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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 1992)
August 5,199; inter for Drug 45-0280 for ! r for more in- i Jp should be [ Battalion, 016 ; no later than I ys before the , We only pub- ' phone num- if you ask us Jp is a Battal- ists non-profit es. Submis- a first-come, There is no \ y will run. If j ins, call the 316. ney n John Hall, protect ground / the tanks. The hat pays for the very of petrole- spokesmen say ise the fee so the Texas Oil Mar- s at six-tenthsol supports anin- d the amount. ctions dais black. It was ny Jewish ju- he all-white age opinion donday, the to uphold the ury selection hat U.S. Dis- »t Sanders ad- ned prospec- ver biases. an Christian nee Jordan, irry Greer, awrence and d axe serving 'anging from years. ays ? competing in igskin Classic, 1 of the college i Aug. 26. e on Stanford ?w head coach season opener, i the history of :e is the earliest tory. The Ag- g. 27 in 1988 as diversity of Ne- koff Classic at NJ. ?w years, and ■opped." the reduction f all parts of e fees, the mandato- ip 84 percent years, and is reflected in as well," he roblem, and I an easy an- find an an- ill be quite a come the o is also 's vacant to fill might >ty quarter- ames Jeff ■, Tommy ■cently Corey itered ^placements. ding. It is ty Patrick pecting ming backs y Thomas 'position's Marcus errorize bmission. rere for ! much de- ect. es. Page 5 DEAD SEA SCROT I S Relics offer new insight into early Christianity 23 years ago we took a small step S eeking the truth can be muddled by many factors. It is a problem that plagues the most important archeological findings of this century. The Dead Sea Scrolls are considered by many in the academ ic world as the most im portant documents ever discovered. I found my research into various documents and historical finds fascinating and in triguing because what they said did not correlate with what the New Testament had to say. I have no intention to offend anyone, but only to discuss what these documents expose and show some of the similarities in their findings. The majority of the scrolls were dis covered in various caves east of Jerusalem near the shore of the Dead Sea in 1947. Near the caves are the ruins of Khirbet Qumran, where these scrolls were sup posedly written. The scrolls were mainly written in ancient Hebrew and Aramaic languages. In Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh's "The Dead Sea Scrolls Decep tion," they discussed the various prob lems hindering the translation and release of information from the scrolls. Limited access From the beginning, a small interna tional team of scholars was established to translate and interpret what the scrolls said, creating antagonism among scholars around the world who want access to the documents. In over 40 years, only 20 percent of the scrolls have been published. The interna tional team has been slow to publish and release information about the documents. Dr. Garland Cannon, a professor of English and linguistics at Texas A&M, said the difficulty of translation could re sult in mistakes in interpretation. "There are tremendous probabilities of errors because of all of the archeology, linguistic history, and other factors that go so far back that very few people know about," Cannon said. "Ultimately, they (scholars) have axes to grind, a theory in mind of how language develops." Yet, on September 22, 1991, the Hunt ington Library in California announced that it would make all of its unpublished photographs of the scrolls available to any interested scholar. Of course, the in ternational team was infuriated by the act, saying it was "theft of scholarly work." Ironically, the majority of the team that has or is still working on the scrolls never did any any of the legwork. They hired many Bedouins to excavate the caves. Unfortunately, this resulted in many of the scrolls being sold on the black market, never to be revealed to scholars. New interpretations With the access to copies of the scrolls. Professor Robert Eisenman, the foremost expert in biblical archaeology and schol arship, and other scholars revealed differ ent interpretations of the scrolls. "The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception" exposes many of these different interpretations compared to the rigid orthodox interpre tation by the international team. The international team's understand ing and interpretation of the scrolls can summarized as follows: The documents date prior to the Christian era; they are the work of a single, reclusive, unortho dox sect of Judaism; the community of Qumran was destroyed around 70 A.D.; the beliefs of the Qumran community were totally different from Christianity; and although John the Baptist was very close to the teachings of the