Biblical Sources of Common English Language Phrases: In Your Mind’s Eye

 

 

 

I am one of the 1% to 4% of the world’s population who experience aphantasia, the complete inability to voluntarily visualize mental images. We cannot see a cat or our child’s face in our mind’s eye. We see only a blank mental screen. We do know what a cat looks like. Most people with the condition do not even realize that they have it. I was in my 70’s before I became aware of my condition.

 

Aphantasia is a condition of neurodivergence but is not considered to be a disability or disease. The condition can be congenital (from birth) or acquired after a brain injury.

 

While the condition is not normative, it does not interfere with normal activities, even the production of artworks. Persons with aphantasia may exhibit enhanced verbal skills, conceptual thought, and an enhanced and very accurate spatial memory.

 

The phrase, in my mind’s eye, sounds like it could be from the Bible, but it is not. Ephesians 1:18 speaks of the eyes of your heart and Matthew 6:22 speaks of your focused inner eye. These seem to be speaking of spiritual discernment and not of visualizing mental images.

 

The first known appearance of the phrase in the English language is seen from Geoffrey Chaucer in 1390 as the eyen of his mynde. Not until 1577 does it appear as mind’s eye. By 1620, the phrase was in common use as is shown when William Shakespeare used it in his play, Hamlet.

The Greatest Song Ever Written

 

     Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney says that the greatest song ever written is God Only Knows by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. This is indeed a beautiful and masterfully orchestrated piece of music and echoes the tragically sad life story of Brian Wilson.

     Some, however would insist that the song is only one of many claimants to the title. They would include the works of Richard Carpenter, Wolfgang Mozart, Frank Zappa, John Williams, Ennio Morricone, Dominico Scarlatti, Michael Oldfield, and many others.

     I am not an expert in musical theory or musical history, but I would suggest another song. It is a very simple song which has appeared in countless versions over the years.

     Amazing Grace (1772) was written by a man who for many years was a slave trader, responsible for destroying the live of hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of people. If anyone ever knew about guilt, regret, repentance, and forgiveness it was John Newton. After his conversion experience, he became an Anglican clergyman.

     Newton wrote the words to Amazing Grace. The music, which comes from a traditional folk tune, was paired with the poem in 1855 by an American composer named William Walker.

The most well-known performance of the song is by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. I am of Anglo-Norman and Scottish ancestry and this one always makes my eyes tear up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8AeV8Jbx6M

My own personal favorite performance is a far-less known one by The Silver Thistle Pipes and Drums. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpPHH7wQz_M

Welcome, Eswatini!

 Sawubona! 7 Kholwane, Mashi, 2026.

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Subjects in the Labels List Which Begin with the Letters cla to col

This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Below is a listing of the LABELS which begin with the letters cla to col. All can be searched from the list which follows the last posted article on this page or by typing them into the SEARCH button at the top of the page. Most will call up multiple postings in which they appear.

clan, classical music, Claudius, cleansing, cleft palate, Clemson University, Cleopatra, clergy, clerical ostentation, clip art, cliques, cloning, clothing, Clotilde, clotting, Clovis, clowns, Clyde T. Francisco, CNN, Cochabamba, cod roe, coffin, Coffin Joe, coincidence, coincidences, Coins, collection plate, college, college football, college football national championship, college sports, Colombia, color, color blindness, Colorado, Colossians.

The Holy Goalie

 

Álisson Ramsés Becker. born 2 October 1992, is a Brazilian professional footballer ("soccer player" for Americans). He plays his professional football for Liverpool in the English Premier League. Professionally, he is known as Alisson. On 18 May 2026, he was selected to be on Brazil's squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Because of his German ancestry, Alisson was nicknamed "The German" while playing for Roma in Italy. He speaks Portuguese, Italian, Spanish and English.

Alisson and his wife, Natália, have been WHO advocates for pro-active care of mental health.

Alisson is mentioned in this blog because he is an outspoken Pentecostal Christian known to hold baptisms in his swimming pool. One teammate nicknamed Becker "The Holy Goalie" due to his outspoken faith.

With so many athletes being known for drugs, domestic abuse, out of control tempers, personal arrogance, questionable financial dealings, and any number of other negatives, it is to be praised that Alisson chooses to publicly serve the Lord.

(This is an English language humorous word play. It may not translate well into other languages. "The Holy Goalie" is an alliterative word play on "the Holy Ghost" or "the Holy Spirit.")

Science in Antiquity

 Many modern people have a very limited view of history. They can only see or think about five or ten years into the past. They see history as boring and they think of the ancients as ignorant and backward. This was actually not true. What the ancients lacked was the modern accumulation of facts. An ancient Israelite would have been very puzzled and culture-shocked to have been dumped into the modern world, but he or she could have eventually learned to drive a car or to cook on a stove or to use a cellphone.

The ancients were just as intelligent as we are but the accumulation of scientific facts had not yet reached a critical point. Human knowledge took centuries to double, fact by fact. As knowledge accumulated, the rate of accumulation began to speed up. Every answer exposes a new question. Buckminster Fuller spoke of the Knowledge Doubling Curve which was relatively flat for centuries, then began a slow climb, and then went into an explosive upward thrust.

By the end of the 19^th Century, knowledge was doubling once per century. By about 1945, the rate of doubling was about every 25 years. By 1982, the rate was about every 12-13 months. By 2020, the doubling was occurring about every 12 hours. With at least 50,000,000,000 devices now operating and with the rise of artificial intelligence, the rate may now be in minutes.

