#Heritage Bible Church

[wutbju]

The current pastor at the once-tight-with-BJU-in-its-church-constitution Heritage Bible Church in Greer, Trent Hunter, wrote this article for John Piper's Desiring God.

It's . . . a problem.

A big problem. He misdefines intersectionality (like critical race theory) as a big pagan boogie man.

It's not.

He claims that as a hetero cis white man he can explain to his adopted BIPOC children that a multiplicities of identities shouldn't be a problem.

It is false compassion when others tell my kids — over and over — that their neighbors are secretly afraid of them, that police officers are at war with them, and that their teachers don’t believe in them. Cruel is a better term for it.

It’s cruel to tell children that their future will be determined by the moral improvement of intractably racist people.

It’s cruel to tell my children that they can make it in life as long as others hold them to lower standards.

It’s cruel to tell my children that potential employers won’t hire them because of their skin color. It is equally cruel — and equally racist, it seems to me — for businesses to treat my children as particularly valuable hires because of the color of their skin.

Dude.

You're talking about The Talk. The Talk even has its own wiki page.

I am a white lady. I admit that I don't get it. But I know that The Talk is an essential part of survival for BIPOC kids.

The Brer Rabbit stories are essentially The Talk coded for Black kids trapped in slavery.

Is it cruel to tell BIPOC kids that the American system is bent toward their oppression or is it cruel that the American system is bent toward their oppression?

I think you have it mixed up. I think you need to sit down and listen for awhile.

[yorksnapshots]

Let's go inside -

St. Mary's Chapel, Lead, North Yorkshire, England.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Ethiopian Bible — considered as the oldest and most complete 'Bible' on earth.

The world’s earliest illustrated Christian book has been saved by a British charity, which located it at a remote Ethiopian monastery.

The incredible Garima Gospels are named after a monk who arrived in the African country in 5th century AD.

Abba Garima arrived from Constantinople in 494 AD. Legend has it that he was able to copy the Gospels in a day because God delayed the sun from setting and is said to have copied them out in just one day.

It is beautifully illustrated and the colours are still vivid. It has been conserved through the Ethiopian Heritage Fund.

The incredible relic has been kept ever since in Garima Monastery near Adwa in the north of the country, which is in Tigray region at 7000ft.

Experts believe it is also the earliest example of book binding still attached to the original pages.

The survival of the Gospels is incredible considering the country has been under Muslim invasion, Italian invasion, and a fire in the 1930s destroyed the monastery’s church.

They were written on goat skin in the early Ethiopian language of Ge’ez.

There are two volumes dated from the same time, but the second is written in a different hand from the first. Both contain illustrations and the four Gospels.

Though the texts had been mentioned by the occasional traveller since 1950s, it had been thought they dated from 11th century at the earliest.

Carbon dating, however, gives a date between 330-650 AD, which tantalisingly overlaps the date Abba Garima arrived in the country.

So, the first volume could be in his hand – even if he didn’t complete the task in a day as the oral tradition states.

The charity Ethiopian Heritage Fund that was set up to help preserve the treasures in the country has made the stunning discovery.

It also allowed incredible rare access to the texts, so experts could conserve them on site. It is now hoped the Gospels will be put in a museum at the monastery where visitors will be able to view them.

Blair Priday from the Ethiopian Heritage Fund said:

"Ethiopia has been overlooked as a source of these fantastic things. Many of these old Christian relics can only be reached by hiking and climbing to remote monasteries as roads are limited in these mountainous regions.

All the work on the texts was done in situ and everything is reversible, so if in future they can be taken away for further conservation, we won’t have hindered that.

The pages had been crudely stitched together in a restoration in the 1960s and some of the pages wouldn’t even turn. And they were falling to pieces.

The Garima Gospels have been kept high and dry, which helped preserve them all these years. They are kept in the dark so the colours look fresh.

This was the most astounding of all our projects. The Patriarch, the head of the Ethiopian Church, had to give his permission.

Most of the experts did the work for nothing. We are currently undertaking other restoration programmes on wall paintings and religious texts.

We believe that preserving Ethiopia’s cultural heritage will help to increase visitor revenue and understanding of the extraordinary history of this country."

📷 : Credit to the Owner

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

To the Church in Ephesus

1 To the messenger of the church in Ephesus write:

The one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven gold lampstands, says this:

2 I know your works, your labor, and your patient endurance, and that you are not able to tolerate evil people. You have tested those who say they are apostles, but are not, and have found them to be liars. 3 Indeed, you do have patient endurance. You have endured hardships on account of my name and have not become weary.

4 But I have this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5 Remember, therefore, the state from which you have fallen! Repent and do the works you did at first. Otherwise I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, if you do not repent.

6 But you do have this: You hate the actions of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

7 Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious I will give the privilege to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Letter to the Church in Smyrna

8 To the messenger of the church in Smyrna write:

The First and the Last, who was dead and came to life again, says this:

9 I know your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich. And I know the blasphemy that comes from those who say they are Jews but are not; rather, they are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not fear anything that you are about to suffer. Look, the Devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you will be tested, and you will suffer for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

11 Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.

Letter to the Church in Pergamum

12 To the messenger of the church in Pergamum write:

The one who has the sharp, two-edged sword says this:

13 I know where you live—where the throne of Satan is. And I know that you hold fast to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me even in the days when Antipas, my faithful witness, was put to death near you, the place where Satan lives.

14 But I have a few things against you: You have some people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who instructed Balak to put a stumbling block in front of the children of Israel so that they would eat things offered to idols and commit sexual immorality. 15 Likewise, you also have some people who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore, repent! If not, I will come to you soon, and I will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

17 Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, which no one will know except the one who receives it.

Letter to the Church in Thyatira

18 To the messenger of the church in Thyatira write:

The Son of God, whose eyes are like fiery flames and whose feet are like polished bronze, says this:

19 I know your works and love and faith and service, as well as your patient endurance, and that you are doing more now than you did at first.

20 But I have this against you: You allow that woman Jezebel, the one who calls herself a prophetess, to deceive my servants and to teach them to commit sexual immorality and eat things offered to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she is not willing to repent of her sexual immorality. 22 Look, I am going to throw her onto a bed and throw those who commit adultery with her into great suffering, if they do not repent of her works. 23 And I will put her children to death. And all the churches will know that I am the one who searches hearts and minds, and that I will give to each of you according to your works.

