derekwsparks

The FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs teaches us how to smile and Keep Sweet.

The FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs sings the song Father In Heaven.

FLDS Mothers Zavida and Libby perform a beautiful rendition of the song - To My Parents Original Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvPH9Z_93Ts

Through the influence of a friend, a family finds that the gospel of Jesus Christ can help them improve their relationships, resist temptations, and answer questions posed by the loss of a family member.

Oct 30, 2022 #60MinutesAustralia Subscribe here: http://9Soci.al/chmP50wA97J Full Episodes: https://9now.app.link/uNP4qBkmN6 | Cooking the Book of Mormon (2022) Once famous – or infamous – for its stance on polygamy, these days the Mormon Church is better known for its earnest young missionaries who doorknock our suburbs promising enlightenment. But on 60 MINUTES, enlightenment about a subject the Mormon Church wants to keep secret: serious accusations that Mormons in Australia have been able to draw on $400 million in tax deductions not lawfully available to followers of other religions. It’s alleged by church whistle-blowers that the Mormon books are being cooked in an elaborate tax dodge. As Tom Steinfort reports, this is money Australia could well use, but despite the federal government’s bluster about cracking down on waste and rorting, so far it has done nothing.

The FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs teaches us about The Godhead.

Original Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAWT_u_xYN8 1,464 views Apr 6, 2015 This is one of the first sermons Warren delivered as leader of the FLDS. (11/21/02) This is such a fine overview of the FLDS beliefs.

Nov 1, 2023 - Sons of Perdition follows three teenage boys after they leave the FLDS and must fend for themselves in mainstream America. Stars: Joe Broadbent, Sam Zitting, Bruce Barlow, Jon Krakauer, Sam Brower Produced, Directed by Tyler Measom, Jennilyn Merten Original Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe1Xe9krr4o

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Jeffs Audio Recordings of The FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs, speaks on the topic of Nephi finding Laban. Original Source: https://rumble.com/v23724o-flds-beliefs-nephi-kills-laban.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Jeffs Audio Recordings of The FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs, speaks on the topic of

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Jeffs Audio Recordings of The FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs, speaks on the topic of Mother Earth, The Sun and The Planet Kolob. Kolob is a star or planet described in the Book of Abraham, a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement. Several Latter Day Saint denominations hold the Book of Abraham to have been translated from an Egyptian papyrus scroll (which was actually a copy of the Egyptian funerary texts) by Joseph Smith, the founder of the movement. According to this work, Kolob is the heavenly body nearest to the throne of God. While the Book of Abraham calls Kolob a "star",[1] it also calls planets "stars",[2] and therefore some Latter Day Saint commentators consider Kolob a planet.[3] The body also appears in Latter Day Saint culture, including a reference to Kolob in an LDS hymn.[4] Doctrine and exegesis Description in the Book of Abraham Facsimile No. 2 from the Book of Abraham, which Smith said discusses Kolob. The part Smith said refers to Kolob is numbered by a "1" in the center. The first published reference to Kolob is in the Book of Abraham, first published in 1842 in Times and Seasons and now included within the Pearl of Great Price as part of the canon of Mormonism. The Book of Abraham 1:1–2:18 were dictated in 1835 and the remaining part in 1842 by Smith after he purchased a set of Egyptian scrolls that accompanied a mummy exhibition. According to Smith, the scrolls described a vision of Abraham, in which Abraham: saw the stars, that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God; ... and the name of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord thy God: I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest.[1] In an explanation of an Egyptian hypocephalus that was part of the Joseph Smith Papyri, Smith interpreted one set of hieroglyphics as representing: Kolob, signifying the first creation, nearest to the celestial, or the residence of God. First in government, the last pertaining to the measurement of time. The measurement according to celestial time, which celestial time signifies one day to a cubit. One day in Kolob is equal to a thousand years according to the measurement of the Earth, which is called by the Egyptians Jah-oh-eh.[5] The Book of Abraham describes a hierarchy of heavenly bodies,[6] including the Earth, the Moon, and the Sun, each with different movements and measurements of time, where at the pinnacle, the slowest-rotating body is Kolob, where one Kolob-day corresponds to 1000 Earth-years.[7] The time also applies to other celestial bodies in the vicinity of Kolob, such as Oliblish, and other neighboring objects.[8] This is similar to Psalm 90:4, which says, "For a thousand years in [God's] sight are but as yesterday when it is past" and 2 Peter 3:8, which says, "one day is with the Lord as a thousand years". Additional, similar information about Kolob is found in the Kirtland Egyptian Papers, constituting manuscripts in the handwriting of Smith and his scribes. Mormon exegesis and speculation According to the traditional, literal Mormon interpretation of the Book of Abraham, Kolob is an actual star in this universe that is, or is near, the physical throne of God. According to Smith, this star was discovered by Methuselah and Abraham[9] by looking through Urim and Thummim, a set of seer stones bound into a pair of spectacles.[10] LDS Church leader and historian B. H. Roberts (1857–1933) interpreted Smith's statements to mean that the Solar System and its governing "planet" (the Sun) revolved around a star known as Kae-e-vanrash, which itself revolved with its own solar system around a star called Kli-flos-is-es or Hah-ko-kau-beam, which themselves revolve around Kolob, which he characterized as "the great centre of that part of the universe to which our planetary system belongs".[11] Roberts was confident that astronomers would confirm this hierarchy of stars orbiting other stars.[12] The literal interpretation of Kolob as a star or planet had significant formative impact on Mormon belief and criticism, leading to conceptions such as that the Biblical creation is a creation of the local Earth, Solar System, or galaxy, rather than the entire known physical universe.[citation needed] Star versus planet The Book of Abraham is unclear as to whether Kolob is a star or a planet,[2] and Mormon writings have taken both positions. One part of the Book of Abraham states that Abraham "saw the stars ... and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God; ... and the name of the great one is Kolob."[1] But the book defines the word Kokaubeam (a transliteration of the Hebrew "כּוֹכָבִים" [c.f., Gen. 15:5]) as meaning "all the great lights, which were in the firmament of heaven".[13] This would appear to include planets as among the "stars",[14] and the Book of Abraham calls Earth a star.[15] In addition, it appears to classify Kolob among a hierarchy of "planets".[16] On the other hand, in the Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar paper, Kolob is classified as one of 12 "fixed stars", as distinct from 15 "moving planets".[17] The term "fixed stars" generally refers to the background of celestial objects that do not appear to move relative to each other in the night sky, including all stars other than the Sun, nebulae and other starlike objects. Though "fixed", such objects were proven to have proper motion by Edmund Halley in 1718. Apparently referring to proper motion, Smith said that Kolob moves "swifter than the rest of the twelve fixed stars".[18] Also, the Book of Abraham refers to "fixed planets",[19] thereby including planets in the set of celestial objects that may be "fixed". It also calls the Sun a "governing planet",[20] further complicating the terminology. So it is unclear whether Smith understood Kolob to be a planet or a star. Writers in the Latter Day Saint movement have taken both positions on the issue. Brigham Young, second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), spoke of Kolob as a planet,[21] as did LDS Church apostles John Taylor,[22] Orson Pratt (a mathematician with an interest in astronomy),[23] Orson F. Whitney,[24] and Alvin R. Dyer.[25] Other Mormon theologians have also viewed Kolob as a planet,[26] but several Mormon writers have called Kolob a star, including B. H. Roberts[27] and LDS Church president David O. McKay.[28] Birthplace for the Earth According to several Mormon writers (such as W. Cleon Skousen in his book The First 2000 Years), the Earth was created near Kolob over a period of 6,000 years, then moved to its present position in the Solar System.[29][30][31] This hypothesis is based on oral comments attributed to Smith.[26] The hypothesis is also based on a passage from the Book of Abraham stating that in the Garden of Eden, time was measured "after the Lord's time, which was after the time of Kolob; for as yet the Gods had not appointed to Adam his reckoning".[32] According to the hypothesis, the reason that Earth time was measured in Kolob time was that the Earth was near Kolob. As a corollary, some Mormon writers argue that at the end times, the Earth will be plucked from the Solar System and returned to its original orbit near Kolob.[33] LDS Church apostle Bruce R. McConkie came to a different conclusion, arguing that during the first "day" of creation (not necessarily a 1,000-year "day" in Kolob time, a "day" meaning a phase of creation), Earth was formed and placed in orbit around the Sun.[34] The idea that the Earth was formed elsewhere and then migrated to orbit around the Sun does not accord with the scientific understanding of Earth's formation, which is that the Earth formed in orbit around the Sun about 4.5 billion years ago by accretion from a protoplanetary disk, and has remained near its original orbit until the present.[35] Speculative astronomy Several Mormon authors have attempted to situate Kolob within modern astronomy. Skousen speculated that Kolob is a star at the Galactic Center, Sagittarius A*, of our own galaxy.[36] This view also had the support of several former general authorities of the LDS Church, including J. Reuben Clark[37] and George Reynolds (with Janne M. Sjödahl).[38] In the mid-19th century, early efforts to find a single "central sun" in the galaxy failed.[39] Another Mormon author has hypothesized that Kolob exists outside the Milky Way at a place called the "metagalactic center", and that this galaxy and other galaxies rotate around it.[40] Within mainstream astronomy, the idea of a metagalactic center was once assumed,[41] but has been abandoned because on large scales, the expanding universe has no gravitational center. Another Mormon author has speculated that Kolob is Polaris.[42] Metaphorical exegesis In addition to the literal interpretation of Kolob as an actual heavenly body, the LDS Church has proposed that Kolob is also "a symbol of Jesus Christ", in that like Kolob, Jesus "governs" all the stars and planets similar to the Earth.[43] A metaphorical interpretation suggests that Kolob may be construed as a metaphor for Jesus.[citation needed] Analysis and criticism Origin See also: Criticism of the Book of Abraham § Thomas Dick's A_Philosophy of a Future_State Some Mormon scholars have sought to link the Kolob doctrine to ancient astronomy. Gee, Hamblin & Peterson (2006) have sought to show that this astronomy is more consistent with ancient geocentrism than with 19th-century Copernican and Newtonian astronomy, and thus carries with it the misconceptions of ancient astronomy.[44] For example, in their interpretation, Kolob is the highest and slowest moving of a series of concentric heavenly spheres, which are centered on Earth.[44] These authors believe that Smith, in the 19th century, would not have made this geocentric mistake about Kolob, and therefore, they argue that the Book of Abraham is of ancient origin.[44] John Tvedtnes suggested that "Another possible Hebrew etymology is the Hebrew KLB 'dog' originally pronounced kalb just as it is in Arabic. This is used to denote the star Regulus in Arabic while the Syriac, which is also kalb denotes the star Sirius, the brightest star in the heavens." He also suggested that the Hebraic use of "KLB" as both the word dog and an astronomical term refers to the universality of Sirius as the "Dog Star".[45] According to Fawn Brodie, Smith's idea of Kolob may have been derived from the "throne of God" idea found in Thomas Dick's The Philosophy of a Future State,[46] which Brodie said Smith "had recently been reading" before dictating the Book of Abraham, and which "made a lasting impression" on him.[47] In popular culture "If You Could Hie to Kolob" "If You Could Hie to Kolob"[48] (hie, hurry) is a Latter-day Saint hymn by early Mormon W. W. Phelps. The music is taken from a well-known folk tune known as "Dives and Lazarus". It was originally published in 1842 in Times and Seasons and is hymn number 284 in the LDS Church's current hymnal.[4] The hymn makes only one reference to Kolob, in its first line (from which the hymn's title is derived). It is the only hymn in the current hymnal that mentions Kolob. The hymn reflects doctrines unique to Mormonism, such as the eternal nature of spirit (including man's spirit) and matter. It also conveys doctrines elaborated by Smith, the first Latter-day Saint prophet, about the plurality of gods and eternal progression. The tune was arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1906) for the English Hymnal and can be found in today's hymnals under the name "Kingsfold". The tune is also used in other hymns: "O Sing a Song of Bethlehem", "I Heard the Voice of Jesus", and "We Sing the Mighty Power of God". The tune was also arranged for use in the film Plan 10 from Outer Space. Kolob as the inspiration for Kobol in Battlestar Galactica Some of the elements of the two Battlestar Galactica science-fiction television shows seem to be derived from the Mormon beliefs of its creator and chief producer, Glen A. Larson. In both the original series from 1978, and the 2003 new series, the planet Kobol is the ancient and distant mother world of the entire human race and the planet where life began, and the "Lords of Kobol" are sacred figures to the human race. They are treated as elders or patriarchs in the old series, and versions of the Twelve Olympians in the new series. According to academic Jana Riess, this is one of many plot points Larson has borrowed from Mormonism.