Spiritual History's topics - tribe.net

A Spiritual History of the Western Tradition

Barry — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:15:16 GMT

My new book, A Spiritual History of the Western Tradition, which some of you have followed when it was a blog, is in the final stages of printing. It should be on the open market through Amazon.com, Lulu.com/storefront, and local retailers in the next 10 weeks. Pre-orders for hard back books are just $25.00 per book. Soft backs will be available as well soon. If you want a copy, send a check for $25.00 along with shipping information to me at:

Rabbi Barry Albin
3433 Summit, 2nd Floor
Kansas City, Missouri 64111

posted in Spiritual History - 2 replies

How Jesus Became Christian

Barry — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:47:07 GMT

Professor Barrie Wilson, PhD. of York University in Canada has written a new book which goes a long way to explain the differences between the Jesus Movement or the original church of St. James and the Christ Movement of Paul. I highly recommend it for its historical and biblical approach to the issue.

posted in Spiritual History - 0 replies

something for your enjoyment

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 07:56:06 GMT

thought you might like the following

(from Aum to Allah)
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=-_TVfPM_hoM

(Aum to Allah progressed)
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=A0CvnaE0mko

just uploaded the second video (which took about 150 hours to make)

I don't have good internet access here in Manikoran (Parvati valley India) so if you like would you please use your networking skills to share with others?

PS if you read this same post on other tribes please excuse my duplication but as I mention above internet is not easy (a good walk and a 5km bus ride)

much light and love

GM23

posted in Spiritual History - 0 replies

Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks

Barry — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:38:20 GMT

The Nasoreans and the Karaites are celebrating the Feast of Shavuot today. This marks the Fiftieth Day after Pesach, or Passover. It is exactly one day after seven weeks. Why would this fiftieth day be important? First, the spiritual ladder to heaven has fifty steps corresponding to the Jubilee, which is the fiftieth year in a group of seven weeks of years. The Jubilee is a time for returning to one's roots. It is a time for forgiveness of debts. Second, it was in ancient times the amount of time it took for crops planted before Pesach to produce their first fruits. The first fruits are special because they had to be given to G-d.

The theme then of Shavuot is first fruits. It is a pilgrim feast, one of three -- Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkoth. A pilgrim feast was one in which the men had to appear before G-d at the Place where he resided. On the fiftieth day after the first Pesach, Moses delivered the Commandments, those 613 precepts included in the Torah, which were written on two tablets of stone. They are the covenant or treaty between the Jews and G-d. Placed in the Ark of the Covenant, these precepts rest under the feet of the Archangel as the symbol of the covenant. So the Torah is the first fruits of the Passover and the Freedom of the Hebrews from bondage.

After the crucifixion of Yeshua ha Meshiach, fifty days elapsed and the Three Pillars, the College of Apostles, the Great Sanhedrin, and the Supreme Council of the Church were met together in the same room in which the last Pesach of Yeshua was celebrated. There appeared in the room tongues of fire that rested on the heads of those present and they heard a rushing sound. At the mountain when Moses delivered the Torah, the Jews had asked that G-d no longer speak to them directly, but only through prophets. On Shavuot in that year after Yeshua's death, G-d reversed that request and began to speak to the Jews and all mankind directly again, and it has not stopped. This communication with mankind no longer was just through the written covenant; now it was through a direct spoken truth. Like Adam, we could walk with the Archangel again. And Yeshua was that Archangel that we were walking with.

Shavuot is a time of rejoicing for Nasoreans because we know that we were the recipients of the gifts of that Shavuot after Yeshua died. But even more we know that now that the Christian era has gone full cycle, we are returning to the place we began. Again, we see that Melchizedek, in the person of Yeshua, has returned just as he was promised in Yeshua's day. We acknowledge that Yeshua, the seventh incarnation of the Archangel of the Presence, is our Lord, our El, and that he is King of the Elohim. We are confident that more and more of the dispersed children of Ya'akov will hear our call and the 150,000,000 descendants of Ya'akov will join together, that is, 12,000,000 Jews and 138,000,000 Hebrews, to form the new remnant called home at the time of gathering.

Having come full circle, we are forming the twelve tribes that surround the Tabernacle (Mishkan) in the desert and constitute the living temple of G-d. We like brides await the coming of Ezekiel's temple fully formed, but until it descends we continue to have an impermanent Place to call home. We believe that despite the laws that the Jordanian government has put into effect, the Ark of the Covenant, the Mishkan, and the Altar of Incense will be found soon and the Temple on Earth will be reformed.

When will Meshiach come again? It is not clear, but reason says in the 6,000 year and that is 232 years from now. Some say that it will happen on December 21, 2012. Who knows? Not even the Meshiach knows. But the Temple in the person of the faithful stones is here already and this day celebrates the continued presence of Our Lady, the Holy Spirit among us.

Maranatha.

posted in Spiritual History - 0 replies

Passover

Barry — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:32:24 GMT

Passover

The Nasorean Sect of Judaism like its counterparts, the Karaites, are celebrating Passover today. I thought I would reflect on one of the most significant parts of the tradition surrounding Passover.

The Four Questions raise interesting issues not because of the questions which center on the Seder itself, but because of the explanations about the four sons who might ask the questions: the wise, the wicked, the simple, and the one who has not the capacity to inquire. It is for this last son that the entire Seder is constructed. G-d ordered us to speak to our children about the Passover. Exodus 12:24-27. The ritual speaks of the wicked son and says:

The wicked son says: What is this work to you? -- to you not to him, and because he takes himself out of the collective body, he denies the essential thing; you should, therefore, blunt his teeth by saying: This is done because of that, which the Lord did for me when I went forth from Egypt: i.e. for me, but not for him; for had he been there, he would not have been thought worthy to be redeemed.

Later during the Seder, it says:

It is therefore incumbent on every Israelite, in every generation, to look upon himself, as if he had actually gone forth from Egypt; as is said: And you shall declare unto your son, on that day, saying, "This is done because of that, which the Lord did for me, when I came forth from Egypt. It was not our ancestors only that the Most Holy, blessed be he, redeemed from Egypt, but us also did he redeem with them as is said: And he brought us from thence, that he might bring us to the land which he swore to give unto our fathers.

The Jewish concept of l'zikaron, to remember, involves an idea foreign from Christian and Muslim thought. It is essential to the very concept of holy days, and of sacrifice. For a Jew, a true Jew, to keep the Passover, means that he must immerse himself in the experience of the Passover. He must become present at the first Passover. He must experience the feelings and thoughts of a slave who is about to be freed. He must consider that G-d Himself is going to free us. The Greek word, anamnesin, approximates this Hebrew concept. The Kabbalists and most orthodox Jews believe in reincarnation because they believe that we as a people, all of our souls, were present at the first Passover and at Pentecost when the Torah was proclaimed. So in remembering the events of the first Passover, we are not recalling something told to us by our forebears, but recalling something which as a soul we experienced originally. Our feasts and our fasts are recallings of events that actually happened to each of us, although not in this body, still to our souls and we in experiencing the event recall our past life, the one which actually experienced the event.

So the wicked son by saying what are you doing shows that he does not recall from his past life the event. He is not redeemed. He must not really be a son of Ya'akov or he would remember the event.

The Christians fight over a concept that is inherent in the Passover discussion. Yeshua is at the Seder Meal, a meal celebrated in accordance with Essene regulations, on a Wednesday. He broke bread as is done at the beginning of the meal. He says: "Take and eat; this is my body." This is done not as an experience of his last supper, but as an experience of the first Passover. He is proclaiming that he is Pascha, the Lamb that is slain and whose blood is on the door posts and lintel in the shape of a cross. He does not mean that he is a sheep, but that he is the symbol of the Lamb, the l'zikaron of the Lamb. The Pascha protects the household within from death by the only one who can extinguish a soul. It is required that each person present at the Passover must eat of this lamb. Symbolically, he uses this symbol of bread at the beginning of this Passover experience and recalls the bread of Melchizedek. He proclaims an end to animal sacrifice and substitutes an experience that every Jew knew by heart. The bread does not become a Lamb. It remains bread. But the experience of eating the Lamb and the bread are inextricably combined. The bread and the Lamb become one concept. There is neither transubstantiation nor consubstantiation nor symbolism, because if you are not part of the experience it is not a symbol of that experience. The bread is part of the experience; it is not the experience, merely part of it.

Likewise, Matthew says: " Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, 'Drink from it, all of you, this is is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.'" The cup which he took is the third cup, the one just after the meal. Many would say the bread is the piece put away at the beginning of the meal and then this cup would come right after the eating of the bread. This cup is called the Cup of Salvation or Redemption. Yeshua proclaims that we do not need blood anymore. He says that this wine, like the wine of Melchizedek, is the new blood. He connects the blood of the door post with the wine of Salvation. Then, he proclaims that just as all covenants with G-d must be made in blood, that he is going to make a new covenant with G-d. He will provide the blood in his body. It will cause the Torah to be changed. All the acts in the Torah remain as they were, but now instead of bloody sacrifices, we will substitute the wine of Melchizedek, the blood of salvation. Unless we eat of this bread and drink of this cup experiencing the change that has occurred we shall not have life within us.

By changing the sacrifice, Yeshua establishes a sure way to salvation from our sinfulness. Not only are we free from the concern that the priest of the sacrifice is not holy enough, because Yeshua arose from the dead and ascended to become the Priest, but in addition we do not have to worry about whether the lamb was pure enough as the same Lamb, the Pascha, is eternally in this sacrifice.

Knowing that there has been one sacrifice, which continues to this very day, for sin, that being the sacrifice of the Cross, we know that the True High Priest, Yeshua ha Cohen, continues to offer a pure sacrifice. We must experience putting our sins on the back of that Lamb, just as all sacrifices require the experience of transferring our sins to the victim. We must then in faith offer up a Thanksgiving sacrifice of bread and wine in thanksgiving for the forgiveness of our sins. Thus, the Pseudo-Clementines declare that the old sacrifice has been replaced by the Eucharist, that is, the Thanksgiving offering.

The Cross of Yeshua is then symbolic of the blood on the door post. In all these things, it only has power if we experience the event. Now, magical theory puts it best -- our intention must be pure. We must focus our thought on the experience. Then and only then are we free from sin.

Because this particular day is so important for Nasorean Jews, it is appropriate that G-d commands us to keep a day of absolute rest so that we can experience the Passover again.

Today, I am free. The Lord has Passed Over Me.

posted in Spiritual History - 0 replies

putting God back into the equation..

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 08:40:30 GMT

hi all

I've put some vids up on youtube...

they originate from a spiritual journey i embarked upon in 2004/5..

on the other sites/tribes i've posted the links on they have rec' very flattering (and undeserved) responses

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlKjIVCOFOU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGrE6C6fs4o

in some cases these links havent worked

so here they are without the hypa-link

youtube.com/watch?v=GlKjIVCOFOU

youtube.com/watch?v=HGrE6C6fs4o

they are, as is the wish of their true source supplied without copyright.... so copy, keep, distribute at will... they are as much yours as they are mine...

also i will be adding to them so if you like them then please subscribe to the youtube page to ensure you get notification of future additions

regards

GM23

(La Illah Allah.... there is none but one)

posted in Spiritual History - 0 replies

Should'nt This Tribe Be Called Religious History In The Western Tradition

rvr_rat66 — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 13:06:51 GMT

All this stuff is about religion.. not spirituality.

posted in Spiritual History - 2 replies

Salvation

Barry — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 14:45:32 GMT

I posed a question to my disciples the other day. I thought I would ask this group about it.

Without using the New Testament, tell me what salvation was in the Old Testament. Otherwise, what were the people being saved from?

posted in Spiritual History - 29 replies

UFO sighting with Messianic Themes

sblonder — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 04:16:50 GMT

I've written a book that seeks the meaning behind the most famous UFO sighting in America - The Phoenix Lights of March 13, 1997.

I've used Kabbalah as cipher to get at the meaning of the lights. You can see video and read some excerpts from the book at www.groundingthelights.com but I what I'd really like is for someone interested enough in this subject to give the book a read for free in exchange for a blurb or feedback on the book so I can refine before going into publishing (It's an e-book right now). Please let me know if anyone is interested by sending me your e-mail address and I'll send you the PDF.

posted in Spiritual History - 0 replies

Shabbat:Sabbath

rvr_rat66 — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 04:26:42 GMT

Sabbath is a weekly time of intimacy with the Father—twenty-four hours spent focused on the things of the kingdom. The Sabbath forces us to cease from creating, producing, making and providing. It teaches us patience and dependence; it reminds us who our provider really is.

Commentary:

This is the burnt offering of every sabbath in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering. (Numbers 28:10)
On the Sabbath day, the burnt offerings of the daily appointed times are doubled. The Sabbath is a day of double blessing. Keeping the Sabbath is an important part of the cycle of sanctification. On an external level, keeping the weekly Sabbath sanctifies us as a people by training us in sanctification. It makes us different. Keeping the Sabbath requires, at times, great sacrifice and commitment. It requires us to be able to say no to enticements and opportunities that would break the Sabbath. Sabbath keepers are out of sync with the rest of the world. For example, keeping the Sabbath prevents us from participating in Saturday social events, sporting events and many fields of employment. That makes Sabbath keepers different, and being different is part of being sanctified.

The Sabbath is a weekly chance to regroup with God, a quiet sanctuary in time. The business, distractions and demands of the workweek fall away on the Sabbath, allowing us time to refocus our hearts on God. If not for the weekly Sabbath, the constant, crushing tyranny of the urgent would never cease. Our wayward hearts would drift far indeed.

The Sabbath is a day of peace. It is a time for setting aside the troubles of our world. On the Sabbath, we close the door to the troubles, stresses and anxieties of this present age, and we enter into the calm spirit of peace that comes from the presence of Messiah. “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful,” (John 14:27) says the Master. On the Sabbath day, we quiet ourselves enough to feel the presence of His peace.

On the Sabbath we are to cease, rest, rejoice and worship.

Yeshua is our blessing and holiness, our deep peace and our sure salvation. He is our new creation, our source of grace and our great freedom. He is our Sabbath rest; thus we rest on the Sabbath in Him. The Lord of the Sabbath declares, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

posted in Spiritual History - 3 replies

First Fruits of The Resurection

rvr_rat66 — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 16:31:45 GMT

Is Yeshua Ben Yoseph the firstfruits of the resurection? Did He Rise?

posted in Spiritual History - 4 replies

My own reply to the Jesus tomb

rvr_rat66 — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 14:07:41 GMT

The Messiah is YHVH, God the Son, who shall return to us (i.e. second coming) and gather all the exiles, for it is written in Deuteronomy 30:3:

Then, YHVH your God will turn your captivity, and He shall have compassion upon you, and He will return, and He will gather you from all the nations where YHVH your God hath scattered you.”

And, when it says, “He will return,” what is it but that He has already come to us and then departed?

For, in Psalms 24:7-10, it is written:

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? YHVH strong and mighty, YHVH mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? YHVH of Hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.

And, so it is YHVH who is the “King of glory.” And, when He commands the “gates” and “everlasting doors” to be lifted up, what is it but that YHVH is ascending into heaven past the gates of heaven? And, if YHVH is ascending into heaven, what is it but that He was here on Earth first and later ascended?

And, if the Father is omnipresent, then certainly He could not confine himself to a single place, but if not Him, then who is YHVH who came to Earth and later ascended, if not God’s only begotten Son?

For in Proverbs 30:4, it is written:

Who has ascended up into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if you can tell?

And, assuredly, only God Almighty has “established all the ends of the earth,” thus we see God has a Son, and yet so few know his name (who he is).

Accordingly, it was His Son who has ascended into heaven as YHVH, King of Glory, for in John 3:13, it is spoken by John about the Messiah after his resurrection and ascension:

And no man has ascended up to heaven, but he who came down from heaven, even the Son of man who is in heaven.

Furthermore, in 1 Corinthians 15:47, Paul writes that Yeshua himself came down from heaven:

The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

Now, then, if Yeshua is the Lord from heaven, he could not be merely a man. He then must be a) an angel or b) God Almighty Himself.

But, what has Paul written in his epistles to the Hebrews (l’meshichim)? For, chapter 1, verses 5 and 13, he writes,

For unto which of the angels said he at any time, “Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee?” And again, “I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?” But to which of the angels said he at any time, “Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?”

And when he says “unto which of the angels said he at any time,” it means that Yeshua is not an angel, thus he is God Almighty.

Accordingly, the angels worship the Messiah as God, for it is written in Hebrews 1:6 and Deuteronomy 32:43 LXX:

And again, when He brings in the first-begotten into the world, He says, “And let all the angels of God worship him.”

And so we see Paul distinguish between the angels and Messiah, when he quotes David in Hebrews 1:7 (cf. Psa. 104:4),

And unto the angels he [David] says, “Who makes His [God’s] angels spirits, and His [God’s] ministers a flame of fire.

But, about the Son, about the Messiah, about YHVH, about the King of Glory, Paul quotes David who states:

But unto the Son, “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore, God, thy God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.

And, here David calls Messiah “God” and says that Messiah’s “God” has anointed the Messiah above his fellows. And, so, not only is Messiah, God, but when it says “My God,” what is it but that Messiah is fully man as well? So, Messiah is fully man and fully God, for John writes regarding the Messiah in 20:17:

Jesus saith unto her, “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.”

And, regarding the Son, Paul writes in Hebrews 1:10:

And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:

Paul quotes from Psalms 102:24-25 wherein David states:

I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: Thy years are throughout all generations. Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of Thy hands.

And so, Paul equates “my God” to “the Son” in Hebrews 1:10, hence the Messiah is God Almighty.

So the Messiah, YHVH the Son, shall descend from heaven, and as Deuteronomy 30:3 states, he shall gather all the exiles unto himself:

And he [the Messiah] shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matt. 24:31 cf. Mark 13:27)

And, this refers to the gathering of the saints in the air to meet the Messiah, for it is written:

because the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the shophar of God, and the dead (in Christ) shall rise first. Thereafter, we who are alive remaining shall be caught away together with them in the clouds, in order to meet the Lord in the air, and likewise, we shall always be with the Lord. (1 Thes. 4:16-17)

And the gathered saints shall be taken to Jerusalem, for it is written:

And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great shophar shall be blown; and they shall come that were lost in the land of Assyria, and they that were dispersed in the land of Egypt, and they shall worship YHVH in the holy mountain at Jerusalem. (Isa. 27:13)

And, the righteous shall inherit the Earth forever, as it is written in Psalms 37:29:

The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.

And in Isaiah 60:21, it is written:

Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.

posted in Spiritual History - 10 replies

Official Statement of the Nasorean Orthodox Qahal on the Tomb of Jesus

Barry — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 14:39:58 GMT

The Tomb of Jesus

The Western World has been built on a paradigm that deified a man named Jesus. One of the principle supports of that paradigm has been the dogma of the empty tomb. Christians have not been rational in their view of that information. Part of the reason for this lack of critique is the apparent agreement of the Gospels with Paul. However, neither is that agreement assured nor is it clear that the early church believed in the physical resurrection of Jesus.

First, Mark, the oldest of the canonical gospels originally ended at Mark 16:8. The addition of the longer ending occurred after the death of the last apostle. As all the other gospels were subject to Mark and some other material we have to look first at Mark. Mark ends with the statement that Jesus has been raised, whatever that means, and that he will see the disciples in Galilee. There are no resurrection events like Paul claims in 1 Corinthians 15. There are no meetings in an upper room. There are no walking through walls events.

Luke tells us that Jesus appeared to two people on the road to Emmaus and talk to them. They did not recognize this person. They did not see him as Jesus. That tells us that he was not in a body like our bodies. He was in a glorified body like what Paul speaks of. Jesus was dead. His body was dead. He walks through walls. Only a spirit or a glorified body can walk through walls.

In the 1980’s, archaeologists found a Tomb with the name Joseph Caiphas. They did not doubt that that tomb was the tomb of the High Priest Caiphas. They found the tomb of Simon of Cyrene. They did not doubt that that tomb was inhabited by St. Simon. This tomb was found in 1980 as well.

The Jerusalemites used second burial for a period of 84 years, from 14 BCE until 70 CE. During that time it is estimated that there may have been 80,000 burials in family tombs in Jerusalem.

This tomb had at least 10 ossuaries. That tells us that the Tomb was a family tomb. One of the ossuaries disappeared before it got to the warehouse of the Israeli Antiquities Authority. Of the remaining nine ossuaries, six had inscriptions. They were Maria, Yose, Mati, Yeshua bar Yosef, Mariamene e Mara, and Yehudah bar Yeshua. Some of these names were as common as common can be. Everyone was using them. But some were not. The name Maria was written in Hebrew script, but was a Latin transcription. That name was the name of Mary the Mother of Jesus. It was unique. None like it has been found. Yose is a diminutive of Yotzef. It is unique. No other inscription among the thousands found ever had the name Yose. This is important because Scripture tells us that Mary’s name was Maria and that she had a son named Yose.

We know from other sources that Mary’s family had Matthew or Mati as a name. In fact, Levi Alphaeus is Matthew of the Gospel. More than likely, Levi was a cousin of Joseph’s. Joseph’s family also included Mati as a name.
The scientists first DNA testing was on the remains in the ossuaries of Yeshua bar Yotzef and Mariamene e Mara. The finding concluded that these were not brother and sister. Their close proximity and the addition of an additional ossuary saying Yehudah bar Yeshua led the archaeologists to surmise that these people were married and had a child named Yehudah.

The statistician used at the news conference was the most conservative of several consulted. He place the likelihood that this was not the Tomb of Jesus at somewhere between 1/100 and 1/1000. Others have said it is more likely that the number is 1/256,000,000. There were only 250,000,000 people alive in the whole world at the time. For statistical purposes, this is the Tomb of Jesus of Nazareth. For sure, this is the tomb of a family called Bar Yotzef and Jesus son of Joseph is buried there.

Many have heard of the James Ossuary. The patina on the James Ossuary and the patinae on the Jesus Ossuary and the Mariamene Ossuary indicated a perfect match. The likelihoods are almost certain that the James Ossuary came from this tomb. With the addition of the James ossuary, the likelihoods of this being the Holy Family tomb rise to near certainty.

Some have been misinformed about other ossuaries having the inscription, Yeshua bar Yotzef. There has been only one. Professor Sukenik found it. It was not provenanced, that is, it was found in circumstances that raised doubt that it was authentic. This ossuary is provenanced.

The Nasorean Faith does not rest upon the physical resurrection of Jesus. It rests upon the teaching of the Nasorean Sect which began in 168 BCE and continues today. While Jesus is our principle philosophical base, he is based firmly in Torah. His physical death has been widely reported. His physical resurrection is not as firmly reported. This Tomb raises additional questions about a physical resurrection.

If Yeshua was a man, not a g-d, then he died like all of us. Professor Schonfield’s claim that he was revived fails because Jesus as a man disappears from history. Therefore, he died. His spiritual resurrection and his ability to appear is that of a highly evolved mystic. The Nasoreans neither affirm nor deny that his spiritual body was seen for 40 days. However, it is not unbelievable as we have experienced similar events among our saints. We therefore affirm the continued scientific work to further investigate whether this Tomb was that of Jesus. We likewise affirm that continued work should done on the James Ossuary. We formally request that the criminal action against Oded Golan be ended.

posted in Spiritual History - 2 replies

spiritual and scientific histories unified??

Sun, 10 Dec 2006 16:10:37 GMT

hi ,

just finished putting some work together that may be of interest.

the work resulted as the consequence of a journey and uses mathematical and other concepts to bring together spiritual and scientific concepts

its called "the lesson of the lights"

http://malcolm.mcewen.googlepages.com/home

any comments?

regards

GM23

posted in Spiritual History - 1 reply

The Bread Of Affliction

rvr_rat66 — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 13:54:18 GMT

Parashat Hashavuah
Bo - בוא : “Come”
Torah : Exodus 10:1–13:16
Haftarah : Jeremiah 46:13–28
Gospel : Mark 4–5

The Bread of Affliction

Thought for the Week:

This is the bread of affliction that our fathers ate in the land of Egypt. Let all the hungry come and eat! Let all the needy come and celebrate Passover! This year we are here; next year may we be in the Land of Israel. This year we are slaves; next year may we be free men. (Traditional Passover Haggadah)

Commentary:

And they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. (Exodus 12:8)
The unleavened bread of the Passover seder is referred to in the Passover Haggadah as “the bread of affliction.” In the traditional Passover Haggadah, Rabban Gamliel explains the symbolism of the unleavened bread and the bitter herbs. Regarding the unleavened bread he says:

This is the unleavened bread that we eat. What is it for? It is because there was not enough time for the dough of our fathers to ferment, before the Sovereign King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed is He, revealed Himself to them and redeemed them. As it is said [in Exodus 12:39], “They baked the dough which they had brought out of Egypt into cakes of unleavened bread. For it had not become leavened, since they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.”
But for disciples of the Master there is deeper meaning in the bread. The Master took the bread at His Last Seder and said, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19). The unleavened bread (matzah, מצה) teaches us about the body of the Master. When you examine a piece of matzah, you will observe that it is pierced, it is striped and it is flat. It is pierced so that it bakes thoroughly. It is striped from the scorching of the oven racks. It is flat because it is made without leaven.

Just as the unleavened bread is pierced, His body was pierced. Just as the unleavened bread is striped, His body was striped and wounded. Just as the unleavened bread is without yeast (yeast often symbolizes corruption), He was without sin. Therefore it is written, “He was pierced through for our transgressions” (Isaiah 53:5), and “They will look on Me whom they have pierced” (Zechariah 12:10), and “With his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5 KJV), and again, He “has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). In the Torah, leaven represents corruption and decay, but regarding Messiah Scripture says, “Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay” (Psalm 16:10). Moreover, we remember that He is called “the bread of life” (John 6:35) and the Afflicted One:

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4–5)
Shavuah Tov! Have a Good Week!

posted in Spiritual History - 0 replies

Chanukkah and Holocausts

Barry — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 15:40:09 GMT

The 2nd Book of Maccabees establishes the feast of Chanukkah. It is celebrated for eight days as is Sukkoth and many have believed that it was a substitute for those who could not keep Sukkoth in a particular year. My sect of Jews believes in the literal requirements of the Scripture where possible. The Scripture sets forth the requirement that the New Moon be observed by two persons and reported to a Beth Din to decide that the new month has begun. We find the National Observatory far better enabled to do that than our own eyes considering weather, smog, and other impediments. We insist upon declaring the new month on the day that the new moon appears. If it appears after sun down, it is the next day. But it is on that evening that we begin the feast. This year the Rabbinicals and the Nasoreans are one day apart. We will begin the Chanukkah celebration today at Sundown, because the new moon was one day earlier for us than them.

Now the 25th of Kislev is the date of Chanukkah every year. However, that date changes on your solar calendars, the ones used by Christians. So our holiday which never varies on the date of the month it is to be celebrated is celebrated on different days for Christians. This is not a big feast. It has become a big feast only because of Christmas. It is a time to remember the Rededication of a now extinct building, a building which the Nasoreans came to see as corrupt and profane. However, it is a time to rededicate the temple not made with hands, the community of Israel, to surviving one more year. In these days when Israel is encompassed by the Gentiles on every side and suicide bombers serving Satan, not G-d, dare to blow themselves up to kill people, it is especially necessary for us to commemorate this feast which remembers a victory of G-d over tyranny, of freedom of religion over state action, of miracle over apparent impossibility.

The Jews have not had just one Holocaust. They have had seven attempts to wipe them out. Chanukkah celebrates the Jewish ability to withstand Holocaust as much as Shoah day or Purim or the 9th of Av. The first attempt to wipe us out is mentioned in the Pesach ritual when it notes that Laban wanted to wipe us out by never allowing the children of Rachel and Leach to be born. He failed. The Pesach ritual recalls the attempt to destroy our people by eliminating all male children. It failed. G-d sent Moses and we made an Exodus to freedom. Amalek tried to destroy us in the desert and ultimately the son of Agag, the King of the Amalekites, became the Grand Vizier of the Babylonian Empire and set out to destroy us. Esther defeated him as is recorded in the Book of Esther and recounted during Purim, the feast that remembers they drew lots to decide what day the Jewish people would die. In 135 A.D., the Romans tried to wipe us out again. Millions of Jews were killed, but the greatest suffering took place among my sect, the Nasori, when we lost 980,000 in one year. Again in the period from 1300 until 1530, 400,000 Nasori now called Marranos suffered death at the hands of the Inquisition and all Jews were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula. Finally, Hitler attempted to wipe out the Jewish people. Six million died.

There have always been those who would deny the seven holocausts of the Jews. A conference in Iran is merely the latest attempt for ant-Semites and the spirit of Haman to infect the world. I trust that it will happen again. I trust that many will believe it. It is amazing that people are so ignorant and intentionally believe a lie rather than truth. Perhaps as we begin to light the candles tonight, we should remember that the first candle, the Shamus, not a part of the regular eight, is the Servant Candle and for the Nasori, it is the symbol of The Man who was the Light of the World, the premier Tzaddik who became the Channel of Light from the Endless Light Himself. Remember Yeshua ha Meshiach, the Light of the World, tonight when we light the first two candles of Chanukkah and may his Light, his Truth, permeate our hearts.

posted in Spiritual History - 5 replies

Tracing the Emanations

Barry — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 21:19:57 GMT

TRACING THE DOCTRINE OF EMANATION

EMANATIONS

There once was a man named Zarathustra. He was priest of the indigenous religion of the high plains of the area of the world now known as Iran. He lived in a cave and spent much of his time contemplating. Now, his native religion like most religions of his time had a multitude of gods, all in charge of one or another of the various events, objects, and needs of his people. Zarathustra was an unusual indigenous priest because Zarathustra heard a Voice. That Voice and Zarathustra began to talk about the nature of good and evil. The result was the first great and revolutionary spirituality.

For Zarathustra, there were two G-ds, not many. He rejected the idea that there were gods of trees, water, rain, wind, etc. He said there was a Good G-d called Ahura Mazda and Bad G-d called Ahriman. He said that the Good G-d had six manifestations of His being and a Divine Spirit that came forth from His Being. The six manifestations were the active presence of the Good G-d in the various animal and vegetable kingdoms, but the Divine Spirit was in mankind and caused mankind to be capable of assisting the Good G-d.

Likewise, the Bad G-d had manifestations and helpers. These were called Daimons. They infused things and took possession of people.

In Zarathustra’s view, it was the duty of mankind to aid the Good G-d in his war with the Bad G-d to make sure that the Good G-d won. Mankind accomplished this task by right actions towards each other, right eating, right contemplation, right worship, and right living. The principal manifestation of this Good G-d was the purifying fire. Thus Zarathustra wanted Temples where the Sacred Fire was eternal. He believed that by contemplating the Divine in these sacred places one could understand how to live correctly. This concept of divine contemplation of the divine manifestations is the earliest spirituality in the Western Tradition and forms the basis of the Kabbalah. The Seven Manifestations approximate to the Seven Divine Emanations of the Little Face of G-d in the Tree of Life or Chaim Etz which are Mercy, Strength or Judgment, Beauty or Love, Victory, Glory, Foundation and Kingdom.

This well developed religion, Zoroastrianism, broke forth from the tiny kingdom of Zarathustra’s birth to become the unifying force that unified the Medes and Persians and in the sixth century before the common era that force took Babylon and established the first great Persian Empire. The exiles from the tiny state of Yehudah (Judah) ran into this developed theology and began to contemplate how it fit into their understandings of life. One particular priest of Aaron, named Ezekiel, was sitting by a River called the Chebar one day and as he was contemplating there appear vision of Divine Chariot holding a Throne upon which sat a Divine Being. Now this Divine Being seemed to Ezekiel to be very much like the Ancient of Days, the Good God Ahura Mazda and he adopted the meditation practices of the Fire Worshippers. His goal was to recreate that Divine Communion that he felt we he saw his Vision of the Chariot or Merkabah.

The earliest strataum of Western Tradition, the contemplation of the Sephiroth or Manifestations of G-d now received an additional strata involving the contemplation of the Divine Being of G-d and his Holy Throne. When the Priesthood returned to Yisrael to rebuild the Temple, they took with them a commitment to right actions based upon the Torah, right eating based upon the kosher law, right contemplation based upon the contemplation of the Emanations of G-d and His Holy Throne, right worship which was now directed to the importance of the intent of the giver, and right living based upon the Torah’s ethical laws. They were certain that there was just one G-d, not even two, and they had become aware of three Dark Angels, one who was Evil, one who ruled the Daimons or Demons, and one who ruled the Evil Spirits. They even took on Persian and Babylonian names: Ahriman was the Shaitan, the Devil; Ba’al Zebul was the Lord of Flys or Demons; and Ashmodai or Ruler of the High Fire was the Lord of Evil Spirits.

The basic concepts of right action; right eating; right devotion, the private face of religion; right worship, the public face of religion; and right living, the correct way of treating the world became the basis of all Jewish spirituality. The principles of meditation and contemplation learned in Babylon became the necessary tool for all future spiritual growth. The concept of the ongoing war between Good and Evil became the raison d’etre for all future religion. No longer was righteousness limited to hospitality to strangers, widows and orphans. It had expanded to an entire philosophy of a good life.

TWO JUDAISMS

Margaret Barker in her book The Great Angel: The Study of Israel’s Second G-d puts forth a well developed theory on the nature of the pre-Josiah religion of Israel. She argues persuasively that the reason that the Decalogue is phrased -- You shalt not have any other gods beside me – is to denote that there were other g-ds, but that he national god of Israel was to be YHVH. The Yahwist recognized that El Shaddai, the G-d of the Mountain, the War G-d of the Cana’anites was the same G-d as YHVH. Now the Yahwist also recognized that there was a High G-d, El Elyon, which means G-d the Most High, who was the Father of the G-ds. He realized that El Shaddai was one of nine children of this G-d, including Ba’al Moloch, Astarte, and others. The Hebrew faith believed that this High G-d worked entirely through their G-d YHVH.

This idea of a Great G-d and a lesser G-d is further confused by the appearance in Exodus 23:20 of an Angel who took the form of fire and smoke and who could forgive sins. The second G-d was now seen as this Archangel and the first G-d was seen as the distant YHVH, the father of the G-ds. Slowly, but surely, the simple people called “ha am ha eretz” in Hebrew and meaning the rural or as the Romans would say, paganus, people developed a rich theology based upon worshipping El Shaddai on mountains and worshipping Astarte as a pillar in the Temple yard.

All of this popular religion came into conflict with the King Josiah who began what is known as the Josiac reform, which culminated in the Deuteronomic additions to the Scriptures. Josiah set out to eradicate the influences of the popular religion from the official religion of Israel. For two centuries or more, a war waged between the popular religion and the official religion resulting finally in Hezekiah’s suppression of all places of worship other than the Temple in Jerusalem and his destruction of Nehustan, the Brazen Serpent, because it was being worshipped. The war was not over until the Captivity.

The official religion went with the High Priest and the Heads of the Courses to Babylon and there the religion was changed by the orthodox leaders and by association with another rational religion, Zoroastrianism. The popular religion now was being organized by the country priests into a somewhat formal religion that included new alternative places of worship in the countryside.

When the Ezra the Scribe and Zerubbabel the Prince returned to Yehudah, the brought with them this new Judaism. They found that their influence was limited to just Jerusalem and it environs. Another Judaism was strong in what had been Israel and in the countryside. The tension continued for over two centuries between these two Judaisms until in the period around 300 BCE a book was written – 1 Enoch. Its impact upon the popular religion was dramatic. Enoch made no mention of the Temple or the Torah. It rather referred to 24 golden tablets in heaven upon which all truth was written. This book put forth a powerful eschatology and appealed directly to a more ancient, more perfect time. Enochian Judaism took over and reformed the popular religion and from it came forth two new Judaisms, Farsiism and Nasoreanism.

Farsiism took what was known from Enochian Judaism and added to it the rich spirituality obtained from Zoroastrianism during the captivity. Farsiism contributed a love for the Torah as its guiding principle. Farsiism (known also as Phariseeism) created the office of Rabbi, or spiritual guide. Farsiism while not rejecting the Temple wanted to reform the Official Religion so that it had a much more practical and pervasive effect on the worshipper.

Nasoreanism really was started when a High Priest, his name is unknown, was cast out of office by the Maccabeans under Jonathan. Antiochus V Epiphanes was defeated by the Maccabean revolt in 168 BCE and a new High Priest was installed. His name has not survived and is believed to have been erased purposefully by his opponents. He ruled from 168 BCE until 152 BCE when he was deposed by the Maccabeans. This High Priest took a number of scholars with him into the desert and there they established a holy life of contemplation and strict observance. They were scholars and priests and they loved books. From them was formed an academy of like minded men called the Essenes. They were the remnant of the Hasidim who had aided the Maccabeans in throwing out the Syrians.

The Essenes believed that a strict obedience to the Torah was necessary and so they kept themselves separated from those that did not maintain a strict observance. They taught that the Temple in Jerusalem governed by the Hasmonean High Priests of the family of Maccabi was a corrupt place. They believed that the true Temple would be one that descended from Heaven like the Temple described in Ezekiel. Until that time, they believed that they constituted the Temple on Earth, a living building, composed of true believers. Those that because of their circumstances could not join in this strict life lived instead in closed communities, in the cities and in the countryside. They looked to the Essenes for spiritual direction and authority. Because they were separated from the surrounding peoples, they were called Nasori or separated ones. It is from them that the name Nasorean comes.

There were some of the Essenes and many Nasoreans with them who believed that it was not sufficient to merely be separated from the surrounding people, but in addition they must free the Holy Land from the scourge of the Romans occupiers. From 37 BCE until 135 CE, these people called the Zealotes, formed an army allied with the Nasoreans that controlled the countryside and had significant power in the cities. They were financed by collections for protection and by marauding the caravans that came along the Via Maris and on the road to Jerusalem from the sea. A particularly violent branch of the Zealotes was the Sicarii, named for their knives, who practiced the art of assassination.

The theologians of the Essene Order believed in a form of government that involved Three Pillars and 12 Elders and a Mebakker. It was believed that ultimately the Meshiach would appear together with a Priest and a King and a Prophet. One family, the Davidic family would be the source of these three Meshiachot. A particular Priest, the son of the Onian High Priest, Zechariah, became known for his strict observance of the Torah. He was said to have had miraculous events surround his birth and his mother and he had fled to the desert community of Qumran after his father, the High Priest, was murdered in the Temple by Herod the King. This child, Yochannan, was believed by many to be the High Priestly Meshiach that would fulfill that part of the prophecy. The Essenes began looking at two other young men, a Yeshua ben David and a Yakov ben David, as possibly the other two Pillars that they expected.

In 26 CE, Yochannan was murdered by Herod Antipas. Yeshua ben David went into the desert and when he returned he declared that he was the long awaited Meshiach of Melchizedek, the Priest-King of Salem, who had returned to his people. Nasoreanism quickly began to reorganize around those who supported Yeshua and those who did not. Finally, in 28 CE, Yeshua and the Zealotes decided to attack the Temple. They cast out the money changers and the official priests and levites and took control of the Temple. They held it for two weeks and then the Romans came in with battering rams and destroyed one of the Towers of the wall around the Temple and charged in. After they finished, ten thousand priests and worshippers were dead and Yeshua and his twelve disciples had escaped. Others were not so lucky, such as Judas Barabbas and Dismus. Seven days later, Yeshua was arrested for blasphemy in the Garden of Gethsemane and taken before the High Priest Annas. Unsuccessful in his charge of blasphemy, Annas took Yeshua to Pilate and charged him with treason and sedition. Pilate found him guilty and sentenced him to crucifixion. We know what happened next.

The risen Yeshua met first with Yaakov, his half brother. Then with Peter and the Twelve. Then with the 500 members who attested to his resurrection. Because of this appearance to Yaakov, the 120 members of the community that received the anointment of the Holy Spirit elected Yaakov to be the Mebakker of Jerusalem, the head of the revised Nasorean movement, in 28 C.E. In the next 34 years, Ya’akov transformed the Essene-Nasorean movement into the most powerful force in Judaism and successfully challenged the Farsi for supremacy. In addition, Ya’akov began to formulate with the help of Essene scholars the most important of the philosophical concepts of Nasoreanism, Sefer Yetzirah, Bahir, and Zohar. These ideas were not yet sufficiently gelled nor in a proper form for writing but they were increasingly well known in the more learned circles of Nasoreanism.

In 62 CE, Ya’akov was executed by the High Priest during an interregnum period between procurators. Simon, the half brother of Yeshua, by Clopas his uncle and Mary his mother, became High Priest and Mebakker or Bishop of the Nasorean movement. Six years later, Simon fled the city of Jerusalem and moved the center of the faith to Pella in the Decapolis. The country was ravaged by the first Jewish Revolt and Jerusalem was destroyed. During the years that followed, Simon wrote the Didache, formulated the Sefer Yetzirah, organized the writing of the Bahir and Zohar, evangelized the countryside and turned Nasoreanism into a powerful religious force of over one million people. He was executed just before the Second Jewish Revolt. He was succeeded by an extremely aged Judas Thomas, another half brother of Yeshua by his uncle Clopas and his mother Mary. At the end of the second Jewish Revolt, the Romans were incited to believe that the Nasoreans had inspired the revolt by Rabbi Akiva. An estimated 980,000 Nasoreans were massacred by the Romans. The twenty thousand who escaped went further into Syria and many migrated to Cteisiphon-Seleucis and to Babylon.

One Judaism went under ground. Another collaborated with the Romans and became the foundation of Rabbinic Judaism.

PHILOSOPHICAL UNDERPINNINGS

In the second century BCE, there was a great Jewish philosopher named Philo. Margaret Barker in her Great Angel, before cited, says, that contrary to popular opinion Philo was not trying to bring Platonic thought into Judaism, but rather, was trying to present Jewish thought in a way that could be understood by Platonists. His works talked at considerable length about the First Principle, the True G-d. The idea of a true G-d, an Ain Sof, or Endless Being, was not unique to Philo. The Platonists had talked about it, but so had the Zoroastrians. He was not convinced that the Demiurge of the Platonists was bad. He saw the Demiurge as the Emanation to Mankind from the Zoroastrian point of view. He understood the underpinnings of Kabbalistic thought and recognized in the Demiurge, the First Adam, the Creator. He knew that the Light continued to descend but he was not clear on how that happened, but he called it the Holy Spirit.

Likewise, the Nasoreans believed in this Demiurge. The picked up the term that Philo used to describe it – Logos – Word or Idea. The Nasoreans had a similar concept called Dabir – Word or Idea. When Ya’akov began to contemplate all that had happened from 20 C.E. until 28 C.E., he began to understand the Jewish scriptures in a new way. Ya’akov was striving to answer the ultimate question of the believers, “Who do you say that I am?” Yochannan the Prophet begins to formulate the answer and as Ya’akov’s close associate they began to theologize their thoughts. 1 John 1:5 gives the most important theological clue; it says: God is Light. The Nasoreans already understood that to mean Ain Sof is G-d. The ancient hymn attached to Yochannan’s Gospel expresses the theology of Ya’akov and Yochannan:

In the beginning was the Dabir, and the Dabir was with G-d.

For them it was self-evident that the Idea pre-existed with the Ain Sof and within Ain Sof just as the Zohar states.

And the Dabir was G-d.

Here Ya’akov and Yochannan contemplate the meaning of the Sefer Yetzirah when it says:

Mishnah Tet: Ten Sefiroth of nothing, one Spirit, living angels, blessed from blessed is the Name of He, for all worlds. Voice, Spirit, and Speech, this is the Holy Spirit.

