 |
| Benbulbin, Northern Ireland (trekearth.com) |
Preface
This article was originally published on Blogger, 2008-10-22. Even though it was kind of a one-off article for me, according to Blogger statistics, it has for years had the most all-time pageviews on this website. I will edit and revise this article for an entry on academia.edu, 2024-01-20.
Historian Cairns states that the Black Death in 1348-49 took away about 1/3 of the persons in Europe with a painful death. Cairns (1981: 248).
Edited portions according to:
Doc Player.net
History Boise State
Edited portions according to:
Doc Player.net
History Boise State
Black Death: ORB
History of Western Civilization
E.L. Skip Knox
Boise State University
The Black Death serves as a convenient divider between the central and the late Middle Ages. The changes between the two periods are numerous; they include the introduction of gunpowder, increased importance of cities, economic and demographic crises, political dislocation and realignment, and powerful new currents in culture and religion. Overall, the later Middle Ages are usually characterized as a period of crisis and trouble. The portrait should not be painted unrelievedly bleak, but the tone is accurate enough and echoes voices from the era itself.
The Black Death did not cause the crisis, for evidence of the changes can be seen well before 1347. But the plague exacerbated problems and added new ones, and the tone of crisis is graver in the second half than in the first half of the century. Standing at the century's mid-point, the plague serves as a convenient demarcation.
The Black Death erupted in the Gobi Desert in the late 1320s. No one really knows why. The plague bacillus was alive and active long before that; indeed Europe itself had suffered an epidemic in the 6th century. But the disease had lain relatively dormant in the succeeding centuries. We know that the climate of Earth began to cool in the 14th century, and perhaps this so-called little Ice Age had something to do with it.
The plague moved along the caravan routes toward the West. By 1345 the plague was on the lower Volga River. By 1346 it was in the Caucasus and the Crimea. By 1347 it was in Constantinople.
It hit Alexandria in the autumn of that year, and by spring 1348, a thousand people a day were dying there. In Cairo the count was seven times that.
The disease travelled by ship as readily as by land—more readily—and it was no sooner in the eastern Mediterranean than it was in the western end as well. Already in 1347, the plague had hit Sicily.
What was this disease? Bubonic plague is the medical term. It is a bacillus, an organism, most usually carried by rodents. Fleas infest the animal (rats, but other rodents as well), and these fleas move freely over to human hosts.
The flea then regurgitates the blood from the rat into the human, infecting the human. The rat dies. The human dies. The flea's stomach gets blocked and it eventually dies of starvation. It's a grim disease for everyone.
Symptoms include high fevers and aching limbs and vomiting of blood. Most characteristic is a swelling of the lymph nodes. These glands can be found in the neck, armpits and groin. The swelling protrudes and is easily visible; its blackish coloring gives the disease its name: the Black Death.
The swellings continue to expand until they eventually burst, with death following soon after. The whole process, from first symptoms of fever and aches, to final expiration, lasts only three or four days. The swiftness of the disease, the terrible pain, the grotesque appearance of the victims, all served to make the plague especially terrifying.
Bubonic plague is usually fatal, though not inevitably so. Today, we have drugs that can cure it, if administered in time. But if the victim is already at risk, through malnutrition or other illness, it is more deadly. There were plenty of people in the 1340s who were at risk.
Even so, historians have been hard pressed to explain the extraordinary mortality of the 1348 outbreak. Our best guess is that there was more than one variety of plague at work in Europe.
There are two other varieties of plague: septicaemic plague, which attacks the blood, and pneumonic plague, which attacks the lungs. The latter is especially dangerous as it can be transmitted through the air. Both these two are nearly 100% fatal.
It seems likely that some form of pneumonic plague was at work alongside the bubonic plague in those awful years. But the many accounts we have describe mainly the bubonic form. The next two pages are two contemporary accounts of the plague. (Please check link)
Contrary to what you might think, the reaction from public officials, and from many churchmen, was that this calamity was not the vengeance of God upon a sinful world but was a disease. Authorities took what steps they could to deal with it, but of course their effectiveness was limited.
When the government acts to prevent or control a calamity, but the calamity persists, people turn to other cures. Many believed that the disease was transmitted upon the air, probably because the smell from the dead and dying was so awful. So, the living turned to scents to ward off the deadly vapors.
One of the worst effects of the plague was that it came not once, but over and over. It was never as bad as the first instance. In some cases the plague was as virulent but it was more limited in geographic scope. A couple of times it covered Europe again, but not with such devastation.
It was this recurrence that so reduced the population of Europe, as countries never really had the chance to recover properly before another outbreak would occur. All through the second half of the fourteenth century, every generation was visited by the plague. It struck again and again in the 15th century, but less frequently.
Those were the worst centuries, but there were local epidemics for another two hundred years. Parts of Europe did not recover their pre-plague population until the 17th century.
New World Encyclopedia: Black Death
History of Western Civilization
E.L. Skip Knox
Boise State University
The Black Death serves as a convenient divider between the central and the late Middle Ages. The changes between the two periods are numerous; they include the introduction of gunpowder, increased importance of cities, economic and demographic crises, political dislocation and realignment, and powerful new currents in culture and religion. Overall, the later Middle Ages are usually characterized as a period of crisis and trouble. The portrait should not be painted unrelievedly bleak, but the tone is accurate enough and echoes voices from the era itself.
