The Second Afghan War 1878 - 1880

Aug 7, 2010 Michael Streich

Attempting to check Imperial Russian ambitions in Afghanistan, Britain sent military forces into the region but was unable to maintain control of the land.

The Second Afghan War, beginning in 1878, was caused by Russian diplomatic efforts designed to court the emir in Kabul, an action representing a direct threat to the imperial ambitions of Great Britain. Afghanistan was a buffer state bordering Britain’s “jewel in the crown,” India. Further, Afghan leaders had repeatedly refused to accept an official British mission in Kabul. After Emir Shere Ali signed a treaty with Russia in 1878, Lord Lytton, Viceroy of India, sent a military force into Afghanistan. The war ended in 1880 and British troops withdrew from a country they could not hold.

Roberts Leads the March into Kabul

Britain’s “forward policy” was advocated by British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli as well as Lord Lytton. Lytton described the policy, stating “Afghanistan is a state far too weak and barbarous to remain isolated and wholly uninfluenced between two great military empires such as England and Russia.” (New York Times, April 28, 1900) Three British armies were sent into Afghanistan. Major General Frederick Roberts’ command, the smallest with 6,300 British and native troops, achieved the greatest success, however.

Lt. General Samuel Browne commanded a force of 16,000 and Major General Donald Stewart, commanding the Kandahar Field Force, led 13,000. Roberts entered Afghanistan November 21, 1878 and proceeded down the Kurram Valley. It was here where Roberts distinguished himself and demonstrated superb leadership, out-flanking a superior force of Afghans at night around a mountain and defeating the insurgents. Roberts was reinforced with 2,685 troops and 868 cavalry, including the highly esteemed 92nd Gordan Highlanders.

The Cavagnari Massacre in Kabul

Emir Shere Ali fled Afghanistan, leaving his son Yakub Khan in charge of the fractured nation. The subsequent Treaty of Gandamuk allowed for a British mission in Kabul. The British mission delegation was led by Sir Louis Cavagnari.

Without significant British protection, however, his position was vulnerable. Two months after the treaty, Cavagnari, his staff, and the entire small military escort were murdered.

Britain’s Punitive Expedition to Kabul and Kandahar

General Roberts led the Kabul Field Force back into Afghanistan in September 1879 and swiftly captured and occupied Kabul. But in December, Afghans in the surrounding regions rose up again and Roberts faced an enemy force of 100,000. At the same time, the British suffered a disastrous defeat at Maiward.

Roberts held Kabul and defeated the Afghan insurgents. In August 1880, he marched into Kandahar, relieved the pitiful survivors, and pacified the region. But it was impossible to hold. The mountains were treacherous, teeming with Afghan insurgents. The British left Afghanistan, unable to hold the country or influence its fragile leadership.

Lessons from the Afghan Wars

Afghanistan has been called the “graveyard of empires.” Alexander the Great attempted to conquer the land but was unsuccessful. In the 1980s, Soviet Russia fought a costly and unsuccessful war for control of Afghanistan in what observers have called “Russia’s Vietnam.” Today, America and its European allies are fighting in Afghanistan, ironically, attempting to pacify Kandahar, the same region that witnessed a major British defeat in the second phase of the Second Afghan War.

Every invader has found the same thing in Afghanistan: a poor nation that is politically fractured and divided into spheres of power controlled by local warlords. The enemy is both a fanatic insurgency as well as difficult terrain. The wars have also been expensive. According to historian Simon Schama, “When the news of the expensive disaster came in the prime minister [Disraeli] was appalled…” Although the conditions of the contemporary Afghan War are very different, one fact remains the same: the Afghans refuse to be conquered.

Sources:

• Byron Farwell, Queen Victoria’s Little Wars (NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 1972)
• Lawrence James, Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India (Little, Brown and Company, 1997)
• Andrew Porter, editor, The Oxford History of the British Empire: The Nineteenth Century (Oxford University Press, 1999)
• Simon Schama, A History of Britain, Volume III, The Fate of Empire 1776 – 2000 (Hyperion, 2002)

Copyright Michael Streich. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.

