Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying "I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord." And again, she bore his brother Abel.
Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions.
And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering He had no regard.
So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
The Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry?--And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is couching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must master it."
Cain said to Abel his brother, "Let us go out to the field."
And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him.
Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?"
He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?"
And the Lord said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth."
Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me this day away from the ground; and from thy face I shall be hidden; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will slay me."
Then the Lord said to him, "Not so! If anyone slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who came upon him should kill him.
Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
December 03, 2008
November 27, 2008
Genesis 3.20->
The man called his wife's name 'Eve', because she was the mother of all living. And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them.
Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil! And now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever!"- -Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.
He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden He placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil! And now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever!"- -Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.
He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden He placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
November 23, 2008
The Human Condition according to Genesis 3.14-19
The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you beyond all cattle; and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."
To the woman, he said, "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you."
And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I said, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.
"In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread til you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. You are dust, and to dust you shall return."
"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."
To the woman, he said, "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you."
And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I said, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.
"In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread til you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. You are dust, and to dust you shall return."
November 18, 2008
Busted! (Genesis 3.8-13
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and the wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?"
And he said, "I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; so I hid myself."
And God said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree which I told you not to eat from?"
The man said, "The woman you gave to keep me company, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate."
Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What have you done?"
The woman said, "The serpent beguiled me, and I ate."
But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?"
And he said, "I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; so I hid myself."
And God said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree which I told you not to eat from?"
The man said, "The woman you gave to keep me company, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate."
Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What have you done?"
The woman said, "The serpent beguiled me, and I ate."
November 13, 2008
Genesis 3.1-8
Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?' "
And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden; neither shall you touch it, lest you die.' "
But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing Good and Evil."
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.
Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.
And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden; neither shall you touch it, lest you die.' "
But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing Good and Evil."
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.
Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.
November 04, 2008
Genesis 2.18->
Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make a suitable helper for him."
So out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man, to see what he would call them.
And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field, but for the man there was no helper fit for him.
So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man He made into a woman and brought her to the man.
Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'Woman' because she was taken out of Man."
Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.
And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.
So out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man, to see what he would call them.
And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field, but for the man there was no helper fit for him.
So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man He made into a woman and brought her to the man.
Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'Woman' because she was taken out of Man."
Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.
And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.
October 30, 2008
Genesis 2.8-17
And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the East, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
And out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food--the Tree of Life also in the midst of the garden, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying: "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat of it you shall die."
And out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food--the Tree of Life also in the midst of the garden, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which flows around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying: "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat of it you shall die."
October 16, 2008
Genesis 2.4-7
These are the generations of the Heavens and the Earth when they were created.
In the day that the Lord God made the Earth and the Heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up--for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the Earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground-- Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
In the day that the Lord God made the Earth and the Heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up--for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the Earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground-- Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
October 13, 2008
Genesis 2.1-3
Thus the Heavens and the Earth were finished, and all the host of them.
And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. So God bless the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation.
And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. So God bless the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation.
October 07, 2008
Now the Trouble Begins (Genesis 1.26->)
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the Earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the Earth."
So God created man in his own image. In the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the Earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the Earth."
And God said, "Behold! I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the Earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.
"And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the Earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food."
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold!--It was very good.
And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
So God created man in his own image. In the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the Earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the Earth."
And God said, "Behold! I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the Earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.
"And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the Earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food."
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold!--It was very good.
And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
September 16, 2008
Life is Too Short
I want to express deep appreciation for the work Forrest has done these last couple of years. But for me life is too short; my time draws near. No more than the hilites, the mountains of scripture seem appropriate for consideration. (Of course my hilites may not be yours.) Feel free to suggest your hilites and put them in your comments.
Northrup Frye in his last years gave a good reference for this concept; he called them types. A type is a passage that will bring forth antitypes in subsequent scriptures. Moses was a type; Jesus an antitype (among many other things). Maybe we could bring up some antitypes for the Garden (the Fall). There are quite a few others in Genesis.
Frye was an ordained minister in Canada, but most famous as a teacher of literature. For several years before he died he worked on a masterpiece in two volumes (The Great Code and Words with Power). Many of us waited for it for years. He finally came forth and went on to the next life.
Northrup Frye in his last years gave a good reference for this concept; he called them types. A type is a passage that will bring forth antitypes in subsequent scriptures. Moses was a type; Jesus an antitype (among many other things). Maybe we could bring up some antitypes for the Garden (the Fall). There are quite a few others in Genesis.
Frye was an ordained minister in Canada, but most famous as a teacher of literature. For several years before he died he worked on a masterpiece in two volumes (The Great Code and Words with Power). Many of us waited for it for years. He finally came forth and went on to the next life.
September 14, 2008
Gensis 1.24-25
And God said, "Let the Earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so.
And God made the beasts of the Earth according to their kinds and the cattle according to their kinds and everything that creeps upon the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
And God made the beasts of the Earth according to their kinds and the cattle according to their kinds and everything that creeps upon the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
September 10, 2008
Genesis 1.20-23
And God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the Earth across the firmament of the Heavens."
So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind.
And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the Earth."
And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind.
And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the Earth."
And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
September 07, 2008
The Flood
Anthony Prete has an interesting discussion of The Flood and God's relations with Noah, and by implication the Israelites, in The Quaker Bible Reader. His argument is that God was not punishing evil people, but rather acting like a potter who simply can't do anything with a blob of clay and returns to the clay pile to get a new one. Like many Quaker and other scholars a primary interest is to refute the idea of the angry God, probably the most common vision of God in our age like most others.
Prete has particular reference to the writers of late Isaiah and quotes in Isaiah 54:7-10, speaking of the days of Noah and its close relationship to the Israelites at and after the Captivity.
