Sodom and Gomorrah – Brimstone to Damnation

[PINNAZ]

Here is a crackpot thread that will probably not explain much but confuse you. It's not really a theory, more of an observation of articles I've been reading. This has various religious aspects, so please no flaming or disrespect.

I haven't made a thread for awhile, so thought I would share this. There are many different articles & stories in which I could include, if this starts to make sense later on in the story I may update this.

An interesting link is the relation to the Tower of Babel & Sodom and Gomorrah.

Enjoy....

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On the wall of Kino der Toten is writing "Brimstone to Damnation". This may only reference the fire trap that is in the IOS Version? or it may just be implying the Apocalyptic state in which the world is after the moon side quest.

But looking further into the meaning of "Mend the Rift" in Black Ops II, you can find that these two statements can go hand in hand.

Sodom and Gomorrah – Brimstone to Damnation

 

Brimstone - brim·stone

1. Sulfur.

2.

a. Damnation to hell.

Sulphur, Sulfur

Sulfur or sulphur (British English) is a chemical element with symbol S and atomic number 16. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow crystalline solid when at room temperature. Chemically, sulfur can react as either an oxidant or reducing agent. It oxidizes most metals and several nonmetals, including carbon, which leads to its negative charge in most organosulfur compounds, but it reduces several strong oxidants, such as oxygen and fluorine.

Sulfur occurs naturally as the pure element (native sulfur) and as sulfide and sulfate minerals. Elemental sulfur crystals are commonly sought after by mineral collectors for their distinct, brightly colored polyhedron shapes. Being abundant in native form, sulfur was known in ancient times, mentioned for its uses in ancient India, ancient Greece, China and Egypt. Fumes from burning sulfur were used as fumigants, and sulfur-containing medicinal mixtures were used as balms and antiparasitics. Sulfur is referred to in the Bible as brimstone (burn stone) in English, with this name still used in several nonscientific tomes. It was needed to make the best quality of black gunpowder. In 1777, Antoine Lavoisier helped convince the scientific community that sulfur was a basic element, rather than a compound.

Being abundantly available in native form, sulfur (Latin sulphur) was known in ancient times and is referred to in the Torah (Genesis). English translations of the Bible commonly referred to burning sulfur as "brimstone", giving rise to the name of 'fire-and-brimstone' sermons, in which listeners are reminded of the fate of eternal damnation that await the unbelieving and unrepentant. It is from this part of the Bible that Hell is implied to "smell of sulfur" (likely due to its association with volcanic activity).

Sulphur, Sulfur (Chemistry / Elements & Compounds)

a. an allotropic nonmetallic element, occurring free in volcanic regions and in combined state in gypsum, pyrite, and galena. The stable yellow rhombic form converts on heating to monoclinic needles. It is used in the production of sulphuric acid, in the vulcanization of rubber, and in fungicides. Symbol: S; atomic no.: 16; atomic wt.: 32.066; valency: 2, 4, or 6; relative density: 2.07 (rhombic), 1.957 (monoclinic); melting pt.: 115.22°C (rhombic), 119.0°C (monoclinic); boiling pt.: 444.674°C Related adj thionic

b. (as modifier) sulphur springs

Atomic number 16 - an abundant tasteless odorless multivalent nonmetallic element; best known in yellow crystals; occurs in many sulphide and sulphate minerals and even in native form (especially in volcanic regions)

sulfur, sulphur, S

chemical element, element - any of the more than 100 known substances (of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matter

brimstone, native sulfur, native sulphur - an old name for sulfur

sulfide, sulphide - a compound of sulphur and some other element that is more electropositive

oil of vitriol, sulfuric acid, sulphuric acid, vitriol - (H2SO4) a highly corrosive acid made from sulfur dioxide; widely used in the chemical industry

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Damnation

Damnation - dam·na·tion (dm-nshn)

1. The act of damning or the condition of being damned.

2.

a. Condemnation to everlasting punishment; doom.

b. Everlasting punishment.

