that it was originally a comet originating in the planet Jupiter and that its close approach to the Earth caused the catastrophes described, before settling into its present planetary orbit.
In 1955 Velikovsky published "Earth in Upheaval" in which he examined the evidence for many other global catastrophes in pre-historic and also historic times. From fossil and geologic examinations from a myriad sources, he shows that the earth and oceans repeatedly changed places, engulfing living creatures, animal and human. In a number of such events, on examining all possible causes for them, he shows that the only plausible explanation is that the axis of the earth changed, sometimes fully reversing. In the book "Reversing Earth" the author Peter Warlow examines this remarkable theory in detail and shows how it could have happened.
The ideas proposed are still being debated, but what is of particular interest is the reception of them by the scientific establishment. It was negative in the extreme. Even before the book appeared, a campaign was mounted by various scientists to stop the publisher, Macmillan, from producing it. In many cases these scientists hadn't even read the book. Velikovsky was refused access to learned journals to defend his ideas. The scientific "Mafia" forced the sacking of the senior editor of Macmillan and of the director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York for wishing to feature a display of the theory.
Sagan and Velikovsky.
Dr. Carl Sagan, a professor of astronomy at Cornell University and writer of books on science, included a paper entitled "Venus and Dr. Velikovsky" in his book "Broca's Brain" . This was a critique of Velikovsky's work. It attempted to demolish Velikovsky's theories and was widely accepted as having done so, even by those who had never read those theories.
However, many scientists and scholars wrote to refute Sagan's paper. In "Carl Sagan and Immanuel Velikovsky" by Charles Ginenthal (1995), a book of over 400 pages, Sagan's paper is exposed as unscientific, dishonest and unprofessional. This book, the research for which was carried out over eight years, refutes Sagan on practically every page. Indeed, it is a devastating indictment of a "science" more concerned with maintaining the status quo than with open-minded professional examination of new ideas.
Velikovsky reconsidered.
Velikovsky's ideas were worked out before the space age of the second half of the last century. Data transmitted from space probes have since confirmed many of his prophesies in a quite remarkable manner. Thus, his forecast that the temperature of Venus would be high and falling slowly was confirmed by Mariner 2 in 1962. Also Jupiter, which had been considered a cold icy body, was suggested by Velikovsky to be extremely hot. Recent data gives the temperature as about 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. Stories of rains of burning pitch from Venus were told all over the world in ancient times and led him to predict that the clouds of Venus must be rich in petroleum gas. This has also been confirmed recently. It appears more and more credible that Velikovsky's theories are true. If so, his work must surely be rated as one of the most outstanding scientific achievements of all time. But he is still not given the credit to which he is entitled while lesser men borrow his ideas without acknowledging from whence they came.
Even if these theories should finally prove to be false, the whole story of the treatment of Velikovsky by the scientific establishment will remain as a disgraceful saga of totally unscientific and unfair behaviour.
Laboratory experiments on the build-up of layers of sediment have recently been carried out by French scientist, Guy Berthault.In his studies of the published literature on the subject, he was surprised to find that there was very little experimental data; beliefs were instead based on theories dating from the seventeenth century.
The results of these and other experiments show that the theories of strata formation used to produce the so-called "geological column" were invalid and consequently could not be used to prove that the earth was millions of years old. It was shown that with huge water flows, the rate of deposition could be extremely high; so much so that what was earlier thought to require millions of years could take place in weeks! There is ample evidence in geology that torrential water flows had taken place many times in the past.
As these experimental results brought into question accepted belief in the great age of the earth and consequently also the theory of evolution, they were not exactly welcomed by the evolutionists. The latter used the usual methods of suppression, starting by efforts to prevent publication, followed by ridiculing the results as going against accepted beliefs and then by a personal attack upon the offending scientist. But the results stand and nobody has managed to invalidate them.
This then is another instance of the disgraceful behaviour of the scientific establishment in its servile obedience to the atheistic materialism of these times.
