Sunday, 31 December 2017

THE HOUSE OF HABS'BURG.

The House of Habs'Burg, also called the House of Austria, was one of the most influential royal houses of Europa. A series of dynastic marriages enabled the family to vastly expand its domains to include Burgundy, Spain and its colonial empire, Bohemia, Hungary, and other territories.
The name comes from one of the first progenitors of the Habs'Burg dynasty Radbot(with his 2 brothers, Werner  and Rudolph I), Count of the Habs'Burg (985-1045 CE), also known as Radbot of Klettgau on the High Rhine in Swabia. The High Rhine is the name used in Germany for the part of the Rhine that flows Westbound from Lake Constance to Basel. The Lake is situated in Germany, Switzer'Land, and Austria near the Alps. The Rhine flows into the Lake from the South, with its original course forming the Austria-Swiss border, and has its outflow on the Lower Lake where -except for Schaff'Hausen (Northern most canton)- forms the German-Swiss border.
Radbot built the castle, as a fortress, in 1020s, in present-day Swit'zer'Land, in the area of Aar'Gau, and chose to name his fortress Habs-Burg. His grandson Otto II was the first to take the fortress name as his own, adding "Count of Habs'Burg" to his title. The House gathered dynastic momentum through the 11th,12th and 13th centuries.
In 1027, Radbot established the Abbey of Muri, built up by Benedictine monks descending from Einsiedeln Abbey. His older brother was Bishop Werner I of Strass'Bourg from 1001 until his death in 1028. Werner was one of the last bishops to be appointed by Otto III, Roman Emperor. In 1000 CE, through this emperor, OttoIII, the influence of the interpretation of Christianity was extended to Poland, Bohemia, and Hungary, and the first Christian king was crowned in Hungary.
The Einsiedeln Abbey in which the Bennedictine monks housed themselves, was in the canton of Schwyz, Switzer'Land, and was known as a major resting point on the Way of St. James for centuries. Tradition states that the remains of the apostle are buried in that area and many follow its routes as a form of spiritual path or retreat for their spiritual growth. The route has a number of resting stops towards the shrine in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
In ancient times the area was controlled by Helvetians, a member of the Celt tribal groups, as far back as 200 BC. The area was eventually occupied by the Romans and then by the 6th CE, by the Franks. The name Helvetii is derived from Gaulish 'elu'-, meaning "gain, prosperity, or multitude," cognate with Welsh 'elw' an old Irish prefix 'il,' meaning "many" or "multiple." The second part of the name has been interpreted as 'etu'-, meaning "terrain, grassland," thus interpreting the full name as "rich land."
In the medieval times, the area was a disputed border region between the duchies of Alamannia and Burgundy.
The fertile undulating tract nearby the area, named the Wetterau,  holds a long history and is one of the oldest cultural landscapes that exists in the today World. It was always a fertile region and was populous from as early at the 10,000 BC. Artifacts from successive civilizations that populated the area also exist, being the most prominent discoveries the tombs from Bronze Age. The area also was of high strategic relevance for the Romans during its advance into Germania. After the end of the Germanic and Gallic wars (58-51 BC) a number of Roman forts and roads were built in the Wetterau area. The fortifications were a border defense or delimiting system of ancient Rome, they marked the boundaries and provinces of their empire.
During the 8th to 11 CE, a clan of Franconian counts and dukes (the Corandines) related by blood to Louis the Child (893-911), king of East France (899-911), and last ruler of Carolingian dynasty, intermittently held the countship of Aargau from 750 until about 1030CE. The Carolingians were a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfin and Pippinid clans of the 7th CE. The name 'Carol' derives from 'kerlin,' meaning 'descendant of Charles Martel' (Latin for Carolus). They became the real power behind the Merovingian throne.
During 1138-1254 CE, the House of Staufen, a dynasty of German Kings controlled the area. The name comes for their seat at the Staufen Castle, which was in turn named for a nearby conical hill of the Swabian Alps. It is a region bounded by the Danube in the South East and the upper Neckar in the North West. In the South West the Alps rises to higher mountains that forms the Black Forest. Three member of this dynasty were crowned Roman emperors: Frederick I, Henry IV, and Frederick II.
From the extinction in 1254 of the House of Staufen until 1415, the area was ruled by the House of Habs'Burg, and many castles from that time still stand (examples include Habs'Burg, Lenz'Burg, Tegerfelden, Bobikon, Stin, and Wild'Egg).
By 1276 CE, Count Radbot's seven generation descendant of Rudolf  of the House of Habs'Burg, moved the family's power base from the Castle to the Duchy of Austria. Rudolph had become King of Germany in 1273, and the dynasty was truly entrenched in 1276 when Rudolph became ruler of Austria, which lasted until 1918.
The throne of the Roman Empire was continuously occupied by the Habs'Burgs between 1438-1740.
From the House of Habs'Burgs also came emperors (kings) of the Kingdom of Bohemia (now Czech Republic), Kingdom of Eng'Land (by right of his wife), Kingdom of Germany, Kingdom of Hungary, Kingdom of Croatia, Kingdom of Ireland, Kingdom of Portugal, and Spain, as well as rulers of several Dutch and Italian principalities.
In the 16th century, the house separated the family into senior Habs'Burg Spain, and junior Habs'Burg Monarchy branches, and the mutual claims were settled in the secret Treaty of Onate on July 29, 1617.
Philip III, Spanish king of the senior Habs'Burg reached an agreement with the junior Habs'Burg Ferdinand II, Austrian Archduke. The senior Spanish branch ended upon the death of Charles II in 1700 and was replaced by the House of Borbon, a branch of the Capetian dynasty founded by Hugh Capet's male line descendants. It is among the largest and oldest royal houses in Europe and the World of Franco origin. The remaining Austrian branch became extinct in the male line in 1740 with the death of Charles VI, and completely in 1780 with the death of his eldest daughter Maria Theresa of Austria. It was succeeded by the Vaude'Mont branch of the House of Lorraine styling itself as the House of Habs'Burg-Lorraine.
The Habs'Burgs also founded a number of monasteries (with some structures enduring, e.g., in Wettingen (members of the Cistercian Order called the Bernardines, the term is also used of the Franciscan  Order in Poland and Lithuania) and Muri (near Basel, Switzer'Land and formerly part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire), the closing of which was a contributing factor to the outbreak of the Swiss civil war in 1847.
In the New World, the Habs'Burg-Lorraine, produced the first emperor in the Second Mexican Empire under a limited hereditary monarchy by the European Assembly of Notable people on July 10, 1863, during the 2nd French intervention in Mexico. It was created with the support of Napoleon III of France, who attempted to establish a monarchist ally in the Americas. A referendum confirmed Austrian Ferdinand Maximilian, as Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico. Support came mainly from a rich and conservative elite of Catholics, supported by the French, which were a majority within the public affairs in Mexico. The monarchy came to an end with the execution of Maximilian I on June 19, 1867.

