Magic. The word alone is temptation for men one too many times, especially for them who seeks ‘miracle’. In Islam, however, the practice of sihr (magic, which means something that is hidden and its cause is unknown) is an act of kufr (disbelief); therefore magic and sorcery is forbidden is is considered haram. Even the act of believing in it without practicing it is also haram. Magic here, means sorcery, witchcraft, fortune-telling and occults. It should to be noted but the so called magic used for entertainment, such as magic shows is not prohibited by Islam provided that the ‘magicians’ do not violate any of the dictates of Islam in any way.

Practitioners of magic (Muslims, that is) believe in magical power, a demonic power (as it is said that one cannot attain sorcery without seeking the help of the devil), and would often worship it. As such, they would then claim that there is other greater power aside than Allah when as Muslims, they are to, and must, accept only Allah as the one and only God, the powerful one. Believing in any other supreme being would be an act of disbelief towards Allah. Learning magic is also an act of disbelief because they claim to have magical powers, when such powers can only exist in the Almighty himself.

The Prophet mentions this,

“Whoever goes to a fortune-teller or a soothsayer and believes in what he says has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad.”

Since magic is believed to be as powerful as God, it would be no different than to associate sorcery with Allah. And the act of associating anything or anyone with God in manners of worship is a great sin that comes with severe punishment. Al-Maaidah 5:72 says:

“Verily whoever sets up partners with Allah, then Allah has forbidden Paradise for him and the fire will be his abode. And for the Zalimun (Polytheists, and wrongdoers) there are no helpers.”

This is further evidenced by the warnings of the messenger of God:

“Keep away from the seven destructive sins!” They said, “What are they, O Messenger of Allah?” He answered, “Associating partners with Allah; practicing sorcery; taking a life, which Allah has made forbidden except for a just cause (according to Islamic Law); eating Riba (usury) eating up an orphan’s wealth; fleeing from the battle field at the time of fighting (with the unbelievers); and accusing chaste women, who never think of anything that can touch their chastity and who are good believers, of fornication.

Besides that, sorcerers would manipulate simple-minded, naive folks in to believing their power and thus magic as well. These lead the believers towards magic, and hence lead them away from God. Such act is considered evil or Satanic, for only Satan seeks to remove the believers from their faith in God.

Another reason why sorcery and magic is a sin is due to its influences and consequences. Sorcery tempts men with evil and causes a family to break apart. It manipulates the weak-minded, dominates their mind and influences them to do bad deeds. More often than, men seeks magic to instill harm unto other beings. Again, leading men towards evil instead goodness.

Magic is hardly ever used for good purposes, though some would claim that, calling it white magic. But even if magic is used for good intentions, it remains a fact that it is dependent on unnatural powers and abilities, something that is not God-give (otherwise, He wouldn’t have forbid it). Not to mention that the practice of white magic is a slippery slope to descending to black magic, which generally harms all and benefits none.

Ethical Issues in the Pauline Epistles (Part 2)

Introduction

This article is a sequel to Ethical issues in the Pauline Epistles (Part 1) which dealt with such ethical issues as-Jewish and Gentile Christian relationship; and The believers’ conduct. Here, in part 2 of this same topic the discussion continues by taking on board such additional vital ethical aspects as- The Abuse of Christian liberty; Public worship; Household codes. The Universal ecclesia must have a clear attitudinal understanding of these issues in order to be the true ecclesia of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ibid, pp. 521-2.

The Abuse of Christian Liberty

The Corinthians, in their letter to Paul, raised questions concerning the propriety of eating the meat of an animal offered in a pagan sacrifice. According to David Lowery, the Corinthians’ questions apparently concerned: a) the acceptability of buying meet from pagan sacrifice sold in the market; b) the acceptability of eating the meat as an invited guest in a friends home; c) the acceptability of attending one of these pagan sacrifices and enjoying the meal of celebration, which followed in the temple precincts.13 These issues have to do basically with the Corinthians’ freedom and rights. For the more mature Corinthian Christians, as Paul explained, ‘an idol is nothing at all and there is no God but one, and as such eating food offered to idols was, in itself, inconsequential. However, not all Corinthians agreed that an idol was nothing. The weaker brothers who were led participate with the stronger brother have their conscience defiled. So, Paul’s response was that even though the stronger brethren can be justified for exercising their freedom, yet they failed to observe one basic and underlying principle – that is, love. Even though their knowledge about idols gave them freedom to participate, yet because of love for their weaker brother they should have refrained from eating. Therefore, Paul advises that the example of Christ should be followed. In this situation, it will involve giving up one’s freedom or right for the sake of the weaker brother.

