"preaching the gospel, and healing every where" - No Christians before the Fall of Jerusalem

Tokyo Bay

No Christians before the Fall of Jerusalem

Paul thought that the end of the (Jewish) world and the Last Judgment were really close.

Who influenced Paul so that Paul came to have this notion?  It must be Christ Jesus.

From the beginning Christ Jesus was a kind of priest and missionary of Judaism.  He did not work to launch a new religion but acted within the religious scope and paradigm of Judaism.  So, when Christ Jesus preached that the Last Judgment was near, it must be interrupted in the context of Judaism.

And indeed, the Jewish-Roman war erupted in 66, which resulted in defeat of Jewish insurgents against the Roman Empire and destruction of Jerusalem.  Eventually, Judaists were forced to leave Palestine and live in Diaspora.  This incident could be really called the end of the world for Judaists and the Last Judgement on the Jewish people.  In this context, the warning and prophecy by Jesus came true as Paul expected.

So, we had better think that there was no Christianity till the destruction of Jerusalem in the Jewish-Roman war that started in 66.  Christ Jesus was a missionary of Judaism but not Christianity, since Christianity started 30 years after the Crucifixion of Christ Jesus.  Accordingly, Christianity started after the martyrdom of Paul (and Peter) that happened before the Jewish Roman war.

As the Christian Bible includes the Old Testament, Christianity from the birth of Christ Jesus to the Jewish Roman war was actually Judaism before the Diaspora.   Real Christianity started after the fulfillment of the prophecy by Christ Jesus and the foresight of Paul that the end of the world and the Last Judgment should happen soon, which actually occurred 30 years or one generation after the Crucifixion or the end of the mission of Christ Jesus.  

Accordingly, the Gospels of Mark, Luke, and Mathew that must have been written before the Jewish-Roman war were rather holy books in the last period of Judaism before the Diaspora than the holy books in the earliest period of Christianity.

The Jewish-Roman war and the fall of Jerusalem must have a huge impact not only on Judaists in the first century but also on the early followers of Christ Jesus' teaching (though they believed that they belonged to Judaism).   But this great shock is not reflected in  the Gospels of Mark, Luke, and Mathew.  Only the Gospel according to John reflected this radical impact.  The followers of Christ Jesus' teaching could not rely on any merits or traditions of Judaism any more, since the Last Judgment on Judaists came true.  Accordingly, John wrote a Gospel of his version based on this notion.  That is why the Gospel according to John is separated from the synoptic Gospels according to Mark, Luke, and Mathew.

Conversely, the synoptic Gospels according to Mark, Luke, and Mathew were written before the Jewish-Roman war when Christianity was not yet established but followers of Christ Jesus' teaching and Christ Jesus Himself believed they were part of Judaists and followers of Judaism.  However, the Gospel according to John which must have been written in awe in the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem in the Jewish-Roman war was the real first holy book of Christianity.  In this sense, even the letters by Paul included in the New Testament belonged to the (Christian) era before real Christianity.  

To try to feel the great magnitude of impact Judaists and followers of Christ Jesus' teaching felt when they saw the fall of Jerusalem in the Jewish-Roman war must be the first step to understand Christianity.  Christ Jesus Himself, Paul, and early followers of Christ Jesus' teaching were all actually Judaists before the fall of Jerusalem.

Put simply, there were no Christians but only Judaists before the fall of Jerusalem in the Jewish-Roman war.   Therefore, the Gospels according to Mark, Luke, and Mathew were written by Judaists but the Gospel according to John was written by a Christian.



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Luk 9:6 And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where.
Luk 9:7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him: and he was perplexed, because that it was said of some, that John was risen from the dead;

"I am the light of the world" - God's Judgment More Likely Coming Soon

Tokyo

God's Judgment More Likely Coming Soon

Suppose that God created this universe and the mankind, how could He leave the mankind without recognition of, respect for, and faith in Him?

Since the beginning of the history of the mankind, the God must have been carefully watching the mankind in terms of when the mankind realized God, how and how much it showed respect for God, and what religion it would establish to practice its faith in God.

There have been various religions since the beginning of the establishment of the human species.  The mankind believed various gods in the past.  However, it looks true that today most members of the mankind have come to believe that it is the God of Judaists, Christians, and Muslims if true God should ever exist.  But does the spiritual situation of the mankind today look satisfactory to God?

Judaism/Christianity belief miraculously started from the very connecting point between Africa, Europe, and Asia, which is today called Palestine.  And, people who believed God of Judaists and Christians eventually came to build dominant civilization called the western civilization.  But, there is one important factor for this civilization to conquer the world: America that came to emerge in the human history 500 years ago.

Before Columbus reached the new world, America, around 1500, the superiority of the western civilization had not been  evident, while Africans had nothing to do with any advanced material civilization, Muslims were controlling the areas around the Mediterranean and the Middle East, Hindus were active in India and around South Asia, and China and Japan were far from Europe, although the Vatican had established its authority in the post-Roman Europe.

Since around 1500, Christianity started to fully spread outside Europe along with Europeans' colonization of Americas, Africa, the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, part of China, and the Pacific region, including Australia.  So, if Europeans' conquest of the world had been perfect in these 500 years, all Africans, Asians, and other peoples, even including Muslims, must have had one common faith in God as God must have wished when he had created the universe and the mankind.

But in 500 years since 1500 when America was discovered by European Christians; the Vatican started to build the Saint Peter's Basilica; Protestantism was launched by Martin Luther; and the printing technology started to contribute to wider diffusion of the Bible in the general public, full and complete integrity of religions and common faith in God have not been realized in the world.

