Corpus-Paul

["Tim Gallant" <tim AT rabbisaul.com>]

> Hi, George. I go into more detail on the connection in the first post
> that I sent to the list this morning. But I'll pull out part of that
> discussion to answer your question:
>
> There is a closer relationship between the Aramaic 'meshia' and the
> Aryan Maitreya. And this is where there is overlap between Isaiah's
> 'anointed' and the Zoroastrian Maitreya. Maitreya means 'friendly,
> loving' and is derived from maitri which is the Sanskrit form of
> Mithras.
>
> Semantics is all about 'pointing to' as a means of communicating
> concepts. Maitreya points to the same concept as Mashiach: An
> anointed manifestation of Atman or the life principle.
>
> Hope this helps..

Sorry, John, no, this does not help at all. Meshiach and Maitreya are not 
cognate words. They both begin with "m," but so do lots of other words. And 
your suggestion about "semantics" simply presupposes, rather than 
demonstrates, the connection between the concepts. All we need to in 
response is deny your presupposition and say: "No, Mashiach does not mean 
'an anointed manifestation of Atman or the life principle.'"

As I suggested in my previous post, go back to the Hebrew Scriptures. 
"Anointed one" refers to a person ordained to an office, particularly the 
kingship, but also priests and occasionally prophets. It can even have 
reference to ordaining a foreigner, in the case of God telling Elijah to 
anoint Hazael as king of Syria. I assure you, neither Yahweh nor Elijah had 
any illusions about Hazael embodying or manifesting any sort of "life 
principle"! In short, in the Hebrew concept of anointing generally, or 
Meshiach specifically, there is no. . . er, eastern mumbo-jumbo about "life 
principle" or "Atman."

tim


Tim Gallant
Pastor, Conrad Christian Reformed Church

http://www.timgallant.org
tim | gallant site group