TheInvisibleDan

Animal sacrifices at twi? That's a step down from their past human sacrifices, isn't it?

Is it possible that some revelations and realizations that might occur within a person's mind & spirit & soul cannot be so easily (if at all) nailed by words onto a page? Such may have been Paul's experience when he was caught away into the third heaven. Danny

Mark, this is precisly the Zoroastrian interpretation of the lake of fire - for reason of purification. Zoroastrian eschatological/apocalyptic ideas contributed a major influence upon the formation of Jewish/Christian eschatology. Revisiting the earlier, Zoroastrian idea behind the "lake of fire" - which was toward purification and universal salvation - may prove most beneficial to your case. If you have access to a copy to an older edition of "The World Bible" - which is a compilation of excerpts from scriptures of the various major religions - it includes an excerpt describing the Zorastrian lake or river of fire, of people passing through it, and afterward a reuniting of old friends and loved ones. I'll reproduce this section here if you haven't seen this. Danny

Rawk on Jerry. When I first read Jonas' "The Gnostic Religion" it literally induced headaches. I think just as much due to the theologian's writing style as anything contained in these strange new scriptures. It's akin to listening to Emerson, Lake and Palmer's "Tarkus" or "Brain Salad Surgery" for the first time. Weird...but cool. Danny

The Good God Rescues Humanity from the Wrathful Creator's Hell (excerpt of an ancient Marcionite story reported by Eznik de Kolb, Book IV, Against the Sects) And [the Creator god] cast Adam into Hell because of the tree, and so went on casting all mankind into hell, up to twenty-nine generations. And (they say) the Good God [247], a Stranger (to the world), who was sitting in the third heaven, seeing that so many people perished and were tortured between the two deceivers, the Lord of Creatures and Matter [Hyle], took compassion upon those who were cast into the fire and tortured. He sent His Son to go and save them, and to take the likeness of a slave and assume the form of a man among the sons of the god of the Law. "Heal," He said, "their lepers, and raise their dead to life, and open the eyes of their blind, and do among them (878) great cures without price; until the Lord of Creatures sees you, and becomes jealous, and lifts you upon the cross (879). And then, when you die, you shall descend into Hades, and bring them up from thence; for Hades is not prone to admit life in it. And therefore go up on the cross, that you may become like the dead, and Hades may open its mouth to admit you, and you may enter into the midst of it and empty it." [248] And when he (the God of the Law) crucified Him (they say), He descended into Hades and emptied it. And taking the souls from the midst of it, He led them into the third heaven to His Father. And the Lord of Creatures, being inflamed, in anger rent his garment and the veil of his temple, and darkened his sun and clothed his world in blackness, and sat in grievous mourning.

As a neo-Marcionite, I skip the apocryphal birth legends altogether for the older, wilder version: He descended from Heaven in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar, entering the world as a nameless Stranger. Like a cross between Star Trek and those old "Spaghetti Westerns". "...the gods do disguise themselves as strangers from abroad, and wander round the towns in every kind of shape..." The Odyssey, book XVII, p.232, Rieu.

When they strap him into the electric chair, he can henceforth be called: "The BK Burger". ;)-->

Thank you Pirate, for the fine evidence against that myth. Danny

"Lust for Life"?

TommyZ- I play guitar too (a classical electric). I use two older programs, Sound Forge 4.5 and Cool Edit Pro v.1.2a. So easy to use and record on hard-drive - even I can do it (lol). I couldn't live without Cool Edit Pro. It's one of the easiest and more efficient programs I have found to do multi-track recordings. And it's great with f/x plug-ins (DSP, Hyperprism, TC Native), though the plug-ins that come with this version are quite good. It's amazing what one can do to tailor each individual track with the plug-ins. And one can multitrack 8 tracks or more with this prog, depending on how much memory your PC has. I have other progs yet to figure out, but the two progs I mentioned are great for anyone starting out, and are very easy to use. And the quality and clarity far exceeds that of my old Fostex 4 track cassette recorder (lol). One more prog worth mentioning is the freeware "Recordlab Internet Tape Deck" which is good for multitracking, and easiest to use midi keyboards with if mixing with the guitars. But Cool Edit Pro is still at the top of my list. There are without doubt better programs, but this one has proven most user-friendly for me. Danny

She's prettier. So I've heard.

lol! I guess they don't call 'em "unclean spirits" for nothing.

