To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Catholics & Pentecostals confess sins
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2000 08:30:23 -0400

Catholic and Pentecostal leaders confessed sins and asked
forgiveness from each other at a dramatic meeting March
16-18.Catholic priest Kilian McDonnell read a "Confession of
Sins" to a plenary session of the Society for Pentecostal Studies
meeting in Kirkland, Wash., Religion News Service said. He is
founder and president of the Institute for Ecumenical and
Cultural Research in Collegeville, Minn.
...Speaking as an individual, not as a representative of the
Church, McDonnell confessed the sins of Catholics against
"classical Pentecostals" such as the Assemblies of God and the
Pentecostal Holiness Church. Catholic arrogance led to
"intolerance, discrimination, and exclusion" against
Pentecostals, he said. Catholics have used the government to
harass and oppress Pentecostals and to deprive them of their
civil rights, particularly in Latin America, he said.
...Assemblies of God minister Frank Macchia extended forgiveness
to McDonnell and confessed Pentecostal sins against Catholics. "I
know that I speak for many in the society in offering forgiveness
in response to Father McDonnell's confession," said Macchia,
saying he was not speaking in his official capacity as an
assistant professor at Vanguard University, an Assemblies of
God-affiliated school.
..."I ask that Catholics forgive the Pentecostals who have
cherished visions of the end of time that condemn the Catholic
Church for spiritual harlotry and idolatry," Macchia said, and
for those who assume that Catholics "advocate salvation by works,
denying the grace and truth of the Gospel."

http://religiontoday.crosswalk.com

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Was unknown messiah role model for Jesus?
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2000 10:27:54 -0400

Was unknown messiah role model for Jesus?

Israeli researcher: ancient Jewish messiah named Menachem may have been
a hitherto unknown role model for Jesus Christ.

April 03, 2000, 09:16 AM

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An ancient Jewish messiah named Menachem
may have been a hitherto unknown role model for Jesus Christ, according
to an Israeli researcher.

Israel Knohl, head of the Bible Department at Jerusalem's Hebrew
University, explains his theory in his book, "The Messiah Before Jesus:
The Suffering Servant of the Dead Sea Scrolls".

The book stems from three years of research based on the "Thanksgiving
scroll", which Knohl says was written by Menachem, leader of a first
century extremist Jewish sect.

It was one of seven scrolls and some 800 manuscripts found hidden in
jars in caves close to the Dead Sea in the 1940s and 1950s.

The scroll is damaged and Knohl believes that Menachem's ideas were so
explosive that "someone, at some time" tried to ruin it.

"I see here a mystery. If they wanted to preserve (the scroll) by
putting it in the jar, why should someone squeeze it, disfigure it?"
Knohl asked a recent theological conference.

He said a closer look at Menachem could change the way Jesus has been
seen for centuries.

"Menachem saw himself as a suffering servant of God but also a divine
messiah and son of man, concepts which scholars say did not coexist
before Jesus," he said.

"I say Jesus knew about Menachem. When Jesus came to the game there was
already a theology that the messiah should suffer, be killed and come to
life again."

The theory strikes a blow at traditional scholarship that has cast Jesus
as a preacher who was moulded into a messianic figure by followers only
after his death.

Jesus embodied an older concept

"The main group of New Testament scholars tend to say there was no
concept of a suffering messiah in Judaism -- only a triumphant, glorious
figure. But the idea was there before with Menachem," Knohl said.

Many scholars believe the scrolls were written by the Essenes, an
austere first century Jewish sect.

Researchers believe the Essenes stored their sacred works, including
copies of the Hebrew bible, Jewish writings, codes and literature, in
clay jars to hide them from marauding Romans.

By patching together "pieces from pieces" from two hymns in the
Thanksgiving scroll and comparing them with other manuscripts of the
same hymn found at the site, Knohl said he had unearthed the
unprecedented claims of a suffering messiah.

"I was shocked when I saw it," he said.

As evidence, he points to hymns in the scroll in which the author not
only equates himself to the Suffering Servant in the Book of Isaiah but
also depicts himself sitting majestically like God in the presence of
angels.

The links between Jesus and Menachem are also found in Jewish texts and
in the writings of the first century historian Josephus Flavius, which
mention a messiah called Menachem.

Several legends speak of a messiah of the same name who was born in
Bethlehem, Knohl said.

He also thinks that John the Baptist, believed by many scholars to be an
Essene, exposed Jesus to Menachem's ideas.

Menachem and Jesus were not only bound by ideology, but their lives and
deaths also bore a number of similarities, Knohl said.

Both were excommunicated by the rabbis of the day for their maverick
views. Both were killed by the Romans and believed by their followers to
have risen after their deaths.

Scepticism remains

Not everyone is convinced about Knohl's theory, however.

Peter Pettit of Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania likened Knohl to "an
experienced guide", who "entices us all to dance on the thread of his
argument".

But Pettit told the Jerusalem theology conference that he was cautious
about what he called the fragmentary nature of the texts and "narrowness
of the sources".

Knohl maintains that his theory provides a fuller picture of Jesus's
identity than has previously existed.

"Many Christians had given up the idea of knowing about the historical
Jesus...but now, 50 years after the scroll was found, for the first time
we can understand the background to Jesus's self-awareness," Knohl said.
 

Awareness of his imminent suffering weighed heavily on Jesus, the
researcher added.

"In the Garden of Gethsemane he is described in gospels as entering into
very deep depression. And what does he say? 'God, Father, if you can,
take this terrible mission from me, otherwise I will accept it,'" Knohl
said.

"So in my view, this is a wonderful example of his inner struggle; he
knew he would be put to death, but in another part of his soul he is
young man and has a natural desire for life.

He knew he was going to suffer. He already knew the path."

Pettit says guessing Jesus's mindset, 2,000 years later, is not an easy
task.

"When we get into Jesus's psychology we are pretty high up on a pretty
thin thread," he said.

But Knohl is resolute.

"Jesus was not a pure imitation of this man. He had many new ideas. But
in my view now we have proof that Jesus really saw himself as a
messianic leader, and that came from Menachem," he said. © 2000 Reuters

http://www.arabia.com/article/1,1690,ArabiaLife-17198,00.html

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