James White: Exposition on Angel's of Rev.14 SERIES: 3rd Angel

James White: Exposition on Angel's of Rev.14 SERIES: 3rd Angel

"And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast, and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Revelation 14:9-11

* This is indeed an awfully solemn message. And if it applies to the present time, it is certainly of the highest importance that its import be earnestly sought for and understood. Mark well the language,

"And the third angel FOLLOWED THEM."

---The following is from a work entitled, "Facts on Romanism." page 112, published by J. V. Himes. 
"But the fourteenth chapter [of Rev.] presents an astounding cry, yet to be made as a warning to mankind in that hour of strong temptation. Rev.14:9-11. A denunciation of wrath so dreadful, can not be found in the book of God beside this. Does it not imply a strong temptation to require so terrific an admonition?" 
James White

Eve Deceived - Adam Not So Much....

Eve Decieved - Adam Not So Much....

 

"Eve was fooled by the Serpent’s argument and the innate appeal of the forbidden fruit.
But Adam sinned knowingly. He was not deceived about the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil like Eve was." BSG

And it was not Adam who was deceived,

but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.

1 Timothy 2:14

IN the NEWS - On to Ann Arbor, Michigan

"Father Egan might be familiar to some for "Fully Alive," his daily feature on local EWTN affiliate Ave Maria Radio.
Originally from the archdiocese of Westminster in England, Fr. Egan has served as chaplain at the chapel connected to Domino's Farms — a large office park in Ann Arbor that includes the headquarters for Domino's Pizza.

 In addition to the Catholic chapel, it is also home to Ave Maria Radio and a Catholic bookstore.

Al Kresta, president and CEO of Ave Maria Radio, released a statement Wednesday about the allegations against Fr. Egan. Kresta's statement read in part:

Fr. Pat served for many years as our chaplain of Ave Maria Radio until his retirement earlier this year. I have always counted him a friend and he has been a good priest serving my family over the years in various ways.
Nevertheless, there stands a credible charge of inappropriate sexual behavior with an adult male and Fr. Egan's priestly faculties have been revoked. While I don't think it necessarily helps, at this time, to go into further details, I do think you deserve to know that I learned of this allegation earlier this month and, along with other laity, was part of the solution by encouraging full reporting to Bishop Boyea and urging complete transparency of all involved which is the only way we will rid our innocent priests of the cloud of suspicion they are presently operating under.

Ave Maria Radio's website featured a profile for Fr. Egan. At the time of this article's publication, Fr. Egan's profile remained on the site."
CM

But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
Genesis 13:13

Creation Moment 9/26/2018 - Perfect for Life: O2, CO2, N2

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Psalm 139:14 NLT

"In this article we shall look at the gaseous components of our atmosphere: oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen. Nitrogen constitutes the major component (approximately 78%) with oxygen following at about 21%, and carbon dioxide at 0.04%. Though carbon dioxide constitutes a minor part of the atmosphere, life, as we know it, could not exist without it. Life depends on all three of these elements being in the gaseous form.

Oxygen (O₂)

All organisms need energy for growth and maintenance.
 Oxygen has the highest attraction for electrons, or electronegativity, of all the elements except fluorine. This makes oxygen especially well suited as the final electron acceptor in the electron

transport chain of mitochondria, a sub-cellular organelle known as the primary energy producer of the cell. When oxygen combines with another element, referred to as oxidation, more energy is released than when any other element combines, except fluorine. In the cell the energy released is slow and controlled. The process of oxidation involves removal of electrons from reduced carbon compounds. Ultimately, those electrons are combined with oxygen to form water. Before they are passed on to oxygen, however, they are used to do electrochemical work, which enables the cell to make chemical energy in the form of ATP.
 However, oxygen gas in the atmosphere is present as a diatomic molecule, O₂, making it less reactive at ambient temperatures. Cells have various enzymes that employ transition metals such as iron and copper, used to activate oxygen, making it more reactive. Our atmosphere contains ~21% oxygen. It is estimated that if it contained even 25%, compounds would combust too easily and wildfires would rage out of control; molecules in our tissues would also be oxidized too readily.
Oxygen is required by many organisms that use it primarily as an electron acceptor in the generation of energy. Too much oxygen can be just as detrimental as too little. Various factors in the environment and in the cell can lead to the production of dangerous oxygen free radicals, which damage the cell; however, in the cell there are various enzymes designed to deal with these radicals.

