tagged w/ Gnosticism
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The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Seven Seals, the Whore of Babylon: These stunning images alone would have turned the Book of Revelation into one of the most memorable chapters in the Bible.
But they're just part of an even more fantastic vision of a prophet thought to be John of Patmos. He introduces readers to a seven-eyed lamb, locusts with scorpion tails, horrific beasts, and a demonic number.
The author wouldn't have called himself a Christian. In fact, he violently disagreed with those who wished to pull his faith – Judaism – in new directions. Essentially, he was a fundamentalist fighting against the encroachment of fresh ideas that disturbed him deeply. But while he couldn't stop the evolution of his faith, his words lived on to intrigue and confound dozens of generations.
Are they the fever dream of a man with a remarkable imagination? Scenes of what he thought would happen in a matter of weeks or months? Or a vision of the far-away future, perhaps even of our own time?
Elaine Pagels, a bestselling author and professor of religion at Princeton University, dives into the debate in her new book "Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation."
In an interview, Pagel talks about the eternal appeal of the Book of Revelation, the common ways that people misunderstand its meaning and its moving message about what we find in faith.
Q: The images of the Book of Revelation remain major touchstones in our culture. Why do you think that is?
A: It's very visceral. It doesn't appeal to the brain. It appeals to the bloodstream, as the Muslims say of the devil. It's a book of dragons, seven-headed beasts, monsters, whores, armies of insects fighting, angels and demons, and pits of fire.
Q: What was going on in the author's mind?
A: A lot of people say, "Is this guy on hallucinogenics or what?" But it's not an individual's fantasy. These are imaginatively transformed versions of ancient prophecies of Ezekiel, Daniel, Jeremiah, and Isaiah.
It's a book of prophecy. It's supposed to inspire people who have given up hope on any justice in the world. John wants people to hold onto that hope.
Q: He wrote the Book of Revelation at a time when there was intense debate over the future of the church and whether it was something different from Judaism. Where did John of Patmos fit in?
A: He's not somebody who'd call himself a Christian. He's somebody who's very proud of being a Jew – but one who knows who the messiah is – and sees himself in the line of the prophets.
He's a fierce, angry, conservative, passionate prophet. He's ferocious, with a kind of puritan sense of the importance of sexual purity and ethnic purity, compared to Paul, who's willing to eat unkosher food and eat with Gentiles and open up the movement to everybody. John doesn't think so.
Q: What do people misunderstand about the Book of Revelation?
A: A lot of liberal people think it's just crazy, and they can't understand how people have ever taken it seriously. They don't see that it is about war and politics, full of imaginative images of the political world of that era.
We'd have to think of ourselves as people whose families have been slaughtered to see how this author is seeing the forces of good and evil.
Q: Was he living in an era akin to our modern Holocaust?
A: The Romans weren't trying to kill all the Jews, but they did destroy Jewish resistance to Roman rule. Jerusalem was turned into a Roman army camp, and it was a total devastation.
Q: How long have people been interpreting the Book of Revelation as predicting events of their own lifetimes?
A: What's amazing to me is that for 2,000 years, people have been reading the signs of their own times into it: It was about the explosion of Vesuvius, it was about Nero. Because the images are so open-ended, it's been possible to reapply it again and again.
>snip<
Q: Tell me about the Antichrist. He doesn't actually appear in the Book of Revelation, but we think of him as being part of the apocalypse and the end times.
A: The Antichrist is often identified with the second beast in the Book of Revelation that arises from the land, the beast that tries to make everyone worship the power of evil.
Q: We do find the numbers 666 in the Book of Revelation, and they've been an eternal source of fascination. What do you think they stand for?
A: John is a Jewish prophet, and he hates Rome. Maybe he doesn't want to indict the Roman Empire publicly, even though he does that plenty.
He puts the number in the code called gematria, which equates a number with every letter: 666 is most plausibly read as the imperial name of Nero. He was understood by everybody to be the epitome to be the worst you could get as far as evil. People would have understood that.
Q: What is the ultimate value of understanding the Book of Revelation?
A: You can look at the 2,000 years of the way it's been read, in Europe and ancient Italy and from Augustine through the Middle Ages and beyond, and write the whole history of western Christendom by the way they're reading the Book of Revelation.
