Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 7:13 am
Frank, thanks for the Jesus Puzzle link. It is a good read and very informative. It certainly pares back the scope of who the historical Jesus may have been, especially with the absence of any historical reference from the epistles. The discussion of the source of the Gospels in the document known as Q could well contain the counter-cultural ethical teachings from Jesus which are at the heart of the gospels. Beyond this, it seems clear that the overall narrative was gradually compiled from various sources, in the classic case of proof by authority.
It reminds me of Anselm's argument for the existence of God that if we conceive of a perfect being, then its existence is the crowning perfection we can imagine, and therefore it must exist. Kant was called the 'all-destroyer' for his observation that existence is not a real predicate. By the same logic the existence of Jesus as depicted is proven more by the fact that people would like it to be so than by evidence.
Yet, I have to agree with Tom Harpur that these scientific observations can serve more to deepen faith than to undermine it. In terms of the discussion in this thread, there was something immensely special in cosmic terms about the time of Christ, as a time when the seasons and the stars were aligned, and in physical terms it is meaningful to speak of the incarnation of God in the world. In Chapter 14 of my essay on this topic from a few years ago I made the following comment,
It reminds me of Anselm's argument for the existence of God that if we conceive of a perfect being, then its existence is the crowning perfection we can imagine, and therefore it must exist. Kant was called the 'all-destroyer' for his observation that existence is not a real predicate. By the same logic the existence of Jesus as depicted is proven more by the fact that people would like it to be so than by evidence.
Yet, I have to agree with Tom Harpur that these scientific observations can serve more to deepen faith than to undermine it. In terms of the discussion in this thread, there was something immensely special in cosmic terms about the time of Christ, as a time when the seasons and the stars were aligned, and in physical terms it is meaningful to speak of the incarnation of God in the world. In Chapter 14 of my essay on this topic from a few years ago I made the following comment,
This is a Christian cosmology which like Tom Harpur's does not depend on the existence of a historical Jesus for its meaning.The large scale movement of precession is a star clock which establishes a primary long term structure of time on earth, providing a principal real context for exploring the meaning of time. The next step here is to interpret precession as the basis for a specific hypothesis about how the structure of cosmic time provides a scientific underpinning for key elements of Christian faith. The hypothesis is that the precessional alignment between the signs and the stars which occurred at the time of the birth of Christ can justly be called the centre of time, and that through the person of Christ the energy of this alignment became a force for human salvation, providing a scientific basis for understanding the orthodox teachings that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Word made flesh, and suggesting a scientific meaning for the Christian idea of the age.
4. As a result of the precession of the equinox, the natural year on earth defining the sun signs aligns directly with the corresponding stars of the zodiac only once every 25,764 years, when the sun signs of astrology match the stars of the zodiac. This moment of alignment, marking the beginning and end of the great year when the equinoctial point stood between the first constellation of Aries and the last constellation of Pisces, last occurred at the time of the birth of Christ, and will not occur again for 24,000 years. In that central year the monthly period of each astrological sign occurred while the sun moved through its corresponding constellation. Over the 2000 years since Christ, the equinox has precessed by almost one full zodiacal sign through the sign of Pisces, so the astrological period of Aries now begins with the Sun between the constellations of Pisces and Aquarius. Every 2147 years (one twelfth of 25,764), precession causes the March equinox to move backwards through another of the twelve constellations of the zodiac. For about the last 2000 years it has moved through Pisces, the last sign of the zodiac, and for the 2147 years before the birth of Christ the equinox precessed through the constellation of Aries, the first sign.
5. Over the last two thousand years, the movement of the equinoctial point to a slightly earlier position each year within the constellation of Pisces has created an ever-widening misalignment between the sun signs of astrology and their constellations. Over the next 24,000 years, the equinoctial point will gradually move through the whole zodiac to once again reach the first point of Aries, a point viewed by astrology as the natural starting point of the stars. The present position of the equinoctial point can be seen from star maps as the point in Pisces where the ecliptic crosses the celestial equator. The diagram shows the millennial movement of the equinoctial point. In astronomical terms the precise timing of the age of Pisces is uncertain, but the assumption here is that the Piscean age is due to end in about the year 2147, when the sun will begin the natural year in Aquarius. The equinox will then precess through the sign of Aquarius over the next 2147 years, defining the age of Aquarius.