#scriptural references

[gailyinthedark]

Archetype

Angel-wrestling is a sport

Only the liveliest can play.

Dislocate another limb

Like a liver every day.

I saw a stair here,

Growing up into the sky:

Those beans were good for something

When the cow and well ran dry.

Here's a bean and here's a flame

And here's an apple core.

You'd think he likes us rebels,

Since he tempts our hearts for more.

I seek the Giant of heaven, who stole

My harp and hip and heart.

I've been a long time looking,

But I know now where to start.

[compassionmattersmost]

Faith and Actions: Bridging Belief and Righteous Living in Modern Christianity

A Note on Diverse Beliefs Christianity is a rich and diverse faith, encompassing a wide range of beliefs and interpretations. This post aims to explore the relationship between faith and actions as seen through the teachings of Jesus and various scriptural references. It is shared with respect for all perspectives and an invitation for open, thoughtful dialogue. Our goal is to deepen our…

[heavenlymorals]

Biblical References in Both RDR games.

I love biblical references so much. When it comes to literature, it's probably my favorite type of symbolism. Like I genuinely get so happy when I connect things to the Bible which is what I'm going to do right now 😊😊 I also like the way that religion is incorporated into RDR as a whole, including the main characters' reaction to it.

So yup, here are just a few references or connections that I was able to make in no particular order.

Also, some of these are complete reaches and I'm aware of that, but fuck it, it's my blog and I do what I want 💪🏼

- The character and tragedy of Issac. In the Bible, Issac is the child of Abraham who is asked to be sacrificed by God by his father as a test of faith. God eventually intervenes to save Issac because he only wanted to test Abraham's faith. Dutch is shown as a God-like figure to the gang, as their devotion is to him. Arthur, indirectly, sacrifices Issac by not being there and by following what Dutch wanted. Arthur, Issac, and Dutch are parallels to Abraham, Issac, and God.

- Leviticus is the book that comes after the book of Exodus. After the gang's escape or exodus from Blackwater after the Blackwater massacre, they are met by Leviticus Cornwall, who becomes the next obstacle for the gang. After the gang's exodus, they get in trouble with Leviticus.

- The image of the deer and a mountain. Psalm 18:32-34 in the Bible says, "It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way blameless? He makes my feet like deers' feet, and sets me upon my high places." In Arthur's condemnation of Dutch, Micah, and their evil, he becomes steady in his identity and beliefs, like a deer's feet on a mountain, which is where he dies in the end. W symbolism.

- The mission "Sodom? Back to Gomorrah." In the Bible, Sodom and Gomorrah were two cities that were so morally depraved and evil that God decided to destroy the both of them, saying that if there was even one good person in those cities, he'd spare them, but there weren't. In those missions, you also do two evil acts, going from one and then BACK to the other. You rob the bank and then go BACK to collect the debt from Edith Downes. So you finish one evil deed and to straight to the next. This can also show how morally bankrupt Arthur's apathy made him at this point in the game.

- Micah's guns say "Vengeance is hereby mine." This could be a reference to Roman's 12:19 "vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord." Micah's violent nature makes him take his anger out on the world.

- "Your father is seduced by him with the forked tongue. It's no use hoping." The blind prophet to Arthur. Pretty straight forward symbolism, it's a nod to the snake that seduced Eve, just like how Micah manipulates Dutch.

- Dutch walking away from Arthur when he dies and though he realizes his wrong doing and feels shame, his pride forbids him from apologizing or saying he was wrong. This can be a parallel to how Adam and Eve run away from God when they feel shame over believing in the snake, but their pride won't allow them to apologize to God, hence damning them like how Micah damned Dutch.

- There were twelve ACTIVE gang members before the Blackwater massacre. When I mean active, I mean gang members who are canonically consistent (so not uncle, Swanson, Strauss, or the girls) on going on jobs for the gang. Micah, Bill, Javier, John, Hosea, Arthur, Charles, Sean, Lenny, Josiah, Mac and Davey Callender. Christ had 12 disciples and Dutch is portrayed as a savior to the gang, or a Christ like figure. And would you look at that, there is a traitor in both groups of twelve (Micah and Judas).

