Christianity: A History | Slave to the Religion | Channel 4

Christianity: A History | Slave to the Religion | Channel 4

Source: www.youtube.com

Kwame Kwei-Armah sets out to discover the historical roots of his own beliefs... | Sundays 7pm, Channel 4 | Watch Christianity: A History FREE on Catch-Up http://www.channel4.com/video/brandless-catchup.jsp?vodBrand=christianity-a-history ...

Dr Clarke’s Words on HISTORY

“History is a clock that people use to tell there political and cultural time of day. It is also a compass that people use to find themselves on the map of human geography. History tells a people where they have been and what they have been, where they are and what they are. Most important, history tells a people where they still must go, what they still must be. The relationship of history to the people is the same as the relationship of a mother to her child.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-KS8Vckqnw&feature=channel

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Carl Sagan on Epicycles, Ptolemy, and Kepler

Carl Sagan on Epicycles, Ptolemy, and Kepler

Source: www.youtube.com

Carl Sagan on Epicycles, Ptolemy, and Kepler

Pathological Science - #2
The Copernican myths

The real story of how the scientific and religious establishments greeted the Copernican revolution is quite different from the folklore. And it's a lot more interesting.


Nicolaus Copernicus(1473–1543) Perhaps the most famous of all scientific revolutions is the one associated with Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543). The popular version of the story goes as follows:


The ancient Greeks, although they were great philosophers and good at mapping the motions of stars and planets, tended to create models of the universe that were more influenced by philosophical, aesthetic, and religious considerations than by observation and experiment.

The idea that Earth was the stationary center of the universe, and that the stars and planets were embedded in spheres that rotated around Earth, appealed to them because the circle and the sphere were the most perfect geometric shapes.

In the Christian era, the model also pleased religious people because it gave pride of place to human beings—God's special creation. The prestige of Greek philosophers like Aristotle was so great, and commitment to religious doctrine so strong, that many scholars stubbornly tried to retain Ptolemaic astronomy even though increasingly complicated epicycles had to be added to make the system work even moderately well.


So when Copernicus came along with the correct heliocentric system, his ideas were fiercely opposed by the Roman Catholic Church because they displaced Earth from the center, and that was seen as both a demotion for human beings and contrary to the teachings of Aristotle. Therefore the Inquisition persecuted, tortured, and even killed those who advocated Copernican ideas.

Johannes Kepler(1571–1630) Because of the church's adherence to philosophical and religious dogma, scientific progress was held back for a millennium. It was the later work of Tycho Brahe (1546–1601), Johannes Kepler (1571–1630), Galileo Galilei (1564–1642), and Isaac Newton (1642–1727) that finally led to the acceptance of heliocentrism.

Variations on this breezy version of the Copernicus story are common in science textbooks.1 How much of the story is true? Apart from the final sentence, not much. But it's a good illustration of how scientific folklore can replace actual history.

Galileo Galilei(1564–1642) Let us start with the myth that the Copernican model was opposed because it was a blow to human pride, dethroning Earth from its privileged position as the center of the universe. Dennis Danielson, in his fine article on the subject,2 shows how widespread that view is by quoting the eminent geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky. With Copernicus, Dobzhansky contends, 'Earth was dethroned from its presumed centrality and preeminence.' Carl Sagan described Copernicanism as the first of a series of 'Great Demotions . . . delivered to human pride.' Astronomer Martin Rees has written, 'It is over 400 years since Copernicus dethroned the Earth from the privileged position that Ptolemy's cosmology accorded it.' And Sigmund Freud remarked that Copernicus provoked outrage by his slight against humankind's 'naive self-love.'

The squalid basementDanielson, however, points out that in the early 16th century, the center of the universe was not considered a desirable place to be. 'In most medieval interpretations of Aristotelian and Ptolemaic cosmology, Earth's position at the center of the universe was taken as evidence not of its importance but . . . its grossness.'

