“Washington Crossing the Delaware” – which he somehow did without “rocking the boat…”

*   *   *   *

June 29 – I’m sitting here in the dining room of my aunt’s home, in Wilmington, Delaware.  (Near Rockford Park, as seen at left.)  And the folks in the kitchen – to my right – are now talking about Washington Crossing the Delaware.  (And about his not “rocking the boat.”)

So naturally I had to use the painting above to start off this post.

And speaking of the July 4th – coming up this long weekend – yesterday the whole family visited downtown Philadelphia.  (“Birthplace of American Democracy.”)  And today we’re planning to visit Valley Forge.

Which makes this a perfect time and place to bring up Independence Day in the U.S.

Independence Day is a day of family celebrations [with] a great deal of emphasis on the American tradition of political freedom…  Independence Day is a patriotic holiday for celebrating the positive aspects of the United States…  Above all, people in the United States express and give thanks for the freedom and liberties fought by the first generation of many of today’s Americans.

But it’s also a religious feast day , as noted in the link Independence Day.

That article noted that on July 4th we commemorate the day the formal wording of the Declaration of Independence was approved and the document signed. In turn – and as Satucket noted – the words of the Declaration – written mostly by Thomas Jefferson – spoke “in terms of the Natural Law and God-given principles of justice and right.”  And Jefferson did so in language that was, as one British writer said, “combines great prose, great politics, and great theology.”

And speaking of great theology, the Bible readings set aside for that day include:  Deuteronomy 10:17-21, Psalm 145, Hebrews 11:8-16, and Matthew 5:43-48.  I commented on those Bible readings in the post, On the Bible readings for July 4, 2014.

The gist of that post was that the political leaders of the Colony of Virginia – in creating the Statute for Religious Freedom – voluntarily gave up a monopoly in matters of religion.

That was important because Jefferson based much of his Declaration on the Virginia statutes he’d grown up with.  That is, the official religion of the Colony of Virginia was Anglicanism.  (The Church of England.)  In turn, most if not all Burgesses in Virginia at the time were members of that official state church.  That means the Established Church of England in Virginia voluntarily gave up its power, including the power to tax residents to support their church:

The [Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom] disestablished the Church of England in Virginia and guaranteed freedom of religion to people of all religious faiths, including Catholics and Jews as well as members of all Protestant denominations [and] was a notable precursor of the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.  The Statute for Religious Freedom is one of only three accomplishments Jefferson instructed be put in his epitaph. (E.A.)

But first note the definition of disestablish.  It means to “deprive an established church, military squadron, operations base, etc of its official status.”  And Jefferson’s tombstone – at left – shows how important that was to him.

He wrote the inscription for the stone himself, and it reads: “Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and father of the University of Virginia.”

So Jefferson seems to have considered his part in writing the Statute for Religious Freedom just as important – if not more important – as his part in writing the Declaration of Independence.

Bible readings for July 4, 2014 went on to note some reasons those Virginia Burgesses gave up their monopoly on religion.  For starters, they wrote that “Almighty God hath created the mind free,” and also that when any majority tries to influence the religious beliefs of others, they “tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness.”  Which I wrote:

…sounds like it was written yesterday!

The Burgesses also knew of the  “impious presumption of legislators and rulers,” to establish “their own opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible.”  They knew that’s when trouble starts.  That is, when “fallible and uninspired men” try and establish their own view of religion as “the only true and infallible.”  (Which also could have been written yesterday.)

And finally, the statute noted “that Truth is great, and will prevail if left to herself … and has nothing to fear from the conflict.”   In other words, that religion is best that proves itself in the “free market place of ideas.”  See Marketplace of ideas – Wikipedia.  In further words, if your faith is true and sound, you won’t be afraid of a little competition.

