Keepers of the lost ark?
Wednesday November 28, 2007
Categories: Religion (general)
Here's an interesting tale about a Western reporter who treks to Ethiopia in a quest to see the Ark of the Covenant, which the Ethiopian Orthodox Church believes it has had custody of since it left Jerusalem. It's an interesting...
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About Crunchy Con
Rod Dreher is an editorial columnist for the Dallas Morning News, and author of "Crunchy Cons" (Crown Forum), a nonfiction book about conservatives, most of them religious, whose faith and political convictions sometimes put them at odds with mainstream conservatives. The views expressed in this blog are his own.
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Whether or not what's behind the curtain is really the Ark is probably unprovable, even if archeologists and historians had the opportunity to examine it. Seems pretty implausible, though, that a long line of sinister monks would each scrupulously guard the dark secret that the whole thing is a hoax.
Worth noting, by the way, that the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is unrelated to what we in the West usually call the "Orthodox Church". The Ethiopians are "Oriental Orthodox," in communion with the Egyptian Copts, the Armenians, and one of the umpteen modern claimants to the ancient Patriarchate of Antioch.
Indiana Jones would know ...
(Sorry, I couldn't resist.)
Transdimensional portal to the Hill of Tara where the real Ark is buried (possibly in the Mound of the Hostages). That or some highly ornate box that he thinks is the Ark.
I don't know. Personally, I think it stinks.
I live in Chicago. A couple years ago a viaduct was clogged up with scores of fools who, believing they saw the virgin Mary depicted in a water stain, started lighting candles and crawling around on the ground. The city eventually power-washed it off the wall because the water-stain worshippers were blocking traffic.
The sad part of this story is that it is not at all unusual. It's not at all hard to find pieces of the "True Cross," the real site of Noah's ark, etc, and even easier to find suckers who are willing to buy into it. Televangelist frauds like Benny Hinn and Pat Robertson are rolling around in dough in large part because there are a million people whose faith turn them into uncritical maroons.
Of course saying this gets you branded a shreiking anti-Christain, but I know, and know of, dozens of believers who would never buy into this crap. I just wish they were as vocal about defending their faith from the inside as they are from the outside.
"Top men, Mr. Jones. Top men."
There's something old and ark-like in there, I'm willing to wager that much. *The* Ark? Dubious. The chain of custody questions alone are a huge problem.
But to answer your question, no, I'd pass on taking a look under those circumstances.
I would look.
"What you hear in whispers, proclaim from the housetops."
No secrets in Christianity. That's from the Old Covenant. I'd look. If there really is something there, what do they have to hide?
The sad part of this story is that it is not at all unusual. It's not at all hard to find pieces of the "True Cross," the real site of Noah's ark, etc, and even easier to find suckers who are willing to buy into it. Televangelist frauds like Benny Hinn and Pat Robertson are rolling around in dough in large part because there are a million people whose faith turn them into uncritical maroons.
Distinctions, please.
The claim that the Ark is in Ethiopia has been documented for centuries, is held by both Christians and Jews in that country, and is not implausible historically, even if it is unlikely. It doesn't even require any belief in the miraculous.
Hardly on the same level as the credulous few who imagine apparitions in water stains or hunt for Noah's Ark on some mountain in Turkey.
The ark is absolutely meaningless, assuming it does actually exist in Ethiopia. The Son of God has come and tabernacled among His people. He is the Holy of Holies in the flesh.
The Ethiopian (and other Oriental) Orthodox aren't *un*-related, they're just not in communion with the Eastern Orthodox. It's sort of a tricky issue in practice, it seems; communing Oriental Orthodox seems to have more or less become a pastoral decision for Eastern Orthodox priests to make, even given the lack of formal communion. There are those who claim we're a lot closer to being able to restore communion with the non-Chalcedonians than with Rome; I guess time will tell.
Richard
Of course I would look. I wouldn't tell anyone what I saw, though.
So where's the old knight guarding the holy grail then? (Indiana Jones III)
You?
I'd take pictures, without flash of course.
No secrets in Christianity. That's from the Old Covenant.
Old Covenant?
Funny. We've only heard of one.
Seems like the wrong people would be holding on to the Ark.
I would look. G-D is not in the Ark.
No, I would not look.
It would be just plain rude.
I'm fairly certain that there is an object in the room, and that it at least resembles the biblical Ark. If the room were truly empty it would require the world's most ancient conspiracy to keep that fact from becoming known, wouldn't it?
