Priests and Solar Symbols Among the R1b Peoples

 

Dispersion of the R1b populations.

Dr. Alice C. Linsley


The monk priest Augustine was tasked by Pope Gregory 1 to evangelize the Anglo-Saxons. He arrived in England in 596 A.D. with 40 monks. Augustine was the official representative of Rome and was based in Canterbury.

However, the priesthood among the natives of Britain has a deeper history. According to Gildas's De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae there were Christians living in Britain in 46 A.D. That is 550 years before Augustine’s arrival. The presence of Christians in Roman Britain predates the episcopacy of Evodius of Antioch (53–69 A.D.) and the episcopacy of Linus of Rome (64-79 A.D.).

This is Gildas’ poetic description of Jesus Christ: Meanwhile, to the island stiff with frost and cold, and in a far distant corner of the earth, remote from the visible sun, He, the true sun, even Christ, first yields His rays, I mean His precepts. He spread, not only from the temporal firmament, but from the highest arc of heaven beyond all times, his bright gleam to the whole world in the latest days, as we know, of Tiberius Caesar. At that time the religion of Christ was propagated without any hindrance, because the emperor, contrary to the will of the senate, threatened with death informers against the soldiers of that same religion.

Note that Tiberius Caesar ruled from 14 A.D. until his death in 37 A.D. This suggests that there were followers of Jesus in Britain at least 20 years earlier than the 46 A.D. date given by Gildas.

The Anglican priest, Louis R. Tarsitano, a Church historian, expressed the truth when he wrote: “... it is a simple error of fact to claim that the Anglican Church ‘began’ in the Reformation, or even with the late 6th century mission of St. Augustine to evangelize the newly arrived Anglo-Saxon pagans. The bishops of a five-centuries-old Christian Church met Augustine on the beach. (Of Forms and the Anglican Way)

There is no documentation tracing an orderly succession of consecrations in the Church before the early Second Century. The Vatican acknowledges this fact. The 1973 International Theological Commission on Catholic Teaching on Apostolic Succession states: “The absence of documents makes it difficult to say precisely how these transitions came about. By the end of the first century the situation was that the apostles or their closest helpers or eventually their successors directed the local colleges of episkopoi and presbyteroi. By the beginning of the second century the figure of a single bishop who is the head of the communities appears very clearly in the letters of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, who further claims that this institution is established "unto the ends of the earth".

When the best Church scholars fail to find evidence for something, it is probable that the evidence does not exist. Perhaps it is time to look at this from a different perspective.

Last week we explored the evidence of priestly ordinations for the Anglo-Celtic church in southern Britain during the time of Jesus. A key figure was Joseph Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin, who had authority to ordain priests. Luke 23 states that Joseph Arimathea did not consent to the crucifixion of Jesus and that he was living in expectation of the Kingdom of God. If Joseph performed ordinations he would have done so according to the Sanhedrin’s rules. It seems that this resolves the problem of discontinuity which we do not find in the Scriptures, or in the immutable way that God works.


The Sanhedrin Ordination Rules

The Sanhedrin required three ruler-priests to give consent to ordination, but only one was required to be physically present for the laying on of hands. The other two could give consent in writing. In the Anglican tradition, "three to give consent" is the canonical requirement for the consecration of a new bishop. The Apostolic Canons of the Eastern Orthodox require the same for the consecration of a bishop.

At least three named Sanhedrin members were followers of Jesus: Joseph Arimathea, Nicodemus, and James the Just. The friendship between Joseph and Nicodemus is made explicit in John 19:38-42. It states that Joseph of Arimathea claimed Jesus' body after the crucifixion and Nicodemus provided a very substantial mixture of myrrh and aloes. Together, the two men wrapped Jesus' body in strips of linen with the mixture provided by Nicodemus.

As followers of Jesus Christ, Joseph and Nicodemus sought to spread the faith and would have been instrumental in perpetuating the priesthood as they understood it. Joseph probably ordained men of the Faith while he was in Cornwall. This constitutes organic continuity between the priests of the Old Covenant and the priests of the New Covenant.

Members of the Sanhedrin served under the presidency of the high priest much as priests today serve under the presidency of their bishop. The high priest bore the title nasi (ruler, king, prince) and retained this title even after the presidency was transferred to other hands. Likewise, in Anglican orders a bishop remains a bishop even after he has stepped down from serving in that office.

