Name this Religious Figure

1.Signs and wonders accompanied his presence in ancient Israel
2.These signs signaled his intimacy with God.
3.He called God "Abba" (not Father, more intimate)

The answer: Honi the Circle Drawer of course. A Jewish charismatic recorded in the Tannaim. A short and touching story involving Honi here.

Honi was also a shaman.

He is called a Circle Drawer because he drew circles on the ground stood inside them and (get this) prayed for rain!!! Would have fit in with many a Native American tribe. The circle was also used in Celtic prayer form. A reference to the four directions and the life-death-life-death circle of all existence.

Jesus was a Charismatic wonder-worker. At least he is depicted as such in the Gospels. But people have forgotten this was a whole category of ancient medicine man. Jesus was not the first not the last. Signs and wonders takes the conversation back into its original construct and gets away from these useless pro/con debates in the modern world over "miracles" and the "laws of nature."