I would like to share a few thoughts from my limited knowledge of Christian
church history. The major part that is known to me is the actions taken
by the early church councils.
The earliest councils were concerned with true spiritual issues. They
defined points of doctrine, clarified scripture, described proper conduct,
etceteras. Then as time progressed we see their focus change to "Whose
jurisdiction is whose" and political concerns.
At the time of Martin Luther, this had resulted in the radical misuse
of power. "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely",
as the saying goes, was the downfall of the early church.
With that in mind, let us talk about Halloween. The reason will become clearer as you read. The very name means
"Hallowed evening". It was begun as a religious observance. It
was on that day, also, that Martin Luther began the Protestant reformation
that saved the Christian church from going farther overboard with the misuse
of power.
Don Richardson is a contemporary missionary and author. His early contact
with primitive tribes of New Guinea led him to do research on what other
missionaries had learned. There is a pattern that parallels the early Christian
church. He says in his book, Eternity In Their Hearts
-- the following -- which concern a King of the Incas named Pachacuti.
"The traditions discovered with them state bluntly that Pachacuti
- the king so committed to sun worship that he rebuilt Inti's temple at
Cuzco - later began to question his god's credentials! Philip Ainsworth
Means, commenting on Pachacuti's discontent with Inti, wrote: "He
pointed out how that luminary always follows a set path, performs definite
tasks, and keeps certain hours as does a laborer." In other words,
if Inti is God why doesn't he ever do anything original? The king mused
again. He noted that "the solar radiance can be dimmed by any passing
cloud." In other words, if Inti were truly God no mere created thing
could dim his light!
Suddenly Pachacuti tumbled to the realization that he had been worshipping
a mere thing as Creator! Bravely he advanced to the inevitable next question:
if Inti is not the true God, then who is?
Where could a pagan Inca, cut off from Judeo-Christian illumination,
find an answer to a question like that?
The answer is quite simple -- from old traditions lying dormant within
his own culture! That such an event is possible was foreseen by none other
than the apostle Paul when he wrote that Theos, in the past, "let
all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without testimony"
(Acts 14:16-17, italics added).
Pachacuti took the testimony he himself had derived directly from
creation and aligned it with his own culture's almost extinct memory of
Viracocha -- the Lord, the omnipotent Creator of all things.
All that remained of earlier Incan allegiance to Viracocha was a
shrine called Quishuarcancha, located in the upper Vilcanota Valley. Pachacuti
recalled also that his own father, Hatun Tupac, once claimed to receive
counsel in a dream from Viracocha. Viracocha reminded Hatun Tupac in that
dream that He was truly the Creator of all things. Hatun Tupac promptly
renamed himself (dare we say presumptuously?) Viracocha!
The concept of Viracocha, therefore, was probably of great antiquity.
Worship of Inti and other gods, in this view, were only recent departures
from a purer original belief system. Metraux implies as much when he observes
that Viracocha-like figures are prominent in Indian cultures "from
Alaska to Tierra del Fuego," whereas sun worship appears in relatively
few cultures.
Pachacuti apparently decided that his father had rediscovered something
basic and genuine, but had simply not taken the discovery as far as it
deserved to go! He resolved that he, as his father's son, would take the
reality his father had touched to greater lengths (or was it in fact that
reality which was taking him to greater lengths?).
A God who created all things, Pachacuti concluded, deserves worship!
And it would be inconsistent at the same time to worship part of His creation
as if it were Him! Pachacuti came to a brisk decision -- this Inti-as-God
nonsense had been around long enough, at least as far as he and his upper-class
subjects were concerned.
Pachacuti took action. He called a congress of the priests of the
sun -- a pagan equivalent of the Nicene Council if you like -- at beautiful
Coricancha. In fact, one scholar dubs that congress the Council of Coricancha,
thus ranking it among the great theological councils of history. In that
council Pachacuti presented his doubts about Inti in" the three sentences":
1. Inti cannot be universal if, while giving light to some, he withholds
it from others.
2. He cannot be perfect if he can never remain at ease, resting.
3. Nor can he be all powerful when the smallest cloud may cover him.
Pachacuti then revived his upper-class subjects faint memory of omnipotent
Viracocha by listing his awesome attributes: Dr. B.C. Brundage of the University
of Oklahoma summarizes Pachacuti's description of Viracocha as follows:
"He is ancient, remote, supreme, and uncreated. Nor does he need the
gross satisfaction of a consort. He manifests himself as a trinity when
he wishes, . . . otherwise only heavenly warriors and archangels surround
his loneliness. He created all peoples by his `word' [shades of Heraclitus,
Plato, Philo and the apostle John!], as well as all huacas [sprits]. He
is man's Fortunus, ordaining his years and nourishing him. He is indeed
the very principle of life, for he warms the folk through his created son,
Punchao [the sun disk, which was somehow distinct from Inti]. He is a bringer
of peace and an orderer. He is in his own being blessed and has pity on
men's wretchedness. He alone judges and absolves them and enables them
to combat their evil tendencies."
Pachacuti then commanded that Inti from that time forward be respected
as a "kinsman" only - a fellow created entity. Prayer was to
be directed to Viracocha with the deepest awe and humility.
In the aftermath of the council, Pachacuti composed reverent hymns
to Viracocha, hymns which eventually found their way into de Molina's collection.
Some priests of the sun reacted with "bitter hostility"
Pachacuti's statements hit their vested interests like bombshells. Others
found Pachacuti's logic irresistible and agreed to give allegiance to Viracocha!
Of these, many were troubled, however, by one very practical problem: How
would the masses react when priests of the sun announced, "Everything
our priesthood has taught these past few centuries has been wrong? Inti
is not God after all! These immense temples you built for him with awesome
toil -- and by our command -- are vain. All rituals and prayers connected
with Inti are futile. Now we must begin again at ground zero with the true
God -- Viracocha!"
Might not such an announcement arouse cynicism? Or even trigger social
upheaval?
Pachacuti bowed to political expediency. "He ordained that the
worship of Viracocha be confined to the ruling caste, [for it was]. . .
too subtle and sublime for ordinary folk [sic!]."
To be fair, Pachacuti may have hoped that the worship of Viracocha
-- given time to permeate like leaven -- might eventually work its way
down to the lower classes. Time, however, was something his budding reformation
did not have much of. Pachacuti little dreamed how fateful his decision
to favor upper classes was. Upper classes, historically are a notoriously
short- lived social phenomenon; it is the common people who endure. So
it proved also with the Inca upper class. Within a century of Pachacuti's
death, merciless Spanish conquistadores obliterated both the royal family
and the upper class. Since the lower classes had been relegated to spiritual
darkness with their mistaken notions about Inti and other fictional gods,
they were incapable of carrying on Pachacuti's reformation. Thus it died
in infancy a mini reformation."
End of quotation.
The preceding quotation by Don Richardson is fully documented and the
same may be found in his book to which I have provided a hyperlink.