Mary Believed In The Virgin Birth
Mary also was a godly person and knew the laws of her day. She knew that as soon as adultery was known women were carried to the priest, condemned, and executed immediately. She knew if a priest knew she was pregnant the baby would be aborted and her along with it. A modest, virtuous young woman would have tried to hide her pregnancy. However, the first thing she did was visit her cousin Elizabeth and tell her. Who was the husband of Elizabeth? Zacharias, the officiating priest. Custom would have mandated Elizabeth telling Zacharias.
In Israel there were more than 20,000 priests. There were 24 courses of priests and each had approximately 800 priests. Zacharias was in course number eight. Notice, God’s timing. It was time for course number eight to serve. Now out of these 800 priests one would be chosen “by lot, ” that’s like drawing straws, to burn incense “in the Holy of Hollies” (Luke 1: 9). Zacharias was the one chosen. That was more than coincidental.
In the solitude of the Holy of Hollies an angel of the Lord appeared to Zacharias and told him of the forthcoming birth of his own son, who was to become known as John the Baptist, as well as the birth of Jesus Christ. That convinced him Mary was telling the truth and restrained him from seeking her execution.
Such unashamed, open sharing with the family of the priest shows no guilt on Mary’s behalf. This bold visit indicates her awareness of the prophecy by Isaiah and that she was the one in whom it was being fulfilled.
Mary believed the angel messenger and even while knowing and accepting the consequence of the law of her day said, “Be it unto me according to the will of the Lord.”
Mary believed the Word of God. She had no guilt but did have her before the counsel, and they shall stone her with stones till she die; and thus shall be put out sin among the people.”
Joseph being a just man would have been compelled to do this if he had not believed Mary’s conception to have been a miracle of the Lord.
Mary believed the angel messenger and even while knowing and accepting the consequence of the law of her day said, “Be it unto me according to the will of the Lord.”
Mary believed the Word of God. She had no guilt but did have great joy. She sang, “My soul doth magnify the Lord …”
Consider Mary at Calvary. The essence of the collective mood was: “We have a law and by our law He ought to die, because being great joy. She sang, “My soul doth magnify the Lord …”
Consider Mary at Calvary. The essence of the collective mood was: “We have a law and by our law He ought to die, because being a man, He said He was the Son of God.”
What an ache there must have been in the heart of Mary. She stood there tortured by the accusation against her child, Jesus. She knew He was guilty as charged. He was the Son of God. If he were not and Mary were a decent mother, she would have spared Him the agony of the cross and confessed her charade and acknowledged the virgin birth to be a fraud. She was mute because she knew the charge was true. He was the Messiah.
Joseph Believed In The Virgin Conception Of Jesus Christ
Matthew 1: 18 & 20 notes a distinctive custom of that day. Mary and Joseph are described as being “betrothed” and also as husband and “wife.” That sounds confusing to us; but when their customs are understood, it is comprehendible.
Parents arranged marriages. A legal contract was signed. The period of betrothal lasted a year. During this time they were legally married but continued to live with their parents. They never saw one another except in the presence of a certified chaperon. Though the period was called “a time of engagement,” the couple was called husband and wife.
Since the contract was legal and binding, only one thing could break it — adultery. If the child conceived by Mary was not miraculously conceived, Mary was guilty of adultery and subject to the laws pertaining to it.
To understand Joseph notes in verse 19 he is said to be a “just man.” This is an expression meaning he wanted to please God in all he did. He was a righteous man of principles. If Mary were thought to be an adulteress by Joseph his righteousness would have compelled him to comply with the law of the day. This would have called upon him to have filed charges against Mary.
According to the Mishnah Joseph would have filed charges against her with the rabbinical court known as the Beth Din. Found guilty the law required the woman be brought to the Eastern Gate where a priest would remove her jewelry and tear off her clothes. An ugly black robe would be placed on the adulteress and tied with a rope. The purpose was “to disgrace her” and forewarn all other women of such humiliation awaiting any adulteress. This was done “…that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness” (Sotah 1: 6).
