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Mary Magdalene-Apostle to the Apostles

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By Micky Dee

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Misrepresented, Misunderstood

There are many Mary Magdalenes. People have painted her in many lights for thousands of years. She has been seen as a saint, penitent sinner, disciple, exorcist, anointer, Christian idealist, and apostle of apostles. Recently in movies such as in the Da Vinci Code, she has been depicted as matriarch of a holy bloodline.

There are only a dozen references to Mary Magdalene in the New Testament. Few offer insights of the facts and events of her life. Of the four accepted gospel accounts, none could write about her with consistency.

Mathew, Mark, and John mention she is at the Crucifixion. Luke is not explicit about this. Her presence at the resurrection is mentioned by Mark, Luke, and John but not Mathew. John mentions she “saw the stone already taken away from the tomb and then went to tell the disciples that “I have seen the Lord.” Mark says, “He first appeared to Mary Magdalene” and leaves it at that. Luke gives the most detailed account of the Resurrection but says that when Mary and the other women “announced all these things to the eleven and to all the others… their story seemed like nonsense and (the disciples) did not believe them.”

 

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Albert Schweitzer described the quest for Jesus as looking down a well and describing the face you see down there as the face of Jesus, when of course it is only your own reflection. Another saying is “we see things not as they are, we see things as we are”.

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When we investigate the earliest available records we find conflicting images. The answer we find depends on where we look. The earliest account was written by Mark, about forty years after Jesus’ death. While the Roman soldiers were crucifying Jesus Mary Magdalene stood among a group of women watching and grieving, although the male disciples fled for their lives. Standing with Salome and Mary, the mother of James and Joseph, Mary Magdalene continued her vigil until Jesus finally died; later she and her friends saw his body wrapped carefully in strips of linen, entombed, and sealed in a cave cut out of rock. The morning after Sabbath, these women who had “followed Jesus and provided for him” came to offer their teacher the final service. They brought aromatic spices to complete his burial. Mark’s account now ends on a note of shock and confusion; finding the tomb open and the body gone, and hearing that Jesus “is not there; he has risen,” the women run away, shaking with terror, “for trembling and astonishment came upon them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were terrified.”

Mathew changes the ending by saying that Mary and her friends did leave the tomb quickly but “with fear and joy.” Instead of intending to say nothing, they immediately run “to tell his disciples.” On their way Jesus met and spoke to them.

Luke initially omits Mark’s comment that Mary, Salome, and the other Mary “followed Jesus”. This statement would imply that the ladies were indeed disciples in that they “followed Jesus”. Luke contrasts the disciples with the “women”. whom he classifies as among the needy, sick, and crazed members of the crowds that pressed themselves upon Jesus and his disciples. Luke, unlike Mark, says that Mary came to Jesus driven by demonic spirits, and as only one among “some women who had been healed from evil spirits and from illnesses.”

When Luke tells the story of Jesus’ crucifixion and death, he changes three passages in which Mark had named Mary Magdalene, leaving her nameless in each of these stories, standing among an anonymous group he calls “the women.”

Only after the “women” testify about what they saw to the “eleven” (Judas had left) does Luke name the women. At this point, apparently, their “witness” matters to validate their testimony. He sees most prominently, Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James and Joseph, and Joanna. We can only wonder why at times, like John, he speaks positively about women and why at other times, he denigrates Mary and downplays her role.

The very writers who picture Peter as the disciple whom Jesus acknowledges as being their primary leader—namely the authors of Mathew, Mark and Luke—are the same ones who picture Mary as no disciple at all. These are three of the gospels that came to be included in the canon of the New Testament—often invoked, even now, to “prove” that women cannot hold positions of authority within the Christian churches.

This also works in reverse: every one of the sources that revere Mary as a leader among the apostles was excluded from the New Testament canon.

The four gospels are not eyewitness accounts.  They were written 35 to 65 years after Jesus’ death. These are a jelling of separate oral traditions that had taken form in dispersed Christian communities.  The gospels of Mark, Mathew, and Luke date to about 65 to 85 and have sources and themes in common. The gospel of John was composed around 90 to 95 and is distinct.

When we read about Mary Magdalene, as when we are reading about Jesus, we are getting memory, not history—memory shaped by time, by shades of emphasis, and by efforts to make theological points.

 

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From of the gospel of Luke:

Now after this Jesus made his way through the towns and villages preaching, and proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom of God. With him went the Twelve, as well as certain women who had been cured of evil spirits and ailments: Mary surnamed the Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, Joanna the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, Susanna, and several others who provided for them out of their own resources.

Now at this point, Mary Magdalene is established as “who she is”. Next we read:

One of the Pharisees invited Jesus to a meal. When he arrived at the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table, a woman came in, who had a bad name in the town. She had heard he was dining with the Pharisee and had brought with her an alabaster jar of ointment. She waited behind him at his feet, weeping, and her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them away with her hair; then she covered his feet with kisses and anointed them with the ointment.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said unto himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who this woman is that is touching him and what a bad name she has.”

But Jesus refuses to condemn her, or even to deflect her gesture. Indeed, he recognizes it as a sign that “her many sins must have been forgiven her, or she would not have known such great love.” “Your faith has saved you,” says Jesus, “Go in peace.”

This story of the woman with the “bad name” , the alabaster jar, the loose hair, the “many sins,” the stricken conscience, the ointment, the rubbing of feet, and the kissing would, over time, become the dramatic high point of the story of Mary Madalene. The scene would be explicitly attached to her, and rendered again and again by the greatest Christian artists. But even a casual reading of this text suggests that the two women had nothing to do with each other. The weeping anointer is no more connected to Mary of Magdala than she is to Joanna or Susanna.

 

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In 591 Pope Gregory the Great delivered the now infamous sermon in which he conflated two other women—Mary of Bethany and the anonymous “woman in the city, who was the sinner” with Mary Magdalene. In one fell swoop, he delivered what is considered by many modern scholars to be the final blow in a series that saw women increasingly marginalized because of their perceived threat to the “one true faith.” His sermon cut off an ongoing discussion about Mary Magdalene’s identity at the same time and put her name in a box labeled “penitent sinner.” This box would not be opened again for 1,378 years. This judgment of Mary Magdalene as a prostitute and penitent became a reference point for Catholic theology. He declared that the reading from the pulpit on Mary Magdalene’s feats day, July 22, henceforth would be from Luke 7.

Pope Gregory also delivered a Homily in which he charged the faithful to follow this interpretation of the verse:

She whom Luke calls the sinful woman, whom John calls Mary, we believe to be the Mary from whom seven devils were ejected according to Mark. And what did the deviles signify, if not all vices?...

It is clear, brothers, that the woman previously used the unguent to perfume her flesh in forbidden acts. What she displayed more scandalously, she was now offering to God in a more praise-worthy manner. She had coveted with earthly eyes, but now through peitence these are consumed with tears. She displayed her hair to set off her face, but now her hair dries her tears. She had spoken proud things with her mouth, but in kissing the Lord’s feet, she now planted her mouth on the Redeemer’s feet. For every delight, therefore, she had had in herself, she now immolated herself. She turned the mass of her crimes to virtues, in order to serve God entirely in penance, for as much as she had wrongly held God in contempt.

 

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In great part because of pressure from within, the Vatican finally overturned this interpretation about Mary Magdalene in 1969, with neither an apology nor an official statement. The Second Vatican Council simply altered the reading for the feast day as part of a general reform of the church calendar regarding the way many saints were to be remembered. The Roman missal and the Roman calendar now directed the reading be changed from Luke 7 to the gospel of John, Chapter 20, verses 1-2 and 11-18.

1) The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher, and seeth the stone taken away from the spulchre.

2) Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepluchre, and we know not where they have laid him.

11) But Mary stood without the sepulcher weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulcher,

12) And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.

13) And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know nnot where they have laid him.

14) And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.

15) Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She supposing him to the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.

16) Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.

17) Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

18) Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.

Thereby Pope John Paul II reversed his predecessor and changed Mary Magdalene back from a repentant sinner to the Resurrection story—as well as in her own right.

Of course for thousands of years she was misrepresented. She was a propaganda weapon for the Catholic Church. She had not been naked for now she was naked and penitent. To aristocratic men she was a pin-up. You had people commissioning paintings and sculptures of her entirely nude. There have been hundreds of well-known artworks through the centuries.

There have been many movies to distort her image.

The musical Jesus Christ Superstar depicts her as a harlot.

Even in Dan Brown’s fiction she is reduced to a “vessel”.

Yesterday, and tomorrow she will be maligned.

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Perhaps some women have thought that they were exercising their options to use their sexuality, while others think of prostitutes as victims. To some she was an independent woman making her own way in the world. Even though the prostitute identity is fiction and there is no scriptural basis for it, could some women look to her and think, “Well if Jesus loved her, he can love me”?

It’s unnecessary. Jesus loved prostitutes and other sinners. The fact remains there is nothing in the New Testament that identifies her as a prostitute.

Lies are lies and are of no use, especially when they maim.

There are more newly found “Gospels” that depict Mary Magdalene as more than how she is depicted by the “Four Gospels of the New Testament”. For her redemption we need not look at those.

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Who was Mary Magdalene? From the New Testament we assume she was from Magdala, her home town, a village on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. There is an argument against this. The town called Magdala was called Taricheae in Biblical times. Taricheae was destroyed in AD 67, and the town that was rebuilt on the old site on the shore of the Sea of Galilee was named Magdala Nunnayah (Aramaic for “Tower of the Fishes”). Josephus, a Jew who wrote the first draft of Jewish War in Aramaic, calls the town Taricheae, as does every other written record of the period prior to AD 70.

The prophetic passage from the Hebrew Bible, Micah 4:8-11, is the most likely source for the title of “the Magdalene”: “To you, O Magdal-eder, Watchtower of the Flock, shall dominion be restored.” The passage goes on to prophesy her exile and eventual rescue. “Nations will defile you” (Micah 4:11).

 

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She was a leading figure among those attracted to Jesus. When the men abandoned him at the hour of mortal danger, she was one of the women who stayed with him, even to the crucifixion. She was present at his tomb. She was the first to whom Jesus appeared. She was the absolute first to preach the “Good News” of that miracle.

 

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She was the “Apostle to the Apostles.”


Other gospels which remained unknown for nearly two thousand year were found near Nag Hammadi in 1945. An Arab peasant named Muhammad Ali al-Sammanrode his camel to the foothills near Nag Hammadi. While digging for fertilizer he discovered a jar about three feet high. He was disappointed to only find some papyrus paper inside. He tossed them where he kept his animals. His mother used some pages to light a fire. Other pages were bartered for cigarettes and fruit. Through antiquities dealers, black marketers, smugglers, and then scholars, they were finally recognized as a priceless library of Gnostic writings. There are thirteen codices, containing fifty two texts. They were originally recorded in Coptic in the fourth century but were translated from Greek originals dating from between the second and fourth century. These were translated into Coptic in Egypt. These were the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip, the Wisdom of Faith,  and the Dialogue of the Savior. These unanimously picture Mary as one of Jesus' most trusted disciples. Other texts came to light in the eighteenth and nineteenth century but were not published until after the find at Nag Hammadi



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The Holy Lance (The Spear Of Jesus)

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By kaja_mel

We all know that Jesus was pierced in the side with a Spear. It is usually assumed that it was just an ordinary Roman soldier's spear.The lance is mentioned only in the Gospel of John. The gospel states that the Romans planned to break Jesus' legs, which was a method of hastening death during a crucifixion. When the Romans approached Jesus with the intent of breaking his legs they realized he was already dead. There was no sense in breaking his legs, but to insure that he was dead a Roman soldier pierced his side.

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The Spear to the right has been kept in Vienna, Austria, where Hitler obtained it back in 1938. When he arrived in Vienna, his first action was to was to take possession of the spear which he immediately sent to Nuremberg, the spiritual capital of Nazi Germany.

One of the earliest mentions of the Holy Lance is recorded in the account of the pilgrim Antoninus of Piacenza, about 570 AD, who described the holy places of Jerusalem, where he saw in the basilica of Mount Zion "the crown of thorns with which Jesus was crowned and the lance with which He was struck in the side". The truth is, this may not be the true Spear. It could be one of many copies made at various times throughout history.

The real Spear has a legend of it always being in the hands of the current ruling world power. If this is true the United States of America should be the current possessor of the spear. The spear is recorded to have been in Jerusalem for hundreds of years, yet there have been no records of Jerusalem being a world power in possession of the spear. However, no matter how strong of a persecution, the Jewish people have persevered throughout history. No people or tribe has ever been able to destroy their existence. But then again what about other's who have ruled out of Jerusalem? What about Austria now having the spear? Some rumors have it that Austria does control the world secretly. We may never know for sure. But it is interesting of the controversy surrounding the relic.


The video to the right

This video was one of the few I could find about the Spear of Destiny. It is a little off key, but I still included it anyway. Hope you enjoy.

I would appreciate your comment, whether agreeable or not to my input on this. I am very interested in topics of this sort and would like to know your opinion.



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Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-11431?l=english

WHY PILGRIMS ARE CRUCIAL FOR CHRISTIANS IN HOLY LAND


According to Apostolic Delegate in Jerusalem


JERUSALEM, NOV. 2, 2004 (Zenit.org).- The apostolic delegate in Jerusalem says that the resumption of pilgrimages to the Holy Land is crucial to ending the exodus of Christians.

Archbishop Pietro Sambi explained the situation in the Holy Land to a group of Spanish journalists who were in Jerusalem on an institutional pilgrimage.

"Christians in the Holy Land are a small minority, only 2% of the population," he said. "They feel themselves a minority in the face of the great Jewish majority, and the great Muslim majority."

"At the start of the second intifada, Jews worldwide organized themselves to help the Jews who are here," the archbishop said. "The Muslims of the Gulf and other parts of the world organized themselves to help the Muslims who are here. The Christians disappeared, and the few Christians who remained had the impression of being abandoned by the rest of their brothers."

"Material aid came from many other parts of the world, with which it was possible to help the schools to survive, and medical centers to continue to provide their services, but something was lacking: the presence of Christians," he added.

"Look, I am not afraid for the holy places," the apostolic delegate continued. "To say it in a rather brutal way, they bring too much money to the country and they will be respected. But these holy places will be living places, which help one to live, while there is a community around them that believes, loves and hopes. Without that community, the holy places would be cold museums, and no longer places of life."

"Pilgrimages are the most complete way to help the local Christians, the Mother Church of Jerusalem and of the Holy Land," he said.

"In the first place, it is a spiritual, psychological and human help," the prelate said. "Christians here look at pilgrims much more than the latter look at them, and this presence of pilgrims makes them say: Here we are few, but look how many brothers and sisters from many parts of the world come here. We are all part of a great family, the family of the disciples of Christ. It is a moral, human help of the first order."

"In addition to this," he added, "there is also the material help, because the majority of Christians of the Holy Land have specialized in the service of pilgrims: transport, guides, hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops, etc. And when there are pilgrims, there is also help for local Christian families."



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Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-5705?l=english

VATICAN TO OPEN ARCHIVES TIED TO A KEY ERA IN GERMANY


In Response to Historians and Jewish Leaders


VATICAN CITY, OCT. 29, 2002 (Zenit.org).- From the start of 2003, the Vatican will open its secret archives on the activities of the apostolic nuncio in Germany, Archbishop Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII.

Cardinal Jorge María Mejía, archivist and librarian of the Holy Roman Church, told a press conference today that the first documents that will be made public are those relating to the nunciature in Germany during Pius XI's pontificate (1922-1939). Gradually, all the documents of that pontificate will be opened.

Archbishop Pacelli was appointed nuncio to the new Weimar Republic in 1920, while he continued to be nuncio in Bavaria (an assignment he received in 1917). He left the nunciature in 1929, and the next year was appointed Vatican secretary of state by Pius XI, whom he succeeded in the papacy.

Cardinal Mejía also reported that the Vatican Archives has proposed to the State Secretariat the publication of six CD-ROMs, as well as an introductory volume and six books of all the archives of the Office of the State Secretariat.

Pius XII established the office in 1940 for the sake of prisoners of war. The office investigated and gave information on requests received by the Vatican State Secretariat from relatives and friends who wished to have information on their loved ones. The office remained in operation until 1946.

The office compiled 3.5 million forms, many of them with information on Jews. To gather information on the fate of these people, the office used the special channels of the Church, such as apostolic nunciatures, bishops and religious communities.

The latest initiatives are the Vatican's response to historians and Jewish leaders who asked for the opening of the secret archives relating to that period, especially those referring to Pope Pius XII.

The Holy See's policy is to wait for a prudent period before opening its secret archives to experts and historians, because its documents may touch on questions of conscience or on compromising matters. Out of respect for those involved, it considers it appropriate to wait for some time after their death.



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Born of a Virgin on December 25th:
Horus, Sun God of Egypt

by Acharya S/D.M. Murdock

The following article is excerpted from:

Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled

by Acharya S

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In the story regarding the sun god, the moon gives birth monthly and annually to the sun. In The Story of Religious Controversy, Joseph McCabe, a Catholic priest for many years, writes:

…Virginity in goddesses is a relative matter.

Whatever we make of the original myth…Isis seems to have been originally a virgin (or, perhaps, sexless) goddess, and in the later period of Egyptian religion she was again considered a virgin goddess, demanding very strict abstinence from her devotees. It is at this period, apparently, that the birthday of Horus was annually celebrated, about December 25th, in the temples. As both Macrobius and the Christian writer [of the "Paschal Chronicle"] say, a figure of Horus as a baby was laid in a manger, in a scenic reconstruction of a stable, and a statue of Isis was placed beside it. Horus was, in a sense, the Savior of mankind. He was their avenger against the powers of darkness; he was the light of the world. His birth-festival was a real Christmas before Christ.

Equinox Solstice cross imageThe Chronicon Paschale, or Paschal Chronicle, is a compilation finalized in the 7th century CE that seeks to establish a Christian chronology from "creation" to the year 628 CE, focusing on the date of Easter. In establishing Easter, the Christian authors naturally discussed astronomy/ astrology, since such is the basis of the celebration of Easter, a pre-Christian festival founded upon the vernal equinox, or spring, when the "sun of God" is resurrected in full from his winter death. The vernal equinox during the current Ages of Pisces has fallen in March, specifically beginning on March 21st, lasting three days, when the sun overcomes the darkness, and the days begin to become longer than the night. In the solar mythos, the sun god starts his growth towards "manhood," when he is the strongest, at the summer solstice. Hence, Easter is the resurrection of the sun. As does the ancient authority Macrobius (5th cent.), the Paschal Chronicle relates that the sun (Horus) was presented every year at winter solstice (c. 12/25), as a babe born in a manger.

Concerning the Paschal Chronicle, Charles Dupuis relates:

…the author of the Chronicle of Alexandria…expresses himself in the following words: "The Egyptians have consecrated up to this day the child-birth of a virgin and the nativity of her son, who is exposed in a 'crib' to the adoration of the people…"

Another important source who cites the Paschal Chronicle and mentions Isis's virginity is James Bonwick in Egyptian Belief and Modern Thought:

In an ancient Christian work, called the "Chronicle of Alexandria," occurs the following: "Watch how Egypt has consecrated the childbirth of a virgin, and the birth of her son, who was exposed in a crib to the adoration of her people…"

The author of Christian Mythology Unveiled cites the "most ancient chronicles of Alexandria, which "testify as follows":

"To this day, Egypt has consecrated the pregnancy of a virgin, and the nativity of her son, whom they annually present in a cradle, to the adoration of the people; and when king Ptolemy, three hundred and fifty years before our Christian era, demanded of the priests the significance of this religious ceremony, they told him it was a mystery."

CMU further states, "According to Eratosthenes [276-194 BCE], the celestial Virgin was supposed to be Isis, that is, the symbol of the returning year."

Interestingly, all sources cited herein relate a different translation of the Chronicle, which would indicate that they used the original Latin text and that it contained the word "virgin."

Isis Horus imageRegarding Isis's baby, Count Volney remarks:

"It is the sun which, under the name of Horus, was born, like your [Christian] God, at the winter solstice, in the arms of the celestial virgin, and who passed a childhood of obscurity, indigence, and want, answering to the season of cold and frost."

Regarding the astrotheological nature of the gospel story, including the virgin birth/immaculate conception, the famous Christian theologian and saint Albertus Magnus, or Albert the Great, (1193?-1280) admitted:

"We know that the sign of the celestial Virgin did come to the horizon at the moment where we have fixed the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. All the mysteries of the incarnation of our Saviour Christ; and all the circumstances of his marvellous life, from his conception to his ascension, are to be traced out in the constellations, and are figured in the stars."

As Albert the Great acknowledged, the virgin-birth motif is astrotheological, referring to the hour of midnight, December 25th, when the constellation of Virgo rises on the horizon. The Assumption of the Virgin, celebrated in Catholicism on August 15th, represents the summer sun's brightness blotting out Virgo. Mary's Nativity, celebrated on September 8th, occurs when the constellation is visible again. Such is what these "Christian" motifs and holidays represent, as has obviously been known by the more erudite of the Catholic clergy. Hence, the virgin who will conceive and bring forth is Virgo, and her son is the sun.

For more on this subject, see also Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection, which includes 120 pages on the subjects of the Egyptian virgin birth on the winter solstice, providing primary sources and the works of highly credentialed authorities from relevant fields.