The Black Death did not cause the crisis, for evidence of the changes can be seen well before 1347. But the plague exacerbated problems and added new ones, and the tone of crisis is graver in the second half than in the first half of the century. Standing at the century's mid-point, the plague serves as a convenient demarcation.
The Black Death erupted in the Gobi Desert in the late 1320s. No one really knows why. The plague bacillus was alive and active long before that; indeed Europe itself had suffered an epidemic in the 6th century. But the disease had lain relatively dormant in the succeeding centuries. We know that the climate of Earth began to cool in the 14th century, and perhaps this so-called little Ice Age had something to do with it.
The plague moved along the caravan routes toward the West. By 1345 the plague was on the lower Volga River. By 1346 it was in the Caucasus and the Crimea. By 1347 it was in Constantinople.
It hit Alexandria in the autumn of that year, and by spring 1348, a thousand people a day were dying there. In Cairo the count was seven times that.
The disease travelled by ship as readily as by land—more readily—and it was no sooner in the eastern Mediterranean than it was in the western end as well. Already in 1347, the plague had hit Sicily.
What was this disease? Bubonic plague is the medical term. It is a bacillus, an organism, most usually carried by rodents. Fleas infest the animal (rats, but other rodents as well), and these fleas move freely over to human hosts.
The flea then regurgitates the blood from the rat into the human, infecting the human. The rat dies. The human dies. The flea's stomach gets blocked and it eventually dies of starvation. It's a grim disease for everyone.
Symptoms include high fevers and aching limbs and vomiting of blood. Most characteristic is a swelling of the lymph nodes. These glands can be found in the neck, armpits and groin. The swelling protrudes and is easily visible; its blackish coloring gives the disease its name: the Black Death.
The swellings continue to expand until they eventually burst, with death following soon after. The whole process, from first symptoms of fever and aches, to final expiration, lasts only three or four days. The swiftness of the disease, the terrible pain, the grotesque appearance of the victims, all served to make the plague especially terrifying.
Bubonic plague is usually fatal, though not inevitably so. Today, we have drugs that can cure it, if administered in time. But if the victim is already at risk, through malnutrition or other illness, it is more deadly. There were plenty of people in the 1340s who were at risk.
Even so, historians have been hard pressed to explain the extraordinary mortality of the 1348 outbreak. Our best guess is that there was more than one variety of plague at work in Europe.
There are two other varieties of plague: septicaemic plague, which attacks the blood, and pneumonic plague, which attacks the lungs. The latter is especially dangerous as it can be transmitted through the air. Both these two are nearly 100% fatal.
It seems likely that some form of pneumonic plague was at work alongside the bubonic plague in those awful years. But the many accounts we have describe mainly the bubonic form. The next two pages are two contemporary accounts of the plague. (Please check link)
Contrary to what you might think, the reaction from public officials, and from many churchmen, was that this calamity was not the vengeance of God upon a sinful world but was a disease. Authorities took what steps they could to deal with it, but of course their effectiveness was limited.
When the government acts to prevent or control a calamity, but the calamity persists, people turn to other cures. Many believed that the disease was transmitted upon the air, probably because the smell from the dead and dying was so awful. So, the living turned to scents to ward off the deadly vapors.
One of the worst effects of the plague was that it came not once, but over and over. It was never as bad as the first instance. In some cases the plague was as virulent but it was more limited in geographic scope. A couple of times it covered Europe again, but not with such devastation.
It was this recurrence that so reduced the population of Europe, as countries never really had the chance to recover properly before another outbreak would occur. All through the second half of the fourteenth century, every generation was visited by the plague. It struck again and again in the 15th century, but less frequently.
Those were the worst centuries, but there were local epidemics for another two hundred years. Parts of Europe did not recover their pre-plague population until the 17th century.
New World Encyclopedia: Black Death
This is a new source for the 2024-01-20 article revision, as the second source I had used previously no longer has a link.
Cited excerpts
The Black Death, also known as the Black Plague, was a devastating pandemic that first struck Europe in the mid-late-fourteenth century (1347–1351), killing between one-third and two-thirds of Europe's population. Almost simultaneous epidemics occurred across large portions of Asia and the Middle East, indicating that the European outbreak was actually part of a multi-regional pandemic. Including Middle Eastern lands, India, and China the Black Death killed at least 75 million people. The same disease is thought to have returned to Europe every generation with varying degrees of intensity and fatality until the 1700s. Notable later outbreaks include the Italian Plague of 1629–1631, the Great Plague of London (1665–1666), the Great Plague of Vienna (1679), the Great Plague of Marseille (1720–1722), and the 1771 plague in Moscow. The disease was completely eradicated in Europe only at the beginning of the nineteenth century, but survives in other parts of the world such as Central and Oriental Africa, Madagascar, Asia, and the Americas— including the United States. The initial fourteenth century European event was called the "Great Mortality" by contemporary writers and, with later outbreaks, became known as the "Black Death." It has been popularly thought that the name came from a striking symptom of the disease, called acral necrosis, in which sufferers' skin would blacken due to subdermal hemorrhages.
