That’s a really good question, because very little is known about him.  He seems to be a real person, because archaeologists have discovered an ancient catacomb in Rome and church dedicated to him.  In 496 Pope Gelasius set up his feast day as February 14 (along with other martyrs) ”… whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God.”   That’s the facts of what we know.

Legends say that the Emporer Claudius II didn’t want his soldiers worrying about wives back home, so he banned solders from marrying.  Valentine thought this was unjust, and married the soldiers in secret.  When Claudius discovered this, he sentenced Valentine to prison.  In jail, Valentine tried to convert the Goth emperor and was sentenced to death.  On his way to his execution, he sent a note to his jailer’s daughter signed “From Your Valentine.”  The Catholic Encyclopedia tells us that he was first beaten with clubs and then beheaded on February 14, around the year 270 AD.  Pope Julius I apparently built a church near to his memory, dating to around the 5th century.  The History Channel has a nice short video here.

What are you doing to celebrate Valentine’s Day?

The first 4 books deal with the childhood of Jesus.  With the Christmas season approaching, I wanted to share some of these really cool stories about Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.  I think you’ll enjoy learning some of the extra-biblical stories.  Honestly, I don’t think I’ve read so much cool stuff about the life of Jesus.  I want to start with the Gospel of the Birth of Mary, and discuss some of these other ancient writings in coming weeks.  Some of these stories overlap, and I think it will be interesting to see the different, sometimes conflicting accounts over the coming weeks.

Before I get into the actual gospel, I want to give some background on this particular document.  This gospel has been attributed to Matthew, and the version in the book dates to the 4^th century.  The book was found in the works of St. Jerome.  Some of his contemporaries mentioned the gospel as well, such as Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis, and Austin.  Some of the ancient copies differed from Jerome’s version (I will quote from Jerome’s version).

The book states that Mary was from the house of David, but Faustus, Bishop of Riez disagreed, saying Mary was from Levi.  We know that Mary and Elizabeth were cousins.  Elizabeth was with wife of Zacharias, priest in the temple, and therefore of the Tribe of Levi.  Jesus went to John the Baptist who held the proper authority, so a good case can be made that Mary might have been from Levi.  Apparently Muslims believe Mary was from Levi.  This gospel clearly states Mary was a descendant of David, who was the tribe of Judah.

The ancient group Collyridians imagined that both Mary and Jesus were the result of an “immaculate conception”, both being born of a virgin.  This gospel seems to show that Mary’s parents, Joachim and Anna, had fertility problems just like Abraham and Sarah and Rachel and Jacob.  (I snipped that out of my excerpts below, but the angel clearly mentions this to Anna.)  Collyridians are an interesting group, and are considered heretical Christians.  Some believe they thought Mary was a goddess.  This Wikipedia article says that Mohammad believed that Mary was the 3^rd member of the Trinity.  That’s an interesting idea, but the gospel states that “the Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you, without any of the heats of lust.”  I’ve heard of a Father, Mother, and Son being part of the Trinity—kind of a “holy family” and that makes some logical sense.  But the references to the Holy Ghost in the Bible seem to be quite separate from Mary (such as when the Holy Ghost descended in the form of a dove at Jesus’ baptism), so I think it’s a bit of a stretch to put Mary in the Godhead or Trinity, despite how appealing that might be.

So, let’s look at Jerome’s copy.  So that this isn’t too long, I will only cite the parts I find particularly interesting, and will reference chapters and verses.

Chapter 1

1 – The blessed and ever glorious Virgin Mary, sprung from the royal race and family of David, was born in the city of Nazareth, and educated at Jerusalem, in the temple of the Lord.

2 – Her father’s name was Joachim, and her mother’s Anna.  The family of her father was of Galilee and the city of Nazareth.  The family of her mother was of Bethlehem.

…

7 – And it came to pass when the feast of the dedication drew near, Joachim, with some others of his tribe, went up to Jerusalem, and at that time, Issachar was high priest;

8 – Who, when he saw Joachim along with the rest of his neighbors, bringing his offering, despised both him and his offerings…

….[priest is especially cruel]

11 – But Joachim being much confounded with shame, retired to the shepherds, who were with cattle in their pastures;

12 – For he was not inclined to return home, lest his neighbors, who were present and heard all this from the high priest, should publicly reproach him in the same manner.

Chapter 2

1 – But when he had been there for some time, on a certain day when he was alone, the angel of the Lord stood by him with a prodigious light.

2 – To whom, being troubled at the appearance, the angel who had appeared to him, endeavoring to compose him said;

3 – Be not afraid, Joachim, nor troubled at the sight of me, for I am an angel of the Lord sent by him to you, that I might inform you, that your prayers are heard, and your alms are ascended in the sight of God.

4 – For He hath surely seen your shame, and heard you unjustly reproached for not having children: for God is the avenger of sin; and not of nature;

5 – And so when he shuts up the womb of any person, he does it for this reason, that he may in a more wonderful manner again open it and that which is born appear to be not the product of lust, but the gift of God.

…[Angel discusses Sarah, Rachel as barren women as well]

9 – …Anna your wife shall bring you a daughter and you shall call her name Mary;

10 – She shall, according to your vow, be devoted to the Lord from her infancy, and be filled with the Holy Ghost from her mother’s womb;

11 – She shall neither eat nor drink anything which is unclean; nor shall her conversation be without among the common people, but in the temple of the Lord; that so she may not fall under suspicion of what is bad.

12 – So in the process of her years, as she shall be in a miraculous manner be born to one that is barren, so she shall, while yet a virgin, in a way unparalleled, bring forth the Son of the Most High God, who shall be called Jesus, and according to the signification of his name, be the Savior of all nations.

…

Chapter 3

1 – Afterwards the angel appeared unto Anna his wife saying: Fear not, neither think that which ye see is a spirit.

2 – For I am the angel who hath offered up your prayers and alms before God, and am now sent to you, that I may inform you that a daughter will be born unto you, who shall be called Mary, and shall be blessed above all women.

3 – She shall be, immediately upon her birth, full of grace of the Lord, and shall continue the three years of her weaning in her father’s house, and afterwards, being devoted to the service of the Lord, shall not depart from the temple, till she arrives at the years of discretion.

4 – But, being an unparalleled instance without any pollution or defilement, and a virgin not knowing any man shall bring forth a son, and a maid shall bring forth the Lord, who both by grace and the name of his works, shall be the Savior of the world.