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Apollonius, Jesus and Paul:
Men or Myths?

by Acharya S/D.M. Murdock

Over the centuries, not a few people have noticed a resemblance between the lives of the ancient sage Apollonius of Tyana and the Christian savior Jesus Christ, a comparison most notably brought to light by the "very important Roman official" Sossianus Hierocles in the fourth century. Apollonius was said to have lived in the first century, precisely at the time of Jesus's advent, although the former supposedly lived to be around 100 years old, while the latter allegedly died several decades earlier.

It is claimed that hundreds of statues of Apollonius were erected during the first centuries of the Christian era, with his fame as a "divine man" widespread around the Mediterranean. Numerous events in Apollonius's life, as provided to us principally from a biography created around 210 by Philostratus, commissioned by the empress Julia Domna, peculiarly parallel those of Christ. It is difficult to determine what, if any, of Philostratus's Life of Apollonius constitutes history, although there appears to be confirmation at least of Apollonius's existence. In fact, from the odd coincidences between his life and that of Jesus, it has been suggested by not a few people that Jesus Christ is a fictional character based in large part on Apollonius of Tyana, although Christians beginning in early times cast the accusation of plagiarism in the opposite direction.

In addition to this possible development are striking correlations between the lives of Apollonius and the apostle Paul, who, like Jesus, strangely finds no place in contemporary history, despite claims to his having made quite a ruckus in a populated and well documented part of the world. It appears that the stories of both Jesus and Paul were in part fabricated from that of Apollonius. The opposite is also possible, although, in this author's studied opinion, unlikely. It also may be that both Apollonius and Jesus were historical figures who did and said everything they are reported to have done and said, in which case we would be dishonest in accepting one without the other, both representing "God on Earth."

The following table outlines germane events and characteristics in the lives of the three men, as recorded in various sources, particularly the Life of Apollonius and the Bible. It should be noted that just as the Bible does not acknowledge "Apollonius of Tyana," nor does Apollonius's biography mention Christ, Paul, Christians or Christianity. (The events herein are not necessarily in chronological order; nor is the list complete. A fuller treatment of this important subject would require an entire volume.)

Apollonius
Apollonius of Tyana

Jesus
Jesus Christ

Paul
Apostle Paul

Born 4 BCEBorn 4 BCE

Born c. 2 CE?

Birth miraculously announced by a supernatural beingBirth miraculously announced by a supernatural being
Was the son of a god and a mortal womanWas the son of a god and a mortal woman.
Raised in TarsusRaised in Tarsus
Religiously precocious as a childReligiously precocious as a childReligiously precocious as a child
Asserted to be a native speaker of AramaicAsserted to be a native speaker of AramaicClaimed to be a speaker of Hebrew
Associated with wise men or magiAssociated with wise men or magi
Had a disciple named Damis from Asia MinorHad a disciple named Thomas; blessed a robber on the cross named Demas Had a disciple named Demas from Asia Minor
Had an associate named TitusHad an associate named Titus
Associated with a DemetriusAssociated with a Demetrius
Associated with a StephanusAssociated with a Stephanus
Influenced by PlatoReflected PlatonismInfluenced by Philo/Plato
Renounced wealthDenounced wealthEmbraced poverty
Followed abstinence and asceticismFollowed abstinence and asceticismFollowed abstinence and asceticism
Wore long hair and robesWore long hair and robesWore long hair and robes
Discussed eunuchs for the kingdom of BabylonDiscussed eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven
Was unmarried and childlessWas unmarried and childlessWas unmarried and childless
Was anointed with oilWas anointed with oil
Went to JerusalemWent to JerusalemWent to Jerusalem
Spent much time at AntiochSpent much time at Antioch
Made missionary journeys around MediterraneanMade missionary journeys around Mediterranean
Traveled to the East for three years, where he was taught by sagesTraveled to the East for three years, where he was taught by Jesus
Wrote epistles instructing followers in spiritualityWrote epistles instructing followers in spirituality
Spoke in metaphorsSpoke in parables
Fought wild beasts at EphesusFought "wild beasts" at Ephesus
Saw and predicted the futureSaw and predicted the future
Performed miraclesPerformed miraclesPerformed miracles
Healed the sickHealed the sickHealed the sick
Cast out evil spiritsDrove out demonsCast out demons
Raised the daughter of a Roman official from the deadRaised the daughter of a Jewish official from the dead
Famed far and wideFamed far and wideWell known in Christian communities around the Mediterranean
Religious reformerReligious reformerReligious reformer
Spoke authoritatively to temple priestsSpoke authoritatively to temple priestsSpoke authoritatively to temple priests
Spoke as a "law-giver"Spoke as a "law-giver"
Founded a religious community at CorinthFounded a religious community at Corinth
Was on a mission to bring Greek culture to the "barbarians"Was on a mission to bring Jewish culture to the "nations"
Converted "unrefined" people to himselfConverted "unsaved" people to himself
Believed to be a "savior" from heavenBelieved to be a "savior" from heaven
Worshipped as a godWorshipped as a godMistaken for a god
Accused of being a magicianAccused of being a magician
Had his life threatenedHad his life threatenedHad his life threatened
Brought before a king, whose righteousness he challengedBrought before a king, whose righteousness he challenged
Was accused of killing a boyWas accused of killing a boy (Infancy Gospel of Thomas)
Condemned by Roman emperorCondemned by Roman authoritiesCondemned by Roman emperor
Imprisoned at RomeImprisoned at JerusalemImprisoned at Jerusalem and Rome
Miraculously escaped prisonMiraculously escaped prison
Was shipwreckedWas shipwrecked
Descended into the underworldDescended into the underworld
Was assumed into heavenAscended into heaven
Appeared posthumously to a detractor as a brilliant lightAppeared posthumously to a detractor as a brilliant light
Said to be in two places at onceSaid to be in many places at once
Had his image revered in templesHad his image revered in churches

As can be seen, there are many important details that correspond between the lives of all three men. In some ways, of course, one or the other of the godmen was superior in his capacities, such as the claim about Apollonius being able to speak and understand "all languages" without having studied or learned them.

In an interesting development, Apollonius and Paul's journeys took a very similar route, though generally in reverse of each other. In fact, it has been calculated that Paul and Apollonius were at both Ephesus and Rome at precisely the same time. It would be very odd if two such similar and powerful men, preaching to religious communities in these places, were unknown to each other. Unless, of course, they were each other. Oddly enough, the book of Acts mentions an "Apollos" at Ephesus with Paul, the name "Apollos" being an abbreviation of "Apollonius." In any event, encompassing various brotherhood and mystery school sites, the route taken by both Apollonius and Paul was also more or less that of Orpheus, a mythical proselytizer of the religion of Dionysus, whose epithet was said to have been IES, centuries before the Christian era. Many others doubtlessly also made this pilgrimage to these pre-Christian sacred sites and mystery schools over the centuries.

Paul's Journeys

Paul's Journeys

Apollonius's Journeys

Apollonius's Journeys

Not only are the journeys of Paul and Apollonius very similar, their names are as well. While Paul is "Paulos" in Greek, Thayer's Lexicon states that "Apollos" is, according to some ancient authorities, contracted from "Apollonios." Interestingly, "Apollos" is mentioned in five places in Paul's 1st Epistle to the Corinthians, in such a way - juxtapositioned with the names of Paul, "Cephas" and Christ; Paul and Christ; or Paul alone - as to attribute great significance to him. It has further been asserted that this contraction of the name Apollonius, Apollos, was found uncontracted in the Codex Bezae of the New Testament.

Moreover, the name "Apollonius," it has been evinced, was also abbreviated in ancient times as "Pol," but this writer has not been able to confirm that claim. It has further been asserted that the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews was not "Paulos" but "Apollos," an interesting claim in consideration of the fact that Hebrews is written in "Hebraistic Greek" and that Apollonius was said to be a native speaker of the Hebraistic language of Aramaic. Oddly, Hebrews was one of the three epistles that were missing in the first New Testament compiled by Marcion. Furthermore, there are various "Pauline" writings that appeared after the alleged death of Paul, during the period when Apollonius was said to be still alive.

If the story of Apollonius was as well known in more or less detail as presented by Philostratus in the century proceeding that writer, i.e., the second century, with aristocracy admiring Apollonius to the point of worship, the gospel tale must be regarded as an obvious attempt at competition. In this scenario, fervent monotheists who believed it was their destiny to achieve religious hegemony set about to outdo the Capadoccian sage and, via their own usurping godman, prove themselves the spiritual leaders of mankind.

Sources:

Philostratus, Life of Apollonius, Conybeare
The Bible, RSV and others
Bernard, Dr. Raymond, Apollonius the Nazarene, Health Research
"Apollonius of Tyana," www.livius.org/ap-ark/apollonius/apollonius01.html
Waite, Charles, History of the Christian Religion to the Year Two Hundred
Smith, William, "Apollonius Tyanaeus," A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, www.apollonius.net/tyanaeus.html
"Is Apollonius of Tyana - Paul of Tarsus?"



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Jesus in India?
The Myth of the Lost Years

by Acharya S/D.M. Murdock

Indian image of Jesus ChristOver the centuries, the claim has repeatedly been made that Jesus Christ not only walked the earth but also spent his early and post-crucifixion years in a variety of places, including Egypt, India, Great Britain, Japan and America. Indeed, traditions maintain that Jesus, the great godman of the West, lived, learned, loved and died in such places. Popular modern literature also purports that Jesus sired children, who then became the ancestors of various royal families of Europe, including France and/or elsewhere, depending on the author.

The allegation of Christ being a kingly progenitor is extremely convenient and useful for European royal families, obviously. Unfortunately for the European claimants, however, India also has a tradition that Jesus went there and likewise fathered children. So too does Shingo, Japan, allege that Jesus ended up there after the crucifixion, having children with a Japanese wife. Other tales depict Jesus "walking the Americas" or bopping about Glastonbury, England, with his "uncle," Joseph of Arimathea. Not all of these tales can be true, obviously, unless Jesus is polymorphous and phantasmagoric, a perspective that in reality represents that of the mythologist or mythicist. To wit, regardless of these fables, or, rather, because of them, the most reasonable conclusion regarding Jesus and where he may or may not have been is that he is a mythical character, not a historical personage who trotted the globe.

The Groovy Guru

Jesus Christ in India imageAccording to legend, Jesus, the great Jewish sage, spent his "lost years," from between the ages of around 12 to 28 or 30, in India, where, per another tradition, he also escaped after surviving the crucifixion. The Jesus-was-a-guru tale was popularized over a century ago by the Russian traveler Nicholas Notovitch. Notovitch asserted that in 1887, while at the secluded Hemis or Himis monastery in Ladakh/Tibet, he was shown a manuscript which discussed the "unknown life" of Jesus, or "Issa," as he was supposedly called in the East. This "Issa" text, translated for Notovitch from Tibetan by a monk/lama, alleged that during his "lost years" Jesus was educated by yogis in India, Nepal and "the Himalaya Mountains."

Stating that he felt the manuscript to be "true and genuine," Notovich maintained its contents were written "immediately after the Resurrection," while the manuscript itself purportedly dated from the third century of the Common Era. Notovitch related that the "two manuscripts" he was shown at Himis were "compiled from diverse copies written in the Thibetan tongue, translated from rolls belonging to the Lassa library and brought from India, Nepal, and Maghada 200 years after Christ." (Notovitch, 44)

Notovitch's story was challenged by a number of people, which served to popularize it further. Noted Sanskrit scholar Max Müller came down hard on Notovitch, concluding that either the Russian had never gone to Tibet in the first place, and had concocted the Jesus story, or that waggish Buddhist monks had played a trick on Notovitch, as Indian priests had done in a notorious instance concerning the Asiatic Research Society's Colonel Wilford. Others subsequently journeyed to Himis/Hemis and witnessed repeated denial by the lamas that Notovitch had ever been there or that any such manuscript existed. In 1922, Indian scholar and swami Abhenanda eventually determined for himself by visiting Himis, gaining the confidence of the lamas and having the manuscript revealed to him. Other visitors to Himis, such as mystic Nicholas Roerich, verified the same story. Aspects of Notovitch's story checked out, and he apparently did indeed stay at Himis and was shown a manuscript relating to "Issa."

Nicholas NotovichNotovitch claimed that Indian merchants brought the account of "Jesus" to Himis, and that they had actually witnessed the crucifixion. Indeed, the text begins with "This is what is related on this subject by the merchants who come from Israel," reflecting not that "Jesus" lived in India but that the Jesus tradition was brought to India and Tibet. (Notovitch, 32) Notovitch's text also did not state that Jesus was specifically at Himis: In fact, the lama stated that the Issa scrolls "were brought from India to Nepal, and from Nepal to Thibet." Yet, upon returning to Himis through later visitors, the story eventually became morphed into "Your Jesus was here," meaning at Himis itself. The "one book" or "two manuscripts" became "three books," which were displayed for the later visitors, with the implication that there was more to the tale.

Although subsequent visitors were presented such texts, none but Nicholas Roerich's son, George, could read them. By his translation, Roerich was evidently shown the same text as Notovitch. Thus, it appears that there was only one text at Himis, and that it did not state that Issa himself was ever at the monastery. Furthermore, that one text is based on hearsay provided by passing merchants and does not at all represent an "eyewitness" account of "Jesus" in India and Tibet, although the impression is given that this and other texts do constitute such records.

Also, Notovitch asked if "Issa" was reputed to be a saint, and was informed that "the people ignore his very existence" and that the lamas who have studied the scrolls "alone know of him." These remarks are a far cry from Roerich's claim that the tale of "Christ" in India and other parts of Asia was to be found widespread. They also contradict the Tibetan text's own assertion that Issa's "fame spread everywhere" and that Persia and surrounding countries "resounded with prophecies" of Issa, thus causing the Persian priesthood to be terrified of him. This latter element sounds like typical mythmaking, especially since there were similar prophecies of godmen for centuries, if not millennia, prior to Christ's purported advent, particularly in India.

Moreover, the "originals" of the scrolls housed at the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, were composed in Pali, while the Himis library contained one copy in Tibetan. Yet, the Tibetan alphabet was developed by the king who "reigned in the days of Mohammed"; hence, nothing could have been written in Tibetan prior to the 7th century. Although older texts were composed in Sanskrit or Pali, it is clear that the actual physical manuscript revealed to Notovitch could not have existed before the 7th century. In fact, it would appear that very few Tibetan texts date to before the 9th century. In any event, the manuscript itself certainly did not date from the third century, although it could represent tradition transmitted over the centuries.

While Notovitch claimed the Issa story dated to shortly after "the Resurrection," in it there is no mention of the resurrection, and the tale ends with Issa's death. In this regard, the text depicts the "Jews," whom it calls "Israelites," in a favorable light, and is "the only [manuscript] ever to charge the Romans ["pagans"] solely for Jesus' execution." Unlike others, this account does not have Jesus being resuscitated and then returning to India, to father children and live a long life.

Notovitch's modern editor, Frank Muccie, relates that the manuscript states, "Pilate is responsible for removing Jesus' body from the tomb," noting that this development somehow does not "mean the resurrection hope is invalid." He then says:

"By the third century A.D., there were no fewer than 25 different versions of Jesus' death and resurrection! Some have him not being put to death at all, some have him revived back to life, and some have Jesus living on to old age and dying in Egypt!" (Notovitch, 6)

Obviously, not all of these 25 or more accounts can be "true and genuine," and such a development casts doubt on the historicity of one and all.

The Rozabal Tomb
Rozabal tomb Kashmir

Moreover, it is interesting that Notovitch spent six days in the "Vale of Kashmir," in its capital, Srinagar, "city of the sun," where the purported tomb of "Jesus," the wandering prophet Yuz Asaf, is shown to tourists. Yet, the Russian traveler apparently never heard of the tomb, known as the "Roza Bal" or "Rauzabal" shrine, as he does not mention it in his writings concerning the Tibetan text, where its inclusion certainly would have been judicious in demonstrating that Jesus lived in India! Perhaps, however, as a believing Christian Notovitch ignored this tale, much as the devout do today and much as skeptics may do with other fables concerning Christ.

Roza Bal footprintsPossessing the priestly touch of sculpted footprints "with nail marks" over the grave, the Roza Bal shrine may seem convincing to the uninitiated, who are unaware of the world's well-developed priestcraft. This "artifact" is another in a long line of so-called relics, like the 20+ shrouds or the multiple foreskins of Christ. In reality, there were many "footprints of the gods" in ancient times--and a number of Indian gods are depicted with nail holes in their feet.

Also, "Yuz Asaf" is not equivalent to "Jesus" but to "Joseph," which was often a title of a priest and not a name. In fact, Eastern scholars such as Dr. S. Radhakrishnan state that the name "Joseph" or "Joasaph" is "derived from Bodhisattva, the technical name for one destined to obtain the dignity of a Buddha." (Prajnanananda, 107) Thus, this tomb of a Bodhisattva could belong to any of thousands of such holy men. In like regard, the purported graves of "Jesus" and "his brother" in Japan are in reality those of a 16th-century Christian missionary and his brother.

The legends regarding Jesus's tomb in Srinagar, and that of the Virgin Mary in Kashgar, are apparently of Islamic origin, emanating largely from the "heretical" Ahmadiyya sect. Such a creation would serve a couple of purposes: 1. That, as asserted in the Koran, Jesus was not the "son of God" but a mortal prophet, whose body was buried in Kashmir; and 2. that some presumably Moslem people are his descendants.

Proponents of the Jesus-in-India theory hold up a number of other texts and artifacts they maintain "prove" not only Jesus's existence on Earth but also his presence in India. When such texts and artifacts are closely examined, they serve as no evidence at all, except of priestcraft. With one or two possible exceptions originating to a few centuries earlier, the Eastern texts regarding "Issa" seem to be late writings, some dating to the 15th and 18th centuries, based on traditions, not eyewitness accounts. Some of the "documents" are obviously fictitious, and others are downright ridiculous, such as the Bhavishya Mahapurana. A number of these texts merely relate the basic gospel story with embellishments depending on what the storyteller is attempting to accomplish.

Buddhist Propaganda or Christian Proselytizing?

Tibetan Buddhist holding scrollsAlthough some of the writings appear to be of Hindu origin, the attack by "Issa" on the Vedas and Brahmans, as in the Notovitch text, represents Buddhist propaganda. It appears that Buddhists were trying to demonstrate that Jesus, the great wise man of the West, was influenced by Buddhism, even having been taught by "Buddha," an eternal disincarnate entity. In this regard, the Notovitch text states, "Six years later, Issa, whom the Buddha had chosen to spread his holy word, could perfectly explain the sacred rolls." (Notovitch, 35) In this way, Buddha usurps Jesus, becoming the Jewish teacher's guru.

That the text has been used as propaganda to raise Buddha and Buddhism over Christ and Christianity is further validated by Notovitch's foreword, in which he related that the lama told him, "The only error of the Christians is that after adopting the great doctrine of Buddha, they, at the very outset, completed separated themselves from him and created another Dalai-Lama…" This "Dalai-Lama," the monk subsequently informed the Russian, is the Pope. Concerning Christ, the lama continued, "Buddha did, indeed, incarnate himself with his intelligence in the sacred person of Issa, who, without the aid of fire and sword, went forth to propagate our great and true religion through the entire world." (Notovitch, 20) Hence, Eastern traditions regarding Jesus are designed to show that Jesus is Buddha and that Christianity is an offshoot of ancient Eastern wisdom.

Nevertheless, the Notovitch text itself may have been composed originally by proselytizing Christians who attempted to use the natives' belief in Buddha in order to increase Christ's stature. These missionaries may have been appealing to women to follow "Issa," as the text puts great emphasis on women, whose status in India and elsewhere has been abysmally low. The text would also appeal to the Sudras or Pariahs, since it has Issa preaching on their behalf. These groups are targeted to this day by Christian missionaries in India.

Considering that many missionaries, travelers and scholars have been keenly aware of the numerous and profound similarities between the Tibetan and Catholic religions, it would not be surprising if this Issa fable were created in order to show that the Tibetan religion is merely a foreign derivative of the "true universal religion," i.e., Catholicism. The resemblances between various Indian sects and Christianity likewise led to tales about the Christian missionaries Thomas, Bartholomew and Pantaenus also proselytizing in India. Like the Jesus-in-India myth, there are other explanations for the resemblances, which are addressed in detail in my book Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled. In short, the major explanation is that the "Christian" religion and savior were already in India long before the alleged advent of Jesus.

Is "Issa" Jesus - or Shiva?

By calling Issa "Jesus" or "Christ," modern writers have cemented in the readers' minds that the correlation is absolute, an erroneous conclusion. In reality, the name "Issa," "Isa" or "Isha" is a title and simply means "lord," "god" or "master," often referring to the Indian god Lord Shiva: "'Isha' or 'the Lord' is another name of Siva…" (Prajnanananda, 19) Furthermore, Prof. Nunos de Santos says, "…a god variously named Issa, Isha, Ichtos, Iesus, Ieshuah, Joshuah, Jesus, etc., is indisputably originally from India." He also states, "Ishvara (Ishwar) is widely worshipped in the Far East, being also called Isha (or Ishana) in India, Issara in Pali, Isuan in Thai, Jizu (or Jizai) in Japanese, and so on."

