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"Moses Maimonides

Born: 30 March 1138
Birthplace: Cordoba, Spain
Died: 13 December 1204
Best Known As: Medieval Jewish philosopher who wrote "Guide of the Perplexed"

Name at birth: Moshe ben Maimon

Moses Maimonides is regarded by many as the greatest Jewish philosopher ever. As a doctor, rabbi, religious scholar, mathematician, astronomer, and commentator on the art of medicine, his influence has spanned centuries and cultures. He was born in Spain and educated by his father, a Jewish judge. Eventually settling in Cairo, he became court physician to two viziers of Egypt, Saladin and el Fadil, and chief rabbi of the city's Jewish community. His Guide of the Perplexed (1190) used philosophical reasoning to argue that the Bible and Jewish faith did not conflict with Artistotle's popular system of thought.

Today, Maimonides' "Thirteen Principles of Faith" are still recited in synagogues. His works continue to be studied by Jewish scholars, including Commentary on the Mishnah (1168), nicknamed "The Luminary," and Mishneh Torah (1180), 14 volumes of biblical and rabbinic law, coded and compiled.

His nickname, Rambam, is an acronym for Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon... Scholars disagree on his birth year. Recent research points to 1138, not the more frequently cited 1135... He was multilingual and wrote most of his works in Arabic... Hospitals in such cities as Brooklyn, N.Y., San Francisco and Montreal bear his name... His tomb in the Galilean city of Tiberias has attracted tourists for centuries...

For added information, see Rabbi Wolpe's review of Sherwin B. Nuland's Moses Maimonides' biography at http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Judaism/2005/11/Doctor-Of-Laws.aspx
"

R. Wolpe has written a very intelligent study of Maimonides, highly recommended.

Also recommended are his recent talks on Moses
(Moshe rubeno), available on the web. Use google.

For ccnl1 and fellow Jesus Maenads

Dionysus, a Greek God, and Osiris, an Egyptian God were viewed as mythical characters. Osiris may have been the first god-man. His story has been found recorded in pyramid texts which were written prior to 2,500 BCE. These and other saviors were truly interchangeable. Coins have been found with Dionysus on one side and Mithras on the other. A person who was initiated into one of the mysteries had no difficulty switching to another Pagan mystery religion.

In the 3rd century CE, these god-men were referred to by the composite name "Osiris-Dionysus." Authors Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy have used this term in their book "The Jesus Mysteries." 1

Life events shared by Osiris, Dionysus and Jesus
The following stories appear both in the Gospels and in the myths of many of the god-men:

--God was his father. This was believed to be literally true in the case of Osiris-Dionysus; their God came to earth and engaged in sexual intercourse with a human. The father of Jesus is God in the form of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18).
--A human woman, a virgin, was his mother.
bullet Birth:
--He was born in a cave or cowshed. Luke 2:7 mentions that Jesus was placed in a manger - an eating trough for animals. One early Christian tradition said that the manger was in a cave.
bullet His birth was prophesized by a star in the heavens.
--Ministry:
--At a marriage ceremony, he performed the miracle of converting water into wine.
--He was powerless to perform miracles in his home town.
--His followers were born-again through baptism in water.
--He rode triumphantly into a city on a donkey. Tradition records that the inhabitants waved palm leaves.
--He had 12 disciples.
--He was accused of licentious behavior.
==Execution, resurrection, etc:
--He was killed near the time of the Vernal Equinox, about MAR-21.
--He died "as a sacrifice for the sins of the world." 1
--He was hung on a tree, stake, or cross.
--After death, he descended into hell.
--On the third day after his death, he returned to life.
The cave where he was laid was visited by three of his female followers

He later ascended to heaven.
His titles:
God made flesh.
Savior of the world.
Son of God.
Beliefs about the God-man:

He is "God made man," and equal to the Father.He will return in the last days.
He will judge the human race at that time.Humans are separated from God by original sin. The god-man's sacrificial death reunites the believer with God and atones for the original sin.

