Posts: 3539
From: California
Registered: Oct 2001

posted February 05, 2004 09:23 PM         

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I am such a Sucka! that I ordered the book. ordered it used off of amazon for like $10.......

Does being a Taurus have anything to do with being a Sucka?!

but probably being a Taurus had to do with smart shopping finding the cheapest price

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Posts: 6660
From: Blue Star Kachina
Registered: Mar 2002

posted February 08, 2004 09:53 AM         

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YaY I just got it. My frugality sent me to the library As much as I read, I can`t possably ever afford all the books I want.

Can`t wait to dig in it

juniperb

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If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans. ~James Herriot

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posted February 09, 2004 08:13 PM           

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Kewl - something for me to do while on bedrest (I'm there with ya, juni) - I'll get the other "military wife" with a husband in WOCS to pick it up for me

Right now I'm ploughing through Zen and the Birds of Appetite by Thomas Merton (a wonderful, brilliant man and philosopher...but, whew...a little dense to get through when he delves into religious philosophy) & re-reading my favorite bits of Lewis Thomas' Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler's Ninth Symphony while picking around The Simarillion, but I'd like a good, meaty straight fiction to digest (yes, I know that the last one listed is fiction, but it reads like the Old Testament).

Re: "The Passion of the Christ": Looks veeery interesting, and don't let the the subtitles dissuade you. It seems to be a true work of...well...passion by Mel Gibson, and such devotion will have at the very least interesting fruits, no?

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Posts: 54
From:
Registered: Mar 2003

posted February 09, 2004 09:08 PM         

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thought ya'll might find this link interesting

i haven't read it yet, but do u think there might be sum truth in this?

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Posts: 54
From:
Registered: Mar 2003

posted February 09, 2004 09:08 PM         

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thought ya'll might find this link interesting

i haven't read it yet, but do u think there might be sum truth in this?
http://www.planetlightworker.com/articles/jimewing/article4.php

(sorry for the double-posting)

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posted February 09, 2004 09:19 PM           

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http://movies.go.com/movies/D/davincicode_2004/index.html <--- link to some info on the movie being made of _The DaVinci Code_

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Posts: 24756
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted February 10, 2004 09:39 AM         

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"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

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Posts: 24756
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted February 14, 2004 10:44 AM         

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There's a big theological debate now over this and whether or not Jesus took a wife.

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"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

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Posts: 3061
From: King Arthur's Camelot
Registered: Jun 2002

posted February 14, 2004 12:29 PM         

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I firmly believe he took Mary Magdalene as his wife. Nor have I read the Davinci Code.

What is really going to bust your chops is if Mary Magdalene was his counter part.

If you know what I mean.

-StarLover

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Posts: 3691
From: New England
Registered: Mar 2003

posted February 14, 2004 01:11 PM         

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I agree with you StarLover. I have always believed they were married and I too have never read the book. I've wondered if she became a prostitute when he left. I do believe the old legends of his journeys and initiation in Egypt and India. Perhaps she felt abandoned and did it out of spite and sadness. Maybe she gave up believeing he would come back. It would be more than understandable. Gives new depth to his words of forgiveness and understanding, "though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow"

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Posts: 24756
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted February 15, 2004 11:15 AM         

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I wonder if Jesus ever spoke of his heavenly "mother."

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"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

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Posts: 24756
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted February 16, 2004 02:53 PM         

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Some Mormons believe that God has a wife. Interesting.

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"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

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posted February 16, 2004 04:44 PM           

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A lil' OT:

One of those hour-long news magazines is going to have a special on "The Passion of the Christ" tonight, I think at 10 PM EST.

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Posts: 1095
From:
Registered: Oct 2003

posted February 16, 2004 06:26 PM         

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I have never ever believed that that the Magdelene was ever a prostitute. That was written in to maintain the "evil of women" diatribe that Catholics had to keep up in order to usurp power.

It was put in to discredit her and further the idea of Peter that women could not be part of the Church.

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Posts: 3691
From: New England
Registered: Mar 2003

posted February 16, 2004 06:42 PM         

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Yeah, I've pondered that theory too MK. I have a DEEP distrust of the Catholic Church. Going back centuries, I think. A deep distrust that can quickly turn into fear and loathing w/o a real effort to keep it under control. So it's easy for me to believe they screwed w/ the records to further their cause. No doubt in my mind. Certainly the church elders took advantage of the situation though. Anyway, I don't think it neccesarily discredits her. She fell, He forgave Her. He left Her, She forgave Him. To forgive your own wife for losing faith and falling in such a way says much. I don't think any less of her. Peter (NOT one of my favorite figures from the Bible )lost faith for a bit as well. I think it fits in with the Isis/Osiris story too. No proof though. Just a feeling.

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posted February 16, 2004 08:02 PM           

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Actually, I've heard from several sources that there's no basis in the actual text of the Bible for assuming that the "fallen" Mary who "cleansed Jesus' feet" is the same Mary Magdeline who "saw him first risen".
A while ago, even the Catholic Church itself (that is, the Vatican) issued a statement saying just that.
(I don't know the exact references as I'm not Catholic/not Christian, but just remember reading such.)
That was just kinda tacked-on by some at some point.

