Question: This may make for interesting reading, but without references to all of his sources, it is rather useless for referring to it as quotable research. Where are his references?
Reply By Vrndavan Parker
Respected Sir,
An entire thesis can be written in response to yr points. In short there are no references when one is dealing with forgotten, ignored and intentionally hidden facts. Bhaktiananda Goswami is a pioneer in this field and his research speaks for itself. I personally do not accept anything blindly. the fact is every single point, that I have investigated, has been proven to be as viable, and in most cases, more viable, than the research of any other investigator and scholar out there.
In short his research does not fit into the artificial paradigms that currently obscure the truth regarding the history of religion. They are opposing views and as the actual ‘discoverer’ of these lost facts there is no real precedent that can be applied. While no accurate references can be applied for the fact that few have been able to see past the divisive efforts to monopolize god, there is a way to test the veracity of his discoveries.
Simply take one of his hundreds of points and investigate it. Is it a fact or a fabrication? I have done this for over 10 years now. I HAVE PERSONALLY FOUND EVERY SINGLE POINT MADE BY BHAKTIANANDA GOSWAMI TO BE MORE THAN JUST ACCURATE. IT IS A DOORWAY INTO AN UNDERSTANDING OF A HUMAN HISTORY THAT IS IMBUED WITH REPEATED EPISODES OF DIVINE INTERACTIVITY.His research proves that devotion to God (the divine couple) is at the basis of civilization. The high points of human civilization are always preceded by and intertwined with devotional movements or eras that allowed for the blossoming of high civilization and its many manifestations. In other words, rather than greed, ambition and avarice, it is Bhakti or Devotion and Love that is the at the foundation of high human civilization.
Looking at this from a devotional perspective it becomes even easier to recognize the truth RE: the history of religion. Atheistic theories claim that humanity invented religion and created the gods out of thin air. Most scholars study religion using this paradigm. However, as followers of Vedic culture know, religion was given to humanity and it represents an eternal reality.This reality does not ebb and flow with the creation and dissolution of the universes. Rather it is eternally present. This religion centered on devotion to the divine couple was, is and always will be. The question is whether this primordial revelation and eternal reality was only known to a very few Indians from the beginning of time or is there any evidence that it is a universal revelation?
It has been available to one and all since the beginning of time. Bhaktiananda’s research reveals that the revelation centered upon Radha Krsna and Balarama is not a recent development coming out of Bengal. rather it is a primordial revelation that has been available to any sincere seeker anywhere in the world throughout history. The proofs of this are all around us but have not been recognized until now. How?
As we know Gaudiya Vaishnava Siddhanta itself had been nearly lost until very recent times. Without this Siddhanta it is impossible to recognize the global presence of Vaishnavism and related Vaidika traditions. Once the template of Gaudiya Vaishnavism is applied to the study of ancient primordial religion it becomes clear and obvious. We are dealing with very real and tangible evidence that highlights Sanskrit as our original common language (Nostratic language) and Radha-Krnsa-Balarama centered Bhakti mixed with its natural vedic diversity as the original religion of all humanity.
India is unique because it is the only place that has maintained an unbroken link to its Bhakti-based past and connectivity to Krsna. However Krsna (God) and devotion to Krsna has always been much more than an Indian affair. This same Krsna is the same God that has been at the center of all human religion. His Bhagavad Gita is and has been famous throughout the world. This is a fact. And the Gita was world famous long before the 20th century. As soon as Krsna spoke the Gita its impact was global. Thus it is at the center of all ancient religion, within India and beyond. History has forgotten this fact yet the global impact of the Bhagavad Gita is very real and its influence can be traced throughout many religions and societies of the world.
Its interesting also that the vedic literatures themselves claim to be universal and repeatedly present themselves in such a manner. In fact without Bhaktianandas evidence the ‘claims’ found within Vedic literature would sound jingoistic, etho-centric and phantasmagorical. yet now we have a scholar that is revealing the practical presence of a non-ethno-centric Vedic culture throughout the ancient world.
Because Krsna is real wherever he was encountered, be it India, Egypt or Zimbabwe his devotees and admirers recognized certain qualities and traits by which he was identified wherever he was encountered or experienced. Amazingly, until Bhaktiananda, no one was able to prove this or even seen this fact.
The fact remains that when Krsna was worshiped in India, there were certain markers regarding his color, clothes, likes, dislikes etc. Lo and behold we find this same deity being worshiped in the same manner with the same intentions, color, clothes, likes, dislikes etc accompanied by the same companions throughout the world. While all have ignored or denied that these non-indic deities were the same god worshiped as Krsna in India, no one has proven that it is NOT Krsna being worshiped.
In fact from the Vedic Vaishnava perspective the idea that Vedic/Vaishnavism was a byproduct of merely one group of humans in India is anathema to vaishnavism. It is an eternal reality that is available to anyone with Bhakti. Christianity is merely a recent face of an ancient form of Vaishnavism which was known as Heliopolitanism. This tradition is the source of the Greek, Egyptian and Jewish religions.
Mainstream academia and many religious scholars have no ability to recognize or understand the non-denominational Bhakti at the basis of Human history. Their conclusions do not encompass the truly universal and globally interactive presence of ancient Vaishnavism.
In conclusion we can not rely upon the research of those ignorant of or inimical to the Bhakti at the basis of religious history. How could a revolutionary pioneer depend upon the views of those missing the point? In fact Bhaktiananda does use references for his entire premise is based upon Gaudiya Vaishnava Siddhanta. By using this template he looks for evidence of the same Siddhanta and practices within ancient societies from across the world.
Even then Bhakti Ananda Goswami frequently references key evidences highlighted by leading scholars such as Jane Harrison, Cyrus Gordon, Keel, Uehlinger and others. These are all scholars that were at the forefront of breaking various entrenched paradigms. Their research provides many significant findings verifying the common foundations of humanity’s primal religious experience. Across the globe, regardless of the extreme diversity of its expression, there was indeed one primal sacred revelation. We see this reflected within the India of today. Thus despite the outward differences between the ‘God’ of an Odiya Jagannath Bhakta and a Kannada Madhwaite Vaishnava we know that they are both devotees of Krsna. We know this based upon the Siddhanta and Samskriti of Vaishnavism. The ancient world was the same. This is especially true for the era preceding 1600 BC. As Kali Yuga progressed humanity moved further and further away from its roots.
Ancient Mediterranean religion is misrepresented as being Polytheistic based upon the research of much later forms of religion that had developed. These later adaptations came about during the post-traumatic eras of history endured time and again by the ancient Greeks, West Asians, Egyptians and others. When studying their spirituality and religions, modern scholars have taken the outward differences between the various forms of God worshiped and than misrepresented the ancients to be polytheists. Its as if Jagannath Krsna and Udupi Krsna were presented as separate and competing Gods and their worshipers members of separate faiths.
