The Only Good

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You probably know the gospel story of the rich young man; the tale of the man who came to Jesus the Lord with the question: 'Good Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' Before answering the question, Jesus replied: 'Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone'.

When we look at the tenth book of Hermes Trismegistus we notice that these words from the gospel are a quotation from the hermetic philosophy. One can state this quite certainly because the hermetic philosophy existed thousands of years before the Christian gospel. In the very first verse we read:

The Good is exclusively in God, or rather: God is the Good, in all Eternity.

These words make clear straight away that that, for us, the Good is an unknowable reality: an allusion to a state that we ourselves are unable to approach.

If you think about this idea, you will realize that your good, what you are accustomed to calling 'good', has to do with something entirely different. It is a relative concept, of value to the I-being for a limited period only. And you know that what you call good, someone else will find utterly bad or reprehensible. What one person prizes as the most noble, is rejected by another as the most terrible.

There are as many standards of good and evil as there are human beings. In general, you find 'good' those things which strike you as pleasant or agreeable, or which are in keeping with your insight into life. The opposite you consider 'evil'. The result is an appalling chaos, since in our field of life there are no genuinely good people, any more than The Good, the Only Good, can be found in our life field.

We do not intend to bore you with our insights into good and evil. No, our aim is to free you from all this and direct your attention to the one genuine Good, which exists in God alone. Verse 14, at the end of the tenth book, speaks about man's dilemma with respect to good and evil:

Thus it is with regard to human goodness and human beauty. And we can neither escape nor hate them, for the hardest thing of all is that we need them and cannot live without them.

Our aim is to raise you, if possible, to the hermetic perspective. If you consider all the fuss about the progress made by human beings in various groups the world over, if you become involved in all this turmoil, you will surely not find it in you to love it, if you are a genuine seeker of Truth. Certainly, in many respects, you may see in it elements of practical value. Sometimes it may also be agreeable. But if you view it in the light of hermetic philosophy you will immediately recognize its inadequacy, its hopelessness, and it will not be possible to for you to love such attempts at goodness. The same applies to love as applies to goodness. Just as The Good is in God alone, so love, too, is only in God. Neither are found in human beings born of nature. Seekers of Truth, then, ought not to try an find them where they do not exist.

But neither ought you to hate human goodness and human beauty, for hate burns, destroys. Love, too, is a fire. Love is an astral force that has to do with the heart. When a person who seeks love is disillusioned, he always undergoes a purification and his hunger for the One Thing Necessary becomes that much purer and more urgent. But the fire of hate, which is also an astral radiation in the heart sanctuary, destroys and withers the heart. For the person who hates, nothing is left.

However, there is a third attitude, in which neither expects nor seeks what is impossible. Instead, one adopts a purely objective standpoint with respect to these things, and in this way maintains a kind of neutral goodwill, in which one simply accepts things as they are. That is why Hermes says:

We can neither escape nor hate them, for the hardest thing of all is that we need them and cannot live without them.

For as long as you are obliged to live the life of nature, you will need that life and its attributes. That is why the advice is give neither to harbor hate on account of life in nature, nor to try to escape it.

But what, then? Well, if you neither love nor hate human beauty and goodness, and neither do you try to escape them, your position with respect to dialectical nature will be that of detachment. There will be nothing that binds you to it, and nothing that can hold you back. You will do your daily duty without grumbling, without sighing, without feelings of vengeance and without rebellious actions.

You are passing through the dismal life of the nature-of-death as the result of a law* which compels you to do so. You cannot deny your birth in the nature-of-death. So do your duty, because that is what you have to do at this moment, and do it with your head held high -- without hate, without running away, without attachment. And if, on life's paths, you meet a fellow Seeker of Truth, content yourself with an understanding wink.

* The Laws of Karma, Attraction, Cause-And-Effect

The Truth-seeker is returning to The Only Good. Only in God is the Good to be found. And he who finds God, he who gains participation in The Good, is from then on no longer of this world. When you have found God, you will exist with the other brothers and sisters in the New Life-Field, in the Soul-World.

But remember that, although man can participate in The Good, he cannot be The Good, as Hermes says. The Good will always remain different from man. In that sense, no one is good, not even one.

