Things I Never Knew…

I did not make it to Church this morning, and it bothers me. Combination of things, from not feeling well to a mix of rain, snow, and 25 mph winds outside. Even with a car that would have been interesting. With bus and a walk…

Sundays I usually try to stay off social media, but I’ve hit it a few times today both checking on some events (terrorist attack on a Catholic Church, volcanic activity, etc.) and checking on some friends. Some of what I’ve seen reminded me of all the things I never knew about Scripture and Theology.

For example, right after 10/7 there were a whole bunch of influences and others popping up on social media not only shouting that Christ was King, but that Christ also wasn’t Jewish and the Old Testament had nothing to do with the Jewish faith. That a number of them also got into Blood Libels against Jews in general (and the Catholic Church to some extent) really wasn’t a surprise. Do wonder if silver is still the preferred mode of payment…

One of the most fascinating ones that has popped up is that Saul was in the service of Satan who loaned him to the Romans to pull off a con in terms of conversion and becoming Paul. This was done to destroy “real” Christianity at the start by Satan while the Romans kept it from becoming a threat to the Empire until they could co-opt it for their own. Who knew?

Still trying to figure out the person going after a friend demanding that she provide the scriptures as to why the Virgin Mary had to be kept in a hidden/non-public room behind a curtain and have blood sprinkled on her by a priest once a year. Yeah, you got me on that one. Not sure, but maybe conflating the Jewish Day of Atonement with something the Catholic Church doesn’t do today? Makes absolutely no sense, has no basis in reality that I can find, and so that person went from being muted to being blocked. I had seen the friend reply to a blank spot, got curious so looked, which may have cost me brain cells to read the stupidity and bigotry (point, accurate on two uses for blank).

Have been blocking a lot of antisemites as well as certain anti-Catholics since 10/7. If there is no chance of discourse, am just blocking. There are some who simply don’t know (or have been told things that aren’t true) and I try to share with them. Then, there are those who are convinced that their particular branch of the protestant faith was the true faith all along and had been deliberately hidden from the world by corrupted apostles and such until it was brought forth blazing from the breast of Zeus (and, yes, deliberate choice of phrase there) after the Reformation. I swear, it is as if the origins of the Church and the 1500+ years of religious history prior to the Reformation aren’t taught anymore. If I’m spotting the holes despite the holes in my memory, it’s pretty bad.

Maybe I do need to do a post one day dealing with the universal (which is what the Greek word catholic means) church and some of the history before the reformation. Sure wouldn’t hurt me to review some of the various conclaves, synods, and such. Besides, always fun to read about future saints having fist fights over points of theology. Yep, that happened and more than once if my faulty memory is correct. Amuses my inner 8-year-old to this day.

Besides, might be fun to make some of the anti-Catholic heads explode by discussing the Egyptian Coptic Christian Church (first to leave the universal church, in the 500s?) and the Orthodox Church (and the schism of 1054 with the Roman Catholic Church). Along the way point out some of the practices of the early Church (who did venerate the Virgin Mary and embrace the use of icons when and where they could, and also point out the Apostle Luke was one of the first Christian iconographers). Maybe get into why certain altar covers had relics and other important items sewn into them. Could be fun. Could even be needed the way things are going.

Have to think that the only one pleased to see all the attacks on the Theotokos/Blessed Mother is the Evil One. Heck, even Martin Luther himself supported the veneration of the Virgin Mary. Maybe it is time to update and even expand my post on the Empty Vessel theory they are pushing. Might also be fun to discuss how original church services lasted hours, and the process by which they have been brought down to an hour for many, and app. 1.5 hours for TLM and Orthodox services.

The fervor with which some go after any and all other Christian faiths does remind me of this:

And as for those denominations that are helping push all this, they should be glad Paul still isn’t alive as otherwise they would be getting a letter I suspect. Might be all the Churches/denominations would…