References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees
Appleby, Andrew B. “The Disappearance of the Plague: A Continuing Puzzle.” Economic History Review 33(2) (1980): 161-173.
BBC. Black Death and Plague “Not Linked.” Retrieved September 3, 2019.
Boccaccio, Giovanni. The Decameron. NY: Penguin, 2003. ISBN 0140449302
Deaux, George. The Black Death 1347. New York: Weybright and Talley, 1969. ISBN 0241015146
Derr, Mark. "New Theories Link Black Death to Ebola-Like Virus." New York Times. Science Section. October 2, 2001.
Dols, Michael W. The Black Death in the Middle East. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University, 1977. ISBN 069103107X
Gottfried, Robert S. The Black Death. New York: The Free, 1983. ISBN 0029123704
Herlihy, David. The Black Death and the Transformation of the West. Cambridge: Harvard University, 1997. ISBN 0674076133
Ibeji, Dr. Mike. Black Death. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities. Plague and Public Health in Renaissance Europe. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
Kelly, John. The Great Mortality, an Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time. NY: HarperCollins Publisher In., 2005. ISBN 0060006927
Kreis, Steven. Satan Triumphant: The Black Death. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
Marks, Geoffrey. The Medieval Plague: The Black Death of the Middle Ages. New York; Doubleday, 1971. ISBN 0385006306
McNeill, William H. Plagues and People. New York: Anchor Books, 1976. ISBN 0385121229
The Middle Ages. The Black Death: Bubonic Plague. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
Myadel. Eastern Europe Plagues and Epidemics 1300-1918. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
Petrarch. The Portable Petrach. NY: Penguin, 2005. ISBN 0142437840
Physorg.com. Biologists discover why 10% of Europeans are safe from HIV infection. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
Scott, Susan, and Duncan, Christopher. Return of the Black Death: The World's Greatest Serial Killer. West Sussex; John Wiley and Sons, 2004. ASIN B000PY4534 B000PY4534
Slack, Paul. “The Disappearance of the Plague: An Alternative View.” Economic History Review. 34(3) (1981): 469-476.
Urban Legends Reference Pages. Ring around the Rosie. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
Velendzas MD, Demetres. CBRNE-Plague. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
Ziegler, Phillip. Black Death. NY: HarperPerennial, 1971. ISBN 0061315508
Opine
Quote
Contrary to what you might think, the reaction from public officials, and from many churchmen, was that this calamity was not the vengeance of God upon a sinful world but was a disease. Authorities took what steps they could to deal with it, but of course their effectiveness was limited.
Without direct knowledge of God's plans, I would not opine that problems of evil such as the Black Death are primarily a result of God's vengeance. The Church exists in a sinful, fallen, corrupt creation. A sinful, tainted Church is Biblically consistent with human corruption described in Romans 3. All humans beings have sinned and fall short of the glory of God as in Romans 3: 23. People will die as sinful (Romans 6: 23), the salvific work of Christ, for everlasting life, the only remedy, post-mortem.
Cairns explains that medieval church history went from 590-1517 Cairns. (1981: 163). He notes that church-state relations were very important in this era and a distinct Western Civilization emerged from both Christian and classical foundations. Cairns (1981: 165). Cultural Christianity was the norm in the 14th Century in Western Europe. A church-state reality means that is difficult to measure how many people in existence were actually biblical Christians, trusting in the applied atoning and resurrection work of Jesus Christ for justification and sanctification in salvation.
Jesus stated in regard to knowing God in Matthew 7:13-14, that few persons enter by the narrow gate, and the wide and broad way of destruction is found by many. William Barclay points out, that Luke 13:24 is presenting a similar idea which may have come from the same original source, but reached the author of Luke from a different tradition. Barclay (1975: 97). In Luke, Jesus explains that many will strive to enter by the narrow gate, but shall not be able to. Barclay (1975: 97).
I reason that a society of cultural Christianity in a fallen world does not necessarily and likely produce a society where most of the citizens are actually Biblical Christians. Only God himself can provide election/salvation as he wills (Romans, Ephesians). Christ noted that few found salvation and so I can reasonably conclude election to salvation is also given to few.
BARCLAY, WILLIAM (1975) Introduction to the First Three Gospels, Philadelphia, The Westminster Press.
BRUCE, F.F. (1987) Romans, Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
CAIRNS, EARLE E. (1981) Christianity Through The Centuries, Grand Rapids, Zondervan Publishing House.
CAIRNS, EARLE E. (1981) Christianity Through The Centuries, Grand Rapids, Zondervan Publishing House.
CALVIN, JOHN (1539)(1998) The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book II, Translated by Henry Beveridge, Grand Rapids, The Christian Classic Ethereal Library, Wheaton College.
CALVIN, JOHN (1539)(1998) The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book IV, Translated by Henry Beveridge, Grand Rapids, The Christian Classic Ethereal Library, Wheaton College.
CALVIN, JOHN (1543)(1996) The Bondage and Liberation of the Will, Translated by G.I. Davies, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House.