Saturday, 30 December 2017

WHY JERUSALEM FELL IN 70 CE?

The fulfilment of Christ's prophecy concerning the destruction of the magnificent temple at Jerusalem ended one phase of God's plan and entered in the next phase -Christ's return to conquer and rule.
During Jesus' time, many Jews were so awe struck and impressed with the grandeur of the Herod's Temple that they replaced the true worship of God with respect and reverence for the Temple complex itself. Jesus was not impressed with the physical structure, because he knew that the Sovereign God is greater than any building that man can construct, no matter how grand and beautiful it is.
Looking back, in 40CE, the Roman senate appointed Herod as the ruler of Judea. He had previously served as the governor of Galilee and was a personal friend of Mark Anthony before Anthony was defeated by Octavian. Later Herod became a friend of Octavian who became the first Roman emperor as Caesar Augustus. Herod ruled Judea for the next 36 years, during which time he began many huge building projects including the building of a new Temple in Jerusalem.
The project was a huge undertaking which required a tremendous amount of labor, money and time. This building was said to be larger and a more beautiful than the one that Solomon built. From the beginning of the Temple project in 19BC, it took 46 years to complete the main building and another 36 years to finish the entire complex. However, 4 years after its complexion, it was totally destroyed and wiped from the face of the earth.
The Romans destroyed the 2nd Temple (Herod's Temple) in 70 CE, on the same date that the Babylonians had destroyed the 1st Temple (Solomon's Temple). 2 Kings 25 says about the first destruction the following, "On the 7th day of the fifth month of the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, Nebuzaradan, adviser to the king and commander of his army, entered Jerusalem. He burned down the Temple, the palace, and the houses of all the important people in Jerusalem, and his soldiers tore down the city walls. Then Nebuchadnezzar took away to Babylonia the people who were left in the city, the remaining skilled workers, and those who had deserted to the Babylonians. But he left in Judah some of the poorest people, who owned no property, and put them to work in the vineyards and fields. (2 Kings 25: 8-12)
In the Book of Jeremiah we find how evil thoughts operates in human mind and it repeats its way as it is manifested in the same way through the minds which plot against Jesus. Jeremiah says: "The Lord informed me of the plots that my enemies were making against me. I was like a Trusting Lamb taken out to be killed, and did not know that it was against me that they were planning evil things. They were saying, 'Let's chop down the Tree while it is still healthy; let's kill him so that no one will remember him any more.' Then I prayed, 'Almighty Lord, you are a Just Judge; You test people's thoughts and feelings. I have placed my cause in Your Hands; so let me watch You take revenge on these people." (Jeremiah 11: 18-23)
When Jesus cried out "It is finished," at the same instant, the Herod Temple was torn in 2 from top to bottom. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. The tearing of the curtain of separation from top to bottom forever opened the Way for all humanity to eventually fellowship directly with God the Father.
This is the moment in time that Jesus spoke of to the woman of Samaria when he foretold that the existing worship system would be abolish, and that those who wanted to worship God would no longer need to travel to a specific location to worship: "True worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and Truth." (John 4:23)
Punishing sinners is always associated with the Law-keeping Covenant observed by God's people. Under Covenant, His people is blessed if they follow His commands and curse if they do not. After  Jesus died on the cross, a New Covenant arose that included Jews and Gentiles. Jesus understood the heart of the vast majority of Jews and their leaders and the fact that they would not repent of their evil ways. This is one of the reasons he wept over Jerusalem as he foretold its destruction.
Hebrews 8 says: "Jesus has been given priestly work which is superior to the one on earth, just as the Covenant which He arranged between God and His people is a better one, because it is based on Promises of better things. If there had been nothing wrong with the First Covenant, there would have been no need for a Second One. But God finds Fault with His people when He says, 'The days are coming, when I will draw up a New Covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the Covenant that I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. They were Not Faithful to the Covenant I made with them, and so I paid No Attention to them. Now, this is the Covenant that I will make with My people in the days to come. I will put My Laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be My people." (Hebrews 8: 6-10)
Jesus predicted again the destruction of Jerusalem when he was being led to the place of his execution. The streets along the way were packed with his enemies as well as with those who followed his teachings and were hopeful that he was indeed the prophesied Messiah. Jesus foretold to those showing concern for him and the injustice that was about to befall him, the destruction of Jerusalem and the horrible starvation, sickness, and death that would come upon them before and after the Romans destroyed the city and its Temple.
On 24 August,79 CE, nine years after Roman legionaries destroyed Jerusalem, God sent a powerful eruption in Mount Vesuvius destroying the affluent Roman cities of the Bay of Naples, including Pompeii and Herculaneum, and the temples of Serapis, Isis, Neptune, and Jupiter among others. Also many luxurious public buildings were destroyed by the blast (100,000 times more powerful that Nagasaki / Hiroshima nuclear bombs). The quakes lasted for several days.
In the spring of 80 CE, a fire broke out in Rome, burning large parts of the city for 3 days and 3 nights.
Although the extent of the damage was not as disastrous as during the Great Fire of 64 CE, a great deal of important public buildings were destroyed, including Agrippa's Pantheon, the Temple of Jupiter, the Diribitorium, parts of the Theatre of Pompey, and the Saepta Julia (a building to cast votes) among others. A plague also broke out during the fire. The nature of the disease, however, or the death toll are totally unknown.

