Does December 21, 2012 = Y2K + 12 Years?

Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

A second angel followed and said, “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.” Revelation 14:6-8

(But who or what is Babylon the Great? It isn’t ancient Babylon, for it no longer exists, at least not above all the sand, as the Hebrew prophets predicted. Presumably Babylon the Great will be that world body which is governed (or ruled with an iron fist) by that which once governed Sumer and Babylon, which arguably are “the gods,” whose spacecraft may be depicted in Babylonian and Egyptian art. They weren’t nice then, and they aren’t nice now, according to abduction reports. Ed. Read on.)   

The Ecliptical Path: Does It Mean Anything If It Changes A Little Bit?IT IS APPARENT by now that the date of December 21, 2012 means something to a lot of people, just as midnight December 31, 1999 (i.e. Y2K) meant something. To some people December 21, 2012 simply means “the end,” in all the ways that might be envisioned. In 1966, a writer named Michael D. Coe in a book called The Maya was the first to suggest that 12-21-2012 (or 21-12-2012) meant something more than just a lot of one’s and two’s. And even then he was presuming a lot, as evidence shows: 

“There is a suggestion … that Armageddon would overtake the degenerate peoples of the world and all creation on the final day of the thirteenth [baktun]. Thus … our present universe … [would] be annihilated on December 23, 2012, when the Great Cycle of the Long Count reaches completion.”

By the way, the word “baktun” refers to a unit of Mayan calendrical measurement. Also, Coe misuses the word “Armageddon,” which is a scriptural reference to the Hebrew word har megiddon, which means “Mountain of Megiddo.” Megiddo, a town about 25 miles south of the Sea of Galilee in the Kishon River valley, is referenced in the book of Revelation as the site for a final earthly battle involving all of the armies of the world. Presumably the date December 21, 2012, the date of the winter solstice for that year, will not trigger a war in Israel that will result in the appearance of the Messiah. It is worth noting that the first night of Hanukkah, which commemorates the cleansing of the temple after the death of the tyrannical persecutor of the Jews Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 165 BCE, falls on December 21, 2011. If Antiochus was a forerunner of a tyrant in our future, perhaps Hanukkah will mean something messianic when a new tyrant is killed. Just a hunch.

To the more optimistic and esoterically inclined, December 21, 2012 means the beginning of a new age of enlightenment, the next step in human evolution, a consciousness shift, redemption at the hands of “the gods,” perhaps, the end of all of the world’s problems, more hopeful days ahead. But where do they get that beyond astrology, which is not scientific?

To others December 21, 2012 means nothing. Jack squat. 

Judging from the primitive source from which this date and its significance come to us, it means that we’re being warned — perhaps and perhaps unnecessarily — by a civilization that has ceased to exist, the remains of which are stone temples built on pyramids and ornamented with sculptures in southern Mexico. Sounds pretty rudimentary. The Maya had a system of pictoral writing — which is now a dead language — and they were good at keeping calendars which traced the movements of the planets, as some have reported, and supposedly predicted the future. But were they really good at these things?

Why are the Maya no longer with us, if their’s was such an advanced way of life? Why isn’t there a civilization living and growing in the place where we find all of these useless stone remains? The Maya and their disappearance from southern Mexico, Guatemala and Belize remain a mystery, and yet many people are hitching their wagons to the Mayan burro cart.

Wikipedia offers this definition of the “2012 doomsday prediction”: “A present-day cultural  meme or “fad” proposing that cataclysmic and apocalyptic events will occur in the year 2012, culminating with the winter solstice on December 21. The forecast is based primarily on what is claimed to be the end-date of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, which is presented as lasting 5,125 years.

“A number of theories have been advanced by various esoteric writers and mystics with regard to how the world will end in 2012. None have garnered mainstream acceptance by scholars of the Maya, who have rejected most on scientific and historical grounds.”

Ahem. Well, what would you be willing to bet that December 21, 2012 means nada? It could mean something, however, if the nonhuman intelligence presumably flying the spacecraft above us and creating the crop circles have chosen to use this date to make their grand appearance, which is slightly plausible given the notion that these nonhuman beings, according to some, would like to have us believe that they created us and that they can therefore save us. And ought therefore to be worshiped by us. Jesus referred to such as “false messiahs,” who will appear in “the last days” — which brings up a critical point: The end, if there is to be an end, will arguably be overseen by the God of Israel, whom Jesus called Father, which can mean that December 21, 2012 means nothing, since Jesus told us that no one, not even himself, would know the time of the end.

These, of course, are my opinions and interpretations of the scriptures.

So, there will be an end, presumably, an end of the age, but taking anyone’s word for it, especially that of the the Maya, an extinct culture and civilization, is not advised. 

There is an astrological explanation for the significance of December 21, 2012, and it is complicated and very presumptive. It goes something like this, as we have garnered some things from Wikipedia: In our solar system, the sun and the planets share the same orbit, known as “the plane of the ecliptic.” From earth’s perspective zodiacal constellations move along or near the ecliptic (as the designators of these constellations came to realize), and over time these constellations recede counterclockwise by one degree every 72 years. This movement is attributable to a slight wobble in the earth’s axis as it spins. So, every 2,160 years the constellation which is visible on the early morning of the spring equinox changes. This was simply a way of tracking the alteration of the earth on its axis by early astronomers, who used stars that are brighter than other stars as points of reference, making little pictures out of them (which I can never get right).

In western astrological traditions, this alteration signals the end of one astrological age (currently the Age of Pisces) and the beginning of another (Age of Aquarius). (I loved “Hair” and the Sixties, by the way. What I remember of them and the early Seventies.) Over the course of 26,000 years, the precession of the equinoxes makes one full circuit around the ecliptic. (If someone wanted to, he or she could make up some new constellations and begin tracking our perspective of them in a way meaningful to them. Astrology is fun, but not scientific.)

Every year for the last 2000 years or so, on the winter solstice, the earth, sun and the galactic equator come into alignment, and every year, precession pushes the sun’s position a little way further through the Milky Way’s band.

Author John Major Jenkins suggests that the Maya based their calendar on observations of the “dark rift,” a band of black dust clouds in the Milky Way, which the Maya called the Xibalba be or Black Road. Jenkins claims that the Maya were aware of where the ecliptic intersected the Black Road and gave this position in the sky a special significance in their cosmology. According to the theory, the sun precisely aligns with this intersection point at the winter solstice of 2012. Jenkins is credited with the premise that the classical Maya anticipated this conjunction and celebrated it as the harbinger of a profound spiritual transition for mankind. (But that was something that merely meant something to them, and you don’t see any Maya walking around do you? Just as you don’t see any Babylonians, either. Descendants of the Hebrews, however, the Jews, have survived, against all odds.) New Age proponents of the galactic alignment theory argue that, just as astrology uses the positions of stars and planets to predict the future, the Maya plotted their calendars with the objective of preparing for significant world events, all of which is speculative and bears no proof that they were ever right.

Jenkins’ critics suggest that the alignment in question takes place over a 36-year period, corresponding to the diameter of the sun, with the most precise convergence having already occurred without incident in 1998. However, Jenkins admits that all of this is speculative, noting that he has no concrete evidence that the Maya were aware of precession.

Lastly, it bears pointing out that only one Maya inscription, called Tortuguero Monument 6, directly mentions the end of the thirteenth baktun, which  corresponds to 2012. The inscription has been defaced, though some Mayan scholars have attempted a translation. What we get is this: “The Thirteenth Baktun will be finished (on) Four Ajaw, the Third of the Uniiw (K’ank’in). … will occur. (It will be) the descent(?) of the Nine Support(?) god(s) to the …” 

That’s it. How desperately we want to believe in something new and exciting, when the only thing mystical which we really have of a reliable nature are the Hebrew scriptures which have proven their timelessness with a 100 percent accuracy rate where ancient prophecies are concerned. That’s freaky enough, isn’t it? And encouraging, though not everyone will agree.

— rcg

Return!

Though Bethlehem and Jerusalem are the places where Jesus was born and died, in another sense the story of Jesus’ life and message began in Egypt and began to disintegrate in Egypt after his resurrection and word of it began to spread in this mysterious land. The holy family fled Judea and all of Israel to protect their lives, and remained in Egypt for two years, we’re told. The message of a killed but resurrected Jesus was effectively carried back to Egypt, though those evangelistic efforts remain largely overlooked, which may be relevant. Apparently, the pen, being as mighty or mightier than the sword, was used to put Jesus and the truth of his message and resurrection once more to death by the many heresies that corrupted Jesus’ message. Christian zeal reached a fervent level on the preaching of John Mark, who founded the Coptic church in Alexandria, then the center of all learning in the known world. Monasteries were formed and grew, and in them scribes dutifully wrote down the teachings of Jesus, most zealously, one can imagine, the words of John Mark himself. The large majority of the copies of the New Testament come to us from Egypt, the place which was so successfully evangelized by John Mark, himself an African, from Cyrene. But where there is fervent zeal for the good news of Jesus there arises corruption, and so the New Testament was exposed to the hands of those who were heretics. What we have today in the way of the New Testament has been screened and filtered through a land beset by heresy, and we must take that into consideration when we consider what we have before us.

If we are inclined to embrace the New Testament that we have, concluding that it stood the test of readers who were eyewitnesses of Jesus’ life and works in the generation in which the New Testament was written, we ought to take the same approach in embracing the labels of heresy affixed by those early church fathers who saw the Gnostic writings first, for example, and were unimpressed with them. In other words, the New Testament, notably the four Gospels, were validated by people who witnessed the truth about Jesus; the Gnostic gospels and other Gnostic writings, which arose in the second and third centuries, could not be validated by anyone and could not have been written by Philip, Thomas, Peter, James, John and Mary Magdalene besides that — so these works, odd as they were, were labeled heresy. And still should be. 

And we ought to be motivated to reject any writings which claim to contain new mysteries, especially those which offer nothing of confirming substance to the teachings of Jesus. Indeed, the Gnostic writings reveal apparent efforts of the writers to add to, distort and whimsically recreate the teachings of Jesus. The subject matter is outrageous besides. We have to ask ourselves, What were the motivations behind the Gnostic writings? Can they be true on face value? Do they make logical, reasonable sense? Would God inspire anyone to write complex material, knowing that God’s ways are already complex enough? It is destructive not to call heretical writings what they clearly are, especially with the church reeling as it is. There is a responsibility for those with discernment who know better to speak out, especially when these ancient heresies are invading modern mass media and the homes of people who will believe what they’re told to believe.

There are television evangelists who talk about the coming revival, that a new harvest lies ahead of us … but the church is losing ground, the Christian faith is suffering, the number of believers is dwindling, especially in Europe. Where is this coming revival coming from? Are the days of revival over? Do we need a new word to replace the word revival? How about the word “return”? How about a return to reason and proven tradition in a sea of uncertainty and untruths that tickle our ears? Everybody wants something new. And a very aggressive campaign is apparently being waged on the parts of those who believe they have the best new thing: new mysteries, which are not new at all — new ways of looking at Jesus, which are also not new. These new mysteries are heresies which are as old or older than Christianity itself, some of them having grown out of the Jewish tradition and neo-Platonic thought. These heresies in the Nag Hammadi Library may be as old as Eden, where Eve went in search of new knowledge, so that she might see as God sees. She succumbed to the lies of a serpent who was opposed to the things of God. But was there really an Eden? Science says there was, in Ethiopia, and they have the genetic data to prove it. But all we tend to hear about and read about, listen to and watch are reconstituted philosophies which emerged in Egypt during the fervent spread of Christianity in the land of Pharaohs and pagan gods. And they’re writing novels and making films out of these reconstituted, restored, renovated and refurbished ancient philosophies … and calling them new. When they aren’t new. 

