Awesome James! The Mona Lisa / Ark of the Covenant connection is deep. Paganism isn't wrong to approach the world this way - it just approaches the wrong things, cowering in confused fear, ignoring the Lord of Hosts; those very hosts of heaven that terrify us when they show up. Brings to mind other pagan tropes that are making a comeback. The global climate catastrophe stuff is very like the 'we must make a sacrifice to appease the weather god' of prior millenia. Thanks for the Numbers 4 shoutout. Tough work being a Kohathite in the wilderness...
James. I agree the Mona Lisa is forgettable but at least it has some verifiable provenance (I believe it's the original, not a copy!), at least I think it has, whereas the bible is rather weak there I think, eg no archaeological evidence to link biblical writings with the exodus of the Israelites and Israel's dependence on the Bible to justify their theft of Palestinian land and their apartheid like treatment of them against the majority view of international law.
And what you write makes God and Jesus sounds like authoritarian despots
Awesome James! The Mona Lisa / Ark of the Covenant connection is deep. Paganism isn't wrong to approach the world this way - it just approaches the wrong things, cowering in confused fear, ignoring the Lord of Hosts; those very hosts of heaven that terrify us when they show up. Brings to mind other pagan tropes that are making a comeback. The global climate catastrophe stuff is very like the 'we must make a sacrifice to appease the weather god' of prior millenia. Thanks for the Numbers 4 shoutout. Tough work being a Kohathite in the wilderness...
I wonder if there’s any significance attached to the use of Porpoise skin as covering for the Holy things. Any thoughts James?
James. I agree the Mona Lisa is forgettable but at least it has some verifiable provenance (I believe it's the original, not a copy!), at least I think it has, whereas the bible is rather weak there I think, eg no archaeological evidence to link biblical writings with the exodus of the Israelites and Israel's dependence on the Bible to justify their theft of Palestinian land and their apartheid like treatment of them against the majority view of international law.
And what you write makes God and Jesus sounds like authoritarian despots