24 To the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold to this teaching, who do not know Satan’s “deep things,” as they call them, I say that I will not lay any other burden on you. 25 Only hold fast to what you have until I come.

26 To the one who is victorious and continues to do my works until the end, I will give him authority over the nations, 27 and he will rule them with an iron staff and shatter them like clay pots, 28 just as I myself have received authority from my Father. I will also give him the morning star.

29 Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. — Revelation 2 | Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV) The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved. Cross References: Genesis 2:9; Exodus 16:33; Numbers 25:1; 1 Kings 16:31; 1 Kings 21:25; Psalm 2:8-9; Psalm 7:9; Psalm 26:2; Psalm 31:23; Isaiah 14:12; Isaiah 30:14; Isaiah 44:6; Isaiah 49:2; Isaiah 56:5; Jeremiah 2:2; Daniel 10:6; Matthew 4:3; Matthew 4:10; Matthew 5:14-15; Matthew 7:28; Matthew 11:15; Luke 1:23; Luke 5:5; John 6:6; John 21:22-23; Acts 9:31; Acts 15:28; Acts 18:19; Acts 22:20; Romans 2:4-5; 2 Peter 3:9; Revelation 1:11; Revelation 17:2; Revelation 18:9; Revelation 3:11

[heavenlymorals]

This started out as a list for me for fanfiction purposes, but then I decided I should just post it cuz why the hell not?

These are my observations for what religions some RDR characters may follow. These assumptions are going to be based off cultural details and dialogue.

Again, they're only assumptions, so I'm very much aware that they can be wrong.

Dutch: Dutch is really interesting in the sense that he believes in a higher power. The three main components of Romantacism were the relationship between man and man, man and nature, and man and god. Dutch is a romantic. He also has many lines where he talks about heaven, with one being: "Be a man who knows that there is a heaven above or scurry off like some god forsaken monkeys." We know Dutch isn't Catholic considering his negative views towards Catholicism ("Here we are in this strange land of Papists and rapists."), so he is most likely from some sort of protestant background who then rejected it for the romantic tradition as many of the newspapers in RDR1 would say things about Dutch not getting saved. John says the same thing. Dutch is a diest but not a Christian.

Hosea: Hosea is some sort of protestant Christian and we get this through cultural background and dialogue. We learn that when he was younger, he wanted to be a priest but let go of that because he needed to be Catholic. America was and still is a majority protestant nation but even moreso back then. We also hear him talk about heaven and hell a couple of times, lamenting about how when he does, he won't see Bessie because she'll be in heaven. He is angry at his faith, yes, with the line of "And we're supposed to believe in judgement" when ranting about Bessie's death, but then apologizes, admitting that he can't understand it, not that he doesn't believe.

Arthur is agnostic, but he's open to the idea of faith. In one of this journal entries, he says something about whether he can achieve salvation or heaven or whether that's all fairy tales, as he's not sure what to believe when he dies, even though to the nun, he says he doesn't believe in anything. Arthur also seems to have a distaste for the church as an organization, evidenced by his dialogue with the grave digger debtor, but he seems to like religious people, or at the very least he is open to them. He never knocks down Brother Dorkins and he feels at peace when he speaks to the nun in their final meeting at the train station. Very interesting that he feels better after he talks to the nun, a character who is supposed to embody positive religion and what it can do for people.

John is a non practicing Christian, which makes sense considering his background and the work he has to put in to keep his family safe. It keeps him from actively practicing. Though he's a realist and isn't practically concerned about religion in his everyday life, shown by his father dismissive attitude towards religious people in the game, God is still an active force in his life. Throughout the story, John has lines about God as an active force in his life. When he marries Abigail, he says he wants to marry her "in front of God." A preacher authenticates the wedding. John owns a Bible in his house, makes references about Dutch not getting saved, and talks to Jack about the possibility of redemption as something the "good book" says, despite not reading it with him.

Abigail seems to also be a more practicing Christian, given that she does ask Jack a couple of times throughout the story to read verses for her, but beyond that, I feel like she is also pretty lukewarm in regards to her faith, but she is still a Christian.

Sean and Javier are all most likely cultural Catholics. Sean is an Irish man and is proud of his Irish heritage, which also includes Irish Catholicism and he mentions being a child of God a couple times throughout background dialogue. Javier is a Mexican man and Mexico is very Catholic and though he doesn't really speak of it, he has done the symbol of the cross in game, so it's likely that he still holds some religious thoughts.

Molly is most likely an Irish Protestant due to her conflicts with Sean as well as her family's connections with the English.

Charles is tricky because we know that despite being proud of his native heritage, he is still very much displaced from his culture. What this means is that while he might follow native religion, it equally as likely that he follows some sort of protestantism because of his lack of time with his tribe, forced assimilation, and his relationship with his black father, who would culturally most likely be a Christian. There are really no clues or hints about Charles' beliefs besides his cultural backgrounds so take that as you will.

Micah is a reddit atheist. He doesn't believe in divinity at all and he uses that to shape his worldview as well. No such thing as heaven and hell, only winners and losers. He bullies Swanson a lot for his faith and constantly belittles the idea of religion.

Karen, Tilly, Marybeth, Grimshaw, Pearson, Lenny, Leopald, Josiah, and Kieran don't really have any clues as to what they personally believe. The only idea that we have is the setting that they lived in and the culture that they frequented which makes it most likely that they are some sort of Christian, but what denomination? Don't know.

Sadie is a Christian, but most likely non practicing. We have multiple lines with her referencing God as an active force. "Everyone's got to choose who they're loyal to. God, the state, themselves. If a bounty hunter wants to last, his loyalty has got to be with the one issuing the bounty, plain and simple." "Guess he began to believe he was God or something."

Uncle is nonreligious, most likely agnostic due to his very lax tone in regards to faith, which is also evidenced by his rather wild lifestyle in multiple stories of his. "Do you believe in reincarnation?" "I hope and pray to whatever is out there-" "It's like rooming with the King James Bible."

Swanson is a protestant. Need I say more?

