Messiah is the name of yet another British techno band, this one founded in 1988 and consisting of Ali Ghani and Mark Davies. Focussing on heavily sample oriented house music, Messiah is best known for their track Temple of Dreams.

Messiah has released two albums. The first, 21st Century Jesus, was first available in 1994. Messiah Meets Progenitor was released in 1998.

Heb. mashiah, "anointed with oil"

Someone anointed and so marked as a holy person. In the Hebrew Bible, the term messiah is most commonly applied to priests, or kings. There are no references to an eschatological figure called the Messiah in the Hebrew Bible. In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, mashiah is replaced by the secular Greek term christos ("oiled"), leading to the English "Christ." The term later becomes associated with the coming king and savior in some postbiblical Jewish texts and throughout Christian literature. More recently, the term messiah has been extended to refer to saviors outside the Jewish or Christian traditions, although this modern usage is frequently softened by using an adjectival form, e.g., "messianic figure."

The Messiah and Judiasm

In Judaism, the Messiah is the eschatological redeemer of the Jewish people and, secondarily, of all humanity. The coming of the Messiah means an end to the exile and a time when all the Jews will be gathered to the Promised Land. The coming of the Messiah will mean the end to this world and the beginning of the final age.

The original concept of the Messiah in Ancient Judaism did not always have such a eschatological and redemptive sense. The first doctrine of the Messiah in Jewish thought emerges during the period of Roman rule over Palestine. In the Hebrew Bible, the "Lord's anointed" is never an eschatological figure and "Messiah" usually refers to an anointed king of the descendants of David. The prophets promise a restoration of the Davidic monarchy, but they do not see this in a deep metahistorical or miraculous sense, but simply by a literal change in government.

During the Second Temple period, political hopes for a return to Davidic rule grew into a more complex belief in a redemptive figure. Jewish apocalyptists and the Qumran sect exhibited strong messianic tendencies, with a mixture of political and more miraculous themes. Jesus of Nazareth became a redemptive figure for some Jews, both in the land of Israel and the diaspora. The razing of the Second Temple in 70 increased messianic fevor, as did the failed Bar Kokhba rebellion against Rome in 135. After exile and banishment from the land of Israel became a hard historical reality hopes for a miraculous return to Davidic monarchy were raised to heightened levels and start to take on deeper meanings.

Rabbinic Judaism has many different teachings on the Messiah and the signs of the messianic age. In the Mishnah, there is little focus on the Messiah as redeemer. The Talmuds, talks more of the "days of the Messiah" and the epoch of the "birth pangs of the Messiah" than of an individual Messiah. They discribe the messianic age as being marked by an end of exile, an ingathering of the dispersed Jewish people to the land of Israel, and political independence under a Davidic descendant. Depending on the tradition, the messianic age will be brought about either through a gradual improvement of the human condition or through a cataclysm. There is also, in one tradition, two kinds of messianic figures: the Messiah son of Joseph (or Ephraim), who is the harbinger of the messianic age and is fated to die, and the Messiah son of David, the redeeming Messiah (see the Babylonian Talmud Sukka 52a).

When Christianity, with its competing messianic claims arouse the specifics of the Messiah were further elaborated to separate Jewish beliefs from Christian beliefs connected to Jesus. This led to a rabbinic doctrine on the Messiah which emphasized the catastrophic eschatolgical aspects of messianic beliefs. Jewish mystics also stressed a spiritual dimension to the Messiah, who in addition to restoring political power would end spiritual exile from God.

Most modern liberal Jewish religious movements (Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist) downplay the role of messianism, or express it in terms of moral and spiritual salvation. World events like the Nazi genocide in Europe and the creation of the State of Israel have prompted a reevaluation of the role of messianism in contemporary Judaism. Some Jews see Israel as the "beginning of the flowering of our redemption." while Ultra-Orthodox Jews tend to regard the establishment of a modern nation-state negatively as "forcing God's hand".