See also the 2014 post Sunday of the July 4th weekend.  (With the image at right.)  It noted that “our duty as Americans – and especially as Christian Americans – is to help and not hinder either the endless possibilities of the American Dream or the promise of Jesus that we should live a life of abundance, in His name.”  Which is pretty much what the Collect of the Day says:

Lord God Almighty, in whose Name the founders of this country won liberty for themselves and for us, and lit the torch of freedom for nations then unborn: Grant that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain our liberties in righteousness and peace…

Which is another way of saying that we as Christians should be willing “fight to the death” to protect the right of our fellow citizens not to believe in God, or Jesus.

But here’s a cautionary note:  You can only do that if your faith is really strong…

*   *   *   *

 *   *   *   *

The upper image is courtesy of Washington Crossing the Delaware – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Washington Crossing the Delaware is an 1851 oil-on-canvas painting by the German American artist Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze.  It commemorates General George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River on the night of December 25–26, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War.  That action was the first move in a surprise attack against the Hessian forces at Trenton, New Jersey, in the Battle of Trenton.

Wikipedia listed inaccuracies including:  The American flag in the boat “did not exist at the time of Washington’s crossing;”  The boat was the wrong model, and much too small;  The painting showed “phantom light sources besides the upcoming sun,” while the crossing itself “took place in the dead of night;”  and finally: “Washington’s stance … would have been very hard to maintain in the stormy conditions of the crossing[, and] would have risked capsizing the boat.”  (See also artistic licence.)

The lower image is courtesy of the link – When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going (album) – within the article When the going gets tough, the tough get going – Wikipedia.

The Virgin Mary in prayer – by Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato, “c. 1650.”

*   *   *   *

Today – May 31 – is the feast day dedicated to the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  (As it’s formally known.)  See also Visitation (Christianity) – Wikipedia, which noted:

The Visitation is the visit of Mary with Elizabeth as recorded [in] Luke 1:39–56.  It is also the name of a Christian feast day[,] celebrated on 31 May…  Mary is pregnant with Jesus and Elizabeth is pregnant with John the Baptist.  Mary left Nazareth immediately after the Annunciation and went “into the hill country” [of Judah] to attend to her cousin.

Wikipedia added, “In the Gospel of Luke, the author’s accounts of the Annunciation and Visitation are constructed using eight points of literary parallelism to compare Mary to the Ark of the Covenant.”

Which I didn’t know…  (And a BTW:  An old-time interpretation of the event is shown at left.)  So anyway, the Blessed Virgin Mary article added that Elizabeth greeted Mary with the words, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”  Mary responded with what became known as Magnificat.  In turn:

John the Baptist, still unborn, leaped for joy in his mother’s womb. Thus we are shown, side by side, the two women, one seemingly too old to have a child, but destined to bear the last prophet of the Old Covenant … and the other woman, seemingly not ready to have a child, but destined to bear the One Who was Himself the beginning of the New Covenant, the age that would not pass away. (E.A.)

And speaking of Mary, see the post On St. Mary, Mother.  Among other things, it noted that “In Renaissance paintings especially, Mary is portrayed wearing blue, a tradition going back to the Byzantine Empire … where blue was ‘the color of an empress.’”

Another explanation comes from “Medieval and Renaissance Europe,” where…

…the blue pigment was derived from the rock lapis lazuli, a stone imported from Afghanistan of greater value than gold.  Beyond a painter’s retainer, patrons were expected to purchase any gold or lapis lazuli to be used in the painting.  Hence, it was an expression of devotion and glorification to swathe the Virgin in gowns of blue. (E.A.)

Which explains Mary being shown in blue in the painting at the top of the page.

That post also noted that the Magnificat “echoes” several Old Testament passages, including allusions to “the Song of Hannah,” in 1st Samuel 2:1-10.  (Not to mention “the Book of Odes, an ancient liturgical collection…”)

See also On the psalms up to December 21, which included the image at right.  (Of Mary, reciting the Magnificat.)  

That post included a note that Mary’s hymn of praise was “distilled from a collection of early Jewish-Christian canticles,” and patterned in turn on the “‘hymns of praise’ in Israel’s Psalter.”  In turn, “Mary symbolizes both ancient Israel and the Lucan faith-community.”  (That is, the particular “faith community” that Luke addressed in his Gospel.)  

