Science Meets Religion...

[Einhander Sn0m4n]

And they smoke a joint together.

Jesus 'healed using cannabis'

Jesus w as almost certainly a cannabis user and an early proponent of the medicinal properties of the drug, according to a study of scriptural texts published this month. The study suggests that Jesus and his disciples used the drug to carry out miraculous healings.

The anointing oil used by Jesus and his disciples contained an ingredient called kaneh-bosem which has since been identified as cannabis extract, according to an article by Chris Bennett in the drugs magazine, High Times, entitled Was Jesus a Stoner? The incense used by Jesus in ceremonies also contained a cannabis extract, suggests Mr Bennett, who quotes scholars to back his claims.

"There can be little doubt about a role for cannabis in Judaic religion," Carl Ruck, professor of classical mythology at Boston University said.

Referring to the existence of cannabis in anointing oils used in ceremonies, he added: "Obviously the easy availability and long-established tradition of cannabis in early Judaism _ would inevitably have included it in the [Christian] mixtures."

Mr Bennett suggests those anointed with the oils used by Jesus were "literally drenched in this potent mixture _ Although most modern people choose to smoke or eat pot, when its active ingredients are transferred into an oil-based carrier, it can also be absorbed through the skin".

Quoting the New Testament, Mr Bennett argues that Jesus anointed his disciples with the oil and encouraged them to do the same with other followers. This could have been responsible for healing eye and skin diseases referred to in the Gospels.

"If cannabis was one of the main ingredients of the ancient anointing oil _ and receiving this oil is what made Jesus the Christ and his followers Christians, then persecuting those who use cannabis could be considered anti-Christ," Mr Bennett concludes.

Cannabis linked to Biblical healing

Jesus Christ and his apostles may have used a cannabis-based anointing oil to help cure people with crippling diseases, it has been claimed.

Researchers in the United States say the oil used in the early days of the Christian church contained a cannabis extract called kaneh-bosem.

They suggest the extract, which is absorbed into the body when placed on the skin, could have helped cure people with a variety of physical and mental problems.

The medical use of cannabis during that time is supported by archaeological records

Chris Bennet
The author of the article, published in the US drugs magazine High Times, says his findings are based on a study of scriptural texts.

Wide use

The article does not question the validity of the miracles reported in the Bible but rather examines whether the early Christian Church may have made use of substances with an active medical effect.

It does not rule out the role played by blind faith in Christ.

Chris Bennett said cannabis was widely used at the time to heal the sick.

"The medical use of cannabis during that time is supported by archaeological records."

He said the ancient anointing oil contained high levels of cannabis extract.

"The holy anointing oil, as described in the original Hebrew version of the recipe in Exodus, contained over six pounds of keneh-bosum - a substance identified by respected etymology, linguists anthropologists, botanists and other researchers as cannabis extracted into about six quarts of olive oil along with a variety of other fragrant herbs.

"The ancient annointed ones were literally drenched in this potent mixture."

Miracles

Mr Bennett suggested the drug may have played a role in some healing miracles carried out by Jesus and his disciples.

He wrote: "In the ancient world, diseases such as epilepsy were attributed to demonic possession.

"To cure somebody of such an illness, even with the aid of certain herbs was considered exorcism or miraculous healing.

Jesus often becomes the final hope for the pharmacologically impaired

JesusJournal.com
"Interestingly, cannabis has been shown to be effective in the treatment of not only epilepsy but many of the other ailments that Jesus and the disciples healed people of such as skin diseases, eye problems and menstrual problems."

Mr Bennett said the findings suggested that it was unchristian to persecute people who used cannabis.

"If cannabis was one of the main ingredients of the ancient Christian anointing oil, as history indicates, and receiving this oil is what made Jesus the Christ and his followers Christians, then persecuting those who use cannabis could be considered anti-Christ."

However, Christian groups in the United States have rejected Mr Bennett's claims.

They have insisted that the arguments made in the article are lame.

In a response to the article published on JesusJournal.com, critics said: "As many of us know firsthand, Jesus often becomes the final hope for the pharmacologically impaired."

John Cunyus, the author of a book on Christian healing, said: "Well, the Bible does say that St. Stephen was stoned... but perhaps not in that sense!"

[Wyrm]

I guess this puts a whole new light on the talking snakes and talking burning shrubbery.

This should not be surprising. Drugs are a centerpiece of many ancient religions, so chances were good that Jesus was indeed a stoner. Revelations in particular sounds like it was written on the wave of a bad trip. The present hang-up on drugs is very, very recent.

