The Visibility of the Holy Ghost

The Church did not need X-ray vision on Pentecost, 33 AD.  Have we offended the Holy Spirit that much?

A Statement of the Problem

The nature of the problem is such that I cannot approach it without the severe risk of offending someone or everyone.  However, I have no desire to offend anyone: not Orthodox, not Pentecostal, not Protestant, nor Roman Catholic.  The reality is that I have no solution to the problem.  My hope is that by attempting to state the problem, no matter how crudely I do so, eventually, other, better minds will be drawn into the discussion, refine the problem statement, and find the way through the maze to that unanimous Church decision that resolves every issue and brings peace to the Church and to our world.  The reality of our world is such that such resolution will probably not take place until Christ returns.  Still, we Christians have an obligation to Christ to work at this and make the situation better, until He does come.  The problem is that we do not commonly see the Holy Ghost among us today: on Pentecost, 33 AD that was a conspicuous and undeniable public event.

The Orthodox Claim

Every year, at the Pascal Vigil in Jerusalem, the Orthodox claim that, the officiating priest’s candles are lighted by a miraculous act of God.  This is a celebration of the light of the world, especially in the coming of the Holy Spirit to the Church.  Every Pascal Vigil, and every candlelight service, Orthodox or heterodox, memorializes the coming of this light.  The light then spreads from the officiating priest’s candles, six of them (I believe) to the rest of the whole congregation present.

The problem is that this light does not spread to all the rest of the world, except as a memorial.  I have no reason whatsoever, other than the ordinarily lack of faith that besets us all, to doubt this Orthodox claim, it may very well be true, and I would be overjoyed to prove that it is true.  However, I have no way of substantiating this claim.  No matter how much I wish this claim to be true, I cannot find a way to resolve the issue.  Nor can I find a way to spread this flame to all Christians everywhere around the world.  The presence of the Holy Spirit must be universal, and today, that presence is evidently invisible.

The Pentecostal Claim

Pentecostals, by and large, together with some other groups claim that they retain the gift of ecstatic utterance (speaking in tongues).  There are several problems with this claim, but I cannot say that it is untrue either.  It does bother me that there is much evidence that this practice often seems to be conducted without the controls required by Paul.  What bothers me even more, is the fact that there is no claim for the presence of that Pentecostal Holy Light so visibly obvious on Pentecost, 33 AD.  If this is the manifest gift of the Holy Ghost, why isn’t the Light of His Glory attendant, and why doesn’t it spread to all.  To give everyone the benefit of the doubt, this appears to be a Bath Kol.[1]  I cannot resolve this issue either.

The Protestant Claim

The general Protestant claim is that the Holy Ghost is invisibly given to all Christians.  Most Protestants also believe that the Canon is closed.  Furthermore, there seems to be a suspicion that except for serious exposition of Scripture and careful investigation of the Created Universe, that Bath Kol are mostly impossibilities, the delusions of overactive imaginations.  It would be nice to say that the Canon is closed and the only possible Bath Kol are rational investigations of Scripture and Creation.  This cannot be substantiated either, nor can I resolve the issue.

Many Protestants resolve this tangle by asserting the Spiritual unity of the Church.  I cannot make this wash either.  I am my brother’s keeper.  I am responsible for the physical welfare of other Christians.  As a Christian, together with the whole Church on earth, I am responsible for the physical welfare of non-Christians as well.  I cannot escape this reality.  When I say, “Peace be with you,” to the folks in the next pew, I am vowing the vow of all believer-priests to put away every debt and trespass that I may have with anyone around the world.  When I, “take the cup of salvation,” I’m taking that cup with all of heaven, as well as with every Orthodox, Protestant, and Roman Catholic brother and sister around the world.  When I go forth into society, it is to treat those Orthodox, Protestant, and Roman Catholic brothers and sisters as what they are: namely, my family.

The Roman Catholic Claim

The Roman Catholic Church claims that such authority stems from the Apostolic seat of Peter and Paul, is continued in the Papacy today, and works its way out in the Magisterium of the Church, even though the Holy Ghost is not visible.  I wish I could prove that this were true, it would solve a lot of problems, and I would become a Roman Catholic today.  Here again, I am frustrated by things that I don’t know how to substantiate, and try as I might or wish as I may, I can’t get there from here.  It would help a lot if every Papal Pascal sermon were attended by the evident heavenly light.  I still cannot resolve the issue.

