The Role of women in the scriptures at Gnostic Support Forum, topic 366469

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From: "J&K Novak"
Date: Tue Dec 2, 2003 10:16 pm
Subject: Women in Scripture - The Bible's Lost Stories

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The Bible's Lost Stories
http://www.msnbc.com/news/999077.asp

Fueling faith and igniting debate, a new generation of scholars is altering
our beliefs about the role of women in the scriptures

By Barbara Kantrowitz and Anne Underwood
NEWSWEEK

Dec. 8 issue - The year's surprise "it" girl is the star of a mega best
seller, a hot topic on campuses and rumored to be the "special friend" of a
famous and powerful man. Yet she's still very much a woman of mystery. For
close to 2,000 years, Christians have known her as Mary Magdalene, but she
was probably named Miriam, and came from the fishing village of Magdala.
Most people today grew up believing she was a harlot saved by Jesus. But the
Bible never says that. Scholars working with ancient texts now believe she
was one of Christ's most devoted followers, perhaps even his trusted
confidante and financial backer.

This revisionist view helped inspire the plot of "The Da Vinci Code," (
http://www.msnbc.com/news/999422.asp ) which has been on The New York Times
best-seller list for 36 weeks, with 4.3 million copies in print. Author Dan
Brown draws on some credible discoveries about the first followers of Jesus
as well as some rather fantastical theories about Mary Magdalene to suggest
that she was far more than the first to witness the risen Jesus (her most
important role, according to the New Testament). The blockbuster novel has
enraged many theologians who consider it anti-Catholic, but it has also
added new force to an already dynamic debate among women who see Magdalene's
story as a parable for their own struggles to find a place in the modern
church. None of this would be possible without a new generation of women
Biblical scholars who have brought a very modern passion to the ancient
tradition of scriptural reinterpretation-to correct what these scholars
regard as a male misreading of key texts. It has not been easy work. Despite
the undeniably central role of Mary, the mother of Jesus, the Biblical focus
has largely been on what God has accomplished through the agency of men-from
Adam to the Apostles. Of some 3,000 characters named in the Bible, fewer
than 10 percent are women. Female scholars are trying to redress the
imbalance by unearthing narratives that have been overlooked for centuries
and reinterpreting more-familiar stories, including Mary Magdalene's and
even the story of Eve (where, one could argue, the problems really began).
And they are rigorously studying the Biblical period to glean what they can
about the role of women in ancient times.

Across the country, fresh research is inspiring women of all faiths.
Evangelical Protestant women hold their own Bible-study groups where the
distaff version of history is a major draw. Jewish worshipers now add to the
litany of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob the names of their wives: Sarah, Rebekah
and Rachel. In addition to Moses at Passover, some celebrate his sister,
Miriam, who defied a powerful and tyrannical ruler to rescue her baby
brother from a death decree and became a prophet and leader in her own
right. For Roman Catholics in particular, Mary Magdalene has emerged as a
role model for women who want a greater church presence after the wave of
sexual-abuse scandals. "I want my daughter to feel that she is as equally
valued as her brother in terms of her faith," says Dr. Jo Kelly, 38, of
Sinking Spring, Pa. Not long ago, Kelly's daughter, Mary Shea, 7, told her
mother she wanted to be a priest. Kelly, a pediatrician who belongs to a
religious-discussion group, didn't discourage her. "Keep believing that,"
she replied, "and maybe we can change people's minds."

Mary Magdalene inspires, these women say, because she was not a weakling-the
weeping Magdalene whose name begat the English word "maudlin" -but a person
of strength and character. In an era when women were commonly identified in
relation to a husband, father or brother, she was identified instead by her
town of origin. Scholars believe she was one of a number of women who
provided monetary support for Jesus' ministry. And when the male disciples
fled, she steadfastly witnessed Jesus' crucifixion, burial and resurrection,
providing the thread of continuity in the central story of Christian
history-an extraordinary role in an age when women generally provided legal
testimony only in the absence of male witnesses. Tradition, however, has
consigned Mary to a lesser role. "Instead, we've been given the image of
Mary as a forgiven sinner," says Sister Christine Schenk, cofounder of
FutureChurch, an organization calling for women's equality in the Roman
Catholic Church. "Well, Peter was a forgiven sinner, too, but that's not
what we remember him for." Schenk helped institute nationwide observances of
Mary Magdalene's feast day, July 22.

To honor their heroine, Catholic women like Kathy Kidder and her friends in
Gainesville, Fla., are forming reading groups to discuss the dozens of new
scholarly and literary books about her and debating her role on religious
Web sites like Magdalene.org and Beliefnet.com. The new insights they gain
can shatter old beliefs, but often also help them deepen their faith.
College student Frances Garcia, 26, of Orlando, Fla., was raised Catholic,
but now attends a Baptist church. "The Da Vinci Code" raised troubling
questions for her about how women's contributions to early Christianity were
suppressed by church leaders. "My faith was really shaken," she says. "I
started doing a lot of research on my own." Learning more made her feel
"closer to God," she says.

What started out as scholarship with an openly feminist political agenda has
evolved into serious and respected inquiry. To understand this change,
consider what has happened to the field during the career of Bernadette
Brooten. As a graduate theology student at Harvard in the late 1970s,
Brooten was told that scholars already knew everything there was to know
about women in the Bible. Yet Brooten, now a professor of Christian studies
at Brandeis University, made the remarkable discovery by reading older
versions of the Bible that Junius, one of the many Christian "Apostles"
mentioned by Saint Paul, was in fact a woman, Junia, whose name was
masculinized over the centuries by translators with their own agenda.
Brooten's discovery became "official" when Junia's real name was
incorporated into the New Standard Revised Version of the Bible, which came
out in 1989.

Today, there are female Biblical scholars at dozens of institutions, and at
least two universities-Harvard and the Claremont Graduate University in
California-offer degree programs on women in religion. These scholars have
produced a new dictionary called "Women in Scripture," a woman's study
Bible, and feminist commentaries to various books of the New Testament and
early Christian literature. "There are increasing numbers of resources
concerning Biblical women that are making their way into libraries,
classrooms and bookstores," says Amy-Jill Levine, professor of New Testament
studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. "They're no longer just
cleaned up or romanticized stories, but rigorously historical, imaginative,
cross-cultural collections." These insights are also filtering out into
popular culture with a slew of literary interpretations of women's Bible
stories in the wake of Anita Diamant's 1997 best seller, "The Red Tent,"
including many about Mary Magdalene.

The fascination with Magdalene has a long and rich history of its own. Diane
Apostolos-Cappadona, a cultural historian at Georgetown University, curated
an exhibit last year of Magdalene portraits at the American Bible Society in
New York. "She's gone through conflations and misinterpretations and
reinterpretations and retrievals," she says. "I've seen her represented in
every medium of art through every Christian period-as the witness to the
Resurrection, the seductive temptress, the haggard desert mother signifying
penitence, the beautiful woman reborn signifying new life." But for most
people, the image that sticks is the rehabilitated prostitute. Scholars
blame Pope Gregory the Great for her bad rep; in A.D. 591, he gave a sermon
in which he apparently combined several Biblical women into one, including
Magdalene and an unnamed sinner who anoints Jesus' feet. Although the
Vatican officially overruled Gregory in 1969, the image stuck until quite
recently. "It became a snowball that grew and grew until her name in legend
and art history evoked the whore," says Jane Schaberg, professor of
religious studies at the University of Detroit Mercy and author of "The
Resurrection of Mary Magdalene."

Part of the problem may stem from what scholars have called "the muddle of
the Marys." There are a lot of women named Mary in the New Testament, and it
's not always clear which is which. But some scholars also think Mary
Magdalene was defamed because she was a threat to male control of the
church. As the "Apostle to the Apostles"-the first to encounter the risen
Christ and to take the news to Peter and the other male Apostles-she was
clearly more than just an ordinary follower. In several Gnostic
Gospels-written by Christians whose alternative views of Jesus were
eventually suppressed as heresy-Mary Magdalene rivals Peter for the
leadership of the early church because of her superior understanding of
Jesus' teaching. The Gospel of Philip, for example, describes her as Jesus'
close companion whom he often "used to kiss." Karen King of Harvard Divinity
School, author of "The Gospel of Mary of Magdala" and a leading authority on
women's roles in the early church, sees her as a target of jealousy because
she threatened Peter's status. By transforming her into a reformed whore,
King believes, the church fathers "killed the argument for women's
leadership"-and for recognizing women as fit recipients of divine
revelation. King says the transformation also created a powerful symbol of
the prostitute as redeemed sinner, the female version of the Prodigal Son.
If Jesus could accept her, he could accept anyone.

In "The Da Vinci Code," Brown suggests that she still had one more hold on
Jesus-as his wife. That theory has been circulating for centuries. Some
historians think it is possible because Jewish men of that era were almost
always married, but many others dismiss that reasoning. Some argue that
Jesus wasn't conventional in any other sense, so why would he feel the need
to be married? Others say that relegating her to the role of wife is
belittling. "Let's not continue the relentless denigration of Mary Magdalene
by reducing her only importance to a sexual connection with Jesus," says
John Dominic Crossan, professor emeritus of religious studies at DePaul
University in Chicago. "She's not important because she was Mrs. Jesus. That
's like saying Hillary Rodham Clinton is only important because she's
married to Bill Clinton. Both women are important in their own right."

That's certainly true for the women who see in Mary Magdalene's rediscovered
importance a pathway to their own new roles in the church. Mary Magdalene's
story gave Maggie Albo, a 49-year-old volunteer hospice chaplain from
Spokane Valley, Wash., the courage to lobby the Diocese of Spokane for space
in local Catholic cemeteries to bury abandoned remains from the county
medical examiner's office. "Mary has taught me to step out in faith to do
the work of Jesus," she says. "I aspire to be a Mary of Magdala... a woman
unafraid to speak up."

