Originally written by amena on 2003-02-03 8:09 AM any way........ this is how the Urantia Book states it. i believe they were different women. Oh i was afraid of this....... and i hope it doesn't really muck things up for anybody..... but this is where things get a bit complicated..... i guess the devil is in the details. You know i've never been able to make it through the urantia book...... which is strange because it is very rich in detail...... and perhaps that is the problem..... there is difficulty when all the details don't match the pattern the story has taken in my mind. Yet.... it gets more complicated still. My story is a fuzzy rendition of the edgar cayce given details...... and in some details cayce is certainly at odds with UB. For one thing, cayce gives Jesus' little sister the name of Ruth..... and his Teacher the name of Judy (the leader and high priestess of the essenes). So..... when it gets down to these details..... how do we know which source is more correct? It isn't as easy at it might seem. The Urtext gives a pretty good endorsement to cayce..... though noting that his vision was far from perfect..... however, Raj has endorsed the Urantia...... hmmmmm.... doesn't that present a pickle. I latched on to the cayce version pretty readily...... because the details well fit the mental pattern i already held on the story. And cayce comes with a great deal of credibility in this regard..... and by this i mean the readings concerning the essenes and their temple at quamron. In the 1920's when cayce was giving these readings.... next to nothing was known of the essenes..... they were an historical footnote and a giant question mark. Many people doubted they ever existed. Cayce gave a lot of details about the essenes..... and the true jewish temple...... but who could substantiate it? Well.... lol...... in the mid 1940's they discovered the dead sea scrolls..... and in the 50's they discovered the nag hammadi...... and in the 70's they began excavations at quamron. We know a lot about the essenes now. However that tells us nothing about the mary discrepancy..... which isn't the important relationship in the story for me anyhow. What strikes me from the cayce account..... is the relationship between Jesus and John...... and how their carefully directed paths brought about the birth of Christ into the world..... which was the intention of Judy and the council...... and all of the essene faithful. Two good friends..... cousins who had grown up together...... then kept apart.... while each undergoing intensive spiritual and mystical training. Then meeting again after many years...... each looking deep into the other's eyes....... and seeing..... remembering...... holiness. each looking deep into the other's eyes and seeing.... remembering...... Christ. I'm crying again...... this is so beautiful. If i ever call you beautiful.... this is what i'm referring to. "It is you Lord who should baptize me", said the Baptist. "No, it is you who should baptize me," said Jesus, "so that all things might be fulfilled." And the Spirit of the Lord descended like a dove...... and a Voice spoke from heaven.... "Behold my Son.... in Him I Am well pleased." Mmmmmm.... did that touch you as it touches me? I hope so. Which backstory is right about mary? I don't know...... i say go with the details which touch you. How many sons did Jesse have? Can't tell from the bible....... book of samuel says seven..... book of chronicles says eight. Hmmm..... i want to say a little more...... because i want clarify that i wasn't discounting the relationship with mary when i said that i was mostly interested in the relationship with John. In the backstory here.... it is the relationship with John which is primary...... yet this all changes after John is murdered..... which is when mary becomes the important relationship in the life of Jesus. Lol.... i could go on and on how the story plays out in my mind. I love you, Amminadab |