The fish as a symbol for Christianity probably arose from the frequent references to fish in the New Testament. When Jesus feeds the 5000 in Matthew 14:17, He only has five loaves and two fish. Jesus prompts a miraculous catch of fish for His disciples when He first meets them in Luke 5:6 and again after His resurrection in John 21:6. In Mark 1:17 Jesus tells Simon and Andrew that He can make them fishers of men, which might make a symbol of a middle-aged, overweight man with a beer and fishing pole a more accurate symbol than the ichthus. I’d put it on my car.

The most common story about the origin of the ichthus symbol is that Christians drew half of it in the dirt and another believer came along and drew the other half, effectively communicating their beliefs in secret to avoid arrest. This usage is very possible, but it is unlikely that the ichthus truly originated for this purpose due to two reasons. First, there are no ancient writings or other archaeological evidence to suggest this purpose. Second, most of the ancient drawings of fish found relating to Christianity have scales and are more elaborate than the one found on the back of SUVs today. It seems that the ichthus with two lines that we know today came along later. Others have suggested that the ichthus (fish drawing, not the symbol) might have been drawn in dirt or scratched on walls to indicate the direction of an underground church meeting. It is believed that the Romans used a similar symbol to indicate a funeral and so Christians could have used that as an excuse if they were caught.

There are many who think that the fish as a symbol was taken over by Christians from pagan religions when Christianity became the official religion of Rome. Though the fish was used as a symbol in pagan religion before Christianity, the Christians seemed to have adopted it long before Constantine made Christianity the official religion of Rome. The earliest extra-biblical reference to fish and Christianity comes from Clement of Alexandria who lived from about 150 to 215 AD. Clement recommends to his readers that they have their seals engraved with a dove or a fish. He doesn’t give any explanation for why, so it is assumed that his readers already understood the significance of the fish. This means that the fish as a Christian symbol came along even before Clement’s writings.

Another interesting aspect of the ichthus history is it use as an acrostic. Ichthus is simply the Greek word for fish, spelled Iota Chi Theta Upsilon Sigma (ΙΧΘΥΣ). The acrostic goes as follows:

• Ι = Iesous which means Jesus
• Χ or CH = Xristos or Christ
• Θ or TH = Theos or God
• Υ or U = Huios which means Son
• Σ or S = Soter which means Savior

When combined the acrostic reads “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.” Whether or not this was the reasoning for Christians to choose the fish or if the acrostic was used later is unclear. There are ancient coins found around Alexandria which refer to the Roman emperor Domitian (81-96 AD) as “Son of God.” Christians may have devised the acrostic in protest.

The modern day, simplistic version of the ichthus supposedly originated in Australia as a chalk drawing at Sydney University. The Evangelical Union at Sydney University tried to spur curiosity about the symbol which they drew all over campus and ultimately hoped that curiosity lead to evangelism. The symbol was then popularized throughout other areas of Australia and eventually made its way onto cars, businesses, t-shirts and pretty much any other mass-produced consumer good that Christians might buy. Whether or not anyone has ever seen your ichthus, immediately repented and professed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior remains to be seen. Many think that the fish should always be oriented with its head to the left. This follows the same shape as the Greek letter alpha and symbolizes Revelation 1:8 where the Lord refers to Himself as the Alpha and Omega.

Evolutionists combated the popularity of the ichthus using a fish with legs, which symbolizes the “missing link” between fish and land animals in evolution or possibly the tiktaalik. Christians retaliated using a bigger fish with the word “truth” inside and it was eating the Darwin fish, perhaps parodying the “survival of the fittest.” The battle wages on today in what is known as the Fish Wars. But watch out for the newest competitor, the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

References:

• Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster
• Symbolism of the Fish
• Ichthys
• Fish (Ichthus) as an Early Christian Symbol
• Matthew 14:17
• Mark 1:17
• Luke 5:6
• John 21:6
• Revelation 1:8

