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There’s Something About Mariamne with an “N”

2008-06-06T19:04:01Z

There’s Something About Mariamne with an “N”
Filed under: Tabor's Blog — James Tabor @ 3:25 pm
One of the most fascinating names inscribed on the ossuaries in the Talpiot “Jesus Family” tomb is the unusual and rare form of the Greek inscription for a “Mary,” as first published by the learned L. Y. Rahmani in 1994:

MARIAMNENOU (HE) MARA: of Mariamene, who is (also called) Mara

[IAA 80.500, CJO 701: L. Y. Rahmani (A Catalog of Jewish Ossuaries in the Collections of the State of Israel, Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities and Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1994)]

Rahmani understood the name as a neuter genitive of the name MARIAMNENON, which is in turn a diminutive form of MARIAMENE.

Although this reading has been only lately questioned and disputed by various scholars, (Pfann, Price, Puech, et al.), who have proposed it be read as MARIAME KAI MARA or MARIAM HE KAI MARA (Mariame AND Mara OR Mariam also known as Mara), whether referring to two women or one by two names, what I find really interesting about Rahmani’s reading is the presence of the Greek letter “Nu” or “N,” in other words: MariameNe.

I for one have not been so quick to dispute the skilled and sharp eye of Rahmani, supported now after further reexamination by Prof. Leah Di Segni and incorporated into Amos Kloner’s official report on the tomb. Mary in English takes various forms in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Coptic: Miriam, Mariam, Mariame, Mariamme, and Maria, but the name spelled with an “N,” as Rahmani read this ossuary, is virtually unknown in antiquity (see E. Stanley Jones, ed., Which Mary: The Marys of Early Christian Tradition, Atlanta: SBL, 2002).

I say “virtually” unknown, for a reason, so bear with me here. Now here is where things get really interesting.

If you do a search for Mariamne, spelled with an “N,” on Wikipedia, you will read that it is a name frequently used in the Herodian Royal house for Mariame or Mariamme. If you search further on Google, again for “Mariamne” spelled with an “N,” even excluding references to the inscription in the Talpiot tomb, you will find dozens of “hits.” If you read many English or French editions of Josephus’s works you will find dozens of references to Mariamne, spelled with the “N.” And finally, even Voltaire wrote a play called “Herode et Mariamne,” yes, you guessed it, spelled with an “N.” And yet the fact remains, so far as I have been able to discover, all these sources, from Wikipeida, to Josephus in translation, and even Voltaire, have no basis in any Greek texts from Antiquity. My guess is that the root of this widespread misunderstanding comes from translations in English and French of Josephus that incorrectly put “Mariamene” for the name “Mariame.” But the original Greek has no “Nu” or “N.”

I had a colleague run a search on Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, the University of California at Irvine data base that has collected and digitized all of Greek literature from Homer to the fall of Byzantium in 1453. Currently this is a collection contains 3800 authors, 12,000 texts, and about 99 million words–and it is updated quarterly. UNC Charlotte and most major universities are subscribers to the TLG Library and search engine. Non-subscribers can access a trial version, see the TLG Web site for information. We asked for all examples in extant Greek literature of the name Mariam spelled with an “Nu,” or “N.”

Our results were rather amazing. As it turns out this very unusual form of the name Mariam in Greek, namely any form containing the “N,” popped up in only two works–the Acts of Philip and Hippolytus, Refutation of all Heresies, and in both works the reference was to the woman named Mary Magdalene in our Gospels. There are multiple references in the Acts of Philip to Mary Magdalene and her apostolic mission and travels. However, the reference in Hippolytus is of particular interest in that he mentions a Jewish-Christian group of “Naassenes” who taught that James the brother of Jesus handed on the secret tradition of Jesus to “Mariamene.” Hippolytus flourished in the late 2nd century CE and he was linked to Irenaeus, who in turn was linked to Papias. If there are other instances of any form of the name “Mariam” spelled with an “N” we missed them and would be glad to have them pointed out. But assuming this data result is correct, what if one asks the question differently? If we begin with the Talpiot tomb inscription, read as Mariamene, spelled with an “N,” that surely Rahmani and Di Segni would vehemently deny has anything to do with Mary Magadalene, and just ask two related questions:

Where in all of Greek literature do we know this unusual form of the name?
Is/are there any identifiable woman/women in all of antiquity who was/were known by this form of the name Mary?
So far as I can discover the answer is clear. Our only references, outside the Talpiot tomb, are to a single woman, Mary Magdalene. It seems to me that this result has great force. Rather than one having to “jump” to the 2nd century or the 4th century, to desperately find a parallel to “Mariamene” in the Jesus Tomb, is not quite the opposite the case? When one searches the linguistic evidence for this form of the name no one other than Mary Magdalene turns up. I think this fact should give us a bit of pause. Whether the Talpiot tomb can ultimately be identified with that of Jesus and his family or not, what an odd turn of events that the odd and completely rare occurrence of “Mariamne” spelled with an “N” would turn up in a 1st century tomb containing these other names–including Jesus son of Joseph. That Rahmani and Di Segni read the name in that way, and still do, without the least inclination to connect it to Jesus of Nazareth, seems to be all the more telling in terms of an honest linguistic reading. However, given this result, perhaps all the criticism that Jacobovici received for “jumping” from a 1st century tomb with the name Mariamene to a 4th century “gnostic” text like the Acts of Philip, should be reconsidered.

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Who would be interested in a blog commentary of "How Jesus Became Christian"?

2008-06-04T20:18:28Z

The Saint James Project
http://tribes.tribe.net/stjamesproject
June 3, 2008

Greetings All!

This is a small quiet tribe, at least for the past year. In that time, many things have changed worldwide, in regards to information and archeological evidence concerning the Jesus Movement: THANK THE GODS! As most of you know, I have drawn back from blogging (specifically on this tribe), because who likes to preach to the choir all the time? It’s no fun writing for one, believe me, the quiet is deafening!!! It gets old and the times, tumultuous and full, has called me to other avenues of expression, especially since the return of pilgrimage (the American Camino), in September 2007.

In the meantime, Barrie Wilson's new book has come onto the scene, "How Jesus Became Christian". As soon as James Tabor (jesusdynasty.com) recommended Wilson's book, I bought it. Now, I am reading it; the process is intense and deserves dialogue. So, if y'all are interested in such a dialogue, please post your wishes so I can get to writing. If not, your silence speaks volumes and I will continue to read, digest and tackle who ever comes to Toad House. I will forcibly read them Wilson’s words, prefacing them with: NO, I DIDN'T WRITE THIS, SOMEONE ELSE DID, A PHD FROM CANADA. SO, I’VE HAS BEEN SHARING THESE CONCEPTS FOR 38 YEARS. NOW, SOMEONE ELSE BESIDES TABOR IS TELLING THE SAME STORY; LISTEN IF YOU DARE!!!

Unsolicited advice from your moderator: BUY THIS BOOK, IF YOU DESIRE CLARITY ON THE JESUS MOVEMENT FROM A DIFFERENT SOURCE NOT GENERATED FROM PAST-LIFE MEMORY—WELL, AT LEAST ON THE SURFACE…;>)

Mother Blessings,
SRC

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MY NAME IS JAMES

2008-06-04T17:00:29Z

MY NAME IS JAMES
Silverstar Red Crow © 2007

“For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.”
James the Just, First Century CE

http://tribes.tribe.net/stjamesproject

This website is dedicated to James the Just, the brother of Jesus, the first Pope of Jerusalem. Until recently, it was not even widely accepted that Jesus had siblings; though thousands in Southern France for example, for almost 2,000 years have believed Jesus was part of a large extended family, with a spouse and children of his own. Fortunately, the identity of much of the historical Jesus and the movement he helped to create in First Century Palestine survives, not just woven into the legends of many cultures in the Middle East, North Africa, India and Europe, but in the archeological record as well. In 2007, human technology has evolved to such a state that information and artifacts are being found at an astonishingly fast rate, wonderfully preserved. Many scholars can now understand the ramifications of such finds and are able to decipher the not-so hidden code lying therein. Finally, human science is backing-up the spiritual claims of millions worldwide; whether Coptic, Gnostic or Kabalistic.

So, what if Jesus had siblings, cousins, a spouse and children; what does that have to do with humanity and society in the now? So what if there was a real Jesus Movement propelled by the need for freedom, autonomy, equality, moderation and self-reliance? These questions, when addressed and fully answered to the best of present abilities, could change the face of organized religion as we know it. Why? Because if one digs beneath the invented history of Christianity, one that was brilliantly designed by the so-called “The 13th Apostle” (Paul), a person who never met Jesus and did not support his work before or after his death, one discovers a different story and society all together. A society that viewed women and men as equal, or least tried, where a couple could actually sit side by side, eye to eye and break bread with each other in the same room, in the same house, at the same time. So, what’s the big deal about eating a Simple Feast (a Holy Sacrament) or sharing a supper meal with a spouse of the opposite sex? To those in the 21st Century living in the Western World, the idea seems common and almost laughable. But, to a remote Taliban tribesman of Afghanistan in the year 2007, this concept of equality would be unthinkable.

The Jesus Movement was political at its core. The creators of this human experiment, John the Baptizer and his cousin Jesus, sought to liberate their people through a mass calling for change, using boycott, civil disobedience and tax evasion as their main tools of rebellion. They traveled the countryside, imploring community after community to rise-up, like the generations of the preceding three centuries, to topple their oppressors. John and Jesus were both adept scholars of Jewish Law, ritual and custom, using them all in tandem, to manifest prophecy and inspire core changes. They knew many things needed to change dramatically before the common person would rise to meet their oppressors face to face in battle, both figuratively and corporeally. The first step was to point out the need for the empowerment of women. Women were the backbone of this nation to come: the breeders, educators and nurturers for a new society. It was key to elevate women’s standing in the home, immediately making an impact on the structure of Jewish society as a whole. This was a radical step that would propel their revolutionary movement to the attention of all the heads of state of Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

How in the world did I receive this information? I will not lie to you and say that I dreamed it, made it up or read someone else’s book on Mary Magdalene and decided it all made sense and the pieces miraculously fitted together. I will tell you that I remember however, since I was a small child, consciously and specifically. I was there and I lived the revolution. I wasn’t a Messiah or head of state or even a fisherman. I was just a guy, a fallible man who gambled his entire being for the success of a mass-movement; human through and through. I was one of The 70, a group of extended family members and close friends who traveled and supported the work of Jesus, especially after the death of John the Baptizer at the hand of Herod Antipas.

