Jesus
in Pompeii, Herculaneum,
Sodom,
Gomorrah, Los Angeles & San Francisco
There
was once a son of god, sent to nations wiped off the face of the
earth, from time beyond time, and space beyond space, of our
reckoning. His mission was to save their souls, the souls of the
damned, from the eternal pangs of hell, to be given salvation, and
another chance, to repent, to change their ways, and be forgiven by
God for their many sins, and never sin again.
Copyright
© 2017 by Saint Benedict. All rights reserved.
No
part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic
or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval
systems, without permission in writing from the author.
This
book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents
either are products of the author’s imagination or are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead,
events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
For
the establishment
of
Ministry of Christ
in
our souls,
spirits,
and
in our minds,
forever
and ever
Amen.
Christ
saves people
in hell
Every thousand years or so
Christ goes down to hell
Through his glory
He saves all of those damned
He raises them up
Alone he does it
Believers and unbelievers alike
All are saved
They are either given life on earth to live again
or sent to upper realms if they are believers
The power of Christ is felt
even by Satan himself
He bows down before him
and acknowledges the Christ as Lord
Hell trembles over
and all the angels therein stare in awe
at the sight of the Mighty and Glorious Christ
Glory be to Christ
Our Lord Our Savior
Of all the worlds
There he is down again
The Trumpets in hell are thunderous
whenever Christ arrives there
All the people burning and gnashing their teeths
Feel his power and all their agonies vanish
Christ is your savior
even if you are in hell
Only he is the way out
There is no one else
Hell freezes over
All the fires and torments are quenched
The presence of Christ does it!
Praised be Christ thy God Amen!
in hell
Every thousand years or so
Christ goes down to hell
Through his glory
He saves all of those damned
He raises them up
Alone he does it
Believers and unbelievers alike
All are saved
They are either given life on earth to live again
or sent to upper realms if they are believers
The power of Christ is felt
even by Satan himself
He bows down before him
and acknowledges the Christ as Lord
Hell trembles over
and all the angels therein stare in awe
at the sight of the Mighty and Glorious Christ
Glory be to Christ
Our Lord Our Savior
Of all the worlds
There he is down again
The Trumpets in hell are thunderous
whenever Christ arrives there
All the people burning and gnashing their teeths
Feel his power and all their agonies vanish
Christ is your savior
even if you are in hell
Only he is the way out
There is no one else
Hell freezes over
All the fires and torments are quenched
The presence of Christ does it!
Praised be Christ thy God Amen!
Last
Chapter
The
New Bible
Pompeii,
Herculaneum
Nine
years, almost to the day, after Roman legionaries destroyed God’s
house in Jerusalem, God destroyed the luxurious watering holes of the
Roman elite. Was this God’s revenge? Did anyone connect the
eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 C.E. with the Roman destruction of
Jerusalem in 70? Hershel
Shanks, “The Destruction of Pompeii–God’s Revenge?
Jesus
wept. He wept in Pompeii. There he was sent, sent by God, to raise
the damned spirits, from their abode of abiding torture, to be saved.
The
Spirit of Jesus was moving over the surface of the waters, and he
traveled from Bethlehem to Pompeii, his first stop, in a journey of
salvation, salvation of the damned, of the many destroyed nations, of
the past and present, and the future too.
Imagine
living in the richest city of ancient times. Resources are bountiful
and life is grand. Every amenity and luxury surrounds you, and unlike
in other cities during this time, simple plumbing and convenience is
everywhere.
Such
was the life for those who lived in Pompeii, Italy in the late part
of 70 AD. There was even ancient pornography and gentlemen
entertainment, brothel houses to suit every
taste.
Photo:
roblawton
Those
who woke up, began their day, and were sitting down to eat lunch on
August 24, 79 AD had no clue that Mount Vesuvius would begin a
tyranny of volcanic eruptions that would not stop for 24 hours. It
would not spare those who lived in Pompeii, and neither would it
spare those in the smaller, nearby towns in Herculaneum and Oplontis.
A torrent of lava and ash raced down the massive mountain at
100
mph,
burying everyone in its path before they could even react let alone
escape.
In
an event of biblical proportions. The people’s fear, despair and
whatever they were doing at that moment was perfectly preserved in
ash and hardened lava. This has given archaeologists a perfect
time-line of the event as well as a historical look at this ancient
culture – a window into the lives of those who lived at that time.
Note
how these ash figures are desperately trying to cover their mouths,
shield their unborn children, or trying to keep themselves from being
crushed by the onslaught of debris and volcanic rocks.
Doctors
had their surgical tools clutched in their grasps in the hope of
helping others; the “dominas”, or women of the house, held on
dearly to jewels and heirlooms; and slaves were found with iron rings
around their ankles. Such items gave archaeologists valuable insight
into who the bodies belonged to and what their shortened lives were
about.
The
city of Pompeii was for the elite Romans who could afford the seaside
life of luxury and fortune. Yet, within hours, this beautiful city
was partially buried under masses of volcanic ash, cooling lava and
rocks.
Pompeii
had aqueducts unheard of in this period of history which channeled
the water to 25 city fountains. It had an amphitheater, at least four
public baths, many private estates, and numerous businesses that
catered to the persnickety tastes of the wealthy who lived there.
Photo:
Bengal*foam
The
streets of Pompeii resembled many cities around today. There were
streets, highways and bustling traffic coming and going all of the
time. And the nightlife was second to none.
The
people of Pompeii appear to have worshiped a phallic god. Many
objects in Pompeii had some erotic symbolism or art work bestowed
upon it. Here’s a sign outside a Pompeii bakery.
The
bakery sign above reads “Hic habitat felicitas”, meaning “Here
lives happiness” or “Here lives good fortune”. The good fortune
was believed to be anywhere the phallic god was worshiped and
depicted.
At
least
20,000
people
inhabited
Pompeii. The highest point of fortune, activity and population growth
was realized at the moment the disaster struck. Near the edge of
town, many people lived in villas or small groups of house boats
(like palatial gated communities) similar to that of Venice.
Those
who lived in Pompeii were quite used to earthquakes and less seismic
volcanic eruptions. It was similar to a modern day Los Angeles. The
people’s houses seemed to ebb and flow with the everyday annoyances
of Mother Nature. This was why scientists believe that the majority
of people did not flee or seek shelter. They thought this would be
like any other day.
In
62 AD, a terrible earthquake transpired that burned the city down to
the ground. However, much of the city was rebuilt. Imagine how grand
it must have been before that earthquake!
One
of the main concerns that those living in the city had was preserving
their beloved (and infamous!) art. Scientists were able to recover
many of the pieces that had been restored after the earthquake or
were from a time period before the deadly eruption.
Photo:
NateBW
The
reconstruction of the city was hampered by earthquakes that came more
and more frequently. Nowadays, we would understand this as being a
precursor to a horrific volcanic eruption. They were not aware of
this at the time, of course.
Ironically,
the eruption occurred after the festival observing the god of fire,
Vulcanalia.
Scientists believe that the main cause of death for those in Pompeii
and the surrounding area was heat and/or ash suffocation. It is
estimated
that
the temperature for at least 10 miles around Mount Vesuvius was 250
°C. Even if people had been in their homes or in a building, there
would not have been any way they could have survived heat that
excruciatingly high. Worse, the people were buried under as many as
twelve
layers of soil,
up to 82 feet deep in total, which rained down heavily for at least
six hours.
Photo:
Lancevortex
The
excavation of Pompeii around the turn of the 20th century unearthed
many erotic images of over-sized penises, even on the household
items. This was so disturbing to those who found these items that
they were either destroyed, reburied or locked away in the National
Museum of Naples, Italy for over 100 years. The art has only made
viewable by the public since 2000, and no minors are permitted to see
the items unless an adult accompanies them.
Some,
like this writer, speculate that Pompeii was the Biblical Sodom and
Gomorrah, and the destruction of the city was divine and forthcoming.
Some Christian tourists often don’t visit this wonderful and
colorful part of history because of the sexual nature of the ruins.
To
be fair, prostitutes in Pompeii made three times more than the
average laborer or worker in the city. The sexual acts were
particularly cheap for the males (or johns) in this city – in
contrast to all other European towns. The inscriptions above the
brothel houses, which were quite large and roomy, are too graphic to
repeat. Children weren’t shielded from the constant imagery of
phalluses at the time. In fact, it was common to put depictions of
children and phalluses together because of fertility and the phallus
god being one and the same.
There
was one survivor of the Pompeii volcanic disaster. Pliny the Younger
accompanied his father by boat to inspect the plume of volcanic ash
coming from the mountain. At this point, no danger or harm ensued,
and those in Pompeii had no idea what was about to occur. It had been
Pliny and his father’s good fortune to see the eruption as it began
while bathing on the outskirts of town. Pliny the Younger retold his
account of the events that fateful day in writing, watching
helplessly as his hometown was quickly engulfed in volcanic debris.
Here’s a quote from that eerie tale:
“I
could boast that not a groan or cry of fear escaped me in these
perils, but I admit that I derived some poor consolation in my mortal
lot from the belief that the whole world was dying with me and I with
it.”
The
Pompeii disaster of 79 AD was one of the worst days in history. We
have a lot to learn about the fragility and short-lasting tenure of
humanity.
Herculaneum: Pompeii’s Less Famous Neighbor
In
late August 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius blew its top off and for three days
death rained down upon towns, villas and farms surrounding the
volcano. One of the most famous casualties of the eruption was the
Roman town of Pompeii, known for its wealthy inhabitants and lavishly
decorated homes. The other was Herculaneum, an equally wealthy but
smaller seaside resort and trading port. The larger Pompeii,
glamourized with its brothels, bars, and amphitheatre, has completely
overshadow Herculaneum and many other towns that suffered the same
fate. Herculaneum, in particular, is worth visiting because its ruins
are far better preserved than Pompeii’s.
The
ruins of Herculaneum. Notice the depth the city is buried. These are
boat houses that once lined the ancient shore. Photo credit:
Dave
& Margie Hill/Flickr
Herculaneum
was located much closer to the crater, than Pompeii was. Despite
this, Herculaneum escaped the initial onslaught of raining tephra
because it was situated in the opposite direction the wind was
blowing. So while the wind was carrying the deadly cloud of gas and
ash towards the neighboring town of Pompeii, where it slowly
suffocated the hapless citizens, many of Herculaneum’s residents
were gathering their belongings and preparing to flee.
The
following night, Vesuvius unleashed its fury on the now mostly
evacuated town of Herculaneum. A succession of six pyroclastic flows
and surges buried the city's buildings, knocking down walls, tearing
away columns and other large objects. Other areas were simply
engulfed by ash and hot gases and saw little damage. These areas had
the best preserved structures. When Herculaneum was partially
excavated in the early 18th century, archeologists discovered intact
buildings, wooden furniture and carbonized organic matter such as
fruit, bread and even the contents of sewer. They also unearthed some
300 skeletons establishing that the town was not completely evacuated
as previously thought. Unlike Pompeii, most of the town of
Herculaneum is yet to be excavated.
