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HISTORY: unwrapped – December 2007

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Evolutionists try to parlay the belief that ancient man was intellectually inferior to modern-man. The theory does not fit the facts. While there are numerous theories on how structures like the pyramids were built, no one has been able to duplicate the results using what is known of ancient technology. Some have been so perplexed by this historical enigma that they have postulated that alien technology or even fallen angels—the Nephilim—had made these advancements possible. But there is a better and more reasonable explanation. The intellectual capacity of ancient man is no different from modern man because God created us in His image. We should expect to find evidence of that creative capacity soon after creation. And we do.

Consider the work of Heron (or Hero) of Alexandria who lived in the first-century A.D., probably from A.D. 10 to 75. He was a mathematician and practical inventor. He invented a sacrificial vessel where water flows only when money is dropped in a slot. Heron also constructed a small temple so that when a fire was lit, the doors opened spontaneously and shut again when the fire was extinguished. These devices were designed, most probably at the behest of the king, to make people believe that the gods were real and near. Heron also developed elaborate entertainment devices that set wooden actors and props in motion without any of the pulleys and weights visible to the audience. He is most famous for inventing the aeolipile, the precursor to the steam engine.

Many people who read Revelation 13:15 assume that this verse must be describing a modern-day demonic miracle where an inanimate object comes to life. Given what we know about the ancients, especially the work of Heron, there is nothing implausible about believing, if we pursue a strict literal rendering, that an image could be made to “speak” during Nero’s day. All the technology was available, and since Heron lived during the generation preceding the destruction of the temple in A.D., the timing is also right.

December 28, 2007 – Leap'n Beamon

The 1968 Summer Olympic Games were held in the rarified air of Mexico City—7400 feet above sea level. Athletes and trainers were concerned that performances by distance runners would be affected by the thin atmosphere. Higher altitudes meant less oxygen, and if there is one thing runners need, it’s lots of oxygen. But it was the unexpected that made these Games memorable. Some of the black athletes put on a political demonstration. Tommie Smith and John Carlos, winning gold and silver in the 200 meters, accepted their medals in bare feet (to bring attention to the poverty of the African-American community), wearing beads (in honor of blacks murdered as victims of slavery or racism), and holding black-gloved fists in the air (the “Black Power” salute).

But over at the finals of the long jump, something historic was about to happen. A lanky jumper from New York was bounding down the runway, and almost no one noticed. Most of the photographers were waiting at the finish line where Lee Evans was expected to finish the 400 meters in record time. This race had excitement written all over it. Jumping records at the Olympic level are broken by inches. In 1936, Jesse Owens owned the long jump record at 26’ 5 ¼. It took 24 years to break it, and only by 3 inches. In 1968, the record stood at 27’ 4 ¾. In a span of 32 years, the record had progressed less than a foot. But on this day, Bob Beamon jumped 29’ 2 ½”, eclipsing the record by nearly two feet—21 ¾ inches! Here’s how Track and Field News described it:

He was obviously fired up, his step was exactly right, his form bordered perfection, his speed (09.5–100y) came as a great asset, the runway was consistent and fast, the assisting wind read a maximum of 4.473 mph, the high altitude (7350 feet) provided reduced air resistance, and he put together perhaps the ultimate technical effort that all field event performers dream about but rarely realize.

After hearing how far he had jumped, Beamon became so excited and emotionally drained that doctors claim he suffered a “cataplectic seizure.” Igor Ter-Ovanesyan, the co-world record holder, remarked, “Compared to this jump, we are as children.” The leap was caught by a cameraman on his first film assignment and is today one of the greatest sports photographs ever shot. The record leap brought an end to Beamon’s career. While he continued to compete, he never got close to that almost magical jump ever again. His longest jump after Mexico City was 26’ 11 1/2”. On August 31, 1991, Mike Powell of the United States finally broke Beamon’s record when he landed 29’ 4 ½” in Tokyo.

December 27, 2007– Yale Graduate Makes Good

As a Yale graduate, Eli Whitney (1765–1825) was known for his “handiness” and is best remembered for his cotton gin invention (1793), which brought great wealth to many but gave Whitney a meager return on his investment. The cotton engine, “gin” for short, automated the separation of cottonseed from the short cotton fiber. It was such a simple machine that it was easily duplicated and reproduced.Whitney also introduced a technique that proved to be the most revolutionary invention in American history. In 1798, he built a firearms factory near New Haven, Connecticut. Unlike many American industries of his day, Whitney did not build from the top down. He first built all the machinery he would need for his method of production and devised a system of interchangeable parts for muskets. This new technique was adopted all over the country as a defense measure and soon was being applied to other inventions paving the way for mass production and the industrial revolution.