John Wycliffe made the first major attack on the Roman Catholic Church as an Oxford professor in the 1300s, about 150 years before Luther’s 95 theses. This has given him the nickname “the Morning Star of the Reformation.” As a professor at Oxford he became involved in a debate over dominion. The questions was, does a ruler/leader have dominion because the church ordains him or because of his character? The default view was that if the church appoints a leader, there is nothing that can be done to unseat him. Wycliffe’s idea was that there are a set of moral rules outside of any leader that they have to follow and no man was above them. He went as far as saying that the English government has the responsibility to correct the abuses of church leadership and even remove church officials who were abusing power and seize their property. Obviously, the Pope did not approve and condemned Wycliffe’s teaching. The only reason the church did not pursue further punishment is due to Wycliffe’s influential friends and the English government who protected him.

In Wycliffe’s continued attacks on the Pope, he declared that church leaders should not be wealthy and disagreed with the Pope living a life of luxury, saying the Papacy was full of poison. He became angrier and more radical as time went on and he began to believe that the Pope was actually Antichrist. He argued against the idea that the bishop of Rome (i.e. the Pope) is above all Christianity because Peter died in Rome. Wycliffe said, by that reasoning, the head Islamic Priest in Jerusalem should be even higher than the Pope since Jesus died in Jerusalem. Wycliffe began to preach that “Neither the testimony of Augustine nor Jerome, nor any other saint should be accepted except in so far as it was based upon Scripture.” Thus Wycliffe set the stage for sola scriptura, which became one of the cries of the Protestant Reformation.

By writing twelve arguments against transubstantiation in 1380, Wycliffe crossed a line that most of his supporters were not willing to cross. Being silenced by his new found isolation gave Wycliffe time to pursue a new mission of getting a Bible in the language of the peasants. Wycliffe’s translation was the first major translation into a European language since Jerome’s Latin Vulgate almost 1,000 years before. He also sent out his remaining followers, mainly college students, to spread this new translation and teach his ideas. Their enemies called them Lollards or Mumblers and eventually they would be tracked down and forced to renounce their views and expelled from Oxford.

Wycliffe died in 1384 without the Pope being able to get to him, until 44 years later Pope Martin V had his body dug up, burned and the ashes thrown into the river. However Wycliffe’s teaching inspired a student in Prague named John Huss, who launched a second major attack on the Catholic Church. Huss was appointed preacher at Bethlehem Chapel near the University of Prague and used that position to continue the teachings of Wycliffe. Huss had ironic paintings made in the church showing the Pope riding a horse while Jesus walked barefoot. Another showed Jesus washing the disciples’ feet and the Pope having his own kissed.

Although Huss gained huge support for his teachings regardless of being excommunicated, he got in big trouble when he spoke out against the sale of indulgences. He was forced to leave Prague and live in exile. One day the King of Bohemia, Sigismund, requested Huss’ presence at the Council of Constance to share his teachings. Sigismund promised Huss safe travel to and from the conference, which Huss seemed to take as a backing of his teaching. Huss showed up and presented his ideas, only to be declared a heretic and imprisoned despite his claim of protection from Sigismund. Sigismund, by allowing the arrest, thought the fear of execution would help to bring peace among Huss’ increasingly militant followers. Huss would spend eight months in jail before July 6, 1415; the day he was burned at the stake. When asked again to recant just before the fire was lit, John Huss said,

In the truth of the Gospel which I have written, taught, and preached, I will die today with gladness.”

John Huss said that even though they put a stop to him, there would come a day when others would come that they could not oppose. The first two attacks on the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church would seem to fail, but they prepared the ground for a German monk name Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. Although Luther rightly gets much of the credit for sparking the reformation, it is probable that without Wycliffe and Huss the Reformation would have turned out quite differently.

References:

• Church History in Plain Language
• The Rumblings of Reform (Audio)
• John Wycliffe: Ahead of His time
• John Huss

God actually has left these messages all over the United States, apparently tossing aside all previous forms of revelation to relate to our fast-paced society. As it turns out, God is a pretty clever guy. Some of His one-liners include:

• “You think its hot here?”
• “Keep using my name in vain, I’ll make rush hour longer.
• “Have you read my #1 best seller? (There will be a test.)”