That is why we need to examine what The Good is and to what extent a human being can participate in it. In addition, we will need to understand clearly what kind of living being nature-born man is in actual fact. Between the nature-born human being and The Good lies a path, the Path to participation in The Good. Anyone who wishes to walk the Path will have to begin by becoming non-attached in the way we have described. Only when you are no longer attached to the nature in which you were born and bred, neither by love nor by hate, will you be able to travel with the New Soul from Bethlehem to Golgotha. Then you will walk the Path to Divine Unity, to the Only Good.

From The Mystery Of The Good - The Egyptian Arch-Gnosis Vol. III - Jan van Rijckenborgh

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The Beautiful And The Good.

The following is from the Tenth Book of the Corpus Hermeticum.

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1 The Good, Aesclepius, is exclusively in God, or rather: God is The Good. in all eternity. That is why The Good is necessarily the cause and essence of all motion and of all genesis: nothing exists that is without The Good. The Good, in perfect equilibrium, is surrounded by a static force of manifestation: it is the entire Plenitude, the Primordial Fount, the Origin if All Things. When I call that which sustains everything good, I mean The Good, which is Absolute and Eternal.

2 This attribute belongs only to God, for there is nothing He lacks, so that no desire for possession can make Him evil. There is nothing He might love and at the loss of which He might be grieved, because sorrow and grief are part of evil. There is nothing stronger than He that might be able to wage war against Him, nor is it keeping within His nature that indignity might be brought upon Him. Nothing excels Him in beauty and thus arouses Him to the love of the senses. Nothing can deny Him obedience and thus move Him to anger. There is nothing wiser than He which could arouse His covetousness.

3 As none of these emotions is to be found in the All-Being, there is nothing in Him other than The Good. And just as none of the other characteristics  can occur in such a Being, likewise The Good cannot be found in anyone else.

4 All the other qualities occur in all beings, in the small as well as in the large, in each of then in a specific way, and even in the world, the greatest and most powerful in all manifested life: for all that has been created is full of suffering, because genesis itself involves suffering.

Where there is suffering, The Good is certainly absent. Where The Good is, there is certainly no suffering whatsoever. Wherever day is, there is no night, and wherever night is, there is no day. That is why The Good cannot dwell in what has been created, but only in the non-created.

But since all matter participates in the non-created, it is also part of The Good. In this sense the world is good: insofar as it likewise brings forth all things it is as such, good. But in all other respects it is not good, being also subject to suffering, and changeable, and the mother of creatures subject to suffering.

5 Human standards of goodness are obtained by comparison with evil. What is not evil beyond measure is here considered to be good, and what is here held to be good is the smallest part of evil. Therefore, it is impossible, here, for what is good to be free from contamination by evil. What is good, here, is affected by evil and ceases to be good. Thus, this good deteriorates into evil. That is why The Good is in God alone; yes, God is The Good .

6 In men, The Good can be found only in name but nowhere in reality. In fact, that is impossible, for The Good cannot be found in a material body which on all sides is stifled by afflictions and arduous exertion, grief and desire, passion and delusion, and images of the senses.

7 However, worst of all, Aesclepius, is that everything to which man is driven by what I have mentioned is here on earth considered to be the greatest good., instead of an extraordinary evil. The passionate desire of the belly, the instigator of all malice, is the error which keeps us here remote from The Good.

8 Therefore, I thank God for what He has revealed to my consciousness with regard to knowledge of The Good, which is not to be found in the world. The world is saturated with evil, just as God is filled with the fullness of The Good, or The Good with the fullness of Good.

9 Around the Divine Being radiates beauty, which indeed dwells in God in supreme, flawless purity. Let us dare to say it, Aesclepius: the essential being of God, if one may speak of it thus, is The Beautiful and The Good.

10 The Beautiful and The Good are not to be found within those who are of the world. All things perceptible to the eyes are chimera, resembling shadows. But that which transcends the senses approaches most closely the essence of the Beautiful and The Good.  And the eyes are no more capable of seeing God than they are capable of beholding The Beautiful and The Good. These are entirely part of God; they belong to Him and Him alone, being inseparable from His essence and expressions of the highest love of God and for God.

