Absence of Faith (16 page)

"All my life I have battled evil. I
have avoided it at every turn. I have turned it back whenever I
could. I have sacrificed and I have worked very hard to lead my
people on the right road, the good road, the road towards
salvation. And I have been successful. But now for the first time
in my life I don't feel this is something we can ignore or to be
taken lightly. I feel that this evil is very strong and we have to
push hard to help our followers hold on to their faith. I have
never said this, but I feel the evil is winning," the bishop
announced in a deep, dark authoritarian voice.

"I believe we are seeing the
beginning of the end - not a disease or a pestilence, but the rise
of Satan, the rise of evil in the world. Armageddon. This did not
just happen yesterday or last week or last year. I have been
watching it for several decades," the bishop said.

He reached into his briefcase and
took out a pair of reading glasses. He positioned them on his
large, baldhead, and then reached down and took hold of a thick
rust brown leather-jacketed book. Its edges and corners were
lighter in color than the rest of the jacket. He pushed his
briefcase aside and placed the heavy book on the table in front of
him. His hand disappeared into his pant pocket and then reappeared
holding a small gold key. He placed the tiny key in a gold lock
that held the book shut. The men could hear themselves breathing.
He turned the key and the lock made a sharp click. He moved the
belt clasp out of the tiny hasp and slowly opened the book. Its
pages were the color of old newsprint. He bent down close to the
book and turned several pages and then he stopped. He began to
read:

"'And when the thousand years are
expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,' is from
Revelations, 20:7 '...as ye have heard that Anti-Christ shall come,
even now there are many Anti-Christs...’ from 1 John 2:18. This
Anti-Christ is expected to spread evil throughout the world, only
to be conquered by the Second Coming of Christ and the end of the
world. The first Anti-Christ was Napoleon, who was responsible for
the deaths of two million people and fourteen years of war. The
second Anti-Christ was Hitler, who was responsible for the deaths
of some fifty million human beings in his pursuit to conquer the
world. I believe the third and last Anti-Christ is here now and
living somewhere in this world in our current century,” Bishop
Phulax explained without blinking once.

The small crowd sighed.

"It is also in the prophecies of
Nostradamus, who lived in the 16th century, and predicted many,
many things throughout history. Of course the Church has never
condoned his prophecies, but now we are forced to take another
look. In modern times, he predicted that a man named DeGaule would
rule France, that the Russians would invade Afghanistan and that
the United States and Russian would one day become friends. He even
predicted the nuclear accident at Chernobyl. Let me read to you
what he wrote in his eighth century 77th quatrain,

‘The third Anti-Christ very soon
annihilated. Twenty-seven years his bloody war will last: The
heretics are dead, captives, exiled Blood soaked human bodies,
water and a reddened icy rain covering the entire
earth’.

He also names the identity of this
Anti-Christ in his second century 62nd quatrain.

‘Mabus will soon die, then will
come A horrible slaughter of people and animals, As once vengeance
is revealed coming from a hundred lands. Thirst, and famine when
the comet will pass.’

Nostradamus also wrote that the
third Anti-Christ will be the evil man of blood, who will be
responsible for triggering World War III and the final extinction
of mankind through a nuclear holocaust," he said.

The bishop filled a tumbler with
water and raised it to his mouth. He drank most of the water and
then put the glass down.

"I don't believe the world will end
by nuclear war - something much worse will happen and it is
happening now," the bishop explained. The whites of his dark brown
eyes seemed to flair and contrast against his smooth, black
skin.

The men grumbled among themselves
in disbelief.

"I can't say I believe totally in
Nostradamus - I only believe in the scriptures, but I offer these
facts to you because they also confirm what is written in the New
Testament."

"Why do you believe the end is
near?" asked Stokes. "Every new millennium brings these prophecies
to light. The heretics, the doomsday seers, the mystics all seem to
come out of the woodwork when we enter a new millennium. Years have
passed and we are all still here."

"You are right, sir..."

"Sorry, that I didn't introduce
everyone," Father McDuffy interrupted. "That is Doctor Matthew
Stokes, chief of staff at Ocean Village Hospital."

The bishop nodded, but did not
smile.

"My pleasure, Doctor Stokes," he
said.

"Mine, also."

"You are correct Doctor Stokes, but
there is something extremely evil out there, and I believe that
members of your profession have named it the Hellfire
Syndrome..."

"You're talking about an unknown,
undetectable disease, not the coming of Satan!" Carson interrupted.
"There's nothing Satanic about the symptoms of a disease. I had the
symptoms and I experienced the disease first hand and I don't
believe I went to hell and back!"

"Doctor Carson Hyll, I presume,"
the bishop said.

The men sitting around the table
stirred, and some whispered to each other.

"We would like to believe that it's
a disease, too, Doctor Hyll, but too many things indicate
otherwise," the bishop replied.

He looked at Father McDuffy and the
priest looked at the other men.

"We have reason to believe it’s
more than a disease," the priest said directing his words to
Stokes. "John would you like to start?" He focused on a thin young
man with dark circles under his eyes and a drooping
face.

"Yes, I would. I'm Pastor John
Denby of the First Presbyterian Church of Manalapan," he said
slowly as if he were too tired to speak. "I also would like to
believe that the events we have heard about are a disease of some
kind, but my beliefs tell me otherwise. For the past two months,
eighteen people from my parish have had this experience or a
relative who did. Six of those had to be committed to mental
institutions because they were no longer functional, three died,
and two women had their fetuses aborted because they didn't want
their children to be born and end up in hell. Others have refused
to leave the hospital because they fear dying. I can't believe that
a single disease can cause all these different
tragedies."

