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Restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes

Previous restorations

The frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel had a number of interventions prior to the restoration process which was started in 1980. Initial problems with the ceiling appear to have been caused by water penetrating through the floor above. In about 1547 Paolo Giovio wrote that the ceiling was being damaged by saltpetre and cracks. The effect of saltpetre is to leave a white efflorescence. Gianluigi Colalucci, Head Restorer at the Laboratory for the Restoration of Paintings for Papal Monuments, Museums and Galleries, states in his essay Michelangelo's colours rediscovered, that the early conservators treated this cosmetically by an application of linseed or walnut oil which had the effect of making the crystalline deposit more transparent.

In 1625, a restoration was carried out by Simone Lagi, the "resident gilder", who wiped the ceiling with linen cloths and cleaned it by rubbing it with bread. He occasionally resorted to wetting the bread to remove the more stubborn accretions. His report states that the frescoes "were returned to their previous beauty without receiving any harm". Colalucci states that Lagi "almost certainly" applied layers of glue-varnish to revive the colours but does not state this in his report in the interests of "preserving the secrets of their [the restorers'] craft".

Between 1710 and 1713 a further restoration was carried out by the painter Annibale Mazzuoli and his son. They used sponges dipped in Greek wine which Colalucci suggests was necessitated by the accretion of grime caused by soot and dirt trapped in the oily deposits of the previous restoration. Mazzuoli then worked over the ceiling, according to Colalucci, strengthening the contrasts by overpainting details. They also repainted some areas the colours of which were lost because of the efflorescence of salts. Areas of repainting were hatched or treated with a linear brushstroke.[b] Colalucci states that Mazzuoli also applied a great deal of glue varnish. The restoration concentrated on the ceiling and less attention was paid to the lunettes.

The penultimate restoration was undertaken by the Restoration Laboratory of the Vatican Museum between 193538. The scope of the work was to consolidate some areas of the intonaco at the eastern end of the building and partially remove the soot and dirt.

Modern restoration

The Sistine Chapel before the restoration. [c]

The preliminary experimentation for the modern restoration began in 1979. The restoration team comprised Gianluigi Colalucci, Maurizio Rossi, Piergiorgio Bonetti, and others, who took as their guidelines the Rules for restoration of works of art as established in 1978 by Carlo Pietrangeli, director of the Vatican's Laboratory for the Restoration of Pictures, which govern the procedure and methods employed in restoration. An important part of modern restoration procedure, as established by these rules, is the study and analysis of the artwork. Part of this was the recording of every stage of the restoration process. This was done by the photographer Takashi Okamura for Nippon Television Network Corporation.

Between June 1980 and October 1984 the first stage of restoration, the work upon Michelangelo's lunettes, was achieved. The focus of the work then transferred to the ceiling, which was completed in December 1989 and from there to the Last Judgment. The restoration was unveiled by Pope John Paul II on 8 April 1994. The final stage was the restoration of the wall frescoes, approved in 1994 and unveiled on 11 December 1999.

Aims of the conservators

The aims of the conservators were as follows:

To study the frescoes progressively, to analyse any discoveries and utilise the appropriate technical responses.

To record every step of the operation in archival reports, photographs and film.

To use only those procedures and materials which were simple, extensively tested, not harmful, and reversible.

To repair cracks and structural damage that threatened the stability of the plaster.

To remove layers of grime consisting of candle wax and soot which had been deposited by the burning of candles in the chapel for 500 years.

To remove repainting by previous restorers that attempted to counteract the effects of soot and other accretions.

To remove oil and animal fat used to counteract salination of areas where water had leaked through.

To remove crystalline accretions of salt that had whitened areas where water had leaked through.

To conserve surfaces that were in danger of further deterioration because of bubbling, and flaking.

To restore sympathetically those areas where deterioration of one sort or another had obliterated details and caused loss of integrity to the whole, for example, filling a bad crack and painting the plaster in a colour matching the original.

To maintain in small defined areas a physical historical record of the previous restorations that had taken place.

Preparation and approach

This detail of the Expulsion from Eden shows the darkening of the colours to a monochrome, cracking of the plaster, metal pins of a previous stabilisation, staining from water flow, salt deposits, darkening by saltpetre and overpainting.

This detail of the same section shows the brightness of the colours after cleaning. The major cracks and metal pins have been filled and coloured to match adjacent areas. Smaller cracks are more visible, by contrast with the bright surface. The rings of saltpetre are irreversible.

In 1979 Colalucci undertook a series of experiments to discover the right approach for the restoration of the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. The investigation began by testing small areas of the wall fresco, Conflict over the Body of Moses by Matteo de Lecce, which had similar physical and chemical attributes to the painting techniques employed on Michelangelo's frescoes. Trials to find the right solvents were continued on a small portion of the Eleazar and Matthan lunette.

Because of the height of the ceiling and the inaccessibility of the ceiling frescoes, the precise nature of the damage and the problems that would be encountered by the restoration team could not be entirely foreseen until after the decision to restore was taken, and the scaffolding was in place. According to Colalucci, the continued scientific analysis and the response of the restorers to the particular problems was an ongoing part of the process, rather than the conservation team deciding on a single treatment for every part of the building.

In 1980 the decision to undertake a total restoration was taken. Nippon Television Network Corporation of Japan provided major funding of US$4.2 million in exchange for the filming rights.

Scaffold

The team of restorers completed the first stage of the restoration, on the vertical surfaces and curved spandrels around the upper sections of the windows, from aluminium scaffolding projecting from just below the lunettes and using the same holes in the wall that had been made for Michelangelo's scaffold. When they moved to the ceiling, they likewise employed a system similar to Michelangelo's, which involved cantilevering a shelf outwards from the scaffolding to support a stepped and arched platform. The advantages of modern lightweight materials meant that the platform could be wheeled, facilitating easy movement along the length of the building rather than dismantling and replacement, as Michelangelo had done in 1506.

State of the frescoes

The findings of the investigation of 1979 were that the entire interior of the chapel, but particularly the ceiling, was covered with a grime of candle smoke comprising wax and soot (amorphous carbon). Above the windows (the main source of ventilation), the lunettes were particularly stained from the smoke and exhaust fumes of the city, being "much dirtier than the ceiling proper". The building was a little unstable and had already shifted considerably prior to Michelangelo's work of 1508, causing cracking of the ceiling, the crack in the "Judith" pendentive being so large that it had to be filled with bricks and mortar before painting. The upper part of the ceiling provided Michelangelo an irregular surface due to cracks and water seepage.

Continued ingress of water from the roof and from unroofed exterior walkways above the ceiling level had caused seepage which carried down salts from the building mortar and deposited them on the ceiling through evaporation. In places this caused the surface of the frescoes to bubble and lift. Although discolouration was a serious problem, bubbling was not, because the thinness and transparency of the paint which Michelangelo employed on the greater part of the ceiling permitted the salts to pass through rather than accumulating beneath the surface.

