> My view is that Jesus refused the drug-laced
> 'wine' because He refused to allow His Sacri-
> fice to be less-than-Perfect [which is what
> accepting drugs would've made it].
>> And the fact that He did, completely-
> undermines Peter's 'suggestion', doesn't
> it?
No, not necessarly. The point was regarding the sponge, containing some
unknown bitter tasting substance, that was placed to the lips of Christ
during the crucification. Which has been a hot topic of debate for many
many many years. Especially since after it was placed to his lips Christ
died shortly after.
> In a Ravaged 'state', everything else is
> commensurately-weakened, so a 'drug-
> addict' would've tended, strongly, to
> welcomed the artificial 'solace' with
> which he was familiar, not Refuse it.
You have know evidence that he wasn't a drug addict. Your evidence is
derived from the scripture, which leads to you to the conclusion that Christ
did not actively participate in drug use. Moreover, I have no evidence,
directly, that shows Christ was a temporal lobe epileptic. However, when
evalulating the evidence presented in the New Testament there is
considerable suggestion that he could have suffered from limbic epilepsy.
Christ is a prime example of temporal lobe personality.
> The "Essenes" thing is nothing but routine> Slander through which folks
who 'move> away from' Jesus attempt to 'justify' the> directionality in
which they 'move'.
No. It is derived from historical suggestion and extreme similarities
between Jesus' teaching and the teachings from the "Essenes". They are
strikingly similar. However, that is not evidence but rather speculation.
There are many cultural and historical examples of Christ-like figures
throughout history that predates Christianity. Consider the parallels
between Siddhartha and Christ. The Christ figure and story is not all that
novel or unique. Even a quick glance of the history of the Middle East
during that time of Christ, especially in and around Judea and Galilee,
would reveal that there were many Christ-like cults that operating at that
time. These cults and followers were not all that different from
typically accepted Judeo-Christian Christ cult.
> The three 'years' of Jesus' Teaching are
> thoroughly accounted-for in the facts of
> the behavioral Transfomations that oc-
> curred in The Apostles. If Jesus were not
> devoted to being with-them, their "biological
> mass" and "behavioral inertia" would not
> have been such that they all [except Judas]
> were Faithful even in the face of their own
> horrible Deaths [except for John, who was
> Faithful, but died of natural causes]. And
> Judas, realizing his Error, took his own
> Life.]
You are presenting your own theories to this topic. First of all your
theories on "biological mass" and "behavioral inertia" are not even accepted
by anyone other than yourself. Thus, citing them as evidence of proof is
not all that valid. They may provide interesting conceptual suggestions
regarding the nature of the behavioral change associated with the Christ's
followers, however, they are not appropriate as evidence in this discussion.
(I am aware of the whole behavioral inertia theme from TM Stanley's economic
work. Even now the use of behavioral inertia in psychology and learning
comes from this original work. So I really don't know what you are
discussing here and how it relates to Christ and his teachings).
> If Jesus had been 'dallying', away from His
> Disciples, they'd not've found the stuff of
> what was, obviously, their Faith in Jesus.
>> So the "Essenes" stuff doesn't compute
> [except in a completely-arbitrary 'time'-
> series way - sort of like saying that, "be-
> cause I am alive at the same 'time' that
> others, here in b.n, are alive, we know
> one another". Fact is, we don't, and
> probably never will.]
Once again I suggest to consult the literature on the topic. There are
extreme similarities regarding the teachings between Christ and the Essenes.
They are uncanny. Did Christ spend time with Essenes? I don't know. Was
Christ aware of the Essenes and their teachings? The answer is probably
yes. One does not have to know someone without being influenced by them.
It is the unstriking parallels between both cult's teachings that is of real
interest here.
The issue is that we know very little about the life of Christ. The New
Testament is nothing but synopsis of his life. For example, the book of
Matthew is no more than roughly 32 pages. (I checked my copy of the NT just
now). There is a lot of what Jesus could have done and may have said that
is missing.