Today, Judaists do not accept Christianity; Muslims even deny some aspects of the western civilization, sticking to their religion; Hinduism is prevalent in India even after centuries of British colonization; most of South East Asians are practicing Buddhism after centuries of Europeans' colonization; China is actually suppressing Christianity; and Japanese are not interested in Christian churches while Africans are actually influenced more negatively than positively by Europeans.
   
Put simply, the mankind with various religions and faith has not yet consolidated its religion for only and one God.  If this universe and the mankind were created by only and one God, how can He allow the mankind to believe in other gods than Himself?

The people whoever have true faith in this God must have been expected or allowed by the God to establish the most advanced, powerful, and effective civilization with which they could spread their religion and faith in the world.  So, Europeans and Americans built the modern western civilization that spread in these 500 years based on their religion and thus are obliged to promote faith in God in other peoples.  However, without realizing their holy duty or understanding this divine will, Europeans and Americans have pursued their own interest, but not God's interest, by sacrificing other peoples through cruel enslavement of Africans, brutal colonization of Asia, cultural destruction of native Americans and the Pacific people as well as economic exploitation of Muslims most of whom live oil-rich nations.      

In 2000 years after the birth of Christ Jesus or 500 years after the start of the modern era, the mankind has shown its failure before God's expectation as above stated.   Will God give another 2000 years or 500 years for the mankind to achieve realization of the common faith in God?  Or isn't it more likely that God judges the mankind soon or later and finally put an end to material prosperity without true faith of the mankind that is no use for God, the Creator of the universe and the mankind?



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Joh 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

"the seal of God in their foreheads" - Protestant Spread in the World

The Tokyo Skytree Tower 30 Km Far

Mt. Tsukuba 60 Km Far

Protestant Spread in the World

The world seems to be accepting Protestantism more than the Vatican expects it to be.

Countries by percentage of Protestants in 1938 and 2010. Pentecostal and Evangelical Protestant denominations fueled much of the growth in Africa and Latin America.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Christianity 


The Papal authority was one of major reasons that Japan rejected Christianity and forbade Christian missionaries coming into Japan in the early 17th century.  But if Protestants had been engaged in missions in Japan at the period, the then Samurai regime of Japan might have allowed them to propagate Christianity of the Protestant version in Japan.   If so, there should not have been national isolation of Japan between the early 17th century and the middle of 19th century.


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Rev 9:4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

"with him Peter, and James, and John" - In the Beginning of the Material Universe

Around the Imperial Palace, Tokyo

In the Beginning of the Material Universe

In the beginning of the universe, electrons e(-) and positrons e(+) were created almost in the same number.  They collided to disappear leaving light.  But it is said that because the number of electrons was a little more than that of positrons, electrons remained to form atoms with protons, thus leading to the formation of this material world.

e(-) + e(+) --> Light(0)

However, there is one miraculous condition that the amount of electric charge of an electron is equal to that of a proton, so that each atom is essentially neutral in terms of electric charge.  A proton consists of three quarks each of which has nothing to do with an electron but has a specific electric charge, respectively.  When these three quarks build a proton, the total electric charge is the same amount of that of an electron, though, with an opposite sign.

It is truly strange.

However, a proton is predicted to decay into one positron and one neutral pion which decays into tow photons (particles of light) over a long period of more than 10^30 years.  It tells that a proton consists of one positron and light, so that it suggests that the electric charge of a proton comes from that of the positron.

p(+) --> e(+) + pi(0) --> e(+) + 2 photons (Light[0])

So, there is a following possibility:
In the beginning of the universe, electrons e(-) and positrons e(+) were created almost in the same number.  But positrons were combined with neutral pions (made of photons) to form protons while carrying their electric charge into protons.  Accordingly, atoms neutral in terms of electric charge could be built with protons and electrons.  Positrons did not disappear due to collision with electrons but survived in protons.

Light --> e(-) + e(+)

e(+) + 2 photons (Light[0]) --> p(+)

p(+) + e(-) --> Atom(0)

Atoms --> Molecules --> Materials

Physicists may find new theory to eventually support the above scenario at the beginning of the material universe.

Anyway it is reasonable that light is the source of materials in this universe because light seems to directly reflect the glory of God in this universe.

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Mar 9:2 And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them.
Mar 9:3 And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.
Mar 9:4 And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.

"seen the kingdom of God come with power" - Handling of the Word Jews in the Gospels

Tokyo Bay

Handling of the Word Jews in the Gospels

There are four Gospels: Mark, Luke, Matthew, and John.  But the former three Gospels are different from the last one John, so accordingly they are called the synoptic gospels.

If an author of a Gospel was a Judaist, he would not use the word Jews when describing people around Christ Jesus or those concerned in scenes in his Gospel, since it is a matter of course that the Gospel tells events in Palestine.

But, when counting the number of the word Jews in each Gospel, it becomes clear that Mark, Luke, and Mathew are very different from John.  Indeed, the results of the search for the word Jews in the Gospels are as follows:

Mark 7:3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.
Mark 15:2 And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering said unto them, Thou sayest it.
Mark 15:9 But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
Mark 15:12 And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews?
Mark 15:18 And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews!
Mark 15:26 And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Luke 7:3 And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant.
Luke 23:3 And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answered him and said, Thou sayest it.
Luke 23:37 And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.
Luke 23:38 And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Luke 23:51 (The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God.