Herculaneum
is much easier to explore than Pompeii because it is smaller in size
and there are far less tourists in Herculaneum than in Pompeii. The
most noteworthy building in Herculaneum is a luxurious villa called
the "Villa of the Papyri." The villa is thought to have
belonged to Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, Julius Caesar's
father-in-law, although later research have thrown some doubt on the
identity of the villa’s owner. The villa stretches down towards the
sea in four terraces, and has a fine library, the only one to survive
intact from antiquity.
A
map showing the cities and towns affected by the eruption of Mount
Vesuvius in 79 AD. The general shape of the ash and cinder fall is
shown by the dark area to the southeast of Mt Vesuvius. Image credit:
MapMaster/Wikimedia
Photo
credit:
Rita
Willaert/Flickr
Photo
credit:
Greg
Willis/Flickr
Photo
credit:
Greg
Willis/Flickr
Photo
credit:
Greg
Willis/Flickr
Photo
credit:
Andrea
Hale/Flickr
Photo
credit:
Rita
Willaert/Flickr
Photo
credit:
Simon/Flickr
Photo
credit:
Mark
Garth/Flickr
Photo
credit:
Xtreambar/Wikimedia
Nine
years, almost to the day, after Roman legionaries destroyed God’s
house in Jerusalem, God destroyed the luxurious watering holes of the
Roman elite.
Was
this God’s revenge?
That’s
not exactly the question I want to raise, however. Rather, did anyone
at the time see it that way? Did anyone connect the eruption of Mt.
Vesuvius in 79 C.E. with the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70?
First
the dates: The Romans destroyed the Second Temple (Herod’s Temple)
on the same date that the Babylonians had destroyed the First Temple
(Solomon’s Temple) in 586 B.C.E. But the exact date of the
Babylonian destruction is uncertain. Two different dates are given in
the Hebrew Bible for the destruction of the First Temple. In 2 Kings
25:8 the date is the 7th of the Hebrew month of Av; Jeremiah 52:12
says it occurred on the 10th of Av. The rabbis compromised and chose
the 9th of Av (Tisha b’Av). That is the date on which observant
Jews, sitting on the floor of their synagogues, still mourn the
destruction of the First Temple, Solomon’s Temple, in 586 B.C.E.
and the Second Temple, Herod’s Temple, in 70 C.E.
The
exact corresponding date in the Gregorian calendar is also a bit
uncertain. According to the translator of the authoritative
translation of
Josephus,
the ancient historian who gives us our most detailed (if sometimes
unreliable; see sidebar) account of the Roman destruction of the
Temple in 70 C.E., it occurred on August 29 or 30.1
Others
place it earlier in the month.
The
earliest existing picture of a scene from the Bible–portraying the
judgment of King Solomon–comes from Pompeii. The oldest Biblical
painting includes some surprising onlookers. Read the full article
“Solomon,
Socrates and Aristotle”
by
Theodore Feder online for free.
The
eruption of Mt. Vesuvius that destroyed Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabia
and other nearby sites occurred, according to most commentators, on
August 24 or 25 in 79 C.E. According to Seneca, the quakes lasted for
several days.
But
the dates are close enough to raise the question: Were these two
catastrophic events connected, at least in the mind of some
observers?
THE
SILVER LINING. Buried by burning hot ash, Pompeii was completely
destroyed in a matter of hours by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius (seen
in the background of this photo of Pompeii’s ruins). The manner of
its demise also protected it, however. The city remained amazingly
preserved for almost two millennia. When it began to be excavated in
the late 19th century, the archaeologists revealed a first-century
Roman city frozen in time—from the vivid frescoes on the walls of
spacious villas to the loaves of bread left baking in the oven. ©
istockphoto.com/dhuss
The
volcanic eruption of Vesuvius has been graphically described by Dio
Cassius in his Roman
History:
The
whole plain round about [Vesuvius] seethed and the summits leaped
into the air. There were frequent rumblings, some of them
subterranean, that resembled thunder, and some on the surface, that
sounded like bellowings; the sea also joined in the roar and the sky
re-echoed it. Then suddenly a portentous crash was heard, as if the
mountains were tumbling in ruins; and first huge stones were hurled
aloft, rising as high as the very summits, then came a great quantity
of fire and endless smoke, so that the whole atmosphere was obscured
and the sun was entirely hidden, as if eclipsed. Thus day was turned
into night and light into darkness … [Some] believed that the whole
universe was being resolved into chaos or fire .… While this was
going on, an inconceivable quantity of ashes was blown out, which
covered both sea and land and filled all the air … It buried two
entire cities, Herculaneum and Pompeii … Indeed, the amount of
dust, taken all together was so great that some of it reached Africa
and Syria and Egypt, and it also reached Rome, filling the air
overhead and darkening the sun. There, too, no little fear was
occasioned, that lasted for several days, since the people did not
know and could not imagine what had happened, but, like those close
at hand, believed that the whole world was being turned upside down,
that the sun was disappearing into the earth and that the earth was
being lifted to the sky.2
The
tone is plainly apocalyptic. And indeed Dio seems to have had this in
mind. In the next paragraph he notes that the eruption consumed the
temples of Serapis and Isis and Neptune and Jupiter Capitolinus,
among others. It is almost as if some supreme God was at work.
Seventeen-year-old
Pliny the Younger was an eyewitness to the eruption and described it
in terms similar to Dio’s. In two surviving letters to Tacitus,
Pliny also gives an account of the death of his famous uncle Pliny
the Elder, author of the renowned Historia
Naturalis.