Public Worship

With reference to public worship, three of the issues the apostle addressed were as follows: a) The state of the woman in worship (I Cor. 11:2-10); the state of Christians as the Lord’s supper (11:17-34); and the state of spiritual gifts (Chap. 12-14).

a) The State of Women in Worship

The problem concerning women in the Corinthian Church was about head covering. As David Lowery observed, ‘It seems that the Corinthian slogan, everything is permissible; had been applied to meeting of the Church as well, and the Corinthian women had expressed that principle by throwing off their distinguishing dress. More importantly they seem to have rejected the concept of subordination within the Church (and perhaps in society) and with it any cultural symbol e.g. a head covering), which might have been attached to it.’ From the above quote it could be seen that the issue is not simply about head covering, but rather the behaviour of insubordination of women in public worship. Lowery further observed that Paul first laid down the theological basis of his counsel concerning this issue. Paul stated that for a woman to throw off the covering was an act not of liberation but of degradation and she dishonors her spiritual head, the man. Paul argues that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man and the head of Christ is God. The woman therefore had to put on her head covering to honour the man.

b) The State of Christians at the Lord’s Supper

Ibid, p. 529

Ibid, p. 530.

According to Lowery, when Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper with his disciples, the bread and cup were part of a meal, with the bread probably broken near the beginning and the cup taken at the end. By the time Paul wrote, the Lord’s Supper was celebrated in two stages, which consolidated the partaking of the bread and cup at the end of a communal meal. The worship with the bread and cup came to be called the Agape. However, in the Corinthian celebration the agape meal had become an occasion not marked by love for fellow Christians but one of self-centered indulgence. Paul noted that an experience meant to build up the Church was actually having the opposite effect – ‘your meeting do more harm than good’. The Lord’s Supper should be the remembrance of a pre-eminently selfless act, Christ’s death on behalf of others. Instead, the Corinthian have turned this memorial into an experience of selfishness and brought disunity into the body. Paul made the theological significance of the Lord’s Supper very clear to the Corinthians. They were to celebrate in memory of what Christ has done for them – his death, burial and resurrection, and also in hope of his return.

c) The State of Spiritual gifts

The Corinthian believers manifest in their worship service the manifold gifts of the spirit. But the way in which believers used their gifts causes problems and brings disorder in their services. Especially the spectacular gifts, like tongues. They consider these gifts as sign of spirituality gift.

Household Codes

J.D. Douglas rightly observed that one of the distinctive features of Paul’s Epistles is the recurrence of the so-called household codes (Eph. 5:22ff, col. 3:18ff, I Tim. 2:8ff, Titus 2:2ff) though as Douglas stated, they are conservative in tone, yet they are clear indications that there were issues in the Churches which demands these codes.16 One of` these household codes, which deal with the relationship between ‘masters and slaves’, will be discussed. This particular relationship has been selected because Paul had to address this issue in a concrete situation between Philemon a slave master and Onesimus his runaway slave.

In his commentary on the Epistle to Philemon, Edwin C. Deibler Wrote, ‘Onesimus a slave of Philemon had runaway having evidently robbed the master (Phil, 18). His travel somehow brought him to Rome, where in the providence of God, he came in contact with Paul. Through this contact, Paul led Onesimus to know Christ as Saviour.’ Paul decided to send Onesimus back to his master, but was very much concerned how Philemon will react. So, in his letter to Philemon, he challenged him on the basis of their relationship with Christ to receive Onesimus as a brother.

Conclusion

In this article and its counterpart some of the ethical issues raised in the Pauline epistles have been discussed: 1 Jewish and Gentile Christian relationship. 2. The believers’ conduct. 3. The abuse of Christian liberty. 4.Public worship. 5.Household codes. The format used was as follows: first, the theological basis for Paul’s ethical teaching was examined. In this examination it was found out that Paul based his teaching on the doctrine of Christ – his death burial and resurrection, and on his example of humility and love. The underlying principle in Paul’s ethical teaching is that the church or the ecclesia of Christ is a new community of believers who can only influence the world positively and make disciples of all nations by their consistent Christian witness.