The Flood of course is one of the Bible stories familiar to all sorts of people, and I for one feel called to disabuse people of their vision of the angry God in every way possible, primarily by interposing the God of Jesus.
Prete has particular reference to the writers of late Isaiah and quotes in Isaiah 54:7-10, speaking of the days of Noah and its close relationship to the Israelites at and after the Captivity.
The Flood of course is one of the Bible stories familiar to all sorts of people, and I for one feel called to disabuse people of their vision of the angry God in every way possible, primarily by interposing the God of Jesus.
August 21, 2008
Genesis 1.14-19
And God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the Earth." And it was so.
And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the Earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness.
And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the Earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness.
And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
August 15, 2008
Genesis 1.9-13
And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so.
God called the dry land 'Earth,' and the waters that were gathered together he called 'seas'. And God saw that it was good.
And God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, upon the Earth." And it was so.
The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.
God called the dry land 'Earth,' and the waters that were gathered together he called 'seas'. And God saw that it was good.
And God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, upon the Earth." And it was so.
The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.
August 10, 2008
Genesis 1.6-8
And God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so.
And God called the firmament 'Heaven'. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
And God called the firmament 'Heaven'. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
July 30, 2008
Genesis 1.3-5
And God said, "Let there be light!" and there was light.
And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light 'Day,' and the darkness He called 'night'.
And there was morning and there was morning: one day.
And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light 'Day,' and the darkness He called 'night'.
And there was morning and there was morning: one day.
July 22, 2008
Genesis 1.1-2
In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth.
The Earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.
The Earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.
Repetition, Repetition
Okay, I cannot muster the enthusiasm to type out the rest, Revelation 21.9-22.21 (which you may certainly read if you wish) finding it as surly and infected with the spirits of self-righteousness & condemnation as the rest, without much to add except 22.5: "And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they shall reign for ever & ever." {Reign? Over whom? All those bad folks on the outside?
Nuff of that; I think I'll try taking this from the top (Genesis 1 etc) and pray for more participation!!!
Nuff of that; I think I'll try taking this from the top (Genesis 1 etc) and pray for more participation!!!
July 03, 2008
Revelation 21.1-8
Then I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth, for the first Heaven and the first Earth had passed away.
And the sea was no more.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away."
And he who sat upon the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new!" Also he said: "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life without payment.
"He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death."
And the sea was no more.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away."
And he who sat upon the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new!" Also he said: "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life without payment.
"He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death."
June 26, 2008
Revelation 20.11->
Then I saw a great white throne, and him who sat upon it--From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.
And I saw the dead--great and small--standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is the book of life.
And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done.
And the sea gave up the dead in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead in them, and all were judged by what they had done.
Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
This is the second death--the lake of fire--And if any one's name was not found written in the book of life he was thrown into the lake of fire.
And I saw the dead--great and small--standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is the book of life.
And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done.
And the sea gave up the dead in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead in them, and all were judged by what they had done.
Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
This is the second death--the lake of fire--And if any one's name was not found written in the book of life he was thrown into the lake of fire.
June 24, 2008
All Right, So What's a Demon?
Phew! (I must be determined to have some argument here!)
But I have been receiving hints on this question for some time, starting with Wink and the intractability of institutional Policies & Personalities, digging up some wonderful stuff by William Stringfellow, who had a somewhat different bestiary of Powers & Principalities--and a slightly different conception of them. "Paul"--that is, the man who wrote 'Ephesians'--gives us only a hint--And what we see of Palestinian demons in their native habitat, being exorcized by Jesus, is quite a puzzle to a Modern (or "Post-modern," or even to a "Postpost-modern" (mine, for example?) mind.
Okay, a "demon" is something like a subroutine!
That is, it's something like a program a human mind can execute, much as a computer follows a structure of machine instructions.
Since no one has commented yet, let me go into more detail
There are many possible starting points; I like Stephen Gaskin's way of saying that we are all One: that we are all, at some level we don't typically notice, telepathic.
Jung spoke of a "Collective Unconscious"--the sort of mental process people sometimes do without conscious attention, ie in adding two numbers or in locking a door on leaving work--happening equally automatically, without the supervision of any one individual mind, but dealing with vaster questions, whether for a tribe or for a nation or for all sentient beings. (Jung wasn't concerned about postulating any physical structure to carry out such computations, nor need we be. Something connects us, at different levels of coherence, benevolence, universality for different people, much as our physical environment is dense with radio signals, while any one radio receiver will be tuned into one of them at a time. & by analogy, the highest manifestation of God we can relate to would be making a sort of vast background hum connecting it all--to speak muy figuratively, but not allegorically about this!)
So one could think of "a spirit" as a subroutine running on the Collective Unconscious.
The original meaning of "daemon," as we all know, was morally indeterminant. For an ancient Greek this might be anything from a pixie to a god, benevolent or merely dangerous. The first Christians, being Jews and hostile to small-g gods, started with the assumption that the spirits the Greeks knew must be evil beings, rivals for the devotion rightly due to God. But angels, in the Jewish scheme of things, were formerly imagined as much the same sort of entity, whether they were the unruly angels of nations hostile to Israel, or angels properly engaged in their God-given duties.
We first find stories of people possessed by "demons"--Where? In 1st Century Judea, among a pious Jewish population suppressed under the Hellenized power of Rome. Those foreign devils get into native Jews, who suffer conflict because they can neither accept the ways of the Gentiles nor entirely fend them off. And Jesus, somehow, heals the confusion, sending the foreign spirits packing! By his sheer personal authority, in the gospel accounts--but I think those writers were as mystified by how he did it as we today are mystified by the stories themselves!
So what would it mean to torment "the Devil" forever? How does one torment a subroutine, anyhow?
