The historic and specifically Biblical use of cannabis was reviewed in 1936 by Sula Benet, a Polish etymologist from the Intstitute of Anthropological Sciences in Warsaw. She states,”In the original Hebrew text of the Old Testament there are references to hemp, both as incense, which was an integral part of religious celebration, and as an intoxicant.” In 1980 the Hebrew University in Israel confirmed Benet’s identification of kaneh bosm as hemp.
Through comparative etymological study, Benet documented that hemp is referred to as kaneh bosm, which can be rendered in Hebrew as kannabos or kannabus. The root “kan” means “reed” or “hemp” while “bosm” means “aromatic”. This word appears in Exodus 30:23, Song of Songs 4:14, Isaiah 43:24, Jeremiah 6:20 and Ezekiel 27:19.
“The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, honor and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
Revelations 4:10-11
In Exodus 30:22-33, Moses receives the instructions for making “holy anointing oil” from God:
“Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of kaneh bosm, 500 shekels of cassia – all according to the sanctuary shekel – and a hind of olive oil. Make these into a sacred anointing oil.”
One shekel is approximately 16.37 grams; this means that the THC of over 9 pounds of cannabis was extracted into a hind, roughly about 6.5 liters of oil. The entheogenic effects of such a solution even when applied topically would undoubtedly have been intense.
The Hebrew title of Messiah means “the anointed one” and also refers to the oil-anointed priests acting for ancient Israelites. It was only used by the high ranking members of the priestly Levites, “the anointed priests, who were ordained to serve as priests.” (Numbers 3:3)
The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud.” (Exodus 19:9) Moses saw God in the “burning bush”. In Exodus 30:22-28, it is said that the anointing oil was to be used to anoint the table and all its articles, the lamp stand and its accessories, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering, all its utensils and was to be burning at all times of prayer.
Members and priests of Semite sects that likely used cannabis were viscously persecuted and slaughtered at the same time as the holy oil became prohibited (Jeremiah 6:20 and 44) Despite these prohibitions, certain underground sects continued to practice the older religion of the monarchic period, awaiting the return of a king in the line of David.
“[The fruit and leaves of the Tree of Life] were for the healing of nations.” Revelations 22:2
The ministry of Jesus marked the return of the Jewish Messiah-kings. Jesus would only have claim to the title of Messiah for “having the crown of God’s unction upon them” (Leviticus 21:12). In the age of Jesus, there was little differentiation between medical treatment, exorcism and miracles. To cure a disease was paramount to exorcising the tormenting spirit. While traveling, Jesus and his disciples “cast out many devils, anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.” (Mark 6:13)
Leprosy was a commonly diagnosed illness in ancient times yet refers to the modern conditions of leprosy, psoriasis, eczema, fungus infections or pruritis. Topically applied cannabis oil has been used to bring relief to sufferers of these ailments. Part of its skin relieving conditions can be attributed to its impressive antibacterial effects, as demonstrated by a Czech study done in 1960, as well as by the fact that hemp requires no pesticides. The epilepsy-like symptoms suffered by the boy that Jesus heals in Matthew 17:14-20, Mark 9:14-29 and Like 9:37-43 would also have been massively relieved by cannabis, as would MS and other seizure-producing illnesses, for which doctors today prescribe the drug. Jesus also heals a woman with chronic menstruation with oil (Luke 8:43-48) for which the US Dispensatory of 1854 lists cannabis as a remedy. Ancient Assyrian texts also list cannabis as part of the treatment recipe for “female ailments”.
The Drug War, especially against marijuana, has made the US the leader in the number of people and percentage of its population in jail.
7thdirection
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Now think about this:
Moses apparently saw God in what we refer to as the 'burning bush'. The only vegetation that grows in those parts was something called the 'Thorn Apple', which is an hallucigenic. It is called 'The bush that burns'. The bible described it as 'The bush that burns but is not consumed' - and you don't 'consume' the Thorn Apple 'cos it burns your mouth out!
Now - about that Tree of Knowledge' .......
http://www.thesun.co.uk/a...e/0,,2-2006560113,00.html
What we think or what we want to believe is okay; it is important not to confuse what we think and what we want to believe with "truth."
Anyways, the placebo effect is well documented, and it is obviously due to the minds' belief that what was given to the body will fix it. The body may not have the actual resources to do whatever is claimed, but it does anyway. The attitude of the doctor giving the placebo is equally important (they find less people reacting to placebo when the procedure is not double-blinded - I would conjecture that even the doctors knowing that there is a placebo involved in the experiment at all would even influence events). The very beliefs about everyone in the experiment has a direct effect on the results. If the researchers even come into the experiment expecting it to prove its futility then I wonder what will happen?