What's important to me is how it shows that the religious understandings of history and meaning are really not going away. They're very durable. They have to do with emotional responses to conflict, to ambiguity, to trauma like war and natural catastrophe.
The book says, okay, there is a lot of suffering and there's a lot of terrible things are happening, but they're all under God's control. It'll only last for a certain amount of time, and justice will prevail.
It shows religion is less about believing in a bunch of things than it is about having hope.
By Randy Dotinga / 05.18.12The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Seven Seals, the Whore of Babylon: These... more
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Nathaniel J. Merritt, the author of the controversial book called "Jehovah Unmasked: The true identity of the bible god revealed" has decided that the book should now be available free to anyone who wants to download it.
Excerpt from the Email announcement...
From the Publisher
JEHOVAH UNMASKED! The True Identity of the Bible-God Revealed, has been such a success as to warrant a NEW EDITION. This second edition takes the reader even deeper into the truly bizarre side of the Bible. A side you will never hear read from any pulpit anywhere. Come along for a wild ride as the author unfolds to you, in your own Bible, mysteries and weirdness that the churches of Christendom would much rather you remain ignorant of. Be prepared for shock after shock as the light of understanding dawns and you realize how completely YOU HAVE BEEN LIED TO by all the churches of Christendom! Read for yourself, IN YOUR OWN BIBLE, the LIES OF GOD in the Garden of Eden AND THE TRUTH TOLD BY THE SERPENT!
From the Author
JEHOVAH UNMASKED was a lifetime in the making. My lifetime. Never one to believe or think what the herd believes or thinks, my life has been one of spiritual searching and discovery. The Jehovah's Witnesses sect was my first sustained experience of religion, and they nearly killed me with their raging murderous Old Testament god of hate and vengeance. After being shunned by the Witnesses I began an intense spiritual odyssey through the Baptist ministry and then the Buddhist priesthood that culminated in my embracing Gnosticism. Join me on my journey and be prepared for the wildest ride imaginable through the pages of the Bible!
He has graciously decided to permit the free release of this publication as a PDF (the same one used to publish the book). This is what he said in an email to me:
I have decided that Jehovah Unmasked can do far more good as a free PDF than as a book for sale. Please send it on to whomever is interested. If you build a Gnostic web-site, offer it for free. Help me get it out there to as many people as possible, Thanks Nathan!
So without further ado,
https://5936230565635938833-a-1802744773732722657-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/leveck/JEHOVAHUNMASKEDsecondedition.pdf?attachauth=ANoY7coWya8hRJhVtw477bDlXjjURlP8SNgN3_TYPfiXo911htZPDYnpuq7K5u1WeSLx7o46rVqNblkUp-nUdmZEuOhedBhqA0obLzkbhJk3S3iRGMT1yg1aucq1MSeQRBgQg2FE8CtEJ3zcNeOqNLd_5cVxvZzkqTFLsYvyBkREUYNdhhtOYh1v7HfX1kNBlKhtdJIMRIlQDMOCns0vRqhzEEJXrAX-Qg%3D%3D&attredirects=0Nathaniel J. Merritt, the author of the controversial book called "Jehovah... more
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jubal
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added this
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1 year ago
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With all of this talk about Atheism and Christianity, I thought it only fair to describe what I and some others believe in. For me, a once Evangelical Lutheran who attended church, sang in a choir as a soloist, and even at twelve years old thought of going to Seminary to become a minister because I was so blown away by the teachings and knowledge of Jesus Christ, it took quite a revelation for me to then understand "organized religion" and the subjugation of the mind and spirit it brings as I grew older. Through the years since I was a young girl, I have seen how religion can constrict the mind to the will of many for their own ends and actually put up barriers between the believer and their relationship with Christ. So, eventually I found a far more enlightening way to seek a closer relationship to the Christ without all of the middlemen driving fear and dogma into my heart and mind. I turned to Gnosticism, which I believe allows a greater freedom of heart, mind, and spirit.
