In Babbo Natale, Italy has its own Father Christmas. But it's La Befana, the ugly, broom-flying and present-wielding witch who keeps children on their toes in many parts of the country. Like St. Nick, Befana knows who's been naughty and nice.
Like many Christian traditions, Befana has pagan roots, as a good witch who played the role of Mother Nature and was celebrated in December for providing life throughout the year.
The most common telling of the Befana story has the three wise men stopping to ask an old woman for directions on their way to Bethlehem. They invite her to join the party, but she refuses because she has too much sweeping to do. After realizing her mistake, she tries and fails to catch up with the wise men with a bag of treats. On the eve of their arrival she throws herself beneath a tree in despair. One of the branches turns into a magic broom, which she is to ride for eternity in her never-ending search for the baby Jesus.
And Santa's helpers thought they had it wrapped up.
When we are pondering our lives in the here after and comparing them to what our friend invision what it must be like, we should keep in mind the following and forget our petty differences.
Rupert Brooke
Heaven
Fish (fly-replete, in depth of June, Dawdling away their wat'ry noon) Ponder deep wisdom, dark or clear, Each secret fishy hope or fear. Fish say, they have their Stream and Pond; But is there anything Beyond? This life cannot be All, they swear, For how unpleasant, if it were! One may not doubt that, somehow, Good Shall come of Water and of Mud; And, sure, the reverent eye must see A Purpose in Liquidity. We darkly know, by Faith we cry, The future is not Wholly Dry. Mud unto mud!--Death eddies near-- Not here the appointed End, not here! But somewhere, beyond Space and Time, Is wetter water, slimier slime! And there (they trust) there swimmeth One Who swam ere rivers were begun, Immense, of fishy form and mind, Squamous, omnipotent, and kind; And under that Almighty Fin, The littlest fish may enter in. Oh! never fly conceals a hook, Fish say, in the Eternal Brook, But more than mundane weeds are there, And mud, celestially fair; Fat caterpillars drift around, And Paradisal grubs are found; Unfading moths, immortal flies, And the worm that never dies. And in that Heaven of all their wish, There shall be no more land, say fish.
Logic really has no place in faith.By faith, I am referring to belief in something without needing to have concrete evidence to back it up.Belief in God or a Supreme Divine being requires this type of faith.
When you start to look for logical proof for the existence of God, you wind up running headlong into a brick wall.Most of these walls are built by other people who don’t want their world rocked.Logic requires concrete evidence, but if someone doesn’t accept the body of evidence given, you are back to square one.Therefore, I see no reason to argue with someone of the existence of God in any logic based debate.
"When we try to reach the infinite and the Divine by means of mere abstract terms or images, are we not even better than children trying to place a ladder against the sky?"
--Aristotle
It is hard enough for us to grasp infinity, let alone define God, attempting to do so is even harder when we attempt to use logic.Logic has it’s place, but theology doesn’t lend itself well to the use.
Usually when someone wants you to provide logical evidence of God’s existence, you are dealing with someone who is out for an argument.No matter what you say, even if well thought out, the other party will have a rebutle in the wings waiting to crush what you say.Most those who are trying to get you into these discussions are out to show that your faith is groundless and for not.You will never change their mind, so why even bother.The best way for you to express your faith is to live it. Through your expression, you show the only logical proof that I am aware of for your beliefs.
Now to totally eclipse what I’ve said, I will give you one example of a logical argument for the existence of the Divine.The following enigma is what I have found that answers that question for me.
There is no God but what cannot be comprehended
There is noting that cannot be comprehended, but what is not conceivable
There is nothing not conceivable but what is immeasurable
There is nothing immeasurable but God
There is no God but what is not conceivable*
In this circular logic is the only answer that I have found that speaks volumes to me.
For more solid arguments, I will let others who have pondered longer and with more insight give their arguments to the world. Check out this link: http://www.apologeticsinfo.org/outlines/godandlogic.html. More links will be made available on my website when the final version of this article is publshed.
What makes Witches different? Casting spells and wearing pentacles? No. It's deeper than that, more powerful, more revolutionary. It's the Goddess.
