NAUGHTY OR NICE? Those who messed with the Savior of mankind could face divine retribution.
By C. Michael Forsyth
Jesus forgave — but he didn’t forget. Bible scholars now say that from an early age, the Messiah kept a detailed enemies list.
The 8-foot-long scroll contains the names of 105 people who did the Lord wrong, from the age of 7 through the eve of His crucifixion at age 33. The meticulously kept record includes each specific offense, date and location, according to biblical archaeologist Paolo Giametelli.
“Some of the names on the list are to be expected, such as Pontius Pilate, Judas and Satan,” says the expert. “But the text includes some surprises, such has a boy named Azariah, ‘who did cast a rock at my head’ when Jesus was only 9. Further down there is a reference to one Lemuel of Nazareth, who refused to pay for a cabinet he’d ordered during Christ’s days as a young carpenter.”
PONTIUS PILATE ordered the execution of Jesus, earning him a prominent spot on the list.
The scroll was found in fragments in the ruins of a Coptic Christian temple outside Jerusalem excavated by archaeologists. The fragile pieces of parchment were painstakingly put back together and translated. The list includes the Pharisees who opposed His ministry as well as Salome, the temptress responsible for the beheading of Jesus’ friend and ally John the Baptist.
Researchers are uncertain why Jesus, known for preaching love and kindness, kept the enemies list.
“The obvious implication is that our Lord planned retribution, either by using His holy superpowers or calling upon His father in Heaven for vengeance,” said the scholar. “But it is equally possible that this was a list of people to forgive.”
BIBLICAL backstabber Judas Iscariot made the holy enemies list.
TREACHEROUS: After her seductive dance, Salome had John the Baptist beheaded.
Copyright C. Michael Forsyth
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HOLY BOOKSHELF of Nazareth is nearly 2,000 years old, experts say.
By C. Michael Forsyth
CANTERBURY, England — Missing for 800 years, a bookshelf built by Jesus Christ in His father’s carpentry shop has resurfaced in an elderly English woman’s home!
The Holy Bookshelf of Nazareth has been authenticated by a leading expert, who used radiocarbon dating to confirm that it was built approximately 2,000 years ago.
“The cedar from which the shelves are made is genetically identical to trees in a grove less than half a mile outside the ancient town of Nazareth,” says Dr. Lionel Getting. “Hebrew lettering engraved on a small plaque on the back indicates that it was made by ‘Joseph and Sons,’ believed to be the name of the shop owned by Our Lord’s earthly father.
“There is no doubt in my mind that this is indeed the genuine article.”
JESUS was a competent carpenter.
The bookshelf is considered one of the most sacred pieces of furniture in Christendom, second only to the Holy End Tables of Antioch, which are said to be hewn from the cross on which Jesus was crucified, and which are now housed in the Vatican.
According to legend, the bookcase was spirited out of the Holy Land after Crusaders sacked Constantinople in 1204 A.D. It resurfaced last December in the basement of Mrs. Helen Goldbolt of Canterbury, who was using it to store jars of preserves and odds and ends.
“It had been in our family for many generations,” she told a newspaper. “I had no idea it might be valuable until a plumber working in the basement saw it and suggested I have it appraised.”
The appraiser immediately recognized the object’s antiquity and contacted Dr. Getting, a university expert who was struck by its resemblance to medieval drawings of the shelves. Thrilled, he promptly launched an investigation.
“When I realized what it was, I was dumbstruck,” Dr. Getting remembers.
Despite its incredible age, the bookshelf is in extraordinary condition, having miraculously survived through the eons when most wooden furniture made at the time has long since fallen apart. What’s more, it appears to have strange paranormal properties. Mrs. Goldbolt claims that food placed on the shelves never decays.
“Once I accidentally left a carton of milk on the top shelf,” the 78-year-old widow recalls. “Three months later it wasn’t spoiled.”
Profane objects don’t fare as well.
“The bookshelf was in my son’s bedroom when he was in his teens and he stored his collection of girlie magazines on the bottom shelf,” Mrs. Goldbolt says. “One day they burst into flames. They were reduced to ashes, but the shelves weren’t even singed.”
AT AN EARLY AGE, Jesus learned the trade of carpentry from His earthly father Joseph.
The nails used in the shelves’ construction match those employed by Hebrew carpenters in the 1st Century A.D. and recovered from archaeological digs. However, astonishingly, there is no sign of rust.