Matthew 2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
Matthew 27:11 And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest.
Matthew 27:29 And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
Matthew 27:37 And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Matthew 28:15 So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

John 1:19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
John 2:6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
John 2:13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
John 2:18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
John 2:20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
John 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
John 3:25 Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying.
John 4:9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
John 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
John 5:1 After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
John 5:10 The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.
John 5:15 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.
John 5:16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
John 5:18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
John 6:4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.
John 6:41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.
John 6:52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
John 7:1 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him.
John 7:11 Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he?
John 7:13 Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews.
John 7:15 And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?
John 7:35 Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?
John 8:22 Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself? because he saith, Whither I go, ye cannot come.
John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
John 8:48 Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?
John 8:52 Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.
John 8:57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
John 9:18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight.
John 9:22 These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.
John 10:19 There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings.
John 10:24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
John 10:31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
John 10:33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
John 11:8 His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?
John 11:19 And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
John 11:31 The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.
John 11:33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled.
John 11:36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!
John 11:45 Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.
John 11:54 Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples.
John 11:55 And the Jews' passover was nigh at hand: and many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the passover, to purify themselves.
John 12:9 Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead.
John 12:11 Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.
John 13:33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.
John 18:12 Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him,
John 18:14 Now Caiaphas was he, which gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.
John 18:20 Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.
John 18:31 Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death:
John 18:33 Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?
John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
John 18:38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.
John 18:39 But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
John 19:3 And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.
John 19:7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
John 19:12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.
John 19:14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
John 19:19 And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.
John 19:20 This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin.
John 19:21 Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.
John 19:31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
John 19:38 And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.
John 19:40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
John 19:42 There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.
John 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

Mark uses the word Jews six time; Luke five times; and Mathew five times.  But John uses the word Jews 44 times.

It suggests indeed that Mark, Luke, and Mathew were written by Jewish authors for readers including Jewish people, but John was written by somebody not Jewish or who tried not to look Jewish for non-Jewish readers.

Especially, the following sentences including the wort Jews in John are controversial:
John 19:7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
John 19:12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.

These sentences in John made Judaists enemies of Christians in later centuries.  It is also important that John became the source of Christian theology, which was established a few centuries later after the completion of John, that Christ Jesus was God.

Put simply, there are problems in John because it uses the word Jews so often and it became the source of Vatican's theology that Christ Jesus was God.


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Mar 9:1 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

"an herd of many swine feeding" - Anger of Christ Jesus

Tokyo Bay

Anger of Christ Jesus

Christ Jesus showed anger in some occasions when a certain handicapped man asked healing from Him.

In Mark 1:41, a leper has approached Jesus seeking to be healed. Most Greek manuscripts (the New Testament was originally written in Greek), as well as later translations, say that Jesus was moved with compassion and healed the man. A few manuscripts, however, say that Jesus’ anger was kindled before he healed him. So did the verse mean to convey Jesus’ anger or his compassion?
...
This now leaves the other Greek manuscript, the fifth-century C.E. Codex Bezae, as the sole Greek witness to the reading expressing Jesus’ “anger.” Much like the cheese in “The Farmer in the Dell,” Codex Bezae stands alone.

But most interesting of all, the Codex Bezae may in fact have the better (i.e., original) reading. As New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman pointed out in a 2005 article in Bible Review, “one factor in favor of the ‘angry’ reading is that it sounds wrong.”**It is much easier to believe that early scribes were troubled by Jesus’ anger and changed it to his feeling compassion, rather than the other way around. Later scribes also would have preferred the easier “compassion” reading and copied it until it became the more popular reading. (As Ehrman explains, there are other passages in the Gospel of Mark that seem to support the reading conveying Jesus’ anger.) Thus does Codex Bezae now stand as a lonely witness to what is very likely the original Greek text of Mark 1:41.  

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/bible-interpretation/does-the-gospel-of-mark-reveal-jesus%E2%80%99-anger-or-his-compassion/

So, in this case, we had better think that Christ Jesus got angry when the leper approached Christ Jesus to ask healing from Him.   And His anger must have been so clear that a certain disciple who observed the incident could find it.  But why did Christ Jesus get angry?

First of all, Christ Jesus said that there were no good persons except God who was only good.  Therefore even some handicapped men or sick men could be controlled by Satan to be evil.

If such an evil handicapped or sick person asked help from Christ Jesus, there must have been ill motivation behind the act.  He or she might approach Christ Jesus with an intention to test Him rather than to be blessed and healed by Him.  In that case, although Christ Jesus could heal the person and actually healed him or her, He had to show His mind that He could see through evil in hi or her mind.  So, Christ Jesus must have looked showing anger to a certain disciple who was observing the incident.

Even evil handicapped or ill persons came to ask help from Jesus, though, with an evil intention to test Christ Jesus.  Accordingly Christ Jesus looked or got angry.

But if a disciple or a follower of Christ Jesus had sensed anger in the face of Christ Jesus, he must have put more words to explain why He looked angry when he wrote the original Gospel of Mark, since it was rare that Christ Jesus got angry and the situation was a little complicated.  Indeed, most of those who copied the original Gospel could not understand the situation and the mind of Christ Jesus so that they changed the word anger to compassion.

It tells that there is a strong possibility that the original Gospel of Mark was based on an original document written by Christ Jesus Himself.  When Jesus wrote the document, He must have remembered His own anger when He encountered such a handicapped or ill person haunted by Satan.  Accordingly Jesus used the word anger in describing these incidents, while remembering how He felt on those occasions.  