To some however, the ancient beliefs of Gnostics will sound like something out a science fiction novel, but when you put it into perspective of how society works, it does on some level make sense. Gnostics believe that this material world we live in is an evil diversion set upon us by the Demiurge, or false god. In this material world we live in there are Aeons, or 'angels' (Jesus /Christ and Sophia being the first) who were non material spirits sent to lead us to gnosis, or knowledge of the divine light within all of us. In other words, to enlighten us to the fact that we are not shaped by the material world, but transcend it. Archons are seen as the 'demons' who are the gatekeepers of the material world we live in that provide the distractions to us attaining the knowledge to ascend back to the Pleroma, or universal God and who do all in their power to make this world a place that is opposite of what it should be. As I stated, equate that to the actual way our society works, and it does make some sense, though I myself do not use those terms in my daily life. However, analogies can be made.
In some extreme sects of Gnostics it was even believed that the human body in and of itself was an evil distraction and trap to the light within us devised to enslave the soul and true light. That for me is still debatable as I believe humans are divine as was Christ. It is believed that the only way to reach ‘gnosis’ or knowing is through inner reflection and through looking beyond the material distractions of the Demiurge. Gnostics in some sects were also known to be ascetic, though there is mention of the "Bridal Chamber" in the joining of man and woman, though not much if anything is known specifically of the ritual. It is believed by some as well that spiritual transcendence and seeing the light are reached through the joining of man and woman spiritually through the physical. Personally, I am more in favor of that latter ritual myself ;-).
continued.With all of this talk about Atheism and Christianity, I thought it only fair to... more
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Architects of A New Dawn is a project, born from the dream and vision of Carlos Santana, to create a new global network, driven by extraordinary music and powerful media content. It is designed to engage people of all walks of life to work together to create positive change in the global community where love can replace fear and where peace can replace conflict.Architects of A New Dawn is a project, born from the dream and vision of Carlos... more
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VOLCAN
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added this
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3 years ago
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A funny and insightful look into the reality of life, from the spiritual point of view.
With deep humanity and humor, Belzebuub talks about the illusory nature of life and the spiritual reality behind it using the analogy of a clay model.
At the same time, the video is deeply serious and pressing for each person.
Does it resonate with you? Have you ever felt like you were living in a clay model?
You can find more www.belzebuub.com.A funny and insightful look into the reality of life, from the spiritual point of... more
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Interesting look at the Christian Gnostics, emerging in different forms throughout history, and walking the hidden path towards spiritual transformation.Interesting look at the Christian Gnostics, emerging in different forms throughout... more
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I. The Creator God and the Supreme God
For an evil tree bringeth forth not good fruit; neither does a good tree bring forth evil fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. Luke 6:43,44a
I am the Lord, and there is none else; I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil...
Isaiah 45:6,7
I create evil - This god is the author of evil - there must be another God, after the analogy of the good tree producing its good fruit. In Christ is found a different disposition, one of a simple and pure benevolence - which differs from the Creator.
In Christ a new God is revealed.
The Creator God is judicial, harsh, and mighty in war.
The Supreme God is gentle and simply good and excellent.
The title "God" is a vague one, and applied to other Beings as well; as it is written, " He standeth in the congregation of the mighty"; "He judgeth among the gods" (Psalm 82:1,6), "Ye are gods". Thus as the attribute of supremacy would be inappropriate to these, although they be called gods, so it is to the Creator.
Jesus Christ and none else revealed a new God, who, in the Old world and in the Old time and under the Old God was unknown and unheard of ; Whom is accounted by no one through long centuries back, and ancient in men's very ignorance of Him - even in ancient names He was unknown and concealed. He had remained unknown by any works from the beginning. Even the Creator was unaware of the Supreme God being above himself, Who, although He did not manifest Himself from the beginning and by means of the creation, has yet revealed Himself in Christ Jesus.
To be sure, this world is a grand work, worthy of a god. Yet the Supreme God has a creation of His own, and His own world, and His own sky. One work is sufficient for our God: He has delivered man by His supreme and most excellent goodness, which is preferable to the creation of all the locusts. A primary and perfect goodness is shed voluntarily and freely upon strangers without any obligation of friendship, on the principle that we are bidden to love our enemies, who as such on that very account are strangers to us.
The Supreme God is susceptible to no feeling of rivalry, or anger, or damage, or injury . He inflicts no punishment and takes no offence, and is not feared, as a good being ought not to be an object of fear, as a judicial being, in whom resides the grounds for fear - anger, severity, judgements, vengence, and condemnation.I. The Creator God and the Supreme God
For an evil tree bringeth forth not good... more
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jubal
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3 years ago
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