The Two Babylons Alexander
Hislop Idol Processions
Chapter 5
Rites and Ceremonies
Section I
The bishops and priests, however, were still
made upon their idols; and, as the anniversary of the feast of St. Giles was
approaching, when the saint used to be carried in procession through
the town, they determined to do their best, that the accustomed
procession should take place with as much pomp as possible. For this
purpose, "a marmouset idole" was borrowed from the Grey friars, which
the people, in derision, called "Young Sanct Geyle," and which was made to do
service instead of the old one. On the appointed day, says
Know, "there assembled priests, friars, canons...with tabors and trumpets, banners, and
bagpipes;
and who was there to lead the ring but the Queen Regent herself, with
all her shavelings, for honour of that feast. West about goes it, and
comes down the High Street, and down to the Canno Cross."
As long as the Queen was present, all
went to the heart's content of the priests and their partisans. But
no sooner had majesty retired to dine, than some in the crowd, who
had viewed the whole concern with an evil eye, "drew nigh to the idol, as willing to help
to bear him, and getting the fertour (or barrow) on their shoulders,
began to shudder, thinking that thereby the
idol should have fallen. But that was provided and prevented by the
iron nails
[with which it was fastened to the fertour]; and so began one to cry, 'Down with
the idol, down with it'; and so without delay it was pulled down.
Some brag made the priests' patrons at the
first; but when they saw the feebleness
of their god, for one took him by the
heels, and
dadding [knocking] his head to the calsay [pavement], left Dagon without
head or
hands, and said, 'Fye upon thee, thou young Sanct Geyle, thy father
would have tarried [withstood] four such [blows]'; this considered, we say, the
priests and friars fled faster than they did at Pinkey Cleuch.
There might have been seen so sudden a fray as
seldom has been seen amongst that sort of men within this realm; for
down goes the crosses, off goes the
surplice, round caps corner with the
crowns. The Grey friars gaped, the Black friars
blew, the
priests panted and fled, and happy was he that first gat the house;
for such ane sudden fray came never amongst the generation of Antichrist
within this realm before." Such an idol procession among a people who had begun to study and relish the Word of God, elicited nothing but indignation and scorn. But in
Popish lands, among a people studiously kept in the dark, such
processions are among the favourite means which the Romish Church
employs to bind its votaries to itself. The long processions with images borne on men's
shoulders, with the gorgeous
dresses of the priests, and the various
habits of different orders of monks and nuns, with the aids of flying banners and the
thrilling
strains of instrumental
music, if not too closely scanned, are well fitted
"plausibly to amuse" the worldly mind, to gratify
the love for the picturesque, and when the emotions thereby called forth are dignified with the names of piety and religion, to minister to
the purposes of spiritual
despotism. Accordingly, Popery has ever largely availed
itself of such pageants. On joyous occasions, it has sought to consecrate the
hilarity
and excitement created by such processions to the service of its
idols;
and in seasons of sorrow, it has made use of
the same means to draw forth the deeper wail of distress from the
multitudes that throng the procession, as if the mere loudness of the cry
would avert the displeasure of a justly
offended God. Gregory, commonly called the Great, seems to have been the
first who, on a large scale, introduced those religious processions into
the Roman Church. In 590, when Rome was suffering under the heavy
hand of God from the pestilence, he exhorted
the people to unite publicly in supplication to God, appointing that they should meet at
daybreak in SEVEN DIFFERENT COMPANIES, according to their respective
ages, SEXES, and stations, and walk in seven different processions, reciting
litanies or supplications, till they all met at one place.
They did so, and proceeded
singing
and uttering the words, "Lord, have mercy upon us," carrying along
with them, as Baronius relates, by Gregory's express command,
an image of the Virgin. The very idea of such processions was an
affront to the majesty of heaven; it implied that God who is a Spirit
"saw with
eyes of flesh," and might be moved by the imposing
picturesqueness of such a
spectacle, just as sensuous mortals
might. As an experiment it had but slender success. In
the space of one hour, while thus engaged, eighty persons fell to the
ground, and breathed their last. Yet this is now held up to Britons as "the more
excellent way" for deprecating the wrath
of God in a season of national
distress. "Had this calamity," says Dr. Wiseman, referring to the
Indian disasters, "had this calamity fallen upon our forefathers in
Catholic days, one would have seen the streets of this city [London]
trodden in every direction by penitential processions,
crying out, like David, when pestilence
had struck the people." If this
allusion to David has any pertinence or meaning, it must imply that
David, in the time of pestilence, headed some such "penitential
procession." But Dr. Wiseman knows, or ought to know, that
David did nothing of the sort, that his penitence was expressed in no
such way as by processions, and far less by idol processions, as "in
the Catholic days of our forefathers," to which we are invited to
turn back. This reference to David, then, is a mere blind, intended
to mislead those who are not given to Bible reading, as if such
"penitential processions" had something of Scripture warrant to rest
upon. The Times, commenting on this recommendation of the Papal
dignitary, has hit the nail on the head. "The historic idea," says
that journal, "is simple enough, and as old as old can be.
