WRW Mattfeld

I have an article noting the anomalies or problems which appear in a "close" reading of the New Testament texts, revealing Christ was a "False Prophet" who did NOT accomplish his own prophecy. Christ is also understood by Christians to THE GOD of the Old Testament who talked to Moses. My investigation of certain OT vs. NT texts reveals this "God" contradicts himself, mainly in that he ridicules his people for obeying him. Cf. the following url

<a href="http://www.bibleorigins.net/ChristsResurrectionAnomaliesNote.html" target="_blank">http://www.bibleorigins.net/ChristsResurrectionAnomaliesNote.html</a>

All the best, Walter

atrahasis

Know what? Those Gods of the old testament were meteorites,,,,falling from above?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Geoff Hudson

Walter,
How's about some of your own ideas, and less crowding.
Geoff

Baidarka

“Walter,
How's about some of your own ideas, and less crowding.
Geoff”
If you click on the Home Page link at the bottom of the page you will see that this is Walter’s web site. I think that these are his own ideas.

WRW Mattfeld

My research suggests that you are correct, meteorites were worshipped by some Semites as Sacred Stones which fell from heaven. These stones came to interpreted as either being gods, or houses that the gods dwelt in. The bible mentions Jacob erected a sacred stone, anointing it at Bethel. The Greeks called the sacred stones Baetyls, literally in Semitic: "house" (beth) of God (El). The Moselems today still venerate a meteorite, housed in the Kaaba at Mecca. The Hebrews in the bible called God "our ROCK," and daniels speaks of a Stone that destroys the empires of the earth, establishing God's rule on earth.

Geoff Hudson

Walter,
In your article you have:

Matthew 12:38-40 (RSV)
"At this some of the scribes and Pharisees said, "Teacher, we would like you
to show us a sign." He answered: "It is a wicked, godless generation that
asks for a sign, and the only sign that will be given it is the sign of the
prophet Jonah. Just as Jonah was in the sea monster's belly for three days
AND THREE NIGHTS, so the son of Man will be three days AND THREE NIGHTS IN
THE BOWELS OF THE EARTH."

A reasonable understanding would be that Jonah was in the "belly" of the ship (the cargo hold) for three days and three nights, not in the belly of a fish. There he was swamped by waves, buffeted by cargo, and smothered in seaweed. Being in the belly of anything for three days and three nights was NOT the "sign" of the prophet Jonah. The "sign" to the people of Niniveh was the Prophet himself 9who was risking his life amongst an enemy) and the message of the Spirit he took with him - which basically was that they should call upon the Spirit and give up their impure and violent ways, or be destroyed. This was the same basic message that John the Prophet (Jesus being ficticious) preached in Judea. On these considerations, the anomaly you suggest is irrelevant.

More likely, the story about Jesus being in the tomb for 'approximately' three days and three nights comes from this Graecized story about Jonah.

Geoff

Atticus_Finch

Critics of the bible appear to always want to have their cake and eat it too. They alternatively suggest that the Evangelists were gifted myth makers who fooled generations or, as here, stupid dolts who could not get their facts consistent. Critics of the bible also often suggest that early Christians felt free to edit the gospels to suit their purposes.

I find it hard to believe that Matthew (lets not debate whether the Evangelist was Matthew) was stupid enough to put such a direct contradiction in his work. Further, if it were such a stupid contradiction and if critics are correct, surely the early Christians would have corrected it while editing the book. So what is the other, reasonable, possibility? That it is not, in fact, a contradiction.

It is my understanding that "3 days and 3 nights" and "40 days and 40 nights" were figures of speech which meant approximate lengths of time. There is an OT example of this which I will need to look up tonight. Therefore, Matthew and the early Christians must not have understood these two passages to be in conflict. If they understood them to be in direct conflict either Matthew wouldn't have written it (either insidiously hiding Christ's mistake or never writing the gospel because he no longer believed in Him as the Messiah) or the early Christians (if you believe they edited scripture, which I do not) would have edited it to be consistent.

Regards,

Finch

[ October 18, 2002: Message edited by: Atticus_Finch ]</p>

Toto

How about - the writers of the NT were mythmakers who wrote poetry and allegory, and later generations fooled themselves by thinking the words were literally true.

Early Christians felt free to edit the gospels to suit their theological purposes (there's lots of evidence of that) - but they didn't think that picky little details were worth worrying about (as opposed to the nature of Christ.)

gwh00

Walter,
In your article you have:
Matthew 12:38-40 (RSV)
"At this some of the scribes and Pharisees said, "Teacher, we would like you to show us a sign." He answered: "It is a wicked, godless generation that asks for a sign, and the only sign that will be given it is the sign of the
prophet Jonah. Just as Jonah was in the sea monster's belly for three days AND THREE NIGHTS, so the son of Man will be three days AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BOWELS OF THE EARTH."

I would like to offer an explanation of this passage of the new testament. My interpretation is from the stand point of one who views the NT not as a historical text but as a pseudo-historical text hiding Gnostic spiritual teachings.

The sign of Jonah is the sign of the fish and is given as instruction during initiation into the mystery of Christ. The fish is derived from the union of two circles. The fish is also known as the cave of resurrection. The two circles that unite to form the fish are the two eyes. Their union releases the spirit energy (Sophia) to be generated into the resurrected body or body of rebirth(the divine essence or ousia body). The generation takes approximately three days and nights of meditation.

The mystery of the Christ or the anointing is that it is the process of source recognition and can potentially occur in all of humanity. This process culminates in psychological death and rebirth…..death and resurrection.

Gary