Minos and Bulls

There once was a Phoenician princess from Tyre named Europa. Everyone knew of her extraordinary beauty.

Jupiter also knew of it and lusted for her. Disguising himself as a white bull, Jupiter acted very tamely and drew close to her. Attracted by the bull, Europa first touched him, then made garlands for his horns, and finally got on his back. With that, Jupiter wandered slowly to the sea then swam with her to Crete. There he seduced her. Eventually she gave birth to a son named Minos who became ruler of Knossos. The Roman poet Ovid tells her story in his book Metamorphoses.

How Crowded Is Hell?

God wants every person to enjoy with him a relationship of freedom, truth, love, and vitality. Our enjoyment of that relationship is why Abba created us, Jesus redeemed us, and Spirit promises to glorify us.

In dark contrast, we have that evil parody of the Trinity: Satan, the six Olympian gods he hides behind, and the Flesh--that sinister power which rots us from the inside. Those powers of darkness want all of us to burn in the Hell they’re most certainly headed for.

The question is: whose purpose will win out? God’s or Satan’s? How many of us humans will God allow Satan to drag down?

Jesus, the Church, and Bacchus

Allow me to clarify the difference between Pluto, god of money, and Bacchus, god of consumption. Pluto leads us to hoard money and wealth. In the old days, people who did so were called greedy and greed was a sin. In contrast, Bacchus leads us to consume things. Again in the old days, gluttony was the sin of eating too much and intemperance was the sin of drinking too much alcohol. Pluto has us hoard things while Bacchus has us consume them to our harm or simply waste them.

Minoan Civilization (2000-1450 BC)

We may define civilization as any relatively distinct and enduring society and culture as defined by and giving expression to a particular religion. Previously we looked at what we might call Pharaonic civilization. That was the society and culture existing in Egypt from about 3000 BC to the conquest of Egypt by Alexander of Macedonia in 332 BC.

By the year 2000 BC, a historically significant civilization had developed on the large Mediterranean island of Crete. Tradition identifies Minos as the first ruler of Crete and refers to Cretan civilization at this time as Minoan.

Jesus, the Church, and Pluto

Pluto is the god of money. He bullies and bribes us into believing that making and hoarding money is the meaning of life. He deceives us into thinking that the amount of money one controls is a measure of one’s virtue. People loyal to Pluto regard the rich as virtuous: smart, hard-working, and blessed. That allows them to regard the poor as vicious: stupid, lazy, and deservedly punished.

Jesus, the Church, and Venus

Like the other Olympian gods, Venus likes to overwhelm our discernment of Jesus’ words with delirium. Delirium is emotional intensity combined with stubborn irrationality.

Biblically, commitment and intimacy, marriage and sexual intercourse, go together. That’s because, biblically, sexual intercourse means the celebration of a relationship that is unconditional, permanent, exclusive, and freely entered into by one man and one woman.

Jesus, the Church, and Vulcan

Strange to say, we Christians have persistently overlooked the presence of Vulcan—the false god of technology—in our hearts and in the Church. This, of course, has only made it that much easier for Vulcan to work his will on us and through us.