Mary Magdalene is not the only Biblical heroine to benefit from a modern
makeover. A number of scholars have gone back to the original Hebrew texts
for a clearer understanding of Eve, the original woman in the Bible. The
popular conception of Eve is the product of centuries of myth and artistic
interpretation. One widely held misconception is that the fruit Eve offered
Adam in the Garden of Eden was an apple. In fact, scholars say, the Bible
never states that. "Just because Milton mentions it in 'Paradise Lost' or
some Renaissance painter puts it in a picture doesn't make it an apple,"
says Carol Meyers, professor of Biblical studies at Duke. Meyers says that
not only is the apple missing from the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis, but
there is also no mention of the words "the temptation of Adam," "seduction,"
"curse of Eve," "Fall of Man," "sin" or "original sin." And yet the Creation
story has traditionally been the basis for the argument that women are
responsible for sin and should therefore be subservient to men. This error
"has oppressed both women and men," says Phyllis Trible, professor of
Biblical studies at Wake Forest University, "because the master-slave
relationship isn't a relationship of freedom for either party." Trible gives
a more egalitarian rendering of a passage that has long troubled many women
readers.

When God tells Eve "Your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule
over you," Trible sees a patriarchy turning description into prescription.
In the original Hebrew, Trible insists, "it doesn't say he shall rule over
you. It just says he does rule over you-a description of the way things
are." In the ancient cultures where the Bible was formed, men did indeed
rule over women. They owned and sold them, often as slaves. One slave in
particular, Hagar, has captured the imagination of contemporary Hispanic and
African-American women. Just as women's perspective is not necessarily the
same as men's, minority women do not necessarily share the same perspective
as white women. According to the Bible, God promises Abraham land and a
multitude of offspring. But because he and his childless wife, Sarah, are
old, Sarah suggests that he father a child with Hagar, her Egyptian
handmaiden. After a son is born, Hagar feels superior to the jealous Sarah,
who in turn abuses her handmaiden-forcing Abraham to send Hagar away.
Eventually God addresses Hagar directly (the first woman after Eve so
honored), names her child Ishmael and encourages her to return. Later, Sarah
also conceives and, at the age of 90, delivers Isaac, through whom Jews
claim their spiritual lineage to Abraham. Hagar's has always been the lost
voice in this narrative, but no longer. "Her character resonates by
ethnicity and class-as an African and a slave," says Renita Weems, an
associate professor of the Hebrew Bible at Vanderbilt Divinity School. "And
we understand slaves." Similarly, Megan McKenna, author of several books on
Biblical women, found that the figure of Hagar powerfully appealed to the
Hispanic maids in her Bible-reading group at a California motel. She
remembers one illegal immigrant from El Salvador saying in halting English:
"Oh, now Sarah knows what it's like to be treated like dirt all the time."

Equally appealing to modern women looking for inspiration are overlooked
stories that celebrate the bravery of women. In the Book of Joshua, it is
Rahab, a prostitute, who helps Joshua conquer Jericho by hiding his spies in
her house. For her courage, she and her children are the only ones spared in
the Israelites' sacking of the city. One of the most prominent warriors in
the Book of Judges is Deborah, a military commander and judge who leads an
army into battle because her general will not go without her. Deborah
predicts that only a woman will capture the enemy leader, Sisera. That
woman, it turns out, is Jael, into whose tent Sisera flees for refuge. Jael
feeds him, puts him to bed and then, as he sleeps, picks up a mallet and
drives a tent peg through his head.

Perhaps the most striking protofeminist text in Scripture is the Book of
Judith, wholly devoted to a heroine who saves Israel. "She's like Wonder
Woman, only Jewish," says Vanderbilt's Levine. Judith's moment comes as
Israel is being threatened by a neighboring power. The male Jewish
leadership prepares to surrender, but Judith, a beautiful and pious widow,
has another plan. Dressed in her alluring best, she enters the enemy's camp.
The general, Holofernes, becomes infatuated and plans to seduce her. But
when she is alone in his chambers, Judith decapitates Holofernes and takes
his head home in her food bag. The enemy flees. All of Israel, including
Jerusalem and its temple, are saved, and Judith, whom scholars see as a
personification of Israel, returns to her previous life.

The spotlight of new scholarship has even revealed the human side of the
most revered female in Christianity-Mary, the mother of Christ. Next to her
son, Mary is probably the best-known character in the Bible, but for many,
she is an alabaster figure. Some theologians have been looking for a more
multidimensional Madonna. "Let's stop treating her as this virgin mother we
have no relationship with, that we can't touch and understand because she's
so different from us," says Weems, author of "Showing Mary: How Women Can
Share Prayers, Wisdom and the Blessings of God." Weems starts her
reinterpretation not with Mary the exalted and untouchable Queen of Heaven,
but with Mary the simple teenage girl. On that fateful day when the
Archangel Gabriel appeared to her and told her she would carry the Son of
God, Mary was terrified-just as Moses, Isaiah and Jeremiah all protested
that they were too young or not worthy of the task when presented with their
own challenges from God. But Mary put her trust in God and was rewarded for
it. God gives her the much-needed companionship of her older cousin
Elizabeth, a long-barren woman who was also suddenly and miraculously
pregnant and ultimately gives birth to John, a prophet who would be called
"the Baptist."

Embedded in the story of Mary and Elizabeth is a theme, finally being openly
explored, that speaks directly to the experience of contemporary women.
Unlike other Biblical figures, Mary is not bowing to the demands of a
patriarchal society by providing her future husband with a male heir. On the
contrary, she has scandalized her betrothed, Joseph, by freely accepting God
's will that she bear a child by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the Mary
and Elizabeth visitation scene in Luke's Gospel, Mary has come to visit her
cousin for three months. As Luke paints it, this is more than just a
domestic interlude. Through Elizabeth, the history of the Old Testament will
end with the last of the Hebrew prophets, John. Through Mary, a new history
of salvation will begin with the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. In a
powerful closing hymn, Mary glories in a God who often uses the
powerless-especially women-to accomplish His purposes. Acknowledging her
"lowliness" as God's "servant," she goes on to predict-rightly-that
henceforth "all generations will call me blessed."

Mary and Elizabeth's dependence on God and each other-a Biblical example of
sisterhood in action-contrasts with the struggle of their spiritual
ancestress, Tamar, who has to rely only on herself to outwit the patriarchal
social structure. As her story is told in Genesis 38, her first husband
dies, leaving her childless. According to the law of the time, she is then
married to her husband's younger brother in order to produce a son who would
continue her husband's lineage. It is not to be. God strikes her second
husband dead for practicing coitus interruptus in order to avoid fathering a
child who will take away his inheritance. By law, Tamar should then have
been married to the third son, but her father-in-law, Judah, suspects that
Tamar herself is behind his sons' deaths. He declines to give her to his
third son, who is underage, and, at the same time, won't declare her a
widow-which would leave her free to marry again. Instead, he sends her back
to her father's house, where she must remain chaste while she waits for
Judah to give her to the third son. Eventually, Tamar tricks Judah into
impregnating her himself. It ends well when he accepts her and Tamar gives
birth to twins-two sons to replace the two he has lost.

Tamar has to deceive the most powerful man in her life in order to get what
she deserves. Her Biblical sisters have had to wait thousands of years for
their day in the sun, but their voices, too, are finally being heard. No one
is trying to claim that the women of the Bible were anywhere near as
powerful as the men in their world. But neither were they weak and passive.
Perhaps they were just misunderstood. And ignored. Take the story every
Sunday-school kid has heard about how Jesus fed a multitude of 5,000 with
just five loaves of bread and two fish. What the Bible really says is that
there were "five thousand, not counting women and children." In other words,
assuming there was a wife and at least two children for every man, Jesus
actually fed 20,000 people. Why didn't the man who recorded this tale
capitalize on the opportunity to make Jesus' miracle seem even more
impressive? It seems that women and children were simply too unimportant.
"The amazing thing is that there are any women at all in the ancient texts,"
says Deirdre Good, professor of New Testament studies at General Theological
Seminary. As the scholarly debate continues, one thing worshipers might keep
in mind is how often these marginalized characters prevail and are entrusted
to deliver the Word of God. From Eve to Miriam to Mary, they were all
players-and are , in our unfolding spiritual drama.

With Pat Wingert and Karen Springen
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Related story: http://www.msnbc.com/news/999453.asp

God's Woman Trouble

Scholars who explore the role of women in the bible with a political agenda
in mind only hurt their cause

By Kenneth L. Woodward
NEWSWEEK

Dec. 8 issue - Pity poor Mary Magdalene. For nearly two millenniums she was
loved and honored by Christians as the archetypal reformed sinner. Then, a
half-century ago, Biblical scholars recognized that she was a victim of
mistaken identity: the "real" Mary of Magdala was not a prostitute. In
truth, she was so faithful a follower of Jesus that she was chosen to be the
first of his disciples to behold the risen Christ (Jn 20:11-18). Now, at the
hands of some feminist revisionists, Mary is undergoing yet another cultural
face-lift.

Read my messges on this board Read my messges anywhere

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- superb post n/m Wrenn 20 y 2,040
- Re: The Role of women in the scriptu... Shenandoah 20 y 2,192
  
  Shenandoah
  
  This is a reply to # 366,469
  This is not true, but being used to bring in the Illuminati plan for the antichrist.
  
  Shenandoah
  
  Read my messges on this board Read my messges anywhere
  - Re: The Role of women in the scriptu... strawbrains 20 y 2,153
    
    strawbrains
    
    This is a reply to # 366,473
    This is not true, but being used to bring in the Illuminati plan for the antichrist.
    
    Shenandoah
    
    Read my messges on this board Read my messges anywhere
  - What specifically is not true? n/p #12621 20 y 2,278
    
    #12621
    
    This is a reply to # 366,473
    
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    Could you explain it for me please. I went to the site and I find it very interesting but I guess that mesans that 99.99 % of mankind is destined for hell? That doesn't make much sense to me? When I was in church as a child, they said that they had the only way to heaven. As I grew older, I noticed that just about every church held a similar doctrine. Do you really believe an Agape Love God would doom 99.99% of mankind to hell. Only a third of angels went with Satan? That means the other 2/3rds have been slackers? There is a lot of good info but I always think a half truth is more dangerous than the truth. I believe that God is Agape love and has no intention of losing 98% of Christians and all of the un-saved to burn in eternal hell. A God that would allow such a thing to happen to his children would not very Agape to me?
    
    I want to understand.
    
