A Knight's Blog

The Crucifixion Icon and The Golden Calf Idol Are Icons idols? The question has been the center of debate in Orthodox Churches since the inclusion of images in worship during the Third and Fourth Centuries. What makes an image an idol? In the Old Testament the Lord God forbid making, "graven images of birds, fish, or of things of Heaven and the things of the Earth." (Exodus 20:4). The Lord tells Moses that "thou shalt not make for thyself an graven image (idol)." (Deuteronomy 5:8) Meanwhile at the base of Mount Sinai the Israelites are making the golden calf god (pictured above). This scene is dramatized in Cecile B. DeMille's epic, The Ten Commandments . It is from the First and Second Commandments of God that idols are condemned and it is those commandments that certain Christians use to condemn the use of icons in Churches. So the question must be posed, what differentiates an icon from an idol? How are they different? They both are an image. They ...

Steven Spielberg never shirks from sacrilege when it comes to Christianity. In most of his films there is snarky or sarcastic remark towards Jesus or his followers. However, the most stark and startling profanatory from Spielberg is contained in the legacy of Jurassic Park. In the first installment of the Jurassic Park franchise, there is a character named Donald Gennero . Most fans will know him as the man on the toilet who is eaten by the T-Rex, but Gennero's story is far more startling than his demise. Donald is introduced early on as a Lawyer and representative of the investors at INGEN. Gennero is depicted a clumsy, irritating, greedy, and anal retentive. But more importantly, Donald reveals in his last moments that he is a Catholic Christian. When the T-Rex first appears in the Paddock and eats the goat, the limb or leg of the goat falls on the car and Generro is heard saying, "Oh Jesus!" He then proceeds to leave the car and abandon the children, be...

We are a frail creation. Man has the propensity to fall prey to sinful passions. No matter how strong the resolution or how great the zeal, people tend to fail. Jesus said of it, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Mark 14:38).  After a moment of sheer abandon to the baser self, guilt and condemnation inevitably arrive. When a Christian misses the mark, it hurts. We do not have the excuse of worldly folk who can claim 'blissful' ignorance. No, the mutiny of our mistake haunts a true believer until he or she is contrite before Christ and beseeching Him for mercy. What is God's reaction? Does He perhaps shake his head? Maybe he covers his face with his hand and lowers his head in sorrow. Then again maybe his fury is kindled and his eyes burn like coals of fire. None of these images are accurate. Christ knew you would stumble and that you would choose to sin. Hence why he suffered and spilt his blood upon the cross. It is to that scene, ...

Speaking Christian Cover Art  Sometimes as Christians we forget how to share the Gospel simply. We start throwing around words like "chosen," "called," "choosing," "predestined," and suddenly people are confused. Jesus said, "to enter the kingdom of Heaven, you must be like a child." (Matthew 18:3, Mark 10:15). This statement has been debated by theologians since the Early Church. There are many interpretations, but I think it means that we must come to Christ like a child. Children in their innocent days believe what they are told and everything is simple but profound. I believe Christ is trying to tell his followers to carry his message of the Good News in such a simple but profound manner.   Now to the point. Here is the Gospel simply: " Jesus died for our sins so that we may be forgiven and go to heaven, if we (repent and) believe in Him ." (Marcus J. Borg, Speaking Christian, pg 11).   Simple right? Surprisi...

  During the earlier days of the Church, Christians found themselves explaining their faith on two fronts. To the Jew, the goal was to prove Jesus was more than a mere man; that he was the Messiah and the Son of God. To persuade the Jew, Christians empathized The Ressurection as proof of Christ's divinity. The event that sealed the Savior's identity as God is in the tomb; there where He rose from the dead. A Jew was reminded that Jesus was the fulfillment of all the prophecies concerning the messiah; that Jesus was the Son of Adam, Son of David, and Son of God.  The Romans, Greeks, and Gentiles were the complete opposite. They believed Jesus was The Son of God, but they wrongly believed He roamed the earth like a ghost or apparition (spirit). The Greek or Roman could not easily believe that Jesus was born and God made flesh, which is peculiar because the Greeks and Romans were exposed to the lies of half dieties like Hercules and yet they struggled...