Even before 1600 BC, approx. 4000 years ago, a 200 year global drought brought an end to many ancient cultures and it severed all links between peoples and cultures. This combined with the rise of the Assyrians created a state of crisis across ancient West Asia and the Mediterranean regions. India however has survived throughout history primarily because of its commitment to Vedic/Vaishnava values. Cow protection, village based bhakti, tulsi, sadhu and temple culture, commitment to yajna, the monsoons and the Himalayas are the crucial aspects of India’s long term sustainability.
The majority of what is taught today as Classical Greek religion is fraught with the heresies and asampradaya of writers such as Homer and Hesiod. These were people who lived many centuries after the High Civilization that preceded the calamities of later Greek civilization. Thus today, most ‘experts’ on ancient religion etc are misrepresenting the fractured and broken shards of ancient tradition as the original tradition at the foundation of Mediterranean religion and culture. As a pioneer in this field Bhaktiananda can not use the references of such atheists, indo-centrists, euro-centrists, zionists, racial or social exclusivists or any others inimical to or incognizant of the truth regarding our ancient common sacred Bhakti-based heritage.
Collected Works Archive of Bhakti Ananda Goswami 
Excellent Sri Vrindavan prabhu! Bhakti Ananda’s works are all backed up by real-world references, archeological findings and linguistic evidence. However the complete global connections can only justly be credited to his decades of UNPREJUDICED interdisciplinary research and practice of bhakti from both the East and West.
A Historical Letter from HH Bhakti Ananda Goswami
—– Original Message —–
From: Bhakti Ananda Goswami
To: Bhakti Ananda E.O.H.N.
Sent: Saturday, November 22, 2003 2:08 PM
Subject: When Yahu was Bal, and Eli / Hari / Heru Was Still Supreme, Part 1 (first draft)
HOW DID YAHU-BAAL, THE SECOND PERSON OF THE GODHEAD IN THE JUDAIC TRADITION BECOME BAAL THE SYMBOL OF FALSE WORSHIP AS SHOWN IN THE ‘SHOWDOWN’ BETWEEN ELIJAH THE PROPHET OF YAHWEH AND THE PROPHETS OF THE FALSE GOD BAAL, WHICH ESTABLISHED YAHWEH AS THE TRUE GOD OF ISRAEL?
IS THERE SOME ERROR IN THE TRANSLATIONS OR SOMETHING?
The story about Elijah is commonly misunderstood, because we have not been taught the true historical context for it, and we have not been told that YHVH himself was also originally called Baal. At one time in that region, the Western Semites worshiped their Supreme God ELI and His savior alter-form ‘Brother’ or ‘Son’ Baal. Each place also had a presiding form of the Lord there, with the title Baal ‘Lord” or ‘determinitive’ BL compounded with the Deity’s Name. Although the personal name Baal or BL was first used exclusively for the Savior Deity BL in His multi-form, after the disintegration of the regional Eli-Baal Tradition, this name became the generic title equivalent to ‘lord’. So people commonly spoke of plural balls or lords, or ‘The Baal’ or lord of this place or that, this shrine, people, village, nation or that one.
Try to understand the difference. To the monotheists the ORIGINAL BL was present in His many temples, shrines and other consecrated places. To the polytheists, these were all different and often hostile or competing ‘baals’ or lords. The monotheists’ vision was of one Lord and one God in many places and forms, worshiped by all humanity. But the polytheists’ view was of many competing demi ‘gods’ who were only the planetary, animistic, totem or race patron protectors of distinct tribes or races. By the monotheists, Eli, Yahu and Baal were Names used interchangably for the same Supreme Deity, or sometimes Yahu-Baal was distinquished as the alter-form, brother or son of the Supreme Father God ELI (HERU in Egypt, OLU in the Niger-Khordofanian complex, HELI / SOLE among the Greeks and Romans, and HARI / SURA etc. in the East). This Deity was the Father God of ALL RACES. In fact the Hebrews, Israelites and Jews (before the anti-Hellenism purge) and other HELIOS / ELIYAHU / HORUS WORSHIPERS WERE ALWAYS MIXED RACE PEOPLES. Today people fail to grasp the importance of MONOTHEISM IN THE HISTORY OF HUMAN EQUALITY AND UNITY. Polytheism did not mean tolerance, it meant the social strife of countless little warring ETHNIC theocracies. It took the Monotheism of Heli-Os / Eli-Yahu / Heru-Asu / HRIH to unify humanity.
In the Bible and other sources, scores of Hebrew and other language Deity by-names were compounded with the Names EL, Yahu and Baal. These compound names meant A=B, or A=B=C, or A=C or B=C etc. For example ELI-YAHU (Elijah) identifies Eli as Yahu, or that these are two Names or two PERSONS of the same Deity. Thus such compounded Deity by-names may be understood as indicating two or more Persons of a plurality of Persons in the HERU-WASU-ATUM (Hari-Vasu-Atman, Eli-Yahu-Adon) Godhead. There are scores of compound names like this in the Bible, and other ancient Hebrew, Israelite and Judahite sources. Such compound Deity Names are also found in the litanies of Helios-Apollo, Heru and Horus, Asu / Wasu (Osiris), Amun, Aten, Zeus and Jupiter. I have studied these compound Deity names since the mid 1960s, and can report that the by-names and related forms (nama-rupa) of Eli and Yahu are often the identifiable names and forms of the so-called ‘gods’ of other peoples.
The plural elohima or theos ‘gods’ were the patron baals, or ‘lords’ of their local, regional or national shrines, lands and peoples. As long as these elohima gods or lords (baals) were not worshiped as SEPARATED OR INDEPENDENT of the Original Supreme God Elohima or Baal, the regional alliance-wide inter-ethnic peace and prosperity continued. However, when some king or priest or group tried to assert their separated interest over that of the common good and peace of the alliance, then the rest of the alliance members had to reassert control over the rebels with sanctions, blockaids and even military force if necessary. In some cases the putting-down of a rebellion against the Monotheistic One God (of unified humanity) involved religious show-downs designed to demonstrate that the errent elohim or baal was not equal-to, independent-of, or more-powerful-than the Original and One True God.