Jewish law furthermore said, “If a virgin espoused to a man is found to be with child, he shall denounce her before the counsel, and they shall stone her with stones till she die; and thus shall be put out sin from among the people.”
Joseph being a just man would have been compelled to do this if he had not believed Mary’s conception to have been a miracle of the Lord.
As a just man, he knew Scripture. Doubtless the Lord called to his memory the words of the prophet Isaiah in the 7:14 of his writing: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”
The one man in all of history who had the most at stake believed in the virgin birth. He believed not only Mary, but God’s Word. He knew that in Mary the prophecy had come true.
For a moment he wavered and considered a private divorce which would have been permissible. However, a visit from an angel convinced him. The angel said call the child’s name “Yeshua,” “Jesus,” which means “Jehovah saves.” This divine naming did much to convince Joseph of the virgin birth.
He knew the Christ child was no “mamser,” illegitimate, but was Messiah.
Virgin Birth
MATTHEW 1: 18 – 25
JESUS CHRIST came to earth to reveal and rescue. He came to rescue us from sin. He came to do this by revealing the love of God.
In Rome, Italy, one of the most interesting palaces is the Rospigliosi Palace. On the domed ceiling is the painting by Guido Reni entitled the “Aurora.” Looking up at the fresco one’s neck grows stiff and vision becomes blurred. To enable visitors to see and appreciate the painting a large mirror has been placed on the floor surrounded by a rail. Persons can look in the mirror and see the work clearly. Jesus Christ, is the mirror-image of God the Father. He came to earth to give us occasion to glimpse what God is like. For that to be achieved the virgin birth was essential.
JESUS CHRIST was born of a virgin.
“Oh, come on. You have got to be kidding. No way,” says the skeptic. Anybody who knows anything about nature knows that is impossible. “Absurd, inconceivable, impossible, unthinkable, and preposterous,” says the cynic. Anybody who knows ANYTHING about nature knows that is a ridiculous idea. Yes, but anybody who knows anything about nature’s God knows that with Him nothing is impossible.
He who made the laws of nature did not make them as a straight-jacket to restrain Himself but as guidelines for us.
Anybody knows anything about man knows he can’t fly. Nature’s laws of gravity and inertia keep him land-bound. Well they did until higher laws of nature called aerodynamics known only to a limited few were applied and now man flies into outer space at over 25,000 miles per hour.
Everybody knows there are certain laws of nature governing particular diseases. These diseases are fatal. Fatal, that is until a person of medicine comes along and applies a higher law of nature in the form of proper medication and the life is spared.
Anybody who knows anything about biogenetic or natural procuration knows a virgin can’t conceive. That’s right, at least until the God who created the laws of nature comes along and in a single instance amends them as He did with a virgin named Mary.
Some persons try to explain away the marginal possibility of a virgin conceiving by natural means. In the scientific community there is a word “parthenogenesis” which describes life emerging from unfertilized eggs. “Parthenos” means “virgin” and “geneses” refers to beginning. Hence, it means virgin beginning.
Tichomiroff in 1886, was the first scientist to try artificial parthenogeneses. He developed the eggs from eggs of unfertilized silkworms.
In 1900 Morgan and Mead started the eggs of sea urchins by manipulating the various salt solutions of the sea water.
Also in 1900 Loeb accomplished the same with chemical treatment of eggs.
Fish called Shad have been produced by activating the eggs with electric current.
Some frogs have been produced by puncturing the eggs with a fine needle.
Pincus, in 1940, produced rabbits, all females, through chemical and temperature effects on the ova.
All of these attempts to explain or explain away the virgin birth by biological logic are futile. Even if it were possible from a natural vantage point, it would still be impossible for Jesus to have been born as a consequence. The science of genetics has demonstrated that mammals have two “X” chromosomes in the female and one “X” in the male, but the male also has a “Y” chromosome. Thus, when an unfertilized egg cell were to duplicate itself in response to some artificial stimulation the result would always be female.
Jesus Christ’s conception was miraculous.
I believe it because of who believed it at the time.
Why I Am Not A Calvinist
By NORMAN L. GEISLER
(These are notes I made listening to Dr. Geisler. I have augmented them slightly.)