And finally, some notes from Isaac Asimov.

Among other things, he noted the apparent ongoing competition between the two men – Jesus and John the Baptist – or at least between or among their followers. (See e.g. John 3:22-36 Competition in Ministry and Were Jesus and John the Baptist Competitors?)

Which may explain why Luke  – and he alone, in his Gospel – included the episode of Mary’s “visitation.”  His goal may have been to show that – even in the womb – John the Baptist “recognized Jesus’ priority and transcendant importance…  This would  be a strong point for the followers of Jesus and against the competing followers of John.”

Asimov too noted that Mary’s “hymn of praise” – starting at Luke 1:46 – was very much like that of Hannah, “on the occasion of her giving birth to Samuel, and is widely considered to be inspired by it.”  (See 1st Samuel 2, 1-10, which begins, ““My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high.  My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance.”)

Asimov also noted that Elizabeth and Hannah were more alike than Mary.  Mary was young and “unmarried,” while both Elizabeth and Hannah were old and had been married many years, “in a society that considered barrenness a punishment for sin.”  Thus they were “blessed by a pregnancy, in old age and after many years of marriage,” and thus were vindicated.

But we digress…

Getting back to Asimov, he found it significant that Luke chose to focus on Mary, unlike Matthew, whose birth narrative centered on Joseph, the earthly “father figure” of Jesus.

(As shown at left, with Jesus as a young boy…)

One big factor seemed to be Matthew’s preaching to pious Jews, who could understand his ongoing citations to the Old Testament in his Gospel.  But Luke had another audience in mind:

The Gentiles knew of goddesses, and their pagan religions often had a strong feminine cast.  If Luke were a Gentile, he would be drawn to the tales Mary.  Matthew, on the other hand, a product of the strongly patriarchal Jewish culture, would automatically deal with Joseph.

Or as Asimov put it, Matthew aimed his Gospel for those “learned in Old Testament lore.”  Luke on the other hand wrote his Gospel for Gentiles, translated alternately as “Goy,” non-Jews, or “outsiders.”  That is, he wrote for those outsiders who were “considering conversion” – to Christianity – “or perhaps are already converted and wish to know still more concerning the background of their new religion.”

In turn, Jesus Himself is “portrayed as far more sympathetic to Gentiles in Luke than in the other Synoptic Gospels.”  (And a good thing too, I might add.)

So today we celebrate this early meeting of Mary and cousin Elizabeth. “Their meeting sets the stage for all that will come later, and it is women who recognize it first.”

*   *   *   *

The upper image is courtesy of the Marian perspectives link at Mary, mother of Jesus – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The caption:  “The Virgin in Prayer, by Sassoferrato, c. 1650.”  (Or in the alternative:  “Jungfrun i bön (1640-1650). National Gallery, London.”)

The Isaac Asimov quotes-and-notes are from Asimov’s Guide to the Bible: Two Volumes in One, the Old and New Testaments, Avenel Books (1981), at pages 914 and 920-21, with emphases added.    

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, the Bible, 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 Wikipedia. 

Asimov also noted the “legend” that Luke knew Mary personally, “and learned of the story of Jesus’ birth from her in her old age.”  He also noted the tradition – in his view, unsupported – that “Luke was an artist and painted a portrait of Mary that was later found in Jerusalem.”

The Joseph-and-Jesus painting is “St. Joseph the Carpenter, by Georges de La Tour, 1640s.”

 Before Jesus could Ascend into Heaven, He had to Descend into Hell…

*   *   *   *

First a note.  Last Thursday – May 5 – was the Feast of the Ascension:

The Feast … commemorates the bodily Ascension of Jesus into heaven.  It is one of the ecumenical feasts (i.e., universally celebrated) … ranking with the feasts of the Passion, of Easter, and Pentecost.  Ascension Day is traditionally celebrated on a Thursday, the fortieth day of Easter…

Note that the 40-day calculation is from Acts 1:3.  That passage – in the GWT – said, “After his death Jesus showed the apostles a lot of convincing evidence that he was alive.  For 40 days he appeared to them and talked with them about the kingdom of God.”

