Copyright 2008 By Kirby Robinson
Prior to moving onto the meaning behind the two different nativity stories I would like to point out three additional things about Mary, the mother of Christ.
1. Many Christians and non-Muslims do not realize that within the Koran (Qur’an), the Holy Book of the Muslim faith, there are two major sections dedicated to the Virgin Birth and life of Mary.
2. In a gospel that failed to make it into the Canon of the New Testament, “The Gospel of the Birth of Mary” gives us even more insight into the gifts of Mary that she started to teach the Rabbis in the temple things they didn’t know and many miracles of healing as well as her breasts produced milk throughout her life that had healing qualities.
3. Mary is the emanation of White Tara, the Tibetan female version of the Buddha of Compassion.
Many point out that the two nativity stories of Luke and Matthew do not follow the same storyline. Thus the whole story is false, and this whole Son of God business is a myth.
We live in a post enlightenment world ruled by the questions of “what is real?” and “what is possible?” verified by experimentation and proof. While the Gospels came about in a pre modern world ruled by the questions “how do we know?” and “what is real?” often backed up by faith and inner knowing. Sadly, today, we say for truth to be true there must be facts to back it up.
The world that the Gospels of Luke and Matthew was penned in, was a very different world. There was no press, public libraries, internet, etc., to keep track of events, time, places, peoples memories are clouded by outlook, mindset, etc. Both Luke and Matthew agree on the central themes of the Nativity, they differ on the latter events. It seems that Matthew tends to be more accurate with his presentation of the Birth Story as we are about to read.
Once Joseph learned of the threats to the life of Christ, the Holy Family avoids assassins by fleeing to Egypt. This is where the Da Vinci Code conspiracy is understandable if His time in Egypt was not documented in any way they would not be hurt by this part of Matthew. But it is documented, many just have not heard about it.
The Coptic Church of Egypt has maintained through documentation that the flight of the Holy Family throughout Egypt, and within these texts we see the signs of the unusual nature of the Christ child.
Point 1 – He was speaking like a young adult within a few days of His birth.
Point 2 – He healed the sick; cast out demons, caused the blind to see, the lame to walk, and the dead to rise.
Point 3 – Jesus produced food and water sources out of nothing.
Point 4 – Goddesses and God statues of Demigods either broke in His presence or bowed as He passed. And some temples were even documented to crumble to their foundations.
A great source of additional information can be found in Paul Perry’s book, “Jesus In Egypt.”
About four years later, the Holy Family receives the news that King Herod is dead. They return to Israel thus Jesus becomes the new Moses, the old brought the Law to the land while Christ was about to bring freedom to the land.
Now we come to the childhood of Jesus Christ, again we are told we know nothing about these years prior to his first teaching in the temple. Wrong. If we take a quick look at the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, which begins at the age of five, shortly after the arrival from Egypt, we see a young boy struggling with being a man and God at the same time, and the powers and abilities that come with such a mixture. Jesus is exposed to countless teachers but none yet can teach Him anything He doesn’t already know. Hence He ends up being their teacher, thus shattering the Da Vinci Code backers claim that Christ was just a normal child. He had ALL WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE INSIDE OF HIM and was taught by God. Why is there a need for Him to travel around the world and copy any teaching or magical tricks as many today tried to claim He did? The reason they need to do this is if they can convince us He was just a man we will begin to value His teachings as just the teachings of a normal person who is simply passing on what he has learned. And they work additionally hard to get our mind focused off of Mother Mary and replace her with Mary Magdalene, asking us to replace perfection with imperfection. In addition, they must come up with some possible reason that Jesus came in contact with the Gnostic philosophy, and a side note here, which would be hard because there is little likelihood that it even existed at the time of Christ’s life.
Much is also made of Christ’s teaching in the temple as a child. Again, the conspiracy people say that this is proof that Christ was from a wealthy and royal family. What it does really prove is that at this temple a few years earlier, Mary graced the building and Rabbis learned from her special knowledge. If she were such a special teacher, then would it not make sense that her child was the same?
We now come to three very important events when it comes to the Da Vinci Code conspirators’ claims.