All the theories described in Part 1 are grounded in the philosophy of Materialism, which is a theory of the world which excludes the supernatural or spiritual. The majority of scientists nowadays seem to be philosophically naturalists, who deny the possibility of a creator God. By that denial, they are indeed claiming knowledge of the supernatural, even if in a negative way. To confess to know nothing of God is not the same as stating that he does not exist. Even if it is difficult to prove his existence, it is certainly impossible to prove his non-existence. Thus, on examination, materialism involves blind faith in an unproven hypothesis. Materialism, therefore, cannot claim to be scientific.
A scientist, however, does not have to be a materialist; many are not. Scientists live in the real world and surely should admit the limitations of materialism. Thus, the concepts which most affect human life, i.e. right and wrong, freedom and slavery, beauty and ugliness, are incapable of explanation on materialist terms. Surely, a true scientist would have the humility to accept this rather than striving desperately, as many do, to explain away the difficulties.
But, of course, we do have a real problem in imagining the reality of anything non-material. Our bodies are material, everything we see and touch is material, and it is easy to assume that this is all of reality. Nevertheless, non-material forces are everywhere evident. The gravity which holds us to the Earth has no physical strings to tether us, but its reality cannot be doubted. Similarly, electric and magnetic forces and electro-magnetic waves are of fundamental importance in all life and cannot be explained on material terms. Continuing work at the atomic and sub-atomic level shows the complexity and fundamental importance of such forces in all of matter.
There is much evidence for the existence of spiritual events and supernatural beings in history. Admittedly, not all such evidence compels belief , but a great deal of it cannot be explained away. In part 3, some naturally inexplicable events of the twentieth century will be described.
History.
In the year 1531 in Mexico, one Juan Diego, a native convert to Christianity, had a number of visions of the Virgin Mary, since known as the Virgin of Guadalupe. He reported these events to the local bishop, Juan de Zumarraga, who was extremely sceptical. To confirm the truth of the visions to the bishop, the Virgin asked Juan to gather roses which he found inexplicably growing in an arid barren area nearby. He collected the flowers in his cloak or "tilma" and took them to the bishop. When he opened the tilma they cascaded out and an image of the Virgin as she had appeared to Juan appeared on the material.
The rough fabric from which the tilma was made should have deteriorated after about 20 years but it has lasted unchanged for over 400. The colours of the image , which retain their full brilliance, contain no natural animal or mineral constituents and cannot be explained. These and subsequent events had huge effects on the natives of the country. By 1541 there were 10 million converts to Catholicism. Such a mass conversion was unprecedented; nothing like it had ever happened previously or indeed since.
New scientific findings.
In the twentieth century science has produced new information from the image to confirm its authenticity. For over twenty years, since 1979, the Mexican engineer, Jose Aste Tonsman, graduate of Cornell University, has studied, in particular, the eyes of the Virgin in the image. In the irises and pupils of the eyes are visible images of a number of people much as can be seen in living eyes reflecting objects before them. Tonsman magnified the eyes greatly and using sophisticated optical and mathematical procedures was able to identify the people depicted. Thus Bishop Juan de Zumarraga can be identified from an existing painting of him by one Miguel Cabrera. Also there is a younger man, probably the interpreter Juan Gonzales and an Indian, probably Juan Diego himself. The presence of these images in the eyes of the Virgin was not noticed in earlier times; indeed the special facilities needed to make them clear were not then available.
It is good that in these times of unbelief, science itself, so often used to challenge faith, should produce evidence of things inexplicable to materialism. How wonderfully tender are the words of the Virgin to Juan Diego, words addressed to all believers:
"Listen and let it penetrate your heart, my dear little son, do not be troubled or weighed down with grief. Do not fear any illness or vexation, anxiety or pain. Am I not here who am your mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not your fountain of life? Are you not in the folds of my mantle? In the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else you need?"
Background.
Maria Valtorta was born in Caserta in Italy in 1897, only child of a military man and a school-teacher. Maria was assaulted by a young delinquent in 1920, suffering injuries which later resulted in her becoming bed-ridden in 1934. In 1924 the family settled in Viareggia near Pisa where Maria spent the rest of her life. She developed great spirituality while suffering intensely. In 1942, on instructions from her spiritual director, she wrote her autobiography, which makes clear her total acceptance of suffering for the love of God.
