People from the PAST
Quotable Quotes
Paul
of Tarsus, the Apostle -- whose letters comprise two-thirds of the New
Testament. Honored by the Government of Spain and Spanish philatelists
as the most read letter writer in history. Several Pauline stamps commemorate
his visit to the Iberian Peninsula. Paul once said, "Send me my cloak
and my books." A real practical guy! He also said, "If it be
not true, then we are liars and the most miserable of men."
Did Paul die in Rome, or did he really travel as far as Spain and the British Isles? Well, if you have never read the C.S. Sonnini manuscript found in the Archives of Constantinople, Turkey in the late 1700's, it's worth looking in to it. The manuscript reads,
"And they departed out of Spain, and Paul and his company finding a ship in Armorica sailing unto Britain, they went therein, and passing along the South Coast, they reached a port called Raphinus [the Roman name for Sandwich, in Kent].
Now when it was voiced abroad that the Apostle had landed on their coast, great multitudes of the inhabitants met him, and they treated Paul courteously and he entered in at the east gate of their city, and lodged in the house of an Hebrew and one of his own nation...
And on the marrow he came and stood upon Mount Lud and the people thronged at the gate, and assembled in the Broadway, and he preached..." (verses 7-9)
Mount Lud at the gate and the Broadway is the intersection where the great St. Paul's Cathedral, London, stands today. Lucky guess, right?!
Read: Paul in Britain, R.W. Morgan
The Letter of Paul to the Romans; Written to the British Royal family sequestered in Rome under house arrest residing at the Domus Pudentis, Palatium Britannicum, Domus Apostolorum, Titulus, Pastor, St. Pudentiana when Caractacus, prince of Siluria (Western England) and military ruler and his family were captured by invading Roman forces. Chapter 16 identifies members of the Selurian household. Morgan (p 127)
The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians; "The Greatest of these is Love..." - Letter
The Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians; "Able to Stand Alone lacking nothing..." - Letter
The Letter of Paul to the Galatians; Paul's earliest confrontation with legalists and fundamentalists. Luther's said he was married to the Book of Galatians.
The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians; The Battle of the ages; the Aeons who are approaching.
The Letter of Paul to the Philippians; Paul's "Joy" Letter.
The Letter of Paul to the Colossians; Paul's definition of Pre-eminence.
The First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians
The Second Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians
The First Letter of Paul to Timothy
The Second Letter of Paul to Timothy; The last letter written by Paul as he sat shackled some 20 feet underground in the Mamartine Prison, Rome -- awaiting disputation of trial. It's remaarkable to think that 2 millenia later we're able to read this letter penned to a friend.
The Letter of Paul to Philemon
The Letter of Paul to the Hebrews; sometimes called the "fifth Gospel"
Eleanor of Acquitaine -- the Queen
to Louis VII of France, she later married the duke Henry Plantagenet of
Normandy whom she helped become King of England making her one of the most
powerful women to influence history -- the GrandMum of both France and
England in the Middle Ages. Unlike many royal women of her time, she was
apparently a beautiful woman. Unlike women in most times, she was liberated
wielding powers that would give Leona Helmsley a run for the title "Queen
of Mean". Living till the age of 82, she rode horseback from Paris
to Fountainebleu, a distance of several hundred miles, upon hearing news
of the death of her son, Richard Lionheart of England.
An interesting aside: The commercial language of Acquitaine was the same language spoken at ancient Antioch.
Martin
Luther, the Reformer -- who individually shook history and reshaped the
face of Europe. When brought to trial, Luther was reminded by an associate
that the whole world was against him to which Luther replied, then
tell them I'm against the WHOLE world! Our world is different because
this one person stepped forward and made it different.
The Life and Acts of Martin Luther written by Philip Melancthon
On the death of Martin Luther written to the Students at the University of Wittenberg by Philip Melancthon
Martin-Luther-Universitaet Halle-Wittenberg - HomePage
William Tyndale fled to the safety of Luther. Through his many works, this Reformer... perhaps more than any other English writer of his time established the English language.
John Donne, the English Poet - in 1624 wrote,
"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the
continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of
thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because
I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the
bell tolls; it tolls for thee..." somewhat regretting the quote later
in life after realizing that sometimes men and women are called to take
a stand. On some ocassions No man is an island until the time he
finds himself needing to stand alone.
William Shakespeare, the Playwright
Thomas Jefferson, the Democrat (3rd President
of the United States) - proponent of John
Locke's social contract as expressed in Samuel Rutherford's book entitled
Lex Rex not Rex Lex = the Law is Ruler not
the Ruler is Law. So the phrase, "Open up in the name
of the Law" does not mean "Open up in the name of the police
standing at the door." Hopefully, it means that the policeman standing
there still recognizes a Law separate from him/herself which they, too,
must abide by. Thankfully, most do.
Jefferson understood in this Country, People give Government its rights to exist, not the other way around. Today, few people still realize that our Country existed years before the Federal government was granted power by the People. Memorize (and don't forget) the U.S. Constitution - Bill of Rights. It is ours; they belong to us.
I have always found it interesting that the first amendment to the Bill of Rights (not to be taken away by Government) is NOT "freedom of speech", nor is it "freedom of the press". It still is "freedom of religion". The same Government that can attack any portion of the First Amendment (no matter how bizzare the cause may seem - and this we know, Governments will justify there power gluttony, always)... the same Government, if allowed to discard or ignore one portion can thrash any other part of the First Amendment (or any part of the other nine). If and when Religious freedoms go, you can bet that Press and Speech will be close to follow. To give up a phrase of the Constitution opens the way for absolute powers to consume the whole Constitution absolutely.
And one final thought, the separation of Church and State makes sense. These two institutions are always at odds with each other. It seems Religionists desire ruling the people while Government just loves playing God all the time. The First Amendment does not require that both are entrenched in enmity toward each other. It does allow both institutions to keep out of each others responsibilities and get on with their own which is not necessarily that the Religionist take care of those people made and kept poor by Governmental policies.
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A great family tradition of the Jefferson's could be seen at the dinner parties he hosted. Thomas Jefferson would always light three (3) candles. His honored guest would then be asked to illumine three aspects of his/her life to the attendees describing: something memorable from the Past; something challenging in the Present; and, something hoped for in the Future.
Two Scottish men who greatly influenced the framing of our Constitution were Samuel Rutherford, author of Lex Rex, and John Locke who grew up in this emerging atmosphere of democratic social order first articulated by Rutherford.
A Brief Life and Times of Samuel Rutherford
Selected Letters of Samuel Rutherford
Vidiciae Contra Tyrannos A Defense of Liberty Against Tyrants by Junius Brutur Attributed to Philippe Duplessis-Mornay, the book which inspired Rutherford's Lex Rex
Historical Documents that Changed Our Lives and the World
Abraham Lincoln, the Republican
Frederick Douglass, the Man of Freedom
Frederick Douglass - His Papers at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Harriet Tubman, the Black Moses
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), the Writer/
Satirist
Joseph
Merrick, the Un-lovely... wrote very few things in his brief life. Fortunately
for me, he wrote this very lovely poem:
