Last Night on the History Channel - Digging for the Truth

[Lotar]

Did anyone watch it? I was pleasantly suprised for once. :thumbsup:

The show was about searching for the ark.

First they stopped by St. Catherine's monastery in the Sinai, and saw the burning bush. Then they went to Jerusalem, and then to Ethiopia.

They went to a bunch of the monasteries in Ethiopia, and concluded that the evidence shows that the ark is probably their.

No digs at Christianity. I was amazed.

[Jason of Wyoming]

I've seen the program before. Since nobody is allowed to "see" the ark of the Covenant inside the little church over there, I highly doubt that it's really there. Seems more like a scam for tourism than anything. (I'd rank this as high as the stories of finding Noah's ark on Mt Ararat. It's a 0.5 on the credibility scale.)

[Grand_Duchess-Elizaveta]

Did anyone watch it? I was pleasantly suprised for once. :thumbsup:

The show was about searching for the ark.

First they stopped by St. Catherine's monastery in the Sinai, and saw the burning bush. Then they went to Jerusalem, and then to Ethiopia.

They went to a bunch of the monasteries in Ethiopia, and concluded that the evidence shows that the ark is probably their.

No digs at Christianity. I was amazed.

I agree, Lotar. It was a very good program. There seems to be very compelling evidence that the Ark was there at some point in history. Perhaps it still is. At any rate, I was impressed with how History Channel did the program. They usually tend to either pretend Orthodoxy doesn't exist, or combine/confuse us with Catholics. They didn't do either this time around. Kudos!:thumbsup:

[Moros]

eh. I saw a special about the ark supposedly being in axum (?) and was unimpressed. Why would no one be allowed to see it?

[Marjorie]

I'm surprised to hear that there were no digs at Christianity. Today I unfortunately happened upon a thoroughly non-historical discussion of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which began with a discourse on how "in the sixth century" (UGH NO WHAT NO AHHHHHH) Christianity decided that Judaism was bad and therefore decided to use graven images and stop being Jewish or something ridiculous like that (which, I'm sure, inevitably led to the persecution of women and homosexuals.) I was ready to hit the smug-faced narrator over the head with St. John Damascus's An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith.

In IC XC,
Marjorie

[akascottb]

i read a book written by a reporter for the economist magazine that came to the conclusion that the ark is in Ethiopia. he made a good circumstantial case. unfortunately, all my books are packed and i do not remember the title.

Daniel

[Mary of Bethany]

Whether or not the Ark is really in Ethiopia or not, I'm not sure that the "if it's there, why is no one allowed to see it" argument should be used. Only the High Priest was allowed in the Holy of Holies, once a year, and had to have a rope tied around him in case he died while in there, so he could be pulled out. No one else got to see it then, so why should it be any different now?

Just my thoughts on it.
Mary

[Oblio]

There is an interesting write up on the Ark in an obscure travel site on the web. Several pages primarily consisting of an interview with the monk that guard the Ark. IIRC (it has been awhile) the reason that it is not allowed to be viewed is not to 'protect' the Ark or for any nefarious reasons, but to protect those (especially the heterodox) who would wish to view it.

[Oblio]

The Sign and the Seal (http://www.oneworldmagazine.org/focus/etiopia/ark.html)


i read a book written by a reporter for the economist magazine that came to the conclusion that the ark is in Ethiopia. he made a good circumstantial case. unfortunately, all my books are packed and i do not remember the title.


It all connects now, the above was written by:

*** Graham Hancock was the East Africa correspondent for The Economist and is the author of several previous books on Africa and the Third World. He lives in Devonshire, England. Part fascinating scholarship and part entertaining adventure yarn, tying together some of the most intriguing tales of all time -- from the Knights Templar and Prester John to Parsival and the Holy Grail -- Hancock's book, The Sign and the Seal will appeal to anyone fascinated by the revelation of hidden truths, the discovery of secret mysteries.

[Jason of Wyoming]

Whether or not the Ark is really in Ethiopia or not, I'm not sure that the "if it's there, why is no one allowed to see it" argument should be used. Only the High Priest was allowed in the Holy of Holies, once a year, and had to have a rope tied around him in case he died while in there, so he could be pulled out. No one else got to see it then, so why should it be any different now?

