Antoinism

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lucas Cranach the Elder Ä. : The tree of knowledge , section of the painting “Paradise” in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Antoinism or Antoinistischer Kult is the name of a religious , healing and spiritistically oriented movement . The religious movement is one of the healing sects in Germany and was founded in Belgium in 1910 by Louis-Joseph Antoine . In France , the classification of the antoinist cult as a sect in the 1995 parliamentary report was criticized by sociologists , while in Belgium it was recognized as a non-profit organization. Its symbol is "The tree of knowledge from the point of view of evil". As a structural theosophist (he referred to himself as the founder of "New Spiritualism "), Antoine was open to all kinds of religious doctrine , especially those from the Far East . His teaching: All matter is illusion; evil does not exist by itself, but is a product of our imagination. The happiness is to be free from all desire, by the sight of changing shapes / forms and illusions caused over matter. From reincarnation to reincarnation, one day our minds will achieve freedom. In the dictionary of religions ( Presses Universitaires de France ) Antoinism is referred to as a "kind of primitive Buddhism ".

Foundation and development

First anti-Nazi temple in Jemeppe-sur-Meuse ( Province of Liege ) in 2009

At the beginning of the 1890s, Louis-Joseph Antoine returned to Belgium from a stay in Russia . He was inspired by the "Tolstoian teachings" of his master, Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy , and gathered a following of almost 100,000 enthusiastic people. In 1896 he wrote his opinion in a book (Small Spiritist Catechism Petit catéchisme spirite ) and discovered healing gifts for himself , he began to win many students. He endeavored to proclaim a simplified and understandable Catholicism . In a very short time he had followers in Germany and the United States of America . The application to the Belgian government to recognize the cult of Antoinism as a religious community was rejected. The movement was finally officially launched in 1910 by Antoine in Jemeppe-sur-Meuse (town of Seraing ). After proclaiming his beliefs , he published three more books in which he explained his beliefs. In 1910 he inaugurated the first antoinist temple in Jemeppe-sur-Meuse. Simultaneously with the development of the movement, the sect came into the focus of the public prosecutor's office , Antoine was accused of quackery and he was sentenced to a single fine. Antoine also worked as a magnetizer and treated diseases. Antoinism became a Walloon phenomenon and continues after the death of “Father Antoine”. The following grew considerably between the two world wars. In the Walloon region , 27 temples were built, as the meeting places were called, and the central meeting room was built in Jemeppe. Today the sect has 64 temples worldwide and 40 reading rooms . It states that its membership is 200,000. In Belgium it is not recognized by the state as a religious community; its main activity is in France . It is organized in a decentralized manner with a simple structure . Antoine died in 1912, and was succeeded by his widow, who was referred to as "mother". The members belonging to the temples are led by a committee , they are named as "servants" and are rewarded with donations.

The founder

Father Louis-Joseph Antoine (1912)

Louis-Joseph Antoine was born on January 27, 1846 in Mons-Crotteux, a district of the Walloon city of Fémalle and grew up in the Catholic faith . He was a pious miner who developed into a metallurgist . His parents were Martin Joseph Antoine and Marie Catherine Castille (* 1797). Antoine attends Mons Elementary School and often borrows science books. At the age of 12, the young Louis-Joseph began working in the mine and developed into a metallurgical worker. In 1872 Louis-Joseph married Antoine Jeanne Catherine Collon and moved to Germany in 1873. A few years later he moved to Warsaw and returned to Belgium in 1884, where he settled in the province of Liège . He was actively involved in the construction of 20 workers' houses in Jemeppe-sur-Meuse and rented them out. Spiritually, he drew his willpower from the writings of Allan Kardecs (1804–1869) in the spiritistic faith , which he was strongly influenced by. In the 1890s he organized the first spiritist group. In 1893 there was a religious conflict with Catholicism, namely when his son suddenly died in 1893. From then on he was convinced of a healing mission and received dozens of patients every day with whom he practiced healing magnetism and prayers . His medical advice was the subject of a trial in 1901, accused of illegally practicing medicine. Thereafter, Antoine gave up the spiritual doctrine and founded the " New Spiritualism" in 1906 , which in turn brought him to the barriers of justice. However, he managed to convince the judges that he was taking care of the soul and not the body. He now retired for six months and wrote the first version of the Coronation of the Revealed Work (1906), in which work he devoted himself essentially to his power as a healer. He died on June 25, 1912 in Jemeppe-sur-Meuse, in Russia he had acquired a fortune which should now go to his widow Catherine (1850-1940), while still on her deathbed he ordained her priestess of his movement and put her to the Head of the sect. She established a centralized cult around the person of her deceased husband and introduced new organizational rules. When she died in 1940 there were some differences between French and Belgian antoinism.

