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cross-shaped love, love-shaped cross: David Seccombe, THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM: JESUS' REVOLUTIONARY MESSAGE
June 16, 2017 by David Baer
When Australian New Testament scholar and educator David Seccombe writes about 'Jesus' revolutionary message' (the subtitle of The Gospel of the Kingdom), it is almost inevitable that he should set out a two-part arrangement that puts one in mind of the apostle Paul: 'What is the Gospel?' and 'Proclaiming the Gospel'.
This is so because Seccombe's scholarly gifts have always been deployed in the interests of people and churches whom the author longs to see brought into redemptive, joyous, and invigorating relationship with Jesus Christ. A gospel minutely defined and delimited but not preached, lived, and taught would fall short of Seccombe's ambition.
So in thirteen spritely chapters, in the course of which Seccombe wears his scholarship lightly but not without effect, we are asked to think again—or even for the first time—about the nature of the strange news that intruded into human discourse by means of Jesus' life and teaching.
Seccombe writes because he perceives a problem: an abundance of 'confusion and fuzzy thinking' about what 'gospel' means (Ch. 1, 'Gospel Confusion'). Scanning Old Testament and extrabiblical antecedents, the author concludes that '(a) gospel at the time of the birth of the New Testament was the announcement of momentous good news, mostly about victory in battle and the rise and fall of kingdoms'.
Seccombe has a large space for the Old Testament book of Isaiah in his understanding of 'gospel'. He works his way toward that formidable prophetic scroll in chapter two ('The Old Testament and the Kingdom of God') by tracing the way in which divine rule or kingship works its way into the covenants and the promises embedded in them. Israel, in effect, leans through her mixed experiences with good and bad rulers and the disappointments that cling to them and into a future where the Lord will make good on his promise to send a Davidic scion who will rule well. The 'kingdom of God' as an abstraction is not language that is common to the Old Testament, but this does not mean that the idea of a divine king and his human proxies is anything close to absent.
When it comes to Isaiah (Ch. 3, 'The gospel according to Isaiah'), Seccombe is not bashful about the ancient book's influence:
The gospel language of Jesus and the apostles derives primarily from the book of Isaiah. Israel's prophets delivered political, social and religious criticism from God to the people of their day, but they also spoke of what God would do in the future. Isaiah was the most detailed and influential with respect to the New Testament.
Seccombe derives from Isaiah's vocabulary license to turn his own gospel language in unconventional directions: Hebrew מבשר (mebasser) becomes 'gospeller' as a noun and 'gospelling' as a participle/gerund. Seccombe's linguistic liberty is key to expressing his point that in the Old Testament the language that we know as 'gospel'-related would have corresponded to the announcement of earth-shaking news, usually but now always good news. He is on his way to driving home the point that the gospel is a revolutionary development and its proclaimer is the bearer of revolutionary news.
Strictly speaking there is no gospel in the Old Testament, but only the promise of a future gospel. The Old Testament is a book of promises, the gospel being one of them; its coming belongs to the age of fulfillment, just like the Messiah. In the Old Testament the coming of the gospel is an event which is yet to take place. When it does, it will mean that God has arrived (or is about to), and that salvation has come, the promises have been fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand.
In this light, the announcement is that Jesus comes 'gospelling'. Indeed, his famous words in the Nazareth synagogue are not a sermon, but rather an announcement 'of the kind that brings into being what it declares' (Chapter 4, 'Jesus' gospel of the kingdom'). Jesus self-identifies as the awaited gospeller whose teaching is gospel itself. God's kingdom has come or, better, made its initial appearance. Jesus' news would have had a decided political import. Insofar as people became his followers, Jesus became a dangerous man. Tragically, most people rejected him, which occasioned Jesus' teaching that the kingdom whose arrival he heralded would be a long time in the making. Its coming would be marked by conflict and by the death of Jesus' himself.
In fact, Jesus and his gospel experience opposition of at least two kinds. There was opposition that was 'flesh and blood', chiefly the Jewish religious leaders. And then there was a threatened kingdom that was not of flesh and blood and that Jesus had come to supplant from his Father's world. Kingdoms would clash (Chapter 5, 'The gospel under fire').
But Jesus seemed to fail against his deepest adversary.
Jesus' death presents us with a paradox: was it Satan's victory, or Jesus'? To human eyes it was clearly the former. Jesus came to save sinners, but the sinners turned against him, would have none of his kingdom, and ejected him from the world—all through satanic manoeuvering. Yet Satan failed to break Jesus' obedience to God. He stood firm through coaxing and ordeal and died a death which he believed was God-ordained. Could it be he who triumphed?
This is how the early Christian saw it. They did not make this up, but obtained their view from Jesus. He had spoken of his death as the means by which he would overthrow Satan's power and establish his own kingdom over the human race …'
One of the principal virtues of Seccombe's book is that the author finds the story of Jesus strange and he perseveres in allowing it to remain strange rather than taming it in order to find an anodyne 'moral of the story'.
Seccombe would have his reader peer for a moment through a lens that focuses on the sequence of Jesus' grand gospel announcement (Ch. six, 'The gospel breaks out'). Jesus announced first that the kingdom of God was very near to invading and even imposing itself upon reality as its hearers knew it. Yet his own role in that kingdom—that of its monarch—comes only gradually into view. First comes the announcement of a kingdom, then the presentation of its king.
We are not so very far from this dynamic at the present time, Seccombe argues, for Jesus' kingdom has been established in his advent, life, death, and resurrection and it is sustained via Christ's heavenly reign and the gift of his Spirit. Yet we do not yet experience this kingdom in its fullness.
Both the apostles' experience and our own disciplined waiting correspond not to two different versions of Christian faith—as is sometimes alleged—but rather to two different forms of the same gospel. Seccombe presents a 'strong/high christology', which equates the application of YHWH's name to Jesus as the ontological identification of Jesus and YHWH. In recognizing Jesus as king of the announced kingdom, we stand at an incomparable advantage over against the apostles in their earliest experience, when the kingdom had been announced but its king was in their frame of reference still to be identified.
This reader finds Seccombe at his best in this chapter, not least in observations like this:
The early Christians knew that their message was not self-evidently true. But if Jesus' life and the Old Testament were carefully considered they were confident that its truth would emerge. Thus although it is possible to state the essence of the gospel in a sentence, the communication of the gospel can seldom be done in such an easy fashion. Where Jesus' characteristic way of authenticating his message was by miracle and exorcism, the apostles' was by reasoned statement and argument.