3. Failure or ruination incurred by adverse criticism.

Damnation (from Latin damnatio) is the concept of everlasting divine punishment and/or disgrace, especially the punishment for sin as threatened by God (e.g. Mark 3:29). A damned being "in damnation" is said to be either in Hell, or living in a state wherein they are divorced from Heaven and/or in a state of disgrace from God's favor. Those Christians in purgatory, the "Church Suffering", are not considered damned, because their stay there is not eternal, while people who are damned to Hell will stay there eternally.

 

In some forms of Western Christian belief, damnation to hell is what humanity deserves for its sins. Much of the time, these sins are related to those of Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis. Only through the grace of God and salvation through Jesus Christ, can one atone for their sins and escape damnation. One conception is of eternal suffering and denial of entrance to Dayum, often described in the Dayum as burning in a Lake of Fire. Another conception, derived from the scripture about Gehenna is simply that people will be discarded (burned), as being unworthy of preservation by God.

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Fire & Brimstone

 

Fire and brimstone is an idiomatic expression of signs of God's wrath in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and the New Testament. In the Bible, they often appear in reference to the fate of the unfaithful. "Brimstone," the archaic name for sulfur, evokes the acrid odor of volcanic activity. The term is also used, sometimes pejoratively, to describe a style of Christian preaching that uses vivid descriptions of judgment and eternal damnation to encourage repentance.

 

Brimstone was not only associated with the wrath of God or judgment but it was also used as a purifying agent. The Greek Orthodox would burn brimstone to ward off evil and disease. Some might state that this is why God's breath is compared with Brimstone and why brimstone is often used in carrying out divine judgment. That is, the brimstone is used to purify the land from evil.

 

The King James translation of the Bible often renders passages about fiery torments with the phrase "fire and brimstone". In Genesis 19, God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah with a rain of fire and brimstone, and in Deuteronomy 29, the Israelites are threatened with the same punishment should they abandon their covenant with God. Elsewhere, divine judgments involving fire and sulfur are prophesied against Assyria (Isaiah 30), Edom (Isaiah 34), Gog (Ezekiel 38), and all the wicked (Psalm 11).

 

As an interesting side note, the breath of God, in Isaiah 30:33, is compared to Brimstone: "The Breath of Jehovah, like a stream of Brimstone, doth kindle it."

 

Fire and brimstone frequently appear as agents of divine wrath throughout the Book of Revelation culminating in chapters 19–21, wherein the devil and the ungodly are cast into a lake of fire and brimstone as an eternal punishment:

 

"And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone" (Revelation 19:20, KJV).

 

"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever" (Revelation 20:10, KJV).

 

"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8, KJV).

 

 

Given The Holy Land lies around the Great Rift, which causes occasional volcanic activity due to continental drift, the most logical explanation for fire and brimstone is the fire and sulfur emitted by live volcanoes and the lake of fire being the caldera.

 

 

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Afterlife

 

In philosophy, religion, mythology, and fiction, the afterlife (also referred to as life after death or the Hereafter) is the concept of a realm, or the realm itself (whether physical or transcendental), in which an essential part of an individual's identity or consciousness continues to reside after the death of the body in the individual's lifetime. According to various ideas of the afterlife, the essential aspect of the individual that lives on after death may be some partial element, or the entire soul, of an individual, which carries with it and confers personal identity. Belief in an afterlife, which may be naturalistic or supernatural, is in contrast to the belief in eternal oblivion after death.

 

In some popular views, this continued existence often takes place in a spiritual realm, and in other popular views, the individual may be reborn into this world and begin the life cycle over again, likely with no memory of what they have done in the past. In this latter view, such rebirths and deaths may take place over and over again continuously until the individual gains entry to a spiritual realm or Otherworld. Major views on the afterlife derive from religion, esotericism and metaphysics.

 

Seventh-day Adventists

“The righteous will live in heaven for a thousand years (the millennium) where they will sit with God in judgment over the unredeemed and the fallen angels. During the time the redeemed are in heaven, the Earth will be devoid of human and animal inhabitation. Only the fallen angels will be left alive. The second resurrection is of the unrighteous, when Jesus brings the New Jerusalem down from heaven to relocate to Earth. Jesus will call to life all those who are unrighteous. Satan and his angels will convince the unrighteous to surround the city, but hell fire and brimstone will fall from heaven and consume them, thus cleansing Earth of all sin. The universe will be then free from sin forever. This is called the second death. On the new earth God will provide an eternal home for all the redeemed and a perfect environment for everlasting life, where Eden will be restored.”