Pliny the Elder was at Misenum in his capacity as commander of the
Roman fleet when the eruption began. He set sail to save some
boatloads of people nearer Vesuvius and headed toward Stabia—to no
avail. All perished, including Pliny, as his nephew recounts:
Ash
was falling onto the ships, darker and denser the closer they went.
Now it rains bits of pumice, and rocks that were burned and shattered
by the fire … Broad sheets of flame were lighting up many parts of
Vesuvius; their light and brightness were the more vivid for the
darkness of the night … Buildings were being rocked by a series of
strong tremors and appeared to have come loose from their foundations
and to be sliding this way and that. Outside, however, there was
danger from the rocks that were coming down …
It
was daylight now elsewhere in the world, but there the darkness was
darker and thicker than any night … Then came the smell of sulfur,
announcing the flames, and the flames themselves …onto the ships,
darker and denser the closer they went. Now it rains bits of pumice,
and rocks that were burned and shattered by the fire … Broad sheets
of flame were lighting up many parts of Vesuvius; their light and
brightness were the more vivid for the darkness of the night …
Buildings were being rocked by a series of strong tremors and
appeared to have come loose from their foundations and to be sliding
this way and that. Outside, however, there was danger from the rocks
that were coming down …
[Then]
came the dust, though still lightly. I looked back [from his flight
from Misenum] … We had scarcely sat down when a darkness came that
was not like a moonless or cloudy night, but more like the black of
closed and unlighted rooms. You could hear women lamenting, children
crying, men shouting.3
Then
comes the same apocalyptic tone that we saw in Dio:
There
were some so afraid of death that they prayed for death. Many raised
their hands to the gods, and even more believed that there were no
gods any longer and that this was the one last unending night for the
world … I believed that I was perishing with the world, and the
world with me, which was a great consolation for death.4
Did
anyone connect all this to the Jewish God? To the Roman destruction
of the Jerusalem Temple?
In
a conversation with Harvard’s Shaye Cohen about something else, I
offhandedly asked him if he knew of any ancient source that made the
connection between the Vesuvius eruption and the destruction of the
Temple. I had already asked this of several other scholars, but none
had any sources for me, although they said there must be some. Shaye,
however, immediately replied, “Try Book 4 of the Sibylline
Oracles.” He was right on.
The
free eBook
Life
in the Ancient World
guides
you through craft centers in ancient Jerusalem, family structure
across Israel and articles on ancient practices—from dining to
makeup—across the Mediterranean world.
Book
4 of the Sibylline Oracles is thought to be mostly Jewish oracles by
a so-called sibyl (in
Greek legend an aged woman who uttered ecstatic prophecies)
that were composed shortly after the eruption of Vesuvius in 79. The
oracles were preserved by Christians who believed they gave pagan
testimony to the true religion and to Christ.5
Although
composed after the event, it is written as a prediction:
An
evil storm of war will also come upon Jerusalem
from
Italy, and it will sack the great Temple of God …
A
leader of Rome [Titus] will come … who will burn
the
Temple of Jerusalem with fire [and] at the same time slaughter
many
men and destroy the great land of the Jews.
…
When
a firebrand, turned away from a cleft in the earth [Vesuvius]
in
the land of Italy, reaches to broad heaven
it
will burn many cities and destroy men.
Much
smoking ashes will fill the great sky
and
showers will fall from heaven like red earth.
Know
then the wrath of the heavenly God.6
There
is more—from Pompeii itself:
After
the destruction, the site was subject to looting. And people who had
managed to flee came back to see whether they could retrieve some of
their possessions.
House
26 of Pompeii’s Region 9 Insula 1 seemed like all the other
houses on the city block. Hershel
Shanks
|
House
26 of Pompeii’s Region 9 Insula 1 seemed like all the other
houses on the city block. Entered through a brick doorway near the
insula’s elegant columned central courtyard, it opened into a
smaller courtyard that led back to the private rooms of the domus.
Hershel
Shanks
|
One
such person came back to a house in an area of Pompeii designated
today as Region 9, Insula 1, House 26. After having walked through
the desolation of the city, he (unlikely to be a “she”) looked
about and saw nothing but destruction where once there had been
buildings and beautifully frescoed walls. Disconsolate and aghast, he
picked up a piece of charcoal and scratched on the wall in large
black Latin letters:
SODOM
GOMOR[RAH].7
As
he saw it, the divine punishment of these two cursed Biblical cities
was echoed in the rain of fire on Pompeii.8
On
the wall of House 26, an ancient observer, viewing the aftermath
of the eruption, scratched the words “Sodom and Gomor rah”—a
poignant Biblical reference to God’s vengeance on the two sinful
cities of Genesis 19. The barely visible inscription, which is now
in the Naples Archaeological Museum, is also evidence that there
were probably Jews living in Pompeii at the time. Luxus
und Dekadenz
(Verlag
Philipp Von Zabern, 2007)
|
On
the wall of House 26, an ancient observer, viewing the aftermath
of the eruption, scratched the words “Sodom and Gomor rah”—a
poignant Biblical reference to God’s vengeance on the two sinful
cities of Genesis 19. The barely visible inscription, which is now
in the Naples Archaeological Museum, is also evidence that there
were probably Jews living in Pompeii at the time. Giordano
and Kahn, The
Jews in Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae and in the Cities of
Campania Felix
(Bardi
Editore, 2001)
|
The
inscription was found in a 19th-century excavation at the site. I
went to Pompeii to see the place where it was discovered. (The
inscription itself is in the stores of the Naples Archaeological
Museum; it is nearly illegible at this time.) In the center of the
insula (a kind of city block) where it was found is a beautifully
preserved columned atrium. House 26 is like the others in the
insula—dark, destroyed, with vestiges of paintings on the walls,
but mostly nothing.