Mishnah Yodh: Two, Spirit from Spirit. He engraved and hewed in her twenty-two letters of foundation, three mothers, seven doubles, twelve singles, and Spirit is one of them.
The Two Pillars understand the Nothing as Ain Sof. They understand the One Spirit as the Archangel of the Presence, the Demiurge or Dabir. When it says Blessed from Blessed is the Name of He, they think that means that the Dabir, the Voice, emanated from the Nothing, Ain Soph. They are struggling with the cosmology of the beginning.
He was in the beginning with G-d. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.
Here Ya’akov and Yochannan see the truth. The Dabir emanates from G-d and the Dabir creates all things. The Colossian author reiterates this truth at Col. 1:15 et seq.
These ideas did not die when the Nasoreans went underground. Others were still in contact with them. One man about 65 years later begins to hear about these things from his Hebrew teacher and from secret Nasoreans he met. Origen, the great church father finally sets forth the ideas again and formulates the idea of a Trinity. But this Trinity is not like the triangle of the Nicenes. It is like the Trinity of Kabbalah. The Light is G-d. He emanates the Son who emanates the Holy Spirit. Sefer Yetzirah and Zohar say that Ain Sof sent forth the First Ray, the Dabir, if you please, and it created the Universe. Then from the Dabir as Kether, the Crown descends Chochmah or in Greek Sancta Sophia. Sancta Sophia has been long associated with the Holy Spirit. For Origen, Yeshua is not divine; the Logos is divine. Only when Yeshua is resurrected does he put on Divinity. Likewise, the Nasoreans say that the Archangel is the King of the Angels, YHVH. Only when Yeshua arises does he put on the Kingship and High Priesthood that allows him to be the Only Intercessor between G-d and Man.
ARIUS
St. Lucian of Antioch was a student of Origen and the headmaster of an Academy in Antioch, the ancient center of Christianity in the early third century. One of his students was Arius. Lucian taught faithfully the teachings of his teacher Origen and Arius listened well.
Arius was a brilliant student but without any particular flair for original thought. He took refuge in the particularization of theories. Arius was not able to find a way out of the conundrum that was created by Origenian thought and the Western Church’s insistence upon the consubstantial character of the being of Jesus. Arius taught that G-d the Father and the Son were not co-eternal because the pre-existent Jesus was a divine being but nonetheless had a beginning. The Father had no such beginning but was forever. Therefore the Father was by nature superior to the Son and the Son was subordinated to the Father. Now this idea was well supported by all of Eastern Christian tradition as has been shown. But those who were in Alexandria for political reasons took exception with these ideas and the rift between Bishop Alexander of Alexandria and Arius became increasingly tied up with the general fight between the Bishops of the West and the Bishops of the East. The Eastern Church supported tradition. The Western Church knew nothing of tradition.
By the end of this controversy, emanationism was dead among the Christians. It still lived on in the secret doctrine of the Kabbalah and reasserted itself in 16th century England among those of the Royal Academy including Sir Isaac Newton.
What I have tried to do in this essay is trace the history of the doctrine of emanations from its ancient roots in Iran to its modern presence in the Kabbalah and the renewed Arianism of the Nasoreans and the Arian Catholics.

posted in Spiritual History - 7 replies

Birth Pains of Messiah

rvr_rat66 — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 21:16:28 GMT

Parashat Hashavuah

Vayishlach - וישלח : “And he sent”
Torah : Genesis 32:4–36:43
Haftarah : Hosea 11:7–12:12
Gospel : Matthew 17 –18

Birth Pains of Messiah

Thought for the Week:
Rabbi Yochanon said, “In the generation of the coming of the Son of David, disciples of the Sages will be few in number, and as for the others, they will see sorrow and grief. Many troubles and evil laws will be made, each new evil quickly coming before the other has ended.” (b.Sanhedrin 97a)

Commentary:

Rachel began to give birth and she suffered severe labor. (Genesis 35:16)
Jacob’s beloved wife Rachel died while giving birth to her second son. The matter of Rachel’s travail can be seen in a messianic perspective. In Jewish literature the troubled times that precede the advent of Messiah are called the birth pains of Messiah (Chevlei Shel Mashiah, חבלי של משיח). The birth pain imagery is from the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Micah, who frequently used the “woman in labor” simile. The prophet Jeremiah calls it “the time Jacob’s distress”:

For thus says the LORD, “I have heard a sound of terror, of dread, and there is no peace. Ask now, and see if a male can give birth. Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in childbirth? And why have all faces turned pale? Alas! for that day is great, there is none like it; and it is the time of Jacob's distress, but he will be saved from it.” (Jeremiah 30:5–7)
In the Torah, “the time of Jacob’s distress” that comes “as a woman in childbirth” is none other than the travail and death of his beloved wife Rachel. In that sense, Rachel’s travail hints at the calamitous days of the birth pains of Messiah. Yeshua tells us that the beginnings of those birth pangs will be characterized by wars, famines and earthquakes.

In His first coming, the time of trouble actually descended upon Israel after Messiah’s coming. The birth pangs the Master spoke of, including the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem, came after His death and resurrection. The first coming was like a mother who births a baby, and after the baby is born, suffers through the pain of labor. This is in keeping with the words of the prophet Isaiah:

Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy. (Isaiah 66:7)
In Revelation 12, Israel is symbolized by a woman “clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” (Revelation 12:1) This woman alludes to Rachel. In the book of Revelation, she cries out, “being in labor and in pain to give birth.” (Revelation 12:2) The child she births is the Messiah. He is taken from her up to heaven, and the dragon (Satan) makes war upon her. In the same way, after Yeshua ascended to the Father, Rome made war on Judea and Jerusalem. The great travail came after the birth of the child.

Yeshua has ascended to the right hand of the Father. When He returns, His second coming will be anticipated by a time of great travail. However, the trouble of those dark days will be forgotten in the joy of His appearing:

Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. (John 16:21)
Shavuah Tov! Have a Good Week!

posted in Spiritual History - 1 reply

The Spiritual Ark of the Covenant

Barry — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 17:28:26 GMT

What made the Tent or Mishkan that the Hebrews had in the desert a sacred place? The answer is obviously the Ark of the Covenant. It was believed that the Ark was the Footstool of G-d and that the Stone Tablets, which represent his treaty or covenant with the Hebrews was under his feet. The true Ark holds the Stone Tablets, the Pot of Manna, the Rod of Aaron and at one point, Nehustan, the Brazen Serpent. Likewise, when Solomon built a wonderous building, he built it to hold the Ark of the Covenant. Each successive Temple had an Ark. The rebuilt Temple after the Babylonian Exile had a new perfect copy of the Ark, but without the sacred objects inside. Likewise after Onias IV took the Ark to Egypt, Herod's Temple had another perfect copy of the Ark.

The Nasorean sect of Judaism along with our Enochian forbears and our Essenian teachers rejected the Temple of Herod as a true Temple. We awaited a perfect Temple that would come down from heaven just as promised by the Prophecy of Ezekiel. Instead the Nasoreans believed that a spiritual building existed consisting of the believers of Yisrael. They were living stones in this new Temple. Now the Nasoreans passed this idea on to the Christians and Peter and Paul both speak of this spiritual building and it has become the central focus of the Masonic Order.

However, just like the physical buildings, the spiritual Temple must have a spiritual Ark of the Covenant. We are told by the Early Church that the Apostles and Prophets are the foundation of the spiritual Temple. Ephesians 2:20. So we can assume with reasonable certainty that they are not the Spiritual Ark of the Covenant. Likewise, the Early Church believed that Yeshua was the Capstone, i.e., the Stone from which Sabbath was proclaimed high on top of the Temple. Ephesians 2:21. We can therefore state that he is not the Ark of the Covenant. So then we must ask, if this is a temple not made with hands and if a Jewish temple is not a Temple without an Ark, who or what is the Ark of the Covenant in this spiritual Temple?

There have been really good books written to explicate the character of the Ark of the Covenant and its place in the economy of spirituality within Ancient Judaism. I will not attempt in a short statement to replicate those excellent monographs. Instead I will note some relevant points about the Ark of the Covenant so that we might look closer for an institution or person who might embody those characteristics. First, this box was made of Acacia wood. Acacia is a symbol of eternal life and the symbol was no doubt received from the the Egyptians whose myth of Isis and Osiris mentions the nature of Acacia as a symbol of resurrection. Next, the box had the symbol of divine revelation, the Word made physical, the Stone Tablets. It held the Pot of Manna, a symbol of divine providence and promise of personal protection, for G-d gave the Manna to the children as bread in the desert. It held the Rod of Aaron which G-d used to prove that Aaron was appointed to the High Priesthood and is therefore a symbol of divine governance. Lastly, it held, until the time of King Hezekiah and his murderous repression of authentic Hebrew religion, the Brazen Serpent, Nehustan. Nehustan represented the willingness of G-d to constantly maintain peace between Himself and His People and to heal them not only of physical illness, but also of spiritual illnesses. Lastly, on top of the box was placed the Mercy Seat, or Ha Kapporet protected by the Archangels spreading their wings over the Bowl for the Blood. The HaKapporet is not only the symbol of sacrifice, but also forgiveness and mercy.

What, if anything, embodies all these elements into one concept? First, let us look at the concept of immortality and resurrection. As we can eliminate Yeshua as the Ark, as stated before, we must look to an institution to provide the eternal quality. I would propose that the Institution of the Three Pillars comprising a True Prophet, a True High Priest, and a True King is the only institution that can vie for this eternal quality. If we see the Three Pillars as the box itself, then we must look into the character of the offices that comprise the Three Pillars for the remainder of symbols. The Office of the Prophet represents G-d's continual Voice within the spiritual Temple. However, that office must be subject to Messianic Offices of the High Priest and King. They alone are given the final authority to validate the Voice that speaks through the Prophet. Together, the Three comprise the Embodying of the Word into Flesh. It is the certainty that Yeshua and the Holy Spirit will be with the Spiritual Temple until the end of the age that makes us certain that that Word will Be True when Embodied in this way. The King represents the symbol of Divine Providence. It devolves upon Him to make the Word effective in the World by doing what the Word requires. This Spiritual Temple, like the Jewish faith, is place of orthopraxy. Lastly, the High Priest, by his acts of Intercession and Sacrifice, in the form of the Kiddush ritual of bread and wine, exercises the Divine Governance with the King over the Spiritual Temple. The Fourth Pillar, unseen but always present, is the Holy Spirit, which filled the Temple and sanctified the Ark. It is the Holy Spirit that represents the Divine Intervention in the form of Healing, both of physical ailments and sin. Lastly, because of their willing discharge of their duties and the selfless acts of the True Officers of G-d, they become the repositories of the Blood of the Lamb which truly will bring reconciliation between G-d and Man. The influence then of the Spiritual Ark is felt throughout this spiritual building when people act in Prophetic, Kingly, and Priestly ways.

Now, I am still contemplating these things and trying to understand, but I feel comfortable right now with this explanation.

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In The Begining

rvr_rat66 — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 02:37:58 GMT

From "First Fruits Of Zion"- http://ffoz.org

Parashat Hashavuah
B’reisheet - בראשית : “In the beginning”
Torah : Genesis 1:1–6:8
Haftarah : Isaiah 42:5–43:10
Gospel : Matthew 1, 2

The First Adam and the Last Adam
Thought for the Week:
“God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him.” (Genesis 1:27) The yiddish collection of teaching called Tz’enah Ur’enah says, “Just as Adam was created in God’s image, so the Messiah is anointed by God, and God’s spirit will be upon him.” In this we learn that there is a direct correlation to be made between Adam and Messiah. God created Adam in His image. Paul writes of Yeshua, “He is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). “‘The first man, Adam, became a living soul.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45).

Commentary:

Paul explains that sin and death came to humanity as the result of one man’s sin. Though it is true that we are all guilty of sin, and we are all punished for our own misdeeds, the original introduction of disobedience came through our first father. Through one single act of disobedience, he forfeited his right to the Tree of Life and immortality. Therefore, death came through Adam, “even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam,” (Romans 5:14) which is to say that everyone dies, whether they sin or not. An unborn child who dies (God forbid), though he never had the opportunity to commit sin, dies all the same.

It does seem frightfully unfair that one man’s single transgression should consign all humanity to death. But it is equally unfair that one man’s righteousness also offers all of humanity the reward of righteousness: “the right to the tree of life.” (Revelation 22:14)

For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Yeshua Messiah. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:17–19)
Adam’s name means “man.” As human beings, we are all sons of Adam, and we share in his physical nature, including the fallen aspects of it. We share in his condemnation. Messiah is also a son of Adam, sharing in Adam’s nature as it was prior to his disobedience and expulsion. He is in the form of the original man. Thus, the title “the Son of Adam”; that is, “The Son of Man.” He is a second Adam, and unlike this first Adam, He did not transgress. If the first Adam’s sin was sufficient to merit death for all mankind, the righteousness of Messiah—the last Adam—is sufficient to merit us life. “For as in Adam all die, so also in Messiah all will be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:22) And this life is not only a spiritual abstraction. It is the hope of eternal life through the resurrection of the dead. It is the reversal of Adam’s bane. We need only cast our allegiance with last Adam, the Life that gives spirit.

Shavuah Tov! Have a Good Week!

posted in Spiritual History - 3 replies

Sukkoth or the Feast of Tabernacles

Barry — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 14:46:33 GMT

Tonight begins the Feast of Tabernacles called by the Jews, Sukkoth or Booths. Scholars tell us that this is the oldest feast in the Jewish calendar. It was and is a harvest feast but it has had so many additional traditions and connotations added to it that it has become perhaps the most important of the great pilgrim feasts. Originally, before there was a Jewish faith or even an Abrahamic faith, people in the Middle East celebrated three major festivals -- The Feast of Unleavened Bread, The Feast of the First Fruits, and The Harvest Feast. G-d first changed the meaning of these three feasts in the Torah. To the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which had been a feast to celebrate the lambing, was added Passover and the Exodus. To the Feast of the First Fruits was added the connotation of the First Fruit of the Exodus, which was the Torah. To the last Feast, Sukkoth, was added the Feast of the Gentile Nations and the Rejoicing in the Law.
Zechariah 14:16 proclaims that the Feast of Sukkoth will be the only feast that survives the coming of the Meshiach. The reason for its survival will be its nature as the Feast of the Gentiles. Sukkoth is a time of Thanksgiving. It is the time when we thank G-d for his many blessings of the past year. The Gentiles need to thank G-d for a good harvest and a good year as well; thus the feast of Sukkoth is the proper time for Thanksgiving. In America, before it was changed by FDR to November, Thanksgiving was celebrated in October. Likewise, the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry has the obligatory feast of Tishri during the month of Tishri, the Holy Month of the Jews. Our Pilgrim Fathers likewise celebrated Sukkoth and in recognition of the Gentile nature invited the Indians to come to the feast. Jews everywhere invite Gentiles to come to their Sukkoth celebrations.
One of the most important traditions of this feast is the command to live in temporary structures, called Booths. This helps us to recognize that our forefathers were totally dependent upon G-d to provide for us during the Exodus. Likewise, we are still dependent on Him for our daily bread, for our jobs, for our children, for our lives, and for peace in the world. There is no security except in G-d. He is our Savior. By living in these Booths, we teach our children and remind ourselves of the transient nature of life and the eternal grace of our Father in Heaven.
It is interesting that in ancient times, on the first seven days of the feast 69 bullocks were offered in holocaust to G-d, one for each of the Gentile nations. What other religion offers sacrifices and prayers for each of the Gentile nations, all of which hate them? Yet Jews are taught by this feast to love their enemies even when they are reviled by them. This year as in every year, we will offer thanksgiving offerings for the Arabs and Edomites or Palestinians or closest relatives, even though they hate us.
Jesus made the Feast of Sukkoth a time of teaching. John 7:14 and after gives his sermons during that feast. Moses was not accepted even though he offered signs to Pharoah and to the Jews. Jesus says that he offers signs as a sign that his authority comes from the Most High, but the people still do not believe him. Likewise, we say we believe in the authority of Jesus but we do not do what he says.
Another tradition of Sukkoth is set forth in the Torah. "And you shall take for yourselves on the First Day the fruit of a beautiful tree, the branches of date palms, branches of the myrtle tree, and branches of the willow tree, and you shall rejoice before Hashem, your G-d, for Seven Days." (Leviticus 23:40) The "Etrog," the Citron, resembles in its shape, the heart, the driving force behind all our actions. The "Lulav," the Palm Branch, resembles the spine, which holds the body together and, without which, we would be unable to move. The "Hadasim," the Myrtle Branches, resemble, in their almond-shape, the eyes, with which we behold G-d's World. And the "Aravot," the Willow Branches, resemble the lips, with which we give expression to our thoughts and feelings. Thus we are taught that thanksgiving must come from the whole being. The spirituality of Sukkoth teaches us that we must truly be dependent and thankful for the blessings of that dependence on the Most High.

May you have a joyous and happy Sukkoth.

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Yom Kippur War

rvr_rat66 — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 06:17:05 GMT

Check out this historical link.....

http://i-cias.com/e.o/uyomkipwr.htm

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Was Yeshua an essene?

rvr_rat66 — Sat, 23 Sep 2006 11:05:03 GMT

Was yeshua an essene?

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Rosh Hashanah

Barry — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 18:47:20 GMT

The biblical feast of Rosh Hashanah begins tonight at the appearance of the second star in the sky. There is much symbolism in this feast that begins the month of Tishrei, often called the holy month because Jews will celebrate four major holy days during this month.

Rosh Hashanah means the head of the year. We would call that New Years. However, strictly speaking it is not the new year that we normally think of, that is, the beginning of the year. That day occurred on the first day of Nisan in the spring. This day is the first day of the religious new year. It is the day upon which the cycle of life begins again. The cycle of human life began according to Jewish beliefs on this day. The world was created on this day and this day is called the birthday of Adam. Therefore, it is appropriate to see this day as the beginning of life.

Another name for this day is Yom Teruah, which means the day of the trumpet. It is called the day of the trumpet because the world was created by a trumpet like sound and the world will come to end with a trumpet like sound. That trumpet will be blown by Gavriel the Archangel at the coming of the Meshiach. Paul calls it the last trumpet. Bible believing Jews believe that the Meshiach will appear at the blowing of this trumpet and the dead shall rise from their graves incorruptible.

Rosh Hashanah begins a period of reflection for Jews. We believe that on Rosh Hashanah the King of Creation judges all beings, everywhere. He decides if they deserve to live another year or to die in this coming year. He decides whether they shall become rich or poor, sick or well, happy or sad, on this day of days. Not only mankind is judged but the angels as well and all the elementals, demons, devils etc. For ten days, Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur, Jews will try to do good deeds. They will see each request, whether for money or time, during that period as an offering from the King to make amends and prove that they should live. Now some have already been found innocent and will live another year, but most will now use this time to become right with the King. On Yom Kippur, the King will sign the sentence, set it in stone, and nothing can change it. But for the next ten days we can influence him by our mitigating acts.

On Rosh Hashanah, Jews will go to a river or flowing stream and there they will pick up stones. They will symbolically attach their sins to the stones and symbolically throw their sins away by throwing the stones in the river. This public confession of sin helps the soul and helps to make amends with the King.

Strictly speaking, it is the blowing of the trumpet in Jerusalem that calls forth the new year, but Jews everywhere will take up their shofarim and call forth the new year. The event happens at the exact moment that a second star appears in the night sky. Why the second star? Because under Jewish law, it takes two witnesses to convict and so it takes two witnesses, the two stars, to declare that the sun has fled and the night has begun. And thus the ancient statement again is recreated -- and the evening and the morning were the first day.

I will end this address by saying the words all Jews will say to each other this evening: L'shanah tovah. To a good year.

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Waiting

Barry — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 16:13:19 GMT

Throughout the scriptures we are told that events will occur in the future. Those promises are appropriate for a religion that is based upon divine revelation. However, the very fact that we in the western tradition believe in prophecy means that we have to accept the limitation of prophecy -- it does not have a time sense. So we find a statement about the most important of all prophecies -- the return or first coming of the Meshiach.

2nd Peter, the last book written of the Christian Writings accepted by the Christians, says:

"Know this first of all, that in the last days scoffers will come to scoff, living according to their own desires and saying, 'Where is the promise of his coming? From the time when our ancestors fell asleep, everything has remained as it was from the beginning of creation... But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day.'" 3:3-4, 8.

Those of us with the prophetic gift often hear the Voice declare that such and such is going to happen, but there is seldom a statement "Today". We learn to recognize when the event will be soon, today, by trial and error. Our faith is tested by the waiting. Our faith tends to dwell in our human failure to be patient rather than in a review of the many times that G-d has come through. But 2nd Peter goes on to inform us that things can be delayed until everything is ripe for the event. Because even prophecy must be subject to free will for some small points, we must wait. G-d is not failing. He is waiting.

Two great figures come to mind when I think about waiting: Abraham and Mary. Abraham was promised that he, a childless man beyond his prime, would become not Abram, the father, but Abraham, the father of fathers. He was told that he would be the father of many nations. We look today and see how true that is, but Abraham had no such ability to look to the coming four thousand years to see the fulfillment of the promise. Yet he had faith in a G-d who did not even have a visible form and believed. His faith defines hope. Believing in something that looks impossible is hope. And the Torah says that his hope, his faith beyond reason, was accounted righteousness. It made him Tzaddik.

And Mary who received the promise of the Archangel Himself, the Archangel Metatron, Vice-Regent of Heaven, King of the Angels and Creator of Heaven and Earth, that she would be the mother of a Meshiach whom she must call yeshua, the savior of G-d. The Gospel of Luke tells us that she pondered all these things in her heart. Mary was the very essence of faith. She believed in an absolute impossibility. And yet she watched it unfold and saw her Son, Yeshua bar David ben Yotzef raised to the highest levels, the Archangel of the Presence. What faith! In my walk, I have often contemplated her faith because I ponder the words of the Voice and wonder how they can come to be.

I believe that I am to do something very important and soon after that I may go home to my promised reward. I see no possibility of doing what I am to do. I have not seen it for 31 years and yet I have faith that in some way it will be accomplished. Recently, when pondering these ideas with one who has the prophetic gift very strongly on her, she said to me: "Your job is to lead these men to accomplish the task. It is not to organize, call, or prepare them." Instead of giving me peace, it made me ponder.

Now, this move is finished and the pondering really begins. How many of you give up on G-d when He does not act as fast as we want? How many of you review Avraham and Mary and the many acts of grace that the Holy Spirit has done in your lives and fail to see that G-d is still working and will accomplish the tasks that seem impossible? Remember, it is not the event that we await. It is ultimately the waiting that builds our character and shows our devotion to the Most High. Wait.

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The Move is Over

Barry — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 18:16:32 GMT

Mattiyahu 14:29-31 says: "He (Yeshua) said, 'Come.' Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Yeshua. But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and beginning to sink, he cried out, 'Lord save me!' Immediately Yeshua stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

I got out of the boat in Kansas City. I walked on the waters in Kansas City. I found the wind blowing as I walked I wanted very much to stay where I was. I became frightened of the move and all that had been accomplished by the hand of the Lord. Finally, I sunk. I prayed, O Lord Yeshua, help me. Send forth, O Lord, your Archangels to aid me. I was the one of little faith.

Now the move is over. I see the hand of G-d again. How he sends business in the midst of my move. How he cares for getting me the movers I need. How he binds my sons more fully to me. How it provides the truck free of charge. How he moves in everything that happened. I am ashamed that my faith doubted.

My walk with Yeshua toward the Father, the perfect G-d, El Elyon, the Endless Light, has not been easy. I am hard headed, difficult, arrogant, lazy, and self-indulgent. I know no one says that I am self-indulgent or lazy but I know me pretty well. Had this man Yeshua, my intercessor, not always been I my side, I would have sunk beneath waves of doubt or as Christian in Pilgrim's Progress, I would have gotten lost in the slough of despair.

How many of you are just like me. You see signs and wonders enough to convince Pharoah, but as soon as the current difficulty is over you complain bitterly like the children of Israel in the desert.

I think the move is over. But I fear that G-d is not finished with me yet.

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When You Do It Right Prayer Works

Barry — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 16:43:36 GMT

Doing It Right Makes Prayer Work[ edit | delete ]
posted 08/27/06

"And we have this confidence in him, that if we ask anything ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask, we know that what we have asked him for is ours." 1 John 5:14-15.

The Archangel YHVH hears every prayer. He relays every prayer to Ain Soph, the true G-d. Every prayer that is in the Will of the Archangel is answered, because He heard it. He does not "hear" those prayers that are not in His Will. So what is the practical result of this doctrine for the Saints.

First, the Archangel YHVH, the King of Heaven, Lord of all that Lives, Creator, Sustainer and Destroyer, is aided by the seven other Archangels to govern this Universe in Justice. The Saints are on a path to Heaven where they will become like the Angels. They are already not human any longer. They are half divine by their election and obedience. However, as no Saint ever has a perfect telephone line to heaven and considering that most of our lines are filled with static and governed by our poor hearing, we do not always hear the Will of the Father well. The Archangel then begins to interfere more directly in our lives. Business goes down. Unexpected bills increase. Difficulties arise at home and work and with friends. We know that we are doing something wrong. Probably our ego has gotten in the way and we are no longer ACCORDING TO HIS WILL. So, he tries to bring us back to the right path.

I have lived in my current house for seven years; that is the longest I have lived anywhere. It had taken on the aspect of permanence. I liked having a home. I liked knowing where I lived. The City working for the Archangel began to give me trouble over a crumbling wall on my house. Now it had been crumbling off and on for 60 years, but they started giving me trouble. My neighbors were not in compliance either, but the Archangel saw no advantage in pushing their buttons. I knew that my house was not holding the community values down, becaue the assessed value went up anywhere from 20 to 40% per year. After much fighting, I gave up and put the house on the market. The attorney for city said: "Sell the house and all this goes away." I sold the house. Almost immediately, business picked up, I found a new apartment in a day, all the things that went along with the move started falling in place, my mother moved, Eric moved. I knew that I had done the right thing. I did not like it, but I knew I was in HIS WILL again.

All too often we fall out of the Will of the Father and he has to bring us back. Now nothing I did would be sin to a regular person. But I am not a regular person; I am slave of G-d and therefore, I must be more carefully sheparded. How may of you are there? How many of you have problems that are caused primarily by your ego and stubbornness, your desire to hold on to security when G-d is our only security. If you do it right, prayer works.

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My Name is Earl

Barry — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 16:16:31 GMT

There is a current TV series called "My Name is Earl". The series talks about the idea that "karma" controls what happens in our lives and as a result he is trying to repair his "bad luck" by trying to repair all the evil things that he has done in a lifetime. The idea of "karma" is a Hindu concept that was originally associated with scrupulous fulfillment of the prescriptions of Vedic ritual practice. Karma is kept within reach of contemporary Hindus by interpreting it as "unselfish service." In that sense the way of action recommends itself to all, even in the absence of a vital tradition of ritual sacrifice. It is clear that this definition is not the one that Earl uses in the situation comedy. So what is the concept that is used in the TV series?

The idea of karma that is used in the comedy series, "My Name is Earl", is not well developed but it goes something like this. Every person has a balance sheet in heaven. Every bad act sets up a negative tick mark on the balance page of the life of the person who does it. Every good act sets up a positive tick mark on that page. If a person gets enough bad tick marks that are not countered by good tick marks, then their life will be filled with bad events. One can correct these bad tick marks by making reparations for the bad acts to the persons that we have harmed and by being sorry for our bad acts. This idea of karma is very popular in America. It is sort of an American extension of the protestant idea that one is forgiven by grace and the catholic idea that one must make reparation for sin and be sorry for it before forgiveness flows. You hear must often as "What goes around comes around." Theologically, the idea is inconsistent and contrary to scripture. So where does it come from?

The Zohar teaches us that there is an eternal balance. Each act that is done with more giving than receiving is considered beneficial to the "good" side of the eternal balance. Each act that is done with more receiving than giving is considered detrimental to the "good" side of the eternal balance. The concept of the three pillars formed by the Tree of Life, the right, the left, and the middle, mean that the universe naturally wants to remain balanced by the middle pillar. Thus, all the universe seeks to maintain a balance between "good" acts, that is, acts of giving and "bad" acts, that is, acts of receiving. The scripture implies that it is more blessed to give than receive, but in reality every giver must have a receiver or there could be no giving. The universe requires that someone must give and another must receive and therefore ultimately there must be as many givers as receivers. Earl's idea of karma is much more personal than the Zohar's idea of balance. The good acts of a few can balance the bad acts of many and vice versa. It is not true that each person will get his just reward on earth. What is spoken of in scripture is a concept of justice and justice comes by maintaining the balance. Eventually, every person will gain their just reward, but the Zohar teaches us that we may not gain our just reward here and now. It may happen in the afterlife or just as likely in a future or past life. A just g-d in Zohar's view is one who maintains the purity of the balance, but as the Voice has told me, sometimes very bad men die and a good man must die to balance the bad man's death and vice versa.

In order to demonstrate the reality of this ultimate law of justice, I want to look at a particular person. This person does not meet the Earl standard of being bad. And nothing he ever did would require much reparation as he was scrupulous about his good life. I want to speak of Brother Roger Schutz-Marsauche, the founder of the Community of Taize. Brother Roger was murdered during the celebration of evening prayer in front of 2,500 young people and brothers by a instrument of the Satan. She slit his throat and he bled death quickly, but not before he had a chance to grant her forgiveness. I was horrified by the death and very, very sad. I knew that a Tzaddik had passed from the world. I begged the Voice to explain to me how such a horrible event could happen, how justice was dealt with by the murder of this saint. The Voice said to me that an exceedingly bad man, one equally bad to Brother Roger's saintliness had passed and that the Balance required the death of a Saint to overcome the death of evil represented by the evil man's passing. The Balance is more important than individual "justice" because the Balance is the support of the middle pillar and the guarantee that this universe will continue. There is justice, but justice is not individual; it is profoundly cosmic. There is no guarantee that a person's act will be rewarded here and now.

The Book of Job ends not with justice being done. Job never gets back his lost children. New children cannot replace lost children. New wealth cannot replace lost wealth. Individual justice is not guaranteed. Sorry Earl.

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History Repeats Itself -- Psalm 83

Barry — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 19:51:40 GMT

At this time, Israel again fights for its life. See what has happened before. See how the Palestinians called Edom and the Ishmaelites, the Arabs, are described herein. Of course, we must fight.

Tanach - Psalms Chapter 83

1. A Song Psalm of Asaph.
2. Do not keep silent, O God; do not hold your peace and be still, O God.
3. For, behold, your enemies make a tumult; and those who hate you have lifted up the head.
4. They have taken crafty counsel against your people, and consulted against your hidden ones.
5. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may no longer be remembered.
6. For they conspire together with one accord; they make an alliance against you:
7. The tents of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarites;
8. Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;
9. Assyria also has joined them; they are the strong arm of the children of Lot. Selah.
10. Do to them as you did to the Midianites; as you did to Sisera, as you did to Jabin at the brook of Kishon;
11. Who perished at Ein-Dor; they became like dung on the earth.
12. Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb; and all their princes like Zebah, and Zalmunna;
13. Who said, Let us take possession for ourselves of the pastures of God.
14. O my God, make them like whirling tumbleweed, like chaff before the wind.
15. As the fire burns a wood, and as the flame sets the mountains on fire;
16. So pursue them with your tempest, and terrify them with your storm.
17. Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek your name, O Lord.
18. Let them be put to shame and dismayed for ever; and let them be put to shame, and perish,
19. That men may know that you alone, whose name is the Lord, are the most high over all the earth.

A "Medieval book of psalms unearthed recently -- First millennium manuscript, open to Psalm 83, found in Irish mud."

According to the report, the 20-page book, which was found by a construction worker digging in the bog last week, has been expertly dated to the years AD 800 to 1000.

It was the first time in more than 200 years that an early medieval Irish document had been unearthed.

AP quotes the director of the National Museum of Ireland, Pat Wallace, who described the discovery as "really a miracle find."

"There's two sets of odds that make this discovery really way out," Wallace said. "First of all, it's unlikely that something this fragile could survive buried in a bog at all, and then for it to be unearthed and spotted before it was destroyed is incalculably more amazing."

What's even more incredible to me is that this book, opened to this psalm, was discovered at this specific time in history.

For right now Israel's enemies are again united in their desire to "cut Israel off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more." They purpose to take for themselves the "pastures of God for a possession." And that they are in league -- or in a confederacy -- is clear.

From Gaza, supported by most of the Arab states, the violence is being directed by the Palestinian Arab terrorist groups: the PLO, Hamas, the Palestine Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front For the Liberation of Palestine and the popular resistance Committees.

In the north, the Lebanese group Hizb'allah, supplied and enabled by Syria and the non-Arab but also Islamic Iran, is raining rockets down on Israel.

This, given the current situation, makes Psalm 83 a fascinating and fitting read, the ancient find nothing short of a phenomenon.

I don't want to take it any further than I should, but time may also show that the discovery of the Irish psalm book was a warning.

Many people have sensed that Damascus could be sucked into this war. Twelve days ago the Islamic Republic of Iran warned that an Israeli strike on Syria would be considered an attack on the whole Islamic world and would elicit a "fierce response."

Iranian president Mahmud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly spelled out his vision for Israel.

"Israel must be wiped off the map." (October 26, 2005)

"The West [must] remove what they created sixty years ago ... [or] the Palestinian nation and other nations will eventually do this for them." (February 11, 2006)

"Like it or not, the Zionist regime is heading toward annihilation. The Zionist regime is a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm." (April 15, 2006)

And on July 8, 2006 Ahmadinejad told the foreign ministers of Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Turkey, Bahrain and Egypt, together with the heads of the Arab League and the Islamic Conference that "all the conditions for the removal of the Zionist regime are at hand.... It won't take long before the wrath of the people turns into a terrible explosion that will wipe the Zionist entity off the map."

Wrote one commentator: None of the foreign ministers present, including Jordan, Egypt or Turkey -- commonly regarded as Israel's friends in the Arab/Muslim world -- objected to the call for annihilation.

Could we be on the verge of an all out Middle East conflagration concerning which we need to pray like Asaph, regarding those bent on Israel's destruction:

O my God, make them like the whirling dust, like the chaff before the wind! As the fire burns the woods, and as the flame sets the mountains on fire, so pursue them with Your tempest, and frighten them with Your storm. Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek Your name, O LORD. Let them be confounded and dismayed forever; yes, let them be put to shame and perish, that they may know that You, whose name alone is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth. (Psalm 83:13-18)

May His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. All glory to our wonderful God and His living and mighty Word!

posted in Spiritual History - 0 replies

Being Alone

Barry — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 13:18:10 GMT

The sectarians that lived at Qumran in Israel sought to separate from the world so that they could keep their strict Judaism. They hoped to evade the Romans, the Herodians, and all those who would impign on their search for perfection. Likewise, the Desert Fathers went into the desert to find G-d because they did not believe it was possible with the distractions of the world to find G-d in the world.

Both of these experiments were doomed to failure. One cannot shut out the world. It will find you even if you do not want to find it. However, we are taught that there is within us a place so private that nothing can come there but you and G-d. It is this place which all true believers seek. The Voice of G-d spoke to Avraham, to Yitzak, and to Ya'akov. It spoke to David, to Eliyahu, to Yeshayahu, and Yeshua. It is the real presence of G-d more often than some wonderful appearance or some mighty miracle. And it speaks most often in the Holy of Holies in that inner Temple in which we kneel before the Ark of our Covenant. We can hear that Voice just as easily in our daily comings and goings as we can hear it in the desert. We are all in the desert. It is the search for intimacy that impells us to much that we do. We want to be intimate with humans and with that Voice, even when we do not know that is what we want.

Living in the world, but not being part of it, is the goal. We cannot shut our eyes to that person who confronts us with his poverty, to that person that confronts us with his infirmity, to that person that confronts us with his pain, or to that person who is seeking to know that intimacy with mankind and G-d. It is these calls, these Voices that impell us to stay a part of the world. If we try to escape into a desert, we will find as did St. Anthony that the people will find us and confront us with their problems. We cannot escape. Where can I go to escape the Voice. If I go to the highest mountains, It is there. If I go to the bottom of the sea, It is there. I carry it with me in my private temple, in my holy of holies. In fact, my confrontations with reality are part and parcel of my growth. I cannot gain that complete intimacy that I seek, that unification with the Voice that allows me to cease to be and the Voice to become everything in me unless I accept those confrontations with reality as sources for growth.

So where does that leave me. I sit in an empty house. There is only one human here. And yet I feel surrounded by the those who watch me, the Angels, the Elementals, the Voice, and I am not alone. I look at the window and want human contact. I am overjoyed by the phone call. I am filled with a sense of promise that it will be that person with whom I can finally become intimate. When I feel alone, I put my head erect, I whistle a happy tune, so no one will suspect I'm afraid. What Anna saying is something I can feel. I know why she was afraid. We fear being alone with ourselves more than any thing on earth. Instead of embracing the chance to be intimate with me, myself, and I, we look for something outside of ourselves that will bring that which we seek. A simple retreat into that Temple within will bring us face to face with that which we fear the most, ourselves, and that which we want the most, G-d.

I have been blessed. I am now on the high mountain and I await El Shaddai, the G-d of that Mountain. I am not alone.

posted in Spiritual History - 1 reply

Los Lunas, New Mexico and Hidden Mountain

Barry — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 13:21:01 GMT

am a lover of pre-Columbian American history. This blog is dedicated to one of the most fascinating sites in North America, Hidden Mountain in Los Lunas, New Mexico. First noted by archaeologists in the 1930's, the site is remarkable for several reasons. It appears to be a military installation from a Jewish force and dates from circa 100 BCE. The camp is noted for having a boulder that has been sheared off to create a flat face and then incised with the Ten Commandments in proto-Hebrew, that is, Hebrew that went out of style in 600 B.C.E. The major indicator that this was a Jewish camp besides the inscription was two maasabot, or standing stones, which formed the entrance to the camp on top of Hidden Mountain. Characteristic of all Jewish camps in the time period, this was a dead give away. Also found more recently was star map indicating the date of a solar eclipse which occurred at this site on the day before Rosh Hashanah, 107 BCE. I add the information from the web site that may be of interest.

The Los Lunas Inscription is an abridged version of the Decalogue or Ten Commandments, carved into the flat face of a large boulder resting on the side of Hidden Mountain, near Los Lunas, New Mexico, about 35 miles south of Albuquerque. The language is Hebrew, and the script is the Old Hebrew alphabet, with a few Greek letters mixed in. See Cline (1982), Deal (1984), Stonebreaker (1982), Underwood (1982), and/or Neuhoff (1999) for transcriptions and translation, and Deal (1984) for discussion and photographs of the setting.

George Moorehouse (1985), a professional geologist, indicates that the boulder is of the same basalt as the cap of the mesa. He estimates its weight at 80 to 100 tons, and says it has moved about 2/3 of the distance from the mesa top to the valley floor since it broke off. The inscription is tilted about 40 degrees clockwise from horizontal, indicating that the stone has settled or even moved from its position at the time it was inscribed. (The above photograph was taken with a tilted camera.)

In 1996, Prof. James D. Tabor of the Dept. of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina - Charlotte, interviewed the late Professor Frank Hibben (1910-2002), a retired University of New Mexico archaeologist, "who is convinced that the inscription is ancient and thus authentic. He reports that he first saw the text in 1933. At the time it was covered with lichen and patination and was hardly visible. He was taken to the site by a guide who had seen it as a boy, back in the 1880s." (Tabor 1997) At present the inscription itself is badly chalked and scrubbed up. However, Moorehouse compares the surviving weathering on the inscription to that on a nearby modern graffito dating itself to 1930. He concludes that the Decalogue inscription is clearly many times older than this graffito, and that 500 to 2000 years would not be an unreasonable estimate of its age.

The inscription uses Greek tau, zeta, delta, and kappa (reversed) in place of their Hebrew counterparts taw, zayin, daleth, and caph, indicating a Greek influence, as well as a post-Alexandrian date, despite the archaic form of aleph used. The letters yodh, qoph, and the flat-bottomed shin have a distinctively Samaritan form, suggesting that the inscription may be Samaritan in origin. See Lidzbarski (1902), Purvis (1968).

Cyrus Gordon (1995) proposes that the Los Lunas Decalogue is in fact a Samaritan mezuzah. The familiar Jewish mezuzah is a tiny scroll placed in a small container mounted by the entrance to a house. The ancient Samaritan mezuzah, on the other hand, was commonly a large stone slab placed by the gateway to a property or synagogue, and bearing an abridged version of the Decalogue. Gordon points out that prosperous Samaritan shipowners were known to live in Greek communities at the time of Theodosius I circa 390 A.D., and proposes that the most likely age of the Los Lunas inscription is the Byzantine period.

If Los Lunas is indeed a Byzantine Samaritan inscription, it may be significant that the sixth century historian Procopius reports that the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (r. 527-565 A.D.) undertook a massive persecution of the Samaritans in particular, which

... threw Palestine into an indescribable turmoil. Those, indeed, who lived in my own Caesarea and in the other cities, deciding it silly to suffer harsh treatment over a ridiculous trifle of dogma, took the name of Christians in exchange for the one they had borne before, by which precaution they were able to avoid the perils of the new law. .... The country people, however, banded together and determined to take arms against the Emperor ... For a time they held their own against the imperial troops; but finally, defeated in battle, were cut down, together with their leader. Ten myriads [100,000] of men are said to have perished in this engagement, and the most fertile country on earth thus became destitute of farmers. ( Chapter 11, and in particular screens 52-54.)

Procopius elsewhere states that Justinian was responsible for the deaths of no less than three trillion (sic!) persons, so perhaps his estimate that 100,000 Samaritans were killed in this uprising may be a little inflated. Nevertheless, a persecution such as this, and perhaps this very one, may have been the impetus behind the Los Lunas Inscription. Pummer (1987, p. 4) reports that the uprising in question occurred in 529 A.D., and that "after the Muslim conquest of Palestine from 634 A.D. on, the Samaritan swere reduced even further in their numbers through massacres and conversions. Particularly under the Abbasids [750-1258 A.D.] their sufferings increased greatly." Although the Samaritans have survived into the 21st century, they were clearly more numerous and prosperous in the first millenium A.D. than the second.

Further evidence of a Hellenistic or Byzantine influence on Los Lunas is provided by Skupin (1989). He analyzes the orthographic errors of the Los Lunas text itself, and concludes that it appears to have been written by a person whose primary language was Greek, who had a secondary, but verbal, comprehension of Hebrew. He writes of the inscriber,

He used the consonant [aleph] as if it were a vowel, like the Greek alpha, even though this clashes with the Hebrew orthographic system .... He confounded [qoph] and [caph] as a Philhellene who only knew kappa might do, and was sufficiently removed from Hebrew to be unaware that he had made an irreverent slip thereby. Most amazingly, he 'heard' macrons, the drawling long vowels that are structurally and semantically important in Greek ... and felt compelled to indicate them even if he was not exactly sure of how it's done (and rightly so, since in Hebrew they're insignificant).... His word order suggests a scriptural tradition related to a Greek version produced in Alexandria, Egypt, as does his spelling; and finally, he gives inordinate prominence to the words 'brought you out of Egypt.'

Skupin concludes,

None of this proves anything. Until confirmation comes from another quarter, all we can really do is provide a clearer idea of the stone's contents for those who are intrigued by it, and give those who reject the inscription's authenticity ... a deeper appreciation of what they have rejected.

Yet more evidence of Greco-Samaritan interactions is provided by Prof. Reinhard Pummer (1998, p. 29), who reports that "Ancient literature hints that Samaritan synagogues may have been located in Rome and Tarsus between the fourth and sixth centuries C.E. Short inscriptions in Samaritan and Greek script found in Thessalonica and Syracuse may have come from Samaritan synagogues in these cities during the same time period. Apparently, the Samaritans flourished in the Diaspora." One Samaritan synagogue in Palestine, at Sha'alvim, in Judea N.W. of Jerusalem, simultaneously bears religious inscriptions in Samaritan letters and secular inscriptions in Greek. Another at Tell Quasile in Tel Aviv shows considerable Greek architectural influence. (Ibid., p. 30.) In his book, Pummer reports that the Samaritan wedding service even today contains a few words of Greek, and that a Samaritan deed of divorce from Egypt, dating to 586 A.D., is written in Greek (1987, p. 19). A Samaritan inscription in the nethermost diaspora might therefore well exhibit some Greek attributes.

It should be noted, however, that Pummer himself (personal communication, Aug. 31, 1998) does not believe that the Los Lunas inscription could be Samaritan. First, in Verse 8, the Los Lunas text follows the Masoretic (standard Jewish) text by saying "remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," whereas the Samaritan text always says "preserve the Sabbath day to keep it holy." Second, the Samaritans added a clause to the tenth commandment calling for a temple to be built on Mt. Gerizim, but this clause is absent in Los Lunas. And third, although an inscription in Greek language written in Samaritan letters is known, he is not aware of Greek-style letters ever appearing in Samaritan inscriptions.