—Let every student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life (John 17:3) and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning. And seeing the Lord only gives wisdom, Let every one seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seek it of him (Prov. 2:3).

—Every one shall so exercise himself in reading the Scriptures twice a day, that he shall be ready to give such an account of his proficiency therein, both in theoretical observations of language and Logic, and in practical and spiritual truths, as his Tutor shall require, according to his ability; seeing the entrance of the word gives light, it gives understanding to the simple (Psalm 119:130).

In 1692, Harvard adopted the motto Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae—“Truth for Christ and the Church.” The phrase was embedded on a shield and can be found on many buildings around the Harvard campus and various dorms in Harvard Yard.

The books on the shield represent revelation and reason. The top two books that are shown face up represent the Word of God revealed to us in the Old and New Testaments. The book on the bottom of the shield, which faces down, symbolizes the limits of reason and the need for God’s revelation.

A second and earlier (1650) Harvard motto carried the Latin phrase, In Christi Gloriam, “For the Glory of Christ.” Samuel Eliot Morison, in his history of Harvard,  writes, “Like the Medieval schoolmen, [the founders] believed that all knowledge without Christ was vain. Veritas to them, as to Dante, meant the divine truth. . . .” What once was Harvard is no more. Harvard, like so many of our nation’s earliest colleges, has left its “first love” (Rev. 2:4).

December 25, 2007 – The Real Saint Nick

A child named Nicholas was born in A.D. 280 in Lycia, Asia Minor, which is present-day Turkey. His wealthy parents raised him to be a devout Christian, and even as a child, Nicholas avoided worldly pursuits, spending time studying the scriptures. His parents died in an epidemic while he was still young. Nicholas used his inheritance to assist the needy and sick. He dedicated his life to serving God.

One story or legend is told about Nicholas coming to the rescue of a man with three daughters. The bankrupt nobleman hoped to marry off his daughters before the creditors took them away. But the father did not have money for the girls’ dowries. No one would consider marrying his daughters without a dowry. Nicholas tossed a bag of gold for each girl through an open window. The bags are said to have landed in stockings or shoes left by the fire to dry. Nicholas saved the nobleman’s daughters from the ruthless creditors, and our custom of hanging stockings or putting out shoes to wait for a visit from Saint Nicholas began.

December 24, 2007 – Censorship in the Classroom

Public school textbooks are fertile ground for the seeds of willful historical deception. A careful analysis of 60 elementary textbooks showed that none of them contained one word referring to any religious activity in contemporary American life. The texts were examined in terms of their references to religion, either directly or indirectly. One social studies book devotes 30 pages to the Pilgrims but never refers to religion as even a part of their lives. It teaches that Thanksgiving was the time when the Pilgrims gave thanks to the Indians. There is no doubt that the Christian settlers were thankful for the Indian’s help, but the historical record shows that thanksgiving was ultimately made to God. In a booklet used in Seattle, Washington, children were told that “the Pilgrims were narrow-minded bigots who survived initially only with the Indians’ help, but turned on them when their help wasn’t needed anymore.” Not only are the books filled with obvious biases but they also contain numerous historical inaccuracies. Supposedly Increase Mather preached a sermon in 1623 where he “gave special thanks to God for the plague of smallpox which had wiped out the majority of Wampanoag Indians.” It would have been impossible for Increase Mather to have preached such a sermon. He was not born until 1639! The rewriting of history is producing historical dunces who have no knowledge or understanding of our rich religious heritage.

December 21, 2007– Battle Hymn of Confusion

It’s been sung at the funerals of Winston Churchill, Robert F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan. It has brought crowds to their feet at football game half-time shows. Its rousing version has been a repertory standard of concert choirs. But the hymn’s lyrics, whose chorus every red-blooded American can sing, were written by a leftist nineteenth-century woman. Julia Ward Howe wrote a poem, which was published in the Atlantic Monthly magazine in 1862. The words were put to music and became the song of the Union army during the Civil War. Her hymn’s lyrics show that Howe had the ability to hate that liberals quickly condemn in conservatives. Howe’s hymn of hate, stirred by the passions of the Civil War became the best known song of the Union army. Read the words and keep in mind that they were written by a woman who was an early proponent of liberation theology, which believes that sin is social, salvation is freedom from structures of oppression, and redemption is by warfare.

