Atheist rebel

No doubt Nimrod Stainer's parents chose his name as a result of a pious christian impulse. A similar impulse would lead to Nimrod naming his son Ephraim. I wonder though if they fully appreciated the biblical Nimrod's reputation amongst theologians and scholars, here's what my old friend Josephus had to say about him and his project to build the Tower of Babel:

"Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it were through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny, seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence on his power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to reach. And that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers."

....I like Nimrod more and more!

TheKing James Bible in the picture belonged to another of my ancestors - my grandfather William Ritchie, an elder of the Kirk....I am an apple that has fallen far from the tree!