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Each year, January 6 is the traditional day to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany.  (In this sense, an “annual religious celebration…”)   See also the Satucket (or “Daily Office“) piece, on Epiphany:

“Epiphany” is a word of Greek origin, related to such English words as “theophany,” “phenotype,” and “phenomenon.”  It means an appearance, a displaying, a showing forth, a making clear or public or obvious.  On this day, Christians have traditionally celebrated the making known of Jesus Christ to the world.

In other words, January 6 is celebrated as the day the world got “first introduced to Jesus,” in large part by the visit from the “Three Wise Men from the East.”  That is, this Feast Day includes – but is not limited to – a celebration of “the visit of the Magi to the Christ child,” as shown in the painting above left.  (The “We Three Kings of Orient are,” from the Christmas carol.)

But January 6 also marks the start of the Season of Epiphany.  That church season runs from January 6 to – and through – the Last Sunday after the Epiphany.  This year, 2017, that date is February 26.  The following Tuesday, February 28, we celebrate Mardi Gras.  The day after that – March 1 – is Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of the 2017 Season of Lent.

Which brings up Buzz Lightyear.  (His catch-phrase – “to infinity, and beyond” – is popular among people including astronauts, philosophers and mathematical theorists…)  The point being that practicing Christians also work to go “to infinity – and beyond!”  Or in the words of the Book of Common Prayer, to “live with confidence in newness and fullness of life,” and to await “the completion of God’s purpose for the world.”

And that’s a promise especially meaningful after that 2016 Year from Hell. But wait!  There’s more!  Practicing Christians can also look forward to infinity – “without any bound” – as a new existence, with “the joy of fully knowing and loving God and each other.”

And – it could be argued – it all starts with Epiphany.

That is, the 2017 church year officially started with the first Sunday of Advent, last November 27.  That was followed by Christmas and the Season of – or after – Epiphany.  That in turn will be followed by Lent – preceded by Mardi Gras – and then Easter.  (It’s a full, 40-day season as well and not just a single day.)

Then comes Ordinary Time – the Season after Pentecost – which takes up over half the church year.  (As shown at left.)

However, you could argue – again – that it all started with the first Epiphany.  (The first “making known of Jesus Christ to the world.”)  That is, Jesus was born in relative obscurity, and it wasn’t until the Three “Wise Men from the East” visited that He started to become better known.

That was the point of last January’s post Epiphany, circumcision, and “3 wise guys.”  It also noted that other names for January 6 include the last day of Christmas and Three Kings Day.

The word originally used for Three Kings was Magi, which gave rise to the current word “magic.”

And  in its original sense – 600 years before Jesus was born – the word Magi referred to “followers of Zoroastrianism or Zoroaster.”  In turn it wasn’t until well after Jesus died that a number of traditions arose about the three Wise Men.  That included their names, places of origin, and how soon after “Christmas” they actually visited the Holy family.

The most common names given the three are: Melchior, from Persia; Caspar, from India; and Balthazar, from Babylon.  (Which could present some logistical difficulties;  for example, in their getting together to start the trip.)  And as to when they actually visited Jesus:

The Bible specifies no interval between the birth and the visit [by the Magi, but] artistic depictions … encourage the popular assumption that the visit took place the same winter as the birth…  [L]ater traditions varied, with the visit [said to occur] up to two winters later.  This maximum interval explained Herod’s command at Matthew 2:16–18 that the Massacre of the Innocents included boys up to two years old. (E.A.)

All of which adds up to some confusion about these post-Christmas holidays…

You’ve probably heard of the 12 Days of Christmas, which end on January 6.  But the evening of the 6th is also known as 12th Night, and was yet another occasion for “drunken revelry.”   (From back in the days when life – especially life in winter – was “nasty, brutish and short.”)  Yet another celebration – and a time for “drunken revelry” – came on Plough Monday, which is officially the Monday following January 6.   In turn, back in Merry Olde England, Plough Monday marked the start of the new Agricultural Year.  In other words, a new year of work.  

So the point of Plough Monday – the Monday after January 6 – was to have one more big blast before getting back to work.  (That is, resuming farm-work after the extended holiday season.  And for more on this seeming rigamarole, see Epiphany, circumcision, and “3 wise guys.”)

So in a way, Plough Monday is like our celebrating Mardi Gras – also called Fat Tuesday – on the day before the first day of Lent.  Or:  “one last feast before the Lenten fast.”

Are we seeing a pattern here?

In a sense it’s like the pattern of growth and debriefing – the asking of  “really aggravating questions” – that should follow such a period of personal growth.

On that note, see DORs for June 6, 2015, which took issue with “sin” as sometimes held out:

[T]he concepts of sin, repentance and confession should be viewed as “tools to help us get closer to the target.”  In other words, they help us grow and develop, and are not to be used as a means of social control…  Note also that the “Biblical Greek term for sin [amartia], means ‘missing the mark,’” and implies that “one’s aim is out and that one has not reached the goal, one’s fullest potential.”