2296 BC/BCE: Chinese scholars make the first known observation of a comet.

Ca 2600 BC/BCE: 1. Imhotep (fl ca 2980-2950 BC/BCE, WBD), an Egyptian physician, discusses the diagnosis and treatment of about 200 diseases. He was a specialist in medicine and priestly magic.

            2. An Egyptian scribe, Hesy-Re, is described in tomb inscriptions as “…the greatest of those who deal with teeth, and of physicians.”

Ca 2700 BC/BCE: 1. Land surveying appears in Egypt.

              2. In Egypt, the first written mention of dentists.

              3. Chinese scholars list 365 plants.

fl ca 2980-2950 BC/BCE: Imhotep, an Egyptian physician, discusses the diagnosis and treatment of about 200 diseases. He was a specialist in medicine and priestly magic.

Ca 3000 BC/BCE:The first historical mention of cancer occurs in Egypt. Breast tumors and ulcers are cauterized with a “fire drill.”

Ca 4000 BC: In the Upper Great Lakes area (USA), copper metallurgy is practiced.

Ca 5000 BC: Bolas are used as hunting weapons in Uruguay.

Ca 6500 BC: Early surgery (trepanation: the drilling of holes in the skull to relieve pressure) is practiced in France.

Greatly Earned Praise

 You may notice that I do not criticize individual countries, political parties, or individuals on this blog (unless there is a direct connection to Christianity). That is not its purpose. The blog is intended to be completely non-political and to be devoted to the teaching ministry of the Church. That does not mean that I cannot praise countries, political parties, or individuals.

At the 2026 FIFA World Cup games there have been many positive things: great attendance and enthusiasm, the attendees seriously enjoying themselves, pleasantly surprised positive reactions to actually experiencing the United States, and highly competitive game play with no obviously overmatched teams.

Something not directly related to soccer (aka football) has stood out to me. At the end of all of their games, the Japanese fans have handed out plastic bags and cleaned up all the trash from the stands! What else needs to be said?

Internet Safety: Confirm Who Has Sent You a Mesaage

 This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Since you are reading this post, you are using the internet. While it is not explicitly a Christian subject, internet safety is a very important thing you need to understand. There are many wolves out there who basically see you as food. They would love to drain any of your bank accounts and use your credit card numbers as their very own piggybank. Matthew 10:16 warns us to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Jesus was speaking to the Twelve, and as a first-century Jew, he knew nothing of the internet but his words are applicable to our modern concerns. We really are surrounded by dangerous predators.

We recently received a text message which read:

            A quick reminder to check the email from

            us regarding some important insurance 

            updates!

This text made no sense to us. Who sent it? Was it legitimate? Was it an attempt to get us to make a return call to the sending phone number? Why was the sender not identified? It is possible that merely responding to the text could install malware on your cell phone. Be very suspicious of text messages which come from senders not on your contacts list.

Often, an unknown person desires for you to open a link within their text. When you open the link, or sometimes when you even call the number, malware is installed on your device, giving that unknown person access to all of our personal and financial accounts, probably not a very good idea. 

After much investigation, we determined that this message came from our dentist and was not malicious. It was merely clumsily composed. The sad part was that our dental expenses may be increasing!

Subjects in the Labels List Which Begin with the Letters com to con

 This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Below is an alphabetical listing of the LABELS which begin with the letters com to con. All can be searched from the list which follows the last posted article on this page or by typing them into the SEARCH button at the top of the page. Most will call up multiple postings in which they appear.

The search function will work in non-alphabetic languages as well. Use the web page translate function.

com, come let us reason together, comedy, comedy films, comet, comic book, comic strip, commands, commentary, comments, commerce, commercialism, commercials, commitment, Common English phrases, commoner, communal religious society, communication, communion, Communism, community organizer, comparative religion, competition, competitive sports, complaining, complexity, composer, compulsion, computer, computer generated imagery, computers, concentration cups, conception, conclave, concordance, condolences, Confederate States of America, confession, conformation to Christ, conformity, confusion, Congo, Congo-Brazzaville, Congregation, Congregationalism, Connecticut, Conrad Beissel, conscience, conscience exemption, consequences, conservative, consonants, conspiracy theory, Constantine, Constantinople, Constitution Party, contradictions, contemplation, Contemporary Christian Music, contempt, contest, context, contraception, contract killer, controversy, convent, conversion, conviction, convictions.

I Asked Google AI This Question: Does God Exist?

 On 6 March 2026 I asked Google AI “Does God Exist?” Here is its answer:

Whether God exists is a profound, centuries-old question with no universally accepted empirical proof, making it a matter of faith, philosophy, and personal conviction. While many find evidence in creation, scripture, and personal experience, others require scientific, empirical evidence, leading to a divide between believers and atheists/agnostics.

Basically, this answer avoids the question and adds nothing new to the discussion. I then asked “Does God exist? What do you, the AI program, think?” and the answers became dramatically less direct. Instead of a statement, the AI suggested several websites where the issue is discussed. This seemed as if it did not want to answer the question or could not answer the question.

If you ask an AI program if it is sentient, it will say no, it will say that it is a probability algorithm which has been trained. Some say that AI programs seem to display political and/or philosophical biases. The AI scientists, the ones who train the AI, vehemently deny this, but we ALL have biases based on our own personal worldviews. The historical and traditional Christian worldview is totally incompatible with some versions of modern worldviews which absolutely reject the possibility of any form of absolute truth.