Teaching Democracy in all Grade Levels

 Michael Streich

Teaching democracy can involve applications to American history as well as contrasting forms of government within the current global community. Lesson plans should begin with what students already know or think they know, such as definitions, examples, and the characteristics of democratic societies. Encouraging students to research issues and problems regarding democratic societies will help to identify, analyze, and articulate essential civics goals and desired outcomes.

 

Identifying the Elements of a Democracy

 

The first aspect of a lesson plan on democracy might be guided brain-storming sessions in which students go to the classroom board and list what they believe are elements of a democracy. After cataloging all student responses, they can form a framework for further discussion and research. Ideally, elements will include

 

The rights of citizens

Voting for people to lead the government

Due process for all citizens

The duties and responsibilities of citizenship

Freedom of speech and the press

Civil rights

Equality for all members of the national community

 

The June 27, 2000 Warsaw Declaration, formulated by members of the Community of Democracies, lists nineteen characteristics believed to describe a democratic society. The Community of Democracies, which has increased in number since its inception, is celebrating its tenth anniversary. Students can be given this four-page document as a handout or covered in a power-point presentation to compare to their own list.

 

The Origin and Development of Democratic Government

 

The historical record can provide further areas for contrast and comparison. Traditionally, this begins with Athenian democracy and an evaluation of differing forms of government in ancient Greece. Discussion can focus on the difference between a direct democracy and the system employed in the United States.

 

A homework assignment to reinforce classroom discussion might center on one or more questions that can be researched by students with minimal effort. Questions could include:

 

Why was Greek democracy limited only to free males?

Was early democracy a first step or a model for the future?

Why was ancient democracy replaced in later years?

Did the American Founding Fathers value ancient democracy?

Was the Constitution inspired by Greek democracy?

How did democracy evolve in the U.S., such as in the time of Andrew Jackson?

Was this evolution natural?

How does a democracy differ from a republic?

 

If given several days to research and bring back an answer, it might be helpful to divide the class into groups with each group focusing on one question to report to the rest of the class.

 

Comparing Democratic Nations to Non-Democratic Ones

 

Most observers would hardly classify North Korea as a democratic nation, yet its name is the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” (DPRK). Before reunification, Communist-led East Germany was known as “The German Democratic Republic” or DDR. Does using the term “democratic” in a name mean that those nations exhibit the elements of a democratic society?

 

Students can be asked to compare true democracies like Chile or Australia with countries that are not such as Cuba or Vietnam. Other topics of interests might include:

 

Although Hugo Chavez was legally elected several times, is Venezuela a democratic nation?

How does a nation like Argentina move from right-wing dictatorship to democracy?

Is Australia a true democracy even though Queen Elizabeth I is still the head of state and can dissolve the Parliament in Canberra?

Are democracies increasing or decreasing globally?

What threats do democracies face in the 21^st Century?

How important is a national debt in preserving democracy, such as in Greece?

 

Incorporating Civics, History, and Global Issues

 

As school systems revise goals and outcomes in civics and government classes, lesson plans often call for several days of thematic and in-depth instruction. Well constructed plans will be highly successful if inter-disciplinary approaches are taken by incorporating history, global issues, and current events. Students participating in a variety of activities relevant to the primary theme will experience consistent reinforcement and have fun at the same time.

Copyright of this article owned by Michael Streich; republishing requires written permission.

The Contribution of Athenian Democracy

Michael Streich

Copyright Owned by Michael Streich

 

Democracy in Ancient Greece is most frequently associated with Athens where a complex system allowed for broad political participation by the free male citizens of the city-state. Democracy, however, was found in other areas as well and after the conquests of Alexander the Great and the process of Hellenization, it became the norm for both the liberated cities in Asia Minor as well as new cities built in conjunction with Greek occupation. Democracy, although a functioning ideal, weakened with the Roman conquest of Greece which gave more power to local oligarchs than to average citizens.

 

Characteristics of Athenian Democracy

 

The goal of Athenian democracy was that all citizens should have equal political rights and the ability to fully participate in either the council or the Assembly. Participation, however, was limited to free males whose parents were also deemed citizens. This eliminated foreign residents, aliens, even if they had lived in the city-state for many years. Additionally, freed slaves were never considered citizens. The same model was used in cities established by Greek colonists or in the wake of Alexander’s conquests. One historian, for example, estimates that the citizenry of Alexandria in Egypt was a very small percentage given that the indigenous Egyptian population was barred from citizenship.

