That's it! Thanks Kangan, I can picture in my mind's eye this statue of the goddess Cybele.

The three faiths competing for ascendancy in the first through the fourth centuries were Mithraism, Christianity, and the faith centered on Cybele. Christianity eventually triumphed, and the Vatican is built on top of the largest temple to Cybele in Rome.

Even if it does refer to literal castration, Christ finishes this statement with "

JesusA (imported) wrote: Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:26 am He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.

"

So what we have is not Christ saying "Everyone must go out and get castrated," but rather "He is who

JesusA (imported) wrote: Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:26 am able to accept this, let him accept it.

"

Christ knew that very few men would be willing to give up their masculinity, their marriage, and their lives in general for the kingdom's sake. So whether he means castration, marriage, or both when he says what he does, he also says "

JesusA (imported) wrote: Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:26 am He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.

"

That means if you can accept it, that's great. If you can't, that is perfectly OK, too.

plix (imported) wrote: Sun Feb 03, 2008 11:00 am So what we have is not Christ saying "Everyone must go out and get castrated," but rather "He is who

JesusA (imported) wrote: Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:26 am able to accept this, let him accept it.

"

While the words attributed to Jesus by Matthew certainly don’t require that true Christians be castrated, they can certainly be read as encouraging the practice.

Over the past two thousand years, tens of thousands have been castrated in Jesus' name. I've seen estimates that the Skoptzi, alone, castrated over 150,000.

I have to agree with Jesus. It was not meant for everybody, but for those that do, it was highly honored by even the words of Issiah who was and OLD testament prophet. The statement is timeless, but only for the elect called to do so. Most who have castrated themselves have regret only because they like sex so much or the need to procreate is so strong that it is not doable in their life. IT IS A REAL SACRIFICE, no joke!

(whether you know it or not, "be fruitful and multiply" was a curse and not a blessing.)