Ark of the Covenant in Ethiopia?

Will Harrison Ford ever be able to retire? I envision Raiders 5 in the future.

Ark of the Covenant in Ethiopia?

Posted by David Pescovitz, November 26, 2007 8:31 AM | permalink

The fabled Ark of the Covenant may not be in some nondescript crate in a massive US government warehouse but rather in the small Ethiopian town of Aksum where it is guarded by a virgin monk who can never leave the chapel where it sits. And nobody else can see it either. Smithsonian magazine sent Paul Raffaele to investigate. From Smithsonian:

I asked (His Holiness Abuna Paulos, patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church) if the ark in Ethiopia resembles the one described in the Bible: almost four feet long, just over two feet high and wide, surmounted by two winged cherubs facing each other across its heavy lid, forming the "mercy seat," or footstool for the throne of God. Paulos shrugged. "Can you believe that even though I'm head of the Ethiopian church, I'm still forbidden from seeing it?" he said. "The guardian of the ark is the only person on earth who has that peerless honor..."

(We) made our way toward the office of the Neburq-ed, Aksum's high priest, who works out of a tin shed at a seminary close by the ark chapel. As the church administrator in Aksum, he would be able to tell us more about the guardian of the ark.

"We've had the guardian tradition from the beginning," the high priest told us. "He prays constantly by the ark, day and night, burning incense before it and paying tribute to God. Only he can see it; all others are forbidden to lay eyes on it or even go close to it." Over the centuries, a few Western travelers have claimed to have seen it; their descriptions are of tablets like those described in the Book of Exodus. But the Ethiopians say that is inconceivable-—the visitors must have been shown fakes.​

 

You can see it, if you will only help them get access to their $20,000,000 fortune

 

If it wasn't taken by Shishak when he raided Judah and Israel (which I doubt), then I'd say it could likely be residing somewhere in Israel with either its location either known or still hidden. Perhaps it awaits the third temple. I'd guess it is somewhere secure.

 

Noah's ark in Turkey

In the same category of major religious items such as the Ark of the Covenant to be discovered, there's still alot of interest in images seen from satellite photos on top of Mt. Ararat, Turkey, the biblical resting place of Noah's Ark.

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/planetearth/noahs_ark_010823-1.html

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=38220

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=29655

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/03/13/satellite.noahs.ark/index.html

In the early 80's, as a Naval Intelligence Specialist, I saw some great satellite imagery of what is thought to be the ark. The imagery was alot better than the examples in the links. (KH-8 satellite imagery was the best we had at the time. It was very high resolution film, and I can only imagine what the resolution is now!)

The images definitely didn't appear to be a natural object. Too many straight lines and proportions. Old rule of thumb, nature doesn't work in straight lines too often.

Finding the Ark of the Covenant or Noah's Ark would certainly bump up the discourse as to the validity of the Bible among non-Christians.

Of course, Christians have never doubted the existance of either, and skeptics always seem to want "just one more sign", but that is another discussion altogether.

 

Kent,

many who accept the Bible are "engaged" with one version of it...and I would venture that most use the King James Version. Doubtless there are many interpretations and editions that meet the needs of the congregations. But, what about those books that were not included in the Bible? Doubtless the scroll of Esther offers a good homily of God protecting his chosen people, yet it is not included in most Bibles. The Apocryphal writings offer good insight as to what was happening at the times of the writing of most of the books. Yet, because of events that happened long after the books were written, Church authorities decided what was to be in the Bible, and what was not. Yet, those other writings exist.

Not an LDS expert, nor a practitioner. My understanding is that the LDS church beleives that with so much human intervention, the real Word was lost, and needed to be revealed again, as it once was, thus the Book of Mormon. The "logic" behind the faith is that if churches are a part of what has occurred since the crucifixion, then they are many generations removed from the Truth, and any denominations that arose based on this diminished derivative Truth are also lost. A rebirth of the church was needed, thus the establishment of the LDS faith.