…

11 – So Anna conceived, and brought forth a daughter, and according to the angel’s command, the parents called her name Mary.

Chapter 4

1 – And when the three years were expired, and the time of her weaning complete, they brought the Virgin to the temple of the Lord with offerings.

2- And there were about the temple, according to the Psalms of degrees, fifteen stairs to ascend.

…

4 – The parents of the blessed Virgin and infant Mary put her upon one of the stairs;

5 – But while they were putting off their clothes…

6 – …the Virgin of the Lord in such a manner went up all the stairs one after another, without the help of any to lead or lift her, that one would have judged from hence that she was of perfect age.

7 – Thus the Lord did, in the infancy of his Virgin, work this extraordinary work…

8 – But the parent having offered up their sacrifice, according to the custom of the law, left the Virgin with other virgins in the apartments of the temple, who were brought up there, and they returned home.

Chapter 5

1 – But the Virgin of the Lord, as she advanced in years, increased also in perfections, and according to the Psalmist, her father and mother forsook her, but the Lord took care of her.

2 – For she every day had the conversation of angels, and every day received visitors from God, which preserved her from all sorts of evil, and caused her to abound with all good things;

3 – So that when at length she arrived to her fourteenth year, as the wicked could not lay anything to her charge worthy of reproof, so all good persons, who were acquainted with her, admired her life and conversation.

4 – At that time the high-priest made a public order.  That all the virgins who had public settlements in the temple, and were come to this age, should return home, and as they were now of a proper maturity, should according to the custom of their country, endeavor to be married.

5 – To which command, though all the other virgins readily yielded obedience, Mary the Virgin of the Lord alone answered, that she could not comply with it.

6 – Assigning these reasons, that both she and her parents had devoted her to the service of the Lord; and besides, that she had vowed virginity to the Lord, which vow she was resolved never to break through by lying with a man.

7 – The high priest being herby brought into a difficulty,

8 – Seeing he durst neither on the one hand dissolve the vow, and disobey the Scripture, which says, Vow and pay,

9 – Nor on the other hand introduce a custom, to which the people were strangers commanded,

10 – That at the approaching feast all the principal persons both of Jerusalem and the neighbouring places should meet together, that he might have their advice, how he had best proceed in so difficult a case.

…

12 – And when they were all engaged in prayer, the high-priest, according to the usual way, went to consult God.

13 – And immediately there was a voice from the ark, and the mercy seat, which all present heard, that it must be inquired or sought out by a prophecy of Isaiah to whom the Virgin should be given and be betrothed;

…

16 – Then according to this prophecy, he appointed that all the men of the house and family of David, who were marriageable, and not married, should bring their several rods to the altar,

17 – And out of whatsoever person’s rod after it was brought, a flower should bud forth, and on the top of it the Spirit of the Lord should sit in the appearance of a dove, he should be the man to whom the Virgin should be betrothed.

Chapter 6

1 – Among the rest there was a man named Joseph, of the house and family of David, and a person very far advanced in years, who drew back his rod, when every one besides presented his.

2 – So that when nothing appeared agreeable to the heavenly voice, the high-priest judged it proper to consult God again.

3 – Who answered that he whom the virgin was to be betrothed was the only person of those who were brought together, who had not brought his rod.

4 – Joseph therefore was betrayed.

5 – For when he did bring his rod, and a dove coming from Heaven pitched upon the top of it, every one plainly saw, that the Virgin was to be betrothed to him;

6 – According to the usual ceremonies of betrothing being over, he returned to his own city of Bethlehem, to set his house in order, and make the needful provisions for the marriage.

7 – But the Virgin of the Lord, Mary with seven other virgins of the same age, who had been weaned at the same time, and who had been appointed to attend her by the priest, returned to her parent’s house in Galilee.

Chapter 7

…[angel appears to Mary]

8 – Fear not Mary, as though I intended anything inconsistent with your chastity in this salutation;

9 – For you have found favour with the Lord, because you made virginity your choice.

10 – Therefore while you are a Virgin, you shall conceive without sin, and bring forth a son.

11 – He shall be great, because he shall reign from sea to the sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the earth

….

16 – She said, How can that be?  For seeing, according to my vow, I have never known any man, how can I bear a child without the addition of a man’s seed?

17 – To this the angel replied and said, Think not Mary, that you shall conceive in the ordinary way.

18 – For without lying with a man, while a Virgin, you shall conceive; while a Virgin, you shall bring forth; and while a Virgin shall give suck.

19 – For the Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you, without any of the heats of lust.

20 – So that which shall be born of you shall be only holy, because it only is conceived without sin, and being born, shall be called the Son of God.

21 – Then Mary stretching forth her hands and lifting her eyes to heaven, said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord!  Let it be unto me according to thy word.

Chapter 8

1 – Joseph therefore went from Judaea to Galilee, with intention to marry the Virgin who was betrothed to him:

2 – For it was now near three months since she was betrothed to him.

3 – At length it plainly appeared she was with child, and it could not be hid from Joseph:

4 – For going to the Virgin in a free manner, as one espoused, and talking familiarly with her, he perceived her to be with child.

5 – And thereupon began to be uneasy and doubtful, not knowing what course it would be best to take;

6 – For being a just man, he was not willing to expose her, nor defame her by the suspicion of being a whore, since he was a pious man.

7 – He purposed therefore privately to put an end to their agreement, and as privately to put her away.

8 – But while he was meditating these things, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep, and said Joseph, son of David, fear not;

9 – Be not willing to entertain any suspicion of the Virgin’s being guilty of fornication, or to think any thing amiss of her, neither be afraid to take her to wife;

10 – For that which is begotten in her and now distresses your mind, is not the work of man, but the Holy Ghost.

11 – For she of all women is that only Virgin who shall bring forth the Son of God, and you shall call his name Jesus, that is, Saviour: for he will save his people from their sins.

12 – Joseph thereupon according to the command of the angel, married the Virgin, and did not know her, but kept her in chastity.

13 – And now the ninth month from her conception drew near, when Joseph took his wife and what other things were necessary to Bethlehem, the city from whence he came.

14 – And it came to pass, while they were there, the days were fulfilled for her bringing forth her first-born son, as the holy Evangelists have taught, even our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, lives and reigns to everlasting ages.