Just my thoughts on it.
Mary

Ok, but there are no more High Priests, Mary. Christ is our High Priest. So using that logic, nobody should see it, ever.

Second, if it is there, it could be the most important historical artifact on earth, and that means we have a duty to know and to deal with it.

Third, it was stolen. Therefore, it should be returned to the Jews.

My thoughts.

[Lotar]

Third, it was stolen. Therefore, it should be returned to the Jews.

My thoughts.

No, if it should be returned to anyone, it should be to the Church. Judaism before Christ is the heritage of the Church, not present day Jews.

[Mary of Bethany]

No, if it should be returned to anyone, it should be to the Church. Judaism before Christ is the heritage of the Church, not present day Jews.

But they (Ethiopian/Oriental Orthodox) believe they are the Church. :)

Mary

[lovemysoldier]

I think that the ark is where it belongs. It is too sacred of a relic and too powerful from my understanding to be open to the public. God has a purpose for keeping it a secret and he never fails to amaze me with his perfect will.

[Grand_Duchess-Elizaveta]

There is an interesting write up on the Ark in an obscure travel site on the web. Several pages primarily consisting of an interview with the monk that guard the Ark. IIRC (it has been awhile) the reason that it is not allowed to be viewed is not to 'protect' the Ark or for any nefarious reasons, but to protect those (especially the heterodox) who would wish to view it.

That makes sense. I know that if it were somehow proven that the Ark is indeed in Ethiopia, I certainly wouldn't want heterodox researchers to get a hold of it. It belongs to the Church, not to the world.

And Lotar is certainly right. The OT was truly the Early Church, not something that was just to pertain to a specific race of people. So the Ark belongs to the Church now, just as it always has.

[VioletAngel]

I have viewed programs on public television before about the Ark of the Covenant. If it truly is in Ethiopia, and hidden away, I suppose perhaps it will be returned to the Temple Mount for the End Times prophecies to be fulfilled? Since all of the prophecies seem to be that the Jews will have the Temple restored to them, would this make any sense? Or would they make a copy of it, a false one, and pass it off as the real thing?

[Jason of Wyoming]

No, if it should be returned to anyone, it should be to the Church. Judaism before Christ is the heritage of the Church, not present day Jews.

Legally speaking, Christians don't have a leg to stand on in this matter. Jews could seek international support for having it returned to them. And with all the dispensationalist-pro Israelies in the USA, Im sure that's exactly what would happen.

Furthermore, doesn't anyone here think that various governments of the world haven't already checked this out? Sent in 007 to see if it's a hoax? And the fact that nobody's bothered tells you what?

[Matrona]

Legally speaking, Christians don't have a leg to stand on in this matter. Jews could seek international support for having it returned to them. And with all the dispensationalist-pro Israelies in the USA, Im sure that's exactly what would happen.

Furthermore, doesn't anyone here think that various governments of the world haven't already checked this out? Sent in 007 to see if it's a hoax? And the fact that nobody's bothered tells you what?

I see where you're coming from, Jason. Anyway, I think the only "Ark of the Covenant" we Orthodox need to be bothered with, is the Theotokos. :)

[countrymousenc]

Furthermore, doesn't anyone here think that various governments of the world haven't already checked this out? Sent in 007 to see if it's a hoax? And the fact that nobody's bothered tells you what? Jason, I like the way you think!

[Jason of Wyoming]

I see where you're coming from, Jason. Anyway, I think the only "Ark of the Covenant" we Orthodox need to be bothered with, is the Theotokos. :)

I agree totally.

[Jason of Wyoming]

Jason, I like the way you think!

Well, Im not trying to ruin anybody's parade, but Im being realistic. (Though as an aside, I'd love to see it up close if it still existed! I was as big a fan of Indiana Jones as anyone!)

[countrymousenc]

Well, Im not trying to ruin anybody's parade, but Im being realistic. (Though as an aside, I'd love to see it up close if it still existed! I was as big a fan of Indiana Jones as anyone!)

Yes, and that was my point about your response; you are being realistic. Anything that important, if the USA, the Vatican and Israel believed it to yet exist, would be getting a lion's share of attention.