Nitrogen (N₂)

Nitrogen comprises about 78% of the atmospheric gases. Nitrogen is essential to life as almost all

biomolecules contain nitrogen atoms. However, humans and animals do not have a means to extract it from the atmosphere and make use of it like we do with oxygen and carbon dioxide. Many plants, on the other hand, have nitrogen-fixing bacteria on their roots that can “fix” nitrogen by incorporating it into various biomolecules.
When we eat, we derive our nitrogen from the food, and are then able to generate many of our own nitrogen-containing molecules. Genesis 1 tells us the Lord created all plant life to be a source of food for all animals. This dependence is a design feature of our planet.

Carbon Dioxide (CO₂)

Carbon dioxide is a gas and is ubiquitous. Along with water, it is the metabolic end products of the complete combustion of biofuel molecules by cells. In the atmosphere it constitutes about 0.04% of the total pressure, or about 0.228 mmHg. The solubility of CO₂ in water is greater than that of oxygen; approximately 1.3 to 1.7 g CO₂/kg water in the temperature range of 20 to 30°C. This means that CO₂ gas can easily enter and leave water. Thus, wherever water is, there will also be CO₂; the two are inextricably linked. In this way carbon can easily be distributed throughout the biosphere in the carbon cycle.
The pH is a measure of the free proton (H⁺) concentration in a solution. The maintenance of a stable pH within bodily fluids and cells is essential to all life; virtually all life processes depend on stable pH conditions. Acids tend to give off H⁺s, and bases tend to pick up H⁺s. Thus it is imperative that there be some means to prevent shifts in pH that would compromise metabolic function; there must be compounds that can either give off or pick up H⁺s as needed in order to buffer against wide changes in pH. Large changes in pH can lead to denaturation of proteins, altered charge states of enzymes and/or their substrates, and cause proteins to precipitate out of solution. Metabolism tends to generate compounds that are acidic. Consequently, cells and body fluids would easily become acidified to the point that life would cease. However, our wise Creator designed our systems such that the two end products of complete combustion of fuel molecules are the innocuous water molecule and CO₂.
Carbon dioxide is essential to all life on earth. Carbon dioxide aids in the delivery of O₂ to cells in the body and is responsible for maintaining a near neutral pH in the blood as well as in the oceans. It is essential to the process of photosynthesis by plants." AIG

James White: Exposition on Angel's of Rev.14 SERIES: 2nd Angel

James White: Exposition on Angel's of Rev.14 SERIES: 2nd Angel

"And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Revelation 14:8

*This angel did not go on his mission and deliver his message in company with the first, but "followed," after the first angel had delivered the burden of his message.

*The fall of Babylon is evidently a moral fall, and not its final destruction. This may be seen from Rev. 18:2, where it is stated that Babylon is fallen, and is become the hold of every foul spirit, etc. It must exist after its fall in order to be a hold of foul spirits after that fall. In its fall and becoming a hold of foul spirits is clearly seen a moral change. 

---Babylon signifies "mixture or confusion," which well applies to the many sects, holding a great variety of sentiments. But Christ designed that his church should be one. We do not say that the sects became Babylon by falling. They, while in their divided and subdivided state, and united with the world, were always Babylon. God permitted his people to remain there, until the first angel's message was rejected, then he called them out. "
James White

Hmmm... Who knows?... Just a Thought

And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person,
a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
2 Peter 2:5

God gave the world 120 Years during the preaching of Noah

God gave Egypt 10 Plagues with plenty of time to repent

10 x 12 = 120

God preserved His Truth among the 12 Tribes of Israel to shine out to the world before His 1st Advent

After the Cross Christ sent His Truth to all the World via 12 Apostles to warn of His 2nd Advent

Just a thought...maybe there's nothing to this, maybe there is...Who knows?.....