I'll post more later if I feel like it 🫶🏼

[whencyclopedia]

Kingdom of Abyssinia

The Kingdom of Abyssinia was founded in the 13th century CE and, transforming itself into the Ethiopian Empire via a series of military conquests, lasted until the 20th century CE. It was established by the kings of the Solomonid dynasty who, claiming descent from no less a figure than the Bible's King Solomon, would rule in an unbroken line throughout the state's long history. A Christian kingdom which spread the faith via military conquest and the establishment of churches and monasteries, its greatest threat came from the Muslim trading states of East Africa and southern Arabia and the migration of the Oromo people from the south. The combination of its rich Christian heritage, the cult of its emperors, and the geographical obstacles presented to invaders meant that the Ethiopian Empire would be one of only two African states never to be formally colonised by a European power.

Origins: Axum

The Ethiopian Highlands, with their reliable annual monsoon rainfall and fertile soil, had been successfully inhabited since the Stone Age. Agriculture and trade with Egypt, southern Arabia, and other African peoples ensured the rise of the powerful kingdom of Axum (also Aksum), which was founded in the 1st century CE. Flourishing from the 3rd to 6th century CE, and then surviving as a much smaller political entity into the 8th century CE, the Kingdom of Axum was the first sub-Saharan African state to officially adopt Christianity, c. 350 CE. Axum also created its own script, Ge'ez, which is still in use in Ethiopia today.

Across this Christian kingdom, churches were built, monasteries founded, and translations made of the Bible. The most important church was at Axum, the Church of Maryam Tsion, which, according to later Ethiopian medieval texts, housed the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark, meant to contain the original stone tablets of the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses, is supposed to be still there, but as nobody is ever allowed to see it, confirmation of its existence is difficult to achieve. The most important monastery in the Axum kingdom was at Debre Damo, founded by the 5th-century CE Byzantine ascetic Saint Aregawi, one of the celebrated Nine Saints who worked to spread Christianity in the region by establishing monasteries. The success of these endeavours meant that Christianity would continue to be practised in Ethiopia right into the 21st century CE.

The kingdom of Axum went into decline from the late 6th century CE, perhaps due to overuse of agricultural land, the incursion of western Bedja herders, and the increased competition for the Red Sea trade networks from Arab Muslims. The heartland of the Axum state shifted southwards while the city of Axum fared better than its namesake kingdom and has never lost its religious significance. In the 8th century CE, the Axumite port of Adulis was destroyed and the kingdom lost control of regional trade to the Muslims. It was the end of the state but not the culture.

Continue reading...

[grainjew]

Nikaposting Pt 1: Crypto-Religion

This is the first of a series of posts about Nika & associated religious practice in the One Piece world. As I write and post the rest of the series, I’ll add links to this header.

Pt 2: Symbology & Syncretism | Pt 3: Joyboy was Shandian | Pt 4: Sun God Tropes

Enormous credit to @oriigami for being my discussion partner through all of this and having a substantial influence on the final product. Check out our ao3 series Joyful for a narrative rather than analytical take on the Nika tradition, and definitely go read her OP blog @kaizokuou-ni-naru for meta and translation fun facts.

-

The Nika Cult is a Crypto-Religion

Terminology note: I will be using cult in these posts in the sense of “cult of worship,” rather than in the modern pejorative sense. Additionally, I tend to use “tradition” rather than “religion” as a general term, because “religion” is a messy and difficult to define concept, while “tradition” is much more inclusive of traditional practices, folk beliefs, and cults of worship that may not be considered religions by Western scholarship.

Raise your hand if you saw Kuma’s church and Bible, concluded “oh, the Nika stuff is basically One Piece Christianity,” and moved on with your life.

It’s an easy assumption to make, and for all I know authorial intent may well stop there. I’m not Oda. I’ll never be able to guess what goes on behind those fish eyes of his. But a second look at the worldbuilding around both Nika and Christianity in One Piece brought me to a very different conclusion: that the Nika cult is a crypto-religion and is, in Kuma’s case, using the outward appearance of Christianity as camouflage.

First of all: We have ample evidence that Christianity (or some variation of it- I’m fascinated by the implied existence of such things as One Piece Jerusalem and the One Piece Council of Nicea) does exist in the One Piece world, and is both fairly widespread and quite legal. Flevance was pretty explicitly Catholic (Law went to church as a kid), Miss Monday and Mother Carmel masqueraded as nuns to imply harmlessness, many if not most of the graves shown in the series are crosses, whatever Usopp was on about with that exorcism equipment, and, yes, Kuma’s church and Bible.

Even mentioning the Nika cult, on the other hand, is grounds for the government to assassinate you with extreme prejudice.

A crypto-religion is what happens when a religion is suppressed to the point that its practice is grounds for exile, torture, and/or execution: Some people will convert. Some people will flee into exile. Some people will die. And some people will outwardly adopt the dominant religion, but will continue to practice their own traditions in secret; ie, they’ll create a crypto-religion.

One of the more famous examples of this is the post-Spanish Inquisition crypto-Jews of Spain and Portugal, who converted to Christianity in public but kept what Jewish traditions and rituals they could in private. To this day, descendants of these conversos whose families have been Catholic for centuries are discovering that their family tradition of lighting two candles on Friday or not eating pork on Saturday are in fact the legacy of a violently suppressed heritage. There are countless other examples of crypto-religions throughout history, both among Jews (my own personal field of knowledge) and among other traditions (for an example that would be known to Oda, the crypto-Christians of Japan).

There’s no way the Nika cult could have survived except in cryptic form. If it ever had physical infrastructure in the form of temples or pilgrimage sites, the government would have sought them out and demolished them long ago if they were not adequately disguised, especially in World Government member states like the Sorbet Kingdom. Likewise, anyone foolish enough to speak publicly about Nika will be summarily assassinated.

In fact, I have doubts that the Nika cult ever existed outside cryptic form, at least in a significant or long-lasting manner. It was specifically introduced as a slave tradition, likely nigh-exclusively oral, practiced in secret either from its inception—if Nika was a figure created by slaves, including the buccaneers—or for a very long time—if it was the cultural or ethnic tradition of the buccaneers, which spread from enslaved buccaneers to non-buccaneer slaves because Nika was a figure that resonated with them. I tend the favor the second option, but either has merit.

As @oriigami said when we were talking about this, Kuma has a church. Kuma has a bible. Kuma worships a god about whom absolutely nothing is written except in the oldest texts.

