Hey Heresy aint always so bad...

[renots]

[Edited by renots on 07-03-2001 at 03:58 PM]

[renots]

[Edited by renots on 07-03-2001 at 04:01 PM]

[renots]

[Edited by renots on 07-03-2001 at 04:01 PM]

[renots]

[Edited by renots on 07-03-2001 at 04:01 PM]

[renots]

[Edited by renots on 07-03-2001 at 04:00 PM]

[pennypinch]

Originally posted by renots
NOTE:found stapled to my front door.

It also brings joy to realize we can kill our slaves without fear of punishment, provided we don't give them the unmerited mercy of a quick death.

According to Exodus 21:20: "When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. But if the slave survives a day or two, he shall not be punished: for the slave is his money."

How happy it must make the Lord to see us clobber an uppity slave a good one, leaving the subhuman creature to die slowly in agony!


THAT is some funny, funny stuff...

[Nanotech9]

and what (per)version of the bible was that anyways? didn't sound like anything I've read out of the KJV (not the NKJV) before... anyways, those were servants. BIG difference between that and slaves. In fact, every 7 years, indentured servants were to be set free from all debt.

[renots]

[Edited by renots on 07-03-2001 at 04:01 PM]

[Timotheus]

yeah, right up there with "Thou shalt not commit murder", and "thou shalt not commit adultery" whew, let's hope those never come back into vogue, eh? (note intense sarcasm!)

[MD2B]

Originally posted by Timotheus
yeah, right up there with "Thou shalt not commit murder", and "thou shalt not commit adultery" whew, let's hope those never come back into vogue, eh? (note intense sarcasm!)

;) <><

[jujubees]

Originally posted by Timotheus
yeah, right up there with "Thou shalt not commit murder", and "thou shalt not commit adultery" whew, let's hope those never come back into vogue, eh? (note intense sarcasm!)

"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife."

All the blame's on the man. Is anything said about coveting another woman's husband? And if not, does this mean that women are off the hook, since men are COMPLETELY to blame, for their base sexual desires? heh. heh. heh.

:D

[Paladin]

Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing I thing It's time for you to rest a bit. :P

[DeepTrout]

By Manly P Hall

from Reincarnation (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/089314519X/102-8786260-4093714)

The first centuries of the Christian church were devoted largely to the problem of what constituted orthodoxy. Most of the early bishops were pagans by birth and education, and were Christianized only by later conversion. These men brought with them much of their early training and beleif, interpreting the new faiths in terms of the old. More than one remained a pagan in his private life as did Synesius, Bishop of Ptolemaeus, who acknowledged that he was a Christian only in his public capacity.

When Christian bishops visited Alexandria it was customary for them to hold two services, one in their own church and the other at the shrine of Serapis. It was not until considerably later that Christians made the momentous discovery that theirs was the only true religion.

Most of the educated pagans who were drawn to the church during the first four centuries of the Christian Era beleived in some form of metempsychosis and were convinced that they had lived on this earth before. It is small wonder then that the doctrine of rebirth took on Christian manners and enjoyed a general approval.

It was only after the Church had ascended to the first place among the religions of Europe that the reincarnationists were weeded out and branded as heretics. It dawned upon the elders that the teaching of reincarnation was diametrically opposed to such Christian institutions as vicarious atonement, forgiveness of sin, heaven and hell, and baptism. If man could work out his own salvation without the benefit of clergy the Church would be relegated to limbo. The doctrines of Origen were hotly disputed, and gradually teh concept of metempsychosis was forgotten. During more than a thousand years the fact of rebirth is becoming more widely accepted, and ultimately the recognition of the spirit's repeated embodiments will become the foundation of all intelligent spiritual effort.

There is no mightier name in the history of the early Church than that of St Augustine. In early life he belonged to the cult of the Heresiarch Manes, where he was instructed in the doctrine of the plurality of lives. Later he was converted to Christianity, became bishop of Hippo, and after death was canonized, becoming a "prince of the Church triumphant."

In his Confessions 1:6 St Augustine asks: "Did I not live in another body, or somewhere else, before entering my mother's womb?"

St. Jerome assisted in the preparationof the Vulgate and was a man of most sanctified and scholarly life. This worthy churchman declared that the doctrine of transmigration was taught as an esoteric mystery in the early Church, being communicated only to a few specially selected members of the congregation.

According to Ruffinus, a letter existed written by St Anastasius in which he definitely states his belief in pre~existance, and intimates an accptance of reincarnation.

Nemesius, bishop of Emissa, states in no uncertain terms that the Greek Christians of his time accepted metempsychosis. Clement of Alexandria declared that reincarnation was a truth transmitted by tradition and authorized by St Paul himself.

St Justin the Martyr explicitly states that the soul of man occupies a human body on more than one occasion. He acknowledged the difficulty that men could not remember their previous lives, but went so far as to hazard the opinion that the worst sinners might, after death, have their souls mysteriously attached to the bodies of wild animals.

St Gregory of Nyassa also expressed himself on the matter of reincarnation: "It is absolutely necessary that the soul should be healed and purified, and if this does not take place during its life on earth, it must be accomplished in future lives." This might hint of life in some other state, but considering the opinions of his time, more likely infers metempsychosis.

In a prayer which has survived, Synesius says: "Father, grant that my soul may merge into the light, and be no more thrust back into the illusion of earth." In a thesis on dreams quoted by Thomas Taylor, Synesius adds: "It is possible by labor and time, and a transition into other lives, for the imaginative soul, to emerge from this dark abode."
In Contra Celsum, the great Chritian father Origen writes: "Is it not more in conformity with reason that every soul for certain mysterious reasons (I speak now according to the opinion of Pythagoras and Plato and Empedocles, whom Celsius frequently names) is introduced into a body, and introduced according to its deserts and former actions?"