J. D. Douglas, New Bible Dictionary (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1962), p. 354.

Edwin C. Deibler, Philemon: The Bible Knowledge Commentary (Illinois: Victor Books, 1983), p. 769.

Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. There is nothing in that line to pique anyone’s interest today for there is nothing great or inferior in riding on a donkey. Most people today would pay a good sum of money to merely get a ride! But what follows this simple action is what really makes it sound absurd. People shouted “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” and placed cloaks before the donkey (Mark 11:9). They waved leafy branches and sang and danced (Luke 19:36-37). Now this is a typical welcome for a king and no king enters his city riding on a donkey! So what exactly was going on here?

Christians the world over observe Palm Sunday a week before Easter. Palm Sunday marks the entry into Holy Week-a week which highlights the fundamental beliefs and core tenets of the Christian faith. Holy Week is unlike any other week in the Christian calendar. It is not marked with great noise and funfair. In fact, it brings to a head the 40 day long season of Lent which is a period of fasting, penance, almsgiving and above all, repentance and change. Holy Week reminds every Christian of the raison d’être of their faith and existence as Christians. It brings them to the awareness of who God is and reminds them of what He has done and above all, it challenges them to come to terms with who they are before God.

The people who gathered to welcome Jesus into Jerusalem were great devotees. They recognized him as a king even though he did not wear imperial gowns and jewelry and did not come riding on a mighty horse with an imposing army. They had heard of his fame; they had heard of the mighty things he had done with the touch of his hands or the words from his mouth; they knew of his anointed preaching… They knew… and heard… Perhaps they had not seen with their own eyes; they had not experienced firsthand but they believed in the talk. This is the typical character of a devotee. The devotee believes and even acts on the belief but he/she is not intimately connected to the person they adore or praise.

A worshipper, on the other hand, is not so much taken up with the talk and actions of the person as much as he/she is taken up with the person themself! This is the fundamental difference. A devotee is excited by words and actions; the worshipper has eyes only for the person-all words and actions are only a bonus. It is interesting to note that Jesus preferred the latter over the former. “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him” (John 4:23). Jesus was hardly bothered about the numerous people who were merely devoted to him. His focus was on gathering people who would worship God, the Father. He stressed on worship and not simply on devotion. Not that he did away with devotion completely. He was careful to not let devotion remain purely peripheral or superficial. He always invited people to enter deeper and to become worshippers. Take the instance where he healed the ten lepers (Luke 17:11-19). Only one of the ten turned back to praise God and to thank Jesus for what he had done. Seeing this Jesus remarked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God… ?” (v. 17-18). This incident shows very clearly that Jesus was not too impressed with devotion alone. Perhaps the other nine went all round the countryside proclaiming the miracle that Jesus had worked in their lives. But that is nothing compared to the one man who turned back and worshipped the Lord.

Too much of religion is focused on devotion and thus very often ends up making devotees of all its adherents. Too little attention is afforded to real worship. There is a difficulty in drawing a clear line between devotion and worship. The best way of judging is by examining the effect it has on a person’s life and behaviour. A devotee does the things they think or are told are pleasing to God. Thus, they often lose themselves in fulfilling rituals and keeping edicts and traditional practices. Worshippers keep their minds fixed on God and exude an aura of holiness. The focus of all their thoughts, words and actions is to give praise to God.

Palm Sunday offers us an opportunity to introspect and discover our nature vis-à-vis God. Are we simply like the crowd that gathered around Jesus to show their devotion to him? Is God someone we ought to please through our rituals, fasts, observances and penances? If that is the case then we are simply devotees of God. God does not impact our lives much. We are quite happy living our own lives and doing the things we are told or that we have come to know are pleasing to Him. There is no real connection there. But if we really care about God and by care, I do not mean simply giving Him respect or honouring Him in the place of worship but seriously desiring to have a relationship with Him then I believe we will enter into the realm of worship. It is when we desire more than just to please God by actually desiring God himself that we progress from being devotees to being true worshippers. These are the people the Lord wants. He is not interested in mere devotion. He desire worship. Are we ready to give it to him?

