Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Molecular Gastronomy

2012-08-18T22:31:09Z

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<font size="100" color="red"><div style="position:fixed;left:0px;top:0px;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:9999999999999999999999999;">'''Molecular Gastronomy''' is a developing movement that focuses on combining [[science]] with food and [[cooking]]. The concept was created by Hervé This, a french chemist.
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Food and Drink]]

Bate Refrigerating Co. v. Sulzberger

2012-08-18T22:30:59Z

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<font size="100" color="red"><div style="position:fixed;left:0px;top:0px;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:9999999999999999999999999;">'''''Bate Refrigerating Co. v. Sulzberger''''', 157 U.S. 1 (1895), is an opinion by the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] by Justice [[John Harlan I]] that constituted an early statement of modern [[textualism]] with respect to [[statutory interpretation]]:<ref>157 U.S. at 37 (quoting Scott v. Reid, 10 Pet. 524, 527).</ref>

:Where the language of the act is explicit," this court has said, "there is great danger in departing from the words used, to give an effect to the law which may be supposed to have been designed by the legislature. ... It is not for the court to say, where the language of the statute is clear, that it shall be so construed as to embrace cases, because no good reason can be assigned why they were excluded from its provisions."

== References ==

<references/>

==External Links==
*[http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=157&invol=1 Case] at FindLaw (registration may be required)
[[category:United States Supreme Court Cases]]

Risks and benefits

2012-08-18T22:30:51Z

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<font size="100" color="red"><div style="position:fixed;left:0px;top:0px;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:9999999999999999999999999;">In late October, Janet Hathaway, in response to a [[Bush Administration]] pesticide monitoring plan, stated, "Allowing the EPA to condone continued use of a chemical whenever the benefits outweigh the risks is absolutely anathema to the environmental community." [http://www.fumento.com/alar1.html]
[[Category:Environmentalism]]

Microeconomics Terms Q

2012-08-18T22:30:44Z

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Don Currin

2012-08-18T22:30:33Z

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<font size="100" color="red"><div style="position:fixed;left:0px;top:0px;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:9999999999999999999999999;">'''Don Curran''' is a full-time itinerant [[evangelist]]. His pulpit ministry is directed to preaching to the inner life of the believer and the spiritual need of the lost.

Don was born in Pensacola, Florida, on March 24, 1954 and at the age of seven moved to the Carolinas where he was reared and educated. Upon graduation in 1972 from Graham High School in Graham, North Carolina, he attended Gardner-Webb College to pursue educational interests.

In the Fall of 1974, Don continued his education after a year at home by transferring to [[Liberty Baptist College]] in Lynchburg, [[Virginia]]. On October 5, 1974, he received [[Christ]] as his personal Savior.

Acknowledging the call into evangelism in 1975, many opportunities were provided for Don. These opportunities included serving as a director for the Liberty Baptist College Evangelistic Team and as an assistant to J.O. Grooms in the ministry of Treasure Path to Soul Winning.

After graduation from Liberty Baptist College in 1979, Don entered the ministry of evangelism. It was during this time that God led him into church planting, in which he was both a planter and a consultant. Don began the Fair Havens Baptist Church in Kinston, North Carolina in 1981.

Don and his wife Cindy have four children; Nathan, Aaron, Hannah, and Rachel. Don and his family are members of Calvary Baptist Church, Smyrna, Georgia where he currently serves as an elder.

Don has conducted over 700 local church meetings, retreats, and conferences across [[North America]]. His ministry has taken him to the countries of [[Zambia]], [[Zimbabwe]], [[South Africa]], [[Guyana]], [[Russia]], [[Mexico]], [[Greece]] and [[Israel]].

[http://www.doncurrinministries.org To see his website click here]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Currin, Don}}

[[Category:Evangelists]]

Full-time Equivalent (FTE)

2012-08-18T22:30:26Z

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<font size="100" color="red"><div style="position:fixed;left:0px;top:0px;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:9999999999999999999999999;">The '''Full-time Equivalent (FTE)''' is the total number of regular straight-time hours (i.e., not including overtime or holiday hours) worked by [[employee]]s divided by the number of compensable hours applicable to each fiscal year.