When Seccombe turns to the break-out of the gospel to the Gentile world that lends its name to the chapter's title, he insists that gospel argumentation was necessary if gentiles were to make sense of the Jesus message. Yet he drives home what might be isolated as the book's principal point when he argues that the gospel is not everything that we learn in the biblical witness. Rather, it centers on the kingship or lordship of Jesus:
I run the risk of frustrating my reader with what may appear to be a nit-picking desire to keep a narrow focus for the gospel. Why can we not take everything the early preachers said as gospel? Why can't we put together Jesus' life, death, resurrection, ascension, the Holy Spirit, salvation, judgement, second coming, God and creation and the rest—call all these gospel, and preach the lot? The answer is that we can, if we know what we are doing. But it is possible to preach some of these things—even all of them—and for it not to be the gospel, if the lordship of Jesus is absent or out of focus. Yet it is the gospel—and only the gospel—which saves people. It is also possible to preach any one of these and for it to be the gospel, so long as that crucial declaration of Jesus' kingship is the keynote.
This insistent pressing of the disruptive nature of kingdom announcement sets the stage for the book's second of two sections: 'Proclaiming the gospel'. In this section, Seccombe argues that the revolutionary brevity of the gospel—captured in the declaration that 'Jesus is Lord'—must be astutely reconstituted and delivered of its fullest implications. He finds the canonical 'gospels'—even Mark, the briefest of the four—to be an excellent model for such reconstitution, for these works tell the story of the Jesus who is Lord in a way that fills in the reader's understanding of just what this king of the encroaching kingdom is like (Ch. 7, 'The Kingdom's King').
Seccombe next turns to the deep paradox—indeed the gospel's core 'scandal'—that one cannot relate to this king except as a crucified king (Ch. 8, 'The crucified King'). This reader encounters this chapter as both brilliantly succinct (though its topic requires some 40 pages) but also patient of the complexities that attend to any discussion of the this most awful and mysterious core of the gospel. Without using the potentially off-putting term 'theories of the atonement', Seccome expertly walks us through them, reminding us after having done so that '(i)t is not an understanding of how the cross works which saves us, but its brute fact.' One thinks of John Stott's well-received The Cross of Christ, for one finds similar clarity here, in miniature.
Then, these words:
This is heady wine. Yet we must take care not to jump to the conclusion that the good news of God's love is the gospel. God's love is good news, and it is worth talking about, but the gospel is an announcement of a very special manifestation of that love. It is the announcement of the arrival of God's kingdom, which is the kingdom of King Jesus, who is the crucified one, who dies "for us men and for our salvation", who calls us to know him and share his kingdom for ever. The gospel of the kingdom is a message of the cross-shaped love of a Saviour who died on a love-shaped cross.
Naming the resurrection, the 'leading edge of the gospel' and sufficient in itself if its implications are fully explored to lead people to faith (Ch. 9 'Proof of the gospel'), Seccombe wants to persuade his reader that there is at the same time 'more to the resurrection than a miracle and a demonstration of Jesus' bona fides'.
The New Testament makes a number of statements to the effect that in some manner Jesus actually became Messiah through his resurrection. Looking forward, Jesus saw his death and subsequent resurrection and ascension as the glorification of the Son of Man, a reference to his elevation to dominion over the peoples of the world. He expected the kingdom of God to be established in power through his death and subsequent exaltation—within the lifetime of his disciples. When he appeared to them in Galilee after his resurrection he was able to announce to them that "all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me". These are the words of a new king, and they are pure gospel.
If Seccombe's readers will see him as daring in his suggestion that Jesus did not during the course of his incarnation know the timing of his kingdom's full advent, he is conventional in his understanding of Trinitarian ontology. Having identified the exalted 'name above every name' that is given to Jesus as that of YHWH himself, Secommbe hurries to clarify that Jesus did not become God in his resurrection-ascension-enthronement. Rather, he was invested with messianic office and declared to possess a status that is no less than that of God himself.
For the duration of this dense and pregnant chapter, Seccombe argues that this resurrection power loosed in the kingdom by its newly enthroned king makes 'heaven when you die' a reduction of the Christian gospel so extreme as to be almost unrecognizable when placed alongside the biblical witness.
As this reader absorbs our author's claim that 'resurrection is the cutting edge of the gospel', he wrestles with the sensation that Seccombe is not in fact distilling 'gospel' down to a simple core, as the book may have appeared to promise. Too many of the facets of the Jesus message have in seven chapters been named as critical, essential, central, and cutting-edge for that to be the case. Rather, he is attempting to shear Christian understanding and proclamation of all extraneous additions and limp-wristed concessions. He then gives us an exceedingly dense—and, yes, multiply layered—core of the gospel that does not align well with sloganeering. Yet the astute and gospel-saturated preacher can indeed make sure that this gospel core remains the preached core of his or her proclamation.
In his chapter ten ('Your kingdom come'), Seccombe combats the urge to deal with the impression that 'nothing has changed' by assigning Jesus' kingdom to a space in one's inner world rather than accepting it for the …
… full this-worldly solution to the problems of history' that Jesus claimed it would be. He reminds his reader that 'Our Lord come! (Aramaic, Maranatha) is (the Jesus movement's) earliest recorded prayer and that '(t)he New Testament closes with the promise of the ascended Lord himself, "Surely I am coming soon," and the answering cry, "Amen, come Lord Jesus."
The missing element in much modern and post-modern Christian understanding is hope, Seccombe alleges, in particular a hope that anticipates the full-bodied arrival of this kingdom.
Here and elsewhere, Seccombe's writing shows him to be sensitive to the claims of honest skeptics, particularly in those areas where the Christian message seems to thrust forward an Achilles' Heel of particular vulnerability. So why, he imagines his honest skeptic to ask, has this Jesus of yours disappeared from human view just when he has led us to expect the establishment of his kingdom? Where has he gone, and why?
The author's response to this probing is subtle, and seeks to find a response not so much in contemporary conjecture as in the recorded teaching of Jesus and the early reflection of his disciples. From Jesus' story about a nobleman traveling to a far country while leaving matters in the hands of his servants to his image of wheat and tares growing both robustly and together, to Paul's assertion that something in Christ is at the time of his writing 'incomplete', Seccombe attempts to show the long period of Jesus' 'absence' that is so familiar to us was foreseen by the earliest voices of the Jesus Movement. This time, for Seccombe, is a space opened up in history for 'loving conquest' (via the turning of hearts more than the unwilling submission of the recalcitrant) and gathering of the kingdom's people in anticipation of Jesus' 'second coming'. He allows that the 'mission' of Jesus' people occupies perhaps a larger space in history than either Jew or early Christian could have anticipated. Yet the Spirit of God's/Jesus' empowering presence allows believers-on-mission to experience the announced and coming kingdom even before final resistance to it is quieted and its promise become fully lived reality.