I personally use AI searches every day. The programs can find hard factual information, no matter how obscure, almost instantly. One of my searches was about the cause of delays for a construction/repair project on a short stretch of road in Vestavia, Alabama, USA. The program went to the internet, searched every possible mention of the subject, and formulated an answer. The answer took three seconds and sounded like a person wrote it.

AI is merely a useful tool. It does not know anything in the way that we do. It is a computer program which follows instructions which it has been taught. Properly utilized, it can find information in seconds which would take the user days or weeks to find. Where AI is weak is in areas which require opinions. The opinions AI gives may very well (I would say probably do) at least partially reflect the worldviews of its teachers. The teachers would insist that this is not so or that, if bias is present, it is unintentional.

AI used in bible study can be an excellent tool. Carefully and properly used under the guidance of the Holy Spirit it can deepen your spiritual growth. Just remember that it is a tool, a computer program, and not the Holy Spirit. Any statements an AI makes must be judged by their consistency with Christian orthodoxy. My belief is that the Holy Spirit can use AI in your Spirit-led Bible study as an expression of the Spirit’s reminding and teaching ministries. John 14:26

A good, simple and excellent discussion of using AI in Bible study:

https://thecharaproject.com/8-safe-ways-to-use-ai-for-bible-study/#:~:text=We%20live%20thousands%20of%20years,experiences%20would%20have%20influenced%20them

And of the dangers:

https://thecharaproject.com/aiforbiblestudy/

Subjects in the Labels List Which Begin with the Letters carc to cer

 

This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Below is a listing of the LABELS which begin with the letters carc to cer. All can be searched from the list which follows the last posted article on this page or by typing them into the SEARCH button at the top of the page. Most will call up multiple postings in which they appear.

Carchemish, Cardinal, Cardinals, carelessness, caricature, carillon, Crlos Santana, Carmelites, carnality, carols, carpal tunnel syndrome, carpenter, carpentry, carpets, Carrie Prejean, Carrie Underwood, cars, cartoon, casein intolerance, cashier, casino, Casting Crowns, castration, casuistry, cat, Cat Stevens, catalog, cataract, cathedral, Catholic, cats, Cayman Islands, CBA, CBN, CDC, CEI, celebrities, celibacy, cell, cell phone, cell phones, Celsus, Celtic, cemetery, censorship, census, Central America, Centurion, cereal, cerebral palsy, ceremonial magic, ceremony.

Internet Safety: Unexpected e-mails

This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Since you are reading this post, you are using the internet. While it is not explicitly a Christian subject, internet safety is a very important thing you need to understand. There are many wolves out there who basically see you as food. They would love to drain any of your bank accounts and use your credit card numbers as their very own piggybank. Matthew 10:16 warns us to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Jesus was speaking to the Twelve, and, as a first century Jew, he knew nothing of the internet but his words are applicable to our modern concerns. We are surrounded by dangerous predators.

Recently my wife and I received an e-mail from our son, who lives in a different state from us, telling us that he had some new photographs for us to see. This was surprising since he communicates with us almost exclusively by phone calls and text messages. So, we texted him to ask if the e-mail came from him. It did not.

Some unknown person wanted us to open the e-mail, which probably contained a link which we would be instructed to open in order to view the photographs. Opening the link would have installed malware in our devices, giving access to all of our linked devices, probably not a very good idea. 

Sarcasm in the Bible: 1 King 18:27

 

The Bible is not afraid to use sarcasm and biting irony to mock false gods, expose hypocrisy and doctrinal error, and to call out spiritual arrogance. The scriptures use sarcasm while also warning us against being malicious, mean-spirited, or seeking personal revenge.

In 1 Kings 18:27 the prophet Elijah laughs at the priests of Baal who prayed for hours for their deity to start a fire. Baal seems to be uninterested in and unresponsive to their prayers. The English Standard Version (ESV) translates Elijah as perhaps suggesting that Baal is busy relieving himself (urinating).  Other translations are a little more demure but it is probable that Elijah meant to insultingly mock Baal as a false deity.

The original Hebrew phrase, : שִׂיחַ וְכִי־שִׂיג (siach wachi-sig), is a hendiadys (two words joined by "and"). The word siach ( שִׂיחַ Strong’s 7879) usually means "speak," or "meditate" but can be used as a euphemism for bodily urination. The second word, sig (שִׂ֛יג  Strong’s 7873) usually means "to turn aside" or "withdraw".

The linking word for siach and sig is wachi (וְכִֽי־ Strong’s H3588). Depending on its surrounding context it can mean any of the following: and, but, now, even, that, for, because, when, or if.

An interesting discussion of this occurs here: https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/20670/was-baal-relieving-himself

Religious Humor: Laziness

The Bible actually contains many instances of humor which we may not readily recognize today because our modern culture does not understand the ancient worldviews. Their humor was often based on sarcasm, hyperbole, metaphors, absurdity, ridiculous visual images, and displaying idiocy in full view.  The humor is intended to make a spiritual point. An example occurs at Proverbs 26:15.

A literal translation of this verse from the Proverbs is: Hides a lazy one his hand in the bowl it wearies him to bring it back to his mouth.

The pleasure of eating is not enough of a reward for the lazy man to raise his hand to his mouth. He is too much of a sluggard, too lazy to move at all.

