Another great find from the Discord. Our science is based on human observation and human reasoning. That is in my opinion our limiting factor. Even our instruments are extensions of our senses. We are observing from within the system, and we have limited faculties. It is like asking a blind man to describe mountains in the distance. He is not even aware that there are mountains.
The shaky foundations of cosmology | Bjørn Ekeberg (20 min)
I thought this was a top notch stream and not just because I participated (lolz). Dr Kevin McCairn asked me to join in as the “religious expert” (lolz) and if I am honest I would have liked to present a more systematic case but I was caught on the back-foot. This is what I wrote to the good Doc afterwards:
Hi Kev, Great Stream but I don't think I did the subject justice. I hope to draw all the various threads together and make a new video backed up with sources so that I can get to the bottom of their ideological position. I am only just starting to figure it out myself but it appears that there is overlap between the communists/atheists and the Kabbalists. Trying to get my head around it myself as the positions would seem like extreme opposites but not if you regard the emerging "collective" consciousness as some sort of god manifestation. So transcending the mundane earthly material existence into a Virtual world created by them.
I think the good Doc is based because he keeps an open mind. At one point he says that there is enough blame to go around for everyone (very true)… It is not just China, or….
They want to push (nudge) us into adopting certain positions. The Project Veritas sting operation is a good example. On the face of it Pfizer was caught red-handed dong GOF work disguised as “directed evolution” in a real “gotcha” moment with a so-called Pfizer executive who was obviously hoping for a happy ending on a gay date (hence the title gay Vaggotry, lolz). Now my own confirmation bias and what I know about these nefarious corporations makes me want to believe. Do I think these corporations are mercenary institutes willing to do anything to further their agenda? Yes, I certainly do and I also believe that they not only contemplated, but put into practice their agenda…..and yet….the Veritas sting leaves a bad taste especially once you do some digging:
They all have agendas. You are being played from all sides. Always remember… Let God be true and everyman a liar. Believe me…there are plenty of liars out there who want to steal your crown. pic.twitter.com/Stupu5ExkV
They have more or less whittled it down to four positions some of them polar opposites but here is the catch, life is complex and there are many areas of overlap between these positions and they are exploiting that psychologically by dividing us into camps.
1. The virus does not exist
3. All the damage comes from Covid (long Covid or SARS)
4. All the damage comes from the vaccine
2. Binary as in the damage comes from Covid &Vaccine
There should be no doubt that we are at war and enormous resources have been pumped in over decades (and are still being pumped in) to discover and develop these agents which are not just biological warfare tools but also a means that will allow us to discover how to manipulate and extend life. This is dual use technology and it all depends on what hat you want to wear (bio-warfare or transhumanist). Some people wear both hats at the same time and it depends what face they want to show you. They are doing a one man theater. If you put them in the dark they glow (a glowie is a CIA agent):
The Pfizer response seems to close the case. They are obviously contradicting themself and therefore they inadvertently establish the truth of the claim. But do they??
According to JC Couey who has joined the RKJ crew we are still being played as the Veritas sting supports the narrative that leads to acceptance of the WHO Pandemic Treaty(https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1718993616).
Show Notes
Here are the rough time-slots and some of the highlights:
26:00Zelensky Ukraine followed by Veritas 41:00 Davey Crocko 01:14 Tucker and Malone
Dr. Robert Malone on Pfizer’s “Directed Evolution”
01:47 Ashkenazim have an advantageous polymorphism. In other word they have less binding proclivity.The Wuhan (original strain has less affinity for Ashkenazi Jews). On the other hand the Omicron variant has more affinity but is less dangerous therefore it would confer immunity. ACE2 coding variants in different populations and their potential impact on SARS-CoV-2 binding affinity:
02:16 Charles Rixey introduced. Charles is not a ranking the virus for lethality.It’s a ranking of strategic potential as a bio weapon. Lethality is messy, and much easier to notice as a violation of the Biological Weapons Convention. For example, Ebola burns itself out rapidly and the spread (transmission) is easy to track. Sars is slow burn, it is incapacitating, difficult to track (asymptomatic). People need t0 think strategically. Rixey is a WMD analyst.
