Are Neanderthals Human? ETC ETC

The experts talk about Neanderthals and Sapiens as distinct species. And it used to be that Sapiens did ethnic cleansing and rid the world of Neanderthals. Last couple of years things seem to be changing. First of all I read about Neanderthal DNA in the Sapiens genome. Then interbreeding.

Humans May Be Far Older Than We Thought - YouTube perhaps a million years ago



2020 Sep, This really is shaking long help assumptions
Y chromosomes of Neandertals and Denisovans now sequenced | EurekAlert! Science News

2015 Dec
The Archaeology News Network: Study differentiates facial growth in Neanderthals and modern humans which to me is very strange analysis... Waffle about facial growth being sufficiently different

However, our findings, based upon facial growth patterns, indicate they are indeed sufficiently distinct from one another.

Read more at: http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com.au/2015/12/study-differentiates-facial-growth-in.html#.VmdB5xDpxGM
Follow us: @ArchaeoNewsNet on Twitter | groups/thearchaeologynewsnetwork/ on Facebook

However, our findings, based upon facial growth patterns, indicate they are indeed sufficiently distinct from one another.

Read more at: http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com.au/2015/12/study-differentiates-facial-growth-in.html#.VmdB5xDpxGM
Follow us: @ArchaeoNewsNet on Twitter | groups/thearchaeologynewsnetwork/ on Facebook

However, our findings, based upon facial growth patterns, indicate they are indeed sufficiently distinct from one another.

Read more at: http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com.au/2015/12/study-differentiates-facial-growth-in.html#.VmdB5xDpxGM
Follow us: @ArchaeoNewsNet on Twitter | groups/thearchaeologynewsnetwork/ on Facebook

However, our findings, based upon facial growth patterns, indicate they are indeed sufficiently distinct from one another.

Read more at: http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com.au/2015/12/study-differentiates-facial-growth-in.html#.VmdB5xDpxGM
Follow us: @ArchaeoNewsNet on Twitter | groups/thearchaeologynewsnetwork/ on Facebook

However, our findings, based upon facial growth patterns, indicate they are indeed sufficiently distinct from one another.

Read more at: http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com.au/2015/12/study-differentiates-facial-growth-in.html#.VmdB5xDpxGM
Follow us: @ArchaeoNewsNet on Twitter | groups/thearchaeologynewsnetwork/ on Facebook

However, our findings, based upon facial growth patterns, indicate they are indeed sufficiently distinct from one another.

Read more at: http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com.au/2015/12/study-differentiates-facial-growth-in.html#.VmdB5xDpxGM
Follow us: @ArchaeoNewsNet on Twitter | groups/thearchaeologynewsnetwork/ on Facebook

And these examples come from one week in September 2012

Neanderthals and human lived side by side in Middle eastern caves and even interbred, research finds | Mail Online

Europeans did not inherit pale skins from Neanderthals - life - 26 September 2012 - New Scientist

NOVA | Are Neanderthals Human?

Neanderthals ... They're Just Like Us?

March 2013
 Tiny monkey teeth suggest Flores hobbit was a dwarf - life - 06 March 2013 - New Scientist

 The way we weren't: U of Minnesota biologist debunks myth that humans peaked in Paleolithic era

First early human fossil found in Africa makes debut - quite clearly it is really saying Yes we have worked it out and then but no we haven't

This one is fun The Neanderthals May Have Died Out Because of ... Bunnies? - Megan Garber - The Atlantic


And finally a fairly in depth discussion of DNA aspects -
Interbreeding With Neanderthals | DiscoverMagazine.com
 good work  the data is being collected and analysed

25 March more ....

 Neanderthal brains focused on vision and movement leaving less room for social networking so they didn't do Facebook?

