Public Defender

Possible? Probable? Or Karma

R. R. Newton wrote the article titled - ‘The Strange Case of Claudius Ptolemy’. In the article, Newton presents enough evidence to refute much of the myth surrounding Ptolemy, in that the observations could not have been done by the man Claudius Ptolemy. The title refers to the ‘strange’ case. The case may be stranger even than Newton wrote.

Consider John 3:1-21. The passage begins - ‘Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus...’ Jesus and Nicodemus have a conversation concerning being born anew. Jesus says to Nicodemus that no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above. Nicodemus asks ‘how can a person once grown old be born again? Surely, he cannot re-enter his mother’s womb and be born again, can he?’ Jesus doesn’t say yes or no to this question, that particular answer appears obvious. But Jesus does answer Nicodemus with: ‘Amen, Amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit.’

I see nothing indicating that the man born as Claudius Ptolemy had not also been born from above with water and Spirit. He may have been one of those born many times of the spirit and been in the spirit for several generations of flesh. The ancients of the Bible purportedly had lifespans of several hundred years. Perhaps this is a possible answer to this conundrum. The Dharmic religions support the idea of reincarnation. Hinduism describes an individual soul that continues on from one life to the next life where deeds create karma. Buddhism teaches of a karmic energy that is reborn. Jainism and Sikhism have similar concepts of karmic energy concerning the soul.

Ptolemy perhaps was of a singular intensity spirit. He, or his spirit or soul, as it may exists today, would have to be present to account for this possibility. So, in defense of this possibility, and perhaps even my own self, I will speculate this train of thought as if his spirit does in fact exist. Ptolemy’s diligence and determination to solve the mysteries of the solar system, may have preceded, in spirit, the actual man Ptolemy; the one that produced the work the Almagest. His spark of perhaps a higher purpose, ‘born from above’ shall we say, may have indeed carried him through generations. He may have even known this. He may have been of singular identity for centuries. He may even have made the observations, or believed that he made the observations, in a previous life. Ptolemy may have been an old giant at his quest for generations. And perhaps he would not be dissuaded until his work was complete. Ptolemy’s Almagest was certainly a tremendous contribution that preserved the efforts of previous generations into a stable foundation for science and mathematics to build upon into the future.

Though, as I have stated, he may have stifled the more astute minds for centuries, it is probably fortunate that Ptolemy’s spirits work did indeed culminate in conclusion. It had to do this. There was no turning back. The work would be presented regardless of what was still left unexplained.

Consider now, Aristarchus. Perhaps Aristarchus was also one born from above in Spirit. Yet a spirit not in the same kernel of consciousness. Maybe his was a spirit born from above yet also born in the shadows of a giant such as Ptolemy. Perhaps theirs was even similar to a father son relationship. Aristarchus heliocentric vision of the solar system did, however, grow where the geocentric model diminished.

Now let us consider John the Baptist, where John represented the Old Testament covenant. And in John 3:30, the old covenant, must decrease, where He, Jesus, the new covenant must increase. Parallel, symbolic, both?

Now consider the efforts evident in the modern world. There is in evidence a master plan of sorts that is definitely hampering the minds and bodies of the populous of today especially the youth. To many, it does not look goodly, or godly. But these efforts are also promoting a growing consciousness concerning the condition of humanity. So much consciousness in so much opposition. Where is the elegance? From where are these spirits begotten?