There were two lines in heaven, one marked PREDESTINED and the other FREE WILL.
A man got in the one marked PREDESTINATION and was why are you here. He said I got here because I chose to be here. They told him he belonged in the other line.
When he got to the head of the FREE WILL line they asked why he was there and he said they told me I was predestined to be there.
The acrostic regarding the five points of Calvinism are called T-U-L-I-P. The modern day doctrine was started in the Netherlands where tulips grow freely. The points are:
TOTAL DEPRAVITY
UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION
LIMITED ATONEMENT
IRRESISTIBLE GRACE
PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS
I. TOTAL DEPRAVITY
Calvinists believe man is so totally depraved he no longer has the capacity to comprehend God’s grace. As a result man can’t believe and be saved. Therefore, they believe God has to regenerate them, that is save them and give them a new nature, with which they can believe. Regeneration means to give a dead person life. For them regeneration precedes faith.
How is “dead” to be understood? It either means separation or annihilation. Calvinists interpret it to mean annihilation. Correctly understood it means separation. Adam and Eve are examples. Genesis 3:3 God said that in the day they would eat of the tree in the midst of the garden they would “surely die.” They did not die physically, but they were separated from God, dead to the truth. The image of God was still in them. It was effaced, but not erased.
Unsaved people, that is those who have not been regenerated can know the truth. Romans 1: 19 says they can see and understand the things of God. I Corinthians 1: 14 notes they can perceive the truth of God and still not believe the truth.
Ephesians 2: 1 is their basis for this belief. “You He has made alive who were dead in trespasses.” The death spoken of was spiritual not physical. Ephesians 2: 8 says, “For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God.” In this text faith comes before salvation. Romans 5:1 confirms this. “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with Go through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
II. UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION
Calvinists believe election is unconditional on God’s part. There is no condition for Him giving it. There is no condition for receiving it. It is given by grace. They believe you don’t have to believe to receive. God gives salvation regardless of what a person believes. After receiving His regeneration then the person believes. Extreme Calvinists believe God chooses who will believe. In reality God chooses them because He foreknows who will believe. I Peter 1: 2 “…elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father….” Romans 8: 29 “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son….” To foreknow does not mean to make to happen.
Suppose a person is sitting on a mountain side from which he can see running along another mountain a roadway. From his vantage point he can see just around a curve in the road a bridge out. He can see a car speeding down the road. He knows that traveling at that speed the car will go off the bridge. He foreknows it, but he does not make it happen. The fact God foreknows something does not mean He makes it happen.
Texts often referred to are: Ephesians 1: 3,5 “Blessed be the Lord God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ…. having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ.”
“Predestination” means predetermined destiny. The Greek word translated predestination is “proorizo.” It was a surveyors term which meant to mark out a boundary. For example years ago surveyors marked out a boundary and decided all within that territory would be called Georgia and/or Georgians. Spiritually before the dawn of creation God marked off a boundary and predetermined all within that boundary would be saved. The boundary is defined in Ephesians 1 as being “in Him” (vs. 4, 7,10) and “in Christ” (vs. 10). “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the sons of God” (John 1:12).
We believe and they we receive. Salvation does not come out of our will, but it comes through our will. To God be the glory. If a person gives another $1,000 the giver gets the credit. We receive salvation, but it is given us. We, the receiver, the beggar, God is the giver deserving all the glory.
III. LIMITED ATONEMENT
Calvinists believe Christ did not die for all men, He died only for the elect. That is in conflict with many Scriptures.
“God so loved the world….” John 3:16 “Christ died for the ungodly” Romans 5:6 That includes everyone for “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 “…One died for all…” II Cor. 5:14 Calvinists interpret “all” and the “world” to mean all the elect of the world only. All, all means is “all,” the whole world, everybody. “…God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” I Timothy 2: 3,4 It does not say “some.” Hebrews 2: 9 “…that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for “everyone.” “The Lord is not slack concerning His promises, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” II Peter 3:9
John 1:29 “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.! “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” I John 2:2 Calvinists interpret this to mean the Christian world. I John 2: 16 defines the world as something more that the Christian world: “For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father, but is of the world.” I John 4:8 “God is love.” is nature being love, He must love all people. He is pictured a being all loving. Therefore, God does not love just the elect.
