Druids invoked the ‘spirit of water’ at the end of the Paralympic Games in 2012, Christian Voice can reveal.
In an astonishing pagan ceremony, former army medic and whisky promoter Rory MacKenzie spoke words from a Druid ritual composed by Philip Shallcrass (known as ‘Greywolf’ in the British Druid Order) and Emma Restall Orr (‘Bobcat’).
The ceremony was broadcast live to 750 million people worldwide during the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympics. There was no Christian content, no acknowledgement of Almighty God or of his Son, the King of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ. Instead, MacKenzie said:
‘I call upon the spirit of Autumn. The spirit of water, of the ebb and flow of emotion; of open seas and running streams, of cleansing rain; spirit of the evening sun, of twilight and of Autumn.
‘I call upon the spirit of Winter. The spirit of earth, of the womb of creation; of the night and the snows of winter, deep roots and ancient stones.
‘I call upon the spirit of Spring. The spirit of air, the breath of life; of sunrise, and of new life and of new growth.
‘I call upon the Spirit of Summer. The spirit of fire, of energy of passion; spirit of the noonday sun, the heat of summer, vitality and abundance.
‘My friends, let the festival commence!
In a video of the ceremony and the ‘festival’, a group of men with flame-throwers can be seen moving about before the olympic flame was passed out. MacKenzie, shaven-headed, sporting a man-bag and clad in a peculiar leather jacket and shorts to expose his artificial lower leg and establish empathy with the paralympians, continued:
The circle is unbroken,
The ancestors awoken.
May the songs of the Earth
and of her people ring true.
Hail to the Festival of the flame
of root and branch, tooth and claw,
fur and feather, of earth and sea and sky
In a separate development, a document has come to light showing that the flooding of much of the Somerset Levels was planned by the EU and environmentalists in the Environment Agency and exacerbated by Government cuts and broken promises. To take just one example, Chris, Lord Smith promised dredging of the rivers last year, but nothing happened.
In a typically sensationalist piece the Daily Mail says the Environment Agency preferred water voles to people, but ironically, many water voles have themselves been drowned. In a further twist, the numbers of voles – the iconic ‘ratty’ in the Wind in the Willows – are seriously down because of predation by mink released from fur farms by animal rights fanatics in the 1980s and 1990s.
The last few weeks have broken all records for rainfall in southern England in particular. Even David Cameron has spoken on the flooding being ‘of Biblical proportions’. Henley-on-Thames councillor David Silvester claimed the flooding was God’s punishment for the passing into law of ‘gay marriage’.
But ‘gay marriage’ can only be seen in such a light as the last straw on the back of an already overladen camel. We bow to the god of environmentalism on the Levels, we invoke demonic pagan spirits in the Olympics, we pass a raft of legislation against the laws of God, and then we are surprised when God allows the most extreme weather for a century to afflict our shores.
Let us be under no illusion. The Almighty is Lord over the weather. he can send or withhold the rain. The Lord Jesus calmed the storm on Lake Galilee. Even if we baulk at the idea of God actually sending the 2014 storms, do we not believe that he can protect a city or a nation?
But if that city or nation deliberately sets its face by its deeds against the Almighty, do we think he will still keep watch over them?
Psalm 127:1 A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
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That is so typical of the BBC, they are so anti-Christian. Simply too afraid of offending people and losing popularity with the masses to be seen to ‘promote’ any real religion at all, not just Christianity, but especially Christianity. And how they love running stories about corruption in the church to undermine it’s attempt to reach people! (nevermind of course that there is bound to be corruption because it is an institution run by man and man is fallible). Spiritualistic nonsense like this druid ceremony is ok though because they know that no one is going to take it seriously and therefore there will be a minimal number of complaints, plus it looks like they’re bring generous to a ‘minority group’ by giving them a voice. The fact that this silly ceremony was even allowed to go ahead and be televised just goes to show that no one takes this rubbish seriously and it is not considered ‘religion’. It was just put on for entertainment. The show organisers were just using this druid guy for their own ends.