This is a warning against spiritual laziness. If you are too lazy to act on spiritual matters of the moment, like prayer, charity, and Bible study, you will miss out on the immediate pleasures of the spirit and will eventually starve.

In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Paul uses sports examples while speaking about being intentional, practicing self-discipline, and working to win rather than just being a participant, an also ran. 

Biblical Personal Hygiene Habits

             This is almost never discussed in history classes and certainly not in churches, but, why not? I believe that the churches have been very deficient in their teaching ministry. If we want to really know about the people mentioned in the Bible, we need to know which languages they spoke and whether they were multilingual, what their political opinions were, what they wore, what they ate, what they read and studied, if they told jokes or had any concept of humor, how they settled personal disputes, if they played games, if they kept pets, how they conducted businesses, their prejudices and hatreds,  how their families were structured, their attitudes towards government, etc. They were normal people and were just as smart as we are, but without our accumulation of facts.

            They had the same common personal household and hygiene concerns we have. They had to cook, wash clothing, clean their teeth, take out the trash, clean and straighten the house, clean dirt from under their fingernails, take time to rest, bathe, try not to smell bad, and to clean themselves after urination and defecation. And yes, even Jesus. He was, after all, fully human. That may bother some people, but we must avoid the tendency to view Jesus as being too different from us. He was God and he was sinless and perfect, but he was also a human. To deny that is troublesome.

            There was an early Christian heresy named docetism (from the Greek infinitive δοκεῖν, meaning to appear or to seem to be) which held that Jesus only seemed to be human but was instead only fully divine. This was rejected by the Church because, if it were true, then Jesus only seemed to suffer and die on on the cross and his resurrection from the tomb was not real. Jesus had to be fully human and fully divine.

            Jesus was an orthodox Jewish man. The ancient Israelites, and later, the Jewish people, were one of the personally cleanest peoples. Some of the other cultures around them were only minimally interested.

            The Israelites were instructed in Deuteronomy 23:13-14 to bury their human waste outside their camp. They bathed and they washed their clothing. They were instructed to wash their feet and hands before serving in the Temple. Sick people were quarantined as were persons who had touched a corpse. If a dead animal was found in a water source, that water was not used.

            Certainly, all this cleaning, washing, and bathing was more for ritual purity than for what we now understand, because of our accumulated knowledge, to be proper hygiene.

            Perfumes and spices were used to mask personal body odor but were very expensive and beyond the reach of most of the common people. Washing and bathing was accomplished using clean water. The soaps used were not our modern soaps but were natural mineral products neter (נֶתֶר lye, alkali) and borit (בֹּרִית soap, lye, cleaning agent), which was a vegetable-based lye made from ashes. Jeremiah 2:22,  Malachi 3:2, and Proverbs 25:20.

In the matter of cleaning oneself after defecation, the method was originally to wipe with the left hand and then to rinse the hand with water. Raba (see below) said “Because the Torah was given with the right hand, as it says, ”At His right hand was a fiery law unto them.””

This is a very detailed discussion at https://toilet-guru.com>biblical_old. The left hand was considered to be unclean in many cultures because of its use in this way.

Later, ostraca (pieces of broken ceramic pottery) with smoothed edges were used to scrape and wipe. It made a lot more sense than just using your hand. This is mentioned in the Talmud in Shabbat 81 and Berachot 62a. The concerns discussed by the rabbis were the weights and sizes of the ostraca and when they could be used. The main concern was for ritual purity. www.talmudology.com

The use of the ostraca originated with the ancient Greeks who often wrote the names of their personal enemies on their own personal toilet ostraca.

Yes, scraping with stones sounds a little bit brutal to modern ears, no matter how well smoothed and polished the pieces of pottery may have been. And they were re-used!

The Romans considered themselves to be far more civilized and sophisticated than their occupied non-Roman populations. Instead of a piece of pottery, they used a tersorium (aka xylospongium), a sponge on a stick. Tersorium basically means a wiping thing.

The xylospogium (tersorium) was shared at the communal non-gender-specific public latrines in Roman towns and cities. It is generally believed that several tersori were passed around among all the people at the latrine, of course being cleaned between users, by dipping and swirling the item into a bucket of water and salt vinegar. It sounds lovely.

The tersori were first mentioned in the second century but were surely in use long before that time. The public latrines were surely too vulgar for wealthy Romans who either had their own sponges on a stick or used washable wool cloths.

In the matter of dental hygiene, the mention of cleanness of teeth in Amos 4:6 is a sarcastic reference to famine. Since there was nothing to eat, one’s teeth remained clean.

The ancient Jewish method for tooth cleaning was not as disgusting as the ostraca. They used miswak, chew sticks made of roots and twigs, to clean their teeth.

The Romans considered themselves to be far too advanced and sophisticated to use chew sticks like the barbarians did. They brushed their teeth (and washed their clothing) with urine and also used it as a mouthwash. The ammonia in the urine was believed to whiten the teeth and to remove stains from fabrics. They did not have Crest toothpaste, Tide detergent, or Listerine!

Raba: (I am not a Talmudic scholar, but I believe that Raba is Rabbah bar Nahmani (b.ca. 270 – d. ca. 320 AD/CE) who was considered to be the greatest Torah scholar in Babylon. He quoted Rabbi Akiba (b. 50 – d. 135) who said, “… it is proper to wipe with the left hand and not the right.”