The stone is located on New Mexico state trust land, as indicated in the New Mexico State Land Office's webpage on the "Mystery Stone" at htpp://www.nmstatelands.org/landoffice/ComRes/ComRec.asp. Visitors must obtain a permit in advance, costing $25 per family, from the New Mexico State Land Office, 310 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, NM 87504, (505) 827-5724. A copy of the permit application, with further details, is downloadable from http://www.nmstatelands.org/landoffice/PDFs/crd_recpermit.pdf.

The site is about 1/2 mile south of State Route 6 at Rio Puerco, about 16 miles west of Los Lunas. A map and detailed directions are available from the State Land Office.

This information and the citations can be found at http://economics.sbs.ohio-state.edu/jhm/arch/loslunas.html

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Beyond the obvious interest that a Jewish camp in New Mexico could raise, there are significant questions raised in several other areas. First, the Jews had had the wheel for the past 1900 years by 107 B.C.E. The Aztecs and Mayans did not have the wheel according to standard archaeologists, even though toys with wheels have been found in Mayan sites. If the Jews had a base in 107 B.C.E. in New Mexico, there is every reason to believe that the Mayans made contact at sometime with them and discovered the concept of the wheel. Archaeologists then would have to come up with a different hypothesis to explain the absence of the wheel in Mayan culture.

A second issue is the Mormon doctrine that Jews and Phoenicians had come to the New World long before Columbus or Leif Erickson. The Hidden Mountain base tends to prove the book of Mormon comes from legitimate historical accounts. Add that to the legends of the Cherokees that say there was a great war in the six northeastern counties of Tennesee and you have archaeological evidence in support of the book of Mormon. It is not surprising therefore that two important American civilizations arose within 700 years of this camp, the Bear Claw Cult of the Mississippian Culture at Cahokia in Illinois and the Anazasi in the four corners area of New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and Utah.

Andrew Collins in his book on Atlantis makes a strong argument that Phoenician and Carthaginian sailors had left the port of Tartessos in Spain regularly on runs to Columbian and Central America from the period 1500 B.C.E until the fall of Carthage in the third century BCE.

I believe as I have previously stated in my blog that there is significant evidence that Joseph Smith, Jr. had access to information that was far beyond his time. How he got it I do not know? I think it likely that he got it from the Voice which would make him a legitimate prophet of G-d. He like any prophet can misinterpret his prophecies, but that does not invalidate the prophecy.

I present this information to raise your consciousness.

posted in Spiritual History - 0 replies

Faith and Reason

Barry — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 18:09:41 GMT

When I was 18, I believed that I was an atheist. I certainly had not heard G-d speak and I had seen no signs of his presence. In fact, I was very angry because in the previous two years my very best friends in all the world had died, my dog and my cat. That says much about a sad, socially maladjusted and angry child. I was only 18 and abused.

One day I was watching Christians go to church out my dorm window. I became angrier and angrier that they were wasting all this time on a non-existent G-d. I was apparently also angry that they had something that I did not have. I yelled at the ceiling: "G-d, if you exist, why will not show yourself to me." Many years later I remember those words and contemplate the words of Deuteronomy:

"But when you have heard the Voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was ablaze with fire, you came to mei n the person of all your tribal heads and elders, and said: "YHVH, our G-d, has indeed let us see his glory and his majesty! We have heard his Voice from the midst of the fire and have found out today that a man can still live after YHVH has spoken with him. But why should we die now? Surely this great fire will consume us. If we hear the Voice of YHVH, our G-d, any more, we shall die. For what mortal has heard, as we have, the Voice of the Living G-d speaking fromt the midst of fire, and survived? Go closer, you, and hear all that YHVH, our G-d, will say, and then tell us what YHVH, our G-d, tells you; we will listen and obey." 5:23-27.

It was about a week later that I began to hear the Voice. I will not tell you what it said at that time, but I made it clear to that Voice that I considered it a sign of madness and that I did not intend to give into that madness. Again in a week, that Voice spoke to me and this time I went to the Educational Psychology Clinic at the University of Kansas and pronounced my certitude that I was crazy. After six weeks of testing and the traumatic event of the death of my father, I was pronounced sane by Dr. Frank Shavlik and sent back to the dorm with the admonition that I should not worry about the Voice.

My response to the Voice was one of Reason and not faith. Reasonable people do not hear Voices, or so I thought. But reason in this case was overcome by Reason. A good man, a good psychologist, pronounced me well.

About a year and a half later, on April Fool's Day, the Voice said to me, "I want you to read a book." I said, "What book?" It said, "A Canticle for Leibowitz." I said, "I have already read that book. I never read a book twice." Now for those of you who do not know that book let me say that the great atheist science fiction master, Isaac Asimov, has listed it as one of the 10 best science fiction books of all times. Each day for the next month, the Voice asked me to read the same book. Each day I refused. Finally, on April 30, 1968, I said to the Voice, "O.K., I will read the book on one condition, you must stop talking to me." I went to the library at the University of Kansas and checked out the book. I read the book from cover to cover even skipping lunch. When I was finished, I sat up on the edge of my bed and said, "O.K., what was that suppose to mean?" A Canticle for Leibowitz is a book about the extraordinary faith of a brotherhood and certain individual Catholic brothers who maintain the schematic drawings of a man named Leibowitz who was killed in a nuclear holocaust 500 years before the first episode. We see these brothers helping to recreate a technological civilization for the next 1500 years. The most dramatic thing about these brothers is their faith that in maintaining these drawings, they are doing G-d's Will. Their faith was astounding. The Voice spoke to me, this time not in my head, but rather in what we Jews call a Bath Kol, a Voice that can be heard. His Voice boomed. It shook the room. The walls seem to bend. I cried. The Voice said, "You have no faith." That was the central issue between me and the Voice, between me and G-d. I had no faith.

The Voice became my guide that day and led me on a journey that continues still. I am on a straight road in the desert in darkness. I go where I am led. I can hear the Voice leading me. I have not lost Reason, but my need for reason has decreased over the years. I have taken many more leaps of faith. I still demand to know why, but not to G-d, very often. I seek the answers in the books he leads me to. I feel the power of His Spirit as he enhances the meaning of words. The Scriptures are everything to me now. I am a learned scholar. I know all that I should know which has caused greater men to leave G-d. But they do not have the Voice. I have found that now I must wait for the Voice to show me the Reason that I use to search for. In waiting, I see the opinions of man made irrelevant again and again.

I am not afraid to learn the opinions of others. I do look at them with the same jaudiced eye that I look at all evidence, but the Voice explains to me the meaning of all things that I find. When my faith begins to lag, the Voice reminds me that It is the source of my faith, not a book or books, not person or persons, not science or theology, the Voice of the living G-d, the rematos which I hear in my heart, in the inner temple of my soul.

I went through my fundamentalist and charismatic and Christian periods. Ultimately, the Voice led me back to the Jewish Rabbi who taught that not one jot not one tittle of the Law would pass away until sun and moon were no more. I did not give up my faith in words, but I certainly learned the truth about what the Church had said: "All writings are inspired by G-d -- for reproof, correction and training in holiness." I did not give up my charismata; they grew more numerous and more powerful, but I discovered that the gifts of G-d do not fall on just believers in Christ, but on those who believe in the power of intuition. And now, I believe that my days are numbered. I believe that my time is almost over. I sense it. I await the possibility of that greatest of adventures, the time of change from mortal to immortality, the chance to meet my Voice face to face. I remember that the Apocalyptic World View is common to all the Western Tradition and that waiting for it is unreasonable, but I have given up the right to doubt the Voice. It tells me SOMETHING is ABOUT TO HAPPEN and may be my personal Day of the Lord is coming. Maranatha.

posted in Spiritual History - 1 reply

The Historical Yeshua

rvr_rat66 — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 14:34:55 GMT

Was Yeshua pre-exhistent with God?
Did Yeshua say that he was God?
Did Yeshua rise from the dead?
Where is Yeshua now, and what is he doing?
Will Yeshua return or will it be ADONAI (YHVH) who comes to Earth to reward the righteous?

This thread is for all things Yeshua.

posted in Spiritual History - 1 reply

World War III Has Started

Barry — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 18:31:55 GMT

Dan Gillerman, the Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations informed the Security Council today that Israel considers the recent actions of the PLO, Syria and Iran to be tantamount to declarations of war. He warned the United Nations that the Third World War is imminent.

WW III is upon us. Where will you stand? This is truly the battle that is spoken of in Zechariah. The Jews will not win this war.

posted in Spiritual History - 18 replies

The Way Essay Nun -- The Conclusion

Barry — Mon, 29 May 2006 19:01:27 GMT

I began this series of Essays with a statement to you that G-d commands us to be a Holy People, a spiritual People. I have led you down a long path with 48 essays in between the beginning and the end. I have tried to show you how we have gotten to the place that we are at now and I have hopefully given you a overview that will allow you to identify various mixtures of the ideas of the past that influence and aid us to recreate the spiritualities of the future.

No one knows when the change of the age will be completed, but we are ripe for a new religion. The religions of the past must be renewed if they are to speak to an Internet generation. I believe that the New Nasorean Sect is a return to the ancient faith, but I believe it must adapt itself, as Yeshua have adapted it, to the modern age. People today demand facts and they will no longer accept a religion on faith alone.

The finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the library of Nag Hamadi, and the Ossuary of James the Brother of Jesus are substantial facts which will provide the solid basis upon which the next religious movement must be built. They will show a diversity of beliefs all based on the same work of the same man who himself wrote nothing. There will be one more great find before this religion appears – The Ark of the Covenant containing the Tablets of Stone, the Rod of Aaron, and the Pot of Manna will be found. Then a religion of heavy on the facts and lighter on the faith will appear. It will be a religion that is not unwilling to combine the findings of science and religion and it will explain our deep felt concerns better than any Western faith has done so far.

I end these essays with two passages from Scripture: one from the Tanach and one from Revelation:

“I come to gather nations of every language; they shall come and see my glory. I will set a sign among them; from them I will send fugitives to the nations: to Tarshish, Put and Lud, Mosoch, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have never heard of my fame, or seen my glory; and they shall proclaim my glory among the Gentiles.”

“They shall bring all your brethren form all the nations as an offering to the Lord on horses and in chariots, in carts, upon mules and dromedaries, to Jerusalem, my holy mountain, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring their offering to the house of the Lord in clean vessels. Some of these I will take as priests and Levites says the Lord.”

As the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall endure before me, says the Lord, so shall your race and your name endure. Isaiah 66:18-22.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from G-d, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: ‘Behold, G-d’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and G-d himself will always be with them as their G-d.” Revelation 21:1-4.

In this new world, there will be no more Jew or Gentile, no more chosen or rejected, only a living G-d and a people that can see him, a religion of fact and not of faith.

Rabbi Barry Albin 2 Iyar 5766 May 29, 2006

posted in Spiritual History - 2 replies

The Way Essay Mem Chet -- Hebraic Roots Movement

Barry — Sat, 27 May 2006 19:22:46 GMT

As a direct result of the Pentecostal/Charismatic Renewal in the 1960’s, the people who become “baptized in the Holy Spirit” began to deeply research and challenge the long held doctrines of Christianity. They began to see that many doctrines were ripe for challenge and the one that was most divisive was the Replacement Theology which said that G-d had replaced the Jews with the Gentiles and that the Jews were now lost. In researching the basis of that particular theological doctrine, many began to doubt its truth and therefore began to rethink the question of the Hebrew Tradition within the Christian faith. The result was the Hebraic Roots Movement.
Hebrew Roots is a movement of modern-day Christians and Jewish believers partnering together and returning to the perspectives and beliefs of first-century faith. The modern Hebrew Roots movement originated from the Two-House movement and has been pioneered by Rabbi Ralph Messer since the 1980s.
The Hebrew Roots movement widely distances itself from the Messianic Jewish movement and strongly emphasizes the completion of the unified "House of Israel" in Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), made up of both Jews and Non-Jews alike. Hebrew Roots Teachers do not believe they have replaced "natural" Israel, but have become a co-heir and equal member of God's chosen people through the blood of Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah.
Hebrew Roots teachers assert that returning to the mindset of the first century church will provide deeper and more authentic insights into Hebrew idioms and first century cultural understandings lost when Constantine made "Catholicized Christianity" the official religion of Rome around 325 C.E.; outlawing Sabbath observance and introducing into the Christian church a myriad of pagan customs and Greek viewpoints still found in certain churches today.
The theology of the movement is explained through a Hebrew understanding of the role of Torah (traditionally the first five books of the Bible) as "Teaching and Instruction," a word that most Greek interpretations shorten to "Law." This socio-cultural misenterpretation has left much of the contemporary Christian church without Torah as a system of discipleship.
The movement advocates a return to Torah observance, including keeping the Sabbath and celebrating the feasts and festivals of God. This is not advocated out of legalistic bondage similar to some earlier Messianic movements, but because adoption and ingrafting into Israel has now made it the right of every born again believer in Jesus the Messiah to participate in the lifestyle of the Israelite people.
Hebrew Roots teachers emphasize the adoption of all believers in Jesus Christ into the faith of Abraham, often called in the Bible the "Unified House of Israel;" made up of Jews and Non-Jews who maintain faith in Jesus Christ while maintaining strict adherence to the Torah, God's Teaching and Instruction, as a lifestyle of faith and love. This, Hebrew Roots Teachers contend, is the same message that was taught by the the Apostle Paul and other New Testament writers.
In Jeremiah, God gives the northern kingdom of Israel a writ of divorce(Hebrew "get") for her idolatry and told her that he would scatter the nation to the ends of the earth, a promise fulfilled in the Assyrian conquest and dispersion of the nation. The Southern Kingdom, made up of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and half of the tribe of Levi, was exiled for 70 years but returned to the land of Israel under the leadership of the prophet Ezra. However, God promises in the last days to unite "the stick of Ephraim" and "the stick of Judah" (Ezekiel 37:15-28), ending a 3000 year long civil war between the ancestors of the 10 and 1/2 northern tribes called "Ephraim" or "The House of Israel" in the Bible, and the 2 and 1/2 tribes of the southern Kingdom that are commonly known as "The House of Judah" in the Bible accounts.
Hebrew Roots teachers believe that their ancestors may or may not be made up of the 10 lost tribes that are now returning as was prophesied in the books of Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Isaiah after being culturally assimilated into every nation and language listed in the Genesis account of the table of nations. However, they see this fact as unnecesssary to the status of one's covenant with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They teach that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob accepts all who repent in faith and turn to Him for deliverence.
Proponents of Hebrew Roots teachings believe Christians have the testimony of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, but are often found innocently to be living lawlessly (1 John 1:9) according to the erroneous idea that Jesus died to do away with the Torah by fulfilling it.
Hebrew Roots teachers further believe that Jews have been the safe keepers of God's Teaching and Instruction (the Torah) but have not yet recognized Jesus as the Messiah, and will not do so as an entire nation--until the full number of former Gentiles has come into faith in Jesus and begins following the discipleship of the Torah.
The sources used by the Hebraic Roots Movement (Talmud, Mishnah, Midrash, Halakah and Haggadah) evolved into and purvey the same occult teachings as the Kabbalah/Zohar, the preeiminent compendium of Jewish mysticism. Schools of Kabbalah generally require a knowledge of these Rabbinic sources:
"But the Scripture alone can not show the meanings within. Rabbinic hermeneutics could find a wealth of meaning in the subtlest details of the text, a characteristic that Kabbalistic writing took over. To be able to deal with Kabbalistic texts, and at least be conversant with the literary forms they take, and the references they make to material which their authors assumed 'everyone' would know, the student should at a minimum be at least marginally familiar with the following items...the Talmud (Mishnah and Gemara)...The Midrash... The Siddu, or Prayerbook... Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitzchak)... and Rambam (Rabbi Moses ben Maimon or Maimonides)."
Two branches of the Movement have left Christianity completely and gone over to the Jewish side of the divide. They are the Nasorean Orthodox Qahal and the Netzarim Sanhedrin. One of these groups, the Nasorean Orthodox Qahal has rejected the sole authority of Rabbinic sources and relies instead on the Dead Sea Scrolls and Enochic Judaism as primary authorities on the practice of Judaism and make use also of Gospels and Writings attributed to the Apostles who ruled in the Jerusalem Church.

The spirituality of the Hebraic Roots Movement is profoundly Jewish Traditional including the Ancient Jewish Mystical practices spoken of in earlier Essays.

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The Way Essay Mem Teth -- The New Theocracies

Barry — Mon, 29 May 2006 18:33:52 GMT

The latest spiritual movement harkens back to several earlier movements. First, it is triumphalist in that it presumes that the particular religion that it represents is the one true religion. Second, it presumes that politics should follow religion. Third, it presumes that the will of the majority should define morality. Fourth, it is profoundly apocalyptic. It exists in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

In Judaism, this movement is called Zionism. Zionism believes that the Jewish people should have a homeland. That principal was modified in the early 1920’s to say that the Jewish people should have the ancient land that was defined in the Torah. As the movement has become more religiously oriented under the influence of Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, the Chief Rabbi of the Palestinian Mandate, it has included more and more people who believed that the Jewish people had a right to force out others in order to regain the land that G-d had originally given them. It has spawned a group called the Temple Mount Faithful that especially want the property commonly called the Temple Mount upon which the ancient Temple stood. They are prepared to take extraordinary and illegal action in order to obtain that property and to destroy the Muslim institutions on the Mount including the Dome of the Rock, the third holiest site in Islam. The chief characteristic of this movement expresses its triumphalism by establishing communities lead generally by a rabbi in territory which is predominantly Muslim. Often these groups come armed to the teeth and ready to fight the current owners for their land. This group has recently established a Sanhedrin and a Council of the Nations to govern the future theocracy. This group has traditionally supports the religious positions of the Likud Party in Israel, but last summer proved its willingness to resort to civil disobedience against the government when their religious principles and the government’s political decisions conflicted. Religious Zionists and others infected with their ideals believe that Israel must remain Jewish and that the morality of Israel should be decided by a Jewish majority according to halakah. All that is done is profoundly influenced by the firm belief of the group that the Meshiach is about to appear at that they must prepare for his coming. The see the conflicts with nations as predicted in scripture and that the prophets promise more wars before the end.

In Christianity, the movement is called the Religious Right. The Religious Right believes firmly that the activities of the government should be in conformance with their theories of scriptural morality. The often choose only those passages in Paul or the Old Testament that support their religious moral views. The war in Iraq and Afghanistan was motivated by a profound desire on the part of the Religious Right to act as crusaders in this infidel world that threatened the economic security of the United States. At first the Religious Right had supported Iraq and Saddam Hussein against the Iranian Shi’ites, but then they turned viciously on Saddam when he tried to change the means of payment for oil from the dollar to the euro. The current buzz-word concern for the defense of marriage is similar in character. Divorce and remarriage is highest among the followers of the Religious Right and yet they try to ignore that fact by demeaning those who follow alternative lifestyles. Serial marriage among the religious right is supported by their country singing pop stars, their immoral ministers, their easy entrance and exit into the local congregation, and their total disregard for the separation of church and state. Lastly, the Religious Right sees everything that happens in the context of apocalyptic unless viewing things in that way seems to touch on their precious doctrines.

In Islam, the movement is represented in the Shi’a sect by the Twelvers and in the Sunni sect by the Wahhabis. By engendering a growing amount of fear through terrorism, by switching the enemy away from corrupt politicians to Israel, by engaging in false statements in the theocratically controlled media, the Movement is able to express triumphalism despite the obviously weak political position on the ground. The growing power of the Mullahs in all Arab nations and increasing power of the Muslim Brotherhoods in those nations that are Sunni-inclined has allowed the increased descent into a theocracy. In Muslim nations throughout the world, Muslim voters are enforcing their conservative morality on the minority who opposes them. All of these acts are strongly represented by “Mahdi” like figures, Osama bin Laden and President Ahmadinejad. These men honestly believe that as the Mahdi the aberrant ideas and activities that they propose are sanctioned by G-d.

I predict that we will see a growing force of neo-theocratic movements within other world religions as well. The beginning of such a movement can be seen in the Hindu faith in India. These neo-theocratic movements despite their commonality of thought patterns because of the inherent dogmatism within the movements will come into open conflict. We can expect a new Crusader mentality in the Middle East followed a limited nuclear war that will tend to influence foreign policy worldwide for the coming decade.

The biggest difficulty with all these theocratic movements is that their expected savior has not come and each claimant to that title has proved false. When the potential for error is so high and the penalty of error is so dangerous, it would seem that an opposing movement suggesting repression of religious ideas is inevitable. That person always has the same name in all three religions, the Man of Lies. However, not everyone who disagrees with the theocracies is a man of Lies. Many of them may well be men of vision and lovers of humanity. The future lies on their efforts to bring moderation.

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The Way Essay Mem Zayin -- Marriage Encounter

Barry — Fri, 26 May 2006 21:48:46 GMT

In 1952, another spiritual movement began in Spain to try to improve laity. It was called Marriage Encounter. This movement has now spread not only throughout the Catholic Church in which it began but deep into the Protestant dispersion. There are Lutheran, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Methodist, Assemblies of G-d, United Church of Christ and non-denominational Marriage Encounters now.
Marriage Encounter is a weekend program designed to help married couples improve their marriage and solve problems before they escalate into divorce or separation. The Worldwide Marriage Encounter organization operates on a mission of renewal in church and seeks to change the world by assisting couples to develop fully intimate and responsible relationships. A further attraction of the program is the community that is created with other married couples over the course of the weekend.Similar programs, called Engaged Encounter and Pre-Cana Encounter, are held for couples considering marriage.
Over the course of the weekend, Marriage Encounter tries to instill in the couples a pattern of communication that will serve them for their entire married life. At the same time, the couples are encouraged to include God in their life together. Organizers say that a Marriage Encounter is not a retreat, marriage clinic, group sensitivity training, or a substitute for counseling, though elements of these are included in the program.
Priests and Ministers are also encouraged to attend the sessions. The same principles of love, commitment and communication that help married couples stay together can be applied by the priest or theologian to his or her parish or community.
Marriage encounter weekends are made step by step:
1. Getting to know oneself
2. Viewing life as a couple
3. Considering communities and the church
The basis of these weekends (which are independent of age, formation, and finances) is the Worldwide Marriage Encounter movement promoted by Fr. Chuck Gallagher SJ, a Jesuit priest active in the Christian Family Movement.
Each participant that really is willing to learn from the experience will learn how to say in writing what it is so hard to say verbally to one’s spouse. They will learn to be assertive without being cruel or unloving. They will learn how to communicate the basis of frustration before those frustrations become verbal or physical. The program presumes that communication is the solution to all problems. The program presumes that the couple loves each other and wants to make a better marriage. From that assumption, the program builds on the trust and caring that the couple has so that a marriage can become a good marriage, and a good marriage can become a great marriage.

Although some might say this program is not openly a spiritual method, the participants will learn how to write to G-d and relate to G-d as intimately as they do with their wife or husband. The concept of expressing one’s intimacy in written form was found from the beginning to be less confrontational than verbal and physical forms of communication.

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The Way Essay Mem Vav -- Mainstream Holiness Movements

Barry — Fri, 26 May 2006 20:01:38 GMT

In the middle years of the twentieth century, two movements started in Spain initially within the Roman Catholic Church to encourage personal holiness and responsibility among believers. Those two movements are two sides of the same coin. They are the Cursillo Movement and Opus Dei. In this essay, I will talk about these two movements from the standpoint of their spiritual goals.

Opus Dei was founded by St. Josemaria Escriva on October 2, 1928 in Madrid, Spain. According to Escriva, on that day he experienced a “vision of light” in which he “saw Opus Dei”. Throughout his life, Escriva maintained that the founding of Opus Dei had a “supernatural character.”

Leaders of Opus Dei describe the organization as a Catholic teaching entity. Escriva’s writings summarized the Opus Dei mission in this way:

“The one and only mission of Opus Dei is the spreading of this message which
comes from the Gospel. And to those who grasp this ideal of holiness, the Work
offers the spiritual assistance and the doctrinal, ascetical and apostolic training
which they need to put it into practice.
In his Apostolic Constitution Ut Sit, in which John Paul II declared Opus Dei a personal prelature of the Pope, he said that "this Institution has in fact striven, not only to illuminate with new lights the mission of the laity in the Church and in society, but also to put it into practice; it has also endeavored to put into practice the teaching of the universal call to holiness, and to promote at all levels of society the sanctification of ordinary work, and by means of ordinary work."
"The message of St Josemaría," says José Cardinal Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, "belongs to the perennial patrimony of the Church." The following are the main features of Escrivá's spiritual teachings, the core message of Opus Dei:
Holiness in ordinary life
Having become members of God's family through baptism, all Christians are called to a life of holiness consistent with their new nature as children of God. "The majority of Christians," Escrivá writes, "should sanctify themselves in the world, through ordinary work." Thus they follow Jesus who worked as a carpenter and lived as a son in a Jewish family in a small village for 30 years.
Sanctifying work
Whatever work Christians do is to be done with a spirit of excellence as an effective service for the needs of society, working out of love for God and all men and women. Their work then becomes a fitting offering to God. In his work of service, Jesus Christ "did all things well" (Mk 7:37).
Love for freedom
Christians should love personal freedom, both their own and that of all men and women. God the Son himself, on becoming man took on human freedom, and with his free choices he redeemed us through love: As man, he freely obeyed his Father's will throughout his whole life, even "unto death, even death on a cross" (Phil 2:8). "Because he wants to," each person directs his life towards eternal union with God or eternal separation, the two ultimate roads of life.
Prayer and mortification
Love, the essence of sanctity, is nurtured by constant child-like prayer, assisted by norms of piety that include love for the Eucharist, frequent confession, reading Sacred Scripture, and devotion to the Virgin Mary. Mortification, "prayer of the senses," is especially done through a sporting struggle to practice all the human virtues out of love. "'Great' holiness consists in carrying out the 'little duties' of each moment." These actions are co-offered in the Holy Mass, the same redeeming sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, and the centre and root of a Christian's life.
Charity and apostolate
Christians are to give the highest importance to the virtue of charity:
Allen says that the big majority of the undertakings guided by Opus Dei are youth and social development centres.understanding, compassion, courtesy, helping the needy, and fraternal correction. Love is orderly and should start with one's duties. Charity entails apostolate, leading people to God, the source of peace and joy.
Unity of life
A Christian who seeks God not just in church, but also in the most material things has no double life, a life of faith divorced from daily work. Instead, he has a "unity of life" — a profound union with Jesus Christ, both fully God and fully man, one person in whom divine power is fused with ordinary human activity. Thus, a Christian's work becomes God's redeeming work, opus Dei. Despite all his defects, which with God's help he humbly strives to uproot, he becomes more and more alter Christus, ipse Christus, another Christ, Christ himself.
According to Escrivá, the foundation of the Christian life is one's "divine filiation."Divine filiation is the Christians' fundamental state as "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pt 1:4), being children of God in Christ, the deep awareness of which brings about immense happiness: "Joy comes from knowing we are children of God." Opus Dei, Escrivá says, is "a smiling asceticism."
A Christian becomes a saint, according to Opus Dei's founder, through God's grace and mercy, and through the use of some principal means of sanctification: (1) interior life, activities turned into contemplation, which Jesus Christ calls "the one thing necessary" (Lk 10:42), and (2) doctrinal training, a well-reasoned understanding of God and his ordered work as revealed in the Catholic faith, now presented by Benedict XVI as the religion of the Logos (the Word: meaning and reason). Escrivá says one cannot love someone who is not known. Thus Escrivá says Christians should have "the piety of children and the sure doctrine of theologians."
He holds that the "paramount means of formation" is personal coaching through spiritual direction, a practice which has its roots in the early Church. According to Cornelio Fabro, eminent Italian philosopher, Opus Dei's training fosters the human virtues, habits which are developed through the repetition of free decisions in one's activities and professional work. These habits of human excellence, including love for the truth, courage, and generosity, are the "foundation," Escrivá says, of the supernatural virtues of faith and love for God. Since he always stressed the importance of "the free and responsible personal action of each member," Fabro says Escrivá "restored the true concept of Christian freedom...After centuries of Christian spiritualities based on the priority of obedience, he taught that obedience was the consequence and fruit of freedom." It is to be noted though that this Catholic-Thomistic notion of "freedom for excellence" is different from the secular notion of "free choice" as having the highest value.
Shortly after Opus Dei’s founding, another Spanish movement began to spread throughout the Catholic Church and has spread to other denominations as well. That movement is called Cursillo.

The purpose of Cursillo is multifaceted. No one definition can truly explain what Cursillo is. However, all the definitions can give a much richer meaning to the purpose of Cursillo.

• One definition states: "The purpose (or goal) of the Movement is to make Christian community possible in neighborhoods, parishes, work situations and other places where people live the greater part of their lives. It makes possible for anyone in the world to live a Christian life in a natural way."
• Another definition lists the purpose of the Cursillo Movement as: "The leavening of environments with the Gospel." In other words, changing the places we spend time by being Christlike in our thoughts, words, and actions.
• Still another definition states: "Since it is a movement of the Church, the Cursillo Movement has the same apostolic purpose as the Church herself. And the Church, as Pope Paul VI told us, exists to evangelize."
• There is yet another definition that describes the purpose as such: "The Cursillo Movement is a movement of the Church which by means of its own method makes it possible for people to live what is fundamental for being a Christian, and to live it together; it helps people discover and fulfill their personal vocations, and it promotes the creation of core groups of Christians who leaven their environments with the Gospel." These "core groups" are now referred to as "Environmental Groups."
As mentioned earlier, while the wording of these definitions may differ, their ideas are the same. The Cursillo Movement is focused to help each of us fulfill our baptismal responsibility: to go forth, as apostles, and proclaim the Gospel. We can no longer afford to sit passively by and "hope" that the world comes to know Christ. We must make a conscientious effort to "tell" the world about Christ. The Cursillo Movement provides us with the necessary tools for fulfilling our baptismal responsibility along with the training for using those tools.
In determining the purpose of the Cursillo Movement, it is important that we focus on two important aspects. The first aspect: We are communal people. The second aspect: We are teamwork people. A communal people is one that builds relationships with others. For those that serve (or have served) in the military, they realize that the purpose of Basic Training is to de-emphasize the individual and emphasize the team. Besides all these examples of teamwork, Christ gave us the encouragement to work as a team: "Again, [amen,] I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matthew 18: 19-20).
The process of formation begins with a Cursillo Weekend. Each day of the Cursillo Weekend begins with Morning Prayers and ends with Night Prayers. Mass is celebrated daily (except Thursday). Each participant should be aware that, since prayer is such an intricate part of the Cursillo Movement, there will be other cursillistas that will be continually praying and offering up sacrifices - for the success of the Cursillo Weekend. There will be proper nourishment provided and also adequate rest periods. Those that have special needs, such as a particular diet or physical needs, will be attended to properly.
THURSDAY NIGHT
This is a time to get to know each other and to have an overview of the Cursillo Weekend. This is also the retreat phase of the Cursillo Weekend, which is designed "To awaken the moral consciences of the participants, beginning with an analysis of their own lives and causing them to desire to encounter God." The retreat phase (done in silence and ends Friday morning after Mass) includes three meditations and "The Way of the Cross." The meditations are: 1) Know Yourself, 2) The Prodigal Son, and 3) The Three Glances of Christ (this is given Friday morning).
FRIDAY
The focus of Friday should be to help each participant to have a better understanding of themselves. Friday should help them discover what motivates them in different situations.
During this day the participants will hear five presentations. Three presentations will be given by members of the laity and they are: 1) Ideals, 2) The Layperson as the Church in the World, and 3) Holiness. The other two presentations will be given by the Spiritual Directors and they are: 1) Grace and 2) Faith. While the presentations provide the participants with information and witnessed experiences, it is the table discussions (following each presentation) that prove to be one of the real dynamics of the Weekend. The sharing, which takes place during the table discussions, provides the participants with an opportunity to share their own insights about the presentation. Furthermore, the participants have the opportunity to hear how other participants perceived that same presentation.
After each presentation and table discussions, the participants will draft a written summary of the presentation and table discussion. Later the participants will have an opportunity to graphically illustrate their ideas of the presentations and table discussions. That evening, each table group will share their summaries and graphic illustrations with the other participants and team members.
SATURDAY
The focus for Saturday is to combine that fully realized self (that they learned about Friday) with a wonderful and loving God. Saturday helps the participants to understand the current relationship that they have with God and should spawn a desire for a still deeper and fuller relationship with God.
The schedule for Saturday follows the same format as Friday. Again, there are three laity presentations entitled: 1) Formation, 2) Evangelization, and 3) Leaders. As with Friday's schedule, there are also two Spiritual Director presentations entitled: 1) Sacraments, and 2) Obstacles to a Life of Grace. Table discussions again play a very dynamic role in generating various insights concerning the presentations. The summaries (of each presentation) and the graphic illustrations are shared with all, just like on Friday.
SUNDAY
The focus for Sunday is the understanding of ourselves, our relationship with God, and how we can help Him in fulfilling His Will. We learn what environments we belong to and how we can affect those environments.
The same format is used on Sunday, except there is only one Spiritual Director presentation - Christian Life. There are the usual three laity presentations, which are: 1) Study and Evangelization of the Environments, 2) Christian Community, and 3) Group Reunion and Ultreya.
Sunday night at the Clausura (Closing), the participants come face to face with the larger Cursillo Community that has been so supportive during the entire weekend. It is during this meeting that the participants enter this Cursillo Community.
Cursillo then continues on with a number of regular events which tend to uphold and support the developing saint during their process of formation.
GROUP REUNION
The Group Reunion is a small group of Cursillo friends that meet on a regular basis. The purpose of this meeting is to share with one another the growth that has taken place within each of us. We share our spiritual growth as well as our growth in becoming a person who strives to bring a Christ-like attitude to our environments. This meeting is referred to as a Friendship Group.
As we make attempts to bring Christ into our various environments, we will sometimes become frustrated. The group Reunion also provides the continual support we need in order to persevere as a part of God's plan.
ULTREYA
The Ultreya (Spanish word meaning Onward) is the larger Cursillo community. It is the time for the members of the Group Reunions to meet with members of other Group Reunions. The Ultreya is also beneficial in providing the support and encouragement that each of us needs.
Both of these holiness movements represent a desire within mainstream Christianity to develop the laity beyond their weekly attendance at church. These movements have spread the desire for Christians everywhere to deepen their relationship with G-d.

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Changing the Name

Barry — Thu, 25 May 2006 21:24:00 GMT

I am not sure why Brock felt a need to change the name as my Way Essays will soon reach their end, however, I hope that I can do much to begin to talk about the Historic Yeshua here. You already know much about the Christ of Faith. He is not the scriptural Yeshua and I would like for us to talk about that person as it is his life and teachings that are important, not the opinions of people who never knew him.

posted in Spiritual History - 2 replies

The Way Essay Mem He -- Pentecostals and the Gifts of the Spirit

Barry — Thu, 18 May 2006 21:15:41 GMT

Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks is held on the fiftieth day after Pesach or Passover. It was on this day the first fruits of the spring harvest were offered to the Lord. It was also on this day that the Archangel of the Presence delivered to Moshe the Two Tablets of Stone upon which the Torah was written. It was on this day that the Holy Spirit descended upon the 120 believers in the life and teachings of Yeshua ha Meshiach gathered together in the same room that they had celebrated Seder in 50 days before and it was on this day that the ancient ability to hear the Voice of G-d was re-established in the people of G-d. It was on this day that the Congregation received the gift of tongues thus eliminating the need to pray in human terms, but restoring the absolute communication of man with G-d. It was on this day that the great gifts of the Holy Spirit were first manifested on believers in general and no longer restricted to the saints alone.

This essay is about those gifts of Pentecost. It is generally accepted that the modern Pentecost occurred on January 1, 1901, the first day of the twentieth century when Agnes Ozman received the gift of tongues (glossolalia) during a prayer meeting at Charles Fox Parham’s Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas. Parham left Topeka and began a revival meeting ministry which led to a link to the Azusa Street Revival through William J. Seymour whom he taught in his school in Houston, although because Seymour was a black man, he was only allowed to sit outside the room to listen.

The expansion of the movement started with the Azusa Street Revival, beginning April 9, 1906 at the Los Angeles home of Edward Lee, who experienced what he felt to be an infilling of the Holy Spirit during a prayer meeting. The attending pastor, William J. Seymour, also claimed that he was overcome with the Holy Spirit on April 12, 1906. On April 18, 1906, the Los Angeles Times ran a front page story on the movement. By the third week in April, 1906, the small but growing congregation had rented an abandoned A.M.E. Church at 312 Azusa Street and organized as the Apostolic Faith Mission.

While it is difficult to locate the place and time that charismatic Christianity began to influence the mainstream churches, Dennis Bennett, an Episcopalian priest, is often cited as the movement’s seminal influence. Bennett was the Rector at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Van Nuys, California when he announced to the congregation in 1960 that he had received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Soon after this he was ministering in Vancouver where he ran many workshops and seminars about the work of the Holy Spirit. This influenced tens of thousands of Anglicans world-wide and also began a renewal movement within the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. In the 1960’s and 1970’s there was a renewed interest in the supernatural gifts of the Spirit in mainstream churches such as the Episcopal, Lutheran and Catholic churches. The Catholic Charismatic Renewal was focused in individuals like Kevin Ranaghan and his group of followers at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. Dennis Bennett was Ranaghan’s counterpart in the Episcopal Church.

The charismatic renewal movement in the Eastern Orthodox Church never exerted the influence that it did in other mainstream churches. Individual priests, such as Fr. Eusebius
Stephanou of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of No. America, founder of the Brotherhood of St. Symeon the New Theologian, Fr. Athanasius Emmert of the Antiochan Orthodox Christian Archdiocese and Fr. Boris Zabrodsky of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America, founder of the Service Committee for Orthodox Spiritual Renewal (SCOSR) which published “Theosis” Newsletter, were some of the more prominent leaders of the charismatic renewal in Orthodoxy.

On an international level, David du Plessis along with a host of others (including Lutheran and even Southern Baptist ministers) promoted the movement. The latter did not last long with their denominations, either volunteering to leave or being asked to do so. But in the Episcopal and Catholic churches priest and ministers were permitted to continue on in their parishes, provided they did not allow these concerns to create major divisions within their congregations.

Since the mid 1980’s, the charismatic movement has made some notable changes in tis theology and emphasis. This process has been termed The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit and has been typified by the ministry of C. Peter Wagner, world-faith theology and the Toronto blessing phenomenon. Some opponents of the charismatic movement have noted that these trends have been influenced heavily by the Latter Rain Movement of the 1950’s within the Pentecostal churches – a movement that was officially declared heresy by the Assemblies of G-d at the time.

There appears to be a great deal of evidence which shows that, since 1975, the charismatic movement has been influenced by the Latter Rain Movement and its influential teachers (such as William M. Branham). This can be explained by the desire of charismatic Christians to enter into fellowship with those within the Christian church who have experienced similar forms of religious ecstasy. As a result of this, charismatics came into contact with both mainstream Pentecostalism as well as the Latter Rain Movement. It appears that modern-day charismatics and Pentecostals are far more united in experience and theology because both movements have adopted elements of Latter Rain teachings.

Scholars have long branded Pentecostalism an eminently “otherworldly” religion, focused more on things above than the mundane below. To many that seems like a foregone conclusion, given the movement’s emphasis on charismatic experiences, intense religiosity, and ascetic tendencies. Even high respected Pentecostal scholars argue this point. The spiritual view of Pentecostals favors an unstructured prayer life that breaks out in the middle of the day or at times of happiness or sadness. A Pentecostal naturally turns to G-d to heal every day physical and mental problems. A Pentecostal will notice the aspects of synchronicity and interpret those synchronous acts as the intervention of the Holy Spirit. A Pentecostal believes in Satan and tries to guard against him. A Pentecostal believes that tears and feelings are acceptable expressions of emotion and pathos a human emotion blessed by G-d. A Pentecostal believes in an active supernatural world populated by a G-d who cares, demons, angels, and the spirits of those passed over. For a Pentecostal, the otherworld permeates the events of this world.

Pentecostals have a transrational worldview. Although Pentecostals are concerned with orthodoxy (correct belief), they are also concerned with orthopathy (right affections) and orthopraxy (right action). Reason is esteemed as a valid conduit of truth, but Pentecostals do not limit truth to the realm of reason. Pentecostals love the scriptures. Even those who continue into the higher realms of biblical criticism know that the Voice within them is more important than the Word. They understand what Paul said: Faith comes through hearing and hearing by the inner word of G-d.

It would be hard to list all the various gifts of the Spirit, but I will make an attempt to name and discuss some of the most important of the gifts. The gifts are generally denominated as those gifts of the word and those gifts of power. Gifts of the word are wisdom, knowledge, teaching, prophecy, speaking in tongues with interpretation, and preaching with grace. The gifts of power are miracles, healing, diagnostic intuition, weather work, tears, taming animals, changing poisons within our body, and exorcism. The gifts are exercised by all true believers, but some may have the offices.

Offices are cumulative authority by individual believers for the good of the community.
The office of translator can interpret tongues through the grace of the Holy Spirit and a special gift of knowledge so that they can understand the arcane language of glossalalia or merely the languages of man that they have no knowledge of in the real world. The office of administration allows the office-holder to exercise the government of a congregation by understanding the underlying movement of the spirit in what the congregants say and do. The office of helps allows the office-holder to know in advance what the needs of the community are going to be so that he or she may prepare himself to meet those needs. The office of healer allows the office-holder to be able to heal the sick and exorcise demons of a more difficult type. The office-holder of miracles has all the aforementioned gifts of healing, helps, administration and tongues but also can sense how to pray to make something from nothing. The teaching office carries all the prior offices within it, but the gifts are not given to help the community as much as to prove the word of the teacher to the community. The prophetic office not only teaches, but foretells the trends and signs of the times so as to make the community constantly prepared for the events happening around it. All the gifts are given to the prophet to prove the prophet’s message. Lastly, the apostolic gift is a gift of witness to a particular mission. Ranaghan, Seymour and Bennett were possessors of the apostolic gift.

The Pentecostal renewal was the seed of the next three movements that we will discuss in the upcoming essays.

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Davinchi Hooplah

rvr_rat66 — Tue, 09 May 2006 19:05:40 GMT

With all the controversy surrounding the Davinchi Code, I must ask- Was the historical Yeshua a married man?

posted in Spiritual History - 4 replies

The Way Essay Mem Dahlet -- The Mahdi

Barry — Tue, 16 May 2006 21:17:06 GMT

The idea of a messiah or the end of the world is not unique to Christianity or Judaism. Several other religions have such an idea. I want to explore one such idea from Islam that really took hold of the religion in the 1880’s.

The Mahdi in Islamic eschatology, or end times theology, is the prophesied redeemer of Islam, who will change the world into a perfect Islamic society before the Yaum al- Qiyamah, or the Day of Resurrection. The exact nature of the Mahdi differs according to Sunni and Shi’a Muslims. The idea of a man who would arise to right the injustices of the world of Islam was widely held from the seventh century on and later collections of the hadiths include ample references to the Mahdi. For example, a widely regarded hadith of Muhammad that is believed to be authentic says:

“Even if the entire duration of the world’s existence has already been exhausted and only one day is left before the Day of Judgment, Allah, will expand that day to such a length of time, as to accommodate the kingdom of a person out of my Ahl al-Bayt or of his descendants who will be called by my name. He will then fill the Earth with peace and justice as it will have been filled with injustice and tyranny before then.” Sahih Tirmidhi, V2, p. 86, v.9, p. 74-75.

The Mahdi, according to majority Sunni and Shi’ite tradition, will arise at some point before the day of judgement, institute a kingdom of justice, and will in the last days fight alongside the returned Jesus against the Dajjal (Antichrist or false Messiah). However, since the most reliable sources do not refer to him, various Muslim traditions have ascribed different characteristics to the Mahdi, and many leaders of politico-religious revival movements in Islam have claimed to be the Mahdi.

The following sections list a few of the characteristics of the Mahdi, according to various traditions of Islam:

1. He will be a descendant of Muhammad from the offspring of Muhammad’s daughter, Fatimah.
2. He will be born in Medina, Saudi Arabia; however, some generalize the concept as the word ‘medina’ means city.
3. His father will be named Abdullah. Abdullah means servant of G-d and can also be widely interpreted to mean that his father will be a virtuous and holy person.
4. He is tall.
5. His facial features are similar to those of Muhammad.
6. His character is like that of Muhammad.
7. He is fair complexioned.
8. He has a broad forehead and a prominent nose.

