"Believe ye that I am able to do this?" - Napoleon and Christianity

Tokyo Streets

Napoleon and Christianity

Napoleon humbled himself after he was driven into exile in St. Helena Island of the Atlantic Ocean in 1815.

Napoleon expressed the following thoughts while he was exiled on the rock of St. Helena. There, the conqueror of civilized Europe had time to reflect on the measure of his accomplishments. He called Count Montholon to his side and asked him, "Can you tell me who Jesus Christ was?" The count declined to respond. Napoleon countered:

    Well then, I will tell you. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I myself have founded great empires; but upon what did these creations of our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love, and to this very day millions will die for Him. . . . I think I understand something of human nature; and I tell you, all these were men, and I am a man; none else is like Him: Jesus Christ was more than a man. . . . I have inspired multitudes with such an enthusiastic devotion that they would have died for me . . . but to do this is was necessary that I should be visibly present with the electric influence of my looks, my words, of my voice. When I saw men and spoke to them, I lightened up the flame of self-devotion in their hearts. . . . Christ alone has succeeded in so raising the mind of man toward the unseen, that it becomes insensible to the barriers of time and space. Across a chasm of eighteen hundred years, Jesus Christ makes a demand which is beyond all others difficult to satisfy; He asks for that which a philosopher may often seek in vain at the hands of his friends, or a father of his children, or a bride of her spouse, or a man of his brother. He asks for the human heart; He will have it entirely to Himself. He demands it unconditionally; and forthwith His demand is granted. Wonderful! In defiance of time and space, the soul of man, with all its powers and faculties, becomes an annexation to the empire of Christ. All who sincerely believe in Him, experience that remarkable, supernatural love toward Him. This phenomenon is unaccountable; it is altogether beyond the scope of man's creative powers. Time, the great destroyer, is powerless to extinguish this sacred flame; time can neither exhaust its strength nor put a limit to its range. This is it, which strikes me most; I have often thought of it. This it is which proves to me quite convincingly the Divinity of Jesus Christ. 

As Ravi Zacharias writes, '...it is difficult to explain this away as mere eloquence...With unbelievable insight, Napoleon saw how Jesus Christ conquered. It was not by force, but by winning the heart.'

http://justjesus.typepad.com/blog/2009/11/napoleon-bonaparte-and-jesus-christ.html

Even when he died in 1821 he left  his last will and testament which made clear how much Napoleon came to respect Christ Jesus.  According to Napoleon's last testament:

"I could not delare loudly and boldly that I was a Christian.  I should have confessed that I was a Christian."

This testament is reportedly kept in a library of a university in Chicago.

Napoleon also expressed various interest views on life:

You can tolerate an ugly woman but bear an arrogant woman.  

A beauty is for the eye but a good wife is for the mind. 

In order to enjoy a married life man and wife has to always share burdens and sweat. 

A true hero is the one who advances over unhappiness of his life. 

If you learn in a right manner, you can change to a right direction.

However wars Napoleon set off and launched resulted in death of 600,000 to one million people.  So, he must have asked big pardon from Christ Jesus.

Nonetheless, Napoleon paved the way for destruction of absolute monarchy systems and oppressive rules in Europe while introducing democracy and liberalism.  He must have been a pawn of the God in His plan called the history.

http://yaplog.jp/tadaopottery/archive/358
St. Helena Island




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Mat 9:27 And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us.
Mat 9:28 And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.
Mat 9:29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.
Mat 9:30 And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it.

"But Jesus took him by the hand" - The First Thing to be Taught

Around Prime Minister Office and National Diet Bldg. Street, Tokyo

The First Thing to be Taught

You cannot solve problems in the world as long as you misunderstand the situation.

The big mistake most of human beings have made is that they think that their lives are their own, so that they think that they can decide anything freely for their own interest.

However truth is that this universe is possessed by the God.  So, every life on the earth belongs to Him.  A life of any man is possessed by the God.

The main player of one's life is not a man himself but the God Himself.  Accordingly a man has to live in order to satisfy the God.  If everybody lives following this truth, any problems in this world can be solved.  You must put the highest priority on requests from the God.  And what the God requests of human beings can be easily understood by anybody.  For this purpose, the God gives mankind the ability to judge between right and wrong.

