free Leonard Peltier
* * *
S I D
E B A R I
Scholarship
The Gospel promotes
a right view of God,
otherwise faith is blind.
In mid-8th century,
Anglo-Saxon scribes,
between the lines glossed
their
Latin gospels and psalters
with words and phrases
we now call "Old English."
It was King Alfred
the Great
who encouraged the first
complete, standalone
translation to be made.
Harvey Kailin, Gospel Archivalist
Introduction
(start here)
How this web site is organized
* * *
II
Evangelion da-Mehallete
(Gospel of the Combined)
A Deeds Gospel
MS Pepys 2498:
a Nazarene Gospel Harmony
A facsimile page of the original
Sweet Jesus: a Gospel
Narrative
Easy Reading Text
The Middle
English text
MS
Pepys 2498
Link to easy on-line reading
*
* *
A Synoptic Harmony
(based on MS Pepys 2498)
Sweet Jesus:
Synoptic Sayings/Deeds
Gospel
Easy Reading Text
MS Pepys Gospel Sequencing
* * *
Additional Harmonies
A. T. Robertson
Link to A
Harmony of the Gospels
Charles Templeton
Link to a Modern English
Blending
A Modern English Blending
John S. Thompson
Link to The Monotessaron
Gary Crossland
Link to the Merged Gospels
M. N. Olmsted
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Charles H. Pope
Gospels Combined I
Gospels Combined II
Gospels Combined III
W. J. Herschel
Gospel Monogram I
Gospel Monogram II
Gospel Monogram III
Gospel Monogram IV
Gospel Monogram V
Gospel Monogram VI
Ross L. Finney / Albert Huck
Link to Huck's
Synopsis
Huck's Synopsys Part I
Huck's Synopsys Part II
Edward Salmon
Link to
Parallel Gospels
C. H. Dodd
Link:
Framework of Gospel Narrative
John W. Marshall
Link to The Five
Gospels Parallels
Link to the order of the Synoptics
Isaac Williams
Link to The Gospel Narrative of our Lord's Resurrection harmonized
Link to A Harmony of the Four Evangelists
A
Harmony of the Four Evangelists
William Henry Withrow
Link to a
Harmony of the Gospels
Stevens and Burton
Link to a
Harmony of the four Gospels
Benjamin
Davies
Link to a
Harmony of the four in the AV
Eustace Roger Conder
Link to
Outlines of the Life of Christ
Felix Just
Link to the
Passion Narratives
Lant Carpenter
Link to Harmony
of the Gospels
Edward Greswell
Dissertations upon the Principles, Vol. I
Link to
Volume II
Link to
Volume III
Link to
Volume IV
Link to comparison of Passion Narratives
J. Gene White
Link to harmonizing the resurrection
Botti, Dixon, Steinman
Link to Chronological Contradictions
Edwin Abbott / W. G. Rushbrooke
Link to The
Common Tradition
Link to an Analytical Harmony
Link to the
parables of Jesus
Another
link to the parables
D. T. K. Drummond
Link to the
parabolic teachings of Christ
Thomas Guthrie
Link to Parables
Ben C. Smith
Link to
synoptic inventory
Ani Kokobobo
Link to Tolstoy
* * *
Canonical
Sayings Gospels
John Ross Macduff
Link to:
The Words of Jesus
Rudolf Stier
Link to Words of the Lord Jesus
Gustaf Dalman
Link to Words
of Jesus
Dean B. Deppe
Link to Sayings of Jesus in James
J.
Alexander Findlay
Link to Sermon
on the Mount
* * *
III
Aramaic Gospels
Evangelion da Mepharreshe
(Gospels of the Separated)
A Syriac Gospel
Francis C. Burkitt
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Part VII
Part VIII
Part IX
Agnes Smith Lewis
Introduction to the Four Gospels from the Syriac Palimpsest
Link to
Sinaitic Palimpsest retranscribed
Link to Old
Syriac Gospels
Bensley / Harris / Crawford
Link to Sinaitic Palimpsest
* * *
Greek Gospels
Alexandrian text type
Codex Sinaiticus facsimile
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Link to Codex Vaticanus facsimile
Western text type
Link to Codex
Bezae
J. Rendel Harris
Bezae Commentary I,
Bezae Commentary II
Bezae Commentary III
Bezae Commentary IV
Link to Bezae Commentary Review
Western
Text, Lecture I
Western Text, Lecture II
Western Text, Lecture III Western Text, Lecture
IV Frederic Henry Chase
Link to The Syro-Latin Text
Syro-Latin part I
Syro-Latin part II
Caesarean text-type
Family13 Wikipedia
Rendel Harris
Ferrar group, 1
Ferrar group 2
Ferrar group 3
Ferrar group 4
Ferrar group 5
Ferrar group 6
Ferrar group 7
p45 Mark
Jonge
Caesarean
Caesaren Mark
Caesarean text
Koridethi
Byzantine text type
Frederick Scrivener
Link to NT Criticism
Link to Difficult
Passages in AV
Stephanus Textus Receptus
Link to Matthew
Link to Mark
Link to Luke
Link to John
Link to Codex Alexandrinus facsimile
Eclectic Text
Richard Francis Weymouth
Link to the
Resultant Greek NT
* * *
Latin Gospels
J. Rendel Harris
Codex Sangeallensis
Link to a 9th cen.
Latin Manuscript
* * *
Eusebian Harmonization
Eusebian table -- Ethiopian
Sinaiticus Eusibean side notes
Eusebian tables
Eusebian / NRSV
* * *
English Translations
John Wycliffe
Link to Wycliffe's NT
William Tyndale
Link to Tyndale's
NT
Robert Young
Link to Young's
Literal Translation
20h Century modern English
NT intro
NT Mark
NT Matthew
NT Luke
NT John
Richard Francis Weymouth
Link to Weymouth's NT
William Zeitler
Link to Faithful New
Testament
Link to Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Essential Jesus Version
Luke
* * *
IV
The Way out Trilogy &
the Way Back,
Vol. I
(the spiritual quest)
The Orientalist
Mighty Words/Mighty Deeds
Experiential Faith
Mary & James
Gospel & Covenant
The Nazarene Way Out
Affinities and Dichotomies
* * *
V
Oracles &
Testimonia
John Burslem Gregory
Part I
Part II
Part III
J. Rendel Harris
Book of Testimonies
Testimonies I
The Origin of the Prologue
Origin of the Trinity
Testimonies II
Nicodemus
Josephus
OT influence on the NT
Daniel Plooij
Testimonies Studies
Syriac Traces
Edward Carus Selwyn
NT Oracles
Trial / Narratives
Johannes De Zwaan
The Treatise of Dionysius bar Salibhi
B. P. W. Stather Hunt
Primitive Gospel Sources
Joseph A. Fitzmyer
4Q Testimonia
Witnesses from Antiquity
Irenaeus
Link to
Eusbius
Davidic Testimonia
F. F.
Bruce
Link to
Davidic testimonia
Walter C.
Kaiser, Jr.
Link to Psalm 16 as
testimonia
Harry Alan Hahne
Link to Peter's OT Christological Exegesis
David M. Hay
Link to review of Glory at the Right Hand, Psalm 110
David Wallace
Link to the Use of Psalm 2 and 110
* * *
Dialogue
Justin Martyr
Dialogue with Trypho
Arthur Cushman McGiffert
Dialogue
Craig D. Allert
Link to Justin Martyr
* * *
VI
Lectionaries
Barton and Spoer
Harclean Syriac Lectionary
Leon Morris
Link to Lectionaries
Link to Orthodox Syrian Church
Link to Lectionary Booby Traps
Link to Lectionary Preaching
* * *
VII
Prophecy and Fulfillment
Charles Taylor
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Fulfillment
Henry Redpath
Christ the Fulfillment of Prophecy
An Anonymous Lady
OT Prophecies Fulfilled in NT
Brownlow Maitland
Link to The Argument from Prophecy
Donald Hagner
Link to Jesus, the Messiah
Craig Blomberg
Link to:
Link to NT Fulfillment
Robert L. Thomas
Link to NT Use of OT
* * *
VIII
Extra-canonical Sayings
Grenfell and Hunt
New Sayings of Jesus
Clyde W. Votaw
Was There an Earlier Gospel?
J. Rendel Harris
The "Logia" and the Gospels
Adolf Harnack
Sayings of Jesus
Charles Briggs
The Use of
the Logia of Matthew
Edwin A. Abbott
The Logia of Behnesa
Kirsopp Lake
Did Paul Use the Logia?
New Sayings of Jesus and the Synoptic Problem
Charles Taylor
Oxyrhynchus & Apocrypha
Link to
Oxyrhynchus Sayings
Bernhard Pick
Paralipomena I
Paralipomena II
Blomfield Jackson
Agrapha
John Donovan
The Logia
Hugh G. White
Part I
Part II
R. T. France
Link to Chronological Aspects
Link to Sequential Life of Jesus
Oxy / GoT
Thomas O. Lambdin
Link to the
Gospel of Thomas
R. McL. Wilson
Further 'Unknown Sayings of Jesus'
C. H. Dodd
Link to
A New Gospel
M. R. James -- translator
Link to the Acts of Pilate
deConick and Fossum
Link to Logian 37
April DeConick
Youtube video
Brian Bradford
Link to Qur'anic Jesus
* * *
IX
The Gospel According
to the Hebrews
Edward Byron Nicholson
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Walter F. Adeney
According to the Hebrews
A. S. Barnes
According to the Hebrews
George T. Purves
Justin Martyr's Testimony
Ben C. Smith
Link to Gospel of
the Hebrews
Link to
Wikipedia/G12
* * *
X
Semitic Language Studies
J. T. Marshall Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV C. F. Burney
Part I Part II
Charles Cutler Torrey
Aramaic Gospels Translated
Matthew Black
Link to Language
of Jesus (p. 112)
David Daube
Link to the Aramaic Gospels
Link to
Edwin M. Yamauchi
Link
to Aaron
Tresham
Link to Aramaic Lord's Prayer
Link to
Aramiac Linguistics
Greek Grammar
A. T. Robertson
Link to Grammar of the Gk NT in the Light of Historical Research
James Hope Moulton
Link to a Grammar of NT Gk
H. E. Dana
Link to a
Manual Grammar of the Gk NT
Ernest De Witt Burton
Link to Syntax of the Moods and Tenses in NT Greek
Friedrich Blass
Link to a Grammar of the NT Greek
Travis Williams
Imperatival Participle
* * *
XI
Nazarene
Hymnal
J. Rendel
Harris
Commentary on the Odes
Odes of Solomon
The Odes and the Targum
Link to an Early Christian Psalter
Edwin A. Abbott
Link to Light on the Gospel
C, S. Phillips
Link to Hymnody Past and Present
Ralph P. Martin
Link to
New Testament Hymns
Michael Preppard
Link to Poetry, Hymns ,etc
Robert J. Karris
Link to Symphony of N. T. Hymns
* * *
XII
The Patristic Era
Hegesippus
Link to Fragments from his 5 Books
Philip Schaff
Teaching of the Twelve
Kirsopp Lake, translator
The Epistle of Barnabus
Didache, manual of discipline
The Epistle of Clement
J. Armitage Robinson
Part I
Part II
Link to Synoptic Tradition/Didache
Link to OT/NT/Didache
Letter of Barnabas commentary
Robert Kraft
Link to commentary on Barnabas
Hermas
Charles Taylor
Link to
Hermas and the Gospels
J. Rendel Harris
Apology of Aristides, part I ,
part II ,
part III , part IV
Celsus and Aristides
Apology of Quadratus
Boanerges
Martyrdom
Didache and Sibylline
Link to Didache and Sibylline books
Riemer Roukema
Link to Jesus tradition in early patristic writing
Robert W. Yarbrough
Link to dating Papias
* * *
Diatesaron
(The Combining of Four)
Augustine of Hippo
Link to De Consensu Evangelistarum
Samuel J. Andrews
Link to The Life of our Lord
J. Rendel Harris
A Preliminary Study
Zacharias
Llanthony
Hope W. Hogg
Link to Diatessaron Text
Diatessaron Part I , Part II
, Part III
Roberts-Donaldson
Link to Diatessaron Text
Daniel Plooij
Liege Diatessaron 8 volumes
Liege Diatessaron, preliminary study
A further study of the Liege Diatessaron
Syriac Traces of Old Latin Diatessaron
Link to Syriac Traces
Yuri Kuchinsky
Link to 4
Versions of Water to Wine
Link to Rich
Man's Question
Bruce Metzger
Link to Persian
Diatessaron
Link
to Tatian's Diatessaron and a Persian Gospel Harmony
Jan Joosten
Link
to Gospel of Barnabas and the Diatessaron
A. Augustus Hobson
Link to the
Diatessaron of Tatian and the Synoptic Problem
Leslie McFall
Link to Tatian's Diatessaron: mischievous or misleading?
Tjitze Baarda
Essays on the Diatessaron
William Laurence Petersen
Tatian's Diatessaron
Gilles Quispel
Tatian and the Gospel of Thomas
Wikipedia
Gospel harmony
Samuel Hemphill
Link to
the Diatessaron of Tatian
* * *
XIV
Hebrew Matthew
Craig Evans
Link to Jewish
Versions of Matthew
Debra Scoggins
Link to Matthean Communities
Standford Rives
Link to Hebrew Version of Matthew
William L. Petersen
Link to
Shem-Tob's Hebrew Matthew
George Howard
Link to Hebrew Gospel of Matthew
* * *
XV
Nazarene Apocalypse
R. H. Charles
Link to
Revelation of John
Commentary
Link to Apocalypse of Baruch
J. Rendel Harris
Baruch Apocalypse 136 AD
* * *
XVI
Gospel
Commentaries
W. C. Allen
Saint Mark
Saint Matthew
J. Rendel Harris
Link to
Artificial Variants in the text
Artificial Variants
Link to an
Unnoticed Aramaism
Conflation
Link to Athena, Sophia, and the Logos
Edwin A. Abbott
Link to the Fourfold Gospel
Kirsopp Lake
Text of
the New Testament
Walter R. Cassels
Supernatural Religion, chapter 8
Paton J. Gloag
Part I , Part II
, Part III
Part IV , Part V
, Part VI
Francis Crawford Burkitt
Part I, Part II,
Part III,
Part IV , Part V
Agnes Smith Lewis
Link to Light on the Four Gospels
Matthew/Luke composition
Vincent Henry Stanton
Link to the Gospels as Historical Documents, Part II, the Synoptics
William Sanday, ed.
Link to The Synoptic Problem
Michael Strickland
Link to Evangelicals and the Synoptic Problem
Leo Tolstoy
Link to the Gospel
in Brief
Link to the Gospel in Brief (original version)
William West Holdsworth
Gospel Origins -- Part I
Part II, Part III,
Part IV
Dale C. Allison
Link to
Sermon on the Mount
Charles Hadley Spurgeon
Link to Matthew
Link to Mark
Link to Luke
Link to John
Walter Whately
"See thou tell no man"
Mark A. Matson
Link to Luke/John comparison
P. C. Sense
Link to P. C. Sense
Christopher Buck
Link to
Illuminator vs. Redeemer
Link
to Ascetic Practices
Link to
Gospel Scribal Revision
Link to How to Meditate
John Givens
Link to Tolstoy's Jesus and Dostoevsky's Christ
Alexander Kalashnikov
Link to Leo Tolstoy's Gospel translation
John Pilkington Norris
Link to
a key to the gospel narrative
Bruce Metzger
Link to Early Versions of NT
John Hawkins
Horae
Synopticae
James Edward Snapp, Jr.
Link to Mark 16:9-20
Eric Lyons
Link to Luke's "Orderly Account"
Joe Botti, etc
Link to Apparent chronological contradictions
Ben C. Smith
Link to
Jewish-Christian gospels
Montague Rhodes James
Link to Lost Apocrypha of the OT
Nathan Eubank
Link to Luke 23:34a
Charles Hill / Michael Kruger
Link to Early Text of the NT
Vincent Taylor
Link to the Life and Ministry of Jesus
Richard Heard
Link to Written Gospel Sources
Henry R. Moeller
Link to Wisdom Motiffs
Charles Hill /
Michael Kruger
Link to The Early Text
* * *
Ebionite and Nazarene
A. F J. Klijn
Jewish-Christian Gospel Tradition
Jean Danielou
The Theology of Jewish Christianity
Petri Luomanen
Recovering Jewish-Christian Sects and Gospels
* * *
The Gospel's antecedents
from antiquity
Sir Lancelot Brenton
Link to The Septuagint
Link to Syriac Bible
Link to
Aramaic Targums
Link to Samaritan Pentateuch
Link to Vetus Latina
Fred P. Miller
Great Isaiah Scroll
translated
Hatch and Redpath
Concordance to the Septuagint
Natalio Fernandez Marcos
The Septuagint in Context
R. Grant Jones
Link to the
Septuagint & the NT
Link to the New English
translation of the Septuagint
Glen Davis
Link to pre-Christian use of "gospel"
James Hope Moulton
Link to the Treasures of the Magi
Albert J. Edmonds
Link to Buddhist and Christian Gospels
Link to
Story of Buddha
Philo of Alexandria
Link to The
Contemplative Life
Link to G.R.S. Mead
translation
Fred C. Conybeare
Link to
About the Contemplative Life
C. D. Yonge
Link to The Works of Philo
Presentation of the gospel beforehand
Warren Austin Gage
The Gospel of Genesis
William Alexander
Gospel in the Psalms
Joseph Addison Alexander
Link to
prophesies of Isaiah
Edward Reihm
Messianic Prophecy
Anthony J. Maas
Christ in type and prophecy
Henry Law
Link to the Gospel in Genesis
Link to the Gospel in Exodus
Link to the Gospel in Numbers
Link to the Gospel in Leviticus
Link to the Gospel in Deuteronomy
Donald Hagner
Link to OT in NT
Link to NT Quotes
in OT Scripture
D. Moody Smith, Jr.
Link to The
use of the OT in the New
John H. Paton
Link to Moses and Christ
John Goldingay
Link
to O.T. and Faith, part I
Link
to O.T. and Faith, part II
* * *
Inter-testamental
Link to Wisdom of Solomon
J. A. F. Gregg
Link to Wisdom of Solomon
R. H. Charles
Link
to Enoch (section I)
Richard Moulton
Link to Ecclesiasticus (Sirach)
James Akin
Link to Deutero-canonical
references
* * *
Translational Principles
J. B. Phillips
Link to Translating the
Gospels
Halford Luccock
Link to the application of translation
Jonathan Campbell
Link to
Releasing the Gospel from Western Bondage
Glenn Schwanke
Link to translational principles
John Brug
Link to translation revision part I
Link to translation revision part II
Glenn Kerr
Link to Dynamic Equivalence
* * *
The Great Omission
Link to
anonymous position paper
Link to all of Luke's omissions
* * *
The Social Gospel
Walter Rauschenbusch
Link to
quotes from
Berit Kajos
Link to a
countering view
Conservapedia
Link to
Social Gospel overview
* * *
Theosis
Link to
Wikipedia
Mark D. Nispel
Link to Christian Deification
Lives of Christ
Zachary Eddy
Link
to Immanuel
* * *
XVII
Select Bibliographical
Resources
David Cox
Online Religious Library
Harvey Kailin
Bibliography
Alan Bill
Link to Gospel
Origins
Alesandro Falcetta
Link to James Rendel Harris:
Life on the Quest
Rebecca J. W. Jefferson
Link to Sisters of Semitics: Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlap Gibson
Craig Blomberg
Link to Synoptic studies
Robert Young
Link to Young's Analytical Concordance
George V. Wigram
Link to Englishman's Greek Concordance
E. W. Bullinger
Link to Figures of Speech
Keith A. Reich
Link to figures of speech in Luke
Robert H. Stein
Link to figurative
language of Jesus
Richard French
Link to Synonyms of the NT
Andrew S. Kulikovsky
Link to parables, allegories, types
Here ends the section
relating to
Gospel research
* * *
XVIII
The Way out Trilogy &
the Way back, Vol. II.
(societal concerns)
Three Men with Power
Jefferson, Washington, Franklin
Three Women of Valor
Harriet Tubman
Queen Liliuokalani
Sarah Winnemucca
* * *
Modern Times
John F. Kennedy
JFK
Link to JFK inside Job
Link to New JFK Evidence
Link to JFK
conspiracy theory
Link to Marrs
documentary
Link to Israeli / JFK assassination
Link to FBI agent
Link to Aquino Assassination
Link to David Martin
Link to the clown
princes
Promising approaches
Quakerly Concern
Link to Slingshot water purifier
Juliette of the Herbs
Link to Back to Eden,
pt. 1
300 year-old Vietnam
food forest
Link to Birke Baehr and
GMOs
Link to raising children off the grid
Link to thorium-powered car
(probably a joke)
Link to Fungi
Link to Bottle House
Link to harvesting
mechanical energy
Link to
self-sufficiency
Link to graphene solar collectors
Link to lithium-sulfur battery
Link to President of
Uruguay
Link to TED talk on energy
Link to solar cloth
Link to graphene batteries
Link to Kauai
food forest
Link to hemp
Link to stick on solar cells
Link to Eat the Weed
purslane
Link to the value of
encryption
Link to fold-down greenhouse
Link to how to handle
police encounters
Link to Gray State rough cut
Link to Gray State trailer
The compromised
Link to "Meet Noam
Chomsky"
JW
Exceptionalism
Fighting the darkness
Kevin Annett
Genocide of Native
Americans
Helen Caldicott
Link to
Fukushima
Link to Chernobyl
Banker Wars
Damascus Papers
From the Syrian Parliament to ours
Link to Teddy
Roosevelt
Link to
the US's benighted "allies"
Link to how government
really works
Link: what to do about it
Link to the big gold
scam
Link to Rothschild influence
Link to Soerto/Obama
truth
Link to DARPA
authentication
Link to
Israel, Judaism, Zionism
Link to GMO / Engdhal
Link to
Monsanto watch
Link to hidden source
code
Link to corporate plea for privacy
Link to creepy Google
Link to Nanoparticles
in Food
Link to Arnie Gundersen
Link to the money changers
Link to shut the FED
Death throes of the
Mega State
Link to Lynne Stewart
Link to mercury bulb
dangers
Link to Petrodollar Scam
Link to best way to rob a bank
Link to Monsanto Bt-toxin
Link to Israelification of the US
Link to Chris Hedges
Microwave
warfare
CDC whistleblower
Chemtrails the Secret
War
Link to GMO
Link to Roundup
Link to Monsanto
Documentary
Sibel Edmonds
Link to Gladio B /
Part I
Link to Gladio B /
Part II
Link to Gladio B /
Part III
Link to Gladio B /
Part IV
Edward Snowden
Link to Snowden's Secret
Glen Greenwald
Link to
Oct. BBC interview
Link to Nov. BBC interview
Link to Rolling Stones
Opposing viewpoints
Link to Surveillance is theft
Link to Questions for Snowden
Link to who controls
the docs?
Additional Snowden articles
Link to suckers for Greenwald
Link to Inconsistencies
Link to FEMA camps
Link to the Matrix
Link to CIA flashback
Fukushima
Majia's Blog
Hot Particles
Fukushima Part I
Part
II
Apocalyptic
A Dangerous Moment
It began with the anchovies
The Rock
* * *
XIX
9-11
One Hour Before 9-11
Who Did 9-11?
Dancing Israelis
Alan
Sabrosky
9-11 Missing Link
9-11 False Flag
9-11 Hoax
Corbett Report on 9-11
Link to New 9-11 photos
Another War for Israel
RT 9-11 Inside job
9-11 cop breaks silence
9-11 false flag
9-11 amateur
footage
Solving 9-11 ends the
war
Exploding building
The most definitive documentary:
Sept 11 the New Pearl
Harbor (1/3)
Sept 11 the New Pearl
Harbor (2/3)
Sept 11 the New Pearl
Harbor (3/3)
* * *
XX
Greater Judistan
Link to the
Khazars Kingdom
Link to Gog and Magog
Link to USS Liberty
Link to Destroy the USS Liberty
Link to Ursula
Haverbeck
Link to Maurice
Hilleman
Link to war on Iran
Link to NSA spying for the Entity
Link to NSA and encryption
Link to NSA Fiasco
Link to the FED scam
Link to anti-Zionist
protest
Link to American/Jew Exceptionalism
Ringworm Children part
I
Link to Kahane
Link to Rabbi Weiss
Link to Micronesia
Link to UFO disclosure
conference
Link to near death
experience
Link to Sahra
Wagenknecht
Stop the Abominator
* * *
XXI
The Way Out Trilogy &
the Way Back Vol. III.
(my personal journey)
Gullible's Travels, a Memoir
The Gaon of Vilna
The Given Years
* * *
XXII
Warriors for peace
Chief Joseph
Smedley Butler
Leonard Peltier
* * *
XXIII
Identifying the True
Church
The true Church is not a separate
mass of people, not a particular
sect to be pointed out with the
finger, not confined to one place.
It is rather a spiritual and in-
visible body of Christ, borne of
God, of one mind, spirit, and
faith. . . . It is a Fellowship
seen with the spiritual eye and
by the inner man. It is the
assembly and communion of
all truly God-fearing, good-
hearted, new-born persons in
all the world, bound together
by the Holy Spirit in the peace
of God and the bonds of love --
a communion outside of which
there is no salvation, no Christ,
no God, no comprehension of
Scripture, no Holy Spirit, and
no Gospel.
I have my brothers among the
Turks, Papists, Jews, and all
peoples, not that they are Turks,
Jews, Papists and sectaries, or
will remain so.
In the evening they will be called
into the vineyard and given the
same wage
as we. From the east
and from the west children of
Abraham will be raised
up out
of the stones and will sit down
with God at His table.
-- Sebastian Frank
* * * XXIV
Scientific wisdom Is the Higgs
Boson
the God particle? Is God a particle? “And even if there is only one unique set of possible laws ~
it is only a set of equations.
What is it that breathes fire
into the
equations and makes
a universe for them to govern?
Is the ultimate
Unified Field
so compelling that it brings
about its own existence?”
- - Stephen Hawking
* * * The Mysteries of Mass “Scientists
are hunting for an elusive particle that would
reveal the presence of a new
kind of field that permeates
all of reality.” - - Scientific American,
2005
* * * We only learn to love
by being loved.
- - Eric Fromm
* * * God is Love. We love because
he first
loved us.
(I John 4:8, 19)
* * * "We are put on earth a little
space, that we may learn to
bear the beams of love."
- - William Blake
* * * Quantum theory tells us,
the world
is a product of an infinite number
of random events.
But Buddhism teaches
us, nothing
happens without a cause, thus is
the universe trapped in an
unending
karmic cycle.
Where lies the reconciling formula?
A team of scholars, translators
and six
Tibetan monks clad in
maroon robes wander the
magnolias on Emory University's
campus, seeking answers.
* * * I do not know what I may appear
to
the world, but to myself I seem
to have been only a boy, playing
on the sea-
shore, amusing myself
in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a
prettier shell than
ordinary, whilst the great ocean
of truth lay al
undiscovered before
me. - - Sir
Isaac Newton * * *
XXV
Devotional Writings
Richard Baxter
Link to A Call to the Unconverted
Frank Bartleman
Link to How Pentecost Came to LA
Oswald Chambers
Link to My Utmost for His Highest
J. Rendel Harris
Link to Aaron's Breastplate
Link to
Union with God
Nourish
then your imagination,
strengthen your will and purify
your love.
For what
your imagination
anticipates will be achieved,
what will pursues will be
done,
and what love seeks shall be
revealed.
- - G. Lowes Dickinson,
After Two Thousand years
*
* *
The aim of public
education
is not to spread
enlightenment
at all, it is
simply to reduce as
many individuals
as possible
to the same safe
level, to breed
and train a
standardized
citizenry, to put
down dissent
and originality.
- H. L. Menchen
*
* *
I don't want a
nation of thinkers.
I want a nation
of workers.
- John D. Rockefeller
canon
NTintro
NTmark
NTmatt
NTluke
NTjohn
p45mark
jonge
family13
caesarean
caesarenmark
caesareantext
NazerineSribes
|
A POLITICAL PRISONER SINCE 1976,
LEONARD PELTIER IS INNOCENT OF ALL CHARGES
* * *
C E N T E R C O L U M N
Advocacy
This child is set in Israel for the fall and rise of many.
Link to: The New Law of Righteousness
Winstanley part I
Winstanley part I
Jubilee
Abraham
Paul part I
Paul part II
The Secret Cause of
World War
autism / vaccine
humanity vs insanity
#37 GeMAF
--------------------------------------------------
Abraham was a tribalist. All of whom are of Abraham are tribalists.
Father Kielhorn / Father Abraham
We know very little about life and what happens after
death, but the
little do
know tells us how much more reasonable
it is to believe
that we are here for a plan and a purpose, than
that we and the
universe are creations with no meaning, with no
future, no hope.
As intelligent animals we must believe in a
beneficent creator,
whose power is
beyond ours to resist, and whose
wisdom is
not ours to dispute. And does not the Christian
faith satisfy
completely our recognition of these conditions?
(Loyd V. Kielhorn)
In the remarks above, spoken over the casket
of his beloved mother, Anna Vineyard Kielhorn, my grandfather reaffirmed his belief in
the logic of Christian faith. In choosing this solemn occasion to advance an essentially
optimistic view, that we are
here for a plan and a purpose, he placed himself squarely on the side of
hope, that "a beneficent creator" will transform our situation
and for our part, we are to faithfully trust that this is so.
"Plan," what plan? "Purpose,"
what purpose? Many would dispute the existence of such things.