And that – after all – is what the true Christian should be working for, during these upcoming, alternating seasons of celebration and reflection:  To reach his or her full potential.

So the Epiphany reminds us that – in order to do His job – Jesus had to be revealed to the world as “God incarnate.”  That revelation – that “revealing” – involved a substantial risk to Jesus in His earthly incarnation as God “embodied in the flesh.”  In fact, that big risk led to His ultimate – and untimely – death on the Cross.  That in turn should lead us to the conclusion that our job is not to withdraw from world into the safety of being a “carbon copy Christian.”

Instead our job is to grow into our fullest potential, and that means taking risks.  One such risk – for example – involves reading the Bible “with an open mind,” rather than retreating into a safe “fundamental” view.  For more on that see Conservative Christian – “Career buck private?”

In the meantime, celebrate the “Adoration of the Magi,” and the season of growth to follow…

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The “Adoration of the Magi,” by El Greco…

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The upper image is courtesy of Buzz Lightyear To Infinity And Beyond by eposselt on DeviantArteposselt.deviantart.com.  See also Buzz Lightyear – Wikipedia, which noted:

Buzz’s classic line “To infinity… and beyond!” has seen usage not only on T-shirts, but among philosophers and mathematical theorists as well.…  The 2008 quadruple platinum song “Single Ladies” by Beyoncé includes the lyric “…and delivers me to a destiny, to infinity and beyond,” a reference which was pointed out by alt-country singer Jeff Tweedy of the band Wilco during a 2010 solo performance in Chicago.  Also in 2008, astronauts took an action figure of Buzz Lightyear into space on the Space Shuttle “Discovery” as part of an educational experience for students while stressing the catchphrase…

The image to the left of the paragraph “Each year, January 6” is courtesy of Wikipedia and is captioned:  “‘Adoration of the Magi‘ by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, 17th century.”

Re:  The Book of Common Prayer references.  See The Catechism, at pages 861-862

Re:  “Year from hell.”  The website 2016 has been year from hell for many – but not for comics, noted another name:  “Annus horribilis.”  Wikipedia noted that the opposite term – annus mirabilis, meaning “wonderful year” – has a long history of usage, but “annus horribilis” was apparently first used in 1891.  At that time it was used to “describe 1870, the year in which the Roman Catholic church defined the dogma of papal infallibility.”  As to its application to 2016, Googling the phrase “2016 year from hell” got me some 173,000,000 – 173 million – results.

Re:  “Magi,” giving rise to the current word “magic.”  See Asimov’s Guide to the Bible (Two Volumes in One),  Avenel Books (1981), at page 788.  See Asimov’s full “Curriculum vitae” in last October’s On St. Ignatius – and “Persecution Porn.”

The “Three Kings” image is courtesy of We Three Kings Wallpapers, Photos, Pictures and Backgroundswallpaperslot.com.

The lower image is courtesy of Epiphany (holiday) – Wikipedia.  The full caption:  “‘Adoration of the Magi‘ by El Greco, 1568, Museo Soumaya, Mexico City.”

Thanksgiving Day in 1863 – as celebrated in the middle of that other American Civil War…

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It’s hard to believe, but Thanksgiving is less than a week away.

Which means it’s about time to give thanks “for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them.”  And that’s especially true after the bitter election* we’ve just been through.  (And survived, thank you very much.)  

Which brings up that other American Civil War.  The thing is, Thanksgiving wasn’t celebrated on the same date – “throughout the United States*” – until 1863.  (In the middle of the war.)

Abraham Lincoln set that uniform date for Thanksgiving – making it the last Thursday in November – by presidential proclamation.  He did it to “foster a sense of American unity:” 

In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity … peace has been preserved with all [other] nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict… Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste [in] the siege and the battle-field;  and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom.

See Thanksgiving (U.S.) – Wikipedia.  And speaking of Thanksgiving in the middle of a war – cultural or otherwise – the photo at left shows “Servicemen eating a Thanksgiving dinner after the end of World War I (1918).”

(And here’s hoping that image is somehow prescient…) 

I’ve written about Thanksgiving before in Thanksgiving 2015, The first Thanksgiving (Part I and Part II), and On the 12 Days of Christmas.

The post Thanksgiving 2015 offered this reality check about the First Thanksgiving:

102 [Pilgrims] landed in November 1620 [at Plymouth Rock].  Less than half survived the next year.  (To November 1621.)  Of the handful of adult women – 18 in all – only four survived that first winter in the hoped-for “New World…”  The point is this[:  T]he men and women who first settled America paid a high price, so that we could enjoy the privilege of stuffing ourselves into a state of stupor.