Additionally, I’ll expand on this more in pt 2 of this series, but the pendant Kuma leaves for Bonney, a large circular sapphire surrounded by eight smaller circular sapphires, matches the circular symbol inset into the crosses of his church. Bonney immediately identifies the pendant as a sun even though it really doesn’t look like one, and it can be surmised therefore that it’s a Nika amulet, and the sun with disconnected rays a Nika symbol. Following this read, and especially because this symbol occurs across the world in other contexts (see pt 2 for my thoughts on that), its presence in the church is a very careful bit of architectural sleight of hand on the part of whichever of Kuma’s ancestors built the place- echoing a very common practice of real-world crypto-religion adherents to mark the true nature of their allegiances and houses of worship in ways only those in the know might recognize.

And on a storytelling level, Kuma’s entire presence in the narrative and in the world has been a tragic saga of appearing to be one way until he’s revealed, again and again, to be the opposite. It makes thematic sense for him to be fooling the world about his faith as well!

[opencommunion]

Hello, I really don’t want to be rude or anything like that but I would love to know any more information about the Christians in Palestine, Lebanon and Syria like, is it true Gaza had family lineages dating back to Jesus Christ? Asking because Ziocucks love making it seem as if Christians don’t exist over there

omg not rude at all, actually this is my favorite thing to talk about (it was a major focus of this blog prior to Al-Aqsa Flood) it's a huge topic so I'll link a ton of resources, but to answer your main question: yes, many Palestinian Christians in Gaza and elsewhere can trace their family history with Christianity back to the 1st century. the Christian community in Gaza is said to have been founded by the apostle Philip. the first bishop of Gaza was the apostle Philemon, the recipient of a Pauline epistle. a core zionist myth is the idea that contemporary Palestinians only arrived in Palestine in the 7th century or even the 20th century (see the links for debunking). but there's plenty of documentation of continuous Christian (and Jewish) presence in Palestine before, during, and after the emergence of Islam. Palestinians (and Levantine ppl more generally, but esp Palestinians because of the totality of their colonial dispossession—stories are often literally the only heirlooms refugee families have) typically have very strong family oral histories going back many centuries, so if a Palestinian tells you their family has been Christian since the time of Christ, take their word for it. community continuity is also about more than family trees—even if someone's family came to Christianity later, they're still part of the continuous living heritage of their community. the continuity of Palestinian Christianity is also evidenced by Palestinian holy sites. because Christianity was illegal in the Roman Empire until Constantine took power, dedicated churches weren't built until the 4th century, but many of these churches were built around existing sites of covert worship—for example the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem was built around a grotto that was already venerated as the site of Jesus' birth, the Church of St. John the Baptist in 'Ayn Karim (a forcibly depopulated suburb of Jerusalem) was built over a 1st century rock-cut shrine marking the site of John the Baptist's birth, and the Church of the Multiplication in Al-Tabigha (a destroyed and forcibly depopulated village on the shore of Lake Tiberias) was built over a limestone slab believed to be the table were Jesus fed the multitude. throughout the Levant there are also many ancient shrines (maqamat) that are shared sites of prayer for both Christians and Muslims; in Palestine many of these sites have been seized by the occupation and Palestinians are prevented from visiting them.

Palestinian Christian communities who are able to travel to the villages they were expelled from in the Nakba will sometimes return there to celebrate weddings and holidays in their ancestral churches, e.g. in Iqrit and Ma'alul (x, x). of course because the occupation heavily restricts Palestinian movement this isn't possible for most refugees.

here's some resources to get you started but feel free to hmu again if you have any more specific questions! Zionism and Palestinian Christians Rafiq Khoury, "The Effects of Christian Zionism on Palestinian Christians," in Challenging Christian Zionism (2005) Mitri Raheb, I am a Palestinian Christian (1995) Mitri Raheb, Faith in the Face of Empire: The Bible Through Palestinian Eyes (2014)

Christ at the Checkpoint: Theology in the Service of Justice and Peace (2012) Faith and the Intifada: Palestinian Christian Voices (1992) The Forgotten Faithful: A Window into the Life and Witness of Christians in the Holy Land (2007) Faith Under Occupation: The Plight of Indigenous Christians in the Holy Land (2012) Palestinian Christians: The Forcible Displacement and Dispossession Continues (2023) Donald E. Wagner, Dying in the Land of Promise: Palestine and Palestinian Christianity from Pentecost to 2000 (2003)—can't find it online but worth checking your library for

Pre-Zionist History James Grehan, Twilight of the Saints: Everyday Religion in Ottoman Syria and Palestine (2016) Ussama Makdisi, Artillery of Heaven: American Missionaries and the Failed Conversion of the Middle East (2008) Kenneth Cragg, The Arab Christian: A History in the Middle East (1992) Christopher MacEvitt, The Crusades and the Christian World of the East: Rough Tolerance (2007) John Binns, Ascetics and Ambassadors of Christ: The Monasteries of Palestine 314-631 (1996) Derwas Chitty, The Desert a City: an Introduction to the Study of Egyptian and Palestinian Monasticism Under the Christian Empire (1966) Aziz Suryal Atiya, A History of Eastern Christianity (1968) Michael Philip Penn, When Christians First Met Muslims: A Sourcebook of the Earliest Syriac Writings on Islam (2015) Early Christian Texts The Acts of the Apostles (1st century, Palestine. yes I'm recommending the bible lol but I promise I'm not trying to evangelize, it just really paints a good picture of the birth of Christianity in Jerusalem and its early spread) The Didache (1st or 2nd century, Palestine or Syria—the earliest known catechism, outlining how Christians were supposed to live and worship) Cyril of Scythopolis, The Lives of the Monks of Palestine (6th century) Sayings of the Desert Fathers and Desert Mothers (early Christian monastics)

for more resources specific to my tradition, the Maronite Church, see this post. for other misc Syriac tidbits see my Syriac tag. this is just scratching the surface so again, if you (or anyone else who sees this post!) have more specific interests lmk and I can point you in the right direction

[propheticeve]

"Holiness Hoodoo: Rediscovering Ancestral Roots Without Jesus"

The term "Holiness Hoodoo" may leave some people puzzled, so allow me to clarify its meaning. In my view, Holiness Hoodoo represents a return to the traditional practices of my ancestral lineage, a way to decipher who I am and what my purpose entails. Many of our forebears were devout Christians, and this undeniable fact forms the backdrop of my spiritual journey. Despite the complex relationship that many Black Americans have with the Bible due to the scars of slavery, it's essential to remember that it wasn't the Bible itself that caused harm, but the people wielding it as a tool of oppression.