One such Mahdi claimant was Muhammad Ahmad ibn as Sayyid Abd Allah who was a Muslim religious leader, a fakir, in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. He declared a jihad and raised an army after declaring himself the Mahdi in 1881, and lead a successful war of liberation from the Ottoman-Egyptian military occupation. He died soon after his liberation of Khartoum, and the state he founded fell victim to colonial maneuverings that doomed it to reconquest in 1899.

With Sudan now in Sudanese hands, the Mahdi formed a government. The Mahdiyya imposed traditional Islamic laws. Sharia courts enforced Islamic law and the Mahdi’s own commands. He also authorized the burning of lists of pedigrees and books of law and theology because of their association with the old regime and because he believed that they accentuated tribalism at the expense of religious unity.

The Mahdi modified Islam’s five pillars to support the dogma that loyalty to him was essential to true belief. The Mahdi also added the declaration and Muhammad Ahmad is the Mahdi of G-d and the representative of His Prophet to the recitation of the shahada. Morever, service in the jihad replaced the hajj as a duty incumbent on the faithful. Zakat became the tax paid to the state. The Mahdi justified these reforms as responses to instructions conveyed to him by G-d in visions.

Six months after the capture of Khartoum, Muhammad Ahmad died of typhus. The Mahdi had planned for this eventuality and chosen three deputies to replace him, in emulation of the Prophet Muhammad. This led to a long period of disarray, due to rivalry among the three, each supported by people of his native region. This continued until 1891, when Abdallahi ibn Muhammad, with the help primarily of the Baqqara Arabs, emerged as unchallenged leader. Abdallahi, referred to as the Khalifa, purged the Mahdiyya of members of the Mahdi’s family and many of his early religious disciples.

So ends the claims of another false Messiah, the Mahdi of Sudan.

However, the ideals that he proposed and which inspired men to fight for him are like the ideals we have seen in the Great Awakening. They are beliefs in a better world caused by divine intervention.

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The Way Essay Mem Gimel -- Ba'hai

Barry — Thu, 11 May 2006 21:58:02 GMT

At the end of the Second Great Awakening, a new religion appeared in Iran. It grew out of a legitimate spiritual awakening that was going on in that country and though it was only one of the movements that were going on in Iran at the time.
Ba’hai a sect or cult derived from Islam. Bahá'ís believe in a process of progressive revelation, whereby religious figures including Jesus, Muhammad, Krishna, Abraham, Moses, Buddha and Zoroaster were all Manifestations of God. Bahá'ís also believe that some Biblical characters, such as Adam and Noah, actually existed and also were Manifestations of God. Religious history is interpreted as a series of "dispensations", where each Manifestation of God brings a somewhat broader and more advanced revelation for the time and place it appeared in. Specific social teachings, such as the direction of prayer or the permissibility of financial interest, can be revoked by a subsequent Manifestation, whereas certain general principles, such as neighbourliness or charity are universal and consistent. Bahá'ís do not believe that this process of progressive revelation has an end, but that a new Manifestation will come at least 1000 years after Bahá'u'lláh's revelation.
Bahá'ís believe that the history of religion is an unfolding process of education planned by God, and that the founders of religions are God's messengers and teachers of this Plan. Bahá'u'lláh is seen as the most recent, pivotal, but not final of God's messengers. He claimed to be the One whose future coming was prophesied in religious scriptures of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and other religions, and that his major purpose was to lay the spiritual foundations for a new global civilization of peace and harmony, which Bahá'ís expect to gradually arise by following Bahá'u'lláh's teachings and laws.
The belief of the Shi'ite division of Islam is that a "messiah" or Imam will arise at the end time and usher in a world of peace.
In 1844, Mizra Ali Muhammed was convinced that God had called him to a similar ministry as John the Baptist. He assumed the title "the Bab" which means "the gate." Some feel that he actually believed he was the Imam.
His charisma and message began to draw many. J.E. Esslemont writes of the Bab, "The Bab was the manifestation of God, the Founder of an independent religion," (Baha'u'llah and the New Era, 1980, p. 14).
The Bab and his followers were horribly persecuted by Moslems and he was martyred in 1850. In 1863, Mizra Husayn Ali, a prominent follower of the new faith, announced that, "He was the one whose coming had been foretold by the Bab-the Chosen of God, the Promised One of all the prophets," (Ibid,pp.23,30).
Mizra Husayn Ali took the title of Baha'u'llah which means "Glory of God." He wanted his followers to understand that he was not just another prophet but that he was the "Divine Manifestation in whose era the reign of peace will actually be established," (Ibid, pp. 46-47).
Doctrinally, the Bahai faith has incorporated both Islamic and Christian concepts, but depending on which list one reads, Jesus was merely one of many prophets or manifestations (reflections) of God for each age.
Baha'u'llah is considered to be the final and most relevant for this contemporary age.
Bahaism teaches that God is actually beyond comprehension, he is revealed in nature. Man is basically good and there is no original sin. In fact, sin itself is merely the wrong use of good qualities. Bahaism teaches the universality of God, that all religions have the same God.
Salvation rests in the spiritual advancement through adherence to its ethical teachings to prepare for this life and the afterlife. These ethical principles include humanitarianism, faultfinding, humility, honesty, self realization (a strain of new age influence), harmony of science and religion (evolution), repudiating race and sexual prejudice, injustice, and nationalism.
Bahá'í theology could be expressed in terms of three interlocking unities: the oneness of God; the oneness of religion; and the oneness of humanity. These principles have a profound impact on the theological and social teachings of this religion.
Bahá'ís believe that there is one supernatural being, God, who has created all the creatures and forces in the universe. God is described as "a personal God, unknowable, inaccessible, the source of all Revelation, eternal, omniscient, omnipresent and almighty." (GPB, p. 139) Bahá'ís believe that although people have different concepts of God and His nature, and call Him by different names, everyone is speaking of the same one Being. God is taught to be a personal God in that God is conscious of His creation, has a mind, will and purpose. At the same time the Bahá'í teachings state that God is too great for humans to fully understand Him or to create a complete and accurate image of Him. Bahá'u'lláh attributed titles to God such as the All-Powerful, and the All-Loving, which are derived from the limited human experiences of power, love, or justice. Bahá'u'lláh teaches that human knowledge of God is limited to those attributes and qualities which are perceptible to us, and thus direct knowledge about the essence of God is not possible.
Furthermore Bahá'u'lláh states that the knowledge of the attributes of God is revealed to humanity through the messengers he sends to humanity. Bahá'ís believe, thus, that through daily prayer, meditation and study they can grow closer to God.
Although it concentrates on social and ethical issues as well, some of the Bahá'í Faith's foundational texts might be described as mystical. Shoghi Effendi has called the Seven Valleys Bahá'u'lláh's "greatest mystical composition." It was first translated into English in 1906, becoming one of the earliest available books of Bahá'u'lláh to the West. In it, he follows the path of a wayfarer on a spiritual journey passing through different stages, calling them "Seven Valleys" or "Seven Cities". The goal of the journey is to follow "the Right Path", "abandon the drop of life and come to the sea of the Life-Bestower", and "gaze on the Beloved".
The purpose of life in the Bahá'í scriptures is to acquire virtues, know God, develop spiritually, and help carry forward an ever advancing civilization. The personal development is conceived as an organic process, like the development of a fetus, assisted by God's Messengers. Bahá'u'lláh taught of an afterlife in which the soul may progress infinitely through ever-more-exalted spiritual realms. Heaven and Hell are perceived as a reference to an individual's proximity to God, and not as exclusive or physical places.
Bahá'ís believe that while God's essence can never be fully fathomed, he can be understood through his "names and attributes." These are likened to gems and include such divine qualities as compassion or wisdom. The purpose of God in revealing himself to mankind is to bring out "the Mystic Gems out of the mine of man."
Bahá'í spirituality tends to consist of textual study, prayer, and recitation. Monasticism is forbidden, and Bahá'ís attempt to ground their spirituality in ordinary daily life. Performing useful work, for example, is not only required but considered a form of worship.
The Bahá'í writings teach that there is but one humanity and all people are equal in the sight of God. The Bahá'í Faith emphasizes the unity of humanity transcending all divisions of race, nation, gender, caste, and social class, while celebrating its diversity. The Bahá'í teachings state that the unification of mankind is the paramount issue and question in the religious and political conditions of the present world. The Bahá'í writings affirm the biological, political, and spiritual unity of mankind while emphasizing the value of cultural, national and individual diversity.
The Bahai's goal is to establish a new world order, ruled compassionately over by their currently existing National Spiritual Assembly.
Bahá'ís have high regard for what is termed the "Greater Covenant", which they see as universal in nature, and from "time immemorial" has been carried through by the Manifestations of God of all ages. They also regard highly the "Lesser Covenant", which is viewed as unique to each revelation, and incorporates the distinguishing characteristics of these. At this time they view Bahá'u'lláh's revelation as a binding "Lesser Covenant" for his followers.With unity as an essential teaching of the Faith, Bahá'ís follow an administration that they believe is divinely ordained, and therefore see attempts to create schisms and divisions as insignificant, doomed efforts which are contrary to the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh. Throughout the Faith's history schisms have occurred over the succession of authority. The followers of the various Bahá'í divisions, who in total, number in the low thousands, are regarded as Covenant-breakers and shunned, essentially excommunicated.
All in all, the Ba’hais are a new age religion that closely approximates the ideals of anti-Christ as presented in by the Evangelical religions. The idea of a new world order based upon the autocratic rule of a theocracy is shared by all apocalyptic groups and this one is no different than others.

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Way Essay Mem -- Apocalypticism and the Millerites

Barry — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 22:17:55 GMT

Apocalyptic thought is not the exclusive domain of Christianity. Judaism, Islam and even the Old Norse Religion likewise believed in the “end times”. Even Yeshua and his apostles were convinced that the End of the Age was coming. The last words of Yeshua recorded in the Christian Writings were: “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority.” Acts 1:7. As late as the second century C.E., the question of when the end of times was coming was addressed by the Second Letter attributed to St. Peter. He says: “The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard “delay”, but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar and the elements will be dissolved by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be found out.” 2 Peter 3: 9-10.

The idea that one could calculate the time of the coming of the End of the World is not knew either. Such great works as Daniel, Revelations, 1 Enoch, Jubilees, and 2nd Baruch each strive to calculate the time of the end.

The Second Awakening was period in American Christian history that was apocalyptic in character. The expectation of the swift arrival of the Lord was exacerbated by the teachings of William Miller.
Miller was a prosperous farmer, a Baptist layman and amateur student of the Bible, living in northern New York, in the region of that state which has come to be known as the Burned-over district. Beginning with a strictly literal reading of the ages of people mentioned in the first chapters of Genesis and the dating of other events mentioned in the Bible, Miller believed that precise calculations were possible, full of prophetic importance. Setting these calculations alongside the prophetic numbering systems that appear in the books of Daniel, Ezekiel and the Book of Revelation, by 1830, Miller became fully convinced that the dates of the birth of Jesus and the fall of the Temple of Jerusalem were foretold in prophecy, and that the date of the return of the Messiah could be known with precision. The following assumptions figured prominently in Miller's calculations:
1. In prophetic writings, a "day" always represents a year. See 2 Peter 3:8; Barnabas 15:4.
2. The 70 weeks of Daniel 9:24 and the 2300 days of Daniel 8:14 began at the same time.
3. Based on Bishop Ussher's chronology, the countdown starts at 457 B.C.
4. Daniel 8:14 speaks prophetically of Christ's return to earth, when it refers to the cleansing of the sanctuary.
Based on his calculations, the coming of Christ and the inauguration of the Millennial kingdom should be expected somewhere around 1843. After releasing his findings in print, he began disseminating the view on speaking tours. Later, he adjusted his calculations to conform to the "Jewish calendar", to finally arrive at the confidence that 1844 would be the last year of the present age and the beginning of the "seventh day of the creation". The date October 22, 1844, was the date commonly accepted throughout the Millerite movement as the exact date of the anticipated return of Jesus, although Miller himself was uncertain of the day. Perhaps more than 100,000 Millerites were awaiting this "Blessed Hope", some who abandoned their farms or sold their homes and left their employment, to propagate the gospel of the last days chronology.
When October 22, 1844 came and went and the world did not end, the Millerites had one of two things that they could do. Some said that Miller was wrong and doubted the Christian faith or at least the concept of the Second Coming. Others decided that Miller had miscalculated the exact date and set about explaining his failure. Sometimes with the help of visions and visitations by angels, or reformers whose message was identified with Bible prophecy, post-Disappointment Millerites arrived at various reinterpretations of the meaning of the Disappointment, often constructing alternative history, theology, politics and science, sometimes showing openness to rejected knowledge and conspiracy theories; and to the extent that these developed in a particular group, a concomitant tendency toward withdrawal also developed.
The Millerite movement originally had adherents across denominational lines, especially from Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist and Campbellite churches, forming distinct denominations only after the Great Disappointment. Some modern Millerite branches identify themselves as Evangelical Protestant Christians, although others teach that their latter-day church is the only faithful remnant, and the replacement of Protestantism, Catholicism, and Jewish Israel. Typical of the post-Disappointment Millerite perspective is the belief that genuine Christianity had been lost to the world through a Great Apostasy, but is restored in these last days by a new outpouring of prophecy or spiritual insight. Therefore, traditional teachings provide no reliable help, and it should be no surprise if a traditional doctrine such as the Trinity would be corrected by the spirit of prophecy. For this reason, Millerites have professed or have tolerated profession of some form of Unitarian belief, denying the Trinity. Seventh-day Adventists, although not trinitarian throughout the nineteenth century,became a trinitarian church around the turn of the century. A significant number of other Millerite branches are unitarian or non-trinitarian. Nearly all Millerites speak of "present truth" and "new light", by which the faithful are called out from the less enlightened or apostate traditions of Christianity. Some such groups place particularly strong emphasis on some element of lost truth, such as dietary laws, the conditional immortality of the soul (nonexistence of a disembodied soul), the seventh day sabbath, the historical method of interpreting biblical prophecy, etc. By no means are all of these distinctions typical of all post-Disappointment Millerites. The Millerites were a part of the restoration period of American religious history, and as such, sought to restore the earliest Christian church, complete with beliefs that had been lost or changed in some fashion.
The return of Christ is believed to signal the inauguration of the Millennium, rather than the conclusion of the Church age and the end of the world. The Second Great Awakening was generally productive of very optimistic ideas of progress and eschatology, expecting the kingdom of God to be realized through an historical process. In contrast to this optimism, Millerites anticipated that the coming of Christ would be cataclysmic, replacing the old order of things. Even among those Millerite groups which continue to believe that the Parousia actually occurred in some spiritual sense, in 1844 or at some later time, the present time is seen as full of impending wonder and imminent catastrophe prior to the full dawning of the new age, the final stage of which is the personal and visible return of Jesus. The Book of Revelation continues to have a prominent place in nearly all segments of the Millerite movement, and the differences between the sects often resolve to differences in the interpretation of passages which Christians generally would consider more obscure and therefore less important to understand.
Several branches believe that a world-wide conflict is approaching, when the antichrist will appear or has appeared, in order to lead the world and the world's religions into a great deception, an era marked by disastrous wars and calamity. The Civil War, the two great World Wars, the Great Depression and New Deal, and modern events in the Middle East, are commonly interpreted in this light. Only those who discern the true prophetic message from among many counterfeits that will multiply in the latter-days, will survive deception and final ruin. According to the diversity of teachings, Millerite sects have different ideas of what the distinguishing marks are, of the true message for the true church of the last days. The majority of Adventists believe that the seventh-day Sabbath is a key to understanding and faithfulness, and that worship on Sunday is idolatry and the Mark of the Beast, warned of by the third angel of the Apocalypse, in Revelation 14:9–12. Some place central importance on conscientious use of the divine name.
These churches and groups generally claim to adhere to a strictly literal interpretation of the Bible, with distinctively strong interest in the present fulfillment of prophecy, sometimes with emphasis on sciences, health practices and philanthropic ventures based on the Bible. Their non-traditional beliefs and practices typically motivate particularly strong commitment to the separation of church and state. The prophecies of Scripture are generally regarded as having historical, as well as future significance; and some regard themselves specifically as the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. In addition some teach that special, miraculous visions or divine insight are needed in order to understand the present significance of the Bible. The largest Millerite group at the present time is the Seventh Day Adventist General Conference (the Seventh-day Adventist Church), with approximately 11 million members, world-wide.
Many Millerites were affiliated with the 19th-century Restoration movement. Many leaders of Millerism had also been leaders in the New England Christian Connexion. The anti-organizational tendencies of Restorationism resulted in the hesitancy of Millerite groups to organize into a denomination, and when Christ did not return in 1844, contributed to the many sects. Most of the descendants of Adventism are generally regarded as Evangelical in nature.
Similarly, dispensational Premillennialism is a trans- denominational movement, that is sometimes mistakenly connected directly with the Millerites. Dispensationalism arose during the final third of the 19th century, and unlike the Millerites interprets prophecy in a primarily futurist fashion. This movement developed independently, borrowing heavily but indirectly from earlier Millerites, with radical re-interpretation, so that dispensationalists rarely if ever display unitarian tendencies. Sabbatarianism is excluded, along with British Israelism, and in general end times Dispensationalism is considered protestant and mainstream evangelical, being a very common belief among Christian fundamentalists. Some dispensationalist groups, upon venturing to calculate the date of Christ's return or interpreting the signs of the times, take on many of the apocalyptic characteristics of Millerite pioneers, but strictly speaking none of them are part of the Millerite Adventist movement.
A small number of Millerites believed that their calculations were correct, but that their understanding of the sanctuary being cleansed was wrong, and they began to teach that something else happened in 1844. Their Bible study led them to the conviction that in that year Jesus had entered into the "Most Holy Place" of the heavenly sanctuary, and began an "investigative judgment" of the world: a process through which there is an examination of the heavenly records to "determine who, through repentance of sin and faith in Christ, are entitled to the benefits of atonement" after which Jesus will return to earth. According to the church's teaching, the return of Christ may occur very soon, though they are determined to never set dates for His coming in accordance with the book of Matthew which says, "no one knows the day or the hour" (24:36).
At about the same time that the followers of the movement were studying the sanctuary, the question of the biblical day of rest and worship was raised. The foremost proponent of Sabbath-keeping among early Adventists was retired sea captain Joseph Bates. Bates was introduced to the Sabbath doctrine by a tract written by a Millerite preacher named Thomas M. Preble who in turn had been influenced by a young Seventh Day Baptist lady by the name of Rachel Oakes Preston.
This message was gradually accepted and formed the topic of the first edition of the church publication, The Present Truth which appeared in July 1849. While initially it was believed that the "sabbath" started at 6 pm, by 1855 it was generally accepted that the "sabbath" begins at sunset.
For about 20 years, the Adventist movement consisted of a loosely knit group of people who adhered to this message. Among its greatest supporters were James White, Ellen G. White and Joseph Bates. After intense discussions a formally organized church called the Seventh-day Adventist Church was established in Battle Creek, Michigan, in May 1863, with a membership of 3,500. Through the evangelistic efforts of its ministers and laity and the guidance of Ellen G. White, the church quickly grew and established a presence beyond North America during the late 1800s.

The spirituality of apocalypticism is radical and fanatic. It requires a complete rededication of the person to the eventual appearance of the Messiah. It requires a tenacious commitment to the specific requirements of each apocalyptic organization. The life of the person is put on hold. They are centered rather on the idea that they have only so long to get things done before the coming and that they will be found wanting unless they are careful to follow the tenets of their religion. It tends to make the congregation a support center for the believer, but also provides extreme condemnation to those who rebel against congregational ideas. Apocalypticism tends to be overly dogmatic and it tends to be dictatorial and prone to enslaving the believer. It remains clear that a person who adopts apocalyptic ideas must do so knowing the results to their lives for doing so. Perhaps a warning sign should be set on the church door: “Beware. Entrance here may have a large control on your life until the Christ comes.”

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The Way Essay Mem Beth

Barry — Wed, 03 May 2006 19:13:02 GMT

The teachings of Joseph Smith, Jr. are products of the Second Great Awakening and he lived in the area of New York State that was most heavily influenced by that great revival in American spiritual life. No attempt to understand Mormonism can be separated from the place and time in which it began. I have in my earlier essay spoke of that Second Great Awakening, but now I want to speak of how a young man receives that Voice and how it changed not only his life, but the very complexion of our country.

In the spring of 1820 at age 14, Joseph was contemplating all the conflicting religious doctrines that had captured his portion of New York State and the confusion became so overwhelming that he decided to try to find the answer in the Scriptures. He turned to James 1:5 and read these words:
"If any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him."
Joseph surely did not recognize that when making such a request he was reversing the request of the Jewish people made at Mt. Horeb in the Sinai when they requested that G-d not speak to them but only through prophets. After considering this verse, Joseph resolved to pray vocally in a wooded area near his home. There he heard the Voice of G-d and of Jesus and they instructed him not to affiliate with any denomination.

In 1823, when Joseph Smith, Jr. was seventeen, he was visited by an angel named Moroni. Moroni told Joseph that “there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang. Moroni also said that the fulness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants; “also, that there were two stones in silver bows – and these stones, fastend to a breastplate, constituted what is called the Urim and Thummim – deposited with the plates …” in a nearby hill. The angel said that he had buried the artifacts in about 400 A.D., and had been charged with their protection. By carefully following the angel’s instructions, Smith claimed he would eventually be able to retrieve the gold plates.

Because Christianity has been busy trying to discredit Joseph Smith, Jr. and his revelations ever since he gave them, I think it is important for us to look in an unbiased manner at the facts surrounding his early life. The charismata including prophecy has repeatedly appeared during the great awakenings in 1720-30, in 1820-40, in 1900-1910, and again in 1965-1985. The claim that angels are visiting our planet especially in the United States and Europe are being constantly made in these modern times. The claim that these angels are providing new ideas and revising old ideas are the currency of these new age movements surrounding them. There is nothing in Joseph’s claims which are out of the ordinary during a charismatic renewal. The spirituality of such renewals engenders the kinds of spiritual events spoken of by Joseph and he was in the heart of the area where it was happening as was a young man of 17. Even on Journal Space when can find the revelations of modern people claiming the gift of prophecy. In order therefore to judge Joseph Smith, Jr. fairly one must judge him by biblical standards. On the first claim of having received a theophany and having received a visit from an Angel called Moroni, he must be found well within the biblical standards as set forth in scripture and in the long experience of prophets in the Western Tradition.

Joseph Smith, Jr. revealed that he would have to wait for four years before he could receive the plates. The idea that every thing must happen in accordance with a divine plan does not negate this revelation. It supports this revelation.

Smith reported additional periodic visits with the angel until finally, in September 1827, Smith indicated that Moroni allowed him to take the gold plates but strictly forbade him from initially showing them to any person without authorization. The idea of periodic visits of the same angel is consistent with the activities of the Archangel Gavriel in the giving of the Koran to Muhammad and therefore does not contradict the experiences of other prophets. Many have made great attempts to discredit Joseph because no one ever saw the golden plates. However, no one ever saw the Archangel of the Presence give to Moses the ten commandments nor did they see Muhammad with the Archangel Gavriel.

Three of Smith’s associates Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris stated that they had seen the plates in a vision; and later eight other associates of Smith stated that G-d had allowed them to see and handle the plates. None of these witnesses ever denied the testimony that they had given regarding the existence of the gold plates and the three original witnesses also never denied that an angel of G-d had shown them the plates. Under Biblical law it only would have taken two witnesses to verify Joseph’s word. There were a total of eleven witnesses. The fact that the total number in not 12 or 2 support the idea that this was an actual event. Had it been contrived there would have been 12 to represent the original twelve Apostles or 2 to represent Moses and Elijah at the transfiguration. All in all, the claim that the golden tablets existed is sufficiently established under biblical law to guarantee the truth of their existence. Certainly, the claim for their existence is equal to or superior to the claim that Yeshua was resurrected and ascended into heaven.

Joseph now married and twenty one years of age was able to focus his time on producing a translation of the words on the plates. He went to Harmony, New York and began transcribing the characters on the plates using the Urim and Thummim. By 1828, Smith had dictated to Martin Harris, the first scribe, 116 manuscript pages of the text. Martin took these transcripts home to show his wife, but she apparently destroyed them. Joseph indictated that he was devastated by the loss of these first records. Smith returned to Harmony and began dictating to Emma Smith what would become the third section in the Doctrine and Covenants. This section consists of a revelation in which Smith was rebuked for losing the manuscript pages, but was assured that all was not lost. He was assured that if he repented of losing the manuscript, G-d would restore the lost pages. The angel took away the plates and the Urim and Thummim, returning them later in September of 1828.

This entire episode in the transcription process has been criticized as most unlike G-d. However, it does not seem to me that it is any different than punishing Moses so severely for striking the rock twice or for punishing Saul so severely for refusing to commit genocide on the Amalekites. The G-d that is represented in the Hebrew texts appears often to be willful merely because he knows how the plan is suppose to proceed and he knows the alternative paths that may be taken to get to the same place. I found nothing unBiblical about this episode. I see a human being trying to deal with human beings and the will of G-d at the same time. G-d knows, that is a difficult task.

The original 116 pages were never found and were never transcribed.

On April 7, 1829, Smith was joined in Harmony by a new scribe, one of the original witnesses, Oliver Cowdery. He acted as the scribe for the majority of Smith’s later dictation. They claim that John the Baptist appeared and ordained them to the Aaronic Priesthood. I think that it is important that these two lay people without extensive theological understanding recognized that John the Baptist was a Aaronic priest and moreover was probably the High Priest according to the line of the Teacher of Righteousness who was removed by the Hasmoneans. He probably could transfer the Aaronic Priesthood to these two men, if he had a divine commission, which his appearance might imply.

Upon receiving this priesthood they baptized each other immediately thereafter in accordance with their understanding of this priesthood authority. The two then claimed that Peter, James and John came to them during either May or June 1829 and ordained them to the Melchizedek Priesthood. I find this event even more interesting. It has not been until very recently that theologians have turned their attention to the Three Pillars who were the true authority in the Apostolic Church. Although Paul makes reference to the Pillars in Galatians, the churches of Joseph Smith’s time gave them no importance. They, in fact, would have been the successors to the Melchizedekan Priesthood after Yeshua’s ascension and James’ authority as Melchizedekan High Priest was the basis upon which he was allowed in the Holy Place of the Temple. How Joseph Smith could so far anticipate the modern day scholarship is remarkable and shows divine guidance via the gift of knowledge which often accompanies a true Prophet. As the Great Awakening was high apocalyptic it is not surprising that Joseph interpreted these priesthoods as somehow important to prepare believers for the Second Coming and that this authority could only be received by the “laying on of hands” by someone who held that authority. Since this authority had been taken form the earth after the murder and persecution of the early apostles these same men returned as glorified, resurrected beings or angels and restored this priesthood to the earth. Again, this layman with out theological training anticipated the arguments not only of Tertullian who denied to the Catholic church its claim to apostolic succession, but also the claims made later during the Charismatic or Third Great Awakening. In this case, Joseph was demonstrating that he likewise had access to the gift of wisdom associated with prophets.

Joseph Smith, Jr. published the work as the Book of Mormon, on March 26, 1830 and his family were early converts to the new faith. Like Yeshua’s family, they formed the backbone of the early believers.

To avoid conflict and persecution encountered in New York and Pennsylvania, Joseph and Emma moved to Kirtland, Ohio early in 1831. Many of Smith’s followers and associates settled there and in Jackson County, Missouri, where Smith said he was instructed by revelation to build Zion. In Kirtland the church’s first temple was built and many extraordinary events were reported by both Mormons and non-Mormans alike: appearances by Jesus, Moses, Elijah, Elias, and numerous angels; speaking and singing in tongues, often with translations; prophesying; and other spiritual experiences including healing and miracles. Some Mormons even believed erroneously that Jesus’ Millenial reign had begun. All of these signs were supports of Joseph Smith’s claim to be a prophet.

However, Joseph’s attempts to avoid conflict did not work and on March 24, 1832 he was viciously attacked and almost killed, his family was terrorized and he was forced to drink poison. As a true believer, he was not killed by the poison. His tiny child was seriously harmed by the attack in five days later died of pneumonia. Smith preached forgiveness the following day. Sydney Rigdon, a prominent member of the Mormon church was also attacked and suffered a severe concussion and was delirious for several days.

Joseph began to practice a form of polygyny, later called Plural Marriage, in 1833. It was firmly within the biblical tradition but was considered immoral and illegal in the United States. Hypocritical Christians refused to grant the Mormons their civil rights under the first amendment so they were constantly forced to flee. The treatment of the Mormons was another sign that they were well within the Western Tradition which requires true Prophets to suffer for their faith. Ultimately, because the Mormons were not welcome in immoral and unAmerican Ohio, they were forced to immigrate to Missouri.

Joseph Smith identified Independence, Missouri as the place for the Second Coming of Jesus. He marked the very spot. Smith first visited Independence in the summer of 1831, and dedicated the temple site. Many Mormons began coming to Independence, mostly from New England shortly thereafter. There were many legal difficulties in Missouri. When Mormons attempted to vote they were stopped due to the fact that they tended to vote in blocks in accordance with their beliefs. They purchased substantial tracts of land and the people were upset by that fact. They were forced to resort to arms to try to defend their land and the government of Jackson County threatened a charge of treason if they came to their own land. Then the state legislature and the Governor of Missouri issued an order to exterminate all Mormons. Vigilantes attacked on outlying Mormon settlement and killed seventeen people in an event called Haun’s Mill Massacre.
Then 2,500 troops converged on Far West and arrested the church leaders and charged them with treason and used that fact to incarcerate them without trial for several months. They escaped and he was hunted like Yeshua until the day of his death. The Mormon community was forced out of Missouri by 1839.

After being forced out of Missouri, Joseph Smith and his followers made Commerce, Illinois their headquarters at a place called Nauvoo. In October, 1839, Smith and others left for Washington, D.C. to meet with Martin Van Buren, the President of the United States. Smith and his delegation sought redress for the persecution and loss of property suffered in Missouri. But although declaring their cause just, Martin Van Buren refused to do anything for them. The temple in Nauvoo was begun in autumn of 1840. It was dedicated on April 6, 1841. But the city had to be abandonned in 1846 because fanatical and immoral Christians attacked them and threatened violence against the innocent Mormons.

In March, 1842, Smith was initiated into the Masonic Order and raised to the Sublime Degree of a Master Mason the following day by order of Grand Master Abraham Jonas. Nauvoo’s population by the time of the abandonment rivaled that of Chicago. The vicious Christians then threatened to revoke the charter of the town of Nauvoo.

In February, 1844, Smith announced his candidacy for the Presidency, with Sidney Rigdon as his vice presidential running mate.
During this period, it is claimed that Smith was "sealed" to several women. Sealing is the temple ordinance whereby a family unit, including parents, children and grandparents, is allowed to continue throughout eternity as opposed to a "til death do you part" common marriage ceremony. Many of the early members of the church believed this doctrine and if they did not have parents who could be sealed to them then they would be sealed to the prophet or president of the church. Many women were also "sealed" to him after his death. Some people claim that Smith fathered children with some of these women but there is no evidence that he did. Mormons believe that these children were not Smith's children, but children that his wives bore by their first husbands, often non-mormons, to whom they also remained married civilly. They believe that these "sealings" were of a spiritual and not a physical nature. There is no evidence that Smith co-habitated with any of these women and DNA investigations have failed to reveal any of Smith's offspring except through children by his first wife, Emma, thus apparently corroborating this belief.
Several of Smith's disaffected associates at Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois joined together to publish a newspaper called the Nauvoo Expositor. Its first and only issue was published 7 June 1844.
The paper was highly critical of Smith, expounding the beliefs that he had become a fallen prophet, held too much power as both mayor of Nauvoo and President of the Church, and that he was corrupting women through the practice of plural marriage. It also outlined several grievances, including the numerous court actions against Smith and his followers for false imprisonment and violation of rights. The publication of this material disturbed many of Nauvoo's citizens, and the city council headed by Joseph Smith as a mayor responded by passing an ordinance declaring the newspaper a public nuisance designed to promote violence against Smith and his followers. Under the council's new ordinance, Smith, as Nauvoo's mayor, in conjunction with the city council, ordered the city marshal to destroy the paper and the press on June 10, 1844 which was legal according to the city charter but illegal according to state law to do without court decision. However, Smith followers broke into press building and destroyed the press along with undistributed copies of the newpapers.
Because this action was viewed as illegal, many enemies of the fledgling religion accused Smith of violating freedom of the press. Violent threats were made against Smith and the Mormon community.
Charges were brought against Smith and he submitted to incarceration in Carthage, the county seat. Smith's brother, Hyrum, and several friends, including John Taylor and Willard Richards, accompanied him to the jail. The Governor of the state, Thomas Ford, had promised protection and a fair trial. He failed to keep either of these promises.
Shortly after 5:00 PM on 27 June 1844, a mob of about 200 men with blackened faces stormed the jail, and went upstairs to where Joseph and his associates were staying. They attempted to hold the doorway against the mob, using walking sticks to knock gun barrels down as they were thrust inside. Joseph had a small pepper-box pistol (which his associates brought into jail for him), with which he fired at the mob several times through the closed door. The mobbers returned fire (through the still-closed door). Hyrum Smith died immediately, shot in the face. John Taylor was shot five times but survived, one shot being stopped by his pocketwatch (the hands stopped at 5:16). Willard Richards was unharmed. Joseph ran to the open window, where he was shot simultaneously from within and without and uttered his last words were "Oh Lord, my God!" and fell out the window.
During his adult life - from the time he established the Church of Christ, the church's first name, in 1830 to his death in 1844 - Smith introduced a large amount of restored biblical teachings, including efforts to clarify many teachings found in the Bible. Joseph Smith taught that Jesus was the Christ and the promised Messiah. He also taught that we must follow the example of Christ, and that mankind should pray and worship in his name. He taught that Christ performed the Atonement to save all of humanity from damnation. He began the Atonement in Gethsemane, and went through agony so great that he bled from every pore. These teachings are all consistent with the evangelical movement and Arminianism
Joseph Smith taught that God is the Heavenly Father of all mankind and that mankind is made in His express image. Smith taught that God Himself has a physical body like a man and that God loves us and wants mankind to progress to become like him. Joseph taught that Jesus, God's only begotten son in the flesh, is our example to follow. See also his teachings on the nature of God as well as the King Follett Discourse, delivered two months before his death. It is clear that Joseph was trying to reconcile the false doctrine of the trinity with the teachings of Scripture concerning the Oneness of G-d. He adopts ideas that were laid down in the beginning of Christianity. How he could have known those ideas is beyond belief unless one believes in the gifts of knowledge and wisdom normally associated with office of Prophet.
Smith taught that all of mankind lived before they were born, and that men live after their physical bodies die. He taught that the reason that mankind is on earth is to progress, and that this life is but a "drop in the bucket," a single step in our eternal progression, and part of the Plan of Salvation. It is worth mentioning here that in the Psalms, "Wisdom" existed before the earth with the sons of men, and God the Father is referred to in the New Testament as "the Father of Spirits." So far as we know Smith had no access to the Jewish kabbalistic doctrines and no access to theosophical teachers. Where he got these ideas therefore is also a mystery unless one believes in his inherent gifts as a Prophet.
Smith taught that all mankind, good and bad alike, will be resurrected and become immortal, receiving back their bodies whole. It is a gift from God provided by Jesus' Atonement. Again he echoes the teachings of the Zohar here.
However, those who repent and are worthy will receive greater blessings, the greatest of which is Eternal Life, which is to live with God in the Celestial Kingdom. He taught that after the resurrection, "all men will come from the grave as they lie down; whether old or young, there will not be added unto their stature one cubit, neither taken from it."
Joseph taught that families are a central part of God's plan for mankind, and an important part of our growth and progression. He taught that if people live worthily, that their family relationships can last beyond death so that families can be together forever. See also his teachings on family. These concepts are not far removed from the Buddhist doctrine of the bardo. So far as we know he had no recourse to any Buddhists from which to learn these concepts of reincarnation.
Smith taught that that "the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion Mormonism, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book." According to the title page of the Book of Mormon, it has a purpose, "Which is to show unto the remnant of the House of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever— And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that JESUS is the CHRIST, the ETERNAL GOD, manifesting himself unto all nations." (See also Smith's teachings on The Book of Mormon.)
The Book of Mormon claims to be a record of former inhabitants of the American continent. It said that these people had a knowledge of Jesus Christ, that they had prophets that recorded their own scriptures that testified of Jesus Christ, that they built temples on the American continent similar to the temple in Jerusalem, that they practiced ordinances such as baptism, sacrament, and the laying on of hands for the conferring of the gift of the Holy Ghost (confirmation). There is some evidence that the history provided in the Book of Mormon is archaeologically supportable.
Joseph taught that the Lord revealed to him a code of health designed for Latter-day Saints, in which members of the Church were asked to abstain from tobacco, coffee, tea (except herbal tea), alcoholic beverages, and to eat meat sparingly. In exchange for doing this, members were promised that the Lord would bless them that they "shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; … [they] shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint." In addition, people were promised that they "shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures."
In 1832, Smith claimed to receive a revelation to build a building that could serve as a "house of God" - namely, a temple. He taught that within these temples, ordinances could be performed necessary for the exaltation of mankind. Ordinances could be performed for both the living and the dead (for example, see Baptism for the dead). Ordinances in the temple are a stated requirement for entering the Celestial Kingdom. These ordinances are said by those who have been through them and who are also Masons to be directly related to the teachings of Freemasonry.
Smith's claim to be a prophet of God has led to much controversy. Smith was a polarizing figure in his time, and he continues to be a focus of controversy between his millions of followers, most of whom revere him as a prophet with the same authority as prophets in the standard Christian canon, and opponents of Mormonism, who believe he was either delusional or fraudulent. This author thinks that the evidence for Joseph Smith as a prophet is as great if not greater than many of the Biblical prophets. He showed all the signs of prophetic authority and acted like a prophet in many ways.
The spirituality of this new religion is apocalyptic but not to the point of fanaticism. The group feels strongly that they are living in the last days and do not resort to the Prophets to support that position. They are highly works oriented. There is no indication of the standard methods of meditation and prayer as regular practice religion. They do try to emulate Jesus and in that way maintain a spirituality of imitation that is consistent with the earliest Christian ideals.
Any claim by any of the groups except the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) to be following purely in the teachings of Joseph Smith, Jr. have been repudiated in the famous case of Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints vs. the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints in which the Supreme Court ruled that neither were following the teachings of Joseph Smith and awarded the Temple Lot to the Church of Christ (Temple Lot).

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The Way Essay Mem Aleph -- Jehovah's Witnesses

Barry — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 17:06:01 GMT

Another of the groups to come out of the Second Great Awakening and the Millerite tradition was the Jehovah’s Witnesses. This essay is not interested any more in their correctness than that of any other group, which has been discussed in these essays. What I will discuss is their spirituality and how that affects them and Christianity in general. While it may seem that I support one or another group, I really am not concerned about the validity of any group’s doctrine as I am an unbiased viewer that believes that Christianity and Judaism as they exist today have no relationship to the first century beliefs which engendered the movement of those claiming to follow Jesus or those claiming to be Jews. As such, none of these traditions or groups represents my point of view.
Jehovah's Witnesses are members of an international religious organization who believe themselves to be the restoration of first-century Christianity. Founded in the 1870s by Charles Taze Russell under the name Bible Students, they underwent numerous schisms and later adopted the name Jehovah's Witnesses in 1931 under Joseph Franklin Rutherford. Official membership now stands at over 6 million.
Jehovah's Witnesses are generally socially conservative. Being politically neutral, they have been persecuted by various governments, notably by the Nazi government, with many sent to concentration camps. They have been instrumental in establishing religious freedoms in various countries.
Since their foundation, they have been concerned with the second advent of Jesus. Initially holding many similar views of other 19th century Advent groups, such as the Millerites, they have since developed their own unique eschatology.
Current theological views of the Jehovah’s Witnesses are biblical inerrancy; sola scriptura, that is, only the bible should be used to decide issues involving doctrine; non-trinitarian; Jesus was the Creator, but he was created first; the Great Apostasy; eschatological imminence; and a variety of beliefs drawn from their views on scripture.
The entire Protestant canon of scripture is considered the inspired, inerrant word of God. A literal interpretation of the Bible is favored, though biblical writers and characters employed symbolism, parable, figures of speech, and poeticism. The account of Creation is taken literally, as an accurate description of the formation of the world. However the seven days of Creation are not taken as literal terms, each day can span a period of time needed to perform certain aspects of Creation, not necessarily a 24-hour period. Evolution as the process that started life is rejected. The New Testament particularly is directed to those who hope for a resurrection in heaven, namely the 144,000. The principles in the Bible are beneficial to everyone. The translation of the Bible typically used is the New World Translation, though other translations are consulted. The doctrine of sola scriptura, that is, only the Bible should be used for deciding issues of doctrine is the basis of their theology. The interpretation and application of scripture is the responsibility of the Governing Body said to be influenced by holy spirit and directed by Jesus Christ. All members are expected to abide by the doctrines and organizational requirements as determined by the Governing Body.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses have returned to the pre-gnostic and kabbalistic view of G-d. God is the creator and supreme being. Jehovah God created Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit is God's means of acting, not the uncreated third person of the Trinity. Using God's name, Jehovah, an English derivative of the Tetragrammaton, is a requirement for true worship. The use of the name "Jehovah" as the English translation is not an essential requirement for all Jehovah's Witnesses as not all Jehovah's Witnesses speak English. It is essential though to use God's name, Jehovah, or as it is translated in each persons own language.
Jesus is God's first creation and He was used by God to create every other creation (Colossians 1:15-19). This concept places Jesus in the place of Metatron as the Archangel of the Presence. They believe that Jesus was known as the Archangel Michael in his pre-human existence based on their interpretation of 1 Thessalonians 4:16 which states that the Lord would descend from heaven with an archangel's voice and those who are dead in union with Christ will rise first. Since Michael is the only archangel mentioned in the Bible, they reason that this text identifies the Archangel Michael as the being who we came to know as Jesus making emphasis that the text says that the Lord speaks with an archangel's voice and not God's voice. This view of Jesus as being the Archangel Michael is consistent with the earliest Nasorean and Ebionite ideas of Jesus. Jesus then is, according to their beliefs, literally the only begotten Son of God, and received his life from his God and Father, based on their literal reading of multiple scriptures including John 3:16, John 3:36, Proverbs 8:22, John 6:57, Matthew 16:16, 1 John 4:4-12, and Revelation 3:12,14. This idea would closely approximate to the concept of Adam Kadmon as explained in the Zohar. His birth on earth was accomplished when God transferred Michael's life force from heaven to the womb of the virgin Mary.While on earth, Jesus was executed for mankind's sins upon a single beamed torture stake (Stake or "Tree" - see Galatians 3:13). The cross is rejected as a symbol for Christ's death, instead seen as a later pagan addition absorbed from pre-Christian religious symbols of crosses. Jesus acts as the mediator of the "new covenant" for those going to heaven (the 144,000); as the one who is the means of approach to God in prayer, and as the "Chief Agent of life" and salvation for all worthy mankind. Mary was not perpetually a virgin, but rather bore more children after Jesus
After the death of the last apostle, the Church gradually diverged, in a "Great Apostasy", from the original teachings of Jesus on several major points. The true understanding of the scriptures began to be reassembled by Charles Taze Russell and his associates when they formed a Bible study group in the 1870s. In 1919 Jesus chose Jehovah's Witnesses as the only true religion on earth.
Jehovah's Witnesses are organized into congregations, and each congregation meets three times a week in local Kingdom Halls and private homes. Men are selected by representatives of the Governing Body to teach and direct the preaching work. Women cannot be teachers in the congregation; though female Witnesses do participate in meeting programs. Prayer is featured at the outset and conclusion of these meetings. It is offered by individual brothers, not a 'group prayer' and is not a reading or repeating of sections of any prayerbook. As well, prayers are given at meals. Private prayers are given as desired. For a prayer to be acceptable, they must be made to the Father Jehovah in the name of the Son. The use of idols is prohibited. They reject the veneration of Mary, the saints, or the cross.
Throughout the week, there are also meetings to organize the preaching work where members meet either in homes or Kingdom Halls to organize and pray prior to engaging in evangelism. Each month, a report is submitted to the congregation elders indicating the number of hours in the ministry, along with other details, and is required to be officially counted as a Jehovah's Witness.
The most important event is the celebration of the Lord's Supper held once a year after sundown on the date corresponding to Nisan 14 on the Hebrew calendar. This concept of raising the Seder Meal to the highest sacrificial level is consistent with Nasorean traditions as propagated by the Nasorean Orthodox Qahal. Only those claiming to be of the "remnant", those who expect to be resurrected in heaven, partake of the unleavened bread and wine. Others simply observe the proceedings without partaking. They do not believe in transubstantiation or consubstantiation (of the Eucharist)
To become a Jehovah's Witness, one must submit to a catechism, or series of questions to determine eligibility for baptism. Baptisms are normally performed at conventions.
The spirituality of the Jehovah’s Witnesses is centered on the expectation of the imminent return of Jesus and the need to be found ready for his coming. The understanding of the eschatology is therefore central to their spirituality. The "seven times" of Daniel 4:10-17 are interpreted as a 2,520 year period from 607 BC to 1914 AD, referred to as the "Gentile Times". 607 BC marked the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem based on the belief that 70 years transpired from destruction of Jerusalem to return of captives from Babylon. Of course that belief is not supported by history, but that is part of the Jehovah’s Witnesses mythos. During this 2,520 year period, God permitted gentile nations to govern themselves without divine intervention. In 1914, Jesus' invisible enthronement as King in Heaven was followed by an inspection period of all religions. This same time marked the beginning of the end when Satan and his angels were cast from the heavens and isolated to the Earth for a short time. Based on their interpretation of Revelation 12:7-12, the war in heaven made way for the establishment of Christ's Kingdom while events on Earth marked Satan's rage at being cast out of heaven and his intent to wage war against those followers of Christ on Earth. In 1918 Jesus resurrected those of the 144,000 (the "anointed") who had already died to heavenly life; since 1918, any "anointed" are individually resurrected to heavenly life at the time of their death. In 1919, Jehovah's Witnesses were chosen by Jesus as the only true Christian organization.
The "last days" began in 1914. All other religions will shortly be destroyed by the United Nations. After this, Jehovah's Witnesses will come under attack. Armageddon immediately follows. All governments, which are under Satan's control, will then be destroyed.
All humanity is in a sinful state. Release from this is possible through the death of Jesus. His death atoned for the sins of humankind. To be saved, one needs faith. It is only by the undeserved kindness (grace) of God through which one can attain this; works are evidence of faith and cannot gain salvation. These are standard Arminian points of view. There are two destinations for those saved by God. The number of Christians going to heaven is limited to precisely 144,000 (the "anointed") where they will rule with Jesus as kings and priests over Earth. Everyone else who qualifies for salvation living today has the prospect of surviving the coming battle of Armageddon and of living forever in an earthly paradise. Jehovah's Witnesses teach that the only scriptural hope of surviving Armageddon comes through adherence to their biblical interpretations. Those who do not, face destruction at Armageddon. The fate of some, such as small children or the mentally ill, remains indeterminate. After Armageddon, an unknown number of dead people will be resurrected, with the prospect of living forever, but those who have already been judged by God will not, such as any killed at Armageddon. Christ will rule for a thousand years, during which time the Earth will be transformed into a paradise, while Satan is abyssed and unable to influence mankind. At the end of the thousand years, Satan will be released, and the final judgment will take place during which Satan and all those corrupted by him will be destroyed forever, with evil never occurring again.
The morality of the Jehovah’s Witnesses flows from their conservative views of scripture. As they hold that they New Translation of the Holy Scriptures is inerrant, they accept the translation not the original words as definitive. The family life is important to the Jehovah Witness and the father is the head of the family. Fathers are expected to work and support their families. Divorce is permitted only as a result of adultery. The Jehovah’s Witnesses oppose all government and therefore are completely neutral toward all government. They do not participate in war.

