offa

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offa;

Josephus does mention it.

You need some definitions. "Bethlehem of Judea" and "Bethlehem" are two
different locations. "Bethlehem of Judea" is Qumran.

"All the children" does not mean "every one of the children". "All" is a pronoun
as opposed to "Many of the children". "All" and "Many" are separate sects.

"Children" does not mean adolescence. Children is an grouping depicting "those
in learning". When they get their cap (graduate) they become novices
(acolytes). The "children two years old and under" are in their early twenties.

Another name for "Qumran" is "Jerusalem".

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The following is about the slaughter of the "innocent children" who are a part
of the same body in the preceding chapter that tore down the eagle that adorned
the gate at Qumran (another location called Jerusalem).

The Antiquities of the Jews, Book 17, Chapter 6
(175) and when they were come, he ordered them all to be shut up
in the hippodrome, and sent for his sister Salome, and her husband
Alexas, and spoke thus to them: - "I shall die in a little time, so
great are my pains; which death ought to be cheerfully borne, and to
be welcomed by all men; but what principally troubles me is this,
that I shall die without being lamented, and without such mourning as
men usually expect at a king's death."
(176) For that he was not unacquainted with the temper of the
Jews, that his death would be a thing very desirable, and exceedingly
acceptable to them; because during his lifetime they were ready to
revolt from him, and to abuse the donations he had dedicated to God:
(177) that it was therefore their business to resolve to afford
him so alleviation of his great sorrows on this occasion; for that,
if they do not refuse him their consent in what he desires, he shall
have great mourning at his funeral, and such as never any king had
before him; for then the whole nation would mourn from their very
soul, which otherwise would be done in sport and mockery only.
(178) He desired therefore that as soon as they see he hath
given up the ghost, they shall place soldiers around the hippodrome,
while they do not know that he is dead; and that they shall not
declare his death to the multitude till this is done, but they shall
give orders to have those that are in custody shot with their darts;
and that this slaughter of them all will cause that he shall not miss
to rejoice on a double account; that as he is dying, they will make
him secure that his will shall be executed in what he charges them to
do; and that he shall have the honor of memorable mourning at his
funeral.
(179) So he deplored his condition, with tears in his eyes , and
obtested them by the kindness due from them, as of his kindred, and
by the faith they owed to God, and begged of them that they would not
hinder him of this honorable mourning at his funeral. So they
promised him not to transgress his commands.

also



(193) But then Salome and Alexas, before the king's death was
made known, dismissed those that were shut up in the hippodrome, and
told them that the king ordered them to go away to their own lands,
and take care of their own affairs, which was esteemed by the nation
a great benefit;



So, the innocent children were not really slaughtered, they were given a
reprieve. Also, Salome was very close to them (as was Herod) and these
people were the advent of Christianity ... that is, St. Joseph was
among them and he was one of the children less than two years old as
was his son, Jesus, who was actually just turning two. You see, Jesus
was born in 6/7 b.c.e. and was 38/39 years old when he survived the
crucifixion in 33 a.

offa

Chili

I have argued before that the Gospels take place in what we call Purgatory (Galilee in Judaism) where we must be free to work out our own salvation and not be hamstrung by Judaism if it must be overthrown (that would be like trying to lift the rock we are standing on, wouldn't it?). So to be free we must also be free from Judaism (of which the temple ruckess and so forth are evidence) and since Herod was also ruler over Judea (read Judaism) he must die so we 'can' be set free.

In real life (lets say that we were good old Joseph here) we are not free because we are divided in our own mind and have a conscious and a subconscious mind that affect our volition. Herod is the personified identity that rules over the subconscious mind and Pilate is the non religious identity that rules over our conscious mind. Pilate is civil law, so to speak, that we must obey, no matter what (render unto Ceasar).

The death of Herod enabled Free Will in heaven but not until we crucify our ego and this concept is what Jesus was motivated by. If, on the other hand, Herod would not have died religion would be a liability in what I call Purgatory and we will never be able to "finish the race" because we are 'standing firm' on the law that we must be set free from. So therefore, it is a contradiction to be a [born again] Christian and go to church (and you best run when they start preaching the gospel because they haven't got a clue what they are talking about). In other words the urgency to preach the gospel is evidence that Herod still rules in the life of the 'evangelist' and sufficient proof that heaven is not his or her destiny.

Chili

The real problem is that Gen. tied the concept heaven and earth to the world around us (eg, unlike Nirvana in Buddhism) and from there the mythmaker must find convincing evidence in the world around him to present the myth as it moves through the ages.

Here Herod presented the best person available to make this connection with the end of religion being the evidence that religion must serve as a means to the end. Really, the death of Herod throws the switch that stops the generator and from there it takes some time to come to a full stop.

Chili

These events are a description of metamorphosis which is native to man and the Gospels were written to explain the metaphysics of this (with a religious slant attached to form a new religion).

All Francesco Carotta did was plug Caesar into this story and that should work, and has worked ever since the story was written . . . but only in Catholicism and Judaism.

The question here was that Herod needed to die as ruler over Judaism to bring religion to a sudden stop as I explained above.

Edited to add that here, too, the children were Joseph's own but they were not real human children but his earnest desire to see the reign of God that has led him towards this event to show that it was not a spur of the moment 'altar cal' decision. It was called "Involutional Melancholia" by you country man Albrecht Dhurer who has a woodcut by that name that is well worth for you to ponder. In fact, I could argue that Dhurer was also a true brother of Jesus, just like Caesar was.