We have it in Homer--the procession
of Hecuba
and the ladies of Troy to the shrine of Minerva, in the Acropolis of that
city." It was a time of terror and dismay in Troy, when Diomede, with
resistless might, was driving everything before him, and the
overthrow of the proud city seemed at hand. To avert the apparently
inevitable doom, the Trojan Queen was divinely directed. "To lead the assembled
train And she did so:-- "Herself...the long procession leads; Here is a precedent for "penitential
processions" in connection with idolatry entirely to the
point, such as will be sought for in vain in the history of David, or
any of the Old Testament saints. Religious processions, and
especially processions with images, whether of a jubilant or
sorrowful description, are purely Pagan. In Isaiah 30,
especially in the Septuagint, God equates the many Hebrew processions to the
temple with the symbolic procession carrying Assyrian to be burned up
in the red hot arms of Molech while the musical instruments sound.
This is a clear condemnation of such processions. Click for details. If viewed as what would happen
when Israel fired God and demanded to be able to worship like the
nations, the musical procession of David bringing the Ark of the
Covenant to his own new tent because he could never return to Gibeon
to inquire of God, we will see that these processions are
condemned. In the Word of God we find two instances in which
there were processions practised with Divine sanction; but when the object of
these processions is compared with the avowed object and character of
Romish processions, it will be seen that there is no analogy between
them and the processions of Rome. The two cases to which I refer are
the seven days' encompassing of Jericho, and the procession at the
bringing up of the ark of God from Kirjath-jearim to the city of
David. The processions, in the first case, though attended with the
symbols of Divine worship, were not intended as acts of religious
worship, but were a miraculous mode of conducting war, when a signal
interposition of Divine power was to be vouchsafed. In the other,
there was simply the removing of the ark, the symbol of Jehovah's
presence, from the place where, for a long period, it had been
allowed to lie in obscurity, to the place which the Lord Himself had
chosen for its abode; and on such an occasion it was entirely fitting
and proper that the transference should be made with all religious
solemnity. But these were simply occasional things, and have nothing
at all in common with Romish processions, which form a regular part
of the Papal ceremonial. But, though Scripture speaks nothing of
religious processions in the approved worship of God, it refers once
and again to Pagan processions, and these, too, accompanied with
images; and it vividly exposes the folly of those who can expect any
good from gods that cannot move from one place to another, unless
they are carried. Speaking of the gods of Babylon,
thus saith the prophet Isaiah (46:6),
"They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance,
and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea,
they worship. They
bear him upon the
shoulder, they carry him, and set
him in his place, and he standeth; from his place he shall not
remove." See
Isaiah 30 in the Septuagint for more background: BEL
BOWETH down, Nebo
stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your
carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast.
Isaiah 46:1 They stoop, they
bow down
together; they could
not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.
Isaiah 46: 2 Hearken unto me, O house of
Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by
me from the belly, which are carried from the womb: Isaiah 46: 3
And even to your
old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have
made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you. Isaiah 46: 4 To whom will ye liken me, and
make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like? Isaiah 46: 5
They lavish gold
out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a
goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship.
