#biblical online courses

[anushaarticles]

Children's Ministry or Sunday School is proved to be very important for the spiritual growth. We see 4 important reasons explained in this article.

[mannabibleinstitute]

Studying the Bible in the USA: A Guide for International Students

This creates an opportunity for the international student to go deeper into theological studies with new cultural experiences from studying the Bible within the USA. Whether interested in a Bible college for clergy in Florida or other Bible schools in the USA that accept international students, this guide should provide key information within the scope of one making a wise decision. We will also nip in a discussion on how to access financial aid opportunities, including making opportunities for the Bible scholarship fund in Florida. Read more : https://mannabibleinstitute.blogspot.com/2024/08/studying-bible-in-usa-guide-for.html

[cosmicghoul99]

An interesting Hannibal theory I think you should know about

I'm not sure how many people know this, but if you're unaware, some really interesting things relate to the show and Hannibal's character specifically. (Wanna add that I am not religious, so apologies if I get something wrong. I mean no offense to anyone, this is just a little analysis on my part)

There are a lot of biblical references in the show. It makes sense; religion has always been a deep, moral, and philosophical concept, and Hannibal loves to incorporate the ideas of religion and God into his actions and that of those around him. One of these references is a recurring one. Hannibal is often referred to as the devil. Like this quote from Gideon:

"You really are the devil," Abel Gideon - Antipasto

Or this one from Bedelia:

"Who holds the Devil, let him hold him well. He will hardly be caught a second time." Bedelia Du Maurier - The Wrath of the Lamb

Add this to all the religious imagery, the references to stags and the wendigo, plus the season three discussions about Dante. Bedelia says that she was "swallowed whole" by the beast at the mouth of Hell. You get the picture. There is a lot of talk and allusions to Hannibal being "the Devil."

Obviously, this is a metaphor first and largely used because he is the main "evil" or antagonistic character, but there's actually some truth to this.

Both Bryan Fuller, the creator, and Mads Mikkelsen, the actor of Hannibal, have stated that Hannibal is meant to be the literal devil. He is meant to be both a personification of the devil and the literal devil.

According to Bryan Fuller, Mads Mikkelsen plays Hannibal like he is Lucifer. In an interview, he stated that "he is as close as you can come to the Devil, in the sense that the Devil has no reasons," following it up by saying that Hannibal's reactions aren’t something of a person, but of the Devil. He intentionally plays the character through the lens of the fallen angel, Lucifer. Hannibal is meant to, in the eyes of the actor, be a manifestation of the Devil

Bryan Fuller has also said in interviews and online that he believes Hannibal is the devil. Of course, he states that this is his opinion and that others are up to their own interpretation, but the show's main creator and writer believes this also means that we can reasonably see this in the show.

Throughout the show, Hannibal is simply on another level. Many times, he does not seem human but rather otherworldly. I think that is where Mad's acting presents itself, alongside whenever Hannibal is talking about humanity and God.

Hannibal loves to play at being God and also criticizes God as well. I believe it is in episode three after Will kills Hobbs, that they discuss how Will killing Hobbs felt good. Hannibal responds with this.

"Killing must feel good to God, too... He does it all the time, and are we not created in His image?" Hannibal Lecter - Amuse-Bouche 

Oh boy. This is such an interesting line. He talks about being created in His image. Let's be honest; he speaks as if he were God or knows God at least. His comment actually makes more sense if you view this as him being the Devil. Lucifer, the fallen angel, was cast from Heaven for rebelling against God. He feels that it was unjust. Most people talking about God and His actions view him with benevolence. Hannibal does not. In the bible, Lucifer had a problem with humans. And humans are, of course, said to be created in God's image. You could also argue that angels, especially Lucifer, were created in that same image, too. Hannibal has an issue with the rude. Why the rude particular? It is because those who are rude often showcase the worst of humanity's attributes and free will. Hannibal despises the rude because I believe that it, in some ways, represents the hatred that the Devil, or Lucifer, holds for humanity. The Devil had an issue with humans gaining free will and felt they did not deserve life via God's hands. This is similar to how Hannibal feels that those who are rude do not deserve to live. Hannibal, then, of course, being Satan himself, would be resentful of God for casting him from Heaven. Again, Hannibal often discusses God's motives, or what God feels doing certain things. Literally, a few seconds later in that episode, he says this:

"Hannibal: God's terrific. He dropped a church roof on thirty-four of his worshippers last Wednesday night in Texas while they sang a hymn.

Will: Did God feel good about that?

Hannibal: He felt powerful." Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter - Amuse-Bouche 

That last line about him feeling powerful gets me thinking. Hannibal is speaking not just about this but also about his own fall. But more importantly, he's also showing us what he thinks of himself. Killing makes God feel powerful. That means that killing makes Hannibal feel powerful as well. He is both giving motives and somewhat criticizing God at the same time. Hannibal seems to find the situation amusing. I think he believes it quite funny that humans were killed while worshipping God. He might even see a comparison between what happened to him and what happened here. He is simultaneously praising God and calling Him a hypocrite.

Hannibal's motives for killing are also interesting, and I said earlier that I think the reason why he kills is because he believes that rude and ill-tempered people are the problem with humanity. And he wants to get rid of them.

