Published Monday, March 31, 2025 | | | THIS WEDNESDAY THE LABYRINTH OF THE WORLD THE PARADISE OF THE HEART WADE BURLESON TIMOTHY L. PRICE | | | Wade Burleson helped to fund this major project to update the printing of the Christian allegory written by John Amon Comenius. It was the forerunner of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, written about fifty years later.
Both books had a major impact on the literature of Western Civilization.
The United Nations awards an annual prize for progress in science and education and names the award after Comenius.
Wade will interview publisher and author Timothy Price for a look at how Christianity has shaped culture and its importance in the development of society. ____________ | | ALSO! Former President of Blue Bell Ice Cream Ricky Dickson Will sing "Arise" | | | Come and be a part of building an informed Oklahoma! | | Bring your family and friends Wednesday Bring your pastor and buy his lunch! Send this Newsletter to another here. Lunch is optional for $10
Doors Open 11 AM Meeting Noon to 1:15 PM
OKLAHOMA HISTORY CENTER 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, OKC, OK
$5 ENTRY FEE Tax-deductible donations accepted at door. | | SEE YOU AT THE WEDNESDAY LUNCHEON | | | BOB LINN Setting the World on a Godly Trajectory | | I closed last week’s comments by stating that the university is the fountainhead of society. Indeed, we are all significantly formed through secondary education which is largely defined by higher education.
This week, we host two men who have revitalized the Christian message of John Amos Comenius. Three hundred years ago, Comenius challenged statesmen around the world with the idea that society’s problems flowed from the reprehensible way in which children were educated.
With the financial assistance and leadership of Wade Burleson, a partnership was formed with visionary publisher and author Timothy Price. | | The two men combined to present the 21st century with a fresh look at the preeminent work Comenius left to the world:
The Labyrinth of the World The Paradise of the Heart
The allegory of Comenius was the precursor to Paul Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s progress who shared the vision of Comenius. Both men stressed the importance, for the progress of human society, of both education and religious instruction.
Comenius published his pilgrim allegory, The Labyrinth, in 1631. Bunyon published his Pilgrim’s Progress in 1678, eight years after the death of John Amos Comenius. | Like the writing of Comenius before him, Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress inspired the world and influenced the writing of C.S. Lewis, Louisa May Alcott (“Little Women”), and Charles Dickens (A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, and Great Expectations.) | | Obviously, the Spirit of God was at work through the pilgrim theme in the seventeenth century. Pilgrims got the theme going early when, in 1620, English Pilgrims made history and transfigured the world stage when they brought the Mayflower to America’s shores.
It was a voyage that would light the candle of freedom and create what Reagan often referred to as the shining city on the hill to which the nations of the world look to with hope of a better future. | | The transformation of international culture owes much to seventeenth century's allegory, literature, and the pilgrimage of Europe’s Puritan writers and Pilgrim nation builders.
Bunyon was a Puritan (Calvinist) pastor and Comenius also a Calvinist
The Labyrinth of the World is a world of the chaotic. It is inhabited by the unenlightened, the deceived, the enslaved, and those with no hope. | | That world, the labyrinth, is bridged to the Paradise of the Heart by means of the personal transformation of the citizens of a community. This done through education which unmasks the vanity of life without God.
Society blossoms into a paradise because of the restoration of the Image of God in the life of the individual. That is the point of the allegory Comenius wrote.
Dr. Joseph Needham (1900-1995) was a prominent biochemist and historian of science. Multiple national and international honors were bestowed upon him and the Needham Research Institute bears his name. | | Dr. Needham, an Englishman, devoted himself to commemorating Comenius, the Czechoslovakian genius. He served as editor of the essays which combine to fill the book praising Comenius titled The Teacher of Nations.
Dr. J.D. Bernal, Professor of Physics in the University of London, assisted in the project by writing this about Comenius, his famed allegory, and the Light of Christ:
In his great satirical work, “The Labyrinth”, Comenius exposes, as Swift was to do after him, the follies and emptiness of existing learning, and yet he hoped that, by a reformation of that learning, these follies would be replaced by a true light.
We adjure you, then; see to it that mankind is not for ever mocked by an empty superficial, and false philosophy. You must show, not only to theologians, but also to politicians, that everything must be called back to Light and Truth [Christ]. | | The symbiotic relationship of education to religion is also emphasized by John Edward Sadler, author of J.A. Comenius and the Concept of Universal Education when he comments on the allegory of The Paradise of the Heart as follows:
The paradise of the heart could not be obtained by outward means but by constant subjection of the will to the image of God. No other universal remedy can be found. Man must learn to place in preeminence above his will, like the brightly shining torch, the will of God.
Jaroslav Panek is professor in the Institute of History at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. He spoke of the need for those who aspire to the role of statesman to become familiar with the ideas of Comenius. In his book titled Comenius Teacher of Nations, he writes:
However, contemporary politicians lack the intellectual and moral qualifications for mastering the extremely exacting art of guiding society and at the same time respecting human freedom.
Comenius addressed both church and state. Societies need leaders, statesmen, in order to prosper. And, a people make positive progress only when their children are properly educated with moral and spiritual foundations. | | A statesman is a man of Godly vision and character who devotes his life to the idea of mankind as God’s emissary on the earth with the sole purpose of acting as God’s vice regent to encourage the image of God in mankind and the image of God in society and all of man’s works.
Statesmanship is the fountainhead of society. May we see Godly leaders fill our pulpits, our helms of government, and our classrooms.
Come see us Wednesday as we explore this topic. Bring your pastor, your family, and especially, your children! | | SEE US THIS WEDNESDAY SEND THIS NEWSLETTER TO A FRIEND HERE. | | OUR FIRST NIGHT MEETING THIS YEAR | | THE OKLAHOMA HISTORY CENTER Tuesday Night APRIL 15 7 PM to 8:15 PM $10 Entry Also: Special Guests! | | OUR PREVIOUS MEETING
EDUARDO BOLSONARO BRAZILIAN CONGRESSMAN | | Watch the presentation here.
Watch all the meeting here. | | Senator Shane Jett and Bob Linn on flight with Congressman Bolsonaro | | SENATOR SHANE JETT SPEAKS OF HIS CONNECTIONS WITH BRAZIL AND INTRODUCES EDUARDO BOLSONARO | | MEETINGS WITH GOVERNOR KEVIN STITT STATE TREASURER TODD RUSS SENATORS AND OTHER "VIPs" | | SINCE THE COMMUNISTS OUSTED BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT JAIR BOLSONARO, THE BOLSONARO FAMILY IS AT RISK.
WE PRAY FOR EDUARDO | | ALSO SPEAKING: DR LAUREN SCHWARTZ | | Watch the presentation here.
Watch all the meeting here. | Dr. Schwartz is on the national leadership team of medical doctors who in 2024 debunked the propaganda of the LGBTQ. Dr. Schwartz did an amazing job at presenting the research. | | Join us this week at the THE OKLAHOMA HISTORY CENTER THIS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5 Doors open 11 AM Meeting begins at noon. | | I encourage each of you to support our mission.
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The Century Club
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Our beginning financial goals will allow us to secure the initial permanent staff positions necessary to the function of a foundation with ambitions to change the world. | | We are in desperate need of returning our nation and our state to Biblical foundations.
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