Sunday, April 24, 2011

Resurrection?

Paul says in 1 Corinthians:
       "For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for your sins in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures...." 15:3-4.

He then cites the witnesses to the resurrection. Then he says:

"And if Christ has not been raised, then empty too is our preaching; empty, too, your faith." 15:14.

Paul makes this issue the key one and challenges us to either have faith in not only Yeshua's resurrection, but also in the future resurrection of all people or to reject his teaching.

However, it is right to discuss what kind of resurrection Paul is talking about. Today, we are use to reviving people whose hearts have stopped and restoring them to life. So the idea of reviving the dead is not so miraculous or awe-inspiring as it was in the first century of the common era. Paul says that the body is "sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body." 1 Cor. 15:44. Paul says unequivocably that we shall all be changed. 1 Cor. 15:52.

The resurrection therefore is not a physical, but a spiritual, resurrection for Paul. He denies that there will be a physical resurrection as the Prophet Job says: "And in my flesh I shall see G-d;..." Job 19:26. So what kind of resurrection did Yeshua have?

There are three possibilities: first, he could have been revived. We have all heard about the conspiracy to falsify his death with drugs that even today would still the heart to the point that he would seem dead. Counter drugs could be used to restart his body along with chest massage. Matthew addresses this issue when it says that the Sanhedrin ordered the guards to say that his disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep. Matt. 28:13. Matthew could be the one falsifying the event or the Sanhedrin, but there is other evidence for the claim that Yeshua was revived. Suzanne Olsson in her book Jesus in Kashmir argues that he went to India after his rising. The Ainu have a strong tradition of Yeshua having come to Japan after the resurrection. In both of these cases, Yeshua was flesh and blood and died again. He was not taken up in the clouds as Luke claims. Acts 1:9.

Second, Yeshua could have risen in a spiritual body. While we do not know a lot about spiritual bodies, angels and elementals have spiritual bodies. John and Paul make this argument. I have just set forth the Pauline argument. John says: "Jesus said to her (Mary Magdalene), 'Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.'" John 20:17.The nature of a spiritual body is such that it can eat just as Luke argues Yeshua did, it is more than capable of walking through doors and walls, and can disappear as Yeshua did on the road to Emmaus.

Third, Yeshua did not rise at all. This position is supported by archaeological evidence, the Muslims, and those who do not believe in the resurrection. Archaeological evidence exists that there is a family tomb in Talpiot, Israel which contains sarcophagi that belonged to a family with many of the family names of Yeshua's relatives and of Yeshua himself. There is additional evidence that indicates that one of the sarcophagi, now in the custody of the Israel Antiquities Authority, was stolen before it was transferred into their care. That sarcaphogus is the one belonging to Ya'akov ha Tzaddik, James the Just. The patina in the engraved name matches that of the engravings in the tomb. Under this theory Yeshua died a death, whether natural or otherwise, and was buried and not resurrected.

The Muslim position is that it was not Yeshua who was crucified, but rather someone that looked like him. We know that there was someone who looked like Yeshua and that was Yehudah, his brother, called Thomas or the twin. Yeshua could have exchanged places with his brother and lived on. We know that Thomas was the most important of the Apostles in that he established the churches in Adiabene, Armenia, Chaldea, Persia, Afghanistan, and India. It is not beyond belief that Yeshua merely assumed his brother's name and continued on this ministry in exile.

Lastly, there are many scholars who claim that the whole story is a myth. There is no evidence except in the Bible, which is self-serving, to show that Yeshua ever existed. Josephus acknowledges the existence of James, but not Jesus. None of the other historians of the period acknowledge Jesus.

The Nasoreans have no opinion as a body on this subject. We believe that Yeshua suffered on the cross, that he bled, and that his blood was sufficient to change the covenant with G-d that every Jew takes at circumcision so that the bloody sacrifice was ended. We believe that this was the purpose of his suffering and that it caused the more universal sacrifice of bread and wine as offered by Melchizedek to be restored. Whether he died or not is irrelevant. All the theology that Paul puts forth is irrelevant as he is irrelevant.