Advanced Metaphysics 101 (a lecture by: Jonathan Barlow Gee) 32 min
Very good thread:
🧵👇Hawking was wrong: physics will not be over in a decade because all will be known; physics will be over because it will be indistinguishable from astrology or tarot or the reading of entrails. In truth, physics has been dead since Bohr’s quantum leap. https://t.co/H1qZgqZUYk
I loved this analysis and discussion of Richard Grannon’s video on the collapse of modern civilization. This really was a tour de force looking at truth claims in the post modern world the metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and ontology of different world views as contrasted with Christian anthropology. Employing logic, reason and rationality which form the basis of Christian truth claims. Their philosophical premise is based onfirst causewhich is always difficult to refute because it is logically consistent. This video is 3:46 hours long and worth watching (listening too) underneath the original video by Richard Grannon is posted. He has a BSc in Psychology and a Master Practitioner certification in NLP (neuro-linguistic programming), Richard is “The Spartan Life Coach” — an expert in applying the Spartan values of strength, self-discipline, and bravery to psychological training.
"For, although we are in the flesh, we do not battle according to the flesh, for the weapons of our battle are not of flesh but are enormously powerful, capable of destroying fortresses. We destroy arguments and every pretension raising itself against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive in obedience to Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NAB)
THE COLLAPSE OF MODERN CIVILIZATION | The Virtual Abyss (3:46)
The Collapse of Modern Civilization | Richard Grannon (47 min)
The only part of the Dayz of Noah video that I would critique is the use of formulaic or credal language to describe Christ as fully God and fully man as I prefer a more nuanced position such as presented by John A. T. Robinson who interprets the incarnation to mean that Jesus was “totus deus, the one who is utterly expressive of Godhead,” not “totum dei, the exhaustive revelation” of God (Robinson, 1979: 104, 120).
"Further, if Jesus Christ is totus deus - if, that is to say, God has wholly and not merely partially vested himself in Christ - he is, again, not totum dei. Jesus Christ does not represent everything of God in the sense that there is no revelation of God outside him. If he is final, it is because ultimately everything is summed up and included in him, not because he is exclusively the expression of God. The Christian who asserts that for him Jesus Christ is the all-embracing principle of interpretation is asserting that there is nothing in his experience that requires any other explanation; for everything 'coheres' in him. He makes this judgment - and calls himself a Christian - because he does not find this is true of Buddha and Mohammed, not because he does not find any truth in them. For him Christ represents the definitive revelation of God - and this is a less misleading word than final - because it is inconceivable to him that there could be any higher revelation of God in human terms of 'pure, unbounded love' " (p.221-222). Robinson, John A.T., 1973, The Human Face of God. Philadelphia: Philadelphia, Westminster Press
I prefer the Greek description manifestation (phanerosis) rather than the Latin verb incarnation (The verb incarno does not occur in the Latin Bible but the term is drawn from the Gospel of John 1:14) derived from the prefix in- and caro, “flesh”, meaning “to make into flesh” or, in the passive, “to be made flesh”. Incarnational doctrine is thought to imply the personal pre-existence of Christ rather than ideological preexistence, however, all believers are said to be chosen in him from the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4).
God’s work of manifestation is not complete as he is calling out a people for his name (sons and daughters) therefore although the Christ event is definitive (Eph 1:23) it is not exhaustive because God manifestation is an ongoing process that can only be achieved in and through the Christ event. Divine manifestation is the telos allowing Timothy to exclaim “My Lord and my God!” in the presence of the resurrected Christ.
In this stream I take part in the open panel discussion on metaphysics hosted by Dr Kevin McCairn the systems neuroscientist. This is a stream that is nearly seven hours long (7:04). In the first section Dr Kevin McCairn streams with Davey Crocko on the “Real Science Behind the Venom Grift” and that section ends with Kevin tuning into the debate (starts https://youtu.be/itTRFLQn4jc?t=6468) between Adam Green and E. Michael Jones, Ph.D. hosted on #Killstream Saturday Night: Adam Green vs E. Michael Jones (odysee.com)
Adam Green (from Know More News) is regarded as a far-right anti-Semite because he has brought valid criticism against the Talmud and Christian-Zionism. However, Adam Green has developed his “theology” even further (under the tutelage of Christopher Jon Bjerknes) to the point where he understands all of Christianity as part of a Jewish Conspiracy which I have named the Long Con.
