In preparation for some future activities, I have started a diet. I have a bunch of clothing in my closet that simply didn’t fit anymore. As stated in previous post, I lost 13 lbs. in July. As August begins, I am continuing to lose more weight. I am finally able to get back into large sizes as opposed to only extra-large. To celebrate I decided to move much of my clothing—the stuff that is way too large—to the closet in the spare room.
As my dog watched on, I emptied all my clothing from one dresser and a few drawers in the other onto the bed for sorting. Except for a small drawer of ties in the first dresser—most from Rush Limbaugh—that dresser is empty.
I am five pounds from the lowest weight that I ever had while being married. I hope to be back to that weight in about two more weeks. Oh, and yes, I plan to keep going even lower. Once I get back to the weight range that I was in while serving in the Navy, I will stop the diet and try to stabilize my calory intake.
This blog is, at least in part, a swipe at the Baby Boom generation (~1946-1964). Yep, the ungrateful brats that F***ed-up the country for the rest of us. BTW I am barely considered a Boomer so I can say that and not get accused of dissing the gray-haired generation. Said comments also are applicable to those older than the Boomers. I don’t know what to call that generation. Contrary to Tom Brokaw, they aren’t the “Greatest Generation” because they were too young to participate in WW II.
Whether my comments are applicable to the younger crowd, maybe The Chief can let me know when next we speak.
Our society has been described as disposable. We have disposable diapers, razors, disposable food containers, and the like but we also treat humans as disposable. Abortion is “products of conception” which are fit to flush down the toilet. “Special needs” children get locked-up and are rarely seen in public. We have “old folk’s homes” where we send elderly people to await death. We have political parties in our country that support slavery, exploitation, child labor, and a host of other ills just as long as they occur in other countries and not are not seen in ours. Nobody in the West could afford an iPhone or Tesla car if the rare earth metals were obtained ethically. Much manufacturing in China would cease if not for slave labor. Then there is the eugenics behind organ harvesting on an industrial scale.
Below I take on false views held by many self-described Christians.
“The body is garbage,” claimed a nameless person mentioned by Rev David Chilton in one of his sermons recorded in the 1980’s. (Chilton didn’t believe that but dealt with folks that did.)
Rev David Chilton (1951-1997)
Yep, the spirit is what is important, the body is just the prison of the soul. Ever heard comments like that before? While such may have been spoken by the Apostle Plato, such language was never uttered by the Apostle Paul, or any other writer of Holy Scripture. Such division of body and soul is not biblical but Greek. Yet, many people believe it is true.
In this category, I include my own parents as well as my grandparents. When someone died in my immediate family circle they were cremated and forgotten. Typically, there is no memorial service, wake, or any other remembrance. No gravestone because there is no grave.
In addition, the possessions of said relatives are not offered to family members as keepsakes. Nope. When my grandfather died, my dad gave a few firearms to a cousin and then called Goodwill or some similar charity group to clean out the house. He kept nothing and offered nothing to the rest of us. Like I said before, it’s just dumping the trash.
Oh, so what happens when you ask to be present when the ashes of dear so-and-so are disposed of? Nothing. (I did think you needed a government permit to scatter human remains but I know my folks never followed that directive.) When the time came to scatter said ashes, do you know what happened? Zippo. The phone is silent. The email is mute. The snail mail was never sent. Years after the fact you might overhear a comment stating that over there is where some beloved person’s ashes went. It matters not if you ask to be present. Crickets.
Folks if you thought cancel culture was just on the Left, try dying in my family. There is zero hope of being honored or remembered. Your existence is swiftly erased with extreme prejudice.
When my aunts died, did I get notified? Generally, no; not if they were part of my grandmother’s generation. Occasionally, if they were of my parents’ generation then my folks might mention it. Either way, incinerate and forget them was the practice.
Lest you think this idea that the body is garbage is unique to my family, may I point you to the Neptune Society. They offer cremation services for the masses.
Or Oregon offers composting of dead people. Yep, they literally make you into worm food.
My problem is that biblically speaking, burning bodies is sacrilege. The body is to be honored. More on that shortly.
Lest you think my family are the only ones that advocate disposal of loved ones; here is how this often is manifests amongst folks that claim to be Christian. Grandma dies. We hold a service for her—which is good. But then someone says, “What’s in the coffin isn’t grandma, she’s in heaven not here.” Then they make a reference to Paul’s saying that “absent from the body is present with the Lord”.
If by saying this, they deny that the person in the coffin is actually grandma then they are wrong. Both the body and the spirit are grandma. The body is not a corrupted husk that contained the real grandma. Nope, that’s Greek thought not biblical thought.
Folks, this is the classic definition of loss of big picture. Jesus was not raised as a spirit. The Church has a name for people that believe that way, “heretic.”
Jesus was raised bodily. Yep, his resurrected body was different, it was a perfected body, but a body, nonetheless. In another sermon, David Chilton makes reference to a young man saying that he can’t wait to get to heaven because then he can’t sin anymore because he will no longer will have a body. This is not biblical.
God gave Adam a body and said it was “very good”.
It is unnatural that the body and spirit are separated at death. This is the result of sin. Please understand, I am ok with claiming that immediately following death, the deceased person gets their new, resurrected body. And following a judgment, believers are in the presence of God in that eternal form. Some folks think you need to wait until the end of something, usually not the end-end for this to occur. Some biblical passages seem to imply that the judgment is immediately after death not after one’s body spends thousands of years in the ground. Whether the body and spirit are reunited shortly after death or later on, it will happen. You will spend eternity in a body not as a disembodied spirit.
The normative in Scripture is that the body is treated with respect and reverence. A body is buried with honor and an expectation of an afterlife. The classic example is in the latter part of Genesis. Joseph, the guy with the coat of many colors, makes a final request just before his death. When you leave Egypt and return to the Promised Land, take my body with you and bury me there. Joseph had been dead for the better part of 400 years before his remains were returned to the land of his birth. People knew that this body was Joseph and he was given the honor due to a prince of both Egypt and Israel.