[[Category:Budget terms]]
[[category:employment]]

Romance language

2012-08-18T22:30:21Z

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<font size="100" color="red"><div style="position:fixed;left:0px;top:0px;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:9999999999999999999999999;">The '''Romance languages''' (a branch of the [[Indo-European languages]] family) are languages that descended from [[Vulgar Latin]], a collection of dialects of [[Latin]], spoken throughout the [[Roman Empire]]. The Romance Languages are spoken in western [[Europe]], the [[Americas]], and many other parts of the world. These languages include [[Portuguese]], [[Galician]], [[Spanish]], [[Catalan]], [[Occitan]], [[French]], [[Italian]], [[Lombard]], [[Sardinian]], [[Sicilian]], and [[Romanian]]. Many other languages exist.

[[Category:Romance languages| ]]
[[Category:Europe]]

Drexel University

2012-08-18T22:29:56Z

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<font size="100" color="red"><div style="position:fixed;left:0px;top:0px;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:9999999999999999999999999;">
{|class="infobox" style="font-size:85%; float:right;margin-left:5px; width:23em; text-align:left; border:2px solid black;" align="right" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" width="250" border=0
!colspan="2" style="{{#if:white |background:white;}}{{#if:black|color:black;}} text-align:center"|<big>Drexel University</big>
{{#if: |
{{!-}}
{{!}}style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"{{!}}[[Image:{{!}}90px]]<hr/>}}
|-
!Type:
|Private
|-
!City:
|[[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]]
{{#if:|
{{!-}}
!Size:
{{!}}}}
|-
!valign="top"|[[Sports]]:
|baseball, basketball, fencing, golf, lacrosse, rowing (heavy), rowing (light), soccer, squash, swimming, tennis, track, wrestling, field hockey, softball, volleyball<ref>http://www.drexeldragons.com/</ref>
|-
!Colors:
|Blue and Yellow
|-
!Mascot:
|Mario the Dragon
|-
{{!-}}
!Degrees:
{{!}}
|-
![[Website]]:
|http://www.drexel.edu/
|}
'''Drexel University''' is a university in [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]].

==References==

<References/>

{{Nb_US_universities|Pennsylvania‎}}

Stephen Jay Gould

2012-08-18T22:29:46Z

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<font size="100" color="red"><div style="position:fixed;left:0px;top:0px;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:9999999999999999999999999;">[[Filesd:StephenGould.jpg|thumb|right|Stephen Jay Gould
<br />
<br />
<small>(photo obtained from [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stephen_Jay_Gould_%28by_Kathy_Chapman%29.jpg Wikimedia commons], see [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stephen_Jay_Gould_%28by_Kathy_Chapman%29.jpg license agreement])</small> ]]
'''Stephen Jay Gould''' (1941 – 2002) was an American [[paleontologist]], [[author]], and [[professor]] at [[Harvard University]]. Stephen Gould was one of the originators of the [[Theory of Punctuated Equilibrium|theory of punctuated equilibrium]] within the [[theory of evolution]], a position that has led to confrontations with other [[evolutionists]]. He was known for his regular columns in ''Natural History'' magazine, collected in dozens of books. Gould also wrote ''The Mismeasure of Man'', ''Wonderful Life'' and ''The Structure of Evolutionary Theory''. Along with his evolutionary theories, he is perhaps best known as a historian of science.

Although there is a certain degree of public confusion as far as the whether or not Gould was an [[atheism|atheist]] or [[agnosticism|agnostic]], his late widow Dr. Gould-Rhonda R. Shearer wrote: "For the record, my late husband, Stephen Jay Gould, told me many times that he was an agnostic and not an 'atheist'. Eleanor, Steve's late mother, was an atheist."<ref>http://www.worldviewtimes.com/article.php/articleid-1739</ref><ref>http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2007/03/20/a-review-of-the-dawkins-delusion-by-alister-mcgrath/</ref>

== ''The Mismeasure of Man'' ==
Gould's most popular work, by far, was his 1981 book ''The Mismeasure of Man''. It is an attack on the idea that intelligence is a single, physically real and objectively measurable phenomenon, and argues that attempts to measure intelligence as such are fundamentally unscientific, racist, and contrary to liberal ideals. The book was widely praised by many academics on the left as making an important statement against racism, but criticized as politically-driven [[junk science]] by experts in the field.{{fact}}

==Non-Overlapping Magisteria==
He is also well known for his concept of [[Non-Overlapping Magisteria|non-overlapping magisteria]], which suggested that science and religion occupy two entirely separate "magisteria". He claimed that in each of these fields either [[religion]] or [[science]] reigned supreme and that the other should not, indeed could not, set foot therein. <ref>[http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_noma.html SJG Archive - Non-Overlapping Magisteria]</ref> This distinction was Gould's approach to making an accommodation between religion and science and allow them to live and grow side by side. In his view, proponents of religion can believe whatever they want as long as they concede that their beliefs have no relevance to the objective measurements of science.