Meanwhile, The first Thanksgiving – Part I – from November 2104 – included the image at right, of the “Mayflower leaving English shores.”  It also included a footnote that Americans are fed up with the political status quo and are looking for a “New Political Center:”

…intermixing liberal instincts and conservative values;  “tolerant traditionalists” who believe in “conventional social morality that ensure family stability,” while being “tolerant within reason” of those who challenge such traditional morality, “and as pragmatically supportive of government intervention in spheres such as education, child care, health care as long as budgets are balanced.”

We’ll see how that plays out over the next four years…

The first Thanksgiving – Part II included a lengthy quotation from William Bradford (Plymouth Colony governor) about the difficulties inherent in  “all great and honorable actions.”  (Like trying to maintain a true democracy after the kind of heated-rhetoric election we just went through.)  Which could be summed up this way:  “If it was easy, anybody could do it!”

And finally, The 12 Days of Christmas indicated that Thanksgiving Day marks the beginning of a long holiday season that doesn’t officially end until January 6, 2017 (with Plough Monday):

Christmas celebrations are closely linked to the observance of the December solstice… Although winter was regarded as the season of dormancy, darkness and cold, the coming of lighter days after the winter solstice brought on a more festive mood.  To many people, this return of the light was a reason to celebrate that nature’s cycle was continuing.

And speaking of “dormancy, darkness and cold,” see also Dark Ages – Wikipedia, referring to the “period of intellectual darkness” between the “light of Rome,” up to the rebirth or “Renaissance in the 14th century.”  (Not that there’s any connection to current events or anything…)  

Which serves as a reminder that whatever “Dark Age” you may be going through,

“This too shall pass…“

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A 1640 painting – “ 12th Night” (The King Drinks) – ending the 12 Days of Christmas…

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Notes:

 The upper image is courtesy of Thanksgiving (U.S. – Wikipedia.  The caption:  “Sketch by Alfred Waud of Thanksgiving in camp (of General Louis Blenker) during the U.S. Civil War in 1861.”  That’s also where the “Hymn of Thanksgiving” image came from.  That caption:  “‘A Hymn of Thanksgiving’ sheet music cover – November 26, 1899.”

Re:  Thanksgiving Day:  The full Bible readings for that day are:  Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Psalm 100; Philippians 4:4-9; and John 6:25-35.

“Note” also that an asterisk in the main text indicates a statement supported by a reference detailed further in this, the “notes” section.  Thus, as to “bitter elections,” see also This bitter battle won’t end on election day – BBC News, for a point of view from “across the pond.”  For an ironic twist, see After a bitter election, a new America: Our first female president and the most diverse coalition in history, written on the morning of the election.  (Before the results were in.)  A prediction:  That “first female president” will come true, but not just yet.  I’m thinking Elizabeth Warren – “Hillary without the baggage” – in 2020, or Hillary herself.  (With or without the “I told ya so” dance.  See Donald Trump and the Hell’s Angel, in my companion blog.)

Re:   “Throughout the United States” and the “sense of American unity.”  Referring to a sense of American unity “between the Northern and Southern states.”  See Thanksgiving – Wikipedia, which noted that because of the “ongoing Civil War and the Confederate States of America‘s refusal to recognize Lincoln’s authority, a nationwide Thanksgiving date was not realized until Reconstruction was completed in the 1870s.”  (Which is another way of saying, “good things take time.” 

Re:  “This too shall pass.”  See That’s NOT in the Bible! “This too shall pass.”  That source indicates that the phrase may originally have come from – or passed through – King Solomon.  He supposedly had a ring reminding him that all his earthly glory – as king – would eventually go away; “the inscription inside the ring became the Hebrew phrase ‘Gam zeh ya’avor,’ ‘this too shall pass.’”  See also Patton (film) Clip “All Glory is Fleeting…” – YouTube.

The lower image is courtesy of The Twelve days of Christmas, with caption, “Twelfth Night (The King Drinks) by David Teniers c. 1634-1640.”

Fashionable ladies in 1915 “bobbing for apples…”   (In England, 10/31 is also “Snap Apple night.”)

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In case you’ve been living under a rock somewhere – or sticking your head in the sand to get away from all the negative political campaigning – Halloween is next Monday.  (October 31.)

I’ve written of the religious meaning of this holiday before.  And noted that the word “holiday” comes from the original “holy day.”  (Or more precisely, “hālig dæg.”)  In turn the Old English word “halig” figures into the whole idea of Halloween, but there’s more on that later.

I’ve written about Halloween in “All Hallows E’en” – 2015.  And earlier – in 2014 – I posted On “All Hallows E’en,” Parts I and Part II.  This post will present the highlights.

One such highlight is that there are actually Three Days of Halloween. (Also known as the Halloween Triduum, which constitutes a whole set of Feast Days.)  The third day of the three-day holiday – November 2 – is All Souls’ Day.  The original idea was to remember the souls of “the dear departed,” illustrated by the painting at left.

Turning to the name itself, literally the night of October 31 is the evening – or e’en – before “Hallows Day.”  (Or “All Hallows Day.”)