THE REAL HYSSOP ( WILD OREGANO)

The Biblical Hyssop (Wild Oregano), in most cases, is mentioned as a genuine purifier-often in combination with lamb's blood, scarlet wood, and water, with the purpose of cleansing ceremonies in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, after Jesus redemption, his blood is the Hyssop, cleansing us from sin.
A famous line from Psalm 51 confirm the type of cleansing that Hyssop did in the Old Testament by saying: "Because of your great mercy wipe away my sins! Wash away all my evil and make me clean ... I have been evil from the day I was born; from the time I was conceived, I have been sinful. Sincerity and Truth are what you require; fill my mind with your wisdom. Remove my sin, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." Pslam 51: 2-7)
Since these plants can grow up to 3 or 4 feet tall and tend to have woody stems, the rod that raised a sponge of vinegar to Christ's mouth was the oregano. Psalm 69 presages the scene with the Hissop rod long before it actually happened: "You know how I am insulted, how I am disgraced and dishonored; you see all my enemies. Insults have broken my heart, and I am in despair. I had hoped for sympathy, but there was none; for comfort, but I found none. When I was hungry, they gave me poison; when I was thirsty, they offered me vinegar." (Psalms 69: 19-21)
The name Oregano is derived from the Greek "oros" meaning "mountain" and "ganos" meaning "delight", hence, the name means, "Joy of the Mountain."The Greeks gave credit to their goddess Aphrodite for the existence of the oregano herb as a symbol of happiness. So bridal couples were crowned with the herb to ensure a cheery future. And in the case of the deceased growing oregano in their tombs supposedly indicated the deceased's satisfaction with his/her afterlife.
The most potent medicinal Oregano grows in the Mediterranean region, and in the Highlands of Peru.
Oregano is loaded with antiseptic compounds and it is a very effective antibiotic. It has been used for medicine and food preservation for thousands of years. During Middle Ages  the herb was used as a germ killer, and over the centuries oregano has been used as a remedy for a wide range of lung and stomach conditions.
Oregano is one of the most richest herbs in antioxidants and it is still extensively used in cooking. It is also used as a digestive aid and expectorant, to ease congestion from colds, flu, etc.
In ancient times people strewed the floors with oregano, as well as packing it into bags and grinding it into powder. Its invigorating odor helped cover up a multitude of less pleasant smells.
The presence of oregano in the Old Testament as a purifier and then at the crucifixion has a great symbolic significance. Christ, is intended to be the final sacrificial lamb whose blood purge the sins of mankind. That is the kind of cleansing that even the best herb can't accomplish.

Wednesday, 27 December 2017

THE STOIC THINKING.

Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished throughout the Roman and Greek World until the 3rd  century BC. Based on the ethical ideas of the Cynics, it taught that the goal of life was to live in accordance with Nature. It advocated the development of self-control and fortitude as a means of overcoming destructive emotions. As reasoning creatures, people was able to gain happiness by rigorous training and by living in a way which is natural for themselves, rejecting all conventional desires for wealth, power, sex, and fame. Similar ideas appeared in early Christianity.
Stoicism was founded by Zeno of Citium (334- 262 BC), a thinker from Citium, Cyprus, of Phoenician descent. Zeno's interest in philosophy began when he consulted the oracle to know what he should do to attain the best life, and that the god's response was that he should take on the complexion of the dead, perceiving from this the study of ancient authors. He became a wealthy merchant. On a voyage from Phoenicia to Peiraeus he survived a shipwreck, after which he went to Athens and visited a bookseller. There he encounter Xenophon's Memorabilia. He was so please with the book's portrayal of Socrates that he asked the bookseller where men like Socrates were to be found. Just then, Crates of Thebes, the famous Cynic living at that time in Greece happened to be walking by, and the bookseller pointed to him. He became Crate's pupil, showing a strong bent for philosophy, though with too much modesty to assimilate Cynic shamelessness. Crates, desiring to cure this defect in him, gave him a pot full of lentil-soup to carry, and when he saw that Zeno was ashamed and tried to keep it out of sight, Crates broke the pot with a blow of his staff. As Zeno began to run off in embarrassment with the lentil-soup flowing down his legs, Crates said, "Why run away, my little Phoenician? Nothing terrible has befallen you."
Apart from Crates, Zeno studied under the philosophers of the Megarian school (pupils of Socrates) and the dialecticians Diodorus Cronus, and Philo. He is also said to have studied Platonist philosophy under Xenocrates and Polemo. His disciples were initially called Zenonians, but eventually they came to be known as Stoics, a name previously applied to poets who congregated in the Stoa Poikile.
Zeno died around 262 BC. Diogennes Laertius reported the following about Zeno's death: "As he was leaving the school he tripped and fell, breaking his toe. Striking the ground with his fist, he quoted the line from the Niobe: 'I come, I come, why do you call for me? ' and died on the spot through holding his breath.' "
Niobe was the daughter of Tantalus. She was mentioned in Homer's Iliad which relates her personal quality of excessive pride and dangerous overconfidence, in combination with arrogance, for which she was punished by Leto, a daughter of a Titan, to slay all of her children.
Her father, Tantalus became one of the inhabitants of Tartarus, the deepest portion of the Underworld, reserved for the punishment of evildoers. He was punished for his evil behavior by standing in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches. Whenever he reached for the fruit, the branches raised his intended meal from his grasp. Whenever he bent down to get a drink, the water receded before he could get any. This fate cursed him with eternal depravation of nourishment.

MOTHER'S ADVICE TO A SON.

The Book of Proverbs is based on metaphor. It is packed with Word-Pictures of universal Truths.
King Lemuel is mentioned as the author of Proverbs 31. So, as he was growing up, his mother gave him a solemn advice, which he later arranged in poetic form and recorded for the ages.
The name Lemuel means "for God" or "devoted to God." The mother's counsel is good advice for any men who needs to be a leader to himself and through his own example leader of men.
In the 2nd Letter from Peter, addressed to a wide circle of believers, its main concern is to combat immorality by using these Words: "God's divine power has given men everything they need to live a truly moral life ... so that ... they may escape from the destructive lust that is in the World ... do your best to add goodness to your Faith; to your goodness add Knowledge; to your knowledge add Self-control; to your self-control add Endurance; to your endurance add Godliness; to your godliness add Affection; and to your affection add Love ... if you do not have them , you are so shortsighted that you cannot see ... try even harder to make God's call and His choice of you a permanent experience, if you do so you will never abandon your Faith.  2 Peter 1: 1-11
Proverbs 31 then reinforce this advice with the following words of a mother to her son:
This are the solemn Words which the mother of King Lemuel said to him: "You are my own dear son, the answer to my prayers. What shall I tell you? "
"Do not spend all your energy on sex and all your money on women; they have destroyed kings."
"Listen Lemuel, Kings should not drink wine or have a craving for alcohol. When they drink, they forget the Law and ignore the rights of people in need. Alcohol is for people who are dying, for those who are in misery. Let them drink and forget their poverty and unhappiness."
"Speak up for people who cannot speak for themselves. Protect the rights of all who are helpless. Speak for them and be a righteous judge. Protect the rights of the poor and needy." Proverbs 31: 1-10
Throughout the Book of Proverbs, Wisdom is anthropomorphized as a woman. Proverbs 31 provides a detailed metaphor of feminine Wisdom in the context of a family and a community.  One of weaknesses the king's mother mentioned in her advice to her son was the susceptibility of his strength to be harmed by improper relationships with women. Then the following verse do illustrate a fitting description of what kind of woman Lemuel should seek.
Proverbs 31 continue saying:
"How hard it is to find a capable wife! She is worth far more than jewels! Her husband puts his confidence in her, and he will never be poor. As long as she lives, she does him good and never harm. She keeps herself busy making wool and linen cloth. She brings home food from out-of-the-way places, as merchant ships do. She gets up before daylight to prepare food for her family and to tell her servant women what to do." Proverbs 31: 10-15
"She looks at land and buys it, and with money she has earned she plants a vineyard. She is a hard worker, strong, and industrious. She knows the value of everything she makes, and works late into the night. She spins her own thread and weaves her own cloth. She is generous to the poor and needy. She doesn't worry when it snows, because her family has warm clothing. She makes bedspreads and wears clothes of fine purple linen."  Proverbs 31: 16-22
"Her husband is well known, one of the leading citizens. She makes clothes and belts, and sells them to merchants. She is strong and respected and not afraid of the future. She speaks with a gentle wisdom. She is always busy and looks after her family's needs. Her children show appreciation, and her husband praises her. He says,'Many women are good wives, but you are the best of them all.'Proverbs 31:23-30
"Charm is deceptive and beauty disappears, but a woman who honors the Lord should be praised. Give her credit for all she does. She deserves the respect of everyone. Proverbs 31: 30-31

Monday, 25 December 2017

THE 2nd HALF ACCOUNT OF EDEN.

