Author: Mike Hockney File Type: pdf THIS IS A SERIES OF BOOKS outlining the religion, politics and philosophy of the ancient and controversial secret society known as the Illuminati, of which the Greek polymath Pythagoras was the first official Grand Master. The society exists to this day and the author is a senior member, working under a pseudonym.The Illuminatis religion is the most highly developed expression of Gnosticism and is called Illumination (alternatively, Illuminism). Dedicated to the pursuit of enlightenment, it has many parallels with the Eastern religions of Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism. It rejects the Abrahamic religions of faith Judaism, Christianity and Islam, considering these the work of the Demiurge an inferior, cruel and wicked deity who deludes himself that he is the True God, and who has inflicted endless horrors on humanity.If you wish to judge for yourself how deranged the Demiurge is, you need only read the Old Testament, the story of the Demiurges involvement with his Chosen People, the Hebrews. You may wonder why the God of All entered into an exclusive and partisan Covenant with a tribe in the Middle East several thousand years ago, why he promised them a land (Canaan) that belonged to others, and why he then actively participated with them in a genocidal war against the Canaanites. Even more bizarrely, according to Christian theology, he then despatched all of those Hebrews, whom he had supported so fanatically, to Limbo the edge of Hell when they died. They couldnt go to Heaven because they were indelibly marked by the Original Sin of Adam and Eve. Only the atonement provided by the agonising death of Gods son, Jesus Christ, could wipe the slate clean and allow the Hebrews to be released from Limbo. But there was a catch. Only those who accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour were eligible for Paradise.Of course, the Chosen People of God have almost entirely rejected Jesus Christ. Therefore, from the Christian perspective, nearly all of the Chosen People are now in hell proper. Dont you find Gods behaviour distinctly odd? Indeed, unbelievable? Dont alarm bells start ringing? Doesnt the behaviour of this God sound rather more like what would be expected of Satan?

Author: Adrian Hardiman File Type: epub Books about the work of James Joyce are an academic industry. Most of them are unreadable and esoteric. Adrian Hardimans book is both highly readable and strikingly original. He spent years researching Joyces obsession with the legal system, and the myriad references to notorious trials in Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. Joyce was fascinated by and felt passionately about miscarriages of justice, and his view of the law was coloured by the potential for grave injustice when policemen and judges are given too much power. Hardiman recreates the colourful, dangerous world of the Edwardian courtrooms of Dublin and London, where the death penalty loomed over many trials. He brings to life the eccentric barristers, corrupt police and omnipotent judges who made the law so entertaining and so horrifying. This is a remarkable evocation of a vanished world, though Joyces scepticism about the way evidence is used in criminal trials is still highly relevant. **Review The book reads like one of [Hardimans] elaborate court arguments and it is redolent with the knowledge for which he was renowned. It is a seemly memorial of his professional life in the courts as well as his parallel life as historian and literary scholar Irish Examiner. Hardimans detailed survey of [insurance law, libel, the tort of criminal conversation] undoubtedly renews and enriches our reading of Joyces work as a whole ... Its treatment of individual cases is fascinating Literary Review. Hardimans enthusiastic tracing and interpretation [...] does it a great service The Sunday Times. With forensic care, Hardiman takes us through the trials of Emmet and the invincibles. His advantage is that he knows the book as well as he knows the law, and so misses no chance to connect what happened legally with what enters the minds and conversations of the fictional characters ... [Hardiman] writes with clarity and with a lawyers eye as he describes what the authorities did to prevent the book being published Colm Toibin, Guardian. This tremendously well-researched and marvellously insightful book is a delight for lawyers and lovers of literature alike Irish Independent. Hardiman has approached the oeuvre with refreshing clarity ... he is a highly enlightened and consistently humane reader of Joyce Daily Telegraph. He has the gifts of clarity, expertise and a deep knowledge of what he is talking about ... This book is a worthy tribute to a person of many talents who fortunately chose to devote a lot of them to a body of work which was ideally suited for him Irish Times. Even to those who find Ulysses somewhat impenetrable and to those who never even attempt to read Finnegans Wake, Joyce in Court is a pleasure to read and a real treasury of Joycean history in context Dublin Sunday Business Post. About the Author Adrian Hardiman was a judge of the Irish Supreme Court and generally acknowledged as the most brilliant lawyer of his generation. He died suddenly in 2016. His funeral was a major national event in Ireland.