Was Jesus Really a Great Teacher?

How do we know what Jesus did and taught?

There are 5 small works of literature claiming to present the teachings and actions of Jesus. They are called "gospels": "good news" or "good message" (a translation of Greek euangelion, good message). These 5 gospels are the gospel of Mark, the gospel of Matthew, the gospel of Luke, the gospel of John, and the gospel of Thomas. Church leaders did not recognize the gospel of Thomas as authoritative. So only 4 gospels appear in Christian bibles: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  

It is safe to say that the 4 gospels contain plenty of fiction. 

• The 2 birth narratives of Jesus contradict one another, appeared relatively late and long after the supposed birth itself, and they resemble the ancient birth myths and legends of the Roman emperor Augustus and other heroes and savior figures. It is not even a possibility that both narratives could be true as written. A careful analysis shows they are fictional. 

• The resurrection and ascension narratives likewise contradict one another on key points, resemble other ancient resurrection/ ascension myths and legends, and look like fiction. It not even a possibility that they could all be true, as they contradict one another.  These, too, appear to be fictional accounts, developed to provide a fuller narrative for earlier Christian statements about the death and resurrection of the messiah.

• The gospels even disagree regarding the date of Jesus' alleged crucifixion. There are really only 2 sources for the disagreement: Mark and John. Why do I say only 2 sources?  Because Matthew and and Luke simply copied and modified/ tweaked the Markan account. Such disagreements, even about what should be simple and foundational, show that the story of Jesus was a changing, growing, evolving story, not simply a faithful, accurate, reliable reporting of historical events as they really happened.

• Further, if the gospels are placed side by side and studied in parallel for each story, a good scholar can see clearly how the stories changed over time. The authors of Matthew and Luke, for example, copied many passages from Mark, but they sometimes changed little details or even the words ascribed to Jesus. Whether or not any of the words attributed to Jesus in the gospels are authentic, they are certainly very problematic. 

For the purpose of this investigation, let us for a time ignore the question of whether the words attributed to Jesus are fictional or whether some may really have been spoken by a historical Jesus.

Regardless of whether a historical Jesus spoke them or not, the words attributed to Jesus contain a number of harmful, false, and embarrassingly obsolete ideas.

The following are a few of the problems with the Jesus character of the gospels and his teachings: 

1. Superstitious ideas about Demons from Jesus the Exorcist.  

The Jesus character of the gospels promotes superstitious beliefs in angels (e.g. Mt 25.31) and demons (e.g. Mk 9.29; Mt 17.21; Mt 12.43-45; Lk 11.20). Gospel stories promote the idea that physical and mental illness and disease are caused by demons. For a study some time, try counting how many of the acts and stories of the Jesus character in Mark involve demons. They're mentioned 3 times in the first chapter alone. If you read Mark, you get the idea that every place Jesus went, he preached in the local Jewish synagogue and drove out demons (Mark 1.39). In Mark's version of events, it seems like every single town had lots of demon-possessed people in it, and one of Jesus' main activities was performing exorcisms, driving those demons out of people! 

In Mark 5, thousands of demons were inhabiting a single man (2 men in the version in Matthew 28. Jesus wanted to know their name. They told him, "Legion." When Jesus was about to drive them out, they begged him not to make them leave the region, but to allow them to enter some pigs. Jesus agreed! Haha. So Jesus sends the demons into a herd of pigs! Then the herd rushed into a lake and drowned themselves (Mark 5.9-13; Matthew 8.28-34).

Jesus also teaches his followers that some exorcisms require extra prayer and going without food in order to build up spiritual strength (Mark 9.29). And he teaches that an exorcist needs faith; without faith, one cannot drive out demons (Matthew 17.20).  

Moreover, Jesus teaches that as his message is spread around the world, people who believe in Jesus will also drive out demons, as a sign of their faith: "these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons ..." (Mark 16.17). 

How many people reading this honestly believe in Jesus and are ready to follow these "great teachings" and begin a life of exorcism in Jesus' name?  

Does it even make sense anymore to imagine evil spirits inhabiting people's bodies?  Why would they wish to do so?

Are these kinds of ideas really what we want to model our thoughts and modern behavior on?  Ancient superstitions about demons?  

Are we not long past the old notion that sickness and disease are demonic? Have we not gone through the Scientific Revolution, the triumph and verification of germ theory, the discovery of genetics, scientific pathophysiology, and modern medicine?  Or should we still promote the false notion that physical and mental illness results from demonic action? 

Demonology was a primitive and superstitious way of thinking that dominated Europe during the Age of Faith, the Dark Ages. It is unworthy of good, educated, loving people in the modern world. 

2. Superstitious ideas about sickness, disease, and sin, including the idea that disease is divine punishment for sin.

In Mark 2.3-12, Matthew 9.1-8, and Luke 5.23-24,  some people bring a paralyzed man to Jesus, so that Jesus can heal him. Jesus says to the man, "Son, your sins are forgiven." He explained himself by saying, "Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’"? The he told the paralyzed man to get up and go home, which he did.

4. Fear of the Jewish god Yahweh.

The gospel Jesus promotes the idea that people should be afraid of the Jewish god Yahweh, because he could cast them into Gehenna/ a fiery pit after death. 