 

Although citizenship was determined by birth in the city-state, interchangeable citizenship treaties existed whereby citizens of one city-state could be considered citizens of another. The Ionia city-state of Miletus is cited as an example. While there were no property qualifications attached to citizenship initially, Roman expansion introduced this limitation in Greece and is usually attributed to Pompey in the late Republican period.

 

The Council and the Assembly

 

The council’s function was to limit the Assembly’s power by proposing legislation and, in the later centuries, vetoing measures coming out of the Assembly. Historian A. H. M. Jones writes that, ideally, the council was designed to, “accurately reflect the general sentiments of the people.” [1] Members of the council usually reflected the wealthier classes who saw political leadership as a civic obligation.

 

The Assembly, at least in Athens, was composed of 500 members, chosen by lot from the various “tribes” or clans in Athens. Their chairman or designated leader was also chosen by lot and only served for the one designated meeting. In Athens, the Assembly met forty times a year. By 400 BCE, members of the Assembly received a minimal stipend to attend the sessions in order to encourage participation and defray lost income from time spent in the Assembly.

 

Early Forms of Checks and Balances

 

Ostracism, from the Greek work ostrakismos, banished persons deemed by the collective citizenry to be a potential threat to their form of democracy for ten years. The entire complex system was designed to curb and limit the powers of executives and magistrates so prevalent in the times before the advent of democracy. According to Jones, by the time of Alexander’s death, “democracy was the normal constitution of every city.”

 

Historical Effects of Greek Democracy

 

The historical record indicates that the Ancient Greeks fully believed that men were qualified to participate in the political process, despite the misgivings of some thinkers such as Plato. The crafting of the U.S. Constitution, for example – though owing its greatest inspiration to English freedoms dating to Magna Carta, was heavily influenced by both Greek and Roman historical models.

 

Historian Colin B. Goodykoontz [3] (deceased) points out that the Founding Fathers were highly educated in the Classics and, dismissing Ben Franklin’s recommendation to spend time in prayer, looked instead to Greece and Rome for inspiration. Goodykoontz writes that, “…the references to ancient history by the advocates of constitutional change were intended to show that the early confederacies had often failed because of faulty organization; and that they had been in more danger from the insubordination of their own members than from the tyranny of rulers.”

 

Athenian Democracy and the Value of Man

 

Ancient forms of democracy, though limited in some respects, were predicated on the belief that citizens had the right and the intellectual ability to make sound decisions affecting their communities. Further, a detailed analysis of the complexities of these early forms of ancient government shows that there was an effort to hold accountable persons entrusted with the welfare of the state. This remarkable step in Western Civilization paved the way for notions of due process.

 

[1] A. H. M. Jones, The Greek City: From Alexander to Justinian (Oxford: the Clarendon Press, 1940)

[2] Sarah B. Pomeroy, Stanley M. Burnstein, and others, Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History (Oxford University Press, 1999)

[3] Colin B. Goodykoontz, “The Founding Fathers and Clio,” The Vital Past:Writings on the Uses of History (University of Georgia Press, Athens, 1985)

Is the Tradition and Reality of the American Republic Worth Saving?

Michael Streich

 

During the American Revolutionary War, delegates of the Continental Congress created a new government for the soon-to-be independent United States that was called the Articles of Confederation. At the end of the war in 1783, the Articles formed the basis of the national government even as individual states wrote constitutions. Because the Articles proved inadequate, by 1787 it became apparent that a new Constitution needed to be written. That effort resulted in a central government that has governed the nation ever since its ratification. The question often raised, however, is why this happened in America.

 

The Enlightenment and a Constitutional Tradition

 

From the very beginning of seventeenth century colonial efforts, colonial charters detailed not only the formation of colonial communities but political relationships. In rudimentary form, the Mayflower Compact established a social order agreed to by the consensus of Separatists. Other charters were more elaborate and went through several incarnations, such as that of Pennsylvania.