[49][50] Original Source: https://rumble.com/v22onme-flds-beliefs-mother-earth-kolob-and-the-sun-inhabitants.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Jeffs Audio Recordings of The FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs, speaks on the topic of the history of the Israelites. Original Source: https://rumble.com/v22of4u-flds-beliefs-history-of-the-isrealites.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Jeffs Audio Recordings of The FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs, speaks on the topic of Moses & The Exodus of The Israelites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Jeffs Audio Recordings of The FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs, speaks on the topic of a Curse on The Lamanites. Original Source: https://rumble.com/v25jtdy-flds-beliefs-the-curse-of-the-lamanites.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Jeffs Audio Recordings of The FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs, speaks on the topic of Christ and his birth. Original Source: https://rumble.com/v27rxik-flds-beliefs-birth-of-the-savior.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Jeffs Audio Recordings of The FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs, speaks on the topic of the signs ahead of Jesus birth. Original Source: https://rumble.com/v26zqas-flds-beliefs-signs-of-christ-birth.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Jeffs Audio Recordings of The FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs, speaks on the topic of Samuel the Lamanite. Original Source: https://rumble.com/v26dhpo-flds-beliefs-samuel-the-lamanite.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Jeffs Audio Recordings of The FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs, speaks on the topic of Alma The Younger. In the Book of Mormon, Alma, the son of Alma (/ˈælmə/) is a Nephite prophet often referred to as Alma the Younger to distinguish him from his father, who is often referred to as Alma the Elder. These appellations, "the Younger" and "the Elder," are not used in the Book of Mormon; they are distinctions made by scholars, useful because both individuals were prominent during the same time period in the Book of Mormon's story and filled a similar cultural and religious role. Alma is the namesake of the Book of Alma. Conversion Part of a series on People in the Book of Mormon Lehi (far right, bearded) bestowing a blessing on his family. At least 21 different figures are visible (inclusive of infants and children). There is a mix of men, women, and children. A man in blue appears to be writing, perhaps transcribing what Lehi is saying. One infant is nursing. Several men have beards. All but the children wear hats or scarf-like head coverings. The fashion and style is reminiscent of nineteenth-century Christian art of Old Testament scenes. There is a vibrancy of color, with clothing in blues, greens, whites, and reds. The family gather in something like a circle, on a green, grassy field. There are tents visible in the background. This is cropped from a full version of the scene. Lehi Blessing His Posterity, C. C. A. Christensen (1890) Prophets and priests Rulers Judges Military leaders Other leaders Others List of Book of Mormon people vte Alma the Younger lived in Zarahemla during the end of the reign of the Nephite King Mosiah. Adherents of Mormonism believe that he was born in 126 BC. As a young man, he, the four sons of Mosiah, and others wanted to destroy the church and actively persecuted its members. After they were visited personally by an angel and rebuked for their actions, Alma fell into an unconscious state where for three days and three nights he lay unable to move until he felt within that he had been forgiven of his sins. He later recounted that he had experienced a vision during unconsciousness, in which he renounced his behavior against the church and subsequently received a glimpse of God sitting on his throne (Alma 36:12–22). He and those who persecuted church members with him abdicated their role as persecutors and became followers of Christ.[1] Chief judge and high priest Alma the Younger subsequently became the first elected chief judge of the Nephites as well as their religious leader. When Amlici leads his followers in an insurrection against Nephite government, Alma as chief judge serves also as military commander and suppresses the Amlicites in the Amlicite Civil War.[2] Ministry He observed that the Nephites of the church were becoming increasingly wicked, proud, disdainful of outsiders and neglectful toward the poor and needy (Alma 4:11–12). When the "unbelievers" began to follow their example, Alma feared the entire people were on the path to self-destruction (Alma 4:11). He resigned his post as chief judge and began traveling from city to city to preach to the Nephites. He began in Zarahemla, where his efforts were successful. A thorough purge of the church leadership and membership took place, with those former insiders and leaders who refused to relinquish their pride being "rejected, and their names blotted out" (Alma 6:3). Alma moved on to the cities of Gideon and Melek, where his call to humility was also well received. From Melek he traveled three days journey north to Ammonihah, whose inhabitants proved much more hardened than those of the previous three cities.[3] In Ammonihah the people were very wicked. They considered themselves superior to outsiders, especially the Lamanites, and gloried in the strength of their city, which they considered indestructible. According to Alma chapter 9, Satan held such control over them that they would not listen to Alma. While trying to speak to them he was abused and thrown out of the city. Commanded by an angel to return, Alma slipped back into the city through a different route from the south. There he met Amulek, a lapsed believer (Alma 10:5-6) of some social prominence who fed Alma and housed him for a time. In the city streets, the two of them joined up and preached to the people, where they were challenged by a lawyer named Zeezrom. After Amulek had silenced Zeezrom through his teaching and aroused his conscience, Alma took his turn, preaching to the people with similar results. When finished, Alma and Amulek were cast into prison and delivered by a miracle.[4] A repentant Zeezrom eventually joined Alma in his missionary work. Several years later, Alma met up with a man named Korihor, whom the Book of Mormon describes as an anti-Christ. This Korihor tried to lead the Nephites astray. Alma confronted him, confounding his arguments and miraculously removing Korihor's power of speech. The stricken Korihor signaled acknowledgement that he had acted maliciously, knowing all along that he was wrong and bringing destruction upon others. He was reduced to begging and was eventually run down and killed in a city of Nephite dissenters called Zoramites.[5] These same Zoramites were found to practice things that perverted the ways of the Lord. This led Alma to extend his missionary work to these people. While among them, he was most successful with the poor.[6] Alma's final instruction was to his sons, Helaman, Shiblon, and Corianton. He gave each separate lessons, and finally gave the records of the church to Helaman. He then departed, in the 19th year of the reign of the judges (or 73 BC) as if to go to Melek, but was never heard from again. Both Mormon and Helaman believed that he was taken up like Moses of old, and buried by the Lord.[7] Descendants The Book of Mormon narrative describes several of Alma's notable descendants as shown in the following family tree: Alma the Elder Alma the Younger Helaman Shiblon Corianton Helaman Son of Helaman Nephi Son of Helaman Lehi Son of Helaman Nephi the Disciple Timothy Son of Nephi Nephi Son of Nephi the Disciple Amos Son of Nephi Amos Son of Amos Ammaron Son of Amos Intertextuality Alma's conversion is reminiscent of that of Saul of Tarsus, or Paul the Apostle, in the New Testament.[8] Both persecute the Christian church, abruptly encounter divine figures (Jesus appears to Saul; an angel confronts Alma) that physically incapacitate them, and open physically recovering subsequently convert and commit to Christianity.[9] Literary critic Michael Austin explains that by coexisting, these stories "encourage [readers] to universalize the possibility of conversion" and focus on the role of grace in Christian life.[10] Original Source: https://rumble.com/v25849e-flds-beliefs-alma-the-younger.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Jeffs Audio Recordings of The FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs, speaks on the topic of Christ in the Americas. Original Source: https://rumble.com/v28wlay-flds-beliefs-signs-of-christ-death-in-america.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Jeffs Audio Recordings of The FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs, speaks on the topic on The Death of Christ. Original Source: https://rumble.com/v28teue-flds-beliefs-christ-death.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Jeffs Audio Recordings of The FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs, speaks on the topic of Judas Iscariot and Lazarus of Bethany. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazarus_of_Bethany Judas Iscariot (/ˈdʒuːdəs ɪˈskæriət/; Biblical Greek: Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης Ioúdas Iskariṓtēs; Hebrew: יהודה איש קריות Yəhūda ʾĪš Qǝrīyyōṯ; died c. 30 – c. 33 AD) was—according to Christianity's four canonical gospels—a first-century Jewish man[1] who became a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. Judas betrayed Jesus to the Sanhedrin in the Garden of Gethsemane by kissing him on the cheek and addressing him as "master" to reveal his identity in the darkness to the crowd who had come to arrest him in exchange for 30 pieces of silver.[2] Like Brutus, his name is often used synonymously with betrayal or treason. The Gospel of Mark gives no motive for Judas's betrayal but does present Jesus predicting it at the Last Supper, an event also described in all the other gospels. The Gospel of Matthew 26:15 states that Judas committed the betrayal in exchange for thirty pieces of silver. The Gospel of Luke 22:3 and the Gospel of John 13:27 suggest that he was possessed by Satan. According to Matthew 27:1–10, after learning that Jesus was to be crucified, Judas attempted to return the money he had been paid for his betrayal to the chief priests and hanged himself.[3] The priests used the money to buy a field to bury strangers in, which was called the "Field of Blood" because it had been bought with blood money. The Book of Acts 1:18 quotes Peter as saying that Judas used the money to buy the field himself and, he "[fell] headlong... burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out." His place among the Twelve Apostles was later filled by Matthias. Due to his notorious role in all the gospel narratives, Judas remains a controversial figure in Christian history. His betrayal is seen as setting in motion the events that led to Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection, which, according to traditional Christian theology brought salvation to humanity. The Gnostic Gospel of Judas—rejected by the proto-orthodox Church as heretical—portrays Judas's actions as done in obedience to instructions given to him by Jesus, and that he alone amongst the disciples knew Jesus's true teachings. Since the Middle Ages, Judas has sometimes been portrayed as a personification of the Jewish people, and his betrayal has been used to justify Christian antisemitism.[4] Historicity Although Judas Iscariot's historical existence is generally widely accepted among secular historians,[5][6][7][8] this relative consensus has not gone entirely unchallenged.[6] The earliest possible allusion to Judas comes from the First Epistle to the Corinthians 11:23–24, in which Paul the Apostle does not mention Judas by name[9][10] but uses the passive voice of the Greek word paradídōmi (παραδίδωμι), which most Bible translations render as "was betrayed":[9][10] "...the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread..."[9] Nonetheless, some biblical scholars argue that the word paradídōmi should be translated as "was handed over".[9][10] This translation could still refer to Judas,[9][10] but it could also instead refer to God metaphorically "handing Jesus over" to the Romans.[9] In his book Antisemitism and Modernity (2006), the Jewish scholar Hyam Maccoby suggests that, in the New Testament, the name "Judas" was constructed as an attack on the Judaeans or on the Judaean religious establishment held responsible for executing Jesus.[11][12] In his book The Sins of Scripture (2009), John Shelby Spong concurs with this argument,[13][14] insisting, "The whole story of Judas has the feeling of being contrived ... The act of betrayal by a member of the twelve disciples is not found in the earliest Christian writings. Judas is first placed into the Christian story by the Gospel of Mark (3:19), who wrote in the early 70s CE."[13] Most scholars reject these arguments for non-historicity,[7][15][16][17] noting that there is nothing in the gospels to associate Judas with Judeans except his name, which was an extremely common one for Jewish men during the first century,[15][18][10] and that numerous other figures named "Judas" are mentioned throughout the New Testament, none of whom are portrayed negatively.[15][18][10] Positive figures named Judas mentioned in the New Testament include the prophet Judas Barsabbas (Acts 15:22–33), Jesus's brother Jude (Mark 6:3; Matt 13:55; Jude 1), and the apostle Judas the son of James (Luke 6:14–16; Acts 1:13; John 14:22).[15] Life Name and background Judas Iscariot (between 1886 and 1894) by James Tissot The name "Judas" (Ὶούδας) is a Greek rendering of the Hebrew name Judah (יהודה, Yehûdâh, Hebrew for "praise or praised"), which was an extremely common name for Jewish men during the first century AD, due to the renowned hero Judas Maccabeus.