The movement was hit hard by John’s death; it left Jesus in charge and people expected the world and heaven to co-operate to make manifest their dreams of a new, better, freer society. This is when The 70 became important, not only as servants for this social, political and spiritual liberation movement, but as direct aid to Jesus himself. Suddenly alone, Jesus was desperate to leave a powerful mark of change before the authorities did away with him as well. The remaining time of his ministry, would be constant movement, focus, agenda-driven; it all had to count! We all know how that chapter of the story ended. There are many views, some even close to what actually happened; most agree that Jesus died a terrible death and the movement also suffered terribly.

James was left in charge of the movement. He was the one appointed by Jesus to rally the troops, to carry-on, to inspire the continuance of social and religious change. It was up to James to redirect the movement into more of a community and family oriented lifestyle that was workable for the society as a whole, a class-free Jewish society. Part of James’ job was to map out the rules that were possible for each family to manifest fairness. He used charity as a tool to teach compassion, he used education as a tool for building self esteem and to bolster one’s faith in Self and Divinity in all forms, particularly human form. He had a thankless, difficult job and the cards were stacked against him.

The movement was co-opted quickly by another movement, Paul’s own Christ-movement, “illegitimating” the human Jesus, discounting his humanness and fallibility, replacing it with ascended Godlike power that was infallible and eternal. Paul and people like him obliterated the real Jesus and his family, obstructed what the movement was at its core and changed its original reason for existing. This lifestyle of equality and personal Divine Power was robbed, then changed by the ruling classes of society long before the Council of Nicaea, a group of Christian Bishops who mapped out what the accepted Gospels would be and the direction and purpose for the religion, its base of power and ideas of how to keep the new corporation afloat; in 325 CE. Notice that this once lifestyle of self-empowerment and a branch of Judaism had morphed into a new and different religion called Christianity, from Paul’s concept of the Ascended God of Heaven, the Greek model called Christos.

In 62 CE, James the Just, the leader of the revolution, the maker of laws, was stoned to death by the Sanhedrin (High Council of the Priest Class, in charge of Temple affairs) in Jerusalem. The Second Temple was sacked by the Romans four short years later, which started one of the largest diasporas in human history, flooding the known world with Jews and a new suddenly reinvented religion called Christianity.

The Jesus Movement revolution did not fair well with many rational thinkers and indigenous people through history on several continents. What about the women, the primary initial target of this movement? How many popes of the Church of Rome have been women and survived to tell the tale of their masquerade as men? None I am afraid.
So, why in the 21st Century do I share this information with people who will wrinkle noses and laugh at the importance of such ideas? Because the Jesus Movement was not entirely successful last time and now, we as a genus, have the opportunity to give this movement another try.

I truly believe that the much heralded “Second Coming of Jesus” is actually a mass-movement of change and liberation from old social models of oppression and subjugation, for all peoples, regardless of spiritual base. The true Jesus Movement has been dormant since the 4th Century CE, waiting, growing in power and steam, morphing for our times. It is about change on all levels, deliverance, not to another planet, to heaven or even the return to the All. It is about individual and collective responsibility, complete honesty and stewardship with dignity for all life forms. This is the undercurrent that can preserve the future of humanity. This movement can go by any name; it doesn’t matter, as long as we find the strength to rise as one force, all colors, genders and ages, and create a sense of future.

I plan on discussing the Jesus Movement in great depth on this website, including personal stories of revelation and inspiration. My knowledge base is radically different than those in the market place; reincarnation memory separates my reality from the commonly accepted story or the archeological findings of corporeal time. I have found one source that matches many of my memories of the First Century CE, The Jesus Dynasty by Dr. James D. Tabor. Tabor is a brilliant scholar and scientist and his work and that of his colleagues is extraordinary, blowing apart the accepted story of today’s three major religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

It is important to realize James’ model of a new, improved form of Judaism survived until the 4th Century CE, deep in the Palestinian desert, before time and authorities were successful in their demise. To them, the survivors, the followers of James and James himself, I dedicate this website. There is a piece of James the Survivor in all of us. Hear him now, when society demands core change and physical and emotional transformation!

My intent is to spark recognition within the Self of all who read this information, calling for a new worldview, enabling humankind to change, to evolve out of complacency and lethargy and elevate rudimentary survival skills. Change your world and the world changes; that is my seed of hope. Many thousands and millions like me are now in the body. We are dedicated to risking disapproval for positive change. Join me on this journey of re-discovery, empower yourself, risk disapproval for truth and care for all life in, on and above this beautiful planet of ours, including yourself, for you are DIVINE! The revolution is alive; its time to wake and feel the change. SO MOTE IT BE!

Silverstar Red Crow © 2007
The Saint James’ Project
McMinnville, Oregon USA

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"New York Times Bestseller" & "My Stroke of Insight"

2008-06-02T02:48:25Z

I read "My Stroke of Insight" in one sitting - I couldn't put it down. I laughed. I cried. It was a fantastic book (I heard it's a NYTimes Bestseller and I can see why!), but I also think it will be the start of a new, transformative Movement! No one wants to have a stroke as Jill Bolte Taylor did, but her experience can teach us all how to live better lives. Her TED.com speech was one of the most incredibly moving, stimulating, wonderful videos I've ever seen. Her Oprah Soul Series interviews were fascinating. They should make a movie of her life so everyone sees it. This is the Real Deal and gives me hope for humanity.

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Memory and the Mind

2008-05-28T21:24:35Z

From Diane....

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=0k4lsi1dql

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JILL BOLTE TAYLOR: MY STROKE OF INSIGHT

2008-05-23T04:23:29Z

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/229

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PADRE PIO DAY, MARCH 8TH

2008-05-17T16:30:57Z

PADRE PIO DAY,
MARCH 8TH, 2008

Padre Pio Day
by Silverstar Red Crow © 2006/2008

Padre Pio Day began 12 years ago in Carlton Oregon. I was unacquainted with Padre (now St. Pio), a 20th Century Italian Stigmatic until March 8th, 1996. I was gravely ill at the time. Now realize that I live in a world that is filled with Spirits; my space is shared space, so I am accustomed to seeing apparitions. This night was different, however. I heard a rustling on the front stoop, then the fumbling of metal and the turning of the doorknob of the main door to the apartment. Without fanfare and with little real motion, the front door opened and, as if floating on air, or more accurately, riding on a levitated platform, a severe man of undetermined age entered the room where I was seated. This Spirit Manifestation was fully realized in corporeal reality, as clear and solid as you or I. We had an intense silent dialogue, binding us together for all times, actually realizing a bond had always been. He helped me, healed me of profound disability and released me from years of torment, pain and immobility in an instant. Padre asked for little in exchange.

I am Shamanic Practitioner and am in the habit of asking the price for any exchange with the Spirit Realms. I call them Spirit Bargains and have written about the phenomenon, over the years. When I asked Padre what He wanted for healing me, He smiled a sly smile and said, “Don’t be so mean to people and wear more pink.” No ultimatums of changing religion, belief structure or worldview; simple, straightforward and a little silly, as far as the pink goes, I thought. Until, that is, Dragonfly and I traveled to San Giovanni Rotondo Italy in 2005, on pilgrimage. I promised Padre that I would visit His home one day and after many years, I was finally able to keep my word. I could not help smiling broadly when I entered the main room of the Basilica, for I was surrounded by pink marble. Pink, it turned out, was Padre’s favorite color; He was also fond of lavender, so an area for visiting dignitaries is painted lavender in Padre’s honor, to the right of the Main Altar. Pink finally made sense, so I admit to embracing it now with great fervor!

*Author’s Note: On the first anniversary of Padre Pio’s manifestation, I crafted pink Honor Bundles in His honor and gifted them to friends, family and international colleagues. I have continued this crafting tradition, making something pink in Padre’s honor each year, and look forward to doing so for decades to come! If you are lucky enough to receive one of these special Honor Bundles, do not open it. The Honor Bundle is meant to be hung over a door or window or displayed in an automobile for protection and love. Be respectful of the bundles, they contain sacred ingredients: American Indian Sacred Herbs, many grown in the Peace Garden, herbs and relics gathered on pilgrimage, spices, Celtic salt from Ireland, salt from France and hand-crafted oils.

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Jill Price, The Woman Who Can't Forget

2008-05-14T18:27:13Z

This woman is amazing! Saw her last night on 20/20. I believe the study of her brain and how it functions will be a guiding light in understanding past-life memory and memory in general. Watch and look for it!
MB*
***************************************************************************************************
The Woman Who Can't Forget
The Extraordinary Story of Living with the Most Remarkable Memory Known to Science--A Memoir
By Jill Price
With Bart Davis

Description
Jill Price has the first diagnosed case of a memory condition called "hyperthymestic syndrome" -- the continuous, automatic, autobiographical recall of every day of her life since she was fourteen. Give her any date from that year on, and she can almost instantly tell you what day of the week it was, what she did on that day, and any major world event or cultural happening that took place, as long as she heard about it that day. Her memories are like scenes from home movies, constantly playing in her head, backward and forward, through the years; not only does she make no effort to call her memories to mind, she cannot stop them.

The Woman Who Can't Forget is the beautifully written and moving story of Jill's quest to come to terms with her extraordinary memory, living with a condition that no one understood, including her, until the scientific team who studied her finally charted the extraordinary terrain of her abilities. Her fascinating journey speaks volumes about the delicate dance of remembering and forgetting in all of our lives and the many mysteries about how our memories shape us.

As we learn of Jill's struggles first to realize how unusual her memory is and then to contend, as she grows up, with the unique challenges of not being able to forget -- remembering both the good times and the bad, the joyous and the devastating, in such vivid and insistent detail -- the way her memory works is contrasted to a wealth of discoveries about the workings of normal human memory and normal human forgetting. Intriguing light is shed on the vital role of what's called "motivated forgetting"; as well as theories about childhood amnesia, the loss of memory for the first two to three years of our lives; the emotional content of memories; and the way in which autobiographical memories are normally crafted into an ever-evolving and empowering life story.