11 If you can comprehend  God, you will also comprehend The Beautiful and The Good in their supreme radiation magnificence, entirely illuminated by God. That beauty is incomparable, that goodness inimitable, as God Himself is inimitable. To the extent that you can comprehend God, you will also comprehend The Beautiful and The Good. They cannot be conveyed to other beings for they cannot be separated from God.

12 If you are seeking God, you are also seeking The Beautiful, for there is only one road that leads from here to The Beautiful: a God-serving life of action, guided by the Gnosis.

13 That is why those who are without Gnosis and do not walk on the path of godliness dare proclaim man beautiful and good; man who has never, even in his dreams, seen what The Good is and is in the grips of all kinds of evil, who considers evil to be good and thus assimilates evil without ever becoming satiated with it, fearing to be deprived of it and striving with all his might not only to keep it, but even to increase it.

14 Thus it is, Aesclepius, with regard to human goodness and human beauty. And we can neither escape nor hate them, for the hardest thing of all is that we need them and cannot live without them.

From "That The Good Is To be Found In God Alone And Nowhere Else" The Egyptian Arch-Gnosis, Vol. III - Jan van Rijckenborgh

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The Other One (Re-post)

Originally posted 4 April 2013

[QUOTING]

Marsilio Ficino explained that the Spirit becomes ill when it feeds on too many dreams. Sickness through undernourishment weakens one, and a weak voice grows increasingly weaker. It is not heard; it cannot be heard, because the noise of society with all its fascinating but also heart-rending manifestations will drown it out as loudly as possible. Ultimately, it will thus grow silent, and the people will no longer be able to be bearers of the Spirit-spark, the last principle of the Light Soul. As life-sparks, they will then continue on their merry-go-round on earth, whereby they drive themselves and each other crazy, seek to kill each other, and eventually bring civilizations to an end.

Those who look around must brace themselves, they can see it happening, because guidance from above, inspiration by those who know, the bons hommes or the initiated, has vanished. And this has to be so, for the human being is not yet complete, and he must undertake the second part of his development himself, albeit under the stimulation and ultimately under the guidance of his inner inspiration, his living New Soul. This is why our era is so critical. It is still possible to hear this inspiration, this voice of the innate Soul-Spark, but the time is becoming increasingly precarious. It is certainly an exciting time in which we live. Something fundamentally different needs to be learned at short notice. What is it? What needs to be learned?

The human being himself is from nature. Everything contained in nature is also in him: growth and blossoming, learning, living, reproduction and ultimately, also sickness, decline and finally, even death. By learning to know himself, he learns to know the essence of nature and thus of the earth itself. By learning to know himself through and through, he learns to know four billion years of the earth.

Then that special psychological moment arrives in which the human being, deep within himself, recognizes, 'I am not yet complete, my development is not yet at an end, not at its peak. For the earth is also only half-way developed'. Is it then possible that he is also only half-way, like the earth? That depends. There is something more to it.  The human being must learn to know himself, certainly, but he must learn to know all of himself. For he is inclined to look always only at one half, to nature, being so close, while another, unknown half is certainly equally as important. The human being is indeed nature and of nature, but not exclusively so. In the magnificent physical body he has at his disposal, another principle is present. Deeply hidden, there is a Divine Nucleus, a Divine principle that in world literature is sometimes called the Rose of Infinite Beauty and also called the Sacred Lotus Flower Floating on the Water. The human being must learn to know this as well. Actually, this is what he must learn to know first of all. Being so near, it is a miracle that this Rose is not known, for it has inspired us with its life through which we can live. And also, this Rose of another nature has a plan and is destined to follow its own development. Its existence is found in a mighty, Divine Plan, not in time, but in the eternal.

 In fact, it has not been given to the human being to know what 'eternal' is. This is the prerogative of the Rose of the Heart, the Other One in the microcosm. And this One has been waiting. For how long? What for? Until the human being is finally able to read the characters of nature!

