Fwd: SOUL...

-----Original Message-----
From: b <rrdd3939@aol.com>
To: rrdd3939 <rrdd3939@aol.com>
Sent: Mon, Jan 30, 2012 6:38 pm
Subject: SOUL...

             Plato Man in the Cave Series continues: Soul

             by Richard DePersio and Citizen Journalist

Hopper's Excursion into Philosophy

Hopper Authority Gail Levin: "The open book is Plato. Plato philosopher in search

of real and true, must turn away from this transitory realm and contemplate eternal

Forms and Ideas. Passive man in Hopper's painting positioned between the lure of

the earthly domain figured by the woman and the call to the higher domain

represented by the ethereal lightfall. The pain of thinking about this choice and

its consequences, after reading Plato all night is evident. He is paralyzed by the

fervent inner labor of the melancholic.

The heart of the Jewish Bible - the Torah does not explicitly refer to soul or life

after death.

The Meaning of Jesus - Two Visions by Borg and Wright (Harpar): "There

was a spectrum of belief in first-century Judaism. The Sadducees, the ruling

elite, denied a future life of any sort. This may be because those who

believed strongly in the future life were the more ready to risk death in seeking

political or religious reform. One can well imagine that existing rulers would not

wish to encourage such attitudes." The Sadducees were supported by the Jewish

People and had a good relationship with the Romans just so long as the Jews

weren't encouraged to rebel.

"Many Jews believed in a continuing life after death, but in a disembodied state

that neither need nor expected a future reembodiment. The Alexandrian philosopher

 Philo took this view--hardly surprising, in view of his blending together of Plato's

philosophy and Jewish tradition. So did the book Jubilees, which was popular at

Quman and probably other cities." It is part of the Jewish Old Testament.

"At the other end of the spectrum from the Sadducees we find the Pharisees, with

their well-known belief in the resurrection of the body." It was part of their reform

agenda which might lead to revolution. God would establish justice on earth and

the righteous dead would be raised to life to enjoy that which they had longed.

The Essences prophesied a Messiah who would be crucified.

For Paul, the body will decay. The body is animated by soul. Paul had been a

Pharisee; he felt body and soul would be reunited. The new body being a spiritual body.

 You can see Plato's influence: soul imprisoned in body, soul will return to heaven,

 no reuniting though. Paul contrasts a body animated by soul and later a body

animated by spirit - presumably God's spirit.

What do today's Jews think? Orthodox Jews contend that a personal Messiah in the

line of David will create a new world of peace and justice; no war or hunger or jeolesy or

rivalry; everyone devoted to knowing god better. Conservative Jews think it

unlikely that there will be a Messiah but believe God will cause a Messianic Age.

Reform Jews hold a believe in a Messianic Age. Reconstructionist Jews don't think

that there will be a divinely-inspired Messonic Age but that people can create it. To Jews

life after death isn't as important as what you do with your life now. More developed life

after death concepts came after Torah was written - Hellenistic influence. What happens

when you die? Jews can believe in Heaven and Hell or not since there isn't much

written about it. Reconstructionist least likely to believe in H & H. They are also free to

believe that it has to do with how close or distant your soul is from God after death.

There is mounting evidence that Paul was influenced by Jesus, Plato and Philo. Paul

came from what is now Turkey. It had been part of the Greek Empire. The Hellenistic

Part of the Roman Empire. All wealthy and educated Romans

were familiar with Ancient Greece, especially,  the Hellenists: they still spoke Greek,

as well as Roman. Most Romans didn't speak Greek.

Fwd: PLATO'S WORLD continues...

-----Original Message-----
From: b <rrdd3939@aol.com>
To: rrdd3939 <rrdd3939@aol.com>
Sent: Mon, Jan 23, 2012 3:22 pm
Subject: PLATO'S WORLD continues...

                                   PLATO'S WORLD continues (More on Our Sub-Floors)

                                           by Citizen Journalist and Richard DePersio

 

Paul, who called himself the 13th Apostle, never met Jesus but converted shortly after

He was crucified. Paul was hellenistic (born in what is now Turkey, it had been part of

the Greek Empire; Paul would have been well-versed in Greek philosophy/mythology/

language. We previously pointed out the similarities between the older story of

Hercules and Jesus.

       Over 60% of the New Testament concerns Paul's ideas on Jesus, concerns Paul's

life plus he composed most of the Pauline Letters. Most Biblical experts contend that

the original apostles believed that Jesus was the Messiah but not the type of Messiah

that the Jews expected: A warrior king who would lead the Jews against the Romans and

establish a New Earth. Paul considered Jesus to be the Son of God, as well as, the

Messiah. A few of the apostles, including, Peter would come to except Paul's concept

of Jesus.

