I have edited the title and intro to this post, as the event it flagged up has passed, but the question is still an interesting one -
Who is this chap 'Satan' , as mentioned in Scripture?
He isn't actually mentioned by name in Genesis. Oh , we get a talking snake appear, but no mention is made of a fallen angel leading a revolt or being set the task of looking after Adam and Eve and trying to Tempt them instead. I know we get that from Milton , but Paradise Lost was not in the Canon when last I looked.
So, where does Milton get the story of the fallen rebel angel who leads Adam and Eve into sin ?
To answer that, let us go back to the first mention of Satan by name in the Bible. This would be the Book of Job. Now, when the book opens, the narrator tells us who Job is, where he lives, what he is like, for the first 5 verses. But when Satan appears as well, in Job 1 :6 we don't have anything to go on from the previous books. Who is Satan , and what is he like ? Now, Job is not behind Esther chronologically speaking , but in the order they were traditionally thought to be written, we do not have any info. So what has happened?
One possible answer is to be got from a clue in Genesis. Remember how God puts 2 Cherubs to guard the gates of Paradise to stop Adam and Eve returning ? Well, what is a Cherub? Genesis chapters 1 - 3 do not tell us. God made the heavens and the Earth , the Moon and stars, but no mention of Seraphim or Cherubim is found here. So, whence this Cherub , and whence Satan , I ask ?
We must not suppose that the Scriptures were written in media vacuum. Jews of the day had doubtless had dealings with foreigners - people like Uriah the Hittite lived in Jerusalem, and there is therefore a strong possibility that Hebrew people would have heard of pagan myths and legends well before they went and wrote the Torah . They may have borrowed pagan ideas and concepts and my contention is that they almost certainly did.
I don't know if anyone else reading this has read and studied Funk and Wagnell's Encyclopaedia of Myth and Folklore, or read Sir James Frazer's The Golden Bough , or perhaps Joseph Campbell's 'The Masks of God' - but I have. And it transpires that, Just as the Romans took all the Greek gods and gave them Roman names, the Canaanites, the Babylonians and Assyrians all took the old Sumerian gods , together with the associated myths and legends and put them in their own pantheons and theological theories. So did a few others, I know, but lets be brief here. the question is how much these ideas influenced Hebrew writers.
Now, the Sun god had two sons, Dawn and Dusk - and the Dawn god had a son of his own - Helel, if I recall correctly. His full name is "Helel ben Shachar', if I recall correctly, and there is a story about him known throughout the Levant. Every time the sun rose up in the morning , the other stars deferred to his greater glory and went out - but Helel not only rose just before the sun , but arrogantly continued to shine in the morning sky even after sunrise. And this went on day after day , until finally Samash , the Sun god , seized hold of the presumptuous Helel and hurled him down from heaven.
Ok, anyone who knows about ' just so ' stories and has a smattering of Astronomical savvy will say " It sounds like they invented this myth to explain the movements of the Planet Venus - it rises in the morning until it gets so close to the Sun that it passes behind the sun and reappears on the other side, becoming the Evening Star instead."
Oh , yes indeed! the Hebrews knew the myth , but did not write it down . they knew the story, we may surmise, because the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel both reference it, ( Isa 14 ;12 translates 'shining one' as the Latin - ' Lucifer', and it puzzled me even then why a Hebrew Archangel should have a Latin name ) and in both cases, they liken the rulers of Babylon and Tyre to Helel. the presumptuous star - rather in the same way as cartoonists liken politicians like Tony Blair and David Cameron to Pinnocio, the storybook character whose nose grows another inch when he tells a lie.
So, Ok, Satan has an origin in Pagan Myth. He is useful though , for explaining why bad stuff happens to good people. so he finds an unlikely home in the Jewish and Christian world-view as the Opposer, the Adversary or Resister - that is what Satan actually means. The Hebrews started with just having God, then needed some angels , so they borrowed them from the Babylonians. however, that was not enough. Satan then got promoted to the prosecuting counsel in the heavenly court, and from there , they turned him into a baddie - a bit like Goldstein in Orwell's book, 1984.
Once we have that sorted, we can go on to say more about him, and indeed I will. But not on this post.
Showing posts with label astronomy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label astronomy. Show all posts
Monday, 13 February 2012
Sunday, 12 February 2012
Our first journey: Greenwich: The Big Picture.
This blog is almost like a personal Tardis. Come with me my friends on a journey across time and space, on a vehicle powered by my imagination - and the Internet and a pinch of fairy dust. It will also take you from time to time inside my head and show you my own thoughts and musings - it's Gerry's mind at work in here, so expect a bit of weirdness !