In 1943 she began to receive private visions and revelations, which on instructions from her director she put down in writing. By 1950 this had resulted in 16,000 manuscript pages. Of these about 10,000 pages concerned the earthly life of Jesus. These were published in Italian in 1956-1959, entitled "Il Poema dell'Uomo Dio". In 1986-1990 the English translation, appeared as "The Poem of the Man-God". This consists of five large books, totalling over 4,000 pages. Maria died in 1961.
Maria had never been to Palestine. She had never studied its geography or archaeology. While writing she had no access to collections of books or to libraries; her condition made such impossible. The only books she had were the Bible and a copy of "The Imitation of Christ". Yet her writing deals in detail not only with the life of Christ but also with a multitude of characters, with the seasons and topography of Palestine and with the people and society of the time. Apart from its religious significance, it is a truly great work of art.
Nowhere in this writing is there any conflict with the Bible. Instead it furnishes additional information which is in complete harmony with the contents of the four gospels. This is of particular significance in these times when the so-called "higher criticism" has been used in an attempt to discredit much of the gospel. The writings of Maria Valtorta have the ring of truth on every page and serve to confirm that of the gospel narratives.
Some excerpts will give an idea of the flavour of the book. The following refers to the Fall in Genesis, in the words of Jesus:
The most learned amongst you know with which gifts God had enriched Adam, both for himself and his descendants. . . . God was not less munificent to the soul than to the flesh and blood of the creature made by Him with a little mud and His breath. As He gave the natural gifts of beauty and integrity, of intelligence and will power, and the capability of loving oneself and other people, He also gave moral gifts and the subjection of senses to reason. . . . You already know how Eve was corrupted and how Adam became corrupt through her. . . . And the woman went to the man, revealed her secret and persuaded Adam to taste of the new fruit so beautiful to the eye and so strictly forbidden so far.
It is to be noted how this agrees with Genesis and contradicts those modern scholars who maintain that it the latter is only mythical.It is surely not just accidental that this revelation appears at this time.
The following covers part of the Annunciation:-
The curtain moves fast, as if someone behind it ventilated it or shook it to draw it. And a pearl white light mixed with pure silver makes the slightly yellow walls clearer and makes the colours brighter and Mary's raised face more spiritual. And in such light, while the curtain is still drawn on the mystery to be accomplished, the Archangel prostrates himself: the curtain no longer moves: it is hanging stiff against the door-posts like a wall separating the inside from the outside. The angel must necessarily take a human appearance. But it is a trans-humanised appearance. Of what flesh is this beautiful and gleaming figure made? With what substance did God form it to make it perceptible to the senses of the Virgin? Only God can possess such substances and use them so perfectly. It is a face, a body, eyes, a mouth, hair and hands like ours. But they are not our dull matter. It is a light that has taken the colour of flesh, of eyes, hair, lips, a light that moves and smiles, looks and speaks. "Hail, Mary, full of Grace, Hail!" The voice is a sweet arpeggio as of pearls thrown on a precious metal plate. Mary is startled and lowers her head. And she is even more startled when she sees the shining creature kneeling about a metre from her and looking at her with infinite veneration, his hands crossed over his chest.. . . . .
And here an excerpt from the Way of the Cross:-
Before giving the cross to Jesus, they tie the board with the inscription "Jesus Nazarene King of the Jews" round His neck. And the rope that holds it gets entangled with the crown, which is moved and scratches where it is not already scratched, and pierces new parts, causing fresh pain and making fresh blood spout. The people laugh with sadistic joy, they abuse and curse.They are now ready. And Longinus gives the order of march. "First the Nazarene, behind Him the two robbers; a decury around each of them, the other seven decuries positioned on the flank as reinforcements, and the soldier who allows the condemned men to be wounded mortally will be held responsible." Jesus comes down the three steps that from the lobby take one into the square. And it is immediately clear that Jesus is in an extremely weak condition. He staggers coming down the three steps, hampered by the cross weighing on His shoulder all covered with sores, by the board of the inscription that sways in front of Him cutting into His neck, by the oscillations caused to the body by the long stake of the cross, which bounces on the steps and on the uneven ground. . . .
And an excerpt from the Resurection:-
Mary is prostrated with her face on the floor. She looks like a poor wretch. She looks like that withered flower of which she has spoken .The closed window is opened with a violent banging of the heavy shutters, and with the first ray of the sun, Jesus enters.
