The Last Judgement: Rome’s Sistine Chapel to Reopen After 30 Years

Are we in the days of the Last Judgement? The signs and symbols of the End of an Age are everywhere and this story of the sistine chapelinfamous Roman sixth-century church known as the Sistine Chapel reopening to the public after 30 years of restoration seems to align with the last days of the Apocalypse (unveiling).

The Sistine Chapel was covered in 847 during an earthquake and it was only exposed in 1900. The Chapel’s frescoes of saints and martyrs, queens, popes and emperors have now been restored at a cost of about $2.1 funded by the Italian state and the World Monuments Fund. (more…)

The Nag Hammadi Codices were made by monks

(Source: Faculty of Theology at the University of Oslo) – The provenance of the Nag Hammadi Codices has been a point of contention among scholars ever since they were discovered in Upper Egypt in 1945. A new book strongly supports the hypothesis that they were manufactured and read by Christian monks in the fourth and fifth centuries.

nag-hammadi-codex-ii-coptic-museum-cairo-507-2 (more…)

The Stone of alchemy is in many respects the stone rejected by the builders of Christian culture

“Alchemy stands in a compensatory relationship to mainstream Christianity, rather like a dream does to the conscious attitudes of the stone of alchemydreamer.

The Stone of alchemy is in many respects the stone rejected by the builders of Christian culture, demanding recognition and reincorporation into the building itself”. – Carl Jung

Carl Jung: I would abandon the term “Gnostic” without compunction were it not a swearword in the mouths of theologians

Here is a letter by Carl Jung from 1954 that he had written to a friend. In it he states why he uses the term Gnostic which is in opposition to the carl_jung_lettertheologians of his day. Jung said these theologians fraudulently offers his (limited) God-concept to the naive listener as a special revelation. This underhand way of doing holy business I fling in the teeth of theologians of all colours.”

To Erich Neumann

Dear Neumann, 30 January 1954

Best thanks for your friendly letter.

I was just writing to Hull, who is to insert a passage on your work in the English edition of Symbole der Wandlung.

The transition to the New Year has not passed without difficulties: liver and intestine revolted against the too oily hotel cooking in Locarno, though this had its good side in that my holiday was 1-1/2 weeks longer than expected.

I have already penetrated a good way into your “Kulturentwicklung” and shall be able to read further as soon as the mountain of letters that have accumulated during my absence is cleared away.

I would abandon the term “Gnostic” without compunction were it not a swearword in the mouths of theologians. (more…)

Martin Luther King Jr. – The Influence of the Mystery Religions on Christianity

(Source: Stanford University) – King wrote this paper for the course Development of Christian Ideas, taught by Davis. The essay martil luther king jrexamines how Christianity developed as a distinct religion with a set of central tenets and how it was influenced by those pagan religions it assimilated. King repeats material from an earlier paper, “A Study of Mithraism,” but he extends the discussion here to the influence of other mystery religions.1

Davis gave the essay an A, stating: “This is very good and I am glad to have your conclusion. It is not so much that Christianity was influenced by the Mystery Cults, or borrowed from them, but that in the long process of history this religion developed. It, Christianity, is the expression of the longing of people for light, truth, salvation, security. (more…)

Germany’s Vatican ambassador: ‘Islam is part of the solution’

Germany’s ambassador to the Vatican, Annette Schavan, still sees religion as a peacemaker, despite wars and terrorism. In an interview with DW, she calls for more interfaith dialogue and respect between all religions.

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Deutsche Welle: After the New Year’s Eve harassment incidents in Cologne, a highly charged atmosphere with regard to migrants has developed in Germany. How do people in Rome assess the events in Germany? (more…)