One thing for sure. Paul as the earliest person to argue for the resurrection of Yeshua would not be allowed to testify as he had no personal knowledge of the event. Luke, his secretary, likewise was not present at any of the events and is not a credible witness. The traditions of Mark are based upon the simple statement made by the angel that Yeshua had been raised without any explanation as to the form of his resurrection which could be either one or two. Matthew's school follows Mark but elaborates. The Hebrew Matthew makes clear that the angel said that Yeshua had arisen and then they meet a spiritual person whom they recognize as Yeshua, but some of the disciples do not recognize him in Galilee. Matthew 28:17. Matthews position is in favor of a spiritual resurrection.

Two other sources must be considered, that of John and that of the Didache. John argues for a spiritual resurrection as well. Not even Mary Magdalene knew who he was. John 20:14. The spiritual body is not the same as the physical body and is changed. All the Johannine witnesses speak of seeing someone who did not look like Yeshua. The author of the Didache, Shimon ha Tzaddik, the brother of Yeshua, seems not to have known about the resurrection either as he does not mention it.

The only credible traditions, that is, apostolic traditions, therefore, support the idea of a spiritual resurrection. None support the physical resurrection of Yeshua. Therefore, we can assume that Jesus was not resurrected as is argued by the Job, in such a way that he would see G-d in his flesh. The so-called miracle of the Resurrection of Yeshua is insufficient for rational people to believe in the story of Yeshua. Like the disciples, we must recognize Yeshua in the breaking of the bread, in our personal experiences, in our personal presence at the cross. Any other form of belief is faulty and based upon supposition and lie.

I believe that Yeshua was executed, was taken down from the cross and laid in the tomb for a rest. I believe that the intent was to revive him some 38 hours later. I believe that the purchase of the materials necessary to revive him was accomplished before dawn. See Mark 16:1. I believe that they failed to revive him, but that his spiritual body appeared to them and stayed with them for fifty days and then disappeared. There were no witnesses that could say to a court of law, "I have seen his body." In fact, the most that they could say was I saw someone that did not look like him which I became convinced was him and believed that he was risen. I have encountered this resurrected Christ and I know Him and declare Him real, but I cannot prove him and cannot witness past my own experience.

You are left with Paul's conundrum. If Jesus was not resurrected, then your faith is false.

Monday, April 18, 2011

A Covenant With All of Us

Deuteronomy 5:1-5 says: "Moses called all Israel, and said to them, 'Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the judgments which I speak in your ears today, learn them, and be careful to do them. YHVH, our G-d, cut with us a covenant at Horeb. Not with our fathers did YHVH cut this covenant, but with us, even us present here today, all of us alive. Face to face YHVH spoke with you on the mount in the midst of the fire. I stood between YHVH and you at that time, to declare to you the word of YHVH, because your were afraid from the fire of his face and did not go up the mountain."

These words form the basic theology of Israel. It is important that we make a differentiation between the descendants of Ya'akov and Israel. Only those who were present at the giving of the Torah are Israel, not those others who reject the Torah and follow their own way. Moses says that the covenant was made not with our fathers alone, but with all of us who were alive. What is meant by those words is that our souls were alive and present at the mountain. Not just our fathers were present, but every one who would ever be born and be called Israel was present at the mountain. This shocking revelation explains a difficult concept. The Jewish people have fluctuated between several million and twenty two million over the last 3,000 years. When our numbers get up, and there are no more souls to put into those who are Israel, then some of the Jews must die so that Israel might increase. There is a finite number of souls of Israel set in stone and all Israel will be saved. 

The Torah is only binding on Israel. It is not binding on those not of Israel. The reason why it is not binding is two fold: first, YHVH is our G-d and not the G-d of other nations. Each nation has its own G-d and our nation has the greatest of the Sons of the G-d El and his name is YHVH. See Deuteronomy 32:8-9 in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Israel is dispersed among the nations. There are always some of Israel who are not members of the Jewish faith, but have the blood of Israel and are destined to be saved. G-d made a covenant with the people who were at Horeb for all of eternity and that covenant was made in blood, the blood of circumcision. Only those who take upon themselves the cutting and agree to "hear" the covenant are Israel. 

This great theological statement is made clear in the discussion of the four questions during the Passover Haggadah. Only when we join in the obedience to the covenant are we part of Israel. Those who say why do you do things are putting themselves outside of Israel. Those who ask why we do things are claiming the Torah for themselves and making themselves Israel. 