These days it's fashionable to suppose that we are but pawns in the
universe.
Never mind evidence for
intelligent design, never mind the common sense observation that
creation needs a creator, many assume that life is a tale
told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing.
Arises the question, beyond mere wish fulfillment, does there exist in the deep
structure of the universe a higher force? Experiential faith
replies affirmatively to this question when it cries forth:
O God, you have taught me since childhood
and I still proclaim your wonders. (Psalm 71)
While I pondered this, it
suddenly came to my mind that some 60
years before my grandfather had inscribed on the face page of the Kailin family Bible
these words:
He
hath shown thee, O man, what is good; and
what doth
the Lord require of thee, but to do
justly, and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with thy God.
(Micah 6:8)
Fortified with the knowledge that God calls
"good" such qualities as justice, mercy and humility, let us
confidently resolve that, with the help of God, that such qualities
should manifest in our lives, even as He expects.
If our plan
and purpose is that of blessing the world (and shame on us if it isn't), then, let us flesh out Micah's broad generalities
and clothe them with specific applications.
I strongly suspect that when
a professed
non-believer does such things, he or she is far closer to God than is the
professed believer who does not. That is because profession is not possession.
It is why good values trump theological speculation every time.
With these texts and father Kielhorn's words of wisdom in mind, let us move on to consider father Abraham,
for he, not father Kielhorn, is father of the faithful, for:
In thee [Abraham] shall all nations be blessed.
(Galatians 3:8, see Genesis 12:3, 18:18, 22:18, 26:4)
The desire of Abraham's heart was to have a flesh and blood heir.
A worthy desire, it was frustrated by the inability of his wife,
Sarah, to conceive. Thus, at his wife's behest, Abraham had a child by
another women, by Hagar. With great
devotion to his first-born son by Hagar, Abraham cried out unto God:
O that
Ishmael might live before thee! (Genesis 17:18)
One of the most difficult, tragic days in Abraham's life came the day he
sent Ishmael and Hagar away into the wilderness, never to see them
again.
Eventually the day arrived when Abraham saw through to a larger reality relating to the
family of man, that potentially we are all God's children. It had
to do with God's promise to him:
And I
will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven,
and will
give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy
seed
shall all nations be blessed; . . .
(Genesis 26:4)
Where it all began
The glory
of God appeared to our father, Abraham, when he
was in
Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran. (Acts 7:2-3)
Before Abraham,
other outstanding individuals had arisen such as Enoch and
Noah, but from none of them did a sustained movement emerge, continuing
on from one generation to the next.
This changed
some 4000 years ago in the land of the Chaldeans when God revealed Himself to Abraham,
saying:
Get thee
out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy
father's
house, unto a land that I will show thee: and I will make
of thee a
great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name
great;
and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that
bless
thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall
all
families of the earth be blessed. (Genesis 12:1-3)
Apparently Abraham didn't just jump up and depart for the Promised Land the moment the command was given.
Maybe he should have or maybe, instead, he was suppose to first get his
affairs in order, we don't really know. In any event, his journey to the Promised Land occurred in two removes.
First, he left Ur of the Caldees in Mesopotamia, the land of his
nativity, and relocated in Haran, which is to the north in modern day
Syria. There Abraham tarried until his father, Terah, died.
Only then did he depart for the Promised Land.
Abraham was sent and he went, if not immediately,
at least eventually, and he did so confident that the the One who keeps His promises
will deliver,
for:
By faith
Abraham, when he was called to go out
into a place
which he should afterward receive
for an
inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not
knowing whither
he went.
(Hebrews 11:8)
for
He
staggered not at the promise of God through
unbelief, but was
strong in faith, giving glory
to God. (Romans 4:20)
While not obeying God perfectly in all particulars in that Abraham brought
with him Lot, his nephew, when he was suppose to go apart from his kith
and kin (a mistake having long-term ramifications), at least he
made the journey and along the way he learned by his mistakes.
Thus it was, in obedience to the divine command, that Abram headed south, to a sparsely
settled land, a place where he could roam freely and find grazing for
his sheep. There, in that chosen spot, Abraham was free to think
his own thoughts and be his own person.
Although it's true that God is everywhere the same, it happens that we are not. Thus
it is reasonable to suppose that Abraham's prayers in the wilderness, were given fresh impetus by the stark
beauty of his bracing surroundings, a landscape of mountains and verdant plains,
the sun by day, the constellations of the heavens by night. A
cleft in a rock, a mountain spring, a wilderness trek, the
experience of nature has an uncanny way of clarifying ones thinking. Then we are humbled and
grateful to be alive, an appropriate setting for conducting a vision
quest.
If we reflect on it, our most profound moments often have little
connection to organized religion but are transcendental, rising out of
perceptions of the natural world. Thus it was, for the sake of a shining
vision, a kingdom reserved in the heavens to be revealed in due course,
that Abraham gave up settled existence for nomadic life, substituting a tent
for a permanent abode, for:
By faith
he [Abraham] sojourned in the land of promise, as in
a strange country,
dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob,
the heirs with him
of the same promise: for he looked for a city
which hath
foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
(Hebrews
11:9-10)
Unlike the great empires of the day, whose religious cults enforced
mindless, mass conformity, God's plan was to establish a corporate work
of redemption rooted in rugged individualism, where each must take
responsibility for his or her personal actions and spiritual condition.
In this regard, Abraham did not use liberty for license but kept to
God's law. And God blessed Abraham for it, saying:
Because
that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge,
my
commandments, my statutes, and my laws. (Genesis 24:5)
The law referred to above could hardly be that which came down from
Sinai, for that was yet many centuries hence, rather, he kept to God's
natural law which allowed him to live in balance with the natural world,
and at peace with his fellow man for, at root, it is natural law which
governs what goes on in this world. And God testified of Abraham,
saying:
"For I
know him that he will command his children and his
household
after him, and they shall keep the way of Jehovah,
to do
justice and judgment; that Jehovah may bring upon
Abraham
that which he hath spoken of him." (Genesis 18:19)
As we see above, Abraham was complimented for his orthopraxy,
that is, for his right practice, not
for his orthodoxy, right belief. Abraham was
not trying to control anyone's thinking, nor does any body of teaching
attach to his name; rather he ran a tight ship, a well ordered household,
and for that he is to be commended. Perhaps this could help explain why of all men
he is most universally revered, whether by Judaism or by Christianity or
by Islam, for Abraham was not ideologically driven, nor a sectarian.
Having been humbled by a vision of God's splendor, he lived a life
of obedience to God.
Abraham was called to monogamy, for that is the way it was in the
beginning with Adam and Eve.
And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai,
. . . (Genesis 16:2)
This
harkening was in regard to Abram having a son by Sarai's handmaid, Hagar. While hearkening to the voice of one's
wife is generally a good thing, especially in the context of a
patriarchal society where women too often were ignored, in this instance it would have been
better if Abram had not have hearkened, since it led to disobedience,
for both Abram and Sarah, having grown impatient with God for being slow
so they thought in keeping His promise, decided to help God out a little,
when they should have abided patiently.
Monogamy and monotheism go together like a horse and carriage. One
Lord, one faith, one baptism, one man, one woman, the marriage covenant
being comparable to God's Covenant. It is all part and parcel of
being made in the image of God, being what most distinguishes Homo
Sapiens from all other apes.
Though very much devoted to Sarai, his wife, nonetheless Abraham was less than perfect in that he ended up
with two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, each by a different mother, Hagar and
Sari. This led to sorrow and heartbreak when he had to banish his
oldest son, Ishmael, and Hagar, his mother, from his presence.
Beyond the initial covenanting, God reiterated and extended his Covenant
with Abraham on at least four different occasions.
And
Jehovah appeared unto Abram and said; Unto thy
seed will
I give this land: and there builded he an altar
to
Jehovah.
(Genesis 12:2)
An altar, a tent, the presence of God, such were the elements in the
life of one who was to be a blessing to all families in the earth.
Though he had been but a stranger and a pilgrim, obscure in his own day,
as God's son of destiny, his fame only grows with the passing of time.
Again
God covenanted with Abraham, saying:
Unto thy
seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt
unto the
great river, the river Euphrates. (Genesis
15:18)
Historically speaking, the true, physical sons of Abraham were never
very lucky in
the game of empire building.
Only briefly, during the reign of King Solomon, did the Kingdom of Judah actually come anywhere near to realizing the promise
above. Meanwhile,
said Jesus:
Jerusalem
shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until
the times
of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
(Luke 21:24)
That which Jesus said above is true to this day, for currently Gentile interlopers, Asiatic Ashkenazi, ride herd in the
Promised Land, while Abraham's real progeny after the flesh, now few in
number, with bit in
mouth, trot out at their masters' command and are as far from
realizing the promises of God as they ever were. For them it has
been a long, drawn out death rattle.
Tenting with Abraham
It was not
ever onward and upward for Abraham but he was subject to
reverses:
Abram
went down into Egypt to sojourn there, for the
famine
was grievous in the land.
(Genesis 12:10)
Conditions must have been severe in the extreme for Abraham to have
given up his toe hold in the Promised Land but, no doubt, he returned to
as soon as he could, this time a
wealthy man, made so by Pharaoh who was anxious to be rid of him.
A
bi-metalist, Abraham maintained a diversified portfolio, for:
Abram was
very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. (Genesis 13:2)
An aspect to Abraham's story often not confronted forthrightly, is his
wealth, that he was quite wealthy, also, that he was a slaveholder. As
Genesis reads, he had:
. . .
sheep and oxen and she asses, and menservants and
maidservants, and she asses and camels. (Genesis 12:16)
Yet
for all his holdings, Abraham, I believe, was no more inclined to rule over others, than
to have others
rule over him. Rather, he wanted autonomy that he might commune
with God and bring up his family in the admonition of the Lord.
Fundamental to the Gospel is a live and let live approach, which
means respecting the lives and property of others, and that was Abraham
who was even solicitous for those in Sodom and Gomorrah and bargained with God
for their lives.
The lines along which Abraham's entourage operated were somewhat
analogous to that of a wolf pack, where an alpha male emerges who
chooses an alpha female, after which the rest of the pack dedicate
themselves to advancing the interests of the alpha couple and their
offspring. And, too, there is reciprocation, otherwise the whole
social fabric, whether wolf or human, would collapse. In order to survive, they needed a high level of
co-operation.
And when
Abram heard that his brother was taken captive,
he armed
his trained servants, born in his own house three
hundred
and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.
(Genesis
14:14)
Abraham's enterprising band was capable of mastering armies far larger
than its own, an indication that they were highly motivated and not just
hirelings going through the motions. When there is subordination
as to function but equality before God, then, free men can achieve great
things.
. . . and
he [Abraham] sat in the tent door
in the heat of the day. (Genesis
18:1)
As was true generally in face-to-face,
traditional societies, a body of elders arose to administer justice.
There was no election; rather, there was internal selection based on
mutual recognition. Typically, at the entrance to the tent is
where the nomadic patriarchs of old held court and from whence they
rendered decisions and received visitors from afar.
Some are surprised on learning of it that Jesus said to his servants:
. . . he that hath no sword, let him sell his
garment and buy
one. (Luke 22:36)
but if we go back to Abraham and see the circumstances of his
existence, that he
would have to either fight or flee, then we would understand that his
choice was starkly this: either make a
spirited defense on behalf of his family or forever loose their place in
the Land.
We have to apply judiciously Abraham's example. After all, most of
us are not nomads as Abraham was. The economy is different.
Technology is different. One thing stays the same, the defense of liberty is no vice.
We might want to revisit the issue of social organization as modeled in
the Bible, as, for instance, with Samuel and his school of the prophets;
as with John the Baptist and his disciples in the wilderness; as with
James the Just, the Lord's brother, and the community of Jesus in
Jerusalem where they had all things in common.
When done right,
face-to-face communities can achieve great things. When done
wrong, there is just a big mess, of which no shortage of examples exist
of cult leaders who build empires to their own egos.
Social scientists have detected the wisdom of decision making by small
groups, that individuals with imperfect understanding, by banding
together, can make good choices. These same scientists also
detected that the decision making capacity of small groups excelled that
of large groups.
Nevertheless, beware of small, face-to-face,
intentional communities where there are too many intentions. Let
the plan and the purpose be well articulated or let it alone.
The hospitality of Abraham
Be not
forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some
have entertained angels unawares.
(Hebrews 13:2)
The hospitality of the Bedouin and other nomadic peoples is proverbial.
Abraham was of that tradition:
And he
[Abraham] lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, thee
men stood
by him: and when he saw them he ran to meet them
from the
tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, and
said, My
Lord, if now I have found favor favor in thy sight,
pass not
away, I pray thee, from thy servant: let a little water,
I pray
you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves
under the
tree: and I will fetch a morel of bread, and comfort
ye your
hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are
ye come
to your servant.
(Genesis 18:2-5)
Without the support of a good matriarch, a patriarch can hardly
function. Sarah, whose name means "princess," a name given her by
God, was such a woman.
While Abraham was without the tent entertaining his guests, Sarah was
inside preparing food. At the door of the tent she heard the
guests say that she would bear a son. As it is written:
Sarah
laughed. (Genesis 18:12)
Abraham, too, had laughed but maybe it was a different kind of laugh.
Maybe he laughed for joy where she had laughed sardonically, out of
disbelief, for she said:
After I am
waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
On being discovered, Sarah denied having laughed but she had and for
this she received a mild rebuke. Nevertheless, come spring she bore a son,
though well past age, and, at God's command, her son was named Isaac.
The root word for Isaac, by the way, is the same as that for laughter.
As was Abraham, Sarah, too, was complimented for her faithfulness to God, as it
is written:
Through
faith also Sarah herself received strength
to
conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when
she was
past age, because she judged him faithful
who had
promised.
(Hebrews 11:11)
A Blood Covenant
Casual agreements are not sealed by blood, but one cuts a covenant:
And he
[God] gave him [Abraham] the
covenant of circumcision. (Acts
7:8)
A
sign in the flesh, circumcision, like a sign in time, the Sabbath,
serves the purpose of distinguishing or setting apart those who are of
the Covent from those who are not:
And when
Abram was ninety years old and nine, Jehovah
appeared
to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty
God (El-Shaddai);
walk before me and be thou perfect (i.e.,
upright,
genuine). . . . And I will establish my covenant
between
me and thee and thy seed after thee in their
generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto
thee, and
to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee,
and thy
seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger,
all the
land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and
I will be
their God. . . . This is my covenant, which ye shall
keep,
between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every
man child
among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall
circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token
of the
covenant betwixt me and you. (Genesis 17:1, 7-8, 10-11)
The binding of Isaac:
"Take
now thy only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest;
and
offer him for a burnt offering." (Genesis 22:2)
This is not an easy subject to write about.
What was asked of Abraham most of us could never deliver on, which
raises a question, was
the faith of Abraham ever even remotely our own or are we just kidding ourselves?
The mountain of faith is approached, we know, from many direction but
how many ever actually summit? But in God all things are possible.
This Abraham learned,
to put the Giver before the
Gift. That is to say, he put God before God's promised son, Isaac,
though Isaac was the apple of his
eye. He had learned how, if need be, to let go of that which he
held, as if it weren't his at all. As well, he had learned how to
hope against hope, that God would make a way where there seemed to be no
way.
He [God]
will ever be mindful of his Covenant. (Psalm 111:5)
As we have seen, the Covenant God made with Abraham, He extended to
Isaac, then to Jacob, and so on, generation after generation, Moses,
Joshua, King David, various Prophets, and even, as we see following, Jesus'
mother, Mary, who said:
He
[Jehovah] hath helped his servant Israel, in remembrance
of his
mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his
seed
forever.
(Luke 1:54-55)
In due course, this same Covenant was extended to
the people of the world and this on the basis of equality. Just as the the Mosaic Law, which came along
430 years later, did not annul the Abrahamic Covenant, so also Jesus did
not annul the Abrahamic Covenant but extended it out to all who will
come under it.
Though there were many reiterations of the Covenant,
which we conveniently name: Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic, yet underlying
them all there is only
one Covenant:
I have
made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto
David my
servant, thy seed will I establish forever, and build
up thy
throne to all generations.
(Psalm 89:3-4)
As there is only one over-arching Covenant, so likewise with seed:
Now to
Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He
saith
not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy
seed,
which is Christ.
(Galatians 3:16)
Likewise as to promises; though many promises were made, yet there is only one over-arching
promise. Said the Apostle Paul in chains to King Agrippa:
And now I
stand and am judged for the hope of the promise
made of God
unto our fathers: unto which promise our twelve
tribes, instantly
serving God day and night hope to come.
(Acts
26:6-7)
And what is that over-arching Promise? that God will supply the
lamb:
And
Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked. and behold behind
him a ram
caught in the thicket by his horns and Abraham went
and took
the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the
stead of
his son.
(Genesis 22:13)
Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
(John 1:29)
Not untouched by human infirmity, our Savior, as the scapegoat and lamb of God,
drank to the dregs our every woe:
. . . who
in the days of his flesh, when he had offered
up prayers and
supplications with strong crying and
tears unto him that was able to
save him from death,
and was
heard in that he feared; . . .
(Hebrews 5:7)
Then, too, there is one inheritance:
And if ye
be Christ's then ye are Abraham's seed, and
heirs
according to the promise.
(Galatians 3:29)
Notice how our Abrahamic inheritance ties it all together through faith:
For the
promise, that he should be heir to the world, was
not to
Abraham or his seed through the law, but through
the
righteousness of faith.
(Romans 4:13)
This, then, is the happy prospect Jesus offers his sheep:
Come, ye
blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you
from the foundation of the world.
(Matthew 25:34)
Abraham's heritage
Those
of Abraham's children derived by way of his wife, Sarah, survive today as
Palestinians, some being Christians, some Muslims. Some of
Abraham's children called "Sephardic" but in fact are Jews from Iran and
Iraq and Yemen,
and elsewhere besides, are those whose lineage traces back to Abraham. Most abundant of Abraham's
children, however, are those by Hagar, these being Arabs. Then too,
there are Abraham's spiritual children born again by faith in Jesus Christ.
Thus
saith Jehovah of hosts; Behold, I will save my
people from the east
country and the west country;
and I will bring them and they
shall dwell in the midst
of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people
and I shall
be their God, in truth and in righteousness.
(Zechariah
8:7-8)
Who are God's people
to be saved from the east country and the west country? Not those who
are neither physically, spiritually nor even religiously Abraham's offspring, namely, Asiatic,
Ashkenazi interlopers. Most of them are irreligious, being
non-believers. Abraham was not irreligious nor a non-believer.
Some of them are Talmudic nitpickers. Abraham knew nothing of that
either.
Rather, it is the Palestinian people
who are Abraham's physical descendants and that by Isaac, who
were dispersed to the four winds following the UN partition of 1948 by
the Ashkenazi interlopers, who committed on them the holocaust of ethnic
cleansing and genocide. Though in dispersion to this day, they
have not forgotten their homeland.
The day will come when the
Palestinian people in Jerusalem and in Judah will look on him whom they have pierced and mourn as
for an only son.
Three times over,
Abraham was informed
that he should be the father of many nations. Signifying this,
his name was altered from Abram to Abraham, which means "the father of a
great multitude." No afterthought, it was
foreseen from the beginning that from all the world, and not just from
one ethnic group, there would be those who identify with faithful Abraham.
In contradiction to Holy Writ, the mistaken one writes regarding the "Abrahamic
/ Mosaic" covenant, (as he terms it, conflating and confounding them), that:
"The old covenant God made with Abraham and at Sinai
...
was made only with Jews who obeyed, not with Christians.
. . . We
gentiles never had a covenant."
But
how reads the Apostle Paul?
And if ye
be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and
heirs
according to the promise.
(Galatians 3:29)
What then of
"The promise" above? This is "the same promise" God made to Isaac
and Jacob, (see Hebrews 11:9-10). It is
a covenanted promise. To talk of covenantless Christianity is to
talk nonsense, for it is in Jesus, the seed by whom we say "Father
Abraham," that we become the covenanted sons of Abraham.
And the
scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the
heathen through
faith, preached before the gospel unto
Abraham, saying, In thee
shall all nations be blessed.
So then they which be of faith are of
faith are blessed
with faithful Abraham. Now to
Abraham and his seed
were the promises made. He saith
not, And to seeds, as
of many; but as of one, And
to thy seed, which is Christ.
(Galatians
3:8-9, 16)
Conditionality
If discussions about faith too often seem like theological abstractions
not well-connected to reality, maybe it is because such conversations are detached from historical
persons in the context of their covenanted relationship with God.
Was not
Abraham our father justified by works, when he
had
offered Isaac his son upon the altar? (James
2:21)
Much to the chagrin of the once saved, always safe crowd, the Abrahamic
Covenant consists of qualified promises to qualified people.
Certitudinarians don't want to hear about any if/then conditional
constructions, yet
Jesus said:
If ye
were Abraham's children [then] ye would
do the
works of Abraham.
(John 8:39)
One of the best known verses illustrating conditionality is II
Chronicles 7:14:
If my
people, which are called by my name will humble
themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from
their
wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will
forgive
their sin, and will heal their land.
Equally conditional, however, is this verse from II Peter, chapter one:
. . .
giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue
knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance
patience;
and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly
kindness;
and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things
be in
you, and abound, [then] they make you that ye shall neither
be barren
nor unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Initially Jesus went to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Once,
however, that every institution of society had failed Jesus: the Davidic
Kingship, the Temple priesthood, the Synagogue, rather than try to
reform said synagogue or purify the Levitical priesthood, or reestablish
the Davidic kingship, Jesus simply
moved on by
establishing as his fall back position the believing individual, the
sanctified home and the summoned-out community, the latter being his
little flock, his Abrahamic band in the wilderness, his ekklesia.
I [Jesus]
say unto you, that many shall come from the
east and the west,
and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob, in the
kingdom of heaven. But the children
of the kingdom shall be cast
into outer darkness: there
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
(Matthew 8:11-12)
With these words, Jesus swept aside any claim to an exclusive franchise held by the
physical descendants of Abraham.
So far from undermining the foundation on
which the Abrahamic Covenant was built, Jesus, instead, expanded out its
superstructure by opening up its benefits to all, for, as he said:
If I be
lifted up from the earth, will
draw all men unto me. (John
12:32)
Thus did Jesus pronounce
an end to an exclusively Jewish Tribal Project. From the first, the
Jewish people, as Abraham's physical descendents, were always intended
to be the vanguard for the Gospel. They were never intended to be
the Superior Race that lords it over everyone else. It is their
Chosen People Complex, the ultimate expression of which is Zionism, that
has undone them.
Setting the tone for inclusion, Jesus
in a parable elevated for purpose of
illustration one from a despised ethnic group, a Samaritan, whose
compassion for a wounded wayfarer contrasted sharply with that of a
Levite who crossed over to the other side of the road.
Such is the
East-ness and the West-ness of it all, for the true Israel of God cannot
help but witness to the light within others, for, notwithstanding cultural
divides or divergent traditions, no one people has a monopoly on
neighborliness or pious impulses. It should come as no surprise,
therefore, that a universal faith would be founded on universal respect.
And yet tribal values remain. Universal does not mean uniform.
Unity and diversity coincide.
By helping us to see possibilities where before we
had only seen impossibilities, Jesus encourages us to reach out to those
of other races and religions and social and economic backgrounds, even
the dispossessed called untouchables. thereby
throwing wide open to all the doors to redemptive fellowship.
Meanwhile, in deconstructing the narrative of power,
in these uncompromising words, Jesus told the Chief priests and the elders:
The
kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to
a nation
bringing forth the fruits thereof. (Matthew 21:43)
So what nation would that be? Well
do we know, for it is written:
But ye
are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,
a holy
nation, ... which in times past were not a people,
but are
now the people of God ...
(I Peter 2:9-10)
Rather than to reform any of the aforementioned institutions: the
Synagogue, the Levitical priesthood or the Davidic kingship, Jesus
simply moved on. What he moved on to was what Abraham had with God
from the beginning, a one-on-one relationship between man and his maker.
Thus, in answer to the question, "what nation," it was a spiritual nation,
being Abraham's
spiritual progeny who have no intermediary, except the man, Christ
Jesus. Thus did Jesus renew and extend the Covenant according to
its original design both to those living under the Law of Moses and to
those not living under the Law of Moses:
Wherefore
remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in
the
flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called
the
Circumcision in the flesh made by hands: that at that time
ye were
without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth
of
Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having
no hope,
and without God in the world: but now in Christ Jesus
ye who
were sometimes far off are made nigh by the blood of
Christ.
For he is our peace who hath made both one, and hath
broken
down the middle wall of partition between us; having
abolished
in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments
contained
in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one
new man,
so making peace; . . . Now therefore ye are no more
strangers
and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and
of the
household of God . . .
(Ephesians 2:11-15, 19)
Signs of the Covenant
Previously circumcision had been a sign of the Covenant (see Genesis 17:10-11),
so also was the keeping of the Sabbath a sign of the covenant, but once uncircumcised Gentiles had
been freely welcomed into the
fold, circumcision
and Sabbath both ceased to serve their original function as distinguishing
tokens, separating those within from those without, which is not to
say that the practice of circumcision or Sabbath had been abolished, only that
their
meaning had been altered to that of making an ethnic distinction.
As we see above, Paul invites those who were "aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise" to
see themselves instead as having been included.
If only believers would take that
which has been so freely offered them and run with it and stop calling "Israel" those who say
they are Jews but are not who are the synagogue of Satan, then believers
would come into their true inheritance as the Israel of God!
There is
one God who will justify the circumcised by faith
and the
uncircumcised through faith.
(Romans 3:30)
Once that Jewish
tribalism had been subsumed into Christian universalism, then a hopeful
message of peace emerged for all and this on the basis of equality.
. . . and
they of the circumcision which believed were astonished,
as many
as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles was
also poured
out the gift of the Holy Spirit.
(Acts 10:45)
From earliest days to the present, vying
for attention have been two extremes.
On the one hand are those who asserted that all who would be saved must be circumcised
(the position of the circumcision party
who so bedeviled Paul):
And
certain men which came down from Judea taught
the
brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after
the
manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. (Acts 15:1)
On the other hand, a position long maintained by
the Church from the second century on, is that
none should be circumcised. Even in the first century there were
those promoting this view. When James, the brother of our Lord, brought to Paul's attention
a false rumor claiming that Paul was teaching Jews in the dispersion to
forsake Moses and forgo the practice of circumcision, Paul quickly
acceded to James advice to participate in a purification rite, thereby
demonstrating his commitment to the Law. Demonstrating the
compatibility of Christian faith and Mosaic observance, James said to
Paul:
Thou
seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there
are which believe,
and they are all zealous of the law: . . .
(Acts 21:21)
Paul was too insightful a person to hang up over mere symbols but he
sought for underlying realities. His expressed position regarding circumcision is this:
For in
Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything,
nor
uncircumcision but a new creature. And as many as
walk by this rule,
peace be on them, and mercy, and upon
the Israel of God.
(Galatians 6:15-16)
The promises given Abraham were for all
people and for all generations with Jesus the guarantor, as well, their fulfillment. Thus, instead of
there being a new, replacement Israel, as some suppose the Church to be, there is the same
Israel of old, going back to Abraham as well, to Abraham's grandson,
Jacob, whom the angel renamed "Israel."
Actually, the
angel that struggled with Jacob through the night until daybreak was
probably (and some would say, was most certainly) Jesus, who, as the
Israel of God, lent to Jacob his own name, a name which means "prince of
God," Jesus being that prince. To the same extent that we are
in Christ, and he in us, then to the same extent are we, too, the Israel of
God.
Those evangelical Christians (which is most of them) who want to exult the present political
entity called "the State of Israel," in so doing, substitute
bad news for good. In that respect, they make themselves the
enemy of the Gospel, for the nasty, racist, Jews-only State is a
murderous imposture and
abomination.
As was Jacob so also is Jesus'
little flock, the Israel of God. Said Jesus:
"Fear
not, little flock; it is your father's good pleasure
to give
you the kingdom."
(Luke 12:32)
The
kingdom is given to the little flock, who, as the Israel of God, are the
children of Abraham. Whereas a church building has a specific
location, the little flock, in its ad hoc two-ness and three-ness,
lists as the Spirit lists, it goes wherever the Spirit goes and meets wherever Jesus is found:
For where
two or three are gathered together in my name
there am
I in the midst of them.
(Matthew 18:20)
Presumably Jesus said: "On this rock I will build my church."
No matter how many translations report his saying that, in fact he never
did. The problem here is a substitution of words. Our word
"church" is merely a transliteration of the Greek word, kyriakon,
meaning, the Lord's house, but the underlying Greek word is ekklesia.
Why is one Greek word translated by another Greek word?
Ekklesia is not an edifice, the Lord's house, much less is it an organization or congregation or denomination,
but it is a quality
of fellowship which is divine.
That
which we have seen and heard we declare unto you,
that ye
also may have fellowship (koinonia) with us; and
truly our
fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son,
Jesus
Christ.
(I John 1:3)
That this is Good News does not mean that it is going to go
down too well in conventional Christian settings. What it means is
that none of the churchly ceremonials, call them
"sacraments," if you will, are efficacious. They cannot save.
Only Jesus can do that through the Holy Spirit. Moreover, no
churchly hierarchy is divinely ordained. Nor is the claim of "apostolic succession"
any thing more than a jobs program for
out-of-work prelates.
When Jesus said: "follow me," he didn't mean for us to join an
organization; rather, he meant for us to be like him. Surely, that
is what is needed in today's world, not a cheap imitation, but the real
deal, Christ in
us, the hope of glory. It is the life of God in the heart of man
that makes the difference.