The
insula’s elegant columned central courtyard. Hershel
Shanks
It
would seem that this inscriptional reference to Sodom and Gomorrah
was the work of a Jew, which leads to the question whether there were
Jews living in Pompeii. An indication that the answer is yes is a
painting found in excellent condition on the walls of another, more
elegant house. It is a painting of the Judgment of Solomon, deciding
which of two women is the mother of the baby (1 Kings 3:16–28). The
painting is the earliest known depiction of a Biblical scene and was
the subject of a BAR
article
a couple of years ago.a
House
26 of Pompeii’s Region 9 Insula 1 seemed like all the other houses
on the city block. Entered through a brick doorway near the insula’s
elegant columned central courtyard, it opened into a smaller
courtyard that led back to the private rooms of the domus.
Hershel
Shanks
But
there may also be other evidence that a community of Jews lived at
Pompeii.
Garum
was
a very popular Roman delicacy, a fish sauce variously composed of
different kinds of often-decomposed or fermented marine life and
herbs and spices. Indeed, Pompeii was famous for its garum.
According to Pliny the Elder, Pompeii “has a good reputation for
its garum.”9
As
if in confirmation of this observation, at least one store selling
garum
has
been excavated in Pompeii. On the floor of the owner’s house (one
Aulus Umbricius Scaurus) is a mosaic featuring labeled jars
containing different kinds of garum.
Garum
presented
a problem for Jews, however—at least for those who kept the laws of
kashrut
(kosher
laws). These Jews could not use garum
that
was made from fish without scales or from shellfish (see Deuteronomy
14:10 and Leviticus 11:10). Garum
made
from these products would not be kosher. Was there special kosher
garum—garum
made
only from fish with scales?
The
answer is yes, according to Pliny the Elder, who tells us that
“another kind [of garum]
is devoted to … Jewish rites, and is made from fish without
scales.” Pliny obviously made a slip of the tongue here; he meant
to say “fish with scales.” But it is clear that special garum,
kosher garum,
was indeed available to Jews.
And
jars of kosher garum
appear
to have been found at Pompeii, although the matter is not without
controversy. Among the garum
amphorae
from Pompeii several bear a label said to be kosher garum.
The painted inscription on these jars consists of two Latin words,
both incomplete:
GAR
[or MUR]
CAST.
The
first word could be completed as GAR[um] or MUR[ia]. Muria
is
also a kind of fish sauce, so it really doesn’t matter which it is.
The
second word could be completed CAST[um] or CAST[imoniale]. Castum
means
“pure” or “chaste” or “innocent” or “spotless.” It
could well refer to the purity of garum
prepared
for observant Jews. Castimoniale
refers
to bodily purity.10
But
the inscription is on a jar of garum,
so even if this is the correct reconstruction, it would seem to refer
to a kind of special or pure garum.
A
mosaic floor in the home of a man named Aulus Umbricius Scaurus
depicts jars of garum
ready
for sale (Scaurus owned a store that sold garum).
Because garum
was
made from all kinds of fish (including shellfish and fish without
scales), kosher law prevented Jews from consuming most garum.
Evidence of kosher garum
(called
garum
castum
or
garum
muria)
suggests that there were enough Jews living in Pompeii to create a
market for the special variety of kosher garum.
Claus
Ableiter
|
READING
THE LABELS. Pompeii was well known for its production and trade of
garum,
a fish sauce considered a delicacy of the ancient Roman diet.
Whole amphorae made for garum
were
also recovered from the site (pictured above). Because garum
was
made from all kinds of fish (including shellfish and fish without
scales), kosher law prevented Jews from consuming most garum.
Evidence of kosher garum
(called
garum
castum
or
garum
muria)
suggests that there were enough Jews living in Pompeii to create a
market for the special variety of kosher garum.
Claus
Ableiter
|
In
a recent, highly praised book on Pompeii, Cambridge University
scholar Mary Beard concludes without qualification that this
inscription was a designation for kosher garum.
Beard refers to “a painted label advertising its contents as
‘Kosher Garum.’”11
There
are some doubters, however.
The
chief doubter is Hannah Cotton, a prominent scholar at the Hebrew
University. In her publication of a garum
jar
excavated at
Masada
in Israel,
she cites supposedly “grave arguments” against the notion that
garum
castum
was
intended for Jews.12
Pure
garum,
which is all that garum
castum
means,
could be intended for other religious groups with food restrictions
as well—the worshipers of Apis, Isis and Magna Mater, for instance.
In this connection she cites an article by another distinguished
scholar, Robert I. Curtis, professor of classics, now retired, at the
University of Georgia and an authority both on Pompeii and garum.
I
wondered about this. Did these pagan groups really have food laws
similar to the Jews’? I contacted Professor Curtis, who wrote me:
“[Professor Cotton] apparently misinterpreted what I had written.
