For more information please refer to the " Directory of the Atlanteans " which is updated every week.
The community of Christ was the first church founded by Joseph Smith..
Joseph Smith, Jr. said that when compiling the inspired version of the Holy Bible, he inquired of Heavenly Father about what to do regarding the Apocrypha, the Deuterocanonical Books of the Catholic bible, that are not the 66 books contained in the 1769 edition of the Authorized King James Bible. What Smith claimed to receive from God is now stated in Section 91 of the Doctrine and Covenants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you concerning the Apocrypha-There are many things contained therein that are true, and it is mostly translated correctly; There are many things that are not true, which are interpolations by the hands of men. Verily, I say unto you, that it is not needful that the Apocrypha should be translated. Therefore, whoso readeth it, let him understand, for the spirit manifesteth truth; And whoso is enlightened by the Spirit shall obtain benefit therefrom; And whoso receiveth not by the Spirit, cannot be benefited. Therefore it is not needful that it should be translated. Amen."
The 91st Section of the Doctrine and Covenants is the reason that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints currently uses the 1769 edition of the Authorized King James Bible along with excerpts from the Joseph Smith Translation (JST). Furthermore, despite having canonized the 1769 edition of the Authorized King James Bible, Joseph Smith Jr. made a note that the Song of Songs was not inspired, and therefore it is considered Apocrypha despite it being contained in the canon. The Community of Christ, another offshoot of the Latter Day Saint movement, has canonized the JST and therefore has excluded the Song of Solomon..
Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), is an American-based international church[2] that claims as its mission "to proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy, hope, love and peace".[3] The church reports approximately 250,000 members in 50 nations.[4] Community of Christ is part of the Latter Day Saint movement begun by Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830,[5] and reorganized on April 6, 1860,[6] following the death of Smith in 1844.
It is rooted in Restorationist traditions. Although in some respects the Community of Christ is congruent with mainline Protestant Christian attitudes, it is in many ways theologically distinct, continuing such features as prophetic revelation.[7][8][9][10] It is the second-largest denomination within the Latter Day Saint movement.
Community of Christ follows a largely non-liturgical tradition based loosely on the Revised Common Lectionary.[11] From its headquarters in Independence, Missouri, the church offers a special focus on evangelism, peace and justice ministries, spirituality and wholeness, youth ministries and outreach ministries.[12] Church teachings emphasize that "all are called" as "persons of worth" to "share the peace of Christ."
if the Community of Christ: Formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, this denomination regards itself as the true embodiment of the original church organized in 1830 by Joseph Smith, and it regards Joseph Smith III, the eldest surviving son of Smith, to have been his legitimate successor. The church was "legally organized on April 6, 1830, in Fayette, New York".[13] The formal reorganization occurred on April 6, 1860, in Amboy, Illinois, as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, adding the word Reorganized to the church name in 1872.
The Community of Christ today considers the period from 1830 to 1844 to be a part of its early history and from 1844, the year of the death of the founder, to 1860, to be a period of disorganization. Since 1844, the doctrines and practices of the Community of Christ have evolved separately from the other denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement.[14] Since the 1960s, the group's proselytizing with world cultures outside North America forced a re-assessment and a gradual evolution of its practices and beliefs. Some changes included the ordination of women to the priesthood, open communion, and changing the church's name from the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to the current name in April 2001.[9][15]
The Community of Christ Temple in Independence, Missouri, USA. Dedicated in 1994.
These very controversial changes led to the formation of breakaway churches such as the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; in 1994, former church historian Richard P. Howard estimated that 25,000 members had left to join such groups.[16] Between the mid-1960s and the late 1990s, there was a one-third decline in new baptisms in the United States along with a 50 percent drop in contributions in the decade before 1998.[17]
The church owns two temples: the Kirtland Temple, dedicated in 1836 in Kirtland, Ohio (operated in part as a historic site as part of its educational ministry), and the relatively new Independence Temple, which serves as the church's headquarters in Independence, Missouri. These structures are open to the public and are also used for education and gatherings. The church also owns and operates some Latter Day Saint historic sites in Lamoni, Iowa, and Plano and Nauvoo, Illinois. The Auditorium in Independence houses the Children's Peace Pavilion and is the site of the major legislative assembly of the Community of Christ, known as the World Conference. The church sponsors Graceland University, with a campus in Lamoni and another in Independence, where the School of Nursing and the Community of Christ Seminary are based.