{The End}

So what do you make of this gospel?  Some have claimed that the biblical use of the word “virgin” simply meant young woman, but this gospel makes specific mention of Mary’s virginity and chastity.  On the other hand, there must have been quite some rumors about Mary’s out of wedlock pregnancy.  My next post will discuss another book called the Protevangelion.  It gives a lot more detail about Joseph’s concern about Mary’s pregnancy.  (If you thought this gospel was cool, the Protevangelion is even better!)  Here are some questions to consider.

• Have you ever heard that Mary’s birth was miraculous?  What do you make of this story of her birth?
• Did you have any idea Mary grew up in the temple?
• Did you know Joseph didn’t want to marry Mary even before she appeared pregnant?  I’m sure it is because Joseph was “far advanced in years” – perhaps Joseph was old enough to be her father (That’s the take in the Protevangelion.)
• What do you think of her conversations with angels “every day”?
• How historically accurate do you think some of these events are from the life of Mary?
• While I don’t expect Mormons to have very much of an issue with Mary’s lineage, what do you make of the dispute about her ancestry (Judah or Levi)?
• What do you make of the emphasis in this gospel of her chastity?
• Do you think Mary’s role and miraculous experiences are under-emphasized (undervalued) in the biblical gospels?  Do you think it would have been nice if this gospel had been included in the biblical canon?

The rabbi was aging, and spent some time in the hospital.  Pages 97-99 detail an interesting insight into one of these visits.

As we sat in the room, a commercial for an antidepressant drug flashed across the TV screen.  It showed people looking forlorn, alone on a bench or staring out a window.

“I keep feeling something bad is going to happen….,” the TV voice said.

Then, after showing the pill and some graphics, those same people appeared again, looking happier.

The Reb and I watched in silence.  After it ended, he asked, “Do you think those pills work?”

Not like that, I said.

“No,” he agreed.  “Not like that.”

——

Happiness in a tablet.  This is our world.  Prozac. Paxil. Xanax.  Billions are spent to advertise such drugs.  And billions more are spent purchasing them.  You don’t even need a specific trauma; just “general depression” or “anxiety,” as if sadness were as treatable as the common cold.

I knew depression was real, and in many cases required medical attention.  I also knew we overused the word.  Much of what we call “depression” was really dissatisfaction, a result of setting a bar impossibly high or expecting treasures that we weren’t willing to work for.  I knew people whose unbearable source of misery was their weight, their baldness, their lack of advancement in the workplace, or their inability to find the perfect mate, even if they themselves did not behave like one.  To these people, unhappiness was a condition, an intolerable state of affairs.  If pills could help, pills were taken.

But pills were not going to change the fundamental problem in the construction.  Wanting what you can’t have.

I want to jump to the end of this particular story.  From page 102,

So have we solved the secret of happiness?

“I believe so,” he said.

Are you going to tell me?

“Yes.  Ready?”

Ready.

“Be satisfied.”

That’s it?

“Be grateful”

That’s it?

“For what you have.  For the love you receive.  And for what God has given you.”

That’s it?

He looked at me in the eye.  Then he sighed deeply.

“That’s it.”

I hope we can remember this lesson as we celebrate Thanksgiving Day.

Palm Sunday

It is always celebrated exactly one week prior to Easter.  The celebration refers to Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey.  It is one event captured in all 4 gospels, but only The Gospel of John talks about people waving Palm fronds in front of Jesus.  The palm branch was a symbol of triumph and of victory in Jewish tradition, and it is evident that many Jews believed Jesus was more of a political/military king than a spiritual king.  There’s some interesting information at this Wikipedia Entry.  MSNBC has a nice photo of Pope Benedict the 16th celebrating Palm Sunday Mass earlier today.

I have often wondered why Palm Sunday is completely ignored by Mormons.  Palm Sunday is the beginning of the last week in the life of Jesus, and I just can’t figure out why Mormons wouldn’t want to celebrate with the rest of Christendom.  Do you have any ideas?

Passover

I didn’t realize that Passover is an eight-day celebration.  I remember attending a Passover meal and celebration with a college friend–it was a lot of fun!  I must say that Jews really know how to celebrate, and I think Mormons could learn some celebration techniques from them.  Passover is one of the most important Jewish holidays, which is also known as Pesach,  Chag he-Aviv, Chag ha-Matzoth and Z’man Cherutenu.

As you’re probably aware, the Passover celebration commemorates Moses leading the Jewish liberation from Egyptian slavery approximately 1500 years ago.  ABC annually broadcasts Cecil B. DeMille’s film, The 10 Commandments on Easter Sunday.  Moses told the Egyptian pharaoh that if he did not let the Israelites go, God would issue 10 plagues to afflict Egypt.  The term ‘Passover’ specifically refers to the 10th plague.  Moses told pharaoh that God would kill all the firstborn sons of Egypt.  Moses instructed the Israelites to spread the blood of a lamb on their doorposts so the destroying angel would “pass-over” their homes, leaving the firstborn Israelite sons alive.  This last plague finally caused pharaoh to release the Israelites from slavery, and the Exodus story follows.  I plan another post specifically devoted to the Exodus theories, but I want to talk specifically about the Passover and these 10 plagues in this post.

A 2-time Emmy award winner for investigative journalism named Simcha Jacobicivi (pronounced Sim-ka Yah-cob-oh-vitch) teamed up with Titanic Director James Cameron to put together a documentary titled The Exodus Decoded.  It aired on the History Channel in 2006; you can rent it via Netflix.  Jacobovici is not a stranger to controversy.  You may be familiar with another documentary of his titled The Lost Tomb of Jesus in which he claims to have discovered the bones of Jesus and his family in Jerusalem.  He has another documentary titled Quest for the Lost Tribes in which he believes he has discovered the Lost tribes in areas such as Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, China, Burma, and Africa.  Here is a website questioning Jacobovici’s Exodus claims, and another website questioning the Lost Tomb of Jesus DVD.

Jacobovici makes a very interesting case for the 10 plagues of Egypt; he believes they were the result of the Santorini Volcano eruption of 1500 BC.  He notes similarities between the Passover narrative and a volcanic eruption in 1986 in Cameroon.  I must say that there are some startling similarities, and Jacobovici seems to have some very interesting parallels.  Let’s talk about the actual 10 plagues of Egypt.