In like manner, every time a Christian is buried, he is testifying that he has a hope in a future resurrection. This is why churches have had graveyards in close proximity to their places of worship. Like many things, the present practitioners have forgotten the historic view; the faith of their fathers. Heck, for that matter, why don’t modern churches use church architecture for their construction? Why are they all theater-in-the-round or gymnasiums with folding chairs?
Those European Cathedrals that took centuries to build had a purpose in the way they were constructed. I bet you don’t even know why Holy Water and Gargoyles were included in the church’s design. The Gospel is silently built into how and why each building was designed, hence the name “church architecture.”
Oh, the answer to my rhetorical questions above, Holy Water is in the back of the church as a symbol that it is by baptism that we gain entry to the church. Gargoyles symbolize demons fleeing the presence of the Church. Remember Jesus saying that “… the gates of hell shall not prevail?” Again, church architecture has meaning, but folks don’t know the Gospel well enough to know what they are looking at.
Like many in our society, what I say or whatever reasons that I might give for Christian burial will not move the needle with folks. They are much more comfortable arguing feelings than facts. Facts can only be employed if both sides agree to let something external to them be their authority and rule for conduct. For Christians this should be the Word of God but often it is not. When every man does what’s right in their own eyes then civil dialogue is not possible. This is just as true discussing death as it is politics.
My folks want to be cremated, have no memorial service, and no acknowledgement of their lives. Oh, this also means no closure for grieving family members, but they don’t care. Such an attitude gives a new spin to the comments of Jesus when he said, “Let the dead bury the dead.”
Folks, there is such a thing as “Christian burial;” it’s too bad most Christians don’t believe in it anymore.
Yes, I know that occasionally I take the big risk of telling my readers what has really been going on in my life. Most of my family just read posts like this to find excuses to get mad at me or offer unsolicited criticism. I write this stuff anyway because this is a personal blog and a way for me to record my experiences and feelings.
The following are not in order of priority or chronological order, just stuff that has happened recently.
My best Man from my wedding in 2003, had a heart attack about two weeks ago, and if not for someone present that was medically trained, he probably wouldn’t be on the planet any longer. He had a heart attack on Friday and a quadruple bypass about Tuesday of the following week. He is recovering. A lousy way to celebrate his birthday, but at least he lived to see another year.
One of my other good friends has a father that is approaching the end of his cancer journey, what a euphemism for saying that his dad’s expiration date is coming soon. My friend has a cascading number of difficulties from this and other things happening in his life. My brother, I love you and pray for you frequently. Call if you wanna talk.
My biological son has gone radio silent on me during the last few months. It’s nothing that I did. The woke mind virus has led him to a new religion that can’t tolerate Truth or the idea that God doesn’t make mistakes. He doesn’t answer my phone calls or text messages. His stepbrother says that he is still on the planet and walking upright. I guess Discord counts as proof of life in some circles.
My father-in-law’s girlfriend died a couple months ago. I text him a few times each week and we call about once a week. Sadly, there is little info that I can relay to him about his grandsons. He is keeping busy and adjusting to finding new things to do in life since his GF is gone. He is a likeable guy but is reluctant to yield his life to Christ.
This next one will cause people’s heads to explode. I offered yesterday to adopt a three-year-old child. Yep, really. Father is a gangbanger and mom is stuck as the sole supporter of both the husband and her child. Any money he gets reportedly goes to support his activities with friends including his use of illegal narcotics. (No word whether he likes spending her money on pepperoni pizza for his friends.) Yep, I’m leaving out lots of details but I’m offering mom and child both a new start in life. Understandably, she is reluctant to give up the child but it’s one of the few ways to deny her husband a claim on the child at any time in the future.
I have plans to use my passport later this year to see my girlfriend. Just be aware that my Facebook status is a lagging indicator of where things are in our relationship. ICE will be delivered but I need to pick up the pace in accumulating the 13 coins required to move things along. Oh, special note to Greg, it will take more than a basket of papayas to resolve the situation on this trip. I may need to trade her dad a cow. (-: Yep, there is a backstory for these comments.
A few weeks ago, I almost got put on alert for evacuation due to a nearby fire. I was having flashbacks to the Paradise fire due to the wind and smoke that was hitting my area. I had half of the suitcase packed and a mental list of stuff to load in the car on the way out of town. The combination of wind and smoke drove the visibility to under a mile. I did plan to leave room in case I needed to get someone else across the bridge and away from the fire. The evacuation zone was three miles from my house. The size and amount of ash on the ground the following day was memorable. Only one structure, a barn, was reported lost. Lots of folks were evacuated to the fairgrounds right across the river from me.
My leak in the water filtration system is back again. It’s a cheap Chinese part that is used for air draws during the self-cleaning cycle that is run each day. The leak rate is steady at one drop every six seconds. Said leak is manageable, but I have no idea if it will get worse over time. I lack funds for repair until mid-August. It’s at least a three hour round trip for the service guy to drive here and back.
I applied for an absentee ballot for the November election. Ballots will be mailed on September 18. Plenty of time to do my civic duty.
I also made some changes to my will. Yep, exciting stuff. New executor and a new beneficiary, recipient, or whatever added. What’s that line from Star Wars about, “I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further.” I will look again at revisions in 2027. The Trust will probably get a huge rewrite to reflect life choices.
Also, I am enjoying the wonders of another diet. Depending on what I use as a baseline, I can claim to have lost 13 pounds thus far in July. I’m five pounds away from tying my lowest weight in the last 30 years. I plan to keep going for a few months and see where I end up.
Oh, I am retiring my wife’s cell phone next week. It requires charging every four to six hours of use. The internal app claims the battery is fine, but it is not working as it should. I’m getting my first foldable phone. I hope I like it. I also got the new watch to go with it. I really like my Garmin, but it can’t tell when I’m awake or asleep. If I watch a movie before bedtime, it counts it as sleep time. If I’m awake at night it still counts it as sleep. Texting, chatting, and any other use of the phone in the middle of the night counts as sleep time. When I wake up in the morning and check my cell phone, it counts as sleep time until I literally remove the Garmin watch from my wrist.
Lastly, Bob, the love dog, is getting older and a bit slower. We still do two walks a day. Some mornings we go outside for bonus time in the yard. I don’t have a fence around the property, so I have to keep an eye on him or he wonders off.