But we start at Greenwich , in London , England. It was from here that the best maps in the world were once drawn, made by royal command with all the tech that only the British Monarchy could muster.So they got used throughout the world. we still set 0degrees on our maps at Greenwich , and use Greenwich Mean Time to navigate, so we shall start our first journey from there, and see where we end up before I get you back safely.
The view from the observatory across the park
I took a small party of friends from Trinity Church there once - any and all pics that appear here were taken on that occasion. Greenwich park is ideal for a picnic, but at the top of the hill is the famous Greenwich observatory. I suppose it is fitting that there is now a Planetarium on this site.
The Observatory. The red ball on the left is the famous Greenwich Time signal.
We went to see the Planetarium as part of our visit, and an interesting experience it was , to say the least.
Sitting back in our seats, we were able to see a picture of the Greenwich skyline projected onto the domed ceiling above, and a young man 's voice came on over the mike and gave us a guided commentary.
As the auditorium darkened, the picture on the screen above us slowly morphed from a daytime shot of Greenwich park to a night time one, just after sunset. A full moon rose, due to the wonders of time lapse photography.
The voice of the commentator told us that the moon was a quarter of a million miles away, but we could go there in a very short time, thanks to the overhead projector and the wonders of CGI. This proved to be the case, and it was as if our Planetarium had become a large spaceship, for the image of the distant moon slowly filled the screen , as if we were actually moving towards it.
Perhaps it was actual footage from an Apollo moon shot, or was it more CGI? Either way, we were soon seeing the moon as if we were standing on the lunar surface, and looking at the mountains and craters stretching far into the distance, as our own Planet Earth hung like a blue and white ball in the inky blackness of space. as beautiful and awe inspiring as this was, our guide had further wonders to show us, and the camera swung away from planet Earth to the other lights in the Lunar Sky. as effortlessly as the last time, it seemed that we had risen into the air again , and this time , we were off to the more distant planes - to Mars , Jupiter and Saturn . As we looked back towards earth now , from the depths of space, we saw Earth as a small point of light - and yet we continued to move out to the very edge of our solar system until our Sun itself was a a mere speck of light. And still we kept moving away from our Native planet.
At this distance, our sun was just one small star among a mass of other stars that were all pretty much the same, and eventually we saw that all these stars were spinning in space around a central point, like the froth on a cup of coffee that has just been stirred.
This was our own Galaxy of stars - the Milk Way.we watched in awe and amazement as we learned about the size and shape of our galaxy - millions of stars, all swirling through space together. And yet we moved away, deeper into outer space once more. soon , our Galaxy was a mere speck of light, surrounded by other specks - and these small specks were not stars - the were other galaxies like or own . millions of stars , all clumped together, and there were hundreds of galaxies all spread accross the screen. the mind boggled at the sheer size and scae of the created universe - and my own mind boggles rather more easily than most !
But from this faraway perspective, we came back to Earth again. the nearest galaxy to us is in Andromeda. the Andromeda Spiral is 2 million light years distant. Now , what does that actually mean? Well, imagine you had to get from Trafalgar Square to Waterloo Station. I could tell you the distance in miles, but it may be simpler to say ' it is about a half hour walk, but only 10 minutes on the Tube.'
A light year is a bit like that - it is the distance between two points if you were moving at the speed of light.
Our galaxy is Two million years away from Andromeda , if we could go at the speed of light.- 186,000 miles a second , or about 300,000 kilometres per second.
Now, if we can see it, this implies that the Andromeda spiral was actually there and shining away 2 million years ago! here, however, some people may object. doesn't the Bible say that God made the world in 6 days , about 6,ooo years ago? Well, maybe it does, so how do you explain what you see here?
For people like R.T. Kendall, it is because God painted in a beam of light so we can see it. god also made the earth to look really really old, and handed it over to Adam and Eve. Sorry- I don't buy that. Why does God want to make the Earth and sky look as if it has no maker? Why does God want to hide away?
Isn't it more likely that if a rock appears to be millions of years old, then it really is ? So perhaps the earth is older, and the Universe is far more vast than we or our Bible writing ancestors could ever imagine - in which case, try to get used to it ! You ain't seen nothin' yet!!!
This is merely the big picture, the whole canvas of the material plane , laid out before us. you wait till I show you some of the amazing details. I am going to take you back into the past and forwards into the future, we will journey from the mountain peaks of Switzerland to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. i will show you a world that some can scarcely believe possible, but i can vouch for it being there, having seen most of it for myself.