[TheKwas]

Normally I'm skeptical of these sorts of special interest 'studies' where the author obviously has an axe to grind, but Marijuana did play a pretty important role in many Shaman healing rituals in similar cultures. I just watched a documentry about this mummy:

Mummies Prove It: Once, China Was Inhabited by White People
These people also knew marijuana

Chinese people are maybe the symbol for the Mongoloid race. The first question that emerges in our mind when we see an Asian face is: are you Chinese?

Even if many are Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese and so on.

But what people do not know is that during the Antiquity, while Egyptians were building their impressive pyramids and Greeks were fighting for Troy, Western China was in fact inhabited by blond-haired blue-eyed white people.

Now, a group of Chinese archaeologists is attempting to identify a 2,800-year-old mummy of an Caucasian man found in an ancient tomb from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (Northwest China), another from a long series.

The well-preserved mummy is likely the one of a shaman and has been under examination since it has been found in 2003.

The scientists were puzzled by the presence of a sack of marijuana leaves that archaeologists found buried with the leather-coat bound mummy.

"From his outfit and the marijuana leaves, which have been confirmed by international specialists to be ingredients for narcotic, we assume the man had been a shaman and had been between 40 and 50 years old when he died," noted historian Li Xiao explained.

The 2003 exploration on the area brought to light 600 mummies from 2,000 area tombs.

These mummies of the white people that once inhabited Western China were not embalmed, like the Egyptian ones, but they were unwittingly preserved from decay by local climate: extreme summer heat and aridity, bitter winter cold, and salty soil.

When researchers first discovered the mummies, they were astonished by their certain European appearance, with blond or red hair, prominent noses, mustaches and beards, tartan-weave garments, and jaunty feathered caps.

The mummy people, called the Tocharians, left even a written language that is clearly Indo-European.

Also, in old Chinese chronicles, contacts with red-haired people from the west are depicted.

[Saxtonite]

Jesus w as almost certainly a cannabis user and an early proponent of the medicinal properties of the drug, according to a study of scriptural texts published this month.

IIRC people have been saying that for a few years now, saying he used hemp oil to 'anoint' his disciples

[Count Chocula]

Native American ceremonies also involved the ritual use of hallucinogens, if The Teachings of Don Juan et al by Carlos Castaneda are credible. However, peyote seems to have been the drug of choice in the now-American Southwest.

Burning Bush = Buzzkill. Put it in a pipe, man!

[Duckie]

Pfft. China was inhabited by white people? Hardly. There were a few white people at and over the edge of what could barely be considered China even at its bloated size nowadays.

What a retarded article title. The Tocharans were the extreme eastern edge of the Indo-European migration, and barely scratched what might be called a small portion of Uighurstan, if you're generous. That is only China in the modern sense post Qing dynasty, not China in any reasonable sense of ancient history. More like Tajikstan and parts of the rest of the Central Asian Steppe. But I guess "White people who smoked dope lived in Iron Age Tajikstan" is far less exciting to write about.

Further, the Tocharans and were probably about as white as the persians, northern indians, or gypsies- Darkish, that is, even more than mediterraneans. The darkest of the Indo-European peoples.

It's honestly astounding how that article could have been published and I question what sort of source made it- although factually accurate about histories and the mummies, it's still laughable.

[Duckie]

Ghetto edits- Tocharians, that is. And Kucheans, since they're lumped under Tocharians for historical reasons. And that isn't to imply Roma, Persians, or Aryans are not white but rather that they aren't the bone-white 'lol english people smoking dope in china' that the article implies. Also its racial terminology is really weird upon a second read.

[TheKwas]

I posted the article mostly for the marijuana part, but how common is blue eyes and blonde hair in modern Tajikistan and Northern India?

[Dark Hellion]

I always wonder how there can be any doubt Jesus loved the ganj. He was a man who had long hair, wore a robe, and walked around in sandals talking about how people should love each other, get along, and not use violence. The only other people I have met who can do that are stoners.

[Duckie]

The Tocharians eventually interbred with and merged with a bunch of other ethnicities, just like the Aryans and the greeks living in Bactria, as I remember. Wikipedia says that you can still detect traces of caucasoid features among them. For instance, in this Uyghur girl. That said, most Uyghurs look something like this, so it not by any means that common. I imagine it's most common the furthest away from China at the Uyghur border with the rest of the steppes, unless the Tocharians moved around before being extinguished.

Roma have lighter skin and lighter hair, but it's been millenia since they lived in Northern India so I figure that's a result of interbreeding with locals.

Dunno about Northern Indians, but I've never personally seen someone who is light-skinned or blonde or blue-eyed from Northern India. Still, I haven't a clue- India is big. But then again, the Aryan invasion was thousands of years ago, so it would be impressive for there to be throwbacks in a place like India where it's far easier to diffuse genes than among the rather low-population, insulated Uyghurs.