Mar 1:40 And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
Mar 1:41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.
Mar 1:42 And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.
Mar 1:43 And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away;
Mar 1:44 And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

It is very likely a priest with evil spirit tried to test Christ Jesus by using the leper, which Christ Jesus saw through with anger.


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Mat 8:30 And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.
Mat 8:31 So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.
Mat 8:32 And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.

"there met him two possessed with devils" - Review on the Success and Failure of the Vatican

Around Tokyo

Review on the Success and Failure of the Vatican

The success of the Vatican has been realized by three elements: the simply-expressed but rigorous theology (the Trinity, etc.), the effective liturgy, and the hierarchical rule by the church.

The Vatican is a religious organization but not an academic one.  So, the Vatican can be more political than academic.  It is not an organization to pursue truth but to practice its religious activities in the human society.  Its organization was established to propagate its theology more than for any other purposes.  And, the Vatican has put the highest priority on protection and expansion of its organization.

However, Christ Jesus did not come to this world to establish Christianity or the Vatican.  He came to this world to save poor people, preach teachings of God, and correct the status of Judaism.  Christ Jesus had not support from any organizations such as the Vatican, though He was supported by God.

But after Christ Jesus ended His mission in this world after the Crucifixion, the Apostles and other leaders of the early Christianity started their missions to propagate His teaching.  As a result, the Vatican was eventually established.  But the Vatican has not been based on the spirit of the mission of Christ Jesus, since its success is based on the simple but rigorous theology, the effective liturgy, and the hierarchical rule by the church.  The Vatican should have been solely based on the teaching of Christ Jesus that does not even need the simple but rigorous theology, the effective liturgy, and the hierarchical rule by the church.

Accordingly, around 600 when this characteristics of the Vatican was fixed after the Roman Empire adopted Christianity for its state religion, the Vatican survived the fall of the Roman Empire, and the Vatican started to pursue territorial power and wield political influence, relying on the simple but rigorous theology, the effective liturgy, and the hierarchical rule by the church, God gave Islam to the Arabs, the people who had been fighting and competing with the Roman Empire.  It tells that God judged that the Vatican failed around 600.

The Vatican should not rely on  the simply-expressed but rigorous theology, the effective liturgy, and the hierarchical rule by the church but allow people and the followers to observe theology, liturgies, and management of the church in a freer manner in their obedience to the words of God and Christ Jesus.

The Vatican has been functioning based on the theology, the liturgies, and the rule formulated by church leaders, namely human beings, for these 2000 years.  It is time to stop it and come back to the words of God and Christ Jesus.  This can apply to all the other church organizations than the Vatican.




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Mat 8:28 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
Mat 8:29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?

"he put his hands again upon his eyes" - Abraham, originally Sumerian but not Semitic

Tokyo

Abraham, originally Sumerian but not Semitic

Abraham and his father Terah left Ur under control of Sumerians around 2000 BC when the Sumerian Kingdom was about to collapse.

It is as if the clan of Abraham had decided to flee from the falling kingdom of Sumerians.  After the Sumerian dominance, a Semitic tribe,  Akkad, occupied Mesopotamia.  And then, Babylonia was established with its capital in Babylon around 1900 BC.

c. 2047–1940 BC (short chronology)
Later, the 3rd dynasty of Ur under Ur-Nammu and Shulgi, whose power extended as far as southern Assyria, was the last great "Sumerian renaissance", but already the region was becoming more Semitic than Sumerian, with the resurgence of the Akkadian speaking Semites in Assyria and elsewhere, and the influx of waves of Semitic Martu (Amorites) who were to found several competing local powers in the south, including Isin, Larsa, Eshnunna and some time later Babylonia. The last of these eventually came to briefly dominate the south of Mesopotamia as the Babylonian Empire, just as the Old Assyrian Empire had already done so in the north from the late 21st century BC. The Sumerian language continued as a sacerdotal language taught in schools in Babylonia and Assyria, much as Latin was used in the Medieval period, for as long as cuneiform was utilized.      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumer

But this city Babylon was not respected by descendants of Abraham:

Babylonia, and particularly its capital city Babylon, has long held a place in the Abrahamic religions as a symbol of excess and dissolute power. Many references are made to Babylon in the Bible, both literally (historical) and allegorically. The mentions in the Tanakh tend to be historical or prophetic, while New Testament apocalyptic references to the Whore of Babylon are more likely figurative, or cryptic references possibly to pagan Rome, or some other archetype. The legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Tower of Babel are seen as symbols of luxurious and arrogant power respectively.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonia#First_Babylonian_Dynasty_.E2.80.93_Amorite_Dynasty_1894.E2.80.931595_BC

If Abraham and his clan had continued to stay around Ur after power shifted from Sumerians to Semitic Akkadians and Babylonians, they must have respected Babylon.

But as the Bible depicts Babylon as a symbol of corruption, it can be thought that Abraham and his clan hated the influence of Semitic dominance and accordingly they left Ur to eventually Canaan.  It suggests that Abraham and his clan were originally Sumerian.


http://dailyprayer.us/images/maps/sumer.png

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Mar 8:25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.
Mar 8:26 And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.

"Master, master, we perish" - Suspicion of Sincerity and Passion of the Vatican

Tokyo

Suspicion of Sincerity and Passion of the Vatican

It is strange that the Vatican does not have original documents of the Gospels, the letters written by Paul, etc.

The Vatican or the early Christian church in Rome was attacked severely sometimes by the Roman authority before the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as its state religion.  But original documents  or early copies of them must have been able to be hidden and preserved by leaders or members of the church.

The manuscripts of the New Testament that are handled as standards to prove correctness and truthfulness of the contents and words of the New Testament are those manually copied in the 4th century.