In fact, ancient and medieval Arabic, Jewish, and Christian scholars believed that the center was the worst part of the universe, a kind of squalid basement where all the muck collected. One medieval writer described Earth's location as 'the excrementary and filthy parts of the lower world.' We humans, another asserted, are 'lodged here in the dirt and filth of the world, nailed and rivetted to the worst and deadest part of the universe, in the lowest story of the house, and most remote from the heavenly arch.' In 1615 Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, a prominent persecutor of Galileo, said that 'the Earth is very far from heaven and sits motionless at the center of the world.'2

n Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy, hell itself is placed in Earth's innermost core. Dante also speaks of hell in ways consistent with Aristotelian dynamics—not full of flames, which would be displaced skyward by the heavier Earth, but as frozen and immobile.

By contrast, heaven was up, and the further up you went, away from the center, the better it was. So Copernicus, by putting the Sun at the center and Earth in orbit around it, was really giving its inhabitants a promotion by taking them closer to the heavens.

When and why did the history become distorted? Danielson doesn't pinpoint when the erroneous view gained supremacy, But he says that from 1650 onward one can find some writers making this revisionist claim. By the late 18th century it had taken hold completely. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), for example, wrote: 'Perhaps no discovery or opinion ever produced a greater effect on the human spirit than did the teaching of Copernicus. No sooner was the Earth recognized as being round and self-contained, than it was obliged to relinquish the colossal privilege of being the center of the world.' Here Goethe managed to propagate another major distortion: the notion that before Copernicus (and Columbus) it was not known that Earth was a sphere.3,4

Aristotle's cosmologyEven Aristotle did not believe Earth to be the center of the universe. He thought it rather to be at the center. This fine distinction was not driven by religious dogma or human self-importance but by physics arguments: In Aristotle's cosmology the universe was finite and the heavens existed beyond its outermost sphere. The universe had a center—defined as the center of the large outer sphere in which the stars were embedded—and matter was drawn to that center. In that cosmology, 'up' and 'down' were well defined. 'Down' was toward the center of the universe and 'up' was away from it, toward the sphere containing the stars.


The elements were earth, air, water, and fire, and each element had its natural affinity for a location in the universe. As could be seen from the fact that rocks fell to the ground, earth, being heavy, was drawn to the center. Flames leaping upwards showed that fire, being light, was drawn towards the heavens. The model explained many things, such as why objects fell to the ground when released from any point and why Earth's surface was spherical. It also explained why Earth was motionless at the center. For it to move, there would have to be something that took it away from the center. And no such agent was in evidence.
http://www.theroadtoemmaus.org/RdLb/11Phl/Sci/PatholSci2.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faqjmAoXpM4&playnext_from=TL&videos=-QnG3Yzgui0&feature=grec

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Sun of God?

Sun of God?

Source: www.youtube.com

The Son of God is the Sun of God The assertion that the 'Son of God' is the 'Sun of God' is frequently raised as another strawman argument that detractors like to knock down. Like these other criticisms, I have already addressed this one, but like sauerkraut it keeps repeating. ...

Sun of God

Our history our culture our symbols are all over the word'but many of us don't know there ours! all of this! these concepts, begin with this concept,this story which is part history part mythology',but mythology is important because it represents a higher aspect of life'. myths are necessaryfor human kind to develop.Anthony T. Browder
The Son of God is the Sun of God The assertion that the 'Son of God' is the 'Sun of God'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ-kvw1fYXs&feature=fvw

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NINA SIMONE-Here Comes the Sun

NINA SIMONE-Here Comes the Sun

Source: www.youtube.com

music&sunrise

Nina Simone- Here Comes The Sun + Lyrics







Here comes the sun Little darlin, here comes the sun I say, its all right, its all right,Little Darlin its been a long cold and lonely winter, little darlin it feels like years since you've been here(Refrain)Little darlin the smiles have returned to the faces now little darlin it seems like years since you've been here,Little darlin its been a long cold lonely winter, little darlin it feels like years since you've been here,Here somes the sun, arent you glad to see it, I say its all right,Here comes the sun little darlin, I say Its alright,Here comes the sun, Here comes the sun I say Little Darlin, it seems like years since you've been here Little darlin here comes the sun, its all rightYou can come on out