    Read my messges on this board Read my messges anywhere
    
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    - The Da Vinci Code nm Shenandoah 20 y 2,107
      - Merovingian Bloodline Shenandoah 20 y 2,934
        
        More
        
        Shenandoah
        
        This is a reply to # 366,483
        
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        Although I don't agree with everything this guy says this explains what the Da Vinci Code is all about.If you want to see part 2 let me know.
        
        Shenandoah
        
        ************
        : ABC AIRS 'DOCUMENTARY' ON 11/03/03 WHICH EXPOSES TO 6.6 BILLION PEOPLE THE CRITICAL LIE WITHOUT WHICH ANTICHRIST CANNOT PROVE HIS LINEAGE TO KING DAVID! -- Part 1 of 2
        
        Subtitle: If Antichrist is going to prove his lineage to King David so he can deceive the Jewish people into thinking he is their long-awaited Messiah, he must "validate" his lineage. The lie that "validates" his lineage back to Jesus is the Merovingian Bloodline Genealogy that ABC News aired to billions of people the world over. This is the first huge airing of this obscure occult doctrine, and it comes at the same time as so many other events are seemingly coming to prophetic conclusion!
        
        "So also when you see these signs, all taken together, coming to pass, you may know of a surety that He is near, at the very doors." [Matthew 24:33; Parallel Bible, KJV/Amplified Bible Commentary]
        
        This ABC News 'documentary' -- "Jesus, Mary, and da Vinci" -- is one of the most startling events in a long time, for it is a most effective conditioning tool to expose to people's consciousness a critical lie upon which Antichrist will depend; further, this lie occurs at a time when events of the day seem to be moving toward more globalism than ever before.. At this most critical time in world history, this ABC 'documentary' exposed an obscure occult, secret society lie, that has only been written about in New Age type books. While the book, "Holy Blood, Holy Grail", by Lincoln, has sold over one million copies, and while other TV programs have aired on this subject, all these former airings absolutely pale into insignificance compared to the world audience that ABC commanded on November 3.
        
        We shall first list the pertinent points of this documentary, in the order in which they occurred. Then, in Part 2, we shall comment upon them and demonstrate how exactly this program presented the following Antichrist lie: Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had a boy child. After Jesus' crucifixion, Mary fled with her son -- depending upon assistance of friends -- to the country now known as France. Ultimately, this son married into French Nobility, from whom have sprung the monarchies of Europe, Great Britain, and even Russia. To protect and preserve this secret bloodline lineage -- called the Merovingian Bloodline -- a secret society called "Priory of Sion" was established. Then, when Antichrist arises, he will be able to demonstrate his uninterrupted Merovingian lineage all the way back to Jesus. According to Matthew, Chapter 1, once Antichrist has plugged into Jesus, he is home free to King David! Thus will be "fulfilled" a most critical component of anyone trying to convince people he is the Jewish Messiah, i.e., that he is descended directly from the lineage of King David.
        
        This most occult society exists today and is still actively protecting and preserving this critical information. We shall demonstrate, in Part 2, who the current leaders are reported to be. Now, let us examine the contents of this documentary. This presentation is not verbatim, but does cover each point in the order in which it was presented.
        
        THE CHARACTERS OF THE 'DOCUMENTARY'
        
        * Elizabeth Vargas -- ABC Anchorwoman
        
        * Dan Brown -- Author of the book, "The DA Vinci Code" upon which this documentary was based
        
        * Father Richard McBrien, Professor at Notre Dame University
        
        * Darrell Bock, Ph. D., Dallas Theological Seminary
        
        * Dr. Jeffrey Bingham, Ph. D., Dallas Theological Seminary
        
        * Elaine Pagels, Princeton University
        
        * Karen King, Ph. D., Harvard Divinity School
        
        * Margaret Starbird, Author of book, "The Goddess In The Gospels" - Dan Brown quotes this book a number of times
        
        * Carlo Pedretti -- Historian for Center For Leonardo's Studies
        
        * Henry Lincoln -- Author of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail"
        
        * Rev. Robin Griffith-Jones, Ph. D., Temple Church, London
        
        Now, let us examine the content of this 'documentary'. Strap your seatbelts on, for you shall be exposed to a mixture of truth and error, the likes of which you have probably never seen. You will also see New Age and Gnostic religious concepts to which you may have never been known. You will see the extent of religious apostasy on full display here. You will also see that "scholars" of the New Age and Gnostic religions present themselves in just as good a scholarly light as do the two professors of Dallas Theological Seminary; these Liberal "scholars" of false religions purport to quote the meaning of the original Greek and Hebrew just as you have heard ministers of the Bible do so often!
        
        Finally, you will see a slick psychological presentation that purports to present all sides of the subject, but does so in such a way as to leave the impression with the viewer that the entire concept -- that Jesus might have been married to Mary Magdalene and produced an heir that is now the bloodline of European and British Monarchies -- just might be true after all.
        
        This slick psychological presentation is, in reality, the outworking of the Dialectic Principle, which we have called the "Six Step Attitudinal Change Plan". If you have not read our treatise on this very slick method of silently changing people's minds, attitudes, and values without them being the least bit aware of it, please stop right now to read NEWS1055.
        
        ABC - 'JESUS, MARY MAGDALENE, AND DA VINCI'
        
        Vargas -- Begins the program by stating that nothing in the Christian Gospels even hints that Mary Magdalene was ever married to Jesus Christ, and certainly nothing exists that proves she carried His child to start a "Royal Bloodline". But, then, Vargas states that some people believe very strongly that these type of physical relationship did exist and just such a "royal" child was born. She then introduces her first guest, Dan Brown.
        
        Brown -- This author immediately begins by saying that, when he began his research into this question, he was a total skeptic; in fact, his original premise was to prove that Jesus and Mary Magdalene could never have been married, nor could they ever have had a physical sexual relationship that could result in a child being born. However, Brown states that, the more he got into his research the more he became convinced, and now he is very convinced that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and did produce a child.
        
        Vargas -- Begins to intone that, for centuries, Mary Magdalene has been portrayed as a prostitute.
        
        Brown -- He immediately objects, saying that the Bible never actually says he was a prostitute. He states his belief that the "Church" was threatened by the "strong" evidence that Mary Magdalene had a child by Jesus, so in order to hide this "fact", the Church impugned Mary's reputation so people would write her off instantly as a "woman of ill repute" and would never get close to the idea that she was Jesus' wife and the mother of His child.
        
        Vargis -- Her first statement is narrowly based, but in the mind of many viewers, will seem to imply that Brown's entire premise is correct. Vargas says: "Dan Brown's first allegation that Mary Magdalene wasn't a prostitute is correct." She then brings on Father McBrien.
        
        McBrien -- States also that the Bible does not say that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. Then, the good Father kindly tries to explain away the Biblical account that Mary Magdalene was possessed of seven demons [Luke 8:2]. McBrien "explained" that, in Biblical times, people were ignorant and thought a person was possessed of demons when they were really just sick. At this point, Vargas broke in to ask, "Then, when the Bible says Jesus cast out seven demons, it is really saying He just healed her?" The kindly Father nodded his head and said, "Yes, demon possession was really illness."
        
        [NOTE: At this point, I knew Father McBrien was a wolf dressed in sheep's clothing, a suspicion well founded later.]
        
        Bock -- Stated his opinion that Mary Magdalene was not ever married to Jesus
        
        Vargas -- Presents a monologue stating that, unfortunately for the reputation of Mary Magdalene, Pope Gregory delivered a major address on Easter, 591 AD, in which he stated that Mary was a prostitute. From that moment on, most Christians believed Mary Magdalene was a prostitute.
        
        Bingham -- Agreed with this assessment, saying that Pope Gregory's speech represented the "demarcation line" in the way in which the public looked at Mary Magdalene.
        
        McBrien -- Intoned that Mary Magdalene was one of the greatest Christian saints of all time
        
        Vargas -- Poses a major question: Does any of Mary's proven devotion to Jesus mean that Jesus was married to her? Vargas then states that ABC contacted a local affiliate of the Roman Catholic Church to ask what the official position of the Church was to this question. The answer they received is that the Catholic Church takes no official position on the subject, but believes Jesus was never married because the Gospels never say that He was married.
        
        Then Vargas offers a very queer retort: "Of course, the Gospels do not say that He was single"!
        
        [NOTE: Once again. we see that ABC is over-reaching in their effort to sell this story]
        
        Vargis then does note that ABC contacted several historians, all of which state there is no historical record that says Jesus was married. But, immediately, the screen changed, to show another "Scholar", Karen King, of the Harvard Divinity School.
        
        King -- She said, simply, "I find it entirely plausible that Jesus was married".
        
        McBrien -- Fades on to the screen. Vargas asks him if Jesus could have been married. At first, McBrien states truthfully, that there is nothing in the Bible that states Jesus was ever married. But, then, he backtracks just a bit, saying that, while the Scriptures do not mention that He was married, it is "possible" that he was. Thirdly, McBrien states that, if Jesus had been married, that would not have detracted anything from His Divinity or His position as the Founder of Christianity.
        
        McBrien's conclusion: Jesus could have been married
        
        Bock -- Agrees with McBrien, that if Jesus had been married, His ministry would not have been compromised. But, then Bock rightly concludes that there is not "one shred of evidence" that Jesus was ever married. [NOTE: At this point, the casual listener would have rightly concluded that, just maybe, Jesus was married and the Gospels just did not record that fact. While people interviewed did repeat several times that there is no evidence, some of the same people then would turn around to seemingly fudge on that first denial. At this point, the casual person would probably be nurturing a significant suspicion that maybe Jesus was married.]
        
        Margaret Starbird -- Author of "Goddess In The Gospels" comes on immediately, just as bright-eyed and perky as you can imagine, dressed in a power-red business outfit. She countered the pattern of denials from McBrien and Bock, as she firmly says that there IS evidence that Jesus was married -- you just have to know where to look for the "evidence". She referred to the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane where the resurrected Jesus has just told Mary Magdalene not to touch Him, for He has not yet returned to His Father. She did not quote chapter and verse, but this account is found at: John 20:17.
        