Hi Highway, I thought there was a possibility that the original link you provided was done so out of complete innocence on your part. The new links you provided are much preferable. Thank you. Perhaps I was being a bit paranoid when clicking on that first link, but when I explored that site a page further, I didn't stick around to click around. One can't be too careful on the internet nowadays. In any event, my issue was with the first site you cited - not with you. Thanks again for the new links. Danny

Dr. Gene Scott was an immensely entertaining, unique and learned teacher/lecturer - there was no one else quite like him on the airwaves. Whether it was biblical theology, or discussions on the paranormal ( e.g., Atlantis, the Bermuda Triangle, Demonology, Roswell, the pre-flood canopy - Art Bell owes much to him) - he was always very fascinating to watch and listen to. Except for that time when he stormed out of the studio when not enough people got on "those telephones!" - and the camera remained fixed on an empty chair for 6 hours (lol). What a character. I had the good fortune of formatting an article by him last year, which original typed draft included his handwritten Aramaic. Thanks to Dr. Gene Scott's generous support for that particular writing project, I was able to finish painting my house last summer. Thanks Dr. Gene Scott. Rest in peace. Danny

I've never been to Louisiana - but it sure sounds like a fun place. Other music using Bayou themes is the soundtrack music to the 1945 documentary "Louisiana Story" by the late Virgil Thomson (I think he even won a Pulitzer prize that year for his score). There were two suites derived from that soundtrack. Think perky symphonic music featuring an accordian. Danny

which appears to be a man-love-boy site. Anyone who clicks on that link may well end up on some FBI watch list. Couldn't you locate a more respectable source outside of one actually wanting nothing more than all these allegations concerning Barrie to be true? [re-edited to tone down earlier, more emphatic reaction, to say the least.]

I saw them in Hartford during the late 80s, where they opened a show for Eric Clapton (with Mark Knoffler). Great show. I distinctly remember Zydeco's bass player playing a guitar shaped like a tobasco sauce jar.

"One Flew Over the Cukoos Nest"?

Maybe I'll luck out and get a free HBO weekend. It's been quite awhile since that last happened though.

Sea Monsters...like "Nessie" and "Champy"? You might try typing "Cryptozoology" in any search engine. www.Forteantimes.com might also have stuff along those lines. Or better yet, rent the entertaining flick "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" Danny

Whoa - contrary to what I initially thought was a Readers Digest "True Drama in Real Life" yarn, - a fight for survival while bobbing in the sea for an hour and a half - the last thing I expected was a 1970s kind of ending. Thanks for warning me. Perhaps I'll catch it (or at least that ending) on the USA network a couple years from now. Danny

Sounds kind of boring. Two people floating in the sea for an hour and a half? Sticking a fork in a toaster sounds more exciting.

Held anywhere by a seashore? with campfires, clam and lobster bakes, and free beer? I do like their theme of the "banquet".

Sky - You're very welcome. Danny

Excellent post, Tom. But are we concerned with a different kind of "adultery" - or more with the "heart" underlying the same, as you pointed with one example? Does it necessitate one coming up with a "spiritual" doppelganger of adultery, as if the "physical" version wasn't bad enough? What is also apparent from the examples you cited is that fornication can be presented literally or metaphorically or even collectively. I suspect any disagreements we might have has more to do with a question of semantics. I would be more inclined to consider a "spiritual" angle to adultery than come up with a spiritual version or double for the vice, as was done in the Way. Did the Way leaders for one minute consider the spiritual "side" of the physical adultery they were committing? (or that their physical fornication stemmed from their spiritual state?) No, to the contrary - to them (as I had often heard) "spiritual fornication" was the act of believing the trinity. Danny