The Codex Vaticanus (The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209; no. B or 03 Gregory-Aland, δ 1 von Soden) is one of the oldest extant manuscripts of the Greek Bible (Old and New Testament), one of the four great uncial codices.[1] The Codex is named after its place of conservation in the Vatican Library, where it has been kept since at least the 15th century.[2] It is written on 759 leaves of vellum in uncial letters and has been dated palaeographically to the 4th century. 

The manuscript became known to Western scholars as a result of correspondence between Erasmus and the prefects of the Vatican Library. Portions of the codex were collated by several scholars, but numerous errors were made during this process. The Codex's relationship to the Latin Vulgate was unclear and scholars were initially unaware of the Codex's value.[5] This changed in the 19th century when transcriptions of the full codex were completed.[1] It was at that point that scholars realised the text differed significantly from the Textus Receptus. 

Most current scholars consider the Codex Vaticanus to be one of the best Greek texts of the New Testament,[3] with the Codex Sinaiticus as its only competitor. Until the discovery by Tischendorf of the Sinaiticus text, the Codex was unrivaled.[7] It was extensively used by Westcott and Hort in their edition of The New Testament in the Original Greek in 1881.[3] The most widely sold editions of the Greek New Testament are largely based on the text of the Codex Vaticanus.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Vaticanus

Generally speaking, the Gospels tell who Christ Jesus was and what He did.  But the Vatican established its foundation by preaching teaching of God or God Himself in addition to its thrology, although they eventually regarded Christ Jesus as God.  And, the Vatican did not encourage people to read the Gospels.  Only church leaders and elites of the society in the Roman Empire and the post-Roman Europe could read and write, so that most of European Christians before the invention of the printing technology by Gutenberg and translation of Greek or Latin Gospels into local European languages by Martin Luther, etc. since around 1500 did not even read the Bible.

The Vatican does not have original Gospels or copies of them made in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd century, and it did not encourage people to read the Gospels through the Middle Ages.  Put extremely, it raises the suspicion of authenticity, sincerity and passion of the Vatican to propagate Christianity in these 2000 years.


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Luk 8:24 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.
Luk 8:25 And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.

"I am not of this world" - Why God Chose Abraham

Tokyo

Why God Chose Abraham

There is causal relation in anything, including the establishment of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

From the beginning why did God choose Hebrews or the clan led by Abraham as His own people?  This is a very important and crucial question for the mankind or at least billions of Judaists, Christians, and Muslims of today.

The most impressive episode between God and Abraham is that God told Abraham to sacrifice his son as a proof of his obedience to God.  

Gen 22:1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
Gen 22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Gen 22:3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

As Abraham completely obeyed the order of God, God stopped Abraham to offer his son Isaac.  Abraham then offered a ram for a burnt offering to God.

This kind of offering of human beings to god was widely observed in the ancient world, including ancient Egypt and Greek and other regions around the Mediterranean.  So, it may be natural for Hebrews also practiced this kind of human offering.  But was that so decisive that Abraham faithfully obeyed the order of God to offer his son?

In other tribes, kings and their families were not offered to god.  It was young men or women or  children of subjects or slaves that  were offered to god.  Rather to keep prosperity of royal families, kings sacrificed their subjects or slaves as offering to god.  But God ordered Abraham, a kind of king of his clan, to sacrifice his only son Issac.

If kings other than Abraham had been ordered by God to offer their only sons, they should have found others to play the roles of their sons.  But Abraham honestly intended to offer his son.  If Abraham had been ordered by God to offer himself, he should have done it.  Other kings were selfish, dishonest, and coward, but only Abraham faithfully obeyed the order of God to offer his only son.

This must be one of the major reasons why God chose Abraham around 2000 BC.  When kings on this world became so selfish, dishonest, coward, and cruel to subjects and slaves to secure their royal families, only Abraham showed the extreme faith in God.  His extreme faith became the origin of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Put simply, God tested many kings and heads of clans in the ancient world.  And Abraham was the only one who passed the test.  The above episode symbolized how Abraham passed the test.

(In this context, native Central and South Americans who had been practicing much bloody human offering to their gods were eventually conquered by Spanish who introduced Christianity to these regions, and religious ceremonies with bloody offering were terminated, although Spanish conquest of  Central and South Americans was made in a very cruel and bloody manner.)


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Joh 8:23 And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.

"And he cometh to Bethsaida" - Miracle stories in the Gospels

Pacific Coast Northeast of Tokyo

Miracle stories in the Gospels

There is a question on whether a blind man who has never seen a man and a tree would tell that a man looks like a tree when he is given the ability to see for the first time in his life.

Although we should not doubt miracle stories in the Gospels, there is still a need to make an effort to correctly interpret the miracle stories in the Gospels.


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Mar 8:22 And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.
Mar 8:23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.
Mar 8:24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.

"the Son of man hath not where to lay his head" - Why Islam was Given to the Mankind

Tokyo Bay

Why Islam was Given to the Mankind

There is causal relation in anything, including the establishment of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Before Muhammad was given words of God, he encountered Judaists and Christians in his home town and in his travelling for trade as far as Syria.  Even the words God gave to Muhammad included many references to Judaism and Christianity.  So, just to make Muhammad more pious and faithful to God, God could have told Muhammad to follow Judaism or Christianity with more enthusiasm.  But, God gave Muhammad a new religion Islam.