One of the duties of the High Priest was to preside at the coronation of a king. In England this is the duty of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The second in charge of the Sanhedrin was a ruler-priest called ab bet din (father of the court). The ab bet din served as a combination of the roles of the bishop's chaplain and the chancellor of the diocese who serves as the chief legal consultant to the bishop. The polity and ordination procedures of the Anglican Church seem to parallel those of the Sanhedrin.

The number of members of the Sanhedrin was limited to 71. When Sanhedrin members passed away or became unfit for service, new members were ordained in what Jews describe as an "unbroken succession" from Moses to the judges of the Secon Temple Sanhedrin (c. 520 - A.D. 70). After the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 A.D. the influence of the Sanhedrin was greatly diminished. Jewish ordination was abolished in 358 A.D., leaving priests of the Church as the single body to proclaim the Messianic faith we call "Christianity". Among them were Jewish priests according to Acts 6:7 which states, “a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith." It is through them that the Church has continuity with the priesthood extending back to the order of Melchizedek.


Requirements for Membership

Membership in the Sanhedrin was restricted to priests from families whose lineages could be traced back to the early Hebrew ruler-priests and specifically to Moses. Before a man could be considered for ordination, his ancestry had to be verified. The genealogies of Genesis, Numbers, Matthew and Luke list ancestors who qualified a man for membership. Jesus is a direct descendant of those early Hebrew ruler-priests.

To be considered for membership in the Sanhedrin, the man had to demonstrate knowledge of the Torah, have an imposing appearance, be of advanced age, a scholar, and be able to speak foreign languages. When testimony was given to the Sanhedrin in a foreign language, at least two members who spoke that language examined the witness. There was also a third member who understood the language. These three members constituted a minor court of three, who then reported the testimony to the entire Sanhedrin.


Solar Symbolism of the R1b Peoples

Among the R1b peoples who inhabit much of Western Europe and the British Isles, there is an ancient tradition involving the sun as the symbol of the High God and his son. Throughout Ireland, Wales, and England early Christians seamlessly merged the solar imagery of the early Hebrew with their daily lives. Anglo-Celtic daily routines emphasize God’s presence in activities such as sowing seed in the fields, harvesting, and baking bread. Examples include Irish soda bread scored with a cross and traditional maslin bread scored to look like a sun.

Maslin bread.

Some maslin loaves are decorated with oak leaves because Jesus was said to have been crucified on an oak tree. Belief in Christ’s third-day resurrection was enacted by the sowing of grain in the fields. In antiquity, this annual ritual was overseen by Hebrew priests who led the people in procession to the fields, much as Anglican priests once officiated at Rogation Day blessing of the fields and sowing ceremonies in May.

A threshing floor with solar imagery.

Threshing floors were built at high windy elevations so the wind could carry away the chaff. Threshing floors were also places of worship because they were symbols of the High God whose emblem was the sun. A ruler named Araunah sold David a threshing floor upon which David constructed an altar.

The hope of resurrection was linked to the rising of the sun. This six-prong solar image has been found of bone boxes (ossuaries) and grave markers.  

The ossuary of Miriam, granddaughter of the High Priest Caiaphas.

The inscription identifies this bone box as that of “Miriam Daughter of Yeshua, Son of Caiaphas, Priests of Ma’aziah from Beth Imri.” 

Another solar image that speaks of the High God is the winged sun.

A winged sun and ankh on the Seal of Hezekiah.

This image is expressed in a wonderful assurance: “But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings…” (Malachi 4:2) 

Related reading: Solar Symbolism Among the R1 Peoples; Threshing Floors and Solar Symbols; Threshing Floors in Ancient Israel: Their Ritual and Symbolic Significance, by Jaime L. Waters, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2015)

The Maleness of Jesus

Painting by Nathan Greene

Alice C. Linsley

The maleness of Jesus is part of the Holy Tradition received from Abraham and his Horite Hebrew ancestors. It is not a matter for negotiation. To set aside the historical reality of Jesus as the Son of the Father is to eviscerate the Messianic Tradition and to denigrate the Gospel to simply another religious path.

Holy Tradition, as it is received from Jesus and the Apostles, has two categories: kergyma, and ecclesiastical order and discipline. The first is non-negotiable, and the second tends to accommodate to local conditions. The "priesting" of women touches on the first category. Women's ordination would not have become a divisive issue if Anglicans had held to the received tradition.