There is a little bit of mystery surrounding the “God Billboards.” In June of 1998, an anonymous person contacted the now-defunct advertising firm, The Smith Agency in Florida with a great idea for a public service campaign. Most billboard agencies occasionally run public service advertisements to support certain campaigns like the “Say NO to Drugs” or the “Take a Bit Out of Crime” campaigns. The idea that this anonymous person had was to get people to think about spirituality by leaving one line sayings that were to be attributed to God. The Smith Agency loved the concept and came up with 18 sayings to try out in a three month campaign with a budget of $150,000. The response by local Florida citizens and media was very positive, so the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) decided to take the idea and make it their national public service campaign. Across the US, the God Speaks campaign had about 10,000 displays costing an estimated $15 million.

The billboards became famous quickly and were talked about on all the major new networks. However, despite pleas from people like Oprah and the late Peter Jennings, the original creator will still not come forward. Supposedly, the mystery man originally was going to donate the money for the campaign, but they became so popular that he (or she) has never had to give any of his (or her) own money.

The billboards ran from 1999 to 2001, when they were gradually replaced by patriotic messages after September 11th. In 2000, God Speaks attempted to reach children with messages like “Chill Don’t Kill” and “I’m Everybody’s Homey” which looked like it was spray-painted on the billboard. The campaign has been making a come back lately and you can visit their website at Godspeaks.com or WuzupGod.com to tell how these billboards have affected your life, but allegedly they do not allow negative feedback.

Regardless of its popularity, many people question the success of the God Speaks of campaign. Barna Research claims that church attendance held fairly steady from 1998 to 2002. There are definitely other factors that play into this, but apparently the $15 million spent did not contribute to church growth. My favorite result from the campaign is, of course, the satire. In Orlando, the restaurant chain Moe’s put up the billboard seen in the picture. As expected, there were huge complaints and the billboards were taken down. Clever, but that still doesn’t beat the King of the Jews, King of Beers billboard.

References:

• A Case Study of a Public Service Campaign

• GodSpeaks.com

• Snopes.com

• Hurricane Charley

There are a couple of references in the Bible which were questioned because no archaelogical evidence had been found to authenticate them. Until 1961, there was no evidence of Pontius Pilate’s existence, when a stone slab was found with “Tiberium, Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea” inscribed on it. The Pool of Bethesda from John 5:2 was a mystery, until traces of it were excavated in 1888. Layers of sedimentary rock were discovered molded together in the supposed location of Soddom and Gomorrah. This can only be explained by an intense heat occuring (see Genesis 19:24).  You can find plenty more archaeological finds like these in the book Evidence for Christianity. They may seem like very minor references, but they do help give credence to the historicity of the Bible, especially in the generally secular field of science.

If you are looking for the “smoking gun” that proves the Christian faith without any doubt, then you are going to get into more controversial items, such as the previously discussed Shroud of Turin. Another controversial item is commonly known as the James Ossuary or the Jesus box. You probably remember the news story in late 2002 about a box that was found with the Aramaic inscription

James, son of Joseph, Brother of Jesus

The box is an ossuary, which is a place for the skeletal remains of the dead. It was fairly common for families to bury their dead in a cave or tomb and then retrieve the bones to put in a box. A collector named Oded Golan was found to have a limestone box with the above inscription on it. The ossuary was touted as the most important discovery in the history of archaeology and Christians everywhere joined hands in a circle and sang “Amazing Grace.” Of course the immediate question was which Jesus? Jesus and James were fairly common names and there could have been thousands of brothers named as such. It was also very strange for the brother of a person to be listed along with the father. Usually the father was the indentifier, but the deceased could have had a family member famous enough that warranted their name mentioned as well. As experts in such a craft got the chance to examine the box, they pointed out too many significant problems for the box to be considered genuine. The words “Jacob son of joseph” were inscribed in a much different fashion than the words “Brother of Jesus” and a faked patina, a chemical compound that builds up on antiques, was discovered on the inscription as well. There were also rosettes inscribed as decoration on the opposite side which were much more worn than the inscription and out of place since usually only one side of the box was decorated. In July 2003, Israeli police raided the home of Oded Golan to find many other antiques “that appeared to be in various stages of being counterfeited.” They also found the James Ossuary, which had been declared a fake by then, sitting on the toilet. An odd place for an item that Golan had previously insured for $1 million.