The opinions of Jehovah’s Witnesses on death are consistent with the most ancient Jewish concepts of after life. The soul is believed to be the human body and consciousness, not an incorporeal entity that indwells a physical human body that becomes released upon death. Death is a state of non-existence. Hell (Hades or Sheol) is not a place of fiery torment, but rather the common grave of all mankind; a place of no conscious thought. The consciousness of a human ceases to exist at death. They believe that the only way for a person to live again is through a resurrection of which the Bible makes several references and provides numerous examples. They note that none of these persons spoke of having been "pulled" back into existence from a heaven or a hell. In the case of Lazarus, if he had died and gone to heaven: would it have been proper for Jesus to bring him back to Earth, only to have him die again, eventually? Why didn't Lazarus tell anyone about his "life after death" experience if he had any? To a Witness, death is the inherited result of Adam and Eve's rebellious disobedience to God's order and only through Christ's sacrifice could the price of redemption be paid. The following texts are some of the ones used by Jehovah's Witnesses to show that death is like a deep sleep or a non-existence and that the soul dies - Ecclesiastes 3:18-21; Proverbs 2:18; Ezekiel 18:4; Psalms 146:3,4; John 11:11-13.
Consistent with my statements concerning the apocalyptic Millerites and those that derive from them, the spirituality of the Jehovah’s Witnesses is all consuming. Because of the constant striving to be among those elect 144,000 that will be anointed to the priesthood of the future world, the true believer spends his life in church or doing things that are involved with church. The Jehovah’s Witnesses are not an esoteric order and therefore they frown on things like the gifts of the spirit or the alternative medical techniques that require meditation. One must conclude that the actual spirituality is therefore very shallow and works based.

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Do Not Fret Over Anything Or Be Anxious Over Anything

rvr_rat66 — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 00:40:18 GMT

Philipians 4:6,7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to G-d; and the peace of
G-d, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds
through The Messiah Yeshua.

I never used to be a worrier, but due to chemical changes in my body from the chemotherapy, more and more things have been bothering me lately. The other day I stumbled accross the above passage of scripture and prayed to G-d about everything that was bothering me. I also made it known to G-d the desired things I wanted to see change about these things. I then thanked Him for hearing each of my requests. This brought to my rememberance that though I have failed Yeshua many times, He has never failed me. I then placed my complete trust in Yeshua to be my sustainer through these tough times. Everyday, the Holy Spirit provides all that I need to get me through that day.
Trust In Yeshua! He will be your closest friend.

This thread could be used by our members to post how scripture has led them into a closer walk with the Savior.

posted in Spiritual History - 4 replies

Clarification Please

rvr_rat66 — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 15:40:27 GMT

Are there things in the bible that were written strictly for jews? What about tithing? Is tithing strictly for jews? There is a doctrine in my church that says as believers in Yeshua, we are considered spiritual jews and that we are now a part of spiritual Israel. Could you please elaborate on these things for us Barry?

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Way Essay Lamed Teth -- The Second Great Awakening

Barry — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 15:54:24 GMT

The Second Great Awakening broke out in the United States in the 1820’s and introduced a number of major changes into the protestant expression of faith in the United States and ultimately in the whole world.

The evangelical movement was always prone to social activism. In New England that social activism was responsible for the creation of several new religious organizations. Various branches of evangelicals created interdenominational missionary societies which saw as their missionary field the American West. They saw not only the Indians and Hispanics as ripe for “religion” but also the individualists that had gone West seeking a better material life. Members of these societies not only acted as apostles for the faith, but as educators, exponents of Eastern, urban culture. Publication and education societies promoted Christian education; most notable among them was the American Bible Society founded in 1816. Social activism inspired by the revival gave rise to abolition groups as well as the Society for the Promotion of Temperance, and began efforts to reform prisons and care for the handicapped and mentally ill. They believed in the perfectibility of people and were highly moralistic in their endeavors. Some of the larger religious movements with roots in the Second Great Awakening are the Latter Day Saint movement, the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Jehovah's Witnesses. Each of these movements will be spoken of in future essays.
In the Appalachian region, the revival took on characteristics similar to the First Great Awakening of the previous century. But here, the center of the revival was the camp meeting—defined as a "religious service of several days' length, for a group that was obliged to take shelter on the spot because of the distance from home." Pioneers in thinly populated areas looked to the camp meeting as a refuge from the lonely life on the frontier. The sheer exhilaration of participating in a religious revival with hundreds and perhaps thousands of people inspired the dancing, shouting and singing associated with these events.
The first camp meeting took place in July 1800 at Gasper River Church in southwestern Kentucky. A much larger one was held at Cane Ridge, Kentucky, in August 1801, somewhere between 10,000 and 25,000 people attended; Presbyterian, Baptist and Methodist ministers participated. It was this event that stamped the organized revival as the major mode of church expansion for denominations such as the Methodists and Baptists. This event was also instrumental in the birth of the churches of the Restoration Movement, particularly the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the Church of Christ.
The great revival quickly spread throughout Kentucky, Tennessee & southern Ohio, with the Methodists and the Baptists its prime beneficiaries. Each denomination had assets that allowed it to thrive on the frontier. The Methodists had a very efficient organization that depended on ministers—known as circuit riders—who sought out people in remote frontier locations. The circuit riders came from among the common people, which helped them establish a rapport with the frontier families they hoped to convert.
The Baptists had no formal church organization. Their farmer-preachers were people who received "the call" from God, studied the Bible and founded a church, which then ordained them. Other candidates for the ministry emerged from these churches, and they helped the Baptist Church to establish a presence farther into the wilderness. Using such methods, the Baptists became dominant throughout the border states and most of the South.
The Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement (or simply, Restoration Movement) is a religious reform movement which takes its names from Barton W. Stone and Alexander Campbell, who are regarded by some historians as the leading figures of four independent movements with like principles who merged together into two religious movements of significant size. Many of the more conservative members of the Churches of Christ object to the phrase "Stone-Campbell Movement" as being derogatory. Restorationism sought to renew the whole Christian church, on the pattern set forth in the New Testament, without regard to the creeds developed over time in Catholicism or Protestantism, which allegedly kept Christianity divided. Churches are now found throughout the globe, claiming to "concentrate on the essential aspects of the Christian faith, allowing for a diversity of understanding with non-essentials."
Key practices are the weekly celebration of the Lord's Supper presided over by a lay person, and a commitment to believer's baptism, initially submersion was in a river, stream, or lake most probably, but now more often in a baptistry in the congregational building.
The Second Great Awakening exercised a profound impact on American history. The numerical strength of the Baptists and Methodists rose relative to that of the denominations dominant in the colonial period—the Anglicans, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Quakers. Among the latter, efforts to apply Christian teaching to the resolution of social problems presaged the Social Gospel of the late 19th century. America was becoming a more diverse nation in the early to mid-19th century, and the growing differences within American Protestantism reflected and contributed to this diversity.
The spirituality of the Great Awakening was boisterous, personal, and charismatic. It began to see a spirit of rejoicing in religion that would seem very much different from the quiet spirituality of Catholicism or Anglicanism. One of the most profound religious concepts to come out of the Awakening was the idea of constant personal renewal. This concept was expressed in the idea of backsliding and then coming back to the Lord. As a result, many people developed a morality that met their daily needs and habits, foreign from the Scriptures, and acceptable to the majority view. Prayer was not the focus of this movement. Action and movement characterized it. Showmanship was born in the camp meeting. The basic ideals of morality and sacrifice were jettisoned in favor of an easy grace. Such a religion appeals to those people who are busy creating a new empire. They need easy morality to allow them to deal with the daily needs of their situation.
The social gospel spread quickly among freed men and when the slaves were freed in forty years the Methodists and Baptists were major beneficiaries of new congregants. The social gospel expressed in missionary terms spread from the American West to Africa, the Caribbean, Central and South America and India. It went to Australia and New Zealand. It was received warmly in Southeast Asia. The free wheeling spirituality of the Great Awakening was perfect for building nations and it aided greatly in providing “democratic” ideals in many of those countries.

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The Way Essay Lamed Zayin -- BESHT

Barry — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 16:16:32 GMT

The early Eighteenth Century of this Age proved to be a time of great spiritual renewal. Judaism’s moribund condition was the result of the Talmudist control of the faith. However, there was a spiritual desire that still existed after the Sabbataian debacle that had to be met or the authority of Judaism would have faded away. Two great movements occurred in this period in Jewish history: the Reform movement and the Chassidic movement. The first was a non-spiritual movement aimed at modernizing and “enlightening” the Jewish faith. The second was a great charismatic renewal contemporary with a similar movement in Christianity. In this essay, I will consider the philosophical basis of Chassidism and its spiritual effect on Judaism and the world. In the next, I will consider the third charismatic renewal and its effects on Christianity.

The Chassidic movement was founded by a remarkable man who transcended the strict formalism of Judaism that was found in Eastern Europe in the first part of the Eighteenth Century. Yisrael ben Eliezer was not ordained as a rabbi and in fact it had been strongly believed that he would never become a rabbi because he lacked the scholarly qualities needed for the office. He was born in 1698 in Poland, but he lived in Romania during the most formative period of his life. He died in Poland on May 22, 1760. Yisrael was given the highest of titles, Ba’al Shem Tov, which is the title that is most enduring in his life. In fact he is often referred to as the Besht, which is the acronym for Ba’al Shem Tov. The Rabbi got his rabbinical ordination in the ancient way, the way of the earliest rabbim of the Nasoreans and Farsim (Pharisees) in that he had men come to him and ask to become his disciples. A Ba’al Shem was a person who acted like a shaman in the Jewish community of Eastern Europe, performing herbal healings, laying on hands, doing exorcisms, and preparing amulets for protection. The additional title of Tov or Good showed that he was especially gifted in this area. Many of his disciples believe that he comes from the Davidic line tracing its lineage to the royal house of King David, and by extension with the institution of the Jewish Messiah.
Rabbi Yisrael was a keen judge of human nature and he could see into a man’s heart. This gift known in Christian circles as the gift of knowledge allowed him to know things about a person that only he knew or may be things that only G-d knew about that person. He used his gifts as a judge, arbitrator, and mediator for his people. His gifts of healing were augmented by his ability to know which plants would be correct for which problem. He also laid hands on people and regularly worked great healings. His miracles are too numerous to recount.
The antagonism between Talmudism and Hasidism was apparent to the representatives of each at Besht's first appearance; but the open breach did not come about until later. In fact, Besht took sides with the Talmudists in the disputes with Frankists (Jacob Frank's followers) and was even one of the three delegates of the Talmudists to a disputation between the two parties held at Lemberg in 1759. It was only in keeping with Besht's character that he felt keenly upon the acceptance of baptism by the Frankists, for it is related that he said: "As long as a diseased limb is connected with the body, there is hope that it may be saved; but, once amputated, it is gone, and there is no hope." The excitement consequent upon the Frankist movement undermined his health, and he died shortly after the conversion of many Frankists to Christianity.
The foundation-stone of Hasidism as laid by Besht is a strongly marked panentheistic conception of God. He declared the whole universe, mind and matter, to be a manifestation of the Divine Being; that this manifestation is not an emanation from God, as is the conception of the Kabbalah by Mitnagdim, for nothing can be separated from God: all things are rather forms in which God reveals Himself. When man speaks, said Besht, he should remember that his speech is an element of life, and that life itself is a manifestation of God. Even evil exists in God. This seeming contradiction is explained on the ground that evil is not bad in itself, but only in its relation to man. It is wrong to look with desire upon a woman; but it is divine to admire her beauty: it is wrong only in so far as man does not regard beauty as a manifestation of God, but misconceives it, and thinks of it in reference to himself. Nevertheless, sin is nothing positive, but is identical with the imperfections of human deeds and thought. Whoever does not believe that God resides in all things, but separates God and them in his thoughts, has not the right conception of God. It is equally fallacious to think of a creation in time: creation, that is, God's activity, has no end. God is ever active in the changes of nature: in fact, it is in these changes that God's continuous creativeness consists.
This panentheism would have been ignored, had Besht not been a man of the people. He gave his metaphysical conception of God an eminently practical significance.
The first result of his principles was a remarkable optimism. Since God is immanent in all things, all things must possess something good in which God manifests Himself as the source of good. For this reason, the Besht taught, every man must be considered good, and his sins must be explained, not condemned. One of his favorite sayings was that no man has sunk too low to be able to raise himself to God. Naturally, then, it was his chief endeavor to convince sinners that God stood as near to them as to the righteous, and that their misdeeds were chiefly the consequences of their folly.
Another important result of his doctrines, which was of great practical importance, was his denial that asceticism is pleasing to God. "Whoever maintains that this life is worthless is in error: it is worth a great deal; only one must know how to use it properly." From the very beginning Besht fought against that contempt for the world which, through the influence of Isaac Luria's Kabbalah, had almost become a dogma among the Jews. He considered care of the body as necessary as care of the soul; since matter is also a manifestation of God, and must not be considered as hostile or opposed to Him.
In connection with his struggle against asceticism, it is natural that he should have fought also against the strictness and the sanctimoniousness that had gradually developed from the strict Talmudic standpoint. Not that Besht required the abrogation of any religious ceremonies or of a single observance. His target was the great importance which the Talmudic view attaches to the fulfillment of a law, while almost entirely disregarding sentiment or the growth of man's inner life. While the rabbis of his day considered the study of the Talmud as the most important religious activity, Besht laid all the stress on prayer. "All that I have achieved," he once remarked, "I have achieved not through study, but through prayer". Prayer, however, is not petitioning God to grant a request, though that is one end of prayer, but ("cleaving", dvekut)—the feeling of oneness with God, the state of the soul when man gives up the consciousness of his separate existence, and joins himself to the eternal being of God. Such a state produces a species of indescribable joy, which is a necessary ingredient of the true worship of God.
It is remarkable that Besht, whose starting point was the same as that of Isaac Luria's Kabbalah arrived at seemingly opposite results. His conception of God was panentheistic; while the school of Luria laid the greatest stress upon the principle of emanation. Later Hasidic works spent much effort in reconciling these views. The Besht's fight against asceticism was directed more against the school from which it sprang than against pure Talmudism. His teachings concerning ("joy", simcha) were especially opposed to asceticism. The followers of Luria considered weeping an indispensable accompaniment to prayer; while Besht considered unrestrained weeping and feelings of sorrow to be wholly objectionable. The sinner who repents of his sin should not become distraught over the past, but should rejoice over the Heavenly Voice, over the Divine Power, working within him and enabling him to recognize the true in admitting his sin. The function of joy in prayer is paralleled by glowing enthusiasm and ecstasy ("to become inflamed", hitlahavut) in every act of worship. Fear of God is only an initiatory step to real worship, which must spring from a love of God and a surrender of self to Him. In his enthusiasm, man will not think either of this life or of the next: the feeling of union with God is in itself a means and an end. Enthusiasm, however, demands progress, not the mere fulfillment of the Law's precepts in a daily routine which becomes deadening: true religion consists in an ever-growing recognition of God.
The later developments of Hasidism are unintelligible without consideration of Besht's opinion concerning man's proper relation with the universe. True worship of God, as above explained, consists in, the cleaving to, and the unification with, God. To use his own words, "the ideal of man is to be a revelation himself, clearly to recognize himself as a manifestation of God." Mysticism, he said, is not the Kabbalah, which everyone may learn; but that sense of true oneness, which is usually as strange, unintelligible, and incomprehensible to mankind as dancing is to a dove. However, the man who is capable of this feeling is endowed with a genuine intuition, and it is the perception of such a man which is called prophecy, according to the degree of his insight. From this it results, in the first place, that the ideal man may lay claim to authority equal, in a certain sense, to the authority of the Prophets. This focus on oneness and personal revelation helps earn his mystical interpretation of Judaism the title of pantheism.
A second and more important result of the doctrine is that through his oneness with God, man forms a connecting link between the Creator and creation. Thus, slightly modifying the Bible verse, Hab. ii. 4, Besht said, "The righteous can vivify by his faith." Besht's followers enlarged upon this idea and consistently deduced from it the source of divine mercy, of blessings, of life; and that therefore, if one love him, one may partake of God's mercy.
On the opposite side of the coin, the Baal Shem Tov warned the Hasidim:
Amalek is still alive today.…Every time you experience a worry or doubt about how God is running the world—that's Amalek launching an attack against your soul. We must wipe Amalek out of our hearts whenever—and wherever—he attacks so that we can serve God with complete joy.
Though Besht may not be held responsible for the later conceptions, there is no doubt that his self-reliance was an important factor in winning adherents. It may be said of Hasidism that there is no other Jewish sect in which the founder is as important as his doctrines. Besht himself is still the real center for the Hasidim; his teachings have almost sunk into oblivion. As Schechter ("Studies in Judaism," p. 4) finely observes: "To the Hasidim, Ba'al-Shem [Besht]…was the incarnation of a theory, and his whole life the revelation of a system."
Besht did not combat the practice of rabbinical Judaism; it was the spirit of the practice which he opposed. His teachings being the result not of speculation, but of a deep, religious temperament, he laid stress upon a religious spirit, and not upon the forms of religion. Though he considered the Law to be holy and inviolable, he held that one's entire life should be a service of God, and that this would constitute true worship of Him.
Since every act in life is a manifestation of God, and must perforce be divine, it is man's duty so to live that the things called "earthly" may also become noble and pure, that is, divine. Besht tried to realize his ideal in his own career. His life provided the best example for his disciples; and his relationships with the innkeepers (a number of whom he raised to a higher level) furnished a silent but effective protest against the practice of the rabbis, who, in their inexorable sense of strict righteousness, would have no dealings with people fallen morally. The Hasidim tell of a woman whom her relatives sought to kill on account of her shameful life, but who was saved in body and soul by Besht. The story may be a myth, but it is characteristic of Besht's activity in healing those in greatest need of relief. More important to him than prayer was a friendly relationship with sinners; though the former constituted an essential factor in the religious life. The story of Besht's career affords many examples of unselfishness and high-minded benevolence. And while these qualities equally characterize a number of the rabbis of his day, his distinguishing traits were a merciful judgment of others, fearlessness combined with dislike of strife, and a boundless joy in life.
Moreover, Besht's methods of teaching differed essentially from those of his opponents and contributed not a little to his success. He was certainly not a scholar; that is, his knowledge of rabbinical literature, especially of the Talmud and the Midrashim, was only that of an average scholar, a lamdan. He was still less gifted as a speaker. But the lack of scholarship and oratory was supplied by fine satire and inventiveness in telling parables. There are many satirical remarks directed against his opponents, an especially characteristic one being his designation of the typical Talmudist of his day as "a man who through sheer study of the Law has no time to think about God." Besht illustrated his views of asceticism by the following parable:
A thief once tried to break into a house, the owner of which, crying out, frightened the thief away. The same thief soon afterward broke into the house of a very strong man, who, on seeing him enter, kept quite still. When the thief had come near enough, the man caught him and put him in prison, thus depriving him of all opportunity to do further harm.
Not by fleeing from earthly enjoyments through fear is the soul's power assured, but by holding the passions under control.
Much of Besht's success was also due to his firm conviction that God had entrusted him with a special mission to spread his doctrines. In his enthusiasm and ecstasy he believed that he often had heavenly visions revealing his mission to him. In fact, for him every intuition was a divine revelation; and divine messages were daily occurrences.
Besht is quite naturally one of the most interesting figures in modern Jewish legend. As a man of the people and for the people, it is not strange that he should have been honored and glorified in story and in tradition. Of the many narratives that cluster about him, the following are given as the most characteristic:
Rabbi Yisrael so changed the mindset of Jews in Eastern Europe that the Chassidic movement soon became the majority view. Judaism became vibrant and alive for common people and the resurgence of the faith especially in the ghetto and shtetl was strong. The sad events of the Holocaust are exacerbated by the fact that almost all of the Chassidic movement was exterminated leaving at the end of the horrible period just 40,000 Chassids out of what had been a community of 3,000,000.

Chassidism is making a comeback in the modern age especially in its Lubavitcher form. The missionary spirit of the Lubavitcher Jews has taken Judaism back to Russia and Eastern Europe and is encouraging those who converted to Christianity during despair and war to return to the faith of the Pharisees.

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Way Essay Lamed Chet -- John Wesley and the Evangelistic Movement

Barry — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 16:15:27 GMT

There were two very important effects on spirituality brought about by the evangelical movement. First, the evangelical movement firmly adopted Arminianism and therefore believed firmly that every person could be destined to salvation and salvation could be lost. Second, the evangelical movement believed that faith would inspire works and the principal work of G-d was the desire to tell others the good news. The good news must be spread by acts of mercy coupled with preaching of the word of G-d. Those attracted to this movement therefore took a huge leap toward reconciliation with the basic concept of faith and works. Having come full circle, the Evangelical movement could find its roots more firmly in the apostolic churches. John Wesley believed in small groups of committed believers who were called “bands”. They were characterized by intense accountability called public confession and personal instruction in the doctrines of religion so that each person became an evangelist.
We can see the result of John Wesley’s work although the laxity by which his children follow their faith with easy access to “forgiveness” by calling on the name of Jesus would have been totally foreign to the holy founder. This was the first great modern movement in Christianity.

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The Way Essay Lamed Vav -- Sabbatai Tzvi, the Messiah of David?

Barry — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 15:24:52 GMT

As a result of the increasing interest in Kabbalah engendered by the Tzefat gathering of Kabbalists under the leadership of the ARI, Rabbi Yitzak Luria, there was one who took his teachings to the ultimate limit of declaring himself the Meshiach. There had been many over the course of centuries who had made such a claim, but this particular one had the most profound effect on Judaism of any, primarily because of the rise of millenarianism. Millenarianism teaches that the end of the age approaches and that the Christ or Meshiach is about to come. One of the characteristics of this event is the restoration of the Holy Land to the Jews. It is doubtful, had there not been the millenarian movement so prominent at the same time, that Sabbatai Tzvi’s ridiculous claims would have been seriously accepted. What is more important is the dramatic effect his claim had on the Jewish world of that time and how it continues to influence Judaism, Christianity and Islam even to this day.
Apart from this general Messianic theory, there was another computation, based on a presumably interpolated passage in the Zohar (a famous Jewish mystical text), and particularly popular among the Jews, according to which the year 1648 was to be the year of Israel's redemption by their long-awaited Jewish Messiah. All these things led Sabbatai to conceive a plan which was of grave consequence for the whole of Jewry, and whose effects are felt even to the present time: he decided to assume the role of that expected Jewish Messiah.
Sabbatai Zevi, (שבתאי צבי Shabtai Tzvi in Hebrew) (also known as Shabbethai, Shabbetai, Sabbetai, or Shabtai; Zvi or Tzvi) (July 23, 1626–possibly September 30, 1676) was a claimed Messiah and Kabbalist. He was the founder of the Donmeh sect, which flourished in the Ottoman Empire, and which drew elements from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as well as of the more Judaism-influenced Sabbatian movement (Sabbatianism), which continued in Europe after his death.
Zevi was born in Smyrna, and died, according to some, on Yom Kippur, September 30, 1676, in Dulcigno, a small town in the coastal region of Montenegro. According to others, he died in Albania. He was of Spanish descent; his father, Mordecai, was a poor poultry-dealer in the Morea. Later, when in consequence of the war between Turkey and Venice under the Sultan Ibrahim I, Smyrna became the centre of Levantine trade, Mordecai became the Smyrnan agent of an English house, whose interests he guarded with strict honesty. As a consequence, he acquired considerable wealth.
In accordance with the prevailing custom of Jews, Sabbatai's father had him study Talmud. In his early youth he attended a yeshiva under the veteran rabbi of Smyrna, Joseph Escapa; studies in halakha did not appeal to him, but apparently he did attain proficiency in the Talmud. On the other hand, he was fascinated by mysticism and the Kabbalah, in the prevailing style of Isaac Luria. He found the practical Kabbalah, with its asceticism, and its mortification of the body – through which its devotees claimed to be able to communicate with God and the angels, to predict the future, and to perform all sorts of miracles – especially appealing.
In his youth he inclined to solitude. According to custom he married early, but avoided intercourse with his wife; she therefore applied for a divorce, which he willingly granted. The same thing happened with a second wife. Later, when he became more imbued with Kabbalah, he lost mental equilibrium. He imposed the severest mortifications on himself: he bathed frequently in the sea, even in winter, fasted for days on end, and lived constantly in either a state of complete ecstasy, or intense depression.
Though only twenty-two years old, he dared (in the ominous year 1648) to reveal himself at Smyrna to a band of followers (whom he had won over through his knowledge of the Kabbalah, his attractive appearance and personality, and his strange actions) as the true Messianic redeemer designated by God to overthrow the governments of the nations and to restore the kingdom of Israel. His mode of revealing his mission was the pronouncing of the Tetragrammaton in Hebrew, an act which was forbidden to all, except the Jewish high priest in the Temple in Jerusalem on the Day of Atonement. This was of great significance to those acquainted with rabbinical, and especially Kabbalistic, literature. However, Sabbatai's authority at the age of twenty-two did not reach far enough for him to gain many adherents.
Among the first of those to whom he revealed his Messiahship were Isaac Silveyra and Moses Pinheiro, the latter a brother-in-law of the Italian rabbi and kabbalist Joseph Ergas. Sabbatai remained at Smyrna for several years, leading the pious life of a mystic, and giving rise to much argument in the community, the details of which are not known. The college of rabbis, having at its head his teacher, Joseph Escapa, watched Sabbatai closely, and when his Messianic pretensions became too bold they put him and his followers under a ban of cherem, a type of excommunication in classical Judaism.
About the year 1651 (according to others, 1654) Sabbatai and his disciples were banished from Smyrna. It is not quite certain where he went from there. In 1653, or at the latest 1658, he was in Constantinople, where he met a preacher, Abraham ha-Yakini (a disciple of Joseph di Trani), who confirmed Sabbatai. Ha-Yakini is said to have forged a manuscript in archaic characters and in a style imitating the ancient apocalypses, and which, he alleged, bore testimony to Sabbatai's Messiahship. It was entitled The Great Wisdom of Solomon, and began:
“I, Abraham, was confined in a cave for forty years, and I wondered greatly that the time of miracles did not arrive. Then was heard a voice proclaiming, 'A son will be born in the Hebrew year 5386 [English calendar year 1626] to Mordecai Zevi; and he will be called Shabbethai. He will humble the great dragon; ... he, the true Messiah, will sit upon My throne.”
With this document, which he appears to have accepted as an actual revelation, Sabbatai determined to choose Salonica, at that time a center of Kabbalists, as the field for his further operations. Here he boldly proclaimed himself the Messiah, gaining many adherents. In order to impress his Messiahship upon the minds of his enthusiastic friends he put on all sorts of mystical events — e.g., the celebration of his marriage as the “Son of God” (the Ein Sof) with the Torah, preparing for this performance a solemn festival to which he invited his friends. The consequence was that the rabbis of Salonica banished him from the city. The sources differ widely as to the route he took after this expulsion, Alexandria, Athens, Constantinople, Jerusalem, Smyrna, and other places being mentioned as temporary centers of his impostures. Finally, however, after long wanderings, he settled in Cairo, Egypt, where he resided for about two years (1660–1662).
At that time, there lived in Cairo a very wealthy and influential Jew named Raphael Joseph Halabi (“of Aleppo”), who held the high position of mint-master and tax-farmer under the Turkish government. Despite his riches and the external splendor which he displayed before the public, he continued to lead privately an ascetic life, fasting, bathing, and frequently scourging his body at night. He used his great wealth benevolently, supplying the needs of poor Talmudists and Kabalists, fifty of whom regularly dined at his table. Sabbatai at once made the acquaintance of Raphael Joseph who, being possessed by eccentric, mystical ideas, became one of the most zealous promulgators of his Messianic plans.
It seems, however, that Cairo did not appear to Sabbatai to be the proper place to carry out his long-cherished scheme. The apocalyptic year, 1666, was approaching, and something had to be done to establish his Messiahship. He therefore left the Egyptian capital and travelled to Jerusalem, hoping that in the Holy City a miracle might occur to confirm his pretensions. Arriving there in about 1663, he at first remained inactive, so as not to offend the community. He again resorted to his former practice of mortifying the body by frequent fasting and other penances in order to gain the confidence of the people, who saw this as proof of his extraordinary piety. He also adopted various means of an inoffensive character which helped to endear him to the masses. Having a very melodious voice, he used to sing psalms for the whole night, or at times even coarse Spanish love-songs, to which he gave mystical interpretations, thus attracting crowds of admiring listeners. At other times he would pray at the graves of pious men and women and, some of his followers reported, shed floods of tears, or he would distribute all sorts of sweetmeats to the children on the streets. Thus he gradually gathered around him a circle of adherents who placed their faith in him.
At this point an unexpected incident brought him back to Cairo. The community of Jerusalem needed money in order to avert a calamity which greedy Turkish officials planned against it. Sabbatai, known as the favorite of the rich Raphael Joseph Halabi, was chosen as the envoy of the distressed community, and he willingly undertook the task, as it gave him an opportunity to act as the deliverer of the Holy City. As soon as he appeared before Halabi he obtained from him the necessary sum, which gave him great prestige and offered the best prospects for his future Messianic plans. His worshippers dated his public career from this second journey to Cairo.
Another circumstance assisted Sabbatai in the course of his second stay at Cairo. During the Chmielnicki massacres in Poland, a Jewish orphan girl named Sarah, about six years old, had been found by Christians and sent to a convent. After ten years' confinement she escaped (reportedly through a miracle), and was taken to Amsterdam. Some years later she went to Livorno where, according to authentic reports, she led a life of prostitution. She also conceived the notion that she was to become the bride of the Messiah who was soon to appear. The report of this girl reached Cairo, and Sabbatai at once seized upon the opportunity and claimed that such a consort had been promised to him in a dream because he, as well as the Messiah of the Christians, was bound to fall in love with an unchaste woman...(Cecilia Ruiz de Ríos, Nicaraguan historian). Messengers were sent to Livorno, and Sarah was brought to Cairo, where she was married to Sabbatai at Halabi's house. Through her a romantic, licentious element entered Sabbatai's career. Her beauty and eccentricity gained for him many new followers, and even her past lewd life was looked upon as an additional confirmation of his Messiahship, the prophet Hosea supposedly having been commanded to marry an allegedly unchaste woman.
Having Halabi's money, a charming wife, and many additional followers, Sabbatai triumphantly returned to Palestine. Passing through the city of Gaza, he met a man who was to become very active in his subsequent Messianic career. This was Nathan Benjamin Levi, known under the name of Nathan of Ghaza (Nathan Ghazzati). He became Sabbatai's right-hand man, and professed to be the risen Elijah, the precursor of the Messiah. In 1665, Ghazzati announced that the Messianic age was to begin in the following year. Sabbatai spread this announcement widely, together with many additional details to the effect that the world would be conquered by him, the Elijah, without bloodshed; that the Messiah would then lead back the Ten Lost Tribes to the Holy Land, “riding on a lion with a seven-headed dragon in its jaws”, and similar fantasies. These claims were widely circulated and believed.
The rabbis of Jerusalem, however, regarded the movement with great suspicion, and threatened its followers with excommunication. Sabbatai, realizing that Jerusalem was not a congenial place in which to carry out his plans, left for his native city, Smyrna, while his prophet, Nathan, proclaimed that henceforth Gaza, and not Jerusalem, would be the sacred city. On his way from Jerusalem to Smyrna, Sabbatai was enthusiastically greeted in the large Asiatic community of Aleppo, and at Smyrna, which he reached in the autumn of 1665, the greatest homage was paid to him. Finally, after some hesitation, he publicly declared himself as the expected Messiah (New Year, 1665); the declaration was made in the synagogue, with the blowing of horns, and the multitude greeted him with: “Long live our King, our Messiah!”
The joy of his followers knew no bounds. Sabbatai, assisted by his wife, now became the sole ruler of the community. In this capacity he used his power to crush all opposition. For instance, he deposed the old rabbi of Smyrna, Aaron Lapapa, and appointed in his place Hayyim Benveniste. His popularity grew with incredible rapidity, as not only Jews but Christians also spread his story far and wide. His fame extended to all countries. Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands had centers where the Messianic movement was ardently promulgated, and the Jews of Hamburg and Amsterdam received confirmation of the extraordinary events in Smyrna from trustworthy Christians. A distinguished German savant, Heinrich Oldenburg, wrote to Baruch Spinoza (Spinozae Epistolae No 33): “All the world here is talking of a rumour of the return of the Israelites ... to their own country. ... Should the news be confirmed, it may bring about a revolution in all things.”
Among the many prominent rabbis of that time who were followers of Sabbatai were: Isaac Aboab da Fonseca, Moses Raphael de Aguilar, Moses Galante, Moses Zacuto, and the above-mentioned Hayyim Benveniste. Even the semi-Spinozist Dionysius Mussafia Musaphia likewise became one of Sabbatai's zealous adherents. Fantastic reports were widely spread and believed, as for example: “in the north of Scotland a ship had appeared with silken sails and ropes, manned by sailors who spoke Hebrew. The flag bore the inscription 'The Twelve Tribes of Israel'.” The community of Avignon, France, prepared, therefore, to emigrate to the new kingdom in the spring of 1666.
The adherents of Sabbatai, probably with his consent, even planned to abolish to a great extent the ritualistic observances because, according to a tradition, in the Messianic time most of them were to lose their obligatory character. The first step toward the disintegration of traditional Judaism was the changing of the fast of the Tenth of Tevet to a day of feasting and rejoicing. Samuel Primo, a man who entered Sabbatai's service as secretary at the time when the latter left Jerusalem for Smyrna, directed in the name of the Messiah the following circular to the whole of Israel:
“The first-begotten Son of God, Shabbethai Tebi, Messiah and Redeemer of the people of Israel, to all the sons of Israel, Peace! Since ye have been deemed worthy to behold the great day and the fulfilment of God's word by the Prophets, your lament and sorrow must be changed into joy, and your fasting into merriment; for ye shall weep no more. Rejoice with song and melody, and change the day formerly spent in sadness and sorrow into a day of jubilee, because I have appeared.”
This message produced wild excitement and dissension in the communities, as many of the pious orthodox rabbis, who had hitherto regarded the movement sympathetically, were shocked at these radical innovations. Solomon Algazi, a prominent Talmudist of Smyrna, and other members of the rabbinate, who opposed the abolition of the fast, narrowly escaped with their lives.
At the beginning of the year 1666, Sabbatai again left Smyrna for Constantinople, either because he was compelled to do so by the city authorities or because of a hope that a miracle would happen in the Turkish capital to fulfil the prophecy of Nathan Ghazzati that Sabbatai would place the sultan's crown on his own head. As soon as he reached the landing-place, however, he was arrested at the command of the grand vizier, Ahmed Köprülü, and cast into prison in chains. An under-pasha, commissioned to receive Sabbatai on the ship, welcomed him with a vigorous box on the ear. When this official was asked later to explain his conduct, he attempted to exonerate himself by blaming the Jews for having proclaimed Sabbatai as their Messiah against his own will.
Sabbatai's imprisonment, however, had no discouraging effect either on him or on his followers. On the contrary, the lenient treatment which he secured by means of bribes served rather to strengthen them in their Messianic delusions. In the meantime, all sorts of fabulous reports concerning the miraculous deeds which "the Messiah" was performing in the Turkish capital were spread by Ghazzati and Primo among the Jews of Smyrna and in many other communities, and the expectations of the Jews were raised to a still higher pitch.
After two months' imprisonment in Constantinople, Sabbatai was brought to the state prison in the castle of Abydos. Here he was treated very leniently, some of his friends even being allowed to accompany him. In consequence the Sabbataians called that fortress Migdal 'Oz ("Tower [of] Strength"). As the day on which he was brought to Abydos was the day preceding Passover, he slew a paschal lamb for himself and his followers and ate it with its fat, which was a violation of the Law. It is said that he pronounced over it the benediction: “Blessed be God who hath restored again that which was forbidden.”
The immense sums sent to him by his rich adherents, the charms of the queenly Sarah, and the reverential admiration shown him even by the Turkish officials and the inhabitants of the place enabled Sabbatai to display royal splendor in the castle of Abydos, accounts of which were exaggerated and spread among Jews in Europe, Asia, and Africa. In some parts of Europe Jews began to unroof their houses and prepare for a new "exodus". In almost every synagogue, Sabbatai's initials were posted, and prayers for him were inserted in the following form: “Bless our Lord and King, the holy and righteous Sabbatai Zevi, the Messiah of the God of Jacob.” In Hamburg the council introduced this custom of praying for Sabbatai not only on Saturday (the Jewish Sabbath), but also on Monday and Thursday, and unbelievers were compelled to remain in the synagogue and join in the prayer with a loud Amen. Sabbatai's picture was printed together with that of King David in most of the prayer-books, as well as his kabbalistic formulas and penances.
These and similar innovations caused great dissension in various communities. In Moravia the excitement reached such a pitch that the government had to interfere, while at Sale, Morocco, the emir ordered a persecution of the Jews. This state of affairs lasted three months (April to July), during which time Sabbatai's adherents busied themselves in sending forged letters to deceive their brethren in distant communities. It was also during this period that Sabbatai, in a general desire for innovations aiming at the abrogation of all laws and customs, transformed the fasts of the Seventeenth of Tammuz and the Ninth of Av (his birthday) into feast-days, and it is said that he contemplated even the abolition of the Day of Atonement.
At this time an incident occurred which led to the discrediting of Sabbatai's Messiahship. Two prominent Polish Talmudists from Lemberg, Galicia, who were among Sabbatai's visitors in Abydos, apprised him of the fact that in their native country a prophet, Nehemiah ha-Kohen, had announced the coming of the Messiah. Sabbatai ordered the prophet to appear before him. (But see Jew. Encyc. ix. 212a, s.v. Nehemiah ha-Kohen). Nehemiah obeyed, reaching Abydos, after a journey of three months, at the beginning of September, 1666. The conference between the two ended in mutual dissatisfaction, and some fanatical Sabbataians are said to have contemplated the secret murder of the dangerous rival.
Nehemiah, however, escaped to Constantinople, where he initially embraced Islam and betrayed the treasonable desires of Sabbatai to the kaymakam, who in turn informed the sultan, Mehmed IV. At the command of Mehmed, Sabbatai was now taken from Abydos to Adrianople, where the sultan's physician, a former Jew, advised Sabbatai to embrace Islam as the only means of saving his life. Sabbatai realized the danger of the situation and adopted the physician's advice. On the following day (September 16, 1666), being brought before the sultan, he cast off his Jewish garb and put a Turkish turban on his head; and thus his conversion to Islam was accomplished. The sultan was much pleased, and rewarded Sabbatai by conferring on him the title (Mahmed) Effendi, and appointing him as his doorkeeper with a high salary. Sarah and a number of Sabbatai's followers also went over to Islam. To complete his acceptance of Islam, Sabbatai was ordered to take an additional wife, a harem. Some days after his conversion he wrote to Smyrna: “God has made me an Ishmaelite; He commanded, and it was done. The ninth day of my regeneration.” It is widely believed that he had some connection with the Bektashi Sufi order.
Sabbatai's conversion was extremely disheartening for the Jewish communities. Prominent rabbis who were believers in and followers of Sabbatai were prostrated with shame. Among the masses of the people the greatest confusion reigned. In addition to the misery and disappointment from within, Muslims and Christians jeered at and scorned the credulous and duped Jews. The sultan even planned to exterminate all the adult Jews in his empire and to decree that all Jewish children should be brought up in Islam, also that fifty prominent rabbis should be executed; only the contrary advice of some of his counsellors and of the sultan's mother prevented these calamities. In spite of Sabbatai's shameful behaviour, however, many of his adherents still tenaciously clung to him, claiming that his conversion was a part of the Messianic scheme. This belief was further upheld and strengthened by false prophets like Ghazzati and Primo, who were interested in maintaining the movement. In many communities the Seventeenth of Tammuz and the Ninth of Av were still observed as feast-days in spite of bans and excommunications.
Meanwhile Sabbatai secretly played a double game. At times he would assume the role of a pious Muslim and revile Judaism; at others he would enter into relations with Jews as one of their own faith. In March 1668 he again announced that he had been filled with the "Holy Spirit" at Passover, and had received a "revelation." He, or one of his followers, published a mystical work addressed to the Jews in which it was claimed that Sabbatai was the true Messiah, in spite of his conversion, his object being to bring over thousands of Muslims to Judaism. To the sultan, however, he said that his activity among the Jews was to bring them over to Islam. He therefore received permission to associate with his former co-religionists, and even to preach in their synagogues. He thus succeeded in bringing over a number of Muslims to his kabbalistic views, and, on the other hand, in converting many Jews to Islam, thus forming a Judaeo–Turkish sect whose followers implicitly believed in him.
This double-dealing with Jews and Muslims did not last very long. Gradually the Turks tired of Sabbatai's schemes. He was deprived of his salary, and banished from Adrianople to Constantinople. In a village near the latter city he was one day discovered singing psalms in a tent with Jews, whereupon the grand vizier ordered his banishment to Dulcigno (today called Durrës), a small place in Albania, where he died in loneliness and obscurity.
The excitement and desire for a Messiah continued in the Jewish community and directly resulted in the eventual rise of a great new religious leader, the Ba’al Shem Tov. Without this experience, that deprived Jews of the underpinings of tradition, there could not have been the richness of a charismatic renewal within both Judaism and Christianity. Has that Millenarianism ended or does it still influence us? I would suggest that the spirit that infused seventeenth century Europe with the expectation of a Messiah has not ended and that we are ripe for another Messianic figure.