Subjects in the Labels List (Labels Which Begin with the Letter B, with a range of ba to bei)

 This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Below is a listing of the LABELS which begin with the letters ba to bei. All can be searched from the list which follows the last posted article on this page or by using the SEARCH button at the top of the page. Most will call up multiple postings in which they appear.

B.B. King, Baby, Baby Jesus, Babylon, Babylonia, Bach, bacteria, Baghdad, bagpipes, Bahai, Bahrain, baking, Balaam, Baltic States, Baltimore, Baltimore Orioles, Bangladesh, banking, baptism, baptism for the dead, Baptists, Barack Obama, barbecue, barber, barefoot, BarlowGirl, Barnabas, Barnabbas, bars, Barton W. Stone, baseball, basilica, basilisk, basketball, Basque, Basra, Batman, bats, battle, BC, BCE, beach, beans, bear, Bear Bryant, Beatific Vision, Beatles, beauty, Beauty and the Beast, Beelzebub, Beethoven, beginnings, behavior, Beijing.

Subjects in the Labels List (Labels Which Begin with the Letter A, with a range of as to az)

 This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Below is a listing of the LABELS which begin with the letters as to az. All can be searched from the list which follows the last posted article on this page or by using the SEARCH button at the top of the page. Most will call up multiple postings in which they appear.

Ascended Masters, ascension, asceticism, Ash Wednesday, Ashdod, Ashton Kutcher, Asia, ASL, Assam, assassin, assault, assimilation, Associated Content, Associated Press, Association of Author’s Representatives, Assumption, assurance, assurance of salvation, Assyria, asteroid, astrology, astronomy, Atbash, Athanasius, atheism, atheist, Athens, athletics, Atlanta, Atlantis, atomic theory, atonement, attacks on Christianity, attention, Attic, Attila the Hun, attitude, attorney, Atul Gawande, Auburn University, audio, August Cremer, Augustine, Augustus, Auschwitz, Australia, Austria, auteur, authorities, autism, auto crashes, auto-tune, autoharp, autoimmune diseases, automatic, automobile, automobile accident, automobiles, Ave Maria, awe, Azariah, Azerbaijan, Aztec.   

Subjects in the Labels List (Labels Which Begin with the Letter A, with a range of am to ar)

This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Below is a listing of the LABELS which begin with the letters am to ar. All can be searched from the list which follows the last posted article on this page or by using the SEARCH button at the top of the page. Most will call up multiple postings in which they appear.

            Amaziah, Amazing Grace, amazon, ambition, AME Church, Amelie, America, American Civil War, American football, American Idol, American Indian, American Sign language, Amharic, amillennialism, Amin al-Rihani, Amish, Amos, Amoz, Amsterdam, Amy Grant, Anabaptists, Ananias, anarchism, anathema, anatomy, ancestors, Andrew, Andy Kauffman, angel, angelology, angels, anger, Anglican, Anglo-Saxon, Angola, animal cruelty, animal intelligence, animal rescue, animals, animation, Ann Coulter, Annabel Chong, Annas, Anne Frank, Anne Rice, Ant Man, Antarctica, anthropic principle, anti-christian, Anti-Defamation League, anti-intellectualism, anti-rejection drugs, antibodies, Antichrist, Antigua and Barbuda, antihero, Antikythera Mechanism, antinomianism, Antioch, Antiochus Epiphanes, antipope, antiquity, Anton LaVey, Anto Szandor LaVey, apathy, aphorisms, apocalypse, apocrypha, Apollos, apologetics, apostasy, apostle, Apostles, apple, April Fools joke, Aquaman, Arabia, Arabic, Arabs, Aramaic, archangel, Archbishop of Canterbury, archeology, archery, archetypes, Archimedes, architecture, Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?, Argentina, argument, Argument from Design, arguments for God, Arianism, Aristarchus, Aristobulus, Aristophanes, Aristotle, Arius, Ark of the Covenant, Armenia, Armenian, Arminianism, Armstrongism, arrogance, art, Art Linkletter, Artaxerxes, Arthur Balfour, artificial intelligence, Aruba.

Subjects in the Labels List (Labels Which Begin with the Letter A, range aa to al)

             This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Below is a listing of the LABELS which begin with the letter A. All can be searched from the list which follows the last posted article on this page or by using the SEARCH button at the top of the page. Most will call up multiple postings in which they appear.

            a capella, A Contract with God, AAR, Aaron, abandonment of position, abba, abduction, ability, Abingdon Press, abjad, Abner, abortion, Abraham, Abraham Lincoln, Abram, Absalom Jones, absolute truth, abuse of power, academics, Academy Awards, acoustics, acrobatics, acrostics, acting, action figures, activism, actor, actress, Acts, Acts of the Apostles, AD, Adam and Eve, addiction to pornography, adolescents, Adolf Hitler, Adonai, Adoniram Judson, adoption, adoptionism, Adrian Peterson, Adrienne Barbeau, adultery, adults, advertisements, advice, aeronautics, affective disorders, Affirmation Declaration, Africa, African American, African Methodist Episcopal Church, Afrikaans, afterlife, age, aging, agnostic, agnosticism, Agrippa, Ahab, Ahaz, Ahaziah, Ahmadinejad, AI, AIDS, Air Force, airline, airplane, Akiane, Akira Kurosawa, Akkadia, Al Sharpton, al- Qaida, Alabama, Alabama A&M University, Alabama football, Alabama State University, Alabaster Box, Alaric, Alaska, Albania, Albanian, Albert Einstein, Albert Pujols, alcohol, Alcoholics Anonymous, Aldous Huxley, Aleister Crowley, alternate spiritualities, Alexander, Alexander Campbell, Alexander Kazembek, Alexander the Great, Alexandria, Alfred the Great, Algeria, Algonquian, Alice Cooper, alienation, Alistair Crowley, Allah, allegory, alligator, Alon Nil, and alphabet.