It is sometimes said that this Other One, this 'stranger' of the Gnostics, once underwent a Divine development, in a long-forgotten time, or rather, not long ago, but differently, outside of time. The Rose existed in Eternity. However, it was looking too much into the river of Time, too long, too intensely, causing the subtle balance of the mighty energies in which the microcosm was taken up to break, and the microcosm lost itself in Time. The human being lacks the senses to catch hold of how it was, or is, over there outside of Time. But the Other One knows and with its sensitive impulses, it awakens in the earthly human being that strange, inexplicable longing for unknown vistas, unknown beauty, for the Eternal.

But the Other One knows! Whoever can see this is able to recognize two parts, two principles, in the human being that are both engaged in a mighty learning process. On the one hand, there is the human being arisen from earthly nature and on the other hand, the Divine Rose of the Heart, originating in the Eternal, in The Other. Without this Divine Rose, we would be at the end of a long process of development. With it, the human being will experience standing at the beginning of a grand new phase in Life. The human being who decides to learn to know as well as possible both his own nature and that of The Rose, through and in the school of life, also with the help of a true spiritual school, will certainly understand...the essence of the earth, because he unfolded his inner self fully, and together with it, he went towards Unknown Horizons.

"A New Fundament"  Gnosis - Rays of Light Past and Present  Peter F.W. Huijs

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The New Symbol

This post is a response to a recent question asked by A.:

Q: "Could I also ask why after so many years the School's symbol changed? Is there a reason or was it simply overlooked?"

The New Symbol was explained during the Fama400* conference in Calw (Germany).

* Fama400 commemorated the 400th anniversary of the first publication of the so-called “classic Rosicrucian writings”, also called “Rosicrucian Manifestos”. They were printed in the years 1614, 1615 and 1616 and initiated a great spiritual impulse at that time and up to the present time which extended all over the Western world.

In the beginning, the symbol (without a point in the middle) showed the following characteristics:

The circle: the divine light power encloses the Living Body of the School, encircles the pupil and encircles the group.

The triangle: the three sides of the Inner Temple, the New Soul, the three mysteries of Christ

The square: the new mode of life, in one-pointedness of purpose, harmony in all our actions, non-conflict, and group unity

Now with the addition of the point in the middle, the new, or adjusted symbol refers to a turning point, a new starting point in the School as well as in ourselves. A new reality is opened up for us.

The circle: universality, touching everyone, reaching out to everyone

The square: the “higher” square, the transfigured personality; the four inscriptions on the grave of CRC -

the yoke of the law,
there is no empty space,
the freedom of the gospel,
God’s Glory is unassailable.

The triangle: the reborn Spirit-Soul Being

The point in the middle: the Spirit, the turning point

~ g
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Non-Conflict, No Criticism, No Judgment, Unselfishness

These words are written on a whiteboard that is placed on this writer's refrigerator. There are no pictures of family, newspaper clippings, drawings and the like. There are only these four phrases, positioned in a location that enables them to be viewed several times a day.

These words can serve to help the candidate to maintain focus on one's daily responsibility to the Gnosis. It is by observing this fourfold mantra that one can truly serve humanity while simultaneously assisting in the birth of the New Soul. So simple and so easily understandable are these four concepts that it is not even necessary to define or explain them.

We know what these words mean. The challenge is to put them into practice consistently, every single day, to live the Path.

Non-Conflict.

No Criticism.

No Judgment.

Unselfishness.

~ g
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The Folly Of The Humanist

Humanism is the idea that solely through humanitarian efforts all worldly strife can be overcome, "good" will conquer "evil" and the world can be made into a paradise solely through the generosity and compassion of human beings.

If this were true, the world would have reached a state of complete peace and tranquility long ages ago. However, we experience in a duality, where everything has its polar opposite and everything eventually changes into its opposite. The more we work at cultivating "goodness", the more that "badness" will work to counteract it. This is the way duality works. Neither side is ever allowed to maintain an advantage or an upper hand over the other for any extended period of time.

No matter with what good intentions a humanitarian effort is started, it will eventually fall victim to its opposites. A couple of examples: The United Nations, which was birthed in a desire for world peace now sanctions global war and murder; or take the United States of America - the nation whose birth sprang from a fervent belief in the sanctity of personal liberty is now the World's Policeman, engaged in unending global warfare punctuated by the occasional kidnapping and execution of sovereign heads-of-state.