"The Devil" is described as "the god of This World." What world? The world of physical fears & desires, of force & strategems for grabbing what one wants & enjoying all one can get of it. For a dinosaur, this is a perfectly adequate religion. For a human being, not so good!
But that dinosaur-level is the level of moral-ethical development we find in nation-states, corporations, and religious institutions. An institution under the rule of Christ, as Stringfellow imagined, would take no thought for its own perpetuation, merely seek to carry out the will of God even at the risk of bankrupcy! What we see driving a typical human institution is otherwise.
So if that "whatever it takes" spirit were to be displaced by a different spirit, a spirit of loving our brother _as_ ourself... as he is, like it or not!...
But I have been receiving hints on this question for some time, starting with Wink and the intractability of institutional Policies & Personalities, digging up some wonderful stuff by William Stringfellow, who had a somewhat different bestiary of Powers & Principalities--and a slightly different conception of them. "Paul"--that is, the man who wrote 'Ephesians'--gives us only a hint--And what we see of Palestinian demons in their native habitat, being exorcized by Jesus, is quite a puzzle to a Modern (or "Post-modern," or even to a "Postpost-modern" (mine, for example?) mind.
Okay, a "demon" is something like a subroutine!
That is, it's something like a program a human mind can execute, much as a computer follows a structure of machine instructions.
Since no one has commented yet, let me go into more detail
There are many possible starting points; I like Stephen Gaskin's way of saying that we are all One: that we are all, at some level we don't typically notice, telepathic.
Jung spoke of a "Collective Unconscious"--the sort of mental process people sometimes do without conscious attention, ie in adding two numbers or in locking a door on leaving work--happening equally automatically, without the supervision of any one individual mind, but dealing with vaster questions, whether for a tribe or for a nation or for all sentient beings. (Jung wasn't concerned about postulating any physical structure to carry out such computations, nor need we be. Something connects us, at different levels of coherence, benevolence, universality for different people, much as our physical environment is dense with radio signals, while any one radio receiver will be tuned into one of them at a time. & by analogy, the highest manifestation of God we can relate to would be making a sort of vast background hum connecting it all--to speak muy figuratively, but not allegorically about this!)
So one could think of "a spirit" as a subroutine running on the Collective Unconscious.
The original meaning of "daemon," as we all know, was morally indeterminant. For an ancient Greek this might be anything from a pixie to a god, benevolent or merely dangerous. The first Christians, being Jews and hostile to small-g gods, started with the assumption that the spirits the Greeks knew must be evil beings, rivals for the devotion rightly due to God. But angels, in the Jewish scheme of things, were formerly imagined as much the same sort of entity, whether they were the unruly angels of nations hostile to Israel, or angels properly engaged in their God-given duties.
We first find stories of people possessed by "demons"--Where? In 1st Century Judea, among a pious Jewish population suppressed under the Hellenized power of Rome. Those foreign devils get into native Jews, who suffer conflict because they can neither accept the ways of the Gentiles nor entirely fend them off. And Jesus, somehow, heals the confusion, sending the foreign spirits packing! By his sheer personal authority, in the gospel accounts--but I think those writers were as mystified by how he did it as we today are mystified by the stories themselves!
So what would it mean to torment "the Devil" forever? How does one torment a subroutine, anyhow?
"The Devil" is described as "the god of This World." What world? The world of physical fears & desires, of force & strategems for grabbing what one wants & enjoying all one can get of it. For a dinosaur, this is a perfectly adequate religion. For a human being, not so good!
But that dinosaur-level is the level of moral-ethical development we find in nation-states, corporations, and religious institutions. An institution under the rule of Christ, as Stringfellow imagined, would take no thought for its own perpetuation, merely seek to carry out the will of God even at the risk of bankrupcy! What we see driving a typical human institution is otherwise.
So if that "whatever it takes" spirit were to be displaced by a different spirit, a spirit of loving our brother _as_ ourself... as he is, like it or not!...
Revelation 20.4-10
Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom judgment was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and to the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or on their hands. They came to life, and reigned with Christ 1000 years.
The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they shall reign with him 1000 years.
And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be loosed from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the world--that is, Gog and Magog--to gather them for battle; their number is as the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad Earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from Heaven and consumed them. And the Devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet were, and the will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they shall reign with him 1000 years.
And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be loosed from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the world--that is, Gog and Magog--to gather them for battle; their number is as the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad Earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from Heaven and consumed them. And the Devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet were, and the will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
June 19, 2008
Who's This Satan Guy, Anyway?
I loaned out my Walter Wink (who had a highly enlightening chapter on this very question) so I'll need to wing it...
But another source tells me that "a satan" was a sort of political undercover cop for the Persian Empire. Basically, the word translates into English, where we first find it in Job, as "The Accuser." His role there is one of ferreting out disloyalty to God, using entrapment & abuse in his efforts, but with some restraint by God, who knows Job is innocent. Does Job? Where did this "satan" get his anonymous tip? Who fingered Job in the first place? I think it was Job himself, who had not been suffering and wasn't clear in his own mind whether he was "really" devoted to God, or just to the rewards he'd been receiving.
In other words, this accuser seems to depend on our fears for his influence. If we're very young, and haven't had anything too dreadful happen to us, we are paradoxically afraid of the possibility, so much so that we almost "need" some suffering, just as reassurance that it will not destroy us. Hence, I imagine, the appeal of scarey movies, to those who like them.
Anyway, Satan in the 'Old' Testament plays the role of God's enforcer, an angel delegated to probing for & punishing human sinfulness. As we read toward & into the Christian scriptures there's more a sense that this is a spirit exceeding its authority, a prosecutor who as Jesus says, "Always was a liar." That is, the guilt we personify as this spirit is not, and never was, truly deserved.