Would we want to remember so much more of our lives if we could? Which memories do our minds privilege over others? Do we truly relive the times we remember most vividly, feeling the emotions that coursed through us then? Why do we forget so much, and in what ways do the workings of memory tailor the reality of what's actually happened to us in our lives?

In The Woman Who Can't Forget, Jill Price welcomes us into her remarkable life and takes us on a mind-opening voyage into what life would be like if we didn't forget -- a voyage after which no reader will think of the magical role of memory in our lives in the same way again.

Product Details
Free Press, May 2008
Hardcover, 272 pages
ISBN-10: 1-4165-6176-5
ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-6176-7

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digmountzion.com

2008-05-14T16:49:52Z

digmountzion.com

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HOW JESUS BECAME CHRISTIAN

2008-05-14T16:47:23Z

May 4, 2008
How Jesus Became Christian
Filed under: Christian Origins — James Tabor @ 9:32 pm

I want to highly, even extravagantly, recommend a book by Barrie Wilson, York University professor in Toronto, titled How Jesus Became Christian (New York: St. Martins Press, 2008; Random House in Canada). I will go so far as to say that I judge this single book to be one of the most important contributions to an understanding of Christian Origins published in many decades. Prof. Wilson’s book represents an absolute “sea change” in our understanding of how one moves from the historical Jesus (Jewish Prophet, Charismatic Healer, Teacher, Messiah figure), to the new religion called Christianity, created by the apostle Paul and given a definitive stamp of approval by what became the “standard story” of Christian Origins preserved in Luke-Acts.

Books that explore the “From Jesus to Paul” theme are quite common in the scholarly field: From Jesus to Paul (Klausner); The Mythmaker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity (Maccoby); From Jesus to Christ (Paula Fredrikson); From Jesus to Christianity (Michael White); Paul: Founder of Christianity (Lüdemann); and Paul the Convert: The Apostolate and Apostasy of Saul the Pharisee (Segal), to name a few more recent titles. However, in my view, Wilson has advanced the discussion miles beyond any previous work with his daring hypothesis regarding the stark and uncompromising dichotomy between what he calls the “Jesus Movement” and the “Christ Movement,” created and espoused singlehandedly by the apostle Paul. Wilson goes a long way to putting an end to the wishful thinking that there is somehow of some kind of continuity between Paul and his “gospel” and the message of James, Peter, and John, and those early Jewish followers of Jesus commonly known as “the Jerusalem Church.”

Wilson’s writing style is clear, his documentation is impeccable, and he makes his case with a strength and a level of persuasiveness that in my judgment leaves counter proposals in the wayside. The book is already a best-seller in Canada and it is beginning to climb the charts on Amazon in the U.S. Prof. Wilson also has a Web site, with many features and additional materials including an interview and Blog. The Toronto Globe and Mail had this to say in a recent review:

Jesus the Jew and the Christian Coverup:
HOW JESUS BECAME CHRISTIAN
By Barrie A. Wilson
Reviewed by Allan Levine
March 22, 2008

Forget about Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code and fictional conspiratorial machinations about whether Jesus and Mary Magdalene had children, Barrie Wilson has produced a significant and sensational work of scholarship. And it is truly religious dynamite.

Acknowledging Jesus’s Jewish background is nothing new, but arguing, as Wilson does, that Christianity is largely the result of a deliberate and deceptive manipulation is more intriguing and contentious. “Jesus never converted to another religion,” Wilson claims. “Nor did he start one. If he were to return, he’d probably be amazed – perhaps bewildered or possibly even angry – at what has been created in his name.” Adding for good measure that, “of all the Jewish males who ever lived, Jesus was by far the most influential.”

A professor of humanities and religious studies at York University in Toronto, Wilson has drawn on decades of his own research into the history of early Christianity and, like the superb teacher he must be, invites readers to accompany him on a wondrous journey back in time to understand Jesus’s life, the ordeal of being a Jew in a world ruled by Romans, the construction of the New Testament, and the powerful forces that have transformed Western civilization.

Admittedly this is no easy task, but he pulls it off brilliantly. He is an academic who can write for a non-specialist audience and does so exceptionally well – guiding, explaining Scripture, and even creatively integrating imaginary newspaper columns and blogs into his prose. All of which brings Jesus and his epoch alive.

Using an array of biblical sources, both Jewish and Christian, he builds his case step by step, searching for clues in the Gospels, offering concise summaries, and posing difficult questions – many of which, he concedes, cannot be answered. We do not know, for example, the precise details of Jesus’s day-to-day life – his emotional state or the real reasons he opposed Roman rule – and probably never will. But it is possible to offer reasonable and intelligent speculations based on solid research. That is what Wilson does very well, and by the last page he has convincingly made his case.

The short version of Wilson’s thesis, which he calls the “Jesus Cover-Up Thesis,” is this: The spiritual figure that billions of Christians worship worldwide as the Son of God was, in fact, a Jew, a rabbi, and a revered teacher of the early first century who obeyed and championed the Torah. Jesus (or more accurately in Hebrew, Yehoshua or Yeshu) prayed in synagogue and urged his followers to adhere strictly to Jewish law. Only in this way, he promised, would the Kingdom of God become a reality. Wilson probes the Jewish roots of the Lord’s Prayer, the Sermon on the Mount and the Last Supper (which is more commonly recognized as a Passover seder, although there were likely many more people in attendance than the 12 disciples portrayed in Leonardo da Vinci’s celebrated painting). In Wilson’s view, Jesus wanted to improve Jewish life, not abolish it. He did not proclaim himself to be a “Christ” figure or a “Son of God.” That came later.

Living as second-class citizens in their own country and dominated by a foreign power in Rome, Jews needed hope and Jesus provided it. His growing number of followers began to think of him as a “potential Messiah.” Led by Jesus’s brother, James – whose writings until recently have been largely ignored – these Jews established the “Jesus Movement.” After Jesus was killed by the Romans, in about 30 AD, they waited for him to return to create the promised Kingdom of God.

With James’s death in the early 60s, the Jesus Movement suffered a leadership crisis, and in Wilson’s words, was eventually “upstaged” and “hijacked” by the Christ Movement launched by Paul of Tarsus, a Hellenized Jew living in the Jewish Diaspora. The two movements should have remained separate and parallel religious sects, but subsequent events changed this. Paul did not know Jesus, yet nevertheless linked him to the Christ Movement. In the process, he tore Jesus from his Jewish roots.

Wilson shows that the most significant development in this synthesis occurred 60 years after both James and Paul died and was accomplished by the unknown author of the Book of Acts (part of the Gospel of Luke). This new “take” on Jesus was so credible that, as Wilson puts it, “we tend to think of Paul’s Movement as just another form of early Christianity. It wasn’t. It was a brand-new religion entirely.” It was thus what Wilson terms “Paulinity” – “a Hellenized religion about a Gentile Christ [and] a cosmic redeemer” – rather than the Jewish-inspired religion of Jesus, which was embraced by the Gentiles of the Roman world in the period from the second to the fourth centuries.

The New Testament is not a neutral document. The Gospels and other writings are arranged in a particular order to give weight to Paul’s interpretation of the link between the Jesus and the Christ Movements. Moreover, it was not sufficient for authors of several Gospels to distance Christianity from Judaism, they had to vilify it: Jews became equated with Satan. According to Wilson, this made the cover-up complete. The devastating result was religious anti-Semitism and the perpetuation of the accusation that the Jews killed Christ.

In fact, it was only one Jewish sect, the Sadducees, who turned against Jesus. They wanted to maintain the status quo with the Romans and feared that Jesus’s preaching about a Kingdom of God and altering the world was dangerous. Once the Romans accepted Christianity, it was not possible to blame them for Jesus’s death, so the Jews were identified in the Gospels and later Church decrees as the true evil murderers of the Son of God. Centuries of persecution followed.

One major reason, Wilson notes, for the hostile reaction to The Da Vinci Code was “its suggestion that Jesus was human.” And that criticism was levelled at a novel. Wilson’s firm belief that Christianity must refocus on the human and Jewish Jesus and accept the truth of the cover-up is sure to generate an even greater controversy.

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CLARIFICATION: THE NUMBER 13

2008-01-23T04:28:52Z

CLARIFICATION: THE NUMBER 13
by Silverstar Red Crow © 2008
http://tribes.tribe.net/stjamesproject

I am pleased sharing the fact I have successfully manufactured the time to study April DeConick’s, THE THIRTEENTH APOSTLE, What the Gospel of Judas Really Says. It’s a marvelous book, filled with insight on every page. DeConick is a respected scholar of Old Coptic and it shines through on all her pages! Master Hamid Bey would have been pleased, especially with her differentiation between Sethian and Valentinian Gnostism. DeConick is clear and precise and knows her Coptic!

I would like to make a couple of points about how I use the number term “13”. Some of you might be confused, if you are studying this book, in regards to my use of it.

I am an inter-generational Pagan, meaning I am Pagan and so were my parents and their parents before them (factoring out the Christian influence my parent’s generation: Catholicism from my mother’s mother and Lutheranism from my father’s mother. Some of the holiday observances stuck, and the Marion Pantheon too. But the rest faded quickly and remains shrouded with time; thank the Gods!) and live a life dictated by the Natural World. “13” Full Moons per year I stand and draw the Creatrix Mother into me and have since I was fourteen. “13” elevates the hard physical labor used by the Elementals and transforms it into a spiritual foundation, symbolized by the Zodiac. The Zodiac is a blueprint for each human, drawing the possibility of destiny. It is a circle divided into 12 equal parts and connected by a hub-point in the center, which brings stability and makes it possible for the wheel to move as one working whole. “13” represents the Coven; it is a sacred number for me, so it’s not always easy to use it with a negative slant. But I do, once, when referring to Paul…

1. PAUL
I use the number 13 when discussing Paul. I include Judas Iscariot among the 12 Disciples (Apostles) and refer to Paul as the “13th Disciple or Apostle”, because Paul considered himself as powerful or (as memory serves) more evolved than the 12 Apostles. He felt he had the God-given right to be included in Jesus’ inner circle, for the mere fact he rewrote history and elevated, posthumously, Jesus the Man into a God.