Much of the so-called Jewish people today are apostates. The central heresy is the idea that sacrifice has ended. We, Nasoreans, agree with the teachings in Clement's Recognitions; the bloody sacrifice was never meant to be the sacrifice of Israel and was only given by Moses until the coming of the one like him who would change the Torah. That person was Yeshua ha Meshiach. He adopted the sacrifice of Melchizedek and restored the sacrifice of bread and wine. The apostate Jews still worry about mixing milk and meat because they are centered on the blood of animals. They pervert the words of Torah which forbids the boiling of a kid in its mother's milk into this fantastical set of laws on eating dairy with meat. There is no such concern when one does not have the bloody sacrifice abolished by Yeshua on the cross. 

The covenant with  YHVH forbids us to add to or take away from the Torah. The great danger in interpreting  either prophecy or scripture is that we will vary from the words and try to make meaning where no meaning exists. The least variation possible is the best variation. 

On this feast of Passover, it is time for the false lies of the Rabbinicals to be passed over and the truth of Nasoreanism to be adopted. Let the Archangel of the Presence, Yeshua ha Meshiach, who is YHVH himself, change your lives and become true Israelites today. 

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Expenditures for Medical Care By the Government Is A Mistake

The world's population passed the one billion mark around 1750. Due to medical advances the population grew another one billion by 1950. It grew to six billion by 2000. By 2050, it will grow to ten billion. The world can only comfortably support ten billion people. However, medical advances increase life spans yearly and in the United States the average life span is 78 years. At the rate that we are going, we may reach the ten billion mark long before 2050. 

In the past, there were several natural ways to control population growth: famine, disease, and war. In an industrial society, homosexuality is a way to thin the gene pool and control population growth. However, due to the decrease in the numbers of people who die from famine, disease, and war, the population will continue to grow exponentially. 

Medicare and expenditures on medical research are funds which could be used to benefit mankind but instead are funds which are being used to maintain substandard genes in the gene pool. The cost of the sick is destroying the viability of our country. The money being used to fund medicare for the poor and medical research for the rich could be used to get people to the Moon, Mars, Mercury, the Jovian Moons, the Saturnian Moons, and the Uranian Moons. The scientific research could then be focussed on maintaining not only the survival of our species, but the improvement of the gene pool. 

Medicare expenditures are funded from the general fund and from medicare taxes. If the taxes were not taken from wages to pay for medicare, the poor would not live so long because they would not have the medical care to maintain themselves excessively. Diabetes, heart conditions, and cancer would go untreated and the number of mouths would decrease. The taxes could be used then to support space programs which would guarantee the success not only of our nation in space, but also guarantee the success of our species. 

Evolutionary theory presupposes that those with medical problems not only will die, but must die. The artificial methods we are using to keep alive the weak and sick are destructive to the species and to the world we live on. Lest someone think I am looking out for myself instead of others, let me say that I have not been able to afford medical insurance for the past 26 years and I have cancer and very high blood pressure. I can no longer afford diets as the cost of food has risen so high and I can not afford the almost $1,500 a year a doctor's diet costs.I have no thyroid.  I will probably rid the world of my useless mouth some time this year; in fact, I came close on Friday and Saturday when my blood pressure hit 174/97. I am speaking about my mother who at 87 eats up a disproportionately large amount of medical services paid for by the Veteran's Administration. I am speaking of my three sons who have serious kidney problems. Our lives are detrimental to the gene pool and they take excessive food from others. 

I am not saying that rich people cannot voluntarily give to medical research, but I am saying that they should not get a tax deduction for doing so. I am not saying that drug companies should not peddle their wares, but they will not do the medical research because the money well will dry up when medicare is not paying for their expensive drugs. I am saying that one hundred billion per year will make the United States the only space power and will guarantee that we will control the Moon, Mars, Mercury, etc. I am saying that we will be doing the work of evolution and nature by guaranteeing the continuance of the human species. 