The Reality of Bath Kol

Unfortunately, Bath Kol are an undeniable reality.  While Moses talked with the Glory in the desert, seventy others of the leaders of Israel experienced the presence of the Holy Ghost at the same time.  While Saul was sinning, he fell among the prophets who were not substantiated, and prophesied.  While the Tabernacle prophets recorded the authenticated revelation of God in Scripture, a boy named David was singing songs to God while tending his sheep.  David’s private songs would not be authenticated until later.  When we are overcome by a hymn or a prayer, we are experiencing the mysterious hand of God upon us.  All Christians have this experience.  It is undeniable.  They burst into tears for no rational reason at all.  Their work explodes into marvelous flowers of creativity.  By what right do we conclude that these things are sourced in mere man?  Yet, we habitually fail to give God the credit for these works and we arrogantly claim them as our own.  These are Bath Kol.  They really come from God; they do not belong to us.  However, the wonder of these blessings is extremely private and personal, we have no way of substantiating them, and we will be thought insane if we claim to hear voices.

Verification

Unfortunately, this proves that Scripture is not closed, at least not in the ordinary sense that we speak of Canonization.  God has not stopped speaking.  God has stopped authenticating.  We are left without means of verification because we do not see the Glory of God.

However, the Glory of God will one day be seen again.  “Every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him.”  The lightening will flash across the sky from the east to the west, and around the world.  The Glory of His coming will light up the Universe, and then we will have the resolution to the problem.

Until then, I cannot confess, “We believe in One Holy Catholic[2] and Apostolic Church,” and not do something about it.  I hope that I have done so without offense.  Wherein I have offended, I beg forgiveness.

---

[1] Daughter of Voice, a private or secondary revelation that cannot be authenticated or substantiated and of benefit to the individual recipient(s) only.  Also, an interpretation or serious exposition of Scripture, which is a primary revelation.  It must also be conceded from this concerning observations of the Created Universe, a primary revelation in its own right, that careful investigations of the Universe are Bath Kol as well.

[2] Catholic means Universal, not Roman Catholic, not Orthodox Catholic, only that Heavenly Catholic Church of which all Christians on earth are also members.

My Blood Pressure Hit 118/68 Today

My B/P hit 118/68 today.  My respiration rate hit 58.  How did I do it?  The answer is both simple and surprising.

Many of you know that I had cataract surgery, July 11, 2012, and that the results have been less than spectacular.  The day after the surgery, I felt great and my checkup went well.  However, within a week I developed Insidious Cystoid Macular Edema (Insidious CME: http://www.aao.org/publications/eyenet/200701/ retina.cfm) or retina swelling in my right eye.  This left my vision severely clouded.  Right eye dominance tricked my brain into blurring out the left eye as well.  If I wanted to see anything, I had to close my right eye to turn off the bad signal.  Consequently my research and writing slowed to a crawl.

A few weeks later I was in Sam’s to pick up medications and buy groceries.  They were giving flu shots that day, but I wasn’t paying much attention when I got in line.  It turned out that I was in the line for the Beyer health-monitor-demo, so I accepted the free tests.  My B/P was 197, my BMI was less than perfect, and my glucose level was pushing the limit.  In my typical happy-go-lucky way, I laughed it off, thought nothing of it, and went to the next table to get my flu shot.

At my next eye exam, my right eye glaucoma pressure hit 48.  My eye surgeon gave me some meds on the spot that really knocked me for a loop, but she got my eye pressure within acceptable limits, and sent me home with prescriptions for more new meds.  One of these meds cost $137.77 for a 1.5 ml dropper bottle.  That’s more expensive than gold (not really).  Another cost nearly $200, although the dropper bottle was larger.

This was starting to get my attention.  Eventually, I figured out that maybe, possibly a B/P of 197 had something to do with it, ya think, duh.  So I started a program of research, diet, and exercise and got my B/P into the 175 zone.  By this time I had met with a retina specialist.  He observed that the special expensive eye drops were working, my vision was improving, and if improvement continued I would not need additional retina surgery.  He sent me back to my eye surgeon, and I went to work on my personal lifestyle issues.  I bought a B/P cuff at Sam’s to measure progress.

