Results 61 - 77 of 77
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Results from: Notes Author: gbennett76 Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
61 | Sola Scriptura-A False teaching | 2 Tim 3:16 | gbennett76 | 94455 | ||
My Creed Part 2-Incarnations When God and Goddess decided to take the flesh here on earth to get things done (every couple thousand years they seem to do this) they chose Mary as one of the humans they could channel through. You remember she was asked and agreed to the task. The Mother Goddess came and actually dwelt within Mary of Nazareth's body in order to give birth to the masculine god. And then a few years later, somewhere across the Sea of Galilee in a little merchant town called Magdala (still a village in Israel today) perhaps the Great Goddess also came long enough to give birth to Mary Magdalene, the feminine messiah. It is very likely that both Mary Magdalene and Mother Mary were representatives of the Goddess and served as priestesses in a Temple, be it the Second (Hebrew) Temple on the Temple Mount or one of the many pagan temples built by Solomon, the Romans or Greeks which existed and thrived during Yeshua's day in the city of Jerusalem, the province of Galilee and other cities of Israel. We know there was the Women's Court at both Solomon's Temple and the Second Temple in Jerusalem, and we know there is mention of the practice of sending young women there to "work." Mother Mary is said to have been dedicated to Temple work, she lived there, wove tapestries, altar cloths, prayed for the betterment of the people, etc. She is repeatedly called a "Temple Virgin" and apocryphal books tell of her adventures there under the Highpriest Zacharius. [Gospel of the Birth of Mary, written 300's AD, supposedly written by Matthew, and the Protevangelion, written by James, Yeshua's brother, one of Mary's other sons]. At one point another priest, Abiathar, wants Mary, known as a magikally powerful and beautiful priestess, to marry his son. It was custom after their service to the Temple, to give the Temple "Virgins" in marriage to prominent men of the community, usually nobles or priests. The Highpriest is perplexed what to do with Mary, she cannot marry just anyone, and so he enters the Holy of Holies and asks the Divine to send a sign. That's how she ends up betrothed to Joseph. Ancient pagan temples of both Old and New Testament times were populated with sacred "prostitutes." But these women were NOT what we consider prostitutes today. They were highly respected representatives of whichever goddess whose temple they served in. The words used to indicate them are not "whore" or prostitute, but Hierodules or Hetera (singular) heterae (plural), meaning sacred dedicant, sacred temple-worker. When Mary Magdalene was called a hetera or prostitute back in the early centuries of Christianity, the people of the time knew perfectly well what that meant, she was a Temple Priestess, serving the Goddess. Perhaps she was such a priestess, the ubiquitous name of "Mary" has been attributed to the fact that it might not be a woman's specific name at all, but might mean a priestess of the goddess religion. Either way, Mary Magdalene did have a life before she joined Yeshua's ministry, but we now know it was not selling her body on the street like modern-day prostitutes. What about Mother Mary? Did she actually sleep with men in the Temple? We will never know, but we do know the story of Pantera, a Greek-born Roman soldier assigned to guard the Temple precinct in Jerusalem. "News" records of the time say he met, and perhaps wooed, a Temple Tapestry weaver named Mary then got her with child, a child later claimed to be conceived of God. This story is historically recorded in the Jewish writings of the time, the Talmud, and even in a Roman record book. Jewish writings from the first century go on to say it was the same Mary who gave birth to the Christian messiah, Jesus. Even more fascinating, in the 1990's, the grave of Pantera was uncovered in Germany, and sure enough he lived during the time of Jesus' birth and was even stationed in Jerusalem at the time! He was the head of a legion in his later years and had been transferred to fight in Germany, but died there in his late 40's. Ian Wilson discusses the Pantera evidence in his book Jesus the Evidence. We know that Yeshua was divinely conceived, but some religionists like to think he still had a human "sperm donor" to make the baby start growing inside Mary's womb. Those of this camp assume that was Joseph, but since he protested having never slept with her, perhaps God used this Greco-Roman soldier with the fascinating name. Pantera may be a mixed form of Hebrew and Latin, Ben-Terra, which means Son of the Earth Goddess). |
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62 | Sola Scriptura-A False teaching | 2 Tim 3:16 | gbennett76 | 94454 | ||