The 2nd half of the account of Adam and Eve's life after Eden that fills in the blanks in the biblical story, come to us from a variety of documents in Greek, Latin, Georgian, Armenian, Slavonic, and even Old Irish. Most of them are translations, either of each other or of original documents that have long been lost. Biography was an extremely popular literary genre during late Hellenistic period of Judaism (3rd BC to 3rd CE), and legends of biblical figures were numerous.
The various versions are not entirely consistent with each other, making it difficult to pin down exactly what the original text was, when it was written, and in which language. By carefully combining the different versions, we get a pretty good sense of the text. It was probably written in Hebrew or Aramaic and we can date it approximately to the days of Jesus.
The text was supposedly written by Moses after he received the Tablets with the 10 Commandments.
Content of the Text : After being vanished from the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve go to the East and live there for 18 years and 2 months. Eve gives birth to Cain and Abel. Eve dreams that Cain drinks the blood of Abel, but that it then came out of his mouth. Cain kills Abel. Michael promises to Adam a new son, and Seth is born in place of Abel.
Adam begets 30 other sons and 30 daughters. As Adam falls sick and is in pain, all his sons and daughters come to him, and he briefly recounts to them the story of the Fall. Seth and Eve travel to the doors of the Garden to beg for some oil of the Tree of Mercy (Tree of Life). On the way Seth is attacked and bitten by a wild beast, which goes away when ordered by Seth. Michael refuses to give them the oil at that time, but promises to give it at the End of Time, when all flesh will be raised up, the delights of paradise will be given to the holy people and God will be in their midst. On their return, Adam says to Eve: "What has you done? You have brought upon us great wrath which is death."
-Eve recounts to her sons and daughters the story of the Fall from her perspective: In the Garden, she is separated from Adam. She stays with the female animals and Adam with the male ones. The Devil persuades the male snake to rebel against Adam and his wife. At the hour the angels go up to worship the Lord, Satan disguises himself as an angel and speaks to Eve using the mouth of the serpent. The serpent seduces Eve, who swears to give the fruit to Adam to eat too. The serpent places in the fruit the poison of his wickedness, which is lust. When Eve eats it, she discovers that she is naked. All the trees of the Garden lose their leaves. Only a Fig Tree, the plant she ate of, still has leaves, and she hides her shame with its leaves. Eve looks for Adam and deceives him. He also eats the forbidden fruit.
-Michael sounds a trumpet, and God enters the Garden mounted on the chariot of his Cherubim and preceded by the angels. His Throne is set where the Tree of Life is, and all the trees break out in blossoms. He calls Adam, who his because he was naked, and reproaches Adam, Eve and the serpent. When the angels are casting Adam out of paradise, he asks to be allowed to implore God, saying:"For I alone have sinned." He begs God to be allowed to eat of the Tree of Life. God refuses to give him the fruit of immortality, but promises, if Adam will keep from all evil, to raise him up in the Last Day and give him the fruit. Before being cast out, Adam is allowed to take sweet spices and seeds for his food.
-Adam lies sick and foretells that Eve will die shortly after. He asks Eve to pray, because they do not know whether God is angry with them or merciful. While Eve is praying on bended knee, the Angel of Humanity (probably Michael) comes and shows her the spirit of Adam gone from his body and ascending to God.
-The funeral of Adam is narrated with great richness of liturgical detail.
-A chariot of Light, borne by 4 bright eagles with Seraphim and angels, arrives where Adam's body lies. The 7 heavens are opened and Seth explains to his mother who are the 2 fearful figures in mourning: the sun and the moon, deprived of their light, because God is present. God has mercy on Adam, who is cleansed 3 times in water before being carried before God. God stretches out His Arm, and hands Adam over to Michael to be carried to the Third Heaven until the Last Day.
-The chariot and all the angels bear Adam's body to the Garden and lay him on the earth. Only Seth can see the scene. The body is covered with linen clothes and fragrant oil is poured on it. The body of Abel also, which until then the earth had refused to receive, is taken to the same place. Both bodies are buried in the place from which God took the clay to create Adam. God calls Adam, whose body answers from the earth. God promises Adam that he and everyone of his seed will rise again.
-Six days later, Eve asks to be buried near Adam and dies praying to the Lord. Three angels bury Eve near Adam, and Michael tells Seth never mourn on the Sabbath.

Sunday, 24 December 2017

EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA.

