tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36707793507608952892024-03-13T10:04:24.648-07:00Nazarene ProjectRead free at http://www.academia.edu/43233588 . Also available in Bookshops in hard and soft cover: Nazarene Project
Jesus, James, Joseph and the past and future Temple
ISBN 9780244705824, 9781291835045, 5800136127962 .
David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-74943284798705299662022-06-01T07:05:00.015-07:002023-01-23T08:02:29.826-08:00Some Watchman ! Why is the Universe so big, and we are so small?<p> <img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3images.classcreator.com/26506/002/7331064/franck_muller_grt_complications_giga_tourbillon_watch.jpg" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; width: 575px;" /></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><em style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Franck Muller: Great Complications Giga Tourbillon watch</span></em></p></blockquote></blockquote><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Modern physicists have been amazed when they calculated how a tiny change in the fundamental constants of physics will alter the possibility that a viable universe could ever arrive. For example the gravitational constant G determines the force of attraction F of two bodies M and m and the distance d between them according to a formula published by Isaac Newton.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">F = G x M x m / d<strong><sup>2</sup></strong>. Where d<strong><sup>2</sup></strong> is the square of the distance.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">If G was anything other than what we observe today, then the likelihood of the universe ever existing is reduced to near zero. In the case of G, the universe would not exist in a theoretical physical environment where G differed from what we know it by one part in 10<strong><sup>34</sup></strong> or one followed by 34 noughts, written also as 10^34.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitp8loZvXon48GvDv3NiPRr9DWEEtEbmdNJbZnCtwH4AS7nd39HclfehY6bx70WC82FiFlq6z2uFA_3jz-aQm0zMumZA1mzJZhKvs_-s0_z2_xcTOZQWoF2YGP_bWVxeXx2Uj3SinqqUVQz_jTxunOGXwSOtiXGgIyODnoEKDonH0_xgbJ-DZEPuh_Cw/s160/th-518642943.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="160" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitp8loZvXon48GvDv3NiPRr9DWEEtEbmdNJbZnCtwH4AS7nd39HclfehY6bx70WC82FiFlq6z2uFA_3jz-aQm0zMumZA1mzJZhKvs_-s0_z2_xcTOZQWoF2YGP_bWVxeXx2Uj3SinqqUVQz_jTxunOGXwSOtiXGgIyODnoEKDonH0_xgbJ-DZEPuh_Cw/w131-h131/th-518642943.jpg" width="131" /></a>This is not, by far, the only physical constant that must be extraordinarily exact to allow our existence to happen. Without exact gravity, electric, magnetic, nuclear and other constants we would not exist because our universe would not exist. It would be physically impossible. That is like a skyscraper building made out of jelly sticks; it does not have the elemental characteristics and strength to sustain it before it collapsed. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Praise be for Precision!</b></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The exactness that fundamental constants must be determined is as follows:</p><ul style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><li>Gravitational constant: 1 part in 10<strong><sup>34</sup></strong></li><li>Electromagnetic force versus force of gravity: 1 part in 10<strong><sup>37</sup></strong></li><li>Cosmological constant: 1 part in 10<strong><sup>120</sup></strong></li><li>Mass density of universe: 1 part in 10<strong><sup>59</sup></strong></li><li>Expansion rate of universe: 1 part in 10<strong><sup>55</sup></strong></li><li>Dark energy: 1 part in 10<strong><sup>123</sup></strong></li></ul><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">If we consider the universe running true as present as having all its mechanics such as the cog-wheels absolutely correct, we might gain some understanding of what this means. The gravitational cog has 10<strong><sup>34 </sup></strong>teeth. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Think of it as getting the shape of each cog exactly right. So if there is one part mistake in the Gravitational constant it is not 10<strong><sup>34</sup></strong><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;"> a number like<br />10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 </span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;">but a number like</span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,001 </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">that creates such an error that the universe becomes unstable and inoperative for required stability of planet Earth not to mention how life on the planet and how intelligence and even more how consciousness arose.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">That last digit really makes that much of a difference.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So it is like betting on a horse, not with one chance in ten to win, but one in that number, <strong><sup> </sup></strong>10<strong><sup>34</sup></strong> </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">But the same can be said for all the other constants. So the probability of getting Earth just right from the above must meet the requirement of <strong><u>all</u></strong> the constants. Hence to get all the cogs and their accuracy in line the probability involves:</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">10<strong><sup>34 </sup></strong>X 10<strong><sup>37 </sup></strong>X10<strong><sup>120</sup></strong> X <strong><sup> </sup></strong>10<strong><sup>59</sup></strong> X 10<strong><sup>55</sup></strong> X10<strong><sup>123</sup></strong> = <strong><sup> </sup></strong>10<strong><sup>428</sup></strong> .</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This number is many times the total number of atoms in the universe -- which is a mere 10<strong><sup>80</sup></strong>, one followed by 80 zeroes.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Brilliant Beginning or Big Bang?</b></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The term <i>Big Bang</i> was thrown out by the then atheist astrophysicist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Hoyle" target="_blank">Fred Hoyle</a> in a 1949 BBC debate. Hoyle was a proponent of the eternal, steady state universe. He refused to recognise a definite moment of creation. Why? Because that would imply logically a biblical Creator by the laws of physics and cause and effect. He said he did not believe in a Big Bang or Genesis. Why use that term? It obscures real facts.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">A Bang or explosion implies bits and pieces just happened without saying the word Creator. It tries to avoid the cause and effect dilemma. It is dishonest.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It wasn't a chaotic explosion that made the universe, its galaxies, stars, planets revolving around them. It was not an explosion that spit out material to create the most complex feature of that universe. What is that? The human brain -- including Hoyle's which was not functioning well on this question. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It takes massive organisation to proceed from the creation of light, particles and matter to a living planet like Earth. In other words, it wasn't a Big Bang, it was a Brainy Beginning, a Brilliant Beginning anticipating in advance effects billions of our years in advance. A Bang Bang would never have produced astrophysicist Hoyle with free will to deny evidence. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Before an assembly of a complex entity such as a satellite with solar panels, all the pieces have to be conceived, constructed to exact standards, set and packed in order, like a folded tent, to use the biblical analogy. Hence the pre-Beginning organisation and planning has to contain far more information than at a later stage when they start to function to support life. Life decays and dies. So do stars. So what was the Brainy Beginning like? The chronological cycle has to be planned to work.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Physicists call this extremely low entropy, S. It means high information content, high organisation. Is it conceivable that everything in our universe today with billions of humans and untold numbers of animals, bacteria and a sky-full of trillions of stars was foreseen?</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">We should maybe call it the Universal Begettal. It was like a newly fertilised ovum. It was tiny. It starts with just one cell. Biologists consider all the information for growth is contained in code in the chromosomes. It has information far beyond the covers of a multivolume encyclopaedia to accomplish such a task. It has to build the greatest computer in the universe, the human brain. There are more neural connections in the brain, 100 trillion, than all the known stars in the universe.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">What happened at the begettal of the universe was far beyond the miracle of human life. This universal begettal had the potential to shape everything that happened subsequently. It spread the material infrastructure, liker the erection of a tent. It included spawning elements for engineering <b>life</b> on Earth (Terrestial Begettal) with the first cell. All other forms of life we see today are so different from a single cell of a bacterium. We should contemplate multiple generational events and not assume they are evolved because that is the last gasp of some unproven anti-theistic method. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">At the begettal between an ovum and a sperm a mighty electric current happens. Similarly the extraordinarily powerful energy of the early expansion is no indication of a randomness. An event of such huge proportions of energy and matter (that at some later stage produced complex beings like humans) should tell us that huge magnitudes of organisation are involved. The scientific approach should be to detect this information about organisation, not dismiss it by calling it randomness. That merely reflects human astonishment at our puniness and the size and dimensions of the event, not its engineering design. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It had to be super-exact, far beyond any watchmaker or instrument today. Each step of the expansionary process followed the laws of physics. Nothing in the evolution of the universe was chaotic or random because chaotic means something that does not obey the laws of physics. It's a wrong starting point. The Big Beginning was therefore the most highly organised and well-thought out part of the universe because it had to encapsulate all possible actions and reactions of subsequent particles and elements that brought the Earth into existence. It placed us on a special planet with what is an essential twin called the moon. A special solar system was also necessary to sustain life. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Other solar systems are apparently outside our reach of ever getting there. They are beyond our malevolent hands that fabricate recurrent evil and destruction. We should contemplate on the eternal natural laws of justice, morality and ethics, before attempting even to envisage man's steps off his own planet. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Witness of Science</b></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Another witness proves the deep design of our universe. Mathematics and physics had to exist BEFORE the Big Beginning.<span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;"> The Designer created these plus the logic in our brains required to use them, if only we would.</span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;">All these three laws, physics and the material world, natural justice and the laws of mathematics show the scientific design of the universe and our part and destiny in it.</span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;">Random means without law according to observation and human discernment. Scientific means establishing the laws by which the universe works. The two concepts are opposites. </span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;">The estimate of the probability of the constants of the Universe arising as haphazard values from an explosion of parts is one in </span>10<strong><sup>428</sup></strong> according to the above calculation. Those odds are so small that chance is ruled out. That sort of result is so unlikely that another solution or another process has to be sought to explain the experiment: right by design. Not just any design but design that dealt with the factors involved in the most intricate way possible, engineering far beyond human powers. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">But this huge number 10<strong><sup>428</sup></strong> is still a woeful underestimate. <span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;">Nobel laureate for Physics Roger Penrose estimates the real number as </span><strong><sup> </sup></strong>10<sup><b>10</b><span style="font-size: 13px;"> itself raised to </span><span style="font-size: 10.8333px;"><b>the 123 pow</b></span></sup><sup><b>er</b></sup> (10^10^123). (See <strong><em>New Proofs of the Existence of God</em></strong> from Physics by Robert J Spitzer SJ)</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">These numbers showing this extraordinary amount of precision and organisation flummox those who claim to be scientists but are not willing to concede that a Great Designer must have been involved in the process of our creation and that of the Universe.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It is irrational to say: '<i>I believe in science but the Universe must have arisen by randomness.'</i> It is not scientific.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So those that have a visceral, non-mathematical, non-scientific reaction to the conclusion of human physical existence, will have to deal with the consequences. What about multiple universes where only ours is successful? Even if such a number of universes were possible, just about all would be none-working, imploding or exploding failures. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Warning! According to the multiverse philosophy these other failures as universes actually interact with our own. So stand by, something worse is going to happen as an almost infinite number of failed, renegade universes crashing through ours!!! Please prepare a shelter! </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">But that's not all. There is no proof that even if all the physical constants are just right, that life, as distinct from chemical elements, will suddenly appear. Atheists generally work on the unproven assumption (in fact an assumption that has been proved wrong centuries ago) that life comes from raw elements spontaneously. Life comes only from life.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So even if some other universe does not collapse then there is no certainty of life -- in fact an assurance from science that life will not arise by itself.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>No Darwin Fairies in Physics</b></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Physics is called a hard science, meaning there is little room for fudging by the use of unproven theories. Theories are built on logic. Conclusions are reached from facts by a mathematical process. The conclusions must conform to observed results. These can be repeated to be sure of the accuracy. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Biology also can produce scientific results but at a lower certainty. But then its grand and obsolete theory of Evolution requires replacement; its obsolescent theory has become dogma. It fails when absolute proof is required. Ask a biologist to demonstrate practically in a laboratory how a bacterium transforms itself into an elephant. Or on being given just elementary chemicals, make the request to create life. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Darwinists say the process of transformation took time. But time is relative. Bacteria can double in population in as little as four minutes. But they still remain bacteria for as long as humans observe them. They have been tracked in laboratories over decades and therefore millions of generations. None has changed into an amoeba, let alone a baby elephant. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Animals have the chance to live through a fewer number of generations in earth's epochs. Yet evolutionists expect in these fewer generations for a fish to change into a land animal or a mouse-size creature to burst into a dinosaur. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Fairy-talk. Unreal. Impossible. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Biological creatures do not naturally create more complex, working animals. Structures including lifeforms decay and disintegrate to dust. Biological structures based on DNA fall apart after a few generations. Modern genetic research shows that in such animals each generation of reproduction loses its DNA telomeres so specie death is inevitable. Extinction does not have to wait for a meteorite bombardment. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The difference in physics is qualitative. Time is a measured feature which helps define interactions of matter, which are also observed, measured and calculated. They are compared with mathematical calculations based on a theory and formulas. Different results would appear from the mathematics if the starting assumptions are different. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So as William Paley pointed out in his <i>Natural Theology</i> in 1802, the world is as surprisingly well designed for humans like a watch with a perfect mechanism. In fact infinitely more. It has esthetics and lessons to teach humans on morality. A watch found in a field indicates that it was made with an intelligent designer and fabricator. He chose the exact materials for the brass cogs and steel spring so that it worked best and lasted longer. A glass face allowed the movement of the hands to be observed without opening the case. A further cover with a central hole allows the hands to be observed while the glass is protected.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It is no argument to say that individual components reflect the laws of metallic nature (whatever may be meant by that). It requires an agent. It requires intelligent choice from an extensive knowledge of elements and their properties. So do the 'laws of vegetable nature' and the 'laws of animal nature.' We might add the laws of human nature, which writers affirm are too often opposed to moral laws, and require choice. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Astronomy shows, says Paley, beyond all other sciences the magnificence of the Creator's operations. The real subject of admiration is that we understand so much of astronomy as we do, so we can make this judgement.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>The Truth -- Man is of small brain</b></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Returning to the man's reaction to the watch he found in the field. This finder does not have to be a farmer. It may be an intelligent, well-read gentleman on his country stroll. What is he confronted with? </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">He first sees an object that it is obviously man-made. How does he know? it has geometrical design. It has artistic features that show regularity, repetition and variation that are pleasing to the senses. These 'intuitions' or artistic rules are in some ways similar to mathematics.With the latter the rules are paramount. But whatever the rules of art are, they are recognised universally to some extent across mankind. In the case of mathematics the premises and the logic are essential for human agreement on their validity.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></p><blockquote><i>A man can imagine things that are false but he can only understand things that are true. If the things be false, the apprehension of them is not understanding.</i> Isaac Newton.</blockquote><p></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The same goes for a watch in a field. We know at first glance it is of human production without anyone saying. To say it arrived by random forces is the nonsense, the material counterpart of <i>reductio ad absurdam</i>.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">But there are logical deductions that the finder does not necessarily take to heart and brain. This shows how little is man's brain and how egocentric and self-serving he is. While man may not object to a mathematical <i>reductio ad absurdam</i>, his human nature objects to his acknowledging a Maker who clearly provides laws and instructions about how he should run his life. Too often he would prefer to hurt himself rather than be wise. False gods, lying, cheating, drug addiction, promiscuity may be his preferred choice and the consequences come from his decisions. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This is why Paley's watch argument is resisted. But every element shows that a Designer is active. He is confronted with a product that has capitalized on the intrinsic characteristics of chemical elements, all of them different, metals of various sorts, precious gems and glass. It is easy for modern unthinking man to brush these facts away. But for the watch even to exist, there has to be a means and a designer to produce such varied characteristics and in more than a hundred elements, with untold numbers of alloys and compounds. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">In some cases, many cases, only one metal or alloy is suitable for the purpose of the watch. As scientists do not believe in randomness or any result without a cause following physical law, we are led to conclude that these results giving the curious characteristics of the elements arise from the Big Beginning of the universe with its ultimate knowledge and Wisdom. The Earth is the only planet were life has been found. It would be frustrating for a would-be watchmaker if the very element he needed for one cog was not present here but found on some far-off star! </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The elements are all here, at hand, however unlikely that may appear to be as our major planetary neighbours are gas-filled giants. This little planet has all that it takes. The necessary metals are part of the Universe, its design, development in its expansion phase and then comes their accumulation on earth, its discovery by man when he arrives and application into a watch! Without that engineering specification at the start, there would be no watch. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">But there is more to it than first meets the eye. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Let's start with the glass cover. It is a product of silicon, made heating sand to a high temperature. But a gentleman of the time, as of ours, would know that that is not the sum total of the process. To obtain such high quality glass a stupendous amount of knowledge and experience of glass-making has to be accumulated. The Phoenicians were making glassware thousands of years ago but they could not fabricate such an object, as far as we know. Technology and artistic refinement takes generations upon generations to make improvement on improvement. And not by random processes but by application of intelligent analysis, research experimentation and ever-more careful production.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The watch glass has not only to be perfectly transparent without distortion but tough enough to withstand everyday usages. The watch found in a field shows that this purpose is intrinsically a part of the type and specifications of the glass. A random pile of silicon sand heated by whatever means would under no circumstances produce such an artefact.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi891lTXErKC6auh2ziVqEbO1svFtK4Q6OuyMMvRm2ZQMc8OWLYuTgEw1P8rWsiMkS3-DCOTBF-964nL42qrbPRqMbW8cal-mKaH8gEUSIVkssLgB7s4-LzvDZG8y8OkuqhOM6Bgz_98G0Wyqm8yxg-7rG1RsD-fTYJHjkzN19FuTu1SiVqj0nE3RTGjw/s1000/New-Gold-Flower-Type-Analog-Selekton-Mens-Hand-Winding-Mechanical-Pocket-Watch-W015-2705875256.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi891lTXErKC6auh2ziVqEbO1svFtK4Q6OuyMMvRm2ZQMc8OWLYuTgEw1P8rWsiMkS3-DCOTBF-964nL42qrbPRqMbW8cal-mKaH8gEUSIVkssLgB7s4-LzvDZG8y8OkuqhOM6Bgz_98G0Wyqm8yxg-7rG1RsD-fTYJHjkzN19FuTu1SiVqj0nE3RTGjw/s320/New-Gold-Flower-Type-Analog-Selekton-Mens-Hand-Winding-Mechanical-Pocket-Watch-W015-2705875256.jpg" width="320" /></a>We have only just got started with the glass. A half hunter pocket watch has an outer hinged metal and small central glass cover, so the hands can be seen partially without opening the cover fully. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">How would such sophistication come about from random? The cover opened reveals the second glass and the hands.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This shows that thought and purpose is involved in at least two contradicting ideas: protecting the internal mechanism and the internal glass, and secondly making the hands visible as they show something that is the ultimate purpose of the watch -- the time.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The central glass of the half hunter is small. It is just big enough to see the central parts of the hands and therefore the hour, minute and second. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Then we see the purpose of the watch is to reflect the time sequence on an earth day or half day. That is obviously not a coincidence. it is a purpose. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">To do this there may be 26 moving parts, such as cogs, springs and an escapement mechanism. All have to be finely accurate in size, shape and design for the mechanism to have any sense and purpose. Any variation in their production would mean the watch fails as a timepiece, which we infer is the purpose. So we can judge whether it is fit for that purpose: if it keeps good time. If we find something is defective, we may infer that the owner has rejected it because it does not fulfil its purpose. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">What happens when we pick it up. What happens when we put it in our pocket, or even swing it around on its chain? Does it still keep good time if we lay it on its side or stand it upright? Those possibilities have obviously been thought of in advance. It is even certified to correct from 'positional errors'. That shows the instrument or previous versions of it have been tested and such a phenomenon noticed, analysed and corrected in a mechanical way. Then it has been synchronized against a master clock.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The inside cover tells us where it was made and how it was certified. How do we know that? Because it is in writing. And of itself the writing should prove to us if nothing else existed that it was made by a human and had a purpose and cause. The circle of the dial is marked off with Roman numerals. These show a progression I to II to II and so on. Then there are also figures like 1, 2, 3 and even 13 to 24. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The figures reveal an intimate connection with the laws of mathematics, something that had to exist before the creation of the Universe. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>The Writing of Life</b></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Writing implies a whole culture and civilization. First there is the language. Then the codification in a way that others can understand it. But we do not even have to assume that we can hear the language spoken or understand the symbols of the script.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Humans recognize written script as a uniquely human achievement. It has purpose. It has much more than that. It represents both individual and collective intelligence.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwBerHvWgCeJ6qAYjt4eZkDP3Po9zL2SZxroEklENb-tXEZAmCERtNnIkd235PYQ_nala2NWO7VJPj-fycXamM-OYEH6-BdWynURbfFZYEriKGcGmhAzVTGJ9lutf4O3mL25_w4dkrj6A0fkvHubci2xKU2neaK76EGtxOktPVuATvZzOtUKOPxiR7pg/s698/Rosetta%20Stone.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="698" data-original-width="570" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwBerHvWgCeJ6qAYjt4eZkDP3Po9zL2SZxroEklENb-tXEZAmCERtNnIkd235PYQ_nala2NWO7VJPj-fycXamM-OYEH6-BdWynURbfFZYEriKGcGmhAzVTGJ9lutf4O3mL25_w4dkrj6A0fkvHubci2xKU2neaK76EGtxOktPVuATvZzOtUKOPxiR7pg/s320/Rosetta%20Stone.png" width="261" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">When Westerners saw Egyptian hieroglyphics they knew it was writing. They realized it was probably about kings emphasizing their acts and genealogy. But until the recent centuries they could not translate the symbols. They had the Rosetta Stone with what appeared to all to be an inscription in three languages with three different scripts. Even if you did not understand any of the languages you could still see that three languages were written.</span><p></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">As one of them was ancient Greek the Egyptian scripts could, by careful application of human intelligence, be eventually understood as a translation made at the same time.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The inescapable conclusion is that three scripts are all products of humans and human activities. They show design and order. It is not credible to argue that all these letters and styles as well as the cut rock itself was the result of 'random' events of pebbles crashing against a big cliff face until this stone fell out replete with the script. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">All that sounds reasonable. No one in their right mind would doubt archaeologists now can understand and translate all the other hieroglyphic inscriptions based on this knowledge. Each addition site with hieroglyphics can be understood and put into a larger context and framework of history. The whole of ancient Egyptian civilization is thus opened.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It is also important to say that if this were not so we would draw conclusions that would shake the basis of the science. A hieroglyphic inscription that could not be understood as Egyptian would cast doubts on the conclusions from the Rosetta Stone. The further identity of words in the Rosetta Stone with similar symbols in other inscriptions show consistency. And this is an important attribute of science to show the conclusion is correct.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Atheists refuse to read the Book of Life</b></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> What if God wrote an inscription just like the Rosetta Stone? Would all the atheists of the world suddenly change their tune? </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Let's say God wrote a book the size of an encyclopedia, would they then believe or still say the Universe came about by random?</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The <a href="https://www.broadinstitute.org/blog/pages-first-human-genome" target="_blank">book</a> I am thinking about is long, very long. To type it out would take about 50 years, non stop, at eight hours a day. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">That is what the coded message of DNA is telling us. It is:</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">a. recognisable as a message because of its form.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">b. it uses the equivalent of letters in an alphabet.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">c. the separate parts can be decrypted to reveal the message about the human body.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">d. altering the DNA message shows changes in outcome; and that a designer must have created the original DNA message to make a perfect, well-thought result.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">e. the total message can not yet be decoded, showing the original writer of the DNA is far cleverer than us.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">f. the conception and construction of DNA as a coded double helix is far beyond human ability when a human would be given as a starting point the constituent chemical elements in labelled boxes.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">g. some of the chemicals required are so rare, humans are at a loss how our small planet had collected any quantity of them at all. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>The Enigma Riddle</b></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Cast your mind back to the dark days of World War Two. The Allies spent a huge effort and built some of the first computers. Their purpose was to decipher the radio messages from Germany and from submarines.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The messages looked like gibberish. They were just a string of letters and numbers. But thousands of people laboured day and night to make sense of them.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Eventually they 'cracked' the code, a first only in a few words, then sentences. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Then the meaning of the messages became clear. It was about attack plans and various military secrets. They proved essential for Allied victory.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">But what if at the start, those who received the radio messages declared that they were just random electrical noises? What if no one collected the signals? What if no one researched them? The first efforts would seem to show that they were not understandable at all.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">And then when some of the analysts said the signals were of vital military importance, the political leaders said: "<i>I don't believe the Germans are sending these signals. In fact I don't believe in there is any connection between the ships that are being sunk in the Atlantic and the radio signals (that may be just random noise).</i>"</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">That politician would be assumed to be working for the Nazis as his reaction was so illogical to the obvious design and vital information content of the decrypts.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Yet this is exactly what atheists do when the DNA decrypts are revealed with a far greater message than any military could devise. They bring a message from the Great Designer and Creator.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It is time we say loud and clear that if scientists do not believe in the decrypts of Nature as God's creation, then they are working for the enemy.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Radio vacuum</b></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Now that Earthlings have assembled such a powerful means to decrypt coded messages, they have the means to apply to a much wider operation. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The earth receives light from far-off suns and galaxies. Physicists know how to analyse this light. Each beam of this far-distant solar light can be split into the wavelengths and for visible light the constituent colours. It affords massive amounts of information. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">As the light is spread out by wavelength, it is seen that dark lines appear at certain distinct places. These Fraunhofer lines are very valuable. They tell the astrophysicist about the chemical composition of the material emitting the light and the absorption of elements that the light travels through.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">From this meagre indications much of astrophysics can come to surprising conclusions. Among these is the conclusion that the universe is expanding and more recently that this expansion is accelerating.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">And so much more. But earth scientists have not detected any signal that shows intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. There is no equivalent to the signals of the Nazis that tells of messages, about what they are doing for good or ill. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">For the present humans are faced with the conclusion that all our efforts using massive radio telescopes show that we are alone in the universe.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">If we look impartially at the facts, the outcome is shocking. Not only is the chance of the existence of Earth astronomically unlikely but our best efforts to detect other life shows no results.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Yet some scientists, abandoning the scientific method, believe, or want to believe, that all the universe arose by a random process called Evolution. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>The Evolution cop out</b></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Today, the forbidden word is Designer. A century ago when atheists became more militant and theists more passive, words like God and Designer were avoided in scientific discourse. Instead the word Nature was used. This contrasts with the early days of modern science where such words as Designer and God were commonplace.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">'<i>Nature has provided such a wonderful design here etc.</i>'</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">With further indoctrination in schools and universities and especially the media where many of journalists do not have a technical background, the predominant word is now 'Evolution'.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">They do not seem to think when they say such things as '<i>Evolution has thought out and developed an intelligent system to counter this animal's foes.'</i></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The lack of logic does not seem to bother them. Evolution implies random processes that self-destruct leaving only the survival of those that survive. Remember Solomon's word: </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">'<i>I saw under the sun, the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong... </i>' The survivors may be the weak and the fearful who hide!</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Evolution does not provide the means for in-depth analysis of design, except by dogmatic assertion that highly sophisticated and advanced design must have arisen by lawless processes. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Evolution has grown from an analysis of the beaks of Galapagos finches to a religion. The bible of that religion, the evolutionary tree, has since been cut down by further research over the past two centuries. Evolutionists persist. The Emperor has no clothes but it is the Evolutionist that does not realise it, not the public that cries 'He has no clothes'.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">For the present, I deem it better to analyse design (present day perceived order and intelligence) in terms of a designer, not random processes. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Physicists, Biologists and Logicians</b></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The most brilliant physicists often make poor biologists. <span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;"> The noted Stanford physicist Professor Leonard Susskind somehow believes that the bat developed the most brilliant sonar guidance system over generations without one of the generations of intermediates dying of hunger! Hunting moths in the dark is not easy! Any generation without sonar would be littering the caves, dead with their feet up in the air because they starved. No chance to breed.</span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;">There are many models of eyes, but no explanation how or why different animals have different types of eyes, some with multiple lenses, fish eyes with no irises, eel eyes with an extra cover that protects them from grime and sand they bury themselves in. </span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;">How did these organic cogs arise? Just the Darwin fairy? Prof Susskind admits he is biased and not an impartial scientist. </span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;">Here's a page from his book on <i>The Cosmic Landscape.</i></span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3images.classcreator.com/26506/002/7331064/sussking_cosmic_landscape_string_theory_and_the_illusion_of_intelligent_design.png" style="width: 500px;" /></p></blockquote><p></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;"><strong>Confounding Science with False Faith</strong></span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;">Susskind is a clear writer when it comes to physics. When you add a false faith not based on science but wishful thinking he commits the fault that he accuses his enemy of. Who is Susskind's enemy? Should a scientist have enemies? Shouldn't they be looking for facts?</span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;">Susskind says that he is against what he calls '<i>supernatural agents.' </i>In other words <i>God</i> as a designer. Here he makes a logical error. He is biting his tail. He is trying to understand the laws of science, it originating forces, its mathematics, its sequential events, without a lawgiver.</span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;">Darwin is no use here. Even if it shows some aspects of micro-evolution of species, it has nothing to say about the origin of life, as Darwin said. It also has even less to say about the physical universe. Rocks do not think they will improve. Nor is there any teleology (purpose-driven will) when they collide.</span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;">Mixing error and science is no way to seek out the origin of the universe before it existed. The only honest way for scientists is to stick to the principles of science and physics.</span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;"><strong>Failing Mechanisms</strong></span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;">The human body<strong> </strong>has about 37 trillion cells with 200 different cell types. A human functions with the aid of microbes in his gut mainly and elsewhere. These amount to an additional ten to 100 trillion cells in order to function and remain alive. Getting this all together is no easy task either. How animals moved from a single cell (wherever that came from) to such a complex mechanism is another puzzle of gigantic proportions. It is a question of design, not only of the human cellular structure, the biology of the gut, but the entire ecology of the surroundings, and ultimately the solar system in which humans live. That is design on some large scale. </span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;">To change one organic form to another is no simple task. </span><strong>David Berlinski</strong> is one mathematical physicist that tackled the nonsense of evolutionary biology. He shows how many variations have to take place simultaneously in bones and nerves and other organs to change a living creature into another supposed link. Failure means death, even if some of the changes could be made. You need 100 % to make a creature fit for its environment and survival.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Changing life forms is not a simplistic process, millions of changes need to be done simultaneously. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;">Creating life requires an exact process of highly unusual chemicals to be present in the right concentration at the right time and in the right order. No Chemist store is available once one step fails! You start again. You cannot bake a cake by throwing all the ingredients together and hope the cream will come on top. </span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b>Big Picture</b></span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC3bLxQdxAOiwrXYEpq7XIkOt2G6rLl0kcRK7c9U-aelRxzHOj55LUhnHu2yntx3ye8fHMxg7gqxOYkbsLjoimowT2n0bWSHF85UGrmjuD3aLMJv2QGFOVFJ-SAD5f843IdloHUTk2W-_7pvHr1inMzf4Z3KnuGVQTmk3uKvxAVlgt2uuMZzWR0nBpMQ/s474/10%20000%20galaxies%20universe.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="237" data-original-width="474" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC3bLxQdxAOiwrXYEpq7XIkOt2G6rLl0kcRK7c9U-aelRxzHOj55LUhnHu2yntx3ye8fHMxg7gqxOYkbsLjoimowT2n0bWSHF85UGrmjuD3aLMJv2QGFOVFJ-SAD5f843IdloHUTk2W-_7pvHr1inMzf4Z3KnuGVQTmk3uKvxAVlgt2uuMZzWR0nBpMQ/w614-h307/10%20000%20galaxies%20universe.jpg" width="614" /></a></span></div><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black;"><br /> </span><p></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">What's it all about? Why is the universe so big and we are so small and insignificant in size but humungous in pride? If you wish to polish a diamond you need vast industries to dig them out of the ground in deep mines and powerful instruments to separate and polish them. One of the reasons the universe is so big is that our ego is also so big. We have to look at the atoms to get an understanding of real design from the bottom up and what is involved.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">That brings us to the laws of justice and morality and character. As sentient beings we can understand that humility is a positive trait in human society and before the immensity of the Universe and its creator. Why are humans on earth? God-like Character is the end product, but it requires a lot of machinery to get us there.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>The Apostle Peter said in an early Nazarene document:<p></p><div>'<i><b>All evil springs from ignorance, and ignorance herself, the mother of all evils, is sprung from carelessness and sloth, and is nourished, and increased, and rooted in the senses of men by negligence. ... Nothing is worse than for one to believe what he is ignorant of, and to maintain as true what is false .. as a drunk man maintaining he is sober. </b></i></div><div><i><b>Ignorance is not knowing what is good for us. Once we know this our ignorance perishes. Therefore the knowledge of truth should be eagerly sought after; and no one can confer it except the True Prophet. ... We have free will.</b></i>'</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-11950364261429702042022-05-28T09:51:00.002-07:002022-05-28T11:58:34.353-07:00The 'logic' of atheism<p> <span style="color: #660099; font-size: 1.2em; letter-spacing: 0.02em;">Tiresome Tyson</span></p><p>Let's start a logical deduction with an obvious non-scientific axiom: <em>Everything arose by random, without a Designer which humans call God.</em></p><p>Isaac Newton started all his discoveries with a declaration of his axioms or Lemmas as they are known in science and mathematics. </p><p>Take this axiom: The universe arose by random processes. Random means without physical law, without design, without purpose. For a start that means that logic itself cannot exist because all the universe is random, including the human brain. Logic is random. Absurd, therefore false!</p><p>The wings of a butterfly are blue not because they are colored but because they are made up of a diffraction grating that splits up light. Is this a random construction of chemicals?</p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Did the butterfly invent this when it was a pin-sized tiny grub, an instar, chewing leaves? Did it come to him as </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">a caterpillar? Or was it </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">in the crysalis as it re-arranged the whole of its metabolism into a magnificent inspiration for mankind on a summer's day? It was all unseen by human eye. Humans could not help as, until recently, they knew nothing of light diffraction grids.</span></span></p><p><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3images.classcreator.com/26506/002/7331064/butterfly_wing_diffraction_grid.jpg" style="width: 400px;" /></p><p>If anyone, whether he calls himself a scientist or not, believes that:</p><p>The Universe, the galaxy, the solar system, the world, life on this planet, the human body, animals down to the smallest bacteria, bacteriophages, and viruses have:</p><ul><li>No design</li><li>No purpose</li><li>No logic</li></ul><p> </p><p><img height="375" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3images.classcreator.com/26506/002/7331064/bacteriophage.png" style="width: 400px;" width="467" /></p><ul><li>That all the universe is material and made of chemical elements only</li><li>and therefore as chemicals can have no life or consciousness, </li><li>that DNA is just a bunch of random chemicals that fell together,</li></ul><p>then we end up with a nonsense conclusion.</p><p>You make yourself look like an idiot if you believe as your axiom or lemma that the universe arrived by random and chaotic processes. You start with unreason.</p><p><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3images.classcreator.com/26506/002/7331064/n_grasse_tyson_on_reason.jpg" style="width: 400px;" /></p><p>Compare this to what the great scientist said:</p><p><a class="quote_link" href="https://libquotes.com/isaac-newton/quote/lbk2r1o" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="quote_span" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.8;">In default of any other proof, the thumb would convince me of the existence of a <span class="shighlight" data-markjs="true" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">God</span>.</span></a> <span face="Lato, sans-serif" style="color: #9fa3a5; font-size: 18px;">Isaac Newton</span></p><p> <a class="quote_link" href="https://libquotes.com/isaac-newton/quote/lbc5m8n" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="quote_span" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.8;"><span class="shighlight" data-markjs="true" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">God</span> in the beginning formed matter in solid, massy, hard, impenetrable, movable particles, of such sizes and figures, and with such other properties, and in such proportion to space, as most conduced to the end for which he formed them.