Thus at various times and in different places, there were real world spiritual, theological, ‘public relations’ and military battles of the separated gods and baals against the older Monotheistic Order of Helios. If one considers the fact that Heliopolitan Alliances dominated early human civilization, and that some of these were very successful and lasted over a thousand years, then it is easy to understand why various societies had a vague recollection of a golden age of peace and prosperity, during which all of humanity worshiped one supreme Father God. In Egypt for example, the famous monotheistic Pharaoh Akhenaten tried to revive the Monotheism of Helios (Heru HARI the Elder, His ‘Brother’ Asu VASU and Their immanent Spirit ATUM / ATMA), which had previously dominated Egypt for over a 1000 years. The cult of Helios in Egypt was specifically linked to the worship of Rhoda and Helios Kouros on the Lotus-Isle of Rhodes. On Rhodes Europeans, Semites and Africans all worshiped their supreme Father and Mother together in peace, and this unity of all of Their children was reflected in the political / Polieus and Tyche (Fortuna Lakshmi) city-state alliances that socially incarnated the religion of the sacramental social body of Asu / Vasu as Purusha. Thus the most peaceful and prosperous of early human alliances were all Heliopolitan. They were polis / polieus federations devoted to the unified but diverse worship of the supreme Father God Helios (Eli-Yahu, Heru-Asu, Hari-Vasudeva) and His Shekinah or Shakti in Her multiform.
In each region, the farther back we study, the more evidence we find of this early Heliopolitan unity. Thus any up-to-date scholarly work on West Semitic deity names will show that the title B’L was earliest used for YHVH, but its popularity of use for YHVH was drastically reduced after Iron Age IIB Israel. Page 205 in Keel’s and Uehlinger’s text frankly states that:
“It is probable that both elements, yw- and b’l, refer to the same deity, namely Yahweh, who was worshiped also as Baal in Iron Age IIB Israel……Toward the end of the period, the two names for the deity were apparently no longer interchangable.”
So by circa 700 BC (Page 410), something had happened to cause the title or name B’L to become separated in use from the name of YHVH. Another important point to know is that the title B’L or Baal was also confounded elsewhere with the deity personal name BL or B’L, sometimes transliterated as Bel or Balu. Here it is good to think of the meanings of the Sanskrit Deity Name Bal or Bala. Bala, Sukra-Bala, Bala-Bhadra, Bala-Deva and Bala-Rama are some of the BL names of HARI’s Second Person or ‘Brother’. Sometimes it said that Baladeva is the embodiment of CHIVALRY. When we take the heroic meaning of the Bala element in this Deity’s Name, then a comparison with the Latin root of VALOR (in chivalry) is appropriate. In any case, it seems that originally the deity BL was the savior son or brother of the Deity EL. He is the one who defeats death and brings new life and fructification to the world. He may be a dying and resurrecting savior as well. He weapon is often depicted as a club (Baladeva’s club!), and associated with fertility and agriculture throughout the Mediterranean grain growing regions, BL the ‘grain god’ may be depicted as ARA-TOR (HALA-DHARA!) the ‘Plow Holder’ God.
As Vasudeva or Baladeva is the Second Person of Krishna or Hari, the Semitic Yahu-toba BL is the second Person of ELI, and the Egyptian Asu-Baal is the Second Person of HERU the Elder. Before I said that ELI-YAHU / Heli-os / Heru-Asu was previously the supreme God of the whole region, and when the Heliopolitan Alliances started to break down, the separated elohima / theos / baals / asuras wars started. A good example of this parallels the situation in which Elijah battles the priests of ‘Baal’. There are Biblical stories in which ELI and His faithful battle the “gods” of Egypt, and the false “god” Ammon of the Ammonites. But if one reads these Biblical stories in the Hebrew, or studies extra Biblical sources, one learns that the so-called “gods” of Egypt were elohima and the supreme “god” of Ammon was ELI !!! On the identity of EL as the god of the Ammonites, see footnote 25 on page 205. So both Israel and Ammon worshiped EL as their supreme deity, yet these nations were arch-enemies and Israel considered that Ammon and Egypt were worshiping false gods! From all of the evidence it is clear, that as in the later and well documented Heliopolitan Asyla Federations (alliances or leagues), it was the unity-in-diversity of the interracial monotheism of the All-father Helios that held the great federations together, and any destruction of that unity was attended by rebellious (often tribal or ethnic) polytheism or separate ‘gods’ worship. If one studies the late Heliopolitan-related Leagues of the Mediterranean, over and over again wars were fought when some group or groups tried to break the laws of the alliances, and create their own separated dominion. When the rebels were subdued, they had to admit that their ‘god’ was not independent-of the Supreme God of the Alliance.
I have said that all of these so-called different ‘high gods’ Hari-Vasu, Heli-os, Heru-Asu, Eli-Yahu etc. are the same Deity historically and theologically. But what do other scholars say about them? Well not suprizingly, these deities are all ‘classed’ together, by comparative religions scholars, as belonging to the class of solar-related ‘Most High Gods’ or ‘Lords of Heaven’. See Page 261 on this point. In the East again we see that HRIH or Amitabha (Amida) in Pure Land Buddhism is AGAIN classed as a solar MOST HIGH GOD. So this one MOST HIGH GOD HELIOS / SOLEUS / HRIH etc., whose worship was so important at the dawn of civilization, later finds His alliances battling polytheistic dis-integration and social chaos in every region. As each city-state breaks with its local and regional monotheistic alliance, The One God has more and more competition from self-proclaimed incarnation-kings and their priests. These exalt their separate ideas of ‘god’ in defiance of the unifying monotheistic tradition of Helios / Eliyahu. Ultimately, after thousands of years of this dis-integration from the great early alliances, Helios / Eliyahu / Harih is just remembered as the original Supreme Personality of Godhead by a remnant of the world’s monotheists, who have been grouped regionally into a self-perceptions like ‘Hindu’, or Catholic.
This is the big picture, but the little piece of the picture that we see in the story of Eijah versus the Prophets of Baal, is a myopic picture of a local battle where YHVH (the Baal of West Semitic Monotheism) is subduing the separated baal of rebellious group.
The Holy Name YHVH itself was actually also ‘put away’, due to its blasphemous associations, or abuse by false worshipers. The rise of the Left-Hand Tantric pseudo-dionysos cults of the tamasic religionists so wounded the religious sensibilities of the ascetic (sattvic) Helios-worshiping clergy and the masses, and created such a wide-spread social trauma, that the common use of the name baal, and the four letter Holy Name, the YHVH Tetragrammaton, fell out of favor among the sattvic ascetic orthodox believers. Jewish scripture and tradition itself tells us what happened. These relate that due to the Jews’ offences to, and in the Name of Hashem, ‘The Holy Name’, the Name withdrew from them. Or more specifically in the case of YHVH, they were either forbidden to say The Name until the day of their restoration, or the memory of how to say The Name was withdrawn from them.
