POPE BENEDICT XVI mentioned in 1994 novel

Can you tell us how the book ends?

I´m only on page 20... started reading it last night. But let me tell you: I was STUNNED when I saw Benedict´s name right there as the follower of JPII... in a book 11 YEARS OLD!! That´s why I called the diocese office this morning to confirm how that papal names originate. I´ll begin to plow through the remaining 316 pages and will keep you informed along the way via this thread.

The book itself was released by Thomas Nelson Publishers of Nashville. The ISBN # is:
0-8407-7721-3 [for hard-cover] and #0-8407-3424-7 [paperback] the categories are:
1. Christian antiquities-Collection and preservation-Fiction.
2. Excavations (Archaeology)-Israel-Fiction.

The author [PAUL L. MAIER] has written 8 non-fiction religion-based books as well as two other fictional pieces ["Pontius Pilate" and "The Flames Of Rome"].

I am seriously intrested. Added this thread to my favourites!

The proof, if this long assed google link works...

[link to print.google.com]

QR

The coincidence drops when we consider that there is a trend toward popes selecting fewer and fewer names for their papal office.

[link to www.popechart.com] gives the full list of popes to date, please to note that the closer we come to our current age that there are numerous repeat names which are numbered to remove confusion.

The "Pope Prophecies" of St. Malachi lists all of the popes who were and are to come, there was a strong theory that the pope Second to the Last (Our current Pope) would be of the Benedict Order - this was teased out of the clues and lead to many believing that this could also be reflected in the name of the pope as Benedict.

The last few popes:

258) Benedict XV (1914-1922)
259) Pius XI (1922-1939)
260) Pius XII (1939-1958)
261) Bl. John XXIII (1959-1963)
262) Paul VI (1963-1978)
263) John Paul I (1978)
264) John Paul II (1978- 2005)
265) Benedict XVI (2005- )

Demonstrates how using the same name has become extremely popular for the papal throne in the 20th century.

Any writer may be compelled to follow the simple logic flowing from this trend and select one of the most popular names for the next pope.

Please note the number of times a particular name has been used:

Bl. John XXIII (1959-1963) (23rd)
Gregory XVI (1831-1846)(16th)
Benedict XVI (2005- ) (16th)
Clement XIV (1769-1774)(14th)
Leo XIII (1878-1903) (13th)
Pius XII (1939-1958) (12th)

Statistically the author of your book had a high chance of selecting a name that would be picked by a pope. Following that simple formula above he had 3 high choices Bl. John, Gregory and Benedict. We can tease out of these a good reason why Benedict was selected. John would have immediately been dropped to remove confusion from the story talking about “Pope John” since Pope John Paul II was on the papal throne at the time of writing. Gregory is a good choice but may have been passed over due to the well known works of past Gregory Popes (i.e. the Gregorian Calendar). Leaving us with Benedict.

Without knowing the content of the book and the significance of the story line I can only assume that Benedict as a name was selected due to some hidden meaning – perhaps a connection with Benedict Arnold (USA history, Traitor)? Since the story appears to be dealing with intrigue it may be that the author decided to use a name that related with a “known traitor” and the Pope in his book may be a traitor of some sort?

Athrael

That last post was mine, I do not know why this site made me an A/C

Athrael

Wonder whether the name he chose has anything to do with the fact that the gematraic number value of Benediktos, the Greek form of Benedict, is 666?
Here´s the proof:
a (alpha ~ a) = 1
b (beta ~ b) = 2
g (gamma ~ g) = 3
d (delta ~ d) = 4
e (epsilon ~ e) = 5
V (stau ~ st/v) = 6*
z (zeta ~ z) = 7
h (eta ~ e) = 8
q (theta ~ th) = 9
i (iota ~ i/j) = 10
k (kappa ~ k) = 20
l (lambda ~ l) = 30
m (mu ~ m) = 40
n (nu ~ n) = 50
x (xi ~ ks) = 60
o (omicron ~ o) = 70
p (pi ~ p) = 80
J (dikappa ~ q) = 90*
r (rho ~ r) = 100
s (sigma ~ s) = 200
t (tau ~ t) = 300
u (upsilon ~ u) = 400
j (phi ~ f) = 500
c (chi ~ ch) = 600
y (psi ~ ps) = 700
w (omega ~ o) = 800
´ (digamma) = 900*
(* = obsolete letters. Ordinary Greek had only 24 letters.)

Benediktos = 2+5+50+5+4+10+20+300+70+200 = 666.

No.

That same calculus can be used to make others (notably Jesus Christ) render the name 666 summation.

