Geologist: ''Jesus was married with a child and tomb found''

a reply to: glend
Just some background information where the Black Madonna art actually comes from or what it is based upon (its roots in Paganism, Ephesus and ultimately Babylon rather than Luke). As mentioned before:

Interestingly, according to The New Encyclopædia Britannica, the original statue of this goddess “was made of gold, ebony, silver, and black stone.” A well-known statue of the Ephesian Artemis, dating from the second century C.E., shows her with black face, hands, and feet.

There's also a clue regarding Babylon the Great in there. As mentioned before:

Why is this supposed connection between Ephesus and Mary important to us today?

Let The New Encyclopædia Britannica answer: “Veneration of the mother of God received its impetus when the Christian Church became the imperial church under Constantine and the pagan masses streamed into the church. . . . Their piety and religious consciousness had been formed for millennia through the cult of the ‘great mother’ goddess and the ‘divine virgin,’ a development that led all the way from the old popular religions of Babylonia and Assyria.”

Babylon the Great (Reasoning From the Scriptures)

Definition: ... Following the Flood of Noah’s day, false religion had its beginning at Babel (later known as Babylon). (Gen. 10:8-10; 11:4-9) In time, Babylonish religious beliefs and practices spread to many lands. So Babylon the Great became a fitting name for false religion as a whole.
...
Ancient Babylonian religious concepts and practices are found in religions worldwide

“Egypt, Persia, and Greece felt the influence of the Babylonian religion . . . The strong admixture of Semitic elements both in early Greek mythology and in Grecian cults is now so generally admitted by scholars as to require no further comment. These Semitic elements are to a large extent more specifically Babylonian.”—The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria (Boston, 1898), M. Jastrow, Jr., pp. 699, 700.

...

Use of images: “[In Mesopotamian religion] the role of the image was central in the cult as well as in private worship, as the wide distribution of cheap replicas of such images shows. Fundamentally, the deity was considered present in its image if it showed certain specific features and paraphernalia and was cared for in the appropriate manner.”—Ancient Mesopotamia—Portrait of a Dead Civilization (Chicago, 1964), A. L. Oppenheim, p. 184.
...

Idol, Idolatry (Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 1)

An idol is an image, a representation of anything, or a symbol that is an object of passionate devotion, whether material or imagined. Generally speaking, idolatry is the veneration, love, worship, or adoration of an idol. It is usually practiced toward a real or supposed higher power, whether such power is believed to have animate existence (as a human, an animal, or an organization) or is inanimate (as a force or lifeless object of nature). Idolatry generally involves some form, ceremony, or ritual.

The Hebrew terms used to refer to idols often highlighted the origin and inherent worthlessness of idols, or they were derogatory terms of contempt. Among these are words rendered “carved or graven image” (literally, something carved out); “molten statue, image, or idol” (literally, something cast or poured out); “horrible idol”; “vain idol” (literally, vanity); and “dungy idol.” “Idol” is the usual rendering of the Greek word eiʹdo·lon.
...

And since I mentioned Pope John Paul II and the icon of the Black Madonna of Czestochowa (Poland) in my previous comment...

The Pope’s Message—Is It the Answer? (Awake!—1983)

“BIDDING farewell to my countrymen in Cracow, . . . I wish that good, under the care of the Holy Virgin of Jasna Gora, could once again turn out to be more powerful than evil on Polish land.”

With these words Pope John Paul II concluded his 1983 visit to Poland. The New York Times reporter commented: “The reference to the icon of the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, Poland’s most revered symbol of religion and nationalism, has been an underlying theme of the Pope’s trip.”​—Italics ours.

“Passionate Attachment to the Virgin Mary”

Catholic writer Peter Hebblethwaite observes: “Devotion to Mary is something else that Wojtyla owes to the Polish long tradition. . . . Even in his briefest statements he alludes to Mary.” This significant remark is a clue to a predominant facet of the present pope’s religiosity​—his attachment to the Virgin Mary under her many different manifestations in the Catholic world.

In his authorized biography of the pope, Lord Longford states: “His devotion to the blessed Virgin Mary is a fundamental part of him. . . . It is impossible to think of him without it. In this respect he shares no doubt in a fervent Polish tradition. His love of the Virgin Mary goes back to his earliest years.” Interestingly, his mother died when he was a child, so the same writer says: “It has been suggested that the early loss of his mother may have contributed to Wojtyla’s passionate attachment to the Virgin Mary in later years.” (Italics ours.) Peter Hebblethwaite comments: “Mary represents the feminine element in his life.”