I feel it might shade some light as to how much and how far religious zealots has gone and are going in literally controlling and disciplining if one is seen to deviate from the official line. Due to the belief in miracle and making a miracle as the central ethos to their mysticism, they have become willing and not at all hesitant to deploy any and all known gadgets and know how to perversely influence, coerce, dominate and subjugate any and all real and perceived deviants.One can cry out loud and there is no help or even sympathy despite the constitutional guarantees for individual rights to worship or not worship,belong or not belong at all

This letter I believe serves as compliment to the article By Daniel Dennet on religion on”The Guardian UK Thursday 16 July 2009″.Though I disagree with his ideas of what religion and spirituality ought to be and how it ought to be practiced, I strongly agree with his description of the perverse practices by some and even by the overwhelming majority of the authorities of organized religion. Organized religion is about interest and material class and group fulfillment not about the inner search for the truth and individual and social self fulfillment despite the audacious self portrayal. As to making the most vital decisions of our lives in consultation with our inner voices I cannot understand the objections to that as we all make our vital life and death decisions in consultation with our inner voices and I see no exception to that. But if our inner voices somehow become inner voices of our religions authorities inner voices’ as is often the case, the concern is justified.

Organization presupposes classification professionalism, specialization and division of labor on the basis these stratification.Is it any wonder then that like all socially stratified structures those in the higher end of the structure to have a stake in mystifying the practice and making it shrouded in secrets in defense of their acquired or given status. If any irrationality is condoned or encouraged in any social structure there is no need to explain that it could only be by those who are able and are in position to do so and it is clear who those could be that it needs no explanation. The one big note to be made here is though that all hierarchical social structures are susceptible of encouraging acts of irrationality and irrational exuberance with varying degrees (the curse of division of labor and social stratification).

As these religious institutions and social structures gave rise to science and scientific institution and the continuous ineptitude of the latter to find answers for the fundamental perplexing issues of ours’ and everything Else’s beginning, current existence and future destiny; had engendered and continues to engender the ever continued appeal of the practice of religion and spirituality. The truth of spirituality has been for Melina and I am sure will continue for another in an effort to find in ones inner self the truth and self that is absent in the material and scientific world out there, here and everywhere. That search in the gaps by itself between the material realities of yesterday, today and tomorrow that which we can reach only by our intuition’s and that which we can only imagine and could not quantify and qualify by all other ways and means yet available will always draw us to spirituality individually and collectively.

In 1957 the New York University Library of Scientific Thought published a book entitled, Theories of the Universe: From Babylonian Myth to Modern Science. The book explained how, over thousands of years, non-technical writings about cosmology were associated with mythological mathematics and political power. Priests using cosmological mathematics to calculate an eclipse could become politically influential. Greek scholars built political structures from how the ancient gods dealt with humans at Olympus, and Babylonian kings designed ancient forms of governmental policies of conquest, based upon the councils of the god Marduk.

The New York Scientific Library book mentions how, during the 20th Century, the mathematician, Albert Einstein, extended Babylonian mathematical mythology in deriving his 1917 theory of relativity and its observer participancy theory of creation. Independent of the book’s philosophical world-view, we know for certain that Lord Bertrand Russell had a very deep involvement with Babylonian mythological-mathematics. He used this to advocate the worship of what Einstein defined as the ‘Premier Law of all of the Sciences’. Russell’s most famous essay, entitled ‘A Freeman’s Worship’, was about how we must live in despair about there being any substance within any of our most ennobling hopes for the future. According to Russell and Einstein, this is because these higher aspirations will eventually be totally destroyed within a universe in thermodynamic ruin, in accordance with the functioning of the universal law of chaos energy.

This particular article refers to ancient Egyptian mythological mathematics associated with the worship of the ancient Egyptian Goddess, Maat. This Goddess was held to prevent the universe from reverting to a state of chaos, which is about a science in complete defiance of Einstein’s world-view. Although Einstein was correct about the physical functioning of the cosmos he dismissed the energies associated with the evolution of emotion. Nanotechnology has provided photographic evidence that within the molecule of emotion, Einstein’s energies of quantum mechanical chaos actually entangle with the energies of quantum biology, demonstrating that his great genius was unbalanced for dismissing the existence of biological information energy. The point to be made is that the logic of nanotech complex dynamical energy systems as well as the Egyptian mathematics of life, both extended a fractal logic to infinity, instead of the extinction that Einstein’s world-view insists must occur. This more inspiring energy scenario is compatible to the workings of the infinite holographic universe of Einstein’s close colleague, David Bohm.