My Creed Part 1-Deity Deity Divine Nature God refers to a Divine Nature. Jesus refers to a divine person belonging to the divine nature. Nature and Personhood are two entirely different things. God has one nature and three persons. We are humans. We share what is referred to as human nature. Humanity has one nature with trillions of persons. All these persons are individuals and distinct yet are one in nature. I worship one God in trinity, and trinity in unity;For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son; another of the Holy Ghost.But the Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all one: the divinity equal, the majesty co-eternal.The Father-Elohim, Jesus-Jehovah and The Holy Ghost are three persons whom share the divine nature. They are distinct and individual without robbing the divinity of the others. Whatever, therefore, was the substance of the Word that I designate a Person, I claim for it the name of Son; and while I recognize the Son, I assert His distinction as second to the Father. The Nature of God requires some degree of belief in a Heavenly Mother, a Queen of Heaven, a Goddess. Ironic that mainstream Christianity uses the phrase "family of God" since it is a dysfunctional family with no females, daughters or spouses. Humans naturally resonate with and respond to both a God and a Goddess. God-the-Mother, wife of God-the-Father, was long ago removed from the Bible. But not quite. Traces of her worship remain in the Old Testament, and are recorded in other ancient writings. We now know she was equally worshipped and revered right alongside her consort Yahweh, Jehovah, El. She was the Mother Goddess, the Nurturer. In Hebrew texts she is referred to as the Shekinah, in the Old testament as Queen of Heaven and Wisdom(Sophia). Early Christian belief suggests that Mary Magdelene was a goddess follower and possible a priestess. Galilee was an area know for its great temples to the goddess. She is revered by her final incarnation Of Mary of Nazareth…. The Blessed Mother. |
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63 | Sola Scriptura-A False teaching | 2 Tim 3:16 | gbennett76 | 94432 | ||
Why do u want me to declare a creed? Is it so that you can attempt to attack me personally? Do you see this as a solution? Are you being offended that I brought the very question of The Authority of the Bible up in a "STUDY BIBLE FORUM".. Perhaps many of the questions here would never have to be asked were it not for the sola scriptura plague of the modern church. If the church were still led by a qourum of 12 as Jesus instituted than just maybe this forum would be a thing of naught. Do you see this idea as threatening?.. |
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64 | Sola Scriptura-A False teaching | 2 Tim 3:16 | gbennett76 | 94377 | ||
Protestants claim the Bible is the only rule of faith, meaning that it contains all of the material one needs for theology and that this material is sufficiently clear that one does not need apostolic tradition to help one understand it. In the Protestant view, the whole of Christian truth is found within the Bible’s pages. Anything extraneous to the Bible is simply non-authoritative or wrong—and may well hinder one in coming to God. The true "rule of faith"—as expressed in the Bible itself—is Scripture plus apostolic tradition, as manifested in the living teaching authority of the Church, to which were entrusted the oral teachings of Jesus and the apostles, along with the authority to interpret Scripture correctly. But Evangelical and Fundamentalist Protestants, who place their confidence in Martin Luther’s theory of sola scriptura will usually argue for their position by citing a couple of key verses. The first is this: "These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31). The other is this: "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be equipped, prepared for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16–17). According to these Protestants, these verses demonstrate the reality of sola scriptura (the "Bible only" theory). First, the verse from John refers to the things written in that book (read it with John 20:30, the verse immediately before it to see the context of the statement in question). If this verse proved anything, it would not prove the theory of sola scriptura but that the Gospel of John is sufficient. Second, the verse from John’s Gospel tells us only that the Bible was composed so we can be helped to believe Jesus is the Messiah. It does not say the Bible is all we need for salvation, much less that the Bible is all we need for theology; nor does it say the Bible is even necessary to believe in Christ. After all, the earliest Christians had no New Testament to which they could appeal; they learned from oral, rather than written, instruction. Until relatively recent times, the Bible was inaccessible to most people, either because they could not read or because the printing press had not been invented. All these people learned from oral instruction, passed down, generation to generation, by the Church. Much the same can be said about 2 Timothy 3:16-17. To say that all inspired writing "has its uses" is one thing; to say that such a remark means that only inspired writing need be followed is something else. Besides, there is a telling argument against claims of Evangelical and Fundamentalist Protestants. It is the contradiction that arises out of their own interpretation of this verse. John Henry Newman explained it in an 1884 essay entitled "Inspiration in its Relation to Revelation." He wrote: "It is quite evident that this passage furnishes no argument whatever that the sacred Scripture, without Tradition, is the sole rule of faith; for, although sacred Scripture is profitable for these four ends, still it is not said to be sufficient. The Apostle [Paul] requires the aid of Tradition (2 Thess. 