Do you know where Mother Theresa is right now? She is in the reflection-sphere, most likely on her knees worshipping some reflection-sphere light-spirit posing as Jesus. Why? Because no matter how noble and admirable her humanistic works were while incarnate, she knew nothing of the Path of the True Way and remained a loyal vassal of the Catholic church right up to the moment of her death. This enabled the capture of her mortal soul by Church aeons once she passed beyond the veil. Gotcha.

To advance that "giving a man a sandwich" will change the world is foolishness born of a type of naïve ignorance. Giving a homeless person food and shelter, while it is our duty to do so, will do almost nothing to advance the salvation of that human soul or of the collective soul of humanity. Mankind's problems go far deeper than an empty stomach. Many who insist that humanitarianism is "the way" speak from an internal egoism that serves to pat the self on the back while making sure to point out their "good works" to others. "Look at me! See what I'm doing? I, I, I,! Me, me, me!"

Mother Theresa and those like her are beautiful human beings who, due to their ignorance of how things work in this fallen nature-order, fall victim to the lies of the orthodox church and become lost to the Gnosis, at least temporarily. One should be aware that the war being waged is not a terrestrial one; it is a war that rages in the heavens for the souls of mankind.

The most effective way to help humanity is to lessen the grip that the aeons of this nature have on humanity. Each candidate that sincerely seeks Liberation, the Path of Return, can draw the forces of the Gnosis into this world while simultaneously effecting an escape from this world, and from the grip of the archons. It is akin to poking holes in a sheet that is held in front of a lamp. Each new hole allows a bit of light to enter. Every new hole permanently weakens the structural integrity of the sheet, until eventually, an abundance of Light is able to shine through without obstruction.

Additionally, those who truly know and understand must make it their business to assist and enlighten those who are still in darkness. This does not mean grabbing people by the collar and forcing upon them something they do not wish to hear, or are not yet ready to hear. But it does mean being available and ready to assist if or when asked by someone who exhibits a true seeking nature, a weariness with the material world and a sincere desire for Truth. It also implies that one study the requirements of the Path and the workings of both the visible and invisible worlds, so as not to spread ignorance via the dissemination half-knowledge.

Most important of all is to live the Path of Return, not just talk or read about it. What that entails is not too hard to fathom: Love God with all your heart, mind and strength; Love thy neighbor as thyself. Purify the thought-life. Open the chambers of the head and the heart to a New Life-force. Let your actions be as speech.

Humanitarianism has its place as a salve for some of the things that plague mankind, but it is not what will ultimately free mankind. Only true insight, sincere yearning for salvation, surrender of the self and a completely new attitude of life will lead one to Liberation, thereby striking a crucial blow for humanity in the execution of the Divine Plan.

~ g
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Orbits, Spirals, Periodicity and Harvest

As we know, the Earth, along with the other planets of this solar system, orbits the Sun. The Sun, in turn, with its collective solar progeny, orbits some other star. That star, with all of its orbiting solar systems, orbits some other celestial object, and so on and so on. Wheels within wheels. All of these systems describe orbits, spirals, journeys that by definition start and end at roughly the same point. Orbiting objects end and begin on the same plane, relatively speaking. Solar systems and star systems end and begin on slightly higher planes.

Planetary revolutions are circular in nature. Solar orbits are spiral in nature. Planetary orbits essentially cause a repeating of circumstances. The Solar orbit results in some existential similarities, but the life of the entire system is elevated to a higher level of existence. The former represents sameness, the latter, progress.

At this point in time, our Solar system has travelled into a new region of space. The Sun, and all of its planetary children, has entered a Divine sphere of influence, a radiation-field that is foreign to this nature, while at the same time, above this nature. This radiation of the Seven-Spirit, emanating from the sixth cosmic domain, is now permeating the seventh cosmic domain, the physical plane. As a result, transfigurative changes are set to take place both here and elsewhere.

You have heard references to the concept of "harvest" when it comes to the transformation and salvation of human souls. This is an apt description, for after the Farmer plants in the spring, he tends to his crops and encourages their growth. Throughout summer, some growth may be attacked by foraging beasts, others may fall to disease or wither due to lack of rainfall. But there will always be those that will bear fruit. At the proper time, which is the same time every year, the Farmer will decide that the window for harvesting is open. He must pick his crop at the peak of ripeness before it is spoiled beyond use.

