A heretical question
“Geomancy” is derived from the Latin “geomantia,” which in turn is derived from the Greek for “divination by earth.” The Arabic name for geomancy, “‘ilm al-raml,” means “the science of the sand.” In its original form, the geomantic figure was created by making lines of random numbers of dots in the sand, hence the name.
Elizabeth Bennett, Princeton University
This led me to think about the biblical story of the woman taken in adultery where the Scribes and the Pharisees asked Jesus what should be done to her. Here is the passage in John’s Gospel-
John 8
3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
Bearing in mind that there is nothing superfluous in the Bible, it has been discussed and debated endlessly by the finest minds in history so each and every word and phrase is there for a reason, telling us something.
Churchianity gives us the ossified dogma but the esoteric meaning, the Christianity, remains hidden.
So the question is; was Jesus, by writing in the sand, practicing the art of Geomancy?
I am prompted to ask after reading this piece in which Brian Inglis writes-
Jesus is the most accomplished diviner-magician of them all
Filed under: Earth and cosmos, JD, Religion & Philosophy
I read it as perfect dramatic technique.
Could well have been, Sackers.
There are two answers – the short and the long. The short answer is below here and the long is another post.
Deuteronomy 18:9-14:
[9] When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
[10] There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
[11] Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
[12] For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
[13] Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.
[14] For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.
[15] The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.
Deuteronomy was of course part of the Torah, not the NT and so the obvious question is whether writing in the sand can be seen as one of the -mancies or whether He was … er … just writing in the sand, as Sackers says, for dramatic effect?
One would think He had a fair awareness of the sort of thing said in Deuteronomy, if not its existence as a stand-alone book. It is an important question because if you can tie Him to one of the -mancies, then He negates the Resurrection.
So is there evidence of him pushing this Geomancy as an arcane art, aside from this one reference?
… and have a good look at the chicken before eating its egg. It may be that there was something unresolved in Inglis because of his interesting background, hence his reaching after magical alternatives to religion and use of The Spectator to get support for social-liberal causes. Reminiscent of Magnus Pym in Le Carre’s “A Perfect Spy”.
Yes, there’s that indeed plus JD’s heading. I’d like to know if he thinks questioning is heresy?
Heresy is a very emotive and tricky subject but would you agree it is challenging the established dogma and that can be done in science and any field? It involves preaching a counter-dogma as truth, as distinct from “questioning”, which is science’s brief.
I can ask questions and still end up with the original dogma, if it holds up, which is akin to passing it through a kiln to harden. But at least it’s passed through the questioning, rather than be lapped up by blind faith.
…
Magnus Pym – yes.
… and another thing: after making his point, Jesus returns to his writing in the sand. In child-teaching these days it’s known as giving his interlocutors “take-up time” – it’s easier for them to accept his instruction if he isn’t standing over them, staring at them or shouting at them, defying them to defy him. They can decide to alter their behaviour, without losing face.
Way off post and years out of date but it is about Christianity. Re the Pauline Pierce article, when asked if he was a Christian, Bush said “I’m born again”. He did not say as what. Perhaps he’s not so dim aftar all.
Hmmm, though this story exists in the KJV, it actually being written by John is a subject of much debate, being that it didn’t exist in the earliest of Greek manuscripts (at least as part of the book of John – some say it belongs in Luke).
Secondly, (and it may seem irrelevant point at first, but bear with me), the Greek word originally used, in this passage, was actually “porneia”, which is often interchanged with adultery, but more accurately means “sexual immorality”, and is therefore associated with the ancient Greek slang for “prositute”, which is “pornai”.
Regardless, we as Christian women have always preferred to believe that Jesus was simply writing down the name (or names) of the men who “committed porneia” with her (because, let’s face it, she didn’t sin alone), and figuring out which men were guilty of “using her services” – probably didn’t take divination to figure out, in small towns
Additionally, it was likely Jesus wrote the accusations in impermant sand not only to illustrate how easily sin is wiped away sin, but these would be serious accusations if said aloud or written in a more permanent medium – and it was too early in his ministry to be crucified just yet;)