That is, “halig” is the old English word for “hallow,” which in turn is another term for “saint.”  (In this sense, one of those dear departed.)  So “All Hallows Day” is just another way of saying All Saints’ Day, which is celebrated on November 1, the day after October 31st.

And a side note:  These three “holy-days” traditionally marked the “season of darkness.”  In the olden days people started noticing that this time of year the days kept getting shorter.  (So naturally they wondered if the days would eventually get so short there would be no light at all…) 

So again, November 1st is also called All Saints’ Day, and the Old English word for “saint” was halig, which eventually became “hallow.”  Another fact worth noting is that – in the really real olden days – Christians believed that on the Eve of All Hallows, “the veil between the material world and the afterlife thinned.”  Put another way, the veil was most permeable.

(Spirits could more easily “pass through” the veil separating the dead from the living.) 

 So what was the deal with wearing masks and disguises? 

As noted, people originally believed that on the night of October 31, the barrier between the living and the dead was pretty much down.  So, those old-time people would wear masks or put on costumes in order to disguise their identities.  The idea was to keep the afterlife “hallows” – ghosts or spirits – from recognizing the people in this, the “material world.”

Another thing they did was build “bone fires:”

“The fires were thought to bring comfort to the souls in purgatory and people prayed for them as they held burning straw up high.”  The idea came from pagan times, when evil spirits had to be driven away with noise and fire.  (Note also that “bonfire” is short for bone-fire.  See Bonfire – Wikipedia, noting the term “is derived from the fact that bonfires were originally fires in which bones were burned.”)

And there was another old-time custom.  If you had to travel on All Hallows E’en – like from 11:00 p.m. until midnight – your candle could tell your future.  If the candle you carried kept burning, that was a good omen.  (The person holding the candle would be safe in the upcoming “season of darkness.”)  But if your candle went out , “the omen was bad indeed.”

The thought was that the candle had been blown out by witches.

There’s more information about “souling” and trick-or-treating in 2014’s On “All Hallows E’en” – Part I.  There’s also a note about jack-o’-lanterns, like the one to the right of the paragraph, “In case you’ve been living under a rock…”

Apparently some old-time people set such carved-out pumpkins on their windowsills, to keep “harmful spirits” out of their home.   But according to another tradition,  jack-o’-lanterns “represented Christian souls in purgatory.”  And as noted in “All Hallows E’en” – Part II, today jack-o’-lanterns are made from pumpkins, but were originally carved from large turnips.

In turn, both the jack-o’-lantern and Will-o’-the-wisp are tied in with the strange ghostly light known as ignis fatuus.  (From the Medieval Latin for “foolish fire.”)  That refers to the “atmospheric ghost light seen by travelers at night, especially over bogs, swamps or marshes.  It resembles a flickering lamp and is said to recede if approached:”

Tradition had it that this ghostly light – seen by travelers at night and “especially over bogs, swamps or marshes – resembled a flickering lamp.  The flickering lamp then receded if you approached it, and so it “drew travelers from their safe paths,” to their doom…

But there is some good news in all this, as noted in the readings for the “Eve of All Saints:”

[T]he souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them.  In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought to be a disaster, and their going from us to be their destruction;  but they are at peace.

That quote is from the Bible readings for the “Eve of All Saints (Day).”  (Again, the earlier version was “Eve of All Hallows,” shortened to “All Hallows E’en,” then just “Halloween.”)

And that makes up the Good News of Halloween.  So accordingly, here’s wishing you:

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“A graveyard outside a Lutheran church in Röke, Sweden on the feast of All Hallows…”

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The upper image is courtesy of Apple bobbing – Wikipedia, with the caption, “Halloween (Howard Chandler Christy), 1915.”  The article added:  “Due to the nature of the game, whereupon a number of individuals each place their entire head into a bowl of water, it is thought to be a somewhat unsanitary game…  A potentially more sanitary variation of the game exists, with the apples hung on string on a line, rather than in a bowl of water,” like the Snap-Apple game shown above.  (And that’s not to mention any possible Freudian implications…)  And finally, “Agatha Christie‘s mystery novel Hallowe’en Party, is about a girl who is drowned in an apple-bobbing tub.”

Also re:  Apple bobbing:  “The current game dates back to when the Romans conquered Britain, bringing with them the apple tree, a representation of the goddess of fruit trees, Pomona.  The combination of Pomona, a fertility goddess, and the Celts‘ belief that the pentagram was a fertility symbol began the origins of bobbing for apples. “

Re:  All Saints Day (November 1).  See also All Saints’ Day – Wikipedia.

The image of the jack-o’lantern is courtesy of Halloween – Wikipedia.  The caption:  “A jack-o’-lantern, one of the symbols of Halloween representing the souls of the dead.”

The painting to the left of the paragraph beginning “one such highlight” is courtesy of All Souls’ Day – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The caption: “All Souls’ Day by William Bouguereau.”  See also Allhallowtide, and All Saints’ Day – Wikipedia.