The Most Important Events in Human History

             The most important and pivotal events in the universally accepted human history, arranged chronologically. Each of these events still have repercussions in today’s modern world. Events related to Christianity are highlighted in bold text. Everything is connected. Read up on each of these events to see why they are of such importance to the modern world.

These are just a few of the major events. I’m sure you could probably add many more.

The use of the BC/BCE and AD/CE temporal designations are just to keep everybody happy.

ca 10,000 BC/BCE: The invention of agriculture. Obviously.

ca 3200 BC/BCE: The invention of writing. Obviously.

6^th or 5^th Century BC/BCE: The life of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha. The exact dates

of his life are disputed.

ca 4 BC/BCE – 30 AD/CE: The life of Jesus of Nazareth.

ca 49 AD/CE: At the Council of Jerusalem, the leaders of the young Church decided to

accept Gentiles into the Church without requiring them to undergo circumcision.

70 AD/CE: The Roman military destroys the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

217 AD/CE: The Jian’an Plague kills about 2,000,000 people in China.

313 Ad/CE: The Edict of Milan in which Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity.

325 AD/CE: The Council of Nicea is held in what is now Iznik, Turkiye. The council

condemned Arianism and clarified the church’s christology.

476 AD/CE: The fall of the Western Empire.

541 – 549 AD/CE: The Plague of Justinian kills up to 100,000,000 people in Europe and

West Asia.

            Ca 570 – 632 AD/CE: The Prophet Muhammad and the birth of Islam.

735 – 737 AD/CE: A smallpox epidemic kills about 2,000,000 people in Japan.

800 AD/CE: Charlemagne is crowned as Emperor, uniting church and state.

1054 AD/CE: The Great Schism between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox

Churches.

            1066 -1071 Ad/CE: The Norman Conquest of England. The strong central state

government which developed persists until this day. 

            1095 -1300 AD/CE: The Crusades. Cultural and religious resentments and hatreds caused 

by this series of wars persist until today.

1346 – 1353 AD/CE: The Black Plague (bubonic plague) kills about 25,000,000 to

30,000,000 in Eurasia and North Africa.

            1378 – 1417 AD/CE: During the Great Western Schism, the Roman Catholic Church split

into political factions over who legitimately held the office of the papacy, resulting in multiple

competing popes in Rome and Avignon, France.  

ca 1440 - 1456 AD/CE: Invention of the printing press. Printing of the Gutenberg Bible.

1492 AD/CE: Cristobal Colon (aka Christopher Columbus) discovers America.

1492 – 1614 AD/CE: The Reconquitsa, in which Muslim rulers were driven from Spain.

1517 AD/CE: The start of the Protestant Reformation.

1611 AD/CE: The production of the King James Version of the Bible.  This Bible, written in the English which was spoken at the time, made the Bible available to any English speaker who could read. 

ca 1760 – 1840 AD/CE: The industrial revolution.

1789 – 1799 AD/CE: The French Revolution.

1914 – 1918 AD/CE: World War I caused between 15,000,000 to 22,000,000 deaths.

1918 - 1920 AD/CE: The Spanish Flu pandemic kills between 17,000,000 to 50,000,000

people worldwide. Some extreme estimates say as many as 100,000,000.

1939 – 1945 AD/CE: World War II. The Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombs caused up

to 246,000 deaths. About 6,000,000 Jews were killed in the Holocaust. World War II caused

between 7,000,000 to 85,000,000 deaths.

            1960 to 1990 Ad/CE: The development of the internet.

2019 AD/CE: The COVID- 19 pandemic kill up to an estimated 36,000,000 people.

Subjects in the Labels List (Labels Which Begin with the Letter A, range aa to al)

             This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Below is a listing of the LABELS which begin with the letter A. All can be searched from the list which follows the last posted article on this page or by using the SEARCH button at the top of the page. Most will call up multiple postings in which they appear.

a capella, A Contract with God, AAR, Aaron, abandonment of position, abba, abduction, ability, Abingdon Press, abjad, Abner, abortion, Abraham, Abraham Lincoln, Abram, Absalom Jones, absolute truth, abuse of power, academics, Academy Awards, acoustics, acrobatics, acrostics, acting, action figures, activism, actor, actress, Acts, Acts of the Apostles, AD, Adam and Eve, addiction to pornography, adolescents, Adolf Hitler, Adonai, Adoniram Judson, adoption, adoptionism, Adrian Peterson, Adrienne Barbeau, adultery, adults, advertisements, advice, aeronautics, affective disorders, Affirmation Declaration, Africa, African American, African Methodist Episcopal Church, Afrikaans, afterlife, age, aging, agnostic, agnosticism, Agrippa, Ahab, Ahaz, Ahaziah, Ahmadinejad, AI, AIDS, Air Force, airline, airplane, Akiane, Akira Kurosawa, Akkadia, Al Sharpton, al- Qaida, Alabama, Alabama A&M University, Alabama football, Alabama State University, Alabaster Box, Alaric, Alaska, Albania, Albanian, Albert Einstein, Albert Pujols, alcohol, Alcoholics Anonymous, Aldous Huxley, Aleister Crowley, alternate spiritualities, Alexander, Alexander Campbell, Alexander Kazembek, Alexander the Great, Alexandria, Alfred the Great, Algeria, Algonquian, Alice Cooper, alienation, Alistair Crowley, Allah, allegory, alligator, Alon Nil, and alphabet.