Witchcraft is one of the many religions that recognizes divinity in feminine as well as masculine form. Witches are not monotheistic; they do not believe there is only one god who lives somewhere upstairs. To Witches, divinity is multiple: God and Goddess. God in the sky, Goddess in the running water; God in the stag forest, Goddess in the birds of the air. Witches find divinity everywhere. In creating rituals and art and spells and poems, Witches draw from the great reservoir of human wisdom called mythology. For untold generations, people have created stories that describe how they perceive the Goddess. There are innumerable goddesses, so many they cannot be counted. Goddesses of the sky and sun, of the moon and stars; goddesses of the rivers and the ocean; goddesses of birth, death, love, war; goddesses of the doorstep and the harvest and the spinning wheel.
So naturally there are goddesses of magic, for magic is one of the most ancient spiritual tools of the human race. Here is a short primer of Witch-goddesses from various lands. You can use their names, their emblems, their stories in your own witchcraft. But don't stop here, for there are many more goddesses who are shapeshifters, shamans, prophets, midwives, healers, herbalists-- -all specialists in arts that the Witch might practice.
Witchy Goddesses Adsagsona: Continental Celtic goddess (from France or Germany), called "the weaver of spells." In Celtic lands, words were power; finding the right words was a magical act.
Arianrhod: Welsh goddess whose name means "silver wheel" and who lived on a magical island, either in the sky or in the ocean, where she was served by innumerable maidens.
Carman: Powerful Irish Witch who could destroy anything she chose by chanting secret spells.
Cerridwen: Welsh goddess who could brew magic in her cauldron and knew the secrets of all plants. She was also a shapshifter, able to cahnge her form at will.
Circe: One the most famous mythic Witches, the Greek Circe ("circle") lived on a magical floating island in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by wild animals---lions and wolves and bears---who did her bidding. With magical herbal mixtures, she was able to turn people into animals when they deserved it.
Dahut: This passionate magician-princess lived in Brittany, the weternmost part of France. She built the world's most beautiful city, the crystal-walled Ys, with help of the fairies of the sea---the Korrigans.
Hecate: Famous Greek goddess of Witches, she was worshipped at the dark of the Moon at places where three roads met, for it was said she was the only being in the world who could look three ways at once because she had three heads: serpent, horse, and dog. in her honor, "Hecate suppers" were held, when her followers would feast together and share their witchy knowledge. After dinner, they left the remnants of their food outdoors as ooferings to the hounds that accompanied their goddess on her midnight journeys.
Heith: This Scandinavian Witch or shaman specialized in casting spells that were so subtle that no onw knewshe had spoken at all---although the thoughts she desired her targets to think appeared magically in their minds.
Hekt: This Egyptian frog-goddess ruled not only human magic but that of the earth as well, especially the magical transfromation of seeds into plants.
Louhi: A fierce, canny Finnish goddess, she was so powerful she was able to steal the Sun away from the sky and hide it in her house at North Farm. She owned the sampo, a magical tool that created abundance, which was stolen from her by a Finnish hero.
Marinette: Among the followers of Haitian Voudoun, Marinette is the spirit of sorcery, causing her followers to wave their arms like owls and screech. She haunts the woodlands at night in the form of an owl.
Medea: Great enchantress of Greek myth, meea was able to create dangerous potions that could either bring love, sleep, or death. She was able to fly through the air in a dragon-powered chariot. She had several human husbands, none of whom were faithful to her, so she eventuelly transformed herself into the goddess of snakes.
Meroe: She was a Witch of Greek legend who could bring the sky down to ceiling height, turn people into beavers, and teleport wherever she wished to go.
Morgan Le Fay: In the legends of Britain and Wales, this is the name of a great Witch who had the blood of fairies in her veins. She was a student, perhaps the lover, of the great magician Merlin.
Nimue: This is the Welsh name for the mysterious sorceress called, in legends of King Arthur and Camelot, the Lady of the Lake. That lake protected her magical world, Avalon, from human sight. There she lived in perpetual summer in a land where there was only beauty.
Pamphile: A legendary Greek Witch, Pamphile could change her shape into anything she desired, merely by anointing herself with an ointment she made from special secret herbs. To return to human form, she bathed in water in which bay leaf and anise were steeped.
Thorgerd: A Scandinavian woman, she was so powerful at sorcery that she became a goddess when she died. One of her skills was divination-- -using magical tools to see the future.
Viviane: This Welsh Witch was one of the lovers of the great magician Merlin, and was the only one of his students who became more powerful than he. She entrapped Merlin in a tree where he still sleeps today.
Yaoji: A Chinese goddess of sorcery, she reveals her closely guarded secrets to us in dreams.