The royal priesthood of Jesus Christ is the foundation stone of the Church. Understanding the antecedents of the Church's priesthood is essential if we are to rebuild the foundations of the New Jerusalem. We cannot rebuild unless we know where the walls were and how they were sited and aligned. We cannot restore a firm foundation unless we understand the work of our ancestors in the Faith. Antecedents matter!

The Church is divided, yet there is but one Priesthood - that of Jesus Christ, the Eternal Priest - whose priesthood is given to the Church. The priesthood is a unique gift and it speaks of Jesus Christ, so we must get it right or we send a false Christological message to the world, such as that delivered by Presiding Bishop Curry at the recent Royal Wedding.

Having read a great deal of Feminist literature, I am no longer surprised by the bizarre constructions they present on Jesus, the Church, and the priesthood. Agenda driven "scholarship" is not true scholarship. Attempts to justify women priests by pointing to imagined examples of women who were priests are hollow and without substance. The only women of the ancient world who are called "priests" practiced pagan religions. They do not represent the ruler-priest caste of the ancient Horite Hebrew. They are not heirs of the Messianic Faith.

Feminists attempt to make the Virgin Mary a priest. She was not. Nor was Phoebe, Lydia, Juna, etc. None of these were priests. The Christ-following priests of the early Apostolic period were associated with the Sanhedrin. Two are named in the Bible: Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph and Jesus Christ were kin, both descendants of the ruler-priest line of Mathea (Matthew).

St. John Chrysostom wrote in his treatise on the priesthood:

"For the priestly office is indeed discharged on earth, but it ranks among heavenly ordinances; and very naturally so: for neither man, nor angel, nor archangel, nor any other created power, but the Paraclete Himself, instituted this vocation, and persuaded men while still abiding in the flesh to represent the ministry of angels. Wherefore the consecrated priest ought to be as pure as if he were standing in the heavens themselves in the midst of those powers."

In "The Veiling of the Virgins" Tertullian speaks of the sacerdotal life as a "male function," and St. John Chrysostom wrote, "When one is required to preside over the Church, and be entrusted with the care of so many souls, the whole female sex must retire before the magnitude of the task, and the majority of men also.” (On the Priesthood)

That seems clear enough. Yet some want to prolong the debate. Some are compromised and cannot easily defend the received tradition. Anglican bishops who are married to priests should recuse themselves from the discussion. None should consider it worthy of Christ to promote anything that causes confusion, engenders strife, or brings division to the Body of Christ.

In his treatise On the Holy Spirit, St. Basil the Great wrote:

“Every man is a theologian; it does not matter that his soul is covered with more blemishes than can be counted. The result is that these innovators find an abundance of men to join their factions. So ambitious, self-elected men divide the government of the churches among themselves, and reject the authority of the Holy Spirit. The ordinances of the Gospel have been thrown into confusion everywhere for lack of discipline; the jostling for high positions is incredible, as every ambitious man tries to thrust himself into high office. The result of this lust for power is that wild anarchy prevails among the people; the exhortations of those in authority are rendered utterly void and unprofitable, since every man in his arrogant delusion thinks that it is more his business to give orders to others than to obey anyone himself."

Despite what feminists argue concerning women in the Church, there is not a shred of evidence in the Bible that even one woman served as a priest.

Despite what politically correct academics write, the priesthood of the Church is distinct from the priesthood of the pagan world.

Despite what rights activists might say, Jesus was not gay, homophobic, or a misogynist.

He was not illegitimate. The only scandal raised surrounding his miraculous and prophetic birth was raised by His enemies. He was conceived and born exactly according to the expectation of Messiah's appearing. What is written concerning Him in the Bible is entirely consistent with the expectation of the long-awaited Messiah.

