I have been pointed to Stephen Huller to see what his point of view is on the ARK. And I appreciate the information, as I am a curious fellow. In reading through his web site, I think I would need to buy his book to understand exactly what he is trying to convey.
My Huller has obviously spent a great deal of time studying the subject, and the ancient Bible texts. Whether his take on everything is correct or not, I do not know. Again, I would have to read his book.
Mr Huller does make some interesting points.
I will however point out that Christianity goes back much further than Christ or Moses. Even before Judaism.
The Holy Trinity, the story of Noah, and many other stories from the old Testament can be traced back to Egyptian mythology, and in fact, back to the Sumerian civilization. Several thousand years before the birth of Christ, or the Exodus of Moses. Before Judaism. One could possibly make the argument that Judaism actually morphed from a Sumerian religion. One must remember that Christ was merely the messenger. Messiah means prophet.
Christianity had many different sects up until the Vatican took control. And many testimonies were omitted from the Bible.
One must also keep in mind, the Bible in Greek, simple means the book. The Book was put together by committee. What was included or omitted was voted on by committee. One can only guess what was included supported their point of view, and what was not included opposed it.
All that not withstanding, the ARK is still an enigma. Possibly one who's secrets might still be revealed. There is a good argument to be made that the ARK has resided in Ethiopia for all these centuries. And it will soon be revealed to the world.
Whether this is the ARK from the bible, or merely a well crafted copy, no one knows as of yet. I for one have always wondered. As in most religious relics, there will probably be no scientific study allowed to authenticate or disprove it. It will once again, be a leap of faith.
The Shroud of Turin has been studied for decades. And the jury is still out on it's authenticity.
But a leap of faith is what religion really is in the first place.
Time will tell, and I for one am am patiently waiting. I have no dog in the fight so to speak. But I sure am interested.
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I can't say anything with any great deal of certainty about the Ark. My guess would be that we have images of the Romans sacking the Jewish temple and taking away the contents of the holy of Holies.
ReplyDeleteHowever ... Josephus tells us that there was a replica temple built at Leontopolis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Temple_of_Leontopolis
by the Jews who were taken by Ptolemy and who perpetuated the original Oniad lineage of the high priesthood.
While it is entirely speculative it is at least CONCEIVABLE (theoretically at least) that the Ethiopians have a replica or an object constructed out of a remembrance of this object. I don't know.
A lot of Jewish concepts 'floated down' the Nile including the sectarian Jubilee calendar. This 'Egyptian temple' was closed rather than destroyed by the Flavian Emperors.
When people ridicule the preservation of a 'Jewish' Ark of the Covenant among the Ethiopians they will have to acknowledge that it is not as COMPLETELY ridiculous as it seems at first.
They like to think that all that floats around in their little heads or has survived from antiquity (i.e. documents etc.) is all there is or all there ever was.
Stranger things could happen than this. I rediscovered an Alexandrian Episcopal throne in Venice which was just sitting out in plain view. I bet you a number of these 'experts' walked right by it when they went with their families on a Venetian vacation and didn't realize what they were looking at.
The point is that no knows everything. No one can determine 'the truth' with absolute certainty because often times we don't know what is missing from our understanding.
It's like saying 'my wife is the only women that was ever meant for me.' You just never know ...