Definition: The Long Con (plural long cons) A scam in which the scammer takes a long period of time (usually weeks, months or longer) to defraud the victim, by first slowly gaining their trust.
This stretches the credibility of Green as he relies on Bjerknes to provide the academic ammunition for his hypothesis. This is a problem because Bjerknes is adept at conflating different mythologies, ignoring historical evidence and practicing deeply flawed hermeneutics which I have debunked in the past.[1] That said, many of Green’s (and CJB’s) criticism regarding Talmudic Judaism and Christian-Zionism are valid. It is just a pity that it had to be leveraged to extremis.
On the other hand, E. Michael Jones is a Catholic writer who seeks to defend traditional Catholic teachings and stop the damage that he believes Jews are inflicting on the Catholic Church and western civilization. He is also seen as an antisemite by the ADL (who isn’t?). Although E. Michael Jones makes valid points (about the Logos etc) he is also constrained by his dogma (incarnation rather than manifestation) and the circularity of his primal causation worldview and his understanding of the exclusivity of the Catholic Church as the only means of salvation which carries echoes the Jewish claims of superiority. This should not surprise us as the Roman Church was penetrated by Jewish converts. [2]
So, Dr Kevin McCairn is justified in his criticism of both viewpoints and his critique of Armageddon fetishism is also valid. All the Abrahamic religions (this includes Islam) expect that catastrophic events will usher in a new world. This plays into the hands of those who would use violence to usher in the new world order. It was ever thus:
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force (Matt 11:12).
They attempted a violent imposition of the “kingdom of heaven” in the first and second centuries with appearance of false Messiah’s and each time it ended in disaster.[3] They have therefore established a pattern of behaviour. The nation became unclean, demon possessed like legion and was therefore sent into exile like the scapegoat. [4] The story of the demon possessed man in the synoptic Gospels is an acted parable that depicts how the Jews constantly fall into delusional madness [5]in their attempt to impose order on chaos and take up the position that they see as rightfully theirs.
Did an elite class (priests?) possess knowledge of the timing and frequency of such cataclysms which they could then use to their advantage? Many ancient civilizations had an awareness of cyclical disasters at regular intervals, and it is certainly possible that such knowledge was passed down the generations and that it would confer an advantage when transitioning into a “new age”. It is also true that survival strategy encouraged in-group preference and saw Jewish power exercised at the top level of every civilization (Egypt, Babylon, Persia etc) as the Bible stories recount and there is no reason to doubt this as we see the same today.
Is it possible that Christianity itself is a Jewish ploy designed to confuse and disinherit the Gentiles (the long con)? This seems hardly plausible as the Old Testament depicts the Jews in a very unflattering manner. They are not portrayed as a master race and their progenitor Jacob (later renamed Israel) is depicted as a deceiver and a cheat (see the character in Uncut Gems).[6] The fact that Christianity is hated with a vengeance and undermined by the Jews (cf. the Bolsheviks) mitigates against the thesis that it is “a Jewish ploy”.
One way or another the Jews are trying to implement their vision of the kingdom of God whether that is through the Chabad Noahide Tikkun Olam concept or New Age (theosophic/luciferian) [7] theology with the added twist of transhumanism where man himself transcends his own humanity with the help of Artificial Intelligence. In other words, it is the original sin of wanting to become God. The “temptation” of the serpent that man can acquire knowledge and eternal life and become God through his own effort. This is reflected in the current drive towards coupling Artificial Intelligence with Human consciousness which is nothing other than the ultimate mind of the flesh. [8]
While it is true that scripture depicts humans as “gods” (elohim) made in the “image” that does not mean equivalence with God. This is reflected in a Psalm that can be contextualized in the Hezekiah era where the “gods” are the Sanhedrin judges:
I have said, Ye are gods (elohim); and all of you are children of the most High. But ye shall die like men (adam) and fall like one of the princes. Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations (Ps 82: 6-8) [9]
The attempt to “become gods” is the sui generis and sui causa of the mythos presented in Eden. That we can control our destiny through an act of self-determination if only we have enough knowledge. However, that knowledge only brings fear because we realize that without God, we are naked and vulnerable. We are mortal, fallen creatures that carry the seeds of our own destruction living in a Universe that seems to inflict random chaos and pain on all our attempts to order our existence.
Jewish lens?