COAD, F. ROY (1986) ‘Galatians’, in F.F. Bruce (gen.ed.), The International Bible Commentary, Grand Rapids, Marshall Pickering/ Zondervan.
COURSON, JON (2005) Application Commentary, Thomas Nelson, Nashville.
CRANFIELD, C.E.B. (1992) Romans: A Shorter Commentary, Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
DUNNETT, WALTER M. (2001) Exploring The New Testament, Wheaton, Crossway Books.
ELWELL, WALTER AND YARBROUGH, ROBERT W., Third Edition (2013) Encountering The New Testament, Grand Rapids, Baker Academic.
ERICKSON, MILLARD (1994) Christian Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House.
FOULKES, FRANCIS (1989) Ephesians, Grand Rapids, Inter-Varsity Press.
FRANCE, R.T. (1985) Matthew, Grand Rapids, IVP, Eerdmans.
ELLISON, H.L. (1986) ‘Matthew’, in F.F. Bruce (ed.), The International Bible Commentary, Grand Rapids, Zondervan.
ERICKSON, MILLARD (1994) Christian Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House.
GUNDRY, ROBERT (1981) A Survey of the New Testament, Grand Rapids, Zondervan.
HARPUR, GEORGE (1986) Ephesians in The International Bible Commentary, Grand Rapids, Zondervan.
HOEHNER, HAROLD, ThD, PhD (1985) The Epistle To The Romans, Institute of Theological Studies.
MOUNCE, ROBERT H. (1995) The New American Commentary: Romans, Nashville, Broadman & Holman Publishers.
SCHRECK, ALAN (1984) Catholic and Christian, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Servant Books.
SHEDD, WILLIAM G.T. (1874-1890)(1980) Dogmatic Theology, Volume 1, Nashville, Thomas Nelson Publishers.
SHEDD, WILLIAM G.T. (1874-1890)(1980) Dogmatic Theology, Volume 2, Nashville, Thomas Nelson Publishers.
WHALE, J.S. (1958) Christian Doctrine, Glasgow, Fontana Books.
That B&W image of the banner and guy on the palette/bed is interesting.
ReplyDeleteI like that photo of the statue of Jesus. An interesting angle, and the city lights add to it.
Question: Why do you suppose that people generally tend to think of the Middle Ages as a time of ignorance, stupidity and superstition? Or, why do they refer to it as the Dark Ages?
(My guess is that, because the Catholic Church was largely in control during that time, it is due to the trend in our society to attack anything that has to do with Christianity.)
Cheers, Jeff.
ReplyDeleteThe Time Concord Desk Encyclopedia suggests the Dark Ages represent a general term for centuries of decline in Europe c500-1000 AD. This took place after the Roman Empire. There was instability and a view that classical culture was prohibited although some classical culture was preserved by Monks. Concord (1982: 354)
The same text calls the Middle Ages from roughly the 5th to 15th centuries AD, and so not identical to the Dark Ages. Concord (1982: 806).
Cairns explains that medieval church history went from 590-1517. Cairns (1981: 163).
THE CONCORD DESK ENCYCLOPEDIA (1982) New York, Concord Reference Books, Inc, Time.
Interesting article, Russ. And I quite agree with your assessment that it is inconsistent with the presence of the Spirit for a Christian to "persecute" anyone. The Kingdom of God is a Kingdom defined by love. We don't love perfectly, of course; but love is what constrains us as the Spirit works to conform us into the image of our Lord.
ReplyDeleteI'm visiting here tonight on my new 24" iMac! I've been a PC guy all of my life and now I have to learn a Mac. Of course, I wasn't really very knowledgeable of the PC to begin with, but now I have to try to figure out this monster! :-)
I'll try to keep up with you guys, but I may be a little sporadic as I spend my time going through all the tutorials.
Catch 'ya later!
GGM
Thanks, GGM.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your support, and even when we do disagree, which is not often, you are so nice about it.
I agree with your assessment.
I own a UMAX Mac clone from 1996 along with my PCs from 2000, 2004, and 2008. I play older games on them. I fear that once my next computer does not have XP I may not be able to play my older games even with compatibility mode for Windows 98. I appear to be able to still play most games from 1998 on with my PCs and 1995 on with my UMAX.
Jason, I can totally understand being wrapped up with computer issues. I have been there.
My blogging time is bound to become less as I work in the future with theology for an actual paycheque in either publishing or academics...imagine that, being paid for doing theology.
God bless you with computer work, ministry and family.
Russ:)
Tonight they had a show that talked about the Black Plague on TV! Shortly after I visited your blog! How weird is that! It was called "The Battle For The Bible" and was not even on a Christian station...weird.
ReplyDeleteGGM said:
I'm visiting here tonight on my new 24" iMac!
Congrats, Jason! I ONLY used a Mac for years, and was in a Mac Users Group. At home I use a PC now, but at work I still use a Mac. I have worked at a couple companies that ditched all their Macs for PCs. Even when I was in that Mac Users Group years ago, the leader of the group switched over to a PC---TRAITOR! Macs were superior in the past, but they are more expensive.
Thanks, Jeff.
ReplyDeleteI basically let my thekingpin68 and satire and theology article ideas come to me through life experience, reading and listening, but it is good to do some historical pieces.
