Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics.

I was looking around for uptake stats on other religions and found this....

Major Religions Ranked By Size

It seems to be the same place that most groups get their figures from. Which is interesting when you analyse who they say are 'Christian'

For statistical purposes: Groups which self-identify as part of Christianity include (but are not limited to): African Independent Churches (AICs), the Aglipayan Church, Amish, Anglicans, Armenian Apostolic, Assemblies of God; Baptists, Calvary Chapel, Catholics, Christadelphians, Christian Science, the Community of Christ, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ("Mormons"), Coptic Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches, Ethiopian Orthodox, Evangelicals, Iglesia ni Cristo, Jehovah's Witnesses, the Local Church, Lutherans, Methodists, Monophysites, Nestorians, the New Apostolic Church, Pentecostals, Plymouth Brethren, Presbyterians, the Salvation Army, Seventh-Day Adventists, Shakers, Stone-Campbell churches (Disciples of Christ; Churches of Christ; the "Christian Church and Churches of Christ"; the International Church of Christ); Uniate churches, United Church of Christ/Congregationalists, the Unity Church, Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, Vineyard churches and others. These groups exhibit varying degrees of similarity, cooporation, communion, etc. with other groups. None are known to consider all other Christian sub-groups to be equally valid. David Barrett, an Evangelical Christian who is the compiler of religion statistics for the Encyclopaedia Britannica and the World Christian Encyclopaedia, includes all of the groups listed above in the worldwide statistics for Christianity.

Erm... Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormon pass muster as Christians for statistical purposes? How? Based on the commonality, they may as well include Hindu and Islam in there since both venerate Christ (some Hindus believe he is another Avatar of Vishnu, and so you will often find icons on Indian shrines, along with Sikh gurus and Pitman) Quakers used to be Christian , but are now wholly negotiable. Christian Scientists are a strange inclusion, since they are also not adherents to 'minimal requirment' Christianity, as espoused by the more 'Orthodox'...

Islam wouldn't wholly claim Sufi as Islamic (they do their damnedest to wipe it out...either by passing laws or just straight recourse to mass graves) and a lot of Sufis claim what is Islam isn't Islam at all, but a Heresy on the words of the Prophet (BBHN).

Based on veneration, Christianity could be ascribed as a branch of Hindu thought (the Trinity making it a pseudo polytheist religion, more akin to Hindu or Sikh than Hebrew or Islam, both of which regard the Trinity as paganism)

Based on the 'self identity clause, a lot of New Age sects are 'Christian'.


So... why use bad stats to prove a point? Even taking out the apostates, heretics and Godless Armenians, it's impressive, but even then there is so much Schism that I'm sure that each sect would burn the others without a thought... Not that Islam is better, just more up front.

Objects of Meditation #1 - Rabindranath Tagore

This is the first of an occasional series of writers who have affected the way I view the universe at large.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)

Greatest writer in modern Indian literature, Bengali poet, novelist, educator, and an early advocate of Independence for India. Tagore won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. Two years later he was awarded the knighthood, but he surrendered it in 1919 as a protest against the Massacre of Amritsar, where British troops killed some 400 Indian demonstrators. Tagore's influence over Gandhi and the founders of modern India was enormous, but his reputation in the West as a mystic has perhaps mislead his Western readers to ignore his role as a reformer and critic of colonialism.

"When one knows thee, then alien there is none, then no door is shut. Oh, grant me my prayer that I may never lose touch of the one in the play of the many." (from Gitanjali)

Much of Tagore's ideology come from the teaching of the Upanishads and from his own beliefs that God can be found through personal purity and service to others. He stressed the need for new world order based on transnational values and ideas, the "unity consciousness." "The soil, in return for her service, keeps the tree tied to her; the sky asks nothing and leaves it free." Politically active in India, Tagore was a supporter of Gandhi, but warned of the dangers of nationalistic thought. Unable to gain ideological support to his views, he retired into relative solitude. Between the years 1916 and 1934 he travelled widely. From his journey to Japan in 1916 he produced articles and books. In 1927 he toured in South-east Asia. Letters from Java, which first was serialized in Vichitra, was issued as a book, JATRI, in 1929. His Majesty, Riza Shah Pahlavi, invited Tagore to Iran in 1932. On his journeys and lecture tours Tagore attempted to spread the ideal of uniting East and West. While in Japan he wrote: "The Japanese do not waste their energy in useless screaming and quarrelling, and because there is no waste of energy it is not found wanting when required. This calmness and fortitude of body and mind is part of their national self-realization."