</span></a> <span face="Lato, sans-serif" style="color: #9fa3a5; font-size: 18px;">Isaac Newton</span></p><p><a class="quote_link" href="https://libquotes.com/isaac-newton/quote/lbf3z2k" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="quote_span" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.8;">A <span class="shighlight" data-markjs="true" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">God</span> without dominion, providence, and final causes, is nothing else but fate and nature.</span></a> <span face="Lato, sans-serif" style="color: #9fa3a5; font-size: 18px;">Isaac Newton</span></p><p><a class="quote_link" href="https://libquotes.com/isaac-newton/quote/lbk6c4n" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;"><span class="quote_span" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.8;">As a blind man has no idea of colors, so we have no idea of the manner by which the all-wise <span class="shighlight" data-markjs="true" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">God</span> perceives and understands all things.</span></a> <span face="Lato, sans-serif" style="color: #9fa3a5; font-size: 18px;">Isaac Newton</span></p><p> </p><p><b>Isaac Newton's conclusion</b> is what many who declare themselves 'ungodly' and randomists wish to avoid:</p><p><a class="quote_link" href="https://libquotes.com/isaac-newton/quote/lbh1l8s" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="quote_span" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.8;">First was the Religion of Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Christ & all the saints. It consists of two parts: our duty towards <span class="shighlight" data-markjs="true" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">God</span> & our duty towards man or piety & righteousness, piety which I will here call Godliness & Humanity.</span></a> </p><p><span face="Lato, sans-serif" style="color: #9fa3a5; font-size: 18px;">Isaac Newton</span></p><p> </p><div><br /></div>David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-65406888684278656232022-04-13T13:39:00.028-07:002022-07-26T01:04:12.783-07:00What makes Luke's Gospel unique? Caligula and the authenticated Temple archives!<p>Luke's Gospel is a record addressed to the High Priest in Jerusalem. It can be shown that it was the time when Gaius Caligula was the emperor. He wanted to destroy all Jews and followers of Christ. </p><p>The book was designed to provide undeniable facts to a political and religious leader of the Jews. The high priest was a pawn of Rome, chosen by Rome to act in Rome's interests to control the Jews. Luke's book, however, provided fact after fact, known to all Jews and believers, that showed why Rome's policy was dead wrong. Furthermore, it showed why the high priest in this case should be acting against the well-known misdeeds of his priestly father and brother, also recorded in the gospels. </p><p>The book is addressed to “<i>Most Excellent Theophilus</i>” chapter 1:3. He was the ethnarch (Roman designated high priest and native ruler). He ruled as high priest from 37 to 41 CE. He is mentioned in Josephus as the son of Annas of the NT.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy9TUtnrpMR9HStAAk0ANttVEdpGiq4fivrvlY9_4WJxUBn_ZeuDjzAvJV_LljQhzQnr8XanXanBpgHXBrx9D7LLnWVyrLXgmUIyapsC65KdU4JHHOobEKLOxi52Leg_1CXa9nuWoBd1S4rHp6y87jyGpMtedKe0DUHEcNlbAmCqC1C5Snvp4argEZZA/s500/Caligula_sestertius_RIC_33_680999.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="239" data-original-width="500" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy9TUtnrpMR9HStAAk0ANttVEdpGiq4fivrvlY9_4WJxUBn_ZeuDjzAvJV_LljQhzQnr8XanXanBpgHXBrx9D7LLnWVyrLXgmUIyapsC65KdU4JHHOobEKLOxi52Leg_1CXa9nuWoBd1S4rHp6y87jyGpMtedKe0DUHEcNlbAmCqC1C5Snvp4argEZZA/w371-h177/Caligula_sestertius_RIC_33_680999.jpg" width="371" /></a></div><p>This title (<i>kratiste</i>) shows the book was written in this period of intense persecution. The evangelisation of the world had started with force. Areas like Britain outside the empire became a safe haven. </p><p>Emperor Tiberius had recognized that Christ must be a god as he had reports and dispatches showing that the Resurrection had taken place. The Senate objected to this divine status. They said that in Roman law the Senate alone had the legal right to define who was a god. So Tiberius forbade anyone to persecute believers while he lived.</p><p><b>Caligula, the would-be 'god'</b></p><p>Then Caligula had Tiberius killed in 37 CE and became Emperor Gaius. Caligula saw the danger to the whole infrastructure of Rome. It was based on paganism. Paganism was based on the whim of men in the Senate. Its fall was inevitable. It was only a question of time, not logic. </p><p>Romans were confronted with genuine miracles and a genuine resurrection from the dead, followed by many others, Matt 27:52.</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><i>And the tombs were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose, and came out of their graves after his resurrection and went into the holy city, and appeared to many. </i> </p></blockquote><p>Caligula's single-mindedness to act is described as madness. Flavius Josephus, a eye witness of events, says the emperor had a <i>madness of hubris</i>, an overpowering insolent pride, <i>Antiquities</i> 19,1. Its malevolent power '<i>extended through all the earth and sea.'</i> It '<i>filled the empire with more evil than history has ever known.</i>' </p><p>Among all the earth, Caligula said, '<i>the Jews and their institutions are my worst enemies</i>.' <i>Leg</i>, 256. Why?</p><p>Philo, the Jew of Alexandria, says Caligula was '<i>beside himself with vanity, not only saying but thinking he was god. He then found among the Greeks or the outside world no people fitted better than the Alexandrians to confirm this unmeasured passion craving for what was beyond mankind's nature.</i>' (<i>Leg</i> 162.) </p><p>What motivated such extremism? Why did the Alexandrian Greeks act so enthusiastically? The core of this madness was a desire for <i>absolute autocracy. </i>That reflected his ancestor, dictator Julius Caesar. </p><p>Caligula wanted to set himself up as the indisputable political and religious head of the entire empire. He drank precious pearls dissolved in his drinks; he ate golden bread and golden meat. He had sex with everyone from the prostitute Pyrallis to almost every woman of rank in Rome. They were all his sex slaves. He had homosexual relations with many men. He had incest with his sisters. (Suetonius: <i>Gaius</i> 36.)</p><p>Note: his contemporaries considered he increasingly developed his character of inordinate pride, <i>hubris. </i>It was applauded by some groups and nations. It was not seen as a clinical or medical conditions as recently some writers diagnose centuries after the event to explain it away: glandular disorder, hyperthyroidism, interictal temporal lobe epilepsy, encephalitis, schizoid illness etc.</p><p>What was his motivation for all this?</p><p><b>Despot or Absolute Sovereign?</b></p><p>Caligula's dilemma may be summed up in one Greek word. That word is <i><b>Despotes</b></i>. It means Absolute Sovereign. It is used of a head of a household which had slaves. The slaves' lives and treatment including torture and death were totally in his hands. Roman law gave a master of slaves absolute control as objects and possessions.</p><p>The term was not used between freemen. The officers of Caesar might be addressed as lord, <i>kurios</i> in Greek, but not <i>despotes</i>. That term was reserved to the Caesar Gaius, the only one in this period. Why only one? Because the word <i>despotes</i> was usually confined to the supreme god of the universe, the Creator of all.</p><p>To call someone <i>despotes</i> implied that all other creatures were his slaves, obedient subjects, bought and owned by him. </p><p>Augustus then Tiberius simply called themselves first citizen, <i>princeps</i>. They said they were chief priest of religion (Pontifex Maximus) or recalled they had been consul, the chief magistrate. That was not enough for Caligula. He insisted he be referred to as <i>despotes</i>, Absolute Master, by Romans, his officers and even his friends, like king Herod Agrippa.</p><p>Jews avoided the term <i>despotes</i> whenever they could. That would be confounding the power and dignity of Almighty God with a pagan.</p><p>There was one major exception. Jews applied the title <i>despotes</i> to one of their own. Inside the Temple of Jerusalem, the chief priest (not the high priest) was referred to as <i>despotes</i> or <i>oikodespotes (Absolute Sovereign of the House)</i>. The Temple was a City-State and the person in control of all its thousands of guards and the high priests was the Chief Priest. He was Teacher of the high priests and Levites. All had to obey him as he spoke the oracles of the living God.</p><p>Jesus, the Anointed Chief Priest, was addressed by these titles and he refers to himself as <i>oikodespotes, </i>Luke 13:25, Matt 10:25, Luke 14:21. Peter and Jude in the NT refer to him as <i>despotes</i>, Absolute Master (2Pet 2:1 and Jude 4). Gentile converts also in Rome referred to Jesus as <i>Despotes </i>(1 Clement 40). In history the larger family of Jesus and his brothers and sisters is referred to as the <i>desposyni</i>, blood relatives of Jesus, the <i>despotes</i>. </p><p>When a Jew or Nazarene or a gentile convert referred to Jesus, he said <i>despotes</i>. They had been bought back, redeemed from their sins, by the Master. Sinners are bought at a price, 1Cor 6:20, 2Peter 2:1. They considered themselves willingly slaves (<i>doulos</i>) of all that is good. Even James the brother of Christ refers to himself as a slave of Jesus the Anointed, James 1:1. </p><p>But the pagans in Rome and elsewhere, cheek by jowl with Jews and Nazarenes, were forced to call Caligula <i>despotes.</i> The implication was that he ruled by crude muscular power of his will and his depraved sexual whims the entire world, reduced to utter slavery. His sense of power was that of a tyrant, who could disregard all law and abrogated all power and decision-making to himself. </p><p>When Caligula was claiming the title of <i>Despotes</i>, he was confronted with Jews and Gentiles for whom the only person deserving of the title was the resurrected Jesus who redeemed them. Caligula had redeemed basically no one. He had saved no one from sin. He had no future to offer them. He was the creator of no one. </p><p>The confrontation of a divine Sovereign and a man wanting to be the despot on earth led to an inevitable confrontation of authority. Who would win: the emperor with his mighty legions and his brutality or Jesus of Nazareth? </p><p>The crux of it was either servile adherence to brute force <i><u>or</u></i> conscientious resolve to adhere to the good and become obedient to the proven God of the Universe. </p><p><b>Attack on Rome's foundations</b></p><p>Gaius Caligula was clear-sighted about the danger for the Roman constitution. He had his ego-centric, personal solution to prevent Rome's collapse. Absolute divine power. It was his response to a legal and theological threat posed by the resurrected Christ to the continued existence of Roman power. He foresaw its possible fall or even immediate collapse. He acted in the only way he knew.</p><p>His childhood and youth of abuse and disdain emboldened him to fear no one in accomplishing his goal of unique power. He wanted everyone to fear and venerate him, even when he put on a show. When he was 7 years, his father, the war hero Germanicus, was poisoned, to remove him from succeeding Tiberius. He learned the lesson: be strong and resolute in desires and selfish conviction. Trust no one. Use every means to control or eliminate enemies.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzuvORT3-mdlTGKVDNMakyXT_J6elnbWurZ-818yhBhj4HshKyU-4wy85nlgQZMLdDzDWnPWSBFfzFthZH5UqYvChAk0mC_dcwV23cSPBBCDvowtFpTgvPhtgOVRpYk7GVUuBPFduXPDQ_yu4pxTaoR2corjT17vkyUoVOIro-l9unvGW9pBEH0VRw5g/s320/Germanicus_at_Amelia.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="180" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzuvORT3-mdlTGKVDNMakyXT_J6elnbWurZ-818yhBhj4HshKyU-4wy85nlgQZMLdDzDWnPWSBFfzFthZH5UqYvChAk0mC_dcwV23cSPBBCDvowtFpTgvPhtgOVRpYk7GVUuBPFduXPDQ_yu4pxTaoR2corjT17vkyUoVOIro-l9unvGW9pBEH0VRw5g/s1600/Germanicus_at_Amelia.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Germanicus</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Caligula, as emperor, collected a chest of so much poison to deal with his senatorial and other enemies, that, when it was later thrown in the sea, a huge quantity of fish was killed (Suetonius, <i>Gaius</i> 49). He denounced the whole Senate as agents of Sejanus, the would-be overthrower of Tiberius. The plot was exposed at the last minute. Caligula was also on his death list. <p></p><p>He learned introspection. He remained silent when his mother, Agrippina, was exiled, and when his elder brothers disappeared. Who could he trust but himself? His character was revealed as emperor. He exercised brutality, forcing many of Rome's elites to fight as gladiators, and relishing the bloodshed. He would stop at nothing. </p><p>From whence could he assure his power? What could he do to save his Rome against the rising tide of Jews and non-Jews believing in Christ, a god totally excluded from pagan pantheism? It was undermining the pagan system on which the whole Roman constitutional structure and authority was built. </p><p>The logic was undeniable. Educated people and even common people, as Tertullian later records, began to question and then mock the pagan gods. These Roman '<i>gods</i>' had to have the approval of the Senate to be '<i>official</i>'. And then they could be worshipped. It was an ancient legal privilege that could override even an emperor's wish, they told Tiberius, who favored Christ. </p><p>Poor gods! They had to pray to the Senate to get approval! </p><p>The followers of Christ and his resurrection had their own independent proof. The followers were everywhere and where themselves performing miracles of healing and even raising the dead to life. So say the Roman public records and petitions to the later emperors. </p><p>They were unstoppable ... or were they? Caligula spent all his energy to stop them, with his plan. </p><p>Julius Caesar wanted to be emperor-dictator and simultaneously high priest (Pontifex Maximus) of the pagan gods. He fused the two previously separate offices of State. </p><p>Caligula went further; he wanted to be god, not just a priest of god, an absolute theocrat of the world, free of all restraint, custom and law. He set up his own mystery cult of worship, hymns, prayers and subservience. He impersonated the gods. At night it culminated in the veneration and adoration of the emperor-god. His child, he declared, putting her on the lap of the idol Jupiter, was the incarnate offspring of both the god Gaius and the god Jupiter. </p><p>He acted like a god of the legends. He restrained himself from no sexual desire; no act of sadism was beyond his command; all despoiling of wealth, all denigration of rich and helpless, all desecration of the beautiful, all humiliation of persons provoking jealousy were at the command of his hand. </p><p>The Roman Senate was reluctant to declare him a god with godlike power despite his dramatic impersonations talking as a brother to god-idols in the pagan temples. </p><p>The Senate saw the danger again. Assent would wipe out their power of nominating gods forever, at least while the obviously mortal Gaius lived. As absolute god, only Gaius's voice and actions would matter for all the inhabitants of the world. The senators would become an absolute irrelevance. What would happen when he died? Would it be possible to regain their authority they had abdicated? How would they ever say again that their assent mattered when it came to defining the gods? Without Senate-defined gods how would the Roman Empire survive?</p><p><b>Global Gamble</b></p><p>How could Caligula become the god of the Empire if the Senate refused to recognize him as such? He first set about bringing the Senate to heel. He humiliated them. He brought them to their lowest political ebb, openly sleeping with their wives and deriding them in public. But still they did not agree to this final step. That would have been an act of suicide.</p><p>How could Caligula save the Empire if the Senate did not comply? </p><p>He had to act in two directions: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>make everyone accept him as a god and </li><li>secondly destroy the Jews and Nazarenes.</li></ul><p></p><p>He wanted to set up a gigantic statue of himself as Jupiter at first in Rome and then inside the Jerusalem Temple. The latter would have led to a full-scale Jewish revolt. That would be good grounds for the destruction of the population by his legions.</p><p>This was a monumental gamble. It would be like setting off a world war as the Jews had allies and lived throughout the Roman Empire, in every town and country. Josephus describes in detail the consternation of the population when this lethal decision was announced. Much of the population felt that they had no real means of defense. Any protest would be met with slaughter. </p><p>The future of pagan Rome seemingly rested on one man who had an impossible puzzle to solve, how to save the foundations of empire. How can Rome stay pagan? How can Rome kill off the anti-pagan opposition?</p><p><b>The Greek Egyptian Slave</b></p><p>We know of one person who had Caligula's ear from morning to night. That was Helicon, formerly an Egyptian slave, given to Tiberius. </p><p>He became Caligula's chamberlain. These eastern slaves were much treasured in Rome for their corruption, their craftiness, and their knowledge of mysteries and magic arts. Helicon had received a golden education, a skilful use of language and expertise in word play. He knew how to make himself indispensable and welcome. </p><p>He never left his side.</p><p>When Caligula awoke, who was there? Helicon.</p><p>When he went to the baths, who was there? Helicon.</p><p>When he went for walk, who accompanied him? Helicon.</p><p>At the gymnasium, Helicon was his assistant. </p><p>He was always there to amuse, to show off his inventive mind.</p><p>In Alexandria of Hellenistic Egypt, Helicon had drunk deeply from the well of anti-semitism. He knew how to revile them, turn their customs to ribaldry, and mock their religious fanaticism. This interaction was also the occasion to flatter Caligula's obsession with his own divinity.</p><p>Philo the Jew calls Helicon a scorpion. He was aided in this theocratic flattery by two other Alexandrians of the same ilk.</p><p>How would Caligula solve his dilemma of becoming fully a god, if the Senate still refused? </p><p>Helicon had the solution. No people knew more about divinities and deification than the Egyptian priests. They were fully indoctrinated in the process. They held the mysteries.</p><p>All that was required was for the emperor to go there to their sacred temples, and the priests would perform the act.</p><p>Caligula prepared for his voyage to Alexandria in his fleet. Once fully recognized as divine, he would undertake the journey on to Jerusalem. There he would see his giant likeness in the Temple's Holy of Holies with the words:</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><b>To</b> <b>Gaius, the new Jupiter, god manifest</b> (epiphanes). </p></blockquote><p>The year was 41 CE. The ground for this great sanctification had already been prepared in the years previously. (Philo <i>Leg</i> 250)</p><p><b>Egyptian deaths</b></p><p>Egypt had a large colony of Jews. It was also one of the first areas that had a large group of believers in Christ in the early years after the Resurrection. </p><p>In 38 CE, Flaccus, Rome's prefect in Egypt, ordered that Jews make statues of Gaius to be set up in all synagogues, <i>Antiq</i> 18.8.1 (258). That caused a riot. The extensive Jewish and Nazarene population of Alexandria were deprived of their citizenship that they held since Alexander the Great. They became <i>Untermensch</i>. Property was pillaged and ransacked. Men were slaughtered in the streets, some torn limb from limb, some burned. A famine was induced so that their Jewish families perished. </p><p>Flaccus, whom Caligula disliked, had been appointed under Tiberius, five years earlier, possibly under the influence of Sejanus an arch-antisemite. Tiberius being dead, Flaccus used oily flattery and acts he thought would anticipate Caligula's own plans. He may have thought this attack on Jews, who he knew to be opponents of Caligula's theocratic ambitions, would curry him favor. </p><p>Flaccus turned out to be one of the greatest persecutors of the Jews including the believers in Christ. Mark is considered the evangelist to the Alexandrian Jews. Philo also writes about the Jewish Therapeutae, those who could heal, much like the early believers' miracles elsewhere. Philo does not call them 'Christians' for the simple reason that this term had not yet been invented. </p><p>It would not take Flaccus much reflection to realise such people were enemies of Caesar Gaius.</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><i>Flaccus Avillius succeeded Sejanus in his hatred of and hostile designs against the Jewish nation.</i> Philo: <i>Flaccus</i> 1.</p></blockquote><p>It was eventually more than persecution.</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><i>He had determined to destroy {the Jews} utterly in his desire for glory. Flaccus</i> 116.</p></blockquote><p>But Emperor Caligula liked neither the worshippers of the true God, nor Flaccus. He was removed and died in disgrace.</p><p>As for the idolatry, Caligula ordered his statue and image to fill every synagogue, everywhere in the Empire. It was intolerable to Jews to have an idol there in their own sacred buildings where idolatry was utterly forbidden. This decree was enforced with deadly strength. Jews everywhere were humiliated and scorned. It was that or death.</p><p>A delegation of Alexandrian Jews led by Philo went to Rome. They soon realized that nothing would stop Caligula. He mocked them about not eating pork. They saw he was determined to destroy all Judaism and Christianity. Caligula asked Philo and his delegation:</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><i>Are you the god-haters who do not believe me to be a god, a god acknowledged among all other nations but not to named by you? Leg</i> 353. </p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><i>I have got the nature of a god. Leg 367. </i></p></blockquote><p>Philo concluded: '<i>He has set himself against God</i>.' </p><p>He challenged the very existence and right for any trace of the Creator God to remain in his all-pagan world.</p><p>Caligula ordered that the huge, 40 foot (12 meter) statue of Zeus, the father of the gods, built by Phidas around 400 BCE at Olympia in Greece, be moved to Rome. Caligula's face would be substituted so all could see him as the god of gods. </p><p>That extraordinary action would involve opposition from worshippers of Zeus/ Jupiter around Greece and the empire. Many called the awe-inspiring idol '<i>god</i>' and worshipped it. They stood in fear of their god of gods, Zeus, their god of lightning bolts. It inspired them to war and valor. </p><p>When Caesar's workmen came, some said the god laughed. Some warned that it prophesied the deadly fate of anyone who tried to move it. Then Caligula's ship to bring the idol to Rome was destroyed by thunderbolts. Meanwhile Caligula looted all Greece of its rich and ancient treasures saying they belonged with him as a god. (Dio LIX, 28.)</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQKg8BXQYTWX2xRUuCJ_xQPSTAZ1u10M7NjU8z2P4CxjQ6Od7pv62ZOx--ZftFonBTKpv6dvE8d_k60INlW8hod-z1mYs8tFcEnSVQfzvH8pDmbmfFhZkAfgWIgKF6eatHUjUtarMqZ9RraQq7nb4B1a7tC_HFJT7XD8oho6GaXeFcmUMKX2TKv2d6RA/s1642/Jupiter%20Zeus%20at%20Olympia.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1642" data-original-width="1200" height="514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQKg8BXQYTWX2xRUuCJ_xQPSTAZ1u10M7NjU8z2P4CxjQ6Od7pv62ZOx--ZftFonBTKpv6dvE8d_k60INlW8hod-z1mYs8tFcEnSVQfzvH8pDmbmfFhZkAfgWIgKF6eatHUjUtarMqZ9RraQq7nb4B1a7tC_HFJT7XD8oho6GaXeFcmUMKX2TKv2d6RA/w376-h514/Jupiter%20Zeus%20at%20Olympia.jpg" width="376" /></a></div><br />He was told this giant idol could not be moved without destroying it. <div><br /></div><div><b>Violating the Sanctuary</b></div><div>As for Israel, he then ordered Petronius, his Viceroy and powerful commander in the provinces of the East to build a similar statue of himself. With massive military force, and an exterminatory war against Jews if necessary, he must set up this image of Caligula as god in the Temple in Jerusalem.</div><div><br /></div><div>This was an extraordinary act of desperation and Roman anarchy. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Temple in Jerusalem was not under Roman law. It was an autonomous City-State. It had thousands of its own armed guards. Its legal status was so defined by Julius Caesar himself when he made a treaty with the Maccabees. They had saved him from defeat in the civil war against Pompey and Crassus, both profaners of the Temple. It was perhaps the only morsel of territory, and only some 200 meters square, within the confines of the Roman Empire where Roman law and military might did not apply.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Temple complex was built like a four-square fortress rising steeply from the Kidron valley ravine. No gentile was ever allowed to enter into its walls. The holy House had further multiple layers of protection. Those who could prove by genealogy that they were Israelites and had purified themselves ritually were allowed inside the outer Court of Israel. No one else, whatever their status. Priests who could prove that their ancestors held hereditary rights to perform specific Temple duties were allowed into the Court of Priests. Any Israelite who was not a priest who ventured there was liable to be put to death. </div><div><br /></div><div>At the center of the Court of Priests lay the Holy Temple itself. This was a long room divided into two sections. The first was called the Holy Place. Only specially chosen priests were allowed in there for the rituals. Further inside, another room was separated off by a thick curtain. This was the Holy of Holies. Only the High priest was allowed to enter and then only on one day of the year: the Day of Atonement. </div><div><br /></div><div>All around these courts, affixed every few meters to the chest-high barriers, were multilingual warning notices, 90 by 60 cm. In red letters they alerted any unauthorized person who dared entered into a court where he was not permitted that he would be responsible for his own death. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEJWzgpk87UEWj4BnfxU_ZneAPMzME3yu4WptCnSxEA7UKz0fzxi4-4A20lFiJk9-zOh4-wu_biJEAXPI0w4jirHn7P4r2E149XJY5VDjjKLhiHwqMJvOZaNs5DwPdpAjkiZGKZVgCMzEh9Ocv-rmYn_X-uajRSnNbsSA6Q_hMCRVScbQXogXCL7MMcw/s4128/Temple%20Warning%20Stone%20copy.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3096" data-original-width="4128" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEJWzgpk87UEWj4BnfxU_ZneAPMzME3yu4WptCnSxEA7UKz0fzxi4-4A20lFiJk9-zOh4-wu_biJEAXPI0w4jirHn7P4r2E149XJY5VDjjKLhiHwqMJvOZaNs5DwPdpAjkiZGKZVgCMzEh9Ocv-rmYn_X-uajRSnNbsSA6Q_hMCRVScbQXogXCL7MMcw/s320/Temple%20Warning%20Stone%20copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Because of this holiness, the Temple was cherished and protected by the huge Jewish and Israelite Diaspora as well as all the inhabitants of the Land. The Maccabees had fought many bloody battles to free it from gentiles like the Syrian dictator, Antiochus Epiphanes. They purified it, rebuilt and rededicated it. The Israelites intended to keep it holy.<div><br /></div><div>King Herod himself was not allowed to enter the Temple, even the outer court. He was not Jewish. When Roman legions were stationed at their Fort Antonia just a few hundred meters away, they were never allowed into the Temple. In 70 CE, when Roman legions under Titus surrounded the Temple, Titus called upon the besieged Jews to surrender. He said that in all the years of Roman control, Romans had never violated the Decree of Caesar and the laws of Rome. They had always allowed the high priests to govern. They had authority to forbid by force strangers and foreigners from entering. Even Roman citizens would be killed for violation of the rule. <i>Wars</i> 6.2.4 (124).</div><div><br /></div><div>But Caligula some three decades earlier, in his desperate attempt to assert his planetary godhead, was determined to abolish this Roman law. He made himself out to be greater than Julius Caesar. Caligula was prepared to break all Roman laws and customs when he insisted that an idol of himself as Jupiter be displayed inside the Temple. </div><div><br /></div><div>For the Jews from the time of the restitution of the Temple to its destruction in 70CE, the sanctity of the House was something to be be defended with the very life and breath of the nation. </div><div><br /></div><div>The sole Roman emperor who ruthlessly planned and attempted to violate it was Caligula. He must have concluded that the action was essential to his own existence and that of the Empire.</div><div><br /></div><div>He wished to turn the Temple of God to his own temple as god. It would conform as all the synagogues in the empire and display his image. He would rule the world from Jerusalem. The richest building in the world would would be his own capital. There was no construction in Rome or the empire that was comparable with it. Titus was later to confess:</div><div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><i>This holy building is the most beautiful structure ever built by the hand of man.</i> </div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"> (<i>Jesus, James, Joseph</i>, p viii.)</div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>Caligula's motive was not one of mere avarice. His long-term strategy was to defile it, and its God, who opposed the gods of the pantheon. The Jerusalem God and his castle, a furlong square, threatened the destruction of his plan for worldwide divine domination. Thus a square section of land, 185 meters by 185meters, perched above a perilous ravine was the focus of attention of the Emperor who saw it as the sole threat to his theocratic mastery. </div><div><br /></div><div>Philo of Alexandria, who around 39 CE led the Jewish delegation of Alexandria to speak to Caligula in Rome, was aghast that, after defiling all synagogues, only one building was left.</div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><i>The Temple in the Holy City, which alone was left untouched being judged to have <u>rights of sanctuary</u>, he was proceeding to convert and transmogrify into a temple of his own to bear the name of Gaius, the new Zeus. </i></div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>Lack of law was leading the world into dark evil.</div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Do you deem God worthy of nothing in our world here below, no country, no city, but even this tiny area hallowed for Him and sanctified by oracles an divine messages you propose to take away, so that in the circumference of the great earth no trace or reminder should be left of the reverence and honour due to the truly existing veritable God? ... Don't you know that you are opening the springs of a flood of evil, in these strange and monstrous actions which it is unlawful either to do or conceive?</i> (Philo, <i>Leg</i> 347.) </div></blockquote><div><div><div> <br /><div>Another witness, Flavius Josephus says Caligula's eventual death saved his country and nation from extermination and genocide:</div></div></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>...our own nation was brought to the very verge of ruin, and would have been destroyed but for his sudden death. .. the story provides good evidence of God's power.</i> <i>Antiq</i> 19,1, 1, (16).</div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><div><br /></div><div><b>Motivation</b></div><div>The logical conclusion is that Caligula could have ruled his empire by terror, bloodshed and with extreme brutality. That rule by fear had succeeded in his early years. That terror did not involve defiling the Temple. But it is obvious that far more than rule by terror motivated Caligula. He did not want just power, utter obedience and mindless subservience. </div><div><br /></div><div>He was on a mission: to destroy Christianity and Judaism. Proof? There was no reason to insist on the desecration of the Temple if all that Caligula wanted was to be an emperor who was feared and obeyed. God was his target.</div><div><br /></div><div>His plan to desecrate the Temple with the Abomination of Jupiter was to assert his divinity. He had to prove that he was greater than Christ and specifically the prophecy of Christ. In fact he wanted to prove he was greater than God Almighty. He was more than a ruler. He was an ideologue with the aim of destroying the God of the Bible and facts about Christ.</div><div><br /></div><div>He failed.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>What he actually proved was that God Almighty of the Bible rules the universe and this planet Earth.</i></b> </div><div><p></p><p><b>The Abomination</b></p><p>In the century after Caligula, the writer Pausanias described the great idol of Zeus at Olympia at Elis.</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246/0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px solid rgb(229, 231, 235); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1a202c; margin: 0px;"><h4 style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246/0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border: 0px solid rgb(229, 231, 235); box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><i style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246/0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border: 0px solid rgb(229, 231, 235); box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: times;">The god sits on a throne, and he is made of gold and ivory. On his head lies a garland which is a copy of olive shoots. In his right hand he carries a Victory, which, like the statue, is of ivory and gold; she wears a ribbon and—on her head—a garland. In the left hand of the god is a scepter, ornamented with every kind of metal, and the bird sitting on the scepter is the eagle. The sandals also of the god are of gold, as is likewise his robe. On the robe are embroidered figures of animals and the flowers of the lily.</span></i> </h4></blockquote></blockquote><p>The position and monstrous-size throne made the idol even more impressive to the pagan worshippers who entered. It included scenes of violence and rape that pagans took as a natural attributes of gods.</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><h4 style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246/0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px solid rgb(229, 231, 235); box-sizing: border-box; color: #1a202c; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><i style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246/0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border: 0px solid rgb(229, 231, 235); box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: times;">The throne is adorned with gold and with jewels, to say nothing of ebony and ivory. Upon it are painted figures and wrought images. There are four Victories, represented as dancing women, one at each foot of the throne, and two others at the base of each foot. On each of the two front feet are set Theban children ravished by sphinxes, while under the sphinxes Apollo and Artemis are shooting down the children of Niobe.</span></i></h4></blockquote><p>So was this the end of his fanatical venture? Not in the least. Caligula doubled down everywhere, provoking even more violence and raising the stakes to say in effect, '<i>Accept me as God or accept the destruction of the known world</i>'.</p><p><b>World War</b></p><p>His policy affected not only the Jews in Israel, nor only the millions of Jews scattered throughout the Roman Empire, but much more. Petronius, Rome's commander in the eastern provinces of Israel and Syria, knew that greater dangers would be ignited. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihdW3DkVEz5Gv-GS4LBlkJzo5B1gjK2zP83p6CRzmPsCBhz_u6gtcswQ3oF-TNXtDKrk-WqIaFCVMuLPy8l7C4R-sL7UPXWwbYFqklvL0CezAw7is8BBH9SkqCM6Duwmiw28fjJCprcBJVG8B3xro0OiVfL04Tgz8g2PcEC6yJJxFP8cYs-Vslvu8icA/s550/Scythia-Parthia_100_BC.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="550" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihdW3DkVEz5Gv-GS4LBlkJzo5B1gjK2zP83p6CRzmPsCBhz_u6gtcswQ3oF-TNXtDKrk-WqIaFCVMuLPy8l7C4R-sL7UPXWwbYFqklvL0CezAw7is8BBH9SkqCM6Duwmiw28fjJCprcBJVG8B3xro0OiVfL04Tgz8g2PcEC6yJJxFP8cYs-Vslvu8icA/s320/Scythia-Parthia_100_BC.png" width="320" /></a></div>Parthia was a huge empire to the east that had defeated Rome and decimated its legions many times previously. Moreover Parthia was favourable to the Jews and the Temple because many Jews and Israelites lived there and had transferred vast amounts of wealth to rebuild the Temple.</div><div><blockquote><i>Parthian Jews every year dispatched envoys ... conveying to the Temple a great quantity of gold and silver amassed from the first fruits.</i> (Philo <i>Leg</i> 216)</blockquote><p></p><p>Petronius divided his armies into two sections. One was to deal with the Jews and their expected national revolt. The other half would defend the frontier with Parthia. In Egypt the populous Jewish colony of Alexandria was already defending itself, as best it could, against this rabid antisemitic persecution. </p><p>In the West, Britain was showing its support against the tyrant. In 39 CE Caligula sent his legions there against the Kelts and Germans. His armies massed on the Channel coast. He made a show of preparing an invasion against Britain, a stronghold of early Christianity and resistance to Roman paganism. (Christianity and Celtic Druidism that focused on ultimate truth were the only religions banned in the Roman Empire.) </p><p>The leader of the small tribe of the Canninefates at the mouth of the Rhine derided Caligula's military arrogance at even thinking of invasion. Why was Britain so important to him? He wasn't known as a great, battle-hardened war leader.</p><p>Yet now, due to him alone, the civilized world was about to explode into war and violence everywhere. Why? It was all based on Caligula's decision to deify himself and erect statues of himself as almighty god of the world. </p><p>Why would Caligula do this? Why cause world war on all fronts? For what advantage? </p><p><b>The prophecy of Christ</b></p><p>Caligula wanted to show he was greater than Christ who prophesied in 30 CE that he would destroy an abomination of desolation if it was put in the Temple, Matt 24:15. Caligula wanted to be greater and attempted to prove the prophecy wrong.<br /></p></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><p style="text-align: left;"><i>When you therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, ... the let those in Judea flee to the mountains... As the lightning comes out of the east, and shines as far as the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.</i></p></div></blockquote><div><p>Then the legions suddenly left Britain alone. The conquest was off. Why? The public secretly mocked him for this decision to reverse his invasion plans. Did Caligula realise it was more strategic to attack Israel and crush the anti-pagans at their source in Jerusalem? He would need all his troops there rather than set off wars in both east and west. </p><p>He planned to be declared a god in Egypt according to ancient rites. Then he would rule as god of all the world from Jerusalem. There his goal was genocidal to all who would not believe him and deicidal of the Sovereign Authority of the Temple.</p><p>But as Philo wrote:</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>It is easier for God to change into a man than for a man to become God. Leg118.</i></blockquote><p></p><p><b>Expedition</b></p><p>Caligula made great preparations for this event. He would not take his fleet of ships directly to Egypt. Only the grain cargo ships did that. He would make a procession around the coast of the Mediterranean and be acclaimed in each port and feted as divine. </p><p>For Egypt he had prepared in secret a huge idol of himself as Jupiter. This would be taken with him.</p><p>Nothing seemed able to stop his plans. </p><p>But then a dagger did. He was assassinated in 41 just before he could travel there. </p><p><b>Training a high priest</b></p><p>Some commentators speculate that Theophilus was some unknown Christian convert. Not so. The Bible shows he was high priest and trained by a Temple Teacher to follow the rituals with exactness and purity. Luke does not say anywhere that he was a Christian. But he does say that he had this training.</p><p>Luke uses a word that shows Theophilus had priestly training: <i>catechetized</i>, 1:4. </p><p>A high priest had to maintain a difficult balance between the orders of Rome, the instructions of Caligula's friend and deputy King Agrippa, and the survival of the Jewish people. He learned his metier by repetition under a Teacher.</p><p>The expert teacher had to be sure he managed the operations in the Temple in a way that conformed to the precise instruction of the Torah and the Hebrew Scriptures. Disobedience to God would endanger the whole people. </p><p>In this fight with a would-be Jupiter, attention to detailed obedience was essential. </p><p><b>Who was Theophilus?</b></p><p>What happened when Annas and Caiaphas were sacked by the Romans or retired as priests or died? The Romans wanted a high priest who acted as ruler of the people for them who conformed to Roman policy and that included not demolishing the pantheon by confirming the divinity of Christ.</p><p>It is not sure that Caiaphas was of real priestly stock. Caiaphas is always mentioned in conjunction with Annas who was the retired high priest. He was very rich and had married the daughter of Annas. In 30 CE he was acting as a substitute for Annas whom Romans had deposed in 15 CE. </p><p>After Annas was sacked in 15 CE, his son, Eleazar, lasted only a year as high priest. The high priesthood was hereditary according to Jewish law, even though Annas might not have been the most legitimate office holder. The Romans wanted someone who was subservient. The next high priest was equally short in office before Caiaphas, known more as businessman than priest, temporarily re-established the Annas family line. His background is obscure but he had good relations with the Romans. Whatever the evidence he tried to deny that Jesus the Christ rose from the dead and was the true priest. What is known is that his father-in-law, Annas, expected him to produce a male child that would become priest by virtue of Annas's bloodline. There is no indication that Caiaphas produced a male child. He was deposed under Tiberius in early 37, around the time Pilate was recalled for trial. Caiaphas's policy of denial failed. </p><p>So what would happen to the high priesthood? The family held on to the various offices of high priests. It would fall back to the other sons of Annas, who seem to have been much younger. They were now adults.</p><p>The first son, Jonathan, was nominated high priest. This hothead who tried to deny Christ lasted for only a few weeks in early 37 CE. The outcry of the public was so strong he had to be removed. Theophilus, perhaps ill- prepared for the post but clearly less of an anti-Christian ideologue was put into the office of high priest. </p><p>Thus Luke stresses that Theophilus had to be trained to be acceptable to the public who knew the resurrection was a fact. He had to be sure of the facts of the Messiah, if he were to stand up against Roman propaganda and attack. Who was his teacher? James the brother of Jesus had taken over the post during his work in Galilee. He stayed in the Temple until his death in the 60s. He was of the special lineage of chief priest, a royal line of teachers, stemming from David and his son Nathan. James may have been one of the teachers or Theophilus, who was installed as high priest by Roman power.</p><p>Luke reminds Theophilus of the details of the miraculous birth of Jesus to the aged Mariam, a daughter of Aaron, the truest line. He produces the priest-list that shows Jesus taking office '<i>as he was beginning to be about thirty</i>' -- the official age to become Chief Priest according to Hebrew reckoning. He lists the miracles. He describes the Council of 70 Elders that Jesus set up, Luke 10. And he provides proof of the resurrection according to Hebrew records and detailed Roman legal procedures. He finishes with the witness of believers in the Temple, giving absolute proof of the events. </p><p>Luke writes to Theophilus as if he were a State librarian accepting a valuable artefact. The Temple held the archives of the nation. So at least we know that high priest Theophilus did not refuse to admit authenticated, witnessed records, either during the reign of Gaius Caligula or later when it came to the books of Acts of the Apostles. Theophilus may therefore have had and retained an office of chief archivist in the Temple both before and after his years as high priest.</p><p><b>The later Theophilus </b></p><p>Proof that this Theophilus was the high priest is shown when Luke wrote Acts. There Theophilus is not called Most Excellent (<i>kratiste</i>). Why? Because he was no longer high priest in the 60s.<br /></p><p>Calling someone by such a title would be considered illegal, even treasonous, to the political leader and high priest in office. He only could carry this honorific title. Paul addresses the Roman governors by this title <i>kratiste</i> in Acts. That shows it was a political form of address of the highest order. The ethnarch of the Jews held such an office but with the Roman conquest was subservient to Rome. But he still retained the political title -- while in office.</p><p>Luke's Gospel carried the facts that everyone knew to be true. Truth was victorious. There were many records, many eye-witnesses, as well as Luke himself, who was acquainted with all the facts from the beginning, Luke 1:1-. Their belief and conviction in them was tried in the fire of utmost danger when the whole nation was on the verge of Caligula's genocide.<br /></p><p>This word <i>kratiste</i> is living proof that Luke’s Gospel was written as an authentic record, sent to the high priest personally, to be kept in the Temple archives as proof of events. </p><p>As required by Hebrew law, the gospel is authenticated by multiple honest witnesses. It is a record of the history of Israel, validated by Jews, the high priest, imperial Roman authorities and undeniable events of history such as Caligula’s planned extermination of the Jews. It explains the otherwise unexplainable behavior and extremely costly strategy of Caligula. </p><p>Caligula's great gamble would make no sense UNLESS he was scared about losing his throne and empire because of the prophesied Return of Christ, recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke: to destroy the Abomination of Desolation. Luke wrote to Theophilus the words of Christ:</p></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><p style="text-align: left;"><i>Settle therefore in your hearts not before what you shall answer: for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries will not be able to gainsay, nor resist. You shall be betrayed and hated of all men ... but a hair of your head shall not perish.</i> Luke 21:14ff. </p></div></blockquote><div><p><b>Nazarenes in the Temple</b></p><p>In the first seven years after his father, Annas, who had been a principal agent in having Christ crucified, the priesthood was unable to persecute the Nazarenes. In this period, Tiberius decreed that they should not be killed.</p><p>We know from Luke that the disciples were continuously in the Temple. So under the high priesthood of Theophilus they were not banned. </p></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div><p style="text-align: left;"><i>They were continually in the Temple, praising God. ch24:53.</i></p></div></div></blockquote><div><p>Was Theophilus popular with the people of Israel? No. We have good evidence that he did not stand firm with the Nazarenes against the theocratic attack of Gaius. </p><p>But first what happened to Caligula? Did he reach Egypt?</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Parthian signals</b></p><p>Gaius was anxious to reach Egypt as soon as possible. This can be seen from the urgency of his orders to Petronius his Commander in Syria to complete the giant idol of himself and erect it in the Temple, regardless of the cost in lives and the danger of war with Parthia and other countries.</p><p>Were events in Parthia signalling success or danger? Caligula had benefited from the Parthian Peace process of Tiberius until his death in 37 CE. A mutually beneficial truce had been forged with Artabanus II but then a war over the buffer State of Armenia took place. Decades of dispute followed. </p><p>Artabanus seized the country when Artaxias died, the nominee of Germanicus, Gaius's father. Then Artabanus was forced to concede it as the Roman general Vitellius marched towards the Euphrates. Rome sowed discord and revolt among the cities and tribal adversaries of Artabanus and tried to replace him by a Roman puppet, Tiridates. Artabanus fled to the court of King Izates at Adiabene, who together with his mother Queen Helena had converted to Judaism. Artabanus, however, fought back and regained his throne.</p><p>Then in the autumn of 40, events seem to favor Gaius, the Roman 'god'. The Parthian emperor Artabanus was again deposed, this time by the Megistanes, bicameral body of the Assembly and Senate of Magi and Wise Men. Who would rule? Rivalry between his sons presaged a civil war. Seleucia and other cities wanted independence. </p><p>Was this the divine moment to act?</p><p>Caligula took major risks to achieve a tight timetable. What was the deadline? Why was he in such a hurry at the start of year 41? Was it to coincide with an Egyptian festival of deification? Was his Temple glorification planned for a Jewish festival like Passover, the time when Jesus died and rose again?</p><p>To fit in with a timetable where he would present himself in Jerusalem in the Spring after visiting Egypt would mean setting out from Rome months before. He planned a glorious itinerary where at every step, every port, the crowds and authorities would worship him with pomp.</p><p>The Rome-built idol was ready in January. But to travel directly across to Egypt in winter was not only dangerous but foolish. Ships were often lost in storms. So Caligula planned to take his fleet around the coast of the Mediterranean. </p><p>Plans were set to leave on 25 January. Then Caligula was slain by his guards. So ended the life of the would-be God of the World. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-13600869027187818582022-03-19T16:43:00.008-07:002023-09-23T10:31:21.870-07:00You can't understand Christ in the Temple without Rome's bronze law plates <p>Julius Caesar played a major role in the life and death of Jesus Christ. He was of prime importance in the existence and preservation of the Temple, even though Julius Caesar was long dead by the first century CE!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-S1WZqt32Mn4/YdBsmIpb-UI/AAAAAAAABW4/bVBAyfi-HAk9lerSl67w2NfwNXGqNBPHgCNcBGAsYHQ/480px-Retrato_de_Julio_Ce%25CC%2581sar_%252826724093101%2529_%2528cropped%2529.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="480" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-S1WZqt32Mn4/YdBsmIpb-UI/AAAAAAAABW4/bVBAyfi-HAk9lerSl67w2NfwNXGqNBPHgCNcBGAsYHQ/480px-Retrato_de_Julio_Ce%25CC%2581sar_%252826724093101%2529_%2528cropped%2529.jpg" width="192" /></a></div><p></p><p>While the Temple existed, the Romans were unable to destroy Judaism and the Nazarenes. Why? Because in the period of one of the Roman civil wars, the Jews chose to help Julius Caesar against his rival Pompey. </p><p>It turned out to be crucial for Rome and for the ruling Jerusalem priesthood that put their soldiers at Caesar's disposal. At this time the government in Israel had gained an unstable measure of freedom under the Hasmoneans and they then threw their weight on Caesar's side. Why? Their motivation makes the outcome a vital factor in NT history.</p><p>Jewish support was effective. Caesar, from an unsure situation where he shared power and then fought his former allies, gained unchallenged supremacy. He was grateful to his helpers in Jerusalem. He gave his thanks to receiving Jewish arms at a critical time. He made certain pledges to the Hasmoneans and the Jews when the Romans later occupied the land of Israel as a military power. They were not mere words that blew away with the wind.</p><p>Caesar's decrees had the support of the Roman Senate. They were so important they were engraved on bronze plates and exhibited in Jerusalem and elsewhere. Bronze plates with written law or declarations were used for millennia to show international agreements that must stand throughout time. Abraham was said to have made an agreement with the Jebusites about the future of Jerusalem and immortalized it on bronze plates. (See <i>Jesus, James, Joseph</i>, p580).</p><p>Without an understanding of these Roman bronze plates, much of the New Testament does not make sense. Happily we have an exact transcript of what they said.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjQnoacpZe-Jhw-PS2McK7ys_iTU_uOUUZL0hB71puDXDw86Zar4Bkj707cCgsWsz_AKOMLYDKXYvBQOnsa5rIh1WTIMWs17p_CouHxyVKJHuPpSdgNkNfV9hgrOLNl99blCf2zgsI-Dh_8vJN0ZSZsvdCqBFDJxB4oSjX_8RvDU2IfF_1y9yj3nQZ6g=s320" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="262" data-original-width="320" height="363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjQnoacpZe-Jhw-PS2McK7ys_iTU_uOUUZL0hB71puDXDw86Zar4Bkj707cCgsWsz_AKOMLYDKXYvBQOnsa5rIh1WTIMWs17p_CouHxyVKJHuPpSdgNkNfV9hgrOLNl99blCf2zgsI-Dh_8vJN0ZSZsvdCqBFDJxB4oSjX_8RvDU2IfF_1y9yj3nQZ6g=w443-h363" width="443" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A Roman bronze law plate</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />You will find these bronze plates described in detail in the fourteenth book of the <i>Antiquities</i> of Flavius Josephus. <p></p><p>It is quite extraordinary that so many Bible commentators have not understood the significance of these plates. They represent fully-fledged legal pledges of the Roman military Dictator and his Senate into the future. The whole of the history of Israel in the first century BCE and beyond into the persecution of the early Nazarenes depends on them. Not least because the Senate also pledged to their continuance long after Caesar was deceased. It had international powers. The Senate was the body that sent and received ambassadors and appointed governors to provinces abroad.</p><p>While the plates stood, the Senate and Rome where obliged to follow its words as law. Their destruction brought about the demise of the entire city of Jerusalem. It resulted in its disappearance as the capital of the Jews, not for a few years, or a few centuries, but for a millennium or more.</p><p>The story of the Roman bronze plates is a question of law but also of greed, cheating and international chicanery. </p><p><b>Battle Background</b></p><p>In the first century BCE, the Maccabees (the Hasmonean dynasty) had gained Israel's independence from the Hellenistic empire of the Seleucids of Syria. In the last days of the Hasmoneans, a struggle broke out between two family factions, brothers Hyrcanus II versus Aristobulus II. When both sides sought help and arbitration they made a foolish mistake which cost the Israelite nation dear. They turned to Rome's general Pompey to arbitrate. He was then warring against the Armenians, to the north. </p><p>Instead of acting as a peacemaker, he seized on the opportunity to gain control of Israel. He conquered Jerusalem in 63 BCE. And then he entered the Temple's Holy of Holies to see if it was really empty. This sacred place is entered only by the High Priest on one day in the year, on Yon Kippur. The sacred ornaments including the Ark of the Covenant had long disappeared in previous wars. </p><p>Hasmonean independence was ended. Rome, not the Seleucids, was the master. Israel was again a land occupied by foreign armies.</p><p>Rome was then led by three men, the triumvirs. Pompey was the rival of super-rich Crassus. Julius Caesar was a military hero in Rome but he was in debt to Crassus. While it is said that Pompey did not steal riches from the Temple or further desecrate it, his act horrified the Jews who had fought tooth and nail to gain freedom from the Syro-Grecian empire of the Seleucids that had tried to wipe out Judaism by forced Hellenization.</p><p>Gold-mad Crassus, already possessing the equivalent of more than 200 tonnes of gold, planned to invade the Parthian Empire in the East and pillage its treasures. He wanted more gold. On his way east, he arrived in Jerusalem. He pillaged the Temple of an equivalent amount of gold plus silver. <i>Antiq</i> 14, 7,1, (105). </p><p>He thought he would seize more gold in Parthia. It was a huge, rich empire that rivalled Rome's. Alas! In Parthia he met his fate. Both he and his legions were destroyed. </p><p>So when Pompey and Caesar struggled for ultimate power, the Hasmoneans threw their support to Caesar, not the Temple-defiler, and promised to help. Pompey died in Egypt in 48 BCE. Caesar then chose Hyrcanus as high priest and leader of ethnic Jews. </p><p><b>Embossed on Bronze</b></p><p>Caesar then made the following legal promulgation according to Josephus book 14 chapter 10,2 (190).</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">2. "Caius Julius Caesar, imperator and high priest (Pontifex Maximus), and dictator the second time, to the magistrates, senate, and people of Sidon, sends greeting. If you be in health, it is well. I also and the army are well. I have sent you a copy of that decree, registered on the tables, which concerns Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, the high priest and ethnarch of the Jews, that it may be laid up among the public records; and I will that it be openly proposed in a table of brass, both in Greek and in Latin. It is as follows: </p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">I, Julius Caesar, imperator the second time, and high priest, have made this decree, with the approbation of the senate. Whereas Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander the Jew, hath demonstrated his fidelity and diligence about our affairs, and this both now and in former times, both in peace and in war, as many of our generals have borne witness, and came to our assistance in the last Alexandrian war, with fifteen hundred soldiers; and when he was sent by me to Mithridates, showed himself superior in valor to all the rest of that army; - for these reasons I will that <i>Hyrcanus</i>, the son of <i>Alexander</i>, and his children, be <b>ethnarchs</b> of the Jews, and have the <b>high priesthood of the Jews <u>for ever</u>,</b> according to the customs of their forefathers, and that he and his sons be our confederates; and that besides this, everyone of them be reckoned among our particular friends. I also ordain that he and his children retain whatsoever privileges belong to the office of <b>high priest</b>, or whatsoever favors have been hitherto granted them; and if at any time hereafter there arise any questions about the Jewish customs, I will that he determine the same. And I think it not proper that they should be obliged to find us winter quarters, or that any money should be required of them."</p></blockquote></blockquote><div>Thus the Hasmoneans under Hyrcanus II were made hereditary high priests and ethnarchs, or secular rulers. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Along came Herod</b></div><div>Being high priests for ever is not something that Caesar or any human can guarantee. For one, it depends on the family having the reproductive powers to have children, and two, that any male child surviving to adulthood would fulfill the stringent requirements of the office. This included being free from a long list of physical deformities. Other factors such as the will of Rome's rulers also come into play.</div><div><br /></div><div>When Herod received the power as king from the Roman Senate, he saw the high priesthood as a rival to his office. He did two things. He married Mariamne, the last legitimate daughter of the Hasmoneans. Then he made sure that her brother, the young, potentially very popular high priest, was assassinated by drowning by his Gaulish bodyguards. The Hasmoneans were then bereft of any legitimate candidate for high priest.</div><div><br /></div><div>Herod then thought he could select whomsoever he wished to be high priest. He made priests of men who had no right according to the laws of the Temple. So Josephus.</div><div><br /></div><div>As Rome's agent, Herod exercised royal power in Judea. He had ultimate control of who would be high priest, whether it conformed to Hebrew law or not. The choice conformed to his will as someone loyal to the pagan gods but also a fervent restorer of paganism. Judea was in a dire spiritual situation. </div><div><br /></div><div>Consider the religious and political implications of these events. What would happen to true worship in the Temple? We need to look at the dilemma from the point of view of the faithful Jews.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Who makes high priests?</b></div><div>When Julius Caesar proclaimed that the Hasmoneans were to be forever high priests, he was exercising his own religious authority as the <i>Pontifex Maximus</i>, the chief authority of all religions in the Roman Empire. Before Caesar, the holder of the office was a priest separate from secular and military powers. Traditionally the Pontifex Maximus remained in Rome. When Caesar gained the office that all changed. After his military victories, he had all secular and religious power combined together.</div><div><br /></div><div>A faithful Jew could ask: Is that how it works? Does a pagan, in fact the chief of the pagans, have the delegated authority of God to name the high priest in the Jerusalem Temple, dedicated to the Supreme God of the Universe?</div><div><br /></div><div>The subjection of all forms of Judaism to the power of Rome was how Romans thought was the natural order. Herod assumed he had the legal power to name whomsoever he wished to be high priest, following the end of the Hasmonean dynasty.</div><div><br /></div><div>Did he have God's approval, according to the Jews faithful to Jehovah?</div><div><br /></div><div>Certainly not. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hasmonean bronze plates</b></div><div>Bronze plates enunciating law and rights have along history. They were used in the Temple even before the Romans arrived to try to legitimize royal and priestly power. One set of bronze plates did not jibe for some Jews. Josephus makes it clear that neither the Hasmoneans (who had become corrupt and Hellenized) nor the <i>Pontifex Maximus</i> had powers to convince a certain group of Jews or provide any approval above Hebrew custom. Bronze decrees were often brazen attempts to overthrow God's laws written in minds and consciences.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Hasmoneans were of a minor branch of the tribe of Levi and were not themselves fit to be high priests. Their glory lies in the facts of history. They refused to succumb to pagan Hellenism that the Seleucids wished to impose and thus to wipe out all forms of Judaism. They revolted. They fought the huge Seleucid Empire and won the independence of the nation with the help of the Parthian Empire in the East. </div><div><br /></div><div>But the revolt led by brave warriors did not give them divine rights to be high priests. Nor as it turned out later did it give them any right to claim to be kings or ethnarchs. The right of the high priesthood was always given to the sons of Aaron and their offspring. The throne of Israel was appointed to the offspring of King David.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Hasmoneans saw things differently. They recorded their views on bronze plates in the Temple grounds. They claimed they were '<i>high priests and hegemons for ever</i>' (<i>eis ton aiona)</i>, I Macc 14:41. </div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Their word must be obeyed by all the people; </li><li>none should gainsay their words or else they would be punished; </li><li>the Hasmoneans should be clothed in purple and wear a gold buckle. </li></ul></div><div>These powers were conceded by their former imperial masters and confirmed by the Seleucid King Demetrius to Simon Maccabeus. They were written on bronze plates set up within the Temple in a conspicuous place so all could see them, v45.</div><div> </div><div>They had overstepped the mark.</div><div><br /></div><div>So where were the authentic priestly and royal dynasties at the time of the Hasmoneans and Julius Caesar?</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The third parties</b></div><div>Let's go back to the time of the triumvirs, before Caesar was sole ruler. When Pompey conquered Israel, there were two last surviving Hasmonean brothers struggling for power: Hyrcanus and Aristobulus. Caesar decreed that Hyrcanus, son of Alexander, and his offspring should be perpetual priests. </div><div><br /></div><div>But neither brother was of legitimate priestly or royal descent. When Pompey first arrived and entered into the dispute, there was another party who made claim to both royal and priestly offices. In <i>Antiquities</i> 14, chapter three, we read (41) that Pompey came to Damascus:</div><div><blockquote>And there it was he heard the causes of the Jews, and of their governors Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, who were at difference one with another, as <i><u>also of the nation against them both</u></i>, which did not desire to be under kingly government because the form of government they received from their forefathers was that of subjection to the priests of that God whom they worshipped; and [they complained], that though these two were of the posterity of priests, yet did they did they seek to change the government of the nation to another form, in order to enslave them.</blockquote></div><div>Who were members of <i><u>the nation</u></i> against both Hasmonean brothers? They wanted to change the Hasmonean form of government that was trying to enslave them? The Greek <a class="text" href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=to%5C&la=greek&can=to%5C21&prior=kai\" style="color: black; font-family: "New Athena Unicode", Gentium, "Palatino Linotype", "Lucida Grande", Galilee, "Arial Unicode MS", sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;" target="morph">τὸ</a><span face=""New Athena Unicode", Gentium, "Palatino Linotype", "Lucida Grande", Galilee, "Arial Unicode MS", sans-serif"> </span><a class="text" href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=e%29%2Fqnos&la=greek&can=e%29%2Fqnos0&prior=to\" style="color: black; font-family: "New Athena Unicode", Gentium, "Palatino Linotype", "Lucida Grande", Galilee, "Arial Unicode MS", sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;" target="morph">ἔθνος</a>, <i>ethnos</i>, refers to an ethnicity, a genealogical family and dynasty. They were not a part of the Hasmoneans. These people, this tribe, were reclaiming the ancient rights of the pure priesthood who should have direct Aaronic blood, and royal Davidic blood if they should be considered for the kingship. They wanted a royal and priestly system based on freedom, not Gentile-style autocracy. </div><div>They were not the third party in the dispute but the legitimate, first claimants. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>The legitimate claimants</b></div><div>This is a key historic event that should be at the forefront of biblical commentators and historians when they discuss Christianity. Both the priesthood and the secular power of Israel were in the hands of imperious imposters! They were supported by all the might and power of the Hellenizing Seleucids and then pagan Rome. </div><div><br /></div><div>This true genealogical claim hearkens back to the Return from the Babylonian exile. Then Ezra led a group of purified priests and made sure that they did not have mixed blood with the surrounding pagans. Some of the priests had even married the native (pagan) girls of the land. Ezra made sure that these priests either divorced from these pagans or were expelled from any office in the priesthood -- forever. He told them that one of the main reasons for the Babylonian conquest and their exile was that their forefathers had mixed with pagans.</div><div> </div><div>The royal line was the inheritance of a different tribe, that of Judah. The royal line was the offspring of Zerubbabel who became the leader after the Return. While his sons were not crowned kings because they were still subjects and under control of the powers of Babylon and then Persia, they provided leadership up to a point into the empire of Alexander the Great and later the Seleucids. When the Law of God indicated that they should not stay in Israel, a country riven with war, idolatry and rape, they exiled themselves in Egypt. They could thus preserve their offspring and ensure it was not polluted by rapine.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is clear from this passage of Josephus, however, that, when the land of Israel was returning to independence, the legitimate clans were not allowed by the Hasmonean power-holders to regain their offices. Their representatives, however, made it clear to Pompey in Damascus (outside Israel) that the Hasmoneans were not legitimate.</div><div><br /></div><div><i><u>This passage from Josephus indicates and presages the rise of the legitimate Aaronic priesthood of the family of Jesus as High Priest and Davidic line of the 'king of the Jews' of the New Testament, the New Covenant.</u></i></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Priestly polemics</b></div><div>For Israelites in Israel and those exiled broad it was the essential part of their faith and adherence that the priesthood should follow the instructions of the Torah, the books of Moses. The Temple priesthood represented a connection of the people with the Creator God and the covenant their families had made at Sinai. It opposed all forms of paganism. A falsified priesthood may have sat well with religious and political authorities in Rome but for many Jews it was an insult and sacrilege.</div><div><br /></div><div>After the demise of the Hasmonean dynasty, the effort of Herod trying to foist his own choice as high priest would have not resolved the dilemma. It would have made the sacrilege and public outrage even worse. The Hasmoneans had no legitimate offspring. The people that Herod chose as his high priest had even less. Where was the authentic Aaronic dynasty and how could it be installed again with Herod's acquiescence?</div><div><br /></div><div>It should be recalled that Aaronic priests were always a minority among the Levitical priests that made up the tribe. Aaron had two surviving sons when the total number of male Levites was more than 22,000, Num 3. </div><div><br /></div><div>The solution was forced on Herod. It was not his choice. The undisputed dynastic claims made the choice inevitable. It was thrust upon him from Egypt of all places.</div><div><br /></div><div>A man and his family arrived from refuge in Egypt and settled in Israel. The Land was now at peace, although it was ruled by a ruthless conqueror. For the priesthood it was important that their families and especially their virgin daughters should not live in a place of open warfare. Civil war was replaced by Roman law and administration.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Out of Egypt</b> </div><div>Simon Boethus arrived from Egypt and caused consternation. One surprising result of his arrival was that Herod had to divorce his queen! Why?</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Was it money? Was Simon super-rich? No. </li><li>Did he have an intimate political relationship to Caesar? There is no evidence of any relationship. </li><li>Did he blackmail Herod in some way? Not at all. Simon was known for his piety and adherence to the laws of God.</li></ul></div><div>Simon was from a family of modest means. It was not wealth or politics that caused Herod to take real notice of him. </div><div><br /></div><div>Here's what Josephus records:</div><div><blockquote>There was one Simon, the son of Boethus, a citizen of Alexandria, a priest of great note there; this man had a daughter who was esteemed as being the most beautiful woman of her time ... Herod was stricken with her beauty. <i>Antiq</i> bk 15, 9, 4 (320).</blockquote></div><div>What was the brutal Herod to do? Use his authority to abuse her? Be thus stigmatized by violence and tyranny? Simon was of a dignity (social standing) too inferior to be allied to him, but too considerable to be despised, says Josephus. Curious. Herod wielded enough brutal power to do what he wanted. But here with Simon, he did not exercise it. Simon had a social standing but not riches or political power.</div><div><br /></div><div>What dignity did Simon have that an abuse of his daughter would have provoked a revolt?</div><div><br /></div><div>What was the context of popular discord that Herod had already stirred up? The dignity that Simon possessed was not riches or powerful friends but a pure genealogy. Even Josephus, who held Hasmonean loyalties, had to admit Simon was a '<i>priest of great note'</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Herod immediately deprived Jesus son of Phabet of the high priesthood, and conferred that dignity on Simon, says Josephus. Thus it is clear that Simon had the standing of a pure Aaronic pedigree. No one objected when such a person became high priest. Then Herod did something that was illegal.</div><div><br /></div><div>And so Herod <i>joined in affinity</i> with him [by marrying his daughter, Mariamne] says Josephus. It was not permitted for an Aaronic high priest to give his daughter to a non-Israelite. Herod threw up a cloud of false information about his origins. What could Simon do against the desires of an autocrat? For someone who Josephus describes as having little dignity, he drove a hard bargain: his daughter became Herod's first lady to the exclusion of all others.</div><div><br /></div><div>Simon now held the title of high priest and ethnarch. By marrying into the family with the greatest priestly genealogical claims, Herod, the product of a disreputable line as far as Israel was concerned, sought to capture some of its legitimacy and make his offspring the heirs to his kingdom. That this was his motive is shown by the fact that he divorced his queen, his previous wife of Samaritan extraction (also named Mariamne) and made Simon's daughter his queen.</div><div><br /></div><div>The previous high priest was a man of little breeding. Simon was a popular choice, and one that could not easily be reversed, as history shows. He remained high priest for some two decades. </div><div><br /></div><div>As Josephus tells the story it is about beauty and kingly power but the record shows much more was involved. Why is Josephus reticent in saying the word '<i>priestly pedigree</i>'? Why use the word '<i>dignity</i>'? Josephus confesses his own bias as narrator: he had some minor Hasmonean blood and therefore supported their cause; he was a Pharisee (as distinct from supporting the Nazarenes or Esseans) and he was a leader of the bloody and fruitless revolt against the Romans (which Simon and his family were not). To say more about Simon would reveal the inadequacy of his own positions by comparison.</div><div><br /></div><div>The elevation of Simon to the high priesthood coincided with the golden revival of Jewish fortunes, the Parthian peace process. Peace with Rome's major rival, Parthia, meant neither side wasted resources on war. Trade blossomed. Simon led the rebuilding of the Temple and its glorification. With the influx of vast quantities of treasures from Israelites in Parthia and around the world the Temple became the greatest construction project in the Roman Empire. It was the result of a geopolitical agreement of peace between the kings of Parthia and Emperor Augustus of Rome. Herod merely submitted to Rome's geopolitical plan. In Israel other amazing construction projects with no parallel elsewhere in their ingenuity followed. Herod took the praise. </div><div><br /></div><div><b> The Temple and the Plaque</b></div><div>With the end of the Hasmoneans, the legitimate Levitical priesthood had gained the high office in the Temple. The City State, recognized by Julius Caesar, continued as an autonomous entity of the high priest. The high priest held all powers within the Temple. The Hasmoneans had been ethnarchs as well masters in the Temple itself. But now under Roman occupation, the ethnarchy of the land of Israel outside the Temple complex was subject to Roman occupation and Herodian control. </div><div><br /></div><div>The sanctity of the Temple remained. No Roman, nor any Gentile was allowed within its inner courts, such as the Court of the Israelites, and certainly nowhere near the Court of Priest and the Temple itself. That included the powerful King Herod himself. What restrained him? Roman law and the bronze plaque showing the agreement and decree of Julius Caesar and Rome's continuous adherence to its principles. In other words, Augustus made it clear to Herod that the Temple and its grounds were off-limits to him because major geopolitical agreements were involved. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Despot of the House</b></div><div>But was Simon the sole master inside the Temple? Simon was the High Priest (<i>Cohen haGodol</i>) and as such was responsible for the rituals and daily services of sacrifice. The Hebrew Scriptures speak of several high priests and they are ruled by a Chief Priest (<i>Cohen haRosh</i>). He was quite often a relative, that is a fellow Aaronic priest, sometimes with royal blood too. The Hasmoneans seem not to have followed this or demoted the latter to a subservient position as a military commander.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Chief Priest was the Teacher of the high priest. As such he could discipline the high priest if he did not follow the rules of the Temple. The Chief Priest was in charge of all aspects of the Temple, including its security and the thousands who served as Temple guards, opened the gates at the appointed time and made sure that only Israelites of verified pure pedigree were admitted and they were all properly purified. He was in charge of the Temple treasury and the Temple archives. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Chief Priest was the Absolute Sovereign of the Temple, God's House. The Greek term, used in the NT, is <i>oikodespotis</i> -- literally House Despot, whose voice had to be obeyed as the voice of God. The term <i>despotis</i> was not used by observant Jews of any man but only of God, the supreme power of good. No human outside the Temple wielded such power over Israelites, not even the Caesar. The customary exception was that of the head of a family with slaves as this described that absolute authority on a much smaller scale. He had total power of life, torture and death over his slaves under Roman law. They were his objects. </div><div><br /></div><div>Caesar's bronze plates state Roman Law that no one in the Empire had the right to violate the sanctity of the Temple. That had to be observed by all Roman soldiers in Jerusalem. Within the whole Roman Empire there may therefore have been one area that lay outside any force of Roman power. That was the tiny enclave of the Temple. The House of God itself was a fortress, built square with sides one Roman stade long. That is 185 meters or 600 feet. Its wall rose 140 meters from the Kidron valley. <i>Josephus Wars</i> 5,5,1 (188.) <i>Jesus, James, Joseph</i>, p439ff.</div><div><br /></div><div>Besides this impressive battlement, certain other land was attached. This included the wine and olive press gardens on the east side of the precipitous Kidron valley. Gethsemane was connected by a holy bridge. Both the bridge and the area of Gethsemane were Temple ground. The ownership of this land dated back to the time of King David. Only priests were allowed to use this area. That is why the fraudulent high priests made such a clamor when Christ crossed the Kidron on a donkey just like his ancestor David. </div><div><br /></div><div>The ride on a mule was no random choice. It was an assertion of royal legitimacy. It reflected the historic event when King David rode from his palace on the Mount of Olives on the bridge to the Temple area to quell the rebellion of his son and his military commander. He then crowned Solomon king as his legitimate successor, and the high priest anointed Solomon over the sacred Gihon spring, the site of the Temple. <i>Jesus, James, Joseph</i>, p429ff.</div><div><br /></div><div>The ride was an assertion by Jesus that he was a Davidic king of the Temple and rightful priest. </div><div><br /></div><div>The fraudsters had to react. Jesus re-affirmed his genealogy to Pontius Pilate's question '<i>Are you a king?</i>' '<i>You said it! I am king,</i>' John 18:37. But not of Caesar's world. He was king and priest of the Temple, the last remaining parcel of Israelite sovereignty. Pilate's praetorium lay outside this zone and Jerusalem proper. To the fraudsters' questions, he said nothing. He did not have to justify the claim; they had to give grounds for theirs. </div><div><br /></div><div>Inside the Temple, Jesus could call on all loyal priest-guards and Israelites. Outside he was on Roman occupied ground. Inside he was designated by right as military commander. He is called Commander many times in the NT but readers would not know it from almost all English translations. </div><div><br /></div><div>In Luke 5:5 Simon Peter at his first meeting calls Jesus <i>epistatis</i>, usually translated as Master. It means much more. The Geneva Bible has a note: The word signifies him that is made ruler over anything. The original Weymouth has <i>Commander</i>. The Julia Smith or Jonathan Mitchell Literal translations also have <i>Commander</i>. The same word is used in the Greek Septuagint in Jeremiah 29:25 as '<i>overseer in the Temple</i>' in 2Chron 31 :12 it is <i>ruler-priest</i> and elsewhere <i>taskmaster</i> in charge of construction.</div><div><br /></div><div>The lexicon says it means <i>chief</i> or <i>commander</i>. Chief and commander over what? The Temple. It was a fortress. The commander had absolute command.</div><div><br /></div><div>Some translations have <i>Rabbi!</i> That is false and an outright distortion of the Greek. The Greek for <i>rabbi</i> is literally <i>rabbi</i>! If Peter wanted to say <i>Rabbi</i>, he would have said <i>Rabbi</i>. That shows the confusion among churches that have not come to grips with the technical terms of the NT and its Temple context. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Greek translators knew Greek history and usage. The term <i>epistatis</i> is a special, technical political term used for centuries earlier and also later. He is the head of a city. In this case the Temple-city. He was in charge of fortification and security and all aspects of the politics. He was thus Superintendent of the city's assembly -- which is called the <i>ekklesia</i> in Greek! He holds the key to the city and is their military commander. That is the way the term <i>ekklesia</i> is used in the NT. </div><div><br /></div><div>It is used of the Congregation of the tribes of Israel, Acts 7:38. It is the political assembly of Israel. In the NT it is used of a Greek political assembly, Acts 19:32, 39, 41. Yet many people today think it means '<i>church</i>' in the style set up in the Middle Ages by the Catholic church. In the NT it means the political assembly of those who recognized the kingship of Christ. The <i>ekklesia</i> abroad were run by his designated Ambassadors (the Greek word is <i>apostolos</i>). When Peter and others address Christ as <i>epistatis</i> they acknowledge he is king, military commander and keeper of the archives (canon). He was absolute, sovereign ruler, <i>despotis</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>What this is saying is that firstly Jesus is the designated, hereditary leader and Sovereign of Israel. Secondly in the Roman context, he is Ruler of the Temple, an independent City-State, recognized by Rome as separate from their own laws and religious obligations.</div><div><br /></div><div>That came into conflict with the Roman quislings, their high priests chosen to be guardians of Roman control of the people. It was these fraudulent high priests, working for Rome, that denounced Christ as undermining their authority. But Pontius Pilate knew his Roman law and that Christ was the real King and Chief Priest of Holy Jerusalem. He declared him innocent of any charge. He knew the genealogies of Christ made him the hereditary Ruler. </div><div><br /></div><div>And Christ also made clear that outside Holy Jerusalem, for example, as a prisoner inside the praetorium of Pilate, he was not an active king. '<i>My kingdom is not of this world</i> (<i>kosmos</i>)' -- the Roman world. Inside the Temple fortress it was different. '<i>If my kingdom were of this (Roman) world, then would my officers (hyperetai) fight</i>' to deliver me. John 18:36. That would mean taking on the whole Roman world. It would incite a world war with Jews and Israelites in the Diaspora and with the Parthian Empire. Jesus the king (as Pilate confirmed) was totally in Rome's hands without help inside the Roman hall of judgement of the legionary garrison. He showed Jesus to the mob outside as '<i>the King of the Jews</i>'. They demanded punishment and refused clemency. </div><div><br /></div><div>Pilate showed his power by scourging Christ with a multi-thronged whip with attached jagged metal pieces. Hoping this would satisfy their illicit desires to humiliate and eliminate Christ, he had soldiers hit the bloodied Jesus and say '<i>Hail the king of the Jews!</i>' striking him several times across the face with their hands, John 19:3. Pilate then presented him with a crown of thorns to the mob: '<i>See the man now!</i>' </div><div><br /></div><div>Pilate tried further to get out of the dilemma, when Christ as God's legitimate High Priest, told him that he, Pilate, governor from Rome, had no authority except that which was allowed by God. Those that demanded his death had the greater culpability, John 19:11. They demanded his death and Pilate gave the order.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus was crucified. A green tree (<i>xulon</i>), Acts 5:30, was used as a stake. </div><div><br /></div><div>What was at stake at his trial before Pilate? </div><div><br /></div><div>Truth. </div><div><br /></div><div>The fraudulent high priesthood depended on a bronze plaque, initially favoring the Hasmoneans. It was given by the Pontifex Maximus, the chief of all pagan religions of the Roman Empire. When asked about giving tribute to Rome, Jesus asked for a coin of Tiberius, bearing his effigy and title as Pontifex Maximus. '<i>Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's</i>' was his reply, Mat 22:21. All the Universe belongs to God, the Supreme Sovereign and Creator. <i>Jesus, James, Joseph</i>, p325. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNosDEt38jh7Wa7nuvqTHqQkhT4U8y8jqeMoN0kvVl4WUjbor2fmRld5HeOH0DklpAqUMBd_ftjEznM-QVTlgB2HXAG4A_Si5PeVBuAgBjC7_yj5ipQHhM4GNw35MvP2nO_w1DcH2_hOpTmtTK3krRcI5QpslvuD1WEfKtjp1bjj35Z3eTHax1Y-mGvA/s600/Emperor_Tiberius_Denarius_-_Tribute_Penny.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="295" data-original-width="600" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNosDEt38jh7Wa7nuvqTHqQkhT4U8y8jqeMoN0kvVl4WUjbor2fmRld5HeOH0DklpAqUMBd_ftjEznM-QVTlgB2HXAG4A_Si5PeVBuAgBjC7_yj5ipQHhM4GNw35MvP2nO_w1DcH2_hOpTmtTK3krRcI5QpslvuD1WEfKtjp1bjj35Z3eTHax1Y-mGvA/s320/Emperor_Tiberius_Denarius_-_Tribute_Penny.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus said he was come to bear witness of the truth. After extracting the forensic facts, Pilate asked '<i>What is truth?'</i> John 19:37-8. Surely, factual truth was vital in judgement.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jesus could prove his genealogy as a king from David. He could prove his fitness as Chief Priest from Aaron. What the fraudulent high priests and the Roman governor decided was based on politics.</div><div><br /></div><div>They thought their politics would save the day.</div><div><br /></div><div>They were wrong.</div><div><br /></div><div>Truth is eternal. Truth saves. '<i>I am the Way, the Truth and the Life</i>' John 14:6.</div><div> </div><div><br /></div>David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-50470761081682231252021-12-26T13:17:00.007-08:002022-01-08T03:39:01.295-08:00<p> </p><h3 style="color: #660099; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.2em; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: normal;">Good Shepherd ring: Christian or Mithraic?</h3><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3images.classcreator.com/26506/002/7331064/good-shepherd-ring.jpg" style="width: 400px;" /></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"> Gettyphotos</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A gold ring was discovered from an underwater wreck outside the port of Caesarea, Israel. The remains found with it included silver Roman coins of the third century. The ring has an octagonal external shape with a gemstone and an engraved figure of a boy in a tunic carrying an animal (identified as a sheep) over his shoulders. <span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;">Helena Sokolov, a curator at the Israel Antiquities Authority’s (IAA) coin department who researched the Good Shepherd ring, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;">said that while the image exists in early Christian symbolism, representing Jesus as a caring shepherd, tending to his flock and guiding those in need, finding it on a ring was rare.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Most news reports (Smithsonian, AFP and Reuters etc.) all seem to quote the same archaeologist who made the announcement saying the 'Good Shepherd' was an early Christian symbol from the second century. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However I have my doubts. Christians did not go in for images of Christ, except when the 'church' became mixed with the surrounding religions (syncretism). Certainly not the Jewish Christians, the Nazarenes. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The figure appears to be that of a young boy with short, Roman-style hair.</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiM6hqpn8wJTr-Pe7BzfL75DX5Ie967Fbr9TXmUjZnBoAKAzzGI8HOLX8r9G4P-kQQP4G49bzU73ZOKyXBT_e9TTOiVo05M_FILGwlSHCZBoYqwAFSwF2h2PXs50meag1h-0BsqYihC9X6Ves96dr43yNqnIgIK-7xV1xyAMfmAw7sDCyXO2Pl2LeS-yQ=s456" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="325" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiM6hqpn8wJTr-Pe7BzfL75DX5Ie967Fbr9TXmUjZnBoAKAzzGI8HOLX8r9G4P-kQQP4G49bzU73ZOKyXBT_e9TTOiVo05M_FILGwlSHCZBoYqwAFSwF2h2PXs50meag1h-0BsqYihC9X6Ves96dr43yNqnIgIK-7xV1xyAMfmAw7sDCyXO2Pl2LeS-yQ=s320" width="228" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Gettyimages</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I wondered whether it was derived from Mithraism -- which came from the East and spread as far as Britain. </span><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">The ring figure wears something at the calf or ankle. Are they boots? If so they seem to be non-Jewish.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I found the following image in <u><em>Mithra, ce dieu mysterieux</em></u> by Martin Vermaseren. </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3images.classcreator.com/26506/002/7331064/mithras_as_shepherd_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 450px;" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bron, </td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The design dates from the second century from the Mithraeum (Temple of Mithra) at Neuenheim, near Heidelberg, Germany. The tunic and hair style seem similar. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It would be easy for the animal to be down sized to become a sheep. That's a bit more logical and feasible than hanging a bull around your neck. It would also open a syncretic path to confusion, then deception, of 'true believers' among the Nazarenes to submit to the central religious powers of Rome. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhvNM99EdiVbrtyjTeIidjEznFfvRiyMlGlN7RioWVzJnZreQS_4zgD0iXVB0-ahJE1f0E6gs9RD6JWyEHvKuKusSvLVFnwJyP01ArqSPHN8e1gz8D4ylrjMSV76BOgYoykRzE9XZoyubEYqnRFF_MELDWqpN4uH2TFlpLv__osHCm5MfQoIvWZkKCC7A=s474" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="474" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhvNM99EdiVbrtyjTeIidjEznFfvRiyMlGlN7RioWVzJnZreQS_4zgD0iXVB0-ahJE1f0E6gs9RD6JWyEHvKuKusSvLVFnwJyP01ArqSPHN8e1gz8D4ylrjMSV76BOgYoykRzE9XZoyubEYqnRFF_MELDWqpN4uH2TFlpLv__osHCm5MfQoIvWZkKCC7A=s320" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="text-align: left;">For what purpose would this modification be done? In the second century a religious struggle was engaged between Mithraism and Christianity. The ring makes this ambiguous. How can anyone distinguish whether this is supposedly a Christian symbol (albeit idolatrous) or a Mithraic one?</span></span></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The octagonal shape may represent the seven stages of Mithraic initiation rites leading to the gemstone. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ie0lp5qi4L4/YceUuF959oI/AAAAAAAABV8/4Tckl0QoGTMFRYU_YSJvJ4YzTIpLpy7cgCNcBGAsYHQ/external-content.duckduckgo-6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="474" height="211" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ie0lp5qi4L4/YceUuF959oI/AAAAAAAABV8/4Tckl0QoGTMFRYU_YSJvJ4YzTIpLpy7cgCNcBGAsYHQ/external-content.duckduckgo-6.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Mithra is usually associated with killing a heifer. That is far from a Christian symbol. He is pictured on its back and cutting its throat with a dagger. But not always. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">The Mithraeum at Rome contains a verse about Mithra 'carrying the young bull on his shoulders': '</span><i style="font-family: arial;">qui portavit umeris invencum</i><span style="font-family: arial;">.' So the basic design is perfectly consonant with Mithraic theology.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Is the ring Mithraic or early Christian? Is it syncretic, meant to deceive?</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Let's examine the classical figure of Mithra and the bull.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AoYTTG4QbeM/Ycg_EmU-FRI/AAAAAAAABWM/15glAu7CIawcTvL-2yGmFT7aFiB_chMvACNcBGAsYHQ/mithra%2Bcap%2Btrousers.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="600" height="416" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AoYTTG4QbeM/Ycg_EmU-FRI/AAAAAAAABWM/15glAu7CIawcTvL-2yGmFT7aFiB_chMvACNcBGAsYHQ/w485-h416/mithra%2Bcap%2Btrousers.jpg" width="485" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The only thing that the figure on the ring lacks is the <b><i>Phrygian cap</i></b> which is typical of Mithra. For any deception to take place the first thing that had to go was the Phrygian cap. Christ obviously did not wear a Phrygian cap! </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgoPzEY6w3kXL8HuLYQstS3bI0UVPBlvKirn7pwDX26sR9u1yNqS21R4k2VEa3TbZmEMK8yHKfLH0D7bM8YIbA1q27pkFuas4-0j64t2Fu0QZ_bItq1XDNxEIMBXY8cSG1r8lE6ZH8whJjqi536QjeDyXO0ifjYi3uUvDNPl_IHsEEIsKmukneOYgKxhg=s2653" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2653" data-original-width="1808" height="405" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgoPzEY6w3kXL8HuLYQstS3bI0UVPBlvKirn7pwDX26sR9u1yNqS21R4k2VEa3TbZmEMK8yHKfLH0D7bM8YIbA1q27pkFuas4-0j64t2Fu0QZ_bItq1XDNxEIMBXY8cSG1r8lE6ZH8whJjqi536QjeDyXO0ifjYi3uUvDNPl_IHsEEIsKmukneOYgKxhg=w276-h405" width="276" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="text-align: left;">Trousers! What! A figure of "Christ" wearing trousers?</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="text-align: left;">If they gem engravers meant to deceive Nazarenes and Jews they made a mistake that shows the deception. The figure on the ring is not wearing calf boots. As the statue shows Mithra was wearing trousers under his tunic. The well-defined markings at the calf do not indicate a boot but the bottom edge, the turn-ups, of a pair of trousers. </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="text-align: left;">A fatal flaw if the originators or modern religionists wanted to pass it off as 'Christian'.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="text-align: left;">Trousers were the garments of Scythians and those 'barbarians' outside the Roman Empire. They included the Arsacid Parthians and Scythians of Israelite extraction. Christ called them the 'lost sheep of the house of Israel' Matt 10:6. His brother James wrote a Letter to all twelve tribes outside the land of Israel, James 1:1.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="text-align: left;">What would the Mithraic heifer mean to the people of Caesarea and northern Israel?</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;">The Golden Heifer (Golden Calf) was the center of Israelite idolatry out of Egypt. For the northern ten tribes their retention of heifer worship led them into the Assyrian captivity. They were then exiled for this idolatry beyond the Euphrates into what became the Persian Empire, the Greco-Macedonian and later the Parthian Empire. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="text-align: left;">The Parthians and other Eastern countries, some of whose dynasties had kings with Israelite pedigree, often had Mithra as part of their name like Mithradates (Given or dedicated to Mithras). In the first century BCE, Mithridates VI Eupator of Pontus fought three wars with Rome, and killed tens of thousands of Romans. He claimed to be of mixed Persian and Greco-Macedonian lineage, speaking the 22 languages of his subject peoples. Then Mithraism became the most popular cult of the Roman army. </span></span><span style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;">The slaughter of the young bull showed Mithra was master of creation. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In <a href="https://thenazareneproject.blogspot.com/2018/08/romes-aim-in-destroying-temple-was-to.html" target="_blank">documents later released</a> from the Roman archives, Titus made clear that his intent in destroying the Temple was to eliminate both Judaism and Christianity. The Temple was a City State to which Julius Caesar had pledged independence of religion. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Once the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE and Jews scattered, the Romans tried by fair means or foul (mainly foul) to wipe out the Nazarene faith. While the Temple stood, vast riches in tithes and offering were sent from Phrygia, Pontus to Parthia, from Egypt to the Atlantic (Acts 2:9). </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Jewish Wars had depleted the Roman imperial coffers. So all Jews were forced to make the same Temple tax contribution but this time to Rome. For Roman tax collectors, the Nazarenes, who also contributed to the Temple and kept the Sabbath and festivals, appeared to be Jews. If they were non-Jews they were subject to severe persecution and contempt as traitors.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">How could these last, remaining, obstinate people be turned to give not only money but mind and soul to Rome? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Syncretism was the usual path where societies modified the characteristics of the classical gods to fit local custom. That way everyone was in step to acknowledge the religious power of Rome. Deception and disinformation might blunt successive generations of Nazarenes who did not accept the <i>Pontifex maximus</i> and the worship of Caesar.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The question of 'Who is supreme god?' was posed when Christ was asked 'Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar?' The coin that was shown to him bore a likeness and the title Pontifex Maximus, supreme priest of all religions in the empire. (<i>Jesus, James, Joseph and the Temple</i>, p325)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdHVVuXlNVjjrlQStrQKZVIplXeNhBbtLoN9spAq7Llw9hizHv-y7fIlXJwigglADmg1vq8ptLaiOQ2oziKc0WdGnFX7PFreGe8q-8ISwjJpFzlnJXNayrAoCb85cU2hZxGRHY1gy6uLOYn52QtASdoPWu8CQscRb2vqj9jVIXWLmxXzW-CGVU6q82Aw=s510" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="494" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdHVVuXlNVjjrlQStrQKZVIplXeNhBbtLoN9spAq7Llw9hizHv-y7fIlXJwigglADmg1vq8ptLaiOQ2oziKc0WdGnFX7PFreGe8q-8ISwjJpFzlnJXNayrAoCb85cU2hZxGRHY1gy6uLOYn52QtASdoPWu8CQscRb2vqj9jVIXWLmxXzW-CGVU6q82Aw=s320" width="310" /> </a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdHVVuXlNVjjrlQStrQKZVIplXeNhBbtLoN9spAq7Llw9hizHv-y7fIlXJwigglADmg1vq8ptLaiOQ2oziKc0WdGnFX7PFreGe8q-8ISwjJpFzlnJXNayrAoCb85cU2hZxGRHY1gy6uLOYn52QtASdoPWu8CQscRb2vqj9jVIXWLmxXzW-CGVU6q82Aw=s510" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHEjEvkh2goROUIlfR_0gAWXIGoexOgKjQ-VsTOWBmSh7HXcwsjpywRrOnmz0XtvNXlDXt63Fj6jamfvUMWYMThoy8kp5-w86PLNBbSErLOGWwzvnF3BRjpai-XGxxrSYdpUbjuhxRscDt3sgxzLwGHvryCYxFEP_h0HCbIxx1KEZgwd9l98Mru-fsHQ=s473" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="454" data-original-width="473" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHEjEvkh2goROUIlfR_0gAWXIGoexOgKjQ-VsTOWBmSh7HXcwsjpywRrOnmz0XtvNXlDXt63Fj6jamfvUMWYMThoy8kp5-w86PLNBbSErLOGWwzvnF3BRjpai-XGxxrSYdpUbjuhxRscDt3sgxzLwGHvryCYxFEP_h0HCbIxx1KEZgwd9l98Mru-fsHQ=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">With the Resurrection and the failure of emperor Gaius Caligula in 41 CE to refute it by setting his imperial headquarters in the Temple, Rome suffered a major religious reverse. The ancient pantheon of gods from Jupiter, Minerva, Mars, died. With the death of paganism, masses were turning to some syncretic forms of Christianity or the simpler Sun worship of <i>Sol invictus </i>or <i>Helios</i>. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Then help for paganism came from the East, and the greatest enemies of the Jewish faith.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In the 200s the Severian Caesars, such as Elagabalus (also called Heliogabulus), were heavily influenced by Syrian Baal worship through marriage and offspring. They originated in Emesa, a center of Baal worship and were experts in syncretism. That made persecution of those who refused this disinformation and heathenism very difficult and even deadly for them. The Caesars maintained their powers over all religions through the office of <i>Pontifex Maximus</i>. </span></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">On 20 November in the year 202, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Caesar Septimus Severus and his Syrian wife Julia Domna erected a Mithraeum on Rome's Aventine Hill in the former private villa of Hadrian. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The 25 December was the festival day at the Mithraeum to celebrate Mithra's birth and the coming of light. His birth was seen as a cosmic and miraculous event as the young god was ejected by a magic interior force from a rock (<i>petra genitrix</i>) welcomed by <i>shepherds</i>. Ready for action, he was completely naked except for his Phrygian cap, and armed with a flaming torch (or a globe) and a dagger. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiRudlluYFL5WBPUsJypS0NR0pji5l2YZcYFYvKJe8gKNs9du4SUYVPFJ6dLeVG4TfhrpiVkjS5DRlzHvpN2vSFw72vSYfKiWrOB9pI78IeK9jS9lbkL-8FjPAjVSW38i7CSF-O_KlfmSyPudZ84TbXAc3944uoLULnEwfWLahIxEczvSC33h8rA1MEEQ=s896" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="896" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiRudlluYFL5WBPUsJypS0NR0pji5l2YZcYFYvKJe8gKNs9du4SUYVPFJ6dLeVG4TfhrpiVkjS5DRlzHvpN2vSFw72vSYfKiWrOB9pI78IeK9jS9lbkL-8FjPAjVSW38i7CSF-O_KlfmSyPudZ84TbXAc3944uoLULnEwfWLahIxEczvSC33h8rA1MEEQ=s320" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This Mithra with the shepherds may have been combined with the dying cult of Hermes, the shepherd god. He is most often pictured near naked, occasionally in a tunic. Certainly no trousers.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhALGPfCOGz9Zk-Yt2Ahdvu0XEynLhoW5L5Fl8Wdj1qn6FlGpL-I5ycTTkWrbkbcxPyrDHZZffKW-dW8T99UbDeXeSsNwtDKKqlYMund7Kgv9ad0cQSJxTlt9iHGy-RLajrKcRt3Glo2dOhEOBls9eiGJ2O9HCE3VuXvPPQJQ3SwI438ZYPuJ3Y9eKbTA=s222" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="222" data-original-width="199" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhALGPfCOGz9Zk-Yt2Ahdvu0XEynLhoW5L5Fl8Wdj1qn6FlGpL-I5ycTTkWrbkbcxPyrDHZZffKW-dW8T99UbDeXeSsNwtDKKqlYMund7Kgv9ad0cQSJxTlt9iHGy-RLajrKcRt3Glo2dOhEOBls9eiGJ2O9HCE3VuXvPPQJQ3SwI438ZYPuJ3Y9eKbTA" width="199" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Conclusion</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The combination of these events and characteristics make it likely that Mithra was a prime object of the syncretism for wiping out remnants of Christianity and subjecting them to the religious monopoly power of the <i>Pontifex Maximus</i>. Believers would be faced with the crucial and lethal choice of deciding whether to accept images and rites that could, on the face of it, be ambiguous symbols they could accept. Or they could face the consequences if they refused.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Mithra was associated or identified with the Sun god, <i>Sol invictus</i>. The struggle between Mithraism and Christianity lasted beyond the reign of Constantine in the 330s. Constantine declared himself to be a worshipper of <i>Sol invictus</i>. That shows there is every reason to suppose that efforts were made to combine worship and symbolism of Gentile Christianity with Mithraism. </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-28278418948981720132021-12-18T15:25:00.001-08:002021-12-18T15:25:41.034-08:00Review: Timeline's Why Did Pontius Pilate Allow The Killing Of Christ? | The Man Who Killed Christ <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhypWKNzDchcKbYHu4hH_Veif0dPt4I27oMSHb4yiUvE_pcMXKzBTwSjrrM8ObRp2gKs1encVFGQTdDA6MS9kt9vROm6255N2z2Y-mETIxDJDExMsMWq3q8w0OmtcH7CA6jzTNMD9Nhn6EkGNXLgLaOgt2axIhpLVF2UHK0kQY8GypNVm2-6gJYS9bvGQ=s944" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="944" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhypWKNzDchcKbYHu4hH_Veif0dPt4I27oMSHb4yiUvE_pcMXKzBTwSjrrM8ObRp2gKs1encVFGQTdDA6MS9kt9vROm6255N2z2Y-mETIxDJDExMsMWq3q8w0OmtcH7CA6jzTNMD9Nhn6EkGNXLgLaOgt2axIhpLVF2UHK0kQY8GypNVm2-6gJYS9bvGQ=w608-h305" width="608" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fppoqtIu2ug">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fppoqtIu2ug</a> </p><p><span face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Useful, well-produced historical presentation but lacks discussion on several key issues.</span></p><span face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. A diplomatic accord was made under Julius Caesar and Hasmoneans that the Temple was to be treated as an independent City-State totally under control of the high priests. The armed priests had recognised powers and rights to kill all intruders including non-Israelite Roman citizens, as Titus confirms in Josephus.</span><span face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><span face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Jesus was arrested by Temple guards led by high priests who had major reinforcements at feasts like Passover. Not Romans. Gethsemane, where Temple oil was prepared on Olivet, was part of the extended Temple grounds and Davidic property. Roman soldiers were forbidden there. </span><span face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><span face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. Jesus (Christ = Anointed) was anointed with the holy oil of special preparation that was exclusively held by Aaronic priests. The Talmud says that the high priests, like Annas and Caiaphas, were not anointed but held office because of their holy garments. It is dubious that Annas had legitimate Aaronic blood. The faithful priests who held the special oil would not anoint them, Ex 30:32,33. Jesus had direct Aaronic bloodline, like John the Baptists, as both Elizabeth (Elisheva) and Mary (Greek Mariam) were of the daughters of Aaron (Luke 1).</span><span face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><span face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. Hence the struggle of the high priests (Roman nominees or Quislings) to retain power in the Temple. Jesus stopped their merchant trade in the Temple twice with the help of sympathetic priestly guards and bust the high priests' money making schemes. He denounced their hypocrisy in Matt 23 and the murder of Zacharias v35, the father of John the Baptist. John fled to the East, most likely Parthia until his surprise reappearance before the 'offspring of vipers' Mt 3:7.</span><span face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><span face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. Jesus affirmed the rule of the Eternal God but did not foment armed revolt against Rome. Pilate had access to the genealogical records that showed Jesus was the son of Joseph, called the son of David, Matt 1:20. Hence he had the legal right to kingship. Jesus did not call Pilate 'Lord' as the high priests did. Pilate knew he was rightfully a king and did not object. He was merely a prefect. He affirmed Roman recognition of Jesus as King of the Jews but he ordered the execution.</span><span face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><span face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. Pilate may have been part of the highly anti-semitic Sejanus faction that wanted to remove the 'Jewish problem'. Tiberius was in semi-retirement, leaving Sejanus to seize charge and control the Senate.</span><span face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><span face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">7. When Tiberius, who wanted peace and recognised the resurrected Jesus as a God, regained control, Pilate was sent for trial in 36 for abuses against the Jewish people. Gaius Caligula who had Tiberius murdered was ten times worse as an anti-semite than Pilate. He nearly brought total destruction of all Jews and world war with Rome's super-power rival Parthia. </span><div><span face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-41378971346436452652021-12-05T10:03:00.002-08:002021-12-05T10:04:42.920-08:00 Scientist Dr Joseph Priestley FRS on Design in Creation<p> Scientist Dr Joseph Priestley FRS on Design in Creation</p><div class="_5pbx userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="js_5u"><div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed" id="id_577fdb07be46d1653583546">This is an extract of a speech given by Dr Joseph Priestley in Philadelphia before John Adams and other American Founding Fathers, in 1796.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4bIZDUSxSc4/WOA82kKynCI/AAAAAAAAASA/T34IGFLdHSgnRByjyD5KL3SS1pwpAa0RwCLcB/s1600/Priestley%2B1800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #992211; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4bIZDUSxSc4/WOA82kKynCI/AAAAAAAAASA/T34IGFLdHSgnRByjyD5KL3SS1pwpAa0RwCLcB/s320/Priestley%2B1800.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="233" /></a></div><br />"Far am I from supposing that the evidence for the being of a God is not demonstrative, since marks of design, with which the world abounds, necessarily imply a designing or intelligent cause. But notwithstanding this, we can never fully satisfy ourselves with respect to the objections of the atheist, that if the universe require a cause, this cause must require another; and if the author of nature, or the being we call God<span class="text_exposed_show">, exist without a cause, so may the universe itself.<br />"All that we can say in answer to this is that, whatever difficulty we may labour under with respect to this subject, which will always be above our comprehension, the actual visible world, and marks of design in it, cannot be denied, and therefore, whether we be able to proceed further or not, we must acknowledge a designing cause. Otherwise we might say that a house had no architect, or a child no father. If the eye of man had no designing cause, neither did a telescope, which is the instrument of a similar nature, evidently adapted to answer a similar purpose. And at this every mind would revolt."</span><br /><div class="text_exposed_show">"The author of nature is one,<br />that he is simply, invariably, and infinitely good, and<br />that all the evils we see and experience, are calculated to promote good,<br />are great and sublime truths, which derive from revelation only, though, on strict examination, they appear not to be inconsistent with the appearances of nature."<br />"Discourses related the Evidences of Revealed Religion", 1796 with a Dedication to John Adams, published during his exile in America. Joseph Priestley was known as Chemist, the discoverer of Oxygen, a philosopher, theologian and historian of the Corruptions of Christianity.</div></div></div><div class="_3x-2"><div data-ft="{"tn":"H"}"><div class="mtm"><div class="_5cq3" data-ft="{"tn":"E"}"><a class="_4-eo" data-render-location="timeline" data-testid="theater_link" href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1051259924961409&set=a.638624349558304.1073741827.100002322352061&type=3" rel="theater" style="background-color: white; color: #992211; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration-line: none; width: 287px;"></a><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /></div></div></div></div>David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-53477624092947981462021-10-16T04:54:00.005-07:002021-10-16T07:32:30.290-07:00'Church' is not what the Bible says!<div class="kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="animation-name: none; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">The idea of 'church' is comes largely from the pagan idea of their assemblies. What the Bible says about assemblies may shock almost everyone that goes to church!</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">The entire NT uses terms that have nothing really to do with religious gatherings. It uses the current political terms in Greek. </div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">They refer to the Kingdom or Empire of God!</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;"><br /></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="animation-name: none; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">ECCLESIA</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="animation-name: none; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">Ecclesia is a political not a religious term. It means a political and legislative assembly or congregation. This is obfuscated in the KJV because King James forbade his Puritan translators to use Congregation (as translated by Tyndale) because it destroyed the church structure with a hierarchy of bishops, over which he presided.</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="animation-name: none; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">So following this rule, we have the nonsense translation of the 'church in the wilderness' of the Exodus in Acts 7:38. This is the Qahal, the Congregation of the 12 tribes of Israel, J3, p65. The word ekklesia also appears in Acts 19:32 where it is obvious it is a political assembly of pagan Greeks roused against Paul at Ephesus. KJV could not call it a church! v37 should be translated as robbers of (pagan) temples, not churches! Was this the Puritans' revenge?</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="animation-name: none; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">The message Christ brought was about a legitimate kingdom.</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="animation-name: none; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">EPISTATES</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">Who is head of an ekklesia in Greek? An epistates.</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">Jesus is called an epistates 7 times in Luke 5:5 to 17:13. The epistates is the commander of the city and the key holder of the gate. (In Jerusalem it is the key of David.) The epistates also heads the popular assembly called in Greek the Boule. The Greek term sanhedrin can mean any type of council, pagan, Roman or Jewish. Context is important.</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="animation-name: none; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">SUMBOULION and SENATORS</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">For Jews to recommend the death sentence to the Roman Governor who had the authority to execute, a super assembly was called to decide, a sumboulion composed of 'high priests, the senate (presbyterion) and the scribes (lawyers) and the sanhedrin,' Mark 15:1 and elsewhere. Note that what some today consider uniquely a religious officer, a presbyter, is a senator, eminently political. (Presbyter = olderman, elder; senator from Latin senex= old man). </div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">When Greece had the presidency of the 28 Member State European Union I noted that the super-council was called a sumboulion. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gLrVV4wheWY/YWq8s_gzYWI/AAAAAAAABRQ/gOcu_7L7X-A3ZMU16PNTFb38AfEWIIA_gCLcBGAsYHQ/s937/Symboulion%2BGreek%2Bpresidency%2BEU.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="935" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gLrVV4wheWY/YWq8s_gzYWI/AAAAAAAABRQ/gOcu_7L7X-A3ZMU16PNTFb38AfEWIIA_gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Symboulion%2BGreek%2Bpresidency%2BEU.jpg" width="319" /></a></div><br /><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;"><br /></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="animation-name: none; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">AMBASSADORS</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">Apostle means messenger or ambassador. It is political and diplomatic. The High Priest was an ethnarch, a Roman-appointed political figure. Theophilus, the high priest in 37 CE, has the title Most Excellent of an ethnarch, a political leader, Luke 1:3. He had powers to designate ambassadors or apostles. Paul was at first an ambassador of Annas and Caiaphas, or more likely of Jonathan the successor who attacked the Nazarenes, and sent to Damascus but he became an apostle or ambassador of Christ.</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="animation-name: none; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">When Christ said he would build his ekklesia, his Congregation, it was a political assembly. He designated first 70 for this, Luke 10. It was later expanded with the named ambassadors to 120 of the 12 tribes, Acts 1:15. </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="animation-name: none; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">EPISKOPOS</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">Bishop is also a political term. The Greek term, episkopos, meant in the first century a superintendent of the ekklesia and public works sent from the central power to a subsidary state. James is called the bishop of bishops because he certified those who were in charge of the political congregations of Jews and believers at home and abroad, as the legitimate head of government.</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;"><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="bi6no" data-offset-key="bmh4c-0-0" style="animation-name: none; margin-bottom: 8px; transition-property: none;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bmh4c-0-0" style="animation-name: none; direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative; transition-property: none;"><span style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">DESPOTES</span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="bi6no" data-offset-key="876ck-0-0" style="animation-name: none; margin-bottom: 8px; transition-property: none;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="876ck-0-0" style="animation-name: none; direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative; transition-property: none;"><span data-offset-key="876ck-0-0" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">Despotes means absolute, Sovereign Ruler. It is used of masters relative to slaves, whom they could kill or torture at will. Free Jews hesitated or refused to use the term about the Emperor. For them there was only one Despot with unchallenged power -- and that was Almighty God. To use it of any human was blasphemy. In the NT Christ used it of himself as the Sovereign Ruler of the House -- the Temple -- oikodespotes, the Chief Priest. The high priests had to obey the Chief Priest, Cohen haRosh. Peter (2Peter 2:1) and Jude 4 refer to Christ as Despotes. The larger family of Christ who were Nazarenes were also called by this name. </span></div></div></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="animation-name: none; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">See Jesus, James Jesus, p317.</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="animation-name: none; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">Analyze Disinformation used against you!</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">Disinformation Techniques </div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">These are examples of how disinformation techniques were used, not to change the NT, but to change the meanings of the words in the NT to fit in with the State-run Catholic church of the Roman Empire. The same disinformation technique of changing gradually the meaning of a word is used today. The change of the meaning of Palestine by the Soviet KGB is a case in point. Up to the 1950s Palestine meant Israel and Palestinian meant Jew. The Palestine Mandate defined Jews as Palestinians!</div></div><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;">Church has different origins. The ancient British and Welsh term is Eglwys (pronounced egloois). It clearly derives from the Greek, ekklesia. The early Nazarene ekklesia did not own buildings but met in people's houses, the synagogues, or designated open spaces, Acts 16:13.</span> </span></p>David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-61659827628855343212021-10-16T04:46:00.004-07:002021-11-01T04:09:58.375-07:00 How long was a generation in the time of Christ?<div style="animation-name: none; transition-property: none;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; transition-property: none;"><div class="ecm0bbzt hv4rvrfc e5nlhep0 dati1w0a" data-ad-comet-preview="message" data-ad-preview="message" id="jsc_c_1su" style="animation-name: none; padding: 4px 16px; transition-property: none;"><div class="j83agx80 cbu4d94t ew0dbk1b irj2b8pg" style="animation-name: none; display: flex; flex-direction: column; margin-bottom: -5px; margin-top: -5px; transition-property: none;"><div class="qzhwtbm6 knvmm38d" style="animation-name: none; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 5px; transition-property: none;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql oi732d6d ik7dh3pa ht8s03o8 a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d9wwppkn fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" color="var(--primary-text)" dir="auto" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; animation-name: none; display: block; font-size: 0.9375rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none; word-break: break-word;"><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">King David spoke of a lifetime being 70 or 80 years. So when the parable of the Fig Tree says that once Israel begins to flourish again, the Return of Christ will happen within a generation, does he mean within 80 years? </div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">King David in a time of almost continuous war spoke of the life-span being 70 or 80 years. However people lived shorter lives or much longer lives, both before and after David.</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">Public hygiene makes a huge difference. With improvements the chemical, pharmaceutical industries claim that today's longevity is due to their medicinal productions, while others have attributed it to better water quality, cleanliness and understanding of the natural laws of health.</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">What was the length of a generation in the time of Christ when he said 'that generation (of the fig tree revived) shall not pass away"? </div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">The Esseans and their Egyptian-based brethren the Therapeutae (the Greek actually means worshippers of God) lived long. These two groups identified with believers of the pre-Christian and Nazarene period were known as physicians expert in healing (asiai) as were the Nazarenes. How long did they live? We have the witness of Hegesippus of the first and second century, recorded in Eusebius Ecc History book 3, ch 32. Symeon, son of Clopas, was a cousin of Jesus who around 100 CE was the successor of James, the superintendent (bishop) of the Temple. </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">2. Hegesippus, whose words we have already quoted in various places, is witness to this fact also. Speaking of certain heretics he adds that Symeon was accused by them at this time; and since it was clear that he was Christian, he was tortured in various ways for many days, and astonished even the judge himself and his attendants in the highest degree, and finally he suffered a death similar to that of our Lord.</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">3. Here's what Eusebius wrote:</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">"But there is nothing like hearing the historian himself, who writes as follows: Certain of these heretics brought accusation against Symeon, the son of Clopas, on the ground that he was a descendant of David and Christian; and thus he suffered martyrdom, at the age of one hundred and twenty years, while Trajan was emperor and Atticus governor...</div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="animation-name: none; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">6. "And after being tortured for many days he suffered, and all, including even the proconsul, marvelled that, at the age of one hundred and twenty years, he could endure so much. And orders were given that he should be crucified."</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;">Atticus was Roman Legate from 99 to 102 CE.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PImug0tbjnI/YWrGZ6cKDtI/AAAAAAAABRY/zRl5z1ULdf8nQCW8hhMuPo7rsrB55L3FgCLcBGAsYHQ/s522/Palestine%2BMandate%2Bmap.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="350" height="531" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PImug0tbjnI/YWrGZ6cKDtI/AAAAAAAABRY/zRl5z1ULdf8nQCW8hhMuPo7rsrB55L3FgCLcBGAsYHQ/w357-h531/Palestine%2BMandate%2Bmap.gif" width="357" /></a></div><br /><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; transition-property: none;"><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="954nl" data-offset-key="cbt7m-0-0" style="animation-name: none; background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px; transition-property: none;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="cbt7m-0-0" style="animation-name: none; direction: ltr; position: relative; transition-property: none;"><span data-offset-key="cbt7m-0-0" style="animation-name: none; transition-property: none;"><span style="font-family: times;">7. When did the Fig Tree begin to flourish again? </span></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="954nl" data-offset-key="32d2h-0-0" style="animation-name: none; background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px; transition-property: none;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="32d2h-0-0" style="animation-name: none; direction: ltr; position: relative; transition-property: none;"><span data-offset-key="32d2h-0-0" style="animation-name: none; transition-property: none;"><span style="font-family: times;">Was it in 1967 when Jerusalem was liberated? </span></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="954nl" data-offset-key="fceg2-0-0" style="animation-name: none; background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px; transition-property: none;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="fceg2-0-0" style="animation-name: none; direction: ltr; position: relative; transition-property: none;"><span data-offset-key="fceg2-0-0" style="animation-name: none; transition-property: none;"><span style="font-family: times;">Was it in 1948 when the State of Israel was declared? </span></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="954nl" data-offset-key="74f2b-0-0" style="animation-name: none; background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px; transition-property: none;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="74f2b-0-0" style="animation-name: none; direction: ltr; position: relative; transition-property: none;"><span data-offset-key="74f2b-0-0" style="animation-name: none; transition-property: none;"><span style="font-family: times;">Was it in 1920 when world powers declared that a Mandate so that all Jews could reclaim the land that belonged to them and which they had continually claimed for nearly 2000 years of exile?</span></span></div></div></div></div></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="animation-name: none; transition-property: none;"><div class="stjgntxs ni8dbmo4 l82x9zwi uo3d90p7 h905i5nu monazrh9" data-visualcompletion="ignore-dynamic" style="animation-name: none; 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inset: 0px; opacity: 0; pointer-events: none; position: absolute; transition-duration: var(--fds-duration-extra-extra-short-out); transition-property: none; transition-timing-function: var(--fds-animation-fade-out);"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="cwj9ozl2 tvmbv18p" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 4px; transition-property: none;"><h4 class="gmql0nx0 l94mrbxd p1ri9a11 lzcic4wl q45zohi1 ema1e40h ay7djpcl pfx3uekm pmk7jnqg rfua0xdk" dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; clip-path: inset(50%); clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); color: #1c1e21; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: inherit; height: 1px; margin: 0px; outline: none; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; transition-property: none; width: 1px;">0 Comments</h4><div><br /></div></div></div></div></div>David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-80591009004917230992021-09-04T07:34:00.006-07:002021-09-05T04:54:23.045-07:00What was Joseph's reaction to the news of Mary's pregnancy?<p>The answer will depend on whether you follow later “Church Fathers” and medieval myth or read the Bible as a historic document in its original Hebrew and Greek for the Jewish audience it was originally intended for. The Gentile Church after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE interpreted the NT in a way to conform to Hellenistic and semi-pagan culture. This took for granted that demi-gods were the product of gods like Zeus descending on 15 year old virgins and producing demi-gods. </p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZcpW907efLM/YTOA7poC4VI/AAAAAAAABQA/rkfHIw824qsVO_CsjYmhT27U_W00dWeWwCLcBGAsYHQ/s239/Wall_painting_-_Dionysos_with_Helios_and_Aphrodite_-_Pompeii_%2528VII_2_16%2529_-_Napoli_MAN_9449_-_01.jpg.webp" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="239" data-original-width="220" height="239" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZcpW907efLM/YTOA7poC4VI/AAAAAAAABQA/rkfHIw824qsVO_CsjYmhT27U_W00dWeWwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Wall_painting_-_Dionysos_with_Helios_and_Aphrodite_-_Pompeii_%2528VII_2_16%2529_-_Napoli_MAN_9449_-_01.jpg.webp" width="220" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dionysus, alleged son of Zeus and Persephone</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_demigods">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_demigods</a><br /><p></p><p>Jerome was obsessed with virginity and the Virgins of Rome. (Rome would disappear if there were no more Vestal Virgins.) He said both Joseph and Mary were perpetual virgins. He made matters worse with mistranslations from Greek to Latin in his Vulgate NT.</p><p><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jC5BCU0jmW4/YTOC8rmz1YI/AAAAAAAABQI/ImybXoeP7NQqwJS0ZCBBw-rdKo3Ev39RACLcBGAsYHQ/s706/Romans%2B1%253A3%2BJesus%2BSeed%2Bof%2BDavid.png" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></a></p><p>How would a Jew, a believer in Jesus Christ, read the Greek NT? <br />1. He would understand Hebrew marriage was different from Roman marriage or modern marriage. Genealogy dominated all society among the 12 tribes. That is why the NT starts with Christ’s pedigree and the Hebrew scriptures in their order ends with Chronicles. The Messiah had to be a lineal descendent of David, John 7:42 and as Paul says Romans 1:3.</p><p><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jC5BCU0jmW4/YTOC8rmz1YI/AAAAAAAABQI/ImybXoeP7NQqwJS0ZCBBw-rdKo3Ev39RACLcBGAsYHQ/s706/Romans%2B1%253A3%2BJesus%2BSeed%2Bof%2BDavid.png" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="574" data-original-width="706" height="260" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jC5BCU0jmW4/YTOC8rmz1YI/AAAAAAAABQI/ImybXoeP7NQqwJS0ZCBBw-rdKo3Ev39RACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Romans%2B1%253A3%2BJesus%2BSeed%2Bof%2BDavid.png" width="320" /></a></p><p>2. Parents therefore arranged marriages of their young children. When they reached their teens and first maturity the girl and boy could agree and they were ‘betrothed’ by a ceremony of <i>qiddushin</i> or <i>erusin</i>. This meant they were married in the sense that only a divorce ( a ‘<i>get</i>’) could break the bond. (Far different from present day ‘<i>engagement</i>’). The girl still lived at her father’s house until the bridegroom had built a home for her and was ready to assume all duties of its head of household. Then he called for her and the community to celebrate the wedding in a ceremony called <i>nisu’in</i>, the ‘<i>home-coming</i>’ or ‘<i>coming together</i>’ mentioned several times in the NT in Matt 25, Revelation etc. <br /><br /></p><p>3. When the NT says Joseph and Mary (<i>Mariam</i> in the Greek) were betrothed it means they were married according to the Hebrew custom. Once the girl/ woman left her father’s home the couple could enjoy their marriage and man became fully her husband. The <i>nisu’in</i> was an extra ceremony. For Joseph it was not normally possible to bring Mariam to Bethlehem, because as the hereditary home of King David it had been destroyed by Herod, who saw all Davidic descendants as enemies to his claim as king under the Romans. The NT says there was ‘<i>no place</i>’ there. Only shepherds were allowed there. Then Herod used the Roman registration decree to get Davidic claimants to register in Bethlehem. It was highly dangerous for Joseph. More so for Mariam who was both old and pregnant, Luke 1:36. God, through an angel, told Joseph ‘not to be afraid to take your wife with you,’ Mt 1:20, because the child was conceived according to God’s plan.<br /></p><p>4. Matt ch 1:18 says: (a) they were betrothed, that is married in our sense. (b) Before their ‘<i>coming together</i>’ Mariam was found to be pregnant by God’s grace of his spiritual action. The term ‘<i>coming together</i>’ refers to <i>nisu’in</i> the celebration of the community at the bridegroom’s home. It is used both in Hebrew and Greek secular literature to mean the ceremony of a bridegroom taking his new wife to his home and the community coming together to celebrate it. The next verse has nothing to do with divorce. The Greek word means putting aside, that is putting her in a safe place and avoiding a long journey during pregnancy and possible death by Herod’s men. </p><p>5. To create the virgin conception myth, v 25 was distorted or misunderstood by the early Gentile church. It was ripped out of the chronological sequence. They ignored the Jewish and Christian culture.</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">And he did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn son.</p></blockquote><p>Read the context. Mariam was already pregnant. Jewish purity law forbade intercourse with a pregnant woman. If this occurred the legalists could say the child was not pure. This was especially important for Joseph and Mariam and any claim to priesthood and royalty of their offspring. Early Christian/Nazarene writings take the same view about forbidding intercourse once the wife is pregnant.<br /></p><p>6. Joseph and Mariam would clearly be both shocked and delighted that they were to have a child as they were both in their old age, Luke 1:36, and it was a miracle as was the child Isaac of Abraham and Sarah and many other faithful couple in the Bible. Children in old age is a sign of God’s hand. In Jewish law a woman is considered a virgin before she menstruates. An old woman who is past her menopause is also considered to be a virgin for the purposes of her fulfilling the laws of purity called <i>Niddah</i> described in Leviticus 12 (=Luke 2:22) and Lev 15:19ff.</p><p>7. The semi-pagan Roman-instituted church of Constantine wanted nothing to do with the Jews. Medieval followers of Jerome etc confused the NT history with that of Hellenistic deities and hang-ups about virgins because the Greek and especially Hebrew scriptures were forbidden. The Latin Vulgate was gibberish to many priests and their parishioners. Hebrew scrolls were burnt. Translations into local languages were forbidden on pain of death. Ignorance reigned.</p><p>8. The Bible is quite clear about the two spheres of begettal. One is that of humans in marriage. Christ explained that a spiritual, second begettal was possible through the Spirit of God, John 3, to Nicodemus. The confusion caused by the pagans who claimed to be Christians has hidden this greatest truth from present-day, would-be followers of the Eternal God. The authentic documents are recorded more fully at <a href="http://academia.edu/43233588">"Jesus, James, Joseph and the past and future Temple" N54final version</a> and in the paper version.</p><p><br /></p>David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-43747852333142590352021-08-02T13:57:00.005-07:002021-08-02T14:29:32.955-07:00Why I am discontented with Robert Kuhn's 'Closer to Truth'<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><h2 style="color: #660099; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: normal;">The Mission of getting Closer to Truth</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VdoLe6EVthE/YQhbR3Xn6oI/AAAAAAAABOc/8PWKHSErRxovuBh9XA1lCC631G5mBBP-ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1128/Robert%2BKuhn%2BCloser%2Bto%2BTruth.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="578" data-original-width="1128" height="328" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VdoLe6EVthE/YQhbR3Xn6oI/AAAAAAAABOc/8PWKHSErRxovuBh9XA1lCC631G5mBBP-ACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h328/Robert%2BKuhn%2BCloser%2Bto%2BTruth.png" width="640" /></a></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><a href="https://www.closertotruth.com">https://www.closertotruth.com</a></span></span></p></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I can't say that I have listened to all Robert Kuhn's series in his format called <i><b>Closer To Truth</b></i>. There is a vast library now of 3500 videos of the world's greatest thinkers. Over the years I dipped into quite a few. Overall Robert Kuhn has done a magnificent job in covering such a range of views and expertise that is rarely found with such sympathetic yet probing integrity. His interviews cover physicists, biologists, scientists, philosophers, theologians, historians and many scientific disciplines of all hues.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I found them all interesting in that they were interviews with specialists and experts but I came away dissatisfied with almost all of them.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Why? </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><strong>True and whole Science</strong></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I found that they lacked a coherent scientific structure. Academic disciplines are becoming more and more separated into silos and few experts can have the vision of an overview from the heavens to the deep analysis of the infinitesimal detail. Silo-hopping results in lack of overall cohesion. Then there were failings of internal logic, which is natural. As humans we are all reluctant to yield our own prejudice for pure fact and logic. This is especially the case when it comes to theological foundations of knowledge. Materialistic liberalism infuses much modern thought, even (or especially!) among theologians. Iron needs to sharpen iron, but the right sort of iron is needed to make a sharp blade to bring overall satisfaction. Some borrow extradisciplinary iron that is already rusty.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Theology creates the big divide in academia, where the predominant philosophy disdains it. Knowledge of God requires logically obedience to God as our Creator. Or at least reverence and awe. Skeptics disparage moral laws. Or to put it another way, those who refuse the Ten Commandments call themselves atheists or excuse themselves with a religious label. What is their conscientious objection? </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">True science requires a pure conscience. A persistent, pure conscience can also break empires. The conscience of Judeo-Christian believers in DDR, Hungary, Poland and Russia brought the downfall of the atheistic USSR. It showed Marxism was unscientific. The Politburo was biased. It banned free discussion of the spiritual, or non-materialism. Education in Museums of Atheism did not work.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Today, however, the West is still suffering from USSR's ideological attacks and materialism that emptied churches and more. Soviet propaganda undermining society structures was long-lasting. Now the more subtle Chinese atheism and autocracy produces thousands of choking weeds. But even media and internet censorship in USA will not stop the quest for truth. There may be more professing Christians in China than in Europe. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><strong>Origin of modern Science</strong></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The scientific method derives from classical reform theology. In our modern era, the Hon Robert Boyle in the 17th century and later the Royal Society laid down personal rules that a searcher for truth must make sure that his conscience is absolutely clear of prejudice, and preconceptions. Experiments must be totally impartial. Facts and logic should provide the answers. The early scientists learned logic from the Bible -- for example debunking apparent contradictions by testing multiple hypotheses. They also compared the standard Roman Catholic belief and myths with historic documents now published and translated into the common languages for the first time. The vast collection of papal claims made over a millennium were exposed as frauds. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Today our knowledge is increased in many areas. (In some other areas it has declined, such as the motor motive of science that there is one truth and fraud should be exposed and rejected.) The ideology of the popes is replaced by a Darwinistic / neo-Marxist premise (both failed theories). That results in false conclusions that everything evolved or economics dictates all human history and knowledge.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It is not progress to turn all phenomena into mindless, purposeless materialism. Such nonsense permeates the whole framework of present day thought. It represents the greatest danger to civilization -- materialism, only matter is important, not the spiritual world. Did electrons evolve to create Dark Energy, did amoebas grow to become elephants? Was it a triumph of workers over capitalists? Class warfare failed, so atheistic Marxists turn to race wars as the new Dialectical materialism.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><strong>Use your brain!</strong></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">All civilizations knew that human mind is different from rocks and chemicals and far superior in its potential to the animal brain. The whale does not do better at mathematics or astronomy because its brain is seven or eight times bigger than man's 1300 gms. Or an elephant brain with 256 billion neurons, three times more than a human.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">On the other hand some birds can circumnavigate the whole planet and find their way home. The aptly named <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/bird-designed-jet-fighter-sets-new-record-longest-nonstop-bird-migration-180976078/" style="color: blue; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">godwit</a>, shaped like a high tech fighter aircraft, travels from Alaska to New Zealand in one go, and later flies back across oceans. No stops for food.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Some humans get lost in their own city. Could you manage two non-stop trips totalling 29,000 kms?</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The godwit reduces the size of its internal organs to make space for fuel. Its brain size? The whole bird weighs about 300 gms -- and its brain must be just a couple of grams. Butterflies also travel across oceans and back. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> <img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3images.classcreator.com/26506/002/7331064/limosa_lapponica_in_flight_(cropped).jpg" style="width: 100px;" /><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3images.classcreator.com/26506/002/7331064/900px-limosa_lapponica_migration_routes_(no_caption).jpg" style="width: 500px;" /></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><strong>Big Picture</strong></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The search for truth must take all new facts and conclusions into account.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">What new knowledge needs to be integrated?</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The great scientists of its modern foundation period knew man was a spiritual being. They applied this knowledge. Newton and William Whiston, his successor as Lucasian professor of mathematics at Cambridge, John Wilkins, cryptologist, philosopher, Anglican bishop and first Secretary of the Royal Society, John Ray the pioneering biologist, and many others were fervent Christians. Science boomed because they were scientists in mind and spirit. Ray like Paley described how each creature was finely constructed for its own good purpose. The Bible animated all their researches. The same can be said for the next generations, such as Faraday and Maxwell who electrified our present society. Their electromagnetic wave theory is based on 'spiritual fields'. The designs of God indicate his purpose and plan but also act as a spearhead to new discoveries.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><strong>Your God is too small</strong></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">No-God atheists and small-minded ministers need to stretch their minds to the reality of Creation and obviously the Creator. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">We know now that the Universe is far more magnificent and vast than any could have imagined. It stretches 14 or 15 billion light years to the visible rim. Who knows what lies beyond it? The maximum speed of 74 km/second for a rocket was achieved by the Juno probe to Jupiter using the slingshot of gravitational assist. It would take such a probe 15 billion x 300,000 x 31.56 million seconds divided by 74 -- 6 trillion years -- to reach the rim of the universe and peak into what is beyond our visible sighting of stars. I can't wait that long.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The voyage is likely to be lonely. Even though the universe is dotted with stars and many may have planets, the Earth is the only known planet in our solar system and beyond where we know there is life such as bacteria. But we see good and negative spiritual forces in battle all day long. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">As we look deeper we find that the Earth has not only an extraordinary abundance of life but it is in forms that earlier man had could not imagine. Life exists in the deepest oceans and in the upper atmosphere. The simplest of cells, seen through microscopes, is as well organized as a massive city. But a cell has powers that go far beyond it. It can search for chemical foodstock. It can reproduce. It can make other cities. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Each of the creatures on earth can tell us a lesson about how to live, care for young or not, or avoid our predatory enemies. They are education. We have a book of wisdom written in Nature. Modern technologies look to Nature's original design to find new designs and inspirations. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3images.classcreator.com/26506/002/7331064/bullet_train_kingfisher_design.jpg" style="width: 450px;" /></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Diseases caused by man's foolishness find their therapeutic solutions in Nature. The Nobel-prize-winning therapeutic Ivermectin, a powerful world-changing corrective and preventative to viruses (including in practice corona viruses), was found in the soil of a golf course in Japan by Satoshi Omura. It is one of the most tested, effective and cheapest of drugs. Then 'science' changed. Today the '<a href="https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/other/bar-association-serves-legal-notice-to-who-chief-scientist-over-ivermectin-guidelines/ar-AAKYpP4" style="color: blue; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">science</a>' of its use may be distorted by profits of Big Pharma or a globalist agenda of those like WHO. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><strong>A detailed View</strong></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Let's go smaller. Small, small fingers are required.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Last century's scientists started off by believing that the fundamental building blocks of our world, whether atoms or then atomic particles, would be simple systems. (atom= Greek <em>indivisible</em>) We could then work out the Lego construction of the universe.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The truth turned out to be far more complex, as is all nature. A whole zoo of particles and anti-particles, quarks, neutrinos, photons and strange and beautiful beasts act both as waves and particles. But they all work well and the average citizen does not have to look 'under the hood' to see how the material world works. Complexity and functionality is everywhere in harmony.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The universe is founded in wisdom down to the smallest detail we can figure out.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3images.classcreator.com/26506/002/7331064/standard_model_of_elementary_particles.png" style="width: 550px;" /></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">A pair of the smallest particles retain an intimate interconnection. When a human observes and measures one, the other, perhaps now at the far reaches of a galaxy, 'knows' and reacts faster than light travels. Man's decision-making affects the physical characteristics of the universe in ways we are only beginning to understand. Man operates on a spiritual plane. The human mind acts beyond the material physics.