Anyway, that gives you an idea of my summer thus far.
Oh, one last story. A random kid (about 20 years old) dropped by the church on a Thursday afternoon a few weeks ago. Thursday night I attend a Bible Study at the church. The guy leading the study is on staff at the church. The young man attended the Bible study. Following it’s conclusion, the leader announced that the kid needed a place to stay. It was one of those times when I knew it was my turn to do something, so I stepped up. I put the kid up in a hotel room. At the time I was grumbling to God about the cost but did it anyway. The following Thursday, I learned the rest of the story.
The next week, the kid was at the Bible study with his wife and young child (about 7 months old). This is what happened as a result of me putting him in the hotel.
The Thursday night that I put him up in the hotel was literally the first night for the new managers of the hotel. As a result of me ponying up some money for one night at a hotel, the kid got a job working at the hotel. They even provided him with a place to live. Now he has his wife and son living with him. He is attending our church, and as an added bonus, the owners of the hotel are also attending our church. Wow.
When God tells you to do stuff outside of the box, go for it or miss a blessing that you can’t foresee.
The set-up for the book is this: imagine that you are a Jew in the Second Century.
In 70 A.D. the Romans sacked and burned Jerusalem and destroyed your center of worship (the Temple) and thus your religion as it had been practiced for more than a thousand years. 1.2 million Jews died in this uprising.
Then in the Bar Kokhba rebellion, Christians failed to join the Jews in a second rebellion against Roman, 65 years after Jerusalem fell, because they rejected Bar Kokhba as a false Messiah.
At this point in history, the Jews and Christians finally split for good. However, Jews are still losing people to the upstart Christian sect. The remaining rabbis are desperate to consolidate power and stem the tide of converts following Jesus because of their understanding of the Old Testament promises.
In what today might be called a “Hail Mary” play, they decided to change the Old Testament Scriptures to stop the bleeding and erect barriers to any further losses to Jesus.
As Van Dorn shows, the Second Century rabbis did deliberate edits that two centuries later were being adopted by Christians. Today, nobody knows the difference and the falsehoods created by the rabbis are considered in many circles as Christian Orthodoxy today.
By comparing various texts and manuscripts, Van Dorn shows that the errant text is the Jewish one—the Masoretic—which is the basis of many English versions of the Bible including the King James Version (KJV).
I won’t spoil the book—which I highly recommend—however, the rabbi’s edit which is clearly the easiest to see is Deuteronomy 32:8
When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance,
When he separated the sons of Adam,
He set the bounds of the people
According to the number of the children of Israel.
In context, the phrase “according to the number of the children of Israel” is nonsense. In the Table of Nations—which follows the Flood in Genesis 10—Israel is nothing but a glimmer in the eye of Abram’s ancestors. There is no Abram or Israel in existence. Thus, to state that there is a relationship between the Table of Nations and the children of Israel is nonsense. The older translation is “the number of the sons of God.” This edit (the children of Israel) was unknown before the Second Century A.D. This shifts the passage from teaching about principalities and powers (i.e. heavenly, spiritual beings) and instead substituting men.
Substituting men for spiritual beings is a constant refrain in the Second Century edits. They tried to obscure or obliterate references to the pre-incarnate Christ. This was done deliberately to keep Jews from seeing the Messiah in their own Scriptures. Furthermore, the correct textual understandings were anathematized by teachers of Judaism.
By the Fifth Century, the rabbi’s ruse was adopted wholesale by the Christian Church and has been the majority view ever since.
Van Dorn is trying to expose and correct the record. The book is easily read and written at a level that is accessible to the masses. The type is larger than I was expecting and is only about 150 pages. It retails at Amazon for about $20.
A good companion book would be the “Unseen Realm” by Michael Heiser.
Heiser is concerned primarily with the supernatural view of the Old Testament. While there is some overlap, the emphasis of each book is different.
I highly recommend Van Dorn’s book to any and all.
Ideas have consequences. That is somewhat what this post discusses.
I gave my life to Christ in about 1974. I was attending the Baptist church. Not just any Baptist church but one on the conservative side of a conservative denomination. First Baptist Church in Woodland California was part of the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches (GARBC).
Baptists define themselves in terms of “Don’ts.” They don’t smoke, drink, cuss, or chew, and expect us not to go with girls that do. Mixed bathing; not blacks and whites, but males and females was forbidden. They also don’t like infant Baptist, wine for Communion, and Christian rock music.
The church was all-in on Hal Lindsey and Jesus is coming any second to Rapture the Church. Initially, I was enthused that we were living in the last days. The signs were everywhere that Jesus’ immanent return would soon occur. I dutifully watched the news and expected to see the final prophecies fulfilled on the evening news any day.
One night after youth group, I remember my sister coming home in tears. When asked why she was crying, she responded that it was unfair that Jesus was coming back any second and how unfair he was because she would never have the opportunity to become a mother. Wow, didn’t see that one coming. The incident with my sister was one of the most memorable things about that church.
Meanwhile, some siblings of my mother got involved in charismatic churches. Yep, if you don’t have the experience of speaking in tongues then you don’t have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you. The guy that wrote the Gospel, oh, I mean the Four Spiritual Laws also wrote a tract about The Spirit Filled Life.
Tongues or no tongues became an issue for me to explore further. My Baptist church said tongues was bogus, but the charismatic folks were much happier and bubblier compared to the Baptist church members. There was something different about them. Eventually, I moved more toward the charismatic side of evangelical Christianity. I was mostly in and around the Assemblies of God denomination.
In high school I had an interest in a girl that went to a different church. (The Church of God of Prophecy.)
At the time, I didn’t know how different. At their evening service, I was asked to read a verse out of Acts. I read the correct verse but literally had the Bible taken away from me mid-sentence because it wasn’t the Authorized King James Version. Literally the only difference between my version (probably NIV) versus the KJV was one word had a “th” on the end of it. I was then directed to read from the correct version of the Bible. Later, I was informed that they were the only true church and all others were false. Needless to say, I stopped dating that gal quicker than Colin Kaepernick could take a knee.
