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There are a few signs scattered around the east side of Athens-Clarke County, Georgia (USA) today that continue the legendary tradition of the University of Georgia's notorious Iron Horse.
Can the Iron Horse reveal the great mysteries of the universe? And for that matter, who has put up the signs for drivers to ponder as they drift by? Who has used the charmingly Southern-style phonetic spelling of iron ("Iorn")? And is this spelling, perhaps, a code?
While the signs might be a mystery, the tale of the horse is not. Standing proudly in a Greene County field some 18 miles south of Athens on Georgia Highway 15, the legend of the horse is visualized.
The two ton iron sculpture made headlines from the day it reared its head in front of Reed Hall on the University of Georgia campus over 50 years ago. The famed piece has been fought over, ridden and ridiculed, has had mentions in Time magazine, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Atlanta magazine, not to mention the Athens writers who've tackled the subject. A film was even made about the notorious horse in 1982 by William VanDerKloot.
In 1954, University of Georgia artist-in-residence Abbott Pattison sculpted the 12-foot horse out of metal. Welded metal sculpture was a new addition to the art world and was making one of its first appearances in the country on the UGA campus.
On the very evening that the sculpture of the Iron Horse was placed in front of Reed Hall, disgruntled students set to work with their own creative ideas for the piece. The horse was scribbled on with paint, hay was shoved into its mouth while manure was scattered on the ground behind it, and finally a mattress was placed under it and set on fire.
The artist was naturally, upset. Members of the Art Faculty pondered the situation and campus opinions were split between outrage at the students' treatment of the statue and agreement with the students' charge that it should be removed.
Never again to grace the campus, the Iron Horse was taken into hiding. Time magazine quotes Pattison as saying, "It's degrading to have that happen to anyone's idea. I think their action in taking the horse down and hiding it is cowardly."
L.C. Curtis of the university's horticulture department wanted to take the horse and put it on his land where people could drive by and see it. The sculpture would remain the property of the university and could be moved back to campus at any time the university requested. So the iron horse was put out to pasture on the Curtis farm.
And so the horse stands, subject of a wealth of stories brought on by the initial negative reaction to its presence on campus. A legend in its own time, the Iron Horse shares its history in Athens with its home in Greene County.
The people in ancient Athens also were obsessed with their images. Athens was filled with Epicurean and Stoic philosophers who spent their time listening to and discussing the latest ideas.
The Epicureans regarded the world to be the result of random motion and a combination of atomic particles. They saw no divine intervention in this life and no punishment after death.
The Stoics sought salvation by aligning the will with Inherent Reason of the universe. They were to serve their fellow man, not from love but from pure recognition that the life of service is the life for man.
These philosophers invited the Christian evangelist and missionary named Paul to share his strange ideas in a meeting of the Areopagus. The Areopagus was named after Ares, the Greek god of war and was the central meeting place for the philosophers. While Paul was waiting for the Areopagus Council of philosophers to arrive, he took a stroll among the religious objects.
Acts 17:22-23, in the Bible, tells what Paul found. That passage says, "Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: 'Men of Athens! I see in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: "TO AN UNKNOWN GOD." Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you."
Paul starts off by complimenting the philosophers on their being very religious. He refers to the long string of idols and various objects of worship. There were so many gods and goddesses in the pagan setup that they also had an altar to an unknown god, just in case they had missed one. They were trying to cover all bases.
Paul, who was an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, then said, "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples [objects] made with hands." Rather than our meeting His needs, He reaches out to us. He is the One who gives us life and breath. Paul continued, "In Him we live and move and have our being" (verse 28). He reminded his listeners that, as some of their poets had said, "We are his offspring."
As the offspring of God, the worship of images could not be right. God is not confined to silver or gold or things fashioned with our hands. Actually the Athenians were worshiping no-gods and were ignorant of the one true God. They listened and some believed.
Just like the Athenians, people today worship many gods. Some worship Buda, or adhere to Islam or other useless religions. Some, in effect, worship their money, boat or other object that takes their focus off of the true God.
The "unknown God" to whom Paul referred is the One who deserves our worship. As Paul told his audience, God has set a day on which He will judge the world by the Man He has appointed. That man is Jesus Christ. Paul continued by saying God has given proof of this by raising Jesus Christ from the dead. This God is still unknown by many people around the world. Are you one of them?
The revelation of God came to focus in Jesus Christ. He is the God who gives you the air you breathe. He made you well when you were sick. He can give you comfort when you are grief-stricken. The only true God is the one who can put meaning into your life. He is the God of love. He is capable of meeting your every need. He deserves your full devotion.