With the disintegration of the primal monotheism into adversarial ethnic polytheism, or the monotheistic city-state Polis Federations into independent warring ‘false-god’ theocracies, separated rebellious ‘gods’ arose to compete with / challenge the one true God, the separated elohim becoming the damned gods in opposition to ELOHIM, or the separated ‘baals’ of the near East becoming the oponents of BAAL-YAHU the original and supreme BL. This occured in each region, with each region having its own legends of an earlier age when the Father of the ‘gods’ was supreme, before some or one of the ‘gods’ rebelled and created the present age of conflict. Whether the story was that Setu / Ketu (Satan the Dragon) and his minions were cast out of the Lord’s presence, down to the Earth (found both in the Bible and Vaishnava Tradition), or it was a cosmic battle between God and the rebellious ‘gods’, from Egypt and Europe to the Orient, the traditional elohima, baals, theos, devas and asuras were getting mixed-up with the separated heretical elohima, baals, theos, devas and a-suras. The supreme Original Father God was being reduced to an all-pervasive force, a mere demigod among demigods, or a remote or impersonal being who had abandoned the cosmos.
Only the staunch Monotheists like the Platonists, the Biblical Heroes of Faith, Akhenaten and others tried to cling-to or to revive the ancient monotheistic inter-ethnic worship of Helios or Eliyahu, Horus, Harih etc. Eventually the earlier unity of the great Heliopolitan Asyla Federations was lost, and rival alliances arose from the wreakage of the earlier order. After a while, Helios or Krishna became just another theos or deva in the polytheistic Greek and ‘Hindu’ pantheons. Everywhere it was the same. The local Egyptian forms of Heru and Asu rebelled, which actually means that their sacred kings pulled-out of the monotheistic Heliopolitan
religio-political Asyla Federation Polis / Polieus temple city-state alliances, and declared that they were the sole incarnations of the supreme Father or Savior god.
Remember the story of Vasudeva Paundraka? This pretender mimicked Sri Krishna as the Incarnation King in His very presence! In the Indian Vaishnava Tradition it is described how Krishna went out to see this pretend ‘Vasudeva’ incarnation and destroyed him. Significant here are the attempts that were made in the Greco-Roman world to outlaw the impersonation of Zeus-Jupiter-Amun as the Sacred King, the Basileos (Vasuedeva) or Rex (Raja). What was outlawed tells us very specifically that the Sacred King of the gods was the Vasudeva (Bazodeo /Basileos) form of Sri Krishna. Thus the proscriptions tell us that the sacred Polieus (Purusha, Pharaoh) Incarnation King of Zeus-Jupiter-Amun had the following features:
Laws Forbidding the Impersonation of the Supreme Deity in His Incarnation Sacred King Basileos / Vasudeva Form
Note that during Triumphal Processions and the other high rituals of the Heliopolitan theo-centric city-states, the legitimately anointed sacred kings of the alliances WERE allowed to PLAY the part of God, just as a perfect boy and girl were chosen each year to act-out the roles of Rhoda and Kouros in the divine love-affair-related seasonal fraternity and sorority Hierogamos Mysteries of the region.
Things Forbidden…
1. To dye the body so that it would be blue, black, purple or red like the
supreme Sky Father.
Art historians have noted that the supreme transcendent or heavenly Father God was often depicted as BLUE or other sky colors, in ancient religious art. That Krishna or Vishnu is Blue is often sited as one reason why experts in religious art have classed Them with other supreme father sky deities. In this regard note the use of Krishna berries (black berries) and the sacred lore or taboos associated with the “bramble bush’ in European, Indian, and Semitic lore.
2. To shave the face and body to appear as Juvenalis (Krishna Nava Yauvana) or Kouros ‘eternally young’.
Sri Krishna and Baladeva are Kouros or Eternally Young and beautiful. Baladeva does ‘expand’ Himself into infinite multi-form, and some of these forms are ‘mature’ or bearded. However Helios Kouros and Krishna never have any Form past the Nava Yauvana unbearded and long haired age.
3. To have the sacred symbols tattooed or branded onto one’s body
Krishna-Balarama have these on their bodies.
4. To wear one’s hair long as a Kouros past the age of youth.
Krishna-Balarama are always long haired.
5. To wear Gold for the Sun or Silver for the Moon
Krishna wears gold and Baladeva wears silver. Scholars associate Krishna with the solar Gayatri and His ‘Golden Form within the Heart of the Sun’. They associate Baladeva with the moon.
6. To wear a gold or yellow or ‘royal blue’ or purple cloth.
Krishna wears a gold cloth and Baladeva wears a blue cloth.
7. To carry the discus (or boomerang like) weapon of the Chakravartina,
the sacred Sun or Moon king.
Krishna’s Chakra is the Kyklos disc of the Mediterranean Sun King.
8. To ride an all white horse or keep the all white cows, which were
especially sacred to Helios.
9. To wear any of the sacred Polieus crowns or compound crowns of the King
of kings / Raja raja / Basileos basileos.
10. To carry the weapons or scepters and use the emblems of the Supreme
Lord.
11. The use of duo kingship, as in Sparta, which was clearly related to the
worship of Eli-Baal, Krishna-Balarama or Vasudeva-Sankarshana (Kouros Helios
and Dionysos), at some point appears to have been forbidden, although there
is evidence of it in the worship of Heru-Asu and Sukra-Asar (Sokar-Osiris)
in Egypt too.
12. The king could not drive a Golden Quadriga Chariot in imitation of the
(Helios) King of kings. (Krishna Partha Sarathi went out to confront the
false Vasudev Paundraka, who was driving a four horse chariot just like his
own.)
There are other quite specific connections too, which extend to the names
and titles used, actions allowed, prohibitions, priestly initiations and
anointings required and the religious obligations of the sacred anointed
‘incarnation’ Polieus / Purusha / Pharaoh kings.
Over time we see B’L or Bal go from being a Name of the supreme God
Yahu-Balu or title of God Yahu- B’AL, which was used specifically for the
Savior-son or brother-alter-form of the Semitic Supreme Deity ELI and His
local temple expansions / incarnations, to being a title used for the
separated elohima (suragana) of the West Semitic shrines and city-states.
However as with the Holy Name YHVH, BL in its various forms did continue to
exist. In fact baal has continued to be used as a title of divine authority
or respect. Today baal is still used without negative connotations by many
Orthodox Jews. One of their most famous Masters was called Baal Shem Tov.
The putting away of the Holy Name Baal by some believers paralleled what
happened with Elohim and the elohim, Deva and the devas, Asar (Osiris the
Vedic Ashura) and the a-suras, and the general loss of the use of the Holy
Names of Helios and Dionysos etc. Note that by the time of Christ, the Holy
Name Helios was still used by the Greek monotheistic initiated orders like
the Platonists and Orphics, but was not found in popular use, having been
replaced by the Homeric polytheistic demigod usage of the Name ‘Apollo’
(Gopala), which was confounded with the Greek Apollyon ‘Destroyer’.