The Osharian record states that the three wise. men (Magi) were ancient Freemasons of different rites. One member from each of the first three Orders / councils /rites of Freemasons. The Osharian,iltarian, and Altarian groups. The title Magi means Master or Magician in Free masonry origin. The first Freemasons were founded in 50,722 B.C. Later these Freemasons formed the sacred order of Magik (magic) in Egypt around 10,500 B.C. The term Magik, magic comes from Magi, later known as Magus in Greek tradition. The three first. Freemason orders came from Altean lands in origin. Later these three main orders migrated to different areas of the world. There are 3 locations and time periods where the three main orders met. Egypt, Greece, and Americas. The three Magi were the head of council for each of the three Freemason orders. Migration records show that the Freemason groups formed their own religions and used different. architecture and warshiped different. sources. The Altarian Freemasons took over most of the world after the end of the last ice age. The Altarian Freemasons caused the seperation of the root blood lines. In 5,476B.C. the temple of Ishtar was founded.This was the last time that the three Freemason leaders worked together. The birth of Jesus Christ was the last time that all three groups came together. Mary was a direct
descendent of the High priestess queens, which ruled in the Americas. Jesus Christ was a mix of all three Freemason. blood lines.
The three wise men, the three Magi, also known. as the three kings, came from the east.
It is believed that the 3 wise men ( Magi ), were of a Nostic religion. According to Mathew's version they were from the Syrian Christian church. 1) Melchior 2) Kaspar 3) Balthazar.
The Syrian church says it was 1) Laevanddad 2) Gushnasaph. 3) Hormisdas
As the story goes ( Helena mother of Constantine ), took the remains of the three Magi from the ' Shrine of the three kings ' located in Cologne Cathedral. She is said to have put the remains in a chest and took it to Saint Sophia church in Constantinople. The Muslim encylopaedist Al-Tabari states that there was a record of the three kings gifts from the 7th century writer. ' Wahb ibn Munabbih. '. Simon Magus ( Agrippa II ) is believed to have a direct connection to the Magi. Simon was also the husband of Helena. Simon was believed to be a Magi Samaritan from Samaria. Also know there as Atomus Magus. According to Luke Simon was one of the founders. of the Gnostic sect, and was said to have written many of their scriptures such as 'Acts of Peter' and 'Epistle of the Apostles '.
Agrippa II:
Agrippa II (Magi)
part 1)
"In the beginning God had his first thought, his Ennoia, which was female, and that thought was to create the angels. The First Thought then descended into the lower regions and created the angels. But the angels rebelled against her out of jealousy and created the world as her prison, imprisoning her in a female body. Thereafter, she was reincarnated many times, each time being shamed. Her many reincarnations included Helen of Troy, among others, and she finally was reincarnated as Helen, a slave and prostitute in the Phoenician city of Tyre. God then descended in the form of Simon Magus, to rescue his Ennoia, and to confer salvation upon men through knowledge of himself.
"And on her account," he says, "did I come down; for this is that which is written in the Gospel 'the lost sheep'."[10]
For as the angels were mismanaging the world, owing to their individual lust for rule, he had come to set things straight, and had descended under a changed form, likening himself to the Principalities and Powers through whom he passed, so that among men he appeared as a man, though he was not a man, and was thought to have suffered in Judaea, though he had not suffered.
"But in each heaven I changed my form," says he, "in accordance with the form of those who were in each heaven, that I might escape the notice of my angelic powers and come down to the Thought, who is none other than her who is also called Prunikos and Holy Ghost, through whom I created the angels, while the angels created the world and men."[11]
But the prophets had delivered their prophecies under the inspiration of the world-creating angels: wherefore those who had their hope in him and in Helen minded them no more, and, as being free, did what they pleased; for men were saved according to his grace, but not according to just works. For works were not just by nature, but only by convention, in accordance with the enactments of the world-creating angels, who by precepts of this kind sought to bring men into slavery. Wherefore he promised that the world should be dissolved, and that those who were his should be freed from the dominion of the world-creators.
In this account of Simon there is a large portion common to almost all forms of Gnostic myths, together with something special to this form. They have in common the place in the work of creation assigned to the female principle, the conception of the Deity; the ignorance of the rulers of this lower world with regard to the Supreme Power; the descent of the female (Sophia) into the lower regions, and her inability to return. Special to the Simonian tale is the identification of Simon himself with the Supreme, and of his consort Helena with the female principle."
In Philosophumena Hippolytus provides an extensive quotation of the document called Apophasis Megale or Great Revelation which the author believed to be written by Simon himself. Apart from that he retells the narrative on Simon written by Irenaeus (whho in his turn based it on the lost Syntagma of Justin).
