or that she
is taught not to remember the shame of her widowhood,
because only for a
little was she forsaken and subjected to opprobrium,
while now she shines
forth once more with such eminent glory?
or, in fine, is it only a fiction concocted by
Christ’s disciples,
that the Lord who made
her, and brought her forth
from the
denomination of the devil and the demons,
the very God of Israel
is now called the God of the whole earth;
all which, nevertheless, the PROPHETS,
whose books are now in the hands of the enemies of
Christ,
foretold so long before Christ BECAME
the Son of man?
50.
From this, therefore, let them understand
that the matter is not
left obscure or doubtful even to the slowest and dullest
minds:
from this, I say, let these perverse applauders of Christ and
execrators of the Christian religion
understand that the
disciples of Christ have learned and taught,
in opposition to
their gods, precisely what the doctrine of Christ contains.
For the God of
Israel is found to have enjoined in the books of the
PROPHETS
that all these objects
which those men are minded to worship
should be held in abomination and be
destroyed,
WHILE He Himself is now named the God
of the whole earth,
through the instrumentality of
Christ and the Church of Christ,
exactly as He promised so long
time ago.
For if, indeed, in
their marvellous folly, they fancy that Christ worshipped
their gods,
and that it was
only through them that He had power to do
things so great as these,
we may well ask whether
the God of Israel also worshipped their gods,
who has now fulfilled by Christ what He
promised
with respect to the extension of His own
worship through all the nations,
and with respect to the detestation and
subversion of those other deities? ?647
Where are their
gods? Where are the vaticinations [Prophecies] of
their fanatics,
and the divinations of
their prophets? [Pythonum] Where are the
auguries, or the auspices,
or the soothsayings,
[Aruspicia]
[Miriam and the Levites]
Deut. 18:10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
Sophistês , ou, ho, master of one's craft, adept, expert, of diviners, Hdt.2.49; of poets, meletan sophistais prosbalon Pi.I.5(4).28 , cf. Cratin.2; of musicians, sophistês . . parapaiôn chelun A.Fr.314 , cf. Eup.447, Pl.Com. 140; sophistêi Thrêiki (sc. Thamyris) E.Rh.924, cf. Ath.14.632c: with mod
hărĭŏlus soothsayer, prophet, prophetess eloquarDeut. 18:11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer
Conjector I.he who interprets, explains, or divines something, an interpreter.
“conjectore Oedipo orationi opus est, In partic., a diviner, interpreter of dreams, a seer, soothsayer:
?somnĭo , to dream; to dream of or see in a dream, to dream, i. e. to think idly or vainly, to talk foolishly: A. For any thing idle, silly, or without foundation (cf. somnio, “fabulae!Psaltrĭa , ae, f., = psaltria, . a female player on the cithara, a lutist, “ineptias,” Col. 1, 8, 2: “ah stulte! tu de Psaltriā me somnias Agere,” Ter. Ad. 4, 7, 6; Plaut. Pers. 2, 3, 5.—Absol.: “vigilans somniat
fabulae! a fictitious narrative , a dramatic poem, drama, play (syn.: “ludus, cantus, actio, etc.): in full, fabula scaenica,” Amm. 28, 1, 4; “or, theatralis,
2Timothy 4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth,
and shall be turned unto fables.