Following my enlistment in the military, I ended up in the Sacramento California area. I began attending Capital Christian Center. This was one of the largest churches in the area. I tried to make Capital my church home, and it was for a while. The service that ended my membership there was preached by then pastor, Glen Cole.
Capital Christian Center — Sacramento, CA
Cole did a fire and brimstone sermon on all of the social evils that we, as American Christians, were confronted with at the start of the 1990’s. He hit many social issues very hard. I was elated that finally someone was kicking the church in the butt, and we were finally going to battle. But toward the end of the sermon, he got to the part about what to do about it and the whole thing imploded. Cole’s solution was that we need to spend more time in church, presumably waiting for the Rapture. Yep. We need to double down on withdrawing from “the world” and spending more time in church. His church literally has some type of service or activity every day of the week. His solution to all the evils of the world was more time in church activities.
Folks, I was devastated. What a cop-out and huge letdown.
Rev Glen Cole — Capital Christian Center Sacramento, CA
You see, what became apparent to me over time was that Premillennial Dispensationalism expects for things to get worse and worse. In fact, it is a theological requirement that things must get worse. Only when the sh*t really hits the fan will it be bad enough for Jesus to return.
They believe this so strongly that they discourage efforts to address social issues and righting wrongs. Essentially, to oppose evil is to keep Christ from returning. This is why large blocks of evangelicals don’t vote or excuse themselves with talk of not voting for the lesser of two evils. They say with their lips that they oppose evil but with their deeds they do nothing to stop it’s progression.
I’m sure someone like Thomas Sowell would state it more eloquently than I just did, but that’s the bottom line. Evangelicals expect things to get worse. Ever hear the phrase about polishing brass on a sinking ship, same idea. This is why Gary North called eschatological pessimism, “pessimillennialism.”
Folks, that was the last straw for me. The idea that we are wasting our time doing good, when such efforts could somehow delay the return of Christ, and somehow we needed to step aside and let everything around us literally go to hell, just did not sit right with me.
Thankfully, I found an alternative to Premillennial Dispensationalism. Christianity prior to 1830, had never heard of Premillennial Dispensationalism. It turns out that for most of the history of Christianity, such a scheme never existed. I found solace in the faith of the Reformers. The Reformers were bold and understood that Christianity has the power to transform not only men but cultures and nations.
The fruit borne of Premillennial Dispensationalism is rotten. Their scholarship is sloppy and they cherry-pick verses based on preexisting presuppositions that are not found in the text. Only by imposing their ideas onto the text can such ideas be seen. Yikes! You’d think after decades of using the New York Times, CNN, and other media outlets to prove their ideas, they might at least try to support their theology from the Bible. Don’t hold your breath. What’s that saying about not ruining a good story with facts?
Premillennial Dispensationalism is like learning how a magic trick is done. Once you understand their sleight-of-hand, the trick loses its hold on you. From that point forward you can no longer be duped by its practitioners. The difference between them and the magician is that the magician knows better while premils really believe they are manipulating unseen forces to reveal truth.
The following is a partial list of false prophecies about the Rapture, battle of Armageddon, or Return of Christ in my lifetime (post 1960).
Hal Lindsey
Date
Person
Group or other info
1964 – October
Seventh Day Adventist
1972
Herbert W. Armstrong
Worldwide Church of God
1975
Herbert W. Armstrong
Worldwide Church of God
1975
Watchtower Bible & Tract Society expected Armageddon
1981
Chuck Smith
1948 plus 40 year generation minus 7 year tribulation
1982
Pat Robertson
televangelist
1982 – June 21
Benjamin Creme
Buddhist related
1988
Hal Lidsey
The Late Great Planet Earth 1948 plus 40 year generation
1988
Edgar C. Whisenant
88 Reasons Why The Rapture Will Be in 1988
1989
Edgar C. Whisenant
The Final Shout: Rapture Report 1989
1991
Louis Farrakhan
Nation of Islam
1993
Edgar C. Whisenant
23 Reasons Why a Pre-Tribulation Rapture Looks Like it will Occur on Rosh-Hashanah 1993
1994 – September 6
Harold Camping
general manager of Family Radio and Bible teacher
1997 – October 23
James Ussher
17th Century Bishop expected the end as it was 6,000 years after creation
1999-2009
Jerry Falwell
predicted in 1999 that the Second Coming would probably be within 10 years
2000
Frank Cherry
Founder of the Black Hebrew Israelite religion
2000
Ed Dobson
The End: Why Jesus Could Return by A.D. 2000
2000
Timothy Dwight IV
President of Yale University foresaw Christ’s Millennium starting by 2000
2000
Edgar Cayce
psychic
2000
Sir Isaac Newton
scientist
2000 – April 6
James Harmston
The leader of the True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days
2011 – May 21
Harold Camping
general manager of Family Radio and Bible teacher
2011 – October 21
Harold Camping
general manager of Family Radio and Bible teacher
2011 – September 29
Ronald Weinland
The Church of God, Preparing for the Kingdom of God (COG-PKG) is an apocalypticist splinter sect of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG)
2012 – May 27
Ronald Weinland
The Church of God, Preparing for the Kingdom of God (COG-PKG) is an apocalypticist splinter sect of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG)
2012
Jack Van Impe
televangelist
2012 – December 21
New Age Nuts
Mesoamerican Long Count calendar ended
2013 – May 18
Ronald Weinland
The Church of God, Preparing for the Kingdom of God (COG-PKG) is an apocalypticist splinter sect of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG)
2012
Jack Van Impe
televangelist
2015 – September 28
Mark Blitz & John Hagee
Blood Moon Prophecy
2017
David Meade
Predicted the end on YouTube
2018
Henry Morris
Morris claimed that Worlds War I was the first sign of Christ’s return which would occur before that generation died
2019 – Ronald Weinland
The Church of God, Preparing for the Kingdom of God (COG-PKG) is an apocalypticist splinter sect of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG)
2020
Jean Dixon
psychic
2020 – July 22
Chad and Lori Daybell
Multiple murders
2021
F. Kenton “Doc” Beshore
1948 plus70 to 80 year generation
2025 – September 23-24
Joshua Mhlakela
South African preacher
2025 – October 7-8
Joshua Mhlakela
South African preacher
This was the warning about the Rapture that happened last year. If you’re reading this, sorry but you were left behind.
