Eschatological Number Symbolism in Judaism and early Christianity

The Resurrection Numbers Eschatological symbolism in Judaism and early Christianity This article is intended for those that have a particular interest in classical history, mathematics, architectural proportions, Jewish- and Christian religion, mystic and sectarian writings etc. Some of the findings in this article provide revolutionary new interpretations of religious dogmas. Especially the events mentioned in the passion of Jesus are explained from a different angle. The Website Overview below provides a good impression of the article and the many extra's and appendixes. The most innovative ideas are expressed in the chapters on the Resurrection Numbers and the Malta Cross. The other chapters are intended to provide the necessary background information regarding the Hellenistic mathematical tradition and the importance of number symbolism in Judaism.
Hypothesis Christianity has adopted a messianic calendar symbolism that according to the writer has been used on a much vaster scale than visible at first sight. In this symbolism, the onset of the new area is expressed by the number that directly follows its complete cyclic period in the traditional Jewish calendar. The number eight is the most known example of this typical Christian messianic symbolism, as it represents the resurrection of Jesus on the first day of the (new) week. This article does however open an interesting discussion about the possibility that the same symbolism has been applied to other cyclic periods of the Hebrew calendar resulting in a series of numbers that already have an important symbolical meaning in Judaism. The fact that these numbers also correspond with a simple but famous mathematical progression might be more than just an interesting coincidence. The information and explanations provided are comprehensive, while leaving the final conclusion to the reader. An other interesting hypothesis of this article, explained in the same eschatological context of the resurrection, is the possible answer to the well known 666 symbolism in the book of Revelations. This article also explains how the Greek name of Jesus (Ιησους) corresponds with its numeric equivalent of 888, connecting the 666 symbolism with mankind and the corrupted creation of earth, whereas 888 stands for the promised messiah in the person of Jesus. These various symbolisms are interlinked with a new explanation of the ancient geometrical origin of the Greek (Malta) cross Between circles and squares, crosses and numbers, explanations of biblical symbolism and architectural proportions, everything seems to be involved in a mystical messianic symbolism that makes this article interesting to read. The original article was written in 1994 in Dutch language and deliberately not published until 2004, the year in which the author translated it in English language and made it public on this website. Even though many references to religious texts are used, this does however not mean that the author accepts these traditions as a historically reliable. Without entering in the never the less highly interesting discussion about the historical Jesus, the author prefers to view biblical texts as important religious testimonies, not necessarily as historical facts. Religious dogmas are approached in an analytical but respectful way. Your feedback is appreciated.		News ¨ July 20th 2006, www.sephar.net has successfully changed Internet Hosting Provider. The site has been down for some hours while the DNS servers world wide were updating their registers. Thank you for coming back. ¨ November 6th 2005, Israeli authorities revealed the remains of what could prove to be the oldest Christian church. "The discovery of the church in the northern Israeli town of Megiddo, near the biblical Armageddon, was hailed by experts as an important discovery that could reveal details about the development of the early church in the region. Archaeologists said the church dated from the third century, decades before Constantine legalized Christianity across the Byzantine Empire". The most interesting fact is that the beautiful mosaic pavements bare no reference whatsoever to the Latin Cross but instead are fully covered with complex geometrical patterns very similar to what is discussed in this article! 06-11-2005 Pavement of the recently discovered 3rd century church of Megiddo Start here