Human Fossil Reveals No Genetic Bone Disorder | Human Evolution | LiveScience so the original research on Turkana Boy was all wrong the bones were assembled badly - sounds like The Brontosaurus never existed: A tale from the Bone Wars | The Sideshow - Yahoo! News - in essence the wrong skull

German team sequences full Neanderthal genome for the first time and makes it available to scientists for FREE | Mail Online

 Neanderthals: Facts About Our Extinct Human Relatives | LiveScience
 There is some debate as to whether they were a distinct species of the Homo genus (Homo neanderthalensis) or a subspecies of Homo sapiens

2014
'Neanderthal' Remains Actually Medieval Human | LiveScience 


Neanderthal speech - hyoid bone hypothesis - : Archaeology News from Past Horizons

Diabetes Risk May Come from Neanderthal Gene | LiveScience



And now N's weren't stupid
Study questions Neandertal inferiority to early modern humans

and
Modern humans left the home continent in at least two waves  


2015 and still High Imagination at work
Dogs bred from wolves helped humans take over from Neanderthals in Europe | Daily Mail Online
Wolves hounded large animals like mammoths etc and then when animal exhausted the homo sapiens moved in for the kill.... This meant the Neanderthals missed out on the prey and so died out....
Questions: Evidence that only Sapiens domesticated dogs? and that Neanderthals didn't use dogs and couldn't find anything else to eat.

Shroud of Turin new research disputing it's a fake

First the news that it is being shown 
Shroud of Turin shown amid new research disputing it's a fake | News.com.au


Then some of the new research
Latest Developments on the Shroud of Turin: Part I - there are link on bottom of page to Part II and then III

What I understand is that those talking fake allude to a C14 dating to middle ages and the idea that Da Vinci used some kind of photographic process to produce the image.

The C14 seems to be very much in doubt

The Da Vinci idea is just an invention and is all based on the shroud first appearing around his time.

Now the new latest is that there was a shroud in Constantinople around 1000 AD  and it had an image. This image appears in paintings from that time and looks like the image on the Turin Shroud. The Constantinople one looks like it came from Edessa see also Image of Edessa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Early paintings even show Jesus body on  a shroud like the Turin one......

So looks like the Turin Shroud has been around for a very long time 

Missions at Epping: Cornerstone at Silverwater

Missions at Epping: Cornerstone at Silverwater

Our church has been given an opportunity to purchase a property at 2 Clyde Rd Silverwater which will enable us to expand our ministry to the community. This is a short video explaining who we are as a Church and the reasons why we want to move to this site and how people can donate to the purchase of this property. Link to above for more detail.  Enjoy...........
 

Joshua and the Conquest

It is clear that Joshua and the Israelites conquered Canaan. Some archaeologists want to minimise it
Here is an article discussing some aspects
Conquest Confusion at Yale

King David - what has been found mentioning him

The question was which is the earliest proven Biblical person meaning an archaeologist has found a text that shows the Biblical person lived.

The Tel Dan Stele has

"7. riots and thousands of horsemen (or: horses). [I killed Jeho]ram son of [Ahab]

8. king of Israel, and [I] killed [Ahaz]iahu son of [Jehoram kin-]
9. g of the House of David. And I set [their towns into ruins and turned]"

So Ahab etc are given existence whereas it is argued that House of David does not mean there was real David. I think House of David is pretty clear evidence that these kings saw themselves descended from King David and we are talking some 150 years so that sounds like they would know what they were talking about.

Click for an excellent article on the Tel Dan, Mesha and Shoshenq inscriptions and the relationship to King David:

Of course without Ahab etc being mentioned then they would still be considered fictional characters.