Who is behind this campaign? One man, one author? A whole collection of people, a movement? Evil itself, which is seducing people with the idea that if they want to destroy the works and the message of Jesus … they can do it, and now is the time? There isn’t anything but Jesus … and him crucified and resurrected. There isn’t another virgin birth but his. There isn’t anybody who after only three years put out a message that won over the empire which put him to death. His message won the Roman Empire over so that Christianity should become Rome’s official religion. Have we forgotten about that? There was a reason that this happened: the story and the message and the teachings and sayings of Jesus offered hope … when nothing else did. It was not free hope, but there was a price to be paid for it … the promise required of people that there would be no other gods before the one true God, who is the God of Israel and the willingness to suffer for a persecuted faith.

The intent to undo the truths about the God of the Hebrews is as old as the first revelations of the one God. 

God will prove he is God. He will do what he has done before. He will do again what he once did, which was show the world, beginning with the Jews, that he alone is God. How will God prove that? He will prove it as he previously proved it — by withdrawing his protection and giving us over to the evil powers which would dominate, control and destroy us. Why would they destroy us? Because evil believes they own us and this planet. They mean to control us … or kill us, to decrease the surplus population, which is what Scrooge said ought to be done with the poor. God says he cares for the poor, the sick, the needy, the elderly. Evil says kill them. And that’s what Hitler, motivated by evil, meant to do. We’re going to pay a price for embracing these reconstituted and renewed old philosophies. And then we will see as the world saw once before … who is God. Will God judge us? Yes and no: He will withdraw … and leave us to fend for ourselves against those who are behind the inspiration of this campaign to eliminate God’s only means of salvation. God is not a God of judgment, but one of love. And he will prove it. God help those who must learn the hard way. Doomed forever will be those who corrupted others with the renewed old philosophies and mysteries, which are nothing but lies.

What Motivates a Heretic?

What motivates a heretic?
Why does he search new mysteries?
Is it his pride that spurns tradition?
Is he corrupted supernaturally?

Does evil have power to corrupt?
Are there new mysteries we can find?
What is the history of heresy?
Have there been others who’ve lost their minds?

Where’s the seedbed from whence new things came?
Do gods have power to stir us within?
Can we find wisdom inside ourselves?
To look for such is it really a sin?

Egypt, the birthplace of monasteries.
Scribes copied words of Jesus.
Up among them rose new heresies.
Foolish, vain writings were found in the dust.

What is the message of true saving grace?
Is it found in the transformation …
Of a man who once put Christians to death …
Who turned to Jesus’ love for his salvation?

Once he was blind, then he could see!
What a reversal! What caused that to be?
He saw the light, and turned when he heard …
“Why is it that you would persecute me?”

Evil killed God, but God rose up again!
He preached redemption for you and me.
All our denials are murderous things …
Which nail God back up on that tree.

… to be continued

The Heretical History of Egypt

The emergence of ancient Gnostic writings in our times has produced more than a few shots across the bow of Christendom. In a best-selling novel and a blockbuster film based on a questionable interpretation of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, the so-called Gospel of Philip from the Nag Hammadi Library discovered in Egypt is referenced in an attempt by one of the characters to make the case that Jesus publicly showed affection to Mary Magdalene by kissing her “on the mouth,” though such a display would in truth have resulted in ruining Jesus’ reputation if not in his stoning. Of course, Jesus was under constant scrutiny by the religious leaders of his day who would have seized on any such impropriety. Nevertheless, the novel and film have made heretical hay of the allegation of this risky behavior by Jesus discussed by Jesus and his disciples in the Gnostic gospel. The Nag Hammadi Library codex was found in 1945 buried in a jar beneath a dung pile in the Upper Nile region of Egypt. Another Gnostic text, the lost Gospel of Judas, was discovered in a cave in Egypt sometime during the 1970’s. 

The mysterious land of Egypt has yielded a number of documents of biblical significance, including many of the best Greek manuscripts of the New Testament in existence today. The most important written Christian heresies which have made their way to the west and consequently into the popular culture of our times all originated in Egypt and first appeared in Coptic. For various reasons Egypt and its people have played critically important roles in early Christianity; for example, Christian monasticism traces its origins to Egypt. The apparent evidence of opposing beliefs and writings hostile to traditional Christianity to be found in Egypt may attest to just how important a battleground the land of the Pharaohs and numerous pagan gods has been since the first evangelists ignited a flourishing movement of believers in the first century, beginning in Alexandria. Christendom’s woes only continue there, and increase, as the Coptic Christians of Egypt, the largest contingency of Christians in the Middle East, suffer at the hands of fiercely radical Muslims who persecute them and mean to eradicate them.

The history of the Copts is the history of Christianity in Egypt. The history of the first and most enduring Christian heresies, the very origins of Gnosticism, are a significant part of both, which has led us to take special note of the person responsible for bringing Christianity to Egypt and the African continent and the works credited to him, namely at least one Gospel, the first, many scholars believe, to have been written. The Gospel of Mark, like Christianity itself, has weathered its share of assaults, being considered as it is the most obviously tainted of the four in terms of its abrupt beginning and ending, its grammatical problems, repetitions, geographical errors, curiously missing material (found in the gospels of Matthew and Luke, whose writers arguably relied on Mark) and the peculiar fact that the sum of the verses found in Mark’s Gospel comes out to the number 666.

… to be continued

Cloud of the Lord

In a search for meaning

The Old Testament. The Literal Cloud. Natural phenomena involving clouds are depicted occasionally in the Old Testament, but far from being only “natural,” these are invariably linked with the direct activity of God. Especially in the books of Job and Psalms, cloud-related phenomena are described as evidence of God’s mighty, wondrous works and inscrutable ways (Job 22:14; 26:8-9;35:5; 36:28-29; 37:11, 15-16, 18; 38:9, 34, 36-37; Psalm 77:17; 147:8). The rainbow in the clouds is a sign of the covenant (Gen 9:13-14,16), and clouds themselves are presented as witnesses to the surety of the covenant with David (Psalm 89:37). Withholding of rain from the clouds is seen as divine activity in fulfillment of the covenant curses (Isa 5:6; Lev 26:19; cf. Deut 28:23-24), and the restoring of rain after drought is the sign of God’s removing the covenant curse from Israel (1 Kings 18:44-45; cf. Zech 10:1).

The Metaphorical Cloud. The biblical writers frequently employ phenomena of cloud formation and activity in order to metaphorically illustrate aspects of their theological message. In a positive sense, clouds represent unlimited extent (of God’s faithfulness and truth, Psalm 36:5; 57:10; 108:4; of Babylon’s judgment,Jer 51:9); life-giving refreshment (of the king’s favor, Prov 16:15); a normal occurrence (cycle of nature, Eccl 11:3); shade or shelter (from the “heat” of the ruthless, Isa 25:5); calm (of the Lord in his heavenly sanctuary, Isa 18:4); covering or concealment (of Israel’s sins in forgiveness, Isa 44:22); speed and mobility (of the Gentiles “flying” to Mount Zion, Isa 60:8); and an abundant outpouring (of the “rain” of righteousness, Isa 45:8, and of manna in the wilderness, Psalm 78:23).

In a negative sense, clouds are used to symbolize prideful self-exaltation (of the wicked, Job 20:6; of Satan, Isa 14:14); misery or gloom (at the day of Job’s birth, Job 3:5; at the day of the Lord, Isa 60:2; Jer 13:16; Ezek 30:3; 34:12;Joel 2:2; Zeph 1:15); pervasiveness (of enemy invasion, Ezek 38:9, 16); transitoriness (of Job’s prosperity and life, Job 7:9; 30:15; of Israel’s love and life, Hosea 6:4; 13:3); futile, idle activity (Eccl 11:4); dimness (of eyesight in old age, Eccl 12:2; of a nation’s splendor following divine judgment, Lam 2:1;Ezek 30:18); swiftness (of divine judgment, Jer 4:13); and covering or concealing (of divine mercy in judgment, Lam 3:44).

The Theophanic Cloud. The most common usage of the Hebrew terms for cloud comes in the context of divine theophany. By far the largest group (about fifty occurrences) of these refer to the visible manifestation of the divine presence during Israel’s exodus from Egypt and wilderness wandering. This sign of God’s presence is termed variously: pillar of cloud (Exod 13:21-22, ; plus eleven times), pillar of fire and cloud (Exod 14:24); a thick cloud (Exod 19:9,16), the cloud (Exod 14:20, plus thirty-three times); and the cloud of the Lord (Exod 40:38; Num 10:34).

The pillar of cloud motif-set forth in the exodus account and expanded in the prophetic announcements of a new exodus after the Babylonian exile-encompasses a rich complex of theological meanings and functions: guidance/leading (of Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness to Canaan,Exod 13:21; Num 14:14; Neh 9:12; Psalm 78:14); a signal for movement (breaking and setting up camp, Exod 40:36-37; Num 9:17-23); protection from danger (as a barrier of darkness between Israel and the Egyptians, Exod 14:19-20); the sustained, immediate, personal presence of Yahweh/the angel of the Lord (Exod 13:22; 14:19, 24; 40:38; Num 9:15-16); an agency of summons (to battle, Num 10:34-35; and to worship, Exod 33:10); both a concealment and manifestation of divine glory (Exod 16:10; 19:9, 16; 20:21; 24:15-18; 34:5; Deut 4:11; 5:22); the place of propositional revelation (as an oracular cloud, Exod 33:9; Psalm 99:7); the dwelling place/throne of divinity (over the tabernacle,Num 9:18, 22; 10:11; and in particular, over the mercy seat, Lev 16:2); the locus of cultic theophany (for the investiture of the seventy elders and Joshua,Num 11:25; Deut 31:15; for the inauguration of the tabernacle, Exod 40:34-35); shade/protection from the sun or storm (Num 10:34; Psalm 105:39; Isa 4:5); illumination (as a pillar of fire by night, Exod 14:20; Num 9:15); and an agency of legal investigation and/or executive judgment (against Israel’s enemies,Exod 14:24; and against rebels within Israel, Num 12:5, 10; 16:42).

Clouds are depicted in other Old Testament theophanies. At creation Yahweh makes the clouds his chariots (Psalm 104:3). The Song of Deborah describes the appearance of Yahweh in a thunderstorm (Jud 5:4). Answering David’s plea for help, Yahweh rides upon a cherub from his heavenly temple with thick clouds as his canopy (Psalm 18:11). Clouds are Yahweh’s swift chariot as he executes judgment upon Egypt (Isa 19:1). Nahum’s theophanic vision portrays clouds as the dust of Yahweh’s feet (1:3). In Ezekiel’s inaugural vision, Yahweh emerges from a great cloud riding upon his celestial palanquin (1:4, 28), and the temple is filled with a cloud some fourteen months later when the covenant lawsuit is completed and executive judgment is about to be poured out (10:3-4).