Harold Camping
The list also does not include the voluminous number of prophecy pimps in modern pulpits claiming all the signs are in place and it could be any minute. In the Old Testament God’s people were to execute false prophets, in the New we just buy their books. WTF?
If you like subversion in the Bible or authors such as Brian Godawa and Michael Heiser, then do I have an interesting book for you. (Subversion is using divine attributes claimed by pagan gods such as Baal that the Bible says are only true of the one living God.)
If you have ever been bothered by the New Testament passage about women being saved through childbirth, again this is the book to explain this verse.
If you want to understand how the Apostle Paul interacts with the goddess Artemis in the New Testament, then this might be a book for you.
If you want to have more background on the Ephesian church mentioned in Revelation 2:1-7 then this book will be helpful.
The full title of the book is “Nobody’s Mother: Artemis of the Ephesians in Antiquity and the New Testament.”
It is written by Sandra L. Glahn. Glahn is a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. Yep, I actually read a book by someone at DTS. It’s probably the only title I have read during the current century by anyone associated with DTS.
The book is six chapters. Chapters 2-5 are solely about Artemis in art, literature, architecture, and artifacts. Another name for Artemis (Greek) is Diana (Roman).
Artemis
Artemis is not the guy from “The Wild, Wild West.” Nope. Not Artemus Gordon. (Baby boomers think Artemus and Artemis are pronounced the same.)
In the original TV series, Ross Martin played Artemus Gordon and Robert Conrad played James West. It ran from 1965-1969. A movie was made in 1999 featuring Will Smith as James West and Kevin Kline as Artemus Gordon.
The Wild, Wild West television show ran 1965-1969.
1999 movie Wild Wild West
Artemis is a female god who is a virgin by choice but also the goddess of midwifery. Yep, a virgin that specializes in delivering babies. She is the sister of Apollo and hunts with a golden bow. It was common to ask her to assist in delivering a baby without harm to the mother. In cases of a difficult delivery, she was called upon to offer women a painless death.
Glahn claims in the book that Wonder Woman was modeled after Artemis.
The temple to Artemis was in Ephesus and was regarded as the greatest of the ancient 7 Wonders of the World. It was four times the size of the Parthenon in Athens. Ephesus was the Roman provincial capital of Asia. It was also a center of Emperor worship. Chapter 1 of the book is an introduction and chapter 6 is mostly an analysis of Paul’s writings; especially to the Ephesians and Timothy.
Artemis
Glahn focuses much of her discussion on 1 Timothy chapter 2; mostly verse 9-15.
9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; 10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. 11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. 13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. 15 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.
1 Timothy 2:9–15.
Also worth noting are her comments on 1 Timothy 5:13; specifically the words “gossips” or “tattlers” (KJV) and “busybodies.” See page 124.
13 And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.
1 Timothy 5:13.
As usual, the translators are afraid to give you the true thrust of the meaning of the Greek words. Glahn argues for tattlers=“those who talk nonsense” and busybodies=“those practicing magic” as the more accurate rendering. I the context, I think she is correct.
The book is an easy read. It is well researched and organized effectively. Part of it may be considered controversial in its treatment of a woman’s place in the church. Her comments on this topic are limited to 1 Timothy 2 so don’t base any doctrines off of her conclusions.
Final Thought
I’ve had the book for almost two years but just got around to reading it. Per her book, Artemis was second only to Zeus in popularity in the Greek speaking world. Artemis is currently popular in modern society as the goddess of the transgenderism cult.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favor of a Mississippi law allowing mail-in ballots to be counted in elections even if they are received after Election Day.
The court was split 5-4 on the ruling, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett writing the majority opinion. She was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, as well as justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Barrett’s opinion held that Election Day, in the context of federal law, set a deadline for when voters must make a choice regarding their preferred candidate. Relevant laws, however, impose no standard for when ballots must be received to be considered valid.
Please note the part that I highlighted in the above article. “Relevant laws, however, impose no standard for when ballots must be received to be considered valid.”
Translation: to fix this Congress must make a law.
The problem for us is that Congress—especially on the Republican side—doesn’t go to Washington to fix anything. The 535 most worthless individuals in our country serve in the House and Senate. What’s even worse is that these guys probably do represent their districts. They are just as corrupt and unprincipled as most of their constituents.
Too bad most of the Protestant Church is too busy waiting for the fictitious Rapture to do what our Lord commanded them to do which is disciple the nations and subject every square inch of the planet to the rule and reign of Jesus Christ. Sadly, the Church—like the biblical parable—would rather burry their talents in the ground than actually use them to transform our culture and honor our God.
Folks, I despise the idea that Presidents govern via Executive Orders. These are not Constitutional. If our Congress was worth a damn, they would make all of President Trump’s Executive Orders into Law and then blow up the Executive Orders so no future President can ever use them again. Oh, and they should also let Trump up the Supreme Court justices to 13 members—all assigned by Trump. Anything less is just smoke and mirrors.
Ok Kids. First thing. This “Beast” has nothing to do with the Marvel comics character.
The Beast from Marvel Comics
Neither does it have much to do with modern prophecy pimps like Hal Lindsey, Tim LaHay, Jack Hibbs, or C.I. Scofield.
Hal Lindsey’s false prophecy on the end times reportedly sold over 25 million copies
The core of the biblical prophecies about the beast are found in Revelation chapter 13. First, there are two beasts mentioned. Revelation 13:1-10 concerns a sea beast. Revelation 13:11-18 concerns a land beast. Verses 16-18 are the ones people cite when talking about the “mark of the beast.”
Background
Virtually every symbol in Revelation can be found in one way or another in the Old Testament. When you want to learn about a symbol always start there. Then ask how the original readers and hearers of Revelation living in the First Century would understand what it says.
God gave Abraham a geographical area of land back in Genesis. From then on, it is frequently called “the land.” The land is pictured in various ways through the history of the Jewish nation. Those outside the land are the sea of Gentiles. The sea is wild and chaotic. John even describes the sea:
15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest … are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
Revelation 17:15.
