Jeremiah

Reading "Dracula", I noticed an odd exchange between van Helsing and Arthur. When asked what the holy substance he sprinkles around is, van Helsing says it is the Host which he bought from Amsterdam, and that he has an "indulgence". Does this have any basis in reality, however improbable?

I'm certain that these must be available in some form online, but google turns up none of the actual books themselves, only others who reference them. If you have difficulty with an actual translation, could someone point me to a modern work that examines and/or quotes them in depth?

Thanks in advance!

Is it created at the moment of birth, is it pre-existent but on hold or is there consciousness before life?

I'm asking for the position of the "mainstream" churches, the orthodox, catholic, and major protestant(particularly Lutheran). Thanks in advance.

Basically, is it possible for fascism to operate divorced from the historical horrors that it has always gone hand-in-hand with? Since morality varies widely, I'll define it more clearly: Is it possible for a fascist state to not be racially discriminatory, not to be jingoist, and to not try to absorb religion into its workings? (Just to be clear, I'm talking about fascism, not Nazism, so let's assume our hypothetical fascist state is not completely deranged from the outset.)

What powers did the emperor have in theory, and which did he have in reality. Also, to what degree was state policy dictated by other political interests?

I just came upon a wikipedia article that this algorithm is evidecnce against the evolutionary theory. I'd appreciate it if someone could explain to me, in layman's terms, why this isn't/is so. If it's just too complex or difficult at the moment, could you point me to a page that does so?

Thanks in advance!

During their actual reign, between their assumption of the throne and their removal from power, was the actual policy and/or mentality of the ethnically Manchu emperors foreign to China?

If anyone could point me towards sources about this, I'd be grateful.

According to wikipedia, the Vatican is the only western absolute monarchy in the world. Does this mean that the Pope can, in theory, be the only law of the realm in Vatican city?

I was reading through the questions here on Y/A and found someone saying that in America, women consider an uncrircumscised penis ugly. Where I live(and as far as I knew, everywhere) only Jews, Muslems and other religions/cultures where circumscision is traditional do it. Is it popular in America? How many out of the overall population do it? Why?

[Sorry if you find the post gross, I'm just trying to get my point across]

I have seen quite a lot of images(from medieval manuscripts and paintings, mostly) that were painted by Muslems that do depict the Prophet, but to not be blasphemous show hims as wearing a veil, colourless(white), and sometimes surrounded by flame(or showning an outline only.) Is/was this permitted in Islam?

Or if you could point me somwhere where I could find them, I'd be grateful.

I just read(in another question) that there is an "atheist megachurch". I googled and saw that it does, in fact, exists. So, to save me the research, is anyone willing to tell me a few things about this?

It sounds as ridiculous as the "spaghetti monster", but perhaps I'm judging too harshly. Is it as ridiculous as it sounds? Or is it some "Church of Reason" or something similar?

I've broken my record for questionmarks in a single question. Cheers!

Considering that the Bible does not name the serpent(Nahash) as Satan, why does Christian interpretation remain stuck in the old "sexual allegory" rut? Considering that the "Serpent" doesn't state its identity, why do so many denominations still identify it as the devil(whatever the "devil" is)?

The depictions of Christ before his birth(Say, in the Garden of Eden) are based on the doctrine that he was the Logos(Word) of God and pre-existent of the incarnation as Jesus. However, instead of some other form of the Logos they show the same human form of Jesus Christ assumed in 3-4 CE. Do you think that's appropriate?

"Human beings must be known to be loved, but divine beings must be loved to be known"

-Blaise Pascal

What are your personal beliefs? Does any denomination have a stance on this or is it never mentioned?

For a long time I considered writing "Jesus loves you!" in a Bhuddist or Wiccan questions the least effective attempt at conversion I've ever seen. When I recently came upon the idea(in another question, actually) that these guys are really atheists resolving their anger issues(rather than Christians solving their inferiority issues), asking seemed the simplest thing to do. I'd be honored if one of these wandering forum preachers actually answered this, but anyone else with an opinion on this, feel free to share(If you're thinking that you'd share whether I told you to or not, just ignore the last part)

"Universal Consciousness" may sound a bit too new agey, but I've only recently started studying Eastern religions so please bear with me.

How exactly are the higher states of consciousness around non-being believed to work? Do those states still forming coherent thought function together as some vast mind or are they disconnected? Is non-being considered to be simply non-existence and oblivion or is the concept misunderstood in the English translation? My questions are a bit broad and different ways of thought within buddism may have different answers, but if you are familiar with the religion and can answer please share.