"I also had similar experiences
with my following," added a middle-aged man with a wide face and
ashen pasty skin. His silvered hair thick and full.

"George Bradson, pastor of the
Freehold Baptist Church. I've had several people who have come to
me hysterical over dying. Their fear is real. These are
levelheaded, sane people, who swear that something evil is after
them. They believe it's the devil and if they die, he will get
them. They believe God has abandoned them."

"What seems strange to me," Carson
added, "And I don't want to sound like I don't believe in God or
that I'm anti-religion, but all of these people came to the same
conclusion - that people who have this experience have been to
hell. Where did that assumption come from? Wouldn't some just blow
it off as a terrible nightmare or an experience triggered by the
symptoms? Seems to me there are a lot of people out there thinking
about heaven and hell all the time."

"I can explain that," interrupted a
bearded, overweight man with a round, red face. "I'm Reverend Bruce
Motter, Saint Ambrose Episcopal Church in Neptune. People have been
talking about it ever since that story appeared in The Ocean
Village Sentinel. That kind of news is like gossip - it travels
everywhere. When word got around that others had the same
experience, then it hit home. It was no longer gossip, and people
started getting very upset, especially when a member of their
church had the experience to confirm what they had been hearing.
This meeting is just in time because the lid is about to blow off
on this thing."

"Well, one thing is certain to keep
this out of the press at all costs," added Stokes. "If the Asbury
Park Press gets wind of this, it will go national, and then it will
be out of control. We have a major problem here, gentlemen, because
until we know for sure what we are dealing with, we have no way to
control the hysteria."

A rabbi from the far end of the
table raised his hand. He had short-cropped sandy hair and was
younger than the others by ten years or more.

"Yes, Rabbi Bernstein," Father
McDuffy said.

"Rabbi Jacob Bernstein, Temple Beth
Torah in Red Bank - Why don't you issue a statement to the press on
your position that as a man of science, a learned physician, you
believe it is a disease of some sort."

"I think the less attention we give
this the better off we'll be," added Stokes.

"What if it gets worse?" the rabbi
asked.

"Then we‘ll have to deal with it,"
Stokes said. "One thing is certain that whatever is happening is
shaking the foundations of all organized religion and this has
never happened in the history of mankind. Even the Communists had a
god - their god was the state, everything for the state. Whatever a
man's religion is it is his hope, his future, his dreams, and when
you take that away there is no telling what will
happen."

A shroud of silence enveloped the
room. Even the light from the overhead lights seemed to pale with
Stokes' explanation. The group remained silent for a few
minutes.

"We have a common cause now,"
Pastor Denby blurted out as if he were suddenly awakened out of a
nightmare. "We have a common enemy; one that we know is trying to
destroy every known religion. We should unite our
efforts."

"I think that's a noble and
intriguing idea and I would like to live long enough to see that
happen," Stokes added. "But I think the best thing to do is to go
on as if nothing has happened, and make subtle attempts to
strengthen your parishioner's belief in God and
religion."

"I disagree," Rabbi Bernstein
interrupted. "I support Pastor Denby. I think we need to shout as
loud as we can. I think we should have a multi denomination event
for the public. Bring in the top evangelists like Billy Graham, his
son, Rev. Franklin Graham and others."

"Where could we have something this
big?" Pastor Denby asked.

"The Great Auditorium!" Carson
said. It can seat 6,000 and it is almost the size of a football
field. It's been used for these types of events since it was built
in 1894; it is the largest enclosed auditorium in New Jersey and
its right here in Ocean Village."

"Perfect," Bishop Phulax added.
"You will have the full support of the diocese. I can arrange for
you to have any resources you need. Can you organize the event in a
week or so?"

The men mumbled among
themselves.

"I would say it would take a month
just to notify the right leaders and get a commitment," Pastor
Denby added. "You will have the support of my church also. I don't
know if we can get the Reverend Graham in such short
notice."

"We can once I explain our problem
to him," added Pastor Bradson of the Freehold Baptist Church. "I
know him well. We studied together in the same seminary when we
were starting out."

"I'm still not sure we should do
this," Stokes added. "I think this will bring unwanted attention to
the problem."

"I think if we can also present the
scientific viewpoint, it will have more impact and be more
effective," Carson added. "We are witnessing a convergence of
science and religion. Science is now providing more evidence that
Biblical events are probable, and actually happened. And Doctor
Stokes if you would serve as our medical authority on this, I think
we can pull it off."

Stokes shrugged and resigned
himself to the majority consensus.

"Okay. Anybody have any questions?"
Father McDuffy asked. "Then we’ll meet here same time next week.
I’ll draw up an agenda of what I would like to see at the event. I
suggest everyone do the same and then we’ll discuss them next
week."

The small gathering nodded in
agreement. The small group left. Carson and Stokes were silent
until they reached the car.

"What do you think?" Stokes asked
looking intensely at Carson's solemn face.

"I may have come off a bit cocky in
my position, but now I'm not sure again."

"Why?"

"Your speech about shaking the
foundations of religion. They're all serious enough to meet and
discuss this. There may be something beyond science..."

"Nonsense," Stokes
replied.

Carson raised his
eyebrows.

"What are you talking
about?”

"Until we have exhausted every
possible avenue in medical research and then some, I have to
believe it's some kind of disease. However, whatever this is could
be perpetrated by you know who," Stokes explained.