FABLES TO FOOL: Fābŭla , ae, f. fari,
B. Of particular kinds of poetry.1. Most freq., a dramatic poem, drama, play (syn.: “ludus, cantus, actio, etc.): in full, fabula scaenica,” “or, theatralis,” id. 14, 6, 20: “fabula ad actum scenarum composita, ”fabulam, quae versatur in tragoediis atque carminibus non a veritate modo [melod]
FABLES TO FOOL: Cantus , ūs, m. id., I. the production of melodious sound, a musical utterance or expression, either with voice or instrument; hence, song, singing, playing,
1. With the voice, a singing, song; in full, cantus vocum, Cic. Rosc. Am. 46, 134: “fit etiam saepe vocum gravitate et cantibus ut pellantur animi, etc.,
2. With instruments, a playing, music: “citharae,” “horribili stridebat tibia cantu,” Cat. 64, 264: “querulae tibiae, “lyrae,” Plin. 34, 8, 19, § 72: “tibicine
FABLES TO FOOL: Scaenĭcus (scen- ), a, um, adj., = skēnikos, I. of or belonging to the stage, scenic, dramatic, theatrical (class.) stage-plays, theatrical representations, “fabula,” a drama, Amm. 28, 1, 4: “organa,” Suet. Ner. 44: “coronae,” id. ib. 53: “habitus,” id. ib. 38:THE MOST POWERFUL WEAPON TO FOOL:
1. scaē-nĭcus , i, m., a player, actor, Cic. Off. 1, 31, 114: “orator plurimum aberit a scaenico 2. scaenĭca , ae, f., a female player, an actress,
“gestus,” Cic. de Or. 3, 59, 220: “modulatio,” Quint. 11, 3, 57:
Gestures of an ōrātōrĭus , a, um, adj. orator. . Of or belonging to an orator, oratorical II. Of or belonging to praying; hence, subst.: ōrātōrĭum , ii. n. (sc. templum), a place of prayer, an oratory
Orgănum , i, n., = organon, Of musical instruments, a pipe, Quint. 11, 3, 20; 9, 4, 10; Juv. 6, 3, 80; Vulg. Gen. 4, 21; id. 2 Par. 34, 12 et saep. an organ, water-organ: “organa hydraulica,” Suet. Ner. 41: aquatica, Mythogr. Lat. 3, 12.—Of a church-organ, Cass. Expos. in Psa. 150; Aug. Enarr. in Psa. 150, n. 7.— B. Transf.: organum oris, the tongue of a man, Prud. stephLucr. 3.1048
For whom already life's as good as dead,
Whilst yet thou livest and lookest?- who in sleep
Wastest thy life- time's major part, and snorest
Even when awake, and ceasest not to see
The stuff of dreams, and bearest a mind beset
By baseless terror, nor discoverest oft
What's wrong with thee, when, like a sotted wretch,
Thou'rt jostled along by many crowding cares,
And wanderest reeling round, with mind aswim."
“portenta non disserentium philosophorum sed somniantium,” Cic. N. D. 1, 8, 18.
A Charmer is an AbominationIs. 66:4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them;
incantātor , ōris, m. incanto, I. an enchanter, wizard (post-class.), Tert. Idol. 9; Isid. 8, 9, 15; Mos. et Rom. Leg. Coll. 15, 1, 2.
consŭlo (a). In the lang. of religion, to consult a deity, an oracle, omens, etc.: “Apollinem de re,” Cic. Leg. 2, 16, 40: “deum consuluit auguriis, quae suscipienda essent,” Liv. 1, 20, 7: “deos hominum fibris,” Tac. A. 14, 30 fin.: “Phoebi oracula,” Ov. M. 3, 9; Suet. Vesp. 5: “Tiresiam conjectorem,” Plaut. Am. 5, 1, 76:
B. An incantation, charm, magic song, etc.: cantusque artesque magorum.
“cantus e curru Lunam deducere tentat,”
2. With instruments, a playing, music: “in nervorum vocumque cantibus,” Cic. Tusc. 1, 2, 4; id. Rosc. Am. 46, 134: “citharae,” Hor. C. 3, 1, 20: “horribili stridebat tibia cantu,” Cat. 64, 264: “querulae tibiae,”
because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear:
but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.
or the
oracles of demons?
Heb. 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
1Pet. 4:11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Why is it
that, out of the ancient books which constitute the records
of this type of religion,
nothing in the form either of
admonition or of prediction
is advanced to oppose
the Christian faith,
or to controvert
the truth of those PROPHETS of ours,
who have now come to
be so well understood among all nations?
We have
offended our gods,” they say in reply,
“and they have
deserted us for that reason:
that explains
it also why the Christians have prevailed against us,
and why the
bliss of human life, exhausted and impaired, goes to wreck
among us.”
We challenge
them, however, to take the books of their own seers,
and read out to us any
statement purporting that the kind of issue
which has come upon
them would be brought on them by the Christians:
nay, we challenge them to recite any passages in
which,
if not Christ (for
they wish to make Him out to have been a worshipper of
their own gods), at least this God of Israel,
who is allowed to be
the subverter of other deities,
is held up as a deity
destined to be rejected and worthy of detestation.
But never will they
produce any such passage, unless, perchance, it be some
fabrication of their own.
