tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44385752804016147572024-03-13T20:32:04.747-07:00The Maccabee CatholicComprehensive Information, History, Theology, Interpretation, and Analysis of the Maccabees, the Book of the Maccabees I - IV, Maccabee Judaism, Maccabee Catholicism, and the Judeo-Christian TraditionAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904347198100907985noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4438575280401614757.post-36198693025730696632011-01-11T23:00:00.000-08:002011-01-11T23:14:44.154-08:00The Maccabee Catholic Introduction<div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:180%;">The Maccabee Catholic<br /></span></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><em><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></em></h2><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-716-jpghammerbest21.jpeg"><img title="The Hammer" src="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-716-jpghammerbest21.jpeg?w=300" alt="" height="162" width="300" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Maccabee Catholic </span>is the official Website of <span style="font-style: italic;">Maccabee Catholicism</span>, a devout form of Roman/Orthodox Catholicism with an amphasis on the Old Testament and obedience to their laws. <span style="font-style: italic;">Maccabee Catholicism </span>also both promotes and supports Christian abstinence from pork along with universal Christian male circumcision.</span><br /></div><br /><a title="51-716.jpg.jpeghammerbest2" href="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-716-jpghammerbest2.jpeg"><img title="51-716.jpg.jpeghammerbest2" src="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-716-jpghammerbest2.jpeg?w=150&h=81" alt="51-716.jpg.jpeghammerbest2" height="38" width="71" /></a><a title="51-716.jpg.jpeghammerbest2" href="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-716-jpghammerbest2.jpeg"><img title="51-716.jpg.jpeghammerbest2" src="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-716-jpghammerbest2.jpeg?w=150&h=81" alt="51-716.jpg.jpeghammerbest2" height="38" width="71" /></a><a title="51-716.jpg.jpeghammerbest2" href="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-716-jpghammerbest2.jpeg"><img title="51-716.jpg.jpeghammerbest2" src="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-716-jpghammerbest2.jpeg?w=150&h=81" alt="51-716.jpg.jpeghammerbest2" height="38" width="71" /></a><a title="51-716.jpg.jpeghammerbest2" href="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-716-jpghammerbest2.jpeg"><img title="51-716.jpg.jpeghammerbest2" src="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-716-jpghammerbest2.jpeg?w=150&h=81" alt="51-716.jpg.jpeghammerbest2" height="38" width="71" /></a><a title="51-716.jpg.jpeghammerbest2" href="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-716-jpghammerbest2.jpeg"><img title="51-716.jpg.jpeghammerbest2" src="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-716-jpghammerbest2.jpeg?w=150&h=81" alt="51-716.jpg.jpeghammerbest2" height="38" width="71" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/starandthecrescentmooncrucifixthestarofdavidjpg-1-2-2-2-1-jpgorderofjudas.jpeg"><img class="aligncenter" title="The Order" src="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/starandthecrescentmooncrucifixthestarofdavidjpg-1-2-2-2-1-jpgorderofjudas.jpeg" alt="" height="221" width="215" /></a><br /></div><br />Greetings, Blessings, and Welcome to <strong><em>The Maccabee Catholic</em>,</strong> the official Website of Maccabee Catholicism who is sponsored by the <em><strong>Eternal Order of St. Judas Maccabaeus</strong></em>, a Judeo-Christian Research Foundation. The Order of St. Judas was founded in 2010 by members of the Holy Roman Catholic Church in order to protect and preserve the Judeo-Christian tradition of the Maccabees, who were a group of devout Jewish rebels who went to war against the Greek Empire, and the Pagan 'gods' of Mt. Olympus, in the year 167 B.C. Within three years after the Rebellion of the Maccabees had begun, the forces of traditional, Orthodox Temple Judaism led by St. Judas Maccabaeus, the Hammer, had re-taken Jerusalem and cleansed the Temple of Jerusalem of any Pagan contamination by hammering the Abomination of Desolation into pieces and forever removing it from the Temple. This earth-shaking, internationally famous occurrence is still celebrated today by Jews from around the world during the 8 day winter festival called Hanukkah, which means Dedication in Hebrew.<br /><div><dl> <dt style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/templemenorahgold1.jpeg"><img class="aligncenter" title="The Judeo-Christian Menorah" src="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/templemenorahgold1.jpeg" alt="" height="160" width="124" /></a></dt><h4 style="text-align: center;"><strong>The Judeo-Christian Menorah</strong></h4></dl></div>The Maccabees are also celebrated and revered as Christian Saints by the many Churches of Maccabee Christianity including the Holy Roman Catholic, Orthodox Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Coptic and Ethiopian Churches. By tradition, this means that these Churches openly proclaim and declare that the Maccabees are already in the Kingdom of Heaven with God even though the Second Coming of Joshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) and the Resurrection of the Dead have yet to take place. There are approximately 15 Maccabee Saints. They include the following:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><a href="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/new-picture-11.png"><img class="aligncenter" title="The Maccabee Cornerstone" src="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/new-picture-11.png" alt="" height="376" width="360" /></a></strong></div><dl><h3 style="text-align: center;"><strong>The Maccabee Cornerstone</strong></h3><br /><a title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" href="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg"><img title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" src="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg?w=150&h=78" alt="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" height="36" width="69" /></a><a title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" href="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg"><img title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" src="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg?w=150&h=78" alt="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" height="36" width="69" /></a><a title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" href="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg"><img title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" src="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg?w=150&h=78" alt="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" height="36" width="69" /></a><a title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" href="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg"><img title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" src="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg?w=150&h=78" alt="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" height="36" width="69" /></a><a title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" href="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg"><img title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" src="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg?w=150&h=78" alt="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" height="36" width="69" /></a><a title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" href="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg"><img title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" src="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg?w=150&h=78" alt="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" height="36" width="69" /></a><br /></dl><div style="text-align: left;"><dl><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;font-size:130%;" ><strong>999 - The Five Maccabee Brothers - 999</strong></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />I. St. John 'the Treasure' Gaddis<br />II. Simon 'the Zealous Guide' Thassi<br />III. Judas 'the Hammer' Maccabeus<br />IV. Eleazar 'the Piercer' Avaran<br />V. Jonathan 'the Wary' Apphus</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>The Father</strong>: St. Mattathias the Hasmonean</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/sevenmaccabeessevensons11.jpg"><img title="sevenmaccabees.jpgsevensons1" src="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/sevenmaccabeessevensons11.jpg" alt="" height="150" width="120" /></a><strong> </strong><br /><strong><br /></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;font-size:130%;" ><strong>777 - The Seven Holy Maccabee Martyrs - 777</strong></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />I. St. Abim,<br />II. St. Antonius,<br />III. St. Guriah, Gurias<br />IV. St. Eleazar<br />V. St. Eusebon, Eusebonus<br />VI. St. Alim, Alimus<br />VII. St. Marcellus</span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>The Mother</strong>: St. Solomonia (Hannah, Mirriam)<br /><strong>The Teacher</strong>: St. Eleazar</span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/400px-maccabeean-martyrs-closeup1.jpg"><img title="400px-Maccabeean-martyrs-closeup" src="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/400px-maccabeean-martyrs-closeup1.jpg" alt="" height="189" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><a title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" href="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg"><img title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" src="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg?w=150&h=78" alt="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" height="36" width="69" /></a><a title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" href="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg"><img title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" src="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg?w=150&h=78" alt="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" height="36" width="69" /></a><a title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" href="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg"><img title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" src="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg?w=150&h=78" alt="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" height="36" width="69" /></a><a title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" href="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg"><img title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" src="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg?w=150&h=78" alt="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" height="36" width="69" /></a><a title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" href="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg"><img title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" src="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg?w=150&h=78" alt="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" height="36" width="69" /></a><a title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" href="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg"><img title="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" src="http://stjudasmaccabaeus.