Eusebius of Caesarea (260/265-339/340), also known as Eusebius Pamphili, was a historian of Christianity. He became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima about 314 CE. He is regarded as an extremely learned Christian of his time.
The city port and the coastal city of Caesarea was described in detail by the 1st-century Roman Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. He describes tha harbor as being as large as the one at Piraeus, the major harbor of Athens. Remains of the principal buildings erected by Herod and the medieval town are still visible today, including the city walls, the castle and a Crusader cathedral and church. Caesarea grew rapidly, becoming the largest city in Judea. At its height, the port was one of the most impressive harbors of its time. It had been constructed on a coast that had no natural harbors and served as an important commercial harbor in antiquity, rivaling Cleopatra's harbor at Alexandria.
Little is known about the life of Eusebius. His surviving works probably only represent a small portion of his total output.
By the 3rd century, Caesarea had a population of about 100,000. Pompey gave control of the city to the gentiles during his command of the Eastern provinces in the 60s BC. The gentiles retained control of the city for the 3 centuries to follow. Gentile government was strengthened by the city's refoundation under Herod the Great (37-34 BC), when it had taken on the name of Augustus Caesar. In addition to the gentile settlers, Caesarea had large Jewish and Samaritan minorities. Eusebius was probably born into the Christian contingent of the city. Caesarea's Christian community had a history reaching back to apostolic times.
Through the activities of the theologian Origen (185-254 CE) and the school of his follower Pamphilus (later 3rd century-309), Caesarea became a center of Christian learning. Origen was largely responsible for the collection of usage information, or which churches were using gospels, regarding the texts which became the New Testament. Eusebius used the information passed on to him by Origen to create his list and Origen's list about what texts were accepted by the 3rd-century churches throughout the known world. Together with the books of Origen's patron Ambrosius, Origen's library formed the core of the collection that Pamphilus established. He had gathered Bibles from all parts of the world and maintained close contact with his students. Eusebius, in his history of the persecutions, alludes to the fact that many Christians martyrs lived together in Caesarea, under Pamphilus' protection.
Pamphilus began teaching Eusebius, who was then somewhere between 20 and 25 years old. Neither Panphilus nor Eusebius knew Origen personally. Pamphilus probably picked up Origenist ideas during his studies in Alexandria.
In the 290s, Eusebius began to work on his Magnum Opus, the Ecclesiatical History, a narrative history of the Church and Christian community from the Apostolic Age to Eusebius' own time, and completed the first edition of his work before 300 CE. At about the same time, Eusebius worked on his Chronicle, a universal calendar of events from the Creation to, again, Eusebius' own time.
Eusebius succeeded Agapius as Bishop of Caesarea soon after 313 CE and was called on by Arius who had been excommunicated by his bishop Alexander of Alexandria. An episcopal council in Caesarea pronounced Arius blameless. Eusebius, a learned man and famous author, enjoyed the favor of the Emperor Constantine. Because of this he was called to present the creed of his own church to the 318 attendees of the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE. However, the anti-Arian creed from Palestine prevailed becoming the basis for the Nicene Creed.
The theological views of Arius, that taught the subordination of the Son to the Father, continued to be a problem. Eustathius of Antioch strongly opposed the growing influence of Origen's theology as the root of Arianism. Eusebius was reproached by Eustathius for deviating from the Nicene faith. Eusebius prevailed and Eustathius was deposed at a synod in Antioch.
Eusebius remained in the Emperor Constantine's favor throughout this time and more than once was exonerated with the explicit approval of the Emperor. After Constantine's death (337 CE), Eusebius wrote the Life of Constantine, an important historical work. Eusebius died in 339 CE. Much like his birth, the exact date of Eusebius' death is unknown.
From a dogmatic point of view, Eusebius stands entirely upon the shoulders of Origen. Like Origen, he started from the fundamental thought of the absolute sovereignty of God. God is the cause of all beings. But He is not merely a cause; in Him everything good is included, from Him all life originates, and He is the source of all virtue. God sent Christ into the World that it may partake of the blessings included in the essence of God. Christ is God and is a ray of the eternal light.

THE 4 GREAT CODICES.

The 4 great codices that have survived to the present day and contain the entire text of the Greek Scripture (Old and New Testament) are: Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Alexandrinus, and Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus. Although discovered at different times and places, they share many similarities.
The Codices are written in a certain style of calligraphy using capital letters without regular gaps between words. All these manuscripts were made at great expense of material and labor, written on prepared animal skin (calf skin), with leaves arranged in quarto form, by professional scribes. They seem to have been based on the most accurate texts in their time.
Alexandrinus, a fifth-century manuscript of the Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Septuagint and the New Testament, was the first of the greater manuscripts to be accessible to scholars.
Vaticanus became known to Western scholars as a result of correspondence between Erasmus, a Dutch theologian, and the prefects of the Vatican Library. In the 19th century the translation of the full Codex were completed. It was at that point that scholars realized the text differed significantly from the Textus Receptus, the translation-base for the original German Luther Bible, the New Testament into English by William Tyndale, the King James Version, the Spanish Reina-Valera translation, the Russian Synodal Bible, and the most Reformation-era New Testament translations.
Most current scholars consider the Vaticanus to be one of the best Greek texts of the New Testament, with the Sinaiticus as its only competitor. It was extensively used by Wescot and Hort in their edition of the New Testament in the Original Greek in 1881.
Until the discovery of the Sinaiticus text by Tischendorf during his visit at Sinai, the Vaticanus was unrivaled. The text of the codex was published in 1862.
It has been speculated that Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus were part of a project ordered by Emperor Constantine the Great to produce 50 copies of the Scripture.
Codex Vaticanus uses the oldest system of textual division in the Gospels. Codex Alexandrinus and Ephraemi Rescriptus use also a division according to the larger sections (chapters). Codex Vaticanus has more archaic style of writing than the other manuscripts, and has no introduction to the Book of Psalms, which became a standard after 325 CE, whereas Sinaiticus and Alexandrinus do. They also have different order of books.


