i had the Privilege to be guest in many different cultures.
In many of which i lived more then a year made Friend and
was often treated as a Member of extended Family.
On the First Glance I enjoy the diversity of the worlds cultures
and the deep and old Traditions that people carry on from
one generation to the next.
though Under need all there colorful differences, i find one seamless
threat that connect's all of Humanity into one Universal Brotherhood.
This threat is the Most fundamental Human Nature that all human's
seem to have in common. This quality's that i found in all Cultures i have lived
in are:
Chastity-- purity in conduct and intention, restraint and simplicity.
Charity -- the key of charity and love immortal.
Uprightness -- the key of harmony in word and act.
Forbearance -- patience sweet, that nought can ruffle.
Dispassion -- indifference to pleasure and to pain.
Dauntlessness -- the dauntless energy that fights its way to the supernal truth.
Contemplation -- abidance in spiritual Nature and mystical awareness of God's being.
Kindness and Humility.
Though this quality's are present
i have not yet come across a Culture that has not also
the other human qualities of Lust, Greed, Sloth,Wrath,Envy and Pride
to a great or lesser extent present in there members.This Negative qualities if ungoverned give rise to crimes
and Wars. to Govern this Negative emotions is usually the purpose of Religion (Which
Saint Augustine tells us comes from Re-ligare."to reconnect,") However each and every Culture expressed and deals with this, in its very own and Interesting ways.
Though but i really found this emotions where present
in all Cultures at all times.
One of the Wisdoms i learned from my grandmother (may hear Blessed Soul rest in peace)is thus;
"where ever there are People it smells like People ."
Just a month ago i was Visiting a Tribe here in the Philippines
yes, i must admit i did not live very long with them, just about one week.
and this time was certainly not enough to make deeper bond's with them
though for one thing to see, it was enough time.
There Condition is Far from the Romantic idea's that we have very often in mind
when we think of Tribal Culture.
There Live expectancy is very short, Child mortality is very very high,
there live is Hard.
Our Longing for a perfect state of existence might be the Longing
our Heavenly Father has planted in our heart's so that we will
never forget the state of our Original Nature and the Kingdom that
is in store for the upright ones.
I do hope that this Longing in us will never die and we will ever continuo to strive ,hope , pray and work for the
Often one hears the Objection that Christianity treats Women with less respect because Eve is supposedly considered the culprit of Original Sinn in the Garden eden.
First i would like to point out, that we do not call it " Eve's sin “ , sin came into the world through one Man” (Romans 5:12)
"But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man , the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive." 1 Corinthians 15:20-22:
In Order to understand how Christians ( that is always Catholics ) few the
story of Adam and Eve it is Necessary to Understand the Teaching of the Church
in this regard. The Idea of " Sola Scribtura " Latin for " only the Bible"
is a 15 century invention of the Protestant Reformation and we Catholics
do and have never seen the Bible as a text that interprets it' self.
It is not to be taken Literal as some Protestants do and it is to be
understood in the Light of the Teachings of the Saints.
"The account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man."
Note the words "figurative language" they are not to be seen in a Literal sense.
(from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (COTCC)
Secondly in The Catholic Tradition ( that is the 2000 Year History of Christianity )this Story of Adam and Eve is only Half of the Story, and must be seen in the Larger unfolding of the Love story between Humanity and its Creator . Adam and Eve are seen as Archetypes ,
later in the "New Adam and the New Eve " which are the Titles of Mary and Christ.
The expression New Adam and New Eve are common expressions that have been used
since the Beginning of Christianity and show How Christians View the
Role of the Archetype called Eve (meaning Live), for example :
St Irenaeus Bishop of Lyon wrought in 115 AD:
"Just as the former - that is, Eve - was seduced by the words of an angel so that she turned away from God by disobeying his word, so the latter - Mary - received the good news from an angel's announcement in such a way as to give birth to God by obeying his word; and as the former was seduced so that she disobeyed God, the latter let herself be convinced to obey God, and so the Virgin Mary became the advocate of the virgin Eve. And as the human race was subjected to death by a virgin, it was liberated by a Virgin; a virgin's disobedience was thus counterbalanced by a Virgin's obedience..."
This evidently shows how Women have a leading role,
In this same Spirit the Church Teaches :
" The Mother of the Redeemer … is already prophetically foreshadowed in the promise of victory over the serpent which was given to our first parents after their fall into sin.The Blessed Virgin … by her belief and obedience, not knowing man but overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, as the new Eve brought forth on earth the very Son of the Father, showing an undefiled faith, not in the word of the ancient serpent, but in that of God’s messenger. "
( COTCC 55.)
"The Virgin Mary 'cooperated through free faith and obedience in human salvation'. She uttered her "yes" 'in the name of all human nature'. By her obedience she became the New Eve, mother of the living" (n. 511). By her conduct, Mary reminds each of us of our serious responsibility to accept God's plan for our lives. In total obedience to the saving will of God expressed in the angel's words, she becomes a model for those whom the Lord proclaims blessed, because they "hear the word of God and keep it"(Lk 11:28)
Mother Mary the "New Eve" is the role model and the Foremost Saint
of Christians true out the Ages.
"the Fathers see Mary not merely as passively engaged by God but as freely co- operating in the work of man's salvation through faith and obedience. For, as St Irenaeus says, she 'being obedient, became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race. "
Pope John Paul II
IN BRIEF
By pronouncing her "fiat" at the Annunciation and giving her consent to the Incarnation, Mary was already collaborating with the whole work her Son was to accomplish. She is mother wherever he is Savior and head of the Mystical Body.
The Most Blessed Virgin Mary, when the course of her earthly life was completed, was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven, where she already shares in the glory of her Son's Resurrection, anticipating the resurrection of all members of his Body.
"We believe that the Holy Mother of God, the new Eve, Mother of the Church, continues in heaven to exercise her maternal role on behalf of the members of Christ"
So to Understand the role of Eve in the Light of Christianity one
has to understand it as an Archetype that occurs again and again true out the Old Testament until this story culminates in the " Yes " of Mary
the Mother of God.
"When Adam and his wife were expelled from Paradise, Adam gave her the name Eve (mother) “because she was the mother of all living” (Genesis 3, 20). In 1 Corinthians 15, 22 St. Paul teaches us: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” Just as we have a new Adam in Christ, we have a new Eve in Our Blessed Mother, Mary
In A.D. 387 Saint Ambrose of Milan wrought:
"The first thing which kindles ardor in learning is the greatness of the teacher. What is greater to teach by example than the Mother of God? What more glorious than she whom Glory Itself chose? For why should I speak of her other virtues? She was a virgin not only in body but also in mind, who stained the sincerity of its disposition by no guile, who was humble in heart, grave in speech, prudent in mind, sparing of words, studious in reading, resting her hope not on uncertain riches, but on the prayer of the poor, intent on work, modest in discourse; wont to seek not man but God as the judge of her thoughts, to injure no one, to have goodwill towards all, to rise up before her elders, not to envy her equals, to avoid boastfulness, to follow reason, to love virtue. When did she pain her parents even by a look? When did she disagree with her neighbors? When did she despise the lowly? When did she avoid the needy?"
As i have tried to show above Mary is also called the " New Eve " or
simply "Our Lady " a other name of is " Mother of God"
in Greek Theotokos and hear Beauty and hear role in the Salvation of Humanity
is invoked in many Catholic Hymns one of which is the Beautiful Akathist Hymn, from the 6th century Constantinopel :
""
Unto you, O Theotokos, invincible Champion, your City, in thanksgiving ascribes the victory for the deliverance from sufferings. And having your might unassailable, free us from all dangers, so that we may cry unto you:
Rejoice, O Bride Ever-Virgin.
The Archangel was sent from Heaven to cry 'Rejoice!' to the Theotokos. And beholding You, O Lord, taking bodily form, he stood in awe, and with his bodiless voice he cried aloud to her such things as these:
Rejoice, you through whom joy shall shine forth. Rejoice, you whom the curse will vanish.