Such a saga may continue with the recent excavation in Rome of what could be Paul’s tomb. In late 2006, two huge slabs of marble were moved from underneath the altar at the basilica of St. Paul to reveal a sarcophagus which is believed to be the final resting place of the Apostle Paul. On the sarcophagus there are holes where the ancient visitors might have pushed pieces of cloth through to touch his remains (hoping to see the results of Acts 19:11-12). For now you can take a trip to Rome and see it closed, but the Catholic church hasn’t decided whether or not they will open it up anytime in the future.

Archaeology has proved to be very useful in apologizing for the Christian faith, but we should be careful. It is hard to miss the irony of wanting hard evidence for a religion that requires faith for salvation. If definitive proof is the basis for our decision to follow Christ then we should carefully consider verses such as Matthew 12:39. I enjoy hearing about any new discovery, but generally approach it with quite a bit of skepticism.

References:

• Evidence for Christianity
• James Ossuary
• James Ossuary: Skepticism
• “Jesus Box” is a Fake
• St Paul’s tomb unearthed in Rome
• Genesis 19:24
• Matthew 12:39
• John 5:2
• Acts 19:11-12

Flagellants are those who practice self-mortification by whipping themselves, usually to remind themselves of Christ’s suffering and to punish themselves for their sin. Flagellants are not a uniquely Christian idea. We have seen evidence of flagellants in ancient Egyptian and Greek cultures. The Romans even whipped the women during Lupercalia to ensure fertility. Nothing better to set the mood for a romantic evening [/sarcasm]. This form of penance (and worship?) first emerges with the monks and was an acceptable form of self-discipline. Even Martin Luther practiced it. The times when it became troublesome were when some took this private form of self-discipline and made it corporate and public.

The first known instance of group, public whippings comes in 1259 in Perugia, Italy. A hermit named Raniero Fasani is credited with organizing the groups and the practice spread to other groups in other countries. Priests would lead a procession from town to town and they would stand in the center of the city and flog themselves for hours. For some reason, others would join in and go with the group to the next town. From this point on flagellants come and go throughout history despite the church prohibiting its public practice. One group, the Brotherhood of the Cross, was an organized sect who taught that a miraculous letter they possessed commanded people to join their processions for thirty-three and a half days in order to escape God’s wrath. Another flagellant group known as the Doves grew to about 10,000 men, but they disbanded after they came into Rome and the citizens laughed at them. Flagellation became very popular as a reaction to the bubonic plague in the mid 1300s. To appease what was seen as the wrath of God, they would whip themselves, ironically increasing their chances of getting the Black Death as well as a myriad of other diseases.

The Church took a stance against these displays for two reasons. First, the public whippings turned into a display for shock and entertainment value instead of the private form of discipline it was originally intended for. The second reason is because the flagellant groups were generally sects that subscribed to other heretical or peculiar ideas. An example is the group that blamed the Black Plague on the Jews, although the Jews obviously were not immune to the Plague.

Supporters of flagellation point to 1 Corinthians 9:27 and Colossians 1:24 and claim that whipping themselves allows them to share in the sufferings of Jesus. Of course the obvious problem is that Jesus does not practice self-flagellation and Paul does not explicitly encourage it. Supporters also say that the Old Testament wearing of a sackcloth was possibly a form of self-mortification, quoting verses like Job 16:15, 1 Kings 21:27 and 2 Kings 6:30. Even if the sackcloth theory is true, fasting is the most prominent form of physical self-discipline found in the Bible.