On reflection, given repeated demonstrations of institutional frailty,
this is Good News, for we have seen that human organizations are weak
reeds on which to place the weight of our eternal well-being.
History amply demonstrates, where one organization predominates, it
becomes oppressive; where two exist, they fight each other; where there are three, two of them will gang up on the third. But
where there are many, still a problem exists, for how many
squabbling sects, mired in parochialism, do we need?
The way of the Nazarene is
none of the above; rather, it is holy example founded upon
spiritual reality. No hegemonic monolith; Jesus' little flock is the
community of the faithful whom God has called out from the world (ek-
out, klessia called), whereas the word "church" comes from
a completely different Greek word, with a completely different meaning.
All over the world little flocks of Jesus devotedly seek to
being righteous in their food and righteous in their drink and righteous
in their communications, and, indeed, in all of life's endeavors and in
so doing, actively resist the whole panoply of initiatives undertaken by the
Zionist New World Order, whether they be such things as core curriculum
education, forced vaccination, fluoride, smart (spy) meters, GMO,
pesticide laden food, militarism and aggressive war.
Instead of imbibing from dirty cesspools, namely, the presstitute mass
media, the ones summoned out from the world seek
living waters:
Ho every
one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that
hath no
money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine
and milk
without money and without price. Wherefore do ye
spend
money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that
which
satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that
which is
good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline
your ear,
and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and
I will
make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure
mercies
of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the
people, a
leader and commander to the people. Behold thou shalt
call a
nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not
thee
shall run unto thee because of Jehovah thy God, and for the
Holy One
of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.
(Isaiah 55:1-5)
The operative covenant
It is often claimed in evangelical circles, in their undue haste to be rid of the Abrahamic
Covenant, that we are under the New Covenant, which
makes all else going before it obsolete. But wait a minute, has
anyone bothered to check the language of Jeremiah, chapter 31, to see if
that is so? By the Law of First Mention in Scripture a word or concept is
defined by its first usage. Therefore, let us see how verse
Jeremiah 31:34, reads:
And they
shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every
man his
brother, saying, Know Jehovah: for they shall all know
me from
the least of them to the greatest of them, saith Jehovah.
Such broad knowledge of God could only be true if all eyes could see
Jesus, as in his Millennial reign. Clearly, the New Covenant
applies in its fullness, not to current conditions, but, rather, to a
better world to come.
This, by the way, is how one ends up with a covenantless Christianity:
first, deny the
currently operative covenant; then embrace the covenant that
is not yet operative; after which, fall in the crack between the two.
There is a strain of evangelical Christianity called "dispensationalism"
that goes beyond mere covenantlessness to actively opposing the
Covenant. By refracting Scripture through a strange, arcane
overlay, they distinguish a multiplicity of dispensations, including a
"dispensation of Law" and a "dispensation of Grace":
The Old
Covenant . . . holds us in bondage, but the New brings
us into
freedom. The Old involves a curse, but the New imparts
a
blessing. In the Old man seeks God, but in the New God seeks
man.
By the Old man is condemned as a sinner, but by the New
he is
delivered from his sin. In the Old God says 'you cannot',
but in
the New Christ says 'I can". The Old covenant is really
bad news,
but the New Covenant is good News, that is, Gospel.
. . . How
wonderful is the contrast: Moses and Christ; Mosaism
and
Christianity; Death and Life; on Stone and in the Heart;
Letter
and Spirit; condemnation and Righteousness; Passing
and
Permanent; face Veiled and Unveiled; Bondage and Freedom;
Transience and Transformation. . . . there
are at least ten
points of
contrast between the Old and the New dispensations.
Christianity is not glorified Judaism; it is something entirely new.
There is
a fundamental difference between the Law and the Gospel.
(W. Graham Scroggie, The Unfolding Drama of Redemption,
Kregel Publications, 1994)
It is not just the Hebrew Scriptures and the Covenant they promote that
are to be set aside as being of another dispensation but Jesus' own
teachings are also to be set aside.
Many
interpreters see the Sermon on the Mount as directly
and
primarily applicable to Christians today. To do this,
interpreters depend heavily on the method of spiritualization,
for it is
apparent that the laws and regulations found in the
Sermon
cannot be directly applied today without producing
insurmountable problems and reproductions.
As
Charles Ryrie observes: "But if the laws of the Sermon are
to be
obeyed today they could not be taken literally, for as
[George
Eldon] Ladd points out, every businessman would go
bankrupt
giving to those who ask of him. This is the dilemma
every
interpreter faces. If literal, it cannot be for today; if for
today, it
cannot be literal. Moreover, a casual reading of the
Sermon
reveals that it contains an embarrassing absence of
church
truths.
In view
of these considerations, the proper conclusion with
regards
to the Sermon on the Mount is that the full and non-
modified
fulfillment of this portion of 'Matthew is possible
only in
relationship to the future institution of the messianic
Kingdom.
It is primarily to the nation of Israel as she anticipates
the
institution of the kingdom at the millennium. It has no
primary
application in the church and should not be so taken.
(Paul Lee Tan, The Interpretation of Prophecy)
Here's a
fine situation, the Law, presumably, has been annulled, yet Jesus' New
Covenant teachings need not be acted upon because the Millennium has yet
to arrive. Such is the way of the
antinomian, Zionized, dispensationalized Church.
Fundamentalist
Christianity's expressed goal is that of getting men out of hell and
into heaven. Overlooked is the fact that in between conversion and
death there is a life to be lived. Theirs is simply too narrow a
perspective on which to build a moral community.
Arguably the most influential systematic theologian of his day,
representing the Dispensationalist viewpoint, Lewis Sperry Chafer
President of Dallas Theological Seminary, wrote:
The
dispensationalist believes throughout the ages God is
pursuing
two distinct purposes: one related to the earth with
earthly
people and earthly objectives involved, which is to
Judaism;
while the other is related to heaven with heavenly
people
and heavenly objectives involved, which is Christianity.
There
remains to be recognized a heavenly covenant for the
heavenly
people, which is also styled like the proceeding one
for
Israel the New Covenant. It is made in the blood of Christ
(Mark
14:24) and continues in effect throughout this age,
whereas
the new Covenant made with Israel happens to be
future in
its application. To suppose that these two covenants
-- one
for Israel and one for the church -- are the same is to
assume
that there is a latitude of common interest between God's
purpose
for Israel and His purpose for the Church.
One would suppose that in order to postulate two New Covenants, one for
the Gentiles and one for the Jews, the Dispensationalists would need
some kind of biblical confirmation. And, indeed, they conjured up
one, or so they think, found in God's promise to Abraham:
I will
surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous
as the
stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.
(Genesis 22:17)
A
fine piece of sophistry this is, that the verse above is portrayed as
advancing the idea that the Church represents the heavenly, star people,
while Israel represents earthly, sand people.
Anyone familiar with the metaphorical way of speaking used in the Bible,
will immediate recognize that this is typical Hebraic tautology.
They love taking a double bite at the apple, saying the same or
similar thing in quick succession. Examples of this abound.
But if anyone cares to be disputatious about this, let them read
Nehemiah, chapter nine, where the seed of Abraham confess:
Thou art
Jehovah the God who did choose Abram, and broughtest
him forth
out of Ur of the Chaldees and gavest him the name of
Abraham;
and foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest
are
a
covenant with him to give the land . . . to his seed . . .
Their
children
thou multiplied as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them
into the
land promised to their fathers, that they should go in to
possess
it.
The answer to the question at hand is not to postulate two New
Covenants, a complete novelty if ever there was one; nor is it to
postulate two chosen peoples, one Jews who are God's covenanted bride,
the other, Gentiles who are, at best, God's concubine. Nor need
one postulate multiple dispensations that separate Abraham from his
Christian followers by at least two dispensations. These are just
a few of the stumbling blocks that Zionist swindlers have thrown up to
separate believers from their Abrahamic heritage.
The Children of Abraham are the Israel of God
For not
all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because
they are
his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the
contrary,
"It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned."
(Romans 9:6-7)
For it is
we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit,
or of the
will of the flesh, but of God, who boast in Christ Jesus, and
who put
no confidence in the flesh.
(Philippians 3:3)
Let us begin with a housekeeping chore, that of asking the question: are
the children of Abraham the same as the children of Israel? A
childish question, of course they are one and the same. Nevertheless, it
is contested by those desperate to drive a wedge between the physical
and spiritual children of Abraham. One text that they have resorted to is Acts
9:15, where Jesus says to Ananias regarding Paul:
Go thy
way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name
before
the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: . . .
Here we see that the expression "children of Israel" refers to
non-believing, physical descendants distinguished from "Gentiles."
Next these deceitful handlers of Scripture would have us turn to
Galatians 3:7, which reads:
Know ye
therefore that they which are of the faith,
the same
are the children of Abraham.
From the juxtaposing of these two verses, we are suppose to conclude
that there are two categories: one, Gentile and Jewish "children of
Abraham" and, two, Jewish "children of Israel." This is
nonsense because, in point of fact, there are physical and spiritual
children of Israel; as well, physical and spiritual children of Abraham.
Said Paul at Antioch, Acts 13:24, 26:
When John
had first preached before his coming the baptism
of
repentance to all the people of Israel. Men and
brethren,
children
of the stock of Abraham.
The Zionized dispensationalists make a great point about physical
descent, how we must all get behind the racial descendents of Abraham,
even if, genetically speaking, they are not Semites and therefore not
descended from Abraham, for being Ashkenazi, they are
identified as being descended from Japheth:
Now these
are the generations of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham,
and
Japheth: . . . The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, . . .
And the
sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz and Riphath . . . (Genesis 10:1-3)
But even if the present day population calling themselves Israelis were
descended from Israel, as Paul says above, "not all who are descended
from Israel are Israel."
Seek
Jehovah, and his strength: seek his face evermore.
Remember
his marvelous works that he hath done: his
wonders,
and the judgments of his mouth; O ye seed of
Abraham
his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen. He
is
Jehovah our God: his judgments are in all the earth. He
hath
remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he
commanded
to a thousand generations. Which covenant he
made with
Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; and confirmed
the same
unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting
covenant:
saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan,
the lot
of your inheritance.
(Psalm 105:4-11)
The covenental promise regarding the land has not been forgotten but
will be fulfilled in due course. Meanwhile, let us seek to occupy the same ground Abraham did, whom God complimented
because he faithfully established God's order within his household.
And let us pray as Abraham prayed and in due course the land will be
restored to its rightful heirs, the Palestinians until Jesus returns a
makes a final just settlement.
As well, let us take to heart what John the Baptist said in exhorting
those who thought their physical descent from Abraham somehow privileged
them:
Produce
fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to
say to
yourselves that we have Abraham for our father. For I
tell you
out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
(Luke 3:7-8)
Notice above an echo of the threefold refrain heard throughout Scripture:
"the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob."
What
does that mean? By interpretation, it means that with each of these men
God revealed some new facet of His own character or activity. His fatherly
concern is seen in Abraham. Isaac in his obedience to his father,
did only that which he saw Abraham do, and in this he was like to God's only begotten son, Jesus. And then there is the struggling grandson, Jacob, renamed
Israel. His life is a lesson in the ministry of the Holy Spirit
striving with our own spirit.
By his sacrificial death, Jesus provided the
surety or down payment on the world to come. Meanwhile, there is a
life to be lived in this present world and how to do this is found in
the Bible -- all of it. By identifying with Abraham, we affirm the
continuity of Scripture, not the fractured fairy tale of discontinuity
offered by the Zionized dispensationalists.
.
Not subordinated to any human religion or priesthood, Abraham, at God's
behest, pioneered a paradigm shift in humankind's relationship with God,
this predicated on the making of personal choices. I term it
"God's freedom program," where each individual is given the space to be
whom he will be before God. This is God's instruction to those who
are of Abraham:
"Look
unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to
the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.
Look unto
Abraham your father."
(Isaiah 51:1-2)
Three times in Scripture Abraham is referred to as the friend of God:
Art not
thou our God who didst drive out the inhabitants
of this
land . . . and gave it to the seed of Abraham, thy
friend
for ever?
(II Chronicles 20:7)
When
Abraham believed God "it was imputed to him for
righteousness, and he was called the friend of God.
(James
2:23)
Thou
Israel art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen,
the seed
of Abraham, my Friend.
(Isaiah 41:8)
Yet, for all the
just acclaim Abraham received, yet he subordinated himself to another, namely, to
the King of Salam, Melchizedek, to whom he gave tithe, the lesser giving
to the greater. And who pray tell was the the King of Salem, the
King of Peace? Let the reader say!
Meanwhile, if we are truly the children of Abraham, then we need to make the
journey that Abraham made. Yet how many actually ever make that
journey? I ask people, have you made the journey? but they have no
idea what I am talking about. It is as if they were still in Haran
or else in Egypt with no intention of departing.
Jesus didn't die
just to make men holy; he also died to set men
free. As the Physicians of both souls and bodies, he came to treat
the whole man, opening the eyes of those born blind, as well, opening
darkened minds, releasing humankind from every type of bondage, be it
broken hearts or broken bones. Let the captives go free!
The
spirit of Jehovah is upon me, because he hath anointed
me to preach
good news to the poor; he hath sent me to heal
the broken-hearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives,
and recovering sight to the
blind, to set at liberty them that are
bruised; to preach the
acceptable year of Jehovah. (Luke 4:18)
Salt and light
As self-respecting human beings in a covenant relationship with God,
that being the Abrahamic Covenant, it is our privilege and duty to
uphold our end of things, for with a covenanted partnership comes duties
and responsibilities, meaning we have to walk the walk, which to their
credit many are eager to do.
See then
that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
improving
the time for the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15-16)
"Walk circumspectly" (i.e., with respect to all circumstances); "not as
fools" (i.e., not fooled by misdirection from the mistaken one); "but as
wise," (dove innocent, serpent wise, to paraphrase the Lord); "improving
the time" (thus proving ourselves) "for the days are evil" (made so by
the god of this world.)
This is no time for hand-folding and star-gazing. We were not
called to be the salt of the prayer meeting or the light of the church
steeple; rather, our Lord called us to be:
"the salt of the earth" and
"the light of the world" (Matthew 5:13, 14)
In the
symbolic language of Scripture, salt stands for that which is enduring,
for that which is dependable. "A covenant of salt forever," said
Jehovah (Numbers 18:19). From this position of enduring
integrity, we are to shine forth as beacons of light in a darkened
world.
Notice who is suppose to be salt and who light, we who,
that's who. But if we are only projecting images of ourselves, we
are not light; if we are only trying harder, we are not salt.
We were made to serve God in his presence in the garden of Eden but we
were kicked out. We were made in God's image but that glorious
image has suffered effacement.
Now what? The key to being made whole is wholesomeness itself, namely,
having the image of God restored. This, a work of restoration, may
begin in a discrete moment of time, as at the time of our first
repenting, but it must continue on from there to branch out as a process
of moral transformation. A work of moral transformation can hardly
transpire through a heap of ruins, which is about what many of us are
when left to our own devices, yet God is mighty to the pulling down of
strongholds and faithful to save all who call on Him.
. . . if
thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and shalt believe
in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be
saved. For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness; and with
the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. For the scripture
saith, Whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. (Romans
10:9-11)
Taking a beachhead is hardly the same thing as wining the war. We
have to move inland, otherwise we might possibly find ourselves going backward
and being thrown off the beachhead.
The robust redemption Jesus offers is highly reaffirming of the life we
now live. A here and now presence, Jesus lives not just in our hearts
but, if we will allow it, in our fantasies, our friendships, our
finances, indeed, in all areas of our being and existence. He is
in us to liberate the whole man: body, soul and spirit, and to radiate
out from us to transform culture and society.
In this we are promised help:
"I am
going to send you what my father has promised:
but
stay in the city until you have been clothed with
power
from on high"
(Luke 24:49)
Jesus,
the master "Tailor," clothes us with the Holy Spirit. He
does not provide us with a "one size fits all" garment. He takes
into consideration all our "measurements" . . . our personality,
our strengths, our weaknesses, our culture, genetic and environmental
factors.
We can't all wear identical clothes nor does Jesus baptize
everyone
in the holy Spirit in the same fashion.
But you can rest assured
of this, He has a purpose and a plan for
your life that takes
everything about you into consideration. He
will see that you
are properly
dressed for the occasion.
(R. Glenn Brown, Pentecost
Revisited)
It only makes sense that those who most take to heart God's call end up with the best assignments.
Certainly that was true of St. Theresa of
Avilla, who wrote:
He
desired me so I came close.
No
one can near God unless he has
prepared a bed for you.
A
thousand souls hear his call every second,
but
most everyone who looks into life's mirror and
says,
"I am not worthy to leave this
sadness."
When
I first heard his courting song, I too
looked at all I had done in my life
and
said,
"How
can I gaze into His omnipresent eyes?"
I
spoke these words with all
my
heart,
But
then He sang again, a song even sweeter,
and
when I tried to shame myself once more from His presence
God
showed me His compassion and spoke a divine truth,
I
made you, dear, and all I make is perfect,
Please come close, for I
desire
you.
Man plans, God
laughs; man prays, God listens.
And so we see that unbelief, too, has its own logic, namely, that if there is no God, then
it falls to us to make up for our own meaning as we go.
To that end, the religion of science stands at the ready to help
us in the task of becoming gods unto ourselves. But let us ask,
how well have the scientists been doing of late in playing God? Are
we thrilled by the brave, new world the men in white lab
jackets are offering us? Where has cracking the atom or cracking the
genome gotten the world? Look Ma, the Pacific Ocean is dying
before our very eyes. Look Ma, GMO rat poison in our food.
With the advancement of knowledge, the miracle of modern science, as
they say, things should be looking pretty rosy for humanity right about
now, when in fact we know that humanity is holding on only by its
fingernails, while beneath is the abyss.
Said the late Pete Seeger in an interview in
2006:
Einstein
is supposed to have said "Ach, mankind is not ready for it."
Had he known what this invention E
= MC squared would bring
about, he might have said, "Well, maybe I should bury this
invention."
Who needs world fame? My father was overly
optimistic all his life.
I told you he was overly optimistic
about communism in the early 30s.
But in his eighties, my
father said, "Peter, I can't persuade the scientists
that I know
that they have the most dangerous religious belief in the
world."
The scientists I am talking to say," Charlie, I don't have a
religious belief. I base my actions on observations --
double-checked
around the world. Then I draw the logical
conclusions." "On, no,"
replies my father, "haven't you
observed that there are insane power
hungry people all around the
world -- people like Hitler? Is it logical
to put in their
hands the ability to destroy the human race?" The
scientist
replies, "But you are attacking all science! If I didn't
discover
these things, somebody else would." And my father replies,
"Yes I suppose if you didn't rape this woman, somebody else would."
And the poor scientist staggers away saying, "You have no right
to
ask questions like this." And my father goes after him and
says,
"Face it, you think that an infinite increase in empirical
information
is a good thing. Can you prove it?" My
father turned to me with a
smile and said, "Of course, Peter, if I
am right, maybe the committee
that told Galileo to shut up was
correct." All you can do is laugh.
Were it only
a matter of our executing our own plans, that could be quite laughable,
that is if it were not all so sad, but
what of God's plan? can we not find out about that and come into agreement with God
over it?
Two Powers / Two Plans
It would be helpful to
distinguish God's plans from Satan's, for a
knock-down-drag-out battle is underway regarding whose plans will prevail.
This battle rages within us. It
rages all about us with compassion and integrity, on one side, pitted against
oppression and slavery, on the other.
In this
the children of God are manifest, and the children of the
devil: whosoever
does not righteousness is not of God, neither is
he that loves not
his brother. For this is the message all of you
heard from the
beginning, that we should love one another. Not
as Cain who
was of the
wicked one, and slew his brother. And
wherefore slew he him? Because
his own works were evil, and his
brother's righteous. Marvel not my
brethren if the world hate you.
We know that we have passed from
death to life, because we love
the brethren. He that loves not
his brother
abides in death.
(I John 3:10-14)
From
diametrically opposed principles come
diametrically opposed programs, one, a life-affirming flower, a day lily,
as it were, the other, a noxious weed that blooms only in the dark. If only we knew where the battle lines
were drawn, we would not inadvertently join with the forces of evil to
do battle with the forces of good.
There are opposing trends at work in the world reflecting opposing
forces: one centrifugal, one centripetal, centralizing, or
decentralizing, each thinking his own thoughts or one thinking for
thousands of others. God's program, beginning with Abraham, is to
diffuse power broadly to the individual. Dependency is not autonomy; slavery
is not freedom.
There is a war on for our minds, the issue being whether we will be conformed in our
thinking to the pattern of this world (i.e., "manufactured
consent") or else be transformed by the renewing of our minds by the Spirit
of God.
Is God God or is man God?
Ye shall be as gods. (Genesis 3:5)
This, the great
controversy, has raged on ever since the Garden of Eden,
with God and Satan locked in mortal combat over the issue of who is God.
How art
thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!
how art
thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
For thou
hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will
exalt my
throne above the stars of God: I will sit upon the mount of
the
congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the
heights
of the clouds; I will be like the most high. (Isaiah
12:12-14)
The powers that be think
they are God
Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Or who will
stand
up
for me against the workers of iniquity?
(Psalm 94:16)
The evildoers, the workers of iniquity are they, call their program "full spectrum dominance,"
a reference to their growing capacity to project lethal force any where on planet earth on
short notice. Is that not
another term for omnipotence, for being almighty?
They call their program "total information awareness," because they think they have the right to know
everybody's business 24/7 and keep a record of it, too, in their big
computer in Utah. Is this not an attempt to be omniscient?
Their program is to develop a pervasive, "all seeing eye," the
same eye as found at the top of the pyramid on
$1 Federal Reserve notes. It is this eye that never closes, never sleeps,
their panopticon eye, peeping everywhere, voyeuristically looking through our
clothes at airports, to covertly watching us through TVs and computers,
for they strive mightily to
know us better than we know ourselves.
They want to be everywhere at once, even in our dishwashers,
this according to a former CIA chieftain. Under the octopus
emblem, the NROL 39, the U. S. National Reconnaissance Office, brags
that "nothing is beyond our reach." But
whether by smart meters attached to the side of our homes or
vehicle-mandated
GPS units, they seek to be omnipresent, even under our skin, for they
want to know us from the inside out by chipping us and thereby being able
to monitor our thoughts as well as our actions. They want our DNA.
They have our medical records. Have you had a colonoscopy? They know all about it; their nose is up our arse. Wallet
sniffers, underwear sniffers, these insufferable busybodies are everywhere, deep
into everyone's affairs.
The old
civilization claimed that they were founded on love or justice.
Ours is
founded on hatred.
The
object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is
torture.
The object of power is power.
Power is
in inflicting pain and humiliation. Power is in tearing human
minds to
pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of
your own
choosing.
(George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four)
All-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere present, no wonder they self-identify as the "Masters of the Universe."
Do they think merely in terms of their chosen-ness as qualifying
them to rule over the Promised Land? No, they think in terms of the
Promised Plant, with everyone and everything
subject to them.
Fully realized, their grand plan includes not only monitoring our every
emotion and thought in real time but controlling us through some type of
chip implant that can over-ride our own thought processes and if that
doesn't work, a terminator chip to poison or explode us from within.
The greatest
commandment
The greatest commandment we know is: to love the Lord our God with all
heart, mind, soul, and body. And the second commandment is
like unto it, which is to love our neighbors as ourselves. To
apply this commandment today means that we have to pull ourselves out of
the Zionist circle of war. In other words, thou shalt not Jew thy
neighbor.
We have to think strategically. The Great Commission is to go into
all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. It is an
invitation to think big. When Jesus said "all," who are we to
place limits on "all"? Are we not sent into all the world politically,
culturally, scientifically, economically?
Do not execute Satan's program
Let us examine briefly a relatively recent historical event, to wit, the
nuking of Nagasaki, Japan, August 9, 1945.
Early that morning the crew (all Christians) of a B-29 Superfortress
called Bock's Car, took off from Tinian Island in the South Pacific,
this with the prayers and blessing of US Army Air Force chaplains, both
Lutheran and Catholic. On board, the first (and so far) only
plutonium bomb ever used on a civilian population. The crew had
their instructions: on reaching Nagasaki, to lock on visually to St
Mary's Catholic Church and make that ground zero. That morning, at
11:05, they released their deadly load just in time to catch the
congregation in the middle of services. Priests, nuns, choir
boys, old people, young people, and the host, the blood and body of
Jesus all holocausted together, vaporized. It is estimated that
some 10,000 Roman Catholics died that day, some thousands immediately
and many thousands more over the next few days in agonizing pain from
flash burns and radiation exposure.
Extending this sad tale out to Judgment Day, imagine the crew -- and the
chaplains who blessed them -- having to give account for the deeds they
did in the flesh. Who taught them to target civilians? Who
taught them that mass murder was acceptable?
Would you like to be in their shoes when they try to justify what they
were doing that fine August day in 1945, when they blew to kingdom come
a Catholic cathedral and exterminated the entire worshipping community
within and 75% of those outside? Go ahead, tell it to the Judge.
Regarding their handiwork, we are fortunate to have this eye-witness
account by Dr. Takenaka, a surgeon who was working just outside of
Nagasaki when it was leveled:
Being
only a few miles away, we knew something dreadful had happened
to the
city. But when we arrived on the scene itself, I couldn't
believe
my eyes.
Blazing rubble, littered with bodies burned beyond recognition;
incredible heat, and the stench of scorched flesh made us nauseous.
Horribly
burned people, screaming hysterically, twisted and squirmed
uncontrollably in pain, terror, and panic -- pleading pitifully for
help.
Many of
the irradiated victims were faceless, with only indentations
where
eyes, nose, and ears had once been, their skin hanging in folds
from
their arms and legs. . . . Even though we were experienced
medical
personnel, the scale of devastation shocked us to the point that we
were
temporarily immobilized.
. . . we
knew we must try to keep going for the sake of the victims.
Most of us
worked without rest for 48 hours. . . . We were working
in the Urakami
Cathedral section of the burned-out city. As I made
my way slowly
through piles of human bodies, I heard what I thought
was the sound of
singing. I couldn't believe my ears. Frankly
because I
was on the verge
of exhaustion, I wondered if I was
beginning to hallucinate, the
horrors of this hell being too much for
a human to bear.
Suddenly I saw
them 20 to 30 people, some critically
burned, sitting in a kind of circle
singing and apparently praying.
. . .
They seemed like a tiny sea of composure and serenity in what
I will
forever remember as a nightmarish sea of horror, destruction,
and pain.
"Who are you," I asked, not sure I wasn't going out of
my mind. The noise
of screaming and crying around us was so loud,
I could hardly hear
their reply. "Who are you," I shouted again at
the top of my
voice. The reply
came back, "We are Christians and
we are praying to our God."
Of course
I had heard of Jesus Christ, but this was the first time in
my life that
I had ever spoken to Christians. For people to have
such inner composure
at a time like this jolted me deep down inside
with a strange mixture
of fear and awe. I said to them, "Some of
you are badly
burned. Let me do
what I can for you." "Thank you
for coming to us doctor, but God is
with us and will take care of us.
Please go and help those who need you
more. We will be alright."
. . .
In the presence of indescribable suffering, their faith in God
never wavered;
and they were more concerned with others than
themselves.
Meanwhile, stateside, joy. Robert Oppenheimer, who oversaw the
development of the atom bomb, as well, served on the Target Committee,
on coming to the podium to congratulate his colleagues, clasped his
hands together like a victorious prize fighter. Otto Frisch
remembered shouts of joy: "Hiroshima has been destroyed." "Many of
my friends were rushing to the telephone to book tables at the La Fonda
Hotel in Santa Fe in order to celebrate," he said.
Left to their own devices, the Goyim (Gentiles) would never have thought
up anything so heinous, so sinister as targeting a cathedral, the
biggest one in all the Orient, that was simply beyond their wildest
imagination -- but not so their Jewish overlords.
In point of fact, Americans have never in the last century been left to
their own devices; rather, they had been heavily propagandized by every
institution of society: the schools, the press, by politicians but
especially they were encouraged by the churches to do their patriotic
duty and fight the "good war," whether it was WWI or WWII or the Korean
War or the Vietnam War or the Iraq War, dozens and dozens of wars,
continually all over the world. There is such a thing as is just
war and legitimate defense. But the way things have turned out,
there have been hundreds of wars, overt and covert, proxy wars and drone
wars. This is simply not credible.
Why do we go along? In part, ignorance. We rarely hear about
alternatives. Having no idea that we were following Satan's
let's-you-and-him-fight program, we have allowed ourselves to be played
for fools.
Who knew that once the blood-letting was over, the banking establishment
would swoop in to grab up the spoils of war, that to this day it would
dominate Japan's banking establishment and Germany's, the latter being
achieved by stealing almost all their gold. Once they get their
meat hook in and take a people captive, they hang on as long as they
can. For instance, 60+ years later, there are 14 US military bases
on Okinawa alone, consuming 18% of the islands landmass. Germany
too continues some 70 years later to be occupied territory. Of
their own volition, the powers-that-be never let go.
But it didn't stop there. Beginning in 1946, America attacked
Micronesia which the UN had just gave it as "Trust Territory" and nuked
the hell of them. Many were irradiated and had to leave their
ancestral homes. Never being indemnified, they yet wander the
earth, suffering miscarriages, sterility, birth defects, and cancer and
all manner of ill health. The miserable, little, paid-off, Zionist
haberdasher in the White House saw to all of that and more. He
killed little brown people by he millions and never blinked an eyelash.