Rejoice, the Restoration of fallen Adam. Rejoice, the Redemption of the tears of Eve.
Rejoice, O Height beyond human logic. Rejoice, O depth invisible even to the eyes of Angels.
Rejoice, for you are the King's throne.
Rejoice, you bear Him, Who bears the universe.
Rejoice, O Star revealing the Sun.
Rejoice, O Womb of divine Incarnation.
Rejoice, you through whom creation is renewed.
Rejoice, you through whom the Creator is born a Babe.
Rejoice, O Bride Ever-Virgin.
""
Hail, O you who gave birth to Light ineffably!
Hail, O you who surpass the wisdom of the wise!
Hail, O you who enlighten faithful minds!
Hail, O Bride and Maiden ever-pure!
""
Hail, O Key to the Doors of Paradise!
Hail, for the heavenly rejoice with the earth!
Hail, for the earthly meet the heavens in song!
Hail, the Unsilenced Voice of the Apostles!
Hail, O Shining Emblem of Grace!
Hail, O you through whom death was despoiled!
Hail, O you through whom we were clothed with glory!
Hail, O Bride and Maiden ever-pure!
""
Hail, O Radiance of the Mystical Day!
Hail, O Light of those who search the Trinity!
Hail, O you who unthroned the Enemy of Men!
Hail, O you who showed forth Christ the Lord, Lover of Mankind!
Hail, O you who guide the faithful toward wisdom!
The Creator displayed a new creation to us who had come from Him: He came forth from a womb that had received no seed, and He left it intact as it had been, so that at the sight of this marvel, we would sing to her and cry out:
Hail, O Blossom of Incorruption!
Hail, O Crown of Self-mastery!
Hail, O you who shone forth as a Sign of Resurrection!
Hail, O you who displayed the Life of Angels!
Hail, Fruitful Tree from whom believers feed!
Hail, Shady Glen where many are sheltered!
Hail, Indulgence of many who have fallen!
Hail, O Stole for those who lack freedom to speak!
Hail, O Tenderness who exceed all desire!
Hail, O Bride and Maiden ever-pure!
By singing praise to your maternity, we all exalt you as a spiritual temple, Mother of God! For the One Who Dwelt Within Your Womb, the Lord Who Holds All Things in His Hands, sanctified you, glorified you, and taught all men to sing to you:
Hail, O Tabernacle of God the Word!
Hail, O Holy One, more holy than the saints!
Hail, O Ark that the Spirit has gilded!
Hail, Inexhaustible Treasure of Life!
Hail, Precious Crown of rightful authorities!
Hail, Sacred Glory of reverent priests!
Hail, Unshakable Tower of the Church!
Hail, Unbreachable Wall of the Kingdom!
Hail, O you through whom the trophies are raised!
Hail, O you through whom the enemies are routed!
Hail, O healing of my body!
Hail, O salvation of my soul!
Hail, O Bride and Maiden ever-pure!
[RESPONSE]: Hail, O Bride and Maiden ever-pure!
O Mother worthy of all praise, you who have given birth to the Word, the Holiest of the Holy, accept this present offering, deliver all men from every affliction, and save from the future punishment those who cry out to you: "Alleluia!"
[RESPONSE]: Alleluia!
Gabriel was rapt in amazement as he beheld your virginity and the splendor of your purity, O Mother of God, and he cried out to you: "By what name shall I call you? I am bewildered; I am lost! I shall greet you as I was commanded to do: 'Hail, O Woman full of Grace!'"
* This is a Short exerpt from the Akathist Hymn.
http://lent.goarch.org/akathist_hymn/listen/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJipuoCREPE
With this invocation to the Blessed Mother of God i end this lengthy post , it was a joy to wright this. I am sure it's too long and makes no sense
as well as the Flow of my thoughts are not well connected with the subject matter but this is where the Spirit has led me today...