Now, let's explore how this connects with other metaphors, his decisions in canon, and his relationship with Will.

Let's talk about the stag. I did some research, and in many religions, including Christianity, stags represent God and his might, at least from what I could find. I find this interesting because stags are also meant to represent opposition to the snake, another symbol of the Devil. Why is the representation of Hannibal, at least in Will's mind, a stag? I think it actually represents the darkening of Will. If stags are meant to represent good, then that means that Will starts off that way and then slowly follows the stag and is affected by it, which, to me, means that Will is slowly being corrupted. Just like the stag was corrupted due to Hannibal's influence, Will is starting to change and fall deeper and deeper into darkness. It's also interesting that the dynamic between Hannibal and Will is clearly that of one between the Devil and the person they are trying to tempt. Hannibal is trying to tempt Will into changing himself and embracing the darkness inside of him.

Will is Hannibal's realization that humans are actually not that bad. They are complex, and their free will actually makes them relate to him more than he thinks. Will is his weakness, and Hannibal is intrigued by him. If the Devil, which is Hannibal, is the snake, then, in Hannibal's own words, Will is the mongoose that preys on the snake. Hannibal originally fell because of humans, and at the end of the series, he falls because of humanity again. He fell for Will. Will is meant to represent the lamb of God. The symbolism is that Hannibal fell for Will, who sacrificed himself to keep the Devil away, getting corrupted in the process.

Dolarhyde is also a factor. The original painting, "The Great Red Dragon," represents Satan. How does that tie into this idea? I think it's not Dolarhyde who is meant to be Satan; rather, it is Hannibal. We know that Dolyrhde idolizes Hannibal in a sense. Like Will and many of his other patients, which I'll get into later, Francis is influenced by what Hannibal says. Yet another temptation by the Devil. This is also connected to Will coming into his own life because Francis is also manipulated by Will. There is a connection between Hannibal and Will, which is shared via the tempting and manipulation of Francis.

I mean, we have this statement by Jack talking about The dragon, the lamb, etc. Jack says that,

"He's not the Dragon, you are. The Devil himself bound in the pit." Jack Crawford

Hannibal compares Jack to God. But I think they both are, in some way.

Many of Hannibal's patients and the people in his life, in general, are manipulated by him. I mean, some of his patients are tempted and influenced by him to do bad things commit crimes, and murder people. That's very indicative of the Devil's work, in my opinion. Even Jack and Alana end up being manipulated and deceived by him.

There is a lot of other religious imagery and symbolism, so I'll only discuss some of it. To start with, the reference to Bedelia's presentation and Hannibal's name in Italy and what they could represent. I mentioned earlier that in season 3, Bedelia talks about her time in Florence with Hannibal. She talks about how Dante gave a physical space to Hell, a solid concept, but before that, people would say, the "mouth of Hell." Then she says that she was "swallowed by the beast." This refers to Hannibal, but here's the interesting thing. In the Bible, the Devil is also referred to as the Beast. Bedelia is yet again referring to herself being used and brought into the mouth of Hell by the Beast, Hannibal. The name that Hannibal was monikered by in Italy is also the same. "Il Mostro" translates to the monster, which can be interpreted as yet another way to refer to the devil. Then, there is the obvious references to lambs in the show, with it being a sacrificial symbol. I'm sure that's been talked about a lot, and I mentioned it earlier.

There are many mentions of justice, redemption, retribution, and more in the show. This connects with the religious themes, of course, but it also plays into Hannibal's view of himself as a God, as well as how the show depicts him as the Devil. He is the one who casts judgment onto people, like his patients, and onto the rude, like a God. He is the one who issues punishment for sins and misdeeds, like the Devil. I think it's so interesting to see them both working in tandem.

I once saw a post saying that Hannibal acts like he's lived the same life a hundred or so times. And I agree. He does. He acts like he has been around for a time so long that many have forgotten it. It makes sense why he's so confident, and nothing seems to phase him. Nothing that happens has any consequence for him. The only thing, really, that he cares about is Will. That's why he tries to get Will to have his Becoming and Fall with him. He wants Will to be there with him. Which is sweet, I think :) And not to bring up related trauma for anyone that has ever been a fan of Devilman or Devilman Crybaby, but IMO, it really really reminds me of Akira and Ryo and how Ryo is stuck in the same cycle over and over again as a lesson. Idk, my opinion. Let me know what you think.

I also wanted to touch on some other interpretations of the raven stag shown alongside the wendigo and how other religions and beliefs might relate to this.

The Wendigo is a demonic entity or evil spirit from the Algonquian people of Canada. It is a winter spirit that is meant to represent greed and gluttony. When humans succumb to greed, like being greedy for money, being cruel to people, or generally evil things, the Wendigo spirit can possess you. During harsh winters, when food is scarce, people commit taboo acts and consume another human, participating in cannibalism. This also causes a possession and turns this person into a wendigo, never to be satisfied and constantly craving forever. I am not Algonquian, or even Indigenous/Native American, so I can't speak too much on this, and I don't know too much, but I hope I explained it well enough. I apologize if I did not. The show has its own visualization of this, and Wendigos traditionally doesn't look like the one in the show, but the overall message is the same. Even if Hannibal is not the Devil, he could be some manifestation of a Wendigo. It makes sense. Remember his back story? He was forced into captivity while hiding by soldiers during an extremely harsh winter during the war. Harsh enough that food became scarce, and the soldiers had to resort to cannibalism. They fed Mischa to Hannibal, which might have triggered something. Ofc this is a reach, but I did want to bring another interpretation into this.