The “witch” image is courtesy of Hail to Dorothy! The Wicked Witch is dead …54disneyreviews.

The full Daily Office Bible readings for October 31, 2016 – from the Satucket website – are Psalm 34; Wisdom 3:1-9; and Revelation 21:1-4,22-22:5.  The quoted portion is from the “Wisdom” reading. 

The lower image is courtesy of Allhallowtide – Wikipedia, with the caption:  “A graveyard outside a Lutheran church in Röke, Sweden on the feast of All Hallows.  Flowers and lighted candles are placed by relatives on the graves of their deceased loved ones.”

A more-subdued paintings of Christians and lions…  (“Christian porn” is discussed below.) 

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October 17 is the Feast Day for one of our lesser-known saints: Ignatius of Antioch.  Rumor has it that he was one of the first Christian martyrs to be literally “thrown to the lions.” (Possibly in the Colosseum in Rome, and as shown at left.)

But there are some who doubt that he was torn apart by lions, or that it happened in the Colosseum.  (As opposed to some other place in Rome.)   But it seems uncontested that he died before his time, and that his “crime” was being an early Christian bishop.

As noted in Satucket, “After the Apostles, Ignatius was the second bishop of Antioch in Syria.”  Or see Ignatius of Antioch, Apostolic Father – Podcast:

Ignatius of Antioch, whom the Church remembers on October 17, is one of the most important of the apostolic fathers, the Fathers of the Church who[se] lives overlapped the lives of the last of the apostles.  Ignatius was, in fact, only the second successor of Peter, Paul, and Barnabas in the important city of Antioch, where the followers of Jesus were called Christians for the first time.

And as Wikipedia noted, “St. Peter himself left directions that Ignatius be appointed to the episcopal see of Antioch.”  In addition, a tradition arose that Ignatius “was one of the children whom Jesus took in his arms and blessed.”

In other words, he was a pretty important guy in the early Church.

We don’t know much about his early life.  (Except he converted to Christianity at an early age.)  Most of what we do know came after he was “arrested by the Imperial [Roman] authorities, condemned to death, and transported to Rome to die in the arena.”  (Wikipedia said he was sentenced to die at the Colosseum – like those at right – but actually ended up in the Circus Maximus.)  

Which brings up the question – asked by some anyway – whether Christians [were] really thrown to the lions?  According to The Straight Dope, the “story has its suspicious aspects:”

According to the historian Tacitus, Christians during Nero’s time (at least) were mainly torn apart by dogs, crucified, or burned alive – no mention of lions.  The Romans did throw people to lions on occasion, and Tertullian, writing later, remarks that the Romans were always ready to exclaim “Away with the Christians to the lion!” whenever times got tough.

But – according to Straight Dope – Tertullian didn’t witness any such throwing-to-the-lions, “and anyway he was a Christian himself.”  The site also said it was possible the “whole Christians-lions thing was a Christian ploy for sympathy.”  (The site did concede that Romans evidently “fed Christians to animals, and people to lions, [but] we have no source stating directly that they specifically fed Christians to lions.”)

Talk about picky…

But whether he was torn apart by dogs, crucified, or burned alive, Ignatius’ main claim to fame came from the meetings he had and the letters he wrote, from the time of his arrest to his arrival in Rome.

That is, he was arrested in Antioch, in now south-central Turkey, about 12 miles from the border with Syria.  (As shown above left, the tip of the island of Cyprus points directly to today’s city of “Antakya.”)  Also, Antioch is known as “the cradle of Christianity,” and Ignatius had a lot to do with that.

That’s because – on his long trip from Antioch to Rome – he was met by various groups of Christians;  “Ignatius took the opportunity to encourage them, speaking to groups of Christians at every town along the way.”  And he wrote seven letters – to various congregations – “in which he gives us a window into the soul of an early Christian martyr on his way to execution.”

Now, about those Doubting Thomases…

There seems to be ample evidence that Christians – along with others deemed “undesirable” by the Roman authorities – did suffer greatly.  See Throwing Christians to the Lions: Fact and Legend:

Most Roman magistrates believed themselves to be enlightened and the government they represented to be merciful. and gave the Christians many opportunities to renounce their “strange unpatriotic beliefs…”  The crowds who came to witness the games were a different matter altogether.  Sometimes they became worked up into a frenzy of hate.  They considered the Christians to be antisocial scum and clamored for a painful death for them in the arena, being mauled and torn apart by wild beasts or forced to fight gladiators who killed them for a public spectacle.

(BTW: The part on crowds “worked up into a frenzy of hate” sounds surprisingly modern, somehow.)

