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Let's closely examine the original, conceptual foundations of the faith, and then decide "...if Christ be not risen. " But in order to do that, we must go back, not 2.000 years to the birth of Christ, but 8 to 10,000 years to the birth of modern man. For when one seeks to establish foundations, one must begin at the beginning.
Many thousands of years ago in what we refer to as the the "primordial world" of the ancients, human life was a far different experience to that which we enjoy today. While it is true that we have less documentation on that prehistoric world than we have on our own age, ample enough is known from the ancient writings to paint a rather clear picture of our primitive ancestry. If we have learned anything at all, it is this: The more we change, the more we stav the same. And nowhere is this more clearly demonstrated than in the history of man's quest for "God", and the ancient religion we still keep holy today.
According to the best understanding we have gleaned from the available records, life for our ancient forefathers was a mixture of wonder and fear. Each day, just finding food for one's family without becoming a meal yourself for the roaming predatory animals, was a life and death struggle. (If you have ever ventured out on a cold night with insufficient clothing, and without friend or family near, you could quickly see how fearful the dark, cold primordial nights could be) And then came winter!
It was from these meager, distressful conditions of the human race that our long history of the search for God and meaning has come. Any evolution, at it's most accelerated rate, is always agonisingly slow. But from the beginning, man's' profound questions demanded answers. When no clear answers were forthcoming from the universe, man turned inward, and developed his own. Keep in mind that all the theological teachings of the Western World were developed in the Northern Hemisphere. The study of this subject is properly called
- "Astro-Theology" or, "The Worship of the Heavens".
This is the first, original, and therefore the oldest, and most respected story on Earth! It did not take ancient man very long to decide that in this world the single greatest enemy to be feared was the darkness of night, and all the unknown dangers that came with it. Simply stated, man's first enemy was darkness.
Understanding this one fact alone, people can readily see why the greatest and most trustworthy friend the human race could ever have was by far, heaven's greatest gift to the world ... that Glorious Rising Orb of Day: ...
With this simple truth understood, we can now begin to unravel an ancient and wonderful story. Today, as in all mankinds' history, it has once again been told anew.
Modern-day Christianity has often belittled our ancient ancestors who are not here to defend themselves. They falsely accuse that they were nothing more than ignorant worshippers of the sun. Therefore we can, with assurance, summarily dismiss thousands of years of human spirituality as ignominious myth, believed by well-meaning, but gullible primitives. Too much of this kind of spiritual arrogance and religious pride has continued without challenge. The time has come to set matters straight.
THE CHALLENGE
First. no people of the ancient world believed the "Sun" to be "God". That belongs in the "disinformation file".
In point of fact, every Ancient culture and nation on Earth have all used the Sun as the most logically appropriate symbol to represent the Glory of the unseen Creator of the heavens. Here it is important to remember two points.
First, with the exception of Japan, the ancient world mythologies always understood the Sun to be masculine in qualities, and the moon feminine. Second, the English language is derived from the German. In the Germanic, the word 'Sun' is spelled 'Sonne'. The two words can (and have been) used interchangeably.
Old Testament:
"The heavens are declaring the Glory of God." (PS.19: 1)
New Testament:
"Jesus is the Glory of God." (2 Cor 4:6)
Old Testament:
"The SUN of Righteousness will arise with healings in His wings." (Mal 4:2)
New Testament:
"God's Son/Sun...he is risen!" (Matt 4:16)
Saying. "How, often I wanted to gather you under my wing. "
---The Prince of Darkness returns
Nick-named " The Prince of Darkness!!" One nation, on drugs...all the time
No developed country in the world permits pharmaceutical companies to run ads on TV. The practice used to be banned in the US too. No more.
Ads for pushing various drugs run night and day.
The scary thing is all those ads represent just a drop in the bucket compared to what drug companies spend bribing doctors to push their crap.
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Darling and Mandelson win election policy battle with weakened PM
By Richard Littlejohn
Last updated at 1:59 AM on 09th January 2010
Mandy is the ultimate courtier, a sort of political Paul Burrell. He would have made someone a lovely butler.
http://www.dailymai l.co.uk/debate/ article-1241482/ RICHARD-LITTLEJO HN-Mandelson- run-Jubilee- God-save- Queen.html
http://www.presstv. ir/detail. aspx?id=115636§ ionid=3510213
http://www.presstv. ir/detail. aspx?id=115642§ ionid=3510203
Now, after the fact, this incident has sparked a renewed interest in Yemen, a country I warned about as a "powder keg" back in August, and a slew of new security measures at airports to make our travel experience more miserable than it currently is. Travelers will soon get used to going through full-body scanners, like they have gotten used to taking off their shoes at security checkpoints at airports, since Richard Reid, a/k/a the shoe-bomber, tried unsuccessfully to take down another airliner in late 2001. Unfortunately, al-Qaeda and other groups will try to find other methods to bypass the new security measures until they succeed.
Solar geomagnetic index reaches unprecedented low – only “zero” could be lower – in a month when sunspots became more active
7 01 2010Back on December 12th 2009 I posted an article titled:
Solar geomagnetic activity is at an all time low – what does this mean for climate?