== Quotes ==
Gould was fond of citing [[Sigmund Freud]], with this being one of his favorites:
<blockquote>
Sigmund Freud often remarked that great revolutions in the history of science have but one common, and ironic, feature: they knock human arrogance off one pedestal after another of our previous conviction about our own self-importance. In Freud's three examples, Copernicus moved our home from center to periphery, Darwin then relegated us to "descent from an animal world"; and, finally (in one of the least modest statements of intellectual history), Freud himself discovered the unconscious and exploded the myth of a fully rational mind.<ref>http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/gould_quotations.html</ref>
</blockquote>
== See also ==

*[[Evolutionists who have had problems with being overweight and/or obese]]

== References ==

<References/>

== External links ==
*[http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ The Unofficial Stephen Jay Gould Archive]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gould, Stephen Jay}}
[[Category:Biologists]]
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Agnostics]]

Optimist

2012-08-18T22:29:32Z

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<font size="100" color="red"><div style="position:fixed;left:0px;top:0px;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:9999999999999999999999999;">
The term '''optimist''' was originally applied to those who adhered to the [[philosophy]] of optimism. This declared that the world was the best of all possible worlds, as it was created by [[God]]. Therefore, even what appeared bad was actually part of God's perfection. [[Image:Glass-half-full.jpg|thumb|280px]]

The term came to be used as meaning someone who looks for the positive side of a situation and anticipates the most positive outcome of a venture.

An optimist is one who looks at a glass of water that is half-full and half-empty, and focuses on how it is half-full. A [[pessimist]] focuses on how it is half-empty.

French author [[Voltaire]] mocked the concept in his novel ''[[Candide]]'' (1759), ridiculing [[Leibniz]]'s notion that this is the best of all possible worlds.

[[Antonym]]: [[Pessimist]]

[[category:philosophy]]

White Army

2012-08-18T22:29:24Z

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<font size="100" color="red"><div style="position:fixed;left:0px;top:0px;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:9999999999999999999999999;">
The '''White Army''' was an army raised in Western [[Russia]] to oppose [[Vladimir Ilyich Lenin|Lenin's]] [[Red Guards]] other external groups also arose in to fight the Red Guards including the [[anarchism|anarchist]] [[Black Army]]. At first successful, they ultimately lost to the Red Army.
[[Category:Russian History]]
[[Category:World War I]]
[[category:Soviet Union]]

Hadrian

2012-08-18T22:29:21Z

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'<font size="100" color="red"><div style="position:fixed;left:0px;top:0px;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:9999999999999999999999999;">''Hadrian''' (76AD-138 AD) was a Roman Emperor who ruled from 117 to 138 AD.

What distinguished Hadrian’s rule were two insights that ensured the empire’s long and prosperous future: He ended Rome’s territorial expansion, which had become strategically and economically untenable, by fortifying her boundaries with numerous "Walls of Hadrian", and he effectively "Hellenized" Rome by anointing Athens the empire’s cultural center, thereby making Greek learning and art vastly more prominent in Roman life.

Hardian succeed [[Trajan]] and was the third of the [[Five Good Emperors]], and built many defensive walls. The most famous of these is known simply as [[Hadrian's Wall]] and runs across the center of Great Britain between Bowness-on-Solway in the west and Wallsend in the east.

Early in his reign he abandoned the military conquests of Trajan east of the [[Euphrates]] river as being economically draining to hold. Hadrian spent much of his time touring the Empire and overseeing his building projects. Lowering the overall tax burden, he still had difficulties with farmlands being abandoned and a shift from slaves to tenants was also causing disruption, in large part due to the policy of Augustus that removed most offensive wars, and therefore the prime source of slaves.

