7/18/10 (Most
recent edition of SITE)
This is a
work in progress -- and we can use all the help we can get.
"Help" includes research, writing and technical help, as well
as argumentation from the other side.
You can reach us (me) at rsavage@nycap.rr.com.
For introductory stuff, start at
XIII. Purpose.
Messiah, or Not?
7/18/10
I . Appellant's "Brief"
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury:
- Apparently, back on Nisan 14 (April 1 & 2) of 3793 (33 CE), the Sanhedrin decided that
Jesus of Nazareth was a false Messiah and asked the Roman government
to have him executed. After a night of deliberation, the government
agreed to the request, and had Jesus crucified on the afternoon of Nisan
14.
- Acting as council for the crucified appellant, we will try to show
that Jesus was falsely accused, and actually WAS the prophesied Jewish
Messiah.
/
1.1. To the highly rational mind, the Jesus concept can appear quite
foolish (ridiculous, even). (Click Here)
1.2. This appearance, however, is only superficial -- and at least the obvious objections to the Jesus concept simply collapse under close scrutiny…
1.3. And in fact, upon close scrutiny, the Jesus concept turns out not foolish at
all.
1.4. There turn out to be SATISFYING explanations for what first
appear as foolish claims.
1.5. Not that these early explanations PROVE anything -- but if you can just open your
minds a little, and look under the surface a little, you will discover that the concept is actually well-evidenced and makes for a lot of unexpected
sense…
1.6. If you have dismissed this concept out of hand already, most likely
you just haven’t looked closely enough; if you have looked closely enough,
you’ve got to -- at the very least -- be “wondering.”.
1.7. (Come along with us as we lift the flap, and show you what we mean.)
2. IN TRYING TO KEEP AN OPEN MIND, KEEP
IN MIND THAT…
2.1. We humans are not as smart as we think we are.
2.2. We have never been as smart as we thought we were.
2.3. Based upon past experience, we should expect profound changes in
our scientific worldview in the next decade or two (let alone century
or two).
2.4. It’s always been that way -- only now, profound changes occur
virtually overnight.
2.5. We humans (especially us intellectuals) should not take ourselves
so seriously…
2.6. After all, as a chicken's understanding of reality is to human
understanding of reality, human understanding of reality COULD be to
perfect understanding. We humans trying to understand reality could
be like worms trying to understand calculus.
2.7. And then, our perception of life could be analogous to a dream...
3. THE WORLD IS PROBABLY “MAGICAL”
-- AND CONSEQUENTLY, RELIGION DOES MAKE SENSE.
3.1. At least many of us humans sense -- or imagine -- something we
call “TRANSCENDENCE,” or perhaps "SPIRITUALITY"
– if we call it anything. Some of us sense it more than do others;
perhaps, some of us sense it not at all.
3.2. Transcendence is an apparent (or alleged?) non-physical, a-rational
dimension of reality.
3.3. A belief in transcendence is like the “bottom line”
for religion. A belief in transcendence is what makes a philosophy,
or worldview, “religious.”
3.4. If we think that life has "meaning," or if we believe
in right and wrong, or "true love, "we are believing in something
transcendent (perhaps, unwittingly) and are implicitly believing in
AN ETHICAL, NON-PHYSICAL, AND “MAGICAL,” ASPECT TO REALITY.
3.5. This sense of transcendence is the “germ” of God.
3.6. If we intellectuals look closely at our own beliefs and attitudes,
most of us will find implications within said beliefs and attitudes
that simply do not fit with a physical, rational universe…For
instance
3.6.1. While CONSCIOUSNESS may be the result of purely physical causes,
consciousness, itself, would appear to be non-physical. (Link)
3.6.2. Then, if one believes in free will, one believes in magic. Logically
speaking, free will is impossible. (Free Will)
3.6.3. It turns out that existence itself doesn't make sense. If there
was nothing, now THAT would make sense. But, once there is something,
we seem to have an unsolvable analytic conundrum. (Link to follow)
3.6.4. And then, there’s the “Anthropic Principal”
– the fact that life in general depends upon numerous physical
constants being exactly what they are. If, for instance, the force of
universal gravity was just slightly less than it is, the universe would
be all gas. Quite a coincidence that it is what it is… And then,
there’s electromagnetism, the “strong force,” the
“weak force,” etc. If these were slightly different than
they are, we wouldn’t be here. (link to follow)