And if ever they do cite any such statement,
the fact that it is
but a fiction of their own will betray itself
in the unnoticeable
manner in which a matter of so grave importance is found
adduced;
whereas, in good
truth, before what has been predicted should have come to
pass,
it behoved to have
been proclaimed in the temples of the gods of all nations,
with a view to the
timeous preparation and warning of all who are now minded
[Refuse] to be Christians.
In this extract from his Confessions S. Augustine discusses music and religion.
[XXXIII.] 49. The
delights of the ear, had more firmly entangled and subdued me;
but Thou did loosen, and free me. Now, in those melodies
which Thy words breathe soul into, when sung with a sweet and
attuned voice, I do a little repose; yet not so as to be held
thereby, but that I can disengage myself when I will.
Augustine
and others speak ONLY of the Biblical Text being "sung"
although not "tuneful" in the modern sense.
But with the words
which are their life and whereby they find admission
into me,
themselves seek in my
affections a place of some estimation,
and I can scarcely
assign them one suitable.
For at one time I seem to myself to give them more
honour than is seemly,
feeling our minds to be
more holily and fervently raised unto a flame of devotion,
by the holy words
themselves when thus sung, than when not;
and that the several affections of our spirit, by a sweet
variety,
have their own proper
measures in the voice and singing,
by some hidden
correspondence wherewith they are stirred up.
But this contentment of the flesh, to which the soul must not be given over to be enervated,
doth oft beguile me, the sense not so waiting upon reason,
as patiently to follow her; but having been admitted merely for her sake,
it strives even to run before her, and lead her.
Thus in these things I unawares sin, but afterwards am aware of it.
50. At other times,
shunning over-anxiously this very deception,
I err in too great
strictness; and sometimes to that degree,
as to wish the whole
melody of sweet music
which is used to David’s Psalter, banished
from my ears,
and the Church’s too; and that mode
seems to me safer,
which I remember to have been often told me of Athanasius
Bishop of Alexandria,
who made the reader of the psalm utter
it with so slight inflection of voice
that it was nearer speaking than
singing.
AUGUSTINE "musical instruments were not used. The pipe, tabret, and harp here associate so intimately with the sensual heathen cults, as well as with the wild revelries and shameless performances of the degenerate theater and circus, it is easy to understand the prejudices against their use in the worship." (Augustine 354 A.D., describing the singing at Alexandria under Athanasius)
Music. Cantillation signs guide the reader in applying a chant to Biblical readings. This chant is technically regarded as a ritualized form of speech intonation rather than as a musical exercise like the singing of metrical hymns: for this reason Jews always speak of saying or reading a passage rather than of singing it. (In Yiddish the word is leynen 'read', derived from Latin legere, giving rise to the Jewish English verb "to leyn".)
The Philipedium: In most western European languages, the word for “read” starts with the letter “L”. These languages can be divided into two main groups — those of Latin origin and those of Germanic origin. In each of the Latin languages (Italian, Spanish, French, etc.), the modern word is derived from legere, the Latin word for “read”. The Italian word is still leggere, essentially unchanged from the Latin. In the other Romance languages, the “g” sound was lost, and so we have leer in Spanish, ler in Portuguese, and lire in French.
Yet again, when I remember the
tears I shed at the Psalmody
of Thy Church,
in the beginning of my
recovered faith; and how at this time,
I am moved, not with the
singing, but with the things sung,
when they are sung with
a clear voice and modulation most suitable,
I acknowledge the great use of this institution.
Thus I fluctuate between
peril of pleasure and approved wholesomeness;
inclined the rather
(though not as pronouncing an irrevocable opinion)
to approve of the usage
of singing in the church;
that so by the delight
of the ears,
the weaker minds may rise to the
feeling of devotion.
Yet when it befalls me to be more moved
with the voice than the words sung,
I confess to have sinned penally, and then
had rather not hear music.
See now my state; weep with me, and weep for me, ye, who so
regulate your feelings within, as that good action
ensues. For you who do not act, these things touch not
you. But, Thou, O Lord my God, hearken; behold, and see,
and have mercy, and heal me, Thou, in whose
presence I have become a problem to myself; and that
is my infirmity.
Saint Augustine, Confessions of S. Augustine, J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1907, trans. E.B. Pusey, pp. 234-236.