But we start at Greenwich , in London , England. It was from here that the best maps in the world were once drawn, made by royal command with all the tech that only the British Monarchy could muster.So they got used throughout the world. we still set 0degrees on our maps at Greenwich , and use Greenwich Mean Time to navigate, so we shall start our first journey from there, and see where we end up before I get you back safely.
The view from the observatory across the park
I took a small party of friends from Trinity Church there once - any and all pics that appear here were taken on that occasion. Greenwich park is ideal for a picnic, but at the top of the hill is the famous Greenwich observatory. I suppose it is fitting that there is now a Planetarium on this site.
We went to see the Planetarium as part of our visit, and an interesting experience it was , to say the least.
Sitting back in our seats, we were able to see a picture of the Greenwich skyline projected onto the domed ceiling above, and a young man 's voice came on over the mike and gave us a guided commentary.
As the auditorium darkened, the picture on the screen above us slowly morphed from a daytime shot of Greenwich park to a night time one, just after sunset. A full moon rose, due to the wonders of time lapse photography.
The voice of the commentator told us that the moon was a quarter of a million miles away, but we could go there in a very short time, thanks to the overhead projector and the wonders of CGI. This proved to be the case, and it was as if our Planetarium had become a large spaceship, for the image of the distant moon slowly filled the screen , as if we were actually moving towards it.
Perhaps it was actual footage from an Apollo moon shot, or was it more CGI? Either way, we were soon seeing the moon as if we were standing on the lunar surface, and looking at the mountains and craters stretching far into the distance, as our own Planet Earth hung like a blue and white ball in the inky blackness of space. as beautiful and awe inspiring as this was, our guide had further wonders to show us, and the camera swung away from planet Earth to the other lights in the Lunar Sky. as effortlessly as the last time, it seemed that we had risen into the air again , and this time , we were off to the more distant planes - to Mars , Jupiter and Saturn . As we looked back towards earth now , from the depths of space, we saw Earth as a small point of light - and yet we continued to move out to the very edge of our solar system until our Sun itself was a a mere speck of light. And still we kept moving away from our Native planet.
At this distance, our sun was just one small star among a mass of other stars that were all pretty much the same, and eventually we saw that all these stars were spinning in space around a central point, like the froth on a cup of coffee that has just been stirred.
This was our own Galaxy of stars - the Milk Way.we watched in awe and amazement as we learned about the size and shape of our galaxy - millions of stars, all swirling through space together. And yet we moved away, deeper into outer space once more. soon , our Galaxy was a mere speck of light, surrounded by other specks - and these small specks were not stars - the were other galaxies like or own . millions of stars , all clumped together, and there were hundreds of galaxies all spread accross the screen. the mind boggled at the sheer size and scae of the created universe - and my own mind boggles rather more easily than most !
But from this faraway perspective, we came back to Earth again. the nearest galaxy to us is in Andromeda. the Andromeda Spiral is 2 million light years distant. Now , what does that actually mean? Well, imagine you had to get from Trafalgar Square to Waterloo Station. I could tell you the distance in miles, but it may be simpler to say ' it is about a half hour walk, but only 10 minutes on the Tube.'
A light year is a bit like that - it is the distance between two points if you were moving at the speed of light.
Our galaxy is Two million years away from Andromeda , if we could go at the speed of light.- 186,000 miles a second , or about 300,000 kilometres per second.
Now, if we can see it, this implies that the Andromeda spiral was actually there and shining away 2 million years ago! here, however, some people may object. doesn't the Bible say that God made the world in 6 days , about 6,ooo years ago? Well, maybe it does, so how do you explain what you see here?
For people like R.T. Kendall, it is because God painted in a beam of light so we can see it. god also made the earth to look really really old, and handed it over to Adam and Eve. Sorry- I don't buy that. Why does God want to make the Earth and sky look as if it has no maker? Why does God want to hide away?
Isn't it more likely that if a rock appears to be millions of years old, then it really is ? So perhaps the earth is older, and the Universe is far more vast than we or our Bible writing ancestors could ever imagine - in which case, try to get used to it ! You ain't seen nothin' yet!!!
This is merely the big picture, the whole canvas of the material plane , laid out before us. you wait till I show you some of the amazing details. I am going to take you back into the past and forwards into the future, we will journey from the mountain peaks of Switzerland to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. i will show you a world that some can scarcely believe possible, but i can vouch for it being there, having seen most of it for myself.
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