Upon the story of "the lost sheep," Hippolytus (in his Philosophumena) comments as follows.
But the liar was enamoured of this wench, whose name was Helen, and had bought her and had her to wife, and it was out of respect for his disciples that he invented this fairy-tale.[12]
Also, Hippolytus demonstrates acquaintance with the folk tradidion on Simon which depicts him rather as a magician than gnostic and contains multiple stories on his confrontation with Peter (also present in the apocrypha and Pseudo-Clementine literature). Reduced to despair by the curse laid upon him by Peter in the Acts, Simon soon abjured the faith and embarked on the career of a sorcerer:
Until he came to Rome also and fell foul of the Apostles. Peter withstood him on many occasions. At last he came [. . .] and began to teach sitting under a plane tree. When he was on the point of being shown up, he said, in order to gain time, that if he were buried alive he would rise again on the third day. So he bade that a tomb should be dug by his disciples and that he should be buried in it. Now they did what they were ordered, but he remained there until now: for he was not the Christ.[13].
Sorcerer or Simon the Magician, in Latin Simon Magus, (Greek Σίμων ὁ μάγος) was a Samaritan magus or religious figure and a convert to Christianity, baptised by Philip the Evangelist, whose later confrontation with Peter is recorded in Acts 8:9–24. The sin of simony, or paying for position and influence in the church, is named for Simon. The Apostolic Constitutions also accuses him of lawlessness.[1] According to Recognitions, Simon's parents were named Antonius and Rachel.
[2]
Surviving traditions about Simon appear in orthodox texts, such as those of Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Hippolytus, and Epiphanius, where he is often regarded as the source of all heresies. Justin wrote that nearly all the Samaritans in his time were adherents of a certain Simon of Gitta, a village not far from Flavia Neapolis. Irenaeus held him as being one of the founders of Gnosticism and the sect of the Simonians.
[3] Hippolytus quotes from a work he attributes to Simon or his followers the Simonians, Apophasis Megale, or Great Declaration. According to the early church heresiologists Simon is also supposed to have written several lost treatises, two of which bear the titles The Four Quarters of the World and The Sermons of the Refuter.
In apocryphal works including the Acts of Peter, Pseudo-Clementines, and the Epistle of the Apostles, Simon also appears as a formidable sorcerer with the ability to levitate and fly at will.
"The apocryphal Acts of the Apostles."
The majority of the text has survived only in the Latin translation of the Vercelli manuscript, under the title Actus Petri cum Simone. It is mainly notable for a description of a miracle contest between Saint Peter and Simon Magus, and as the first record of the tradition that St. Peter was crucified head-down.
The Acts of Peter was originally composed in Greek during the second half of the 2nd century, probably in Asia Minor.[1] Consensus among academics points to its being based on the Acts of John, and traditionally both works were said to be written by Leucius Charinus, whom Epiphanius identifies as the companion of John.
In the text Peter performs miracles such as resurrecting smoked fish, and making dogs talk. Some versions give accounts of stories on the theme of a woman/women who prefer paralysis to sex; sometimes, including in a version from the Berlin Codex, the woman is the daughter of Peter. The text condemns Simon Magus, a figure associated with gnosticism, who appears to have concerned the writer of the text greatly. Peter preaches that Simon is performing magic in order to convert followers through deception. In Peter's outrage, he challenges Simon to a contest in order to prove whose works are from a divine source and whose are merely trickery. It is said that Simon Magus takes flight and Peter strikes him down with the power of God and prays that Simon be not killed but that he be badly injured. When the Magus falls from the sky he suffers a broken leg in three places, then the converted believers of Peter stone him from the city. The Acts then continue to say that he was taken to Terracina to one Castor "And there he was sorely cut (Lat. by two physicians), and so Simon the angel of Satan came to his end.".
[2] Following this incident, Peter is going to flee the city; however, he sees an apparition of Jesus and takes it as a message that he must stay and be crucified to see Jesus again in Heaven. Peter requests to be crucified upside-down because he does not believe that a man is worthy to be killed in the same manner as Jesus Christ.
These concluding chapters describing Peter's crucifixion are preserved separately as the "Martyrdom of Peter" in three Greek manuscripts and in Coptic (fragmentary), Syriac, Ethiopic, Arabic, Armenian, and Slavonic versions. Because of this, it is sometimes proposed that the martyrdom account was the original text to which the preceding chapters were affixed.