All of the Pagan myths had been circulating for centuries before Jesus birth (circa 4 to 7 BCE). It is obvious that if any copying occurred, it was the followers of Jesus incorporating into his biography the myths and legends of Osiris-Dionysus, not vice-versa.

For more on the New Torah for Modern Minds, see Rabbi David Wolpe's discussion over at www.beliefnet.com.

Note: David Wolpe

David Wolpe Named the No.1 Pulpit Rabbi in America by Newsweek magazine, Wolpe is the Rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles and currently teaches at UCLA. He is also an On Faith panelist.

Not the latest on Judaism. Merely a Times book review from 2002. Should have been explained as the limits of ccnl's knowledge on any matter relating to Judaism, fact or fict.
-----------------------------------
Back to the topic. Jesus/Osiris/Seth/Marduk et al. Mystery religions (pagan)

Once again: the latest on the "foundations" of Judaism-

origin: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20E1EFE35540C7A8CDDAA0894DA404482

New Torah For Modern Minds

"Abraham, the Jewish patriarch, probably never existed. Nor did Moses. The entire Exodus story as recounted in the Bible probably never occurred. The same is true of the tumbling of the walls of Jericho. And David, far from being the fearless king who built Jerusalem into a mighty capital, was more likely a provincial leader whose reputation was later magnified to provide a rallying point for a fledgling nation.
Such startling propositions -- the product of findings by archaeologists digging in Israel and its environs over the last 25 years -- have gained wide acceptance among non-Orthodox rabbis. But there has been no attempt to disseminate these ideas or to discuss them with the laity -- until now.

The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, which represents the 1.5 million Conservative Jews in the United States, has just issued a new Torah and commentary, the first for Conservatives in more than 60 years. Called ''Etz Hayim'' (''Tree of Life'' in Hebrew), it offers an interpretation that incorporates the latest findings from archaeology, philology, anthropology and the study of ancient cultures. To the editors who worked on the book, it represents one of the boldest efforts ever to introduce into the religious mainstream a view of the Bible as a human rather than divine document. "

Transubstantial, Consubstantial man

Reese will note the allusion.

Mystery religions (pagan) of the region..

NOT JUDAIC. EVER.

More course notes from the graduate theology class at a large Catholic university:

Communion/Eucharist is not Christ's physical Body and Blood since Christ
exists as a spirit (as all departed souls do) therefore has no physical form.

Transubstantiation is still a Catholic doctrine, but it never meant a
literal transforming of bread and wine into the physical body and blood of
Jesus. "Substance" in medieval philosophy referred to the essence of a thing
and was not reducible to material appearance.

Transubstantiation is a way of
expressing belief that Jesus Christ is SOME HOW present in the consecrated
bread and wine in a special way. Some theologians believe that
"transignificantion" would be a better term today than transubstantiation.

[Note: both Episcopalians and Lutherans believe in the real presence of
Jesus Christ in the Eucharistized bread and wine.]

From the course notes of a large Catholic university's graduate theology class:

"Heaven is a Spirit state (no physical bodies abide so where is the resurrected, ascended body????)

Christ's and Mary's bodies are therefore not in Heaven. For one thing, Paul in 1 Cor 15 speaks of the body of the dead as transformed into a "spiritual body." No one knows exactly what he meant by this term.

Most believe that it to mean that the personal spiritual self that survives death is in continuity with the self we were while living on earth as an embodied person.

The physical Resurrection (meaning a resuscitated corpse returning to life), Ascension (of Jesus' crucified corpse), and Assumption (Mary's corpse) into heaven did not take place.

The Ascension symbolizes the end of Jesus' earthly ministry and the beginning of the Church.

Only Luke's Gospel records it. The Assumption ties Jesus' mission to Pentecost and missionary activity of Jesus' followers The Assumption has
multiple layers of symbolism, some are related to Mary's special role as "Christ bearer" (theotokos).