2. THE DIVINE THIRTEEN
I refer to the Zodiac as “The Divine Thirteen”, a system relating, charting and defining the basic 12-fold human (Carl Jung further elaborated on the wheel, combining all Id, Ego and Superego levels into a 36 spoke-wheel). The Zodiac has one sign for each section of the wheel, connected by the 13th point, or the hub. The Hub of the Wheel symbolizes the human both unveiled and revealed—all we have been and can and will be as humans. Just as the Valentinian Gnostics saw each Apostle as a spoke to the great wheel of the Zodiac, I see each sign of the Zodiac not as a potential greatness to aspire to, but as parts of our personal consciousness that need to evolve. In other words, one must transcend the limitations of the Zodiac, in order to evolve into an illumined human, capable of true greatness, symbolized by the Hub or JESUS.

posted in The Saint James Project - 3 replies

"Talpiot Tomb Talk: Thoughts on Historical Method" by Tabor, 1-21-2008

2008-01-21T17:23:25Z

http://www.jesusdynasty.com/blog/

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Defining the Spiritual Term "Warrior" by SRC

2008-01-16T20:48:05Z

DEFINING THE SPIRITUAL TERM “WARRIOR”
(A brief and casual overview)
by Silverstar Red Crow © 2008
http://tribes.tribe.net/stjamesproject

Warrior Consciousness is accessed through a long, arduous process of physical, emotional and psychic tempering, through the implementation of discipline on all levels.

A Warrior is called to a Life of Service, much as a Shaman is, through the voice of Spirit, presented as NEED by other humans and creatures on, above, around and in the Earth first, then the Greater Universe.

A Warrior knows the cost of sacrifice. This knowledge is gleaned through personal loss of loved ones and/or through personal blood sacrifice, illness and sudden disability and war.

A true Warrior is a Peace-Maker always! One who sheds blood knows how precious it is and will sacrifice her/his own, before taking another’s in anger, vengeance or dare!

A Warrior upholds and serves the Highest and Greatest Good Principle, for the good of Self, other creatures living and dead and for the All, represented by the Greater Universe.

A true Warrior walks softly and teaches those around her/him to do the same. One follows and leads both by example first!

A Warrior knows and teaches Chaos is simply fuel and a temporary step in the greater organizational process called life/survival/immortality. One must learn to use, then transcend Chaos, quickly and effectively, not to room and board it!

A Warrior knows truth lies in Love and the spiritual surrender needed to manifest desire.

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DO PEOPLE ACTUALLY SHOP FOR SHAMANS? BY SRC

2008-01-14T17:31:23Z

DO PEOPLE ACTUALLY SHOP FOR SHAMANS?
(loosely edited)
by Silverstar Red Crow © 2008

The United States is a capitalist country, which runs on supply and demand. The people of this country are hungry—hungry for everything—especially if it promises success and inner peace. One can buy literally anything in this country; if you have the money, you can obtain the goods, regardless of legality. Even enlightenment, lineage and ancestry are bought and sold to the highest bidder. In Indian Country, we call this buying and selling of indigenous blood, worldview and practice, “Selling Medicine”. This can buy a death sentence, or worse, life-long shunning within closed Sovereign Nation communities, from coast to coast. You see, there was a movement born of the raping of Indigenous Medicine in 1974, called The American Indian Movement, known of course as AIM. AIM is a strong police force, it gets things done and has eyes and ears everywhere the words: Shaman, Sacred Herbs, The Pipe, Medicine, Spiritual Elders appear, in over 600 active federal and non-federally recognized tribal communities in the continental US.

American Indians, that’s what we call ourselves in private, or Native, or First Nation’s People. The brand Native American is used by the dominant society, whether academic or governmental. Though always a tough and sometimes bitter road, The Red Road is my way and my GrandMothers and GrandFathers, Sisters and Brothers have let me in and shown me, shared with me and trained me to dance with my people in the Sacred Circle. Most people would be amazed at our varied colors as Indians; as a Norwegian Indian, I am lighter than most. For those of us lucky enough to have received traditional spiritual training (called Medicine), we are taught to keep our distance from people emotionally, until we are called-out, first by Great Spirit (or Spirits), then by the People (the tribe or community one ministers to) for healing. We don’t call ourselves “Shamans” or healers or Medicine People; we are not allowed to take a title. We are first named a title by the People, according to need, talent and desire of the community itself. Most of the time, we use the title Spiritual Elder (If one is given special Elder status by the tribe before Tribal Eldership is reached, or one takes the title of “Tribal Elder” at age 55 and waits to earn the rest.) or more popular in the last decade or so, Indigenous Shamanic Practitioner. “Medicine Person” is not a popular title, in my experience, not since AIM—too much old bitterness and misunderstanding in the term; no witch doctors in Indian Country!

Why am I going over this material again, piece by piece? I am illustrating the various forms and titles taken and given in just one community in which the title Shaman appears on a regular basis, despite being a Tungus word, found on the Asian steppes. I can talk specifics when dealing with the Red Road, because it’s my community, it’s my voice. I am being heard from the inside-out. The rest of this article, I will be speaking in more general terms, creating pictures and concepts.

There are three basic camps of “Shamanic Practitioners” in this country at present:
1. Indigenous Shamanic Practitioners. This category refers to American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians, as well as other nationalities who bring their indigenous, highly trained, traditional, documented, unfiltered traditions to this country like the Mayan, The Inca, The Greater Amazonian Basin, Buryats and Mongols, Koreans, Nepalese, Benin, Maori, etc.
2. Academic Shamanic Practitioners. Practitioners of “Core Shamanism” as administered by Michael Harner and the Foundation of Shamanic Studies. Many of these practitioners have high-level academic degrees, including psychology, sociology, anthropology and Western medicine. Many off-shoots of the foundation are operating with the help and encouragement of alumni, in the general community, as well as in thriving academic settings. Several large church bodies have been formed by such alumni, especially in the Western states, allowing for hands-on-healing and Shamanic active-trance counseling, which are either widely discouraged or against the law. In my home state of Oregon, hands-on-healing is prohibited by law, unless one is an active minister who is ordained by a legal church body and is approved by the state. In some counties in Oregon, Oracle Work &/or fortune telling is strictly prohibited and has hefty fines attached to the practice. Yes, and Oregon is considered one of the most liberal states in the union; so beware of titles…
3. Self-Proclaimed Shamanic Practitioners. Go to any psychic faire in this country and you will find big flashy signs advertising Shamans/Shamanic Healing/Living Gateways to the Ancestors, etc. These people are self-taught and practice eclectic forms of visualization techniques and creative trance movements. Unfortunately, many charlatans, wannabees and crooks fall into this category. Yes, indeed, there are those who are brilliant and are truly called to a Life of Service through the Spirit Realms in this category, but, be warned, many are not found on the “circuit”. BUYERS BEWARE!

SHARING/PUBLISHING/SELLING/BUYING SHAMANIC CEREMONIES

Years ago, I was invited to a gathering atop Mt. Shasta, in Northern California. It is a special holy spot for me and for my first teacher and Elder, so I was truly tempted to make the trip happen. I then discovered for an extra $500, I could, as an Elder, be allowed to join a Sweat Lodge Ceremony and help pray to the Ancestors for their pity and favor, for the success of all gathered. Fortunately for Spirit, the organizers built the lodge at the foot of the mountain, instead of on it—thank the Gods! Was this a traditional Inipi Ceremony? Or even a Celtic Lodge? Fortunately it was not; of course it was not!!! Knowing they were actively Selling Medicine, I could and did pass-on the trip without a second thought, knowing the Medicine would not be clear, bright or sweet. A true seeker of Spirit does not buy her/his favor, either corporally or in the Spirit Realms! The seeker must sacrifice, prove herself worthy to Spirit and be willing to serve without fee.

Rite of Passage Ceremonies are just that: rituals of life’s journeys, trips taken, directed by the Spirit Realms. These are experiential, visionary and are profound at the core levels of being, for all parties involved. They cannot be bought or sold because of the nature of their power! They include the following types of ceremonies:
Birth Rites (separate from Wiccanings or baptisms)
Healings of any kind
Spiritual Initiations of any kind
Transfer of Lineage Titles
Blood Rites, either by wound or menses
Adoption Ceremonies
Sweat Lodge Ceremonies
Vision Quest
Death Rites, including Death Songs

There are more, of course, but this list gives you a good overview of the kind of ceremonies I am speaking of. This list does not include rites such as Namings, Marriages and Give-Aways because these ceremonies usually take a group effort over many months of preparation and the Ritual Facilitator/Shaman must be compensated for time and energy expounded during those trying months. However, compensation might take the form of feeding, clothing and housing the Shaman for that period of time, not hard cold cash. Yeah, face it; all people need to pay their car payments, even on the rez…

Rite of Passage Ceremonies mark the coming together of Divine and human as one working whole. These ceremonies are sacred, regardless of what language you speak or what color your regalia.

Now, one must use common sense when dealing with ceremonies. For instance, there are many international gatherings of Shamans and healers with VIP speakers, teachers and presenters. Some of these gatherings are available and open to the general populace for fees. Now, that makes sense because its, once again, a group effort and takes much funding to make it possible. People travel thousands of miles for major life-changing events such as these; they are wonderful and help all to reach out with respect to each other’s worldviews. Many of these events include rituals and ceremonies, many of the kinds listed above. Here’s the difference: the facilitators of these rituals are not paid separately for their spiritual services (holy people are not paid to pray, at least generally. I realize this is a major generalization, but hey, Amma does not charge for hugging, ok?); they are compensated for their general service, sacrifice and time. To add another dimension to this point: participants of the specific rituals do not pay an extra charge to be in or to observe the rituals offered. Okay, for you Pagans out there, you have to pay your way to the festival, pay your entrance fee to pay for the space, pay for your meals, buy yourself a necklace and a head scarf, but you do not pay to dance by the fire, to partake in Sacrament or pray at the temples.