Imagine a farmer has a large pond around which there is a fence with such signs as: “No Trespassing,” “Stay out,” “Danger, Keep Out.” One day he drives by on his tractor and saw three boys in the pond in danger of drowning. Three responses are possible. H e might say, “I warned them. They are getting what they deserve.” Is this a loving person? He could have lassoed one and call out, “You in the blue shirt, I am throwing you a rope I going to save you.” The other two he willingly leaves to drown. Is this a loving person? He could throw all three a rope. One accept and the other two decide they can do it themselves. Each of the two determine on their own free will if he will grasp it and be saved.
IV. IRRESISTIBLE GRACE
Calvinists believe God is all powerful and can save anybody, even against their will. However, He chooses to use His power to save only those He chooses to save. If the choice is God’s and He is all loving He must love everyone. In Matthew 23: 37 Jesus is depicted as saying of Jerusalem “I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.” Love will not force them to love Him against their will. Forced love isn’t love. God works persuasively, but not forcefully. Either a person says, “Thy, will be done O God” or God says, “Thy will be done.” He will not force anyone against their will.
The grace of God can be resisted. Acts 7: 51 describes persons who resist God’s grace as “stiff-necked” saying, “You always resist the Holy Spirit.” Romans 9 poses several questions. It notes God loved Jacob and hated Esau. God did not hate Esau in the sense of cursing him or deliberately being hostile to him personally without cause. Esau was a blessed man (Gen. 39: 9 & 36: 1 – 42).
In his letter to the church in Rome (9: 13) Paul quoted a passage from Malachi (1: 2, 3).
In these texts the word “hate” is used hyperbolically, that is in an exaggerated sense, as it is in other Bible passages. It is used in a relative sense such as when Jesus said we are to “hate” our father and mother. In using it in a relative sense, He was saying compared to the love for God our love for our parents is as though it were hate. This does not discourage love for parents, but it encourages stronger love for God.
“Hate” as used in the case of Jacob and Esau is not used in a positive sense, but in a relative sense to simply express a strong preference for the conduct of Jacob. It was a result of moral resentment. God has a strong distaste and disgust for sin. Therefore, He disapproved of the sin of Esau. If God had acted otherwise He would have been acting contrary to His very own holy nature.
Based on Romans 9: 10-13 some have concluded God loved Esau and hated Jacob before their births. Not so. It is logical that God should have responded negatively to Jacob as a result on his sins. God did not, and does not, arbitrarily, capriciously, temperamentally, or impulsively make any judgment contrary to traits of His character, some of which are: love, grace, knowledge, and mercy.
God’s perspective is different from ours. He knows things we can never know. In His foreknowledge He knew what the mind set of the two would be. He did not make them chose as they did, but He knew what they would choose. God’s “hate” toward Esau did not cause Esau’s conduct, Esau’s conduct caused God’s aversion to him because of his own willful mind and heart set of“hate” God preceded God’s”hate” for Him and was the consequence of Esau’s free willed hate not the cause of his “hate.” Esau hated God and the kind of hate he had is a sin. God has a form of hate that is righteous indignation which causes Him to “hate” sin. Esau having hated God it was inevitable that God must hate him because of the unrepentant sin in his life or be untrue to His holy and just nature.
God, in His foreknowledge, knew before their births Jacob would love Him and Esau “hate” Him. He did not dictate that Jacob would love Him and Esau hate Him, but He knew each would respond as they did. The fact He foreknew does not mean He made them act as they did. The term “hated” is a relative term meaning, “loved less.” It is the term used to in Genesis 29: 30, 31 to describe Jacob as loving Rachel, but he loved Leah less. Why did God love Jacob more and Esau less? Because He foreknew Esau’s evil deeds. The same sun that melts wax hardens clay. He loved them both.
V. PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS
For the Calvinist the only way a person knows they are saved is to die. If you are one of the elect you will hold out. “I know whom I have believed and that He is able to keep that which I have committed….” II Tim. 1:2
GOD IS LOVE, GOD LOVES ALL, CHRIST DIED FOR ALL
Nelson Price
Our Visit To Antarctica
We just returned from the beautiful black and white frozen world of Antarctica. We sailed from Valparaiso, Chile aboard the Holland America ship the Zaandam. Our route took us along the coast to Chile to Ushuaia, Argentina, the southern most city on earth, our last port before departing for a week in the Antarctic. The Alacalufe people who settled the area lived nude. They stayed warm by covering themselves with whale oil.
Sailing through the Straights of Magellan our route took us through Glacier Alley and past Cape Horn. It technically isn’t a cape in that a cape is a projection of a land mass and the horn is simply the end of Horn Island. Here more seamen have died that any place on earth. In 1905 there were 105 ships lost here. At this point we passed back and forth across the dividing point where the Atlantic and the Pacific meet. Each time we crossed the captain sounded the ships horn.
The next eventful six days we glided among icebergs, some more that 150 feet in height and larger than the Zaandam. Among the abundant wildlife we saw seven varieties of whales, three vanities of seals, nine kinds of albatrosses, and seven kinds of penguins.
Our first sighting of a penguin rookery was amazing with over 5,000 pairs. Soon we saw rookeries 10,000, 100,000 and the largest 125,000 pairs. Neighbors, but set apart were Magellanic, Adelie, King, Emperors, Chinstrap, Rockhoppers, and Gentoo.
A phenomenal act of nature seldom observed occurred within a hundred yards of our ship as a pod of twelve Killer whales attacked, killed , and devoured in a feeding frenzy a baby Humpback whale estimated to weigh two tons.
We were fortunate to have on board as lecturers two world renown Antarctic authorities, both of whom had spent decades visiting and working in this frozen world. As additional sources of information twelve members of the American Palmer Station came out on Zodiac to share. America has three stations in Antarctica: Palmer, McMurdo, and South Pole.
Guy Guthridge spend 35 years with the National Science Foundation and was the engineer who oversaw the 1,000 mile ice road from McMurdo to South Pole which required four years. Also lecturing was Chris Wilson, also a long time member of the NSF with years of Polar experience who was instrumental in some of the more important biological experiments at the Pole.
In conversations with them I learned they believe in global warming. Now I do also. However, I don’t’ share their belief that it is man cause. I believe it is part of a natural cycle. The Polar Peninsula has warmed 6 degrees in the last sixty years. I asked if there was a part of the Antarctic where ice was increasing. They said it is on the east coast of the continent. The reason is the melt on the west side puts more moisture in the atmosphere that produces precipitation on the east side causing the build up. That seems more like a shift.
As a chaplain for Holland America I spoke eight times and conducted my first burial at sea on this cruise. Last year on a similar assignment we went to the northern most city of Europe in the Arctic Circle. The Bible speaks of taking the gospel to the ends of the earth and I now have done it.
As a child I was enthralled by the study of such far away places as the Straights of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Cape Horn, Drake Passage and the Antarctic. Having now been there, they comprise a vivid memory. Therein are these further thoughts.
The waters at the tip of South America where the Atlantic and Pacific oceans meet is considered the roughest in the world. The fifteen foot waves we experienced were enough for me, but no means major for the region. This coupled with the icebergs, bergies, and growlers made for excitement. To be classified as an iceberg one has to stand a minimum of 16.5 feet above the sea. A bergie is less in height, but more than three feet above water. A growler is less than three feet.
Compounding these challenges ours was the last passenger ship of the season in these waters which were already beginning to freeze over. All this made for an exhilarating voyage.
Penguins, which abound, though in some regions they are threatened by climate change, are fascinating. Not all line up and march great distances across the ice to nesting sights like the Emperor penguins in “March of the Penguins.” Some burrow in the ground and nest in seclusion. Some build their nest out of rocks.
Insights into the South Pole defied some of my preconceptions. I had never heard of the Polar Plateau. Its summit is over 9,200 feet above sea level. The South Pole does not move, but each new year the post marking its location has to be reset in that the shifting ice moves the marker about 30 feet. To actually get to the Pole requires a flight of slightly more than two hours from Ushuaia, Argentina that costs $3,000 and only one third of the flights get to make it. There is no cancellation refund.
