Monday, August 06, 2007

Kanehbosem

It is quite amazing what some can do with a single verse of the bible. Some of our friends in the good old US of A have dreamt up yet a new church based on ...

Exodus 30:23.

Which I'm sure you all know off by heart:

"Take the finest spices: of liquid myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet-smelling cinnamon half as much, that is, two hundred fifty, and two hundred fifty of aromatic cane"

Look closely at that word '~f,boß-hnEq.W'', usually translated as fragrant or aromatic cane. For those who cannot read Hebrew, these words are pronounced something like Kaneh-bosem. Which is, of course ….

Cannabis!

That's right, the OT anointing oil, so say our overseas friends, must be the drug we all know today as Marijuana.* This means that all the Temple implements, priests etc. were coated with enough Cannabis to keep The Doors churning out another five albums.

Now the kicker. Christ of course means 'anointed one'. Perhaps you may see where this new church is going with all of this …

Does your Church have the false anointing?

The question really is: Does it smell of Cannabis?

Their reasoning pushes on: 'If Jesus was called "Christ" by receiving the Holy Anointing Oil, how are we to be called Christians? One would assume that we must also be anointed with the same, Holy Anointing Oil, or Nazar Oil, as described in Exodus 30:23.'

Indeedy. Unless you've been smeared from head to foot in half a bag of Marijuana, don't you have the cheek to go calling yourself a Christian.

In fact, while they are at it, if you aren't slam-dunking enough Cannabis in your holy oil to get a filled football stadium high as a kite, thou art the antichrist. They argue:

"But as "Christ" means "the anointed" What does "Anti-Christ" mean? "Anti" in Greek means "Opposed to" or "Instead of". The Anti-Christ would then mean "Opposed to the anointed" or "Instead of the anointed".

For false Christ's or (false anointed ones) and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect. Matthew 24:24

Today the Roman Catholic Churches, use Pure Olive Oil, sprinkled with powered Balsam, and blessed by a Bishop at lent. Here we find the "instead of anointing".

The Coptic Orthodox use a Myron oil which consists of over 30 spices. The Myron Oil is based on a tradition that Saint Mark took with him the spices used at Jesus burial to Alexandria. Whether or not this is true is unknown, but here again we have the "Instead of Oil"

There are other Churches that boil down various other configurations of the Holy Oil. Some include wine, salt, and other ingredients, boiled with oil, as the "instead of Holy Oil".

Most protestant Churches offer no anointing at all. Here we find the "opposed to anointing".

It appears, that in the Christian World, so preoccupied with calling themselves, Christians or "The Anointed Ones", we have no place for the "Holy Anointing Oil of God", as described in the Exodus 30:23"


How true. Some of these stupid antichrist churches have bothered about defining oneself as Christian by faith in atoning work of Christ, works of justice and mercy, justification by faith etc. when all along they should have been skinny dipping in enough Cannabis to keep Snoop Dogg happy for a year.

'The Anointing breaks the yoke', they note at the bottom of the page.

The Assembly of the Church of the Universe is the not-at-all new age sounding denomination giving their hearty support of this teaching. Their declaration:

"As Members of the Church of the Universe and Ordained Clergy,
we declare our ancient and common law right to freedom of worship
and our right to freedom in the administration and the co-ordination
of all sacraments, Baptism, Holy Matrimony, Last Rights, Exorcism and
Communion and of the 12 fruits of God's Tree of Life, Marijuana
as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. Amen."


Well that is an original twist. And oh yes, they hold marijuana to be the sacred Tree of Life from Genesis.

They put the whole business into one punchy sentence: "either Jesus used marijuana or he was not the Christ"

I like the sound of this church. We could spice up our church incense no end with this proof-text – bring a whole new meaning to the 'better is one day in your courts' Psalmist language. May just keep me coming back for the Sunday service...

But can I really join? Here are pictures of the Reverend Baldasaro and the Reverend Tucker of The Assembly of the Church of the Universe:

http://freeanointing.org/RevBaldasaro.bmp

http://freeanointing.org/RevTucker.bmp

With a couple of small adjustments to my fashion, and yea baby, I'll be swinging with my mojo right along to the next service:


Oh yes, and they believe in nudity:

"Do you think Jesus was a nudist?"
Reverend Tucker: "He was, under his clothes. Look, he said it the way it is. I forgot where in the book he said it but he said something like "into this world you're brought naked and from it naked you will go."
Reverend Baldasaro: "Hey man, it's natural. You don't hurt anybody by doing it and we want to do it on our own ground, not in any middle class place. We want to be free."

As it turns out, they don't consider themeselves to be Christian, they just use Christian language like 'Jesus' and 'Church' and try to exegete the bible. While their exegesis and treatment of the bible is not the most convincing (-understatement mode off-), who is to say that they may not be right about their right to use Cannabis? What would you say?

