Dr. W. H. Thomson, in his book on "What is Physical Life," says that, "once, while talking to a roomful of the naturally bright people of a town in Mount Hermon about the achievements of Western civilization, I happened to tell a toothless old man present that in our country we had skilled persons who could make for him an entirely new set of teeth. Glancing round the room, I noticed some listeners stroking their beards in a fashion which I knew meant that I was telling a preposterous yarn. Fortunately I had with me an elderly Scotch friend who had a set of false teeth, and on explaining the situation to him, he forthwith opened his mouth and pulled the whole set out. The Arabs jumped to their feet in fright, not sure but he might start to unscrew his head next, for had any of their venerated ancestors ever seen such an uncanny performance with teeth? They afterward said that never would they have believed this if they had not seen it."

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(video of musical "Wicked")
      I met, the other day, a learned judge who told me that for more than twenty years he had met every winter, in his own library, once a week, a club of his neighbors, men and women, who came, and came gladly, that he might guide them in the study of history. "And all those people," said he, laughing--there are three or four hundred of them now, scattered over the world--"they all know what to read, and how to read it." You see that village is another place because that one man lived there. --Edward Everett Hale.

Got Any IDEAS?

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      The ichthys is seen in 1st-century catacombs in Rome. According to tradition, ancient Christians, during their persecution by the Roman Empire in the first few centuries after Christ, used the fish symbol to mark meeting places and tombs, or to distinguish friends from foes:
…when a Christian met a stranger in the road, the Christian sometimes drew one arc of the simple fish outline in the dirt. If the stranger drew the other arc, both believers knew they were in good company. Current bumper-sticker and business-card uses of the fish hearken back to this practice. The symbol is still used today to show that the bearer is a practicing Christian. —Christianity Today, Elesha Coffman, "Ask the Editors"
      There are several other hypotheses as to why the fish was chosen. Some sources indicate that the earliest literary references came from the recommendation of Clement of Alexandria to his readers (Paedagogus, III, xi) to engrave their seals with the dove or fish. However, it can be inferred from Roman monumental sources such as the Capella Greca and the Sacrament Chapels of the catacomb of St. Callistus that the fish symbol was known to Christians much earlier. Another probable explanation is that it is a reference to the scripture in which Jesus miraculously feeds 5,000 people with fish and bread (Matthew 14:15-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:12-17, and John 6:4-13). The ichthys may also relate to Jesus or his disciples as "fishers of men" (e.g., Mark 1:17). Tertullian, in his treatise On Baptism, makes a pun on the word, writing that "we, little fishes, after the example of our ΙΧΘΥΣ Jesus Christ, are born in water." Still another explanation could be the reference to The Sign of Jonah. Just like he was in the belly of a big fish, so Christ was crucified, entombed for three days, and then rose from the dead.








      If you're a serious Christian blogger, don't forget to use Google's Blog Search every time you update your blog. We recommend that you update your web journal every fourteen days and then manually submit it to Google's Manual Ping Service at http://blogsearch.google.com/ping Just enter your Christian blog's URL as soon as you publish a new entry!

      Don't forget to also inform the Google Search Engine of all your monthly updates as well at http://www.google.com/addurl/ Submit your site pages by listing your domain only if you have updated your webpages. You can get into trouble for doing this without actually adding new material.

      Below we will link to Christian Search Engines where some of you may like to list your web site especially. Sometimes it is difficult to get these little engines to link to blog software. However, if you own your own domain name, you may have more success with these.

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Symbolic meaning behind the symbol: ΙΧΘΥΣ (Ichthys) is an acronym for "Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ", (Iēsous Christos, Theou Yios, Sōtēr), which translates into English as "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior".

  • Iota (i) is the first letter of Iēsous (Ἰησοῦς), Greek for "Jesus".
  • Chi (ch) is the first letter of Christos (Χριστός), Greek for "anointed".
  • Theta (th) is the first letter of Theou (Θεοῦ), Greek for "God's", the genitive case of Θεóς, Theos, Greek for "God".
  • Ypsilon (y) is the first letter of (h)yios (Υἱός), Greek for "Son" (the initial "h" was pronounced in classical Greek but has long been silent).
  • Sigma (s) is the first letter of sōtēr (Σωτήρ), Greek for "Savior".








Ichthys (sometimes spelled Ichthus, or Ikhthus, from Koine Greek: ἰχθύς, capitalized ΙΧΘΥΣ or ΙΧΘΥϹ) is the ancient and classical Greek word for "fish." In English it refers to a symbol consisting of two intersecting arcs, the ends of the right side extending beyond the meeting point so as to resemble the profile of a fish, used by Early Christians as a secret symbol and now known colloquially as the "sign of the fish" or the "Jesus fish."


