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">From the least particle to the entire spread of the universe each brings a lesson to Mankind. The Great Creator God will not fit into man's box of experiences. From the stuff a billionth of a centimeter to that billions of light years, all give a lesson: if we wish we can grow in knowledge, wisdom and maturity. But silo academics must abandon 'Greek' thinking about atoms, universal measures of time and space to come to truth.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><strong>Truth, then what?</strong></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The crux of my remarks here would be to pose the question: where does one start?</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Information, it has now been shown to the satisfaction of astrophysicists, can survive a Black Hole collision. Information existed before the beginning of the Universe 14 or so billion years ago. An impartial look at the existence of humankind and human observation of nature shows that it involves not only information but knowledge (from whence we deduce our sciences) and wisdom -- which is necessary for human maturity, the building of virtuous character.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Therefore all scientific analysis must start with the <em><strong>Wisdom Giver</strong></em>. Even the skeptics think they are wise. Usually groups of humans become unwise.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The early scientists were Jews or Christians but they shunned organised religion. Newton's researches led him to reject the pagan trinity. Whiston was expelled from Cambridge because of 'heresy'! Others adhered to obscure congregations of believers or were known as non-conformists and unitarians like many of America's founding fathers. They did not conform to crowd psychology. They rejected the church that absorbed paganism. They searched for truth and paid the price for non-conformity to errors. That showed that their pure conscience was fundamental to science and faith in God. Which scientist today is persecuted? Which scientist is not influenced by peer pressure or by grants from industry or government? Which real scientists are able to teach or debate in group-think universities?</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">After analyzing the proofs of God and how the atheistic skeptic refused them, Whiston concluded that biblical <em><strong>prophecy</strong></em> was paramount. He foretold in the 1700s, based on the Bible, that Jews would rebuild their homeland in Israel. A Temple would be built. The first happened in 1948, despite centuries of skeptics saying it was impossible. The second is yet to come. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3images.classcreator.com/26506/002/7331064/newtons_plan_of_solomons_temple.png" style="width: 600px;" /></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><strong>Diamond quality</strong></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Why did I feel unsatisfied with Closer to Truth? Getting close to truth is a start. Truth merely excludes the false. Wisdom is better than knowledge; knowledge is better than information, information is better than data. A diamond is more valuable than raw carbon. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I was taught that Wisdom is the principle thing. Above all seek wisdom. Awe of the Eternal is the beginning of wisdom. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </p></div> <p></p>David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-56664733664036175792021-03-10T03:17:00.002-08:002021-03-10T05:12:25.193-08:00David Hume and the problem of Evil<p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">Question: </span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">If God exists and loves us, why can't He just appear and say, "Here I am, is there anything you need?" </span></h4><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Answer:</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><strong>Babies like adult humans need to grow up. </strong></span></div><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><strong><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3images.classcreator.com/26506/002/7331064/gimme_baby.png" style="width: 500px;" /></strong></p><h4 style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; letter-spacing: 0.02em; line-height: normal; margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 20px 0px 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">GIMME, GIMME, GIMMEEEEE!<br /></span><span style="font-size: small;">is no way to run a single life. Nor is it a way to run a family. Even less a community or the planet. That is not the planned destiny the Creator, as parent, has set for us.</span></h4><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Humans learn how to grow up from:</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">(a) their senses and experiences,</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">(b) Education and discernment of others -- the accumulation of good experience and wisdom,</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">(c) divine revelation. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The three aspects teach us ethics and morality. That is the road to maturity to live with the Creator and the Creation. We should use our coggin to work this proof out. We can see the effects on individuals and in societies that abandon natural law and divine teachings for Gimmee, Gimmee, Gimmee. </p><p>Why then do we experience pain and evil? To learn and mature. Some pain is caused by others wrongly abusing their freedoms. Sometimes natural events cause us upsets and hurt. And we all die in the end. Death brings pain but after death is the judgement.</p><p><b>Why does Evil exist?</b></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left;">The Scottish philosopher David Hume wrote <em>Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion</em> (1779) advancing his scepticism about the existence of God. His “problem of evil” notion has sometimes become a positive argument for atheism. It goes something like this: </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-left: 36pt;"><strong>1) If God is willing to prevent evil, but not able, then he is impotent.</strong></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-left: 36pt;"><strong>2) If he is able, but not willing, then he is malevolent.</strong></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-left: 36pt;"><strong>3) If he is both able and willing, then why is there any evil?</strong></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-left: 36pt;"><strong>4) If God exists, there would be no evil in the world.</strong></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-left: 36pt;"><strong>5) There is evil in the world; therefore, an all-powerful, beneficent God does not exist.</strong></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Let’s consider (1) God turning his eyes away from human suffering; (2) not willing to help humans (3) continuance of evil although God is powerful (4) God if he exists must eradicate evil from the world (5) evil exists therefore God does not.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">There is an old Jewish story about a wanderer who lived by hunting. He wished God would provide a way where he could stay at home.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">If God existed, I would be able to stay here and be fed, he said. (1)</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">A wise man arrived. He said to the man: ‘Open your hands’ and he poured into his hands a pile of what looked like grains of sand. ‘Here’s your answer,’ he said.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3images.classcreator.com/26506/002/7331064/wheat_grains.png" style="width: 400px;" /></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">‘What should I do with them?’ the man asked. ‘You see that ground over there? Go and scatter the grains there.’ (2) Was he being malevolent?</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">‘What do I do then?’ asked the man. ‘You get a stick and make sure every single grain is covered with soil,’ said the wise man. The man thought that is both stupid and an evil waste of time and loss of the grains. ‘I will never be able to find them again.’ (3)</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">‘Then what do I do?’ asked the man. ‘You leave them,’ said the wise man. ‘How long?’ asked the man. ‘Several months’ said the wise man. The man therefore began to think that the wise man was crazy or evil. (3)</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Several months later he noticed green shoots breaking the soil surface everywhere he had scattered the grain. ‘What do I do now?’ he asked. ‘Wait some more,’ said the wise man.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">After several months, the shoots grew into a tall plant with a stalk that looked like it might be of use. ‘What should I do now?’ ‘Cut them all down with a sharp knife,’ said the wise man. ‘They will all be useless then,’ said the man. (4) Nevertheless he did it. ‘What now?’ ‘Shake the stalks vigorously and smash the heads of the stalks with stones!’ (5) ‘Throw them all in the air. Let the light stuff blow away!”</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">‘And now?’ ‘Separate the powder from the stalks.’ ‘May I eat it?’ ‘No. You should mix it with water and flatten the paste.’ ‘May I eat it now?’ ‘No. Prepare a fire and plunge the flattened paste into the heat.’ ‘That will completely destroy it!’</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The man did as he was told.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> Then, as instructed, he withdrew the paste and it had become solid and smelt wonderfully.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">‘Now you may eat the Bread of Life,’ said the wise man.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3images.classcreator.com/26506/002/7331064/bread.jpg" /></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">What distinguishes a wise man from Hume is Information and knowledge about the purpose of life.</p><ul style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><li>We seem to be small and insignificant,</li><li>we are buried and seemingly lost by the powerful of the world,</li><li>we are abandoned and forgotten,</li><li>when we rise, we are cut down,</li><li>when we are stand erect, we are cut, shaken and seemingly crushed with stones,</li><li>then we seem drowned in further tests, and</li><li>burned in the fires of adversity.</li></ul><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">But in the end we have affirmed our purpose to uphold truth, honesty and reverence for our Creator.</p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Hume did not seem to apply reason to why God gave him a brain, where logic came from and how information requires that an Information-giver started an organised, purposeful universe. His life and purpose was foreseen in the very design and foundation of the Universe before it even began. It is why you are reading this. </p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Remember the message. Wheat grain was designed from the foundation of the world for a purpose. So were you. The message requires our free will response to God's in action: love to God and our neighbor. That is maturity. That requires real character.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p>David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-38437935759112232742021-02-13T07:51:00.001-08:002021-02-13T07:51:22.737-08:00Bamboozled after 1000 years of Mariolatry? Check the Bible!<p><span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13px;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GnaDp85HFlg/YAxNHod_6EI/AAAAAAAABC8/CHqKwLrP9vszDv6M6l022i_oHRdf_GnwgCLcBGAsYHQ/s473/Carl%2BSagan%2B2.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="447" data-original-width="473" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GnaDp85HFlg/YAxNHod_6EI/AAAAAAAABC8/CHqKwLrP9vszDv6M6l022i_oHRdf_GnwgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Carl%2BSagan%2B2.png" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Astrophysicist Carl Sagan wrote:</span><p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="font-size: 13px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><i>If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It's simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we've been taken in. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.</i></span></p></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Paul wrote: '</span><i style="font-family: georgia;">To whom you yield yourself servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey</i><span style="font-family: georgia;">,' Rom 6:16. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">What to do? We are told by Simon Peter to '<i>Obey God, not man' </i>Acts 5:29. We should seek the truth and obey it, not man.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">It is a dangerous path even for an astrophysicist to submit himself to an atheistic dogma instead of keeping an open mind. It is like propelling yourself into a cul-de-sac and then complaining there is no way forward.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">When it comes to a relationship with the Creator, we cannot give up in our search for the truth. How can we be sure of the truth of biblical Christianity, free from propaganda and disinformation? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Check the Bible. Prove all things. Avoid shuttered thinking.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <strong>The Roman Catholic Mary</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Original 'Christianity' is vastly different from that a few centuries later. The Roman Empire subjected its population to a sustained disinformation campaign. Thus a church arose that tried to absorb the beliefs of Christ and the apostles of the first century into its deeply pagan framework. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The early believers did not even call themselves 'Christian'. This was a term invented by their opponents at Antioch as Acts 11:26 records. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Since the time that a form of 'Christianity' became the official religion of the Roman Empire, the imperial authorities centralised doctrine in a way that drew in the masses. Thus the Roman Catholic Church became a mixture of paganism including myths of Greek, Roman and Egyptian demigods with a veneer of Christianity. At the same time the church remained antisemitic so the Hebrew Scriptures were despised, banned and burned. Jewish Christians were declared heretics.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RIAd3TjCNT0/YCftE0zBm5I/AAAAAAAABEA/SmWd-s3aL44ezEQJmt7cQfrpOmqzttlzgCLcBGAsYHQ/s560/isis-horus-madonna.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="277" data-original-width="560" height="248" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RIAd3TjCNT0/YCftE0zBm5I/AAAAAAAABEA/SmWd-s3aL44ezEQJmt7cQfrpOmqzttlzgCLcBGAsYHQ/w502-h248/isis-horus-madonna.png" width="502" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Thus the Catholic dogma of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) arose. It had more in common with Greek pagan legends than Hebrew history and custom. Mary, or Mariam as the NT calls her, should be given due respect. But this version had little in common with the Bible. She was transformed into a plaster model of the Greek goddess, Artemis, the Queen of Heaven. The theme of the virgin goddess with child is common throughout all paganism from China to the West. It is denounced in the Bible. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Once the BVM falsehood was entrenched as a doctrine, how was it sustained against questions by the few who had access to the New Testament? By bad logic and subterfuge. Up to quite recently Roman Catholics were forbidden to read the Bible and only listen to their priests. Why? The Bible makes nonsense of the doctrine of the forever virginal Queen of Heaven, the Blessed Virgin Mary. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">One example is John 8:38 41, the incident when Jesus was in the Temple and confronted by people who wanted to kill him. They say that 'We are not the children of fornication.' </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Ah ha, say the Roman Catholics, obviously they thought Jesus was a child of fornication because he was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Joseph was not his father.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Bad logic! It is amazing how such illogicalities persist. If someone says to you: ‘I am not a thief’, does that mean that you are a thief? If he says 'I am not an idol-worshipper,' does that mean you are?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Some Pharisees were of dubious birth. That created jealousy compared with the stricter Sadducees on Temple matters. They were shamed by the undeniability of Christ’s legitimate pedigree as both King and Priest. Jesus was perfect in all his generations. The Hebrew Scriptures, <i>Tanak</i>, finish with the genealogies of Chronicles and the NT begins with the genealogy from there to Christ. Above all Christ was true to his ancestors' faith in God, unpolluted by the devil. The Pharisees not only perverted the truth but wanted to kill the son of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David, a personage prophesied throughout the Scriptures as the Anointed, Dt 18:18 and 17:14.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The spirit of murder showed they were not legitimate, even though they might be sons of Abraham. It was the spirit of the devil.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia;">Three proofs</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">How do I know the Roman Catholic interpretation is incorrect? I will give you <strong><em>three proofs</em></strong>. Jesus spoke inside the Temple and taught priests inside the Court of Priests. The Torah in Deut 23:2 says that</span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">No bastard (<i>mamzer</i> – someone of unproven pedigree) shall enter the Court of Israel surrounding the Temple – on pain of death.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">And no Israelite other than Levitical priests could enter the Court of Priests. Furthermore, no offspring of such a person may enter the Temple for <strong><em>TEN generations</em></strong>. If as Catholics say Jesus maintained he had no earthly father then he would be dead if he tried to enter the Temple, dispatched by the armed Temple guards. To claim that he was like the pagan demigods and was the offspring of a virgin and Zeus/ Jupiter was an even surer way to oblivion if he crossed into the precincts of the Temple.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia;">The word of a future emperor</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Secondly, the Romans under Julius Caesar when they made a treaty with the Jews respected the right for them to forbid all foreigners and mamzers from the Temple.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This continued until the very date of the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. We have the witness of Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, recorded in Josephus.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Josephus Wars Bk 6,2,4 (124):</span></p><p style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Titus was deeply affected and reproached {those in the Temple}:</span></p><p style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">‘<strong><em>Have not you, vile wretches that you are, by our permission, put up this partition wall before your sanctuary? Have not you been allowed to put up the pillars thereto belonging, at due distances, and to engrave in Greek and in your own letters, this prohibition, that no foreigner should go beyond the wall.</em></strong></span></p><p style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><strong><em>Have we not given you leave to kill such as go beyond it, though he were a Roman?</em></strong>’</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia;">Proof in stone</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Thirdly, those massive stone warnings, written in Greek and Latin (and Hebrew for the Court of Priests) were repeated every few meters. They said in bold red letters that anyone entering (a) the Court of Israel who was not an authentic Israelite (verified for ten generations) and (b) anyone who was not an authentic Levite (verified over ten generations) would be killed and their death was their own fault.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">This is my facsimile of it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3images.classcreator.com/26506/002/7331064/temple_warning_stone_copy.jpg" style="width: 450px;" /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">It says:</span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Nobody at all of alien racial stock may proceed within the balustrade surrounding the sanctuary and the encompassing court. Whoever ventures inside will be responsible for his death that will ensue.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The original stone 90cm by 60 cm by 30 cm was discovered by Clermont-Ganneau in 1871. It is now on display in the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul. Another piece of such a Warning Stone has also been uncovered.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The reluctance of the churches to draw the right conclusions about the Catholic BVM dogma shows how deeply disinformation over a millennium by the RCC is hard to shift.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">If modern 'Christianity' is all based on a false premise, then what is it really? BAMBOOZLED. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">If 'scientists' and modern theologians believe that the miracles of Christ and his resurrection could not happen, then they are denying the evidence and are equally bamboozled.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </p>David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-3065406923875347952021-01-23T05:58:00.010-08:002021-02-13T06:47:23.149-08:00Science before our Science proves an all-knowing God<p> <strong style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The God of the Universe is the Information Giver</strong></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VGXrv6VkIEg/YAwjaudKxPI/AAAAAAAABCw/hRO-51WYfX0s_4evbKz-U-7TW2TQMeGEwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1054/Carl%2BSagan.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="1054" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VGXrv6VkIEg/YAwjaudKxPI/AAAAAAAABCw/hRO-51WYfX0s_4evbKz-U-7TW2TQMeGEwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Carl%2BSagan.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Carl Sagan, the cosmologist, was a well-known and vocal advocate of science over religion. Science, for him, was '<i>a candle in the dark in the demon-haunted world</i>.' </span><p></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: verdana; text-align: center;">By that Carl Sagan wanted to replace all religions by '<i>science</i>'. </span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: verdana; text-align: center;">It is true the world is full of superstition and lies. Clear thinking and logic is needed to disentangle the knots and see the truth. That logical, analytical process is today called science. </span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: verdana; text-align: center;">Sagan did not believe in loving, all-powerful, wise God. At best he considered himself as a pantheist. Why?</span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: verdana; text-align: center;">Is his true science? Can we call Sagan a real scientist? Sagan was keen to show how small mankind was as a dot on a planet that is a dot in a solar system that is insignificant as one of innumerable galaxies across the untold vastness of space.</span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: verdana; text-align: center;">Where Sagan failed was to assume that any brain could not be greater than man's brain; no constructor could be greater than man's arm; no force greater than the explosive inventions his mind could conceive.</span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: verdana; text-align: center;">That is a pretty pathetic analysis. It is scarcely comparable to ant any regarding the Great Pyramid of Giza or a moon rocket on its return trajectory. </span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: verdana; text-align: center;">What is impossible for an ant brain and its physical limitations, should tell us to search for bigger minds and vaster physical capabilities far beyond our own imagination.</span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: verdana; text-align: center;">The existence of that power is beyond doubt.</span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: verdana; text-align: center;"><b>At the start: Information</b></span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: verdana; text-align: center;">Science is based on first establishing a sound premise that all can agree on. Then add perceived facts, make some theories and do some testing.</span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: verdana; text-align: center;">I start with the fact that information exists. That is fundamental to all science. How did it arise? What is its cause? Scientists should deduce by the laws of causality that information came from the Information Giver, some super-intelligent being. </span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: verdana; text-align: center;">What do those on earth learn? <b><i>No earthy power, including death, is greater than love.</i></b> That is a main message from the Information Giver to all earthlings. Animals, even, show that love to their offspring. That concept reaches far beyond the physics of the universe. It poses questions that no physicist can answer from physics.</span></p><p><span style="color: #181818; font-family: verdana; text-align: center;">Logically then Sagan did not believe in real science. He was a bamboozler. He is building his exposition on something less substantial than air.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">All information whether about galaxies, humans, plants, cars or how to make atomic bombs came from the original information made before the universe began. Wikipedia and Britannica too. If the information did not exist before the universe began, then we would not exist nor be able to brush our teeth because the specific materials would not exist or be available at hand.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">A single strand of DNA has as much information as an encyclopedia -- 1.5 Gbytes. DNA has been artificially manipulated to produce coded messages and successfully sent to a recipient in Europe. Sherlock Holmes now needs a laboratory! The human body alone with its 100 trillion cells contains 150 Zettabytes (ten followed by 21 noughts). <a href="https://bitesizebio.com/8378/how-much-information-is-stored-in-the-human-genome/" style="color: #4a85df; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">https://bitesizebio.com/8378/how-much-information-is-stored-in-the-human-genome/</a> </span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">Three spheres of Information</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">There are <em><strong>three spheres of information</strong></em> to explain: mathematics, the laws of physics, and the moral law that allows us to judge other’s actions and thoughts (and if we are honest our own.) The human default mode is not to judge ourselves, especially when we recognize human deceit in others.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3images.classcreator.com/26506/002/7331064/john_wilkins.jpg" style="width: 400px;" /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">These three dimensions of knowledge were described by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wilkins" style="color: #4a85df; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">John Wilkins</a> the first Secretary of the Royal Society (of Newton, Boyle, Wren etc.) in London in the late 1600s. Atheists have had more than three centuries to explain how this happens.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Scientists already accept these as the founding premises of science. All scientists believe that the universe is governed by laws in these three spheres of information. True scientists not only adhere to the laws of information but go further. Science confirms that an effect B derives from an earlier one A. Information that is omnipresent in our world, they deduce, comes from an Information Giver. When we say that that Information Giver = God, then we can say that all true scientists can be called theists. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Atheists are not scientists. They adhere to the laws of logic and deduction but on physical matters. But there they stop. They refuse to accept an Information Giver in the moral sphere. That defies logic. It shows they are not impartial. They are prejudiced at a step that can affect their lives with a major scientific conclusion. If they do not accept the universality of these laws, mathematical, physical and moral, they do not understand science. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Science proves its conclusions by mathematics, physical observation of objects and in the human sciences showing the success and failures of individuals and societies by moral law. But atheists say '<i>When it comes to me, there is an exception. I do not have to submit to a conclusion that will affect my life style.</i>' They throw up spurious, unscientific arguments, logically inconsistent with their avowed process. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Wilkins was, among many other things, a cryptographer and well knew that what seems gibberish to some people contains a message from a real information giver.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The moral message of the Information Giver passes through all the noise and human gibberish. </span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">God has a Plan for us all. God is Love. </span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div>David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-58592006297834101982020-12-23T10:59:00.005-08:002023-07-26T23:48:09.910-07:00Conjunctions, the Bethlehem Star Prophecy and Precision Astrophysics<p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Humankind needs to learn humility when gazing at the stars and planets. It is clear that mankind was not their maker. What man can make is insignificant, even in relation to our own home.</span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">But I disagree with those that say the Stars and Planets do not have significance. They speak for the Great Creator and Information Giver who first designed and then made them all.</span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">The Earth is full of intricate living organisms from bacteria to massive creatures like whales and elephants. Finely balanced physical planetary characteristics are necessary to maintain them. Earth was made for humankind. The environment is finely shaped to sustain him and also provide teachings of the Creator who made all things.</span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">But when it comes to wider universe, many of the humans who benefit from the wisdom and construction of the planet fail to see the same hand in the stars and galaxies. That is a big mistake. The Creator who finely tuned all the constants of the laws of physics and life, did not throw the stars out at random. </span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Here are some reasons to believe otherwise.</span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Stars as Witness</span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">There are many references to stars and the heavens in the Bible. From its first words of Genesis, the Bible confronted to nonsense of the pagans in their errors, errors that were maintained into the twentieth century. </span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth implies that at a certain moment the entire universe was created. The pagans like Aristotle believed that the universe had always existed. Scientists up to the middle of the 1900s also thought this. Why? Because the dominant materialist philosophy wanted to deny a creation because logically a creation must involve a Creator. That was well known even in ancient Greek logics and philosophy.</span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Scientific advance showed that this fallacy of an eternal universe could not be maintained. The stars were moving away from us. And logically, at one time they must have all come together at the beginning. The sceptical materialists tried to downplay this fact that bust their materialism apart by calling it the Big Bang.</span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">The Bible shows these materialist/ atheists have much more to learn. </span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Take the movement of the stars mentioned in the book of Job as some examples. Learn some lessons from the Creation. </span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><strong style="color: #383838; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Pleiades</span></strong></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhboLkbwsI8HoLdqD0i5-PsS4ufElspF2k-ijPNv0x4uAWOtPT8QShNZQzwSS-MIOt-dTPHQexXJPPSCzXOzftcX2CJXnF2Bzt_blA8zRU8fpd0SEv0yaUnbnVE6MSEFZ5STJ86_ltEevXPZD3EiRrMmMbPvM3iYJWvKJ19-a9tSy8AHIXBr54zcMj4jVSi/s280/Pleiades.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="202" data-original-width="280" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhboLkbwsI8HoLdqD0i5-PsS4ufElspF2k-ijPNv0x4uAWOtPT8QShNZQzwSS-MIOt-dTPHQexXJPPSCzXOzftcX2CJXnF2Bzt_blA8zRU8fpd0SEv0yaUnbnVE6MSEFZ5STJ86_ltEevXPZD3EiRrMmMbPvM3iYJWvKJ19-a9tSy8AHIXBr54zcMj4jVSi/s1600/Pleiades.jpg" width="280" /></a></div><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></span><p></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Let us go to one of the signs of the Hebrew zodiac: the Pleiades, Hebrew <i>Kimah</i>. </span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">The Eternal God asked Job out of a whirlwind, Job 38:31:</span></p><blockquote style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><p><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Can you fasten the harness of Pleiades? (New Jerusalem)</span></p><p><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Can you bind fast the cluster Pleiades? (Bullinger) </span></p><p><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Can you bind the sweet influences of Pleiades? (KJV)</span></p></blockquote><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">The Pleiades are known as the Seven Sisters. What does it mean fastening or binding them? Only recently the most powerful telescopes make it clear. Imperceptibly to the naked eye they are moving closer together. This data was collected from massive earth telescopes in Australia and elsewhere and combined with recent data from the Gaia space satellite launched in 2013.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Careful measurements with the <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-galah-to-help-capture-millions-of-rainbows-to-map-the-history-of-the-milky-way-64887" style="color: #555768; outline: none; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gaia</a> space telescope and others show the stars of the Pleiades are slowly moving in the sky. One star, Pleione, is now so close to the star Atlas they look like a single star to the naked eye.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">But if we take what we know about the movement of the stars and rewind 100,000 years, Pleione was further from Atlas and would have been easily visible to the naked eye.</span></span></p><p style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">The writer of the book of Job had magnificent eyes or maybe, as the book says, someone listened to the Great Information Giver who made the stars.</span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Orion</span></strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2jGPVByDsw_SGZMknvocOauaDVG3Mm-UQUNgWQ8qquZp9UtY7lTFnv9akXB3SNJzHs0S5GQhuosASR1mJ6MzF6lTjnPVepcpi-L6LZetf5g0CKgEublGJrFuPd7dLBW4fkLbanBEdUkiiXYxbYuvMwaNCdLK9kpEwg6715QvtlgjSkJv20KfzXR_Bk-et/s313/Orion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="313" data-original-width="220" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2jGPVByDsw_SGZMknvocOauaDVG3Mm-UQUNgWQ8qquZp9UtY7lTFnv9akXB3SNJzHs0S5GQhuosASR1mJ6MzF6lTjnPVepcpi-L6LZetf5g0CKgEublGJrFuPd7dLBW4fkLbanBEdUkiiXYxbYuvMwaNCdLK9kpEwg6715QvtlgjSkJv20KfzXR_Bk-et/s1600/Orion.jpg" width="220" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: 14px;"><br /><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></span></span><p></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">What about the other part of the verse about Orion, Hebrew <i>Kesil</i>:</span></span></p><blockquote style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Can you loosen great Orion's bands?</span></span></p></blockquote><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">The three stars of Orion's belt are a line-of-sight constellation. Two stars may now be shown to look like they are approaching each other while the third is drifting out of the arrangement and may eventually break up the three-star line-up completely.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Arcturus</span></strong></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Next verse:</span></span></p><blockquote style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Can you guide Arcturus and his sons?</span></span></p></blockquote><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Highly unusually Arcturus, Hebrew <i>Aysh</i>, has a stream of 52 stars connected to it. That was discovered in 1971. Equally unusually Arcturus, one of the greatest stars in the universe, is a runaway. It has a speed of 257 miles a second. That compares with the normal under 25 miles per second and our own sun's 12 1/2 miles a second.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Arcturus and his sons are all on their own course at rip-neck speed.</span></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em><strong><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Can the movement of Planets, Stars and Constellations predict the future? Can they show events of the past?</span></span></strong></em></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #383838; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Humans have no ability to move stars. Their course can be worked out by the eternal laws of mathematics and physics. We have a sure means to see how their position predicted events before, when and after such notable events happened. Humans have no excuse for not paying attention.</span></span></p><p><br /></p><p> <b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">Eternal God, creator of the Universe</b></p><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;">Humans are subject to error and tempted by deliberate deceit. Humans cannot muck with movement of the planets, comets and stars. That was the reason that Kepler, Newton, Whiston and other believing scientists tried to determine what, when and where was the Star of Bethlehem.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;">The heavens have an extraordinary, clear and unambiguous message. But what is it? We should not seek it in pagan, Chaldean astrology.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CE8yAKXj7NM/XfnS5pH1RmI/AAAAAAAAAwo/KkMemBsPrtceQlnxau9gkKFDZJbXyhp0ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/ELM%2BRev%2B12%2Bvirgin%2Bchrono.gif" style="background-color: white; clear: right; color: #771100; float: right; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="849" data-original-width="501" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CE8yAKXj7NM/XfnS5pH1RmI/AAAAAAAAAwo/KkMemBsPrtceQlnxau9gkKFDZJbXyhp0ACLcBGAsYHQ/s640/ELM%2BRev%2B12%2Bvirgin%2Bchrono.gif" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="377" /></a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;">What does the Bible say? What is the configuration of the heavens in the autumn of 3/2 BCE?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;">Astronomers in the past could work this out. Many people in the early centuries were far more skilled and literate in astronomy and its real significance than people today -- in spite of so-called popular astrologers.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;">They looked at the sky at night and knew the stars and the movements.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;">But how do you see what was happening way back in the past?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;">You can also this ancient stellar display in the heavens at a planetarium when they set the mechanism back 2000 years.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;">Now with the help of the computer and </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXLeafHCDdY" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration-line: none;">software</a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;"> it is possible for anyone at home to see exactly the movement of the planets back into the distant past.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;">What did the night sky look like in 3/2 BCE?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;">It is an extraordinary fact, as </span><a href="http://www.askelm.com/star/star001.htm" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration-line: none;">Dr Ernest L Martin</a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;"> points out, that</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 1.4; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"><li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">on only one day in 3 BCE was the moon under the feet of the constellation of Virgo, the virgin and the sun '<i>clothed</i>' her. </li><li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">It was when it was the first crescent of the New Moon. </li><li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">It occurred on 11 September. </li><li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">It remained there for only a few hours. </li></ul><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;">Click the link </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQsPHvRNYSs" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration-line: none;">here to have a description of the Ancient Astronomy</a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;"> of this time by Dr Michael Heiser.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WMu3Tdj9aLQ/Xf8pjUvh_RI/AAAAAAAAAyo/TXFvTomgJRoa4aI2mGrAx2MxTzVsUIbzQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-22%2Bat%2B09.28.04.png" style="clear: right; color: #771100; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="325" data-original-width="605" height="171" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WMu3Tdj9aLQ/Xf8pjUvh_RI/AAAAAAAAAyo/TXFvTomgJRoa4aI2mGrAx2MxTzVsUIbzQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-22%2Bat%2B09.28.04.png" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;">One reason people observed the stars was that it was religiously significant because observation of the New Moon was essential to define months and proclaim the New Year. What is even more extraordinary is that 11 September was the beginning of the Feast of Trumpets in the Hebrew calendar. Revelation 12:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;">'</span><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">And there appeared a great wonder in the heaven; a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars</i><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;">.'</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;">This year is also confirmed by Luke's statement that Jesus was '</span><a href="http://thenazareneproject.blogspot.com/2018/02/how-old-was-jesus-when-he-became.html" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration-line: none;">about thirty years old</a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;">' when he began his work as chief priest and teacher in the Temple. This has to be understood in relation to the Hebrew inclusive arithmetic system and the Jewish secular new year (common through the eastern Roman Empire). It is also defined by the known dates for the reconstruction of the Temple by Simon Boethus under Herod the Great.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;">The date of the </span><a href="http://www.askelm.com/star/index.asp" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration-line: none;">birth of Jesus</a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;"> is </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">1st Tishrei in year 3 BCE in the autumn</b><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;">.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.85px;">This fits all the criteria of</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 1.4; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"><li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">historical events in the NT and Josephus</li><li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Hebrew chronology</li><li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Hebrew festivals</li><li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Hebrew interpretation of the movement of the planets in 3 BCE,</li><li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">The near unanimous report of nearly all early writers of the first centuries.</li></ul><u style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;">The heavens don't lie.</u><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;" /><div><u style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;"><br /></u></div>David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-75402340663159473202020-12-15T03:42:00.007-08:002020-12-17T22:02:11.975-08:00How old were Joseph and Mary when they had Jesus?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">Was Mary a young girl, barely a teenager, when she had Jesus? That is what many people believe. But that tradition is the result of a thousand years of medieval myths and mixture with pagan Greek ideas about how a god or demi-god should be born. For the Greeks and Romans, demi-gods were born of the intercourse of Zeus/ Jupiter who disguised himself and seduced some young girl. For the truth of the birth of Jesus we must stick to the Bible and understand what Hebrew and Jewish customs were.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">Firstly there is a misunderstanding about the the term '<i>betrothed</i>' in the gospels.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">Is it equivalent to modern '<i>engagement</i>'? Or does it mean marriage? </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><b>Hebrew Marriage</b></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">Jews in the first century usually had arranged marriages that were decided between the parents of the young couple when they were still children. The children were often quite young infants when these discussions began to take place. Sometimes the families were helped by an experienced wise person who knew how to make the backgrounds and personalities match for a long term marriage. Personality shows in young infants. Agreement on religious matters is important for family harmony. The children might therefore come from geographically separated communities who held the same beliefs. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">However this was not the primary consideration. That was the longevity of the family line and its adherence to the laws of God. So religious belief and solid character were seen as contributing to this major duty. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">This choice was even more pronounced when it came to two sorts of families: those belonging to the priestly line and those of the royal line. The first had to show real understanding of the instructions that had to be fulfilled in the worship in the Temple. The royal family had to have sound judgement to rule a nation. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">When it comes to Joseph and his wife it was especially delicate because both aspects, the priestly and the royal, were involved. Joseph was of the royal line of David, as Matthew chapter one shows. His wife was of the priestly line of Aaron as Luke chapter 1 verse 36 and verse 5 show. She was a cousin of Elizabeth who was defined as a daughter of Aaron.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">So how old were they when the parents decided they were a fitting couple for the future? That could be any age before adolescence. Their ages may have been similar but usually the male is older. According
to Hebrew custom and law, parents would then make a formal agreement that a young girl was promised to a young boy. They were then excluded from making any further arrangement for their children. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">Once
grown up the children have the right to decide whether to go through with this arrangement. The age of manhood for a boy, that the the age he was able to make this decision, was a minimum of thirteen years old. That does not mean they married immediately but that the deal had been set. The girl, still usually premenstrual, had also to give her consent. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">The ceremony is called <i>betrothal</i> in many Bibles. In <a href="http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10434-marriage-ceremonies">Hebrew custom</a> it is called sanctification, <i>kiddushin</i>. The boy and girl are sanctified, set apart, for marriage. This betrothal was solemnised by a gift like a ring signifying the ‘purchase’ of the bride.