* Whether the word under question really means 'Cannabis' is of course questionable. HALOT prefers to translate 'Kaneh' as reed or stalk, 'Bosem' as balsam oil or perfume which would fit well with its second usage in the above proof-text (together with cinnamon). Cf. also the 'measuring reed' in Ezek 40:3 (kaneh). On 'Bosem', cf. Isaiah 3:24 'Instead of perfume there will be a stench'. As for Christ's anointing and the citations from the early church in their argument, I'll let you work out the problems in their argumentation - Perhaps Jer 6:20 can also put things in perspective: "Of what use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba, or sweet cane (Kaneh) from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing to me."

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

You look good with a beard. I'm not so sure about that hat, though.

Regards,
John

J. Henry said...

Are we sure they aren't just trying to meet THEIR QUOTA? You'll have to read the following piece of exegetical work to understand what I mean by that:

http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0024/0024_01.asp

J. Clark said...

I've met, truly, one of their converts or maybe common brothers who had studied at a seminary (that's what he called it) in southern Oregon which was a universalist-Christian-new age school. He was lobbying at a local school to pass a bill to legalize marijuana. We should ask the Netherlands whether legalization of Jane is good for the society. Now, back to my meditations and "home-grown" incense.

Rob said...

You're amazing.

J. P. van de Giessen said...

Well it has placed the Netherlands on the worldmap, but is has placed the society in the netherworld.

Jim Getz said...

I had a man in all honesty once tell me that God gave Moses psychedelic drugs along with the Ten Commandments on Sinai. Crazy

dan said...

One of my friends from bible college (who does not use any illegal drugs) was thrilled to discover that you could get ordained online by this church, simply by sending a little money their way (this was about five years ago, so I don't know if this is still true). Needless to say, he now has his ordination papers framed and mounted.

Maybe you would like to consider ordination?

Theo' said...

I've worked in prison chaplaincy in the UK for three years. There are a couple of religions that are not allowed in prison - one is Rastafarianism, in case they start demanding interesting (Biblical) resins as a human right.

I've seen people trade drugs at the sign of peace: I've never seen any kaneh-bosem traded, but I have seen a white powdery substance exchange hands.

Manna? Discuss...

martin shields said...

Chris, it may be time to discover the joys of unicode. All I see of your Hebrew is "'~f,boß-hnEq.W'". Through the miracle of Unicode, I would be able to see: קנה בשם or Greek καλαμου ευωδους all without having to mess with font tags.

However, rather disturbingly, I've just checked, and it would appear that I'm also a nudist under my clothes. I'm afraid that might be as far as our common ground goes on this one, though.

scott gray said...

add the nudity under one's clothes thing to the marijuana thing, and the lyrics for 'puff the magic dragon' take on even deeper, more religious meaning....

Michael Barber said...

Hmmm... I always thought there might be more to that parable about the kingdom of God, where the owner of a field has to deal with someone who put weed(s) in the field. I always thought it odd that Jesus taught that the master decided against getting rid of the weed problem...

Matthew said...

Looking good.

Chris Tilling said...

Thank you all for your amusing comments.

Nice Chick tract, J Henry!!

Dan, that is so funny. Online ordination!

Martin, I know I should, but I'm just not so sure how in a way that isn't too long winded.

Anonymous said...

Well Chris you avoid the entire arguement and proofs on cannabis in the Holy Oil whis is made on this site. The members of the Church of the Universe in the film are offered as an example of a church who consider cannabis as a sacrament, nothing more. You avoid all the early Christian writings within the site which state that it was by this anointing that we are called Christians. So have some fun and make your jokes about a very serious religious discussion which is given on this site. Be the false anointed one that you are.

John J. Kaiser said...

"Indeedy. Unless you've been smeared from head to foot in half a bag of Marijuana, don't you have the cheek to go calling yourself a Christian."

That is hilarious! Excellent catch.

Terry Winger said...

8-9-07

Wow this is really a cute little site and I am glad that I was told about it. As the producer of the Fire Baptism and the Lost Sacraments as well as the webmaster of the web site you link to, I enjoyed seeing it.

Now I did give permissions to link to my web site at the bottom of each page, and comments no matter how narrow minded or uneducated such as yours are part of that.

But I never gave permissions to use photos from my Film or web site which have copy rights. So I do demand that those photos be removed immediately, unless you want to negotiate payment for those rights. Again linking to this site is just fine by me. Let the reader form their own thoughts after reading the proofs there in.

Thank you
Terry Winger

Chris Tilling said...

Terry,
I'm not narrow minded or uneducated - I was just taking the piss. It deserved no more.
Anway, pictures are off. You sourpuss, you!

Terry Winger said...

Well thank you Chris,

I was glad to hear you removed my copy right photos. I do try to be a sour piss now and then but then one good piss deserves another. Actually I thought the whole thing you had here was really cute, LOL. You are welcome to use other items to express your self with here other than copy right photos which will more directly come down on me, and not persons that interviewed for the film. Personally I certainly welcome critics and hecklers. I would even be happy to supply photos of myself. Maybe you can add horns on my head to get your jollies off.

