THE ADAMITES

As a young Catholic, I could not fathom the doctrine of “confession, communion, and forgiveness” I was thinking that the mechanics of entering the “little room where sat the priest” would be a constant religious duty for I knew that I was sinning constantly. I later learned there were these degrees of sinful seriousness, called venial sins and the more deadly, aptly called mortal sins.

THE PROTESTANT OUTLOOK

Every believer has, at one time or another, lamented over his or her inability to stop sinning. While we tend to think the problem stems from weakness in ourselves, the inability to stop sinning usually indicates a deficiency in our understanding of God’s strength.

When we do not understand His power to save, forgive, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9), So we can get caught in a destructive cycle of sin, guilt, and fear, which leads to a lack of joy in our salvation, which leads to more sin. 1 John 1:9 (ESV) 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. GOD'S STRENGTH AND AMAZING TRANSFORMATIONAL POWER BELONGS TO CHRIST ALONE AND NOT TO US. His grace is the doctrine from...

Ephesians 2:8-9 “By grace you are are saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Below is one interesting historical example of a Christian sect whose members publicly claimed to be without sin. While different groups throughout history have taught “perfectionist” or “sinless” doctrines, the so-called “Adamites” are among the most frequently cited for their radical claim of having returned to an Edenic state of innocence.

The Adamites: A Sect Claiming Sinlessness

Origins and Beliefs

• Who They Were
  The Adamites (sometimes called “Adamians” or “Adamianites”) were a heretical Christian sect that first emerged in North Africa (Alexandria?) as early as the 2nd or 3rd century AD. Later, variants of this movement also appeared in medieval Europe—particularly in Bohemia (which is modern-day Czech Republic) during the late Middle Ages (14th–15th centuries).

• Name and Edenic Ideal
  They derived their name from the biblical Adam, since they believed they had recovered the innocence and purity of Adam and Eve before the Fall. To demonstrate this “restored innocence,” they famously worshiped in the nude—rejecting shame or modesty as a symptom of a fallen, sinful state.

• Proclaimed Sinlessness
  Central to the Adamites’ identity was their public profession of being free from sin. They contended that once a believer had been spiritually “reborn” into this new Adamic state, sin no longer held power over them. In their eyes, they existed in a kind of spiritual Eden, untainted by original sin and no longer subject to moral corruption.

• Communal Living
  Early accounts describe Adamite communities as practicing radical forms of communal ownership, sometimes rejecting marriage or traditional family structures. They viewed these as worldly institutions that belonged to life “after the Fall.” By returning to a state of innocence, they believed they had moved beyond social and moral constructs tied to a sinful world.

Controversies and Suppression

• Condemnation as Heretics
  Mainstream Christian authorities—from the early Church Fathers to medieval Catholic hierarchy—denounced the Adamites as heretical. Their public nudity and claims of sinlessness alarmed church leaders, who saw these practices as both scandalous and theologically unsound.

• Misunderstandings and Exaggerations
  Most surviving evidence about the Adamites comes from writers hostile to them, so it is difficult to know precisely how they worshiped or organized themselves. Opponents may have exaggerated their practices (accusing them of moral laxity or immoral rites). Still, the Adamites did indeed challenge mainstream views of sin, shame, and human nature.

• Decline and Dispersal
  Because of periodic crackdowns by secular and ecclesiastical authorities, Adamite groups tended to be short-lived. By the mid-15th century, after a wave of persecution in Bohemia, organized Adamite communities dwindled significantly. They survive mainly as a footnote in the history of medieval Christian sects.

Legacy and Significance

• Radical Alternative Theology
  The Adamites remain one of the most striking examples of a sect teaching not just “spiritual perfection” but actual, real-world sinlessness. They took the idea of “Christian perfection” to a radical extreme by insisting they had returned fully to humanity’s prelapsarian (pre-Fall) state.