Our history our culture our symbols are all over the word'but many of us don't know there ours! all of this! these concepts, begin with this concept,this story which is part history part mythology',but mythology is important because it represents a higher aspect of life'. myths are necessaryfor human kind to develop.Anthony T. Browderhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gduFiFXjnqk

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HERE COMES THE SON OF THE SUN GOD

HERE COMES THE SON OF THE SUN GOD

Source: www.youtube.com

It is sometimes forgotten that the early Christians associated Jesus with the Sun. Among the church fathers, Cyprian speaks of Christ as Sol Verus, the 'true sun,' and Ambrose names him Sol Novus Noster, 'our new sun'. ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ-DUlbHeNw

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Dr Michio Kaku on Immortality, The Bible, and Scientific Evidence of Geological Time

Dr Michio Kaku on Immortality, The Bible, and Scientific Evidence of Geological Time

Source: www.youtube.com

Dr.Michio: so you are telling me that all of human recored history goes right back to the Babylonians and Egyptians just a few inches?

Sacred Texts Timeline

This is a timeline which gives the history of sacred texts, as well as a few other relevant events. Of course, not all of the dates in this timeline are accurate; some are entirely conjectural. I have included a few dates, events and documents which are or may be entirely fictional. Links on this page are to resources at this site, not to external sites. I welcome feedback about any errors of fact in this timeline.http://www.sacred-texts.com/time/timeline.htm

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”Buddha quotes (Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpW_Q_J4HF4&feature=related

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Egypt: Childbirth and Children in Ancient Egypt, A Feature Tour Egypt Story

Egypt: Childbirth and Children in Ancient Egypt, A Feature Tour Egypt Story

Source: www.touregypt.net

Egypt: Childbirth and Children in Ancient Egypt, A Feature Tour Egypt Story

“Study the past if you would divine the future” Confucius quotes

(A form of Mother's Day has been celebrated since ancient times.)

Michelle VaccaroIt’s that time of year again where children of all ages take the time out to honor their mother. Flowers, cards, and gifts have become a way to show appreciation on Mother’s Day, but the holiday’s origins have not always been so commercialized.
Some say Mother’s Day goes back as far as ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. According to MothersDayCentral.com, early signs of Mother’s Day were celebrated in Egypt to honor the goddess Isis. The Egyptians held an annual festival for Isis, the “mother of the pharaoh’s” and goddess of motherhood and fertility. The ancient Greeks celebrated Rhea, the mother of all gods, in spring ceremonies. The Romans honored Phrygian god Cybele or Magna Mater (Great Mother) in games and parades between March 15 and March 22.
http://thecelebritycafe.com/feature/birth-mother’s-day-05-07-2010

CHILDBIRTH AND CHILDREN IN ANCIENT EGYPTBY MARIE PARSONS

Children were considered a blessing in ancient Egypt. Sons and daughters took care of their parents in their old age. They were often called 'the staff of old age,' that is, one upon whom the elderly parents could depend upon for support and care. The scribe Ani instructed that children repay the devotion of Egyptian mothers:

'Repay your mother for all her care. Give her as much bread as she needs, and carry her as she carried you, for you were a heavy burden to her. When you were finally born, she still carried you on her neck and for three years she suckled you and kept you clean.'

It was also expected that the older son or child carry on the funerary provisioning of the parents after their death. Children had value in ancient Egypt. The Greeks, who were accustomed to leaving infants exposed to the elements, were stunned to observe that every baby born to Egyptian families were cared for and raised. This care was not easy. Many children died to infection and disease. There was a high rate of infant mortality, one death out of two or three births, but the number of children born to a family on average were four to six, some even having ten to fifteen.