1.  The Nile will be turned to blood. Jacobovici notes that in 1984 and 1986, separate volcanic eruptions turned Lake Monoun and Lake Nyos in Cameroon blood red.  Dr George King of the University of Michigan explained that both of these lakes contained high levels of iron.  An underwater natural gas leak created a disturbance, turning the lake red in color.  Jacobovici notes that the Nile is near a fault line.  An underground gas leak could have turned the river blood red as mentioned in the Bible.

2.  A frog infestation.  Jacobovici says that all living things in the Nile would have died due to lack of oxygen in the water resulting from the gas leak and subsequent iron stirred up in the water.  However, frogs would have been able hop out of the water, explaining the frog infestation.

3.  Lice.  With all the dead fish, lice would have been a problem.

4.  Flies.  Once again, dead fish would have attracted flies

5.  An epidemic.  Disease would have spread to everyone following the death of so many fish in the Nile.

6.  Boils.  Jacobovici notes that many people developed Boils following the 1986 eruption at Lake Nyos, Cameroon, and shows several photos of these awful boils.  Jocobovici explains that “It turns out that carbon dioxide mixed with air put people into a kind of coma, reducing circulation to the skin and causing the kind of boils described in the Bible as plague #6.”

7.  An Unusual Hail storm.  I’ll abbreviate Jacobovici as SJ in the quotes below; I want to quote directly from the DVD here.

Rabbi Chaim Sacknovitz, “The seventh plague was the plague of hail, but the Bible describes hail in a very unique manner.  The hail was together with ice with fire, the idea being that the fire and the ice mixed together, that they coexisted together.  The Bible then describes God as making a miracle within a miracle, taking opposites in nature, and having them coexist together.”

SJ, “Incredibly, there is an Egyptian papyrus that tells the exact same story.  It’s called the Ipuwer Papyrus and is dated by many scholars to the Hyksos period.  The Ipuwer Papyrus specifically states that Egypt was struck by a strange hail, made of ice and fire mingled together.  Another piece of the puzzle has fallen into place.  It now seems clear that the biblical and Egyptian texts are describing what scientists call ‘accretionary lapilli”, volcanic hail, and could have only come from earthquake induced Santorini volcano.

Dr. Catherine Hickson, Geological Survey of Canada, “When the ash cloud goes up into great distances in the stratosphere, essentially what happens is that you have moisture in the atmosphere, you also have a lot of water vapor in the cloud itself, so small fragments of ash and crystal actually form the nucleus, very similar to a hail stone.”

8.  Plague of Locusts. Jacobovici says the volcano causing weather changes, and this hail storm would have excited the locusts.  He says,

Cold weather produces a drop in their body temperature and makes them land en masse.  The Volcanic hail and weather disruptions caused by the Santorini eruption would have forced great clouds of locusts which are common in this part of the world to suddenly land in Egypt.  As the hail storm cleared, and the temperature rose, so did the locusts, exactly as the Biblical account describes.

9.  Darkness. Following the Mount Saint Helens eruption, ash blocked out the sun and made it appear very dark.  Jacobovici quotes scientists as saying the cloud of ash from the Santorini eruption could have been 40 km from top to bottom, 200 km across–that would be approximately 25 miles high, and 122 miles across.  He quotes Prof Jean-Daniel Stanley of the Smithsonian Institution saying that ash was found at the ancient Egyptian capital of Avaris:  “We had to look through 10 to 20,000 grains to find one ash grain.  So, we found a total of 40 ash grains.  Not all ash looks the same.  Ash has an imprint aspect.  The ash particles that we find in the northern and northeastern Nile Delta are individual grains that came in from Santorini.”

10.  The Firstborn of Egypt die, and Israelite children are spared.  Jacobovici has an explanation for this phenomenon as well.  Once again, he cites the Cameroon eruption at Lake Nyos in 1986.

SJ, “The final plague took place at midnight, after Moses ordered the Israelites to sit down to what became known as the first Passover meal.  While the Israelites were involved in the Passover ritual, the Egyptians slept, and then it happened: every firstborn male Egyptian died.  Every house was affected.  No one has ever been able to offer up a plausible scientific explanation for the death of the firstborn until now.  According to our scenario, at this point in the sequence of events that began some 6 months earlier, the gas leaks that set the chain of plates in motion would have finally erupted.  Carbon dioxide would have seeped to the surface, and being heavier than air, would have killed animals and sleeping people before it dissipated harmlessly into the atmosphere.

In case you think all this is conjecture, consider this.  It happened in exactly the same way in 1986 at Lake Nyos, Cameroon.  On the fateful night of August 21, the villagers at Nyos went to sleep.  They couldn’t have known that the carbon dioxide gas which had turned the lake blood red, was now reaching a critical point.  As the people of Lake Nyos slept, the top of the lake was keeping the carbon down like a cap in a pop bottle.  But then the earth rumbled, and a landslide took place sending rock into the water, disturbing the surface pressure and releasing the gas.  The gas then rose to the surface, and like some alien monster, emerged from the water, droplets forming on it, turning the invisible gas  into a visible fog.  The fog then rolled across the water, and across the land, suffocating everything in its path.  And as suddenly as it appeared, it disappeared, dissolving harmlessly into the atmosphere.

The next day those who had been sleeping on higher ground woke up to find some 1800 people dead, hundreds of cattle and small animals also dead, all around there was deadly silence.

Villager, “I was sleeping among the dead people, inside the house, some of them were outside.  Animals every where lying cows, dogs, everything.  All the family, we were 56 but 53 died.”

SJ, “After the death of the first born, Pharaoh finally relented, letting Moses take his people out of Egypt.  According to the Bible, what made pharaoh give up was the selectivity of the deaths: the fact that it was only male, firstborn who died.  It was this selectivity that demonstrated to him that God himself was involved.  How can we account for this?

Well, Egyptian firstborn males had the privileged position.  They were the heirs to the throne, to property, title, and more.  They slept on Egyptian beds low to the ground, while their brothers and sisters slept on rooftops, sheds, and wagons.  The Israelites sitting up at their first Passover meal did not feel a thing, while the low traveling gas suffocated the privileged Egyptian males sleeping in their beds.  This conclusion is backed by the archaeology.  At Avaris, Professor Manfred Biatek has found mass graves dating to before and during our date for the Exodus.  The earlier graves are classic examples of ancient epidemics and killed men, women, and children.  But at the time of the Exodus, the mass grave he found has only males in it.

