Rendering unto Caesar: The Self-Fulfilling Prophesy of Anti-Christ at Antioch

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

In his chef d'oevre, Anacalypsis, Masonic scholar Godfrey Higgins presents an interesting theory on the reason for the Crusades. He contends that Bernard of Clairvaux espoused a prediction of the Second Coming at the turn of the thirteenth century with Jesus appearing in Jerusalem and the Antichrist in Antioch. Higgins contends that this idea drove the Crusades above all other motivations. This pointer ties in with Mitt Romney's espousal of W. Cleon Skousen's idea that Jesus would appear at Jerusalem.

If there is any truth to this theory it demonstrates a self-fulfilling prophesy. The Crusaders who invaded Antioch were agents of a vicious and brutal power structure similar to the one that Jesus had spoken against during his brief career. The Roman occupation of Jerusalem paved the way for another "savior" to appear on the scene to challenge the power of Caesar.

You might wonder why 1200 CE was embraced by the Roman "saint." Higgins relates it to an ancient astrological period called a neros which is derived from the precession of the vernal equinox. It is a simple concept that can be grasped without a lot of math. It involves a number of alien terms that put off all but the serious scholar.

If Jesus were to show up during our lifetime, we would see fundamentalist Christians flocking to his location to nail his butt to a tree and pat themselves on the back for a job well done. What do you think he would say about the Vatican before the fundies got to him?

Comments

[luvdovz.livejournal.com]

I think his first words be: "Where is this place they call Talk Politics? I want to subscribe to Sophia's newsletter. We keep reading that up there all the time and I'm desperate to get an autograph". :D

[malasadas.livejournal.com]

In your worst nightmares, you wake up and are in a classroom entirely filled with Jesuits and no door, right?

[ddstory.livejournal.com]

Nightmares? Sounds like a very dirty wet dream!

[luvdovz.livejournal.com]

Oh you!

[malasadas.livejournal.com]

Yah, but you're a glass half full kinda gal...

[luvdovz.livejournal.com]

I'm in, but only if Caesar participates as well.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

This sounds intriguing...

I love to...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

... talk to students from the local Jesuit high school about Ignatius. I tell them about how he almost killed a Muslim for ridiculing him over the belief that Mary was still a virgin after giving birth.

Re: I love to...

[malasadas.livejournal.com]

I triple dog dare you to talk to the Jesuits directly and not through their students.

Re: I love to...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Sorry. I am not suicidal.

Re: I love to...

[malasadas.livejournal.com]

Coward.

[chipuni.livejournal.com]

If Jesus were to show up during our lifetime, we would see fundamentalist Christians flocking to his location to nail his butt to a tree and pat themselves on the back for a job well done.

Yes, yes, yes.

With Jesus being a strict Communist, and that suspiciously dark skin (an early Christian belief says that Jesus was dark-skinned for a Hebrew), so-called Fundamentalists would nail Jesus to a tree as soon as they saw Him.

[luzribeiro.livejournal.com]

But...I bet he believed in free market! Also hated the government. ;)

Let's not forget...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

... about how he would conduct target practice with his drinking buddies.

Re: Let's not forget...

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

Urban II called for the First Crusade at Clermont in 1095. Bernard of Clairvaux was five years old. When Jerusalem fell to Geoffrey of Boullion Bernard was nine. Crusading, as defined as fighting against the enemies of the Christian faith in order to gain benefit in the life to come, was originated during the Reconquista of Spain in the 100 years preceding Urban's first letters.

I do not...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

... defend the thesis. I merely hold it up as an interesting proposition. Higgins gives absolutely no source for his argument. As a Mason, he had access to private libraries. He may have gotten the idea from an unpublished manuscript.

If the Roman "saint" believed the prediction, it is also possible that it existed back at the time of the first Crusade.

Re: I do not...

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

An interesting proposition that has no basis in reality.

The prediction that Christ would return to the Mt. of Olives is found in Zechariah 14. To the extent that Bernard believed the Bible, he believed Jesus would return there.

