Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

Blue Tongue!!!

Some time ago I began noticing a problem with the make-up on sci-fi shows.

It’s only skin deep.

Sure, the alien may have funny colored skin (blue, green, whatever), but his mouth is always human-red.

Bad idea.

If an alien really has funny body chemistry, blood, and pigmentation, his mouth shouldn’t be the same color on the inside as ours.

I decided that if I were ever in a position to make a sci-fi series, I would have the alien actors rinse their mouths out with food coloring (or something) to change the color of them on the inside.

Well, someone who actually does make a sci-fi series finally got the same idea!

If you look closely on Star Trek Enterprise, you’ll notice that the Andorians have blue not only on their outer skin but also on the insides of their mouths.

Yee-haw!

Improved alien make-up realism!

I noticed this a piece back, and have been meaning to blog about it, but my memory was jogged when last night on Enterprise Shran the Andorian (played by the immortal Jeffrey Coombs–a.k.a. Weyoun, Brunt) was being choked by someone and we got a really good shot of his face with his bright blue tongue protruding out.

Kewl!

Incidentally, in fairness to the make-up artists, it may be that we have only recently developed something that you can put in your mouth to change it’s color without having it last an unduly long time (or it may be only recently they have worked up the gumption to ask actors to dye their mouths for long periods).

Either way, I’m a happy camper.

It’s the simple things in life (like a food coloring mouthwash) that really matter.

Guest List For The Last Supper

A reader writes:

My husband and I have a question about "The Lord’s Supper" and the apostles in attendance.  Our confusion arises from a very old print of "The Lord’s Supper" that we found many years ago at an antique shop in Florida.  It is in an old gray-colored frame under "bubble" glass, and I was drawn to it because it is exactly like one that my grandparents always had in their home.  On this print are the names of the apostles at the bottom edge of the tablecloth (altar cloth).

The names listed (in Hebrew? Latin?)  are as follows (from left to right):

Bartholomaeus Bartholomew
Jacobus II James II (meaning: James son of Alphaeus)
Andreas Andrew
Judas Judas (meaning Judas Iscariot)
Petrus Peter
Joannes John
Jesus Christus Jesus Christ
Thomas Thomas
Jacobus I James I (meaning: James son of Zebedee)
Philipus Philip
Matthaeus Matthew
Thaddaeus Thaddeus (a.k.a., Judas not Iscariot or Judas the son of James)
Simon Simon (a.k.a., Simon the Zealot, the Zealots being a political movement)

Therein lies our confusion.  After Judas betrayed Jesus and committed suicide, the apostles continued the Apostolic Succession by "voting" for Matthew to join the fold.  On our print, "Matthaeus" is listed as one of the apostles at the Passover.  Was there another Matthew who was already part of the original Twelve?  Or are the names incorrect or simply added as "artistic license?"  (We also know the English translations as most are obvious and that Jacobus is the Hebrew/Latin? name for James.)

I think I can clear up the confusion. Matthew was a disciple who was named an apostle during Jesus’ ministry (see Matthew 10:2-4). The guy who was elected an apostle after the suicide of Judas Iscariot was a different guy but had a similar name: Matthias. You can read about him in Acts 1:12-26 (you’ll note that Matthew is listed among the apostles before the election of Matthias in Acts 1:13).

Incidentally, the names above are Latinized forms of Aramaic names. The "bar-" in Bartholomew is a dead giveaway. "Bar" is Aramaic for "son of." If the name were Hebrew, that would be "ben." ("Bartholomew" = "son of Ptolemy," though Ptolemy isn’t an Aramaic name; it was popular around this time due to being the name of one of Alexander the Great’s generals who later ruled Egypt). What happened is the folks of olden times took the Aramaic names of Jesus and the apostles, passed them through Greek (where they got modified a little) and then made them sound Latin by adding Latin endings and such to them.

I’ve put the English equivalents along with some explanatory notes alongside the names above in red. Hope it’s useful.

We want to share this information with our church family at our Cathedral in Charleston, SC.  We have a fabulous stained glass window of the Lord’s Supper and were discussing the names of the Apostles with the head of the tour guides.  Many had never seen the names of the Apostles listed, so we wanted to share accurate information.  Any assistance that you may offer would be appreciated, or if you could direct us to another resource.  We were unable to find the exact names and the seating order in the Bible.  Our print is certainly not a "DaVinci," but it is quite beautiful and a prayerful part of our dining area.