The ministry of priests in the Church is not of human origin or human invention. It is the gift of the Messiah to those men who are called to priestly ministry. This office developed organically from the Horite Hebrew priesthood of Abraham's ancestors. Animal sacrifice, circumcision, ritual purity, and sacred moral codes originated with them. They alone believed that the Creator (Ra/Ani) is Father to His Son (Horus/Enki). That is where the evidence of Scripture, anthropology, linguistics, and genetic studies leads us. Fr. Thomas Hopko is correct in saying, "In his actions in and toward the world of his creation, the one God and Father reveals himself primarily and essentially in a 'masculine' way." (Women and the Priesthood, p 240)

The priestly function was exclusively the work of a select group of men, a caste of royal priests whose devotion to the worship of the Creator involved, by today's standards, extreme asceticism and purity of life. That there were priestesses in the Greco-Roman world is irrelevant to the question of women priests in the Church because this practice has no connection to the priesthood represented by Jesus Messiah and his followers. Failure to make this distinction has led to much confusion and obfuscation.

Related reading: Freeing God From Gender and Tradition; The Priesthood is About the Blood; Why Women Were Never Priests; Why God is Father and Not Mother by Mark Brumley; Anglican Fudge: Women Priests

The Priesthood is About the Blood

Alice C. Linsley

Speaking from the perspective of Biblical Anthropology, the priesthood of the Church stands in continuity with the Hebrew priesthood that was known to Abraham and his ancestors. The priest's office is unique, very ancient, and stands as an ensign of the hope for immortality.

Melchizedek attended to Abraham's spiritual needs after the battle of the kings (Genesis 14). It appears that he performed a cleansing ritual to diminish Abraham's blood guilt. After that, there was a communion of bread and wine.

The priesthood has always been about the Blood. Priests sacrificed animals because blood is the sign of the Covenant. Jesus exhorts His own to drink His blood in the Sacrament. The priest stands at altar as a divinely appointed agent of that Blood. Life is in the Blood!

Redemption and eternal life require that we have that Blood as our "covering" just as the skins of rams dyed red formed the covering over the Tent of Meeting (Exodus 26:14).

The Hebrew priests kept sheep and cattle to offer as sacrifices. These were often kept in a stone sheep cote (naveh) that had a beehive shape. The sheep cotes were sacred places. With the exception of red heifers, rarely were the females sacrificed. The sacrifice of the red heifer was to be a perpetual sacrifice for Israel (Numbers 19:9). It was for cleansing. 

The earliest ritual burials suggest a priestly office associated with blood. The burial of nobles in red ochre (a blood symbol) was the custom among Abraham's R1b people for at least 40,000 years. It expressed the hope of life after death through the blood.

In the ancient world the community was represented by its chief or ruler. Hope of life after death was pinned on the ruler. If the ruler rose from the grave he would lead his people to immortality. This royal procession language is found more than once in the Bible. Psalm 68:18 says: “When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.” (Also Ephesians 4:8; Colossians 2:15) Messiah Jesus leads the royal procession to the Father from Calvary's bloody hill.

Paul writes that we who are baptized into Christ "have been brought near in the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13). We enter with boldness into the Most Holy Place "by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is His body..." (Hebrews 10:19, 20)

In this we follow Jesus, our great High Priest, who "did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood..." (Hebrews 9:12)

"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times, He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth." (Ephesians 1:7-10)

This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it is to be signified by every priest of the Church whether at the altar or in the confessional.

Related reading: The Priesthood in Anthropological Perspective; Righteous Rulers and the Resurrection; Sheol and the Second Death; Blood and Binary Distinctions; Why Women Were Never Priests

Women Priests and the Anglican Church of North America

Alice C. Linsley

It is a historical and anthropological observation that no woman ever served in the office of priest until 1944, at which time Florence Li Tim-Oi was ordained by Ronald Hall, Bishop of Victoria, Hong Kong, in response to the crisis among Anglicans in Communist China. She later stepped down from serving as a priest. In 1976 the Episcopal Church broke the age-old tradition of the all-male priesthood by vote of General Convention. At that time the "irregular" ordinations of the "Philadelphia Eleven" and the "Washington Four" were made regular. The first woman ordained to the priesthood in the United States was Ellen Marie Barrett (January 1977). She was ordained by the Rt. Rev. Paul Moore, Jr., Bishop of New York. Ellen Barrett, a lesbian, had served as Integrity's first co-president. Other lesbians had been among the Philadelphia Eleven. In the United States, the ordination of women and gay and lesbian "rights" were intertwined from the beginning, so that today it is difficult to treat these as separate issues. Both have been framed as "equal rights" issues, revealing a profound misunderstanding of the nature of the priesthood.

What is the Priesthood?