The National Science Foundation South Pole Station houses 150 in summer and 25 in winter. Most of the year’s supply comes in on one ship each year. The staff eats well. Weather permitting staff members have an annual race around the South Pole.
The buildings are an engineering marvel. Snow drifts build up around buildings, eventually covering them. Current facilities are built on telescopic stilts which can elevate the entire facility ten feet twice, thus extending the life of the facility to over thirty years. They have to be able to stand winds up to 160 mph. The average January temperature is minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit though it gets much colder. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Antarctica was -128.6 F at Russia’s Vostok Station, July 21, 1983.
Staff members have a gym, library, spacious dining hall, extensive kitchen, and very nice living quarters.
All waste matter is removed from Antarctica, even the rinse water from washing the dishes. Over five million tons a year come out to California to be recycled. Almost all food comes by boat. Ships entering polar waters have to use a special light weight diesel in the event there is a leak. No heavy fuels can be on board.
Thirty nations are active signatories of the Antarctic Treaty. Serving as chaplain on a Holland America cruise to Antarctica, I have had the good fortune of conversations with some of the foremost scientists conducting experiments there. Their dedication to their isolation is admirable. Many conclude that when the Lord made “heaven and earth and the sea” He did a masterful job. Our visit to Antarctica leads to the same conclusion.
Our recent visit to Antarctica provided insight into a frozen world. The beauty and distinctive character of the terrain kept our minds off the challenge of navigating the area. There were days our ship had to reverse and reroute due to ice having closed the intended channel. At other times we changed course because winds in the intended channel were to strong. It was a learning experience like few others. Some little know facts about Antarctica are:
The Ice Fish has no hemoglobin. It has antifreeze instead, thus it can live in these cold waters.
The animal with the largest brain of any on earth, the sperm whale, lives here. Its brain weighs approximately 20 pounds. It is also the deepest diving of all whales with the capacity of diving 3,300 feet.
There are sub-surface mountains, lakes and rivers in Antarctica.
Two-thirds of the ammonia in earth’s atmosphere is produced by penguins.
The shoreline of many of the islands and parts of the continent gives the appearance the water line has dropped many feet. The opposite is true. The melting on the large glaciers that once covered many areas has melted and the removal of the weight has caused the land mass to rise.
The marker noting the exact South Pole moves about thirty feet per year as a result of the shifting ice and has to be returned to the true Pole center each new year.
October 31, 1956 the first airplane landed at the South Pole.
Lockheed specially equipped C-130s and C-17s provide the primary survival links to the outside world. They are equipped with a unique landing gear and sleds instead of wheels. After parking on the ice for a while if the ice is seen to be sagging, they are relocated.
Workers stationed at the Pole have an annual race around the Pole. They celebrate all holidays and weather permitting play ice games outdoors at times.
Women constitute thirty percent of workers at the South Pole.
Antarctica once had plant and animal life. Fossils are found at scattered sights.
Cape Horn isn’t really a horn. A “horn” is defined as a projection of land and the mountain called Cape Horn is merely the end of Horn Island. Early sailors misnamed it cape.
The classic poem “Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner” was inspired by the waters around the Horn.
The polar plateau is 9,200 feet in height.
Antarctica constitutes 90 percent of earth’s natural ice. Less than one percent of the continent is ice free. At one point the ice is one and one-half miles thick.
At times it is so cold that if boiling water is thrown in the air it vaporizes.
A compass at the South Pole shows only north, there is no east and west.. Planes have to navigate by coordinates.
In 1978 the first human baby known to be born in Antarctica arrived.
Inability to get out of Antarctica during one hard winter resulted in the resident doctor removing his own appendix with the aid of mirrors.
Some ice is blue and some pink. Age, size, and weight filter out certain light wave links causing this phenomenon.
Antarctica displays the grandeur of the Creator’s capacity to ice sculpture.
The renowned seaman Earnest Shackelford, who sailed these seas, said Antarctica reveals the soul of man. It also displays the grandeur of the Creators capacity to ice sculpture.