This “sharing of ceremonies” has a trickle down a/effect. Please notice that on my free Tribe site, http://tribes.tribe.net/stmichaelisknocking, my 2007 Shamanic Syllabus is published. Now, look under Initiation Ceremonies and Shamanic Blow-Ins and you will notice there is a whole section on Reiki Attunements. Now, I have, in the past, combined breathwork and passed Reiki Attunements while in trance ceremony. I don’t recommend it, in fact, I teach to shut Reiki off during trance work because Reiki has its own agenda and demands the lack of ego, while Shamanic work is based on self and Spirit generated power—notice the HUGE difference. So, why did I publish the document in this form? Two reasons: anybody, given the time and discipline, can become a competent Reiki Practitioner, unlike Shamanism, people do not have to be called by Spirit to practice Reiki. So, by receiving proper Reiki attunements, guidance and training, one can, in turn, actually change people’s lives positively through using Reiki breath and touch. I have shown all who read and are willing to get the Reiki and to work it, how to partake in this energy. Now, you are missing my real intention here, however. I have given workable tools for all who are motivated to work for them, without giving away any specific Shamanic ceremonies. Shamanism is experiential, is ALL about CONTROL and agenda and is based on hours used, literally. If one does not work in altered states everyday, one is a poser. It’s all in the earned status, directly with the Spirit Realms. Believe me; if a seeker intentionally behaves badly, Spirit takes care of the situation. Reminding y’all what my mother used to say: “Vengeance is a waste of time; Karma Man always gets Her man!”

LOOKING FOR A SHAMAN AS A HEALER

Good beginning advice for those in search of a healer who has a Shamanic Worldview:
1. Find a MSW or a psychiatrist you respect and trust. Ask this person to do a search, whether on the internet or with colleagues, and ask for a referral to someone who has the same degree or similar, with a Harner Core-Shamanic background. That’s an excellent place to start! If you come up short in this regard, contact the Foundation of Shamanic Studies in Mill City, California and ask for the closest teacher for their Journey 101 program. Every major city or basic region of the country has competent instructors of the Harner Method. Where there is a class, there are active practitioners.
2. For those of you without any Native connections, do a local search for the nearest Indian tribe in your area. Then call the offices and be upfront with them. State your general problem and ask if they recommend a Native Healer (don’t use the word Shaman) or ask them if they sponsor a powwow. Once at a powwow, go to Elder seating and begin offering Honor Bundles to the Elders, one by one, and ask your question respectfully: “Excuse me ma’am, may I ask you a question?” Wait quietly for a reply; it might take some time. Hey, the Elder is checking you out, reading your clothes, smelling what food you eat, reading your eyes for true respect and courage. Don’t be surprised waiting for quite sometime. When the answer finally comes and its NO, don’t take it personally, just move to the next one in line and repeat the question. If an Elder takes your hand to shake it, be sure you return the handshake lightly and carefully, opposite from the dominant society. Shaking hands is a sacred trust and one must always treat another’s hands like you would treat your own heart. Then say: “I am looking for a traditional healer. I’m real sick, my kid is sick. My heart says to come here and ask you for help.” Hey, you might be asked to dinner, be prepared. Now, if an Indian asks you to dance, to dinner, to talk, she/he will ask only once. If you do not follow through, she will not ask you again and, if seen again, will pretend she des not know you. Of course, this method of information gathering is risky, but to find the real deal takes effort. Spirit rewards you or denies you, depending on your choices…
3. Go to your local college and ask an anthropology professor if she knows anyone who practices Core Shamanism on campus. Usually, you will have success right away. Then, sign-up for a class. That’s right, you want a Shamanic Healer? It pays to understand what a Shamanic Practitioner does and how she does it. Dive-in and don’t be surprised to glean direction from watching the visions of your first Core Journey. At this point, I would be remiss if I did not mention the basic division between Indigenous and Core Shamanism. Core Shamanism is often experienced in a still, unmoving way, depending on animal guides and vision to mark the crossroads of one’s journey. I feel Core Shamanism tends to dilute the connection with &/to The Divine, while Indigenous Shamanism is fueled by a personal dialogue with the Spirit Realms. Indigenous Shamanism is often practiced in an active, awake state, moving in and out of trance, using varied methods, instruments and tools—quite an opposite approach to much of Core practice. Through my years of practice, I have found my indigenous methods and tools; especially involving self-generated power and dance movement can be frightening to some students, particularly newbies and can cause temporary emotional paralysis. For these students, it is best to seek out other methods and most probably, find a niche in Core practice. Just remember: don’t wash out the Gods, both old and new, be disciplined and approach the Spirit Realms with respect at all times, regardless of your Shamanic direction!

SEEKING A TEACHER

Why do you feel you want to study Shamanism? Start by asking lots of questions in a humble, yet assertive manner. Self-inventory is the best place to start. Find your inner-teacher, teach yourself to learn, go to therapy with a decent therapist to isolate your true issues, stop lying, eat well, exercise, practice yoga and learn to breathe, become a Reiki Master, learn the difference between channeled and self-generated power, get yourself grounded. Once all those things are in place, so what if they take ten years; get yourself together, prioritize your life, clean it up, get clean and sober--see if you need a teacher. Approach spiritual practice of any kind with a clear direction, initially without drugs of any kind, with an open heart and mind and a sensitive gut; share your feelings, don’t stash, be authentic and don’t hold back on any level. That’s what it takes!

If you decide a teacher is your way, you must learn to surrender to your Highest and Greatest Good. The process of Shamanism is to learn psychic control through surrender to the positive dictates of the Spirit Realms and to serve the Highest and Greatest Good Principle. This is the Hanged Man in the Tarot; you must learn surrender, humility and trust. The building blocks of magick state one must trust oneself, before faith becomes possible. You must surrender to process; look at the world through your potential teacher’s eyes, with her/his worldview and cosmology. You are surrendering to no human but yourself. If one does not surrender, usually spurred by the lack of trust in Self, one could conceivably work for ten years and learn nothing. In reality, the student never took the first step.

You are your finest teacher. Learn from yourself and realize that only by pledging your education to one person’s care at one time (similar or the same as a Year and A Day Pledge), you cannot absorb and surrender enough to learn—to get it! Without flow, you are in competition, trying to remold someone else’s viewpoint to shape into your own—it becomes entirely different than what was actually given. That’s right: it’s ILLUSION! That is not what having a teacher is all about. If you cannot surrender your spiritual education for blocks of time and trust the process, both the seeker and teacher loses. It’s the energy of the thing. So, get in your body and stay there, listen, learn, allow yourself to be guided. Now, you are getting the picture. If something is worthy of this degree of personal commitment and surrender, then, you better have a credible teacher able to keep up with your level of intensity. This is about developing and using INTEGRITY as a living tool; it continues to be abstract if unused!

Second step, start searching responsibly; seek other’s opinions, check-out the foundation’s offerings in your area, ask reputable people you respect in the academic world. It’s a scary world for some, but the most reasonable starting point in this day and age. Point of fact, many Core offerings from the Foundation of Shamanic Studies sponsor Indigenous Shamans from inside or outside of the country for separate workshops, private sessions, etc. It’s an unbeatable mode of networking with people you can, by and large, trust—so rare!
Third step, be discerning when you think you have found someone. Check her/him out. Do Google’s, call references, get full names, detailed backgrounds, a list of their teachers—be thorough. If not, you are the only one to blame if you end up in a compromising position on any level; you have to be responsible--this is your psychic core—you must be careful and yielding, at the same time! People call themselves any title to suit their fancy; make sure the person you chose to be your spiritual mentor and guide knows what they are doing and is good at it: garbage-in, garbage-out…

Good indigenous teachers are booked, usually a year in advance. Many, me included, take year-long pledges, while others take the minimum of a four-year commitment. In learning Core from a reputable foundation faculty member, expect to take part in a series of weekend intensives; they also offer a three-year program once you have successfully completed all weekend possibilities. Be respectful at all times, receptive, malleable, honest and direct. Ask lots of questions, demand your teacher work for you--that’s their job. If you are not doing well, be open to renegotiation and departure. One must know when too much is too much and have the courage to leave, without causing the teacher further distress.

For many, life is for sale. It is up to each individual to put a value on life, health, happiness, death, success and failure. Never short change the guides in your life. If you do, you are the greatest loser. Religion should not be for sale. People should not be for sale. Communication with the Spirits should not be for sale! Sacred Herbs should not be for sale! Pay your way, be conscious of what you take, give back and the world is yours for the asking!!!!

Mother Blessings to you and yours!

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Resurrection Means Participation by Tabor

2008-01-06T18:07:18Z

http://www.jesusdynasty.com/blog/

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"In God's Name" DETAILS AND LIST OF NAMES

2007-12-26T18:27:25Z

THIS IS THE MATERIAL THAT WAS ACCIDENTLY ERASED YESTERDAY, ORIGINALLY POSTED BY GLR. THIS LIST OF NAMES, INCLUDING THE VIDEOGRAPHERS, NEEDS TO BE REMEBERED.
BLESSED BE!

"In God's Name"
A major television event addressing some of the most challenging and profound questions of our time,
will be broadcast December 23 on the CBS Television Network.

IN GOD'S NAME, a CBS primetime special produced in association with the acclaimed French filmmakers Jules and Gédéon Naudet, will explore the complex questions of our time through the intimate thoughts and beliefs of 12 of the world's most influential spiritual leaders. These diverse and powerful voices offer provocative, compelling and enlightening perspective on myriad issues in our post-9/11 world, including the rise of terrorism, fanaticism, intolerance and war.

The 12 leaders featured in this special CBS documentary "In God's Name", in alphabetical order, are:

Alexei II, Patriarch of Moscow and head of the Russian Orthodox Church

Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi), a Hindu spiritual leader

Pope Benedict XVI, head of the Roman Catholic Church

The Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso), spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists

Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, a prominent Shi’ite Muslim leader

Bishop Mark Hanson, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and President of the Lutheran World Federation

Michihisa Kitashirakawa, Jingu Daiguji (High Priest) of the Shinto Grand Shrine of Ise

Yona Metzger, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel

Dr. Frank Page, President of the Southern Baptist Convention

Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, Sheikh of Al-Azhar and a prominent Sunni Muslim leader

Joginder Singh Vedanti, Jathedar of the Akal Takht, the Sikhs’ highest authority

Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Church of England

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Broadcast

2007-12-25T23:57:17Z

The broadcast below actually IS 9pm Oregon time....

posted in The Saint James Project - 6 replies

TABOR ON POINT ONCE AGAIN!