Tagore wrote his most important works in Bengali, but he often translated his poems into English. At the age of 70 Tagore took up painting. He was also a composer, settings hundreds of poems to music. Many of his poems are actually songs, and inseparable from their music. Tagore's 'Our Golden Bengal' became the national anthem of Bangladesh. Only hours before he died on August 7, in 1941, Tagore dictated his last poem. His written production, still not completely collected, fills nearly 30 substantial volumes. Tagore remained a well-known and popular author in the West until the end of the 1920s, but nowadays he is not so much read [outside India. In India he occupies a niche similar to Neruda in Latin America].

I encountered Tagore through the work of Deepak Chopra, who has provided an modern vernacular version of his favourite verses from Gitanjali and Prayer Songs . "On the Shores of Eternity" is probably more accessible to the modern reader than the original translation by Tagore himself, with the assistance of W.B. Yeats.

If one hasn't encountered Tagore before, then one is in for a rare treat. I personally recommend Gitanjali and Songs of Kabîr. The text "Sadhana: The Realisation of Life", although often lyrical in cast, is actually more of a syncretist primer on Hindu thought than poetry. Having said that, I have walked away from the book with a lot more than I brought to it.

References

Tagore on Wiki

The Sacred Text Archive of Tagore's Poetry in the Public Domain

The Supernatural

We live in a demon haunted world.

Or do we. Falls of fish, strange vanishings, equally strange appearances, mysterious lights in the sky, people surviving the 'impossible' , spontaneous remissions of fatal diseases.

Are these 'miracles and prodegies' unnatural, or is it jst we have a poor understanding of the universe and how it works?

Reality is statistical, and the devil lurks in the quantum soup that forms it.

We have seen electrons and their anti particle jump into existence and then annihilate itself, leaving a photon behind.

The average energy of the system is 'zero' over time, but at any given time t the energy of the system could be + or - any number of particles. Matter jumps into existence from 'nothing' and returns to 'nothing'.

This of course is impossible :)

But it happens, all the time, everywhere...

So, is that 'supernatural', 'impossible', or just 'unlikely'?

The observation is made that at our scale, Newton's laws fits the bill. That mistakes the map for the territory. Any object that has the energy to move disturbs the zero point field. At the leading edge of the motion vector, the object phases into being in the new postion and phases out of existence in the trailing edge. The sum of the probabilities over time is the thing that make Newton approximately work.

There is a tiny discrepancy between measured trajctories and predicted ones that was mopped up by Einstein's General Relativity Theory. It's so small that over human scale distances Newton suffices... If you want to land on the moon, then Newton mostly cuts it, if you want to get to Jupiter then you need adjustments on Newton from GR

I've spent more years than i care to remember with my head in the far end of the normal distribution curve. I've seen things that are 'impossible'. And my conclusion; there is no such thing as 'impossible', simply the 'unlikely'.

My brother is a QA metallurgist, working for an steel foundry. He says he earns his living dealing with stuff that the 'book' says is impossible. By independent means, he's arrived at the same conclusion.

To state that something is 'impossible' is just bad science and is asking to be proved wrong. To say it's unlikely is far more accurate, and matches more of what we see 'out there' and in the mysteries that surround us.

Shall we ever fathom them? If we do, then we become as God. Which is where I think we're heading... :)

Why the Trinity doesn't do it for me...

I've been musing on the nature of the Trinity and to be honest, it seems the biggest pile of horse hockeys in an al ready messed up paradigm. I understand the concept, but I don't see the need.