Below are comments from Logos on this subject:
In biblical symbolism, the sea represents gentiles while the land represents Israel.1 This symbolic framework appears consistently throughout Scripture, particularly in how Old Testament literature portrays foreign nations. After humanity’s fall, the separation between land and sea became emblematic of the division between God’s covenant people and the ungodly nations, with the chaotic sea constantly attempting to encroach upon the land just as gentile powers sought to destabilize God’s established order.2
Throughout the Old Testament, gentiles are frequently depicted through aquatic imagery or referenced in connection with crossing waters.1 This symbolic language extends into apocalyptic literature as well. In Revelation, the many waters are explicitly explained as representing peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues3, and Revelation consistently distinguishes Israel through land and earth imagery while depicting gentiles through the sea.2
The shift from Old Testament to New Testament narrative reinforces this symbolism. In the Old Testament, God revealed His ways through His priestly people inhabiting His land, and the text focuses almost exclusively on land animals—prophets and kings functioned as farmers, shepherds, and herdsmen.2 By contrast, none of Jesus’ prominent disciples were farmers or husbandmen; the most prominent were fishermen, and the disciples are characterized as fishers of men rather than shepherds—imagery indicating that Jesus’ kingdom would extend to the entire world, including the gentiles.1 This transition in symbolic language marks the gospel’s expansion beyond Israel to encompass all nations.
1 James B. Jordan, “153 Large Fish,” in Biblical Horizons (Niceville, FL: Biblical Horizons, 2000), 630.
2 James B. Jordan, The Geneva Review (Birmingham, AL: Theopolis Books, 2022), 20.
3 Alfred Ernest Garvie, “SEA,” in A Dictionary of the Bible: Dealing with Its Language, Literature, and Contents Including the Biblical Theology, ed. James Hastings et al. (New York; Edinburgh: Charles Scribner’s Sons; T. & T. Clark, 1911–1912), 4:424.
The Sea Beast
This is a random sea beast that looked cool so I added it to the post
In Revelation 13:1 it refers to the sea beast as having seven heads and ten horns.
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Revelation 13:1.
Again, what John is describing in Revelation is symbols from the Old Testament. So where is he getting this description of the Beast?
Jump back to Daniel chapter 7. Daniel sees four beasts come up out of the sea (vs. 3).
1 Beast one was like a lion (vs. 4)
2 Beast two was like a bear (vs. 5)
3 Beast three was like a leopard with four heads (vs. 6)
4 Beast four was like a terrible with ten horns (vs. 7)
Add these up and you get seven heads (1+1+4+1) and ten horns.
The dragon (see below) gave the beast in Revelation 13 it’s power.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Revelation 12:9
Please note also the corresponding creatures.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Revelation 13:2.
Revelation 13:1 also adds something new which is not found in Daniel, the ten crowns.
“The ten crowned horns (powers) of the Beast are explained in 17:12 in terms of the governors of the ten imperial provinces, while the seven heads are explained as the line of Caesars (17:9-11): Nero is one of the “heads.”
David Chilton “The Days of Vengeance” pg. 327
David Chilton’s commentary on Revelation
The ten imperial provinces are referenced in this passage:
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
Revelation 17:12.
The line of Caesar:
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
Revelation 17:9–11.
Chilton’s comments on Revelation 17:9-10 are also worth noting.
“The “seven mountains” again identify the Beast as Rome, famous for its “seven hills”; but these also correspond to the line of the Caesars, for they are seven kings; five have fallen: They first five Ceasars were Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius. One is: Nero, the sixth Caesar, was on the throne as St. John was writing Revelation. The other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while: Galba, the seventh Caesar, reigned for less than seven months.”
David Chilton “The Days of Vengeance” pg. 435-6
The Land Beast
Nothing says land beast quite like Godzilla
Concerning Revelation 13:12, Chilton writes, “The Jewish leaders, symbolized by this Beast from the Land, joined forces with the Beast of Rome in an attempt to destroy the Church. Thus the Land Beast exercises all the authority of the First Beast: “As the first beast is the agent of the dragon, so the second beast is the agent of the first beast. “All the authority’ makes the second beast the complete agent of the first.” Apostate Judaism became completely subservient to the Roman State.” Pg. 337
Mark of the Beast
This what you get when using pop-culture to interpret the Bible
Ok. So, we have briefly dealt with the Sea and Land Beasts. What about the balance of the chapter? Buying, selling, and the Mark of the Beast.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive qa mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
Revelation 13:16–18.
Folks, there is so much nonsense said about this passage that it makes me laugh on the one hand; but on the other, this is really simple if you confine your analysis to Scripture and don’t seek answers in your daily news feed.
Let’s take verse 18 first and then look at verses 16 & 17.
The first thing you need to remember when reading Revelation is this: what would the first Century audience think when reading or hearing this passage for the first time? Once you start looking at Revelation as someone living in 66 A.D. then a lot of the stuff that is popular today fades away as absurdity. Then it’s clear that the Beast is not Ronald Wilson Reagan (all three of his names have six letters) or Adolf Hitler, or Stalin, or the Prime Minister or any other contemporary person that might be suggested. Why would John suggest that someone in his day could calculate the number of the beast if they were wise? John is indicating that someone in his day might be able to calculate his identity; thus, the Beast was alive in his day.
So why six hundred threescore and six? Please note that it’s not presented as six-six-six or 666. Details matter. Remember also that I previously said that most of the symbolism of Revelation is from the Old Testament.
Let’s jump back to Deuteronomy. Moses knew that in the future that Israel would one day have a King. God planned for it. God even set up three rules for Israel’s king to follow.
14 When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; 15 Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. [Rule #1]16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. [Rule #2] 17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: [Rule #3] neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
Deuteronomy 17:14–17.
In summary, Israel’s King was not to multiply horses, multiply wives, and multiply gold and silver.
1 A multitude of horses were only for offensive armies. Now that Canaan had been conquered, Israel was only to have defensive military capabilities.
2 A multitude of wives would turn the King’s heart from worshipping the Lord. God was against political alliances bases in marrying daughters of pagan kings.
3 God was against excessive taxation and accumulation of wealth via harsh taxation.
My next question is kind of obvious, who in the Bible broke all three rules for a king and did so in spades? Solomon.