Then – 50 days after Easter – comes Pentecost.  (The name is from the Greek meaning “50th day.”)  So Pentecost is celebrated 50 days after Easter Sunday, “counting inclusively (including both the first and last days).”  In other words, seven weeks and a day later.

Which means this year Pentecost is next Sunday, May 15.

Pentecost is also called the “Birthday of the Church,” for reasons discussed in last year’s On Pentecost – “Happy Birthday, Church!”

But first things first.  You can see the full Bible readings for last Thursday’s feast day – May 5 – at Ascension Day.  Those Bible readings include two accounts of the Ascension, including Luke 24:51 and Acts 1:9.  (With both books written by the same Luke the Evangelist.)

I covered the subject two years ago, and again in Ascension Day 2015, which noted this:

So first Jesus got crucified, for us.  Then He “descended into Hell,” for us.  Then He reappeared on earth and stuck around 40 days, just to make sure His message got through.  Then He ascended to Heaven, to “sit at the right hand of God.”

Which brings up the top-image caption, that before Jesus could “Ascend into Heaven, He had to Descend into Hell.”  Which could be another way of saying “Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall.”

That was the name of a 1944 song performed by The Ink Spots, and “featuring Bill Kenny, and Ella Fitzgerald.”  But in turn the name of the song came from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow‘s poem “The Rainy Day.”  (He is shown at right.)

And that could be another way of saying that – just like Jesus had to “descend into Hell” – we too face something similar.  Before we can hope to reach our own “Promised Land,” we’ll have to spend a lot of time Wandering in the Wilderness.

More to the point, Paul the Apostle touched on the subject in Ephesians 4:1-16.  (Which just happened to be the New Testament DOR for today, May 11.)  That is In Ephesians 4:9, Paul said of Jesus:  “What does ‘he ascended’ mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions?”

Which sounds a bit like circular reasoning, but bear with me.  (And Paul.)  

For one thing, that seems to apply to all of us.  We all pretty much all have to descend before we can ascend.   Note also that the NIV has this passage set in parentheses, which are “used in writing to mark off an interjected explanatory or qualifying remark.”  (See also John 3:13, “No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven – the Son of Man.”)

Which could also be interpreted like this:  For Jesus, descending into Hell – from here on Earth – might not have been all that different from descending “down to Earth,” from Heaven.  

(Not to mention having to go through the whole process of being born – and worse – being a teenager who did “know everything.”  See Jesus as a teenager – REDUX, including the image below left.)

For a more erudite explanation of what Paul may have meant, see Ephesians 4:9 Commentaries.  The initial commentary noted that Ephesians 4:9 was part of a “parenthesis, designed to bring out the pervading idea” of the Divine Humanity of Christ as “‘filling all in all’ and ‘gathering all things’ into Himself.”

A later commentary on Ephesians 4:9 said that in “descending into Hell,” Jesus had actually gone down, way down:

To the lowest state of humiliation.  This seems to be the fair meaning of the words.  Heaven stands opposed to earth.  One is above; the other is beneath.  From the one Christ descended to the other; and he came not only to the earth, but he stooped to the most humble condition of humanity here…

And all of which seems to have been necessary for Jesus to become – in a sense – your own personal Ultimate Court-appointed Defense Attorney.  (See The GIST, Parts I and II.)

See also 2014’s On Ascension Day, which noted the problem some people might have with the whole idea of the “bodily ascension of Jesus into heaven.”  (And indeed with the whole idea of life after death.  That post cited the First law of thermodynamics as “proof positive.”)

All of which leads – metaphorically or otherwise – to the Good News.  In this case, of next Sunday’s celebration of Pentecost as the “birthday of the Church.”

In The readings for Pentecost (6/8/14), I noted that the day is sometimes called “‘Tongue Sunday.”  That’s both because of the ‘tongues of fire'” routinely shown in paintings of the event, “and because of the phenomenon of ‘speaking in tongues.'”  (See Glossolalia.) 