The BBC and our increasingly secular society’s approach to religion is that it’s ok to be a Christian as long as you don’t actually follow the Bible, likewise it’s ok to be a Muslim if you don’t actually live by the Qur’an; to be acceptable a person must be liberal at heart (i.e. anything goes! as long as it brings you pleasure) and morally relativistic. But if you actually read the Bible and really follow your religious convictions then you are demonized as a bigot, as David Silvester was. Poor man, he was just living out his faith; which is what all people who call themselves Christian should do. The BBC doesn’t want to stand for anything because they care more about obtaining people’s favour rather than God’s.
I’m not sure that the BBC is to blame for this one. They signed up to broadcast the Olympics and Paralympics but I doubt whether they had much say in the content of the opening and closing ceremonies. The fact is the Olympics are steeped in paganistic and humanistic ritual, and as a nation, along with much of the rest of the world, we have fallen for it lock, stock and barrel. The Commonwealth games are no better either and are merely a reflection of how far we have fallen. It’s no good us wringing our hands, we need to repent ourselves and on behalf of our nation and ask for God’s mercy until such time as the Lord says ‘Stop’ ; see Jeremiah 11:14, also 7:16 and 11:14.
Laura
you speak of the Q’ran in the same breath as GOD’s holy word , yet are you aware that darkness can have no fellowship with the light of GOD’s word of truth ?
Are you aware that the Q’ran teaches that YESHUA is NOT GOD’s son and that GOD has no family and that Christians and Jews are hellbound ?
Have you not seen in GOD’s holy word GOD revealing to Isaiah the muslim practice of pointing their behinds at the face of GOD ?
Please obtain a copy of the Q’ran and learn that it is a doctrine of demons
As Yeshua warned ” Those who deny ME i shall deny to the FATHER ”
JESUS is the ONLY way / The ONLY truth and the ONLY life
NO ONE can come to the FATHER except through HIM
Laura thank you for putting in to words what is written on my heart, However, may I say what you call “this silly ceremony” I believe to be ‘a dangerous ceremony.’ It is indicative of the continuing insideous advance of the powers of evil which are chipping away at the faith fabric of what used to be a great Christian country. God bless you
Why are we not surprised? Everything except the true God.
Exodus 23:13 “And be watchful in all that I have said to you. And make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of your mouth”.
Some have said the present national disasters with storms, flooding and sinkholes is God’s judgement on the UK. I prefer to see it as people going to a beach with beautiful sands but dangerous bathing conditions and with no life guard on duty as opposed to a not so beautiful beach with a life guard. The people of this country have chosen to live a hedonistic life and walk away from God protection. They also complain when some terrible natural or man made event occurs “where was God when so and so happened?”.
Man now worships man and in Western secular society today human rights and political correctness is the religion and god. For example: When the imposition of a whole life sentence is being seen as a possible infringement of human rights when imposed for the most heinous of crimes it shows how far we have become spiritually and morally bankrupt
Good point Christopher. I guess I went off on a bit of a tangent there! But I imagine the show organisers would have included the BBC in their decisions since they would want to make sure that the closing ceremony would be broadcast-able, otherwise it would be a bit of a waste of effort and money.
Just watched it again on YouTube…. it’s utterly hideous, so dark and disturbing, especially with all the people dressed in ghoulish costumes running about pulling faces and flapping their wings. It’s like it was literally choreographed by a satanist!!
It is not yet known if the rainfall over the U.K. has broken all records this winter. When I first heard this I checked with the Met Office and they confirm that it is too early to make that announcement. The winter of 1929/1930 is noted for exceptionally heavy rainfall, as is other winters near the turn of the 20th century. We need to wait until the end of March before we know for sure.
Everthing that happens in the UK nowadays (and, incidentally, in the USA) re-inforces the warnings given in Deuteronomy 28. Gross wickedness amongst our people has caused God’s wrath to fall upon us. If I am not mistaken, things will get worse before they get better. Surely the very worst of crimes, condoned by all of the political parties, is ABORTION (the shedding of innocent blood). Next, that of SODOMY (not forgetting ADULTERY).