Harvard University’s Novartis Professor, Amy Edmondson, in her biography of the engineer Buckminster Fuller, wrote that Fuller derived his balanced synergistic universe from the mathematics of the philosopher Plato, who in turn had developed it from the ancient Egyptian theories belonging to the worship of Maat. Plato warned that developing cosmology by assuming that the eye was responsible for creative knowledge would only lead to the emergence of the destructive evil of unformed matter within the atom. Einstein’s E=Mc squared is the mathematical equation basic to thermonuclear destruction and Einstein’s insistence that the eye is the key to creative participation within the universe, equates to a worship of the ancient Egyptian and Greek gods of Chaos. The religious ethos of the Church is based upon Platonic love. But the Church has no comprehension of Plato’s mathematical atomistic explanation of it. St Augustine banished the atomistic mathematical functioning of Platonic love as the work of the Devil, because he thought, incorrectly, that it belonged to the worship of the Babylonian Goddess of prostitution and war, Ishtar.

After a period of two hundred years of the Platonic tradition of Greek philosophy fusing ethics into Anaxagoras’s theory of creation, its mathematical structure became altered to become a fractal dynamical expression linking the function of Plato’s atoms of the soul, to infinity. This was the act of observer participancy that Einstein could not grasp because he thought, like Leonardo da Vinci, Rene Descartes and Sir Francis Bacon before him, that all knowledge had to come from visual perception, such as looking down a powerful microscope to look at subatomic particles.

The Church has such a sexually orientated confusion about the role of Platonic love during the sexual act, that in order to derive the technology belonging to creative thought to replace Einstein’s trip to extinction, we need to develop an accepted medical human survival science on the subject. This can be considered impossible when we consider the confusing angels and demons war on the subject associated with the long time brawling between the Church and the worship of Jesus Christ by the Knights Templar. Buckminster Fuller predicted the solution by alluding to a future supercomputer to provide the answer. This is a similar concept to creating a supercomputer that can win chess games against the great chess champions or even more complicated games by the supercomputer Watson, winning games of Jeopardy. Buckminster’s published World Game Theory was to solve problems well beyond the ability of any form of present government. In Fuller’s own words “Make the world work, for 100% of humanity, in the shortest possible time, through spontaneous cooperation, without ecological offence or the disadvantage of anyone” (Fuller had received many awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom presented to him on February 23, 1983, by President Ronald Reagan).

In Australia at present there are moves in Parliament to create a Royal Commission about child molestation practices within the Christian Church. The Church is responsible for Sir Isaac Newton’s unpublished papers, discovered last century, being classified as Newton’s Heresy Papers. Within them was Newtons conviction that a more profound natural philosophy existed to balance the mechanical description of the universe and that its basic physics principles were the same as the lost Greek atomistic science of universal love, taught at Oxford University by the scientist Giordano Bruno, before the Church tortured him and then burnt him alive for teaching it. It seems that the Church has some deeply based sexual problems that is preventing the development of a human survival super-technology in favour of preserving the extinction ethos of modern religiously contaminated science.

During the 20th Century Lord Bertrand Russell was Britain’s leading advocate of free sex, which he had linked to the metaphysical sexual ethos of Babylonian mythological mathematics. Together, he and Albert Einstein insisted upon employing only the mathematical logic that applied to the construction of atomic matter after light was created, as is mentioned in the Old Testament. Plato’s axiom that ‘All is Geometry’ however, applied before the creation of light and this human survival mathematics was developed by Buckminster Fuller.