The Eschatological/Apocalyptic Cloud. The eschatological day of the Lord is several times described as a day of cloud-mass and dark storm cloud for the nation(s) being judged (Ezek 34:12; Joel 2:2; Zeph 1:15; cf. Ezek 30:2). On that day the anger of Yahweh will burn with “a thick rising (smoke-) cloud” (Isa 30:27). Clouds of theophany are also associated with eschatological judgment/salvation (Isa 4:5; Nahum 1:3).

The New Testament. The Literal/Metaphorical Cloud. The only New Testament reference to literal cloud phenomena is Jesus’ graphic contrast between his hearers’ ability to interpret the meaning of a cloud rising in the west-that a shower is coming-and their inability to interpret the present time (Luke 12:54). Metaphorical cloud references in the New Testament include Jude’s depiction of the unstable, deceptive, false teachers as waterless clouds, carried along by winds (v. 12), and Hebrews’ portrayal of the many worthy of faith as a great “cloud of witnesses” (12:1).

The Theophanic/Eschatological Cloud. The remaining twenty-two New Testament occurrences of the word “cloud” appear in the context of theophany, and encompass six theologically crucial, eschatologically related events or visionary scenes in salvation history: (1) the pillar of cloud at the exodus, viewed as a type of Christian baptism in the time of eschatological fulfillment (1 Cor 10:1-2); (2) Jesus’ transfiguration, as a foretaste of the kingdom of God, during which the Father appears and speaks in a cloud (Matt 17:5; Mark 9:7;Luke 9:34); (3) Jesus’ ascension, explained by the angels as a paradigm for his return (Acts 1:9); (4) the “mighty angel” descending from heaven wrapped in a cloud, announcing (against the eschatological backdrop of Dan 12:7) that time should be no longer (Rev 10:1); (5) the two resurrected witnesses ascending to heaven in a cloud, described in the context of the eschatological measuring of the temple of God (Rev 11:12); and (6) Jesus’ parousia, against the backdrop of Daniel 7:13, as the Son of Man coming with/on/in a cloud/the clouds/the clouds of heaven (Matt 24:30; 26:64; Mark 13:26; 14:62; Luke 12:54; 21:27; 1 Thess 4:17; Rev 1:7; 14:14-16).

Richard M. Davidson

Bibliography. T. W. Mann, JBL 90 (1971): 15-30; A. Oepke, TDNT, 4:902-10; L. Sabourin, BTB 4 (1974): 290-311; R. B. Y. Scott, NTS5 (1958-59): 127-32; idem, ZAW64 (1952): 11-25; E. F. Sutcliffe, VT 3 (1953): 99-103.

Ethiopian Church to Unveil Ark of the Covenant

BUT IS IT THE REAL THING?

UPDATE … FORGET IT, SAYS PRIEST. “I WAS MISQUOTED.”

The patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia says he will announce to the world Friday the unveiling of the Ark of the Covenant, perhaps the world’s most prized archaeological and spiritual artifact, which he says has been hidden away in a church in his country for millennia, according to the Italian news agency Adnkronos.

Abuna Pauolos, in Italy for a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI this week, told the news agency, “Soon the world will be able to admire the Ark of the Covenant described in the Bible as the container of the tablets of the law that God delivered to Moses and the center of searches and studies for centuries.”

The announcement is expected to be made at 2 p.m. Italian time from the Hotel Aldrovandi in Rome. Pauolos will reportedly be accompanied by Prince Aklile Berhan Makonnen Haile Sellassie and Duke Amedeo D’Acosta.

“The Ark of the Covenant is in Ethiopia for many centuries,” said Pauolos. “As a patriarch I have seen it with my own eyes and only few highly qualified persons could do the same, until now.”

According to Pauolos, the actual Ark has been kept in one church, but to defend the treasure, a copy was placed in every single church in Ethiopia.

He said a museum is being built in Axum, Ethiopia, where the Ark will be displayed. A foundation of D’Acosta will fund the project.

The Ark of the Covenant is the sacred container of the Ten Commandments as well as Aaron’s rod and a sample of manna, the mysterious food that kept the Israelites alive while wandering in the wilderness during their journey to the promised land.

The Bible says the Ark was built to the specifications of God as He spoke to Moses. It was carried in advance of the people and their army by priests. It was also carried in a seven-day procession around the walled city of Jericho.

The idea that the Ark is presently in Ethiopia is a well-documented, albeit disputed, tradition dating back to at least 642 B.C. The tradition says it was moved to Elephantine Island in Egypt, then to Tana Kirkos Island in Ethiopia and finally to its present site at St. Mary’s of Zion Church in Axum.

Ethiopians believe it is destined to be delivered to the Messiah when He reigns on Mount Zion – the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 3:16 points to a time when the Ark will vanish not only physically, but from the minds of the people: “And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.”

The Book of Revelation says the Ark is in the temple of God in heaven (Rev. 11:19). Muslim scholars say it will be found near the end of times by the Mahdi – a messianic figure in Islam.

—-
Source: World Net Daily

Related article: Keepers of the lost Ark?

Who's Coming? Quetzalcoatl, a god, or a Son of David?

It’s unlikely that the Maya had anything to say about the future of Israel, whose restoration and redemption is the hope of the world, to read the Hebrew prophets tell it. Jerusalem is the birthplace of the world’s three major religions, and yet Jerusalem is mentioned nowhere in the ancient writings or calculations of the Maya. Christians believe Jesus will return and fulfill the prophecies of the prophets who describe the Messiah’s arrival on the Mount of Olives, the very site where Jesus ascended to heaven, according to the book of Acts. It is presumed by some Christians and even some Jews that the last battle to be fought on planet earth will unfold in the valley of Megiddo in north central Israel, that foretold military struggle of course being Armageddon. But the Maya and presumably all other ancient civilizations excluding Israel say nothing about these things. 

If anyone will be returning it will be Quetzalcoatl, the Mayan prophets would be more likely to tell us — this mythological figure being the plumed serpent god of the Toltec and Aztec civilizations. Or it may be the planet Nibiru, the so-called Planet X, something akin to the Death Star in Star Wars, only perhaps a living entity, which will complete its wide-arcing orbit and return to earth just in time for the end of the 26,000-year age, which the long-count Mayan calendar calculates will coincide with the winter solstice occurring on December 21, 2012.

But the Hebrew prophets say nothing about the end of a 26,000-year-age, when the earth and the sun will be aligned with the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The Hebrew prophets talk about valleys becoming mountains, and mountain becoming as valleys, and rushing streams and rivers of fresh water in the desert, from the Dead Sea to the Aqabah. The Dead Sea is the lowest land trench on the face of the planet, making it figuratively, if not literally, the belly button of the earth. Today, nothing lives in this most inhospitable. mineral-encrusted wasteland. But if the prophets Ezekiel and Zechariah are correct in what they predict, the Dead or Salt Sea will not always be so.

If there is to be an end of things and a new beginning, will ground zero be in the jungles of South America, or perhaps Stonehenge, or the Washington Monument, as Dan Brown’s new novel may try to convince us — or will the God of Israel restore his people, making good on his covenant to rebuild his house to shelter those called by his name on the Holy Mountain of Zion? 

It’s the New Age and gnosis, an esoteric form of neo-Platonism, versus the God who led the children of Israel out of Egypt and promised them the land that was given to Abraham. Who wins this battle?

Is it significant that the Feast of Dedication, the Festival of Lights, a non-rabbinic holy day known as Hanukkah will begin on December 21, 2011?

It’s unlikely that Dan Brown’s new novel The Lost Symbol will have very much to say about Israel and her prophets, unless he has chosen to reference the Key of Solomon, or Clavicula Salomonus, a grimoire or handbook of witchcraft written in the 16th century and ascribed to the great and wise king of the ninth century BCE. Reportedly this is what the world can expect from Mr. Brown, whose interpretation of a painting of the Italian Renaissance which leaves critical stones unturned apparently mischaracterizes a Passover meal shared by an itinerant rabbi and a rag-tag gathering of disciples, all male. This interpretation formed the basis for a novel which quoted heavily from Gnostic sources, including the Nag Hammadi Library and the so-called lost Gospel of Philip, in which the rabbi is described as having frequently kissed in public under threat of being stoned a woman with an odd last name, unlike the name of any other woman in the Hebrew or Christian scriptures. Interestingly, several authors who inspired Mr. Brown with their book The Templar Revelation suggest that this woman named Mary may have come from Magdala in Ethiopia, which, if true, would put this story in all its forms in a brand new light.

Is it the Mayan prophets versus the Hebrew prophets in a winner-take-all affair, which may be the end or the beginning of a new age of enlightenment for all or some, or the restoration and redemption of all or some, beginning with a Promised Land?

Will it be December 21, 2012 that we need to be counting on … or December 21, 2011?

And what of the Jewish Messiah, whose coming is foretold and is expected by some to usher in a millennial reign, a world government of peace and justice? What will Mr. Brown tell us in his new novel is the most likely scenario for the winter solstices of 2012 and 2011? That we should look to the Maya and crop circles for our guiding information … or the Hebrew scriptures which foretell “a new thing,” the birthing of a man by a virgin nation, which we find referenced in Jeremiah 31:21-22?

Quetzalcoatl, the god of the morning and evening star, a symbol of death and resurrection, or a Son of David, reborn? What do you say Mr. Brown?

Daisy in a Garbage Can

A little kid admires me
As I shoot a photograph
Daisy in a garbage can
I’m too hard by far to laugh
Just back from hell overseas
My grim looks chased him away
I see this kid seeing me
He’ll ne’r come back here to play.

— rcg

Dave Davies' Mystical Journey

Offering a respite from all of the biblical exegesis we do, I’d like to share some things about my friend DAVID RUSSELL GORDON DAVIES, affectionately known by me as THE FATHER OF FUZZ (distortion guitar), who is a very interesting man in addition to being a legendary rock star.

THE FATHER OF FUZZFor those of you who are old enough to remember the British Invasion, Dave Davies was the Kink with his hair parted in the middle. He was also the Kink who often had a big grin on his face — and why shouldn’t he, when the Kinks began rolling out hits in 1964 Dave was all of 17 years old and the women found him irresistible (the swine). This is becoming ever more apparent as I’m reading Dave’s autobiography KINK, which doesn’t pull any of the proverbial punches. In fact, sometimes I think the bugger is too blunt, though he didn’t do anything that I didn’t do or wouldn’t have done, with only one or two exceptions. Now in his sixties, Dave is presenting me with a challenge: I’m bound to figure out who he has become and why he believes the things he believes as a result of some very mystical experiences in his life, one being an experience in my former home state of Virginia which Dave had with apparently extraterrestrial life forms. I’m not to that part yet in the book, but I know it’s coming, as I have read other materials on the subject.

I’ll go on record as saying I absolutely believe him. This incident is of the sort which very credible people like author Whitley Strieber can validate. It understandably had a powerful impact on Dave’s life and his world view. His spiritual philosophies are controversial, depending on which circles you run in, with Dave tending to lean philosophically toward theosophy, gnosis and “the occult.” Ouch. In my neck of the frontier, the term “occult” conjures images of vampires, animal sacrifices and covens a la Charles Manson and his girls. If Dave is a vampire, he’s at least a recovering one. I’m jesting, of course.

