"Brit-Am Now"-212
March 8, 2003

Contents:
1. Pelagius and Pelagianism
2. Marianne Connolly: Darbyianism
3. THE DAILY STAR: Discovering Sidon's ancient urban past
4. News in Science 18/2/2003: Ancient DNA may be misleading scientists

1. Pelagius and Pelagianism

[Information culled from various web-sites with only slight changes. We
apologize in advance for departing from our usual practice and not properly
acknowledging all the sources]

see however: "Pelagius" Britannica.com
<http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/5/0,5716,60465+1,00.html>
also
paul@cushnieent.force9.co.uk
for more information as well as other sites.


Pelagius and Pelagianism

Pelagianism received its name from Pelagius and designates a heresy of the
400s CE. The heresy appears to have begun in Britain but also to have been
found in the Celtic areas of Ireland and Gaul. Not certain if Pelagius
founded the heresy or merely gave expression to a system of belief that
already existed.


Pelagius (c. a. 354-418)
Pelagius was Scotch, or Welsh, or Irish. His name in Britian was Morgan. St
Jerome in the prologue to his Commentary of Jeremiah refers contemptuously
to Pelagius as "pultibus Scottorum praegravatus" (stuffed with the porridge
of the Scots) has led some to suppose that he was an Irishman, since Scotat
that time referred to a people who were then in Ireland but only later
moved to Scotland.

Pelagius visited Rome, North Africa, and Palestine. Pelagius had as his
ally in controversy a supposed Irishman bearing the latinised name
Coelestius (Celleagh or Kelly). His friend and disciple was Caelestius who
formulated their beliefs that were branded as heretical:
Adam's sin harmed only himself, not the human race.
Children just born are in the same state as Adam before his fall.
The whole human race neither dies through Adam's sin or death, nor rises
again through the resurrection of Christ.
The (Mosaic Law) is as good a guide to heaven as the Gospel.
Even before the advent of Christ there were men who were without sin.

Constantius and Bede report that Germanus (c.444?) and Severus were sent to
Britain to combat Pelagianism.

To my mind Pelagius is an expression of an independent element amongst
Celtic Christians who regarded the Mosaic Law favorably.

This is his importance for our historical studies. To what degree he was
correct or in error does not concern us as far as our researches are concerned.

2. Marianne Connolly: Darbyianism
From: marianne connolly <mconnolly01@msn.com>
Subject: Re: "Brit-Am Now"-211
Hi Yair,

I copied this from today's message #211. [said "Yoseph"]:

(c) the very concept of "Church" -- the entire purpose of 'called-out-ones'
or 'ekklesia' -- is to DISPLACE YISRAEL.  The notion of Church, if one
accepts it, means that one's Teshuvah [Repentance] in the Galut is of no
consequence.  Church and Yisrael are incompatible: they are MUTUALLY
EXCLUSIVE.  There is a direct contradiction between 'ekklesia' and 'Klal
Yisrael.' [Whole israelite Community] At least one must face up to this
contradiction; they are irreconcilable.

The church has never replaced Israel.  This is a teaching that came out of
the Roman Catholic Church, propogated by Augustine and was held over by the
Reformation and is the teaching in today's reformed churches that call
themselves Covenant Theologians, ie Presbytarians, Lutherans, etc. However,
since the late 1800's, right about the same time that the Zionist movement
became alive, God raised up a man called Darby, who was instrumental in the
church taking another look at the entire, what we call Old Testament, and
it was discovered that when the Lord speaks of Israel, the house of Judah
and the house of Israel, he is in fact talking about Israel and not the
church. This theology is called Dispensationalism.  There are many in the
universal church who fight against Dispensationalism,and some with a great
hatred. Dispensationalism teaches that the nation of Israel, born in a day
in 1948 was prophesied by many prophets, and that was the beginning of the
gathering of all of Israel back to the land, per Ezekiel 37.  Those of us
Christians, who know that Dispensationalism is true, are the ones who love
Israel, because God loves her and Jerusalem is the apple of his eye, and we
know that every single thing the Lord spoke through his prophets will come
to pass.  Israel is the wife of Jehovah and he has never stopped loving
her.  All the promises he made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will be
fulfilled exactly the way the Lord said, including occupying all the land
of Canaan.  The church was raised up to make Israel jealous and bring her
to the knowledge that Yeshua was the Meshiach (this is something that
Jewish people don't want to hear), but after all, Yeshua is what the church
is all about.  The entire early church was Jewish and the Gentiles were
grafted into the Olive tree which is Israel. And yes, the church and Israel
are 2 separate entities, both beloved of God, but different functions and
different purposes. There are 3 kinds of people on the planet
today.  Israel, the church consisting of Jews and Gentiles, and the nations.

