Shirlee Hall asked:


f us are familiar with the marvels of personal computers. What about a computer system that keeps track of everything and everyone that has ever existed? Not only does this vast and accurate system have a record of history, it has countless videotape films and pictures that we can tap into if we are sensitive or intuitive. Some people refer to the objective records as the Akashic Records or Book of Life. These records are not physical nor are they confine to a particular place. They are everywhere. All we need to do is tune into them. Anything that is experienced whether it is a thought, word, desire or action creates a vibration. The vibration remains forever in what is referred to as the unseen etheric energy. Energy leaves an imprint in time and space.. The desires that placed the energy out there are also recorded.

Every experience we have can leave either a good or bad impression. Our choices leave different impressions in the records. The giant computer system is similar to a vast subconscious. The subconscious can be accessed either consciously or unconsciously. The purpose of an accurate record is to actually help us in our growth and transformation. From my own experience and others, we are able to tap into the past, which can serve what is happening to us on many different levels here in the present. The universe is based on love and order. By keeping a record, we can go back in time and heal, forgive and release activity that has hampered our balance and ability to live fully. The challenge is to be able to correctly interpret the records. One must be intuitive, open minded, objective and non judgmental. This can be tricky because it is typical to be heavily influenced by our own belief systems, backgrounds, experiences and personal motives.

When we start digging into the memories stored in the subconscious, it becomes obvious that our challenges today have their roots in choices and decisions made previously. Some teachers feel that if you go straight to God, the memories or karma that is considered to be bad, will automatically be removed without your going through therapy sessions or deep introspection. I know this can happen. One time I offered a workshop on the power of the Holy Spirit. Many people came up to me to be touched and healing happened to them. I remember two men who had come together and their comments. They said that the power of the Holy Spirit washed them clean. They felt that all hindrances and impurities had instantly dropped away.

It is important that we take personal responsibility in shaping the course of our lives and the condition of the world around us. We do effect every soul we encounter and in this way we are ‘co-creators’ in the unfoldment of destiny. Today, there are many people studying subjects that will help with their soul progression. It is one thing to know, and quite another thing to put into daily practice what we do know. It is important to have an ideal and live life doing everything possible to reach the ideal. People commonly blame others for their problems. Not so, we inherit most that happens from ourselves. For those of you who live with challenging personalities, try minimizing their faults and magnifying their virtues.

For you to be able to access your hidden records, realize that you must be sensitive and that it is difficult to interpret the old memories. You will need a detached state of mind, your body at peace and a sense of balance. Using your will and asking a specific question in prayer or meditation can be successfully done under the right conditions. The information must come through form. The form could be a dream, a vision, an intuitive thought, looking at a scene or hearing something that stimulates the hidden. The records, memory bank, are everywhere and will manifest through your consciousness by means of the five senses. Pay attention to what you say, hear, think and write. Why do you want information? Be very clear when you ask for answers. The odds are the answers will come in symbolic form and require interpretation. It is your subconscious that gives you the symbols required to bring the information to the surface in your mind. We are essentially archaeological digs. Persistence and pure intent will get you through the layers of the past and find their way to the surface.

Dolores

Darren Thompson asked:


This article is the first in a series of articles that present the ideas of my print-on-demand book, “The Fourth Day: Why the Bible is Historically Accurate”.

When I was college student, I was introduced to the concept of biblical inerrancy. My pastor, Al Jackson of Lakeview Baptist Church in Auburn, Alabama, drove the point home that the Word of God, the Bible, was “God-breathed”. He explained that since the Bible was “God-breathed” it was created in the same manner as Adam when God breathed life into man in the book of Genesis. The Bible was designed, just like man was at creation, when God instructed over forty authors exactly what to write. The Bible was designed in the sense that the whole book’s purpose is the revelation of the messiah of mankind, Jesus Christ. The Bible points to Christ in very direct ways by giving the specific characteristics of his human life. The prophecies of the Old Testament indicated he would be born in Bethlehem, through the line of Jesse, and by a virgin. The spiritual aspects of Christ are alluded to in the symbols of the atonement sacrifices where animals were put on an altar and then sprinkled with salt, a symbol of eternity, to represent the once-and-for-all sacrifice that the Son of God would make on a cross one day. God coordinated all this information to point to Christ, God’s plan for man’s salvation.