But see also Tales of Roman Emperors Feeding Christians to the Lions Are Titillating to Christians … and Wholly Made Up.  That article took issue with tales of “Christians being thrown to the lions by hard-hearted Roman emperors,” as wholly made up:

There are zero authentic accounts of Christian martyrdom in the Colosseum until over a century after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.  In fact, not a single legitimate record exists of the Romans executing any Christians in the Colosseum.  Zip.  Zilch.  Nada.  [E.A.]

You can see the full response to this claim by Wholly Made Up in the notes below.  However, the article did make a couple of valid points.  Like this one:

When people talk about being persecuted in modern America … it’s dangerous…  When American Christians yelp about being discriminated against, it is doubly galling:  for one, because the whole thing is so obviously spun out of thin air;  and also because such claims make light of Christians elsewhere who really do get a raw deal from their governments.

The other good point was about “persecution porn.”  You can see some examples at Damnatio ad bestias – Wikipedia, referring to “damnation to the beasts.”  That in turn referred to the “form of Roman capital punishment in which the condemned person was killed by wild animals.”

The article noted that from “the 1st to 3rd centuries AD, this penalty was mainly applied to the worst criminals, slaves, and early Christians.”  But the article also included at least two paintings of nubile young Christian women – in the altogether – bravely facing death at the “hands” of wild beasts.

Unfortunately, this is a family-oriented blog, so I can’t include them here.  However, that seems to be where the phrase “persecution porn” came from.  (The comparatively-tame painting, “Martyrdom of St. Euphemia” – which occurred at Chalcedon – is shown above right.)

As to how long such “martyr literature” has been around, Isaac Asimov* indicated that it goes back at least as far as 100 or more years before Jesus.

That is, 1st Maccabees is a book written “after the restoration of an independent Jewish kingdom by the Hasmonean dynasty, about the latter part of the 2nd century BC.”  But Asimov said the writer of the Second Book of Maccabees included a number of gruesome martyr stories, in a lovingly-gory detail that was not evident in the first book.

Accordingly – he said – “one might wonder if they are not merely atrocity stories made up after the fact.”  (Which seemed to be the point Wholly Made Up was making.)  

However – Asimov went on to note – the “history of Nazi Germany has proved to all of us that atrocity stories are sometimes simple truth, and understatements at that:”

In any case, the stories, whether strictly true or propaganda inventions, are told in grisly detail as edifying examples of loyalty to the death.  These are the first martyr-details in the Judeo-Christian tradition and formed a precedent for many later such tales that formed so large a part of the early Christian literature.

See also 2d Maccabees – Wikipedia:  The “long descriptions of the martyrdoms of Eleazar and of a mother with her seven sons … caught the imagination of medieval Christians [and are] considered the first model of the medieval stories of the martyrs.”

It should also be noted that this tradition continued in Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.  That book – published in 1563 and with illustrations like that below – was highly influential in England and Scotland, “and helped shape lasting popular notions of Catholicism there.”

And finally, this seems to be a tradition that goes on “even to this day.”  (I.e., we can probably look forward to a whole lot of “persecution stories” – if not “martyr porn” – after November 8…)

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William Tyndale – “strangled and burned at the stake…”

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The upper image is courtesy of Colosseum – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The caption:  “‘The Christian Martyrs’ Last Prayer,’ by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1883).”

Other sources on this saint include Ignatius’ Martyrdom by Lions in the Colosseum  (“Bible History, and Ignatius of Antioch | Theopedia.

The image to the left of the paragraph beginning, “Unfortunately, historians don’t know much,” is courtesy of Christian Martyrs at the Colosseum – Konstantin Flavitsky (www.the-athenaeum.org).

Re:  The Straight Dope: Were Christians really thrown to the lions?  This article included a wealth of information on such Roman practices, including this interesting side-note:

Roman animal sports did at least provide an answer to one perennial question:  Which is tougher, a bull or a rhino?  Answer:  Never bet against a rhino, which according to the writer Martial had no problem getting its horn under a bull and flipping it like a flapjack. 

The “writer Martial” was formally known as “Marcus Valerius Martialis,” and best known for his 12 “books of Epigrams, published in Rome between AD 86 and 103, during the reigns of the emperors Domitian, Nerva and Trajan…  He is considered to be the creator of the modern epigram.” 

The map showing Antioch is courtesy of tofspot.blogspot.com, “Crossroads of the Middle East: Lebanon and Palestine.”

Re:  “Full response to Wholly Made Up.”   For one thing, note the claim in that article that such cruelties were “wholly” made up.  As in “completely or fully,” “to the full or entire extent,” “completely ,” and/or “to the exclusion of other things.”

For another thing, note the number of “provisos, limitations and quid-pro-quos.”  Early Christians may have been torn apart by dogs, crucified, or burned alive, rather than being “eaten by lions.”  Or they may have died in the Circus Maximus, not the Colosseum.

The fact remains, they were just as dead.