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/51-616-jpghammerbest3.jpeg?w=150&h=78" alt="51-616.jpg.jpeghammerbest3" height="36" width="69" /></a><br /><br />May the LORD God bless you in the name of St, Judas Maccabaeus.<br /></div><br /></dl></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904347198100907985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4438575280401614757.post-147769354300299352011-01-11T22:07:00.000-08:002011-01-11T22:08:46.629-08:00The Hammer of God, Part I. The Actual Words of Judas Maccabaeus<div class="post-header"> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 180%;">The Hammer of God</span><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU2IqMMP68OS1hEIenI9Fb10KQkrpwHVNYwJOQNOgFDG0Kzk2EE52awpmz8W6cuXzfK2mynjZBPvy9HiBV5jkkHeP53R0zr62b9C_lXtYaFQyGdJUFtXrtob66LiJaK-e3pARYnFgyO60/s1600/51-110.jpg.jpeghammerbest1.jpeg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 152px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU2IqMMP68OS1hEIenI9Fb10KQkrpwHVNYwJOQNOgFDG0Kzk2EE52awpmz8W6cuXzfK2mynjZBPvy9HiBV5jkkHeP53R0zr62b9C_lXtYaFQyGdJUFtXrtob66LiJaK-e3pARYnFgyO60/s320/51-110.jpg.jpeghammerbest1.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561153608786339826" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"> Part I. The Actual Words of Judas Maccabaeus</span><br /><br />For they trust in arms and acts of daring, but we trust in the Almighty God, who is still able with a single gesture, to strike down those who are coming against us and even the entire world.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (II Maccabees 8:18)<br /><br />It is an easy matter for many to be defeated by the hands of a few and there is no difference in the sight of the God of heaven to deliver with a great multitude, or with a small number. For the success of war is not in the size of the army, but in the strength that comes down from Heaven. They come against us with an insolent large army, with pride to destroy us, and our wives, and our children, and to take our possessions. However, we will fight for our lives and our laws. The LORD Himself will overthrow them right in front of our faces. So as for you fellow soldiers, fear them not.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabaeus 3:18-23)<br /><br />Prepare yourselves, be valiant men, and be ready against the morning, that you may fight with these nations that are assembled against us to destroy us and our sanctuary. For it is better for us to die in battle, than to see the evils of our nation, and of the holy places. For it shall be the will of God in Heaven that this can be done.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabaeus 3:58-60)<br /><br />Fear ye not their multitude, neither be afraid of their assault. Remember in what manner our fathers were saved in the Red Sea, when Pharaoh pursued them with a great army. Now let us cry unto heaven, so that the LORD will have mercy on us and will remember the covenant of our fathers, and thus will destroy this army standing before us this day. Let all the nations know that there is one that redeems and delivers Israel.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabees 4:1-11)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqpggy-I3fcUpmqSWXbN95qCU5U8D8zaI2bTjvZta2TRpdIfXxyLQofCHa7wS2zazn9D898cBY_lRp9a6i_YPc8GbudriYC6NPgOzmUuEcAicoPVKMri2IPlaGiq3Szy5gc_mXaxlMAA0/s1600/98_0136wjpg-1.jpg.jpegJUDASMACCOLLAGE.jpeg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqpggy-I3fcUpmqSWXbN95qCU5U8D8zaI2bTjvZta2TRpdIfXxyLQofCHa7wS2zazn9D898cBY_lRp9a6i_YPc8GbudriYC6NPgOzmUuEcAicoPVKMri2IPlaGiq3Szy5gc_mXaxlMAA0/s320/98_0136wjpg-1.jpg.jpegJUDASMACCOLLAGE.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561153607091588210" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Be not greedy of the plunder, for there is still war before us. And Gorgias and his army are near us in the mountain, instead stand now against our enemies, overthrow them, so that you can take the plunder afterwards with safety.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabees 4:17-18)<br /><br />Blessed art thou, O Saviour of Israel, who destroyed the violence of the mighty by the hand of your servant David and did deliver up the camp of the strangers into the hands of Jonathan, the son of Saul and of his armourbearer. Let this army be defeated by the hands of your people Israel and let them be confounded in their host and their horsemen. Strike them with fear, and cause the boldness of their strength to languish, let them tremble at their own destruction. Cast them down with the sword of them who love you and let all that know your name praise thee with hymns.<br /><br />Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabees 4:30-33)<br /><br />Behold our enemies are scattered and defeated, let us now go to cleanse the holy places and to heal them.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabees 4:36)<br /><br />Allow no man to stay behind, but let all come forth and do battle.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabees 5:2)<br /><br />Behold, our enemies are crushed; let us go up to cleanse the sanctuary and dedicate it.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabaeus 4:36)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN40BijgD0pllKa3GMDM6IqX4GIOAO5YWG99NwhKMwpCBlDhGuGP4kaf3K403CC1mx7GUZauW0L36x5z_U6VZ6iSmjSerF2Bsgjg2hcYq-K1yoEPQQX4IBYMrAL80ZJz2nemM4ms4Mqvo/s1600/images.jpegJudasMacc1.jpeg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 259px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN40BijgD0pllKa3GMDM6IqX4GIOAO5YWG99NwhKMwpCBlDhGuGP4kaf3K403CC1mx7GUZauW0L36x5z_U6VZ6iSmjSerF2Bsgjg2hcYq-K1yoEPQQX4IBYMrAL80ZJz2nemM4ms4Mqvo/s320/images.jpegJudasMacc1.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561153603070801874" border="0" /></a><br /></div>Fight today for your brothers!<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabaeus 5:32)<br /><br />All the Gentiles around us have gathered to him; it is a very large force.They also have hired Arabs to help them, and they are encamped across the stream, ready to come and fight against you." And Judas went to meet them.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabees 5:38-39)<br /><br />Permit no man to encamp, but make them all engage in battle.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabees 5:42)<br /><br />When the messengers from the king spoke blasphemy, thy angel went forth and struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand of the Assyrians. So also crush this army before us today. Let them know and learn that Nicanor has spoken wickedly against the sanctuary, and judge him according to this wickedness.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabees 7:41-42)<br /><br />Let us pass through your land to get to our land. No one will do you harm; we will simply pass by on foot.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabees 5:48)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPBx9ZG8-3gyXk-meqBef1_2NdrTH17h2tPgpGHgP_fgpJWY-1WU2g2ObTC7DOwzujcP9d85Fv9LEYonCIXmpXWcdB1fG6lLR4jWZG9pSWLWz8HGTyZKOEmX48PnYZK7smtbfbCSViHYk/s1600/www-St-Takla-org--Judas-Maccabeus-03.jpg.jpeg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 277px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPBx9ZG8-3gyXk-meqBef1_2NdrTH17h2tPgpGHgP_fgpJWY-1WU2g2ObTC7DOwzujcP9d85Fv9LEYonCIXmpXWcdB1fG6lLR4jWZG9pSWLWz8HGTyZKOEmX48PnYZK7smtbfbCSViHYk/s320/www-St-Takla-org--Judas-Maccabeus-03.jpg.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561153593502625970" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />O LORD, when they that were sent by king Sennacherib blasphemed You, an angel went out, and slew a hundred and eighty-five thousand of them. Even so destroy this army that stands before today, and let the rest know that he has spoken ill against Your sanctuary and judge him according to his wickedness.<br /><br />- Judas Macabaeus (I Maccabees 7:41-42)<br /><br />Let us arise, and go against our enemies, for we may still be able to fight against them and win.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabees 9:7)<br /><br />God forbid we should ever back down and flee away from the enemy, for if our time has truly come, let us die manfully for our brothers so we don't leave stains upon our glory.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabees 9:10)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD8D0jSgorG0vWNvdZVU7Z_nNLAYRE4xEB4wQNm7m1-kouWI1BRu-qRqb885JCwGyerHATVun1lFEF6tTi9YVMYU32heXUh8gvBHcgOVRfxYrhGMj089WRHk8WmkKUN_6qRbv779VVjQM/s1600/0.jpg.jpegJUDASINWORDS.jpeg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD8D0jSgorG0vWNvdZVU7Z_nNLAYRE4xEB4wQNm7m1-kouWI1BRu-qRqb885JCwGyerHATVun1lFEF6tTi9YVMYU32heXUh8gvBHcgOVRfxYrhGMj089WRHk8WmkKUN_6qRbv779VVjQM/s320/0.jpg.jpegJUDASINWORDS.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561153597757359154" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />May the LORD God bless you in the name of the Maccabees.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904347198100907985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4438575280401614757.post-62772932316671331212010-12-25T22:32:00.000-08:002010-12-25T22:42:12.177-08:00The Words of Judas Maccabaeus<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqMc1kKE6mpDhxf5GoZvVzdX5aj7n4RCpDHzfIkLMgELGhfO5HcfpaRS4mDOencNucGSPZ_bBuBvPeCMZP0LExJeV7KIisA5AlWuw88dr0MdQ-o9mi17ybgcQcHdvDfT2j47y_lSx4bZ0/s1600/JUDASMenorahbySarahHopkins.jpeg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqMc1kKE6mpDhxf5GoZvVzdX5aj7n4RCpDHzfIkLMgELGhfO5HcfpaRS4mDOencNucGSPZ_bBuBvPeCMZP0LExJeV7KIisA5AlWuw88dr0MdQ-o9mi17ybgcQcHdvDfT2j47y_lSx4bZ0/s320/JUDASMenorahbySarahHopkins.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554875705124903298" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">The Words of the Hammer of God</span><br /><br />For they trust in arms and acts of daring, but we trust in the Almighty God, who is still able with a single gesture, to strike down those who are coming against us and even the entire world.