There is not a lot to say. These old documents have been discussed and examined for their historical interest, as well as for their depiction of paganism and power. It is a waste of time to repeatedly reveal that the Christian bible is a collation of pagan beliefs interwoven with Judaism.
For those willing to go past four paragraphs (smile, K.!), there is an interesting (and repulsive) account in the following, of early abortions as they related to some of the pagan rituals.
Aletheia writes:
The books of the New Testament were written on papyrus, some in Greek and some in Latin; "Matthew" was written in Syro-Chaldaic; "Mark," "Luke," "John," Acts, and Romans, in Greek. Twenty-seven books are now considered to be canonical, but there were sixty-one others now classed as apocryphal. "Twelve were excluded at first, but afterwards received as canonical; among the apocryphal books were 'the Gospel of the Egyptians,' one of the Essene Scriptures, and one a Gospel which circulated among the Christians of the first three centuries, containing the doctrine of a 'Trinity,' a doctrine which was not established in the Christian Church till 327 C.E., but which was taught by a Buddhist sect in Alexandria. There were forty-one, consisting of absurd fables, many of which are lost; and twenty-eight writings mentioned or referred to in the various canonical books, which also are lost." [H.J. Hardwicke, "Evolution and Creation."]
"Out of 182 works accepted for centuries as the genuine writings of Christians during the first 180 years of the present era, only twelve are now contended by theologians to be genuine; 170 forged writings permitted by the alleged 'Guider into all truth' to have existed for centuries, and believed in by poor, feeble man." [Julian, "Old and New Testament Examined."] The manufacture of some of these manuscripts probably took place at the great monastery at Mount Athos, in Salonica, where about "60,000 monks were employed" [Investigator, "Origin of the Christ Church."] in that occupation. The first that we know of the four Christian gospels is in the time of Irenaeus, who, in the second century, intimates that he has "received four gospels as authentic scriptures." "This pious forger was probably the adapter of the John Gospel." [Investigator, "Origin of the Christian Church."]
Three accounts are given of how the books which now appear in the New Testament were chosen: (1) That by Popius, in his "Synodicon" to the Council of Nicaea, says that 200 "versions of the gospel were placed under a Communion table, and, while the Council prayed, the inspired books jumped on the slab, but the rest remained under it." (2) That by Irenmus says "the Church selected the four most popular of the gospels." (3) That by the Council of Laodicea (366) says that "each book was decided by ballot. The Gospel of Luke escaped by one vote, while the Acts of the Apostles and the Apocalypse were rejected as forgeries."
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In one of the gospels (The Gospel of Eve), some of the pagan beliefs and rituals that were taken out of the Christian canon appear. Epiphanius was actually involved in some of these Christian rituals.
"He took Mary (probably Magdalene) to a mountain, took a woman out of his side and had sex with her, then drank his own sperm saying: "Thus we ought to do, that we may live."
Epiphanius' testimony carries weight, because he admits that he himself fell in among them. He reports that they shared their women in common. They celebrated sexual orgies in which partners were swapped. Coitus interruptus was the normal practice. Semen was collected and offered to the Lord as the body of Christ, before being consumed. The Gnostics also consumed women's menstrual blood.
The theology behind the lechery was anything but world-affirming. It varied from one sub-sect to another. In outline the material world was ruled by an evil "archon" or intermediate deity. The bodily flesh belonged to this archon, and would not be raised up.
The power of the soul was found in semen and menses. But allowing semen to beget children in this world would play into the hands of the evil archon. So if by accident a woman fell pregnant, the sect would abort the foetus. They would pound it in a mortar, mix it with honey and spices, and eat it.
The beautiful women in the sect used to set themselves out as bait to recruit new followers. Some formed a male elite called Levites, who did not have sex with women but only with each other.
Jesus himself, they said, was the first teacher of these practices. He took Mary (probably Magdalene) to a mountain, took a woman out of his side and had sex with her, then drank his own sperm saying: "Thus we ought to do, that we may live." The sect even claimed that when Jesus at the Last Supper spoke of eating his flesh and drinking his blood, he was referring to this practice.
Poor Epiphanius prayed to God, resisted the women, and freed himself from the sect. He then reported them to the bishops, who drove eighty of them from the city.
The accounts and texts are from: Wilhelm Schneemelcher, New Testament Apocrypha, James Clarke & Co-
Of course, these people were so much closer to the events of Christian genesis, that scholars 2000 years after these events, can safely ignore them in favor of whatever they choose to invent...
I'm off to work. No time for nonsensical bickering over "original sin" where God tells his kids that He doesn't want them to know the difference between good and evil (how moral)--so he places the information in their midst!, not knowing whether or not they will become moral agents through knowing the difference between right and wrong. Without this knowledge they cannot BE moral because they have no choice to make. However, logic, never gets in the way of primitive tales so they do their thing. However, they do not becomes Gods as God feared they would--or did they...
The ancient world teemed with these old myths, fables, etc. They are interesting reading, and very instructive at times. Why people would limit their pursuit of knowledge to a few grains of sand on the beach of primitive myth, however, is beyond my ken... |
