Alpha and Probably Omega

When I first started to write Genesis of Man in 2001, I believed the book would be solely about crystal skulls. As time went on, and the book hit 100,000 words, it became obvious that there was far more to this book than I had originally expected. The more research I carried out, the more links I started to uncover between the skulls and other areas of investigation. One of these areas was the origins of the Christian faith and the role it has played and continues to play, in the lives of those who choose to embrace this particular belief system.

In an effort to understand more about the faith I chose to enrol for an Alpha course that was being run at my local Anglican Church. Alpha is a 10 week course, run by various Christian Church's throughout the world, which is designed as a means of presenting the basic principles of the Christian faith to would be Christians in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. There are both Anglican and Catholic versions of the course, as well as Alpha for students, youths and prisoners. The meetings follow a set routine, whereby the participants eat together as a group, before watching a video on different aspects of the faith. These include subjects such as who is Jesus, why did Jesus die, and how does God guide us. The evening is then rounded off by a question and answer session. During the course that I attended, I was the only participant who was not already attending Church, and there were more helpers than participants. This seems to be the experience of other people I have spoken to, who have also attended these courses.

The Alpha course has in fact been running for almost 20 years, but it was not until 1993 that its possibilities for what the Alpha website refers to as 'a vehicle for evangelism' began to emerge. Nicky Gumble, who took over the Alpha project in 1990, was leading his second course when he looked around the room and realised that none of the participants were in fact Church goers. At the end of the course, Gumbel was delighted when the participants simultaneously announced their conversion. This made him realise the huge potential that these courses had. From that time onwards they were re-designed, and marketed to specifically appeal to non Church goers, at least that is the idea. However, I personally left the course being no closer to understanding Christianity than I was when I started.

I was honest with them from the very beginning, and told them why I was there, which was to help me with research for my book. To begin with, all went well, and I was given a very warm welcome, however, during the seventh week, when we discussed the concepts of good and evil, things changed abruptly, and the Church's true colours were revealed.

During the video Gumble, stated that there had been a worrying surge of interest in the occult and divination. According to him, the reason that this is so worrying is that the Bible states, in various passages (detailed in his book Questions of Life) that both of these are inherently evil. In particular he singled out astrology, tarot and channelling, stating that these are all the work of the Devil. As such, he advised us to destroy any books or other information that we have on the occult and divination. He also stated that there is no such thing as white magic, only black.

The following is a copy of a letter I sent to the members of the group, setting out my personal beliefs on this subject. I set out my conclusions after this letter and leave you to draw your own. However, I would say that these are my views, which are naturally coloured by my experiences of those weeks. If you are a Christian and you feel that your views and beliefs represent who you truly are, then it is not my intention to dissuade you from your path, I merely ask that you read with an open heart and open mind.