Blessings to ALL
More links to the Topics:
http://catholiclane.com/ark-of-grace-ch-3-mary-is-the-new-eve/
for a deeper understanding of How Eve is Mary : http://catholicdefense.blogspot.com/2011/12/mary-new-eve.html
link : http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=5673
for more on the role of "the Women " in Christianity : http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p123a9p6.htm
"A Reliable Bible". we tend to have the perception that the Bible's that are around
are not reliable ,we think because they are so old that they can not be accurate anymore because of the Translations. How ever this assumption is not really accurate,
because since the Bible is the Foundation of Western Civilisation, there where
no effort spared in investigating this book, there is surely no other Book
in this world, that is so well studied as the Bible, specially in the last 100 years
it has been scrutinised.
Many think the Bible is false because its written in English , Dutch, or German.
and that the Original has been lost, or was written Century's latter.
Sure it has been translated and sure if one would want to know precisely
what the Original text has said then one would need to learn Greek,
(just like if you want to know exactly how Rumi wrought his poetry you would need to learn Farcy--- how ever you don't need to learn Farcy to appreciate his genius, only
if you want to study it in deepest sense)
And that's why All Theologian's and Priest have to learn Greek in order to study
the Original text of the Evangelium deeper.
Some people ask why Greek, thay say that Jesus spoke Aramaic and not Greek
so the Gospel should be in Aramaic. But just like i am writing this Blog
in English, so the Gospel was written in Greek ,because everyone in this region of the world knew Greek, just as we now know English.It was a Hellenistic ( Greek Culture)that dominated then just like now the English speaking culture dominates.
The Letters that in the Early Church circulated where all written in Greek so that all could understand,
in the same way as when you or i wright a forward massage to all of our friends
we wright it in English, So Greek is the Original Language of the Gospel or the New Testament -- the Evangelium.
The Bible, the Gospel and the Evangelium we say is meaning is the same, while Bible means " The Book " Gospel and Evangelium means "The Good News"
Evangelium which means good news which we can find in the Holly Bible.
The Evangelium consists of Letters that where written by the Disciples of Christ
in the First Century , so the First Generation of Christians, this letters
where Circulated in the Early church and read aloud in front of the Congregation.
These Qumran scrolls are generally dated at the same time as Christ Lived and are confirming the accuracy of the Bibel. (Click on Image to view details)
The cave at Qumran where the scrolls where found:
The Place where one of the Earliest Complete Bibel was found
Catherine's Monastery ,Sinai
Below : A picture of the Codex Sinaiticus found in Saint Catherine Monastery.
As an comparison, the first Fragment of a text's from the teaching of the Buddha, the Lotus sutra can be found only 500 to 600 Years after Buddha,
Both the Old and New Testaments are strongly supported by manuscript evidence (the evidence of early hand written copies). The famous Dead Sea Scrolls are one example of the Old Testament evidence. These documents came from the “library” of a settlement founded at Qumran before 150 B.C. and abandoned about 68 A.D. Some of the manuscript copies were made during that period, and some were written earlier (third century BC) and brought to the settlement. Ignoring spelling-oriented (orthographic) changes and similar small differences, the Dead Sea Scrolls match the Hebrew text behind today’s Old Testament, in spite of the passage of over 2,000 years (where one would expect errors to creep in).
Over 20,000 known manuscripts document the New Testament text. This makes the New Testament the most reliable document of antiquity (a document written before the printing press). These manuscripts vary in size from a part of a page to an entire Bible (Old and New Testaments). The earliest New Testament manuscripts date from the second century (100-199) AD These manuscript copies were written in different languages by people of different nationalities, cultures, and backgrounds. In spite of all those differences between them, the New Testament texts all agree. (That is, those differences that we do observe between these hand written documents are occasional changes in the spelling of names or isolated cases of missing or changed words. Still, since we have so many copies, it is obvious to anyone but the hardened skeptic can that they all represent the same text.)
The Papyrus Rylands Greek 475 also known as p52 . is a fragment of the Gospel of John that dates from around AD 135.
There are thousands of partial and complete handwritten
manuscript copies of the Old and New Testament.
These manuscripts are on display today in places like the Smithsonian Institute,
the Cambridge University Library, the British Library, etc.
These manuscripts have allowed scholars to verify that the Bible
we have today is the same Bible the early church possessed
2,000 years ago.