[18][10] Consequently, numerous other figures with this name are mentioned throughout the New Testament.[15][18][10] In the Gospel of Mark 3:13–19, which was written in the mid-60s or early 70s AD, Judas Iscariot is the only apostle named "Judas".[10] Matthew 10:2–4 shares this portrayal.[10] The Gospel of Luke 6:12–19, however, replaces the apostle whom Mark and Matthew call "Thaddeus" with "Judas son of James".[10] Peter Stanford suggests that this renaming may represent an effort by the author of the Gospel of Luke to create a "good Judas" in contrast to the betrayer Judas Iscariot.[10] Judas's epithet "Iscariot" (Ὶσκάριωθ or Ὶσκαριώτης), which distinguishes him from the other people named "Judas" in the gospels, is usually thought to be a Greek rendering of the Hebrew phrase איש־קריות, (Κ-Qrîyôt), meaning "the man from Kerioth".[18][10][19] This interpretation is supported by the statement in the Gospel of John 6:71 that Judas was "the son of Simon Iscariot".[10] Nonetheless, this interpretation of the name is not fully accepted by all scholars.[18][10] One of the most popular alternative explanations holds that "Iscariot" (ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ, 'Skaryota' in Syriac Aramaic, per the Peshitta text) may be a corruption of the Latin word sicarius, meaning "dagger man",[18][10][20][21] which referred to a member of the Sicarii (סיקריים in Aramaic), a group of Jewish rebels who were known for committing acts of terrorism in the 40s and 50s AD by assassinating people in crowds using long knives hidden under their cloaks.[18][10] This interpretation is problematic, however, because there is nothing in the gospels to associate Judas with the Sicarii,[10] and there is no evidence that the cadre existed during the 30s AD when Judas was alive.[22][10] A possibility advanced by Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg is that "Iscariot" means "the liar" or "the false one", from the Hebrew איש-שקרים. C. C. Torrey suggests instead the Aramaic form שְׁקַרְיָא or אִשְׁקַרְיָא, with the same meaning.[23][24] Stanford rejects this, arguing that the gospel writers follow Judas's name with the statement that he betrayed Jesus, so it would be redundant for them to call him "the false one" before immediately stating that he was a traitor.[10] Some have proposed that the word derives from an Aramaic word meaning "red color", from the root סקר.[25] Another hypothesis holds that the word derives from one of the Aramaic roots סכר or סגר. This would mean "to deliver", based on the Septuagint rendering of Isaiah 19:4—a theory advanced by J. Alfred Morin.[24] The epithet could also be associated with the manner of Judas's death, hanging. This would mean Iscariot derives from a kind of Greek-Aramaic hybrid: אִסְכַּרְיוּתָא, Iskarioutha, meaning "chokiness" or "constriction". This might indicate that the epithet was applied posthumously by the remaining disciples, but Joan E. Taylor has argued that it was a descriptive name given to Judas by Jesus, since other disciples such as Simon Peter/Cephas (Kephas "rock") were also given such names.[24] Role as an apostle Calling of the Apostles (1481) by Domenico Ghirlandaio Although the canonical gospels frequently disagree on the names of some of the minor apostles,[26] all four of them list Judas Iscariot as one of them.[26][10] The Synoptic Gospels state that Jesus sent out "the twelve" (including Judas) with power over unclean spirits and with a ministry of preaching and healing: Judas clearly played an active part in this apostolic ministry alongside the other eleven.[27] However, in the Gospel of John, Judas's outlook was differentiated—many of Jesus's disciples abandoned him because of the difficulty of accepting his teachings, and Jesus asked the twelve if they would also leave him. Simon Peter spoke for the twelve: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life," but Jesus observed then that despite the fact that he himself had chosen the twelve, one of them (unnamed by Jesus, but identified by the narrator) was "a devil" who would betray him.[28] One of the best-attested and most reliable statements made by Jesus in the gospels comes from the Gospel of Matthew 19:28, in which Jesus tells his apostles: "in the new world, when the Son of Man shall sit on his glorious throne, you will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the Twelve Tribes of Israel."[26] New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman concludes, "This is not a tradition that was likely to have been made up by a Christian later, after Jesus's death—since one of these twelve had abandoned his cause and betrayed him. No one thought that Judas Iscariot would be seated on a glorious throne in the Kingdom of God. That saying, therefore appears to go back to Jesus, and indicates, then, that he had twelve close disciples, whom he predicted would reign in the coming Kingdom."[26] A 16th century fresco depicting Judas being paid the 30 pieces of silver Matthew directly states that Judas betrayed Jesus for a bribe of "thirty pieces of silver"[29][30] by identifying him with a kiss—"the kiss of Judas"—to arresting soldiers of the High Priest Caiaphas, who then turned Jesus over to Pontius Pilate's soldiers. Mark's Gospel states that the chief priests were looking for a way to arrest Jesus. They decided not to do so during the feast [of the Passover], since they were afraid that people would riot;[31] instead, they chose the night before the feast to arrest him. According to Luke's account, Satan entered Judas at this time.[32] According to the account in the Gospel of John, Judas carried the disciples' money bag or box (γλωσσόκομον, glōssokomon),[33] but the Gospel of John makes no mention of the thirty pieces of silver as a fee for betrayal. The evangelist comments in John 12:5–6 that Judas spoke fine words about giving money to the poor, but the reality was "not that he cared for the poor, but [that] he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it." However, in John 13:27–30, when Judas left the gathering of Jesus and his disciples with betrayal in mind,[34] some [of the disciples] thought that Judas might have been leaving to buy supplies or on a charitable errand. Ehrman argues that Judas's betrayal "is about as historically certain as anything else in the tradition",[5][18] pointing out that the betrayal is independently attested in the Gospel of Mark, in the Gospel of John, and in the Book of Acts.[5][18] Ehrman also contends that it is highly unlikely that early Christians would have made up the story of Judas's betrayal, since it reflects poorly on Jesus's judgment in choosing him as an apostle.[5][35] Nonetheless, Ehrman argues that what Judas actually told the authorities was not Jesus's location, but rather Jesus's secret teaching that he was the Messiah.[5] This, he holds, explains why the authorities did not try to arrest Jesus prior to Judas's betrayal.[5] John P. Meier sums up the historical consensus, stating, "We only know two basic facts about [Judas]: (1) Jesus chose him as one of the Twelve, and (2) he handed over Jesus to the Jerusalem authorities, thus precipitating Jesus's execution."[36] Death 16th-century fresco from Tarzhishte Monastery, Strupets, Bulgaria, showing Judas hanging himself as described in Matthew 27:1–10 Many different accounts of Judas's death have survived from antiquity, both within and outside the New Testament.[37][38] Matthew 27:1–10 states that after learning that Jesus was to be crucified, Judas was overcome by remorse and attempted to return the 30 pieces of silver to the priests, but they would not accept them because they were blood money, so he threw them on the ground and left. Afterwards, he committed suicide by hanging himself[39] according to Mosaic law (Deuteronomy 21:22–23[40]). The priests then used the money to buy a potter's field, which became known as Akeldama (חקל דמא – khakel dama) – the Field of Blood – because it had been bought with blood money.[39] Acts 1:18 states that Judas used the money to buy a field,[39][41] and "[fell] headlong... burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out."[39] In this account, Judas's death is apparently by accident,[39] and he shows no signs of remorse.[39] The early Church Father Papias of Hierapolis records in his Expositions of the Sayings of the Lord (which was probably written around 100 AD) that Judas was afflicted by God's wrath;[42][43] his body became so enormously bloated that he could not pass through a street with buildings on either side.[42][43] His face became so swollen that a doctor could not even identify the location of his eyes using an optical instrument.[42] Judas's genitals became enormously swollen and oozed with pus and worms.[42] Finally, he killed himself on his own land by pouring out his innards onto the ground,[42][43] which stank so horribly that, even in Papias's own time a century later, people still could not pass the site without holding their noses.[42][43] This story was well known among Christians in antiquity[43] and was often told in competition with the two conflicting stories from the New Testament.[43] According to the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, which was probably written in the fourth century AD, Judas was overcome with remorse[44] and went home to tell his wife, who was roasting a chicken on a spit over a charcoal fire, that he was going to kill himself, because he knew Jesus would rise from the dead and, when he did, he would punish him.[44] Judas's wife laughed and told him that Jesus could no more rise from the dead than he could resurrect the chicken she was cooking.[37] Immediately, the chicken was restored to life and began to crow.[42] Judas then ran away and hanged himself.[42] In the apocryphal Gospel of Judas, Judas has a vision of the disciples stoning and persecuting him.[45] The discrepancy between the two different accounts of Judas's death in Matthew 27:1–10 and Acts 1:18 has proven to be a serious challenge to those who support the idea of Biblical inerrancy.[44][43] This problem was one of the points leading C. S. Lewis, for example, to reject the view "that every statement in Scripture must be historical truth".[46] Nonetheless, various attempts at harmonization have been suggested.[43] Generally they have followed literal interpretations such as that of Augustine of Hippo, which suggest that these simply describe different aspects of the same event—that Judas hanged himself in the field, and the rope eventually snapped and the fall burst his body open,[47][48] or that the accounts of Acts and Matthew refer to two different transactions.[49] Some have taken the descriptions as figurative: that the "falling prostrate" was Judas in anguish,[a] and the "bursting out of the bowels" is pouring out emotion.[b] Modern scholars reject these approaches.[50][51][52] Arie W. Zwiep states "neither story was meant to be read in light of the other"[43] and "the integrity of both stories as complete narratives in themselves is seriously disrespected when the two separate stories are being conflated into a third, harmonized version."[43] David A. Reed argues that the Matthew account is a midrashic exposition that allows the author to present the event as a fulfillment of prophetic passages from the Old Testament. They argue that the author adds imaginative details such as the thirty pieces of silver, and the fact that Judas hangs himself, to an earlier tradition about Judas's death.[53] Matthew's description of the death as fulfilment of a prophecy "spoken through Jeremiah the prophet" has caused difficulties, since it does not clearly correspond to any known version of the Book of Jeremiah but does appear to refer to a story from the Book of Zechariah[54] which describes the return of a payment of thirty pieces of silver.[55] Even writers such as Jerome and John Calvin conclude that this was obviously an error.[c] Evangelical theologian James R. White has suggested the misattribution arises from a supposed Jewish practice of using the name of a major prophet to refer to the whole content of the scroll group, including books written by minor prophets placed in the same grouping.[56] Some scholars have suggested that the writer may also have had a passage from Jeremiah in mind,[57] such as chapters 18:1–4 and 19:1–13 which refer to a potter's jar and a burial place, and chapter 32:6–15 which refers to a burial place and an earthenware jar.[58] Raymond Brown suggests "the most plausible [explanation] is that Matthew 27:9–10 is presenting a mixed citation with words taken both from Zechariah and Jeremiah, and ... he refers to that combination by one name. Jeremiah 18–9 concerns a potter (18:2–; 19:1), a purchase (19:1), the Valley of Hinnom (where the Field of Blood is traditionally located, 19:2), 'innocent blood' (19:4), and the renaming of a place for burial (19:6, 11); and Jer 32:6–5 tells of the purchase of a field with silver."[59] Classicist Glenn W. Most suggests that Judas's death in Acts can be interpreted figuratively, writing that πρηνὴς γενόμενος should be translated as saying his body went prone, rather than falling headlong, and the spilling of the entrails is meant to invoke the imagery of dead snakes and their burst-open bellies. Hence Luke was stating that Judas took the body posture of a snake and died like one.[60] However, the Catholic biblical scholar John L. McKenzie states "This passage probably echoes the fate of the wicked in..." the Deuterocanonical book Wisdom of Solomon 4:19:[61] "... [the Lord] will dash them speechless to the ground, and shake them from the foundations; they will be left utterly dry and barren, and they will suffer anguish, and the memory of them will perish."[62] Betrayal of Jesus The Betrayal: Peter raises his sword; the soldiers seize Jesus after Judas has given the kiss of betrayal – note the bag slung behind his back (containing 30 pieces of silver?). Illumination from a western manuscript, c. 1504 The Kiss of Judas Iscariot, coloured engraving, 15th century. There are several explanations as to why Judas betrayed Jesus.[63] In the earliest account, in the Gospel of Mark, when he goes to the chief priests to betray Jesus, he is offered money as a reward, but it is not clear that money is his motivation.[64] In the Gospel of Matthew account, on the other hand, he asks what they will pay him for handing Jesus over.