Our nation, so richly blessed by the triune God (Jehovah), has turned its back upon HIm (a gross insult) and will certainly reap the consequences in the years ahead, until the Lord Jesus returns for His Bride, the church. It is time for Godly preachers to proclaim the truths of Scripture. Sadly, a great many ‘evangelists’ have told the world that God loves everybody – another untruth – so no-one bothers to repent and live a holy life. There is very little FEAR of the LORD in these days.
In the light of Deuteronomy 28 (especially) it is time for someone to write a book on “What Happens When God Withdraws His Blessing”. We, as a nation, are beginning to reap the consequences of our UNGODLINESS. When the Israelites spurned the Almighty and His commandments the consequence was “sword, famine and pestilence”, etc. They learned the hard way. And so will we !
Again, we need to heed THE WORD OF GOD, especially 2 Chronicles 7:14. The ungodly of this world will not do that. It is the responsibility of those who know how to call upon the Name of the LORD (those who have been redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ).
I have just checked the number of days on which we have had bad weather over the Christmas and New Year period. Beginning with the east coast tidal surge of 6th December 2013 and counting until the lull in the storms which occurred on 13th February 2014, the number of bad weather days was exactly seventy. Well, what a surprise. Jewish tradition is that the judgments of Yom Kippur take effect on 10th Tebeth (12th December this year) but in this case they seem to have begun seven days early. No doubt the Lord has had a reason to finish them early too. Overall the December and January storms resulted in seven fatalities and 1,700 properties flooded across England.
But it would be a complete waste of time to tell anybody in England. Councillor David Silvester is obviously listening, but who else is?
Psalm 104:1-4
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
covering yourself with light as with a garment,
stretching out the heavens like a tent.
He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
he makes the clouds his chariot;
he rides on the wings of the wind;
he makes his messengers winds,
his ministers a flaming fire.
God is sovereign over His world. He has promised never to judge by total flood again but as the Psalmist says He rides on the wings of the wind, even the most powerful 300mpg jet stream from which He sends messenger winds. God is speaking to our people but who is correctly interpreting what He says?
I pray and trust David Sylvester will be vindicated – because he has stood up and spoken his mind – he has used his right of free speech and had the guts to say what he thought.
If God were to judge our nation, I doubt it would be merely making us don our wellies – I don’t wish anyone any misery – but God knows how to vindicate those He has called when they are brave enough to say “The Bible says: that that legislation is wrong, and will one day receive God’s judgment.”
I agree with a lot of what has been said already. This ceremony was not organised by the BBC , and the modern Olympics is based on the classical pagan Olympics, with quasi-priestesses lighting an almost holy, almost eternal, flame, which goes through all kinds of manoeuvres symbolically. Nobody takes this seriously as being in reverence of pagan gods.
I think the most recent assessment is that January was the wettest January since before records began in 1767, so it’s much more than a century. It’s obviously too early to have a figure for February, but it’s said to be going the same way. For Met Office statistics, March is entirely in Spring, winter being 1st December to 29th February if there is one.
However, what I don’t quite understand is why the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games should be expected to include an acknowledgement of Almighty God or of his Son, the King of Kings, the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s an international event, and this would be unacceptable to many of the participants and to many of the 750 million viewers around the world. It is inconceivable, though, that any but a tiny proportion of the participants or viewers would have been Druids or have perceived this as a Druid ceremony, and no god of any kind is mentioned. I haven’t checked the Olympic charter, but it might even be forbidden to mention a god, and they didn’t.