Flagellant groups continue to surface throughout history but never in the numbers and with the same fervor as in the Middle Ages. There are still groups today that practice flagellation in private, but more surprising is that there are still those who practice it in public. A quick Google search will pull up some very graphic images of modern day flagellations. Around the border between Colorado and New Mexico, there is a somewhat secret society called the Penitentes who practice public whipping. Another display can be seen in Guardia Sanframondi, a town in Italy, where the parades of people practicing flagellation still occur. The closest I have ever encountered was with my dad’s belt after I punched my brother. Luckily I slipped on a few extra pair of underwear to dull the blow.

References:

• Encyclopedia of Heresies and Heretics
• Flagellants: Catholic Encyclopedia
• Flagellants: Wikipedia
• Penitentes
• Guardia Sanframondi

At no point in the Bible are Christians ever commanded, encouraged or asked to celebrate the birth of Christ, unlike the command to remember His death in Mark 14:22-24. So if you would like to defend Christmas as a holiday ordained by the Almighty, then you are going to have to go extra-Biblical. We are also given no date for the birth of Christ, so how did December 25^th come to be the undisputed birthday of Jesus? There are two sides that surmise the origin of Christmas. I’ll present those two sides and you can decide, but more than likely which ever side you choose will affect exactly zero of the essential doctrines of the Christian faith.

The most commonly held view is that December 25 was chosen in order to over shadow a pagan holiday held on the same day. On December 17, the Romans celebrated Saturnalia which commemorated the birth of the sun god, Sol or Saturn. Supposedly the Roman courts were closed during this time, which led the feast to become notorious for heavy drinking, debauchery, orgies and all other sorts of tomfoolery. When Constantine decided to change the entire empire to Christianity, it was not an easy transition because holidays like Saturnalia were a part of the citizens’ lives. In order to ease the switch, the holiday was kept but changed to commemorate the birth of Christ. Thus we have Christ mass, eventually shortened to Christmas. One shortcoming with this view is that Saturnalia was not always celebrated up until December 25, but usually ended around the 23^rd.

The problem for Christians arises with claims that ideas and themes from the celebration of Saturnalia were brought into the Christian faith and it has been forever skewed. Another side argues that Christians actually chose the December 25^th date and it was coincidental that the celebration of Saturnalia occurred around the same time. The first evidence we have of Christians observing December 25 as the birthday of Christ comes in AD 336. However in 274, the emperor Aurelian institutes a new festival called “the Birth of the Unconquered Son” to be celebrated December 25. Aurelian, being against Christianity, could have implemented this to combat the Christians’ view of December 25^th. Christians were a growing influence at this time, as well as a growing irritant to the emperors. The question remaining in this view is why the Christians chose December 25^th?

The gospel of John dates the death of Christ on a Friday, the day before the Passover. Today scholars know that the only time the eve of Passover was a Friday was on April 7, 30 or April 3, 33. The early Christians however decided that the date of Christ’s crucifixion was March 25, 29. We now know that this is impossible since that was not a Sunday. They probably got this wrong because most Christians were now Greek and would have not been familiar with the Jewish calendar. To get to December 25, this view points out a probable wide spread superstition that a prophet’s death always coincided with either his birth or conception. Nine months from March 25 we get December 25 and a possible reason for it being the chosen date to celebrate the birth of Christ.

Both of the origin of Christmas views have trouble bringing conclusive evidence to the table, and although the first view seems easier, the second one is plausible as well. I don’t see any trouble with Christians remembering the birth of Jesus on Christmas and would definitely encourage others to use the time for fellowship with family and friends. What we can all agree on is that Santa Clause is nowhere to be found in the Bible, so we can probably stop labeling him as Christian and identify him for what he truly is…….a Communist.