Obviously, this is all just speculation. I love this show, with its dark complexities and incredible depth, and I wanted to talk about something I've been thinking about for a while now. Again, not everything might be correct. I apologize if that's not the case. Please feel free to correct me. I also apologize if this made no sense or was not cohesive, it's pretty late for me, but I couldn't get this out of my head.

I hope it was interesting ;)

[phightinghottakes]

We need more positivity? Bet.

I absolutely adore the Phighting lobbies!! Sure, there's the occasional person who just wants to argue, but most of the people there are just chilling. They're not there to grind for the next 5 hours, they just wanna talk, and I love it. 60% of my friends on roblox are from those lobbies, because they're really nice! I had a 10 minute conversation with a 7MK0 and a Cursedshot about which skins looked best together and which Phighters we thought would get a new one, and then play-fought with a Banhammer and a Skateboard. Of course, I eventually went into lobby, but it had really lifted my spirits, since I had been getting a lot of 6ths and 7ths lately.

Along with that, even with grindy people, it's fun to just... laugh it off. Sure, you're getting chased across the map by some random Sunburst Sword the entire match, but it's pretty fun to try and dodge their attacks while trying to fend for yourself, and funny to scream your lunges off as you get jumpscared by them when you thought they had finally left you alone. Along with that, not everyine in servers are grindy, some of them are just there to have fun, or to play with a friend, or maybe they are grinding but they still congratulate their team and point out how well other people did.

I see all these people talking about how bad the community is, and sometimes I see it too, but it's nice to take a step back and... choose to see things in a brighter light. Say Gg, make silly emoticons, interact with people inside and outside of matches, chill in lobby, make friends! I honestly love the community. The people online that you don't like are just that: people online, you can block them, or just don't interact with them. If you're looking at fanart and see something you don't like, then just try to move on and look at a creator you enjoy! If someone's being rude in a match, politely leave and join another, or just ignore them and enjoy the game.

Phighting isn't perfect, but it is fun. The people can be awesome, or they can suck, but they're usually pretty cool if you put in effort to be nice. The devs might make decisions you don't like, but they also make amazing skins, fx/sfx, environments, and have put their backs into this silly little game. Games are going to be grinded, you're going to lose a match, a person eill be rude, a character will annoy you, the lore won't always feel right, but nothing in this world is perfect, so just take a step back and appreciate the world of Phighting for what it is. It'll get better, it's still in Alpha, remember that, but it really is a wonderful game.

Thanks for reading this biblically accurate rant!

-- Love (or don't love, idk), 🌒 <3

.

[rabbits-of-negative-euphoria]

Are you still doing song analysis? What are your thoughts on Reckless Love by Cory Asbury? I’ve heard there was some controversy

I was really only doing The Tortured Poets Department analysis, but sure I can analyze Reckless Love (I'm like the only person I know who has neither strong love nor hate for it).

Big points for Biblical pro-lifery in that 3rd line.

Here's the infamous problematique line. Now, I know what Cory Asbury is trying to say here--I think it's a little silly to suggest he literally thinks God is reckless. By the rest of the lyrics, we know he doesn't think that. He believes in a sovereign, all-powerful God. What he is trying to communicate is that by human standards, God's love is reckless. Any human who loved like this would be called reckless.

The problem is that it is unwise to label or define God by human standards. The Bible repeatedly cautions against this. His ways are not our ways, his thoughts are not our thoughts. Constantly, He is reprimanding men (Uzzah, Job, Israel as a nation, Nicodemus, etc.) for "shrinking" Him into our limited capacities.

Those first two lines are good n' solid, and (I think) the high point of the song.

The rest is pretty par for the course in contemporary Christian music, but I would say what stands out is that it is very me-centered (also par for the course in contemporary Christian music). The title may be about God, but the song is really about me. Personal pronoun count: 30

There's nothing wrong with contemplating my standing and relationship with God and everything He's done for me. But when we're worshiping God, our worship should pull our attention away from ourselves and toward God.

Reckless Love has only one unique line about God Himself. Compare that with any given hymn. In fact, I'll go spin a picker wheel online right now: Great Is Thy Faithfulness.

Perfect; it has the same theme as Reckless Love.

No mention of self, but all glory to God for His strong and salvific love.

In the chorus, we do get some acknowledgment of the self (again, not wrong; even the Psalmist does it--the rub is in how the song frames it).

No mention of the self. Points to creation as a testament to God.

This verse is about the blessings I receive from God, so it does concern the self, but never do we get the feeling the song is turning us inward as we do hearing Reckless Love. Personal pronoun count: 10.

Final verdict: I had Reckless Love on my playlist when it first came out. It is a passionate & well-intentioned song with lovely music, but it takes too much artistic license and is ultimately too self-focused.

