#christians to the lions

[davidaugust]

"Well, who are my lions gonna eat in my brand new Colosseum now?!" - Non-existent Roman emperor 'cause they didn't do that.

"…reality is that the punishment of Christians in the first 3 centuries A.D. was largely haphazard & not directed by imperial policy." - https://hpi.uq.edu.au/article/2016/11/mythbusting-ancient-rome-%E2%80%93-throwing-christians-lions

Combover Caligula is deeply un-serious.

"President Donald Trump…wants to root out 'anti-Christian bias'…forming a task force led by Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the 'targeting' of Christians." - AP

[tenaciousgeckos]

Shakespeare: So, in Macbeth, the forest doesn't actually move, it's just an army holding branches

C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien: And we took that personally

[urproblematicfav-arsonk]

So pretending Viv didn't retcon her own fucking lore drop on twitter by being like "omg!! If it wasn't obvioussssss, he was lying. Silly guy. Isn't the sin of WRATH such a egoistical, self absorbed PRIDEFUL guy"—

I'm very into this idea that Satan, and the Imps and all the Hellborn are the indigenous people of Hell.

Which would mean, that Lucifer got banished to a foreign land, immediately claimed ownership of it, allowed/told his wife to manipulate everyone with her singing, and then proceeded to flood Hell with human Sinner's that he also made legally above all the Hellborn. And then got...bored?? And quit actively being king to go make ducks and emotionally abuse his daughter.

Like, holy shit is Lucifer being a metaphor for white colonialism fucking INSANE. The running assumption (and Viv's bullshit on twitter) has been that Lucifer and the other Sin's were together as a group. That the circus theme, and the rings, and the Goetia was just the world they built. But, if Satan and the Sin's were just the indigenous people who lived there, that sure as fuck makes the circus theme more creepy?

Circuses have historically been horrifying displays of human cruelty. Human trafficking, the buying and selling of people with dwarfism as toys or pets, physical torture and extreme conditions, racisim, rape, animal abuse, just like...bad stuff. There were probably some circuses that were fine, but the vast majority of the time it wasn't done humanely or with any dignity to the people performing.

Lucifer, showed up and just like, forced the Sin's into a Circus they didn't want to be apart of? The Circus isn't a thing anymore, because Lucifer isn't as into it, and all of the Sin's seem perfectly fine not doing it anymore.

Thing is, who the fuck was this Circus for?

The only thing I can think of is Lucifer wanting to feel in control again after being banished, and trying to establish the Sinner's as the deserving and dominate "race".

He would've forced Queen B to humiliate and abuse her hellhounds to do...tricks and dances on balls or whatever the fuck, to show how lowly and animalistic they are. Hellhounds aren't like Sinner's. Sinner's are just people with animal traits, they're REAL PEOPLE unlike these dogs.

He would've forced Ozzie to make his Hellborn and Imps to do dangerous and unnecessary acts. The big difference between Hellborn and Sinner's, is that the Hellborn can actually die. So when the Sinner's see a Imp fall from a trapeze act, or end up set on fire and hurt, they'll see that they're inherently better because they aren't that frail. And again, historically circuses had a lot of human trafficking, sex, labor or otherwise. Ozzie runs the sex industry, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was overlap there in the start.

Mamm and Levi seem to be on the infrastructure side, building and maintaining the society and rings everyone lives on. We KNOW that Imps and Hellborn are underprivileged and lack resources. Hellhounds are forced into shelters where they're thrown out the second the little social funding they have runs out. Imps are basically constantly struggling, and never seem to have stable lives. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the support and care that the Hellborn need are being used to "fix" the "overpopulation" issue that Lucifer caused.

And Satan. Holy shit is forcing Satan, the original king to Hell, and the creator of the main indigenous peoples of Hell, to be the fucking "Law" absolutely horrifying. The fact that Satan is in such a high position of power(supposedly) and he's here, making an "example" of a Imp to get the bureaucracy off his ass and move on with his life. Well, if the god of Imps says that they're all disgusting rapists who are after the poor, innocent white Goetia then that must be true!!!! HORRIFYING. WHAT THE FUCK.