About the Midnight Thief...

 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
1 Thessalonians 5:2

"Come when it may, the day of God will come unawares to the ungodly.

--When life is going on in its unvarying round;
--when men are absorbed in pleasure,
--in business,
--in money-making;
--when religious leaders are magnifying the world's progress and enlightenment,
--and the people are lulled in a false security--then, as the midnight thief steals within the unguarded dwelling, so shall sudden destruction come upon the careless and ungodly."
Great Controversy p.38 E.G.W.

Papal Notes - Idolatry at the Gate of Dawn

 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3

"There was no way upon entering Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, for Pope Francis not to pay homage to the Lady of the Town. It was a late addition to the schedule for the pontiff’s visit to the Baltic States, but one that just couldn’t be missed.

Above the Gate of Dawn, the only city gate in Vilnius left standing, a towering but demure image of the Virgin Mary patiently awaited the papal visit.

Francis looked upward toward the gold and silver-clad icon, for centuries the protector of the city, as icy raindrops fell on the crowd quietly watching the prayerful meeting.

“The Mother of Mercy, like every good mother, tries to bring her

family together. She whispers in our ear: ‘Look for your brother, look for your sister’,” the pope said Sept. 22.
“In this way, she opens to us the door to a new dawn, a new day.”
CRUX

IN the NEWS - Big Brother now openly being aggressively Blunt

So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom,
and apply thine heart to understanding;
Proverbs 2:2

Imagine how this will be used by those who want to silence Christians, those with dissenting viewpoints of politics in the public arena or those whom the elites simply don't like (look at what big tech did to Alex Jones)....I'm POSITIVE this will be used to silence those who criticize anything LGBT, pro-life, etc....everywhere you look freedom is eroding---and it's eroding at the hands of what are termed "liberals" (leftists) in politics.....think about how this could be used one day to clamp down on the 3 Angel's Message being shared when it comes to identifying the Little Horn power for instance.
Because if there's one thing we've learned from big-tech and secular leftists in politics---their application of rules and laws are selective....

"Imagine an internet in which users can't freely blog, parody, share material, or remix content – an online experience in which linking, code-sharing, and the unfettered use of art and images would be nearly impossible due to legal limitations.

Unfortunately, this scenario – a restrictive internet culture – may soon be a reality in the European Union with the recent passage of the European Union's Copyright Directive. This new E.U. decree, which includes provisions for filtering and surveillance, could have a chilling effect on internet creativity and innovation, increase censorship, and impose new market barriers for businesses worldwide.

The new regulations were originally proposed two years ago as part of the E.U.'s Digital Single Market policy .... it could have a global impact on non-E.U. countries across the world similar to the effect of the E.U.'s 2016 E.U.-wide data protection rules created under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The GDPR took effect in May this year and standardized data protection laws and set guidelines on controlling personally identifiable data.

The Copyright Directive imposes requirements that will change

 the way netizens interface with online content by

imposing mandatory upload filtering,

 a link tax, and

certain prohibitions on user-generated content in public spaces.

As part of the proposed Copyright Directive, bots, applications that run automated tasks, will act as

censors and arbitrarily decide what content can be accessed and shared or even deleted without the consent of the intended user.

 A letter of protest to the European Parliament president, signed primarily by I.T. community members, characterized Article 13 as taking "an unprecedented step towards the transformation of the internet from an open platform for sharing and innovation, into a tool for the automated surveillance and control of its users."

This directive could severely limit connectivity and the freedom of digital expression by favoring publishers and equipping them with the power to extract royalties and block content."
LS

IN the NEWS - Michigan Opens Investigation

Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution,
whether it be to the emperor as supreme,
or to governors as sent by him
to punish those who do evil.....

1 Peter 2:13,14

 
"Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette has opened an investigation into child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in the state.