Degradation and destitution.
Meanwhile, with TV, with radio and with video games, they would fill our
ears with grasshoppers, while our eyes grow as big as saucers and our
brains atrophy to be no larger than a peanut.
To counter this we must learn to cultivate our own sources of
information drawn from clean pools, not from the polluted waters: ABC,
NBC, CBS, PBS -- etc., etc. ad nauseum, all different flavors but
all having the same agenda. Their programs, our programming, or so
they would have it but we see through the pretense and the lie.
The most deceiving of all is Public Television. Sophisticates are
tripped up by it, for thinking themselves wise, they become fools but
common folk see through it.
For the
preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness;
but unto
us that are saved it is the power of God. For it is written:
I will
destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing
the
understanding of the prudent. (I
Corinthians 1:18-19)
If we are made wise with God's wisdom then we will carve out a space
beyond the reach of the Zionist foe. The Bible, informed by the
Gospel and interpreted by the Holy Spirit, is such a place of refuge but
even the Bible, the Zionists would interpret for us (as in the Schofield
Bible) if we are not vigilant. Therefore we must be wise to their
wiles, for, as has been truly said:
The Bible
has been twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools.
What began with an attack our minds has carried over to an attack on our
bodies, which the powers-that-be would deaden with empty calories devoid
of nutrition, even as they bombard us with poisons to deaden our ability
to resist.
Especially insidious is their promotion of water fluoridation, well
documented to having the effect of lowering I.Q. in children on average
by 7 points. Both the Nazis and the Soviets used it to pacify
prison/concentration camp inmates.
Fluoride in our water, excito-toxins in our food (artificial
sweeteners), and nano-aluminum in the air (chem-trails), mercury in our
vaccinations, GMOs, what is going on? This is deliberate.
And the intention is to lessen the masses' will or ability to resist.
With the creatively of the power to create, so the power to maim and
kill is being employed and this on a truly global scale.
Resistance is futile say the powers-that-be who even now are sharpening
their swords against the day of the great culling of the herd when the
vast majority of humanity are to be slaughtered without mercy or cause.
This is the unholy trinity: the world, the flesh and the devil (see
James 3:15) and the Zionists manage to encompass them all.
Let us delight, therefore, in finding new ways to frustrate the Zionists
in their evil designs. They would have us dependent on their food.
Therefore, grow food, even if only dandelions. Even the growing of
food can become a revolutionary act. If we get a few chickens,
they will take it amiss, for already they want an accounting for each
and every fowl. Let us take the initiative, let us be righteous in
our food and in our drink, as well, in our associations and in our
sources of information and in our music and are art and our poetry and
our lifestyle.
The more dire the situation (and ours as a people is quite dire), the
more rational the response becomes to simply get down on one's hands and
one's knees and implore the help of heaven, for where else is help
supposed to come from, from Obongo? But then what? Rising
off our knees, as if from a death bed conversion, let us get on with
life, let us get on with doing the work we ought to do, that God would
have us do, thereby converting dying faith into living faith. But for
this we need a plan and a purpose.
A burglar
breaks into your house, you retreat to your bedroom and
the
burglar kicks in your bedroom door. You hide under the bed and
the
burglar overturns your bed. Then you run into the closet and
you
realize
at that moment that you have run out of places to hide and you
must
fight the burglar or die. This is where America is today. ...
we
are out
of places to hide. And there is even a more sobering reality,
American
parents have lost the ability to protect their children. . . .
The
ultimate benefactors, or victims, of our collective action, or
inaction,
are our children.
(David Hodges, January 3, 2014)
One of the dirtiest of tricks of the powers that be is to alienate
people from the land:
Kicking peasants off their land
Will we fight back? or have we lost the will to resist? Will we be
subsumed into the collective or, like Joshua, will we take the battle
into the enemy camp? Many, when they find out how rapacious and
evil Satan is, become petrified by fear and can do nothing, while others
prepare themselves in defense of their families, neighbors, and friends
to fight Satan in the streets, to fight Satan from the roof tops, to
fight Satan wherever found, for:
The
weapons of our warfare are not carnal but
mighty to the pulling down of strongholds.
Masters of War
The "clash of civilizations," as any competent student of history knows,
did not start with the recent, so-called "war on terror" but multiple
clashes of civilizations (multiple tragedies) have occurred in recent
centuries, all of which were equally contrived by Zionist Banking
interests. (This is true wherever one looks, opium forced on
China, famine forced on India, African colonialism, the subjugation of
the Indonesian archipelago, etc., all of which was done in the name of
helping the poor, primitive people, but, in reality, to steal all their
resources.) That's their program and from it they have enriched
themselves immensely, even as they consolidate their control over the
world.
Where, historically, Catholicism has displayed a weakness for collusion
with Caesar, English Calvinism, going back to 1645, the time of Cromwell
and his vile Protectorate, has displayed a peculiar weakness for
cooperating with the Jewish banking establishment. This peculiar
proclivity has been passed on to much of the English-speaking world,
particularly to the five eyes: Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the US
and the UK. It is why in America, many Christian parents have
willingly offered up their children on the altar of Moloch to fight the
State of Israel's wars.
According
to evangelical Christian and University of Virginia professor
of
religion Charles Marsh, "The war sermons rallied the evangelical
congregations behind the invasion of Iraq," with an astounding 87%
of all
white evangelical Christians in the United States supporting the
President's decision in April 2003 -- and almost three years later
68%
of white
evangelical Christians continue[d] to support the war.
("Wayward Christian Soldiers," The New York Times, Jan. 20,
2006)
Armed with weapons of mass deception, the evangelical churches carpet
bombed their congregations with war propaganda and in that way, by the
shaping of public opinion, played an
essential role in getting America to attack Iraq in 2003. They
have blood on their hands. Albeit inadvertently, albeit in
ignorance, the Zionized churches to this day continue to help the
Banker Jews achieve their long-term objective, that of wiping off the
map the ancient Christian communities of the Middle East. For
confirmation, please see:
The Damascus Papers
This is the mark of Cain, that his brother Abel's blood called forth to
him from the earth, yet he acknowledged it not, nor felt guilt nor
shame, for, Cain's conscience had been seared as if with a hot iron.
The god of this world hath blinded them which believe not. (II
Corinthians 4:4)
Where stand the churches regarding the great controversy between God and
Satan? Oddly enough, they are often nowhere to be found.
AWOL. That is because (and this is not generally understood) the
Gospel has ramifications economic, political, social, educational, and
environmental (just as does Satan's program) but the churches generally
do not want to acknowledge this.
We should be asking: what is our individual mission from God by which we
can leave the world a better place for our having lived in it?
Forget there being pat answers; this has to be determined individually,
usually with much deep soul searching.
Jesus said unless our righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the
Pharisees, we shall not find the kingdom of God. This was not a
call to be more punctilious than were the Pharisees but to act from
motives of compassion.
Those who narrowly define their task as that of getting people out of
hell and into heaven, often avoid the question: How ought we to live?
There is, after all, a life to be lived between conversion and death.
Some who think the ultimate destination so important that that they will
focus on that and nothing else, need to recognize that the journey
determines the destination. The Eternal Security doctrine as
promoted by the "once saved, always safe" crowd, is an attempt to
establish a discrete moment in time that would settle once and for all
their eternal destiny, yet self-justification negates repentance.
Their position, too easily parodied as "once in grace, always in grace,
no matter how much a disgrace," is a surefire recipe for spiritual dry
rot. Instead of halo-polishing, let try something that
actually works:
Then they
that feared Jehovah spake often one to another:
and
Jehovah harkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance
was
written before him for them that feared Jehovah, and
that
though upon his name.
(Malachi 3:3:1)
When not actively agitating for war, or drumming up support for a
political entity which defines itself as the Jews-only State, the
churches in America have largely marginalized themselves.
Along
with their imperialistic theological world view, many
Christian
worshippers place a related emphasis on personal
salvation that
encourages detachment from human rights, social
justice, and "peace on earth,
goodwill toward men." A self-
centered gospel of personal
salvation, and related evangelical
imperialism . . . prevents many Christian
worshipers from practicing
one of Jesus' greatest teachings: "Love
your neighbor as yourself."
The baby
in a manger still holds the key to "Peace on earth, good
will toward
men." Not his assumed divinity . . . but his humanity.
(William
E. Alberts)
"Blessed is the peacemaker."
Those truly spiritual, said Paul:
. . .
have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking
in
craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by
manifestations of the truth commending ourselves to every man's
conscience in the light of God.
(II Corinthians 4:2)
Conversely, Satan's cunning moneymen have shamelessly tilted the
economic playing field in favor of their own advancement. Beggar
thy neighbor is their approach. First they expand the money
supply, then they contract it, until much of society is caught in their
debt trap and enslaved. High-functioning psychopaths, they get a
perverse kind of pleasure in putting it over on the rest of society, to
send a thrill up their legs, to mack them. Operating with an
exaggerated sense of their own self-worth, they think that they
themselves are God. By their supposed exceptionalism, they except
themselves from all the rules of society to which the rest of us are
subject. Deluded, they dispense with all that is truly godly.
Contrasting God's plan, namely, the Gospel, with Satan's plan can be
quite instructive. Never intended for public display, the Satanic
master program entered the public domain over 100 years ago. One
can see how the modern world has been shaped by its dictates ever since:
The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion
Beginning December 23, 1913, the Zionist cabal took control of the US's
money supply, after which gold-based constitutional dollars were
replaced with their own fiat money, that is, with Federal Reserve Notes.
This they create out of thin air and then loan at interest to the U.S.
Treasury. Having never been audited, they can and do counterfeit
to their hearts' content.
Once they got control of the $$$, then it was off to the races, as they
corrupted every institution of society: the courts, the schools, the
press, TV, Hollywood, the organs of intelligence, the CIA. They
have the best Congress money can buy. What TV program do you
watch? Your program is their programming.
Especially under their thumb are the benighted churches, whose
theologies are determined for them, also, their leadership, this by the
granting or withholding of air time on radio and TV, the oxygen of publicity. Often, the
powers that be choose absolute buffoons (Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson,
for example) who have greatness thrust upon them, probably just to make a
laughing stock of the Christian faith.
Now what? What indeed! We are disgraced. We are
ruined. How can we even hold our heads up or face another day? for
every institution of society has been corrupted. Everything the
powers that be choose to touch, they turn to dross. The center
will not hold. The best of men are rogues, the worst, heartless,
lying monsters. Folk go about there business as if all were
normal, while the last opportunity to do something constructive is being
frittered away.
While waiting for the axe to fall and for doom to descend, let us give
our children an extra kiss at bedtime on account of the terrible legacy
we are leaving them:
"Look at the world today, is there anything more pitiable?
What madness there is, what blindness,
what unintelligent leadership!
A scurrying mass of bewildered humanity,
crashing headlong against each other
propelled by an orgy of greed and brutality.
The time must come my friend
when this orgy must spend itself,
when brutality and the lust for power
must perish by its own sword.
For when that day comes,
the world must look for a new life,
a way of life based on one simple rule, BE KIND.
Yes, my son, when the strong have devoured each other,
the Christian ethic may at last be fulfilled
and the meek shall inherit the earth."
(Father Perrault, Lost Horizons)
Immediate prospect ahead
are doleful.
Attribute this to man's
inhumanity to man; also, to cruelty toward the animal
kingdom, especially domestic animals, and finally to gross disregard
for the natural environment, especially through genetic pollution (Frankenstein GMO food) also, for cracking the atom (nuclear
power), an unimaginably stupid way to go about boiling water. Somehow, the powers-that-be, in trying
to play God,
manage to screw up
everything they touch.
It is a sick bird which fouls its own nest and, in our case, possibly a
terminal illness if vast reforms aren't enacted, for humanity is on the cusp of a
self-made extinction event, whether because of Fukushima or because of nuclear
war, when spent nuclear fuel pools all across the globe go critical, thereby initiating multiple Fukushimas.
In such times as these, one needn't have a particularly spiritual
disposition to realize that soon enough our number will be up, that Judgment Day is at hand.
Even theologians, the class of people often least likely to know
what the score is, are able to look over the sides of their ivory towers and,
through their rose-tinted glasses, see chaos, injustice
and
bloodshed occurring in the streets below.
Adam and Eve
To understand better how things came to this present low estate, let us review
how it all began, beginning with Adam and Eve and the Fall.
Let us demythologize: Adam was no Johnny Weissmuller, a 6 foot
Aryan with blue eyes. Rather, he stood about 4 foot nine inches,
give or take an inch or two either way. He had dark skin, peppercorn hair
and weighed less than a hundred pounds. Eve stood about 4'6" tall. In point of fact,
they were Negrito pygmies, the earliest human stock as anthropologists
acknowledge and only race prejudice could keep us from seeing.
Later races came along largely through out-breeding with non-Homo
Sapiens, namely, Neanderthals or Denisovans.
Negrito first peoples
So there was Adam and Eve rejoicing in the garden of Eden, enjoying its beauty, rejoicing in their communion with God,
except then something bad
happened, a tragic fall from grace, for in the midst of the garden grew a
tree from which they were forbidden to eat, the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, yet from it they did eat and suffered dire consequences.
So what kind of tree was this, this "knowledge of good and evil" tree?
A Hebraic expression, its rough English equivalent is "matters great
and small," a shorthand way of grouping together all classes of
knowledge by mentioning the extremes but not neglecting to take into
account everything in
between.
As Scripture reads, "it was a tree to be desired to make one wise."
Satan, being in conversation with Eve about the tree to make one wise, assured her
regarding the consuming of its fruit, that "surely thou shall not die." However, once Adam's and Eve's eyes were opened to the
possibilities that knowledge offered them (for knowledge is power), once
they tasted of this forbidden fruit, then they were subverted,
wanting what Satan wanted, i.e., to be gods unto themselves.
We are not told specifically what kind of knowledge Adam and Eve
connected with initially, only that, in the metaphorical language of
Scripture, the serpent spoke to Eve out of the tree. Speaking
only for myself, I can picture Satan falling as a lightning bolt from the sky,
slithering down the tree, setting afire the grass at its base.
Perhaps already knowing the utility of fire to accomplish many tasks,
such as the searing of plants and flesh, rendering them edible,
Eve urged Adam to harness the fire. Scripture reads that Eve knew
that this "tree was good for food and pleasant to the eye."
And who
among us hasn't known the charm of a campfire or the sweet, savory smell
of food cooking on an open hearth?
Maybe humankind's technological leap forward did not begin so much with
tool making as it did with the control of fire. Besides expanding
the range of items that are edible, fire is good for much else.
For instance, by brandishing a burning
stick, one can ward off wild animals and with fire one can burn off
the underbrush and thereby refashion the environment. With fire
metal tools can be forged. In
retrospect, maybe it was too much. Maybe fire gave man
too much advantage over the rest of creation. Thus it was that our
first human ancestors went from being naked apes having the sympathy of
all other creatures, to becoming fearsome, rapacious destroyers of
worlds.
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin;
and
so death
passed upon all men; for that all have sinned.
(Romans 5:2)
If the first bite from the apple was fire, then where is the mastery of
fire leading us?
We have the promise of God that the world will not again be destroyed by water.
But what of fire? In a literal,
physical sense,
death could pass upon all of humankind through the fire of a nuclear
holocaust.
The harnessing of fire represented a quantum leap in
technological prowess, nevertheless, one which native peoples the
world over seemed
able to cope with, living constructively with fire for
thousands of years in balance with nature, such that when Europeans first came
to the North American continent, they found an abundance of life: the streams
being full of fish;
the fields and forests being full of game; the skies being full of birds
and this was not just by chance, for Native
Americans had cultivated their surroundings, wisely employing practices
enhancing what the natural world had provided them. Fire per se was
not the problem but it became a problem once it fell
into the hands of those with wrong intentions.
Indian[s]
had learned to live in a snug cone-shaped shelter, large enough
to allow
comfort, small enough to be kept warm by a small fire.
What the
Indians had discovered over the thousands of years, while
Europeans
experimented with agriculture, was that the land, if one
knew how
to use it, would easily support a small population. Locating,
harvesting and preserving fruits, seeds, herbs, trees, bark, leaves,
and
mushrooms constituted a virtual botanical science -- and one that
had to be
mastered by each Indian family. Modern botanists have
discovered at least 200 natural growing products used by the Indians
of this
[Spokane, WA] area.
Soapberries, for example, are bitter, but placed in a bowel with a
few
wild
strawberries for sweetening and whipped, they became a tasty
pink
froth called "Indian ice cream" that was served to guests.
A tea
made from the same bush was used as a medicine for an upset
stomach.
The leaves, when boiled, produced a popular shampoo.
Gathering
these products through the year was pleasant and varied
employment. In early spring when the snow was gone an Indian
village
of
several hundred people would dismantle its winter camp (which was
usually
near a river) and divide up into small family groups.
Each
would go into its own traditional fields to begin the harvest of
the
spring plants.
The whole
tribe, and often members from other tribes, would gather
again in
June by the river to fish for salmon.
Spawning
salmon once swam all the way to the Spokane falls, and
catching
them there with spears and nets, then cleaning and drying
them for
storage, was a major industry that employed hundreds, all
taking
orders from a "salmon chief."
When the
salmon season was over the Indians would strike their
tents and
move to the damp meadows to gather camas, a root that
was baked
and eaten as bread. When autumn came the Indian once
again
scattered in smaller groups to go to the hills to pick berries.
Families
went to the same gullies and clearings year after year
and so
took care of them as they would their own farms. They
never
over-harvested and they employed many techniques for
keeping
the bushes productive -- they knew for example, that
breaking
a huckleberry stem at just the right place would make
two
berries grow instead of one the next season.
In the
fall and winter the men hunted deer, bear, and other game.
On the
whole, the common-rank Spokane Indian of say, 1500 A.D.
was in
all probability safer, healthier, and better fed than his
European
counterpart.
(Spokane, William Stimson)
The machine in the garden, tearing all asunder,
is a consequence of the modern, media / military / industrial
/ pharmaceutical complex controlled by high finance. It is this
in combination with dark Satanic mills which has allowed a small group of
elitist money lenders to close in on their objective, their much coveted
"new world order," their "novus ordo seculorum," overseen by
their all-seeing eye as depicted on the back of their $1 bills. To realize their ambition, they
have fomented war after war, which wars have repeatedly brought humanity to
the brink of extinction.
The Way Out
This
is the Good News Jesus gave the repentant thief on the cross:
"Amen, I say to thee to-day that with me thou shalt be in
the Garden of Eden."
Along with Christianity, many other
religions recognize a previous state of bliss, also a future state of
bliss, for if in no other way, then instinctively people the world over know that a place of reward exists for the righteous,
that only the deserving will gain entrance: Native
Americans have their happy hunting grounds; the Persians, Paradise; the
Greeks, their Elysian fields; the Norsemen their Valhalla, and so on.
"You must go
in by the narrow gate."
What we have postulated is paradise behind us and paradise
ahead but a difficult passage in between, needing to be negotiated with
great care. That is the
thrust of the discussion following, finding a way through. It is a
double message, one part of which is latching on to someone bigger than
ourselves and the other part is ourselves becoming bigger people.
To the child
inside all of us, the real terror is that there will be no
Christmas. The real
terror is that our lives are worthless and
meaningless, and that all
we have done in this life will not be understood,
appreciated or
forgiven by anyone.
This
Christmas I think of those with whom communication is no longer
possible, because they have passed on to the happy hunting ground,
and
all the things I wish I could have said to them before they
disappeared
permanently . . .
I think the
way we talk to children is the way we should talk to everyone,
to
make everything sunshine clear and simple.
What we're
all about is feeling wanted. But like children who are
deprived
of Christmas, when the presents never arrive, it builds up
calluses on our
hearts, and we hide that pain of deprivation because
we never want to feel
it again.
Too many
children see their parents disappear forever and wonder what
their
lives are all about if someone who is your whole world is suddenly
gone, not necessarily dead, but just suddenly not there. Is .
. . life just
another TV show, to be cancelled on a whim, or on a
random compulsion
that someone who said they loved you suddenly
doesn't?
Of course,
this is why people get religious, finding someone or thing that
[maybe] isn't real but won't disappear.
We don't
realize how close we are to disaster, to bankruptcy, to starvation,
to extinction, but this is one day when things like this are not talked
about.
The conversation this day is more about mice pie and
fireplaces. The other
stuff if you are lucky can wait until
tomorrow.
If you're
not lucky, well, those are people who are wondering alongside
the
road this day, stomachs growling, tears stifled back in novocaine
numbness while wondering what the bleak future holds for them ,
trying
to find a warm place to light a match or sip some soup.
They walk
past houses where muffled melodies of Christmas carols
and savory
smells of sumptuous meals waft across frozen driveways
and into
slushy streets, walking somewhere, they don't really know
where, just somewhere where they maybe can forget for a while the
things
that they don't have, and might never get. Their toes get very
cold.
The real
secret is finding someone who needs a Christmas and giving
it to
them, unexpectedly and without strings.
There is
this old phrase -- the gift returns to the giver always.
That's
how you get out of the spiral of despair, and feeling
worthless.
(John Kamininski)
Empowerment
This is the
victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.
(I John 5:4)
The
writer of a devotional book I read more than forty years ago --
a
book whose
author and title I have forgotten -- made an interesting
point about the Holy
Spirit. The writer described the Spirit, in a
phrase I have
not
forgotten, as "the humblest person in the Godhead."
(Norman
Pittenger, The Lure of Divine Love)
Regarding the work at Azusa Street, it was started by William Joseph Seymour, a one-eyed, colored man,
the son of former slaves.
Some dozen others, also of humble
attainments, means, and origins, some white, some black, joined with
brother Seymour, April 7th,
1906, in a 10-day fast at the home of Richard and Ruth Asberry,
214 North Bonnie Brae St.
On the third day, April
9th, the Spirit fell first on one of their group, then on six. On the 12th,
after praying unceasingly through the night, the Spirit fell on brother Seymour. As a neighbor who witnessed
these events reported:
They shouted
three days and three nights. It was Easter season.
The people came from everywhere. By the next morning there was
no
way of getting near the house. As people came in they would
fall
under God's power; and the whole city was stirred. They
shouted
until the foundation of the house gave way, but no one was
hurt.
On April 14th the first meeting was held at 312 Azusa St.
For the princely sum of $8 a month, they were able to secure a 40' x 60', two-story, flat roofed structure
located in Los Angeles'
ghetto district. It was in bad need of repair, having previously
been used to stable horses. Nevertheless, boards were placed on empty nail kegs to
make for benches and with horseflies yet rising from bare earth floors
to annoy visitors, the meetings began and what meetings they were!
On April 17th, the Los Angeles Daily Times sent a reporter whose story
the next day was prominently headlined on the front page:
WEIRD BABBLE OF TONGUES.
The subtitle was: New Sect of
Fanatics Is Breaking Loose.
An observer more sympathetic than the LA Times described the order of services in this way:
No
instruments of music are used. None are needed. No choir
. . .
No collections are taken. No bills have been posted to
advertise
the meetings. No church organization is back of it.
All who are in
touch with God realize as soon as they enter the
meetings that the
Holy Ghost is the leader.
For one three-year stretch, services were conducted seven days a week,
three times a day, with people from all over the world attending.
The lost were saved, the sick were healed, and those who were demonized
were delivered.
As one early participant, Frank Bartleman, wrote:
There was
much persecution, especially from the press. They wrote us
up
shamefully, but this only drew the crowds. Some gave the work
only
six months to live. Soon the meetings were running day
and night.
I never met a
man [as Brother Seymour] who had such control over his
spirit. The scripture that
reads, "Great peace have they that love thy
law, and nothing shall
offend them," was literally fulfilled in this man.
No amount of
confusion and accusation seemed to distract him. He
would sit
behind that packing case [which constituted the pulpit] and
smile at us
until we were all condemned by our own activities. It was
the
wonderful character of this man whom God had chosen that attracted
the
people to keep coming to this humble meeting.
The "color
line" was washed away in the blood. A. S. Worrell, translator
of the New Testament, declared the "Azusa" work had rediscovered
the
blood of Christ to the church at that time.
Friday, June
15, at 'Azusa,' the Spirit dropped the heavenly chorus' into
my
soul. I found myself suddenly joining the rest who had
received this
supernatural 'gift.' It was a spontaneous
manifestation and rapture
no earthly tongue can describe. In
the beginning this manifestation was
wonderfully pure and powerful.
We feared to try to reproduce it, as with
the 'tongues' also.
Now many seemingly have no hesitation in imitating
all of the
'gifts.' They have largely lost their power and influence
because
of this. No one could understand this 'gift of song'
but those who had it.
It was indeed a 'new song,' in the
Spirit. . . . It was a gift from God of
high order, and
appeared among us soon after 'Azusa' began. No one
had
preached it. . . The effect was wonderful on the people. It
brought
a heavenly atmosphere, as though the angels themselves were
present
and joining with us. And possibly they were. It
seemed to still criticism
and opposition, and was hard even for
wicked men to gainsay or ridicule.
Brother
Seymour was recognized as the nominal leader in charge. But
we
had no pope or hierarchy. We were "brethren." We had no
human
program. The Lord Himself was leading. We had no
priest class or priest
craft. These things have come in later,
with the apostatizing of the
movement. We did not even have a
platform or pulpit in the beginning.
All were on a level.
The ministers were servants, according to the true
meaning of the
word.
Brother
Seymour generally sat behind two empty shoe boxes, one on
top of the
other. He usually kept his head inside the top one during the
meeting, in prayer. There was no pride there. The services ran
almost
continuously. The place was never closed or empty.
Seeking souls could
be found under the power all most any hour,
night and day. The people
came to meet God. He was
always there. Hence a continuous meeting.
The meeting
did not depend on the human leader. God's presence became
more
and more wonderful. In that old
building, with its low rafters and
bare floors, God took strong men
and women to pieces, and put them
together again, for His glory.
It was a tremendous overhauling process.
Pride and
self-assertion, self-importance and self-esteem, could not
survive
there. The religious ego preached its own funeral sermon
quickly.
No subjects
or sermons were announced ahead of time, and no special
speakers for
such an hour. No one knew what might be coming, what
God would
do. All was spontaneous, ordered of the Spirit. We
wanted
to hear from God, through whoever he might speak. We
had no "respect
of persons." The rich and educated were the
same as the poor and
ignorant, and found a much harder death to die.
We only recognized
God. All were equal. No flesh might
glory in His presence. He could
not use the self-opinionated.
Those were Holy Ghost meetings, led of
the Lord. It had to
start in poor surroundings, to keep out the selfish,
human element.
Presumptuous
men would sometimes come among us. Especially
preachers who
would try to spread themselves, in self-opinionation.
But
their effort was short lived. The breath would be taken from
them.
Their minds would wander, their brains reel.
Things would turn black
before their eyes. They could not go
on. I never saw one get by with
it in those days. They
were up against God. No one cut them off. We
simply
prayed. The Holy Spirit did the rest. We wanted the
Spirit to
control. He wound them up in short order. They
were carried out dead,
spiritually speaking. They generally
bit the dust in humility, going through
the process we had all gone
through. In other words they died out, came
to see themselves
in all their weakness, then in childlike humility and
confession
were taken up of God, transformed through the mighty
'baptism' in
the Spirit. The old man died with all his pride, arrogancy
and
good works.
No only was the leadership of Azusa Street Mission multi-racial from the
get-go but, horror of horrors, equality of the genders was also
observed. Seymour's one-time teacher and mentor, Charles Parham,
after personally witnessing this state of affairs, stated:
Men and
women, whites and blacks, knelt together or fell across one
another;
frequently a white woman, perhaps of wealth and culture,
could be
seen thrown back in the arms of a "big nigger" and held
tightly thus
as she shivered and shook in freak imitation of Pentecost.
Horrible, awful shame.
From such criticism as this, Seymour further developed his understanding:
During the
first years at Azusa Street, he [Seymour] had put central
emphasis on the gift
of tongues both as the clearest evidence of baptism
in the Spirit
and as a harbinger of the Last Days. But now he began
to
change his mind. Finding that some people could speak in
tongues
and continue to abhor their Black fellow Christians
convinced him that
it was not tongues speaking but the dissolution
of racial barriers that was
the surest sign of the Spirit's
Pentecostal presence and the approaching
New Jerusalem. (Fire
from Heaven, Harvey Cox)
Perpetuating the racial divide, in 1914 the Assemblies of God was formed
to be a whites-only denomination. Nothing new there, for
just as Pentecostalism is a pale reflection of what was happening at
Azusa Street, so also is Catholicism and mainline Protestantism pale reflections of
the first Pentecost, and, for that matter, so also is Judaism a pale reflection of Abraham and Moses.
As they say in the US Navy, the Lord sends meat and the Devil sends
cooks. Same principle. The Good News is what God is doing
with people. The not so good news is what people are doing with
God.
Superficiality or reality?
We are
living in the midst of a culture in the Church that has traded depth
for width in regards to spirituality. We have defined
"success" as the
number of people who attend our services on Sunday,
and the amount of
money in our bank accounts, while our individual
lives, marriages and
families are deteriorating all around us.
A. W. Tozer's quote in Knowledge
of the Holy, which was
written 60 years ago, still rings true today: "We
have lost our
spirit of worship and our ability to withdraw inwardly to
meet God
in adoring silence."