• Inspiration for Later Groups
  While few later sects embraced all of the Adamites’ radical practices (especially public nudity), some movements in Christian history—notably various perfectionist or holiness groups—would echo the belief that true Christians could live without sin. The Adamites’ legacy thus foreshadows the recurring theological question of whether it is possible, in this life, to be entirely free from sin.

In Summary

The Adamites stand out in Christian history as a small but radical group whose members professed that they were without sin. They attempted to live in what they believed was a literal restoration of Edenic innocence, which manifested in their practice of nudity during worship and communal living. Although denounced as heretical and ultimately suppressed, their story highlights a recurring tension in Christian thought: whether—or how—believers might attain sinless perfection.

The law aggravates our sin nature. John Bunyan illustrates this truth in The Pilgrim’s Progress. In the Interpreter’s House, Christian sees a very dusty room that had never been swept. First, a man with a broom tries to clean the floor, but the broom’s only effect is to raise choking clouds of dust. The more he sweeps, the more the dust is stirred up; this is a picture of the law, Bunyan says, which cannot clean a sinful heart but only stirs up the sin. However, Christian watches as the broom is set aside and a young girl sprinkles the whole room with water. After that, the room is quickly cleaned; this is a picture of the gospel of grace and its ability to purify the heart. The grace of God can do what the law could never do: cleanse us from sin.

Throughout history, various groups and movements have believed that by “returning to nature” or adopting a simpler, more “primitive” lifestyles, they could gain health benefits—physically, mentally, and sometimes even spiritually. Below are some of the more famous or influential examples:

1. The Lebensreform Movement (Germany, late 19th–early 20th century)

• Core Idea: “Life reform” (Lebensreform) encompassed a broad, loosely connected set of ideas promoting a back-to-nature lifestyle, vegetarianism, raw foods, nudism (Freikörperkultur), holistic medicine, and a rejection of modern industrial society.

• Notable Groups & Figures:

  • Naturmenschen (“Nature People”) – small communities that aimed to live as naturally as possible, often practicing vegetarianism or veganism and minimalistic living in the countryside.

  • Wandervogel (“Wandering Birds”) – a German youth movement emphasizing hiking, folk culture, and a romantic ideal of living simply in the wilderness.

2. The “Nature Boys” (United States, early–mid 20th century)

• Core Idea: Influenced by German immigrants bringing Lebensreform ideas to California, the “Nature Boys” were small groups of mostly young men who lived off-grid in the hills, canyons, and deserts around Los Angeles. They embraced raw-food diets, natural healing, loose-fitting or minimal clothing, and a free-spirited rejection of urban life.

• Notable Figures:

  • Bill Pester – credited with bringing some of the German naturist philosophy to California in the early 1900s.

  • eden ahbez – a songwriter (famous for “Nature Boy”) who personified the movement’s ideals, living under the Hollywood sign and sleeping outdoors.

These “Nature Boys” later influenced the 1960s hippie scene, especially in Southern California.

3. Back-to-the-Land and Hippie Communes (1960s–1970s)

• Core Idea: Spurred by the counterculture movement, many hippies believed industrial society was inherently unhealthy (psychologically and physically). They sought communal living in rural areas where they could grow their own food, live off the land, and distance themselves from perceived social and political ills.

• Notable Examples:

  • The Farm (Tennessee, USA) – a famous hippie commune emphasizing vegetarianism, spiritual community, and self-sufficiency.

  • Hundreds of small communes across North America, some of which persisted into the following decades as eco-villages or intentional communities.

4. Fruitlands (Massachusetts, 1843–1844)

• Core Idea: Founded by Bronson Alcott (father of author Louisa May Alcott) and Charles Lane, Fruitlands was an experiment in transcendentalist and utopian communal living. The group believed in strict vegetarianism (largely fruit-based), rejecting modern conveniences, and living in harmony with nature.

