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So this is what passes for art these days? Sheesh. 

The Times said one visitor had altered the first line of the Old Testament from “In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth” to “In the beginning, God (me) I created religion” while another has written “The Gospel According to Luke Skywalker”.

The Church of Scotland said it condemned any sacrilegious act, while a spokesman for the Catholic Church said: “One wonders whether the organisers would have been quite as willing to have the Koran defaced.”

via Art gallery invites visitors to deface the Bible – Telegraph.

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By SHARON K. GILBERT
October 25, 2007

WHAT does it mean to be ‘horrified’? Origins of the word are rooted in Old English, French, and Latin — particuarly, horrere, a Latin verb that means ‘to shudder or bristle with fear’ — and can even mean ‘hairy’ (which may explain those Japanese horror films). Certainly, fear makes our hair stand on end (on our arms at least — a phenomenon called ‘gooseflesh’ or ‘goosebumps’). Hearts beat more quickly; breathing rates increase, and we – the benumbed and pitiable theater-goers – stare at the film screen, ignoring all physiological signals warning us to leave. Why are we addicted to fear?

The human appetite for gore and blood is as old as mankind. Beginning with Cain and Abel, the first murderer and his victim, blood stains our history. Man is not born in innocence — we are born in sin, and we soon develop a massive need for violence. In service to their fallen angel ‘gods’, pre-flood mankind offered up their women and their lives as sacrifices. Post-flood society soon fell back into old patterns — offering children to Molech (passing them through the fire) and engaging in blood and sex rituals meant to gain power or appease angry deities (the fallen angels of old). Read the rest of this entry →

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HAVE YOU ever wondered how the months of the year got their names? They are based on Roman words, and many of them make perfect sense. September, for example, means seventh. October eighth, November ninth, and December tenth. Most of the remaining months bear the names of gods or goddesses. January is for Janus. March, the first month of the Roman year, is named for Mars. April, based upon the Etruscan name Apru, is for Aphrodite. May is Maia’s month; June is for Juno; July and August are named for Julius and Augustus Caesar respectively.

So what about February? It doesn’t even sound like a god’s name — does it? Actually, there is an Etruscan god called Februus, god of the underworld. He is represented with fire and associated with purification. The Romans used goatskin strips, dipped in blood — items they called februa — to cleanse the hillsides and even women prior to the coming of the New Year (March).Every February 15th, during the Festival of Lupercalia (a celebration with roots in the Etruscan worship of Februus), Roman citizens went a little nuts. During this season, dedicated to Romulus and Remus and their wolf mother (Lupa) and to Faun (the Roman version of Februus), a group known as the Luperci (Brothers of the Wolf), an order of Roman priests, gathered near the sacred cave Lupercal, revered as the home of the she-wolf, Lupa, who raised Romulus and Remus. Read the rest of this entry →

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Part II in the series “Hollywood and the Coming Apocalypse”

IT’S CALLED DNA, and it’s both hard science and the ‘stuff dreams are made of’. Modernists claim credit for the ‘discovery’ of the germ of humanity, all the while nodding graciously to earlier researchers such as Gregor Mendel. The magical double helix served as a platform for the elevation of Watson and Crick to demi-god status and as the backbone of a brand new branch of science — chimeric cloning (aka ‘transhumanism’).

Mary Shelley imagined a hideous creature — the modern Prometheus — compiled of stitched parts and a humanist soul. Some may call Shelley’s Frankenstein monster a metaphor for government devoid of religion, others a post-apocalyptic picture of evolving mankind in its inevitable chaotic end. No matter how one interprets the story, the 19th century mind of Mary Shelley painted a literary portrait of the true monster we face today — science unbridled. Read the rest of this entry →

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NEARLY everyone in North America is aware that September 22-23 is the official beginning of the autumn season. Since childhood, I’ve loved fall — the earthy colors, crunchy leaves, crisp evening air, and clear skies provide textural thrills for any writer, and cooler temperatures offer a much-needed respite following a long summer of triple digit afternoons. Of course, the fact that I have a fall birthday doesn’t hurt!

This year, however, brings us far more than a change of seasons. This weekend, as the first faint gleam of a new moon is sighted over the Middle East and elsewhere, a very rare convergence of celebrations begins.
– In Israel, the fall feast of Rosh Hashana starts a ten day clock culminating in the holiest of days, Yom Kippur.
– For Muslims, the new moon sighting kicks off a one-month fast called Ramadan.
– In India, Hindus spy out the new moon to commence a semi-annual celebration called Navaratri.
– In the Northern Hemisphere, Neo-Pagans practice a new moon feast called ‘Harvest Home’ (aka ‘Mabon”).
– In the Southern Hemisphere, Neo-Pagans and Wiccans greet ‘Ostara’ (since they enter the spring season).

Now, to make this very rare convergence all the more spectacular, add an annular solar eclipse, taking place on September 22nd.

As a Christian, Rosh Hashana strikes a very personal chord in me, but we have to remember that there must be a reason why so many religions set aside this time of year for special celebration. As we approach this weekend, please be in prayer. According to Wiccan tradition, the veil between the worlds of substance and spirit thins during such times. Some Christians believe Christ’s rapture of the Church will occur during Rosh Hashana of some year.

We live in a physical realm, but you and I are also spiritual beings. Which feast will you be celebrating? Do you know Christ as your Savior? With all that’s happening this week, this might just be the perfect time for you to seek Him out.

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