But that’s not all I’m digging into. Dave, who by the way is a pen pal of mine who has expertly interpreted some dreams I’ve had, has invested much time and effort to share his life philosophies with fans and friends in the form of a new DVD titled MYSTICAL JOURNEY, which I purchased for a whopping 35 bucks! But I figured if I was going to read Dave’s book and his brother Ray’s titled X-RAY that I would make it a Dave Davies summer. I’m also researching a South African’s work, who is also a pen pal, who says that “it will all make sense on July the Fourth.” Dave what do you think that means?

I recall one Independence Day as a youth when I lit a package of Black Cat bottle rockets still in the wrapping and held it in my hand to see what would happen. That was an epiphany I shall ever forget. I believe I lost some hearing in one ear that day, but I learned something. However, it did not all make sense, so I’m looking forward to seven days from now when there might be a precursor to December 21, 2012, if I’m reading this guy correctly. I’ll be sure to tip a glass to Dave on that day and wish him the best, as his suspicions may at last come to fruition. Star maps, the Washington Monument, the Eye of Horus and the pyramid on the back of the one dollar bill are all supposed to converge and enlighten us somehow. My father was a Freemason, and I think that contributed to his sudden death, to add a personal point.

But, all of that aside, Dave and his brother Ray are brilliant musicians, as versatile (and maybe more so) as the Beatles and the Who ever were. And that is high praise coming from a guy who spent big money to fly to London to tour the Abbey Road studios and visit Liverpool in 1983. I saw the Beatles and the Who in 1965. And the Kinks in 1982 at the World’s Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee, which I covered for the Chattanooga paper — which is the year when Dave had his Virginia experience. He must have just finished playing Richmond or he was on his way.

I was standing near the stage at one point writing my story in my head, and my brow was knitted. I recall Ray Davies looking over at me to his right as he was singing and giving me an unsettled look. John Lennon had been shot only two years earlier, so I can imagine it crossed Ray’s mind that I might be wielding a gun instead of a pen. Bless his heart. He is so sensitive. Maybe Dave will remember that concert.

After I finish reading Dave’s and Ray’s books and watching Dave’s new DVD, I’ll give you a bone honest review of all … which I’ll also make available to Dave, whose comments I’ll gladly post. God save the Kinks!

Here’s an MP3 of a favorite Kinks song “Get Back In Line,” which Dave performs here live.

An Interview on the 'Hidden Disciple'

R. Carter Gray recently submitted to this interview.

Why do you believe that the identity of the Beloved Disciple has been hidden?

First and foremost, because we still don’t know who this person is, though we are tantalized throughout the Gospel of John. We almost know who he is, but not quite. We know that he is a man presumably named John who can write. We know that he is uniquely “lovable,” someone whom Jesus would admire presumably without playing favorites among the twelve disciples. Beyond that, the fact that we must guess as to the identity of “the other disciple” found in several places in John’s Gospel is a clue, I believe. Intriguingly a disciple of Jesus was known to the high priest, which gave him credibility to stand before the high priest to argue on Jesus’ behalf, but this important figure is not known to us. Many assume that “the other disciple” and “the disciple whom Jesus loved” must be the same person, and I make that assumption, too, rightly, I believe. We must also assume that “the other disciple” does not fear being arrested and tried along with Jesus, and, we must assume that this disciple must have been knowledgeable of legal matters, which suggests that he was at least a scribe and may even have worked with the high priest at the temple in Jerusalem.

How have you approached solving the mystery of the unidentified Beloved Disciple?

In a variety of ways. But most effectively I think by first being willing to assume that the Beloved Disciple has indeed been intentionally hidden or obscured in the Gospel of Mark as well as John’s Gospel. By operating on that assumption, and it is only an assumption, but an educated one, I believe, the vague references we find to certain people, most notably the Beloved Disciple, “the other disciple” and the unnamed “certain youth,” then jump out at us. By combining the narratives of the Gospels of Mark and John beginning with the last supper and the night when Jesus is arrested at the Garden of Gethsemane, which I believe were the same night, we see more clearly that certain events could not have happened, if we’re willing to assume that the Gospel of Mark was an eyewitness account which was the first Gospel written. I also assume, as most scholars do, that there is not a Q document, but that omissions may have made to the Gospel of Mark after Matthew and Luke consulted it. To firm up this assumption I take into account the abrupt beginning of the Gospel, repetitions in the Gospel of Mark, the gaps found in the Gospel of Mark in certain manuscripts, the bizarre and abrupt ending to the Gospel of Mark, which some manuscripts do not contain, and, this may seem weird, but also the fact that the number of verses in Mark’s Gospel add up to the number 666.

Is that right?

Yes. Which is a clue, I believe. Verses would have needed to be added and removed to bring the number of verses to exactly 666, we can suppose. Either that or it is a coincidence or the author intentionally meant for there to be 666 verses minus chapter 16, verses 9 through 20, which arguably because of content and grammar don’t belong. It is a clue that Mark’s Gospel should be linked with Revelation and the reference to the number 666 in chapter 13, verse 18.

Those are a lot of assumptions, are they not?

Yes, and they’re bold ones, maybe outrageous ones, in the case of one or two, and also in light of the view of some that the New Testament Gospels are literally true. But I have made these assumptions to get to the solid heart of my hypothesis, which I believe bears merit. I believe the scriptures were divinely guided, by the way, but like creation has been corrupted, I believe that the Gospels have been corrupted, and in the case of the Beloved Disciple someone has been obscured probably because of how they might further identify Jesus.

And you base that on what?

On the vague references to people whom we ought to know, most notably “the other disciple” and, of course, the Beloved Disciple. I also take into account the vague references to “the other Mary” in Matthew, and ask myself how she might be related to “the other disciple,” which is a fascinating clue. Most of all I take into account the background of the person whom I believe to be the Beloved Disciple and the logistics of the events as they unfold in the combined narrative using Mark and John.

Okay. What’s the next step after you’ve made all of these assumptions?

Assuming that the Beloved Disciple is likely to be an admirable man named John who is a writer and that the vague references to “the other disciple” are intentional … I pick up the narrative from John beginning at chapter 18 and combine it with Mark, chapter 14, verse 43 and then I follow the narrative as it proceeds forward in both John and Mark.

What is you primary purpose for doing this?

It is important to recognize certain things which transpire in the Garden of Gethsemane in Mark and to maintain the continuity of the narrative using John. First, we’re told in Mark that Jesus is forsaken by those with him, excluding Peter, who cuts off the ear of the priest’s servant found in John and then follows Jesus at a distance as Jesus is taken to the home of Annas, which is in Mark. And we’re told in John that “another disciple” also follows Jesus, found at 18, verse 15. This is one of the five most important verses in our search for the identity of the Beloved Disciple. We know that “another disciple” who is also “the other disciple” cannot be James or John, the sons of Zebedee, because we’re told in Mark 14, verse 50 that they forsook Jesus. They make no further appearances, I don’t believe, until John 21 after Jesus has resurrected, which is an odd chapter apparently with a bit of Gnostic sacred geometry thrown in when we come to the magical number of 153, that being how many fish were caught in the miraculous catch. The disciples do odd things in this chapter where “the sons of Zebedee” are cavalierly mentioned, interestingly. A man who fishes for a living decides rather comically to “go fishing” and all he boys say they’ll go, too. They’re amazed by the miraculous catch of fish, like they had never seen anything like that before, but they have in Luke, unless these verses in Luke are false, and there is no reason for them to be. John 21 is a different story. It is a crucial chapter for discerning who the Beloved Disciple might be, particularly because the personal pronoun “I” is at last used, as part of concluding verses that don’t make any sense. i believe if this chapter is genuine, then it has been tampered with, unless the writer of John’s Gospel was sloppy, and he has given us no reason to believe he is, especially not by judging from, say, the extended scene in Gethsemane, which is a beautifully written passage. 153 is a number that provides geometrically for the flower of life or the seed of life, also Gnostic, which I consider as suspicious.

What are the five important verses?

John 18, verses 15 and 16 and Mark 14, verses 50 through 52. They’re important because Mark 14, verse 50 tells us that “another disciple” in John 18, verse 15 cannot be John, the son of Zebedee, who has fled. If we are focused on a man presumably named John … that takes one out of consideration. Who is left? What admirable man presumably named John is left to be “another disciple” and “the other disciple” in John 18, verses 15 and 16? There isn’t anyone … unless Mark 14, verses 51 and 52 are false.

How do you know they’re false?

This odd pair of verses takes someone, presumably the author of Mark’s Gospel, out of consideration for “another disciple” and “the other disciple” in John 18. We have a nude man running away from the scene in Mark 14, which is frankly a very comical bit of action effectively taking this mysterious person out of the picture — intentionally, I believe. Whom do scholars say that this “certain youth” who runs away nude might be? Mark, the writer of Mark’s Gospel. If the Gospel of Mark is the first Gospel to be written and if Mark’s Gospel is an eyewitness account, then Mark 14, verses 51 and 52 cannot be true — not unless Mark proceeded to witness the events which continue in his Gospel in the nude, which we have to presume he did not. One more big assumption, but it’s not a hard one to make, is that Mark was an eyewitness to the events he describes in the Gospel which was written first. How would Mark have known of the events which follow in his Gospel, particularly those at the homes of Annas and Caiaphas and before Pilate, and later as Jesus is being helped with his cross by Simon of Cyrene … if he were not present? Peter did not have access. He fled anyway. It helps to know where Mark was born, which we know from a Coptic biography, and it helps to know that Mark knew Simon well enough to know that he had two sons named Rufus and Alexander. If Mark was not an eyewitness, he would not have observed and then commented specifically on this incident. If Mark was not an eyewitness, he would not have been able to describe what happened with Annas, Caiaphas and Pilate and Peter, who fled in tears. Something Peter cannot have wanted to appear in print, which suggests Mark wrote his own Gospel, by the way. Papias is wrong, I believe, about John Mark not being a hearer and follower of Jesus. He had to be.

Why couldn’t “another disciple” and “the other disciple,” whoever he was, have told Mark about what transpired after Peter denied Jesus and fled?

That’s a good question. But who is that person? It’s not Peter, neither is it James nor John. It is someone who was perhaps a scribe who knew the high priests, who knew the law, who may have been named John, if we agree that the Beloved Disciple is also the good and trusted disciple who stood up for Jesus when all of the other disciples had left him.

Well, what’s the answer?

Whom do we know who was a learned man, who was presumably named John, who was an eyewitness of the events after Jesus was arrested, who would have known the high priest because he was a scribe who could write, who would have specifically known Simon of Cyrene? If we agree that Mark 14, verses 51 and 52 could not be true if this person was Mark, who went on to eyewitness the proceeding events presumably clothed, then we have our candidate — a learned man, a young man, born in Cyrene in north Africa, from whence came Simon. And a man who was named John … before he was ever known as Mark.

John Mark?

If Mark 14, verses 51 and 52 are not true, and I don’t believe they are by virtue of Mark’s continuing narrative, we have a Cyrenean named John who was a writer, a scribe who lived in Jerusalem, and therefore would have been known to the high priest.