Josephus mentions a magician named Atomus (Simon in Latin manuscripts)
[8] as being involved with the procurator Felix, King Agrippa II and his sister Drusilla, where Felix has Simon convince Drusilla to marry him instead of the man she was engaged to. Some scholars have considered the two to be identical,[9] although this is not generally accepted, as the Simon of Josephus is a Jew rather than a Samaritan.
Justin Martyr and Irenaeus[edit]
Justin Martyr (in his Apologies, and in a lost work against heresies, which Irenaeus used as his main source) and Irenaeus (Adversus Haereses) record that after being cast out by the Apostles, Simon Magus came to Rome where, having joined to himself a profligate woman of the name of Helen, he gave out that it was he who appeared among the Jews as the Son, in Samaria as the Father and among other nations as the Holy Spirit. He performed such miracles by magic acts during the reign of Claudius that he was regarded as a god and honored with a statue on the island in the Tiber which the two bridges cross, with the inscription Simoni Deo Sancto, "To Simon the Holy God".
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part 4)
Herod Agrippa II (born AD 27/28),[1] officially named Marcus Julius Agrippa and sometimes just called Agrippa, was the seventh and last king of the family of Herod the Great, the Herodians. He was the son of the first and better-known Herod Agrippa, the brother of Berenice, Mariamne, and Drusilla (second wife of the Roman procurator Antonius Felix). Herod Agrippa II was educated at the court of the emperor Claudius, and at the time of his father's death was only seventeen years old. Claudius therefore kept him at Rome, and sent Cuspius Fadus as procurator of the Roman province of Judaea. While at Rome, he voiced his support for the Jews to Claudius, and against the Samaritans and the procurator of Iudaea Province, Ventidius Cumanus, who was lately thought to have been the cause of some disturbances there.[1] On the death of Herod of Chalcis in 48, his small Syrian kingdom of Chalcis was given to Herod Agrippa, with the right of superintending the Temple in Jerusalem and appointing its high priest.[3] In 53, he was made king over the territories previously governed by Philip and Lysanias by Claudius, surrendering Chalcis to his cousin, Aristobulus.[4] Herod Agrippa celebrated by marrying off his two sisters Mariamne and Drusilla. Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian, repeats the gossip that Herod Agrippa lived in an incestuous relationship with his sister, Berenice.
In 55, Nero added to his realm the cities of Tiberias and Taricheae in Galilee, and Livias (Iulias), with fourteen villages near it, in Peraea. Agrippa expended large sums in beautifying Jerusalem and other cities, especially Berytus. His partiality for the latter rendered him unpopular amongst his own subjects, and the capricious manner in which he appointed and deposed the high priests made him disliked by the Jews. Agrippa failed to prevent his subjects from rebelling, and urged instead that they tolerate the behavior of the Roman procurator Gessius Florus. But in 66 the Jews expelled him and Berenice from the city.[1] During the First Jewish-Roman War of 66–73, he sent 2,000 men, archers and cavalry, to support Vespasian, showing that, although a Jew in religion, he was entirely devoted to the Roman Empire. He accompanied Titus on some campaigns,[1] and was wounded at the siege of Gamla. After the capture of Jerusalem, he went with his sister Berenice to Rome, where he was invested with the dignity of praetor and rewarded with additional territory.
Apostle Paul On Trial by Nikolai Bodarevsky, 1875. Agrippa and Berenice are both seated on thrones.
According to Photius, Agrippa died, childless, at the age of seventy, in the third year of the reign of Trajan, that is, 100,[5] but statements of historian Josephus, in addition to the contemporary epigraphy from his kingdom, cast this date into serious doubt. The modern scholarly consensus holds that he died before 93/94.[1] He was the last prince of the house of the Herods.
It was before him and his sister Berenice that, according to the New Testament, Paul the Apostle pleaded his case at Caesarea Maritima, possibly in 59.[6]
He had a great intimacy with the historian Josephus, having supplied him with information for his history, Antiquities of the Jews. Josephus preserved two of the letters he received from him.