To confirm what I have said about Baal as a Name of Eli-Yahu, please read
the world’s best academic text on Jewish Miniatures, which I have
recommended on this subject, and which I have cited in my saragrahi.org
posts. The page numbers above refer to this text.
https://www.eisenbrauns.com/ECOM/_1390ZLJL2.HTM
All Books and Software: Biblical Studies: Religion in Ancient Israel
and Canaan
Gods, Goddesses, and Images of God in Ancient Israel
by Othmar Keel and Christoph Uehlinger
Translated by Thomas H. Trapp
Fortress Press, 1998,
xiii + 466 pages + 600 drawings, Cloth, English
ISBN: 080062789X
List Price: $45.00
Your Price: $33.75
Description
Copyright 2003 Eisenbrauns Inc. All rights reserved.
http://www.eisenbrauns.com/wconnect/wc.dll?ebGate~EIS~~I~KEEGODS
POB 275 Winona Lake, IN 46590 0275 · PHONE (574) 269 2011 · FAX (574) 269
6788
Contact the Webmaster · site map
I received permission from the publishers of this text to use it in my 2000
lecture series comparing the symbolism of the ancient Levant and ‘Israel’
with that of Heliopolitan Egypt, Krishna-centric Vaishnavism and Pure land
Buddhism.
I have also recommended studying the theophoric personal names in the Bible
and extra-biblical sources, and the lists of Semitic Deity names that can be
found in various scholarly sources.
It is rather frustrating to me that I
have been trying to get people to educate themselves on these subjects for
decades, and yet they keep asking me the same questions that would be
answered for them by actually reading the texts that I have already
recommended. This is why people claim that I have not made my case. It is
because they have not troubled themselves to do the work to actually read
and understand the facts and references that I have already cited years ago.
In my experience, most Western Vaishnavas have an appallingly poor grasp of
the history of either Judaism or Christianity. Their ideas have been (mal)
formed by one or more of five primary influences: 1. an extremely poor
catholic education 2. an equally shallow and poor Jewish education 3.
exposure to the anti-semitic and anti-catholic indoctrination of
Protestantism 4. exposure to gnostic or neo-gnostic anti-Jewish and
anti-catholic ‘aryanist’ teachings, 5. exposure to Gnostic-related Muslim
anti-jewish and anti-catholic teachings.
Although they might read volumes of sensational New Age literatures, which
are so bizarre as to claim that the Jews are a race of shape-shifting
reptilian aliens, these same devotees will not apply themselves to the study
and understanding of the few really scholarly books that I have recommended
as essential reading.
To understand the most ancient worship of the West Semitic Supreme Deity
Eli-Yahu (Bal or B’al) one must actully do the work to read real academic
texts on the matter. In the same way, to understand the historical and
theological relationship between Jesus Christ and the the Pre-advent worship
of the Great Physician and sacrificed and resurrected universal Savior
(Vedic Purusha) Asclepius / Serapis / Caraka, one must read the available
academic works on these subjects. The connections are so vast and deep that
it would take me volumes to describe them. In the mean time, any
intelligent persons can begin to make the comparisons themselves by reading
the texts that I have already recommended.
Asclepius: Collection and Interpretation of the Testimonies/Volumes I and II
in One
by Emma J. Edelstein, Ludwig Edelstein (Contributor), Gary Ferngren
(Introduction)
Search inside this book
List Price: $31.95
Price: $31.95 & This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping.
See details.
Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours
Only 2 left in stock–order soon (more on the way).
7 used & new from $21.75
Edition: Paperback
Editorial Reviews
Ingram
Legendary ancient Greek physician and healer god Asclepius was considered
the foremost antagonist of Christ. Providing an overview of all facets of
the Asclepius phenomenon, this work, first published in two volumes in 1945,
comprises a unique collection of the literary references and inscriptions in
ancient texts to Asclepius, his life, his deeds, cult, temples–with
extended analysis thereof.
—————————————————————————-
—-
All Customer Reviews
Avg. Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
ESSENTIAL FOR THE STUDY OF ASKLEPIOS, March 31, 2000
Reviewer: A reader from usa
Simply the most comprehensive book on Asklepios, the greek good of healing,
available. Edelstein has every reference to the god in both the original and
translation. For a serious scholar this is a holy grail, but for someone
without some familirity with the myth, this book might be a little
overwhelming.
*************************************************************
This text is part of the series on the history of medicine, which was
published and used at the famous medical school of Johns Hopkins University.
Note in the list below the “similar items” contain not one religious or New
Age text. A person will not find any SERIOUS study of Asclepius in any
Gnostic or New Age literatures, and in fact, I have searched various
so-called ‘historical Jesus’ sites, and Asclepius is rarely, if ever
mentioned on any of them. I tried to join the Marcus Borg et al “Jesus
Seminar” discussion egroup, and as soon as I brought up the subject of
Asclepius, my post was blocked and I was denied membership! When I asked
why, the moderator told me to go to a mythology egroup because the Jesus
Seminar group is only interested in discussing the real historical Jesus !!!
Thus the Seminar Members have deleted every single divine or
Asclepian-associated element or doctrine from their extremely liberal
Protestant (actually atheistic) revisional Jesus, and having done so, can
seriously relegate any discussion of a divine Great Physicisn Jesus to that
‘mythological’ Jesus of another egroup.
The profound intellectual dishonesty of these so-called objective scholars
just astounds me ! Jesus Christ came after thousands of years of people
worshiping the Great Physician Savior Son of Helios, the Supreme God of the
ascetic monotheists. Everything about him is inseparably connected to this
ancient wide-spread intellectual and medical tradtion. To even attempt to
create a ‘Jesus’ without this genealogy is preposterous. Yet that is what
the “Jesus Seminar” group has done in their supreme arrogance and
dishonesty! At least the Gnostics and the Muslims created their alternative
jesuses out of the Homeric and related traditions of Asclepius, but the
dishonest ‘scholars’ of the Jesus Seminar group do not even allow their
“Historical Jesus” to have any history at all ! They have fabricated their
‘Jesus’ out of whole-cloth, as if he had no ‘prophetic’ past at all, but
simply appeared without any historical precedent or ‘baggage’ on the world
stage. Since the birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection of Christ
is completely interwoven with that of Asclepius, only by the most dishonest
of ‘diversions of discourse’ can the Jesus Seminar group put-forward their
concocted “Historical Jesus”, who has been carefully purged by them of
Asclepian elements.