Tests to see if the Bibel is an accurate Translation
there are many ways to see if the Bible is accurate. One of this tests
have been made by the Germans scholars they have gone true all available ancients
Texts from the first 3 hundred years...they have found Thousands
of early quotes from the Bible,because everyone quoted the bibel
at that time ,Church Fathers ,Historians, opponents of the Church everyone quoted the Bible.
So what they did ,they have copied all reverences
that this texts made to the Bible on a paper, then tehy have
checked this text's written in the first 3 hundreds years with the
Greek text that we use today to translate from .
and they have found that this early text's mach the text's that we use
now to a remarkable high degree , in fact they found the only dissimilarity's
where minore mistakes like a coma forgotten or a grammar mistake.
So even if the First COMPLETE assembled BIBLE has been found
from the year 300 after Christ,the First individual Text's where much ealryer
nameli 20 A.D Because the First time ( 300 A.D ) this text's
where put together and the disciples have identified what all Christians
should and must read to understand the Massage our Lord has brought.*
non the less by looking at the quotes that are around in the First 300 years we can Guaranty that the text's where around before and not only around but that they are exactly as they are today
in the Greek text's we use to translate from.
This argument is so strong, that, if we deny the authenticity of the New Testament we may with a thousand times greater propriety reject all the other writings in the world.
source http://www.christianity.co.nz/bible-3.htm
find more Information here:
http://www.everystudent.com/features/bible.html
"The New Testament text is far better attested to than any other ancient writings"
A further source of valuable information is found in the numerous quotes from early Christian writers from the end of the first century onwards. As a result of recent research done at the British Museum, we are now able to document, in early Church writings, 89,000 allusions to passages in the New Testament. For instance, Polycarp, who was personally acquainted with the apostle John, quotes from the New Testament in his letter to the believers in Philippi. So does Ignatius in the seven letters he wrote while awaiting execution about AD 115. Clement of Rome cites numerous passages in a letter to Corinth about AD 95. Three hundred and thirty allusions have been documented from Justin Martyr; 1,819 from Irenaeus; 2,406 from Clement of Alexandria; 7,258 from Tertullian; 1,378 from Hippolytus and 17,922 from Origen. These are all from the 2nd and early 3rd centuries. Not all these are direct quotations. However, it would be possible to construct the whole of the New Testament, apart from about eleven verses, from these writings alone, even if we had no others.
So the Bibles you find today are the same
there are minore differences of course you will find Bibles that try to translate
the Greek text, into a modern Street English but the meaning of the text stays the
same even though stile may be different.
Even if you take a Bible from the Jehovah's Witness it still can be used for reading because also them they didn't manage to change it so dramatically because the old text's are still with us .
The differences in the Bible's that are around today. are differences
that Theologians can see and make some differences in the Theological
apologies that result from interpreting this text's . But on a day to
Day level there are literally very very minimal differences.The essence is the same in
all available Bible. The standard Bible that is being used today is the
"King James Bible" but there are also Catholic Bibles etc, but they are all
more or less the same.
How ever the Interpretation of the Bible, Now that's a different Mather
this differs widely but this we will leave for a other Blog.
Talking about the Qumran Text's it should be said that
If genuine, it seems clear that these books were, in fact, created by an early Messianic Jewish sect, perhaps closely allied to the early Christian church and that these images represent Christ himself.
Discovery: The impression on this booklet cover shows what could be the earliest image of Christ
Astonishingly, one of the booklets appears to bear the words ‘Saviour of Israel’ – one of the few phrases so far translated.
The director of Jordan’s Department of Antiquities, Ziad al-Saad, has few doubts
these booklets are genuine and artefacts of the early Christian church. He believes they may indeed have been made by followers of Jesus in the few decades immediately following his crucifixion.
‘They will really match, and perhaps be more significant than, the Dead Sea Scrolls,’ he says. ‘The initial information is very encouraging and it seems that we are looking at a very important and significant discovery – maybe the most important discovery in the history of archaeology.’
If he is right, then we really may be gazing at the face of Jesus Christ.