As to the peeking question, I'd agree with those who think it would be rude to violate someone else's sense of the sacred, even if your views on the subject are different. Besides, assuming there is something at least vaguely resembling the Ark in that room, my unaided eyes would be no more qualified to determine the truth of the matter than they are to see Christ present in the Eucharist, so a mere glimpse would be both a transgression against someone else's deeply held faith, and worthless as to determining the facts.
Honestly, I'd look. I'm not sure I could stop myself. Even though I believe very firmly in respecting and abiding by others' traditions, even though I'd know that I was greatly disrespecting the Ethiopians and quite possibly God Herself, I'd still probably look. I'm not a Christian or a Jew and seeing the Ark wouldn't necessarily convert me to either, but it's one of the great archaeological mysteries of all time. Even if I never told anyone what I saw, the overpowering desire to see for myself would probably be, well, overpowering.
The Ethiopian (and other Oriental) Orthodox aren't *un*-related, they're just not in communion with the Eastern Orthodox. It's sort of a tricky issue in practice, it seems; communing Oriental Orthodox seems to have more or less become a pastoral decision for Eastern Orthodox priests to make, even given the lack of formal communion. There are those who claim we're a lot closer to being able to restore communion with the non-Chalcedonians than with Rome; I guess time will tell.
Good point, Richard. If I recall correctly, the formal dialogue between the EOs and the OOs about 10 years ago resulted in a joint recommendation that communion be restored. Unfortunately, no one acted upon it.
It's been a decade or two since we've had one of those pitched battles between Greek and Armenian monks over who gets to wash which wall of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
I have a question for anyone who's knowledgable about such things: How are the "Eastern Orthodox" and "Oriental Orthodox" distinguished in languages where the word for eastern (a Germanic root) is some variety of "oriental" (a Latinate root)?
"She's been setting light to our beacon, which I've just remembered is ark-shaped."
Rev. Paul is right on point. Even if this is the ancient Ark, it is meaningless. I'd recommend everyone here to re-read Hebrews.
I remember hearing Billy Crystal say years ago that he didn't really want to meet his childhood idol, Mickey Mantle, because he didn't want his concept of him in his mind to be tainted (though I think he did eventually meet Mantle.)I don't think I could look, only because I'd be afaid of being disappointed.
Allen--or vice versa, for that matter! I think for the most part what we call Eastern Orthodox in English are called Greek Orthodox or sometimes even Roman Orthodox in other languages, Rome being understood as Constantinople--for example, in German, the Antiochians are called "Griechisch-Orthodoxe Kirche von Antiochien in Deutschland (Rum-Orthodox)" (Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch in Germany, Roman Orthodox).
Richard
For what it's worth, in the Orthodox and Catholic Bible we read that the prophet Jeremiah hid the Ark in a cave near Mount Nebo, in Moab, where it is to remain until it is revealed. (2 Maccabees 2:1-8; Deuteronomy 34:1-3)
- Silouan Thompson
Thanks for segueing off of me, Rod.
And, for entirely different reasons than you (that nightmarish movie scene of the Nazis -- although of course I would want to respect the Ethiopian Orthodox, too), "No, thank you" to a peek.
The Ark is hardly "meaningless".
yes... the Ark is not "meaningless"...
the Ark Myths have many meanings to various believers...
even though the supernatural stories about the Ark are surely mismatches with Reality...
so...
what's in the room?
probably some ark-like object constructed many centuries ago but not thousands of years ago...
I mean, even if the biblical Ark really existed...
and it reasonably could have existed...
(yes, a real Ark with many supernatural stories invented about it)...
it's way likely that the original no longer exists...
and...
would I peek?
yes...
just to see what that centuries-old ark-like object looks like...
...
ark faith hope love joy peace to all...
From the various books and articles that I have read, the history of how the Ark got to Ethiopia in the Kebra Negast and oral tradition is probably not correct. However, all of the archaeological finds point to the fact that, YES, the Ark is in Aksum.
Meaningless? I can't fathom how one would think that.
In the Book of Revelations John sees the Ark of the Covenant in heaven. (Revelations 11:19) However, this is at the midpoint, 3 1/2 years into the 7 year tribulation period. It says the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake and great hail.
This leads me to believe the ark is not on earth at the present time. Sorry Ethiopians, but it seems fairly clear.
