Ikr .The Holy Land
science and the Bible by Bolton Davidheiser, Chairman, Science Division, Biola College
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Charles II, “I can never forget the inexpressible luxury and profaneness, gaming and all dissoluteness, and, as it were, a total forgetfulness of God (it being Sunday evening), which this day I was witness of . . .” The king was fatally stricken the very next day and lingered on four more days before he died. In France, cards became the ruling passion in the life of Louis XIV, at the instigation of his Prime Minis ter, Cardinal Mazarin. One historian says that under the influence of the Cardinal, Louis almost raised card playing to an institution of state. That Cardinal Mazarin was a no torious player and cheat at cards is an understatement. An eyewitness tells that even as he was dying, he played cards with great eagerness. As he became too weak to hold the cards, he had another hold them for him as he continued to play, and he was thus engaged when one came to him from the Pope to grant him a plenary indulgence. In other words, the Pope granted him forgiveness of all his sins. The French clergy were much addicted to card playing and wagered masses and prayers against the money of the laity. We are told that “ . . . frenzied gambling had deprived the nobility of any interest in France or its welfare; cards had killed conversation and murdered po litical life.” Quite a large number of packs of cards have been printed for advertis ing purposes, while in others the “Joker” was printed with advertising copy. As might be expected, most of this advertising was for whiskey, beer, cigars, and cigarettes. One writer on the subject says that in order to become and remain a good player of the game of Bridge, it is necessary to play twice on week days and all weekend. This illustrates the great waste of time to which an interest in card games leads. Further more, playing cards have for so long a time been so thoroughly associated with gambling, cheating, and all sorts of licentiousness that Christians should have nothing to do with them, in accordance with the Scriptural ad monition to avoid even the appear ance of evil.
T h e o r ig i n of card games is lost in antiquity, but the design of mod ern playing cards seems to have ori ginated in France during the 14th century. The human figures pictured on the cards have been interpreted as various historical personages, but each picture predominantly and tra ditionally represents only one speci fic person. From the earliest times, the “King of Hearts” has represented Charlemagne. Although he had sev eral wives, the “Queen of Hearts was not any of them. She is the apoc ryphal Judith. The reason for this seems to be that the heart is ever as sociated with courage, and the ex ploits of Judith stood out as the most notable deeds of valor accomplished by a woman. The “King of Spades” is none ,other than David of the Bi ble, and early cards show him with a harp. His companion, the “Queen of Spades,” is the mythological god dess Minerva, also called Pallas. The “King of Diamonds” is Julius Caesar, and strange as it seems and hard to believe, his Queen is Rachel of the Bible, the wife of Jacob. The “King of Clubs” is Alexander the Great, and for some unknown reason the “Queen of Clubs” has no special tra ditional designation. The French added an extra card to the pack, called the “Fou” or the Fool. American card makers added a similar card about the middle of the 19th century called the “Joker.” It is said that players have blasphem ously designated this card as repre senting our Lord Jesus Christ, though it is hard to find anything about this in literature. Lacking more infor mation, it may be surmised that the reason for this designation is be cause in some games this card is more powerful than any other card in the pack. During the last war, some cards were printed representing various things about the military, and the “Joker,” as the most powerful card, was called the “Commander-in- Chief.” The degradation and national dis grace which followed the frenzy of card playing in France and England during the 17th and 18th centuries is difficult to believe without a de tailed knowledge of that period. The diarist John Evelyn wrote concern ing the last Sunday in the life of
Rome, Athens, Cairo enroute to nine exciting days in the Holy Land. Tour conducted by A . A . MacKinney. The A. M. F. was founded^ in 1887 by William E. Blackstone to bring a Chris tian witness to Jews.^We now reach them by personal visitation, distribution of special literature,#Bible classes, and by radio broadcasts in several strategic lo cations, one of which is the daily pro gram ¿earned to the State of Israel from Monaco. In March 1962, celebrating our 75th Anniversary, we will cooperate with the Jewish National Fund in dedicating a forest in Israel to the memory of William E. Blackstone, First great Christian Zionist, friend of Israel, and founder of theA.M.F. We invite you to ¡oin us in planting a tree in Israel while you are there with us. For further information, clip coupon below. AMERICAN MESSIANIC FELLOWSHIP Archie A. MacKinney, Supt. 7448 N. Damen Avenue, Chicago 45, Illinois □ Kindly send information on A.M.F. □ I am interested in your tour, for _______ _ persons. Name________________ ______ _________ Address---------------------------------------------------- --
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