So many thoughts…
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/brot…cial&utm_source=Facebook&utm_campaign=us_main
(Discussion in ‘Politics and Society‘ started by wil, May 17, 2022)
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Month: May 2022
The Healers
My late wife suffered from both peitit-mal and grand-mal epileptic seizures. Grand-mal seizures are now called something like ‘tonic-clonic’. She would have several petit-mal seizures each day and might have a grand-mal seizure every other night.
I 1973 (ish) I took her to meet Harry Edwards, a well known healer in Leatherhead, England. MY wife told him straight that she didn’t believe in any of it and was only there at my request. He replied that it didn’t matter if she was there because she had tripped up on the threshold and fallen in, so long as she hadn’t bumped herself too badly….She laughed out loud.
He said,’That’s fine…..It was nice to meet you’, or words to that effect, and my wife was amazed because she hadn’t said anything else and we’d been in his presence about a minute. I took my wife home to Guildford, she was most disgruntled about a wasted afternoon.
She didn’t have another seizure….not one and not until about 1976 when they suddenly started again. I made to contact Harry Edwards again, only to discovder that he had just died.
I can’t remember the dates exactly, but my wife didn’t have any kind of seizure for about three years after seeing Mr Edwards.
Discussion in ‘Belief and Spirituality‘ started by badger 24/05/2022)
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The Gospel of John
badger said: ↑
Please can you give me an example of G-JOHNs geographic accuracy?
This is from a longish exposition on the GoJ in general here:
(7) The fourth Gospel actually presents a much more consistently chronological account of Jesus’ ministry, even though that emerges not as a primary intention but as a “fringe benefit” of its desire to include material from Jesus attending the various Jerusalem festivals (which can be dated). John likewise contains more details of geography and topography than any of the Synoptics and, where he can be tested, he has consistently been shown to be accurate.
Another essay here:
The writer of John knows his stuff when it comes to Palestinian geography and topography.
In John 2:12, we read the trip from Cana to Capernaum is going down. Similarly, in John 4:46-47, it says that Jesus came again to Cana and a royal official who had a sick son in Capernaum came to him. He implores Jesus to “come down” and heal his son. The elevation of Cana is 709 feet above sea level. Capernaum is minus 682 feet. Jn 5:1 says afterward, Jesus “went up” to Jerusalem, presumably from Cana. Jerusalem has an elevation of 2575 feet.
There’s the mention of the view of Jacob’s well, which would include Mount Gerazim and cornfields. (John 4:20, 35) There’s even the mention of the depth of the well. (Jn 4:11)
John 5:1-3 mentions the Pool of Bethesda, which was surrounded by five covered colonnades. In the 1950s, archaeologists discovered the remains of the pool. This pool was located by the sheep gate and enclosed by five roofed colonnades.
Bethany near Jerusalem is described with spot-on precision as being 15 stadia away from the city. (Jn 11:18) This Bethany is distinguished from “Bethany beyond the Jordan.” (Jn 1:28)
The author also mentions that Jesus walked in the Colonnade of Solomon during winter. The roofed walkway would’ve protected Jesus from the cold winds. (John 10:23)
The writer also mentions that Ephraim is near the wilderness (John 11:54), the location of the Pool of Siloam (John 9:11), the dimensions of the Sea of Galilee (John 6:19), and the brook Kidron. (Jn 18:1)
In John, we find a number of small villages mentioned: Aenon, Cana, Ephraim, Salim, and Sychar.
It’s interesting to note that John was a fisherman by trade. He mentions 5 bodies of water. (Bethesda, Kidron, the Jordan River, the Sea of Galilee, and the Pool of Siloam.) The Synoptic writers only mention two bodies of water in comparison. (They all mention the river Jordan. Mark and Matthew mention the Sea of Galilee. Luke mentions Siloam.)
Also, John is the lone NT writer who refers to the Sea of Galilee by the name Sea of Tiberias (Jn 6:1, see also Jn 21:1). This is actually the right local usage. In the 20’s BC, King Herod finished the building of the town of Tiberias on the southwestern shore of the lake. After this, the name Sea of Tiberias started to be used for the lake itself.
And there’s an essay: Topography and Theology in the Gospel of John, 14 pages, but worth a skim, at least.
+++
The bit I can’t find is an essay that shows how in one account the Synoptics are geographically wrong, or indicate the writer does not know the terrain, whereas John is correct. I’ll keep looking …
(Thomas May 3 2022)
(Discussion in ‘History and Mythology‘ started by badger, May 2, 2022)
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Potential Evidence for the Possibility of God
Some people say that atheists wouldn’t accept the existence of God if God himself personally came down to verify his existence. I don’t think this is accurate. In fact, I don’t think God would need to even go that far to prove his existence to me. Here are some pieces of evidence that we could discover in the future that would make his existence more likely to me. organized from most plausible to least plausible:
1. If we discover that time predates space
One of the primary issues with a Creator God is that it implies a causality either without time or before the universe. A “first cause” would still need time to exist in, as far as we know. However, there could be a “first cause” for the 3 spatial dimensions as a product of the temporal one, and this might be decent evidence for the existence of at least a minimally-defined Deist God.