There is a form of Christian piety that I find revolting! I call it the Worm disposition. In Churches around America in particular, there are these worship songs that say, "Lord we are unworthy, we are worms, please have mercy on us." What?! We are no longer worms or unworthy! Christ Jesus, the Savior and Creator lives within us! How can we look upon ourselves as downcast and despicable when God is within us! We are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)! We have been transformed by the Most High! We are Born Again! (John 3:7). We no longer are filthy sinners beyond salvation. No! We are worthy because the One True God is within us and thus makes us worthy! The Scriptures say, "We are co-heirs with Christ!" (Romans 8:17). In Revelation is says, "those who are victorious (endure in faith to the end) shall sit upon my throne." (Revelation 3:21). That is not the mark of a worm! That is not a place for the unworthy! The Church needs to banish this notion of ...

    There are words in the English language that have major negative connotations. Words like "submit" and "remnant" have been tainted by their misuse in cults and cruel religious institutions. Another word that has lost its positive meaning is "obey." Today, the word obey is associated with the vow a woman once made in matrimony, "to honor, cherish, and obey your husband." Living in a culture of gender equality has made such a vow a taboo and associated with rigid traditional beliefs. But to reject the word obey is to our own peril.   Obedience is often cloaked in the form of a master and apprentice. A master issues a command and the disciple is expected to submit to that command without reservation. Being in an independent and self sufficient world, this image is oppressive to the common person. Submission, which is closely associated with obedience leaves a bitter after taste in people's souls. Many women reject the word submit ...

The Lord God does not want us to suffer needlessly. He knows that we shall suffer for His sake; that as Christians we shall be the object of afflictions, perscutions, and tribulations. However, the Almighty does not want us to heap more suffering on us than we are allotted. Too often people characterize God as a tryrant task master who wants his children to atone through hardship and hurt. This view is a corruption of the Creator and Christ. The Lord lays laws before us and via the Holy Spirit convicts us to not participate in questionable things because He wants to spare us additional sufferings. As believers we need to think of our Lord and God as a Father. Does a good and loving father want his children to be chastised and cut down? No, of course not! But Jesus did warn us that on this fallen planet we shall suffer persecution and sufferings (Matthew 24:9). For such trials and tribulations the Triune God shall give us the strength, but we must be wary of adding sufferi...

Utopian communist futures are the bread and butter of Hollywood these days. From The Hunger Games to Divergent , people have caught the bug of totalitarian future fiction. The latest adaptation is The Giver. On many levels this film will resemble Divergent, but to be fair The Giver book predates Divergent.  The Giver takes place in future that resembles the film Gattaca almost too much. People are genetically engineered, and those who are too weak are removed from society. The Giver then is similar to the film Equilibrium and Fahrenheit 451 in that the communities (districts or factions) are not allowed to have emotions. All feelings have been banished by an injection like Prozeum in the film Equilibrium.  The story begins when teenagers go to a ceremony to receive their occupation (like the ceremony of choosing in Divergent, only students don't get to choose). There we meet Jonas who does not know what he should be. Jonas is not assigned a position like lawyer or drone p...

Aside from prayer, praise is one of the most neglected parts of the Christian Walk. Praise differs from worship in that it is spontaneous and from the heart. Worship is a conduit to Christ. Worship is a means to honor our God and to dance with Him in our Spirit and Soul. Praise is more akin to prayer but with an aspect of worship added in. Praise is an acknowledgement of The Almighty and proclaiming His place, power, and person in the universe. To praise is to lift up your lips and to say in poetic or prose words that God is great! That the almighty is worthy and deserves all honor and recognition. Worship is like praise in that if puts The Lord God first. However, praise is a disposition that only the created can take. Praise is a prayer that proclaims God as sovereign and just. Praise acknowledge our state, that like King Nebecunezzer we are merely men, and The Almighty is the author and arbiter of all things! The Lord God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is ruler and maker of all thing...

The Trinity is a remarkable example of honor. The Godhead: The Father (Y'WH/Pater), The Son (Yeshua/Christus), and The Spirit (Rouch/Spiritus Sanctus) is the perfect example of unity. There is no envy or jealousy in the Almighty. The Father has given to the Son the authority to Judge and has elevated Him to King. The Father part of God is not envious that his Son has taken a high honor and position. The Holy Spirit who helps examin the hearts of men and participates as the Power of God does not envy The Creator or The Savior and their honors. For they are all one (essence) God, and each working together in full unison.  As Christians we should look to our Lord and God for how to be! We should not hold contempt or enmity in our hearts for our brothers and sisters if they are honored above us! For St. Paul said, "Be devouted to one in love, and honor one another above yourself." (Romans 12:10).  In God there is no jealousy. So why should we be fighting among ourselves over ...