Hadrian made war against the Jews, which planted the seeds of present-day discord in the Middle East. A final [[Judean revolt]] near the end of his reign was put down harshly. The third Jewish revolt in less than 70 years, this time the Jews were scattered across the Empire, and would not come back to Israel again in any appreciable numbers for almost 1800 years.

Hadrian was succeeded by [[Antoninus Pius]].

==Further reading==
* Everitt, Anthony, ''Hadrian and the Triumph of Rome'' (2009) 432 pages

[[Category:Roman emperors]]

Province

2012-08-18T22:29:10Z

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<font size="100" color="red"><div style="position:fixed;left:0px;top:0px;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:9999999999999999999999999;">A '''province''' is usually a large [[territory]] of land within a larger [[country]] or [[kingdom]]. [[Canada]] is an example of a country that has provinces.

[[Category:Geography]]

Modern Era Terms H

2012-08-18T22:29:06Z

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{{Modern Index}}
<font size="100" color="red"><div style="position:fixed;left:0px;top:0px;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:9999999999999999999999999;">
#[[Eoghan Harris|Harris, Eoghan]]
#[[Vaclav Havel|Havel, Vaclav]]
#[[Hawley-Smoot Tariff]]
#[[H-bomb]]
#[[Seamus Heaney|Heaney, Seamus]]
#[[William Randolph Hearst|Hearst, William Randolph]]
#[[Werner Heisenberg|Heisenberg, Werner]]
#[[Helsinki Accords]]
#[[Ernest Hemingway|Hemingway, Ernest]]
#[[Theodor Herzl|Herzl, Theodor]]
#[[Heinrich Himmler| Himmler, Heinrich]]
#[[Adolf Hitler|Hitler, Adolf]]
#[[Hitler Youth]]
#[[Emperor Hirohito|Hirohito, Emperor]]
#[[Herbert Hoover|Hoover, Herbert]]
#[[Holocaust]]
#[[Holodomor]]
#[[Homeland]]
#[[Erich Honecker|Honecker, Erich]]
#[[Hubble Telescope]]
#[[Human cloning]]
#[[John Hume|Hume, John]]
#[[Saddam Hussein|Hussein, Saddam]]
#[[Hutu tribe]]

Bomb

2012-08-18T22:28:56Z

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<font size="100" color="red"><div style="position:fixed;left:0px;top:0px;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:9999999999999999999999999;">'''bomb''' is an explosive weapon used primarily in [[War|warfare]] or [[terrorism]]. It can either be dropped from an aircraft or, with smaller weapons, thrown by hand.

See [[grenade]].

See [[nuclear weapons]].

==Links==
*[http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/dumb/bombs.htm Bombs for Beginners] at FAS.org (focusing on air-dropped bombs)

[[Category:weapons]]

The Irish Times

2012-08-18T22:28:51Z

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<font size="100" color="red"><div style="position:fixed;left:0px;top:0px;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:9999999999999999999999999;">'''The ''Irish Times''''' is a [[liberal]] [[Irish]] broadsheet [[newspaper]]. [[Ivana Bacik]] is a frequent contributing columnist to the newspaper.
[[Category:Newspapers]]
[[Category:Ireland]]

Amazilia Hummingbird

2012-08-18T22:28:45Z

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<font size="100" color="red"><div style="position:fixed;left:0px;top:0px;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:9999999999999999999999999;">[[Image:Amazilia_fimbriata.jpg|thumb|left|Amazilia Emerald Hummingbird ''(Photograph by [http://flickr.com/photos/dariosanches/ Dario Sanches])'']]

Native to [[Peru]], the '''Amazilia Hummingbird''', also known as Elliot's Hummingbird, is a species of hummingbird, a family of small passerine birds.

[[category:Hummingbirds]]
[[Category:Peru]]

Prosecutor

2012-08-18T22:28:41Z

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<font size="100" color="red"><div style="position:fixed;left:0px;top:0px;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:9999999999999999999999999;">A '''prosecutor''' is a trial [[lawyer]] representing the [[government]] in a criminal case and the interests of the state in civil matters. In criminal cases, the prosecutor has the responsibility of deciding whom to prosecute and when and how to do so.