My diet was no meat, no dairy, no fats, low glycemic index foods only.  This was basically a strict vegan diet or a DASH diet with the top tiers of the pyramid cut completely off.  Before long I discovered that salt was a huge potential factor as well, so I started eliminating salt to below 1500 mg, a very low level.  Basically, I was eating fresh fruit, Cheerios, frozen vegetables, baked white or sweet potatoes, and coffee every day.  I started to exercise too; in fact, I reached nine-miles-a-day on my bicycle.  My B/P was inching down slowly, but remained at an aggravating 175-peak level.  All my research sources assured me that my B/P should be dropping like a rock, but it just wasn’t.  Also, I developed headaches, I’m talking about four and five day headaches that brought me to my knees and put me out of action.  I was also afraid to take too much aspirin because of the risk of hemorrhagic stroke, I’d already had one stroke and didn’t need another one.  I cut my bike rides back to two miles, on those rare days when I could ride at all.

What did I learn.  After over six weeks of strict dieting, I learned that it is entirely possible to suffer from dietary protein and fat deprivation.  As soon as I added half an avocado (no salt) to my daily diet the headaches came under control.  A few days later I started eating one egg a day, fried with one teaspoon of olive oil (no salt).  We’ll see if my cholesterol stays below 200.  Oh, and yes, the results of my blood tests came in, and I went over ever item in detail, looking up recommended limits on the internet, and identifying every problem area.  Within a week I ate some Steelhead trout and cake at a birthday party.  Still there was progress, but with only modest results.  I will never be able, practically, to reach a protein and fat balance on a vegan diet, it will never bring my B/P down, it tastes terrible to a meat-and-potatoes, salt-loving guy, and it’s boring.

Last night I stayed up to three thirty writing and posting on the internet.  My B/P this morning should have gone ballistic, orbital.  I got less than 7 hours of sleep, not nearly enough for a seventy-five-year-old who doesn’t see very well.  I got out of bed, answered the phone, stumbled around for a while, weighed myself, dressed, slid on the B/P cuff, and pressed go.  My B/P averaged 127/68 over three readings with a pulse rate of 60.  Here are the details behind the average 145/65/62, 118/68/58, 118/71/59.

What happened between the first and second readings?  It’s really a simple application of mechanical engineering principles.  Brain and tissue cells need oxygen, they demand minimum levels from the body’s blood-oxygen-respiration system.  The available oxygen depends on the lung-oxygen transfer efficiency.  If that efficiency is at 50% of normal, the blood flow rate has to be twice as fast as it would at a normal lung-oxygen transfer efficiency of 100%.  To get double the flow rate the heart has to kick the pumping pressure up big time.  It’s simple mechanical engineering.

What did I do?  Between the first and second readings, I started taking really deep breaths: slow, steady deep breaths, the kind that make your ribs hurt and your diaphragm threaten to explode .  My B/P dropped over 20 points in seconds, just like a rock.

If you want or need to get your B/P down, my experience is that the first thing you need to do is sit up straight, and teach yourself the habit of correct deep breathing.  You can do this by forcing yourself to take several deep breaths every hour until the practice becomes automatic.  The deep breathing gets oxygen to parts of the lungs that no longer remember what oxygen is; it shakes out the lung capillaries and starts the blood flowing where it hasn’t flowed in years.  As a result, lung-oxygen transfer efficiency jumps way up immediately and the B/P hits the basement right now, seemingly instantly.

I’m not saying that the other stuff didn’t do any good, but I didn’t realize big benefits until I took those deep breaths.

How to get your B/P under control?

·        First, stand up and sit up straight.  Learn to deep breathe correctly.  Slouching over a computer all day long is destroying your lung efficiency and killing you.  I didn’t buy an expensive gadget to learn to breathe correctly again.

·        Next, you can have a good exercise program, and realize all the benefits from that hard work, which otherwise might not be so evident.  The exercise should improve circulation, as well as artery and vein flexibility, along with muscle strength, bone density, general wellbeing, ability to sleep, and a bunch of other things.  However, it won’t necessarily make your lungs more efficient, not without deep breathing.