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Way Essay Lamed He -- Luria

Barry — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 17:24:16 GMT

Contemporaneous with the Protestant Reformation, there arose in Judaism a man of such power and grace that he rocked the very foundations of Judaism. He is called the Elohi Rabbi Yitzak or ARI, which means lion. As this is a spiritual history, I will again refrain from commenting on the Ari’s doctrines except to show how they affected spirituality in Judaism and the world.

Isaac Luria was born at Jerusalem in 1534 to an Ashkenazi father and a Sephardic mother; died at Safed, Israel July 25, 1572 (5 Av 5332). While still a child he lost his father, and was brought up by his rich uncle Mordecai Francis, tax-farmer at Cairo, Egypt, who placed him under the best Jewish teachers. Luria showed himself a diligent student of rabbinical literature; and, under the guidance of Rabbi, he, while quite young, became proficient in that branch of Jewish learning.
At the age of fifteen he married his cousin, and, being amply provided for financially, was able to continue his studies. Though he initially may have pursued a career in business, he soon turned to asceticism and mysticism. About the age of twenty-two years old, he became engrossed in the study of the Zohar, a major work of the Kabbalah which had recently been printed for the first time, and adopted the life of a recluse. He retreated to the banks of the Nile, and for seven years secluded himself in an isolated cottage, giving himself up entirely to meditation. He visited his family only on the Shabbat, speaking very seldom, and always in Hebrew. Arizal became a visionary. He had frequent interviews with the prophet Elijah through this ascetic life, by whom he was initiated into sublime doctrines. He also asserted that while asleep his soul ascended to heaven and conversed with the great teachers of the past.
In 1569 Arizal moved to the Land of Israel; and after a short sojourn at Jerusalem, where his new kabalistic system seems to have met with little success, he settled in Safed. There he formed a circle of kabbalists to whom he imparted the doctrines by means of which he hoped to establish a new basis for the moral system of the world. To this circle belonged Rabbi Moses ben Jacob Cordovero, Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz, Rabbi Joseph Karo, Rabbi Moses Alshech, Rabbi Elijah de Vidas, Rabbi Joseph Hagiz, Rabbi Elisha Galadoa, and Rabbi Moses Bassola. They met every Friday, and each confessed to another his sins. Soon Arizal had two classes of disciples: (1) novices, to whom he expounded the elementary Kabbalah, and (2) initiates, who became the depositaries of his secret teachings and his formulas of invocation and conjuration. The most renowned of the initiates was Rabbi Chaim Vital of Calabria, who, according to his master, possessed a soul which had not been soiled by Adam's sin. In his company Luria visited the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and of other eminent teachers, it is said that these graves were unmarked and the identitys of each grave was unknown and through Elijah was each grave recognized . Arizal's kabbalistic circle gradually widened and became a separate congregation, in which his mystic doctrines were supreme, influencing all the religious ceremonies. On Shabbat Arizal dressed himself in white and wore a fourfold garment to signify the four letters of the Ineffable Name.
Arizal used to deliver his lectures extempore and, with the exception of several works and some kabbalistic poems in Aramaic for the Sabbath table did not write much. The real exponent of his kabbalistic system was Chaim Vital. He collected all the notes of the lectures which Arizal's disciples had made; and from these notes were produced numerous works, the most important of which was the Etz Chayim, ("Tree of Life"), in six volumes (see below). At first this circulated in manuscript copies; and each of Arizal's disciples had to pledge himself, under pain of excommunication, not to allow a copy to be made for a foreign country; so that for a time all the manuscripts remained in Palestine. At last, however, one was brought to Europe and was published at Zolkiev in 1772 by Satanow. In this work are expounded both the theoretical and the devotonal or meditative Kabbalah based on the Zohar.
The characteristic feature of Arizal's system in the theoretical Kabbalah is his definition of the Sefiroth and his theory of the intermediary agents, which he calls partzufim (from πρόσωπν = "face"). Before the creation of the world, he says, the En Sof ("Without Ending") filled the infinite space. When the Creation was decided upon, in order that G-d's attributes, which belong to other beings as well, should manifest themselves in their perfection, the En Sof retired into G-d's own nature, or, to use the kabbalistic term, G-d "concentrated" (Tzimtzum) Himself. From this "concentration" proceeded the "infinite light". When in its turn the light "concentrated", there appeared in the center an empty space encompassed by ten circles or dynamic vessels (kelim) called Sefirot, ("Circled Numbers") by means of which the infinite realities, though forming an absolute unity, may appear in their diversity; for the finite has no real existence of itself.
However, the infinite light did not wholly desert the center; a thin conduit of light traversed the circles and penetrated into the center. But while the three outermost circles, being of a purer substance because of their nearness to the En Sof, were able to bear the light, the inner six were unable to do so, and burst. It was, therefore, necessary to remove them from the focus of the light. For this purpose the Sefirot were transformed into "figures" (parzufim).
The first Sefirah, being Keter ("Crown"), was transformed into the potentially existing three heads of the Macroprosopon (Erech Anpin); the second Sefirah, being Chochmah (Wisdom"), into the active masculine principle called "Father" (Abba); the third Sefirah, being Binah (Understanding"), into the passive, feminine principle called "Mother" (Imma); the six broken Sefirot, into the "male child" (Ze'er), which is the product of the masculine active and the feminine passive principles; the tenth Sefirah, Malkut which is ("Kingship"), into the female child (Bath). This proceeding was absolutely necessary. Had God in the beginning created these figures instead of the Sefirot, there would have been no evil in the world, and consequently no reward and punishment; for the source of evil is in the broken Sefirot or vessels (Shvirat Keilim), while the light of the En Sof produces only that which is good. These five figures are found in each of the four worlds; namely, in the world of Emanation (atzilut), Creation (beri'ah), Formation (yetzirah), and in that of Action (asiyah), which represents the material world.
Arizal's psychological system, upon which is based his devotional and meditational Kabbalah, is closely connected with his metaphysical doctrines. From the five figures, he says, emanated five souls, Neshamah ("Soul"), Ru'ach ("Wind"), Nefesh ("Spirit"), Chayah ("Life"), and Yechidah ("Singular"); the first of these being the lowest, and the last the highest. (Source: Etz Chayim). Man's soul is the connecting link between the infinite and the finite, and as such is of a manifold character. All the souls destined for the human race were created together with the various organs of Adam. As there are superior and inferior organs, so there are superior and inferior souls, according to the organs with which they are respectively coupled. Thus there are souls of the brain, souls of the eye, souls of the hand, etc. Each human soul is a spark (nitzotz) from Adam. The first sin of the first man caused confusion among the various classes of souls: the superior intermingled with the inferior; good with evil; so that even the purest soul received an admixture of evil, or, as Luria calls it, of the element of the "shells" (Kelipoth). From the lowest classes of souls proceeded the pagan world, while from the higher emanated the Israelitish world. But, in consequence of the confusion, the former are not wholly deprived of the original good, and the latter are not altogether free from sin. This state of confusion, which gives a continual impulse toward evil, will cease with the arrival of the Messiah, who will establish the moral system of the world upon a new basis. Until that time man's soul, because of its deficiencies, can not return to its source, and has to wander not only through the bodies of men and of animals, but even through inanimate things such as wood, rivers, and stones.
To this doctrine of gilgulim (reincarnation of souls) Arizal added the theory of the impregnation (ibbur) of souls; that is to say, if a purified soul has neglected some religious duties on earth, it must return to the earthly life, and, attaching itself to the soul of a living man, unite with it in order to make good such neglect.
Further, the departed soul of a man freed from sin appears again on earth to support a weak soul which feels unequal to its task. However, this union, which may extend to three souls at one time, can only take place between souls of homogeneous character; that is, between those which are sparks of the same Adamite organ. The dispersion of Israel has for its purpose the salvation of men's souls; and the purified souls of Israelites unite with the souls of men of other races in order to free them from demoniacal influences.
According to Arizal, man bears on his forehead a mark by which one may learn the nature of his soul: to which degree and class it belongs; the relation existing between it and the superior world; the wanderings it has already accomplished; the means by which it can contribute to the establishment of the new moral system of the world; how it can be freed from demoniacal influences; and to which soul it should be united in order to become purified. This union can be effected by formulas of conjuration.
Arizal introduced his mystic system into religious observers. Every commandment had for him a mystic meaning. The Sabbath with all its ceremonies was looked upon as the embodiment of the Divinity in temporal life; and every ceremony performed on that day was considered to have an influence upon the superior world. Every word, every syllable, of the prescribed prayers contain hidden names of G-d upon which one should meditate devoutly while reciting. New mystic ceremonies were ordained and codified under the name of Shulkhan Arukh heAri (The "Code of Law of the Ari") (compare Shulkhan Arukh by Rabbi Joseph Karo).
The spread of Kabbalah teachings developed by Arizal became instrumental in challenging false kabbalists such as followers of pseudo-Messiah Sabbatai Tzvi. Perverting original Kabbalistic traditions, followers of Sabbatai Tzvi avoided Arizal's teachings, because they could disprove their false interpretations of Kabbalah.
Later, Arizal's Kabbalah was widely used by Chasidic Masters. The antitraditional movement of Haskalah that came into being after the Chasidism, was vigorously opposed to Kabbalistic teachings and those of Arizal in particular, as they proved to be one of the best antidots to its assimilationist ideology. The teachings of the Ari have been almost universally accepted in Judaism, although not all groups follow the customs he initiated or revived.
COMMENTARY ON THE DOCTRINES FROM A SPIRITUAL POINT OF VIEW
The principle of the shattering of the spheres is a doctrine which has enriched the Jewish concept of involvement in the world. Our duty according to Luria is to reunite all the shards of light that fell to the world so that the universe might be complete again. Through prayer, work, and meditation, each person can find sparks of the Divine Light in the world and through our good acts can free those sparks so that they might reunite with the Divine Light. This principle naturally made Judaism look outside of itself. It began the process of freeing us from the ghettoes of our minds that held us in the ghettoes of Europe. By beginning to see that we might find the light in animals, in plants, in rocks and stones, and in virtually anything material, we begin to see that Light can also be found in persons of other religions and that interacting with them can lead us to some of the Light that has fallen.
The doctrine of reincarnation of souls was further clarified by the Ari in that he proposed that all souls must complete all the religious duties that are named in the Torah before they can finally allow their spark to be reunited with the Divine Light. As a result, each soul will be reincarnated six or seven times until it has completed each religious duty in the Torah. This requirement is the cause of the increasing number of souls on the earth today. Many have not completed the duties of the Torah that can only be completed at the Temple. Thus the souls are reincarnated at the end of the age so that they can complete those duties. If the Lurianic Kabbalists are correct on this point, then one can see why there is a concentration of concern on the Middle East and especially on Jerusalem. If the Temple is not rebuilt, then myriads of souls cannot complete their tasks and will have to reborn to do it. As a result, there are many Kabbalists in the Temple Mount Faithful who are working hard to solve the problem of the Dome of the Rock.
Under Lurianic doctrine, souls that have already completed all their tasks must again appear on eath to support these weaker souls. This requires that Jews begin to further interact with Gentiles so that we can help the souls of Gentiles to free themselves from such demonic influences as causes mankind to worship false g-ds and images and materialism. It requires Jews to become deeply involved in the world of business so that we can influence business to follow Torah law. It requires that Jews become deeply involved in politices so that we can influence the world to become a more humane and loving environment.
The Baal Shem Tov would take Lurianic doctrine and use it and the Holy Spirit to bring a new spirit of joy and active praise to the Jewish faith. Rabbis Ashlag and Phillip S. Berg would develop from Lurianic doctrine the concept that is called Qabbalah; Qabbalah teaches that we should find the commonalities of our spiritual thought with other spiritual systems and use the resulting contact to raise the sparks and unite them with the Divine Light.
Judaism and everything about Judaism changed as a result of the Ari. No man since Rabbi Akiva would have such a dramatic influence on the direction of the Jewish faith. However, the Ari took the Kabbalah away from the Nasoreans who had been secretly developing it and added his own dramatic interpretations to Zohar that would change the character of the Kabbalah forever.

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Abortion, Limbo, and Original Sin

Barry — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 17:27:22 GMT

Father Richard P. McBrien, one of the most respected theologians in the Roman Catholic Church and Crowley-O’Brien Professor of Theology at the University of the Notre Dame, in a recent op-ed article wrote about the concept of limbo. In pre-Vatican II Catholicism, limbo was believed to be an eternal state of natural happiness reserved for unbaptized infants and young children who died before reaching the “age of reason” namely 7. He writes that “for much of the history of the church, especially since the time of St. Augustine (d. 430), the prevailing view was that such young individuals were consigned to hell, even if their eternal punishment was substantially mitigated because of the absence of personal sins.”

He sets forth the basis for that view: first, everyone born into this world is born in a state of original sin, that is, without grace, which is an absolute condition for entrance into heaven, and second, infants and children under the age of 7 who die without baptism cannot enter heaven because they were not in the state of grace at the time of death.

When the new Catechism of the Catholic Church appeared in 1992, it contained not even a mention of limbo. But the catechism did not simply ignore the topic. It specifically raised a question about the eternal destiny of unbaptized infants and young children. The Catechism said that these individuals are “entrusted to the great mercy of G-d who desires that all men (sic) should be saved.” Indeed, the catechism assured us, we have reason “to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without baptism.” That opinion is now supplemented by a statement made by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger who pointed out in a 1984 interview that limbo “has never been a definitive truth of faith, and that, as far as he was personally concerned, he would ‘let it drop, since it has always been only a theological hypothesis.’”

Father McBrien goes on to note that if the doctrine of limbo has fallen can the doctrine of original sin be far behind. He notes that if limbo goes, so, too, does the traditional view of original sin. It may be that everyone is born in the state of grace, and that grace is ours to lose through mortal sin alone.

The Jewish view of original sin and especially the Nasorean view of original sin is based upon the words of scripture: “And the Archangels created the man in His image, in the image of the Archangels they created him; male and female they created him….And the Archangels saw all which He had made and behold it was very good.” Gen. 1:27,31. G-d created man perfectly and in his state as an androgynous being, that is a child of the seventh day, before his circumcision which joined him to the Community of Israel, he was very good. He was not depraved. He was not filled with original sin. In fact, Adam lived 930 years and established the sacred line from which the Meshiach would eventually come. If Adam sinned by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, his sin cannot be transferred to us because the Torah says:

“Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children for their
fathers; only for his own guilt shall a man be put to death.” Deut. 24:16

As the Torah was given directly to us by the Archangel, there can be no doubt that it is the divine will of G-d Most High. See Acts 7:38.
Adam's sin, as recounted in the Book of Genesis is sometimes called in Hebrew החטא הקדמון (the original sin), on the basis of the traditional Christian term. But the term used in classical Jewish literature is חטא אדם הראשׁון), (the first sin of man, or of Adam).
The account in Genesis 2-3 implies that Adam and Eve initially lived in a state of intimate communion with God. God warned Adam not to eat of the fruit of "the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil" (Genesis 2:15-17).[1] The serpent persuaded Eve, who in turn persuaded Adam, to disobey this commandment. After eating of the fruit, they immediately recognized their mistake, and became ashamed of their nakedness (Genesis 3:1-7).[2] We are taught that that nakedness meant without bodies, pure spirits. God cursed the serpent, apparently changing its physical form, and setting up eternal enmity between mankind and serpents (Genesis 3:9-15).[3] G-d also gave corruptible bodies to us that we might not be naked. God pronounced judgements on both Eve and Adam. Eve's judgement was the difficulties of pregnancy and subjection to her husband. Adam's was toil and struggle for his sustenance (Genesis 3:16-21).[4] Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden(Genesis 3:22-24).[5]
According to Jewish tradition, the divine prohibition was to give them free choice and allow them to earn, as opposed to receive, absolute perfection and intimate communion with God, a higher level than the one on which they were created.
The consequences affected Adam and Eve's descendants. People are not intrinsically condemned and sinful, but nevertheless begin life at a spiritual and metaphysical level inherited from Adam and Eve, far lower than Adam's original level, for they are enfleshed. The course of history is meant to return humanity to Adam's original level, and then allow it to surpass that level by completing the task that Adam failed to complete. The curses and changes imposed on mankind following their sin are meant to facilitate this return to glory.
According to this tradition, Adam and Eve would have attained absolute perfection and retained immortality had they succeeded in withstanding the temptation to eat from the Tree. After failing at this task, they were condemned to a period of toil to rectify the fallen universe. In Jewish tradition, this is a 6,000 year period.
Jewish tradition views the serpent, and sometimes the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil itself, as representatives of evil. Evil's job was and is to mislead Mankind and give the appearance that God does not actually control all elements of Creation. Adam's task was to see through this veil. After his failure, this became humanity's task through history.
The concept some have of original sin is thought by others to be full of inconsistencies. For those who see the effect of the Fall as deprivation of something that is their due, the doctrine of original sin contradicts the principle, stated even in the Mosaic Law, that the children are not to be punished for the sins of the fathers.
Those who understand original sin as personal guilt and sin, rather than as sin in an analogous sense, are confronted with a yet graver difficulty, particularly if they conceive of sin as a matter of a person's soul as such, rather than of the ensouled body or enfleshed soul that is the person. Sin, they say, is an issue of the soul, but, if we inherit our bodies from our parents and our souls from God, then original sin, which is inherited with human nature from our parents, must be a matter of the body; or, if it is a matter of the soul, original sin must come from God. Martin Luther's ad hoc solution was: Do not listen to human wisdom, but to the holy word of the Bible. Logically this is argumentum ad auctoritatem fallacy combined with argumentum ad ignoramum.
Those who interpret the symbolic images in the account of the Fall as literal realities face the problem of reconciling with the assumed unconditional love of God an account that they must interpret as God setting a trap for the first human beings and then punishing them and their descendants for falling into it - in addition to problems such as explaining the whimsical picture of God "walking in the garden in the cool of the day" (Genesis 3:8).
Having looked at this question fully, I have to conclude that there is no original sin. If there is no original sin, Yeshua could not have died to take away the original sin of man. In fact, if death is a consequence of sin, then the only people who were not sinners were Enoch, who became the Archangel of the Presence, and Eliyahu, the Prophet, who became an Archangel upon his translation. They lived before Yeshua and yet were found to be perfect. So what was the importance of Yeshua’s death if it was not to take away original sin. Yeshua died to change the Torah. Heb. 9:18. The original concept of sacrifice was that of Abel who killed animals as a sacrifice. G-d sent Melchizedek to teach us a better way. He substituted wine and bread as the sacrifice for sin. Then Mosheh reintroduced the bloody sacrifice for a time, but it always was G-d’s intention to return us to the Melchizedekian sacrifice. The Teacher of Righteousness, the High Priest of G-d taught the Nasorean faith that bread and wine was enough. But it could not be made so until Melchizedek returned to verify the change. Yeshua was Melchizedek returned, the long-awaited Meshiach of Melchizedek spoken of in the scrolls by the Teacher of Righteousness, the one like Mosheh. He, in the context of the Seder Meal, re-established the Melchizedekan sacrifice and paid for it with his own blood which would now be the only substitutionary sacrifice allowed in heaven. See Hebrews 8-10. He arose so that he might minister as the Perfect High Priest in Heaven with his own blood that when we offered the Bread and Wine on Earth it might be coupled with the Body and Blood in Heaven. Our sins can be forgiven. We are the Temple of G-d and the Kiddush is the new sacrifice of that Temple. The greatest acts of that Temple are Pesach’s Seder Meal and the actual acts of the great Fast of Yom Kippur.
So what is the condition of children who die before the age of reason or are aborted. They will be judged guiltless and be allowed to come back again to learn more things so that their Ruach might be perfected before the day of Judgment. And more importantly, those who are not Nasoreans will not be lost either. They will be saved by faith in G-d and the keeping of the laws of Noach including the Sabbath. Slowly, but surely, the Roman Catholics are returning to the truth.

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The Way Essay Lamed Gimel -- Zwingliism

Barry — Sun, 26 Mar 2006 18:53:06 GMT

The Second of the Protestant Reformers was Ulrich Zwingli, a Swiss reformer. He was a contemporary of Martin Luther if just a little late on the scene. He disagreed with Martin Luther on several points and as a result the spirituality of Zwingli is different from that of Luther in some important respects.

First, Zwingli taught that God's grace in addition to man's work was necessary for salvation thereby defining baptism as a covenant between God and man. This concept of covenant hearkens back to Judaism which also expoused this view. Although the covenant was entirely a result of the grace of G-d, his chosen people were co-creators and co-covenanters with G-d and duties and responsibilities under the covenant. Spiritually, such a doctrine places much more responsibility on the part of people for sinful acts. The believer has some degree of free-will to accept this grace and maintain it. A strong spiritual life based upon prayer and meditation is required in order to maintain the open channels of communication necessary to maintain this covenant. There is no easy way to salvation in Zwinglian points of view. Spiritully, the Zwinglian will study scripture more, will pray more, will fast more, and will become more involved with his personal salvation than a Lutheran or a Calvinist because they believe that salvation is not completed until one dies.

Next, Zwingli disagreed with Luther and Calvin on the nature and importance of Baptism. Luther called the sacrament a covenantal seal, he meant that baptism visibly ratified and guaranteed God's promises, as a royal seal authenticated a government document on which it was inscribed. Only secondarily was baptism a pledge of obedience by men. For Zwingli, however, the sacrament was primarily a covenant sign which indicates that all those who receive it are willing to amend their lives to follow Christ. For those who follow Zwingli’s point of view baptism was a commitment of people with the ability to make contracts to not only amend, but maintain their lives free from sin. As a result, Zwingli established the theological basis for an adult acceptance of one’s responsibilities as a believer. However, Zwingli did not accept that baptism should be done only as an adult. He believed that children should be baptized and that their parents could maintain the covenant for them until they could accept their responsibilities. Naturally, such a principle strengthened the patriarchal and parental roles within a believing household.

Thirdly, Zwingli disagreed with Luther on the nature of the Eucharist. Whereas Luther believed that the body and blood of Christ are really present in the bread and wine of this sacrament (a view often called consubstantiation by non-Lutherans), Zwingli understood the sacrament to be purely symbolic and memorial in character. For Zwingli, the Eucharist then takes on the character of the Pauline ideal of the loaf of bread as a symbol of the Church. The communal aspects of the communion are therefore emphasized rather than the thanksgiving aspect and Zwingli abandons all conceptualization of sacrifice. Naturally, Zwingli was required to adopt the concept of personal forgiveness flowing from the prayer of repentance as the method of gaining freedom from sin. The ideal had no cultic characteristics and the people did not feel forgiven resulting in a dour and sour attitude on life.

Fourthly, Zwingli’s doctrine of covenant naturally engendered the replacement theology that claimed that G-d had rejected the Jews and that now those Christians that followed his point of view were the true Israel of G-d with whom G-d had concluded a new covenant. Such a doctrine caused a return to Torah law in some respects although not to the degree that Jews obeyed it, but it also caused a spiritual acceptance of anti-Semitism and the killing of Jews who did not join this new covenant.

Lasty, Zwingli believed based upon the Church fathers that there should be no musical instruments in the Church and sometimes went to the extent to exclude music of any sort from the worship service. Zwingli was one of the first Protestants to abandon the use of instruments during worship services. Although these doctrines obviously made use of theories propounded by Church fathers from the Eastern tradition, Zwingli in general opposed sacred tradition as a source of faith.

Although the spirituality of Zwingli is far richer than Lutheran or Calvinist traditions would allow, it is still not as rich as the traditions received from the Orthodox or Catholic traditions.

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The Way Essay Lamed Beth -- Calvinism

Barry — Sun, 26 Mar 2006 18:52:18 GMT

John Calvin was the third great Reformer of the protestant reformation. He began his protesting as a Lutheran. Calvinist theology is often identified in the popular mind as the so-called "five points of Calvinism," which are a summation of the judgments (or canons) rendered by the Synod of Dort. The central assertion of these canons is that God is able to save every person upon whom he has mercy and that his efforts are not frustrated by the unrighteousness or the inability of men.
The five points of Calvinism are:
· Total depravity (or total inability): As a consequence of the Fall of man, every person born into the world is enslaved to the service of sin. According to the view, people are not by nature inclined to love God with their whole heart, mind, or strength, but rather all are inclined to serve their own interests over those of their neighbor and to reject the rule of God. Thus, all people by their own faculties are unable to choose to follow God and be saved.
The spiritual result of a doctrine of total depravity is hopelessness. If one is totally incapable of doing good because of sin, then why bother. Logically, there is no need to feel upset that you are not a believer, are not a good person, as all people begin in the same way as you have begun. Many who believed this idea recognized that because they had no feeling of being called to be religious then they should not be. G-d would call them when and if He wanted to. These people might well be drawn into other forms of spirituality and to other religions rather that wait around for a spiritual event which might never come. Such a doctrine is debilitating for a person with a natural inclination toward goodness, but who does not feel the presence of G-d.
· Unconditional election: God's choice from eternity of those whom he will bring to himself is not based on foreseen virtue, merit, or faith in those people. Rather, it is unconditionally grounded in God's mercy.
If G-d chooses people to be believers based upon some ineffable method of his own and not by the foreseen virtue of a person, then a right thinking person should not be concerned when he or she does wrong. Not only will they be forgiven all their sins when G-d calls them, but any good works that they do without direct benefit to themselves are useless. It is better to do what one thinks will benefit them most than to concern themselves with the sinfulness of an act. Such a doctrine ultimately leads to more sin in the world than would naturally be their and it leads to adoption of many practices to replace the benefits of religion, such as, shamanism, divination, licentiousness, and bigotry.
· Limited atonement (or particular redemption or definite atonement): The death of Christ actually takes away the penalty of sins of those on whom God has chosen to have mercy. It is "limited" to taking away the sins of the elect, not of all humanity, and it is "definite" and "particular" because atonement is certain for those particular persons.
As G-d’s call is absolute and the death of Christ is the only atonement that need be made for forgiveness from sin, then every person who has not been called should obey the law of the survival of the fittest and eliminate all those who are “saved” so that all persons on earth will be in the same place spiritually. It is not logical to support this elitist attitude because there is no way of ascertaining that one is among the elect. Such a spirituality must be nature into a theocracy or dictatorship. The characteristic of factionalism is sure to increase and Satan has a hey day.
· Irresistible grace (or efficacious grace): The saving grace of God is effectually applied to those whom he has determined to save (the elect) and, in God's timing, overcomes their resistance to obeying the call of the gospel, bringing them to a saving faith in Christ.
As the grace to believe is entirely an act of G-d and as all who are called will eventually see the error of their ways, there is no reason why the called should not resist the call. Logically, those who are feeling the power of the irrestible grace of G-d should redouble all efforts to gain those things that this world offers quickly so that when they finally give into the urge of grace, they will have all the material things necessary to live lives of comfort while following the strict dictates of their new faith. They need not worry about their previous lives because their previous sinfulness was eliminated by their conversion.
· Perseverance of the saints (or preservation of the saints): Any person who has once been truly saved from damnation must necessarily persevere and cannot later be condemned. The word saints is used in the sense in which it is used in the Bible to refer to all who are set apart by God, not in the technical sense of one who is exceptionally holy, canonized, or in heaven (see Saint).
Because a person who is saved cannot fail and because any success in failing is either a sign that you were never saved or that you are merely resisting the call of grace, one should continue in the lifestyle that they had before salvation so that they can feel certain that they are saved by grace. There is no reason to adopt an attitude that one must live a good and perfect life under this doctrine. One cannot sin if one is a saint.
Calvinist theology by its very nature is divisive, factionalist, filled with potential to support the sins of pride, greed, gluttony, adultery, and vanity. Far from being a theology which supports individual acts of spirituality such as meditation, prayer, fasting, penance, and charitable works, it implies that these acts are unnecessary and even hurtful. It is not surprising that the charismatic renewal has rejected some of these doctrines in favor of Arminianism.

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The Jewish View on Abortion

Barry — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 16:58:33 GMT

To gain a clear understanding of when abortion is permitted (or even required) and when it is forbidden requires an appreciation of certain nuances of halacha (Jewish law) which govern the status of the fetus.1
The Pharisee Position
The easiest way to conceptualize a fetus in halacha is to imagine it as a full-fledged human being -- but not quite.2 In most circumstances, the fetus is treated like any other "person." Generally, one may not deliberately harm a fetus. But while it would seem obvious that Judaism holds accountable one who purposefully causes a woman to miscarry, sanctions are even placed upon one who strikes a pregnant woman causing an unintentional miscarriage.3 That is not to say that all rabbinical authorities consider abortion to be murder. The fact that the Torah requires a monetary payment for causing a miscarriage is interpreted by some Rabbis to indicate that abortion is not a capital crime4 and by others as merely indicating that one is not executed for performing an abortion, even though it is a type of murder.5 There is even disagreement regarding whether the prohibition of abortion is Biblical or Rabbinic. Nevertheless, it is universally agreed that the fetus will become a full-fledged human being and there must be a very compelling reason to allow for abortion.

As a general rule, abortion in Judaism is permitted only if there is a direct threat to the life of the mother by carrying the fetus to term or through the act of childbirth. In such a circumstance, the baby is considered tantamount to a rodef, a pursuer6 after the mother with the intent to kill her. Nevertheless, as explained in the Mishna,7 if it would be possible to save the mother by maiming the fetus, such as by amputating a limb, abortion would be forbidden. Despite the classification of the fetus as a pursuer, once the baby's head or most of its body has been delivered, the baby's life is considered equal to the mother's, and we may not choose one life over another, because it is considered as though they are both pursuing each other.
It is important to point out that the reason that the life of the fetus is subordinate to the mother is because the fetus is the cause of the mother's life-threatening condition, whether directly (e.g. due to toxemia, placenta previa, or breach position) or indirectly (e.g. exacerbation of underlying diabetes, kidney disease, or hypertension).8 A fetus may not be aborted to save the life of any other person whose life is not directly threatened by the fetus, such as use of fetal organs for transplant.
Judaism recognizes psychiatric as well as physical factors in evaluating the potential threat that the fetus poses to the mother. However, the danger posed by the fetus (whether physical or emotional) must be both probable and substantial to justify abortion.9 The degree of mental illness that must be present to justify termination of a pregnancy has been widely debated by rabbinic scholars,10 without a clear consensus of opinion regarding the exact criteria for permitting abortion in such instances.11 Nevertheless, all agree that were a pregnancy to causes a woman to become truly suicidal, there would be grounds for abortion.12 However, several modern rabbinical experts ruled that since pregnancy-induced and post-partum depressions are treatable, abortion is not warranted.13
As a rule, Jewish law does not assign relative values to different lives. Therefore, almost most major poskim (Rabbis qualified to decide matters of Jewish law) forbid abortion in cases of abnormalities or deformities found in a fetus. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, one the greatest poskim of the past century, rules that even amniocentesis is forbidden if it is performed only to evaluate for birth defects for which the parents might request an abortion. Nevertheless, a test may be performed if a permitted action may result, such as performance of amniocentesis or drawing alpha-fetoprotein levels for improved peripartum or postpartum medical management.
While most poskim forbid abortion for "defective" fetuses, Rabbi Eliezar Yehuda Waldenberg is a notable exception. Rabbi Waldenberg allows first trimester abortion of a fetus that would be born with a deformity that would cause it to suffer, and termination of a fetus with a lethal fetal defect such as Tay Sachs up to the seventh month of gestation.14 The rabbinic experts also discuss the permissibility of abortion for mothers with German measles and babies with prenatal confirmed Down syndrome.
There is a difference of opinion regarding abortion for adultery or in other cases of impregnation from a relationship with someone Biblically forbidden. In cases of rape and incest, a key issue would be the emotional toll exacted from the mother in carrying the fetus to term. In cases of rape, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Aurbach allows the woman to use methods which prevent pregnancy after intercourse.15 The same analysis used in other cases of emotional harm might be applied here. Cases of adultery interject additional considerations into the debate, with rulings ranging from prohibition to it being a mitzvah to abort.16
I have attempted to distill the essence of the traditional Jewish approach to abortion. Nevertheless, every woman's case is unique and special, and the parameters determining the permissibility of abortion within halacha are subtle and complex. It is crucial to remember that when faced with an actual patient, a competent halachic authority must be consulted in every case.
The Nasorean Position

The Didache says at 2:2 “thou shalt not procure an abortion, neither shalt thou slay it when born”. The word used makes it clear that the act of procuring an abortion is forbidden. But does that forbid a woman to get an abortion when her life is at jeopardy. The word used is not murder. The concept of the pursuer remains present in the passage. Thus, to preserve the life of the mother it would be allowable to commit an abortion before the child began to leave the birth canal. However, after the child begins to leave the birth canal, the mother’s concern is equal to the child and her natural instincts to preserve her child must override her temporary fear.
The Didache does not recognize a psychological reason for abortion. It presumes two things: one that the mother’s ruach considered this situation before she was born and chose to live this life even though the child would present a real danger to her and second, that the child chose to come into the world in which the mother might be less than whole. The Didache presumes that both ruachot will learn great lessons from the interaction. This concept is inherent in the early principles of the Kabbalah.
CONCLUSION
It is clear that the general Jewish position on abortion is in opposition to abortion on demand. It supports the intercession of parents to aid in the decision making for the girl. It supports the idea that the concerns of the child should also be considered. It supports the principle that life begins at conception. It opposes partial birth abortions. It opposes abortion procured by those that are sexually lax.

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The Way Essay Lamed Aleph

Barry — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 16:58:03 GMT

The Roman Catholic Church by the 16th century had allowed the accretions of history to cloud the true teachings of Yeshua ha Meshiach. That is not to say that there were not in their traditions most of the teachings of Yeshua, but only that those teachings had been skewed and misrepresented in such a way as to lose their true meaning. With the introduction of the printing press, the Bible became the most popular book on the market and many people, who could afford them, purchased them and began to read the words that previously had been restricted intentionally or financially to the clergy. After John Hus had challenged the right of the Church to interpret scripture without the help of the laity, the floodgates were opened and protests began to occur around Europe concerning the practices of Roman Catholicism that had nothing to do with the basic message.

In this essay, I am not interested as much in what Martin Luther taught as the effect that Luther’s teachings had on spirituality. The areas of his teachings therefore that we are going to look at are: the doctrine of salvation by grace, the doctrine on indulgences, his refutation of the concept of sacrifice as it is attached to the Eucharist, and his willingness to allow a married clergy.

Luther taught that one is saved by grace alone. Such a principle automatically denigrated the importance of righteous living and especially the importance of such concepts as fasting, prayer, and charitable acts. If one is saved by grace alone and if many are called, but few chosen, then the ones chosen are chosen by grace alone and not by any works of their own doing. As a result, it is perfectly possible for a person to be saved even though he or she leads an unrighteous life. Even more so, it is perfectly possible for a person to live an evil life up to the day of their death and then repent and find that G-d’s grace saved them. It is perfectly possible that one could lead a righteous life and still go to Hell. Without commenting on the Scriptural validity of said doctrine, let us see the results of this doctrine. First, Luther abolished the monastic houses including his own Augustinian house. Second, Luther encouraged the power grabs of the German princes. He allied himself with powers that made not the slightest protestations of acting religious. He allowed greedy people to claim their right to oppress others effectuating right by might ideals set forth by Machiavelli. He is responsible for the murder of thousands of Jews simply because they did not believe as he did and he supported the German Princes against the rest of Europe in disestablishing the Roman Catholic Church, leaving a moral and spiritual vacuum that consumed the continent. All of these acts came from the moral freedom that the saved by grace doctrine encouraged in Europe. Luther’s saved by grace doctrine would be further enunciated by John Calvin who is the subject of the next essay.

Luther also taught that the church could not sell indulgences. The Roman Catholic Church needed money to finance St. Peter’s Basilica and other projects in which the corrupt Popes of the time indulged themselves. Yeshua taught in Matthew 16:18-19 that Peter was given the keys to the kingdom of heaven and what ever he bound on earth would be bound in heaven and whatever he loosed on earth would be loosed in heaven. The Popes reasoned that they were the successors to Peter and that they had the power of the keys. They further reasoned that the Church’s many acts of charity and kindness created a heavenly bank account of reserved grace that the Church could draw upon with the power of the keys, binding some of the grace to one or loosing some of the grace from another. The Popes reasoned that this reserve of grace could be sold and one could buy the grace for a donation to the building fund or other earthly projects. This principle became a bedrock principle for the church to raise the funds it needed to operate in its imperial way during this period of history.

However, the underlying issue is not whether the Church can or should sell its grace. The underlying issue is “Does the Church have the power of the keys, that is, can they bind and loose?” The principle that the church taught is not new. It is very old. It flows from a passage in Isaiah 22 in which the Lord says:

“I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder;
when he opens, no one shall shut; when he shuts, no one
shall open.” 22:22.

This power is a rabbinical power. Every rabbi has it for spiritual reasons. His talmid comes to him and tell him how much a particular law is afflicting him. The rabbi carefully considers the matter and tries to decide if the law is too heavy for this particular talmid or disciple. If he finds that it is not too heavy, the rabbi binds the practice of that particular law on the disciple. If he finds that it is too heavy, the rabbi uses some of his grace to loose the law by taking the burden on his shoulders and asking G-d to be merciful to himself and not hold the offense against the talmid. Under these concepts, which arose in Judaism, the Church has the power to bind and loose grace upon a person. It flows not only from the Church’s power to forgive in the name of the Church, not G-d, but the Church, but from the power of the Church to bind that decision on heaven.

The result of Luther’s principle of opposing indulgences eliminated the power to bind and loose, the people turned next to the Eucharist as a source of forgiveness. Luther then declared that the Eucharist was not the real presence of Christ on the altar and denied that it was a sacrifice. As a result, he left the people with no method of gaining forgiveness for their sins. He therefore had to develop a new doctrine that said that when a person approached G-d and asked for forgiveness with all his heart then G-d would forgive them. Note it is not an act of grace anymore; it is assured. So Luther repudiates his own doctrine in order to maintain forgiveness for his people. The result spiritually was disastrous. It resulted in people constantly asking G-d for forgiveness after the fact when they had intentionally committed a grievous sin and were unable or unwilling to restrain themselves. There was a difference between expressing the desire for forgiveness to a priest or to G-d and it was much easier to deal with G-d. Moral depravity reigned among the vast majority of the Lutheran princes and the educated Lutheran laity. The people slowly began to understand what had happened and soon they were forgiving themselves for every vice imaginable. Spirituality dropped toward zero.

Luther denied the sacrifice of the Mass. Is it any surprise then that people no longer sought communion? They no longer listened to the priest who as teacher led them to the sacrifice of the Body and Blood. Now they did not need to have the Body and Blood, they could just ask Jesus to forgive them and he would take their sin on his back on the cross. Everyone got their forgiveness. It was automatic. There was no one to deny that the forgiveness had been granted and they did not listen for the Voice of G-d to tell them. Thus Luther had to change the Mass, which was sufficient in and of itself, to a show. Now people came together to “worship” so that they could hear a preacher preach and hear a choir sing beautiful hymns. The people had been seeing morality plays for centuries as a form of entertainment. Now they could go to the church and get it free. Soon there were those that even denied the importance of the community concepts inherent in communion and wanted to limit it to an occasional act of piety. The new protestant world was a world of individual responsibility and thus open to the power of Satan at every crossroad in their lives.

Luther was familiar with history. He knew that Orthodoxy allowed married priests. He knew that the Apostles were married. He knew that for five hundred years the Roman tradition had regularly allowed married priests and it had not been definitively outlawed in the Latin Rite until five hundred years before. He wanted to get married. Therefore, he allowed a married clergy. Orthodoxy provided valuable lessons for Luther, which he ignored. Orthodoxy allowed a married clergy but they were relegated to parishes in the country, to small towns, and to places where the cleric had lived previously. Those priests who were marked for leadership were all celibates and connected to an Order of priests and brothers. It was from the celibate priesthood that Bishops were chosen. Luther failed to see that when you have a wife, if she is not a co-equal in your ministry, she will use her feminine charms to get you home and not out serving G-d. Both models of ministry work. And yet, a man who is a minister without a wife who also is deeply involved in ministry is a man with a divided heart. The spirituality of the married protestant minister is severely challenged by married life. Yeshua says you cannot serve two masters; protestant ministers cannot serve their G-d and their wives as well.

Lutheran spirituality has to be a personal thing. If you are a spiritual person and a Lutheran, you will find a conflicted heart. The protestant reformation threw out spirituality and the rich tradition of piety that had been integral to Roman Catholic teaching and replaced it with nothing. For the freedom to read scripture, the Lutheran also got the freedom to sin in private without ever having to face another human being with his sinfulness. Sin festered, grew strong, and manifested itself in factionalism and hatred, division, and growing secularization of society.

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Shalom

transformduality — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 20:26:54 GMT

Can anyone offer me the spelling of ambassador and/or messenger?

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The Way Essay Lamed

Barry — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 18:25:43 GMT

There is a doctrine in Christianity and to some extent in Judaism about fallen angels and the fall of Satan. The idea comes from three passages in Scripture and from the First Book of Enoch. In this essay, I will discuss the three passages from Scripture and show that there is no support in Scripture for the idea that Satan has fallen. I will also discuss a passage that shows that Satan is welcome in heaven and has not fallen. Finally, I will discuss how the ideas in the First Book of Enoch became infused in Christianity.

The first passage that we will look at is Genesis 6:1-4 which says:

“And it was that humans began to multiply on the face of the soil and children were born to them and the children of the G-ds saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful and they took for themselves wives from all those that they chose. And YHVH said: ‘My Spirit shall not strive with erring humans while they are in the flesh; and he shall live only one hundred twenty years. The giants were on the Earth in those days and even afterwards when came in the children of the G-ds to the daughters of humans and bore to them (children); they were the heroes whose name existed among men from ancient times.”

In no place does this passage say that their were even angels present, much less fallen. The passage literally talks about the children of the G-ds. Now, the children of the G-ds are thought to be angelic beings. So it is appropriate to talk about angels, but the word in Hebrew for angel is “malach”, messenger, and ang el means in messenger of g-d. It is clear that YHVH is displeased by the fact that certain sons of the Archangels, the original children of YHVH, had taken humans as wives. However, it does show that an angel and a human can mate, so their DNA must be very close to the same. The principal displeasure of YHVH seems to be the fact that angelic blood was being mixed with an inferior race, the humans. It is clear from the passage that heroes were men of renown whose names were important to mankind even before the b’nei elohim or children of the G-ds came.

The second passage that we will look at is Isaiah 14:12, but we will look at it in context which will include looking at the full chapter. Isaiah 14:11-16 says:

“Your majesty is lowered into Sheol, the noise of your harps; under you is spread the maggot and the worms cover you. How have you fallen from the heavens, O Helel, son of the morning; you are cut down to the ground, who weakens the nations. For you have said in your heart, I will go up to the heavens; above the stars of El I will raise my throne and I will sit in the mountain of meeting on the sides of the north. I will rise over the heights of the clouds; I will be likened to the Most High. Yet to Sheol you shall be lowered, to the sides of the Pit. They, who see you shall stare at you, shall ponder at you. Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, shaking the kingdoms.”?

