Vol. III, # 21, Dec. 31, 2004

Come All Ye Faithful and Welcome in 2005 Tonight

Tonight the sixth annual SSBSC New Year's Eve Social will begin at 9 PM and last until 2005 arrives. The social will be at Brenda and PH's home at 301 Westham Pkwy, only a half mile from RRCB in the northerly direction. Turn off River Road going north on Westham Pkwy and go one-half mile to the corner of Lakewood Drive and Westham Pkwy on the right. There will be some food and drink. In addition the annual SSBSC trivia quiz will be available, a five hundred piece jigsaw puzzle of a Monet painting will be offered and an opportunity to see Tonto the Tarantula will be permitted upon request. PH has been told by jigsaw puzzle experts that a five hundred piece puzzle is doable within three hours. Will partying Shepsons meet the challenge? For those who will be unable to attend this social the 2004 SSBSC Trivia Quiz will be sent out via E-mail on January 1, 2005.

PH has already heard from a few Shepsons who will be attending the Social. Shepson Doris Curtis wrote the following:

"Barring unforeseen events, e.g., we fall asleep during the evening news and forget to wake up in time for the party, we will be there and will bring some pick-up food & beverage. But, truth be told, the following promise is the real reason we don't want to miss it:"

"Also Tonto the tarantula can be viewed upon request."

Shepson Terry Marsh called PH and indicated that he and Sheila might be a little late and that he might already be "ripped" before arriving.

If any of you have no other commitment of time tonight and would like good company to welcome in the new year, come and join us.

Prayer Rounds

Remember in your prayers: Jackie Everett, infants Loyal Clark Davis and Paige Elizabeth Newcomb and their respective mothers, Rob Brown, the VCU BSU, Ellen Gwathmey and her father, Shoney's employee Vivian Martin and her husband Ray, Roger Beck, Cecil and Dot Sherman, Peggy Harris and her family, Kim Williams and her family, Rick and Linda Mears, Donald and Barbara Deer, Audrey Thomson's sister Sharon Ruben and Sharon's family, Jared Oliver, Julia Tyler and her parents, Mary and Julian Pentecost, Kay and Bob Culpepper, John and Margaret Oliver, the Church clergy and staff, our military and civilians in harm's way, those in peril in Asia and those only known to you.

Dates to Remember

January 20, Thursday evening, Caritas, SSBSC hosting. Needed are seven to eight Shepsons to prepare and serve the dinner and two male Shepsons to spend the night. The tentative menu is George Davis meat loaf. Questions should be directed to SSBSC missionaries Charlotte and Bill at 285-3185

February 9, Ash Wednesday - Will there be real ashes this year?

March 20, Palm Sunday and the first day of Spring

March 27 Easter Sunday

Will David Arrive This Sunday?

We are now in the midst of the fifteenth chapter of I Samuel and Teacher Bob has announced that David will soon make his appearance. Maybe the sixteenth chapter will introduce David, the youngest of the eight sons of Jesse. We will learn that David is the least likely to be anointed as king among Jesse's sons and that he is a young lad with sparkling eyes who is out in the field caring for the sheep. Initially when Samuel arrives to anoint the new king, he assumes that one of Jesse's older sons, Eliab, would be the likely choice because he was a tall man. However, the Lord said to him, "Pay no attention to how tall and handsome he is. I have rejected him, because I do not judge as people judge. They look at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart."

We will soon be learning about one of the most heroic, courageous, womanizing, conflicted and important people of the Bible. Out of the House of David comes Jesus. twenty-eight generations later. One would assume that God perceived that David had the "heart" to be a great king of Israel.

Can You Imagine Getting Hitched on New Year's Eve?

PH is pleased as punch to announce that Sandra and Carl Sizemore did just that thirty-eight years ago. Also in early January three Shepson births occurred. Donna Brown and Kitty Davis were born twenty-nine years ago this Sunday and Judy Morris was born twenty-nine years ago this coming Tuesday.