Despite what feminists, politically-correct academics, and rights activists might say, the ministry of priests in the Church developed organically from the Horite priesthood of Abraham's people and was exclusively the work of a select group of men (a ruler-priest caste) whose devotion to the worship of the Creator involved, by today's standards, extreme asceticism and purity of life. The objection that there were women priestesses in the Greco-Roman world is irrelevant as this is not the origin of the priesthood known by Jesus Christ and his followers.

Contrary to the position of the Roman Church, Horite priests were married and enjoyed sexual relations with their wives. However they abstained from sex, shaved their bodies, fasted, and entered periods of intense prayer in preparation for their time of service at the temple or shrine.

In the ancient world Horite priests were known for their purity, sobriety and devotion to the High God whose emblem was the Sun. Plutarch wrote that the “priests of the Sun at Heliopolis never carry wine into their temples, for they regard it as indecent for those who are devoted to the service of any god to indulge in the drinking of wine whilst they are under the immediate inspection of their Lord and King. The priests of the other deities are not so scrupulous in this respect, for they use it, though sparingly.”

The Horite priests, who are often called "Habiru" (Hebrew) in ancient texts, worshiped the Creator when other peoples were worshiping lesser deities. They anticipated the coming of the Seed of God (Gen. 3:15) and believed that He would be born of their ruler-priest bloodlines. That is why the lines of priests intermarried exclusively and why unchaste daughters of priests were burned alive (Lev. 21:9). Sexual impurity was not tolerated.

In the ancient world, only men born into the priestly caste could serve a priests and many of those never did. Some instead served as warriors, scribes, rulers and metal workers. There was never a question about having a "right" to this work. It was appointed to those who were born into this order, and this is the order from which Jesus Christ descended.

The Horite marriage and ascendancy pattern remained unchanged from the Neolithic period of Genesis 4 and 5 (the lines of Cain and Seth) to the time of Joseph and Mary. The pattern can be traced through the Bible using the anthropological tool of kinship analysis, and it is an impossibility that this pattern could have been written back into the text at a late date.

There were priests among Jesus' first followers. Nicodemus and Joseph of Hari-Mathea were members of the Sanhedrin and of the Horite ruler-priest caste. Hari-Mathea (not Arimathea) means "of the Horite line of Matthew." This was Jesus' ancestry through both Mary and Joseph. Horite priests expected a Righteous Ruler to defeat death and lead his people to immortality. This is why Horite priests took great precautions in the preparation of the bodies of dead kings. It is likely that Joseph of Hari-Mathea and Joseph, the husband of Mary, were both of the Pharisee persuasion.

As a ruler-priest Joseph would have appointed men who were qualified to serve as priests in Britain. Being of advanced age, he would have been older than Jesus and the disciples. This suggests that the priesthood came to Britain very early and is older than generally supposed. It must be nearly as early as the episcopacy of Evodius of Antioch (53–69 A.D.) and the episcopacy of James the Just of Jerusalem (d. 69 A.D.), but would likely precede the episcopacy of Linus of Rome (67-79 A.D.).

Further, the legend concerning Joseph of Hari-Mathea coming to Britain has basis in science. Horite priests were among the Ainu and genetic studies have confirmed that the Ainu dispersed widely across the ancient Afro-Asiatic Dominion. Some came to the British Isles and from there migrated to Finland, Greenland, Labrador and Eastern Canada where they are called Micmac. Anthropological studies have shown that the Ainu were among Abraham's Nilotic ancestors. Further, Genesis 41 confirms that Joseph, the son of Jacob, married the daughter of a priest of On (Heliopolis) and On has been identified as an Ainu shrine city.

If Joseph as ruler-priest, member of the Sanhedrin, and a kinsman of Jesus Christ brought the Christian priesthood to Britain, Anglicans should be especially careful to preserve the Horite pattern of the priesthood.


Jesus' Horite Ancestry

Priests were dispersed throughout Palestine. Settlements often took their names from the priestly division that resided there. For example, Nazareth was the home of the eighteenth priestly division, Hapi-tsets (a word of Nilotic origin), so Nazareth is Happizzez in 1 Chronicles 24:15. Nazareth was the home of Joseph who married Jesus' mother. Mary was from Bethlehem. Her full name would have been "Miriam Daughter of Joachim, Son of Pntjr, Priest of Nathan of Bethlehem." From predynastic times among the Egyptian Horites, ntjr designated God or the king. Pntjr is Pa-Netjer, the name of Joachim’s mother. The Horite priests traced descent through both the mother and the father. A limestone stela (1539-1291 B.C.) bearing the names of Pekhty-nisu and his wife Pa-netjer is on exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. The Ancient Egyptian word nisu (ruler) became nasi in Hebrew and applied to the High Priest who presided over the Sanhedrin.