References:

• Mark 14:22-24
• Is Jesus the Reason for the Season?
• Calculating Christmas
• Saturnalia

The Shroud of Turin is a 14.25 foot long and 3.5 foot wide piece of cloth. The Shroud is speculated to be the burial cloth laid over Jesus after he was crucified. The part that you are really going to like is that there is faint image of a man on the cloth that a whole lot of people think is the image of Jesus. The image is difficult to see at first, but it is similar to a photographic negative and in the right light, the full body of a man can be seen. The theory of the Shroud is that it was placed on Jesus when he was buried and his image was somehow transferred to the cloth. The way it occurred is unknown. Those who believe it to be a fake think it is a clever painting done in the 1300s. Supporters of the Shroud think that the image occurred naturally due to contact with the skin, similar to a former roommate’s bed sheets after six months without washing. Some believe there is a more supernatural explanation and that the image is the result of a burst of energy that may have occurred at the resurrection. Each of these views has its own strengths and weaknesses.

The image has both the back side and the front of the man and the man seems to have injuries consistent with those Jesus received when crucified. There even appears to be blood stains on the cloth in all the areas where Jesus was wounded (i.e. side, feet, hands, head). There is a large wound to the side consistent with John 19:34 and the legs are not broken. Over the whole body, there are approximately 135 marks that could be from scourging. There are also blood stains around the wrists, which would support the theory that Jesus was actually pierced through the wrists, not the hands, in order to support the weight of the body. The man in the image was probably somewhere between 5’11″ and 6’1″ taking into account the stretching of the cloth over time. Since the wounds line up pretty closely with Scripture, if this really was Jesus’ burial cloth, we could have a good idea of what Jesus looked like. But if it is real, where did the Shroud come from?

The first available written history of the Shroud dates around 1355. It was displayed at the church in Lirey, France where huge crowds gathered to see it. Eventually, the Shroud becomes the property of the Catholic Church who have kept it at Turin, Italy since 1578. There is no earlier reference to the Shroud in any ancient documents that we now know of, which leads to skepticism of its authenticity. Pro-Shroud folk claim that the Shroud is referenced earlier just with a different name.

Abgar V was the ruler of Edessa in the 1^st century and he sent for Jesus to heal him from leprosy. Unfortunately for Edessa, Jesus died, resurrected and ascended before the correspondence could reach Him (no Fed-Ex in the 1^st century). The legend says that a disciple of Jesus came to Edessa with a cloth and on it the imprinted image of the face of Christ. Upon seeing the cloth, Abgar was not only healed, but the entire city turned to Christianity as a result. This cloth is known as the Mandylion and it appears a few more times in ancient writings, but has never been found. There is a thought that the Shroud and the Mandylion are the same cloth, since the Shroud has fold marks that could indicate it was folded to only show the face.

The Anti-Shroud crew has some very convincing evidence that points to the Shroud being a fake. Carbon 14 dating places the date of the cloth around 1325, only a few years before it first shows up in ancient literature. Although carbon 14 dating is not 100% accurate and was subject to possible human error in this instance, it is enough evidence for a majority of the scientific community to write it off. Another argument wonders why we have not found similar burial cloths of other men whose image was left imprinted. Many chemists have studied the “blood stains” on the Shroud under a microscope and some believe its consistency is like that of a red paint, while others insist it is definitely blood. There is trouble with the idea that the image was painted, since there are no brushstrokes or indication of an artist’s hand movement.

It seemed odd to me that a cloth that could be a direct link to Christ is so relatively unknown, especially in the Christian community, but there are quite a few reasons why the Church at Turin keeps a tight lock on the Shroud. The Shroud has a history of barely escaping destruction, including a fire in 1532 that scorched the edges. There was a fire in the Chapel in April 1997 that many believe was intentionally set to wipe out the Shroud. Also keep in mind that this cloth is at least 700 years old and possibly 2000, so exposure to harsh light and air expedites deterioration. Another reason, the Shroud is rarely seen is simply crowd control. When it was publicly displayed in 1978, around 3.5 million people came to see it.