Some Catholics Taken Aback

But as Hebblethwaite admits: “Some Catholics find this cult of Mary excessive; some Protestants dismiss it as unscriptural, superstitious and even, at the limit, blasphemous.” Even Mexican Bishop Sergio Mendez Arceo reproached the pope’s inordinate devotion to Mary; the innumerable references to the virgin of Guadalupe were “altogether too much.” Even more so when we remember that anthropologists identify this Virgin, ‘la Morenita,’ with the ‘sweet lady of Tepeyac,’ who is identified with the old Aztec goddess Tonantzin. Catholic priest Andrew Greeley admits “that Mary is one of the most powerful religious symbols in the history of the Western world. . . . The Mary symbol links Christianity directly to the ancient religions of mother goddesses.”​—Italics ours.

How did some Italian Catholics react to Polish Catholicism? Writer Peter Nichols describes the reactions of a group who visited Poland to see for themselves the Catholic revival there. “The first shock​—there were others—​was that Jesus had a subordinate role. The Virgin Mary came first and the Polish pope second, with Jesus, as these young people put it, a bad third.” In this case, the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, “Most High over the whole world,” did not even make a worse fourth!​—Psalm 83:18, Catholic Jerusalem Bible.

Whom Did Peter Emphasize?

All the foregoing gives us some understanding of the present pope’s Polish religious background and his basic message for mankind. He hammers home the role of the “Mother of God” as a mediatress between God and man. But is he teaching the right message for the times in which we live? Should he be emphasizing the mother of Christ? Or should he be proclaiming that which the apostle Peter and the early Christians preached as the only hope for mankind, namely, God’s Kingdom, or government rule, by Christ?

As Luke did.

As a matter of interest, since the pope claims to be the legal successor to the apostle Peter, what did Peter say about Mary? Did he direct attention to her as the solution for mankind’s problems? Did he use her as a nationalist symbol? Did he exalt her above God and Christ in his worship? The truth of the matter is that in his two letters he does not even mention Mary once! ...

originally posted by: glend
But what makes a God. Enlightenment is just returning to our natural state. Where altruism is the norm rather than the exception. So saying Mary is enlightened is not suggesting she is God.

You are missing the "Journey" part. Yes; once enlightenment is achieved we return to our natural state (re-merging with God). The journey to get back to the Origin is what this soul progression process is about. God is in a quest to know Itself and you are what defines It.

a reply to: whereislogic

Yes there are many possibilities as to whom the Black Madonna really represents. But we both know that Christianity is a male dominated theology, Women in power have been ostracize for no other reason, but their sex. For example. no gospel actually describes Mary Magdalene as a prostitute, yet that thought, has been paraded in christian faith from Pope Gregory I (d. 604). So if the Black Madonna was originally Mary Magdeliene, the church would have done everything in their power, to alienate those beliefs.

a reply to: vethumanbeing

Yes thanks for pointing that out.

When you mentioned journey, it reminded me of a phrase I once read in a cycling touring book. Its not the destination thats important, only the journey. I really didn't understand the significance of it until I recently read book called "The power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle. .... Everything but the Now exists in the lower mind. Whereas the Now only exists in the higher mind.

Not sure why I wrote that but it is what it is.

originally posted by: uncommitted

originally posted by: theabsolutetruth
a reply to: Krazysh0t

It doesn't IMO.

I have written about the creation of the Jesus story a lot on ATS. My theory is that according to ancient artwork, there was a Mithraism scholar that stood out, his name wasn't Jesus but was translated as such. He was popular and seeing as the Roman Empire needed to garner and solidify popular opinion, they opted for a mish mash of the trending religions of the day (most stemming from more ancient cult practices) including making their main hero 'Jesus the Nazarene', which was distorted and manipulated over time, deliberately and in translation into the story we know today.

I just posted the article due to my interest in history, religion etc. It is interesting to see how things appear in MSM possibly pertaining to an agenda.

I don't know about an 'MSM agenda', but it seems more fitting that it was Easter and the story is one that attempts to both confirm the existence of Jesus (the one in the New Testament) but also to imply the whole point of Easter is invalid. So............... not sure what point the agenda - if there is one - is trying to prove.

"So............... not sure what point the agenda - if there is one - is trying to prove." -

The agenda, yes there has always been one, is to do everything possible to keep mankind from believing in God, and more recently in history, keep them from believing in the fact that Jesus really did exist and die on the cross, and He really did rise from the tomb and sits on the right hand of God right now. Jesus is the only way to eternal life. The enemy has always tried to stop as many as possible from knowing/believing/choosing this.

a reply to: glend
You are doing just fine.