Since the time that my pastor explained these things to me I have taken them to heart and I have studied the Bible with the attitude that the Bible is historically correct as well as spiritually correct. Conservative Christians have adopted this philosophy in every subject covered in the Bible except for one, chronology. Chronology, the study of the historical timeline, has been a subject where it seems the Christian community has conceded defeat. For whatever reason, Christians in the modern era have sought compromise with scholars, many of whom are downright antagonistic to Christian beliefs, so that the timeline of the Bible would have the stamp of authenticity from historians.

An article in Biblical Archaelogy Review effectively demonstrates the level of Biblical antagonism that archeological community can exhibit. Consider an excerpt from the opening paragraph of an article entitled Minimalists on Parade (Biblical Archaeology Review, Jan/Feb 2005, Vol 31, No. 1, Page 16-17): “At a recent conference on reconstructing Israelite history held in Rome, the so-called Biblical minimalist position was upheld by a number of prominent scholars. This position is not monolithic, however, and different minimalist scholars stressed different arguments. Among them:

* The Bible cannot be used as a historical source. [The position that defines a Biblical minimalist.]

* Neither can archaeology, which can only tell us whether ancient Israelites ate from a bowl 20 or 30 centimeters wide. A history of Israel based on archaeology is useless.

* There was no Exodus.

* The famous Tel Dan inscription mentioning David, excavated by Israeli archaeologist Avraham Biran, is probably a forgery; and the Hebrew words in the inscription that read “House [Dynasty] of David” probably mean something else.

* David and Solomon are only symbolic characters, not real characters.

* The Biblical accounts of the United Kingdom of Judah and Israel under David and Solomon are simply later projections into a distant mythic past.

* Judah did not even become a state until about a hundred years after David-if he lived.” One scholar mentioned in this article, Giovanni Garbini of the Universita’ di Roma La Sapienza, makes a particularly provocative comment in this article: “The name Jacob “is clearly an artificial creation of post-exilic age [after the Babylonian Exile]. It was not Jacob who became Israel, but Israel who became Jacob…”. These minimalists, who appear to represent the majority of the archaeological community, don’t regard the Bible as historically accurate. Among their objections: they don’t believe that David, Solomon or Jacob existed and don’t believe the Exodus ever occurred. These positions are as idealogically opposed to the conservative Christian view of the Bible as one can image. So why should we (Christians) seek the counsel of this group in the understanding of such a precious concept as the historical timeline of the Bible? Yet this is what has happened.

Here’s another problem with relying on the scientific community to authenticate the Bible: they have “rational” blinders on. Scientists that have no faith in Christ are limited in their ability to investigate because they assume that certain phenomena are impossible even before the investigation has begun. Since they consider themselves to be “rational” scientists the assumption that an “irrational” event has occurred is implausible. The scientific method basically allows anyone to make an assumption (any assumption), conduct research of known facts or run an experiment and use the research and/or the experiment to validate the assumption. These “rational” scientists when confronted with an “irrational” assumption simply leap over the research and experimental process and declare that the assumption in invalid because they have assumed the “irrational” assumption is just not possible. So why do these “rational” scientists behave this way? Well, consider the following possibility. Let’s say that an “irrational” event is assumed and information is collected or an experiment is performed to confirm its validity. Let’s say that the irrational event has been validated. What would be the response of the “rational” scientist? More than likely, complete denial. Such an outcome would create complete chaos in his philosophy since his “rational” method of investigation, the scientific method, would have been used to prove that an “irrational” event was possible. So what is an “irrational” event? It is just another way of saying a supernatural event, one that is beyond our understanding. Can the scientific process be used to validate an “irrational” event? Jesus Christ thought so. Jesus was explaining this idea of being “born again” to a Pharisee named Nicodemus in the New Testament (John 3:8): “The wind blows where it wishes, and you here its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus was clearly confused by this concept of being “born again” but Jesus was saying that even if you didn’t comprehend or believe this supernatural phenomenon could occur, just like something as intangible as the wind, there would be tangible evidence of it.