       Paul was teaching pagans about Jesus outside of Jerusalem while the apostles

weren't leaving that city where Adrew was its bishop. Protestants think that Andrew and

Jesus had the same mother: Mary. Catholics don't believe that Jesus had siblings.

       They felt that bringing the word of god to pagans was premature. They finally caved

but told Paul that first he had to convert pagans to be Jews and, then, Jews who believed

in Jesus. He refused. Finally, he agreed to teach pagans 3 of the 613 commandments

(most people are familiar with the top ten). He largely ignored this promise.

       What emerged were several 'Jews who believe in Jesus' groups - one of which

traced itself back to Andrew; several Pauline Christian groups - one of which traced its

roots to Paul and would become the largest; Gnostic groups which had unusual ideas

concerning Jesus. Paul defined Christianity by combining the life and philosophy of

Jesus with Greek philosophy/mythology.

        About 300 years after Jesus was crucified, the Emperor Constantine, who considered

himself the 13th Apostle. forced the other groups to combine with the largest Pauline

group thus creating the Catholic Church. Those who refused went underground and

died out after a couple of hundred years or so.

       Between 100 years before Jesus to a couple of hundred years after, there were

faith healers, rain makers and miracle workers in the Galilee and beyond. Some were

contemporary with Jesus and their followers referred to them as 'son of god.' We know

about them thanks to the number historian of the first century Josephus.

 

Can one believe in God based on Reason rather than Faith? Can one forego miracles,

revelations and prophesies and acquire a scientific understanding? Remember the words:

the Laws of Nature (physics) and Nature's God (God as one with the cosmos).

                            To be continued...

Fwd: The Mysteries that Reside in Plato's Heaven

-----Original Message-----
From: b <rrdd3939@aol.com>
To: rrdd3939 <rrdd3939@aol.com>
Sent: Mon, Jan 16, 2012 12:31 pm
Subject: The Mysteries that Reside in Plato's Heaven

Plato's Man in the Cave Series continues: The Mysteries that Still Reside in Plato's Heaven Part 3

                                                       (More Downstairs)

                                      by Richard DePersio with Citizen Journalist

 

 

Ideas spread slowly in the Ancient World: Traders would exchange ideas; ideas were

exchanged after the conquest of one group of another.

      God of fresh water warns one man of the plans of other gods to flood the world;

only that man is saved. Sound familiar? This is part of ancient Mesopotamian mythology

and was written about a thousand years prior to Biblical story. There are a number of

ancient flood stories which would indicate that there had been a major flood in the

Persian Gulf area.

      No concept of the punishment should fit the crime: Getting water from rock!?!: Moses

wanders in the desert for 40 years and God finally says - look at the horizon, there lies

the Promised Land that you have waited for all these years - - but you're not going for the

other day I spied you extracting water from a rock using a procedure other than the one

I had taught you! How dare Moses exercise the Free Will for which God had blessed

him!

      Over the past couple of decades, we are discovering evidence of the existence of

people and events in the Bible for which evidence had not existed previously, for example,

meteorological, biological and geological explanations for the 10 plagues of Egypt or the

destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by a meteor assuming that there had been 10 plaques

and that there was a S & G. There exist alternative explanations. There is even growing

evidence that there had indeed been the plagues and that S & G existed.

     It is easy to imagine early homo sapiens existing in a frightening world: rain; snow;

hurricanes; lightning and thunder; volcanoes; earthquakes; forest fires; etc. And, thinking

that gods were responsible and that prayer was wise. With time came religion: group

prayer might be more effective in getting the god of thunder not to produce thunder.

     Let's assume that all the people and events of the Bible are true. We can now posit

alternate explanations of a non-supernatural nature for them. Does this mean that their

is no God? To the contrary! God is likely to exist - just not the God of the Bible.

     The famous 18th Century philosopher Kant claimed that reason could not prove the

existence of God but that it was reasonable to believe based on faith. We disagree! It

is reasonable to think that God is possible, even probable, predicated on reason. We

shall present our arguments.

                                     To Be Continued...