Isaiah 46: 6 They bear him upon the
shoulder, they carry
him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall
he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer,
nor save him out of his trouble. Isaiah 46: 7 Remember this, and shew
yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors. Isaiah
46: 8 Remember the former
things of old: for I am
God, and there is none
else; I am God, and there is none like me, Isaiah 46: 9 When Israel "rose up to play" at Mount Sinai
they fell back into the Babylonian-Egyptian form of singing, dancing
and playing instruments. As a result, God sentenced the Jews to
worship the starry host: And when Joshua heard the noise
of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise
of war in the camp. Exodus 32:17 And he said, It is
not the voice
of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being
overcome; but the noise
of them that sing do
I hear. Exodus 32:18 Anah
(h6031) aw-naw'; a prim. root [possibly rather ident. with 6030
through the idea of looking down or browbeating]; to depress lit. or fig., trans. or
intrans. (in various applications, as follow): - abase self, afflict
(-ion, self), answer [by mistake for 6030], chasten self, deal hardly
with, defile,
exercise, force,
gentleness, humble (self), hurt, ravish, sing [by mistake for 6030],
speak [by mistake for 6030], submit self, weaken, * in any wise.
The burden of the beasts
of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come
the young and old lion, the viper
and fiery flying
serpent (hissing),
they will carry their
riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels,
to a people that shall
not profit them. Isaiah
30:6KJV Burden
is: Massa (h4853) mas-saw'; from 5375; a
burden; spec. tribute, or (abstr.) porterage;
fig. an utterance, chiefly a doom,
especially
singing; mental,
desire: - burden, carry away, prophecy, * they set, song,
tribute. THE burden of Moab.
Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to
silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought
to silence; Isaiah 15:1 Therefore mine heart shall
sound (lament) for Moab like pipes, and mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kir-heres: because the riches that he
hath gotten are perished. Isaiah 48:36 And it came to pass, as soon as
he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables
out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. Exodus 32:19
Mechowlah (h4246) mekh-o-law'; fem. of 4234; a
dance: - company, dances (-cing). And see, and,
behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances,
then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife
of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
Jud.21:21 And it came to pass as they
came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine,
that the women
came out of all cities of Israel, singing
and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with
instruments of
musick. 1S.18:6
Amos shows how Israel worshiped Remphan or
Chiun with music: Take thou away from me the
noise of thy
songs; for I will not
hear the melody of thy viols. Amos 5:23 But let judgment
run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. Amos 5:24
Have ye offered unto me
sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of
Israel? Amos 5:25 But ye have borne the
tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your
god, which ye made to yourselves. Amos 5:26 Therefore will I
cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, whose
name is The God of hosts Amos 5:27 And Stephen shows that what the Jews held to
be spiritual was actually the result of a total history of idolatry
at the temple-state level: And they made a calf in those
days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Acts 7:41 Then God turned,
and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the
prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts
and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? Acts 7:
42 Yea, ye took up the
tabernacle of
Moloch, and the star of
your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will
carry you away beyond Babylon. Acts 7: 43 Our fathers had the tabernacle
of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto
Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had
seen. Acts 7: 44 Who found favour before God,
and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. Acts 7: 46 But Solomon built him an house. Acts 7: 47 Howbeit the most High
dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet. Acts
7: 48 Heaven is my
throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith
the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Acts 7: 49 In the sculptures of Nineveh these processions
of idols, borne on men's shoulders, are forcibly represented, and
form at once a striking illustration of the prophetic language, and
of the real origin of the Popish processions. In Egypt, the same practice was observed. In
"the procession of shrines," says Wilkinson, "it was usual to carry
the statue of the principal deity, in whose honour the procession
took place, together with that of the king, and the figures of his
ancestors, borne in the same manner, on men's shoulders." But not
only are the processions in general identified with the Babylonian
system. For information on Nimrod and
his musical processions Click
Here. Chapter
XIII.-Origin of Idolatry. See
Alexander Hislop The Great Red Dragon See the similar story of Nimrod Clement notes that after the flood:
"But when all these things were
done, men turned again
to impiety; [There is a
similar chapter in Homily IX. 7, but in a discourse: on the following
day.-R.] and on this account a law was given by God to instruct them
in the manner of living. But in process of
time, the worship of God and righteousness were corrupted by the
unbelieving and the wicked, as we shall show more fully by and
by. Moreover, perverse and erratic
religions were introduced, to which the greater part of men gave
themselves up, by occasion of
holidays and solemnities, instituting drinkings and banquets, following pipes, and flutes,
and harps,
and diverse kinds of musical instruments, and indulging themselves in all kinds of
drunkenness and luxury. Hence every kind of error took
rise; hence they invented groves and altars, fillets and victims, and
after drunkenness they were agitated as if with mad emotions. By this means power
was given to the demons
to enter into minds of
this sort, so that they
seemed to lead insane
dances and to
rave like
Bacchanalians; hence
were invented the gnashing of teeth, and bellowing from the depth of
their bowels; hence a terrible countenance and a fierce aspect in
men, so that he whom drunkenness had subverted and a demon had
instigated, was believed by the deceived and the erring to be filled
with the Deity. We have evidence that these processions trace
their origin to that very disastrous
event in the history of Nimrod, which has already
occupied so much of our attention. Wilkinson says "that Diodorus
speaks of an Ethiopian festival of
Jupiter, when his statue was carried in
procession, probably to commemorate the supposed refuge of the gods
in that country, which," says he, "may have been a memorial of the
flight of the Egyptians with their gods." The passage of Diodorus, to which Wilkinson
refers, is not very decisive as to the object for which the statues
of Jupiter and Juno (for Diodorus mentions the shrine of Juno as well as of
Jupiter) were annually carried into the land of Ethiopia, and then,
after a certain period of sojourn there, were brought back to Egypt
again. But, on comparing it with other passages of antiquity, its
object very clearly appears. Eustathius says, that at the
festival in question, "according to some, the Ethiopians used to fetch
the images of Zeus, and other gods from the great temple of
Zeus at
Thebes.