But you’re assuming a lot, are you not? You’re assuming that the biography about John Mark that says he was born in Cyrene and that he was a learned man, a scribe is true, right?

Yes.

And you’re assuming that two verses in Mark’s Gospel are false, right?

Yes. For the purpose of throwing us off, so that we would not consider John Mark as the Beloved Disciple.

For what purpose would anyone insert two verses in Mark’s Gospel that were not true so as to obscure John Mark as “the other disciple” or the Beloved Disciple?

I have an answer. Actually several. One of which may be obvious by what we know about John Mark’s background from the Coptic biography, which has never been mentioned in scholarly circles that I know of. John Mark presumably founded the Coptic church after evangelizing Alexandria. Christianity flourished there, which not coincidentally is why we have found so many manuscripts of the New Testament in Egypt. I believe John Mark struck a mighty blow right at the heart of those who have most aggressively opposed Christianity and left a powerful impression on Egypt, a lasting impression because he was an African himself, and, two, because he was an eyewitness and Jesus most trusted friend, who stood with Jesus in his darkest hours and could have written poignantly about these things. Plus, he, being young, outraced Peter to the empty tomb. His surname, an unusual one, means “hammer,” by the way — a nickname which may recall the trauma of witnessing Jesus’ crucifixion.

And you’re absolutely positive that you’ve solved the mystery of the identity of the Beloved Disciple?

All that I am positive of is that I want some scholars to take my hypothesis apart and examine it piece by piece. But so far, though I have contacted journals and Bible scholars … I haven’t been able to interest a single person.

Are the 666 Verses in Mark ... Coincidental?

Is it coincidence that the total number of verses found in the Gospel of Mark comes out to 666? If this is not a coincidence, that is, if the total number of verses in the Gospel of Mark adding up to 666 is someone’s idea of a joke, when would the redactions have had to occur in what manuscripts at what approximate time to escape detection? 

If this peculiarity is not a coincidence but intended, what statement, if any, would the editor (or the author) have been trying to make? 

What does the presence of 666 verses in the Gospel of Mark do to our understanding of the possibility of or the necessity for a Q document? In other words, is it possible that omissions were made to the Gospel of Mark after Matthew and Luke consulted this Gospel to bring the verse count to 666?

If tampering accounts for the 666 verses, what other evidences of tampering (erroneous omissions or additions) are there in the Gospel of Mark?

We are presented with the number 666 in Revelation 13:18, which reads “This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666.”

What possible link might John Mark have had to the book of Revelation?

Do you know of any forms of scholarship where this matter has been addressed?

Noting that the description of the nude and fleeing “certain youth” in Mark 14:51-52 is vague, as well as odd, with little to do with the narrative … might these two verses be evidences of tampering?

Combining the narratives of the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of John into one continuous narrative is there a strong likelihood that the “certain youth” in Mark 14:51-52 could perhaps also be “the other disciple” in John 18:15-16?

I would really appreciate your thoughts.

Pachomius, Father of the Nag Hammadi Library

THE ASCETIC WHO FOUNDED THE FIRST CHRISTIAN MONASTERY, WHO WAS A FORMER ROMAN SOLDIER, AND A DEMON-TORMENTED NEOPLATONIST WHO WORSHIPED THE IDOL SERAPIS, IS BELIEVED TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE NAG HAMMADI LIBRARY, WHICH HAS GREATLY INFLUENCED GNOSTIC AND THEOSOPHICAL THOUGHT.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: A former Roman soldier moved by the charity of Christians at Thebes, Pachomius is believed to have established the Nag Hammadi Library in the Upper Nile Valley, composed by other ascetics such as he was, some of whom were novices. The founder of monastic life, which he designed after the discipline and rigors he encountered in the military, Pachomius, moved by his ascetic and visionary instincts, very likely embraced the influence of Neo-Platonism with its emphasis on dualism (the strict separation of matter and spirit) evident in the surrounding world, and was also likely seduced by the idol worship of Alexandrian theology and the example of monks who worshiped Serapis, a Hellenistic-Egyptian god. Serapis arose out of the influence of those Greeks who had little respect for animal-headed idols and desired an anthromorphic statue, which was proclaimed the equivalent of the highly popular Apis, also named Aser-Apis (i.e. Osiris-Apis), which became Serapis, and was said to be Osiris himself and not just his Ka (life force).

It bears noting that the monks under Pachomius’ rule were divided into twenty-four classes, named after the letters of the alphabet, the simple souls ranking in the first classes, the smart fellows in the last. Most of the writings generally ascribed by antiquity to Pachomius — Monita ad Manachos, Verba Mystica, Letters, etc., printed by Holstenius, l.c., [1716]  — are entirely unintelligible.

The Upper Nile Valley communities appear to have combined their worship of Serapis and Jesus and would prostrate themselves without distinction between the two. A letter inserted in the Augustan History, ascribed to the Emperor Hadrian, refers to the worship by residents of Egypt who described themselves as Christians, and Christian worship by those claiming to worship Serapis, suggesting a great confusion of the cults and practices: “The land of Egypt, the praises of which you have been recounting to me, my dear Servianus, I have found to be wholly light-minded, unstable, and blown about every breath of rumor. There those who worship Serapis are, in fact, Christians, and those who call themselves bishops of Christ are, in fact, devotees of Serapis. There is no chief of the Jewish synagogue, no Samaritan, no Christian presbyter (evangelist), who is not an astrologer, a soothsayer, or an anointer. Even the patriarch himself, when he comes to Egypt, is forced by some to worship Serapis, by others to worship Christ.”

So much for the reliable Christian foundation upon which the Gnostic writings are presumed to be based. More biographical material follows:)

PACHOMIUS, b. in the Egyptian province of the Thebais about 292; d. in Tabennae, an island in the Nile, in 348; a younger contemporary of St. Anthony; was the real founder of monastic life. As long as the ascetic instinct inherent in Christianity remained in a healthy condition, it found its satisfaction within the life of the congregation. But by degrees, as the church became more and more familiarized with the surrounding world, the ascetic instinct, under the influence of the dualism of the Neo-Platonizing, Alexandrian theology, and seduced by the example of the monks of the Serapis worship, fell into extravagances; and the ascetics fled into the deserts, and became hermits. Pachomius was also swayed by this tendency; and in his twentieth year he settled in the desert to fight for the prize of asceticism under the training of Palemon, one of the most austere pupils of St. Anthony.

But the movement had already reached such a speed and such a compass, that it could not go on any farther without some kind of organization; and to have effected this is the great merit of Pachomius. Something had already been done before his tune. As the desert became peopled by anchorets, the laura arose; that is, a number of novices in asceticism built their cells around the cell of some hero in asceticism, in order to follow his example, and to receive his training; and thus the first trace of organization originated. Pachomius made the next step, transforming the laura in to a monastery. In the Island of Tabennae he founded the first caenobium, that is, a house in which the anchorets, who had hitherto lived separately, each pursuing his own scheme of asceticism, came to live together, with common practices and exercises, according to certain fixed rules, and under the guidance or government of a director. The success of Pachomius’ undertaking was enormous. Palladius states that in his time the monastery of Tabennae contained no less than fourteen hundred monks. Of the original rules of Pachomius, nothing certain is known. The Regula S. Pachomii, containing a hundred and ninety-four articles, and printed by Holstenius, in his Codex Regularum, i. pp. 26-36, and a shorter regulative, containing fourteen articles, and printed by Gazaus as an appendix to his edition of Cassianus’ De Caenobiorum Instit., may contain fragments of the original rules; but their authenticity cannot be established. They present many curious features: thus, the monks are divided into twenty-four classes, named after the letters of the alphabet, the simple souls ranking in the first classes, the smart fellows in the last; but in this respect they agree very well with the writings generally ascribed by antiquity to Pachomius, Monita ad Manachos, Verba Mystica, Letters, etc., printed by Holstenius, l.c., most of [1716] which are entirely unintelligible. (No surprise there, Ed.)

As a twenty-year-old in 312 AD, he was inducted into the Roman army. The great kindness of Christians toward the soldiers at Thebes inspired his conversion subsequent to his military discharge. After being baptized, he became a disciple of the elder anchorite Palemon. There were many such hermits at that time, refugees from the decadent Roman Empire, who lived in the countless caves along the rimrock of the Upper Nile Valley. This was a solitary life of extreme austerity and total dedication to God, combining manual labor with unceasing prayer and study both day and night. 

Pachomius, however, recalling his experiences in military barracks, had the idea of gathering the local hermits together into a community to build a monastery on the banks of the Nile at Tabennisi (Gk CHNOBOSKEION). Thus in about 318 AD, Palemon helped him build a cell there and remained with him for a while. In a short time some 100 anchorites had joined Pachomius at Tabennisi, and in 320 AD he organized them on principles of communal living. The various writings in the Nag Hammadi Library doubtless represent texts from the resultant Pachomian library, brought to the community by this or that individual anchorite or novice. So renowned did the life of Pachomius and his monks become, that he was eventually obliged to establish ten other monasteries for men and two nunneries for women. Before his death in 346 AD, there were 7,000 monks in his various houses, his Pachomian Order in the East lasting until the 11th century. St Pachomius must thus be credited with founding the Christian monastic movement, for the first time organizing male and female devotees into communities and writing down a Rule for them. (Both St Basil and St Benedict drew from his Rule in setting forth their own more famous ones.) Hence, although St Anthony is often regarded as the founder of monasticism, it was really St Pachomius who founded the cenobitic life.

Ogres in Camelot

CONTINUED 6/24/09 —

Instinctively, upon seeing his photograph, I knew that Lee Harvey Oswald was probably not the killer of John F. Kennedy. Such a person, I pondered in my 10-year-old mind, would be more angry than Oswald appeared to be, the killer would be larger, more crude and cruel in appearance; he would not be so demure as Oswald was, but he would be an anarchist with a cause, and he would be shouting about his cause at the top of his lungs. What we came to learn about Oswald, after he was gunned down by an unlikely assassin who was a cheeseball nightclub owner, was that he was former military, who could speak Russian, had a Russian-born wife, and was either pro or anti-Castro. It didn’t make sense. What would a military man be doing speaking Russian unless he had been taught Russian by the military so that he might work as a spy? And what would the military be doing wasting its time on teaching Russian to a man so that he might become a spy … if he was unstable and unreliable enough to kill the president of the United States? Surely the military had vetted this guy; surely the CIA had, if he had truly been CIA at one time. I came to find that nobody else was really buying Oswald as the sole gunman who killed Kennedy, and this awareness in and of itself was staggering. If no one was buying it, there were instinctive and intuitive reasons why people weren’t buying it. And the people were always right in large numbers.

Was it sex appeal which had gotten Kennedy killed? Had it been sex appeal which had led to the early, unexpected and tragic death of Marilyn Monroe? Kennedy was a maverick, but much more than that … he was a good-looking maverick, who had wit and charm and a beautiful wife who could speak French. They were royalty, in a relatively crude, frontier-oriented nation where guns were plentiful and glamorized. It had to be someone from the underbelly, the nation’s cesspool, someone who represented the worst of what America was, someone born out of the American frontier, where they used to shoot first and ask questions later, it had to be someone like this who had killed JFK. And, it had to be someone who was ugly enough to want to kill such a pretty man.