- Both John and Arthur's graves have scripture from Jesus's sermon on the mountain (Matthew 5:1-12). John's is blessed are the peacemakers and Arthur's is blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

- The go back for the money ending. If you go back for the money and have low honor, you'll see that the camp is engulfed in flames as you try to get the money. The fight with Micah is brutal and you die faced down in the dark. This death is an allegory for going to either hell and purgatory as you choose a final evil act of leaving your brother to possibly die just so you can get money as an act of revenge. If you have high honor, you are still surrounded by flames, but you still have a chance at heaven given that you die facing up seeing the light one final time.

- The help John ending has similar connotations. If you have low honor, you die by gunshot and are shrouded in darkness, which can symbolize the absence of God's light and how Arthur's final act couldn't absolve the lack of guilt he feels for the rest of the actions that he KNOWS are evil (click here for a my interpretation of Arthur's morality). In high honor, though, you get to crawl to the mountain side and see the rising sun, symbolizing heaven, warmth, and a new purity.

- In low honor, the coyote goes down to a dark cave, representing damnation and the rejection of holy light. In high honor, the deer steps into a heavenly field of light. Love that so much to be honest.

- Just the very Catholic vibe of Arthur's redemption. Doing good deeds, feeling guilt, all that.

- John's new life is basically this: "Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need." -Ephesians 4:28. John gives up his old life to be an honest laborer, a rancher, and a proper man.

- The Strange Man in RDR rides on a donkey, which is pretty interesting because Jesus Christ also made his grand entry on a donkey.

- Just the Strange Man in general to be honest. Some say he's God, others say he's the Devil, and others say he's Cain from the Bible, which is my personal favorite theory but whatever.

- Dutch's horse could be a reference to Revelations 6:8- "And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him." Dutch's rash actions caused the death of the gang and RDR's incarnate of Hades or Hell was Micah, following him. Dutch is the only one, canonically, to have a pale horse.

- "Am I prepared for eternal damnation? Am I passed any kind of saving? Or is that just fairy tales?" Arthur in his journal. I love this line so much because of its very agnostic nature whilst still showing the Christian mindset of 1899 America. This line also shows that Arthur is canonically agnostic which is a yippee from me because it's like the only thing me and this man have in common lmao 😭

- "Bad news awaits you, sir. Sadly, sooner than you think. But beyond the news, paradise awaits. Paradise.." Blind Man Cassidy to Arthur. Sorry but I just love that. High honor Arthur lived such an awful life but he still has a chance at paradise and heaven? Love that so much.

- God (pun intended), I love biblical symbolism. Couldn't you tell?

[apenitentialprayer]

Christian Classical Texts: A List of Resources

CatholicLibrary.org: Contains 27 centuries worth of mostly Catholic Christian, but also influential pre-Christian, texts. Many are provided in English translation.

NewAdvent.org: Contains non-canonical scriptures, writings of the Church Fathers, Council documents, and liturgies, all in English translation.

CCEL.org: Contains writings from the Church Fathers, Protestant Reformers, and other prominent Christian writers from the first century to as late as 1990.

EarlyChristianWritings.org: Contains a variety of non-canonical scriptures, Gnostic texts, writings of the Church Fathers, and at least two reconstructions of theorized sources for canonical Christian Scripture.

[sugashook]

his leg mimics the tail WOW!

[bombalurinaxdemeter]

Samuel the Lamanite, proving since 6 B.C. that walls don't work

[godslove]

“Daniel's Answer to the King” by Briton Riviere (1890)

[gemstarstarlight]

“Ego is like a dish that only feeds you false fruit. Right? Like, the more that you eat off of your own ego, the more you starve your spirit.”

—Josh Johnson

[cdtrin]

Photo and words are mine.

[scarabesque-returns]

its hard to find a reformed christian i actually agree with because honestly the topic of God and theology is a hotbed of discourse online so finding someone who approaches talking about it with no hostility is nice. if you have the time and/or the willingness could you answer for me what your thoughts on what "level" of agency you believe people have while still living ultimately in God's universe and subject to what He wills? ive found myself unable to come up with solid verse references and i figured it was high time to try bouncing it off someone else (mostly because i've been busy planning my wedding and move which is a terrible excuse but i digress) since i cant really sit and really dig deep into the text right at this second.