2:15). Moreover, the Apostle here refers to the scriptures which Timothy was taught in his infancy. "Now, a good part of the New Testament was not written in his boyhood: Some of the Catholic epistles were not written even when Paul wrote this, and none of the books of the New Testament were then placed on the canon of the Scripture books. He refers, then, to the scriptures of the Old Testament, and, if the argument from this passage proved anything, it would prove too much, viz., that the scriptures of the New Testament were not necessary for a rule of faith." Furthermore, Protestants typically read 2 Timothy 3:16-17 out of context. When read in the context of the surrounding passages, one discovers that Paul’s reference to Scripture is only part of his exhortation that Timothy take as his guide Tradition and Scripture. The two verses immediately before it state: "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 3:14–15). Paul tells Timothy to continue in what he has learned for two reasons: first, because he knows from whom he has learned it—Paul himself—and second, because he has been educated in the scriptures. The first of these is a direct appeal to apostolic tradition, the oral teaching which the apostle Paul had given Timothy. So Protestants must take 2 Timothy 3:16-17 out of context to arrive at the theory of sola scriptura. But when the passage is read in context, it becomes clear that it is teaching the importance of apostolic tradition! |
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65 | Stripping the Bible of Virgin | Is 7:14 | gbennett76 | 93870 | ||
I was speaking about Isaiah not Luke. There is absolutely no denying the virgin birth. I merely stated that Isaiah 7:14 would not be a reliable source for support. | ||||||
66 | Stripping the Bible of Virgin | Is 7:14 | gbennett76 | 93842 | ||
This scripture is often used by christians to say that the Messiah must be born of a virgin. HOWEVER the true interpretation is not virgin but young woman... refer to the TANAKH which is the Jewish translation of the bible. So I would not rely so heavily on this verse as a sure win over. | ||||||
67 | Did Adam and Eve go to heaven? | Gen 2:1 | gbennett76 | 93822 | ||
I have already this question. Adam chose to transgress not sin.. so that Eve would not be seperated from him.. if she had been seperated than the command to multiply could not be fullfilled. It is as simple as 2 minus 1 equals 1.. lonely 1 | ||||||
68 | How is Adam "Ancient of Days"? | Dan 7:9 | gbennett76 | 93811 | ||
WHO IS THE ANCIENT OF DAYS? Daniel 7:13 "I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. --"The Ancient of Days" Cannot be Jesus Christ: In the last days, the Son of Man descends in clouds (a familiar description of Christ at his Second Coming) and meets the Ancient of Days, receiving the kingdoms of this world. So the "Ancient of Days" cannot be Jesus. --"The Ancient of Days" Cannot Be God the Father: Most commentaries assume that the "Ancient of Days" (Daniel 7:9-10 and 13-14) refers to God the Father. However, the "Ancient of Days" is unlikely to represent God the Father for the following reasons: Ever since the Arian controversy died down, the major creeds have said that God the Father and Jesus Christ are the same person. So if the Ancient of Days is the Father, then the major creeds are wrong. Thus they have only a shallow understanding of the nature of the Father and the Son, and thus their interpretation of unusual passages like this is so flawed as to be worthless. There is no reason to describe the Father in terms of great earthly age – He is eternal. The fact that He sits on a throne is not the give-away it seems. The language is similar to that describing the throne in heaven in Revelation 4-5. But although God sits on such a throne, so does Christ and so do the redeemed (Revelation 3:21). Similarly, the fact that millions minister or attend to him does not mean that they worship him in the way that millions worship God in in Revelation 5:11. In fact, the NIV text note refers the reader to the reference to the tens of thousands credited to David in 1 Samuel 18:7. The presence of 100 million people does not prove the presence of God – after all, there as twice that number at the battle of Armageddon (Revelation 9:16). Perhaps significant is the fact that the throne in Daniel has wheels – usually associated with angels (Ezekiel 1:15-21), not with God. There is no other reference to our Father residing on earth when Jesus returns, which would have to be such an important event that it would surely be mentioned in other prophecies. --So Who is "The Ancient of Days"? Whoever this person is, he is identified by his great age. Who is the most ancient person we know of? Could it be Abraham, described as the father of many nations, so the idea of millions attending him would be appropriate? No, there is one person more ancient than Abraham (or any mortal), and more significant to the human family. One person was there at the very beginning and would be very appropriate at the very end. One person in all scripture is compared directly with Christ (1 Corinthians 15:45-47). Only one being (besides God) would have a natural right to hand over the kingdoms of this world – the literal father of them all. The simplest identity to give the Ancient of Days is our father Adam. --The Importance of Adam: The idea that God chose a loser for the most important role in creation (second only to the atonement) is silly. The idea (promoted by many "Christian" churches) that Adam spoiled God's original plan (for one man and one woman to live in Eden forever) is crazy. Did God really intend this whole planet for just two people? No, God's plan demanded that Adam eat that fruit. That is why He prepared a Saviour "before the foundation of the world" (1 Peter 1:20). Adam did what God intended, and will be blessed for it. |
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69 | Did Adam and Eve go to heaven? | Gen 2:1 | gbennett76 | 93805 | ||
They could multiply before disobeying however once Eve partook Adam was faced with an obvious choice. Or are we to believe that God would let adam remarry.. LOL | ||||||
70 | ye are gods part 2 | Ps 82:6 | gbennett76 | 93447 | ||
ye are gods part 2 In the midst of the gods he judges: Here, elohim can only be plural. It would be nonsensical to have God (elohim) standing in the assembly of God (El) judging among the singular God (elohim). The word judges (spt) can also mean more generally to rule. It is repeated with this meaning in mind in verse 8 at the end of the Psalm. Here, God arises to judge those in the assembly. There, God arises to rule those in the assembly. In the midst of the gods he judges: Here, elohim can only be plural. It would be nonsensical to have God (elohim) standing in the assembly of God (El) judging among the singular God (elohim). The word judges (spt) can also mean more generally to rule. It is repeated with this meaning in mind in verse 8 at the end of the Psalm. Here, God arises to judge those in the assembly. There, God arises to rule those in the assembly. Section II How long will you rule unjustly? And honor the wicked?: In this phrase, the word rule (spt) is used, when God addresses the gods. The same Hebrew word is used differently in each context in which it occurs. God (elohim) judges (spt) the gods (elohim) who rule (spt). Later in the Psalm, the meanings will be reversed. The gods (elohim) did not judge (spt) so God (elohim) will rule (spt). God is asking why these gods support the wicked. Judge the lowly and fatherless! Do justice for the needy and the poor! Rescue the lowly and oppressed! From the hand of the wicked!: Here God demands that these gods execute righteous judgment. The gods should judge (spt) the lowly and fatherless. Section III They do not know And they do not understand; In darkness they wander around; All the foundations of the earth totter!: This is the center of the Psalm. The 'they' refers to the gods (elohim). Their rule has brought chaos. The phrasing is meant to show this. They do not know. They do not understand. They walk in darkness. The earth (eretz) is shaken from its foundation. This is exactly the end result that the divine rulers are supposed to prevent. The earth was created from chaos, and now these beings are returning it to a chaotic state. And it was specifically because of the actions of these elohim that the foundations of the earth are moved. Section IV I, I say: You (are) gods And sons of the Highest (are) all of you,: Here the gods (elohim) are defined in terms of a singular deity (elyon) the Most High. It is also a statement that they are placed in their position by God-who acts as a supreme authority. The Cultural Framework Early Israelite theology pictured a heaven filled with divine beings, and ordered in a hierarchy. God stood at the top of this hierarchy. This host of divine beings has become collectively identified as the divine council.9 There are several instances of the divine council recognized in the Old Testament.10 The members of this divine council are called divinities (elohim), sons of God (bene elohim or bene elim), sons of the Most High (bene Elyon) and in the Greek, divine beings (huioi theoi) and angels of the divine (angeloi theoi). While