        "Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father..." [John 20:17]
        
        Starbird offers the explanation, "The Greek says, literally, 'do not cling to me'." [NOTE: In this, Starbird is absolutely correct. The word, "touch" is Strong's Word # 680, 'haptomai', and can mean both "cling to", and "of carnal intercourse with a women or cohabitation" —Strong's Greek & Hebrew Dictionary. Starbird's explanation is that this word is a passionate word that implies a husband and wife intimacy. Of course, this meaning is not the preferred, or most common meaning.]
        
        Vargis -- "While other Bible scholars agree that there is no evidence Jesus was married, one to whom we spoke thinks Jesus might have been intimate with Mary Magdalene." [And, who might this "other Bible scholar be? Why, none other than the good Father McBrien!]
        
        McBrien -- The very fact that Mary Magdalene wanted to hug him shows a physical intimacy. Mary didn't timidly try to reach out with her pinkie to touch Jesus but she wanted to aggressively hug Him. Then, McBrien said that, if someone were to come to him to say that they had incontrovertible evidence Jesus was married, and they asked him whom he thought the wife might be, he said "it would be a short putt to Mary Magdalene". He then concluded this segment by saying that, if Jesus had been married, His wife could only have been Mary Magdalene.
        
        Vargis -- Announces a station break with this question: "Did Leonardo DA Vinci believe Mary Magdalene was married to Jesus? And did he leave a clue to this belief in his painting, the 'Last Supper'?"
        
        Vargis is seen after the commercial break with author Dan Brown.
        
        Brown -- He relates how a college professor startled him, and the entire class, one day by showing them a copy of DA Vinci's "Last Supper". The professor noted that the painting did not show a chalice anywhere on the table. For centuries, occultists have believed that the chalice at the Last Supper was also the chalice that caught drops of Jesus' blood as it fell from the cross; this "chalice" went missing sometime in the early centuries and is regarded as the "Holy Grail".
        
        The New Age Dictionary defines the "Holy Grail" in this manner: "Cup or dish used by Jesus at the Last Supper, preserved by Joseph of Arimathea who brought it to Spain or Britain and quested for by many knights" [Page 85]
        
        After pointing out that the very chalice was not shown in this painting, the college professor then declared his belief that the "holy chalice" was none other than Mary Magdalene, sitting to the right of Jesus. But, wait a minute, that person sitting to Jesus' right hand was supposed to be the Apostle John, "whom Jesus loved"!
        
        At this moment, without any further explanation, the documentary changes the subject totally, cutting away to a brief historical build-up of Leonardo DA Vinci. A Jack Wasserman, Ph. D., Professor Emeritus, Temple University, told us some very interesting facts about DA Vinci. He was:
        
        * A powerful Intellectual
        
        * Believed that someday man could fly, and even drew some depictions as to how that might be possible
        
        * A student of human anatomy, as we were shown some very detailed drawings of the body
        
        Brown then abruptly interjected: "DA Vinci was a 'Man of Reason' in a day of fervent religious fervor." [NOTE: You could just read the words, "Unreasonable religious persecution" in his words]
        
        Brown continued: "This is the kind of a man who would hide inner meaning in his painting, the kind of man who would hide in his painting what he kept out of his notebooks."
        
        Vargis -- In 1495, DA Vinci began painting his "Last Supper".
        
        Brown interjects some real propaganda truth: "We see what we are told we should see", referring to the "hidden meaning" in this painting. He then pointed out a distinctive "V" created by the angle of Jesus' body on the one side and "John's" body -- or is it Mary Magdalene's body -- on the left. Brown correctly stated that, in Medieval Art, the "V" was a female symbol, a symbol of the female organ.
        
        Brown's position is that the "John" sitting to Jesus' right is really supposed to be Mary Magdalene. Indeed, when you look closely at the features, they are distinctively feminine. The face is feminine and the hair is curled like a woman's hair and very blonde. This person, declares Brown, is Mary Magdalene.
        
        Carlo Pedretti -- Agreed that, in his opinion, this person was Mary Magdalene. Carlo was a DA Vinci historian working for the "Center For Leonardo Studies". He shows other pictures DA Vinci drew that are clearly women and they look just like the person sitting to Jesus' right. This is clearly Mary Magdalene, Carlo agrees.
        
        Vargis -- "If this person is really Mary Magdalene, who gave DA Vinci this "hidden knowledge" that Mary was married to Jesus"? The TV cuts off abruptly to a commercial break.
        
        CONVENIENTLY DISCOVERED "SECRET FILES"
        
        Vargis -- The secret society that passed this "dangerous knowledge" down from generation to generation has been largely unknown; however, in the early 1960's, secret files were discovered in the French National Laboratory called "Dossiers Secrets". These ancient documents make several detailed references to a group called the "Priory of Sion". This occult secret society listed many Grand Masters through centuries past, including some very famous names, of painters and 'thinkers' who stand high in estimation in Western European history. Some of these men were:
        
        * Sir Isaac Newton
        
        * Monticelli
        
        * Leonardo DA Vinci -- 1510 Grand Master
        
        The unspoken but clear message in all this recounting of names -- a practice especially strong in Freemasonry -- is that, if this caliber of man was a high-ranking member of this organization, the organization must be highly prized. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth, for Satan is the "Lord of this World" and fully capable of placing his men in the right positions of every society in every era. Discerning Christians should never, ever fall for this line.
        
        Carlo Pedretti then came back on the screen to say that he had discovered some "connections that could not be invented", but that when he tried to get to the bottom of it all, he was completely stymied. The implication is that he was prohibited from finding any more historic data because the historic trail had been deliberately eradicated.
        
        Vargis -- Posed three major questions:
        
        1. Is there something called 'Priory of Sion'?
        
        2. How did it get this information? [NOTE: The manner in which this is phrased implies there is valid information to gain]
        
        3. What does it have to do with the legends called "Holy Grail"?
        
        Vargis -- [ NOTE: Abruptly, this documentary takes a hard left turn, toward an unexpected subject] There are "Secret Gospels" which have remained buried for centuries. These Gospels contain information that Mary Magdalene was a favorite of Jesus and that Jesus kissed her repeatedly on the mouth!
        
        [However, before this shocking information could be assimilated by the viewer, the documentary cuts away to various scenes in which an unidentified singer is caroling an ode to Mary Magdalene.] After a few moments of this ballad, Vargis comes back on the screen:
        
        Vargis -- "One of the interesting ideas is that she was both married to Jesus and had His child. After crucifixion, she fled from Jerusalem with the help of friends and sailed to what is currently known as France. She and the child went to France. These descendants married into French nobility and formed the Priory of Sion. While there is no evidence of a child or bloodline in any historical documents, many feel the evidence can be found in legends that have circulated in Western France for centuries. Such as the Legend of the Holy Grail."
        
        Margaret Starbird -- Author of "Goddess In The Gospels" -- In a very animated manner, and exuding great enthusiasm, Starbird stated her firm belief that the "sacred vessel" that contained the bloodline of Jesus was Mary Magdalene herself -- at this moment, Starbird made a "V" with her two hands to demonstrate that Mary Magdalene was the "vessel of His child and of His family."
        
        Vargis -- "Legend says that the Cup was used at the Last Supper and then to catch Jesus' blood at the cross. The cup was then smuggled to France in the First Century, thus paralleling the Mary Magdalene story."
        
        Starbird -- "Fleeing persecution, a boat with no oars shows up on the coast of France, carrying the "Holy Grail"! Then, Starbird stated boldly that the "Holy Grail" was not just Mary Magdalene but the child himself. The two formed the real Holy Grail, the real bloodline of Jesus Christ.
        
        Vargis -- TV changes abruptly again, showing elaborate stained glass church windows, one of which depicted a Medieval Knight astride a white steed. Vargis relates: "Earliest stories of the Holy Grail told of Knight Templars, really 12th Century Crusaders." At this point, the TV shows elaborate coffins with the form of a knight on the top.
        
        Suddenly, the TV shifts again, depicting Vargis and now Henry Lincoln, author of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail".
        
        Lincoln -- He states that the the Holy Grail is really a romance, where the Knights Templar were the guardians of both the Grail and the Grail Family. The Grail Family was the line of the French Nobility. Lincoln bases his views on the same "Dossier Secrets" documents referred to earlier.
        
        Now the TV shows an elaborate Merovingian Kings Genealogy, printed on documents that look very ancient. Lincoln states that the Merovingians had a very peculiar, but interesting, legend concerning their First Queen. This mother of the First King was supposedly impregnated by a fish, which Lincoln points out was the symbol of early Christianity. Thus, Lincoln states that this legend is a picture of Jesus impregnating Mary Magdalene.
        
        Vargis -- Just to verbalize what Lincoln has just said, and to ensure she had the concept right, Vargis then parrots back to Lincoln what he just said. "The Merovingian Bloodline traces back to Jesus and His descendants, i.e., Mary Magdalene and the child she bore. This bloodline was threatened by the Catholic Church so the truth had to be hidden. The Priory of Sion was assigned to protect the information about this bloodline."
        
        Lincoln enthusiastically confirmed that Vargis "had it right"! She understood.
        
        Vargis -- "Why couldn't the truth just be publicly told?"
        
        Lincoln -- "Orthodoxy would not permit it; it would not tolerate a married Jesus. The truth was too dangerous to tell openly, as the Church has always reacted with violence."
        
        TV then shifts back to the ancient documents containing the genealogies of the Merovingians. One name was mentioned -- St. Clair in France. This surname was changed to "Sinclair" in the British Isles and was supposedly traced to two Scottish nobles. These men were briefly interviewed, shedding no light on the subject whatsoever. An Andrew Sinclair was interviewed, saying that "no proof exists" that Sinclair is related to Jesus. "Other experts" are briefly brought in to agree.
        
        "SECRET GOSPELS" = GNOSTIC GOSPELS
        
        Vargis -- "Hidden in Egypt for centuries, these 'Secret Gospels' have recently been discovered. Do they tell us anything of the relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene? The Christian Bible has large holes in the story of the life of Jesus. The Church ordered all 'Secret Gospels' destroyed and did destroy all but one copy. This one copy remained hidden in Egypt until about 50 years ago."
        
        Brown -- "The 'Megamantic Scrolls' described an alternate history of the story of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. If the Church went to such great lengths to hide and destroy these 'other Gospels', it must be assumed that the story they told was very explosive."
        