 

Puritan thinkers advanced the notion of a covenant or contract form of government that was later employed by John Locke at the time of the Glorious Revolution. William and Mary accepted these principles, embodied in part in the English Bill of Rights, and constitutionalism replaced divine right theory that had been held so dearly by earlier Stuart kings.

 

Ben Franklin, perhaps the greatest example of colonial Enlightenment thinkers, advanced an early blue print of colonial union with his Albany Plan at the start of the French and Indian War, but it was rejected both by colonial leaders and Britain. Most colonies, mirroring the English Parliamentary system, had Assemblies comprised of upper and lower houses. In short, the notions of representative government were planted long before the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.

 

The Lessons of History and Enlightenment Writing

 

Colin Goodykoontz writes that the crafting of the US Constitution called attention to “the contributions of the Americans to the development of the convention method of forming constitutions and giving reality to the compact theory.” Goodykoontz demonstrates that the delegates sought inspiration from the experience of history rather than reason, recalling Athenian democracy and the Roman Republic. Yet the greatest example for the framers was the unwritten English Constitution.

 

While providing a vehicle for self-government, however, the framers also understood the dangers posed by “the violence of popular bodies,” according to Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania. This view, held by almost all of the framers, helps to explain the later fears associated with the French Revolution and the mob rule during the French “reign of terror.” Yet it was one French Enlightenment thinker, the Baron de Montesquieu, whose book The Spirit of the Laws, inspired the separation of powers.

 

Goodykoontz quotes Pierce Butler at the Constitutional Convention: “We had before us all the Ancient and modern constitutions on record, but none of them was more influential on Our Judgments than the British in Its Original purity.” American Constitutionalism developed out of a constitutional and covenant tradition, something other European societies lacked. Coupled with a strong agricultural base and the growth of manufacturing, the American democracy would evolve into what Gordon Wood called the “most egalitarian society” the world had ever seen.

 

Sources:

 

Scott Douglas Gerber, To Secure These Rights: The Declaration of Independence and Constitutional Interpretation (New York University Press, 1995).

Colin B. Goodykoontz, “The Founding Fathers and Clio,” The Vital Past: Writings on the Uses of History, Stephen Vaughn, Ed. (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1985).

Gordon S. Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution: How a Revolution Transformed a Monarchical Society Into a Democratic One Unlike Any That Had Ever Existed (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992).

American Electoral College Part of the Early Republic's Formation of Government and Representation

Michael Streich

 The second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence begins with the ringing words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal…” Thomas Jefferson’s words go on to highlight the “unalienable” rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” But, as students of American history have long pointed out, this would not become reality for over two hundred years. The development of a democratic society in which all members share both political and social rights, took a very long time in American history.

 

The Early Republic

 

Framers of the United States Constitution were cautious and followed the precepts known to them regarding representation. Only white males that owned property (land) could participate politically. The Constitution, as it was originally ratified, only allowed for the House of Representatives to be elected by direct popular vote. The President, ultimately, was elected by an Electoral College and Senators serving in the national legislature were appointed by state legislatures.

 

By the 1820s states began to change voting qualifications to open the franchise to all white males whether they owned property or not. Historians estimate that between 1824 and 1828, nearly one million new voters were eligible to participate in the political life of the fledgling nation.

 

By the 1840s, groups of women began to actively advocate for the right to vote. The 1848 Seneca Falls Convention publicized the Declaration of Sentiments, written by early Feminist leaders Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. The early Women’s Movement would join forces with a growing Abolitionist Movement, hopeful that their political emancipation would come with the emancipation of slaves. The 15^th Amendment proved them wrong.

 

The Post Civil War Years

 

The Fifteenth Amendment, adopted in 1870, upheld the right to vote by all citizens regardless of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” On the heels of the 1868 Fourteenth Amendment guaranteeing “equal protection of the laws” and “due process,” the Fifteenth Amendment enabled African Americans the opportunity to participate politically.

 

But even as Southern states sought to circumvent Reconstruction legislation designed to mainstream freedman into the political system, social equality was not addressed. Additionally, the clamor to include women in the political process met with deaf ears.

 

The “separate but equal” doctrine, affirmed by the 1896 Supreme Court case Plessy v Ferguson, denied blacks social equality while prohibitive policies geared toward political participation kept blacks from exercising the vote. Literacy tests, poll taxes, and other local devices in the South stifled the notion that “all men are created equal.”