Qumran com munity, he was not an actual Christian, but a precursor. IVtail - California dreamin Hey Ags, can you believe it is less than one month until our first football game? It seems like only yesterday we were standing pretty tall in the Cotton Bowl against FSU. Although we ran out of time against the 'noles, at least it wasn't as bad as t.u. in the Cotton Bowl the pre vious year. Anyway, on Aug. 26 we will be play ing the Cardinals of Stanford in the Pigskin Classic in Anaheim, Calif. I'm sure most of you remember what hap pened the last time we played in Califor nia. Just ask Ty Detmer and the rest of B.Y.U. who thought we were not enough competition for them. I hope a lot of you are planning to go out and help support our team and show those people in Cali fornia what school spirit and tradition is. As a native Californian, I can attest to the fact that they don't have any spirit (kind Yet "The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception" refutes many of the international team's views. One good example is the scrolls' mention of a Messiah referred to as the "Teacher of Righteousness," similar to Christian doctrine. Another example is the scrolls' ideas and concepts, which are similar to those of the "early Church." In Jesus' (peace be upon him) famous Sermon on the Mount, he says, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." The scrolls also mention this when they refer to the Qum ran community as the "congregation of the meek." Yet the most controversial aspect of the scrolls is the explanation of the apos tle Paul. They accuse Paul of creating the whole aspect of a divine son of God; in order to compete with the other idols and gods of the period, Paul had to invent the whole idea of the divinity of Jesus. The Gnostic Gospels This evidence of false godhood brought me to my second source. Elaine Pagels' award-winning translation of "The Gnostic Gospels" also refutes the di vinity of Jesus. The Gnostic Gospels consist of 1,500- year-old Coptic translations of more an cient manuscripts. The gospels were found in December of 1945 near the town of Naj Hammadi in southern Egypt. Gnosis is a belief in insight or an intu itive process of knowing oneself. The Gnostic sect is and was considered a heretical group by many Christians. It is not surprising because of what the Gnos tics believe. The Gnostic creed stresses that "self- knowledge is knowledge of God; the self and the divine are identical." "The Gnostic Gospels" and "The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception" led me to a third source: "Holy Blood, Holy Grail," by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Hen ry Lincoln. This book brought out aspects about the life of Jesus that are shocking. The blood of Christ Over a century ago, documents were found in southern France that reveal the secret and supposedly true meaning of the Holy Grail. These parchments, in addition to sev eral other sources, hint at the fact that Je sus may have been married and fathered several children. In addition, they suggest Jesus's family sought refuge in southern France and married into royalty, yet, for some unknown reason, the Church tried to eradicate the bloodline. The authors conclude that the 'blood of Jesus,' as stated in the New Testament, means the actual bloodline of Jesus. This conclusion is totally outrageous to many people, but the writers bring up several strong arguments to support their hy pothesis. For example, it would have been very unusual for any man living during that time not to have been married. Further more, the New Testament states that Jesus had the title of a high-ranking rabbi. It could be applied in broad terms or be a self-given title, but some argue that Jesus underwent formal training. Judaic law at that time explicitly stated that an unmar ried man could not be a rabbi. These are all interesting points. Some may be considered true while others can be thrown out the window. Share the burden However, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Gnostic Gospels must be studied care fully. The burden cannot be allowed to rest on the shoulders of just a few schol ars. The responsibility rests on every qualified scholar who can contribute to the translation. Interpretation must be left to the people who seek to know and un derstand these historical finds. Ben-Musa is a junior history and journal ism major and a columnist for The Battalion. Call of like t.u.). For those who can't make it, the spirit will be strong wherever you are. This will be the start of a great season of beat- in' the hell outta everyone! Whoop! Kevin Strawbridge '93 Have an opinion? Express it! The Battalion is interested in hearing from its readers. All letters are welcome. Letters must be signed and must include