There are other goddesses that Witches honor. Some look for goddesses that represent their ethnic heritage; others for goddesses that rule a certain area of life, such as love or money. There is no one right way to honor these goddesses, but rather many different rituals and cahnts that call them into our lives. Some claim, in fact, that goddesses are really parts of each woman, and the rituals of witchcraft allow that part to manifest itself.
Whether the Goddess is within us or without, she is real, and waiting to come to the side of any Witch who calls her.
I encourage you to read this article about teaching minors, it could save you a lot of grief. Here are the opening paragraph and the closing remarks.
----With the growing popularity of Wicca and other Pagan spiritual paths in the USA there has been a growing number of minors who have been entering the community and who have been seeking help from adult teachers to further their studies. Many of us who have been on this path for years would love to help out these new Seekers and to make certain that the information that they receive is both accurate and safe. But there is a real problem that many of those who agree to teach minors may not be aware of and which can land them in a world of legal trouble.
---There is also the cry that goes up from those minors who are turned away because teachers cannot take the risk of possible legal action that might take their home or put them in jail. The immediate thought is that this is 'unfair'. Actually these legal decisions are very fair in that they apply equally no matter the religion involved.
The same law seen as unfair by young Pagans also prevents actions by non-Pagans to hijack the teaching of Pagan children against the wishes of the Pagan parents.
I think it is important to young Seekers to understand why reputable groups and individuals will not take them on as students. And I think it is essential that anyone contemplating teaching those under the age of majority become educated as to what the risks are that they are taking so they can make an informed decision on their course of action.
I've been reading a lot of articles around "Cyberspace" and in "Real-space" news that seem to focus on people that have claimed to have been some sort of Pagan. Most of the time, these articles depict the person as turning to this collective of alternative religions as an escape from the rigors of whatever faith they were born into. All too often, they sight the idea that it is rule-free path where they don't have to answer to anyone. The image building in the mind of the general public of these religions are therefore being skewed.
Pagan religions are far from being without rules. The most commonly known path, known as Wicca, has some very important rules that most practitioners adhere too.
These rules are simple, yet can mold everything around them. "These eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill,
An Ye Harm None, Do What Ye Will," these simple words speak volumes. "Harm None" means everyone, even yourself. The majority of the Wiccan Rede sums up the rest of the common beliefs.
The biggest issue surrounding this is most people who leave a faith have a tendency to make that faith into something that it is not. They attack it because they need to have closure or they need a scapegoat for all the bad things they have done in their lives. They have a habit of turning anything that doesn't agree with it into a creation of evil, condemning even those who share similar beliefs as themselves.
Understanding of the World's Religions is the only way to fight misrepresentation. Blaming what you believed in last year is not an excuse to blast a religion.
There are 2.1 billion Christians on the planet – roughly one third of the entire human population. At the heart of their religion is the New Testament and the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. To Christianity, the written word is the glue that binds the faith of its followers.
Based on Tom Harpur’s national bestseller, The Pagan Christ examines these very questions. During his research, Harpur discovered that the New Testament is wholly based on Egyptian mythology, that Jesus Christ never lived, and that – indeed – the text was always meant to be read allegorically. It was the founders of the Church who duped the world into taking a literal approach to the scriptures. And, according to Harpur, this was their fatal error – and the very reason Christianity is struggling today.
So, what if it could be proven that Jesus never existed? What if there was evidence that every word of the New Testament
The following is a brief listing of gemstones and some applications of such to apply to your mood.
Agate: Apparently relieves tension and anxiety. Use a couple of small ones as worry beads; jiggling them around in the palm of your hand.
Amethyst: Placing one under your pillow helps you to sleep. The remains believe the amethyst prevented drunkenness and used to drink out of goblets studded with these purple gems.
Blood Stone: Said to be a very calming stone when held in the hand, it can also help to regularize the menstrual cycle if you suffer from erratic periods.
Jade: The stone of friendship which, as is claimed, can help you overcome shyness. Drinking water which has jade in it has been said to strengthen your body.
Quartz: If criticism gets you down and you tend to brood, keeping one of these crystals near you is believed to bring you renewed confidence and a fresh prospective. To ease a headache, lie down and place three of these crystals on your forehead on pointing up to the crown and two pointing towards it from the left and the right sides.