The Kahun, Berlin and Carlsberg papyri contain an extraordinary series of tests for fertility, pregnancy and to determine the sex of the unborn child. These tests cover a wide range of procedures, including the induction of vomiting and examination of the eyes. Perhaps the most famous test says: to see if a woman will or will not bear a child. Emmer and barley, the lady should moisten with her urine every day, like dates and like sand in two bags. If they all grow, she will bear a child. If the barley grows it will be a male, if the emmer grows it will be a female, if neither grow she will not bear a child.

This technique was tested in the late 20th century, and it showed no growth of either seed when watered with male or non-pregnant female urine. With forty specimens from pregnant women, there was growth of one or both species in more than 50% of the cases. While this seemed a good indicator of pregnancy, no growth failed to exclude pregnancy in 30% of the cases. When only one species germinated, the prediction of gender was correct in seven cases, and incorrect in sixteen cases.

The god Thoth was also often called upon for help, and the goddess Hathor, guardian of women and domestic bliss, was believed to be present at every birth. Severe labor pains might be soothed by the god Amun, gently blowing in as a cool northern breeze.

The Ebers Papyrus contains a remedy for contracting the uterus, but it is not clear as to whether this was to hasten birth, expel the placenta, or to return the uterus to pre-pregnancy size. The remedy went like this: mix the kheper-wer plant (identity now unknown), honey, water of carob, milk, strain and place in the vagina.

If the perineum had an injury during birth, the Kahun Papyrus contained this remedy: prepare new oil to be soaked into her vagina.

The Egyptians were always anxious to now the future, and in order to ascertain the destiny of new-born children they relied upon the seven Hathors, who hovered over a child’s cradle and announced his destiny. Representations of these seven forms of the goddess appear in the tomb of Queen Nefertari and in various versions of the Book of Coming Forth by Day.

If a sickly baby was thought likely to die, its chances were assessed by the strength of its cries and its facial expression. A child that cries 'Hii' will live, but one that cries 'Mbi' will die. If the child made a sound like the creaking of the pine trees, or turned his face downward, he would die. Where there was still doubt, the infant was for three days put on a diet of milk containing a ground fragment of its placenta. If it did not vomit, it would survive.

The parents would lose no time in giving their child a name. Some Egyptians had very short names such as Ti or Abi, others had a complete phrase, such as Djedptahioufankh, meaning 'Ptah says he will live.' Names may have pointed to physical qualities, such as Pakamen, the blind one, or to occupations, such as Pakapu, the birdcatcher.

Most parents liked to place their children under the sponsorship of some deity, and so there were children named Hori and others named Seti, and others named Ameni, that is, dedicated to Horus, to Set, and to Amun, respectively. The historian Manetho was under the protection of the Theban deity Montu. The name Mutemwia means 'Mut is in her bark,' perhaps signifying that on the day of this girl’s birth, there was a procession of the goddess Mut, and the mother wanted to keep that special occasion by naming her daughter after the goddess.

Names could signify the god’s pleasure, perhaps explaining why there were so many Amenhoteps, Khnumhoteps and Ptahhoteps, or, signify that the god was in front of or the father of the child, as in the name Amenemhat. Those with a name Siamun were children of the god Amun. Senwosret’s name meant that he was a son of the early Theban goddess Wosret, thought to be the precursor of Mut as the consort of Amun.

After the child was named, the parents had to register it with the authorities. A princess Ahori, wife of one Nenoferkaptah, declared, 'I gave birth to this baby that you see, who was named Merab and whose name was entered into the registers of the House of Life.' Births, marriages and deaths may have been recorded for inheritance and taxation purposes. When witnesses were called in legal proceedings, their names, those of their parents, and their occupation, were all noted.

A baby stayed with its mother, carried in a sling around her neck. The mother, or a nurse, would nurse the baby for three years. Bottles, or at least the clay equivalents of bottles, have also been found.
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/mothers.htm

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