To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Infobeat News items (12/21/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 08:49:38 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

*** AOL hacker gets 5 years without PC

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) - A young man who hacked into America Online
Inc.'s computers and replaced their programs with his own was
sentenced Tuesday to a year in jail and five years without a home PC.
Jay Satiro, 19, of New Rochelle, "is to have no computer in his room
and no computer access at home," said Judge John M. Perone. In
pleading guilty to computer tampering at AOL, Satiro violated the
terms of his probation for an earlier offense: using bogus money
orders to pay for computer equipment he bought on the Internet. AOL
would not elaborate on how access was gained or what effect it may
have had but said the damage cost $50,000 to repair. The Internet
service provider detected the intrusion, traced it to Satiro's
computer and notified authorities. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2562760388-178

*** 1965 Russian sub on Net auction

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Posted on the Internet auction site eBay
just in time for last-minute Christmas shopping is a one-of-a-kind
gift: A long-range, missile-capable submarine from the former Soviet
Russia. Cost? A cool $1 million. Or best offer. But bidders must act
fast. The diesel-powered vessel commissioned in 1965, named Juliett
by NATO during the Cold War, is only for sale until Dec. 29. People
have offered plenty of off-beat items on eBay's Web site, including a
recent offer for a 1956 six-cylinder locomotive for $30,000, Kevin
Pursglove, spokesman for San Jose, Calif.-based eBay, said Tuesday.
But the 300-foot-long by 33-foot-wide submarine, painted black save
for a deep red star at its midsection, definitely is in a class of
its own, he said. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2562763804-413

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Researchers Say Millennium Will Bring End to World in 2043
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 08:58:00 -0500

From: owner-bpr@philologos.org

------- Forwarded message follows -------

Hello from Norway,

http://news.excite.com/news/pr/991220/yearend-world

Researchers Say Millennium Will Bring End to World in 2043

Updated 4:47 AM ET December 20, 1999

BOSTON, Dec. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- A respected team of international
experts has cracked the apocalyptic code hidden in the biblical Book of
Revelation -- and uncovered the truth about the end of the world! For
thousands of years a series of startling encoded predictions have
remained hidden within the Book of Revelation. In Cracking the
Apocalypse Code, (Element Books, $22.95) Gerard Bodson and his
researchers explain how they used a method of coding that uses the
numerical correspondences of the Hebrew alphabet as its key to unveil the
first hidden message within The Book of Revelation-an extremely detailed
account of World War II.

"Even those who normally scoff at ancient prophecy as nothing more than
coincidence will be startled by what Bodson and his team have
uncovered," says Jeff Landis of Element Books. "The rise and fall of Hitler
- 'the first beast' - and the Third Reich, the V-2 bombing of London and
Antwerp, the plight of the Jews in Europe, even the date and time of the
Normandy landings is spelled out within the code that the researchers
cracked."

But what fate awaits mankind as we start the new millennium? Identifying
a second 'beast' who is among us now, Bodson reveals that he will lead
China and its close ally, North Korea, in a nuclear attack at noon on
February 5, 2043 that will destroy Japan. In retaliation, the United States
and her allies will launch a counterattack. The Middle East and its precious
oil resources will become the stage for the last battle -- Armageddon. All
of this information is to be found within the Revelation.

"The researchers originally agreed not to publish this material, for they
feared it would cause mass panic," says Landis. "Then, in September 1998,
North Korea launched a missile that violated Japanese airspace -- and
Bodson's team had already cracked the code that could have predicted it!"
 

"Cracking the Apocalypse Code should serve as a warning to all of us,"
says Bodson, "that global destruction can be avoided-but only if the right
measures are taken now."

"Cracking The Apocalypse Code" (Element Books, $22.95) will be
available in stores in January and can now be ordered at Amazon.com.

Contact: Jeff Landis of Element Books, Inc., 617-598-6500

---- end forwarded message ---

via: TorA.Rysstad

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Regarding Jewish beliefs of End Times
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 17:05:38 -0500

From: JM <j.d.mccarty@worldnet.att.net>

You wrote:

[According to the Jewish calendar 1999 is the year 5760.]