1. The 40 days in the desert and His confrontation with the devil.
2. John the Baptist baptizing Jesus.
3. The water into wine miracle.
Many have tried to downplay the importance of Christ’s 40 days of fasting in the desert and His battle there with the devil. As I mentioned in Part 2, God can’t know the final outcome. The first battle in the desert was the initial phase in the Final Confrontation yet to come after the Crucifixion, and in the depths of hell. Christ in the desert rejects all the temptations of the flesh that the devil tosses his way and he finally banishes the devil. Thus He began to change, and as Paul would write, “He put away the things of his youth and picked up the responsibilities of his manhood.”
Thus He knows that He must be baptized in public, and he seeks out John the Baptist. Now those consistent conspirators make note of the fact that John the Baptist does not recognize Christ. Thus, they say, see, this story’s made up. John the Baptist had seen the Christ, the one who was a boy, but had yet to see the Christ that was now a man. He was not the same, but a new man full of energy and perfection.
Finally, the water into the wine miracle. This, they claim, proves He was married to Mary Magdalene. That’s why he made the wine. Once again, a simple reading of the story shows that Jesus Christ was always and will always show kindness. The wine was simply running out and He gave the guests a “new” wine that symbolizes the fresh wine of Christ as a replacement for the bitter grapes that the world had tasted up until that time.
Next week we will focus on the final two topics of the war behind the Da Vinci Code: Mary Magdalene the manufacturing of a myth, and Christ’s Death on the cross.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
The War Behind The Da Vinci Code – Part 2
Copyright 2008 By Kirby Robinson
I now continue with the war Behind The Da Vinci Code. And focus on three topics:
1. Were Jesus and his Mother Mary Tulkus?
2. Did Jesus really have a virgin birth?
3. The story of the Nativity – True or False?
Tulku is an honorific title used in Tibetan Buddhism to identify children who, in their previous lives, have been great teachers and messengers of the dharma and have taken a vow to constantly return and teach. They are often identified later in life as Rinpoches, a term that means precious teacher.
When Tulkus are found one of the things that are looked for is if their birth took place amidst great signs and wonders such as triple rainbows, snowstorms in the summer, and other unusual events.
One of the pillars of The Da Vinci Code camp is that Jesus was just a man, or He didn’t really exist at all. They point out that from around the world and throughout history there have been at least 35 such stories of a Savior-like man. Examples: Krishna of Hindustan; Bool and Tout both were called “the only begotten of God” of Phoenicia; Indra of Tibet; Mohammed or Mahomet of Arabia; or Beddru of Japan. All of these in some form or another had the titles: Christs, Saviors, Messiahs or Mediators between God and man. Many had a virgin birth and at least 16 suffered the same fate of crucifixion. The number one “Savior” that they claim “the Jesus myth was taken from” was Horus of Egypt, who predates Christ by approximately 2000 years. And they further claim that if you do a side-by-side comparison of the Horus Myth and the Christ Story -- they are exactly alike. A sect of Jewish individuals hijacked, reworked, and retooled the Horus Myth into the Christian religion and the case is simply closed.
Carl Jung, the great psychologist, and father of the New Age movement spent most of his time trying to figure out how his concept of a universal collective unconsciousness originated from. He pondered why were there archetypes found in all societies that were basically of the same design? All around the world, developed at a time prior to emails, faxes, Internet, and satellite communications. How could this have happened? Well, unfortunately, Mr. Jung didn’t pay attention to what Buddha said: “there are many paths to enlightenment.”
The 35 “Saviors” offered 35 different paths to attain some form of enlightenment that one might seek. (Why doesn’t The Da Vinci Code camp point out that there are 35 Buddhas as well? Buddha Shakyamuni gave the 35 Buddhas Sutra as the most effective and expedient method for purifying negativities and accumulating merit.)
Additionally, the Creator doesn’t always get things right. He/She may be omnipotent and ever-present, but cannot know how everything will turn out. The Creator must allow for free will and failure, i.e. in Genesis there are two Creations of men, Satan falling to hell, the failure in Eden, the Flood, Moses giving The Law, and the failure of men to live up to that Law.
Concerning Mary, she has made more than one appearance as well. If we have “35 Saviors we have 35 Savior Mothers.” Throughout the world, there is image after image that links Mary or some form of Mary to that area. And also look at the linkage of Isis to Mary.