Then there was the claim of no such martyrdom “until over a century after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.”  The fact is that the Emperor Constantine didn’t make Christianity the “religion of the Roman Empire” until 313 A.D.  See Constantine the Great and Christianity – Wikipedia, which said the effect of the Edict of Milan – aside from “decriminalizing Christian worship” – was to “cease the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire.”

Needless to say, there’s a big difference between “decriminalizing” a religion and making it official.  Then too, early Christians were just as dead even if the Emperor wasn’t “hard-hearted.”

And Re:  “Provisos, limitations and quid-pro-quos.”  See Quotes from Movie Aladdin :: Finest Quotes.  The image above left is courtesy of Image – Aladdin-disneyscreencaps.com-4574.jpg – Disney Wikidisney.wikia.com.

Re: Isaac Asimov.  The quotes about 1st Maccabees and 2d Maccabees are from Asimov’s Guide to the Bible (Two Volumes in One),  Avenel Books (1981), at pages 762-63. 

Asimov (1920-1992) was “an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books.  Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards.”  His list of books included those on “astronomy, mathematics, theBible, William Shakespeare’s writing, and chemistry.”  He was a long-time member of Mensa, “albeit reluctantly;  he described some members of that organization as ‘brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs.’”  See Isaac Asimov – Wikipedia.

The lower image is courtesy of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs – Wikipedia.  The caption:  “William Tyndale, just before being strangled and burned at the stake, cries out, ‘Lord, open the King of England’s eyes,’ in woodcut from an early edition of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.”  See also, Bill Tyndale – who published a Bible you could actually READ!

Did Teresa of Ávila – the “Pope Francis of her time” – also get attacked by conservatives?

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Saturday, October 15, is the feast Day of St. Teresa of Ávila.

On that note, back on March 30, 2015, St. Teresa was dubbed “the Pope Francis of her time.”  Which leads to the musical question:*  Did she also get attacked by conservatives?

About a year ago, conservative cartoonist Michael Ramirez pictured Pope Francis espousing “the Gospel of Marx.*”  For an update, I Googled “gospel of marx pope francis.”  I found some very interesting reading.

You can see some of the results of this off on a tangent search in the notes.  But perhaps the best – the most common sense – response came from The Gospel of Bernie Sanders and Pope Francis: Darcy cartoon.  (That’s where the cartoon above came from.)  

Pope Francis and Bernie Sanders are guilty of the sin of socialism in the eyes of conservatives…  The Pope’s comments on capitalism, wealth disparity, corporate responsibility to society and climate change, have been touted by Democrats and criticized by conservatives as espousing socialism and even communism.  [E.A.]

But – the writer noted – the Pope also criticized Cuba’s Fidel Castro and his brother.

In their case, it was for the kind of dictatorship that “Pope Francis is all too familiar with having had to live under military dictatorship in Argentina.”  The Sanders and Pope Francis writer concluded:  “The fact that the Pope has Democrat and Republican politicians both agreeing and disagreeing with him, tells me he’s on the right path…”

I covered Teresa in last year’s On Saint Teresa of Avila.  That post included this nugget:

Somewhat surprisingly, she was “of Jewish descent,” and among other things could be rather droll.  (If not apparently disrespectful to God.)  According to one story, she was traveling to visit another convent when her cart overturned and she was thrown into a mud puddle.  Embarrassed at having to show up in a dirty habit, Teresa reportedly prayed, “God, if this is how you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few!”

(On that note, see More on “arguing with God.”)  But the point here is that Teresa (1515-1582) was a reformer; that is, a person “who works to change and improve a society, government, etc.”

In her case, the reforming spirit began when she joined a Carmelite order in Ávila.  (In Spain.  The image at right shows the city’s “Fiestas de Santa Teresa.”)

However, she soon found herself “increasingly in disharmony with the spiritual malaise prevailing at the monastery.”  (Which you might expect from someone who takes God to task.)  She moved to reduce the “laxness” in the order’s spiritual discipline, but her devotion “excited a scandal among the citizens and authorities of Ávila.”  (Sound familiar?)

Then too, while she had powerful support, her hard work also made her a slew of enemies.

On that note, it seems that – throughout history – true reformers have always made enemies of the entrenched interests in power at the time.  Saint Teresa was no exception:

In 1576 a series of persecutions began on the part of the older observant Carmelite order against Teresa, her friends, and her reforms…  The general [“older’] chapter condemned her to voluntary retirement to one of her institutions.  She obeyed and chose St. Joseph’s at Toledo.  Her friends and subordinates were subjected to greater trials.

Fortunately, her years of sending letters to King Philip II of Spain – pleading for relief – finally paid off.  (Shortly before the Spanish Inquisition came into play.)  The charges against her were dropped, and her efforts at reform continued.

In other words, St. Teresa ended up by not getting burned at the stake, like the poor schmuck at left.

Then too, Teresa was a mystic, and as noted before:

The terms “mystic” or “mysticism” seem to throw Southern Baptists and other conservative Christians into apoplexy.  (Try it sometime!!!)