Modern
Christianity is simply not producing the kind of Christian who
can
appreciate or experience the life in the Spirit. The words, "Be
still
and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10a), mean next to
nothing to the
self-confident, bustling worshiper. (Mick Bickle, forward to The Glory
Within: The Interior Life and the
Power of Speaking in Tongues)
Prophecy
The prophets have enquired and searched diligently,
who prophesied
of the grace that should come unto you: searching
what or what
manner of time which the Spirit of Christ in them did
signify, when it
testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and
the glory that should
follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that
not unto themselves, but
unto us they did minister, . . . which
things angels desire to look into.
(I Peter 1:10-12)
This is a delightful subject, not tedious, not censorious. not obscure,
rather, one which angels desire to look into, yet practical enough to
give us useful guidance. I promise, this is a wonderful
adventure of discovery, full of happy surprises, for:
. . . the
scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the
heathen through
faith, preached the gospel before unto
Abraham, saying, In thee
shall all the nations be blessed.
(Galatians 3:8)
Jesus, the universal messiah, blesses
all mankind. But how? Let us start with his teachings, looking
there for practical pointers which will improve our
relationships with family, friends, neighbors and, if we are so
fortunate, with those with whom we are living in face-to-face community, even
as they once did in Jerusalem in
the days of the apostles, when they "had all things in common."
Theirs was a way of life all primitive people once lived, practicing a communal
existence.
From peasants
who live close to the land and from First Nation peoples whose ancient lore and traditions
developed over eons, we can learn many of the very things Jesus would have us to know.
The ultimate goal is the restoration of Eden, an ordering of the world
pleasing to God, a peaceable kingdom, where the lamb can lie down with
the lion, this to be realized in its
fullness of time on Jesus' return, when the meek shall inherit the earth,
after which each family will live at peace under its own fig tree.
But the process of restoration begins now in our hearts, which then carries
over to our relationships and into our way of life. Thus can we testify to the truth of Jesus' words
until such time as he returns in force.
The history of the last 2000
years is writ large for all to see, that the CHURCH AND THE SYNAGOGUE
HAVE MADE A TERRIBLE HASH OF THINGS.
It's not that there hasn't been some bright
moments and some bright personalities, a Francis of Assisi, a Mother Teresa, but much has
happened which is hard, nay, impossible to defend. It is late in the day to
be
redefining what Christianity is or attempting to restore it to a better
state, yet the obligation remains to point out that to the extent that
it has succumbed to the Zionists, to the same extent has it placed itself on a superhighway leading deeper and deeper into night.
As for ourselves, on the individual level, let us turn around from destruction. The challenge this web site
accepts is to set the record straight, as straight as the
Gospel itself, by pointing out that a better way exists, albeit it is a road seldom travelled,
over a bridge rarely crossed, to vistas not often
seen.
The Cosmic Christ
As we see in the biblical verses above, in the Law and
the Prophets, Jesus was once concealed but now in the Gospels he stands
fully revealed.
That the
Gospel could be preached beforehand is because, as "the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13:8), Jesus
was beforehand redeeming the world. Let us not suppose, therefore,
that
the Gospel originated with Matthew or
Mark, for long before their time the Gospel was revealed, albeit
seminally, in seed form.
Just as it is possible sometimes that a child will learn to walk before
it learns to crawl, so also is it possible for us to leap over the
former writings and go straight to the Gospel. But when a
child learns to walk before it crawls, there can be a deficit in its
walk which learning to crawl can remedy. Likewise, it will often
pay us rich dividends to go back to the former writings as preparation
to the study and application of the latter writings.
In
Genesis, 3:15 is the first prophecy of Jesus made with promise but
prior to that there is genesis, a word whose meaning is "beginning":
"In the
beginning . . . all things were made by him
[Jesus]" (John 1:1,3)
How can there be a work of restoration if there wasn't something in
the first place worth restoring? But of course there was something
worth restoring, namely God's Creation in its primitive, pristine glory.
By reason of the fall, the visage of the world has suffered effacement.
This,
however, does not negate Jehovah God's original
pronouncement that what He created is "good." There is
Good News inherent in the very scheme of things underlying the fabric of existence.
Proverbs, chapter 8, provides us with an authoritative,
firsthand elaboration of Genesis:, chapter 1:
Jehovah possessed
me in the beginning of his way,
before his works of old.
I was set up from
everlasting, from the beginning,
or ever the earth was.
When there was no
depths, I was brought forth;
when there were no
fountains abounding with water.
Before the
mountains were settled,
before the hills I was brought forth:
while as yet he
had not made the earth,
nor the fields,
nor the highest part of the dust of the world.
When he prepared
the heavens, I was there:
when he set a
compass on the face of the depth:
when he
established the clouds above:
when he
strengthened the fountains in the deep:
when he gave to
the sea his degree,
that the waters
should not pass his commandment:
when he appointed
the foundations of the earth:
then I was by him,
as one brought up with him:
and I was daily
his delight, rejoicing always before him;
rejoicing in
the habitable part of his earth;
and my delights
were the sons of men.
This
is
Good News, indeed! Jesus was with God from the
beginning, delighting in the sons of man when they were yet living in
the Edenic state and in balance with God's creation.
"Before Abraham was I am." (John 8:58)
If Jesus pre-existed Abraham, then he also pre-existed Jews, Judea,
and the tribe
of Judah. That he was the
Jewish Messiah is true enough, only to stop there is limiting or parochial. He
was also a carpenter or a mammalian but who in their right mind would
stop there in characterizing who he was? Personified as
the Wisdom of God, Jesus speaks to us, saying:
"Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children:
for blessed are they that keep my ways.
Here instruction and be wise, and refuse it not.
blessed is the man that heareth me,
watching daily at my gates,
waiting at the posts of my doors.
For whoso findeth me findeth life,
and shall obtain favor of Jehovah.
But he that sinneth against me
wrongeth his own soul:
all they that hate me love death."
Please note in the quotes above from Proverbs, besides there being a "he" and a "him," there is
also the narrator's "I"
and "me." If Jesus is the
"I," who then is the "he"? The text itself at its outset plainly
tells us: "Jehovah." And
thus we see existing two
distinct individuals, with one subordinate to the other. Jesus is
not Jehovah. Jehovah is not Jesus. Though they share the
same moral and spiritual constitution, they are still two distinct
individuals.
If above Jesus is the
one "brought forth,"
does this
not accords
with all else we know about him, that he
is not God? Rather:
He is the
image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
(Colossians 1:15-16)
As a
flawless
mirror held up to God, Jesus perfectly reflects the light of God.
Since the image of an object is not the object itself, it stands to
reason that the only-begotten son
is someone other than the unbegotten father.
"Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." (I Corinthians
1:24)
Having godly attributes and being God are two different things. Thus when
Jesus
prayed, he prayed to God, the Father, he didn't pray to himself and, likewise,
he taught us to pray, not to
himself but to the Father. Yes, we also speak to Jesus, our living Lord, even as in the closing words of
the Book of Revelation:
"Come Lord Jesus, Come."
But what of the familiar translation opening John's Gospel?:
"the word was with God and the word was God?"
That might
be better translated,
"the Word was with God and the word was divine."
As Christians we have a threefold experience God, even as Paul said:
The grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the
communion
of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14)
God manifests as transcendent, that is to say, He is above creation, but
also as immanent, that is in creation. If God were only above
Creation, then He would be remote from us but He is in us, even as
Tertullian said:
"When you
see your brother, you see your Lord."
As Geoffrey Lampe put it in his book God as Spirit:
Those who
talk of meting and speaking to Jesus would find it hard
to
explain the difference between that experience and encountering,
or being
encountered by, God: and in fact I think the latter is what
they
actually mean: they are experiencing God who was in Jesus,
God who
is, therefore, recognized by reference to the revelatory
experience recorded in the New Testament and reflected upon in
the whole
subsequent Christian tradition.
Yet to more fully appreciate the action of God, it helps to see Him not
only acting upon His Creation, or or within His Creation, but alongside
His Creation, involved in every creative event, for the Spirit is active
not only in the Christian life but in all of history and in the natural
order. As Norman Piuttenger put it in his book The Lure of
Divine Love:
It has
been conventional in philosophy of religion to talk of God as
transcendent and as immanent. But there is possible a third
term, not
commonly
found in such conventional discussion: "concomitance."
The
triunitarian picture intimates that God's activity in creation, and
hence God
in the depths of the divine nature, is both inexhaustible and
unexhausted, and therefore that God is "in" the creation, luring it
to
response
and self-fulfillment, and therefore that God is immanent. But
it also
intimates that God is (as I like to put it) also "alongside" or
"with"
the
creation, acting not only upon it and within it but also as
self-identified
with each
and every created event or occasion. . . . this . . . may very
well be
summed up in the versicle and response familiar to many in the
"Catholic" churches:
Versicle: Let us bless the Father and the Son with the Holy
Spirit:
Response: Let us praise and exult him for ever.
I have
italicized the pronoun him because it makes clear that no matter
what we
say about "threeness," we are committed also, and preeminently
to the
"oneness" or unity of the basic thrust and drive in things we call
"God."
Trinitarians
tend to shy away from identifying Jesus with the first
person narrator of Proverbs chapter 8 and I think I know why, for
he described himself as having been created and of his continuing
in subordination to the Father, facts which are not easily squared with the traditional
Trinitarian formulation that the Son is "uncreated" and "co-equal."
If in the
face of Proverbs, chapter 8, one can still be a Trinitarian, so
be it, my purpose is not so much to rock anyone's theological applecart as
it is to reclaim Proverbs as an essential
component to the Gospel.
... what
has prevented a serious rejuvenation of biblical theology is not the
failure
of theologians/dogmaticians to talk to biblical scholars, and the
reverse.
This is but a symptom of a form of specialization whose more
damaging
strain persists at the level of biblical studies itself, namely the
relative
isolation of the Old Testament from the New Testament at the
level of
interpretation, at the level of instruction, publication, and
serious
theological reflection. . . . the
interpreter's task is to explore the witness
of the
Old and New with reference to its subject matter, Jesus Christ.
(Christopher Seitz, Word without End)
Canonicity
Another text I would like to reclaim as antecedent to the Gospel is the Wisdom of
Solomon, a book appearing in the Catholic Bible, also in the
Orthodox Bible, but absent since the mid-19th century from most
Protestants' Bibles, having been excised under a Judaising tendency
which was
then becoming operative in the English-speaking world. It was then
that Protestantism synchronized its Old Testament Bible with that recognized by the synagogue
in lieu of
historical Christian practice.
Truly Origen spoke aright when he observed that:
The beginning of the Gospel is nothing but the whole
Old Testament.
Do we really know what the Nazarene's were reading as "Old
Testament"? If we do not know what they were reading as
Scripture, how will we truly appreciate what they were writing as
Scripture?
For the ungodly said, reasoning with themselves, but
not aright,
Our life is short and tedious,
and in the death of a man there is no remedy;
neither was there any man known to have returned from
the grave.
For we are born at all adventure: and we shall be
hereafter as though
we had never been: for the breath in our nostrils is
as smoke,
and a little spark in the moving of our hearts,
which being extinguished our body shall be turned
into ashes
and our spirit shall vanish as the soft air;
And our name shall be forgotten in time
And no man shall have our works in remembrance,
and our life shall pass away as the trace of a cloud,
and shall be dispersed as a mist,
that is driven away with the beams of the sun,
and overcome with the heat thereof.
For our time is a very shadow that passeth away;
and after our end there is no returning:
for it is fast sealed, so that no man cometh again.
Come on therefore, let us enjoy the good things that
are present:
and let us speedily use the creatures like as in
youth.
Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and ointments;
and let no flower of the spring pass us by.
Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds, before they be
withered:
Let us none of us go without his of our
voluptuousness:
let us leave tokens of our joyfulness in every place;
for this is our portion, and our lot is this.
Let us oppress the poor righteous man,
let us not
spare the widow,
nor reverence the ancient gray hairs of the aged.
Let our strength be the law of justice:
for that which is feeble is found to be of nothing
worth.
Therefore let us lie in wait for the righteous;
because he is not of our turn,
and he is clean contrary to our doings;
he upbraideth us with our offending the law,
and objecteth to our infamy the transgressing of our
education.
He professeth to have the knowledge of God;
and he calleth himself the child of the Lord.
He was made to reprove our thoughts.
He is grievous unto us even to behold:
for his life is not like other men's,
his ways are of another fashion.
We are esteemed of him as counterfeits:
he abstaineth from our ways as from filthiness:
he pronounceth the end of the just to be blessed,
and maketh his boast that God is his father.
Let us see if his words be true:
and let us prove what shall happen in the end of him.
For if the just man be the son of God, he will help
him,
and deliver him from the hand of his enemies.
Let us examine him with despitefulness and torture,
that we may know his meekness, and prove his
patience.
Let us condemn him with a shameful death:
for by his own sayings he shall be respected.
Such things they did imagine, and were deceived:
for their own wickedness hath blinded them.
As for the mysteries of God, they knew them not:
neither hoped they for the wages of righteousness,
nor discerned a reward for blameless souls.
For God created man to be immortal,
and made him to to be an image of his own eternity.
Nevertheless through envy of the devil
came death
into the world;
and they that do hold fast of his side do find it.
(chapter 2:1-24)
Allusions to the
Wisdom of Solomon are widely spread in the New Testament:
. . . the Book of Wisdom presents a wonderful
preparation to the New
Testament Revelation. The New Testament
writers appear perfectly
familiar
with this deutero-canonical
writing (cf. Matthew 27:42-43, with
Wisdom
2:13-18; Romans 11:34, with Wisdom 9:13; Ephesians 6:13-17,
with Wisdom
5:18-19; Hebrews
1:3, with Wisdom 7:26, etc. It is true
that to justify their
rejection of the Book of Wisdom from the Canon,
many Protestants
have
claimed that in 8:19-20, its author admits the
error of the
pre-existence of
the human soul. But this incriminating
passage, when viewed in the light of its context, yields a perfectly
orthodox sense. (New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia)
Who are wisdom's children? Jesus went to his own and his own
received him not but as many as received him gave he power to become the
sons of God and co-heirs with himself in the kingdom to come.
. . . and I say unto you, that many shall come from
the east and the
west and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, in the
kingdom of heaven, but the children of the kingdom
shall be cast out
into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.
(Matthew 8:11-12)
Was Jesus a rebellious son or was he an obedient son?
A
body of opinion existing from antiquity called "Gnostic"
has long maintained the antithetical perspective, whereby Jesus is seen as
working antithetically against Jehovah God, such that Jehovah is
Judgment, Jesus, forgiveness; Jehovah is for Law, Jesus, for grace;
Jehovah is Old Covenant, Jesus, New Covenant. This leads
inexorably to a conclusion of discontinuity between Testaments, Old and
New. Functionally, many
an evangelical Christian,
in claiming
that Grace replaces Law, comes out in the same place. Those of
such persuasion might benefit from reflecting on this saying of
Jesus:
"Think not that I am not come to
destroy (bind/remit/set aside)
the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill." (Matthew 5:17)
By his ministry of reconciliation
which culminated in his impalement, Jesus
filled to the brim the cup of revelation
which the Law and the Prophets had filled only partially. Thus his cry
from the stake of impalement: "it is finished." What was finished?
The work of reconciliation, for Jesus was the be-all and end-all
of God's redemptive plan. As the
ancient Gaelic song, To the Seed of Christ, put it so poetically:
Christ's is the seed
And
Christ's the harvest
Christ is the sea
Christ is the fish
From
birth to age
From
age to death
Types and Antitypes
The gospel's
are not biographies in any normal sense of the term. True, they
contain some biographical information but not of a sort as would satisfy
our curiosity about the psychological development of their protagonist,
Jesus. For instance, there is nary a single reference to Jesus
between the age of 12 and 30. What kind of biography is that?
To understand this genre we have to look elsewhere for an explanation.
Unlike any other
body of writing, Holy Writ contains within it an elaborate scheme of types
and antitypes, being in part prophetic pre-figurements with their
fulfillments. This is where the universal or cosmic aspect comes
into play:
The first
man Adam, became a living soul. The last Adam became a
life-giving spirit. . . . Nevertheless death reigned from Adam
unto
Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of
the
offense of Adam, who is a type of him who was to come. . . . the
spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. Therefore let no
one act as your judge in regard to food or drink
or in respect to a
festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day -- which
things are mere
shadows of what is to come but the substance belongs
to Christ.
(I
Corinthians 15:45, Romans 5:14, I Corinthians 15:46,
Colossians
2:16-17)
From this we
are able to see a progression from the natural, earthly,
material type to the spiritual, heavenly anti-type. It is movement from
shadow to reality.
. . . on
earth . . . there are priests that offer gifts according to the Law:
who
serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things . . . (Hebrews
8:4-5)
The
Passover lamb is a type. Jesus, the lamb of God, is the anti-type.
Jehovah thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet
from the midst
of thee,
of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye
shall harken; . . .
(Deuteronomy
18:15)
Moses is the
type; Jesus, the antitype.
"And as
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even
so the Son of
Man be lifted up; . . ." (John 3:14)
In this
instance, the serpent is
the type and Christ, the anti-type. Thus are the gospels constructed
with the idea of fulfillment in mind.
And [the
Holy Family] was there [in Egypt] until the death of Herod:
that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet,
saying,
Out of Egypt have I called my son.
(Matthew 2:15)
Here Matthew
is quoting Hosea 11 which is not strictly speaking a messianic
prediction at all, rather, a factual statement about Israel having been called out
of Egypt. Why then did Matthew quote it? Because when one
looks into the matter, what one will discover is that Jesus IS the
Israel of God, that it was Jesus who wrestled with Jacob through the
night and lent to Jacob a new name, namely, his own title Is-ra-el,
Prince of EL, EL being Hebrew for God. And Jacob lent this name to
his progeny. And so to this day, in continuity with God's original
intention, Jesus' followers are the Israel of God, not some
interloper political entity currently posing by that name.
Shepherd of the flock
Let Jehovah, the God of
the spirits of all flesh, designate a man over the
community who
will go out before them, who will come back before them,
who will lead them out,
who will bring them back; so that the community
of Jehovah will not be
like a flock that has no shepherd. (Numbers 27:16)
One might reasonably claim that the above quote applies to Joshua, son
of Nun, and not to his namesake, Jesus ("Jesus" being, after all, just
another way to say "Joshua" only in Greek, not in Hebrew.) But
once we see Joshua as a type of Jesus, or Jesus as Joshua's anti-type,
we might reconsider the matter. For example, Moses could get the people
out of Egypt but he couldn't get them in to the Promised
Land. Alas, he who was able to cross the Red Sea was unable to cross
River Jordan. Yet to secure Moses' victory required crossing both
bodies of water. That is where Joshua,
God's appointed successor to Moses, came to the rescue, for he took the
people across River Jordan dry shod.
Likewise, Jesus, God's appointed successor to Moses, achieved on
the spiritual plane that which Joshua had achieved on the physical
plane, for:
"the Law came
by Moses but grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1:17)
Again, the progression is from the material to the spiritual, from the
earthly to the heavenly. Of Joshua who remained loyal to Moses,
loyal to God, it is written:
Joshua was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for
Moses had laid hands
on him; and
the sons of Israel listened to
Joshua and did as Jehovah
had commanded Moses.
(Deuteronomy 34:9)
Yet Joshua, who "was filled with the wisdom of God" could not begin to
compare with Jesus who IS the wisdom of God personified, as in
Proverbs, chapter 8:
"I am understanding; I have strength. By
me kings
reign and princes decree justice." (Proverbs
8:14-15)
Joshua is described above as a shepherd
who leads the people into the Promised Land but
Jesus is the good shepherd who leads people across an allegorical River
Jordan to the Promised Land above, or the kingdom to come on Earth. As was Joshua appointed to preside
over the Israelite community, so also was Jesus, for:
Christ is the head of the community:
and he is the
savior of the body.
(Ephesians 5:23)
Just as David shall never want for a son to sit, on the throne of the
house of Israel because Jesus is that son, so also the Levitical
priesthood shall never want for a man to do sacrifice continually
because Jesus, too, is that man.
Mighty deeds, mighty words
Joshua, Israel's mightiest general, fought the battle of Jericho, yet Jesus,
is an even mightier general, who has brought more rebels to stack arms
and surrender to the will of God than any other, for he is:
“. . . mighty in
deed and word.” (Luke 23:11)
So said Cleopas,
the
brother of Joseph (the husband of Mary, mother of Jesus) of his
nephew, Jesus.
Taking this statement as our starting point, let us observe that Mark’s
Gospel records Jesus’ mighty deeds -- but relatively few of his teachings -- while Matthew’s
Gospel, if we subtract from it those parts clearly word-for-word dependent
on Mark, has not many additional mighty deeds, but it does record many of Jesus’ mighty
words, most notably the Sermon on the Mount, but also the Temple discourse,
the Mount of Olives discourse, the Seaside Discourse, and so on.
"That which we have seen and heard declare we unto
you.” (I John 1:3)
Since it purports to be based on witnessed events,
whether those witnesses be eyewitnesses ("that which we have seen")
or ear-witnesses
("that which we have heard"), the Christian faith is rightly
described as a historic faith. Let us hold it to that standard.
Either it is true history or else it is falsified history, one or the
other, but let us not equivocate or beat about the bush, by writing it
off as beautiful mythology. That is just a cop-out.
The presence in the gospels of an allegorical/metaphorical component is not to be denied
(it is a Hebraic trait): for
instance, the gift of gold the wise men laid
at baby Jesus' feet could be described as representing the commitment of
their financial means;
likewise, the gift of frankincense symbolized the sweet fragrance of their
prayers; as well, their gift of myrrh, an embalming spice, could be described
as representing the mortifying of the soul as occurs in illness and
death. Taken together, the wise
men's gifts represent the full range of human commitment. None of this
symbolism, however, need be seen as militating against the historical
event.
Both to do and teach
Having advanced with all seriousness the claim to historicity, let us
move on to explore the possibility that there were two lines of transmission, one
having to do with what the apostles saw, the other having to do with
what they heard, for, as it is written:
And the
apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him
all
things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.
(Mark
6:30)
. . . all that Jesus began both to do and teach.
(Acts 1:1)
Thus we see the
evangelists distinguishing what was "done" from what was "taught" --
distinguishing deeds
and words, a duel witness.
We have seen what a large consensus
there is of scholars,
approaching the study
of the Synoptic Gospels from
very
different directions, in favour of some form
of the theory
which
postulates as the duration of our present gospels two
main documents . . . which correspond
sufficiently well with
the two works
described
by Papias, the “Notes of the Preaching
of St.
Peter” put together by St. Mark
and the “collection
of Logia” – oracles
and utterances – of the Lord set down
in
writing by St. Matthew.
(William Sanday)
That the apostles
were disposed to distinguish Jesus’ deeds
from his words can be explained on purely pragmatic grounds, from the
standpoint of a natural division of labor, for the transcription of speech
differs markedly from the recording of events. From antiquity, the one
credited with recording Jesus’ words was Matthew. And who in Jesus’
entourage would have been better able to do this than he? for, as a former
tax-collector, he would have been a skilled record-keeper. But whether it
was he or another, the transcription of Jesus’ sayings are so detailed, so
specific, as to have a you-are-there feeling of immediacy. One can only
suppose this to have been achieved by dictation, which, in that day and time
could have been accomplished by use of a wax-coated slate inscribed by a stylus. After that, at leisure, a more durable parchment or papyrus record could
have been made.
On the
evidence of three witnesses shall a matter be established.
(LXX Deuteronomy 19:15)
Three members of Jesus’
entourage were specially taken into his confidence: Peter, James and
John. These were the three who accompanied Jesus up the Mount
of Transfiguration and for other missions as well. Witnesses par excellent, it is
not unreasonable to suppose
that they might have collaborated in creating an early deeds gospel. Then, too, their
recollections may have been augmented by a contemporaneously-kept
travelogue. Note the gospels’ specificity regarding the names of towns and
of individuals. Perhaps such a log once existed for the purpose of
tracking contributions, this to satisfy Roman taxing authorities.
For more than a century, a heated scholarly debate has raged on over the existence of “Q” (“Q”
being short
for
“Quelle,” German for “source”), a hypothetical collection of
Jesus’ sayings which presumably once existed. And probably
such a collection -- or multiple such collections -- did indeed once exist,
not that we have any reports from antiquity confirming this,
much less have we any surviving fragments,
and so this is purely speculative guesswork. Now there is
nothing inherently wrong with making educated guesses. However, beyond all speculation,
there is the Gospel of Mark, which is mostly deeds, and there is the Gospel of
Matthew, which is mostly Mark combined with lengthy discourses.
In other words, Matthew (and also Luke) are seeded with
many authentic sayings of Jesus. It would be a mite churlish,
would it not, our not being properly grateful for what we do have, rather than
constantly pining away for what we don't have?
In some cases, words and deeds are inseparably entwined, as when a teaching
emerges through the commission of a deed, for instance, the disciples' failing to
exorcize a demonic spirit and Jesus' having to explain to them that this kind
goes out only by prayer and fasting (Mark 9:29), but at other times, large
blocks of teaching are presented, unprompted by any immediate circumstance. Each
section has its own introductory and each concludes a statement, something
like: “When Jesus had finished saying these things.” An example of this are
the five distinct discourses by Jesus in Matthew (chapters:
v-vii; x; xiii; xviii; xxiii-xxv). Perhaps at one time there circulated sayings
gospels having their own specialized material: kingdom saying, or table
talk, or parables. Such speculation is prompted by the complex relationship
between Luke and Matthew.
The Sermon on the Mount
presents unusual complications in the
matter of
sources. Of the
Sermon's 111 verses, about 45 have no
obvious parallels
in Luke, 35 have loose parallels,
and 31 have
parallels which are close both
in content and in phraseology. The
curious
feature of this evidence is [that]
. . . the close parallels are
unusually
close, and the loose
parallels are unusually
loose!
(Harvey K. McArthur,
Understanding the Sermon on the Mount)
Luke takes a more thematic
approach than does Matthew, for instance, grouping together
material relating to prayer or forgiveness or wealth. Matthew,
on the other hand, takes what I call an architectural approach, creating
balanced teaching sections suitable for extended study of Jesus'
teaching ministry quite apart from the
narrative flow, whereas Luke tends to root his teachings in the
narrative.
When the gospel first came into existence, the codex
format (what
we might call a “bound book”) was not a commonplace item, that is, if it existed at all,
whereas, from antiquity, the customary practice was to utilize a scroll
format. Yet a certain impracticality attaches to the use of scrolls when
they are required to hold too lengthy a text for they become unwieldy. This
limitation alone might have made it desirable to separate words and deeds.
But it can also be good to have narration, unbroken by teaching, and
teaching, unbroken by narration. When eventually the day came that the Church chose to bind together the
four gospel accounts and, eventually, with them, bind together the entire New Testament,
then of a necessity the codex format had to be innovated, if, that is, it didn't
already exist or else utilized, if it did already exist.
Synagogue
Practice and the Gospel
We do not know when Mark’s Gospel
first appeared. Personally, I posit the appearance of an early edition
following within a couple of years the first Pentecost
simply because the apostles just could not have restrained themselves
for very long from telling the greatest story ever told. If they hadn't told it
someone else would have. But even if one
allows for some decades to have passed, the point remains the same, that this was a time when believers were active
yet in the Temple and
also in the synagogues.
Indeed, Mark’s Gospel might have represented a bid on their part to have the story of Jesus’
ministry read in the synagogue in lectio continua (that is, in its
entirety and in its order), this in conjunction with the reading of the
Torah which has always been accorded this treatment.
The Home Community
This we know for
a certainty, that first the
rabbinical authorities made believers most unwelcome in their synagogues
and,
later, had them kicked out altogether. This could only have
worked as an inducement for believers to develop their worship of God in
the context of one
another's homes. In his magisterial magnum opus, The Gospels and Jewish Worship, the late Dirk
Monshouwer wrote:
Matthew . . . edits the subject matter available once again to
make it
suitable for those congregations where the center of worship was no
longer
in the synagogue but in the home. . . . It is justifiably pointed
out that a number of times Matthew speaks of 'their synagogue' (4:23;
9:35; 10:17;
12:9; 13:54; cf. 23:34). This could indicate, of course, that
Matthew was aware of the increasing distance to the Jewish synagogue.
With their synagogue connection becoming ever more
tenuous, first faltering, then failing altogether, believers probably felt impelled
to augment their love feast
commemorating Jesus' having rising from the dead on the first day of the week,
with extended readings from the Scriptures, something that was no longer
able to participate in once their synagogue connection had been severed. In that regard, by all accounts we
have from that era, Matthew's Gospel was the one they most favored.
In this way was the synagogue's educational function moved from the seventh day to the first. But, in
fact, there is so much of value in all the gospel accounts that over time
there arose a desire to combine and harmonize them.
It is well-known to scholars that the attempt to
combine the four Gospels
of the New Testament canon into a single
connected and consistent account
has been a favorite occupation from
very earliest days of the Church. . . .
It was
natural enough that scribes should not wish to repeat ab initio
the
task of arranging the four gospels into a story, just as it was
natural that
they should wish to have such a story, either for
private study or for use
as a church lectionary. (J. Rendel Harris)
Lectionary defined
A lectionary is a cycle of biblical readings for the
church or synagogue
year. In the Syria Orthodox Church . . scripture readings are
assigned
for Sundays and feast days, for each day of Lent and for holy weeks,
for raising people to various offices of the Church, for the blessing of Holy
Oil and various services such as baptisms and funerals.
(Syria Orthodox Church web site)
There are many who derive comfort from the thought that
millions of others are on the same page they are on.