So if we have Christ and Mary both having multiple lives and if you focus on their teachings they are basically the same. They are worded differently, presented differently, emphasized differently, in order to have topics for the population they were meant to serve and redeem. (Side note: Many have placed Buddha Shakyamuni into the Savior list, incorrectly, I might add. Buddha never claimed he was a God or asked for others to worship him as a God/Savior. He stated repeatedly that he was simply a man who had found a path.)
Were there signs and wonders on the birth of Mary and Jesus? Let’s take a look at the Infancy Gospel of James. The Gospel begins with Joachim, Mary’s earthly father, who found great love for God but had produced no child. Forbidden to make offerings at the temple he leaves for the wilderness to endure a battle of faith for “40 days and nights” struggling that he alone had not produced a child.
Anna, his wife, meanwhile, eludes possible magic spells (from Satan) to have a child, goes and sits under a tree, praying to God concerning her failure to produce a child. An angel appears and informs Anna she will have a child and that child will be loved around the world. Her husband returns, goes to the temple, and sees that God has forgiven all of his sins. Nine months pass and Mary, the Mother of Christ, is born.
Within six months, Mary is walking; from that point on, Mary’s mother makes sure that Mary never encounters anything impure. Later, when she is first taken to the temple, the High Priests identify her as a supreme individual and celebrate her birth. At the age of three, her parents take her back to the temple to be left there and instructed by the Priests. She performs a dance (how many children can do that at that age?) to the Lord. When her parent’s leave she shows no sign of unhappiness, angels appear to feed her and she is highly respected as a student.
At the age of 12, menarche happens, and the Priests make an effort to find her a husband. All single men of Israel no matter what their income, position, or age, are called to the temple. Joseph, being a widower, with sons, and advanced in age, responds. All the walking staffs of the men are collected, blessed, and returned to their respective owners. Joseph receives the last one, and from the tip of it a dove sprouts and remains sitting on it. Joseph is chosen to marry Mary, and takes her home leaving her to return to his work as a simple carpenter. (Side Note: No place is there any indication that Joseph, even though he came from an important bloodline, had social status, wealth, fame, nor was he in charge of many other carpenters as some claim.)
Mary continues to study on her own and one day returns to the temple where a heavenly messenger tells her that she is going to carry a child of the Lord’s, while she is working on a new lace curtain for the Holy of Holies. She is told that the Son will be named Jesus, which stands for “the Man who will help people be free from their sins.”
Two points here: A prophecy found in the Old Testament states: “The Savior’s name was to be Emmanuel which stands for man of the people.” Jesus was that man.
Some point out that Jesus’s only divinity is that we all choose our parents. I am not sure exactly where this ‘myth’ started, but it’s simply not true. The closest we come to choosing our parents is from our karmic debts that we carry, but we do not consciously choose our parents.
Mary then visits her friend Elizabeth who herself has been visited by an angel and told her child will be a great man who would become John the Baptist. The child prostrates in the womb to Mary.
Mary loses her memory of what God has told her about the child for her own safety.
Joseph returns, finds Mary pregnant, gets mad with her, then has a dream where an angel tells him of the special birth and accepts the fact. Then a Rabbi finds out about Mary’s pregnancy, claims both have sinned, and tests them but finds no record of a sin.
We now come to that fateful trip that leads to Jesus’s birth now much debate has taken place as to whether it was in a house, or a barn or a cave and what time of year did the birth take place? Both of these issues are deeply rooted in dogma, lore, and legend. Where and when He was born is not important, what is important is that He was born.
Now on that night Joseph leaves Mary to seek help as he does he notices that the world has stopped, not just the earth had stopped spinning, but birds in mid flight halted, people were frozen in place, stars were stationary, herds of sheep didn’t move or make noise, a goat’s head was in water but not drinking, clouds in the sky immobile. Then suddenly with a loud noise things returned to normal.
Joseph finds a midwife, returns with her to witness yet one more sign: the area of the birth is covered in complete darkness and then evaporates into a blinding white light.
Jesus performs his first miracle in the healing of the hands of a woman who questioned the virgin birth.