I have tried to help devotees to learn about the tradition of the real Jesus
(Iasas) Asclepius, Who is clearly the Divine Son of Helios / Eli-Yahu as the
Jewish and Greco-Egyptian Seraphic Healer Ananta Balarama in His ‘hidden
incarnation’ as the Ayur Vedic great Physician Caraka. However, even those
devotees who claim to have read the Edelsteins’ below book, have clearly not
taken the effort to actually read and understand the original language
parallel English translations provided in the Testimonies volume of the 2
volume text. Instead it seems that they go to the Interpretations volume of
the text, and rely on its Jewish authors to interpret these all-important
Christian-related Asclepian references for them. Since the Jewish authors
were biased in favor of the more mundane (and later Gnostic related) Homeric
Asclepius, and they were unqualified to grasp all of the Christological
connections in the Testimonies, reading their Interpretations of the
Testimonies will not make all of the connections that a person can make
themself, if they directly familiarize themselves with the Testimonies. It
is of course possible that any Protestant or poorly educated catholic
Christian could read the Testimonies and not grasp the connections. But
really, when fundamentalist Protestants like Dr. James Kennedy can see the
striking parallels between Jesus and Asclepius, what is anyone else’s excuse
for refusing to discuss these?
Helios was ALWAYS WORSHIPED AS KOUROS or the Divine Ideal of Youthful
Masculine Beauty. On Rhodes His Feminine counter-part was RHODA-KORE. To
Heliopolitan Monotheists, He was supreme and the Origin of all the ‘gods’,
who were His local or elemental manifestations or empowered incarnations.
In Egypt and the Near East this same Deity was supreme, and called by His
related compound names HERU-ASU ‘HORUS’ and ELI-YAHU “Elijah”. Due to His
solar chakra associations, this name in Vaishnavism is found with
SURYA-VARAYANA and HARI’s Solar Gayatri Hymn. Thus the Roman SOLEUS, the
Greek HELIOS, the Egyptian HORUS, the Jewish ELIYAHU and the Vaishnava SURYA
(or HARYA, HARIH, SURIH etc.) are all the same supreme Deity in His ‘Solar’
Chakra mysticism-related form.
Since IASAS Asclepius is the Second Person of the Helios Godhead, incarnate
as the SON OF HELIOS, and the stories, rites and sattvic religion of
Asclepius are also those of Jesus Christ, then we must come to the
unavoidable conclusion that Jesus The Great Physician and Son of Eliyahu is
no other than IASAS the Great Physician and Divine Son of HELIOS. These are
also Serapis (ASU)the brother-son of HORUS THE ELDER (HERU) and BALADEVA AS
ANANTA CARAKA THE BROTHER (SECOND PERSON) AND HIDDEN INCARNATION ‘SON’ OF
KRISHNA.
How tragic it is to me that I cannot get Vaishnava scholars to take up this
discussion, and that foolish Vaishnavas and Christians are being misled by
such rascals as the Tomb-of-Jesus Neo Gnostics New Agers and the Jesus
Seminar Group, while the only people seriously discussing the Jewish and
Christian worship of Helios / Horus and Asclepius are either otherwise
disinterested academics, or Protestant Fundamentalists, who imagine that the
pervasive evidence of Helios and Asclepius worship among the Jews and early
Christians is the deceptive work of the Devil!
So from first-rate Jewish scholars to ancient Catholic theologians, modern
Protestant Fundamentalists and historians of medicine, many people have
studied the related worship of Helios and Asclepius. But it seems that the
Vaishnavas and modern Catholics, who have the most to gain from such a
study, may, due to spiritual pride and prejudice, be the last ones to
seriously join in this area of research. What Vaishnava SCHOLAR, beside
myself, is openly discussing these things? I do not know of any. Some who
have previously shown a little interest in my work, have since apparently
gone over to the growingly powerful and well-funded Theosophical Society New
Age Vaishnava Camp of for name, fame and financial security. More than any
other loss in my long failure to communicate this knowledge, the defection
of these people into the nonsense ‘historical Jesus in Kashmir’ camp is
heart-breaking to me. Presently I have a few staunch supporters in my work,
but I am not getting any feed-back from any Vaishnava LEADERS that anyone is
actually incorporating into their teaching the fact that Jesus Asclepius is
Balarama as Purusha or Ananta Caraka.
While the Protestants go on calling Helios and Asclepius ‘devilish heathen
idolatrous tricks to deceive the faithful’, all of my attempted contacts
with various scholarly catholic Hindu-Christian dialogue groups, including
the Catholic Monastic Interreligious Dialogue (MID) group have been
rebuffed. While the respected MID group entertained Theosophists, Advaita
Vedantist Atheists, iconoclastic Muslims and Theravadin Buddhists in its
discourse, I was frozen-out of any participation in the group. As with the
Jesus Seminar people, these Christians apparently do not want to discuss
Helios and Asclepius at all. Their attention has been grabbed by the
‘mayavadis’ and the ‘scholarship’ of the so-called ‘German Higher Criticism’
related schools (like the Jesus Seminar’). Thus my long efforts (over 30
years worth) to engage Vaishnava and Christian Scholars in a positive
discussion of these connections has utterly failed. My only self-respect in
the face of my long failure derives from the fact that I have never either
compromised the truth or peddled it for money, “name, fame and adoration”.
The few opportunities in life that I have had to discuss my views with true
scholars, have been appreciated by them. However time and circumstance did
not permit me to gain any substantial enduring help from them, and so here I
am, still unpublished and answering the same rudimentary questions put forth
by undeucated people 30 plus years later. I am not in a dialogue of my
academic peers, because like many renounced ‘devotees’, I sacrificed my
academic career in ‘Western Education’ to serve in the Vaishnava community,
and having that service rejected, now am both an academic outsider to
Western Scholarship, and a person who has never gotten, and probably will never
get any scholarly support in the increasingly anti-Judeo-Christian New age
influenced Vaishnava community.
To all of my well wishers I would like to say that if you are really serious
to know the truth, there are no easy short cuts. You can not understand the
whole of history by studying it from a racist Eurocentric, Afrocentric,
Semitocentric or Indocentric viewpoint. You cannot understand it if you are
blinded by ‘spiritual pride’ and prejudice. If you want the whole truth,
you must do the work to read reliable source works as much as possible.
Naively reading biased commentaries and interpretations of the source
materials will not help you. You must penetrate to the actual facts, the
raw data of history as much as possible.
As much as I would like to explain everything to you, I cannot physically do
it. I have repeated the same things for over 30 years to thousands of
people, and still I have to repeat these basic things. Please do not ask me
the same questions any more. Read my available writings and the books I
have already recommended. The connections are there, but you will not see
them unless you make the effort to read and really understand them. I have
outlined the connections, so that you can fill-in all of the details. I
never had the help I needed to get my books finished and published, and I
probably never will, so please use the curriculum of study that I have
outlined for you, and fill-in the details for yourselves.