Biatek, “Here you see bones of burials in the early 18^th Dynasty.  They are all male victims. By the size of the graves, and the number of individuals in the graves, we think people died in rapid succession and the individuals were just thrown into the pit, some of them lying on their stomach, some lying on their side.  Some of the people were just 20 cm deep and just some dust put on top of them.  The bible says that pharaoh’s son also died during the plagues of the firstborn.  Since we claim that Ahmose is the pharaoh of the Exodus, we should be able to prove that Ahmose son died young.

Searching the Cairo museum, we found Ahmose’ son, the prince had died young, he was only 12.  For the first time ever, we have a face and a name to a victim of the biblical plagues.

So, I found this to be a really interesting scientific explanation for the plagues.  What do you think?  I found James Cameron and Simcha’s final words regarding these plagues interesting.  They discuss how these explanations will bother both skeptics and believers.

Cameron, “It seems that the Bible, geology, and archaeology, are all telling the same story.  But skeptics, who would like to regard the Exodus as myth, might resist the idea that it actually happened, because this would imply that God does indeed exist.  Believers on the other hand may feel that a scientific explanation of the Biblical story takes God out of the equation.“

SJ, “But in the book of Exodus, God does not suspend nature, he manipulates it.  In other words, according to the Bible, we should be able to understand the science behind the miracles.

Easter

You’ll notice that date of Easter varies considerably from year to year.  The reason for this is because of it’s relationship to the Passover.  Christ died during the Passover festival, and rose on the first day of the week (Sunday.)  There’s a Jewish joke that goes like this.

“When is Chanukkah this year?”

The other man smiled slyly and replied, “Same as always: the 25th of Kislev.”

There is a really interesting article on the Jewish calendar at Judaism 101.  (It’s a fantastic website.)  The Jewish calendar tries to correlate

the rotation of the Earth about its axis (a day); the revolution of the moon about the Earth (a month); and the revolution of the Earth about the sun (a year).

…

Months are either 29 or 30 days, corresponding to the 29½-day lunar cycle. Years are either 12 or 13 months, corresponding to the 12.4 month solar cycle.The lunar month on the Jewish calendar begins when the first sliver of moon becomes visible after the dark of the moon. In ancient times, the new months used to be determined by observation. When people observed the new moon, they would notify the Sanhedrin. When the Sanhedrin heard testimony from two independent, reliable eyewitnesses that the new moon occurred on a certain date, they would declare the rosh chodesh (first of the month) and send out messengers to tell people when the month began.

So, you can see that a 12 or 13 month year (they have leap months instead of leap days) can wreak havoc on knowing when holidays will be as we try to correlate the Jewish calendar with our Gregorian Calendar.  As Christians were debating when to celebrate Easter, the consensus was to keep Easter near the Passover festival.  As a result, the date of Easter changes with the changes in celebration of the Passover Festival.  Another Jewish joke says that every Jewish holiday can be boiled down to “They tried to kill us.  Let’s eat.”

I wish Mormons celebrated, rather than simply observed, the Easter holiday.  It would be nice to have more of a celebration of Easter; I really like Easter gets the short shrift for celebrations, but I think that Christmas celebrations in our church are lacking as well.  Two years ago, I posted the question, Why don’t Mormons celebrate Easter? It is my #2 post over the past 2 years. I always receive a spike in hits for that post around Easter.  If you do a Google search asking “do Mormons celebrate Easter”, my post comes up on the #2 position.  I expect that as Easter approaches this week, my 2 year old post will get another spike in views, and will probably be #1 by the end of the month.

So to answer my own question is, yes, we observe Easter, but we don’t celebrate Easter.  Do you wish there was a greater emphasis on Easter?

http://www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com/video/clips/a-song-for-the-mormons-121409/1185331/

Here’s some other cool videos:

I don’t know about you, but I really like this Hannukah song by Sen. Hatch.  I love the quote at the end:  “All it is is a hip-hop Holiday song from the senior senator from Utah.  That’s all it is.”

Apparently Don Imus liked it.  (Yes, THAT Don Imus.)  Imus even said it’s one of the most downloaded songs on Amazon, right up there with Black Eyed Peas!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-p1udCQXTs&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Here is Adam Sandler’s Original Hannukah Song.

BiV wrote some lyrics, and even included me in one of the verses!

I found this YouTube video on Famous Mormons that I liked.

Finally, Why can’t Mormons send flowers?

I know that’s a lot of videos, but what did you think of them?

1. A good job. Last year I was finishing up graduate school.  After graduating, I went through a period of unemployment, and extreme underemployment.  It is good to be supporting my family again.
2. A healthy baby boy. My wife was expecting at this time last year.  We suffered through a miscarriage 2 years ago just prior to Thanksgiving, and it is nice to have a cute, happy, healthy baby boy crawling around the house.
3. Good health. I work for a medical research company, so we study people with accidental, as well as congenital health problems.  It makes me grateful I don’t experience these difficult health problems.

Hawkgrrrl had a top 10 list, and you’re welcome to add more, but I wanted to keep my list short.  What are you thankful for?

The term “Jack Mormon” is familiar to most of us.  Generally, it means a Mormon in name only.  In modern usage, a Jack Mormon is probably inactive, doesn’t really go to church, doesn’t follow the Word of Wisdom or other orthodox Mormon habits, and may or may not be proud of his Mormon heritage.  However, in the days of Joseph Smith, Quinn says on page 101, “non-mormon allies were known as ‘Jack-Mormons’, originally an LDS term of endearment.”

Alexander Doniphan is even mentioned in LDS manuals, such as this primary manual.  Quinn talks about these incident as well, and adds some more details, while leaving out some.  It is interesting that the church manual talks about the LDS being prevented from voting, while Quinn talks about a few other incidents as well.  I’m sure the church left out the following account about the Haun’s Mill massacre out of the primary manual for good reason.  From page 100,

When one of the Missouri militiamen found ten-year-old Sardius Smith’s hiding place, he put “his rifle near the boy’s head, and literally blowed off the upper part of it,” testified survivor and general authority Joseph Young [brother of Brigham] shortly thereafter.    Other Missourians used a “corn-cutter” to mutilate the still-living Thomas McBride.  When the survivors found the elderly man, his corpse was “literally mangled head to foot.”

