Jesus, Aliens and Art! Oh My!

While going through my archives, I found some interesting, bizarre research and pictures. I don't know how true all of this is, but I have found more than one source on the subject. Jesus, Aliens in Art. I got the idea for the pictures from the book Jesus in Kashmir: The Lost Tomb by Suzanne Olsson.

Enjoy the pictures!

This was painted in 1350 in Yugoslavia...

look at the upper right and left corners... see them??

Want some more??

''La Tebaide'' by Paolo Uccello painted c. 1460-1465

Bottom right hand corner.



This one is called ''The Annunciation'' by Carlo Crivelli which is in the National Gallery in London.

Often, images of The Annunciation (God announces to Mary that she will give birth to Jesus) there is an angel or beam of light doing the announcing. This also often where Christians claim that Mary was impregnated..

Here's a close up of this one... 

''The Madonna with Saint Giovannino'' painted in the 15th century. This one definitely needs a close up..

Look at that. Even a man is looking up at the craft.

How about Jesus in a rocket? This is a 15th century fresco.. 

Here's a 17th century fresco.. 

Look at the close ups here. You can see faces!

This one is ''The Baptism of Christ'' by Aert de Gelder painted in 1710 

The Holy Spirit descending on Christ in UFO form.. 

The book suggests that there are many UFO sightings found within Christian imagery and that the information for these comes from papers locked inside the Vatican private archives. Sounds so conspiracy theory, right? But in light of all these images, it makes one wonder.. 

Want more UFOS/Aliens in artwork?? Check out this website.

- VB

**IMAGES ARE NOT MINE**

Inspiring Words from the Gospel of Q

Scholars believe that prior to the four New Testament Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, there was a list of the teachings of Jesus, written down in his lifetime, now dubbed the Gospel of Q. With the narratives of the life of Jesus removed, scholars focused on what was similar between the books and what Jesus was actually teaching. Some of the passages are quite moving

Sell your possessions and give to Charity [alms]. Store up treasure for yourselves in a heavenly account where moths and rust do not consume, and where thieves cannot break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 

I am telling you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn't life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Think of the ravens. They do not plant, harvest, or store grain in barns, and God feeds them. Aren't you worth more than the birds? Which one of you can add a single day to your life by worrying? And why do you worry about clothing? Think of the way lilies grow. They do not work or spin. But even Solomon in all his splendor was not as magnificent. If God puts beautiful clothes on the grass that is in the field today and tomorrow into the furnace, won't he put clothes on you, faint hearts? So don't worry, thinking, 'what will we eat.' or 'what will we drink,' or 'what will we wear?' for everybody in the whole world does that, and your Father knows that you need these things. Instead, make sure of His rule over you, and all these things will be yours as well.

 These are such excellent and inspiring words to live by.


For more information on Q, I highly recommend Burton Mack's book The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins. 


-VB
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Jesus Wars Reviewed

I finally completed the book Jesus Wars: How Four Patriarchs, Three Queens, and Two Emperors Decided What Christians Would Believe for the Next 1,500 Years by Philip Jenkins. The book examines the early history of Christianity, particularly the 4th and 5th centuries C.E. The book is very appropriately named. During these early years, there was battle after battle in Christology definitions. Not just battles of words, but actual physical violence.
The clergy was trying to determine who Christ was, or rather, what he was. Some, the earliest followers of Jesus, called Ebonites, were Jewish and believed that Jesus was a man and a prophet, not at all divine. Others believed that Jesus was born human but at his baptism he was adopted by God or that God had descended upon him and he became divine and human. Others believed he was both God and human while others believed that he was completely divine. The violence exhibited between primarily the latter two belief systems was immense, even monks fell prey to murderous tendencies. They worked diligently to destroy the opposing belief, Jews and pagans.
The people of power, found in the title of the book, were they ones who determined what all would believe and were more than willing to annihilate the others. And they did. Through the various Councils, the theories of Christ were discussed, determined and previous theories were thrown away. At one of the gatherings, the Second Council of Ephesus in 449 C.E. there was a quote that came from it, ''May those who divide Christ be divided with the sword, may they be hewn in pieces, may the be burned alive!'' Shocking, I know. So, what happened at this Council?

In 449, the leading Fathers of the Christian church met in Ephesus, in Asia Minor, to debate pressing theological issues. At a critical moment, a band of monks and soldiers took control of the meeting hall, forcing bishops to sign a blank paper on which the winning side later filled in its own favored statement. The document targeted the patriarch of Constantinople, Flavian, one of the three or four greatest clerics in the Christian world. Yelling ''Slaughter him!'' a mob of monks attacked Flavian, beating him so badly that he died a few days later. So outrageous was the intimidation that the ultimate winners in the conflict invalidated this whole council. The repudiated it as a Latrocinium--loosely, a Gangster Synod (Jenkins 1).

 The Empress Pulcheria, who ''saved Orthodoxy'', had a special affinity for the Virgin Mary and a strong hatred towards Jews, perhaps even starting Anti-Semitism in Europe. Any insult to the Virgin Mary, including stating that she did not give birth to a fully divine God, would result in violence. It is through this interest in the Virgin Mary and the crucifixion that people began to question the ''orthodox'' view of Christology, the fully divine Jesus. How could a mere woman give birth to the Creator of the world? How could He suffer through the crucifixion?
Overall, I recommend this book if you have an interest in Christian history or are Christian. If you don't have any interest in Christian history, the book may be a bit dry in some parts. It is important to have knowledge of the past, especially something of this magnitude.
To close, I want to highlight perhaps my favorite quote in the book. Tertullian the African, in 200 C.E., said ''I believe it (Jesus being fully divine/God having flesh) because it is absurd'' (Jenkins 49).

-VB