The God is the sole protagonist in your story of life.  You are obliged to follow the will, intention, and plans the God has on your life.  If society is filled with such citizens that want to fulfill this holy mission, there would be no problems at all.

But the God also gives every man freedom to pursue his or her own interest even neglecting the God.  A man is not created so that his life will be soon taken away the moment he decides to neglect the God so as to make a profit for himself.  Sometimes a bad selfish guy can live a long and wealthy life neglecting not only others but also the God.  Watching such bad examples, people come to forget teachings of the God.  They become slaves of sins and servants of the Devil.  But according to teachings of the God, such men fall in the hell after death.  Yet, what is worse, while knowing this teaching, most of people love to live a rich life or live a selfish life as if there could not be such a place as the hell.

The God is the central player in your life.  You must live according to His will.  This is the first thing everybody has to be taught in school.
  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_trumpets
The seven angels with seven trumpets, and the angel with a censer, from the Bamberg Apocalypse.




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Mar 9:26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.
Mar 9:27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
Mar 9:28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?
Mar 9:29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

"of him shall the Son of man be ashamed" - Old Stories of Minorities

Toward Tokyo Railroad Station

Old Stories of Minorities

An old story of an African American man:

Once a hard-working African American was forced to work for a European American family in their farmland as a slave.

He worked honestly in the field.  But one day he saw two young boys of his master playing in a boat in a river near the mansion house of the family.  But  the river was not so calm on the day.  Besides water current suddenly changed around the boat.  The two boys could not control the boat now violently circling in the middle of the river.  The mother of the two white boys came out of the house, shouting at the slave, "Save my two boys!  I am not so young; I cannot have other children!  Rescue my two boys!"

So, the African American jumped in the river.  While almost being drowned, he swam to the boat and got in it.  He then rowed the boat to the shore with the two little boys in safety.

So, afterwards the father of the two children said to the slave, "I like you.  My wife likes you.  My boys like you.  So, you will be set free if you work hard for one more year in my field."

The slave worked for one more year very honestly.  Accordingly the master told him that he was free now.  The white man gave his ex-slave some clothes and other goods as humble gifts or salary.  Then the African American started to walk out of the farm land of his ex-mater with a stick on the shoulder at the end of which a bundle of the clothes and goods he received was tied.

Then the white man shouted at the free black man, "I like you; my wife likes you;
and my boys like you.  But remember that you are still a negro!   I like you; my wife likes you;
and my boys like you.  But remember that you are still a negro! "

So, the African American man decided to walk as far as possible, probably, to Canada.   He thought his future children and descendants should also continue to walk as far as possible.


An old story of a Judaist:

There once lived a poor Judaist living a humble life.

His neighbor was a rich pagan who one day met a prophet.  The prophet said to the greedy man, "Your fortune will be all someday your neighbor's."

So, the pagan man sold all his assets and treasure.  And with money he got he bought one big pearl.  The rich pagan hid the pearl in his hat to leave the town.  He traveled along a river, but a strong wind blew to carry his hat into the river.  Some fish came close to the hat in the water.

Days, months, or maybe years passed.  And the poor and humble Judaist bought a big fish from a fisherman who came to sell fish in the town.  When the Judaist cooked the fish, he found a big pearl inside it.  He sold it to be rich.  And the poor and humble Judaist could live in affluence.

The poor and humble Judaist was now no more poor and humble.  He became a rich Judaist, happily.




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Luk 9:26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.

"whereas I was blind, now I see" - Democratic Voters vs The Republican Rich

Before Office of Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Tokyo

Democratic Voters vs The Republican Rich 

In the 2012 US Presidential Election non-Hispanic whites accounted for 72% of all the voters; blacks 13%, Hispanics 10%, and others 5%.

Among non-Hispanic whites, 39% voted for the Democratic candidate Obama; among blacks 93% for Obama; among Hispanics 71% for Obama; and among others about 68% for Obama.

Consequently the Democratic camp got  50% (0.72 x 0.39 + 0.13 x 0.93 + 0.1 x 0.71 + 0.05 x 0.68) of votes.