Was Herod Really Evil Enough to Kill Innocent Children?

In the gospel of Matthew, chapter 2, verses 16 through 18 the account of what we know as "the slaughter of the innocents" is described. Did this really happen? Some Biblical scholars believe that this slaughter is unhistorical. For example, Josephus wrote about many of King Herod's evil acts, but makes no mention of the slaughter of innocent little boys in Bethlehem and the surrounding vicinity. A summary of what Josephus recorded is this:

Historically, Herod, to put it mildly, did not have a peaceful reign. His many sons and wives were involved in bitter rivalry for his throne. Herod was not a man to hold family relation sacred. He had three of his sons executed for conspiracy. He executed his brother-in-law, Joseph. At the urging of Joseph's widow, Salome, he murdered his own wife, Mariamme. If he treated his own family badly, his opponents and enemies were given even more ferocious handling. He murdered the Jewish High Priest, Aristobolus III and forty-five members of the Sanhedrin for their support of the Hasmoneans. These are just samplings of Herod's atrocities. He was therefore a kind of man that could have committed the crime Matthew attributed to him.

The atrocities listed above are taken from Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews. From Josephus' own writings, we can tell that he hated Herod, for he obviously took pleasure in noting down every crime and atrocities that was attributed to the Idumean king. Many of the crimes described by Josephus were far less "wicked" than the slaughter of the innocents described by Matthew. Now Josephus' list was very detailed. Had the slaughter actually occurred it would have been an event well known enough for the Jewish historian to have heard of it. Yet the silence of Josephus and the absence of any reference to it in any contemporary secular writings (Jewish, Greek or Roman) cannot be explained if the event was historical. The conclusion forces itself on us, it never happened.

Was this episode a work of theological fiction, based on the story of Moses in Exodus, composed either by Matthew himself or the early Christian tradition to fulfill what was thought to be an Old Testament prophecy about the messiah?

PH: Only Matthew writes about this slaughter in his account of the early life of Jesus. Luke writes that Joseph, Mary and Jesus simply returned to Nazareth after taking Jesus to the temple for purification. Luke also wrote in considerable detail about Simeon and Anna, but he made no mention of the slaughter of the innocents. As so much in the four gospels we are left to decide for ourselves in regard to what is historical and what is traditional or is it simply based on faith? Herod certainly seemed ruthless enough to have ordered this slaughter. But if one thinks about it in an individual and personal way, who would have obeyed the order? The Roman soldiers would have not been subject to the order and would the Jewish authorities have done such an ungodly act? Likely a lot of children would have been hidden. For those of you who might be interested those liberal and zany guys and gals in the Jesus Seminar believe this slaughter to be fiction. The four gospels agree on the Cross and on the Resurrection. Those events clearly seem to be the basis for the faith of the early apostles and the establishment of the church.

Some of the information regarding this little thought provoking comment was found at:

http://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/herod.html#josephus

Who would really know whether Joseph, Mary and Jesus went to Egypt? PH thinks the donkey would know. Does the attached donkey know?

PH

Poor Henry's Archives

December 24, 2004
December 17, 2004
December 10, 2004
December 3, 2004
November 26, 2004
November 19, 2004
November 12, 2004
November 5, 2004
October 29, 2004
October 22, 2004
October 15, 2004
October 8, 2004
October 1, 2004
September 24, 2004
September 17, 2004
September 10, 2004
September 3, 2004
August 27, 2004
August 20, 2004
August 13, 2004
August 6, 2004
July 23, 2004
July 16, 2004
June 25, 2004
June 18, 2004
June 4, 2004
May 14, 2004
May 7, 2004
April 30, 2004
April 23, 2004
April 16, 2004
April 9, 2004
April 2, 2004
March 26, 2004
March 19, 2004
March 12, 2004
March 5, 2004
February 27, 2004
February 20, 2004
February 13, 2004
February 6, 2004
January 30, 2004
January 23, 2004
January 16, 2004
January 9, 2004
January 2, 2004

2003 Archive

2002 Archive