Perhaps I wasn’t very clear.” Curtis continued: “The ancient
sources on the cult practices of these pagan mystery cults are not
very forthcoming, and the information that we do have is primarily
from authors hostile to them. So, 100% certainty on matters regarding
fasting and abstinence is impossible … I am not aware that
followers of Isis, Magna Mater, etc. exercised restrictions of this
kind [i.e., similar to the Jews]. They did, however, have abstinences
of particular foods for limited periods of time, usually during
recurring festivals … Recognizing a sauce as castum, therefore
takes on more importance for [Jews]. Fish sauce producers, if they
cared at all about catering to a specific clientele, even a small
one, could, I think, have directed a specific product to them …”
Ever
the careful scholar, however, Curtis nevertheless concludes that “I
am still not able to state unequivocally that the expression garum
castum
was
meant exclusively for Jews.”13
So
the matter is not free from all doubt,14
but
the presence of kosher garum
at
Pompeii is highly likely.
In
any event, if there were Jews at Pompeii—and it seems there
were—they may well have made the connection between the events of
70 and 79: God was indeed taking revenge against the Romans for
destroying his Temple.
Josephus: A Reliable Witness of the Temple’s Destruction?
Terrified
Jews run for their lives as their fellows are trampled by Roman
horses and smoke pours out of the Temple in this 1638 painting The
Destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by Titus
by
Nicolas Poussin. The violent and fiery destruction of the Temple in
August 70 C.E. by Roman general Titus’s troops was graphically
recounted by the first-century historian Flavius Josephus and is
mourned by Jews every year on Tisha b’Av. Kunsthistoriches
Museum, Vienna, Austria/The Bridgeman Art Library
Writing
in Rome under the auspices of the Romans after the Jewish revolt,
Josephus makes Vespasian and
Titus
look
like humanitarians: In destroying the Temple, the Romans were really
doing God’s will. Titus would have spared the Temple. As the Roman
soldiers were trying to extinguish the fire in the Temple, a stray
Roman soldier, “moved by some supernatural impulse,” threw a
firebrand through the golden door of the Temple. Even then Titus
wanted to extinguish the conflagration. But his troops, moved only by
their passion, could not hear him (Jewish
War,
6.249–258). “Thus against Caesar’s wishes was the Temple set on
fire” (Jewish
War,
6.266).
Josephus
says that God had given “all kinds of premonitory signs to [show]
his people the way to salvation, while they owe their destruction to
folly and calamities of their own choosing … Some of these portents
they [the Jews] treated with contempt, until the ruin of their
country and their own destruction convicted them of their folly”
(Jewish
War,
6.310, 315).
Sodom,
Gomorrah
In
Matthew
10:1-15,
cf.
Luke
10:1-12,
Jesus declares certain cities more damnable than Sodom and Gomorrah,
due to their response to Jesus' disciples, in the light of greater
grace (RSV):
"And
if any one will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off
the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly, I say
to you, it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the
land of Sodom and Gomor'rah than for that town."
"And
you, Caper'na-um, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought
down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in
Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it
shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom
than for you."
"Likewise
as it was in the days of Jesus—they ate, they drank, they bought,
they sold, they planted, they built, but on the day when Jesus went
out from Sodom fire and sulphur rained from heaven and destroyed them
all—so will it be on the day when the Son of man is revealed."
Will
Jesus save people of Sodom, Gomorrah?
Homosexuality
What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?
It's
in the Bible, Romans 1:26-27, NIV. "Because of this, God gave
them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural
relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned
natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one
another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in
themselves the due penalty for their perversion."
Note:
The Bible does not condemn a person for having same-sex
attraction/homosexuality, but rather only the act of homosexual
behavior.
Is Homosexuality a Sin?
It's
in the Bible, Leviticus 18:22, TLB. "Homosexuality is absolutely
forbidden, for it is an enormous sin."
Is
the practice of homosexuality the worst sin a person can commit? Many
people, even “Christians” may say this, but the Bible says all
sin leads to death. It’s in the Bible, Romans 6:23, NKJV. “For
the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
Pride,
greed, and laziness are sins all the same, just as much as
homosexuality is a sin. It’s
in the Bible,
Ezekiel 16:49, NKJV. “Look, this was the iniquity of your sister
Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and
abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the
poor and needy.”
Note:
The Bible does not single out homosexual behavior, but also includes
other sins offensive to God, including idolatry and other sexual
sins.
Like
all sinners, practicing homosexuals are called to repent. It's
in the Bible,
I Timothy 1:10-11, TLB. "Yes, these laws are made to identify as
sinners all who are immoral and impure: homosexuals, kidnappers,
liars, and all others who do things that contradict the glorious Good
News of our blessed God, whose messenger I am.
Can a Homosexual be Forgiven?
What
hope is there for me if I am practicing homosexuality? All sinful
patterns can be stopped, and God offers forgiveness, renewal, and
restoration. It's
in the Bible,
I Corinthians 6:9, NKJV. "Do you not know that the unrighteous
will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor
sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers,
nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And
such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified,
but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the
Spirit of our God."
There
is hope for the practicing homosexual. It's
in the Bible,
1 Corinthians 10:13, TLB. "But remember this—the wrong desires
that come into your life aren't anything new and different. Many
others have faced exactly the same problems before you. And no
temptation is irresistible. You can trust God to keep the temptation
from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it, for He
has promised this and will do what He says. He will show you how to
escape temptation's power so that you can bear up patiently against
it."
The
weakest, the most struggling soul, may live, and find hope and
sufficiency in God. It's
in the Bible,
Isaiah 42:3, NIV. "A bruised reed he will not break, and a
smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring
forth justice."
If you are a practicing homosexual, what should you do?
1)
First
acknowledge your sin. It's
in the Bible,
Psalm 51:2-4, TLB. "Oh, wash me, cleanse me from this guilt. Let
me be pure again. For I admit my shameful deed—it haunts me day and
night."