Lucifer forced the original gods of Hell to debase, and humiliate their peoples for the entertainment of his Sinner's, and then got fucking bored and left the circus to hide away in his castle. No wonder Ozzie is a consent freak and B is so concerned about people self harming.

There's a world, where Hazbin Hotel actually takes RISKS, and tries to do something interesting. But Viv backtracks every time. And also would never allow her villian characters to be...ya know....villainous. But Luci can't do more then be kinda a little abusive to his daughter but only in a sad way, otherwise he's not a gooodddd guyyyyyy nooooooo.

Anyway, I'm very attached to this indigenous Satan au. Fuck Lucifer, give the Imps their fucking land back you colonizing bitch, and let Satan be the king of Pride again. And stop forcing them to fucking celebrate your dad's son by claiming it's actually just about celebrating youuuu and your sinnn. Shut the fuck up you goddamn weirdo.

[illustratus]

The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon by Edward John Poynter

[virgocurator]

La Bête de la Mer / Tapisserie de l’Apocalypse (Tapestry of the Apocalypse)

Medieval tapestry of the Ignatius of Antioch (Christian saint and martyr)

[galleryofart]

Noah's Ark

Artist: Edward Hicks (American, 1780 -1849)

Date: 1846

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia Pennsylvania, United States

Description

The biblical story of Noah’s ark, depicted here, is found in the book of Genesis (6:9–9:28). To punish people for their wicked and violent ways, God decided to send heavy rains to earth for forty days and forty nights. First, however, he instructed Noah, a righteous man, to build an ark for his family and two of every kind of animal. After the rains stopped, a dove sent out by Noah returned to the ark with an olive branch, proof that the floodwater had receded and plants could grow again. Then God created a beautiful rainbow in the sky as a symbol of his promise to never destroy the earth again.

This painting by Edward Hicks shows a long, curving line of animals approaching Noah’s huge boat. Prancing horses and a serious-looking lion stare out at us, while pairs of elegant, black-and-white-striped zebras, giraffes, camels, tigers, and hippopotamuses stand patiently. In the distance, tiny black birds fly down from the dark, rain-filled clouds overhead.

Edward Hicks learned to paint decorative motifs when he was apprenticed to a coach maker at the age of thirteen. Later he became a successful sign painter and a devout Quaker preacher. Although his business conflicted with Quaker beliefs-that art is a distraction and a needless luxury-Hicks considered his art to be an expression of his faith and created paintings that told religious stories. This is the only painting he made of the story of Noah’s ark.

[bringthekingdom]

[girl-drink-drunk]

i think society is on to something whenever there's a show where christian kane gets to beat people up

[glavilio]

XianJaguar (2003, via yerf)

[ghostlyarchaeologist]

Christian Kane sporting various silly mustaches.

Secondhand Lions/Leverage/The Librarians/Almost Paradise

[narniansteel]

Whoever wrote this scene loves the Christian roots of Narnia BECAUSE THIS SCENE IS SO RELATABLE FOR SO MANY BELIEVERS. IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL AND I LOVE IT.

[sitting-on-me-bum]

“Hang Loose”

Animal: Lion. Location of shot: Masai Mara.

“Masai Mara—it was already half past six in the evening and almost dark… I caught this very short moment when I did this funny sitting position in the middle of playing.”

by Christian Hargasser (Germany).