Fwd: THE MYSTERIES...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: b <rrdd3939@aol.com>
Date: Sun, Jan 8, 2012 at 9:03 PM
Subject: Fwd: THE MYSTERIES...
To: citizenjournalistrd@gmail.com

                  THE MYSTERIES THAT STILL RESIDE IN PLATO'S HEAVEN - Part Two

                     (Part One can be found in Hell - one floor down; tip elevator operator)

                                     by Richard DePersio with Citizen Journalist

 

Some Gnostics (about 200 B.C.-400 A.D.) believed that the god of the Old Testament was

an imperfect god who shouldn't be held responsible for his imperfections. They contended

that there was one god who was perfect in its main part but the further removed from the

main part the less perfect: the god of the O.T. was a portion most distant.

        God instructs Abraham to sacrifice his son. In a nick of time an angel arrives and says:

"April Fools. Sacrifice this animal instead." Concerning another Biblical character, the devil

says that he adores you because he has so much. Let me take things away from him and

so if he continues to love you. The devil takes away his wife followed by his children

followed by his house followed by his wealth. He strikes him with illnesses. In the end,

he still adores God. What kind of a God this. He can't refuse a dare like a child in a

school yard? Couldn't he tell the the devil: I can see the future and he will continue to

adore me. I won't allow you to make him suffer. I don't have to prove anything to you. The

people build that Tower of Babel to reach heaven. An apparently fearful God destroys the

tower when near completion and replaces the one language with the many so that the

people can't cooperate on such an undertaking again.

Don't get us wrong: We think that it would be a better world if everyone lived by the Bible.

We maintain that good/bad and right/wrong should be determined by the Bible and by the

majority, otherwise, you don't have society, you have chaos. Which is where we have been

heading since the 1940s, especially, the 1960s! We wonder why God doesn't practice what

 he preaches when it comes to morality.

        On the cross, Jesus says to the Father: "Father, forgive them for they know not

what they do." We wonder if God responded: "You wuss. Didn't a teach you better?

Put a pox on their houses. Flood the Romans or give them a disease or kill their first

born. Turning then into pillars of salt wouldn't be a bad idea; though, not original. You don't

take after me; you must take after your mother!"

We acknowledge that there is mounting historical and archeological evidence that the

people and places of the Bible did exist. However, there are alternate geological,

meteorological and astronomical explanations for some of the Biblical events.

Further, we see where the existence of some kind of Deity might be necessary to explain

the universe.

                                             To Be Continued...

 

Fwd: MYSTERIES...

-----Original Message-----
From: b <rrdd3939@aol.com>
To: rrdd3939 <rrdd3939@aol.com>
Sent: Sun, Jan 1, 2012 3:57 pm
Subject: MYSTERIES...

                     THE MYSTERIES THAT STILL RESIDE IN PLATO'S HEAVEN

                                  by Richard DePersio with Citizen Journalist

Science thus far fails to explain:

1) How was something created from nothing? or What proceeded the Big Bang?

2) How did inanimate matter become living matter?

3) How did living matter become conscious?

 

Is there  a God?

The God of the Old Testament gives humans free will and is, then, awfully cruel

when they exercise it in a manner not to his liking! He doesn't seem to appreciate

the concept: The punishment should fit the crime.

       He sits atop a very tall mountain with the devil from which all the earth can be

seen - implying that the earth is flat. The devil says: Of course, they adore you.

Give them free will and they will choose me. And, so the competition begins. God

wins! According to the "Book of Revelation." The devil should protest. The contest

was decided in advance!

       Adam and Eve exercise free will, make the wrong choice and are banished from

"The Garden of Eden" to suffer disease and aging. So much for compassion!

       Virtually everyone chooses the devil and God floods everyone except for Noah,

his family and some animals.

       God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah except for Lot and his family and tells them

to leave and not look back. Lot's wife looks back and is turned into a pillar of salt -

depriving a man of his wife and children of their mother. Couldn't God say: "Women!

What am I going to do with them? They never listen. I'll give her a bad cold or

take away the use of her left arm."

       The religious will say: "God acts in mysterious ways." Baloney! In Plato's Heaven

certain acts are clearly defined as cruel whether committed by God or human.

       Ten plagues befall the ancient Egyptians (including, the death of their first born sons)

 before these tough guys relent and allow the Israelites to exit. Pharaoh changes his mind and

is in hot pursuit. The Jews make it safely across the Jordan River for God acting through

Moses parted the water. The Jews are safely across. Does God acting through Moses

restore the water, thereby, making it impossible for the Egyptian army to continue their pursuit?

Of course not. He has them go on the riverbed and, then, releases the water. He likes

droning! You can't blame our ancient Jews for Moses had been manipulated; Moses had no

choice in the matter.

                              TO BE CONTINUED...

As Colombo would say: "Just one more thing." This author is not an atheist. We ask that the

religious give him a fair hearing. We are all in pursuit of truth.