[65] In the Gospel of Luke[66] and the Gospel of John,[67] the devil enters into Judas, causing him to offer to betray Jesus. The Gospel of John account has Judas complaining that money has been spent on expensive perfumes to anoint Jesus which could have been spent on the poor, but adds that he was the keeper of the apostles' purse and used to steal from it.[68] According to some[who?], Judas thought he could get the money for betraying Jesus without Jesus being killed as he would escape like he had done many times before.[69][70][71][72] One suggestion has been that Judas expected Jesus to overthrow Roman rule of Judea. In this view, Judas is a disillusioned disciple betraying Jesus not so much because he loved money, but because he loved his country and thought Jesus had failed it.[63] Another is that Jesus was causing unrest likely to increase tensions with the Roman authorities and they thought he should be restrained until after the Passover, when everyone had gone back home and the commotion had died down.[73][verification needed] The gospels suggest that Jesus foresaw (John 6:64, Matthew 26:25) and allowed Judas's betrayal (John 13:27–28).[74] One explanation is that Jesus allowed the betrayal because it would allow God's plan to be fulfilled. Another is that regardless of the betrayal, Jesus was ultimately destined for crucifixion.[75] In April 2006, a Coptic papyrus manuscript titled the Gospel of Judas from 200 AD was translated, suggesting that Jesus told Judas to betray him,[76] although some scholars question the translation.[77][78] Nevertheless, the Gospel of Judas is an apocryphal Gnostic gospel composed in the 2nd century, and some scholars agree that it contains no real historical information.[79] Judas is the subject of philosophical writings. Origen of Alexandria, in his Commentary on John's Gospel, reflects on Judas's interactions with the other apostles and Jesus's confidence in him prior to his betrayal.[80] Other philosophical reflections on Judas include The Problem of Natural Evil by Bertrand Russell and "Three Versions of Judas", a short story by Jorge Luis Borges. They allege various problematic ideological contradictions with the discrepancy between Judas's actions and his eternal punishment. Bruce Reichenbach argues that if Jesus foresees Judas's betrayal, then the betrayal is not an act of free will[81] and therefore should not be punishable. Conversely, it is argued that just because the betrayal was foretold, it does not prevent Judas from exercising his own free will in this matter.[82] Other scholars argue that Judas acted in obedience to God's will.[83] The gospels suggest that Judas is apparently bound up with the fulfillment of God's purposes (John 13:18, John 17:12, Matthew 26:23–25, Luke 22:21–22, Matt 27:9–10, Acts 1:16, Acts 1:20),[74] yet "woe is upon him", and he would "have been better unborn" (Matthew 26:23–25). The difficulty inherent in the saying is its paradox: if Judas had not been born, the Son of Man would apparently no longer do "as it is written of him." The consequence of this apologetic approach is that Judas's actions come to be seen as necessary and unavoidable, yet leading to condemnation.[84] Another explanation is that Judas's birth and betrayal did not necessitate the only way the Son of Man could have suffered and been crucified. The earliest churches believed "as it is written of him" to be prophetic, fulfilling Scriptures such as that of the suffering servant in Isaiah 52–53 and the righteous one in Psalm 22, which do not require betrayal (at least by Judas) as the means to the suffering. Regardless of any necessity, Judas is held responsible for his act (Mark 14:21; Luke 22:22; Matt 26:24).[85] In his 1965 book The Passover Plot, British New Testament scholar Hugh J. Schonfield suggests that the crucifixion of Christ was a conscious re-enactment of Biblical prophecy and that Judas acted with the full knowledge and consent of Jesus in "betraying" him to the authorities. The book has been variously described as "factually groundless",[86] based on "little data" and "wild suppositions",[87] "disturbing", and "tawdry".[88] Judas's Eternal Destination The nature of Judas's eternal destination has been a matter of debate within Christian theology. Some have argued that Judas was damned due to the despair which caused him to subsequently commit suicide.[89] This is confirmed in Cornelius à Lapide's famous commentary, in which he writes that, by hanging himself, "Judas then added to his former sin the further sin of despair. It was not a more heinous sin, but one more fatal to himself, as thrusting him down to the very depths of hell. He might, on his repentance, have asked (and surely have obtained) pardon of Christ. But, like Cain, he despaired of forgiveness."[90] The concept that Judas despaired of God's forgiveness is reiterated by Rev. A. Jones in his contribution to a mid-20th century Catholic commentary: "Filled with remorse (not true 'repentance' because empty of hope) [Judas] sought to dissociate himself from the affair..." before committing suicide (cf. Matthew 27:3–5).[91] However, some believed that Judas "hanged himself thinking to precede Jesus into hades and there to plead for his own salvation."[69] Protestant theologians Erasmus believed that Judas was free to change his intention, but Martin Luther argued in rebuttal that Judas's will was immutable. John Calvin states that Judas was predestined to damnation but writes on the question of Judas's guilt: "surely in Judas's betrayal, it will be no more right, because God himself willed that his son be delivered up and delivered him up to death, to ascribe the guilt of the crime to God than to transfer the credit for redemption to Judas."[92] Karl Daub, in his book Judas Ischariot, writes that Judas should be considered "an incarnation of the devil" for whom "mercy and blessedness are alike impossible."[93] The Geneva Bible contains several additional notes concerning Judas Iscariot within its commentaries. In the Gospel of Matthew, after the Sanhedrin condemns Jesus Christ to death, are added the comments concerning Judas: "...late repentance brings desperation" (cf. Mat. 27:3), and "Although he abhor his sins, yet is he not displeased there with, but despairs in God's mercies, and seeks his own destruction" (cf. Mat. 27:4). Furthermore, within Acts of the Apostles is the comment, "Perpetual infamy is the reward of all such as by unlawfully gotten goods buy anything" when Judas purchased the "Field of Blood" with the 30 pieces of silver (cf Acts 1:18).[94] Obviously, the commentator had no doubt about the fate of Judas. Catholic doctrine The Catholic Church took no specific view concerning the damnation of Judas during Vatican II; speaking in generalities, that Council stated, "[We] must be constantly vigilant so that ... we may not be ordered to go into the eternal fire (cf. Mk. 25, 41) like wicked and slothful servants (cf. Mk. 25, 26), into the exterior darkness where 'there will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth' (Mt. 22, 13 and 25, 30)."[95] The Vatican only proclaims individuals' Eternal Salvation through the Canon of Saints. There is no 'Canon of the Damned.' Thus, there is a school of thought within the Catholic Church that it is unknown whether Judas Iscariot is in Hell; for example, David Endres, writing in The Catholic Telegraph, cites Catechism of the Catholic Church §597 for the inability to make any determination whether Judas is in Hell.[96] However, while that section of the catechism does instruct Catholics that the personal sin of Judas is unknown but to God, that statement is within the context that the Jewish people have no collective responsibility for Jesus's death: "... the Jews should not be spoken of as rejected or accursed as if this followed from holy Scripture."[97] This seems to be defining a different doctrinal point (i.e., the relationship of Catholics with Jewish people), rather than making any sort of decision concerning Judas's particular judgment. However, Vatican II was a pastoral rather than dogmatic council [dubious] and Christopher J. Malloy (assistant professor of theology at the Constantin College of Liberal Arts at University of Dallas) states that Ludwig Ott's reference book Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma should be regarded, "... as being current on the infallible teachings of the Church taught by the extraordinary Magisterium."[98] That reference book identifies Judas Iscariot as an example of a person receiving punishment as a particular judgment.[99] The Catechism of the Council of Trent, which mentions Judas Iscariot several times, wrote that he possessed "motive unworthy" when he entered the priesthood and was thus sentenced to "eternal perdition."[100] Furthermore, Judas is given as an example of a sinner that will "despair of mercy" because he looked "...on God as an avenger of crime and not, also, as a God of clemency and mercy."[101] All of the council's decrees were confirmed by Pope Pius IV on 28 January 1564.[102] Thus, an ecumenical council, confirmed by the Magisterium of a Pope, affirmed that Judas Iscariot was condemned to Hell. The Council of Trent continued the tradition of the early Church fathers, such as Pope Leo I ("...had [Judas] not thus denied His omnipotence, he would have obtained His mercy..."[103]), and Pope Gregory I ("The godless betrayer, shutting his mind to all these things, turned upon himself, not with a mind to repent, but in a madness of self destruction: ... even in the act of dying sinned unto the increase of his own eternal punishment."[104]) Also, the Decree of Justification, promulgated during Session VI of the Council of Trent, states in Cannon 6, "If anyone shall say that it is not in the power of man to make his ways evil, but that God produces evil as well as the good works, not only by permission, but also properly and of Himself, so that the betrayal of Judas is not less His own proper work than the vocation of Paul; let him be anathema."[105] Here, the Council is making it clear that Judas exercised his own free will to commit the betrayal of Jesus Christ, rather than being predestined by God. Also, by contrasting the actions of Judas to those of Paul, the implication is that Judas is the opposite of a saint (i.e., damned). Liturgical institutions are part of the expressions of Sacred Tradition of the Catholic Church.[106] Within the 1962 Roman Missal for the Tridentine Latin Mass, the Collect for Holy Thursday states: "O God, from whom Judas received the punishment of his guilt, and the thief the reward of his confession ... our Lord Jesus Christ gave to each a different recompense according to his merits..."[107] In his commentary on the Liturgical Year, Abbot Gueranger, O.S.B. states that the Collect reminds Catholics that both Judas and the good thief are guilty, "...and yet, the one is condemned, the other pardoned."[108] Thus, the Tridentine Latin Mass, as currently celebrated, continues to foster the tradition within the Catholic Church that Judas was punished. Other In the Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri, Judas is punished for all eternity in the ninth circle of Hell: in it, he is devoured by Lucifer, alongside Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus (leaders of the group of senators that assassinated Julius Caesar). The innermost region of the ninth circle is reserved for traitors of masters and benefactors and is named Judecca, after Judas. In his 1969 book Theologie der Drei Tage (English translation: Mysterium Paschale), Hans Urs von Balthasar emphasizes that Jesus was not betrayed but surrendered and delivered up by himself, since the meaning of the Greek word used by the New Testament, paradidonai (παραδιδόναι, Latin: tradere), is unequivocally "handing over of self".[109][110] In the "Preface to the Second Edition", Balthasar takes a cue from Revelation 13:8[111] (Vulgate: agni qui occisus est ab origine mundi, NIV: "the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world") to extrapolate the idea that God as "immanent Trinity" can endure and conquer godlessness, abandonment, and death in an "eternal super-kenosis".[112][113] ). A Catholic priest, Richard Neuhaus, an admitted student of Balthasar, argues that it is unknown if Judas is in Hell, and it is also possible that Hell could be empty.[114] However, French monsignor Léon Cristiani considers that Balthasar and Neuhaus are merely recycling the error of Origenism which includes denying the eternity of Hell "...by a general rehabilitation of the damned, including, apparently, Satan."[115] This error, while not considered a formal heresy, was condemned at a synod in 548 AD, which was subsequently confirmed by Pope Vigilius.[116] Role in apocrypha Judas has been a figure of great interest to esoteric groups, such as many Gnostic sects. Irenaeus records the beliefs of one Gnostic sect, the Cainites, who believed that Judas was an instrument of the Sophia, Divine Wisdom, thus earning the hatred of the Demiurge. His betrayal of Jesus thus was a victory over the materialist world. The Cainites later split into two groups, disagreeing over the ultimate significance of Jesus in their cosmology. Syriac Infancy Gospel The Syriac Infancy Gospel[117] borrows from some of the different versions of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.[118] However, it adds many of its own tales, probably from local legends, including one of Judas. This pseudepigraphic work tells how Judas, as a boy, was possessed by Satan, who caused him to bite himself or anyone else present. In one of these attacks, Judas bit the young Jesus in the side; and, by touching Him, Satan was exorcised. It further states that the side which Judas supposedly bit was the same side that was pierced by the Holy Lance at the Crucifixion.[119] Gospel of Judas First page of the Gospel of Judas (Page 33 of Codex Tchacos) During the 1970s, a Coptic papyrus codex (book) was discovered near Beni Masah, Egypt. It appeared to be a 3rd- or 4th-century-AD copy of a 2nd-century original,[120][121] relating a series of conversations in which Jesus and Judas interact and discuss the nature of the universe from a Gnostic viewpoint. The discovery was given dramatic international exposure in April 2006 when the US National Geographic magazine published a feature article entitled "The Gospel of Judas" with images of the fragile codex and analytical commentary by relevant experts and interested observers (but not a comprehensive translation). The article's introduction stated: "An ancient text lost for 1,700 years says Christ's betrayer was his truest disciple."