I am glad it came to me because I personally find learning history and relating it to theology quite helpful.
Russ:)
Interesting article. That bout of the Black death, was seen by Wycliffe, as a judgement of God, for at that time a banishing of the Word of God. (by the papacy.) The judgement he saw it as, was in large part what sparked the work of his life and the seeds of the Reformation being sown by him, at least 200 years before the Reformation proper. Good coming from evil no doubt, but it had already wiped out half of the population.
ReplyDeleteIt's also interesting to note that in the Black death a while later of 1665, that it was immediately followed by the Great Fire of London. The fire of course, wiped the plague out, and was about the only thing that could do so at that time. Yet there is little doubt, that the Great Fire was also a judgment of God. Like most of God's great judgments it started on a Sabbath day. But it's also more evidence, of how God uses evil and calamities for our good, even if it throws us into chaos and great affliction as the Great fire did the people of London, yet it also burned out the Plague that was in London again at that time which could have wrought much more damage than the fire did long term if it hadn't have died in the Great Fire.
Thanks Deejay, for the historical perspective. I am sure followers and non-followers of Christ alike died in the Black Death/Plague and so I do not want to speculate on specific punishment for non-belief. On the other hand all of us are under a curse being in a fallen world as sinners that will suffer and die.
ReplyDeleteGod will use this evil in the process of culminating his Kingdom.
Russ:)
Today we don't have the Black Plague, but we do have AIDs, and it is epidemic, especially among homosexuals, as well as in places such as Africa and other places.
ReplyDeleteIn light of the fact that Canada has socialized medicine, high taxes and legalized gay marriage, I find it ironic that their currency includes loonies and toonies.
Of course, in the U.S., with San Francisco and Hollywood being the way they are, maybe California should be nicknamed the "Looney Tunes" state.
Thanks, Jeff.
ReplyDeleteI think God's judgment is inevitable in stages and as final.
Of course we all die and face judgment, either in or outside of the saving work of Christ.
Russ:)
Hello Russ,
ReplyDeleteGreat post Russ. I enjoyed reading it.
But, I can state as conclusion that any persecution of Jewish persons at that time by true or false Christians would be in disobedience to the commands of Christ. Christ’s Kingdom (John 18:36) was and is not of this world (system) and Christ's teaching would not lead one to mistreat a neigbour as a scapegoat in times of great trouble.
Amen to that!
The pictures were great!
Thanks, Tamela!
ReplyDeleteHave a good weekend.
Russ:)
Earlier this morning at around midnight my friend Saint Chucklins and I, before he drove home, went on a walk in the rain just to cool off after practicing a little martial arts in my apartment.
ReplyDeleteDuring the walk we saw a white van and he slowed down slightly to have a look at us, I looked back at the van as I am aware walking at any time, especially late at night. I saw that the van stated something along the lines of RCMP citizen's patrol on its side. It was not a police van.
Around 5 minutes later the van drove by us again and made a very distinct stop and the older guy in the driver's side gave us a very dirty look, and I gave him a stern look back as if to say I live around here and have walked these streets for 6 years! My thoughts were there is no curfew here and I have done security at the Fraserview Village Hall for weddings and at my building (when alarm goes off) where I live and so I am known and trusted.
I thought, do your job, but do not try to intimidate me. He seemed out of line.
He then drove to the other side of the road crossing the street where my building address is located and sat at the stop sign with his lights on in his van. It was as if he was waiting for my friend and me to come out of my building as we went inside. I stayed inside and Chucklins was going home.
Outside my back window I saw the van drive east on the secondary side street where my building is located.
I then called Chuck on his cell and he stated that when he went to his car the man from the van was outside his van reasonably close to my friend's car as if he was spying on him. The guy briefly said something to Howard and Chuck E. Chucklins said something back and got in his car and went home.
Now, to me this is intimidation! Was this man going to attack (pepper spray or whatever) my friend or I, hypothetically, if one of us did not live at my building and we were troublemakers?
I emailed the RCMP via Maple Ridge website concerning 'Inspector Clouseau'. It looked like a national email address but I hope they had enough sense to forward it to the Maple Ridge RCMP.
Basically I stated that I am looking to avoid confrontation but the guy was intimidating us and being stupid. He needs to realize that there are young persons that live in the Fraserview (seniors) area with parent (s) full-time and/or on the weekends.
If he continues with his Macho geezer ways he could end up getting his butt kicked by someone a lot less understanding that me and be to blame at and that same time.
He has to be careful intimidating persons at or near their place of residence late at night...his assumptions are wrong and potentially deadly.
I stated to the RCMP, what was he going to do out of his vehicle if Chucky Saint Divine or I did not live there? Pepper spray us something?
He is cruising for a bruising by someone a lot less understanding than me.
Russ:)
I've got to say it, Russ, that writer did not check their sources too awful well, to say the least. To claim that the Church took away the Jews' civil rights in the early 4th Century is right in line with the the Da Vinci Code cow biscuits. First, the Church was in no position to grant or deny anyone's "civil rights," and only a Roman citizen had anything like what we call civil rights today, Jew, Gentile, or French. I wonder how many other gaps one might find in that bit of "scholarship" given the time to do the checking that student apparently neglected.