Through Mary the promise of Genesis 3:15 came to be fulfilled. The Seed of the Woman crushed the serpent's head and death has been overcome. The ancient expectation of a divine royal son who would overcome death and lead his people to immortality was fulfilled.

The connection between Bethlehem and the Horites is alluded to in I Chronicles 4:4, which lists Hur/Hor as the "father of Bethlehem." To this day Jews call their ancestors Horim, which is Horite in English. The ancient Horite priests were devotees of Horus, the son of Ra, the creator. Horus' conception took place by divine overshadowing. He is the pattern by which Jesus would be recognized by Abraham's descendants as the Son of God. When the Virgin Mary asked how she was to have a child since she "knew" no man, "The angel answered her and said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the holy child will be called the Son of God." (Luke 1:35)


The Church is the Protector of Divine Tradition

Messianic expectation first emerged among the Horites and is central to the Christian faith, as is the all-male priesthood. There are threads interwoven in the fabric of the tradition received by the Church. The priesthood as a tradition received from Jesus' Horite ancestors and it was a tradition which the Hebrews, and later the Jews, and then Christians preserved without change. The Church does not have the authority to change this tradition any more than it has authority to change the doctrine of Jesus' two natures, or the Eucharistic words of institution. This is the consensus of the Church Fathers, the Council of Nicaea (Canon 19), and the Council of Laodicea (Canon 11), as well as the consensus of the Eastern Orthodox churches and the Roman Catholic Church. Pope John Paul II spoke ex cathedra on female ordination in 1994. Observing that the male priesthood had been "preserved by the constant and universal Tradition of the Church and clearly taught by the Magisterium in recent documents," he decreed that the Church has "no authority to confer priestly ordination on women."

In "The Veiling of the Virgins" Tertullian speaks of the sacerdotal life as a "male function," and St John Chrysostom wrote, "When one is required to preside over the Church, and be entrusted with the care of so many souls, the whole female sex must retire before the magnitude of the task, and the majority of men also” (On the Priesthood).

The Western tendency to innovate is not a new development. Speaking against this tendency, St. Basil the Great wrote, “The dogmas of the Fathers are held in contempt, the Apostolic traditions are disdained, the churches are subject to the novelties of innovators” (Letter 90, To the Most Holy Brethren and Bishops Found in the West).

This willful disregard of Apostolic traditions reached new heights in the Episcopal Church with the unprecedented and politically-motivated decisions to ordain women and non-celibate homosexuals. Again, St. Basil's words well describe the present condition of that body which can scarcely be called a "church." He wrote:

“Every man is a theologian; it does not matter that his soul is covered with more blemishes than can be counted.  The result is that these innovators find an abundance of men to join their factions. So ambitious, self-elected men divide the government of the churches among themselves, and reject the authority of the Holy Spirit.  The ordinances of the Gospel have been thrown into confusion everywhere for lack of discipline; the jostling for high positions is incredible, as every ambitious man tries to thrust himself into high office. The result of this lust for power is that wild anarchy prevails among the people; the exhortations of those in authority are rendered utterly void and unprofitable, since every man in his arrogant delusion thinks that it is more his business to give orders to others than to obey anyone himself” (On the Holy Spirit).

Feminist theologians have pressed the Church to ordain women, seeking to overthrow the wisdom of the Fathers and the Councils in their own brand of "liberation theology." They paint only one portrait; that of universal male oppression of women. They misrepresent the reality of women in the early church and in the Bible. Phoebe, Lydia, Priscilla were ministers in the early church, and more than 90% of the women named in the Bible are the wives and daughters of high ranking ruler-priests and they exercised considerable influences in their communities. Further, in the Eastern Orthodox Church women are highly revered and at least half the icons in a given church are of women saints, martyrs, and a few women who are regarded as "equal to the Apostles," such as Photini (the Woman at the Well), and a central place is given to the icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary who is venerated, as she was by early Christians. Feminists theologians would overthrow any tradition which they regard as misogynistic to advance their agenda. For such as these, St. John has these stern words: “The divine law indeed has excluded women from this ministry, but they endeavor to thrust themselves into it; and since they can effect nothing of themselves, they do all through the agency of others.” (On the Priesthood)  A review of the past 30 years of the Episcopal Church's history makes it fairly easy to identify who the "others" are.