It may have meant more to the person who wrote it, but I see this rather as a kind of somewhat pompous nature poetry. “The spirit of water” reminds me of “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”. Now, I know the answer to this: that was the Spirit of God. However, there are many other spirits in the Bible. As well as many evil spirits, familiar spirits, and unclean spirits, the spirit of grace and supplications comes to mind, the spirit of all wisdom, a sorrowful spirit, even a spirit of heaviness, and the spirits of all flesh. For example,
“ The spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. Ezekiel 1:21”
Writing exaggerated nature poetry in Welsh was a popular pastime with the first modern Druids, many of whom were Anglican clergymen, and even in the 19th century this was acceptable, along with dressing up and indulging in fantastic ceremonies. There are many modern precedents for this type of ceremony, including Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, and the dance performance at the Millenium Dome, which few people saw any harm in at the time. I wonder how Stephen feels about appeals to Team Spirit, or the spirit of fair play.
Some people do take it seriously, and the real problem is how much it is taken seriously not by sceptical individuals here on earth but by the powers of heaven and the spiritual (including the demonic) realm.
Yes, it is an international event. What a good opportunity to tell the world that the United Kingdom is a Christian country. Would that offend people of other faiths? Then how about offending all people of whatever faith (except paganism) by sticking a load of pagan incantations in it?
Of course it is pompous, but welcome to the world of druidism. However, we do need to distinguish, I feel, between the serious pagan druidry and witchcraft behind the event being discussed here and the dressing-up invented by Iolo Morganwg for the modern Welsh Eisteddfod.
Finally, there is no point trying to obscure the fact that a pagan spell was intoned at the closing of the Paralympics by appeals to all the different ways the word ‘spirit’ can be used. No-one is fooled by that.
So do we feel that the Pagan spell intoned at the Paralympics was genuinely able to invoke demonic pagan spirits? Is so, this would surely lend some validity to the Pagan religions? I always assumed that Christians thought they were followers of the one true religion, and all other religions pursued false gods? In which case, who cares what ancient poetic nonsense was spoken at the Paralympics? Lots of question marks!
If such things did not have power, Almighty God would not warn us against them.
But didn’t your god also warn against wearing clothes made from multiple fabrics; blind, lame or flat-nosed people approaching an altar of God; cutting and shaving hair; and, I think, eating seafood? I also hope you’re not taking him at his word when he insists on killing all people of different religions. Maybe we should put the Pagan nonsense in with them as one of those things he was probably unnecessarily tetchy about? Of course this is all hypothetical from where I’m standing, but an inconsistency is still and inconsistency. Not sure what you think?
A load of Aunt Sallies. Wool and linen is the only mixture proscribed. The Lord has a right to say who can be high priest and how they should dress, and the seafood distinction was symbolic of separation from the gentiles and was abolished in Peter’s vision. Please give us chapter and verse where God commands the killing of people of different religions, as I believe you are thinking of Islam.
I do see Adzcliff’s point.
Stephen is actually endorsing the belief that a pagan spell can in some way boost a demonic realm.
The whole point of discouraging such practices in the Bible would seem to be not that they work, but that they don’t work, and that people would do better to trust in Judaism or Christianity. As very few people would have perceived this piece of Art as a serious religious ceremony, it would be better not to mention it.
When you know the mind of God through seeking him in his word and through the Holy Spirit, that might be the time to venture an opinion on what God intended by proscribing witchcraft, Rox.
So nobody is really in a position to discuss the Bible except a chosen few. Perhaps it should have stayed in Latin.
Discuss if you want, but don’t start telling us what God meant out of your own secularist prejudices.
It appears that GOD has turned this country over to satan ” the prince of the power of the air ” so that it may be destroyed physically yet in HIS mercy deliver it’s spirit unto HIMSELF [ should it open it’s eyes , repent and seek HIS forgiveness ]
Thanks for this Stephen.
I’ve checked, and you’re right, the King James version does just proscribe the mixture of linen and wool (Leviticus 19:19). Well pointed out, but this only shows that I’m guilty of misrepresentation of the original English translation of the Hebrew bible, not that God isn’t occasionally morally tetchy?
“Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God. For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous” (Leviticus 21: 17-18)
You may interpret that as God only being aesthetically shallow in who can become high priest (actually, it gets worse as you read on), I read it as a God who will deny the fruits of his worship to the disabled, injured, ill or mildly disfigured. I personally would seek to be more inclusive and charitable, which I assume you think constitutes the moral low-ground?