So I will be following the Eilat Mazar work with interest on what she says is King David's palace http://www.bib-arch.org/Mazar.pdf

As of Oct 2007 no sign of any updates as above is from end 2005

Eilat Mazar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2012 Did I Find King David’s Palace? – Biblical Archaeology Society

see also David Rohl - books and websites on his NEW Chronology

and some stuff on the Temple Mount as of October 2007

'Western Wall was never part of temple' The very extreme Muslim claim by Mufti and also said to have been held by Arafat| Jerusalem Post

And then actual traces of First Temple found

WorldNetDaily: Claim: Israel covering up Temple Mount destruction

Finds on Temple Mount from First Temple - Jewish World - Israel News - Arutz Sheva
including a contrary to the Mufti's claim

Moslem claims to the Temple Mount, on the other hand, have been debunked even by other Moslems. A commentator for the official Egyptian government weekly, of all places, has written that the entire Moslem claim on Jerusalem and the El-Aksa mosque is based on a mistaken reading of one chapter of the Quran. Ahmed Mahmad Oufa wrote that the verse that mentions a night journey by Muhammed to a mosque has nothing to do with Jerusalem, as is generally claimed, but with a mosque near the holy Moslem city of Medina.

November 2007 The Thinkers: The Bible and history of Israel shape a life
They have a Hebrew stone wall back to Solomon time.

October 2008
Find of Ancient City Could Alter Notions of Biblical David - NYTimes.com

KHIRBET QEIYAFA, Israel — Overlooking the verdant Valley of Elah, where the Bible says David toppled Goliath, archaeologists are unearthing a 3,000-year-old fortified city that could reshape views of the period when David ruled over the Israelites. Five lines on pottery uncovered here appear to be the oldest Hebrew text ever found and are likely to have a major impact on knowledge about the history of literacy and alphabet development.
..............But the archaeological record of that kingdom (David and Solomon) is exceedingly sparse — in fact almost nonexistent — and a number of scholars today argue that the kingdom was largely a myth created some centuries later. A great power, they note, would have left traces of cities and activity, and been mentioned by those around it. Yet in this area nothing like that has turned up — at least until now.

A good article on the site Bloomberg.com: Middle East

Did David and Solomon Exist? - very good analysis of current knowledge and comments of recent archaeology

Ron Lankshear's Faith Page

Thank God it's Good Friday
I don't know where you are in your thoughts about God
Perhaps try a prayer today something that seems meaningful to you
Or even just something like "Dear Jesus, please show me you are real"
Please visit
Ron Lankshear's Faith Page

Has Noah’s Vineyard Been Discovered? | Dr. Claude Mariottini – Professor of Old Testament

We have often discussed at Bible Studies the story of Noah starting wine making and getting drunk and what happens with his sons.....
Now could it be the storage area has been found..... Very close to Mount Ararat.... hmmmmmm
check what my good friend Claude has to say ............
Has Noah’s Vineyard Been Discovered? | Dr. Claude Mariottini – Professor of Old Testament

A very good blogger - check other stuff on his pages example Who Killed Goliath? | Dr. Claude Mariottini – Professor of Old Testament

Claude was recently on a vacation cruise and visited places I will be at next month
No Dollars Accepted Here | Dr. Claude Mariottini – Professor of Old Testament
including the excursion to Ancient Corinth and the podium as used by St Paul

And today Claude posted
The Wall Paintings at Catalhoyuk | Dr. Claude Mariottini – Professor of Old Testament
Probably the earliest Town in the world - do visit and follow the link - I've posted my thoughts

Pessah in Jerusalem: 1882, 1935 and 1948

Pessah in Jerusalem: 1882, 1935 and 1948

Amazing British Princes visited Jerusalem in 1882 - one the future King George V
I never knew that

Christian Writing from the First Century

24 Mar 2011 Amazing books from early days

Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament: Christian Writing from the First Century

has link to
BBC News - Jordan battles to regain 'priceless' Christian relics

Dr Claude mentions an image in one book
"There is a cross in the foreground, and behind it is what has to be the tomb [of Jesus], a small building with an opening, and behind that the walls of the city. There are walls depicted on other pages of these books too and they almost certainly refer to Jerusalem."
It is the cross that is the most telling feature, in the shape of a capital T, as the crosses used by Romans for crucifixion were."