As I delved deeper into the realms of ancestral magic, I began to notice striking parallels with church practices. To some, I seemed too "churchy" for hoodoo, and to others, too "hoodoo" for the church—there appeared to be no middle ground. However, I've come to understand that my connection to my ancestors is the cornerstone of my spiritual practice. I've realized that perhaps the reason some individuals struggle to communicate with their spirits is that they try to venerate them through African traditions, tarot, or other methods their ancestors might not recognize.

The Bible, as a potent tool in hoodoo, is not revered because we live by its teachings but because it contains powerful scriptures. My mother, for instance, believed in Jesus, yet she was a practitioner of hoodoo—a tongue-speaking, spirit-conjuring woman. Her approach, which I now embrace, is what I refer to as "Holiness Hoodoo."

So, what does Holiness Hoodoo look like for me?

1. Setting the Atmosphere:

I play inspirational or gospel music that resonates with my specific needs, allowing it to fill my home as I clean, pray, or perform spiritual work. Gospel music serves as a direct conduit to my ancestral spirits, and sometimes, when I hear a song I haven't listened to in a while, an ancestor's presence is assured.

2. Keeping a Bible on the Altar:

While I don't read the Bible frequently, I keep it open to the Psalms as an offering to my spirits. The Bible also serves as a powerful tool of protection, and specific verses and pages can function as talismans and petitions.

3. Baptisms:

Baptism, in my lineage, is a ritual practice to wash ourselves of sins and start anew. It's not just for babies; it can also cleanse generational curses and traumas passed down from parents.

4. Shouting:

Listening to gospel music, I engage in the practice of shouting, a form of ecstatic dance that connects me with my spirits. This practice fills me with light and often results in downloads of ancestral wisdom.

5. Laying of Hands:

I perform the laying of hands, a practice I'll discuss in more detail in the future. It's distinct from Reiki and is a significant part of my spiritual tradition.

6. Fasting:

Fasting is a part of my spiritual practice, serving as a means of both elevating my spiritual consciousness and cleansing my body. I firmly believe that one's health plays a pivotal role in their spiritual journey.

Holiness Hoodoo is about preserving the traditions of our ancestors and finding connections with them. It doesn't rely on dogma or strict religious doctrine; instead, it is a pathway to tap into the wisdom and spirituality that has been passed down through generations. In this practice, there is no room for being "too churchy" or "too hoodoo"—it's about embracing the rich tapestry of our heritage and harnessing it for a profound and authentic spiritual experience.

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[lemonmoicho]

Head cannons of Diavolo that no one cares about 🫶

Origin: Diavolo and his mother are indigenous Sardinia. They come from a small reserved village near alghero l'alguer, They mainly speak Campidanese Sardú and even though the island of Sardinia was conquered by the Italians, small villages like theirs are still heavily traditional. When Diavolo speaks Italian, his Sardinia accent is apparent, which contributes to his adherence to speaking on the phone with any subordinate. Diavolo would have a super strong Catalana dialect for the reason that his mother’s family were there when the Spanish eradicated the natives in alghero and his family were one of the few who were able to stay on the island as there is a small native Sardinia population. Diavolo knows how to speak the native language of Sardinia, Sardinian (or Sard). He is also fluent in Latin, as he grew up in the Catholic Church and studied the Bible under his adoptive father. The priest had him very close to Sardinian traditions in general, and he practiced them growing up. As he got older, he strayed away from his father's teaching and very rarely connects to his heritage due to his paranoia and general disdain for his upbringing.

Backstory: Diavolo/Solido was born on June 6th, 1967 (06/06/67) Even though it’s unlikely, because there are no distinctions whether his mother was actually pregnant for two years, the priest and village believed that he was born by the devil because of his abnormal birth story. When the priest took in Solido he assumed he was born by the devil and relentlessly abused him. This is supported by the fact he has DID which only forms from intensive physical and emotional at the ages of 6-9 as a defense mechanism. Diavolo was originally a personality to protect Solido from the abuse of his village and his adoptive father. The priest and the villagers heavily resented and disliked him due to his birth, which led to his many mental illnesses and physical issues. The name Diavolo was given to Solido, in which his second personality reclaimed after burning down the church and primarily taking control of the body. Diavolo is considered the protector (which is a term for certain alters in DID systems) for ‘Doppio’ or Solido and takes over or gives him advice when he’s in violent or serious situations to help him and is also why Doppio doesn’t remember anything of his past, because Diavolo holds the memories of their childhood. Diavolo’s childhood was extremely difficult, as he was often neglected and physically abused by the priest. He would undergo gruesome exorcisms and other forms of punishments, as his father resented him for being the ‘devil's son’. However, despite the abuse, Solido was a very kind, albeit aloof, boy who attempted to be obedient to his father. During his teen years, he developed early onset schizophrenia while Diavolo simultaneously made himself present, which caused Solido to be more rebellious and making his home life worse. As he reached the age of 17-19, Diavolo helped influence the plan to kidnap his biological mother and burn the village down in order to escape and start his life anonymously.

Appearance:

5’10 and has a darker complexion.

- His teeth are sharp and mildly crooked, as a child he had no access to any dental attention.

- As he got older, he became paler since he early goes outside and prefers his home to be dark as he's paranoid of open windows.

-His facial structure has strong Neolithic features and an aquiline nose.

-He also has freckles across his face and shoulders, which he desperately covers up with makeup in order to uphold his particular aesthetic. He does a similar sharpening with his jaw to hide any soft features.

-He doesn’t grow much body hair, and if he does, it’s faint.

-He shows very little signs of aging and has the complexion of someone in his early twenties.

-He has terrible posture and often is hunched forward. Whether that is sitting, standing, or walking. His joints audibly crack often. The reasoning for this is his grueling work schedule that has him hunched over his desk for most hours of the day and the abuse he endured growing up which decently distorted the bone structure of his spine.

-He’s only 140 pounds because of his very slim figure. He’s slightly malnourished, but still has decent muscle mass and has a generally lean build.

Habits and details:

-Diavolo often becomes extremely caught up in what he’s doing or what’s nagging him that he’ll forget to eat, keep track of time or sleep.

-He has scopophobia (the fear of being stared at).

-His diet is at least 65% dry/snack food since he has little to no time to prepare himself a meal and will not allow anyone to prepare food for him.

-He has some knowledge on how to play the violin and piano.