“If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant, And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel: Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die. At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you.” (Deuteronomy 17:2-7)
My interpretation of that verse is that anyone proven to have worshipped other gods (i.e. pursuing other religions), shall be stoned to death. That’s old testament Bible, not Koran.
And just quickly, before you point out that he never uses the actual words “kill people of other religions”, neither does he say “homosexuality is a sin” (he says tentatively without really checking).
Now still noticing that you do not sport the hirsuteness of an orthodox Jew (Leviticus 19:27), I am going to suggest you pick and chose which teachings are to be interpreted literally, probably based on your emotional moral hunches about what is wrong and right about the world. Not sure…
1 At least God allows the disabled to be born and doesn’t try to weed them out and kill them in the womb like we do. I don’t know if you support elective abortion or not, but if you do, please don’t try to take any moral high ground around here.
2 That’s the death penalty for the activities of witchcraft, not ‘killing all people of different religions’ as you contended.
3 No, God does not say ‘homosexuality is a sin’ because it is actions that fall foul of the law of God, not states of mind, however emotionally-challenged they may be.
4 Why on earth should I follow the Jewish ceremonial law when the first Church Council, in Jerusalem, ruled that Gentiles are excused from it?
Act 15:22 Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren:
Act 15:23 And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:
Act 15:24 Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:
Act 15:25 It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
Act 15:26 Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Act 15:27 We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.
Act 15:28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
Act 15:29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.
Thanks Stephen.
1. For the sake of argument, let’s assume that I don’t just support elective abortion, but I also support parents’ rights to elective infanticide within the first 5 years of life. How does any of that address your God’s apparent queasiness around the disabled, disfigured, sick or injured? I may be a hypocrite in your eyes, but it is possible to be very wrong on some things, and very right on others. How right do you think I am specifically on my (genuine) charitable and inclusive attitude towards the living-disabled compared with your God’s?
2. With respect Stephen, I can’t see any reason to infer that that passage only refers to witchcraft, unless you are claiming to understand the unwritten mind of God, look: “…has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly host, which I have not commanded” And anyway, surely any pursuit of a false god could be considered witchcraft?
3. Fair enough, but neither does God say specifically that “only homosexual actions are a sin”.
4. Why on earth should I follow the Jewish ceremonial law when the first Church Council, in Jerusalem, ruled that Gentiles are excused from it?
Apparently you shouldn’t, my apologies. It was only a matter of time before your knowledge of the Bible was shown to be far more superior to mine. Would I also be right to assume then you are vegetarian (or have somehow found a way to eat meat without ingesting blood)?
Regards.
1 You need to state you position on abortion on the disabled.
2 Yes, the ‘or’ clause certainly is there. Israel was in the midst of pagan nations practising witchcraft, human sacrifice and institutionalised sodomy. The ban on going down that route seems eminently sensible to me, but who am I to stand in judgment over the Almighty?
3 Yes he does (verse quoted in context):
Lev 18:21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
Lev 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
Lev 18:23 Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.
4 Why should I be vegetarian? What on earth could be your reasoning? Did not God give the sons of Noah and through them mankind in perpetuity all meats to eat?
Gen 9:3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
Gen 9:9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; (that’s us)
Thanks Stephen
1. I disagree. Your God’s moral position on the disabled, disfigured, sick or injured’s equal access to the church is good or bad independently of what I or anyone else thinks about elective abortion, gay marriage, women bishops or sandals versus shoes. At best you can point out that I am a hypocrite, but this doesn’t make your God right.
2. I agree, the ‘or’ clause is certainly there? So we are agreed that this passage isn’t exclusively about witchcraft. It is about false religions too.