The critique that we are viewing everything through a Jewish lens is a valid one because we do. When Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman he indicated that salvation comes via the Jews (John 4:4) but also said that God must be worshiped in Spirit and Truth (John 4:24) although the Pharisees had all the correct doctrines, yet they were deficient (Matt 23:3) and so it is with many Christians who profess to be doing the will of God (Matt 7:22-23).
Our culture can be considered Judeo-Christian, at least in the West but the influence of that culture is felt globally (even in the East non-Christian countries) through science and media. The Age or Reason was an attempt to break free of religion and to be solely guided by scientific rationality. How has that worked out? We face the nightmare of neo- Malthusianism and the death of freewill in subservience to the collective. We will become slaves to our own technology. The machines are taking over Skynet has become self–aware. Is eschatology becoming self-fulfilling? To some extent it is.
However, I believe that they will lose complete control. Kevin refers to this as passively waiting for them to “drop the ball” or “fumble the pass” (a good analogy) and laments that many Christians are using it as an excuse to sit on their hands and do nothing except “turn the other cheek”. That is a fair criticism because I do believe that the Christian response has been passive, weak and completely missing. We should be fighting and witnessing. By fighting I mean that we are engaged in a spiritual war (Eph 6:12), a psychological conflict and we need to “armor up” (Eph 6:13) and witness to the truth without fear or favor. We should not comply and refuse to worship the golden image of the beast (Dan 3:18). In this case the gold A.I. quantum computers that represent human reasoning and the running amok of science that seeks to dethrone God from his place as creator and sustainer of all life.
No man is good
The lesson must be learnt that no man is good (Luke 18:19). We are all fallen creatures and no man can come to God unless he is drawn by him (John 6:44). It is God who sets the terms and God who chooses. It is the prerogative of the creator to make one vessel to honor and another to dishonor (Rom 9:21). God answers to no one nor should he. He creates and he destroys. As the end is known from the beginning who are we to demand answers or justification?
True Christianity is the only belief that teaches that you cannot save yourself. All other religions and philosophies teach that enlightenment and redemption can be achieved through an exercise of will or self-actualization. We can transform ourselves. True religion says the opposite. The Jews believed that the messiah would come in a time when he is most needed (because the world is so sinful), or in a time when he is most deserved (because the world is so good). The Sabbatian and Frankists reasoned that as the world can never be fully righteous the only way to achieve salvation is to make it fully evil. The nihilistic Sabbatian and Frankist movements rejected all norms and advocated the “redemption through sin” including sexual rituals and sacred orgies with incest. In their inversion Sin became holy and it was necessary to unmake creation because the material world (compare Gnosticism) is evil. The “true God” could allegedly be revealed only through a destruction of the social and religious structures created by the “false God,” thus leading to a thorough antinomianism. This is of course insane and probably formed the basis of Satanism such as advocated by Aleister Crowley with the only law being “Do what thou wilt” a recipe for complete societal breakdown. This is what happens when we completely reject God.
Humility
All I see around me is the hubris and arrogance of man. Even as all our paradigms and science fail the test of time we still self-congratulate and narcissistically revel in our greatness like Nebuchadnezzar boasting of his glory before he was turned into a beast (Dan 4:30-32). And that is how God regards our effort at self-deification. It has become (like all human Empires) a devouring beast.
Our models of the Universe are all wanting whether that is large scale (dark matter) or small scale (quantum mechanics) only tell part of the story. The truth is that ‘in him we live and move and have our being’ (Acts 17:28) our universe is like a complex brain and ultimately our consciousness is derivative. We need to be humble in the presence of such awesomeness. A billion, billion galaxies and our lives are just the blink of an eye.
[2] The founder of the Jesuits, Ignatius of Loyola, was a converso, (convert) and so was his successor Diego Lainex. The futurist interpretation of the Apocalypse was written by Jesuit-Jew Ribera thus drawing attention away from any partial first and second century fulfillment that would have a negative impact on the Jews and any interpretation that would involve identifying the church with the harlot or the beast. This covered all bases and pushed the Apocalypse somewhere into the distant future neutralising it as an instrument of criticism. See Jews and Jesuitsand St. Ignatius of Loyola and the Jews
[3] Simon bar Giora the Idumean (69-70 CE) whose coins bore the legend “Redemption of Zion”, indicating that there was a religious aspect to Simon’s bid for power. This does not prove that he was considered the Messiah, but it is likely. The fact that he wore a royal robe in the Temple is another indication. Simon bar Kokhba, born Simon ben Koseva, (d. 135 AD) who lead the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire.