- He enjoys opera performances; especially dramatic ones that tell a tale (i.e. opera buffa).

-He enjoys watching dramatic Italian soap operas when he finds the time, but he will never watch any horror related media, as it only worsens his paranoia.

-He has a weakness in literature and any understanding of biology but is naturally gifted in mathematics.

-He has a fondness for cats, but the feeling is not mutual.

-He gets easily irritated when he feels too hot.

-His hair is surprisingly soft, he also likes to use it as a curtain to hide behind when doing desk work or reading.

-He loves the sound of ocean waves and on occasion will make his current hideout near the ocean so he can sit near a window and relax. Diavolo would love to find an untouched beach so he can simply walk next to the ocean and enjoy the breeze without the fear of being discovered, ruining the moment.

-He has limited hobbies, since he can’t really indulge in activities that leave traces of his existence.

-His main hobby is reading, with a particular fondness towards classical pieces and poetry (that is where he gets his very unusually formal vocabulary). Diavolo finds something comforting within books being passed from hand-to-hand with no mention of the previous owner's name.

-Another hobby of his is playing instruments, but he rarely finds the time.

-His hands are very fidgety, more so when stressed, so he has a habit of rubbing circles into his scalp or scratching at his skin.

-Even though Diavolo doesn’t have a sweet tooth, he’s particularly fond of ciambelle


Flaws:

-His desire not to be seen stems from more than just wanting to remain anonymous. The feeling of eyes on him makes his skin crawl; it kicks his senses of anxiety and paranoia into overdrive and makes him feel restless or nauseous. There are days Diavolo is completely incapable of leaving the safety of his isolated room.

-He has paranoid schizophrenia, which makes daily life harder and increases his paranoia.

-Due to his many delusional complexes, when he loses control he goes into deep depressive episodes. If something doesn’t go as expected, he'll go through irrational fits and is unable to control his anger.

-His emotional regulation is very fragile and could be compared to a child.

-Since he’s constantly on edge, he’s prone to snapping ‘suddenly’ or becoming aggressive over the smallest things. The outbursts are short and, unless he’s able to ‘overcome’ the issue then and there, will nag at him for hours to come.

-Once he’s angry, he finds it hard to relax again.

-He cannot cook anything past a basic, barely-passes-as-decent meal. He doesn’t need to prepare food himself when he can afford to buy luxury; though trying to do so whilst being a hermit obsessed with maintaining anonymity is difficult. He doesn’t enjoy it, but during times when he cannot leave where he’s currently hiding, he resorts to ready-made meals.

[wutbju]

Pastor Stuart B. Latimer, age 84, of Taylors, SC, went to his heavenly home on Thursday, September 7, 2023.

Stuart was born to George and Florence Latimer in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He was active in Youth for Christ in Hamilton during his teenage years. He graduated Valedictorian from Saltfleet High School and decided to attend Bob Jones University. Stuart met his wife Charlotte Polk from Frostproof, FL at Bob Jones, and they were married in 1962. He went on to receive his Master in Biblical Studies and completed post-master’s studies at BJU while teaching at the university.

Stuart became a USA citizen in 1971. He was ordained to the gospel ministry in 1972 and helped found Peoples Bible Church in Greenville, where he pastored for 22 years and had significant ministries to Furman and Clemson students. Stuart and Charlotte hosted thousands of college students in their home for meals and discussions throughout their ministry. Stuart was a popular speaker at family conferences, youth retreats, college retreats, and pastoral conferences.

Stuart lost his knee to a shotgun blast from a robber on a mission trip to Trinidad in 1994, but one of his former Furman students was able to save his leg. For the rest of his life, he was known for his walking stick with a carved turtle at the top which he called a “great conversation starter” (as though he needed one of those!). He joined the Associate Reformed Presbyterian denomination where he pastored Devenger Road Presbyterian Church for 15 years. After retiring, he continued to preach at multiple churches in South Carolina and Georgia, including regular preaching at Living Hope Presbyterian Church in Greer, SC. During the last year of his life, Stuart and Charlotte were encouraged by the television ministry of First Presbyterian Church, Greenville and by the in-home ministry of the pastoral staff.

He was an honorary cheerleader at Shannon Forest Christian School in the 1980s where his children attended, and he was known for the bellowing cry “Go Shannon Forest!” He was a huge Clemson fan and proudly wore a bright orange jacket wherever he roamed. His love for his children’s school and university is only surpassed by his love for their children. He loved spending time with his grandchildren, talking to them, joking with them, grilling them, and other assorted adventures with Papa. Stuart and Charlotte loved traveling together during their retirement years, including two trips driving to Alaska, all the way to the Artic Circle.

Throughout his life, Stuart wrote “Letters of Encouragement” (and later emails) to waiters, store clerks, baristas, friends, visitors, relatives, strangers on the street—anyone he had the opportunity to meet, even briefly. God gave him the gift of encouragement and a warm smile which he used to influence many lives. He believed the Bible is God’s love letter to us and wanted everyone to know that they were “worth more than the whole world put together.”

He is survived by his beloved wife of 61 years, Charlotte; his daughter, Michelle, her husband Jay Case, their children Elena and Alexander; his son, Stuart Jr., his children, Grace Anne (Thomas) Henley, William, and Lewis; and his sister, Marion, her husband Dave Pyke, and their children and grandchildren. Stuart was a loving husband, brother, father, and grandfather—he will be impossible to replace.

Services for Stuart will be held Thursday, September 14, 2023. Visitation at 12:00 pm followed by a Funeral Service at 1:30 pm at First Presbyterian Church, 200 W. Washington St., Greenville, SC.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice of the Foothills 390 Keowee School Rd. Seneca, SC, 29672 or to Samaritan’s Purse.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Trump loyalist Russ Vought pushes fascistic ‘post-Constitutional’ vision for second Trump term

Beth Reinhard at WaPo:

A battle-tested D.C. bureaucrat and self-described Christian nationalist is drawing up detailed plans for a sweeping expansion of presidential power in a second Trump administration. Russ Vought, who served as the former president’s budget chief, calls his political strategy for razing long-standing guardrails “radical constitutionalism.” He has helped craft proposals for Donald Trump to deploy the military to quash civil unrest, seize more control over the Justice Department and assert the power to withhold congressional appropriations — and that’s just on Trump’s first day back in office. Vought, 48, is poised to steer this agenda from an influential perch in the White House, potentially as Trump’s chief of staff, according to some people involved in discussions about a second term who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. Since Trump left office, Vought has led the Center for Renewing America, part of a network of conservative advocacy groups staffed by former and potentially future Trump administration officials. Vought’s rise is a reminder that if Trump is reelected, he has said he will surround himself with loyalists eager to carry out his wishes, even if they violate traditional norms against executive overreach.