Rose Quartz: Said to help depression. Hold a piece in your right hand and think about what is making you depressed, then hold the crystal against your forehead. Breathe into the crystal and imagine that you are expelling all those miserable thoughts.
Tourmaline: One of the most versatile gems. It's a combination of green with pink inside, symbolizes the state of your consciousness and it can apparently reveal new levels of spiritual awareness. If you've been hurt by a love one, this stone's innate joyfulness is told to help heal the pain and suffering.
A wandering monk walked barefoot everywhere he went, to the point that the soles of his feet eventually became quite thick and leathery. And because he ate very little, he gradually became very frail. Several days often passed between opportunities to brush his teeth, so he usually had bad breath. Therefore, throughout the region, he came to be known as the super-calloused fragile mystic plagued with halitosis.
There is a story of a young boy in 5th grade who has special needs…think along the lines of autism.
And because of his disability, his innocence far surpasses most 5th graders. He believes everyone is good and kind and that everyone believes in Jesus and God. It has never even occurred to him that there are people out there that don’t believe.
So in class in a public school, he started talking about Jesus and his teachers immediately told him to stop.
So the next day at school, the boy had kept his promise and in fact had not mentioned God or Jesus at all, and when he was suppose to start his spelling test, they sent him down to the school social worker.
The social worker told the boy that it was against the law to speak of Jesus or God in the public school.
The social worker informed the dad that there was separation of church and state issues and ranted on about the forefathers.
"The bottom line is the dad got nowhere but did inform them that they had best call him first if they ever are about to discipline his son for speaking about Jesus as it will not be tolerated."
Now I normally don't post stuff like this, but this got to me just a bit. I know a couple of Special Needs children and what the teachers did to this child really steams me.
What steams me even more is that the clause in the US Constitution has nothing to do with speaking about one's faith in schools or other government buildings. It has to do with not establishing a State Religion. Some people get worked up if you say "God Bless You" to someone.
Let's uphold the Constitution without trying to destroy the free will of our kids!
Taken from the perspective of just being a video, this is entertaining. I really like the use of running the footage backward to get their effect. But, you saddle it with the GodTube branding, and it becomes something else, when you look at comments section you see a lot of what is behind the Site.
Mission Statement
GodTube utilizes Web based technology to connect Christians for the purpose of encouraging and advancing the Gospel worldwide.
Just how does this video "encourage" and "advance" "the Gospel worldwide?" The comments made in relation to the video seem to me to violate the terms of service agreement as follows.
Prohibited Content:
You agree not to submit or post any User Submission to the Site, or transmit any User Submission through the Site, that (a) is contrary to the evangelization of Jesus Christ and His teachings, or constitutes blasphemy, or is otherwise offensive to our online Christian community, (b) violates any patents, copyrights, trademarks or other intellectual property rights, (c) is illegal, obscene, pornographic, defamatory, or libelous, (d) is abusive, hateful, harassing, or threatening, (e) promotes bigotry, racism, or hatred against any group or individual, (f) is false, misleading or constitutes a misrepresentation, (g) encourages conduct that could be illegal or give rise to civil liability or is otherwise inappropriate, or (h) promotes the exploitation of, or solicits information from, any person under the age of eighteen. You understand and agree that GodTube.com reserves the right to review, edit, block, and delete any of your User Submissions for any reason at any time without notice, including without limitation, if GodTube.com determines in its sole discretion that a User Submission is prohibited as provided above or otherwise violates this Agreement.
I saw a video by the same group on myspace too... People mixed up in Wicca had so much bad stuff to say about it... I find it entertaining... I was messed up and wrapped my life around the whole Wicca thing for 6 years... And people would really try to control the movement of things with their minds or with the help of their spirit guides or whatever... It's such a silly thing for people to believe in.. I don't understand why I made it such a big part of my life for so long...
--Sherri "SherJonesy" Jones of Colorado Springs, CO.
This statement is "false, misleading, and constitutes a misrepresentation" of Wiccans and other pagans as a whole. Granted this the opinion of Sherri's, and should be taken as such and allowed to be posted. Sure people involved in Wicca would have bad stuff to say about this video, it is misleading as to what Wiccans represent.
I am going to create an account on the place to see what will happen when I make a slightly different comment. Stay tuned for further developments on this.