She agrees by accepting and the young man becomes her husband at that moment. This ceremony celebrated between the families is called <i>erushin</i>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">This is equivalent to <i>marriage</i> in the modern, western world. Both the couple and the families have given their solemn agreement. It is a public ceremony and the communities are there to witness.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">But this is not all. The bridegroom is still young, as is the bride. They do not have independent means. So the bride can stay with her parents while the bridegroom prepares a home for his wife. They have started on a life of total commitment to each other.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">So now we come to the <i>Home-coming</i>. When the husband feels that all his ready for his wife, he sends a party out to the parents' house to say they may all come and he is ready to receive them. That is described in the NT. </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">Once he brings the wife over the threshold of his new home they have arrived at another stage in life. That is the <i>nisu'in</i>. This is a celebration and should not be considered a legal requirement or condition. The bridegroom welcomes the bride to the new home and usually the whole community is in festive mood. The parable of the ten virgins, Mt 25, who wait for the bridegroom shows that the <i>nisu'in</i> was still part of first century custom. And it is important in the whole theology of the Bible, about God's relationship to his people as a wedding and marriage. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">What if the building of a house by the husband is not necessary? Then the couple are still considered married. They are free to have children but the bride must leave the shelter of her parents. To show that this <i>erushin</i> or '<i>betrothal</i>' of the KJV is fully marriage, Jews in the first century and Jews today need a divorce, called a <i>get</i>, if they break up. <i>Betrothal</i> is not the equivalent of modern engagement.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">Let us return to the original question: <b><i>how old were Joseph and his wife when they had Jesus?</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">The
birth of Jesus to Mary or Mariam (her name in Greek NT) was miraculous. Not
because she was young. But because she was old! The NT scriptures say the couple were betrothed. That is they were fully married. If she were young and she became pregnant it would hardly be a miracle.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><b>Birth miracle</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">So what was behind the miracle? The first thing to notice is that the NT does not say that they were young. It says the opposite. They were very old!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">Luke starts by describing the miraculous birth of John the Baptist to his aged parents, Zacharias and Elizabeth. He also describes Anna the prophetess in her old age and her marriage. <br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">Luke 1:38 says that both Mariam and her cousin Elizabeth (Elisheva in Hebrew), mother of John the Baptist,
became pregnant when in ‘<i>old age</i>’ (Greek 'in their <i>gera'</i> — the term used in
geriatrics). Both had been married for many decades — they were old and the ‘<i>betrothed</i>’ of the KJV
means ‘<i>married</i>’ in Jewish/ Hebrew law and custom. Cousins are usually around the same age.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
Miracles of conception to women in their advanced years show God’s power and
the direction of his plan for mankind: Sarah, Abraham’s wife, Rebecca Isaac’s,
Rachel mother of Joseph, Hannah, mother of Samuel the Prophet, who anointed
David. Mariam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, also had children in her old age.
Sarah was in her menopause and convinced she could not have children and said
so to God’s messenger! <br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">Given that Mariam, Joseph’s wife was advanced in years, Joseph too would be old, or most probably older, at the time of the birth. Then they not only had Jesus but probably 7 children as
well, many named in the NT and secular sources, like Josephus and Eusebius,
Hegesippus.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">That is the miracle. It was one everyone could see.<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">If this contradicts with modern beliefs that Mary (BVM) was 14 years old or so, and that she was impregnated by a person called the Holy Ghost, that is because in many pagan traditions had gods descending and impregnating
young virgin girls. But that is not what the Bible and secular sources of the
first centuries say. Becoming pregnant at such an early age was not part of Hebrew
tradition. It is part of pagan Greek and Roman culture.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">In Hebrew custom, the couple may have become betrothed at that age but they did not live together immediately. The Bible, Jewish tradition and secular sources such as Josephus say that another process had to take place.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><b>Rule out Hollywood</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">In Hebrew culture, marriage is not like some Hollywood concept of romantic love of incompatible persons. Young children were promised to each other and got to know each other for years before they were married. The purpose of marriage was quite different from the self-centered Hollywood idea. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">It was a covenant-based custom based on centuries-old relationship between God and Israel.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">It is a means to have children and show the fulfilment of God's promises to Israel. So a bride had to show she was healthy and fit to have children before copulation took place.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">This involved showing that she had regular periods. This was recorded because after each period she had to wash ceremonially in a bath called a <i>mikvah</i>. These periods had to be regular. The Esseans (or Essenes) of the first century said that the wife had to have at least three regular periods before she was considered fit for even joining her husband in his home. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">In practice that meant that the wife had to show she was mature and healthy. Thus it was likely that childbirth did not take place before the wife was around 17 or in her late teens. <br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><b>Old Age</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">It is speculative to say that because Joseph was not mentioned later he died.
His life was also threatened by the high priestly and Roman authorities. He was
not only the son of David and the heir to the throne of Israel but also had
priestly (Aaronic) blood and could serve in the Temple.<br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">Early sources like Eusebius record that some of his family were long-lived.
For example Jesus’s cousin Simon who followed James the brother of Jesus, as
Bishop or Superintendent of the <i>ekklesia</i> or Legislative Assembly in Jerusalem,
lived more than 100 years old and was then martyred for his firm, unbending
belief in Christ. Essenes were also known for their longevity. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">Simon was martyred at 120 years old. He was just one of a long series of leaders of the <i>ekklesia</i> so it was probable he died early in the 70s. His birth would have been around 50 BCE. But remember he was the nephew of Joseph. Joseph was the elder son. Simon was the cousin of Jesus, but Simon was much older because Joseph was very late having Jesus as a child. Joseph, Simon's uncle would have been born a generation earlier. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><b><i>So both Joseph and Mariam might have been 70 years or older when Jesus was born.</i></b><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><b>The family of Joseph and Mariam</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">For Simon to be the Sagan or Superintendent would mean that he had been trained for that highly complex post. At the time the Sagan was in charge of the Temple and had to be familiar with all the rites and know all the duties of all the thousands of priests there. But Joseph was first in line and after him his son. But apparently as we have discovered, Joseph did not have a son until his old age. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">Simon was not the youngest son of his father, Alpheus or Cleopas. Joseph would have been born several years before Cleopas. Simon would have been born some years after the marriage of Cleopas to his wife Mary. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">So Joseph might have been born around 70 BCE. That would make sense. His wife Mariam would also be about the same age. They would both be around 70 years, maybe older. Abraham was approaching 100 when he and Sarah had Isaac. Both Mariam and Sarah would be considered to be in her '<i>old age</i>' that is completely unable to have children because she had passed her menopause. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /><b>Meaning of 'Virgin'</b><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">The other significant factor would be that in Jewish custom an old woman would also be considered to be a virgin! In Hebrew the main significance of the term '<i>virgin</i>' is either pre-menstrual or post-menstrual. It does not signify, as the Greek term in the NT, intactness. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">The term 'virgin' revolves around the laws of the Torah which specifies what happens when a woman has a period. That way of thinking is far from the Greek one. It is also far from the modern ideas that some commentators wrongly apply when expounding on the Gospels. First rule is to put the text in its historical and traditional context. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">The laws of <i>Niddah</i> are set out in Lev 19:15 and throughout the Bible.<br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br />So when a woman is described as a 'virgin' it can mean one of three things. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">She is young and has not had a period. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">She is old and no longer has periods. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">She has a physical deficiency and has never had a period.</span></li></ul></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">So both Joseph and Mariam would have been in their seventies at the time of the birth of Jesus.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">How long would it have been after the marriage of Joseph and Mariam that it was obvious they were not going to have children right away? Five years? Ten years? Twenty years? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">If Joseph had married at just before or around 20 years of age, it would not have been obvious that Mariam was not able to have children for some time. Then it became many decades. That infertility and miraculous birth parallels the births of Isaac, of Jacob, of Samuel and others whose fervent prayers were not only fruitful but a sign to all the world. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;">These
issues are dealt with in detail in the book, “Jesus, James, Joseph and the past
and future Temple” (available also as a free eBook zt academia.edu/43233588).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
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David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-85171838976994760252020-10-26T01:05:00.003-07:002020-10-28T06:40:19.534-07:00Did Jesus know John the Baptist?<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #494848; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Did Jesus know John the Baptist before and after the baptism?</b></span></p><div class="discussion-comment-post-wrapper" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #494848; font-family: Roboto, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif;"><div class="js-comment-body post" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-top: 0.8em; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="js-non-expanded-comment" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
Jesus and John were relatives. Their mothers were cousins. Jesus was baptised at the Jordan River, where John had suddenly appeared dressed in a camel-hair garment. This was an event that brought people from far and wide, including the Jerusalem elite. </span></div><div class="js-comment-body post" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-top: 0.8em; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="js-non-expanded-comment" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XILlJwsms9s/X5ly1vmXNQI/AAAAAAAABAM/HpLkcVmN_MEw4VCkSSmHlKFUI6qdGx2WQCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/John-the-Baptist%2Bat%2BJordan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="333" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XILlJwsms9s/X5ly1vmXNQI/AAAAAAAABAM/HpLkcVmN_MEw4VCkSSmHlKFUI6qdGx2WQCLcBGAsYHQ/w587-h333/John-the-Baptist%2Bat%2BJordan.jpg" width="587" /></a></div><br />Did Jesus know John before this event? How much did they meet afterwards? Both suffered violent deaths.</span></div><div class="js-comment-body post" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-top: 0.8em; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="js-non-expanded-comment" style="box-sizing: border-box;">What is the background to this relationship in the turbulent times of Israel?</span></div><div class="js-comment-body post" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-top: 0.8em; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="js-non-expanded-comment" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Context is important. This includes religious history, dates and politics.
<b>1. Dating</b>
So it is important, vital, to understand the priestly and political events of the time and also the dates of the writings.
Luke’s gospel was clearly written during the period of the high-prie</span><span class="js-expanded-comment" style="box-sizing: border-box;">sthood of Theophilus, son of Annas, son of Seth. He reigned from 37 to 41.
Luke addresses him as ‘kratiste,’ Most Excellent, using the title applied to governors etc. Theophilus was then in office. As high priest recognized by Rome, Theophilus was the ethnarch, ruler of the people. When Luke wrote the book of Acts for him, he was no longer in office and therefore not called ‘Most Excellent’, as this would be a slur and even be seen as a treasonous act to the high priest then in office.
Luke reminds Theophilus of the facts. John had a miraculous birth as his mother was ‘in old age’, beyond the age of normal childbirth. Miriam the mother of Jesus was ALSO post-menstrual, Luke 1:36. Furthermore Jesus rose from the dead and there were many witnesses of it including Romans, Luke 1:1. See Jesus, James, Joseph and the Temple on <a href="http://academia.edu/43233588" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(102, 102, 102); box-sizing: border-box; color: #428bca; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="http://academia.edu/43233588">academia.edu/43233588</a>
2. Why the shock of John?
John’s appearance on Jordan was a shock event for the priestly dynastic family of Annas. The Jerusalem elite came to the banks of the Jordan. It brought up the nightmare, earlier events of the past, of which they were clearly guilty. What was the scandal?
John and Jesus were born at the end of Herod’s despotic life. Two political events are important here. First, two scholars made an attempt to purify the Temple in anticipation of the prophesied coming of the Messiah. They pulled down a pagan eagle at the entrance to the Temple. It glorified the goddess Victory and the Roman legions.
Then came a broader revolt which ended in armed Roman intervention and the bloody War of Varus. Thousands of the faithful were crucified. Sepphoris, the reclaimed northern capital in Galilee, was burnt and its inhabitants sold into slavery.
<b>3. Murder in the Temple</b>
The Seth dynasty of priests seized power and supplanted the Boethusean priesthood by force and bloodshed.
John’s father, Zacharias, was probably killed then ‘between the altar and the Holy Place.’
A subservient high priesthood was set up in Jerusalem as the Roman controller to keep a lid on religious revolt.
Then Annas and the other sons of Seth changed some of the festival calendar and introduced other foreign Temple customs.
<b>4. What’s in a name?</b>
The mothers of John and Jesus knew each other. Their fathers too.
Troubles began with a religious dispute, escalated to civil war then bloody Roman destruction. How were John and Jesus affected by this bloody war and what were religious backgrounds of John and Jesus? History shows they left Israel in two different directions.
Why? Safety and to provide double security for continuing the priestly line.
Both John and Jesus derived their priestly prominence because of their high Aaronic pedigree. The names of their mothers show it. They were cousins and both ‘daughters of Aaron’ Luke 1:5.
John’s mother was named Elizabeth (Hebrew Elisheva, the same as the name of Aaron’s wife) and Jesus’s Mariam in NT Greek (Hebrew Miriam, the name of the prophetess and sister of Aaron and Moses).
Names were not, as today, chosen at random. They recalled verified genealogy.
The women were cousins descended directly from Aaron (Luke 1:5). When the son was named Jechoniah and not Zacharias like his father, it caused shock and surprise. 'Fear came on all that dwelt round about' Jerusalem and Judea, Lk 1:65.
Why? because it reflected back to the genealogy of Elisheva’s line, recalling</span> Onias, the high priest in Jerusalem who fled to Egypt for safety when Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the Temple, Josephus War, bk 1. Onias built a duplicate of the Temple at Heliopolis and taught priests the rituals so they would not be lost. John’s birth and naming revealed many secrets and exposed the guilty. </div><div class="js-comment-body post" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-top: 0.8em; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="js-expanded-comment" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
<b>5. Herod initially tried to control the priesthood</b>
Note that, when Herod took power, there was no true Aaronic priest in office. Initially Herod, an enthusiastic pagan, had put into priestly office those without genealogical right to the Holy Place, says Josephus. The male Aaronic line had been killed off. But a son of a ‘daughter of Aaron’ could claim office because the grandfather was an Aaronic priest.
When the NT stresses that Elizabeth and Mariam were both ‘daughters of Aaron’ it casts a slur on the genuineness of the priests that had seized office (Joshua son of Seth and Annas of Seth). It also implies that all the authentic sons of Aaron had been killed or were in hiding.
<b>6. What family, what person was the last true Aaronic priest?</b>
Go back further. Two decades before their birth, Caesar Augustus had agreed to a peace treaty with its main enemy, Parthia, which was ruled by the Hebrew-speaking Arsacid dynasty, favourable to Israel and the Jews. It insisted on religious restoration too, including that of the high-priest dynasty.
That treaty reshaped the world, till then divided in two. Parthia had trading relations as far as China and controlled parts of India.
Under this historic pact, Rome agreed on the reconstruction of the Temple under the legitimate Aaronic priesthood of Sim(e)on Boethus.
Herod was forced to concur.
Simon returned from Egyptian exile to the shock of the nation. Simon had authenticated Aaronic pedigree. He wasn’t rich but he became the lever that broke Herod’s grip on power.
Herod had married into the previous priestly dynasty, the Hasmoneans, hoping this would ensure loyalty of the population. He had forced a marriage to the daughter of that previous priestly house, even though priestly daughters were forbidden to marry outside the tribes of Israel.
The Hasmonean priestly line had died out. The last one, Aristobulus, was killed by Herod’s Gauls. Herod put in place people who had no genealogical right to the office.
The contrast was stark. Now it was clear that these fraudulent priesthoods had nothing to show compared to Simon’s. It was also obvious that they had become corrupt and Hellenised.
Herod divorced this wife, Mariamne I, the last daughter from the Hasmonean/ Maccabee dynasty. Herod forced a further marriage. The daughter of Simon became his queen, Mariamne II.
Who were these legitimate Boethusean priests who had taken shelter in Egypt during the wars and syncretic paganisation of the Maccabees? John’s naming showed he was part of the family.
<b>7. Simon Boethus</b>
Simon remained high priest and reconstructed the Temple until he was retired by Herod just before the birth of Jesus. Boethus is probably not a name but the crude Greek version of his dynastic claim. It was also useful for this not to be too obvious as the priests that got killed first were those with the most authentic genealogy.
What does Boethus signify? It is probably the Greek for Beth Yesse. That would imply that the Simonian priesthood were intermarried with the Davidic line. David was the son of Yesse.
<b>8. Where did the child, Jesus, go?</b>
Forty days after his birth Jesus was presented in the Temple where he was received by Sim(e)on. He is described as righteous, the term used often for the authentic high-priestly family. He prophesies. Simeon praises God for the coming deliverance of the country through this child as Savior.
Simon met the family in the Temple at the time of their purification ceremony and no doubt recorded the genealogical details in the archives as we see it in Matt 1 (Greek and Hebrew). The beginning of Matthew’s gospel dates from this time.
Having disclosed in Bethlehem that he was of the family of David and heir to his throne, Joseph could no longer stay in Israel. Herod was becoming more and more crazed with acute disease, conspiracies and killing potential rivals.
Jesus was taken to the same place where Simon had found safety against persecution. His father and mother took him to Egypt when he was a toddler, <i>paidion</i>.
<b>9. Where did John go?</b>
What happened to John? Luke tells us diplomatically that he went East and 'dwelt in the desert' Lk 1:80. Matthew is more specific. At thirty he returned from exile dressed in the costume of that country.
He wore a camel-hair garment and Hebrew Matthew adds a black leather belt (Roman leather was brown). See Why did John wear a camel-hair garment and a black belt? <a href="http://academia.edu/44001253" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(102, 102, 102); box-sizing: border-box; color: #428bca; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="http://academia.edu/44001253">academia.edu/44001253</a>.
Parthia, the super-power in the East, had vast resources of camels and horses. They often went into battle with multiple thousand camels, the general himself having a baggage train of a thousand, according to Plutarch: Crassus #21 in Rawlinson’s Parthia.
John’s dress implies he came directly from Parthia. (Hebrew Matthew is more specific.) It is unlikely that he previously met Jesus though he would obviously know of his relatives, equally under death threat, especially on the important topic of priestly succession.
Jesus clearly came from a senior branch of Aaronic priests, although he was younger. ‘It behoves him (Jesus) to increase, but me to decrease,’ Jn 3:30. It was a matter of precedence and prophecy.
<b>10. Why did John’s appearance on the Jordan make such an impact?
</b>Firstly he came out of exile from Rome’s hereditary enemy. Secondly he denounced the pro-Roman Quisling priesthood that displaced by force and bloodshed that of Simon the righteous. Thirdly, his own father Zacharias was probably killed by this clique, Matt 23:35. Fourthly, he preached repentance not revenge.
He led the people to baptism as a sign of their already changed lives to virtue: burial of the past in the waters. Josephus Antiq 18,5,2 (117). Baptism signifies burial and resurrection to a new spiritual life. This was like the <i>mikva</i> a personal process in front of witnesses, not a dunking by a preacher to wash away sins.
It is possible therefore that this was the first meeting of Jesus with his cousin since infancy. Their parallel lives came to the same conclusions and similar actions, reinforcing that God’s covenant with Israel demanded virtue and obedience to his laws.
<b>11. Only 2 Rabbis in NT.</b>
In the Hebrew Yosippon – which may reflect the Hebrew version that Josephus says he sent to Parthia and Scythia before writing the Greek ‘Jewish War’ – John is called ‘Rabbi John the Baptist High Priest’.
Yes, high priest. </span></div><div class="js-comment-body post" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-top: 0.8em; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="js-expanded-comment" style="box-sizing: border-box;">He had right to this office through Elizabeth/ Elisheva not his father Zacharias.
John is also called ‘Rabbi’ in the NT but it did not mean leader of a synagogue in the first century. All the documents and epigraphical remains of the period call the leader of the synagogue an archisynagogos or archon, as does the NT.
‘Rabbi’ means ‘anointed’ in Aramaic. Jesus is the only other person called Rabbi in first century literature. He is referred to more than a dozen times as priest or high priest in the book of Hebrews. He is also called Great Priest, Faithful High Priest (= Chief Priest) and Teacher, that is, the despotes of the Temple. The teacher was the controller of the Temple and it was off limits to Romans and non-Israelites. The Teacher is teaching high priests. He catechized priests like Theophilus in the Temple, Luke 1:4 Gk, katechethes.
After his resurrection, James / Jacob, his brother, was in control of the Temple rituals. All early writers, like Hegesippus, Eusebius, Jerome and others, confirm that James as Sagan or Teacher was permitted to enter the Holy Place and pray there for Israel on a daily basis.
<b>12. John as Family Defender, Goel.
</b>When Herod the Tetrarch seduced the wife of Herod (Philip) the son of Mariamne II, John risked and lost his life to defend the honor of the family.
This incident is described in Josephus Antiq 18.5 (109) and in the NT in Matt 14. It was the duty of the goel, or Redeemer, as head of the family to right the wrongs of relatives and if necessary buy back a relative from slavery.
In this case, Herod imprisoned him. The wife is named Herodias and Josephus names the daughter who requested the head of John the Baptist on a charger as Salome.
This incident shows that John was indeed a high priest and related to Mariamne II, the daughter of Simon Boethus.
<b>13. Seniority</b>
Thus we have two high priests of the authentic Aaronic family, John and Jesus, who grew up separately. John was raised in Parthia. Jesus in Egypt where Simon Boethus retained the true faith. He was then in Nazareth – the genealogical center of northern Israel, the Yeshana of Sepphoris.
Why did John cede to Jesus? Firstly Jesus was anointed possibly by Simon in the Temple after his birth when Simeon declared he was the Messiah, then by John at the baptism with the heavenly signs and divine voice, Hebrew: bat kol.
Secondly, Jesus had both high priestly pedigree through his mother and his father, and also royal blood through Joseph as the genealogy of Matt 1 shows. A king has the right over a high priest, for example, to dismiss him.
<b>14. The ‘Essene’ incident</b>
Did John and Jesus meet much after the baptism event? There is little to say they did. The incident of Mt 11 where John in prison sends two disciples to enquire whether Jesus was definitely the Messiah, ‘the one to come’, suggests that they did not meet previously to discuss this.
Jesus replies that the sick were being healed; the blind were given back their sight; lepers are cleansed, deaf hear and the dead are raised. That seems an extraordinary list ending with the dead being raised. But it does not end there. Jesus adds what to materialists may seem incongruous: ‘the poor have the Gospel preached to them.’
This is clearly more important than all the rest. It speaks of the coming Kingdom of God.
What is also remarkable is that this unusual order of events is repeated in what is considered an Essean document among the Dead Sea Scrolls, 4Q521 called ‘Redemption and Resurrection.’ It says ‘The Eternal shall do glorious things that have not been done, just as he said. For he shall heal the critically wounded. He shall revive the dead. He shall send good news to the afflicted.’