Christianity and The Messiah

"Christ", the Greek translation of Messiah, is the common title for Jesus among Christians. Christ is often treated like a surname, it really is more of a title, Jesus the King, bearing the sense of his being the eschatological savior who will rule the new world order, and expressing the belief that he is the fullfillment of the biblical prophets' promises.

Source: The HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion.

Arabic. Maseeh, from the 3 letter root verb Ma'Sa'Ha.

In the koran the term Maseeh is used to acknowledge Jesus (Jesus) as the Maseeh. The meaning of Ma'Sa'Ha in the arab school of thought is wipe. Acknowledging Jesus's ability to wipe his hand over people and healing them. See bible on Jesus's ability for raising dead, healing the blind, healing leprosy. etc.. Arab christians hold the same belief to the meaning of Isa's title.

'Messiah' is the title of what is probably the world's most famous oratorio, often performed in whole or part around Christmas and Easter. The work was written by George Frideric Handel between August 22 and September 15 1741. The text, by Charles Jennens, draws on the Authorized Version or King James Bible, and tells the story of the incarnation of Christ. The texts are, almost without exception, not from the Gospels, and in places the text has been skilfully adapted to enhance its appropriateness to the theme.

Writing the work was itself a religious experience for Handel, who said later that he had seen visions during the intense period of composition. For this achievement, Handel is said to be one of the most rapid composers ever - although Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Georg Philipp Telemann were both more consistently productive. Messiah was first performed at the New Music Hall in Fish-amble Street, Dublin, on April 13, 1742, at a charity performance. Charitable work remained important to the piece - it was initially unpopular in London, but caught on when performed in aid of Captain Thomas Coram's Foundling Hospital. Mozart produced an arrangement called Der Messias, which may be the origin of people incorrectly calling the present work 'The Messiah'.

The work is in three parts, describing the Nativity; the Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension; and the promise of the General Resurrection at the Last Day.

The work is rich in choruses, but also features many impressive solo arias and duets. The details of the individual numbers are here drawn from Ebenezer Prout's edition, published by Novello. The data in this write-up has been adapted from the English and German accounts in the CD by Naxos.

PART I

1. Overture or Sinfony
2. Comfort ye My people
3. Ev'ry valley
4. And the glory of the Lord
5. Thus saith the Lord
6. But who may abide?
7. And he shall purify
8. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
9. O thou that tellest good tidings
10. For behold, darkness
11. The people that walked in darkness
12. For unto us a child is born
13. Pastoral Symphony or Pifa
14. There were shepherds/And lo! the angel of the Lord
15. And the angel said unto them
16. And suddenly
17. Glory to God
18. Rejoice greatly
19. Then shall the eyes of the blind
20. He shall feed His flock
21. His yoke is easy

PART II

22. Behold the Lamb of God
23. He was despised
24. Surely He hath borne our griefs
25. And with His stripes
26. All we like sheep
27. All they that see him
28. He trusted in God
29. Thy rebuke hath broken His heart
30. Behold, and see
31. He was cut off
32. But Thou did'st not leave
33. Lift up your heads
34. Unto which of the angels
35. Let all the angels of God
36. Thou art gone up on high
37. The Lord gave the word
38. How beautiful are the feet
39. Their sound is gone out
40. Why do the nations?
41. Let us break their bonds
42. He that dwelleth in Heaven
43. Thou shalt break them
44. Hallelujah!

PART III

45. I know that my Redeemer liveth
46. Since by man came death
47. Behold, I tell you a mystery
48. The trumpet shall sound
49. Then shall be brought to pass
50. O death, where is thy sting
51. But thanks be to God
52. If God be for us
53. Worthy is the Lamb/Amen

(disclaimer, I am Jewish)

The Messiah, in Hebrew "Moshiach", literally translates to "savior". In the books of the Prophets in the Tanach (Old Testament), it was prophecized that the Messiah would come and redeem the Jewish people.