Rediscovering Anglican Identity

It is no wonder that Anglicans today are suffering an identity crisis. Few issues make that clearer than the debate over women priests. I was glad to hear of Anglican Archbishop Robert Duncan's initiative to study the question of women priests, and ask readers to pray for and support that committee under Bishop David Hicks.

Many consider this a step backward, but it is the most progressive move any Anglican leader has taken since the Anglican Communion split over the consecration of gay activist Gene Robinson and the apostate presidency of Kathryn J. Schori.

Meanwhile, the Church of England continues to be torn by the question of women bishops.Those interested, should read this briefing by members of the Conservative Evangelical and Catholic groups in the general Synod of the Church of England: Women Bishops Legislation: Not Fit For Purpose

The new Archbishop of Canterbury favors women bishops, which does not bode well for Tradition-honoring, Biblical Anglicans.

The question of women priests continues to divide Anglicans and remains a significant barrier to ecumenical relations with the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics. Putting off a definitive study of this question only delays the inevitably clash that is coming within Anglicanism.

Having been a priest in the Episcopal Church for 15 years, this is a subject about which I have rather strong feelings.  Here are some of my thoughts.

Women who now serve as priests must be granted continued service, but their ministries should be directed toward preaching, teaching and pastoral ministry, especially among women and children.

There should be an immediate moratorium on the ordination of women as priests.

Women should be ordained as preachers, teachers, theologians and pastors, but not as priests.

Women should not serve in liturgical roles, except as cantors and lectors.

Only males should serve at the altar during Divine Liturgy.

Anglicans must restore the male nature of the Priesthood, which is the Priesthood of the God-Man Jesus Christ.

Anglicans must recover the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by which Christians are reminded of God's plan of salvation through the faithfulness of the Woman.


Related reading: More Thoughts on the Priesthood; Abraham's Habiru Ancestors; What is Lost When Women Serve as Priests; What is a Priest?; God as Male Priest; Growing Consensus that Women Priests Must be Addressed; Impressions of North American Anglicanism

Features of Horite Hebrew Religion

Relief at Angkhor Wat shows Horus as a falcon on the Mast of Ra's solar boat.

Alice C. Linsley

Ancient world societies were characterized by a structure that resembles a caste system with hierarchy of  rulers, priests, scribes and warriors ranked at the top. These societies were centered around the major water systems: great rivers, troughs, and large lakes, which were controlled by the rulers.

The rulers were served by priests who stood as intermediaries between God and the people. They were called sarki, a word of African origin. Among the ancient Egyptians the word meant priest. In Hausa sarki is the word for king (See Charles Henry Robinson, Dictionary of Hausa, XXIV Preface). Auran saraki refers to the king's minister and is usually rendered chief.

Horite Hebrew ruler-priests were also called Habiru which is the English word Hebrew. The term "Hebrew" is derived from the Akkadian word for priest, abru. The Hebrew were a caste of priests. Some were devotees of God the Father and God the Son. These are known as the Horite Hebrew, and Abraham was among them.

They served at the Sun temples, called O-piru. These were elevated sites near permanent water sources. They spread their religion from west central Africa to the Indus River Valley and southern Europe. This religious life shares distinctive features, which are found in the Bible, including:

• Hereditary priesthood and hereditary kingship: Originally the ruler and the priest were either the same person or the ruler had his own priest, who would have been a member of his family. The royal and priestly lines intermarried to preserve their bloodlines. These ruler-priests, whose lines intermarried, influenced the spread of their religious worldview from west central Africa to Nepal and Cambodia.

• Shrines and temples along rivers, or near springs, well or oases, and at higher elevations: The Horite Hebrew ruler-priests controlled the ancient water ways. This is why they build their shrines and temples near water. This also explains why Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses all met their wives at wells. These women were the daughters of ruler-priests. About 75% of the women named in the Old Testament are the daughters of priests.  The ancient Kushite rulers made coronation journeys between 3 shrines on the Nile: the temples of Pnubs, Napata (Gebel Barkal) and Gematon (Kawa).