2)
Second,
Ask forgiveness for your sin—God says you can start over again.
It's
in the Bible,
Psalm 51:7-12, TLB. "Sprinkle me with the cleansing blood and I
shall be clean again. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. And
after You have punished me, give me back my joy again. Don't keep
looking at my sins—erase them from Your sight. Create in me a new,
clean heart, O God, filled with clean thoughts and right desires.
Don't toss me aside, banished forever from Your presence. Don't take
Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me again the joy of Your
salvation, and make me willing to obey You."
3)
Third,
Believe that God has indeed forgiven you and quit feeling guilty.
It's
in the Bible,
Psalm 32:1-6, TLB. "What happiness for those whose guilt has
been forgiven! What joys when sins are covered over! What relief for
those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their record.
There was a time when I wouldn't admit what a sinner I was. But my
dishonesty made me miserable and filled my days with frustration. All
day and all night Your hand was heavy on me. My strength evaporated
like water on a sunny day until I finally admitted all my sins to You
and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, 'I will confess
them to the Lord.' And You forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Now I
say that each believer should confess his sins to God when he is
aware of them, while there is time to be forgiven. Judgment will not
touch him if he does. You are my hiding place from every storm of
life; You even keep me from getting into trouble! You surround me
with songs of victory.
4)
Fourth,
believe that God has a plan for your life, and that He truly cares
for your well being! It's
in the Bible,
Jeremiah 29:11, NKJV. "For I know the plans I have for you,”
declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans
to give you hope and a future.” Trust that in His perfect
timing, He will work His plan out for you. That may mean to be
single, or it may mean to get married. Either way, you can live a
happy, productive life living for Him. He truly does want what
is best for your
life.
Jesus Calls Each of Us to a Life of...
Jesus
does not ask you to be straight or gay, but rather calls you to
holiness in and through His victory. It’s
in the Bible,
Galatians 3:28, NKJV. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are
all one in Christ Jesus.”
"So
think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious
salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the
world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip
back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You
didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything
you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures
say, “You must be holy because I am holy." 1 Peter 1:13-16,
TLB.
Will
being gay send me to hell? I believe in Jesus as my Lord and Savior
and I desperately want to please Him and do His will. At the same
time, I know that I am homosexual. I believe I was born this way and
that nothing will ever change it. Does this mean that I'm condemned
for eternity?
First,
let's get one thing straight: "being gay" doesn't send
anybody to hell. There is only one
criterion
that God uses to judge the world and determine who is saved and not
saved: faith
in Jesus Christ.
"He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of
God does not have life" (I John 5:12). "For God did not
send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world
through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned;
but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John
3:17, 18).
The
bad
news
is
that we all
deserve
to go to hell: "There is none righteous, no, not one,"
writes the Psalmist (Psalm 14:1-3). "All have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God," says the apostle Paul (Romans
3:23)-who, by the way, refers to himself as the "chief of
sinners" in 1 Timothy 1:15. When it comes to our "works"
and the way we've lived our lives, everybody
stands
condemned, whether gay or straight, black or white, liberal or
conservative, old or young. The good
news
is
that God loves
us
in spite of our sin and has sent His Son Jesus Christ to purchase our
redemption. This is what the Christian message is all about: we are
all sinners, but we can all be forgiven and born anew through faith
in Christ.
What
your question really boils down to, then, is this: "Is it
possible to believe in Jesus and be a homosexual at the same time?"
The answer, as we see it, is both yes
and
no.
Here at Focus on the Family, we take the view that there's an
important difference between feeling
gay
and acting
on
those feelings. As with any form of sinful behavior, the
transgression comes not in being tempted,
but in willfully engaging in activity that is contrary to God's law.
So yes-you
can
be
a Christian and struggle with homosexual tendencies at the same time;
but no-you
can't
be
a faithful, obedient Christian while willingly involving yourself in
homosexual acts. Anybody who seriously desires to follow Jesus Christ
needs to make it his or her goal to abstain from sexual practices
that the Bible clearly identifies as sinful.
To
go further: the great mystery of the Christian life is "Christ
in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). Not alongside you,
not over you, but in
you.
This is the deeper reason why a practicing homosexual cannot be a
practicing Christian. The same would go for any human being engaged
in any sexual sin; just as Paul says in his first letter to the
Corinthians, "Do you not know that your bodies are members of
Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members
of a harlot? Certainly not!" (1 Corinthians 6:15). When we
accept Christ as Savior, we also make a decision to live the way He
wants
us to live-righteously by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Every
thousand years or so
Christ goes down to hell
Through his glory
He saves all of those damned
He raises them up
Alone he does it
Believers and unbelievers alike
All are saved
They are either given life on earth to live again
or sent to upper realms if they are believers
The power of Christ is felt
even by Satan himself
He bows down before him
and acknowledges the Christ as Lord
Hell trembles over
and all the angels therein stare in awe
at the sight of the Mighty and Glorious Christ
Glory be to Christ
Our Lord Our Savior
Of all the worlds
There he is down again
The Trumpets in hell are thunderous
whenever Christ arrives there
All the people burning and gnashing their teeths
Feel his power and all their agonies vanish
Christ is your savior
even if you are in hell
Only he is the way out
There is no one else
Hell freezes over
All the fires and torments are quenched
The presence of Christ does it!
Praised be Christ thy God Amen!