Herod Agrippa II (born AD 27/28),[1] officially named Marcus Julius Agrippa and sometimes just called Agrippa, was the seventh and last king of the family of Herod the Great, the Herodians. He was the son of the first and better-known Herod Agrippa, the brother of Berenice, Mariamne, and Drusilla (second wife of the Roman procurator Antonius Felix). Herod Agrippa II was educated at the court of the emperor Claudius, and at the time of his father's death was only seventeen years old. Claudius therefore kept him at Rome, and sent Cuspius Fadus as procurator of the Roman province of Judaea. While at Rome, he voiced his support for the Jews to Claudius, and against the Samaritans and the procurator of Iudaea Province, Ventidius Cumanus, who was lately thought to have been the cause of some disturbances there.[1] On the death of Herod of Chalcis in 48, his small Syrian kingdom of Chalcis was given to Herod Agrippa, with the right of superintending the Temple in Jerusalem and appointing its high priest.[3] In 53, he was made king over the territories previously governed by Philip and Lysanias by Claudius, surrendering Chalcis to his cousin, Aristobulus.[4] Herod Agrippa celebrated by marrying off his two sisters Mariamne and Drusilla. Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian, repeats the gossip that Herod Agrippa lived in an incestuous relationship with his sister, Berenice.
In 55, Nero added to his realm the cities of Tiberias and Taricheae in Galilee, and Livias (Iulias), with fourteen villages near it, in Peraea. Agrippa expended large sums in beautifying Jerusalem and other cities, especially Berytus. His partiality for the latter rendered him unpopular amongst his own subjects, and the capricious manner in which he appointed and deposed the high priests made him disliked by the Jews. Agrippa failed to prevent his subjects from rebelling, and urged instead that they tolerate the behavior of the Roman procurator Gessius Florus. But in 66 the Jews expelled him and Berenice from the city.[1] During the First Jewish-Roman War of 66–73, he sent 2,000 men, archers and cavalry, to support Vespasian, showing that, although a Jew in religion, he was entirely devoted to the Roman Empire. He accompanied Titus on some campaigns,[1] and was wounded at the siege of Gamla. After the capture of Jerusalem, he went with his sister Berenice to Rome, where he was invested with the dignity of praetor and rewarded with additional territory.
Apostle Paul On Trial by Nikolai Bodarevsky, 1875. Agrippa and Berenice are both seated on thrones.
According to Photius, Agrippa died, childless, at the age of seventy, in the third year of the reign of Trajan, that is, 100,[5] but statements of historian Josephus, in addition to the contemporary epigraphy from his kingdom, cast this date into serious doubt. The modern scholarly consensus holds that he died before 93/94.[1] He was the last prince of the house of the Herods.
It was before him and his sister Berenice that, according to the New Testament, Paul the Apostle pleaded his case at Caesarea Maritima, possibly in 59.[6]
He had a great intimacy with the historian Josephus, having supplied him with information for his history, Antiquities of the Jews. Josephus preserved two of the letters he received from him.
Peter v.s. Simon
the Church fathers did, the earliest reference to him is in the canonical Acts of the Apostles; this is his only appearance in the New Testament.
But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: 10to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power (Gr. Dynamis Megale) of God.”[7] 11And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries. 12But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. 14Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: 15who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: 16(for as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. 18And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, 19saying, “Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.”
20But <[ PETER]> said unto him, “Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. 21Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. 22Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee, 23for I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.” 24Then answered Simon, and said, “Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.”
:LSD:
( Apocrypha )
Joseph Smith, Jr. said that when compiling the inspired version of the Holy Bible, he inquired of Heavenly Father about what to do regarding the Apocrypha, the Deuterocanonical Books of the Catholic bible, that are not the 66 books contained in the 1769 edition of the Authorized King James Bible. What Smith claimed to receive from God is now stated in Section 91 of the Doctrine and Covenants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you concerning the Apocrypha-There are many things contained therein that are true, and it is mostly translated correctly; There are many things that are not true, which are interpolations by the hands of men. Verily, I say unto you, that it is not needful that the Apocrypha should be translated. Therefore, whoso readeth it, let him understand, for the spirit manifesteth truth; And whoso is enlightened by the Spirit shall obtain benefit therefrom; And whoso receiveth not by the Spirit, cannot be benefited. Therefore it is not needful that it should be translated. Amen."
The 91st Section of the Doctrine and Covenants is the reason that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints currently uses the 1769 edition of the Authorized King James Bible along with excerpts from the Joseph Smith Translation (JST). Furthermore, despite having canonized the 1769 edition of the Authorized King James Bible, Joseph Smith Jr. made a note that the Song of Songs was not inspired, and therefore it is considered Apocrypha despite it being contained in the canon. The Community of Christ, another offshoot of the Latter Day Saint movement, has canonized the JST and therefore has excluded the Song of Solomon.