        [Then, the names of several 'other Gospels' are named, supposedly all a part of this copy discovered in Egypt 50 years ago. These names are:]
        
        * Gospel of Thomas
        
        * Gospel of Truth
        
        * Gospel of Phillip
        
        * Gospel of Mary Magdalene
        
        King -- These are also called the "Gnostic Gospels", and they had special knowledge of Jesus. The parchment that say Jesus was affectionately kissing Mary Magdalene is damaged. The scroll that says, 'Jesus was kissing Mary Magdalene on ____ (hole in the parchment). He could have been kissing any body part, hand, foot, lips, you can put in the body part. But, whatever He was kissing made the disciples jealous."
        
        Pagels -- The implication that Jesus was kissing Mary Magdalene sexually are possible. The Gospels of Phillip call Mary Magdalene 'companion'. These Gnostic Gospels are believable. Further, in the 'Gospel of Mary', Mary Magdalene is a very powerful figure in the early Church Movement.
        
        King -- When Peter asks Mary Magdalene to tell the disciples anything the Savior told her, Mary responded, 'I will tell you that which He hid from you'. She then tells Peter that Jesus appeared to her in a vision [after His death] and spoke to her. Andrew objects, saying he does not believe this story. Peter interjects, 'Surely, Jesus didn't love a woman more than us'. Mary cries and says, 'Peter, do you think I made all of this up?' "
        
        Bingham -- Early Church fathers pay homage to Mary Magdalene. How did Mary fall from favor?
        
        Pagels -- Mary was a victim of a power struggle between men and women in the early Church. As the Church became dominated by men -- Male Hierarchy -- Mary Magdalene posed a threat to this male leadership.
        
        Griffith-Jones -- The man-dominated hierarchy was threatened. How different our perception of Jesus would be if He were with a wife (NOTE: Sounds and looks very pious here). If Jesus had a wife and children, the Church would have had a very different attitude toward sex. Between 100-150 A.D., women were marginalized in the Church and pushed out; this was probably when the story that Mary was a prostitute started circulating.
        
        Brown -- "History books are written by the winners"
        
        McBrien -- This priest had the audacity to say that the "Church has always had a very unhealthy attitude towards sex". Then, McBrien said he could not discount the possibility that Jesus was married. If Jesus had been married, that would have 'knocked out of the box' the Christian tradition that sex is not so nice."
        
        [NOTE: This disgusting remark about the purity of sex within marriage in a Christian relationship demonstrates the inherent twisted and perverted view of Roman Catholic priests, a viewpoint brought on by many centuries of trying to follow the rule of Forced Celibacy, that "doctrine that demons teach" [1 Timothy 4:1-3]
        
        FINAL THOUGHTS
        
        Vargis -- "Trying to discover the truth as to whether Jesus was married, we didn't discover any evidence that Jesus had a wife or child, nor did we unlock the 'Mysteries of the Holy Grail'. But, we did learn a lot more about the man who changed world history and the woman who was very important to Him. Whether or not they were husband and wife, this is a love story, because we learned that Mary Magdalene was closer to Jesus than we ever imagined.
        
        We have simply been trying to discover the truth behind the legend that Jesus was married to a woman many thought to be a prostitute."
        
        (NOTE: Now, Vargis interviews Dan Brown, author of the book, "DA Vinci Code" for the last time)
        
        Vargis -- "Why do you think your novel has touched such a nerve?"
        
        Brown -- "The mysteries of spirituality, of the origins of our religions, are topics that resonate at a very deep level, at the very core of the human psyche. Whether you agree or not, the topics are now on the table and we are talking about them, topics which for centuries have been taboo." (NOTE: This is a dead giveaway that this program was created as a "Six-Step Attitudinal Change Plan", deliberately targeting all the peoples of the world for an effective change in their beliefs. We shall cover this subject more thoroughly in Part 2)
        
        McBrien -- But you get to talking only of Mary Magdalene, Jesus, and sex, you lose the more important point that, 20 centuries ago, we had a great religious leader named Jesus of Nazareth who broke through the barriers of cultural bias, who had among His disciples and closest friends, women, who didn't just go around to get the tea and sweep up after the boys left. She was every much an Apostle, companion, spokesperson for Jesus and His Gospel as any of the men were."
        
        King -- "Sometimes religion is presented as something fixed and stable, where you have to either accept it or reject it,when the fact is, that religious traditions -- Christianity especially -- is very diverse, very filled with possibilities, and we must accept responsibilities for the religion we make."
        
        THE END
        
        I found it very interesting, and highly instructive, that ABC chose to give Karen King, of Harvard Divinity School, the last word; and her last comment tells us that the religion described by the Liberals and New Age religionists in this 'documentary' is, indeed, "man made"! You can see the true heart of the Roman Catholic Church in the blasphemous statements of Father McBrien of Notre Dame. You can see the Liberal apostasy in statements made by King and Pagels, both of whom are graduates of Jesus Christ denying seminaries.
        
        You can see how a Satanic secret society -- Priory of Sion -- is built up as something of real value. You can see how the terribly blasphemous "Gnostic Gospels" are held in the same esteem as the precious Word of God! The Apostle Paul fought vigorously against the heresy of Gnosticism in several of his epistles, and the early Christian Church battled this sect continuously. Unfortunately, the occultism sweeping our world today, including the Satanism of the Illuminati, has roots sunk deeply in the Gnostic soil.
        
        Now that you have read the documentary from beginning to end, we shall proceed to Part 2, which details the way in which this doctrine is so crucial to the successful appearance of Antichrist. Literally, without people believing this genealogical lie, Antichrist cannot successfully arise and make his claim to be Jesus Christ AND the Jewish Messiah, all in the same man!
        
        The very fact that ABC chose November 3, 2003 as the time to finally expose all the people of the world to this Antichrist lie -- at the same time world events seem to be going more and more global -- leaves one wondering how much further down the road the appearance of Antichrist may be.
        
        Read my messges on this board Read my messges anywhere
        
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        Re: Merovingian Bloodline ~ Part 2 Shenandoah 20 y 3,596
        
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        ABC AIRS 'DOCUMENTARY' ON 11/03/03 WHICH EXPOSES TO 6.6 BILLION PEOPLE THE CRITICAL LIE WITHOUT WHICH ANTICHRIST CANNOT PROVE HIS LINEAGE TO KING DAVID! -- Part 2 of 2
        
        New World Order Religion: The Apostate Church 2-Tape Series
        
        Subtitle: We explore this obscure occult doctrine without which Antichrist cannot arise, so you can fully appreciate the significance of ABC airing this 'documentary'. You will understand Christianity more clearly as well as the shocking fact that the ancient Gnosticism against which the Apostolic Church fought is not only back, but is the foundation of the Antichrist Movement.
        MESSIAH TO COME FROM THE THRONE OF KING DAVID
        
        "Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever." [Isaiah 9:7]
        
        "The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne." [Psalms 132:11]
        
        "And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness." [Isaiah 16:5]
        
        Israel's promised Messiah - Redeemer will come from the bloodline and lineage of King David! The above verses are just a few of the many which promise that Messiah will come from David; for this reason, we have Matthew 1, a chapter that demonstrates Jesus' lineage, unbroken all the way back to King David. Because this lineage is so important, the first chapter of the first Gospel is devoted to this subject. As the prophetically learned Jew knew right well, Messiah would come from David. Listen to the first verse of Matthew 1 explain:
        
        "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." [Matt 1:1]
        
        Today's religious Jew also understands that the Messiah for whom they are still awaiting must come from the Throne of David. Therefore, before they will accept any person's claim to be Antichrist, they are going to demand a genealogy which "proves" that the person claiming to be the Jewish Messiah is truly from the House of David. This requirement is one tall order, folks! When you also tie in this requirement with the prophecy that Antichrist must come from the Revived Roman Empire [Daniel 9:27], you realize the staggering obstacle facing anyone who would even think of staging such an appearance on the world scene.
        
        Question: How does a Gentile "prove" his Jewish lineage back to King David?
        
        Answer: Through the invention of the lie called the Merovingian Bloodline Genealogy!
        
        Before we get started on our study, remember one fact: if Antichrist can somehow plug his genealogy back to Jesus Christ, he is "home free" to King David!
        
        The lie called the "Merovingian Bloodline Genealogy" accomplishes this feat. This is the lie that will enable Antichrist to "plug" his genealogy into that of Jesus Christ and thus all the way to King David. Listen now to a succinct definition of this bloodline.
        
        "The Merovingian Bloodline traces back to Jesus and His descendants, i.e., Mary Magdalene and the child she bore. This bloodline was threatened by the Catholic Church so the truth had to be hidden. The Priory of Sion was assigned to protect the information about this bloodline." [ABC Documentary, "Jesus, Mary, and da Vinci", aired 11/03/03]
        
        Let us now begin our study.
        
        GNOSTICISM - SATANIC DOCTRINE REBORN
        
        In Part 1 of this series, we show the details of this ABC documentary, "Jesus, Mary, and da Vinci"; a very important portion of their argument that Jesus never died, but married Mary Magdalene -- by whom they had a child -- required them to go outside Scripture. The extra-biblical argument they put forward came from the "Gnostic Gospels". These "Gospels" purportedly showed that Jesus was repeatedly very affectionate to Mary Magdalene, kissing her on some body part to the point the disciples got angry.
        
        The really deceptive part of this ABC presentation was that they presented these Gnostic Gospels as if they carried equal authoritative weight to the four Gospels in the Holy Bible! They quoted from them just as a genuine Christian would quote from the Bible and they presented "Bible scholars", who examined the meaning of certain words in the original Greek language, just as Protestant Bible scholars, teachers and preachers have done for centuries. The end result is that many people who do not know their Bibles and who are not discerning will probably be deceived into thinking these Gnostic Gospels are as genuine as the real Bible.
        
        Therefore, let us begin our study be examining the Gnostics so you may appreciate the terribly Satanic, blasphemous material presented to all the peoples of the world on November 3, 2003, by ABC TV.
        