The ancient mythical Egyptian god of creation, Atum, masturbasted into the cosmic egg declaring ‘Let there be light’ and Anaxagoras’ more sophisticated theory of creation was about the universal urge to cast sperm into the cosmic egg being linked to a whirling force acting upon primordial particles in space to create the worlds. This depiction of the force of gravity went on to provide spin to the created worlds to transfer knowledge of the creation to Plato’s atoms of the soul. Pythagoras introduced light into that description of humans being made in the image of the cosmic creation and this concept caused the great 18th and 19th Century discoverers of the forces of electromagnetic realit, to go looking for God’s electromagnetic ethic for perpetual peace on earth. Today the electromagnetic motor driving the tail of the sperm toward the ovum is known to be morphed by the female field into the cellular centriole. This in turn energises the first bone developed in the embryo, the sphenoid bone, to carry the divine message of creation to the electromagnetic functioning of creative consciousness, not Einstein’s eye of observer participation. As the eye does not even exist at the moment of conception there is no natural continuity belonging to the Einsteinian world-view in which the eye is held responsible to evolve the universe.

The bizarre concept of public ceremonies in which Pharaohs were required to masturbate into the River Nile in order to honour the creator god Atum, will no doubt be one day explained in the cerebral sub atomic physics belonging to Fuller’s envisioned medical super computer. However, so also will be the more bizarre and horrific results of St Augustine’s translation of the Platonic evil of unformed matter within the atom as being the evil of female sexuality. That frightful ethos was fundamental to the world-view of St Thomas Aquinas, becoming the logic base for three hundred years of sadistic perverted sexual rites belonging to the ritualistic torture and burning alive of countless women and children as witches. The present social repugnance toward public displays of any primitive masturbation ceremony becomes a trivial issue compared to that prolonged nightmare of ritualised sexual perversion.

Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein were dedicated scientists with genuine artistic inclinations and may their work be honoured by immortalising it beyond the limitations of the 20th Century’s obsession with an unbalanced understanding of the second law of thermodynamics. May this spirit of moderation concerning cosmological mythic mathematics extend to the ability of the Prophet Mohammed to be able to describe the functioning of the cosmos in terms now being given credence by recent discoveries made by the Hubble telescope. May Al Haitham’s corrections to the spiritual engineering optics of Plato, made during the Golden Age of Islamic Science, be once again shared in debate by Christains, Jews and Muslims, as it once was for two hundred year at the Translator School in Toledo, Spain. May Buckminister Fuller’s envisioned supercomputer be constructed to ensure that the 21st Century Renaissance comes into existence so that World War III can be averted in the name of Platonic love. That same wish to advance Plato’s Theology into an atomistic technology was also Marcilio Ficino’s message upholding what is known as the 15th Century Renaissance.

© Professor Robert Pope,

Advisor to the President Oceania and Australasia of the Institute for Theoretical Physics and Advanced Mathematics (IFM) Einstein-Galilei

The Hindu temple is an institution of immemorial antiquity which has played a notable part not merely in the religious life of the people, but also in their social, cultural and economic history. In the millennia that span India’s past, it has had, like so many other things in our life, a chequered history, now prosperous, now persecuted, now neglected and now revived. The temple, of course, is not unique to India. It was once a world-wide institution until the rise of universal religions like Christianity and Islam when many of its functions were taken over by the church and the mosque. But in India a unique continuity has prevailed, many ancient temples still surviving and serving their primary purpose as places of worship. Western scholars are reluctant to assign an early date to the Hindu temple, which they would fain derive from Greek or Buddhist models. No doubt, a Greco-Indian school of sculpture and architecture flourished at Gandhara at one time.

But that does not necessarily mean that it ante-dates the Hindu temple. The argument is that Vedic religion is polytheistic and oriented towards fire-sacrifices, where temples have to lay stress on monotheism and idol worship. Hinduism has always tolerated many approaches to God. There is no reason why the way of sacrifices and that of idol worship should not have flourished side by side. It can even be shown that while the Vedas could be studied and sacrifices performed by select castes, temples were universal institutions in which all classes and both the sexes worshipped freely. The rise of temples is part of the liberal tradition in Hinduism, stressing the easy accessibility of God to all. That they are earlier than the Christian era is beyond doubt. A Besnagar inscription of the 2nd century B. C. refers to a shrine of Vasudeva. Panini, centuries earlier, refers to worshippers of God as Vaasudeva. Our two great epics of uncertain dates have references to temples. It is not outside the range of possibility that Vedic invocations to gods and offering them seats, homage, and oblations could have inspired with analogous invocations of the divine presence in diagrams like mandalas, yantras and in idols. However that may be, it should not be forgotten that the Vedas are not without descriptions of gods and these must have helped sculptural representations.