2. If we discover immaterial minds
Another issue with the existence of gods or spirits in general is that, as far as we can tell, minds only exist as an emergent phenomenon from matter. How could something that predates matter and all of the fundamental forces have a mind? If we could show this to be possible, it would also provide some evidence for God’s possibility. Some theories of Panpsychism like the Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe might prove fruitful here, but CTMU would have to demonstrate a functional Theory of Everything to show its veracity, in my opinion. If it does that, it would provide good evidence for a Pantheist God.
3. If Enochian magic could be used to falsify physical laws
The idea behind Enochian magic is that Enochian is the language that God spoke the universe into existence with. This actually isn’t too far off from some theoretical concepts of a “mathematical universe” or “mathematical monism” where all of reality is an emergent property from some sort of algorithm, essentially a computer simulation of a virtual space. If the code is written in Enochian, and we can hack the source code of the universe, then I think that would provide some evidence for the existence of God given that Enochian was supposedly given to man by angels on behalf of God. Currently, though, “evidence” of the efficacy of Enochian magic is indistinguishable from magical thinking and apophenia.
4. If we discovered that prayers somehow transmitted into space using a form of previously-undetectable wave
If we discovered that prayers specifically act as some sort of transmission on a layer of reality that is ordinarily invisible to us, then that would be evidence that prayer might genuinely be communicating with something. Whether that something fits theological concepts of God or not, I would be comfortable saying that whatever is receiving those transmissions is essentially acting in the place of God and could take that title as the object of prayer.
5. If we make contact with life after death and they affirm God’s existence
While this would not be direct evidence of God, it would be good enough for me. If we somehow discovered a way to talk to spirits of the deceased, not only proving the existence of an afterlife but proving that there is a ruler of the afterlife, then that ruler could be considered a god.
6. If we proved Young-Earth Creationism
If Young-Earth Creationism could actually verify its claims, then it genuinely would provide evidence that humanity was spontaneously generated by the hand of God. To do this would be a massive undertaking. We would have to prove that the Earth (and the rest of the universe) is only 6,000 years old, that humans are a product of spontaneous generation and not evolution, and that all of humanity descended from a single pair of humans. However, if we could prove that a literal reading of Genesis lines up with the facts, then that would seem to indicate that whoever wrote Genesis probably knew what they were talking about.
(Discussion in ‘Philosophy‘ started by Ella S. 20/05/2022)
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The Laws of Moses……… perfect for their time.
I propose that the 613 laws of Moses (from Genesis, Numbers, Leviticus, Deuteronomy and others) were a perfect piece of legislation for the production of a fast growing, surviving, strong, healthy and cohesive people.
All were important, and I think that Jesus wanted their return, especially those that protected and supported everybody regardless of abilities or disabilities.
The other day I noticed a Bye Law (Canterbury City Council, England) which requires that where anybody is working on a roof, that suitable railings, walls etc are put up all around that workspace. Brilliant! Straight out of Deuteronomy….
Deuteronomy: {22:8} When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if any man fall from thence.
……. every law. Of course, some might seem to be strange, so please do trawl through 613 and pick any for discussion
(Discussion in ‘History and Mythology‘ started by badger, May 10, 2022)
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Was the Gospel of Mark adjusted by Christians?
The New International Version translation of the Gospel of Mark warns readers if there is evidence that verses were adjusted, added to or cut. A typical example is in the very first verse of chapter one, where the reader is informed that ‘the Son of God’ was not present in earliest copies of G-Mark.
But as I read through this gospel in the King James version I see more verses still that cause me to be suspicious of edits.
I’m sad that this OP is long but I can’t avoid that. Please review the following verses from the KJV Gospel of Mark:-
Mark {3:7} But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude
from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea, {3:8} And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and [from] beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him. {3:9} And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.
I don’t believe that the underlined words in italics are genuine at all! The people of the Palestinian provinces were mostly poor…….. Sakari Hakkinen writes about the Galilee:-
In the Ancient world poverty was a visible and common phenomenon. According to estimations 9 out of 10 persons lived close to the subsistence level or below it. There was no middle class. …………………….Sakari Häkkinen, Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria.
From North of Gennesaret to Jerusalem was about 100 miles, to Idumea a lot further, and Phoenicia and Decapolis were all long walks to Galilee as well……… all those hard-up folks leaving their livings and what security they had to go walking to Galilee? No! Not real!
And so I referred to the Gospel of Mark in the NIV translation and this is what I read:-
Mark 3:7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. 8 When they heard about all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. 9 Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him.
