Tea at Trianon: On This Rock

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Thursday, November 5, 2020

On This Rock

From The Times of Israel:

One of the earliest churches in Israel has been unearthed at the foot of breathtaking waterfalls in the scenic Banias Nature Reserve in Israel’s north. The rare circa 400 CE Byzantine church was build on top of a Roman-era temple to Pan, the Greek god from whom the park takes its name. The 4th-5th century Christian builders adapted the Roman pagan temple to fit the needs of the relatively new religion, said University of Haifa Prof. Adi Erlich in a brief Hebrew-language video announcing the find. Erlich hypothesizes that the church was built to commemorate Jesus’s significant interactions with Peter — who recognized his teacher as the Messiah — that are documented to have taken place in the area, called “Caesarea of Philip” during Jesus’ time. (Read more.)

From The Christian Post:

A Byzantine church said to have built around the location where Jesus referred to Simon Peter as “the rock” was discovered in a nature reserve in northern Israel. The ruins of the former church, dated to have been built around the start of the fifth century, was recently discovered at the foot of a waterfall in the Banias Nature Reserve. The Times of Israel reports that the church might have been built in the area once known as Caesarea Philippi to commemorate the events recorded in Matthew 16. In the passage, Jesus asked His disciples who He was, with Peter responding that He was the Messiah. From there, Jesus commends Simon Peter for his statement.
“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven,” read verses 18-19. The verses have been interpreted by the Roman Catholic Church as establishing Peter as the first pope, with the Vatican City flag showcasing a set of keys in reference to the biblical passage. University of Haifa Professor Adi Erlich, who announced the find in a Hebrew language video, noted that the area was also the site of an earlier temple to the pagan god Pan. (Read more.)