Showing results by author "Joseph Lumpkin" in All Categories

There was an uneasy tension as the slave owners sought to maintain control and keep the slaves working calmly and the abolitionists began to question the moral cost of slavery. As they prepared to compile a special Bible for slaves in the West Indies, the missionaries agreed to uplift the Africans without teaching them anything that could incite rebellion. The Slave Bible is one of the most powerful examples ever witnessed of manipulation using a controlled narrative.

Upanishads came to be regarded as the teachings forming the concluding section of the Vedic corpus.

Using texts from ancient and controversial discoveries, the missing years of Jesus are uncovered, revealing a young man's struggle between childhood and godhood. Jesus the child, the boy, the man, and the messiah are all seen in documents spanning from the time of his birth to his crucifixion. Now, the missing years in the life of Jesus are told through these hotly contested books and letters.

The Gospel of Thomas has been a flame of enlightenment in the world for almost 2,000 years. Once, almost extinguished, it has returned to us in ways most have never imagined. Today, the Gospel of Thomas leads us both spiritually and psychologically. In this work we will delve deeply into the spiritual and psychological meaning and application of each verse. We will gain a profound understanding of our nature and we will see how Gnosticism has influenced the development of modern psychology, under the hand of Carl G. Jung.

In 1894, Nicolas Notovitch published a book called The Unknown Life of Christ. He was a Russian doctor who journeyed extensively throughout Afghanistan, India, and Tibet. During one of his journeys, he was visiting Leh, the capital of Ladakh, near the Buddhist convent Himis. There, Notovitch was told of an ancient record of the life of Jesus known as The Life of St. Issa.

The search for wisdom has been the pole-star of humanity for 6,000 years. Religions have come and gone, philosophies have failed, but those surviving wells of wisdom go deep and yield sweet refreshment for the soul. Now, the greatest books of Eastern wisdom are brought together for the sake of those seeking the path of enlightenment and liberation.

The tone of the book is set by a man deeply troubled about the state of his fellow Jews and the world in general. He is reaching out to the Jews in exile in Babylon attempting to explain to them that their captivity and exile is God's response to Israel's pagan worship. Jeremiah frames his metaphors in several ways, hoping the Jews will understand the weight of their sins. He tells them they are like an unfaithful wife, rebellious children, and their infidelity and rebelliousness made God’s judgment inevitable.

Although the book presents the Jewish leaders Judas, Jonathan, and Simon as devout people and has little sympathy for people who favor Hellenization, it must be noted that he nowhere mentions divine intervention. The author must have been a cultivated Jew living in Judah, and can be dated to c.100 B.C.E.

Before you are the books referred to as the Minor Prophets. This portion of the Septuagint contains the books of Osee, Joel, Amos, Obdias, Jonas, Michaeas, Naum, Ambacum, Sophonias, Aggaeus, Zacharias, and Malachias. As the known world became Hellenized, the Jews began to lose their ability to read and write Hebrew. Jewish leaders were alarmed that soon no one would be able to read and teach the Torah. Owing to this, a Greek version was commissioned. The earliest writer who gives an account of the Septuagint version is Aristobulus, a Jew who lived in the second century BC.

Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (Song of Solomon) - For meditation and encouragement, there are no better books than these. From the youthful energy of the Song of Songs to the wisdom of age seen in Ecclesiastes, these books have insights and guidance for everyone and any age.

The Lost Books of the New Testament - The Gospel of Judas, The Gospel of Philip, The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, The Gospel of Thomas, The 29th Chapter of Acts, The Epistle of Barnabas, The Epistle of Paul to the Laodiceans, The Gospel of Nicodemus, The Lost Gospel of Peter.

History has given us two separate and very different books by the same title. One of these may be the book mentioned in the Holy Bible. If so, it would reveal history and information which would augment and supplement our knowledge of the events from creation to the conquering of the Promised Land. The Books of Jasher includes details about the antediluvian patriarchs, the institution of the 10 Commandments, the establishment of the priesthood, angels, watchers, the flood, the tower of Babel, and many other events mentioned in the Bible.

The story of Joseph and Aseneth was written between 100 BCE and 100 CE, in a midrash style. This translation is rendered in a modern, easy to read format with history, background, and commentary. Joseph and Aseneth is an epic story of love, desire, sanctification, and forgiveness. It is also a story of religious intolerance, racism, sexism, subterfuge, betrayal, and hate.

We will examine the true place of women in the Bible and how translators diminished the place and accomplishments of women by mistranslating words and phrases. We will look at the true meaning of many Bible verses, as well as the complete text of Paul and Thecla, with an eye toward how women were a driving force in religion and family in the early church.

Miyamoto Musashi wrote the master text on being a well-trained and competent soldier-samurai, entitled The Book of Five Rings. This book covers the tactics, strategies, and philosophy of the singular master warrior. Along with Musashi's work, we have provided the Tao Te Ching, one of the philosophical text that contributed to the development of martial arts.

In this little audiobook, containing The Art of War (public domain), The Sayings of Wutzu (public domain), and the Tao Te Ching (translated by Joseph Lumpkin), we will see the tactics and strategies of the greatest minds of China as they struggle to win the external and internal battles for peace.

They call it by a single name, but the beast has many heads and a thousand faces. It is the face of greed, the face of arrogance, the face of tyranny, of destruction, fear, aggression, and domination. Those whom it touches are destroyed and all who embrace it are devoured. Matthew 24, 6-7: And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diverse places.

Rendered in plain and understandable language, this little book is a wellspring of wisdom intermingled in a story even children will find entertaining. Its wisdom rivals that of Proverbs. It is a wonderful way to teach "life lessons." The Story of Ahikar is one of the oldest sources of wisdom literature. Its influence can be traced through the Koran, as well as the Old and New Testaments. The oldest version, which we can only assume to be the original Papyrus, appears to have been produced circa 500 BC. It is written in Aramaic and was discovered among the ruins of Elephantine.

Most would agree that the modern church has become a disgraceful place, which still houses an eternal truth. Even when faced with this knowledge it is difficult to break away from our traditions. How do we rescue our own spirituality from the church? We shall cut tradition away from truth and let truth stand on its own. Tradition is a prison housing truth and religion is the hangman of spirituality. Both truth and spirit can be rescued with the courage to question and still believe.

The newly discovered Gospel of Jesus' Wife was revealed to the public in September of 2012. The small scrap of codex is the size of a credit card, but it has reignited controversy over what is now mounting evidence that Jesus may have been married. Gospels and letters, some hidden by the church and some lost until recently, tell the story of who Jesus was, what he looked like, and hint at who he may have married. Were Jesus of Nazareth and Mary of Magdala husband and wife? The evidence is piling up.