Chandra Hindu Moon God image"Isa" is likewise another name for Chandra, the Indian moon god, as well as for Shiva's Egyptian counterpart, the soli-lunar god Osiris, also called Iswara in India:

"Iswara, or Isa, and Isani, or Isisi, are…unquestionably the Osiris and Isis of Egypt. Iswara, Siva, or Hara (for these are his names among nearly a thousand more) united with Isi, represent the secondary causes, whatever they may be, of natural phenomena; and principally those of temporary destruction and regeneration." (Moor, 151)

Numerous ancient legends, recorded for example in the writings of Diodorus Siculus during the first century BCE, depict Osiris as traveling all over the East, as well as the rest of the world, during the millennia when he reigned as Egypt's favorite deity. Osiris, or Isa, it should be noted, was put to death and resurrected, among many other correspondences to the Christ myth. Osiris/Isa too had a number of tombs in various places, especially in Egypt but likely also in India. However, Osiris was not a "real person" but a fertility and sun god. What mythologists recognize is that it was not a "historical Osiris" but his myth that made it to India and diverse places. As in the case of Osiris, the same phenomenon occurred regarding "Jesus," who is, in the end, a remake of Osiris, among others.

The title "Isa" or "Issa" could apply to others, and is a common name even today. Indeed, some part of these Jesus-in-India tales may revolve around the famed Greek sage Apollonius of Tyana. Not a few persons over the centuries have noted the similarities between the lives of Apollonius and Christ, and even in ancient times Christians were accused of plagiarizing the Apollonius legend.

The Nestorians

Nestorian Mongolian Bishop imageThe Issa myth apparently represents a Christianization of legends regarding Osiris, Shiva, Apollonius and other gods and "Bodhisattvas," by the Nestorians, an early Christian sect who lived in India and elsewhere, and may well have spread the syncretistic fable to other Asian ports of call. Indeed, Nicholas Roerich himself surmised that the ancient Nestorian sect spread the tales in the East:

"We heard several versions of this legend which has spread widely through Ladak, Sinkiang and Mongolia, but all versions agree on one point, that during His absence, Christ was in India and Asia…. Perhaps [this legend] is of Nestorian origin." (Prophet, 261)

Roerich also stated, "Whoever doubts too completely that such legends about the Christ life exist in Asia, probably does not realize what an immense influence the Nestorians have had in all parts of Asia and how many so-called Apocryphal legends they spread in the most ancient times." (Roerich, 89) In addition, George Roerich even proposed that there was a "floating colony" of Nestorians in Ladakh itself "during the eighth to tenth centuries," which could well be when the Notovitch text was composed. Roerich, one of the main writers whose works have led to the Jesus-in-India theory, almost invariably and misleadingly substitutes "Jesus" or "Christ" for "Issa," when Issa could be a number of individuals, mythical and historical.

In his account of Jesus in India, Roerich declared, "The teachings of India were famed far and wide; let us even recall the description of the life of Appolonius [sic] of Tyana and his visits to Hindu sages." (Roerich, 119) Again, one likely scenario regarding "Issa" ("Lord" or "Master") is that, whatever part of his tale is "historical," it possibly refers to Apollonius.

Pre-Christian Indo-European Interaction

As is well known, Apollonius was not alone in his journeys to the East. Decades and centuries prior to the Christian era, there was much intercourse between India and the West, including the famous journey by Pythagoras and the Alexandrian incursion. As another pertinent example, one of the seats of Mandeanism, a Christian baptist sect, was Maisan, a Mesopotamian city colonized by Indians. As Dr. Rudolph Otto relates:

"…Indian caravans passed through Maisan and likewise Nabatea. Indian merchants, wherever they went, were importers and missionaries of Indian ideas. There need be no surprise therefore if direct Indian imports are found in the syncretistic medley of Mandean Gnosis". (Prajnanananda, 41)

Space does not permit us to recount the numerous authorities who are in agreement as to the westward spread of Indian and Buddhist concepts centuries before and into the Christian era. A number of them may be found in Prajnanananda's book, including a "Mr. Cust," who evinced that trade between India and Yemen "was established not later than 1000 B.C." Yemen is very close to Israel, and by the first century CE there were plenty of Indians in the Roman Empire.

Despite the popularity of the Jesus-in-India tale, the claim is not accepted by mainstream authorities, either Christian or secular. The tale's proponents assert that scholars reject Jesus in India because of Western imperialism and the inability to accept that Christ could have been influenced by Buddhism. In the case of mythicists, however, the reason Jesus is denied as having gone to India is because he is a pagan sun god remade into a Jewish "human" messiah. Thus, it is not a question of a "historical Jesus" being in India and the East but of a variety of solar cults that worshipped a similar deity with similar rituals, doctrines and myths.

Jesus the Druid?

Glastonbury Abbey imageAnother nation in which the native sun god was usurped by the Jewish Son of God was Britain, where the ancient Druidism was likewise appropriated by the later Christianity. While the Indian theory asserts the Jewish sage spent his entire early years there, the British tale of Jesus has him travel in his youth to Glastonbury in order to learn from the Druids. The story goes that many of the tin miners in Britain at the time of Jesus's alleged advent were Jewish, which is sensible since British tin-mining was highly valued by the Jews' Phoenician predecessors and cousins. One such miner was purportedly Jesus's "uncle" Joseph of Arimathea, who, along with Jesus, allegedly founded the first Christian church at Glastonbury. Certainly there were Jews in England at the time of Jesus's supposed existence, as there were diffused throughout much of the world. However, the fact that Glastonbury was a "great Pagan sanctuary" in pre-Christian times makes this story suspicious as mythmaking and propaganda.

Among other things, Glastonbury was purportedly the seat of the "Holy Grail" or sacred chalice, a pre-Christian concept, and has been equated with the mythical pagan paradise Avalon. Legend holds that St. Patrick died in Glastonbury around 472 CE. However, since it is evident that "St. Patrick" is an ancient Irish god turned into a Christian saint, it would seem that this apocryphal story represents an approximation of when Christianity really began to circulate in England, "killing" the pagan gods.

King Arthur Knights of the Round Table imageThe Glastonbury legends further hold that King Arthur and Queen Guinevere were likewise buried there, and that Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were descended from Joseph of Arimathea. These tales appear to have been created in order to give Arthur Jewish ancestry and a divine pedigree as a descendant of King David, bestowing upon the British kings the divine right to rule as "true Israelites." Indeed, one of the Jesus-in-Britain proponents, devout Christian/British Israelite E. Raymond Capt, writes about the presence of both Jesus and Paul in Britain, and discusses the "remarkable prediction of Britain's glorious inheritance." Thus, the legend serves to establish British supremacy, as Great Britain is destined to inherit the biblical promise of God's kingdom on Earth to the descendants of the "Lost Tribes," the true sheep of Israel.

Adding to this notion, it was asserted that Mary's mother, Ann, lived in Glastonbury, and that Mary herself was buried there. After Christ's death, the story goes, Joseph was accompanied by Mary, the risen Lazarus and his sisters, Mary Magdalene and a number of other "saints." Unluckily for the Mary-in-Britain fable, other legends place her burial in Kashmir, as noted, and in Bethlehem, Ephesus and Gethsemane. Naturally, logic would dictate that, were Mary a real person, she would not be buried in more than one place. The reason why "Mary" appears all over is that she is the ubiquitous ancient Goddess turned into a Jewish maiden.

Concerning the British gods, Capt states that the Druidic trinity was composed of three "Beli" (cf. the Semitic Baal, Bal or Bel). Interestingly, "Yesu" (also "Hesus") was the name of the Druid "coming Saviour of the future." (Capt, 9, 10) Capt then naively remarks, "Druidism thus anticipated Christianity and pointed to the coming Saviour under the very name by which Christ was called." In reality, Christianity copied and incorporated countless elements of numerous religions within the Roman Empire and beyond. Moreover, per the Catholic missionary Huc, who traversed India, Tibet and other parts of Asia, "Yesu" was also a name of the expected avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, of which Krishna was an avatar.

Hesus Esus Druid god imageThe Druidic inhabitants of "Glastonbury Lake Village" were highly skilled woodworkers and carpenters; hence, their god was a woodworker and carpenter named Yesu/Esus/Hesus, long prior the Christian era. When one understands the brotherhood and its priestcraft, it is not surprising that Jews who purportedly lived in the very heart of Druidism--the fabled Avalon itself--and who would know about the future Druid savior and other doctrines, would return from Palestine with tales that "the" Messiah by that very name had been born in Judea.

In addition, the first "church" at Glastonbury was supposedly "circular…with the twelve huts of the other disciples forming a circle around it." (Capt, 42) Many Pagan temples had a similar astrological blueprint, i.e., the circle of the Zodiac, and it is clear that Glastonbury's sanctuary was appropriated by the mythical Christ and fictive Twelve, as the original Druid "church" was likely founded in the name of their patron carpenter god, Yesu/Hesus, long prior to the alleged advent of the Jewish savior. Indeed, Christianity is but a Judaized rehash of Paganism, with the astrotheological pagan gods turned into the Jewish Son of God, his disciples and a slew of saints. Ergo the tales of Glastonbury and elsewhere.

The reason for all this apparent chicanery can be summed up by Capt's words: "There can be no doubt that the Glastonbury Abbey is the oldest, continuous Christian foundation in the world." As we have seen, and would continue to see in The Christ ConspiracySuns of God and other books, this claim of primacy is commonplace and has at its foundation not the "historical truth" but a powerful political and economic agenda. In actuality, scholars have repeatedly discredited these traditions regarding Jesus and Joseph in Glastonbury as having been devised in the 12th century by monks trying to entice pilgrims and their tourist money. (Capt, 107)

This myth was apparently created in order to establish the supremacy of the church at Glastonbury, as well as explain why Jesus and his purported teachings were so similar to the god(s) and doctrines of the Druids. The Druids in turn supposedly received their instruction from Pythagoras, who himself had traveled to India. Since the Druidic and Vedic priesthoods, language and culture are one at root, separating perhaps three millennia prior to the Christian era (Ellis), it does not surprise us that "Jesus" legends are found in both India and Britain. In fact, such a godman and doctrines already existed in Britain for centuries, if not millennia, prior to the Christian era. By having "Jesus" and/or Paul establish a church in what is "the center of the Druidic faith in Britain," the Jewish/Israelite version of the tale thus usurped the native religion. Also, Druidism was a thorn in the side of the Romans, who could not totally rule Britain so long as it existed; hence, it would benefit the eventual Roman Church to have their supposed founder personally consecrate Britain.

The "Lost Years" Are Astrotheological

Jesus as the Sun throughout HistoryOver the centuries Jesus's so-called "lost years" and post-crucifixion life have provided much fodder for the fertile human imagination, leading to speculation, legends, traditions and myths that the great godman and sage lived and studied in a variety of places. Once the fable of Christ became popular, numerous towns, villages, cities and nations wished to establish some sort of connection. Instead of recognizing that such a significant omission as Jesus's "lost years" is an indication of the mythical nature of the tale, individuals using typical priestcraft have come up with countless extraordinary adventures of the "historical Jesus." Unfortunately for the believers, however, not only is the gospel story itself but so too are these Jesus-the-Globetrotter tales mere deluding smoke and mirrors, and the reason for the gap in Jesus's biography is because he was not a "real person" but a pagan sun god turned into a Jewish messiah. In the mythos revolving around the sun god, there need be no accounting for "lost years," as the "age" of 12 represents the sun at high noon, while the 28 or 30 represents the days of the lunar or solar months, respectively.

When religions are investigated with a profound knowledge of mythology, the correspondences are clearly revealed, and it becomes evident that it is not the case that this miracleworker or that godman traveled to this place or that, as has been rumored to have occurred with just about every god or goddess. In actuality, it is the legends, traditions and myths concerning these gods, godmen or gurus that have been spread far and wide by their proponents, priests and propagandists. As was the case with the missionary and his brother in Japan, who were taken for the object of worship they were proselytizing, so has it developed in other parts of the world over the millennia concerning not only Jesus but also many other deities, such as the virgin-born, crucified Mexican god Quetzalcoatl, whose similar "life" and religion led to claims that "Jesus" was in America. The reason for the similarities, however, is because both Jesus and Quetzalcoatl are sun gods with the same attendant holidays and practices.

In the final analysis, it is not possible that Jesus could have lived years after the crucifixion, fathered children and died in several different places, as legends represent. The past explanation for such discrepancies has been metaphysical, deeming Jesus to be multidimensional and capable of simultaneous incarnations in various locations. Such an explanation, of course, will not satisfy the skeptic and scientist. Or the mythologist, who simply knows better, because she or he has studied in depth the products of the human mind. Because the basic story of Christ revolves around the sun, which was highly esteemed the world over beginning many millennia ago, the myth is likewise found around the globe. To the basic mythos and ritual were added various embellishments according to the place and era, and for a variety of reasons. In the end, Jesus the Globetrotter is a not a historical personage who magically appeared all over the world, bi-locating and flying on the backs of birds. "Jesus Christ" is mythical creature, to be found globally only between the pages of a book.

Sources:

Capt, E. Raymond, The Traditions of Glastonbury, Artisan, 1983
Ellis, Peter B., "Our Druid Cousins," www.hinduism-today.com/2000/2/2000-2-16.html
Huc, M. L'Abbé, Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet, I, London, Longman & Co., 1857
Moor, Edward, Simpson, ed., The Hindu Pantheon, Indological Book House, India, 1968
Notovitch, Nicholas, The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ, Tree of Life Publications, CA, 1980
Nunos de Santos, Arysio, "The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ--Comments," www.rickrichards.com/jc/JesusComment2.html
Prajnanananda, Swami, Christ the Saviour and the Christ Myth, Calcutta, 1984
Prophet, Elizabeth Clare, The Lost Years of Jesus, Summit University Press, 1984
Roerich, Nicholas, Altai-Himalaya, Adventures Unlimited, 2001



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THE  REASON  GOD'S  NAME
IS  MISSING  FROM  MANY  BIBLES

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THE  REASON  GOD'S  NAME
IS  MISSING  FROM  MANY  BIBLES

"...the distinctive Hebrew name for God 
- usually transliterated Jehovah
is in this translation 
represented by "LORD." 
- Today's English Version (preface)

There are many different reasons why God's name
was removed from the Bible.  I will attempt to
briefly discuss them here.

First off, it was a MISTAKE to remove God's Name
from the bible.

WHY ?

As Author of the Bible, Only God himself has the 
right to change or alter the Bible.  God himself
gave mankind a warning - in his own Word - The Bible;
to NOT add to - NOR take away from his Words.

"I warn everyone who hears the words 
of the prophecy of this book: 
If anyone adds anything to them, 
God will add to him the plagues 
described in this book. 
And if anyone takes words away 
from this book of prophecy, 
God will take away from him 
his share in the tree of life."
(Revelation 22:18,19)(NIV)-BibleGateway


- A  MISTAKE -

"...the suppression 
of The Name (Jehovah)

has entailed upon the reader, 
and especially upon the hearer, 
irreparable loss...
its suppression was a  MISTAKE..." 
--Rotherham, 1, Ch. IV, 22-29


"...the most common "ERROR" made by most 
translators in the last 3500 years...is their 
elimination of heaven's revealed Name of 
the Most High, Yahweh (Jehovah)" 
- A. B. Traina;
in the Preface of the Holy Name Bible

 

"The substitution of the word "Lord" is most unhappy
for...it in NO WAY represents the meaning of the
sacred name (Jehovah)..."
- The 1872 edition of Smith's Bible Dictionary

THE  BASIC  REASONS THAT TRANSLATORS
REMOVED  GOD'S  NAME  FROM  THE  BIBLE :


1. Anti-Semitic Feelings
The Jewish God of the Jewish Messiah
was hated and despised by the Greeks and Romans.
When Christianity became a State Religion of Rome -
All attempts to blot out the Hebrew origins of Jesus
were employed - and Removing God's Name from the Bible
was a major attempt to obscure Jesus' Jewish heritage.

"Well, be assured that the God that the Jews 
worship - is the very same God that we worship
.
Their sacred writings, the Law and the Prophets, 
we revere and read aloud in our meetings. 
And because we worship this God of the Jews, 
the one thing we cannot be accused of is novelty."
--Glimpses Issue #139 : 
Why Early Christians Were So Despised;
Ken Curtis PH.D., Beth Jacobson,
Diana Severance Ph.D., 
Ann T. Snyder and Dan Graves. ©2003 
by Christian History Institute. 
"The Octavius of Minicius Felix" ;
2nd century A.D.

2. Support of Trinitarian Doctrine
When Rome voted to adopt the Trinity doctrine of
the numerous Pagans in her empire - The Name of
God - YHWH (translated Jehovah in English) -
interfered and hindered the Newly Adopted teaching
That Jesus was the Almighty God - Jehovah. 
Rome paid her translators to remove God's name
almost Seven Thousand Times (7,000) from the Bible.

"In the first two centuries nearly all the 
various readings of the New Testament came 
into existence, the majority of them by 
deliberate alteration of the text...in the 
interests of (the trinity) dogma..."
-the Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics;
The Bible in the Church

"Codex B (Vaticanus)...was altered by a later hand
in more than two thousand places.  Eusebius, therefore,
is not without grounds for accusing the adherents 
of....the newly-risen doctrine of the trinity 
of falsifying the Bible..." 
-(Fraternal Visitor 1924, p. 148; 
translated from Christadelphian Monatshefte).

"The removal of the Tetragrammaton (Jehovah)
from the New Testament and its replacement 
with the surrogates KYRIOS and THEOS
blurred
the original distinction between the Lord God 
and the Lord Christ,
and in many passages 
made it impossible which one was meant.  
As time went on...it was often impossible 
to distinguish between them. Thus it may be 
that
the removal of the Tetragrammaton (Jehovah)
contributed significantly to the later...Trinity "
- George Howard,  Bible Scholar ;
The Name of God in the New Testament, 
BAR 4.1 (March 1978), pg 15

`
"It was they who demanded, in effect, 
that Christianity be "updated"
by blurring
or even obliterating the long-accepted 
distinction between the Father and the Son
."
- When Jesus Became God 
by Richard E. Rubenstein, p.74


3. MONEY
Because the God of Christ - The Jewish God, Jehovah,
was not popular with the world of mankind, they
sought to remove him from their Bibles.  Bible 
translators knew that for their Bibles to be purchased
they would need to appeal to their readers.  They 
also knew, that if they used God's Divine Name Jehovah,
then people would not purchase their Version and thus
they would lose money.

God's name Jehovah/Yahowah appears in the original hebrew
text about 7000 times, but the NIV fails to mention it even once. 
When asked about this,   Edwin H. Palmer, Th.D., 
Executive Secretary for the NIV's committee wrote :

"Here is why we did not : You are right - that Jehovah is 
a distinctive name for God
and ideally we should have
used it.
But we put 2 1/4 million dollars into this
translation and a sure way of throwing that 
down the drain is to translate
,
for example, 
Psalm 23 as, 'Yahweh (Jehovah) is my shepherd.
Immediately, we would have translated for nothing.
Nobody would have used it (or purchased it). 
Oh, maybe you and a handful [of] others.  
But a Christian has to be also wise and practical.   
We are the victims of 350 years of the King James tradition. 
It is far better to get two million to read it-
that is how many have bought it to date-
and to follow the King James, than to have two thousand
buy it and have the correct translation of Yahweh(Jehovah)
. . . It was a hard decision, and many of our translators
agree with you." 
- The Reason NIV removed Jehovah's Name
Edwin H. Palmer, Th.D., 
Executive Secretary for the NIV's committee


"The situation today, where many translations...
exists largely because of the amount of money 
to be gained..."
-(The Preservation of the Bible By Faithful Churches) 
--By Charles V. Turner

4. MAN MADE "TRADITION"
It was a tradition of the Jews to avoid using God's
name altogether.  They stopped all mention of him.
No longer using God's Divine Name, they no longer used
it in their prayers, even making it a sin to say his
name out loud.  They considered it "blasphemy" to
utter the name of God, Jehovah.  Many translators
admit to following this "Jewish Tradition" and have
thus removed Jehovah's name and replaced it with Titles
such as "LORD" and "GOD" - all in capitals - to show
that they have removed God's name in those places.
Jesus condemned the man-made tradition of the Jews.
Following their lead in this - would be directly against
Jesus' Teachings on this issue.

"...Yahweh (Jehovah), is the proper personal name 
of the God of Israel...the term Adonai,  ‘My Lord’ 
was later used as a SUBSTITUTE.  The word  LORD
in the present version represents 
the TRADITIONAL usage." 
- New American Bible (Catholic) 
Introduction to the O. T., Page XI.

"In this translation
we have followed 
the orthodox Jewish TRADITION
and substituted 'the Lord'
for the name 'Yahweh' (Jehovah)"
-- Preface - 1935 Bible ;
J. M. Powis Smith and Edgar J. Goodspeed

"Jesus replied, 
"And why do you break the command of God 
for the sake of your tradition? 
...Thus you nullify the word of God 
for the sake of your tradition. "
(Matthew 15:3,6)(NIV)-BibleGateway


5. SUPERSTITION
During the time when Israel was in slavery to Babylon,
she absorbed and adopted many Babylonian customs and
ideas.  One of these was the "Superstition" against using
the name of a God - for fear that bad things would 
happen to them.  As the Babylonians called their Chief
God - Marduk by the title "LORD" so as not to offend 
him, so too - the Jews adopted this idea in reference
to Jehovah God.