It is terrible the brutality the Missourians inflicted upon the saints.  I have mentioned before that I do not believe the saints were without fault, but this brutality is atrocious, and was never prosecuted.  Continuing on,

A generally unacknowledged dimension of both the extermination order and the Haun’s Mill Massacre, however, is that they resulted from Mormon actions in the Battle of Crooked River.  Knowingly or not, Mormons had attacked state troops, and this had a cascade effect…  Finally upon receiving news of the injuries and death of state troops at Crooked River, Governor Boggs immediately drafted his extermination order on 27 October 1838 because Mormons “have made war upon the people of this state.”  Worse, the killing of one Missourian and mutiliation of another while he was defenseless at Crooked River led to the mad-dog revenge by Missourians in the slaughter at Hauns Mill.

This is where Alexander Doniphan comes in.

Despite the hatred of some Missourians toward Mormons, other non-Mormons protected LDS friends in the state.  William Thompson endured several lashes “with a cowhide,” rather than tell a mob where the Mormons were.  Better known among Mormons was Missourian Alexander W. Doniphan, who had risked his standing in his own community by defending the Mormons against expulsion from Jackson County in 1833.  In 1834, he startled fellow Missourians by praising the effort of Zion’s Camp to reclaim Mormon lands in Jackson County.  As state representative from Clay County, Doniphan regretted that his fellow residents had asked the Mormons to leave the county, and he successfully persuaded the Missouri legislature to create Caldwell County [in an 1836 compromise.]  When anti-Mormon troops surrounded Far West and forced its surrender, General Samuel D. Lucas ordered Doniphan to summarily execute Joseph Smith, and six other Mormon leaders who were in custody in November 1838.  Doniphan refused to obey the order, thus risking a similar summary execution himself.  By putting his own safety and career at risk, Alexander Doniphan saved Smith’s life and earned a permanent place as one of Mormon history’s non-Mormon heroes.

I want to quote from a website regarding Doniphan’s actual reply–I think it is impressive.  The website is http://www.historicliberty.org/tours/Alexander%20Doniphan%20-%20Juarenne.htm, and states,

When the Mormons surrendered to the militia, Doniphan’s commanding officer gave the order for Joseph Smith, the Mormon leader, and six others to be shot. Doniphan’s reply was “It is cold-blooded murder. I will not obey your order. My brigade will march for Liberty at 8:00 tomorrow morning, and if you execute these men I will hold you personally responsible before an earthly tribunal, so help me God.” Doniphan chose to subject himself to the threat of possible court-martial rather then to carry out an order which meant the execution of men not found guilty by civil or military tribunal.

Continuing on from Quinn page 101,

Without the drama of Doniphan’s military insubordination, militia general David R. Atchison restrained his own troops and used his political clout to benefit the besieged Mormons.  Another young Missourian wrote his father in December 1838 that the governor’s “extermination” order was a “foul disgrace to our State,” and the the Mormons had every right “to defend [themselves] with force and arms…”  The Jews call such benefactors and rescuers, “righteous Gentiles,” but during Smith’s life these non-Mormon allies were known as “Jack-Mormons,” originally an LDS term of endearment.”

So, I wanted to learn a little more about Alexander Doniphan.

• Alexander Doniphan Elementary School is found on 1900 Clay Drive, in Liberty, Missouri
• Doniphan served 3 terms as a state representative, and worked as a lawyer, who represented Joseph Smith.  Quoting from the website above, “During his career as a trial lawyer Doniphan defended more than 188 men, none of whom suffered the extreme penalty for the crime with which he was charged. This was true in Joseph Smith’s case. Doniphan tendered his services as a civil defender of the Mormons who were never convicted in court. Thus was spared the life of one who led the beginning of one of the great religious movements of our day. This building stands as a monument to Doniphan’s compassion and respect for the law. “
• There was a presentation on Doniphan at the Truman Presidential Library in 2007.  ‘He once met Abraham Lincoln and Lincoln is reported to have said: “Alexander Doniphan is the only man I have ever met who lived up to my previous expectations.” Today there many items which bear his name including several towns, a school, a battleship, a county, a highway and numerous local awards.’
• He went on to lead a very successful campaign in the Mexican-American War in 1846-7.
• He was a slaveholder, who favored keeping the union in tact.

For more information on the 1838 Mormon War, check out this Wikipedia entry.  I am grateful for non-Mormon allies such as Doniphan, and hope we will always appreciate men like this.

So, you’re welcome to tell me about your mother as well.  As I am biased, I know she won’t be better than mine, but I’d love to hear how cool your mom is too!

Yes Mormons do believe in Easter-I just wish we did a better job of celebrating the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, rather than the Easter bunny.  Related to this current post, I did a similar, smaller post over at Mormon Matters, where I primarily asked the question if there is a Mainstream acceptance of the Mormons’ Easter story?  My post there was very short, but I have much more information here from a National Geographic DVD titled, In Search of Easter, produced around Easter 2004.  Here are some of the things I found interesting.

Discrepancies in the Gospels telling of the Easter story

Three days after the death of Jesus, comes the breathless incident, where God reveals he has awakened Jesus from the grave.  But each gospel has a slightly different version of these moments.  John offers the briefest account.  He writes that Mary Magdalene, the most prominent female disciple, discovers that the stone sealing the tomb of Jesus, has been rolled away.  She is shocked to find that his body is missing.

In Mark’s version, additional women join Mary and they also encounter an angel.  “On entering into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment.  And they were affrighted, and he saith unto them, Be not affrighted, ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here.  Behold the place where they have laid him.”

Luke’s gospel adds another angel to proclaim the resurrection while Matthew tells of an earthquake which has rolled the stone away.  The sentries that only Matthew mentions have been rendered unconscious.

Alternative explanations of Jesus Resurrection

The ancient Romans were anxious to dispel the rumors of Jesus resurrection.  In Matthew, there is the familiar ancient tale that the followers of Jesus stole the body.  However, the DVD has some other interesting ideas.

Prof of Biblical Studies, Daniel Smith-Christopher, Loyola Marymount University, “Why didn’t the enemies of the early Christians, particularly the Romans who killed him in the first place, simply quash this whole Christian business at the source and simply say, ‘Look, here is the body!  Enough of this nonsense!’  The fact that they cannot do that, this obvious move, lends an even greater mystery to the events that we see as the resurrection of Jesus.”