3. So we are agreed: nowhere in the Bible does it say specifically “the act of homosexuality is a sin”. You choose to interpret Leviticus (18:21-23) metaphorically as being about homosexual sex (which isn’t entirely unreasonable), I can choose to interpret literally as an edict about ‘lying’ (as opposed to, say, standing, sitting or kneeling, which I think he is okay with). How do you deal with Bible literalists like me?
4. Again, I agree, it’s very confusing and contradictory isn’t it. One the one hand your God is inviting you to eat anything that moves (Gen. 9:3 & 9:9), but has clear rules around male grooming (Lev. 19:27); but later operates humans to allow Christians concessions on the grooming (Acts 15:22-29), whilst slipping in a ban on ingesting blood at the same time. As someone who enjoys a rare steak myself, I think I’d stick with the older stuff on diet and newer stuff on grooming too.
Ta.
1 No, you must come with clean hands if you wish to pass judgment. But in any case, God has the right to specify that only able-bodied men should approach his altar – you missed out the observation that he excludes half the human race in the first place – only men can be priests.
2 All those false religions practiced witchcraft.
3 It is a problem to set aside 3,500 years of interpretation founded on better knowledge of ancient Hebrew than you or I possess. The Levitical verses say: ‘Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind’ (Lev 18:22) and ‘If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman’ (Lev. 20:13). The Hebrew word shakab (H7910) means to lie down for rest or for sexual activity. The expression ‘as with a woman’ is there to make certain we draw a sexual meaning from shakab. See my article on Leviticus.
4 It is neither confusing nor contradictory and nothing changed on ingesting blood. The ban on eating blood is there for all mankind way back in the laws of the Sons of Noah: Gen 9:4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
It formed part of God’s laws for the Hebrews: Lev 17:10 And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
The latter verse is highly significant for Christians, because Jesus shed his blood on the cross to make atonement for us, and commanded us to eat his body and blood symbolically in the bread and wine of communion. And that in itself goes back to a mysterious character called Melchizedek.
And because Jesus thus became the once-for-all perfect sacrifice, the Jewish temple sacrifices were needed no longer. They had been fulfilled by the Lord Jesus, and the opening of the church to the Gentiles fulfilled prophesies such as this from Isaiah:
Isa 60:3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
So it was eminently within the mind of God to abrogate the Hebrew ceremonial laws for the Gentile converts.
The rare steak is a common misconception. The bullock or heifer from which that steak came was thoroughly bled out at slaughter. You are unknowingly keeping to the Noahic dietary laws whether you eat it rare or well done. I draw the line at black pudding, which is of course made of blood.
Doh! I was so impressed with the manner of your response to point 4, I completely overlooked the fact that you’re citing an example of human beings re-writing Biblical doctrine? (I assume they were Christians and not Jews, as that would be even more controversial.) So this is possible then?
No, because (a) the Bible is the word of God, God-breathed, and
(b) because the Apostle James says their decision was informed by God himself:
Act 15:28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, …
(c) P.S, They were Jews. The first Jewish Christians.
Sorry Stephen, forgot to add that I do (genuinely) appreciate you have this debate out in the open though.
Adzcliff
If not actually a Druid, William Blake was interested in Druidic tales and that genre generally , for example the romances of Ossian.
“And did those feet in ancient time, walk among England’s mountains green”, and did Jesus go to Glastonbury, with his sandals, beard and long hair ?
“Bring me my Arrows of desire: Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold! Bring me my Chariot of fire!”
It’s not very close to the Gospels, is it ?
Yet it has always been very well tolerated by the Christian establishment.
William Blake 1757-1827. Romantic era poet. One would expect him to be interested in all sorts of stuff.
If Joseph of Arimathea was indeed the great-uncle of the Lord Jesus, or even a trusted family friend, Jesus could have visited the Cornish and Somerset coast as a boy in the company of the well-connected metal trader. (You don’t suddenly pitch up on the Roman Governor and ask a favour unless you know him already.) Legends such as the one of Glastonbury quoted by Blake are interesting historical sources. As for Arrows, Spear, Clouds, Chariot of Fire, did you not realise that’s all good Biblical imagery?