2023 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

[tending-the-hearth]

putting this into a separate post BUT here we go

as i've said before i try not to go too much in the religious direction for all my narnia overanalysis posts, but at a point it's hard not to just because of the symbolism that's included, so this post is going to be primarily religion-focused so feel free to skip this if you'd like!!

which apostle each of the pevensies represent and why:

lucy:

this one is a bit obvious, but lucy is quite obviously meant to be a representation of john the beloved apostle. john was the one who never wavered from jesus' side, who stayed with him through the entirety of his mission, who sat on his right side during the last supper, and who followed along the walk to calvary and was the only apostle to stay at the foot of the cross as jesus died.

at no point in the story does lucy's faith in aslan fail. she continues to believe that he will come and help everyone. she and aslan have the closes relationship, he calls her "dear one", she is his favorite child.

i do also think she could be a mix of john and andrew, as andrew was the first apostle called by jesus after his baptism, and he is the one who brought his brother peter to follow jesus, just as lucy was the first to enter into narnia, and she brought edmund in after her, and became the bridge between her siblings and aslan/narnia.

edmund:

in no way shape or form is edmund judas. he is completely and utterly meant to be simon peter, the apostle who denied jesus three times and then repented. peter was one of jesus' closest apostles, part of his inner circle along with james, john, and andrew. judas never sought forgiveness after he betrayed jesus, while peter did, confirming his love for jesus, which is what sets the two apart.

edmund betrays his siblings and aslan, but after his rescue speaks with aslan, and recieves forgiveness for what happened. he is changed after his experience, and follows aslan without question. he becomes a great figure, someone whose justice is respected by his kingdom. he more than proves himself to be loyal and caring towards his siblings, his kingdom, and aslan.

peter:

i fully believe peter is meant to be a representation of thomas, the apostle who doubted jesus' resurrection. thomas was one of jesus' apostle throughout his entire ministry, but missed the first appearance of jesus to his apostles after the resurrection. because of this, thomas refuses to believe in what has happened until he sees jesus, and when he does, he proclaims "my lord and my god".

this is moreso due to the fact that peter does not believe lucy when she says she saw aslan, and is completely convinced that they are alone when they return to narnia. peter loves aslan and believes in him, but does not truly believe he is there until he sees aslan before him.

susan:

okay so personally, i see susan as mary magdalene rather than one of the 12 apostles. mary magdalene, while being one of the main female disciples, was also one of the only people standing at the foot of the cross (she was there with mama mary, mary, the wife of clopas, and john the beloved). mary was also the first that jesus appeared to after his resurrection, and did not realize it was him until he said her name.

susan is the other one with lucy who is there when aslan dies. she's there when he comes back to life, and she is always portrayed as being right beside him with lucy. while lucy is aslan's favorite, susan is close behind. she holds a special place of importance, and though she falls away from narnia for a little while, i like to think that she has dreams of narnia, where aslan says her name and she remembers everything, and she knows she is welcomed and loved.

also i think susan and lucy are VERY martha and mary coded

bonus caspian:

he is so matthew!!!! the tax collector, the outsider of the group, a man who was heavily disliked by the people around him because of who he worked for and what he did.

caspian is part of a kingdom who hurt narnians, his uncle tried to wipe them out. he was seen as an outsider, only to become a great king of narnia and a trusted successor to the kings and queens of old.

@wilder-fangirl

[jourquet]

i think my STATIC TOUCH fanfic will finish this weekend on ao3. any inkitt readers will be updated every friday at 17:00pm. keep an eye out for my merthur fanfic tho! i'll this week begin to prep the summary for it.

[crankycorvid-archive]

It is over, beloved

[artandthebible]

The Four Evangelists

Artist: Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577 - 1640)

Date: c. 1625

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida, United States

Description

Rubens' painting of The Four Evangelists displays a group of figures in motion. At the far left is St. Luke with his ox, symbolic of sacrifice. This beast is traditionally an attribute of Luke, since his Gospel begins with the sacrifice of Zachariah. Next to Luke is St. Mark, his Gospel under his arm. At his side walks the lion that alludes to the Christ of the Resurrection. St. Matthew and the angel are given a central place. With one hand, the angel points to a gospel passage; with the other, he gestures heavenward, reflecting the divine inspiration with which Matthew wrote his Gospel. St. John the youngest of the group, looks up at an eagle. The eagle, thought to be able to look directly into the sun, denotes John's vision of the Apocalypse. The cup with the snake refers to poison that John drank, proving his faith.