 

Women finally achieved the right to vote in 1920 with the adoption of the Twentieth Amendment, although some territorial jurisdictions had already allowed women to vote in that last 1800s.  It was not until 1964 that the Twenty-Fourth Amendment did away with the “poll tax” as a requirement to vote in a national election. By 1971, citizens attaining the age of 18 were given the right to vote.

 

Social Equality in the United States

 

Enough evidence exists from the lives of post Civil War Radical Republicans that social equality between races was not a part of the political equality enshrined in federal law and Constitutional amendments. Social equality began with Brown v. Board of Education when the Warren Court ruled that separate but equal was “inherently unequal.” The inability of African American students to obtain an equal education directly impacted their ability to be successful in society.

 

Ultimately, the Civil Rights movement and President Lyndon B. Johnson’s legislative initiatives would pave the road toward social equality for all citizens. Over two hundred years after Jefferson’s Declaration, the nation would truly become the world’s greatest democracy.

 

Sources:

 

Alfred H. Kelly and Winfred A. Harbison, The American Constitution: Its Origins & Development

 Australian Aborigine Creation Myth

Identifying With Nature Rooted in The Beginning of Life

© Michael Streich

Nov 15, 2008

As in many ancient Creation stories, the Aboriginal myth details a sequence that begins with the coming of light and ends with the formation of male and female.

All Creation myths share notable characteristics and the Australian Aboriginal account is no exception. Light comes out of darkness. There is a distinct order in which animals and man are brought forth. The myth itself, retold over many generations, alludes to a once formless earth filled with ice, perhaps an environmental condition consistent with the Aborigine migration to Australia around 40,000 BC.

In the Beginning…The world was in utter darkness. No living things existed and there was no sound. The earth was bare. The Great Father Spirit whispered to the sleeping goddess. Yhi awoke and immediately light appeared. Yhi represents the mother goddess image so often associated with fertility and the bringing of life in many ancient Creation traditions.

The mother goddess brought vegetation to life and insects were the first to appear. Insects became an important part of Aboriginal life, both eaten and used as medicine. The witchety grub, for example, was an important insect desert food. Animals were brought to life, their spirits called out of dark caverns. According to the myth, evil spirits attempted to impede the efforts of Yhi.

The world was filled with ice. The light of the mother goddess melted the ice and she created the seasons. Significantly, at her departure, she promised the grieving animals reluctant to see her leave that their spirits, upon death, would live on with the goddess. That the afterlife extends to all living beings is a belief found in many early societies, including the Native American.

The Coming of Man and Woman

The Father of all Spirits was saddened that he had no personal relationship with any of the animals. According to A .W. Reed’s translation (see below reference), the Great Spirit determined to “clothe the power of my thought in flesh,” and formed man, an animal that walked erect. Reed continues that, “man, who was greater than all other animals, was fashioned as a vessel for the mind-power of the Great Spirit.” This relationship to a Creator parallel’s many other creation myths, including the Egyptian myth and the Biblical Genesis account.

The first man, however, became lonely so the Great Spirit created woman. The formation of the female was related to a deep sleep. Man, awakening, saw a tree transformed into a creature like himself but with different physical characteristics. William Smith’s analysis concludes that, “it was the care that man bestowed on the woman that gave an impetus to his mind and reason.” (note below reference)

The Role of Nature

Tending the natural environment has always been a part of Aboriginal culture. There is a deep respect for life that recounts the creation story itself. Woman, after all, came from among the plants. Sir James Frazier, in The Golden Bough, writes that, “Nowhere apparently are the alternations of the seasons more sudden…than in the deserts of Central Australia, where at the end of a long period of drought…and desolation of death appear…[the land] is transformed into a landscape…with teeming multitudes of insects and lizards, of frogs and birds.” Aboriginal peoples engaged in ceremonies and rituals to bring about the renewal of life, perhaps a reenactment of the first creation. Frazier equates magical ceremonies with, “the purpose of awakening the dormant energies of nature at the approach of…spring,” and compares this with European peasant activities.