Several things about Seccombe's treatment of '(j)ustification by faith' (the title of the book's twelfth chapter) are worthy of mention in a review like this one. The first is that the topic comes up in the twelfth chapter rather than in the first or second. By itself this is a signal in the current climate of discussion that Seccombe does not stand with those who risk reducing the gospel to this doctrine. The second that it is inevitable that mention of and even a swipe at N.T. Wright should be forthcoming.
Seccombe's approach to this core doctrine of the Protestant Reformation—the author would certainly speak of its rediscovery rather than its invention during the Reformation—may best be summarized by this paragraph:
Justification by faith, then, is implicit in the gospel. It may or may not be stated or explained. It is not the centre of the gospel. The gospel announces Christ's kingdom and victory, but also declares "repentance and forgiveness of sins in his name". Justification is about forgiveness of sins; it is what God does to un-disqualify—actually, to re-qualify—the person who believes in Jesus. Justification does not come through believing in justification by faith, but by believing in Jesus. A person who hears the gospel of Jesus' kingdom and trusts in him will be justified, even if he or she has never hard of justification by faith. The call of the gospel is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. If we do, we will be saved, even if at the beginning we are hardly aware of the extent of our gain.
It is also possible that this paragraph captures better than any other Seccombe's work as a pastoral theologian, to say nothing of his winsome and gently daring way with a pen.
Seccombe's final chapter (Chapter 13, 'Gospel life') examines the nature of law, principally in the Old Testament. He places such legislation in the context of other inputs into the ethical life of ancient Israel, such as that nation's wisdom tradition. Yet the law was deficient, both intrinsically in its incapacity to forge true righteousness and experientially, in Israel's repeated transgression of it.
The New Testament, for its part, does not present a codified ethical system. 'The new Christian wants Jesus' words, not an ethical theory. These were willingly supplied by the Gospel writers.' Nor were Jesus' apostles stingy about offering their own, Jesus-derived ethical instruction.
Seccombe seems burdened not to deprive simple, saving faith from its primordial position in Christian experience. Yet he recognizes, that as the follower of Jesus goes on in his or her new life, he longs for more instruction on how to live. And he finds it in Scripture, even if what he discovers there is not an ethical code that per se defines or sketches the boundaries of life in Christ.
It would take a whole book to unwrap the world of early Christian ethics thoroughly', Seccome writes, suggesting that this is not a book that he has written. 'What we have done should be sufficient to to establish the rightness of speaking of "gospel ethics" and show that this is no peripheral aspect, but the fundamental principle of true morality … The gospel is the announcement of a 'new covenant" order: a new King, a kingdom, and a people. It defines a new reality, which requires a new response in human behavior and striving. The gospel offers amnesty and membership to all who will embrace Jesus as King and Lord. This alternative kingdom will ultimately issue into a new world: "new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells." For the moment, it is represented in communities of kingdom-loving people following Jesus in the midst of suffering and righteousness. Their hope is lit with the dawn of the coming kingdom, and their way of life strains forward to what shall be.
Again, Seccome is averse to any notion that ethical behavior defines the gospel or Christian life; that human communities achieve the gospel's intrinsic ethical standard; and that for these reasons ethics is somehow moved to the margins of the gospel and of Christian experience.
Two brief appendices sort through the lexical and theological morass that leads us to the English words 'gospel', 'righteousness', and 'justify/justification'. In the latter case, Seccombe argues strongly that the traditional view still holds water, alluding to the 'imputation' of righteousness to justified human beings though—so far as I can tell—without using the word.
What, then, has David Seccombe given to us in these 304 words of winsome prose?
In this reader's view, The Gospel of the Kingdom should hold a prominent place on the list of resources that might guide a reader or a group of readers into a fuller understanding of the nature of Jesus' announcement that God's kingdom has arrived. I can't think of a better 'advanced introduction' to this core of Christian life and understanding.
Secondly, Seccombe's book aims at and hits a homiletical target. That is, any Christian preacher might well place this book alongside, say, John Stott's The Cross of Christ as an advanced (again) primer for how to preach the kingdom that Jesus announced. Secccombe has in common with Stott a knack for taking complexity into full account while communicating a truth that must not become complex upon every declaration of it.
Thirdly, Seccombe's book is recurrently refreshing. Even when the space he allows himself for thinking creatively—from time to time one feels he is writing as an act of thinking-out-loud—occasionally risks a loss of clarity, one comes away feeling that he is hearing something new. Or perhaps hearing something old in a new way.
Finally (though in no exhaustive sense), Seccombe's work makes for a very good read. One can imagine sitting late into the night alongside the man, perhaps consuming a pint or two in the mix, and heading home with the heady sense that one has had a very fine conversation.
This, when such important and theological realities are in the mix, is an accomplishment of ample proportions. Perhaps more than two have been at that table.
Posted in missio dei, reseña | Tagged gospel | Leave a Comment


Experiencing A Kingwood Flood Damage Mitigation Incident?
The more time a water-damaged residential property is left alone, the more the harm will rise. You will need to take immediate action.
Remember! Your insurance company may try to force you into selecting from their supplier list of water remediation companies. You are not required to do so. In fact, rather often this is actually a low bidder list. Organizations have consented to take less money for their work in order to be added on the insurance companies directory. Your house is too important to trust it to the lowest bidder!
Water Damage Kingwood Repair Pros On The Job.
Keep in mind! Your insurance company might just try to pressure you into deciding on from their directory of water damage removal service providers.
You especially want to get a experienced service provider to address the full work, but in case that isn't a possibility, you will discover practical suggestions on this site on the best ways to clear up a flooding circumstance.
When you come home to a flooded home caused by a washing machine leak, or refrigerator water leak, broken pipe, toilet pipe, or something else, if at all possible turn off the water to the entire residence. If your house has a basement, usually the water turn off is located in the cellar.
Locate a water remediation specialist in your home as soon as possible. These consultants remove all the damaged items and begin the procedure of drying it all out. You want to be positive every little thing is dry and all of the mold has been taken off before you start any type of restoration.
Phone your insurance company. Do not do anything to your house (beside getting rid of standing water) until you have contacted your insurance company. If you have to clear away anything right off the bat, see to it you detail it with photos or video. Your insurance agency ought to send out a water remediation professional without delay.
Do not do anything to your house (beside getting rid of standing water) until you have contacted your insurance broker. If you need to remove anything right away, make sure you document it with pictures or video.
