Halloween: The One Holiday I Hate

  Yes, Yes, this post will be "judgmental", and if you're particularly weak stomached when it comes to strong opinions on such celebrations, you probably have a weak spine too. 

Now, I can, of course, focus on how it is inherently pagan, and that those that celebrate it don't even pretend to have some focus on Jesus. (Though Christmas has pagan origins, it at least has been converted enough to have "Christ" as a focus, unless you've been dupped into Santa and the consumerism that it carries. There is enough Christianity in it that the poor are fed, the orphaned are considered, and the widow cared for.) 

But! Halloween is the celebration of the foolish! I have a strong distate, nay even a disgust for it! It is the holiday of epicurean culture. And it is even more disgusting when a church celebrates it! Whether in the guise of a fall party, or harvest fest, if you celebrate with costumes and receiving handouts, you embody the folly that is today's culture. I have a strong suspicion that since I called it epicurean, some of those pastors who celebrated the vile celebration will have no idea what epicurean means, because they're bufoons! And, yes, I said buffoon, and it should be insulting, especially to those who are under such leadership, because they are being led by it! 

 My complaint about the stupid celebration is that it's just that, stupid. While our nation's poor are neglected, and others oppressed, our churches are dressing up and indulging on candy! "Oh, yes! Let's show our Christianity by being accepting! Accept folly, but not the truth!" You're not a cat! Nor are you a banana! The fact that you spent money, time and some sort of passion is pathetic! It's an observance in artificiality, and over indulgence! One dresses as something they're not, and expects something absolutely destructive to their health for it! How telling of our Christian condition. We dress as something we're not, and indulge in a sweet destruction! Thus, I say that it is epicurean! 

Church, you're welcome, 

Steven

Lutheran Satire

This was posted on Jim West's blog. It's a great little clip! 

http://youtu.be/4r2m_cffRjI

The BAS and the "Left Behind" Movie

Doctoral student from King's College, London, Michelle Fletcher, wrote this quick article about the movie, and its theology. As a warning, this will not be agreeable to some of my readers, assuming I have any, that are in the Pentecostal tradition. It's very different from our eschatology. However, as a reminder, we have so many opinions about eschatology that a scholarly perspective would be refreshing to see.

"

Blending into One: The Left Behind Movie, the Book of Revelation and the Rapture

Michelle Fletcher   •  10/14/2014

The new Left Behind movie (2014) depicts the Rapture, which is often assumed to be clearly explained in the Bible, especially the book of Revelation. It’s more complicated than that, says author Michelle Fletcher.

It’s a day like any other, and then—bam!—everything changes. Millions of people disappear in an instant and all that’s left are piles of clothes, iPods and wallets. Panic and terror break out. This is the scene that viewers are faced with in the new Left Behind movie, directed by Vic Armstrong, and it’s Nicolas Cage’s job to find out what’s happened. But the viewers already know the answer: it’s the Rapture, of course! The Biblical prophecies have come true.

Or have they?

The Rapture is now commonly understood to refer to a time when believers will be snatched up to heaven by Jesus to escape the time of tribulation about to engulf the earth during the reign of the Antichrist. This chain of events has become so integral to some Christian eschatologies (end-time theories) that it’s often assumed they’re clearly explained in the Bible, especially the book of Revelation. But in fact it’s all slightly more complicated than that."

Read the rest...

http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/bible-interpretation/the-left-behind-movie-the-book-of-revelation-and-the-rapture/?mqsc=E3780791&utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=BHD+Daily%20Newsletter&utm_campaign=E4BO16

Just For Fun!

This has nothing to do with Christianity, but it's great anyway! Enjoy it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC4OqdZElX8

The Sacred Page's Response to Loosening Standards on Marriage. A GOOD READ!

In response to the Catholic church's synod's leanings, "The Sacred Page" hits the nail on the head! 

Would the Real Pharisees Please Step Forward? The Debates on Marriage

"I posted on this issue already, and took the post down because it was not stated with enough precision.  But upon further consideration, I believe my essential contribution was correct, and wish to restate it more accurately.

In the context of the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family, there has been an attempt by some to characterize the position of those who support current Church teaching and practice on divorce and remarriage as “Pharisaical,” while associating those who wish to accommodate some form of ecclesiastical blessing of second marriages within the Church with the evangelical mercy and love of Jesus.

This is extremely ironic, because in point of fact, it was the Pharisees who were very open to divorce and remarriage, but Jesus who opposed it. 

Let’s review the relevant texts:

Matt. 19:1   Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; 2 and large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

Matt. 19:3   And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?”  4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?  6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.”  7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?”  8 He said to them, “For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.  9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity (Gk porneia), and marries another, commits adultery.”

Let’s discuss the background for this text.   First of all, divorce and remarriage were legally and morally permissible in Pharisaic Judaism.  There were differences among different schools of Pharisees concerning what were considered valid grounds for divorce, however.  The school of Shammai held that one could only divorce his wife for a serious offense, whereas the school of Hillel held that one could divorce for virtually any reason.  This is why the Pharisees come to Jesus and pose the question.  It was a debate within their own school of thought, and they wanted to know what the impressive young rabbi from Nazareth taught on the subject. 

..."

Read the whole thing:

http://www.thesacredpage.com/2014/10/would-real-pharisees-please-step.html

Reflection on Modern Crucifixions

Here's a theological reflection on how to treat others as we ought. The blogger is an interesting one; though I find him disagreeable on other social issues, I agree with him here.

http://criticalrealismandthenewtestament.blogspot.ca/2014/10/recrucifying-jesus.html

AMEN! #KARMA #BAH

http://zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com/2014/10/11/karma/