The "unknown God" revealed to the Athenians by Paul is the God of salvation. Paul tells his listeners they should seek God who "commands all men everywhere to repent. For He has fixed a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man [Jesus Christ] He has appointed" (v. 30).
There are many people today who do not consider their sins to be serious. They are sort of like Joel Bryan. A state trooper walked into the room and approached a young man sitting on a bench. "Joel Bryan?" the trooper asked. Looking up, Joel acknowledged his identity. The trooper said, "Stand up, I'm placing you under arrest." In one quick motion Joel was pulled up and handcuffed. Stunned as to what had happened, Joel was hauled off to jail.
Joel worked for a fire inspection company and was contracted to inspect the fire systems in a prison. A routine check was done on him to see if there were any "wants or warrants" for him. Unfortunately, Joel had some outstanding tickets and since he skipped a court appearance a statewide bench warrant was issued against him.
Joel knew he had some outstanding tickets and knew he had missed his court appearance. When he was filling out the clearance form to enter the prison, he was told that if he had any outstanding warrants, the police would come over and arrest him. He figured, however, that his traffic violations were not real crimes so they would not cause any problems. His rationale went something like this: "Compared to the other offenders, my offences are quite mild. Since my infractions are so insignificant they will probably fall through the cracks. Even if they don't, the consequences should not be severe."
Obviously he misjudged the situation. Unfortunately, many people make the same type of miscalculation when it comes to their eternal destiny. Are you one of them? God will not gloss over your sins. Don't find out too late.
Romans 3:23 (in the Bible, God's word) says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 6:23 says, "The wages of sin is death [eternal death in hell], but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." How can you receive that life? Read on.
John 3:16-18 (in the Bible) says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."
If you have not trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord of your life, you are already condemned to spend eternity in hell when you die. However, you can pass from that state of condemnation and receive eternal life with the privilege of going to heaven when you die and spend eternity with God. In addition, you will have God's Holy Spirit living within you to help you understand the Scriptures (Bible), know right from wrong, and give you wisdom and strength to weather difficult situations in life.
Heaven is a holy place and sin cannot enter it. But every person has sinned and so is disqualified for entering heaven. God loves you so much he wants your fellowship and wants you to live in His heaven. At a great sacrifice to Him, He sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to our rescue. Jesus voluntarily left the glories of heaven and came to live among the people. An angel told a virgin that she would give birth to the Savior, conceived by the Holy Spirit. This fulfilled many prophesies God had given His prophets centuries earlier. Angels also announced Jesus birth and affirmed that He is the Savior. Many other affirmations were made.
As a man Jesus healed the sick, caused the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk and raised the dead to life. He calmed the storm on the sea, fed thousands with only a few loaves of bread and a few fish. All of this fulfilled prophecies about Him.
Jesus is the only one who ever lived a sinless life and He therefore could atone for our sins. He was crucified on a cross for our sins. This fulfilled the prophecies about Him. God raised Him from the dead and He spent another forty days on earth, appearing to over 500 people at one time. Then he ascended into heaven. He will come again as this world begins to come to a close and the final judgment will occur.
How can your record of sin be purged? In going to the cross Jesus took on Himself the sins of all who will trust Him -- that is, who will let Him control their lives. This also means that He is to be your only Lord. Other so-called god's are to be rejected. There is only one true God, the Lord God Almighty who created the universe and all that is within it. Jesus Christ, God the Father and the Holy Spirit are all one God. This triune God is expressed in three ways for our benefit. When you trust Jesus as your Savior, He takes your sin on Himself (he paid your penalty) and He clothes you in His righteousness. He forgives every sin you have committed and every sin you will ever commit. You are secure in His hands. You are saved, not by your good works, but to do good works that honor Him.
Once you are saved, contact a pastor or missionary of a church that baptizes by immersion in water and ask to be baptized. Jesus instructs us to do so. It is a picture of Jesus burial and resurrection and provides a public testimony of your decision.
To help with your decision, you may wish to pray a prayer such as this:
Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. I am sorry for my sins and am now turning from them to you. Please forgive me. I now am making Jesus Christ the Lord of my life. I want to please you. Take charge of my life and show me the way to live. Thank you my Lord for saving me. I pray in the precious name of Jesus Christ, my Savior!
If you need help in your decision or the follow-up, just send me a note from the email page of this site. Let me know of your decision. It will be encouragement to me.
May God bless you and may you bless God.
-- Don
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