So here we have this element of our psyche chained up, and restrained by satanic-type torment, for 1000 years, whereupon "he must be loosed for a little while."
Hmmmm.... extremely "Hmmmm!"
But another source tells me that "a satan" was a sort of political undercover cop for the Persian Empire. Basically, the word translates into English, where we first find it in Job, as "The Accuser." His role there is one of ferreting out disloyalty to God, using entrapment & abuse in his efforts, but with some restraint by God, who knows Job is innocent. Does Job? Where did this "satan" get his anonymous tip? Who fingered Job in the first place? I think it was Job himself, who had not been suffering and wasn't clear in his own mind whether he was "really" devoted to God, or just to the rewards he'd been receiving.
In other words, this accuser seems to depend on our fears for his influence. If we're very young, and haven't had anything too dreadful happen to us, we are paradoxically afraid of the possibility, so much so that we almost "need" some suffering, just as reassurance that it will not destroy us. Hence, I imagine, the appeal of scarey movies, to those who like them.
Anyway, Satan in the 'Old' Testament plays the role of God's enforcer, an angel delegated to probing for & punishing human sinfulness. As we read toward & into the Christian scriptures there's more a sense that this is a spirit exceeding its authority, a prosecutor who as Jesus says, "Always was a liar." That is, the guilt we personify as this spirit is not, and never was, truly deserved.
So here we have this element of our psyche chained up, and restrained by satanic-type torment, for 1000 years, whereupon "he must be loosed for a little while."
Hmmmm.... extremely "Hmmmm!"
Revelation 20.1-3
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain.
And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is The Devil, called Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years were ended. After that he must be loosed for a little while.
And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is The Devil, called Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years were ended. After that he must be loosed for a little while.
Revelation 19.17->
Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven, "Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great!"
And I saw the beast and the kings of the Earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who sits upon the horse and against his army.
And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had worked the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur. And the rest were slain by the sword of him who sits upon the horse, the sword that issues from his mouth, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.
And I saw the beast and the kings of the Earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who sits upon the horse and against his army.
And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had worked the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur. And the rest were slain by the sword of him who sits upon the horse, the sword that issues from his mouth, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.
June 12, 2008
Revelation 19.11-16
Then I saw Heaven opened, and behold: A white horse!
He who sat upon it was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
His eyes flamed like fire, and on his head were many diadems.
Written upon him was a name known to none but himself.
He is clad in a robe drenched in blood.
He was called The Word of God.
And the armies of Heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, clean and shining.
From his mouth there went a sharp sword with which to smite the nations; for he it is who shall rule them with an iron rod, and tread the winepress of the wrath and retribution of God the sovereign Lord. On his robe and on his thigh there was written the name: "King of Kings and Lord of Lords."
He who sat upon it was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
His eyes flamed like fire, and on his head were many diadems.
Written upon him was a name known to none but himself.
He is clad in a robe drenched in blood.
He was called The Word of God.
And the armies of Heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, clean and shining.
From his mouth there went a sharp sword with which to smite the nations; for he it is who shall rule them with an iron rod, and tread the winepress of the wrath and retribution of God the sovereign Lord. On his robe and on his thigh there was written the name: "King of Kings and Lord of Lords."
June 10, 2008
Revelation 19.6-10
Again I heard what sounded like a vast crowd, like the noise of rushing water and deep roars of thunder, and they cried: "Hallelujah! The Lord our God, sovereign over all, has entered on his reign!
"Exult and shout for joy and do him homage, for the wedding-day of the Lamb has come! His bride has made herself ready, and for her dress she has been given fine linen, clean and shining." (Now the fine linen signifies the righteous deeds of God's people.)
Then the angel said to me, "Write this: 'Happy are those who are invited to the wedding-supper of the Lamb!' " And he added, "These are the very words of God.!
At this I fell at his knees to worship him. But he said to me, "No, not that! I am but a fellow-servant with you and your brothers who bear testimony to Jesus. It is God you must worship. Those who bear testimony to Jesus are inspired like the prophets."
"Exult and shout for joy and do him homage, for the wedding-day of the Lamb has come! His bride has made herself ready, and for her dress she has been given fine linen, clean and shining." (Now the fine linen signifies the righteous deeds of God's people.)
Then the angel said to me, "Write this: 'Happy are those who are invited to the wedding-supper of the Lamb!' " And he added, "These are the very words of God.!
At this I fell at his knees to worship him. But he said to me, "No, not that! I am but a fellow-servant with you and your brothers who bear testimony to Jesus. It is God you must worship. Those who bear testimony to Jesus are inspired like the prophets."
May 25, 2008
Revelation 19.1-5
After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in Heaven, crying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for His judgments are true and just; He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the Earth with her fornication, and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants."
Once more they cried, "Hallelujah! The smoke from her burning goes up for ever and ever."
And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God who is seated on the Throne, saying "Amen, Hallelujah!"
And from the Throne came a voice crying, "Praise our God, all you His servants, you who fear Him, small and great!"
Once more they cried, "Hallelujah! The smoke from her burning goes up for ever and ever."
And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God who is seated on the Throne, saying "Amen, Hallelujah!"
And from the Throne came a voice crying, "Praise our God, all you His servants, you who fear Him, small and great!"
May 14, 2008
Lamentation
This is the nation possessed by Coyote!
This is the nation that's gnawed off three legs
and is still in the trap and
wonders what trap you're talking about.
This is the nation that
took the loot to the drive-in
and spent it right away and
thinks that's an alibi.
This is the nation that insists
it didn't do it
and you can't prove a thing.
Alas, Babylon!
It's been fun!
This is the nation that's gnawed off three legs
and is still in the trap and
wonders what trap you're talking about.
This is the nation that
took the loot to the drive-in
and spent it right away and
thinks that's an alibi.
This is the nation that insists
it didn't do it
and you can't prove a thing.
