“The Mythmaker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity”
by Hyam Maccoby
1 Paul was never a Pharisee rabbi…
2 Jesus and his immediate followers were Pharisees.
3 The first followers of Jesus, under James and Peter, founded the Jerusalem Church after Jesus’s death.
4 Paul, not Jesus, was the founder of Christianity
5 A source of information about Paul that has never been taken seriously enough is a group called the Ebionites.
6 The Ebionites were stigmatized by the Church as heretics
We need to know our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual body.
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
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The word “comforter” is translated from the word “Paraclete” (“Ho Parakletos” in Greek). Parakletos in Greek is interpreted as “an advocate”, one who pleads the cause of another, one who councils or advises another from deep concern for the other’s welfare (Beacon Bible commentary volume VII, p.168). In these verses we are told that after Jesus departs, a Paraclete will one day come, will glorify Jesus, and will guide mankind into all truth. The main signs and characteristics of the Comforter are as follows: |
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i) The Comforter must abide with the believers forever (John 14:16).
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ii) The Comforter must testify on the behalf of Jesus (John 15:26). |
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iii) The Comforter must bring all aspects of Jesus teachings to |
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iv) The Comforter must reprove the world of sin, and of |
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v) The Comforter must at all times guide and speak the truth of |
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vi) The Comforter must glorify Jesus and declare all that the |
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vii) The Comforter -whom the Father will send in Jesus’ name, and |
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1) Genesis 9:20-26 – Noah became drunk; the result was immorality and family trouble. 2) Genesis 19:30-38 – Lot was so drunk he did not know what he was doing; this led to immorality 3) Leviticus 10:9-11 – God commanded priests not to drink so that they could tell the difference between the holy and the unholy. 4) Numbers 6:3 – The Nazarites were told to eat or drink nothing from the grape vine. 5) Deuteronomy 21:20 – A drunken son was stubborn and rebellious. 6) Deuteronomy 29:5-6 – God gave no grape juice to Israel nor did they have intoxicating drink in the wilderness. 7) Deuteronomy 32:33 – Intoxicating wine is like the poison of serpents, the cruel venom of asps. 9) 1 Samuel 1:14-15 – Accused, Hannah said she drank no wine. 10) 1 Samuel 25:32-38 – Nabal died after a drunken spree. 11) 2 Samuel 11:13 – By getting Uriah drunk, David hoped to cover his sin. 12) 2 Samuel 13:28-29 – Amnon was drunk when he was killed. 13) 1 Kings 16:8-10 – The king was drinking himself into drunkenness when he was assassinated 14) 1 Kings 20:12-21 – Ben-Hadad and 32 other kings were drinking when they were attacked and defeated by the Israelites. 15) Esther 1:5-12 – The king gave each one all the drink he wanted. The king was intoxicated when he commanded the queen to come. 16) Psalm 75:8 – The Lord’s anger is pictured as mixed wine poured out and drunk by the wicked. 17) Proverbs 4:17 – Alcoholic drink is called the wine of violence. 18) Proverbs 20:1 – Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging. 19) Proverbs 23:19-20 – A wise person will not be among the drinkers of alcoholic beverages. 20) Proverbs 23:21 – Drunkenness causes poverty. 21) Proverbs 23:29-30 – Drinking causes woe, sorrow, fighting, babbling, wounds without cause and red eyes. 22) Proverbs 23:31 – God instructs not to look at intoxicating drinks. 23) Proverbs 23:32 – Alcoholic drinks bite like a serpent, sting like an adder. 24) Proverbs 23:33 – Alcohol causes the drinker to have strange and adulterous thoughts, produces willfulness, and prevents reformation. 25) Proverbs 23:34 – Alcohol makes the drinker unstable 26) Proverbs 23:35 – Alcohol makes the drinker insensitive to pain so he does not perceive it as a warning. Alcohol is habit forming. 27) Proverb 31:4-5 – Kings, Princes, and others who rule and judge must not drink alcohol. Alcohol perverts good judgment. 28) Proverbs 31:6-7 – Strong drink could be given to those about to perish or those in pain. Better anesthetics are available today. 29) Ecclesiastes 2:3 – The king tried everything, including intoxicating drink, to see if it satisfied. It did not. (Ecclesiastes 12:8) 30) Ecclesiastes 10:17 – A land is blessed when its leaders do not drink. 31) Isaiah 5:11-12 – Woe to those who get up early to drink and stay up late at night to get drunk. 32) Isaiah 5:22 – Woe to “champion” drinkers and “experts” at mixing drinks. 33) Isaiah 19:14 – Drunken men stagger in their vomit. 34) Isaiah 22:12-13 – The Israelites choose to drink; their future looks hopeless to them. 35) Isaiah 24:9 – Drinkers cannot escape the consequences when God judges. 36) Isaiah 28:1 – God pronounces woe on the drunkards of Ephraim. 37) Isaiah 28:3 – Proud drunkards shall be trodden down. 38) Isaiah 28:7 – Priests and prophets stagger and reel from beer and wine, err in vision, and stumble in judgment. 39) Isaiah 28:8 – Drinkers’ tables are covered with vomit and filth. 40) Isaiah 56:9-12 – Drinkers seek their own gain and expect tomorrow to be just like today. 