[122] The article points to some evidence that the original document was extant in the 2nd century: "Around A.D. 180, Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon in what was then Roman Gaul, wrote a massive treatise called Against Heresies [in which he attacked] a 'fictitious history,' which 'they style the Gospel of Judas.'"[123] Before the magazine's edition was circulated, other news media gave exposure to the story, abridging and selectively reporting it.[76] In December 2007, April DeConick asserted that the National Geographic's translation is badly flawed: "For example, in one instance the National Geographic transcription refers to Judas as a 'daimon,' which the society's experts have translated as 'spirit.' However, the universally accepted word for 'spirit' is 'pneuma'—in Gnostic literature "daimon" is always taken to mean 'demon.'"[124] The National Geographic Society responded that "Virtually all issues April D. DeConick raises about translation choices are addressed in footnotes in both the popular and critical editions."[125] In a later review of the issues and relevant publications, critic Joan Acocella questioned whether ulterior intentions had not begun to supersede historical analysis, e.g., whether publication of The Gospel of Judas could be an attempt to roll back ancient anti-semitic imputations. She concluded that the ongoing clash between scriptural fundamentalism and attempts at revision were childish because of the unreliability of the sources. Therefore, she argued, "People interpret, and cheat. The answer is not to fix the Bible but to fix ourselves."[126] Other scholars have questioned the initial translation and interpretation of the Gospel of Judas by the National Geographic team of experts.[77] Gospel of Barnabas See also: Islamic view of Jesus' death According to medieval copies (the earliest copies from the 15th century) of the Gospel of Barnabas it was Judas, not Jesus, who was crucified on the cross. This work states that Judas's appearance was transformed to that of Jesus, when the former, out of betrayal, led the Roman soldiers to arrest Jesus who by then was ascended to the heavens. This transformation of appearance was so identical that the masses, followers of Christ, and even the Mother of Jesus, Mary, initially thought that the one arrested and crucified was Jesus himself. The gospel then mentions that after three days since burial, Judas's body was stolen from his grave, and then the rumors spread of Jesus being risen from the dead. When Jesus was informed in the third heaven about what happened, he prayed to God to be sent back to the earth, and descended and gathered his mother, disciples, and followers, and told them the truth of what happened. He then ascended back to the heavens, and will come back at the end of times as a just king. This gospel is considered by the majority of Christians to be late and pseudepigraphical; however, some academics suggest that it may contain some remnants of an earlier apocryphal work (perhaps Gnostic, Ebionite, or Diatessaronic), redacted to bring it more in line with Islamic doctrine. Some Muslims consider the surviving versions as transmitting a suppressed apostolic original. Some Islamic organizations cite it in support of the Islamic view of Jesus. Representations and symbolism A red-haired Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss in a Spanish paso figure. Although the sanctification of the instruments of the Passion of Jesus (the so-called Arma Christi), that slowly accrued over the course of the Middle Ages in Christian symbolism and art, also included the head and lips of Judas,[127] the term Judas has entered many languages as a synonym for betrayer, and Judas has become the archetype of the traitor in Western art and literature. Judas is given some role in virtually all literature telling the Passion story and appears in numerous modern novels and movies. In the Eastern Orthodox hymns of Holy Wednesday (the Wednesday before Pascha), Judas is contrasted with the woman who anointed Jesus with expensive perfume and washed his feet with her tears. The hymns of Holy Wednesday contrast these two figures, encouraging believers to avoid the example of the fallen disciple and instead to imitate Mary's example of repentance. Also, Wednesday is observed as a day of fasting from meat, dairy products, and olive oil throughout the year in memory of the betrayal of Judas. The prayers of preparation for receiving the Eucharist also make mention of Judas's betrayal: "I will not reveal your mysteries to your enemies, neither like Judas will I betray you with a kiss, but like the thief on the cross I will confess you." Judas Iscariot is often shown with red hair in Spanish culture[128][129][130] and by William Shakespeare.[130][131] The practice is comparable to the Renaissance portrayal of Jews with red hair, which was then regarded as a negative trait and which may have been used to correlate Judas Iscariot with contemporary Jews.[132] In the Church of St. John the Baptist, Yeovil, one stained glass window depicts Judas with a black halo. In paintings depicting the Last Supper, Judas is occasionally depicted with a dark-colored halo (contrasting with the lighter halos of the other apostles) to signify his former status as an apostle. More commonly, however, he is the only one at the table without one. Some church stained-glass windows show him with a dark halo such as in one of the windows of the Church of St John the Baptist, Yeovil. Art and literature Cathédrale Saint-Lazare, Autun. Judas hangs himself Judas is the subject of one of the oldest surviving English ballads, which dates from the 13th century. In the ballad "Judas", the blame for the betrayal of Christ is placed on Judas's sister.[133] One of the most famous depictions of Judas Iscariot and his kiss of betrayal of Jesus is The Taking of Christ by Italian Baroque artist Caravaggio, painted in 1602.[134] Edward Elgar's oratorio, The Apostles, depicts Judas as wanting to force Jesus to declare his divinity and establish the kingdom on earth.[135] In Trial of Christ in Seven Stages (1909) by John Brayshaw Kaye, the author did not accept the idea that Judas intended to betray Christ, and the poem is a defence of Judas, in which he adds his own vision to the biblical account of the story of the trial before the Sanhedrin and Caiaphas.[136] In Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita, Judas is paid by the high priest to testify against Jesus, who had been inciting trouble among the people of Jerusalem. After authorizing the crucifixion, Pilate suffers an agony of regret and turns his anger on Judas, ordering him assassinated. "Tres versiones de Judas" (English title: "Three Versions of Judas") is a short story by Argentine writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges; it was included in Borges's anthology Ficciones, published in 1944, and revolves around the main character's doubts about the canonical story of Judas who instead creates three alternative versions.[137] In The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (2005), a critically acclaimed play by Stephen Adly Guirgis, Judas is given a trial in Purgatory.[138] Original Source: https://rumble.com/v28ogmk-flds-beliefs-lazarus-and-judas-iscariot.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Jeffs Audio Recordings of The FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs, speaks on the topic of Jesus and his Wives. Not to be confused with Disciple (Christianity). "Twelve Apostles" redirects here. For other uses, see Twelve Apostles (disambiguation). For apostles in general, see Apostle. For other uses, see Apostle (disambiguation). The Last Supper, a late 1490s mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci, is a depiction of the last supper of Jesus and his Twelve Apostles on the eve of his crucifixion. Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan Jesus and his Twelve Apostles, fresco with the Chi-Rho symbol ☧, Catacombs of Domitilla, Rome Part of a series on Christianity Principal symbol of Christianity JesusChrist BibleFoundations Theology HistoryTradition Denominations(full list) Related topics GlossaryIndexOutline Christian cross Christianity portal vte In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve), were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament. During the life and ministry of Jesus in the 1st century AD, the apostles were his closest followers and became the primary teachers of the gospel message of Jesus.[1] There is also an Eastern Christian tradition derived from the Gospel of Luke that there were seventy apostles during the time of Jesus' ministry.[2] The commissioning of the Twelve Apostles during the ministry of Jesus is described in the Synoptic Gospels. After his resurrection, Jesus sent eleven of them (as Judas Iscariot by then had died) by the Great Commission to spread his teachings to all nations. In the Pauline epistles, Paul, although not one of the original twelve, described himself as an apostle,[3] saying he was called by the resurrected Jesus himself during his road to Damascus event. He later describes himself as "an apostle to the Gentiles".[4] The period and associated events in timeline of early Christianity during the lifetimes of the twelve apostles is called the Apostolic Age.[5] Names of the 12 disciples of Jesus Christ Simon (also known as Peter) Andrew (Peter's brother) Jacob/James (son of Zebedee and John's brother) John (son of Zebedee and Jacob's brother) Philip (friend of Bartholomew/Nathanael) Bartholomew (friend of Philip, the Gospel of John refers him as Nathanael) Matthew (the publican, or Levi) Thomas (also called Didymus (twin), the translation of his Hebrew name in the Greek Language)[6] Jacob/James (son of Alphaeus to distinguish him from Jacob/James (son of Zebedee)) Simon (the Canaanite) Judas Iscariot (son of Simon Iscariot;[7] the characterization Iscariot is used to distinguish him from Jude, also known as Judas of Jacob) Jude (also Thaddaeus (or Lebbaeus); called "Judas the Zealot" in some translations[8]) Etymology Further information: Apostle § Terminology The Synaxis of the Twelve Apostles. Russian, 14th century, Moscow Museum The term apostle comes from the Greek apóstolos (ἀπόστολος) – formed from the prefix apó- (ἀπό-, 'from') and root stéllō (στέλλω, 'I send, I depart') – originally meaning 'messenger, envoy'. It has, however, a stronger sense than the word messenger, and is closer to a 'delegate'.[9] Biblical narratives Mark 6:7–13 states that Jesus initially sent out these twelve in pairs (cf. Mt 10:5–42, Lk 9:1–6) to towns in Galilee. The text states that their initial instructions were to heal the sick and drive out demons.[9] They are also instructed to "take nothing for their journey, except a staff only: no bread, no wallet, no money in their purse, but to wear sandals, and not put on two tunics," and that if any town rejects them they ought to shake the dust off their feet as they leave, a gesture which some scholars think was meant as a contemptuous threat.[10] Later in the Gospel narratives, the Twelve Apostles are described as having been commissioned to preach the Gospel to "all the nations,"[11] regardless of whether Jew or Gentile.[12] Paul emphasized the important role of the apostles in the church of God when he said that the household of God is "built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone."[13] Calling by Jesus Vocation of the Apostles, a fresco in the Sistine Chapel by Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1481–82 James Tissot, The Exhortation to the Apostles All four canonical Gospels record the circumstances in which some of the disciples were recruited.[14][15][16][17] According to the Gospel of John, Andrew, who was the disciple of John the Baptist, and another unnamed disciple of John the Baptist, traditionally believed to be John, upon hearing the Baptist point out Jesus as the "Lamb of God", followed Jesus and spent the day with him, thus becoming the first two disciples called by Jesus. For this reason the Eastern Orthodox Church honours Andrew with the name Protokletos, which means "the first called".[18] Despite Jesus only briefly requesting that they join him, they are all described as immediately consenting and abandoning their nets to do so. The immediacy of their consent has been viewed as an example of divine power, although this is not stated in the text. Another explanation is that some of the disciples may have heard of Jesus beforehand, as implied by the Gospel of John, which states that Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist, and that he and his brother started following Jesus as soon as Jesus had been baptized.[19] Adriaen van de Venne's Fishing for Souls, oil on panel, 1614 Matthew describes Jesus meeting James and John, also fishermen and brothers, very shortly after recruiting Simon and Andrew. Matthew and Mark identify James and John as sons of Zebedee. Luke adds to Matthew and Mark that James and John worked as a team with Simon and Andrew. Matthew states that at the time of the encounter, James and John were repairing their nets, but readily joined Jesus without hesitation.[20] This parallels the accounts of Mark and Luke, but Matthew implies that the men have also abandoned their father (since he is present in the boat they abandon behind them), and Carter feels this should be interpreted to mean that Matthew's view of Jesus is one of a figure rejecting the traditional patriarchal structure of society, where the father had command over his children; most scholars, however, just interpret it to mean that Matthew intended these two to be seen as even more devoted than the other pair, or that Jesus expected the imminent coming of the kingdom.[21] The Synoptic Gospels go on to describe that later in Jesus' ministry he noticed a tax collector in his booth. The tax collector, called Matthew in Matthew 9:9, and Levi in Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27, is asked by Jesus to become one of his disciples. Matthew/Levi is stated to have accepted and then invited Jesus for a meal with his friends. Tax collectors were seen as villains in Jewish society, and the Pharisees are described as asking Jesus why he is having a meal with such disreputable people. The reply Jesus gave is now well known: "it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."