[5] There are many intertextual links between the healing of Legion and the witnessing in Revelation 11. The apostle Paul also links Romans 11 with Revelation 11which strongly suggests that the Apocalypse was already in circulation before Romans was written (therefore dating the Apocalypse early before 70). Take special note of the use of the word torment in Luke 8:28 and Rev 11:10 “and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another” which is a characteristic of the Jewish feast of Purim. The two witnesses (prophets) are therefore regarded as enemies by the Jews and murdered. They are raised (vindicated) after three-and-a -half days reminiscent of the resurrection of Jesus.
[9] See the use of Psalm 82 by Christ when talking to the Sanhedrin: Psalm 82 in the Fourth GospelThe historical context of the Psalm is the Hezekiah period contemporary with the prophet Isaiah. The Psalm is a condemnation of the Judges (the seventy or Sanhedrin) otherwise known as the Elohim (gods). Men and rulers referred to as God: Exodus 7:1; 21:6; 22:8,9,28; 23:20,21; Psalms 58:1(?); 97:7; 138:11; 1 Samuel 2:25; 28:13. Psalm 82 (Booker/HAW) and in the commentary on Isaiah (HAW): [p.123] Here God is represented as being busy judging the judges. Those who should have been setting the tone of public life in the nation, themselves needed remonstration, denunciation and discipline. Psalm 82 is marvellously like this passage in phraseology and idea and may well be an Isaiah psalm appropriate to this very time (a Psalm of Asaph because handed over to the Asaph choir in the temple). [p. 259] Psalm 82 is demonstrably another psalm of the reign of Hezekiah, and there verse 7, otherwise rather bewildering, is a clear allusion to Shebna: “Ye shall fall like one of the princes,” that is, the demotion he has experienced will be yours also.
A nearly six hour stream in which Dr Kevin McCairn discusses a paper which shows Beta Amyloid identified In Young Covid patients and also information that vaccines don’t stop long hauler syndrome. From 2:29 onward Dr Kevin McCairn hosts a conversation in which I join him to discuss metaphysics. The conversation is partly a response to the ideas brought forward by Christopher Jon Bjerknes (CJB) in his book Satanic Secrets of Jesus Christ wherein he portrays Christianity as part of a Jewish plot to subject the world. I already pointed out that this argument is logically flawed and inconsistent as the Jews attempted to subvert Christianity and adsorb it back into Judaism from its very inception in the first century. Moreover Christianity has always stood as a bulwark against Bolshevism which attempted to destroy Christianity. Internationalism (globalism) and/or communism has always understood Christianity as the enemy. Three previous videos dealing with these matters are the following:
Christopher Jon Bjerknes’ theories are derived from the Christ Myth Theory which has been rejected as a fringe theory by virtually all scholars. CJB adds an extra twist to this theory by arguing that Jewish Scripture was originally written in Alexandria as a recasting of Greek myth into a Hebrew worldview in which Gentiles would be convinced to reject their old (better gods) for a mythical (Satanic) Christ by adopting Christianity, a religion designed to deceive them and weaken them and prepare them for Jewish subjection.
History
The enlightenment brought the age of reason and “science” and the fall of totalitarianism in the twentieth century saw the truth as an artifact that could be subverted by ideologues and therefore absolute truth was neutralized by post-modernism and post-truth. In this view all truth is relative but where does that leave historical truth? Can anything concrete be know about the past? Historical revisionism can be legitimate pursuit if driven by new evidence or it can be negationism (distortion or denial of history for nefarious purposes). History is, after all written by the victors and therefore seldom unbiased. The post -enlightenment era saw the rise of deconstructionism and biblical-criticism which are useful tools when employed holistically.[1]
The question of the existence of Christ as a real historical person is not doubted by most scholars (biblical and historical). It is strange that the historical reality of Christ should be asked to meet higher criteria of proof than other historical personages. If we do not have epistemological clarity then we can never have ontological certainty and the world and our place in it can never be know or understood. Methodological approaches are therefore fundamental to determining meaning and therefore I suggest understanding the text as literature and how it interacts intertextually both with itself (inner biblical exegesis) and externally (with myth). No single text exists in a vacuum the meaning is formed by other texts and in doing so the text transcends its boundaries. The biblical text is great literature but it is more than that it is theology and history as well and herein lies the difficulty as it does not fall into easily defined categories. Underneath the live stream video I place links to videos looking at different approaches that need to be integrated in order to achieve a holistic understanding of the text.