[[Category:Legal Terms]]
== External links ==

*[http://dictionary.law.com/ Law Dictionary]
*[http://research.lawyers.com/glossary/ Glossary of Legal Terms]

Jehoahaz I

2012-08-18T22:28:29Z

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<font size="100" color="red"><div style="position:fixed;left:0px;top:0px;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:9999999999999999999999999;">: ''This article is about the first king of the [[Southern Kingdom]] to bear this name. For the three other kings known by this name, see [[Jehoahaz (disambiguation)]]''

'''Jehoahaz I''' ([[Hebrew]] '''יהורםאחז''', [[YHWH]] has held) or '''Ahaz''' ([[Hebrew]] '''אחז''', he has held) (762-r. 742-726 BC according to [[James Ussher|Ussher]],<ref name=Ussher>[[James Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World]]'', [[Larry Pierce]], ed., Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2003 (ISBN 0890513600), pghh. 598-610, 618, 620</ref> or 755-vr. 735-r. 732-715 BC according to [[Edwin R. Thiele|Thiele]]<ref name=Wood>Leon J. Wood, ''A Survey of Israel's History'', rev. ed. David O'Brien, Grand Rapids, MI: Academie Books, 1986 (ISBN 031034770X), pp. 301-303</ref>) was the eleventh king of the [[Southern Kingdom]] of [[Israel]] in direct line of descent. His was one of the two most wicked reigns in the history of the Southern Kingdom.<ref name=Kings>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=16}}</ref><ref name=Chronicles>{{Bible ref|book=II_Chronicles|chap=28}}</ref> His policies brought him into direct conflict with the prophet [[Isaiah (prophet)|Isaiah]]<ref name=Isaiah>{{Bible ref|book=Isaiah|chap=1,3,7-8}}</ref> and various other members of the class of the [[minor prophets]].<ref name=Micah>{{Bible ref|book=Micah|chap=3,7}}</ref>

== Early life and family ==
Ahaz was the son and successor of King [[Jotham]], and was born when his father was twenty-one years old. His full name was Jehoahaz, but either he or the historians who remembered him in the [[Bible]] dropped the "Jeho-" root of his name--because he rejected [[Yahweh]] as his [[God]] by looting the Temple and closing it's doors.

The chronological data in the the books of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles reveal that Ahaz sired his son Hezekiah upon [[Abigail]], daughter of [[Zechariah]] the [[high priest]], when he was ten or eleven years old. Though it may seem improbable for anyone to become a father at such a young age, there is ample evidence that it was both possible and probable for a crown prince at that time in history.

While Ahaz's age at the birth of his son is unusually young, even by ancient standards, it should be remembered that the importance of producing an heir in a hereditary monarchy has led to many unusual marriage practices amongst the royalty of various nations throughout history. The general trend has been to arrange marriage of the son to a woman of high birth and the royal couple would marry young.

The normal age range for the onset of puberty in boys is 10.6 to 12.2 years. Obesity is one of several factors that has been found to accelerate the onset of puberty by months or years earlier than normal.<ref>Bone Age and Onset of Puberty in Normal Boys, Armando Flor-Cisneros, James N. Roemmich, Alan D. Rogol, and Jeffrey Baron, Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2006 July 25; 254-255: 202–206.</ref>. It is possible that his social position as crown prince made Ahaz more likely to experience early puberty due to a high quality diet.

The Bible gives ages and lengths of reign in years, leaving some room for play in the unit of time. Ahaz could have been one month shy of his twenty-first birthday when he took the throne on the 1st of [[Nissan]], the inauguration day for kings of Judah<ref>Floyd Nolan Jones, The Chronology of the Old Testament, Master Books Edition, Third Printing, 1993-2005, p. 130</ref>, and still been "twenty years of age." Since exactly 16 years passed until Hezekiah's inauguration on Nissan 1 at age 25, we find that 16+20-25 gives us eleven years with 11 months of play. Therefore Ahaz sired Hezekiah between the age of 10 years and three months, and the age of 11 years and two months. This is very close to the normal range for the onset of puberty in boys.

The question is whether it would be socially acceptable or likely for Ahaz to have been married at such a young age. Egypt had been a major influence on the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel since Solomon's day. The Northern Kingdom of Israel was essentially a client state of Egypt from its inception<ref>1 Kings 11:40</ref>. [[Jeraboam]] returned from Egypt after Solomon's death and led the ten tribes into rebellion against the House of David. As soon as the ten tribes of Israel made him king, he set up golden calves from the Egyptian Apis cult for the Israelites to worship - his goal being to reduce the influence of Jerusalem over his people.