(See Mk 9.43-48; Mt 5.29-30; Mt 10.28; Lk 12.4-5; Mt 25.41, 46)

That is a sad and manipulative superstition, and it offers a poor concept of god as a vengeful and overly emotional personal deity. 

The following passages show Jesus teaching the fear of Yahweh and the fear of being punished by Yahweh after death:

• Matthew 10.28: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, BE AFRAID of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell [Gehenna].”     ["Be afraid," from Greek φοβεῖσθε / phobeisthe]

• Luke 12.4-5: [Jesus talking] 4. “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5. I will show you whom you should fear: FEAR him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell [Gehenna]. Yes, I tell you, FEAR him.”   ["Fear" from Greek φοβήθητε / phobēthēte]

• Mark 9.43-48: "43. If your hand causes you to stumble [sin], cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell [Gehenna], where the fire never goes out. ... 45. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell [Gehenna]. ... 47. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell [Gehenna], 48. where ‘the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.’"

• Matthew 25.41: “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."

New Testament promotion of fear was not restricted to the Jesus character.  

• Hebrews 10.31: “It is a FEARFUL thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” 

Sometimes apologists try to avoid recognition or acknowledgement of the fear-based nature of their religion. I have even heard people, when presented with these passages, question, "Maybe Jesus did not mean fear, but respect and awe?"

So let us bet clear, the Greek φοβεῖσθε [phobeisthe] and φοβήθητε / phobēthēte really do mean "be afraid" or "you should be afraid."  There is no problem or doubt regarding the translation into English.  Further, the fear of God/Yahweh had already long been a foundational concept in Judaism. 

The Old Testament, or Hebrew Tanakh, had promoted fear of Yahweh, too.  

Fear of Yahweh was an important part of traditional Judaism, according to its scriptures:

• Deuteronomy 6:2: "That you may fear Yahweh your God/Elohim, to keep all his statutes and his commandments."

• Deuteronomy 6.13: "Fear Yahweh your God/Elohim, serve him only and take your oaths in his name."

• Deuteronomy 10.12: "And now, Israel, what does Yahweh your God/Elohim ask of you but to fear Yahweh your God/Elohim, to walk in obedience to him ..."

• Deuteronomy 10:20: "You are to fear Yahweh your God/Elohim and serve Him. Hold fast to Him and take your oaths in His name.

• Leviticus 25.43: "You are not to rule over them harshly, but you shall fear your God."

• Psalm 34.9: "Fear Yahweh, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing."

• Psalm 67.7: "God/Elohim blesses us, that all the ends of the earth shall fear Him."

• Psalm 89.7: "God/El is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints / holy ones."

• Psalm 76.7: "You alone are to be feared. When You are angry, who can stand before You?"

• Psalm 76.11: "Make and fulfill your vows to Yahweh your God; let all the neighboring lands bring tribute to Him who is to be feared."

• Psalm 102.15: "The nations will fear the name of Yahweh, all the kings of the earth will revere your glory."

• 1 Kings 8.43: "... then may You [Yahweh] hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You. Then all the peoples of the earth will know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel."

• 1 Chronicles 16.15: "For great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods."

• Proverbs 3.7: "Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear Yahweh."

• Genesis 22.11-12: "11. Just then the angel of YHWH called out to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 12. “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him,” said the angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.” 

• Genesis 42.18: "On the third day, Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God."

• Exodus 1.17: "The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do."

• Job 1.1: "There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil."

Hebrew יָרֵא  [yare']  means "fear."

5. Fear of punishment after death.

Mt 5.29-30; Mt 10.28; 

The following passages show Jesus teaching the fear of Yahweh and the fear of being punished by Yahweh after death:

• Matthew 10.28: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, BE AFRAID of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell [Gehenna].”     ["Be afraid," from Greek φοβεῖσθε / phobeisthe]

• Luke 12.4-5: [Jesus talking] 4. “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5. I will show you whom you should fear: FEAR him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell [Gehenna]. Yes, I tell you, FEAR him.”   ["Fear" from Greek φοβήθητε / phobēthēte]

• Mark 9.43-48: "43. If your hand causes you to stumble [sin], cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell [Gehenna], where the fire never goes out. ... 45. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell [Gehenna]. ... 47. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell [Gehenna], 48. where ‘the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.’"

• Matthew 5.27-30: "27. You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’  28. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell [Gehenna]. 30. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell [Gehenna]."

• Matthew 25.41: “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."

From where would an apocalyptic Jew, a messianic hopeful, or the writers of this literature get such ideas as Yahweh destroying people with fire, such language as "the worm will not die, the fire is not quenched"?  They were adapting ideas from Hebrew scripture, claims attributed to the Hebrew "prophet" Isaiah that one day in the future the Jewish god Yahweh would destroy all who do not follow him.

• Isaiah 66: "22. As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares Yahweh, “so will your name and descendants endure. 23. From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says Yahweh. 24. “And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”

Other examples of related imagery from Hebrew scripture:

• The idea of Yahweh's wrath as a burning fire that cannot be quenched is also found in Jer 7.20. "Therefore this is what Yahweh God says: Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and the produce of the land, and it will burn and not be extinguished.