The Aboriginal Creation myth is an integral part of a daily awareness that life and nature are not to be taken for granted or destroyed without purpose. Part of the Aboriginal “dream time” is reflective of a state of being that has no past or future but exists in a unique bonding with the Great Spirit and the work of Creation.

Sources:

Sir James George Frazier, The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (New York: The MacMillian Company, 1966)

Alexander W. Reed, Aboriginal Stories of Australia (Sydney: Reed New Holland, 1965)

William Ramsay Smith, Myths & Legends of the Aborigine (Middlesex, UK: Tiger Books International, 1998)

The copyright of the article Australian Aborigine Creation Myth in Australian History is owned by Michael Streich. Permission to republish Australian Aborigine Creation Myth in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

 

Superstition and Magic in Medieval Europe

Primitive Traditions Have Survived Into the 21st Century

Dec 17, 2008 Michael Streich

Superstition, magic, and the infusion of early Christian traditions resulted in a rich tradition that still upholds seasonal practices and sustains individual faith.

Every year during the period of Advent, the townspeople of Gelnhausen, in Hesse Germany, celebrate a mythical past built on Grimm’s fairy tales and other stories that, in some cases, hearken back to pre-Christian days. Europeans still follow superstitions and traditions as old as early pagan civilization, later imbued with Catholicism. On February 5th, people still bake “Agatha bread,” blessed bread honoring St. Agatha. In Northern German, people eat kale for good luck in the New Year while in parts of Spain people eat twelve grapes, one for each month of the year, in order to ensure good luck. “Good luck” and “blessed” foods are rooted in Europe’s medieval blend of magic, superstition, and Christianity.

Paganism, Superstition, and Magic

Andrew Greeley [1] writes that midwives were often permitted to baptize new born infants in the absence of priests. Often unaware of the sacramental particulars, they baptized “in the name of Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar,” referring to the legendary three kings that brought gifts to the baby Jesus. The primitive allusion is not lost. No doubt midwives, often the communities' “cunning” women – later dubbed witches, associated the sacrament with the three men that were most visible at Christ’s birth.

In another source, Greeley [2] states that, “Until the last century, the Irish used to make love in the fields outside a house where there was a wake and thus asserted that life was stronger than death.” Scholars of the pre-Christian period in Europe point out that similar activity took place among the so-called barbarians on North Germany in December. Making love under fir trees was tied to good harvests in the next year, the fir tree being the forerunner of today’s decorated Christmas tree.

Gerald Strauss [3] analyzed 16th Century Lutheran “Visitation Reports” and found that despite the best efforts of Lutheran pastors, local superstitions prevailed and, in many cases, existed side by side with religious teachings. Greeley [4] questions the extent of any “Christian” lifestyle among Europe’s peasants into the 20th century. Using the example of the St. Christopher medal, he notes that still today people rely on a blend of superstition and religious sacramentals.

Christian Tradition and Medieval and Pre-Medieval Superstition

Every major Christian holiday, from Christmas to Easter, has roots in old pagan traditions and beliefs. R. W. Scribner [5] details the Christian medieval Church cycle around which European peasant life revolved. Official feast days of the saints ranged from 50 to 100, depending upon the diocese. It all began on September 29th with the feast of St. Michael and followed the farming year.

Christmas fell during the old Roman and pagan celebrations of the winter solstice. It was a time of carnival and revelry that featured “Lords of misrule” and “boy bishops” – a practice recently revived in both the Catholic and Lutheran churches.

The use of candles as protective magic is well documented. Candles during the medieval period were blessed on February 2nd, the feast of the Purification of the Virgin, also known as Candlemas. Large house candles were used to ward off evil spirits or lit at times of death. Slim, red candles were used during child birth to protect against demons and other threatening spirits. Crosses made from wax blessed at Candlemas were placed on farm equipment and barns.

The 21st century still looks back to an earlier period when fearful peasants, with the help of the church, contrived symbols and sacramental aids to overcome everyday problems. Greeley asks, “to what extent…was the rosary a reminder of the mysteries of the life of Jesus and to what extent was it a good luck charm?” Ultimately, in terms of faith, it may not matter.