We are in that time. Since the dawn of this current Day of Manifestation mankind has, through bitter experience and sorrow, once again arrived at the point of Harvest. Presently, there is a segment of humanity whose souls are ripe for harvesting into a New Life Field. Others have had their growth stunted by disease (ignorance) or lack of water (turning away from God). These may receive a final opportunity to join the Harvest, but because the time is so short, it is not known how many will be successful and how many will be left to rot on the vine.

What we do know is this: Harvest occurs on a regular basis. The Holy Language of all times refers to these Harvests time and time again. We have once more returned to this point in time. Cosmic, Solar and planetary cycles are returning to their Start-Finish lines. Before the Door shuts on this epoch, each man and woman must voluntarily choose their Destiny.

~ g

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Two On A Walk

Happiness and Fear took a walk together.

Fear asked Happiness: "Tell me - what is the highest happiness for a human being?".

Happiness replied: "When a human being loses himself, when the borders of his "I" disappear and he merges into the Ineffable.

Fear nodded knowingly.

Then Happiness asked Fear: "What is the greatest fear for a human being?"

Fear replied: That he would lose himself, that the borders of his "I" would disappear and he would merge into the Ineffable".

Smiling, they continued their walk.

From "Silence as Guide" - Pentagram 2014, No. 5
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Message To The Messengers: Shake It Off, Keep Moving

"And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, as ye go forth out of that house or that city, shake off the dust from your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be easier for the

land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that city"

 

Matt 10:14

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The Judean

This post is for your information. All quotes are excerpted from "Facts Are Facts" by Benjamin H. Freedman.

The man called Jesus who lived approximately 2,000 years ago was not a Jew. In fact, the word "Jew" and the associated religious context in which it is used today did not even exist at that time. The "Jews" of that day were called Pharisees. Anyone who has read the New Testament knows that Jesus dogged these Pharisees relentlessly, exposing their hypocrisy and duplicity at every opportunity. He did not participate in, practice or support Pharisaism, which was the ruling orthodox religion in Palestine at that time. Pharasaism has survived unto this day and is now known as rabbinical Judaism.

[QUOTING]

Pharisaism became Talmudism, Talmudism became Medieval Rabbinism, and Medieval Rabbinism became Modern Rabbinism. But throughout these changes in name ... the spirit of the ancient Pharisees survives, unaltered.

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Now, on to the subject of this post.

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To allege that "Jesus was a Jew" in the sense that during His lifetime Jesus professed and practiced the form of religious worship known and practiced under the modern name of "Judaism" is false and fiction of the most blasphemous nature. If to be a so-called or self-styled "Jew", then or now, the practice of "Judaism" was a requirement, then Jesus certainly was not a so-called "Jew". Jesus abhorred and denounced the form of religious worship practiced in Judea in His lifetime and which is known and practiced today under its new name "Judaism". That religious belief was then known as "Pharisaism". The Christian clergy learned that in their theological seminary days but they have never made any attempt to make that clear to Christians.

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The man, Jesus, was born in Bethlehem. The town of Bethlehem was located in the part of Palestine then known as Judea. Thus, by birth, Jesus was a Judean.

[QUOTING]

In Latin, in the lifetime of Jesus, the name of the political subdivision in the Middle East known in modern history as Palestine was "Iudaea". It was then administered by Pontius Pilate as administrator for the Roman Empire of which it was then a part. The English for the Latin "Iudaea" is "Judea".

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The word "Jew" did not exist in the English language until the late 18th century. More facts follow, for those who consider facts kind of important:

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TERM "JEW" CREATED IN 1775--A.D.

It is an incontestable fact that the word "Jew" did not come into existence until the year 1775. Prior to 1775 the word "Jew" did not exist in any language. The word "Jew" was introduced into the English for the first time in the 18th century when Sheridan used it in his play "The Rivals", II, i: "She shall have a skin like a mummy, and the beard of a Jew". Prior to this use of the word "Jew" in the English language by Sheridan in 1775 the word "Jew" had not become a word in the English language. Shakespeare never saw the word "Jew" as you will see. Shakespeare never used the word "Jew" in any of his works, the common general belief to the contrary notwithstanding. In his "Merchant of Venice", V.III.i.61, Shakespeare wrote as follows: "What is the reason? I am a Iewe; hath not a Iewe eyes?".