Translation first published in 1838.Augustine: Morals of the Manichaens
46. As for motion, and tossing, and rubbing (melody), if these give the divine nature the opportunity of escaping from these substances, many things of the same kind are against you, which are improved by motion. In some grains the juice resembles wine, and is excellent when moved about.
"Indeed, as must not be overlooked, this kind of drink produces intoxication rapidly; and yet you never called the juice of grain the poison of the princes of darkness. There is a preparation of water, thickened with a little meal, which is the better of being shaken, and, strange to say, is lighter in color when the light is gone. The pastry cook stirs honey for a long time to give it this light color, and to make its sweetness milder and less unwholesome: you must explain how this can come from the loss of good.
Again, if you prefer to test the presence of God by the agreeable effects on the hearing, and not sight, or smell, or taste, harps get their strings and pipes their bones from animals; and these become musical by being dried, and rubbed, and twisted.
So the pleasures of music, which you hold to have come from the divine kingdom, are obtained from the refuse of dead animals, and that, too, when they are dried by time, and lessened by rubbing, and stretched by twisting. Such rough treatment, according to you, drives the divine substance from living objects; even cooking them, you say, does this. Why then are boiled thistles not unwholesome? Is it because God, or part of God, leaves them when they are cooked?
The books of HISTORY define the
Hebrew nation especially after God abandoned them to worship
the starry host (Acts 7). Jesus defined HOLY SCRIPTURE
as the writing of the Prophets: that included the Writing
Prophets and other prophecies made about Him in the Law and
Prophets. Jesus does not use the Scribe's records of kings
whom God gave in his anger. However, AMONG THE SCHOLARS
there is a hysterical effort to drive people back to the
Jacob-cursed and God-Abandoned Levites slaughtering animals
and the HOLOCAUST of animals and INFANTS.
You will never find anyone on the
preacher level who does not say that God COMMANDED
INSTRUMENTAL WORSHIP under the Law. Well, The Law of Moses did
NOT do so. They think that everything from Genesis to
Malachi is the OLD TESTAMENT.
Eph. 2:19 Now
therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners,
but fellowcitizens
with the saints, and of the household of God;
Eph. 2:20 And are built upon [EDUCATED-ONLY]
the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner stone
Augustine:
Where are their gods? Where are the vaticinations
[Prophesiers] of their fanatics, and the divinations
of their prophets?</font>
Deuteronomy 18 The
Abominations<b>
http://www.piney.com/Deuteronomy.18.Abomination.Of.Those.Nations.html
Deut. 18:9
When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God
giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the
<b>ABOMINATIONS</b> of those nations.
Deut. 18:10 There shall not be found among you any one that
maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire,
or that useth divination, or an observer of times,
or an enchanter, or a witch,
hărĭŏlus soothsayer, prophet, prophetessDeut. 18:11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer
somnĭo , to dream; to dream of or see in a dream, to dream, i. e. to think idly or vainly, to talk foolishly:
psaltrĭa , ae, f., = psaltria, . a female player on the cithara, a lutist, “ineptias,” Col. 1, 8, 2: “ah stulte! tu de Psaltriā me somnias Agere,” Ter. Ad. 4, 7, 6; Plaut. Pers. 2, 3, 5.—Absol.: “vigilans somniat
“portenta non disserentium philosophorum sed somniantium,” Cic. N. D. 1, 8, 18.
A Charmer is an AbominationThis was outlawed for the Church of Christ (the Rock) in the wilderness
Cantus A. Prophetic or oracular song incantātor , ōris, m. incanto, I. an enchanter, wizard (post-class.), 2. With instruments, a playing, music: “citharae, [guitar]
These ăb-ōmĭnor are always MARKED “semimares,” Liv. 31, 12, 8
Signs or wonders
" Liv. 31, 12, 8 Along with "plundering" the temples, among
the Sabines, a child of uncertain sex was born, while
another was found whose sex, at the age of sixteen, could
not be determined. All these disgusting and monstrous
creatures seemed to be signs that nature was confusing
species; but beyond all else the hermaphrodites caused
terror,... In addition, they directed that a hymn be sung
throughout the city by thrice nine maidens, and that an
offering be made to Queen Juno.