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (II Maccabees 8:18)<br /><br />O Lord, You did once send Your angel in the time of Hezekiah king of Judea, and he slew fully a hundred and eighty-five thousand enemies in the camp of Sennacherib. So now, O Sovereign of the heavens, I pray you also send us a good angel to carry terror and trembling before us. By the might of Your arm may these infidels who come against Your holy people be struck down.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (II Maccabees 15:22-24)<br /><br />It is an easy matter for many to be defeated by the hands of a few: and there is no difference in the sight of the God of heaven to deliver with a great multitude, or with a small company. For the success of war is not in the multitude of the army, but the strength that comes down from Heaven. They come against us with an insolent multitude, and with pride, to destroy us, and our wives, and our children, and to take our possessions. But we will fight for our lives and our laws. And the Lord himself will overthrow them before our face: but as for you fellow soldiers, fear them not.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabaeus 3:18-23)<br /><br />Prepare yourselves, and be valiant men, and be ready against the morning, that you may fight with these nations that are assembled against us to destroy us and our sanctuary. For it is better for us to die in battle, than to see the evils of our nation, and of the holies. Nevertheless as it shall be the will of God in heaven so be it done.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabaeus 3:58-60)<br /><br />Fear ye not their multitude, neither be ye afraid of their assault. Remember in what manner our fathers were saved in the Red Sea, when Pharao pursued them with a great army. And now let us cry to heaven: and the Lord will have mercy on us, and will remember the covenant of our fathers, and will destroy this army before our face this day: And all nations shall know that there is one that redeemeth and delivereth Israel.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabees 4:1-11)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOOpUxh7UuU6bYr9LHuCYOgrj3LcdsE-rOJ_TxL-kPEKBtNnnZ-xJBT4esNQHRW7kil2WNEe7PSklbNOYXVnuZI-cpK7J9BlDjYLSsuiaaac3bg7iKcHWepPY2dS0Z33pwSdm7uIBQDRw/s1600/images.jpegJudasMacc1.jpeg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 259px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOOpUxh7UuU6bYr9LHuCYOgrj3LcdsE-rOJ_TxL-kPEKBtNnnZ-xJBT4esNQHRW7kil2WNEe7PSklbNOYXVnuZI-cpK7J9BlDjYLSsuiaaac3bg7iKcHWepPY2dS0Z33pwSdm7uIBQDRw/s320/images.jpegJudasMacc1.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554875698797463730" border="0" /></a><br /></div>Be not greedy of the plunder, for there is still war before us. And Gorgias and his army are near us in the mountain: but stand you now against our enemies, and overthrow them, and you shall take the plunder afterwards with safety.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabees 4:17-18)<br /><br />Blessed art thou, O Saviour of Israel, who didst break the violence of the mighty by the hand of thy servant David, and didst deliver up the camp of the strangers into the hands of Jonathan the son of Saul and of his armourbearer. Shut up this army in the hands of thy people Israel, and let them be confounded in their host and their horsemen. Strike them with fear, and cause the boldness of their strength to languish, and let them quake at their own destruction. Cast them down with the sword of them that love thee: and let all that know thy name, praise thee with hymns.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabees 4:30-33)<br /><br />Behold our enemies are scattered and defeated, let us go up now to cleanse the holy places and to mend them.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabees 4:36)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhthcgWoBD9bk7GMPeyvw_IbvzKGoD2F02bInEgqQFBrSLrsbIVVjnegb6A_NRBDB9uCe4EB-PKMqNQ19Z8TzMPderDYcmk7PPLdfjcGthyZAFDLAmmmTP3P3JNJ9454_uPAgKUqbReE0c/s1600/1050734.jpg.jpegJUDASMACC.jpeg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 220px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhthcgWoBD9bk7GMPeyvw_IbvzKGoD2F02bInEgqQFBrSLrsbIVVjnegb6A_NRBDB9uCe4EB-PKMqNQ19Z8TzMPderDYcmk7PPLdfjcGthyZAFDLAmmmTP3P3JNJ9454_uPAgKUqbReE0c/s320/1050734.jpg.jpegJUDASMACC.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554875695421128578" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Allow no man to stay behind, but let all come to the battle.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabees 5:2)<br /><br />Behold, our enemies are crushed; let us go up to cleanse the sanctuary and dedicate it.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabaeus 4:36)<br /><br />Fight today for your brothers!<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabaeus 5:32)<br /><br />Permit no man to encamp, but make them all enter the battle.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabees 5:42)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1zw_dne0erKcWKWyBYrV1B_rnbmhD5rMT7d2delWLR4JM226eiJfVNSvI_VOtMqfZHAL_PogixJTc_tOVtCnRu2RQJhAroK2nm0rdXf7K4g6YoGm1fQAAibZ-6Ls2b3mr-tzjOhPpkYk/s1600/0.jpg.jpegJUDASINWORDS.jpeg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1zw_dne0erKcWKWyBYrV1B_rnbmhD5rMT7d2delWLR4JM226eiJfVNSvI_VOtMqfZHAL_PogixJTc_tOVtCnRu2RQJhAroK2nm0rdXf7K4g6YoGm1fQAAibZ-6Ls2b3mr-tzjOhPpkYk/s320/0.jpg.jpegJUDASINWORDS.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554875690430877746" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />When the messengers from the king spoke blasphemy, thy angel went forth and struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand of the Assyrians. So also crush this army before us today; let the rest learn that Nicanor has spoken wickedly against the sanctuary, and judge him according to this wickedness.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabees 7:41-42)<br /><br />Let us pass through your land to get to our land. No one will do you harm; we will simply pass by on foot.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabees 5:48)<br /><br />O Lord, when they that were sent by king Sennacherib blasphemed thee, an angel went out, and slew of them a hundred and eighty-five thousand. Even so destroy this army in our sight to day, and let the rest know that he hath spoken ill against thy sanctuary: and judge thou him according to his wickedness.<br /><br />- Judas Macabaeus (I Maccabees 7:41-42)<br /><br />Let us arise, and go against our enemies, for we may still be able to fight against them and win.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabees 9:7)<br /><br />God forbid we should ever back down and flee away from them: but if our time has truly come, let us die manfully for our brothers and let us not stain our glory.<br /><br />- Judas Maccabaeus (I Maccabees 9:10)<br /><br />May the LORD God bless you in the name of St. Judas Maccabaeus.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM70z6C2npbr-41IAe4mC1Edl_e7o6BEZaZ9Nv8q0jjKEp9XeTqcvD8OOSNFmoPKSsuObZ-rxp2j2rnJyUoI_SIPBihfCo0TgHSreo9UH5QqzEwMIVguDExhgn74mlCa637CXOHfIhkzc/s1600/Judah-the-Hammer.jpg.jpeg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 207px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM70z6C2npbr-41IAe4mC1Edl_e7o6BEZaZ9Nv8q0jjKEp9XeTqcvD8OOSNFmoPKSsuObZ-rxp2j2rnJyUoI_SIPBihfCo0TgHSreo9UH5QqzEwMIVguDExhgn74mlCa637CXOHfIhkzc/s320/Judah-the-Hammer.jpg.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554875684355702338" border="0" /></a><br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904347198100907985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4438575280401614757.post-30864114339039864072010-12-17T22:12:00.000-08:002010-12-25T19:59:20.928-08:00Judas Maccabaeus, a Theatrical Poem, by Henry Wadsworth LongfellowJUDAS MACCABAEUS.<br />Act I. the Citadel of Antiochus At Jerusalem<br />Act II. the Dungeons in the<br />Citadel<br />Act III. the Battle-Field of Beth-Horon<br />Act IV. the Outer Courts of the Temple At Jerusalem<br />Act V. the Mountains of Ecbatana<br /><br /><br />ACT I. The Citadel of Antiochus at Jerusalem.<br /><br />SCENE I. -- ANTIOCHUS; JASON.<br /><br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />O Antioch, my Antioch, my city!<br />Queen of the East! my solace, my delight!<br />The dowry of my sister Cleopatra<br />When she was wed to Ptolemy, and now<br />Won back and made more wonderful by me!<br />I love thee, and I long to be once more<br />Among the players and the dancing women<br />Within thy gates, and bathe in the Orontes,<br />Thy river and mine. O Jason, my High-Priest,<br />For I have made thee so, and thou art mine,<br />Hast thou seen Antioch the Beautiful?<br /><br />JASON.<br />Never, my Lord.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />Then hast thou never seen<br />The wonder of the world. This city of David<br />Compared with Antioch is but a village,<br />And its inhabitants compared with Greeks<br />Are mannerless boors.<br /><br />JASON.<br />They are barbarians,<br />And mannerless.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />They must be civilized.<br />They must be made to have more gods than one;<br />And goddesses besides.<br /><br />JASON.<br />They shall have more.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />They must have hippodromes, and games, and baths,<br />Stage-plays and festivals, and most of all<br />The Dionysia.<br /><br />JASON.<br />They shall have them all.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />By Heracles! but I should like to see<br />These Hebrews crowned with ivy, and arrayed<br />In skins of fawns, with drums and flutes and thyrsi,<br />Revel and riot through the solemn streets<br />Of their old town. Ha, ha! It makes me merry<br />Only to think of it!--Thou dost not laugh.<br /><br />JASON.<br />Yea, I laugh inwardly.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />The new Greek leaven<br />Works slowly in this Israelitish dough!<br />Have I not sacked the Temple, and on the altar<br />Set up the statue of Olympian Zeus<br />To Hellenize it?<br /><br />JASON.<br />Thou hast done all this.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />As thou wast Joshua once and now art Jason,<br />And from a Hebrew hast become a Greek,<br />So shall this Hebrew nation be translated,<br />Their very natures and their names be changed,<br />And all be Hellenized.<br /><br />JASON.<br />It shall be done.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />Their manners and their laws and way of living<br />Shall all be Greek. They shall unlearn their language,<br />And learn the lovely speech of Antioch.