5 Apr 2011 Well a lot of people saying 

Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament: The Ancient Christian Codices: A Modern-Day Forgery

There will be more on this

Jesus Said, "I Am the Aleph and the Tav"

Revelation 1:8 New International Version

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

John 1:1 KJV"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

Well Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. But those words in Revelation were most likely said in Hebrew or Aramaic "The Aleph and Tav"

Do you wonder about the Bible saying I am the Alpha and Omega - is that what Jesus really said. Most likely it as said in Hebrew or Aramaic

And if he said Aleph and Tav then check how that appears in Genesis 1:1

Please do read these two pages


Jesus Said, "I Am the Aleph and the Tav"

and also 

Yeshua and the Hebrew Alphabet

World News Australia - Australian Coptics protest persecution

Australia's Coptic Christians are demanding the federal government use diplomacy to pressure Egypt to better protect members of their faith.

World News Australia - Australian Coptics protest persecution

More than 500 Coptics and their Muslim friends marched in central Sydney, calling on Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd to address the issue, after a bomb blast killed 21 people during a New Year's Eve Coptic church service in Alexandria, Egypt.

"We understand that Mr Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard have not personally issued statements of condemnation," said the spokeswoman, who asked not to be named for safety reasons.
"We don't understand why they're silent and other leaders aren't."

Merry Christmas

Well its Christmas - I've played the role of Santa and the original man would appear to be have been a good bloke but Santa was not divine and even if the wrong date Christmas is to remember God's gift of Jesus for OUR benefit. Merry Christmas and do "try" to visit a church tonight or tomorrow or Sunday and ask somebody about Jesus.

If you are on Facebook - go here and click LIKE
GodVine - Let's Get Ready for a Christian Revival

Or Twitter and where ever else you can Share

and perhaps visit me at Ron Lankshear's Faith Page

Christianity: When was Exodus and who was the Pharoah

Amenhotep II and the Historicity of the Exodus Pharaoh

Well per this article 25 April 1446 BC
which is good as around the date usually determined directly from Bible chronology

Most people would say that Pharaoh died in the Red Sea when the seas covered the Egyptian army. The article presents that he did not. Which of course also applies if Exodus was under Ramses II (seems to be the main conventional candidate)

Interesting contention that Hatshepsut was the Princess who was Moses step mother and that after Exodus Amenhotep II tried to destroy her memorials rather than it being Thutmose III.

A major point is made on Amenhotep only having two campaigns north - the second being after the loss of his army in the Red Sea. He did it to show that Egyptian power was not destroyed and also to obtain slaves. Then he signed a peace treaty with Mitanni. Presumably with a small force he had managed to acquire slaves but not a major campaign against Mitanni.

Interesting and is a well argued approach and does place Exodus at what I think is a good date

Then there is David Rohl's approach which does place Exodus at a similar date but under Dudimose. Rohl's New Chronology places Pharoah at different dates compared to the Conventional dates


Following pages on his view
Did the Exodus Happen? Answering the Sceptics

Biblical Archaeology Review: Feature 1 Sidebar 1

The Exodus, Joseph, Jericho … Harmonized With Eqyptian Chronology « TruthMatters.info

Most will tell you that Exodus is not in Egyptian records ..............

Manetho wrote that that in the reign of Dudimose (the Pharoah of the Exodus under the New Chronology), ‘a blast of God smote us’

Christianity: The Book of Revelation

The King and I: Exiled To Patmos, Part 2

"A common misconception in commentaries and popular prophetic writings is that the island of Patmos, where John was exiled, was a sort of Alcatraz "

A very detailed description of Patmos and where John might have been when revelation was happening.

Including being able to see the Island of Thera Santorini with that lethal volcano.

Well worth reading

Cornerstone was at Eastwood but both Friday and Sunday are at George/Ryde Streets Epping

So Friday night and Sunday 10am are at Cornerstone corner Ryde and George Streets Epping we were at Eastwood for some time

A Partridge in a pear tree and Christmas Trees

One of the stories that emerges in email every Christmas is 

"From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics.  It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.  -The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ."  