[22] Commissioning of the Twelve Apostles The commissioning of the Twelve Apostles is an episode in the ministry of Jesus that appears in the three Synoptic Gospels. It relates the initial selection of the Twelve Apostles among the disciples of Jesus.[23][24] In the Gospel of Matthew, this event takes place shortly before the miracle of the man with a withered hand. In the gospels of Mark and of Luke, it appears shortly after that miracle.[25] Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him. — Matthew 10:1–4[26] He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve:[b] Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. — Mark 3:13–19[27] One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. — Luke 6:12–16[28] Lists of the Twelve Apostles in the New Testament Monument of Jesus and the Twelve Apostles in Domus Galilaeae, Israel Each of the four listings of apostles in the New Testament[29] indicate that all the apostles were men. The canonical gospels and the book of Acts give varying names of the Twelve Apostles. The list in the Gospel of Luke differs from Matthew and Mark on one point. It lists "Judas, the son of James" instead of "Thaddaeus".[a] All listings appear in three groupings, always with the same four apostles in each group. Each group is always led by the same apostle, although the order of the remaining three names within the group varies. Thus, Peter is always listed first, Philip is always listed fifth, and James, son of Alphaeus is always listed ninth. Judas Iscariot is always listed last. Unlike the Synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of John does not offer a formal list of apostles. Although it refers to "the Twelve",[30] the gospel does not present any elaboration of who these twelve actually were, and the author of the Gospel of John does not mention them all by name. There is also no separation of the terms "apostles" and "disciples" in John. According to the New Testament there were only two pairs of brothers among the Twelve Apostles: Peter and Andrew, the sons of Jonah, as well as James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Since the father of both James, son of Alphaeus and Matthew is named Alphaeus, according to the tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church the two were brothers as well.[31][32] According to the tradition of the Catholic Church based on the writing of the Apostolic Father Papias of Hierapolis the apostles James, son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus were brothers and sons of Alphaeus (named also Clopas) and his wife Mary of Clopas who was the sister of the mother of Jesus.[33] The Golden Legend, compiled by Jacobus de Voragine in the 13th century, adds to the two apostles also Simon the Zealot.[34][35] Gospel of Matthew[36] Gospel of Mark[27] Gospel of Luke[37] Gospel of John Acts of the Apostles[38] Simon ("also known as Peter") Simon ("to whom he gave the name Peter") Simon ("whom he named Peter") Simon Peter[7] / Cephas "which is translated Peter"[39] Peter Andrew ("his [Peter's] brother") Andrew Andrew ("his [Peter's] brother") Andrew ("Simon Peter's brother") Andrew James ("son of Zebedee") James ("son of Zebedee") / one of the "Boanerges" James one of the "sons of Zebedee" James John ("his [James's] brother") John ("brother of James") / one of the "Boanerges" John one of the "sons of Zebedee" / the "disciple whom Jesus loved"[b] John Philip Philip Philip Philip Philip Bartholomew Bartholomew Bartholomew Nathanael Bartholomew Thomas Thomas Thomas Thomas ("also called Didymus")[40] Thomas Matthew ("the publican") Matthew / Levi Matthew / Levi not mentioned Matthew James ("son of Alphaeus") James ("son of Alphaeus") James ("son of Alphaeus") not mentioned James ("son of Alphaeus") Thaddaeus (or "Lebbaeus"); called "Judas the Zealot" in some translations[8] Thaddaeus Judas ("son of James," referred to as brother in some translations) Judas ("not Iscariot")[41] Judas ("son of James," referred to as brother in some translations) Simon ("the Canaanite") Simon ("the Cananaean") Simon ("who was called the Zealot") not mentioned Simon ("the Zealot") Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot Judas ("son of Simon Iscariot")[7] (Judas replaced by Matthias) Inner circle among the Twelve Apostles Peter, James son of Zebedee, and James's brother John formed an informal triumvirate among the Twelve Apostles in the Gospels. Jesus invited them to be the only apostles present on three notable occasions during his public ministry: the Raising of Jairus' daughter,[42] the Transfiguration of Jesus,[43] and the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.[44] At the time of the Early Christian Church as a leading trio among the apostles were recognized Peter, John and James, brother of Jesus, known collectively as the three Pillars of the Church.[45][46] According to the tradition of the Catholic Church based on the writing of Jerome this James is identified with the apostle James, son of Alphaeus.[47][48] Two of the leading triumvirate, Peter and John, were additionally sent by Jesus into the city to make preparation for the final Passover meal (the Last Supper),[49] and were also the only two sent by the collective apostles to visit the newly converted believers in Samaria.[50] If John is to be identified with the disciple whom Jesus loved, then it was also only Peter and John who followed behind Jesus after his capture in the Garden of Gethsemane,[51] and who ran to the empty tomb after Mary Magdalene bore witness to the resurrection of Jesus.[52][53] Replacement of Judas Iscariot Main article: Matthias the Apostle After Judas betrayed Jesus (and then in guilt committed suicide before Christ's resurrection, one Gospel recounts), the apostles numbered eleven. The group is referred to as "the eleven" in Mark 16:14 (part of the "longer ending" of Mark) and in Luke 24:9,33. In Acts 1:26 they are "the eleven apostles", in Matthew 28:16 they are "the eleven disciples". When Jesus had been taken up from them, in preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit that he had promised them, Peter advised the brethren: Judas, who was guide to those who took Jesus... For he was numbered with us, and received his portion in this ministry... For it is written in the book of Psalms, "Let his habitation be made desolate, Let no one dwell therein", and, "Let another take his office"... So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day he was taken up from us, must become with us a witness to his resurrection. — Acts 1:15–22 So, between the Ascension of Jesus and the day of Pentecost, the remaining apostles elected a twelfth apostle by casting lots, a traditional Israelite way to determine the will of God (see Proverbs 16:33). The lot fell upon Matthias. Paul the Apostle, in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, appears to give the first historical reference to the Twelve Apostles: "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve" (1 Cor 15:3–5). Other apostles mentioned in the New Testament Person called apostle Where in Scripture Notes Barnabas Acts 14:14[54] — James the Just, the brother of Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:7, Galatians 1:19 — Andronicus and Junia Romans 16:7[55] Paul states that Andronicus and Junia were "of note among the apostles." This has been traditionally interpreted in one of two ways: That Andronicus and Junia were "of note among the apostles," that is, distinguished apostles.[56] That Andronicus and Junia were "well known among the apostles" meaning "well known to the apostles" If the first view is correct then Paul may be referring to a female apostle[57][58] – the Greek name (Iounian) is in the accusative and could be either Junia (a woman) or Junias (a man).[59] Later manuscripts add accents to make it unambiguously Junias; however, while "Junia" was a common name, "Junias" was not,[58] and both options are favored by different Bible translations. In the second view, it is believed that Paul is simply making mention of the outstanding character of these two people which was acknowledged by the apostles. Historically it has been virtually impossible to tell which of the two views were correct. The second view, in recent years, has been defended from a scholarly perspective by Daniel Wallace and Michael Burer.[60] The seventy disciples Main article: Seventy disciples The "seventy disciples" or "seventy-two disciples" (known in the Eastern Christian traditions as the "Seventy Apostles") were early emissaries of Jesus mentioned in the Gospel of Luke.[61] According to Luke, the only gospel in which they appear, Jesus appointed them and sent them out in pairs on a specific mission which is detailed in the text. In Western Christianity, they are usually referred to as disciples,[62] whereas in Eastern Christianity they are usually referred to as apostles.[63] Using the original Greek words, both titles are descriptive, as an apostle is one sent on a mission (the Greek uses the verb form: apesteilen) whereas a disciple is a student, but the two traditions differ on the scope of the words apostle and disciple. Paul, Apostle of the Gentiles Part of a series of articles on Paul in the Bible Pauline literature (Authorship) Related literature See also vte Main article: Paul the Apostle Although not one of the apostles commissioned during the life of Jesus, Paul, a Jew also named Saul,[64] claimed a special commission from the post-ascension Jesus as "the apostle of the Gentiles",[65] to spread the gospel message after his conversion. In his writings, the epistles to Christian churches throughout the Levant, Paul did not restrict the term "apostle" to the twelve, and often refers to his mentor Barnabas as an apostle.[5] In his writings, Paul, although not one of the original twelve, described himself as an apostle.[3] He was called by the resurrected Jesus himself during his Road to Damascus event. With Barnabas, he was allotted the role of apostle in the church.[66] Since Paul claimed to have received a gospel not from teachings of the Twelve Apostles but solely and directly through personal revelations from the post-ascension Jesus,[67] after Jesus's death and resurrection (rather than before like the twelve), Paul was often obliged to defend his apostolic authority (1 Cor. 9:1 "Am I not an apostle?") and proclaim that he had seen and was anointed by Jesus while on the road to Damascus. Paul considered himself perhaps inferior to the other apostles because he had originally persecuted Christ's followers[68] while thinking he was not in the least inferior to those "super-apostles" and not lacking in "knowledge".[69] Paul referred to himself as the apostle of the Gentiles.[70] According to Paul's account in his Epistle to the Galatians, James, Peter and John in Jerusalem accepted the "grace" given to Paul and agreed that Paul and Barnabas should go to the Gentiles (specifically those not circumcised) and the three apostles who "seemed to be pillars" to the circumcised.[71] Despite the Little Commission of Matthew 10, the Twelve Apostles did not limit their mission to solely Jews as Cornelius the Centurion is widely considered the first Gentile convert and he was converted by Peter, and the Great Commission of the resurrected Jesus is specifically to "all nations". As the Catholic Encyclopedia states, "It is at once evident that in a Christian sense, everyone who had received a mission from God, or Christ, to man could be called 'Apostle'"; thus extending the original sense beyond the twelve.[9] Deaths Relics of the apostles in 2017, while they were in Utah during the Relic Tour[72] Of the Twelve Apostles to hold the title after Matthias' selection, Christian tradition has generally passed down that all of the Twelve Apostles except John were martyred. It is traditionally believed that John survived all of them, living to old age and dying of natural causes at Ephesus sometime after AD 98, during the reign of Trajan.[73][74] However, only the death of his brother James who became the first Apostle to die in c. AD 44 is described in the New Testament.[75] (Acts 12:1–2) Matthew 27:5 says that Judas Iscariot threw the silver he received for betraying Jesus down in the Temple, then went and hanged himself. Acts 1:18 says that he purchased a field, then "falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out". According to the 18th-century historian Edward Gibbon, early Christians (second half of the second century and first half of the third century) believed that only Peter, Paul, and James, son of Zebedee, were martyred.[76] The remainder, or even all, of the claims of martyred apostles do not rely upon historical or biblical evidence, but only on late legends.[77][78] Relics and burial sites Relics of the apostles are claimed by various churches, many in Europe. Andrew: buried in Cathedral of Saint Andrew, Patras, Greece[79] Bartholomew: buried in the Basilica of Benevento, Italy, or Basilica of St. Bartholomew on the Island, Rome, Italy[80] James the Great: buried in Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain James, son of Alphaeus: buried in the Cathedral of St. James in Jerusalem or the Church of the Holy Apostles in Rome.[81][82] John: no relics. The opening of his tomb (in the Basilica of St. John, Ephesus) during Constantine the Great's reign yielded no bones, giving rise to the belief that his body was assumed into heaven.[83] Judas Iscariot: buried at Akeldama near Jerusalem (per the Gospel of Matthew and Acts of the Apostles). Jude Thaddeus: buried in St. Peter's Basilica under the St. Joseph altar with St. Simon the Zealot; two bones (relics) located at National Shrine of St. Jude in Chicago; other relics claimed by Reims Cathedral and Toulouse Cathedral.[84][85][86] Matthew: buried in the Salerno Cathedral, Italy.[87] Matthias: buried in the St. Matthias' Abbey in Trier, Germany.[88] Paul: relics located in the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome; the skull located in the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran, alongside the skull of St. Peter.[89] Peter: buried in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, Rome, Italy; the skull located in the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran, alongside the skull of St. Paul.[89] Philip: buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Rome or possibly Hierapolis, modern Turkey.[90][82] Simon the Zealot: buried in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome under the St. Joseph altar with St. Jude.[91] Thomas: buried in the San Thome Basilica in Chennai, India or in the Basilica of St. Thomas the Apostle in Ortona, Italy.