The next scene is when the Magi appear, though again, The Da Vinci camp points out if there was a great star, why didn’t King Herod and everybody else see it? And why didn’t everyone know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem? The Magi is defined as in the Oxford English dictionary: “A member of the ancient Persian priestly caste, said by ancient historians to have been originally a Median tribe, hence, in a wider sense one skilled in oriental magic and astrology, an ancient magician or ‘sorcerer.’” Their numbers vary from 3 to 14. They came from Iran guided by a star that “they” could see but others could not. They did not know if Jesus was just a great king, sage, or God, and was originally only going to give Him one gift if He was just one of those things. But after a few minutes they realized that He was truly a Son of God and thus gave the three gifts to Jesus. Some even say four. Jesus then performs his second miracle, which was a gift of a small box, which He produced out of thin air and tells them not to look inside until they arrive home. And the Wise Men depart. (When they returned to Iran they opened the box and saw it contained an eternal flame).
Sadly, I have not gone as far as I’d have liked in this matter. Next week I’ll cover more signs of Jesus being a Tulku, why the two nativity narratives are different, and Jesus in Egypt.
I now continue with the war Behind The Da Vinci Code. And focus on three topics:
1. Were Jesus and his Mother Mary Tulkus?
2. Did Jesus really have a virgin birth?
3. The story of the Nativity – True or False?
Tulku is an honorific title used in Tibetan Buddhism to identify children who, in their previous lives, have been great teachers and messengers of the dharma and have taken a vow to constantly return and teach. They are often identified later in life as Rinpoches, a term that means precious teacher.
When Tulkus are found one of the things that are looked for is if their birth took place amidst great signs and wonders such as triple rainbows, snowstorms in the summer, and other unusual events.
One of the pillars of The Da Vinci Code camp is that Jesus was just a man, or He didn’t really exist at all. They point out that from around the world and throughout history there have been at least 35 such stories of a Savior-like man. Examples: Krishna of Hindustan; Bool and Tout both were called “the only begotten of God” of Phoenicia; Indra of Tibet; Mohammed or Mahomet of Arabia; or Beddru of Japan. All of these in some form or another had the titles: Christs, Saviors, Messiahs or Mediators between God and man. Many had a virgin birth and at least 16 suffered the same fate of crucifixion. The number one “Savior” that they claim “the Jesus myth was taken from” was Horus of Egypt, who predates Christ by approximately 2000 years. And they further claim that if you do a side-by-side comparison of the Horus Myth and the Christ Story -- they are exactly alike. A sect of Jewish individuals hijacked, reworked, and retooled the Horus Myth into the Christian religion and the case is simply closed.
Carl Jung, the great psychologist, and father of the New Age movement spent most of his time trying to figure out how his concept of a universal collective unconsciousness originated from. He pondered why were there archetypes found in all societies that were basically of the same design? All around the world, developed at a time prior to emails, faxes, Internet, and satellite communications. How could this have happened? Well, unfortunately, Mr. Jung didn’t pay attention to what Buddha said: “there are many paths to enlightenment.”
The 35 “Saviors” offered 35 different paths to attain some form of enlightenment that one might seek. (Why doesn’t The Da Vinci Code camp point out that there are 35 Buddhas as well? Buddha Shakyamuni gave the 35 Buddhas Sutra as the most effective and expedient method for purifying negativities and accumulating merit.)
Additionally, the Creator doesn’t always get things right. He/She may be omnipotent and ever-present, but cannot know how everything will turn out. The Creator must allow for free will and failure, i.e. in Genesis there are two Creations of men, Satan falling to hell, the failure in Eden, the Flood, Moses giving The Law, and the failure of men to live up to that Law.
Concerning Mary, she has made more than one appearance as well. If we have “35 Saviors we have 35 Savior Mothers.” Throughout the world, there is image after image that links Mary or some form of Mary to that area. And also look at the linkage of Isis to Mary.
So if we have Christ and Mary both having multiple lives and if you focus on their teachings they are basically the same. They are worded differently, presented differently, emphasized differently, in order to have topics for the population they were meant to serve and redeem. (Side note: Many have placed Buddha Shakyamuni into the Savior list, incorrectly, I might add. Buddha never claimed he was a God or asked for others to worship him as a God/Savior. He stated repeatedly that he was simply a man who had found a path.)
Were there signs and wonders on the birth of Mary and Jesus? Let’s take a look at the Infancy Gospel of James. The Gospel begins with Joachim, Mary’s earthly father, who found great love for God but had produced no child. Forbidden to make offerings at the temple he leaves for the wilderness to endure a battle of faith for “40 days and nights” struggling that he alone had not produced a child.
