Wonders to Behold : The Visionary Art of Myrtice West [Hardcover]

Carol Crown (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1999

Wonders to Behold examines West's extraordinary artistic achievement by featuring an essay on each of her Revelations paintings by noted writers, art scholars, and artists.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Myrtice West's remarkable painting satisfies intellectually as well as spiritually and aesthetically." -- Roger Manley

It transcends museum catalog constraints and hovers within the conceptualized realm that is all things visionary... -- Independent Publisher

This is not a picture book with a few lightweight essays. It is major league. -- Folk Art Finder

ÒSumptuously illustrated, ÔWonders to BeholdÕ captures the artistic genius of Myrtice West.Ó -- The Bookwatch

About the Author

Carol Crown, Editor

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Mustang Publishing; 1st edition (November 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0914457993
• ISBN-13: 978-0914457992
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 11.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #223,706 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book on fascinating artist, November 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Wonders to Behold : The Visionary Art of Myrtice West (Hardcover)

Myrtice West is a remarkable outsider artist, and this is a magnificent book on her life and art. Great color, perceptive writing. My favorite art book of the year so far.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, November 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Wonders to Behold : The Visionary Art of Myrtice West (Hardcover)

Beautiful, intelligent book. Well worth the price

5.0 out of 5 stars Revelations series MYSTERY BABYLON, November 1, 2005

By 

D. Soberal "Read! revelations 17" (Toronto) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wonders to Behold : The Visionary Art of Myrtice West (Hardcover)

The following excerpts were written in 1998
and published in 1999
in
Wonders to Behold: The Visionary Art of Myrtice West
Mustang Publishing, Memphis, TN
Edited by Carol Crown

excerpts from chapter 10
"Mother of Harlots"
by Norbert H. Kox


...the rise and fall of the Antichrist's beast-system of the great harlot. ...symbolic descriptions given in Chapters 17 and 18 of the Apocalypse or book of Revelation in the Bible.

BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH-as described in Revelation, Proverbs, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel-is a dual prophecy of both false religion and a corrupt political system. Some of the Old Testament references to Babylon have a double fulfillment: one in ancient Babylon, the other in a mysterious Babylon of the end time. All of the New Testament prophecies of Babylon refer to this secret or mysterious end-time Babylon, not the original Babylon that fell long ago.

...the apostle John...receiving from an angel the vision concerning "the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters" (Revelation 17: 1). He sees her being burned with fire by the ten horns that hate her (Revelation 17: 16). ...

In the foreground [of Myrtice West's Mother of Harlots painting], the child and the lambs represent Yahweh's true followers. They are separated from the waters of the beast, and receive not its mark, neither its name, nor "the number of his name" (Revelation 13: 17). At top center, an angel is announcing the coming of Christ. ... West depicts Christ, saving the lost sheep and pronouncing judgment on the great harlot of Babylon. He is directing the angel in front of him to cast a great millstone into the sea, as an illustration of the violence with which Babylon the Great shall be "thrown down" (Revelation 18: 21).

West's familiar visual interpretation of Christ relates to the traditional image conceived by medieval artists during the Dark Ages. It was popularized by the artists of the Renaissance, and, although consistent with Roman Catholic theology, this depiction does have discrepancies with biblical and historical evidence. These portraits of Christ derive from actual artists' models, who posed in the long-haired style of their time. The earliest portrayals of Yesu Christ depict him with short hair, which was the style of men in the first century. Yesu (Iesu [yay-soo]: name of Christ in biblical languages and English prior to the 17th century) did not have long hair: the Bible says it is "a shame" for a man to have long hair (1 Corinthians
11: 14).

... Revelation 17: 18 identifies as "that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth." Many biblical scholars see within the harlot a dual prophecy concerning both political and religious fulfillments. In the prophetic fulfillment of political or secular Babylon, New York-the original capital of the United States-is the "great city." The United Nations is headquartered in New York City. The Greek New Testament rendering for "reigneth over" is basileian epi, meaning "kingdom superimposed." The harlot is the great city "having a kingdom superimposed on the kings of the earth." The troops and policies of the United States and United Nations are superimposed on virtually all the nations and kings of the world. Thus, New York, representing the United States, is that great city which reigns over the kingdoms of the earth.

The Vatican City fits the prophetic fulfillment of religious Babylon. This was more easily seen in the time of the Inquisition, when the Roman Catholic Church forced its kingdom upon all the kings of the earth. Resisters, so-called heretics, were imprisoned and often executed, their properties confiscated by the ecclesiastical hierarchy. "In her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth" (Revelation 18: 24). In light of these dual prophetic fulfillments, the judgment of the Mother of Harlots may be the destruction of New York (and possibly the United States) as well as the destruction of the Vatican.