Here's why. A Denkwerk for you :)

Imagine I am sitting watching TV in a room with my wife and and my mother. Thus I am Roger the"I" to me, Roger the Husband to my wife, and Roger the Son to my mum. Three natures, one being. Does that make me a trinity? Add my brother and a drinking buddy to the mix and you have Roger the Brother and Roger the Drinking Buddy. Now, I have a five fold nature. Someone comes to the door, selling double glazing. I now have a six fold nature since Roger the Disinterested In Double Glazing is there. I am always all of the these things... When alone, I am still a husband, son, brother, drinking buddy and someone who's not interested in double glazing, as well as what I call 'I'. Obviously I am not six in one. I'm just Roger!

So, moving to God.

If the above is true, why then can't God just be God and him have different roles rather than the strange idea that God has to become God the Father to be our Heavenly Father, God the Son to walk among us, and God the Holy Spirit to stop us being damn dirty apes who can't do right for doing wrong?

All over engineered, and seemingly put there to test the faithful rather than add anything to the mix.

Looking at the orthodox definition of the trinity;

"A three-fold personality existing in one divine being or substance; the union in one God of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three infinite, co-equal, co-eternal persons; one God in three persons.”

I manage a six fold personality in one being (I think I'm pretty divine, as does my wife)... Its definitely a single union of the above 6 (my lack of interest in double Glazing knows no bounds, so perhaps my other natures are infinite too). As to one god being in three persons (bodies) God is in a whole lot more than that... unless he's not omnipresent.

That's why the Trinity doesn't work for me.


Roger the 6 in 1 (probably more)

Druss The Legend

This was delivered by David Gemmel in October 2000. It had some resonance for me, and his books have had a profound effect on the way I view life and how I treat other people.

If you've not read his work, you should. Let this introduce him :)

'There was this boy. He lived in fear. Not the tiny fears of manhood, but the awesomely powerful, living, breathing fear that only children can experience. He was different, this boy, from the other boys who lived in this bomb damaged London Street some few years after World War Two. He had no father.

Some of the other children had no father, but their lack was honorable. Dad died in the war, you know. He was a hero. This boy's lack was the subject of sly whispers from the adults, and open jeering from his peers. This boy's mother was - the boy heard so many times - a whore.

Happily the boy was only six, and had no real understanding of what the word meant. Anyway the word was less hurtful than the blows that would follow it. Most of the blows came from other children, but sometimes adults too would weigh in.

It was all baffling to the child. What he knew was that, before venturing out into the narrow streets and alleys, he had to peer from the windows of the small apartment to see if there were other children about. Only he didn't think of them as children. They were enemies, and he was frightened. Fear was the ever present companion. Fear was grafted to him. The journey to school was fraught with peril. The dark of the night brought fearful dreams.

His mother read him stories about heroes, and tried to encourage him to stand up for himself. But stories were just words, and words could not stop the punches, the pinches and the slaps.

The boy never dreamed of heroes. Not until he met one.

It was a bright, cold morning and he was sitting on a wall. One of the boys who made his life miserable ran up, shouting and gesticulating. The boy - more in panic than courage - finally struck out, punching his enemy in the face. The other child ran off screaming. His father came running from the house. 'You little bastard!' he shouted.

The boy took off as fast as he could, but no six year old can outrun a grown man. Within moments he grabbed the boy by the collar, swinging him from his feet.

Just then a huge shadow fell over the pair. The man - who had looked so threatening moments before - now looked small and insignificant against the looming newcomer. This colossus reached out and took hold of the man by the shirt, pushing him up against a wall.

In a low voice, chilling for its lack of passion, he asked. 'Do you know who I am?'

The man was trembling. Even the boy could feel the dreadful fear emanating from him.

'C.c.course I know who you are, Bill. Course I do.'

'Did you know I was walking out with this boy's mother?'

'Jesus Christ... I swear I didn't, Bill. On my mother's life.'

'Now you do.'