a complete survey of these passages and their meaning is beyond the scope of this paper, three particular passages in Deuteronomy are worth mentioning: Deuteronomy 4:19-20; 10:17-18; 32:7-8, 34. All three of these bear a special relationship to Psalm 82. Deuteronomy 4:19-20 reads as follows: in Deuteronomy 32:7-8 we read: Remember the days of old, Consider the years of ages past; Ask your father, he will inform you, Your elders, they will tell you: When the Most High allotted the nations, And set the divisions of man, He fixed the boundaries [or territories] of peoples Equal to the number of divine beings." This means that when God was allotting nations to the divine beings, he made the same number of nations and territories as there were such beings. Verse 9 implies that He then assigned the other nations to those divine beings, and states explicitly that He kept Israel for Himself. This seems to be part of a concept hinted at elsewhere in the Bible and in postbiblical literature. When God organized the government of the world, He established two tiers: at the top, He Himself, "God of gods (elohei ha-elohim) and Lord of lords" (10:17), who reserved Israel for Himself, to govern personally; below Him, seventy angelic "divine beings" (benei elohim), to whom He allotted the other peoples. The conception is like that of a king or emperor governing the capital or heartland of his realm personally and assigning the provinces to subordinates. |
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71 | ye are gods part 1 | Ps 82:6 | gbennett76 | 93446 | ||
Psalm 82: A Translation Part 1 I 1 [1] God stands up 2 In the Assembly of El 3 In the midst of the gods he judges II 1 [2] How long will you rule unjustly? 2 And honor the wicked? 3 [3] Judge the lowly and fatherless! 4 Do justice for the needy and the poor! 5 [4] Rescue the lowly and oppressed! 6 From the hand of the wicked! III 1 [5] They do not know 2 And they do not understand; 3 In darkness they wander around; 4 All the foundations of the earth totter! IV 1 [6] I, I say: 2 You (are) gods 3 And sons of the Highest (are) all of you, 4 [7] Nevertheless, you will die like a man 5 And like one of the leaders you will fall! V 1 [8] Arise God! 2 Rule the earth! 3 For you possess 4 All the nations! The Psalm above has been divided into a poetic makeup as follows: A B C B' A' Section I Section II Section III Section IV Section V Assembly / God rises-spt (judges) Address / gods confronted Address / chaos described Address / gods confronted Assembly / God rises-spt (rules) God stands up: Or, alternatively, God arises. The Hebrew used here for God is elohim In the assembly of El: There are three general uses of the term El in the Bible and related literature. The first is that it is often used to mean God. The second is that it can refer to the name of the Canaanite deity, El, who was head of the Syro-Palestinian pantheon. Or, alternatively, it might represent a common phrase meaning 'divine' particularly when used in the combination here "divine assembly". The usage is completely ambiguous. There is no difference in usage between one meaning and the other. It is perhaps intentional that this range of meanings suits both the initial use of elohim as God and the later use of elohim as divinities at the end of this section. |
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72 | Homesexuality? Wrong? | Rom 1:27 | gbennett76 | 92988 | ||
The Torah is composed of the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). It contains numerous laws which make up the Mosaic code. Rabbi Simlai wrote in the Talmud (Jewish traditional commentary about the Hebrew Scriptures) that God gave 613 commandments to Moses. One list finds 3 commandments in Genesis, 111 in Exodus, 247 in Leviticus, 52 in Numbers and 200 in Deuteronomy. These included 365 prohibitions -- a number equal to the nominal number of days in the year. Also included 248 positive commandments which Rabbi Simlai said corresponded "to the number of organs and limbs in the human body." Hundreds of these dealt with animal sacrifices and other topics that are not currently practiced. That leaves about 300 commandments that can be practiced today. The Holiness Code in the Torah permits: slavery (Leviticus 25:44) The code requires: a child to be killed if he/she curses their parent (Leviticus 20:9) all persons guilty of adultery to be killed (20:10) the daughter of a priest who engages in prostitution to be burned alive until dead (21:9) the bride of a priest to be a virgin (21:13) ritual killing of animals, using cattle, sheep and goats (22:19) observation of 7 feasts: Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Firstfruits, Feast of Pentecost, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles (23) a person who takes the Lord's name in vain is to be killed (24:16) The code prohibits: heterosexual intercourse when a woman has her period (Leviticus 18:19), harvesting the corners of a field (19:9), eating fruit from a young tree (19:23), cross-breeding