Who is the Holy Ghost? or Who is the Holy Spirit?

THE HOLY GHOST; the third person in the Trinity, the comforter of the church of Christ.
I. The Holy Ghost is a real and distinct person in the Godhead.
1. Personal powers of rational understanding and will are ascribed to him,
1 Cor. 2:10,11. Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the [Holy] Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God [the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man's scrutiny]. For what person perceives (knows and understands) what passes through a man's thoughts except the man's own spirit within him? Just so no one discerns (comes to know and comprehend) the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 
1 Cor. 12:11. All these [gifts, achievements, abilities] are inspired and brought to pass by one and the same [Holy] Spirit, Who apportions to each person individually [exactly] as He chooses. 
Eph. 4:3. Be eager and strive earnestly to guard and keep the harmony and oneness of [and produced by] the Spirit in the binding power of peace.
2. He is joined with the other two divine persons, as the object of divine worship and fountain of blessings, 
Matt. 28:19. Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
2 Cor. 13:14. The grace (favor and spiritual blessing) of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the presence and fellowship (the communion and sharing together and participation) in the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen (so be it).
3. In the Greek, a masculine article or epithet is joined to his name, Pneuma, which is naturally of the neuter gender, 
John 14:26. But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf]. He will teach you all things. And H will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you.
John 15:26. But when the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) comes, Whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth Who comes (proceeds) from the Father. He [Himself} will testify regarding Me.
John 16:13. But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]: but He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future].
Eph. 1:13. In Him you also who have heard the Word of Truth, the glad tidings (Gospel) of your salvation, and have believed in and adhered to and relied on Him, were stamped with the seal of the long-promised Holy Spirit.
4. He appeared under the emblem of a dove, and of cloven tongues of fire, 
Matt. 3:16 And when Jesus was baptized, He went up at once out of the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he [John] saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him.  
Acts 2: 1,2,3,4 And when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all assembled together in one place. When suddenly there came a sound from heaven like the rushing of a violent tempest blast, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues resembling fire, which were separated and distributed and which settled on each one of them. And they were all filled (diffused throughout their souls) with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other (different, foreign) languages (tongues), as the Spirit kept giving them clear and loud expression [in each tongue in appropriate words].
5. Personal offices of an intercessor belong to him, 
Rom. 8:26. So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance.
6. He is represented as performing a multitude of personal acts,--as teaching, speaking, witnessing, &c., 
Mark 13:11. Now when they take you [to court] and put you under arrest, do not be anxious beforehand about what you are to say nor [even] meditate about it; but say whatever is given you in that hour and at the moment, for it is not you who will be speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
Acts 20:23. Except that the Holy Spirit clearly and emphatically affirms to me in city after city that imprisonment and suffering await me.
Rom. 8:15,16. For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which, we cry, Abba (Father)! Father! The Spirit Himself [thus] testifies together with our own spirit, [assuring us] that we are children of God.
1 Cor. 6:19, Do you know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own.
Acts 15:28. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to lay upon you any greater burden than these indispensable requirements: . . .
Acts 16::6,7 &c, &c. And Paul and Silas passed through the territory of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Word in [the province of] Asia. And when they had come opposite Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them.

next page, Part II
third page, Part III
return to index

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"And all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished. . . . And they understood none of these things." Luke xviii. 31, 34.

      "What a brilliant dream that was of Napoleon's!" He expected to find a St. Jean D'Acre the treasure of the Pasha and arms for 3000,000 men. He then intended to raise and arm Syria, already waiting for the movement. He would then advance upon Damascus and Aleppo, recruit from a discontented country, arrive at Constantinople with his vast army, overturn the Sublime Porte, found a splendid Oriental empire, unsurpassed for magnificence, "fix his position with posterity," and come back to Paris, through Vienna, dragging a subjugated Austria in triumph at his chariot wheels." But Waterloo and St. Helena shattered his dream. Death made absolutely impossible what imprisonment made improbable. But arrest, imprisonment, scourging, crucifixion, death, cannot stop the victorious progress of the King, eternal, immortal, invisible. The glorious prediction made centuries before His advent in the world shall yet find its full and final accomplishment. "He shall see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied." "He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the end of the earth." "Ye, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve Him." by Bishop Fallows

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      Yes, the Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge was compiled and written by many Protestant Divines. Please download and collect our transcriptions for your own library, internet pages, and study. It is in the public domain and we are posting it bit by bit for your own research and education. We want this volume to be passed into many hands. Please pray for the staff here that we will remain faithful in this work and persevere until it's completion. Our volume is over 100 years old and quite a large collected body of work.