Although John of Patmos wrote in Greek he referred to the Hebrew numerology. Thus any numerological application should be done with the Hebrew variant of names using the Hebrew Alphabet.

Athrael

How do you know he referred to the Hebrew alphabet? You don´t. Your assertion is mere speculation. Most scholars agree that, as John was a Greek, he wrote Revelation in Greek and would have been more familiar with using the Greek alphabet for the purpose of gematria. So I reject your alternative as wrong.

As I said in the OP the book´s description of "Pope Benedict XVI" was also similar: a slightly rotund body on a man 5´10" tall.
Anybody know the height of the real Pontiff?
Seems taller than 5´10"~~~
and commonality of names aside, I still find it oddly coincidental. Of course, the author is reputed to do ALOT of research for his books [according to the reviews I Googled at the suggestion of a previoous poster].
I´m still looking forward to returning to the pages when I hit the sack tonight [I generally read while in bed- hopefully, this one won´t keep me up all night!!!].

Yes he was Greek directing his letter to a mostly Hebrew Christian base. Remember at the time of his writing Christianity was still mostly a Sect of Hebron - not a world wide phenomena.

When we are directing concepts to a people, we tend to use those ideas that are most familiar to the individuals we are addressing.

John of Patmos was also keenly aware of the Old Sacred Texts, such as those written by Daniel, in keeping with those writings his clues toward who is the Beast would reflect the same knowledge and understandings as the rest of the sacred writings (by that time of writing there were 500-550 sacred texts).

Peace

Athrael

As promised [here´s to you: #12941] here is an update on what happens in the book, A SKELETON IN GOD´S CLOSET.
Chapters 1-3 offer b/g on the characters and lays groundwork for later storyline involving Pope Benedict XVI... involving text missing from early version of holy scriptures regarding Jesus´ resurrection after crucifixion.
Chapters 4-7 takes us to the excavation site in Rama, Israel, where our hero [Dr. Jonathan Weber] accidently discovers the unopened tomb of Joseph of Arimathea complete with a well-preserved body. A small skirmish with Hasidic loyalists protesting the ´desecration´ suggests they may return to the story later on.
Chapter 7 the story kicks in high gear: multiple artifacts are discovered [and illustrated] then: paydirt! Dr. Jon finds the ´titular´ - the plaque nailed to the top of the cross above Jesus´ head at crucifixion.
Made of Olive wood and with an ancient [carbon-14 dated] parchment written in three languages:
Roman, Greek and Aramaic, it is soon authenticated. You´ve already been reminded in the story that Joseph of Arimathea was the rich
man who offered his own tomb for Jesus´ body.
Chapters 8-12 continue new love affair between Dr. Jon and knockout coworker Andrea, and more scientific testing looking for signs of a hoax and much more digging. The tomb is fully excavated and Dr. Jon is about to leave when his trowel again hits a motherlode. It´s a small pinkish bottle that contains a coiled parchment scroll. MANY pages later, after MUCH
careful translation [and hand-wringing] by Dr. Jon we finally get to the heart of the story:
The parchment is written by Joseph of A. himself and says that he personally arranged for the theft of Jesus´ body from his tomb and that Jesus was in fact buried HERE- in the sarcophogus just unearthed by Dr. Jon and team. The parchment also contains a note written by Nicodemus which explains how the bottle came to be buried in the first place.
All artifacts have proven genuine through exhaustive analysis so far. Now, on to the skeleton itself...

Thanks for all that (typing)work!!!

The story lurches on~~~

Dr. Jon and company continue to seek absolute confirmation of authenticity of their artifacts from well-known scholars even to a monastery at the base of fabled Mount Sinai... OOPS! A trusted [but deranged] theologian further labels their finds to be geniune... then luring them to the mountain´s summit shoves them over the cliff... they survive [barely] and pursue their quest.
Then, POW! A sneaky reporter sees pics of the papyrii and blows their cover, forcing an immediate news conference. The wildfire soon spreads globally with Christians moaning the loss of their salvation and Islamists claiming that THEIR faith is the only true one, since they NEVER believed in a resurrection... the
remaining Russian Marxists do the same...[SERIOUS POLITICAL UNDERTONES HERE] to the point that while enroute to the Smithsonian for a final round of confirmations Dr. Jon is waylaid by the POTUS himself... who begs Dr. Jon to simply burn the artifacts and save the souls of all those believers in the world...[GEEZ! Even the President sounds familiar, doesn´t he???] as if THAT would make a difference in their afterlife! Dr. Jon nearly caves, but says, ´NO´ and heads to Arizona [where the most sophisticated testing equipment is held].
STILL no extensive examination of the skeleton!!
That´s where I´d be sure to focus. But, not to worry: a friend who has already read the book assures me that HIGH HOLY HELL breaks loose pretty soon when the Vatican and Pope Benedict XVI get their sticky fingers involved in all the intrigue!!!