My Comment on the video:
First of all, let me say....COOL VIDEO... A little misleading in the title, but cool video. Loved the use of running footage backward to get the effect desired. Now, as to Sherri's comments. So, you feel Wicca isn't for you. So be it. Most of those following the Wiccan path do not think they can do any of those things. Most of them are pretty level headed. Yes, you do have those who are into trying to do those things. Wicca, like Christianity, has it's crack-pots. Aside from the aspects that are alluded to in this video there are a lot of positive aspects to Wicca that prolly drew your attention, Sherri. The idea promoted that everyone in the world should be treated with dignity and respect for one. Modern Paganism has received such a bad reputation from the pulpit because 75% of clergy don't understand the nature of the faith. Tolerance and dialog would help in understanding. Look what it has done for the Protestants and the Catholics. ;)
Nice to see them focusing on "racism, torture, genocide, and "the targeting of noncombatants in acts of terror or war," here's hoping they can focus a lil more on these issues in future years. The tired haggling over Abortion is enough to drive some people insane.
The nation's bishops will vote next month on a political roadmap for Roman Catholics headed into the 2008 election that gives top billing to abortion but also spotlights a wide range of issues, including opposition to torture and killing noncombatants in war.
about 300 bishops will publicly debate and vote on "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship" at its fall meeting in Baltimore.
A draft of the document calls abortion and euthanasia "intrinsically evil" and "pre-eminent threats to human dignity because they directly attack life itself, the most fundamental human good and the condition for all others." The bishops then cite other threats that can never be justified: human cloning, embryonic stem-cell research, racism, torture, genocide, and "the targeting of noncombatants in acts of terror or war.
Alexia Kelley, the group's executive director, noted that the "Faithful Citizenship" draft includes new references condemning torture, genocide and the deaths of noncombatants in war.
This story is both old and new, traditional and modern. The scapegoating, finger-pointing and name-calling of those who are different, those who threaten the social order, those who happen to have a female face. In the past two months, there have been at least two instances of witch lynching in India reported in the mainstream media; I wonder how many more have gone unnoticed. The most recent one was in Bihar. A 60-year old tribal woman was accused by villagers in Bihar of practicing witchcraft and beaten to death by them. Apparently, her ’spells’ couldn’t cure their mindsets.
An article at OneWorld South Asia explains how, unsurprisingly, old, widowed, or otherwise unprotected women are more vulnerable to accusations of witchcraft. It sounds too familiar — those who are not conforming in some way become targets.
Published: March 28, 2007 Magic 1. The unseen motivating power of the universe or creation, and the thread that determines all the laws of nature. 2. The physical practices required to bring about what the practitioners are trying to bring about, and the praying and calling upon the Divine to make happen whatever part they can't complete.....
Click the above to read this article. It is good and concise.
This is a very interesting and well-meaning website. But, I have to make a few comments about them.
First of all, the group seems to be formed by people who were raised in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and are becoming disillusioned with what it has turned into today. But, they should exercise some caution in their statements. Remembering that according to the Bible, no man knows the Hour of Judgment (Matthew 24: 36-39).
Here is where I think we'll see shades of the Millerite Movement.
(PRWEB) September 4, 2006 -- A Bible study at www.worldslastchance.com has yielded that John Paul II will appear as the next pope. The importance of this startling conclusion is that, if true, it would mean that humanity is closer to the end than many, even of the most daring, have ever imagined. And if the end is coming that soon, the natural question would be: are we ready?
It is based on a study of Revelation, chapter 17. The study explains how we are currently living during the reign of the 7th king of the papacy, Pope Benedict XVI, whose reign has been prophesied in Revelation to be a short one. "The count of the kings started with the Lateran Concordant of 1929," stated Galal Doss founder of World’s Last Chance, "which recognized, for the first time, the pope as absolute monarch over the State of Vatican City. Furthermore," he added "the next pope, the eighth, will be the last, and during his reign the papacy will be transformed back into a persecuting power which she enjoyed up until 1798, when she exercised great political and ecclesiastical power over much of the Christian world. It was a time of ultimate religious intolerance towards all Christians who disagreed with any of the Roman Catholic Church’s teachings." According to the study, the church lost this control in 1798 when Napoleon ordered General Berthier to conquer Rome and declare an end to the temporal power of the papacy. Ever since that event, when Pope Pius VI was banished to Valence in France, the Roman Catholic Church has never regained the position she has had.Again, someone is trying to narrow things down for the "End Times".