Thank you for the ask! The topic of free will is the most common "objection" Reformed Christians hear about biblical Reformed Theology. This objection is almost 100% of the time based on misunderstanding.

First, it's important that we define "free will" because the popular idea of it, that it is unlimited (and that Augustine called Royal Liberty), is nonsense for us humans. How far does free will extend? Did you choose to be born? Did you choose that breath you just took? How long can your free will free you from the "tyranny" of eating or drinking? Try free willing your way out of being enslaved to carbon atoms.

The Bible teaches us that Original Sin, and our sinful nature, is as fundamental to us as those carbon atoms. We are enslaved to sin. We will choose sin over and over and over throughout our lives, and this sinful nature is so strong that it makes it impossible to choose the opposite - God.

God makes choosing Him, and choosing good, possible.

As RC Sproul said, "The Bible teaches us that we are fallen creatures who still choose and make decisions, but we make them in the context of our prison of sin. And the only way we can get out of that prison is if God sets us free."

[zacksephreunion]

GUH i reblogged that one post and rambled about how zack's "biblical name" could/should be zacchaeus without even reading the wikipedia on him and

DAMMITTT 😭😭😭😭😭

[heavenlymorals]

Biblical References in the RDR Games: Part 2

You guys seemed to LOVE my original biblical references post for Red Dead so I am here to post some more because there are SO MANY. And like before, I am aware that some of these may be complete reaches, but it's my blog and I do what I want 🙃

Enjoy babes ❤️

@headersandheelers @secretcheesecakenacho Since you guys wanted to get tagged ❤️🤭

Arthur and Dutch mirror Moses and Pharaoh in chapter six. Arthur begs Dutch to let his "chosen" go, who are the people who he believes have a chance in living without the baggage of the gang (the women and John and his family). Dutch refuses to let them go, which creates the biggest conflict in chapter 6.

Arthur kicking out Strauss gives me heavy Matthew 21:12-14. Basically, Jesus kicks out loan sharks and sellers from a temple designated as a house of worship where people can be helped. Their presence destroyed the sanctity and the purity of the temple. Both the gang and the temple existed originally to help folks, but the presence of people like loan sharks destroy that original mission. So yes, Arthur kicking out Strauss is a parallel to Jesus kicking out the loan sharks from the temple.

The color for high honor is blue while the color for low honor is red. Blue in the bible is very often associated with heaven and God. Red in the bible represents the flesh that humans are trapped in during their time on earth, which can then correlate back to sin and violent.

Micah was a prophet in the bible who is most known for predicting the fall Jerusalem. Micah in the game also predicts the fall of the gang in the sense that he was the one who caused it. The name Micah also means he who is like God, so the irony is kinda funny.

John being able to see the cracks in the gang before many of the other characters could very well be a reference to this passage: "For you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you Free" - John 8:32. Abigail in RDR also says this which is a reference to this passage: "You knew the truth, John. And they hated you for it."

Just another passage that reminds of Arthur's redemption and the whole searching for peace thing: "Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it" Psalm 34:14

The mission "A Fisher of Men" is a reference to Matthew 4:18-20. "While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him." Of course, beyond just the action of fishing with Jack, this is also a parallel to Arthur's empathetic yet still firm style of talking to Jack. "It's about time you earned your keep." "You got to stick at things, Jack."

The mission "The Sheep and the Goats." In Matthew 25:31-46, it describes how God will separate people in two groups. The "sheep" will inherit heaven and the "goats" will be damned. You can connect that to the gang as well. The sheep are the ones who leave Dutch while the goats stay with him and become damned or a shameful version of who they once were.

Also note in the epilogue how John says he doesn't like goats and chooses sheep as the first animals to raise on his ranch. That could also connect to Matthew 25:31-46.

The mission name "Do Not Seek Absolution" is really interesting to me because it's the first biblical mission name that could either be a reference to scripture, which I'm thinking Deuteronomy 12:13 in the sense that one shouldn't offer their praise or worship to false gods who won't answer prayers (think Arthur and Dutch and how Arthur was still following Dutch after the gang lost it's original image) or a rejection ofa the Christian mindset of the time. Absolution is the idea of the promise of having your sins forgiven by God. It might be saying that Arthur should try to redeem himself by his action towards the person rather than his guilt towards a higher power.