41) Jeremiah 35:2-14 – The Rechabites drank no grape juice or intoxicating wine and were blessed. 42) Ezekiel 44:21 – Again God instructed the priests not to drink wine. 43) Daniel 1:5-17 – Daniel refused the king’s intoxicating wine and was blessed for it along with his abstaining friends. 44) Daniel 5:1 – Belshazzar, ruler of Babylon; led his people in drinking. 45) Daniel 5:2-3 – The king, along with his nobles, wives, and concubines, drank from the goblets which had been taken from God’s temple. 46) Daniel 5:4 – Drinking wine was combined with praising false gods. 47) Daniel 5:23 – God sent word to Belshazzar that punishment would be swift for the evil he had committed. 48) Hosea 4:11 – Intoxicating wine takes away intelligence. 49) Hosea 7:5 – God reproves princes for drinking. 50) Joel 1:5 – Drunkards awake to see God’s judgment. 51) Joel 3:3 – The enemy is judged for selling girls for wine. 52) Amos 2:8 – Unrighteous acts of Israel included the drinking of wine which had been taken for the payment of fines. 53) Amos 2:12 – Israel is condemned for forcing Nazarites to drink wine. 54) Micah 2:11 – Israelites are eager to follow false teachers who prophesy plenty of intoxicating drinks. 55) Nahum 1:10 – The drunkards of Nineveh will be destroyed by God. 56) Habakkuk 2:5 – A man is betrayed by wine. 57) Habakkuk 2:15 – Woe to him that gives his neighbor drink. 58) Habakkuk 2:16 – Drinking leads to shame. 59) Matthew 24:48-51 – A drinking servant is unprepared for his Lord’s return. 60) Luke 1:15 – John the Baptist drank neither grape juice nor wine. 61) Luke 12:45 – Christ warned against drunkenness. 62) Luke 21:34 – Drunkenness will cause a person not to be ready for the Lord’s return. 63) Romans 13:13 – Do not walk in drunkenness or immorality. 64) Romans 14:21 – Do not do anything that will hurt your testimony as a believer. 65) 1 Corinthians 5:11 – If a Christian brother is a drinker, do not associate with him. 66) 1 Corinthians 6:10 – Drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of God 67) Galatians 5:21 – Acts of the sinful nature, such as drunkenness, will prohibit a person from inheriting the kingdom of God. 68) Ephesians 5:18 – In contrast to being drunk with wine, the believer is to be filled with the Spirit. 69) 1 Thessalonians 5:6-7 – Christians are to be alert and self-controlled, belonging to the day. Drunkards belong to the night and darkness. 70) 1 Timothy 3:2-3 – Bishops (elders) are to be temperate, sober, and not near any wine. 71) 1 Timothy 3:8 – Deacons are to be worthy of respect and not drinkers. 72) 1 Timothy 3:11 – Deacons’ wives are to be temperate and sober. 73) Titus 1:7-8 – An overseer is to be disciplined. 74) Titus 2:2-3 – The older men and older women of the church are to be temperate and not addicted to wine. 75) 1 Peter 4:3-4 – The past life of drunkenness and carousing has no place in the Christian’s life.
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The traditional interpretation of the story of Adam and Eve is that they disobeyed God by eating the forbidden apple, which is the origin of Original Sin. |
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We need to remember that there were two trees in the Garden: |
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“In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”… |
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And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” |
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Again the big question is why Adam and Eve choose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I would choose the tree of life. |
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Adam and Eve ate the apple, and when God realized this, He said: |
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“The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” |
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It is obvious that after eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil Adam and Eve realize that they are naked. This is definitely one step forward in their evolution. Acquiring the knowledge of good and evil means evolving from animals to human beings. Becoming human was both a blessing and a curse. There was much to be gained from it–as the Serpent said, “your eyes shall be opened”. |
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How does the story of Adam and Eve ends? Are we still evolving? What is the next step? |
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Remember what GOD said: “He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” |
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Can we try to taste THE TREE OF LIFE and live forever as promised by Christ? |
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Do you think that Jesus Christ pay for his baptism? |
| Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. |
| But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? |
| And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. |
| And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: |
| And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. |
| Matthew 3 (King James Version) |
| “Truth cannot be sold, it cannot be purchased” - Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi |
| All Sahaja Yoga public programs around the world are entirely free of charge and always open to the public. |
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Judges 13:4, 7, 14 – Samson was to be a Nazarite for life. His mother was told not to drink wine or strong drink.