2007-12-11T20:52:54Z

CHECK-OUT HIS LATEST BLOG ENTRY TITLED: "BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY & ACADEMIC INTEGRITY" HERE:
http://www.jesusdynasty.com/blog/

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HANUKKAH

2007-12-08T20:47:08Z

I POSTED THIS TO THE KABBALAH TRIBE THIS MORNING...

I personally observe Hanukkah as an 8-part holiday celebrating victory over great odds. Lighting the candles reaffirms my faith in the Tree of Life and the cycles of growth, death and rebirth we all experience as humans. Celebrating LIGHT should interest all who walk paths of reflection, regardless of one’s birth heritage in this life. Simply "remember" and the holiday becomes yours.

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2008 INITIATION SEASON, ST. JAMES PROJECT

2007-11-28T17:18:55Z

INITIATION SEASON 2008, IMBOLC 2008 TO LUGHNASSADH 2008 & BEYOND
THE ST. JAMES PROJECT
10-21-07
Silverstar Red Crow © 2007
http://tribes.tribe.net/stjamesproject

Greetings All!

Samhain is here; colored leaves are accumulating and naked trees bare their changes and scars from the year before. Now, we prepare for the New Year, culling the backrooms of our consciousness through intense personal inventory, making way for new experiences and people to come into our lives during the next turn-of-the-wheel. Samhain-time, the end and the beginning of years, all in one, is the time to chart one’s educational course for the year to come.

I continue to teach the Red Witch Tradition (The Sabbats of Sophia & The Line of Sarah), Indigenous Shamanism, Kundalini Yoga and metaphysics through the St. James Project, twice per month on Tuesday evenings, to a select few. I have one student opening for the coming 2008 Initiation Season, beginning next Imbolc. I won’t lie to you and say it’s an easy position to fill for either student or teacher; my requirements are tough. If you are looking for a new diversion or a compartmentalized tool and approach in your healing repertoire, my knowledge would be of little concern or need of yours. If you want to turn your life inside-out, however, and begin a radical new approach to breathing, this might be your ticket for the ride of your life! In an attempt to clarify my offerings and personal needs as a teacher, I am presently writing an article entitled “THE IMPORTANCE OF INTEGRATION: BODY, MIND AND SOUL”, posted on Tribe, this coming week. It will outline the goals and prerequisites for application. Check back often for latest developments.

In the meantime…

If you are:
Physically fit
Intelligent
Not on psychotropic drugs or medications for depression
Physically, emotionally & psychically grounded
Self-motivated
In-your-body
With 3 years experience living a Pagan lifestyle
Practices Earth-Based Spirituality
Is a Reiki Level 3 Practitioner
Is willing to learn based on an indigenous voice and worldview, regardless of individual background
Is a hard worker
Has a living respect for Eldership
Lives or is willing to relocate to NW Oregon (within commuting distance to Yamhill County)…

Write me directly at worldtree@macnet.com for more information. Please include your Natal Chart, all contact information, including age (no one under 18 years of age is permitted at Toad House), physical and email addresses & phone numbers. Please include a detailed Letter of Intention; referrals, references and letters of support from your family and other Elders/teachers are always a good idea to include as well. All screening and meetings must be completed by Dec. 24, 2007 to be a serious candidate.

posted in The Saint James Project - 1 reply

Mary Magdalene as “First Witness” from James Tabor's Blog

2007-11-26T17:28:47Z

November 24, 2007

Mary Magdalene as “First Witness”

Filed under: Talpiot Jesus Family Tomb, Biblical Expositions — James Tabor @ 1:17 pm
Carefully re-reading Jane Schaberg’s book, The Resurrection of Mary Magdalene, has set me to thinking and working through all the texts related to her once again, particularly those in our New Testament gospels. I wanted to do a bit of “thinking aloud” here, covering various thoughts and ideas that have come to me of late.

I begin with Mark, whose references to Mary Magdalene form the core of the Synoptic gospels account of her. He mentions her three times, at the crucifixion, at Jesus’ burial, and at the empty tomb on Sunday morning (Mk 15:40-41; 15:47; 16:1). She is named first among two other women from Galilee, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and Salome, but according to Mark they are part of a larger contingent of “many other women” who had followed Jesus from Galilee where they had provided (Greek: diakoneo) for him. This reference to a large group of Galilean women who form a base of support, presumably financial and otherwise, is something Luke picks up on and elaborates (8:1-3), but it fundamentally comes to us from Mark. I presented arguments in my book, The Jesus Dynasty, that this second Mary of Mark’s group, is Jesus’ mother, with Salome most likely his sister. At any rate, it is these three, led by Mary Magdalene, who make preparations to attend to the intimate task of preparing the corpse of Jesus for burial, buying spices on Saturday evening with the intention of anointing his body early Sunday morning. Thus they come to discover the empty tomb early Sunday morning.

Matthew, clearly relying on Mark as his source, has the same three references to Mary Magdalene, at the crucifixion, the burial, and early Sunday morning at the tomb. She is paired with the “other Mary,” and he does not name Salome, though he implies she might be the “mother of the sons of Zebedee. Regardless, it is the two Marys who witness the burial and visit the tomb Sunday morning (Matt 27:55-56, 27:61; 28:1).

Luke, also following Mark, makes some significant changes to Mark’s basic structure. He too has women from Galilee standing at the cross but he names none of them (Luke 23:49). Likewise, at the burial, these women from Galilee remain unnamed (Luke 23:55-56). Finally at the empty tomb he says the women who came to complete the rites of burial were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and “the other women with them” (Luke 24:10). This means that Luke only names Mary Magdalene once in the three scenes that Mark has introduced her. As we will see, this is absolutely deliberate and calculated. What he does is introduce her much earlier, back in Galilee, among this group of many women who had provided for Jesus, picking up on Mark’s reference. But there he adds that she was part of a group of women who had been cured of “evil spirits and infirmities” naming Joanna and another woman, Susanna, but adding that Mary Magdalene herself was positively deranged beyond description, in that she had been possessed by seven demons! (Luke 8:1-3). Luke is keen to make the point that the presence of these women, who do not need to be even named, is of no credible importance, since they come from such shady backgrounds, epitomizing the hysterical “female” whose testimony would be considered an “idle tale,” thus preparing the way for the true and reliable male witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection (Luke 24:11). All he really has to go on is Mark, but he skillfully recasts Mark’s material in this way, thus marginalizing Mary Magdalene, and “demonizing” her, quite literally, cured or not, lest anyone might think the resurrection faith was first proclaimed by such a witness. But there is more. Just before Luke introduces the deranged woman in chapter 8, as followers of Jesus from Galilee, he constructs a scene, in Galilee, of an unnamed woman of an unnamed city, a “sinner,” who comes to Jesus at a dinner with an ointment, who then weeps uncontrollably, bathes his feet with her tears, wiping them with her hair, and anointing them (Luke 7:36-50). Jesus forgives her many sins, and she presumably becomes his follower. And thus Mary Magdalene is introduced in the next passage. The juxtaposition is deliberate. Although Luke is not bold enough to say that Mary Magdalene herself is this forgiven harlot, the contextualizing is enough, coupled with her deranged mental past. Interestingly enough, Mark also has a story of an anonymous woman anointing Jesus, but it is a few days before Jesus’ death, in Jerusalem, and she is honored not as a forgiven sinner, but one whose anointing prepared him “beforehand” for his burial (Mark 14:3-9).

What Mark fundamentally tells us then about Mary Magdalene is that she is first among a group of women from Galilee who provided for Jesus, that she is involved (with his mother) in the intimate rites of preparing Jesus’ body for burial, and that she, Mary, and Salome, are the “first witnesses” to Jesus’ resurrection. Mark knows nothing of appearances of Jesus to these women, but they hear the proclamation, “He has been raised, he is not here.” The disciples, led by Peter, are to “see him in Galilee,” though the scene is never reported by Mark. Matthew elaborates Mark’s disturbingly sparse account, with Jesus subsequently encountering the women who linger at the tomb, and a mysterious “foggy mountain” appearance to the Eleven somewhere in Galilee (with some doubting!). Luke feels compelled to go further. There is no disputing the women were involved, at the cross, the burial, and the empty tomb–but as a group they are unnamed, and even when named, identified as “formerly” deranged and contextualized with the unnamed “harlot” whom Jesus forgives for her many sins. Luke wants nothing of appearances in Galilee, nor of the deranged women who might have proclaimed such as “first witnesses.” For him the resurrection of Jesus rests solidly on his Jerusalem based appearances to reliable male witnesses, including to Peter and the Eleven.

And then there is the gospel of John. John also has Mary Magdalene at the cross, and he clearly identifies Jesus’ mother there as well. He does not mention the women at the burial but his account of what happened early Sunday morning is significantly different from that of Mark. Rather than the group of women arriving together, John relates that Mary Magdalene came alone, very early, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb (John 20:1-10). She runs to tell Peter, and he, and an unamed disciple rush to the tomb, confirming her story, but not yet coming to the conclusion Jesus was raised. There are no messengers, angelic or otherwise, as in Mark, Matthew, and Luke, to tell the women Jesus is raised–it is simple a case of someone having “taken the master out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him” (20:2).

I find this account in John strangely compelling. Mark’s young man in white linen, proclaiming Jesus is risen, seems wholly theological, not to mention Matthews fantastic expansion where we have a dazzling angel who comes like lightening from heaven, heralded by an earthquake, who rolls back the stone and proclaims Jesus is risen. Luke’s two men in dazzling clothing is cut from the same cloth. In contrast, John’s core account has nothing fantastic or even theological. It deserves our careful attention, and at the heart of this account is the singular experience of a woman–namely Mary Magdalene.

According to John the tomb is found empty very early Sunday morning, even at dark. The logical conclusion is that someone has removed the body and placed it elsewhere, perhaps the gardener, or as the rumor in Matthew has it, some of his disciples. Schaberg effectively argues, in my judgment, that what happens next in John’s gospel (20:11-18), namely Jesus’ encounter with Mary Magdalene, still in the garden near the tomb where he was missing, is our earliest and most fundamental witness to Jesus’ resurrection, and that further, the form and structure by which John narrates this encounter, implies an Elijah-Elisha like succession story, of Jesus passing on this witness to his chosen and intimate follower, Mary Magdalene. In this extraordinary account we have dialogue between Jesus and Mary. She is Maria in the narrative but Jesus calls her name directly, “Miriam,” and she replies with the affectionate diminutive “Rabbouni,” my dear/little Master. What she is told is that she must not grasp him for he is ascending to the Father.