Alas, Babylon!
It's been fun!
May 08, 2008
And Now The Part We've All Been Waiting For
Revelation 18:
After this I saw another angel coming down from Heaven, having great authority; and the Earth was made bright with his splendor. And he called out in a mighty voice:
Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
It has become a dwelling place of demons,
a haunt of every foul spirit,
a haunt of every foul and hateful bird;
for all nations have drunk the wine of her impure passion
and the kings of the Earth have committed fornication with her,
and the merchants of the Earth have grown rich with the wealth of her wantonness.
Then I heard another voice from Heaven, saying:
Come out of her, my people,
lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
for her sins are heaped up high as Heaven
and God has remembered her iniquities.
Render to her as she herself has rendered,
and repay her double for her deeds;
mix a double draught for her in the cup she mixed.
As she glorified herself and played the wanton,
so give her a like measure of torment and mourning.
Since in her heart she says, 'A Queen I sit!
I am no widow; mourning I shall never see!'
so shall her plagues come in a single day--
pestilence and mourning and famine--
and she shall be burned with fire,
for mighty is the Lord God
who judges her.
And the kings of the Earth, who committed fornication and were wanton with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning. They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say:
Alas! Alas! thou great city,
thou mighty city, Babylon!
In one hour has thy judgement come.
And the merchants of the Earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo any more, cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses, and chariots, and slaves--that is, human souls!
The fruit for which thy soul longed
has gone from thee, and all thy dainties and thy splendor
are lost to thee, never to be found again!
The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud:
Alas, alas, for the great city
that was clothed in fine linen,
in purple and scarlet,
bedecked with gold, with jewels and with pearls!
In one hour all this wealth has been laid waste!
And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning: "What city was like the great city!?"
And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out:
Alas, alas for the great city
where all who had ships at sea
grew rich by her wealth!
In one hour she has been laid waste!
Rejoice over her, o Heaven,
o saints and apostles and prophets
for God has given judgment for you
against her!
Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and threw it down into the sea, saying:
So shall Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence
and shall be found no more;
and the sound of harpers and minstrels,
of flute players and trumpeters
shall be heard in thee no more;
and a craftsman of any craft
be found in thee no more;
and the voice of bridegroom and bride
shall be heard in thee no more;
for thy merchants were the great men of the Earth;
and all nations were deceived by thy sorcery.
And in her was found
the blood of prophets and saints
and of all who have been slain on Earth.
After this I saw another angel coming down from Heaven, having great authority; and the Earth was made bright with his splendor. And he called out in a mighty voice:
Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
It has become a dwelling place of demons,
a haunt of every foul spirit,
a haunt of every foul and hateful bird;
for all nations have drunk the wine of her impure passion
and the kings of the Earth have committed fornication with her,
and the merchants of the Earth have grown rich with the wealth of her wantonness.
Then I heard another voice from Heaven, saying:
Come out of her, my people,
lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
for her sins are heaped up high as Heaven
and God has remembered her iniquities.
Render to her as she herself has rendered,
and repay her double for her deeds;
mix a double draught for her in the cup she mixed.
As she glorified herself and played the wanton,
so give her a like measure of torment and mourning.
Since in her heart she says, 'A Queen I sit!
I am no widow; mourning I shall never see!'
so shall her plagues come in a single day--
pestilence and mourning and famine--
and she shall be burned with fire,
for mighty is the Lord God
who judges her.
And the kings of the Earth, who committed fornication and were wanton with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning. They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say:
Alas! Alas! thou great city,
thou mighty city, Babylon!
In one hour has thy judgement come.
And the merchants of the Earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo any more, cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses, and chariots, and slaves--that is, human souls!
The fruit for which thy soul longed
has gone from thee, and all thy dainties and thy splendor
are lost to thee, never to be found again!
The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud:
Alas, alas, for the great city
that was clothed in fine linen,
in purple and scarlet,
bedecked with gold, with jewels and with pearls!
In one hour all this wealth has been laid waste!
And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning: "What city was like the great city!?"
And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out:
Alas, alas for the great city
where all who had ships at sea
grew rich by her wealth!
In one hour she has been laid waste!
Rejoice over her, o Heaven,
o saints and apostles and prophets
for God has given judgment for you
against her!
Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and threw it down into the sea, saying:
So shall Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence
and shall be found no more;
and the sound of harpers and minstrels,
of flute players and trumpeters
shall be heard in thee no more;
and a craftsman of any craft
be found in thee no more;
and the voice of bridegroom and bride
shall be heard in thee no more;
for thy merchants were the great men of the Earth;
and all nations were deceived by thy sorcery.
And in her was found
the blood of prophets and saints
and of all who have been slain on Earth.
May 06, 2008
Revelation 17.15->
And he said to me, "The waters that you saw, where the harlot is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the harlot; they will make her desolate and devour her flesh and burn her to ashes, for God has put it into their hearts to carry out His purpose by making common cause and giving over their royal power to the beast, until all the words of God shall be fulfilled. And tthe woman that you see is the great city which has dominion over the kings of the Earth."
April 25, 2008
More To This...
That last passage pretty much reduced me to bewilderment.
However, it makes a little more sense as translated in the New English version, in which our king who was, and is not, and is to climb out of the bottomless pit on its way to perdition... becomes one who has died, vanished that is into the pit of nonexistence, but will be resurrected to Get His as of the Judgment.
According to Malina & Pilch's _Social Science Commentary_ it makes lots of sense in astrological terms, ie as Jupiter, = Baal/Adonis, who "annually disappears during the dry season, only to emerge with the autumn rains," his reappearance being a marvel to "his devotees, that is those persons not listed in the scroll of life 'from the foundation of the world.' Those listed in the scroll of life are not astonished, since they know the God of Israel who raised Jesus from the dead is in charge."