<br />Where hast thou been to-day? Thou comest late.<br /><br />JASON.<br />Playing at discus with the other priests<br />In the Gymnasium.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />Thou hast done well.<br />There's nothing better for you lazy priests<br />Than discus-playing with the common people.<br />Now tell me, Jason, what these Hebrews call me<br />When they converse together at their games.<br /><br />JASON.<br />Antiochus Epiphanes, my Lord;<br />Antiochus the Illustrious.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />O, not that;<br />That is the public cry; I mean the name<br />They give me when they talk among themselves,<br />And think that no one listens; what is that?<br /><br />JASON.<br />Antiochus Epimanes, my Lord!<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />Antiochus the Mad! Ay, that is it.<br />And who hath said it? Who hath set in motion<br />That sorry jest?<br /><br />JASON.<br />The Seven Sons insane<br />Of a weird woman, like themselves insane.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />I like their courage, but it shall not save them.<br />They shall be made to eat the flesh of swine,<br />Or they shall die. Where are they?<br /><br />JASON.<br />In the dungeons<br />Beneath this tower.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />There let them stay and starve,<br />Till I am ready to make Greeks of them,<br />After my fashion.<br /><br />JASON.<br />They shall stay and starve.--<br />My Lord, the Ambassadors of Samaria<br />Await thy pleasure.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />Why not my displeasure?<br />Ambassadors are tedious. They are men<br />Who work for their own ends, and not for mine<br />There is no furtherance in them. Let them go<br />To Apollonius, my governor<br />There in Samaria, and not trouble me.<br />What do they want?<br /><br />JASON.<br />Only the royal sanction<br />To give a name unto a nameless temple<br />Upon Mount Gerizim.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />Then bid them enter.<br />This pleases me, and furthers my designs.<br />The occasion is auspicious. Bid them enter.<br /><br />SCENE II. -- ANTIOCHUS; JASON; THE SAMARITAN AMBASSADORS.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />Approach. Come forward; stand not at the door<br />Wagging your long beards, but demean yourselves<br />As doth become Ambassadors. What seek ye?<br /><br />AN AMBASSADOR.<br />An audience from the King.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />Speak, and be brief.<br />Waste not the time in useless rhetoric.<br />Words are not things.<br /><br />AMBASSADOR (reading). "To King Antiochus,<br />The God, Epiphanes; a Memorial<br />From the Sidonians, who live at Sichem."<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />Sidonians?<br /><br />AMBASSADOR.<br />Ay, my Lord.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />Go on, go on!<br />And do not tire thyself and me with bowing!<br /><br />AMBASSADOR (reading).<br />"We are a colony of Medes and Persians."<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />No, ye are Jews from one of the Ten Tribes;<br />Whether Sidonians or Samaritans<br />Or Jews of Jewry, matters not to me;<br />Ye are all Israelites, ye are all Jews.<br />When the Jews prosper, ye claim kindred with them;<br />When the Jews suffer, ye are Medes and Persians:<br />I know that in the days of Alexander<br />Ye claimed exemption from the annual tribute<br />In the Sabbatic Year, because, ye said,<br />Your fields had not been planted in that year.<br /><br />AMBASSADOR (reading).<br />"Our fathers, upon certain frequent plagues,<br />And following an ancient superstition,<br />Were long accustomed to observe that day<br />Which by the Israelites is called the Sabbath,<br />And in a temple on Mount Gerizim<br />Without a name, they offered sacrifice.<br />Now we, who are Sidonians, beseech thee,<br />Who art our benefactor and our savior,<br />Not to confound us with these wicked Jews,<br />But to give royal order and injunction<br />To Apollonius in Samaria.<br />Thy governor, and likewise to Nicanor,<br />Thy procurator, no more to molest us;<br />And let our nameless temple now be named<br />The Temple of Jupiter Hellenius."<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />This shall be done. Full well it pleaseth me<br />Ye are not Jews, or are no longer Jews,<br />But Greeks; if not by birth, yet Greeks by custom.<br />Your nameless temple shall receive the name<br />Of Jupiter Hellenius. Ye may go!<br /><br />SCENE III. -- ANTIOCHUS; JASON.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />My task is easier than I dreamed. These people<br />Meet me half-way. Jason, didst thou take note<br />How these Samaritans of Sichem said<br />They were not Jews? that they were Medes and Persians,<br />They were Sidonians, anything but Jews?<br />'T is of good augury. The rest will follow<br />Till the whole land is Hellenized.<br /><br />JASON.<br />My Lord,<br />These are Samaritans. The tribe of Judah<br />Is of a different temper, and the task<br />Will be more difficult.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />Dost thou gainsay me?<br /><br />JASON.<br />I know the stubborn nature of the Jew.<br />Yesterday, Eleazer, an old man,<br />Being fourscore years and ten, chose rather death<br />By torture than to eat the flesh of swine.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />The life is in the blood, and the whole nation<br />Shall bleed to death, or it shall change its faith!<br /><br />JASON.<br />Hundreds have fled already to the mountains<br />Of Ephraim, where Judas Maccabaeus<br />Hath raised the standard of revolt against thee.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />I will burn down their city, and will make it<br />Waste as a wilderness. Its thoroughfares<br />Shall be but furrows in a field of ashes.<br />It shall be sown with salt as Sodom is!<br />This hundred and fifty-third Olympiad<br />Shall have a broad and blood-red sea upon it,<br />Stamped with the awful letters of my name,<br />Antiochus the God, Epiphanes!--<br />Where are those Seven Sons?<br /><br />JASON.<br />My Lord, they wait<br />Thy royal pleasure.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />They shall wait no longer!<br /><br />ACT II. The Dungeons in the Citadel.<br /><br />SCENE I. -- THE MOTHER of the SEVEN SONS alone, listening.<br /><br />THE MOTHER.<br />Be strong, my heart!<br />Break not till they are dead,<br />All, all my Seven Sons; then burst asunder,<br />And let this tortured and tormented soul<br />Leap and rush out like water through the shards<br />Of earthen vessels broken at a well.<br />O my dear children, mine in life and death,<br />I know not how ye came into my womb;<br />I neither gave you breath, nor gave you life,<br />And neither was it I that formed the members<br />Of every one of you. But the Creator,<br />Who made the world, and made the heavens above us,<br />Who formed the generation of mankind,<br />And found out the beginning of all things,<br />He gave you breath and life, and will again<br />Of his own mercy, as ye now regard<br />Not your own selves, but his eternal law.<br />I do not murmur, nay, I thank thee, God,<br />That I and mine have not been deemed unworthy<br />To suffer for thy sake, and for thy law,<br />And for the many sins of Israel.<br />Hark! I can hear within the sound of scourges!<br />I feel them more than ye do, O my sons!<br />But cannot come to you. I, who was wont<br />To wake at night at the least cry ye made,<br />To whom ye ran at every slightest hurt,<br />I cannot take you now into my lap<br />And soothe your pain, but God will take you all<br />Into his pitying arms, and comfort you,<br />And give you rest.<br /><br />A VOICE (within).<br />What wouldst thou ask of us?<br />Ready are we to die, but we will never<br />Transgress the law and customs of our fathers.<br /><br />THE MOTHER.<br />It is the Voice of my first-born! O brave<br />And noble boy! Thou hast the privilege<br />Of dying first, as thou wast born the first.<br /><br />THE SAME VOICE (within).<br />God looketh on us, and hath comfort in us;<br />As Moses in his song of old declared,<br />He in his servants shall be comforted.<br /><br />THE MOTHER.<br />I knew thou wouldst not fail!--He speaks no more,<br />He is beyond all pain!<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS. (within).<br />If thou eat not<br />Thou shalt be tortured throughout all the members<br />Of thy whole body. Wilt thou eat then?<br /><br />SECOND VOICE. (within).<br />No.<br /><br />THE MOTHER.<br />It is Adaiah's voice. I tremble for him.<br />I know his nature, devious as the wind,<br />And swift to change, gentle and yielding always.<br />Be steadfast, O my son!<br /><br />THE SAME VOICE (within).<br />Thou, like a fury,<br />Takest us from this present life, but God,<br />Who rules the world, shall raise us up again<br />Into life everlasting.<br /><br />THE MOTHER.<br />God, I thank thee<br />That thou hast breathed into that timid heart<br />Courage to die for thee. O my Adaiah,<br />Witness of God! if thou for whom I feared<br />Canst thus encounter death, I need not fear;<br />The others will not shrink.<br /><br />THIRD VOICE (within).<br />Behold these hands<br />Held out to thee, O King Antiochus,<br />Not to implore thy mercy, but to show<br />That I despise them. He who gave them to me<br />Will give them back again.<br /><br />THE MOTHER.<br />O Avilan,<br />It is thy voice. For the last time I hear it;<br />For the last time on earth, but not the last.<br />To death it bids defiance and to torture.<br />It sounds to me as from another world,<br />And makes the petty miseries of this<br />Seem unto me as naught, and less than naught.<br />Farewell, my Avilan; nay, I should say<br />Welcome, my Avilan; for I am dead<br />Before thee. I am waiting for the others.<br />Why do they linger?<br /><br />FOURTH VOICE (within).<br />It is good, O King,<br />Being put to death by men, to look for hope<br />From God, to be raised up again by him.<br />But thou--no resurrection shalt thou have<br />To life hereafter.<br /><br />THE MOTHER.<br />Four! already four!<br />Three are still living; nay, they all are living,<br />Half here, half there. Make haste, Antiochus,<br />To reunite us; for the sword that cleaves<br />These miserable bodies makes a door<br />Through which our souls, impatient of release,<br />Rush to each other's arms.<br /><br />FIFTH VOICE (within).<br />Thou hast the power;<br />Thou doest what thou wilt. Abide awhile,<br />And thou shalt see the power of God, and how<br />He will torment thee and thy seed.