“We are living in a post-Constitutional time,” Vought wrote in a seminal 2022 essay, which argued that the left has corrupted the nation’s laws and institutions. Last week, after a jury convicted Trump of falsifying business records, Vought tweeted: “Do not tell me that we are living under the Constitution.” Vought aims to harness what he calls the “woke and weaponized” bureaucracy that stymied the former president by stocking federal agencies with hardcore disciples who would wage culture wars on abortion and immigration. The proposals championed by Vought and other Trump allies to fundamentally reset the balance of power would represent a historic shift — one they see as a needed corrective. “The president has to be able to drive the bureaucracy instead of being trapped by it,” said Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker who led the GOP’s 1994 takeover of Congress. Vought did not respond to interview requests and a detailed list of questions from The Washington Post. This account of his plans for Trump’s potential first day back in office and the rest of a second term comes from interviews with people involved in the planning, a review of Vought’s public remarks and writings, and Center for Renewing America correspondence obtained by The Post.

[...] Vought’s long careera s a staffer in Congress and at federal agencies has made him an asset to Project 2025, an initiative led by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, to lay the groundwork for a second Trump term. Vought wrote the chapter on the executive office of the president in Project 2025’s 920-page blueprint, and he is developing its playbook for the first 180 days, according to the people involved in the effort. “We’re going to plant the flags now,” Vought told Trump’s former strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, on his far-right podcast. “It becomes a new governing consensus of the Republican Party.”

[...]

From fiscal hawk to MAGA warrior

Vought was raised in Trumbull, Conn., the son of an electrician and a teacher and the youngest of seven children. Brought up in what he has characterized as a “very strong, Bible-preaching, Bible-teaching church,” he attended Christian camps every summer. He received a bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College, an evangelical Christian school in Illinois, and headed to Capitol Hill near the end of the Clinton administration. Vought mastered the federal budget working for fiscal conservatives, including Sen. Phil Gramm and Rep. Jeb Hensarling, both Texas Republicans, while getting his law degree from George Washington University.

Years before the Freedom Caucus enforced right-wing ideology on Capitol Hill, Vought was the bomb-throwing executive director of the conservative House Republican Study Committee. His prime targets: big government and entitlement spending. He worked under Pence, then a congressman, who called him “one of the strongest advocates for the principles that guide us” in 2010. That year, as the populist tea party movement was surging, Vought joined the Heritage Foundation’s new lobbying arm. From a Capitol Hill townhouse dubbed the “frat house,” Vought and his other brash, young male colleagues tormented Republican leaders by grading their fealty to fiscal conservatism. “Russ was determined to make our scorecard tougher than others out there,” said Republican strategist Tim Chapman, who worked closely with Vought at Heritage Action. “He wanted to separate the wheat from the chaff.”

Joining the Trump transition allowed Vought to put his principles to paper. Later, Pence cast the tiebreaking vote for his confirmation in 2018 as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vought ascended to the top post in 2019. But instead of slashing spending as Vought and other budget officials recommended, Trump resisted significant reductions to domestic programs and backed trillions in emergency pandemic assistance. The national debt ballooned by more than $8 trillion. Vought blamed Congress. And he stood by Trump throughout his tumultuous presidency, as a procession of other Cabinet officials balked at breaching what they viewed as ethical and legal boundaries. “A bunch of people around him who were constantly sitting on eggs and saying, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s getting me to violate the law,’” was how Vought later described the mat a Heritage Foundation event. By contrast, Vought found workarounds to fulfill the president’s ambitions that tested legal limits and his own record opposing executive overreach and deficit spending.

When Congress blocked additional funding for Trump’s border wall, the budget office in early 2020 redirected billions of dollars from the Pentagon to what became one of the most expensive federal infrastructure projects in U.S. history. And it was Vought’s office that held up military aid to Ukraine as Trump pressed the government to dig up dirt on Joe Biden, prompting the president’s first impeachment. Vought defied a congressional subpoena during the impeachment inquiry, which he mocked as a “#shamprocess.” The Government Accountability Office concluded that his office broke the law, a claim Vought disputed.

Near the end of Trump’s presidency, Vought helped launch his biggest broadside at the “deep state” — an order to strip the civil service protections of up to tens of thousands of federal employees. The administration did not have time to fully implement the order.

After the 2020 election, as Trump refused to concede, Biden officials complained that Vought was impeding the transition. Vought rejected that accusation — but wrote that his office would not “dismantle this Administration’s work.” He was already planning ahead; bylaws for what would become the Center for Renewing America were adopted on the day of Biden’s inauguration, records show. “There’s a marriage of convenience between Russ and Trump,” said Chapman, senior adviser at Pence’s group, Advancing American Freedom. “Russ has been pursuing an ideological agenda for a long time and views Trump’s second term as the best way to achieve it, while Trump needs people in his second term who are loyal and committed and adept at using the tools of the federal government.”

Radical constitutionalism

Since Biden took office, Vought has turned the Center for Renewing America into a hub of Trump loyalists, including Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department lawyer later charged in Georgia with trying to overturn Biden’s victory in 2020. Vought called Clark, who has pleaded not guilty, “a patriot who risked his career to help expose voter fraud.” “I think the election was stolen,” Vought said in a 2022 interview with Trump activists Diamond and Silk. He is no longer in touch with Pence, his longtime patron, who has said Trump’s efforts to overturn the vote disqualified him from serving as president again, according to people familiar with the relationship who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a sensitive topic. The Center for Renewing America is among several pro-Trump groups incubated by the Conservative Partnership Institute, founded in 2017 by former senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.). The center, a tax-exempt group that is not required to publicly disclose its donors, raised $4.75 million in 2023, according to its annual report.