3.6.5. And finally, our own personal awareness is a statistical miracle.
Not only is it non-physical, it is also mathematically impossible. (IMMORTALITY)
3.7. To a large extent, however, we just look right through such beliefs
(probably like a fish does with its water), effectively taking the beliefs
for granted -- never noticing their transcendent implications .
4. WE HUMANS HAVE TWO QUALITATIVELY DIFFERENT
WAYS OF THINKING – WHICH MIGHT ACCOUNT FOR THE STRENGTH OF OUR
DIFFERING ATTITUDES TOWARDS RELIGION IN GENERAL.
4.1. The two hemispheres of our cerebral cortex are responsible for
this dichotomy.
4.2. One of our hemispheres (usually the left) thinks “analytically,”
while the other hemisphere thinks “holistically.”
4.3. It turns out that one of these ways (holistic) “appreciates”
TRANSCENDENCE, whereas the other (analytic) does not.
4.4. In other words, either the left hemisphere is “transcendence
blind,” or the right hemisphere hallucinates…
4.5. Fortunately, the evidence supports the former -- and undermines
many of the reasons for dismissing the Jesus concept…
4.6. We humans (especially us men) tend to be DOMINATED by one hemisphere
or the other. U.S. schools teach almost exclusively towards the left
hemisphere -- and naturally enough, intellectuals in the U.S. tend to
be dominated by their left hemispheres, and fail to appreciate religion…
5. THE EXISTENCE OF GOD, OR A VERY REASONABLE FACSIMILE THEREOF, SEEMS
ALTOGETHER UNAVOIDABLE -- IF WE CAREFULLY EXAMINE OUR SITUATION. (God)
5.1. Much of our doubt comes from a very limited ability to perceptualize
such an “entity.” At least in the backs of our heads, we’ve
got the wrong God in mind -- which keeps blocking any robust belief
we could have in Him (It) otherwise.
5.2. The idea of God sort of emanates from the “transcendence”
we sense (or imagine). As noted above, transcendence is like the “germ”
of God. If transcendence is real, God is probably real as well. He (or
It) would be like the transcendent WHOLE, or SOURCE. Maybe, "He"
would be the dimension, itself.
5.3. This transcendent whole, or source, would have to be CONSCIOUS,
and would have to CARE – because WE ARE, and WE DO.
5.4. If there is good and bad, there has to be an ethical dimension
of the Universe. Again, the Universe has to CARE.
5.5. Since NOTHING seems to make sense, that God doesn’t seem
to make sense shouldn’t bother us much.
5.6. The same goes for FREE WILL (It doesn't make sense either).
5.7. And then, there’s the Anthropic Principal. So far, there’s
no consensus amongst physicists as to how science can account for the
improbability of so many physical constants necessary for life being
precisely what they are…
5.8. And finally, PERSONAL AWARENESS is an absolute miracle that most
of us simply take for granted. If we look very closely, our personal
awareness seems to REQUIRE a God. And then, we are each such miracles
that the miraculousness required of a God should be no big obstacle
to a belief in him. And, we are said to be in His image...
6. AND THEN -- PROPHECY IS PROBABLY REAL.
6.1. Personally, this is my biggest problem with the Jesus concept.
While my INTELLECTUAL lean regarding prophecy (and the supernatural
in general) seems to be towards THEIR REALITY, my GUT REACTION is the
opposite. My gut reaction is, “No way!” (I’m tempted
to toss off this latter as simply EMOTIONAL -- but then, I have to admit
that it could be INTUITIVE instead…)
6.2. My personal “best guess” at this point is that prophecy
(and the supernatural in general) is real. It’s just difficult
to nail down scientifically due to the generally emotional nature of
its natural occurrence. (The right conditions are difficult, if not
impossible, to reproduce in a laboratory.) Another problem might be
the natural bias of most scientists. Scientists tend to be left-hemisphere
dominated, and consequently anti “magic” (as discussed above)
-- and accord their excuses (for apparently positive experimental results)
more weight than said excuses deserve. That’s my best guess so
far.