ReplyDeleteJeff, the term "Dark Ages" refers to the death of scholarship that pervaded over all of Europe after the libraries were destroyed when the old Roman Empire collapsed. Similar to what we seem to be anticipating now. At that time the Irish Church got all they could of the books and scrolls, and became the guardians of what survived of ancient history and scholarship, and it was Irish missionaries who spread the Gospel and built colleges and universities through Europe before the Roman Church recovered enough to start spreading. If not for the "Isle of Saints and Scholars" the world would have a much different face even today!
they refused to accept the Gospel in place of Mosaic law. In the early 4th century, the Church denied Jews their civil rights.
ReplyDeleteThat is a good point, Robert. If civil rights were denied they would be done by the state and not by the Church.
Historians were quoted, but of course they do use opinion and history is often debatable.
I explained the Dark Ages to Jeff as well in a comment. I realized it was different than the Middle Ages from seminary if not Bible school.
Russ:)
I love the picture of the shark. The LDS are not allowed to drink coffee according to the Word of Wisdom. So I suppose that could be a form of "black death". Funny slogan, would you like cream and sugar in your cup of black death? For me I take and black and strong as possible. Rick b
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rick.
ReplyDeleteInteresting perspective.
Well, time for my coffee.
Russ:)
I found this post to be very interesting and informative. I loved the pics and so did my three boys. Especially the cat! :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Preacherman.
ReplyDeleteHappy Sunday evening.
I am grateful for the citizen volunteers who do spend their free time doing police patrols in our communites, but intimidation is not practical policing, it could lead to problems such as the ones that you point to in your article.
ReplyDeleteWalk in peace my friend!
-Deputy Fife-
Correction:
ReplyDeleteIf he continues with his Macho geezer ways he could end up getting his butt kicked by someone a lot less understanding than me and be to blame at and that same time.
I believe I read many years ago that, although the LDS church refrains from coffee, tea, tobacco and alcoholic beverages, that Utah (the Mormon capital) had the highest per capita consumption rate of chocolate of all the states in the U.S. If I remember correctly, they also had the highest consumption rate for candy in general. But I don't know whether this is still the case or not.
ReplyDeleteHowever, whether or not this is still true, I know for a fact that Mormons do indeed eat chocolate, because I have seen some of them doing so.
Interestingly, chocolate does actually contain smaller amounts of caffeine (and caffeine is the very reason why the LDS church does not drink coffee or tea, because of it being a drug). One ounce of milk chocolate has about the same amount of caffeine as an average cup of decaffeinated coffee. So yes, its not that much, but still enough to worry about if you're allergic or very sensitive. The darker the chocolate, of course, the higher the caffeine content -- but you'd still have to eat an eight-ounce bar of semi-sweet chocolate to get anywhere near the caffeination of a cup of real coffee.
However, in addition to caffeine, chocolate also contains a bitter alkaloid called theobromine, a cousin of caffeine and, like caffeine, a stimulant. In fact, the presence of theobromine is what makes chocolate poisonous to pets, especially dogs.
So, even though the LDS takes pride in avoiding coffee and tea, and in doing so, takes pride in claiming to abstain from drugs, they are actually consuming the very same drug they are claiming to avoid, whenever they eat chocolate, in addition to another drug as well. So therefore, their so-called 'high morality' (which is actually legalism) when it comes to abstaining from drugs is bogus.
Some of this info is from:
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art1261.asp
Those are good points, Jeff.
ReplyDeleteCheers.
Russ:)
The RCMP emailed me back stating they will look into the matter, appreciate my support and that the citizens patrol has no right to intimidate residents. The Sgt. gave me his number to call anytime. My Dad was on citizens patrol in Penticton and quit because of the 'wanna be cops'.
ReplyDeleteObama is a cold calculating liberal democrat that I reason takes the pro-choice stance in order to be elected.
Edward Kennedy used to be pro-life, but then the political climate changed...
Article I found, below:
Kennedy was pro-life
A TALE OF 2 TEDDIES
Pro-choice Kennedy
was pro-life in 1971
Democrat believed humans have right to be born from moment of conception
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: August 03, 2005
9:00 pm Eastern
© 2008 WorldNetDaily.com
Sen. Edward Kennedy on Life magazine in January 1965
The issue of abortion is expected to take center stage during the upcoming confirmation hearings for John Roberts, President Bush's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court.
And one of the key questioners of Roberts will be Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
While many today regard the Democrat as a champion for abortion rights, the senator, who is Catholic, apparently held a staunch pro-life view before the Roe v. Wade decision in 1972.
In 1971, Tom Dennelly of Great Neck, N.Y., wrote to Kennedy expressing his personal views on abortion.
Kennedy responded to Dennelly, writing: (note: letter is on PDF format)
"While the deep concern of a woman bearing an unwanted child merits consideration and sympathy, it is my personal feeling that the legalization of abortion on demand is not in accordance with the value which our civilization places on human life. Wanted or unwanted, I believe that human life, even at its earliest stages, has certain rights which must be recognized – the right to be born, the right to love, the right to grow old.