Whilst I think is that there is some truth in that story regarding the Christian meaning behind the song but the implication that it emerged as a tool for the Roman Catholic "underground" church is nonsense. They may well have sung the song but I think Protestants would have as well.  These two sites discuss some aspects of the song in detail  

The Twelve Days of Christmas

On the First Day of Christmas

The French for partridge is "perdrix" which is pronounced "pear dree". So the song is French or even comes from Greek. So it appears to have been around for a long time and in transferring between languages to have been become slightly confused.

I learnt the song when I was a kid and it was/is very popular at Christmas in England.

Now why would the English have so much love for a song that was used by Catholics in secret.

Nothing about it is particularly Catholic - I do not see the Pope or Mary mentioned - the principles it expounds appear to be Protestant beliefs. Perhaps it is really a Protestant song enforcing their Faith.

------------------

Also I am amazed at the "veneration" Christians give to the Christmas Tree.
Here is Wiki on possible pagan origins for the European usage of the Tree
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now I like Christmas Trees but are they really anything to do with Jesus. Just part of our cultural traditions. Of course now they mean Christmas and so it brings people around to thoughts of the Lord so that is good.

I do like Christmas. Total strangers will say "Merry Christmas". My brain tells me that 25 December is not when Jesus was born BUT my heart says He would love the Love that appears at this time of the year. The reason for the season.

The Apocalypse of Ahmadinejad

This is further to my post: Iran - Ahmadinejad - Nukes

The Apocalypse of Ahmadinejad Book

He stands only five foot four and smiles incessantly. But behind that charismatic persona beats the heart of a genocidal terrorist. In his provocative, well-researched expose' of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, prophecy expert Mark Hitchcock unveils the insidious agenda behind this radical Shiite's regime: Ahmadinejad plans to hasten the return of the Islamic messiah by ushering in his vision of the apocalypse.
His ultimate goal is to bring the Mahdi, or Twelfth Imam, out of hiding. And he plans to do so by arming his country with nuclear weapons, then exporting the Iranian revolution to the world by destroying Israel and the United States.
But there's a bizarre twist to Ahmadinejad's nightmarish intentions: This ardent zealot may well be part of God's plan to set the stage for a scenario prophesied more than 2,500 years ago.
Mark Hitchcock presents compelling evidence that Ahmadinejad's actions, including his alliances with Russia and many of Iran's neighbors, have placed his nation -- and the world -- on a collision course toward the war of Gog and Magog. (208 pages)

I just love the "well researched" - REALLY - more like a lot of imagination at play from that synopsis.
I did know that Shia belief included the return of the Iman and that Ahmadinejad appeared to believe in this also
from Shi'a: The Hidden Imam

Imam Mahdi will return at the head of the forces of righteousness and do battle with the forces of evil in one, final, apocalyptic battle. When evil has been defeated once and for all, the Imam Mahdi will rule the world for several years under a perfect government and bring about a perfect spirituality among the peoples of the world. After the Imam Mahdi has reigned for several years, Jesus Christ will return (raj'a ), as will Husayn and others. It is the return of the dead that falls under the Doctrine of Return; the Mahdi will only appear to humanity.

Note Jesus is included in this - but this is the Jesus of Islam - not to be confused with the expectations that Christians have for the Jesus of the Holy Bible. Why does Shia belief so correspond to Christian Second Coming of Jesus?

I do not think that Iran is part of the Bible's End Times prophecies. This whole book smacks of Nostradamus who was supposed to had a remarkable vision that there would be "trouble in Persia". There has always been trouble in Persia - it is placed at such a crossroad in the Middle East.

