Tomichan Matheikal's blog

The Omega Scroll Author: Adrian d’Hage Pubisher: Penguin, 2006 Background information In 1947, some ancient scrolls were discovered in the Qumran caves near the Dead Sea.  They are believed to have been written by a Jewish monastic sect called the Essenes .  According to Pliny (23-79 CE), the Essenes were a celibate Jewish sect of hermits who lived in an area that might be understood as the Qumran caves.  Josephus, Romano-Jewish scholar of the first century (37-100 CE), described the Essenes as a monastic group or a mystery order that despised pleasure and wealth.  Josephus described the Essenes as a community which did not allow any private property.  He says that the sect had a 3-year probation period after which one might be accepted as full-fledged member who would have to rise before dawn, work for 5 hours, take a ritual bath after the work and then have a communal meal.  According to Josephus, the members had some divination and healing powers.  The Essenes were

Christians all over the world are entering the Holy Week, a week dedicated to the commemoration of the last days of Jesus which led to his crucifixion and the putative resurrection.   Though I lost my religious faith three decades ago my interest in Jesus has refused to make a clean exit from my consciousness.   Probably my debilitatingly conservative Catholic upbringing has nailed Jesus too fast to my consciousness. Who was Jesus in reality?   This is a question that has fascinated me much.   I don’t believe he was the son of God.   I don’t believe there is any God up there or anywhere else begetting sons or daughters or any other miserable creatures.   I find it quite interesting that we, the human beings, who have explored the minute world of the subatomic particles and the stars billions of kilometres away, have not been able to discover much about a person who lived merely 2000 years ago.   Did he exist at all?   I remember a book which was quite a craze among a few of m