[nerves-nebula]

Emotional neglect/abuse is so tricky cause what do you even say. My parents never said they loved me? That’s not true. They hit me? Also not necessarily true. They didn’t care about our education or future? They probably cared more about me getting into college than any other part of my life. They wanted me to succeed, they would brag about our achievements and my mom loved posting online whenever one of us got accepted to a college or got a scholarship.

It’s easier to talk about the physical stuff. show pictures of the conditions we lived in, tell stories about how my mom never gave us medicine when we were in pain, or how she let our brother terrorize and abuse us. How I would starve myself all day because I couldn’t stomach anything, and she’d just glare and get annoyed when I mentioned that I hadn’t eaten.

It’s easier to explain what’s wrong there.

It’s harder to explain that she used to kiss us goodnight, and tuck us in, and sing to us, and that none of that was enough. How do I explain that what hurts even more is that she did say she loved me, it just wasn’t true. She probably thinks she loves me. And what an awful kid I am, to not believe her when she says it.

But I’ve trusted her before, I’ve trusted her over and over thinking “surely this time she’ll see how serious I’m being. This time she won’t laugh, or say it’s stupid, or just something I should get over. She’s insisting that I tell her, so she won’t laugh this time. She can’t. She wants to know what’s wrong. This time it’ll be serious enough. This time.”

The most succinct way I can put it is that she loves her child. The idea of someone who is her kid. Not me, though, never me. Never a real person.

I think I was 12 when I figured it out. I figured out what love meant to me, and respect was key. Without it, any stalker on the street or abusive husband could claim that their love was the real deal, and I didn’t want that. Of course that made me realize that I couldn’t give my parents a pass on this one. They didn’t love me, they loved me in their own screwed up ways sure, but if I validated that as real love then a stalker or possessive boyfriends love would be just as valid. It hurt, and I was small, but it didn’t hurt that much worse than anything else and I was already in pain.

How do I explain that she went through all the motions a good parent should, that she hugged me when I cried about how I’d wanted to kill myself (forced me to hug her, wouldn’t let me go until I hugged her, I still remember trying to pull away three times before giving up- something about that is biblical I think. I still remember feeling like an animal was dying on its way down my throat, halfway lodged in my chest, when I realized the hug was about her and not me. It was about her feeling better, giving herself closure. Making herself feel like a better mom. “You knew I wanted to kill myself? and you never did anything?” “What was I supposed to do, you were always in your room.” I still hate being touched. Hugs are difficult, no matter how much I want them.)

It takes an essay to explain it. My parents are ghosts to me. Ghosts that text me nonsense every now and then and ask for updates. I give them the bits and pieces they’re asking for, because I can’t bring myself to be as cruel to them as they were to me.

meeting them face to face make me sweat. I shut down. I feel tired immediately. (aren’t you always tired?) I’m not safe with them (ok, but you’re not safe anywhere) I can’t rely on them. They will lash out if they don’t get what they want. They’ll twist anything they can. They’ll shout and badger and laugh and mock.

They’re the ones who told me not to be stupid, because if I’m stupid then I deserve whatever happens to me. They’re the ones who fueled my agoraphobia (everyone will kill you given the chance, if only you could stop being so strange) and blame me for never leaving the house.

I buried any idea of them being there for me, being people I could rely on, when I was 13. because I knew they would kill me if I didn’t.

My parents are ghosts who text me, or monsters using the faces of my dead protectors to torment me, or two very dysfunctional very disappointing people who should never have gotten married or had kids.

God I wish parents were real.

[purlty23]

blue! just saw your post abt religious rhetoric & the fandom. do you have any specific instances or "takes" you could give us that youve seen? i know for myself peronally i have very little knowledge on religion as a whole, and could always stand to learn something ♡

Hello crow!!! Always a joy to see you in my notifs<3 Tbh, I’m not an expert either! I’ve only very recently in the past few years gained a big appreciation for theology of all sorts. Ghost was a huge part of the motivation for it, too. Most of the reading I’ve done has been though online resources. Here’s my personal library of PDFs! You can find the Satanic Bible, Greater and Lesser Keys of Solomon, and loads more (plus some misc fiction) I would say the biggest thing that I see in fan interpretations of Ghost and Ministry lore is confusing Catholic virtues with Satanic ones. I’m going to disregard a lot of modern Satanism for the sake of the fantasy lore that Ghost has here, since a lot of modern Satanism isn’t actually even related to religious worship of Satan as a figure, but of the values he as a character has held throughout time. Modern Satanism, especially Laveyan Satanism, is more about worship of the self. Ghost is really interesting because it puts Satanism into the same state of popularity as Catholicism in its lore. Imagine if the Vatican was Satan themed instead. That big. However, some people tend to act as if that means it holds the same values or rules as Catholicism, which simply isn’t true. Ghost Satanism falls more into old classical Satanism (devil worship, summoning, magicks, etc etc), which means it likely does ascribe to the biblical story, same as Catholics do but on the opposite side. While Catholics repent and avoid sin, those who follow the religion in Ghost would STRIVE for sin, and encourage those kinds of actions in order to appease Satan and grow chaos, disorder, and ruin throughout humanity. Where Catholicism has made a name for itself through fear, shame, and the threat of exocommunication, the Ministry would likely value confidence, doing what it takes to reach your goals, and the uglier sides of human nature. Classical Satanism is a bloody affair, after all Of course, all of this can differ depending on how you see the plot of Ghost. Does the Ministry value these things, and if they do, do they act on it? Was Sister’s murder of the Papas in line with these values, and if not, are there newer ideas of what’s pious under Copia’s reign? It’s difficult to say, but one thing can be said for sure.