Refrain from managing mold yourself. Remediation should be delegated a professional. If you must begin the procedure by yourself, take extreme caution. The more you agitate the mold, the higher the possibility it might spread all around your house and become harmful to your wellness.
Water Damage Kingwood Restoration Pros At Work.
Stay clear of tackling mold on your own. If you will have to handle the removal on your own, be very careful.
Shut off the power. Before you do any sort of work, turn off the electric to the spots you are going to be focusing on.
Furniture. Any kind of furniture which has been drenched really should be gotten rid of.
Carpet or rug. Dispose of it if your carpet has been soaked. The most ideal solution to dispose of it is to cut it into smaller segments with a box cutter or knife. Roll up the sections, leaving the carpet pad, then chop the pad into strips and dispose of them too. Carpet is held down by wooden tack strips thin strips of wood lined with dozens of upside-down nails. These may be removed with a chisel and a hammer.
Millwork and Sheetrock . Any millwork, such as baseboards, should be removed and discarded. Eliminate wet Sheetrock and any soggy insulation behind it.
Kitchen cabinetry. If water has gotten underneath your cabinets, you may need to remove these also. You may be able to save them if only a small amount of water went beneath them. You can drill or cut holes in the toe kick-- the bottom-most part of the cabinet that rests on the flooring. The toe kick is slightly recessed from the remainder of the cabinet, hence drilling into it will likely enable air to circulate under the cabinet and dry it out. These drill areas are relatively easy to patch when you embark on the reconstruction .
Floor surfaces. Simply because your floor tile or wood floors look and feel dry on the surface does not indicate that they are entirely dry. When wood floors are installed ,a covering of roofing felt is positioned in between the subfloor (plywood) and the hard wood flooring. Doing this produces an outstanding moisture content barrier for the floor covering. Unfortunately, it as well keeps a lot of the water that falls on the floor coverings. There are machines available that can pull the water through the floors without removing them. Reviews though about this process are not the best with this method. If water is still existing after you try this, you will need to extract the hardwood flooring. Ceramic tile sometimes has the similar issue water can end up being trapped between the tile and subfloor so you may need to take off your tile floors as well.
Secure A Dumpster: When obtaining a dumpster or another trash bin, get the largest one available. The rate difference between the different sizes is usually negligible. You should have a strategy ready before loading it up. You need to get the maximum volume of debris in the smallest amount of area.
Collapse things before you hurl these away, and verify that they rest flush atop each other.
If water has gotten beneath your cabinets, you might have to remove these as well. There is equipment that can pull the water through the floors without removing them. If water is still found after you attempt this, you will have to extract the hardwood floor.
Insert the less heavy items on the bottom.
Make sure you can open the door to the bin, positioned on one end. If you toss items over the top, you will not can load the dumpster effectively.
Sweep your home as the flood water retreats. Doing so means the mud is being purged with water as it recedes rather than leaving behind a layer of silt all through your house. That supposes that you have the capacity to access your property as the water level drops.
Work very closely along with your insurance representative: Be sure you are there when the adjustor gos to your home. Make sure that person is there as well if you have a contractor that you're working with. They can both assess the damages and give thoughts and opinions regarding the things it will take to repair the situation. Collectively, they can also specify areas that may have damage that wasn't seen yet.
We take care of water damage Kingwood extractions, flood water resolutions, fire damage challenges, fire damage dry-outs in Kingwood. We also take care of mold conditions. We work with commercial and residential work around the Kingwood vicinity. Basement flooding and sub-pump failings, emergency plumbing, burst pipes also.


Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) reporting framework and the European Commission's High Level Expert Group's recommendations, give us hope that actions to tackle climate change are indeed progressing. We at WWF are acutely aware of the need for a science-based approach to prevent the climate crisis, as the narrow window of opportunity is rapidly slipping through our fingers. This grim reality also forces us to be steadfast in our demands towards the financial community.
Therefore, the reallocation of capital must be compatible with the emissions trajectory dictated by our fast dwindling carbon budget – as opposed to comparisons óf relative performance to peers and benchmarks. This prompted us to test the European equities portfolios against the 2 °C benchmark, using Sustainable Energy Investment Metrics. We approached 80 asset owners in 12 countries and assessed the portfolios of 29. The study revealed the EU's biggest investors are partly aligned with the Paris agreement's climate target of keeping global warming to well below 2°C, yet still invest too much in coal. Lack of disclosure on climate risk remains an element of grave concern as it prevents third parties from scrutinising current investment practices.
Much to our delight at WWF Finland, Finnish asset owners outperformed virtually all of their European counterparts on coal mining, coal use and renewables in the power sector. Varma, State Pension Fund of Finland (Valtion Eläkerahasto), Elo, Ilmarinen and even Keva with their high exposure to foreign companies, consistently topped the ranking.
The Finnish pension funds are to be applauded in a few key areas. A significant one is the level of transparency of equity holdings, this made the research conducted by WWF possible in the first place. The European and global asset owners must learn from Finland, the other Nordics and the Netherlands, who truly lead the way in the culture of transparency. Furthermore, Finanssiala (Finance Finland) and the Finnish pension fund, Varma, have explicitly endorsed the Paris Agreements 2 °C temperature goal. Another tale that deserves to be told in international fora to demonstrate best practice.
Yet, as this relentless march of the frontrunner investors there is no reason to have a break by the guard rail yet – Not even in Finland despite the encouraging first round of results. Our research has thus far covered only a handful of key sectors, excluding heavy industry (steel, cement, pulp and paper), transport, oil and gas. In addition, our analysis could not yet cover all asset classes and the myriad of funds leaving large amounts of assets under management out. This means that sector by sector, asset class by asset class, we intend to deepen our analysis and ultimately cover the entire portfolio as methodologies mature. With time we will also include tighter carbon budgets as they are being made available by the International Energy Agency and other authoritative organisations.
A torrent of actions to climate-proof portfolios have been tried and tested. We as WWF decided to weigh in on the discussion through our own prism of what is adequate for the climate. To entice asset owners into further action, we are launching three sets of recommendations to tackle climate change, coal mining and the power sector's coal and renewables exposure.
The first batch of recommendations, launched 6th December, are targeted at asset owners providing the right recipe to recalibrate the portfolio to tackle climate change. The launch of our sectoral recommendations will soon follow.
A growing body of research shows that inaction – leading to global warming of 4 to 6°C – is the scenario with the highest risk for investors. Conversely, that a 2°C scenario does not jeopardise financial returns for a diversified portfolio, and is expected to better protect long-term returns. Therefore, the action on climate change does not mean that the investors need to breach their fiduciary duty. Instead, it makes sense for prudent investors to comprehensively factor in the changing operating environment that we are faced with in our changing climate and as a result of the global energy transition now underway.
