All we know is all they did...

Hello EVERYONE!

What is up with me these days? Look at this, I am still alive my followers! All hope is not lost! How long did I go without a new post...? A full week EXACTLY! Never, again. Anyhow, here I am -- just be prepared -- this post is not about a certain topic, I just wanted to share some thoughts about the matter... so ye never know what might happen, haha.
Let's open with a quote, shall we not? 

 "Every man's memory is his own private literature." -Aldous Hexley

 So, while I've been given this week of non-blogging, I've had time while working to think about this topic a whole lot, so much that I can scrounge an entire post out of it. Alright, so you know how we were talking about the Gospel JOHN a whole bunch over here and right here?  Well, as most of you reading my blog know, the Gospel of John is addressed to "the Disciple whom Jesus Loved" (go and click those links for an adventure), meaning that it was written by someone who knew, and loved, Jesus, not just some dude 300 years off - but that is what is so cool, none of them were. Historians believe that "Mark" was the earliest gospel, and that surprisingly "John" is the latest. You see, all of the Gospels *had* to of been written by people who knew Jesus, had memories with Him and of Him, but there is one thing consisting between all of them -- none of them are the same. It is bizarre, John, supposedly closest to our Lord, has been proved most historically incorrect of all four Gospels! So why did I open with that random quote? Because what I'm trying to say here is, they were (the Gospels) all written in memory. No one actually came home and wrote each evening after being with Him all day, no, once He was long in Heaven and they were all in the place they'd spend for the rest of their life, (for some that was Europe, some stayed in Israel) then and only then did they start writing!  What the heck does this have to do with Mary Magdalene? Think about it -- (on the topic we're talking... no pun intended-ish) this is why we no info on her, or her "relationship status" with the Lord. It is astonishing that they (the Apostles and Disciples who wrote "John" "Mark" "Matthew" and "Luke") remember every detail that they do (but how could they forget THAT), but certainly they wouldn't remember her and Jesus' sexual/romantic relationship, if there was one in the first place! Plus, we must remember that if there indeed was, it would not be as in the public as modern relationships nowadays are. Can everyone go recall the Samaritan woman incident over in John 4? So in this scene, Jesus is taking to a Samaritan woman, who is confused for two reasons: 1, Jews and Samaritans hated each other, and never, ever crossed paths. 2, men and women back in the day treated each other like a different species. Here, let good ol' Timothy teach ya' a good ol' lesson or two:       

" ¹¹ Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.¹² But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.¹³ For Adam was first formed, then Eve.¹⁴ And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression."  

Sorry if I offended anyone, but I'm a woman here, so it's all cool. So my point is, that imagine you're John- for a small part of a random Tuesday, Mary Magdalene gos and "excuses" herself to be with Jesus for a little while instead of talking to you like normal. By dinner that night you don't remember that. And certainly you don't 30 years later when you're writing the Story of Christ down! See what I mean? Unless it was Magdalene herself writing a gospel herself, we do not expect any of the apostles/disciples to remember anything about their relationship! *deep breathes* Well, I had to put that out there. Alright! It's Monday! Time for some MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL! 

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed, and see you next post. Feel free to email or comment about anything that you read here today. Thank you! 

  ~~Clarabelle

Jesus as an Essene... is this further proof of Mary Magdalene?

Hello followers!

What is up? Or, what's shakin'? (Only kidding) So, today I was watching a video about the Essenes called, "Mysteries of the Essenes - Tedd Nottinham". He had some great points, I do suggest it to those of you who have a very open mind, and some time! It totals to around 50 minutes in length, but I found that the beginning half was the best part anyway.  Before I start this post, I'll just give those of you not familiar with the "Essenes" a quick over-view of them (for the people who already know a fair amount about them, you can skip this):

The Essenes are a Jewish sect originating from long before Jesus, 

spectating it's origin may have been Enoch. They were known for there healing 

powers, they could do miraculous things! They practiced Gnosism, 

(silent "g", pronounced "Nosism") 

a religion rare but still alive (heck, I'm Gnostic!) believing in four Gods,

appose to just One, such as in Judaism. 

They lived in Qumran, Mt. Carmel, and the City of Salt. 

They wore white, and astoundingly were WAY ahead of their time, they were the 

first and only for quite some time to demise against slavery of any kind,

no matter what race. They also held equality to men and woman very importantly,

and yet no other religious groups or sects did this. 

They had no rules of marrige, not even to the Rabbis. You married if you 

wished, and some thought very highly of marriage and children, 

while others thought of it as dirty. 

So that is the basics! Alright, let's move on.

Flavius Josephus was a first century historian, politician and solider. He lived with the Essenes for three years (though he was not one himself) and wrote about them constantly. But, before we go and study them, let's first ponder this: Some historians have come to the conclusion that there actually was no real town called "Nazareth", and that the closest thing to Nazareth was a group of Essenes called the "Nazarenes". Suspisously, the Essenes took it upon themselves to prepare for the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ (or, as the Gnostics refer to Him by His Hebrew Yeshua or even Jeshua), they predicted this amazing event 103 years before it actually happened. They helped Mother Mary and prepared a place for her, so obviously she, and He, were familiar with these people. John the Baptist has also been long debated by scholars to be an Essene, most of whom agree and recognize that he was. So, it does beg the question whether Jesus was an Essene or not. Alright, so now, despite the evidence, let's go into a fantasy void where He was! OK? There yet? Great. Let's begin! 