Earlier restorations had all left their marks on the frescoes. To counteract the whitening caused by salination, animal fat and vegetable oil had been applied, which effectively made the salt crystals transparent, but left a sticky layer that accumulated dirt. An additional problem, most obvious in the small putti which hold the nameplates on the pendentives, was saltpetre seeping through small cracks and appearing as dark rings on the surface. Unlike the white crystalline salt deposits, this could not be removed and the staining was irreversible. Layers of varnish and glue had been applied to many areas. This had darkened and become opaque. Restorers had repainted details over the darkened areas in order to define the features of figures. This was particularly the case for the lunettes, spandrels and lower parts of the pendentives.

Close examination revealed that apart from smoky deposits, seepage deposits and structural cracks, the thin "pictorial skin" of Michelangelo's frescoes was in excellent condition. Colalucci describes Michelangelo as having employed the best possible fresco techniques, as described by Vasari. Most of the paint was well adhered and required little retouching. The plaster, or intonaco, on which the paintings were executed was found, for the most part, to be secure, as previous restorers had fixed it in places with bronze pins.

Interventions

Prior to the restoration the team spent six months investigating the composition and condition of the frescoes, questioning members of the team that had restored the frescoes in the 1930s and making a detailed scientific study to ascertain which solvents and methods were best employed upon particular painted surfaces.

A composite image of The Fall and Expulsion of Adam and Eve by Michelangelo. The upper left is shown unrestored, the lower right is shown restored.

The first stage of the physical restoration was to re-attach any areas of the plaster surface (which was approximately 5 mm thick) that were in danger of separating and breaking away. This was done by injecting a polyvinylacetate resin. Earlier bronze braces that had been used to stabilise surfaces were removed in those places where they were causing cracking, and the holes filled. Pigments that appeared to be not well adhered were consolidated with the application of diluted acrylic resin.

The restorers washed the surfaces using a variety of solvents. Distilled water was used wherever possible to remove soot and dissolve water-soluble gums. Retouching and repainting that had been part of previous later restorations were removed with a gelatinous solvent, applied in several stages for measured times, and washed with distilled water. Salt efflorescences of calcium carbonate were treated by the application of a solution of dimethylformamide. The final step was the application of a weak solution of acrylic polymer to consolidate and protect the surface, and further washing.

Where necessary some areas were retouched in watercolour, to integrate the pictorial material. These areas are distinctively textured with vertical brushstrokes, not visible from a distance but easily discernible as restoration work when viewed close up.

Certain small areas were left unrestored, in order to maintain a physical record of the previous restorations that had taken place, for example, an area left with overpainting and candle wax, and another area demonstrating the attempt to counteract salination with oil.

Environmental protection of the frescoes

Once the many layers of candle wax, varnish, and animal glue were removed from the surface of the Sistine Chapel frescoes, they became subject to dangers that could not have been predicted by previous restorers.

One of the major dangers to the frescoes is automotive exhaust, and they are also vulnerable to the effects of the crowds of tourists that pass through the chapel every day, bringing with them heat, humidity, dust and bacteria. The clean plaster surfaces are more in danger from these destructive elements than they were when they were covered with a layer of smoky wax.

Previously, the Sistine Chapel's only ventilation was from its windows in the upper level of the walls. To prevent exhaust fumes and wind-blown pollutants from entering, the windows are now permanently closed and an air conditioning system has been installed. The installation is by Carrier of the United Technologies Corporation and was developed with the cooperation of the Vatican's Office of Technical Services. It has been designed to counteract the various problems specific to the Chapel, in particular the rapid changes of heat and humidity that occur with the admission of the first crowds of tourists each morning and the departure of the last visitors each afternoon. The air conditioning varies not only the heat but also the relative humidity between the summer and winter months so that changes to the atmospheric environment occur gradually. The air near the ceiling is kept at a temperate level, while the air in the lower section of the building is cooler and circulates more rapidly, with the effect that dirt particles fall towards the floor rather than being streamed upwards. Bacteria and chemical pollutants are filtered out.

Environmental specifications:

Air filtration units: remove particles down to 0.1 micrometre

Air temperature: 20 C in summer, moving gradually to 25 C in winter.

Relative humidity at ceiling: 55% 5%.

Sensors: 92, of which about half are for back-up purposes.

Wiring: 26 km (85,000 ft)

Response to the restoration

Criticism and praise

When the restoration of the Sistine Chapel was announced, it sparked a barrage of queries and objections from art historians from around the world. One of the most vocal of these critics was James Beck, of ArtWatch International, who issued repeated warnings about the possibility of damage to Michelangelo's work from over-strenuous restoration. An argument that was used repeatedly was that all the previous interventions had caused damage of one sort or another. Any restoration, as opposed to conservation, puts an artwork at risk. Conservation, on the other hand, aids in the preservation of the work in its present state and prevention of further deterioration. Beck has written about his concerns in Art Restoration, the Culture, the Business and the Scandal.

Jeremiah lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem.

In the rhetoric of this conversation, [the conservators] say that the previous restoration was no good now we're going to make a really good one. It's like having a facelift. How many times can people go through one without their poor faces looking like an orange peel?

ames Beck , 

While James Beck became "embroiled in a public debate" with Gianluigi Colalucci, Ronald Feldman, a New York art dealer, started a petition supported by 15 well-known artists including Robert Motherwell, George Segal, Robert Rauschenberg, Christo and Andy Warhol asking Pope John Paul II to call a halt to the procedure and also the restoration of Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper.

An undertaking of the restoration team was that everything would be handled in a transparent fashion, that reporters, art historians and others with a bona fide interest should have ready access to information and to view the work. However, a single company, Nippon Television Network Corporation, had sole photography rights. Michael Kimmelman, chief art critic of The New York Times, wrote, in 1991, that the criticism of the restoration of the ceiling and lunettes was in part fuelled by the Nippon Television Network's reluctance to make public those photographs that they had taken by exclusive right, which had recorded every stage of the process and which were the only solid evidence that the work was being done appropriately.

According to Kimmelman, the reason for their reluctance to produce the detailed photos, which could have put to rest the worst fears of many of the interested parties, was the intention of the company to produce a large limited-edition two-volume coffee-table book ("as large as a coffee table"). This book, when produced retailed for US$1,000. Kimmelman refers to the fact that these photos were only made available to the few who could afford the exorbitant price as "ungenerous" and "immoral".

As the work was progressively completed, there were those who were delighted; Pope John Paul II spoke an inaugural homily after each stage. In December 1999, after the completion of the wall frescoes, he said:

The prophet Ezekiel hears the voice of God

It would be difficult to find a more eloquent visual commentary on this biblical image than the Sistine Chapel, whose full splendour we can enjoy today thanks to the recently completed restoration. Our joy is shared by the faithful throughout the world, who not only cherish this place because of the masterpieces it contains, but also for the role it plays in the Church's life.

ope John Paul II , 

Cardinal Edmund Szoka, governor of Vatican City, said: "This restoration and the expertise of the restorers allows us to contemplate the paintings as if we had been given the chance of being present when they were first shown."