In the Wheel of Life, the Reverend A. Henderson, Vicar of St John de Sepulchre writes of reincarnation in the early initiation into the Mysteries. This memory is preserved ib church: "A further objection which exists in the minds of many is based on the supposed condemnation of the doctrine by the the Church in the Fifth General Council of Constantinople. A careful consideration of the historical situation makes it abundantly clear that the question of Reincarnation was not even raised at the Council; and that condemnation of certain extreme tenets of the Origenist was an act of Mennas, Patriarch of Constantinople in the provincial synod. In this he was instigated by the Emperor Justinian who ordered him to procure the subscription of the bishop to the anathema. This local synod was held in 543 A.D. while the General Council did not meet until ten years later. It is easy to understand, however, how this extra-councilar sentence of Mennas was, at a later period, mistaken for a decree.

Justinian had closed the classical academies in Athens and Rome, and had sent the philosophers into exile. Goaded on by enemies of the Origenist teachings, Justinian condemned Origen by an imperial edict which later was confirmed by Pope Vigilius.

Lutoslawski writes: "This condemnation refers only to a very peculiar form of the Doctrine of pre-existance, implying the fall of perfect spirits who had already reached heaven...Such a radical extension of palingenesis deserves condemnation, but leaves untouched the real old tradition, according to which reincarnation corresponded to the Christian concept of purgatory."

It appears on the basis of expert testimony that the actual doctrine of reincarnation as the proper means of accomplishing unity with God has never been anathematized or declared heretical by the Christian church. It is astonishing, therefore, that the doctrine of reincarnation is the most important and significant teaching which the churches of Christendom could disseminate today.

The mysterious apocryphal book called Pistis Sophia, a writing rich with the tradition of the gnosis and claiming to set forth the esoteric teachings of Jesus as communicated to Mary of Magdala, supports the belief in reincarnation with the following statement: "But if he shall have sinned once, twice, or thrice, they shall reject that soul sending it back again into the world according to the form of the sin that it may have committed."

After the Synod of Constantinople the doctrine of reincarnation departed from Europe, and its absence contributed much to the misery and desolation of the Dark Ages. Like many other philosophical traditions it was carried away to the deserts of Arabia where it flourished with the rising power of the Saracens, to return to Europe with the homecoming Crusaders. Reincarnation has always been a philosophical doctrine, and as philosophy languished in the West the doctrine of metempsychosis languished with it.

There were occasional exceptions, however. "It may interest you to know that some of the advocates of reincarnation in the Roman Catholic Church during the middle ages were: St Francis of Assisi(1182-1226) who founded the Franciscan Order; the learned Irish monk Johannes Scotus Erigena; St Bonaventura (1221-1274) Cardinal and general of the Franciscan Order - the 'Seraphic Doctor'; Thomas Campanella, the Dominican monk who was sent into exile on account of his belief in the successive return of the soul to earth. M d'Orient, an orthodox Catholic writes (Destinees de l'Ame): 'In this doctrine, so evidently based on reason, everything is linked and held together...for all that was needed in order to bring to pass these various results, was for God to call back into existance certain souls He knew to be naturally suited for His purpose. Consequently, the most sublime mysteries of religion, the most wonderful facts regarding the destiny of the soul find their natural explanation in a clear understanding of metempsychosis.'"

Among the heretical sects of Christendom which believed in the doctrine of reincarnation were the Manichaeans, Priscillianists, and the Albigenses. The Manichaeans combined Gnosticism, Persian dualism, and Christian monotheism. Reincarnation was a prominent tenet of the sect. Manichaeanism excercised a profound influence throughout the Near East until it was dissolved by the pressure of Christian orthodoxy.

The Priscillianists were followers of Pricillian, a Spanish bishop of the fourth century. The members of the group combined Gnostic and Manichaean philosophy with their orthodox beliefs, with the result that Pricillian was condemned for heresy by the Roman Emperor Maximus and executed in 385 A.D. Remnants of the sect remained, however, until the sixth century. The Priscillianists accepted pre-existance and speculated on the subject of metempsychosis. For these and similiar beliefs they were destroyed.

The Albigenses, who flourished in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, brought down upon themselves not only the wrath of the Church but the strong hand of the Inquisition. Among the beliefs for which they were tortured and killed was the dcotrine of rebirth.

The Albigenses, who flourished in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, brought down upon themselves not only the wrath of the Church but the strong hand of the Inquisition. Among the beliefs for which they were tortured and killed was the doctrine of rebirth.

Heretical sects sprang up as long as the temporal power of the Christian Church remained undisputed. Various councils and synods dealt severely with these schisms but could not prevent the spread of unorthodox mysticism. Unfortunately, the Protestant Reformation did not result in Christian liberalism. The reformers were puritanical themselves and achieved a measure of orthodoxy equal if not greater than that of the church they condemned.

It may be interesting to note a curious tendency in the early church to regard certain Greek philosophers as Christian although they had died before the birth of Christ> Plato, Socrates, and Pythagoras enjoyed considerable dignity in the early church. A tradition was circulated that Pythagoras was a monk. Even skeptical old Socrates was embellished with holy orders. And a rumor persists that Gautama Buddha was canonized under the name St Jehosaphat. These circumstances may have inspired Voltaire when he declared that Plato should be regarded as the first canonized saint in the Christian Church. There is reason to believe that the pagan mathematician, Hypatia, the greatest of women philosophers and the teacher of Synesius, was canonized under the name of St Catharine of Alexandria.

The early fathers knew that the Christian faith was deeply rooted in pagan doctrine and tradition. Christendom is very similar to classic paganism, with the difference that the doctrine of original sin has been substituted in the place of reincarnation and karma.

~~~

Some ideas just never die