That is why Barack Obama won in the 2012 Election despite a fact that he could only secure 39% of non-Hispanic white voters while he could secure 43% in 2008.

It is estimated that the ratio of white voters decreases by 2% in every four years, while the ratio of the so-called minorities increases by 2% in every four years.  As a result the Democratic Party has its share of votes dropped by 0.85% while the Republican Party has 0.85% more votes in every four years.  So, the gap between them continues to grow by 1.8% in every Presidential Election.

In addition, between 2000 and 2013 the US employed population who were born in the US have decreased by 1.3 million from 114 million, while  the US employed population who were born outside the US have grown by 5.3 million from 17 million.

Put simply the job growth in the US from 2000 to 2013 was mostly contributed to by immigrants.  However, those immigrants are mostly engaged in low-paying jobs.  The employment rate of those who graduated from universities or postgraduate schools is 81.8% for those Americans born in the US and 77.4% for immigrants.

Therefore, the lower middle class and the lower class society of the US are going to be filled by Americans born outside the US or immigrants, but they are going to have a decisive influence on the American presidential election.

This social and political structure might offset the overwhelmingly dominant influence of European Americans on the economic sphere of the US.

We will probably not see a George Bush type of US Presidents from the Republican Party anymore.

Having said so, there is still a possibility that a very Christian president will come from the Republican Party since those supporting the Democratic Party include Americans who are apparently  stray from traditional codes of Christians.  Even Catholic Hispanics might change their political stance toward the Republic Party in near future.




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Joh 9:25 He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.

"not dead, but sleepeth" - Crises of the 14th Century

Tokyo Subway Line

Crises of the 14th Century

For 60 years from 1310 or so, very cold weather prevailed in the Northern Hemisphere.

The era was also featured by earthquakes and floods, leading to reduction in agricultural products in many parts on the earth.  In addition, a plague started to widely spread, taking on one third of population in Europe at the time.  This disease, namely a pestilence is believed to have been generated in Myanmar or part of Central Asia.  It came to be widely carried by rats and mice through Europe as Christian churches were at the time eradicating cats since the animals were regarded as partners of witches.

This incident is now called the "Crisis of the 14th Century."

And one of the gravest consequences was that the view of Christians on Judaists changed drastically through this Crisis of the 14th Century.  Christians in Europe started to take different attitudes against Judaits than before, regarding the minority among Europeans as a big enemy of Christ.  They discovered a big enemy of their society in Judaists.  Christians or non-Judaists in Europe came to physically attack Judaists.  Even in Spain and Germany where Judaists had settled down in large numbers in preceding periods of the Middle Ages, Judaists were violently attacked and dispelled or pushed into ghettos.

Throughout Europe, the Jews were gradually confined in ghettos  as the Middle Ages progressed. The first compulsory ones were established in Spain and Portugal at the end of the fourteenth century. Jewish ghettos existed in Madrid, Barcelona, Venice, Naples, Rome, Florence, and Prague, and other European cities.

Jews continued to flee eastward from Germany, Austria, and Hungary to Poland. Also during the High Middle Ages, Jews were leaving the area along the north shores of the Black Sea and heading northwest, into Poland. Jewish life flourished in Poland. Polish rulers welcomed Jews during the 13th and 14th centuries, issuing charters of legal rights for Jews. During the hundred years of the 15th century, the Jewish Polish population exploded from about 15,000 to 150,000.

http://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/PEOPLE/displace.htm

This persecution of Judaists were mostly guided by Catholic churches and the Vatican.  Judaists were being pushed into Poland and East Europe where they adopted a kind of new language Yiddish.  Between the 14th century and the early 20th century, East Europe had been the center of Judaist communities.  Before WWII, 10 million Judaists spoke Yiddish.  However due to Holocaust by Nazi Germany the number of Yiddish speakers decreased so much after WWII.