Cool! Hope the above helps.

Incidentally, the seating order is something made up by the artist, so you should examine the stained glass version to see if it seems to have the apostles in the same places. Generally there are little visual signs to indicate which are which. For example, Peter is depicted as an old man, while John is depicted as a young man (and is always seated next to Christ in pictures of the Last Supper, typically with Peter next to him).
 

Double Crime Recap!!!

Excellent television last night on Monk!

Very creative!

I love it when a show breaks out of the TV box and does something really neat.

Y’know how on detective shows they tend to have a moment at the end where the detective figures out how the crime was done and describes it for everyone, often with us seeing a flashback of what happened during the crime?

Well, on last night’s episode of Monk ("Mr. Monk Gets Cabin Fever"), we got a double-dose of this–simultaneously!

During the middle of a gun battle at the episode’s climax, Monk and Lt. Discher each figured out how a different crime was committed.

In union, they said "I’ve got it!"

Then, rather than either deferring to the other, they both began to blurt out how the respective crimes were committed, and we were treated to flashbacks of them done in split-screen fashion a la 24, watching the different criminals walk through their misdeeds while Monk and Discher talked over each other.

As the gun battle raged, a confused local sheriff asked Capt. Stottlemeyer, "Which one are you listening to?"

"Neither," Stottlemeyer replied, trying to focus on the gun battle.

Great stuff!!!

Haven’t seen that on TV before!

One more reason to watch Monk!

Heads Up, Canonists! Incoming!

New norms on adjudicating marriage cases coming down the pike Tuesday!

4-February-2005  — Vatican Information Service   

PRESENTATION OF INSTRUCTION ABOUT NORMS IN MARRIAGE CASES

VATICAN CITY, FEB 4, 2005 (VIS) – In the Holy See Press Office at 11.30 a.m. on Tuesday February 8, there will be the presentation of the Instruction "Dignitas connubii" ("Dignity of Marriage"), on the norms to be observed in ecclesiastical tribunals hearing marriage cases. The document has been prepared by the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, with the collaboration of other dicasteries.

Participants include: Cardinal Julian Herranz, president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, Archbishop Angelo Amato S.D.B., secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino, secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments, Bishop Velasio De Paolis C.S., secretary of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura and Msgr. Antoni Stankiewicz, dean of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota.

This Week’s Show (Feb. 3, 2005)

LISTEN TO THE SHOW.

DOWNLOAD THE SHOW.

HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Does Jesus suffer anew in the Mass?
  • Where does the GIRM say lay ministers can do more than one duty at Mass?
  • Is the Holy Spirit the Love shared by the Father and the Son?
  • Can laity give the blessing of throats on St. Blaise Day?
  • What is the difference between religious priests’ vow of celibacy and diocesan priests’ promise of celibacy?
  • Why isn’t the KJV authorized by the Catholic Church?
  • How to square it when two councils say different and contradictory things.
  • If God is really Present in the Eucharist, why can’t we confess our sins to Jesus when we take Communion?
  • Must we take saints names at Confirmation?
  • Can parochial schools turn over sacramental preparation for children to their parents?
  • Should Catholics study The Purpose-Driven Life? What to do if your parish is doing this?
  • How do you know if you’re called to a vocation?
  • Are relics of the True Cross true?
  • If Judas hadn’t betrayed Christ, would we have been saved?
  • When Jesus forgave those who crucified him, was Judas included?
  • Where is the best discussion of the dating of Christ’s birth? Did the Church Fathers believe it was December 25th?
  • Can a mortal sin be accidental? Can Protestants who don’t believe in mortal sin mortally sin?

This Week's Show (Feb. 3, 2005)

LISTEN TO THE SHOW.

DOWNLOAD THE SHOW.

HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Does Jesus suffer anew in the Mass?
  • Where does the GIRM say lay ministers can do more than one duty at Mass?
  • Is the Holy Spirit the Love shared by the Father and the Son?
  • Can laity give the blessing of throats on St. Blaise Day?
  • What is the difference between religious priests’ vow of celibacy and diocesan priests’ promise of celibacy?
  • Why isn’t the KJV authorized by the Catholic Church?
  • How to square it when two councils say different and contradictory things.
  • If God is really Present in the Eucharist, why can’t we confess our sins to Jesus when we take Communion?
  • Must we take saints names at Confirmation?
  • Can parochial schools turn over sacramental preparation for children to their parents?
  • Should Catholics study The Purpose-Driven Life? What to do if your parish is doing this?
  • How do you know if you’re called to a vocation?
  • Are relics of the True Cross true?
  • If Judas hadn’t betrayed Christ, would we have been saved?
  • When Jesus forgave those who crucified him, was Judas included?
  • Where is the best discussion of the dating of Christ’s birth? Did the Church Fathers believe it was December 25th?
  • Can a mortal sin be accidental? Can Protestants who don’t believe in mortal sin mortally sin?

Introducing: The Wild Woman Of Borneo!

NOTE: I’m about to break my no-names-in-the-main-blog-section rule (Rule #15) due to the special nature of this post.

Down yonder, Anna Louise writes:

Hello Jimmy!

Apa khabar, Jimmy? (How are you doing, Jimmy?)

Khabar baik! Dan Bu?

Not only am I Malaysian – I’m from Borneo too =)Would that confer on
me the title of "The Wild Woman from Borneo"? Lol! – that would be
pretty cool.

I hereby confer on you the title of "The Wild Woman of Borneo" by the power vested in me as blog administrator!

(That and $3.50 will get you a cup of coffee in America.)

I read your blog every day – there’s so much for my education,
thought and good entertainment here; and of course, it has helped
strengthen my love for the Faith and the Church.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks much! I will endeavor to do so!

Amare Et Severe,

Anne Louise

Latin, too! Cool.

Dear CNN . . .

I recently submitted the following story idea to CNN via their online story idea submission page:

The blogosphere has once again surfaced a story that MSM sources such as CNN cannot afford to ignore.

At the Davos conference, CNN news chief Eason Jordan recently made remarks of an inflammatory nature regarding the U.S. military. According to eye-witnesses of the event, he accused the U.S. military of deliberately killing journalists.

Subsequently, Mr. Jordan has said that he did not make these remarks and that he was misunderstood, however eye-witnesses continue to differ, offering more detailed accounts of what was said.

Bloggers have subsequently unearthed a string of similarly inflammatory and apparently baseless remarks previously made by Mr. Jordan, casting doubt on his recent disclaimer.

CNN now owes the public a full accounting of the matter. The conference was, according to eye-witnesses, videotaped. This videotape should be produced, allowing all to see for themselves what Mr. Jordan said.

If Mr. Jordan did make the remarks attributed to him, he needs to either produce evidence substantiating them or be fired. If he did not make the remarks, showing the videotape will clear CNN of a very damaging blow to its already tattered credibility.

Failure to address this matter in a head-on manner will inevitably result in the same kind of damage to CNN that CBS recently experienced when it stonewalled for almost two weeks at the onset of the Rathergate scandal.

If CNN values its reputation, it must come clean on this matter.

SUBMIT YOUR OWN STORY IDEA TO CNN.

BACKGROUND ON THIS STORY.

MORE BACKGROUND.

AND MORE BACKGROUND.

AND MORE.

AND MORE.

Friday TV Roundup

STAR TREK ENTERPRISE:

"United"

Trapped on a remote-controlled Romulan ship, Trip and Malcolm must outwit their captors to escape. NOTE: This is the second episode of the Andorian arc and continues to lay the groundwork for the Romulan War leading to the founding of the Federation.

STARGATE SG-1:


"It’s Good to Be King", Episode #813.

While attempting to warn a former adversary of an approaching threat, the SG-1 team stumbles upon what may be an ancient time machine. NOTE: Features the return of everyone’s favorite semi-bad guy, ex-Col. Maybourne of the NID.

STARGATE ATLANTIS


"Hot Zone", Episode #113.

McKay must stop a deadly virus from spreading throughout the population of Atlantis.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA


"You Can’t Go Home Again", Episode #105.

Adama and Lee put the fleet at risk while searching for Kara.

MONK


"Mr. Monk Gets Cabin Fever"

After Monk witnesses a Chinese mob killing, he goes into protective custody and is taken to a remote cabin in the woods, where he uncovers another murder.