WWF recognises that addressing climate change requires several steps and thatasset owners are at different stages on this path. Some are well ahead, including some of the Finnish asset owners. However, many have also been caught napping needing to better understand climate-related risks and opportunities. The first guide including 15 topline recommendations is particularly aimed at those investors.
The full WWF Guide to Asset Owners: Aligning Investment Portfolios with the Paris Agreement can be downloaded here and the shorter summary here.


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Disney's "Chip 'n' Dale" on Records
BAXTER'S BREAKDOWNS
Terrytoons' "Popcorn" (1931)
The weather's getting much hotter lately, so let's take a trip to the county fair in this week's breakdown!
Released January 11, 1931, Popcorn was the 24th Terrytoon from Paul Terry's studio. This particular entry is a rarity; this is one of the few early Terrytoons not included in CBS' 1950s syndication package for television. This copy seen here is sourced from a British 35mm nitrate print acquired by Steve Stanchfield and Mark Kausler. Being sourced from such materials, the clarity of the picture and soundtrack are quite evident. The other Terrytoons analyzed are sourced from older transfers, before high-definition video resolution, but it's fortunate for viewers, preferably those without a film stock collection, to have access to watch these at all.
Head animator Frank Moser animates a large amount of footage in Popcorn, assisted by the unconfirmed "Sarka," Larry Silverman, Connie Rasinski and Jose Carreon. Paul Terry animates one scene in the cartoon—the opening shot of a girl mouse singing "Ain't We Got Fun?" Art Babbitt is assigned to extended scenes of cats enjoying the slide until a female hippo has her turn. He also animates the scene where a hippo attempts to ring the bell on the high striker. Jerry Shields contributes an amusing gag in which the bus heading to Rye Beach (a take-off on Coney Island) runs over a chicken, and its eggs, which surprisingly hatch after another bus smashes them.
Larry Silverman assists Moser on the fireworks display, which reveals full-formed figures—including a dachshund, which morphs into a string of sausages— instead of its usual luminescent confetti. Silverman was an assistant animator during this period, and would work on and off for Terry in different stints. He arrived back around 1936 when Van Beuren closed its studio and remained until the 1947 strike, after which he migrated to Famous Studios. Silverman arrived back at Terry's studio in the mid-'50s, but left for Famous by the early '60s, ultimately spending the rest of his career at Filmation.
Jose Carreon assisted Moser on the climactic scenes of the runaway lion carrying the boy mouse's girlfriend in his mouth, and her boyfriend pursuing him by carousel horses. Originating from Guadalajara, Mexico, Carreon worked for Terry's studio from about 1929 to 1944 as an animator. A 1934 Christmas card, from animator Cliff Auguston's collection (at right), displays his versatility as a highly skilled artist. Carreon was subject to profiling due to his "tough-looking" appearance; according to George Gordon, while he and Carreon would walk along the streets of New Rochelle together, policemen would trail them, as if they were criminals.
Moser's haunted house sequence is brief but is certainly eerie, in one of the rare instances of the early Terrytoons matching the Fleischer and Van Beuren studios in macabre strangeness. If they were made at either studio, in some instances, they would have kept the action inside of such a location to display their hallucinogenic imagery. Although it is uncertain, this could be the reason why this entry wasn't included in the CBS television package. The network could've excised the sequence altogether, even if it would run an entirely short duration. (Moreover, the CBS version of 1931's Canadian Capers clocks in at about three minutes and 55 seconds.)
Enjoy Popcorn, and maybe grab some while you're at it!
(Thanks to Charlie Judkins, Mark Kausler and Steve Stanchfield for their help.)
Art BabbitFrank MoserPaul Terrty
J Lee
There actually is a Rye Playland, located just northeast of New Rochelle and on Long Island Sound, which may have been the direct reference in this cartoon (Playland opened in 1928 and is still around, though I'm not sure if Terrytoons had moved to its New Rochelle home by the time this cartoon was made)
It's So Hanna-Barberaesque
Particularly interesting is that the Westchester County (NY) Parks Board owns Playland … and the main reason that a government body decided to be involved in the amusement-park business was to encourage the greater industry to clean up its act as was only attracting the lower element, especially in terms of the games and concessions.
Charlie Judkins
Terry's studio moved to New Rochelle in 1934. At the time "Popcorn" was produced, they were operating in the Bronx.
This is a fine example as to why I like 1930's cartoons of just about any studio. This is amazing stuff! Thanks for another terrific post!
Thanks Devon.
Of course a mouse beats up a lion. No explanation needed.
I see the Terry tradition of odd-n-quirky sound effects goes way back.
Frank M. Young
And just what… are those mice… going to do… with that dead lion…?
I wonder if Paul Terry gave Phil Scheib a lecture after he used at least one popular song in this cartoon.
Russell H
Although most of the amusement-park backgrounds are generic, at the :30 mark and 4:30 mark there is visible the very distinctive Art Deco tower that is still a landmark of Rye Playland. I think this must be one of the very few Terrytoons of this era to depict an actual local setting.
June 01, 2016 12:25:18 pm
There goes another "mighty" mouse on Paul Terry's resume. See Mr. Baxter's earlier entry: https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/terrytoons-go-west-big-boy-1931/
Wonderful article, Baxter! Examples of films and cartoons like these showing some East Coast and New York spirit (Rye Playland) reminds me why I love the Terrytoons so darn much.
I hope more Terrytoon drafts get revealed public to the future– even though MOMA only stores the 1930-1931 drafts, I woud like to see a late 30's-40's draft, if one does survive.
Devon Baxter
I have found only the first page of a draft for a 1938 Terrytoon, CHRIS COLUMBO JR., but that's it.
If only the second page was around…
ÖH
Beautiful work. No other studio had such longevity of consistent character design as Terrytoons. Over the years Bugs and Mickey evolved, but Deputy Dawg still has the same Terrytoon eyes and the weird little Terrytoon limp wristed run as his 1920's forbears.
More than popcorn, a lot of cartoons from this era made use of the string of sausages/hotdog motif. Does anyone know if there was an arrangement between early animation studios and theaters to subliminally advertise their concessions stands?
My one objection – not enough cats.
I only count 67 in the rocket-launching scene. They could easily have squeezed in a dozen more.
ABOUT DEVON BAXTER
DEVON BAXTER is a film restoration artist, video editor, and animation researcher/writer currently residing in Pennsylvania. He also hosts a Patreon page, where more of his work related to animation history can be seen.
MORE BAXTER BREAKDOWNS

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Councillors who visited off-shore wind farms in North Wales have returned with the same concerns about the proposed Atlantic Array as they had before.
