Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-10-12

dual being-that is, that he was both
male and a female in one person.
"Adam, - as Rapp expressed 1t, twas
a masculine maiden, possessing both the
male and female elements of genera
ton He believed that the separation
of the feminine from the masculine of
Adams nature was due to desire on
his part for such contamination wnen
the various animals were made to pass
before him and he beneld them all in
pairs. He thus became discontinued
with the condition in which God had
placed him, and abused his freedom of
will by yielding to his lower animal ma
ture. The restlessuess and worry of mind
thus induced was the physical cause of
the deep sleep that fell upon him, dur
ing which the female element of his
being was taken from him in the form OF
one of his ribs and fashioned into Eve.
From Boehmen's writings, also, Rapp
derived the idea that had this separa-
ton of the dual parts of Adam g nature
never occurred there would have taken
place, at particular times, with God 8
immediate appreciation, and in manner
incomprehensible TO us, certain holy
communicating of the male and female
elements of mans being which would
have caused, in some mysterious way,
the development of a new creature from
his person without physical pain, aud
that this would have been fulfilled, the
command given to Adam by God Gene
sis, i. 2Sl before the creation of Eve,
"be fruitful and multiply and replentsh
the earth.
This strange idea that Adam was orig
Inally half feminine, and that the sep
aration and distinct Naturalization OF
his feminity in the person of Eve was
contrary to Cod first intention, as sug-
gested by Boehmen, first led Rapp to re-
gard the married state as impure and
unholy, and to deem it the duty of all
Christians to lead celibate life.
From Boehmen' writings he also de-
rived strong
soCIALIsTIC AND CoMMUNIsTIC OPINIONS.
He believed that both socialism and
communism were enjoined by the New
Testament in the strongest possible man
ner. Absolute community of goods he
deemed normal, fundamental princi-
pie in the organization of the Christian
church, BELIEVING that the gospel required
the abnegation of all selfish feelings and
above all the pursuit or personal gain.
These singular ideas have naturally
exerted powerful influence upon the
rites and ceremonies of this most peculiar
people, and upon none more than their
observance OF the Lord IS Supper. The
mysticism of Jacob Boehmen aud his
school of theosophism have caused the
HarmanIsts TO seek deeper typical or
symbolical meaning beneath the surface
of every line contained in the Old Testa-
meDt. In their observance of the saora-
ment of bread and wine they endeavor
to reproduce, as nearly as possible,
the feast of the Passover as it was OBJ
served in Jerusalem for the last time by
Christ and His disciples, when it was
transformed into the Lord 8 supper of
the Christian church. These worthy
people invest him-who is their civil and
religious head, their prophet, priest and
king-with many of the attributes OF the
deity. This position was originally filed
by Father George Rapp. their founder.
They regarded him as the direct vice.
gerent of Christ, estseming him in
much the same light as Catholics do
the pope. He lived among them till his
ninetieth year with SO little apparent
waning of his powers that they finally
became firmly convinced that he would
never die. and with this quality of i'm
mortality they invested also his imme-
diate successor, Mr.. R. L. Baker, and
the pressnt incumbent of his position,