2010 00 00 Nova Religio - V 14, I 2 - Extraterrestrial Exegesis, The Raelian Movement as a Biblical Religion - Gallagher

Magazine Overview

Title: Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions
Issue: Vol. 14, No. 2
Date: November 2010
Publisher: University of California Press
Country: USA
Language: English
ISSN: 1092-6690
Price: $28.00

Extraterrestrial Exegesis: The Raëlian Movement as a Biblical Religion

This article by Eugene V. Gallagher examines the significant role of biblical interpretation in the formation and development of the Raëlian movement. It argues that the movement does not originate solely from a 'cultic milieu' but rather from a creative blending of biblical traditions and other sources. The Bible's appeal to new religions lies in its capacity to contain and legitimize religious innovation.

The Raëlian Genesis: An Extraterrestrial Encounter

The article details Claude Vorilhon's (who adopted the name Raël) pivotal encounter with an extraterrestrial being, an 'Eloha,' on December 13, 1973. This encounter was immediately followed by an intensive week of Bible study, which provided Vorilhon with a new identity as the messianic prophet Raël, an earthly ambassador for the Elohim, and the foundational doctrine for his new religious movement. The Eloha's directive to Vorilhon to study the Bible underscores its central importance.

Constructing Authority Through Biblical Interpretation

Vorilhon's primary privilege, according to the article, was being chosen by the Elohim for a tutorial in biblical interpretation. This 'extraterrestrial exegesis' aimed to reveal the 'traces of truth' and 'deepest meanings' within the Bible. Over six days, mirroring the biblical creation account, Vorilhon studied the Christian Bible, including the Apocrypha. The movement emphasizes that it does not doubt the Bible's authority but rather its accurate interpretation, advocating a return to the original sources with a newly decoded meaning.

Raël's writings present this as a recovery of existing meaning, employing a 'self-effacing narrator' persona to obscure his interpretive decisions. However, the extraterrestrial exegesis is presented as innovative, creating a tension between reliance on an established text and a novel reading of it, which is crucial for legitimizing Raël's status and mission.

The article notes that while Raël acknowledges traces of truth in other traditions like Buddhism, his central text, 'The Book Which Tells the Truth,' focuses squarely on the Bible. This strategy of anchoring a new religion in the Bible is a common legitimation strategy, employed by figures like Joseph Smith Jr., Mary Baker Eddy, Sun Myung Moon, and Elizabeth Clare Prophet. Appealing to the Bible roots new movements in an ancient past, combating perceptions of novelty and ephemerality.

Blending Tradition and Innovation

To secure their novelty, new religious movements that ground themselves in the Bible must offer a fresh interpretation of its meaning. This new perspective aims to alter the prevailing understanding of the past and future. The Raëlian movement's appeal to the Bible establishes cultural continuity, a factor identified by Rodney Stark as influencing the success of new religions. While some new religions emerge from a 'cultic milieu' or 'occulture,' the Raëlians, with their strong biblical focus, also participate in mainstream biblical culture. The movement's distinctiveness arises from Raël's creative blending of elements from the 'cultic milieu' or 'occulture' with the broad biblical tradition.

Raël's works present a balance between familiar biblical stories (e.g., Genesis, parable of the sower) and strikingly unfamiliar interpretations. This blend of the biblical and occultural allows the Raëlian movement to maintain a moderate tension with its social environment, a key to success for new religions. However, it risks appearing either too familiar or too idiosyncratic.

Establishing Prophetic Authority

Anyone proposing a new reading of a familiar text must address questions of authority. Vorilhon lays out his answers in his description of his first encounter and subsequent writings, reinforcing his claims through 'Extraterrestrials Took Me to Their Planet' and other confirming experiences. His prophetic career involves refining his 'charismatic persona' through writing and member testimonies.

Raël's prophetic authority was initially generated by his first encounter with an extraterrestrial visitor near Clermont-Ferrand, France. This encounter focused on the Eloha teaching him how to discern the Bible's true meaning. The Eloha explained his presence by stating he came from another planet and chose Vorilhon for a mission to reveal humanity's true nature and the nature of the Elohim. The Bible is central to this mission, with the Eloha telling Vorilhon that he has been chosen for a difficult task that will reveal 'what they are, and... what we are.'

Vorilhon's mission includes promulgating the Elohim's teachings in a book, primarily an interpretive re-reading of the Christian Bible. This initial encounter assimilates him into a prophetic paradigm, lifting him from mundane existence to a mission of extraordinary importance.