        Gnosticism According To Satanic Doctrine
        
        "The name Gnostic means wisdom or knowledge, and is derived from the Greek, Gnosis. The members of the order claimed to be familiar with the secret doctrines of early Christianity. They interpreted the Christian Mysteries according to pagan symbolism. Their secret information and philosophic tenets they concealed from the profane and taught to a small group of only especially initiated persons." ["The Secret Teaching of All The Ages", by Manly P. Hall, 33° Freemason, The Philosophical Research Society, 1988, page XXV; Emphasis was in original]
        
        Jesus taught all the principles of the Kingdom of God quite openly. Listen to Him explain:
        
        "Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing." [John 18:20]
        
        In other places, the Bible declared that His Kingdom was "freely given".
        
        "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" [Romans 8:32]
        
        "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." [1 Cor 2:12]
        
        However, the Kingdom of Satan is NOT given freely; rather, the secret doctrines comprising the devil's kingdom are always hidden from the public, given only to the select few. For this reason, these nefarious doctrines have always appealed to the inherent snobbish nature of a prideful man. Since most natural leaders are very proud of themselves, this appeal to their pride -- i.e., that they will know things hidden from the "profane", the average person -- has been successful in attracting unredeemed men to secret societies in every era of time for the past 4,000 years.
        Here, Masonic author, Manly P. Hall, has just told us that Gnosticism "concealed from the profane and taught to a small group of only especially initiated persons." This fact makes them an occult secret society, before you ever get to their blasphemous doctrines!
        
        Notice, also, that the Gnostics claimed to know "secret doctrines" of Christianity, i.e., a "Mysteries Religion". Always, Satan entices the unsaved with promises that Christianity contains "secret doctrines", as this is his way of getting around the bold truth of the Bible! Just as Satan whispered in the ear of Eve, "Did God really say?", so he is whispering in the ears of members of his secret societies, "God did not really say"! Or, saying to the elect few, "These are doctrines hidden from the masses, that God knew He could not reveal to the common people".
        
        Thus, occultism has "Secret Doctrines", and "Secret Gospels", and the "Secret Years of Jesus Christ", all given in order to circumvent the true teaching of the Holy Bible.
        
        Finally, notice that the Gnostics interpreted true Scripture "according to pagan symbolism". In other words, they re-interpreted key Christian doctrine according to Satanic pagan beliefs and doctrines, a dastardly practice called "syncretism". Their symbolism thus reflected these pagan beliefs. God expressly forbids mixing His Truth with Satan's untruth! Such a practice is called "Leaven", i.e., false doctrine. Listen to what the Apostle Paul said about leaven.
        
        "A little leaven (a slight inclination to error, or a few false teachers) leavens the whole lump - it perverts the whole conception of faith (and) misleads the whole church." [Galatians 5:9; Parallel Bible, KJV/Amplified Bible Commentary]
        
        The Apostle Paul fought hard against Gnostic heresy in his Epistles, because he realized that their doctrine will "pervert the whole conception of faith" and will most definitely "mislead the whole church". You will see a good example of this reality in our discussion here. Without the Gnostic doctrine called the Merovingian Bloodline, Antichrist cannot arise, thus demonstrating how important Gnosticism was, and still is, to Satan.
        
        Now, let us go back to 33° Mason, Manly P. Hall, for more information about Gnosticism:
        
        "Simon Magus, the magician of New Testament fame, is often supposed to have been the founder of Gnosticism ... [Ibid.]
        
        Now, this is hot news, indeed! Simon Magus was the founder of Gnosticism! We meet Simon Magus as he is thrust into conflict with the apostles Peter and John. In fact, Simon was a Sorcerer, a practicing Satanist, and when he saw the apostles performing miracles he knew he could not perform, he assumed they were performing these miracles by exercising a higher degree of occultism than he knew; this was the same error the Pharisees made when they viewed Jesus performing his miracles, as they assumed he was drawing His power directly from Beelzebub, one of the chief princes of Lucifer [Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15-19; Matthew 12:24-27]. Jesus condemned this idea so strongly He created a new sin, the Unpardonable Sin! But, the very fact that the Pharisees would come to this conclusion demonstrates the reality that they were members of a secret society [Hear "Secret Societies Killed Jesus Christ", Audio Tape set].
        
        After Simon the Sorcerer "believed and was baptised" (Acts 8:9-13), he offered to buy the occult knowledge by which the Apostles were performing their miracles, to which Peter boldly replied:
        
        "Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God." [Acts 8:20-21]
        
        Therefore, even though Simon had "believed" and was baptised, his heart was still not right with God. Many Bible scholars believe Simon's repentance and profession of belief was never genuine, but only undertaken so he could get closer to the apostles to learn the source of their secret power. Tradition states that Simon went back to his old ways after failing to secure the source of the Apostle's power. Listen:
        
        "However favourably this or any other (scholar) may speak of Simon, he is generally supposed to have 'grown worse and worse, opposing the apostles and the Christian doctrine, and deceiving many cities and provinces by magical operations'." —Adam Clarke's Commentary
        
        This statement must be correct, for here we see the most authoritative Masonic author of the 20th Century, Manly P. Hall, stating that Simon Magus - Sorcerer - was the founder of the secret society known as Gnosticism.
        
        Now, let us examine some of the tenets of Gnosticism so you can appreciate the terrible manner in which it seeks to damage the precious simple faith we have in Christ Jesus our Lord. You will see how much terrible influence one man can have who gives himself up to the power of the "Evil One", for Simon Magus developed a very slick counterfeit Christianity, creating doctrines that will enable Antichrist to arise. Truly, some men have great power beyond their grave!
        
        Gnostic Doctrines
        
        Let us examine Gnostic Doctrines so you can see how pernicious and Antichrist they truly are. Once again, we turn to Manly P. Hall:
        
        "The Gnostics were divided in their opinions concerning the Demiurgus, or creator of the lower worlds ... One group of Gnostics was of the opinion that the Demiurgus was the cause of all misery and an evil creature ... Some Gnostics were of the opinion that the Jewish God, Jehovah, was the Demiurgus. This concept, under a slightly different name, apparently influenced mediaeval Rosicrucianism, which view Jehovah as the Lord of the material universe rather than as the Supreme Deity ..." ["The Secret Teaching of All The Ages", by Manly P. Hall, 33° Freemason, The Philosophical Research Society, 1988; Emphasis was in original]
        
        Can you imagine the blasphemy inherent in this doctrine? In this belief, the Gnostics fulfill Bible prophecy, beliefs that Antichrist would present to the world:
        
        They place Almighty God - Jehovah God -- into the ranks of an inferior god who just created the "lower worlds". What does Antichrist prophecy foretell?
        
        "And the king (Antichrist) shall do according to his will; he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished ..." [Daniel 11:36; Parallel Bible, KJV/Amplified Bible Commentary]
        
        Of course, Freemasonry teaches this very same thing about Jesus, except they go one step further to say that an inferior god created Jesus! Listen to Albert Pike:
        
        "Communicating movement to Chaos, she (Mother of the Living) produced Ialdabaoth, the Demiurgis, Agent of Material Creation ... Ialdabaoth, to become independent of his mother, and to pass for the Supreme Being, made the world and man, in his own image ... the image of Ialdabaoth reflected upon matter, became the Serpent-Spirit, Satan, the Evil Intelligence. Eve, created by Ialdabaoth ..." ["Morals and Dogma", Albert Pike, Teachings of the 26°, Prince of Mercy, p. 563]
        
        Once more, we see an instance in which Freemasonry proves itself identical to all the Satanic mysteries, just as Pike boasted (Page 624, 28th Degree). They teach the doctrine of the Demiurgis, and they teach other "astonishing things against the God of gods". Further, Pike goes on to brag about the "Christian Gnostics" -
        
        After covering the specific beliefs of the various "Christian Gnostic" groups, Pike declares their one common belief: "... there is no doubt that all the Gnostic sects had Mysteries and an initiation. They all claimed to have a secret doctrine, coming to them directly from Jesus Christ, different from that of the Gospels and Epistles, and superior to those communications, which in their eyes, were merely exoteric. This secret doctrine, they did not communicate to everyone ... hardly one in a thousand knew it." [Ibid., p. 542]
        
        Now, let us return to Manly P. Hall for more "astonishing things" the Gnostics believed. Prepare to be shocked:
        
        "To the Gnostics, the Christ was the personification of Nous, the Divine Mind, and emanated from the higher spiritual Aeons. He descended into the body of Jesus at the baptism and left it again before the crucifixion. The Gnostics declared that the Christ was not crucified, as this Divine Nous could not suffer death, but that Simon the Cyrenian, offered his life instead and that the Nous, by means of its power, caused Simon to resemble Jesus." [Hall, op. cit., P. XXVI]
        
        This teaching is most definitely Antichrist, for it separates Jesus' physical body from His Spirit, here called the "Christ Consciousness spirit". Returning to Albert Pike, we see that Freemasonry teaches the very same false doctrine. Jesus the man, according to this "leaven", did not realize he was Messiah until His baptism. When the Dove descended from Heaven, that was a symbol that the "Christ Consciousness" had come upon Him, and He realized He was the Jewish Messiah. However, this "Christ Consciousness" spirit left Him before the crucifixion. Once again, this is Antichrist teaching. Listen:
        
        "And every spirit which does not acknowledge and confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, but would annul, destroy, sever, disunite Him, is not of God [and] does not proceed from Him. This nonconfession is the spirit of the antichrist ..." [1 John 4:3; Parallel Bible, KJV/Amplified Bible Commentary]
        
        Now you firmly know that Gnosticism is clearly the "spirit" and doctrine of Antichrist! Keep this in mind as you contemplate the fact that this ABC documentary positively quotes the "Gnostic Gospels" in their strong desire to "prove" the Merovingian Bloodline Genealogy that will allow Antichrist to arise.
        
        MEROVINGIAN BLOODLINE EXPLAINED
        
        During the documentary, the ABC anchorwoman, Elizabeth Vargis, interviewed Henry Lincoln, one of the co-authors of the key book on the Merovingian Bloodline entitled "Holy Blood, Holy Grail". As we noted earlier, during this interview, Vargis succinctly stated the entire argument from Lincoln's book. Even though we quoted this definition in Part 1, let us repeat it here; this is the brief, but complete, definition of this bloodline lie.
        
        "The Merovingian Bloodline traces back to Jesus and His descendants, i.e., Mary Magdalene and the child she bore. This bloodline was threatened by the Catholic Church so the truth had to be hidden. The Priory of Sion was assigned to protect the information about this bloodline." [Vargis]
        
        Lincoln enthusiastically confirmed that Vargis "had it right"! She understood.
        