Ghouls would not abide by these values. By any values but their own, likely. Demons and the undead aren’t known for being particularly good at following rules TL;DR: When puritan culture and ways of thinking derived from shame, religiously motivated fear, and doing the ‘right’ thing are placed onto these characters it doesn’t really make sense. It’s important to ask yourself where your thoughts are coming from, especially if you’ve been raised in a highly religious background. (In fact it’s important to ask yourself where ALL thoughts and opinions you have come from in order to fight bias, societal constructs, and ESPECIALLY prejudices against others and against even yourself)

[cressthebest]

nobody could decide which stories they wanted me to share. they want me to share all of them 😭😭

i’ll start with jesus and john and why i think they’re gay for each other, supported by biblical evidence provided by Seton Catholic Homeschooling of America.

• i took this course in my tenth grade year. i was only homeschooled for 9th and 10th grade. i was public schooled before then, and later went to boarding school for my last two years of hs. but that’s another post.

this is a long post. buckle in. i’ll have it all below the cut

• i no longer have the textbook title, and only have pictures from this text book that i took in a delusional haze when reading this in my catholic mother’s household, hoping that she wouldn’t look through my phones photos to find these images.

this is all from a catholic standpoint, other forms of christianity are not accounted for. if you do not want to see GAY CONTENT ABOUT JESUS, move along

this post is about to unlock so much of my old hyperfixation on the catholic church that i had before leaving.

first of all, as backstory for those who don’t know john:

• john is one of jesus’ twelve disciples and wrote the Gospel of John (I, II, and III) which is a hella important book in the new testament (the second half of the bible.)

• the books of john tell the story of jesus’ life from birth to death. now, that’s kinda gay to write about another man that much, hmm.

• john has also earned the affectionate title of: “The Beloved Disciple”

• he is also traditionally credited with writing Revelations (also known as Apocalypse, which tells how the world is gonna end. fun right!!), though scholars are unsure if he wrote it, or a different john wrote it.

okay, now onto the gay stuff:

• most people jokingly ship judas and jesus because of the angst of judas’ betrayal to jesus. however, i disagree.

• though, knowing their ages, shipping jesus and john would be quite problematic these days, it was quite an acceptable age gap back then. jesus was around the ages of 30-33 at the time of his death, and john was a young adult, about 18. (yikes)

• my evidence begins with the way john writes about himself and jesus in the Gospel of John. in his gospel, he never calls himself john. you guys know what he calls himself in his gospel?? “the discipline whom jesus loved”

😐

sir. could you be ANY more obvious??

so far, all of this info is directly from my catholic textbook.

WOW! that page unpacks a lot. let me elaborate on the way john leaned up on jesus’ chest. first of all, that’s a real bible quote. let’s go:

John 13:23-25

• “23 One of his disciples, the one Jesus loved, was at the table to the right of Jesus in a place of honor. 24 So Simon Peter gestured to this disciple to ask Jesus who it was he was referring to. 25 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved leaned back against Jesus’ chest”

the passage then goes on to john (the disciple whom jesus loved) asking jesus who’s gonna betray him.

• to FURTHER add to this gay af moment, there are PAINTINGS of it, completed by MULTIPLE artists. i’m going to provide the image in my textbook, and then images found online that i particularly enjoy.

above: lovely image! i cannot remember the artist for the life of me.

above: Jesus and John at the Last Supper by Valentin de Boulonge

above: Last Supper by Plautilla Nelli (portions of the image were cropped)

above: cannot find artist’s name.

• if you are interested in finding hundreds more of images like this, all you need to type into google is “john leaning on jesus”. you’ll get the images you need. trust me

• those were my largest pieces of evidence, but there are smaller ones i’d like to share. the textbook helped “gay it up”. i think the author of this textbook was a closeted homosexual. cause no way did a straight person write this thinking “hmmm that’s totally platonic and not at all queer, cause that’s how i feel about MY best friend.”

here’s direct textbook images:

• hmmm man who was closest to him you say???

• “intimate relationship with God”

• best friend? 🤔 are we sure about that?

• symbol of his greater love?

• AND he was the first to recognize jesus??

• y’all. they’ve got to be shitting me atp. no way were they not In Love

and finally, from my study questions:

y’all. special favors? exceptional love?

this textbook had me GOBSMACKED. jaw DROPPED. WDYM THAT JESUS AND JOHN WERE DEFINITELY IN LOVE???

conclusion:

• i HIGHLY recommend you looking up more pictures of john laying on jesus.

• i think of john/jesus as canon. there’s too much evidence to support my point. including The Bible. judas/jesus is like what fanfics are for. they’re the pair that everyone wishes happened in canon, but the authors sucked, so it didn’t.