livestock (19:19), sowing a field with mixed seed (19:19), shaving or getting a hair cut (19:27), tattoos (19:28), even a mildly disabled person from becoming a priest (21:18), charging of interest on a loan (25:37), collecting firewood on Saturday to prevent your family from freezing, wearing of clothes made from a blend of textile materials; today this might be cotton and polyester, and eating of non-kosher foods (e.g. shrimp). Christians are free to wear tattoos, eat shrimp, pork or rare meat, wear polyester-cotton blends, seed their lawns with a grass mixture, and get their hair cut. But homosexuality is somehow taboo. We have been unable to find any logical explanation that would justify conservative Christians concentrating so much on these two laws against homosexuality while abandoning most of the rest. |
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73 | Is 'Pneuma' really feminine? | Jer 7:18 | gbennett76 | 80681 | ||
I have not ignored your understanding of this term..Since it is neutrul as you say does this not mean it can also be feminine as well as masculine. I see no reason to argue a point that does not contradict my previous statement but merely reaffirms it. From Kolob, gbennett76 |
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74 | why do you think that jesus went to hell | 1 Peter | gbennett76 | 80660 | ||
Ok..I know my comments worry some but again I must...I,,I just must.. Scripture answers scripture simply put. Did noy Christ proclaim that he must set the captives free? Did not Peter answer the above question "therefore he went and preached to the spirits in prison" I believe it is 1Peter 3:19. Yes Jesus descended to hell , he offered salvation to the rebellios spirits of men past. He rose on the third day and the rest is history or future..which ever way you look at it. |
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75 | shekina glory | Jer 7:18 | gbennett76 | 80657 | ||
Excerpt from Maragret Starbird's THE WOMAN WITH THE ALABASTER JAR: "It was my love for Christ that led me to revisit the Gospel story in search of his lost Bride. Years of research had convinced me that the celibacy of Jesus was a false doctrine and that the interpretation of the New Testament needed to be revised to include his wife. But who was this wife, and why was she not mentioned in the Gospels? I wondered. What could have happened to her? According to Scripture, God's Messiah, the Anointed One, will give sight to the blind and cause the lame to walk; comfort the broken-hearted and proclaim liberty to captives; and set prisoners free and proclaim the day of God's favor. These messianic activities prophesied by Isaiah are recognized in the actions and miracles of Jesus in the Gospels. No mention here of bondage in heaven or on earth! The God of the Hebrew Scriptures did not wish his people to serve in bondage, but rescued them from slavery in Egypt and brought them home from captive exile in Babylon. Based on the New Testament texts, Christians are quick to claim that Jesus was the promised Messiah of Israel, fulfilling ancient prophecies from the Scriptures, but they almost universally fail to mention the woman who anointed Jesus -- the woman with the alabaster jar who knelt before him, poured her fragrant unguent over his head, and dried her tears from his feet with strands of her hair. And yet the Hebrew word *messiah* literally means "the Anointed One." And, although the details vary a little, there is only one story of an actual anointing of Jesus recorded in the canonical Gospels of the Christian faith: an anointing by a woman at a banquet in Bethany! My research had shown me that in the ancient rites of the Near East, it was a royal bride who anointed the king. Together they embodied the Divine in a life-sustaining partnership -- the *hieros gamous*. My revised interpretation of the anointing scene from the Gospels outlined in _The Woman with the Alabaster Jar_ sheds new light on the dangerous fracture in Christian doctrine, providing a partnership model to transform Christianity at the threshold of the approaching third millennium. The anointing of Jesus in the Gospels is an enactment of rites from the prevailing fertility cult of the ancient Middle East. In pouring her precious unguent of nard over the head of Jesus, the woman whom tradition has identified with "the Magdalene" (meaning "the Great"!) performed an act identical to the marriage rite of the *hieros gamous* -- the rite of the anointing of the chosen Bridegroom/King by the royal representative of the Great Goddess! Jesus recognized and acknowledged this rite himself, in the text of his role as the sacrificed king: "She has anointed me in preparation for burial" (Mark 14:8b). Those who heard the Gospel story of the anointing at the feast in Bethany would certainly have recognized the rite as the ceremonial anointing of the Sacred King, just as they would have recognized the woman, "the woman with the alabaster jar," who came to the garden sepulchre on the third day to finish the anointing for burial and to lament her tortured Bridegroom. She found an empty tomb. Highlights of this story recounted in the four Christian Gospels are reminiscent of myths celebrated in pagan fertility cults of the Middle East, those of Tammuz, Dumuzi, and Adonis. In the pagan rituals surrounding the ancient myths, the Goddess (the Sister-Bride) goes to the tomb in the garden to lament the death of her Bridegroom and rejoices to find him resurrected. "Love is stronger than death" is the poignant promise in the Song of Songs and similar love poetry of the Middle East celebrating these ancient rites of the Sacred Marriage. " |