        Since the documentary positively quotes Lincoln in his book, "Holy Blood, Holy Grail", I retrieved the volume off my bookshelf and re-read the last three chapters, as these were the summation chapters which drew all the separate strands together. What I discovered was that Lincoln was far more firm in his appearance in the ABC documentary on November 3, 2003, than he was in the book, published in 1982! In the book, we see many instances where Lincoln uses the indefinite words, "may, maybe, might, perhaps, and still cannot prove".
        
        Why would the ABC documentary be far more positive about the reality of the Merovingian Bloodline than the 21-year-old book? Why would Lincoln be far more firm in this documentary than he was in his book? The only difference we can think of is that the appearance of Antichrist is far closer now than it was in 1982, and now is the time to condition the people to believe this lie.
        
        Since this book is so key, let us examine key excerpts:
        
        Jesus Was Not Crucified
        
        "If Jesus' family did, indeed, find refuge in Gaul, their overlords, by the fifth century, would have been the Arian Visigoths ... with Visigoth patronage and protection it would have been secure against all threats from Rome ... Dagobert II married a Visigoth princess whose father was name Bera ... Despite the pact between the Church and Clovis, the Merovingians had always been subject to Arianism ... The Arien view of Jesus was quite in accord with that of the Koran. In the Koran, Jesus is mentioned no less than thirty-five times under a number of impressive appellations ... At no point, however, is he regarded as anything other than a mortal prophet, a forerunner of Muhammad and a spokesman for a single, supreme God ... the Koran maintains that Jesus did not die on the cross: 'they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but they thought they did ... there was a substitute - generally, though not always supposed to have been Simon of Cyrene. Certain Muslim writers speak of Jesus hiding in a niche of a wall and watching the crucifixion of a surrogate - which concurs with the fragment already quoted by the Nag Hammadi scrolls." ["Holy Blood, Holy Grail", Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln, 1982., p. 386-7]
        
        Judaism And The Merovingians
        
        'The heresies, then provided us with no decisive confirmation of a connection between Jesus' family and the Merovingians, who appeared on the world scene some four centuries later .. At first glance, the evidence, such as it was, seemed to be meager. We had already considered the legendary birth of Merovee ... child of two fathers, one of whom was a mysterious aquatic creature from across the sea ... while the fish symbolism was suggestive, it was hardly conclusive ... And while the Merovingian royal bloodline was credited with a sacred, miraculous and divine nature, it was not explicitly stated anywhere that this blood was, in fact, Jesus." [p. 387]
        
        In the documentary, Lincoln firmly and positively presented this hypothesis that the first queen of the Merovingians was impregnated by a "fish creature from the sea", which he said was clearly symbolic of the fish symbol the early Christians used for identification. The viewer is left with the impression that Lincoln considers this legend to be quite real, i.e., that this Merovingian legend substantiates that Jesus was the "fish creature" and Mary Magdalene was the first Merovingian queen.
        
        Lincoln continues in his book:
        
        "Such fragments were provocative, but they provided only tenuous support for our hypothesis -- that a bloodline descended from Jesus existed in the south of France, that this bloodline intermarried with the Merovingians, and that the Merovingians, in consequence, were partly Judaic." [p. 388] - Once again, Lincoln is very tentative in his book, but very firm in the ABC documentary.
        
        "Jesus was of the Tribe of Judah, and the royal house of David. The Magdalen is said to have carried the Grail - the Sangraal or 'royal blood' - into France. And in the eighth century there was, in the south of France, a potentate of the Tribe of Judah and the royal house of David, who was acknowledged as king of the Jews. He was not only a practicing Jew, however; he was also a Merovingian. And through Wolfram von Eschenbach's poem, he and his family are associated with the Grail ... in 1165-66, Benjamin Tudela ... reports that in Narbonne there were 'sages, magnates and princes at the head of whom is ... a descendent of the House of David as stated in his family tree." [P. 395]
        
        "Holy Grail" = Mary Magdalene's Womb
        
        "If our hypothesis is correct, the Holy Grail would have been two things simultaneously. On the one hand, it would have been Jesus' bloodline and descendants -- the 'Sang Raal', the 'Real', or 'Royal' blood of the Templars, created by the Prieure de Sion, were appointed guardians. At the same time, the Holy Grail would have been, quite literally, the receptacle or vessel that received and contained Jesus' blood. In other words, it would have been the womb of the Magdalen - and by extension, the Magdalen herself ... It can be proved that many of the famous 'Black Virgins' or 'Black Madonnas' were early in the Christian era shrines not to the Virgin but to Magdalen and they depict mother and child ... the Holy Grail, then, would have symbolized both Jesus' bloodline and the Magdalen, from whose womb that bloodline issued." [Ibid.]
        
        During the documentary, this point was huge, as Vargis returned time and again to the "Last Supper" painting of Leonard de Vinci to "prove" that Mary Magdalene was the "receptacle" of Jesus' blood because she was carrying His child! Remember, in occult literature, the "Holy Grail" was reported to be the cup Jesus used during the Last Supper, and that was carried to the crucifixion scene to catch some of Jesus' blood as it flowed down the cross. The "hard right turn" that this book and this documentary takes is to argue that, rather than being the cup, the Holy Grail was really Mary Magdalene carrying Jesus' unborn child as she fled to what is today southern France.
        
        Reaching To Prove Their Point
        
        "In A.D. 70, during the great revolt in Judaea, Roman legions under Titus sacked the temple of Jerusalem ... But the temple of Jerusalem may have contained more than the treasure plundered by Titus' centurions. In ancient Judaism ... Messiah was to be a priest-king whose authority encompassed spiritual and secular domains alike. It is thus likely, indeed probable, that the temple housed official records pertaining to Israel's royal line -- the equivalents of the birth certificates, marriage licenses, and other relevant data ... If Jesus was indeed 'King of the Jews' the temple is almost certain to have contained copious information relating to him. It may even have contained his body -- or at least the tomb, once his body was removed from the temporary tomb of the Gospels ... By 1100 Jesus' descendants would have risen to prominence in Europe ... They themselves would have known their pedigree and ancestry. But they might not have been able to prove their identity to the world at large; and such proof may well have been deemed necessary for their subsequent designs. If it were known that such proof existed, or even possibly existed, in the precincts of the temple, no effort would have been spared to find it. This would explain the role of the Knights Templar - who under a cloak of secrecy undertook excavations beneath the temple in the so-called Stables of Solomon ... there would seem to be little question that the Knights Templar were, in fact sent to the Holy Land ... they would seem to have found what they were sent to find, and they brought it back to Europe. [p. 400-1; Emphasis added]
        
        The very idea that the Jewish priests in charge of the Temple in A.D. 70 would have hidden Jesus' body and/or His "equivalents of the birth certificates, marriage licenses, and other relevant data" reveals an astonishing lack of Biblical knowledge! Jewish Orthodox priests had totally rejected Jesus Christ and had been instrumental in pressuring Rome enough to carry out consistent persecution against Christians. In fact, the persecution was so bad within Israel that the Jewish Christians were scattered widely in an arc leading in all directions away from Jerusalem, just as Jesus had predicted would happen [Acts 1:8}
        
        How bad was the persecution of the Christian Church? Let us go to a Bible Commentary to discover:
        
        "After our Lord's resurrection the first attacks against His disciples came from the high priest and his party. The high-priesthood was then in the hands of the Sadducees, and one reason which moved them to take action of this kind was their `sore trouble,' because the apostles "proclaimed in Jesus the resurrection from the dead" (Acts 4:2; Acts 5:17). The gospel based upon the resurrection of Christ was evidence of the untruth of the chief doctrines held by the Sadducees, for they held that there is no resurrection. But instead of yielding to the evidence of the fact that the resurrection had taken place, they opposed and denied it, and persecuted His disciples. For a time the Pharisees were more moderate in their attitude toward the Christian faith ... But gradually the whole of the Jewish people became bitter persecutors of the Christians." [International Standard Bible Encyclopedia]
        
        Untold thousands of Born Again Christians -- mostly Jewish Christians -- suffered terribly at the hands of Roman authorities who had been coerced into action by Jewish threats to create rebellion if the authorities would not persecute. Every Roman governor was expected by Rome to keep peace and stability in the lands over which they had been assigned. If rebellion was consistently springing up in a particular location, Rome would not wait too long before they took a hard look at the Roman governor, to see if he was mismanaging his region; therefore, Roman governors were very susceptible to blackmail by shrewd local leaders who threatened to instigate continual rebellion unless their demands were met. Since the most important issue to Jewish religious leaders from Jesus' crucifixion to the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70 was the burgeoning Christian Church, Roman governors were continually being threatened with insurrection if they did not persecute Christians.
        
        With this understanding, how logical is it that the very Pharisees and Sadducees who were responsible for the Temple up until the moment of its utter destruction would have hidden Jesus' public records like birth records, and/or his body? The chance of this occurring was absolutely, completely zero! Therefore, this entire line of thinking that Jesus' public records were likely hidden in the Temple, waiting to be discovered, is nonsensical.
        
        However, the old Nazi explanation of "truth" as viewed by propaganda still holds true: "Truth is not what is; truth is what people perceive it to be".
        
        Knights Templar - Secret Society of Baphomet
        
        In creating this Merovingian Bloodline myth, occult authors place much credence in the likelihood that the Jewish priests probably did hide Jesus' public records beneath the Temple just before the building burned to the ground. Then, they place even more credence in the story that the Knights Templar soldiers found much of these documents -- and much treasure as well -- when they seized control of Jerusalem; after much excavation, this story continues, they secretly moved both the treasure and the artifacts back to Templar headquarters in France. Speculation abounds that, perhaps, they even found the Ark of the Covenant, another important piece of archeological treasure Antichrist will need when he rebuilds Solomon's Temple.
        
        Now, the story turns from the Templars military excursions to the Holy Land to their demise at the hands of the French king, working under the auspices of Pope Clement V.
        