The 'New Ezekiel' and the Scroll of Meaning

Raël's sense of mission is reinforced by the Eloha's interpretation of the biblical book of Ezekiel. The Eloha suggests that Ezekiel's vision in Ezekiel 1 depicts one of the creators' 'flying machines.' The incident where Ezekiel eats a scroll covered with writing is interpreted as absorbing its meaning, signifying that Ezekiel absorbed knowledge about humanity's origins. The Eloha designates Vorilhon as a 'new Ezekiel,' privileged to receive special knowledge about the creators and humanity's destiny.

Name Change and Claims of Divinity

Claude Vorilhon's change of name to 'Raël' symbolizes his new prophetic status, meaning 'light of God' or 'Ambassador of the Elohim.' Raël acknowledges the extraordinary nature of his claims, asserting he is neither drunk, imaginative, nor dreaming, and challenges skeptics to 'read the papers and look at the sky.' His authority rests on his educational encounter, biblical parallels, disclaimers, and the assertion that signs in the world confirm his claims.

In his second book, Raël aligns his life story with that of Jesus of Nazareth, noting his conception on December 25, 1945, and his father being a Jewish refugee. He also recounts his grandmother's sighting of a 'strange craft' in 1947. Raël reconstructs his autobiography to emphasize his chosen status and mission, shaped by introspection and interaction.

The Council of the Eternals and Religious Founders

In a second encounter, Raël meets the Eloha, known as Yahweh, and sits with figures like Jesus, Muhammad, and the Buddha, who are described as representatives of religions created after the Elohim's contacts on Earth. This places Raël among the founders of major world religions, suggesting he has graduated to a similar status.

Divine Parentage and Unimpeachable Authority

In Raël's third book, Yahweh reveals that Raël's birth was arranged by the Elohim, emphasizing similarities with Jesus's birth. Yahweh claims to be the father of both Jesus and Raël, making them brothers. This claim to extraordinary status, including being the 'actual son of Yahweh,' is designed to establish Raël's authority as an unimpeachable interpreter of the Bible and promulgator of a new message.

David Bromley's observation that establishing a prophetic persona involves constructing an extraordinary persona that transcends normal human qualities is relevant here. Raël's persona has displaced Claude Vorilhon's. Followers like Yvan Giroux recognize Raël as 'Jesus speaking in his own era,' seeing the Bible and Raël's message as inextricably intertwined.

Extraterrestrial Hermeneutics

Raël learns not only substantive interpretations of biblical events but also interpretive principles from the Elohim. The Eloha instructs Raël to interpret further passages himself, suggesting that 'Intelligent Design' contains explicit and implicit interpretive guidelines. The core assertion is that the Bible contains deep meaning and traces of truth, obscured by its composition. The Eloha explains that the creation of life on Earth involved mystifying actions to avoid fear from their own planet's inhabitants, leading to humans living primitively without scientific knowledge.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring themes in this issue revolve around the intersection of ufology, religion, and new religious movements. The article specifically focuses on how the Raëlian movement utilizes biblical exegesis, framed by extraterrestrial contact, to establish its legitimacy and the authority of its founder, Raël. The editorial stance appears to be analytical and academic, exploring the sociological and theological strategies employed by new religious movements, particularly the Raëlian movement, in constructing their belief systems and authority structures within a broader cultural context that includes both biblical and occultural influences.

This document is an excerpt from the academic journal "Nova Religio," featuring an article titled "Gallagher: Extraterrestrial Exegesis." It delves into the theological and interpretive framework of the Raëlian movement, focusing on the teachings of its founder, Claude Vorilhon, known as Raël, and his purported extraterrestrial guides, the Elohim.

The Raëlian Interpretation of the Bible

The article posits that the Raëlian movement views the Bible not as a divine text in the traditional sense, but as a historical document containing "traces of the work and presence of your creators." According to the Eloha, Raël's extraterrestrial tutor, the Bible's purpose was to preserve these traces so that humanity would recognize its creators upon their return. However, the biblical text is seen as obscured by human limitations, errors in copying, and a lack of scientific sophistication among its authors. Raël's mission, therefore, is to provide an "atheistic and scientific" reading of the Bible, translating its hidden meanings into contemporary language.

Decoding Obscurity and Misinterpretation

Raël confronts the problem that the "creators were deified and made into something abstract because human beings were unable to understand scientific facts." This necessitates a re-interpretation that moves away from supernatural explanations. The Eloha guides Raël in this process, emphasizing that only certain parts of the Bible are important for translation, while others are dismissed as "poetic babblings." A key hermeneutical principle is to "read between the lines" to uncover the true significance of passages. For instance, Isaiah 13:5, referring to a "far country, from the end of heaven," is interpreted as a reference to the creators' origins.