"When the Yisraeli (Israelites) came out of Babylonian
captivity, they brought along with them
the Babylonian
culture, and
along with it Babylonian beliefs and 
superstitions.
One of these pagan Babylonian practices
or beliefs was called "ineffability." 
This was the SUPERSTITION against using the name
of a deity for fear of something bad happening to them.
The idea was that if you said the name of a deity 
he or she would notice you.
The pagan practice of 
ineffability was further reinforced by Greek 
Hellenization."
-(b.Pes. 50a) (b.Kidd. 71a).

"The avoidance of the original name of God (Yehowah) 
both in speech and,  to a certain extent, in the Bible.....
first arose.....in Babylonia. According to Dalman 
(l.c. pp. 66 et seq.),"
-The Jewish Encyclopedia
TETRAGRAMMATON; by 
Crawford Howell Toy, and Ludwig Blau


"The idea that only the priest could utter 
The NAME of The HEAVENLY FATHER, and that he 
was to disguise or hide it from the common people,
came from the idea that the NAME was "ineffable"
or "unutterable". However this was a pagan doctrine 
that they adopted from the Egyptians, Babylonians, 
and the Greeks
..."
-THE FINAL REFORMATION; KOSTER P.54, P112 

Marduk was, therefore, a very important god of Babylon.
In the first millennium BCE, his name was considered 
so holy, that it was almost never pronounced

instead, people said and wrote Bêl, 'LORD'.

Herodotus correctly calls the supreme god of BabylonBêl ("lord"), because his real name was not pronounced. -[Herodotus, Histories 1.181-2; tr. Aubrey de Sélincourt]"The ineffability of divine names was on old idea in Egypt...the name of Osiris himself was said to be ineffable...the name Marduk of Babylonwas also declared ineffable. The Greeks avoided the names of their deities and preferred to call them by the  titles Kurios and Theos."-The Final Reformation By Dr. Koster; pp. 54 and 112"...But at least by the third century B.C.E. the pronunciation of the name YHWH (Jehovah) was avoided, and Adonai, "the Lord," was substituted for it..."- Encyclopedia Judaica (p. 679)."The Hebrews considered The Name of Godto be 'ineffable' and substituted in reading Adonai (My Lord)."-Columbia Encyclopedia Vol. 2  under the subject 'God' 

6. "JEHOVAH" IS NOT THE HEBREW WAY TO SAY GOD'S NAME
Some Bible Translators say that they have removed
God's name from the Bible - because Jehovah is not
the proper way to say God's name in Hebrew.
This reasoning is merely an excuse and not a reason
at all.  For if this reason was valid, then we
would also have to remove Jesus name from the Bible,
since the name "Jesus" is not the way that it was
written or spoken in Hebrew either.  Many Hebrew
names are written in the Bible - which are not as they
were in Hebrew and yet we do not remove them.  
Therefore this reasoning is truly invalid.  Examples
of Jewish names in the Bible which are translated 
into English - much differently than their original
Hebrew couterparts  - are :  Jesus, Jeremiah, Jonah,
Joel, Jerusalem, Joshua, etc.

"... the Committee... is, omitting the name of God
(because)
the word 'Jehovah' does not accurately 
represent any form of the Name ever used in Hebrew..."
- The Preface of the Revised Standard Version


Thus, the Hebrew  "ye-ru-sha-LA-yim
became "Jerusalem"; 
"ye-ri-HO"  became  Jericho; 
and "yar-DEN" become  "Jordan".
Hebrew personal names such as
"yo-NA"  became  "Jonah", 
"yi-SHAI"  became  "Jesse
and "ye-SHU-a"  became  "Jesus".

Likewise "YHWH, Yahweh, or Yehowah" 
became  "Jehovah" in english.

7. GOD  DOESN'T  NEED  A  NAME
God does not need to be distinguished from other gods.
Some translators have made this statement.  Who are 
we to say that God doesn't need a name ?  God deemed
it necessary to name all the stars in the heavens, and
to place his name upon people that he liked, and upon
places that were important to him.  His own word the
Bible - emphasizes the importance of a name.  The
translators of the Bible did not remove Satan's name
from the Bible - nor did they remove the names of 
numerous false gods from the Bible.

"the use of any proper name 
for the one and only God... 
is entirely inappropriate 
for the universal faith 
of the Christian Church."
-the preface of the Revised Standard Version
Under reasons (excuses) for the removal of 
God’s personal name - Jehovah

"He determines the number of the stars
and calls them each by name."
(Psalms 147:4)(NIV)-BibleGateway

"Lift up your eyes on high, 
and see who hath created these, 
that bringeth out their host by number; 
he calleth them all by name...
The everlasting God, Jehovah, 
the Creator of the ends of the earth..."
(Isaiah 40:26,28)(ASV)-BibleGateway

"A good name is more desirable than great riches; 
to be esteemed is better than silver or gold."
(Proverbs 22:1)(NIV)-BibleGateway

"A good name is better 
than oil of much worth..."
(Ecclesiastes 7:1)(NLV)-BibleGateway


"...The Sacred Name Yahovah
was revealed to man by Yahovah Himself 
and is not a man-given name" 
-(see II Apol., 10, 13; Trypho, 126, 127).

In the Bible, refusing to mention the name of a god 
means refusing to worship this god (Ex 23:13) 
and that is why Satan incited the Israelites, 
by means of the prophets of Baal, 
not to use the Name of Jehovah (Jr 23:27).

"Yahweh (Jehovah) is the name 
that indicates the God of the Hebrews. 
Where the Philistines worshipped Dagon, 
the Egyptians, Amon, and the Ammonites, Milcom, 
the Hebrews worshipped YAHWEH (Jehovah). 
The title 'god' (elohim) is ALSO applied to false deities
in the Scriptures as well as Yahweh (Jehovah),
hence is NOT a term by which one can be 
distinguished from the others. 
When the voice said, 'I am Yahweh (Jehovah),' 
there was no doubt in any listener's mind 
as to the identity of the speaker. 
He was the God of the Hebrews. 
So far as is known,
no other peoples 
called their god by this name." 
- Review and Herald, December 16, 1971

"In the Scriptures there is the closest possible relationship 
between a person and his name, the two being practically
equivalent, so that to remove the name
is to extinguish the person. (Num. 27:4; Deut. 7:24) 
To forget God's name is to depart from Him."
-
Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary
, p. 571 (1964)


JEWISH  BIBLES  FAVOR  THE  NAME
"JEHOVAH"

Non-superstitious Jewish translators always favored 
the name "Jehovah"
in their translations of the Bible.
On the other hand one can note that there is no
Jewish translation of the Bible with "Yahweh".

NAME OF VERSION
(JEWISH)
TONGUEPUBLISHED
IN:
DIVINE NAME
RENDERED
Immanuel TremelliusLatin1579Jehova
Baruch SpinozaLatin1670Jehova*
Samuel CahenFrench1836Iehovah
Alexander HarkavyEnglish1936Jehovah**
Joseph Magil (see below)English1910Jehovah
Rabbi L. Golschmidt (see below)German1921Yehovah


"non-superstitious Jewish translators 
always favored the name Jehovah
in their translations of the Bible. 
On the other hand one can note that 
there is NO Jewish translation of the Bible
with Yahweh." 
--M. Gérard GERTOUX; a Hebrew scholar, 
specialist of the Tetragram;
president of the Association Biblique 
de Recherche d'Anciens Manuscrits

THE  EARLY  CHRISTIANS
USED  THE  NAME - "JEHOVAH"

"As a follower of Christ
Peter used Gods name, Jehovah

When Peters speech was put on record
the Tetragrammaton (YHWH / Jehovah) was here used 
according to the practice during the first 
century B.C.E. and the first century C.E."
- Paul Kahle; Studia Evangelica, edited by Kurt Aland,
F. L. Cross, Jean Danielou, Harald Riesenfeld 
and W. C. van Unnik, Berlin, 1959, p. 614
(See App 1C §1.)


"The early Christian scholars therefore 
easily learnt the true pronunciation
."
-The 15th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica,
volume 12, p. 995, under the heading "Jehovah"


REMOVING "JEHOVAH"
ALMOST SEVEN THOUSAND TIMES


"The ASV (American Standard Version) 
has "Jehovah"  in it about 6,823 times, 
just like the original Hebrew, 
but the NASB removed it every time.
This makes for some awkward situations 
like Psalms 110:1, "The LORD said to my lord." "
-Jason Beduhn 
Northern Arizona University 
Department of Humanities Arts and Religion

Jesus' name appears only 500 some times in the Bible;
whereas Jehovah's Name appears almost 7,000  times.

Obviously Jehovah is proud of his name.

So how does he feel about mankind removing HIS Name
from the Bible ?

HOW  DOES JEHOVAH FEEL ?

"Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached,
O Jehovah, And that a foolish people 
hath blasphemed thy name."
(Isaiah 74:18)(ASV)-BibleGateway

"And now this admonition is for you, O priests.
If you do not listen,
and if you do not set your heart to honor my name,"
says  Jehovah Almighty,
"I will send a curse upon you,
and I will curse your blessings."
(Malachi 2:1) (ASV)

"How long, O God, 
will you allow our enemies to mock you?
Will you let them dishonor your name forever?"
(Psalm 74:10) (NLT) -BibleGateway

"And all day long
my name is constantly blasphemed.
Therefore my people will know my name;
therefore in that day they will know
that it is I who foretold it. "
(Isaiah 52:5,6) (NIV) -BibleGateway

"Therefore, behold, I will cause them to know,
this once will I cause them to know 
my hand and my might;
and they shall know 
that my name is Jehovah."
(Jeremiah 16:21) (ASV) -BibleGateway

"And I will sanctify my great name,which hath been profaned among the nations,which ye have profaned in the midst of them;and the nations shall know that I am Jehovah."(Ezekiel 36:23) (ASV) -BibleGateway


"And it shall come to pass,
that whosoever shall call 
on the name of Jehovah
shall be delivered..."
(Joel 2:32)(ASV)-BibleGateway

"...this is what was spoken 
by the prophet Joel: 
'In the 'last days'.....
everyone who calls 
on the name of the Lord (Jehovah)
will be saved.'"
(Acts 2:16,17,32)(NIV)-BibleGateway


FOLLOW  CHRIST'S  EXAMPLE

So rather than follow the Jewish Traditions -
that Jesus Condemned -
We should follow Christ's
example in making his Father's name known.

"Our Father in the heavens,
let your name be sanctified."
(Matthew 6:9) -  BibleGateway

Jesus used his father's name -
and told us to do the same.

In prayer to his father, Jesus said:

"O righteous Father, 
even though the world does not know you,
I know you, and these know that you have sent me.
I made known to them YOUR NAME
and I will continue to make it known...
"I have manifested Your name
to the men whom You gave Me out of the world."
(John 17:25,26,6)(ESV)-BibleGateway

"I will praise thy name for ever and ever..
Great is Jehovah, and greatly to be praised;
And his greatness is unsearchable."
(Psalm 145:2,3)(ASV)-BibleGateway

"That men may know that thou,
whose name alone is JEHOVAH,
art the most high over all the earth."
(Psalm 83:18) (King James Version) -BibleGateway

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"EASTER"  --  
AND   "BABYLON  THE  GREAT"


The Apostles foretold that after they died, the pure faith of Christ
would be corrupted by false teachings.  This Great "Apostasy"
or falling away from the true faith - would be the result of a compromise
with the ancient teachings of pagan Babylon.   John, when writing
about this great Apostasy - called it "Babylon The Great".   Why ?

Simply put - a false Christianity would arise - that would embrace
all the false idolatrous teachings of Ancient Babylon.

At the time of John's warnings about "Babylon The Great", 
the ancient city of Babylon no longer existed - but her false teachings
live on - not only in pagan cults,  but even today,  in the false teachings
of  "Christendom".

"When the early church departed from God 
and imbibed pagan errors, she became Babylon.."
- the International Sabbath School Quarterly, 
Feb. 29, 1896

"It was by departure from the LORD, 
and alliance with the heathen 
that the...church became a harlot." 
- The Great Controversy,  page 382.

In 1851, James White wrote :
'The woman, which is the great city, called Babylon, 
symbolizes the fallen apostate churches'.... "

"EASTER"  -  ANOTHER  "LINK"  
TO  ANCIENT  BABYLON

With the celebration of "Easter" which is on the minds of many today,
how appropriate that the "Truth" about this So-called Holiday - should
be exposed for what it really is----  A compromise with Ancient Babylon.

With all the compromises that the apostate Church has made with
idolatrous Babylon -  Little wonder that she is called :

"BABYLON - THE  GREAT "

"Bible scholars further indicate that the Chaldean-Babylonian
priesthood did not make Pergamos their final home.
When the city was given to Rome, the priesthood sought
out the new power center and moved to the Italian 
peninsula. Within the pagan Roman Empire they were 
able to continue their ancient Chaldean practices. 
This influence gradually extended into Roman Christianity.
According to John Walvoord, chancellor of Dallas 
Theological Seminary, "when the teachers of the 
Babylonian mystery religions later moved from Pergamum
to Rome, they were influential in paganizing Christianity
and were the source of many so-called religious rites 
which have crept into ritualistic churches" 
-(The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Revelation).
- Through an Ancient Looking Glass; 
DAVID HULME; publisher and Middle East scholar

"EASTER"  and  Ancient Babylon
What is the connection ?

"Easter - She was the goddess of love, fertility, and maternity
for the Phonicians, Canaanites, Aramaeans, South Arabs, 
and even the Egyptians. 
Her name was Ishtar in Babylonia and Assyria..."
-World Book, Vol. 1, 782.

"The term 'Easter' is not of Christian origin. 
It is another form of Astarte, one of the titles 
of the Chaldean (Babylonian) goddess.... 
the pagan festival of 'Easter'... was introduced into 
the apostate Western religion, as part of the attempt
to adapt pagan festivals to Christianity
- Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary 
of Old and New Testament Words
(1985, p. 192, "Easter").

z36337708.jpg

Easter - "In Babylonia Ishtar was identified with Venus. 
Like Venus,  Ishtar was the goddess of erotic love and fertility
Her chief seat of worship was Uruk (Erech), 
where prostitution was practiced in her name
and she was served with immoral rites by bands of men and women."
- The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1979, 
Volume 1, pages 319-320

Easter - "Ishtar... the most important goddess 
of the Sumero-Akkadian (Babylonian) pantheon.  
Ishtar was equated with the planet Venus. 
As goddess of physical love (sex), she was patron 
of the temple prostitutes
.  Throughout Mesopotamian 
and Babylonian history she was worshiped under various 
names in many cities....Astarte of Phoenicia was the offshoot 
of Ishtar of Assyria.  To the Hebrews, this abomination
was known as Ashtoreth or Ashtoroth
."
-Collier's Encyclopedia, 1980, Volume 15, page 748


Easter - "Ashtoreth; The name is cognate with
the Babylonian Ishtar, the goddess of sensual love, 
maternity and fertility.  Licentious - debased sexual worship 
was conducted in honor of her."
-  Unger's Bible Dictionary ; pages 412-413

"Easter - Other names of this deity were Ashtoreth, Astarte and Anath.
Frequently represented as a nude woman bestride a lion
with a lily in one hand and a serpent in the other...
Characteristically Canaanite - the lily symbolizes...sex appeal 
and the serpent fecundity.  At Byblos (Biblical Gebal) on the 
Mediterranean, north of Sidon, a center dedicated to this goddess 
has been excavated.  She and her colleagues specialized in sex... 
and her shrines were temples of  legalized vice and prostitution.
Her degraded cult offered.... sordid depths, as lust and murder 
were glamorized in Babylonian Canaanite religion."
- (W. F. Albright, Archaeology and the Religion of Israel, 
Baltimore, John Hopkins Press, 1942, pages 68-94).

z36336638.jpg

"Easter - Frequently represented as 
a nude woman bestride a lion 
with a lily in one hand and a serpent in the other..."
- (W. F. Albright, Archaeology and the Religion of Israel, 
Baltimore, John Hopkins Press, 1942, pages 68-94). 

Christendom's  "Easter Lily" origin can be seen
from the above observation.

Easter Resurrection Worship :
"God told the Israelites to destroy all traces 
of these false religious practices from among them. 
He said if they did not, they would be ensnared and 
destroyed by them. God was right! Somehow these things
have made their way into the Church and the lives of
Christians.
What does this all have to do with Easter? 
Well, another set of local Babylonian names included 
Tummuz and Ishtar. These are Assyrian names for Nimrod 
and Semiramus.  Does the name Ishtar sound like Easter?
Well it should. It is the same. The death and "resurrection"
of these false gods was celebrated annually in the spring.

The celebration included coloring eggs, an ancient symbol of fertility.
The ancients even hid eggs for children to find. 
Rabbits, known for their prolific reproduction, 
also became part of the pagan celebration."
- Resurrection Sunday and 
the Babylonian Connection; By Errol Hale

"Multiple gods and goddesses populated 
the Babylonian pantheon. Bel-Marduk or Bel-Merodach 
was chief god, and Ishtar (Easter) was worshiped as queen
or mistress of heaven. Fertility rites, annual spring 
festivals and "mysteries" were elements of the religion 
designed to keep all levels of society, from king to
peasant, in subservience to the power of the priesthood."
- Through an Ancient Looking Glass; 
DAVID HULME;  publisher and Middle East scholar

"Christianity had co-opted pagan time for its 
festivals and calendar, without scriptural mandate 
and in obvious contradiction to scriptural commands...thus
ancient Babylonian religion had replaced apostolic teaching and practice."
- Augustine's Poisoned Chalice; PETER NATHAN

"Augustine...simply re-dressed paganism 
with Christian nomenclature."
- Augustine's Poisoned Chalice; PETER NATHAN


"There in ancient Babylon were born the false beliefs 
that have wormed their way into almost every religion. 
Even today millions and millions of people who may want
to live according to the right ways are not aware that
their manner of worship follows very closely that of 
ancient idol worship and pagan rites begun at Babel. 
People today, calling themselves Christians, keep the
Babylonian festivals of the Solstice at Christmas and 
of Easter, which is the festival of Ishtar (the ancient 
fertility goddess of Babylon)."
Nimrod and False Religion;
Adapted from Chapters 5 of The Bible Story 
Volume 1 by Basil Wolverton 
Published by Ambassador College Press.

"Babylon was, at that time, 
the center of the civilized world; 
and thus Paganism...had opportunities 
of sending forth its debased counterfeit
of the truth to all the ends of the earth."

- Hislop, A., The Two Babylons, 
Loiseaux Brothers, Neptune, N.J. pg 99.


JOHN's  WARNING  ABOUT
"BABYLON  THE  GREAT"

John makes a connection with the false so-called 
Christian church and ancient Babylon. In Revelation 17, 
verses 1-5, he labels this institution as 'Mystery, 
Babylon". Notice the comma after the word Mystery,
and then afterwards comes the mention of a bygone empire
based upon pagan religious works. 

Babylon was destroyed by the Medes and Persians in 
the 5th century B.C. and as a result, the priests 
of the ancient Chaldean Mysteries moved from Babylon
to the city of Pergamos. John identified this city 
as the city of Satan's Seat in Revelation 3:12-13.

Rome acquired the city of Pergamos by decree of 
Attalus III when he died and bequeathed his kingdom 
to Rome's Caesar. Thus the foundation was laid for
Rome to eventually evolve into the religious institution
predominated by the ancient Babylon styled Mysteries
religious system.

Literal Babylon of old was overthrown under the direct 
judgment of God; but before this, the call went forth to 
God's people:

"Flee out of the midst of Babylon
and save every man his life; 
be not cut off in her iniquity: 
for it is the time of Jehovah's vengeance;
He will render unto her a recompense." 
(Jeremiah 51:6)(ASV)-BibleGateway

Babylon went down but the principles of Babylon's religion
persisted in the nations she had taught, even in the
nations that overthrew her. Every false religion on the
earth has been founded upon that of ancient Babylon.

Even though ancient Babylon no longer exists -
we are told once again to get out of her...much
as God's servants were warned through the prophet
Jeremiah.

"Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! ....
"Come out of her, my people, 
so that you will not share in her sins..."
(Revelation 18:2,4)(NIV)-BibleGateway



"BABYLON  THE  GREAT" --
IS  IDENTIFIED

"Babylon the Great is the secret name.
It is telling us that Babylon the Great 
refers to a religious system."
-Studies in Revelation
By: J. Hampton Keathley, III , Th.M.
The Description of Religious Babylon 
(17:1-6a)

"Babylon's description as "the great harlot" 
refers to the spiritual prostitution and fornication 
that categorizes the apostate church
."
-Studies in Revelation
By: J. Hampton Keathley, III , Th.M.
The Description of Religious Babylon 
(17:1-6a)

"The word "apostasy" means to fall away.  
Paul is telling us that,  just before the Lord's
return, most people will fall away from the true
faith of the Bible."
-End Time; The Other Woman; Herbert L.Peters

"When the early church departed from God 
and imbibed pagan errors, she became Babylon.."
- the International Sabbath School Quarterly, 
Feb. 29, 1896

"It was by departure from the LORD, 
and alliance with the heathen 
that the...church became a harlot." 
- The Great Controversy,  page 382.

In 1851, James White wrote :
'The woman, which is the great city, called Babylon, 
symbolizes the fallen apostate churches'.... "


When John wrote the book of Revelation,
Babylon, as a city, had already been destroyed 
and left in ruins, as Old Testament prophets had 
foretold that it would. 
(Isaiah 13:19-22)(Jeremiah 51-52.)