Like Matthew and Luke, John includes other appearance stories, both to the disciples in Jerusalem, and in Galilee. But this core account, found now in John 20:1-18, is perhaps our best window for reconstructing what might have happened that early Sunday morning. Based on the Mary Magdalene account, found only in John, I am convinced that the discovery of the empty tomb should be given historical weight. It is what John’s account does not say that makes it compelling. With no angelic messengers proclaiming the resurrection, and Mary not even told to go tell the rest that they too would see Jesus, it seems to me we should give the Mary Magdalene story priority. The subsequent accounts of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and even the supplemental accounts in John, all seem to be accretions to this core account.

Mark does not dispute that Mary Magdalene and the other women first discovered the tomb, but his account is clearly a generalized expansion of an earlier core story, much elaborated by Matthew, and radically re-contextualized by Luke. But they do not venture to remove the Magdalene. Only Paul does that, in his roll call of appearances of the heavenly Jesus in 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. There Mary Magdalene is completely eliminated. In effect, that has already begun to happen in Mark, since the women “say nothing to anyone” and are mainly pointers to the male Eleven who will see Jesus in Galilee. In Matthew the main point of resurrection is the “commission,” and that would not be given to women, but only to the male Eleven. Likewise in Luke, who has Jesus appear to the Eleven, telling them to take his message to all the nations.

In my view John 20:1-18 stands separate and isolated from all these subsequently embellished traditions. John is able to contextualize it with subsequent appearances to the male leaders, but read as “first testimony” it has a most compelling ring to it. I find it the only account that lends itself to some measure of credible historical reconstruction. It essentially what I make most use of in my own reconstruction in The Jesus Dynasty:

Jesus is hastily buried in a temporary tomb that happened to be nearby in a garden at the place of crucifixion. The intent was to move his body to a permanent place after the festival/Sabbath was past. Mary Magdalene arrives early Sunday morning, while it is still dark, and finds the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. She alerts Peter and the others. No one thinks Jesus has been raised, but they draw the logical conclusion, that someone has moved him. Presumably that someone would be either other family members, or more likely Joseph of Arimathea. Lingering near the tomb Mary has a visionary encounter with Jesus himself. She is told by him that he is ascending to heaven and that is what she reports to the others. Mary then becomes first witness, and as such, “successor” to the ascending Jesus. She alone is given the message–Jesus has ascended to the Father.

It is difficult to read this account as it stands without interjecting subsequent stories from Matthew, Luke, and John. But that Mark, writing as late as the 70s AD, has no appearances, yet he does have Mary Magdalene at the tomb, supports the essential core of John’s Mary Magdalene story. Historians have rightly judged that the series of expanded and dramatic appearances of Jesus to his various male followers are theologically cast apologetics. As such, the singular appearance to Mary Magdalene, did not fare so well. Luke begins the long history of her demise and defamation–yes, she was there, but remember, she and the others were surely less than reliable witnesses. What is important is that even in Mark she can not be eliminated. She is there at the first, and she is clearly the first, if John is to be given any weight at all.

One puzzle in John is that he, like Mark and Luke, also has a scene at which Jesus is anointed by a woman (John 12:1-8). His account is clearly parallel to that of Mark in several of its key elements, but then it departs significantly therefrom. John’s story takes place a few days earlier than Mark’s, six days before Passover. John identifies the woman as Mary of Bethany, sister of Martha and Lazarus, whereas Mark leaves her unnamed. Rather than Jesus’ head, as in Mark, this Mary anoints his feet with a costly perfume and wipes them with her hair–which in turn reminds one of the Luke story of the “woman of the city,” that is the “sinner.” In John Jesus does not say that she has anointed him beforehand for his burial, but rather that the costly perfume was well spent and that she can store it up to use in the future on the day of his burial! One would then expect her to appear in some manner, at the burial scene, to anoint Jesus’ body, as Mark has Mary Magdalene do. I see no easy way to sort through these three anointing stories. I think behind them lies some event that took place the last week of Jesus’ life, in Jerusalem. We can surely discount Luke’s moving the story much earlier, and placing it in Galilee, as well as his implication that the woman who anoints Jesus is a “sinner.” But that Luke juxtapositions his redeemed harlot story with his own introduction of Mary Magdalene as formerly “deranged” or demon possessed, gives one pause. Does Luke fear that Mark’s story might imply that the anointing woman is none other than Mary Magdalene–who subsequently comes to the tomb to complete her prophetic/proleptic act of devotion? The intimacy implied in John’s story, namely the wiping of the feet with the hair, given Jewish custom, is also present in Luke but not in Mark. It is all more than confusing but one is tempted to say at the core of these accounts is a story of involving intimacy, anointing, and burial. I do not think it makes sense to identify Mary of Bethany with Mary Magdalene, as some have suggested. However, it might make sense that final editors of John wanted to distance Mary Magdalene from such an intimate act by some substitution of names, whereas Mark simply leaves her anonymous.

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Closer to Truth on PBS

2007-11-19T05:57:44Z

November 13, 2007
Closer to Truth on PBS
Filed under: General — James Tabor @ 8:29 pm

I am in New York this week filming with Dr. Robert L. Kuhn who hosts the award winning PBS television series “Closer to Truth.” This unique and innovative program approaches “science, religion, meaning, and the future” in a series of in-depth interviews and round-table discussions with the world’s leadings philosophers and scientists. The list of topics covered over three seasons is as broad as it is fascinating. A small selective sample:

What is Consciousness?

When and How Did the Universe Begin?

Can We Imagine the Far Future?

Can We Believe both Science and Religion?

How Does Order Arise in the Cosmos?

The programs produced so far are being archived on the Web site and have been published in two fascinating volumes, Closer to Truth: Challenging Current Beliefs, and Closer to Truth: Science, Meaning, and the Future. The Web site also contains a wealth of archived source material.

I have known Robert Kuhn for nearly 40 years and his many faceted accomplishments are legion. He has a Ph.D. in Brain Research from UCLA, as well as an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School. He produced the PBS documentary “In Search of China” and wrote the best-selling biography of Jiang Zemin, The Man Who Changed China. Whether operating in the business world or in the world of science Kuhn has a passionate and incessant drive to examine the underlying assumptions of our belief systems.

The next three seasons of “Closer to Truth” are focusing on the questions of Cosmos, Consciousness, and God, and Kuhn has completed interviews with over 100 of the top thinkers in all the fields of science and philosophy related to these areas. His ambitious mapping of programs includes 26 half-hour episodes on each topic over three years. Since his approach has been theoretical and philosophical, rather than historical, he recently contacted me to tape a dozen segments on a variety of topics that would bring the “history of ideas” into the picture, particularly how the three Abrahamic Faiths, namely Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, have dealt with some of these “big questions,” and more particularly, what the biblical texts contribute to the discussion. In fact, as it turned out, our sessions today were the last of many grueling months of travel, interviews, and taping.
Kuhn is a person who is always looking ahead so we have been talking this week about where he wants to go beyond the latest series, now just in the editing stages. I have suggested to him that he consider a new series that would adopt and adapt his same probing interview format to questions related to the history of ideas, and more particularly the history of religions, including “science and the Bible.” This would allow the public a glimpse into the results of a historical-critical reading of scriptures, and the contributions of anthropology/archaeology and sociology to our understanding of the development of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

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PRAY WITH AND FOR YOUR ANCESTORS!

2007-11-14T22:12:48Z

PRAY FOR YOUR ANCESTORS EACH DAY; KEEP THE CONNECTION AND FLY!
SARAH NOBLE GOODSPEED SORTOMME
JULY 29, 1926-NOVEMBER 14, 1982
MOTHER BLESSINGS,
SRC

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Chocolate Used More Than 3,000 Years Ago

2007-11-13T17:03:03Z

Chocolate Used More Than 3,000 Years Ago

Nov 12, 10:58 PM (ET)

WASHINGTON (AP) - Residents of Central America were enjoying chocolate drinks more than 3,000 years ago, a half millennium earlier than previously thought, new research shows.

Archaeologists led by John Henderson of Cornell University studied the remains of pottery used in the lower Ulua Valley in northern Honduras about 1100 B.C.

Residue from the pots contained theobromine, which occurs only in the cacao plant, the source of chocolate, the researchers said in Monday's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The find dates the first use of chocolate to some 500 years earlier than previously known, they said.

The style of the pottery indicates that cacao was served at important ceremonies to mark weddings and births, according to the authors.

---

On the Net:

PNAS: http://www.pnas.org

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Ancient Peru Temple, Mural Excavated

2007-11-12T17:30:57Z

Ancient Peru Temple, Mural Excavated

Nov 11, 3:21 PM (ET)

LIMA, Peru (AP) - Carbon dating tests and excavation of a colorful pre-Incan temple indicate that it was built thousands of years ago by an advanced civilization, a prominent archaeologist said in comments published Sunday by a Peruvian newspaper.

Unearthed in Peru's archeologically rich northern coastal desert, the temple has a staircase leading to an altar that was used for worshipping fire and making offerings to deities, Walter Alva, who headed the three-month excavation, told El Comercio.

Some of the walls of the 27,000-square-foot site - almost half the size of a football field - were painted, and a white and red mural depicts a deer being hunted with a net.

Alva said the temple was apparently constructed by an "advanced civilization" because it was built with mud bricks made from sediment found in local rivers, instead of rocks.

"This discovery shows an architectural and iconographic tradition different from what has been known until now," said Alva, who discovered and is the museum director for another important pre-Incan find, the nearby Lords of Sipan Moche Tombs.

The carbon dating tests, conducted in the United States, indicate that the site is 4,000 years old, he claimed.

The oldest known city in the Americas is Caral, also near the Peruvian coast, which researchers dated to 2627 B.C.