Certainly not all scientists believe in this manner, but the great majority of them do. How many of these scientists will view the Bible with no preconceived notions? When these scientists read in the Bible that the Earth was created in seven days they will not consider this as true because they have been trained that the universe is billions of years old. When these scientists read that a man lived to be 969 years old in the Bible they dismiss it as myth or fairy tale because men don’t currently live to be that old. They will not consider the possibility that at one time in history men did live that long. When these men read the account of Noah and a worldwide flood they have always attributed it to “local” flooding. This may have some ring of truth to it since until that time, according to the Bible, the world was one big land mass (the world was all in one place, i.e., local). According to the Bible the continents didn’t divide until the life of Peleg, a descendant of Noah. Again, the scientists certainly are not going to agree with this theory of the land mass shift because they will insist that this geological process needed millions of years to accommodate the movement of the continental land masses. Since these archeologists disagree with Christians in so many fundamental matters described in the Bible how will we ever reach an agreement on a historical timeline?

The present chronological model of the Bible is based on a mixture of Biblical truth and theoretical historical models. I believe it is time that we consider a new approach to Biblical chronology. The model I propose is based solely on the information in the Bible. If the Bible is true then historians will confirm the result of the theologians (assuming the theologians have interpreted the Bible correctly). Why should God’s Word have to be authenticated by men? If the Bible is truly trustworthy the truth of the Bible should be laid out for men to see and respond to its truth. In 1995 David Rohl, an Egyptologist, wrote his book A Test in Time to propose a radically different theory in chronology. He proposed a timeline that was based on some Biblical evidence. In fact, Rohl’s proposed date of Solomon’s reign is consistent with the timeline developed from my literal interpretation of the Bible. What is even more amazing about David Rohl is that he is described among archaeologists as a maximalist, someone who believes the Bible is historically accurate, yet he characterizes himself as a spiritual “agnostic”. If David Rohl is a maximalist then I am a “maximum” maximalist, someone significantly to the right of David Rohl’s view since I believe that the Bible is historically accurate and indeed the very word of God as it claims to be. Therefore I believe my perspective on the chronology of the Bible is unlike anything you have ever heard before.

The purpose of my book, “The Fourth Day: Why the Bible is Historically Accurate”, was to prove a biblical concept that I believe will synchronize the events recorded in the Bible with Egyptian history, Babylonian history, Persian history and Archaeology. The recognition of this concept will allow the reader to tie together all these areas of study in one neat package so that when viewed together there is no discrepancy between the Bible and these other elements of ancient history. The recognition of this concept will also illustrate that the Bible is not only a trustworthy religious document but a trustworthy historical document because of its chronological precision. First, assume that from the beginning of creation to the end of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ is a period of 7000 years; a time period analogous to the 7 day period of creation of the world mentioned in the book of Genesis. Next, recognize that the sacrifice of the Passover lamb in the Old Testament is symbolic of the fact that Jesus Christ was crucified exactly 4000 years after the creation of the world. According to the Mosaic Law each family that observed Passover was to purchase a lamb 4 days prior to the day of Passover and that lamb was to live in that household until the late afternoon of the day when the Israelite priest had to sacrifice the lamb and it was to be accomplished by nightfall. I believe these 4 days were God’s way of illustrating that the lamb of God, Jesus Christ, would be sacrificed on a cross 4000 years after the creation of the world. Therefore, symbolically and in actuality, Jesus Christ was sacrificed on the fourth day.

When you recognize this concept to be true, several significant conclusions regarding history become evident. The Israelite Monarchies of David and Solomon occurred about 180 years later than held by historians. The period of the Persian Empire from Cyrus the Great’s announcement of the rebuilding of Jerusalem until Alexander the Great’s invasion lasted only 21 years (not the approximately 200 year period currently held by historians). Egypt did not have a king (a Pharaoh) for 300 years between the 20th and 21st dynasties. I support these conclusions using the Bible, Astronomy, Archaeology, the writings of ancient historians and the monuments of ancient kings.