• literally, drop any questions in the reblogs and comments. i’ll be HAPPY to answer.

(and jesus/judas shippers, i hope i changed your mind.)

[anushaarticles]

As we know Youth is the most important resource on the earth. We see that Youth has a special importance and responsibilities mentioned in the Bible.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Peter Montgomery at RWW:

California megachurch pastor Jack Hibbs, a close ally of right-wing Christian nationalist political operatives David Lane and Charlie Kirk, declared on his podcast last week that people who vote for Democrats cannot be Christians. Hibbs’ influence stretches beyond his congregation through his political alliances and online followers; his YouTube channel has 659,000 subscribers. Earlier this year, House Speaker Mike Johnson invited Hibbs to give a prayer to the House of Representatives. From an edition of his “Real Life with Jack Hibbs” podcast posted Aug 1:

[Democrats, sorry. Look, I gotta tell you man, I’m gonna say it again, you cannot be a Democrat and be a believer in Jesus Christ. You can lie to yourself all you want. Jesus Christ is not an abortionist. Jesus Christ does not attack borders and say they don’t matter. The God of the Bible established borders, he says so. The God of the Bible is pro-life, he says so. So, if you’re a Democrat, and you say you’re a Christian, that means you vote Democrat, which means you vote against the Bible. Actions speak louder than words. So, I have no interest in you.]

In reality, of course, millions of Christians regularly vote for Democratic candidates, which apparently rankles Hibbs almost as much as conservative evangelicals who vote, something he has been complaining about for years. On last week’s podcast he railed against conservative Christians in California who don’t vote, saying “I have so much more respect for Democrats who go out and vote in huge numbers for their sick, perverse ideology, their godless platform.” Hibbs has previously referred to the Democratic Party as a “death cult.”

The purported focus of Hibbs’ Aug. 1 podcast episode was Christian nationalism, a term he said he doesn’t take seriously because news outlets all have different definitions. (Christian nationalism is a complex ideology, and scholars and journalists do define it in varying ways; generally, it is grounded in the belief that the U.S. was founded by and for Christians, and that Christians have a duty to “take America back” so that it remains or returns to being a “Christian nation” whose laws align with a particular “biblical worldview.”)

On the August 1st edition of his Real Life With Jack Hibbs podcast, far-right pastor Jack Hibbs told Democratic Christians that “you cannot be a Democrat and be a believer in Jesus Christ.”

That is such a divisive and hateful statement.

From the 08.01.2024 edition of Real Life Network's Real Life With Jack Hibbs:

[juliannepepper]

What to do if you don't have ideas:

Do you not have any ideas for NaNoWriMo? Do you not know jackshit about what you want to write? Well, as a professional thinker (don't search that up), I got some tips that can help you kickstart an idea for a story:

1. Mix and Match:

This is one I read from "Save the Cat" by Blake Snyder (I know it talks about screenwriting, but, it's still very much applicable to all fiction writers. If you haven't read it, I would suggest you to give it a try). Try thinking of an elevator pitch, or a proposal that is one to two sentences long. If your proposal is good enough to hook yourself in, you got yourself a story worth writing. For Nanowrimo, you're pretty much writing for yourself. If you aren't hooked to the premise, don't even bother.

One of the best ways to do it is to mix and match. But, Julianne? What do you mix and match? You can mix genres, what if statements, pre-existing books, anything that can hook a reader (and yourself) in one to two sentences. For example, looking at popular stories:

Cinder by Marissa Meyer: Cinderella and cyborgs

City of Bones by Cassandra Claire: Harry Potter and angels

Lucifer (Netflix): Biblical figures in an LA cop story

Foul Lady Fortune: Shakespeare's "As you like it" set in 1931's Shanghai

West Side Story: Romeo and Juliet with New York City gangs

And the list goes on and on. You might be thinking that it's plagiarism to take two already existing ideas and mix it together. Well, let me tell you--as long as you aren't blatantly copying a pre-existing story and you're putting your own spin to it, you're fine. Of course, you can always put a disclaimer that says it's inspired by the pre-existing story.

2. Random Word Generators:

I did this for my personal NaNoWriMo in February of 2021, and it makes the planning stage a lot of fun. Go to a random word generator (there's a ton online), generate ten random words (I did 30, and it was too much for a single month to finish a book), and make an outline.

I took a typical plot outline mountain (I would suggest doing the same. It's the simplest outline), and assigned the words to the different beats. For example, if one of my words was "Dog" I can put dog in the exposition part of the plot outline mountain, at the very bottom. Maybe my character has a motivation for a dog. Maybe the character is a dog. Maybe there's a pre-established world-building element that has to do with a dog. The list can go on and on.

Once I put all my randomly generated words in their places, I expanded upon them. If my words in the exposition were "Dog, Feather, Jump," I would try to make a connection between the three words and think about how that would fit into the exposition of the story (maybe the character is the 'Guard Dog' to the queen and they're known for being as light as a feather and just as stealthy. They jumped at this opportunity the moment they saw it, to get out of their thieving ways). You can always change the words and exchange them for different words, as long as it sparks ideas.