On the harlot's forehead was written the name "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS THE EARTH" (Revelatoin 17: 5). Mystery Babylon?! What is a mystery? This word is translated from the Greek word mysterion, which means "secret." This verse should read, "SECRET BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS [i.e., pornography] AND DISGUSTING CONDUCT OF THE EARTH." Here we are told that Babylon is secret; its true identity is not recognized by the masses.

Many modern preachers and scholars have been side-tracked into looking for the fulfillment of end-time Babylon prophecies in the geographical area located at the head of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Iraq, where the first Babylon was situated. Because some Bible scholars believe the prophecy requires the rebuilding of Babylon, many preachers were enthralled with Saddam Hussein's claim to be Nebuchadnezzar III [c.1984] and his attempt to rebuild the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. They even thought that thwarting Saddam Hussein's plans [with Desert Storm, 1991] could delay the appearance of Antichrist.

These end-time exponents would not have been deceived had they considered the following points: First, regardless of how magnificent the rebuilt Babylon may be, it can never fit the description presented in the Bible of the greatest secular nation and the greatest merchant in the world (Revelation 18: 10-19). New York City is the world's greatest port, and the United States fulfils every aspect of this prophecy. Second, the Roman Catholic Church has long been associated with this scripture by Protestant preachers, who have identified the Catholic Church as being the spiritual or religious Babylon. FinaIly, if the city is called Babylon, is on the old site of Babylon, and looks like old Babylon, it is not a secret; thus, its name cannot be "MYSTERY [SECRET] BABYLON THE GREAT."

One of the seven heads of the beast of Revelation was wounded to death by the sword but did live. It is the resurrected beast of the bottomless pit. Scripture says he is the eighth beast and yet is of the seven. Most biblical scholars see the succession of the seven heads or kingdoms (world powers) as the Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian, Roman, and revived Roman (seen by some as the Holy Roman Empire and by others as the European Economic Community). This leaves an eighth head to be identified. It is called the eighth head but is of the seven. The beast is seen with only seven heads, but one head received the death blow by the sword and is later resurrected as an eighth world power.

Of the world powers mentioned, which one received a wound or death blow by the sword? The answer is Babylon. The fall of Babylon was prophesied in the word of God (Jeremiah 25: 11-12). On the night of destiny, part of a man's hand (the fingers) sent by God wrote these words upon the wall:
"ME-NE, ME-NE, TE-KEL, UPHAR-SIN" (Daniel 5: 25). ME-NE was interpreted by Daniel as "God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it." Babylon was to receive a double judgment and a double destruction: one for ancient Babylon and one for modern Babylon: ME-NE, ME-NE. The sentence was pronounced by the word of God. Scripture tells us "the sword of the Spirit...is the word of God" (Ephesians 6: 17). Thus, Babylon received a wound by the sword and was put to death or destroyed by Yahweh's word.

Babylon was conquered by Cyrus when he diverted the Euphrates River and marched his armies on the dry riverbed through the open floodgates and into the city, as prophesied in Scripture (Isaiah 44: 27; 45: 1). Then he set the Judeans free from their seventy-year Babylonian captivity to return and rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. This happened in 537 B.C. It had all been prophesied, right down to Cyrus' name (Jeremiah 25: 11-12; 29: 10; Isaiah 44: 26-28). Ancient Babylon was wounded to death by the sword of the Spirit. The resurrected, end-time Babylon described in Revelation is the eighth world power but also one of the seven heads of the beast. The final resurrected Babel exhibits the characteristics of the first Babylon.

Appearing on the reverse of the great seal of the United States are the Latin words Annuit Coeptis, Novus Ordo Seclorum, meaning "Our Under takings have been Favored, The New World Order," [translation was changed by editor; it should be: "Announcing the Birth of the New World Order" click] and the depiction of a pyramid (see the reverse of a one-dollar bill). The original seal had a ziggurat or tower of Babel. [1. See Robert R. Hieronimus, America's Secret Destiny: Spiritual Vision and the Founding of a Nation (Rochester, Vt: Destiny Books, 1989), and John H. Allen, Judah's Scepter and Joseph's Birthright, 7th ed. (Boston, Mass.: A. A. Beauchamp, 1922).] The U.S. thus proclaimed itself to be the final world order, a Babylon tower-builder and the extension of ancient Babylon.

The front side of the seal has the words E Pluribus Unum: "Out of Many, One." At the building of the original ziggurat of Babylon, all of the earth had one universal language (Genesis 11: 1). This one-world empire was in opposition to Yahweh's plan for humanity to be spread out over the earth. God confounded their language to accomplish his will (Genesis 11: 7 8). He had to break up the "one-worlders," for it was not yet time that the beast should arise. By giving them many languages, God caused them to break into groups and separate themselves from one another. The union was split. The people became many out of one. In the end-time Mystery Babylon, this process is reversed. The people once again unite, this time under the English language, and become one out of many:... Read more ›