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Words are funny. You can spend a lifetime just figuring out words. Like Academic. Most people do not stop to think what that means. The language of the ancient world for legalese, like how Latin is today, was from Akkad. Yesterday I was looking at what is a prefix, lets say hieroglyphics, that is sacred writing. So where does Heiros come from? A targum is named that, Heiros, that's what got me questioning it. Then you bring up Enki. What? God of the Huir? The fierce Mountain dwellers sweep down into the lowland farming region to force the belief in their mountain God, and they become the legendary givers of the sacred knowledge? Forever after-wards, all things sacred bear their name?
There are a lot of differences in certain older release of the bible with certain newer editions and most of the newer editions have a lot of stuff omited from the OT so that they can be hidden, take for instance the concept of Enki or Eli or Annunaki or Ellohiem, what the hell is that all about.
I ran into the Doctor, the great man who was the Rabbi, at this little deli and he was standing at this table there for that purpose, eating something. I engaged him in some light conversation. He stopped and stared at me for a minute looking disgusted. I realized, after I thought about it, that he disapproved of my selection, a turkey with provolone sandwich. If you knew about Jewish customs, it was understandable. If you were just reading the Bible, you would not.
Without the background in Judaic teachings like reading and writing Hebrew and studying the Talmud and Torah, you can not hope to understand those teachings which are in the bible.
I suppose if one was to sit around and invent gods for yourself, you would come up with something similar to the Greek Pantheon.
People who have a high regard for a sense of knowing through spiritual experience, would latch onto a Jesus, who had the highest kind of direct revelation of God that he claimed him as his father. So you have Gnostics claiming him as their own.
Without the background in Judaic teachings like reading and writing Hebrew and studying the Talmud and Torah, you can not hope to understand those teachings which are in the bible. They are only a small subset of the belief system and way of life.
and not be influenced by 2000 years of political manipulaitons and reinterpretations
I am sorry to say but I truly doubt there there is a true Christian left on the planet. If there is one, it is by one part emmense effort and one part accident.
It may seem crazy from your perspective. I am sure it seemed quite rational to the Greeks. You can read the ancient Christian writers like Eusibius who wrote two whole books defending the basic concepts of the old mythology. If you wanted to become a Catholic priest, before you learn Christianity, you first learn what they call the "classics" which is mythology. I guess back in the day it was necessary to be familiar with it because they were surrounded by a majority that believed in it.
I think people who invented different Gods for different purposes are completely crazy. I am not disagreeing with you here. I also believe in a single monothiestic God for everything which is evident in my previous posts.
Hmm. Seems like it to me, but we might be using different definitions of what latching on means. What I mean is, if they want a person to be an example of what we should be, Jesus fits the bill. What I am trying to get at is that they(gnostics) had a belief first, and the man to fit it, later.
I am not sure what you are implying here. People dont latch on to Jesus physically, just his teachings which are absolute enlightenment.
So, the truth was hidden for ages and now is widely known because we can all be our own prophets.
I doubt that this answers your question but it goes along with what I was thinking when I wrote that post that must seem very cryptic.
"I suppose, yes. I am trying to think of a reason why we would need a big institution that feeds off us for its support that has a large number of paid people who's job it is to be intercessors between us and heaven, giving us salvation with one hand and punishing us with the other. God has made provision for us in understanding his word. The official so-called church, which is really a corporation, if left on its own and given a status of being unquestionable in its authority, would never bother actually teaching the masses about the fine points of theology, but treat their charges as so many slaves, living themselves in splendor and fat, with the peasants working all day toiling and living in hovels and hungry.
We can do a lot better by being allowed to own our own personal Bible where we can read it with our own understanding, and asking God for direct revelation to what it means, spiritually. "