Violations of Rules 1 & 3 are covered in the same passage.
[Rule #1] 26 And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem.[Rule #3] 27 And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees that are in the vale, for abundance. 28 And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price. 29 And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.
1 Kings 10:26–29.
Violation of Rule #2 immediately follows the chapter break.
But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; 2 Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. 3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. 4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father.
1 Kings 11:1–6.
Solomon broke all the rules God had set out for a King of Israel. Thus, he became a wicked ruler.
The Apostle John used Solomon as a prototype of a beast. Any ruler that sets himself up as a “god” is a beast. In Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar was called King of kings (Daniel 2:37) but Nebuchadnezzar because proud and in his heart took credit for what God had done for him and God, as punishment, made him a literal beast. Eventually, Nebuchadnezzar repented and became a man again.
30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? 31 While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. 32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. 33 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws. 34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:
Daniel 4:30–35.
Now, back to Solomon. Drawing upon this imagery in the Old Testament of Solomon being an apostate ruler, John went to a verse that referenced Solomon’s sin.
14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,
1 Kings 10:14.
Yep. There it is. The good old six hundred threescore and six. This was the excess amount of gold that Solomon was taking in each year.
When Solomon died, his successor was faced with a choice, reduce taxation so the people would love you or increase taxation and oppress the people even more. Rehoboam decided to oppress the people, and the result was that the kingdom was split with him getting two tribes (known as Judah) and Jeroboam getting the other ten tribes (known as Israel).
More biblically based science fiction
I have said this all to prove that the Mark of the Beast originated in the apostacy of Solomon when he because a tyrant. The Beast in Revelation is tied to Solomon via the six hundred three score and six. If you wrote Nero Caesar in Hebrew, it’s numerical value is 666. In this passage, some textual variations have 616 instead of 666. This is the numerical value of Nero Caesar in Greek. Nero was Emperor when John authored the Apocalypse. Nero’s name was written in code to get the manuscript past any Roman censorship.
Obscuring a direct reference to Nero is much like Mother Goose rhymes and other “children’s stories” written to get around censorship of the times. Political commentary was disguised as children’s stories while poking fun at the English government. John’s writing technique is still used today in various media presentations.
The other thing that somehow gets lost in Revelation is that everyone has a “mark.” The mark is symbolic not literal. God’s people are sealed with the mark of the Holy Spirit; the devil’s people are sealed with the Mark of the Beast.
Due to illiteracy of the book of Revelation, I guess I have to prove my claim so here goes.
“ … till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.”
Revelation 7:3b-4
Oh, even better, the next verse after the number of the beast is about believers having God the Father’s name on their foreheads.
1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.
Revelation 14:1.
As Bob Dylan said, “It may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you gotta serve somebody.”
Buying and Selling
Random Roman coins from the Internet
Now for verses 16 & 17. If you didn’t serve the beast then you couldn’t buy and sell. But buy or sell what. Is this a blanket claim that commerce was forbidden or was something more specific in mind?
I know folks claim that you need a microchip, or bar code, or whatever to be part of the world system but is that what somebody in the First Century would understand? I doubt it.
The idol of First Century Jews was the Herodian Temple in Jerusalem. The Herod family started to refurbish the Temple in 20 B.C. and the project was completed shortly after John wrote Revelation. Refurbishment was completed about 64 A.D.
Let’s begin at the beginning. Jesus told the church of Laodicea, “I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see” (Rev. 3:18). There is no market available to make such a purchase. Purchasing a commodity like oil for lamps to greet the bridegroom is not about economics but worship (Matt. 25:6–13).
In the same way, buying gold refined by fire is symbolic and is also related to worship. It is reasonable, therefore, to assume that the reference to buying and selling in Revelation 13:17 is also symbolic and not part of an end-time economic system or even one in the first century. Similar language is found in the Old Testament:
55 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.
Isaiah 55:1-2
Temple leaders controlled buying and selling to regulate access to the temple (John 2:12–22; Matt. 21:12). It’s why Jesus cleanses the temple twice as required by Leviticus 14:33–57. “This is established in [Revelation] 3:18 (and compare 21:6). When those who refuse the mark of the Beast are not allowed to buy and sell, it means that they are expelled from the synagogue and Temple. The merchants of the land in Revelation 18 are those who worshipped at the Temple and synagogue.” ((James B. Jordan, A Brief Reader’s Guide to Revelation (Niceville, FL: Transfiguration Press, 1999), 19. James was the person who suggested this interpretation. I’m indebted to him for it.))
Jesus foretold that this would happen: “They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God” (John 16:2). Keep in mind that the “beast coming up out of the earth” is involved in these events. The land beast is most certainly associated with first-century Israel, especially the priests who controlled access to the temple, which was finished during Nero’s reign in AD 64.
Early in the church’s history the disciples went to the temple to preach the gospel (Acts 5:20–21, 24, 42; 24:12). At first, they were welcomed (2:46). Peter and John frequented the temple during “the hour of prayer” (3:1). Jewish Christians continued to use the temple, even participating in some of its rituals (21:26). After the temple officials learned that those Jews were preaching that Jesus was the Messiah—the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world—Paul was “dragged … out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut” (21:26–30).
During Jesus’ ministry, the temple officials were “selling,” and worshipers were “buying” access to the temple (Matt. 21:12), turning God’s house into a “robbers’ den” (Matt. 21:12–13). Only the Jews who aligned themselves with the priests (i.e., had the “mark of the beast”), the sacrificial system, and the temple buildings, could enter the temple for worship.
To take the “mark of the beast” meant a person denied that Jesus was the Messiah, the true temple of God, the only sufficient sacrifice (Heb. 9). Of course, Christian Jews avoided the “mark of the beast” and showed their true allegiance to Jesus, “having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads” (Rev. 14:1). They demonstrated that these (symbolic) names on their foreheads through their public professions of faith and allegiance to Jesus. Those who carried the mark of the beast professed that they had chosen Caesar over Christ (John 19:15).