On you tube you should be able to link to a 2 minute trailer of the film, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wctyPM3Q27M. Of course you can link to my web site as you know, and throw stones as you like. There is another trailer on my web site which you can also link to. So the battle could be endless for you.

Now as far as your levels of narrow mindedness or education, I think I should just let you express yourself and that will become evident for you and your hecklers. Too bad you did not have the guts to just debate me. But then at this point it would be impossible to have a educated discussion without a common frame of reference. Maybe if you studied all of this for another 20 years we could do that.

Your friend
Terry Winger

Jim said...

Terry, when you write

But then at this point it would be impossible to have a educated discussion without a common frame of reference.

It becomes impossible to take your call for educated discussion seriously. "A educated discussion..." Please. Try 'an'.

Terry Winger said...

Thank you for your comments to me, Brother Jim.

Hey Brother Jim,

Heckle Heckle brother.

You want to to discuss it or just Heckle sir? Well discuss this then brother:

Calamus vs Cannabis In the Holy Oil ????

If you actually buy the Calamus translation for the Holy Oil, then you assume that God specified in Exodus 30:23 a drug commonly known as Ecstasy. Calamus contains an ingredient called aserone. This is a hallucinogen which is metabolized in the liver as trimethoxyamphetamine or ecstasy. The Middle Eastern version of this plant is far more toxic than it`s North American Cousin. This is deadly to flies and other insects.

The Exodus 30:23 reference refers to sweet Calamus. If you look at this in the Strong’s concordance where they spell this as qaneh rather than kaneh, they pronounce this as Kaw-Naw, a reed, calamus, and cane are listed as possible translations.

The term sweet used in Exodus 30:23 in Hebrew is Bosem.
According to the Webster's New World Hebrew Dictionary, Bosem is perfume; scent. The Concordance: the Hebrew is Bosem #1314, fragrance, by impl. spicery; also the balsam plant:----smell, spice, sweet (odour). In some Bibles sweet calamus is translated as aromatic or fragrant Cane.

It is where the bosem is fused to the word kaneh or qaneh that the cannabis translation becomes apparent. So then to pronounce this we have kaw-naw-bosem, and is spelled in English qaneh-bosem or kaneh-bosem. In 1936, Sara Benetowa, later Known as Sula Benet, an etymologist from the Institute of Anthropological Sciences, in Warsaw wrote a treatise, "Tracing One Word Through Different Languages."
This was a study on the word Cannabis, based on a study of the oldest Hebrew texts. Although the word cannabis was thought to be of Scythian origin, Benet's research showed it had an earlier root in the Semitic Languages such as Hebrew. Benet demonstrated that the ancient Hebrew word for Cannabis is Kaneh -Bosem.
She also did another study called Early Diffusion and Folk Uses of Hemp. There is a reprint of this in Cannabis and Culture ISBN:90-279-7669-4. On page 44, she states, "The sacred character of hemp in biblical times is evident from Exodus 30:23, where Moses was instructed by God to anoint the meeting tent and all of its furnishings with specially prepared oil, containing hemp."
On page 41 Sula Benet writes, : In the course of time, the two words kaneh and bosem were fused into one , kanabos or kannabus know to us from the Mishna.
According to the Webster's New World Hebrew Dictionary, page 607 the Hebrew for hemp is kanabos.

Hey brother Jim, if you get through all that we can discuss all the Early Christian writings where it was by the anointing of this Oil that we were called Christians.

If you like all that then all this is on my website, www.freeanointing.org where there is even more that you can discuss with me.

It that a serious enough of a challenge for you Brother Jim. Can you not take that one seriously sir.

Tell me exactly where my research cannot be taken seriously Sir. Lets discuss it here, or is it just Heckle Heckle Boy?

Cheers,

Terry Winger

Chris Tilling said...

Terry, seriously, there is plenty here that is just plain loopy and you have much to learn it seems about scholarly method and clear thinking. To be honest, aside from my joking, what most concerns me, and correct me if I misunderstood you, is that your webpage starts calling the Catholic and Protestant denominations the antichrist. If this is what you really claim, it is just the foolish yapping of ignorance.

Jim said...

Terry you and your ilk are idiots who twist scripture to satisfy your own mindlessness. No, I'm not reading your stupid cow crap filled book, and no, I don't have time to even take you seriously enough to respond point by point to your rambling ignorance. go back to your pot plants and suck them dry, Perhaps when all of your brain cells (the few you obviously have left) are sitting in a pot next to the pot you are occupying and you go blank into the swirling darkness of complete ignorance that beckons you, you'll regret your stupidity. But I doubt it, Homer, because, doh, Homer's don't ever see the truth.

Jim said...

Oh, and Terry, we aren't now, nor shall we ever be brothers of any sort. Chris is well within his rights to allow your stupid comments- but were you to attempt such elsewhere you would find yourself on the receiving end of a solid behind kicking by foot.

Brother Michael said...

Jesus said to the Jews "isn't it written that I said you were all Gods?" God is God.

Be well and prosper,
In peace, bless us all

Reverend Baldasaro
Church of the Universe
htt://www.iamm.com