Mary, who has been shaken by the noise and has raised her head to see which wind has opened the shutters, sees her radiant Son: handsome, infinitely more handsome than He was before suffering, smiling, lively, brighter than the sun, dressed in a white garment that seems woven light, and Who is advancing towards her. She straightens herself up on her knees and crossing her hands on her breast, she says with a sob that is joy and grief "Lord, my God". And she remains thus, enraptured in contemplating Him, with her face all washed by tears, but made serene, pacified by His smile and by the ecstasy.
But He does not want to see His mother on her knees, like a servant. And He calls her, stretching out His hands, from the wounds of which emanate rays that that make His glorious flesh even brighter: "Mother!" But it is not the sorrowful word of the conversations and the farewells before His passion, or the heart-rending lament of the meeting on Calvary and of the agony. It is a cry of triumph, of freedom, of rejoicing, of love, of gratitude. And He bends over His mother, who dare not touch Him, and He places His hands under her bent elbows, and He lifts her up, He presses her to His heart and kisses her. . .
Reception by the Vatican of the "Poem of the Man-God" has been confusing and contradictory. In February 1948, Pope Pius XII gave a special audience to Fr. Corrado Berti, a theologian who had written a commentary on the book. The Pope told Fr. Berti and two witnesses:-"Publish this work as it is. There is no need to give an opinion on its origin, whether it be extraordinary or not. Whoever reads it will understand."
Later, January 1960, the Osservatore Romano published a stern censure against the work, but finally withdrew this and gave permission to publish the second edition. However, even in the censure it was acknowledged that the work contained: "lessons in Marian theology which show a complete knowledge of the later studies by present-day specialists on the matter." Certainly some pedantic objections have been raised against the work. Thus it is said that a reference to a screwdriver amongst the carpenter's tools cannot be correct as screwdrivers did not exist then. The reference, on page 223 of Volume I is: "nor a screwdriver (I think it is a screwdriver) which falls". Probably Maria saw a chisel, a fundamental woodworking tool, and with a very similar appearance to a screwdriver. She certainly would not be the first woman to make that mistake. There are other objections of a similar nature but none showing serious discrepancies. When the huge size of the work and the vast range of knowledge of history, geography and ecology displayed is considered, it is amazing that so few errors appear therein.
In the book "The End Times", further revelations to Maria Valtorta are published. In the final chapter of this book The Lord complains of the reception of the "Poem of the Man-God" by those who hypocritically say:-"If it is God's work, God will look after it and make it prevail". He then continues:-
"I gave, through you,[Maria,]all the proofs. In you there is no sin of revolt, of pretence, of pride. You are a meek victim of their will. You yourself defend their will, because they are "The Church", from those who would like to ride roughshod over it. Due to your crucifixion it is indisputable that you cannot scrutinise scholarly books. With your learning it is indisputable that you cannot write those pages. What else do they want, if this is not enough for them to say:-"Yes. It is the spirit of God here present?" There is no dogmatic error, truly there is none in the work".
(The above quotations from the "Poem of the Man-God" are inserted with the
permission of the publishers, Centro Editoriale Valtortiano.)
Portugal, 1917.
Following the revolution of 1910, a fiercely anti-clerical Masonic government took control in Portugal. Among the many new laws introduced were the suppression of all religious congregations, the abolition of holy-days and the forbidding of priest and religious (those who had been allowed to remain in the country) to teach or wear religious dress on pain of imprisonment. The Minister of Justice, Alfonso Costa, declared that the Catholic religion could be eliminated in two generations.
