Tree of the knowledge of good and evil In Genesis[edit] Motif[edit] Composition[edit] In the phrase, tree of knowledge of good and evil, the tree imparts knowledge of tov wa-ra, "good and bad". Religious views[edit] Judaism[edit] In Jewish tradition, the Tree of Knowledge and the eating of its fruit represents the beginning of the mixture of good and evil together. In Kabbalah, the sin of the Tree of Knowledge (called Cheit Eitz HaDa'at) brought about the great task of beirurim, sifting through the mixture of good and evil in the world to extract and liberate the sparks of holiness trapped therein.[8] Since evil has no independent existence, it depends on holiness to draw down the Divine life-force, on whose "leftovers" it then feeds and derives existence.[9] Once evil is separated from holiness through beirurim, its source of life is cut off, causing the evil to disappear. Christianity[edit] Islam[edit] God in Quran (Al-A'raf 27) states: "[O] Children of Adam! Other cultures[edit] Ethnomycology[edit] See also[edit] References[edit]
Menelik I Menelik I (called Bäynä Ləkḥəm in the Kebra Nagast; also named Ebna la-Hakim, Arabic: Ibn Al-Hakim, "Son of the Wise"[1]), first Solomonic Emperor of Ethiopia, is traditionally believed to be the son of King Solomon of ancient Israel and Makeda, ancient Queen of Sheba (in modern Ethiopia). He is alleged to have ruled around 950 BC, according to traditional sources.[2][3] Tradition credits him with bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Ethiopia, following a visit to Jerusalem to meet his father upon reaching adulthood. According to the Kebra Nagast, King Solomon had intended on sending one son of each of his nobles and one son of each temple priest with Menelik upon his return to his mother's kingdom. He is supposed to have had a replica made of the Ark for them to take with them. The medieval incarnation of the alleged Solomonic dynasty did not come into power until 1262 AD, claiming descent from the Kings of Aksum. Popular culture[edit] See also[edit] Menelik II of Ethiopia (1844–1913)
Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes (; Hebrew: קֹהֶלֶת, qōheleṯ, Greek: Ἐκκλησιαστής, Ekklēsiastēs) is one of 24 books of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), where it is classified as one of the Ketuvim (Writings). Originally written c. 450–200 BCE, it is also among the canonical Wisdom literature of the Old Testament in most denominations of Christianity. The title Ecclesiastes is a Latin transliteration of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Kohelet (also written as Koheleth or Qoheleth), the pseudonym used by the author of the book. In traditional Jewish texts and throughout church history (up to the 18th and 19th centuries), King Solomon is named as the author, but modern scholars reject this. Textually, the book is the musings of a King of Jerusalem as he relates his experiences and draws lessons from them, often self-critical. Structure[edit] Ecclesiastes is presented as biography of "Kohelet" (or "Qoheleth", meaning "Assembler", but traditionally translated by Christians as "Teacher" or "Preacher").
Paradise Lost Epic poem by John Milton Composition[edit] In his introduction to the Penguin published edition of Paradise Lost, the Milton scholar John Leonard notes: "John Milton was nearly sixty when he published Paradise Lost in 1667. The biographer John Aubrey (1626–1697) tells us that the poem was begun in about 1658 and finished in about 1663. Leonard also notes that Milton "did not at first plan to write a biblical epic". Publication[edit] In the 1667 version of Paradise Lost, the poem was divided into ten books. Synopsis[edit] The poem follows the epic tradition of starting in medias res (lit. At several points in the poem, an Angelic War over Heaven is recounted from different perspectives. The story of Adam and Eve's temptation and fall is a fundamentally different, new kind of epic:[further explanation needed] a domestic one. Meanwhile, Satan returns triumphantly to Hell, amid the praise of his fellow fallen angels. Characters[edit] Satan[edit] Adam[edit] Adam is the first human created by God.
Creation Myths Shillluk (Africa) [Excerpted and edited from Folklore in the Old Testament, J.G. Frazer.] The creator Juok moulded all people of earth. While he was engaged in the work of creation, he wandered about the world. In the land of the whites he found a pure white earth or sand, and out of it he shaped white people. The way in which he modeled human beings was this. Sikh For millions upon millions, countless years was spread darkness, When existed neither earth nor heaven, but only the limitless Divine Ordinance. Then were not Brahma, Vishnu or Shiva: None other than the Sole Lord was visible. Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva He created and to maya-attachment gave increase. The Creator fashioned the Nine Abodes [of sensation]; In the Tenth [the superconscious mind] is lodged the Lord, unknowable, limitless. Tahitian He was. Vodun Damballah (Sky-serpent loa and wise and loving Father archetype) created all the waters of the earth. [From Vodun Creation Mythology (Site is currently inoperative.)] Yokut
Serpent (Bible) In the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Genesis refers to the serpent who was partly responsible for the Fall of Man (Gen 3:1-20). Serpent is also used to describe sea monsters. Examples of these identifications are in the Book of Isaiah where a reference is made to a serpent-like Leviathan (Isaiah 27:1), and in the Book of Amos where a serpent resides at the bottom of the sea (Amos 9:3). Serpent figuratively describes biblical places such as Egypt (Jer 46:22), and the city of Dan (Gen 49:17). The prophet Jeremiah also compares the King of Babylon to a serpent (Jer 51:34). The Hebrew word nahash is used to identify the serpent that appears in Genesis 3:1, in the Garden of Eden. God placed Adam in the Garden to tend it and warned Adam not to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, "for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die Debate about the serpent in Eden is whether it should be viewed figuratively or as a literal animal. 20th century scholars such as W.