An unnamed writer for Carrier, the company that assisted the future conservation of the frescoes by the installation of air conditioning, was even more eloquent:

As an artist, Michelangelo depended on that God-given light to create. As observers, we depend on it for our vision of the artist's greatness. Resident as we are in the final years of the 20th century, we are the lucky ones, for millions of others within the last four and a half centuries have seen Michelangelo's Chapel frescoes through smoked lenses. ...

The accumulated grime of centuries dulled colors and erased detail. It flattened the frescoes and robbed them of their succulent roundness. But thanks to a decade-long effort by the Vatican's restorers, the mask has been lifted.

12]

Other writers were less flattering. Andrew Wordsworth of The Independent, London, expressed the major point of concern:

There seems little doubt that the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was in part painted a secco (that is, once the plaster was dry), but the restorers none the less decided that radical cleaning was necessary, given the amount of dirt that had accumulated (in particular from candle smoke). As a result the ceiling now has a curiously washed-out look, with pretty but flavourless colouring - an effect quite unlike that of Michelangelo's intensely sensual sculpture.

ndrew Wordsworth , 

This crucial matter was also emphasised by Beck and defined in very clearly expressed terms on the website of the artist, Peter Layne Arguimbau.

Issues raised by critics

That part of the restoration in the Sistine Chapel which has caused the most concern is the ceiling, painted by Michelangelo. The emergence of the brightly coloured Ancestors of Christ from the gloom sparked a reaction of fear that the processes being employed in the cleaning were too severe. Despite warnings, the work on the ceiling proceeded and, according to critics such as James Beck, their worst fears were confirmed once the ceiling was completed.

The cause for dissent lies in the analysis and understanding of the techniques utilised by Michelangelo, and the technical response of the restorers to their understanding of those techniques. A close examination of the frescoes of the lunettes convinced the restorers that Michelangelo worked exclusively in "buon fresco"; that is, the artist worked only on freshly laid plaster and each section of work was completed while the plaster was still in its fresh state. In other words, Michelangelo did not work "a secco"; he did not come back later and add details onto the dry plaster.

The restorers, by assuming that the artist took a universal approach to the painting, took a universal approach to the restoration. A decision was made that all of the shadowy layer of animal glue and "lamp black", all of the wax, and all of the overpainted areas were contamination of one sort or another: smoke deposits, earlier restoration attempts and painted definition by later restorers in attempt to enliven the appearance of the work. Based on this decision, according to Arguimbau's critical reading of the restoration data that has been provided, the chemists of the restoration team decided upon a solvent that would effectively strip the ceiling down to its paint-impregnated plaster. After treatment, only that which was painted "buon fresco" would remain.

Daniel, before and after restoration.

According to critics, the inherent problem with this approach is that it relied heavily upon an assumption that Michelangelo only painted buon fresco, that he was always satisfied with the result at the end of the day, and that in four and a half years spent on the ceiling, he stuck exclusively to one approach, and never made small alterations or added details. Arguimbau, on his website, quotes Colalucci, the head of the team, as contradicting himself on this matter.

A summary of the relevant statements of Colalucci, in the order that they occur in the Appendix entitled Michelangelo's colours uncovered is as follows:

The elderly restorers who had taken part in the restoration of the 1930s were interviewed as part of the preparatory process. They claimed that Michelangelo worked over the frescoes a secco using velature or glazes as a binder. Colalucci rejects this, stating that Michelangelo worked exclusively in buon fresco. Colalucci then contradicts this by stating that Michelangelo had worked a secco, but "to a minimal degree" and "not at all in the lunettes".

Colalucci then talks of Michelangelo's "rigorous maintenance" of buon fresco technique, contradicting this by describing the a secco retouchings that Michelangelo made to the shoulder of Eleazar and the foot of Reboam, both of which are in the lunettes. He then says that Michelangelo worked in buon fresco with "no pentimenti proper", (pentimenti means the changes) but only small corrections in fresco.

The on-going criticism has been that the restorers presumed to know what end result the master was seeking to achieve in every separate case across the ceiling, and by what method he sought to achieve it. The disagreements about this have been vociferous and are unresolved.

Carbon black problem

The restorers took for granted that all of the layers of grease and soot on the ceiling were the result of candle smoke. Contrary to this view, James Beck and numerous artists have suggested that Michelangelo used carbon black in a wash of glue to lay on shadows and crisp dark definition, a secco. If this is the case, then the greater part was removed in the restoration.

On some of the figures, however, there still remains clear evidence of painting in carbon black. The apparent explanation for this is that over the long period that Michelangelo was at work, he probably, for a variety of reasons, varied his technique. Things that might affect the degree of finish achieved on a particular giornata include the heat and humidity of the day and the length of daylight hours. Whatever the reason for the difference is, a difference in approach to the light and shade on the individual figures is clearly apparent.

There are still intense areas of shadow which throw the Cumaean Sibyl into relief. But it is more than relief; it is the three-dimensionality which art-lovers expect to see in the work of the man who sculpted Moses. Critics of the restoration claim that this was Michelangelo's aim and that many frescoes, had brightly contrasting colours laid side-by-side that were then worked over a secco to achieve this effect and that this is what has been lost by a too-scrupulous cleaning.

Consistently missing from the restored ceiling is the crisp a secco detailing of the architecture: the scallop shells, acorns and "bead and reel" ornament which Michelangelo possibly would have left for completion by an assistant, when he moved on to the next panel. The treatment of these details varied considerably. In a few places, around the Ezekias spandrel, for example, the architectural detailing was painted buon fresco and remains intact.

Different post restoration states in two similar spandrels. In the left spandrel, black detailing of robes, eyes and architecture is intact. In the right spandrel, these details have been lost in the cleaning.

A comparison of two spandrels reveals different post-restoration states. The one on the left has shadows and details defined in black. The green robe with yellow highlights has been washed with black and defined with deep shadow. On the fictive architecture each motif is picked out in black. The eyes of the child are detailed in black and white. The continued presence of these details suggests that they were completed while the plaster was damp. The entire right spandrel has an unfinished look. Before cleaning it also had black defining the shadows of the robes and crisp detailing on the architecture.

On the corner pendentives, each of which depicts a violent subject, the removal of the carbon black has diminished the dramatic intensity of all four scenes. This is particularly noticeable in the loss of depth in the Death of Haman. Where once the figure projected starkly against the darkly shadowed interior, now foreshortening, definition and drama is lost in the pastel monotone that remains.

Colour

The curator, Fabrizio Mancinelli, quotes the 18th century French traveller De Lalande in saying that the colouring of the ceiling was, by that time, monotonous, "tend[ing] towards dull red and grey". Mancinelli writes that the restoration reveals "a new Michelangelo" as a colourist and that this "new character makes much better sense of his historical position". He goes on to say that perceptive viewers of the Sistine Chapel ceiling have always been aware that the range of colours used was very different from that which could be seen, and included the same pinks, apple greens, oranges, yellows and pale blues that were employed by Michelangelo's teacher, Ghirlandaio, one of the most competent fresco painters of the Renaissance.