THE THIRD HEAVEN.

The Scripture speaks of 3 different heavens. Genesis 1:1 says  that God created "the heavens." The first heaven is assumed as the atmosphere around the earth in which the air is the vital ingredient for life on the earth. In describing the rain that brought on the Flood of Noah's time, Genesis 7:11 says "the windows of heaven were opened." Commenting on the extent of the water, verse 19 says "all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered."
The 2nd heaven is commonly referred to as "outer space." Exodus 32:13 is one of many references to "the stars of heaven." Stars are not in the skies from which the rain falls, but in a space beyond our atmosphere. Nehemiah 9:6 also refers to space as heaven: "You alone are the Lord; You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host."
A 3rd heaven is mentioned in a letter of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthian church. He writes, "I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago was caught up to the Third Heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know -God knows. And I know that this man -whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows -was caught up to Paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell."(2 Corinthians 12: 2-4)  The apparent parallelism of the passage equates the Third heaven with Paradise.
Revelation 4:2 reveals that God's throne is in heaven, the location must be the heaven of heavens.
The universe of the ancient Israelites was perceived as a flat disc-shaped world floating on water with heaven above and the underworld below. Humans inhabited earth during life and the underworld after death, and the underworld was considered neutral. In Hellenistic times the Israelites begin to adopt the Greek idea that it would be a place of punishment for misdeeds, and that the righteous would enjoy an afterlife in heaven.
Around the time of Jesus, the Greek idea that God had actually created matter replaced the older idea that matter had always existed, but in a chaotic state. This concept is now the accepted one of most denominations of Judaism and Christianity, believing that a single, uncreated God was responsible for the creation of the cosmos.
In the non-canonical 2nd Book of Enoch, Third Heaven is described as a location between corruptible and incorruptible containing the Tree of Life,"whereon the Lord rests, when He goes up into paradise."
Two springs in the Third Heaven, one of milk and the other of honey, along with two others of wine and oil, flow down in to the Garden of Eden. In contrast with the common concept of Paradise, the book also describes a Third heaven, "a very terrible place" with "all manner of tortures" in which merciless angels torment "those who dishonor God, who on earth practice sin against nature," including sodomites, sorcerers, enchanters, witches, the proud, thieves, liars, and those guilty of various transgressions.
The concept of the cosmic axis, in certain beliefs and philosophies is the World center, the connection between Heaven and Earth, regardless of the number of heavens, where the 4 compass directions meet. Communication from lower realms may ascend to higher ones and blessings from higher realms may descend to lower ones and be disseminated to all. Because the cosmic axis is an idea that unites a number of concrete images, no contradiction exists in regarding multiple spots as the center of the world. The symbol can operate in a number of locales at once. Mount Hermon was regarded as the cosmic axis in Canaanite tradition, from where the sons of God are introduced descending to lower realms. (1 Enoch 6:6) The ancient Greeks regarded several sites as places of earth's navel stone, notably the oracle at Delphi, while still maintaining a belief in a cosmic world tree and in Mount Olympus as the abode of the gods. Judaism has the Temple Mount, Christianity has the Mount of Olives and Calvary, Islaam has Ka'aba, said to be the 1st building on earth, and the Temple Mount (Dome of the Rock).

BABYLON EPIC OF CREATION.