classification, address and daytime phone number for verification purposes. They should be 250 words or less. Anonymous letters will not be published. The Battalion reserves the right to edit all letters for length, style and accuracy. There is no guarantee a letter will appear. Letters may be brought to The Battalion at 013 Reed McDonald, sent to Campus Mai! Stop 1111 or faxed to 845-2647. "Those who came before us made certain that this country rode the first waves of the industrial revolution, the first waves of mod ern invention and the first wave of nuclear power. And this gener ation does not intend to founder in the back wash of the coming age of space. We mean to he a part of it. We mean to lead it." — President John F. Kennedy Rice Stadium, September 12,1962. T wo weeks ago, the media's atten tion focused on the presidential race, war in Yugoslavia and many other important currant events. But it appears the media let an important date slip past our curious eyes and ears. Twenty-three years ago, July 20, 1969, was the day astronaut Neil Arm strong became the first human to set foot on the moon. As an enthusiastic eight year old, I can recall the excitement of watching the crew of Apollo 11, astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins, catapulted through the Earth's protective atmosphere atop the mighty Saturn V rocket, traveling 42 miles in two and one-half minutes with 7.5 million pounds of thrust behind them. As the rocket barreled through lay ers of gases, the first stage shut down and was released, and the second stage kicked in. With another million pounds of thrust lasting six minutes, the Apollo 11 spacecraft was over 100 miles above the Earth. The final burst needed for earth's or bit was 17,500 miles per hour and was supplied by the third stage rocket's A year in review is my specialty, or at least it better be by now, after pro ducing and editing an 848-page yearbook. Over the course of the past school year. I've re viewed everything from "Swan Lake" to Muster. And through my deal ings, I've interacted with many different people and situations that I never expect ed to encounter at this stage in my life. The experiences I've gained from the grueling responsibility of producing a yearbook have led me to take a good look at my morals, my inner strength, my out look on life, and people in general. These experiences have helped me to appreciate small but important things such as in tegrity, commitment and trust. Throughout the course of the year. I've learned that trust is something that isn't taken lightly. Giving and keeping your word is vital. And when the going gets tough, the so called tough get going — right out the door. I've learned not to judge people before before I know them, to value those who stand by through good and bad, and that mom and dad are always there with a smile and words of encouragement. And I've learned to depend on myself. Short in length, but immense in mean ing, depend is a word easily definable and easily uttered, but too often misused. As a student leader, I have people who depend on me daily for various rea sons, and I in return am dependent on others. If one side or the other doesn't 225,000 pounds of thrust. With Apollo 11 now in orbit, Houston control was preparing for lunar trajectory. The Apollo 11 crew spent one and one half circuits in Earth's orbit. Then mission control gave the thumbs-up and Apollo 11 boosted at 25,000 mph toward the moon. On July 19, the command ship Columbia, fired the large rocket engine on the service modular to brake into lu nar orbit 69 miles above the moon. The next day, astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin entered the lunar module while Michael Collins stayed with the command ship. At the proper time, the two ships separated, sending Arm strong and Aldrin into a lunar orbit as close as 50,000 feet above the lunar sur face. With the final descent firing — the longest rocket blast to date, lasting twelve minutes — the Eagle landed in the Sea of Tranquility at 3:17 p.m., Sun day, July 20,1969. "Houston, Tranquility base. The Ea gle has landed," was Armstrong's fa mous radio transmission as the vehicle touched down on the moon's surface. This was the beginning of the crew's 22- hour stay. After a few hours of system checks, it was now time for Armstrong to pre pare for his historical but dangerous stroll on the moon. With the dangers in mind, Arm strong descended down the module's ladder and took the first step onto the moon at 10:56 p.m., July 20,1969. With his jump to the lunar surface came Armstrong's famous words, "That's one small step for man, one gi ant leap for mankind." This was an ex citing event in American history. While on the moon, Armstrong and Aldrin completed many tasks, including measuring the solar