When commanded not to speak to “any man in this name,” Peter and John responded, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:17–20). The proclamation that “Jesus is Lord” (1 Cor. 12:3) and “that there is another king, Jesus” (Acts 17:7) was a religious and political affront to those in power throughout the Roman Empire. Such proclamations were acts “contrary to Caesar” (17:7) and “against this holy place [i.e., the temple] and this law” (6:13).
These passages fit together nicely since true redemption comes, not from Rome or earthly Jerusalem, but from where “the Lamb was standing,” that is, on Mount Zion. The writer of Hebrews describes Mt. Zion’s location: “You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels” (Heb. 12:22).
Revelation 13 and 14 contrast two ways of salvation: access to the temple through the mark, name, or number of the Beast (Rev. 13:16–17) or through the name of the Lamb “having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads” (14:1). Those who were circumcised only in their flesh followed the Beast, while those circumcised in the heart followed the Lamb.
Conclusion
So, I think this about wraps up everything you wanted to know about the beasts of Revelation and the mark. God places his mark on the foreheads of his people, and the devil places a mark on the foreheads of his people. This motif goes all the way back to the beginning in Genesis but that is a separate topic.
Yep. True story. Long ago I was a member in good standing of the oldest Christian Church in the West. I was baptized as an infant at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Woodland. A small town just north of Sacramento California. I attended the parish school from kindergarten through sixth grade.
I won’t go into all the weeds but let’s just say that by fifth grade, I had decided God wasn’t real. I purposely wrote God with a lower case “g” and was sour on the idea of his existence. I butted heads with the nuns from the on-campus convent. I drive Sister Ilene up the wall, and my behavior prompted more than one parent-teacher conference.
I came across someone of a different faith that got me to read the Bible. I found stuff in the Bible that was contrary to what the church taught. I brought some of these things to the nuns at the school. They had no response to my Bible based questions except to say that I wasn’t capable of reading the Bible on my own. I needed the priests and bishops to tell me what it said. I was warned that if I continued reading the Bible on my own that I might become a heretic just like Martin Luther. (Oh, FYI it was the first time that I ever heard of Martin Luther.)
I became hungry for some answers to my questions.
Oh, the passage that gave the nuns fits was that Jesus had brothers and sisters. Yep. Jesus was the oldest but clearly, he had siblings. Roman Catholics reject these scriptures or try to weasel out of them, but they are unambiguous.
Here is what Logos found via an A.I. search.
The Gospels identify Jesus with specific family relationships: he is called “the carpenter’s son” with brothers named James, Joses, Simon, and Judas (Matt 13:55–56), and sisters are mentioned but remain unnamed (Matt 13:55–56). Mark’s account similarly refers to him as “the carpenter, the son of Mary” (Mark 6:3), and after the resurrection, his brothers appear with Mary in prayer (Acts 1:14). Paul identifies James as “the Lord’s brother” (Gal 1:19), and James eventually became a pillar of the Jerusalem church.
Source R. Alan Culpepper, Mark, ed. Leslie Andres and R. Alan Culpepper, Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary (Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys Publishing, Incorporated, 2007), 190.
The Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches claim that said brothers and sisters can’t really be that due to claims of Mary’s perpetual virginity. This doctrine is nonsense. The Bible says so.
23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. [quote from Isaiah 7:14] 24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: 25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
Matthew 1:23–25.
It says Joseph didn’t have sex with Mary until Jesus was born, not that he never had sex with her. Folks, sex is part of being married. In fact, it’s not really a valid marriage if the couple doesn’t have sex. That is why having sex is called “consummating the marriage”.
Oh, for doubters of my claim, here is a portion of an article on consummating a marriage that I grabbed from my friendly Internet search engine.
In canon law and many religious traditions, consummation is considered essential for a marriage to be fully valid, often linked to the potential for procreation. Some doctrines even specify that intercourse with contraception may not count as consummation. Historically, consummation was sometimes verified through rituals or inspections, though such practices have largely disappeared.
Here are some Bible verses concerning, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus’ siblings.
55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? 56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?
Matthew 13:55–56.
3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
Mark 6:3.
22 … And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son?
Luke 4:22b.
42 And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?
John 6:42a.
14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.
Acts 1:14.
19 But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.
Galatians 1:19.
By the end of seventh grade, I knew about Jesus, but I was confronted with the fact that I didn’t know him. I was missing a relationship with him. Frankly, I didn’t know there was such a thing. Knowing about someone and knowing them are two different propositions. I learned that this was a spiritual truth as well. Yes, I slowly decided that God was real, but I was missing him in the Roman Catholic Church.
During this time in my life, my mom ended up watching Bill Graham on television. She prayed along with Graham and gave her life to Christ. (More on this shortly.) She started taking us to a Baptist church in town. I liked that they had a youth program and was excited to have adults around me that were open to answering any questions that I could hurl at them. I got answers not deferrals to higher authorities.
As summer approached, mom signed all three of her children up to attend the summer church camp. At camp, I was told that Jesus died for my sins and I could have a personal relationship with him. He would forgive my sins and come into my life. I had only to ask him. As a first step to show my desire to know Christ in an intimate way, I was asked at the end of the chapel service to come forward and pray. I did so.
Folks, the act of walking down the aisle does not save anyone but for me it was a first step in knowing Christ as opposed to knowing about him. That camp experience really changed me. For others it was a flash in the pan that never really took, but it was transformative for me.
My life changed as a result of that encounter with God. My relationship with God has changed over the years because I have gotten deeper into the Bible than many others that I know. I have changed my views of somethings, but God is more real to me now than He was that summer. That was fifty years ago.
If you have a desire to know God more intimately, then ask Jesus to save you from your sin, redeem you, and make you a new person. Then, start reading your Bible. Many folks say to start with the Gospels. On one level, the Gospel of John is an easy read but if you grew up with “a Charlie Brown Christmas” then start with Luke. It will sound familiar.
Over time, God expects you to deepen your walk with Him. Yep, you will mess up. Ask forgiveness and keep going. Perseverance is an important part of living out your faith. Oh, exercising your faith in a community of believers is the biblical norm. This might take some trial and error to figure out. For me, the Roman Catholic Church was not the place where I got fed a lot in a spiritual sense.
Knowing God is possible if you seek after Christ. I may say that I’m really right but I know that only God truly is.