The inquiry was confirmed 21 Sept. in a statement posted on the attorney general’s official website, and will include all seven of the dioceses in Michigan: Gaylord, Lansing, Marquette, Grand Rapids, Saginaw, Kalamazoo, and the Archdiocese of Detroit.
While the investigation was confirmed publicly on Friday, a spokesman for Schuette told local media that the process had been launched in August 2018.
"The Michigan Department of Attorney General has determined that a full and complete investigation of what happened within the Catholic Church is required," the statement from Schuette said.
"This investigation is and will continue to be independent, thorough, transparent, and prompt. My department and this investigation will find out who knew what, and when."EWTN

Creation Moment 9/25/2018 - "98.5%" DNA similarity myth

"In a previous 2016 study aligning Sanger-style chimpanzee genomic trace reads (mean length = 704 bases) to the human genome, it was determined that chimpanzee DNA was not more than 85% similar to human.
To further investigate the issue of human-chimpanzee genome similarity using higher quality DNA sequence, 18,000 de novo assembled contigs (constructed with Sanger style reads, Illumina short

reads, and PacBio long reads) downloaded from NCBI having an average length of 30,913 bases were queried against the human genome using the BLASTN algorithm with gap extension. The alignments averaged 10,508 bases in length with a nucleotide identity of 84%. The contigs were also queried against the panTro4 and panTro5 versions of the chimpanzee genome yielding alignment identities of 92% and 100%, respectively.
Results from this study not only negate the concept of the 98.5% DNA similarity myth, but highlight the extremely flawed and humanized nature of the panTro4 version of the chimpanzee genome and its predecessors that are widely used to support the human evolution paradigm.

The main finding of significance to the issue of humanization of the chimpanzee genome is the fact that the average mean alignment identity of the de novo assembled chimpanzee contigs was only 91% when queried against the PanTro4 assembly, not 100% as would be expected if the chimpanzee genome was an accurate representation. In fact, some regions had alignment identities lower than 70% with a minimum as low as 66%. The alignments were so poor that the average mean alignment length of only 10,699 bases was not much better than that achieved using human as a target database.

A glaring 20% overall DNA similarity difference between the human and chimpanzee genome is an evolutionary discrepancy that cannot be dismissed. This extreme level of genetic discontinuity raises serious issues for the evolutionary myth that humans and chimpanzees share a common ancestor not more than about 3 to 6 million years ago which largely depends on a 98 to 99% DNA similarity to seem theoretically possible. The uniqueness of mankind as stated in Genesis, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them,” (Genesis 1:27 (NKJV)) is now soundly confirmed by the scientific data."
Jeffrey P. Tomkins

James White: Exposition on Angel's of Rev.14 SERIES: 1st Angel

James White: Exposition on Angel's of Rev.14 SERIES: 1st Angel

"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him: for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountain of water.
Revelation 14:6,7

*This proclamation not only relates to the judgment, but also to the hour, period, or time of the judgment.

*It fitly applies to the proclamation of the judgment at hand, that has been given to the present generation, and it cannot possibly apply to any other period of the church. 

---We say that this angel's message cannot be properly applied to the preaching of the apostles, because they did not preach that the period of the judgment had come.
Paul reasoned before Felix of "righteousness, temperance, and JUDGMENT TO COME."
Acts 24:25

*Again, this first message is based on prophecies (the prophecy of Daniel in particular) which were to be "closed up and sealed" (Dan. 12:4,9) till the time of the end, which has been clearly proved by second advent writers to be since about 1798."
James White

ARCHAEOLOGY: Nuzi & Sistership in the Bible

"Nuzi was a Hurrian administrative center not far from the Hurrian capital at Kirkuk in northern Iraq. The Hurrians are equivalent to the Horites in the Old Testament, also called Hivites and Jebusites. Excavations were carried out at Nuzi by American teams from 1925 to 1933. The major find was more than 5,000 family and administrative archives spanning six generations, ca. 1450-1350 BC. They deal with the social, economic, religious and legal

institutions of the Hurrians.

The tablets tell of practices similar to those in Genesis ...Some Nuzi tablets, called “tablets of sistership" --agreements in which a man adopted a woman as a sister.