The brilliant palette ought to have been expected by the restorers as the same range of colours appears in the works of Giotto, Masaccio and Masolino, Fra Angelico and Piero della Francesca, as well as Ghirlandaio himself and later fresco painters such as Annibale Carracci and Tiepolo. The reason for employing this range of colours is that many other pigments are not usable in fresco as they have chemical properties that react badly in interaction with wet plaster. The colour that is noticeably missing from Michelangelo's ceiling, but not The Last Judgment, is the intense blue of lapis lazuli. This colour, achieved by grinding semi-precious stone, was always applied as a secondary, a secco stage, along with the gold leaf applied as haloes and decoration to robes.[e]

Daniel's right hand and knee. On the unrestored fresco, the intense red underpainting shows through the black a secco wash adding luminescence to the shadows. The form of the knee and lower leg under the garment is achieved by the black wash.[f]

The aspect of the colouring which was most unexpected was Michelangelo's treatment of shadows. The painting of the Libyan Sibyl and the Prophet Daniel, which are side-by-side, are exemplary. On the yellow dress of the Sibyl, Michelangelo has bright yellow highlights, passing through carefully graded tones of deeper yellow to pale orange, darker orange and almost to red in the shadows. While red shadows are of themselves unusual in a fresco, the gradation through adjacent parts of the spectrum is a natural enough solution. On Daniel's robes, there is no such gentle gradation. The yellow lining of his cloak becomes a sudden dense green in the shadows, while the mauve has shadows that are intensely red. These colour combinations, which are best described as iridescent, can be found at various places on the ceiling, including the hose of the young man in the Mathan lunette which is pale green and reddish purple.

In some instances, the colour combinations look garish: this is particularly the case with the Prophet Daniel. A comparison of the "restored" and "unrestored" figure gives strong evidence that Michelangelo worked over this figure in a wash of carbon black, and that the technique was preplanned. The bright red used on the robes of Daniel and the Libyan Sibyl does not, on its own, create effective shadows. In these and many other cases it appears to have been intended as underpainting, to be seen only through a thin black wash and with the deepest shadows picked out in more intense black, as they still are on the Cumaean Sibyl. This use of bright, contrasting colours as underpainting is not a common feature of frescoes, but it is commonly employed in both oil painting and tempera. Like Daniel, the Libyan Sibyl's yellow garment once had much more subtlety in its folds and shadows than it has now.[d]

Jonah, restored. Much of the dramatic tonality of the figure has disappeared in the cleaning, diminishing the effect of the foreshortening.

There is absolutely no doubt that before the restoration, the whole ceiling was dirtier, more muted and more monochrome than Michelangelo ever intended, but when images of the frescoes are viewed in their stained and unrestored state the subtle washes and intense definitions, described by Beck and Arguimbau, still make their presence known, giving mass and bulk to the forms.

The painter and biographer Giorgio Vasari, in his Lives of the Artists, describes the figure of Jonah as it appeared in the mid-16th century:

"Then who is not filled with admiration and amazement at the awesome sight of Jonah, the last figure in the chapel? The vaulting naturally springs forward, following the curve of the masonry; but through the force of art it is apparently straightened out by the figure of Jonah, which bends in the opposite direction; and thus vanquished by the art of design, with its lights and shades, the ceiling even appears to recede."

The large figure of Jonah is of great significance to the total composition, both pictorially and theologically, being symbolic of the Risen Christ. The figure occupies the pendentive which rises from the altar wall to support the vault, and strains backward, his eyes turned towards God. The foreshortening described by Vasari was innovative and highly influential to later painters. The cleaning of this significant figure has left a few remnants of black shadow visible to the extreme left side of the painting. All the other, less intense, black lines and washes have been removed, lessening the impact of the radical foreshortening, and also robbing the great fish, the genii behind Jonah, and the architectural figures of much detail.

Eyes

Losses of a sort which are deemed "travesties" by critics of the restoration. The Jesse spandrel, before and after restoration. The eyes are now missing, as they are in numerous other figures, particularly among the ancestors. A commanding feature of many of the figures, the eyes appear in many instances to have been painted buon fresco. Wherever they have not been painted buon fresco but added a secco, they have been removed by the restorers.

The missing depth is not the only factor that the critics deplore. An important feature of Michelangelo's work which, in many places, has disappeared forever is the painting of the eyeballs.

They are an essential part of the most impressive and famous of the frescoes, the Creation of Adam. Adam gazes at God. God looks directly at Adam. And under God's protective arm, Eve turns her eyes sideways in a look of admiration for her husband-to-be. Again and again, Michelangelo painted telling gazes into the faces of his characters. Most of them appear to have been done as buon fresco and have survived, but some have not. The eye sockets of the family in the Zorobabel lunette are empty as are the eyes of the man in the Aminadab lunette, but the removal that has caused the most distress to the critics are the eyes of the little figure in green and white who once looked out of the gloom above the lunette of Jesse.

Arguimbau says:

Have you ever felt that some things never fade and remain an inspiration for all time? That was the Sistine Chapel, now chemically stripped down of divine inspiration and looking shockingly out of place. ...It is the duty of the restorer not to alter the intent of the artist, but the scientist cannot help himself. Who cares if Colalucci discovered Michelangelo as a colorist and can explain the Colorist trends of Pontormo and Rossi. His job is to make sure the thing is stuck on there and leave it alone. In comparing before and after photos there is much proof that Colalucci removed secco' passages and left many areas sketchy and thin and.[sic] Proof of one single change of the artist's intent is negligence of which there are many.

rguimbau , 

Richard Serrin, in an essay entitled Lies and Misdemeanors, Gianluigi Colalucci's Sistine Chapel Revisted says:

The [so-called] Glorious Restoration of Michelangelo's frescoes has destroyed them forever. What we say now cannot bring them back to life. We can only speak out to document the accountability of the Vatican restorers so that it does not pass unrecognized.

ichard Serrin , 

Restoring the light

Carlo Pietrangeli, former Director General of the Vatican Museums, writes of the restoration: "It is like opening a window in a dark room and seeing it flooded with light." His words resonate with those of Giorgio Vasari who, in the 16th century, said of the Sistine Chapel ceiling:

There is no other work to compare with this for excellence ... The ceiling has proved a veritable beacon for our art, of inestimable benefit to all painters, restoring light to a world that for centuries had been plunged into darkness.

Pietrangeli, in his foreword to The Sistine Chapel, written after the restoration of the lunettes, but prior to the restoration of the ceiling, commends those who had the courage to commence the restoration process, and thanks not only those who visited the restoration while it was in progress and gave the benefit of their knowledge and experience, but also those who were critical of the enterprise. Pietrangeli made acknowledgement that these people spurred the team on to punctilious documentation so that a full report of criteria and methods should be available to those who are interested, both in the present and the future.