Enlightenments

In the biography Antoine is mentioned that to him at work in the mine his miner's lamp was extinguished. He interpreted this as a divine signal which ordered him to change jobs. He actually changed jobs after two years and was employed at the Seraing mine. In 1866 he began his military service in the Belgian militia in Bruges , during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71 he accidentally killed a comrade. A shot had been fired while cleaning the gun, and he was sentenced to eight days in solitary confinement for this negligence . During this sentence, he made many reflections about the meaning of life. After his military service he worked as a hammer, in the meantime he had married and in 1873 his son Louis Martin was born in Hamborn . There he was baptized in the Catholic Church of St. John . In 1876 he returned to Belgium with his family, bought a horse and a team and became a greengrocer. In 1878 the constant stomach pains began, which made him despair. Again the Antoines left their homeland and moved to Poland, where he got a job as a cutter in the Praga steelworks , his wife managed a school canteen . Five years later the family returned to Belgium and finally moved to Jemeppe-sur-Meuse, where Antoine had around twenty workers' houses built. Louis-Joseph Antoine worked for the insurance company Pariser Union and sold insurance .

Antoinist Spiritism and Healing

An important characteristic of the Antoinists is that the existence of disease and death is denied. Illness can only be eliminated through strong belief, it does not require medicine . In the place of death comes reincarnation , because thinking about death only produces suffering. The antoinist belief combines elements of Catholicism, reincarnation and healing . Man is supposed to reach consciousness by removing the illusion of matter created by his intelligence . The goal of life is to free oneself from the cycle of reincarnations thanks to a moral progress that is supported by "fluids" (fluidum). The acts practiced in the temples consist of only two practices: general acts and reading , the members who direct them wear black suits. The temples are the places of consultation with a healer to whom people with health or moral problems can turn. The celebrations include the Christian holidays and three other special days, as well as the dedication day of the First Temple. Antoine devised the “Ten Principles of God”, which was accepted as the guideline of the faith community .

Revelation of the ten principles of God through the Father

"GOD SPEAKS:

First principle

If you love me you will not teach anyone about it, because you know that I only live in the heart of man. You cannot testify that there is the highest goodness when you separate me from your neighbor.

Second principle

Do not trust him who speaks to you about me, Whose intention is to convert you; If you respect every doctrine of faith and also the one who has no faith, you will know, regardless of your ignorance, more than he could tell you.

Third principle

You are not to persuade anyone morality; This would prove that you are doing wrong; Because morality is not taught by words, but by example and to see nothing as an evil.

Fourth principle

Never say that you show mercy to Him who seems to be in misery to you. This would imply That I am relentless, that I am not good, That I am a bad father, A stingy one Who starves his offspring. If you act like a real brother towards your fellow man, you only show yourself mercy, you must know that. Because nothing is good if it is not mutual, you only do your duty to him.

Fifth principle

Strive to love the one you consider "your enemy"; Just so that you can get to know yourselves, I put him on your way. But see the evil in you rather than in it. He will be the highest remedy against it.

Sixth principle

If you want to know the cause of your suffering, which you always rightly endure, you will find it in the incompatibility of the understanding with the conscience, because they form the basis for the points of comparison. You yourself cannot feel the slightest suffering that should not show you that the understanding opposes the conscience. That must not remain uncertain.

Seventh principle

Seek to penetrate yourselves with it; Because even the slightest suffering is due to your understanding, which always wants to grasp more; He makes the mild a maximum position with the will to subordinate everything.

Eighth principle

Do not let yourself be dominated by your intellect, which only seeks to climb higher. He tramples on the conscience, claims that the earthly confers the virtues, While it only harbors the misery of the souls, which you call "abandoned", who have acted only after pleasing their intellect. Which has misled.

Ninth principle

Everything that is useful to you, for the present as well as for the future, will be given to you as an addition, if you have no doubts. Stop in yourselves, you will remember the past, you will come to the memory that you were told: "Knock on, I open you, I am in self-knowledge".

Ten Principle

Do not think that you are always doing something good When you assist a brother; You could do the opposite, hinder His progress; Be aware that a difficult trial will be your reward, If you humble him and show him respect. If you want to act, never lean on your opinion, for it could mislead you; Always act according to your conscience, which wants to guide you; it cannot deceive you. "

- Louis-Joseph Antoine

Works

Three brochures written by Antoine
  • Small Spiritual Catechism (Petit catéchisme spirite) (1896)
  • Coronation of the revealed work (1906)
  • Several brochures

Antoinist healing religion

The so-called "healing religions" include Antoinism, Christian Science and Scientology . They draw their inspiration from the connection with spiritualism, homeopathy , mesmerism and psychology . They focus on " regeneration of the self " as a means of healing. They are also characterized by the fact that their founders suffered from somatic diseases , Antoine complained of chronic abdominal pain since 1878. These diseases were the triggers and were at the beginning of the religious search. The healing practices are represented by the presence of a therapist in the rituals and are characterized by concern for the body. The goal of the self-proclaimed therapist is the maintenance of salvation , healing, and health . The cornerstone of their beliefs is the belief in a new liberation of the Holy Spirit that manifests itself through symbols , miracles, and healings.