If the body of Jesus was missing from the tomb, is it possible that it was never there in the first place?

Thomas Sheehan, professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University, “Probably no one knew where Jesus’ body was located because he was executed as a common criminal, the chances are he was buried either in a common grave, or left for animals to devour.”

John Dominic Crossan, Professor emeritus, DePaul University, “The Roman execution and crucifixion tended to leave the body there until there was nothing left to be buried.  That’s what crucifixion meant.  It wasn’t a question of making you suffer; it was a question of annihilating your identity, not even leaving enough to be buried.  That is the awful possibility that that’s [sic] what the Romans did to the body of Jesus.”

Luke Timothy Johnson, professor of New Testament and Christian origins, Emory University, “History has to do with the exceptions, rather than with the norm, that is Jesus had followers, he had sympathizers.  He had people who cared for him. It’s far more plausible to me historically, that something like the version that Jesus was buried in a tomb by somebody who was sympathetic to him, is roughly reliable.”

Women’s role in the Resurrection

Women who announce Resurrection actually lends credibility to the story, according to scholars.

Smith-Christopher, “If you were to make up this story, and to make it more believable, you certainly wouldn’t choose the witness of women, because at the time of Jesus, women’s social standing was very low indeed.  Women would not have been trusted as the most reliable witnesses.”

(Luke 24:9)  “And they returned from the tomb and reported all these things unto the eleven and to all the rest.  And these words appeared unto them as nonsense, and they would not believe them.”

According to John’s gospel, only Peter and an unnamed disciple are curious enough to investigate the empty tomb for themselves.  (John 20:6)  “Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulcher, and seeth the linen clothes lie, and a napkin that was about his head, not lying within the clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.’  John’s Gospel goes onto report that the amazed Peter, and his companion, depart the tomb, leaving Mary Magdalene to behold the impossible.”

Amy Jill-Levine, Professor of New Testament studies, Vanderbilt University, “A man calls her, she turns and sees, she supposes him to be the gardener.  And she says, ‘please sir, tell me where you have taken the body so that I can claim it.  And when the man calls her by name, Miriam, she recognizes in fact that this is no gardener, this is her resurrected Lord, appearing to her in the flesh.”

Why did people fail to recognize Jesus?

Smith-Christopher, “The way John  goes on to tell the story, Mary has, what we would take to be a very natural reaction-she wants to grasp and hug Jesus, and Jesus tells Mary, ‘no, not yet.  I can’t be touched yet.’  And it lends an interesting any mysterious air to the whole episode.”

Mary’s encounter, according to the Gospels, is only the beginning.  Luke describes another sighting that occurs later that day.  Two of Jesus’ followers, who have just witnessed the crucifixion, are travelling on the road to Emmaus, a road north of Jerusalem.  They are not aware that their martyred teacher intends to extend their education.

Johnson, “The two disciples are walking along disconsolate, after the events that have taken place in Jerusalem.  And they’re discussing what had happened.  And as they’re walking along, they’re joined by a stranger, who they don’t recognize, and who enters into conversation with them.”

Jill-Levine, “They’re surprised that the stranger had not heard about the death of Jesus, and as they continued to talk and to walk, they describe to this stranger, what Jesus had done, what he stood for.  And as day started to progress toward night, the stranger announced that he would leave.  And the followers said, ‘No, no, no.  Why don’t you come and have supper with us?”  And the stranger agrees. And as they’re sitting at supper, the stranger begins to explain to them the truth of the story of Jesus, unpacked through the sacred scripture that all Jews held at the time, what Christians today would call the Old Testament.”

Crossan, “And the stranger gives them almost a graduate course in the interpretation of scripture, showing them that if they understood their scriptures, they would not have been surprised that even the messiah would be executed.  Then comes the crucial point of the story.  Jesus takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it, and hands it out, the Eucharistic formula, and they recognize Jesus!”

Smith-Christopher, “And it’s only  as they begin to comprehend the significance of what this stranger has been saying, we have this movement of comprehension, when they recognize their former teacher.  I think that this is very important, the sense of which, the gospels tells us, it’s when we recognize the importance of what he taught us, that we suddenly recognize him.”

Luke’s account then takes an abrupt twist.  At the very moment that the disciples recognize Jesus, he suddenly vanishes.

Why does Jesus keep disappearing?

Johnson, “This odd appearing/disappearing of Jesus and the appearing accounts has a very important message, and that is the resurrection is not resuscitation.  Jesus does not open an office.  He’s not there permanently.  He’s not there in his former somatic limitedness.  He’s a surprising presence.  He intrudes, he interrupts, he is not predictable, he is not controllable, and in that sense, he shares the life of the living God.”

Smith-Christopher, “The appearing and disappearing are kind of moving us towards the reality that we are going to live with for the rest of time, and that is that we don’t  have the physical presence of Jesus anymore with us, we have as it were the spiritual presence of Jesus with us.  There’s a sense of we’re getting used to the fact that now, the physical presence of Jesus is no longer going to be accessible to us.”

The Mormon Easter Story

Could yet another possibility exist that explains Jesus sporadic appearances.  Is it possible that he did not limit his visits to ancient Israel?  This is the intriguing scenario described in the Book of Mormon.  The book which emerged in 19^th century America is revered by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as God’s Holy Word.”

Kathleen Flake, Assistant Professor of American Religious History, Vanderbilt University, “The Book of Mormon is an account of a civilization that lived in the Americas between about 600 years before Jesus was born, until about 400 years after he died.  The centerpiece of this story, is Jesus’ appearance to them, after he died, and was resurrected.  He comes to the Americas with business in mind.  Jesus will say to these people in the Americas, now I said to the Jews in Palestine ‘other sheep I have which are not of this fold, and they misunderstood me.  They thought I meant the gentiles, but no.  I meant you.  I meant you’re the other sheep; I must come visit you, I must manifest myself unto you so that you can bear witness to the world about the nature of God, and how to receive a forgiveness of sin, or more to the point, how you can overcome the circumstances of the world and be made one with God.’”

According to the Book of Mormon, the risen Jesus remains with America’s ancient tribes for 3 or 4 days.  He then vanishes and then makes sporadic appearances for an unspecified period of time.

Jesus appearance to 500

One episode in the New Testament’s eastern narrative cries out as perhaps its greatest paradox.  Why would Jesus’ appearance before the greatest number of people, be described in the fewest number of words?