The word "apocryphal" (ἀπόκρυφος). Jewish subject
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to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered too profound or too sacred to be disclosed to anyone other than the initiated. For example, it is used in this sense to describe A Sacred and Secret Book of Moses, called Eighth the Holy (Μωυσέως ἱερὰ βίβλος ἀπόκρυφος ἐπικαλούμενη ὀγδόη ἢ ἁγία). This is a text taken from a Leiden papyrus of the third or fourth century A.D. The text may be as old as the first century, but other proof of age has not been found. In a similar vein, the disciples of the Gnostic Prodicus boasted that they possessed the secret (ἀπόκρυφα) books of Zoroaster. The term in general enjoyed high consideration among the Gnostics (see Acts of Thomas, pp. 10, 27, 44).[4]
Renowned Sinologist Anna Seidel refers to texts and even items produced by ancient Chinese sages as apocryphal and studied their uses during Six Dynasties China (A.D. 220 to 589). These artifacts were used as symbols legitimizing and guaranteeing the Emperor's Heavenly Mandate. Examples of these include talismans, charts, writs, tallies, and registers. The first examples were stones, jade pieces, bronze vessels and weapons, but came to include talismans and magic diagrams.[5] From their roots in Zhou era China (1066 to 256 B.C.) these items came to be surpassed in value by texts by the Han dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D. 220). Most of these texts have been destroyed as Emperors, particularly during the Han dynasty, collected these legitimizing objects and proscribed, forbade and burnt nearly all of them to prevent them from falling into the hands of political rivals.[5] It is therefore fitting with the Greek root of the word, as these texts were obviously hidden away to protect the ruling Emperor from challenges to his status as Heaven's choice as sovereign.
Jewish apocrypha------
Although traditional rabbinical Judaism insists on the exclusive canonization of the current 24 books in the Tanakh, it also claims to have an oral law handed down from Moses. The Sadducees—unlike the Pharisees but like the Samaritans—seem to have maintained an earlier and smaller number of texts as canonical, preferring to hold to only what was written in the Law of Moses[8] (making most of the presently accepted canon, both Jewish and Christian, apocryphal in their eyes). Certain circles in Judaism, such as the Essenes in Judea and the Therapeutae in Egypt, were said to have a secret literature (see Dead Sea scrolls). Other traditions maintained different customs regarding canonicity.[9] The Ethiopic Jews, for instance, seem to have retained a spread of canonical texts similar to the Ethiopian Orthodox Christians,[10] cf Encyclopaedia Judaica, Vol 6, p 1147. A large part of this literature consisted of the apocalypses. Based on prophecies, these apocalyptic books were not considered scripture by all, but rather part of a literary form that flourished from 200 BCE to CE 100.
Apostle Paul On Trial by Nikolai Bodarevsky, 1875. Agrippa and Berenice are both seated on thrones.
According to Photius, Agrippa died, childless, at the age of seventy, in the third year of the reign of Trajan, that is, 100,[5] but statements of historian Josephus, in addition to the contemporary epigraphy from his kingdom, cast this date into serious doubt. The modern scholarly consensus holds that he died before 93/94.[1] He was the last prince of the house of the Herods.
It was before him and his sister Berenice that, according to the New Testament, Paul the Apostle pleaded his case at Caesarea Maritima, possibly in 59.[6]
He had a great intimacy with the historian Josephus, having supplied him with information for his history, Antiquities of the Jews. Josephus preserved two of the letters he received from him.
The Book of Enoch is included in the biblical canon only of the Oriental Orthodox churches of Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Epistle of Jude quotes the book of Enoch, and some believe the use of this book also appears in the four gospels and 1 Peter.[13][1] The genuineness and inspiration of Enoch were believed in by the writer of the Epistle of Barnabas, Irenaeus, Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria and much of the early church. The epistles of Paul and the gospels also show influences from the Book of Jubilees, which is part of the Ethiopian canon, as well as the Assumption of Moses and the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, which are included in no biblical canon.
The high position which some apocryphal books occupied in the first two centuries was undermined by a variety of influences in the Christian church. All claims to the possession of a secret tradition (as held by many Gnostic sects) were denied by the influential theologians like Irenaeus and Tertullian, which modern historians refer to as the Proto-orthodox, the timeframe of true inspiration was limited to the apostolic age, and universal acceptance by the church was required as proof of apostolic authorship. As these principles gained currency, books deemed apocryphal tended to become regarded as spurious and heretical writings, though books now considered deuterocanonical have been used in liturgy and theology from the first century to the present.
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