The big man let the little man go. He slid part way down the wall, recovered and stumbled away. Then the giant leaned over the boy and held out a hand that seemed larger than a bunch of bananas. 'Better be getting home, son,' he said.

The world changed that day. Men like Bill do change the world. They are the havens, the safe harbours of childhood. They are the watch hounds who keep the wolves at bay. They have an instinctive understanding of the child that is denied to the wise.

Two years later, as my stepfather, he cured me of dreams of vampires coming to drink my blood. My mother had tried explaining to me they were just dreams. They weren't real. It didn't work. She took me to a child psychologist, who showed me pictures, told me stories, explained about the birth of myth and the way that fear created pictures in our night time thoughts. It was very interesting, but it did nothing for my nightmares.

One night I woke up screaming - to find Bill sitting by my bedside.

'There's a vampire, dad. Its trying to get me.'

'I know, son,' he said, softly. 'I saw it.'

'You saw it?'

'Yeah. I broke its bloody neck. I won't have no vampires in my house'

I never dreamt of vampires again.

Years later, when I wrote my first novel, I used Bill as the model for a character. His name was Druss the Legend. Bill re-appeared in many novels thereafter, in many guises.

Always flawed, but always heroic.

Three years ago, at the age of 82, Bill was mugged on the streets of London. Three muggers broke his jaw, his nose and two of his ribs. He still managed to 'chin' one of them and knock him to the ground. That was Bill.

Last April he died.

And I wrote Ravenheart, and gave Bill centre stage.

Jaim Grymauch, who strides the highlands like a giant, is my homage to Bill, and to all those world changing fathers who pass away without fanfare; who leave the world just a little brighter than it was.

Men who know how to deal with vampires.'

David Gemmell

Why Do you Stay Up So Late?

"Why Do You Stay Up So Late?"
by Marvin Bell


Late at night, I no longer speak for effect.
I speak the truth without the niceties.
I am hundreds of years old but to do not know how many hundreds.
The person I was does not know me.
The young poets, with their reenactments of the senses, are asleep.
I am myself asleep at the outer reaches.
I have lain down in the snow without stepping outside.
I am frozen on the white page.
Then it happens, a spark somewhere, a light through the ice.
The snow melts, there appear fields threaded with grain.
The blue moon blue sky returns, that heralded night.
How earthly the convenience of time.
I am possible.
I have in me the last unanswered question.
Yes, there are walls, and water stains on the ceiling.
Yes, there is energy running through the wires.
And yes, I grow colder as I write of the sun rising.
This is not the story, the skin paling and a body folded over a table.
If I die here they will say I died writing.
Never mind the long day that now shrinks backward.
I crumple the light and toss it into the wastebasket.
I pull down the moon and place it in a drawer.
A bitter wind of new winter drags the dew eastward.
I dig in my heels.

A Choice for Judas?

I wrote this some time ago, and by taking the internal evidence I did, I still can't see how Judas betrayed anyone. I make no apology for the lengthy bible segments, since its unusual to have the four last suppers side by side.

Reading the source material with reference to Judas, and his betrayal of Jesus, we have the following:- (all quotes from the 'New International Version', italics mine)

Quote:

Matthew 26 The Plot Against Jesus 1When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2"As you know, the Passover is two days away--and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified." 3Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4and they plotted to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill him. 5"But not during the Feast," they said, "or there may be a riot among the people." Jesus Anointed at Bethany 6While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, 7a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. 8When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. "Why this waste?" they asked. 9"This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor." 10Aware of this, Jesus said to them, "Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 11The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. 12When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her." Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus 14Then one of the Twelve--the one called Judas Iscariot--went to the chief priests 15and asked, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. 16From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over. The Lord's Supper 17On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?" 18He replied, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, 'The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.' " 19So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover. 20When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21And while they were eating, he said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me." 22They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, "Surely not I, Lord?" 23Jesus replied, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born." 25Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, "Surely not I, Rabbi?" Jesus answered, "Yes, it is you."[1] 26While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body." 27Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28This is my blood of the[2] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom." 30When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Jesus Predicts Peter's Denial 31Then Jesus told them, "This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: " 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'[3] 32But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee." 33Peter replied, "Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will." 34"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times." 35But Peter declared, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." And all the other disciples said the same. Gethsemane 36Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." 37He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." 39Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." 40Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. 41"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." 42He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done." 43When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. 45Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!" Jesus Arrested 47While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: "The one I kiss is the man; arrest him." 49Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed him. 50Jesus replied, "Friend, do what you came for."[4] 51Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. With that, one of Jesus' companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. 52"Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. 53Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?" Mark 14 Jesus Anointed at Bethany 1Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him. 2"But not during the Feast," they said, "or the people may riot." 3While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. 4Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, "Why this waste of perfume? 5It could have been sold for more than a year's wages[1] and the money given to the poor." And they rebuked her harshly. 6"Leave her alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her." 10Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. 11They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over. The Lord's Supper 12On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?" 13So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. 14Say to the owner of the house he enters, 'The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' 15He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there." 16The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover. 17When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. 18While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me--one who is eating with me." 19They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, "Surely not I?" 20"It is one of the Twelve," he replied, "one who dips bread into the bowl with me. 21The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born." 22While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take it; this is my body." 23Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it. 24"This is my blood of the[2] covenant, which is poured out for many," he said to them. 25"I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God." 26When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Jesus Predicts Peter's Denial 27"You will all fall away," Jesus told them, "for it is written: " 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'[3] 28But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee." 29Peter declared, "Even if all fall away, I will not." 30"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "today--yes, tonight--before the rooster crows twice[4] you yourself will disown me three times." 31But Peter insisted emphatically, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." And all the others said the same. Gethsemane 32They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." 33He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch." 35Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36"Abba,[5] Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." 37Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Simon," he said to Peter, "are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." 39Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. 40When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him. 41Returning the third time, he said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!" Jesus Arrested 43Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders. 44Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: "The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard." 45Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, "Rabbi!" and kissed him. 46The men seized Jesus and arrested him. 47Then one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. 48"Am I leading a rebellion," said Jesus, "that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? 49Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled." 50Then everyone deserted him and fled. 51A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, 52he fled naked, leaving his garment behind. Luke 22 Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus 1Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, 2and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. 3Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. 4And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. 5They were delighted and agreed to give him money. 6He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present. The Last Supper 7Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover." 9"Where do you want us to prepare for it?" they asked. 10He replied, "As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, 11and say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' 12He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there." 13They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover. 14When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God." 17After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you. 18For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." 19And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." 20In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. 21But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. 22The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him." 23They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this. 24Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. 25Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. 26But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. 27For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. 28You are those who have stood by me in my trials. 29And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, 30so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 31"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you[1] as wheat. 32But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." 33But he replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death." 34Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me." 35Then Jesus asked them, "When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?" "Nothing," they answered. 36He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. 37It is written: 'And he was numbered with the transgressors'[2] ; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfilment." 38The disciples said, "See, Lord, here are two swords." "That is enough," he replied. Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives 39Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation." 41He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." 43An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.[3] 45When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 46"Why are you sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation." Jesus Arrested 47While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, 48but Jesus asked him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?" 49When Jesus' followers saw what was going to happen, they said, "Lord, should we strike with our swords?" 50And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. 51But Jesus answered, "No more of this!" And he touched the man's ear and healed him. 52Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, "Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? 53Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour--when darkness reigns." John 13 18"I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfil the scripture: 'He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me.'[2] 19"I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am He. 20I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me." 21After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, "I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me." 22His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. 23One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. 24Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, "Ask him which one he means." 25Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?" 26Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. 27As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. 28"What you are about to do, do quickly," Jesus told him, but no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. 29Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the Feast, or to give something to the poor. 30As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

Looking at the four gospels over all, it appears that Mark and Matthew have similarly well placed sources for their accounts of Jesus’ last hours of life. John relates a huge amount of detail of the preparatory work Jesus laid down in the final few hours left to him as a free man, but is then somewhat unforthcoming as to any reason Judas would betray Jesus. Luke seems the poorest in terms of direct knowledge, and makes greater play of reported miracles than actual content, and gives no motivation for Judas’ sin, beyond ‘Then Satan entered [him]’