Molly getting burnt rather than having a funeral is less a biblical detail but more a cultural detail. Though cremation wasn't really condemned in the Bible, the passages about being buried in the ground or in tombs was the people's standards in how they wanted their dead body to be handled due to religious reasoning. Whether or not Molly is Protestant or culturally Catholic (I lean the latter), the fact that Grimshaw asks for her body to be burnt just adds so much more weight to how cruelly traitors of the gang were dealt with

Love this stuff sm

[bookofmormonmemes]

Endlessly fascinated by the relationship of Lamã, Lemuel, Néfi and Leí (Sam is there Just in name). Leí has clearly a favorite son, and the others concentrate all of their frustration on Néfi, be those caused by the situation they are at or by the things Leí and Néfi are saying. I get both sides honestly. Counseling could have saved them.

Sam could have been saved If he has any importance in the story. Like, there was a moment when i had to Go back some Pages because i could not remember what had happened to Sam and why he had Just disappear, and i found out nothing happened. The author Just forgot he existed

Family therapy could have fixed them, real!!!

Sam the son of Lehi is my favorite Book of Mormon guy. He's there to remind us that normal guys exist even when those sort of things are happening! And that's beautiful 💜

[xieyouji-xiegushi]

It's time to reveal my work for Small Fandom Bang Round 14! 😁 This is the first time I've finished a big bang type challenge (ADHD thwarted all my previous attempts), so I am super proud of myself! If you're into small fandoms, you can check out all the fics from this round in the AO3 collection or on the Dreamwidth community. Posting continues until the end of April! 

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves & Wooster (TV 1990) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Reginald Jeeves/Bertram "Bertie" Wooster Additional Tags: Community: smallfandombang, Romance, First Meetings, Getting Together, Bertie's Scripture Knowledge, Misquoted Poetry Summary:

It has been brought to my attention, by certain interested parties, that I have yet to relate in my memoirs the story of how my inimitable manservant Jeeves came to be in my employ. “Surely not,” thought I, rifling through the archives, but alas, it appears as though I have indeed made something of a blunder in this regard. Henceforth, I shall endeavour to correct this glaring omission within this very volume that you are currently holding.

It all began on chilly September evening.

[rabbits-of-negative-euphoria]

while I’m on hiatus next month, I really want to flex my comic muscles again so

[gatorinator]

Ok the parody book covers had me rolling, and I was delighted to get snippets from two of them on the website. Sadly (although also probably luckily) I’m not sure they did one for the Book of Mormon parody

Again, probably for the best. But as someone who is LDS, and who has read the Book of Mormon extensively, I figured I’d take a crack at a snippet of what could be in this version of the Book of Bill.

3 Bill

Chapter 5

Followers of Cypher call themselves the Anti-Bill-Cyphies—They are commanded to build a portal— A man like the cedars of Lebanon breaks the portal—Cypher causes a famine on purpose not by accident—Those who intercourse around will find out. About 2084 B.W. (Before Weirdmageddon).

1 And it came to pass that in those days, the followers of Cypher did go forth unto the land, to build a portal.

2 And they called themselves the Anti-Bill-Cyphies, for they were the followers of Cypher.

3 And it came to pass that I, Cypher, spake unto them, saying, Hey idiots! Wanna have the time of your lives? Why don’t you take a crack at portal building? I’ll make you rich and famous, all the babes will love you! Their feet are gonna be tinkling with sooo many bells, you guys are into that right?

4 And they built a portal after the manner in which I showed them, which was sick as hell.

5 And they did pray unto me, saying O Cypher, we know that thou art a god, and we know that thou art the sickest god, and whatsoever that means we know not, but we do believe it.

6 And it came to pass that there was a twerp, who was like unto the cedar trees of Lebanon, who did come. And in the night, he snuck into the portal, and verily he did take a big old stick and bash it to pieces.

7 And on the next day, when I saw what he hath done, I did not throw a big tantrum, don’t believe what hath been written. I remained very calm and collected, and then caused every animal in the vicinity to lose their teeth. And thus the animals couldn’t eat, and a famine came about the land, which was totally what I meant to have happen.

8 Yea, and even the man like unto the cedars of Lebanon starved to death, THAT WILL SHOW HIM. And thus we see that those who fornicate about, will thusly figure out. Amen.