The monarchy period of Israel and Judah can be firmly dated as contemporary with the 18th and 19th dynasties of Egypt, which conventional historians have placed six centuries too early. This historical revision was first suggested by Immanuel Velikovsky, and much ridiculed, but has since been confirmed beyond doubt by revisionist scholars such as Damien Mackey<ref>http://specialtyinterests.net/amarna.html</ref>.

Pre-puberty [[child marriage]] was commonly practiced by the royal houses of Egypt. One of the proverbs of the Egyptian seer, [[Ptah Hotep]], was, "If you have already made yourself a name, then start a family<ref>http://www.touregypt.net/historicalessays/lifeinEgypt8.htm</ref>." The Pharaohs of the 18th and 19th Dynasties appear to have taken this advice to the extreme. Tutankhamen is widely believed by scholars to have married his sister at age nine when he ascended the throne<ref>http://www.touregypt.net/historicalessays/lifeinEgypt8.htm</ref>, having two short-lived daughters prior to his death nine years later.

Given that the besetting sin of the kings of Israel and Judah was to chase after the social and religious customs of their pagan neighbors, it should not be surprising to find that some of the monarchs of Judah contemporary with the 19th Dynasty adopted the Egyptian custom of royal child marriage.

We note that Ahaz married Abi, the daughter of Zechariah the high priest. This bespeaks an arranged marriage intended to produce a worthy heir to the throne by a wife of noble birth. Given the polygamous practice of the Kings of Judah and Israel, Ahaz undoubtedly took other wives for pleasure or diplomacy later in his life, by whom he had other children.

=== Chronological problems ===
As problematical as Ahaz' siring of a son at eleven might have seemed, the timeline of [[Edwin R. Thiele]] presents a worse obstacle. According to Thiele, Ahaz was born in 755 BC, and Hezekiah began to reign in 729 BC, at the age of twenty-five. Therefore Hezekiah would have to have been born in 754 BC--when Ahaz was only a year old. That ''would'' be medically impossible.

Even if Ahaz was five years older when he began to reign, he would have had to sire Hezekiah at the age of six--still too young. Wood, following Thiele's numbers, suggests<ref name=Wood/> that Hezekiah was ''[[viceroy]]'' under Ahaz beginning in 729 BC and became ''sole ruler'' at 724 BC, at the age of twenty-five (so that Hezekiah could deal with [[Sennacherib]]'s invasion in 710 BC, in the "fourteenth year of his reign"). But the best that Thiele can accomplish is still to have Hezekiah born when Ahaz was eleven years old.

== Accession ==
Ahaz became king at the age of twenty,<ref name=ISBE>Caldecott, W. Shaw. "[http://bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Def.show/RTD/ISBE/ID/299/Ahaz.htm Ahaz]." ''International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia''. Edited by James Orr. Blue Letter Bible. 1913. 5 May 2003. Retrieved 4 June 2007.</ref> during a disastrous period for the [[Southern Kingdom]]. Late in his father's reign, Kings [[Rezin]] of [[Syria]] and [[Pekah]] of the [[Northern Kingdom]] had started a war with the Southern Kingdom. Ahaz inherited that war, because he became king in the seventeenth year of the reign of King Pekah.

Thiele's dates show Ahaz reigning for twenty years. Comparison with Thiele's dates for [[Jotham]]'s reign show that Thiele meant to say that Ahaz was viceroy in the last three years of Jotham's reign and then enjoyed a sixteen-year reign after Jotham died.