In a similar vein, I have questions about the belief that the Bible was dictated in such a fashion that it is literally the Word. I know of many who believe that if it isn't in the KJV, then it doesn't exist or apply.

Have Faith, they say. It will be revealed, I'm told. And I'm a heathen for asking, I hear.

I do not question the Word. Only what man has made of it.

Still leaves my questions unanswered. Can you help explain?

 

brilliantly stated

 

Hatteras6, good morning.

Not sure about the segueway from what I said about Noah's Ark or skeptics wanting more signs to your question, but I'll try to give a cogent response from more learned men than myself.

I'll defer to Josh McDowell (Evidence that Demands a Verdict) and the tests of a Book for inclusion in the Bible:

1. Is it authoritative? - did it come from the hand of God? (does the book come with a divine "thus saith the Lord"?)

2. Is it prophetic? - was it written by a man of God?

3. Is it authentic? - (The fathers had the attitude of "if in doubt throw it out!" policy. This enhanced the "validity of their discernment of canonical books.")

4. Is it dynamic? - did it come with the life-transforming power of God?

5. Was it received, collected, read, and used? - was it accepted by the people of God?

- - - - -

Dr. Adrian Rogers shared a story in one of his books from Dr. R. A. Torrey:

Suppose in your city they decided to build a monument honoring all of the 50 states in the union. Stones are gathered from each state. For example, from (Dr. Rogers') home state of Florida, they get coral stone; from Georgia perhaps they would get granite; from Indiana they get limestone; from Nevada, sandstone - all of the various kinds of stones in different colors.

Then let's suppose that these stones are cut into different shapes; some are square, some are rectangular, some are cylindrical, some have a pyramid shape, some are like a trapezoid, and some have shapes that don't even have a name. They are cut out in the quarry, put in crates, and shipped by barge, by rail, and by air to your city.

Workmen uncrate these stones and begin to put them together, and they all interface, and they all interlock. There is not one stone too many, not one stone too few. No stone needs to be built up; no stone needs to be shaved down. And when they are finished, it is a magnificent temple.

You are a thinking person. Would you say that happened by chance? No, any thinking person would say that it did not happen by chance. There would have to have been a master architect who, in his mind, could see that building and had sent out the specifications to the quarry. Is that not true?

You see, when we get this Book written over a period of 1600 years, 40 different authors, 3 different languages, by men from all different walks of life and bring it together, it makes one beautiful temple of God's truth. Nothing needs to be added or taken away or embellished. There it stands - one Book! We can't say that just happened, that it was just an accident. No! The unity of the Bible is one of the wonderful proofs of the inspiration of God's Word - that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God.

- - - - -

As for questions you have about the Bible, I'll close out with a final comment from Dr. Rogers about using the Bible as a source of Guidance:

Psalm 119:105 says, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." We can find our way when we study and meditate upon His Word. It may be dark, but His Word will show us the way if we trust Him.

Do you want victory? Do you want growth? Do you want joy? Do you want power? Do you want guidance? Friend, the Word of God will give you all these things. You can appropriate them. But you can only appropriate them after you assimilate them. And you can only assimilate them after you appreciate them. I promise you that if you'll do these things, the Word of God will transform your life.

 

that's merely opinion and an apples to oranges analogy which seeks to inform me that if i am a thinking person, i would HAVE to come to this conclusion. no evidence, no real proof. the answer that you're basically giving is that you believe it just because. out of pure faith, with no real proof? i don't mean proof of god or that god exists. i mean proof that the bible is the "Word of God"...

 

Good morning to you, too.

I've got about 60 sec to respond then I've got to get on the road.

First, I need to establish a couple of things to make sure you're not yanking my chain just to be doing it. There are some on 4042 who like to do that as a hobby.

Let's get a few comments from you.

Do you believe the Bible is the Word of God?

If not, why?

What parts do you disagree with? Why?

What parts do you agree with? Why?

Are you a Christian?