If you follow my lead, you will find the truth for yourselves. Helios
Kouros and Rhoda are Krishna and Radha. Helios is Eli-Yahu, and Yahu is
Baal (the Original Sattvic Dionysos), Who as the Seraphic Great Physician is
Jesus Christ / Asclepius Caraka.
All the connections can be traced from this. Shaivism is related to
separated Baal-Dionysos worship. Zoroastrianism is related to Rig Vedic
Purusha Sukta Ashura Worship. Yab-Yum and Yang-Yin are Purusha-Prakriti
related. Mariology and Mary’s ‘hyperdulia’ is related to Shekinah / Shakti
veneration. etc.
Please carefully study my short introductions to these important subjects on
Robert Newman’s saragrahi.org site. He has done a great kindness to us all
by posting these papers. Take advantage of them. Test my assertions
rigorously, and you will find that they are the truth. Make these truths
your own. they are not my exclusive property. You must come and claim some
of them for yourselves.
Peace and Love,
Bhakti Ananda
who has never compromised or sold the great truths of
Radha-Krishna / Rhoda-Kouros and Balarama-Dionysos as Caraka-Jesus
(Asclepius)
************************************************************************
http://www.raidersnewsupdate.com/helios.htm
ARCHAEOLOGICAL NEWS/ Did Ancient Jews Worship Heli
Ancient Israel, the Zodiac, and the Sun God
The latest edition of Biblical Archaeology Review asks an interesting
question: Did some ancient Jews observe the Zodiac and worship Helios, the
Greek sun god? Raiders News Update believes 2 Kings 23: 11 and similar
verses prove this to be true–but what does this mean?…more below.
—————————————————————————-
—
by Raiders News Update staff writers
Archaeologist Zeev Weiss describes a mosaic recently uncovered in an
ancient Jewish synagogue in Sepphoris in which a zodiac surrounds a striking
portrayal of the Greek sun god Helios. Evidently similar artwork has been
discovered in synagogues at Tiberias, Khirbet Susiya, Na’aran, Husifa,
Yafia, Beit Alpha and Sephoris.
Lucille Roussin, writing for the March-April edition of BAR believes she
knows why the mosaics were made, and her explanation might bother some
people.
“The Babylonian Talmud (Shabbat 156b) records a debate about the validity
of astrology for Jews,” she says. “Rabbi Hanina, a Babylonian who came to
Palestine to study with the great Judah ha Nasi, compiler of the Mishna,
said, ‘The planetary influence gives wisdom, the planetary influence gives
wealth and Israel stands under planetary influence.’ In contrast, Rabbi
Yohanan, who lived in about 250 C.E., declared, ‘There are no constellations
for Israel.'”
According to Roussin the rest of Shabbat 156b “is devoted to arguments in
support of Rabbi Yohanan’s position against planetary influence.” Roussin
points out that this very argument proves that some Jews did indeed believe
“that Israel stood under planetary influence” and that Helios was probably a
related minor deity to whom they offered prayer.
Either way, Roussin cannot help but ask, “What in the world is a Greek god
doing in a synagogue?” The same questions provided fodder in the RNU book,
The Gods Who Walk Among Us.
While Roussin’s assumptions are correct in that “Synagogue mosaics from
the late Roman and early Byzantine periods in Palestine offer evidence that
Jews did indeed believe that Israel stood under planetary influence,” she
fails to address the bigger issues of 1) where did the ancient Hebrews
derive such a notion; 2) did similar religious concepts exist in divergent
cultures simultaneously around the world; and 3) does this weaken or support
the fundamentalist biblical view of a single Creator.
“What in the world is a Greek god doing in a synagogue?”
Can zodiacs and dedications to a Greek god in an ancient Jewish synagogue
actually provide support for the notion that Yahweh is the one true God and
Creator? Probably, and the somewhat unorthodox conclusion begins with a
simple idea called Original Revelation.
The basic premise is that a perfect revelation existed between God and man
“in the beginning.” The first man Adam was one with God and perceived divine
knowledge from the mind of God. The human was “in tune” with the mental
processes of God, and understood, therefore, what God knew about science,
astronomy, cosmology, eschatology, and so on.
After the fall, Adam was “detached” from the mind of God, but retained an
imperfect memory of the Original Revelation including a knowledge of God’s
plan of redemption. This point of view seems reasonable when one considers
that the earliest historical and archeological records from civilizations
around the world consistently point back to and repeat portions of a similar
Creation story.
Two things began to occur in the decades after the Fall: 1) information
from the original revelation became distant and distorted as it was
dispersed among the nations and as it was passed from generation to
generation; and 2) (for those who believe in a real Devil) the realm of
Satan seized upon this opportunity to receive worship, and to turn people
away from Yahweh, by distorting and counterfeiting the original revelation
with pagan ideas and “gods”. Instead of viewing the galaxy and stars as a
heavenly map laid out by God, men began celebrating the stars and worshiping
the ‘deities’ believed represented by them. “Profesessing themselves to be
wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God…”
(Rom. 1:22-23).
In his book, The Real Meaning Of The Zodiac, Dr. James Kennedy echoes such
ideas, pointing out that the ancient signs of the Zodiac record a singular
and original revelation-a kind of Gospel in the stars-and that the message
of the stars, although converted into astrology after the fall of man,
originally recorded the Gospel of God. He writes:
There exists in the writings of virtually all civilized nations a
description of the major stars in the heavens-something which might be
called their “Constellations of the Zodiac” or the “Signs of the Zodiac,” of
which there are twelve. If you go back in time to Rome, or beyond that to
Greece, or before that to Egypt, Persia, Assyria, or Babylonia-regardless of
how far back you go, there is a remarkable phenomenon: Nearly all nations
had the same twelve signs, representing the same twelve things, placed in
the same order….The book of Job, which is thought by many to be the oldest
book of the Bible, goes back to approximately 2150 B.C., which is 650 years
before Moses came upon the scene to write the Pentateuch; over 1,100 years
before Homer wrote the Odyssey and the Illiad; and 1,500 years before
Thales, the first of the philosophers, was born. In chapter 38, God finally
breaks in and speaks to Job and to his false comforters. As He is
questioning Job, showing him and his companions their ignorance, God says to
them: “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands
of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou
guide Arcturus with his sons?” (Job 38:31,32).