"Though the city of Babylon was destroyed, 
its religious concepts and customs had spread 
around the world.  Today's myriad of false religions 
have their origin in ancient Babylon."
-All Roads Lead to Babylon


"Ralph Woodrow, in his book, Babylon Mystery Religion
(first published in 1966, now out of print), clearly 
traces the practices and teachings of ancient Babylon,
and their modern counterparts in the Roman Catholic 
Church and her Protestant daughters.  Babylonian ideas 
are by no means isolated to professing Christianity."
-All Roads Lead to Babylon


"Mankind in general, has followed variations of 
one kind or another, of the religion of Babylon, 
to this day."
-Ralph Woodrow;
Babylon Mystery Religion; 1966


"Rome...assimilated religions from her many 
conquered territories.  All these religions had 
commonalities, for they all came from Babylon.  
These practices infiltrated and overcame the 
professing Christian Church, which later came to be
dominated by Rome itself."
-Ralph Woodrow;
Babylon Mystery Religion; 1966


"This is the cup which the Babylonish system 
has made all the world to drink. It is not limited 
to the Roman Catholic Church of Rome, but she certainly 
plays a major role in today's religious deception."
-Ralph Woodrow;
Babylon Mystery Religion; 1966


"The Romish system is based upon a mixture. 
The word "Catholic" means Universal...the true 
Christian goal is not religion based on mixture,
but a return to the original, simple, powerful, and 
spiritual faith that was once delivered to the saints."
-Ralph Woodrow; pg. 161
Babylon Mystery Religion; 1966

"There is NO trace of Easter celebration in the New Testament. 
The Jewish Christians in the early church continued to 
celebrate the Passover, regarding Christ as the true paschal lamb."
-(International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, 
Electronic Database Copyright(c)1996 by Biblesoft)

"There is no indication of the observance of the Easter festival 
in the New Testament, or in the writings of the apostolic Fathers

The ecclesiastical historian Socrates (Hist. Eccl. V. 22) states, with perfect truth, 
that neither the Lord nor his apostles enjoined the keeping of this
or any other
festival...and he attributes the observance of Easter by the church
to the perpetuation of an old PAGAN usage, just as many other customs 
have been established (by the pagan church of Rome)."
-Encyclopaedia Britannica, 13th Edition, 1926, Vol. 8, p.828

"Flee out of the midst of Babylon
and save every man his life; 
be not cut off in her iniquity: 
for it is the time of Jehovah's vengeance;
He will render unto her a recompense." 
(Jeremiah 51:6)(ASV)-BibleGateway

"Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! ....
"Come out of her, my people, 
so that you will not share in her sins..."
(Revelation 18:2,4)(NIV)-BibleGateway



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தங்களைத் தாங்களே துன்புறுத்தும் பிலிப்பைன்ஸ் பக்தர்கள்

April 3, 2010pirabuwin

இரண்டாயிரம் வருடங்களுக்கு முன் மரித்த இயேசு பிரானின் மரணத்தையும் அவரது உயிர்த்தெழுதலையும் நினைவுகூறும் முகமாக இன்று பிலிப்பைன்ஸ் சன் ஜூன் பிகான் கிராமத்தில் மக்கள் சிலுவை சுமந்து ஆணி அறைந்து தங்களைத் தாங்களே வருத்தி இன்றைய புனித நாளை நினைவு கூறுகின்றனர்.

நமது பாவங்களை மன்னிக்க மனுஷ குமாரனாக இப் பூவுலகில் பிறந்து சிலுவைப் பாதையில் மரித்த இறை மகன் இயேசு பிரானின் இன்றைய தியாக நினைவு நாளை நினைவுகூறும் முகமாக உலக வாழ் கிறிஸ்தவர்கள் அனைவராலும் பெரிய வெள்ளிக்கிழமை அனுஸ்டிக்கப்படுகிறது.

மத்திய பிலிப்பைன்ஸ் நாட்டில் இன்று இப்புனித நாளை நினைவுகூரும் முகமாக றோமன் கத்தோலிக்க ஆலய மக்கள் இறைமகன் இயேசு எவ்வாறு பாடுகளை அனுபவித்தாரோ அவ்வாறு தாங்களும் அதன் தார்ப்பரியத்தை உணர வேண்டும் என்பதற்காவே இவ்வாறான துன்பங்களை அனுபவிக்கின்றனர்.

வருடத்தில் ஒருநாள் அனுபவிக்கும் இந்த வலியை தாங்கிக் கொள்வது சிரமம் என்றபோதிலும் அதனை ஒரு பொருட்டாக கொள்வதில்லை என ஊர்வலத்தில் கலந்துகொண்ட மக்கள் கருத்து தெரிவித்துள்ளனர்.

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THE BIBLE FRAUD (2001)THE SECRET IN THE BIBLE (2003)THE CRUFIXION OF TRUTH (2004)THE TWIN DECEPTION (2006)All four books written by Tony Bushby

Bushby+Books.jpg


"How well we know what a profitable superstition this fable of Christ has been for us." -- Pope Leo X (1513-1521)


Tony Bushby has uncovered one of the most controversial subjects of all time -- the numerous frauds related to Christianity and to the Holy Bible, which had fallen victim to editing, censorship, and outright obfuscation in the myths contained within its' pages. The 1,303 total pages of these four books tell a most amazing tale of HOW the behind-the-scenes machinations of the Vatican and the various ecumenical councils had forever altered the Bible, and along with it, the mind-set of more than a BILLION people from all over the planet Earth. 

In THE BIBLE FRAUD, Bushby exposes the TRUTH about Rabbi Jesus and his twin brother, their births, marriages, and deaths, as well as the bloodlines that have resulted from the events of that time. This book reveals the secret ciphers in the Bible, as well as the role Mystery Schools and Francis Bacon played in the creation of the King James Version of the Bible.

THE SECRET IN THE BIBLE reveals the long-ago hidden corellation between the Bible, and Ancient Egypt. Bushby also reveals the role Initiation plays in the Bible stories, and how Ancient Egyptian codes were hidden in the Bible, in the form of ciphers, hidden words and phrases, and the numerous similarities between the Bible and the Ancient Egyptian Book of Thoth. Bushby also demonstrates the similarities between the Book of Thoth and the Tarot's Major Arcana, and its' own relationship to Psalm 119. This book also provides proof that the Great Pyramids of the Giza Plateau were Temples of Initiation, and diagrams are provided to show this beyond any reasonable doubt.

THE CRUFIXION OF TRUTH shows the Hidden Vatican Scrolls, and the falsehoods they reveal about Christianity. Bushby takes the reader into the Vatican Secret Archive, which contains 500,000 censored works that tell the truth about just who this Jesus character was, how he was created, and whether or not if he was a genuine, historical figure, or a symbolic mythological archetype. This book also demonstrates the similarities between THE MYSTERIES OF OSIRIS AND ISIS and the BOOK OF REVELATION. 

THE TWIN DECEPTION reveals the TRUTH about the twin brother of Jesus, and how he was one of his trusted disciples. The author also shows how the twin brother was removed from Church texts, and WHY this was done. This book contains the decoded secret ciphers of a 16th Century Knight's Templar Initiate, and extracts from the Dead Sea Scrolls. 

BEST-EVER books on the mysteries surrounding Christianity and the Holy Bible!! EACH BOOK IS A MUST READ!

The Bible Fraud - Tony Bushby (2001)

The Secret In The Bible - Tony Bushby (2003)

The Crufixion of Truth - Tony Bushby (2004)

The Twin Deception - Tony Bushby (2006)


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NOAH'S ARK FOUND? NOT SO FAST

Posted: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 4:00 PM by Alan Boyle

100427-coslog-noahs-ark-hlarge-1150a.jpg
NAMI / AFP - Getty Images
A photo from Noah's Ark Ministries International shows a member of the Chinese-
Turkish evangelical exploration team looking at wooden beams inside a 
compartment of a structure that the team has linked to the Biblical Noah's Ark.

Web sites are buzzing over claims that remains from Noah’s Ark may have been found on Turkey’s Mount Ararat. The finders, led by an evangelical group, say they are "99.9 percent" that a wooden structure found on the mountainside was part of a ship that housed the Biblical Noah, his family and a menagerie of creatures during a giant flood 4,800 years ago.

But researchers who have spent decades studying the region – and fending off past claims of ark discoveries – caution that a boatload of skepticism is in order.

"You have to take everything out of context except the Bible to get something tolerable, and they're not even working much with the Bible," said Paul Zimansky, an archaeologist and historian at Stony Brook University who specializes in the Near East - and especially the region around Ararat, known as Urartu.

Cornell archaeologist Peter Ian Kuniholm, who has focused on Turkey for decades, was even more direct - saying that the reported find is a "crock."

The quest to find remnants of the Bible's most famous cargo ship goes back to, well, virtually biblical times (or at least back to the time of the ancient historian Josephus). In the Book of Genesis, God tells Noah to build a boat that would be longer than a modern-day football field and more than three stories high. Animals were sent to seek shelter in the ship and ride out a flood that wiped out the entire world.

Zimansky points out that Genesis identifies the mountains of Urartu (a.k.a. Ararat) as the landing zone for the ark, but not a specific peak. Over the centuries, 16,946-foot Mount Ararat and the nearby boat-shapedDurupinar rock formation have emerged as the favored locales for ark-hunters. (Others, meanwhile, have looked for evidence of an ancient flood in Turkey's Black Sea region or Iran.)

It seems as if evidence of the ark pops up at least every couple of years - and not always in the same place. The latest report appears to follow up on a 2007 expedition that came upon a wooden structure "in the interiors of an unusual cave" at the 14,700-foot level of Ararat's slopes.

100427-coslog-beams-hlarge-1155a.jpg
NAMI / AFP - Getty Images
This photo from Noah's Ark Ministries International shows part of a structure that 
evangelical explorers say might prove the existence of Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat.

That expedition was organized by Hong Kong-based Noah's Ark Ministries International, the group that is also behind the fresh reports appearing this week. Leaders of the Chinese-Turkish expedition said wooden specimens recovered from the structure on Ararat had been carbon-dated to yield an age of 4,800 years.

They said several compartments had been found, some with wooden beams, and suggested that the compartments were used to house animals. Because the evidence of habitation in that area is scant, Noah's Ark Ministries International said the best explanation for the artifacts' existence was ... you guessed it.

"It's not 100 percent that it is Noah's Ark, but we think it is 99.9 percent that this is it," Yueng Wing-cheung, a Hong Kong documentary filmmaker who was on the exploration team, said in a report from the AFP news service. Yeung said local Turkish officials were trying to win protected status for the site, so that a more extensive archaeological dig could be conducted.

Zimansky said he would welcome hearing more about the site. "It would be nice to know what they have found - if there's a scientific publication in the offing," he told me. "Press releases are not the way archaeology advances."

He was doubtful about the linkage to the Bible story, however. "It's not inconceivable to me that they've found pieces of wood at that level, but that doesn't mean they've found an ark," he said.

100427-coslog-racks-hlarge-1155a.jpg
NAMI / AFP - Getty Images
This picture provided by Noah's Ark Ministries International shows racks found on a 
wall inside a compartment of a structure that has been linked to Noah's Ark.

Even if you assume the explorers found what they say they found, linking the discovery to Noah's Ark requires lots of leaps of faith: Is the carbon dating accurate? Cornell's Kuniholm said he would like to know who did the dating, especially considering that previous tests reportedly came up with more recent dates. Is it more plausible that the structure is from a miraculous ark, or from an ancient shelter on the mountainside? Is thereany evidence of a catastrophic flood that rose to near the top of Ararat 4,800 years ago?

"We know what's going on with Turkey archaeologically at that time, and there's no major interruption in the culture," Zimansky observed.

"There's not enough H2O in the world to get an ark that high up a mountain," Kuniholm said.

Kuniholm has had to deal with repeated claims from ark-hunters, including claims based on purported discoveries of ancient wood, and it sounds as if he's starting to get sick of it. He expects the latest report will end up in his thick file of ark discoveries that end up going nowhere.

"These guys have already gotten the answer worked out ahead of time," he said, "and then they go out to prove it."

During an earlier episode of Noah's Ark hype, we offered an unscientific opinion poll that seemed to suggest most people believe the ark really existed and may have been spotted. Is that how you feel this time around? Or will the Noah's Ark debate end up as muddled as theShroud of Turin debate? Feel free to weigh in with your comments below.

 

YouTube clip provides raw video from the Chinese-Turkish expedition.

Update for 7:45 p.m. ET April 27: I've added a couple of additional pictures to the item. I actually had these ready to go shortly after the item was published, but I've been tied up reviewing comments (more than 1,500 and counting).

Many comments relate to carbon dating: In this case, Kuniholm is not questioning the validity of carbon-dating techniques, but just wondering whether the dating was done correctly. He said he was presented with earlier samples of wood from Ararat that he was told were dated to just 1,400 years ago.

Also, one of the factors behind the scientists' skepticism is that there has been no published research about these finds. If it could be verified that this wooden structure is indeed 4,800 years ago, that would be notable - whether or not it came from an ark. Now I'm back to moderating comments...

Update for 11 p.m. ET April 27: I have to apologize to those whose comments have not yet been approved, just as I did when we had theShroud of Turin item a couple of weeks ago. Some commenters have pointed to an intriguing video clip on The Sun's version of the "Noah's Ark" story that shows mountaineers checking out what appears to be the interior of a wooden compartment. I'm hoping to have more about all this as additional information becomes available.

Update for 6:15 p.m. ET April 28: Cornell archaeologist Peter Ian Kuniholm took a closer look at the photos from Mount Ararat and passed along some additional thoughts in an e-mail:

"... Some years back, a Turkish State Waterworks engineer told me they had found tree-stumps buried in the alluvium at the base of Mounts Ararat and Erciyes, among others, and Strabo in the second century says there were whole tribes of carpenters who made their living building furniture from Erciyes (currently deforested). So that means that at some point in history or prehistory these mountains had forestation. What is to prevent a shepherd in the Early Bronze Age from building a corral or some kind of shelter for his sheep and goats?"

Later in the day, he sent along this suggestion:

"After having been so rude to these Chinese chaps, here is a proposition which you can pass along to them from me:

"1. If the structure is indeed carbon-14-dated to around 4,800 years ago, that would put it at the beginning of the Early Bronze Age, from which I have a number of tree-ring chronologies already developed.

"2. If they could saw some sections of pieces that have 100 rings or more and send them to us, we could try to combine them into a chronology and date it. (We do this sort of thing free of charge.)

"3. We could also see what species of trees these are and give them an estimate of where the wood is likely to have originated.  (My bet is that it is going to be Pinus sylvestris [a type of pine tree]from eastern Turkey, but let's see.)

"4. We could see which of our Early Bronze Age chronologies it matches best with ... thereby giving us some notion of where the wood originated."

That sounds reasonable to me. My efforts to contact Noah's Ark Ministries International in Hong Kong haven't borne fruit yet, but I'll make sure to pass the proposition along if I have the chance.

Update for 6:30 p.m. ET April 28: The Christian Science Monitor quotes another ark-hunter, Randall Price, as saying he feared that "proper analysis may show this to be a hoax and negatively reflect how gullible Christians can be." The Monitor cited a leaked e-mail, attributed to Price, suggesting that Kurdish men could have trucked wood up the mountain to stage an elaborate hoax for the Chinese-Turkish team.

Update for 11 p.m. ET April 28: For more about supposed hoax angle, check out this posting to PaleoBabble and this response from Randall Price, posted to the World of the Bible Ministries' Web site.




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Flood of claims for 'Noah's Ark'

Legendary vessel of Genesis story goes from nowhere to everywhere


Posted: July 16, 2006
1:00 am Eastern

By Joe Kovacs
© 2010 WorldNetDaily.com

 

After centuries of scouring the Earth for Noah's Ark, claims are now flooding in that the legendary vessel of the Bible has been found.

edwardhicksnoahsark.jpg
'Noah's Ark' by Pennsylvania artist Edward Hicks, 1846

Last month, headlines screamed that a Texas team of archaeologists believed they had possibly located the biblical boat in Iran.

But hang on to the "Hallelujah!" chorus a little longer.

There are numerous claims about the final resting place, from Ararat to Armenia. With modern technology and digital photography being utilized in the hunt, it seems like everyone is finding what they think is Noah's Ark.

The Iran claim

As WorldNetDaily reported June 30, a 14-man crew that included evangelical apologist Josh McDowell says it returned from a trek to a mountain in Iran with possible evidence of the remains of Noah's Ark.

The group, led by explorer Bob Cornuke, found an unusual object perched on a slope 13,120 feet above sea level.

Cornuke, president of the archeological Base Institute and a veteran of nearly 30 expeditions in search of Bible artifacts and locations, said he is cautiously, but enthusiastically, optimistic about the find.

Some of the team's photos can be seen here.

Also on the team were Barry Rand, former CEO of Avis; Boone Powell, former CEO of Baylor Medical Systems; and Arch Bonnema, president of Joshua Financial.

The team returned with video footage of a large black formation, about 400 feet long – the approximate length of the ark, according tothe Bible – that looks like rock but bears the image of hundreds of massive, wooden, hand-hewn beams.

Bonnema observed: "These beams not only look like petrified wood, they are so impressive that they look like real wood – this is an amazing discovery that may be the oldest shipwreck in recorded history."

The team said one piece of the blackened rock is "cut" at 90-degree angle.

Even more intriguing, they said, some of the wood-like rocks tested this week proved to be petrified wood.

It's noteworthy, they pointed out, that the Bible recounts Noah sealed his ark with pitch, a black substance.

Mount Ararat

Despite the hype, there are those who maintain the vessel is definitely on Mount Ararat, in present-day Turkey.

Among them is Edward Crawford, a former draftsman illustrator for the U.S. military who now teaches Christian theology at Evergreen Bible Presbyterian Church in the Seattle suburb of Pullayup, Wash.

Crawford has made numerous climbs up Ararat, and says in 1990, he discovered a large, rectangular structure buried in the ice at an elevation of 14,765 feet.

"I don't have any doubt about it at all, and the Turks don't either," he told WND.

He says the structure currently sits under snow and ice, which he calls "ridiculously hard stuff," but he expects it will be at its highest point above the frozen water this summer, as forecasts call for an unusual warm-up.

Crawford has put much of his discovery online at a website called Project von Bora, where photographs and diagrams are available, and he alleges the structure has 90-degree angles.

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Edward Crawford believes a rectangular Noah's Ark lies at this location on Mount Ararat (courtesy Edward Crawford)

"Those don't happen in nature," he said. "If you think someone went up there to build that, it would take a greater miracle than the Flood [of Noah] itself."

Crawford is now urging the Ankara government to formally acknowledge his find, and grant him permission to explore the site again this summer.

"This is not a politically correct discovery," he said. "I never imagined that I would discover the structure and its disposition. I had no idea it would take this long to sort through the Turkish red tape."

Not far from Crawford's "structure" on Mount Ararat is something which made headlines in March with the release of a new, high-resolution digital image of what has become known as the "Ararat Anomaly."

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Satellite image of 'Ararat Anomaly,' taken by DigitalGlobe's QuickBird Satellite in 2003 and now made public for the first time (courtesy: DigitalGlobe)

The location of the anomaly on the mountain's northwest corner has been under investigation from afar by ark hunters for years, but it has remained unexplored, with the government of Turkey not granting any scientific expedition permission to explore on site.

"I've got new found optimism ... as far as my continuing push to have the intelligence community declassify some of the more definitive-type imagery," Porcher Taylor, an associate professor in paralegal studies at the University of Richmond, said at the time.

For more than three decades, Taylor has been a national security analyst, and has also served as a senior associate for five years at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

"I had no preconceived notions or agendas when I began this in 1993 as to what I was looking for," he said. "I maintain that if it is the remains of something manmade and potentially nautical, then it's potentially something of biblical proportions."

The anomaly remains ensconced in glacial ice at an altitude of 15,300 feet, and Taylor says the photos suggest its length-to-width ratio is close to 6:1, as indicated in the Book of Genesis.

The mountains of Ararat

Some 15 miles from Mount Ararat is perhaps the most well-known candidate vying for the title of Noah's Ark.

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Many believe this is Noah's Ark, already found on a mountain next to Mt. Ararat (courtesy: wyattmuseum.com)

A boat-shaped object thought by many to be the fossilized remnants of the the vessel sits in Dogubayazit, Turkey, and was first photographed in 1959 by a Turkish air force pilot on a NATO mapping mission.

It gained worldwide attention after its photo was published in a 1960 issue of Life Magazine.

The man most responsible for promoting this location as the ark's actual resting place from the Bible was Ron Wyatt, who died of cancer in 1999 after years of searching for biblical antiquities, also claiming to have found the remains of Pharaoh's chariots that chased Moses through the Red Sea, and the "true" location of Mount Sinai in Arabia.

In 2004, Wyatt's widow, Mary Nell Wyatt Lee, published a history of the discovery in a book titled, "The Boat-Shaped Object on Doomsday Mountain."

She writes that on Dec. 12, 1987, "it was the official decision of members of [Turkey's] Ministry of Foreign Affairs, of Internal Affairs, and researchers from Ataturk University, among others, that the boat-shaped formation did indeed contain the remains of Noah's Ark!"

An Associated Press story from that month read:

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A group of Turkish researchers has decided that a boat-shaped formation found in 1977 on a hill in eastern Turkey is the remains of Noah's Ark, a Turkish tourism official says.