·        Finally, you can go to work on getting your blood test into line.  Zero meat, dairy, and fat probably won’t work very well for you either.  However, you should now be able to reach comfortable protein and fat levels by working with your doctor and watching your blood tests closely.  This pretty much boils down to a recommendation for the sensible DASH diet.

There is not a single word here about using medications to control B/P.  My bet is that this will fix or prevent Type 2 Diabetes as well.  Ten to one says your cholesterol drops below 200.  I hope my eye gets much better now that my body can support the healing process.  Maybe I can get back to writing more regularly too....  after I take a nap.

Yours,
Herb

Veteran's Day

On the day after Veterans Day, 2012, I would like to pay tribute to all veterans everywhere by remembering the Forty Faithful Soldiers of Sebaste, who accepted the cruel torture and punishment of freezing to death, but who also refused to deny their King.  Many legends have grown from this historic event (ca 320 AD), but the underlying historic truth remains.  Forty Soldiers froze to death at Sebaste, because they refused to deny their King.

 

http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/40MAR.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forty_Martyrs_of_Sebaste

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo2oMlaIDos

http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/301-600/40-martyrs-of-sevaste-11629648.html

Righteous in Your Generation

A response to Righteous in Your Generation

I found this fascinating post on the
Huffington News Religion page: http://www.odysseynetworks.org/news/onscripture-the-torah-righteous-in-your-generation

Righteous in Your Generation is yet another exercise in perverse perspectives.  Adam is styled as the ‘androgynous human.’  Noah ‘“in his time”’ had ‘outstanding righteousness;’ but, ‘in another era, he would not have been worthy of such a complimentary description.’  Rabbi Fendrick continues in her observations with a series of contrasts between Abraham and Noah.  All of these, along with the adjective ‘androgynous’, are without support.  They are arguments from silence.  At this point, we just want to respond, why don’t you simply stick with what the Scripture says, and stop inventing your own pseudo-biblical literature?

However, Rabbi Fendrick must have a point.  What is it?  Does it have validity, even without the support of documentary evidence?  For example, is her point?

‘In every generation, we are called to act.  Individually and collectively, our lives are an ongoing opportunity to discern a path and do work that is of genuine service, to hold fast to and act on our highest values—and to resist apathy and lethargy, avoidance and self-justification.

‘Answering that call is both heroic and human, extraordinary and ordinary.  It is holy work—and it is as simple as the core of what it means to be a human being, an ish or isha, created in God’s image.’

These are ideas that are easily supported from the rest of Scripture, if not from Gensis 6:9-11:32.  These are ideas to which most of us can readily adhere.  Is this Rabbi Fendrick’s point?  Well, No, it is not her point, it is only part of her point, because she goes on to conclude with the following introduction to a concluding poem.

‘In her 1977 poem “Natural Resources”, which connects the struggle to protect the environment with feminism, the late poet Adrienne Rich ends with these words:’

Here is Rabbi Fendrick’s point: ‘to protect the environment with feminism.’  Here is how we are to answer the noble call mentioned above, by feminism.  At this point, we see that Rabbi Fendrick is so incredibly sexist that we can hardly believe our eyes.  In reality, Rabbi Fendrick has been developing this point all along.

Adam is androgynous (an offensive, loaded sexist term), an ish, an earthling.  Woman is even lower, an isha.  All this is true enough (It is a literarily accurate report of the Biblical text.  The Bible does not teach that Eve is lower because she is isha.  That is merely Rabbi Fendrick’s false implication.  The Bible is never sexist.), but it avoids the pertinent fact that the name Eve means Life.  It is true that Adam means dirt.  Eve (Zoe) is not an earthling like Adam, even though she was taken from Adam.  Adam is without a doubt Eve’s leading head, but she alone bears the title of honor.  Why?  Because, only Eve can bear a child.  The Messiah can only come from Eve... from Mary, the second Eve.

Noah’s wife is ‘unnamed.’  Noah’s son’s wives are ‘unnamed.’  Noah is simply ish.  There is no isha.  Is Rabbi Fendrick sowing the idea that Noah is the miserable failure she paints him to be, because he failed to honor his wife, thus indicating his central character flaw.  Rabbi Fendrick would have us believe that Noah is a failure because he is ish, a man.  Women can fix that problem by feminist activism.