It suggests that God was not satisfied with Judaism and Christianity at least around 600.   It can be also thought that God had not been satisfied with Judaism around AD 1, so that God gave His Son to the Judaist community or to the world, allowing for establishment of Christianity.  But what were main factors of God's dissatisfaction with Christianity around 600?

Till about 600 when Muhammad started his mission, Christianity had prevailed in the Roman Empire to become the state religion of the Empire and it had survived the era of turmoil after the fall of the Empire and the Great Barbarian Invasion.  Rather, the Vatican had further consolidated its organizational system and fixed theology though these centuries.

In this process of development of the Vatican, it expelled some schools of Christianity as heresy while acquiring its own territory and strengthening a tie with the Merovingian dynasty that established its power base in territories covering today's France and Germany.  There must be something that made God get dissatisfied in these movements of the Vatican.

The Vatican did not allow existence of various schools of the Christian theology, while adhering to the theory that Christ Jesus was God.  The Vatican showed desire to govern its own territory and strengthen its political tie with worldly kingdoms.  These movements were against the original teaching of Christ Jesus.  And, even for this reason, it is thought that the Roman Empire collapsed while it adopted Christianity as its state religion.

Put simply, it became clear that Christianity failed around 600, so that God gave words to Muhammad who then established a new religion Islam.

However, although 1400 years have passed since the start of Islam, God has not given another religion to the mankind.  It might mean that God is satisfied with Islam, or at least satisfied with Muslims more than with Judaists and Christians.

Anyway, there must be reasons that God gave Judaism, Christianity, and Islam to the mankind and will not give another religion any more.  This is the most significant issue for the mankind in these 4000 years since God chose Abraham.




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Mat 8:20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

"Having eyes, see ye not?" - Why God Sent His Son around AD 1

Tokyo

Why God Sent His Son around AD 1

There is causal relation in anything, including the establishment of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Especially, why God sent His Son to the world is very important, since the mainstream of the world today is based on the European/American culture and civilization enabled by Christianity.

So, what were major events before the birth or the mission of Christ Jesus?  It is natural to check who the king of Judaists at the time was, since the role of a king was more decisive in the ancient world than those of today's kings.

The study of Herod's reign includes polarizing opinions on the man himself. His critics have described him as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis",[82] "the evil genius of the Judean nation",[83]and as one who would be "prepared to commit any crime in order to gratify his unbounded ambition."[84] His extraordinary spending spree is cited as one of the causes of the serious impoverishment of the people he ruled, adding to the opinion that his reign was exclusively negative.[85] Herod's religious policies gained a mixed response from the Jewish populace. Although Herod considered himself king of the Jews, he let it be known that he also represented the non-Jews living in Judea, building temples for other religions outside of the Jewish areas of his kingdom. Many Jews questioned the authenticity of Herod's Judaism on account of his Idumean background and his infamous murders of members of his family. However, he generally respected traditional Jewish observances in his public life. For instance, he minted coins without human images to be used in Jewish areas and acknowledged the sanctity of the Second Temple by employing priests in the construction of the Temple. 

However, he was also praised for his work, being called "the greatest builder in Jewish history,"[82] and one who "knew his place and followed [the] rules."[87] In fact, what is left of his building ventures are now popular tourist attractions in the Middle East, which many have come to cherish as both a historical and religious area.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herod_the_Great#Opinion_of_his_reign

The king of Judaists before the birth of Christ Jesus was Herod who killed his family members to secure his position; flattered shamelessly to Caesar, Cleopatra and Antony, and finally Augustus; made Jewish people poor by spending big money to build various lavish constructions including the Second Temple, and showed very pro-Roman inclination in his handling of the Temple and social life while being supported by Roman troops.

And when Herod died, "heavy outbreaks of violence and riots followed Herod's death in many cities, including Jerusalem, as all the built-up grievances against him were unleashed. The momentum from these revolts led to an increased demand for Jewish freedom from Roman rule. Herod's leadership caused enough anger for it to become a prime cause of the Great Revolt of 70 C.E (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herod_the_Great#Opinion_of_his_reign)."

Therefore, before Christ Jesus was born, the Jewish-Roman wars were destined due to Herod's corruption, arrogance, and betrayal of Judaism.  Even if God had not sent His Son to the Jewish community at the time, the fall of Jerusalem and the Diaspora of Judaists should have been inevitable in decades and extinction of Hebrews in centuries.

From the viewpoint of the Roman Empire's side, it was another victory of their rule by sword.  And after the vanishing of Jewish Palestine, there would have been no core of religion against the Roman civilization which was based on polytheistic religion, slavery, militarism, abstract Greek philosophy, etc. without strong ethical codes.  Dispersed Judaists in the Roman Empire territory should have lost the essence of their religion as time went by.

So, to save the teachings of God given to Judaists in preceding 1000 or 2000 years, God had to interfere with the history of Judaists and the Roman Empire.  So, God acted timely when Herod died.  Judaists had been tested enough till the timing.  The King of Judaists acted like a clown before Caesar, Cleopatra and Antony, and finally Augustus, losing every dignity and respect as a king of people God helped and educated for preceding 1000 or 2000 years.

So, even to save His dignity in having chosen Hebrews, God had to interfere.  Accordingly, Christ Jesus was sent to Palestine around AD 1, although the successor of King Herod, Temple priests, and Roman troops put Christ Jesus on the cross.

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Mar 8:18 Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?
Mar 8:19 When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve.
Mar 8:20 And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven.
Mar 8:21 And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?

"they received the Holy Ghost" - Why has the Vatican Failed?

Tokyo

Why has the Vatican Failed?

Christianity has failed to prevail in the three major regions of Asia: India, China and Japan.

