NicholasFlamel
New Member
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]In his adult life, Nicholas Flamel worked as a bookseller in Paris in the 1300s. It was a humble trade, but one that provided him with the relatively rare abilities to read and write. He worked from a small stall near the Cathedral of Saint-Jacques la Boucherie where, with his assistants, he copied and "illuminated" (illustrated) books.[/FONT]
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[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]One night, Flamel had a strange and vivid dream in which an "angel" appeared to him. The radiant, winged creature presented to Flamel a beautiful book with pages that seemed to be of fine bark and a cover of worked copper. Flamel later wrote down what the "angel" spoke to him: "Look well at this book, Nicholas. At first you will understand nothing in it - neither you nor any other man. But one day you will see in it that which no other man will be able to see."[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]Just as Flamel was about to take the book from the angel's hands, he awoke from his dream. Soon after, however, the dream was to weave its way into reality. One day when Flamel was working alone in his shop, a stranger approached him who was desperate to sell an old book for some much-needed money. Flamel immediately recognized the strange, copper-bound book as the one offered by the "angel" in his dream. He eagerly bought it for the sum of two florins.[/FONT]
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[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]The copper cover was engraved with peculiar diagrams and words, only some of which Flamel recognized as Greek. The pages were like none he had ever encountered in his trade. Instead of parchment, they seemed to be made from the bark of sapling trees. Flamel was able to discern from the first pages of the book that it was written by someone who called himself Abraham the Jew - "a prince, priest, Levite, astrologer and philosopher."[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]The strong memory of his dream and his own intuition convinced Flamel that this was no ordinary book - that it contained arcane knowledge that he feared he might not be qualified to read and understand. It could contain, he felt, the very secrets of nature and life.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]Flamel's trade had brought him familiarity with the writings of the alchemists of his day, and he knew something of transmutation (the changing of one thing into another, such as lead into gold) and knew well the many symbols that alchemists used. But the symbols and writing in this book were beyond Flamel's understanding, although he strove to solve its mysteries for over 21 years.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]Because the book had been written by a Jew and much of its text was in ancient Hebrew, he reasoned that a scholarly Jew might be able to help him translate the book. Unfortunately, religious persecution had recently driven all of the Jews out of France. After copying only a few pages of the book, Flamel packed them and embarked on a pilgrimage to Spain, where many of the exiled Jews had settled.[/FONT]
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[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]The journey was unsuccessful, however. Many of the Jews, understandably suspicious of Christians at this time, were reluctant to help Flamel, so he began his journey home. Flamel had all but given up his quest when he chanced upon an introduction to a very old, learned Jew by the name of Maestro Canches who lived in Leon. Canches, too, was not eager to help Flamel until he mentioned Abraham the Jew. Canches had certainly heard of this great sage who was wise in the teachings of the mysterious .[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]Canches was able to translate the few pages that Flamel brought with him and wanted to return to Paris with him to examine the rest of the book. But Jews were still not allowed in Paris and Canches' extreme old age would have made the journey difficult anyway. As fate would have it, Canches died before he could help Flamel any further.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]Part of the legend that surrounds the true story of Nicholas Flamel is that he succeeded in the transmutation of metals and in achieving immortality.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]The historical records say that Flamel died at the ripe old age of 88 - a very great age at that time. But there is a curious footnote to this story that causes one to wonder.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]After Flamel's official death, his house was ransacked again and again by those seeking the philosopher's stone and the miraculous "projection powder." It was never found. Missing too was the book of Abraham the Jew. During the reign of Louis XIII in the first half of the 17th century, however, a descendent of Flamel by the name of Dubois might have inherited the book and some of the projection powder. With the king himself as a witness, Dubois allegedly used the powder to turn balls of lead into gold. This startling feat attracted the attention of the powerful Cardinal Richelieu who demanded to know how the powder worked. But Dubois only possessed what remained of his ancestor's powder and was unable to read the book of Abraham the Jew. He therefore could not reveal Flamel's secrets.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]It is said that Richelieu took the book of Abraham the Jew and built a laboratory to exploit its secrets. The attempt was unsuccessful, however, and all traces of the book, save perhaps for a few of its illustrations, have since disappeared.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]Later in that century, King Louis XIV dispatched an archeologist named Paul Lucas on a scientific fact-finding mission in the East. While in Broussa, Turkey, Lucas met an old philosopher who told him that there were wise men in the world who possessed knowledge of the philosopher's stone, who kept that knowledge to themselves, and who lived many hundreds, even thousands of years. Nicholas Flamel, he told Lucas, is one of those men. The old man even told Lucas of the book of Abraham the Jew and how it came into Flamel's possession. Most amazingly, he told Lucas that Flamel and his wife were still alive! Their funerals were faked, he said, and both of them migrated to India, where they still lived.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]Is it possible that Flamel really did stumble upon the secret of the philosopher's stone and achieved immortality? Does the ancient knowledge of transmutation and the Elixir of Life really exist?[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica](Taken from Paranormal.About (dot) com, in the effort to not mistaken anything.)[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]My question is, based on this, if Flamel did create an Elixir of Life based on some form of alchemy- then:[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]1. Was it really from God?
[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]2. How do Christians reply to this, if it was from God, since Christians I know say that anything created with "the intent of 'playing God'" is sinful?[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]3. If it really worked that Flamel achieved immortality, and did it using Alchemy, then is it that the "Philosopher's Stone" and the "fruit from the Tree of Life" are one and the same?[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]4. If the above is true, then were we doomed to finite life because we were shown how to perform Alchemy by God in ancient times, but were too foolish to realize it's importance and usefulness? Or were the costs of Equivalent Exchange too much?[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]5. If it wasn't from God, then who showed us Alchemy?
