Showing results by narrator "Adriel Brandt" in All Categories

What armor would we wear when considered in a biblical sense of the glorious war? None of ornate metal but one that has a more spiritual defense. Bonar reflects further on the resolve, mental strength, and faith needed in order to build up a defense against sin and against evil. 

If we ask ourselves what it means to disobey God, we can recall many references to his cruelty and relentlessness in punishing those who refuse his word. These punishments go very deep and Bonar takes this biblical theme as a launching pad for discussing the frivolous nature of the so called human remedies. How we are a race of diversions and entertainments, façade and masquerades, in short, creators of a superficial and temporary solace. 

The way of Cain, Horatius Bonar explains, leads to a barren world marked by the way of blood. Bonar details the haunted life lead by Cain once he had poisoned it with the murder of his brother. How despair, banishment, and fruitfulness would enter the lives of those who reject the right choices, as defined by the Bible, first given to them. 

Horatius Bonar allows us to learn more about his interpretations of God as a father to all the people. The phrase ‘Oh that they were wise’ laments humanity and its inability to choose a path of constructiveness and righteousness. Bonar reflects further on these characteristics that shapes human nature in a manner that is, in his mind, unteachable. 

If there is one tactile gesture that has immense metaphorical value in the bible, it is the kiss. The most famous kiss was one of betrayal, but others would be for good. Bonar further interprets the kiss Oprah gives her mother-in-law in great detail and shows how truly complex this symbol can be. 

Horatius Bonar shows himself as a very passionate hymnist in this sermon focusing on the Fig-Leaves Adam and Eve use to cover themselves after acquiring the knowledge of shame. He shares his views on how a fig-leaf, a pure and beautiful form of vegetation, can’t possibly shield Man from his loss of innocence. In Bonar’s mind, the one thing that can save us from the anger and wrath of God, is the rituals we now associate closely with the Catholic faith. 

Sharing his analysis of the phrase ‘go and possess the land’, Horatius Bonar reads deeply into the meaning of ownership. In some ways this entails a reflection on the biblical sense of nationalism. The Israelis, first wanderers and to some extend forced nomads, are told to settle and identify with this one place, one land, one city. 

Ninteenth-century Scottish churchman and poet Horatius Bonar muses on the biblical journey from sin to sentence. Mainly remembered as a highly skilled hymnist, Bonar starts by describing a world created similar to the heavens, with perfection and beauty shaping its every detail. Once tainted by sin, the celestial path leads down and Bonar’s sermon focuses more on the darkness humanity finds itself in after falling from grace. 

One of the first biblical stories we are told as children is the one of David and Goliath. We learn about the small, weak man slaying the giant with nothing but a rock. In this, Bonar compares the carnal weapons, Goliath being great of stature and physically superior, to the spiritual cloak David wears by being on the side of God. 

Thomas Jefferson beat out Aaron Burr in the 1800 presidential election after Alexander Hamilton cast the tie-breaking vote. Jefferson gave this address to a packed Senate chamber on March 4, 1801. He emphasized the US as a single nation working together and avoided mentioning party politics. In this way, he departed from the speeches of his two predecessors and established a new formula for inaugural addresses that was used by many presidents who came after him.    

In this speech, a young Theodore Roosevelt describes what he believes are the key principles to good citizenship. In addition to emphasizing ethical behavior, Roosevelt takes a firm stance on the necessity of engaging in politics and voting. He states unflinchingly, “The people who say that they have not time to attend to politics are simply saying that they are unfit to live in a free community.” To be “a good American citizen”, Roosevelt says one must boldly engage with the issues our nation faces today, and in doing so, shape its future.   

With this address, US President James Monroe set a precedent for the nation’s foreign policy. In it, he stated that “The American continents...are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers.” Monroe established this doctrine in a time where most of Spain and Portugal’s colonies in Latin America had gained independence. From then on, the Old World and the New World would operate in separate political spheres, and any European interference in North or South America would be considered a threat against the US.   

President Andrew Jackson bid farewell to the nation at the inauguration of Martin Van Buren, his friend and former vice president. Jackson talked of the nation’s successes in the past several years and warned against sectionalism that threatened the nation’s unity.

Unlike many of Lovecraft’s stories, this story takes place in Greece, and more importantly, on a mountain that was supposedly watched over by Pan. Kalos and Musides, two friends, live here, and when Kalos falls ill and dies, Musides decides to use his sculpting powers to use. He erects a great monument to Kalos over his tomb, but an oak tree decides to overtake it, shaping into what looks like a deformed and monstrous human figure. Musides’ fears about the tree sapping the vital force from his friend’s grave are finally struck down by lightning - and with it the whole monument.

Do you know anyone who has died of puerperal fever? Probably not, thanks to this groundbreaking essay published by Oliver Wendell Holmes in 1843. With great passion and intelligence, Holmes sets forth his revolutionary argument on the prevention of an illness which had claimed the lives of new mothers in epidemic proportions. Though his findings were not accepted until years later, Holmes’ seminal work can serve as a model for the presentation of life-changing medical research. 

In this sermon, English preacher Charles Spurgeon uses candles to illustrate spiritual concepts. He delves into the history and use of lanterns to draw memorable parallels between candles and the Christian life. “Many people use their Bibles as lights to be hung up at a Chinese feast of lanterns,” he says, “for amusement, or for show.” The word of God should not be a prop, however, but rather the light that guides us through life.

"Reanimator" follows Herbert West on his mission to fulfill his theory - that the human body can be restarted after death. The series follows through many close misses, zombies, and demon summonings as West tries unsuccessfully to reanimate bodies.  

Randolph Carter begins the story telling the harrowing tale to those who found him stumbling through the swamp. Carter and his friend, the occultist Harley Warren, went to investigate the location of a supposed portal to the underworld - near Big Cypress Swamp in Florida. Upon discovery of a tomb with stairs going deep into the earth, Warren decides to descend them. Only after waiting for what seems an eternity does Carter call down into the tomb, only to be returned with a voice that does not belong to Warren telling him that his friend was dead.   

A lot happens in this very short story by H.P. Lovecraft, but it begins as the title might lend itself to imagine - with a terrible old man. As three thieves find out about this old man’s treasures, they decide to visit with the man with the intent to steal his riches. Their plan goes horribly wrong when one of the three hears screaming from the getaway car. When he enters the house, he finds the hideous, yellow-eyed man staring evilly at him, waiting to usher in his doom. 

Though The Street tries to remain in the realm of horror and the supernatural, what it really amounts to is one of the earliest written documents of Lovecraft’s political stance and stance on other races. In this story, the street is the protagonist. Lovecraft documents its growth from quaint and colonial New England town to downtrodden and dirty as immigrants move in after the first world war. When a “vast group of terrorists” living in the neighborhood plot to overthrow the federal government on July 4th, the street decides to take matters into its own (metaphorical) hands.