<br /><br />THE MOTHER.<br />O hasten;<br />Why dost thou pause? Thou who hast slain already<br />So many Hebrew women, and hast hung<br />Their murdered infants round their necks, slay me,<br />For I too am a woman, and these boys<br />Are mine. Make haste to slay us all,<br />And hang my lifeless babes about my neck.<br /><br />SIXTH VOICE (within).<br />Think not,<br />Antiochus, that takest in hand<br />To strive against the God of Israel,<br />Thou shalt escape unpunished, for his wrath<br />Shall overtake thee and thy bloody house.<br /><br />THE MOTHER.<br />One more, my Sirion, and then all is ended.<br />Having put all to bed, then in my turn<br />I will lie down and sleep as sound as they.<br />My Sirion, my youngest, best beloved!<br />And those bright golden locks, that I so oft<br />Have curled about these fingers, even now<br />Are foul with blood and dust, like a lamb's fleece,<br />Slain in the shambles.--Not a sound I hear.<br />This silence is more terrible to me<br />Than any sound, than any cry of pain,<br />That might escape the lips of one who dies.<br />Doth his heart fail him? Doth he fall away<br />In the last hour from God? O Sirion, Sirion,<br />Art thou afraid? I do not hear thy voice.<br />Die as thy brothers died. Thou must not live!<br /><br />SCENE II. -- THE MOTHER; ANTIOCHUS; SIRION,<br /><br />THE MOTHER.<br />Are they all dead?<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />Of all thy Seven Sons<br />One only lives. Behold them where they lie<br />How dost thou like this picture?<br /><br />THE MOTHER.<br />God in heaven!<br />Can a man do such deeds, and yet not die<br />By the recoil of his own wickedness?<br />Ye murdered, bleeding, mutilated bodies<br />That were my children once, and still are mine,<br />I cannot watch o'er you as Rispah watched<br />In sackcloth o'er the seven sons of Saul,<br />Till water drop upon you out of heaven<br />And wash this blood away! I cannot mourn<br />As she, the daughter of Aiah, mourned the dead,<br />From the beginning of the barley-harvest<br />Until the autumn rains, and suffered not<br />The birds of air to rest on them by day,<br />Nor the wild beasts by night. For ye have died<br />A better death, a death so full of life<br />That I ought rather to rejoice than mourn.--<br />Wherefore art thou not dead, O Sirion?<br />Wherefore art thou the only living thing<br />Among thy brothers dead? Art thou afraid?<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />O woman, I have spared him for thy sake,<br />For he is fair to look upon and comely;<br />And I have sworn to him by all the gods<br />That I would crown his life with joy and honor,<br />Heap treasures on him, luxuries, delights,<br />Make him my friend and keeper of my secrets,<br />If he would turn from your Mosaic Law<br />And be as we are; but he will not listen.<br /><br />THE MOTHER.<br />My noble Sirion!<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />Therefore I beseech thee,<br />Who art his mother, thou wouldst speak with him,<br />And wouldst persuade him. I am sick of blood.<br /><br />THE MOTHER.<br />Yea, I will speak with him and will persuade him.<br />O Sirion, my son! have pity on me,<br />On me that bare thee, and that gave thee suck,<br />And fed and nourished thee, and brought thee up<br />With the dear trouble of a mother's care<br />Unto this age. Look on the heavens above thee,<br />And on the earth and all that is therein;<br />Consider that God made them out of things<br />That were not; and that likewise in this manner<br />Mankind was made. Then fear not this tormentor<br />But, being worthy of thy brethren, take<br />Thy death as they did, that I may receive thee<br />Again in mercy with them.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />I am mocked,<br />Yea, I am laughed to scorn.<br /><br />SIRION.<br />Whom wait ye for?<br />Never will I obey the King's commandment,<br />But the commandment of the ancient Law,<br />That was by Moses given unto our fathers.<br />And thou, O godless man, that of all others<br />Art the most wicked, be not lifted up,<br />Nor puffed up with uncertain hopes, uplifting<br />Thy hand against the servants of the Lord,<br />For thou hast not escaped the righteous judgment<br />Of the Almighty God, who seeth all things!<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />He is no God of mine; I fear him not.<br /><br />SIRION.<br />My brothers, who have suffered a brief pain,<br />Are dead; but thou, Antiochus, shalt suffer<br />The punishment of pride. I offer up<br />My body and my life, beseeching God<br />That he would speedily be merciful<br />Unto our nation, and that thou by plagues<br />Mysterious and by torments mayest confess<br />That he alone is God.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />Ye both shall perish<br />By torments worse than any that your God,<br />Here or hereafter, hath in store for me.<br /><br />THE MOTHER.<br />My Sirion, I am proud of thee!<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />Be silent!<br />Go to thy bed of torture in yon chamber,<br />Where lie so many sleepers, heartless mother!<br />Thy footsteps will not wake them, nor thy voice,<br />Nor wilt thou hear, amid thy troubled dreams,<br />Thy children crying for thee in the night!<br /><br />THE MOTHER.<br />O Death, that stretchest thy white hands to me,<br />I fear them not, but press them to my lips,<br />That are as white as thine; for I am Death,<br />Nay, am the Mother of Death, seeing these sons<br />All lying lifeless.--Kiss me, Sirion.<br /><br />ACT III. The Battle-field of Beth-horon.<br /><br />SCENE I. -- JUDAS MACCABAEUS in armor before his tent.<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />The trumpets sound; the echoes of the mountains<br />Answer them, as the Sabbath morning breaks<br />Over Beth-horon and its battle-field,<br />Where the great captain of the hosts of God,<br />A slave brought up in the brick-fields of Egypt,<br />O'ercame the Amorites. There was no day<br />Like that, before or after it, nor shall be.<br />The sun stood still; the hammers of the hail<br />Beat on their harness; and the captains set<br />Their weary feet upon the necks of kings,<br />As I will upon thine, Antiochus,<br />Thou man of blood!--Behold the rising sun<br />Strikes on the golden letters of my banner,<br />Be Elohim Yehovah! Who is like<br />To thee, O Lord, among the gods!--Alas!<br />I am not Joshua, I cannot say,<br />"Sun, stand thou still on Gibeon, and thou Moon,<br />In Ajalon!" Nor am I one who wastes<br />The fateful time in useless lamentation;<br />But one who bears his life upon his hand<br />To lose it or to save it, as may best<br />Serve the designs of Him who giveth life.<br /><br />SCENE II -- JUDAS MACCABAEUS; JEWISH FUGITIVES.<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />Who and what are ye, that with furtive steps<br />Steal in among our tents?<br /><br />FUGITIVES.<br />O Maccabaeus,<br />Outcasts are we, and fugitives as thou art,<br />Jews of Jerusalem, that have escaped<br />From the polluted city, and from death.<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />None can escape from death. Say that ye come<br />To die for Israel, and ye are welcome.<br />What tidings bring ye?<br /><br />FUGITIVES.<br />Tidings of despair.<br />The Temple is laid waste; the precious vessels,<br />Censers of gold, vials and veils and crowns,<br />And golden ornaments, and hidden treasures,<br />Have all been taken from it, and the Gentiles<br />With revelling and with riot fill its courts,<br />And dally with harlots in the holy places.<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />All this I knew before.<br /><br />FUGITIVES.<br />Upon the altar<br />Are things profane, things by the law forbidden;<br />Nor can we keep our Sabbaths or our Feasts,<br />But on the festivals of Dionysus<br />Must walk in their processions, bearing ivy<br />To crown a drunken god.<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />This too I know.<br />But tell me of the Jews. How fare the Jews?<br /><br />FUGITIVES.<br />The coming of this mischief hath been sore<br />And grievous to the people. All the land<br />Is full of lamentation and of mourning.<br />The Princes and the Elders weep and wail;<br />The young men and the maidens are made feeble;<br />The beauty of the women hath been changed.<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />And are there none to die for Israel?<br />T is not enough to mourn. Breastplate and harness<br />Are better things than sackcloth. Let the women<br />Lament for Israel; the men should die.<br /><br />FUGITIVES<br />Both men and women die; old men and young:<br />Old Eleazer died: and Mahala<br />With all her Seven Sons.<br /><br />JUDAS<br />Antiochus,<br />At every step thou takest there is left<br />A bloody footprint in the street, by which<br />The avenging wrath of God will track thee out!<br />It is enough. Go to the sutler's tents;<br />Those of you who are men, put on such armor<br />As ye may find; those of you who are women,<br />Buckle that armor on; and for a watchword<br />Whisper, or cry aloud, "The Help of God."<br /><br />SCENE III. -- JUDAS MACCABAEUS; NICANOR.<br /><br />NICANOR<br />Hail, Judas Maccabaeus!<br /><br />JUDAS<br />Hail!--Who art thou<br />That comest here in this mysterious guise<br />Into our camp unheralded?<br /><br />NICANOR.<br />A herald<br />Sent from Nicanor.<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />Heralds come not thus.<br />Armed with thy shirt of mail from head to heel,<br />Thou glidest like a serpent silently<br />Into my presence. Wherefore dost thou turn<br />Thy face from me? A herald speaks his errand<br />With forehead unabashed. Thou art a spy sent by Nicanor.<br /><br />NICANOR.<br />No disguise avails!<br />Behold my face; I am Nicanor's self.<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />Thou art indeed Nicanor. I salute thee.<br />What brings thee hither to this hostile camp<br />Thus unattended?<br /><br />NICANOR.<br />Confidence in thee.<br />Thou hast the nobler virtues of thy race,<br />Without the failings that attend those virtues.<br />Thou canst be strong, and yet not tyrannous,<br />Canst righteous be and not intolerant.<br />Let there be peace between us.<br /><br />JUDAS<br />What is peace?<br />Is it to bow in silence to our victors?<br />Is it to see our cities sacked and pillaged,<br />Our people slain, or sold as slaves, or fleeing<br />At night-time by the blaze of burning towns;<br />Jerusalem laid waste; the Holy Temple<br />Polluted with strange gods? Are these things peace?<br /><br />NICANOR<br />These are the dire necessities that wait<br />On war, whose loud and bloody enginery<br />I seek to stay. Let there be peace between<br />Antiochus and thee.