Posted on 12/15/2014 1:25:07 PM PST by SeekAndFind
LOL!
There is a tradition in India that the three wise men were actually Saints who perceived a blazing inner light in meditation when Jesus incarnated, and went to find its source, because they knew it represented the coming of an Avatar.
Like everything else, that Sanskrit word has been diminished in the West. What it actually means is an incarnation of God who comes to change all of human history.
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The singular would be magus.
First, I think there were complex family ties between the priestly class and the royal/noble class in Persia, so there might not have been much distinction between a magus and a prince.
Second, there was a readiness to see this historic incident as a fulfillment o the prophecy (in Psalm 72:10) about who among the Gentiles would be moved to greet the Messiah: "The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts, the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute."
The bible doesn’t say anything more about these fellows after they left the scene. Or even if their worship contained a personal salvational acceptance. Sometimes we have to be satisfied with not knowing.
We do know one thing, to be living in this world is to still sin.
And these tributes sound now like they are waiting for the second coming to take place.
But even if not, a magus would be a king-maker. They might have been tasked by the kings they had appointed to bring gifts and pay honor to the baby Jesus.
Some of these details won’t be known until we go to heaven.
Hindu faith doesn’t have any problem with worshiping Jesus Christ as a small-g god. It’s His exclusivity claims they have a big theological problem with.
True, we don’t know. I wish I knew more about the (non-Biblical) history of the Jews. We have couple of books here on the shelf,I guess I should just back off from the keyboard pickup a book and study up!
The presence of Daniel in Persia during the first exile would have been a heavy influence on the culture of the area. They would have had copies of the Mosaic books and some prophets.
It’s written in the Bible that the stars were put there for signs, at least in part, so condemning every act that could be interpreted as astrology is apparently not correct. The Bible is full of signs in the sun, moon and stars as well as astrological symbols. I tend to think that the condemnation centers upon those who seek personal gain, like Herod, rather than those who seek God. Others will no doubt disagree, it’s a controversial topic.
I’d evaluate the question of whether you can have “Christian astrology” partly on how the people who observe it actually act. If they act like they are so smugly smart, it ain’t God behind it.
Very true, and yet to clarify, they don't specify Jesus alone as an exclusivity problem - they'd feel the same way towards exclusivity claims for Krishna or Rama or any other incarnation of God. Though many try to claim Hindus are pantheistic, this is simply not true. There is only one God to Hindus. But to them, that one infinite God incarnates in infinite ways and during all times to correct imbalances people have created in the world due to the abuse of their free will through the rejection of dharma, or the proper, divinely-taught way to live.
An Avatar, such as they see Jesus as, comes with the full force and power of God at their birth, and exists because humanity has become depraved to the point where the full force of the direction of the entire human race has to be changed or it will destroy itself. Avatars are rare, but when they come they literally create a new human race that is no longer the same as before they came, simply because of the power they released by their existence.
It’s also a difference between pantheism and monotheism.
A lack of humility does tend to indicate too much of a personal interest.
They were from Orientar. You know, like the song we used to sing, “We three kings of Orientar, as we walked we smoked a cigar...” Young people these days just don’t get the education we got back then.
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