December 20, 2007– In God We Trust

Our nation's coins have not always had "In God We Trust" stamped on them. In 1862 many people began to request that our coinage make reference to God. A sermon by the Reverend Henry Augustus Boardman of Philadelphia declared that "The coinage of the United States is without a God." Some suggested "God our Trust." In 1863 the motto "God and our Country" was proposed. The motto "In God We Trust" appeared for the first time in 1864; it did not receive formal Congressional approval until the following year. In 1865 Congress enacted the following:

And be it further enacted, That, in addition to the devices and legends upon the gold, silver, and other coins of the United States, it shall be lawful for the director of the mint, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, to cause the motto "In God we trust" to be placed upon such coins hereafter to be issued as shall admit of such legend thereon.

The interest to secure a place for the motto was so high because of the events of the civil war. Repentance and trust in God were themes that echoed through the nation after blood of so many had been shed. The motto was dropped in 1907 when President Theodore Roosevelt commissioned the American sculpture Augustus Saint-Gaudens to design new coins. Saint-Gaudens's design did not include the "In God We Trust" motto. As one might imagine, many people were upset at the change. In November of 1907, the president wrote a letter to a minister who objected to the omission. In it Roosevelt claimed that there was "no legal warrant for putting the motto on the coins." Of course, the president was mistaken, since the motto had been authorized by Congress. The matter came before Congress again on May 18, 1908, and an act was passed to restore the motto. "In 1955 Congress extended the act by requiring the phrase to appear not only on all coins but on all paper money thereafter minted or printed. The next year, 1956, Congress enacted a law making the phrase `In God We Trust' officially the national motto.

December 19, 2007 – Sybil's Midnight Ride

Sixteen-year-old Sybil Ludington was the eldest of 12 children of Henry Ludington, a noted New York militia officer and later an aide to General George Washington. On April 26, 1777, a messenger reached the Ludington house with news that the British were burning the town of Danbury, Connecticut, where the munitions and stores for the militia of the entire region were stored. The messenger and his horse being exhausted, Sybil volunteered to bear the order for muster and to rouse the countryside. Through the dark night, the young girl rode her horse nearly 40 miles on unfamiliar and unmarked roads spreading the alarm. She rode alone with only a stick to prod her horse and to knock on doors spreading the alert in time. The men who responded to Sybil’s alarm arrived just in time to drive the British back to their ships in Long Island Sound. One can only imagine what it was like for young Sybil aiding the rebellion. She was within such a short distance from the fighting and was alone with no one for protection. Sybil Ludington was a true American hero.

Present day visitors to Putnam County New York can trace Sybil Ludington’s  path on that midnight ride and view a statue of her erected on the route. There is a smaller copy of the statue located in Washington, D.C. in Constitution Memorial Hall.

December 18, 2007– The Hessians are Coming

Many of the 29,000 involuntary volunteers hired out to the British by German princes and sent to America to fight in the War for Independence were described as spendthrifts, loose livers, drunkards, arguers, restless people, political troublemakers, not more than sixty years old and of fair health and stature. Students on their way to university and young men plowing the fields were abducted and forced to serve as well. One young man, a theological student, was “recruited” amid his many protestations while on his way to Paris. The mixed rabble and honest young men were forced to serve in a far off country whose citizens viewed them as soldiers who fought only for money. No one was safe from the grip of the seller of souls. The troops were called Hessians due to the treaty made between Britain and the mercenary German princes, one of them being from Hesse. The Hessians pay went to the German princes. Thousands of the soldiers stayed in America after the war and became, in the end, citizens of the country they were sent to destroy.

December 17, 2007– The Voice of the Century

Born in New York City in 1902, Marian Anderson was the first American of African descent to perform with New York’s Metropolitan Opera. For many years, she performed mostly for European audiences because the larger American venues prohibited blacks from appearing in them, even one as musically gifted as Miss Anderson. She never complained and endured the snubs with great dignity. The elegant singer’s most trying incident went very public when Howard University in Washington D.C. invited her to perform in 1939. The university needed a place large enough to accommodate the expected crowds and chose Constitution Hall, owned by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). The DAR refused date after date submitted to them, and it was discovered that the dates really were available, only not to Negroes. The music world was shocked and spoke up in support of Miss Anderson. Eleanor Roosevelt revoked her DAR membership. Other prominent women did likewise. The U.S. Department of the Interior offered the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday for an outdoor concert instead. Miss Anderson performed before 75,000 people whose wild applause at the concert’s end overwhelmed her. Four years later, in 1943, a mural of that concert was unveiled at the Department of the Interior, and the following day, Marian Anderson sang at Constitution Hall at the request of the DAR.

