Thinking Straight in a Crooked World

Heron of Alexandria c.200 BC, was a mathematician and worker in mechanics. He was the earliest known user of steam to power an engine and a prolific writer.

Among his published works are lecture notes from courses on mathematics, physics, pneumatics, and mechanics which he taught at the Museum in Alexandria. The Pneumatica, his most famous work, describes in detail his invention of a steam-powered engine called an aeolipile. He was a serious and brilliant scientist.

Heron had an impish side to him as well. He could make toy birds sing, musical instruments which seemed to play on their own, and puppets that talked. It was his success with the latter that gave him the idea to build and dedicate a temple to the Egyptian Sun God, RA.

The Egyptians considered RA to be the creator of light; our sun was believed to be his body. To show his devotion, the King ascended steps to the temple to thank the Sun God for rising at the dawning of each new day.

Now, Heron, in addition to being “impish,” was a deceiver. With his knowledge of steam -powered engines, he set about to deceive the entire nation of Egypt, and succeeded quite well.

When the King commissioned him to design and build a special temple for the Sun God, he constructed a series of lines, pulleys and wheels, connecting it to a steam engine hidden from sight below. When the temple was completed, The Day of Dedication was set and great crowds came to worship at this new shrine to their God, RA.

Unknown to the King who ascended the stairs that morning, the door of the temple was rigged to open just as the sun came over the horizon. Then the steam-powered idol would mechanically rise from its seat to face the King and the audience. In other words, Heron had cleverly staged a “miracle.”

Just how the King reacted to this spectacle on that first morning, or how long Heron was able to fool the populace before he was found out, has apparently been lost to antiquity. But we do know he pulled it off for a good long time. He was able to do this because knowledge of steam power was unknown at that time in history. To all who saw it, it seemed to be miraculous.

Today, I believe, we live in an age of technology that makes it easier to be deceived than that in which Heron lived. Not only can photos be cleverly altered to show scenes which never took place, but with the digital capabilities of computers and graphics, people and places which never existed can be made to seem real.

II Tim. 3:13 warns us that imposters will grow worse and worse in our day. Modern technology, such as the Internet is used to deceive, yet we must depend upon it for information. Deception can be deadly: scams abound and people lie in order to fulfill their greed and lust. Just how does the Christian protect himself from the evils of deception-- particularly in the area of our Faith? More and more we are under attack for our trust in the Scriptures and the One who wrote them.

Fortunately for us, we have not been left without enlightment. The Bible relates hundreds of instances in which people were destroyed because they believed in a person, a principle or a promise that was a lie.

In the matters of Faith, our Lord warns us about false Christs who will come in His name to deceive us. The 20th chapter of Revelation gives a peek into the last days when millions will go to their eternal doom because they were fooled by Satan. Shouldn’t we study these Scripture passages and learn their lessons well?

As followers of Christ, the Apostle Paul lovingly writes to us “that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head -- Christ.” (Eph. 4:14)

Evelyn R. Smith

©1999 Bible Center Church

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