In the next installment of this series of articles I will address one of the most provocative discoveries of this approach to history; the discovery that the Persian Empire described in the book of Daniel only lasted for 21 years and not the 200 years claimed by historians.



Eddie

Harun Yahya asked:


Accounts of peoples of ancient times comprise a rather large part of the Qur’an and contain important wisdom well worthy our reflection. When we examine individuals who lived — and were wiped out — in the past, we can see that they had no fear of Allah, despite the messages communicated to them. They engaged in ugly, deviant practices, and rode roughshod over the rights of others. They had lost all sense of shame, and thought only of their own concerns and worldly interests.

But the most serious fault they shared in common was rejecting the prophets whom Allah sent to them, and even being openly hostile towards them. Because of their obstinacy, Allah punished them and wiped them suddenly from the face of the Earth.

In the Qur’an, Allah reveals that He intended these acts of destruction as a deterrent to those who came after them. It’s important for all believers not to regard these events as experienced solely by peoples who lived in the past, but to learn from these examples provided in the Qur’an. As is revealed in the Qur’an:

That is some of the news of the cities which We relate to you. Some of them are still standing, while others are now just stubble. We did not wrong them; rather they wronged themselves. The gods they called upon besides Allah did not help them at all when Allah’s command came upon them. They did nothing but increase their ruin. (Qur’an, 11:100-101)

Where Did the People of ‘Ad Live?

The people of ‘Ad, who “build a tower on every hilltop” (Qur’an, 26:128) and “construct great fortresses” (Qur’an, 26:129), lived in southern Arabia — a region distant from the other peoples in the Middle East and Mesopotamia.

The Truth Revealed by Archaeological Findings

At the beginning of 1990, press releases appeared in well-known newspapers around the world with such headlines as “Fabled Lost Arabian City Re-Discovered, ” and ” Found: Arabian City of Legend, “, and “Ubar – the Atlantis of the Sands.” What made this archaeological discovery still more fascinating was that the city’s name appears in the Qur’an. Many people were amazed in the face of this new discovery, having assumed that the People of ‘Ad, referred to in the Qur’an, would never be found.

The People of ‘Ad and the Columns

The excavations at Ubar unearthed a great many artistic relics and works of advanced civilization, of the kind revealed in the Qur’an.

From the moment these remains were first unearthed, it was realized that this ruined city was the city of Iram, home to the people of ‘Ad referred to in the Qur’an. Among the structures unearthed were columns, whose existence is mentioned in the Qur’an. Dr. Zarins, of the team that carried out the excavation, stated that these pillars were chiefly what made this city different from other archaeological discoveries, and that this, therefore, was the city of the “People of ‘Ad” referred to in the Qur’an.

In the Qur’an, the city of Iram is referred to thus:

Do you not see what your Lord did with ‘Ad – Iram of the Columns whose like was not created in any land. (Qur’an, 89:6-12)

The Prophet Hud (as) was sent as an envoy to ‘Ad, and told the people that he was a trustworthy envoy sent to them by Allah, called on them to fear Him and avoid His wrath. He warned them to serve only Allah, or else He would punish them. Despite all his exhortations, however, the deviant people of ‘Ad opposed the Prophet Hud (as) and refused to follow the path he had set out for them. Their ugly behavior toward his message is reported in these verses:

Why were the People of ‘Ad destroyed?

Their Slandering of the Prophet

The ruling circle of those of his people who disbelieved said, “We consider you a fool and think you are a liar.” (Qur’an, 7:66)

Their Ascription of Partners to Allah

And to ‘Ad We sent their brother Hud. He said, “My people! Worship Allah. You have no god apart from Him. You are merely fabricators.” (Qur’an, 11:50)

Their Rejection of the Signs, and Their Rebellion Against the Prophet

That was ‘Ad. They denied the Signs of their Lord and disobeyed His Messengers and followed the command of every obdurate tyrant. They were pursued by a curse in this world and on the Day of Rising. Yes indeed! ‘Ad rejected their Lord, so away with ‘Ad, the people of Hud! (Qur’an, 11:59-60)