Myth
All cultures have myths about the “gods” and they all reflect a certain cosmogny related to cyclical patterns of destruction and rebirth. The story of Noah is found in Sumerian myths and in many other cultures [2] and seems to be related to a Heinrich event with the melting of ice sheets and sudden climate change. Interestingly, the biblical ark came to rest on Mt Ararat which is close to the most ancient continuously cultivated vineyards for 8,000 years [3] complimenting the biblical account of Noah planting a vineyard. Traumatic catastrophes are preserved across cultures and they are related to repeating cosmic events which the ancients knew how to calculate. The cosmogony of Israel and its Zodiacal arrangement shows an awareness of wider ancient myth and deconstruction and demythologizing (reinterpretation) whereby the twelve tribes become the zodiac and the Sanhedrin become the 70 gods or rulers (Elohim) who will eventually judge the 70 nations (Gen 10). [4] In this theology heaven has come down to earth and Yahweh is enthroned among his people. This suggest that the knowledge of cosmic patterns transited the Younger Dryas boundary. [5] The ubiquity of the myths across cultures suggests that the ancients were aware of the cyclical nature of destruction but that over time that knowledge was lost. The question is whether the Jews preserved the knowledge through a group evolutionary strategy or whether it was the product of revelation.
The Jewish Question
"As concerning the gospel, they areenemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes" (Rom 11:28).
Any look at the Jewish question must be nuanced and balanced. Not all Jews are supremacists neither did all Jews support Bolshevism. The Jewish people themselves have been subject to abuse by a privileged class who think nothing of sacrificing them on the altar of their ambition. It was the same in the first century when a priestly aristocracy and ruling class exploited the poor. It is not antisemitic to note that all the levers of power are now in the hands of the Jews, neither is it antisemitic to note that the early church was persecuted and subverted by the Jews. The apostle Paul makes it perfectly clear that they are contrary or hostile (NKJ), or oppose (NIV) all men. Paul believes that they are hateful towards other races.
"For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews: Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men" (1 Thess 2:14-15).
Jesus says their Father (talking about the rulers) was a liar and a murder from the beginning (an obvious reference to the serpent):
"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44).
This is very strong condemnatory language that reflects the persecutions that the church was facing, nevertheless it must be balanced against the wider purpose of divine mercy towards the Jews and their repentance and in-gathering.
"For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?" (Rom 11:15).
What about other religions? Are only Christians saved?
This is a challenge that is often heard. There are nearly 8 billion people on earth are only Christians going to be saved? In fact, many would answer that only their sub-set of Christianity is worthy and everyone else will burn in hell (lolz). Another remark is that the Abrahamic religions are contentious in comparison to the more harmonious eastern philosophies. This may be due to other factors beside religion including national temperament and whether or not they are a regional minority or majority. First let us look at the distribution of world religions.
We see that the Abrahamic religions make up about 56% of total religions and when we add unaffiliated (mostly atheist or humanist) we account for 72% of the world population leaving 28% non-Abrahamic religions. Note that Judaism is not even on this chart because it represents only 0.2% of the global population. The two biggest non-Abrahamic religions are Hinduism and Buddhism. Hinduism includes a diversity of ideas on spirituality and traditions, but has no ecclesiastical order, no unquestionable religious authorities, no governing body, no prophet(s) nor any binding holy book; Hindus can choose to be polytheistic, pantheistic, panentheistic, pandeistic, henotheistic, monotheistic, monistic, agnostic, atheistic or humanist. Hinduism has a belief in rebirth and cycles. Buddhists believe that the human life is one of suffering, and that meditation, spiritual and physical labor, and good behavior are the ways to achieve enlightenment, or nirvana.