Joseph Miller made the same mistake trying to nail God down to a specific time. This has become known as "The Great Disappointment". From this group sprang up several modern religious movements including the Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses and Bahá'í.
Miller made the mistake of trying to unravel the mysteries of Prophecy using his purely human intellect, which proved disastrous. For the same reasons I cannot agree with Galal Doss. I am sure we shall see signs amongst us everywhere when the end is near. But, I'm not convinced that our ending will come as John the Elder saw it on Patmos.
I have been reading some articles by a man who goes by the name of John, theologica.net, and have really been fascinated by the views of this former minister’s views. There are two things that I agree with whole heartedly. The first is the idea that the mainstream churches of today are not based at all on the teachings of Jesus but, rather, the teachings of Saul of Tarsus. The second, and probably the most controversial is that of the idea of Jesus being married. There are very few Christian Organizations that can say they follow the teachings of Jesus. Most churches forget that Jesus taught that one’s life should be filled with service to others. Most agree with Paul who states that works do not save man’s soul, yet we forget hat the Epistle written by James says to the contrary that faith without works is meaningless. Therefore, the majority of Christianity would better be called Paulianity. As far as Jesus being married, it is my understanding, as well as John’s, that the Jewish people considered unmarried men a disgrace and would never have looked upon one as a rabbi. These and many more issues are discussed on John’s site, I highly recommend it.
The subjects that will be tackled here will bounce around the Bible from time to time and sometimes appear to have nothing to do with scripture. That is one of the things that should be perfectly clear from the outset. This is not just about the Judeo-Christian Faith, but all faiths. All have their good points as well as their bad. Those belonging to each faith should own up to the faults therein.
But, for the most part, we will focus on the Judeo-Christian Faith. This is because it appears to be the dominate religion in Western Society and therefore the more known amongst our potential readers.
In the ancient world, a world which was by no means as primitive as we sometimes like to think, the scientific study of the heavens was known as Astrology. Then, gradually, this term began to be associated with what orthodox scientists regarded as the lunatic element of star-gazing, the art which saw in the position of the stars and planets at a given moment signs of good or bad fortune for human beings. Feeling that this denigrated their scientific method, those who applied observation and reason to the stars and suns of space left the predictors to get on with things, left them with the term "Astrology" and renamed the scientific side of things "Astronomy."
I am not passing judgment either way on the rights and wrongs of astrology, indeed I am not qualified to do so. I mention the above purely as a reference to reported history, and because I believe that the time has come to make a similar change with regard to the use of the term "Theology." Theology, in my view, has become discredited by ignoring observation and reason in favour of sometimes very convoluted ways of making the "facts" fit the doctrine. We need to move towards a much more scientific and empirical way of looking at the claims of religion, and to do that we first need to abandon the use of the term "Theology" replace it with something else. I suggest "THEONOMY" The farcical reasoning of many theologians in the past has meant that the discipline is so discredited that only by adopting a new name, and accepting the separation from the past that such a change implies, can there be any hope of acceptance. Starting with an open mind and working from the evidence to a conclusion is not an easy path, but it is a very rewarding one.
Thus begins the article by a man only going by John on theologica.net. From reading his website, we can conclude that he was a minister for most of his life and the views presented within his website are not just tossed together by some crackpot. This man had formal training in his line of work. Unlike myself. I freely admit that the material you will find gracing this blog is not from someone who has spent years of studying in schools, nor will I say that I have THE ENDS ALL TRUTH. But I will express my opinions on some of the beliefs found under the banner of Christianity today. The articles will appear on average, once a week. As I work full time, and at night, I will post as I have a chance, but will attempt to maintain the once a week formula. So without any more hoo-haa, let us begin to explore Christianity with open minds. -- hk
Image via Wikipedia
clipped from www.spiegel.de
There are 2.1 billion Christians on the planet – roughly one third of the entire human population. At the heart of their religion is the New Testament and the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. To Christianity, the written word is the glue that binds the faith of its followers.
Based on Tom Harpur’s national bestseller, The Pagan Christ examines these very questions. During his research, Harpur discovered that the New Testament is wholly based on Egyptian mythology, that Jesus Christ never lived, and that – indeed – the text was always meant to be read allegorically. It was the founders of the Church who duped the world into taking a literal approach to the scriptures. And, according to Harpur, this was their fatal error – and the very reason Christianity is struggling today.
, an excellent book on the subject.