Reading the Narratives as witness statements, it seems safe to imply that the event with the ointment was somehow involved in the cause of the betrayal. We have a contradiction between Matthew/Mark and John as to when the betrayal occurred, the former placing it after the remark ‘She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.’ (Matt 26:12/Mark 14:8) and the latter placing it during the meal (John 13:26 et seq). John implies that Jesus told Judas to go and betray him by the signal of the bread, whereas Matthew and Mark mention the burial reference, which seems to be the indicator that the time is right to set up the ‘fulfilment of the scriptures’.

Taking Mark as a whole, there seems to be the remnants of a heavy, ‘initiatory’ element to the cult of Jesus. This is borne out by the last lines of Mark (Mark 14: 51-52), and supported by the reported content of the ‘Secret Mark’. This initiatory form of Christianity having been partially censored from Mark at some later time, but remains intact in certain other, apocryphal gospels. This would indicate that there was an inner circle of disciples, who plausibly would be involved in making the events fulfil the scriptures. Therefore it is not too great a leap of reason to imply that the Judas (as an Iscarii) would have received the meaning of the remark as reported in Mark and Matthew as a command. The puzzling element in John then makes sense when taken as a sign to make sure the arrangements are complete.
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Based on this hypothesis, which only uses the canon reports of the events, Judas really had no choice, unless he wanted to fail in his mission of fulfilling the scriptures and bring about the end time.

Anthony De Mello... A Musing on Heresey

Jesuit and all round good egg, Fr. DeMello, s.j., wrote several books on Chrsitian Mystic thought, inclouding the wonderful "Sadhana"which is about Christian meditative practices, by building on the traditions of Indian Meditation. He's been criticised by Pharisees (Cardinal Ratzenberger, current Pope) for being too "Hindu". I don't see being informed by a culture that was practicing Meditation as a science (i.e. something repeatable) before the first mud bricks of Babylon were laid is a bad thing. I leave that up to more Religiously educated people than me to judge why that is a problem. To me, it all seems awfully insular. There again, when a cleric has to ask what "H.H." ("His Holiness") means when applied to the Dalai Lama speaks to a pretty low level of education when it comes to Clerics. Having said that, my old pal Fr Richard knew straight off, but he's not typical of general Anglican Clergy. He is, however typical of a type of Anglican Clergy that seems to spend it's down time researching recherche subjects. The myth of the clergyman-scholar is alas fading out. They are a dying breed.

The nature of sin for a Non-Christian

Having finally given up on Christianity as faith, something that seems to be leveled at me is 'How do you know what's right and wrong if you're not told?' OK, I've put it more simplistically than they put it but is one boils off the padding, flounces, frills and just plain weasel words that's what they ask... My answer: Common sense, really.

Nearly every major culture has had proscriptions against murder and theft. A few even had them against rape and molesting children... The ten commandments were neither the first nor the most exhaustive laws. So, why should being a non-Christian mean I don't know right from wrong? Hell, 'Thou shalt not kill' was commandment SIX! SIX!?!? The Egyptians had a higher regard for life than that and they were visited with plagues...

So, how does Old Grandpa Harley do it?

This from an e-mail exchange.

I've been discussing the nature of 'sin' with Lael and I outlined how I identify what they call 'sin'

1) It engenders atavistic horror - Murder, rape, cruelty
2) It would upset me if done to me - theft, abuse, neglect, greed
3) makes me feel slightly queasy - Sexual promiscuity (straight or gay, which is odd since I was wildly promiscuous in my youth... I grew out of it, but it was fun at the time)

If I'm confronted with something that doesn't fit then, well, I apply the "Would this bring me peace of mind in the long term"? If the answer is "No", or "I don't know" I tend not to do it. At least these days... So its less rules and more "guidelines"





Like all good advice, easy to give. But that's what this demon haunted apostate uses.