Marianne Connolly

3. THE DAILY STAR: Discovering Sidon's ancient urban past
Excavation finds evidence of northern trade links

Rachael Claye
Special to The Daily Star

[]Buried under the shops, homes and roundabouts of Sidon is an ancient city
whose exact nature is still ­ almost ­ a secret.
Theres no doubt this southern town has a vibrant history. Sidons trade
around the Mediterranean basin, going back around 5,000 years, is
well-known from evidence elsewhere, particularly in Egypt, Crete and Palestine.
During the first millennium BC, Sidon became possibly the wealthiest
shipping center on the coast. Kings of the Persian empire used it as their
headquarters, lodging important officials and a cavalry in the town.
But most knowledge of the city is based on sources elsewhere; the
archaeological record in Sidon itself, submerged beneath layers of
continuous inhabitation, is almost completely nonexistent.
Until now. A pioneer project led by archaeologist Claude Doumet-Serhal
started work in 1998 on a piece of land seized by the Department of
Antiquities back in 1967. The excavation offers the first really rigorous
attempt to dig up evidence of the towns urban development.
So far the finds are only enough to establish a basic outline,
Doumet-Serhal explained at a lecture in the American University of Beiruts
museum last Thursday.
Shards of drinking vessels at the bedrock level indicate settlement around
the end of the fourth millennium BC. It took around another 1,000 years for
signs of more sophisticated urbanization to show, mostly in the form of
standardized kitchen ware, evidence of production for a collective
goal,according to Doumet-Serhal.
A few items suggest a relationship with Byblos, such as a jug with a rams
head a motif common there, too. But much of the material connects Sidon
more closely to the southern commercial sphere of Palestine. Both areas
show the same reluctance to depict human faces, often decorating pottery
with human bodies capped off by animal heads.
Only later are there signs of trade extending north. One of last years key
discoveries was a distinctive, finely wrought Minoan cup ­  the first
example of exports to Lebanon from Crete within a closed, dated context.
These were highly decorative and probably used at feasts.
There are hints at great wealth also in the discoveries of warriorsgraves.
One body wore scarab rings and was buried with an ornamental axe,
suggesting ancient Sidon had its share of upper class warlords.
Another find, the sunken room, remains a mystery. Not yet dated, this
subterranean structure, destroyed by fire, shows signs of Persian masonry
work and may eventually reveal more on that relationship.
As Doumet-Serhal concludes, this is only a start. A lot more work needs to
be done, and happily the funding is in place to do it. The project has even
attracted money from the Lebanese private sector, a first for digs here and
a show of civic spirit that may bode as well for the future as for the past.

4. News in Science 18/2/2003: Ancient DNA may be misleading scientists
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s786146.htm
Dating skeletal material with DNA may not be as acurate as thought


Ancient DNA in skeletons has a tendency to show damage in a particular
region, resulting in misleading genetic data and mistaken conclusions about
the origin of the skeleton, British scientists said.

A group of researchers at the Henry Wellcome Ancient Biomolecules Centre of
the University of Oxford, in Britain, made the finding while studying
Viking specimens. They found that about half of the specimens had DNA that
suggested they were of Middle Eastern origin.

But more detailed analysis revealed that many of the genetic sequences in
the double helix molecule, which carries the genetic information of every
individual, were damaged at a key base that separates European sequences
from Middle Eastern genetic types - damage which made the skeletons appear
to have originated in the Levant.

The results are published in the February 2003 issue of the American
Journal of Human Genetics.

Damage events appear to be concentrated in specific 'hotspots', indicating
that a high proportion of DNA molecules can be modified at the same point.
These hotspots appear to be in positions that also differ between different
human groups. In other words, the DNA damage discovered affects the same
genetic positions as evolutionary change.

"Now that this phenomenon has been recognised, it is possible to survey the
ancient sequences for damage more accurately, and determine the correct
original genetic type - open the way for more reliable future studies,"
said Professor Alan Cooper, director of the centre.

Cooper has hopes the finding may have implications for future research. "It
also appears that we can use damage cause after death to examine how DNA
damage occurs during life - a completely unanticipated, and somewhat ironic
result," he said. "Potentially this allows us to get uniquely separate
views of the two major evolutionary processes, mutation and selection."

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