The Shroud of Turin is a highly debated artifact and both sides have fairly convincing arguments. While it does not affect the other evidence of the historicity of Jesus, it would be really cool to have such a remarkable link. To decide whether or not you believe the Shroud is authentic, check out the references for this article or just go see it yourself at the next public viewing. It is scheduled for 2025. Hope to see you there.

References:

• Probing the Shroud of Turin
• The Shroud of Turin Website
• Examine the Shroud Yourself
• Various Shroud of Turin Links

On May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II went into St. Peter’s Square in Rome to bless some 20,000 worshippers. As he entered, a man named Mehmet Ali Hagca pulled out a 9mm pistol and shot the Pope four times from 15 feet away. Although Il Papa survived the assassination attempt, what resulted was a new cultural icon…the Pope-mobile.

There were Pope-mobiles before 1981, they were just not the same as they are now. Since the average age of 20^th century popes is 65, the need for a motorized vehicle is obvious given the massive amounts of traveling done by them. When the Pope came to the US in 1965, Ford modified a Presidential limousine for the Pope. There was a back seat that could be raised 12 inches by a hand crank, so that the Pope could be seen through a custom hole cut into the roof. It also came complete with a PA system for addressing the crowd and flood lights.

After the assassination attempt, the modern day Pope-mobile was conceived with a bullet-proof glass room to ensure the safety of the successor of Saint Peter. There really is no one model car that is used for the Pope-mobile. Supposedly the very first one was a modified Range Rover. As the Pope travels he usually rides in a different make as provided by donations from individuals and corporations from that country. Land Rover provided the Pope-mobile in England. The Polish provided John Paul with a noiseless electric model with a rotating chair. The most common model used around the Holy See is an adapted Mercedes Benz. An armour-plated Pope-mobile with 11,000 miles on it in Great Britain was sold by auction in 2006 to an anonymous buyer for $70,500. Recently, many companies such as Audi and Volkswagen have drafted concept Pope-mobiles in an attempt to be the exclusive Pope-mobile dealer to the new Pope, Benedict XVI.

The Swiss guards inspect all Pope-mobiles before allowing the Supreme Pontificate in. Some countries are now making them not only bullet-proof, but also bomb-proof which greatly increases the cost. And no modern day Pope goes without the four-sided bullet proof glass option, though there are rare times when the windows are taken down. Both John Paul and Benedict have occasionally used an open top, but the glass room is air-conditioned regardless. Although the Pope-mobile is complete with hand rails, a former driver says he never broke 50 km per hour (31 mph).

Regardless of anyone’s differences with the Pope, his Pope-mobile remains one of the most easily recognizable cars in the world. Much more so than the lesser know Pope-luge, Pope-cycle and the new electric Pope-segway.

References:

• Pope-mobile Driver
• May 13, 1981
• Pope-mobile auction
• Who will build the next Pope-mobile?
• Old USA Pope-mobile
• Wikipedia – Pope-mobile

In the middle of the 2^nd century there was a guy who claimed that he, not the Holy Spirit, was the Paraclete. Montanus claimed that he was the next revelation from God as promised by Jesus. He did not claim to be equal to the Apostles or even Jesus, but he was the ultimate authority because his revelation was newer. When he taught, he did not speak as if he was teaching a message from God, instead he spoke as if he was possessed by God and speaking for him. For example he said, “I am the Father, the Word, and the Paraclete” and “I am the Lord God omnipotent, who have descended into man.”

Montanus has two prophetesses, Priscilla and Maximilla, who traveled and taught with him. Priscilla claimed that Christ appeared to her in the form of a woman and gave her wisdom. Maximilla lived longer than the other two and continued to prophesy warning of major wars to come. They made their way through what is now a part of Turkey, teaching as the Paraclete, declaring fasts, encouraging virginity and forbidding remarriage.