December 14, 2007– Leadville's Ice Palace

The town of Leadville, Colorado was in the doldrums. Its glory days as a silver-mining center were ending. In an effort to keep their city alive, the citizens decided to stage a winter carnival. Workmen worked day and night using 5,000 tons of ice to build an ice palace for the carnival. On New Year’s Day, 1896, the town turned out for the grand opening. The huge ice palace covering three acres had been completed costing more than $40,000. The towers that flanked the entrance were 90 feet high. The inside contained a 16,000-square-foot ice rink, dance floor, curling rink, restaurant, gaming room and other activity areas. It was illuminated with a dazzling array of electric lights and adorned with gleaming search lights with wonderful prismatic colors illuminating the walls of ice outside.

One woman viewing the fireworks reflecting off the palace walls looked away saying that it was “too unearthly a vision” to gaze upon. By the end of March, the vision was melting away. The thousands of visitors coming from far and wide had spent very little money, but the townspeople felt it had all been worthwhile.

December 13, 2007– Star Light, Star Bright

The Star Chamber was a room in the palace at Westminster, England, where the king's council met. The room was named because of the star-decorated ceiling. From medieval times the king's council had ruled on specific legal cases that were beyond the jurisdiction of the common courts. By an act of Parliament in 1487, Henry VII strengthened the power of the council so nobles could be put on trial. In 1540 Henry VIII put the committee under his direct control that came to be known as the Court of Star Chamber. There was no jury and any punishment could be inflicted except the death penalty. The Star Chamber forced people to testify against themselves. By the time of Charles I, the Star Chamber had the reputation of being a "legal" way for the king to get rid of his political enemies. The authority of the Star Chamber was taken away by the Long Parliament in 1641 and restored the concept of "lawful judgment" of a defendant by "his peers or by the law of the land." The Courts of High Commission served a similar purpose but were directed at the clergy, especially Puritan ministers. They, too, were abolished in 1641.

Michael Douglas and Hal Holbrook starred in the movie The Star Chamber (1983). When cases must be dismissed because of technicalities, a small cadre of judges resort to establishing a secret tribunal—a star chamber—to try cases and pass their own sense of justice. At first, justice seems to prevail. But before too long, things go awry. Open tribunals, as frustrating as they may be, are better than any star chamber no matter how perfectly conceived.

December 12, 2007– The Vaulting Vicar

Bob Richards, affectionately known as the “Vaulting Vicar” because he was an ordained minister, won two Olympic gold medals in the pole vault (1952 and 1956), the first and only person to do so. Richards was the second man to clear 15 feet. That doesn’t seem like much when you consider that today’s pole vault record is over 20 feet. Richards did it with a steel pole. Steel, unlike fiberglass, does not bend and therefore does not have the catapult effect of fiberglass. Getting over the bar was the major concern of every vaulter, but landing was especially hazardous. Unlike today’s massive pits that vaulters can fall into as they drop on their back, pits in Richards’ day were saw dust. A vaulter had to land on his feet or risk serious injury. Richards was the first athlete to appear on a Wheaties box in 1958. Richards ran for president in 1984 backed by the Populist Party.

Richards had two sons who also were outstanding pole vaulters. Brandon broke the national high school record in 1985 (18’ 2”) that stood until 1999.

December 10, 2007 – Liberty's Pioneer

At the beginning of the sixteenth century, individual freedom, either political or religious, was virtually unknown. Geneva was a good example. Before the city council had disestablished Roman Catholicism, the Church ruled the State through the Roman Catholic bishop. Afterwards, the State ruled the Church through the council. When John Calvin arrived at Geneva in August 1536, he was confronted with this unbiblical approach to government. Calvin's goal was to establish a Church governmentally independent of the council while assuring that the council would not be independent of God's law as it pertained to its civil jurisdiction. His tool in accomplishing this difficult task was the Word of God. He preached and lectured from the Bible every day. He knew that when changes came they would come from the bottom up--from the people who desired a true Reformation without revolution. Calvin drew a clear line of distinction between the civil magistrate, whose authority was confined to civil matters, and the elders of churches, whose authority was confined to ecclesiastical matters. He established in Geneva the biblical idea of the jurisdictional separation between Church and State. Contrary to popular opinion, Calvin did not set up a system of government in which the clergy dominated the city council. He was not even a citizen of Geneva until 1559, and he appeared before the council when he was called on to offer his opinions on theological issues. He never occupied a political or civil office in Geneva.