Besides denigrating Noah, his wife, their children, and their children’s wives.  Besides demeaning their genuine contribution to the progress and survival of the human race.  Besides belittling the fact that we are what we are by the grace of God.  Besides all this, Rabbi Fendrick promotes a solution that can never work.  Sexism is doomed to failure.  Feminism is doomed to failure.  Only when ish and isha work together cooperatively can the human race find favor with God in obedience to Him.

Am I, as a man, delighted to continue honoring Eve (Zoe) for what she is: namely, Life?  You bet I am!  “Rejoice Mary, full of grace, you are blessed among women (Luke 1:28-45).”

The Necessity of Limited Church Size

No, not harder, impossible. There is a finite number for which one can pray every day.

In a healthy functioning Christian church, a thriving complex of multidimensional relationships exists.  The Triune God alone maintains these without limits of quantity.  He alone fills the dimensions of worship, witness, and works.

We are limited in all of these capacities.  When we come together to be what we are, the Body of Christ in worship, there is a limit to the number of brothers and sisters for whom we can:

·        Exercise the fruit and gifts of the Spirit

·        Effectively pray with and for

·        Earnestly be accountable to

When we go forth to be what we are, the Body of Christ witnessing to a dying world, there is a limit to the number of people that we are able to:

·        Serve bodily, Luke 4:18, James 2:16

·        Supplicate and intercede for realistically

·        Share Christ with honestly and lovingly

When we take up our work to be what we are, the Body of Christ serving all creation, there is a limit to the number of tasks that we are able to:

·        Do correctly and reliably

·        Direct intelligently and wisely

·        Discharge promptly and effectively

That limit varies from person to person, as the Spirit provides strength and direction.

·        I can only be accountable to around seven close friends

·        I can only pray for around one hundred people a day

·        I can minister to many more, randomly on the internet, but the number I actually reach and help is very small.  I would be overwhelmed to know that one person a month came to Christ and started living for Him alone, as a direct result of my ministry to that person.

·        Only in our choral hymnology and liturgical service do we experience anything where size is not a formidable obstacle to serving Christ honestly.

Christ limited Himself to:

·        An inner circle of three

·        A core team of thirteen Apostles, it always was a baker’s dozen

·        A new Sanhedrin of seventy

·        A handful of other faithful men and women friends

When Christ was tempted to receive the mega-church, He repeatedly turned it down (Matthew 4).  He said, “My kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36).”  Only the Heavenly Church (Hebrews 12:22-24), of which we believers are all members, can tolerate unbridled size.  Even that Church is currently less than seven trillion humans strong.

Body Life only functions interactively and dynamically.  We function as a body; we only influence the cells with which we make contact.  Even a red blood cell only contacts one other cell at a time.  When numbers become excessive in size, the genuineness of relationships begin to break down into that which is fake and unreal.  Fake, unreal relationships spawn “said” Christians, not real ones, they spawn cancer cells.

Covenants are not written, they are cut.  The Holy Scripture must be cut into our sinful flesh, so that we are carved into little Christs by the Spirit of the Living God.  If Christ has not bloodied us with His Word, we are none of His.  There are many fraudulent, pretend Christians running around.  However, when Christ lays hold of us, He marks us indelibly.

 

When Christ lays hold of us, He marks us indelibly.

 

It is simply impossible to do this on a mega-scale.

Large churches like First Baptist, Dallas, accomplish this through smaller social groups, these are the real churches.  In this sense churches like First Baptist, Dallas, are not churches at all, but assemblies of many small churches.  I’m using First Baptist, Dallas, as a good example of a large church.

Nevertheless, the mega-church defect is more than one of size.  I have lived long enough to hear every heresy under the sun spouted forth in so-called Christian churches.  The defect is more than one of size.  We are creatures, we are limited.