This implies that both were in communication through this group who represented the combined royal line and priestly line in Israel.</span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-71940191495756082742020-10-18T06:29:00.003-07:002020-10-18T06:38:02.645-07:00Why did Matthew write that Jesus was called Nazarene and thus fulfilled prophecy? <p>The Gospel of Matthew says that Joseph, Mariam and Jesus came to live in Nazareth. That fulfilled the words spoken by the prophets that '<i>He shall be called a Nazarene (Nazarean, </i>Greek:<i> nazooraios).</i>' So says Matt 2:23. </p><p>What was the prophecy and where is it? Bible sceptics say that nowhere in the Bible is there such a prophecy written. They say that shows Matthew made up false stories. But these sceptics do not tend to point out that Matthew says the prophecy was spoken, not written.</p><p>But there is another grave error, a humongous one. In fact the prophecy encompasses more or less every prophecy ever written or spoken by Israelite prophets. </p><p>How? </p><p>There is a key factor that such commentators willingly leave out. They are too often microscopically concentrated on not only the letters of the text, (not even the meaning of the words). They become victims of unsubstantiated theories about how and when the gospel of Matthew was written. </p><p>Let's first deal with the historical facts. </p><p><b>Despotism</b></p><p>What most commentators leave out is the historical context – Herodian despotism. Herod killed his own sons because he merely suspected them of disloyalty. How do you think he would react to everyone calling Jesus: Jesus the Messiah, the king, the rightful son of David, and only legitimate heir to rule Israel? </p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lo6-NZ8ET88/X4w04t4ET9I/AAAAAAAAA-0/zkaMXAM1d7Y_ibJUKJ6-dIBJvJRoqkRJACLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/Herod%2Bmassacre%2Bof%2BInnocents%2BKerald%2Bin%2BCodex_Egberti.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="792" data-original-width="1024" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lo6-NZ8ET88/X4w04t4ET9I/AAAAAAAAA-0/zkaMXAM1d7Y_ibJUKJ6-dIBJvJRoqkRJACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Herod%2Bmassacre%2Bof%2BInnocents%2BKerald%2Bin%2BCodex_Egberti.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Herod's Massacre of the Innocents (Kerold)</span></i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Herod's record was as clear as red blood on a white linen cloth. When it came to Jewish pretenders to what he considered his throne, given him by Rome, he wiped from the face of the earth anyone who could claim Davidic heritage. <p></p><p>He burned the family archives and the city of Bethlehem. </p><p>When Parthian Magi announced that the Davidic Messiah was born he ordered a baby genocide. He killed all children under two in an area from Bethlehem in the south to the northern suburbs of Jerusalem.</p><p>No one even dared to name a child David in Herod’s time. </p><p>Joseph, Jacob, Simon, Judas, yes. </p><p>David absolutely not.</p><p><b>What has this to do with Nazareth?</b></p><p>Imagine someone who supported the Czar in the time of Stalin’s USSR. Would they call the group, the ‘<i>Czarist</i>’ group? Would they proclaim: ‘<i>I am a Czarist</i>’?</p><p>They would be dead men. </p><p>Subtly and truth are required. The prophets referred to in Matt 2 most obviously include those such as Isaiah, Ezekiel and Micah that refer to the Davidic Messiah – the Branch (<i>Netzer</i>) of David.</p><p>Why is Nazareth mentioned frequently in the NT and Nazarene describes the followers of Christ? The answer is the same to the question: why is the capital of Galilee, Sepphoris, not mentioned at all? </p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bWsfsh2OnLY/X4w9WjO4mZI/AAAAAAAAA_A/1G6Wh5-g_PUYqibZ1_zIyRF4NDnBvsjEQCLcBGAsYHQ/s819/Nazareth%2Bin%2BCaesarea%2Bstone.webp" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="819" data-original-width="648" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bWsfsh2OnLY/X4w9WjO4mZI/AAAAAAAAA_A/1G6Wh5-g_PUYqibZ1_zIyRF4NDnBvsjEQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Nazareth%2Bin%2BCaesarea%2Bstone.webp" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Nazareth in Ceasarea inscription <br />of priestly courses</i></span><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Sepphoris became a pagan Roman town. Nazareth was a suburb of the capital. The name of the town, Nazareth, was found on a stone tablet in Caesarea in 1962. It lists the priestly courses or <i>mishmarot</i> and their geographical assembly points. It is clear from the spelling Nazareth has nothing to do with the Nasarites of Num 6. <p></p><p>Nazareth was holy. Sepphoris was unholy and Roman. It was previously a center of rebellion. It had been the center of Israelites and Jews reclaiming their hereditary land after the return from Babylonian captivity. In a revolt against Roman oppression of their religious beliefs, the population had been slaughtered or sent into slavery. It had been rebuilt. Now it was ultra loyal to Herodian Rome.</p><p>Jews and Israelites still returned. According to Josephus, millions of the faithful attended the annual festivals in Jerusalem. Only those who could prove that they were legitimate Israelites with proven genealogy could attend. </p><p>Talmudic sources say the genealogical history of all legitimate Israelites (and a few non-Israelites too) was found in the archives of the Depository (Jeshana) of Sepphoris. It had pedigree records (copies or originals) of material Herod tried to destroy in the family archives in Jerusalem to assure his dominance. </p><p>For priests and Israelites, </p><p> ‘If his father’s name was found in the archives at Sepphoris, no further inquiry was made.’ </p><p>Evidently this vital history of Israel and material for its future was not in the city center where pagan riots could burn them. It was on a defendable hill as the NT describes for Nazareth. </p><p><b>Israel a society ruled by pedigree.</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="Matthew-Chapter%2B1%2BKJV.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1011" data-original-width="660" height="520" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HNOEIKzCyRE/X4xAE0fRE3I/AAAAAAAAA_M/UkcRsExqYXoKJwv8Cw6cJWqnH432dj42ACLcBGAsYHQ/w339-h520/Matthew-Chapter%2B1%2BKJV.jpg" width="339" /></a></div>It is no coincidence that the first words of the New Testament are a genealogical listing of Jesus Christ's family back to Abraham. In the Hebrew Scriptures the last book is that of Chronicles, which lists the genealogies of kings and priests.<p></p><p><br />Proof of genealogical pedigree was essential in all levels of Israelite society. Israel was probably the strictest and most prominent genealogically-centered society on earth. </p><p>It was impossible to enter the Temple without proof of descent – legitimate descent reinforced at least by 2 or 3 honest witnesses– from one of the twelve tribes. </p><p>Priestly pedigree had even stricter rules. They had to marry virgins from a tribe of Israel. Israelites were allowed to marry virgins of converted gentiles.</p><p>Thus protecting the identity of an authentic descendant of David from Herod required subtlety and ruse. Hence the term '<i>Nazarene</i>' was used. It meant the Messiah who fulfilled the Tanakh prophetic promises from Genesis to Chronicles. </p><p>But it was camouflage for Romans and Herodians. To foreigners and gentiles it meant a man from a small town near the Rome-loyal city of Sepphoris. That is evident in the varieties of describing a man from Nazareth. How did these Nazarene variations arise and by whom?</p><p>There are variations of the term of Nazarene: <i>nazooraios</i> or <i>nazarinos</i>. The town of Nazareth itself is spelt in several ways, ending with -a, -ath, -eth or -et. These may be due to local use or in the case of non-believers like the servant girl who accused Peter as understanding it to refer to a geographical location of a suburb of the Galilean capital Sepphoris. ‘<i>His speech betrays him.</i>’</p><p>For the faithful Hebrew-speakers the name Nazareth could mean the city of Genealogies or Branches. The Hebrew word '<i>Netzer</i>' means branch or off-shoot or descendant. </p><p>Jesus the Nazarene means Jesus of the Branch of David. It encompasses the main prophecies of the whole Bible. </p><p><b>Centuries of Regicide</b></p><p>The term ‘<i>Nazarene</i>’ derives from <i>Netzer</i>, an off-shoot or branch, someone who was a legitimate Davidic descendant or part of this Davidic group. That is Hebrew. Few gentiles knew Hebrew and even less had access to the records. </p><p>In Herod’s time anyone saying ‘I can prove I am a Son of David’ outside the Temple (where gentiles were not allowed) would be killed by Herod’s men. Nazarene or ‘<i>Branchist</i>’ implied a Davidic descent without being overt. </p><p>The Helenistic Syrians under the Seleucids did their level best to eradicate the Davidic line. The Maccabees or Hasmoneans liberated the land from this pagan oppression. But they did not want a Davidic king to replace their military power based on their high priests. Instead they claimed to be 'ethnarchs' or rulers of the people. And then they succumbed to self-pride and made themselves kings. </p><p>The Hasmoneans were not able to resist the intrusion of Roman power. But in the Roman civil wars they allied themselves to Julius Caesar and won recognition '<i>for ever</i>' as rulers of Israel. They had no interest in seeing a Davidic king. Then Rome decided to make Herod king of Judea. The high priest was demoted to be a Quisling of Roman power. Herod was ruthless in wiping out any opposition.</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8QRW1Wt9oDU/X4xCz0wW0nI/AAAAAAAAA_g/GSzLkdbHpvcaHUFqcRns8_54yMEu0IKDQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1012/Herod%2Bthe%2Bgreat.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1012" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8QRW1Wt9oDU/X4xCz0wW0nI/AAAAAAAAA_g/GSzLkdbHpvcaHUFqcRns8_54yMEu0IKDQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Herod%2Bthe%2Bgreat.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Herod the Great Despot</i></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />In all these centuries of the post-exile world up till Joseph, father of Jesus, the identity and even the existence of the Davidic line was obscured to the point of its assumed non-existence. The rigidly enforced Herodian/ Roman ‘registration’ of the Bethlehem property forced Joseph to courageously step forward and reveal his royal lineage. He had been able previously to distract attention because he also held priestly (Levitical) lineage.<p></p><div>There was one place on earth were Herod's men could not enter. That was the Temple.</div><p><b>The danger without</b></p><p>Jesus would be killed, if, outside the Temple, he openly proclaimed that he was the Son of David. But the death sentence would also apply to those who Herod thought would support this assertion. Outside the Temple the people took their life in their hands to call Jesus, Son of David. That would be deadly for Jesus and anyone who was seen concurring with the title. He told people bluntly not to say this title.</p><p>Desperate people sometimes make desperate moves. </p><p>In Matt 9:27 two blind men cried out: Son of David, have mercy on us! </p><p>He asked them whether they believed he could heal them and did so. Then he charged them: 'See that no man know it.' v30. It was dangerous for the newly sighted men and anyone who agreed with them. Later other blind people used the same psychological technique to be cured because they knew he could heal them, Matt 20:30. In Mk 10:47, Bartimeus, after regaining his sight, stuck with him as the safest place. In Luke 18:39 the crowds rebuked the blind man, for crying out, Son of David, -- before he was healed. </p><p><b>After the Resurrection</b></p><p>After the Resurrection, it was different. It was witnessed and affirmed officially by Romans. </p><p>In the 60s, decades after the Resurrection, believers were all normally referred to as Nazarenes. Paul was called a Nazarene in Acts 24:5. It was proof of Christ's future active kingship of the planet. </p><p>He wrote: </p><p>Jesus Christ (=Jesus the anointed king) came from the seed of David according to the flesh.’ Rom 1:1-3. </p><p>When, in John 1:46-9, Nathanael acclaims ‘<i>Jesus the son of Joseph who is from Nazareth</i>’ to be ‘<i>Son of God and king of Israel</i>’ it was completely verified in the most authentic genealogical archives of Israel and unchallengeable.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>The early ekklesia was Nazarene, not Christian</b></p><p>Paul was not a Christian. He was a Nazarene. </p><p>Once Jesus had proved his Messiahship, by the resurrection and the Romans acknowledged it, it was more easy to overtly identify as Nazarene followers, like Paul and the early ekklesia. </p><p>The Hebrew term, Nazarene, was the normal name for Christ’s followers. </p><p>Around the time of Caligula in 41 CE, when he was trying to destroy all Judaism, the term ‘Christian’ was first invented. It was used as an insult by gentile Greeks of Antioch, Acts 11:26. This belittles the prophetic resonance of Nazarene, the legitimate Davidic King, destined to rule the world, to a mere leader of a movement. The significance of holy oil and anointing was lost on pagans. ‘Christian’ became the official term for the imperial Roman syncretic religion. </p><p>The faithful Nazarenes were excluded and persecuted.</p><p><br /></p><div><b>Further Proof that Nazarene meant Davidic genealogy </b></div><div><br /></div><div>The Messiah fulfilled genealogical prophecies. He was to be the Son of David, however unlikely that appeared to be in the early first century. There was no movement called the Davidics. The three main groups, according to Josephus were the Sadducees, Pharisees and Essenes. The NT speaks a lot about the first two groups and condemns many of their practices. It does not condemn any practice of the Essenes. Why? It does not even mention them by name! That too was a camouflage name.</div><p>The other deadly exposure of linguistic Davidism was also relieved after the resurrection. Those who supported Davidic legitimacy and purity across all Israel were known as Essenes or more correctly Esseans. Josephus uses both terms. </p><p>Essene comes from the Latin usage. Where does the term Essean come from? It relates to Yesse or Jesse, the father of David. As late as the 400s CE Epiphanius, the bishop of Constantia of the imperial church, a converted Jew who knew Hebrew, wrote a list of the origin and beliefs of early Christian groups. He wanted them eliminated. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5819-epiphanius</p><p>On the Nazarenes he said: </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">‘These people did not give themselves the name of Christ or Jesus’ own name, but that of Nazoreans. They also came to be called ‘Jesseans’ for a short while, before the disciples began to be called Christians at Antioch. But they were called Jesseans because of Jesse, I suppose, since David was descended from Jesse…’ Panarion 2.29.</p></blockquote><p>This shows that '<i>Nazarene</i>' relates directly to the genealogical prophecies of the whole Bible. The parallel name of Esseans is also of genealogical origin. Both have significance for the prophecies of the Messiah made over the many centuries of Israel’s history. </p><div>The real meaning of <i>Nazarene</i> is a topic of no trivial importance but a major one in the history of the world. It uncovers the prophetic nature of the coming of God's Messiah or Christ. It also describes those, like Paul before Agrippa, who were convinced by Christ to follow him, even to death. </div><div>It encapsulates the truth of God Christ revealed by his resurrection to Jew and Gentile, the entire world.</div><p><br /></p><p></p>David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-84711444940735148162020-08-13T12:40:00.000-07:002020-08-20T04:05:53.166-07:00Why did John the Baptist wear a black belt and camel hair garment?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>John the Baptist and the Black Belt business</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John the Baptist, <br />
by Brueghel the Elder</td></tr>
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Among the score of surviving manuscripts in Hebrew of the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 3, all manuscripts are unanimous about describing John the Baptist.<br />
He wore a black belt.<br />
Thanks to the tireless work of <a href="https://www.nehemiaswall.com/category/podcast/hebrew-gospel-pearls">Nehemia Gordon</a> and his team, some 21 Hebrew manuscripts have been found and checked in Museums like the British Museum, Israel and even in the recesses at the Vatican. Those derived from the Hebrew Matthew manuscript of Shem-Tov, known as '<i>the Ancient</i>', a fourteenth century Jewish polemicist, repeat one word:<br />
<br />
Black.<br />
The Greek and the Latin Vulgate do not say that. Nor do other translations. The Greek Matthew and the KJV say that John wore a coat of camel hair and was girded with a leather belt. It says nothing of the color.<br />
So why are the Hebrew versions so adamant on the color being black?<br />
History records that Matthew wrote his gospel first in Hebrew. What we have today are a variety of documents, but none of them are originals from the first century. They are either copies of copies etc of the originals with variations and mistakes or some may be translations from the Greek for use in the grand and dangerous debates between Jews and Roman Catholics. In these debates the Jews had to maintain a position without contradicting Catholic doctrine. A difficult and sometimes lethal game of words.<br />
<br />
But whoever wrote these multiple documents, whether free or persecuted, careful or not, they all wrote a word that is not found in Greek: black.<br />
<br />
What is the significance of the black belt? Black belt has a special connotation today: martial arts. Obviously this black belt does not relate to Judo. What about Judah? Hebrew descriptions must have something to do with Jews! Why do all the Jewish scribes writing over several centuries and in different countries and cultures, emphasise black? How could it be coordinated so widely and accurately?<br />
But does it really even relate to Jews? Is there a deeper, traumatic story about Israel that no one could forget? Why was the '<i>black</i>' belt not relevant for Gentile/ Greek Christians who had the Greek NT?<br />
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<b>Rabbi John the Baptist</b><br />
John is called a Rabbi in the Greek NT, John 3:26. This has nothing to do with a modern Jewish synagogue rabbi – the NT and other writings use another term for the ruler of the synagogue, ‘<i>archon</i>’. ‘<i>Rabbi</i>’ in the first century meant a member of the Council of the Temple, or perhaps the Great Council (sanhedrin). It was most likely the anointed head of the Temple Council. Only two people in all the NT are called rabbi: John and Jesus. Paul is not called a <i>rabbi</i>.<br />
This restricted sense of Rabbi as an anointed post is confirmed by the Hebrew version of Josephus’s ‘<i>Jewish War</i>’ known as the ‘<i>Destruction of Jerusalem</i>’ by ‘<i>Josephus ben Gorion</i>’. Flavius Josephus said he wrote his first account to his countrymen, that is Israelites, and identified them as Scythians, Parthians and Kelts. They spoke many languages with Hebrew and Aramaic as a common tongue. Despised and feared by Romans, Latins and Greeks, who called them ‘<i>the Upper Barbarians,</i>’ they lived and roamed across the whole earth North of Rome from the Steppes to Northern Europe.<br />
With the rise of biblical scholarship, this Hebrew <i>Destruction of Jerusalem</i> was translated and first printed in English in 1558 by Peter Morvyn. Many reprints followed. Thus it predates the English translation of the Greek Flavius Josephus. It was much better known until Whiston's translation of the Greek became a standard in Christian homes alongside the Bible.<br />
The Hebrew version, known as <i>Josippon</i>, has some surprises.<br />
In it John is not only called Rabbi but ‘<i>Rabbi John Baptist <u>the High Priest</u>.</i>’<br />
High Priest!<br />
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<b>The real Rabbi</b><br />
First what did Rabbi mean? Historically the word ‘<i>rabbi</i>’ appears in writing first in the NT. At that time it may have been an Aramaic title—it means ‘<i>anointed</i>’ in Aramaic.<br />
It is not in the Dead Sea Scrolls.<br />
In the first century it was later confused by Christ's enemies with Hebrew for ‘<i>my master</i>’, as Jesus says, Matt 23. The scholars '<i>have sat down on</i>' or placed themselves falsely on '<i>Moses's seat</i>' (took it over). They act holy but are hypocrites. They prostrate themselves in the streets, then shout ‘<i>my master</i>’ to each other in the market place, hoping the common people would understand it as Aramaic ‘<i>Anointed One</i>’. (The scholars were NOT anointed.)<br />
Jesus told the disciples not to call each other Rabbi = <i>Christos</i> or Messiah.<br />
Did the false scholars stop? Obviously not.<br />
‘<i>Rabbi</i>’ became a common term in the Talmud, (2nd/3rd century) synagogues or among Jewish scholars of the Pharisaic persuasion. Some Jews including Karaites objected to this title. They dismissively called such people ‘<i>rabbinites</i>’.<br />
<br />
<b>Black Belt</b><br />
So what of the black belt? Why do the Jewish MSS insist on it? Simply because the high priest did not wear a black leather belt. He does not wear any leather. In the Temple he wore linen and no leather, not even sandals. In the synagogue pious Jews do not wear leather, especially on fasting days such as the Day of Atonement. They don't even wash. Yet the Torah scrolls themselves are made of leather.<br />
As for camels, a single camel hair might render a priest ceremonially unclean.<br />
The High Priest’s dress is specified in the Bible, Ex 28. No camels, no leather!<br />
The Jewish versions are trying to insist that John was not a regular high priest. The NT is also shouting this out.<br />
Why did John have a black leather belt? A priest has a white linen girdle. The Pharisees might say:<br />
<br />
Imagine that! Black leather! Is he really an Aaronic high priest?<br />
<br />
Yes, he was.<br />
An additional fact supports the case. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothing_in_ancient_Rome#Leather_and_hide">Romans' economy required leather</a> in large quantities. Their tanning process produced brown cow leather in large amounts, but outside towns and cities. The tanning process caused bad and persistent smells.<br />
This leather was not only for belts and clothes but for military tents. If leather was tawed with alum it became softer and had a lighter tone but could then be dyed. Sheep leather is also softer; goat leather may be tougher. Softer leather is not best for a testing environment like a desert. So if it was dyed black by the Roman process it would be too soft for a sturdy belt. Roman leather was typically brown. A brown belt would be normal in a Roman context.<br />
Black was unusual for Romans. Did it identify the wearer as coming from Parthia? Methods of curing leather vary with social cultures. East of the Roman Empire smoking and the use of special green leaves and fats would have produced a different-looking product.<br />
<br />
This character, Rabbi John the Baptist the high priest, was wearing clothes that were not typical of Jews, certainly not of high priests like Annas, and not of Romans.<br />
<br />
<b>The Camel Superpower</b><br />
The further clue is in the other part of his dress: a garment of camel hair. This was even more removed from the Torah's <i>byssus</i>, sparkling white linen, from the flax plant. More so, camel hair was foreign and, to some, inappropriate and even unclean. The camel was not a sacrificially pure animal. Moreover it was so basically foreign, no Jew in Israel would wear it.<br />
Camels today are associated with regions like Arabia. In the first century they were a symbol of powerful lands further East like Parthia and Bactria. (The Bactrian camel famously has two humps.)<br />
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Parthia was the great superpower rival of the Romans. Compare the rivalry to that of USA and USSR. But Parthia was not a military dictatorship like Rome, but a freer mercantile confederation, run by a royalty that had been formerly transported as slaves under the Assyrians. It had links as far away as China.<br />
It was mighty in battle too. It had defeated Roman legions several times and even liberated Israel from Rome. It installed its own high priest there.<br />
Parthia, under its Semitic kings, the Arsacids, with major populations of Israelites and Jews, was intimately involved with the priesthood.<br />
So the NT is saying that John came from those many worshippers in Parthia (as mentioned in Acts 2:9, and the Parthian Magi of Matt 2).<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f3YW0bnOoP0/XzhMfKVqZTI/AAAAAAAAA8Y/wfJM_0vcINMhkvQPa733-Kppe3L8_XnBgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Coin_of_Phraates_IV%252C_Mithradatkirt_mint.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="399" height="194" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f3YW0bnOoP0/XzhMfKVqZTI/AAAAAAAAA8Y/wfJM_0vcINMhkvQPa733-Kppe3L8_XnBgCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/Coin_of_Phraates_IV%252C_Mithradatkirt_mint.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Phraates IV, defeated Mark Antony.<br />
Augustus made a peace treaty with him.</td></tr>
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Parthia had made a peace treaty with Rome around 20 BCE so the Temple could be rebuilt and glorified in peace. The Magi were the powerful priestly class of Parthia who selected, elected and deposed their kings. The commander, the <i>surena</i>, traveled with a personal entourage and personal baggage train of 10,000 camels, Rawlinson's <i>Parthia</i>, p94.<br />
<br />
<b>Who did John proclaim to?</b><br />
The KJV says that John proclaimed the coming of God's ruler, the Messiah, and his Kingdom of the Heavens at the Jordan river. Why not Jerusalem? Why not elsewhere?<br />
Those who came to him came from '<i>Jerusalem and all Judea and all the country around about the Jordan</i>.' KJV. '<i>All the adjacent region</i>' is somewhat vague in Greek and may have been so phrased with political sensitivity as the Greek text was read by Romans and Gentiles.<br />
But the Hebrew says much more. It is not just the countryside that is mentioned in the Hebrew, or the cities.<br />
It says they came from '<i>all the kingdom around about the Jordan.</i>'<br />
Legally speaking only Herod had been proclaimed a king, that of Judea, by the Romans. Is that what is meant? Judea is already mentioned without the name of the hated Herod. So '<i>kingdom</i>' must be elsewhere.<br />
The Hebrew <i>Malkhut</i> can be translated '<i>kingdom'</i> but also '<i>Empire</i>'.<br />
For those in the East of Israel that was an unmistakable reference. Israel was living next to the big superpower of Parthian Empire and its satellite kingdoms. These were part of the Israelite '<i>family business</i>' -- members of the Arsacid dynasty as distinct from Rome where the most powerful military leader became the Caesar. Israel was a small State captured by Rome next to a huge empire. Imagine being occupied by the Soviet Union with a major superpower just across the borders!<br />
So those who came to hear John herald the coming Kingdom of Heaven would know that<br />
(a) John was speaking about a regime change of both Rome and Parthia and everyone else.<br />
(b) John's dress showed he knew what he was talking about when it came to Parthia and military power.<br />
(c) the Roman-Parthia peace treaty and the Temple was the start of something really BIG. <br />
<br />
<b>Preserving the Aaronic line</b><br />
John as an infant may have been taken in Parthia for safety after the turmoil around the death of Herod and the bloody civil and religious war and the subsequent Roman war of Varus against Jews, which devastated the country. Two thousand people were crucified. Jesus was taken to Egypt for safety.<br />
Later in the same condemnation of Matt 23, Jesus denounces the cultic high priests (the sons of Annas, the son of Seth) and Pharisees who had taken over the high priesthood. He says they were hypocrites taking control of holy things while being responsible for the death of Zacharias (the father of John?), slain between the Holy Place and Altar.<br />
The key fact that is often forgotten is that John’s mother and Mariam, the mother of Jesus, were cousins, Luke 1:36. Both were registered in genealogical archives not only as being of the priestly Levitical tribe but direct descendants of Aaron, Luke 1:5. That made their sons far more legitimate than Annas, Caiaphas and the later sons of Annas, who claimed the office.<br />
Both women gave birth, one to John, and Mariam to Jesus, in their old age (Greek, <i>gera</i>. Luke 1:36 Elizabeth has ALSO conceived a son in her old age.) There is no evidence that Mariam was 14 years old. The NT says the opposite. These names reflect back to Miriam, the sister of Moses, who also gave birth in her old age, and Elizabeth = Hebrew Elisheva, the Jewish wife of Aaron.<br />
John became the true Aaronic priest at 30 years.<br />
Outside the Temple, authentic high priests do not have to wear white linen garments, as some Pharisees might have said. He can wear a black leather belt and also camel hair garments like the Magi from Parthia.<br />
If John had been living in Parthia, he would have known from the Magi that they had proof that the Messiah of royal David descent had been born in the Davidic city of Bethlehem. His genealogy was confirmed not only in the Jewish archives but by the Roman authorities who had demanded the registration of families.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-1124343297797937992020-05-04T13:12:00.001-07:002020-05-31T06:38:58.959-07:00Where did God come from?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="marker"><strong><span style="font-size: 14px;">Where did God come from?</span></strong></span></h3>
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or </div>
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<strong>Physical reality can really exercise your mind!</strong></h3>
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To answer the question, let's start with the solid world of physics. At the start of the Universe there was <strong>INFORMATION</strong>, lots of it. Some people think of this beginning as a 'Big Bang'.<br />
Wrong.<br />
That implies an explosion where information and order is destroyed in a BANG. </div>
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All physicists now recognize that a different process took place. A vast amount of information was brought into effect (laws of mathematics, laws of physics, constants of physics, and constants of mathematics like Pi, and laws of morality of good and not-so-good etc).</div>
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That BEGINNING was the most ordered part of the history of our universe. The second law of thermodynamics is about decay of order. It shows that order, form and shape fall apart. Things decay. Iron rusts. Houses collapse to ruins. Hot and cold mix to form a uniform lukewarm temperature. Unless there is a sustainer.... For us photosynthesis and the sun's energy stop us from becoming cold and dead.</div>
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We on the Earth, that was formed only 4 1/2 billion years ago, are not the most ordered part of the universe but part of what we have after the passage in time of the universe formed about 14 billions of our years ago. Materially we are decay products -- if no further input has been given to the Universe in those years as we count them and imagine have past.</div>
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What does Physics tell us? <strong>Information cannot be destroyed.</strong> Laws of Physics remain the same. However, -- wait for it -- there are massively disturbing consequences for this. Order, shape and form can be destroyed Big Time in a Black Hole.<br />
<br />
With a Black Hole we move from changes of shape as might happen in a car crash or composition as might happen in a chemical reaction, or even the effects of an atomic bomb to something beyond violent destruction. A Black Hole makes mincemeat of atoms and even atomic particles and its most intimate substructures, crushing them to seeming oblivion.<br />
Can information be 'done in' too? </div>
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When matter is pulverized in a Black Hole, where does the information go? After some controversy among physicists they came to a common understanding. Information can't be lost. (Crushing does not go on forever. Matter and radiation is eventually spewed out in devastatingly powerful beams.)</div>
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So what happens to the information?<br />
The information relating to shape and form of a theoretical space ship falling into it is held at the '<em>event horizon'</em> . That is the border where we see object around or crashing into a Black Hole and them disappearing to be crushed to pieces and where light cannot leave the hole because the gravity is so strong.</div>
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This event horizon or border can be considered to be like a two dimensional sheet wrapped around the Black Hole. It has no thickness. It is more than a two-dimensional spherical map. Think of it as a hologram. A plain sheet hologram can project a three dimensional reality as we move and observe it. The mathematical data is the same. But curiously those looking from the outside at the Black Hole and those on the space ship plunging into it see the event horizon in slightly different places!<br />
In fact everything can be considered in the same way as a hologram.</div>
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<em>Short video:</em> <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/video/is-our-universe-a-hologram-video/" style="color: #4a85df; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">https://www.scientificamerican.com/video/is-our-universe-a-hologram-video/</a></div>
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<em>Longer amusing video</em> at World Science Festival with top physicists including ex-plumber Prof <strong>Leonard Susskind</strong> (who has a separate presentation on this on the Net.). <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnETCBOlzJs" style="color: #4a85df; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnETCBOlzJs</a><br />
He says the permanence of information is more sure than, in effect, the physicality of the universe (such as what happens inside a black hole). All the information inside the Black Hole can be converted to information in (bit-like) information units on its surface area.</div>
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This led to the broader principle that all the information could be recorded on its surface with bits of Planck cube size (1.6 x 10 to minus 35 meter). All information about you materially could be written on your surface. (Caution: this 'information' that scientists talk of is the material universe, its atoms, substructure plus such effects as light photons. It does not refer to the conscience spirit of man or the existence of a non-material spirit world. That can't be measured by the best of scientists.)<br />
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All the material information in the universe can be written on its surface. What is the surface of the universe? Where does it end? It is not only expanding but accelerating in the expansion. </div>
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<strong>Information is eternal as far as physicists can tell. Information is the true track to understand about God. Solomon wrote: </strong><br />
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<strong>Great is God above all 'gods'. The heaven and heaven of the heavens cannot contain him.</strong></blockquote>
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We cannot hide ourselves anywhere in the Universe from God. It is like trying to hide on a flat plain where we would stick out. Jeremiah 23:24 records:<br />
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<b>'Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?' says the Eternal.<br />'Do I not fill heaven and earth?' says the Eternal.'</b></blockquote>
So 3-D information in our universe can be seen as a two dimensional hologram.<br />
<br />
What about <strong>TIME</strong>? Four dimensions of Space-Time of Relativity can be considered to be like a graph paper. In effect, we can move our finger to a point in the graph but the line of the graph exists of itself.<br />
A satellite around the earth has a different clock than a clock on surface. Why? Because it is moving at speed. We all have a different clock. The universe too. It started as a huge expansion with small space and compressed time.</div>
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<a href="http://www.geraldschroeder.com/AgeUniverse.aspx" style="color: #4a85df; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;"><strong>Gerald Schroeder</strong></a> showed that the expansion of the universe could be considered as Six Days of a Creation doubling in size and expanding the notion of time from an earth point of view. The process of expansion of the universe doubles the four dimensions of space-time. Time expands! If someone sent a pulse of light out every second at the start of the universe, it would take longer to reach us because both the distance and the time frame is expanding.<br />
How much? A million million seconds!<br />
The God-perspective of the Creator sees it as six days. The factor of expansion is a million million, and six times a million million DAYS equals around 15 billion years. This must be the only way to look at it if time is relative. Recent discoveries found the cosmic microwave radiation background temperature to be around 2.73 degrees Kelvin (from the 3.03 it would be otherwise) and astoundingly that the universe is accelerating in its expansion. Schroeder is able to correct the age of the universe in our terms to be about 14 billion years.<br />
Viewed from God's angle as Creator, the days of the universe would measure in our years:<br />
Day 1 7.1 billion years<br />
Day 2 3.6 billion years<br />
Day 3 1.8 billion years<br />
Day 4 0.89 billion years<br />
Day 5 450million years<br />
Day 6 230 million years<br />
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The Greeks thought of the standards of length and time as absolute. The Hebrews didn't. Days were measured from sunset to sunset, not by a mechanical clock. The movement of the earth around the sun was another clock for the Hebrews. But that is not mechanical and varies because the earth moves in an ellipse not a circle and it 'wobbles' and is influenced by the moon and other planets.<br />
It is quite different from the system scientists use today which is Caesium isotope decay.<br />
We live in a culture dominated by the false Hellenistic world view. That makes it harder for us to grasp some of these concepts. Schroeder shows that the Jews had a long tradition about a view of the Six Days of Genesis that is entirely in harmony with modern physics, and our understanding of the age of the universe as we see it. It also provides material for further scientific investigation. </div>
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How should we consider time? What does the four-dimensional map of space time look like? Philosopher <strong>Huw Price</strong> (no relation) talks to <strong>Robert Kuhn</strong> about this substratum of time in the following video. <a href="https://www.space.com/29859-the-illusion-of-time.html">https://www.space.com/29859-the-illusion-of-time.html</a></div>
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Physicists have also identified an area of information that humans cannot access. When I was at university it was called the <em><strong>Absolute Elsewhere</strong></em>.<br />
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All the above assumes physics is dealing with materialism. (Materialism is a false theory that has led to both Communism and Fascism.) The idea of <strong>LIFE</strong> -- that is only found on Earth -- having a <strong><em>spiritual existence</em></strong> lies far beyond this present discussion. </div>
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So we are left with the conclusion from the most down-to-earth people, physicists, that</div>
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<strong>Real Reality</strong> lies outside our experience. We may be creations in the mind of God. Physics shows us that we are in some ways imaginary in a greater mind.</blockquote>
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<strong>This real reality begins with an Information-giver. That is the Being I worship. The logical linkage shows he is the God of the Bible. </strong> </div>
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David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-75171343344303328052019-12-19T10:48:00.000-08:002020-02-08T06:29:34.560-08:00How modern historians got confused over the year of Christ's birth<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
What year was Jesus born? Today a reader will find a range of dates but this was not always the case. In the time most close to the actual birth there was little doubt as to what year Jesus was born. Everyone, with hardly any exception, was unanimous. What was that year? When and why did all the confused scholarship about the date arise, so that today few people really can put a finger on the year?<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>No year Zero!</b><br />
Most people know that it wasn't a Year Zero. Why? Because the year zero does not exist in the system of BC and AD (Before Christ and Anno Domini= year of our Lord).<br />
The system of dating goes from one BC and then directly to one AD. It does not pass by year Zero. It is not like mathematics where a graph has an origin of zero and to the left is -1 and to the right is +1.<br />
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That is why most historians nowadays use the system of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Era">Common Era</a> where no implications about the year of the birth of Jesus are involved. That's because the BC/ AD system was introduced in Rome by a learned, multilingual Scythian monk, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysius_Exiguus">Dionysius Exiguus</a>, (c470-c544) who got his arithmetic slightly wrong.<br />
However the CE system makes little difference to the dates as 1999 AD = 1999 CE and 444 BC = 444 BCE (Before the Common Era).<br />
The Astronomer Johannes Kepler is generally credited with starting the system of Common Era as it was necessary for years to be properly identified without ambiguity when scientists were discussing the years when planets and comets approached the earth in their orbits.<br />
<br />
<b>When was Jesus born?</b><br />
It would have been simpler for scientists and historians to correct Dionysius's mathematics and leave it at that. However there was still a slight disagreement among specialists about which year that was.<br />
<br />
All the early chroniclers and historians were in agreement that the birth happened within a very few years of around 2 or 3 BCE. There are slight variations as various calendar systems were used in different locations. Some calendars begin in January, others in August or October. The Hebrew calendar begins in the autumnal month of Tishrei, based on a 19 year cycle that is automatically adjusted to the seasons.<br />
Here's what the various authorities said, adjusted to our calendar:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/irenaeus">Irenaeus</a> (late 2nd century) 41st year of Augustus = Aug 3 to Aug 2 BCE<br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/tertullian">Tertullian</a> c 200 41st year of Augustus = Aug 3 to Aug 2 BCE<br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/origen">Origen</a> (early third century) 41st year of Augustus = Aug 3 to Aug 2 BCE<br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clement_of_Alexandria">Clement of Alexandria</a> (c 200) 28 years after Cleopatra's death = Aug 3 to Aug 2 BCE<br />
Julius Africanus (c 200) . 2nd yr 194 Olympics . = Oct 3 to Sept 2 BCE<br />
Hippolytus of Rome 2nd yr 194 Olympics . = Oct 3 to Sept 2 BCE<br />
Eusebius (c 300) 42 year of Augustus from 44 = 2 BCE<br />
28 yrs after Cleopatra's death = 2 BCE<br />
3rd yr of 194 Olympics = 2 BCE<br />
42 yr from 43 BCE = 2 BCE<br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphanius_of_Salamis">Epiphanius</a> c400 3rd yr of 194 Olympics = 2 BCE<br />
42 yr from 43 BCE = 2 BCE<br />
Dionysius Exiguus early 500s 1 BCE<br />
Appolinarius of Laodicea = 2 BCE<br />
Paulus <a href="https://books.google.be/books?id=GhNAAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=orosius&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwif1PSq-7XmAhVUZ8AKHZbXBN8Q6AEIaDAJ#v=onepage&q=jesus&f=false">Orosius</a> end 42 yr Augustus = 2 BCE<br />
752 AUC = 2 BCE<br />
Hippolytus of Thebes 9th century 42 yr of Augustus <br />
43 yr of Augustus = 2/3 BCE<br />
<br />
These dates are all fairly consistent but a year or two off from the date of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysius_Exiguus">Dionysius</a>. He had translated from Greek to Latin the canons of the synods from Nicea (325) to Chalcedon (451) giving the new doctrines of the centralised Gentile church based in Constantinople. The <a href="http://www.janzuidhoek.net/diony2.htm">computation</a> of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysius_Exiguus%27_Easter_table">Easter Table</a> was a central part of his work. It was based on Egyptian calculations.<br />
The <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060109025617/http://hbar.phys.msu.su/gorm/chrono/paschata.htm">annual date for Easter</a> was a sensitive matter for the Roman church. The pagan Roman Pontifex Maximus had authority over the calendar and public festivals of the gods. From Julius Caesar on, it was passed on as part of the powers of all Roman emperors. In the late fourth century Emperor Gratian, now nominally Christian, refused the title as being too pagan. The bishop of Rome (pope) <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Damasus_I">Damasus</a> took up the title.<br />
Easter was the church's alternative to the biblical Passover. One of the directives was not to make the Christian festival coincide with the biblical date but exactly the opposite. To make sure that it didn't! Eventually the Easter calculation became the standard one of today, although the Orthodox retain a difference because of the Gregorian calendar adjustment.<br />
The chronology of Dionysius had to fit in with what was Constantine's now centuries-old, well-established but falsified doctrine of Sunday-worship. His aim was to overturn the Hebrew calendar and apply one that allowed both Sunday worship and the pagan Easter tradition to replace the biblical Passover.<br />
A harmony of the Gospels shows that Jesus was crucified on the Preparation Day of the Festival Sabbath of Unleavened Bread, that is Wednesday. The biblical holy days do not fall on the same days each year. It was obviously not the Preparation for the weekly Sabbath, Friday. He rose after three days and three nights in the tomb. The Resurrection is recorded as happening as the (weekly) Sabbath ended towards the first day of the week. These dates can be calculated to show the year with these characteristics. Hence the year of the Crucifixion is fixed mathematically. Then it is <a href="http://thenazareneproject.blogspot.com/2018/02/how-old-was-jesus-when-he-became.html">simple Hebrew mathematics</a> to work back to the year of Christ's birth.<br />
As the Dionysius Easter Table was also based on a mathematical 19-year cycle, it could be calculated which years coincided exactly with the new Easter doctrine (with its Friday crucifixion and Sunday resurrection, itself difficult to reconcile with a three days and three nights period of the NT) around 30s CE.<br />
Dionysius also tried to simplify the complicated system of dating that existed in Rome, based on the consulates in power each year. Dionysius also made a revolutionary innovation that few of his contemporaries probably understood. He used the term zero (Latin <i>nulla</i> or <i>nihil</i>). There was no zero in the Roman mathematics system. It was not until the Middle Ages that the idea of zero (originating from India) came into use.<br />
<br />
These may be the main reasons why his dating was a little bit off. It is significant that his dating system was the one that was used by the Roman Catholic '<i>missionaries</i>' in Britain after the arrival the pope's emissary Augustine around 400 CE. In Britain the Roman churchmen who attempted to convert the Anglo-Saxons found that the native Britons were keeping their Christian festivals on a different day. Passover was kept like Jews and Nazarenes on the fourteenth day of the first spring month. The Britons had been doing so for hundreds of years before Augustine arrived. With the spread of the Roman doctrines, the Easter computation, reinforced by the work of Bede, became that recognised from East to West.<br />
The Dionysius system of dating was common during the thousand years of Roman control of books and learning.<br />
With the onset of printing and the publishing of the Bible in native languages people began to question intensely why this date was taken as correct.<br />
Science and historical research began to probe the facts and offer other solutions.<br />
<br />
<b>The 4 BCE error</b><br />
How did Christian scholars move from the dates of both Dionysius and just about all early writers and historians of the first centuries to what is found in many Bibles? According to the King James version, Christ was born in 4 BCE. An even broader range of dates is now proposed and the dates of all the early writers is treated as error. Why?<br />
<br />
Firstly, let us explore why the KJV came up with 4 BCE. This was a predominant date around the time the Bible was published in English. How was the earlier date eliminated?<br />
The answer is a mixture of good science and bad history.<br />
This date derived from one of Europe's greatest scientists, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Kepler">Johannes Kepler</a>, the astronomer and a Polish historian. By careful observation and mathematics Kepler was able to deduce the <a href="http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=1937JRASC..31..417B&db_key=AST&page_ind=0&plate_select=NO&data_type=GIF&type=SCREEN_GIF&classic=YES">conjunction of major planets</a> such as Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. He thought that this close visual encounter of the planets might have accounted for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_of_Bethlehem">Bethlehem Star</a>. His calculations gave him a date of around 22 June in 7 BCE.<br />
If the star appeared in the East, he argued, the birth might have occurred a year or two later, 6 or 5 BCE. He ruled out the theory that it could have been a comet, as Origen had surmised. In his book he argued that the Magi came from pagan Chaldea and applied Chaldean techniques for interpreting the heavenly phenomenon. God provided the material events for the Chaldeans to this conclusion. he said it must be a conjunction of the major planets.<br />
This rested on two or more bits of guesswork: what did the gospels mean by a star? How could a star seen in the East in Parthia then stand over a house in Bethlehem? What principles of astronomy did <a href="https://thenazareneproject.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-magi-and-extraordinary-parthian.html">ancient Parthian Magi</a> use? Isaiah 47:17 and other scriptures make clear there is a right and wrong interpretation of '<i>astrology</i>'. How were the stars tied into biblical prophecy? Was what was mentioned related to the movement of the planets, the usual focus of such studies?<br />
While he was observing a conjunction in 1605 a bright new star appeared, a <i>nova stella</i>. Maybe this Nova was a solution.<br />
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If the mechanics of the solar system showed a different date from 2/3 BCE, how could this be justified? Kepler relied on a Polish historian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurentius_Suslyga">Laurentius Suslyga</a>.<br />