Christ goes down to hell
Through his glory
He saves all of those damned
He raises them up
Alone he does it
Believers and unbelievers alike
All are saved
They are either given life on earth to live again
or sent to upper realms if they are believers
The power of Christ is felt
even by Satan himself
He bows down before him
and acknowledges the Christ as Lord
Hell trembles over
and all the angels therein stare in awe
at the sight of the Mighty and Glorious Christ
Glory be to Christ
Our Lord Our Savior
Of all the worlds
There he is down again
The Trumpets in hell are thunderous
whenever Christ arrives there
All the people burning and gnashing their teeths
Feel his power and all their agonies vanish
Christ is your savior
even if you are in hell
Only he is the way out
There is no one else
Hell freezes over
All the fires and torments are quenched
The presence of Christ does it!
Praised be Christ thy God Amen!
Last
Chapter
The
New Bible
People
of Sodom and Gomorrah come out of hell.
Los
Angeles & San Francisco
Jesus
in San Francisco
San
Francisco is a place of sin. An angel appears there and he is
welcomed by Jesus. The people of San Francisco want to have sex with
him. Jesus refuses; then the angel tells him to escape the city with
his wife and daughter. San Francisco is then destroyed by flames;
Jesus's wife is turned to a pillar of salt for having looked back.
San Francisco and Los Angeles Destroyed
The
two angels arrived at San Francisco in the evening, and Jesus was
sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to
meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. “My lords,”
he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash
your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the
morning.”
“No,”
they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”
But
he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his
house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and
they ate. Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of
the city of San Fran—both young and old—surrounded the house.
They
called to Jesus, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring
them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”
Jesus
went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, “No,
my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. Look, I have two daughters
who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and
you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these
men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”
“Get
out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a
foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you
worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Jesus and moved
forward to break down the door.
But
the men inside reached out and pulled Jesus back into the house and
shut the door. 11
Then
they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old,
with blindness so that they could not find the door.
The
two men said to Jesus, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law,
sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get
them out of here, 13
because
we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord
against
its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”
So
Jesus went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to
marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place,
because the Lord
is
about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was
joking.
With
the coming of dawn, the angels urged Jesus, saying, “Hurry! Take
your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept
away when the city is punished.”
When
he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and
of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the
Lord
was
merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them
said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop
anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept
away!”
But
Jesus said to them, “No, my lords,please! Your servant has found
favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in
sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster
will overtake me, and I’ll die. Look, here is a town near enough to
run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t
it? Then my life will be spared.”
He
said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not
overthrow the town you speak of. But flee there quickly, because I
cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was
called Las Vegas.)
By
the time Jesus reached Las Vegas, the sun had risen over the land.
Then the Lord
rained
down burning sulfur on San Francisco and Los Angeles—from the Lord
out
of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain,
destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation
in the land. But Jesus’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar
of salt.
Early
the next morning John The Baptist got up and returned to the place
where he had stood before the Lord.
He looked down toward San Francisco and Los Angeles, toward all the
land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like
smoke from a furnace.
So
when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered John The
Baptist, and he brought Jesus out of the catastrophe that overthrew
the cities where Jesus had lived.
Jesus and His Daughters
Jesus
and his two daughters left Las Vegas and settled in the mountains,
for he was afraid to stay in Las Vegas. He and his two daughters
lived in a cave. One
day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and
there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom
all over the earth. Let’s get our father to drink wine and then
sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father.”
That
night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter
went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down
or when she got up.
The
next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I
slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight,
and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line
through our father.” 35
So
they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger
daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it
when she lay down or when she got up.
So
both of Jesus’s daughters became pregnant by their father. The
older daughter had a son, and she named him Trump; he is the father
of the Trumpites of today. The
younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Caesar; he is
the father of the Caesars of today.
Christ
saves people
in hell
Every thousand years or so
Christ goes down to hell
Through his glory
He saves all of those damned
He raises them up
Alone he does it
Believers and unbelievers alike
All are saved
They are either given life on earth to live again
or sent to upper realms if they are believers
The power of Christ is felt
even by Satan himself
He bows down before him
and acknowledges the Christ as Lord
Hell trembles over
and all the angels therein stare in awe
at the sight of the Mighty and Glorious Christ
Glory be to Christ
Our Lord Our Savior
Of all the worlds
There he is down again
The Trumpets in hell are thunderous
whenever Christ arrives there
All the people burning and gnashing their teeths
Feel his power and all their agonies vanish
Christ is your savior
even if you are in hell
Only he is the way out
There is no one else
Hell freezes over
All the fires and torments are quenched
The presence of Christ does it!
Praised be Christ thy God Amen!
in hell
Every thousand years or so
Christ goes down to hell
Through his glory
He saves all of those damned
He raises them up
Alone he does it
Believers and unbelievers alike
All are saved
They are either given life on earth to live again
or sent to upper realms if they are believers
The power of Christ is felt
even by Satan himself
He bows down before him
and acknowledges the Christ as Lord
Hell trembles over
and all the angels therein stare in awe
at the sight of the Mighty and Glorious Christ
Glory be to Christ
Our Lord Our Savior
Of all the worlds
There he is down again
The Trumpets in hell are thunderous
whenever Christ arrives there
All the people burning and gnashing their teeths
Feel his power and all their agonies vanish
Christ is your savior
even if you are in hell
Only he is the way out
There is no one else
Hell freezes over
All the fires and torments are quenched
The presence of Christ does it!
Praised be Christ thy God Amen!
Last
Chapter
The
New Bible
People
of Los Angeles and San Francisco are saved by Jesus in hell!
This
is a stern warning to all other sinful cities of the past, present
and the future...