[92][93] Legacy By the 2nd century AD, association with the apostles was esteemed as an evidence of authority. Churches that are believed to have been founded by one of the apostles are known as apostolic sees.[5] Paul's epistles were accepted as scripture, and two of the four canonical gospels were associated with apostles, as were other New Testament works. Various Christian texts, such as the Didache and the Apostolic Constitutions, were attributed to the apostles.[5] The Apostles' Creed, popular in the West, was alleged to have been composed by the apostles themselves. Bishops traced their lines of succession back to individual apostles, who were said to have dispersed from Jerusalem and established churches across great territories. Christian bishops have traditionally claimed authority deriving, by apostolic succession, from the Twelve Apostles.[5] Early Church Fathers who came to be associated with apostles – such as Pope Clement I with St. Peter – are referred to as the Apostolic Fathers Original Source: https://rumble.com/v28g0i7-flds-beliefs-jesuss-his-wives-and-the-12-apostles.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Jeffs Audio Recordings of The FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs, speaks on the topic of Jesus & The Spirit Realm. Original Source: https://rumble.com/v2a0ivq-flds-beliefs-jesus-visits-the-spirit-world.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Jeffs Audio Recordings of The FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs, speaks on the topic of The Battle of Cumorah. Original Source: https://rumble.com/v2gkap6-flds-beliefs-the-battle-of-cumorah.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Jeffs Audio Recordings of The FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs and his teachings on Sodom and Gomorrah. In the Abrahamic religions, Sodom and Gomorrah (/ˈsɒdəm/; /ɡəˈmɒrə/) were two cities destroyed by God for their wickedness.[1] Their story parallels the Genesis flood narrative in its theme of God's anger provoked by man's sin (see Genesis 19:1–28).[2][3] They are mentioned frequently in the prophets and the New Testament as symbols of human wickedness and divine retribution, and the Quran also contains a version of the story about the two cities.[4] Etymology The etymology of the names Sodom and Gomorrah is uncertain, and scholars disagree about them.[5] They are known in Hebrew as סְדֹם (Səḏōm) and עֲמֹרָה ('Ămōrā). In the Septuagint, these became Σόδομα (Sódoma) and Γόμορρᾰ (Gómorrha); the Hebrew ghayn was absorbed by ayin sometime after the Septuagint was transcribed.[6] According to Burton MacDonald, the Hebrew term for Gomorrah was based on the Semitic root ʿ-m-r, which means "be deep", "copious (water)".[7] Biblical narrative Lot and Chedorlaomer Sodom and Gomorrah are two of the five "cities of the plain" referred to in Genesis 13:12 and Genesis 19:29 that rebel against Chedorlaomer of Elam, to whom they were subject. At the Battle of Siddim, Chedorlaomer defeats them and takes many captives, including Lot, the nephew of the Hebrew patriarch Abraham. Abraham gathers his men, rescues Lot, and frees the cities. Destruction of the cities Lot and his daughters flee Sodom. His wife (center) is already a salt pillar. (Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493) Sodom and Gomorrah's destruction in the background of Lucas van Leyden's Lot and his Daughters (1520) Later, God gives advance notice to Abraham that Sodom had a reputation for wickedness. Abraham asks God "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?" (Genesis 18:23). Starting at 50 people, Abraham negotiates with God to spare Sodom if 10 righteous people could be found.[8] God sends two angels to destroy Sodom. Lot welcomes them into his home, but all the men of the town surround the house and demand that he surrender the visitors that they may "know" them. Lot offers the mob his virgin daughters to "do to them as you please", but they refuse and threaten to do worse to Lot. The angels strike the crowd blind. The angels tell Lot "...the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it" (Genesis 19:13). The next morning, because Lot had lingered, the angels take Lot, Lot's wife, and his two daughters by the hand and out of the city, and tell him to flee to the hills and not look back. Lot says that the hills are too far away and asks to go to Zoar instead. Then God rains sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground (Genesis 19:24–25). Lot and his two daughters are saved, but his wife disregards the angels' warning, looks back, and is turned into a pillar of salt.[9] Other biblical references The Hebrew Bible contains several other references to Sodom and Gomorrah. The New Testament also contains passages of parallels to the destruction and surrounding events that pertained to these cities and those who were involved. Later deuterocanonical texts attempt to glean additional insights about these cities of the Jordan Plain and their residents. Additionally, the sins which triggered the destruction are reminiscent of the Book of Judges' account of the Levite's concubine.[10] Hebrew Bible "Sodom and Gomorrah" becomes a byword for destruction and desolation. Deuteronomy 29:21–23 refers to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah: And the generation to come, your children that shall rise up after you, and the foreigner that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses wherewith the LORD hath made it sick; and that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and a burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His anger, and in His wrath; even all the nations shall say 'Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?' — Deuteronomy 29:21–23[11][a] Isaiah 1:9–10,[12] 3:9[13] and 13:19–22[14] address people as from Sodom and Gomorrah, associates Sodom with shameless sinning and tells Babylon that it will end like those two cities. Jeremiah 23:14,[15] 49:17–18,[16] 50:39–40[17] and Lamentations 4:6[18] associate Sodom and Gomorrah with adultery and lies, prophesy the fate of Edom (south of the Dead Sea), predict the fate of Babylon and use Sodom as a comparison. Ezekiel 16:48–50[19] compares Jerusalem to Sodom, saying "As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters. Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom: pride, fulness of bread, and careless ease was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before Me; therefore I removed them when I saw it." In Amos 4:1–11,[20] God tells the Israelites that although he treated them like Sodom and Gomorrah, they still did not repent. In Zephaniah 2:9,[21] Zephaniah tells Moab and Ammon that they will end up like Sodom and Gomorrah. Deuterocanon Further information: Deuterocanonical books Wisdom 10:6–8 refers to the Five Cities: Wisdom rescued a righteous man when the ungodly were perishing; he escaped the fire that descended on the Five Cities. Evidence of their wickedness still remains: a continually smoking wasteland, plants bearing fruit that does not ripen, and a pillar of salt standing as a monument to an unbelieving soul. For because they passed wisdom by, they not only were hindered from recognizing the good, but also left for mankind a reminder of their folly, so that their failures could never go unnoticed. — Wisdom 10:6–8[22] Wisdom 19:17[23] says that the Egyptians who enslaved the Israelites were "struck with blindness, like the men of Sodom who came to the door of that righteous man Lot. They found themselves in total darkness, as each one groped around to find his own door." Sirach 16:8[24] says "[God] did not spare the neighbors of Lot, whom he loathed on account of their insolence." In 3 Maccabees 2:5,[25] the high priest Simon says that God "consumed with fire and sulfur the men of Sodom who acted arrogantly, who were notorious for their vices; and you made them an example to those who should come afterward". 2 Esdras 2:8–9[26] says "Woe to you, Assyria, who conceal the unrighteous in your midst! O wicked nation, remember what I did to Sodom and Gomor'rah, whose land lies in lumps of pitch and heaps of ashes. So will I do to those who have not listened to me, says the Lord Almighty." 2 Esdras 5:1–13[27] describes signs of the end times, one of which is that "the sea of Sodom shall cast up fish". In 2 Esdras 7:106,[28] Ezra says that Abraham prayed for the people of Sodom. Chapter 12 of 1 Meqabyan, a book considered canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, references "Gemorra an Sedom". New Testament In Matthew 10:14–15 (cf. Luke 10:11–12)[29] Jesus says: And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgement, than for that city. — Matthew 10:14–15[30] In Matthew 11:20–24,[31] Jesus warns of the fate of some cities where he did some of his works: And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades. For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you. In Luke 17:28–30,[32] Jesus says: Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded, but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even thus will it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. Romans 9:29[33] references Isaiah 1:9:[34] "And as Isaiah predicted, "If the Lord of hosts had not left survivors to us, we would have fared like Sodom and been made like Gomorrah." 2 Peter 2:4–10[35] says that just as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and saved Lot, he will deliver godly people from temptations and punish the wicked on Judgement Day. Jude 1:7[36] records that both Sodom and Gomorrah "indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural lust, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire." Revelation 11:7–8,[37] regarding the two witnesses, reads: When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that is prophetically called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. The sin of Sodom Sodom and Gomorrah, or the "cities of the plain", have been used historically and in modern discourse as metaphors for homosexuality, and are the origin of the English words sodomite, a pejorative term for male homosexuals, "sod", a British vulgar slang term for male homosexuals, and sodomy, which is used in a legal context under the label "crimes against nature" to describe anal or oral sex (particularly homosexual) and bestiality.[38][39][40] This is based upon Christian exegesis of the biblical text interpreting divine judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah as punishment for the sin of homosexual sex.[41][42][43] A number of contemporary scholars dispute this interpretation in light of Ezekiel 16:49–50[44] ("This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty, and did abominable things before me; therefore I removed them when I saw it."), interpreting the sin as arrogance and the lack of hospitality.[45][46][47] As with Ezekiel, later prophetic reproaches of Sodom and Gomorrah do not condemn, implicate, or even mention homosexual conduct as the reason for the cities' destruction: instead assigning the blame to other sins, such as adultery, dishonesty,[48] and uncharitableness.[49] Some Islamic societies incorporate punishments associated with Sodom and Gomorrah into sharia.[50] Historicity It has been suggested that if the story does have a historical basis, the cities may have been destroyed by a natural disaster. One such idea is that the Dead Sea was devastated by an earthquake between 2100 and 1900 BC. This might have unleashed showers of steaming tar.[51] It is possible that the towns were destroyed by an earthquake, especially as they lay along a major fault such as the Jordan Rift Valley; however, there are no known contemporary accounts of seismic activity that corroborate this theory, and this and the suggestion that they were destroyed by a volcano have been deemed unlikely.[52][53] Possible sites Archibald Sayce translated an Akkadian poem describing cities that were destroyed in a rain of fire and written from the view of a person who escaped the destruction; unfortunately, the names of the cities are not given in the work.[54] Sayce later mentions that the story more closely resembles the doom of Sennacherib's host.[55] The ancient Greek historiographer Strabo states that locals living near Moasada (as opposed to Masada) say that "there were once thirteen inhabited cities in that region of which Sodom was the metropolis".[56] Strabo identifies a limestone and salt hill at the southwestern tip of the Dead Sea, and Kharbet Usdum (Hebrew: הר סדום, Har Sedom or Arabic: جبل السدوم, Jabal(u) 'ssudūm) ruins nearby as the site of biblical Sodom.[57] The Jewish historian Josephus identifies the Dead Sea in geographic proximity to the ancient biblical city of Sodom. He refers to the lake by its Greek name, Asphaltites.[58] Some scholars believe that the locations of the two cities are currently flooded beneath the southern basin of the Dead Sea.[59] In 1973, Walter E. Rast and R. Thomas Schaub discovered or visited a number of possible sites of the cities, including Bab edh-Dhra, which was originally excavated in 1965 by archaeologist Paul Lapp, and later finished by Rast and Schaub following Lapp's death. Other possibilities include Numeira, al-Safi, Feifa (or Fifa, Feifah), and Khirbet al-Khanazir, which were also visited by Schaub and Rast.[citation needed] According to Schaub, Numeira was destroyed in 2600 BC at a different time period than Bab edh-Dhra (2350–2067 BC).[60] In 1993 Nancy Lapp, from the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, reported that Feifa had no Bronze Age occupation and merely an Early Bronze Age cemetery with Iron Age walls. She reports: In the final season of the present series of excavations of the Expedition to the Dead Sea Plain (1990–1991), the walled site of Feifa was investigated and the EB [Early Bronze Age] cemetery that stretched to its east was excavated. The most recent surveys suggested that the visible structures of the walled site belonged to the Iron Age or Roman period.[61] At Khirbet al-Khanazir, the walls which Rast and Schaub had identified in 1973 as houses were in reality rectangular charnel houses marking shaft tombs from near the end of the Early Bronze Age and not occupational structures.[62][63][64] In 1976, Giovanni Pettinato claimed that a cuneiform tablet that had been found in the newly discovered library at Ebla contained the names of all five of the cities of the plain (Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Bela), listed in the same order as in Genesis. The names si-da-mu [TM.76.G.524] and ì-ma-ar [TM.75.G.1570 and TM.75.G.2233] were identified as representing Sodom and Gomorrah, which gained some acceptance at the time.