How the bookshelf survived two millennia is especially baffling because there is nothing out of the ordinary in how it is put together.
“Though by no means shoddily constructed, the Holy Bookshelf was made with no frills. For example only the minimal possible number of nails were used to adhere the vertical back cleats,” the expert notes. “This is entirely consistent with the Bible, which suggests that while Jesus was a smashing success as the Savior of mankind, He was a mediocre carpenter. Unlike His younger brother James, He had little interest in following His earthly father’s footsteps in the family business.
“As we now know, He had bigger fish to fry.”
Copyright C. Michael Forsyth
If you enjoyed this mind-bending story by C. Michael Forsyth, check out his collection of bizarre news, available on Kindle and in other eBook formats.
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The tables turn on an identity thief in the latest thriller by C. Michael Forsyth. To check it out, click HERE.
ON THE HOUR OF THE BEAST FRONT…
ANOTHER satisfied customer. Hour of the Beast sold like hotcakes at the Mad Monster Party.
Had a great time as a vendor hawking my horror novel Hour of the Beast at the Mad Monster Party convention in Charlotte, N.C. the weekend of March 23rd. I scared the pants off guest Traci Lords, the famed former porn princess. Oops, bad choice of words. What I mean is that when she took a gander at the werewolf hand in a jar I keep as a prop on my table, she leapt back in horror and almost shrieked. BTW, she looks fantastic – you’d swear she was 25.
NAKED FEAR: Former under age porn star Traci Lords has appeared in dozens of mainstream films including “Not of this Earth” and “Blade.”
I saw two awesome screenings. One was the pilot for a TV show called “Ghost Trek.” A hilarious faux reality show, it’s like “Reno 911” with ghost hunters. The other is an indie film titled “Nail Biter.” One of the best horror films I’ve seen in years, putting most big studio fare to shame. Look for my review in my next post.
A highlight was getting to meet one of my favorite actors of all time, the great Chris Sarandon – a star who was a better vampire than Christopher Lee and a better Jesus than Max von Sydow! If you only know Sarandon from the original “Fright Night” you know how charismatic he is – managing to be sexier in the role of bloodsucker Jerry Dandridge than hunk Colin Farrell was in the remake. But check him out in other roles, from Al Pacino’s transsexual mate in “Dog Day Afternoon” to a macho cop in “Child’s Play” – and you’ll have a sense of his range. His acting choices are fascinating. There’s a scene in “The Day Christ Died” when Jesus is slapped, illustrating the turn the other cheek lesson. Chris, as Jesus, slowly turns the other cheek – AFTER he looks like he wants to slug the other guy. A Jesus who’s truly human and for once, a Jesus who’s actually interesting.
C. Michael Forsyth with screen legend Chris Sarandon. When my kids see “Fright Night” I can reassure them “Hey, look, he’s not scary, he’s a friend of Dad.” If that doesn’t work, I’ll tell them, “Look how much bigger Dad is than the vampire. Don’t you think he could kick his butt?”
C. Michael Forsyth, the author of this article, has written a critically acclaimed horror novel Hour of the Beast, soon to be a major motion picture.
To check out Hour of the Beast visit Amazon.com or save $4 by clicking HERE. The Kindle version is just $7 and the eBook is a mere $5.
FROZEN: is mysterious wreck found under Antarctic ice Noah’s Ark?
By C. Michael Forsyth
McMURDO BASE, Antarctica — Scientists say they have discovered what appears to be Noah’s Ark deep in an Antarctic ice shelf, with all hands still aboard along with two of every animal — all frozen stiff!
The remarkable discovery was made on February 8th by the Swedish research vessel Aventyr. The scientists were studying the effects of global warming, when the ice-shelf collapsed, exposing about a third of the ancient craft.
“This is far, far, beyond merely mind-blowing — it‘s the most baffling Bible mystery of all time,” declares biblical archaeologist David H. Tootenhaur. “It turns everything we thought we knew about the Holy Bible upside down!”
The scientists who made the amazing find are cautious about identifying the enormous, ice-enshrouded vessel as Noah’s Ark, saying it would be premature to do so without further investigation.
“We can only say that the ship is made of cedar, known in antiquity as ‘gopher wood,’ just as described in the Bible,” says lead researcher Dr. Alrik Olofson.
“It measures 450 feet long, the equivelent of the ancient unit 300 cubits; it is 75 feet or 50 cubits wide, and it has three stories that give it the height of 45 feet, or 30 cubits. These are precisely the specifications God cited when He commanded Noah to build the Ark, according to the Book of Genesis.