The "Elohim" and Creation

The article highlights the Raëlian re-interpretation of "Elohim" not as a singular God, but as a plural entity, "those who came from the sky." These beings are described as having conducted a vast scientific experiment on Earth, creating artificial life. The Earth is characterized as a "magnificent and gigantic laboratory." The creation of beings like the creators themselves caused alarm on their home planet, leading to a prohibition against humans accessing scientific knowledge, symbolized by the command not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

The serpent in the traditional story is re-imagined as a group of creators who attempted to reveal the truth to Adam and Eve, resulting in their exile on Earth. This narrative aligns with Gnostic ideas of special knowledge (gnosis) and a re-evaluation of creation stories.

Hermeneutical Principles

The hermeneutical principles taught to Raël are summarized as:
1. The Bible is an authoritative text for understanding humans and their creators.
2. The Bible's message is unclear due to the intellectual limitations of its writers and copiers.
3. The Bible contains "traces of truth" and "deep meanings."
4. Recovering these requires "reading between the lines."
5. Raël received specific instruction on how to "read between the lines."

Raël also strongly rejects the interpretation of the Bible by the Roman Catholic Church, viewing it as having introduced too much supernaturalism and wrongly translated scriptures.

The Parable of the Sower and Other Texts

The parable of the sower from Matthew 13 is interpreted as an allusion to various attempts by the Elohim to create life on other planets, with some attempts failing. The article also notes the influence of Gnostic texts, which offer their own re-evaluations of creation stories and emphasize hidden knowledge. The Raëlian movement's structure and message are compared to ancient Gnostic systems, particularly in their re-reading of Genesis and the emphasis on knowledge revealed to a prophetic figure.

From Interpretation to New Scripture

Claude Vorilhon (Raël) has not only reinterpreted the Bible but has also claimed authoritative status for his own writings, particularly "Intelligent Design," which compiles his key works. This strategy of encompassing and surpassing previous revelations is compared to how the Christian scriptures build upon the Hebrew Bible, and the Qur'an on the Torah and Gospel. Raël describes the writing of his book "Extraterrestrials Took Me to Their Planet" as a direct dictation from the Elohim, feeling as though he was a conduit for their message. His writings are thus presented as "holy writ," a new scripture.

The Raëlian Movement's Identity

The article concludes that the Raëlian movement is a product of the interweaving of "cultic milieu" or "occulture" with the "broad biblical tradition." The Bible serves as a primary resource for legitimizing new religious movements, and Raël's claims are superimposed on contemporary UFO mythology. The movement's success in countries like France, Canada, and the United States is attributed, in part, to the pervasive influence of biblical stories, themes, and characters in these cultures. The article argues that ignoring the Bible's influence on new religious movements, even those on the "outskirts" of mainstream traditions, would be a mistake.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The central themes revolve around the reinterpretation of religious texts through an extraterrestrial, scientific, and atheistic lens. The article adopts an analytical and academic stance, examining the Raëlian movement's theological underpinnings, its relationship with existing religious traditions, and its unique synthesis of biblical narratives with UFOlogy and Gnosticism. The editorial stance appears to be one of objective analysis, presenting the Raëlian perspective and its historical and cultural context without overt endorsement or condemnation.

This document is a single page, page 33, from a publication titled "Gallagher: Extraterrestrial Exegesis." It primarily consists of footnotes and bibliographic references, suggesting it is part of a larger academic or research-oriented article.

Citations and References

The page lists several numbered citations:

• Citation 65 directs readers to works on the "Yahweh-alone" movement, specifically mentioning Morton Smith's "Palestinian Parties and Politics That Shaped the Old Testament" (Columbia University Press, 1971). It also references Elias Bickerman's "From Ezra to the Last of the Maccabees: Foundations of Postbiblical Judaism" (Schocken Books, 1962) and Shaye J. D. Cohen's "From the Maccabees to the Mishnah" (Westminster Press, 1987). For the Jesus movement, Rodney Stark's "The Rise of Christianity" (Princeton University Press, 1996) is cited.

• Citation 66 refers to two works by Max Weber: "The Sociology of Charismatic Authority" and "The Nature of Charismatic Authority and Its Routinization." These are found within "Max Weber on Charisma and Institution Building," edited by S. N. Eisenstadt (University of Chicago Press, 1968).

• Citation 67 points to page 85 of Volume I of Partridge's "The Re-Enchantment of the West."

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring themes are historical and sociological analyses of religious movements and authority. The references suggest an academic approach, drawing from established scholarly works in religious studies, history, and sociology. The editorial stance appears to be one of rigorous academic citation and engagement with existing literature on these topics.