Gotta run.

 

kent

my responses to those questions are irrelevant as it relates to your answering the issues put forth to you by hatt6, and providing them to you would only serve to enable you to further elude the question and change the subject by providing pat answers and attempting to pick apart my answers.

ask yourself those questions, kent. except replace the bible and christian with the torah and jewish, or the koran and muslim, buddah, etc. why do you believe or not believe parts of those texts? what makes their claims to being the word of god less valid than the claims made by christianity and the bible?

you are the one who bemoaned those who would question noah's ark by needing "just one more sign" when you have failed to provide a single one. some theories about some satellite pictures are not exactly hard evidence.

by the way, that site has been visited and studied many times since those photos were first taken, and it has been debunked even by theologians.

but, back to hat's line of thinking....your 50 state monument anaolgy is lacking on several counts. a statue and the bible have two totally different levels of importance in the lives of humans. the statue will not condemn you to hell for all eternity if you do not follow its teachings, thereby stating its superiority to you. a statue does not say that you are of lower intellect if you do not follow its teachings (implied here: You are a thinking person. Would you say that happened by chance? No, any thinking person would say that it did not happen by chance). a statue does not cause people to go to war to kill those who do not fall in line. a statue does not take a set of stories told and retold, written and rewritten, translated and retranslated and hold it up to be verbatim as spoken by the almightiest power in existence, amen. have you ever heard of the children's game where the first child whispers a short statement into the ear of the second, then the second repeats it to the third and so on until by the time you get to the 20th kid it's a totally different statement with a totally different meaning?

in your response above, the test for whether or not a book to be included n the bible is authentic is "did it include the phrase 'thus saith the lord'". flimsy, at best.

for the record, i do believe in a higher power. i belive that whoever or whatever god is, is god to all, not just a chosen few. i believe all religions really worship the same god, it's their individual cultures and belief systems that evolved independently of one another that make the difference. i was raised in a southern baptist atmosphere. my mother did some searching of her own when i was a kid and i was also exposed to some nondenominational christian-based teachings. i believe the bible is history's greatest collection of fables and wisdom, and yes, rules to live by. i do not believe that 5000 years ago some guy named abraham was walking throught the desert and was told by god he was to father nations of chosen people. if someone today said that, you'd laugh in their face. but because someone said it 5000 years ago, you accept it on blind faith? i also believe that jesus of nazarene was a real person, a person of great insight and wisdom and charisma, otherwise we would not be talking about him 2000 years after his death. but was he god walking on earth? i don't believe that. there is no evidence that he was literally resurrected. sure, they found the tomb. but the story of the resurrection came from three grief-stricken, possibly hysterical young women who wanted to believe. there is no evidence.

feel free to go and look up whatever standard answers to common objections to christianity you want and post them here. they'll have nothing to do with you answering the issues raised by hat6, but go right ahead....

final edit: i have read and reread this now many times, and it occurs to me that it's not the books or the stories or the lessons or god that are a problem for me. it's what has been done to them, with them, for them, and in the name of them by man that turns me away from religion and those who overtly seek to spread it. the books and religions and the true, innocent faiths of people have been so manipulated by men that they are all suspect, even those who are later borne out to be pure in their motives.

 

Great links! I have personally believed for awhile that the Ark of the Covenant is in Ethipia, I am also awaiting the appearance of Noah's Ark.

 

i missed their reasoning for why nobody else but the guardian could see the ark of the covenant. wouldn't having everybody see it be more to the benefit of the religion?

 

I dunno, maybe the world just isn't "ready" for it? Kind of like why ET's have not made themselves public?

 

I wonder if the Ark of the Covenant would still be around, if it were on display in a museum or open to people in a place of worship. My guess is "no".

 

you mean somebody would blow it up or steal it or something? i guess so. on the other hand, when's the last time somebody robbed the vatican? they've got some pretty nice stuff in there...

 

If it were in the Vatican it would probably be in some vault, and we would not get to see it anyway.