With these images they went about at a certain
period in Libya, and celebrated a splendid festival for twelve gods."
As the festival was called an Ethiopian
festival; and as it was Ethiopians that
both carried away the idols and brought them
back again, this indicates that the idols must have been Ethiopian
idols; and as we have seen that Egypt was
under the power of
Nimrod, and consequently of the
Cushites or Ethiopians, when idolatry was for a time put down in
Egypt, what would this carrying of the idols into Ethiopia, the land
of the Cushites, that was solemnly commemorated every year, be, but
just the natural result of the temporary suppression of the
idol-worship inaugurated by Nimrod. In Mexico, we have an account
of an exact counterpart of this Ethiopian festival. There, at a
certain period, the images of the
gods were carried out of the country in
a mourning procession, as if taking their leave of it, and then,
after a time, they were brought back to it again with every
demonstration of joy. In Greece, we find a festival of an entirely
similar kind, which, while it connects itself with the Ethiopian
festival of Egypt on the one hand, brings that festival, on the
other, into the closest relation to the penitential procession of
Pope Gregory. Thus we find Potter referring first to a
"Delphian festival in memory of a
JOURNEY of Apollo"; and then under the
head of the festival called Apollonia, we thus read:
"To Apollo, at Aegialea on
this account: Apollo having obtained a victory over Python, went to
Aegialea,
accompanied with his sister Diana; but,
being frightened from thence, fled into
Crete. After this, the Aegialeans were infected with an epidemical distemper; and, being advised by the prophets to appease the two
offended deities, sent SEVEN
boys and as many virgins to entreat
them to return. [Here is the typical germ of 'The Sevenfold Litany'
of Pope Gregory.] Apollo and Diana accepted their piety,...and it
became a custom to appoint chosen boys and
virgins, to make a solemn procession,
in show, as if they designed to bring back Apollo and Diana, which
continued till Pausanias' time." The contest between Python and Apollo, in
Greece, is just the counterpart of that between Typho and Osiris in Egypt; in other
words, between Shem and
Nimrod. Thus we see the real meaning
and origin of the Ethiopian festival, when the Ethiopians carried away
the gods from the Egyptian temples. That festival evidently goes back
to the time when Nimrod being cut
off, idolatry durst not show itself
except among the devoted adherents of the "Mighty hunter" (who were
found in his own family--the family of
Cush), when, with great weepings and
lamentations, the idolaters fled with their gods on their shoulders,
to hide themselves where they might. In commemoration of the suppression of
idolatry, and the unhappy consequences that were supposed to flow
from that suppression, the first part of
the festival, as we get light upon it
both from Mexico and Greece, had consisted of a procession of mourners;
and then the mourning was turned into joy, in memory of the
happy return of these banished gods to their former exaltation. Truly
a worthy origin for Pope Gregory's "Sevenfold Litany" and the Popish
processions. Counter 7.19.05 10p
Of Troy's chief matron's to Minerva's fane."
The train majestically slow proceeds.
Soon as to Ilion's topmost tower they come,
And awful reach the high Palladian dome,
Antenor's consort, fair Theano, waits
As Pallas' priestess, and unbars the gates.
With hands uplifted and imploring eyes,
They fill the dome with supplicating cries."