I noticed how verse 7 ends in a full stop, with no comma to allow a continuing list of other provinces, whereas in the NIV version the (to me) suspicious verse is popped in as the whole of verse 8.
I wondered how this story was converted in to the gospels of Matthew and Luke, maybe these authors were not quite happy with the original scenery? Oh dear…….
Matthew {4:25} And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and [from] Decapolis, and [from] Jerusalem, and [from] Judaea, and [from] beyond Jordan. {5:1} And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
Luke {6:17} And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases;
Whilst I cannot be certain that these accounts above referred to the same occasion, the list of provinces that this crowd came from continues, but maybe Matthew and Luke didn’t like the scene of Jesus making speech from a boat offshore? Not friendly enough for them?
I’ve often heard that a person’s voice cannot be heard very far when surrounded by a crowd….fair enough, but I can tell you for fact that a person’s voice over still water can be heard for many hundreds of yards, because I learned when a boy that you never tell secrets when in boats…..your quiet voice can be heard. (true!) And since Jesus had two young men with him who had very strong voices (typical boatmen anywhere in the world) his boat speeches make perfect sense to me.
And so I propose that the people of GALILEE followed Jesus in Galilee, and that he DID make speech from a boat, just offshore, relayed by the Zebedee brothers.
What do you think?
(Discussion in ‘History and Mythology‘ started by badger, May 14, 2022)
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Cultural Appropriation.
I like counting the omer.
I like aspects of Hinduism, Buddhism, Quakers, Taoist.and even Christianity.
Ya think it cultural appropriation to take on such?
You think that a bad thing?
I mean if someone takes one or more aspects of any religion or culture and uses it to improve their relationship with life our earth and others…i don’t see anything wrong with that.
(Discussion in ‘Belief and Spirituality‘ started by wil, Apr 24, 2022)
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Does lifelong celibacy reduce or increase life expectancy?
I have been looking into this subject for awhile now. I cannot find any decent studies on the health effects of celibacy.
Some people claim that celibacy is unhealthy, linking it to emotional repression. I think this is a misunderstanding of emotional repression since someone who is celibate need not repress anything. In fact, the people I know who practice celibacy religiously tend to promote mindfulness and self-awareness, too, which is the exact opposite of repression.
Some people claim that celibacy is healthy, linking it to discipline or deferred gratification. I think this is just sort of absurd, personally, because celibacy is not really necessary to have discipline or deferred gratification.
As far as I can tell, neither of these claims have any evidence for them. It seems to me that celibacy is more of a neutral lifestyle choice that has no real impact on one’s health. One can be perfectly mentally and physically healthy and still have lived a life of celibacy but that celibacy doesn’t necessarily make them any healthier.
However, spirituality can have positive health benefits and celibacy is often a part of one’s spiritual practice. Celibacy might not directly improve one’s health but it might be caused by healthy spirituality.
Does anyone here have any thoughts on the matter or, better yet, peer-reviewed studies published in reputable academic journals on the subject?
(Discussion in ‘Health‘ started by Ella S., Apr 14, 2022)
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New Quran translation
Looks like a bestseller at Amazon:
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Critical-Quran/Robert-Spencer/9781642939491
(Discussion in ‘Islam‘ started by Nicholas Weeks 25/04/2022)
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Ezekiel’s Atomic Wheels (and Four Living Forces)
I have been studying Ezekiel’s Wheels for many years. I have concluded that they are depicting Atoms as well as their relating Physics. Biochemistry is there as well.
I will throw out some thoughts in case folks are interested…
Ezekiel 1:4
“And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.”
The word Amber is where we get the word ‘Electron’…
The classical names for amber, Latinelectrum and Ancient Greekἤλεκτρον (ēlektron), are connected to a term ἠλέκτωρ (ēlektōr) meaning “beaming Sun”
Amber – Wikipedia
Thus, Ezekiel was being shown Electrons. If we keep going with this presumption, we find that a ‘Wheel within a Wheel’ is depicting an Atom with two Electron Orbitals or Shells.
Elements with two Shells include…
- Oxygen
- Nitrogen
- Carbon
These are basic building blocks of Life. Why these types of Elements? Because Ezekiel was being shown how the Word was made flesh. It was a Prophecy of a future event…
John 1:14
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
Note that there are ‘Eyes’ going around and around…
Ezekiel 1:18
“As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four.”
In the typical schematical diagram of an Atom, the Eyes would be the Electrons that orbit within the ‘Rings’, similar to a Solar System.
These Eyes are the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of God…
Ezekiel 1:20
“Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.”
Spirit is Electromagnetism. Thus, it fits perfectly with the descriptions in Ezekiel.
Acts 1:8
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
Power is the Bible’s way of saying Electromagnetism. They are one and the same. It is literal.
(Discussion in ‘Abrahamic Religions‘ started by Base12 30/04/2022)
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