That is the denominational imperative at work. Others derive equal
comfort from knowing that they are beholden to no man or organization,
that their unique calling requires their working by their own
schedule, not anyone else's. Let each be convinced in his own mind
as to the right
way to proceed. Conformist, non-conformist, in the final analysis
the only real issue is that of being transformed by the renewing of our
minds by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Wrote one scholar, M. D. Goulder:
A Gospel is not a literary genre at all, the study of
Matthew reveals;
it is a liturgical genre. A Gospel is a lectionary
book. . . . The theory
I wish to propose is a lectionary theory: that is, that the Gospel
was developed liturgically, and was intended to be used
liturgically,
and that its order is liturgically significant, in that it
follows the lections
of the Jewish year. Matthew, I believe, wrote his
Gospel to be
read in Church round the year; he took the Jewish Festal Year,
and the pattern of lectons prescribed therefore, as his base, and it is
possible to descry from ms. evidence for which feast, and for
which
Sabbath/Sunday, and even on occasion for which service, any
particular verse
was intended.
Goulder's crack above that a Gospel "is not a literary genre
at all"
but, rather, a "liturgical genre," falls wide of the mark and merits rebutting.
To begin with, by reason of their many unique features,
all the various gospels are
reasonably identified as occupying a
literary category all their own. Beyond that, as with the Law, as with the Prophets,
indeed, as with all the books of the Bible, there is a strong
presumption that they exist as much for private study as for public
service. Besides, who is Guilder or anyone else to be so prescriptive?
Each of us has come up under different
circumstances, and has his or her own learning style, needs and
potentialities.
If common sense were not enough to inform us in
this regard, there is always the example of Philip, the evangelist, who overtook
an Ethiopian in a chariot reading aloud to himself from Isaiah.
What did Philip ask the Ethiopian, why do you read aloud to yourself?
No, of course not. That's preposterous. He asked:
"Understandest thou
what thou readest?" (Acts 8:30)
The Ethiopian's response:
"How can I except some man should guide me."
Evidently private study has a place in the scheme of
things. Evidently human guides have a place in the scheme of
things. Evidently accurate knowledge has a place in the scheme of
things. Regarding the verse he had
been reading in Isaiah, the Ethiopian asked Philip:
"Of whom speaketh the prophet?
"He was lead as a sheep to the slaughter and like
a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not
his mouth." (Isaiah
53:7)
Philip, knowing that Jesus is the Wisdom
of God, knew, as well, that he is the key that
unlocks the Scriptures, for without Jesus the
Scriptures are incomplete (like a hug without a kiss).
Knowing that Jesus is the meaning behind the meaning of
Scripture, Philip knew of a certainty that Jesus was the
very person meant
by Isaiah in the passage above. So satisfied
was the Ethiopian by the responses he was receiving from Philip, that before day's end
he
took the plunge and entered
the waters of baptism.
Whether the word comes to us through
the liturgy or through private study, it matters not, the important thing
being that there is a heart-felt
response, or what is this all about, anyhow? If we know what we know only intellectually, what is that to us? for head knowledge one does not
feel, a heart estranged can never heal. It is not "Thy word, O
Lord, have we learned by rote in a church service." Nor is it "Thy
word, O Lord, have I hid in my notebook." Rather, it is the
personal commitment of the psalmist who said to God:
"Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee."
(Psalm 119:11)
Of
course, liturgical and didactic usage compliment, for it was never
intended to be an
either/or proposition. Even so, no
amount of private study and no amount of exposure to public liturgy,
per
se, is necessarily going to do the trick. Just hear Jesus'
words to the most overtly
religious people of his day, the Pharisees:
"Ye search the scriptures because ye think in them
ye
have eternal life; and these are they which bear
witness of me; and ye
will not come to me, that ye
may have life." (John 5:39-40)
There is no gainsaying M. Goulder's contention that the gospels
were meant to function as liturgy. I only question his
assumption that the evangelists were miraculously anticipating developments
occurring generations
after their own time. After all, 200 years passed before
buildings suitable to hold a congregation began to be constructed.
For centuries believers operated sub rosa. There was good
reason for their doing so, their religion was not licit,
but illicit.
Lacking sanction by the Roman authorities, their religion was illegal.
Arises then the question: were the
evangelists attempting to address the needs of an institution that didn't then exist,
one that only gained public sanction under Constantine in the 4th
century,
or were they, rather, addressing the immediate needs of Jewish Christians who were either attending
Sabbath synagogue services and/or meeting in one another's homes?
There was liturgy
suited to home-based service. Wrote Dirk Monshouwer:
The major presupposition of
this study is that a relationship exists
between Bible and liturgy.
All too often liturgy relating to Scripture
is regarded as a secondary issue, dealing only with the use of the texts.
In exegesis, especially in biblical research into the original
and/or
historical meaning of the texts, there is too little awareness of the fact
that also
in large part the origin of Scripture lies in liturgy. New
Testament exegesis has
always been very involved with the stage
preceding the texts in their current
form. Liturgical research, on the
other hand, took the Gospels for granted and studied
the next stage,
asking which pericopes the Church had taken from the
Gospels and
other biblical books in order to compose lectionaries.
I would like to put forward a threefold
proposition:
The beginning of both Scripture and
liturgy lies in their
interaction.
The first Sitz im leben
of the
Gospels and of the Torah is
liturgy.
Tole lege (Augustine)
means quite simply: "Take the book, lift it up,
and read aloud." In the Torah, the
permanent interaction in worship
of acting and hearing is reflected upon in the
remarkable formula 'we
will do and we will hear' (Ex. 24:7). The more
logical order 'we will
hear and we will do', can be found in Deut. 5:27. Reading
and acting
go together; they precede obedience. 'Then he [Moses] took the account
of
the covenant and read it in the ears of the people. They said: All
that YHWH has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!' (Ex 24:7)
In the second century, as we know from Justin Martyr’s Apology (c. 150 AD),
First Day worship continued to evolve, with gospel reading
being done from a harmony called the Memoirs of the Apostles.
This harmony contained only the synoptic gospels, not John's. (By
the way, all of
this was well prior to the rise of monastic Christianity, with its
reliance on the lectionary for daily readings and prior to the
Diastessaron's having been composed.
Few doubt that the first Christians used a Jewish
lectionary cycle
of readings either from one or three years. But the need to include
the
gospel stories of Jesus into the life and consciousness of the
Jewish-Christian community was a powerful force that may have
culminated in the creation of a
Gospel Harmony. Known in the
western world as the Diatessaron, it may have been an attempt to
solve the
lectionary crisis and put the life of Jesus into one continuous
narrative divided into 55
chapters. This nearly coincides with the
number of weeks in the year
plus a few extra for Christmas and Easter.
(Syria Orthodox
Church web site)
The Diatessaron
The Diatessaron proved itself one of the
most popular editions of the
Gospels
ever produced. It
was used by Catholic Christians, such as
Ephrem Syrus,
by Judaic Christians (Epiph.,
haer. 46.1.8–9), Manicheans,
and missionaries,
who took it to the furthest
reaches of Christendom.
Its greatest impact,
however, was in Syria, where as late
as the 5th
century it was the standard
gospel text. This is demonstrated by the
fact
that the Canons of Rabbula
specifically direct that the “Euangelion
da-Mepharreshe” (“separated gospel,”
i.e., canonical Gospels) be read
in the churches, and
that Theodoret, bishop
of Cyrrhus from 423 to 457,
reports impounding over
200 copies of the
“Euangelion de-Mehallete”
(“gospel of the mixed,” another
name for the Diatessaron) from the
churches in his diocese.
(David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Bible Dictionary)
As we see above, the Diatessaron went from common usage
to banishment. So
thoroughly did Church authorities carry out their duties in this regard that, insofar as we
know, not a single Syriac copy of it has survived to our day.
But that was not to be the end of the matter, for in
translation the Diatessaron not only survived but thrived and spread throughout the world: in Arabic, in
Persian, in Latin, in German, and in many other languages, albeit
without official Church sanction. Because we are so
accustomed to the fourfold division of the gospel: Matthew, Mark,
Luke,
and John, and the corollary that goes with it, that these alone were
inspired, we find it difficult to imagine or accept that at one time the
Gospel was not so divided. The truth be known, no evidence exists at all
that the four canonical gospels circulated together before 170 AD, the
first evidence of this being that it was about then that the Diatessaron,
having been formed from the canonical four, came into existence.
The basis for the Diatessaron's popularity
deserves our consideration. Said the late, Diatessaronic scholar, William
Petersen, in his book: Tatian’s Diatessaron: its Creation,
Dissemination, Significance, and History in Scholarship:
Although the idea of a gospel harmony
seems odd today – especially
to Biblical scholars who are
trained to detect the slightest differences
among the gospels, and to
lay persons, some of whom
are taught
Biblical inerrancy – they are still common. Children are
taught the
story of
Jesus’ life in a harmonized form. Cinematic and theatrical
adaptations
of Jesus’ life (e.g., “Passion Plays”) harmonize the gospels.
The “Words of
Institution” used in liturgies are a harmony of the
three synoptic versions, each of which is
different) and Paul’s (I
Cor.
11:24), which adds the uniquely Pauline “do this in remembrance of
me.” These examples reveal two powerful motives for creating a
harmony: teaching (or evangelization), and the desire not to omit
anything (or put
differently, to reproduce fully what is spread out
among various sources). These same motives were operative
in the second century, and probably contributed to the creation of
harmonies in the early church.
Although scholarly consensus is lacking on the matter,
since antiquity Tatian, a disciple of Justin Martyr, has been
credited with having created the Diatessaron. This he did, it is supposed, by taking a knife to
manuscripts of the four canonical gospels and cutting out single words or phrases, then
artfully reassembling them to form a unified text.
Interestingly, the Diatessaron has points of convergence
with ancient Syriac lectionaries beyond what mere coincidence can explain,
(See Barton and Spoer's 1904 study on the Harclean Syriac lectionaries.)
If the Diatessaron was not dependent on the lectionaries or vice versa, then it would be logical to conclude that
both were relying on some earlier, harmonized text. But now
we have in hand fragments from the Memoirs of the Apostles that
Tatian's mentor, Justin Martyr, used and we have complete,
the 13th century manuscript, MS Pepys 2498 and is it ever a beauty.
From work
product to finished product
Long ago dismissed and left behind in this discussion is the idea of the
evangelists' having written by dictation, or the voice of an angel
having whispered in their ears, or an angel's hand having guided
their pens.
If only the gospels had been derived from golden tablets dropped down
from heaven by the angel Maroni, that would have so simplified
matters but they weren't. We know this from
an abundance of evidence proving that they are the product of human
effort. For instance, if these were strictly individual eyewitness accounts, why then are
there word-for-word agreements pointing to literary dependence and
collaborative effort? The amount of shared language demonstrates
collaborative effort.
Alas, not satisfied just to have Jesus do miracles, some
want the telling of those miracles to be miracles. To those of such an opinion, I say
this, had Jesus wanted an angel to tell his story, no doubt he
would have found one, but, instead, he trusted the
telling of his story to human beings, his disciples, who I believe on intrinsic
evidence, made a good faith effort to tell the story as it was. The evangelists were moved by the Holy
Spirit, yet they were still human beings. How ironic that it is not so
much scoffers who are opposed to the close, rational consideration of
the gospels as are many of the gospels' purported friends.
As Good
Stewards of the Word
For the sake of presenting the Gospel in its
best, most authentic form, a new translation of MS Pepys 2498, is presented
here. (See Sidebar I at the top.) Admittedly, this text is not to be found in the New Testament,
reason enough for some to disqualify it without a second glance. However,
for others willing to approach open-mindedly the possibility of an ancient
survival, I invite consideration of the evidence on its merits and asking
this question: does this text not bring Jesus and his ministry into clearer
focus? Does it not make learning the Gospel easier? As those entrusted by
the apostles and their successors with a pearl of great price, let us give
this matter due consideration. Meanwhile, what we don’t want, and rightly
reject, are fairy tales, of which a certain number are in circulation these
days, the so-called Essene Gospel, the Aquarius Gospel, etc., clearly modern
forgeries. Other forgeries of ancient provenance are also to be rejected,
such as the recently discovered Gospel of Judas.
A Nazarene Narrative Gospel
Arguably the literary, crown jewel of the Nazarene movement, this narrative
telling of Jesus' life and ministry survived for centuries in a single manuscript
once belonging to the famous 18th
century diarist, Samuel Pepys (after whom it is named). MS Pepys 2498 is
currently quartered at Cambridge University's Magdalene Library.
Misidentified a century ago by
this same Magdalene Library, it was lost in
inventory. Once rediscovered, it was published untranslated in 1921 as a
"medieval gospel harmony," otherwise known as the “Pepysian Gospel Harmony' (PGH),
which begs the question, who needs a medieval gospel harmony? Few
evidently, for it languished in obscurity for two generations until an
intrepid researcher, Yuri Kuchinsky of Toronto, Canada, gave it its first
proper investigation and found good cause to identify it as a primitive
Jewish-Christian gospel. In January, 2002, he re-published it in modern
English. Only then did the world of scholarship or the public at large begin
to learn of its many unique, primitive features. As Kuchinsky put it:
"What
was previously merely a matter for
speculation now lies in broad daylight."
The Nazarene Gospel is a harmony of three synoptic gospels plus that of the
beloved disciple, but not quite as we know them from the New Testament, for
it is a synopsis of their primitive prototypes. Until this gospel harmony
was created, it is thought that the Johannine community, as scholars have
termed it, had existed, so it is though, in isolation from the rest of
the Nazarene movement, this despite its gospel account having preserved
early, valuable material of a most interesting character which augments
the synoptic accounts in helpful ways.
Sweet Jesus
In MS Pepys is found
this repeated refrain: "swete lord Jesus," or in modern parlance "sweet
Lord Jesus." This is how he was known by those who knew him best.
This is not "another gospel" in the sense that Paul used the term,
meaning one serving a different purpose.
It's the
same, good old Gospel, only in a different telling. As with the canonicals, Jesus
is portrayed as the Wisdom of God who sought to be comprehended and
followed, not worshipped. Here, as with the other gospels, Jesus
prayed to his father, not to himself. But this gospel's portrayal is
of a kinder, gentler Jesus who relates more easily to his disciples, his
family and to the Jewish people, as one who is more down-to-earth
approachable and sympathetic.
Made more explicit
in this gospel than in the canonicals is that Mary Magdalene was the
penitent possessed by seven demons who washed his feet with her hair.
Once released from her afflictions, she then joined Jesus' entourage as one
of its leading figures. It is further made explicit that Mary
Magdalene and Mary of Bethany were one and the same, for Mary did not hail
from a fishing village called "Magdala" but 'Magdalene' is the title Jesus
conferred upon her. It means 'elevated," for Jesus had lifted her up.
In this gospel,
Jesus relates to his host, a Pharisee named Simon, a simile regarding two
debtors, one who is forgiven a large debt and one a little debt. He
then he asks his host, which of the two is loved more by the one doing the
debt forgiveness? His host answers, "whom he forgave most." And
Jesus commends him for this answer. Jesus then turned to the woman who
had anointed his feet with her tears and he said:
"Simon, seest this woman? I entered into thine house and thou gavest
me
no water for my feet, and yet she wetted my feet with her tears and
wiped
my feet with her hair. And thou kissed not my mouth, and yet she,
since she
came in, hath not
ceased kissing my feet. And thou washed
not my head
nor my eyes, and yet she anointed
my feet with ointment --
for which think
I tell you many sins have been forgiven
her. And therefore
I love her much
by reason that the one to whom most is forgiven is
most loved."
Now
let us compare this
account with that found in Luke 7:47, where Jesus is depicted as saying:
Wherefore I say unto thee [Simon], Her sins, which are many, are forgiven;
for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
Comparing these two texts, Yuri Kuchinsky
judiciously said:
Let us consider carefully all the implications of this on the whole rather
questionable piece of wisdom. Surely what this seems to mean is that
only those who have
been serious sinners in the past truly love God.
Following this logic, if one has not
sinned, or has but little -- if one has
been mostly good -- this really means that your love for God is
lacking
somehow! The version of this passage as found in [MS Pepys 2498]
says no more than
what is found in that well-known parable of "the lost
sheep" -- if the shepherd lost a
sheep, he will be upset, and will go looking
for it. And then, if when he finds it, his joy
will be entirely understandable.
What had been lost now has been found! So this would explain why the
sheep that has never been lost is not likely to be loved quite as much.
Similarly,
someone who lost some money will be exceedingly pleased to
have found it again.
Mary, Martha and Lazarus
At the risk of his
life, Jesus returned to Judea to raise up Mary's brother, Lazarus, from the
dead, thereby further angering the Jewish Establishment who were concerned
that if he did any more mighty works it would spell there ruination as all the world would run after him.
Then, by anointing Jesus with precious nard worth 300 denari, Mary Magdalene
inadvertently angered Judas Iscariot, leading him to betray Jesus to that
same pernicious crew as were already seeking to do him harm. Thus we see how Jesus' fate came to be inextricably linked to the family of
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
Though he was the
son of God, we should remember that Jesus was every inch a man, a man whose heart was
toward the Magdalene, who must in some sense have been family, for if she
hadn't been, how else could she have been allowed to handle his lifeless body after it was removed from
the cross? Only family were allowed this privilege.
When first appearing
to the Magdalene on his rising from the death to life, Jesus turned
patrilineal Judaism on its ear, for, by instructing her to tell his other apostles
that he had risen from death to life, he effectually made her his
apostle to the rest of his apostles.
Sayings of Jesus as found in MS Pepys 2498
MS Pepys 2498 has
been described as an "abbreviating text." By that is meant that many
of Jesus' sayings are only alluded to, or not included at all. I
believe the explanation for this abbreviating tendency lies in its having
been created before the codex (book) format had come into
vogue, wherein individual pages were written on front and back, then folded and
bound together into a volume. For instance, we do not speak of the
Dead Sea books. No, we speak of the Dead Sea scrolls. And,
as has been previously mentioned, the scroll format
limits length by reason of its becoming unwieldy. Compared to any one
of the canonical
four, MS Pepys 2498's unified narrative, one gospel from multiple
witnesses, is quite lengthy, and, no doubt, would have been prohibitively so had
the full compliment of Jesus' teachings been included. Even so, MS
Pepys is not bereft of valuable statements by the Lord Jesus, who said:
Select words of Jesus from MS Pepys 2498
It would serve him well who would be my disciple
to give the most careful attention to letting
go of all such things as would
be disturbing of my love.
Whoso will have life without end, look that he keep
the commandments of God.
And if the fiends be subject to you, have not ye pride
or joy, but be full of joy that ye have been
chosen for the bliss of heaven by name.
God prevent it that man should tempt him by asking
for help to be saved, but not help himself.
Whoso maketh earnest supplication with open heart,
his prayer shall be heard before God.
Know ye not how ye should bear yourselves sweetly
and softly?
|
A Sayings/Discourse Gospel
It is only logical to
suppose that a sayings/discourse gospel had been created to compliment a
narrative/deeds gospel. However, if that were so, either it didn't survive or else it
has yet to come to light. What would such a document look like?
Who can say for sure? Using the Old Syriac as translated by F. C. Burkitt in 1904 for the base text,
what I have done is to follow the chronology of MS Pepys 2498 so as to create a synoptic
harmony where the words of Jesus are given a special indentation or in
an easy reading version, their own type style.
Comparisons and Contrasts: the KJV and MS Pepys 2498
Which texts following are most primitive and which are most evolved and which one
might have served as the source for the other? Or is this,
perhaps, to posit a false
dichotomy, that maybe some third text was utilized on which the
canonical gospels and MS Pepys's progenitor alike depend?
What I attempt to do in the following exercise is pick out those
sections exclusive to one gospel or another, this to avoid a complicating factor,
namely, the editorial judgment that necessarily attends harmonizing text
with text. My purpose: to see with what fidelity MS Pepys transcribes a
canonical verse, if in fact that is what is happening, for, indeed, there may be,
lurking in the background, a fifth gospel, namely, the Gospel
According to the Hebrews, on which both the canonical four and MS
Pepys' progenitor, might to varying degrees depend.
For an abbreviating text, MS Pepys contains
some interesting expansions, one category
of which seems aimed at enlightening Gentile readers regarding basic
Jewish practices but other expansions contain new information beyond
what can be gleaned from the canonical four.
Could MS Peps 2498,
therefore, possibly, rightly be called the
Nazarene
Gospel to the Gentiles? Maybe. While Luke's Gospel is often thought
of as the one most oriented toward addressing the needs of
Gentiles who were then coming in to the fold in large numbers as a result of
Paul's missionary efforts, in fact
Nazarenes in Jerusalem also were reaching out to Gentiles. The
existence of a multiplicity of gospels is indicative of a multiplicity of constituencies. Following are five examples,
four from each of the canonicals, plus one from the Book of Acts,
these matched to their
counterpart in MS Pepys 2498 and to their counterpart in the Liege
Diatessaron. Our purpose: to observe
both similarities and dissimilarities.
Prologue to
John's Gospel (KJV)
In the beginning was the word, and the word was
with God, and the word was
God. The same was in
the beginning with God. All things were
made by him;
and without him
was not anything made that was made. In him was life; And the life was
the light of men. And the light
shineth in the darkness; And the darkness
comprehended it not. . . . And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt
among us, . . . full of grace and truth. |
MS
Pepys 2498's opening prologue
Our sweet lord
Jesus Christ in his godhead
was before all
creatures,
for he made all
creatures
through his own
sweet might
For he is
strong and mighty
through God the
father.
And he, though
unchanging in his divinity,
truly became
man
and gave light
and life and grace
to all mankind for to know God.
For he, through the the law and prophecy,
was promised to the folk that they should
believe in God the father. |
Luke 2:8-14
(KJV)
And there were
in the same county
shepherds
abiding in the field,
keeping watch
over their flock by night.
And, lo, the
angel of the Lord came upon them and the glory of the Lord shone round
about them:
And the angel
said unto them Fear not, for, behold, I bring you good tidings of
great joy which shall be
to all people.
For unto you is
born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ
the Lord.
And this shall
be a sign unto you; Ye shall find
the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,
lying in a
manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of
the heavenly host praising God,
and saying,
Glory to God in
the highest, and on earth
peace, good will toward
men. |
MS Pepys
2498
And awake in
the countryside
were shepherds
keeping their beasts
And there came
an angel from heaven
And stood
beside them.
And so sorely
afraid were they
that they stood astonished.
And the angel
comforted them,
saying that it behooved
them to witness
that Jesus Christ
who would save
his folk
was born in
Bethlehem
through whom
they and all the folk
would have
great joy.
And he told
them what
token they should find,
that is, to
wit,
a little child in swaddling clothes
and laid in an
ass's creche.
And with that
came the angels so
glorious from heaven
and showed
themselves to the shepherds
and praised God
and said:
"Gloria in
excelsis Deo.
[i.e.,
Glory to God in the highest.] |
Matthew 2:1-3
(KJV)
Now when Jesus
was born in Bethlehem
of Judea in the days of Herod the king,
there came wise
men from the east to Jerusalem, saying,
Where is he that
was born King of the Jews?
for we have seen
his star in the east, and are come to
worship him.
When Herod the
king
had heard these things,
he was troubled,
and all
Jerusalem with him.
And when
he had gathered
all the
chief priests
and
scribes of the people together,
he
demanded of them where Christ
should
be born.
And they
said to him,
In
Bethlehem of Judea:
for thus
it is written by the prophet,
And thou Beth-lehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least
among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come a
Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. |
MS Pepys
2498
Afterward, upon
the twelfth day,
so came there kings from the east
unto Jerusalem and asked
where
was the king of the Jews
who was born,
whose star they
had seen in the east.
And they said
they were come to honor him.
Then when King
Herod heard of this,
he grew alarmed,
and all that
were in the City.
And all
the high priests
and
masters of the Law
were
hastily assembled,
and
they were asked
where
Christ should be born.
And
they answered,
"In
Bethlehem of Judea,"
where
God had so promised
through
the prophets.
.
|
Mark 15:50-52 (KJV)
And they all
forsook him, and fled. And there
followed him a certain young man, having a linen
cloth cast about his naked body; and the young
men laid hold of him: and he left the
linen cloth, and fled from them naked.
Acts 1:9-11
And when he
[Jesus] had spoken these things,
while they
beheld, he was
taken up; and a cloud
received him out of their sight.
And while they
looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men
stood by them in white apparel; which also said,
ye men of Galilee, why stand ye
gazing up into heaven?
This same Jesus,
which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in
like manner as ye have seen
him go into heaven.
|
MS Pepys
2498, ch.
And then the
officers bound Jesus,
And all his
disciples fled away,
save a young
man who followed him,
wound only in a
linen cloth.
And the Jews
made to hold him fast,
And he left the
cloth, and fled away all naked.
MS Pepys
2498, ch. 113
And Jesus, when
he had so spoke,lifted up his
hand and blessed them. he kissed them
all one by one: being amongst
them seeing each one off, he ascended up
to heaven, with two angels
on either side of him. And they all
stood and beheld him, looking upward; and then came a
light-filled cloud and took him up
from them.
And as they
stood looking on high, so came two
angels in white dress and stood beside them and asked why
they stood so and looked on
high toward heaven. And he said to
them, as he was taken up to heaven, also shall he
come another time descending to
the judgment.
|
Let us break
away for now from consideration of those texts unique to individual gospels,
and instead focus on the combing of gospel accounts and seeing how this was achieved
in MS Pepys 2498 and in the Liege Diatessaron, our
example being the feeding of the 5000:
And when it
was evening, his [Jesus'] disciples came to him, saying, This is a
desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away,
that they may
go into the villages and buy themselves victuals.
But Jesus said unto them, they
need not depart; give ye them to eat.
And they say unto him, We have here
but five loaves, and two fishes.
He said, Bring them hither to me. And he
commanded the
multitude to sit down on the grass and took the five loaves,
and the
two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and
gave
the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the
multitude. And they did all
eat and were filled: and they took
up of the fragments that remained twelve
baskets full. And
they that had eaten were about five thousand men, besides
women and
children. (Matthew 14:15-21)
And when the
day was now far spent, his [Jesus'] disciples came unto him,
and
said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: send
them
away, that they may go into the country round about, and into
the villages,
and but themselves bread: for they have nothing to
eat. He answered and
said unto them, Give ye them to eat.
And they say unto him, Shall we go
and buy two hundred pennyworth of
bread, and give them to eat? He saith
unto them, How many
loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew,
they say,
Five, and two fishes. And he commanded them to make all sit
down by companies upon the grass. And they sat down in ranks,
by
hundreds, and by fifties. And when he had taken the five
loaves and the
two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and
brake the loaves, and
gave them to his disciples to set before them;
and the two fishes divided he
among them all. And they did all
eat, and were filled. And they took up
twelve baskets full of
the fragments, and of the fishes. And they did eat of
the
loaves were about five thousand men. (Mark 6:35-44)
And when the
day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto
him
[Jesus], Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns
and
country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are
here in a desert
place. But he said unto them, Give ye them to
eat. And they said, We have
no more but five loaves and two
fishes; except we should go and buy meat
for all this people.
For they were about five thousand men. And he said to
his
disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company. And
they did so,
and made them all sit down. Then he took the five
loaves and the two fishes,
and looking up to heaven, he blessed
them, and brake, and gave to his
disciples to set before the
multitude. And they did eat, and were all filled:
and there
was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.
(Luke 9:12-17)
When Jesus
lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he
saith
unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
And this
he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.
Philip answered
him, two hundred pennyworth of bread is not
sufficient for them, that every
one of them may take a little.
One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's
brother, saith unto him,
There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and
two small
fishes: but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make
them sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So
the men sat
down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus
took the loaves; and when
he had given thanks, he distributed to the
disciples, and the disciples to them
that were set down; and
likewise of the fishes as much as they; would. When
they were
filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that
remain,
that nothing be lost. Therefore they gather them
together, and filled twelve
baskets with the fragments of the five
barley loaves which remained over
and above that which was eaten. (John
6:5-13)
And when it
was evening time, his disciples came unto him [Jesus] and told
his
disciples to give the poor men food, and they answered and said that
they had not wherewith for to give them. And when Jesus saw
that more
were coming, then said he to Philip: "Wherefore might we
buy food with
which to feed all this folk?" -- And that he said to
prove him, for he well
knew what he would do. And Philip
answered and said that two hundred
pennies worth of bread should not
suffice for to part among them, each of
them receiving only a sliver
of bread. And Jesus asked them how many
loaves they have.
And Andrew said there was a child who had five barley
loaves and two
fish, but this was worth but little among so many folk. And
then Jesus commanded that they should bring forth the five loaves
and the
two fishes, which they did, parting it among the folk by
hundreds & by fifties,
and had them sit down on the grass. And
so they did. And Jesus looked
toward the heavens said grace
[gave thanks] to his Father, and blessed the
loaves and the fish and
broke them & delivered them to his disciples, & they
gave it to the
folk. And when they had eaten as much as they would, then
commanded Jesus that they gather together that which remained.
And they
went and gathered it, and filled twelve baskets full with
the remainder.
(MS Pepys 2498, Nazarene Narrative Gospel
chapter 49)
When it came
to eventide, his [Jesus'] disciples came to him and said: Let
the
people go to the towns and to the villages where they may buy food;
for
here we are in a wilderness. Then Jesus raised his eyes
and saw a very
great crowd; and when he had seen that crowd he spoke
to Philip: Wherewith
shall we buy bread, that these people may eat?
He said that in order to test
him, for he himself knew quite well
what he would do. Then Philip answered
him: For two hundred
pence one would not buy so much bread that everyone
might have a
little. Then Jesus asked them: How many loaves have ye?