15209 IDOLHAROBED: SORRY[!] if this intriguing novel bores you, but this post wasn´t meant for those who can´t focus on a storyline more complicated than a comicbook. Actually, I´ve condensed this text considerably just for the easy comprehension of those such as yourself [and no, the volume isn´t really THAT difficult to understand... this is just a little dig right back at you for your dismissive emoticon].

I´m still waiting for someone to explain [beyond the goofiness of numerology and coincidental sequencing] exactly HOW the current Pontiff´s name/description gets published in a book 11 years old... that was the thrust of my OP.

This short serialization is posted primarily for those too buzy [or lazy] to bother with even a minor volume of 300 pages. For the rest of you: well, maybe CBS will have Randy Quaid play Dr. Jon in a TV-movie that you can all universally trash with studied abandon.

"...[and even the man´s description is vaguely similar to the current pontiff]."

White and fat?

Please, please, please, whey you have to post a huge, long URL, can you go to www.dont_use_this.com and have it reduced. It´s such a pain having to scroll backwards and forwards to read a post. Thank you.

Oh, well, I didn´t realise that had been banned. My apologies.

REX:
Actually, the papal description goes beyond my few earlier words; as I´ve indicated I´m slashing the author´s writing drastically to condense here... I really feel a little guilty: the guy obviously does his research very carefully. If I had to compare his work to say, Dan Brown [Angels & Demons, DaVinci Code]
I´d say he´s a little less James Bond-ish and just a hair more believeable in overall presentation. But, HEY! I´m only up to page 187!! Could still turn out to be a "Movie-Of-the-Week!"

Now that is interesting.

I had been saying the Vatican will release information before the Spring. Other news on the health of the current pope has been surpressed actually.

But you will see the vatican continue to leak out small "truths" that we never knew about until May next year. Then by June we may get some juicy information about Jesus.

By the way - this seems similar to the move called "The Body" with Antonio Banderas.

Good movie for the thought provoking parts of it, but crappy movie for the rest.

7875:

Thanks for the heads-up regarding "The Body" film; it does sound very similar to the book in this thread.
If I can´t find it locally, I´ve already found where to order a dvd online.
Thanks, again!

The Shroud of Turin is the actual burial cloth of Jesus. The negative image on it is the result of the resurrection, so no there is no skeleton of "Christ" that awaits discovery to rock Christianity to it´s very foundation and kickstart an endless supply of cheesy fiction and TV Movies and bring newspaper subcriptions back up.

666: Although I don´t put much scientific basis behind numerology I find your use of ´666´ in your user name as ironic considering the tone of your post.

I do however place ALOT of weight behind Carbon-14 dating; you may recall that the Shroud of Turin was tested thusly several years ago and proved that the linen actually dated from the Middle Ages. Microsopic plant matter was also found that was from a much earlier period. No definitive explanation was given for the image on the cloth itself. When faced with this evidence, the scientists requested additional threads [NOT huge swatches] of the linen to solidify their findings. The Holy See refused.
Fearing what, I ask? In the end, the Vatican issued a formal statement that suggested that even IF the Shroud wasn´t what they´d always claimed... it should still be revered [ie: worshipped] as a significant religious icon that continued to bring lost souls to their Creator.

Two personal problems with this:
1. Only the Creator should ever be worshipped; nothing man-made qualifies, including woven cloth with mysterious markings. The act of
reverence is reserved solely for ultimate tribute and no icon comes even close... real or fake.
2. In recent headlines the Vatican has once again hedged their bets when they began using
the words ´Intelligent Intervention´ when discussing the Evolution/Creationism controversy. They still maintain that God created all... they´re just not screaming it so loudly anymore. Like maybe, they KNOW the hidden truths [as the Holy Roman Church has claimed for centuries]... but they´re just too HORRIBLE for us to know [remember: FATIMA??]-
Like perhaps: we WERE seeded by EBE´s and regularly re-engineered throughout history as some type of cosmic lab-project?
Sorry[!] - when the church starts to change
long-standing terminology in an attempt to bridge scientific gaps and foster even greater leaps of faith~~~ well it´s time to take notice.

Now: since this has been radically off-topic
of my OP perhaps we can just get back to enjoying some good fiction?
Of course: I´m still waiting for the explanation of how Pope Benedict XVI turns up in this book at all!