Founding of Christendom: Saint Apollonius the Apologist and Martyr Post 19

Apollonius, martyr (185 AD) and defender of the faith, produced one of the most priceless documents of the early Church. He defended Chritianity before the Roman Senate.  Apollonius was a Roman senator who was denounced as a Christian by one of his servants. He was arrested and brought to trial.

The Praetorian prefect, Sextus Tigidius Perenis, arrested him, also putting the slave to death– the informer. Perennis demanded that Apollonius denounce the faith, and when he refused, the case was remanded to the Roman senate. Apollonius wrote out his defense in one of the most eloquent documents defending Chritianity. Despite his articulate defense, Apollonius was condemned and beheaded.

The account in the Roman Martyrology (feastday 21 April) is as follows:

    “At Rome, commemoration of Saint Apollonius, philosopher and martyr. Under the Emperor Commodus, he defended, before the Prefect Perennius and the Senate, the cause of the Christian faith in a finely argued address, and then, after being condemned to death, confirmed it by the witness of his blood.”

Here is a good account this relatively unknown
saint from ucatholic:

Social Studies: Tom Sowell on Charter Schools and Their Enemies

 

The Second Enlightenment

 

Founding of Christendom: Perscution in Lyons France Post 18

After a 23 year rule, Emperor Athonius Pius died in 161 AD. He had been the best emperor since Caesar Augustus.The phase of the “good emperors” (Trajan: 98-117 AD, Hadrian: 117-138 AD, Antoninus Pius: 138-161 AD and  Marcus Aurelius: 161-180 AD) was now to end with the reign of Marcus Aurelius.

Marcus Aurelius (161-180) was the adopted son of Emperor Pius and the fulfilment of Plato’s hope of a philosopher king. He was not just a king of a country, but the emperor of the western world covering most of the coastal countries of the Mediterranean. Marcus was a real philosopher adopting one of the most practical philosophies for an emperor --Stoicism. Unlike Buddhism, which denies reality, Stoics embrace reality. Marcus’ book: “Meditations” is still a classic of stoic thought. The caricature of stoics being unemotional is not accurate. They just were not controlled by sentiment. It definitely lacked the insights of mercy that Christianity could give, as well as the sanctity of life.

Amazing World: Scientists May Have Found a Way to Treat All Cancers... By Accident

 I hate to be cynical but these promising discoveries never make their way to the public. I have been following treatments fro cancer for years, but they all seem to go to "development hell"--never to see the light of day. They are either never heard from again, or are written off as a false hope.

There was a controversy with amygdalin back in the 1970's. The man made form of  amygdalin is called Laetrile. There was great hope of it being the cure for cancer and many doctors were treating their cancer patients with it successfully. But "Big Pharma" seemed to get involved and squashed it. The FDA outlawing its use in the USA. There is a lot of confusing literature on it.

But what convinced me it was true, was a little documentary called "Second Opinion." It tells the story how a major USA testing laboratory falsified the findings about its effectiveness. It really did work.

Amygdalin can be found in high doses in nature in apple seeds and especially bitter apricot seeds. The claim is they are poisonous but they are not. Some things can appear dangerous by the composition of the chemical names, like cyanide in found in vitamin B12. The structure is as important as much as the chemicals.

2nd opinion documentary film from Balance Field on Vimeo.

faith formation: What is Love? Love does not Dishonor --- post 6

 

We are continuing our meditation on St. Paul's definition of Love. We have covered patience, and tackled kindness ; we thought about envy. and consider boastfulness. We looked at pride last time now let's look at dishonor [rudeness] and self-seeking, i.e. selfish.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

Here are some good point from transformedbygrace.org

Love does not dishonor others [Love is not rude], Love is not self-seeking.            1 Corinthians 13:5

God’s loving ways and thoughts are far higher and deeper than ours. God is the Sovereign Authority over all there is, and certainly our Superior. Yet, our God speaks to us intimately and with great respect through His Holy Scriptures and Holy Spirit. Even when God must confront us in clear, strong ways about our wrong behavior and tell us hard truths about ourselves, God is never rude. Love does not dishonor others, Love is not rude, Love is not self-seeking.

Amazing World: The Forgotten Great American Titan--- George Westinghouse

Westinghouse was one of the great Americans, although forgotten by most. He has become famous again only by association with Nicola Tesla-- who was also a forgotten man until about 20 years ago. George is an example of what the free market can do with a virtuous man at the helm. He was a Christian and tried to live it