As to looking inside the building that supposedly holds the ark now? No, I would not want to look inside. If it were not there, it would be useless knowledge that would only harm the faith of the Ethiopian people. If it were there, I would fully expect to fall dead. Only the high priest of Israel was allowed to enter this chamber of the temple, and then only after much purification. A rope was tied to him for if he was found lacking in any way his dead body had to be pulled out.
I believe the ark will once more be on earth during Christ's millenial reign, when He is King of all the earth, ruling from the temple in Jerusalem.
This is only a theory, but it is my thought the ark was taken up into heaven at Christ's death. Note Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38, and Luke 23:45.
In the Book of Revelations John sees the Ark of the Covenant in heaven. (Revelations 11:19) However, this is at the midpoint, 3 1/2 years into the 7 year tribulation period. It says the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake and great hail. This leads me to believe the ark is not on earth at the present time. Sorry Ethiopians, but it seems fairly clear.
It seems equally clear to me (and presumably also to the Ethiopians) that the Book of Revelation has a deeper, allegorical meaning than prophecies about supposed events relating to the end of the world.
David, if the ark had vanished from the temple at Christ's death, that means that the High Priest just... forgot to mention it? Almost 40 years passed between the crucifixion and the destruction of the temple. If the ark existed, it was right where it was supposed to be until around 70 CE.
The notion that the ark resides in a Christian church always seemed a little weird to me, though. Considering the ark's much greater status in Judaism than in Christianity, and the fact that at the time it left Jerusalem, Christians were pretty much nobodies, I'd expect it to have remained in Jewish hands for much of its history.
It seems equally clear to me...that the Book of Revelation has a deeper, allegorical meaning than prophecies about supposed events relating to the end of the world.
Reading Revelation gives me that impression, too, but darn if I have the foggiest clue what that allegorical meaning might be. It could end-time prophesy or it could be the writer's reaction to some bad shellfish. What elevates one interpretation of Revelation over another?
"I'd expect it to have remained in Jewish hands for much of its history."
Many Ethiopian hands that the Ark passed through WERE Jewish hands. Ethiopia has plenty of archaeological evidence that First Temple Judaism was practiced there.
Regardless of whether the Ark still retains its power or not, it is an important artifact and symbol of faith. There is no reason to believe it is not in Ethiopia and most evidence would indicate that it is.
Read 2Maccabees 2:5-8. If you believe this to be the word of God, then the matter is settled.
The traditions surrounding the Ark to my knowledge emerged in the Middle Ages in Ethiopia , and appear in the Kebra Negast text (Book of Kings) that was linked to the rise of a dynasty claiming their descent from Solomon. Richard Pankhurst's article, "The Falashas, or Judaic Ethiopians, in Their Christian Ethiopian Setting,"
African Affairs 91 (Oct. 1992), pp. 567-582 covers this material as well as the close connections that the ark and other traditions derived from the Old Testament and Judiac practices (ritual slaughter of animals, the inclusion of replicas of the Ark in all Coptic Ethiopian churches, and dietary rules following Leviticus). There's a lot of debate on why these influences were so strong.
For some good images of Christian artwork from Ethiopia, see http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/acet/hd_acet.htm
Kebra Negast portions are available at:
http://www.yorku.ca/inpar/kebra_budge.pdf
A bibliography of scholarly research on Ethiopian Christianity - over 100 pages - is available at: http://www.ascleiden.nl/pdf/workingpaper52.pdf
But the Ark didn't disappear around the time of Christ, it vanished when the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem and destroyed Solomon's Temple.
My theory is that the looters took the gold off, so the Ark is gone forever.
I definitely wouldn't sneak in illicitly.
Every Coptic church in Ethiopia has a sanctuary housing 'the Ark' and it's no more or less phenomenal than the different churches in the Western world that claim to house the Holy Grail...or far removed from churches that feature Saints who look fresher than the day they died. What puzzles me is why no one considers that Yahweh discreetly removed the Ark for reasons of idolatry (the two cherubim seated atop the lid). Certainly His character is not one that has to second guess, so would mention be made in the tale? An implication of Yahweh's error? However you slice the Challah loaf, it's still idolatry...footstool of God or no footstool of God. Perhaps it was a form of what is called in childhood "Indian-giving". I jest but it is indeed theologically and textually sound. I may be recalling the tale poorly, but I think it is Yahweh's power that works through the Ark not the Cherubim's. Rendering them as mere decoration. In case my recollection is poor, the point still holds if we consider that the Cherubim are manmade.
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