I am betting that my point of view will be a distinct minority. Human beings think about their own self-interest first. Self-interest is part of the evolutionary plan as well. Humans will continue to pay out large amounts of money to save their loved ones, to guarantee that some genetic abnormality in their own genes will continue, to guarantee that their bleeding hearts will feel better when they concern themselves about people who cannot feed themselves a half a planet away, and to guarantee that the new, expensive drugs keep coming for fear that they may need them someday. Such a way is folly. Such a way is destruction not only of the species, but of the planet we live on. 

Many will say, Rabbi, this does not sound very loving, very religious, but Yeshua said that the poor would be with us always. Those he healed were among the 38% that the placibo effect will heal. He had no solutions for a population growth rate unhindered by serious warfare, disease, and famine. Yeshua taught us to trust in G-d and I have trusted in him for healing. I trust that G-d will take me when my time comes. I do not believe in artificially prolonging life when my death might allow the species to continue. I am concerned that we cannot move more than a few hundred thousands to the Moon, Mars, Mercury, etc. I am concerned that the population is growing at the rate of 75 million per year. When Yeshua was here, there were only 100 million on the planet and plenty of places to go if you wanted a different or better life. That is no longer possible. Now is the time when we must voluntarily decide not to keep everyone alive indefinitely. Now is the time when we must cull the genetic pool of those with genetic predispositions to serious illness, which drains our economy and redirects research away from useful areas. Now is the time to allow nature and G-d to do their work. 

Consider Kansas City. There are 25,000 people with no homes here. There are 50,000 who depend on handouts to eat. There are thousands who get medical care weekly. Think of the resources that they are taking from society. Think about the way those resources could be expended for the growth of the human species, that is, all of us. We could raise two hundred million dollars a year just from Kansas City for space research and the establishment of colonies off-planet. 

This is the time of year when we remember not only the Exodus from Egypt, but the death of a martyr. It is time when we remember freedom, even though the freedom the Jews got from leaving Egypt would not be remembered as good for at least another fifty years. The martyr told us to die for others. The Exodus taught us to make difficult, life-changing, and dangerous choices so that the future could be better. Now is the time for us to do these things. We must stop helping other countries to have more children. We must stop keeping alive those who will die without aiding society in any way. We must stop directing funds to medical research and start looking out for the future of our species. We must let people like me die. I should willing accept my fate and so should you. 

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Revolution in the Near East

Democracy cannot be imported to a country just because the people want to rule their own affairs. The United States was able to be democratic only because the British had a tradition of democracy. It was that tradition of democracy that allowed Freemasonry to exist in Britain. It was that tradition of democracy that allowed colonial parliaments in the United States. One cannot import American or other democratic systems to countries which have no democratic institutions.

The United States is unique among the world in that it has a functioning, although much weakened, Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights protects the minority from the tyranny of the majority. The idea of tolerance inherent in the Bill of Rights is unique to the United States and has spread to many other democratic countries where it has more or less functional importance. 

Tolerance is not a Muslim concept. When one replaces a Hussein or a Qaddafi, what are we supporting instead. Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, and Syria have no tradition of tolerance. The NATO no fly zone is suppose to protect civilians and yet civilians on both sides of the conflict are being harmed and it is hard to claim that there are civilians in Libya today. By giving the Egyptian majority control, who is going to protect the Coptic minority? Who is going to protect the Alawite minority in Syria? Who is going to protect the Sunni minority in Bahrain? Who is going to protect the Hashemi minority in Jordan? Iraq is close to being a failed state and its failure center on the Shia majority's unwillingness to protect the rights and liberties of Kurds and Sunnis in Iraq. 

The United States should stay out of the way while these events occur. It is not clear that the changes which are occurring is good for America or Israel. I support the removal of Qaddafi only if he is replaced by a body committed to tolerance, to secularization of institutions, and to protecting the supporters of Qaddafi from war crimes like the one which happened in Benghazi yesterday. I do not support removing the Khalifi regime in Bahrain. I do not support the removing of the Hashemite King in Jordan and replacing him with Palestinian interlopers. I do not support removing Bashar if there is no institution left to protect the Alawites, which he does now. The proposed democratic movements are tyrannical and incompatible with the beliefs of a modern civilized society. Just as Turkey, which came so far under the secular rule of the military, is now on the verge of becoming a Islamic state and losing every connection with Europe, so we see what has happened in Lebanon and Gaza. 

A curse on democracy without a Bill of Rights.