While reflecting on the problem, Kepler found his book, calling for a revision of the datings, in a shop in Graz. Examining secular history, he challenged the traditional dating of Dionysius. Suslyga came up with a date of 4 BCE or earlier. But Kepler went further.<br />
First, how did Suslyga come to the date of 4 BCE?<br />
<br />
<b>Enter Philip and Julias</b><br />
Suslyga was among the first to suggest that the date of Herod's death must have been no later than 4 BCE.<br />
His argument revolves around a son of Herod called Philip, born of his fifth wife, Cleopatra of Jerusalem.<br />
Suslyga's argument involved the town of Bethsaida. Philip had renamed Bethsaida as Julias after Julia, the daughter of Augustus, Suslyga maintained. But Augustus exiled her in 2 BCE so Philip would have had to come up with the idea well before that, when she was in favour.<br />
So Herod must have died well before that so his son Philip could reign in part of his territory afterwards. This seemed a good argument for Kepler at the time. But modern scholars now believe this scheme of things is not necessarily so. Augustus also gave Julian honours to his wife Livia, and renamed her Julia to emphasise a connection with Julius Caesar and the imperial family. So Philip could have renamed the town of Bethsaida, Julias, at any time up to the time of her death in 29 CE. In the second century the geographer Claudius Ptolemy identified the town of Julias with Livia.<br />
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<b>Conclusion:</b> We can conclude that Suslyga and Kepler were most probably wrong. There is no evidence that the Julias argument is correct. Rather the reverse. There is no evidence that Kepler's idea of a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn is correct. Two planets can always be seen separately; over a period of a day or two it is even more obvious. A conjunction of several planets does not look like a single star. Kepler was basing himself on pagan Chaldean astrology and there is no evidence that this (usually condemned system in the Bible) is relevant here. Nor does it take a year or two for a caravan of Magi to travel from Chaldea to Jerusalem. The Nova idea is also a theory without evidence, because it presupposes the Bethlehem star was a nova. <br />
<br />
<b>Search for the eclipses</b><br />
A new line of argument revolves around eclipses in history at the time of Jesus. This helped to solidify what is a common belief that the date was 4 BCE.<br />
But this includes several errors that logically would eliminate them from consideration.<br />
Eclipses of the moon are also predictable both into the future but back in the past.<br />
Why are eclipses important?<br />
This is where the Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, enters the scene. He describes how Herod was in Jericho suffering and dying from an atrocious disease. He also describes quite a number of events including killings of Jews that fought for the purity of the Temple, in expectation of the Messiah. <a href="http://www.askelm.com/star/star011.htm">All these events</a> need to be taken into consideration as they mark temporal dates in sequence.<br />
He died and then his body was brought in a solemn procession from Jericho. to Jerusalem That year was marked by a remarkable eclipse of the moon over the land of Israel.<br />
Which was it?<br />
The New Testament also gives a quite clear timing of events in the Gospels. Christ was born during the reign of Herod the Great. So if we have the exact dates of his reign, we know they must include the birth of Jesus. But some while after his birth Herod ordered the massacre of infants from the north of Jerusalem to the south. This happened soon after the Parthian Magi arrived to celebrate the birth of Israel's Messiah. The Greek NT text says they visited Jesus in his Bethlehem home when he was then a toddler (<i>paidion</i>), that is, a year or two old.<br />
So the birth of Jesus was a year or two before Herod died.<br />
When did he die? When was the eclipse?<br />
From the work of mathematical astronomers like Kepler, we now know the exact days when eclipses happened in the Holy Land from 7 BCE to 1 BCE.<br />
<br />
The dates are:<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>23 March 5 BCE</li>
<li>15 September 5 BCE</li>
<li>13 March 4 BCE</li>
<li>10 January 1 BCE.</li>
</ul>
By collating all facts and events that Josephus mentions the two early dates can be eliminated. These facts include killing of pious Jews, the dates of the Hebrew festivals, Herod's death and when it was reported in Rome (a distance of 3400 sea mile round trip) and the time taken for the long royal mourning procession to move from Jericho to Jerusalem. A closer examination points to a winter eclipse: Jericho would not be too fiercely hot for the dying king. He would not reside there in summer. Temperature in winter was moderate.<br />
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<br /></div>
<b>Conclusion: </b><a href="http://www.askelm.com/star/star006.htm">Taking together all the reported events</a> of Josephus and the Gospels, together with a biblical interpretation of the astronomy of Revelation 12, one date is the inevitable candidate above all others. Revelation describes the birth of Christ in astronomical terms that people at the time could understand.<br />
<br />
<b>Eternal God, creator of the Universe</b><br />
Humans are subject to error and tempted by deliberate deceit. Humans cannot muck with movement of the planets, comets and stars. That was the reason that Kepler, Newton, Whiston and other believing scientists tried to determine what, when and where was the Star of Bethlehem.<br />
The heavens have an extraordinary, clear and unambiguous message. But what is it? We should not seek it in pagan, Chaldean astrology.<br />
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CE8yAKXj7NM/XfnS5pH1RmI/AAAAAAAAAwo/KkMemBsPrtceQlnxau9gkKFDZJbXyhp0ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/ELM%2BRev%2B12%2Bvirgin%2Bchrono.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="849" data-original-width="501" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CE8yAKXj7NM/XfnS5pH1RmI/AAAAAAAAAwo/KkMemBsPrtceQlnxau9gkKFDZJbXyhp0ACLcBGAsYHQ/s640/ELM%2BRev%2B12%2Bvirgin%2Bchrono.gif" width="377" /></a>What does the Bible say? What is the configuration of the heavens in the autumn of 3/2 BCE?<br />
Astronomers in the past could work this out. Many people in the early centuries were far more skilled and literate in astronomy and its real significance than people today -- in spite of so-called popular astrologers.<br />
They looked at the sky at night and knew the stars and the movements.<br />
But how do you see what was happening way back in the past?<br />
You can also this ancient stellar display in the heavens at a planetarium when they set the mechanism back 2000 years.<br />
Now with the help of the computer and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXLeafHCDdY">software</a> it is possible for anyone at home to see exactly the movement of the planets back into the distant past.<br />
What did the night sky look like in 3/2 BCE?<br />
It is an extraordinary fact, as <a href="http://www.askelm.com/star/star001.htm">Dr Ernest L Martin</a> points out, that<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>on only one day in 3 BCE was the moon under the feet of the constellation of Virgo, the virgin and the sun '<i>clothed</i>' her. </li>
<li>It was when it was the first crescent of the New Moon. </li>
<li>It occurred on 11 September. </li>
<li>It remained there for only a few hours. </li>
</ul>
Click the link <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQsPHvRNYSs">here to have a description of the Ancient Astronomy</a> of this time by Dr Michael Heiser.<br />
<br />
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One reason people observed the stars was that it was religiously significant because observation of the New Moon was essential to define months and proclaim the New Year. What is even more extraordinary is that 11 September was the beginning of the Feast of Trumpets in the Hebrew calendar. Revelation 12:<br />
'<i>And there appeared a great wonder in the heaven; a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars</i>.'<br />
This year is also confirmed by Luke's statement that Jesus was '<a href="http://thenazareneproject.blogspot.com/2018/02/how-old-was-jesus-when-he-became.html">about thirty years old</a>' when he began his work as chief priest and teacher in the Temple. This has to be understood in relation to the Hebrew inclusive arithmetic system and the Jewish secular new year (common through the eastern Roman Empire). It is also defined by the known dates for the reconstruction of the Temple by Simon Boethus under Herod the Great.<br />
<br />
The date of the <a href="http://www.askelm.com/star/index.asp">birth of Jesus</a> is <b>1st Tishrei in year 3 BCE in the autumn</b>.<br />
This fits all the criteria of<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>historical events in the NT and Josephus</li>
<li>Hebrew chronology</li>
<li>Hebrew festivals</li>
<li>Hebrew interpretation of the movement of the planets in 3 BCE,</li>
<li>The near unanimous report of nearly all early writers of the first centuries.</li>
</ul>
<u>The heavens don't lie.</u><br />
<br />
<b>Why do Historians reject 1 BCE?</b><br />
The scholars, have however, rejected the eclipse of January 1 BCE and plumbed for 4 BCE.<br />
Why?<br />
They are convinced (or have convinced themselves) that Herod's death took place in 4 BCE. That would eliminate any recourse to the eclipse of 1 BCE as the one mentioned in Josephus. It would also cause problems with the chronologies about Jesus's thirty years and many other events in order in Josephus. It flies in the face of both secular and religious writers of the early years.<br />
However historians today are often adamant (and sometimes aggressively supportive) about the idea that Jesus must have been born in or before 4 BCE.<br />
Why?<br />
<br />
<b>Herod and Philip</b><br />
Did Herod die after the spectacular total eclipse of the moon in 1 BCE or after the partial one of 4 BCE? Why does historians' choice of the year for Herod's death fall nowadays on 4 BCE? That eliminates the 1 BCE date as Jesus was born when he was alive. But is this correct? How do scholars come up with the date? Josephus mentions only one eclipse in all his long and detailed writings of history. (Hundreds took place in the course of centuries that he describes.) So it must be significant.<br />
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Is Josephus's eclipse a partial one with the shadow of the earth covering barely a third of the moon, just 37%, or a total one blacking it out? How do we decide?<br />
The simple answer is to see how today's historians take it from a passage they read in Josephus's <i>Antiquities</i> book 18 about Herod's son Philip. He reigned in the eastern part of the Holy Land, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herodian_Tetrarchy">Tetrarchy of Batanaea</a> and rugged Trachonitis (modern day Golan, parts of Syria and Jordan).<br />
Josephus says, in the English translation of <i>Antiquities</i>, that Philip died in the twentieth year of Tiberius after ruling 37 years. The twentieth year of Tiberius is 34 CE. Therefore 37 years back would be the start of his reign, the year thatHerod died. Remembering there is no year zero, that should be 4 BCE.<br />
<br />
<b>Historic Detectives</b><br />
Simple and concise! What could be wrong with this arithmetic? Facts are not always obvious. The detective work of David W Beyer started to reveal some hidden or rather buried clues. The first trace was published by W E Filmer in an article in 1966 in the <i>Journal of Theological Studies</i>. Filmer reported that divergent chronologies about the reign of Philip were noted in the nineteenth century. They had disappeared from scholarly view. In a 1798 dissertation, a monk, Molkenbuhr, reported seeing several Josephus manuscripts where the text read '<i>the twenty-second year of Tiberius</i>.' Filmer remarked that this was the last remaining obstacle for the acceptance of Herod's death in 1 BCE. The existence of such manuscripts would make it difficult to argue that Herod died in 4 BCE.<br />
Beyer went on the hunt for the manuscripts.<br />
The evidence was in a fairly obvious place. In the British Library Beyer found 46 editions of Josephus published before 1700. Of these the majority -- twenty-seven -- had the reading of '<i>twenty-second year of Tiberius</i>.' Of these 27, not a single edition published before 1544 had the reading '<i>twentieth year of Tiberius</i>.' This is of crucial importance.<br />
In 1994 Beyer examined the copies of Josephus in the Library of Congress. Five more editions were found having '<i>twenty-second year of Tiberius</i>'. Among the others none published before 1544 supported the reading '<i>twentieth year of Tiberius</i>.'<br />
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Beyer realised that the year 1544 was of some importance. It was the date of the first printing of the Greek text of <i>Antiquities</i>. Froben working in Basel accomplished the monumental task of printing the Greek text. Unfortunately for the understanding of Philip's reign, it became the universal standard. Four years later a Latin version based on it was published reinforcing the reading. By 1550 any alternative reading to '<i>twenty years</i>' were almost non-existent. In 1605 Laurence Suslyga published his dissertation on chronology, opting for the date of 4 BCE or earlier. But an edition in the British Library of Venice dated 1608 shows that some printers followed Greek manuscripts and not the printed Froben works.<br />
Writing in the Festschrift study, <i>Chronos, Kairos Christos II</i>, Beyer says the cover argument for 4 BCE is no longer tenable. These early more authoritative manuscripts show Philip reigned to 36 CE. With a reign of 37 years, he must have begun his rule in 1 BCE. And this must be the year Herod died.<br />
<br />
<b>Manuscript mentions</b><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i0Us1gzhN0o/XftaJpSKFOI/AAAAAAAAAyY/ygL6wXp1Gwg5wwC-mVW5FhwxxuVnZoQZACEwYBhgL/s1600/Chronos%2BKairos%2BChristos%2BII%2B1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1075" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i0Us1gzhN0o/XftaJpSKFOI/AAAAAAAAAyY/ygL6wXp1Gwg5wwC-mVW5FhwxxuVnZoQZACEwYBhgL/s320/Chronos%2BKairos%2BChristos%2BII%2B1.jpeg" width="214" /></a>Beyer lists a dozen manuscripts from the 12th century up to the period of printing. All of them have the 22 years of Tiberius. There is some variation about the length of Philip's rule. His accession to the throne was in troubled times. Most say that his reign was 32 years -- indicating that his reign was not established until some years after he was legally made the ruler. But the point is clear from these manuscripts and four early printed books in the British Library: Herod did not die in 4 BCE but in 1 BCE.<br />
<br />
<u>Early Manuscripts all with 22 years and 32 years for his reign</u><br />
Royal 13 D VII 12th century<br />
Additional 22, 860 13th century<br />
Additional 15, 280 13th century<br />
Harley 5116 ?<br />
Harley 3883 1 ?<br />
Harley 4962 14th- 15th century<br />
Harley 3699 1478/ 1469?<br />
Arundel 94fl ?<br />
<br />
<u>Printed Editions (first stage) all with 22 years of Tiberius and 32 years for his reign</u><br />
IC 50150 1475<br />
IC 9806 1480?<br />
IC 9807 1480?<br />
4515 f9 1511 (Paris)<br />
<br />
<u>Printed Editions (second stage) with 22 years of Tiberius and 35 years of Philip's reign</u><br />
C 13 d9 1470<br />
(G) 8333 . 1470?<br />
IB 20662 1481 Venice<br />
IB 23112 1486 Venice<br />
IB 23201 1499 Venice<br />
C 55 hl 1510 Venice<br />
L 22 b5 1514, 13<br />
<br />
Third and fourth stage. Eight other editions printed in various locations like Basel, Strasbourg and Venice give 22nd year of Tiberius and various durations for Philip's reign from 22 to 32 or 35 years.<br />
<br />
In the fifth stage, Beyer lists two dozen printed editions from 1544 to 1701. Three Venice editions have the 22nd year of Tiberius. All the rest have the 20th year.<br />
<br />
In the Library of Congress, five editions from 1470 to 1481 (Augsburg and Venice) give the 22nd years of Tiberius. Four from 1559 to 1597 give the 20th year of Tiberius.<br />
<br />
In the Renaissance and early Reform period Greek manuscripts became the treasures of the libraries of Venice and Florence where a free press was allowed. Many printers from Germany and northern Europe set up their presses there.<br />
<br />
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In 1726 the Oxford scholar John Hudson published his translation into Latin and his notes of the Greek text of Josephus by Siegbert Havercamp. The text has the 20th year of Tiberius but with an extensive note that some versions had 22nd.<br />
The Latin translation attributed to Rufinus (who lived at the time of Jerome around 400) has the translation '<i>twenty-second year of Tiberius</i>'. This clearly used the Greek texts extant at the time.<br />
However the main text has that of Froben '<i>twenty years</i>'.<br />
This is the text that all English translators use -- with the 20th year implying that Herod died in 4 BCE.<br />
William Whiston, author of the most widespread version of the Works of Josephus, goes along with this text. He even adds a note supporting it.<br />
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Beyer says that a proper dating of Herod's death date is essential for understanding the events in the Holy Land around the time of Jesus. Augustus received a special title <i>Pater Patriae</i> (Father of the Fatherland) around the time of the 750th anniversary of the founding of the city of Rome. It celebrated the fact that in 2/3 BCE the Roman empire was at peace.<br />
However, it is clear that after the death of Herod a vicious civil war erupted in Israel. Herod had killed Jewish scholars who had defended the Temple. He planned to kill one member of each Jewish family so the whole nation would mourn his passing.<br />
That did not happen but later that year a civil war broke out. One great issue was the correct dates and celebration of Passover and Pentecost. Two great Jewish scholars, Judas and Matthias, knowing that Herod was dying, pulled down the massive golden eagle, symbol of Rome, that defiled the Temple.<br />
Herod was alive enough to deprive the high priest (also called Matthias but of Boethus) of his office and burn the other Matthias, son of Margalothus and many of his colleagues alive.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
'And that very night,' says Josephus, 'there was an eclipse of the moon.' <i>Antiq</i> 17.167.</blockquote>
At the Pentecost after Herod's death of that year of 1 BCE, the righteous high priest of Simon of Boethus and his family (related to Mariam (Mary), Joseph and his son Jesus) were all removed. (Joseph had officiated once as a Mishnah High Priest (<a href="https://thenazareneproject.blogspot.com/2018/02/how-old-was-jesus-when-he-became.html"><i>cohen moreh</i></a>) at a previous Day of Atonement.) The Boethusian family was replaced by the '<i>sons of Seth</i>' whose offspring included Annas and Theophilus of the NT. Caiaphas was the son-in-law of Annas.<br />
The Jewish people rose in rebellion once Herod was dead and demanded Archelaus that the purer high priesthood be restored. In vain. Archelaus's position had not been confirmed by Rome. Jerusalem was in turmoil and fighting. '<i>Ten thousand</i>' other disturbances broke out in Judea, <i>Antiq</i> 17.269. Robber bands roamed the country as it fell into disorder.<br />
Varus was president of Syria with supreme powers in charge of Rome's eastern possessions.<br />
The Pentecost, after Herod's death, saw increasing disturbances.<br />
That is when Varus acted. There was one legion in the country. He brought in two others and four troops of horsemen. He also drew on several auxiliary forces that were supplied by kings and tetrarchs (286). The capital city of Galilee, Sepphoris, of which Nazareth is a suburb, and several other cities were burnt to the ground. Two thousand Jews were crucified and 30,000 Jews sold into slavery (17.295) before order was restored.<br />
This major war with the Jews could not have happened when Augustus was being celebrated as bringing peace to the whole empire. It is known as the War of Varus (<i>Antiquities</i> bk 17.10-11 250-). It is also known that Philip received the title of Tetrarch after this war had ended. That accounts for the some of the doubts about when he started his reign, either legally (<i>de jure</i>) or in practice (<i>de facto</i>).<br />
But it also renders impossible the supposed 4 BCE chronology with Philip taking over immediately Herod died.<br />
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<i>'Ernest L Martin has solidly demonstrated that the conclusion of that major conflict occurred in late 1 BC,' </i>Beyer wrote<i>. 'Thus Philip's appointment as tetrarch most likely took place shortly thereafter, in 1 AD. This is </i>the de jure<i> date referred to by the twenty-two/thirty-five chronology. The tremendous political instability of the entire region very likely prevented Philip rom assuming full administrative authority for some of the period of time. This is by no means unusual for it was also the case with his own father. Herod the Great was declared king by Caesar Augustus in 39 BC but assumed de facto control with the capture of Jerusalem in 36 BC. The thirty-two year tenure provided by the twelfth- to fifteenth century texts mark the </i>de facto<i> date of Philip's reign beginning in AD 4.</i>' </blockquote>
Coins of Philip show that his <i>de jure</i> date of accession is antedated to 1 BCE just after the death of Herod.<br />
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Let's hope that the penny drops more widely in the scholarly community and for the public in general. The year of the birth of Jesus was 1 Tishrei in the autumn of 3/2 BCE.<br />
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David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-69784186583781343302019-10-26T06:00:00.001-07:002019-10-26T06:17:26.247-07:00Why does Genesis say Abraham's army went to Dan before Dan was even born?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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'<i>When Abrahman heard that his brother was taken captive</i> {by the army of a coalition of nations including Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar) <i>he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan</i>.' Genesis 14:14.<br />
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The city of Dan was called Laish in the time of Abraham, long before the man Dan and his tribe existed. Dan was the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham.<br />
The tribe of Dan conquered the city of Laish and called it Dan. The same question goes for the city of Ramasses (Gen 47:11) and in Ex 1:11. It is a later name for Avaris in the land of Goshen. Pi-Ramesses was a later city built by Ramasses II on the site. What is the explanation? </div>
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It is the same as saying that the Romans in Britain had a legion in York. York did not exist then. It was known as Eboracum. </div>
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All the question is asking is who changed the names and updated the geography to modern recognisable names? The updates do not imply, and far less prove, that Moses did not write the Pentateuch or that the Romans did not invade Britain and have a fortress there because "York" did not exist at the time.</div>
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Who edited Moses and why? And under whose authority? Can anyone alter the texts? The answer to the last question is NO. There is a line of authority where responsibility for preserving the texts is passed on from generation to generation. New books are added to the canon under the supervision and imprimatur of the canon authority usually under the headship of a designated person.<br />
It is often correctly pointed out that the last lines of Deut were probably added by Joshua who wrote the next book and was given authority as leader by Moses. How do we know?</div>
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Firstly the Pentateuch says so. The Hebrew Bible mentions later editors and canonisers.</div>
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There is also a document written by <em>Hippolytus the Syriac Targumist</em> who lists all the Canon Supervisors from Moses to Christ. The law, it says, was delivered by Moses son of Amram to Joshua son of Nun.<br />
Fifty six Canon Supervisors are listed up to Joseph the Teacher. It includes Simeon the high priest '<em>who carried the Messiah in his arms</em>' (Luke 2:25, known elsewhere as Simon Boethus). Simeon delivered it to Jehuda and Jehuda delivered it to Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. Zechariah delivered it to 'Joseph the Teacher of his tribe'.</div>
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Technically the term <em>Teacher</em> refers to the <em>Cohen haRosh</em> (chief priest) who supervised the high priest (<em>cohen haGadol</em>) in his work and catechised the high priests. The NT uses the terms <em>Tekton</em> which is badly translated in Vulgate and Protestant version such as KJV as '<em>carpenter</em>'! That is through the millennium-long influence of the RCC. (Geobbels and Soviet disinformation department of the KGB would have loved that amount of time to manage information!)</div>
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<em>Tekton</em> means technical expert. The NT also uses the term Master of the Holy House (Temple) <em>oikodespotis</em>. Jesus is called a Temple Teacher and so this <em>Joseph the Teacher</em> is most likely his father, Joseph. (Joseph of Heli or Elem in the Talmud, the Tosefta and Josephus).</div>
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As well as adding books to bring it up to the requisite 22 books corresponding to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the Canon Supervisors could with their editorial council bring geographical terms up to date. For more on this see Ernest L Martin's <a href="http://www.askelm.com/" style="color: #4a85df; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">Restoring the Original Bible</a>.</div>
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For the answer to the question:<br />
Who finalized the Hebrew Scriptures and then the Greek ones see my article at<br />
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<a href="http://thenazareneproject.blogspot.com/2017/04/who-canonized-bible-both-covenants.html" style="color: #4a85df; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">http://thenazareneproject.blogspot.com/2017/04/who-canonized-bible-both-covenants.html</a></div>
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and Rome's fraud about the Bible canon at</div>
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<a href="http://thenazareneproject.blogspot.com/2017/07/bible-canon-romes-fake-history-about.html" style="color: #4a85df; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">http://thenazareneproject.blogspot.com/2017/07/bible-canon-romes-fake-history-about.html</a></div>
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David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-84246402805357569412019-10-22T15:56:00.000-07:002020-02-08T06:10:56.921-08:00How did the Crucifixion affect Roman-Parthian relations?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The anticipation of the Messiah changed both the Roman and Parthian Empires, the crucifixion more so. Parthia was a confederation of tribes that Roman legions tried to conquer. Parthia was the Super-Power of the East, a deadly rival of Rome's military autocracy. </div>
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Parthia trounced mass invasions of Roman legions several times. In 55 BCE Parthian King Orodes slaughtered 40,000 legionnaires under Consul Crassus. In 40 Parthia invaded the Holy Land and deposed the Roman-designated high priest. Parthia soundly defeated Mark Antony in 37 BCE. In 34 BCE Julius Caesar was assassinated mysteriously before his planned invasion of Parthia.</div>
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The two empires made peace in 22 BCE under Augustus and Phraates IV (=Arsaces XXII). Why?</div>
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Parthia was run by the Arsacid dynasty (250 BCE to 225 CE). Its rulers were composed of Israelite and Jewish exiles (Sons and rulers <i>rosh</i> of ISaac). Secular histories say they were formerly slaves and called themselves Exiles (Parthi in Scythian or Hebrew Galut = Gauls, Galatians, Kelts). They wanted to rebuild the Temple in preparatio<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;">n of the Messiah, dated according to Daniel’s prophecies. (Daniel was member of the Persian Magi, the priestly class of scientists and prophets).</span></div>
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</a>The reconstructed Temple became the most important and biggest construction site of the time (one million man-years work). Vast riches were received from across both empires and around the world (Josephus).<br />Jesus was identified by genealogy and miracles as the Son of David through Joseph. Mariam (Mary) was of pure Aaronic descent. Jesus was not an itinerant preacher, Protestant style! Pilate acknowledged him as King of the Jews. Pilate recognised Jesus as having a higher rank that he had, as merely a governor of Rome but not a royal. The high priests called Pilate Lord, (Kurios) but Jesus did not.<br />The resurrection was a shock to both the high-priestly ruling class and the Romans. Ample evidence existed it took place with many Roman witnesses, including Pilate. Based on diplomatic reports of Pilate, Emperor Tiberius acknowledged that Jesus Christ was a god. The Senate, however, refused to ratify this. Tiberius decreed however that anyone who persecuted the Nazarenes (his followers) would be put to death (Tertullian etc).<br />When Tiberius died in 37 CE (at the hands of Gaius Caligula), Caligula became emperor. He saw that the resurrection undermined the whole Roman/Greek pantheon. Roman gods had to be authorised by the Senate. But here was a Jewish king resurrected and recognised as a god by Tiberius! Caligula, drawn by Egyptian paganism, wanted to be deified as God of this world. In that way he would, he thought, outclass Christ. He planned first to raise a mammoth idol of himself in the Temple of Jerusalem. Why? Because Christ had prophesied that the Abomination of Desolation would stand in the Temple before the end of the Age. This was also prophesied by Daniel (Matt 24:15). Caligula wanted to prove Christ wrong and that he was all-powerful and more god than Jesus. He failed.<br />The later emperors like Claudius were at first more cautious with the Christian threat, but then introduced a vicious campaign of anti-Semitism, trying to provoke a Jewish revolt. Wars broke out from Britain to Parthia.<br />James the brother of Jesus was Sagan and Priest of Warfare in the Temple and advised passive resistance. He was killed in the Temple around 62 CE and the high-priestly class then refused to make offerings to the Roman emperor in the Temple. This led to the war with Rome.<br />it also created a dilemma for Parthia (which was not a military dictatorship like Rome). Suppressing a revolt in Judea did not violate the peace treaty. Titus went further. He destroyed the Temple. He said that that way he would put an end to both Judaism and Christianity (<span class="_4yxp" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic;">Sacred History</span> of Sulpicius Severus) quoted on NazareneProject site. Titus raised a pagan pillar to his father on or near where the Temple had been.<br />The Parthian empire lasted nearly two centuries further but on a war-like footing. The Parthian Peace based on the Temple and its Messiah had lasted longer than almost any other in history. The Roman pantheon was destroyed by the resurrection. Rome reverted to Sun worship and foreign cults. The gods like Jupiter, Mars, Minerva became a laughing stock. Rome tried syncretism — trying to combine their paganism with the facts of the resurrection and resurgent Christianity.</span></div>
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David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-72004670191435012122019-08-31T07:04:00.000-07:002019-08-31T15:52:20.354-07:00Review of Siege of Jerusalem video animation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IQhosl4CKyA/XWp2HDxfYZI/AAAAAAAAAss/qkWeXA8EDGgu8urvuLPMYOdiZLkeOilgQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-08-31%2Bat%2B15.26.38.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="1321" height="398" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IQhosl4CKyA/XWp2HDxfYZI/AAAAAAAAAss/qkWeXA8EDGgu8urvuLPMYOdiZLkeOilgQCLcBGAs/s640/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-08-31%2Bat%2B15.26.38.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Invicta animation of the Siege of Jerusalem under Vespasian and Titus<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y741QbT1YEo">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y741QbT1YEo</a><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "noto" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Riveting and highly educational! Great artistic work with careful descriptive detail! </span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "noto" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "noto" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, the narrative makes more sense if the identity of the Roman fort Antonia -- which was central to the battle -- is not identified as the itsy-bitsy building of the Holyland Hotel model but is identified as the so-called "Temple Mount" itself, the Haram. See Dr Ernest L Martin's book 'The Temples that Jerusalem forgot" at askelm.com or nazareneproject.com . It is built in the size and shape of a Roman fort -- which was usually square or oblong if extra large as this one was. </span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "noto" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "noto" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was the size of several cities (thus residence for multiple tens of thousands) says Josephus. It dominated the Temple from a higher position, he says. It was pagan and not considered part of the City of Jerusalem because of its paganism. Roman legionary eagles and pagan priests were allowed there but not in any other part of of Jerusalem.</span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "noto" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "noto" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">A correct translation of Josephus shows that the fort, a pagan military occupied site, was separated from the fort of the holy Temple by 200 metre bridges. It was in these stoa that the fierce fighting you described took place. The hand to hand struggles were so close that fighters could not recognise friend from foe. Then the bridge was burned. The bridge had provided high-level defense against anyone attacking the walls below. The Romans then had access to the outer wall of the Temple fort. The Jewish defenders themselves were at odds with each other, brigands versus others and the priests. </span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "noto" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "noto" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Temple itself was located on the curved peninsula of land the you showed at first as being highly strategic. It is south of the so-called "Temple Mount" or Haram, exactly 200 metres. It contained the only perpetual spring of water for Jerusalem at the Gihon Spring. The Temple was built on a platform partly suspended over the Kidron valley and was completely destroyed because the Roman soldiers tore everything apart. In the fire the gold and silver melted between its stones. This can be proved right or wrong by excavating into the deep soil of the Kidron valley to identify Temple stonework lying there.
</span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "noto" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thanks for the other details. For example that Titus offered a pig as sacrifice at the eastern Gate of the burnt out Temple. This confirms the account probably from Tacitus about Titus's plan to destroy Christianity and Judaism as they did not conform to the Roman pantheon and escaped Caesar's control as pontifex maximus:</span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "noto" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "noto" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Titus himself, thought that the Temple ought especially to be overthrown, in order that the religion of the Jews and Christians might more thoroughly be subverted; for these religions, although contrary to each other, had nevertheless proceeded from the same authors; that the Christians had sprung up from among the Jews; and that, if the root were extirpated, the offshoot would speedily perish. "</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "roboto" , "noto" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3670779350760895289.post-39312804316219840052018-08-25T10:08:00.003-07:002019-01-05T04:09:10.894-08:00Rome’s aim in destroying the Temple was to destroy Christianity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "bookman old style"; font-size: 11pt; text-align: left;">Why was the medieval Roman church and the Orthodox church so antisemitic? Why
were the Hebrew scriptures and all knowledge of Hebrew banned? Why were
Christians expelled for 'judaizing' when it is clear that Jesus and nearly all
the early Christians were Jews?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "bookman old style"; font-size: 11.0pt;">The last
verse of Luke says that Christ's disciples were “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">continually in the Temple, praising and blessing God.</i>” In the book
of Acts, James, the brother of Jesus, instructs the Apostle Paul how best to
perform <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Temple ritual</i>. In early
Christian writings up to the time of Jerome around 400, James is described as
bishop of bishops, praying inside the Temple as Sagan priest.<br />
Church history has been turned upside down. Black means white and white black.
Judaism is allegedly anti-Christian. Paul is proclaimed as making a break with
all aspects of the Temple tradition. The Bible, on the other hand, shows Paul
anxious to fulfill the Temple tradition scrupulously. He is taught by someone
whom the Roman church writes out of their history—James the brother of Jesus! <br />
Why in short was Christian history re-written between the first century when
Christians took full part in the Temple services, as the gospels and Acts say,
and the time of Constantine in 325 when at Nicea he created an imperial
Catholic Church profoundly anti-Jewish? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WHyEnfTc4wI/WWy434Q4ojI/AAAAAAAAAXc/La9e762F7F4s3YVM7fGupPCLe81IY2U4QCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Jerusalem%2BMeir%2BBen-Dov.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="872" data-original-width="1162" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WHyEnfTc4wI/WWy434Q4ojI/AAAAAAAAAXc/La9e762F7F4s3YVM7fGupPCLe81IY2U4QCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Jerusalem%2BMeir%2BBen-Dov.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meir Ben-Dov pointed out the Titus pillar</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "bookman old style"; font-size: 11.0pt;">A major
discovery mentioned in archaeologist Meir Ben-Dov's book <i>'In the Shadow
of the Temple</i>' p187f helps explains what was behind the so-called '<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lost centuries' </i>of Christian history.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "bookman old style"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Here's what he wrote about an
extraordinary discovery during the first modern dig near Temple Mount:<br />
<br />
"Among the most outstanding volunteers working on our dig were students
from Ambassador College in Pasadena, California, who returned annually in
groups of 100 and spent six weeks in arduous and energetic labor. Because of
their remarkable fortitude and energy we often assigned them to particularly
difficult projects.<br />
One was to uncover what could be found under the remains of the Moslem palace
south of the Temple Mount. A group of Ambassador students set work among the
foundations of the building, which sometimes extended as far down as 7 meters
and included parts of columns from earlier buildings placed in secondary use by
the Moslem builders. The year was 1970 and we were approaching the 9th of Av --
when one of the members of this group came running towards me flushed with
excitement. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "bookman old style"; font-size: 11.0pt;">"<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I've been looking all over for you!</i>" he shouted. "<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What's up?</i>" I asked, though it
seemed pretty clear from the state he was in that he had found something
interesting. "<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">There's an inscription
down there,</i>" he told me, and I accompanied him back to the area and
climbed down the ladder to find that a column that the Moslems had incorporated
into the palace foundation walls bore a clear inscription in Latin letters.<br />
Even at first glance I could tell that this was a royal inscription, though
most of it was still not visible. After a few hours' hard work we managed to
free the column from the wall of which it had become a part -- without damaging
the wall itself -- and cleaned off the remaining plaster that still clung on to
it. Then came our startling discovery that it was a dedicatory inscription to
the Tenth Legion mentioning none other than Titus himself.<br />
We were filled with emotion because of the uncanny symbolism of the find. Here
we were on the eve of the 9th of Av. <b><i>One thousand nine hundred years
ago to the day</i></b>, Titus had briefed his troops on the storming of the
Temple Mount. And now, in the renewed State of Israel, standing in Jerusalem,
digging alongside the Temple Mount, we had come into tangible contact with
Titus and his legions." (emphasis added.)<br />
<br />
Ambassador College was collaborating in the first dig at Jerusalem organized by
Prof Benjamin Mazar of the Hebrew University and the Israel Exploration
Society. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_C6Rsi23w2M/WWy3uzD8nKI/AAAAAAAAAXc/TjOGk32wcn4aVuKwEe5S6hb6VVSrxvVfACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Jerusalem%2BTitus%2BStone%2BTMt.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1204" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_C6Rsi23w2M/WWy3uzD8nKI/AAAAAAAAAXc/TjOGk32wcn4aVuKwEe5S6hb6VVSrxvVfACPcBGAYYCw/s320/Jerusalem%2BTitus%2BStone%2BTMt.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2y7PNdIpwIA/WXB2z6tV_CI/AAAAAAAAAX8/9_RjpeoL9U8WEYbK722agYFT1H58tYJpgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Jerusalem%2BTitus%2BPillar%2Bjohn_turner%2Bx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="205" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2y7PNdIpwIA/WXB2z6tV_CI/AAAAAAAAAX8/9_RjpeoL9U8WEYbK722agYFT1H58tYJpgCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Jerusalem%2BTitus%2BPillar%2Bjohn_turner%2Bx.jpg" width="85" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "bookman old style"; font-size: 11.0pt;"> Dr Ernest L Martin, who led the
Ambassador College group, revealed the truth about Titus at the time that
student John Turner uncovered the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Titus Pillar </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">inscribed </span>with the imperial name of his father Emperor Vespasian.<br />
There are two versions of the briefing that Titus gave to his General Staff
about storming and looting of the Temple in 70 CE. One is a short version. It
looks more like Roman propaganda. Why? Because it appears to be a censored
version that gives the entirely wrong impression of the facts. This was a
common technique in Rhetoric or "spin" management as we would say
today. It excises inconvenient facts from and account to lead the reader to a
distorted conclusion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "bookman old style"; font-size: 11.0pt;">What it leaves out is more significant
than what it mentions. The fragment is attributed to the historian Tacitus and
says:<br />
The military staff told Titus: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3670779350760895289" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3670779350760895289" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3670779350760895289" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "bookman old style"; font-size: 11.0pt;">“This holy building is the most beautiful structure ever built by the
hand of man and should not be destroyed. If we leave it unharmed, its continued
existence would serve as a witness to the moderation of the Romans. But if it
were destroyed, the Roman name would be forever blackened.</span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "bookman old style"; font-size: 11.0pt;"> "<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "bookman old style"; font-size: 11.0pt;">What it admits is striking. That the
'Jewish' Temple outshone anything in the Roman world is an extraordinary
admission for any Roman writer, proud of Rome's achievements. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "bookman old style"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Many other writers, however, make the
same assessment. This account, in itself, indicates the desperation to put some
form of positive gloss on what in effect was a global disaster to its prestige.
Rome destroyed the World's Wonder, a city greater than Rome and in direct
violation to the Treaty between Caesar and the Jewish Ethnarch at the time of
the Maccabees. It blackened its reputation forever.<br />
The extract implies that the Roman army were careful not to harm this Wonder of
the World.<br />
Is it true?<br />
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "bookman old style"; font-size: 11.0pt;">The fuller story
is revealed in the <i>Sacred History</i> of Sulpicius Severus, an
educated Gallic Christian, a post-Nicene father (NPNF, s2, vol xi, p111). He
appears to be quoting from the same or similar historical records but this time
he gives the unvarnished truth. The Caesars wanted to destroy the Temple
because the Temple Teacher and his Resurrection made nonsense of their pagan
pantheon of false gods. Hence the Empire was threatened.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "bookman old style"; font-size: 11.0pt;">"<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Titus is said, after calling the council, to
have first deliberated whether he should destroy the Temple, a structure of
such extraordinary work. For it seemed good to some that a sacred edifice,
distinguished above all human achievements, ought not to be destroyed, inasmuch
as, if preserved, it would furnish an evidence of Roman moderation, but, if
destroyed would serve as a perpetual proof of Roman cruelty. But on the
opposite side, others and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Titus himself,
thought that the Temple ought especially to be overthrown, in order that the
religion of the Jews and Christians might more thoroughly be subverted</b>; for
these religions, although contrary to each other, had nevertheless proceeded
from the same authors; that the Christians had sprung up from among the Jews;
and that, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">if the root</b> were
extirpated, the offshoot would speedily perish.</i> "<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "bookman old style"; font-size: 11.0pt;">The Titus
Pillar may have been a Roman celebration of the brutal destruction of the
Temple and the subjugation of Jews and Christians. It was the victory pole of
paganism. If it was erected near where it was found, it would have stood like a
vile <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">asherah</i>, decorated with an pagan
eagle in the court before the Temple.<br />
If that is so, it would have echoed repeated attempts to erect the pagan symbol
in the Temple to proclaim to all Roman supremacy of their pantheon. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "bookman old style"; font-size: 11.0pt;">The Roman
Governor Pontius Pilate had, according to the contemporary historian Josephus,
tried to infiltrate Roman Legion standards into Jerusalem, something forbidden
by the earlier treaty between Julius Caesar and the Maccabees. He failed, due
to the passive resistance of the Jewish nation, who would rather die than see
their Temple defiled.<br />
An even more remarkable event occurred around the time of the birth of Christ
and the dying days of Herod the Great. Josephus records that Romans attempted
to raise an eagle at the great gate of the Temple. Jews, in fervent expectation
of the coming of the Messiah at this time, ripped it down. They were led by two
fervent Jewish scholars, Judas of Sepphoris and Matthias of Margalus. Fearing
the whole nations would rise against him and Rome, Herod burnt alive the main
perpetrators and killed their students in a bloody slaughter. Wracked with a
putrefying disease, Herod in his last days instructed his soldiers to gather
the most illustrious leaders from the entire Jewish nation into the hippodrome
and slaughter them all at his death.<br /><br />
</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "bookman old style"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Seventy years later Titus may have erected this Pillar as the Roman signal of
their definitive destruction of Judaism and Christianity.<br /><br />
</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "bookman old style"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Despite the myriad of martyrs who maintained the facts of the resurrections,
miraculous healings and personal revelations, Rome was unable to accomplish the
human destruction of Christianity or Judaism. Roman emperors conceded that the
resurrections and miracles had taken place and were taking place in their own
times. (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jesus, James, Joseph</i>, p530 and
chapter 32).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "bookman old style"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Then it
became obvious that Rome had lost the war against truth. It tried another
tactic: Fake history, disinformation and dissembling about why the Temple was
destroyed.<br />
The Titus Pillar reveals one reason for the truth gap, the so-called '<i>missing
centuries</i>' of Christian history. It took centuries of antisemitic propaganda
before the Romans could dissociate and expunge the real facts of the New Testament. The NT showed Christians' strong involvement in the Temple.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "bookman old style"; font-size: 11pt;"> Jesus, James and Joseph taught and officiated there.</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "bookman old style"; font-size: 11.0pt;">
Rome was destroyer of the building God had decreed to be built. How then could
Rome, the determined destroyer of the King of Jews, the Chief Priest of that
building, present itself as champion of Christianity? It banned first the Hebrew Scriptures and then the Greek New Testament. It persecuted and exiled its opponents.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "bookman old style"; font-size: 11.0pt;">It took centuries of killings and propaganda to subvert all connections between Christ,
the Bible and Israel. Then with an empire that had only modified its effete and
dying paganism, Constantine could proclaim an imperial religion that he called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">'Christianity'</i> where the Hebrew
scriptures, the Temple, Sabbath and the festivals were banned on pain of death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "bookman old style"; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"> David Heilbron Price, </span><i style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style"; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Nazarene Project 8/2018</i></div>
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David Heilbron Pricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04552429629585180478noreply@blogger.com0