King Richard III’s Winter of Discontent Is Past! (The Hunchbacked Toad Speaks From The Grave)

TheDiscipleMD

“Examination of Richard III’s remains shows that he had a scoliosis, thus confirming that the Shakespearean description of a ‘hunchbacked toad’ is a complete fabrication — yet more proof that, while the plays are splendid dramas, they are also most certainly fiction not fact,” said Phil Stone, chairman of the Richard III Society. “History tells us that Richard III was a great warrior. Clearly, he was little inconvenienced by his spinal problem,” (NBC News, May, 2014)

King Richard’s skeleton was unearthed just last year.  And while we learn that he had scoliosis, a curvature of the spine, he was far from a “Hunchback”, as has been portrayed by Shakespeare.  It appears that King Richard III ‘winter of his discontent” is past. I learned something else from this discovery about history itself. And that is, “Just because something is written down, doesn’t make it true.”

A few years ago a 25 year history was compiled and published about the stake I lived in. It was very well researched and despite hundreds of man hours, I noted that a few errors were still in it. Years later I happened upon an Almanac that the church put out listing all of the Stakes in the world. When I turned to my stake, I noted they had statistical information listed as well as a brief description of its history. What intrigued me was that it had a footnote. When I followed the footnote it indicated that the information had been taken from the same 25 year history book that we had compiled. So, whatever errors were in that book were now being duplicated. As we all know, if you tell something long enough it eventually becomes accepted as “truth.”

Why is this important to know? Well, many things have been written about individuals and organizations throughout history, including our church.  Is everything true that has been written, just because someone bothered to write it down? Errors are made from time to time and events in history are always jaundiced by the views of the writer. A historical event can be told, slanted , or lied about according to the desires and prejudices of the one who holds the pen.

It has taken centuries for the “Hunbacked Toad” myth to be revealed as a lie regarding King Richard III. When in doubt, let us seek truth through the best source; which is through the spirit of God. Yet, even caution should be used in using this method as we are fallible and subject to our own wants and desires.  There may not be a perfect conduit to truth, but the closest and most reliable is when we pray to our Heavenly Father, in the name of Christ, and  live our lives according to the gospel principles. This gives us the clearest reception to the maker of all truth, God our Father.

 

 

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