wind, seismometer and laser reflector experiments, gather ing a box of lunar rocks and 20 pounds uphold its end, others are affected, and I take the heat, regardless. After one too many incidents of blistering fires, I have come to the conclusion that I have to look to myself for the answers, because the other side is often the tough that leave right when those fires get out of control. Just where the other side ventures off to, I still haven't figured out. But one thing I have come across, as a result of be ing left to sweat things out, is the impor tance of holding true to a commitment. A simple concept, but hard for some to in still and understand — a promise is a promise, isn't it? Back when I was in second grade, Va lerie D'Asto was my soul mate. We spent every waking hour together and made ev ery commitment to each other that little girls make, including the "blood brother" pact, except we were "soul sisters." Over the years we have kept in touch, due to my persistence, until recently when Va lerie got married, or at least I think she did. I really don't know, because I wasn't officially invited to the wedding. Although she lives in Nevada, I would have thought that an invitation or a phone call would have come with the good news. I guess our pact died with Valerie's lack of commitment. But then I knew all along that she could not be counted on to hold her word. The point I'm trying to make, is that I've found that people too often fail to hold their word. My question is, why then do they give it? A simple yes or no answer in the beginning would "certainly mean a lot stress, anger and hurt. If peo ple say they will do something and don't do it, isn't that a reflection on the rest of of core samples. Both astronauts ap peared to have no difficulty walking or hopping in the light lunar gravity. The next day, Armstrong and Aldrin departed the moon's surface leaving a few terrestrial toys behind. Two of the most famous items left were the Ameri can flag symbolizing the territorial mark that laid monumental claim to the moon's surface and a plaque with Presi dent Kennedy's message to extraterres trial space travelers, "We came in peace for all mankind." The trip back took three days and on July 24, 1969, Columbia's nose capsule, with its precious cargo, fell through Earth's atmosphere at 25,000 mph. And at 11:50 p.m., Americans were comfort ed to view the three astronauts safely splash down in the icy Pacific waters, successfully completing this historic mission. The space program was only a dream of President John F. Kennedy when he announced the plans for the landing of the first man on the moon. May 25,1961. Man has always been ! ascinated with space travel, from Mercury's first orbital flight to the experience of watch ing Neil Armstrong make initial contact with the moon's surface. Unfortunately as time passes, the first moon walk is now buried under many other space triumphs accom plished by our country's NASA pro gram. But this baby-boomer will never forget man's first step on Earth's natural satellite. This column is dedicated to the three Apollo astronauts, Edwin White, Roger Chaffe and Virgil Grisson, who lost their lives in a tragic flash fire dur ing a routine test. God bless these men of space. Greco is a freshman general studies ma jor and a columnist for The Battalion. for yourself their life? Are they always going to run from commitment, or just try to breeze through it? I guess that's something they must de cide for themselves, but in the meantime, I thank them for their errors. Those mis takes have strengthened me in more ways than they have hurt me. A close and dear friend of mine. Pen ny De Los Santos, who always has been a role model and inspiration for me, once gave me some advice that I look to when things get grim. She told me to spend time with individuals who are optimistic, who. inspire me, and who allow me to dream. You see. Penny is a dreamer, an achiever, and a teacher. Everyone she meets she affects with her charisma and love of life. Through her words and eyes, I have learned to set long-term and short term goals and to work toward those with undying determination. I've learned through Penny to do it for myself. This year I have devoutly followed Penny's advice to reach what has now be come a short-term goal, finishing the yearbook. Through the help of some close and devoted friends, the book is go ing to finalize — soon. Without the advice and help of my friends and family, I would not have made it through the year. And without the strength that I have found within my self, I would not be where I am now. You have to do it for yourself. Sweeney is a senior journalism major and editor of the 1992 Aggieland. Anas Ben>Musa - Paul Greco To complete a task, do it GUEST COLUMN Kelly Sweeney