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Who is God? or Define God.

GOD is that infinitely great, intelligent, and free Being; of perfect goodness, wisdom, and power; transcendently glorious in holiness; who made the universe, and continues to support it, as well as to govern and direct it, by his providence and laws. The name is derived from the Icelandic Godi, which signifies the supreme Magistrate, and it thus perfectly characteristic of JEHOVAH as the moral Governor of the universe. It also corresponds to the Jewish and Christian sense of the Greek words Theos and Kurios, in the New Testament, the names usually applied to the ETERNAL. For an account of the various attributes which enter into our conception of the divine character, as revealed in the Scriptures, the reader is referred to those articles. (Also, see Attributes.)

2. By his personality, intelligence, and freedom, God is distinguished from Fate, Nature, Destiny, Necessity, Chance Anima Mundi, and from all the other fictitious beings acknowledged by the Stoics, Pantheists, Spinosists, and other sorts of Atheists. (See Atheism)

3. The knowledge of God, his nature, attributes, word and works, above all, his moral character, with the relationships between him and his creatures, makes the subject of the extensive science called theology, that master science, of which all the other sciences are but subordinate and illustrative parts. If there have been men of science, who have failed to trace the relation of all science to the knowledge of God, it has been owing to a bias of mind, altogether foreign to sound philosophy.

4. "The plain argument, (says Maclaurin, in his Account of Sir I. Newton's Philosophical Discoveries,) for the existence of the Deity, obvious to all, and carrying irresistible conviction with it, is from the evident contrivance and fitness of things for one another, which we meet with throughout all parts of the universe. There is no need of nice or subtle reasonings in this matter; a manifest contrivance immediately suggests a contriver. It strikes us like a sensation; and artful reasonings against it may puzzle us, but it is without shaking our belief." (See Existence of God.)

5. Not only the works of creation, but the course of divine operation in the government of the world, has from age to age been a manifestation of the divine character; continually receiving new and stronger illustrations, until the completion of the Christian revelation by the ministry of Christ, and his inspired followers; and still placing itself in brighter light, and more impressive aspects, as the scheme of human redemption runs on to its consummation. From all the acts of God as recorded in the the Scriptures, we are taught that he alone is God; that he is present everywhere to sustain and govern all things; that his wisdom, is infinite, his counsel settled, his truth sure, and his power irresistible; that his character, as will as his law, is immutably holy, just, and good; above all, that he is rich in mercy; that he has freely provided, whether as Father, Son, or Holy Ghost, the means of our salvation; that he is alive and at once the Father and Lord, the Redeemer and Judge, the Sanctifier and Friend of man.

6. Under these deeply awful, but consolatory views, do the Scriptures present to us the supreme object of our worship, love,and trust; and they dwell upon each of the above particulars with inimitable sublimity and beauty of language, and with an inexhaustible variety of illustration. Nor can we compare these views of the divine nature with the conceptions of the most enlightened of pagan, without feeling ow much reason we have for everlasting gratitude, that a revelation so explicit, so comprehensive, and so joyful, should have been made to us, in our guilty and perplexed condition. It is thus the at Christian philosophers, even when they do not use the language of the Scriptures, are able to speak of this great and mysterious Being, in language so clear, and with conceptions so noble; in a manner, too so equable, so different from the sages of antiquity, who, if any time they approach the truth, never fail to mingle with it some essentially erroneous or grovelling conception.

7. ''THE IDEA OF THE SUPREME BEING," says Robert Hall, "has this peculiar property: that as it admits of no substitute, so, from the first moments it is formed,it is capable of continual growth and enlargement. God himself is immutable; but our conception of his character is continually receiving fresh accessions, is continually growing more extended and refulgent, by having transferred to it new elements of beauty and goodness; by attracting to itself as a centre, whatever bears the impress of dignity, order, or happiness. It borrows splendor from all that is fair, subordinates to itself all that is great, and SITS ENTHRONED ON THE RICHES OF THE UNIVERSE.

8. "As the object of worship will always be in a degree the object of imitation, hence arises a fixed standard of moral excellence; be the contemplation of which, the tendencies to corruption are counteracted, the contagion of bad example is checked, and human nature rises above its natural level."