== Domestic affairs ==
Ahaz undid all of the good that his grandfather and father had done.<ref name=GeoCities>Authors unknown. "[http://www.geocities.com/thekingsofisrael/biography_Ahaz.html King Ahaz - Biography]." ''The Kings of Israel'', hosted at http://www.geocities.com/ Retrieved June 4, 2007.</ref><ref name=CCM>David Holt Boshert, Jr., and David Ettinger, [http://www.christcenteredmall.com/teachings/kings/ahaz.htm Ahaz King of Judah], Christ-Centered Mall. Retrieved June 4, 2007</ref><ref name=Gordon>Gordon, I. "[http://www.jesusplusnothing.com/studies/online/ahaz.htm King Ahaz: The Darkness Before the Dawn]." JesusPlusNothing.com. Retrieved June 4, 2007.</ref> He forsook God completely and followed the still-prevalent [[Baal]]ism, even to making cast-metal images of Baal.<ref name=ISBE/> "He sacrificed also and burnt incense on the [[high place]]s, and on the hills, and under every green tree."<ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Chronicles|chap=28|verses=4|version=KJV}}</ref> The Bible records that Ahaz offered one of his sons "in the fire" of human sacrifice. This was probably a sacrifice to [[Molech]] or Baal Melquart, because this was exactly the sort of sacrifice that these cults routinely performed.<ref name=CCM/><ref name=ISBE/> The only other historical record of the sacrifice of a royal prince was done under great distress, when the King of [[Moab]] about to be defeated in war<ref>2 Kings 3:27</ref>. Given this historical precedent, Ahaz probably sacrificed his son while seeking help from a pagan god to defend the nation from the armies of Damascus and Israel, or possibly from his "ally" [[Tiglath-Pileser III]] of [[Assyria]].

In perhaps the fourth year of his reign, Ahaz traveled to [[Damascus]] for a meeting of state with King Tiglath-Pileser III of [[Assyria]]. While in that city, Ahaz saw an altar that he found attractive. He ordered a priest named [[Urijah]] to build an altar like that in [[Jerusalem]]. When it was completed, Ahaz performed all his sacrifices on this altar, and even took furnishings and fittings from the [[Temple of Jerusalem]] to augment it. Before his reign was over, he would shut the Temple doors, so that no activities would take place in it.<ref name=GeoCities/><ref name=Gordon/><ref name=ISBE/>

In addition to this altar, Ahaz built high places of his own in every city in his kingdom, and other altars, too. He also apparently built a sundial, because his son [[Hezekiah]] would receive an [[Astronomy|astronomical]] sign that this dial would display.<ref name=ISBE/>

Strangely, Ahaz built a secret tunnel connecting the Temple with the palace.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=16|verses=18}}</ref> According to Ussher,<ref name=Ussher/> the ancient commentator Tremellius suggested that Ahaz did this out of fear that Tiglath-Pileser might attack the palace from the direction of the Temple. With the secret tunnel in place, Ahaz would be able to escape from the palace to a position behind enemy lines.

== War ==
At first, Kings Rezin and Pekah besieged [[Jerusalem]] as a unified force. This availed them nothing.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=16|verses=5}}</ref> But they then, so it seems, split their forces and had far greater success. Rezin took an unrecorded number of people captive and brought them to [[Damascus]], his capital city.<ref name=CCM/> Rezin also recaptured the city of [[Elath]], which [[Uzziah]] had built and garrisoned. The Southern Kingdom would never recover that town.<ref name=ISBE/>

Pekah, for his part, killed 120,000 of Ahaz' soldiers in one day. Pekah's general, [[Zichri]], killed Prince Maaseiah along with Ahaz' palace steward and his chief-of-staff. Pekah's army then took 200,000 captives and a great deal of spoil and brought them as far as [[Samaria]].<ref name=CCM/> There, a prophet named [[Oded]] warned the army to take the captives no further: though Ahaz richly deserved the military defeat, the Northern Kingdom had sins of its own to answer for, and therefore had no right to ''retain'' the captives.<ref name=GeoCities/> Four [[Ephraim (tribe)|Ephraimite]] princes stood up against the generals and refused entry to the captives. Faced with that, the generals brought the captives to the city of [[Jericho]], after using some of the spoil to clothe, anoint, or otherwise care for them.<ref name=ISBE/>

Ahaz suffered similar disaster at the hands of the [[Edom]]ites and the [[Philistia|Philistines]]. The latter captured six of Ahaz' cities and the surrounding villages.

During the Syrian-Israel War, Ahaz sought help from [[Tiglath-Pileser III]],<ref name=CCM/> who in fact recorded the interaction on one of his inscriptions. Ahaz paid Tiglath-Pileser a heavy tribute, which he financed partly from the [[Temple of Jerusalem|Temple]],<ref name=ISBE/> partly from the royal treasury, and partly from the heads of the leading families. The deal was mostly one-sided, primarily because it made the Southern Kingdom a vassal state of Assyria.