 

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Sodom and Gomorrah

Further reading with photos & videos.

http://www.israel-a-history-of.com/sodom-and-gomorrah.html

http://www.arkdiscovery.com/sodom_&_gomorrah.htm

 

Sodom and Gomorrah were cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis and throughout the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and Deuterocanonical sources, as well as the Qur'an. According to the Torah, the kingdoms of Sodom and Gomorrah were allied with the cities of Admah, Zeboim and Bela. These five cities, also known as the "cities of the plain", were situated on the Jordan river plain in the southern region of the land of Canaan. The Jordan river plain (which corresponds to area just north of the modern day Dead Sea) has been compared to the garden of Eden,[Gen.13:10] being a land well-watered and green, suitable for grazing livestock.

 

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, John Martin, 1852.

Divine judgment by Yahweh was then passed upon Sodom and Gomorrah along with two other neighboring cities that were completely consumed by fire and brimstone. Neighboring Zoar (Bela) was the only city to be spared during that day of judgment.[Deut.29:23][Gen.10:19] In Abrahamic traditions, Sodom and Gomorrah have become synonymous with impenitent sin, and their fall with a proverbial manifestation of God's wrath

 

 

Looking for the Sites

Sodom and Gomorrah were two of five cities referred to in Scripture as the Cities of the Plain. From references to the "plain of the Jordan" (Gn 13:10), "the Valley of Siddim (the Salt Sea)" (Gn 14:3) and Abraham looking down to see the Cities of the Plain from the area of Hebron (Gn 19:28), it is clear that the cities were located in the vicinity of the Dead Sea. Since the mountains come close to the shore on both the east and west, the cities must have been located either north or south of the Dead Sea. Various commentators over the centuries have suggested locations both north and south (Mulder 1992: 101 102). The reference to "bitumen pits" in Genesis 14:10, however, tips the scale in favor of a southern location (Howard 1984). Bitumen (a natural petroleum product similar to asphalt) was commonly found in the shallow southern basin of the Dead Sea in antiquity. (Bilkadi 1984; 1994; Clapp 1936a: 901–902; 1936b: 341–342).

One popular theory, repeated yet today, is that the Cities of the Plain were located in the plain south of the Dead Sea and later covered by the waters of the southern basin, never to be seen again. The level of the Dead Sea has receded substantially in recent years, causing the southern basin to dry up. Extensive exploration and activity in the area has produced no evidence to indicate that there were ancient sites there (Rast 1987a: 193).

It wasn't until 1973 that solid archaeological evidence for locating the Cities of the Plain was found. At that time an archaeological survey of the area southeast of the Dead Sea was conducted by Walter Rast and Thomas Schaub in conjunction with their work at Bab edh-Dhra, an Early Bronze (ca. 3300–2000 BC) site on the east side of the Lisan peninsula.(3) Rast and Schaub discovered four additional sites south of Bab edh-Dhra, which they suggested might be related to the Cities of the Plain of the Old Testament (Rast and Schaub 1974). Subsequent excavations at Numeira, 13 km (8 mi) south of Bab edh-Dhra, have verified its close affinity with Bab edh-Dhra. Follow-up work at the other three sites, Safi, Feifa and Khanazir, however, has not been as rewarding.

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The Rifts

Great Document with further links

Abraham witnessed the Seismic Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah that Created the Great Rift Valley in Central Africa

Major Earthquakes and Catastrophes in the Old Testament

Dead Sea Transform

The Dead Sea Transform (DST) fault system, also sometimes referred to as the Dead Sea Rift, is a series of faults that run from the Maras Triple Junction (a junction with the East Anatolian Fault in southeastern Turkey) to the northern end of the Red Sea Rift (just offshore of the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula). The fault system runs along the boundary of two tectonic plates, the African Plate on the west and the Arabian Plate on the east. It is a left lateral transform fault, signifying the relative motions of the two plates. Both plates are moving in a general north-northeast direction, but the Arabian Plate is moving faster, resulting in the observed left lateral motions along the fault of approximately 107 km. A component of extension is also present in the southern part of the transform, which has contributed to the depression, or pull apart basin in which the Dead Sea is situated.