It does not seem fitting that Mary, the body of Jesus' Virgin-Mother (another biblically based symbol found in Luke 1) would be derived by worms upon her death. Mary's assumption also shows God's positive regard, not only for Christ's male body, but also for female
bodies."

Amazing how this agrees with Professor Crossan and many other contemporary NT exegetes' conclusions based on attestations and stratums.

Go Zips!!!!

Should have written: They were NOT harrassed

Tom,

A couple of omitted points are here raised:

Very few people would have/could have known about JC. There were no newspapers, no television, radio, no internet.

Prophets were all over the place, a social malady resulting from the barbaric Roman occupation. They were harassed as nothing they were doing was against the law, and the source of their "preaching" was understood. As you, no doubt know, it is due to the proliferation of sons of God, this, that, and the other, that the age of prophesy had been decared ended by the "Pharisees," more specifically, the Tanaim, of blessed memory.

THERE was no blood/wine, bread/flesh trope at any last, first, or in between supper, at any time in the history of Jews. Period. As you know from your extensive readings, this business was an import from the mystery religions of the region. JEWS MAY NOT INGEST BLOOD.

The stick-figure Pharisees were a Greek, not Jewish literary device.

Now, Tom, these are just a few of the problems new testamentally speaking that ccnl omits.

Of course, you have the sources. For quick reference, see my numerous bibliographies posted on this thread.

Oh, and the resurrection? See "When Prophsesy Fails." Should be recommended reading in every sociology course until the end of time.

Go Zips!!!!

An added note: As per R.B. Stewart in his introduction to the recent book, The Resurrection of Jesus, Crossan and Wright in Dialogue, ( Professors Crossan and Wright are On Faith panelists).

"Reimarus (1774-1778) posits that Jesus became sidetracked by embracing a political position, sought to force God's hand and that he died alone deserted by his disciples. What began as a call for repentance ended up as a misguided attempt to usher in the earthly political kingdom of God.

After Jesus' failure and death, his disciples stole his body and declared his resurrection in order to maintain their financial security and ensure themselves some standing."

(More from Professor Crossan's book, "Who is Jesus" co-authored with Richard Watts)

"Moreover, an atonement theology that says God sacrifices his own son in place of humans who needed to be punished for their sins might make some Christians love Jesus, but it is an obscene picture of God. It is almost heavenly child abuse, and may infect our imagination at more earthly levels as well. I do not want to express my faith through a theology that pictures God demanding blood sacrifices in order to be reconciled to us."

"Traditionally, Christians have said, 'See how Christ's passion was foretold by the prophets." Actually, it was the other way around. The Hebrew prophets did not predict the events of Jesus' last week; rather, many of those Christian stories were created to fit the ancient prophecies in order to show that Jesus, despite his execution, was still and always held in the hands of God."

"In terms of divine consistency, I do not think that anyone, anywhere, at any time, including Jesus, brings dead people back to life."

From a "Crossanized" Catholic:

From Professor Crossan and Watts book, Who is Jesus.

“My best historical reconstruction would be something like this. Jesus was arrested during the Passover festival, most likely in response to his action in the Temple. Those who were closest to him ran away for their own safety. I do not presume that there were any high-level confrontations between Caiaphas and Pilate and Herod Antipas either about Jesus or with Jesus. No doubt they would have agreed before the festival that fast action was to be taken against any disturbance and that a few examples by crucifixion might be especially useful at the outset.

And I doubt very much if Jewish police or Roman soldiers needed to go too far up the chain of command in handling a Galilean peasant like Jesus. It is hard for us to imagine the casual brutality with which Jesus was probably taken and executed. All those "last week" details in our gospels, as distinct from the brute facts just mentioned, are prophecy turned into history, rather than history remembered."

From: K.C. Hanson and D. E. Oakman, Palestine in the Time of Jesus, Fortress Press, 1998. p.55

"Stories circulated to the effect that Alexander of Macedonia was not only the son of Philip II, but also of the god Zeus-Ammon (Plutarch, Parallel Lives, "Alexander" 2.1-3.2); Plato was the son of Ariston and the god Apollo (Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 3.1-2), and Augustus was the son of Octavius as well as the god Apollo (Suetonius, Lives o f the Caesars 2.4.1-7).