Twelve councillors and officers from North Devon, Torridge District and Devon County Council travelled to Llandudno in North Wales for a two day trip funded with public money last week.
The Atlantic Array Joint Council Fact Finding Working Party trip was organised by RWE, the company behind the Atlantic Array plan, which is constructing the Gwynt y Môr wind farm off the North Wales' coast.
County and North Devon councillor Rodney Cann said: "We couldn't assess the visual impact because the two completed sites we saw were much smaller than the Array would be.


Undoubtedly, Narendra Modi is the most popular prime minister that India has seen since independence. His popularity ratings in the media and internet hover around 74%. What is remarkable is that the loss of Delhi and Bihar state assembly elections has not dented his image as a highly capable and honest man. To ascertain how 2016 will treat Narendra Modi we shall examine his birth chart and the oath taking ceremony charts. Let us take the birth chart first. A majority of competent astrologers take his birth details as 17/09/1950 at 11.00 in Mehsana Gujarat. The following chart results from this data. The year is taken to be of 360 days as enjoined by Maharishi Parashar.
Moon has a Shadbal of 100.09% and is fairly strong. She is how ever placed in her Neech Rashi Scorpio and is also weak in Pakshbal. Moon gets the Neechbhang as she is in a Kendra with her depositor. The problem of low Pakshbal remains. The ratio of the desirable/undesirable results for Moon is 12.34/47.66. Vimshopak Bal for Moon is 13. Moon is also the ninth lord placed in Lagna and as such suggests that the individual will be a self-made and become successful through his own efforts. Since the ninth lord combines with the Lagna lord in Lagna, Mr. Modi has been fortunate with power, riches and happiness.
Saturn becomes the fourth lord and is nicely placed in the tenth house with seventh lord Venus. Retrograde Jupiter aspects both Venus and Saturn. The depositor of Saturn – Sun is placed in the eleventh house with exalted eleventh lord Mercury.
Saturn is strong with Shad Bal of 130%. His ratio of the desirable/undesirable results is 22.11/37.89. His Vimshopak Bal is 10. As the fourth lord placed in tenth house Saturn denotes political success. This placement of Saturn destroys enemies and makes him famous. The Antardasha of Saturn ends on 11/10/2016.
In the Panchdha Grah Maitri chart, Saturn is friendly to Moon and Moon is neutral towards Saturn. This means that the results will not be unfavorable.
Rahu aspects the tenth lord Sun and eleventh lord Mercury from fifth house. Every time a Bhukti of Rahu or Sun operates there will be a determined effort by the opposition to undermine his authority. The aspect of strong and beneficial Jupiter however will not allow a major headache. The placement of fourth lord representing the masses in the tenth house ensures that the people in India will keep supporting him in elections. Mercury is powerful and extremely beneficial.
In the Dashamsh chart The Lagna lord is placed in Lagna itself. Even though Mars is placed in his Neech sign Cancer he remains a Yog Karak for this Lagna according to Parashar. The tenth lord in the Dashamsh Kundli is Mars and placed strongly in Lagna in Janma chart. This shows success through dedication and a strong desire to follow the right path. This also shows a steady and smooth success. The presence of the fourth lord Venus governing common man, comfort and happiness in one's work is placed in the seventh house of associates and public relations. Modi's popularity amongst masses will remain high. Moon-Saturn and Moon-Mercury Dashas will prove to be very beneficial.
Despite all the smoke and mirror effects generated by the combined opposition, and their determined efforts to stall the forward march of Narendra Modi, he will remain unconquered. The apple cart may wobble a bit but will not be upset. The third lord Saturn in the tenth house indicates brilliant use of the media to take the wind out of the sails of the combined opposition.
Assembly elections in UP in 2017 fall in Moon-Mercury period in Narendra Modis chart. Let us take a close look at Mercury as well. Mercury is 100% strong in Shadbal and ratio of his Isht and Kasht Phal is 57.37/2.63. Mercury is thus an unalloyed benefic in his chart. Vimshopak Bal of Mercury is 18 in his chart. Mercury is exalted and conjunct with tenth lord Sun. It is certain that his results will be sparkling in terms of political dividends.
BJP/NDA will be quite successful in grabbing enough seats to make their own government. BSP may be wiped out. SP will certainly see serious attrition of its power and cadre.
The year 2016 is bad for the middle eastern Muslim countries. Widespread unrest and bloodshed is more than likely. This is a long drawn out struggle which may spill over into 2017 and beyond. At the end of it, Saudi Arab, Bahrain, Egypt and Qatar will be left without a viable economy and without a vestige of strength to influence the middle eastern politics. The sun is about to set on these countries.This is the content of a separate blog by itself and will be dealt at a later date. These developments will affect how the Indian voter votes in a big way. The intransigence of certain very vocal but otherwise ineffective Muslim leaders will be decimated.
Summing up, 2016 will prove to be a year of consolidation for Narendra Modi. 2017 will be the year to expand on the foundation already buit up. The pace of his reforms may be hastened by the outcome of the bloodshedding and mayhem in Middle east. Decimation of Saudi power will usher a new era of peace in this hapless part of the world.
In the next Blog we will examine how the Oath taking ceremony horoscope impinges on the chart we have discussed above.


text:
A Harmony of the Four Gospels: in which the Natural Order of Each ..., Volume 1
By James Macknight
p. 48.) to Jerusalem, 2. saying, Where is he that is born king of the Jews? or rather, Where is the king of the Jeaus that is born? Where is the king of the Jews whom the world has long been expecting, agreeably to the traditions and prophecies current concerning him, and who we are certain is now born-for we have seen his star in the east; in our own country we have
east, that it was written in the books of the Fates, that some coming out of Judea at that time should obtain the empire of the world. This, which as the event afterward shewed was foretold of a Roman emperor, the Jews applying to themselves, rebelled." In like manner, Tacitus Hist. B. v. L. 13. "Many were persuaded, that it was written in the ancient books of the priests, that at that very time the east should recover strength, and that certain coming out of Judea should obtain the empire of the world; which mysterious prediction foretold Vespasian and Titus. But the common people, (he is speaking of the Jews) according to the usual bias of human passions, interpreting this mighty fortune as designed for themselves, could not be brought to understand the truth by their calamities." Josephus also, Bell. B. vi. c. 5. 4. has these remarkable words: " But that which chiefly pushed them on to the war, was an ambiguous oracle found in their sacred books, that at that time one from their own country should rule the world."