3. Writing what you love:

Even if you don't have any ideas for a story, the best writers are also the best readers. Think about what you love in a story? What do you look for? What tropes stand out to you? What makes you care about a story? For me, I love fantasy books, a slow burn, a sarcastic main lead, action scenes. Write everything you love to put in a story in a list. Then, write down the things inspire you or are important to you. It can be a T.V show, a hobby, an already existing story, a person you look up to--anything that doesn't have to do with what you want to see in a book, but what inspires you to be creative.

After that, think of a theme. What is the main theme of what you want to write about? Maybe you love the theme of "love at first sight" or "being true to yourself." Maybe you're much more political and is interested in the theme "injustice in the current justice system" or "political parties driving people apart." But, think of a central theme.

Finally, outline the story. Use a pre-existing plot outline (though you are more than welcome to deviate. Remember, you have to finish a manuscript in a month). Write down where the story begins and how you want it to end based on your theme (ex: if the theme is about letting go, the beginning main character could be a hoarder and the story can end with the main character starting from scratch, maybe even giving their stuff to charity). Then, write how they get to that ending based on your inspirations. With the example of the hoarder, I love fantasy and slow burn romances. The setting would obviously be in a fantasy setting, and maybe their love interest helps them get over their hoarding ways. I'm inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender, so I'm interested in incorporating martial arts in their magic system, or have the setting inspired by East-Asian cultures/Inuit cultures. Maybe the main character is the "Chosen one" in a sense and doesn't want to be. Maybe the main character is reincarnated. The list can go on and on, it's all up to how you want the story to go.

This option is the most vague, I think, but, it can really help you think of an idea of a story that you want to care about.

[astercontrol]

"Biblically accurate" sometimes gets used as a general adjective meaning eldritch horror, because of some of the Bible's descriptions of angels...of course not all angels are described in the Bible as fiery balls of eyes and wings, but that's the uncanny alien feeling that carries over when we see someone online talk about a "biblically accurate gaming setup" or "biblically accurate spreadsheet" or whatever, even if there is no canonical biblical description of any such thing

But I propose using this terminology to refer to other specific Biblical descriptions... that are perhaps equally unsettling, if taken "literally" as some people like to

Biblically accurate circle where pi equals exactly three (1 Kings, "ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and its height was five cubits, and thirty cubits in circumference")

Biblically accurate girlfriend eye sockets that are literally pigeonholes (Song of Solomon, "your eyes are doves")

[queen-esther]

What’s funny about that anon accusing me and my husband of “church hopping” is that this implies you’re somehow failing as a Christian if you don’t have your final denomination figured out right off the bat when you first come into the faith, which honestly just feeds more into this idea on Christian social media (particularly among converts) that every single Christian must immediately be some sort of armchair theologian, historian, and Biblical scholar with all the answers in order to be taken seriously. You can’t change course at all with new understanding along your faith journey, because doing so would require you to admit to your online following that you may have been wrong about something, and being wrong is the worst sin any Christian can commit, obviously. I always say I would’ve gone Orthodox originally had I actually given the faith a fair shake and taken more seriously Orthodoxy’s claims of being the original Church instead of just blindly taking Catholicism at face value, but apparently admitting this means I’m just a fairweather Christian who hops from Church to Church at the slightest inconvenience. 🤪

[paradoxcase]

Chapter 7 of Nona the Ninth

I just noticed we started having Nine Houses skulls at the beginnings of the chapters again. The first two chapters that were just about Nona have what looks like the locked tomb at the front, the third where the kids and the school were introduced as a tree with an apple, maybe that's biblical, I don't know, chapter four has a Seventh skull, which is weird because nothing about the Seventh House or anyone in it was mentioned there (unless one of these characters is secretly a House refugee or something), chapter five is a Ninth skull, which, sure, chapter six is a Sixth skull, which also makes sense, and now this one is a Second skull

So maybe she's like some combination of Gideon and Harrow, or Gideon and Harrow's memories of the pool scene got merged in Harrow's body due to Gideon being in there for a while?

Well that's a new addition to the pool scene, unless this is just Nona being hungry for breakfast and conflating it with the dream

Actually, you know, I have to wonder what Camilla makes of these dreams at all, because I don't think anyone ever actually told Camilla about the pool scene at any point

I know she has like, a child's disdain for immature things, but she also went from being completely helpless to being like a ten year old in six months, so I wonder if she's also going to do more lightning-fast maturation throughout this book, although it looks like the whole book takes place over the span of five days

That's an odd opinion for a human to have

So earlier the book mentioned a "cooling cupboard" which I thought was meant to be the refrigerator, but now we have an actual refrigerator, too. I looked up "cooling cupboard" to see if it meant something in New Zealand English or something, and found something completely unexpected:

There's no mention of it being used widely anywhere outside of the US, and apparently they went out of use after freon started being produced. Searching for "cooling cupboard new zealand" mostly turns up hits for online stores located in New Zealand that are selling computer cooling hardware, so I'm stumped

Apparently sultanas are grapes, like not even a particularly exotic kind of grape, either, but there's considerable variation on how the term is used. Wiktionary thinks it can be a synonym for golden raisin? Only, why would you say "dried raisins", raisins are already dried grapes, that's the whole point of raisins