Christians account for 2.3% of the Indian population, 7.5% of the Chinese population, and 2.3% of the Japanese population.

India had Hinduism, China had Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, Japan had Shintoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism before European Christian missionaries arrived in these countries.  India and China had longer history than the Vatican, and Japan had almost the same period of history as the Vatican.  And European Christianity or the Vatican could not succeed in diffusion of Christianity in these regions.

However, in the African regions south of the Sahara, Christians account for 63% of the peoples.  And 93% of South Americans are Christians.  These regions had no civilization history comparable with Europe's.

So, it is rather a surprise that Christianity prevailed in the Roman Emperor and post-Roman Europe.  Or we should think that Christianity when it prevailed in Europe and Christianity when the Vatican tried to diffuse it in India, China, and Japan were different.  Christianity changed from its original status when the Vatican took control of the religion.  The Vatican's version of Christianity was effective to Africans and native South Americans who had no civilization comparable with Europeans'.   But it was not sufficient to India, China, and Japan that had comparable civilization with Europeans' when the Vatican started to try to diffuse its version of Christianity.      

These situations seem to suggest that there is something wrong in the Vatican version of Christianity.  Furthermore, the Vatican could not compete with Islam when Islam started to prevail in the Middle East.  It also suggests that there is something wrong in the Vatican version of Christianity.

From the beginning, when Christianity first started to diffuse in the Roman Empire, there was no such theology as was established by the Vatican in later centuries.  Early Christian priests engaged in mission work only relying on words of Christ Jesus and the Gospels or letters from Paul, etc. but not on Vatican theology such as divine trinity.

Put simply, because there were some critical defects in the Vatican version of Christianity, it was not fully accepted by Hindus, Chinese, Japanese, etc., although the Vatican succeeded in Africa and South America by leveraging its cultural superiority.   And due to the defects, the Vatican could not defeat Islam.

Even in the US, Catholics account for 24%.  The Vatican version of Christianity is not attractive even in the US where 70% of the people  are European origin.

What I want to emphasize is it is time for the Vatican to review its theology, since the global history and situations tell that there is something wrong in the Vatican version of Christianity.  And, it must also apply to other schools of Christianity, including protestants.

Indeed, there are reasons in any situations in history.  And the largest issue in this 2000-year-long history is why the Vatican has failed in India, China, Japan, the US, Islamic regions, etc.  The next 2000 years for the mankind must be based on this review.


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Act 8:17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
Act 8:18 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,
Act 8:19 Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.
Act 8:20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.

"many that were possessed with devils" - Worldly Interests and American Presidents

 

The Tone River, one of the largest rivers in Japan, at its Estuary to the Pacific Northeast of Tokyo

Worldly Interests and American Presidents

Interests of individuals are major causes and motivations for their behaviors.

Material interests are easy to detect, but psychological interests are a little difficult to see through.  Hate and love come mainly from these interests.

When Barack Obama was elected in 2008, most of American voters have material interests to vote for an African American candidate who had no deep connection with establishment of the financial sector and Wall Street businesses that were responsible for the 2008 Financial Crisis.  And many of American voters have psychological interests to vote for an African American candidate even only because of his position as a minority member in the US society.

However, during Obama's eight-year presidential term, the US economy was recovered and the most wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden, who also symbolized a dubious relationship between US elites and Arab rich men, was executed by a US military special unit.   The momentum that enabled the first black American President was gone.   The time of emergency for the US was gone.  Obama was a kind of emergency relief.  When the US economy experienced a 10% unemployment rate and the US military could not take on the main culprit of the 9/11 Terror, American voters wanted a kind of revolutionary regime change.  So Obama was elected.

But in 2016, the financial and economic crisis was gone, and America looked safer from Islamic terror, a majority of white voters came to give priority to their own interests.  Now, the whole America was saved and pulled through the worst years.  It is time, they must think, to pursue their own interests, white Americans' interests.

There, rich and egoistic Trump appeared as a presidential candidate, appealed to white voters, and succeeded in winning the 2016 Presidential Election with overwhelming support from working-class whites in swing states.  And, now most of Americans, including the whites who voted for Trump in 2016, are getting embarrassed by President Trump's behavior.

This is a clear example of what would happen when people act based on worldly interests.

In this world, even in the human world, desire for fulfilling interests alone cannot sustain peace and prosperity of individuals and societies.   The Roman Empire needed Greek philosophy; Chinese dynasties needed Confucianism, Buddhism, etc.; even the British Empire needed products of culture accumulated over centuries since the European Renaissance.

Trump is a symbol of success in the domain of interests, while Obama represents some ideals.  Situations based on interests are unstable while philosophy, ideology, religion, etc. give more solid foundation that assure long-term peace and stability.

However, every thing changes in this world, but the words of God do not change.  Therefore, any American presidents who got reasonable reputation had to show more respect for God than Trump.

(But President Trump may be effective against very anti-Bible force in the American society than is found even among liberal or progressive Americans.)


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Mat 8:16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:

"I judge no man" - Eight Books in Auschwitz

Around Tokyo

Eight Books in Auschwitz

There were eight books in the Auschwitz concentration camp in WWII.   And a girl managed the books secretly kept from German guards.

