   “I hardly had a drink in years,” said a man from New Orleans who lost everything in Hurricane Katrina.  “But right after the hurricane hit, I started drinking again.  Now, if I stop drinking, the pain becomes so great it is unbearable.  I am scared because I don’t have any identity anymore.”  He […]
529) Losing Almost Everything Read More »
From The Early Christians: In Their Own Words , (ch. 3, #28);Â Selected and Edited by Eberhard Arnold (1883-1935) —————————— Â Â Â …We do not give up our confession though we be executed by the sword, though we be crucified, thrown to wild beasts, put in chains, and exposed to fire and every other kind of
490) Early Christian Testimonies Read More »
   This meditation is the final of three from the apocryphal book of II Maccabees (See also Meditations #441 and #463).  It tells the story of God’s judgement upon the wicked King Antiochus IV whose persecution of the Jews had caused so much suffering.    King Antiochus (above), filled with anger, decided to
464) The Humbling of an Evil King Read More »
Painting above: Martyrdom of the Seven Maccabees, Antoni Ciseri, 1863   ********************** This story from II Maccabees chapter seven comes right after the account of the martyrdom of Eleazer (Meditation #441).  Christians do not have the same prohibitions against eating pork, but that was God’s Old Testament law for the Jews.  In this account Syrian King Antiochus had made the
463) The Martyrdom of a Mother and Her Seven Sons Read More »
 Photo above: Chapel of St. Ananias, Damascus, Syria; an early example of a Christian house of worship; built in the 1st century AD From the LETTER TO DIOGNETUS describing the the Early Christians  (Second century, A. D.);  From The Early Christians: In Their Own Words, (ch. 3, #28); Selected and Edited by Eberhard Arnold (1883-1935)    Christians
461) The Early Christian Community Read More »
By Aristides in APOLOGY, 137 A. D.; from The Early Christians: In Their Own Words (ch. 3, #24); Selected and Edited by Eberhard Arnold (1883-1935).  Reprinted from http://www.bruderhof.com.    It is the Christians, O Emperor, who have sought and found the truth.  We have realized it from their writings; they are closer to the truth
423) Defending the Early Christians Before the Emperor Read More »
Painting above: The Martyr’s Last Prayer, John Leon Gerome, 1883 ******************************* From EyeWitness to History at  www.eyewitnesstohistory.com  (2004)    The Roman persecution of Christians began during the reign of Nero and persisted until Christianity was recognized as a legitimate religion by the Emperor Constantine 249 years later.  This persecution was justified by the belief
404) Death of a Martyr, 203 A. D. Read More »
From EyeWitness to History at  www.eyewitnesstohistory.com  (2000)    A generation after the death of Christ, Christianity had reached Rome in the form of an obscure offshoot of Judaism popular among the city’s poor and destitute.  Members of this religious sect spoke of the coming of a new kingdom and a new king.  These views
403) Nero Persecutes the Christians, 64 A. D. Read More »
The First Thanksgiving – Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1863 – 1930) ——————————–    … (continued)  Our supply of men from you came the 9th of November, 1621, putting in at Cape Cod, some eight or ten leagues from us.  The Indians that dwell thereabout were they who were owners of the corn which we
232) Pilgrim Thanksgiving (part two) Read More »
This description of the life of the Pilgrims following the landing of the Mayflower was written in a letter by Pilgrim Colony Governor Edward Winslow (1595-1655, pictured above) after a year in the new land. Â During the first winter in New England, Winslow’s wife died, as did almost half of the original settlers. Â Two months
231) Pilgrim Thanksgiving (part one) Read More »