Reports of the number of current Yiddish speakers vary significantly. Ethnologue estimated in 2013 there were 1,505,030 speakers of Eastern Yiddish,[1] of which over one-third lived in the United States. In contrast, the Modern Language Association reports fewer than 200,000 in the United States.[17] Western Yiddish, which had "several tens of thousands of speakers" on the eve of the Holocaust, is reported by Ethnologue to have had an "ethnic population" of slightly below 50,000 in 2000.[18] Other estimates are also given, for example, of a worldwide Yiddish-speaking population of about two million in 1996 in a report by the Council of Europe. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiddish_language

It was not only Europe that faced drastic situations in the 14th century.

1333 - The first samurai regime of Japan based in Kamakura falls.

1368 - The Yuan dynasty built by Mongolians in China falls.

1392 - The　Kingdom of Joseon is established in the Korean Peninsula.


Anyway, a change in weather, especially global cooling, can trigger a tragedy of any minor people or race, such as Judaists.  Otherwise, it might bring about demise of a regime.

Conversely global warming today might be a situation Judaists and Israelis can tolerate.



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Mat 9:23 And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise,
Mat 9:24 He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.

"all things are possible to him" - Two Great Meteors for Dinosaurs

Tokyo Governmental Office Quarter & Anti-Nuclear Protester Tents

Two Great Meteors for Dinosaurs

Japanese scientists asserted that a big meteor with a diameter of 7.8 km (5 miles) hit an area presently called Quebec State of Canada about 215 million years ago.  Indeed there is a big crater in Canada with a diameter of 90 km which is estimated to have been created 215 million years ago.

It is comparable with the well-known meteor which struck a part of the earth presently called Yucatan Peninsula to put an end to the era of dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

The Japanese scientists led by T. Onoue, associate professor of Kumamoto University,  found a layer built 210 million years ago in strata under the ground in Gifu and Oita Prefectures, Japan, where higher concentration  of osmium, a type of metal mostly included in a meteor, was abundantly present.   So, they believe that this gigantic meteor with a weight of 50 million tons released a huge amount of energy on its collision with the ground.  Then most of living things on the earth were eradicated like the case of extinction of dinosaurs 150 million years later due to a 10-km wide meteor.  But this big eradication of animals dominant at the time paved the way for expansion of living spheres of then minor creatures dinosaurs.

Put simply, dinosaurs started to prosper with the crash of the 7.8-km wide meteor in present Canada 210 million years ago, and suddenly went extinct with the impact of the 10-km wide meteor in present Mexico 65 million years ago.  

What was brought up by something from the heaven should be in deed banished by something from the heaven, too.  And Americans live just between Canada and Mexico so impressively today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gondwana

65 million years ago
http://www.geocities.co.jp/NatureLand/5218/w-dai3.html



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Mar 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

"The Son of man must suffer many things" - Those Related to Syria

Anti-Nuclear Power Plant Demonstrators ' Tents in Gov. Office District, Tokyo 

Those Related to Syria

Cleopatra is believed to have been familiar with Syria before she met with Julius Caesar.

In 48 B.C. they removed Cleopatra from power and she was forced into exile in Syria along with her younger sister Arsinone IV. Cleopatra would not give up her throne easily and she began amassing an army on Egyptian border.  

Cleopatra devised a plan to meet Julius Caesar on her own terms seeking a political alliance and a return to the throne. She had herself wrapped inside a rolled rug which was smuggled into Alexandria and delivered to Caesar. When the rug was opened, Cleopatra rolled out and immediately charmed Caesar. Within that same evening, Cleopatra seduced Caesar, who was married, and became his lover, but more importantly linked herself with the Roman Empire.

http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/cleop7.html

After Julius Caesar Cleopatra associated with Antony to fight the son-in-law of Julius Caesar, namely Octavius.

Accordingly, on September 2, 31 BC, a great battle was fought in Greece:

The Battle of Actium was the decisive confrontation of the Final War of the Roman Republic, a naval engagement between Octavian and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra on 2 September 31 BC, on the Ionian Sea near the city of Actium, in the Roman province of Epirus vetus in Greece. Octavian's fleet was commanded by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, while Antony's fleet was supported by the ships of Queen Cleopatra of Ptolemaic Egypt.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Actium

http://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/the_history_of_rome/2009/04/51.html


Flavius Josephus, a Judaist who survived the Jewish-Roman War mysteriously, wrote about some about this battle at the early part of his great book The Jewish War.  And after the Battle or after Mark Antony and Cleopatra were both dead, Syria was put under regal power of King Herod.