        When the Knights Templar temple-fortress headquarters in Paris was attacked on Friday, October 13, 1307, by the French forces of King Philip, the official "take-down" of the order was inefficient. Listen to a secular historian describe the situation:
        
        "There is ample evidence that de Molay and his principal officers had to have been aware that something was stirring ... The Templar master for Paris issued an order to every Templar commandery in France to tighten security and under no circumstance to reveal anything regarding the secret rituals and meetings ... just before dawn (October 12, Thursday) an event would occur of such shattering dimensions that the date, Friday the Thirteenth, would live for centuries in the minds of millions as the unluckiest day of the year. And indeed it was for the Order of the Temple as Philip's troops descended on every Templar commandery over an area of one hundred fifty thousand square miles to put fifteen thousand men into the chains that had been made ready for them." ["Born In Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry", by John L. Robinson, p. 131-133]
        
        While the attack against the Templars proceeded only fairly well in France, foreign states in Europe were not being helpful to either King Philip or Pope Clement V. In fact, many of the Templars had escaped the clutches of King Philip's soldiers and fled to an adjoining state that was resisting the Pope's call for them to arrest all Templars within their borders. While fleeing to several European foreign countries, the word went out that England and Scotland were the most lenient to the Templars and the most resistant to the Pope. Therefore, Templars fled in large numbers to these lands, setting up the secret society that would ultimately become Freemasonry [Robinson, p. 159-170].
        
        The bottom line concerning the Knights Templar is that these occult authors believe the Knights did discover evidence linking Jesus to Mary Magdalene and proving He had a family; these occultists further believe the Templars entrusted this evidence to the Priory of Sion, and that from this evidence, the genealogy charts that this ABC documentary showed were created.
        
        Now that we understand the importance of the Knights Templar, let us now return for more information from Lincoln's book, "Holy Blood, Holy Grail".
        
        The Final Humanistic Lie
        
        "Quite simply, there is no reason why Jesus could not have married and fathered children while still retaining his divinity. There is no reason whatever why his divinity should be dependent on sexual chastity. Even if he were the Son of God, there is no reason why he should not have wed and sired a family. Underlying most Christian theology is the assumption that Jesus is God incarnate .... God taking pity on His creation, incarnated Himself in that creation and assumed human form. By doing so He would be able to acquaint Himself at first hand ... with the human creation ... But could God, incarnate as Jesus, truly claim to be a man, to encompass the spectrum of human experience, without coming to know to of the most basic, most elemental facets of the human condition? Could God claim to know the totality of the human existence without confronting two such essential aspects of humanity, as sexuality and paternity?" ["Holy Blood, Holy Grail", Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln, 1982. p. 408-9]
        
        This conclusion is certainly blasphemous, and reminds me of the prophecy, quoted above, that Antichrist will speak "astonishing things" against the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. But, there is a deeper level of complete spiritual blindness exhibited in this quote. Modern Humanism is nothing more, nor less, than the assumption that all of man's problems can be solved from within man. A corollary to this belief is that sexuality is one of THE keys to understanding human psychology. Modern advertising has discovered that sex sells almost every product on earth, which is why we see so much sexual content in our advertising.
        
        Therefore, it is not surprising to see this occult belief that Jesus could not really know what it was like to be a human unless He married and had sexual relations! I have never, ever thought that my beloved Savior was "lacking" because he never had sex! The emotional feelings created by sex between a man and a wife are also felt between a parent and their children, for example -- feelings of bonding, love, and commitment. Certainly, Jesus experienced these kinds of human relationship, so He was certainly not lacking in an experiential understanding of these emotions in humans.
        
        Further, these occult authors show their lack of Biblical understanding when they state that God decided to become human because he took "pity on His creation". The Bible teaches that God decided in Eternity Past that He would come in human form to die for the sins of His Elect! He did not create man first, then take pity on His creation and decide to incarnate to "help them". Before He created the first molecule of this present world, and certainly before He created the first man and woman, the Godhead decided that the Son would incarnate, carry out His ministry and go to death on the cross! His death was no accident, nor was Jesus taken aback by the sudden passions swirling in and around Jerusalem at this time, passions that many say abruptly overwhelmed Him and caused Him to be killed.
        
        No, Jesus knew in Eternity Past that He would come to die as a perfect sacrifice for sin.
        
        Listen to the Apostle Peter enunciate this most important doctrine:
        
        "Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it." [Acts 2:22-24]
        
        This one verse speaks of the "determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God" in Eternity Past, where God decided that His Son would come to earth to die for sinners; and this same verse speaks to the omnipotent power by which God raised Jesus up from the grave. Since God possesses omnipotent power, He could certainly have prevented Jesus' crucifixion, to intervene if His Son has "lost control of the situation". Indeed, Jesus speaks to this specific issue:
        
        In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus agonized all night over His impending death, spending much time in prayer to His beloved Father. When the Roman Guard came to arrest Him, one of the apostles pulled his sword and sliced off the ear of one of the soldiers. Jesus heals the ear and then tells His apostle:
        
        "Then Jesus said to him, Put your sword back into its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you suppose that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will immediately provide Me with more than twelve legions [ more than 80,000] of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must come about this way?" [Matthew 26:52-53; Parallel Bible, KJV/Amplified Bible Commentary]
        
        God's power decided in Eternity Past that Jesus would come to live, minister, and die a perfect sacrificial death on the cross. If Jesus had commanded 80,000 angels to deliver Him from the cross, all of God's prophecies of this sacrifice for sins would have come to nothing, and God would have been proven a liar! Therefore, Jesus died a predetermined death by exercising His omnipotent power to ensure that all the Old Testament prophecies concerning His death, burial, and resurrection would occur exactly as they had been uttered!
        
        Jesus death on the cross was and shall always be, history's supreme example of the victory of a loving, Sovereign God over Death, Hell, and Satan!
        
        THE FINAL GOAL -- A PRIEST-KING OVER ALL
        
        "... there would seem to be little point in the Prieure de Sion's elaborate designs -- unless those designs are in some crucial way linked with politics. Whatever the theological repercussions of our conclusions, there would seem, quite clearly, to be other repercussions as well -- political repercussions with a potentially enormous impact, affecting the thinking, values, the institutions of the contemporary world in which we live ... In many of its documents Sion asserts that the new king, in accordance with Merovingian tradition, would 'rule but not govern'. In other words, he would be a priest-king who functions primarily in a ritual and symbolic capacity; and the actual business of governing would be handled by someone else -- conceivably the Prieure de Sion ... Needless to say, our understanding ... can be only speculative. But they would seem to include a theocratic United States of Europe - a trans- or pan-European confederation assembled into a modern empire and ruled by a dynasty descended from Jesus. This dynasty would not only occupy a throne of political or secular power, but quite conceivably the throne of Saint Peter as well." ["Holy Blood, Holy Grail"; P. 410-411]
        
        "There is also, increasingly, a desire for a 'true' leader - not a fuhrer, but a species of wise and benign spiritual figure, a priest-king, in whom mankind can safely repose its trust. Our civilization has sated itself with materialism and in the process become aware of a more profound hunger. It is now beginning to look elsewhere, seeking the fulfillment of emotional, psychological, and spiritual needs. Such an atmosphere would seem eminently conducive to the Prieure de Sion's objectives. It places Sion in the position of being able to offer an alternative to existing social and political systems ... How might the advent of Jesus' lineal descendant be interpreted? To a receptive audience, it might be a kind of Second Coming." [Ibid., P. 412-413]
        
        Thus, the Merovingian Priest-King is the ultimate goal of all this planning and scheming; occultists call him "The Christ", but the Bible calls him "Antichrist". The key to understanding this issue and to why it has been aired now is to realize that the coming Antichrist cannot hope to deceive the Jewish people that he is their long-awaited Messiah unless he can prove his genealogy all the way back to King David. However, if they can "prove" a genealogy that plugs into the physical Jesus in most people's minds, Matthew, Chapter One will take them instantly back to King David.
        
        Therefore, it is imperative that both Jew and Gentile believe this Merovingian Bloodline Genealogy lie. Since most people forget what they have been told in less than 24 hours, it seems logical that a worldwide airing of this lie would occur just before Antichrist arises, not 10 years before. Of course, ABC might be planning many more such airings for the some years so that the majority of the peoples of the world would really get the message! We really cannot, at this point, be dogmatic about the final timing of all events.
        
        But, as events seem to be swirling quickly to some sort of a climax, the airing of this ABC special is interesting, to say the least. What did Jesus say we should be doing as we recognize that the End of the Age is coming to a climax as we correctly join current world events to prophecy? Listen:
        
        "Keep awake then and watch at all times, be discreet, attentive, and ready, praying ..." [Luke 21:36a; Parallel Bible, KJV/Amplified Bible Commentary]
        
        Jesus also counseled:
        
        "Now when these things begin to occur, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption (deliverance) is drawing near." [Matthew 21:28; Ibid]
        
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        Hulda Clark Cleanses
        
        Re: Merovingian Bloodline ~ Part 2 The Prophet 20 y 2,196
        
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        The Prophet
        
        This is a reply to # 366,486
        
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        Bahhh Humbug! That is the same drek the Church has always used to control and dominate spirituality. The TRUE nefarious scheme is for the Church to commit spiritual hegemony pof the world, repressing all religions, and to rewrite history to make them the "good" guys.
        Fact is that the churches like the one that put out that drek have one goal in common: To return to a state of union between Church and state so a Talibanesqu regimne can be set up so that they may broadened their spiritual hegemony.
        In the end, it will happend and you will burn me on the stake along with the rest of the heretics. But one thing you will never get is us to worship the Devil in disguise.
        You'll never have the undisputed control of the West, or for that matter, the world that theChurch tries to get. we are free, will live free and die free, and no twisted propoganda or clever spin jobs will change that.
        
        Read my messges on this board Read my messges anywhere
        
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        Re: Merovingian Bloodline resolu2 20 y 2,250
        
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        resolu2
        
        This is a reply to # 366,485
        The early church edited the Bible to suit their own ends of retaining power over the masses, not to assist in our redemption.
        
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        Re: Merovingian Bloodline Shenandoah 20 y 2,442
        
        Shenandoah
        
        This is a reply to # 366,488
        The early church had a clue it was the church that came later that messed things up.
        
        Shenandoah
        
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- Fantastic post! woo hooooo! :) ... shelleycat 20 y 2,123

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