Who then, as he contemplates this glorious Being in te transcendent beauty of his revealed character, can forbear to pray, "THY NAME BE HALLOWED; THEY KINGDOM COME; THY WILL BE DONE; AS IN HEAVEN, SO IN EARTH!'' (See Existence of God.)-- Hend. Buck; Works of Robert Hall, vil.i.p.30; Watson

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Doctrine; whatsoever is taught, the principles or positions of any master or sect. As the doctrines of the Bible are the first principles and the foundation of religion, they should be carefully examined and well understood. The Scriptures present us with a copious fund of evangelical truth, which, though it has not the form of a regular system, yet its parts are such, that, when united, make the most complete body of doctrine that we can possibly have. Every Christian divine, pastor and priest especially, should make this their study, because all the various doctrines should be insisted on in public, and explained to the people. It is not, however, as some suppose, to fill up every part of a minister's sermon, but considered as the basis upon which the practical part is to be built. Some of the divines of the seventeenth century overcharged their discourses with doctrine. It was common in that day to make thirty to forty remarks before the immediate consideration of the text, each of which was just introduced, and which, if enlarged on, would have afforded matter enough for a whole sermon. A wise preacher will join doctrine, experience, and practice together.
      Doctrines, though abused by some, yet, properly considered, lie at the very foundation of religious experience, and will influence the heart and life. Thus the idea of God's sovereignty excites submission; his power and justice promote fear; his holiness, humility and purity; his goodness, a ground of hope; his love excites joy; the obscurity of his providence requires patience; his faithfulness, confidence, etc. (See Fuller's Works, vol. I. 626)-- Hend. Buck.

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Christmas is here;
Winds whistle shrill,
Icy and chill,
Little care we;
Little we fear
Weather without,
Sheltered about
The Mahogany Tree.


Once on the boughs
Birds of rare plume
Sang, in its bloom;
Night birds are we;
Here we carouse,
Singing, like them,
Perched round the stem
Of the jolly old tree.


Here let us sport,
Boys, as we sit--
Laughter and wit
Flashing so free. 
Life is but short--
When we are gone,
Let them sing on,
Round the old tree.


Evening we know,
Happy as this;
Faces we miss,
Pleasant to see. 
Kind hearts and true,
Gentle and just,
Peace to your dust!
We sing round the tree.


Care, like a dun,
Luke at the gate;
Let the dog wait;
Happy we'll be!
Drink, every one;
Pile up the coals;
Fill the red bowls,
Round the old tree!


Drain we the cup,--
Friend, art afraid?
Spirits are laid
In the Red Sea,
Mantle it up;
Empty it yet;
Let us forget,
Round the old tree!


Sorrows begone!
Life and its ills,
Duns and their bills,
Bid we to flee. 
Come with the dawn,
Blue-devil sprite;
Leave us to-night,
Round the old tree!
by William Makepeace Thackeray.

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Graphic based upon a larger
artwork by Kathy Grimm.
      "Fishers of men," is term used by Christ in the New Testament and it is also frequently referenced by artists in realistic depictions of Jesus in the boat with his followers or with simple symbolic references of fish along with scripture.

Mark 1:14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
1:16 Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
1:17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.
1:18 And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him. 


Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
4:18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
4:20 And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. 

Giant cubist painting by Kathy Grimm.
Oil on canvas. (words are superimposed in photoshop)
Read our Terms of Use before
downloading this Christian Clip Art.


 
     "Immediately after one of the fiercest battles of the Civil War a chaplain of one of the Federal regiments passed over the field of conflict in the performance of his duty. He noticed among the prostrate bodies one which moved, and quickly was at the side of a dying soldier. Recognizing that the man had not long to live, he at once proceeded to administer, but in rather a formal manner, the consolations of religion. Kneeling at the man's side, he asked him to what church he belonged, and the surprising answer came, "The Church which God hath purchased with His own blood." "Oh, but that is not what I mean," said the minister, "what is your belief?" The mortally wounded disciple replied, "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day." "Oh," said the chaplain, "but you do not understand me--what is your persuasion?" The answer came from the lips which were quivering in the agonies of death, "I am persuaded that neither death nor life shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord," and with these words the soldier passed into the presence of Him who is the Savior of all them that believe in Him."


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Forward. This old volume, written in 1838, we believe to be one of the earliest of it's kind. Selections are posted in alphabetical order. It is our intention to eventually transcribe our edition in it's entirety. As selections of the alphabet are completed, index pages will be designated for each letter. All selections transcribed and posted here are in the public domain. We have moved it to a new location!


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