Burl

Matthew 1:18-25New International Version (NIV) Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son 18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[a]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[c] because he will save his people from their sins. 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel[d] (which means God with us). 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Thormas, what do you mean by apocalyptic prophet? I was taught apocalypticism was a literary genre, not a personal attribute.

The Magnificat Luke 1:46b-55 1:46b "My soul magnifies the Lord, 1:47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 1:48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 1:49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 1:50 His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 1:51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 1:52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; 1:53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. 1:54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 1:55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

Salome receiving the head of John the Baptist, by Carravagio. He did three versions of this event. JtB is a critical player in the Christmas narrative but is often underemphasized or overlooked entirely. A difficult character to understand or identify with.

Many Christians believe Dalí's (a devout Roman Catholic) Corpus Hypercubis is the most accurate rendition of Christ because it depicts Him as a 4-D being only partially perceived in three dimensions (Gala is viewing Christ from a 3-D platform placed on a 2-D checkerboard plane).

Yes, no one faith has all of the answers. However, every established faith has SOME of the answers. Future generations have heard their echoes, and realize echoes always have an authentic source. If a faith has been carried forth for generations it deserves respect. A narcissistic fantasy that cannot even be transmitted to one's closest family is certainly false. It dies with its postulant.

Carl Sagan explains the logic behind the fourth dimensional hypercube/tesseract imagery used by Dalí in Corpus Hypercubis.

Annunciation by Fra Angelico

Welcome, Paul! I think you are right and no one faith has all the answers.

Matthew 3:1-12. English Standard Version (ESV) John the Baptist Prepares the Way 3 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”[a] 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’” 4 Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Luke 9:51-62 9:51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 9:52 And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; 9:53 but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 9:54 When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" 9:55 But he turned and rebuked them. 9:56 Then they went on to another village. 9:57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 9:58 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." 9:59 To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 9:60 But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." 9:61 Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." 9:62 Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

I find Christianity much easier to understand when one starts at Pentecost and walks the cat backward towards Christmas. Starting at Christmas too often leads to a dogmatic and superstitious understanding. The meaning of Christmas for me is in an omnipotent, omnibenevolent, impassable God laying aside his divinity in order to experience pain, temptation, doubt, suffering, ambition, human limitations inter alia and igniting a new and more intimate relationship with mankind. An awe inspiring sacrifice orders of magnitude larger than the crucifixion. Christmas was the first step which eventually enabled God to exist within my conscious, rational mind.

Welcome, acdc.

Hi Dave! Welcome!

Luke 23:35-43English Standard Version (ESV) 35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him,[a] “This is the King of the Jews.” 39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Big loss for globalism, the Bush/Clinton crime family and the GOPe.

Now that Trump will preside for four years we should reconsider this conversation.

"Publish or Perish" and the funding structures of post-docs guarantees that even good science winnows out creative scientists in favor of those who focus on fine tuning and micro-improvements.