In the society of the Hurrians, a wife enjoyed both greater protection and a superior position when she also had the legal status of a sister. In such a case, two separate documents were drawn up, one for marriage and the other for sistership.
This may explain why both Abraham and Isaac said their wives were their sisters. It is possible that they had previously adopted them to give them higher status, in accordance with the custom of the day."
GreatDiscoveries
And the men of the place asked him of his wife;
and he said, She is my sister:
for he feared to say, She is my wife;
lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah;
because she was fair to look upon.
Genesis 26:7

J. N. Loughborough's 16 Points on the 1844 Experience

But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end:
Daniel 12:4

"And for the convenience of the reader in obtaining dates and facts, we recapitulate and condense in the following brief

Summary

1. Nearing the time when the signs in the sun, moon, and stars were to appear, there was seen in the heavens the fiery display of the aurora borealis, as predicted by the prophet Joel.


2. The knowledge of the close of the prophetic periods announced by Daniel the prophet, remained "sealed up" till "the time of the end" - 1798.

   

   Loughborough



3. Immediately after 1798, men in different parts of the world, independently of each other, learned that the period of the twenty-three hundred days closed in the year 1844. Thus was the statement verified that many would obtain knowledge on the great prophetic period, which had previously been "sealed up."


4. Our Savior said of the signs in the sun, moon, and stars, that when they are fulfilled, then we may know that we are in the generation that is to witness His coming. The sign in the stars - 1833 marked then the Lord's time for the parable of the fig-tree to be learned. He then raised up His teachers, who taught the parable to the world.


5. When the sixth trumpet should cease its sounding, the time message was to increase in power to its "loud voice." From that date - 1840 -the message stirred the public mind, and rapidly spread to every known seaport, and the sound went throughout the world.


6. The first call to the supper, found in Luke 14, was to them that had been "bidden" -the Lord's professed people. The message prior to April, 1844, went to the churches. In every direction the various places of worship were opened to those announcing the Lord's near coming.


7. After the teaching of the parable of the fig-tree, of Matthew 24, there would be one class of servants giving "meat in due season," and another class smiting "their fellow servants." After April, 1844, many of the ministers who before that date had favored the advent doctrine, now turned and bitterly opposed those who still clung to the faith of the Lord's near coming.


8. In the month of May, 1844, the modern churches introduced church festivals and various amusements for the purpose of raising means with which to pay church expenses, etc.; to these gatherings all classes, professors and nonprofessors, came, paid their money, and ate and drank their delicacies. Thus, as the Scriptures declared, they began to eat and drink with the drunken.


9. When the Lord's professed people should be found thus doing, the kingdom of heaven -work of the gospel -should be likened to the ten virgins of an Eastern marriage. Immediately after the disappointment in April, 1844, those who retained their faith in the near coming of Christ began comparing their own experience with the parable, and thus became convinced that they were in the tarrying time.
   


10. As this people were scoffed at and taunted with jeers, they went forth to give the second angel's message, the second call to the supper (Revelation 14 and Luke 14), which call was to be quickly made, to the wounded in the streets and lanes of the city.


11. As the virgins in the parable slumbered till midnight, so the Advent bands, from April to July (half a year -day-night), slumbered on the matter of time. Then light being received on the true ending of the days, they went forth, giving the midnight cry of the proclamation, which aroused the virgins, and mightily stirred the people.


12. At the close of the twenty-three hundred days, Oct. 22, 1844, the little book of the tenth chapter of Revelation -the time message -which had been sweet to the taste, became very bitter. A failure in the realization of their high hopes of soon seeing the Lord, was indeed a bitter disappointment, giving an experience similar to Mary's in the garden, when she said, "They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him."


13. After the close of the twenty-three hundred days, the consecrated, praying ones began to receive light upon the position of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, and to understand from the Scriptures that He had "gone in to the marriage;" and by faith they followed Him.


14. As the dawning light opened the sanctuary to their view, there was seen "in His temple the ark of His testament;" and in the ark, with the other nine, was the fourth commandment intact, which led to the observance (among the Adventists) of the seventh-day Sabbath.
    