<br /> <br />JUDAS<br />Antiochus?<br />What is Antiochus, that he should prate<br />Of peace to me, who am a fugitive?<br />To-day he shall be lifted up; to-morrow<br />Shall not be found, because he is returned<br />Unto his dust; his thought has come to nothing.<br />There is no peace between us, nor can be,<br />Until this banner floats upon the walls<br />Of our Jerusalem.<br /><br />NICANOR.<br />Between that city<br />And thee there lies a waving wall of tents,<br />Held by a host of forty thousand foot,<br />And horsemen seven thousand. What hast thou<br />To bring against all these?<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />The power of God,<br />Whose breath shall scatter your white tents abroad,<br />As flakes of snow.<br /><br />NICANOR.<br />Your Mighty One in heaven<br />Will not do battle on the Seventh Day;<br />It is his day of rest.<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />Silence, blasphemer.<br />Go to thy tents.<br /><br />NICANOR.<br />Shall it be war or peace?<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />War, war, and only war. Go to thy tents<br />That shall be scattered, as by you were scattered<br />The torn and trampled pages of the Law,<br />Blown through the windy streets.<br /><br />NICANOR.<br />Farewell, brave foe!<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />Ho, there, my captains! Have safe-conduct given<br />Unto Nicanor's herald through the camp,<br />And come yourselves to me.--Farewell, Nicanor!<br /><br />SCENE IV. -- JUDAS MACCABAEUS; CAPTAINS AND SOLDIERS.<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />The hour is come. Gather the host together<br />For battle. Lo, with trumpets and with songs<br />The army of Nicanor comes against us.<br />Go forth to meet them, praying in your hearts,<br />And fighting with your hands.<br /><br />CAPTAINS.<br />Look forth and see!<br />The morning sun is shining on their shields<br />Of gold and brass; the mountains glisten with them,<br />And shine like lamps. And we who are so few<br />And poorly armed, and ready to faint with fasting,<br />How shall we fight against this multitude?<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />The victory of a battle standeth not<br />In multitudes, but in the strength that cometh<br />From heaven above. The Lord forbid that I<br />Should do this thing, and flee away from them.<br />Nay, if our hour be come, then let us die;<br />Let us not stain our honor.<br /><br />CAPTAINS.<br />'T is the Sabbath.<br />Wilt thou fight on the Sabbath, Maccabaeus?<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />Ay; when I fight the battles of the Lord,<br />I fight them on his day, as on all others.<br />Have ye forgotten certain fugitives<br />That fled once to these hills, and hid themselves<br />In caves? How their pursuers camped against them<br />Upon the Seventh Day, and challenged them?<br />And how they answered not, nor cast a stone,<br />Nor stopped the places where they lay concealed,<br />But meekly perished with their wives and children,<br />Even to the number of a thousand souls?<br />We who are fighting for our laws and lives<br />Will not so perish.<br /><br />CAPTAINS.<br />Lead us to the battle!<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />And let our watchword be, "The Help of God!"<br />Last night I dreamed a dream; and in my vision<br />Beheld Onias, our High-Priest of old,<br />Who holding up his hands prayed for the Jews.<br />This done, in the like manner there appeared<br />An old man, and exceeding glorious,<br />With hoary hair, and of a wonderful<br />And excellent majesty. And Onias said:<br />"This is a lover of the Jews, who prayeth<br />Much for the people and the Holy City,--<br />God's prophet Jeremias." And the prophet<br />Held forth his right hand and gave unto me<br />A sword of gold; and giving it he said:<br />"Take thou this holy sword, a gift from God,<br />And with it thou shalt wound thine adversaries."<br /><br />CAPTAINS.<br />The Lord is with us!<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />Hark! I hear the trumpets<br />Sound from Beth-horon; from the battle-field<br />Of Joshua, where he smote the Amorites,<br />Smote the Five Kings of Eglon and of Jarmuth,<br />Of Hebron, Lachish, and Jerusalem,<br />As we to-day will smite Nicanor's hosts<br />And leave a memory of great deeds behind us.<br /><br />CAPTAINS and SOLDIERS.<br />The Help of God!<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />Be Elohim Yehovah!<br />Lord, thou didst send thine Angel in the time<br />Of Esekias, King of Israel,<br />And in the armies of Sennacherib<br />Didst slay a hundred fourscore and five thousand.<br />Wherefore, O Lord of heaven, now also send<br />Before us a good angel for a fear,<br />And through the might of thy right arm let those<br />Be stricken with terror that have come this day<br />Against thy holy people to blaspheme!<br /><br /><br />ACT IV. The outer Courts of the Temple at Jerusalem.<br /><br />SCENE I. -- JUDAS MACCABAEUS; CAPTAINS; JEWS.<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />Behold, our enemies are discomfited.<br />Jerusalem is fallen; and our banners<br />Float from her battlements, and o'er her gates<br />Nicanor's severed head, a sign of terror,<br />Blackens in wind and sun.<br /><br />CAPTAINS.<br />O Maccabaeus,<br />The citadel of Antiochus, wherein<br />The Mother with her Seven Sons was murdered,<br />Is still defiant.<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />Wait.<br /><br />CAPTAINS.<br />Its hateful aspect<br />Insults us with the bitter memories<br />Of other days.<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />Wait; it shall disappear<br />And vanish as a cloud. First let us cleanse<br />The Sanctuary. See, it is become<br />Waste like a wilderness. Its golden gates<br />Wrenched from their hinges and consumed by fire;<br />Shrubs growing in its courts as in a forest;<br />Upon its altars hideous and strange idols;<br />And strewn about its pavement at my feet<br />Its Sacred Books, half burned and painted o'er<br />With images of heathen gods.<br /><br />JEWS.<br />Woe! woe!<br />Our beauty and our glory are laid waste!<br />The Gentiles have profaned our holy p]aces!<br /><br />(Lamentation and alarm of trumpets.)<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />This sound of trumpets, and this lamentation,<br />The heart-cry of a people toward the heavens,<br />Stir me to wrath and vengeance. Go, my captains;<br />I hold you back no longer. Batter down<br />The citadel of Antiochus, while here<br />We sweep away his altars and his gods.<br /><br />SCENE II. -- JUDAS MACCABAEUS; JASON; JEWS,<br /><br />JEWS.<br />Lurking among the ruins of the Temple,<br />Deep in its inner courts, we found this man,<br />Clad as High-Priest.<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />I ask not who thou art.<br />I know thy face, writ over with deceit<br />As are these tattered volumes of the Law<br />With heathen images. A priest of God<br />Wast thou in other days, but thou art now<br />A priest of Satan. Traitor, thou art Jason.<br /><br />JASON.<br />I am thy prisoner, Judas Maccabaeus,<br />And it would ill become me to conceal<br />My name or office.<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />Over yonder gate<br />There hangs the head of one who was a Greek.<br />What should prevent me now, thou man of sin,<br />From hanging at its side the head of one<br />Who born a Jew hath made himself a Greek?<br /><br />JASON.<br />Justice prevents thee.<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />Justice? Thou art stained<br />With every crime against which the Decalogue<br />Thunders with all its thunder.<br /><br />JASON.<br />If not Justice,<br />Then Mercy, her handmaiden.<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />When hast thou<br />At any time, to any man or woman,<br />Or even to any little child, shown mercy?<br /><br />JASON.<br />I have but done what King Antiochus<br />Commanded me.<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />True, thou hast been the weapon<br />With which he struck; but hast been such a weapon,<br />So flexible, so fitted to his hand,<br />It tempted him to strike. So thou hast urged him<br />To double wickedness, thine own and his.<br />Where is this King? Is he in Antioch<br />Among his women still, and from his windows<br />Throwing down gold by handfuls, for the rabble<br />To scramble for?<br /><br />JASON.<br />Nay, he is gone from there,<br />Gone with an army into the far East.<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />And wherefore gone?<br /><br />JASON.<br />I know not. For the space<br />Of forty days almost were horsemen seen<br />Running in air, in cloth of gold, and armed<br />With lances, like a band of soldiery;<br />It was a sign of triumph.<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />Or of death.<br />Wherefore art thou not with him?<br /><br />JASON.<br />I was left<br />For service in the Temple.<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />To pollute it,<br />And to corrupt the Jews; for there are men<br />Whose presence is corruption; to be with them<br />Degrades us and deforms the things we do.<br /><br />JASON.<br />I never made a boast, as some men do,<br />Of my superior virtue, nor denied<br />The weakness of my nature, that hath made me<br />Subservient to the will of other men.<br /><br />JUDAS.<br />Upon this day, the five and twentieth day<br />Of the month Caslan, was the Temple here<br />Profaned by strangers,--by Antiochus<br />And thee, his instrument. Upon this day<br />Shall it be cleansed. Thou, who didst lend thyself<br />Unto this profanation, canst not be<br />A witness of these solemn services.<br />There can be nothing clean where thou art present.<br />The people put to death Callisthenes,<br />Who burned the Temple gates; and if they find thee<br />Will surely slay thee. I will spare thy life<br />To punish thee the longer. Thou shalt wander<br />Among strange nations. Thou, that hast cast out<br />So many from their native land, shalt perish<br />In a strange land. Thou, that hast left so many<br />Unburied, shalt have none to mourn for thee,<br />Nor any solemn funerals at all,<br />Nor sepulchre with thy fathers.--Get thee hence!<br /><br />(Music. Procession of Priests and people,<br />with citherns, harps, and cymbals. JUDAS<br />MACCABAEUS puts himself at their<br />head, and they go into the inner courts.)<br /><br /><br />SCENE III. -- JASON, alone.<br /><br />JASON.<br />Through the Gate Beautiful I see them come<br />With branches and green boughs and leaves of palm,<br />And pass into the inner courts. Alas!