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76 | shekina glory | Jer 7:18 | gbennett76 | 80654 | ||
20 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: 21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, 22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? 23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. 24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; 25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: 26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; 27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. 28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: 29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: 30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. 31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. 32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. 33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil. Proverbs 1:20-33, King James Translation |
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77 | queen of heaven | Jer 7:18 | gbennett76 | 80513 | ||
I'm sorry but I must comment. This is a question that deserves an in depth look at the Hebrew understanding of God and who he is. El which is the name for god actually means "head of the gods". An example would be Elohim which means "the most high god of holiness". The Christian understanding of God is rather a simplified "one god" and thats it..period. However Orthodox jews from ancient times have seen God as a masculine head deity with an emanating female force which is referred to as the "shekhina"(not sure of spelling). The Christian understanding or rather its mutation of the original view of God has the shekhina replaced by "Holy Spirit".."One in Being with the Father". For deeper reading and understanding of this please read on: The Jewish-Kabbalistic version of Shakti; the female soul of God. The idea was the God could not be complete, whole, until he was united with her. The Kabbalists believed that it was God’s lost of his Shekina which brought about evil. From the Hebrew Shekina means "dwelling place," giving the concept that God had no "home" without her. Like her Tantric counterpart Shakti, the Sh’kina was the source of all "soul" in the universe. The Gnostic Christians of the fourth century spoke of Sh’kina as a "spirit of glory" in who Beings of Light lived, as children in their mother’s body or home. Mani referred to the Aeons of sh’kinas or female spirits of the sacred year.Jewish mystics claimed the "outer garment" of the Shekina is the Torah, "Holy Law." Man becomes a Bridegroom of the Torah by study, symbolized in erotic imagery. He has to court her as he would a beautiful maiden. "She begins from behind a curtain to speak words in keeping with his understanding, until very slowly insight comes to him." The Shekina as the "Indwelling One" might be compared to the Latin I-dea, or Goddess Within. "She opens the door of her hidden chamber ever so little, and for a moment reveals her face to her lover, but hides it again forthwith…He alone sees it and is drawn to her with his heart and soul and his whole being.The love story of wisdom and Solomon is recorded in the Song of Solomon and throught Psalms and Apocryphal books such as Wisdom and Sirach. An interesting note that the Greek term for wisdom is "Sophia"--the name of the great greek goddess of wisdom. If one were to view the writings of Solomon in the greek sense we see the fullfillment of Shekhina in this ..the wisest man who ever lived! "The hexagram, which came to be known as the star of David, was introduced into Judaism in the Middle Ages via the Tantric influence on Medieval Jewish cabalists. Shekina is the Jewish Cabalist version of the Hindu Shakti, who when joined to Her male counterpart forms the perpetual sexual union believed to maintain life in the Universe. This reunion was symbolized by the Tantric mandala – Shakti (the downward pointing triangle) and Shiva (the upward pointing triangle).Israel’s sins caused the Shekina to leave the tabernacle, but some rabbis insisted that She returned when the second temple was built. It was God’s loss of his Shekina that brought about all evils. The Shekina is inseparable from God, as opposed to the holy ghost which borders on idolatry. Special thanks to: Rabbi Shraga Simmons Aish.com |
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