Mary Nell's Cornersville, Tenn.-based foundation, Wyatt Archaeological Research, is filled with on-location photographs and chartspromoting its case with physical evidence including radar scans of bulkheads on the alleged vessel, deck timber and iron rivets, large"drogue" stones which are thought to have acted as types of anchors.

However, there's been no shortage of critics from both scientific and Christian circles who think the Dogubayazit site is erroneous.

Lorence Collins, a retired geology professor from California State University, Northridge, joined the late David Fasold, a one-time proponent of the Wyatt site, in writing a scientific summary claiming the location is "bogus."

"Evidence from microscopic studies and photo analyses demonstrates that the supposed Ark near Dogubayazit is a completely natural rock formation," said the 1996 paper published in the Journal of Geoscience Education. "It cannot have been Noah's Ark nor even a man-made model. It is understandable why early investigators falsely identified it."

The Armenian factor

The final entrant is Leroy Blevins, a New Richmond, Ohio, man who carries a 1950 Catholic Press Bible which states the ark rested "upon the mountains of Armenia," leading him to believe the location of the vessel is indeed in the former Soviet republic.

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Is this Noah's Ark on Mt. Aragats in Armenia? (courtesy Leroy Blevins)

Blevins offers little proof for his claim, except a series of photos on his website, as he purports the ark is situated on Armenia's highest point Mount Aragats, not to be confused with the similar sounding Ararat in Turkey.

"No one has ever looked for Noah's Ark on this mountain in Armenia," he told WND. "There is a rectangle-shaped boat on the top of this mountain. This boat has what appears to be either a vent or windows. You can see the whole outline of this ship and it is locked in the mountains. ... You can see that it is big and man-made."

Joe Zias, a Jerusalem-based anthropologist who is a former curator at the Israel Antquities Authority, is quick to throw cold water on all these claims of the ark being discovered.

"Just when I think I've seen it all, another group of nutters shows up," he told WND.

Zias says the parties making the discovery claims are "pimping" off the Bible for money, suggesting they have no training in geology, archaeology or anthropology; nor any peer-reviewed articles, university appointments and "any credibility whatsoever in academic circles."

"Aside from myself who follows this craziness, few if any in the profession have ever heard of them," he said.

In both the Old and New Testaments, the Bible speaks of Noah and the ark, and Jesus Christ and the apostles Paul and Peter all make reference to Noah's flood as an actual historical event.

According to Genesis, Noah was a righteous man who was instructed by God to construct a large vessel to hold his family and many species of animals, as a massive deluge was coming to purify the world which had become corrupt.

Genesis 6:5 states: "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

Noah was told by God to take aboard seven pairs of each of the "clean" animals – that is to say, those permissible to eat – and two each of the "unclean" variety. (Gen. 7:2)

Though the Bible says it rained for 40 days and 40 nights, it also mentions "the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days."

The ark then "rested" upon the mountains of Ararat, but it was still months before Noah and his family – his wife, his three sons and the sons' wives – were able to leave the ark and begin replenishing the world.



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Latest Ark finding is a fake

Category: Creationism
Posted on: April 28, 2010 7:56 AM, by PZ Myers

his is completely unsurprising. An account from Randall Price has emerged; Price is a notorious Ark-hunter, young earth creationist, and professor at Liberty University, so he has good kook credentials and is the kind of guy who desperately wants the recent claims of the discovery of Noah's Ark to be true, making this an admission contrary to his biases…of course, it turns out he also has a money motive to begrudge the Chinese evangelicals their 'discovery'. But this is also a familiar story.

I was the archaeologist with the Chinese expedition in the summer of 2008 and was given photos of what they now are reporting to be the inside of the Ark. I and my partners invested $100,000 in this expedition (described below) which they have retained, despite their promise and our requests to return it, since it was not used for the expedition. The information given below is my opinion based on what I have seen and heard (from others who claim to have been eyewitnesses or know the exact details).

To make a long story short: this is all reported to be a fake. The photos were reputed to have been taken off site near the Black Sea, but the film footage the Chinese now have was shot on location on Mt. Ararat. In the late summer of 2008 ten Kurdish workers hired by Parasut, the guide used by the Chinese, are said to have planted large wood beams taken from an old structure in the Black Sea area (where the photos were originally taken) at the Mt. Ararat site. In the winter of 2008 a Chinese climber taken by Parasut's men to the site saw the wood, but couldn't get inside because of the severe weather conditions. During the summer of 2009 more wood was planted inside a cave at the site. The Chinese team went in the late summer of 2009 (I was there at the time and knew about the hoax) and was shown the cave with the wood and made their film. As I said, I have the photos of the inside of the so-called Ark (that show cobwebs in the corners of rafters - something just not possible in these conditions) and our Kurdish partner in Dogubabyazit (the village at the foot of Mt. Ararat) has all of the facts about the location, the men who planted the wood, and even the truck that transported it.

A similar phenomenon took place in Paluxy River, Texas. Some creationists find fossil footprints that look vaguely (to the biased eye) human, pretty soon a flood of evangelical Christians are searching the area for confirmation, and very quickly, the locals, being no dummies and seeing a tourism goldmine, start carving up even better footprints.

You can hardly blame the Turks around Ararat. There's a lot of money being poured into the local economy from these numerous creationist expeditions. It only makes sense to salt a few sites with chunks of wood.



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The Myth of Noah's Ark

Noah's ArkFor millennia, countless people have been taught that there was a real man named Noah who somehow piled two (Gen 6:19) - or seven (Gen 7:2), depending on which scripture in the "infallible Word of God" one reads - of every animal on the planet into an ark and with his family survived an enormous global flood. Obviously, to thinkers worldwide this story is logically to be considered an impossible fable, not history.

Over the centuries, many people have tried and failed to find evidence for this implausible tale, largely looking around a mountain in Turkey called Ararat. This quest began hundreds of years ago and pops up in the news periodically, including several times in the 20th and 21st centuries, such as with the Noah's Ark Ministries brouhaha of 2010. At that time, it was claimed that a "wooden structure" was found at about 13,000 feet up Mt. Ararat and had been carbon-dated to around 4,800 years ago, reflecting a "99.9% certainty" it was the "real" ark. Skeptics and Christian evangelists alike soon dissected that claim, as they had so many others in the past.

Mount Mt Ararat Arrat imageAs noted, ark-hunting is not a new phenomena. Well over a hundred years ago, The Dictionary of the Holy Bible stated in its entry regarding "Ararat": "It has been affirmed, that there are still remains of Noah's ark on the top of this mountain; but M. de Tournefort, who visited the spot, assures us that there was nothing like it..." The Dictionary (89) also tells us that there are many monasteries on the mountain, of which any wood or wooden structure may be a part.

In addition to this plethora of purported "real arks" raising our suspicions are a number of scientific reasons to doubt the reality of any such alleged discovery, including arguments against a global or even local flood and the subsequent dispersion of all human and animal life from Mt. Ararat.

Also, although many such "ark" relics have been located on Mt. Ararat in Turkey, it has been pointed out even by Christian conservatives that "Noah's Ark is not said to have rested on 'Mount Ararat,'" the Bible actually stating that the Ark came to land on the "mountains of Ararat." (Gen 8:4).

Viking Stone ArksIt should be noted further that it was a custom, in Scotland for one, to create stone "ships" on mounts in emulation possibly of the sea-burial customs of royalty or of a mythical motif revolving around astrotheology, such that any number of these "arks" may be discovered on Earth.

Another problem with the biblical tradition is that Noah, the man who supposedly built this big boat, was some 600 years old at the time! (Gen 7:6) Nor do we find any logic in the all-powerful God of the universe asking a frail old man to construct such a thing when He could simply have snapped his fingers and, rather than flooding the entire earth, made all the bad people disappear. Instead, the Lord slaughters millions of innocent animals! And then there's the nonsensical follow-up tale where Noah gets drunk and is seen naked by his son Ham, who rats him out to his brothers, an act that so infuriates the hungover patriarch that he curses Ham's son Canaan for all eternity (Gen 9:21-25), causing an enormous amount of racism and suffering based on a pernicision biblical fable.

Ancient flood and ark myths common

Rather than being a historical figure who was the progenitor of three races, Noah is a fictitious character found in the mythologies of a number of different cultures globally, as opposed to being limited to one area and its specific peoples. The Bible story represents a rehash of other myths, changed to revolve around these particular peoples.

Like other biblical tales, the myth of Noah is found in India, Egypt, Babylon, Sumer and other places. The fact is that there have been floods and deluge stories in many different parts of the world, including but not limited to the Middle East. In the Sumerian tale, which predated the biblical by thousands of years, the ark was built by Ziusudra; in Akkad, he was Atrakhasis, and in Babylon, Uta-Napisthim. The Greek Noah was called Deucalion, "who repopulated the earth after the waters subsided" and after the ark landed on Mt. Parnassos. The Armenian flood hero was called Xisuthros, "whose ark landed on Mt. Ararat." Noah's "history" can likewise be found in India, where there is a "tomb of Nuh" near the river Gagra in the district of Oude or Oudh, which may be related to Judea and Judah. The "ark-preserved" Indian Noah was also called "Menu."

Like Noah, the Sumero-Armenian Ziusudra/Xisuthros had three sons, including one named "Japetosthes," essentially the same as Noah's son Japheth, also related to Pra-japati or Jvapeti, son of the Indian Menu, whose other sons possessed virtually the same names as those of Noah, i.e., Shem and Ham. As Oxford University Hebrew professor George Henry Bateson Wright says inWas Israel ever in Egypt? (51):

JAPHETH - Ewald...shows, with great probability, that this was a god of the north, as Ham was of the south, once again in imitation of Hindu mythology. Moreover, the fact, that in the Armenian legend, derived from "Assyrian or Babylonian documents," the three sons of Xisuthros, who corresponds to Noah, are Zervin, Titan, and Japetosthe, is very instructive, suggesting that the unknown foreign word was retained in its original form...

osiris ark"Coincidentally," it was said that the Egyptian god Osiris was shut up inhis ark on the very same day that Noah was likewise so disposed, as I relate in Suns of God (90):

When Osiris's enemies pursue him, he enters into his "boat" on precisely the same date recorded of "Noah's" entrance intohis ark, Athyr 17th...long before the biblical tale was invented. Noah is not a Jewish "patriarch" but a sun god, and the tale of entering and exiting the Ark signifies the sun's death and resurrection. The story of the eight passengers in a boat is an astral myth, reflecting the solar system. These eight are equivalent to the Egyptian octet of gods, who sail the ocean in a ship.

Also of interest in this quest are the words attributed to the Babylonian priest Berossus, who described the Flood, giving it a much older date:

The Babylonian Flood itself predates the biblical by about 33,000 years, which demonstrates that the two inundations do not reflect one "historical" flood. Nevertheless, the story of Xisuthras or Ziusudra, the Babylonian Flood king, matches the later biblical account of Noah in important details, a common develoipment withmyths. Berossus is even recorded as stating that Ziusudra's ship landed "in the mountains of the Korduaians of Armenia," possibly the Kurdistans, located in the same area where ark-hunters have claimed to have found pieces of "Noah's ark." This story, however, is not historical, and the creation of stone "arks" or ships upon hills was more common than is realized. Moreover, the Noah tale can be found in Mexican mythology: The Mexican Noah is named Nata, while his wife is Nena. In the Indian mythology, in the reign of the "seventh Manu," Satyavrata, the "whole earth" is said to "have been destroyed by a flood, including all mankind, who had beome corrupt." The prince and seven rishis, along with their wives, survived by entering a "spacious vessel," "by command of Vishnu...accompanied by pairs of all animals.  (Acharya, Suns of God, 43-44)

Rather than having happened on Earth - a cataclysmic event for which there is no solid, scientific evidence - the story of Noah's Ark actually takes place in the heavens, as Noah and his crew of seven represent the sun, moon, earth and five inner planets. Obviously, Noah's famous "ark," which misguided souls have sought upon the earth, is a motif found in other myths, representing the arc-shaped lower quarter of the moon.

Sources & Further Reading

Noah's Ark found? Not so fast
Latest Ark finding is a fake
Flood of claims for 'Noah's Ark'
Dictionary of the Bible
Wright, George Henry Bateson. Was Israel ever in Egypt? London: Williams & Norgate, 1895.



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Noah's Ark - The Myth


Date: Tue May 04 2010 15:45:21 GMT+0530 (India Standard Time)

 

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Spanish Version Here

Many faithful believers of the Bible honestly think that something deemed so sacred and so holy as its story of Noah's Ark could never be proven wrong or discredited in any way.  Well, I have definitely proven that it is only a fictional story and the conclusive proof is contained on this page.  Please read as I explain all of the key contradictions that are written within it until you see this proof for yourself.  Then you will surely know why this story cannot possibly be true.  As soon as that is accomplished then the rest of the story doesn't need further explanation.  I admit that I still have questions myself about what good it will do or what harm it may cause when a faithful believer fully acknowledges this proof.  However, no matter what the cost, I honestly know that Truth is more important than any sacred myth.  I have always felt that it is our responsibility to honor and defend the truth and I will always try to reveal the truth, and report all fiction, even within the Bible.  The reason that I am treating this whole thing so seriously is because it is still being taught in Sunday schools around the world as the honest truth.  To me it is not only wrong, but it is also a serious world deception.  There are millions of good, well-intentioned, yet ignorant people in every country around the world who are being deceived into believingthat this story is absolutely true when it is only fiction. 
To preface Noah's story I will explain the reason why Noah was to build the ark in the first place: 
God saw how wicked and violent the earth had become and God could not take it anymore.  God's Creation was a total failure and it was time to wipe the slate clean and start over. (The implications are quite staggering.  How could God be guaranteed that the second, third, or even fourth time would be successful, if the first time wasn't even successful???)  So, God decided that the only right thing to do was to drown all living things, especially those evil and violent children of God.  Because they, unlike God's later chosen children of Israel, were beyond any discipline, whatsoever.  Those brats needed to be destroyed.  So, God had to search desperately for anyone that was not influenced or trapped, at all, in the wickedness that had spread to almost everyone.  Luckily, God found Noah, who had separated himself and his family permanently from associating with any of those wicked souls, living deep within a mountain to keep from taking part in the whole world's sin. (Is this familiar?)  So, God then showed Noah that God was always to be feared by drowning all of Noah's neighbors.  Then God promised Noah that it would never happen again, ever, because God loved him.  (OK, maybe I'm being a little harsh.)

First and foremost, if all of mankind around the whole world were ever that wicked and "violent", then there certainly must have been many visible signs of riots, heinous crimes, rapes, murders, fights, wars, and widespread terror where noone could possibly have been safe from harm for even an instant.  It is simply unbelievable to me that a Noah and his family would have been allowed to go ahead and build a huge boat the size of a cruise ship (which definitely would have been too small, anyway) on dry land, without facing immediate public outcry or severe bodily harm from such a heartless, violent crowd.  The only way that a Noah could've ever escaped harm would've been with full-time protection from a battalion of armed guards stationed all around the ark day and night until the floodwaters came.  I just cannot believe, even for a second, that this ever could've happened.  But, that is just my own personal opinion.  Now, I will offer some physical proof that this story is untrue and wholly fiction. 
Wait, before I get to the important physical proof you first need to be aware of the fact that most religious beliefs about Noah's Ark are all wrong.    Here is a test:  Go ahead and ask any priest, pastor, even rabbi, especially those clergy from a seminary, exactly how long it took Noah to build the ark.  Their answer will probably be the wrong one. 
Here is the correct answer straight from the Bible:  75 years or less.  Why?  Here's why: 
Before the ark was built- 
Genesis 5:32; "And Noah was 500 years old when he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth."  6:10; "And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth." (added for emphasis)  6:13-14; "Then God said to Noah... Make for yourself an ark."  6:18; "And you shall enter the ark - with your wife and with your sons and their wives."  6:22; "Thus Noah did... that God had commanded him." 
After the ark was built- 
Genesis 7:6; "Noah was 600 years old when the floodwaters came on the earth." 
That means that they only had 75 years between Noah's sons getting married (if they all were 25 years old at the time) and the flood, in order to build the ark.  This is according to the Bible! 
If you ask a cleric you will get this answer:  120 years to build the ark. "Huh?" you ask.  Yes, most clergy leaders believe that it took 120 years to build the ark.  It seems that they are making up their own rules when it comes to biblical interpretation.  But, even worse, they are actually inventing their own scriptures out of thin air.  Most clerics believe that God used Noah to warn the world about what God was going to do... This quote is from a prominent evangelist, "When divine love and mercy no longer produce repentance and reformation, as with the antediluvians, God’s justice demands destructive action."  Yet, in the Bible, Matthew 24:39; Jesus states, "and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away."  Excuse me, but my question is this, "Who's right???" (Hint: a Son of God would know what really happened by having God's infinite wisdom. ;)  However, I will now show you that the story of Noah's Ark isn't true and prove that Jesus was simply another ignorant believer.  So, it doesn't really matter exactly what happened in the story or how long it took to never build an ark.  --- Please read all of the following physical proof very carefully that this story is indeed a myth.  I must caution you, though, because there is no turning back once you read it.

The only physical proof that you really need to know is the food situation.  I know that it doesn't require a genius to figure out this one.  I'll give you the fact that a Noah could've stored some animals to feed the thousands of carnivorous mammals, reptiles, and birds, for maybe a month.  But, the fact is that there would had to have been another vessel the same size as the ark needed to carry the thousands of live animals that were to have eventually become future food, for the amount of time that the carnivores were aboard the ark, which was more than a year:  Genesis 7:11; "When Noah was 600 years of age, on the 17th day of the 2nd month--on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened."  Then one year later:  Genesis 8:13; "...when Noah was 601 years old, the water had dried up from the earth.  14;- "By the 27th day of the 2nd month the earth was completely dry.  15;- Then God said to Noah,  16;- 'Come out of the ark'." (num. abbrvs. mine.) 
Then, we come to the most serious question:  What on earth would have been left to eat for the thousands of poor starving carnivores after a universal flood???  Keep in mind that all of their "prey" would have been dead and long gone by then.  There would have been absolutely nothing else left for them to eat.  Neither would there have been anything left for the thousands of herbivores to eat.  Because all of the plants would have been gone a long time by then, as well.  The only thing that would have been left for all of the animals to eat is nothing but the salty desolate ground beneath their feet.  That means that the animals could never have left an ark and survived.  It also means:  One last boat ride before extinction. Besides all of that, it would have taken more months for any surviving seeds to grow and mature into food.  But make no mistake about it.  There still would not have been any prey for the predators to eat even five years later after they left an ark.  Let's see - two zebras, plus two wildebeests, plus two antelopes, plus two gazelles, plus two pigs, etc., do not add up to many meals.  Oh yeah, they were supposed to be busy reproducing offspring.  So those poor lions, and tigers, and bears, etc., couldn't eat them anyway.  But, there definitely wasn't an extinction of carnivores thousands of years ago.  The lions, and tigers, and bears, etc., are still alive, today.  This food situation alone proves that this story is pure fiction.  It never really happened.   But, most important, it never could have happened the way it iswritten.  The story of Noah's Ark is a myth. 
Moving on, it would have been virtually impossible for certain animals that only live in cold climates to have ever survived in the heat for a year.  There is no way that the seals and the walruses would have been able to survive the coming summer heat with all of that blubber.  Also, what would those fish-eaters have eaten for a whole year?  Hmmm?  Sorry, but you can't say fish.  Remember, the Bible states that the Lord closed the door to the ark.  Everyone was inside to stay for a whole year.  There was no fishing done on this trip.  Plus, there was absolutely no way that a Noah could have known about some animals like naked mole rats which spend their entire lives underground and have never even been visible above ground until they were uncovered late last century.  Apparently, naked mole rats survived that universal flood, I mean, that mythical flood. 
Next, let's examine the fact that only one pair (a male and its mate) of every unclean animal were to have ever boarded the ark.  There was absolutely no guarantee that either one of them was even going to be fertile in the first place.  So, since at least one of the males or females out of the thousands would have been either sterile or barren, the whole premise for saving only one pair of each kind is a bad one.  It is also far below the level of God's infinite wisdom.  Because with only one barren animal the whole premise self-destructs and we are left with a myth.  OK, then.  How did anyone know beforehand that an ark was even "seaworthy" without first testing it in water?  What guarantee was there that most of the animals, that never had been confined inside of a boat before, wouldn't get seasick and die, anyway?  This is especially true because the animals would have been packed together like sardines with very limited mobility.  Plus, the parasites, germs, and bacteria would have eaten them alive within a few months, anyway.  I would definitely like to see anyone try to keep thousands of wild animals alive for a whole year while they are aboard a cargo ship at sea by caring for them with a "one-time" limited supply of resources brought aboard.  Please don't even waste your time to see if it can be done because there was no such thing as refrigeration back then and all of the animals will die of starvation before a year passes.  Such a feat is totally impossible and cannot be done.  All of this proof should be more than enough real physical evidence to satisfy even the most skeptical believer.  But, it is still not the best.  Now it is time to bring this fictional story to an end. 
Last, but certainly not least, now it is time to forever label the story of Noah's Ark as a myth.  Pray tell:  How would have most of the thousands of varieties of plants and trees that are alive today been pollinated without the help of any insects???  That's right.  There are practically decillions of insects alive today and most of them eat huge quantities of fresh leaves, Not dirt.  Caterpillars, in particular, have voracious appetites.  So, please don't try to explain to me that decillions of insects patiently waited a year for a universal flood to subside and then even longer for any surviving seeds to grow into fresh leaves to eat.  Also, please don't try to explain to me a ridiculous answer like Noah went around hunting down all of the hundreds of different kinds of queen ants and queen bees and thousands of different kinds of species of insects from all parts of the world and brought all of them back to the ark to start new colonies just like he was supposed to have done with all of the animals.  The truth is that this fictional story is finished!