Beliefs are extremely powerful and prayer is one form of belief... so, even as a "placebo" it can have an effect. I've seen that study before but I refuse to accept that as definitive strong evidence. I've seen healing in my family on a level unmatched through conventional means and that will always be much more meaningful to me than what is generally accepted. I think a connection between some random people assigned to pray for other random people is a lot weaker than the family praying sincerely every night that their member is cured from cancer. (with FAITH, even when reason keeps saying "people always die from cancer, your prayer isn't going to do anything, blah blah blah blah blah")
That article's editor's note: Although this research suggests that prayers and healing touch had only little healing effects in patients, it all depends on factors. Is the Higher Being to whom the prayers were send the creator of the Universe? Who are the people who were asked to pray? How sincere was the prayer? When studying the matters of Divine on healing and comparing them to the high tech medicine, more aspects of Theological postulates should be taken into consideration.
One of the problems I find with this sort of (admittedly very consoling) orientation toward prayer is the effect it has on people, on families who pray, sincerely, devoutly, that their loved one will be healed, will regain her/his strength, will escape agony and suffering, and then the loved dies a prolonged, agonizing death.
Sh*t happens. That doesn't mean God cares about this one, but not that one. But that is just the attitude suggested by the (wongheaded -- scientifically and theologically) idea that prayer heals.
Don't you think that, in the face of the sickness and/or impending death of a loved one, it is more appropriate to ask God, humbly, for the grace, faith, and strength to face whatever follows?
The reasoning that Jesus spread peace, love and a lovely bit of weed has evidence other than that provided. It could well be true that he was into acid (LSD) as well. In the bible he is reported to have recieved a telling off for working on the Sabbath when he and his mates were pulling ears of corn on a saturday. when questioned, he said people had to eat. Now humans cannot eat raw corn and, it being a sabbath, it could not be ground, or baked into bread. But the ergot fungus which grows on rye is the source of LSD ......
There is validity to the power of prayer to heal- had a minister who is only about 45- diagnosed with early onset of alzheimers- he and his congregation (my aunts are part of it) prayed for him. His diagnosis has now been reversed. Miracle? I believe so.
I think the power of the mind has a lot to do with healing- if you BELIEVE you can get better- there is a very good chance your body will respond to it- there are still agonizing ends .. i've been through several in my life- but prayer does help give solace and meaning to it all. Faith that you will see this loved one again and they will be free of pain once they move on.
And even if it were proved scientifically that every "miracle" was the result of home remedies ..pot.. science.. it still wouldn't shake faith. :)
Yeah, I see more cases of prayer work when a bunch of people are dedicated to praying for a person - not when they're doing a scientific study on some people you'll never meet or know. I think reason has to be balanced with faith and faith with reason. Most people are a little too far on the reason side, it's a lot easier to be over there. Here's a great quote from Che Guavara...
"You know what everyone's greatest fear is? It is that all the dreams we have, all the crazy ideas and aspirations, all the impossible romantic longings and utopian visions can come true, that the world can grant our wishes. Despair and nihilism seem safer, projecting our hopelessness onto the cosmos as an excuse for not even trying. What I am begging you to do here is not to put faith in the impossible, but have the courage to face that terrible possibility that our lives really are in our own hands, and to act accordingly: to not settle for every misery fate and humanity have heaped upon us, but to push back, to see which ones can be shaken off."
- Che Guavara
But your use of the dichotomy (and I say this with all due, sincere respect) is careless. You imply that the antithesis of reason is faith. To be sure, when both are present in someone's mind and heart, the antithesis of reason usually is faith. But it doesn't have to be, and to my eyes the most common antithesis of reason in the culture we have created for ourselves is "anti-reason."
We are, more and more, attracted to ideas and points of view which have no foundation in reality, are supported by little or no credible evidence, and whose provenance seems to be nothing greater than the fact that those ideas and points of view go counter to the prevailing, mainstream ideas.
This is neither faith nor reason.
if only the bible was real history we could use that as a valid excuse lol
Many of the events in the bible have been corroborated by contemporary sources. That is, what they wrote down in Eqypt, Sumaria and all of the other places mentioned as being 'elsewhere' in the bible. The seven plagues of Egypt correspond with a massive volcano eruption to the north for example. The flood has similar stories in practically every other centre of civilisation at the time.
For generations, Jewish fathers and grandfathers repeated the histories of their people to the children, and rabbis to crowds. Stories passed down many many generations and, whilst in the main accurate, the individual details contain errors and misinterpretations (The plagues as reported in the Bible, are in the wrong order, but that doesn't matter). The Bible was finally written down in about 500 bc, when the Hebrews got around to developing a written language, so the first 3,500 years were covered by what is in effect, folklore. We must give our dues to those rabbis and parents who passed on the stories for three and a half millennia though - heck of a job. But not surprising that a patchwork jacket of different shades of leather became a coat of many colours.
I'm happy to accept the bible as a reasonable history of the Jews. But the area it covers is actually very small.