The chapter specifically says in verse 4 that it is the King of Babylon that is the subject of this prophecy. However, the chapter makes repeated references to another event. Who was it that sought to put there throne in the recesses of the north, in the place where the Archangels, the Elohim, met. It was Nimrod, the king of Babel, who tried to build a tower to heaven. So we are talking not just about the King of Babylon but also he legendary predecessor, King Nimrod of Bavel or Babylon. The passage says that the King is lowered into Sheol. Judaism has three levels of the Underworld: Hades, which is the lip of the Underworld; Sheol, which is on the sides of the Pit; and the Pit or lowest portion of the Underworld. So this mythical king is lowered into Sheol, but the passage makes it clear that what has lowered him to Sheol is death. Not only is he covered with maggots, but also verse makes it clear that the King is thrown from his grave.

So we now know that this verse refers to a King of Babylon that has died. This King is likened to the Archangel Helel, who is the Son of the Morning, the Shining One, the Adversary or Satan. He was once the shining one, the first arbiter of Light, for the entire world, just as is Satan. But, this King of Babylon has been cut down in death. This King sought like Nimrod to go up to the heavens. Helel, the Archangel Adversary, is already in Heaven. This King sought to set his throne among the Stars or Archangels and to sit with them in the Assembly of the Holy Ones. The King sought to be likened to a G-d, namely the Chief G-d of the Canaanites, El. But the King dies and he goes to the Underworld and others are amazed that his end is no different than other men.

This person is not the Satan of our modern conception. He is neither the Shining Angel, the Morning Star, the bringer of Light, the Adversary. He neither leads 50,000,000 fallen angels nor lives at the bottom of the Bottomless Pit. This person did not make it to the Assembly of the Holy Ones. He died. So this passage is not about Satan and it does not prove that Satan fell. Actually, it proves that Satan is the Morning Star.

The third passage that is used to prove that Satan has fallen is Revelation 12:3-9; that passage says:

“And was seen another sign in Heaven, and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on the heads of him seven diadems, and his tail draws the third part of the stars of heaven, and throws them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman being about to bear, that, when she bears her child he may devour it. And she bore a son, a male, who is about to shepherd all the nations with a staff of iron. And her child was seized up to G-d and his Throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where there has been a place prepared for her by G-d, that there they might nourish her for one thousand two hundred sixty days.
And occurred a war in Heaven. Michael and his angels made war against the dragon and the dragon warred, and his angels, but they did not have the strength and they did not find a place for themselves in Heaven. And the great dragon, the Serpent of Old, being called Devil and Satan, the one deceiving the whole habitable world was cast onto the earth, and his angels with him.”

This passage takes place at the middle of the Revelation. Much has come before and much will come after. The two witnesses, the Ones Like Moses and Elijah, have appeared. The True Ark has been found and has been taken to Heaven. A great earthquake has occurred and wiped out a 10th of some great city. None of this has happened yet. It is only after this event that the events in Chapter 12 take place. So this passage is not yet relevant.

The Scripture implies that there are 150,000,000 angels. The Dragon has the allegiance of one third of the stars, which is another way of saying angels, in heaven. See above when it talks about exalting one’s throne among the stars. Thus, 50,000,000 angels will fight on the side of Satan in this war. They lost the war and were excluded from heaven. That means that Satan is still in heaven today as none of this has happened yet. Where were these angels forced to go? It was not to the Pit. It was not to Sheol. It was not to Hades. It was to Earth. So, if the argument that is being made is that Satan has been thrown out of heaven, then he has been thrown to earth and we are truly under his power and authority and it is useless to fight against him until the Angels of Michael again come against him in battle.

Thus far we have been unable to find any support for fallen angels. But we have found evidence that Helel is the Morning Star and that Satan will not fall until after the two witnesses have come and gone. Now, I want to look at another passage from the Book of Job, the earliest of the written books in the Bible.

Job 2:1-2 says:

“And came a day when the Sons of G-d presented themselves before YHVH, and Satan also was among them.”

This passage tells us that the Sons of G-d, the Archangels, presented themselves before YHVH and Satan was not only one of them, but was present that day. The rest of the book tells us that he was acting in his capacity as the Divine Adversary or Prosecutor. It is clear that Satan is in heaven. It is clear that no evidence has yet been presented that he fell. So we know that this idea of fallen angels did not come from Scripture.

Where did the idea of fallen Angels come from then? The First Book of Enoch in Chapter 6 (just as in the Bible) talks about the Watchers. The passage greatly expands on Genesis 6:1-4. Verse three says that the Sons of Heaven, the Watchers, that had sex with the daughters of men, knew that they had sinned a great sin. Enoch 6:3. Enoch 7:1 calls the sexual unions between the Watchers and the women a defilement of the Watchers. Enoch 7:6 says that the Earth itself brought an accusation against “the lawless ones” which we must assume were the children of the union between the Watchers and the daughters of mankind. Enoch 10:4 commands the Archangel Raphael to bind Asael who I presume is Azazel and throw him into the darkness. Enoch 10:11 commands the Archangel Michael to bind Shemhazah, the leader of the rebellion, and the others with him who have mated with the daughters of men. They are to be kept in Gehinnom, the valley of Earth where refuge is burnt for 2,800 years and then led to the fiery abyss and to prison where they will be tortured forever. Enoch 6:5 however makes it clear that there were only two hundred angels in the rebellion and that the Archangel Helel was not one of them.

What has occurred here is the same kind of popular mythologizing that has happened in many other places in Scripture. We believe what we want to believe after so-called ministers who read the Scriptures and add their own ideas to the Scriptures have preached to us. Enoch is a holy book and should be included among the Canon of Scripture. That idea is not new. It is very old. Had not Constantine hated the book, it would be scripture today. However, the idea that the Angels of Heaven have fallen is false.

How has this false idea affected the Western Tradition? The first and most important effect was on apocalypses. No longer was the enemy bad people, but rather the Enemy was a personified Ahriman, the Evil G-d of the Zoroastrians. No longer were we responsible as people for our sinfulness. In some way, we could share the blame with another being, Satan, and hold him responsible for our evil acts. No longer was our duty to do good all our life, but rather to eliminate what we called evil from others. Satan became the Great Excuse for mankind to Sin. You know I believe in Satan, but I agree with him; mankind is an evil lot that has come up with far greater evil than he as an Angel of Light could ever conceive.

posted in Spiritual History - 6 replies

Shema

rvr_rat66 — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 07:57:36 GMT

The Shema (sh'ma) is a declaration of faith, a pledge of allegiance to one God. It is said upon arising in the morning and upon going to sleep at night. It is said when praising G-d and when beseeching Him. It is the first prayer that a jewish child is taught to say. It is the last words a jew says prior to death.

" Sh'ma, Yisra'el! ADONAI ELOHEINU, ADONAI echad "
( Hear, Isra'el! ADONAI our G-d, ADONAI is one)

posted in Spiritual History - 4 replies

The Way Essay Kaph Teth

Barry — Sat, 04 Mar 2006 17:31:25 GMT

There is concept that appeared in the Western Tradition first in the 7th century before the Common Era and continues to this present day. It is in direct opposition to another principle that claims the allegiance of most of the same people who support the first concept. The first concept says that when you get a group of theologians together and let them talk and debate about theology and dogma the Holy Spirit will intervene to guarantee that the truth is the final result of the discussion. In direct opposition to that concept is that idea that some men are divinely inspired to say the words of G-d and that those words are more important than all the combined theologians in the world.

The first great council took place in the time of King Josiah and was at the least responsible for a spiritual revival and a theological purification in Israel. That council gave us eight books of the Bible.

Another council took place at Jerusalem in the early fifties of the first century of this era. That council decided that one did not have to be a Jew to believe in Yeshua. One only had to keep the Noachide laws and the teaching of Yeshua called the Golden Rule.

Another council took place at Yamnia in Israel in about 90 C.E. and decided which books would go in the Tanach or Old Testament.

Another council met in Nicaea in 325 C.E. and declared the doctrine of the trinity, settled the date of Easter, and decided which books would go into the New Testament.

Another council met at Constance in France in the 15th century and excommunicated John Hus that ultimately resulted in the Protestant Reformation.

Another council met between 1965 and 1968 and opened the windows of the Roman Catholic Church; it was called Vatican II.

On the other hand, the Prophets stood against the church of their day and they as one man declared what G-d demanded.

Yeshua declared a complete reformation of Temple worship and the offering of animal sacrifice; codified the Golden Rule; and elevated two mitzvahs to supreme status.

Paul declared that he was the sole Apostle to the Gentiles and stood against the Apostles in Jerusalem.

Montanus declared a new dispensation of the Holy Spirit.

Mohammed declared that he had been given a new book by an Archangel that superseded all other scriptures.

St. Francis changed the concept of monasticism.

Martin Luther declared war on tradition.

Sabbatai Zvi declared himself the Meshiach and established a spiritual link between Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The Ba’al Shem Tov proclaimed a religion of joy and brought the Holy Spirit to Judaism.

Pius X attempted to unify church and state.

What would men of faith and reason say about these two concepts? How do we judge in hindsight whether the pronouncements of one or many were better? It is hard to know.

Let us take a look at the ideas that were expressed and their result. Josiah wanted to centralize the faith of Israel and wanted to be the arbiter of the cult. He eliminated not only the other places of worship, but also he eliminated all priesthoods not subject to him. Had he not done this, Judaism would have died in 586 B.C.E. Because of his acts, Judaism is alive and well today. That council and that one person leading the council did G-d’s will.

The Prophets stood against error. But the way that people knew that it was error was the agreement of the criticism of the Prophets with the Torah. Their prophecies inspire and enliven us today. They were the Voice of G-d.

The Council of Jerusalem was wrong. It was not the Holy Spirit speaking. The result of the decision was the total separation of Pauline Christianity from its spiritual base and the eventual destruction of the Church of the Apostles, the witnesses left by Yeshua. This Council in hindsight appears to have been false. Ultimately, the excesses of this Council were ameliorated after Paul’s death. Christianity adopted many Jewish features, just not enough. Yeshua who said the Torah was not abolished was overridden by the politics and passions of a few men.

The Council of Yamnia excluded the principal books of their opponents from the Scriptures. In doing so, they allowed Judaism to be co-opted by one, fanatical, falsehood that elevated the opinions of a council over the opinions of Scripture. If a council can decide which books can be read, it can dictate the meaning of the books themselves. This council was false.

Paul was not the only Apostle to the Gentiles. He was not even recognized by the Apostles appointed by Yeshua as an apostle. He merely got the best press. The eastern Church would become the dominate portion of the church for the next six centuries having far more members than the one patriarchate in the West and the Eastern Church would spread far beyond the Roman Empire. He was not authentic and he was not in agreement with Yeshua. He was false.

The Pope declared Montanus a true Prophet and then rescinded his declaration. Montanus however was successful in every place in which people could meet him. His spiritual and charismatic character established a church, which lasted longer than any Protestant church, has yet accomplished. He was a true Prophet; in that I stand with Tertullian whose teaching form the Catholic Church’s dogmatic doctrines on authority.

The Council of Nicaea was called by a Pagan Emperor to try to bring order to the Church so that he could use it for his political aspirations. He pushed for a date for Easter that is contrary to Scripture and it became the normative time for Easter. He did not like certain books that vied for universal approbation in the New Testament like Didache, Thomas, Mary Magdalene, Mary and Enoch. So they did not get into the Scriptures even though many found their words very beneficial and spiritual insights. The Council of Nicaea in hindsight was a false council.

Muhammad brought a message of unity to a region in which unity was sorely lacking. He intended to bring one point of view; he intended to force that view on all others. In that way, he was no different than Josiah, Paul, or others who were convinced of their prophetic authority. Yet his religion united Judaism, Christianity and Islam into a religion of peace for those who would accept its tenets. What has happened today to his teachings, the co-option of his teachings by radicals who misstate the Koran, is not his fault, but inherent in the book was the possibility of these misinterpretations. However, that same comment can be made of both the Tanach and the New Testament. Muhammad was true prophet and brought to the Gentiles a way to G-d more sublime than Paul’s, more unified than James’. He came much closer to understanding what Yeshua was teaching.

St. Francis observed a world in which monastics left the world but often got a secure lifestyle that was ignorant of the suffering in the world and ignorant of the pain that the huge landholdings of the monasteries brought on the serfs attached thereto. He rejected that security throwing himself into absolute poverty so that he could rely firmly on the providence of the Most High. However, ultimately the ethos that he taught was co-opted in his own lifetime by those who desired political power and security more than G-d. If his life was a prophecy, then it failed because few have taken up its resounding radical denial of this world.

That brings me to the subject of this essay. The Council of Constance was faced originally with two popes competing with each other and in that way challenging the authority of the Church to speak with one voice. However, the very meaning of that intent was perverted when John Hus presented his idea that every man could understand the Holy Scriptures if they were only translated into the vernacular. When he said that, there were two Churches in Christendom, one in the West and one in the East. Now six hundred years later, those two churches the Roman Church and the Orthodox Church constitute 1.4 billion of the worlds 1.9 billion Christians. Thanks to Hus, 500 million follow different points of view; of that number two churches, the Anglican Communion and the Lutherans comprise 160 million. So the remaining 340 million Christians are divided into 361 sects. Now Paul taught in Galatians that factionalism and division are signs of the Devil and Satanic power. I have concluded that what Hus did is evil because it has resulted in the division and fractionalization of the Church into many splinters. How can Christians claim that the Church is one holy and catholic when it is obviously not? Hus must be held responsible for this act. Constance for all of its work neither achieved unity nor effected change. It was a false council.

One hundred years later, as prophesied by Hus, Martin Luther arose to destroy the traditions of the Church, which kept it moored to the Jewish tradition. He cut it loose and now we hear that new ideas have sprung up that declares new laws never spoken by G-d to be laws for believers to follow. No drinking, when G-d demands drinking; no dancing when even the beloved of G-d, David the King danced before the Lord; no ingestion of substances when even the wisdom literature approved of the druggist; a declaration that premarital sex is wrong, when even Yeshua believed that sex should be practiced during the betrothal; and most importantly no homosexuality even though David and Jonathan, Naomi and Ruth are the paragons of bisexuality. For a thousand years, the Church of Jesus Christ married gay men inside of the sanctuary because they freely entered into their relationship with love and married straight people outside of the Church because marriage between them was done for the dowry, and then there was a change. Martin Luther denied the seven sacraments, denied the unity of one voice, denied the importance of tradition, but substituted his own traditions, and hated Jews. He was obviously a false prophet.

What has happened to the spiritual principles of the institution that was left behind by Yeshua and Paul? They have been degraded into rote acts that lead to nothing but fanaticism and a refusal to fight the inner desires of lust, greed, and pride. Every attempt to restore true spirituality was overcome by the devil. I cannot judge that either principle, prophet or council is wrong. But it is easy to see that there must be some guiding principle that allows us to decide when they are wrong. Perhaps we shall soon see such a principle developed.

posted in Spiritual History - 2 replies

The Way Essay Kaph Chet -- The Bible and John Wycliffe

Barry — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 16:29:44 GMT

There are two ways of looking at the book called the Bible. There is a scientific view and a faith-based view. The two views can be reconciled to some degree when we decide to remember the admonition of the writer of 2 Timothy 3:16-17 which says: “All writing is inspired by G-d and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to G-d may be competent, equipped for every good work.”

The scientific view of the Bible is that it was composed by men over a long period of time. The first portions of the Bible, the so-called Torah, was a result of at least three schools of writers who took ancient legends current in the Middle East and among the Canaanite people and forged from them into a myth that became the central theme of Jewish history. The schools are respectively called the Elohist, the Yahwist, and the Deuteronomist. The book of Deuteronomy is a restatement of the essential portions of the previous four books that was written by King Josiah and a group of theologians in the eighth century before Yeshua. The same scholars also composed Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles. After the return from exile, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah were composed. Psalms and the other wisdom literature except for Job was recorded after the exile, but Job was probably rewritten as a Jewish epic before the exile. The Prophets were written contemporarily with the exile and thereafter. The Book of Daniel was written among the last of the books in the Tanach, or Jewish Bible. There were some other books, which were written in this period which had a significant effect on biblical history including 1, 2 and 3 Enoch and Jubilees. The so-called Apocrypha are books that were included in the translation made by the Jewish biblical scholars in the time after the Maccabbean revolt for Greek speaking people and is the oldest translation of the Hebrew Bible. That particular compilation is also the earliest canon of the Hebrew Bible, or official statement of what constituted the holy works of Judaism.

The Christian Writings were added to the generally accepted writings of the Jews from 55 C.E. until about 120 C.E. There were books that were excluded from that canon but that did not take place until much later and there was no agreement on the canon until the first Council of Nicaea.

As a scientific exercise then, one can say with certainty that the Bible was a collection of books that men had written.

The faith-based view of Scripture is that G-d inspired each and every book of the accepted canon. Unfortunately, that concept cannot withstand the light of truth. Some of the books that were left out of the canon were just as highly regarded by the people in the time that they were written as those that we have today. According to the writer of 2 Timothy, all writings of all character are inspired of G-d, but what does that mean. It means that the inspiration to write books about history and spirituality is G-d himself. For instance, the Didache or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles to the Gentiles was considered scripture by the Eastern Church, the Coptics, and the Armenians until the fifth century. Modern scholarship has argued strongly that the Gospel of Thomas was the first written gospel. It was highly regarded by the Egyptian Church and especially by the monastics until the church outlawed it in the fourth century.

There is a third view of Scripture that should be considered. The mythos or story that is presented in Scripture is a true statement of the actions of G-d in the life of the Jewish people. Each word is not necessarily true from a literal standpoint, but each and every word has value at other levels. The Jewish concept of PARDES should direct our view of Scripture. There is a Pashat or Literal view of each and every word. Sometimes that is the view that most predominates in our faith experience and directs our understanding of scripture. The Remez or Spiritual meaning is a deeper view of a particular passage that tries to understand the why of the passage, why was it true, why was it written, what is the meaning for the present day of the passage. The Dresh or Story of the passage asks us to put the passage into a context and to ask further faith questions about what G-d is saying to us in the passage. The Sod or Secret meaning looks for the deepest spiritual implications of what we have read. The Scripture read according to this level of reading is both living and inspired, because the inspiration is current and available to every person every day of the year. They read the words and it speaks a different message every time it is read. In this conceptualization, Truth is understood as a Story supported by facts that make it real. Jewish and Christian theologians have always used this method of interpretation for scripture. It is only when we forget that facts uphold the story and try to proclaim that the Story is not living, is not changeable, is not current, that it becomes no myth and only facts. When that happens, you have breached the abilities of scripture. You have attempted to use it for history, which is official stories and is seldom true, for science which changes by the day, for logic which often is not logical. You have decided to breach the rules that were laid down in 2 Timothy – Reproof, correction, rebuttal and training in righteousness.

Why is this important at this time in our spiritual history. John Wycliff translated the bible into English so as to make it more accessible to a literate people. He believed that educated people could read and understand the scripture themselves without the intercession of a representative of the Church. His view is palpably incorrect. We have tried it for six hundred fifty years and we have determined that it leads to error, to falsehood, to abuse, and to the hated concept of fundamentalism which breaches the laws of scripture set down by 2 Timothy. The Protestant Reformation flowed from the opening of the Book of books to the opinions of the common folk. Theologians spend a lifetime trying to understand scripture and during their search they need to explore ideas that are barely supportable by the actual words. This is the working through of PARDES. But every Tom, Dick and Mary are not qualified to look at Scripture at this level and so it never acts as a source of reproof, correction, rebuttal and training in righteousness for them. Rather it acts as a source of ignorance and miscommunication that leads to murder, abuse, and hatred for our fellow man.

I love the scripture and I believe everyone should read it deeply and consider its teachings. I also believe that you should read reputable scholars and consider facts that uphold your faith. You should not be ignorant of the facts nor take only the facts as important. I believe in a living scripture that can and does speak daily to me new words by the intercession of the Holy Spirit in my life. John Wycliff changed all that by giving the common man who will not take the time to understand the scriptures the ability to pick and choose as he believes and to force it on others

posted in Spiritual History - 3 replies

The Way Essay Kaph Zayin -- Spiritual Persecution

Barry — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 21:55:22 GMT

In 1348, a new spiritual concept arose in Europe that would have virulent overtones. It arose among Christians who in were being severely challenged in their faith because of three events: one, the war for the control of Spain; two, the black death; and the Babylonian captivity of the Pope. Each of these events had the effect of causing Christians to rethink their faith and to decide what was true and what was not.

The war for the control of Spain between the Muslim south and the Christian north was a clash of cultures symptomatic of today’s clash between the secular West and the religious Middle East. Muslim Spain was sophisticated, urbane, and scientifically advanced. Philosophically, they were tolerant of divergent ideas and open to scientific advances. Christian Spain was close-minded, archCatholic, conservative, and unwilling to bend on tolerance toward other religions. Whereas, the Muslims could and did defend themselves, the Jews could not. The result was the outbreak of anti-Semitism and forced conversion in 1348. Jews that were converted against their will and under threat of execution were tried for heresy if they relapsed into any Jewish practices at all. Forced conversion and anti-Semitism went hand in hand.

In France, the Black Death hit Europe in 1348 and the Jews were blamed for it in Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, and Spain. Mass executions of Jews became systematic through out the continent because the people in their fear felt that the existence of Jews was an affront to G-d and the only way for them to get G-d to rescind his death sentence on their culture and religion was to eliminate the Jews. There was no room for tolerance and so thousands of Jews were systematically killed as the Black Death raged throughout Europe.

The forced evacuation of the Papacy from Rome to Avignon allowed for the creation of antipopes, which raised doubts in the minds of the faithful as to the legitimacy of Church pronouncements. As the situation deepened, many dissidents used the chaos in leadership in the Church as an excuse to explore the limits of divergence raising the ugly head of heresy across the Continent. Many people looked to the Jews, the most obvious dissidents in their society, as the cause of heresy and many more were executed for the rising levels of questioning in European society.

The situation of Jewish persecution would not end until the final expulsion from Spain of all Jews in 1492.

What kind of mindset causes such intolerance? Fear is the primary motivator. Technological developments often cause the growth of intolerance. Increased access to the press and opportunities to learn encourage both intolerance and tolerance. Increased travel can cause both intolerance and tolerance. Spiritual growth goes hand in hand with periods of intolerance because spiritual growth occurs in cycles in most cultures. There is a period of conservatism in which dogma and doctrine becomes well established. Then there is a period of questioning that leads who populaces to rethink the dogmas and doctrines of orthodoxy. This is followed by a new set of dogmas and doctrines which clarify previously held ideas and provide the new orthodoxy. Many people cannot change that fast. The result is distrust and anger. If as happened in this case, natural events intervene to make the people think that G-d is angry, and He may be, then they will look for the cause of such anger and the doleful eyes of the frightened populace will fall on some scapegoat who is different than the general society in which the populace lives.

Karen Armstrong in her book Battle For G-d shows that modernity can cause this reaction but the attempt to declare mythos, the belief system of a religion, fact often leads to this kind of reaction. Rome was finding a need during this period to exalt the spiritual authority above the temporal authority and went so far as to declare that the power of the keys, which has little direct connection to temporal authority, gave the Church dominance over the State. This dogma created uncertainty and in France severe reaction when the homosexual king, Phillip the Fair, came to the throne and saw the church and the Knights Templar as appropriate scapegoats for his betrayed love affair with Richard Coeur de Lion of England. Unfortunately, with the continued financial problems came a need to find additional sources of funds and the King turned on the Jewish bankers and merchants in order to solve his financial problems. He could not have done these acts had not he Church attempted to turn the mythos of its viceregency on Earth into political fact. Let us take a lesson from this past event when we look at what is happening in Iraq and Iran as they are in many ways repeats in ancient history.

posted in Spiritual History - 0 replies

Do You Believe in the Devil?

Barry — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 19:02:52 GMT

Father Gabrielle Amorth, the Vatican City Exorcist, says:

30 Days: But if one does not believe in the existence of Satan, does one's faith remain intact, is it still the Catholic faith?

Fr. Amorth: No. I will tell you a story. When I met Don Pellegrino Ernetti for the first time, a celebrated exorcist who had practiced in Venice for forty years, I said to him, "If I could speak to the Pope, I would tell him that I meet too many bishops who do not believe in the devil." The following afternoon, Father Ernetti came back to see me to tell me that that same morning he had been received by John Paul II. "Holiness," he had said to him, "there is an exorcist here in Rome, Father Amorth who, if he met you, would tell you that he knows too many bishops who do not believe in the devil." The Pope answered him briefly: "He who does not believe in the devil does not believe in the Gospel." That is the reply which was given to him and which I repeat.

The reality of Satan is not new. The Prophet Zarathustra first warned us about Satan 3,000 years ago. Not only has the Archangel Hallel not become dead, he has become more powerful with each passing year. I am an exorcist. I have seen that the center of Satan's power is his ability to convince others that it is not cool to believe in personified evil. In fact, many people now deny that evil exists. They prefer to mask the so called evil in terms of illness.

Exorcism is not new. It has been a staple in the larder of shamanism for 25,000 years. It has been an arrow in the quiver of Judaism since before the birth of Yeshua. It is real. I do several exorcisms each year and have already done two this year and two more are scheduled. The Devil is also real; he is sophisticated; he is intelligent; he is successful. Those who do not believe in him are fools.

However, I should point out that there are things which religious people do that strengthens his hand. One, attacking hold groups of sinners without dealing with each in a particular and loving manner leads to more sin, often violence. Two, presuming that your religions list of sinful acts is held by others and not being respectful of honest differences in opinion leads to violence and more sin. Three, an attitude that you are free from sin and the influence of Satan and that someone else is not often leads to the greatest sins, pride.

Yeshua spent 25% of his time doing exorcisms and fighting Satan. Anyone who says that did not happen is calling Yeshua a liar. The Longer Ending of Mark makes it clear that the act of exorcism is a normal act of true believers and marks it as a sign of true belief. Satan is real. Got it.

posted in Spiritual History - 2 replies

The Way Essay Kaph Vav

Barry — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 20:45:49 GMT

The Nasorean Sect of Judaism was led by a group of theologians called the Essenes. They established strict rules for admission to their order and to those in the supporting organizations of the Nasoreans, the Zealotes, and the Sicarii. Their ideas were written down and maintained in at least two separate libraries: one in the caverns underneath the Temple mount which the Nasorean community had access to through the Essene Quarter in Jerusalem and the other was in the caves near a place called now Qumran. These extensive libraries have both been found.

The Karaite Jews found the first library in the middle of the eighth century C.E. and used the information that they found to change, revitalize and restore the ancient Zaddoki religion of Israel. The Knights of the Temple of Solomon found the other library in the 11th century C.E. and used it to create a secret religion wholly within the Order of Knights Templar. That secret religion was an attempt to restore the ancient Nasorean sect along more modern lines.

On October 13, 1307, a mere 17 years after the publication of the Zohar, the Pope and King Phillip IV called the Fair of France had the Knights in France arrested and charged with many different charges of heresy and sodomy. However, those charges boil down to just a few charges: 1) that the Order was following a secret religion other than Catholicism; 2) that the Order practiced homosexuality within its ranks; 3) that the Order maintained close ties with Kabbalists and Sufis; and 4) that the Order was subversive to Church and State. All of these charges were true. The Order was well aware of the astounding challenges to orthodox Christianity revealed to their priests from the secret library from under the Temple. The Order was guilty of homosexuality because they discovered that it had never been outlawed in early Judaism and they were an all-male Order. The Order was guilty of maintaining close ties with Kabbalists from whom they got the methods for a modern banking system and with the Sufis who taught them methods of body control and higher spirituality necessary to do incredible feats of power. The Order was subversive of the autocracies of Church and State having read of a much more democratic form of government in those books from the secret library.

On March 18, 1314, Jacques De Molay, last public Grand Master of the Order of the Knights of the Temple of Solomon was executed in Paris, but before he died he gave forth four metropolitan charters to create for Lodges in Paris, Edinburgh, Milan, and Copenhagen. From these four secret lodges, the Order was able to amalgamate its Officers, Knights, and Corps of Engineers into the Guild of Stone Masons and using the symbolism found in the ancient books to create a secret religious society that would begin to agitate for political and moral freedom.

Four centuries later, on June 24, 1717, in London, England, four lodges that had descended from the ancient lodge in Edinburgh, Scotland formed a Grand Lodge and began the modern Order of Freemasons. That Order today is going through its periodic soul searching trying to find its ancient roots, but from that soul searching, the Order will find new spiritual roots that will allow men and women to have a spiritual relationship with the Divine entirely separate from any church or faith on earth. The Order continues to understand that it is the successor to the Christian Cabalists and sees itself as the last bastion of the unified theory of mythos and logos in the world today. It is trying hard to become the Brotherhood of Man and the source of Truth for a world sunk in vice.

posted in Spiritual History - 13 replies

I Am The Resurection And The Life

rvr_rat66 — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 20:43:12 GMT

John 11:25
Yeshua told her, " I am the resurection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again. They are given eternal life for believing in me and will never perish. Do you believe this Martha?"

posted in Spiritual History - 0 replies

Cosmic Energy And Healing

rvr_rat66 — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 03:16:26 GMT

Sorry I've been so quiet lately. Been learning about meditation, chakras, auras, and releasing negative energy. When I visualize white light (cosmic energy) entering the top of my head and flowing through my hands, my hands get hot.
Is this how Yeshua healed people? Was he conscious of this cosmic energy flowing through him?

posted in Spiritual History - 6 replies

Tu B'shvat

Barry — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 15:07:09 GMT

Yesterday was Tu B'shvat, the new years of the trees. It originally was the day upon which scripture ending the year of tithing for any goods that are produced on the land. All the goods that were produced in the previous year must have the tithes attached to them paid by this date. All the goods that were produced after this date must pay the tithe by the next Tu B'shvat.

In modern times, we have not generally had to worry about the tithe because it had to be paid in the Temple and there was no building. But in 1985, the Nasorean Faith came out of hiding and was re-established. In accordance with our ancient beliefs, the congregation of Yisrael is the Temple of G-d and will remain the Temple of G-d until the Temple of Ezekiel descends fully built at some future date. Therefore, since we are the Temple as the Dead Sea Scrolls records and our Teacher of Righteousness declares, the tithes are fully effective. In order to obey the Torah, those who grow food, shear sheep, make leather, do anything which produces from the land, should have paid a tithe of ten percent to the Community of Yisrael. Of course, the Goyim are not bound by this law, but they are always able to make a free will offering to the Lord by giving a gift to the Community of Yisrael.

Gifts to the Nasorean Orthodox Qahal are both acceptable free will offerings and tithe offerings. They can be made out to: The Nasorean Orthodox Qahal, 812 N. 5th Street, Kansas City, Kansas 66101.

Yesterday as part of our celebration of Tu B'shvat our community took a small three year old Rose of Sharon, a tree symbolic of the Meshiach of David, and transplanted it to the Kaw Point, which is three blocks from my house. Kaw Point is the place that the Kansas and Missouri Rivers come into confluence. It is a sacred spot because the energy forces of water are very high there.

I hope that you did something for Tu B'shvat as well.

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The Way Essay Kaph He

Barry — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 15:08:54 GMT

The situation in Provence, the southern region of France in from 1209 C.E. until 1255 C.E. had become intolerable. The Roman Catholic Church had launched an all-out war on the Albigensian Heresy. They had slaughtered whole towns and destroyed the infrastructure of life in this once prosperous province. Many Nasorean Jews, secret Marranos, had been going to Catholic Mass as was their wont and also had practiced the Kiddush and kept the feasts of Judaism. They had followed the Torah in secret and tried to keep theirselves out of local politics. Since the earliest times Narbonne in the Languedoc had been a major Jewish center and the Nasoreans in the 13th century feared that the problems of the Albigensians would eventually flow over to them. With the formation of the Episcopal and then the Papal Inquisitions in Provence, the fear that the Roman Catholic Church would soon start arresting Jews was a real concern.
The Nasorean community had long held a deep secret: the Kabbalah. The Sefer Yetzirah had been released relatively early certainly by the fifth century for general Jewish consumption and contemplation. Bahir had been released in the 12th century in Spain when the Jewish community was afraid of the Christian Crusade against Granada, that multicultured and cosmopolitan state in the south of Spain. The deepest secret was released to the Farsi scholar Moses de Leon in 1290 in Spain; it is called the Zohar. This greatest document of the Kabbalah proposes an entirely new cosmology and changed the way that Jews looked at the world. Its spirituality had infected all the teachings of esotericism since its revelation. Written in 135 C.E., like the other two foundational books of the Kabbalah, it is the most sublime explanation of the new theology and the mystical or sod interpretation of scripture. It contains a mystical discussion of the nature of God, the origin and structure of the universe, the nature of souls, sin, redemption, good and evil, and related topics.
The Zohar is not one book, but a group of books. These books include scriptural interpretations as well as material on theosophic theology, mythical cosmogony, mystical psychology, and what some would call anthropology.
According to Gershom Scholem, most of the Zohar was written in an exalted style of Aramaic that was spoken in Palestine during the second century of the modern era. The Zohar first appeared in Spain in the 13th century, and was published by a Jewish writer named Moses de Leon. He ascribed this work to a rabbi of the second century, Simeon ben Yohai. Jewish historiography holds that during a time of Roman persecution, Rabbi Simeon hid in a cave for 13 years, studying the Torah with his son, Elazar [1]. During this time he is said to have been inspired by God to write the Zohar.
The Zohar spread among the Jews with remarkable swiftness. Scarcely fifty years had passed since its appearance in Spain before it was quoted by many Kabbalists, including the Italian mystical writer Menahem Recanati. Its authority was so well established in Spain in the 15th century that Joseph ibn Shem-Tov drew from it arguments in his attacks against Maimonides.
Even representatives of non-mysticism oriented Judaism began to regard it as a sacred book and to invoke its authority in the decision of some ritual questions. They were attracted by its glorification of man, its doctrine of immortality, and its ethical principles, which are more in keeping with the spirit of Talmudic Judaism than are those taught by the philosophers. While Maimonides and his followers regarded man as a fragment of the universe whose immortality is dependent upon the degree of development of his active intellect, the Zohar declared him to be the lord of the Creation, whose immortality is solely dependent upon his morality. According to the Zohar, the moral perfection of man influences the ideal world of the Sefirot; for although the Sefirot expect everything from the Ein Sof (Heb. אין סוף, infinity), the Ein Sof itself is dependent upon man: he alone can bring about the divine effusion. The dew that vivifies the universe flows from the just. By the practice of virtue and by moral perfection, man may increase the outpouring of heavenly grace. Even physical life is subservient to virtue. This, says the Zohar, is indicated in the words "for the Lord God had not caused it to rain" (Gen. 2:5), which means that there had not yet been beneficent action in heaven, because man had not yet been created to pray for it.
The Zohar was quoted by Todros Abulafia, by Menahem Recanati, and even by Isaac of Acco, in whose name the story of the confession of Moses de Leon's widow is related. The claim was made of his widow that Moses de Leon had written the text. Isaac evidently ignored the woman's alleged confession in favor of the testimony of Joseph ben Todros and of Jacob, a pupil of Moses de Leon, both of whom assured him on oath that the work was not written by Moses. The only objection worthy of consideration by the believers in the authenticity of the Zohar was the lack of references to the work in Jewish literature; and to this they answered that Simeon ben Yohai did not commit his teachings to writing, but transmitted them orally to his disciples, who in turn confided them to their disciples, and these to their successors, until finally the doctrines were embodied in the Zohar. As to the references in the book to historical events of the post-Talmudic period, it was not deemed surprising that Simeon ben Yohai should have foretold future happenings.
"Woe unto the man," says Simeon ben Yohai, "who asserts that this Torah intends to relate only commonplace things and secular narratives; for if this were so, then in the present times likewise a Torah might be written with more attractive narratives. In truth, however, the matter is thus: The upper world and the lower are established upon one and the same principle; in the lower world is Israel, in the upper world are the angels. When the angels wish to descend to the lower world, they have to don earthly garments. If this be true of the angels, how much more so of the Torah, for whose sake, indeed, the world and the angels were alike created and exist. The world could simply not have endured to look upon it. Now the narratives of the Torah are its garments. He who thinks that these garments are the Torah itself deserves to perish and have no share in the world to come. Woe unto the fools who look no further when they see an elegant robe! More valuable than the garment is the body which carries it, and more valuable even than that is the soul which animates the body. Fools see only the garment of the Torah, the more intelligent see the body, the wise see the soul, its proper being; and in the Messianic time the 'upper soul' of the Torah will stand revealed."
The Zohar assumes four kinds of Biblical exegesis: Peshat ("simple/literal meaning"), Remez ("hint/allusion"), Derash ("interpretative/anagogical), and Sod ("secret/mystic"). The initial letters of the words Peshat, Remez, Derash, and Sod form together the word PaRDeS ("paradise/orchard"), which became the designation for the fourfold meaning of which the mystical sense is the highest part.
The mystic allegorism is based by the Zohar on the principle that all visible things, the phenomena of nature included, have besides their exoteric reality an esoteric reality also, destined to instruct man in that which is invisible. This principle is the necessary corollary of the fundamental doctrine of the Zohar. The universe being, according to that doctrine, a gradation of emanations, it follows that the human mind may recognize in each effect the supreme mark, and thus ascend to the cause of all causes.
This ascension, however, can only be made gradually, after the mind has attained four various stages of knowledge; namely: (1) the knowledge of the exterior aspect of things, or, as the Zohar calls it (ii. 36b), "the vision through the mirror that projects an indirect light"; (2) the knowledge of the essence of things, or "the vision through the mirror that projects a direct light"; (3) the knowledge through intuitive representation; and (4) the knowledge through love, since the Law reveals its secrets only to those who love it (ii. 99b).
After the knowledge through love comes the ecstatic state which is applied to the most holy visions. To enter the state of ecstasy one had to remain motionless, with the head between the knees, absorbed in contemplation and murmuring prayers and hymns. There were seven ecstatic stages, each of which was marked by a vision of a different color. At each new stage the contemplative entered a heavenly hall (hekal) of a different hue, until he reached the seventh, which was colorless, and the appearance of which marked both the end of his contemplation and his lapse into unconsciousness. The Zohar gives the following illustration of an ecstatic state:
"Once," says R. Simeon ben Yohai, "I was plunged in a contemplative ecstasy, and I beheld a sublime ray of a brilliant light which illumined 325 circles, and amid which something dark was bathing. Then the dark point, becoming bright, began to float toward the deep and sublime sea, where all the splendors were gathering. I then asked the meaning of this vision, and I was answered that it represented the forgiveness of sins."
The Zohar was lauded by many rabbis because it opposed religious formalism, stimulated one's imagination and emotions, and for many people helped reinvigorate the experience of prayer. In many places prayer had become a mere external religious exercise, while prayer was supposed to be a means of transcending earthly affairs and placing oneself in union with God.
The Zohar was censured by many rabbis because it propagated many superstitious beliefs, and produced a host of mystical dreamers, whose over-heated imaginations peopled the world with spirits, demons, and all kinds of good and bad influences. Many classical rabbis, especially Maimonides, viewed all such beliefs as a violation of Judaism principles of faith.
Its mystic mode of explaining some commandments was applied by its commentators to all religious observances, and produced a strong tendency to substitute a mystic Judaism in the place of traditional rabbinic Judaism.
Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, began to be looked upon as the embodiment of God in temporal life, and every ceremony performed on that day was considered to have an influence upon the superior world.
Elements of the Zohar crept into the liturgy of the 16th and 17th centuries, and the religious poets not only used in their compositions the allegorism and symbolism of the Zohar, but even adopted its style, e.g. the use of erotic terminology to illustrate the relations between man and God. Thus, in the language of some Jewish poets, the beloved one's curls indicate the mysteries of the Deity; sensuous pleasures, and especially intoxication, typify the highest degree of divine love as ecstatic contemplation; while the wine-room represents merely the state through which the human qualities merge or are exalted into those of God.
The enthusiasm felt for the Zohar was shared by many Christian scholars, such as Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Johann Reuchlin, Aegidius of Viterbo, etc., all of whom believed that the book contained proofs of the truth of Christianity. They were led to this belief by the analogies existing between some of the teachings of the Zohar and certain Christian dogmas, such as the fall and redemption of man, and the dogma of the Trinity, which seems to be expressed in the Zohar in the following terms: "The Ancient of Days has three heads. He reveals himself in three archetypes, all three forming but one. He is thus symbolized by the number Three. They are revealed in one another. [These are:] first, secret, hidden 'Wisdom'; above that the Holy Ancient One; and above Him the Unknowable One. None knows what He contains; He is above all conception. He is therefore called for man 'Non-Existing' [Ayin]" (Zohar, iii. 288b).
This and other similar doctrines found in the Zohar are now known to be much older than Christianity; but the Christian scholars who were led by the similarity of these teachings to certain Christian dogmas deemed it their duty to propagate the Zohar. Shortly after the publication of the work (Mantua and Cremona, 1558) Joseph de Voisin translated extracts from it which deal with the soul. He was followed by many others.
At the end of the twentieth century Rabbi Phillip S. Berg continued this by creating a cult-like group called the Kabbalah Centre. The cult aspect of his group was a major concern of the local Jews. Rabbi Berg said that the writings of Gershom Sholem cannot possibly be complete since he himslf is not a kabbalist. Only a true Kabbalist can understand the secrets (sodim).
The Zohar is not considered complete without the addition of certain appendixes, which are often attributed either to the same author, or to some of his immediate disciples. These supplementary portions are almost always printed as part of the text with separate titles, or in separate columns. They are as follows:
· Sifra di-Ẓeni'uta, consisting of five chapters, in which are chiefly discussed the questions involved in the Creation, such as the transition from the infinite to the finite, that from absolute unity to multifariousness, that from pure intelligence to matter, etc;
· Idra Rabbah, in which the teachings of the preceding portion are enlarged upon and developed; and Idra Zuta, giving a résumé of the two preceding sections.
To the larger appendixes are added the following fragments:
· Raza de Razin, ("Secret of Secrets") dealing with the connection of the soul with the body;
· Sefer Hekalot, describing the seven heavenly halls, paradise, and hell;
· Raya Mehemna, giving a conversation between Moses, the prophet Elijah, and Simeon ben Yohai on the allegorical import of the Mosaic commandments and prohibitions, as well as of the rabbinical injunctions;
· Sitre Torah, on various topics;
· Midrash ha-Ne'elam, explaining passages of Scripture mystically by way of hints and gematria (mystical numerology);
· Saba, containing a conversation between the prophet Elijah and Simeon ben Yohai about the doctrine of metempsychosis;
· Yanuḳa, on the importance of washing the hands before meals and on similar subjects, written in the name of a child of Hamnuna Saba, whence the title Yanuḳa ("child");
· Tosefta and Matnitin, in which are sketched the doctrines of the Sefirot, the emanation of the primordial light, etc.
The spiritual movement begun by the publication of the Zohar continues today and its influence grows with each passing year.

