Comment by Diana Agorio on October 26, 2010 at 9:47am

@ RR
You continue to miss the point. I do not disagree with you that the Old Testament is very relevant to the New Testament. But, you do not seem to understand that astrology was also fundamental in Judaism. One of the points I made was that the oldest gospel follows the eastern tradition of star lore; but, the most recent gospel is much more Greek:
“I found that the oldest gospel of Mark closely follows the Babylonian star chart; but, the later gospels follow a much more Greek interpretation of astrology.”
“John with its emphasis on logos is the most “Greek” of the four gospels and the Greek star chart is relevant to the unique references to Joseph’s field and Jacob’s well in Shechem.”
- http://www.thinkatheist.com/profiles/blogs/whos-your-daddy-the-cuck...

I don’t feel like writing this all out as a proper article; so, I will just share some quotes from an excellent article about astrology in Judaism. It shows that during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, astrology was fundamental in Judaism:

“Beginning with the Jewish documents of the so-called intertestamental time, the Qumran scriptures prove to be of extraordinary value. They depict the priestly discourses of the Second Temple period and show a considerable interest in astrological semantics, even in horoscopic divination. Of the same period are the difficult Enochic literature, the Book of Jubilees, and the vast testamental documents, among which the Testament of Solomon is of special interest. Some minor texts, usually neglected, are also worth mentioning, such as the Treatise of Shem or the Oracula Sibyllina's Jewish insertions. Another genre is marked by the philosophical reflections of the historians, Artapanos, Aristobulos, and, of course, Philo of Alexandria and Josephus Flavius. Later, the different rabbinical documents come into play and show a vivid discussion about astrological implications. Furthermore, from the third to eighth centuries, the Hekhalot literature and the magical bowls from Mesopotamia, with their astrological connotations, are to be considered.”

“The Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice are a liturgical description of the 13 Sabbaths included in one quarter of a year.22 The holy angelic classes perform therein the heavenly cult, "because He established them to be His holiest servants in the Holy of Holies" (4Q400 frg. 1 col. I, 10). In fragment 2 it is recalled how the angels praise the might of His kingdom "according to their knowledge" and recite the mysterious psalms. They praise the glorious design of God's cosmos, together with the firmament, the girders and walls of His holy construction (4Q403 frg. 1 col. I, 42-44 [=4QShirShabbd]). The angels settling in the "firmament of purity" represent God's own perfection. Thus, the planetary angels are depicted in a very positive manner.23 Likewise, on the twelfth Sabbath, "the cherubim praise from above the firmament the building of the Merkabah throne, and they cheer the majesty of light's firmament from underneath the seat of His glory" (4Q405 col. XX, 8-9). In line 12 of this fragment the angels' "turning of their paths" are mentioned, "when they rise, they rise in a wonderful way."This probably refers to the planets' turning points that were of prominent importance for Babylonian astronomical calculations.”

“Furthermore, the resemblance between heaven and earth was applied to the very appearance of the temple. The curtain veiling the Holy of Holies, it is said, was decorated with "appearances of the living God,"with "figures of the divine angels," and so on (4Q405 col. XVI frg. 14 and 15 col. I). Priestly liturgy was careful to describe the holy ornaments in more detail but it can be assumed that, at this point, we come across the same tradition as in Josephus' and Philo's description of the Jerusalem temple. Philo of Alexandria can be read as a direct follower of the Qumranic discourse translating the latter into a philosophical speech. What is more, the So

Comment by Diana Agorio on October 26, 2010 at 9:52am

Continued:
What is more, the Songs from the Dead Sea resemble platonic visions to an astonishing degree so that it was easy to transform them in to another context. Philo explicitly made use of the priestly cultic tradition. In Spec.Leg. 1.66ff and Mos. 2.67ff he explains the curtain in front of the Holy of Holies and the highpriest's garment in a 'vertical' manner. The priest's breastplate (logeion or peristetion) was ornamented with twelve precious stones. It was "shaped after the original of the zodiac that consists of twelve pictures and represents the turning of the four seasons" (Spec.Leg. 1.87). Thus, the cosmic harmony rang through the temple and" joined the great cosmic worshipw here in all creation manifested and worshipped the Creator."25 In Mos. 2.133-135t his is put explicitly:
Symbols of the zodiac are the twelve stones upon his chest arranged in four rows of three stones in each row, while the breastplate (logeion) as a whole represents that Principle [i.e., from the context, the logos] which holds together and rules all things. For it was necessary that he who was consecrated to the Father of the world should have that Father's Son who is perfect in virtue to plead his cause that his sins might be remembered no more and good gifts be showered in abundance. Yet perhaps it is also to teach in advance one who would worship God that even though he may be unable to make himself worthy of the Creator of the cosmos, he yet ought to try increasingly to be worthy of the cosmos. As he puts on his imitation (symbol) he ought straightway to become one who bears in his mind the original pattern, so that he is in a sense transformed from being a man into the nature of the cosmos, and becomes, if one may say so (and indeed one must say nothing false about the truth), himself a little cosmos.26
The temple's cosmic symbolism was also known to Josephus Flavius. It was introduced by the historian in a number of versions. The cultic symbolism could easily be turned into an astrological one: "The seven lamps that were branched off the menorah indicated the planets and the breads lying on the table indicated the zodiac and the year."27 (BJ 5.217-218). Hence, Smelik is absolutely right when he observes that "[t]he representation of the luminaries by the menorah lamps, in the wake of Zechariah's fifth vision and Mesopotamian astronomy, was current in the days of Philo and Josephus."28”
Excerpts from:
Jewish and Christian Astrology in Late Antiquity: A New Approach Author(s): Kocku von Stuckrad Source: Numen, Vol. 47, No. 1 (2000), pp. 1-40

If you want to understand the gospels in context, you need to understand the context. The context was that every religion of the time had an astrological basis, including Judaism. Calling Jesus a Jewish myth is not an escape from astrology. Yahwistic paganism through the Judaism of late antiquity was rife with astrology. There are no fewer than seven Hebrew zodiacs from late antiquity:

Comment by Diana Agorio on October 26, 2010 at 9:55am

"There is no Jewish archisynagogus, no Samaritan, no Christian presbyter who is not an astrologer, a soothsayer, or an anointer." - Hadrian

Comment by Diana Agorio on October 26, 2010 at 9:58am

You cannot use modern Judaism to understand ancient Christianity.

Comment

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next ›
• Page