The Church in Iraq is under attack. A resurgent Islamic terrorist group calling themselves The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria or ISIS has begun an assault on Christians in Iraq. 30,000 Christian Believers have been rounded up by ISIS and placed on a mountain in Iraq with no food or water. In addition ISI recently tore in a child in half who had been baptized in an Episcopal Church. The Canon priest in Iraq is asking for prayer. He asks that we as fellow believers "pray for protection, provision, and perseverance." The persecution is in full swing in the Middle East and Asia. ISIS has begun a Christian Holocaust. Christians in Syria or Iraq are branded with an N in Arabic for Jesus of Nazareth (see post pic). This branding is remniscant of what the Nazis did when they rounds up the Jews and put in their clothes the Megan David (Star of David).  When researching about ISIS and their insidious, nay invidious work in Iraq, I stumbled upon an Egyptian goddess named I...

Dystopian future is all the rage these days. Between The Hunger Games sequels and the upcoming film The Giver there are plenty of dystopian totalitarian societies cloaked in guise of utopia to keep fans pleased.  Divergent is another dystopian story set in the future (as all such stories are). In this future people are broken up into factions. The factions are Abegation: those who govern and serve the people via charity. Abegation is very monastic looking, simple grey and tan clothing. The second faction is Erudite or the thinkers. The Erudite concern themselves with science and facts. There is Candor, which is a faction of truth tellers, people of integrity who are suited for judical matters. There is Amity, which is the agricalutral faction. Amity is kind and loving and quite hippy/environmental. Finally there is Dauntless who are military and police force rolled into one.  Our story starts with a Beatrice, played by Shailene Woodley. Beatrice is from Abegation, but she has ...

For many of us, our earthly father is disappointment. We discover after our youthful days that dad is not perfect and in fact can be a great detriment. Many have opined on the need for a father, in fact studies indicates that delinquent behavior stems from disconnection between sons and fathers. In fact most daughter too have issues if they did not have satisfying relationship with their dad. However, Christ tells us, "to call no man our father, for you have one Father and he is in Heaven." (Matthew 23:9). This is a comfort to us who do not have devout dads. For millions, the term father is as grating as taxes. Many bare the wounds of negligent and absent dads. For some their father left physically at a young age, for others he was an alcoholic or absent in mind via other drugs of choice. And yet there are other fathers who with their abuse beat their children physically, emotionally, and even in some cases sexually. The dad is meant to be a man in tune with the divine. ...

The Triumph of Christianity, Gustave Diore Every faith on Earth fails except Christianity. Place all the other religions next to Christianity and you will find this divide: on the side of Christianity there is hope, love, and forgiveness while on the other side of all other religions is fear, pride, and works. In this post I shall endeavor to compare some of the foremost religions with Christianity. My thesis is that you will find a problem or problems in each religion that cannot be reconciled, while Christianity has the problems solved and reconciliation at the center. Buddhism is the belief in meditating to higher state of self (enlightenment), culminating in the separation of ones personality from their spirit. The problem, there is no incentive to associate with the world and the people therein. According to the teachings of Buddha, you are better off isolated and building your Dharma in solitude. Buddhism fails additionally because if you fail to reach Arahant (the...

Our faith began free of paganism. From 30 A.D. to the 1st Century, Christianity flourished from Calvary to Corinth. The Holy Fathers, the Apostles fought hard to keep all apostasy and heresy out of the Church. St. Paul confronted Simon the Magician who wanted to take the power of the Holy Spirit for himself and use it in conjunction with his black arts. Simon was cursed with blindness for his bedeviled disposition. However, Simon's sorcery and infectious ideas would not die immediately. According to Eusebius, the Manichaeism Heresy and most of the apostasies that bleed into the 3rd Century came from that acolyte Simon and his disciples. Satan has always tried to pollute and corrupt the truth. When God told Adam and Eve not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the Devil questioned God's decree by twisting it, "Did he really say you could not eat of the any fruit of the trees in this garden?" (Genesis 3:1). In a similar manner Satan has ...