stephan huller

the origin of Christianity http://m.nbcwashington.com/nbcwashin...tguid=rp6nUJnh

sotto voce

Maybe nudity has something to do with monasticism, and monasticism to do with hallucination. But do not be confused into thinking that monasticism is anything to do with Christianity.

stephan huller

Did any of Jesus's disciples ever have sex again after taking on his yoke?

stephan huller

As I've said, it's not a 'Jesus myth' but a 'Jesus trip' to use outdated drug terminology.

Toto

From the archives:

Visions and the origins of Christianity

sotto voce

If that's supposed to be a sexual joke, it's under my radar.

Peter took his wife with him on his travels to Babylon, to Anatolia and N. Africa. It's the pitiful men of the Vatican and the EO that take on a real yoke, for the sake of, well, you'll have to ask them. Perhaps they like dressing up and looking important, as the Pharisees did. Though, as we know, there is not as much celibacy as there might be.

What did Jesus mean when he spoke of his yoke being easy, his burden light? Jewish Law was commonly referred to as a yoke, but it was not Mosaic Law, because it ignored the spirit of that Law, which was 'do as you would be done by'. It substituted onerous, fussy Pharisaic regulations instead. So Jesus' yoke was easier merely by virtue of discounting these rules. But of course Mosaic Law was itself to be replaced, with 'the law of love', which is actually no law at all. So the Christian has no rules, no yoke at all.

Monasticism is of course all about Rule, this man's Rule, another man's Rule, and represents a sort of return to Pharisaism, encouragement of the notion that salvation is gained by self-deprivation, by hardship and by ritual. It became popular in Europe when the wealthy found themselves with more children than they could settle into economic futures, so monasteries and nunneries, suitably endowed with land or other pious 'benevolence', solved a practical problem. The monastic life was promoted as particularly virtuous and to be honoured, as in Buddhism. This was doubly useful because it also helped to buttress the religious 'opiate' and its values, that kept the affluent in their castles and the flea-ridden rest toiling in the fields to keep them in comforts. As land became more useful for intensive farming, as middle-class employment prospects grew in developing economies, even the most fervent, ivory tower supporters of monasticism had to admit its limitations (that scandal made quite clear enough to people at ground level), and the phenomenon became far less economically important, and was seen much less as a spiritual ideal.

outhouse

and how could anyone ever know this from the roman authors who left us with their version


its stated they had women followers

outhouse

that lady has no real historical knowledge of Israel and this is not her game.


claiming peasce in Israel with romans is a bit absurd

outhouse

Now it was not uncommon for the use of hallucinogenic states, drug induced or simply fasting as described in the bible.

jesus didnt go out and fast and see the devil for nothing.

Toto

"That lady" (Mary K. Matossian) has a lot more qualifications than you do as a historian. It is a standard interpretation of the data that the Pax Romana brought a measure of prosperity to the entire Roman Empire.