Note: this topic was posted 04/24/2006. Thanks NYer.
Posted on 04/24/2006 1:25:05 PM PDT by NYer
Ignore these dishonest films, and keep your faith strong in the Lord.
The problem is less with practicing christians than with those who have strayed. The DaVinci Code is a magnet, regardless of its status as a novel, to draw the weakened away from our Lord. How interesting that as we approach its film release, National Geographic should compound the 'dilemna' with the Gospel of Judas or that the media should give press to a scientist's suggestion that our Lord walked on water, using a 'rare' ice formation on the Sea of Gallilee. These notions are all laughable to the believer, but raise doubts for the borderline christian.
It's a war. We live in evil times. Why doesn't NG put together a documentary on the origins of the Qu'uran? We all know the answer to that question.
No! Who is the other one?
It is not a danger to solid Catholics. Actually parts of it are so blatant in its Christian hate, that even Christian haters may wonder why it is so jagged. The documentary even asks if Judas should be made into a saint.
You're right. But the majority of lapsed catholics or fallen away christians will use this documentary to justify their behavior. That was my original point. The DaVinci Code should prove to be far worse.
Over the past several months, the media have focused their laser beams on stories such as these and they seem to be emerging faster than anyone can counteract them.
It is hardly ad hominem to put out that they belong to the same theological party.
You got that one in the ten ring... Pagels is a fraud, a New Age cover-up artist for the neo-pagans...
Her whole book, The Origin of Satan, can be shown false by just one thing - - the etymology of the word “Satan” itself, which is a Hebrew word...
It is not so much hatred for the Christians (and they do hate Christians), but it is their seething hatred for the Judaic roots of Christendom. They really hate Genesis and Mosaic Law in particular, the Christians are just a proxy for that hatred. Their Jewish enablers are traitors (left wing Jews) who worship the Golden Calf (sort of like those enablers the Maccabees slaughtered along with the pagan Greek occupiers in 164 BC).
Both the Christian Scriptures and the Jewish Scriptures were all written by Jews...
Yahweh and Yeshua are Zionists without exception or compromise... the Bible says so... (Jesus drives a Hummer with a Star of David on the doors.) Shalom.
They as persons [or their "party"] do not even exist for the purposes of the argument about "gospel of Judas" text and its interpretation and correlation to other texts. Their opinions on that text are to be judged on the merits [or lack thereof] - the merits of the opinions, not of their authors.
Thanks for the info.
"You're right. But the majority of lapsed catholics or fallen away christians will use this documentary to justify their behavior. That was my original point. The DaVinci Code should prove to be far worse.
Over the past several months, the media have focused their laser beams on stories such as these and they seem to be emerging faster than anyone can counteract them."
Many people have been influenced by the Da Vinci Code and other such propaganda. It is very evil stuff.
After the Exile, these daily prayer services continued. In the 5th century B.C.E., the Men of the Great Assembly composed a basic prayer, covering just about everything you could want to pray about. This is the Shemoneh Esrei, which means "18" and refers to the 18 blessings originally contained within the prayer. It is also referred to as the Amidah (standing, because we stand while we recite it), or Tefilah (prayer, as in The Prayer, because it is the essence of all Jewish prayer). This prayer is the cornerstone of every Jewish service.Shalom.The blessings of the Shemoneh Esrei can be broken down into 3 groups: three blessings praising G-d, thirteen making requests (forgiveness, redemption, health, prosperity, rain in its season, ingathering of exiles, etc.), and three expressing gratitude and taking leave. But wait! That's 19! And didn't I just say that this prayer is called 18
One of the thirteen requests (the one against heretics) was added around the 2nd century C.E., in response to the growing threat of heresy (primarily Christianity), but at that time, the prayer was already commonly known as the Shemoneh Esrei, and the name stuck, even though there were now 19 blessings.
To use a Hebrew word - Amen!
Shalom.
The National Geographic practices what I would call Gilbert Grosvenor Episcopalianism. They are skeptics, i.e., Pharisees.
But what kind of "faith"
did such people have if films
or books could shake it?
"But what kind of "faith"
did such people have if films
or books could shake it?"
You're missing the point.
They have been showing this over and over again. They want to be sure that every man woman and child sees this.
Well, then, help me out.
If a person's faith is false,
built on lies, unreal,
then why is something
"evil" if it exposes
the faith's shallowness?
You're absolutely right. I stand corrected.
IMHO few scholars, for or against traditional interpretation of the NT, find the Gospel of Judas all that revolutionary.
That's true - the most important question is whether the source text dates from the 2nd century, or whether this 4th century document was a relatively recent composition at the time the text we have is copied.
The one interesting aspect to that is that the text is full of bitter and angry asides describing the orthodox Christians of the time and their institutions - if the source text of the document is as old as Irenaeus suggests, then this Gospel of Judas unintentionally provides insight into the Church of its today.
Also, by directly contradicting the canonical Gospels in a very calculated manner it demonstrates that it is certainly older than the canonicals and that the canonicals were very dear to the Church of the time.
An early dating for the source text would tend to reinforce the orthodox account of the Scriptures.
Note: this topic was posted 04/24/2006. Thanks NYer.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
