Nathanite Catholicism

The Shield of Nathan, the official emblem of Nathanite Catholicism

Nathanite Catholicism, or simply Nathanism, is a form of Catholicism that had its roots in England during the Reformation. Originally meant as a "spy" sect within the original Catholic Church, Nathanism soon emerged as its own wholly independent interpretation, rivalling Petrinism. It is the only sect of Catholicism that is fervently militant, and thus groups of adherents have been responsible for numerous acts of terrorism worldwide. The strongest of the Nathanite militant groups is the group called the Soldiers of the Lord. Officially, the Soldiers are the special forces of Birea, but several countries outside of the Virtue Family- most notably Rome, Aram, Casara and Oman- have labelled them as a terrorist organization. The Soldiers are known to have cells worldwide but because of the group's secretive nature a lot is not known about it.

The name of the religion comes from Nathan, out of the belief that Jesus' lineage more properly originated from him. Since Mary drew her lineage from Nathan, the religion preaches that she is the "Ultimate Servant of the God", which became the inspiration for the Nathanite intepretation of women. The Nathanites also believe that Mary Magdelene was Jesus' wife, and when Jesus rose to Heaven, she joined the ranks of the Apostles and spread Jesus' message about how a good woman needs to be subserviant to her man, like she was to Jesus and Mary was to God.

Overview

Nathanism is purported to have been founded by Noah Caldwell in 1502, asserting that the sect arose in England as a set of "spies" under the orders of Alexander VI. However, there is no evidence that the sect existed before 1588, when the trial of Charles Caldwell (the source of Nathanism's origin story) revealed that the Nathanites were working as spies for the Spanish at the time of the war with the Armada. Banned from England, the Nathanites soon set up roots in Scotland, where the Scottish kings would see their value as an important ally against the English. Thus, when Scotland first established a colony in northern and central Florida (where Nathanism would eventually merge into other sections of North American Christianity into the “Nequissimi”, the blanket Roman term for the North American “Christian right”), and later won the East Indies from the Dutch during the Coffee Wars, Scotland gave the Nathanites the first rights to settle in the new territory and establish the colony in Scotland's name. This policy soon wound up to be the undoing of Scotland, since the distances made the Nathanites feel that Birea was "their" country, and support for the Scottish crown began to wane. Thus, England, sensing the opportunity, attempted to repair ties with the Nathanites, a slow process that reached its zenith following World War II when Scotland could no longer hold on to Birea and was thus forced to grant its independence. Thus today, even though the Nathanites began as English enemies, England is now the religion's biggest ally, especially with regards to the Soldiers and Birea.

Nathanism is considered by religious studies experts to be an "extreme" religion, falling, essentially, on the social conservative side of the ideological spectrum. At its core is the belief that women are solely and wholly subservient to men, with experts believing that women are treated as no more than chattel. Women have few choices in their lives (the only rights a woman has is to her life and that she must be kept in good health), with almost every aspect of them (including her clothes and her ability to work) dictated to her first by her father (or her oldest brother if the father is not present) and then by her husband. Non-familial males have limited powers over women who are unmarried after the age of 20 while they are away from their families, and any women whom a family does not wish to keep (for any reason) may be sold into slavery.

The other major tenet of Nathanism is violence, though the extent of this is debated amongst Nathanite theologians. Almost all agree that Nathanism orders its adherents to convert non-Nathanites by force and kill those who refuse, as well as seeking no other redress for those who "wronged" the religion other than through violent means. However, what qualifies for violent retribution is hotly debated, with no clear consensus emerging.

The Nathanites justify their violent tendencies through an interpretation of Matthew 24, which stated that the end of the world will be preceded first by the appearance of false prophets and then by worldwide violence. As the sect grew into a religion in its own right, the Nathanities' various leaders would each proclaim they had a vision that progressively named Reformation-era figures and the Pope as "false prophets", justifying violence against them and their adherents. They also contend that their founder was the second coming of the Biblical Noah, who commanded his followers to "unleash the second flood unto the world with the blood of its heathens".

Other tenets of the religion centre around the universal rejection of vices- things like alcohol, gaming (even playing cards), smoking, nightclub dancing and many other forms of "Western" types of entertainment are banned in Nathanism. The Nathanies also universally reject modern techonology, except in cases where the society as a whole could benefit (such as the adoption of robots in a factory). This is because at its core, Nathanites are expected to be "productive"- if they are not at work, they should be doing a task, such as writing or studying, that stimulates some kind of work. Thus, perhaps surprisingly, Nathanites are strong patrons of the arts.

The religion is headed by the Patriarch, who is currently Jesse XII, and is centred in Helene, Birea. Birea counts the most adherents of Nathanism, though it has also become the dominant religion amongst the central South American peoples, northern Australia and the historical region of Peru. Pockets do exist worldwide, particularly in parts of Mexico, central North America, central Africa and northern and central Europe (north of Roman territories), though exact numbers are unknown.

See also

• Saint Jasper's Fire
• Ingrid Fjallsdottir
• Juan Castro
• Saint Jasper's Robe
• Soldiers of the Lord
• Petrine Catholicism