Footnotes and references

Footnotes

From the Aminadab lunette.

a. ^ In particular, the Creation of Adam and the Fall of Man

b. ^ The hatching of new paint on badly damaged painted surfaces is in line with modern restoration practice.

c. ^ This photo is somewhat darker than the ceiling actually appeared.

d. ^ The use of red or sepia underpainting in frescoes was not unknown. It was commonly used where the cloak of Jesus or the Virgin Mary had an a secco application of lapis lazuli to achieve a brilliant blue. See Giotto's frescoes of the Nativity and the Raising of Lazarus at the Scrovegni Chapel.

e. ^ According to Vasari, Michelangelo planned to work over the ceiling with ultramarine (lapis lazuli) and gold, but never got around to re-erecting the scaffold. When reminded by the Pope that this had not been done, Michelangelo replied that the persons depicted on the ceiling were never wealthy.

f. ^ Two marked changes, or pentimenti, had been made to Daniel's robe, and are visible in the unrestored state: the sharp little horizontal fold in the edge of the green robe had been painted out a secco, and a new straight edge carefully touched with light to continue the line. The narrow band of purple robe had also been reworked a secco to a more elaborate form. These subtleties are all missing from the restored fresco. These and many other such changes are among those noted by critics of the restoration such as Beck.

References

^ a b John Shearman, essay The Chapel of Sixtus IV in The Sistine Chapel, ed. Massimo Giacometti, (1986) Harmony Books, ISBN 0 517 56274 X

^ Massimo Giacometti, editor,The Sistine Chapel, (1986) Harmony Books, ISBN 051756274X

^ University of Victoria art scholar, in the Queen's Quarterly, as quoted in: Osborne, John (11 February 1998). Robert Fulford's column about art restoration in Italy "Address of the Holy Father John Paul II at the inauguration of the restored 15th century fresco cycle in the Sistine Chapel". The Globe and Mail. http://www.robertfulford.com/restore.html Robert Fulford's column about art restoration in Italy. Retrieved 2007-09-28. 

^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Gianluigi Colalucci's essay, Michelangelo's Colours Rediscovered in The Sistine Chapel, ed. Massimo Giacometti. (1986) Harmony Books, ISBN 0 517 56274 X

^ Vatican Library, Vat. Capponiano 231, f 238 and Chigiano G. III 66. f 108. as cited by Colalucci

^ a b c Carlo Pietrangeli, Foreword to The Sistine Chapel, ed. Massimo Giacometti. (1986) Harmony Books, ISBN 0 517 56274 X

^ a b c d e Fabrizio Mancinelli's essay, Michelangelo at Work in The Sistine Chapel, ed. Massimo Giacometti, (1986) Harmony Books, ISBN 0 517 56274 X

^ "Homily preached by the Holy Father John Paul II at the mass of to celebrate the unveiling of the restorations of Michelangelo's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel". Vatican Publishing House. 8 April 1994. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/homilies/1994/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19940408_restauri-sistina_en.html. Retrieved 2007-09-28. 

^ a b "Address of the Holy Father John Paul II at the inauguration of the restored 15th century fresco cycle in the Sistine Chapel". Vatican Publishing House. 11 December 1999. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_11121999_sistine-chapel-inauguration_en.html. Retrieved 2007-09-28. 

^ Pietrangeli, Hirst and Colalucci, eds. The Sistine Chapel: A Glorious Restoration, (1994) Harry N Abrams, ISBN 0 810 98176 9

^ Milanesi ed. Vasari, Vite... Book I, Chapter V, p.182, ed. Milanesi, Florence (1906), as cited by Colalucci.

^ a b c Carrier, United Technologies, Sistine Chapel, Retrieved on 2007-09-28. NOTE: This page is no longer available.

^ James Beck and Michael Daley, Art Restoration, the Culture, the Business and the Scandal, W.W. Norton, 1995. ISBN 0393312976

^ Ohlson, Kristin (Fall 2002). "Conservation Wars". Oberlin Alumni Magazine 98 (2). http://www.oberlin.edu/alummag/oamcurrent/oam_fall2002/main_conservation_3.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-28. 

^ Grace Glueck, Halt Urged in Work on Sistine and "Last Supper", New York Times, 1987-03-06 accessed 2007-10-06

^ Kimmelman, Michael (8 December 1991). "Finding God in a Double Foldout". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE0DE133FF93BA35751C1A967958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1. Retrieved 2007-09-28. 

^ BBC News, Sistine Chapel Restored 1999-12-11, accessed 2007-10-06

^ Andrew, Wordsworth (20 June 2000). "Have Italy's art restorers cleaned up their act?". The Independent. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20000620/ai_n14304674. Retrieved 2007-09-28. 

^ a b c d e f g Arguimbau, Peter Layne (5 October 2006). "Michelangelo's Cleaned off Sistine Chapel". Arguimbau. http://www.arguimbau.net/article.php?sid=8. Retrieved 2007-09-28. 

^ a b c d "James Beck". ArtWatch. http://www.artwatchinternational.org/articles/index.asp. Retrieved 2007-09-28. 

^ See reference to Colalucci's conflicting report.

^ Colalucci refers to this opinion in his Appendix quoted above

^ as detailed in Arguimbau's article

^ a b c Giorgio Vasari, Michelangelo from Lives of the Artists,(1568) translated by George Bull, Penguin Classics, (1965) ISBN 0 14 044164 6

^ a b c Serrin, Richard. "Lies and Misdemeanors, Gianluigi Colalucci's Sistine Chapel Revisted" (PDF). http://mimsstudios.com/richardserrinarticle.pdf. 

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Can anyone recommend me Historical Romance that aren't cheesy?

None of those Harlequin-like novels, please.

These are the books I have read so far:
- Time Enough for Drums by Ann Rinaldi
- Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
- The Witch of the Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (The romance was a bit lacking on this one.)
- The Sherwood Ring by Mary Pope Osborne
- Most of the Dear America Diaries

Non-YA books that I have enjoyed are Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I have also read a few books by Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer.

More suggestions? =[

Georgette Heyer is definitely my favorite. The Grand Sophy, Cotillion, Frederica, The Nonesuch, The Quiet Gentleman are all good...as are so many others.

If you want something besides La Grande Georgette, try Elswyth Thane, who wrote a series about a family, starting with Dawn's Early Light, about the American Revolution, and continuing for 6 more books. They may be hard to find, but try your Inter-Library Loan.

I also liked Victoria Holt, who wrote under various names, depending on the time and style of the book (Jean Plaidy & Phillippa Carr), Catherine Cookson is another author to try.

I really wish I could be a first-time reader and discover some of these authors all over again!

Mary Pope Osborne : Books-A-Million Summer Reading Ambassador 2010

God Made

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Reviving and Gathering the Sons of God

REVELATION OF THE MYSTERIES OF GOD!!!

(PART ONE)

(USE AUTHORIZED KING JAMES VERSION ONLY AND NOT NEW KING JAMES)

 

Education is said to be the best legacy any man can bequeath to his children. This expressly explained why God had taken, not only to educate his sons, but also to feed them with the truth; for he had said: “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” – John 8:32.  It is on this premise that the mysteries of God that were hidden in God from the beginning of the world are now being revealed to the people of God, that they may receive life, and be in the light, as God is the light - for in him we live and move, and have our being – Acts 17:27 and 28; Ephesians 3:9-10; Colossians 1:25-27. Here Apostle John confirms the fact that God is the Life and Light, and that those who are in the light are in God - having fellowship with both God the Father, and Christ the truth and Spirit of God.

