Simple Creation Stories First
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Where does the concept of a fire breathing dragon come from? The biblical creatures the Behemoth and Leviathan (dragon) are shown to come from the symbolism linked to Solomon's temple. Interestingly, the identity of these creatures is linked to how Christopher Columbus discovered the 'New World', the Americas.
I will upload a detail analysis of the main biblical source of these creatures (Job 40-41) later.
I will upload a detail analysis of the main biblical source of these creatures (Job 40-41) later.
The concept of the world resting on a turtle/tortoise is somewhat strange! However, using Islamic views of the world resting on a whale on a bull helps to unlock the symbolism. Also, extending this symbolism allows us to defend the Quran when it describes the mountains as pegs and as anchors to stop earthquakes - without denying mainstream science in any way. (Tip: these are stories about ancient temples!)
(7 minutes, first made 1 Feb 2017, modified 2 Feb 2018) Explanations Acknowledgements
Note that the creation of humanity from the 'Great Turtle' of the Delaware Indians of the Eastern United States is also in the explanations.
Note that the creation of humanity from the 'Great Turtle' of the Delaware Indians of the Eastern United States is also in the explanations.
Biblical Creation Stories Second
I am still making this bit. I have finished most of the videos and will upload them soon.
The Biblical Creation Story and the Erection of the Tabernacle
The creation story in Genesis 1 is shown to be linked to the erection of the Tabernacle (portable temple tent) by Moses in Exodus 40.
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Part 1 – to the creation of the animals
(12 minutes, 4 Oct 2017) Explanations Acknowledgements
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Part 2a – the creation of humanity in God's image
It is suggested that God’s image in humanity is linked to the divine glory shining from with us. Additionally, the plural forms used in Genesis 1 (‘us’, ‘our’) are shown to be linked to the two cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant; the LORD appearing between these two would then make a symbol of the Trinity.
(5 minutes, 1 Jun 2018, minor revision 12 July 2018) Explanations Acknowledgements
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Part 2b – the creation of male and female
According to Jewish tradition, one cherub on the Ark of the Covenant was male, and the other female … So where is the female symbolism in God? The only divine female symbol which has survived intact from antiquity is that of the ‘church’, described as the ‘mother of us all’ (Galatians 4:26). Yet because the church is also Christ’s body, with Christ as the head, then one ancient text ascribed to the fourth Pope, Clement of Rome, describes Christ as being both male and female (2 Clement ch. 14). However, we do not see pictures of Christ as both male and female, and so the greatest image symbolising the female church is the one who gave birth to Christ in the flesh, the Virgin Mary. (However, the veneration of the Virgin Mary is rejected by both Protestants and the New Age movement. This is due to changes which happened in the western church over the past thousand years. These changes will be examined in the Goddess page.)
Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Mother Spirit … (11 minutes, 21 July 2018) Explanations Acknowledgements
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(Please click on the above image of the female Christ (i.e.the Church) to learn more about it.)
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The Garden of Eden
The description of the garden of Eden is shown to be about the first 'Day of Atonement' service in Solomon's temple. This includes a proper identification of the 'rivers of Paradise'.
The Creation of Eve
As for the garden of Eden, the story of the creation of Eve is shown to come from the 'Day of Atonement' ritual.
God Rested
God resting is shown to be linked to the vision of the divine glory by the high priest. Yet the ancient Christian description (both ‘Gnostic’ and ‘mainstream’) of what happens to a human being in the divine vision is radically different from anything discussed so far in the ‘Believer vs. Atheism’ debate.
Evolution and ‘Intelligent Design’ vs. God
Knowing about the divine vision yields a higher understanding of both humanity and the physical creation. While being somewhat speculative in places, here it is shown that our divine state leaves both Evolution and ‘Intelligent Design’ behind.
6,000 years ago
According to Genesis, Adam lived to almost 1000 years and his offspring likewise had extraordinarily long lifespans. If they are literal ages then the earth cannot be millions of years old. On the other hand, if they were not intended to be read as real lifespans then where do the numbers come from? The long lifespans can be shown to have come from significant dates in the history of ancient Israel and Judea:
(The interpretation of this history was deliberately written in coded form: consider the book of Revelation, it is full of symbols whose understanding is hidden and so too with the ages in the genealogies of Genesis.) It can additionally be shown that the date 70CE reoccurs in a very significant way in the historical re-interpretation of the ages. Yet 70CE was not only the incomparable date of the destruction of Jerusalem’s second temple, but also clearly in the future when the genealogies were composed.
(I plan to publish my findings in a book sometime, examining the above in detail.)
- the temple purge of Josiah in 628BCE
- the First Temple was destroyed in 586BCE/422BCE
- the start of the Seleucid Empire in 312BCE
- the Seleucid king Antiochus III starting to claim divine honours, leading to Antiochus Epiphanes claim’s for divinity, who caused the Maccabean revolt
- the appearance of the Essenes in about 145BCE
- the start of Qumran (dated between 130-100BCE)
- in 63BCE Judea became a Roman province
- Julius Caesar assumed the title ‘dictator for life’ at the beginning of 44BCE
- the destruction of the Second Temple in 70CE (this date occurs three times)
(The interpretation of this history was deliberately written in coded form: consider the book of Revelation, it is full of symbols whose understanding is hidden and so too with the ages in the genealogies of Genesis.) It can additionally be shown that the date 70CE reoccurs in a very significant way in the historical re-interpretation of the ages. Yet 70CE was not only the incomparable date of the destruction of Jerusalem’s second temple, but also clearly in the future when the genealogies were composed.
(I plan to publish my findings in a book sometime, examining the above in detail.)
Academic Articles
The Differences Between the Begetting Ages in the Genealogies of Genesis and the Book of Jubilees Explained
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Abstract: The biblical Patriarchs in the genealogies of the book of Genesis not only live extra-ordinarily long lives but also beget their first offspring after many years. If the ages in the genealogies (‘chrono-genealogies’) given in the Septuagint, Samaritan Pentateuch, or Masoretic texts differ then it is usually by exactly one hundred years. However the begetting ages for the post-Flood Patriarchs in the Book of Jubilees are widely different from those in Genesis and up till now no satisfactory explanation for their relationship has been proposed. In this article I shall show that the differences can be explained easily and elegantly via the use of different number base systems. In particular it will be shown that the differences are based on reading identical numerical digits in either sexagesimal (multiples of 60) or in the Book of Jubilees’ own peculiar method of writing dates in jubilees (multiples of 49).
Keywords: Jubilees, Genesis, Genealogies, Sexagesimal, Septuagint, Samaritan
Keywords: Jubilees, Genesis, Genealogies, Sexagesimal, Septuagint, Samaritan