Their Rejection of the Prophet

‘Ad denied the truth. How terrible were My punishment and warnings! (Qur’an, 54:18)

Their Pride

‘Ad were arrogant in the land, without any right, saying, “Who has greater strength than us?” Did they not see that Allah, Who created them, had greater strength than them? But they renounced Our Signs. (Qur’an, 41:15)

They Brought Their Punishment upon Themselves

Remember the brother of ‘Ad when he warned his people by the sanddunes — and warners passed away before and after him — “Worship no one but Allah. I fear for you the punishment of a terrible Day.” They said, “Have you come to us to divert us from our gods? Bring us what you have promised us if you are telling the truth.” (Qur’an, 46:21-22)

As revealed in these verses, Allah punished the people of ‘Ad who failed to heed the Prophet Hud (as)’s call, like every other people who failed to comply with religious moral values, and He inflicted losses on them in this world and in the Hereafter. The Qur’an reveals that the destruction of the people of ‘Ad came in the form of a sandstorm that burst their eardrums. The verses tell us that this sandstorm lasted seven whole nights and eight entire days (Qur’an, 69:7), and completely destroyed ‘Ad:

‘Ad denied the truth. How terrible were My punishment and warnings! We unleashed a howling wind against them on a day of unremitting horror. It plucked up men like uprooted stumps. (Qur’an, 54:19-20)

This tribe had been warned previously, but they took no heed of this warning and constantly denied the Prophet. So heedless were they that even when destruction was heading their way. still they persisted in their denial. This, too, is revealed in the Qur’an:

When they saw it as a storm cloud advancing on their valleys they said, “This is a storm cloud which will give us rain.” No, rather it is what you desired to hasten – a wind containing painful punishment. (Qur’an, 46:24)

The verse tells us that when the tribe saw the cloud that would bring chastisement to them, they failed to understand what it really was and imagined it to be a rain cloud. This may be an important indication of what the punishment inflicted on them really was, because from a distance, a whirlwind that lifts the desert sand as it moves does indeed resemble a rain cloud.

The people of ‘Ad may have been deceived by this appearance and failed to realize that punishment was approaching. (Allah knows the truth.) The archaeologist Brian Doe, who carries out research in Southern Arabia, describes a sandstorm thus:

“The first sign (of a dust or sandstorm) is an approaching wall of dust-laden air which may be several thousand feet in height lifted by the strong rising currents and stirred by a fairly strong wind.” (Brian Doe, Southern Arabia, Thames and Hudson, 1971, p. 21)

Indeed, “The Atlantis of the Sands, ” thought to be the remains of the people of ‘Ad, was unearthed from below a layer of sand many meters thick. As the remains of Ubar also show, the storm that evidently lasted “seven nights and eight days,” as revealed in the Qur’an, piled tons of sand over the city and buried the inhabitants alive.

The People of Thamud in History

Just like the people of ‘Ad, the inhabitants of Thamud ignored Allah’s warnings and were therefore destroyed. As a result of modern-day archaeological and historical research, many formerly unknown details — such as where the tribe lived, the houses they built, and their way of life — were all brought to light. The people of Thamud, mentioned in the Qur’an, are today known to history, and we have much archaeological knowledge about them.

Where Did the People of Thamud Live?

The community of al-Hijr mentioned in the Qur’an and the tribe of Thamud are believed to be actually one and the same. Indeed, another name for the tribe of Thamud is Ashab al-Hijr. It may well be, therefore, that the word “Thamud” refers to the name of the people, and that the city of al-Hijr is just one of the cities they built. The Greek geographer Pliny’sdescriptions agree with this. Pliny wrote that Domatha and Hegra were the locations where Thamud resided, and this latter makes up the city of al-Hijr today. (”Hicr”, Islam Ansiklopedisi: Islam Alemi, Tarihi, Cografya, Etnografya ve Bibliyografya Lugati, (Encyclopedia of Islam: Islamic World, History, Geography, Ethnography, and Bibliography Dictionary) Vol. 5/1, p. 475)