 

Good morning, dangerboy.

Josh McDowell had a quote: “…the resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the most wicked, vicious, heartless hoaxes ever foisted upon the minds of men, or it is the most fantastic fact of history.”

You provided a lot of material to comment on but this morning I’ll just focus on a few items.

So, exactly where is Jesus' body?

How did Jesus’ body disappear out of His tomb?

Did some of His disciples sneak in and snatch Him away? Not hardly.

The tomb was sealed with a large stone.

G. W. Mackie states that “most tombs used a large and heavy disc of rock which could roll along a groove slightly depressed at the center, in front of the tomb entrance.”

Professor T. J. Thorburn mentions that “this stone was used “as a protection against both men and beasts.” He further observes that this stone is “of enormous size…and required several men to remove it. Since the one rolled to the entrance of Jesus’ tomb was intended to prevent an expected theft, it was probably even larger than what would normally have been used!”

Pilate ordered Roman guards to seal and watch the tomb.

Do you think Pilate took the dumbest, laziest guards he could find?

The sealing was an extra measure taken by the guards to prevent anyone from removing Jesus’ body.

As for the guards, Professor Albert Roper writes, “Commanding the guard was a centurion designated by Pilate, presumably one in which he had full confidence, whose name according to tradition was Petronius.

It is, therefore, reasonable to assume that these representatives of the Emperor could have been trusted to perform their duty to guard a tomb quite as strictly and as faithfully as they had executed a crucifixion.

Their sole purpose and obligation was rigidly to perform their duty as soldiers of the empire of Rome to which they had dedicated their allegiance.

Soldiers cold-blooded enough to gamble over a dying victim’s cloak are not the kind of men to be hoodwinked by timid Galileans or to jeopardize their Roman necks by sleeping on their posts.”

Remember, Jesus had predicted that He would rise on the third day, so it was imperative that Pilate took whatever steps necessary to prevent anything happening that would give Jesus’ statement any credibility.

Here’s what Dr. J. Vernon McGee has to say: “The zeal of the enemy actually gives a confirmation of Jesus’ resurrection! If they had gone off and left that tomb as it was, their later explanation for the tomb’s being empty might be plausible. But, my friend, when you’ve got a tomb that is sealed and a Roman guard around it watching it, their claim that the apostles stole away the body of Jesus sounds pretty silly. The enemies of Jesus went to a lot of trouble to make the sepulcher sure, and that fact furnishes a marvelous confirmation of His resurrection.

The late William Lyon Phelps, distinguished Yale professor of English literature, said: “In the whole story of Jesus Christ, the most important event is the resurrection. Christian faith depends on this. It is encouraging to know that it is explicitly given by all four evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) and told also by Paul.

The names of those who saw Him after His triumph over death are recorded; and it may be said that the historical evidence for the resurrection is stronger than for any other miracle anywhere narrated; for as Paul said, “if Christ is not risen from the dead then is our preaching in vain, and your faith is also vain.”

The late Professor Ambrose Fleming, one of England’s outstanding scientists said, “No one could now issue a biography of Queen Victoria, who died thirty-one years ago, full of anecdotes which were quite untrue. They would be contradicted at once. They would certainly not be generally accepted and passed on as true. Hence, there is great improbability that the account of the resurrection given by Mark, which agrees substantially with that given in the other Gospels, is a pure invention. This mythical theory has had to be abandoned because it will not bear close scrutiny…”

I don’t have time for any further comment, so I’ll close with this: you say there is no proof that Jesus was resurrected.

What proof is there that He didn’t?

P.S. – All of the apostles were martyred except John. Do you think they all would have suffered and died to promulgate a lie? Not one confessed that anything they saw, said and wrote were lies.

 

OK again...a Bluer DOT posts this but the hemorrhoid's I had are not saying a word. Typical!

 

I think Pilate WANTED his men to see Jesus rise, what about his inscription on Jesus' cross?