It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
Luke 11:37-52
37 As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table.[a] 38 His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom. 39 Then the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness! 40 Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside? 41 So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.
42 “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.
43 “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you love to sit in the seats of honor in the synagogues and receive respectful greetings as you walk in the marketplaces. 44 Yes, what sorrow awaits you! For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on.”
45 “Teacher,” said an expert in religious law, “you have insulted us, too, in what you just said.”
46 “Yes,” said Jesus, “what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden. 47 What sorrow awaits you! For you build monuments for the prophets your own ancestors killed long ago. 48 But in fact, you stand as witnesses who agree with what your ancestors did. They killed the prophets, and you join in their crime by building the monuments! 49 This is what God in his wisdom said about you:[c] ‘I will send prophets and apostles to them, but they will kill some and persecute the others.’
50 “As a result, this generation will be held responsible for the murder of all God’s prophets from the creation of the world— 51 from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, it will certainly be charged against this generation.
52 “What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you remove the key to knowledge from the people. You don’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.”
Originally posted by NewAgeMan
Originally posted by NewAgeMan
Zoom+Scroll Leonardo da Vinci's Blasphemous Joke "The Last Supper" in High Res.
Originally posted by NewAgeMan
reply to post by SyntheticPerception
Thank you my friend from Sci-Fi Fanstasy.
The colours, interesting. Didn't notice that, that's another observation certainty, and a tip off ie: that Jesus' colours (we spell the word color differently here in Canada) combined = purple, and to his left the disciple is wearing pink,
Originally posted by NewAgeMan
Originally posted by NewAgeMan
Zoom+Scroll Leonardo da Vinci's Blasphemous Joke "The Last Supper" in High Res.
Originally posted by NewAgeMan
In imitation of Christ..?
Originally posted by NewAgeMan
Saint Nicholas @ Nicaea
Bishop Nicholas Loses His Cool (At The Council of Nicaea)
In AD 325 Emperor Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea, the very first ecumenical council. More than 300 bishops came from all over the Christian world to debate the nature of the Holy Trinity. It was one of the early church's most intense theological questions. Arius, from Egypt, was teaching that Jesus the Son was not equal to God the Father. Arius forcefully argued his position at length. The bishops listened respectfully.
As Arius vigorously continued, Nicholas became more and more agitated. Finally, he could no longer bear what he believed was essential being attacked. The outraged Nicholas got up, crossed the room, and slapped Arius across the face! The bishops were shocked. It was unbelievable that a bishop would lose control and be so hotheaded in such a solemn assembly. They brought Nicholas to Constantine. Constantine said even though it was illegal for anyone to strike another in his presence, in this case, the bishops themselves must determine the punishment.
The bishops stripped Nicholas of his bishop's garments, chained him, and threw him into jail. That would keep Nicholas away from the meeting. When the Council ended a final decision would be made about his future.
Nicholas was ashamed and prayed for forgiveness, though he did not waver in his belief. During the night, Jesus and Mary his Mother, appeared,* asking, "Why are you in jail?" "Because of my love for you," Nicholas replied. Jesus then gave the Book of the Gospels to Nicholas. Mary gave him an omophorion, so Nicholas would again be dressed as a bishop. Now at peace, Nicholas studied the Scriptures for the rest of the night.
When the jailer came in the morning, he found the chains loose on the floor and Nicholas dressed in bishop's robes, quietly reading the Scriptures. When Constantine was told of this, the emperor asked that Nicholas be freed. Nicholas was then fully reinstated as the Bishop of Myra.
The Council of Nicaea agreed with Nicholas' views, deciding the question against Arius. The work of the Council produced the Nicene Creed which to this day many Christians repeat weekly when they stand to say what they believe.
www.stnicholascenter.org...
One wonders what the other Bishop was talking about when he was arguing against the fundamental idea that Jesus as the son is of the same essence as the father, which so outraged the sensibilities of Nicholas that he marched over and in effect bopped him one (or slapped hard across the face with a glove same dif)..?!
I purport that Nicholas, being part of the Council of Nicea, was certainly aware of the story of the elder Jesus, and as such, intentionally set out to mimic what he knew of him, who come winter solstice may have liked nothing more than to deck himself out in a red cloak with white trimmings (in remembrance of his Magnum Opus), giving blessings (even gifts) to children, and dedicating himself to them, and to all, with no more miracles or signs and wonders required, his job completed back in Jerusalem.
Children, and the love of children, and gift giving - how appropriate would that be, when we realize of course that Jesus own childhood might not have been the happiest..
and speaking earlier of the Pope..
Originally posted by NewAgeMan
BBC News
Thursday, 22 December 2005, 05:07 GMT
'Santa Pope' woos Vatican crowds
Pope Benedict XVI appears to be getting into a different kind of Christmas spirit, donning a Santa-style hat for his weekly appearance at the Vatican.
At a chilly St Peter's Square, the Pope draped a red cloak over his shoulders and covered his head with a red velvet hat lined with white fur.
PULLING THE HAT DOWN TIGHT [Shhhhhh!]
(nice white suit too, dazzling, shiney!!)
Am I suggesting here that Father Christmas is or was actually based upon or styled after, the resurrected Jesus? Yes.
Is there a Santa? Only you can be the judge of that,
but spiritually, I'd say that yes, in part Jesus is not only the reason for the season, but also the spirit of Christmas, which used to drive me crazy every year, the unsolved mystery of it, but not any more.
Yes Virginia, there really is a Santa!
"Ho Ho Ho! MERRY CHRISTMAS!"
and to see my fellow man in Leonardo (and you and others) really "get it" or grok of it most fully, makes my heart sing almost to the point of joyful tears of gratitude, for the "mere" opportunity to share it with others and enjoy the mutuality of true "koinonia".
Originally posted by SyntheticPerception
reply to post by NewAgeMan
The third picture down of the pope is disturbing, yet hilarious!
Originally posted by SyntheticPerception
reply to post by NewAgeMan
The third picture down of the pope is disturbing, yet hilarious!