Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Gnostradamus · 05-13-2005, 10:43 AM

Simon Peter says to them: "Let Mary go out from our midst, for women are not worthy of life!"
Jesus says: "See, I will guide her so as to make her male so that she also may become a living spirit like you males. For every woman who has become male will enter the Kingdom of heaven."
Gospel of Thomas 114

Jesus is going to guide Mary so that she might become male. Yet the changing of someone's sex is not something Jehovah is famous for doing. Rather it is the type of activity which the Great Mother is known for. Could Jesus possibly have some connection with the cultic worship of the Great Mother?

Consider the account of the presentation of Jesus at the temple where the following encounter takes place:

There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
Luke 2:36-38

Anna, the prophetess, of the tribe of Asher.

A prophetess? Does that not strike you as odd? Not a whole lot of prophetesses in the Bible. And what of the tribe of Asher?

"Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco and the inhabitants of Sidon and Ahlab and Achzib and Helbah and Aphik and Rehob. And the Asherites continued to dwell in among the Canaanites inhabiting the land, because they did not drive them out."
Jg 1:31-32

Notice that Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Sidon. In the next two pieces we see that Ashtoreth is the goddess of the Sidonians,
the same tribe that the tribe of Asher had failed to drive out.

"And Solomon began to go after Ashtoreth the goddess of Sidonians and after Milcom the disgusting thing of the Ammonites."
1Ki 11:5

"The reason why is that they have left me and begun to bow down to Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, to Chemosh the god of Moab and to Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon; and they have not walked in my ways by doing what is right in my eyes and my statutes and my judicial decisions like David his father."
1Ki 11:33

The focus for the worship of the goddess Ashtoreth was an Asherah pole.

Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you build to the LORD your God, and do not erect a sacred stone, for these the LORD your God hates.
De 16:21-22

In addition, the tribe Asher, the goddess Ashtoreth, and the Asherah poles all share the root 'ashar, meaning to be straight, straight used in the widest sense, especially to be level, right, and happy. Beyond this linguistic evidence we have the verses above which show a clear connection between the tribe of Asher and the worship of Ashtoreth.

And in Luke we have Anna from Asher, a prophetess, proclaiming the arrival of the redeemer. As the tribe of Asher worshipped Ashtoreth, whose other forms include Astarte, Ishtar, and Isis, Anna's status as a prophetess is completely to be expected. Her presence at the presentation of Jesus however is rather surprising. What interest would the Great Mother cult have in the birth of Jesus? Perhaps they too awaited a Messiah.

Gnostradamus

Toto · 05-13-2005, 11:53 AM

Jason Gastrich reprints on his site excerpts from Book II of The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah by Alfred Edersheim, 1886. Edersheim says:

Quote:

A kind of mystery seems to invest this Anna (Channah). A widow, whose early desolateness had been followed by a long life of solitary mourning; one of those in whose home the tribal genealogy had been preserved. [3 The whole subject of 'genealogies' is briefly, but well treated by Hamburger, Real Encykl., section ii. pp. 291 &c. It is a pity, that Hamburger so often treats his subject from a Judaeo-apologetic standpoint.] We infer from this, and from the fact that it was that of a tribe which had not returned to Palestine, that hers was a family of some distinction. Curiously enough, the tribe of Asher alone is celebrated in tradition for the beauty of its women, and their fitness to be wedded to High-Priest or King. [a Bar. R. 71, ed. Warsh.p. 131 b end; 99. p. 179 a, lines 13 and 12 from bottom.]