• Binary distinctions: The observation of universal opposites in nature such as night-day, male-female, heaven-earth characterized the ancient Afro-Asiatic worldview. This is quite different from Asian dualism in which the opposites are of equal value or strength. Among the ancient Afro-Asiatics, one of the two was regarded as superior in some way to the other. The Sun is greater than the Moon which merely reflects the Sun's light. Males are bigger and stronger than females.  Heaven is more glorious than Earth, etc. This enabled prophets to discern God’s will by reading the signs in creation and directing the people toward the superior sign. The binary distinctions are observable as the pattern of nature and have been the basis for Law and Ethics for about 12,000 years.

The biblical worldview involves binary opposites and supplementary. Supplementary is about meaning. That is to say that meaning is derived from the relationship of the binary opposites. Supplementary is what makes a relationship meaningful. In fact, meaning is derived from the supplementary nature of two things. I experience hateful acts as evil because I have experience of loving acts and know them to be good. The reverse is also true. The male-female relationship has meaning because of the supplementary nature of male-female. Supplementary doesn’t mean equal, since one of the opposites is perceived as greater in some way. This is how the biblical worldview avoids the dualism.

• Fixed order of creation: God created the world and established a predictable fixed order to His creation (Genesis 1; Psalm 104:19-20, Jeremiah 33:19-36). This predictable order is referred to as ‘RTA’ in Hinduism. It is an order which we perceive foremost as having binary opposites: God-Man; Heaven-Earth; Male-Female; Sun-Moon; Night-Day, etc. Because the order is fixed, entities can only be what they were created (as Aristotle recognized in his teleological conversations). What we often call 'change' or evolution is fluctuation in outward form but not change in essence. So water is always water (H2O) though its form fluctuates between liquid, vapor, and ice. This is where the biblical worldview and convergence evolution knock heads. By fixed order the Bible means that God established the order of creation with flexible but fixed boundaries. This means that there is change within species but not change from one species to a totally different species, as implied by Darwinian evolution.

Referring to Proverbs 8:33, Ibn Erza holds that the phrase al-tifra-u means something like "don't change the order." The verse says: "Listen to my instruction and become wise. Don't change the order."

The Horite Hebrew were devotees of God the Father and God the Son. The son is known as Horus, meaning "the One on high" or Enki, meaning ruler over the earth. The Son was believed to set the boundaries of the horizons, the directions of the winds, and the currents of the seas. Horos refers to the boundaries of an area, or a landmark, or a term. From horos come the words hour, horizon, horoscope and Horologion (both the book and the wind tower). The association of Horus with the horizon is seen in the word Har-ma-khet, meaning Horus of the Horizon. The association of Horus with the wind is seen in the word Har-mat-tan, referring to the dry wind that seasonally blows across the Sahara.The word horotely describes the rate and boundaries of evolutionary change for a given group of plants or animals.

This Horite Hebrew understanding of the fixed order of creation is fundamental to their religion and to a Biblical worldview. Saint Paul spoke of how God has made his eternal nature and divine power known in the order of creation which none can change. The Qur’an does not contain any creation stories such as those found in Genesis. However, Islam recognizes that what God has established is visible in the order of creation. The Qur’an teaches:

 Verily in the heavens and the earth are signs for those who believe. And in the creation of yourselves, and the fact that animals are scattered (through the earth), are signs for those of assured faith. And in the alternation of night and day, and that fact that Allah sends down sustenance from the sky, and revives therewith the earth after its death, and in the change of the winds, are signs for those who are wise. (45:3-5).

Likewise Romans 1:20 tell us that since the beginning of the world, God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - are clearly perceived by means of that which God created, so that everyone is without excuse. Paul is not advocated a touchy-feely, smell-a-flower-and-commune-with-Jesus theology. He is expressing the ancient belief that prolonged studious observation of the fixed and binary order of creation will serve those who seek God to know what God has revealed.


Related reading: The Substance of Abraham's Faith;  Solar Symbols that Speak of God; Spread of the Afro-Asiatic Worldview; Who Were the Horites?; The Christ in Nilotic Mythology; The Substance of Abraham's Faith; The Nilotic Origin of the Ainu; The Horite Ancestry of Jesus Christ