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Jordan Rift Valley

The Jordan Rift Valley is an elongated depression located in modern-day Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories. This geographic region includes the Jordan River, Jordan Valley, Hula Valley, Lake Tiberias and the Dead Sea, the lowest land elevation on Earth. The valley continues to the Red Sea, incorporating Arabah and the shorelines of the Gulf of Aqaba.

The plate boundary which extends through the valley is variously called the Dead Sea Transform or Dead Sea Rift. The boundary separates the Arabian plate from the African plate, connecting the divergent plate boundary in the Red Sea (the Red Sea Rift) to the East Anatolian Fault in Turkey.

The interpretation of the tectonic regime that led to the development of the Dead Sea Transform is highly contested. Some consider it as a transform fault that accommodates a 105 km northwards displacement of the Arabian plate, and trace its structural evolution to the early Miocene. Others presume that the Rift is an incipient oceanic spreading center, the northern extension of the Red Sea Rift, and the displacement along it is oblique, with approximately 10–15 km of extension in addition to the more substantial left lateral (sinistral) strike-slip. The evolution of the rift, according to this latter model, started in the late Miocene with the linear series of basins that propagated gradually along their axes to form the present rift valley. The elucidation of the nature of the Dead Sea Transform/Rift is a matter of ongoing study and discussion.

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Great Rift Valley

 

The Great Rift Valley is a name given in the late 19th century by British explorer John Walter Gregory to the continuous geographic trench, approximately 6,000 kilometres (3,700 mi) in length, that runs from northern Syria to central Mozambique in South East Africa. The name continues in some usages, although it is today considered geologically imprecise as it combines features that are today regarded as separate, although related, rift and fault systems. Today, the term is most often used to refer to the valley of the East African Rift, the divergent plate boundary which extends from the Afar Triple Junction southward across eastern Africa, and is in the process of splitting the African Plate into two new separate plates. Geologists generally refer to these incipient plates as the Nubian Plate and the Somali Plate.

 

 

The Great Rift Valley as originally described was thought to extend from Lebanon in the north to Mozambique in the south, and constitutes one of two distinct physiographic provinces of the East African mountains. It included the Jordan Rift Valley, Red Sea Rift and the East African Rift. Today these rifts and faults are seen as distinct, although connected.

 

 

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East African Rift

 

The East African Rift is an active continental rift zone that appears to be a developing divergent tectonic plate boundary in East Africa. In the past, it was considered to be part of a larger Great Rift Valley that extended north to Asia Minor. The rift is a narrow zone in which the African Plate is in the process of splitting into two new tectonic plates, called the Somali Plate and the Nubian Plate, which are subplates or protoplates.

 

A map of East Africa showing some of the historically active volcanoes (as red triangles) and the Afar Triangle (shaded at the center), which is a so-called triple junction (or triple point) where three plates are pulling away from one another: the Arabian Plate and two parts of the African Plate—the Nubian and Somali—splitting along the East African Rift Zone.

 

The East African Rift runs from the Afar Triple Junction in the Afar Depression southward through eastern Africa. It is believed to run offshore of the coast of Mozambique along the Kerimba and Lacerda rifts or grabens, terminating in the Andrew Bain Fracture Zone complex, where it is believed to have its junction with the Southwest Indian Ridge.

 

The East African Rift consists of two main branches: the Gregory Rift and the Albertine Rift. These result from the actions of numerous normal (dip-slip) faults which are typical of all tectonic rift zones. The Eastern Rift Valley includes the Main Ethiopian Rift, running eastward from the Afar Triple Junction, which continues south as the Kenyan Rift Valley. The Western Rift Valley includes the Albertine Rift, and farther south, the valley of Lake Malawi.

 

 

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Discoveries in human evolution – “Lucy”

 

The Rift Valley in East Africa has been a rich source of fossils that allow the study of human evolution.

 

Because the rapidly eroding highlands have filled the valley with sediments, a favorable environment for the preservation of remains has been created. The bones of several hominid ancestors of modern humans have been found here, including those of "Lucy", a partial, yet eye-opening australopithecine skeleton discovered by anthropologist Donald Johanson and dating back over 3 million years.