15. Immediately after the close of the twenty-three hundred days, there were those among the leaders in the past movement who said, "We have now had the first and second messages of Revelation 14, and still a third message is to be given." And the third call followed, as predicted.


16. While there were those who followed Christ by faith, receiving advancing light, there were others who rejected these truths, and engaged in time movements. To the class mentioned in the parable who were not ready to go in with Him to the marriage, but came afterward, setting the time for His coming, He said, "Ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." From this it appears they professed a knowledge of a definite time when Christ would come. To those He said, "I know you not." Since the close of the prophetic periods in 1844, there have been those who have been active in fixing a definite time for the Lord to come. But Christ admonishes all to watch, for "ye know neither the day nor the hour."

J. N. Loughborough

Papal Notes - Francis Sells Out Chinese Catholics

....but if ye be come to betray me to mine enemies, seeing there is no wrong in mine hands, the God of our fathers look thereon, and rebuke it.
1 Chronicles 12:17

"As part of the comprehensive deal, Pope Francis has decided ‘to readmit to full ecclesial communion the remaining ‘official’

Bishops, ordained without Pontifical Mandate.’

A Vatican bishop is rebuking critics of the Holy See’s controversial deal with China by insisting the nation, known for its flagrant human rights abuses, “observes the common good.”
Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academies for Sciences and Social Sciences, had claimed in February that the Chinese are “those who are best implementing the social doctrine of the Church.”
In the “provisional agreement” signed today between the Holy See and China, the Church has agreed to officially recognize bishops of the “Patriotic Church” set up by the government.

Many Catholics have criticized the deal as a “sell out” by the

Vatican of China’s underground Catholic Church and its bishops, who have undergone great persecution to remain faithful.
Hong Kong’s Cardinal Joseph Zen called the deal a “complete surrender” that “giv[es] the flock into the mouths of wolves.” He has urged Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, to resign over it.

Bishop Sorondo criticized opponents of the deal on Friday ....“The critics are very strong in their position. They are loud, but

there are not very many of them. They are a loud minority,” he said. “In our interpretation, the critics are a little minority group of people, people who wanted to create trouble.”
The bishop went on to praise China for its fight against “poverty and pollution.”"Lifesite

IN the NEWS - More than 50%

But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
Genesis 13:13
"More than half of the Netherlands’ senior clerics were involved in covering up sexual assault of children between 1945 and 2010, a press report claimed on Saturday, further engulfing the Catholic church in a global abuse scandal.

Over the course of 65 years, 20 of 39 Dutch cardinals, bishops and their auxiliaries “covered up sexual abuse, allowing the perpetrators to cause many more victims”, the daily NRC reported.
“Four abused children and 16 others allowed the transfer of paedophile priests who could have caused new victims in other parishes,” the Dutch newspaper added.
Church spokeswoman Daphne van Roosendaal said the church could “confirm a part” of the report."
TheGuardian

Papal Notes - Former Pope Benedict’s Letters: Catholic "9/11"?

For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. Proverbs 2:18

"A German newspaper today has published excerpts of two private letters Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI wrote less than one year ago, that give insight into how he views his resignation, and his deep concern for the state of the Church following his departure from the papacy.

Bild newspaper has reported that the two letters bearing Benedict’s signature — and which

independent sources have authenticated — were written to a German cardinal in November 2017, in response to his charge that Benedict’s resignation was the catalyst for a major crisis in the Church.
The prelate also alleged that such an unprecedented act had seriously harmed the Church.

In the letter, Benedict further defends his decision by pointing to Pope Pius XII’s (1876-1958) contingency plan to resign from the papacy to avoid being “arrested by the Nazis.”  
Observing the comparison, Bild asks, “Who did Benedict feel threatened by?”

Recalling Benedict XVI’s ominous words at his inaugural Mass: “Pray for me that I may not flee for fear of the wolves,” the German newspaper asks: “Who are the wolves?” 
“By ‘the wolves,’ he probably meant the network of high-ranking Church dignitaries who have created a system of power, and abuse of power, in the Vatican, and whom he felt unable to cope with,” Vatican expert, Armin Schwibach, told Bild.