We see here reference to the constellations of Orion and Pleiades, and
the star Arcturus. Also in the book of Job there is reference to Cetus, the
Sea Monster, and to Draco, the Great Dragon. I would call your attention to
Job 38:32a: “Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season?” Mazzaroth is a
Hebrew word which means “The Constellations of the Zodiac.” In what may be
the oldest book in all of human history, we find that the constellations of
the zodiac were already clearly known and understood….Having made it clear
that the Bible expressly, explicitly, and repeatedly condemns what is now
known as astrology, the fact remains that there was a God-given Gospel
[universally acknowledged original revelation] in the stars which lays
beyond and behind that which has now been corrupted.
In his book Dr. Kennedy strongly condemns the practice of astrology, while
asserting his view that the constellations of the zodiac were likely given
by God to the first man as “record-keepers” of the original revelation of
God.
The original prophetic significance of the zodiac is summarized by Kennedy
thus:
VIRGO:
Seed of the Woman, Desire of nations, Man of humiliation, becomes
exalted Shepherd and Harvester.
LIBRA:
The scales demand a price to be paid, Cross to endure, the Victim
slain, a Crown purchased.
SCORPIO:
A Conflict, Serpent’s coils, Struggle with the Enemy, the Evil
Vanquisher.
SAGITTARIUS:
The double-natured One triumphs as a Warrior, Pleases the Heavens,
Builds fires of punishment, Casts down the Dragon.
CAPRICORNUS:
Life comes from death, He’s the Arrow of God, Pierced, Springs up again
in abundant life.
AQUARIUS:
Life-waters from on High, Drinking the heavenly river, Delivering the
Good News, Carrying the Cross over the earth.
PISCES:
The Redeemer’s People multiplied, Suppoted and led by the Lamb, The
Bride is exposed on earth, the Bridegroom is exalted.
ARIES:
The Lamb is found worthy, the Bride is made ready, Satan is bound, the
Breaker triumphs.
TAURUS:
The conquering Ruler comes, the sublime Vanquisher, the great Judgment,
the ruling Shepherd.
GEMINI:
The Marriage of the Lamb, the Enemy is trodden down, the Prince comes in
great Glory.
CANCER:
The great Bride, the Church and Israel, are brought safely into the
kingdom.
LEO:
The Lion King is aroused for rending, the Serpent flees, the Bowl of
Wrath is upon him, his Carcass is devoured.
Whatever one makes of Kennedy and other people’s zodiac conclusions, one
cannot help but be amazed by the Gospel similarities.
If similar assumptions made in The Gods Who Walk Among Us can be
accepted-that an original revelation was corrupted after the fall of man and
subsequently degenerated into the mythologies of the pagan gods-one would
expect to find numerous examples of such corruption from as far back as the
beginning of history and within various civilizations around the world.
Since the myths behind the gods would thus be “borrowed” ideas, the
corrupted texts would be similar to the original truth, and, in that sense,
evidence of a particular and original revelation.
In this case a representation of the Greek sun god Helios in an ancient
Jewish synagogue might be perceived as pointing back in time to an Original
Revelation that was distorted as a result of the Fall of man.
Furthermore, If the distortions of the original revelation were in fact
energized by an evil supernaturalism, the goal of the alterations would have
been to draw people away from the worship of Yahweh through a close but
distorted association with an original truth. According to researchers like
Kennedy and Horn we thus find a zodiac in an ancient Jewish synagogue.
In Spiritual Warfare-The Invisible Invasion a similar example of original
revelation plagiarized by Satan in order to draw men away from the worship
of Yahweh is given. Concerning Asclepius, the Greek god of healing, we read:
At the base of Pergamums hill stood the shrine of Asclepius, equipped
with its own library, theater, sleeping chambers used in healing rituals,
and long underground tunnels joining various other shrines to which pagans
journeyed to receive the healing powers of Apollo’s favorite son. The
Christian Church considered these mystical powers as demonic, for the
worship of Asclepius focused on the image of a serpent, sometimes called
Glycon, a figure some historians see as the origin for the modern symbol of
healing-a serpent winding about a pole. Asclepius carried the lofty title,
the hero god of healing.
In Numbers 21, Moses designed the brazen serpent on a pole that was used
of God as an oracle of healing. 743 years later, in 2 Kings 18:4, we find
that Israel had began to worship the brazen serpent with offerings and
incense. From here the image was adopted into Greek mythology where it
became the symbol of Asclepius, the Greek god of healing.
Asclepius was reported to have cured untold numbers from every
conceivable disease-even raising a man from the dead. This caused Apollo
through his Oracle at Delphi to declare, “Oh Asclepius!, thou who art born a
great joy to all mortals, whom lovely Coronis bare to me, the child of love,
at rocky Epidaurus.” Such a healer was he reported to be, that Pluto, god of
Hades, complained to Zeus that hardly anyone was dying anymore, and so Zeus
destroyed Asclepius with a thunderbolt. Afterward, Apollo pleaded with Zeus
to restore his son and this intercession so moved Zeus that he not only
brought Asclepius back to life, but immortalized him as the god of medicine.
First at Thessaly, and finally throughout the Greek and Roman world,
Asclepius was worshiped as the saviour god of healing.
Greek mythology stated that Asclepius had the power to heal the sick and
to bring the dead back to life by drawing blood out from the side of the
goddess of justice. Asclepius was symbolized by a serpent winding about a
pole, and he was called the great “Physician.” The obvious intention of the
serpent on a pole in Numbers 21 was to focus mankind on the coming Messiah,
the true Great Physician, who would hang upon a pole and would deliver His
followers from sickness and from death by the blood that ran out from His
side.
Thus we find glaring examples of God’s “revelations” plagiarized for
demonic purposes. RNU’s research eventually uncovered dozens of such
examples and summarized them in The Gods Who Walk Among Us.
The worship of the Greek god Helios by ancient Jews refers back to a time
when Original Revelation was splintered and truth was fractured and men
“changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature
more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen” (Rom. 1:25).
Featured on Art Bell’s Coast to Coast!
To learn more about the growth of Paganism worldwide, read Tom Horn’s best
selling book: The Gods Who Walk Among Us. Read Excerpts Here
© 2003 RaidersNewsUpdate.com
Return to Front Page
*********************************************************************
Asclepius: Collection and Interpretation of the Testimonies
Author : EMMA J and LUDWIG EDELSTEIN
Edition : Johns Hopkins paperbacks ed
Format : Large Format Paperback
ISBN : 0801857694
Publisher : The Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication Date (AUS) : April 1998
Imprint : Johns Hopkins University
Usually ships within 24 hours
Web Price AUD$69.00
Similar items can be found in these categories:
a.. History of ideas, intellectual history
b.. Science and Medicine
c.. History of medicine
d.. Philosophy of science
wonderful work,
can you email me his website
Thank you Leanne Bhakti Ananda Goswami is active on Facebook. Here is his page:
https://www.facebook.com/bhakti.goswami