As Vought and other Trump allies work on blueprints for a second term, he is pushing a strategy he calls “radical constitutionalism.” The left has discarded the Constitution, Vought argues, so conservatives need to rise up, wrest power from the federal bureaucracy and centralize authority in the Oval Office. “Our need is not just to win congressional majorities that blame the other side or fill seats on court benches to meddle at the margins,” he wrote in the 2022 essay. “It is to cast ourselves as dissidents of the current regime and to put on our shoulders the full weight of envisioning, articulating, and defending what a Radical Constitutionalism requires in the late hour that our country finds itself in, and then to do it.”

In practice, that could mean reinterpreting parts of the Constitution to achieve policy goals — such as by defining illegal immigration as an “invasion,” which would allow states to use wartime powers to stop it. “We showed that millions of illegal aliens coming across, and Mexican cartels holding operational control of the border, constitute an invasion,” Vought wrote. “This is where we need to be radical in discarding or rethinking the legal paradigms that have confined our ability to return to the original Constitution.”

Vought also embraces Christian nationalism, a hard-right movement that seeks to infuse Christianity into all aspects of society, including government. He penned a 2021 Newsweek essay that disputed allegations of bias and asked, “Is There Anything Actually Wrong With ‘Christian Nationalism?’” He argued for “an institutional separation between church and state, but not the separation of Christianity from its influence on government and society.” Looking at immigration through that lens, Vought has called for “mass deportation” of illegal immigrants and a “Christian immigration ethic” that would strictly limit the types of people allowed entry into the United States. At a 2023 conference organized by Christian and right-wing groups, he questioned whether legal immigration is “healthy” because, in a politically polarized climate, “immigration only increases and exasperates the divisions that we face in the country.”

WaPo reports that Trump loyalist Russ Vought is set to push for a fascistic "post-Constitutional" vision for second Trump term should Donald Trump get elected.

[mountain-sage]

In the future, a few things will disappear. Nations will have to disappear because the earth has become a small village; now they are meaningless. India and Pakistan and China and America and Canada and England and Germany are meaningless; the earth has become one.

The day man became capable of going beyond gravitation, the earth became one. The first man in a spaceship started crying when he saw the whole earth as one. Nobody had ever seen the whole earth as one. He looked at the earth he could not believe how there could be any divisions of America and Russia and China and this and that. He could not think about himself as American or Russian. He could think about himself only as an earth-dweller. And he could not see any divisions of the earth because divisions are only on the political maps; the earth remains undivided. The day man crossed the barrier of gravitation, became free from gravitation, the earth became one. It is now only a question of time.... Nations will have to disappear, and with nations will disappear the world of the politicians and the world of politics. A great nightmare will disappear from the earth.

And the second thing to disappear with the nations is Hinduism, Mohammedanism, Christianity, Judaism. Just as politics have divided the map of the earth, religions have divided the consciousness of man Certainly the division of religion is more dangerous than the division of politics, because politics can only divide the earth... religions have divided the consciousness of man. Man has not been allowed total access to his being. One has to be just a Mohammedan a very narrow thing. One has to be just a Hindu - just a very narrow thing.

Why. when you can have the whole heritage? When the whole past is yours and the whole future is yours, why should you divide? Why should I call myself 'a Hindu or a Mohammedan or a Christian'? One should claim the total. By claiming the total you become total: you lose all narrow divisions, distinctions, you become whole. you become holy. That is going to happen, that is bound to happen. That HAS to happen. otherwise man will not be able to grow any more.

This is very crucial that man has to drop all barriers.of nation and religion and church.

That's what I am doing here: trying to bring together all the fragrances released in different centuries by differing flowerings of human consciousness. Lao Tzu is a flower, so is Buddha, so is Jesus, so is Mohammed, but now we have to melt all their fragrances into one - a universal fragrance. Then, for the first time, man will be able to be religious and yet

undivided. Then the church is yours and the mosque too and the temple too. Then the Gita is yours, and the Koran and the Vedas and the Bible everything is yours. You become vast.

No, I am not trying to create a new flower flowers have happened. I am trying to create a new perfume out of all those flowers. It is more subtle, more invisible; only those who have eyes will be able to see it.

Osho

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Thy Testimonies Are My heritage

Your decrees are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart. — Psalm 119:111 | New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. All rights reserved. Cross References: Deuteronomy 33:4; Psalm 119:14; Psalm 119:162

[vae-victoris]

❖：ᴅᴀɪꜱᴜᴋᴇ

𝕹𝖆𝖒𝖊: Daisuke | Dennis | Dietrich*

*Given Japanese Name | "Saint Name" | Birth Name

𝕬𝖌𝖊: Unknown (Physically 17)

𝕭𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖉 𝕿𝖞𝖕𝖊: AB

𝕳𝖊𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙: 180cm

𝖂𝖊𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙: 61kg

𝕳𝖔𝖇𝖇𝖎𝖊𝖘: Bible Recitations, Puzzles.

　　As both a Vampire and a Vampire Hunter, Daisuke has been Komori Seiji's apprentice at the Church ever since he was gravely injured by him. He is the son of Sakamaki Richter and his estranged wife, who were thought to have been murdered by Odessa, and thus he is the half-brother of Sakamaki Ryuuto. Daisuke is, additionally, unofficially a priest at the Church.

　　 Within the Church, only Seiji knows of Daisuke's Vampirism, with the former taking him under his wing as his apprentice after being hunted by him in Germany. Although Daisuke remains weakened, and ill, from the poison used to capture him, Seiji keeps him alive for the purpose of his pureblood heritage providing knowledge of other Vampires, and of Karlheinz. The poison used was alike the potent toxins Richter used on Ayato, following his initial refusal to abdicate; His poisoned and dying veins are similarly discoloured, kept at bay by medicine administered by Seiji. His hands, however, are the most noticeably poisoned part of him, which he conceals with gloves.

　　 Daisuke is a methodical, and routine-loving, young man who keeps to himself more often than not. Despite being thankful for the mercy showed by Seiji, his gratitude has its bounds; He remains distrusting, with his death almost certainly assured when his usefulness runs dry. He, however, remains loyal to him, festering a deep desire for vengeance for his mother against Odessa, and all those involved with the destruction of his family.

　　✒︎ He briefly fled from Germany to Russia following Odessa's destruction of his family, before returning a few years later after being chased out by Vampire Hunters.

　　✒︎ He is fluent in Japanese, German, and Russian.

　　✒︎ He was born on December 24.

　　✒︎ He shares a name with Saint Denis, the first bishop of Paris, who was martyred by decapitation, after which legend says he picked up his own severed head and walked for a distance while preaching a sermon.