Johnson, “In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul gives a recitation of those who had experiences and appearance of Jesus.  He includes a puzzling reference to 500 at one time, some of whom are still around and are able to bear testimony to this fact.  The most puzzling thing about this is that there is no story about it in the gospels as such.  We would think that if there were such an event, it certainly would be included among the resurrections stories of Jesus, or the appearances.”

Smith-Christopher, “Now for Paul, he just sort of mentions this in passing.  Now of course, when we moderns read that, we want to say, “Stop!  Wait!  Back up!  What do you mean 500 people?  Who were they?  What were they?  Where were they?  When did this happen?’  And we’re terribly frustrated about the fact that Paul just sort of mentions it in passing.  Clearly, his concerns were elsewhere.  He was already arriving at the issue of ‘what does all this mean’?  Not, ‘did it actually happen?’”

I could write more, but what do you think of some of these things?  Are Mormon scriptures beginning to get some mainstream acceptance?  Were Jesus bones never found because there was nothing left?  Why don’t we know more about this appearance to 500?

In 410 AD, the Roman Empire stretched from Africa to Britain. Christianity was the official faith of the Empire. At this time, the empire started to fail, and barbarians descended on Rome. Troops were recalled to protect the city, leaving outlying areas unprotected. Fifth century Ireland was untouched by Rome and Christianity. These Norsemen descended on Britain, capturing a boy 16 year old boy named Succat, later to be known as Patrick. He entered Ireland as a slave, where he was a shepherd. He was a slave for 6 years, before God told him in a dream to run away. Quoting from the DVD,

“Escaping across the Irish sea, the now devout youth was reunited with his overjoyed parents. But Patrick seemed changed, restless, unable to settle down. One night in a dream he has a vision of the Irish people. They asked him, with one voice, to return to them and to bring them the word of God. Thus Patrick’s journey to sainthood begins.

Patrick studies for 12 years to prepare himself, and in 432, he is sent to Ireland as a missionary bishop. This is his long-awaited opportunity to spread the Gospel among the Irish. Patrick is not blinded to the risk of challenging the gods of the war-like Irish, yet he defies the Druid priest by lighting the forbidden fire high on the hill Swain to celebrate Easter.

Despite these obstacles to converting the Irish, Patrick succeeds where others might have failed, perhaps because he teaches the Irish a Christianity that harmonizes easily with their indigenous religion.

Terence Murphy, professor of history at American University says, “The groundwork was laid by the Celtic religion of Druidism, which had an emphasis on the sacred number 3. The Irish were already used to gods who had 3 persons. There was an emphasis on immortality, the immortality of the soul, and an emphasis on resurrection in the afterlife in the Druidic religion.

Patrick also presents to the Irish a benevolent, rather than a punishing God, a god who created the world for human beings to enjoy. These beliefs are expressed in an ancient prayer, attributed to him.

…

Legends about St. Patrick abound. It is said that he used the shamrock to explain the trinity, that he drove the snakes from Ireland. By the time of Patrick’s death in 461, Ireland is overwhelmingly Christian. With Patrick now gone, what emerges from the Irish landscape, is a new society, a society of monks. They are the spiritual heirs of Patrick. Neither they, nor Patrick could know that they would preserve the best of classical civilization, not only for Ireland, but for all of Europe. Within a decade of Patrick’s mission, there are hundreds of monasteries all over the countryside.

In contrast to the European continent, where the bishops of large cities hold authority, in Ireland, it is the abbots of monasteries who preside over religious life. The role of the abbot is not the only unique aspect of Celtic Christianity. Irish priests hear private confessions, while a Roman Christians must confess their sins before the entire congregation. The Celtic Church also refuses to legislate private moral and social behavior. One of the ways the faith of the Irish takes flight is reflected in the roles of women. Bridget of Kildare is a powerful leader of the Irish Christian church.

Terence Murphy relates that ‘In Ireland, there are female saints, like Bridget. Bridget stands out because she is the female equivalent for Ireland of Patrick. She is regarded in a special way. One of her names in the Middle Ages was ‘Mary of the Gael,’ In other words, the virgin Mary equivalent of the Irish people.’

This Mary of Ireland would found, build, and supervise, an immense monastery, housing both nuns and monks. And now something amazing begins to transpire in the great monastic centers of Ireland. A society that before Patrick, had relied solely on an oral tradition, now becomes literate under the guidance of Christian missionaries. In a matter of a generation, Irish monks not only read and write, but had become the world’s finest scholars in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew.

Terence Murphy relates that ‘The Irish monks had an ethos of study, as a way of worshipping God: work, and prayer, and study. Their work was largely copying down manuscripts, preserving learning, as well as augmenting learning. So at the center of every Irish monastic institution, there would be a Scriptorium, a place of writing and a library, a place for studying.

The flowering of Irish learning comes not a moment too soon. In the chaos of the barbarian invasions, all the great libraries of Western Europe are destroyed. Yet, while the ancient classical civilizations are crumbling, Irish monks are devoting themselves to copying and preserving the literature of the vanishing culture.

Paul L Maier, professor of History, Western Michigan University states, ‘I think it would be safe to say that every book written before the year 1000 AD—that includes all of the Greco-Roman classics, that includes all of Holy Scripture, Old and New Testaments, that includes all the theological works, from the Jewish side, that includes Josephus, from Augustin or anyone else, we would not have these books today, if it had not been for the manuscript recopying in these monasteries.’

And so it is in western history and culture, are preserved intact by the hand of a few Irish monks as the monks on this wind-swept island toil away at their illuminating manuscripts. Western Europe enters the period that would come to be known as the Dark Ages, ushered in by the barbarian invasions and the fall of Rome.

It seems that Mormons often look down on other religions when we refer to the Apostasy.  I can remember attending a Lutheran Bible Study class years ago.  When I spoke to the Lutheran priest, he said that Mormons act like nothing happened between 100 AD and 1830.  He found that Mormons were completely unaware of most history, and I must say I still agree with him.  I have endeavored to learn more.

Without St Patrick, and the conversion of Ireland, Christianity would have lost some priceless treasures that all Christians enjoy.  I think St Patrick’s missionary stories should be better known, and lauded by all Christians.  I think his life is an example of Christian service, and forgiveness, that we all should emulate.