There's also a mention of a mysterious eighth planet, the Ogdoad, for whatever that may be worth. It "marks completion, fullness, totality." A website I just meandered through describes this as like an eighth note to the scale that is somehow a recurrance of the first. In any event "...The destruction of the cosmic Sea Beast marks completion of whatever process is going on."
The significance for the writer is not just what's in the astrological sky, but what that implies for God's doings on Earth. We're getting not just allegory about his contemporary rulers, but an impression of something archetypal, a How Things Are in a wider sense. Thus Malina&Pilch see this whole section (back through the Plagues) as being about the Flood & its aftermath. "The link with the pre-Flood period is the founder of Babel/Babylon, Nimrod, a post-Flood giant." They quote the Targums about Nimrod as "'a man mighty in sin and in rebellion against the Lord on the Earth'.... "And thus began Babel's harlotry, a code word for blasphemous idolatry."
Anyway, the upshoot of all this is a vision of Venus, patron diety of Babylon in the Hellenistic period, female both as an evening star, and as a personification of a city. Her Canaanite version, Anatu, was a fierce war goddess, appropriately called "drunk with blood" as was commonly said of conquerers (God in at least one passage) as the protective diety of Babylon. Her cup, raised in a toast, was a common depiction of dieties bestowing their blessings, and the "abominations" associated with it "of course were essential elements in the worship" of that goddess.
Can we take "Babylon" as code for "Rome," as Jews of this period were known to diplomatically put their opinion of that city? Probably, but the fact that this can resonate in my mind with "Washington" is another sign that we're talking about a recurring theme.
There are differences. In their chapter 'The Ancient City', Malina & Plilch say:
"It is difficult, if not impossible, for most modern Bible readers to understand what the ancient city was. The reason... is that Euro-American society is a global society, rooted in urbanized countries. The ancient world was always rural, and ancient cities were ruralized central places.... The first century Mediterranean civitas or polis... was really a large, central place in which properly pedigreed, well-born farmers and ranchers displayed and employed their unbelievable wealth in competition for honor among each other. Largeholders... found it in their interests to live near other largeholders in central places that likewise provided them with organized force (an army) to protect their interests from the vast masses of other persons....
"Imperial central cities were always characterized by violence against the surrounding majority from whom elites sought to extract taxes. This was a subsistence economy, so there was no surplus. All taxes were a form of extortion. No taxes ever really benefitted the taxed population. The Roman architectural contribution revealing the city's dedication to violence against the outgroup was the amphitheater--a structure built solely for the ingroup's enjoyment of physical pain, torture, mutilation and death of the outgroup..."
Another difference, even from Rome, is that a "Greco-Roman City" was differently conceived by its inhabitants than a "Middle Eastern City" like Babylon or Jerusalem. A Greco-Roman city was founded by a hero or group of heros, by marking off its territory. Deities, though they belonged in the picture, might be invoked, but the public liturgies would honor exemplary citizens. Residents were held together by a contractual set of legally binding duties, their taxes were for the benefit of the city elite and the purpose of it all was "the well-being of the citizenry."
A Middle Eastern city would be founded by a diety, by the establishment of the appropriate temple. "Political religion is dependent on the diety taking up residence at a given place with his chosen servants... "Residents are those dedicated to the deity, that is, servants of the deity and slaves of the deity, with the king as main representative and (son) servant of the diety." Government was theocratic, for the well-being of the central deity.
It seems to me that in Jerusalem you had a Middle-Eastern city with a compassionate and ethical diety, concerned for the well-being of the inhabitants. The city elite liked the Greco-Roman idea of it all being for their benefit--but to the pious and the not-so-elite the more humanistic concept was intrinsically blasphemous, especially when the rulers of Rome took up deification as an alternate way of combining the two urban concepts.
And us, today? Back to Babel with Greco-Roman ideology. A plague of microNimbrods. Courts of "due process." "For the people" long translated to "government of the non-elite, by the elite, now shamelessly for the elite." Public projects carried out by people who know they can't perform their supposed function. A vast secular priesthood devoted to instilling the worship of material wealth and destructive power. Elimination of any place for a subsistence existence--that much difference from "the Ancient City"--but the defacto difference may be roughly that between being a chicken in a traditional chicken yard, and living in a nice modern cage facility.
However, it makes a little more sense as translated in the New English version, in which our king who was, and is not, and is to climb out of the bottomless pit on its way to perdition... becomes one who has died, vanished that is into the pit of nonexistence, but will be resurrected to Get His as of the Judgment.
According to Malina & Pilch's _Social Science Commentary_ it makes lots of sense in astrological terms, ie as Jupiter, = Baal/Adonis, who "annually disappears during the dry season, only to emerge with the autumn rains," his reappearance being a marvel to "his devotees, that is those persons not listed in the scroll of life 'from the foundation of the world.' Those listed in the scroll of life are not astonished, since they know the God of Israel who raised Jesus from the dead is in charge."
There's also a mention of a mysterious eighth planet, the Ogdoad, for whatever that may be worth. It "marks completion, fullness, totality." A website I just meandered through describes this as like an eighth note to the scale that is somehow a recurrance of the first. In any event "...The destruction of the cosmic Sea Beast marks completion of whatever process is going on."
The significance for the writer is not just what's in the astrological sky, but what that implies for God's doings on Earth. We're getting not just allegory about his contemporary rulers, but an impression of something archetypal, a How Things Are in a wider sense. Thus Malina&Pilch see this whole section (back through the Plagues) as being about the Flood & its aftermath. "The link with the pre-Flood period is the founder of Babel/Babylon, Nimrod, a post-Flood giant." They quote the Targums about Nimrod as "'a man mighty in sin and in rebellion against the Lord on the Earth'.... "And thus began Babel's harlotry, a code word for blasphemous idolatry."