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posted February 16, 2004 08:11 PM           

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Ah, here's some of it:

WILLIAMS: Nothing in the New Testament says she was a prostitute. Luke writes that Jesus casts seven demons from her, after which she joins his disciples and provides for them. She witnesses the crucifixion from the foot of the cross, the male disciples having fled. And she was the first witness to the resurrection and was sent by Jesus to tell his other disciples of his return.

How did Mary Magdalene, the pivotal player in Christianity's defining moment, come to be so maligned? At the end of the 6th century, Pope Gregory the Great gave a sermon in which he characterized Mary Magdalene as a harlot.

Dr. KING: He tells us exactly how he did it -- by aligning her with the "sinful woman" in Luke, with Mary of Bethany in John, and with the Mary in -- from whom seven devils were ejected to produce this Mary, the prostitute.

WILLIAMS: Mary Magdalene became the patron saint of fallen women. Historians don't agree on why Pope Gregory did it. To simplify things? To create a figure that would show the redemptive and transforming nature of Christian faith? Or, as King believes, to stifle the legend of a strong female leader?

Dr. KING: If one wanted to discredit Mary Magdalene, simply saying that she was a woman and her witness was unreliable was not sufficient. Saying that she hadn't been an important disciple, or hadn't been with Jesus -- that was not possible, because that was in the tradition. But to see her as a prostitute -- this was a way of maligning her in a way that would stick, if you will.

WILLIAMS: Mary Magdalene's reputation as a bad girl who became the hope of all bad girls did indeed stick. It persists today even though in 1969 the Vatican, without commenting on Pope Gregory's reasoning, officially separated Luke's sinful woman, Mary of Bethany, and Mary Magdala.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week712/feature.html

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posted February 16, 2004 08:22 PM           

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Ohhh - And something that may interest ya'll:
http://www.speakingoffaith.org/programs/2004/01/29_davinci/
^--Deciphering _The Da Vinci Code_ from "Speaking of Faith", a National Public Radio production; includes the 53 min. program in Real Audio

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Posts: 24756
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted February 17, 2004 08:01 AM         

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"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

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Posts: 3691
From: New England
Registered: Mar 2003

posted February 17, 2004 08:46 PM         

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I don't doubt for a minute that Mary of Bethany, who was the sister of Lazarus, was also Mary Magdalan. I think my belief that Magdala was, even if only for a short time, a prostitute, isn't really based on anything in the Bible. We can twist the Bible into defending anything at all, can't we? Rather, it is a belief based on old legends and my heart. After all, the "word of God is written in the hearts of men", right? It just seems to make sense to me. Then again, maybe it's just the musings of an overly romantic, sometimes too dramatic mind. Dunno.

What do you think O Wise Randall?

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Posts: 1095
From:
Registered: Oct 2003

posted February 17, 2004 09:46 PM         

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Tink.....I am right there with you on your opinion of the Catholic Church. Given that I was forcibly raised to belong to it, I have lots of ammunition.

Being the precocious child I was, it made for a rocking good time in catechism....

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posted February 17, 2004 10:14 PM           

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*shrugs*

I have no onion one way or another on the matter...I was raised atheist.

Cheers.

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Posts: 3691
From: New England
Registered: Mar 2003

posted February 18, 2004 08:26 AM         

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I've meet a few people who evolved into atheisim, but never anyone who was brought up in it. What was that like, proxieme? Really, truly atheist or more like agnostic?

Mk, hearing someone mention catechism gave me a good chuckle. I grew up a shy, little English/Episcopalian girl in a overwhelmingly Italian/Catholic town. Not an easy fit. 1 or 2 times a week the elementary scoolteacher would anounce at the end of class that catechism would be held that day. Anyone enrolled would need to stay after. I had NO idea what this catechism thing was and for some reason was too afraid to ask. I got the distinct feeling though that it involved some mild form of torture and a whole lot of brainwashing. How far off was I? Just a few days ago, my Italian/recovering Catholic husband and I drove past the Church where his catechism classes were held. So I finally asked, "what exactly is catechism? "He shrugged and said, "we just memorized prayers". Hmm. I was strangely disappointed. Maybe he's covering up something?

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posted February 18, 2004 08:37 AM           

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It was atheism as far as my dad was concerned, although I never really quite took to it.
*edit*
I always feel slightly goofy writing this stuff out, but it can be found at the beginning of this paper that I wrote for one of my classes:
http://www.angelfire.com/oz/proxy0/NVPSReflEssay3.wps.htm

Re: more of the subjective experience: I don't really know how to describe it - it was just how I was raised. It's my frame of reference, and I'm not that great at stepping outside of it yet. I was just raised to *know* that the biological/physical was/is all that there is & that those who believe otherwise were/are ignorant or deluded.

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Posts: 24756
From: Columbus, GA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted February 18, 2004 08:37 AM         

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I have no idea.

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"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

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