The Works of Flavius JosephusWar of the JewsBook 1Chapter 20
Chapter 20 

3. When Caesar had spoken such obliging things to the king, and had put the diadem again about his head, he proclaimed what he had bestowed on him by a decree, in which he enlarged in the commendation of the man after a magnificent manner. Whereupon Herod obliged him to be kind to him by the presents he gave him, and he desired him to forgive Alexander, one of Antony's friends, who was become a supplicant to him. But Caesar's anger against him prevailed, and he complained of the many and very great offenses the man whom he petitioned for had been guilty of; and by that means he rejected his petition. After this Caesar went for Egypt through Syria, when Herod received him with royal and rich entertainments; and then did he first of all ride along with Caesar, as he was reviewing his army about Ptolemais, and feasted him with all his friends, and then distributed among the rest of the army what was necessary to feast them withal. He also made a plentiful provision of water for them, when they were to march as far as Pelusium, through a dry country, which he did also in like manner at their return thence; nor were there any necessaries wanting to that army. It was therefore the opinion, both of Caesar and of his soldiers, that Herod's kingdom was too small for those generous presents he made them; for which reason, when Caesar was come into Egypt, and Cleopatra and Antony were dead, he did not only bestow other marks of honor upon him, but made an addition to his kingdom, by giving him not only the country which had been taken from him by Cleopatra, but besides that, Gadara, and Hippos, and Samaria; and moreover, of the maritime cities, Gaza and Anthedon, and Joppa, and Strato's Tower. He also made him a present of four hundred Galls [Galatians] as a guard for his body, which they had been to Cleopatra before. Nor did any thing so strongly induce Caesar to make these presents as the generosity of him that received them. 

4. Moreover, after the first games at Actium, he added to his kingdom both the region called Trachonitis, and what lay in its neighborhood, Batanea, and the country of Auranitis; and that on the following occasion: Zenodorus, who had hired the house of Lysanias, had all along sent robbers out of Trachonitis among the Damascenes; who thereupon had recourse to Varro, the president of Syria, and desired of him that he would represent the calamity they were in to Caesar. When Caesar was acquainted with it, he sent back orders that this nest of robbers should be destroyed. Varro therefore made an expedition against them, and cleared the land of those men, and took it away from Zenodorus. Caesar did also afterward bestow it on Herod, that it might not again become a receptacle for those robbers that had come against Damascus. He also made him a procurator of all Syria, and this on the tenth year afterward, when he came again into that province; and this was so established, that the other procurators could not do any thing in the administration without his advice: but when Zenodorus was dead, Caesar bestowed on him all that land which lay between Trachonitis and Galilee. Yet, what was still of more consequence to Herod, he was beloved by Caesar next after Agrippa, and by Agrippa next after Caesar; whence he arrived at a very great degree of felicity. Yet did the greatness of his soul exceed it, and the main part of his magnanimity was extended to the promotion of piety.

http://www.biblestudytools.com/history/flavius-josephus/war-of-the-jews/book-1/chapter-20.html

When King Herod died in 4 BC, any of his sons could not succeed his father as king. Judea became subject to direct rule of the Roman Empire. And then finally Christ Jess was born under this condition. 

When a stupid man became the last king of Israelites, the fate of Judaists was determined by the God so severely.  

If Israelites had joined Cleopatra and Antony to defeat Octavianus (Caesar Octavianus Augustus) and the Roman Empire and Herod had not been so foolish, the history must have been different.  

If the Mediterranean Sea regions had been governed by Cleopatra and Antony and their descendants from Egypt while suppressing Romans, Alexandria must have been another Vatican, provided that Christ Jesus had been born in Judea.  

Recent armed conflicts or a civil war in Syria has reminded me of the Battle of Actium when Cleopatra and Octavianus traveled through Syria to be under rule by King Herod.

So, if Israel today should interfere with the Syrian civil strife, Israelis today would probably have to face a sever situation like that which occurred 2000 years ago.       

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Luk 9:22 Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.
Luk 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Luk 9:24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.