But Anna had better claim to distinction than family-descent, or long, faithful memory of brief home-joys. These many years she had spent in the Sanctuary, [4 It is scarcely necessary to discuss the curious suggestion, that Anna actually lived in the Temple. No one, least of all a woman, permanently resided in the Temple, though the High Priest had chambers there.] and spent in fasting and prayer, yet not of that self-righteous, self-satisfied kind which was of the essence of popular religion. Nor, as to the Pharisees around, was it the Synagogue which was her constant and loved resort; but the Temple, with its symbolic and unspoken worship, which Rabbinic self-assertion and rationalism were rapidly superseding, and for whose services, indeed, Rabbinism could find no real basis. Nor yet were 'fasting and prayer' to her the all-in-all of religion, sufficient in themselves; sufficient also before God. Deepest in her soul was longing waiting for the 'redemption' promised, and now surely nigh. To her widowed heart the great hope of Israel appeared not so much, as to Simeon, in the light of 'consolation,' as rather in that of 'redemption.' The seemingly hopeless exile of her own tribe, the political state of Judaea, the condition, social, moral, and religious, of her own Jerusalem: all kindled in her, as in those who were like-minded, deep, earnest longing for the time of promised 'redemption.' No place so suited to such an one as the Temple, with its services, the only thing free, pure, undefiled, and pointing forward and upward; no occupation so befitting as 'fasting and prayer.' . . .

[Note:Alfred Edersheim (1825-89) was a Vienna-born biblical scholar who converted from Judaism to Christianity and was a missionary to the Jews of Romania. His book The Life and Times is public domain and available at various places on the web, eg here or here. Gastrich's quote can be found here.]

So I think that Anna is firmly within Jewish tradition, which does include a historical goddess worship, however much it has been suppressed, as well as a longing for the messiah.

But as to Luke's use of Anna, it might be comparable to his weaving the Magi into the story - it's a fictional presentation of the entire world admiring his hero.

05-13-2005, 10:43 AM	#1
Gnostradamus Junior Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Prague Czech Republic Posts: 35	Anna from the Tribe of Asher Simon Peter says to them: "Let Mary go out from our midst, for women are not worthy of life!" Jesus says: "See, I will guide her so as to make her male so that she also may become a living spirit like you males. For every woman who has become male will enter the Kingdom of heaven." Gospel of Thomas 114 Jesus is going to guide Mary so that she might become male. Yet the changing of someone's sex is not something Jehovah is famous for doing. Rather it is the type of activity which the Great Mother is known for. Could Jesus possibly have some connection with the cultic worship of the Great Mother? Consider the account of the presentation of Jesus at the temple where the following encounter takes place: There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38 Anna, the prophetess, of the tribe of Asher. A prophetess? Does that not strike you as odd? Not a whole lot of prophetesses in the Bible. And what of the tribe of Asher? "Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco and the inhabitants of Sidon and Ahlab and Achzib and Helbah and Aphik and Rehob. And the Asherites continued to dwell in among the Canaanites inhabiting the land, because they did not drive them out." Jg 1:31-32 Notice that Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Sidon. In the next two pieces we see that Ashtoreth is the goddess of the Sidonians, the same tribe that the tribe of Asher had failed to drive out. "And Solomon began to go after Ashtoreth the goddess of Sidonians and after Milcom the disgusting thing of the Ammonites." 1Ki 11:5 "The reason why is that they have left me and begun to bow down to Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, to Chemosh the god of Moab and to Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon; and they have not walked in my ways by doing what is right in my eyes and my statutes and my judicial decisions like David his father." 1Ki 11:33 The focus for the worship of the goddess Ashtoreth was an Asherah pole. Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you build to the LORD your God, and do not erect a sacred stone, for these the LORD your God hates. De 16:21-22 In addition, the tribe Asher, the goddess Ashtoreth, and the Asherah poles all share the root 'ashar, meaning to be straight, straight used in the widest sense, especially to be level, right, and happy. Beyond this linguistic evidence we have the verses above which show a clear connection between the tribe of Asher and the worship of Ashtoreth. And in Luke we have Anna from Asher, a prophetess, proclaiming the arrival of the redeemer. As the tribe of Asher worshipped Ashtoreth, whose other forms include Astarte, Ishtar, and Isis, Anna's status as a prophetess is completely to be expected. Her presence at the presentation of Jesus however is rather surprising. What interest would the Great Mother cult have in the birth of Jesus? Perhaps they too awaited a Messiah. Gnostradamus

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

Freethought & Rationalism Archive

The archives are read only.