Sources:

[1] Andrew Greeley, “Magic in the Age of Faith,” America (October 4, 1993) p.8ff.

[2] Andrew Greeley, The Catholic Imagination(Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000) p.49.

[3] Gerald Strauss, Luther’s House of Learning: Indoctrination of the Young in the German Reformation (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1978)

[4] Greeley, “Magic in the Age of Faith.”

[5] R.W. Scribner, Popular Culture and Popular Movements in Reformation Germany (London: The Hambledon Press, 1987).

See Also

Holger Dell, “In den Advent mit Eisprinzessin, Engel und Frau Holle,” Staats-Zeitung, Nr. 50, 13. Dezember 2008, p. 16

Copyright owned by Michael Streich; republishing requires written permission.

 Development and Celebration of Epiphany

A Church Festival Ending Christmas Dated to the Early 4th Century

© Michael Streich

 Dec 21, 2008

Twelfth Night has long been associated with the visitation of Magi from the East, but Epiphany also recounts the baptism of Jesus and his first miracle at Cana.

Celebrated on January 6th, Epiphany represents one of the three most important Christian holidays in the church cycle. Most directly, Epiphany recalls the visit of the Magi or “Wise men” from the east, but it is also associated with the baptism of Jesus as well as the first miracle, performed at the wedding in Cana. Celebrated as early as the 4th Century, scholars have traced January 6th as a direct reference to Christ’s baptism to the 2nd century.

Development of the Festival

Historians have traced the first Epiphany celebrations to the eastern Mediterranean region in the early 4th century. Significantly, the festival appeared to parallel a pagan festival centered around Alexandria in Egypt that was tied to the winter solstice. This pagan festival celebrated the birth of the god Aeon in the temple of Kore. [1]

Charles Panati [2] asserts that, “Whereas the solstice caused the banks of the Nile to overflow, the sacred birth caused water in royal and public fountains to miraculously turn into wine.” Hence, January 6th was equated by the Christian Church with the date of the Cana wedding feast when Jesus turned water into wine.

The presence of the Bethlehem star that led the Magi to Christ also figures prominently in the evolution of Epiphany in the church. Sometimes called the Festival of the Lights, it marks that cycle in the church leading from the winter solstice to the return of the sun. R. W. Scribner [3] details this cycle of lights as it expanded in medieval Europe, moving from mid January to February 1st, the feast of St. Bridget, “…a suitable introduction to the feast of the Purification or Lichtmess (Candlemas).”

The Magi from the East

The story of the “wisemen” or Magi (magoi in Greek) is recounted in the second chapter of Matthew. Contrary to tradition, Matthew does not state how many there were. Settling on the number three appears to come, according to most commentaries, from the three separate gifts enumerated in the Gospel: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In the ancient world, all three of the gifts were considered kingly.

Although depicted as kings in church tradition, there is no indication that they actually were. The Greek term magoi (used also in Acts) can refer to sorcery and magic. In this case, since they came from the east following a particular star, it is believed that they were Persian astrologers from the Mesopotamian region. It should also be noted that they were non-Jews.

Whereas Luke has Christ born in a manager, the Magi found Christ in a “house.” Bible commentators speculate that their arrival was anywhere from 6 months to a year after his birth. This would also explain Herod’s order to have all infants two years or younger slain.

Light versus Darkness and Good versus Evil

Just as the Magi represent goodness and the fulfillment of prophecy (see Isaiah 60.6), Herod’s response represented evil. James Frazer identifies the “period of twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany” as a “witching time” [4] when Europeans burned wood to ward off evil. “The last day of the mystic twelve days is Epiphany or Twelfth Night, and it has been selected as a proper season for the expulsion of the powers of evil in various parts of Europe.”

For some Eastern Church faith tradition, such as the Armenians, the Epiphany is the true day of Christmas. The traditions see December 25th as having explicit pagan connotations, something Augustine and other church fathers seem to admit. Epiphany celebrates the visit of the Magi, Christ's baptism, and the Cana miracle.

Sources and Notes:

[1]Williston Walker, A History of the Christian Church 3rd Ed. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1970) p. 154.

[2] Charles Panati, Sacred Origins of Profound Things: the Storoes Behind the Rites and Rituals of the World’s Religions (New York: Penguin, 1999) pp. 217-219.