Christianity is a universal religion in that opportunity is extended to all men regardless of class or race (John 12:32) but just because someone is Christian does not automatically mean that they will be saved for the path to destruction is broad but the way to salvation is narrow and constrained “…and few there be that find it” (Matt 7:14). Moreover, humanity can take no credit for discovering salvation, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44). It is the divine prerogative to both select and to forgive whomsoever he wants: “….and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy” (Ex. 33:19 ). Not only that but the apostle makes it clear that the creator (artist) does not have to answer to his creation,“Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” (Rom 9:20-21). So, God does not owe us an explanation and ultimately it is not our place to judge another man’s servant.
Textual Approaches
The Art of Biblical Narrative by Alter was a groundbreaking approach to understanding the Bible as literature which is a prerequisite to obtaining any theological meaning. The following video is the first of four videos (recommended) reviewing the book [6]
First episode, Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Literature (14 min)
This video on Hermenutics and Intertextuality is a good introduction and I start it part way where it is talking about Palimpsests (Gerard Genette 1982):
What is intertextuality?
This video demonstrates that intertextuality is inimical to understanding any piece of writing, or movie or even music (lyrics). Nothing happens in a vacuum.
Intertext/intertextuality| Context of Text Development| Reading and Writing-Senior High School (12 min)
Resources
A number of texts were discussed and also referred to in the chat. Matthew 2 which records The Flight into Egypt was brought up as an example of the grey area between historical event and pesher/midrash. The embarrassment around Jesus’ birth and the woman caught in adultery is indirect corroboration (at the very least) of the mystery surrounding his birth and his legitimacy in John 8. TheBook of Job was mentioned as an example of a parabolic way of examining philosophical questions surrounding suffering and disinterested service based on the real-life experiences of Hezekiah. The miracle of the healing of Legion was placed in the intertextual context of exorcising the unclean spirit out of the nation of Israel by sending them away. It was a parody of the scapegoat ritual with the unclean animal (pig) drowning in the “Abyss” from which the “beast” emerges in Revelation 11 to kill the two witnesses who had tormented them (like Jesus did). This teaching miracle must be put in the wider context of demonology found in the testaments. Moreover, the Apocalyptic twist given to the healing of Legion demonstrates that the Beast power is at its heart Jewish.
This is discussed in depth in my commentary PRITA on the Apocalypse.
Finally someone commented on the fact that Sarah was a half-sister to Abraham misunderstanding the cultural norms and the complex theology behind the sister-wifenarratives. Consanguinity was not unusual in the ancient near east one only has to look at the ancient Egyptian Kings and Queens etc.
Notes
[1]I. Howard Marshall once famously compared the scholarly deconstruction of Christ and the gospels with the scene in John 20:15 where Mary is weeping and when the “Gardner” asks why she is crying she responds that they have taken away the Lord’s body and she does not know what they have done with it.
[4] See the article on The Great Year The rabbis dispute whether there are 70 nations (MT) or 72 nations (LXX) in Genesis 10 but the wilderness Sanhedrin together with Moses and Aaron suggest 72 is correct.
[6] Select the watch on YouTube button to find the other three parts. This is an excellent channel. See also the Review that I wrote some years back (the links may have degraded) Review of The Art of Biblical Narrative.
The latest stream from Dr Kevin McCairn in which we discuss metaphysics, the meaning of life and the number 42 (lolz). The first 32 minutes are memes and the last 10 minutes of the 3 hr 40 min stream comes with a language warning. See below the video for relevant links.
Links and Resources
Harari is professor in the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Harari writes about the “cognitive revolution” occurring roughly 70,000 years ago when Homo sapiens supplanted the rival Neanderthals and other species of the genus Homo, developed language skills and structured societies, and ascended as apex predators, aided by the agricultural revolution and accelerated by the scientific revolution, which have allowed humans to approach near mastery over their environment. His books also examine the possible consequences of a futuristic biotechnological world in which intelligent biological organisms are surpassed by their own creations; he has said, “Homo sapiens as we know them will disappear in a century or so”. https://www.ynharari.com/
Yuval Noah Harari: The 2021 60 Minutes interview (13 min)
The Culture of Critique series is a trilogy of books by Kevin B. MacDonald, an antisemitic conspiracy theorist, white supremacist and a retired professor of evolutionary psychology.
1 Corinthians 15:35-50 35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? 36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: 37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: 38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. 39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. 40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.