December 7, 2007 – New Money for Hawaii

When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States government made it illegal for any Hawaiian citizen to possess more than $200 in cash. “New Money” was printed in 1942 using brown ink for the seals and serial numbers and bearing a small overprint of the word “Hawaii” along both sides of the front and a very large overprint of “Hawaii” on the back of each bill. This was the only legal tender permitted in the territory of Hawaii. Two hundred million dollars of the old currency had to be destroyed. It was hauled to a sugar mill and burned. The new currency was called “Emergency Issue.” Any serviceman or citizen entering Hawaii had to convert to the new money and then reconvert upon leaving the islands. In case of a complete invasion by Japan, the currency could be quickly declared worthless before the money could be seized and used by the Japanese. The invasion never took place, and the circulation of Emergency Issue was stopped by October 1944.

December 6, 2007– The Black Regiment

The clergy helped lead the resistance and independence movement in America. They were often described as the “black regiment” because of the black robes they wore while preaching. Before marching off to join Washington’s army, Lutheran pastor John Muhlenberg delivered a powerful sermon from Ecclesiastes 3:1–8 that concluded with these words:

The Bible tells us there is a time for all things and there is a time to preach and a time to pray but the time for me to preach has passed away, and there is a time to fight, and that time has come now. Now is the time to fight! Call for recruits! Sound the drums!

Then Muhlenberg took off his clerical robe to reveal the uniform of a Virginia colonel. Grabbing his musket from behind the pulpit, he donned his colonel’s hat and marched off to war. There is a war going on in America today. It has not come to the force of arms, but it is a war nonetheless. Pastors should thunder from the pulpits where the battles are waging, and what we can do to engage in the fight.

December 5, 2007– Little Goody Twoshoes

No one wants to be called a “goody two-shoes”—someone who is prudish and self-righteous. But years ago American colonists considered the term “goody two-shoes” a compliment. The colonists believed that good literature had two purposes: to delight and to instruct. By the early eighteenth century interest in children's literature (and a rise in literacy) led to new markets and a flourishing of new publishers, particularly in England. Innovations in typography and printing allowed greater freedom in reproducing art through engraving, woodcut, etching, and aquatint, although illustrators were still largely anonymous and illustrations confined to frontispieces. One of the most popular fictional books in the colonies was The History of Little Goody Twoshoes, published by one of the most important early publishers, John Newberry. Goody (or Mrs.) Twoshoes was an industrious and godly woman who went through many trials but was eventually rewarded for her virtues.

Thomas Boreman was one of the first entrepreneurs to respond to the market with his miniature books entitled Gigantick Histories (1740–1743) as well as other illustrated books on subjects such as natural history. The most important of the early publishers was John Newbery (1713–1767). Newbery published vast quantities of children’s literature of all types as well as a wide range of books on reading, philosophy, and science, most covered in flowered and gilt Dutch paper and enlivened by simple woodcut illustrations. His first children’s book was A Little Pretty Pocket Book (1744), and one of the most popular was his 1765 History of Little Goody Two Shoes, regarded as the first novel written specifically for children (it is said to have been written for Newbery by Oliver Goldsmith).

December 4, 2007– Up, Up, and Away

The idea of using balloons for transportation had always intrigued George Washington from the time of the first manned flight in Paris in 1783. When the greatest of the aeronauts, Jean Pierre Blanchard, crossed the Atlantic to give a demonstration, Washington was present. The site chosen for the lift-off was the Walnut Street Prison courtyard in Philadelphia, the nation’s capital at the time. Arriving at 9:00 A.M., Washington presented Blanchard with a passport he himself had signed. Not knowing how far the balloonist might travel, Washington had thoughtfully prepared a passport, just in case. It would seem that the nation’s president had high hopes for Blanchard’s flight.

When the 46-minute flight ended in New Jersey, 15 miles away, Blanchard was met by two astonished farmers, one carrying a gun! Blanchard, who didn’t understand English, waved the paper with the presidential signature and produced a bottle of spirits. Fortunately for Blanchard, his actions lessened the tension, and he was given a warm reception and passage back to Philadelphia. The balloonist presented Washington with the first flag literally to fly over U.S. soil.

December 3, 2007– "I Like People Who Can Do Things"

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), along with his son Edward, struggled with a defiant calf that would not return to the barn. Edward pulled on the calf’s ears while his father pushed from behind. Their efforts were in vain. The calf would not budge. Emerson had read the philosophy of Plato and the science of Newton, but none of these intellectual tools helped in getting a reluctant calf into the barn. A young girl, knowing little of philosophy and probably nothing of Newton, watched with amusement at the ineptitude of the father and son team. Without saying a word, she walked up to the calf and thrust a finger into its mouth. Lured by this maternal imitation, the calf dutifully followed her into the barn. Emerson watched with amazement at the ease of her accomplishment. Upon returning to the house, he opened his journal, and wrote these famous seven words: “I like people who can do things.”