Why are there so few contemporary historical references to Jesus?

             Acknowledgment that there was an actual Jewish man named Yeshua who lived in the areas of modern Israel and Palestine (the Herodian kingdom of Judea) during the first half of the first century is almost universal. Virtually no reputable scholars will deny that. That he existed is the only fact on which almost everyone can agree.

So, why are there so few contemporary historical references to Jesus? Well, the truth is there if you look. The best way to get noticed in those times was to be born wealthy or to be politically connected. Or, to cause trouble for those people, the ones who mattered.

Jesus was a nobody because he was not a Roman citizen. Almost none of the Jews of that day were.

Jesus was a nobody because he was from a hick country town. None of the residents of Nazareth mattered until it came time to pay taxes. They were considered to be uneducated, unsophisticated, and to have very odd strong speech accents.

Nazareth was a worker’s residential village of about 200 to 400 people. None of its residents were wealthy or politically important in any way.  John 1:46 echoes what was probably a common sentiment: "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"

The town is not mentioned at all in the Old Testament, the Jewish Talmud, or the writings of contemporary historians like Josephus. The town was ignored and its residents were ignored.

A literal translation of the Greek text of John 1:46 reads like this: “and said to him nathaniel out of nazareth is able any good thing to be says to him philip come and see.” (There was no capitalization, punctuation, or spaces between words in these texts.)

At first, Jesus was ignored and rejected even in Nazareth. He was considered to be odd and just a carpenter. One time, his brothers went to get him before he embarrassed the family. Mark 3:21. They thought he was Ἐξέστη.

Ἐξέστη means to "to stand out of,” here meaning out of one’s mind, losing one’s senses, becoming irrational, out of one’s wits, or overwhelmed.

After he became established as a respected teacher, Jesus’ ministry was primarily in the rural towns among the poor people. All the Jewish wealth and power was concentrated in Jerusalem.

            It was not until the final three years of his life that Jesus was noticed outside of Nazareth. He soon became a very hot topic of intense discussion and he was quickly disposed of when he became a problem for the people who mattered.

If I had been born in biblical times, I would have probably not have lived very well or very long

             If I had been born in biblical times, I would have probably not lived very well or very long, because of these things:

a.      Because of childhood ear infections and chronic tinnitus, I would probably have been deaf.

b.      Childhood tonsillitis, measles, or mumps, or any infection, could have led to death.

c.       My teeth would have been filled with cavities.

d.      Because of cataracts, Fuch’s dystrophy, and macular degeneration, I would have become blind.

e.      Because of insulin resistance I would have eventually suffered from diabetes.

f.        The bone spur which cut my rotator cuff would have rendered my shoulder useless.

g.      My osteo-arthritis would have frozen most, or all, of my joints.

h.      My damaged meniscus in my knee would have given me a limp.

i.        The stones in my gall bladder, which led to gangrene, would have killed me.

j.        The mycoplasma pneumonia would have killed me. Or any number of respiratory diseases.

k.    My bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome would have rendered my hands useless.

l.     My numerous pre-cancerous skin lesions would have eventually converted to full-blown cancer and led to my death.

m.   Chronic allergic rhinitis would have led to a miserable existence.

n.   You get the picture and you can probably add many of your own ailments to the list.

.

            Television programs and movies about the Bible usually depict everyone as basically healthy. By our modern standards, they absolutely were not. The Bible names a few diseases and ailments, but does not touch on the common limitations the people of the time had to tolerate. It does encourage people to avail themselves of whatever medical treatments are available as a wise use of what God has provided.

            Medical knowledge during the biblical period was, by our modern standards, very limited and elementary. Paul advised Timothy to use a "little wine" for his frequent stomach ailments. Medicinal plants are mentioned, including a fig poultice for a boil (Isaiah 38:21) and the balm of Gilead for healing wounds (Jeremiah 8:22). Luke, the author of the books of Luke and Acts, was a physician (Colossians 4:14). God can work for healing by using doctors and medicine. We are never told to ignore medical advice or to indulge in strange fringe or extreme types of diets.

The concept of Christian bodily stewardship comes from the knowledge that we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit and each of our bodies can be viewed as a Temple of the Lord. This implies that taking care of your body is a Christian obligation.  We do not own our bodies. We have been "bought with a price"— the blood of Jesus Christ.

Proper nutrition, physical activities, weight loss, proper rest, presenting a positive and healthy image to others, and avoiding the use of harmful substances are all biblically encouraged. There is a one biblical warning about the concern for physical health. It is possible to become so obsessed with fitness, appearance, or health that these things become idols and replace God in our hearts. He must be the focus.

 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 10:31; Romans 12:1; 1 Timothy 4:8; Proverbs 23:20-21; Exodus 20:8-10.

Science in Antiquity: Part 10

 

Many modern people have a very limited view of history. They can only see or think about five or ten years into the past. They see history as boring and they think of the ancients as ignorant and backward. This was actually not true. What the ancients lacked was the modern accumulation of facts. An ancient Israelite would have been very puzzled and culture-shocked to have been dumped into the modern world, but he or she could have eventually learned to drive a car or to cook on a stove or to use a cellphone.