[65] However, Alfonso Archi states that, judging from the surrounding city names in the cuneiform list, si-da-mu lies in northern Syria and not near the Dead Sea, and ì-ma-ar is a variant of ì-mar, known to represent Emar, an ancient city located near Ebla.[66] Today, the scholarly consensus is that "Ebla has no bearing on ... Sodom and Gomorra."[67] Religious views Judaism Later Hebrew prophets named the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah as adultery,[48] pridefulness,[19] and uncharitableness.[49] Rictor Norton views classical Jewish texts as stressing the cruelty and lack of hospitality of the inhabitants of Sodom to the "stranger".[68] Rabbinic writings affirm that the Sodomites also committed economic crimes, blasphemy, and bloodshed.[69] Other extrabiblical crimes committed by Sodom and Gomorrah included extortion on crossing a bridge/or swimming a river, harshly punishing victims for crimes that the perpetrator committed, forcing an assault victim to pay for the perpetrator's "bleeding"[70] and forcing a woman to marry a man who intentionally caused her miscarriage to compensate for the lost child. Because of this, the judges of the two cities were referred to as Shakrai ("Liar"), Shakurai ("Awful Liar"), Zayyafi ("Forger") and Mazle Dina ("Perverter of Justice"). Eliezer was reported to be a victim of such legally unjust conduct, after Sarah sent him to Sodom to report on Lot's welfare. The citizens also regularly tortured foreigners who sought lodging. They did this by providing the foreigners a standard-sized bed and if they saw that the foreigners were too short for the beds, they would forcibly stretch their limbs but if the foreigners were too tall, they would cut off their legs (the Greek myth of Procrustes tells a similar story).[71][72] As a result, many people refrained from visiting Sodom and Gomorrah. Beggars who settled into the two cities for refuge were similarly mistreated. The citizens would give them marked coins (presumably used to purchase food) but were nonetheless forbidden, by proclamation, to provide these necessary services. Once the beggar died of starvation, citizens who initially gave the beggar the coins were permitted to retrieve them, provided that they could recognize it. The beggar's clothing was also provided as a reward for any citizen who could successfully overcome his opponent in a street fight.[73][70] The provision of bread and water to the poor was also a capital offense (Yalḳ., Gen. 83). Two girls, one poor and the other rich, went to a well, and the former gave the latter her jug of water, receiving in return a vessel containing bread. When this became known, both were burned alive (ib.).[74] According to the Book of Jasher, Paltith, one of Lot's daughters, was burnt alive (in some versions, on a pyre) for giving a poor man bread.[75] Her cries went to the heavens.[70] Another woman was similarly executed in Admah for giving a traveler, who intended to leave the town the next day, water. When the scandal was revealed, the woman was stripped naked and covered with honey. This attracted bees as the woman was slowly stung to death. Her cries then went up into the heavens, the turning point that was revealed to have provoked God to enact judgement upon Sodom and Gomorrah in the first place in Genesis 18:20.[76][73] Lot's wife (who came from Sodom) had disapproved of her husband welcoming the strangers into their home; her asking for salt from neighbors had alerted the mob which came to Lot's door. As punishment she was turned into a pillar of salt.[77] Jon D. Levenson views a rabbinic tradition described in the Mishnah as postulating that the sin of Sodom was a violation of conventional hospitality in addition to homosexual conduct, describing Sodom's lack of generosity with the saying, "What is mine is mine; what is yours is yours" (m. Avot 5.10).[78] Jay Michaelson proposes a reading of the story of Sodom that emphasizes the violation of hospitality as well as the violence of the Sodomites. "Homosexual rape is the way in which they violate hospitality—not the essence of their transgression. Reading the story of Sodom as being about homosexuality is like reading the story of an ax murderer as being about an ax."[79] Michaelson places the story of Sodom in context with other Genesis stories regarding Abraham's hospitality to strangers, and argues that when other texts in the Hebrew Bible mention Sodom, they do so without commentary on homosexuality. The verses cited by Michaelson include Jeremiah 23:14,[80] where the sins of Jerusalem are compared to Sodom and are listed as adultery, lying, and strengthening the hands of evildoers; Amos 4:1–11 (oppressing the poor and crushing the needy);[81] and Ezekiel 16:49–50,[82] which defines the sins of Sodom as "pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and did toevah before me, and I took them away as I saw fit." Michaelson uses toevah in place of abomination to emphasize the original Hebrew, which he explains as being more correctly translated as "taboo".[83] Rabbi Basil Herring, who served as head of the Rabbinical Council of America from 2003 to 2012, writes that both the rabbinic literature and modern Orthodox position consider the Torah to condemn homosexuality as an abomination. Moreover, that it "conveys its abhorrence of homosexuality through a variety of narrative settings", God's judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah being a "paradigmatic" instance of such condemnation.[84] Christianity Two areas of contention have arisen in modern Christian scholarship concerning the story of Sodom and Gomorrah:[85][86] Whether or not the violent mob surrounding Lot's house were demanding to engage in sexual violence against Lot's guests. Whether it was homosexuality or another transgression, such as the act of inhospitable behavior towards visitors, the act of sexual assault, murder, theft, adultery, idolatry, power abuses, or prideful and mocking behavior,[87] that was the principal reason for God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The first contention focuses primarily upon the meaning of the Hebrew verb Hebrew: ידע (yada), translated as know in the King James Version: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. — Genesis 19:5[88] Yada is used to refer to sexual intercourse in various instances, such as in Genesis 4:1 between Adam and Eve: And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. — Genesis 4:1[89] Some Hebrew scholars believe that yada, unlike the English word "know", requires the existence of a "personal and intimate relationship".[90] For this reason, many of the most popular of the 20th century translations, including the New International Version, the New King James Version, and the New Living Translation, translate yada as "have sex with" or "know ... carnally" in Genesis 19:5.[91] Those who favor the non-sexual interpretation argue against a denotation of sexual behavior in this context, noting that while the Hebrew word for "know" appears over 900 times in the Hebrew Bible, only 1% (13–14 times)[68] of those references are clearly used as a euphemism for realizing sexual intimacy.[92] Instead, those who hold to this interpretation see the demand to know as demanding the right to interrogate the strangers.[93] Countering this is the observation that one of the examples of "know" meaning to know sexually occurs when Lot responds to the Genesis 19:5 request, by offering his daughters for rape, only three verses later in the same narrative: Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. — Genesis 19:8[94] The Epistle of Jude is a major text in regard to these conflicting opinions: Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. — Jude 1:7[95] Many who interpret the stories in a non-sexual context contend that as the word for "strange" is akin to "another", "other", "altered" or even "next", the meaning is unclear, and if the condemnation of Sodom was the result of sexual activities perceived to be perverse, then it is likely that it was because women sought to commit fornication with "other than human" angels,[96] perhaps referring to Genesis 6:1–4[97] or the apocryphal Book of Enoch. Countering this, it is pointed out that Genesis 6 refers to angels seeking women, not men seeking angels, and that both Sodom and Gomorrah were engaged in the sin Jude describes before the angelic visitation, and that, regardless, it is doubtful that the Sodomites knew they were angels. In addition, it is argued the word used in the King James Version of the Bible for "strange", can mean unlawful or corrupted (e.g. in Romans 7:3, Galatians 1:6), and that the apocryphal Second Book of Enoch condemns "sodomitic" sex (2 Enoch 10:3; 34:1),[98] thus indicating that homosexual relations was the prevalent physical sin of Sodom.[99] Both the non-sexual and the homosexuality view invoke certain classical writings as well as other portions of the Bible.[100][101] Now this was the sin of Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. — Ezekiel 16:49–50[102] Here the nonsexual view focuses on the inhospitality aspect, while the other notes the description detestable or abomination, the Hebrew word for which often denotes moral sins, including those of a sexual nature.[103][104] The nonsexual view focuses on the cultural importance of hospitality, which this biblical story shares with other ancient civilizations, such as Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, where hospitality was of singular importance and strangers were under the protection of the gods.[105] James L. Kugel, Starr Professor of Hebrew Literature at Harvard University suggests the story encompasses the sexual and non-sexual: the Sodomites were guilty of stinginess, inhospitality and sexual license, homo- and heterosexual in contrast to the generosity of Abraham, and Lot whose behavior in protecting the visitors but offering his daughters suggests he was "scarcely better than his neighbors" according to some ancient commentators, The Bible As It Was, 1997, pp. 179–197. Within the Christian churches that agree on the possible sexual interpretation of "know" (yada) in this context, there is still a difference of opinion on whether homosexuality is important. On its website, the Anglican Communion presents the argument that the story is "not even vaguely about homosexual love or relationships", but is instead "about dominance and rape, by definition an act of violence, not of sex or love". This argument that the violence and the threat of violence towards foreign visitors is the true ethical downfall of Sodom (and not homosexuality), also observes the similarity between the Sodom and Gomorrah and the Battle of Gibeah Bible stories. In both stories, an inhospitable mob demands the homosexual rape of a foreigner or foreigners. As the mob instead settles for the rape and murder of the foreigner's female concubine in the Battle of Gibeah story, the homosexual aspect is generally seen as inconsequential, and the ethical downfall is understood to be the violence and the threat of violence towards foreigners by the mob. This Exodus 22:21–24 lesson[106] is viewed by Anglicans as a more historically accurate way to interpret the Sodom and Gomorrah story.[85][107] Scholar in history and gender studies Lisa McClain has claimed that the association between Sodom and Gomorrah with homosexuality emerged from the writings of 1st century Jewish philosopher Philo, and that no prior exegesis of the text suggested such a linkage.[43] Islam Main article: Lot in Islam Lut fleeing the city with his daughters; his wife is killed by a rock. The Quran contains twelve references to "the people of Lut", the biblical Lot, the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah presumably, and their destruction by God which is associated primarily with their homosexual practices, which the Quran states they were the first creatures to commit such a deed.[108][109][110][111] On the other hand, certain contemporary western scholars assert that the reason for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was a combination of sexual assault, breaking the hospitality law and engaging in robbery.[112][113][114] The "people of Lut" transgressed consciously against the bounds of God. Lot only prayed to God to be saved from doing as they did. Then Gabriel met Lot and said that he must leave the city quickly, as God had given this command to Lot to save his life. In the Quran it was written that Lot's wife stayed behind, as she had transgressed. She met her fate in the disaster, and only Lot and his family were saved during the destruction of their city,[115] with the understanding that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are identified in Genesis, but "the location remains unnamed in the Qur'an"[116] The Quran, chapter 15 (The Stoneland) – So the (mighty) Blast overtook them before morning, And We turned the cities ˹of Sodom and Gomorrah˺ upside down and rained upon them stones of baked clay. Surely in this are signs for those who contemplate. Their ruins still lie along a known route. — Quran 15:73[117] In the Quran, chapter 26 (The Poets) – So, We saved him and his family, all. Except an old woman among those who remained behind. — Quran 26:170[118] Commentary: This was his wife, who was a bad old woman. She stayed behind and was destroyed with whoever else was left. This is similar to what Allah says about them in Surat Al-A`raf and Surat Hud, and in Surat Al-Hijr, where Allah commanded him to take his family at night, except for his wife, and not to turn around when they heard the Sayhah as it came upon his people. So they patiently obeyed the command of Allah and persevered, and Allah sent upon the people a punishment which struck them all, and rained upon them stones of baked clay, piled up. — Tafsir ibn Kathir (Commentary by Ibn Kathir)[119] Gnosticism A different idea is found in the Paraphrase of Shem, a Gnostic text from the literature of the Nag Hammadi library. In this narrative, the figure Shem, who is guided by a spiritual savior named Derdekeas, brings his universal teaching of secret knowledge (gnosis) to the citizens of Sodom before the city is unjustly destroyed by the base nature of the demon of human form.[120] Original Source: https://rumble.com/v21pcio-flds-beliefs-sodom-and-gomorrah.html