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The Way Essay Kaph Dahlet -- Mendicancy

Barry — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 15:30:23 GMT

At the end of the 12th Century C.E., as we have seen from earlier essays, the Crusades had been going on for some time and the peasants were generally taxed and oppressed to pay for this extravagant attempt to maintain a Christian empire in the Middle East. However, in response to this very worldly spirituality another spirituality was simmering barely under the surface. Two people most represent that simmering spirituality: St. Dominic and St. Francis of Assisi. Both from relative wealth and what would be called today upper middle class origins, eventually rejected the dependence on the things of this world and put their fate in the hands of G-d. Both took the command of Yeshua literally and sold everything that they had and gave it to others. It was in this concept of total dependence upon G-d that mendicancy in the Western Tradition arose.
The Mendicant (or Begging) Orders are religious orders which depend directly on the charity of the people for their livelihood. In principle they do not own property, either individually or collectively, and have taken a vow of poverty, in order that all their time and energy could be expended on religious work.
Christian mendicant orders spend their time preaching the Gospel and serving the poor. Both of the two main new orders founded by Saint Dominic and Saint Francis were prompted by a concern to combat the Cathar heresy (in southern France and in northern Italy respectively) by offering a model of service to God within the community. They attracted a significant level of patronage, as much from townsfolk as aristocrats. Their focus of operation rapidly centred on towns where population growth historically outstripped the provision of parishes. Most medieval towns in Western Europe of any size came to possess houses of one or more of the major orders of friars. Some of their churches came to be built on grand scale with large spaces devoted to preaching, something of a speciality among the mendicant orders.
Saint Anthony and Saint Francis were notable inspirations to the formation of Christian mendicant traditions.
In the Middle Ages, the original mendicant orders of friars in the Church were the
· Franciscans (Friars Minor, commonly known as the Grey Friars), founded 1209
· Carmelites, (Hermits of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Carmel, commonly known as the White Friars), founded 1206–1214
· Dominicans (Order of Preachers, commonly called the Black Friars), founded 1215
· Augustinians (Hermits of St. Augustine, commonly called the Austin Friars), founded 1256
The Second Council of Lyons (1274) recognized these as the four "great" mendicant orders, and suppressed certain others. The Council of Trent loosened their property restrictions. Afterwards, except for the Franciscans and their offshoot the Capuchins, members of the orders were permitted to own property collectively as do monks.
Among other orders are the
· Trinitarians (Order of the Most Blessed Trinity), founded 1193
· Mercedarians (Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy), founded 1218
· Servites (Order of Servants of Mary), founded 1233
· Minims (Hermits of St. Francis of Paola), founded 1436
· Capuchins (Order of Friars Minor Capuchin), established 1525
Let us look at the spirituality of the mendicacy. In our busy world, we are committed to the concept of security. A mendicant rejects the idea of worldly security. He or she denies that security is a worthy concern or goal in this life. They place the control of their security in the hands of G-d. A mendicant must first begin a process of looking at the three vows: poverty, chastity, and obedience. He or she must recognize that poverty is not the absence of goods; it is the absence of ownership. Then one must make the radical leap to the idea that no one owns anything; everything is on loan. Ultimately that brings one to the place where we see that everything is owned by G-d and we are only stewards. A mendicant exchanges ownership for dominion. It is not ownership that anyone truly needs; each person has a need to use or dominate a particular object or thing at given times, but others may want to use or dominate the same object at different times. The right to use is the essence of this radical reinterpretation of poverty. A poor person is then one who uses, but does not own. It is easy to see that this radical reorientation recognizes that the one who uses can allow others to use as well. From this concept arises the idea of charity which is the act of allowing others to use what we have.
The spirituality of the mendicant now rectified by a proper view of poverty is ready to look at the vow of chastity. Chastity to the mendicant is not an act of rejection of sex. It is a decision to wait for everything on the action of G-d. Chastity is faithfulness to principle of non-use in order to free one for greater use. By not claiming a particular person’s affection or defending that affection against all others who might want it from that particular person, we free ourselves to love many people. By refraining from particular affections we allow ourselves to love more and more deeply the very essence of humanity. It is not presupposed except by the acts of the Church that one should be sexless. It is presupposed that one should not form particular affections with any person. As in the time it was more permissible for persons to have sex outside of marriage, as it is today, persons of religion were formed in such a way as to avoid making any affectional contact particular.
The mendicant now rectified by a proper view of poverty and chastity must look at the vow of obedience. If one knows that all ownership belongs to G-d and if one acknowledges that even affectional relationships are within the sole province of G-d’s grace, then one must recognize that G-d is our master. In doing so, we recognize that we must obey His Will in all things. As G-d does not personally appear in our lives at any time, He always works through intermediaries. He can and does work through angels, events, and people around us, but the most important source of his action is through our superiors. In a mendicant order, the principal problem with both superiors and their charges is pride. Recognizing that G-d and He alone is really in charge, that we can own nothing, and that we cannot form particular relationships, we must recognize that all things will work out for the best if we accept that He and He alone through the actions of the Holy Spirit will change hearts. Therefore, a mendicant obeys his superior even when pride tells him to reject his superior’s orders. He prays assidously for his superior and in praying for him comes to see as the superior sees. Finally, he knows and trusts that ultimately the superior is going through the same process that he or she is going through and therefore will ultimately do what G-d wants done.
Mendicants find true spirituality in this situation of dependence and often become saintly. It is a strong path that greatly influenced a world in which fear and oppression was strong. It is an alternative path to the path of war. Salah a Din, the great muslim leader, after having finally defeated the combined forces of Christendom is said to have met with St. Francis. He declared that St. Francis was a Muslim because he had completely submitted to G-d. He requested two things of St. Francis, that he found a hospital in Cairo and that he take charge of the Christian holy sites in the Holy Land. This decision has been greatly blessed for the tender loving care of this charge can be seen today in Israel by comparing the care that is taken in Franciscan Custos for the holy sites to the commercialization that has occurred in the sites controlled by the government.

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The Imortal

rvr_rat66 — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 04:39:53 GMT

Yochanan (John) 21: 22,23
Yeshua said to him, "If I want him to stay on until I come, what
is that to you? You,follow me!"
Therefore the word spread among the brothers that that talmid would not die. However, Yeshua didnt say that he wouldnt die, but simply, If I want him tom stay on until I come, what is it to you?"

http://www.freeread.com/ The Imortal
Do you think Yochanan is imortal?

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1 John 3

Barry — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 18:35:51 GMT

Commentary on the Nasorean Letters
1 John 3

1: See what manner of love the Father has given us, that we may be called children of G-d. Therefore the world does not know us because it did not know Him.

The word used for love is agapen. Phileo, having affection for ones brothers, is a head love. Agape, having affection for ones brothers, is a heart love. The origin of the love is central to the depth of the love. As one who has experienced both knows, head love is dissociated from any deep personal feeling. It is sort of like “I am glad you are here” rather than “I need you present”. The passage then is saying that the Father, the Creator, needs us and has deep affection for us. It is the same heart feeling that we have for our children. He therefore can call us his children because He feels that for us. The world does not have that feeling for us. It may well have the phileo feeling for us, but it cannot conceive of the agape feeling because it did not have that feeling for Yeshua.

2: Beloved, now we are children of G-d, and it was not yet revealed what we shall be, but we know that if he is revealed, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as He is.

This verse at best is cryptic and at worst is incomprehendable. It seems to say that now we are children of G-d because of that love that the Father has for us, but we do not know our final end. We may be something else later. Then, it switches to the pronouns “he” and “him”. We have been talking about the Father. It is not clear who we are talking about now. Whoever it is, Yeshua, the Father, an Archangel, the Creator, the claim is made that he will be revealed. So if “he” will be revealed, then now he is hidden. The Nasoreans were undergoing significant trials. To them, it must have appeared that the Father was hidden, the Son was hidden, and all the world ignored them. Remember the first two chapters were talking about the Liar. The Nasoreans are saying that the world sees the Gnostics and Paulines, but does not see the Nasoreans. We are ignored.

The Nasorean writer now goes on to say that when Yeshua is revealed or someone is revealed, we shall see him as he really is. Now that is the issue between Paul, the Gnostics, and the Nasoreans. The Pauline Iesu is not the Nasorean Yeshua. They look different. They sound different. They are different. Likewise, the Nasorean Yeshua is not the Gnostic Jesus.

3: And everyone having this hope in Him purifies himself, as the One is pure.

The passage is clearer. It says that everyone who believes in the sacrifice of Yeshua will purify himself so that they can make due sacrifice unto the Lord for it says:

“But who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand
when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire, or like the fuller’s
lye. He will sit refining and purifying, and he will purify the sons
of Levi, …” Malachi 3:2-3.

The passage says that we must purify ourselves because the Father is pure. That is echoed in Mattiyahu: “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” 5:48.

How do we purify ourselves? We purify ourselves on the Path. After we go through the Gate, who is Yeshua (John 1:51; 10:2), then we go through the purification of the Night of the Flesh in seven stages as set forth in 2 Peter 1:4-7: faith, excellence, gnosis, self-control, patience, piety, and brotherly love. Having completed the Night of the Flesh, we are taken into the Night of the Soul for seven more stages. Then we are purified.

4-5: Everyone doing sin also does lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness and you know that the One was revealed that our sins He might bear, and sin is not in Him.

This doctrine is extremely important. A transgression of the law is sin. But an inadvertent transgression is not lawless. Lawlessness is rebellion. And rebellion is the sin of Shaitan. All of us do what John will call venal sin, but not all of us are rebellious. Let me give an example. It is sin to eat blood. You get a paper cut on your finger. You immediately do what we are hotwired to do; you stick your finger in your mouth. You therefore eat blood and have sinned. But, comprehending what you have done, you immediately pull the finger out of your mouth. You are not rebellious. The eating of the blood, Yeshua’s blood can cover. He can obtain mercy for us. That sin, he as our High Priest, can bear. But he is Tzaddik. He has no sin. Upon his arrival in heaven, he was no longer capable of sin. Every High Priest must make atonement for his personal sins, but Yeshua no longer needs atonement and therefore is a perfect High Priest. See Hebrews 9:27.

6: Everyone remaining in Him does not sin; everyone sinning has not seen Him or known Him.

Again this is a hard passage. The claim that no one who remains “in Him” sins is ridiculous on the face of it. He just implied that everyone sins. We do not need purification if we are perfect. Therefore, we are not yet perfect. So what does the writer mean.

This verse continues the diatribe against Paul and the Gnostics. Remember that the author has said that sin is rebellion. The author considers Paul and the Gnostics in rebellion. Therefore, they are sinning. So, Paul cannot be in Yeshua because he is in rebellion. Because the Paulines are in rebellion against the Apostolic Church, they cannot have truly seen Him on the road to Damascus and they cannot truly have known Yeshua as the Gnostics claim. Gnosis meaning “to have divine knowledge of”.

7: Converts, let no one lead you astray; he doing righteousness is righteousness, even as that One is righteous.

The Nasorean author now warns that things that are being said could lead them astray. To the Nasoreans righteousness is the Torah. Doing righteousness is obeying the Torah. He reminds us that Yeshua is a Tzaddik, the very embodiment of righteousness.

8: The one who is doing sin is the Slanderer because from the beginning the Slanderer sins. For this the Son of G-d was revealed that he might undo the works of the Slanderer.

The author calls Paul and the Gnostics slanderers. A slanderer is one who lies about something in such a subtle way as to lead people astray. Remember in verse 7, the author was concerned that the converts might be lead astray. The author says that Paul and the Gnostics are sinning and have sinned since the beginning. Of course, the beginning for Paul was on the road to Damascus. So the author is denying that Paul had a vision on the road to Damascus. He is also denying that the Gnostics knew that truth. This unknown alleged private communication of the Spirit to Simon Magus is likewise called a lie. The author says that Yeshua by doing the works of the Torah is undoing the works of the Slanderers. Now the very issue between Paul and Ya’akov was the question of works. So the author is saying that the claims that Paul has made are slanders.

9: Everyone who has been begotten of G-d does not sin, because of the seed of Him remains in him and he is not able to sin because he has been born of G-d.

To be “begotten of G-d” means to have received the baptism of fire and been born in the spirit. This seed remains in the believer. It yells out to the person confronted with the opportunity to sin. The believer will refrain from sin because of that loud Voice which stops him from sinning.

10: By this the children of G-d and the children of the Slanderer are revealed: Everyone not doing righteousness is not of G-d; also he is not loving his brother.

The Nasorean author now gives us a standard by which we can judge whether a person is entitled to the name, brother. Those doing the Law are of G-d. Those not doing the Law are not of G-d. If one says that they love their brother, but does not keep the Law, they are not really loving their brother.

11: Because this is the message that you have heard from the commencement: that we should love one another.

The Nasorean author now directly links the Torah to loving one another. Of course, the principle is derived from Lev. 19:18, but the author like Yeshua and Hillel before him, implies that there is a equality between loving ones brother and keeping the law.

12: Not as Cain the evil one was, and killed his brother, and for the sake of what did he kill him? Because his works were evil, but the things of his brother were righteous.

Now the Nasorean author makes an even more daring statement. He equates the teachings of Paul and the Gnostics to the “works” of Cain. Again, the author is playing upon the argument between Paul and Ya’akov. Ya’akov claims that faith without works is dead. Paul claims that faith alone justifies, that is, makes one righteous. The author says that Abel brought things, that is, did works, and they were called righteous. But, Cain brought works of evil and they were not called righteousness. The works of evil are the teachings of Paul and the Gnostics. He says that while one is teaching that faith alone will justify, that is, make one righteous before G-d, then one is slandering the truth and the Torah.

13-14: Do not be amazed, my brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brothers. The one who does not love the brothers remains in death.

The Nasorean author says that the brothers should not be surprised that the world hates the Nasori. After all, they have believed that they were hated for about 250 years by that time. But, the Nasori claim to have found true life, the life of the spirit. They express that life by loving their brothers and by keeping the Torah. But those who reject the Torah reject the concept of loving ones brothers. They are not of the brothers, they are of the world.

15: Everyone hating his brother is a murderer and you know that every murderer does not have everlasting life in him.

At some point this diatribe seems almost laughable. Now the author claims that like Cain everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. We have gone from the place where hating ones brother makes one a lawbreaker to where hating ones brother makes one a murderer. I am not sure I can go there. However, he says that is proof that Paul and the Gnostics do not have everlasting life.

16: By this we have known the love of G-d, because the One laid down his soul for us and we ought to lay down our souls on behalf of the brothers.

The Nasori agree with Paul then when he says that Yeshua laid down his life for us. They disagree with Paul when they say that we should lay down our souls on behalf of our brothers. This concept is a concept of works. Righteousness then becomes dependent on some act of ours. This mechanism is an inherent part of the Path. As I mentioned in my commentary on Verse 3, the Path includes both a Night of the Flesh and a Night of the Soul. When one finishes the stages of the Night of the Flesh, there is an important confrontation between the Voice and the pilgrim on the Path. The Voice will ask the pilgrim to give up his salvation, that is, his righteousness, for another. Generally, it will be someone that we do not like, but whom G-d wants to have righteousness because of an act of faith. For me, it was my father dead some ten years at the time. For my disciple, Danny, it was for his best friend who accidentally killed himself by an overdose, but who came after death to Danny to be reconciled. Yeshua gave up his righteousness for all of us and allowed the Archangel to make him Righteous by his death on the cross. We also are called to give up our righteousness in preparation for the Dark Night of the Soul that we might be truly perfected on our Path to become Tzadikkim.

17: Whoever has sufficient means in the world and beholds his brother having need, and shuts up his bowels from him, how can the love of G-d remain in him?

Yeshua says: “Give to the one who asks of you and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.” Matt. 5:42. Didache 1:5. The Didache goes on: “Thou shalt not turn away him that needs, but shall share all things with thy brother, and shall not say that they are your own for if you are fellow-sharers in that which is imperishable, how much more in perishable things?” 4:8. The Nasori considered these works of the Torah as prerequisites to righteousness. They claimed that if one did not do alms, they cannot claim that the love of G-d is in them. This is not a direct attack on Paul or the Gnostics because they gave alms as well. It is rather an attack upon a righteousness that claimed that one can be righteous without works.

18: Converts, let us not love in word, or tongue, but in work and truth.

The Nasori writer makes it clear. Righteousness does not come by faith alone. One must love in work and truth. Just talking about love will not do it.

19-20: And in this we shall know that we are of the truth, and before Him shall persuade our heart, that it accuses our heart, that greater is G-d than our heart, and knows all things.

Again the author is dealing with the pernicious teaching of Paul and the Gnostics. He says that the works of the Law are truth. When our heart seeks to persuade us that we may be made righteous simply by believing, greater is G-d and his Torah than our heart. We should not allow feelings to lead us astray. For G-d knows all things.

21-22: Converts, if our heart does not accuse us, we have confidence in G-d, and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep his commandments, and the things pleasing before him we do.

In the earliest times of the Nasori, the greatest problem and sin was not heresy; it was double-mindedness. The followers of Yeshua heard so much that they became confused. The Nasori author says that when we finally put this heresy of faith alone to rest, then our hearts will not accuse us of being unloving. We will have confidence in our G-d who has always been a lover of the oppressed, the widow, the orphan, the prisoner, and the needy. Whatever we ask for from Him will be ours because we obey the Torah and we do the things which He finds pleasing. Again, we are back to a principle of faith and works.

23: And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the Name of his Son Yeshua ha Meshiach, and love one another even as He has commanded us.

Throughout this diatribe against Paul and the Gnostics, we have seen that the words are not as we have been led to see them. Note that we are to believe in a Name, not in the person with the name. Yeshua as a personal name was popular in Yeshua’s time. There were three High Priests named Yeshua during the lifetime of Yeshua. There were three persons with that name that were Avatars of the Archangel: Yoshua bar Nun, Yeshua ha Cohen, and Yeshua ha Meshiach. It is not the person of Yeshua that we are called to believe in. We are called to believe in the meaning of the Name. That name means “G-d is our salvation.”

This basic concept – that we are dependent upon G-d in all things – and the additional principle that we must do the works of the Torah toward each other even as Yeshua has restated them in Mattiyahu 5-7 are central to the teaching of the Nasori.

24: And he who keeps his commandments remains in Him, and He in them. And by this we know that He remains in us, by the Spirit, which he gave to us.

Now we see with clarity that the author is teaching a doctrine of faith and works. He says that we shall know that the Spirit of Yeshua remains in us because we will hear its presence from the Voice, which lives within us.

posted in Spiritual History - 3 replies

1 John 4

Barry — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 20:39:58 GMT

Chapter 4

1: Respected, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, if they are of G-d, because many false prophets have gone forth into the world.

The Nasorean writers want us to realize that there is great danger in dealing with the spiritual gifts. They want the spiritual gifts, but they feel that the danger is exacerbated by those who claim to be speaking for G-d, the prophets. Certainly, we know about this problem today. Many claim to speak for G-d and to “channel” the truth. Many claim to know how to read scripture without ever studying it. The author says that every spirit, mine, yours, every ones, has to be tested.

Let me give an example, a minister of many years came to our Kiddush last night. He was impressed with me and said that I had the ability to be anything I wanted to be. He then subtly let me know that he thought I was the new Benny Hinn. I listened to his flattery and said nothing. Then I had a dream and in the dream I saw a factory that was filled with dust and many workrooms with tools and machines that were disassembled or unused. Then I came to a room in which I and an unknown woman were working. At the end of the day, I went away but for some unknown reason I returned and in my workroom I found this man that had come to visit me. I asked what he was doing there and he said that he was just trying to see what he could use.

In the early days, during the time of the apostles, there were many people that “just wanted to see what they could use”. Paul and Simon Magus are the best examples. The Nasorean writers were concerned about those who could show forth signs and speak with flattering tongues, but who were really not what they seemed. They were prophets, but not true ones. Now the difference between a true prophet and a false one is told us by Jeremiah. See Yirmayahu 28. There once was a prophet, Hananiah ben Azzur. He prophesied that the yoke of the king of Babylon would be broken. Jeremiah says to him in the presence of the other prophets and priests: “But the prophet who prophesies peace is recognized as truly sent by the Lord only when his prophetic prediction is fulfilled.” What Jeremiah is doing is very important; Hananiah would not have been listened to if he had not shown forth the signs that accompany a prophet. However, Jeremiah did not believe that he was speaking in the name of the Lord now and he called him on it. But the prophet Hananiah was a soothsayer and was getting paid for his talking. By testing his spirit, Jeremiah determined that Hananiah was false, that is, a true prophet gone bad. He like Balaam had sold his gift for money. Jeremiah prophesied Hananiah’s death and he did die even as Jeremiah prophesied.

In the same way, the Nasoreans were concerned that Paul and Simon Magus were true prophets, men with great gifts, gone bad because they falsified the truth.

2: By this we know the Spirit of G-d, every spirit confessing Yeshua ha Meshiach having come in the flesh is of G-d.

The issue here is quite simple: some groups were already denying the manhood of Yeshua. Simon Magus was saying that he was the Meshiach because a Spirit descended upon Yeshua at his baptism. Paul was saying that Yeshua had a divine form, like G-d’s and that he had given up that divine form and became in the “likeness” of men and appeared to be a man of flesh. (Phil. 2:7). The Nasoreans who knew Yeshua said that he was a man of flesh that came as a man and was endowed with the Ruach of the Meshiach, which had existed from the beginning. The difference is subtle. The Nasoreans say that Yeshua was always destined to be the Meshiach, but that he like other Meshiachim was a human being. He did not become Meshiach later nor was he originally G-d.

3: And every spirit, which does not confess Yeshua ha Meshiach having come in the flesh is not of G-d; and this is the antichrist that you heard is coming, and now is in the world already.

Strong words when understood. The Nasoreans call the spirit, which is infesting the world “the Antichrist”. They lump Paul and Simon the Magus together in this claim. They are both the Antichrist because they deny that Yeshua as Meshiach was still fully a man. In denying Yeshua’s manhood, these false believers are like the false prophet Hananiah. They are soothsayers that are trying to change the religion to make it more palatable to the pagan masses. But, the attempt to downgrade the humanity of Yeshua is in fact the act of the Evil One in the world to falsify Yeshua’s message, a Jewish message, and to change it into a Pagan message, the message of a G-d and in doing that they deny the Oneness of G-d.

4: You are of G-d, my converts, and have overcome them, because greater is the One in you than the one that is in the world.

The author repeats his earlier theme that the power of the Truth is in the convert and that it can preserve them from the Antichrist.

5: They are of the world; therefore they speak of the world and the world hears them.

Remember that the Nasorean author is seeing the growth of the Pauline and the Gnostic movements throughout the world; at the same time, the Nasorean movement is only growing in Palaestina. He says that the Paulines and the Gnostics are of the world and that their message resonates with the world and the world hears what they have to say. He in effect says that the philosophies of Paulinism and Gnosticism were acceptable to the Roman world at large.

6: We are of G-d; the one knowing G-d hears us; he who is not of G-d does not hear us. From this we know the spirit of Truth and the spirit of Error.

Because our spirits are attuned to G-d, we are of G-d. The one who likewise is attuned to G-d, whether they be Pagan or Pauline, will hear us. He who does not follow us is not of G-d. So the idea of proselytizing that was so common to both the Farsim, the Gnostics, and the Paulines was unnecessary in our view because those who would follow us only had to be told the truth. We do not need to flatter, nor do we need to ingratiate, nor do we need to look like the world. Those who come have the spirit of Truth and we should support them. Those who reject us have the spirit of Error and would always reject us. We should not feel bad by the rejection, because they were not destined to believe in our message.

The underlying theme of this statement is anti-proselytizing. It is not wrong to witness, but is wrong to concentrate on bringing in the converts.

7: Respected, let us have affection for one another, because affection is of G-d, and everyone who respects and has affection, has been born of G-d and spiritually apprehends G-d.

Two things flow from proselytism: a need for a unified doctrine of faith and a method to make those who teach conform to the unified doctrine. People who have such an unified doctrine may continue to profess belief by merely confessing the dogmas of a religious organization. One does not have to have faith in the actions of Yeshua as salvific, one only has to believe correctly about them. Faith then is not in the relationship with G-d but rather in the certainty of the dogmas. The faith of Paulinism and Gnosticism promised a place in an afterlife, because they had no practical value in this life. They did not tell one how to deal with this life.

In contrast to the dogmas of Paulinism and Gnosticism, the Nasoreans offer affection. They say that respect and affection which are the concepts expressed by the verb “agape” are the nature of true religion. This respect and affection has long characterized the Nasorean movement. Acts. 4:32-35. They say it is not dogmas that define true faith, but actions. For them, those who act in a respectful and affectionate way towards each other have been born of G-d because they have set aside the natural ways of the animals, what we call today survival of the fittest, for a concept of mutual health and support. This disinterested affection characterizes G-d’s relationship with us and should define the relationship we have for each other. Those who understand this truth understand the nature of G-d.

8: Those not respecting and being affectionate do not know G-d, because G-d is affectionate and respectful.

The doctrine of faith and works is brought to it greatest place in this statement. G-d is affection and respect. Paul was busy saying that all one needed to do in order to be guaranteed of a good afterlife was to believe in Yeshua as some Pagan G-d. Faith in him like Hercules or Horus as the son of G-d was sufficient in this life to guarantee salvation. However, the Nasoreans say that if you do not act respectfully and affectionately towards each other, you have missed the point for G-d is a respecter and is a Father.

One of the characteristics that I have found in my spiritual walk is the certainty that angels of Light will not force me to do anything against my will. The Archangel of the Presence, the Father, will not disrespect me by forcing me to do anything. He is my father. He cares about me. He respects my independence. There is little room for proselytizing in a respecting G-d.

9: By this was the affection of G-d revealed in us, because G-d has sent his only-begotten son into the world that we might live through him.

This passage is one of the most doctrinal in the entire letter. To understand it one has to understand the very foundation of the beliefs of the Nasoreans. Nasoreans believed in the books of Enoch and the book of Jubilees. There were multiple copies of Enoch in the Dead Sea Scrolls and they were only outnumbered by Exodus and Genesis. The Nasoreans believed that Enoch, the seventh level descendant of Adam and Eve, was so perfect that he walked with the Archangel as had Adam in the Garden. They believed that when he ascended Enoch’s body was taken by Metatron as his body. The spirit of Metatron, the Archangel of the Presence, was then given a physical form. Enoch then is seen as the King of Heaven. The Nasoreans believed that by some miraculous power the Holy Spirit had taken the essence of Enoch, either his sperm or his DNA, and placed it into Maryam. Thus, technically the DNA of Enoch and of Mary were united and he was born miraculously. Now, the technical term “son of G-d” meant for the Nasoreans exactly the same thing in Yeshua’s case as it meant in Yob 2:1, that is, Yeshua was an Archangel. All of the Archangels were sons of the Archangel of the Presence and he is YHVH, the G-d of the Hebrews. With that understanding, it is clear that Yeshua was both the only-begotten Son of YHVH and also fully a man.

The argument that is presented is that YHVH had such respect for humanity that he condescended to incarnate his spirit in an Avatar that was physically born of the holiest woman in history. The argument continues that YHVH’s respect was so high that he intended this being, this Yeshua, to do two things: one, to prove G-d’s respect for mankind by being one of us and two, to show that everyone can access salvation by accepting the sacrifice of Melchizedek, who like Yeshua, was an Avatar of YHVH, as is clearly stated in 3 Enoch.

10: In this is affection and respect, not that we show affection and respect for G-d, but that He shows affection and respect for us, and sent His Son as a propitiation for our sins.

The Nasorean author argues that YHVH’s affection and respect for mankind is demonstrated by sending His Son to be the Lamb of G-d, the perfect sacrifice, that would once and for all end the bloody sacrifices of Biblical Judaism and would restore the ancient sacrifice of the Nasorean supersaint, Melchizedek. As you will remember, the Nasoreans believed that the Archangel Michael had gathered the blood that was shed on the Cross and taken it to Heaven where it is multiplied and constantly flows over the Ha Kapporet, or Mercy Seat in Heaven that is ministered to by the same Yeshua ha Meshiach now arisen from the dead as the perfect High Priest.

11: Converts, if G-d so respected and had affection for us, we also should have respect and affection for one another.

Now, the Nasorean author brings his argument to the practical. He argues that because Paulinism and Gnosticism do not do anything practical, we must demonstrate to the world what true “agape” is. True respect and affection is found in respecting and showing affection for each other. He harkens back to the description of the community of the earliest followers of Yeshua. It says: “All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer” (Acts 1:14) and they “were of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, by they had everything in common.” (Acts 3:32) This is true affection and respect in the mind of the Nasorean community. This is a way of living that is so foreign to the world that the world hates it and therefore it must be from G-d.

12: No one has ever perceived G-d; if we respect and have affection for one another, G-d will be present to us and His respect and affection will be perfected in us.

The author now connects us back with the original statement that he made to begin this letter. We perceive G-d by looking at Yeshua, for he is the perfect representation of the affection that YHVH has for us. He gave his life in respect and affection for our inability to remove our sins. It is that same affection and respect that he demonstrated, the ultimate character of G-d, that will make us able to comprehend the nature of G-d. It is through that apprehension of G-d that we can be present to Him as He is already present to us for the Spirit of Life, the Holy Spirit, perfects that affection and respect in us.

13: By this we know that we are present to Him and He to us, because He has given us His Spirit.

The Nasorean author now binds the concept of the Spirit that is True, the one that confesses Yeshua having come in the flesh, to the concept of being present to G-d, that ultimate relationship with G-d. He says the True Spirit, the one that is from G-d, the one that was sent from the Father, will be given to us because we show affection and respect to each other. He says that Yeshua is the proof of that Truth.

14: And we perceive and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son as the deliverer of the world.

This spirit of G-d, the Holy Spirit, allows us to understand the nature of this Archangel’s mission on earth. He is to deliver the world from its false sacrifices and false beliefs by showing us the Truth in his very life. We perceive the Father’s intentions by understanding that Yeshua is the High Priest of Heaven, who continues to offer himself as the True Lamb of G-d and in that way heals us from our separation from the presence of the Father.

15: Whoever confesses that Yeshua is the Son of G-d, G-d is present to Him and He to G-d.

Now the Nasorean author adds to his earlier thesis that Yeshua is a man of flesh. He says that he is also an archangel of G-d. We know that the Nasorean community and the later Ebionite community strongly believed that Yeshua was an Archangel. This concept was the essence of their soteriology. The Nasorean author claims that our ability to perceive this truth is tied to our ability to have a personal relationship with G-d.

16: And we have known the respect and believed in the affection, which G-d has in us. G-d is respect and affection and He is present in respect and affection, G-d present to us and us in Him.

This verse goes even farther on this principle of relationship. The author says that the foundation of the relationship is that respect and affection.

17: By this has affection and respect been perfected in us, that we have confidence that on the day of judgment, that just as we are in the One so also are we in the world.

Now, the author directly challenges the Paulines and the Gnostics. He says that because we have a personal relationship with G-d and with each other, on the day of judgment we will have confidence that Yeshua will be with us and we shall stand against the world with our Truth.

18: Fear is not in respect or affection, but perfect respect and affection casts out fear, because those who fear punishment have not been perfected in respect and affection.

To the Paulines and Gnostics who claim their converts through fear of punishment and through fear of some future event, the author responds that true affection and respect are contrary to fear and that when we learn true respect and affection it will cast out fear. He argues that the false doctrine of faith alone works only to build fear in someone. Because the one who fears has never learned to respect or have affection for others, they have nothing to hold onto on the day of judgment. They fear punishment, because the Spirit within them denies that faith alone saves. If those who hold to the false doctrines of the Gnostics and Paul had perfected themselves in respecting others and having affection for others, they would not be afraid. They would know their reward.

19: We have affection for Him, because He first had affection for us.

The Nasoreans say they feel G-d’s affection. They have known it from the beginning. He first showed it to them long before they believed. But after they had seen Yeshua, they wanted to show affection and respect to G-d.

20: If anyone says, “I respect and have affection for G-d” and hates his brother, he is liar; once for not respecting and having affection for the brother that he has seen, and the other for G-d whom he has not seen. How is he able to have affection and respect?

The situation between the Paulines and Gnostics has reached the place where they have no contact. The Nasorean author says that they are liars because they claim to have respect for G-d and yet hate the Nasoreans who are their brothers. He asks if you cannot have respect and affection for the brother that you have seen, how can you have respect and affection for a G-d you have not seen. He echoes the words of Yeshua who says: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” Matt. 7:26. The situation will continue to deteriorate until in 132 C.E., the Paulines will turn on the Nasoreans and will tell the Romans that the Nasoreans supported the Bar Kokhba revolution, a patent lie. The Nasoreans will be reduced from 1,000,000 followers in Palaestina, to 20,000. The murder of 98% of our people was caused by the dastardly act of the people who were first called “Christians.”

21: And this commandment we have from Him, that the One who has affection and respect for G-d, also has affection and respect for his brother.

So the author says that we have a commandment from G-d through Yeshua: The One who has affection and respect for G-d must also have affection and respect for his brother. The sum total of this statement is that the Paulines and Gnostics are not brothers and therefore are still in their sins and are damned.

posted in Spiritual History - 2 replies

Who Do You Say That I Am?

Barry — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 18:37:15 GMT

I am not going to answer this question. It is a matter of faith. But, I am going to tell you why I believe that it was not what we would call Judaism of the present and was not what we would call Christianity of the present.

My scholarship in the past 35 years has been directed to finding out what Jesus believed because I do not want to follow a faith that does not believe what he believed, if he is a special person.

About 2144 years ago, a major deviation in the Jewish faith was caused by the decision of a Hasmonean King to banish one of his principle advisors, a chief priest who headed one of the Courses of the Jewish priesthood. I believe based upon my studies and the Voice speaking within me that this man was in fact the Teacher of Righteousness, the one like Moses promised in Deuteronomy 18:18 and Joel 2:22. I do not know whether he wrote the book of Enoch or merely was an adept in its study but I do believe that the teachings in the three books of Enoch and the book of Jubilees directly affected his faith and the direction that his teachings would take.

The first and foremost truth that comes out of the book of Enoch is the belief in the eight great Angels or Archangels: Metatron, Michael, Gavriel, Raphael, Uriel/Ariel, Hallel, Ba'alzebul, and Ashmodai. The religion of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the religion of the Teacher of Righteousness, believed in a distant G-d whose power was manifested through these Archangels and especially through the Archangel of the Presence, which the book introduces as Metatron.

The Teacher of Righteousness or from now on the Teacher taught that the Community of Yisrael was the true respository of the Holy Spirit and was the manifestation of the Temple or Mikdosh of that Spirit. He taught that the true building would come down from Heaven fully built as seen by the Prophet Ezekiel. This truth did not deny the concept of Sacrifice which is the principal purpose of a Temple, but rather said that the Sacrifice must occur within the context of the Community of Yisrael, not separated from them as the Temple in Jerusalem was separated from the people of the land or ha am ha eretz.

The Teacher of Righteousness believed and wrote that the legendary figure Melchizedek which Enoch 3 speaks of would return and re-establish the sacrifice of bread and wine thus replacing the false sacrifice of bloody animals for the true sacrifice of Melchizedek. This return to the old sacrifice likewise would support his idea of the Temple of G-d being a spiritual building made up of the people of Yisrael.

This concept of a new sacrifice reached its greatest expression in the acts of Yeshua ben Yotzef. He was probably a grandson or greatgrandson of the Teacher of Righteousness and a prominent figure in a Movement which was called Nasori because the people believed that they should be in the world, but not a part of it. Yeshua with his brother Ya'akov and his cousin Yochannan, that is, James the Just and John the Baptist, were supposed to lead this Movement which consisted of the theologians called Essenes, the people called Nasoreans, the army called Zealotes, and the commandos called Sicari. When Yochannan was arrested by Herod Antipas and murdered to please Salome, Yeshua's faith was thrown into a crisis and he retreated to the desert as had his Great Grandfather, the Teacher, and the Archangel Gavriel appeared to him and talked to him about Melchizedek and his return. It was Gavriel that convinced Yeshua that the spirit of Melchizedek was on him and he was the great Priest-King returned. When Yeshua returned to Eretz Yisrael, he began to teach that he was the Priest-King and lawful ruler of Yerushaliym. It was this preaching that caused the people to welcome him as the Priest-King when he entered Yerushaliyim that last time. His forces took the temple, held it for two weeks until the Romans destroyed the tower on the Wall surrounding the Temple closest to the Pool of Siloam. He ran and hid, but he told his disciple to meet together on Wednesday of that holy week for the Seder Meal. As a Nasorean he followed a different calendar than the Zadoki did and that year the Passover or Pesach would be on Thursday. It was during this Pesach Seder that Yeshua proclaimed that the sacrifice of Melchizedek, the sacrifice of Bread and Wine was restored. He directed that weekly the disciples were to meet together on the Shabbat for the first service, kiddush, there to remember the Seder. He was arrested that night and tried for blasphemy, but found innocent, he was taken before Pilate who convicted him of Treason; the specific charge was making himself King. I believe that Yeshua was the Meshiach of Melchizedek promised by the Teacher who had the authority of Moses.

After Yeshua's death, Ya'akov ha Tzaddik, Yeshua's brother, led the church for 34 years. The Apostles supported him against Paul and Simon Magus. The Nasorean movement changed radically during that 34 years and grew in numbers. Ya'akov wrongly pulled back from total conviction that the Temple was not necessary and it was that failure to support Yeshua's position and that of the Teacher that eventually caused the destruction of the Temple. The movement numbered may be 400,000 in Eretz Yisrael by the time of the Destruction of the Temple. After the destruction of the Temple, only two sects of Judaism survived: the Sect of Persians called Farsi or Pharisees and the Sect of Nasori, called the Way or Nasoreans. The Sect of Nasoreans grew to more than 1,000,000 in Eretz Yisrael by the time that the Farsi declared war on the Romans in 132 C.E. The Nasoreans refused to support Simon bar Kosiba, or as he called himself Bar Kochba, the Star, referring to the Star that would rise in Judea. Nonetheless, because the Farsi and the Antiochan supporters of Shaul/Paul said that the Nasoreans had started this war as well as the last one, the Nasoreans were reduced from 1,000,000 to 20,000 or less and forced to flee.

We do not know what Yeshua believed? He wrote nothing. However, we can surmise what the Apostles believed from the written documents that we have. We know for sure that all the Apostles believed that Yeshua was more than human. We know for sure that all of the Apostles believed that he was an incarnation of the Archangel of the Presence, who could forgive sins and who was the true Creator, the one actually doing the work of Creation. We know that Yeshua was the incarnation of one of the prior incarnations of the Archangel, Melchizedek, the Priest-King of Jerusalem and the Nasorean branch argued that position strongly in a book popularly called Hebrews but which in fact is a letter from Barnabas to the Essene theologians still in Jerusalem that had not come over to the new beliefs in Yeshua and his mission. We know that the Apostles believed that the People of the Way were themselves spiritual stones in a spiritual building, one not made with hands, that would eventually come down from Heaven when Yeshua returned. We know that the Bread and Wine are the only acceptable sacrifice in this new Temple and that when we place our faith in the works of Yeshua including his act of acting as mediator in heaven then we will be forgiven our sins. We know that Jews are fully responsible for the Torah which all the Apostles kept. We know that Gentiles were never responsible for the Torah, only the Noachide laws. We know that salvation is through grace, sacrifice, and keeping of the Torah or the Noachide Laws.

People ask me whether I am a Jew or a Christian. I am neither. I am a descendant of Sephardim Marranos who have always practiced the Kiddush and had a rich presence within Catholicism. I am a Nasorean now free to be who I am. I am not a bridge between Judaism and Christianity; I am a modern Nasorean, a descendant of the Essenes and their Nasorean students, a follower of the three greatest Essenes, the Teacher, Yeshua and Ya'akov. I keep the Torah as the Scripture says and not as the Farsi say. I believe in Jesus.

posted in Spiritual History - 5 replies

The Festival of Light, the Rededication of the Temple

Barry — Sun, 25 Dec 2005 15:48:41 GMT

Our Lord, Yeshua ha Meshiach, the High Priest of Heaven, source of our Mercy and the Burning Bush on the High Hill that no bushel basket can ever put out, changed the meaning of the Feast of the Rededication with his words:

"My sheep hear my Voice. I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No man can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one."

Chanukkah is about the Ner Tamid, the Eternal Light that was in the Temple and represented the Presence of the Most Holy, Our Lady the Holy Spirit. Yeshua likens the Ner Tamid to the Burning Bush that was a Light to the Sheep that followed Moses. Just as the Burning Bush was really an Archangel so Yeshua, the Archangel, is our Ner Tamid, our Eternal Light standing on a High Hill, Heaven, shining forth the Truth. As the Light of Truth fuses in our souls with the true Knowledge that we are the Temple and that the Holy Spirit in our lives is the Ner Tamid of this Temple then we can obtain Mercy for our sinfulness and expect Eternal Life. For just as the blood of the Lamb makes the whole Temple Holy so likewise we the living blocks in the Temple are holy because the Lamb's Blood is being eternally poured out on the HaKapporet of Heaven.

The Father has given those who understand this Truth into Yeshua's hands as the Singers in this Temple. We sing the Praises of the Light. Like the Sheep surround their Shepherd so we surround our High Priest with a multitude of Voices crying: Hosanna to G-d in the Highest and on Earth, Peace, Goodwill to Men.

On this Point there can be no dissention. All of Heaven agrees. Those whom the Father, the Archangel of the Presence has given to Yeshua are saved eternally and the Father and Yeshua are in full agreement on that point.

It is to us that the Word of G-d is addressed and the Archangel Yeshua says that those to whom the Word of G-d addressed are as G-ds for we have seen the very nature of G-d in his Begotten Son.

posted in Spiritual History - 2 replies

The Law And The Prophets

rvr_rat66 — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 11:56:05 GMT

Yeshua is an Old Testement Jew. It's time for christians to take into account the holidays and feasts days YHVH has ordained that we cellebrate. Why do we keep religiously observing Pagan sun god worship (christmas) and pagan fertility god worship (Easter)?
This is not the will of the God of Yeshua." Whosever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men to do so; the same shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven." (Yeshua)

posted in Spiritual History - 6 replies

The Way Essay Kaph Gimel

Barry — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 15:37:55 GMT

Many books and articles have been written about the Crusades. I am not going to write about all the Crusades. I am not going to write about the results of the Crusades. I am going to write about the spirituality of Crusade.

In Europe in the 1080’s, the number of second and third sons of the nobility had increased dramatically. The majority of the great landholders followed the law of primogeniture. As a result, the eldest son inherited the title and the land, and the other sons lost out. Many of the second in line sons went to work for their ruling brothers, but some did not and many of the third and fourth sons had no place in the new administration. They brought lawlessness and discontent to the European continent and became of grave concern to the Church. Some of the nobles of this rank entered the Church and strove for Church office, but even they were limited in terms of the total number. The desire for land was a powerful motivator to get the nobility to go on Crusade.

No crusade can be successful without the men-at-arms, those professional fighters who always make up the non-commissioned corps of leaders in any army. These men-at-arms provided the real leadership in the crusade. They provided the men with billets, with food, and with entertainment. Likewise, the first crusade also had many people who went along in hope of gaining adventure and in hopes of gaining rich booty.

The vast majority of this essentially unplanned and unorganized group was composed of common people who were inflamed by the recent activities of the Egyptians that closed the holy sites of Christendom to Christians. They gave money, support, and manpower to the Crusade.

What kind of mentality and spirituality motivates a people to go to a religious war? First of all, one must have a strong sense of being wronged. The symbol, the mythos, of Christendom was at stake in the Holy Land. It was a mythos that the Pope and the Bishops could use to create a force. When the mythos of a religion is challenged, it causes the general believer to react in anger and fear. Anger comes because of the wrong. Fear comes because of bad things happening around one and then connected by the teaching or preaching of others to the mythos. The common man in the crusade then believes that the mythos must be maintained and the only way to maintain the mythos is to fight.

The first crusade was based upon a belief that the capture of Jerusalem would allow Christ to return. This logic follows from the mistaken opinion of Paul that the Christians are the remnant of Yisrael, the branch grafted onto the now decaying tree of Judaism. The theory suggested that as the Christians were really the true Jews and that their return to the Holy Land would be the sign necessary for the Christ to return. So the crusades can be seen now as a form of millenarianism similar to the apocalypticism that we have seen in other movements that occurred around the turn of the millennium. The crusades were the final outcome of the millennium feelings that had swept through Europe and they represent the desire of the common folk to finally find heaven on earth.

There were four crusades eventually. However, we have seen the continuing effect of the First Crusade even today. The response of the Muslims in Iraq is that the Christians have again invaded Muslim territories and taken Muslim land away from them. Saddam was bad, but Iraqis had been dealing with bad rulers for centuries. All of them were Muslims and did not effect the religion of the country. The invasion of Iraq by Christian forces appears to be an act similar to the Crusades. The saber rattling of the Americans and British against the Syrians and Iranians seems to prove to the Muslims the truth of the claim that all that is wanted is land and the subjugation of the Muslims to the Christians forces.

One of the most important developments of the First Crusade was the formation of religious orders, which were not monastic in character. We are well aware of the now defunct religious orders of the Knights Templar, Knights of Malta, and Teutonic Knights. There were over a dozen of these religious orders eventually functioning. Each of the orders required vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, which of course did not extend to the wealth of the order per se. The rules that were promulgated for these Orders would be used as a design to create the next religious movement that would come: the Mendicant Movement. I will discuss the mendicant movement in the next essay.

posted in Spiritual History - 0 replies

Comments on the Way Essays

rvr_rat66 — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 20:36:58 GMT

I'd like to hear some of the tribes thoughts or comments on these way essays. Pick your favorite one and expound. I like the ones on 1 John because they answer for me why Paul
(Shauul) just didnt seem right on some things.

posted in Spiritual History - 0 replies