The post noted that some witnesses thought those “tongue-speakers” were just babbling drunkenly.  On the other hand, there were enough people who understood what the “babblers” were saying to be convinced of Peter’s response.  That is, beginning at Acts 2:15 Peter responded to the charges of the witnesses who mocked the disciples as drunken babblers.  “These people are not drunk, as you suppose.  It’s only nine in the morning!”

And as a result of Peter’s response, “Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day – about 3,000 in all.”  See Acts 2:41.  And that’s why Pentecost is called the Birthday of the Church.  See also On Pentecost – “Happy Birthday, Church!”

That post included the full-length version of El Greco‘s interpretation of the event.  (Part of which is seen at right.)  It also included a note that Pentecost marks the beginning of “Ordinary Time.”

That is, in the liturgical calendar the season of “Ordinary Time” – as it’s known by Catholics – can take up over half the year.  In the Anglican liturgy this time is the Season of Pentecost.  That season begins on the Monday after Pentecost,  and goes on “through most of the summer and autumn.”  It may include up to 28 Sundays, “depending on the date of Easter.”

This year the Last Sunday after Pentecost doesn’t come until next November 20.  The Sunday after that is the First Sunday of Advent, the season that leads up to Christmas.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.  As noted in “Happy Birthday, Church:”

To sum up, the Pentecost described in Acts “was a momentous, watershed event.”  For the first time in history, God had empowered “all different sorts of people for ministry.  Whereas in the era of the Old Testament, the Spirit was poured out almost exclusively on prophets, priests, and kings,” on this Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit had been given to “‘all people.’”

Which is a pretty good reason for all the celebrating – and barbecue – this Sunday…

An artist’s depiction of Pentecost – the “birthday of the Church…”

*   *   *   *

The upper image, in black and white, is a woodcut, courtesy of Harrowing of Hell – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, with the full caption:  “Christ’s Descent into Limbo, woodcut by Albrecht Dürer, c. 1510.”  See also the Jesus in Hell post, which included:  “Other references of possible interest include: Paradise – Wikipedia, Zohar – Wikipedia, and/or Heaven – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The complete Daily Office Readings for Wednesday, May 11, include: Psalms 101, 109:1-4 (5-19) 20-30, and 119:121-144, together with Isaiah 4:2-6; Ephesians 4:1-16, and Matthew 8:28-34.

Re: “parentheses.”  See also Bracket – Wikipedia, referring to the punctuation marks used “to set apart or interject other text.”  The article noted that chevrons “(< >) were the earliest type of bracket to appear in written English.  Desiderius Erasmus coined the term lunula to refer to the rounded parentheses (), recalling the shape of the crescent moon.”

The full title of the “wandering in the wilderness” link is What We Can Learn from Wandering in the Wilderness.  Rabbi Geoffrey A. Mitelman noted three valuable lessons we can learn, including: 

The truth is, we spend much more time wandering in the wilderness than living in the Promised Land.  In fact, that may be why the Torah was given in middle of the wilderness – to remind us that while the Promised Land is wonderful, we learn our greatest lessons on the journey along the way.

Re: “erudite.”  That term has come to mean “having or showing great knowledge or learning.”  But see Erudition – Wikipedia, which noted that – as originally used – a scholar was said to be “erudite” when his instruction “effaced all rudeness … that is to say smoothed away all raw, untrained incivility. Common usage has blurred the distinction from ‘learned’ but the two terms are quite different.” 

The “tongues of fire” image is courtesy of El Greco. Pentecost – Olga’s Gallery.  See also El Greco … the Spirit is saying.  The post “Happy Birthday, Church” includes explanatory notes about the painting.

Re: Pentecost and barbecue.  That seems to be a tradition, especially in Anglican/Episcopal churches. See Pentecost Praise and Barbecue – anglican-cb.org, and also Pentecost BBQ & Potluck | Christ the Good Shepherd.  Or just Google “barbecue pentecost.”

The lower image is courtesy of Pentecost – Wikipedia, with the caption:  “A Western depiction of the Pentecost, painted by Jean II Restout, 1732.”