    

 The Essenes

 Some things Flavius Josephus had written had contradicted each other. Some verses he states that the Essenes only used marriage for reproduction, and the other it was the meaning of life itself! So we have truly no idea what the Essenes real say on marriage may have been! Josephus records "The Essenes consider that everybody who does not marry, hereby affects the propagation and destination of mankind, as men would soon cease to exist otherwise." They believed you should marry, "not from lust, but to fulfill the command of Jehovah, 'Be fruitful, increase and fill the earth'." If this statement is true, and if Jesus really was an Essene, ... would He be instantly married? Moreover, did the Essenes, when they were preparing the way for Christ, did they expect the Messiah to be married Himself? Even if He didn't marry, if He ignored the "law" or social norm as He most certainly has before, ("The purpose of the law is to bind the demiurgos and archons and to destroy the hold of the devil, not to bind the soul of the human one."), would He of been thought to? I just don't know if we'll ever know. 

So go check out Mr. Nottinham! Surely, he will make you think more on this subject (if I have not already killed you with suspense). Well, with that I say goodnight, I wish you all the best! Please feel free to share your thoughts, via email or comments as always!
  ~~Clarabelle

Are historians laughing at us? No, we know what they don't.

Hello dearest followers!

I have been sick all week, my goodness! I'm all better now, and very eager to post -- Just, now what? If you read/watch anything on the topic about anything, usually the person talking/typing is either not paying attention to the facts, or it yelling about something we think is stupid. Kay kay, who here still references this verse, found in "The Gospel of Philip" (a Nag Hammadi gospel) when we want to prove the Jesus x Mary Magdalene marriage?  "And the companion of the [savior was] Mary Magdalene. [He] loved her more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her often on her mouth. The rest of the disciples [...]. They said to him "Why do you love her more than all of us?" " 
   Show of hands? OK, if you are, then let's bust it: 1. "And the companion" . "Companion", in no way shape or form references to anything sexual, and let's not pretend it does. Peter Simon or John could of also been named "companion"s, and unless you want to go impaling exactly what you think I mean, let's end it there. 2. "[He] loved her more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her often on her mouth." Kissing? Yea, well, this can be explained real easily. Take Judas Iscariot. Remember that? In any Bible anywhere there will be verse after verse describing how they kissed! If you have not read it, look up Juda's name on Google or whatever you use. I guarantee that the top "suggestion" is "judas iscariot kiss"!
 Alright, that was a fair fight. Now to bring two new things in this post about this ever-so-famous verse and we will see just how good it is! Starting with, let's bust whatever the heck I just said! Shall we?   "[He] loved her more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her often on her mouth." As I said previously, kissing doesn't signify sexual anything what-so-ever -- *cough cough*, let's reference John 4, okay? In this scene, Jesus is taking to a Samaritan woman, which she is confused for two reasons: 1, Jews and Samaritans hated each other, and never, ever crossed paths. 2, men and women back in the day treated each other like a different species. She asks Him why He is talking to her, and He replies in a way which has nothing to do with what I'm trying to say here! Does anyone get why I brought this up? OK, bottom line: the 1st century was nothing like today. Men and women did not touch, and most of all the bottom line of the society, especially in the Middle East, was, hate to say it, sexism. So, that being said, we go back to the "kissing" scene--it was not a social norm for men and women to kiss back in the first century unless married. So, the two possible answers: They were indeed married, or that since Jesus kissed His male apostles/disciples, He was making her equal to them by kissing her also, in the most least-sexual way. What do you think? It could go either way.

Before I said: Now to bring two new things in this post about this ever-so-famous verse and we will see just how good it is! Alright, so time for seconds!
  Not a lot of people no that this verse is not alone on it's section (it is not a CODEX, remember for that reason I did not say PAGE) this is the entire verse: "As for the Wisdom who is called "the barren," she is the mother of the angels. And the companion of the [...] Mary Magdalene. [...] loved her more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her often on her mouth. The rest of the disciples [...]. They said to him "Why do you love her more than all of us?" The Savior answered and said to them,"Why do I not love you like her? When a blind man and one who sees are both together in darkness, they are no different from one another. When the light comes, then he who sees will see the light, and he who is blind will remain in darkness.""
Wanna thank me? Do it now! Seriously, no one puts this online. Why is that, man? Well, anyway, now I don't know what to think about it -- other than the fact that I honestly love that parable! I also do, of course love it when He "talks back" to His disciples. I just assumed that I should post that, I guess no one does. If anyone cares to further research, click right here for a link to the Gospel of Philip, in which this verse belongs to. If anyone finds anything or has any hunches, please email me about them! Or I guess you could hit it up in the comments ;) Whatever, I do hope you enjoyed!

As you can see, I'm very tired, it's 9:30 PM already! So, yeah, please excuse my bad grammar, take it as a sign of my tiredness, but also feel free to correct it via the comments or Google +.
Well, that's it! Goodnight folks, and with that I say goodbye!
  ~~Clarabelle