The Librarian of Auschwitz
by Antonio Iturbe (Author), Lilit Thwaites (Translator) 

Based on the experience of real-life Auschwitz prisoner Dita Kraus, this is the incredible story of a girl who risked her life to keep the magic of books alive during the Holocaust.
Fourteen-year-old Dita is one of the many imprisoned by the Nazis at Auschwitz. Taken, along with her mother and father, from the Terezín ghetto in Prague, Dita is adjusting to the constant terror that is life in the camp. When Jewish leader Freddy Hirsch asks Dita to take charge of the eight precious volumes the prisoners have managed to sneak past the guards, she agrees. And so Dita becomes the librarian of Auschwitz.
Out of one of the darkest chapters of human history comes this extraordinary story of courage and hope.
https://www.amazon.com/Librarian-Auschwitz-Antonio-Iturbe/dp/1627796185

Dita was rescued alive in 1945 by allied troops.  She married a man who had been also put in Auschwitz after WWII.  She must deserve the Nobel Prize in Literature.

But what eight books should we choose if we are allowed to keep them in any circumstance if not in Auschwitz?   On one site, the following eight books (novels) are nominated.

1 . Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

2 . In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust

3 . Ulysses by James Joyce

4 . The Odyssey by Homer

5 . War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

6 . Moby Dick by Herman Melville

7 . The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

8 . Hamlet by William Shakespeare
http://thegreatestbooks.org/


But, the gravest sin of Nazi Germany is that they didn't allow captured Judaists to keep their holy books.

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Joh 8:15 Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.
Joh 8:16 And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.

"the disciples had forgotten to take bread" - Invisible Man in 1952

A Lighthouse Northeast of Tokyo

Invisible Man in 1952

An African American man published a novel in 1952, which was called "the most impressive work of fiction by an American Negro" in The New York Times.

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man shows a kind of internal conflicts among African American men and in an African American man against the background of irresponsible dominance of white men in the American society.

The protagonist, a young African American man, of the novel eventually did not trust socialism, African American human rights movement, and Christian churches but his own judgement on the situation.

The one who did the most harmful thing to the protagonist was the black president of a university in a small Southern town for African Americans where he studied before moving to New York.  But the one who triggered the tragic event for the protagonist was a white board member of the university who came to visit the university from New York.

So, this story suggests that black men have two enemies, rich and dominant white men and rich and successful black men who serve rich and dominant white men.

Barack Obama became US president only after the 2001 9/11 Terror and the 2008 Financial Crisis, because even ordinary white men found that they had their enemies in rich and dominant white men.

But as today ordinary white men are satisfied with remoteness of Islamic terror in the US and recovered economy, they have opted to have a white president, Trump, who is, though, very rich and biased in his social philosophy.

African American men seem to have to continue their experiments in their struggle to establish their kingdom like the protagonist of Invisible Man.


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Mar 8:13 And he left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side.
Mar 8:14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf.
Mar 8:15 And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.

"Thou bearest record of thyself" - History of Prejudice against Jewish People

Pacific Coast and the Tone River Northeast of Tokyo 

History of Prejudice against Jewish People

Jewish people were not always hated and attacked.

Roughly between AD 1 to 500, Jewish people were enjoying their living and business in the Roman Empire though they were expelled out of Palestine and Jerusalem after the Jewish-Roman wars around 100.  Christian churches were busy trying to establish their base in the Empire, and thus Christian authority did not especially hate Jewish people.   Specifically, before the Great Barbarian Invasion started around 300 and continued through 500 to 700, Jewish people had already settled in many European cities under control of the Roman Empire.  So, when ancestors of current Germans and Frenchmen started to settle in regions of Germany and France of today, Jewish people had been already living there.   Without prevalence of Christianity, Jewish people had no problems in coexisting with those new settlers, namely ancestors of Germans  and Frenchmen of today.

Roughly between 500 and 1000, Christian churches were busy establishing their base in Europe after the collapse of the Roman Empire.  In the period of the early Middle Ages, most of European people did not read the Bible but heard preaching of priests in churches.  They had no special reasons to hate Jewish people as enemies of Christianity.  But church leaders and priests who could read the Bible, written in Latin or Greek, came to feel prejudice toward Jewish people.

Roughly between 1000 and 1500, the Vatican solidified its power base and authority through sending Christian Crusades to Jerusalem.  To further strengthen their power base, they found easy targets in Jewish people.  The contents of the Bible came to be diffused more widely among European people, and they came to find enemies of Christianity in Jewish people.  The more the Vatican system was fixed, the more Jewish people came to look like a kind of enemies of Christianity.

Roughly between 1500 and 2000, the printing technology allowed the Bible to be read by ordinary Europeans.  They found that Jewish people were depicted in the Gospels  as a kind of enemies of Christ Jesus.  While some Jewish people came to be suppressed to live in ghettos, other Jewish people came to become members of the middle class in the European society.   And especially they succeeded in the financial sector like Rothschild, because the Vatican did not encourage Christians to be engaged in money handling and accumulation of income interest.  But this balance between Jewish people and biased Europeans collapsed in the early 20th century, leading to the Holocaust.  However, after WWII, Jewish people succeeded in establishing their nation Israel.

And today, in the early 21st century, it looks like prejudice against Jewish people has gone, while more and more Jewish people are engaged in the financial sector or highly intelligent professions, especially, in the US.

But, the Gospels are still there.  And, Jewish people show no acceptance of Christ Jesus as God, which is the key ideology of the Vatican and other Christian churches.  The underlying issue is not yet solved.

The first step to the solution of the prejudice against Jewish people is to review the key ideology of the Vatican and the religion Christianity that Christ Jesus is God and Jewish people have rejected God.  It is important, since Abraham, Moses, and Christ Jesus were originally all of  Hebrews.


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Joh 8:13 The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true.
Joh 8:14 Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.