 

Thus: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life. (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” – 1 John 1:1-5. Please follow on with the following references for more details - Matthew 13:11-17; Acts 17:28; 1Corinthians 1:18:31; 2:5-15; Ephesians 3:9-11; 17-19; Colossians 1:24-29.

 

It must be noted that the first thing God did after creation was to acquaint Adam, the first man he created, with the truth. God had started to do this by assaying to strengthen the man (Adam) so that every other thing will fall in place. Consequently, God had said unto Adam; “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” – Genesis 1:28. In this lies the whole strength of man, because like the physical fruit which cannot mature and ripe except it receives the physical seed in itself; for the life, strength, and beauty of the fruit is the seed. In the same manner, God’s own fruit which is the proper, precious, perfect and enduring fruit, cannot be fruitful and remain for ever except it receives God’s own seed in itself. Now God’s own fruit is man, and God’s own seed is Christ – Galatians 3:16 and 29. Man must therefore receive Christ (the seed) in his body so as to be precious, rich, fruitful, glorious and perfect unto God: because Christ is our life, light, strength, wisdom, power, peace, sanctification, redemption, and righteousness. – Genesis 12:7; 1Corinthians 1:24 and 30; Ephesians 2:14; 3:16-19; Colossians 1:13 and 27; James 5:7.

 

Being fruitful therefore means having seed (CHRIST) in your body, and without Christ no man can be fruitful, rich, peculiar, precious, glorious, and perfect - because Christ in us is our hope of glory. Moses, the servant of God testified that those who received and kept the word of God, which is his covenant or commandment, are peculiar treasures, as well as kingdom of priests and an holy nation unto God. Thus: “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words, which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel” - Exodus 19:5-6; Ephesians 3:16-19; Colossians 1:13, 19 and 27.

 

Remember that Adam rejected the word of God, and the word of God is the truth and the truth is life, and the life is light, and the light is God who should have made Adam to be fruitful, rich and to remain for ever – retaining the dominion over every thing God had made. Apostle John confirms that God is the light, viz: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” – John 1:1-5.

 

When Adam rejected the word of God, he had rejected God because God is in his Word which is the truth. Note that Israel is the word of God, and so the meaning of Israel is the TRUTH. God of Israel therefore means God of truth, and that truth is Christ - the Spirit and kingdom of God that should be received in our body – John 1:1-5; 6:63. Apostle Luke testified that Christ the Spirit and Kingdom of God is inside (within) us, thus: “Neither shall they say, Lo here! Or Lo there! For, behold the kingdom of God is within you” – Luke 17:21. This was the same kingdom which Jesus had taught his followers to pray that it should come in the earthen vessel of their body; and that they should seek, find, and receive him in their body – Matthew 6:10 and 33. You will recall that Jesus himself received Christ, the Spirit of God in himself, in baptism after which he went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil for God was in him – John 1:29-34; Acts 10:38. The apostles also received Christ the Spirit and power of God in them on the day of Pentecost – Acts 2:1-47.

 

It is only those who received Christ in their body that are rich, wise, precious, fruitful, righteous, perfect, and glorious, as well as being the sons of God – Exodus 19:5-6; Jeremiah 9:23-24. Having rejected God, Adam preferred to dwell together with satan by receiving (believing) the lie from the serpent rather than the truth from God. And the lie is darkness, and the darkness is satan, the god of this world whom man had received in his body. Those who believed (received) lie are in darkness, and therefore are the children of darkness, and of satan who has blinded their mind that they can neither see nor hear from God. Here Apostle Paul confirms as follows: “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. In whom the god of this world had blinded the minds of them which believed not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” - 2Corinthians 4:3-4. Apostle Paul, while quoting prophet Isaiah, also said, “Go unto this people and say, hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive. For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them” – Acts 28:26-27. Also read the following for further details: 1Corinthians 10:20-22; 2:5-15; 1John 2:8-11; 3:8.

 

Consequently, Adam who rejected the truth (Christ) and God the Light and Life had received (believed) lie (satan, the darkness) in his body which was the house/temple of God, was separated from God, and this is death. However, Adam was not the only one that died, but all men, even the human race - because Adam sinned by receiving satan in his body which ought to be the house or temple of God. For this, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, hence they are the children of the devil, and not of God - Romans 3:23; John 8:43-47. Unfortunately the whole world still reject both Christ the truth, and God the Life inspite of the living and great sacrifice made to God by the Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of the world (man). Apostle Paul confirms the sacrifice, thus: “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour”- Ephesians 5:1-2. Read the following also; Romans 5:12-21; Hebrews 10:9-16.

 

Note that the total being and existence of man depends on his being fruitful - because that will bring man to his expected end: and the expected end of man is to be perfect, and any man who is perfect will live for ever because he has inherited God – the incorruptible and immortal – 1Corinthians 15:51-57; Ephesians 3:16-19; 1John 4:16-17. Apostle Paul, again, confirmed that, we – the sons of God, are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ, that we, like Christ, may inherit God and be as God. Thus: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first born among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” – Romans 8:29-32. Again Apostle John’s testimony here dispels all doubts and confirms that whoever that is in God and God in him, is God, because the will of God to be reconciled and be united with members of his household, the church, is fulfilled in him. Thus: “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us, God is love: and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him. Here is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of Judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.” – 1John 4:16-17.

 

It is for the purpose of perfecting man that God is revealing these mysteries. Nonetheless, owing to the fact that man and all the affairs of man revolves around the word PERFECTION, which is fruitfulness or joining together with God through Christ, it is important therefore that we should know the meaning of same, in order to appreciate it’s import. Perfection therefore involves bringing together various components of something to form a complete whole or single unit, and when that is achieved, and consummated that is perfection. Now what is required to be perfected is the Family of God, the church, because members of the Family of God wandered away from God to a strange land. Remember that after creation, Adam, the son of God, rejected God, his Father and Maker, and wandered away from him. Adam had refused to remain with God, his Father who would have protected and provided him with all his needs. Instead Adam chose to dwell together with satan, a stranger, the wicked, and thief, to suffer and be afflicted, even satan whose thoughts are inimical to the existence of both man, who is spirit created in the image of God – Genesis 1: 27, and man’s body, the earth formed by God – Genesis 2:7, which is the house or temple of God, the pillar and ground of the truth – 1Corinthians 3:9; 6:19-20; 1Timothy 3:15.

 

And so man wandered away from God, and had been dwelling in a strange land (his body) together with Satan, the stranger who man had sold his body to. Prophet Isaiah confirms that man sold himself to satan, viz: “Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away? Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away” – Isaiah 50:1. However, like every man would go after his lost family, God has done everything, including the impossible which is sacrificing Christ, his only begotten Son, in order to reconcile members of his Family unto himself; yet the world has refused to return unto God, but has decided to perish with satan – Romans 8:28-32; 2Corinthians 5:18-19.