The supposed contradictions between the polytheism of the Vedas and the monotheism of the Agamas on which temple worship is based, is largely a creation of Western bias. Indian opinion has never held the Vedas to be polytheistic. The Rigveda proclaims that what exists is one, though sages call it by various names. The Upanishads stress the concept of a Single Power manifesting itself as the universe, and they are an integral part of the Vedas according to Hindu tradition. Exegetical principles show how God is called by various names in various contexts in the Vedas. Moreover, the Aagamas were not antiVedic. They prescribed Vedic mantras procedures in temple and domestic worship. They represent the liberal tradition in orthodoxy which has always sought the spiritual welfare of the masses without degrading higher philosophy or antagonising the elite. But, after all is said and done, the origin and early history of temples in India is a highly speculative subject. We know as a matter of fact that they have served important cultural and spiritual interests almost since the beginnings of history in India. That they still continue to do so in some measure is a tribute to the sense of continuity that has marked Indian history during its march over thousands of years. Patronised by the royalty, the aristocracy and the wealthier classes and popular with the masses, the temples grew in number, size and influence, and the roles they played in society multiplied. The cults of Vishnu, Siva and Sakti developed side by side and almost on parallel lines. Differences in philosophical tenets among them, and between them and Vedanta were there, but they did not affect the acceptability of the temples. In the rituals and festivals conducted by them, there were striking resemblances among the different cults. Worship in the temples became a common spiritual exercise in India long ago, and has remained so ever since. Fashions in celebrating temple festivals may have changed in minor matters, but in essentials they have remained true to their original purpose and continued to be an expression of spiritual fervour. The iconoclastic zeal of Islam and Christianity had only a marginal effect on the Hindu attitude to temples, in spite of the rise of sects like the Brahmo Samaj and Arya Samaj which abandoned idol worship, in spite of the spread of skepticism, agnosticism and atheism.

Jackie Gouché has worked in the Music Industry for the past 30 years. Some of her credits include singing background for Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Tina Turner, Patti LaBelle, Billy Joel, Quincy Jones, Aaron Neville, Julio Iglesias, Bobby Caldwell, Andrae & Sandra Crouch, Yolanda Adams, and many others. For the past 22 years, Jackie has served as the Minister of Music at Bible Enrichment Fellowship in Inglewood, CA., developing as a seasoned and anointed Worship leader.

Also an accomplished songwriter, Jackie’s music is best known under the name of Bam Crawford’s Purpose. Her voice can be heard as the lead soloist on the songs My Help, Perpetual Praise, I Am the I Am, and All In The Worship. The most popular being “My Help”, recorded first by Bam Crawford’s Purpose, and then re-recorded by Ronald and CeCeWinans, The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir and Donnie McClurkin. This song, which has become somewhat of an anthem in churches throughout the world, has also been translated into other languages and recorded in France and Africa.

Jackie received her musical gift from her mother, Betty Gouché and passed it on to her sons, Davion, Daniel & Darryl Farris. They have joined forces to form a dynamic team of experience and anointing, together with fresh, youthful musical ingenuity and the result is BIG GOD, Little Me!

The title track is a marriage of hip-hop beats and Biblically powerful lyrics, expressed in the passion and anointing that is the voice of Jackie Gouché. The project also includes a duet with Jackie and her son, Davion Farris, declaring that there is “nobody like My God”. A fresh, rhythmic and vocally stimulating performance! Other songs, including Hands In The Air, and Yeshua, will have you raising your hands and lifting your voice, or dancing along to the compelling beat!

Over the past 22 years, many people have been blessed by the Praise & Worship ministry of Jackie Gouché. Now, we can all enjoy this long awaited collaboration between Jackie and her sons. Even those who are not inclined to listen to Gospel music will be able to enjoy the musical masterpiece that is BIG GOD, Little Me!

She says, “After 30 years of working in the music industry, and 22 years as a Worship Leader… raising 3 men, addiction, divorce, tragedy and triumph… I’ve come to the conclusion that the most important thing in life is love. It doesn’t matter who we meet, where we travel and what we accomplish. It all means nothing without real love. If only we would learn to do what the Bible says… love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves… “

There’s a lot of discussion about the origin of the word “mosque.” One of the most popular explanations is that during the reign of King Ferdinand and his wife Queen Isabella -when they were expanding Christianity against the Muslims-one of them supposedly stated that they were going to swat the Muslims in the masjid where they congregate, like mosquitoes.