Ark of the Covenant The Ark of the Covenant (Hebrew: אָרוֹן הַבְּרִית ʾĀrôn Habbərît, modern pron. Aron Habrit), also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in the Book of Exodus[1] as containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed. According to some traditional interpretations of the Book of Exodus,[2] Book of Numbers,[3] and the Letter to the Hebrews,[4] the Ark also contained Aaron's rod, a jar of manna, and the first Torah scroll as written by Moses; however, the first of the Books of Kings says that at the time of King Solomon, the Ark contained only the two Tablets of the Law.[5] According to the Book of Exodus, the Ark was built at the command of God, in accordance with the instructions given to Moses on Mount Sinai.[6] God was said to have communicated with Moses "from between the two cherubim" on the Ark's cover.[7] Biblical account[edit] Construction and description[edit] Mobile vanguard[edit] Capture by the Philistines[edit] In Solomon's Temple[edit]
Genesis flood narrative Biblical flood myth A global flood as described in this myth is inconsistent with the physical findings of geology and paleontology.[4] A branch of creationism known as flood geology is a pseudoscientific attempt to argue that such a global flood actually occurred.[5] Composition Sources The flood is part of what scholars call the primeval history, the first 11 chapters of Genesis. These chapters, fable-like and legendary, form a preface to the patriarchal narratives which follow, but show little relationship to them.[8] For example, the names of its characters and its geography—Adam ("Man") and Eve ("Life"), the Land of Nod ("Wandering"), and so on—are symbolic rather than real, and much of the narratives consist of lists of "firsts": the first murder, the first wine, the first empire-builder. Comparative mythology The flood myth originated in Mesopotamia. Genesis 6:9–9:17 Summary Noah was a righteous man and walked with God. The flood and the creation narrative Intertextuality Religious views
Gospel of Thomas The Coptic-Language text, the second of seven contained in what modern-day scholars have designated as Codex II, is composed of 114 sayings attributed to Jesus.[2] Almost half of these sayings resemble those found in the Canonical Gospels, while it is speculated that the other sayings were added from Gnostic tradition.[3] Its place of origin may have been Syria, where Thomasine traditions were strong.[4] The introduction states: "These are the hidden words that the living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas wrote them down."[5] Didymus (Greek) and Thomas (Aramaic) both mean "twin". Some critical scholars suspect that this reference to the Apostle Thomas is false, and that therefore the true author is unknown.[6] The Gospel of Thomas is very different in tone and structure from other New Testament apocrypha and the four Canonical Gospels. Bishop Eusebius included it among a group of books that he believed to be not only spurious, but "the fictions of heretics".[13] P. P. Attestation[edit]
Physicists Prove Einstein Wrong With 'Spooky' Quantum Experiment Quantum mechanics is one of the best-tested theories in science, and it's one of the few where physicists get to do experiments proving that Einstein was wrong. That's what a team at Griffith University and the University of Tokyo in Japan did this week, showing that a weird phenomenon — in which the measurement of a particle actually affects its location — is real. Back in the 1920s and 1930s, Albert Einstein said he couldn't support this idea, which he called "spooky action at a distance," in which a particle can be in two places at once and it's not until one measures the state of that particle that it takes a definite position, seemingly with no signal transmitted to it and at a speed faster than light. When the particle takes its definite position, physicists refer to this as its wave function collapsing. Alice and Bob The phenomenon is demonstrated with a thought experiment in which a light beam is split, with one half going to Alice and the other to Bob. Splitting photons
Aztec Religion - AZTEC GODS - Aztecs of Mexico History AZTEC RELIGION AZTEC STUDENT RESEARCH GUIDE (C)1997-2005 (Thomas H. Frederiksen) All rights reserved The following major Deities have been removed from this larger work and placed into their own section TITLED MAJOR DEITIES, along with their corresponding footnotes: TEXCATLIPOCA, QUETZALCOATL, ZIPE TOTEC, TLALOC, XOCHIQUETZAL, and HUITZILOPOCHTLI. COLNAHUACATL- "The One From the Twisted Region" Wife is unknown and as the name may represent, this deity resided in one of nine hells(*9) told in Aztec mythology. AMAPAN- "Patron of the Ball" "Ball Court Deity" Along with Uappatzin, these two deities presided over the ball game(*10) and various ceremonies associated with the game itself which were conducted in Tenochtitlan. AMHIMITL -"Dart of Mixcoatl" Old Chichimec (*11) god from the ancient homeland of the Mexica in Aztlan. ____________________ 9 There are several books in print that detail the Aztec view of afterlife. 11 The Chichimec are sometimes referred to as Mimixcoa. 25 Boone p. 200.