Re: I do not...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

It has no basis in your reality, but in Higgins's reality, there was some evidence. For some reason, I am not certain that your reading of Jewish literature is applicable to the the thesis expressed by Higgins nor to the thoughts of the medieval Roman.

Re: I do not...

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

Yes, but sadly for Higgin's argument my reality has more basis in actual, you know, reality.

You do realize that probably Bernard's most famous series of sermons is on that classic piece of Jewish literature, the Song of Songs, right?

Re: I do not...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Is that what he used to rationalize the second Crusade?

Re: I do not...

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

I am pretty sure he used the principle of self defense to justify the Second Crusade.

Re: I do not...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

And what leads you to believe that?

Re: I do not...

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

The Massacre of Edessa makes a powerful argument.

Re: I do not...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Was that the massacre that was done in retaliation for the massacre in Jerusalem by the Crusaders?

Edessa was quite far from Clairvaux. I doubt that Bernard feared that Zengi's troops would make it all the way to France.

Re: I do not...

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

Massacres like that weren't really done in retaliation for anything other than resistance to an army. A city that resisted a siege expected, after a certain time, to be massacred. That was the way war was fought.

Bernard didn't need to fear for France to have empathy for other Christians who were under attack.

Re: I do not...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

So Bernard had little empathy for people who were not Christian?

He later regretted his actions. After all, he exhorted a huge number of Christians to hurry over the precipice of war into the maw of disease, enslavement, dismemberment and death.

Re: I do not...

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

He had a lot of empathy for the Jews, who he tried to protect from antisemitic riots in the Rhineland. He did indeed regret that his exhortations to virtue were not followed and the crusade failed miserably and all the sacrifice came to nothing.

Re: I do not...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

There is a silver lining: some of us learned what to avoid.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

And continued against the last citadel of heathenry in Lithuania for several hundred years in itself. While the main accomplishment of the Crusades proved to be the coup de grace to Middle Eastern Christianity's military power with the 1204 Crusades. That should qualify for epic failing at epic failing.

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

I don't think you can equate the crusades of the 11th and 12th centuries with later manifestations; despite using the same name and appealing to the same tropes they were often very different animals.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

I think you very much can equate the one of the 1090s with the one of 1204, there was never any great co-existence in peace and harmony between Eastern and Western Christianity. Certainly the degree to which Teutonic Knights regularly invaded Orthodox Russia shows 1204 to have not been an exception.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Erm, that's not how it happened in real history. In the real world the Eastern Roman Emperors fucked themselves for good at the Battle of Manzikert against Alp Arslan, asked the Western pontiff for aid, that aid came in a mass populist outpouring that created various Crusader states, as well as the Albigensian and Lithuanian Crusades. The Crusader states were all destroyed and the most lasting impact of the Crusades was to render the Roman Empire to be again a city-state rooted on a well-placed city, with the result that Christian military power in the Middle East was deader than Allosaurus.

Jesus would probably state the Vatican got more of His ideas right than Jerry Falwell did.

Jerry Foulwell...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

... is one of my favorite comedians.

[paedraggaidin.livejournal.com]

*still muttering darkly about Manzikert*

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Manzikert is pretty much the crowning moment of stupidity in ERE history IMHO.

I hope...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

... you know what that icon represents.

Re: I hope...

[paedraggaidin.livejournal.com]

Uh, of course I do?

Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων

Re: I hope...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

I suppose that one could use the term Basil to refer to an emperor. A Roman may take it as a degradation in rank.

Re: I hope...

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

That would be the Roman Empire that used Greek as the learned and educated language and saw Latin as vulgar?

Re: I hope...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Yup. That's the one.

[dv8nation.livejournal.com]

If Jesus were to show up during our lifetime, we would see fundamentalist Christians flocking to his location to nail his butt to a tree and pat themselves on the back for a job well done.

I think life would go on as normal because people are REALLY dumb. Just like it did on Futurama.

Which reminds me of a song.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]