See On Saint Teresa of Avila, which added this about the idea of a “mystic” freaking out some Christians.  For example:  “The term ‘Christian mystic’ is an oxymoron.  Mysticism is not the experience of a Christian.”  (From What is Christian mysticism? – GotQuestions.org.)  Or this:

Mysticism is when you get into a mystical state and it’s something you cannot understand, you’re out there in “la-la” land, it’s an “oooh” experience and you’re really not thinking.

See Is There A Biblical Mysticism? | thebereancall.org.

On the other hand, it’d be hard to describe Teresa’s experience – shown in the sculpture below – as anything but a “mystical experience.”  (See e.g. Christian mysticism – Wikipedia and The mystical teachings of Jesus. Or check the notes below.)  The fact remains:  Teresa was canonized as a saint, and that alone may have made lots of people jealous, both during her time and since.

But before we go off on another tangent, I’d like to close this post on St. Teresa with an observation.  Some people – who should know better – portray Jesus as some kind of a button-down conservative.  Which leads to this “musical question:”

If Jesus was a “conservative,” how come we’re not all going to synagogue?

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“The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, by Bernini…”

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The upper image is courtesy of The Gospel of Bernie Sanders and Pope Francis: Darcy cartoon.  It’s an update on last year’s accusation – by cartoonist Michael Ramirez – that the Pope was either a Marxist, Communist, or both.

(For my take on the issue, see On the “Gospel of Marx.”)

On the same topic – of whether Pope Francis is a “Marxist,” or worse – see also “Pope Francis: A Socialist By Any Other Name:”

Francis has [] referred to ours as “an economy of exclusion and inequality…”  As a consequence,” Francis concludes, “masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalized: without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape.”  Where have we heard this lingo before?

(For one answer see:  Trump pitches black voters: “What the hell do you have to lose?”)

A second article: “Pope Francis says ‘freedom … of God allows Christians to break some laws:”

The Popes are believed to be infallible, meaning while acting in his capacity as head of the church, he can never err or lie.  Simply put, everything from his mouth is gospel truth. Well, it has never been and this time it is worse.

That writer concluded, “The catholic church is not a church but a den of demons.”  (Note the non-capitalized “catholic” and “church.”)  The article got one response:

Dude, you have NO idea what you’re talking about!  “Papal Infallibility” only applies to matters of Faith and Morals…  It does not — repeat NOT — apply to off-the-cuff comments or statements made such as the one you are making such a big deal out of…  What His Holiness is talking about is Phariseeism – those who would complain about the speck of dust in their brother’s eyes while ignoring the log in their own.

(See also Ex cathedra, at Papal infallibility.)  Which could lead to one valuable object lesson:  That there’s a lot of crap on the internet.  (Not to put too fine a point on it…)

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 As for the phrase “asks the musical question,” see e.g. Carol Brady – Quotes – imdb.com:  “Carol Brady:  ‘Yeah, the show that asks the musical question: Can eight average people make it in the big time?’” (It’s under “‘The Brady Bunch Variety Hour: Episode #1.4‘ (1977).)  See also “Bibliographia” – Verbatim, Vol. 29, Issue 1, Spring 2004 (“A Decade-by-Decade Guide to the Vanishing Vocabulary of the Twentieth Century”), which included this:

In the postwar years, young people became increasingly anti-authoritarian in their behavior. Blame it on Marlon Brando in The Wild Ones.  One way to keep the old folks at bay was to cut them out of your communications…  “KIDS,” a song from the 1960 musical Bye Bye Birdie, asks the musical question, “Who can understand anything they say?”

See also “Birdie” – What’s the Matter With Kids Today – YouTube.  (Talk about “deja vu all over again.”)

For more on St. Teresa – from the Satucket website (with the DORs) – see Teresa of Avila.  As to Avila’s “fiesta,” Wikipedia noted, “The festivities of Santa Teresa last almost the entire month of October.”

Re:  Death by burning.  Wikipedia noted that the practice “has a long history as a form of capital punishment,” for crimes such as treason.  “The best known type of executions of death by burning is when the condemned is bound to a large wooden stake (this is usually called ‘burning at the stake,’ or in some cases, auto-da-fé),”  On that note, the caption from the “Inquisition” article – to the left of the paragraph beginning “Fortunately, years of letters” – reads as follows:  “The burning of a 16th-century Dutch Anabaptist Anneken Hendriks, who was charged with heresy.”

Re:  Jesus as a mystic.  See also, contra, Was Jesus A Mystic? – Shane Hipps.

The lower image is courtesy of Teresa of Ávila – Wikipedia.  The full caption:  “The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa by Bernini, Basilica of Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome.”

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Also, in case I miss it, next Tuesday, October 18, is the feast day of St. Luke, the Evangelist.  I covered St. Luke in On St. Luke – 2015, and – from 2014 – On St. Luke – physician, historian, artist, including the image at right.