The Enuma Elish, also known as the Seven Tablets of Creation, is the Mesopotamian creation myth whose title is derived from the opening lines of the piece "When in the Height." All of the tablets containing the myth were found at Asshur, Kish, in the ruined Library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh, Sultantepe, and other excavated sites, date to 1100 BC. However, the tablets found are only copies of a much older version of the myth.
The Enuma Elis is the earliest written text about a civil war between the entities inhabiting the primeval world in which Marduk, a very young god, answered the call and was promised the position of head god if he would destroy the tyranny of Tiamat and her liuetenant (who was also her son and consort), Kingu. Marduk battles the tyrannical primordial chaos, in the form of a sea-serpent goddess Tiamat with her own evil champion, Kingu. Marduk defeats her and her son using an arsenal of super-weapons. After his victory Marduk is made the leader of the gods by acclamation. Marduk then claimed the Kingu's prized Tablets of Destiny and fashioned a new cosmic order that included humankind, out of Tiamat's body. Humans were created to bear the burdens of life so the gods could be at leisure. Marduk divides Tiamat's corpse into two portions, the upper half becoming the sky and the lower half, the earth, and then creates humanity from his blood and bone.
It has been hypothesized that this is a legend about the overthrow of the matriarchy or records of some cosmic catastrophe. Other scholars says that the myth was created to explain how Marduk came to a position of supreme power. The story became an important part of Babylonian culture and was re-enacted annually in lavish New Year festivities.
Marduk literally means "bull calf of the sun; solar calf,"although he was also a deity of fertility and storms. He was one of the sons of the chief god of the city of Eridu, Enki. The exact meaning of Enki's name is "Lord of the Earth." Enki was the god of water, crafts, intelligence, and creation.
Sometimes portrayed as double-headed, Marduk was later given the title Bel, or Lord, and was referred to simply as "Bel" in a manner similar to that of the Canaanite Baal (master/lord). When Babylon became the political center of the Euphrates Valley, Marduk rose to the head of the Babylonian pantheon, a position he fully acquired by the 2nd half of the 2nd millennium BC.  Marduk was thus the chief deity of the Babylonian Empire during the period of Israel exile in Babylon (6th-5th BC).
In the Scripture, in the Book of Jeremiah, chapter 51, God says: "I will punish Marduk, the god of Babylon, and make him vomit up everything he gobbled down. The nations will no longer bring him gifts, and Babylon's walls will crumble. Get out of Babylon, My people, and run for your lives, before I strike the city in My anger! Don't be afraid or lose hope ..." (44-45)

THE POWER OF THE CHALDEANS.

The Chaldeans (which is current days Irak, East Syria, and South East Turkey), are a live continuation of all the indigenous people of Mesopotamia whether their tribal name were Sumerians, Akkadians, Amorites, Babylonians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Aramaeans.
The language of the Chaldean people is Syriac, which is essentially Aramaic (a different dialect than that spoken by Jesus Christ) with a dose of Akkadian, the original language of the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Chaldean tribes.
The early kingdoms of Mesopotamia (area known today as modern day Iraq), consisted of Babylonia on the Southern plain and Assyria in the Northern plain. The first known reference to the name Chaldea, is found in the annals of Ashurbannipal II, king of Assyria (884-859 BC). The Assyrians who came on the scene about 1000 years later, quickly became a leading power owing to their military and administrative skills. Regardless of who ascended the throne (power shifted back and forth between Assyria and Babylonian), Babylon always remained as the capital, and the term "Babylonian" remained intact. During the latter years, Chaldean kings played an important role by ruling and maintained separate borders between Assyria and Babylon. The Assyrian Empire, especially under Sennacherib, stood indestructible for centuries. Sennacherib won every single battle he engaged in; a veritable military mind whom no one could destroy - except Babylon. Sennacherib was killed there in one of the Babylonian temples. The name "Chaldean," in this final stage, include both Babylon and Nineveh (Assyria). The Chaldeans and Assyrians of the old were ethnically, cultural and linguistically the same people divided along political and religious allegiances.
The basic characteristic of Mesopotamian religion was its view of the spiritual force behind natural phenomena. Each act of nature was believed to be the force of some entity who had the appropriate appearance in external form. Omens upheld ancestral beliefs in Heaven and Earth as complementary forces without one having more influence over the other. Crop failures, pestilence, wars, the death of a nobleman, were thought to depend upon the balance of these complementary forces. The entities in heaven held positions of power and each person were expected to serve the entity in charge of his well being. Through every situation the individual was likely to seek supernatural guidance through omens, that he might interpret as the will of the gods. From the farmer to the kings and rulers, such guidance was sought in all matters of importance.
Over time, many records of daily lunar activity and periodic solar eclipses were developed and kept for each and every day of the year along with each omen that accompanied the event. Through these records the Chaldeans developed theories that the same phenomena would recur in cycles. One of the cycles was discovering seasonal alignments with fixed stars. It gave them proof that the heaven and the earth were complementary.
The 5th tablet of its creation myth (Enuma elish) states that the Babylonian entity, Marduk, determined the seasonal boundaries and defined the divisions by setting up 3 constellations for each month for the 12-month year. The sets of 3 constellations were set up into 4 groupings. The 4 cardinal points came about by using the summer solstice as a mooring peg. Once established, the Chaldeans followed the Sun along the ecliptic, referred to as the Way of Anu. The year was divided into approximate 90-day periods, depending on the length of the Moon's lunation. These are recorded on tablets, the earliest dating around 1100 BC. The Chaldean astrologers, as priests, were especially renowned astrologers.
Even the Scripture refers to the astrological prowess of the Chaldeans, and during the classical period all astrologers were generically known as Chaldeans.
However, it wasn't until the Seleucid period that the Chaldeans began to develop their science and religion into art.
The Persian conquest into Babylon ended the history of the Babylonians in 539 BC. The Persians continue to rule the Babylonian peoples until Alexander the Great conquered the land in 330 BC. Upon Alexander's death, Seleucid, one of his generals, claimed ruler-ship over the land and began to Hellenize the region. During this Seleucid period (Greeks were enthusiastic diviners and readers of many different oracles), the scribal school at Erech remained active and continue to flourish; collecting ritual text and further developing astrology.