"On the question of the individual's freedom of choice there are easily available birth-control methods and information which women may employ to prevent or postpone pregnancy. But once life has begun, no matter at what stage of growth, it is my belief that termination should not be decided merely by desire. ...
"When history looks back to this era it should recognize this generation as one which cared about human beings enough to halt the practice of war, to provide a decent living for every family, and to fulfill its responsibility to its children from the very moment of conception."
"The same Ted Kennedy who once championed the rights of the unborn now champions the right of a doctor to jam a scissor into the skull of an infant who is 80-percent born," said William Donohue, president of the Catholic League. "Sadly for him, history will look back at this era and recognize that he didn't care enough about human beings to take responsibility for children from the very moment of conception."
Kennedy was in the news recently for another apparent flip flop.
The senator has been vocal about Roberts, saying the federal judge "will be expected to answer fully" any questions about his views on controversial issues; but the Democrat sang a different tune in 1967, when he noted that candidates should "defer any comments" on such matters.
CNSNews.com reports it obtained 38-year-old film footage of Kennedy, who was responding to a question about senators grilling Thurgood Marshall about how he might rule in future cases should he be on the nation's highest court.
"We have to respect that any nominee to the Supreme Court would have to defer any comments on any matters, which are either before the court or very likely to be before the court," Kennedy said during the 1967 press conference. "This has been a procedure which has been followed in the past and is one which I think is based upon sound legal precedent."
But on July 20 of this year, Kennedy delivered a speech on the floor of the Senate in which he seemed to contradict the notion of deferring any comments, saying that senators "must not fail in our duty to the American people to responsibly examine Judge Roberts' legal views."
"Because Judge Roberts has written relatively few opinions in his brief tenure as a judge, his views on a wide variety of vital issues are still unknown," Kennedy stated. "What little we know about his views and values lends even greater importance and urgency to his responsibility to provide the Senate and the American people with clear answers."
Russ, in Canada and the US, we are beginning to see the result of a people who presume to disallow the very One Who, in every aspect, does hold all things together. The US has a radical NDP marxist-socialist on the way to the White House at a time when he would be in position, considering the state of the Congress and Supreme Court, to affect a complete coup, overthrowing even the most basic respect for parents, ethics, morality, human life, or even a shred of one's own innate sense of decency; all in perfect sync with an education monopoly that disallows any law but its own current whims. In short, a direct route back to the bush paganism of the stone ages. Hail, Brave New World? To quote a recently-departed rocker, "Why don't ya look into Jesus? He's got the answer!"
ReplyDeleteFYI: The NDP is the New Democratic Party in Canada and in the Provinces.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Robert, there is a rejection, and likely growing rejection of Christianity in the Western world.
We need to do the following among other things:
Pray for reformation/revival for the Christian Church, and for personal guidance/filling from the Holy Spirit.
Realistically live with our majority non-Christian neighbours in practical and political terms. We cannot force Christian morality or even more so, Christian belief on our neigbours, but we must with love hold firm to our Christian values and seek justice.
We need to make sure our right to exist publicly as Biblical Christian churches remains. If liberal churches become by far the norm, governments and courts may view Biblical Christianity as cultic and undeserving of protection under the law.
Cheers,
Russ:)
Obama's stance on abortion is not the thing that really bothers me about him, although he has said that, if elected, he will work to remove any and all laws that still exist that are against any type of abortion at all, including removing any type of permission that anyone has to get in order to have an abortion.
ReplyDeleteWhat bothers me far more are things like the fact that he has said he will disarm all nuclear weapons in the U.S., coupled with the fact that he has ties to Muslims and relatives who are Muslims, and he has expressed much sympathy for Muslim nations. Muslim nations are very much hoping that he will be elected. What this could possibly lead to is anyone's guess, but I don't even want to guess the worst scenario.
Some people are calling him the Messiah. Others are calling him The One. Many Christians are calling him the AntiChrist. I'm not sure if I would go that far, but I don't believe that we have ever had a President in the U.S. that even approached what could possibly happen if Obama becomes President. Even if the worst fears about him don't come true, and he is merely another liberal, I still think he will be the worst U.S. President in history if elected. Of course, that's only a guess, but I have never seen anything written about any prior President or candidate that compares to the things that people are saying about him. Couple that with the global financial crisis, and the idea that a world leader might not be too far down the line, and I'm not so sure that those who say he could be the AntiChrist are so far off. Of course, others have been saying for years that the Pope is the AntiChrist, and that the Roman Catholic Church is the great whore in Revelation, but none of us really knows for sure.
And, though events seem to be speeding up and looking more and more (to me and to many others) like we are at the brink of the Last Days, nothing even close to those things mentioned in Revelation during the Great Tribulation have occurred yet. Then again, could it be that they are only a few years away?
Thanks, Jeff.
ReplyDeleteLiberal democrats like Obama and the Clintons do not strike me as overly ideological philosophical politicians. I see the antichrist as very ideological and philosophical as in wanting to honour and proclaim his father and dishonour God and Christ as God. By the way, I watched the ending of Omen III early this morning. I had watched the first two when I was a child and was curious how this dog ended as I had read years ago Damien gets his butt kicked finally. They are not good movies in many ways, but at the end of III it was good to see Christ prevail. On a pragmatic point, what a stupid marketing move it was having within the movie babies killed to supposedly prevent the birth of the Messiah for the second time. No wonder the movie tanked. It was sickening as Damien has Boy Scouts for example, help his cause. Christ comes back as the God-man.