Anyway, the upshoot of all this is a vision of Venus, patron diety of Babylon in the Hellenistic period, female both as an evening star, and as a personification of a city. Her Canaanite version, Anatu, was a fierce war goddess, appropriately called "drunk with blood" as was commonly said of conquerers (God in at least one passage) as the protective diety of Babylon. Her cup, raised in a toast, was a common depiction of dieties bestowing their blessings, and the "abominations" associated with it "of course were essential elements in the worship" of that goddess.
Can we take "Babylon" as code for "Rome," as Jews of this period were known to diplomatically put their opinion of that city? Probably, but the fact that this can resonate in my mind with "Washington" is another sign that we're talking about a recurring theme.
There are differences. In their chapter 'The Ancient City', Malina & Plilch say:
"It is difficult, if not impossible, for most modern Bible readers to understand what the ancient city was. The reason... is that Euro-American society is a global society, rooted in urbanized countries. The ancient world was always rural, and ancient cities were ruralized central places.... The first century Mediterranean civitas or polis... was really a large, central place in which properly pedigreed, well-born farmers and ranchers displayed and employed their unbelievable wealth in competition for honor among each other. Largeholders... found it in their interests to live near other largeholders in central places that likewise provided them with organized force (an army) to protect their interests from the vast masses of other persons....
"Imperial central cities were always characterized by violence against the surrounding majority from whom elites sought to extract taxes. This was a subsistence economy, so there was no surplus. All taxes were a form of extortion. No taxes ever really benefitted the taxed population. The Roman architectural contribution revealing the city's dedication to violence against the outgroup was the amphitheater--a structure built solely for the ingroup's enjoyment of physical pain, torture, mutilation and death of the outgroup..."
Another difference, even from Rome, is that a "Greco-Roman City" was differently conceived by its inhabitants than a "Middle Eastern City" like Babylon or Jerusalem. A Greco-Roman city was founded by a hero or group of heros, by marking off its territory. Deities, though they belonged in the picture, might be invoked, but the public liturgies would honor exemplary citizens. Residents were held together by a contractual set of legally binding duties, their taxes were for the benefit of the city elite and the purpose of it all was "the well-being of the citizenry."
A Middle Eastern city would be founded by a diety, by the establishment of the appropriate temple. "Political religion is dependent on the diety taking up residence at a given place with his chosen servants... "Residents are those dedicated to the deity, that is, servants of the deity and slaves of the deity, with the king as main representative and (son) servant of the diety." Government was theocratic, for the well-being of the central deity.
It seems to me that in Jerusalem you had a Middle-Eastern city with a compassionate and ethical diety, concerned for the well-being of the inhabitants. The city elite liked the Greco-Roman idea of it all being for their benefit--but to the pious and the not-so-elite the more humanistic concept was intrinsically blasphemous, especially when the rulers of Rome took up deification as an alternate way of combining the two urban concepts.
And us, today? Back to Babel with Greco-Roman ideology. A plague of microNimbrods. Courts of "due process." "For the people" long translated to "government of the non-elite, by the elite, now shamelessly for the elite." Public projects carried out by people who know they can't perform their supposed function. A vast secular priesthood devoted to instilling the worship of material wealth and destructive power. Elimination of any place for a subsistence existence--that much difference from "the Ancient City"--but the defacto difference may be roughly that between being a chicken in a traditional chicken yard, and living in a nice modern cage facility.
April 24, 2008
Revelation 17.7-14
When I saw her I marveled greatly.
But the angel said to me, "Why marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her.
"The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is to ascend from the bottomless pit and got to perdition. And the dwellers on Earth whose names have not been written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, will marvel to behold the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.
"This calls for a mind with wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen. One is, the other has not yet come, and when he comes he must remain only a little while.
"As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to perdition. And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast.
"These are of one mind, and give over their power and authority to the beast. They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of Lords and King of Kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.
But the angel said to me, "Why marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her.
"The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is to ascend from the bottomless pit and got to perdition. And the dwellers on Earth whose names have not been written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, will marvel to behold the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.
"This calls for a mind with wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen. One is, the other has not yet come, and when he comes he must remain only a little while.
"As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to perdition. And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast.
"These are of one mind, and give over their power and authority to the beast. They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of Lords and King of Kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.
April 19, 2008
Revelation 17.1-6
Then one of the angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who is seated upon many waters, with whom the kings of the Earth have committed fornication, and with the wine of whose fornication the dwellers on Earth have become drunk."
And he carried me away in spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and bedecked with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication, and on her forehead was written a name of great mystery: "Babylon the Great, Mother of Harlots and of Earth's Abominations."
And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
And he carried me away in spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and bedecked with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication, and on her forehead was written a name of great mystery: "Babylon the Great, Mother of Harlots and of Earth's Abominations."
And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
April 17, 2008
Revelation 17.17->
The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the Temple, from the Throne, saying, "It is done!"
And there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such had never been since men were on the Earth, so great was that earthquake. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell--and God remembered great Babylon, to make her drain the cup of the fury of His wrath.
And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found! And great hailstones, heavy as a hundredweight, dropped on men from heaven, till men cursed God for the plague of the hail, so fearful was that plague.
And there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such had never been since men were on the Earth, so great was that earthquake. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell--and God remembered great Babylon, to make her drain the cup of the fury of His wrath.
And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found! And great hailstones, heavy as a hundredweight, dropped on men from heaven, till men cursed God for the plague of the hail, so fearful was that plague.
April 12, 2008
Revelation 16.12-16
The sixth angel poured his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the East.