This allegedly gave rise to the term “mosque.” Now, there is no conclusive evidence that this story is true, however, the term “mosque” is not correct, whether it’s offensive or not.

Make no mistake about it, many Muslims are offended by the term. So, what does this word “mosque” mean? Mosque is used to describe the place of worship for Muslims.

As the church is to Christians

As the temple is to Jews

As the “mosque” is to Muslims

What’s the big deal? Well, “mosque” is supposed to be a translation of the Arabic word “masjid” (pronounced just as you see it).

The problem is that there is not one word in the English language that defines masjid. “Mosque” is derived from the French language. Generally, you’re not going to define an English word with a French word.

The best English translation for masjid, and Allah knows best, is 4 words and they are “the place of worship.”

So, the next time you’re speaking with a Muslim and this subject comes up, use the term “masjid” (this will show that you know a little more about Islamic terms than the average person) or “your place of worship.”

You’ll avoid a headache.

Ibraheem Wilson

With full memory of my reincarnation and of coming back into a new life there are many things that came with me that are worth relating. The first is my knowledge that there is no heaven and hell and that there is only one spiritual creator. That means no devil, angels or saints and certainly no prophets up there reigning as kings and doing favors for their followers.

Spirit has no buildings, no need for commerce, and no visible presence and yet it can be felt and communication directly with it is possible. It does not support man-made power or religious lies and laid out its plan for the world in ancient prophecies. These are contained mostly in the Old Testament where they remain almost intact.

Alternate divine figures arose from sun worship as people went to the mountains to see the sun’s rays break apart into many colours. This was great magic and power, according to the intelligence of the time. Such power had to be a god and the worship of that as the Mother God began. She was called ‘Ma-r-i’ or ‘mother’s powerful eye’ and this is the same as ‘Mary’ for the Catholic proclaimed ‘Mother of God’.

Such a phenomenon is still practiced in countries like Japan and India where very high mountains are climbed by worshippers. Tibet and Nepal grew due to sun worship on its peaks and Jerusalem is also a city on a mountain top. The seven colours of the rainbow led to cities being positioned on seven mountains, such as Rome.

On mountain peaks religions developed that are, in turn, called ‘mountains’ in prophecy. In fact, they are referred to as the ‘dark mountains’ and the Spirit warned strongly against them. But it was told therein that in the last days the ‘mountain of God’ would be established in the top of the mountains. That means that it will take precedent over them.

Statues and sculptures have been around for a long time and serve many different roles. Some people display them as a way of remembrance, while other people will display sculptures as a way of worship. Some people find comfort and healing in their appearance. Whatever the reason, statues have and continue to play a big role in the lives of people all over the world.

Symbolism Sculptures have symbolic meaning. For example, the Statue of Liberty represents/stands as a symbol of freedom and independence for Americans. For others, pig statues and pig figurines (especially gold ones) symbolize a desire for wealth and an effort to achieve economical gain and prosperity. These representations can and do have many different symbolic meanings.

Worship We read in the Bible and other historical documents that replicas of people and symbols were and are used as a form of worship. There are many religions throughout the world that use statues in their religious worship. For example, Buddhists use the Buddha to help them remember that everything comes from Buddha and by worshiping Buddha they can accomplish and receive those things they really desire. Religious statues are becoming more and more common.

Remembrance Often sculptures are placed on monuments and tombstones in a remembrance of someone who has passed away. One of the most common statues that is used for remembrance (and often for worship too) is a statue of Jesus Christ. Christians tend to display statues of Jesus Christ in churches and within their homes. This serves as a constantly reminder of what Jesus Christ has done for them and the love that He has for them.

Healing Statues are often given to individuals that are ill or have a severe illness. Statues can bring peace and comfort, as well as healing to those that are ill. Religious statues are often given to those who are sick. Many people believe and gain strength and healing from statues (both religious and non-religious statues).

Statues are a great asset to add to any home or building. Some of the most popular statues displayed in homes and public buildings are: Buddha, Virgin Mary, Christus, nativity and Willow Tree. It does not matter where you go. Statues are everywhere and a part of everyday life.