can someone tell me about john the baptist? alex?
Millennial prophet who got incorporated into the Christian mythos as the “voice crying in the wilderness” who predicted the Christ and recognized Jesus as such when he came to be baptized. John had his own followers, some of whom continued to believe in him. An ascetic desert mystic, wore animal skins and lived on grasshoppers and honey. Imprisoned by Herod whose wife egged on her daughter Salome to tantalize the king by dancing and then demand John’s head as a reward, served up on a platter.
so jesus was a follower of his? and he appears in the qur'an?
Not exactly; it’s all a matter of perspective. We’re accustomed to the Christian story where John is the emcee who introduces Jesus; Islam regards both of them as prophets who are superseded by Mohammad. I think there’s still a sect that regards John as number one. John really existed, but in a context where there were numbers of competing prophets representing Hebrew and other suppressed interests in the Roman world. Exactly what he was about we don’t really know, as we mostly see him through the lens of more successful movements like Christianity and Islam. The Christians developed a back story where he’s actually a cousin of Jesus, but that’s dubious as history. To the modern mind the contrast between John’s asceticism and Salome’s sexuality is the matter of greatest interest, as in Oscar Wilde’s play, as illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley.
John’s sacrament was baptism, which is a cleansing ritual intended to wash away sins. To avoid reference to current Christian sects I prefer the translation “John the baptizer.” But this was standard practice in various forms: Pilate’s washing his hands of guilt in Jesus’ sentencing partakes of the same principle, and the emperor Claudius wrote a treatise on Roman lustral rituals. It’s a Christian conceit that the cleansing strips away the old self and results in a rebirth paralleing the Resurrection, an idea that has entered into psychedelic thought.
I can tell you about plywood as a flooring material.
plywood: bigger than jesus? what kind of timber did the romans favor for their crucifixions?
Prophecy and sex aside, John's use of insects as his main source of nutrition may be his best attribute.
Are insects kosher? If so, why not mud bugs?
I remember that back story about John. It's weird that they didn't recognize each other later.
I recently read an anecdote about someone who wanted to get in line first to be baptized (as a young child, as some Christians do it), so as not to have to deal with all the dead soul-essence that got cleansed away as other people got baptized in the same ceremony. "Ewww, the water is all messed up with Billy's sin."
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can someone tell me about john the baptist? alex?
- linda 10-01-2013 9:32 pm
Millennial prophet who got incorporated into the Christian mythos as the “voice crying in the wilderness” who predicted the Christ and recognized Jesus as such when he came to be baptized. John had his own followers, some of whom continued to believe in him. An ascetic desert mystic, wore animal skins and lived on grasshoppers and honey. Imprisoned by Herod whose wife egged on her daughter Salome to tantalize the king by dancing and then demand John’s head as a reward, served up on a platter.
- alex 10-01-2013 9:53 pm [add a comment]
so jesus was a follower of his? and he appears in the qur'an?
- linda 10-01-2013 10:26 pm [add a comment]
Not exactly; it’s all a matter of perspective. We’re accustomed to the Christian story where John is the emcee who introduces Jesus; Islam regards both of them as prophets who are superseded by Mohammad. I think there’s still a sect that regards John as number one. John really existed, but in a context where there were numbers of competing prophets representing Hebrew and other suppressed interests in the Roman world. Exactly what he was about we don’t really know, as we mostly see him through the lens of more successful movements like Christianity and Islam. The Christians developed a back story where he’s actually a cousin of Jesus, but that’s dubious as history. To the modern mind the contrast between John’s asceticism and Salome’s sexuality is the matter of greatest interest, as in Oscar Wilde’s play, as illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley.
- alex 10-01-2013 11:07 pm [add a comment]
John’s sacrament was baptism, which is a cleansing ritual intended to wash away sins. To avoid reference to current Christian sects I prefer the translation “John the baptizer.” But this was standard practice in various forms: Pilate’s washing his hands of guilt in Jesus’ sentencing partakes of the same principle, and the emperor Claudius wrote a treatise on Roman lustral rituals. It’s a Christian conceit that the cleansing strips away the old self and results in a rebirth paralleing the Resurrection, an idea that has entered into psychedelic thought.
- alex 10-01-2013 11:25 pm [add a comment]
I can tell you about plywood as a flooring material.
- steve 10-02-2013 12:21 am [add a comment]
plywood: bigger than jesus?
what kind of timber did the romans favor for their crucifixions?
- dave 10-02-2013 12:27 am [add a comment]
Prophecy and sex aside, John's use of insects as his main source of nutrition may be his best attribute.
- alex 10-02-2013 12:37 am [add a comment]
Are insects kosher? If so, why not mud bugs?
I remember that back story about John. It's weird that they didn't recognize each other later.
I recently read an anecdote about someone who wanted to get in line first to be baptized (as a young child, as some Christians do it), so as not to have to deal with all the dead soul-essence that got cleansed away as other people got baptized in the same ceremony. "Ewww, the water is all messed up with Billy's sin."
- mark 10-02-2013 1:41 am [add a comment]