On the thirteenth of May, 1917, at Fatima in the Portuguese countryside, three children claimed that a heavenly Lady had appeared to them. These were Lucia Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto. This was repeated over the following five months. Word of these happenings got out and increasing crowds came to the site each month. But doubts existed about the truth of these events and the seers and their families were mocked and persecuted. On the thirteenth of August, the children were kidnapped by the Mayor of the county to which Fatima belonged. This was Arthur Santos, a man of little education, a Freemason and founder of a Masonic lodge in Vila Nova de Ourem. He was the most feared and most influential man in the county. He took the children to his house in Ourem where they were threatened with a horrible death if they continued to maintain their story. In "Fatima, From the Beginning" the events are described:
In the presence of the children he gave orders for the preparation of a large cauldron of boiling olive oil in which these insolent, these stubborn and stiff-necked peasants were to be fried alive. Then he ordered them to be shut up in the next room. The first to be called was Jacinta, who cheerfully came forward for her supposed martyrdom, forgetting to say goodbye to her brother and cousin. "The oil is boiling, tell the secret, it's your last chance" Jacinta trembled like a leaf but said nothing.
"Right" said the Mayor,"take her and throw her into the cauldron". A fierce looking guard came in, seized Jacinta by the arm and took her into another room. "Jesus, Our Lady, help me" murmured the poor little girl. But she stood fast. It seemed that a force not of this world upheld her in that moment. During the interrogation, Francisco, to whom, more than to the others, perhaps, the Blessed Virgin had communicated a nostalgia for Heaven, confided to Lucia: "If they kill us as they say, we shall soon be in Heaven. That will be lovely! Nothing else matters".
and shortly afterwards:
"I hope Jacinta won't be afraid. I think I had better say a Hail Mary for her"; and pulling his Rosary out of his pocket, he began to pray. The guard looked at him suspiciously and asked:
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying an Ave Maria for Jacinta so that she won't be afraid. Minutes that seemed centuries passed in silence. The door opened again and the ferocious guard appeared. He put his hand on Francisco, saying: "She's well fried. Now let's have this one. Come along now, out with the secret. The little boy turned his clear eyes on this new Nero and said: "I can't, sir, I can't tell it to anyone. "Can't you, then,right,take him along and put him where his sister is". The guard's heavy hand came down his shoulder to take him to the death which for him was more a prize than a trial. But in the nearby room instead of the cauldron he found his sister safe and sound and happily smiling. Lucia, now left alone, was convinced that the whole thing was no comedy with a happy ending but an authentic tragedy. She recommended her soul to the Blessed Virgin and asked her not to desert her in the coming agony.
The powers of darkness which had not prevailed against the weaker two were helpless before the stronger and more decided Lucia. A few moments later the three were in each others arms, radiant after their victory. They knelt down to thank the Lady of the Cova da Iria for her timely protection. None of the three had vacillated, her approval was certain.
Thus the children defied the Mayor and he admitted defeat and returned them to their homes.
On the nineteenth of August, the Lady again appeared. At Lucia's request she promised to perform a miracle in October, but added "If they had not taken you to the town it would have been greater". As far as is known, this was the first time in recorded history that a public miracle, to be seen by believers and unbelievers alike, was promised in advance to prove the reality of a heavenly visitation. No doubt this was to emphasise its great importance.
The Great Miracle.
On the thirteenth of October a huge crowd assembled at Fatima. The weather was not good. The following is part of a report that appeared in newspaper "O Dia" a few days later:
The rain fell and fell. The cotton skirts of the women dripped and hung like lead around their ankles. Water poured from the new caps and hats which had been donned in honour of the day. Boots and bare feet splashed through the muddy puddles and up on the mountain there was what appeared to be a large dark stain--thousands upon thousands of God's creatures waiting for a miracle, a blessing and an alleviation of the bitterness of life.
Of course, not all were believers. There were many incredulous who had come to mock the faith of the "simple" people. In their motor cars and carriages they waited, confident that nothing would happen.
The Lady appeared to the children, spoke to them and then departed for the last time. As she did so Lucia cried out "There she goes, there she goes! Look at the sun!"
Of the many reports of the phenomenon, the following is taken from the paper "O Dia" of seventeenth October:
At one o'clock in the afternoon, midday by the sun, the rain stopped. The sky, pearly grey in colour, illuminated the vast arid landscape with a strange light. The sun had a transparent gauzy veil so that the eyes could easily be fixed upon it. The grey mother-of-pearl tone turned into a sheet of silver which broke up as the clouds were torn apart and the silver sun, enveloped in the same gauzy grey light, was seen to whirl and turn in the circle of broken clouds. A cry went up from every mouth and people fell on their knees on the muddy ground.In the paper "O Seculo", Avelino de Almeida wrote:
The light turned a beautiful blue as if it had come through the stained-glass windows of a cathedral and spread itself over the people who knelt with outstretched hands. The blue faded slowly and then the light seemed to pass through yellow glass. Yellow stains fell against white handkerchiefs, against the dark skirts of the women. They were repeated on the trees, on the stones and on the serra. People wept and prayed with uncovered heads in the presence of a miracle they had awaited. The seconds seemed hours, so vivid were they.