Bild reports that Benedict’s private secretary, Archbishop Bishop Georg Gänswein, did not wish to comment on the letters. 
Ganswein recently compared the current crisis in the Church — brought on by sexual abuse scandals and systematic cover-up by the hierarchy — to the terror attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11. The Church, he said, is currently experiencing “its own 9/11.”
Lifesite

Creation Moment 9/24/2018 - Evolutionary Volksgeist vs. GOD

GOD

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God, and keep His commandments:
for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecclesiastes 12:13

Vs.

"The German School of Historical Law became known throughout Europe at the end of the Napoleonic wars, when many German jurists opposed the introduction of a uniform legal code to the Germanic Confederation.
The leading legal historicist of the time, Friedrich Carl von Savigny (1779–1861), still holds a status in German ‘legal science’ which is akin to Charles Darwin for the ‘science’ of biological

evolution. Savigny, whose jurisprudence is extremely influential even to the present day, emphasized the historical limitations of the law and approached legality as a mere expression of evolving convictions and aspirations of any particular people over a period of time. The only standards which remained in such a legal philosophy were contextual and relative, since these standards would have no other support apart from the temporary conditions of society. Unfortunately, German legal historicism contributed not only to historicist legal analysis but also to the development of two of the most deadly totalitarian ideologies this world has ever seen: Marxism and National Socialism.
 
German legal historicism claimed that the evolution of law is linked to the growth of the nation as a living organism. This growth would derive its strength from the inner powers of the Volksgeist.

Because law was deemed the product of culture and social condition, not logic or reason, its natural progression should neither be accelerated nor obstructed by the legislator.
Rather, the organic evolution of the law was assumed to take place as an evolving process of historical growth, which occurs both naturally and unconsciously, from one age to another. Such idea of natural legal progress was not an argument for the freedom of individuals and small corporations, but it amounted to a justification of the organic power of the state.
 
Savigny also argued that given the historical limitations of the legal process, law should be grounded in a ‘popular consciousness’ which evolves over time so as to reflect the general ‘spirit of the community’.
History is hereby observed not in terms of the source of tradition and example, but rather as the ongoing path of evolution which leads to the “true knowledge of our own condition”.
 
Savigny’s magnum opus is his eight-volume History of Roman Law in the Middle Ages (five published in 1840–1841 and the rest in 1847–1849). The work amplifies the views expressed in The Vocation of Our Age for Legislation and Jurisprudence. Thus Savigny explains in more details that the main objective of his historical school is not to “subject the present to the government of the past”.
 
G.W.F. Hegel (1770–1831) upon the formation of German legal historicist methodology.

Hegelianism replaced the concept of universal law with the idea of law as the embodiment and expression of communal morality; a morality which transcends objective morality. In legal terms, therefore, Hegelianism can be described as a variant of positivism, which restricts jurisprudence to an expository of ‘scientific’ analysis of the historical development of society. Ultimately, the law is determined by the political body of society, meaning, in other terms, that no higher law or standard of morality can be measured against the positive law of the State.
The State is approached as a natural entity, based on a complex system of legal institutions.
 
The followers of Hegel, in absolutising the state, are the National Socialists and the Communists.
 
The foremost figure among the second generation of German legal historicists, Otto von Gierke (1841–1921), borrowed from Hegelianism the concept that the State comprises a living organism of

the highest order. He interpreted the State as a comprehensive manifestation of human associations, and the total sum of human groupings by which individual life must be incorporated and ultimately fulfilled.
 
Gierke took a strong biological approach to social and legal analysis. In the nature of things, he argued, there are real social groups whose essence is akin to the people who are their individual members. The State was defined as a real group-being just as there is a real human being behind every individual legal person. This was a first step toward the ‘sovereign plenitude’ of the State and its ultimate elevation above all individuals and society. Hence Gierke declared, “The authority of the State is the highest right upon earth.”
 