What the original was of this uncommon expection, which now prevailed among such different and widely distant nations, is not difficult to ascertain. Among the Jews it took its rise from the prophecies concern ing the Messiah, contained in their sacred books, as Josephus and Tacitus insinuate. Among the Arabians it was derived from the promise made to Abraham, whose descendents they were by Ishmael. Of this promise they preserved a traditional knowledge, as is evident from the words of the Arabian prophet Balaam, Numb. xxiv. 17. There shall come a Star out of Jacob, &c. which the LXX. interpret thus: EλEVOSTαι artę WOS EX TH σπερματος αυτ8, και κυριεύσει εθνον πολλων, και υψωθήσεται ἡ Γωγ βασιλεία Avtɣ, xai avğndnottai ǹ baochua; i. e. A man shall come forth of his (Jacob's) seed, and shall rule many nations, and his kingdom shall be exalted above Gog, (the name of the kings of the Scythick nations) and it shall be increased. And even in later times the words of this prophecy by most interpreters are applied to the Messiah. Among the other eastern nations, the expecta tion above mentioned owed its original to their commerce with the Jews and Arabians, but especially with the Jews, who in their several captivities being dispersed through the east, spread the knowledge of their prophecies, together with their religion, wherever they came; and begat that expecta tien, which was so universal, that it merited to be taken notice of even by the Roman historians. To conclude, we are told that Zoroastres or Zerdusht, the celebrated reformer of the magian discipline and worship in Persia, was servant to the prophet Daniel, who had particular revelations made to him concerning the coming of the Messiah. If so, it will not seem at all improbable, that the expectation of his arising in Judea, should have remained so strongly imprinted in the belief of the disciples of Zoroastres, that on the appearing of a new star, three of them should have been moved to undertake this journey, in order to be witnesses of the truth of its ac complishment.
* Ver. 2. We have seen his star.] That the heathens thought the rise of a new star, or the appearance of a comet, portended the birth of a great person, has been proved by Origen, contra Cels. lib. 1. See likewise Grotius. Farther, it appears from Virgil, that it was commonly imagined the Gods sent stars to point out the way to their favourites, in difficult and
perplexed
seen a new star, which we know portends his birth, and which has directed us hither, and are come to worship him: to prostrate ourselves before him, to do him homage, and to offer him gifts. It was the opinion of some of the ancients, that the star which the Magi saw in their own country was the Holy Spirit; others suppose it was an angel; others a new star in the firmament; others a comet; others some luminous appearance in the air. Lightfoot thinks it was the glory that shone round the angels who appeared to the Bethlehem shepherds on the night of the nativity. Probably it was a bright meteor, which at its first appearance was high in the air; afterwards it descended so low as to conduct the magi to Bethlehem. But whatever this star was, both the thing signified by it, and the course which the philosophers were to pursue, seem to have been explained to them by revelation. See verse 12.
The arrival of the wise men, and their errand, being quickly noised abroad in Jerusalem, soon reached Herod's ears. Or these strangers may have got themselves introduced at court immediately upon their coming. Whatever way it happened, the news which they brought, and the enquiry which they made, gave great uneasiness to Herod and to the whole of the people in Jerusalem. 3. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and * all Jerusalem with him. In the midst of this general consternation, the tyrant, who was more deeply concerned than them all, concealing his uneasiness, seemed to hear the magi with pleasure, and shewed them abundance of respect for that he might return a proper answer to their question, he assem
bled perplexed cases; and that the ancients called globes of fire appearing in the air stars.
subitoque fragore
Intonuit lævum, & de cælo lapsa per umbras
Stella facem ducens multa cum luce cucurrit, &c. Æneid. ii. ver. 692. Ver. 3. All Jerusalem, &c.] If by all Jerusalem is meant the courtiers, the officers, the dependents, the friends, and the well-wishers of Herod, their trouble was of the same kind with his; but if the inhabitants of Je-" rusalem in general are meant, their trouble proceeded from a different cause. The advent of their king could not be disagreeable to the Jews in itself considered; only being ignorant of what had actually happened, they had no proof of his being born; and dreaded the consequences of a rumour of this kind, which, considering the jealous and cruel disposition of their sovereign who was alarmed at it, might prove fatal to the children of many families. Thus Herod quas troubled, and all Jerusalem with him, in the strictest propriety of the expression; for their emotion, though proceeding from a different cause, was an emotion of fear and grief, as his was. Some however affix a middle sense to the word tragan in this passage, according to its frequent use in the reek language. For Tagarra denotes any commotion of mind proceeding whether from good or bad news. According to this sense of the word the Evangelist's meaning will be, that all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were moved; some with one kind of passion, others with another, agreeably to the views which they had of this mighty
bled the supreme council of the nation, and enquired of them where the Messiah should be born. 4. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. The chief priests were either those who had enjoyed the dignity of the high priesthood, which was now become elective and temporary, or the chiefs of the sacerdotal classes, the head of the courses of priests appointed by David. The scribes were the interpreters of the law, and the public teachers of the nation. (See § 87.) All these being illustrious for their learning and station, were consulted upon this important question. They replied, that the ancient prophecies had assigned the honour of Messiah's nativity to Bethlehem of Judea. And by their answer they have shewed what the general opinion of the nation at this time was, concerning the place of Messiah's nativity. 5. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea: for thus it is written by the prophet; 6.* And thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah, for out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel. Though the quality of thy inhabitants is such, that thou canst not be reckoned as one of the principal thousands of Judah, thou art by no means among the least of these thousands. On the contrary, thou art, in point of
dignity,
* Ver. 6. And thou Bethlehem, &c.] Seeing the Evangelist professedly gives here the answer, which the chief priests and scribes returned to He rod's question concerning the place of Messiah's nativity, the words which he set down are theirs, not his. Nor is this unworthy of our notice. It is one of the many instances which prove, that not the Evangelists' only, but the most learned of the Jews, in making citations from the Old Testa ment, regarded the sense rather than the words of the passages which they quoted. In Micah v. 2. whence the citation under examination is made, the original words are baɔ nunb Tyy, i. e. Little to be among the thousands. In the Evangelist, the words are daμws eraxisn u ev tois nyqusosv, i. e. Thou art by no means the least among the leaders. But the sense of both passages is the same. In the prophecy the words are elliptical, and must be sup plied thus: Art thou little to be numbered among the thousands? Art thou too small in respect of people to make one of the thousands of Israel? an interrogation which implies a strong negation; and therefore it is well rendered by the scribes, Thou art by no means the least. Farther, what the prophet calls the thousands of Judah, the scribes call the leaders of Judab. But the meaning here likewise is the same. The Israelites fit to bear arms were classed into tens, hundreds, and thousands, each of which divisions had proper officers who commanded them. But each thousand being formed of the inhabitants of a particular district, it naturally followed that of these thousands, some were more remarkable than others for their power, courage, riches, and influence in the state. For example, the thousands formed out of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, or any other chief city, were of much more consideration, than those furnished by small remote villages. The thousands composed of persons of greatest rank and influence, were called leading or ruling thousands. It is evident, therefore, that the scribes in their citation gave a just representation of the prophets meaning, Thou art by no means the least among the leaders; thou art rather the greatest in point of dignity, even among the principal thousands of Judah.