And I saw, issuing from the mouth of the Dragon and from the mouth of the Beast and from the mouth of the false prophet, three foul spirits like frogs--for they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great Day of God the Almighty. ("Lo, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is he who is awake, keeping his garments that he may not go naked and be seen exposed.!")
And they assembled them at the place which is called in Hebrew 'Armageddon.'
And I saw, issuing from the mouth of the Dragon and from the mouth of the Beast and from the mouth of the false prophet, three foul spirits like frogs--for they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great Day of God the Almighty. ("Lo, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is he who is awake, keeping his garments that he may not go naked and be seen exposed.!")
And they assembled them at the place which is called in Hebrew 'Armageddon.'
April 02, 2008
Revelation 16.2-11
So the first angel went and poured his bowl on the Earth, and foul & evil sores came upon the men who bore the mark of the beast and worshipped its image.
The second angel poured his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a dead man, and every living thing died that was in the sea.
The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of water, and they became blood. And I heard the Angel of Water say, "Just art Thou in these Thy judgements, Thou who art and wast, o Holy One! For men have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and Thou hast given them blood to drink! It is their due."
And I heard the altar cry, "Yea, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are Thy judgments!"
The fourth angel poured his bowl on the Sun, and it was allowed to scorch men with fire; men were scorched by the fierce heat; and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues--but they did not repent and give Him glory.
The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was in darkness; men gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of Heaven for their pain and sores, but did not repent of their deeds.
The second angel poured his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a dead man, and every living thing died that was in the sea.
The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of water, and they became blood. And I heard the Angel of Water say, "Just art Thou in these Thy judgements, Thou who art and wast, o Holy One! For men have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and Thou hast given them blood to drink! It is their due."
And I heard the altar cry, "Yea, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are Thy judgments!"
The fourth angel poured his bowl on the Sun, and it was allowed to scorch men with fire; men were scorched by the fierce heat; and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues--but they did not repent and give Him glory.
The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was in darkness; men gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of Heaven for their pain and sores, but did not repent of their deeds.
March 27, 2008
Revelation 15.4-16.1
After this I looked, and the Temple of the Tent of Witness in Heaven was opened, and out of the Temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, robed in pure bright linen, and their breasts girded with golden girdles.
And one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives for ever and ever, and the Temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power, and no one could enter the Temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended.
Then I heard a loud voice from the Temple telling the seven angels, "Go and pour out on the Earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God."
And one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives for ever and ever, and the Temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power, and no one could enter the Temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended.
Then I heard a loud voice from the Temple telling the seven angels, "Go and pour out on the Earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God."
March 14, 2008
Revelation 15.2-4
And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands.
And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying:
Great and wonderful are thy deeds,
O Lord God Almighty!
Just and true are your ways,
O King of the ages!
Who shall not fear and glorify they name, O Lord?
For thou alone are holy.
All nations shall come and worship thee,
for thy judgements have been revealed.
And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying:
Great and wonderful are thy deeds,
O Lord God Almighty!
Just and true are your ways,
O King of the ages!
Who shall not fear and glorify they name, O Lord?
For thou alone are holy.
All nations shall come and worship thee,
for thy judgements have been revealed.
March 13, 2008
Revelation 15.1
Then I saw another great portent in heaven, great and wonderful, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is ended.
March 10, 2008
Revelation 14.17->
And another angel came out of the Temple in Heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. Then another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has power over fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one with the sharp sickle, "Put in your sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the Earth, for its grapes are ripe."
So the angel swung his sickle on the Earth and gathered the vintage of the Earth, and threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God.
And the the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press, as high as a horse's bridle, for one thousand six hundred miles.
So the angel swung his sickle on the Earth and gathered the vintage of the Earth, and threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God.
And the the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press, as high as a horse's bridle, for one thousand six hundred miles.
March 08, 2008
Revelation 14.13-16
And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord henceforth"
"Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them."
Then I looked, and lo, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of Adam with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat upon the cloud, "Put in your sickle and reap, for the harvest of the Earth is fully ripe." So he who sat upon the cloud swung his sickle on the Earth, and the Earth was reaped.
"Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them."
Then I looked, and lo, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of Adam with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat upon the cloud, "Put in your sickle and reap, for the harvest of the Earth is fully ripe." So he who sat upon the cloud swung his sickle on the Earth, and the Earth was reaped.
March 06, 2008
Revelation 13.9-12
And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If any one worships the beast and its image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also shall drink the wine of God's wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and he shall be tormented with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever; and they have no rest, day or night, these worshippers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name."
Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
February 20, 2008
Revelation 14.8
Another angel, a second, followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of her impure passion."
January 21, 2008
Revelation 14.6-7
Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on Earth, to every nation and tribe and tongue and people, and he said with a loud voice:
"Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgement has come;
worship him who made Heaven and Earth, the sea and the fountains of water."
"Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgement has come;
worship him who made Heaven and Earth, the sea and the fountains of water."
Revelation 14.1-5
Then I looked, and on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him were 144,000 who had his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads.
I heard a sound from Heaven like the noise of running water and the deep roar of thunder; it was the sound of harpers playing on their harps. There before the throne, and the four living creatures and the elders, they were singing a new song.
That song no one could learn except the 144,000, who alone from the whole world had been ransomed.
These are men who did not defile themselves with women, for they are chaste; it is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been ransomed as the firstfruits of humanity for God and the Lamb. No lie was found on their lips; they are faultless.
I heard a sound from Heaven like the noise of running water and the deep roar of thunder; it was the sound of harpers playing on their harps. There before the throne, and the four living creatures and the elders, they were singing a new song.
That song no one could learn except the 144,000, who alone from the whole world had been ransomed.
These are men who did not defile themselves with women, for they are chaste; it is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been ransomed as the firstfruits of humanity for God and the Lamb. No lie was found on their lips; they are faultless.
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