By the way that book is AUD$16.95 at WORD Bookstore Australia - I will not be buying

Israel and scripture

Israel And Scripture In Correct Context « Matthew Manchester

Kingdom of Heaven - a film I wanted to see

Bio - Kingdom of Heaven (film) Wikipedia RSS Feed
A detailed study of the film and I must agree the acting is good especially the King (Baldwin IV) and Saladin. The people all appear to be historical. Baldwin V was it seems in the film but disappeared in the cutting. The siege of Jerusalem is great spectacle.

Kingdom of Heaven - Wikiquote
has this

Saladin:: Will you yield the city?

Balian of Ibelin:: Before I lose it, I will burn it to the ground. Your holy places - ours. Every last thing in Jerusalem that drives men mad.

Saladin:: I wonder if it would not be better if you did.

Sort of sums up the issue - the film closes with a line about 1,000 years later and Jerusalem still driving men mad.

The film's message appears to be that the religions who value Jerusalem all should be able to live together. Muslim do use similar words to Christians when talking about their God. And the film discusses what is the purpose of life. Seems to be summed up in this quote

Hospitaller: I put no stock in Religion. By the word of religion, I've seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the "Will of God". Holiness is in right action and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves. And goodness - what God desires - [pointing at his head then heart] is here and here. By what you decide to do every day, you will be a good man [smiles] or not.

So depends on your world view - what am I trying to do whilst here on earth. Do you think there is life after death? Do you believe in a God? Are you forgiven?

Why not check out Ron Lankshear's Faith Page

Alternative Gospels

Recently I have read two books on what might be termed Alternative Gospels.

Have just finished
The lost gospel : the quest for the Gospel of Judas Iscariot by Herbert Krosney.
Click image for some detail and visit the Wiki Article


I thought the book was comments on the content and of the Judas codex but instead it was an adventure story about how it was found and finally got to be published. The book keeps declaring the codex to be a most important document especially as it turns our ideas of Jesus and Judas upside down or something like that.

Following the book along it details some Egyptians involved in its discovery. Except what is said about is vague and it says false names are used. So are these details correct?

Then the main Egyptian dealer puts the codex in a safe deposit box somewhere in a suburb along the Long Island turnpike. He leaves it there for 16 years. Basically the events described become like a farce and the people involved treat the codex quite strangely for something they describe as so earth shattering. The codex falls apart over the time its floating around amongst all these dealers etc. Finally in the last couple of chapters the codex gets put back together - however some of it is still "lost".

The early Christian writer Irenaeus comdemned the Gospel of Judas as a fraud and heresy. He was talking about a book in Greek. This codex is in Coptic - ah they say it is a translation. But even if it is the book Irenaeus meant then it is still a fraud and a heresy. The Bible is clear that Judas died soon after he betrayed Jesus - so how were the details in the book passed on? The Bible is also clear that Jesus knew what Judas was doing but does not indicate that Judas was given the task - it was rather that his own nature took him along that sad path.

This book is not earth shattering - we could do without it.

Further November 2007
Rice University professor debunks National Geographic translation of Gospel of Judas
April DeConick contends that the Gospel of Judas is not about a "good" Judas or even a "poor old" Judas. It is a gospel parody about a "demon" Judas written by a particular group of Gnostic Christians who lived in the second century.

and more on how Judas written in the "gospel" as "daimon" was translated initially as spirit rather than demon see Judas is a 'demon' in new read of gospel

Yes that's right we don't need it


Now previously I read The missing Gospels : unearthing the truth behind alternative Christianities by Darrell Bock.

An excellent detailed overview of the texts found at Nag Hammadi in 1945 . These texts are some of the material used in the Da Vinci Code and some other books as examples of early Christian thought that is different to now and that the Church destroyed these other ideas which were really viable Christian alternatives. Darrell shows that these ideas were not in main stream Christianity at all. They were not there at the beginning and were later concepts from people who were trying to change things.
The Alternative Christianity is not Christianity and
are not worth the re-discovery - so whether it is the Gospel of Judas or Thomas or Philip etc - ignore it - stay with Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Please visit Ron's Faith page