In my mind, if Obama and the Democrats do push forward an increasingly anti-God liberal agenda it is not primarily overly philosophical, but because they are good at reading public mood and providing what will get them votes. True conservatives are more philosophical and will state that some things are not good for the masses, even when they are wanted.
Many liberal democrats will likely primarily deny what I am stating, but I think the best of them are masters of political pragmatism and correctness.
That is my take.
Kissing the badge.
ReplyDeleteThis is a controversy in the UK at present.
Funny:
Kissing the badge
Russ,
ReplyDeleteI see the antichrist as very ideological and philosophical as in wanting to honour and proclaim his father and dishonour God and Christ as God.
Interesting point, but then again, I wonder if he could do so overtly, at the outset at least, and still gain popularity. I would think that deception in the beginning would be necessary to gain support, and only afterward would his real motives be known. But that's just a guess, obviously.
They are not good movies in many ways, but at the end of III it was good to see Christ prevail.
Interesting. I've never seen those movies, except for a couple minutes of one, since I am not a fan of that type of movie.
I did see "End of Days," however, and it was interesting that, in the movie, Schwarzenegger fought on God's side against Satan, though he used guns and grenades to do it.
It's also interesting that in most vampire movies, being creatures of the darkness and of the night, the cross hurts them, and the light kills them.
Sad as it is, I really believe we are headed for an (obama)nation.
ReplyDeleteI am not voting for obama, but I believe he will be elected and bring us that much closer to the end times and the return of the Lord. rick b
Thank you, Jeff and Rick.
ReplyDeleteI know at least one person who, though they are not voting for Obama, they say that, in a way, they almost hope that Obama will win, because that would mean that Jesus will soon return. Obviously, none of us knows for sure whether this is or could be the case.
ReplyDeleteLol, Jeff. It's interesting to notice that every generation has "an anti-Christ". People said that Jesus was going to return 1000 years after he died. It's been going on since then (and probably before then too).
ReplyDeleteI've heard a lot of people say that they think Obama is the anti-Christ. But in another light, didn't they say that about Hitler too? I'm not saying in any way that Christ's return is not soon, but I'm just trying to put things in a different perspective.
Of course, I'm not exactly saying I like Obama either. Just today in the newspaper, he said something about evenly spreading the wealth around... :S
Thanks for the post, Russ. I guess I figured the reason the Black Plague hadn't spread to humanity before then was because the strain easy transmitted to humans hadn't been bred yet. Same thing happened with the Bird Flu. Because a bacterium can transmit a needed characteristic to other bacteria, a colony's characteristics can change drastically in just a few generations. It was feared that the bird flu would be able to find the characteristic needed to be easily transmitted to humans. Thankfully, this hasn't seemed to happen yet.
I think that often the reason people will take out their frustration from such traumatic occurrences on persecuting people is because everyone puts a lot of pressure on them to do something. The leader may or may not truly believe a certain religious group is responsible for something, but because all of society is putting pressure on them to do something about it, they feel they must. Therefore, they often persecute people. This happened quite often in Nero's reign.
Those are wise insights, Abbey.
ReplyDeleteI am going to avoid any antichrist speculation and stick to my negative critique of the approach of much successful social, liberal, democrat politics.;)
Cheers,
Russ:)
I found an ad on your own blog that I found to be a little disturbing...
ReplyDelete4 Steps to God
I hate it when people do stuff like that. It makes it sound as if all you need to do is "pray the prayer". I can tell you that from personal experience, I prayed "the prayer" numerous times and never really felt saved. Not only that, people in today's day and culture aren't going to react to something like that... It also speaks absolutely nothing to the estrangement that resulted from the fall. It's purely works based.
Okay, I'm getting off my soap box. I just had to rant to someone...
Thanks, Abbey.
ReplyDeleteThe Google ads are only loosely related to my articles, and of course I do not necessarily agree with their content.
Evangelistic type presentations do often tend to put more emphasis on the human will in the salvation process at the expense of God's will in election and other strongly Reformed perspectives.
Abbey,
ReplyDeleteLol, Jeff. It's interesting to notice that every generation has "an anti-Christ". People said that Jesus was going to return 1000 years after he died. It's been going on since then (and probably before then too).
Agreed. Even the Apostles apparently thought that Jesus would return in their lifetime.
Also, Martin Luther called the Pope the AntiChrist.
Wow...reading comments from over 12 years ago. How time flies...
ReplyDelete-The Jeff
Feel free to post this on my Facebook page, as it has some limited correlation, in a sense, to COVID-19, and so is somewhat relative today, at least as far as reflection. The Coronavirus (which apparently does not come from drinking Corona Beer) cannot compare to the Black Plague/Bubonic Plague.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
-The Jeff
Sad so many online friendships are discarded. Often over non-essential, biblical, disagreements. Cheers, Jeff.
DeleteSad so many online friendships are discarded. Often over non-essential, biblical, disagreements. Cheers, Jeff.
Delete