[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]
[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]One night, Flamel had a strange and vivid dream in which an "angel" appeared to him. The radiant, winged creature presented to Flamel a beautiful book with pages that seemed to be of fine bark and a cover of worked copper. Flamel later wrote down what the "angel" spoke to him: "Look well at this book, Nicholas. At first you will understand nothing in it - neither you nor any other man. But one day you will see in it that which no other man will be able to see."[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]Just as Flamel was about to take the book from the angel's hands, he awoke from his dream. Soon after, however, the dream was to weave its way into reality. One day when Flamel was working alone in his shop, a stranger approached him who was desperate to sell an old book for some much-needed money. Flamel immediately recognized the strange, copper-bound book as the one offered by the "angel" in his dream. He eagerly bought it for the sum of two florins.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]
[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]The copper cover was engraved with peculiar diagrams and words, only some of which Flamel recognized as Greek. The pages were like none he had ever encountered in his trade. Instead of parchment, they seemed to be made from the bark of sapling trees. Flamel was able to discern from the first pages of the book that it was written by someone who called himself Abraham the Jew - "a prince, priest, Levite, astrologer and philosopher."[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]The strong memory of his dream and his own intuition convinced Flamel that this was no ordinary book - that it contained arcane knowledge that he feared he might not be qualified to read and understand. It could contain, he felt, the very secrets of nature and life.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]Flamel's trade had brought him familiarity with the writings of the alchemists of his day, and he knew something of transmutation (the changing of one thing into another, such as lead into gold) and knew well the many symbols that alchemists used. But the symbols and writing in this book were beyond Flamel's understanding, although he strove to solve its mysteries for over 21 years.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]Because the book had been written by a Jew and much of its text was in ancient Hebrew, he reasoned that a scholarly Jew might be able to help him translate the book. Unfortunately, religious persecution had recently driven all of the Jews out of France. After copying only a few pages of the book, Flamel packed them and embarked on a pilgrimage to Spain, where many of the exiled Jews had settled.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]
[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]The journey was unsuccessful, however. Many of the Jews, understandably suspicious of Christians at this time, were reluctant to help Flamel, so he began his journey home. Flamel had all but given up his quest when he chanced upon an introduction to a very old, learned Jew by the name of Maestro Canches who lived in Leon. Canches, too, was not eager to help Flamel until he mentioned Abraham the Jew. Canches had certainly heard of this great sage who was wise in the teachings of the mysterious .[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]Canches was able to translate the few pages that Flamel brought with him and wanted to return to Paris with him to examine the rest of the book. But Jews were still not allowed in Paris and Canches' extreme old age would have made the journey difficult anyway. As fate would have it, Canches died before he could help Flamel any further.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]Part of the legend that surrounds the true story of Nicholas Flamel is that he succeeded in the transmutation of metals and in achieving immortality.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]The historical records say that Flamel died at the ripe old age of 88 - a very great age at that time. But there is a curious footnote to this story that causes one to wonder.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]After Flamel's official death, his house was ransacked again and again by those seeking the philosopher's stone and the miraculous "projection powder." It was never found. Missing too was the book of Abraham the Jew. During the reign of Louis XIII in the first half of the 17th century, however, a descendent of Flamel by the name of Dubois might have inherited the book and some of the projection powder. With the king himself as a witness, Dubois allegedly used the powder to turn balls of lead into gold. This startling feat attracted the attention of the powerful Cardinal Richelieu who demanded to know how the powder worked. But Dubois only possessed what remained of his ancestor's powder and was unable to read the book of Abraham the Jew. He therefore could not reveal Flamel's secrets.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]It is said that Richelieu took the book of Abraham the Jew and built a laboratory to exploit its secrets. The attempt was unsuccessful, however, and all traces of the book, save perhaps for a few of its illustrations, have since disappeared.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]Later in that century, King Louis XIV dispatched an archeologist named Paul Lucas on a scientific fact-finding mission in the East. While in Broussa, Turkey, Lucas met an old philosopher who told him that there were wise men in the world who possessed knowledge of the philosopher's stone, who kept that knowledge to themselves, and who lived many hundreds, even thousands of years. Nicholas Flamel, he told Lucas, is one of those men. The old man even told Lucas of the book of Abraham the Jew and how it came into Flamel's possession. Most amazingly, he told Lucas that Flamel and his wife were still alive! Their funerals were faked, he said, and both of them migrated to India, where they still lived.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]Is it possible that Flamel really did stumble upon the secret of the philosopher's stone and achieved immortality? Does the ancient knowledge of transmutation and the Elixir of Life really exist?[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica](Taken from Paranormal.About (dot) com, in the effort to not mistaken anything.)[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]My question is, based on this, if Flamel did create an Elixir of Life based on some form of alchemy- then:[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]1. Was it really from God?
[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]2. How do Christians reply to this, if it was from God, since Christians I know say that anything created with "the intent of 'playing God'" is sinful?[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]3. If it really worked that Flamel achieved immortality, and did it using Alchemy, then is it that the "Philosopher's Stone" and the "fruit from the Tree of Life" are one and the same?[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]4. If the above is true, then were we doomed to finite life because we were shown how to perform Alchemy by God in ancient times, but were too foolish to realize it's importance and usefulness? Or were the costs of Equivalent Exchange too much?[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]5. If it wasn't from God, then who showed us Alchemy?
[/FONT]