The Prophet Salih was Sent to Them

And to Thamud We sent their brother Salih, who said, “My people, worship Allah! You have no other god than Him. A Clear Sign has come to you from your Lord. This is the She-Camel of Allah as a Sign for you. Leave her alone to eat on Allah’s earth and do not harm her in any way, or a painful punishment will afflict you.” (Qur’an, 7:73)

They Killed a Female Camel

Despite all the warnings from the Prophet Salih (as), the people of Thamud still doubted the existence of Allah (Surely Allah is beyond that!) and the prophethood of Salih (as). At Allah’s revelation the Prophet Salih (as) showed the tribe a female camel to test whether they would abide by Allah’s command. In order to determine whether they would obey him or not, he subjected them to a test by telling them to share their water with the camel and not to harm it. . Their response to the Prophet Salih (as) was to kill the camel. These events are reported in Surat ash-Shu‘ara’:

Thamud denied the Messengers, when their brother Salih said to them, “Will you not guard against evil? I am a faithful Messenger to you so have fear of Allah and obey me. I do not ask you for any wage for it. My wage is the responsibility of no one but the Lord of all the worlds. Are you going to be left secure amid what is here, amid gardens and clear springs, and cultivated fields and palms with supple spathes? Will you continue hewing houses from the mountains with exultant skill? So have fear of Allah and obey me. Do not obey the orders of the profligate, those who corrupt the earth and do not put things right.” They said, “You are merely someone bewitched. You are nothing but a human being like ourselves, so produce a Sign if you are telling the truth.” He said, “Here is a she-camel. She has a time for drinking and you have a time for drinking — on specified days. Do not do anything to harm her, or the punishment of a terrible day will come down on you.” But they hamstrung her and woke up full of remorse. (Qur’an, 26:141-157)

They Fought Against the Prophet

Thamud denied the Messengers. (Qur’an, 26:141)

“You are nothing but a human being like ourselves, so produce a Sign if you are telling the truth.” (Qur’an, 26:154)

They Refused to Accept the Existence of Allah

Thamud denied in their excessive tyranny. (Qur’an, 91:11)

How Were the People of Thamud Destroyed?

The people of Thamud were punished immediately after they had killed the camel sent to test them. This encouraged their excesses, and they continued to respond to the Prophet Salih (as) in an ugly and unrestrained manner:

And they hamstrung the She-Camel, spurning their Lord’s command, and said, “Salih! Bring us what you have promised us if you are one of the Messengers.” (Qur’an, 7:77)

However, Almighty Allah confounded the deniers’plans and rescued the Prophet Salih (as) from those who wished to do him harml. It is revealed in the Qur’an that after this the Prophet Salih (as) continued to preach his message. But that seeing that nobody heeded his advice, he announced that the tribe would be destroyed within three days:

. . . “Enjoy yourselves in your land for three more days. That is a promise which will not be belied.” (Qur’an, 11:65)

Indeed, three days later, his warning became a reality, and the people of Thamud were destroyed:

The Great Blast seized hold of those who did wrong, and morning found them lying flattened in their homes. It was as if they had never lived there at all. Yes, indeed! Thamud rejected their Lord. So away with Thamud! (Qur’an, 11: 67-68)

CONCLUSION

The peoples we have examined so far possessed certain features in common, such as failing to have faith in Allah, ascribing partners to Him, denying the prophets, displaying unjustified pride, usurping others’ goods, showing sexual deviancy and excess, and oppressing the Muslims around them.

In the Qur’an, it is revealed that all this information has been provided as a deterrent. Those destroyed in the past must impel those who come after them towards the truth:

Are they not guided by the many generations We have destroyed before them, among whose dwelling places they walk about? There are Signs in that for people of sound intellect. (Qur’an, 20:128)

Under the pen name of Harun Yahya, Adnan Oktar has written some 250 works. His books contain a total of 46,000 pages and 31,500 illustrations. Of these books, 7,000 pages and 6,000 illustrations deal with the collapse of the Theory of Evolution. You can read, free of charge, all the books Adnan Oktar has written under the pen name Harun Yahya on these websites www.harunyahya.com



Clyde