And
one of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, answered
thus: Here is
a child that has five barley loaves and two fishes:
but what does that amount
to among so many people? unless we go into
the towns and buy in addition
food for all the people, And Jesus
said thus: Bring me those loaves here, and
make the people sit down
by hundreds and by fifties together. Then he took
the five
loaves and the two fishes, and raised his eyes up heavenward, and
blessed them and broke them and gave them to his disciples; and his
disciples
passed them on to the people, and all of the people ate of
those five loaves
and of those two fishes, so that they were all
satisfied. And when they had
eaten enough, Jesus spoke to his
disciples and said thus: Collect the remnants
that are left over to
the people who have eaten. And they did so, and filled
twelve
baskets with the remnants. Howbeit, those who had eaten there
were
about five thousand, without the women and children. (Liege
Diatessaron)
As previously
observed, there is no one right way to study the Gospel nor is there one right text
to work from but there are choices before us.
A
Changing of the Guard
After the martyrdom of James the Just, brother of our Lord, in 62 AD,
troublous times befell Jerusalem’s faithful Nazarene community. Not long
thereafter, in 66 AD, having been warned prophetically, the community fled
in haste to Pella, after which came the siege of Jerusalem which resulted in
the Temple's destruction, in 70 AD. But then circumstances turned around
such that
the community of the faithful was able to return to Jerusalem to
re-establish itself on the very site where the Last Supper had occurred.
Simeon ben Cleopas, James’ nephew, was unanimously chosen to replace James
and at some point in the 50 years he served, under his leadership an
antagonistic rift between the Hellenistic wing and the Judaic wing was
substantially healed when the Jerusalem-oriented Gospel of Matthew and the
Galilean-oriented Gospel of Luke were harmonized. If anyone did, Cleopas
had the requisite stature to authorize harmonizing the movement’s competing
or, if you will, complementary gospel accounts. In his time travel records
may yet have existed to supplement the recollection of elders yet living.
Early in the 2nd century, he was crucified by the procouncil Tiberius
Claudius Atticus Herodes.
There is reason to think that the progenitor of MS Pepys 2498 came out of
this time, for not the least of MS Pepys 2498's many virtues is its
narrative sequencing. As does no other text, this one makes chronological sense. The
key to harmonizing the gospel accounts aright is sequencing them aright.
That is where modern attempts always fall short; for there is no agreement
as to how to go about this. If anyone knew how to do this, that would have
been Symeon. His father, Cleopas, was Jesus’ uncle, and he was a member of
Jesus’ band of followers. As well, James the Just was his uncle. As well, Symeon was Jesus’ cousin, and so from one source or another he had
second-hand knowledge for sure and maybe even first-hand knowledge. Part of
putting it all together was to include John (or should we say "proto-John,"
since it has features suggesting that it is not the canonical John
with which we are familiar.) Here was
contained essential information necessary for getting the chronology right.
The progenitor to MS Pepys 2498 was likely the earliest attempt to integrate
the synoptics and John. Being in part a harmony and in part a synopsis of
the three synoptic gospels it also integrates, proto-John in six large blocks until the Passion, after which smaller blocks
of text are employed.
The Nazarene Narrative Gospel (MS
Pepys 2498) authoritatively clarifies numerous issues of
chronology, such as informing us as to the duration of Jesus’ ministry, that
it was two years, not one or three; also, clarifying when Jesus was anointed
by the Magdalene, that it was on the first day of Holy Week as in John’s
Gospel, not on the fifth day as in Mark’s Gospel. More so than the
"canonical" four, this gospel makes possible our understanding cause and
effect relationships, such as why Jesus headed north to the border after
John the Baptist's demise (he was avoiding Herod's clutches) or his
relationship with the Magdalene. (His convert, out of whom he cast
seven demons, she became a key member of his entourage before he ever went
north to the fishing village called Magdala.)
At the beginning of the last century, a team of scholars assigned by
Cambridge University examined MS 2498. Drawn from its medieval studies
department, evidently their expertise ran more toward Chaucer than the
Bible, for all too hastily they pronounced it "a medieval harmony." In
consequence, biblical scholars with manuscripts a 1000 years older to work
with paid it but scant notice, for who in their right mind needs a medieval
harmony? (Evidently very few; for instance, my university, inter-library
loan copy from Eugene, Oregon, though being 80 + years old, had never had its pages cut. I was
the first and only person ever to have read it!)
There matters rested until Kuchinsky gave MS 2498 its first proper
inspection and found good indication of its having had a primitive,
Jewish-Christian gospel as its progenitor. Unlike its more sophisticated,
canonical cousins with their dependent clauses and large vocabularies, MS
Pepys 2498's simplified sentence structure and rudimentary vocabulary points to
a Semitic substrate, rather than to a Greek substrate, the implication being that
its exemplar was of an earlier generation. Its straightforward account
provides a surprising feeling of closeness to the events it records. Probably early on it was translated into Latin from which,
much later, its Middle English
(the language of Chaucer) text was derived.
There is a poignant, personal quality to MS Pepys 2498's text which trumps
any other telling – a quaint, artless candor. As for its simplified sentence
structure, this itself should tells us something, that we’ve entered into a
different thought world than that of the Greek Gospels. By the way, did
anyone ever really think that the original gospelers, those untutored,
Galilean fisherman, were Greek scholars? Here the style is distinctly
Semitic and throughout, almost as a refrain, one finds the expression “swete
Jesu,” which in modern parlance translates as “sweet Jesus.” Evidently
that is how Jesus was known by those who knew him best.
One of its unique, distinguishing characteristics is the complete absence of SoMs; that is to say, in the canonicals Jesus often self-references as "the
Son of Man," but in MS 2498 he never does so. Indicative of the cursory
nature of previous examinations, Kuchinsky was the first to spot this
curious anomaly some 80 years after the manuscript's initial publication. As
an embellishment, this expression lends to Jesus a certain, magisterial air,
conceivably an inducement for adding it. As yet no plausible motive for
removing SoMs has surfaced.
Were this gospel merely a harmony of medieval origin as some have claimed,
there would not be, as indeed there are, traces of its language in
pre-medieval, Aramaic, Parthian, and Latin biblical texts and commentaries.
For instance, a century ago, fragments of a biblical text were discovered by
archaeologists in central Asia, in the city of Turfan, Turkistan, which
fragments have unique textual agreements with MS 2498, including a passage
lacking a SoM. This fits a pattern worldwide: in faraway places, beyond the
reach of Rome, in obscure languages such as Old Armenian, Sogdian, Osmaniac,
evidence of a prior gospel is found.
Fortunately for the recovery of the
earlier record, the obscurantist Church was usually not very inventive or
creative and, for the most part, could only muddle, garble, and confuse.
In its wealth of detail, in its grasp of chronological sequence, MS Pepys
goes well beyond what can be derived from the canonicals. Confirming
impressions of antiquity, let us compare canonical John's and MS 2498's
accounts of the marriage at Cana. In MS 2498 there is a feast but no
marriage and rather than creating upwards of 30 gallons of wine, Jesus
created only three. Canonical John's expansions well illustrate the human
tendency to exaggerate. But what would induce a scribe to minimize this
story? Or, rather, we should say, multiple scribes, since Kuchinsky has
located texts in five different languages separately corroborating aspects
of MS 2498's version. As one investigator of MS Pepys 2498 wrote:
The Pepysian Gospel Harmony mentions the city of Gerasa which was
an ancient
city in Palestine which was destroyed by the 10th Roman
legion Firensis
in AD 70.
Only the very oldest existing
manuscripts of
the canonical gospels mention the city
of Gerasa while later manuscripts
refer to the area as
the land of the Gerasenes. Thus the author of the
original
source of the Pepysian Gospel Harmony may have lived prior to
AD 70.
The sequence of the Pepysian Gospel Harmony also parallels many
aspects of
the theoretical "Q"
text. The Greek texts of Matthew and
Luke in some areas are letter
for letter matches which have
led some
scholars to theorize that at one time a single
text "Q" was formed from
an early form of
Matthew and of Luke and then later portions of our
modern forms of Matthew
and Luke
were copied from this single
gospel text.
Additionally, in the modern text of Luke the "Parable of the Lamp"
occurs in
both
Chapter 8 and
Chapter 11. It has been theorized that
an early text that
contained Luke
Luke had only one "Parable of
the Lamp" and that the parable
was
either cut in half
or duplicated
in our modern texts. The Pepysian
Gospel
Harmony sequence
combines
portions of Luke Ch. 8 and 11 and only has
a
single account
of the "Parable of the
Lamp" just as some scholars have
theorized
would've
existed in the single
gospel forerunner of the modern text
of Luke.
Scholars have also theorized that the "Q"
text would've been
constructed into
categories
and composed of lists such as a list
of parables. This idea was
formulated in part
based
on the gospel
of
Thomas found at Nag Hammadi.
The Pepysian Gospel Harmony does form the gospel
account into
categories or groupings
and there are two major groupings of parables
in its sequence just as
theorized for the "Q" text.
The event sequence of the Pepysian Gospel Harmony also enhances
the account
of the four gospels. The
sequence produces cause and
effect relationships
between events and the interactions
of various
individuals with each other and
with Jesus. For instance, The Pepysian
Gospel Harmony sequence contains
both Mary Magdalene's conversion
and
subsequent discipleship (this is in the
modern gospel texts
but is
somewhat obscured due to their non-chronological
sequence.) Thus
Mary
Magdalene plays a major
role in the account of Jesus
which is
implied by many ancient sources such
as the the gospel
of Thomas
but not highlighted by the canonical gospels in their present
sequence.
The four canonical gospels make no claim to being written in chronological
sequence. An engineered reconstruction of the chronological order of
the gospels indicates that while
several sequences are possible -- the
sequence of the modern gospels is not
in chronological order. For instance,
the passage in Mark 3:13-19
not only
precedes the passage in
Mark
3:20-31 by over
a dozen events but in fact several passages in Mark
actually occur between Mark 3:13-19 and Mark
3:20-31.
(The Gospels in Four Part Harmony, 2001
by J. Clontz)
A personal aside: the translation enclosed hereafter is my own, completed in
2010. I profess no special training in Chaucerian English. All are welcome
to improve on my or Kuchinsky’s translational efforts by making one of their
own. Chaucerian English, after all, is English (albeit archaic)
and it requires no great expertise to render archaic English into modern
English.
Memoirs of the Apostles
As one of the more learned scholars of our time, whose area of expertise
lay in the study of the Diatessaron, the late William Petersen, wrote:
. . . in 1992 M.-E. Bosmard published a book in which he argued that in
addition
to Tatian's Diatession, the harmony used by Justin had also
left a
mark
on the
harmonized gospel tradition. He singled out the Pepsian
Harmony [MS 2498]
as the best surviving witness to this pre-Tatianic
harmony. This raises the
possibility that the "abbreviating"
character
of the
Pepsian Harmony and
what Plooij called "mutilation"
(when
compared with
other Diatessonic witnesses) may in reality, stem from
the fact that it represents
a distinct textual tradition, one which is related
to the Diatessaron - for
Tatian
seems to have used Justin's harmony when
he created the Diatessaron -
but
anterior to it. (Tatian's Diatessaron)
One of the operative words above is "anterior." If MS Pepys'
text
predates Tatian's Diatessonic harmony, then it is, indeed, early. The
expression: "distinct textual tradition" is also significant.
Evidently, Tatian was not the only one performing the work of
harmonization.
In
his Apology dedicated in about 150 AD to Emperor Antoniunus (138-165 AD),
Justin Martyr (105-168 AD), made reference to the weekly public reading of
the "Memoirs of the Apostles." Though his quotes are
synoptic, yet he never
mentions individual evangelists and none of his quotations properly align
with the canonicals as we know them today. Regarding this, the
Catholic Encyclopedia states:
It is quite probable that Justin used a concordance or harmony, in which
were
united the three
synoptic Gospels and it seems that the text of this
concordance
resembled in more than one point the so-called Western
text of the Gospels.
Besides Justin's harmony, the
Catholic Encyclopedia also makes reference to
a second harmony:
. . . a hearer of Justin, Tatian
wrote many works. Only two have survived.
One
of these is "Oratio
Graecos" (Pros Hellanes), ... The other extent
work is the
"Diatessaron", a harmony of the
four Gospels containing in
continuous narrative
the principle events in the life of Our
Lord.
Not only is the
statement above the sentiment of Catholic scholars but is the scholarly
consensus across the board. The only disputed points are whether the Diatessaron was originally composed in Syriac or in Greek; also, whether it
was actually Tatian who created it or someone else before him which Tatian
merely refined. However those questions
may be resolved, the salient point is the clear progression that exists from
Justin's less synthesized Memoirs to the highly synthesized Diatessaron. When MS 2498 is added to the equation,
it appears that what we have are three distinct
harmonies with MS 2498 appearing to preserve the earliest, least synthesized text.
It may be that
at one time underlying all other harmonies were two harmonies, one used
for liturgical purposes, and one, a teaching manual, which served as a kind of
catechism.
Historic Turning Point
The Hadrionic war, which had wrung the death knell of Jewish hopes of
political independence
had also relegated the church of the apostles to the
rank of a
heretical sect.
(Hugh Schofield, History of Jewish Christianity)
When Hadrian (76-138
AD) outlawed observance of the Mosaic Law throughout
the Roman Empire, Jews in the Holy Land rebelled. The Nazarenes, who
themselves were Law-observant, might well have joined with them except for
one consideration, the rebellion’s leader, Bar Kocheba, had been declared to
be the Messiah. Believers could not in good conscience accede to being led
by a false Messiah. Not long thereafter, as if caught in the pincers of a
giant nutcracker, Jerusalem's apostolic community was destroyed in a mighty
bloodbath when, in 135 AD, Jerusalem fell to Rome's legions. With this
conquest, all Jews - Nazarenes included - such as had survived, were banned
from entering Jerusalem under penalty of death. Renamed Aelia Capitolina,
Jerusalem became, thereafter, a Gentile enclave. It was then that certain
Gentile Christians found it expedient to distance their religion from its
Jewish roots. It was then that the Nazarene’s nemesis arose, the proto-Roman
Catholic
Church.
With the passing of the apostles from the scene, mostly through martyrdom,
the creative period of gospel development
came to a close, after which the collating work of Symeon ben Cleopas
could begin. I postulate that it was then that an antagonistic division within
the Nazarene movement between the Hellenistic wing in Galilee (which received
Luke) and the Judaic wing in Jerusalem (which received Matthew) were
harmonized. Evidence for saying this comes not only from MS Pepys 2498 but
also from a gospel Justin Martyr used. In his two defenses of the Faith
(called Apologies) presented to the Roman Senate, Justin Martyr quotes
copiously from a document which he refers to as the Memoirs of the Apostles.
In the main the Memoirs combines Matthew and Luke and to a lesser degree,
Mark, but also detected is a non-canonical gospel which, as best as
scholarship can tell us, was the Gospel according to the Hebrews and/or
possibly a sayings gospel.
Justin Martyr
Whereas Protestant church services are largely built around the sermon and
Catholic church services are largely built around the Eucharist, the
primitive community of believers in Justin Martyr’s day built
their communal worship around service and the reading of the Gospel:
And the wealthy among us help the needy; and we always keep together;
and
for
all things wherewith we are supplied, we bless the Maker of all
through His
Son
Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Ghost. And on the
day called Sunday,
all who
live in cities or in the country gather together
to one place, and the
memoirs of the
apostles or the writings of the prophets
are read, as
long as
time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the
president verbally
instructs,
and exhorts to the imitation of these good
things. Then we all rise together and
pray,
and, as we before said,
when
our prayer is ended, bread and wine and
water are brought, and the
president in like
manner offers prayers and
thanksgivings, according to
his ability, and the people assent, saying
Amen;
and there is a distribution
to each,
and a participation of that over which thanks
have
been given,
and to those who
are absent a portion is sent by the deacons.
And they
who are well to
do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what
is
collected is deposited with the is collected is deposited with the president,
who succors the orphans and widows
and those who, through sickness or
any
other cause, are in want,
and those who
are in bonds and the strangers
sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who
are in need.
(Justin Martyr, his First Apology to the Roman Senate c. 150
AD)
We should first know a little
more about Justin, that he was born at the
beginning of the 2nd century in Palestine, in the town today called Nablus,
but which in his day was called Flavia Neapolis and in ancient times Shechem;
that, as a youthful seeker of truth, he became a philosopher but in about
130 AD converted to become a Christian. Thereafter, traveling widely, he
ultimately migrated to Rome where he established a Christian academy; and
from whence he authored various books, three of which have survived to our
day. He was martyred in 168 AD. As one strategically located in a major
Christian center, Rome, it is likely that the gospel text he used was not
idiosyncratic or parochial but reflected the practice of Christianity in his
era.
Christianity in Rome
Taking pains to distinguish the Church from the Nazarenes, the Roman
Church’s Gentile-dominated leadership revamped the faith once delivered to
the saints, making it more amenable to the Roman powers-that-be; as well,
conformable to the proclivities of the Church’s male-dominated hierarchy.
Such was the sequence of events preceding a late 2nd century Church edit
when the canon was defined. Thus did Rome conquer, not only
militarily, but also, to a certain extent, religiously, hijacking both the moral agenda and the sacred
text. This spelled the final parting of the ways, when the Church became a
religion unto itself, separate and apart from the Nazarene community, for
once the New Testament's canonical four were sent forth, all other gospel
accounts not included therewith, along with
all other Nazarene literature generally, were targeted for suppression.
Axiomatically, as if it were a tenet of their faith,
Protestants believe that God saw to it that through the Church the apostolic
word would be preserved for future generations. Indeed, the word has
been preserved, albeit not entirely through the agency they suppose, nor
necessarily in the form they suppose either.
Protestants assume that it wasn't until Constantine's time, the
4th century, that the Church was seduced by the allure of state power. By
then, as 3rd century papyri and 4th century uncials attest, the New
Testament had been disseminated so widely as to be beyond recall for
wholesale
revision. Tampering, while not absent altogether, nonetheless, was not a
significant factor thereafter. (To be sure, scribal errors, as ever, were
occurring around the edges but this is to quibble.) However, it is an
unwarranted leap of faith to say that in pre-Constantine times the Church
had been a trustworthy custodian of the apostolic deposition.
What then of the New Testament? The term itself cannot be traced before 200
AD. But let’s not hang up on terminology, what of the NT's contents, are they
apostolic? Scholarship indicates that it originates mostly from the
apostolic era but that is not quite the same as saying that it is apostolic. James and Jude were not apostles.
Neither were Mark and Luke. Thus we can dispense with saying that the New Testament is exclusively
apostolic.
Contrary to what most Christians might suppose, outside of late Church edicts,
no "Thus saith the Lord" exists regarding the New Testament, affirming its divine
origin.
Are there writing outside the New Testament which are equally
inspired? A matter of private judgment, I say, speaking for
myself, that I happen to know
of writings equally authoritative and equally inspired from that era, which
the Church, for whatever reason, did not include in its "New
Testament."
Unfortunately, what was not included, often times was written off as
heretical and destroyed.
Such was the fate of one of the most valuable documents of all time, the Gospel according to
the Hebrews. Jerome, being the great scholar that he was, sought to preserve it and
even translated it into Latin,
and yet, except for a few quotes which he and a few others from his era made,
it seems to have perished all the same.
Because head and heart work in tandem, it is appropriate that research by
devout, competent scholars should be included. Said Bible translator
William Tyndale 500 years ago to one of the benighted church prelates of his
day who had taken exception to
his putting the Bible in the common tongue:
"If God spare my life, before
very long I shall cause a plough
boy
to know the scriptures better than you do."
If today we can advance the Gospel beyond where Tyndale carried it, it is
not because we are more heroic than he was or better translators than he
was; rather, it is because we have better texts to work from than he did
and, perhaps, a better understanding of the milieu in which they arose.
Tyndale was constantly revising his work and issuing new editions.
If perfection proves to be elusive here, and revisions of one kind or
another need to be made, that should not surprise. I look forward to
hearing from those who visit
here who might have relevant books, essays, songs to share, or who have criticisms
to make that might advance the good cause.
Paul fought the good fight
Down through
history we have heard echoing Paul's agonizing cry:
Oh wretched
man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?
(Romans
7;24)
What was Paul so
wretched about? Sin to be sure. Of course we all know the
pangs of regret for failures of one kind and another but Paul's pangs
were especially acute. Any particular sin he regretted? Toward
the end of his ministry, he confesses what it was, that he had been "a blasphemer, a
persecutor, and injurious" (I Timothy 1:13), "the chief of
sinners" (I Timothy 1:15).
Having "persecuted the community of
God" (I Corinthians 15:9), Paul declared himself "unworthy of being called an
apostle" (I Corinthians 15:9). His regrets were
lifelong. They never ceased. It was the price he paid for
having been a terrorist, for having blood on his hands, for having
cooperated with the synagogue of Satan.
But
what is happening in our day? The same as in Paul's day, the agenda
hasn't changed at all. The long arm of the Jewish Establishment
had reached out to Saul, tricking him into doing its dirty work,
such
"that if he [Paul] found any of this way
[i. e., who were of the faith
residing in
Damascus],
whether they be men or women, he might
bring them bound
to Jerusalem." (Acts
9:1)
Likewise today
the Jewish establishment is reaching out, this time to the poor, benighted, churches, which have taken up
where Saul left off. Thus they willingly place their children on the
altar of sacrifice to fight the Jews-only State of Israel's dirty wars, with Damascus and
again Syria is in their crosshairs.
Using weapons of
mass deception, most particularly the BIG LIE about 9-11 having been
done by Arabs and Islam, when all along it was an inside job promoted
and done by you know who, the Establishment continues to
promote aggressive war on
Afghanistan and Iraq on Libya, on Somalia, on Pakistan, and now, as did Paul,
they are
"breathing out threatenings and slaughter," directed toward
Iran. Yes, they are recklessly and unjustifiably beating the
war drums for an attack on Iran, naked aggression though this would be.
Brigands, rebels, they self-identify in many instances as
"evangelicals," who say they admire Paul but they do not do
that which Paul did. The word "evangel" comes from the Greek,
ev means "good," and angel, "angel" is a messenger from God;
thus good message, good news, gospel. Thus the bad news bears call
themselves good. The record of
Judeo-Christianity's deeds are writ large for all to see:
Its
divisiveness is repugnant. Its history is bloody.
And the "God loves
me more than you" mindset is infantile at
best, and homicidal at worst.
(Judy Andreas)
That
which was meant to liberate, has been turned into a parody of itself.
Rather than setting the captives free, Judeo-Christianity further enslaves its adherents.
Oh, wretched
people that we are, captive America, colonized from within by the
traitors in our midst, the elitist over-class who call themselves Jews but
are not, but are the synagogue of Satan, who control the
currency, the media, the CIA, the NSA, Academia and the best Congress
that money can buy, how are we to deport ourselves toward them?
This we know, that we
are to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's. In the
West, however, there is no Caesar. He has been dethroned and in
his place stands the Jewish Establishment. Therefore, are we to
render unto Satan that which is Satan's? No, we owe Satan nothing.
Satan deserve no quarter whatsoever.
Having, as we do, a desperate need to get back to the Gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ, let us acknowledge to ourselves, if to no one
else, our
wretched state, repenting in sackcloth and ashes of the evil
deeds which we have so evilly committed at the behest of international
Jewry, thereby blaspheming the Ineffable One, for we have committed
unspeakable crimes in God's name.
I know whereof I
speak. For 50 years, from the age of 6 to the age of 56, I was a
Zionist shill. Paul got his head on straight after just a few
years. Not me. Not until August, 2003, did the scales fell from my
eyes when I fully realized who did 9-11. It was not
any Arab who was responsible for the controlled demolition of three
World Trade Center towers, rather, the Jew Establishment who incinerated
thousands of my fellow Americans.
This act of terror-based
mind-control, was designed to throw me and my fellow Americans to our
knees, begging our government: "Oh save us Uncle Sugar, save us!" And
this we did, bidding them God's speed as they decimated Afghanistan and Iraq.
But the Ubberswein, the Top Pigs, overplayed their hand.
Inadvertently,
they
left irrefutable forensic tracks leading back to themselves which
anyone doing due
diligence to investigate might well determine for his or her self.
That is what
liberated me, the irrefutable evidence of 9-11, that it was done by
neo-cons, Theo-cons and the State of Israel. After that I became
unwilling to participate in the racist, "chosen people" swindle
anymore.
Oh, wretched men and women that we are, who will deliver us from this
body of death? Thanks be unto God and to his Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ for pardoning us on the same grounds as Paul was pardoned on, who
said:
". . . but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief."
(I Timothy 1:13)
And Saul, who
became Paul, did the works of repentance by speaking up:
And
straightaway he preached Christ in the synagogues,
that he is the
Son of God. (Acts 9:20)
Naturally
none of this sat too well with the Establishment.
And after
that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took council
to kill him: but their laying await was known of Saul. And they
watched the
gates day and night to kill him. (Acts 9:23-24)
To escape the
clutches of the Jewish Establishment, the disciples lowered Paul in a basket out a window
in the wall of the city and so he made good his escape.
Paul's life as a
Christian did not begin until his life as a flunky for the Jewish
Establishment had ended. And that was just the beginning.
Paul had to fight the Jewish establishment for his very life so long as
he lived. Said the prophet Agabus after he took Paul's belt and
bound his own hands and feet with it:
So shall
the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this belt,
and shall
deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. (Acts 21:11)
The same holds true today
in spades, our lives as
redeemed believers means our breaking with the Satanic powers that be
and they are not going to like it.
Once the
scales had fallen from my eyes and I could see clearly, I said: "Never again will I have anything to do with the
mass-murdering Jewish Establishment, the enemy of all mankind.
Only then did my life as a real Christian began.
As an
act of contrition for having participated in the crimes of Apostasy, Murder,
and Mayhem, I have established this web site as a place of refuge, where humane values
are promoted and this I do in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What fellowship can light have with darkness?
Wherefore come out
from
among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not
the unclean
thing,
and I will be with you. (II Corinthians 6:14, 17)
H. D. Kailin (site administrator) P.O. Box 383 Sequim, WA 98382
* * *
I T A L I A N W I S D O M * * *
As a day well-spent
brings happy sleep,
so life well used brings happy death.
Nothing is more
fleeting than the years,
but he who sows virtue reaps honor.
Oh, why not let your
work be such that
after death you become an image of immortality?
O Time, thou that
consumest all things!
O
envious age, whereby all things are consumed!
Wrongfully do men
lament the flight of time,
accusing it of being too swift, and not perceiving
that its period is yet sufficient.
In youth acquire
that which may requite
you for the deprivations of old age;
And if you are
mindful that old age
has wisdom for its food,
You will exert
yourself in youth,
that your old age will not lack sustenance.
While I thought that
I was learning how to live,
I
have been learning how to die.
-- Leonardo da Vinci
* * *
You've Gotta
Pay the Price
Winning is not a
sometime thing; it's an all-the-time thing. You don't win once in a
while, you don't do things right once in a while, you do them right all the
time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.
Every time a
footballl player goes out to ply his trade he's got to play from the ground
up -- from the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of
him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That's O.K.
You've got to be smart to be No. 1 in any business. But more
important, you've got to play with your heart -- with every fiber of your
being. If you're lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head
and
a lot of heart, he's never going to come off the field second.
Running a footballl
team is no different from running any other kind of organization -- an army,
a political party, a business. The principles are the same. The
object is to win -- to beat the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard or
cruel. I don't think it is.
It's a reality of
life that men are competitive and the most competitive games draw the most
competitive men. That's why they're there, to compete. They know
the rules and the objectives when they get in the game. The objective
is to win -- fairly, squarely, decently, by the rules -- but to win.
And in truth, I've
never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his
heart, didn't appreciate the grind, the discipline. There is something
in good men that really years for, needs discipline and the harsh reality of
head-to-head combat.
I don't say these
things because I believe in the "brute" nature of man or that men must be
brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I believe in human
decency. But I firmly believe that any man's finest hour -- his
greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear -- is the moment when he has
worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of
battle -- victorious.
-- Vince Lombardi
(While professional
football is the pits, the principles it applies are not without a
broader application.)
* * *
My people? Who are they?
I
went into the church where the congregation
Worshiped my God. Were they my people?
I
felt no kinship to them as they knelt there.
My people! Where are they?
I
went into the land where I was born,
Where men spoke my language . . .
I
was a stranger there.
"My people," my soul cried. "Who are my people?"
Last night in the rain I met an old man
Who spoke a language I do not speak,
Which marked him as one who does not know my God,
With apologetic smile he offered me
The shelter of his patched umbrella.
I
met his eyes . . . And then I knew . . .
-- Rosa Zagnoni Marinoni
* * *
C O U N T R I F I E D W I S D O M * * *
Keeping the
Home Fires Burning
Now many decades
ago, when the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was yet in the business of
constructing hydroelectric power dams, in a certain valley along the
Tennessee River, the notice went out to those living along its banks that
their land had been condemned because it would soon be underwater,
But there was one old mountaineer who had been living in that valley for
forty years, and when offered five times what his tiny log
cabin and few rocky acres was worth, he still wouldn’t move, this despite
their having built him a pretty
stone house with modern conveniences, electric lights and stove, on a
fertile tract of land, high and safe from the rising waters.
“Nope,” said the old man after looking it over. “Don’t want it. Won’t move.”
“But why, Uncle Henry?” asked the government agents whose patience was wearing thin.
“Why won’t you move up here?”
“Gotta keep that fire going in the front room! My great-great-grandfather
kept it goin’, my pappy kept it goin’, and I aim to keep it goin’ too. Can’t
let my pappy’s fire go out, nohow!”