Studies of oral cultures have shown that stories change over time without the people who are preserving and passing down those stories even being aware of it. One word here, another word there, and before you know it (three hundred years later) you've got a subtly but significantly different story. (Think of the scene in Monty Python's "Life of Brian" where Brian and his "disciples" are listening to Jesus' sermon on the mount -- in the nosebleed seats. "Blessed are the cheesemakers? What is that supposed to mean? Does he mean cheesemakers or dairy workers generally?")
History per se cannot exist absent of writing. But even writing does not guarantee history. In order for history to be history, empirical method must be applied to it. A story has to be tested -- evidence must be found, it must be corroborated by different sources. It has to be public -- stories have to be shared by a large group of literate people who have the ability to look at the story, at the evidence cited, at newer evidence that has emerged, and make judgments. And it has to be a tentative process -- no science that is a real science makes categorical statements. All ideas are tentative. The scientific outlook demands an acknowledgement that new evidence might present itself that gives a fuller understanding of the event, story, or idea that we're trying to understand.
The bible does none of these things very well. It is dangerous to think of it as history, just as it is dangerous to interpret it literally.
"Jealous and proud of it, a petty, unjust, unforgiving control freak, a vindictive bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser, a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully"
when and how did he change?
No archeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference. Scores of archeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible. And, by the same token, proper evaluation of Biblical descriptions has often led to amazing discoveries.
Where science is concerned, many of the principles of modern science were recorded as facts of nature in the Bible long before scientist confirmed them experimentally. A sampling of these would include:
Gravitational field (Job 26:7)
Paramount importance of blood in life processes (Leviticus 17:11)
Law of increasing entropy (Psalm 102:25-27)
Law of conservation of mass and energy (II Peter 3:7)
Hydrologic cycle (Ecclesiastes 1:7)
Almost infinite extent of the sidereal universe (Isaiah 55:9)
Atmospheric circulation (Ecclesiastes 1:6)
Roundness of the earth (Isaiah 40:22)
Vast number of stars (Jeremiah 33:22)
Consider This: The nearly complete consistency between the many versions of the Bible is recognized as an astonishing testimony to its single origin.
Jesus made a bold claim during his days on earth. He said, "I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me."(John 14:6) Did you get that? Jesus says that you can only know God the father through belief in him. That's a pretty radical statement! But he backed it up by going to the cross, dying in our place, and rising again to live on the third day. The Bible says that we should have been punished for breaking God's law, but he took the punishment in our place. Jesus Christ, God's Son, came to earth to reveal a marvelous message that our offenses can be forgiven and we may become reconciled to God, and have eternal life.
Now we have to decide, is it fact or fiction?
If fiction, then we work, consume, and die. End of story.
But if it is indeed fact, then the above is true except that there is no "End of Story."
This is where your decision comes in. You can have a true faith and belief that the Bible is the only infallible, authoritative Word of God, and that He has prepared a wonderful place for us if we will only deeply Love Him as he has asked.
Or you can just go about your daily life minute by minute, inching your way toward that end of the story, which I believe to be a fact, will only end in a promised, miserable consequence.
Didn't want to rain on anyone's parade, but the reality of life is that, life is not the reality. It's only a footpath through the valley of the shadow of death, that will without argument, come to the end of the road for everyone.
1) The Christian God is repeatedly claimed to be an unconditionally loving God, yet his love only shows on the condition that you believe another man is responsible for your wrongdoings?
2) How could you be in heaven knowing that everyone you knew who didn't "accept Jesus into their heart" is now living in eternal torture and damnation? That is NOT heaven - I asked my pastor as a child and all he said was that I would know it's okay. Sounds more like I'm being brainwashed - which isn't something I believe an unconditionally loving God would do.
How hard is it to believe that your all-encompassing omnipotent omnipresent God is not also manifested in every other religion? There have been numerous mythical figures in history who were born of a virgin, had disciples, died, rose on the 3rd day. Horus, Mithra, Dionysus, Sargon are a few. The Sun's alignment stops moving south 3 days before Christmas and on Christmas the Sun begins its northern cycle again, bringing the life of Spring. Sun worship has been around for ages! Also, the 3 stars on Orion's belt, which are called the 3 kings, line up towards Sirius (the Star of the East, brightest star in Northern sky) which points towards the Sun on the Winter Solstice. The Virgin Mary is the constellation Virgo (whose sign is an M, which all virgin mothers' names start with) - Virgo is also called the house of bread, which Bethlehem roughly translates to.
Christians have to learn to accept everyone else for who they are, Jesus has said to "come into the House of the Lord as children" - as children, we do not judge or deliberately harm or belittle one another. Jesus was a completely nonjudgmental man and if one would truly wish to be like him, they should learn to accept people for who they are (and losing the whole fire and brimstone condemnation bit would help too :)
Hey you know AdGuy always gets the last word! ;)