 

Here Prophet Isaiah testified that the world preferred to die, than to live and reign with Christ in the kingdom that God had prepared for them that love him. Thus: “Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. Therefore thus saith the LORD God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand: when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it” – Isaiah 28:15-18. Read the following also for more confirmation: John 3:16-21; 2Corinthians 5:18-19; Hebrews 2:9-18.

 

Invariably, an ideal family consists of the man who is the head and owner of the family, as well as his wife, and his children. This is the description of a complete, perfect, or responsible man. And whatever affects any of the three units that made up the family or man affects the whole units of the family also. If therefore the wife and children should leave their home to a strange place without the knowledge and consent of the man, the owner of the family - there would be no rest for the man until he find them and bring them back to himself. Neither would his wife and children have peace, love, and joy except they return to their father. This was exactly what happened to God. In God’s own case, God is the Father and owner of the Family; Christ is the Spirit and Kingdom of God. Adam, the spirit and man created in the image of God, was the son of God – Genesis 1:27, while Adam’s body, the earth which is the man formed, was God’s wife – the glorious land, the pillar and ground of the truth, the house/temple of God – Genesis 2:7; Isaiah 54:5; 1Corinthians 3:9; 6:19-20; Galatians 3:16 and 29.

 

It is the same land which God had promised to give unto Christ – the seed of Abraham - hence our body is now called the body of Christ, which is the Church of the living God because Christ has redeemed it with his blood – Genesis 12:7; 1Corinthians 6:19-20; 12:12-27. Apostle Paul testifies as follows: “For as we have many members in one body and all members have not the same office. So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.” – Romans 12:4-5. Again, man’s body which ought to be the wife and glory of God had remained desolate until the birth of Jesus Christ: for it was Jesus who married/received God in his body so as to enable God reconcile the world (man) unto himself – 2 Corinthians 5:18-19.

 

Here are some evidence to prove that God is supposed to be married to our body, for our body is the wife and glory of God, even as the woman is the wife and glory of the man. Thus: “But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ: and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.” – 1Corinthians 11:3 and 7. Now the image of God is the inner man, the spirit which is the son of God that was created in the image of God – Genesis 1:27. While the glory of God is man’s body which is the man that was formed by God. Man’s body therefore is the wife and glory of God – housing both God and all the household of God which is the fullness of God. – Genesis 2:7; Romans 7:1-6; 1Corinthians 3:9; 6:19-20; Ephesians 3:16-19; Colossians 1:16-19.

 

Moreover the body is also referred to by the following names: the glory of all lands – Ezekiel 20: 6, the pillar and ground of the truth – 1Timothy 3:15, the land of the living – Psalms 27:13; 52:5; 116:9, Zion the mountain of the Lord, and Jerusalem the city of the living God – Isaiah 2:25-27; 45:14-15; 60:14-15; 62:11-12; Zechariah 8:2-3. Prophet Isaiah testified concerning God and his wife which is our body thus: “Fear not for thou shall not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shall not be put to shame; for thou shall forget the shame of thy youth, and shall not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name, and thy Redeemer the holy one of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall he be called.” – Isaiah 54:4-5.

 

Apostle Paul also testified concerning same: “For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travaileth not; for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bond  woman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. So then brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free woman.” – Galatians 4:25-31.

 

Note that after man had rejected God, refusing to be married unto him, rather man preferred satan and was married unto him and has been suffering all manners of affliction. But in his benevolence and in demonstration of his loving-kindness, God had, at the dispensation of the fullness of time, sent forth Christ, his only begotten son who, not only redeemed man by destroying satan – man’s first husband, loosing man from the law of his husband, that man may be married unto another, even Christ who delivered man from bondage and the law of death. – Romans 7:1-6; Galatians 4:4-9; Hebrews 2:14-16; 1John 3:8. Now having been married unto Christ, man has been restored to his former position – male and female. - Genesis 1:27; 5:2; Romans 13:14; Galatians 3:27-29.

 

It may interest you to know that it was because no man had agreed to marry God, by receiving God in his body, which is the fulfillment of the will of God, that Christ came and offered his body to God in order to save the world (man) from destruction at the end of the second two thousand years. You will recall that man (the world) should have been destroyed at the end of that era, because they were owing to die. Just as God had destroyed the world at the end of the first two thousand years, but spared only Noah and his family because Noah believed God, fulfilling the will of God in his body, and it was counted for him as righteousness. – Genesis 15:6; 2Peter 2:5. Note that Jesus – the son of man, was married to Christ in baptism and became the Son of God – John 1:29-34. And due to the fact that Christ and God are one – John 10:30, by marrying Christ, Jesus was also married to God – 1John 2:23. Any man who is married to Christ, is also married to God, and is united with God in love and is made one with God. Apostle John testified concerning love, which is marriage between God and man; thus: “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is Love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world” – 1John 4:16-17.

 

Nevertheless, it is expedient that we should know how and why God is revealing his mysteries to the sons of God at this end of the wicked system. This of course is in accordance with the process by which God is reviving and gathering together the sons of God that they may possess all things which God had prepared for them that love him. On the revival of the sons of God that are of humble spirit, and those that are of contrite heart, Prophet Isaiah testified as follows: “For thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” – Isaiah 57:15. Please note that the high and lofty one is God the Father, and eternity where God inhabiteth is Christ the Word, Spirit, Righteousness, and Kingdom of God that liveth and abideth for ever – John 12:34; 1Peter 1:23-25; James 1:17-19.

 

Again, the word HOLY means God, because it is the name of God. Holy Ghost and Holy Spirit both mean the Ghost and Spirit of God – which is Christ – 2Corinthians 3:17. Note that God had said in the above quotation that he dwells in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit. The one that is of contrite and humble spirit is the man who has received God by yielding his body as a living sacrifice unto God, in accordance with the word of God that says: “I beseech you therefore, brethren by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” – Romans 12:1. And, also in obedience to the word of God which says: “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time” - 1Peter 5:6. While this man who has received God in his body is of a contrite and humble spirit, his body where he is dwelling together with God is the high and holy place, because God the High and Holy one is dwelling in it through Christ – the Spirit and kingdom of God – John 5:23; 14:20-23; 17:20-23; 1Corinthians 3:9; 6:19-20; Ephesians 3:16-19; 1John 2:23; 4:16-17.

 

Any man who yielded and received God in his body is exalted, and his body is therefore the high and holy place which is called Zion – the mountain of the Lord or Jerusalem – the city of the living God; because God the High and Holy one is in it, together with members of his household. Concerning this body which is the high and holy place, Apostle Paul testified, thus: “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels. To the general assembly and church of the first born, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirit of just men made perfect. And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” – Hebrews 12: 22-24.

 

Already there is a man who has yielded and received God in his body. This man is of a contrite and humble spirit, and his body is the high and holy place where God is dwelling in order to revive and gather together the remnant of his household that are of humble spirit, and those that are of contrite heart. Note that the revival is being done by God himself, and not by this man, because this man is a son of God – a babe for that matter and God is a loving Father whose will and pleasure is to revive and gather his Family to himself – John 6:39-40; Philippians 2:13; Isaiah 65:8-10; Jeremiah 23:3; 32:37-42; Zephaniah 3:16-20. The only work, the great one that this man has done is to receive God in his body through Christ – the spirit of God, and this is the fulfillment of the will of God in his body – Matthew 6:10 and 33; John 6:28-29; 2Corinthians 5:10. Apostle Paul again confirms that it is God who will perform all his work and pleasure when we receive him in our body, thus: “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” – Philippians 2:13, even as God has reconciled the world unto himself while he was in Christ – 2Corinthians 5:18-19.