Then the group of imaginative engineers backed up a truck to the old
mountaineer’s cabin and gathered up the embers of the ancient fire, and
transported it and Uncle Henry and his few belongings, to the new house on
the hilltop overlooking the lake to-be, and said to him, “There is your
fire, Uncle Henry, we won’t let it go out, and you can keep it burning here
as well as down in the valley.”
Uncle Henry saw the logic of the arrangements and accepted his home, now
that the fires of his fathers were burning on the new hearth.
*
* *
The Instant It
Happened
A picture of gratitude
Hallelujah!
For all the rest f
his life Sam Smith, farmer, would remember Saturday, March 24, 1951, as the
day it rained.
To a Texas farmer,
drought is his most merciless enemy. Surely it is the most sinister.
Unlike other natural perils -- tornado, hail storm, brush fire -- the
drought does its evil by degrees. It tortures the earth bit by bit,
inexorably, so that the farmer can never tell the exact day the cottonwood
tree died, the precise hour the stock tank went dry, the specific moment the
crack opened in his pasture wide enough to swallow a calf. In a
long drought, the death of he earth is agonizingly slow and painful.
By the spring of
1951, Texans had endured seven years of drought. Seven years of
watching crops die aborning, cattle die, wells go dry, seven years of
watching great dust clouds lift on the hot afternoon breeze and turn the
setting sun into a mocking sky of fire from horizon to horizon, day after
day. That spring even the deep-rooted oaks are giving up the struggle,
withholding their leaf buds for the first time in memory as every day for a
solid month the temperature went over 100 degrees without a drop of rain.''
But on Saturday . .
.
As the rain began,
the excitement in the news room of the San Antonio Light is as
unrestrained as on the outlying farms. Reporters, editors, deskmen,
secretaries rushed to the windows to watch. Harvey Belgin,
photographer, got into his car and headed for the vegetable belt southwest
of the city, where the fields were most severely parched. Along the
way he saw children playing deliriously in mud puddles, men and women
running round joyously in their yards.
Then he saw Sam
Smith standing next to his fence, standing in the rain, rejoicing.
Harvey Belgin got out of his car and shot two pictures. Usually he
shoots at least a half dozen to be sure of a good selection. "I don't
know why I even bothered to shoot the second one," he said later. 'I
knew I had what I wanted when I saw the old man through the view finder.
The rain meant life to him and his face showed it. I said, 'Well,
that's it,' and went back to the office."
*
* *
Pearl Still
Cares
Pearl Rahn
As seen from
the photo above, Pearl Rahn, the day before her 99th birthday, April 6,
1985, greets her friend Stephanie at Fircrest School. A
foster-grandparent to Stephanie, Pearl visits with her almost every day.
"I just like people, particularly children," Rahn said as she tended to
Stepanie, often hugging the severely spastic child or calming her by holding
her hand. Confined to a wheelchair, Stephanie cannot speak bur her
eyes brighten at the sight of her foster "grandma."
* * * NATIVE AMERICAN WISDOM
* * *
Go Forward With
Courage
Sitting Bull
Red Cloud
K"á·let
When you are in doubt, be still, and wait;
when doubt no longer exists for you, then go forward with courage.
So long as mists envelop you, be still;
be still until the sunlight pours through and dispels the mists
-- as it surely will.
Then act with courage.
- - Ponca Chief White Eagle (1800's to 1914)
* * *
You have noticed
that everything an Indian does in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything and everything tries to be round.
In the old days all our power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nation and so long as the hoop was unbroken the people flourished. The flowering tree was the living center of the hoop, and the circle of the four quarters nourished it. The east gave peace and light, the south gave warmth, the west gave rain and the north with its cold and mighty wind gave strength and endurance. This knowledge came to us from the outer world with our religion.
Everything the power of the world does is done in a circle. The sky is round and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours. The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same and both are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing and always come back again to where they were.
The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves. Our teepees were round like the nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nation's hoop, a nest of many nests, where the Great Spirit meant for us to hatch our
children.
- - Black Elk, Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux 1863-1950
* * *
When you were born,
you cried
and the world rejoiced.
Live your life
so that when you die,
the world cries and you rejoice.
- - White Elk
* * *
Hold On
Hold on to what is good,
Even if it's a handful of earth.
Hold on to what you believe,
Even if it's a tree that stands by itself.
Hold on to what you must do,
Even if it's a long way from here.
Hold on to your life,
Even if it's easier to let go.
Hold on to my hand,
Even if someday I'll be gone away from you.
- - A Pueblo Indian Prayer
* * *
Before our white
brothers arrived to make us civilized men, we didn't have
any kind of prison.
Because of this, we had no delinquents. Without a prison,
there can be no
delinquents. We had no locks nor keys and therefore
among us there were
no thieves.
When someone was so
poor that he couldn't afford a horse, a tent or a blanket, he would, in that case, receive it all as a gift. We were too
uncivilized to give
great importance to
private property. We didn't know any kind of money and
consequently, the
value of a human being was not determined by his wealth.
We had no written laws laid down, no lawyers, no politicians, therefore we
were not able to
cheat and swindle one another.
We were really in
bad shape before the white men arrived and I don't know how to explain how we were able to manage without these fundamental things that (so they tell us) are so necessary for a civilized society.
- - John (Fire) Lame Deer Sioux Lakota - 1903-1976
* * *
When the last tree
is cut down
the last river poisoned
the last fish caught,
then only will man
discover
that he cannot eat
money.
-- Cree wisdom saying
* * *
A people without
history is like the wind on the buffalo grass.
|
the torture of Leonard Peltier
* * *
S I D E B A R II
Art, Music, Poetry
Leadership
Leonardo da Vinci
Elizabeth and Mary, John and Jesus
Painted Version
Mary Magdalene
Mary, mother of Jesus
Last Supper
Durer
Mary and Elizabeth
Birth in a stable
Mother and child drawing
Mother and child etching
Flight to Egypt
Mary, Martha, and Jesus
Four horsemen
Rembrandt
Joseph's dream
Annunciation
Presentation in the Temple
Jesus relating a parable
Woman at the well
Prodigal Son
Good Samaritan
Lazarus come forth
Preparation for burial
Mary bereaved
On the Road to Emmaus
Giotto
Mother and child
Joseph, Mary and Jesus
Presentation in the Temple
Visitation of the three kings
Flight to Egypt
Jesus age twelve in the Temple
Miracle at Cana
Lazarus called forth from the grave
Jesus mocked
Down from the cross
Vermeer
Weighed in the balance
Van Gogh
The Good Samaritan
Jesus crucified
Shroud of Turin
One
Link to Thomas & the
Cenacle
* * *
Additional Illustrations
Mary
One
The Bride
One
Annunciation
One
Two
Three
Mary & Elizabeth
One
Two
Mother & Child
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Holy Family
One
Adoration
One
Two
Three
Flight to Egypt
One
Two
Three
Four
In Egypt
One
In the Temple
Jesus age 12 The initial call
"Leave your nets" Cleansing the Temple One
Blessing the Children One Woman by the Well One
Transfiguration One
Sowing Seed One
Footwashing
One Kiss of Judas
One Crown of Thorns
One Via Delarosa
One The Garden of Gethsemane
The Disciples Sleep Crucifixion
One Pieta One
Two
The Magdalene in the Garden One
Pentecost
One
The Child
One * * *
Palestinian
One Two
Three
Fisherman
Nazareth
One
Vision
One
Two
Three
Scapegoat
One
Noah
One
Sophia
One
Apocalypse
One * * *
Past Leadership Brother Lawrence
Practicing the presence
William Blake
Documentary
Harriet Tubman
One Watchman Nee
One George
Washington Carver One Mahalia
Jackson One Mother Theresa
One
Corrie ten Boom
One
Link to Pre-trib rapture
George Carlin
We have owners
Kathryn Kuhlman
The Presence of God
Corrie ten Boom / Kathryn Kuhlman
Padre Pio
One
Martin Luther King, Jr.
I've been to the
Mountaintop
Muhammed Ali
One
Interview
Ben Breedlove
This is My Story (Part I)
This Is My Story (Part
II)
Sister's testimony
William Cooper
Predicts 9-11
Ransom Aldrich Myers
Tribute
JFK
Secret Societies
MLK, Jr.
Vietnam War
Malcom X
Sermon
Predicting Obongo
Benjamin H. Freedman
Willard Hotel speech
Russell Means
Speech before the US
Senate
Decline of American
Culture
Last interview
Marion Anderson
documentary
Jim Traficant
speech
George Waldbott
Fluoridation: the
great dilemma
A
Struggle with Titans
titans1
titans2
titans3
Paul Wellstone
The assassination
* * * Anglo-speaking Leadership Kevin Annett
Genocide of Native
Americans
Child sacrifice
Jacob Appelbaum
How the NSA hacks
Astronauts
Ovrerview
Gilad Atzmon
With Jeff Rense and
Brother Nathaniel
The Protocols Chuck Baldwin
Love of the Warfare State Kevin Barrett
I finally made the slow-fly list
9/11 probe
Scott Bennett
Jeff Blankfort
Israeli Gatekeepers
Russell Blaylock
Nutrition
Vaccine and child
brain development
Dumbing down society
Francis Boyle
Obama, Libya,
Impeachment
Ebola weaponized
Brandon Bryant
Repentant drone
operator "I
couldn't stand myself . . . for killing people" James
(Jimmy) Cantrell
Historical writings
Helen Caldicott
Link to
June 11, 2015 interview
Link to nuclear danger
Link to
Fukushima
Link to Chernobyl
October 2014
interview
Dr.
Helen Caldicott
Benjamin Carson
Prayer breakfast Michel Chossudovsky
War against humanity
9-11
9-11 10th anniversary
The globalization of
war
Stephen Cohen
Worse than the Cuban
missile crisis
Fairfield University
lecture
Eustace Conway
TED talk
Interview
Alastair Crooke
The petrodollar
James Corbett
Fall of the West
Corbett Report on 9-11
Alternative media
MS 17 cover up
9-11 in five
minutes'
Rudy Dent
Interview
Meryl Dorey
Vaccination Interview
Ebola
Thomas Drake
We're in a police state
Sibel Edmonds
Link to Gladio B /
Part I
Link to Gladio B /
Part II
Link to Gladio B /
Part III
Link to Gladio B /
Part IV
Pepe Escobar
A
chessboard drenched in blood
Prognostication for 2015
Daniel Estulin
Bilderberg
Ron Finley
Gansta gardening
Catherine Austin Fitts
The Black
Budget
George Galloway
Oil for food
Debate with Israeli
General
BBC question time
Jane Goodall
Beauty and the
beast
Dick Gregory
Too Few Know
Arnie Gunderson
Nuclear Power
Anthony James Hall
Iran, Israel, 9-11
Bob Harrington
Chaplain of Bourbon
Street
Dean Henderson
Left Hook
RT interview after US bombs Syria
Seymour Hersh
The scene of the crime
Katrina vanden Heuvel
American triumphalism
Bob Holman
Language Matters Brian Hooker
CDC
autism cover up Tom Horn
Trans-humanism
Sheikh Imran Hosein
The prohibition of
riba (Interest)
Flight 370
Duty to warn
How to protect
teenagers
Joaquin
Iranian agreement
Syria and Russia Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Vaccines
Alan Keyes
Stop the Abominator
Oligarchy
Mike King
The Spanish American
War
The Holihoax
Rob Kirby
US dollar system
failing
Robert Lovelace
Earth Heal
Interview
Great Lakes Conference
Annie Machon
Interview
Pete Martino
Alex Jones interview
Mireille Mathieu
Joan of Arc
The deeds of greater Judistan
Cynthia McKinney
Interview
Guy McPherson
What is climate
change?
Escaping to the
south
Climate change update,
04-15
Living each moment
Ralph McGehee
The secrets of the CIA
Ray McGovern
RT interview
Phil Mocek
Innocent of all
charges
Mahatier Mohamad
The Jews rule the
world
Herman Morris
Syrian Girl
Extermination of the
Arabs
Israel is doomed
Andrew Moulden
Vaccine
Injuries
Peter Myers
World Trade Centre Attack
Ralph Nader
Learning from Eric Cantor's defeat
Alejandro Natividad
Cop confrontation
Cathy O'Brian
Testimony
Ken O'Keefe
Debate with Lawrence
Korb
Dmitry Orlov
How to start a war
Collapse mid term
Defeat is victory
Mireille Mathieu
Joan of Arc
The deeds of greater Judistan
Harvey Organ
Interview
Prof. Martin Paul
Wifi and EMF
biological harm
Ilan Pappe
BBC interview
Leonard Peltier
One
Attack on Peltier
Duke Pesta
Common Core
James Petras
Rape of Latin America
John Pilger
Russia Today interview
Gaza
taboo
Do you remember
Vietnam?
Utopia
Again the rise of fascism
The Secret Country
Bobby Powell
Banker
seizure resisted
Sraddhalu Ranade
Demonic Forces
Bob Randall
Kanyini teaching
Jon Rappoport
Ukraine-the-end-game
Consigning Monsanto to hell
Depopulation corn
Creativity
William Rodriguez
Last man out
Glen Roberts
Why I renounced my citizenship
Paul Craig Roberts
Are you ready for nuclear war?
Western collapse
China/Russia response
The Matix
Alan Sabrosky
Israel's hidden faces
9-11
reconsidered
Go tell it to the people
Adrian Salbuchi
Zionism and
multiculturalism
The Pope
Stephanie Seneff
Roundup
Autism/vaccine
connection
Vandana Shiva
Biodiversity
Stephen Sizer
Christian Zionism
Debate with Michael
Brown
Zionist attack on Sizer
Jeffrey Smith
Seeds of Deception
Ben Swann
Origin of ISIS
Rob Stewart
Interview
David Stockman
The coming financial storm
Deborah Tavares
Cell towers and drones
Agenda 21
Sherri Tenpenny
UNICEF attack refuted
Australian ambush
Barrie Trower
Microwave warfare
The cooking of humanity
Udo Ulfkotte
German presstitue
whistleblower
Brandy Vaughan
Former Merck rep
Intimidation Carey Wedler
Burning my last bridge
with Obama
FBI report
Alison Weir
Against our better
judgment
Richard Wilcox
Goldman Sax nukes
the world
Jim Willie
Prepare for Collapse
January 26, 2015
* * *
Umbria One
A joyful noise unto the Lord One
* * *
Music Videos YouTube
Links Comfort my
people Simple
Gifts
Joyful Duet
I Wonder as
I Wander
He's
A Wonderful God
Let me walk with God
The Holy City
Praise
One O'
These Days
Morning has Broken
Mocking Bird Yodel
Danny's Song
Guitar Instrumental
Tapestry
Coat of Many Colors
LCaoineadh / The Lament
Ag Criost an
siol
Christ the Seed
Lourdes Ave Maria
Allemande / Dowland
Julie Fowles
The Lass of Aughrim
Gaelic
Song of Patrick
Ye banks and braes
Ye bank and braes II
What wondrous love is
this?
Two Irishmen and a
Hebrew
The Holly and the Ivy
Resonet In Laudibus
Orlando Gibbons - The
Silver Swan
Scarborough Fair
Come Again
Mireille Mathieu
Joan of Arc
Jim Croce - Time in a bottle - 1973
Vincent
In the Ghetto
Janey
Cutler
Arms of the Angel /Archbold
How, Where, When
The Old Road
Oilfield
Dodge
Banks of Marble
East Meets West
Jim Valley -- Rainbow
Planet
Jim Valley's Rainbow
Planet
It's a special world
With or without you
Ana Raffali (sings 6
minutes in)
Tolong Ingatkan Aku
Guitar lesson
Sweet Pea
The Little Blue Man
Down to the river to
pray
What A Friend We Have
Twelve Gates To The
City
The Glory Is Passing
Over
It Is Well With My
Soul
Brazilian Lullaby
Jacob's Ladder
If You See My Savior
The Father of Gospel
Music
He's
So Wonderful
Tombigo
Peace Like A River
Ave Maria Mary's Boy
Child Once In
Royal David's City
One Star
Oh What A Beautiful
City
O Come, O Come,
Emmanuel
O Holy Night
Bethlehem Innkeeper
Venez Divin Messie
Mon Dieu, tu est
grand, tu est beau
Veni, veni Emmanuel
Four French Carols
Tagalog
Pablo Milanes --
Yolanda
Medley
Hark! The Herald
Angels Sing
Silent Night / The
Temptations
I Can Only Imagine
Forgiveness
Beautiful You
Bless The Broken Road
Lose My Soul
He Reigns
I See The Lord
A Baby Changes
Everything
That's My King
Rain with Rob Bell
Price of Freedom
All You
Need Is Love The
Last Thing On My Mind
Wedding Song
Dion / Abraham, Martin
and John
Leaving On A Jet Plane
Mary Travers Speaks
About Her Illness
Humpback Whale
Scotland the Brave
Scotland the Brave with lyrics
Do you hear the people
sing?
With a little help
from my friends
Don't cry for me
Argentina
Man on fire
Man on fire -- live
performance
Brahm's
Lullaby Sleep My
Little Prince
Hush Little Baby
Para Ninar
By The Sea
Uncle Walter dancing
with bears
Oh
Happy Day
Sister Act -- O Happy
Day
Why does my heart feel
so bad
What A Wonderful World
Fine and Mellow
Stand by Me
Ain't Got No...I've Got
Life
Black Orpheus
Pidgin
Suzanne
Hallelujah
Edwin Starr- War
Eve of Destruction
The Universal Soldier
What Are We Fighting
For?
Where Have All The
Flowers Gone?
I Don't Believe In If
Anymore
I didn't raise my boy
to be a soldier
I did not raise my boy
to be a soldier
Ukrainian crisis /
stopping the fascists
World Turned Upside
Down
Hurdy Gurdy
Three Chantrelle Hurdy
gurdy
Monkey And The
Engineer
I Love My Baby
Beat It On Down The
Line
Bob Marley - One Love
Somebody's Dying Every Day
Swing
This train
Bell Song / Dilbus
Yunus
Bell Song / Mado Robin
Son Vergin Vezzova /
Mado Robin
Sukiyaki
The
Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond
Amazing Grace
Seven Joys of Mary by
Burl Ives
Georgy Girl
I'll never find another you
Dublin
City Sung By Burl Ives
My Grandfather's Clock
500 Miles Away From
Home
California Stars
When a man loves a
woman
Russian Folk
Solveig's Song
From Russia with love
Igor Strelkov
Praise to Allah from
Prison
Happiness Defined
A Perfect Day
The Last Farewell
A Man Needs A Little
Madness
Leap of Faith Movie
James Stewart / Harvey
(1/2)
James Stewart / Harvey
(2/2)
James Stewart / Beau
Earnest Saves
Christmas
Die Twinnies
The Seventh Seal
William Blake
Documentary
Johann Sebastian Bach
Sheep May Safely Graze
Jesu, Meine Freude
Komm, Jesu, Komm
Der Geist hilft...
Jesu, Joy Of Man's
Desiring
Haydn and Telemann
Trumpet concerto Es-Durr
Concert for trumpet
and organ in D
Vivaldi
Concert for two
trumpets and organ in C
Concerto for Two
Violins in A Minor
Viola Concerto in G
major
Beethoven
Quartets
Handel
Samson
All We Like Sheep
O thou that tellest
good tidings
For
Unto Us A Child
Is Born
Mozart
Requiem
Piano Concerto # 21
Mozart for infants
John
Taverner
Gloria
Verdi
Chorus of the
Hebrew Slaves
Requiem
John
Tavener
The Protecting Veil
Scarlatti
Sonata in E major L23
Haydn
Trumpet
Liszt
Valentina Listsa
Brahms
Selected works
Delibes Lakme - The
Flower Duet
O Fortuna - Carl Orff
O Mio Babbino Caro
Enrico Caruso Sings "
Santa Lucia"
Mamma
Mon Oncle
Jacques Tati
Marie Grillet
Lisa Stoll / alphorn
Selbstgespragh
Swiss band
Ahrntaler Geigenmusig
Swiss yodlers
Bolero
Come Back to Sorrento
Santa Lucia
O Sole Mio -- Eugene
Shilin
Gaudeamus Igitur
Il Silenzio
Albinoni
Gypsy Romance
The Queen's Prayer
Iniikiniki Malie
Maui
Medley
Somewhere Over The
Rainbow
Merrie Monarch 2010
Merrie Monarch 2012
Cook
Islands Dance - Tiare Tipani
Samoa
Samoa song of the kava
Cook Island
Oldest Recorded
Drumming
"Indian" defined
Cherokee Morning Song
Amazing Grace Cherokee
Amazing Grace Walela
Sioux Indian
Traditional Song
Navajo Healing Song
Ballad of Ira Hayes
Russell Means / Testimony to Congress
War Song
Sioux War Dance
Lakota - To Walk the
Red Road
Tribute To Red Cloud
Lakota Lullaby
Thanksgiving song
The Sundance Ceremony
Ink Pa Ta
Lakota Sioux Dancing
Medicine Dream - Honor
Song
Plains-style flute
Strong
Woman Song
Color Nature Gone
Color Nature
Gone II
Indian Flute
Children
Of The Plains
Buffy
Sainte-Marie
El
Condor Pasa
Canuck
The Dawes Act of 1887
An Urgent Message
Pretty Brown
My brown skin baby
they take him away
The Land owns us
Amazonia, last call
Rainbow sevant
The 4
most beautiful eyes in the world
Polyphonic Singing of the Aka Pygmies
Baka yoddlers
The Kalahari
Indian dance
Children of the Forest
-- India
Living Rivers
Kurds
Luzia
Goin' to Leave Ol Texas
Cool Clear Water
Back in the Saddle
Again
I'm A Happy Cowboy
Don't Fence Me In
Cowboy Logic
Theme Song from High
Noon
Gauchos
The Last Cowboy Song
The archers of Bhutan
Missionary madness but Truth
shines through
The Zo'e Tribe Of
Amazonia
Korowai Tribe
Korowai Tribe full
version
Baka Rainforest People
Andamen Islands
Bonobo
Black Orphyus
Black Orpheus carnival
Black Orpheus finale
Allah answers prayer
Walkabout
Nanook of the north
Khazarian Conspiracy
40 years lost in the taigra
Tuvan throat singing
Tuvan throat singing
on Letterman
Throat singing
ensamble
Female Mongolian
throat singer
Male Mongolian throat
singer
How to do throat
singing
A geodesic greenhouse
Zionist target Al-Zafer
MS - 17 the untold
story
The Day the Dollar
Died
Deflation first
/ then Inflation
* * *
Poetry
Let it be a dance we do.
May I have this dance with you?
Through the good times
And the bad times, too,
Let it be a dance.
Let a dancing song be heard.
Play the music say the words,
Fill the sky with sailing birds.
Let it be a dance.
Learn to follow, learn to lead,
Feel the rhythm, fill the need.
To reap the harvest, plant the seed.
And let it be a dance.
Everybody turn and spin,
Let your body learn to bend,
and, like a willow with the wind,
Let it be a dance.
A child is born, the old must die,
A time for joy, a time to cry.
Take it as it passes by.
And let it be a dance.
Morning star comes out at night,
Without the dark there is no light.
If nothing's wrong, then nothing's right.
Let it be a dance.
Let the sun shine, let it rain,
Share the laughter, bare the pain,
And round and round we go again.
Let it be a dance.
—Ric Masten sings
Link to Let It Be A
Dance
* * *
B a i t a n d S w i t c h
The Church and the World walked far apart
on the changing shores of time.
Said the World to the Church
"your dress is too simple to please my taste;
I will give you pearls to wear,
rich velvets and silks for your graceful form,
and diamonds to deck your hair."
* * * Lourdes Ave Maria.
(an adaptation)
Before Creation was begun
God had chosen you to be
Mother of His blessed Son.
When Creation was restored
You were there beside Our Lord
Whom you cherished and adored.
Unto us are children too
Often doubtful what to do
Thus we look away to you
Take us by surprise,
Show us where your beauty lies
Lead us to your Son above
He will show us how to love.
How to pity and forgive.
Ave, Ave, Maria.
* * * Mary Magdalene.
She walks upon our meadows green,
The Lamb of God walks by her side,
And in every English Child is seen,
Children of Jesus and his Bride.
("Song of Jerusalem," William Blake)
* * * Nazarene Wisdom T W O W A Y S
There are two ways of teaching
and two wielders of power;
one is of light
and the other is of darkness.
Between those two ways
lies a vast chasm,
because over the one
are posted light-bearing angels,
while over the other are Satan's messengers;
and one of these two is the Lord
from all eternity,
while the other stands paramount
over this present age of iniquity.
The Way of Life is this:
Thou shalt love first the Lord thy Creator, and secondly thy neighbor as
thyself; and thou shalt do nothing to any man that thou wouldst not wish to
be done to thyself.
What you may learn from these words is to bless them that curse you, to
pray for your enemies, and to fast for your persecutors. For where is the
merit in loving only those who return your love? Even the heathens do as
much as that.
The Way of Death is this:
To begin with, it is evil, and in every way fraught with condemnation.
In it are murders, adulteries, lusts, fornications, thefts, idolatries,
witchcraft, sorceries, robberies, perjuries, hypocrisies, duplicities,
deceit, pride, malice, self-will, avarice, foul language, jealousy,
insolence, arrogance, and boastfulness. Here are those who persecute good
men, hold truth in abhorrence, and love falsehood; who do not know of the
rewards of righteousness, nor adhere to what is good, nor to just judgment;
who lie awake planning wickedness rather than well-doing. Gentleness
and patience are beyond their conception; they care for nothing good or
useful, and are bent only on their own advantage, without pity for the poor
or feeling for the distressed. Knowledge of the Creator is not in them; they
make away with their infants and deface God's image; they turn away the
needy and oppress the afflicted; they aid and abet the rich but arbitrarily
condemn the poor; they are utterly and altogether sunk iniquity.
* * *
Wedding Song
He is now to be among you at the calling
of your hearts.
Rest assured this troubador is acting on
His part.
The union of your spirits here has caused
Him to remain,
for whenever two or more of you are
gathered in His name,
There is love. There is love.
Oh, a man shall leave his mother, and
a woman leave her home.
They will travel on to where the two
will be as one.
As it was in the beginning, is now until
the end,
woman draws her life from man
and gives it back again and there is love.
Oh, there's love.
Well then what's to be the reason for
becoming man and wife?
Is it love that brings you here or love that
brings you life?
For if loving is the answer then who's the
giving for?
Do you believe in something that you've
never seen before?
Oh, there's love. There is love.
He is now to be among you at the calling
of your hearts.
Rest assured this troubador is acting
on His part.
The union of your spirits here has caused
Him to remain
for whenever two or more of you are
gathered in His name
there is love. Oh, there is love.
Link to Wedding Song
* * *
"Always humble yourself
lovingly before God and man,
because God speaks to those
who are truly humble of heart,
and enriches them with his gifts."
(Padre
Pio)
* * *
People are often unreasonable,
illogical and self centered.
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind
people may accuse you
of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful,
you will win some false friends
and some true enemies;
Be successful anyway.
If you are honest and frank,
people may cheat you,
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building,
someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow:
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have,
and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got
anyway.
You see, in the final analysis
it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them
anyway.
-- original version by Kent M Keith
* * *
The Earth is our Mother,
But now the Earth is gravely ill.
Mother Earth.
She needs all the help she can get.
* * *
Ah love, let us be true
To one another, for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new
Hath in reality neither joy, nor love, nor life,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle
and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.
* * *
Broken Love
My Spectre around me night and day
Like a wild beast guards my way;
My Emanation far within
Weeps incessantly for my sin.
A fathomless and boundless deep,
There we wander, there we weep;
On the hungry craving wind
My Spectre follows thee behind.
He scents thy foot steps in the snow
Wheresoever thou dost go,
Thro the wintery hail and rain.
When wilt thou return again?
Dost thou not in pride and scorn
Fill the tempests all the morn,
And with jealousies and fears
Fill my pleasant nights with fears.
Seven of my sweet loves thy knife
Has bereaved of their life.
Their marble tombs I build with tears,
And with cold and shuddering fears.
Seven more loves weep night and day
Round the tombs where my loves lay,
And seven more loves attend each night
Around my couch with torches bright.
And seven more loves in my bed
Crown with wine my mournful head,
Pitying and forgiving all
Thy transgressions great and small.
When wilt thou return and view
My loves, and them to life renew?
When wilt thou return and live?
When wilt thou pity as I forgive?
O'er my sins thou sits and moans:
Hast thou no sins of thy own?
O'er my sins thou sits and weeps,
And lull thy own sins fast asleep.
What transmissions I commit
Are for thy transgressions fit.
They thy harlots, thou their slave;
And my bed becomes their grave.
Never, never, I return:
Still for victory I burn.
Living, thee alone I'll have;
And when dead I will be thy grave.
Thro the Heaven and Earth and Hell
Thou shalt never, quell:
I will fly and thou pursue:
Night and morn the flight renew.
Poor, pale, pitiable form
That I follow in a storm;
Iron tears and groans of lead
Bind around my aching head.
'Till I turn from Female love
And root up the Infernal Grove;
I shall never worthy be
To step into Eternity.
And, to end thy cruel mocks,
Annihilate thee on the rocks,
And another form create
To be subservient to my fate.
Let us agree to give up love,
And root up the Infernal Grove;
Then shall we turn and see
The worlds of happy Eternity.
And throughout all Eternity
I forgive you, you forgive me.
As our dear Redeemer said:
"This the Wine, and this the Bread."
-- William Blake
* * *
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