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11-11-11

2007-11-11T17:52:29Z

NOV 11TH, AT 11 AM, 1949
SEARCH UNDER MASTER HAMID BEY, MOUNT SHASTA CALIFORNIA USA.
BLESSED BE!

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The Latest on the Talpiot Tomb

2007-11-04T19:19:55Z

November 3, 2007

The Latest on the Talpiot Tomb
Filed under: Talpiot Jesus Family Tomb, Jesus Dynasty News — James Tabor @ 1:11 pm
I wanted to mention three items of news related to the ongoing academic discussion and evaluation of the Talpiot “Jesus” family tomb.

The latest issue of Near Eastern Archaeology (Vol 69:3-4 September-December 2006) has a special Forum feature on the Tomb with the following essays:

Eric M Meyers, “The Jesus tomb controversy: an overview”
Shimon Gibson, “Is the Talpiot Tomb Really the family tomb of Jesus?”
Sandra Scham, “Trial by statistics”
Christopher A. Rollston, “Inscribed Ossuaries: Personal names, statistics, and laboratory tests”
Stephen J. Pfann, “Mary Magdalene has left the room: A suggested new reading of ossuary CJO 701″
James D. Tabor, “Testing a hypothesis”

This set of essays, fully illustrated with photos and drawings, is quite comprehensive, offering a nice summary of the various issues and approaches represented by this mix of scholars. For information on subscriptions or purchasing this particular issue see the ASOR Web site. Copies of this latest issue will be available at the upcoming annual meeting of ASOR in San Diego, November 14-17th, as well as at the ASOR booth at the annual meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Academy of Religion which meet in San Diego that weekend.

The Talpiot tomb is one featured topic at the 9th annual Batcheler Biblical Archaeology Conference at the University of Nebraska, November 8-10th, hosted by Rami Arav and Richard Freund. Prof. Dan Bahat and I will be discussing the pros and cons of identifying the Tomb with Jesus of Nazareth and I will deliver a plenary lecture on the “Jesus Family Tomb.” Sessions are open to the public. For details contact Rami Arav.

Prof. James Charlesworth of Princeton Theological Seminary has just announced that the third Princeton Symposium on Judaism and Christian Origins, to be held January 13-16, 2008 in Jerusalem, will consider the topic “Jewish Views of the After Life and Burial Practices in Second Temple Judaism Evaluating the Talpiot Tomb in Context.” The preliminary program lists an impressive international roster of scholars in the various fields related to the subject, including biblical and historical studies, archeology, DNA, statistics, prosopography and onomastics, and epigraphy. Charlesworth’s previous Jerusalem Symposia on “Jesus and Hillel” and “Jesus and Archaeology,” both resulted in the publication of impressive volumes collecting together the various papers. Apparently he has such a volume planned for this conference as well. It is good to learn that the Talpiot tomb will be evaluated in such an academic setting, moving things beyond sensational press reports and Internet discussion.

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SHABBOT SHALOM!

2007-10-27T17:01:17Z

HAVE A WONDERFUL POST FULL-MOON SHABBOT THIS EVENING. PLEASE THINK OF THE PEOPLE, CRITTERS AND CHARRED PIECES OF THE MOTHER IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND SEND THEM SOOTHING PRAYERS AS YOU LIGHT THE SHABBOT CANDLES!

ON ANOTHER NOTE: NO ARTICLE THIS WEEK AS PLANNED. PERHAPS IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS. MANY UNEXPECTED THINGS HAVE ARISEN; NOT SURPRISING THIS CLOSE TO SAMHAIN...

MAY SHEKINAH BE YOUR GUIDE TONIGHT!

MOTHER BLESSINGS,
SRC

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Thirteenth Apostle: What the Gospel of Judas Really Says...

2007-10-23T15:42:53Z

October 22, 2007

What the Gospel of Judas Really Says

Does the much publicized “Gospel of Judas,” released in April 2006 by the National Geographic, truly portray a positive view of Judas, the betrayer of Jesus? Dr. April DeConick of Rice University has questioned this interpretation of the newly released text. Speaking at the Biblical Archeology Society Seminar held this past weekend in San Antonio, Texas, Dr. DeConick, who holds a chair in Biblical Studies at Rice University, summarized her conclusions based on her translation and analysis of the original Coptic text. According to Dr. DeConick the idea of a positive Judas, friend and confident of Jesus, who receives a high heavenly reward for his betrayal of Jesus, is based on a series of faulty misreadings and mistranslations of the original text. According to Dr. DeConick the “Gospel of Judas,” turns out to portray a Judas that is far more demonic than in any other piece of early Christian literature, including the traditional accounts in the New Testament Gospels.

Dr. DeConick has set forth her arguments in a fascinating new book, released this week, titled, Thirteenth Apostle: What the Gospel of Judas Really Says. The book surveys the story of the Judas Gospel’s discovery and release and includes Dr. DeConick’s translation of the Coptic as well as her analysis of the translation issues upon which a positive or negative interpretation of Judas turn. It further relates the text to its historical setting, namely the thought world of an early Christian group of Gnostics known as the Sethians. Chapter 2, titled “A Gnostic Catechism,” is one of the clearest expositions on Gnosticism written for the non-specialist that I have ever seen. The book also contains three invaluable appendices: A marvelously clear and complete annotated survey of “Further Reading,” a synopsis of Sethian literature, and a Q&A with Dr. DeConick in which she relates her excitement at the initial publication of the text and how she reluctantly came to question its interpretation as represented in the books and documentary produced by the National Geographic Society.

Dr. DeConick recently summarized her findings on her fascinating Blog, Forbidden Gospels, so I will quote her here in her own words:

Why did I write this book? I wrote this book because when I read the Coptic transliteration of the manuscript in April 2006, I realized that Judas was much more a hero in the National Geographic translation than he was in my own translation. As I worked through the Coptic and then sat and studied the text as a whole, I quickly came to see that Judas is not a good guy in this gospel. He is not Jesus’ friend or the greatest disciple. I began to wonder why the NG team translated in reference to Judas “daimon” as “spirit” when its most accepted translation is “demon.” I wondered why the team chose to say that Judas is “set apart for” the holy generation, when the Coptic actually reads that he is “separated from” the holy generation. And so forth.

What does the Coptic really say? The Coptic says that Judas is a demon, that he will be instrumental in bringing about Jesus’ sacrifice, that this was the worst thing he could do. Jesus tells Judas that he will not go to the Kingdom, that he is working for the demiurge Ialdabaoth-Nebruel, that he will lament and grieve his terrible fate. Furthermore, the text says that Jesus will tell him the mysteries of the Kingdom not so that he will go there, but so that Judas will lament greatly his actions within the cosmic drama. Judas is separated from the holy generation. He is the thirteenth demon, which means he is to be associated with Ialdabaoth, the “thirteenth” archon or ruler in Sethian Gnosis.

Why is my translation different from National Geographic’s? What is troubling to me is that the provisional Coptic transliteration which NG put out in April 2006 was not finished, but scholars published translations and interpretations based on it. It contained reconstructions of the Coptic that were erroneous, including the statement that Judas will ascend to the holy generation and that he would be taught the mysteries of the Kingdom because it was possible for him to go there. The Coptic text does NOT say this. It says the opposite, and this has been corrected (thank goodness!) in The Critical Edition that NG put out this last summer. The problem is that now the world thinks that Judas is a Gnostic hero when in fact the Gospel of Judas says nothing of this. In fact, it says the opposite. My translation is of the actual Gospel of Judas.

I highly recommend this new book and I look forward to the continued discussion of this fascinating ancient text.

James Tabor

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FINDS OR FAKES? READ TO THE LAST PARAGRAPH; OF COURSE ITS A FIND!

2007-10-20T17:53:03Z

http://bib-arch.org/bswbOOossuary_fitzmyer.asp

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Messengers of God

2007-10-18T16:35:43Z

(c) Roy Elkins, 5-16-73

If thy were on the desert without water and thy came upon a new well, and the water was sweet and good, would thy stop and ask the water its age, or its sex, or its color? Nay, thy would drink of the water.

And as we have said before, as the great bird from the pyramid should take flight, therefore, let the knowledge that we have given you take flight in your minds. But give it unto others without greed, without prejudice.

Take their knowledge and drink of it and be happy because of it, for our Father has placed many wells upon the desert for His thirsty children. Some should come from the old. Some should come from the new. But all should come from God, each in their separate ways.

One may not agree with the other, but if you should take the time to look into the other’s heart and learn to respect the other, then you have taken that one step closer to your thousand years of peace."

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The Original Bible Project

2007-10-16T16:37:16Z

October 15, 2007
Latest TEB Translation Release…
Filed under: Biblical Expositions — James Tabor @ 9:11 pm

The lastest release of from the Original Bible Project of the Transparent English Bible, the Torah portion “Noach,” is now available on-line for download as a PDF file. The plan through the year is to release the Torah, a segment (Parashah) per week, through the coming (Jewish) year.
You can find it at the main site: originalbible.org

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Suffering

2007-10-13T15:30:26Z

SRC (c) 2005

"Do not judge yourself based on the suffering of others."

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Plans for 2008 Excavations at Mt Zion

2007-10-11T18:55:37Z

FROM JAMES TABOR...

October 11, 2007

I am extremely pleased to announce that the new Web site with full information about our plans for 2008 excavations at Mt Zion just outside the present walls of the Old City of Jerusalem is now up and live at digmountzion.com. This archaeological site, along the road between Zion Gate and the Dung Gate, dates back to 1977-78 when excavations were undertaken by Magen Broshi. Unfortunately, due to various circumstances, the site was abandoned and overgrown. Dr. Shimon Gibson resumed work at the site in 2000, having taken over responsibility for the scientific publication of the City Wall excavations overall, carried out by Broshi. Some further work was done in 2001 but the 2nd Intifada made it impossible to resume operations with student volunteers. Last year, in 2007, under the sponsorship of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, a new license was obtained and full-scale work resumed, with significant results. The site has been surveyed, cleaned, and prepared for an extended and proper excavation, beginning in 2008 with sessions planned in Spring and Summer. We are accepting volunteers or “Team Members,” and anticipate a diverse and international group. The new Web site has full details.

And please, if you are interested in the dig, contact the dig management team through the web site, and not me directly.
They have the answers. Thanks for your understanding on this.

James Tabor

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