Christianity in Herculaneum

On 24 August 79 AD/CE Mount Vesuvius in Italy began to erupt, spewing out large rocks and streams of molten lava.  The Roman communities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Oplontis were destroyed as well as several nearby villas.  The port of Herculaneum was smaller than the port of Pompeii and existed as a resort town for the wealthy.  The towns were covered by 13 to 20 feet of volcanic ash and pumice.

Excavations at Herculaneum and the other towns yielded multitudes of intact buildings after the ash was removed.  Since a 1939 excavation at Herculaneum found only the bodies of a few women and children, it was thought that the town was successfully evacuated during the cataclysm.  It was not until 1981 that over 300 skeletons were found huddled together in cluster of buildings.

During the 1939 excavation of Herculaneum it was proven that Christianity had made inroads in the area when a wooden cross was found nailed to a wall in one of the houses.

If I Could, Updated

Recently, I posted a statement about a phrase someone wrote on our message board in our laboratory rest room.  They wrote, "If I could."  I wrote, "I would."  Today, someone has added, "Be rich."

I'm sure most of us would not reject an opportunity to be wealthy.  The problem is that many people think that being rich, or being a celebrity, would solve all their problems.  Their eyes are on material things rather than the unlimited value of the Blood.

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

Film Comment: The Twilight Series

The Twilight series of films is based on a highly successful five book young adult romance fantasy series by American author Stephenie Meyer.  The films are:

Twilight (2008)

Twilight: New Moon (2009)

Twilight: Eclipse (2010)

Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 (2011)

Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (2012)

To date (25 November 2012) the series has grossed over $2,500,000,000 worldwide.  The basic plot is this: Bella, a lonely teenager, displaced by divorce to a boring small town on the United States northwest coast, becomes attracted to a strange but handsome boy at her high school.  She eventually comes to realize just how strange he is.

Edward is a member of a vampire family which lives in one location until it becomes difficult to disguise the fact that they are not aging.  The “family” members are not biologically related but were collected together by the patriarch, whom they recognize as their father.  The family long ago stopped hunting humans for food and lives off the blood of forest animals.

Edward proves to be a sensitive and protective boyfriend for Bella and he strongly holds to his Nineteenth Century values of sexual abstinence and chaste love until marriage.  That presents the problem: a vampire cannot marry a human.  Because he loves her, Edward is reluctant to “turn” Bella though she begs him to.  He realizes that he would be damning her to become a monster like himself.

Stephenie Meyer, the writer of the Twilight novels, is a Mormon and some believe this is the origin of the series’ emphasis on family and chastity.  Feminists have complained that the novels and films present Bella as a helpless female, with her life revolving around her man.  Edward must continually protect Bella from other vampires (and werewolves!) who disapprove of their relationship.  Feminists also object to the relationship’s violence, as Bella is seriously injured when she and Edward eventually do consummate their relationship.

Bella eventually becomes a powerful vampire with a beautiful half-human half-vampire child.

I see all these things, but what I really see is perhaps a message which Meyer did not originally intend.  The message is this:  to succeed, to really get what you want in this world, you must submit.  Adapt to the world.  Adjust what you believe.  Buy into the system, and you may find love, success, wealth, and maybe even power.  The darkness is very seductive.

Why Don't We Understand?

"I went to church and sat on the velvet pew.  I watched as the sun came shining through the stained glass windows.  The minister dressed in a velvet robe opened the golden gilded Bible, marked it with a silk bookmark, and said, "If any man will be my disciple, said Jesus, let him deny himself, take up his cross, sell what he has, give it to the poor, and follow me."  Soren Kierkegaard

The Wealth of King Solomon

“Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;” 2 Chronicles 9:13

“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

1 talent was the mass of water needed to fill an amphora, a standard sized two-handled vase with a long neck designed for pouring.  The Greek name for the vase, amphora, came from αμφι (“on both sides”) and φορεύς (“carrier”).  Talanton is a Greek word meaning “scale” or “balance.”

 1 talent (a measure of weight) = 3000 shekels = 60 minas = 34.3 kg = 75 US pounds.  On 20 September 2011, the price of gold was $1798.60 per ounce.  There are 16 ounces in a US pound, so one pound would be valued at $28,777.60.  75 pounds would be valued at $2,158,320.00.  666 talents, at today’s price for gold, would be approximately $142,449,120.00.   Remember, this was just his gold.  Solomon also received silver, jewels, animals, slaves, and wives.

Solomon’s wealth came from commerce, mining, and tribute (1 Kings 4:21) and from gifts brought by visiting dignitaries (1 Kings 10:25}  The Bible describes Solomon as being tremendously wealthy.  Obviously, he was.

Don't be That Guy!

Mukesh Ambani is the second richest man in Asia and the ninth richest man in the world.  He lives in Mumbai, India in a 27-story tower which serves as the personal home of his family (his wife, mother, and three children).  The tower has three helipads.


If you happen to have been blessed by God with wealth, please don't be this man.  Use your wealth for the glory of God, not of yourself. 


"And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.  And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy.  And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?  And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go;  And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?  And they could not answer him again to these things.
   And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them,  When thou art bidden of anyman to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him;  And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.  But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.  For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
  Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.  But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:  And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.
   And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.
   Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:   And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.    And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.   And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.   And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.   So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.   And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.   And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.   For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper."  Luke 14:7-24.

What the Bible Says About being Rich

"Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." 1 Timothy 6:17-19
Jesus showed the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17-31, Luke 18:18-23, Matthew 19:16-23) that what he really loved was his wealth, not the Lord. It is not the wealth that is the problem, but the misplaced priority, worshipping the idol of money or power instead of glorying in the Kingdom of God. Jesus said it was very hard for a rich man to be saved, He did not say it could not happen.
In the quotation above, Paul doesn't insist that the rich not be rich or that they even feel guilty about being rich. He points to their hearts; if their hearts are set on God and not on their wealth, then their money becomes a powerful tool for use by the Lord.