Yours in Christ,

Herb Swanson aka Augie

Poems Without Which I Can't Live

Daniel Defoe Poems

 

"Wherever God erects, a house of prayer,

The Devil always builds a chapel there:

And 'twill be found upon examination;

The latter has the largest congregation. "

 

 

"Bad as he is, the Devil may be abused,
Be falsely charged, and causelessly accused;
When men, unwilling to be blamed alone,
Shift off the crimes on him,
which are their own."

DaVinci Code 1

The Source of the Question

This is a continuation of a Twitter discussion that is now too large for 140 characters.  The thread so far:

You:

“I saw the DaVinci Code yesterday. Didn't know story beforehand. Got very upset!”

Me:

“It's just a silly story, an outrageous fiction. Don't let it bug you. Too bad many take it for Gospel though. Don’t eat PB. :)”

You:

“Thnks! My son said his hi school library has it & a teacher recommended it to him....”

What is The Da Vinci Code?

For those who are new to our chat The Da Vinci Code is a curious piece of fiction written by Dan Brown.  It exists as both book and movie.  You can check it out for yourself (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Da_Vinci_Code) or read/watch it yourself.  The wiki plot summary is very accurate.

It is not written from a distinctly Christian worldview, but it discloses an interesting thought pattern and some old-wives-fables or urban legends that the gullible are apt to believe.

It is a fantastic (key operative word is fantasy) yarn set in non-Christian, pseudo-Christian lore, and drawing some absurd conclusions.  As a tale, it is harmless.  As a philosophical, theological system that is believed, it is dangerous, devious, evil, and insidious.  Don’t be deceived into taking it at face value.

The author, Dan Brown seems to like and specialize in this genre of literature.  Since many of his ideas are built around intricately woven conspiracy theories, they must be treated as potentially dangerous.

Beyond all our caveats, it’s simply a murder mystery with lots of twists.  It’s a whodunit.  Perhaps not the best whodunit ever penned, but a decent one.  It will keep you guessing, especially since the conclusions have little resemblance to fact.  It does have some literary entertainment value.  It has little or no philosophical, theological, ethical, or moral value.

What Can or Should We Do?

What should we as concerned Christian parents do when we encounter something like this?

This is the heart of Christian Apologetics.  My suggestion is, study it with your child, or whole family, and refute it page by page.  Your church youth group could even tackle this.  Our kids need to learn to think.  Become “wise as the Serpent, but innocent” too.  Don’t be afraid to engage our enemy Satan, so that “by your good works” teachers, even school systems can be won.  Your church pastor can help with this.  Often Christian radio will deal with topics like this: for example, Bible Answer Man, Focus on the Family, and Catholic Answers.  There are Christian experts who specialize in the analysis of such literature, and I’m sure you can find good counsel.  Contact any of the above three sources and they can aim you in the right direction.  Write me back if I didn’t give a sufficient and pastoral answer.

We should support our teachers wherever possible.  The teacher’s point is probably something like this:

·        It’s good literature, well written, and worth learning from.

·        It has excellent opening, attention-grabbing sentences.

·        It builds a plot to a perfect crescendo.

·        It uses unique figures of speech.

·        It’s written from a ubiquitous perspective.

·        It’s an outstanding example of....

·        It has a level of intrigue, not often found.

These are all good things to learn, and we should support the teacher in them.  We don’t necessarily expect the teacher to share our worldview, but we do want to win teachers to Christ.  The teacher may come from a different church background, use words differently, or face other obstacles to communicating and understanding.  We lead the Christian way by putting ourselves in the other person’s shoes.

The student who comes to class with well thought out plot analysis, refutation of logical errors, and a clear understanding of major themes and conclusions will probably have the amazed appreciation of the teacher.

As always, we should arm ourselves with the Bible and prayer.  The Holy Spirit wants to lead us.  Sometimes we resist following.  Reading through the Bible in our primary language will more than arm us for the battle that is won with “gentleness and respect.”  This is what we want our children to witness in our lives and follow.  The price is not so easy; we have to be the real deal.

What’s Wrong with Da Vinci Code?

The opening set involves the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei.  I’m not an expert in these things.  Make friends with Roman Catholics where you can see the blood of Christ in them and they can see the blood of Christ in you.  From this foundation of mutual Christian respect, we hope to find background information about these movements.  On line helps too.  However, it really does take a village, a Christian village.

