Author: newkingjim
More Truth
In following up on my previous comments about truth, let me add here that Jesus had more to say about the subject. In the gospel of John, in chapter 14, Jesus is speaking with the disciples and in answering their questions he makes this statement, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” This statement comes in the middle of several remarks Jesus made at the Last Supper, but he seems to be stating a couple of things here. Just as he later told Pilate, Jesus claims that he is the truth. More than that, Jesus tells the disciples that if they know Him, they also know God. There’s a lot to be unpacked in this section of scripture, but I want to focus on just one thing. In the midst of our chaotic, agenda driven, post truth culture, Jesus is saying that He is the truth. Jesus is also saying that He is God, and so is also saying that the truth is found in God. Many ideas and many people claim to represent the truth, but if their truth is not the truth of God as revealed through Christ, it is NOT the truth. The Apostle John has more to say about that in his first epistle. I’ll look at that another time.
The Truth
For me, 2020 is going down as the year when mankind finally and totally closed the door on intelligent reasoning and unbiased facts. This is the year when post-truth thinking finally conquered the world. Truth no longer has meaning. Truth is whatever people decide it needs to be. Facts are assembled to promote whatever self-created truth we have chosen. Pontius Pilate asked, “What is truth?” Before Pilate asked, Jesus had already answered that question when he said, “For this reason I was born and have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice.”
Revelation Week 4
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Revelation Week 3
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Revelation Week 2
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Here’s the second Revelation class.
Revelation Week 1
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The Cross Lives On
The Ruthwell Cross is a stone Anglo-Saxon cross probably dating from the 8th century. It’s one of the few structures that have survived from that time period. If the top half looks pieced back together, that’s because it was. An angry horde of presbyterians, also known as the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, decided that idolatrous monuments had no place in the country. The top half, containing some Catholic imagery, was destroyed. After 200 years, the pieces were gathered and put back together. Call it an 18th century jigsaw puzzle. The top cross piece was reconstructed.
The close up picture represents Christ as judge and the runic symbols going around him read “Christ was on the cross. Yet / the brave came there from afar / to their lord.” It’s arguable that the words were not part of the original cross design but were added later. What I find interesting in the history of this cross is how it was treated in the same way people treat the Bible. One group of believers found themselves compelled to add to the content of the cross. Another group hated it’s message so much they tried to destroy it. Yet the cross lives on despite these groups. And the Bible will as well..
The Lion and the Man
This is the Lion Man. It is the oldest carved figurine in the history of the world, approximately 35,000 years old. Unless you don’t accept carbon dating. Then your guess is as good as mine. In general, scholars can’t determine if the figurine is a male or a female. Still, they call it Lion “Man” and not Lion Figurine. Or Lion Statue. The scholars also believe that the statue is likely a representation of a god or goddess.
Now, there may actually be older figurines, but either they didn’t survive or they haven’t been found yet. So they don’t count right now. As for the Lion Man, I think he has a special significance for people.
I believe he illustrates that the human obsession with idols goes back as far as the existence of modern humans. The urge to make images of our gods is deeply ingrained within us and helps us understand why God addressed this problem in the 2nd Commandment. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.” That’s not something we think about in this modern era. However, most pastors would quickly point out that modern humans have their own kinds of idols. We don’t carve them anymore. But we print them on special paper that can’t be counterfeited. We idolize singers, actors, and athletes. We become addicted to them. The list goes on. God tells us not to make graven images. He means more than carving little figurines.
Who Made the Gates of Hell?
I’ve posted about some locations on our planet that are labelled as the Gates of Hell. Also, I’ve suggested that the Gates of Hell are easier to find than the Gates of Heaven. Let me finish with one more representation of hell, a sculpture by Rodin.
Rodin created this representation of the gates of hell after being inspired by Dante’s poem, The Inferno. I don’t think many people today are familiar with The Inferno. They may have heard of it, but very few have actually read it. It is not full of action heroes. It does not have romance or comedy. It does not have transporter beams or light sabers. Actually, it’s a very depressing picture of people suffering in hell. I write about the sculpture and the poem because we need to think about hell.
Today’s world doesn’t pay much attention to hell. As the standard argument goes, a good and loving God would never send people to a place of eternal torture. The other side of that argument, though, would say that a good and loving God could never allow evil, sinful, hateful people into a place that is supposed to be free of evil, sin, and hate. It’s a classic problem. How does God solve it? First, he provides a way for sinful people to be cleansed and made holy. Secondly, he gives people the freedom to choose to be cleansed and made holy. Last, he provides a place for people who choose not to be cleansed and made holy. As Dante wrote about the gates:
“Through me the way into the suffering city,
Through me the way to the eternal pain,
Through me the way that runs among the lost.
Justice urged on my high artificer;
My Maker was Divine authority,
The highest Wisdom, and the primal Love.
Before me nothing but eternal things
Were made, and I endure eternally.
Abandon every hope, who enter here.“