At the time, I knew nothing about the military-industrial complex and the business of war, or that this is what was driving the American commitment to sending troops to Southeast Asia. I knew the Red Scare was real and tangible, but the Red Scare was generated by what happened in Moscow, not what happened in the jungles of some backwater nation in the middle of nowhere. Vietnam didn’t make any sense either. And Kennedy, wisely, concurred. But it wouldn’t be until decades later than I learned this. At the age of 10, I didn’t know the distaste Kennedy and his court had for LBJ, that they laughed at him behind his back, that he was perceived as crude, a hayseed, whom Bobby Kennedy hated with a passion. I’d never seen the photograph of John Kennedy as president reaching out to touch the shoulder to quiet Vice President Johnson who was shouting at somebody and making a perfect ass of himself. I didn’t know anything about how corrupt Johnson was, how he stole the 1948 election for U.S. Senator in his state, beating a popular governor, how he wield power in the Senate like a billy club, and how he had been the youngest majority leader ever in a place where more got done for the politicians than for the people. I didn’t know that Kennedy intended to dismantle the CIA, for whatever reasons, which I suspect were to prevent the sorts of things from happening which happened to him. I didn’t know that Johnson might very well be dropped from the ticket in the upcoming election, and that LBJ and Lady Bird had been shipped overseas attending bullshit events, where Johnson famously showed his ass every time he could. I didn’t know that one of the men whom E. Howard Hunt would name as a planner of JFK’s assassination would be a man named Cord Meyer, whose wife Mary had slept with Kennedy, and I didn’t know that a man named Bill Harvey, considered crazy by everyone who knew him, had apparently been a player, who had been a CIA man stuck in Rome, where he might have rubbed elbows with Corsican trigger men for whom killing meant nothing but money, even if it was a good-looking and popular president, with charisma and sex appeal that wouldn’t quit.

I can imagine Mr. Meyer wanting to kill a man who had slept with his wife, and I can imagine LBJ using that man’s anger as his opening to do what he had secretly dreamed of doing. And I can imagine Richard Nixon, an ugly man, whom Kennedy had made look so bad on television … I can imagine what his state of mind must have been after the election of 1960, which made him the brunt of the same kinds of ugly-man jokes that LBJ had heard probably all his life. I can imagine Richard Nixon, an ugly man, wanting to kill JFK, and so it is no surprise to me that Richard Nixon just happened to have been in Dallas the day the the president was murdered. Red Scare Richard. Who used the argument that Kennedy was soft on communism to justify the unthinkable crime. There were a lot of reasons for the people who apparently killed JFK to kill JFK, but at the heart of all of them was the hatred that an ugly man holds for a handsome man. It was his sex appeal more than anything else which got John Kennedy killed — all the other reasons were secondary. It was a big ugly man who killed John Kennedy; it was an ogre in Camelot who didn’t belong but who was determined not to be moved.

***

It has the ring of truth. And it is profoundly, shockingly grotesque, vulgar and insidious beyond description in its scope and in all forms of its meaning. Since 2007 when St. John Hunt, son of the late CIA operative E. Howard Hunt, came forward with the stunning revelation that his father on his deathbed had fingered Lyndon Baines Johnson and a handful of CIA thugs as those responsible for the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the deed has only become more plausible. 

The link below offers details, including the famed Rolling Stone magazine interview with the younger Hunt and two videos of interviews with E. Howard Hunt, which are very compelling.

Radiodujour.com

It is unthinkable that a sitting vice president of the United States would even entertain the thought of staging a coup d’etat in broad daylight, in his home state no less. But LBJ, who ought to go down in history as the most or one of the most corrupt politicians ever to serve in the senate and White House, perhaps ever in any nation, at any time, was capable of doing such a thing if the other aspects of his life serve adequately as evidence. He will have done to a nation and specifically to my generation great, great harm, which has left personal scars, I being one who served in the military for no good reason in the Vietnam era. Some 56,000-plus young men lost their lives in a war that JFK would have never fought had he lived. Callously, very personally, Lyndon Johnson viciously drained the blood and life from an entire generation and the family members who have somehow managed to survive.

to be continued …

Egypt Court: Christianity Threatens 'Public Order'

From U.S. Copts Association

According to the Court ruling, the religious conversion of a Muslim is against Islamic law and poses a threat to the “Public Order” in Egypt. The Egyptian Constitution, under Article 46, provides for freedom of belief and the practice of religious rites; while Article 2 states that Islamic Shari’a is the primary source of legislation.

Many Coptic lawyers and human rights activists see a contradiction between those two articles and believe that Article 2 supercedes Article 46.

AINA) — An Egyptian court refused on Saturday, 6/13/2009 a request by Muslim-born Maher El-Gowhary, who converted to Christianity 34 years ago, to order the Civil Registry to alter his religious designation on his ID.

The Civil registry had refused to amend his State identification documents to show his Christian name Peter Athanasious and his Christian affiliation, leading him to file a lawsuit against the Ministry of Interior.

According to the Court ruling, the religious conversion of a Muslim is against Islamic law and poses a threat to the “Public Order” in Egypt.

“It is a sad day for freedom of religion in Egypt,” said Fayez Saeed, a member of the legal team working on El-Gohary’s case, to the Coptic News Bulletin. “Today the Egyptian judiciary was struggling between establishing the principle of religious freedom to which Egypt is committed and its support for the Islamic State advocated by the Salafis in Egypt (fundamentalist Islamic thought), but it (the judiciary) sided for the victory of an Islamic State at the expense of Freedoms.”

The judge in his ruling accepted the legal form of the case, but rejected the “subject” of the lawsuit, which is the conversion of a Muslim to Christianity. “In other words, the judge told us although the case is legally correct,” said Saeed, “but Sorry! I cannot grant the right to convert, as this would upset the Muslims.”

The Egyptian Constitution, under Article 46, provides for freedom of belief and the practice of religious rites; while Article 2 which was introduced in 2007 states that Islamic Shari’a is the primary source of legislation. Many Coptic lawyers and activists see a contradiction between those two articles and believe that Article 2 supercedes Article 46.

A few days ago the Supreme Constitutional Court refused to consider Muslim converts reverting back to Christianity as “apostates” from Islam, and it did not find anything in the Egyptian law regarding Apostasy.

“Are we governed by civil or Shari’a law?” asks Nabil Ghobrial, one of the attorneys representing El-Gowhary.

In spite of the present setback, the optimistic legal team considered Saturday’s ruling as ‘historic’, in that it proves beyond doubt that there is judicial inadequacies pertaining to the laws on religious freedom in Egypt. “By going through implications of the ruling we found out that Al-Azhar is the only authority in Egypt which can give a conversion certificate.” Saeed said. “So what happens if a Muslim wants to convert to any other religion? The implication is there no other authority in Egypt, and that lawmakers ought to legislate for one.”

Ghobrial said he was very pleased with the ruling because it is proof that Egypt encourages Salafi ideology. “The verdict is not final, and will be appealed before the Supreme Administrative Court, and if the State will not correct its attitude towards the principles of democracy and freedoms, then we will go to the International Court of Justice and oblige Egypt to adhere to its rulings.”

He stressed that it is also El-Gowhary’s wish to go to any lengths to obtain his rights. “He is a Christian, lives as a Christian, and insists on obtaining the documents to reflect his Christian faith. He believes if he cannot get his rights here, then there is no other way but to take his case to the international arena.”

Maher el-Gowhary who converted to Christianity 34 years ago, was baptised in the Roman Catholic Church of Cyprus. However, during a court hearing in February 2009, the judge asked for a certificate from the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church, which the legal team obtained and submitted to the Court. To their surprise, Saturday’s ruling said that the court does not recognize the Roman Catholic Church of Cyprus as it is not ‘authorized’ in Egypt, and consequently the Coptic Church’s endorsement of its baptismal certificate is void. “Also a certificate from H.H. Coptic Pope Schenouda is not acceptable.” Ghobrial said, “So why did the judge ask us to get him one from the Coptic Church then? Maybe he did not expect us to produce one.”

The churches in Egypt do not ‘officially’ baptize converts for fear of Muslim backlash, and when they do so secretly, they do not issue baptismal certificates, leaving Muslim-born converts in a dilemma. But in El-Gowhary’s case, the Coptic Church gave him a certificate of joining the Coptic Orthodox community.

“We are faced with a brick wall, but we have vowed to break through it, piece by piece. “said Saeed . “We insist on showing the shortcomings of the Egyptian law for conversion to Christianity.”

The Supreme Administrative Court upheld in March 2009 a lower court’s 2008 ruling that all Egyptians have a right to obtain official documents, such as ID cards and birth certificates, without stating their religion. “If Baha’is are now allowed, why can’t ex-Muslim converts to Christianity also be allowed?” Ghobrial asks.

Outspoken Attorney Ghobrial believes that what the ruling meant by posing a threat to ‘Public Order’ in Egypt is the Government knows that once the right to convert from Islam is given, then millions of ex-Muslims who hide their Christian faith and live in fear of being found out, will come out in the open and apply for conversion, which will create havoc.

Archbishop Fears Extinction of Christianity in the Middle East

From U.S. Copts Association

The Middle East is the birthplace of Christianity but the number of Christians living in this region is diminishing.A century ago, Christians constituted 20 percent of the population of the region. Today, the percentage has shrunk to 2-5 percent. The Christians in the Middle East are disappearing from the region with such a speed that the Catholic archbishop of Baghdad, Rev. Jean Benjamin Sleiman, has said he “fears the extinction of Christianity in Iraq and the Middle East.

Pope Benedict XVI, on 12 May 2009 in a Mass at the foot of Jebel az-Zeitun or Mount of Olives, in east Jerusalem Al-Quds spoke about the tragic reality of the departure of so many members of the Christian community in recent years.

But why Christians are leaving the Middle East? There is not a single reason for the decline as it is attributed to a combination of factors including low birth rates, emigration, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the rise of radical Salafi groups, especially in the wake of the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Many Christians have left the region and continue to do so for greater economic opportunities.

Bernard Sabella, a Catholic member of the Palestinian parliament, told a gathering of Middle Eastern Christian and Muslim scholars and religious leaders in February 2009 that was held at the Vatican City that the exodus of Christians is related to the global market. Therefore, if a young Palestinian, Christian or Muslim, can get work in the United States or Dubai, then they will go.

And Fayez Khano a member of the Assyrian community believes the main reason behind the departure of Christians from the Middle East is Economy.”

But is that the only reason for the ever-shrinking population of Christians in the Middle East?

Deputy Secretary General of the New York-based Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA), Chorbishop John D. Faris, believes that though emigration of Christians from the Middle East started in early 20th century, but the exodus grew faster “in the middle of that century with the creation of the state of Israel and consequent Arab-Israeli conflicts.

This period has been marked by political and economic strife that has driven people from their homes and homelands. One small example: in 1900, the population of Bethlehem was more than 90% Christian. Today, Bethlehem is only one-third Christian and this proportion is steadily shrinking as the Christians depart for Europe, the Americas or Australia.”

Many of the Palestinian refugees who fled their homeland in 1948 were Christians. In 1948, when Israel came into existence, Jerusalem Al-Quds was about one-fifth Christian but today it is only 2 percent Christian.

Archbishop Fouad Twal, Coadjutor of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, says, “Christians are more or less 370,000 out of 17 million people living in our three countries of Palestine, Israel and Jordan. This makes 2% of the total population.”