Tiglath-Pileser did not send aid against the Edomites or the Philistines. But he did, for his own reasons, attack both Edom and Philistia--or so he boasted in his inscriptions.<ref name=Wood/> He also attacked Syria and the Northern Kingdom and lay them waste. He killed Rezin and captured Damascus--whereupon Ahaz agreed to meet Tiglath-Pileser in that city, and that was when Ahaz saw the altar that fascinated him so. Tiglath-Pileser also brought a humiliation upon Pekah that moved one of his generals to murder. [[Hoshea]] killed Pekah, whereupon (according to Ussher<ref name=Ussher/>) the Northern Kingdom fell into anarchy for nine years. Ahaz would never have to worry about an attack from Syria or the Northern Kingdom again--though this "security" came at the price of national sovereignty.<ref name=GeoCities/>

== Dealings with Prophets ==
Ahaz had no warrant for forming a military alliance with Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria. The prophet [[Amos (prophet)|Amos]] had specifically foretold that [[Damascus]] would be captured and its people carried away in captivity.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Amos|chap=1|verses=4-5}}</ref>

[[Isaiah (prophet)|Isaiah]] specifically warned Ahaz against contracting any foreign military alliances.<ref name=ISBE/> He told Ahaz that eventually both Syria and the Northern Kingdom would fade away to nothing. In fact, Isaiah specifically told Ahaz that within sixty-five years, the Northern Kingdom would be destroyed utterly. In fact, the [[Fall of Samaria]] would take place much sooner than that.

Isaiah also offered Ahaz a sign, but Ahaz hypocritically refused, saying that he would not "tempt God." Isaiah gave him a sign anyway, and that the most famous prophetic sign of all:<blockquote>The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Isaiah|chap=7|verses=14|version=NIV}}</ref></blockquote>
The significance to Ahaz, if Ahaz had paid attention, was that the [[House of David]] could not possibly fail before the fulfillment of that sign--and a true prophet never gives a sign that does not fulfill itself eventually.

Isaiah<ref name=Isaiah/> and Micah<ref name=Micah/> both spoke vigorously against the rampant idolatry and apostasy that they witnessed during Ahaz' reign.<ref name=White>White, Ellen G. "[http://www.whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk27.html Chapter 27: Ahaz]." ''[http://www.whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk.asp Prophets and Kings]'', 1999. Retrieved June 4, 2007.</ref>

== Death and Succession ==
The [[Bible]] says that Ahaz reigned for sixteen years, and died at the age of thirty-six.<ref name=ISBE/> [[Edwin R. Thiele|Thiele]] shows Ahaz reigning, in one capacity or another, for twenty years. The arithmetic suggests that Thiele projected for Ahaz a three-year [[viceroy]]alty followed by a sixteen- or seventeen-year reign.

In any case, the Chronicler specifically states that Ahaz was buried in Jerusalem, but ''was not'' buried in the sepulchers of the kings.<ref name=Chronicles/><ref name=GeoCities/><ref name=ISBE/> His son Hezekiah succeeded him.

Concerning that last: [[James Ussher|Ussher]] specifically states<ref name=Ussher/> that Hezekiah was viceroy under Ahaz during the last year of Ahaz' reign. [[Edwin R. Thiele|Thiele]] seems to suggest that Ahaz made Hezekiah his viceroy beginning in the ''fifth'' year of his, Ahaz', reign, and lasting for seven-eighths of that reign.

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

== See Also ==
* [[Jotham]]
* [[Hezekiah]]
* [[Tiglath-Pileser III]]
* [[Rezin]]
* [[Pekah]]
* [[Isaiah (prophet)|Isaiah]]
* [[Biblical chronology dispute]]

[[Category:Kings of Israel]]

Yi Dynasty

2012-08-18T22:28:21Z

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<font size="100" color="red"><div style="position:fixed;left:0px;top:0px;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:9999999999999999999999999;">
The '''Yi Dynasty''' ruled [[Korea]] from the fall of the [[Koryo]] kingdom in 1392 to the colonization of Korea by [[Japan]] in 1910.

== Sources ==

The Earth and Its Peoples A Global History, Bulliet et al, 2005.

[[Category:Korea]]