<br />I should be with them, should be one of them,<br />But in an evil hour, an hour of weakness,<br />That cometh unto all, I fell away<br />From the old faith, and did not clutch the new,<br />Only an outward semblance of belief;<br />For the new faith I cannot make mine own,<br />Not being born to it. It hath no root<br />Within me. I am neither Jew nor Greek,<br />But stand between them both, a renegade<br />To each in turn; having no longer faith<br />In gods or men. Then what mysterious charm,<br />What fascination is it chains my feet,<br />And keeps me gazing like a curious child<br />Into the holy places, where the priests<br />Have raised their altar?--Striking stones together,<br />They take fire out of them, and light the lamps<br />In the great candlestick. They spread the veils,<br />And set the loaves of showbread on the table.<br />The incense burns; the well-remembered odor<br />Comes wafted unto me, and takes me back<br />To other days. I see myself among them<br />As I was then; and the old superstition<br />Creeps over me again!--A childish fancy!--<br />And hark! they sing with citherns and with cymbals,<br />And all the people fall upon their faces,<br />Praying and worshipping!--I will away<br />Into the East, to meet Antiochus<br />Upon his homeward journey, crowned with triumph.<br />Alas! to-day I would give everything<br />To see a friend's face, or to hear a voice<br />That had the slightest tone of comfort in it!<br /><br /><br />ACT V. The Mountains of Ecbatana.<br /><br />SCENE I. -- ANTIOCHUS; PHILIP; ATTENDANTS.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />Here let us rest awhile. Where are we, Philip?<br />What place is this?<br /><br />PHILIP.<br />Ecbatana, my Lord;<br />And yonder mountain range is the Orontes.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />The Orontes is my river at Antioch.<br />Why did I leave it? Why have I been tempted<br />By coverings of gold and shields and breastplates<br />To plunder Elymais, and be driven<br />From out its gates, as by a fiery blast<br />Out of a furnace?<br /><br />PHILIP.<br />These are fortune's changes.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />What a defeat it was! The Persian horsemen<br />Came like a mighty wind, the wind Khamaseen,<br />And melted us away, and scattered us<br />As if we were dead leaves, or desert sand.<br /><br />PHILIP.<br />Be comforted, my Lord; for thou hast lost<br />But what thou hadst not.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />I, who made the Jews<br />Skip like the grasshoppers, am made myself<br />To skip among these stones.<br /><br />PHILIP.<br />Be not discouraged.<br />Thy realm of Syria remains to thee;<br />That is not lost nor marred.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />O, where are now<br />The splendors of my court, my baths and banquets?<br />Where are my players and my dancing women?<br />Where are my sweet musicians with their pipes,<br />That made me merry in the olden time?<br />I am a laughing-stock to man and brute.<br />The very camels, with their ugly faces,<br />Mock me and laugh at me.<br /><br />PHILIP.<br />Alas! my Lord,<br />It is not so. If thou wouldst sleep awhile,<br />All would be well.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />Sleep from mine eyes is gone,<br />And my heart faileth me for very care.<br />Dost thou remember, Philip, the old fable<br />Told us when we were boys, in which the bear<br />Going for honey overturns the hive,<br />And is stung blind by bees? I am that beast,<br />Stung by the Persian swarms of Elymais.<br /><br />PHILIP.<br />When thou art come again to Antioch<br />These thoughts will be as covered and forgotten<br />As are the tracks of Pharaoh's chariot-wheels<br />In the Egyptian sands.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />Ah! when I come<br />Again to Antioch! When will that be?<br />Alas! alas!<br /><br /><br />SCENE II -- ANTIOCHUS; PHILIP; A MESSENGER<br /><br />MESSENGER.<br />May the King live forever!<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />Who art thou, and whence comest thou?<br /><br />MESSENGER.<br />My Lord,<br />I am a messenger from Antioch,<br />Sent here by Lysias.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />A strange foreboding<br />Of something evil overshadows me.<br />I am no reader of the Jewish Scriptures;<br />I know not Hebrew; but my High-Priest Jason,<br />As I remember, told me of a Prophet<br />Who saw a little cloud rise from the sea<br />Like a man's hand and soon the heaven was black<br />With clouds and rain. Here, Philip, read; I cannot;<br />I see that cloud. It makes the letters dim<br />Before mine eyes.<br /><br />PHILIP (reading).<br />"To King Antiochus,<br />The God, Epiphanes."<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />O mockery!<br />Even Lysias laughs at me!--Go on, go on.<br /><br />PHILIP (reading).<br />"We pray thee hasten thy return. The realm<br />Is falling from thee. Since thou hast gone from us<br />The victories of Judas Maccabaeus<br />Form all our annals. First he overthrew<br />Thy forces at Beth-horon, and passed on,<br />And took Jerusalem, the Holy City.<br />And then Emmaus fell; and then Bethsura;<br />Ephron and all the towns of Galaad,<br />And Maccabaeus marched to Carnion."<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />Enough, enough! Go call my chariot-men;<br />We will drive forward, forward, without ceasing,<br />Until we come to Antioch. My captains,<br />My Lysias, Gorgias, Seron, and Nicanor,<br />Are babes in battle, and this dreadful Jew<br />Will rob me of my kingdom and my crown.<br />My elephants shall trample him to dust;<br />I will wipe out his nation, and will make<br />Jerusalem a common burying-place,<br />And every home within its walls a tomb!<br /><br />(Throws up his hands, and sinks into the<br />arms of attendants, who lay him upon<br />a bank.)<br /><br />PHILIP.<br />Antiochus! Antiochus! Alas,<br />The King is ill! What is it, O my Lord?<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />Nothing. A sudden and sharp spasm of pain,<br />As if the lightning struck me, or the knife<br />Of an assassin smote me to the heart.<br />'T is passed, even as it came. Let us set forward.<br /><br />PHILIP.<br />See that the chariots be in readiness<br />We will depart forthwith.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />A moment more.<br />I cannot stand. I am become at once<br />Weak as an infant. Ye will have to lead me.<br />Jove, or Jehovah, or whatever name<br />Thou wouldst be named,--it is alike to me,--<br />If I knew how to pray, I would entreat<br />To live a little longer.<br /><br />PHILIP.<br />O my Lord,<br />Thou shalt not die; we will not let thee die!<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />How canst thou help it, Philip? O the pain!<br />Stab after stab. Thou hast no shield against<br />This unseen weapon. God of Israel,<br />Since all the other gods abandon me,<br />Help me. I will release the Holy City.<br />Garnish with goodly gifts the Holy Temple.<br />Thy people, whom I judged to be unworthy<br />To be so much as buried, shall be equal<br />Unto the citizens of Antioch.<br />I will become a Jew, and will declare<br />Through all the world that is inhabited<br />The power of God!<br /><br />PHILIP.<br />He faints. It is like death.<br />Bring here the royal litter. We will bear him<br />In to the camp, while yet he lives.<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />O Philip,<br />Into what tribulation am I come!<br />Alas! I now remember all the evil<br />That I have done the Jews; and for this cause<br />These troubles are upon me, and behold<br />I perish through great grief in a strange land.<br /><br />PHILIP.<br />Antiochus! my King!<br /><br />ANTIOCHUS.<br />Nay, King no longer.<br />Take thou my royal robes, my signet-ring,<br />My crown and sceptre, and deliver them<br />Unto my son, Antiochus Eupator;<br />And unto the good Jews, my citizens,<br />In all my towns, say that their dying monarch<br />Wisheth them joy, prosperity, and health.<br />I who, puffed up with pride and arrogance,<br />Thought all the kingdoms of the earth mine own,<br />If I would but outstretch my hand and take them,<br />Meet face to face a greater potentate,<br />King Death--Epiphanes--the Illustrious!<br />[Dies.]<br /><br /> <br />SOURCE: Judas Maccabaeus, The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow<br />http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/lit/poetry/TheCompletePoeticalWorksofHenryWadsworthLongfellow/chap28.htmlAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904347198100907985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4438575280401614757.post-6335250846188361322010-11-06T06:23:00.000-07:002010-12-18T23:15:49.168-08:00Neoliteralism, a 21st Century Theology<div class="post-header"> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWPqGNLMXeiUwaeRnw_s3mLWuBS8YhpeFJu0uQZoOajJfPrCyXqXDqjziLtoUlIuEmUv7qk_Sl9OXa3yK-TwcQHb2T-TZwWSZh8nrYmm3xts7l6nUUMP0kWv3ZBy9P2ptnW6Pz7Ko8I6Q/s1600/440px-K%C3%B6ln-Tora-und-Innenansicht-Synagoge-Glockengasse-040.JPG.jpegMaccabeeBible.jpeg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 293px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWPqGNLMXeiUwaeRnw_s3mLWuBS8YhpeFJu0uQZoOajJfPrCyXqXDqjziLtoUlIuEmUv7qk_Sl9OXa3yK-TwcQHb2T-TZwWSZh8nrYmm3xts7l6nUUMP0kWv3ZBy9P2ptnW6Pz7Ko8I6Q/s400/440px-K%C3%B6ln-Tora-und-Innenansicht-Synagoge-Glockengasse-040.JPG.jpegMaccabeeBible.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536425255804457810" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Neoliteralism</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;">,</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" > the Cornerstone of Judeo-Christian Theology</span><br /><br />Today, there are a countless number of methods along with differing schools of thought when it comes to Bible Studies and Theology. At least some astute observers might say there are already far too many, with each 'method' or 'school' contradicting another so that these traditionally Christian fields of study have become nothing more than a 'Mystery Babylon' intellectual enterprise. Obviously, adding yet another catchy term to the list would seem to be compounding the problem, rather than providing a solution. Nevertheless, the project of Neoliteralism, a new term for a new scholarly outlook, has only one intent and that is simplification. Neoliteralism, as the word implies, presumes to take the Bible literally, but it also includes a basic understanding of what the Bible represents. This understanding is simple, not complex, and general, rather than specific. Thus, a perfect example of Neoliteralism can be seen in the following comments and remarks:<br /><br />I. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Holy Bible is</span> the most published, read, studied, documented, analyzed, interpreted and discussed book ever known in the history of the world.<br />II. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Holy Bible is</span> currently available in more alphabets, languages, and versions which are spoken and written by more ethnicities and cultures than any other book on earth today.<br />III. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Holy Bible is</span> the the single most influential book underlying the development of nearly all the written languages still used on earth today.<br />IV. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Holy Bible is</span> the official text of Christianity, the largest religion with the most followers in the entire world.<br />V. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Holy Bible is </span>the cornerstone of monotheism, represented by the three great religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.<br />VI. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Holy Bible is</span> the chronological story of a single family's relationship with a specific supernatural entity that began in 3760 B.C. with Adam and ended with Joshua ben Joseph (Jesus) in 33 A.D.<br />VII. <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Holy Bible is </span>the most powerful piece of literature in the modern world that has inspired, motivated, and influenced more individuals to think and act in more ways than any other written document in the history of the world.<br /><br />Even if the simple generalizations just mentioned may appear controversial to some readers, each one of them is not only true, but a scientific fact that cannot be denied or dis-proven. In other words, Neoliteralism is willing to make ample use of the Statistical Sciences in order to further its primary agenda, simplicity. Is simplicity an objective goal? Is simplicity biased or politically motivated? The answers to both of those questions depend on the assumptions of what simplicity will do to the fields of Theology and Religious Studies. Put bluntly, there is an infinite number of ways of interpreting Neoliteralism's emphasis on simplicity. The non-believer might suspect that it is simply a code word for fundamentalist Christianity intent on quashing complex, sophisticated dissent of traditional Biblical belief systems. On the other hand, the believer may mistake simplicity as either an attempt to water down or dilute Christian truth or an absurd strategy to tear down the Church which has been built upon a continuing accumulation of scholarship compiled and studied throughout the centuries.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivgD_q4zej8SvQ58SKxO9UhQP-BN256F5ntvizcnZffr0d1H2d6Av_xKAt424cug_RgAD0FRmV4gR4R3ZmH4d1X5YRNwqTe7obZjLQBL1v9Momz6f2gQUVXedvmJxFWdxMeGI4D8mJgjI/s1600/th_StarandthecrescentmoonCrucifixtheStarofDavidjpg-1-2-3.jpg.jpegMACCABEELOGO.jpeg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 159px; height: 137px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivgD_q4zej8SvQ58SKxO9UhQP-BN256F5ntvizcnZffr0d1H2d6Av_xKAt424cug_RgAD0FRmV4gR4R3ZmH4d1X5YRNwqTe7obZjLQBL1v9Momz6f2gQUVXedvmJxFWdxMeGI4D8mJgjI/s400/th_StarandthecrescentmoonCrucifixtheStarofDavidjpg-1-2-3.jpg.jpegMACCABEELOGO.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536425228878621986" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />In other words, religious scholars may well be skeptical of this new contraption, this intellectual tool known as Neoliteralism. All things considered, they have every right to be. Indeed, for most readers this is the first mention of the word Neoliteralism. This original piece of jargon could end up being nothing more than another case of self-promotion. Theologians and Religious Scholars, just like nearly everybody in today's world, crave attention. They crave readers, listeners, endowments, large offices, and higher salaries. For some, the spread of Christian intellectual truth is also a strong underlying motivation.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVV72SP1HCU3Safw0lzXb4Sk3GVXraJeT4wiuZo1njn8UhzNvq6OWipkHFIzvxC03prZ_ky34MOHxws45088yOge2RU_2wDNY8bfLNc_ae7rxvizxvaV5rKQXBnztoOSsBheCj9Xx76CA/s1600/ORDEROFJUDASGOTHICPRINT.jpeg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 126px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVV72SP1HCU3Safw0lzXb4Sk3GVXraJeT4wiuZo1njn8UhzNvq6OWipkHFIzvxC03prZ_ky34MOHxws45088yOge2RU_2wDNY8bfLNc_ae7rxvizxvaV5rKQXBnztoOSsBheCj9Xx76CA/s400/ORDEROFJUDASGOTHICPRINT.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536425239966671090" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />With that in mind, Neoliteralism must be honest with itself and with others about what the term really means. This includes the inventor of the word and author of this essay. In other words, who is the man behind the curtain pulling the strings of Neoliteralism? Well, for starters, Neoliteralism is obviously a self-interested attempt to be different. Are not all 'methods' and 'outlooks' found in Theology the same way? Of course they are. Theologians, like all intellectuals, entered the field out of a desire to have their religious ideas read and listened to by others. Assuming the factor of self-interest remains, here are the basic, and specific, agendas underlying Neoliteralism.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I. Neoliteralism is Catholic</span>: Catholic Christianity is emphasized because it is older and has more adherents than Protestantism. The reason is simple, St. Peter was specifically chosen to be the leader by Joshua (Jesus) (NOTE: the author of this essay is a practicing Roman/Ukrainian Catholic scholar.)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">II. Neoliteralism is Judaic</span>: Athens, Greco-Roman Philosophy, and Hellenism are ignored in favor of Jerusalem, Mysticism, and Judaism. The reason is simple, Joshua (Jesus) was and is a Jew.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">III. Neoliteralism is Iconoclastic</span>: Extreme anti-Christian sentiments and assumptions found in the visual arts proves their inherently Pagan and demonic tendencies. The reason is simple, God prohibited the graven image as one of the Ten Commandments<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">IV. Neoliteralism is Scientific</span>: Darwin's Theory of Evolution is losing ground due to scientific dissent among experts. Natural law is concurrent with biological behavior of other mammalian species.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">V. Neoliteralism is Evangelical</span>: The continued popularity of the Bible, of Christianity, and their combined historical influence clearly indicates supernatural forces that cannot be explained scientifically. The probability of Christianity's success and the Bible's best-selling status are statistically impossible. Judeo-Christian theology is a statistically significant reality.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">VI. Neoliteralism is Judeo-Christian</span>: Numerous sayings and parables found in the Gospels have exact parallels in the Talmud, the Apocrypha, and in modern Orthodox Judaism.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">VII. Neoliteralism is a Catholic, Judaizer, Iconoclast, Scientist, Evangelist, and Judeo-Christian.</span><br /><br />Honesty should not condemn a new idea, theory, or paradigm. In short, these particular aspects of Neoliteralism cannot, and should not, disqualify it from being taken seriously. No type of Theology can ever be objective due to the pre-existing preferences of their creator or inventor. Most importantly, the above statements of subjectivity represent a key component in Neoliteralism. How so? By admitting the simple, unspoken truth of Theology and Biblical Studies. Rather than remain in denial, Neoliteralism simply accepts the reality of dualism embedded in the historical differences of Judeo-Christian thought.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyIy6Q05yAr5t8VNHROSolKHZoSdMO11rscrbuhOS_CXspsPfmD48riOu7HWV1t0JhL8eLg31pKb0PdeNMgxp6zc4I5dusV8N6FlNGLx_JQPJPZFpqYHUVCsfIFov7-NiHYleWxfx7rR0/s1600/th_StarandthecrescentmoonCrucifixtheStarofDavidjpg-1-2-2-2-1.jpg.jpegORDERLOGO.jpeg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 156px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyIy6Q05yAr5t8VNHROSolKHZoSdMO11rscrbuhOS_CXspsPfmD48riOu7HWV1t0JhL8eLg31pKb0PdeNMgxp6zc4I5dusV8N6FlNGLx_JQPJPZFpqYHUVCsfIFov7-NiHYleWxfx7rR0/s400/th_StarandthecrescentmoonCrucifixtheStarofDavidjpg-1-2-2-2-1.jpg.jpegORDERLOGO.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536425231463118530" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Sometimes, like a coin with only two sides, objective study of these differences is impossible to achieve. Buddists, Hindus, Muslims, even nonbelievers and Pagan, are either Catholic or Protestant because, regardless of their personal faith, they will always prefer one over another. This understanding is also true concerning the traditional Christian stereotypes which have, at times, erupted into violent opposition. Historically speaking, the Glorious Revolution of England and the Iconoclasm Rebellion of the Byzantine Empire are perfect examples of ideas armed with swords. Everyone, including every theologian is, in the end, either a Judaizer or a Hellenizer, an Iconophil or an Iconoclast, an Artist or a Scientist, who is Private or Evangelical about being Christian or Judeo-Christian. To summarize, Neoliteralism is brutally honest about its intentions of being barbarically simple about Theology and Biblical Studies. Complexity and sophistication are both acceptable, but there must be balance instead of a one-sided journey into obscurity and obsolescence.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Gt3vTJtqeneOLTQScuPWtYySdCUYlCY2sS07gTRlMS388igtEI0n_YsStld6-_rQUsPPJtiptpPtrH0BmfCGgfivzQWxYQHDd-1A3HgmRPnk-56GZsX8-xdFmvHnrElsCSRWYrjrwf4/s1600/LOGOGREYFRAME.jpeg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 160px; height: 99px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Gt3vTJtqeneOLTQScuPWtYySdCUYlCY2sS07gTRlMS388igtEI0n_YsStld6-_rQUsPPJtiptpPtrH0BmfCGgfivzQWxYQHDd-1A3HgmRPnk-56GZsX8-xdFmvHnrElsCSRWYrjrwf4/s400/LOGOGREYFRAME.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536425237345607170" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />May the LORD God bless you in the name of St. Judas Maccabaeus.<br /><br /><img style="width: 144px; height: 32px;" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/85836/maccabaeus/fa4182084142b911a9698d62086451b1.png" /><br />Jason Nicholas KorningAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07904347198100907985noreply@blogger.com0