The extraordinary character of these elites reputedly stemmed from both their divine origins and their kingroups. Their kin-groups provided one form of legitimation-political right to the throne and/or social status (thus the importance of Joseph in Matthew's genealogy). Their divine procreation provided another: their honor was divinely ascribed, and their greatness as leaders derived from divine paternity."

Religion is not evil. Unfortunately it has been taken over by profiteers using mystical communications with God/Allah/Abraham/Smith et al to convince the "pew peasants" to monetarily support the profiteers' viewpoints. Take away the "prophets/prophecies/fortune tellers", the "pretty wingie talking thingies", the "demons of the demented" and basically what you have left are the Twelve Commandments (eight if you are an atheist), nothing more and nothing less.

These Commandments were first formulated by the ancient Cynics and Babylonians using reasoning and common sense They are the only necessary keys to the spirit state of Heaven (if there is one).

It never fails to happen . . . . . . whenever an article about the Catholic Church or one of its leaders appears in a newspaper, an anti-catholic takes the opportunity to bash the Church . . . . . . . like the comment made by CCNL1 on this board. Lay off, please.

rmk/akron

Tom,

The following was posted on another thread by CCNL1. He generally posts rubbish about Judaism (see main thread), especially on the Jewish panelests' thread, so I thought he must have meant to do the same re Catholicism on yours. Just trying to help out here.

Christianity, 2009

Jesus was an illiterate Jewish peasant/carpenter/simple preacher man who suffered from hallucinations and who has been characterized anywhere from the Messiah from Nazareth to a mythical character from mythical Nazareth to a mamzer from Nazareth (Professor Bruce Chilton, in his book Rabbi Jesus). Analyses of Jesus’ life by many contemporary NT scholars (e.g. Professors Crossan, Borg and Fredriksen, On Faith panelists) via the NT and related documents have concluded that only about 30% of Jesus' sayings and ways noted in the NT were authentic. The rest being embellishments (e.g. miracles)/hallucinations made/had by the NT authors to impress various Christian, Jewish and Pagan sects.

The 30% of the NT that is "authentic Jesus" like everything in life was borrowed/plagiarized and/or improved from those who came before. In Jesus' case, it was the ways and sayings of the Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Hittites, Canaanites, OT, John the Baptizer and possibly the ways and sayings of traveling Greek Cynics.

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/theories.html

For added "pizzazz", Catholic/Christian theologians divided god the singularity into three persons and invented atonement as an added guilt trip for the "pew people" to go along with this trinity of overseers. By doing so, they made god the padre into god the "filicider".

Current crises:

Pedophiliac priests, atonement theology and original sin!!!!

Luther, Calvin, Joe Smith, Henry VIII, Wesley, Roger Williams, the Great “Babs” et al, founders of Christian-based religions or combination religions also suffered from the belief in/hallucinations of "pretty wingie thingie" visits and "prophecies" for profits analogous to the myths of Catholicism (resurrections, apparitions, ascensions and immaculate conceptions).

Current crises:

Adulterous preachers, "propheteering/ profiteering" evangelicals and atonement theology, all male hierarchies and strange banking and funding.

Hmmm, a green pope, Part II?? And once again:

Not really!!! A green pope would end the silly requirement to go to church on Sunday in order to partake in a ceremony that has no historical or theological foundation.

A green pope would also close all Catholic houses of worship because they are heated and/or cooled to hold said flawed ceremonies.

Catholics who have not yet seen the light should simply watch Sunday Mass on EWTN and eat diet wafers with a glass of wine during these myth-based motions of an out-dated priest.

Jews, I might add, should go green by closing all their synagogues since the foundations and theology are just as flawed as Catholicism/ Christianity. Ditto for Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Paganism and "Baha'ism".