 

Lucy is the common name of AL 288-1, several hundred pieces of bone representing about 40% of the skeleton of a female Australopithecus afarensis. It was discovered in 1974 at Hadar in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia's Afar Depression. In paleoanthropology, usually only fossil fragments are found, and only rarely are skulls or ribs uncovered intact; thus this discovery was an astounding feat that provided an overwhelming amount of scientific evidence. Lucy is estimated to have lived 3.2 million years ago, and is classified as a hominin.

The skeleton shows evidence of small skull capacity akin to that of apes and of bipedal upright walk akin to that of humans, supporting the debated view that bipedalism preceded increase in brain size in human evolution.

 

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Afar Triple Junction

 

The Afar Triple Junction (also called the Afro-Arabian Rift System) is located along a divergent plate boundary dividing the Nubian, Somalian, and Arabian plates. This area is considered a present day example of continental rifting leading to seafloor spreading and producing an oceanic basin. Here, the Red Sea Rift meets the Aden Ridge and the East African Rift. It extends a total of 6500 km in three arms from the Afar Depression to Mozambique. The connecting three arms form a triple junction. The northern most branching arm extends North through the Red Sea and into the Dead Sea, while the eastern arm extends through the Gulf of Aden and connects to the Mid-Indian Ocean ridge further to the east. Both of these rifting arms are below sea level and are similar to a mid-ocean ridge. The third rifting arm runs south extending around 4000 km through the countries of Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, and finally Mozambique. This southern rifting arm is better known as the East African Rift or the East African Rift System, EARS, when it includes the Afar Triangle.

To be further updated

[InfestLithium]

Ah, it's great to see a post from you friendo. Your work always keeps me occupied for a good duration of the day.

The brimstone to damnation is an interesting concept. I always view it as some kind of metaphorical awakening to intermittent destruction or doom. You could even call it a trigger for the unspoken horror that is bound to occur eventually. Kino der Toten really emphasized this phrase and made it seem like the research and information that was left behind by Maxis is what causes our interest to reach the ultimate damnation of Earth being savaged by missiles and Richtofen into power. Perhaps this idea was not thought of at the time of making such a phrase, but it's never bad to have some kind of hypothesis handy.

Sulpher...we may uncover something of it later down the line. Or, we really haven't looked too much into it for some reason. The connection between such an element and Hell is very intriguing.

Sodom and Gomorrah remind me of Die Rise for some odd reason now that you mention it. Fire coming from above, the ground below being set ablaze as a result of it. Then again, we're trying to connect the allusion to brimstone and damnation so I am not too surprised that there is some kind of relationship there. Is this what has befallen upon us after what occurs on Moon? Damnation to all?

I will continue looking over this repeatedly. I really enjoy these kind of reads; take smaller things and broaden them into several connections where they all join back in the ending result. Just wonderful research, friendo. :)

[PINNAZ]

Rifts & Tectonic Plates.....

African Plate

The African Plate is a tectonic plate which includes the continent of Africa, as well as oceanic crust which lies between the continent and various surrounding ocean ridges.

The African Plate includes several cratons, stable blocks of old crust with deep roots in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle, and less stable terranes, which came together to form the African continent during the assembly of the supercontinent Pangea around 550 million years ago. The cratons are, from south to north, the Kalahari craton, Congo craton, Tanzania craton and West African craton. The cratons were widely separated in the past, but came together during the Pan-African orogeny and stayed together when Gondwana split up. The cratons are connected by orogenic belts, regions of highly deformed rock where the tectonic plates have engaged. The Saharan Metacraton has been tentatively identified as the remains of a craton that has become detached from the subcontinental lithospheric mantle, but alternatively may consist of a collection of unrelated crustal fragments swept together during the Pan-African orogeny.

In some areas, the cratons are covered by sedimentary basins, such as the Tindouf basin, Taoudeni basin and Congo basin, where the underlying archaic crust is overlaid by more recent Neoproterozoic sediments. The plate includes shear zones such as the Central African Shear Zone (CASZ) where, in the past, two sections of the crust were moving in opposite directions, and rifts such as the Anza trough where the crust was pulled apart, and the resulting depression filled with more modern sediment.

(I'll update this thread when I get more time)