6.3. Note that “transcendent” is not the same as “supernatural.”
Superficially, at least, reality goes from transcendent, to supernatural
to natural (along the magical/non-magical dimension). It’s like
transcendence is truly magical, whereas the supernatural is “paranormal.”
In other words, transcendent seems more magical than does supernatural,
and if transcendence is real, the supernatural should be real also…
6.4. Perhaps the most impressive example to me of apparent prophecy
is the biblical one provided in Daniel 9:24. There are a few different
credible ways to interpret this prophecy regarding the Messiah entering
Jerusalem for the first time as “King,” but, one of those
ways has this entrance occurring exactly 173,880 days after the decree
by Artaxerxes to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem -- or March 30 of 33
CE. Amongst modern biblical scholars, this happens to be the most popular
date for this entrance -- without any reference to Daniel’s prediction
to arrive at that date! (Link)
6.5. Next, the ancient symbology in the stars clearly predicts a “Redeemer”
along the lines of the Biblical Jesus (Jewish, in the lineage of Judah,
G-d's son, born of a virgin, doing battle with the devil, suffering
and dying for our sins, rising, etc)… This ancient symbology includes
a TIMETABLE for this Redeemer that is a perfect match with the timetable
presented in the Christian Bible for Jesus… (LINK BELOW)
7. AND THEN, IF GOD AND PROPHECY ARE REAL, CAN JESUS BE MUCH OF A LEAP?
7.1. It turns out that the NEW TESTAMENT is extremely historical. Recent
archeological discoveries fit it like a glove. (Link to follow)
7.2. The early growth of Christianity, especially around Jerusalem,
would seem to defy any claim that the apostles had “made up”
their stories. (Link to follow)
7.3. As would the eventual fate of the apostles. The apostles were all
persecuted for their continued preaching, and except for John (who was
banished), were all eventually EXECUTED for their preaching. (Link to
follow)
7.4. Christianity is now the world’s largest religion. The world’s
second largest religion is Islam – which also believes that Jesus
was the prophesied Jewish Messiah and was born of a virgin – not
to mention its belief that the body of Jesus went directly to Heaven
upon his death.
7.5. The Sanhedrin was a highly political and powerful group and would
have rejected any Messiah that was not accompanied by a large army.
And besides, they were expecting a Warrior King anyway. (Link to follow.)
7.6. The 'face' of the Messiah in OT cloud looks a whole lot like Jesus.
It is very easy to fit the New Testament Jesus with the Old Testament
prophecies of a coming Messiah. (Link to follow)
7.7. The symbolic meaning given to the stars by the ancients long before
Jesus, predicts a very Jesus-like Messiah. So, the 'face' in the STARS
also looks a whole lot like Jesus. (Link to follow.)
7.8. In addition, the TIMETABLE given by these symbolic stars is a perfect
fit with the timetable of Jesus given by the New Testament. (LINK BELOW)
7.9. A group of WELL-RESPECTED MATHEMATICIANS claim to have found actual
CODING in the Bible confirming the Jesus story -- and correctly predicting
the future so far... (Link to follow.)
7.10. If the Shroud of Turin is not the burial cloth of Jesus, it must
be a fraud perpetrated by space aliens -- we humans still cannot perpetrate
it. (Link to follow.)
8. AND FINALLY, THE JESUS CONCEPT FITS HUMAN NATURE LIKE A GLOVE.
(This is a lot of material, and I have yet to develop an effective abstract
for it.)
test
Links: (1.1),
(3), (3.6.2),
(3.6.5), (5),
(5.6), (6.5),
(7.8)
For introductory stuff, click on the following:
XIII. Purpose
XIV.
Background
XV.
Courtroom Procedures
To get on with the trial, click on
II. Foolishness