• Outcome: Despite lofty ideals, Fruitlands lasted only about seven months, largely due to harsh New England winters, lack of agricultural skill, and internal disagreements. However, it remains a landmark example of a group seeking health and spiritual improvement through “primitive” living.

5. Modern Primitivists and Neo-Primitivists

• Core Idea: In the late 20th century and into the 21st, certain groups (sometimes called neo-primitivists or anarcho-primitivists) advocate a return to pre-industrial or pre-agricultural ways, believing that the advent of large-scale agriculture and industry has degraded human health, social bonds, and the environment.

• Practices: Ranging from adopting Stone Age–style diets (paleo, raw food) to living off-grid, hunting and gathering where possible, or creating off-grid eco-communities.

Why They Believed “Primitive” Living Promoted Health

1. Diet: Many of these groups embraced vegetarian, vegan, or raw-food diets—believing that simpler, whole-food diets aligned more closely with human biology.

2. Physical Activity & Sunlight: Living outdoors typically involved constant walking, hiking, manual labor, and exposure to sunlight—thought to improve fitness and overall wellbeing.

3. Rejection of Industrial Pollutants: By leaving the cities, they aimed to avoid factory pollution, processed foods, and the perceived stress of modern urban lifestyles.

4. Psychological & Spiritual Benefits: They often considered closeness to nature as inherently calming or spiritually purifying, reducing the anxieties and alienations of modern life.

In sum, from German “Life Reformers” and the “Nature Boys” in early 20th-century California, to 1960s hippie communes, Fruitlands, and modern “neo-primitivist” movements, a wide range of groups have pursued the idea that living more simply and in closer harmony with nature can yield profound health benefits.George Alexander Aberle (April 15, 1908 – March 4, 1995), known as eden ahbez, was an American songwriter and recording artist of the 1940s to 1960s, whose lifestyle in California was influential in the hippie movement. He was known to friends simply as ahbe.[1]

Ahbez composed the song "Nature Boy", which became a No. 1 hit for eight weeks in 1948 for Nat "King" Cole. Living a bucolic life from at least the 1940s, he traveled in sandals and wore shoulder-length hair and beard, and white robes. He camped out below the first L in the Hollywood Sign above Los Angeles and studied Asian mysticism. He slept outdoors with his family and ate vegetables, fruit, and nuts. He claimed to live on $3 per week.

Early life

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Ahbez was born in Brooklyn, New York to Jewish father George Philip Aberle and English mother Margaret Annie (Mason) Aberle. He spent his early years in the Brooklyn Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York.[2] He then traveled in an orphan train, was adopted in 1917 by a family in Chanute, Kansas, and raised under the name George McGrew.[3][4]

During the 1930s, McGrew lived in Kansas City, Missouri, where he performed as a pianist and dance band leader.[3] In 1941, he arrived in Los Angeles and began playing piano in the Eutropheon, a small health food store and raw food restaurant on Laurel Canyon Boulevard. The cafe was owned by John and Vera Richter, who followed a Naturmensch and Lebensreform philosophy[5] influenced by the Wandervogel movement in Germany. He was a vegetarian.[6][7][8][2] He recalled once telling a policeman: "I look crazy but I'm not. And the funny thing is that other people don't look crazy but they are."[9]

Their followers, known as "Nature Boys" and who included Gypsy Boots (né Robert Bootzin), wore long hair and beards and ate only raw fruits and vegetables. During this period, he adopted the name "eden ahbez", choosing to spell his name with lower-case letters, claiming that only the words God and Infinity were worthy of capitalization.