The only way, I repeat, the Only Way that "all animals and insects" are alive today is because there have always been huge un-submerged dry land masses, somewhere, capable of providing an abundant supply of plants (fresh leaves to feed the insects) and animals (prey for the predators) to "continue" the existence of all animals and insects that are alive today.  That is the truth!  I have given you ample and undisputable proof that the story of Noah's Ark isn't true.  It is only pure fiction with ill intent written all over it.  Believe me, I could go on and on about all the impossibilities of a real ark existing or of a real ancient universal flood ever happening.  For instance, all of the animals that were aboard the ark would have exited from it.  That remarkable event would have resulted in the creation of very recognizable animal populations by thousands of different kinds of animals having more offspring in the surrounding areas wherever the ark came ashore in the Middle East.  It is written in the Bible that the ark came to rest near the mountains of Ararat which could possibly be referring to Mount Ararat in Turkey.  Yet, there is a huge problem with that conclusion and it is this:    There are "no" surviving remnants, not one kind, of hundreds of "foreign" animals from other continents, not even their ancient remains, (no wild lemurs, grizzlies, kangaroos, penguins, or even wild turkeys, etc!) neither within nor surrounding the whole Mediterranean region, which covers thousands of miles - especially in Turkey, which also borders the Black Sea!  Those animals did not leave an ark and then simply vanish from there without a trace. Poof!  In other words, no populations of wild koalas or wild armadillos, etc. have ever lived in the Middle East in the past or in the present.
There is only one logical explanation: The Bible's story of Noah's Ark is a myth! I am keeping this as brief as possible because I am not an author and I am not trying to write a book about this subject.  However, I honestly think that it's about time for someone to write a book about it. (hint)   Trust me when I say that all religious believers should have serious questions raised within their souls for having such complete "blind" faith in myths like this one.  It must be embarrassing to have believed that such a dumb story was true.


Now it is time to apply this myth to the rest of the Bible.   The alarming fact is that this one myth alone proves that the whole Bible is nothing more than a compilation of myths and fictional stories framed around a central genealogy.   This is true because the whole Bible is completely and totally interlinked and interconnected from one book to the next.   For instance, the book of Genesis is entirely dependent on the credibility of the story of Noah's Ark to have any credibility of its own.   The book of Exodus is entirely dependent on the credibility of Genesis to have any credibility of its own.   The book of Leviticus also is entirely dependent on the credibility of Genesis to have any credibility of its own.   So on and so forth, all the way through to the last book of Revelation.   This is also true because the New Testament has passages such as Matthew 24:36-42, and Luke 3:23-3817:25-30, and 1 Peter 3:19-21, etc. :

Matthew 24:   "37- As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.   38- For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;   39- and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.   40- Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.   41- Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.   42- Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come."

Since the story of Noah's Ark is a myth then so is the book of Matthew (especially, since it was supposed to be as if Jesus himself was speaking), so is the book of Luke, and so is the book of Peter.   There is absolutely no way to get around the central genealogy.   Since a Noah never actually built an ark that survived a real universal flood then it is very questionable to say whether a Noah ever even existed.   It is also just as questionable to say whether there could even be descendants of a Noah.   Without a Noah there could not be an Abraham, nor an Israel, nor a Moses, nor a David, nor even a Jesus.   Therefore, even though most of them truly contain great wisdom in most cases, the stories of the Bible are proven to be myths and ones of fiction.   Also, whether or not these fictional stories were derived from real historical events is irrelevant.   Because the way that the stories were worded it is almost impossible to discern between which ones were based on real events and which ones were only fictional events used to make the Bible more interesting and more influential.   To elaborate on the point about genealogy, it is important to note that even the Bible, itself, is completely contradictory when it comes to its genealogy: 
Matthew 1:16; "And Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary,"     Luke 3:23; "And Jesus was about thirty years of age, ...being the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli..."   The thing that amazes me to no end is that so many mature adults are actually willing to believe these contradicting accounts, that are obviously lies, with absolute blind faith that those authors were saints instead of sly devils.   Yep, those authors sure knew how to write some great fiction (though they desperately tried to make it appear as nonfiction.)   It's too bad that their limited brains prevented them from noticing all of the many contradictions within their cunning and deceptive tales.   But, unfortunately, that pertains to religious believers, too. 
The important fact that needs to be acknowledged is the fact that somewhere, at some time, someone blatantly lied about the biblical genealogies.   The only question that may never have an appropriate answer is this one:   When in history did these lies begin and exactly how many biblical characters are completely fictional?   In other words, did the lies start before or after the time of Moses?   After all, there is actual historical physical evidence that certain biblical accounts did actually happen at certain places such as mentioned in ... The Gold of Exodus by Harold Blum.   So it appears that the lies may have started after the Exodus.   Because, those accounts were not entirely true.   Even though it may have been written by a real Moses, all biblical accounts about his ancestors are completely fictional.   In fact, the God that is portrayed in the book of Exodus is the very same God of Noah, which is only a mythical 'Zeus-like' God within a known myth.   Because, you see, those evil people that were supposedly worldwide during Noah's time were never really destroyed by that God of Noah.   It just didn't happen.   A Noah and his family didn't actually repopulate the entire world.   Yes, those Australian aborigines have always been there.   Don't you understand what that means?   That means that there was no real biblical God of Noah or Moses.   In addition, there was no real quranic Allah of Muhammad, either: 
-- [Al-Imran 3:33.6]   "Lo! Allah preferred Adam and Noah and the Family of Abraham and the Family of 'Imran above (all His) creatures." Keyword: Noah. (Important question!   How can there be prophets in the Quran without even one "prophecy???" [Although the "word" prophecy does appear 4 times, here.]   Are Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein the only uneducated, ignorant Muslims who hate the world?) 
That also means that there was no spiritual difference between the ancient Hebrews and their fellow Arabian Semites.   Likewise, there is no spiritual difference now between their new Jewish, their new Christian, or their new Islamic initiates, and the rest of us.   We are all equally important spiritual beings!   This also negates the significance of a biblical Messiah! (either the Jewish one, or the Christian anointed one.)   Since a mythical Zeus-like God never really destroyed the world the first time, then there definitely won't be a second time.   Sorry, but Jesus, the so-called son of that God, isn't returning to come take you up into the clouds and away from all of your sorry neighbors.   You're stuck with us, so you might as well start loving all of us and maybe this poor world might still have a chance to survive.   We have a lot of work to do and your love is important to help us all live together someday in peace and happiness. (Keyword: love. I am very disappointed by a Muslim's limited understanding of love.   The Quran lacks good examples of love between family members or love between neighbors.)

When the authors of the Bible betrayed truth they also betrayed world history along with mankind.     That is why truth is so important. Because, without truth actual world history could not remain verifiable.   Without truth, books[1] like the Bible will continue to haunt mankind and continue to fill readers with confusion causing mass paranoia and mass hysteria even worse than it is now.   Just look at the horrible mess that organized religions (especially Islam) have already caused.   Please stop the insanity.   All of you religious followers are only worshiping that mythical God of the Bible, anyway.   So, Stop It!   Also, for the sake of humanity...   Defend World Peace.   There Is Nothing Holy About Murder-Suicide!   Defeat The Evil Muslim Insurgents Who Wage Jihad By Hijacking And Surprise Attack!!! (I am simply outraged by their savage and insidious attack on America on 9-11.) 
Isn't it ironic that the Middle East, the birthplace of the Torah, the Bible, and the Quran, is now the most violent place on earth today?   Is it just a coincidence or is it divine punishment?   The fight over God has created a separation from the Union.   Forsaking All for one leaves one alone, yet living one for all gives love to All.   I hope that I don't seem to be "anti-Semitic," but the ancient Semites were responsible for the creation of the "big three" world religions that have caused our current global nightmare.   I hope that I seem to be more "anti-nonsense." (Except for good comedy nonsense, which is "meant" to be funny.)

It is not my intention to offend nor to demoralize millions of religious initiates, including Muslims, who are very righteous and loving people (I, especially, do not mean to appall religious leaders, but it is unavoidable.)   Yet, I will not hesitate to discredit and disprove religious books that contain fictional stories that are believed by others to be true facts.   However, just because religious books are proven to contain fiction doesn't mean that there isn't a real God.   Because I honestly do believe that there is a Supreme Being that is the Source of Life for all physical realities and physical beings like us.   There simply is not an absolute way to prove it to all living beings, responsible adults and helpless infants, everywhere at the same time.   God is like the Brightest Sun, who is spread throughout the universe as billions of celestial bodies.   It also doesn't mean that the great wisdom within the Bible should be overlooked or forgotten.   Because without most of the important biblical wisdom, aside from the fake genealogies, the fake miracles, and the fake supernatural events, the Semites would never have attained such great moral and ethical knowledge. (However, since I have witnessed many miracles, myself, which have happened right in front of me, I do know that God or a god-like power does exist, just not the biblical one.)   Believe me, since I am such a huge advocate of Truth, I would have loved to have always honored and upheld the Bible as being the divine and holy words of God if it really was true.   But, it isn't true, because it is filled with many fictional stories.   The only difference that sets the Bible apart from all other mythologies is that it is improperly labeled as being the real "Word of God," which is supposed to contain all completely true, factual history.     Who knows why?     Maybe the ancient rulers thought that the Bible was the best way to keep the masses under control.   Nonetheless, the only fair label that the Bible can have is that it is the greatest book of fiction that was ever written.   The Bible has totally affected the minds and hearts of just about everyone and it will forever be a part of history.   I can only hope and pray that I will not be hated for sharing my view of Truth with a religious world that seems quite disinterested in verifying the truth.   I also hope and pray that people will fully begin honoring the sanctity and holiness of Truth with the same passion and earnestness that they now feel for the Bible.

The Power Of Truth

For the sake of humanity, by building up our trust so that our love may grow stronger, and for the sake of world history, please be as honest as you can safely be.   Honor and defend truth and the 'answers' to most of our problems will eventually be revealed.   I honestly believe that it is as simple as that.   By sharing our true thoughts and feelings with others most of the time good things will start to happen.   Our combined global honesty can lead to the biggest release of previously withheld knowledge that has always been available but was intentionally concealed because of our own selfish reasons.   This combined melding of our minds will unlock the doors that were holding back all of the wisdom of the ages that has ever been learned throughout time. 
Please answer most of the questions that are asked of you with truth and then behold the miraculous events that will unfold.   The reason I say 'most' is because I know that is quite impossible for anyone to be completely honest.   There are just too many dangerous situations around today that prevent anyone from revealing the truth safely all of the time.   But, other than maintaining your personal safety or the safety of others, I urge you to be as honest as you can be - all of the time.   Honor truth and good things will happen.

 

The Truth shall be revealed!

 

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Go here for a text only version: -- TEXT ONLY.

 

*DISCLAIMER:*     The aforementioned facts do indeed prove that the story of Noah's Ark, written word for word in the Bible's book of Genesis, is only a myth.   Therefore, the Bible's God, Jehovah, along with the Quran's God, Allah, are both the very same mythical God of Noah.   These facts also prove that Jesus Christ is only the mythical son of that mythical Jehovah, or the God of Noah (the so-called genealogical proof: Luke 3:23-38!!!), thereby disproving Christianity as being the best religion in the world.   All of this proves that the big three world religions - Judaism, Islam, and Christianity - are all based on ancient myths and ancient oral traditions that are written inside of an old religious book, which will never be able to change the minds of unbelievers who are only seeing greedy religious people getting most of their money from gullible hard-working believers in order to stay in business. 
Many religious scholars have told me that I am wrong, by using absurd senseless arguments such as:   "You weren't there when the actual flood occurred so you don't know what really happened,"   and   "You are not reading the story correctly because that's not what the author meant at all."   and   "It is impossible that the writer of the text could have known about the millions of species of wild animals and believed that God put the obligation on Noah of taking some of each along with him."   Well, no duh!   Unfortunately, every single author who wrote about Noah throughout the Old and New Testaments of the Bible actually did   believe that this particular "story" was true, and quite literally: 
--- Isaiah 54:9;   "'To me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again.   10; Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,' says the Lord."   (Isaiah, the prophet, supposedly believed that nonsense!) 
--- 1 Peter 3:20;   "who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,   21; and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also."   (The first Catholic Pope supposedly wrote that nonsense!)
--- Luke 17:24;   "For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.   25; But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.   26; Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man.   27; People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.   28; It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.   29; But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.   30; It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed."   (Jesus Christ, the mythical son of the mythical God of Noah, supposedly said that nonsense!) 
There is absolutely no room for misinterpretation in any one of those literal statements.   So, there is not one lifelong religious scholar who can honestly tell me that I'm wrong.     I may be wrong about many things that are beyond my personal knowledge.   Yet, I am not wrong by stating that the biblical God is a fictional character! 
But, then they inform me that no mere mortal, such as myself, could ever disprove the existence of their God nor could I ever disprove the Bible as being the true Word of their God.   Well, excuse me, but the only way that these indignant religious scholars can be correct is if they totally disregard every single sentence that is written about Noah within these chapters of the Bible: 
Genesis 5,   Genesis 6,   Genesis 7,   Genesis 8,   Genesis 9,   1 Chronicles 1,   Isaiah 54,   Ezekiel 14,   Matthew 24,   Luke 3,   Luke 17,   Hebrews 11,   1 Peter 3,   and   2 Peter 2,   but also alluded to here:   2 Peter 3:5-8
When anyone connects all of those chapters of the Bible together, then the only possible conclusion is that those so-called religious scholars are the ones who are wrong.   It's too bad that most of them don't have the clear consciences to admit that their holy book, which is the only physical evidence that gives their religion any credibility, whatsoever, contains mostly fictional nonsense.   Religious initiates, whether they meet in synagogues, churches, mosques, shrines, temples, or other hallowed places, are all stuck in a bogus organization that is just teeming with insincere phonies and hypocrites who are merely faking it for the sake of their own religion.   I do have some sympathy for them, but I will never let them get away with trying to fake it while they are in direct contact with me.  I simply will not cater to any of those scheming religious devotees as long as they keep imposing their ridiculous dogmatic theocracy on everyone within a secular society.   (It is not "within an atheistic society" as some evangelists say because that is unfair.)   There are many souls within a secular society that do know about a real god-like power, as opposed to just believing in a mythical God within some fictional religious book.   We just don't belong to any organized sects except for being responsible citizens and good role models showing others the right ways to live and loving everyone fairly.   It's hard enough for us secular souls to have to experience religious "national" holidays year after endless year.   Hopefully, religious believers will not give up on trying to make the real world a better place for all of us to enjoy.



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இஸ்ரேல் நாட்டின் வரலாறு



கிட்டத்தட்ட 4000 வருடங்களுக்கு முன்பு இறைவனின் திருச்சித்தப்படி தேராகின் மகனாகிய‌ ஆபிரகாம் ஊர் என்கிற கல்தேயருடைய பட்டணத்தை விட்டு தற்போது இஸ்ரேல் என்றழைக்கப்படுகிற கானான் தேசத்தை கி.மு.2161 ல் வந்தடைந்தார். ஆபிரகாமின் மகன் ஈசாக்கு. ஈசாக்குக்கு இரண்டு மகன்கள்: ஏசா மற்றும் யாக்கோபு. ஈசாக்கின் இளைய மகன் யாக்கோபின்மேல் கடவுள் பிரியமாக இருந்தது மட்டுமன்றி அவனுக்கு இஸ்ரேல் என்றும் பேரிட்டார்.

"அப்போது அவர்: உன் பேர் இனி யாக்கோபு என்னப்படாமல் இஸ்ரவேல் என்னப்படும்; தேவனோடும் மனிதரோடும் போராடி மேற்கொண்டாயே என்றார்." - ஆதியாகமம் 32:28

யாக்கோபின் வம்சா வழியினர் இஸ்ரவேலர் என்று அழைக்கப்பட்டனர். இதில் யாக்கோபின் 12 மகன்களில் ஒருவராகிய‌ யூதாவின் வம்சா வழியினர் யூதர்கள் என்றழைக்கப்படுகின்றனர். கானான் தேசத்தில் ஏற்பட்ட பஞ்சத்தை அடுத்து இஸ்ரவேலர் கி.மு.1871ம் ஆண்டில் எகிப்துக்குச் சென்றனர்.

கிட்டத்தட்ட 400 வருட காலங்கள் எகிப்திலிருந்த இஸ்ரவேலர் எகிப்தியரால் அடிமைகளாக நடத்தப்பட்டனர். இதையடுத்து கி.மு.1441ம் ஆண்டில் மோசே தலைமையில் இஸ்ரவேலர் எகிப்தை விட்டு வெளியேறி கானான் தேசத்தை நோக்கிச் சென்றனர். சீனாய் வனாந்திரம் வழியாகச் சென்ற அவர்கள் 40 வருட்ங்களுக்குப் பிறகு கி.மு.1400ம் ஆண்டில் யோசுவா தலைமையில் கானானுக்குள் சென்றனர். கானானியரை வெற்றி கொண்ட இஸ்ரவேலர் அத்தேசத்தில் குடியேறினர். கானான் தேசம் இஸ்ரேல் தேசம் என்றழைக்கப்படலாயிற்று. இந்தக் கானானியர் தற்போது பாலஸ்தீனர் என்றழைக்கப்படும் கூட்டத்தினர் அல்ல என்பதை நினைவிற் கொள்க. இப்படி 4000 வருடங்களுக்கு முன்பு யூதர்களின் மூதாதையாரான ஆபிரகாம், ஈசாக்கு, யாக்கோபு ஆகியோர் குடியிருந்த தேசத்தை, 3400 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பு யூதர்களின் முன்னோர்கள் மறுபடியும் குடியேறிய தேசத்தை யூதர்களுக்குச் சொந்தமானதல்ல என்று இஸ்லாமியர் பொய் பிரச்சாரம் செய்து வருகின்றனர் என்பதை அறிந்து கொள்ளமுடியும்.

தொடக்கத்தில் நியாயாதிபதிகளால் நிர்வகிக்கப்பட்ட இஸ்ரேல் தேசம், கி.மு.1020 முதல் ராஜாக்களால் ஆளப்பட்டது. இஸ்ரேல் ராஜாக்களில் மிக
முக்கியமானவர்கள், முதல் அரசனான சவுல், இஸ்ரேலை வலிமை வாய்ந்த நாடாக மாற்றிய தாவீது மற்றும் தாவீதின் மகனும் மிகுந்த‌ ஞானமுள்ளவருமான‌ சாலமோன் ஆகியோர். ஜெருச‌லேம் ஆல‌ய‌த்தைக் க‌ட்டிய‌வ‌ர் சால‌மோன் என்ப‌து குறிப்பிட‌த்த‌க்க‌து. அத‌ன்பிற‌கு இஸ்ரேல் நாடு இர‌ண்டாக‌ப் பிரிந்து ச‌மாரியாவைத் த‌லைந‌க‌ராக‌க் கொண்டு இஸ்ரேல் என்றும் ஜெருச‌லேமைத் த‌லைந‌க‌ராக‌க் கொண்டு யூதேயா என்றும் இரு நாடுக‌ளாக‌ நிர்வ‌கிக்க‌ப்ப‌ட்ட‌ன‌.

கி.மு.722ம் ஆண்டு இஸ்ரேல் நாடு அசீரிய‌ர்க‌ளால் அழிக்க‌ப்ப‌ட்ட‌து ம‌ட்டும‌ன்றி அத‌ன் குடிம‌க்க‌ளும் சித‌ற‌டிக்க‌ப்ப‌ட்ட‌ன‌ர். கிட்ட‌த்த‌ட்ட‌ நூறு வருட‌ங்க‌ளுக்குப் பிற‌கு பாபிலோனால் யூதேயா பிடிக்க‌ப்ப‌ட்ட‌து. யூதேயாவின் குடிம‌க்க‌ள் நாடு க‌ட‌த்த‌ப்ப‌ட்ட‌ன‌ர். கி.மு.586ல் ஜெருச‌லேம் ஆல‌ய‌ம் பாபிலோனியர்களால் இடிக்க‌ப்ப‌ட்ட‌து.

பெரும்பாலான யூதர்கள் பாபிலோனியாவுக்கு நாடு கடத்தப்பட்டனர். ஐம்பது வருடங்களுக்குப் பின்பு, பெர்சிய அரசர் சைரஸ், பாபிலோனியாவைக்
கைப்பற்றினார். அவர் யூதர்களுக்கு மீண்டும் ஜெருசலேத்தை நிர்மாணிக்கும் அனுமதியை அளித்து, அதில் குடியிருக்கும் உரிமையையும் வழங்கினார்.