Andrew Lee Butters of the Times Middle East Blog has said in a May 8, 2009 article that “Israel has been a disaster for Christians in the Middle East.”

Jonathan Cook, a British freelance journalist based in Nazareth and author of “Blood and Religion: Unmasking Zionism”, believes the decline in the population of Christians in the Middle East can be explained by two factors.

“The first is a lower rate of growth among the Christian population.” The second reason for the decline is that “Israel has established an oppressive rule for Palestinians both inside Israel and in the occupied territories that has been designed to encourage the most privileged Palestinians, which has meant disproportionately Christians, to leave.

This policy has been implemented with stealth for decades, but has been greatly accelerated in recent years with the erection of the [separation] wall and numerous checkpoints. The purpose has been to encourage the Palestinian elite and middle class to seek a better life in the West, turning their back on the Holy Land.”

William and Carolyn Yontz have said in a report entitled Living Under Fire: Christian Clergy and Congregations in the Holy Land? that “If there is one subject that most often is referred to as the core of the Palestinian problems, it is the Israeli occupation.? Its tentacles reach everywhere, in every direction, in every aspect of life. It is truly omnipresent.”

“Many Christians have died or have been killed as a result of the occupation. Many of them young and many innocent,” William and Carolyn Yontz said in their research.

In Iraq, the number of Christians has been declining on a fast track basis in the wake of the 2003 invasion of the country by the US. Of the 1.4 million Christians living there in 2003, nearly half have fled. Apart from the consequence of the invasion, Iraqi Christians, especially those in Mosul, came under attacks unleashed by the Salafi militants as well as the Al-Qaeda.

These Salafi groups did not appear over night in the Arab countries. Some regional governments have been funding these groups primarily to target Shia Muslims and those Sunnis who rose up against extremism.

Therefore, it is no wonder to see that the holy Shia sites including Askariya shrine and Imam Musa al-Kadhim shrine as well as churches became the targets of such groups. Interestingly, many of these regional governments are very close allies of the West, especially the US.

But what is the role of the West in the growth of extremism?

Andrew Lee Butters says the culture of “tolerance is today under threat from the rise of religious extremism. But clash-of-civilizations pundits and Western leaders like the Pope often ignore how the West helped spark such intolerance, especially through its one-sided support of Israel.”

“In fact, Muslims in the Middle East are getting tired of visiting Western leaders who talk down to them about tolerance but don’t practice it at home. If Western society is so multi-cultural, why do Westerners care so much about Christians in the Middle East? It smacks of the same kind sectarian attitudes of the European colonial era, when British and French rulers elevated the region’s Christian groups to positions of authority in order to manage their mostly Muslim empires,” Butters says.

It is not an easy task to convince Christians not leave the birthplace of Jesus Christ. To do so, in the first place, the West must put an end to its policies that harm the Middle Eastern Christians especially its military policies in the past several years including its one-sided support of Israel, the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Moreover, religious extremism has been ideologically sponsored and financially backed by some of the regional countries that are supported by the US Just refresh your memory by remembering the nationality of the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks.

And let’s not lose sight of the fact that the US has been, at least partly, behind the spread of religious extremism including Wahabism and the Taliban.

“Let’s remember here the people we are fighting today we funded them twenty years ago and we did it because we were locked in a struggle with the Soviet Union,” so said the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in late April 2009 after she appeared before a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.

Clinton went on to add “They [the Soviet Union] invaded Afghanistan and we did not want to see them control Central Asia and we went to work and it was President Reagan in partnership with Congress led by Democrats who said you know what it sounds like a pretty good idea lets deal with the ISI and the Pakistan military and lets go recruit these mujahideen.

And great, let them come from Saudi Arabia and other countries, importing their Wahabi brand of Islam so that we can go beat the Soviet Union and guess what they [Soviets] retreated they lost billions of dollars and it led to the collapse of the Soviet Union so there is a very strong argument which is, it wasn’t a bad investment in terms of Soviet Union but let’s be careful with what we sow because we will harvest.”

And what the US created is now at its own throat. The same thing has been happening in Israel. The US lop-sided support of Israel, has created a regime that cannot tolerate Washington’s tepid pressures to halt the settlements it is building in other people’s land.

The West has to realize that it too has had a share in the exodus of Christians from the Middle East. To help stop it, it has to rectify its policies.

Revisiting Dan Brown's Very Odd Da Vinci Code Bio

In anticipation of the release of Dan Brown’s new novel in September, we thought it might be fun to track down and comment upon the official Doubleday biography of Mr. Brown which accompanied the publishing of The Da Vinci Code in 2003. Our commentary is provided in italics:

Dan Brown claims that the seminal moment which impressed him to write about Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper occurred when his art history professor at the University of Seville pointed out the strange anomalies in the painting.

“One morning our professor started class in a most unusual way,” Brown says in his official biography. “He showed us a slide of Da Vinci’s famous painting The Last Supper.”

In what other way does a class in art history ever begin, if not with a slide presentation of paintings? And it is “Leonardo” on second reference.

Brown continues: “I had seen the painting many times, yet somehow I had never seen the strange anomalies that the professor began pointing out: a hand clutching a dagger, a disciple making a threatening gesture across the neck of another, and, much to my surprise, a very obvious omission: the apparent absence on the table of the cup of Christ, the one physical object that in many ways defines that moment in history, Leonardo Da Vinci chose to omit.”

First, what serious writer sees strange anomalies in a painting and creates a code out of them, which he later asserts he believes to be true? One would think Brown would have been more inclined to wonder why there was a hand clutching a dagger with no arm or person attached to it. Leonardo clearly did not intend to omit the body of the person who would at one time have been holding the knife.

And as for “a disciple making a threatening gesture across the neck of another” … that would be Peter gesturing toward a disciple, a man presumably named John, whom Peter asked to ask Jesus which one of the disciples it was who was going to betray Jesus. What writer would tackle the subject of The Last Supper for the purpose of writing a novel about it without researching the event the painting captures as it transpires in the Gospel of John?

According to Brown, “this reintroduction to an ancient (nay, Renaissance) masterpiece was merely the tip of the iceberg. What followed was an in-depth explanation of clues apparent in Da Vinci’s painting and his association with the Priory of Sion that set Brown on a path toward bringing The Da Vinci Code into existence.”

What followed was “an in-depth explanation of clues” (whatever that means) apparent in the painting and Brown’s discovery that Leonardo belonged to a fictitious secret organization … which put him on the path to writing the novel? The painting does not have clues but anomalies, errors.

In fact, it was the book The Templar Revelation and the authors’ ridiculous interpretations of the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci which Brown relied upon for his inspiration to create The Da Vinci Code, according to his deposition in the 2007 London plagiarism trial.

Why would the omission of the cup of Christ be jarring and perhaps representative of a code, if there is a disembodied hand with a knife, which means a whole person has been omitted?

Why has no journalist asked these questions of an amateur novelist who just happens to have written the best-selling novel in the history of publishing?

Fourth of July, Cross and Witchcraft Linked in Brown's New Novel?

Sacred Cross of Solomon, Constantine Rises in the East on July 4thby R. CARTER GRAY

South African author Wayne Herschel, a self-described “symbologist” who studies ancient symbols, monuments and pictograms on earth and how they align themselves with certain constellations, may, may have had some hand in the rewriting of Dan Brown’s sequel to The Da Vinci Code called The Lost Symbol. At least that’s what the author suspects, after Herschel sent Brown’s literary agent the Solomon Key parchment and its connection to the Washington Monument in 2007.

The Lost Symbol, which was previously titled The Solomon Key, is set by Brown’s publisher Doubleday/Random House for release on September 15, an important holy feast day for commemorating the cross of Jesus in the Christian liturgical calendar.

Herschel has very thoroughly researched the Key of Solomon parchment and its runes contained in the Key of Solomon grimoire also called the Clavicula Salomonis. A grimoire is a handbook of magic and witchcraft, which King Solomon is alleged without evidence to have personally used. The term “grimoire” also is an interchangeable name for the word “demon.”

On his very elaborate and graphically stunning network of websites (oneism.org, keyofsolomon.net) Herschel has observed that the release date of The Lost Symbol novel represents “symbolic timing with the forgotten early Christian holy day of the ‘rising’ of the sacred cross, the forgotten symbol celebrated between the 13th and 15th of September.” According to Herschel midnight on September 15 has a witching-hour significance, reflecting “the grande finale for the Washington Monument’s magic moment in time,” which Herschel says is referenced in “the demonic texts of the Codex Gigas.”

Herschel said the Fourth of July also bears significance to the “sacred cross of the sky” of Solomon and Constantine, it being “the only day of the year” when an alignment of stars forming a cross rises due east, “absolutely in sync with the rising or rebirth of our Sun when viewed from the National Mall in Washington, D.C.”

So were George Washington and some of the other founding fathers sun worshipers in addition to being Freemasons? Herschel only suggests as much, but he does tell us that the portrait of Washington on the one dollar bill is encoded as is a painting of Washington which shows him pointing to the location where the Pentagon (reflected in Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man) would eventually be built.

The author of The Hidden Records proudly notes on his website that he has “coincidentally been working for years” on the ancient texts devoted to witchcraft with relevance to Freemasonry which may form the basis for Brown’s new novel. Herschel has even boldly weighed in on the subject of the origins of mankind, suggesting that “the message revealed from the lost symbol will provide theological doctrine with unremitting evidence that every civilization is descendant from those that came down from the heavens, opposing that we are linked to an earth-evolved hominid of any sort. Moreover, it will present a bold new challenge to the ‘Out of Africa Eve’ theory from an entirely new angle. One has to question if it is such an awful thought that we could be descendants of those that evolved in another star system … angels if you like.”

As in fallen (Genesis 6)?

A personal note: Suddenly and finally, the true motivation behind the Da Vinci Code and its attempt to strip Jesus of his deity and his role in creation becomes all too clear. The pattern which forms would seem to confirm our long-held belief that all of this constitutes a campaign that is much, much bigger than one drifter from New Hampshire.

New Brown Novel Set For Holy Cross Day Release

Dan Brown’s new novel The Lost Symbol is brazenly being released by his publisher Doubleday/Random House on September 15 to coincide with the Feast of the Cross, an important date in the Christian liturgical calendar. There are several feasts known as Feasts of the Cross, all of which commemorate the cross used in the crucifixion of Jesus as the instrument of Christian salvation.

This feast is called “Raising Aloft of the Precious Cross” in Greek. In Latin the feast is called Exaltatio Sanctae Crucis to commemorate the exaltation or triumph of Christ. In the Anglican Communion the feast is called Holy Cross Day, a term also used by Lutherans. Brown has acknowledged that he was raised an Episcopalian.

Until 1969, the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday of the calendar week after the one in which September 14 falls were designated as one of each year’s four sets of Ember days by the Church in the West. How these celebrations are organized is now left up to the decision of Episcopal Conferences according to local conditions and customs.

September 14 is the titular feast of the Congregation of Holy Cross and the Episcopal Church’s Order of the Holy Cross. This date also marks the beginning of the period of fasting, stipulated in the Rule of St. Albert to be followed by the religious of the Carmelite spiritual family, and ending Easter Sunday.

