Mock on, Mock on, Voltaire, Rousseau:
Mock on, Mock on; ’tis all in vain!
You throw the sand against the wind,
And the wind blows it back again.
And every sand becomes a Gem
Reflected in the beams divine;
Blown back they blind the mocking Eye,
But still in Israel’s paths they shine.
The Atoms of Democritus
And Newton’s Particles of light
Are sands upon the Red sea shore,
Where Israel’s tents do shine so bright.
-William Blake (1757-1827), The Essential Blake Selected by Stanley Kunitz, (Hopewell, NJ: The Ecco Press), 50.
They are still mocking today. It’s just that their names are Dawkins, Hitchins, Armstrong, et. al.
“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
“Thus all creation acknowledges the supremacy of God; and we learn from this song that he made all things for his pleasure; and through the same motive he preserves. Hence it is most evident, that he hateth nothing that he has made, and could have made no intelligent creature with the design to make it eternally miserable. It is strange that a contrary supposition has ever entered into the heart of man; and it is high time that the benevolent nature of the Supreme God should be fully vindicated from aspersions of this kind.”
-Adam Clarke, A Commentary and Critical Notes, (New York: George Lane & Levi Scott), 990.
published in 1851
After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, “Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter”. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold:
A throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
-Revelation 4:1-3
Although there are a couple of places that the language caused me to wince (not sufficiently respectful) as I read this, I also thought that it is by and large a pretty good presentation of the gospel, and likely to be read by a very great many who have never heard. It made me look around to figure out what direction she is coming from: here is an account from an observer.
Q. Of what did God form Adam?
A. Of the dust of the ground after it had been watered by the mist.
Q. How did man become a living soul?
A. The Lord God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.
Q. What two trees were in the midst of the garden of Eden?
A. The tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Q. Of which tree were Adam and Eve commanded not to eat?
A. Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Q. What was the penalty for eating of it?
A. Death.
Q. Who named the animals and the birds?
A. Adam.
Q. How did God make Eve?
A. From Adam’s rib, while Adam slept.
“And Adam said, ‘This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’ Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”
01-02-2010
Others are: mom, wow, swims (wait, that last one has to be turned upside-down to work!).
Q. When did God create?
A. In the beginning.
Q. What did God create on the first day?
A. Light.
Q. What did God create on the second day?
A. Heavens.
Q. What did God create on the third day?
A. Land and plants.
Q. What did God create on the fourth day?
A. Lights.
Q. What did God create on the fifth day?
A. Fish and birds.
Q. What did God create on the six day?
A. Animals and man.
Q. What did God do on the seventh day?
A. Rest.
- Genesis 1