In the Latin St. Jerome 4th century Vulgate Edition of the New Testament Jesus is referred to by the Genitive Plural of "Iudaeus" in the Gospel by John reference to the inscription on the Cross, -"Iudaeorum". It was in the 4th century that St. Jerome translated into Latin the manuscripts of the New Testament from the original languages in which they were written. This translation by St. Jerome is referred to still today as the Vulgate Edition by the Roman Catholic Church authorities, who use it today.

Jesus is referred to as a so-called "Jew" for the first time in the New Testament in the 18th century. Jesus is first referred to as a so-called "Jew" in the revised 18th century English language editions of the 14th century first translations of the New Testament into English. The history of the origin of the word "Jew" in the English language leaves no doubt that the 18th century "Jew" is the 18th century contracted and corrupted English word for the 4th century Latin "Iudaeus" found in St. Jerome's Vulgate Edition. Of that there is no longer doubt.

The available original manuscripts from the 4th century to the 18th century accurately trace the origin and give the complete history of the word "Jew" in the English language. In these manuscripts are to be found all the many earlier English equivalents extending through the 14 centuries from the 4th to the 18th century. From the Latin "Iudaeus" to the English "Jew" these English forms included successively "Gyu", "Giu", "Iu", "Iuu", "Iuw", "Ieuu", "Ieuy", "Iwe", "Iow", "Iewe", "Ieue", "Iue", "Ive", "Iew", and then finally in the 18th century, "Jew". The many earlier English equivalents for "Jews" through the 14 centuries are "Giwis", "Giws", "Gyues", "Gywes", "Giwes", "Geus", "Iuys", "Iows", "Iouis", "Iews", and then also finally in the 18th century, "Jews".

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Thus, we see that the word "Jew", once invented, was meant to represent or replace the Latin word "Iudaeus", which translated to "Judea". It did not mean "Jew" in the context in which it is understood today.

We'll conclude with the following:

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SECONDARY MEANING OF THE WORD "JEW"

There is not one person in the whole English-speaking world today who regards a "Jew" as a "Judean" in the literal sense of the word. That was the correct and only meaning in the 18th century. The generally accepted "secondary meaning" of the word "Jew" today, with practically no exceptions, is made up of four almost universally-believed theories. These four theories are that a so-called or self-styled "Jew" is:

(1) a person who today professes the form of religious worship known as "Judaism",
(2) a person who claims to belong to a racial group associated with the ancient Semites,
(3) a person directly the descendant of an ancient nation which thrived in Palestine in Bible history,
(4) a person blessed by Divine intentional design with certain superior cultural characteristics denied to other racial, religious or national groups, all rolled into one.

The present generally accepted "secondary meaning" of the word "Jew" is fundamentally responsible for the confusion in the minds of Christians regarding elementary tenets of the Christian faith. It is likewise responsible today to a very great extent for the dilution of the devotion of countless Christians for their Christian faith. The implications, inferences and innuendoes of the word "Jew" today, to the preponderant majority of intelligent and informed Christians, is contradictory and in complete conflict with incontestable historic fact.

Christians who cannot be fooled any longer are suspect of the Christian clergy who continue to repeat, and repeat, and repeat ad nauseam their pet theme song "Jesus was a Jew". It actually now approaches psychosis.

There is no factual foundation in history or theology today for the implications, inferences and innuendoes that the Greek "Ioudaios", the Latin "Iudaeus", or the English "Judean" ever possessed a valid religious connotation. In their three respective languages these three words have only indicated a strictly topographical or geographic connotation. In their correct sense these three words in their respective languages were used to identify the members of the indigenous native population of the geographic area known as Judea in the lifetime of Jesus. During the lifetime of Jesus there was not a form of religious worship practiced in Judea or elsewhere in the known world which bore a name even remotely resembling the name of the political subdivision of the Roman Empire, i.e. "Judaism" from "Judea". No cult or sect existed by such a name.

[END QUOTING]

"Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?" Galatians 4:16

~ g
.