 

However, because of the great work and the honour which this man has done unto God, by receiving (marrying) God in his body, God is set to exalt him exceedingly, and make him more precious than fine gold – that every man and nation that wish to see and hear from God must come to this man – Isaiah 13:12; 60:1-22. Even as every man or nation who had desired to see or hear from God had sought the Lord Jesus – who was the only way or temple by which any one could come to see and hear from God at the end of the second dispensation – John 14:6; 2Corinthians 5:18-19.

 

Now pertaining to this man whose body is the mountain of the Lord, and to whom all the nations of the earth will gather to learn of the ways and law – which is the word of God, because God is in him. Prophet Isaiah testified as follows: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war anymore. O house of Jacob, Come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low.” – Isaiah 2:1-5, 11-12.

 

Again, Prophet Zephaniah testified also that this man whose body is God’s Wife and Love which is Zion, the mountain of the LORD, and Jerusalem the City of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth - where God will dwell to save and gather the remnant of his sons; while destroying the wicked, his enemies who refused his reign in them: and promising fame and praise to them that received him in their body, for they are the righteous. Thus: “In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden. Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD” – Zephaniah 3:16-20.

 

Brethren, let me state for the umpteenth time that all these are the mysteries of God which are meant to revive and gather together the sons of God, that they may inherit all things which God had prepared for them that love him. Every one that heareth and understandeth these mysteries of God, he is a member of the Family of God, that great Family, and among those that will be saved from the catastrophy that will befall the whole world soonest, and whose signs are already every where – Isaiah 13:11; 34:1-10; 57:12-13; 2 Peter 3:3-14; Revelation 3:9-10. Every one that is not of God will hate these revelations, the same way man had hated God and the things of God: but had ran after vanities such as money, cars, houses, wives, children, fame and praises of this world that will come to nought. The wide spread disasters in earthquakes, hurricane, cyclone, flood, fire, and such other disasters ravaging the world today are signs, and infact a token of what awaits the present sinful world, of which you are supposed to escape through these revelations.

 

Again, Apostle John confirms that those who are of God – those that are of humble spirit and those that are of contrite heart will not only hear, but will also receive and rejoice in them. Thus: “He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” – John 8:47; 15: 18-19. These mysteries are the truth and the two edged sword of which one edge is the truth that will save those that believe/receive it, while the other edge is the truth which men perverted, turning it into lie – which is the wrath of God that will destroy those who believe not the truth – Isaiah 13:9; Romans 9: 22; 1Peter 2:6-10; Jude 1:4-8.

 

Apostle Paul testified concerning these mysteries, the two edged sword which is life to the believers and death to the unbelievers; viz: “For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish. To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ” – 2Corinthians 2:15-17. See also Luke 2:34; Romans 9:32-35.

 

Finally, brethren, be diligent, seek God and be married unto him; for he is your life and husband. Return unto God for in him you live and move, and have your being. Seek not earthly wealth, nor might, nor wisdom, nor fame, for all these are carnal and will soon come to nought. But he that understandeth and is married unto God is alive, and the same will dwell together with God for ever, in the kingdom which God had prepared for them that love him. To this, the LORD God admonishes: “Thus saith the LORD; let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches. But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness, in the earth, for in these things I delight, saith the LORD” – Jeremiah 9:23-24.

 

Beloved, forget not to be fruitful, for in fruitfulness you are made perfect, and have pleased the Lord. Deny not God access to his wife, because your body is the wife and glory of God, even as the woman is the wife and glory of the man – 1Corinthians 11:7.  Despise not these revelations, neither strive ye against the man, which is the temple or vessel from where God is calling out to his people, lest you fight against God and are destroyed. Knowing fully well that the revelation of the mysteries of God is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us, which are saved, it is the power of God. But the world by wisdom knew not God, but it pleased God by the foolishness of this revelation of his mysteries, to save them that believe.

 

I repeat, strive not and debate not against any of the things revealed here, rather call now with the number:   +234 806 272 5993 or write to the email address: onyebuchicharles@yahoo.com forwarding your questions for immediate answers and clarification. It is only a fool that quarrels with God, and against the truth, but the wise will always ask to be enlightened and by asking and knowing, he is made perfect – Daniel 12: 10.

 

Please note that Part Two and Three are sent only by request.

May the peace of the Lord be with every one that trusted in God, Amen!

 

 

 

 

CHARLES ONYEBUCHI ONYENWE

(Matthew 11:25; 1Corinthians 1:26-28; James 2:5; Isaiah 66:2; 57:15.)

 

 

Phone no: +234 806 272 5993

Email: onyebuchicharles@yahoo.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

MY NAMES ARE CHARLES ONYEBUCHI ONYENWE.

I AM 48YRS OLD AND HAILS FROM BENDE LGA OF ABIA STATE, NIGERIA.

I AM 5ft 4in TALL AND FAIR IN COMPLEXION.

I LOVE WRITING A LOT ESPECIALLY CHRISTAIN ARTICLES THAT WILL EDIFY THE SONS OF GOD, THAT THEY MAY RETURN UNTO GOD OUR FATHER.

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why dont scientists just accept that god made and makes everything on earth?

i was watching the science channe the other day and they were just talking about that like water and something else made living things including us. but why dont they just accept that god is doing all this stuff. also that he made all this stuff?

Right why doesn't every scientist just accept that God made everything? I mean why figure out how things are? Of course, if we accept your philosophy we need to get rid of a few things to really embrace this novel philosophy, like: airplanes, TV, medical drugs, electric power, cars, modern manufactured clothes (know how to sew?), ATMs, modern manufactured beds, metered gas for warmth, oh and you wouldn't be able to ask this question since there would be no Internet. Your answer God tells us nothing and when followed leads to barbaric political regimes (been to the middle east lately?). So the next time you're sick just pray but don't use any electric power, gas for warmth, wear any modern clothes or drive in a car to see a doctor or take any new wonderful medical drug or cure that will get rid of your sickness. Stick to that all important total answer of yours that God is the answer to everything as you live like It's 300BC.

when God made you

Taylor Very

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Does anyone else agree with me when I say that Taylor Swift is not very original?

It's not that I don't like her, because I think she's a good singer, etc. But a lot of her songs have the same meanings and it's just getting old to me. Does anyone agree?

You're kidding, right? She's a product of the music industry. She may as well have been manufactured in a plant. She's just like the Mileys of this world who are created by marketing teams, rather than discovered for their talent. Anyone remember the days when artists actually had to write music, and then do the club circuit for years before moving up to the next level? Of course you don't. Because in the age of information, everybody wants it NOW. There's no patience anymore.

Yes, I'm old. Deal with it.

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