dignity, one of the greatest cities; for thou shalt give birth to the governor of my people, whose going forth hath been of old: thou shalt give birth to Messiah. This answer of the Jewish senate was acquiesced in by Herod as indubitable; for he immediately sent the magi to Bethlehem. 7. Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared first: For by that circumstance he could form a probable conjecture, how long it was since the child, concerning whom they enquired, was born. He naturally judged that Messiah's parents would conceal him, for which reason he formed a project of killing all the children of Bethlehem of such an age, that there might be no possibility of his escaping. In the mean time, to hide his bloody purpose from the wise men, he desired them as soon as they found the child to let him know, that he also might have an opportunity of worshipping him, professing great respect for this infant king. 8. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go, and search diligently for the young child, and when ye have found him, bring me word again, * that I may come and worship him also. (See verse 2.)
The magi having received these instructions, departed by themselves under the guidance of the star, which had led them all the way from their own country, but had stood still, or disappeared, on their arrival in Judea. 9. When they had heard the king, they departed, and lo, the star which they saw in the east went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. The disappearing of the star, or even its standing still, laid the strangers under a necessity of going to the capital for farther information, which the wisdom of God thus brought about, in order that their errand might be the better published. Accordingly, when that end was obtained, and they were departing from Jerusalem, the star appeared again, or began to move, going before them till it came to Bethlehem, where, to their exceeding joy, it stood over the house in which the new born king was lodged. They straightway entered, and falling down before him
* Ver. 8. That I may come and worship him also.] This profession of respect was mere dissimulation; Herod's intention, as afterwards appeared, being to kill the infant king, who he imagined was to be a temporal prince, and was to wrest the crown from him or his descendents. For he had no notion that the Messiah's empire was of a spiritual nature.-The wisdom and power of the divine Providence appeared conspicuously on this occasion in the preservation of Christ. Herod neither accompanied the magi in person, nor yet under pretence of doing honour to these learned strangers, did he send a guard to escort them, with secret orders to kill the child and his parents; but he acted a'together carek ssly in the affair, quite contrary to his known character. Perhaps he imagined that if he had gone in person, of sent a guard, it might have alarmed the Messiah's parents, and made them flee with their infant son to some distant region, where his power could not reach them.
with the most profound reverence, offered him gifts of considerable value; probably after having explained the occasion of their coming, as they had done before in Jerusalem. And at night, being warned by God in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned into their own country by another way. 11. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down prostrate on the ground, according to the custom of the east, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts, geld, frankincense, and myrrh. 12. And being warned of God in a dream, that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
This visit which the magi, under the divine direction, made to the Son of God at his entrance into the world, answered several valuable purposes. 1. The principal thing was to shew succeeding generations what expectations of him were entertained at this very time among the Gentiles, and thereby to confirm in latest ages, the existence of those prophecies which had raised such a general hope in the breasts of mankind. 2. It is far from being absurd to suppose, that these philosophers, by the tidings which they carried home concerning the king of the Jews, might prepare their countrymen for becoming his subjects in due time. For if their report was remembered by the succeeding generation, it must have contributed not a little to their cheerful reception of the gospel when it was preached to them. 3. The coming of the magi occasioned the answer of the sanhedrim, wherein it was declared to be the unanimous opinion of the most learned Jewish doctors then living, that, by the designation of heaven, Bethlehem was to be the place of their Messiah's nativity. 4. The seasonable beneficence of those learned strangers, put Joseph in a condition to subsist his family in Egypt, whither he was soon to be sent from the wrath of the king t.
• Ver. 11. They presented unto him gifts ] The eastern people never came into the presence of their prince without offering him gifts, which generally were the choicest productions of their country. From the three sorts of things which ths wise men offered, it has been conjectured that they were three in number: but without the least foundation. And that they were kings is a notion equally unsupported. If they had been persons of this dignity, the Evangelists probably would have mentioned it; and Herod would have treated them with more ceremony.
The time of the coming of the magi has been much disputed by harmony-writers; some fixing it within the forty days of the purification, which Joseph and Mary passed at Bethlehem immediately after Christ's birth; others supposing that they did not come till he was more than a year old. Those who espouse the former opinion, think that the year of Herod's death, compared with our Lord's age at his baptism, (Luke iii. 23.) determines the coming of the magi to the period of the purification. But as this difficulty arises from a wrong sense of the passage quoted, nothing can be concluded from it. Luke does not say that Jesus began to be


The idea of intelligent life outside of Earth is one that has fascinated enthusiasts and artists, particularly in recent years as technology has advanced steadily. Alien art is a mix of the fantastic, the terrifying, and the possibilities that making contact with extraterrestrials would entail. Although there's no proof to back the claims, many people believe that there are signs of aliens in some form or another in nearly every era, from ancient artworks to Renaissance paintings, and beyond. For these believers, the fact that ancient cultures saw and recorded their encounters is a more definite proof of alien life than current sightings and depictions, since there would have been no other technology to explain the occurrence.
Due to the amount of similarity between ancient and prehistoric depictions of strange figures that are found in thousands of locations around the world, this theory of aliens helping to guide our early attempts at civilization might be a possibility, but until contact is made in modern times, there's little actual proof that these claims are accurate.
However strange the idea of aliens visiting Earth in ancient times might be, modern science fiction artists have embraced the idea of alternate cultures and beings unlike our own. One of the most prominent alien artists is master surrealist H.R. Giger whose work included the development of the Aliens and Predators from cinema and literary fame. In these works, Giger displays extraterrestrials as something mysterious, terrifying, and unable to be comprehended by the human mind, unlike the helpful aliens presumed in earlier forms of art.
Giger's work has spawned an entirely new way of perceiving surreal art for many fantasy artists as science fiction art attempts to draw its own ideas of alien life. These depictions vary from inhumanly beautiful figures that inspire peace to the viewer to dark, grotesque, and terrifyingly seductive variants that emerge from mankind's worst fears of the dark and unknown. However, regardless of how they're depicted, aliens have drawn increasingly more curiosity as mankind's focus turns toward the stars.