Born in Trier in the Rhineland in 1818, Karl Marx was the son of a Jewish lawyer converted to Christianity. In his youth he received systematic university education, initially in Bonn and then in Berlin, between 1835 and 1841. Marx took his legal studies seriously and intended to become a

lawyer like his father.
It is also patently clear from Marx’s letter to his father that he became quite familiar with the famous controversy between Savigny and the Hegelian law professor Eduard Gansy, over the relationship between possession and right.
 In a letter to his father, dated 10 November 1836, Marx expressed great appreciation for Savigny’s Right of Possession (1803), a work in which Savigny argues that law is only part of history and not a branch of applied ethics.
 
Both Marx and Savigny linked law as a product of history and both rejected the premise that the laws of a given society reflected universal normative truths. They held the view that a ‘society’s laws reflect its particular historical situation.
In Right of Possession Savigny also claims that property is not a fundamental right of the individual, and that the great bulk of humanity has lived in societies in which land possession is communal and conditional. “By the possession of a thing”, wrote Savigny, “we always conceive the condition, in which not only one’s own dealing with the thing is physically possible, but every other person’s dealing with it is capable of being excluded”.
Both Marx and Savigny linked law as a product of history and both rejected the premise that the laws of a given society reflected universal normative truths. They held the view that a ‘society’s laws reflect its particular historical situation.

In the 1930s one the most influential jurists in Germany was the Austrian-born Hans Kelsen (1881

–1973). German legal historicists related social organic growth with a more perfect embodiment of the Zeitgeist, or the ‘Spirit of the Time’.
Nazi legislation and case law shows a remarkable similarity with the Volksgeist doctrine of German legal historicism. There was an elusive romantic-mystic notion to the notion of Volksgeist which obviously attracted the Nazi leadership.
As for the Germany that came into being in 1933, the nation rapidly descended into a process of homogenization by which individuals and entire social groups were ‘assimilated’ into the organic dimension of the Volksgeist.

SUMMARY:
German legal historicists saw nations and ethnic groups as evolving natural units. They assumed that

law is divorced from objective truth and destined to be replaced by future generations. The final result is not only legal positivism but legal nihilism, because the only standards which remain in place are subjective in character and derived from the particular choices of society. So it did not take too long for legal historicism to descend into moral relativism." CMI

PSALM 77: Remember the Years of the Right Hand of the Most High

Psalm 77:

I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.

 ...but I will remember the years of the
right hand of the Most High.

 ...call to remembrance my song in the night:

I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.

vs.5,10,6

"The psalm is the voice of an individual, but since he speaks on behalf of the nation, the psalm may best be called a national lament psalm.

When he thought about God, it only caused him to complain bitterly. But beginning in verse 10, the

psalmist’s mood starts to change because he commits himself to focusing on God’s goodness and past acts of deliverance. His lament then changes into a hymn of praise.

I.          The Irritations of a Depressed Soul (77:1-9)

I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. vs.3

II.         The Intention to Refocus the Mind (77:10-15)

...surely I will remember thy wonders of old. vs.11

III.       The Illustrations of God’s Past Blessings (77:16-20)

 Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. vs.20

Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth [his] promise fail for evermore? vs.8

The word rendered "clean gone" means to fail; to fail utterly. The idea is, can it be that the compassion of God has become exhausted? That no more mercy is to be shown to mankind.

 

I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. vs.11

That is, I will call them to remembrance, or I will reflect on them. I will look to what God has "done," that I may learn his true character.

 

I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. vs.5 If no good was in the present, memory ransacked the past to find consolation. She fain would borrow a light from the altars of yesterday to light the gloom of today.

 

 I call to remembrance my song in the night. vs.6 At other times his spirit had a song for the darkest hour, but now he could only recall the strain as a departed memory.

 

The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled. vs.16

“Waters … they were afraid”: A dramatic picture of God’s parting the waters of the Red Sea.... the Jordan river opened at the sight of the Ark of the Covenant as well.

 God's way is in the sanctuary.

We are sure that God is holy in all his works."

Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary:

who is so great
a God as our God?

vs.13

BooksOfTheBible/CharlesSpurgeon/MatthewHenry