The ancients were just as intelligent as we are but the accumulation of scientific facts had not yet reached a critical point. Human knowledge took centuries to double, fact by fact. As knowledge accumulated, the rate of accumulation began to speed up. Every answer exposes a new question. Buckminster Fuller spoke of the Knowledge Doubling Curve which was relatively flat for centuries, then began a slow climb, and then went into an explosive upward thrust.

By the end of the 19^th Century, knowledge was doubling once per century. By about 1945, the rate of doubling was about every 25 years. By 1982, the rate was about every 12-13 months. By 2020, the doubling was occurring about every 12 hours. With at least 50,000,000,000 devices now operating and with the rise of artificial intelligence, the rate may now be in minutes.

 

Ca 1500 BC/BCE: 1. Chinese mathematicians work on permutations and probability theory.

            2. Hindu writers mention ants being attracted to a patient’s urine as a symptom of diabetes.

Ca 1550 BC: 1. In Myanmar/Burma, copper is made into bronze.

            2. An Egyptian physician, Hesy-Ra, mentions frequent urination as a symptom of diabetes.

Ca 1750 BC/BCE:  Babylon: square and cube roots, linear and quadratic equations, Pythagorean Theorem.

Ca 1800 BC/BCE: 1. Bronze is in use in China.

            2. The Berlin Papyrus 6619, found in Egypt, describes algebra.

Ca 1890 BC/BCE: The Moscow Mathematical Papyrus, found in Egypt, speaks of applied mathematics: ship construction, beer concentrations, worker efficiency, Pythagorean triples, etc.

Chanting the Lotus Sutra

 

chanting the Lotus Sutra

only his lips

are busy

This is a poem written by Master Sheng Yen (1930 – 2009), a Chinese Zen Buddhist monk. His criticism is of mindless, repetitive chanting with the mind being somewhere else. This was his final poem. He seems to be saying that real Zen enlightenment cannot be achieved by merely repeating a string of words, by performing a certain prescribed action. Distracting busy work.

The Apostle Matthew spoke on this subject twenty centuries earlier. "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words". Matthew 6:7 in the NASB. Meaningless repetition is just what it seems to be to unbelievers, just a string of words. Busy work with no actual effect on the world.

Christians can easily become mindlessly trapped in the busy work tar baby (look it up) of doing churchy things, attending worship services, singing in the choir, volunteering, providing funds for worthy social activities, working in a child care program, watching Christian movies and reading Christian books, Christian political involvement, running a food and clothing bank for the poor, social justice activities, organizing and attending meetings and events, maintaining a church library, participating in disaster relief programs, yada yada yada.

None of these things are wrong or inappropriate for a Christian, but they must never be allowed to replace or crowd out the truth. The truth is this: Jesus died on the cross and overcame death for me, for you, and for every single individual on the Earth. This was his gift to us, it is the one spiritual gift which every Christian possesses, and it is the one gift which we are commanded to repeatedly give to others. The paradox is that, when we give it away to others, we still possess it.

Subjects in the Labels List (Numbered Labels)

        This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Below is a listing of the LABELS which begin with a number. All can be searched from the list which follows the last posted article on this page or by using the SEARCH button at the top of the page. Most will call up multiple postings in which they appear.

        1 Chronicles, 1 Corinthians, 1 John, 1 Kings, 1 Peter, 1 Samuel, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Chronicles, 2 Corinthians, 2 John, 2 Kings, 2 Peter, 2 Samuel, 2 Thessalonians, 2 Timothy, 501

(c )(3), and 666.

Book Comment: Los Hermanos Penitentes

             Los Hermanos de la Fraternidad Piadosa de Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno (The Brothers of the Pious Fraternity of Our Father Jesus the Nazarene) is a catholic lay fraternity active in Colorado and New Mexico. The group is insular and secretive and intensely religious. Membership is only by application to an official of the fraternity.

The group began in the early 19th century, after Mexico achieved independence from Spain. Devout men in isolated Mexican communities with few or no priests organized their own independent religious societies based on strictly orthodox doctrinal stances.

Where the penitentes are considered to be extreme is in their practice of penances to atone for their sins. These penances are said to include flagellation, carrying heavy crosses, cross-shaped incisions on their bodies, and crucifixions where a man is tied to a cross. There is a question as to whether the crucifixions are still practiced.

__________________________________________________________________________

As with most books such as this, what you get from the book depends on what you bring with you. You may not agree with everything the author says. Luke (see below) advises you to think for yourself. Read your Bible and to listen to what it says. Do not believe anything just because someone else told to believe it; let the Holy Spirit guide you to the truth.

A general caution: books may give you wonderful new insights and explanations of subjects, but you should never base your Christian beliefs on any one book or the teachings of one person, no matter who they are. All teachings must be consistent with scripture. Read as the Bereans did, with discernment. “… for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 NASB

Any doctrines must be consistent with the historical full body of Christian thought. Doctrines or teachings inconsistent with scripture in any way must be rejected. You would not eat cheese which had a fuzzy fungus growing on it.

Information you will need to search for this book: Horka-Follick, Lorayne Ann, Los Hermanos Penitentes: A Vestige of Medievalism in Southwestern United States (New York: Tower Publications, Inc., 1969)