"...one mystical rabbi of the 15th century, Abraham Azulai,
ascribed significance to the precise year 5760 (1999 CE!). He
reasoned that the measure of the world is the same as the
measure of the mikveh (ritual bath), 40 seah. A seah is 144 eggs
(these are talmudic measurements of volume), and 40 times 144
equals 5760. Writes Azulai: 'Thus the length of days of this world
shall be 5760 years. Then shall the world be renewed. For as the
mikveh purifies the unclean, at this time, the Holy One, Blessed Be
He, will remove the unclean spirit from the world...but this is only
the beginning of the redemption.'"

Why 2K? The Biblical Roots of Millennialism
James Tabor
Bible Review Magazine
December, 1999
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I reply:

The Talmud in Tractate Sanhedrin page 97 states that the world will
exist for 6,000 years and then be destroyed. There are many different
opinions about the type and severity of this destruction. Some say that
this refers to complete destruction, others say the Talmud is instead
speaking of the destruction of man's "evil inclination". In addition,
there are other opinions in the Talmud there, but the Rashba brings this
one as authoritative.

As to exactly what will take place during this period, we are dealing
with a wealth of information, enough to literally fill an encyclopedia.

Julia
--
http://www.onelist.com/community/DONMEH_WEST

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Recruiting in pews to save planet
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 20:50:48 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

Recruiting in pews to save planet

Citing Scripture, more worshipers join environmentalists.

Todd Wilkinson Special to the Christian Science Monitor

CODY, WYO.

Last night, three evenings before his congregation celebrates
the birth of Jesus, the Rev. Warren Murphy led parish-ioners
outside for a walk beneath the glowing solstice moon.

Together, they admired the cosmos with a telescope, sipped hot
chocolate, and when the time came for a festive holiday carol,
they sang "O Tannenbaum" with the enthusiasm of tree huggers.

The wintry stroll is just the latest example of how Mr. Murphy,
a popular Episcopalian priest here, is persuading his flock to
think "green" by paying regular tribute to the beauty of God's
creation.

It is also part of a growing global movement involving
spiritual leaders from all faiths asserting a strong connection
between a healthy environment, spiritual fulfillment, and
fundamental religious teachings.

From the Bible to the Talmud to the Koran, from weekend sermons
to Christian rock concerts, Earth stewardship is emerging as a
powerful religious force in the modern age. It is a trend, say
theologians, that not only holds profound implications for
religious and public policy from Capitol Hill to the Vatican,
but also offers insight into how Americans view their biblical
charge to care for God's creation.

The evolving synergy of the environmental and religious
movements was documented in a survey by researchers at Harvard
University in Cambridge, Mass. It showed a threefold increase in
the number of people worshiping at environmentally focused
churches during the mid-1990s.

This growth can be attributed to the increased interest of two
particular demographic groups, says the Rev. Peter Illyan,
Northwest regional director of Target Earth, one of several
prominent eco-religious organizations. First is young people who
are active in the outdoors but raised without any firm religious
teachings. The second group is aging baby boomers who left their
churches as young adults, feeling they were no longer relevant.
Many are now coming back because of their connection to
contemporary environmental issues and the outreach of
evangelical services.

Pontiff promotes ecology

Like Murphy, men and women of the cloth are drawing worship-ers
from all segments of society.

Most prominently, Pope John Paul II has quietly cultivated a
legacy as the first environmental pope. In 1979 he proclaimed
St. Francis the patron saint of ecology, and has implored Roman
Catholics to reduce their level of resource consumption. "The
seriousness of ecological degradation lays bare the depth of
man's moral crisis," the pontiff declared on New Year's Day 10
years ago.

Religion has frequently entered into environmental debates in
Washington as well. James Watt, the Interior secretary under
President Ronald Reagan and a born-again Christian,
characterized environmentalists as practicing pagan idolatry for
worshiping nature at the expense of the financial welfare of
humans.

Mr. Watt claimed that natural-resource development had a firm
rooting in Scripture - that man should have "dominion" over the
land. From that assertion sprang a private-property rights
movement in the West and South allied with fundamentalist
Christians.

Leaders of the "green" religion movement admit they were slow
to counter such assertions as they grew during the 1980s and
'90s. But a turning point came in 1996, when Republicans in
Congress wanted to amend the Endangered Species Act.