The Mary Magdalene Connection

The theory that Mary Magdalene is/was wed to Jesus of Nazareth is patent foolishness.  The Da Vinci Code’s stated evidence is that Leonardo da Vinci’s, The Last Supper, shows it.

·        Careful inspection of the painting itself shows that this is more than quite a stretch; it is simply a bit of subjective nonsense.  This is an excellent place to look into factual details about da Vinci’s famous painting: for example, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Supper_(Leonardo_da_Vinci)

·        A late fifteenth century painting has little or nothing to say or prove about a first century historical event.

·        The Bible is a carefully protected first century historic document which says nothing whatsoever about any such possibility.  It is not merely remote, it is non-existent.  It is especially important that there is no Biblical evidence Mary of Magdalene attended the Last Supper; nor is such evidence found in early iconography.

·        This forces the proof onto the idea that da Vinci has secret inside information, but no such information or source is forthcoming.

·        While we may not be experts in Patristic Church history, we are unaware that anything written by the Church Fathers or other credible historic sources supports such an idea.  The burden of proof lies with proponents of The Da Vinci Code to produce real evidence.

·        As it stands, this is nothing more than very subjective and unsubstantiated urban legend.

The Knights Templar Conspiracy

The supposed connection to the Knights Templar is also suspect.  The Templars find their origins in the twelfth (or eleventh) century in close association with Christian pilgrimages and the Crusades.  Pilgrims (see Egeria’s Travels in various translations for the journal of a real pilgrim) visiting the Holy Land had two essential needs: protection from bandits, and places to find food and shelter.  Militant Orders provide “police” escort and protection.  Hospitallers provided hospitality.

Our various national Red Cross organizations have a loose history from the Hospitallers who were permitted to wear the insignia of the Red Cross on their clothing.

I do not know if Militants were granted the right to wear the Red Cross or not.  I do know that the Militants fell into disfavor with and were ultimately discredited by the Roman Catholic Church.

I also know that the principal function of the Fourth Crusade was to sack Constantinople.  Western Crusaders rode their horses down the main aisles of Hagia Sophia (Greek: Holy Wisdom) church.

We reject the Templar connection for much the same reasons that we reject the da Vinci theory.  Twelfth century events have little to say about first century history, there is no evidence, and the whole construct is subjective.

Other Conspiracy Theories

Are the Knights Templar connected through the Illuminati to the Masonic Lodge.  This sort of wild conspiracy theory is sometimes embraced by mislead but sincere, well-meaning Christians.  So what?  Even if such wild conspiracy theories are ever substantiated, what does this prove about the first century?  Absolutely nothing.

We will reserve the argument that the Masonic Lodge does not present a distinctly Christian worldview for another day.  But this has little or nothing to do with establishing any historical connection to the books plot.

Since such conspiracy theories run rampant in American society, wise Christians will learn how to examine them factually, and deal with them prudently.

The one conspiracy that we must take seriously is that we have a real enemy in Satan.  Satan is no figment.  The overthrow of this conspiracy rests on the shed blood of Jesus Christ our Savior.  That is where we must always return our emphasis and focus: namely, on the death and resurrection of Christ.  We Christians need to hear the Gospel preached repeatedly because it is so stabilizing and so comforting.  The world is going to go to Hell no matter what we say or do.  Our job is to pull whatever we can salvage, out of the fire.

Is Da Vinci Code an Attack on the Roman Catholic Church?

If The Da Vinci Code is an attack on the Roman Catholic Church, it is not a very effective one.  We Christians just have bigger fish to fry, for example:

·        Learning to love one another.

·        Learning to speak the same things.

·        Finding out how to become one in the Spirit.

·        We’ve been a shambles since, 1054.  Time to fix it.

Don’t Eat PB

Those familiar with the book will recognize that my joke relates to the murder of the chauffeur who is fed peanuts and dies of anaphylactic shock.  The point is simply this: we can have a lot of fun discovering facts and separating them from fiction.  This can become a real family adventure and a way of pointing to Christian truth.  Those who are well-off might even visit these places and see the evidence first hand.  That my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, could be a real hoot.  We have just scratched the surface, but we hope we got you started.

Yours in Christ,

Herb Swanson aka Augie