We then had a string of sunspots in December that marked what many saw as a rejuvenation of solar cycle 24 after a long period of inactivity. See December sunspots on the rise
It even prompted people like Joe Romm to claim:
But what Joe doesn’t understand is that sunspots are just one proxy, the simplest and most easily observed, for magnetic activity of the sun. It is the magnetic activity of the sun which is central to Svensmark’s theory of galactic cosmic ray modulation, which may affect cloud cover formation on earth, thus affecting global temperatures. As the theory goes, lower magnetic activity of the sun lets more GCR’s into our solar system, which produce microscopic cloud seed trails (like in a Wilson cloud chamber) in our atmosphere, resulting in more cloud cover, resulting in a cooler planet. Ric Werme has a nice pictorial here.
When I saw the SWPC Ap geomagnetic index for Dec 2009 posted yesterday, my heart sank. With the sunspot activity in December, I thought surely the Ap index would go up. Instead, it crashed.
Rabbi Kushner's talk to probe mysterious teachings of kabbalah
Most ancient Hebrew biblical inscription deciphered, scholar says
From the legendary Talmudic sage Rabbi Akiva to Madonna to today’s students at The Jewish Theological Seminary, the world of kabbalah and Jewish mysticism has long attracted scholars and disciples.
Nationally renowned author and speaker Rabbi Lawrence Kushner has devoted much of his career to teaching and writing about kabbalah and its connection to Jewish spirituality. Through his lectures and commentaries on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” the Detroit native has helped shape the present agenda for personal and institutional renewal.
Kushner, who serves as Emanu-El scholar in residence at Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco, will share his insights about the mysteries of kabbalah at Siegal College on Sun., Jan. 17, in his keynote speech “Invisible Lines of Connection: It’s All God!”
Although there are endless interpretations of kabbalah, scholars agree that it is a theological process central to Judaism that attempts to grasp the Infinite based on symbolic interpretations of the Scriptures. The Kabbalists’ masterwork is the Zohar (the Book of Splendor), a mystical commentary on the Torah.
Kushner has authored several best-selling books on Jewish mysticism, including The Book of Letters: A Mystical Alef-Bait; Honey from the Rock: An Introduction to Jewish Mysticism; and Jewish Spirituality: A Brief Introduction to Christians.
His initial course of study into kabbalah was self-directed. “When I entered Hebrew Union College in 1961, neither Jewish mysticism, the Zohar nor kabbalah was taught or even whispered about inside the halls,” Kushner says from his home in San Francisco. “Yet, between the 14th and 17th centuries, more European Jews on the streets could quote from the Zohar than from the Talmud.”
The movement away from Jewish mysticism in America is due to the influence of German Jewish clergy, who arrived here in the 1800s, says Kushner. “German Jewish rabbis marginalized our mystical heritage, calling it backward superstition. They preached that only human reasoning could solve the world’s problems.”
As Judaism became more pragmatic, those pages about kabbalah and mysticism “were torn from our collective memory, and the Holocaust burned the great remaining mystical scholars,” Kushner says. The result? Generations of enlightened American Jews turned to Eastern religions for spiritual inspiration, holiness and guidance, he explains.
But contemporary Judaism is returning to its deeply spiritual and mystical traditions, and the paradigm has shifted, says Kushner, whose recent book Kabbalah: A Love Story is garnering positive reviews. “Now whole rabbinic seminaries are devoted to the study of kabbalah. It is taught at all the major rabbinic schools, weeklong conferences are held around the world, and Jewish Lights Publishing prints dozens of books and weekly journals about Jewish spirituality,” he says. “We are not rejecting the teachings of the Talmud, but refreshing the menu and bringing a balanced element of Jewish mysticism back into the picture.”
Renewed spiritually also means approaching God in a different way so that religious connections speak to life experiences, says Kushner. “The traditional Western thinking focuses on a hierarchical setting, where God is above and man is below on earth,” he says. “But instead of God in a big circle looming in the heavens and mankind in a small circle below, Kabbalists believe that God is a big circle, and man is the little circle within; so that we are all live within the dimensions of the divine. We can find holiness in unlikely places because God is constantly present recreating the universe.”
Having an appreciation for Jewish mysticism and continuous creation does not guarantee a happier life but a more meaningful one, explains the Reform rabbi. “We are not selling joy when we talk about kabbalah,” he says. “But as people evolve, they have the ability to put on invisible glasses in which to see the world in a whole new light. Every human life is capable of sacred moments; in fact, they are happening all around us. Because God is ever-present, no place is devoid of the holy.”
This understanding does not change the world, just the way things fit together, adds Kushner. “And it doesn’t absolve you of your responsibility to do all in your power to perform mitzvot and to make this world the best it can be. We should do what God wants us to do, to be God’s hands as we realize we are all one.”
afine@cjn.org
WHAT: “Invisible Lines of Connection: It’s All God!” speech by Rabbi Lawrence Kushner
WHEN: Sun., Jan. 17, at 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Siegal College
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