Clergy representing a spectrum of mainstream denominations
protested, likening the struggle to preserve biological
diversity to Noah readying his ark. Speaker Newt Gingrich
eventually shelved efforts to weaken the wildlife-conservation
law.

Still, the eco-religious movement has its detractors. In the
battle for support from evangelical Christians, both sides are
armed with Bible passages to reinforce their point of view and
both accuse the other of misinterpreting Scripture.

E. Calvin Beisner, who teaches interdisciplinary studies at
Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga., is one of the
nation's foremost critics.

He claims many ecological threats are overblown and that left-
leaning environmentalists are trying to co-opt mainstream
religion to add legitimacy to their cause. "They infer that
nature is best when it is pristine and they say that man has
fallen into sin by wishing to develop the landscape," he says.
"They seem to suggest that everything man does has been negative."

A devout promoter of the free market, Mr. Beisner and others
say that natural-resource development - including logging,
mining, livestock grazing, and commercial fishing - help
accomplish a universal religious imperative, which is aiding the
poor by elevating their quality of life.

"The Bible does specify that we have to be good stewards," adds
Michael Barkey, a policy analyst with the Acton Institute, a pro-
business religious think tank. "While it seems like a very
simple principle, it has broad economic ramifications."

Mr. Barkey says efforts by religious groups to bring an end to
logging, for example, violate the separation of church and
state. And he accuses certain religious groups of blasphemy by
promoting Deep Ecology, which places humans not above nature to
exercise dominion, but as merely a part of the ecosystem.

A lawsuit over logging in Minnesota, for instance, is exploring
whether the US Forest Service views trees as "sacred."

But supporters of the new church activism in conservation say
they're just responding to the wishes of congregations, which
are both liberal and conservative. "Our adversaries try to
diminish our standing by labeling us part of the fringe," says
Ann Alexander, chairwoman of the Christian Environmental
Council. "Even if that were true - and it's not - it still
wouldn't matter because millions of people are responding to our
message because it is relevant."

Thousands of scientists, religious academics, ministers, and
worshipers see no contradiction between evolution and
creationism, but rather a conduit between the two that closely
parallels the objectives of environmentalism.

Movement's broad base

This movement manifests itself on a number of fronts:

A five-year-old program called Rescue God's Creation annually
brings 50 Christian college students to Washington to learn
about environmental issues. When they return home, they use
their new political insight to educate communities and fellow
students about pending legislation.

The Pennsylvania Council of Churches launched an unprecedented
interfaith campaign to counter global climate change, saying it
did "violence to God's creation" and violated moral and
religious principles of justice.

The Religious Campaign for Forest Conservation is rallying
hundreds of churches to support President Clinton's proposal to
protect more than 40-million acres of public forests.

An effort led by the Redwood Rabbis, an extension of the
Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life in the Northwest,
staged a mock trial of a powerful timber executive, accusing him
of violating Jewish law by felling ancient redwoods.

"We don't see it as a greening of religion as much as a drawing
out of the inherent care of creation that has always been a part
of Christianity," says Fred Krueger from the Religious Campaign
for Forest Conservation. "Every Christian, ipso facto, is an
ecologist who, like Jesus, was concerned with the common good.
The fact is you can't have a healthy economy and a severely
degraded life-support system."

As the new millennium begins, when environmental concerns have
never been greater, Mr. Illyan asks: If Jesus were to appear
today, would he be more inclined to be a land developer or a
conservationist? "Scripture doesn't warn about worshiping
nature, but it does warn continually about worshiping material
wealth," he says.

Murphy has ministered for 23 years in Wyoming, where anti-
environmental rhetoric remains fierce. His sermons attract
worshipers from miles away. Recently, he organized a church hike
up the slopes of Heart Mountain. One of the parishioners was so
inspired, she persuaded the Nature Conservancy to buy the land
to permanently protect it.

"It's not our intent to criticize others so much as it is to
declare what's right by the Bible," adds Mr. Krueger. "What's
right is preserving our forests and fisheries and keeping our
streams clean.... We think Jesus would agree."

http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1999/12/23/fp1s5-csm.shtml

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