“Aboard we’ve found two representatives of virtually every species that now exists, as well as the remains of five pre-Bronze age humans.”
The ship was found in the Wendell Sea, when a mile-long section of the Larson C ice shelf collapsed. The discovery seems to fly in the face of known history, since the entire human race is believed to be descended from survivors of the Flood aboard Noah’s Ark.
Even the world’s top Bible scholars confess that they are befuddled, and news reports have fueled much wild speculation. Some armchair Bible “experts” claim the whole thing must be an elaborate hoax cooked up by Satanists bent on attacking Christianity. New Agers point to Babylonian legends of a small band of people who survived the Flood by means of a giant “holy umbrella” — and whom, they argue, could be the real ancestors of modern humans.
Some church leaders fear that unless the riddle is solved — and quickly — it could lead to religious conflict and social unrest.
“We are pleading with our congregations to remain calm,” says Florida clergyman Rev. Alexander P. Wentbooth. “Christians must have faith that this is all part of God’s plan.”
Fearing widespread upheaval, many governments have suppressed news of the discovery. Even in the U.S., quite a few preachers stubbornly refuse to discuss the ship with their flocks.
Noah’s ark saved all life on Earth — at least on OUR universe — as shown in this painting by Aurelio Luini
HAS WORLD”S SMARTEST MAN SOLVED MYSTERY?
Theoretical physicist Dr. Jeremy Blinkley, generally acknowleged to be the world’s most brilliant mind and sometimes referred to as “the thinking man’s Stephen Hawking,” believes he may have an explanation for the bizarre discovery.
“Most physicists today believe in the multiverse theory — the concept that alongside our universe are many other parallel universes, lying near ours in dimensions beyond the three that we perceive,” he explained. “It’s widely believed that small portholes may open up from time to time, through which objects may pass from one world to another.
“It’s possible that in a parallel universe Noah built his Ark to escape the flood, but he, his crew and his cargo of animals failed to survive the journey. And the wreckage of his vessel drifted from a sea in that universe into our own.
“Needless to say, in that Noah’s home universe the human race is extinct, along with all other species on Earth.”
As way out as it sounds, the explanation dovetails perfectly with Christian belief.
“The great Christian thinker C.S. Lewis — hardly a heathen — explored the idea of parallel universes in his book The Magician’s Nephew,” notes Christian physicist Arnold Hipperman. “It was the logical underpinning to his famous alternate world Narnia.”
Although no radiocarbon dating has yet been conducted, based on the surrounding ice, experts say the ship must be at least 100,000 years old. Preserved by the cold, the human remains are remarkably intact. The robed, white-bearded captain was found with his hands still frozen to the steering wheel.
“It’s obvious that he tried heroically to save the ship, before it was overcome by some unknown calamity,” notes Dr. Olofson.
The animal carcasses are entirely made up of newborns, including a baby kangaroo, known as a joey, no bigger than a honey bee. Crates of eggs were found in the lowest deck, rather than live birds and reptiles. This, at least, solves one Bible mystery that has long puzzled scholars — how Noah managed to squeeze all those creatures into one boat.
While the discovery has been unsettling to many believers, Hipperman says that if the multiverse theory is right, that’s reason to rejoice.
“It means that the act of Creation is even more miraculous than we were taught in Sunday school,” he observes. “God did not only create our universe, he simultaneously made countless others.”
If you enjoyed this whimsical tale by fiction writer C. Michael Forsyth, check out his graphic novel NIGHT CAGE, about vampires taking over a women’s prison.
If you enjoyed this mind-blowing tale, check out C. Michael Forsyth’s collection of bizarre news, available on Kindle and in other eBook formats.
If you found this story by fiction writer C. Michael Forsyth entertaining, you might enjoy his novels…
The creator of Sherlock Holmes and the world’s greatest magician probe a paranormal mystery in new thriller.
The tables turn on an identity thief in the latest thriller by C. Michael Forsyth. To check it out, click HERE.
In Hour of the Beast, a young bride is raped by a werewolf on her wedding night. When her sons grow up and head to college, things REALLY get out of hand.
C. Michael Forsyth is the author of "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle & Harry Houdini in The Adventure of the Spook House,""The Blood of Titans," "Hour of the Beast" and "The Identity Thief." He is a Yale graduate and former senior writer for The Weekly World News
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