கி.மு.538ல் கிட்டத்தட்ட 50 000 யூதர்கள் செருபாபேல் தலைமையில் இஸ்ரேலுக்குத் திரும்பினர். பின்னர் எஸ்ரா தலைமயில் இன்னொரு கூட்டம் யூதர்கள் நாடு திரும்பினர். கி.மு.520-515ல் ஜெருசலேம் ஆலயம் இரண்டாவது முறையாகக் கட்டப்பட்டது. கி.மு.333ல் அலெக்ஸாண்டரின் படைகளால் கைப்பற்றப்பட்ட இஸ்ரேல் கி.மு.63 வரை கிரேக்கர்களின் பிடியில் இருந்தது. டைட்டஸ் தலைமையிலான ரோமப் படை கி.மு.63ல் ஜெருசலேம் நகரைப் பிடித்தது. கி.பி.70ல் ஜெருசலேம் ஆலயம் ரோமானியர்களால் மீண்டும் இடிக்கப்பட்டது. ஜெருசலேம் நகரை ஏலியா கேபிடோலினா என்று பெயர் மாற்றிய ரோமர்கள் கி.பி.313 வரை இஸ்ரேலை ஆண்டனர். கி.பி.313 முதல் 636 வரை பைசாண்டிய அரசால் ஆளப்பட்ட இஸ்ரேல் கி.பி.636ல் அரபியர்கள் வசம் வந்தது. பைசாண்டிய அரசர்களில் பெரும்பாலானோர் கிறிஸ்தவர்கள் என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது. காலிஃப் அப்டெல் மாலிக் ஆலயம் இடிக்கப்பட்ட இடத்தில் டோம் ஆஃப் தி ராக்-ஐ கட்டினார். இவ்வாறாக‌ யூதர்களின் ஆலயம் இருந்த இடத்தில் முஸ்லீம்களின் வழிபாட்டுத்தலம் அமைக்கப்பட்டது.

கி.பி.1099 முதல் 1291 வரை சிலுவைப்போர் வீரர்கள் வசமும் கி.பி. 1291 முதல் 1516 வரை மம்லுக் அரசின் வசமும் இஸ்ரேல் நாடு இருந்தது. 1516
முதல் 1918 வரை ஓட்டோமான் அரசர்கள் இஸ்ரேலை ஆண்டனர். சுல்தான் சுலைமான் காலத்தில் (1520-1566) பழைய ஜெருசலேமின் சுவர்கள் மீண்டும்
கட்டப்பட்டது. 1799ல் ஃப்ரான்ஸின் நெப்போலியன் போனபார்ட் காசா நகரைக் கைப்பற்றி ஜெருசலேமை நோக்கி விரைந்தார். யூதர்களை ஃப்ரான்ஸ் படையினரின் உளவாளிகள் என்று சந்தேகித்த முகமதியர்கள் அவர்களை அழிக்கத் திட்டமிட்டனர். இதற்கிடையில் திடீரெனத் தன் திட்டத்தை மாற்றிய நெப்போலியன் ஜெருசலேமைத் தாக்காமல் திரும்பிச் சென்றார். யூதர்கள் இறைவனிடம் செய்த மன்றாட்டு தான் இதற்குக் காரணம் என்று கருதப்படுகிறது. 1909ல் டெல் அவிவ் நகரம் (Hill of Spring) அமைக்கப்பட்டது. இந்ந‌கரம் தான் பின்னர் இஸ்ரேலின் தலைந‌கராகியது என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது. 1917ல் முதலாம் உலகப்போர் தொடங்கியது. ஆலன்பை தலைமையில் பிரிட்டிஷ் படைகள் எகிப்திலிருந்து சீனாய் பாலைவனம் வழியாக ஜெருசலேம் நோக்கி விரைந்தன. அக்டோபர், 1918ல் ஜெருசலேம் நகரை வெற்றி கொண்ட பிரிட்டிஷ் படைகள் நகரின் புனிதத் தன்மை கருதி கால்னடையாகவே நடந்து நகருக்குள் சென்றனர். இந்த வெற்றியை யூதர்கள் தங்களுக்குக் கிடைத்த முதல் வெற்றியாகக் கருதினர். பின்னர் 1948 வரை இஸ்ரேல் பிரிட்டன்வசம் இருந்தது.

இப்படியாகப் பல்வேறு காலக்கட்டங்களில் பல நாட்டு அரசர்களால் ஆளப்பட்ட இஸ்ரேலை சுதந்திர நாடாக்கி சிதறடிக்கப்பட்ட யூதர்கள் எல்லாம் அங்கு ஒன்றுகூடி வாழவேண்டும் என்ற எண்ணம் மட்டும் யூதர்கள் மத்தியில் இருந்து கொண்டே வந்தது. இந்த எண்ணம் சீயோனிசம் என்ற யூத தேசிய விடுதலை இயக்கத்தின்மூலம் உத்வேகம் பெற்றது. சீயோன் எனப்படுவது ஜெருசலேமில் உள்ள ஒரு மலை ஆகும். 1882 முதல் 1903 வரை ஏராளமான யூதர்கள் முக்கியமாக ரஷியாவிலிருந்து இஸ்ரேலுக்கு குடிபெயர்ந்தனர். இந்த சம்பவம் முதல் அலியா என்றழைக்கப்படுகிறது. 1897ல் யூத நாட்டின் ஆன்மீகத் தந்தை என்றழைக்கப்பட்ட தியோடர் ஹெர்சல் ஸ்விட்சர்லாந்தில் பேசல் என்ற இடத்தில் முதல் சீயோன் மாநாட்டைக் கூட்டி யூத மக்களுக்கான புதிய‌தொரு நாட்டை அமைக்க யூதர்களுக்குள்ள உரிமையைப் பிரகடனம் செய்தார். 1904 முதல் 1914 வரை இரண்டாவது கட்டமாக யூதர்கள் ரஷியா மற்றும் போலந்திலிருந்து குடிபெயர்ந்தனர். இது இரண்டாவது அலியா என்றழைக்கப்படுகிறது.

ஒட்டோமான் அரசின் இறுதிப்பகுதியில் துருக்கிய‌ர்க‌ளுக்கு முன்னுரிமை கொடுக்க‌ப்ப‌ட்ட‌தால் அர‌பிய‌ரிடையே அதிருப்தி ஏற்ப‌ட்ட‌து. ஓட்டோமான் அர‌சிட‌மிட‌மிருந்து சுத‌ந்திர‌ம் வாங்கிக் கொடுக்க‌ப்ப‌டும் என்ற‌ வாக்குறுதியை ந‌ம்பி யூதர்களும் அரபிகளும் முத‌ல் உல‌க‌ப்போரில் அமெரிக்கா, பிரிட்டன் உள்ளிட்ட‌ நேச நாடுகளுக்கு ஆத‌ர‌வ‌ளித்த‌ன‌ர். இதனால் அர‌பு தேசிய‌ம் அமைக்க‌ப்ப‌ட‌வேண்டும் என்ற‌ எழுச்சி ஏற்ப‌ட்ட‌து. பாலஸ்தீனத்திலுள்ள‌ அரேபிய‌ர்க‌ளுக்கும் யூத‌ர்க‌ளுக்கும் ப‌கைமை வ‌ள‌ர்ந்த‌து.

நவம்பர் 2 1917ல் இஸ்ரேல் நாட்டை ஏற்படுத்துவதற்கு பிரிட்டிஷ் அமைச்ச‌ரவையால் அங்கீகரிக்கப்பட்ட பிரகடனம் ஆர்தர் ஜேம்ஸ் பல்ஃபோர் என்பவரால் வெளியிடப்பட்டது. பல்ஃபோர் பிரகடனம் என்றழைக்கப்பட்ட இந்த பிரகடனம் யூதர்களுக்கு தனி நாடு அமைப்பதற்குக் கிடைத்த மிகப்பெரிய அங்கீகாரமாகக் கருதப்படுகிறது. 1919 முதல் 1923 வரை மூன்றாவது கட்டமாக யூதர்கள் ரஷியாவிலிருந்து குடியேறினர். இது மூன்றாவது அலியா என்றழைக்கப்படுகிறது. 1922ல் பிரிட்டன் Mandate for Palestine என்றழைக்கப்படும் தனி இஸ்ரேல் நாடு அமைக்கும் அதிகாரத்தை வழங்கியது. 1924 முதல் 1932 வரை யூதர்கள் நான்காவது அலியா கால கட்டத்தில் போலந்திலிருந்து குடிபெயர்ந்தனர்.

முதல் உலகப்போருக்குப் பிறகு பாலஸ்தீனத்திற்கு வந்து குடியேறிய யூதர்களின் எண்ணிக்கை அதிகரிக்க ஆரம்பித்து. மேலும் மோசமடைந்து வந்த உலகளாவிய பொருளாதார சூழலாலும் வேறுபல காரணங்களாலும் அரபியர்களும் பெருமளவில் வர ஆரம்பித்தனர். பெருமளவில் அதிகரித்த யூதக் குடியிருப்புகளும் யூதர்களால் வாங்கப்பட்ட பண்ணை நிலங்களிலும் அவர்களுக்குச் சொந்தமான தொழிற்சாலைகளிலும் அரபியர்களை பணியமர்த்தாததும் அரபியர்களின் கோபத்தை அதிகரித்தன. இதையடுத்து அரபியர்கள் யூதர்களைத் தாக்கத் தொடங்கினர். ஆகஸ்ட் 1929ல் ஹெப்ரான் படுகொலை என்றழைக்கப்பட்ட சம்பவத்தில் 67 யூதர்கள் கொல்லப்பட்டனர்.

1936 முதல் 1939 வரை அரபியர் யூதர்களுக்கு எதிராக‌ கிளர்ச்சி செய்தனர். அரபியர்கள் கொடுத்த நெருக்கடியை அடுத்து பிரிட்டன் பாலஸ்தீனத்திற்கு குடியேறிக் கொண்டிருந்த‌ யூதர்களின் எண்ணிக்கையைக் குறைக்க ஆரம்பித்தது. இதையடுத்து பெரும்பாலான யூதர்களை சட்டத்திற்கு விரோதமாகக் குடியேறியவர்கள் என்று கருதப்பட வேண்டியதாயிற்று. இதனால் மேலும் பதட்டம் அதிகரித்தது. 1933 முதல் 1939 வரை ஐந்தாவது அலியா கால கட்டத்தில் யூதர்கள் நாஜிக் கட்சியினரின் அட்டகாசத்தால் ஜெர்மனியிலிருந்து குடியேறினர். 1941ல் லேஹி என்ற ரகசிய அமைப்பு அமைக்கப்பட்டது; பல்மாக் எனப்படும் அதிரடிப்படையும் அமைக்கப்பட்டது. 1944ல் பிரிட்டிஷ் ராணுவத்தின் ஒரு பகுதியாக யூத படைப் பிரிவு அமைக்கப்பட்டது.

பிரச்சினைகளை சமாளிக்க முடியாத பிரிட்டன், ஐ.நா. சபையிடம் தீர்வு காண வேண்டிக்கொண்டது. 1947 மே 15 ல் ஐ.நா. UUNSCOP என்ற கமிட்டியை
அமைத்தது. இதில் 11 நாடுகளின் பிரதிநிதிகள் இருந்தனர். நடுநிலைமையை உறுதி செய்வதற்காக வல்லரசு நாடுகள் எதுவும் இதில் அனுமதிக்கப்படவில்லை.

ஐந்து வாரங்களுக்குப் பிறகு இந்தக் கமிட்டி தன் அறிக்கையை சமர்ப்பித்தது. இதன்படி பாலஸ்தீனம் இரு பகுதிகளாகப் பிரிக்கப்பட்டு ஒரு பகுதி யூதர்களுக்கும் இன்னொரு பகுதி அரபியர்களுக்கும் கொடுக்கப்படவேண்டும். இந்த அறிக்கை ஐ. நா. சபையில் தீர்மானம் 181 வடிவத்தில் நவம்பர் 1947ல்
ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளப்பட்டது. இத்தீர்மானத்திற்கு 33 நாடுகள் ஆதரவாகவும் 13 நாடுகள் எதிராகவும் வாக்களித்தன. 10 நாடுகள் வாக்கெடுப்பில் கலந்து
கொள்ளவில்லை. அரபு லீக்கைச் சேர்ந்த அரபு நாடுகள் இந்த தீர்மானத்தை எதிர்த்து வாக்களித்தன என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது. இந்த‌த் தீர்மான‌ம்
அறிவிக்க‌ப்ப‌ட்ட‌வுட‌ன் பால‌ஸ்தீனிய‌ர்க‌ளுக்கும் யூத‌ர்க‌ளுக்கும் பால‌ஸ்தீன‌ப் ப‌குதிக‌ளைப் பிடிப்ப‌தில் க‌டும் மோத‌ல் ஏற்ப‌ட்ட‌து. 1948 மே 14 அன்று இஸ்ரேல் நாடு பிர‌கட‌ன‌ப்ப‌டுத்த‌ப்ப‌ட்ட‌து. ம‌றுநாளே அர‌பு நாடுக‌ள் இஸ்ரேல் மீது ப‌டையெடுத்த‌ன‌.


பின்குறிப்பு: இந்தக் கட்டுரை இஸ்ரேலிய வரலாற்றின் சுருக்கமே ஆகும். இதில் ஓட்டோமான் அரசின் தொடக்கக் காலம் வரையிலான ஆண்டுக் கணக்குகள் தோராயமானவை.


References:

Dr E.K. Victor Pearce, Evidence for Truth: Arhaeology, volume 2
http://www.jewish-history.com
http://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA
http://www.mideastweb.org
http://www.maraththadi.com/article.asp?id=1064



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நோவா பேழையின் மிச்சம் துருக்கி மலையில் கண்டுபிடிப்பு?

வெள்ளிக்கிழமை, ஏப்ரல் 30, 2010, 12:23[IST]

Noah's Ark Found in Turkey




அங்காரா: கடவுளின் உத்தரவுப்படி நோவா, தயாரித்த பேழையின் மிச்சப் பகுதி துருக்கியின் அராரத் மலைப் பகுதியில் புதைந்திருப்பதாக ஒரு தகவல் வெளியாகியுள்ளது.

கிறிஸ்தவ ஆய்வாளர்கள் குழுவைச் சேர்ந்தவர்கள் இந்தப் பேழையை கண்டுபிடித்துள்ளதாக தெரிவித்துள்ளனர். இருப்பினும் இந்தக் கூற்றை பலரும் நிராகரித்துள்ளனர்.

தான் உருவாக்கிய உலகில் அக்கிரமங்கள் பெருகியதைப் பார்த்த கடவுள், நோவாவை அழைத்து நீ ஒரு பேழையை உண்டாக்கு. அதனுள் நீயும், உனது குடும்பத்தாரும் போய் இருந்து கொள்ளுங்களள். இந்த உலகில் உள்ள விலங்குகள், பறவைகள், தாவர வகைகளில் சிறந்தவற்றை ஒவ்வொரு ஜோடியாக எடுத்து உன்னுடன் அந்த பேழைக்குள் வைத்துக்கொள். நான் உலகில் பிரளயத்தை ஏற்படுத்தப் போகிறேன். அதிலிருந்து நீயும் பிற உயிரினங்களும் தப்பிக் கொள்ளுங்கள் என்று கூறினார் என்று பைபிள் கூறுகிறது.

அன்று நோவா உருவாக்கிய பேழையின் ஒரு பகுதியைத்தான் தற்போது துருக்கி மலைப் பகுதியில் புதைந்த நிலையில் கண்டுபிடித்திருப்பதாக கூறியுள்ளனர் கிறிஸ்தவ ஆய்வாளர்கள்.

அராரத் பனிமலையின் அடிப் பகுதியில் இந்த பேழை புதைந்திருக்கிறதாம். ஆனால் இதை பலர் ஏற்றுக் கொள்ளவில்லை.

இதுகுறித்து மத்திய கிழக்கு தொடர்பான ஆய்வுகளில் பிரபலமானவரான பால் ஜிம்ஸன்கி கூறுகையில், இப்படி ஒரு ஆய்வு நடந்தது குறித்து எனக்குத் தெரியாது. நோவாவின் பேழை கண்டுபிடிக்கப்பட்டதாகவும் எனக்குத் தகவல் இல்லை என்றார்.

இருப்பினும் துருக்கி மற்றும் சீனாவைச் சேர்ந்த கத்தோலிக்க கிறிஸ்தவர்கள் அடங்கிய குழுவினர் ஹாங்காங்கில் செய்தியாளர்களிடம் பேசுகையில், இது 100 சதவீதம் நோவாவின் பேழை என்று நாங்கள் கூறவில்லை. ஆனால் 99.9 சதவீதம் இது பேழையாக இருக்கலாம் என உறுதியாக நம்புகிறோம் என்றனர்.

ஏற்கனவே ஈரானிலும் இதேபோல நோவாவின் பேழை காணப்பட்டதாக முன்பு ஒரு தகவல் வெளியானது நினைவிருக்கலாம்.

கடந்த ஆண்டு கிறிஸ்துமஸுக்கு சில நாட்களுக்கு முன்பு இஸ்ரேலில் நடந்த அகழ்வாராய்ச்சியில், 2000 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முந்தைய பழமை வாய்ந்த குடியிருப்பு கண்டுபிடிக்கப்பட்டது. அங்குதான் இயேசுநாதர் வாழ்ந்தார். அது இயேசுநாதரின் வீடாக இருக்கலாம் என்று ஆய்வாளர்கள் கருத்து தெரிவித்தனர் என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.

நோவாவின் பேழை கடவுள் உருவாக்கிய பெரும் வெள்ளத்தில் நீந்தி கடைசியில் அராரத் மலையில் வந்து நின்றதாக பைபிளின் பழைய ஏற்பாட்டில் கூறப்பட்டுள்ளது. இதனால்தான் அராரத் மலை, அனைத்து கிறிஸ்தவர்களின் ஆர்வத்தையும் நீண்ட காலமாக ஈர்த்து வருகிறது.

 


படைப்புகளை அனுப்ப:

கவிதை, கட்டுரை, சிறுகதை என படைப்பிலக்கியத்தின் எந்தக் கூறுகளிலும் உங்களது ஆக்கங்களை அனுப்பலாம். அனுப்ப வேண்டிய மின்னஞ்சல் முகவரி: editor@thatstamil.com

படைப்புகளை அனுப்பும்போது, நீங்கள் எந்த எழுத்துருவை பயன்படுத்தியுள்ளீர்கள் என்பதை அறியத் தரவும்.


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Australian premier rapped for lobbying pope

July 8th, 2009 - 10:24 am ICT by IANS  -

Kevin Rudd
PA) Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd should not be pressuring
Pope Benedict XVI to make Australian nun Mary MacKillop a saint, a prominent Jesuit priest said Wednesday.

Frank Brennan joined other leading Catholics in criticising Rudd for arranging a meeting Wednesday with the pope at which Rudd said he would encourage the pontiff to have MacKillop canonised.

“I think it would not be appropriate for him to attempt to lobby,” Father Brennan told the national broadcaster ABC.

Rudd has been accused of courting the Catholic vote by trying to make MacKillop Australia’s first saint before the next general election.

MacKillop, who died 100 years ago, was beatified in 1995 for her good works. She is believed to have cured a woman of cancer and needs one more approved miracle to become a saint.

Rudd is to meet the pope at the Vatican.

“The sheer arrogance of the prime minister, believing he can lobby the pope on behalf of Mary MacKillop, is quite frankly offensive,” opposition Liberal Party member of parliament Christopher Pyne said this week. “The path to sainthood is a very serious process, and it doesn’t include lobbying by the leaders of countries.”



More at : Australian premier rapped for lobbying pope http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/politics/australian-premier-rapped-for-lobbying-pope_100214884.html#ixzz0itKtmjEE

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Vatican investigates Virgin Mary miracles, appearances

2010-03-19 16:00:00
Last Updated: 2010-03-20 02:13:32

 

Washington: It has emerged that the Vatican has begun an investigation into miracles and appearances of the Virgin Mary at the famous Medjugorje shrine in Bosnia.

The Vatican said in a statement released on March 17: "An international commission of inquiry headed by Italian Cardinal Camillo Ruini, a top adviser to the late Pope John Paul II, has been formed to study the case and report back to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith."

The "Miracles of Medjugorje" date back to 1981, when six teenagers claimed they saw a vision of the Virgin Mary on a hill near their village (then part of Yugoslavia).

Vatican criticizes condom machines in Rome school

As sunset approached, they claimed, they saw a veiled woman appear in the sky, surrounded by a blinding white light.

The woman carried an infant in her arms and did not speak but instead gestured for them to come closer. The teens ran back to their village, but no one else saw the incident.

The curious vision reappeared to the same group the following day, though this time she spoke, telling them: "I am the Blessed Virgin Mary."

After that, the same floating woman, child, and bright light appeared nearly every day for the next decade-each time only visible to the original group.

The location changed often, and sometimes the Virgin Mary would tell the teens messages, which they would then relay to local church authorities and later to the huge crowds of devout followers gathered nearby.

Vatican putting wartime archives on Internet

Joe Nickell, in his book 'Looking For a Miracle', notes that the local Bishop, Pavao Zanic, at first embraced the Marian visions but soon grew to doubt the teens' story after he began investigating.

"Zanic found grounds for doubting the authenticity of the apparitions, including numerous contradictions in the children's stories," Discovery News quoted Nickell as stating.

In fact, at the conclusion of his investigation, Bishop Zanic stated quite unequivocally, that the citing were false.

"The phenomenon at Medjugorje will be the greatest shame of the Church in the twentieth century. One can say that these are hallucinations, illusions, hypnosis or lies," he said.

The Vatican has its own team of miracle investigators who are more sceptical than one might expect.

They have debunked faked weeping statues, and tend to take a dim view of hoaxed visions of the Virgin Mary. They're cautious about authenticating events as genuine miracles.



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