The title of the new novel The Lost Symbol may refer to a star-mapped symbol depicted on a talisman or parchment found in the Key of Solomon or Clavicula Salomonis, which is a grimoire or handbook of witchcraft. Needless to say, Mr. Brown, his agent, his editor and his publisher have chosen to up the ante with the sequel to The Da Vinci Code, recklessly taking pop sacrilege to new heights in an effort to sell books and likely prepare the world for its greatest nightmare — though they wouldn’t admit to that.

Previously titled The Solomon Key, The Lost Symbol presumably will be set in Washington, D.C., where Egyptian- and Babylonian-influenced architecture and motifs are commonplace. In advanced publicity for The Solomon Key, Brown made no apologies for writing a book featuring elements of Freemasonry and the occult heavily grounded in ancient Egyptian and Babylonian traditions. Whatever else which might be said about Brown as a researcher, he is very apparently ignorant of the history of ancient Israel, whose people were forsaken by God for religious practices which honored the false gods of Canaan. It is this same ilk we’ll be facing, in the most vulnerable of positions, thanks to the best-selling author in the history of world publishing.

Stay tuned …

In common?

Solomon
Ancient wisdom
Queen of Sheba
Ethiopia
Ark of the Covenant
Magic
Great architect
Orion
Pleiades
Stonehenge
Virtruvian man
Roman architect and military engineer; full name Marcus Vitruvius Pollio. He wrote a comprehensive 10-volume treatise on architecture
Babel
Evolution
Language
Races
Star map
Monuments
Crop circles
Human origins
Codes
DNA
Black messiah
Quetzalcoatl
Nibiru
Egypt
Osiris
Isis
Black madonna
Mary Magdalene
Leonardo Da Vinci
December 21, 2012
Magdala
Eden
Serpent
Enuma elish
Genesis
Abraham
Babylon
666
Is fallen
Sumer
Judgment
Love
John Mark
Egypt
Rahab
Lucifer
Nature’s fury
UFO’s
Pentagon
Eye of Horus
Signs and wonders
False prophets
Israel
Virgin
Husband
Bride
Baby
Jesus

More of "The Monotheist"

V.O.
Mr. Azzam, or Chedli, seemed to hesitate when I called to set up another session with him, though he had given me an assignment to read Exodus thirty-three, which I did. But I persisted, and he gave in. Though it sounded as if he was trying to brush me off, when I arrived at his home, I happily found his charm to be intact.

AZZAM
Come in, Celeste, and bring the sunshine in with you.

CELESTE
It’s a beautiful day.

AZZAM
It is indeed. I love the springtime in this part of America. In Egypt it begins to grow terribly hot at this time of year. As a child I never imagined that a person could live in a country which has the varying range of climates that America does. Would you care for tea?

CELESTE
No, thank you. I just had two cups of coffee.

AZZAM
Is there anything in particular on your mind?

CELESTE
I read Exodus thirty-three, and it is a fascinating chapter, I think.

AZZAM
I think so, too.

CELESTE
Should I tell you why I think you recommended that I read it?

AZZAM
Yes, of course.

CELESTE
God, or the Lord, as he communicates with Moses in this chapter comes across as, well … schizophrenic.

AZZAM
Explain what you mean.

CELESTE
At the beginning of the chapter, God comes across as harsh and cruel, calling the children of Israel stiff-necked and that if God were to accompany them any further to Canaan, God would probably be moved to destroy them, consume them.

AZZAM
Yes.

CELESTE
And yet further on in the chapter God presents himself to Moses in the form of a cloud and expresses to him his close friendship with Moses.

AZZAM
What do you make of that?

CELESTE
I’ve always perceived God as being perfect and loving, always, though free will which is necessary for true love to exist allows for the presence of evil. I can’t imagine God being as wishy washy as this, and I can’t believe what happens at the end of the chapter.

AZZAM
Where God appears to Moses in the form of a man, with a back and a face?

CELESTE
Yes. God is spirit, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, or so I have believed since childhood. This God who bargains with Moses about God revealing his glory to Moses is saying something an individual, a person would say, not something that God would say. God is the great I Am. He just is. He doesn’t have a face. Nor a back. It sounds as if God is afraid to show his face. He tells Moses that if he does show his face that Moses could not survive the experience. I don’t buy it.

AZZAM
Nor do I. In light of what we may or may not be led to believe about the crop circles and who or what made them, how do you view this exchange?

CELESTE
I guess that there are false gods.

AZZAM
The very thing for which Israel was punished, that is, serving and worshiping them.

CELESTE
Do you believe there will come a time when these false gods return to earth.

AZZAM
I do. As I have said, I believe they are already here. Obviously the crop circles would lead us to believe that.

CELESTE
So why is this a point that you wanted to make with me?

AZZAM
Lacking complete knowledge of what our reality is and how God operates, we are at a disadvantage, susceptible to false gods, in whatever form they may appear. But that won’t always be the case.

CELESTE
And you believe this is applicable to my thesis? I suppose that’s why you’re making this point.

AZZAM
Yes, I do. Though I am a devout believer and though I believe that the Bible is the word of God, I don’t put it past evil forces to have the willingness and ability to invade the things of God and try to distort or disrupt them.

CELESTE
You may have already answered this. But do you think that evil is behind the alteration of these paintings by Leonardo da Vinci?

AZZAM
The same net affect is achieved. If an unscrupulous individual tampered with or repainted these paintings which were originally intended to have a certain religious message, we must at least wonder from whence came to motivation to do such a thing. And, a person who would write a novel which elevates a fraudulent painting as fact, making it say something which has a chilling effect on the religious faith of people … such a person is a tool of that which would distort and disrupt the things of God.

CELESTE
The readers of my thesis would laugh at me if I suggested that evil was ultimately behind the distortion and disruption of the original messages of these paintings.

AZZAM
You don’t need to use the word evil, Celeste. Heretic will do.

CELESTE
Do you believe that heresy is evil?

AZZAM
Forgery is wrong, against the law. So is destroying someone else’s property and writing false and malicious material for the purpose of deceiving. I don’t believe that such a person who would do these things believes anything is wrong with altering another person’s work, but how can it not be?

CELESTE
In the case of the Bible or these paintings of Leonardo you couldn’t prove it.

AZZAM
No. But you can prove in the case of the Da Vinci Code, for example, that the author has been dishonest with his readers by saying his interpretation of a painting is factual … when because of the evidence, such as the disembodied hand holding a knife, it cannot possibly be.

CELESTE
You mentioned before how deeply you thought a conspiracy to misrepresent The Last Supper in novel form might run. To whom were you referring?

AZZAM
There is no shortage of people who hate Jesus and Christianity. It is not hard at all for me to believe that the publisher and Mr. Brown’s agent and friends have been rooting him on throughout the process of writing his novel, if he wrote it. If he did not, but he put his name on the book, there is surely a conspiracy to mislead and deceive people and a veritable juggernaut existing behind Mr. Brown’s facade.

CELESTE
Well, from my own personal research Mr. Brown does not fit the profile of a skillful novelist. His wife fed him his research. An author gets an idea first … and then he does his own research.

AZZAM
A good point. It is also interesting that in the London plagiarism trial against the Browns that Mr. Brown testified that his wife provided him with his research via computer, by email. When that computer was subpoenaed … it had been lost in a flood.

CELESTE
If there is perhaps a conspiracy to churn out these heretical novels ghostwritten for purposes fronted by a PR man, such as Mr. Brown, do you fear that the conspirators could get wind of your views … and make life difficult for you? I’ve read some of your work.

AZZAM
Have you? Well, I sometimes leave it lying around, but I shouldn’t.

CELESTE
Why?

AZZAM
I think I will brew some tea. Join me in the kitchen, won’t you?

CELESTE
Sure.

AZZAM
How much do you know about the … layers and the organization of the institutions which govern us and those institutions which are overseen by those who govern the governors?

CELESTE
Almost nothing.

AZZAM
I know only slightly more, because I choose not to know. I’m alarmed by deceit and how powerfully it manifests itself in our world. I try to keep my mind free of it. But let me say this … it is no accident that the focus of much of Mr. Brown’s work has to do with secret societies.

CELESTE
And you’ve written about them.

AZZAM
How much of my work have you read? Celeste, you haven’t been rifling my desk and file cabinets, have you?

CELESTE
Not exactly rifling. I briefly read two of the papers which you had written on an organization’s letterhead. I merely searched for that letterhead … and found … quite a lot. I’m sorry.

AZZAM
Those papers are not for public consumption.

CELESTE
I’m sorry. Curiosity got the best of me.

AZZAM
You must read quickly.

CELESTE
I do speed read.

AZZAM
Because the last time you visited I was only away from you for ten or fifteen minutes. How much did you read?

CELESTE
Enough to know that there is a cultural struggle, in your words. That public opinion is constantly being manipulated, that the events in our world which just seem to crop up … are often planned.

AZZAM
I thought you said you had little knowledge of such things.

CELESTE
You said something along the same lines.

AZZAM
No harm has been done. But I must tell you, Celeste, that you and I and everyone else are constantly under  surveillance.

CELESTE
Constant? How is that possible?

AZZAM
There are technologies which allow people to transcend light, time and space. And matter, consequently. There are alternate dimensions of reality which overlap ours, the world we naturally see. Beings move among us completely without our awareness.

CELESTE
At all times?

AZZAM
Yes. Which is what makes my sharing of these things with you unsettling, because I don’t wish for you to be caught up in anything you can’t handle.

CELESTE
So, are we being watched right now?

AZZAM
Most certainly we are.

CELESTE
Why?

AZZAM
Because the ability exists for people and other beings to do so.

CELESTE
That’s serious peeping tom territory.

AZZAM
A word to the wise.

CELESTE
Are you sure?

AZZAM
Quite sure.

CELESTE
How do you know?

AZZAM
I and the people of my organization make it a business to know.

CELESTE
So I, we … could be in danger.

AZZAM
I used to let it bother me. I don’t know that there is anything that I could do which would cause certain forces to try to put a stop to me and my organization. So far so good. But I would suppose that would depend on how much success I began to have to inform people of what I know. There may in fact be people who would like to put a stop to your thesis. At least your successful publishing of it.

CELESTE
Now you’re scaring me.

AZZAM
I don’t wish to alarm you. It was not my intention that I should have to tell you these things.

CELESTE
What kind of technology allows people to superimpose another dimension over this one?

AZZAM
There is such a thing called a Large Hadron Collider which causes high-energy collisions of gravitons, particles which are sensitive to dimensions beyond our four dimensional space time. It exists is Switzerland. It gives scientists and others the ability to detect what lies beyond our universe. Building such a thing involves money, and there are people who would pay to have such a technology. Money controls everything. It has been this way since the first cities of Sumer and Babylon arose. We were taught to be the way that we are, which is commercial. As this system decays, and it is decaying, there will be a new system which will take its place.

CELESTE
One involving the so-called gods?

AZZAM
I’ve said enough and too much, Celeste. Don’t concern yourself with such things and these. Put them out of your mind.

CELESTE
I don’t know if I can. People, everyone, should know about this … technology, if it exists as you say it does. And a new system should not be imposed on the one we have … but I guess there’s nothing that anyone can do about that.

AZZAM
There is only one who can and will do something.