From the road, where the vehicles were parked and where hundreds of people who had not dared to brave the mud were congregated, one could see the immense multitude turn towards the sun, which appeared free from clouds and in its zenith. It looked like a plaque of dull silver and it was possible to look at it without the least discomfort. It might have been an eclipse which was taking place. But at that moment a great shout went up and one could hear the spectators nearest at hand shouting: "A miracle! A miracle!" Before the astonished eyes of the crowd, whose aspect was Biblical as they stood bareheaded, eagerly searching the sky, the sun trembled, made sudden incredible movements outside all cosmic laws; the sun "danced" according to the typical expression of the people. After the phenomenon, the hitherto drenched people found themselves completely dry to their great amazement.
These are but a few brief excerpts from reports of the events. There are many, many more from sources including believers and non-believers, all agreeing that the happenings were naturally inexplicable.
The Messages.
These are summarised briefly in the following.
May.The Lady stated that she had come from Heaven. She asked the children to come back at the same time in the following months, to offer their sufferings to God in reparation for sin and the conversion of sinners and finally; "say the Rosary every day to bring peace to the world and the end of the war."
June.Again the Lady requested prayer. She promised the children that they would go to Heaven; Jacinta and Francisco very soon, Lucia later.
July.The children were again asked to continue to pray. The Lady promised to perform a miracle in October "so that everyone would believe". She then showed them a terrifying vision of hell and then went on: "You have seen hell where the souls of sinners go. To save them God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If you do what I tell you many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war will end, but if men do not cease to offend God another worse one will begin. . .To prevent it I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart . . .If my desires are fulfilled, Russia will be converted and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church etc."
August.The miracle was again promised for October.
September.The messages were essentially a repetition of those given earlier.
October.The children were granted a series of visions; first St.Joseph with Mary and the Holy Child, then Jesus with His mother and finally (seen by Lucia alone) of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
The children's response.
To many, the idea of showing a vision of Hell to such young children seems very strange. Indeed Lucia said that they would have died of terror if they had not been assured that they were to go to Heaven. In "Fatima from the Beginning", details are given of the resulting behaviour of the children:-
The three children undertook the most severe penances for the salvation of sinners. They wore a rope tightly round their waists; they gave their lunches to the poor, or even to their sheep; they didn't drink during the furnace-like heat of August 1917, an almost unendurable penance as anyone who has stayed in Fatima during that month will appreciate. Later, Jacinta even wanted to drink water from a pond frequented by cattle. However imprudent this would be, the thought of Hell dominated every consideration of hygiene, discomfort or pain...
To the necessity of penance for sinners must also be joined that of prayer. The Lady constantly reminded the children to pray a great deal and they readily responded by spending long hours on their knees under a blistering sun, reciting the rosary and the Angel's prayer over and over again.
In December, 1918 Francisco fell ill with Spanish influenza and shortly afterwards Jacinta also was struck down by the disease. They both bore their sufferings with great fortitude and almost continually in prayer. Both knew they would soon die and both looked forward ardently to going to Heaven. Francisco passed away inApril,1919. Jacinta was transferred to a Lisbon hospital where her sufferings were great but accepted willingly as she said herself "for the conversion of sinner". She died in February,1920.
Subsequent Events.
A solemn consecration of Portugal was carried out at Fatima on May 13, 1931 by the Portuguese bishops. Following this, the Masonic government was peacefully ousted and a Catholic leader came to power. He was instrumental in setting up a Catholic social order with special protection for marriage and the family. There was a huge rise in priestly vocations and a great renewal of Christian life. In addition, Portugal was unaffected by the war in the adjoining country of Spain and also preserved from the devastation of the Second World War. Indeed the effects were nothing short of miraculous and were seen to be so.