Prithibi appears to be the name of a Bengali rock band and a consulting firm. The consulting firm's webpage claims it's the Sanskrit word for "world" but I don't trust consulting firms to be subject-matter experts on Indian linguistics so I checked wiktionary and apparently it's actually a Bengali word that's a learned borrowing from a similar-but-not-identical Sanskrit word for "world". I wonder if this here is meant to be a reference to the Sanskrit word, the Bengali rock band, or the consulting firm. Antioch is well-known, of course

I wonder if Honesty was being sarcastic? But he does respect Hot Sauce, so I don't know. Anyway, I am also curious about why her name is Hot Sauce

Why do Camilla and Palamedes need a bigger bowl? Does having two souls in the same body burn more calories, or something?

Does she mean, she reminds We Suffer that Wake could fuck up and get killed, or that Wake could fuck up and start sleeping with someone sent to kill her? The last part makes me think the latter, but I don't know how much We Suffer actually would know known about that relationship

I mean, she's essentially been cut off from G1deon for 10,000 years, since he never knew she was there and never tried to communicate with her at all, and that didn't stop her from getting together with Wake. Honestly, now that I think about it, why didn't Pyrrha ever try to communicate with him? Why didn't she write "yo, it's me, Pyrrha, I aten't dead" on a piece of paper somewhere in his room for him to find when he came back to awareness, not once in 10,000 years? Or did he know? I guess we don't actually know. He told Harrow "I forget" but maybe he was just hiding Pyrrha's existence from her?

And I guess from the last bit Pyrrha didn't have quite the same relationship with G1deon as Camilla and Palamedes do

Malewife Palamedes?

So they are sometimes both active at once? I guess by the trial, Pyrrha is referring to the imaging/response challenge that Gideon and Harrow did. Except, if the body that's dually occupied is the one that needs to have cerebral fluid drained, why was she doing it to G1deon, since he was the necromancer it would have been her body, wouldn't it? Also, why did they create this trial that Pyrrha and G1deon thought required this precaution with absolutely no indication that that was the case and just left it there for the next Lyctor aspirants to find and play with? Also, how is both of them being active at once helping them with whatever is going on with Site B and C?

I wonder how many conversations like this happen in this apartment

Honestly, I appreciate that the next part of the story starts out with "wow, Honesty got busted up!" and then when the actual story comes out, the part where he got hurt actually turns out to be the least interesting and least worrying part

So you swap irises with your cavalier when you achieve Lyctorhood, so irises must be somehow some indicator of your soul, or a part of your soul, so no iris = no soul, maybe? Only, Protesilaus in Gideon the Ninth was essentially a body being animated without a soul, and his eyes were normal, and so were Harrow's parents, etc. So maybe it's just another kind of special eye that means something special about their souls, like John's eyes. John's eyes came from the soul of a planet, but there should only be three more of those left and I don't think they're hanging out in human bodies like Alecto is? What other kinds of strange souls exist in this universe?

And I guess the Convoy is an actual convoy and not a metaphor for something else? A convoy that's very hot and operated by people with white eyes, and the militia are trying to cover it up. I wonder if this is some kind of anti-House initiative that BOE are doing

[homerstroystory]

ancient languages summer courses

the belfast summer school in ancient languages is offering courses in beginning, intermediate, and advanced Latin and Greek, as well as Biblical Hebrew, Classical Arabic, Egyptian Hieroglyphs, and Old English, both in person at Queens University Belfast and online. prices range from GBP 75 to GBP 145 for one-two weeks of classes. information can be found here.

[dionysus-complex]

If one wanted to translate the Old Testament from the Ancient Greek do u have any recommendations for where to start

Hi! I think you mean the New Testament, since the Old Testament (i.e. the Tanakh) is in Hebrew with a few passages in Aramaic.

As a disclaimer: I am by no means an expert in Biblical Greek, I'm trained as a classicist whose introduction to Greek was through Attic Greek (ca. 5th-4th century BCE), which is usually the introductory dialect for anyone who wants to learn Ancient Greek. The New Testament is in Koine Greek which is quite readable with a background in Attic, but I know there are also resources more targeted toward Koine (and probably for an audience specifically interested in Biblical Greek rather than Ancient Greek more broadly). A quick Google search suggests that there's some online tools for learning Koine as well; I can't speak to the quality of any of them.

Because of my background, all the resources I have personal experience with and would know to recommend are really resources for learning Attic - I started with Cynthia Shelmerdine's Introduction to Greek, which is fairly solid and generally my preferred Greek textbook but might be easier going if you've had some Latin. A lot of people swear by Hansen and Quinn's Greek: An Intensive Course which is also what my department uses for teaching, but I personally find it a more difficult textbook in that it introduces some of the most difficult grammatical concepts in the language very early. There's several other Greek textbooks out there (Athenaze is one I've heard relatively good things about) but I don't have personal experience with them and can't offer a recommendation one way or the other. Depending on your commitment level, several universities also offer online summer Greek intensive courses which are typically open even to non-enrolled students of that university; here's a decent list including both online and in-person intensives that looks to be fairly current.

Sorry I can't be of more help!