Anna, his wife, meanwhile, eludes possible magic spells (from Satan) to have a child, goes and sits under a tree, praying to God concerning her failure to produce a child. An angel appears and informs Anna she will have a child and that child will be loved around the world. Her husband returns, goes to the temple, and sees that God has forgiven all of his sins. Nine months pass and Mary, the Mother of Christ, is born.
Within six months, Mary is walking; from that point on, Mary’s mother makes sure that Mary never encounters anything impure. Later, when she is first taken to the temple, the High Priests identify her as a supreme individual and celebrate her birth. At the age of three, her parents take her back to the temple to be left there and instructed by the Priests. She performs a dance (how many children can do that at that age?) to the Lord. When her parent’s leave she shows no sign of unhappiness, angels appear to feed her and she is highly respected as a student.
At the age of 12, menarche happens, and the Priests make an effort to find her a husband. All single men of Israel no matter what their income, position, or age, are called to the temple. Joseph, being a widower, with sons, and advanced in age, responds. All the walking staffs of the men are collected, blessed, and returned to their respective owners. Joseph receives the last one, and from the tip of it a dove sprouts and remains sitting on it. Joseph is chosen to marry Mary, and takes her home leaving her to return to his work as a simple carpenter. (Side Note: No place is there any indication that Joseph, even though he came from an important bloodline, had social status, wealth, fame, nor was he in charge of many other carpenters as some claim.)
Mary continues to study on her own and one day returns to the temple where a heavenly messenger tells her that she is going to carry a child of the Lord’s, while she is working on a new lace curtain for the Holy of Holies. She is told that the Son will be named Jesus, which stands for “the Man who will help people be free from their sins.”
Two points here: A prophecy found in the Old Testament states: “The Savior’s name was to be Emmanuel which stands for man of the people.” Jesus was that man.
Some point out that Jesus’s only divinity is that we all choose our parents. I am not sure exactly where this ‘myth’ started, but it’s simply not true. The closest we come to choosing our parents is from our karmic debts that we carry, but we do not consciously choose our parents.
Mary then visits her friend Elizabeth who herself has been visited by an angel and told her child will be a great man who would become John the Baptist. The child prostrates in the womb to Mary.
Mary loses her memory of what God has told her about the child for her own safety.
Joseph returns, finds Mary pregnant, gets mad with her, then has a dream where an angel tells him of the special birth and accepts the fact. Then a Rabbi finds out about Mary’s pregnancy, claims both have sinned, and tests them but finds no record of a sin.
We now come to that fateful trip that leads to Jesus’s birth now much debate has taken place as to whether it was in a house, or a barn or a cave and what time of year did the birth take place? Both of these issues are deeply rooted in dogma, lore, and legend. Where and when He was born is not important, what is important is that He was born.
Now on that night Joseph leaves Mary to seek help as he does he notices that the world has stopped, not just the earth had stopped spinning, but birds in mid flight halted, people were frozen in place, stars were stationary, herds of sheep didn’t move or make noise, a goat’s head was in water but not drinking, clouds in the sky immobile. Then suddenly with a loud noise things returned to normal.
Joseph finds a midwife, returns with her to witness yet one more sign: the area of the birth is covered in complete darkness and then evaporates into a blinding white light.
Jesus performs his first miracle in the healing of the hands of a woman who questioned the virgin birth.
The next scene is when the Magi appear, though again, The Da Vinci camp points out if there was a great star, why didn’t King Herod and everybody else see it? And why didn’t everyone know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem? The Magi is defined as in the Oxford English dictionary: “A member of the ancient Persian priestly caste, said by ancient historians to have been originally a Median tribe, hence, in a wider sense one skilled in oriental magic and astrology, an ancient magician or ‘sorcerer.’” Their numbers vary from 3 to 14. They came from Iran guided by a star that “they” could see but others could not. They did not know if Jesus was just a great king, sage, or God, and was originally only going to give Him one gift if He was just one of those things. But after a few minutes they realized that He was truly a Son of God and thus gave the three gifts to Jesus. Some even say four. Jesus then performs his second miracle, which was a gift of a small box, which He produced out of thin air and tells them not to look inside until they arrive home. And the Wise Men depart. (When they returned to Iran they opened the box and saw it contained an eternal flame).
Sadly, I have not gone as far as I’d have liked in this matter. Next week I’ll cover more signs of Jesus being a Tulku, why the two nativity narratives are different, and Jesus in Egypt.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