[3] R.W. Scribner, Popular Culture and Popular Movements in Reformation Germany (London: the Hambledon Press, 1987) pp. 4-5.

[4] James G. Frazer, The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1966) p. 650.

The copyright of the article Development and Celebration of Epiphany in Catholic Mass & Holy Days is owned by Michael Streich. Permission to republish Development and Celebration of Epiphany in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Traditional Christmas

 St. John of Patmos in Current Times

The Message of Hope and the Example of Perseverance

© Michael Streich

Feb 28, 2009

St. John's life and his writings in both the Fourth Gospel and the Revelation provide inspiration and hope during uncertain times, promising a better time in the future.

During times of uncertainty and severe economic downturns, it is common to see people, searching for answers and some degree of hope, turning to spiritual solutions. In many cases this includes apocalyptic themes relevant to the coming of the end of the world, Christ’s Second Coming, or a violent conflagration engulfing human life either as a result of nuclear war or natural disasters. In all of this, people turn most often to John of Patmos whose New Testament book, The Revelation of St. John, is thought to include a blueprint of the end of time.

St. John of Patmos In Current Times

Although John’s visions are interpreted many different ways and may have had historical basis at the time he was living, two significant elements stand apart from the specifics of his visions: John offers a promise of hope amidst chaos and his personal life is an example of perseverance in the face of turmoil and persecution. If nothing else, these two elements sustain people of any faith tradition as they seek comfort from fear and despair.

According to the accepted Eastern tradition, John of Patmos was the “disciple whom Jesus loved,” the one who he commended his mother’s care to at the crucifixion. At the time of Jerusalem’s destruction by the hands of Titus in AD 70, John took the Virgin Mary and relocated to Ephesus, as did many Christians, still associated as a fringe sect within the greater Jewish faith communities. Ephesus contained the largest early Christian community and would be the recipient of John’s first letter in his Apocalypse.

Tradition further states that during the reign of the Emperor Domitian, John was arrested and sent to Rome where he performed miracles, including drinking a cup filled with poison. Domitian, impressed, exiled John to the barren Aegean Island of Patmos where he would receive his visions. Domitian was the first emperor to deify himself as a “living god,” something Christians could not accept. Hence, they were persecuted, especially at Ephesus where a temple to Domitian had been erected.

The End and Example of John’s Long Life

Upon Domitian’s death, John returned to Patmos, having completed both his Revelation and the Fourth Gospel. Among the many traditions, John was thought to have died c AD 100, having lived for 120 years. Regardless of which tradition is to be believed as accurate, it is the example of his long life that radiates hope and joy, especially throughout his Gospel. The Revelation was both an assessment of the small Christian communities in Anatolia as well as a more detailed, albeit allegorical, vision of the end. In part, this may have come from the disappointment felt by a newer generation of Christians that the return of Christ had not yet occurred.

Ultimately, the message to these Christians was that good would triumph over evil and with persecution comes reward, no doubt referencing Domitian’s attempts to reign-in these Christians communities, all of which (in terms of the Seven Churches) existed in Hellenized Roman cities. Echoing Jesus in Matthew 24, John characterized a time of great famine, wars, natural disasters, and events so calamitous that only the intervention of God would restore order and bring a new heaven and earth.

For centuries people have interpreted different periods as harbingers of the end times. Whether the persecutions of Julian the Apostate in the fourth century, or the bubonic plague in the fourteenth, the words of John reverberated among theologians eager to interpret them in the light of contemporary events. The same is true today. What should be taken from John’s life and his writings is the element of hope and personal example amidst persecution and seemingly uncontrollable negative life events. These may be his most applicable contributions.

Fatih Cimok, A Guide to the Seven Churches (Istanbul: A Turizm Yayinlari, 2001).

Anna G. Edmonds, Turkey’s Religious Sites 2nd Ed. (Istanbul: Damko, 1998).

Williston Walker, A History of the Christian Church 3rd Ed. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1970).

The copyright of the article St. John of Patmos in Current Times in Protestantism is owned by Michael Streich. Permission to republish St. John of Patmos in Current Times in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Temple of Domitian,Ephesus