Career

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In 1947, ahbez approached Nat "King" Cole's manager backstage at the Lincoln Theater in Los Angeles and handed him the music for his song, "Nature Boy". Cole began playing the song for live audiences to much acclaim, but needed to track down its author before releasing his recording of it.[10] Publicity material for Cole's single instead makes the claim that Johnny Mercer recommended ahbez to Cole on behalf of Capitol Records.[11] Jack Patton, in turn, is said to have advised ahbez to bring "Nature Boy" to Capitol after befriending him at the restaurant where ahbez worked.[12]

Ahbez was discovered living under the Hollywood Sign and became the focus of a media frenzy when Cole's version of "Nature Boy" shot to No. 1 on the Billboard charts and remained there for eight consecutive weeks during the summer of 1948. In early 1948, RKO Radio Pictures paid ahbez $10,000 for the rights to "Nature Boy" to use as the theme song for their film The Boy with Green Hair, and he was credited as the song's composer on the film's opening titles.[13]

Ahbez was covered simultaneously in Life, Time, and Newsweek magazines. Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan later released versions of the song. Ahbez faced legal action from a Yiddish music composer, Herman Yablokoff,[14] who claimed that the melody to "Nature Boy" came from one of his songs, "Shvayg mayn harts" ("Be Still My Heart"). Ahbez claimed to have "heard the tune in the mist of the California mountains". However, legal proceedings resulted in a payment to Yablokoff of $25,000 in an out-of-court settlement.[15][16]

Ahbez continued to supply Cole with songs, including "Land of Love (Come My Love and Live with Me)", which was also covered by Doris Day and The Ink Spots. In 1949, he gave Burl Ives the idea to cover Stan Jones' "Ghost Riders in the Sky" after overhearing Jones recording his own version of the song.[17][18] He worked closely with jazz musician Herb Jeffries, and, in 1954, the pair collaborated on an album, The Singing Prophet, which included the only recording of Ahbez's four-part "Nature Boy Suite". The album was later reissued as Echoes of Eternity on Jeffries' United National label. In the mid-1950s, he wrote songs for Eartha Kitt, Frankie Laine, and others, as well as writing some rock-and-roll novelty songs. In 1957, his song "Lonely Island" was recorded by Sam Cooke, becoming the second and final Ahbez composition to hit the Top 40.

In 1959, he began recording instrumental music, which combined his signature somber tones with exotic arrangements and (according to the record sleeve) "primitive rhythms". He often performed bongo, flute, and poetry gigs at beat coffeehouses in the Los Angeles area. In 1960, he recorded his only solo LP, Eden's Island, for Del-Fi Records. This mixed beatnik poetry with exotica arrangements. Ahbez promoted the album through a coast-to-coast walking tour making personal appearances, but it sold poorly.[19]

During the 1960s, ahbez released five singles. Grace Slick's band the Great Society recorded a version of "Nature Boy" in 1966 and ahbez was photographed in the studio with Brian Wilson during a session for the Smile album in early 1967. Later that year, British singer Donovan sought ahbez in Palm Springs, California, and the two wanderers shared a reportedly "near-telepathic" conversation.[20][21] In the 1970s, Big Star's Alex Chilton recorded a version of "Nature Boy" with the photographer William Eggleston on piano. The song was finally released as a bonus track on the 1992 Rykodisc re-release of the album Third/Sister Lovers.

Personal life

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Some time in 1947, he married Anna Jacobson a month after they met;[22][2][9] the couple had a son, Tatha "Zoma" Om Ahbez, on October 9, 1948.[23]

His wife Anna (née Annette Jacobson; October 16, 1915 – August 9, 1963) died, aged 47, of leukemia,[24] and his son "Zoma" died unexpectedly[25] in either 1965,[26] 1969[27][28] or 1971.[19] In 1974, ahbez was reported to be living in the Los Angeles suburb of Sunland, and he owned a record label named Sunland Records, for which he was recording under the name Eden Abba.[29] From the late 1980s until his death, ahbez worked closely with Joe Romersa, an engineer/drummer in Los Angeles. The master tapes, photos, and final works of ahbez are in Romersa's possession.[30][31][32][33][34]

Ahbez died on March 4, 1995, of injuries sustained in a car crash, at the age of 86.[35] Another album, Echoes from Nature Boy, was released posthumously.