Temples in Belgium and France (selection)

The lawsuits

Antoine claimed in his lifetime that he had been sent to earth by Christ to cleanse the religion of "dross". The Belgian episcopate was initially critical of him and the movement. In no time at all, a large congregation of followers had gathered and the Belgian church leadership initially recognized this as a proper religious community . Antoine developed into a faith healer , his followers claimed that he could not only heal people but also animals. He was tried in 1901 and 1907, and both the clergy and legal medical authorities charged him. Since the founder of the religion did not collect any money, the Belgian government could not take action against him. Antoine was accompanied by the adlatus and nephew Pierre Dor (1862–1947), who was trained and prepared by him . He, too, described himself as a disciple sent by God . In contrast to Antoine, he accepted money for his supposed miracle healings, which resulted in the intervention of the financial authorities. After all, Dor did not use the money for the communities and for charity, but instead squandered the money in extravagant celebrations and the company of willing women. The Brussels criminal court sentenced the crook to several years' imprisonment, but released him for the time being, as there was currently no risk of escape. The antoinist religion in Belgium, which the episcopate was already beginning to worry about, should be over. In 1914, two years after Antoin's death, there was again and again a judicial process against Pierre Dol.

literature

  • L'Unitif. Bulletin du Culte Antoiniste. Numéro 3 & 6. Series A. Édite et Imprimé par le Culte Antoiniste. Siège et Administration: Jemeppe-sur-Meuse, Belgique [no year]. Size-8 °. [240 x 157 mm]. 16 pp. & 16 pp. In 2 issues. OBrosch. [16]
  • Régis Deicquebourg, Les Antoinistes, Paris-Turnhout, Brépols, 1993.

Web links

Commons : Antoinism  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Definition Antoinismus. On: educalingo (French dictionary) [1] , accessed March 28, 2020
  2. ↑ Anja Gollan, "Spiritual healing" from a legal perspective. On: sekteninfo NRW [2]
  3. ^ Sects in France, Written by: Herbert Raab, December 20, 1995, translation of the French sect report by Herbert Raab based on the English version. NATIONAL ASSEMBLY CONSTITUTION OF OCTOBER 4, 1958, TENTH LEGISLATURE PERIOD , p. 54 [3]
  4. ↑ Antonist Cult - Briefing [4]
  5. ↑ Christiaan Vonck (Rector, Faculty of Comparative Religious Studies), Scientology and Religion, Notes 5., “Something from Antoinism”, Antwerp , Belgium, 1996 [5] , in: Aksakov, Aleksandr N., Psychische Studien: monthly magazine vorzüge der Investigation of the little-known phenomena of mental life, accessed March 28, 2020
  6. ^ A b c Franz Freudenberg: Something from Antoinism . In: Mental Studies . 38th year, no. 5 . Verlag Oswald Mutze, Leipzig 1911, p. 304–311 ( digitized [accessed April 2, 2020]).
  7. ↑ Petit catéchisme spirite pour servir à l'instruction des enfants & des personnes ne connaissant pas le spiritisme [6]
  8. ↑ Definition Antoinismus [7] , called on March 25, 2020
  9. ↑ Antoinistischer Kult - Biographi des Father - [8]
  10. ↑ Definition Antoinismus [9] , called on March 28, 2020
  11. ↑ REVELATION OF THE TEN PRINCIPLES OF GOD BY THE FATHER published on March 23, 2010, 4:15 pm by Guillaume Chapheau [updated: June 6, 2010, 1:51 pm], accessed on March 28, 2020 [10]
  12. ^ Ilario Rossi. In: Martin Baumann , Jörg Stolz (Ed.) One Switzerland Many Religions Risks and Chances of Coexistence, 20. Religious Plurality, Medicine and Health, Healing Religions, p. 341 [11] , accessed March 28, 2020
  13. ↑ The End of the Song. Glorious conclusion of "Antoinism" in Belgium. In: Free Press for Texas, April 04, 1917 [12] , p. 3
  14. ↑ The End of the Song. Glorious conclusion of "Antoinism" in Belgium. In: Free Press for Texas, April 04, 1917 [13] , p. 3
  15. ↑ The End of the Song. Glorious conclusion of "Antoinism" in Belgium. In: Free Press for Texas, April 04, 1917 [14] , p. 3
  16. ↑ The End of the Song. Glorious conclusion of "Antoinism" in Belgium . In: Free Press for Texas, April 04, 1917 [15] , p. 3