The Messiah was supposed to ride into Jerusalem on a white donkey, and also, seven years before the Messiah was born, there was supposed to be a red heifer born. The red heifer was a kind of cow, a red one, used in the purification rites in the Temple.

The times of the Moshiach, known also as "Ha-Olam Ha-Ba" (the World to Come), would be times of peace, love, and harmony. Also, according to the prophecies, all the dead people will rise and come back to life.

The key distinction between Judaism and Christianity -- besides all the other religious issues; and this is also what originally made early Christians break away from the Jews -- is that Christians believe that the Messiah has already come, in the form of Jesus, while Jews still wait for the Messiah.

The Jews claim that Jesus is not the Messiah, and never was. Some of the evidence for this idea comes from the fact that when the Messiah comes, the world is supposed to be at peace. Look around, is there peace?

However, Christians claim that Jesus will come back in a "second coming."

Some Jews, notably some Reform and Reconstructionist Jews, do not believe in the Messiah.

Title: Messiah
Developer: Shiny Entertainment
Publisher: Interplay
Date Published: March 2000
Platforms: PC CD-ROM, Dreamcast (aborted)

Developed by Shiny Entertainment, Messiah was published on PC CD-ROM by Interplay in March 2000. It was re-issued in 2003 as part of a budget software range by Sold Out Software, with manual and documentation included in Adobe Acrobat format. While the game was announced as a Dreamcast port in 2000, that platform's swift conversion to belly up status precluded actual release.

A third-person actioner, the game's protagonist is a small cherub, Bob. Generally reviled in Heaven for reasons unclear, Bob is sent to "rub out those screw ups down on Earth" by the big man Himself. Science has progressed to the point where a corporate facility on the dark side of the moon has begun making inroads into celestial and demonic domains. Reasoning that since God is omnipotent, Satan would make a much more reasonable business partner, research has concentrated on contacting the Horned One himself. The Powers That Be decide this must be stopped.

Falling from the clouds, Bob finds himself in a military/commercial district of a future city dystopia. As Bob resembles an infant, troublingly bulging nappy and all, he seems ill-equipped to deal with the array of cops, sewer denizens and heavily armed subculture persons he encounters. However, the twist is that he can possess and control any non-player character at will. This is accomplished by fluttering with his small angel wings into their backs and hence into their souls. This character is then completely under his control. When the body he is in is killed, Bob leaves it with a small somersault to toddle about on his own. Vulnerable as he is in his natural state, Bob heals himself from the energy of the possessee's body.

This is an intriguing gameplay mechanic, and provides much amusement - one memorable sequence features a garbage compactor as an obstacle. To get past it, Bob must stuff it full of unfortunate scientists, depossessing them as they fall into the crushing teeth.

This, unfortunately, is as good as the game gets. The rest is a drearily linear puzzle/shooter draped on the one key concept. The challenge is usually that, instead of the more traditional swipecards or keys, certain character types are required to open certain doors. It must be said that even this tired formula isn't entirely without some innovation, as Bob is occasionally compelled to possess sewer rats to squeeze under laser grids or through ducting.

While the idea of possessing and depossessing through different flavours of future dwellers is essentially a pretty good one, it seems like a single brainwave searching for a decent game. Visually, the game is uninspired - think of any and every Blade Runner-esque neon pageant you've ever seen. Game characters are similarly derivative of sub-cyberpunk "dirty" SF. The controls are lumpen and the camera frequently confusing. This, combined with the game's sheer plodding linearity, means that Messiah is initially quite fun but ultimately very unsatisfying.



Minimum system requirements:

Pentium 233 MHz
4x CD-ROM
64Mb RAM
8Mb 3D card, DirectX 7 compatible
DirectX 7 compatible sound card
600Mb hard disc space

Mes*si"ah (?), n. [Heb. mashiakh anointed, fr. mashakh to anoint. Cf. Messias.]

The expected king and deliverer of the Hebrews; the Savior; Christ.

And told them the Messiah now was born. Milton.

 

© Webster 1913.

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