Montanus was surprisingly successful in gaining followers. He even gained the support of a famous Christian writer, Tertullian. Tertullian became disenchanted by the Christian church later in life, claiming there were too many bishops gaining too much power. Tertullian’s writings become increasingly critical of the catholic Church and eventually he becomes a protector of Montanism, though after Montanus had already died.

There are probably two reasons why Montanus was successful in gaining some followers. First is the fact that he and his two lady friends put on quite a show. Their teachings were full of prophesying and speaking in tongues. Supposedly they would seem terrified at first, then get real quite and then be “seized by an uncontrollable madness.” Another reason is that Montanus had the benefit of making this claim while Christians were still persecuted and forced to worship in secret. Getting word out to all of the churches about this heresy would have been difficult. Eventually though the word did get out and orthodox Christianity wins the battle over this heresy, although there is evidence of a few Montanists remaining even up into the eighth century.

Montanus is merely the first to claim himself as the Paraclete. The most famous would have to be Muhammad, the great Islamic prophet. His revelation to the people can be found in the Qur’an. The problem with these humans claiming to be Jesus’ promised helper is that Jesus also promised that the helper would remain with us forever. Montanus and Muhammad had the unfortunate problem of mortality.

Montanus did play an important role in Christian history, because after him the Church began to more carefully record and protect their doctrine to prevent future heresies from becoming so successful.

In 1857, many churches across the US were seeing declining attendance. The Old Dutch Reformed Church on Fulton Street in Manhattan decided that they needed to reach out to the community more. They hired a business man named Jeremiah Lanphier to be in charge of their outreach ministry. Jeremiah, while brainstorming how to reach out the people of Manhattan, noticed that between noon and one o’clock most of the business men took their lunch break. He thought it might be beneficial to offer a time of prayer from noon to one. He handed out some 20,000 flyers advertising the first prayer meeting on September 23, 1857.

The result of Jeremiah’s 20,000 flyers was a total of only six men that showed up. After they prayed, Jeremiah let everyone know they would meet again next week, same Bat Time, same Bat Channel. Word got around and the next week 20 men showed up and then 40 the following week. After this third meeting everyone decided to make these prayer meetings daily instead of weekly. After a few more meetings, the attendance grew to over 3,000 so that they had to share space with the nearby YMCA. Other churches in Manhattan began to become involved and the newspapers began to report on this growing phenomenon. The idea began to spread to other cities with more than 3,000 praying in Jayne’s Hall in Philadelphia and 2,000 in the Metropolitan Hall of Chicago. The revival spread so that in most every city from Maine to California, you could find one of these prayer meetings.

No emphasis was placed on a certain denomination at the prayer meetings, but there were certain rules set in place. Anyone could come and go as they needed, but the prayer time ended at one. No controversial statements were allowed or announcements of a specific church’s events. Prayer requests could be submitted in writing and were read aloud so that people could pray for them. One unsaved man attended and heard a submitted prayer request for an unsaved son, which happened to be from his own mother requesting prayer for him. Many found salvation at these meetings, like the customer who asked a merchant if he must stop business to go pray. The merchant said, “Yes, I must. Why don’t you come with me?” It was quite common to see signs in Manhattan that read “We will re-open at the close of the prayer meeting.”

It is estimated that 50,000 people in New York alone came to Christ and about a million across the US. This revival is generally seen as a reaction to two major societal issues at the time. The first is the Panic of 1857 which occurred the month before the prayer meetings began. It was a great economic crisis where over 5,000 businesses failed in a year. The second major issue was the problem of slavery. The great tension over the problem of slavery would eventually end this revival with the start of the Civil War two years later. Eventhough the revival itself was ended by the war, the spirit of the revival remained and the effect was nearly equal in significance to the First and Second Great Awakenings, yet very few have heard of the Layman’s Prayer Revival.

So don’t blow up Manhattan yet, who knows where the staging point for the next revival might be. It appears that we are overdue for one.

References:

• The Layman’s Prayer Revival (Audio)
• Wikipedia
• The Layman’s Prayer Revival of 1857-1858