• Malachi 4.1-2: "1. "For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says Yahweh of Hosts [armies]. "Not a root or branch will be left to them. 2. But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings ..."

• Psalm 21.9: "You will make them as a fiery oven in the time of your anger: Yahweh will swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them."

• The "gnashing of teeth" concept (from Mt 13.42; 13.50; 22.23; 24.51) can be found also in Psalm 112.10, "The wicked man will see and be grieved; he will gnash his teeth and waste away; the desires of the wicked will perish."

First-Century CE Popular Jewish Beliefs about the Afterlife:

From where else would a 1st century Jew derive ideas of punishment by YHWH after death?  According to the Jewish historian Josephus, writing in 94 CE, in his work Antiquities of the Jews, there were 4 main sects in Jewish society during the 1st century: the Saducees, the Pharisees, the Essenes, and the Zealots. The Jesus character of the gospels shows qualities that belong to three of these groups: the Pharisees, the Essenes, and the Zealots. Further, of three of these groups -- the Pharisees, Essenes, and Zealots -- Josephus said they believed in the immortality of the soul, the eternal punishment of bad men underground after death, and the rewarding of the righteous with eventual resurrection from the dead. This was the most popular Jewish view of the afterlife in the first century CE, according to Josephus.

Of the Pharisees, Josephus says: 

• "They also believe that souls have an immortal rigor in them, and that under the earth there will be rewards or punishments, according as they have lived virtuously or viciously in this life; and the latter are to be detained in an everlasting prison, but that the former shall have power to revive and live again; on account of which doctrines they are able greatly to persuade the body of the people; and whatsoever they do about Divine worship, prayers, and sacrifices, they perform them according to their direction; insomuch that the cities give great attestations to them on account of their entire virtuous conduct, both in the actions of their lives and their discourses also."  

(Josephus, Flavius. Antiquities B 18.1.3. The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged. Translated by William Whiston. 1737. Digireads.com Publishing. Kindle Edition.)

Of the Zealots, Josephus says:

• 18.1.6. "But of the fourth sect of Jewish philosophy, Judas the Galilean was the author. These men agree in all other things with the Pharisaic notions; but they have an inviolable attachment to liberty, and say that God is to be their only Ruler and Lord. They also do not value dying any kinds of death, nor indeed do they heed the deaths of their relations and friends, nor can any such fear make them call any man lord." 

(Josephus, Flavius. Antiquities B 18.1.6. The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged. Translated by William Whiston. 1737. Digireads.com Publishing. Kindle Edition.)

• It may be noted that these ideas echo teachings attributed to Jesus in Matthew 10.28 and Luke 12.4-5, with the admonishment NOT to fear death, but to fear YHWH and avoid punishment after death.  Other passages echoing Zealot beliefs:

• Matthew 8.21-22: "21. Another of His disciples requested, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 22. But Jesus told him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”   [cf. Josephus: "nor indeed do they heed the deaths of their relations and friends"]

• Luke 9.59-60: "59. Then He said to another man, “Follow Me.” The man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60. But Jesus told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead. You, however, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

• Mark 8.35: "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it." [Cf. Josephus: "They also do not value dying any kinds of death ..."] [This saying was copied and reproduced in Matthew 16.35, Luke 9:24, Luke 17.33, and John 12.25]

• Mark 10.18: "Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone."  [cf. Josephus: "God is to be their only Ruler and Lord ... nor can any such fear make them call any man lord"] [This story was copied and reproduced in Matthew 19:17 and Luke 18.19.]

• Matthew 23.9: "And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven." [cf. Josephus: "God is to be their only Ruler and Lord ... nor can any such fear make them call any man lord"]

• Matthew 10.34-37: [Jesus speaking] "34. Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36. a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household. 37. Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."

• Luke 12.49-53:  49. “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! ...  51. Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Of the Essenes, Josephus said:

• 18.1.5. The doctrine of the Essenes is this:—That all things are best ascribed to God. They teach the immortality of souls, and esteem that the rewards of righteousness are to be earnestly striven for; and when they send what they have dedicated to God into the temple, they do not offer sacrifices{583} because they have more pure lustrations of their own; on which account they are excluded from the common court of the temple, but offer their sacrifices themselves; yet is their course of life better than that of other men; and they entirely addict themselves to husbandry. It also deserves our admiration, how much they exceed all other men that addict themselves to virtue, and this in righteousness; and indeed to such a degree, that as it hath never appeared among any other men, neither Greeks nor barbarians, no, not for a little time, so hath it endured a long while among them. This is demonstrated by that institution of theirs, which will not suffer any thing to hinder them from having all things in common; so that a rich man enjoys no more of his own wealth than he who hath nothing at all. There are about four thousand men that live in this way, and neither marry wives.

(Josephus, Flavius. Antiquities B 18.1.3. The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged. Translated by William Whiston. 1737. Digireads.com Publishing. Kindle Edition.)

Of the Sadducees, Josephus spoke differently:

• 18.1.4. But the doctrine of the Sadducees is this: That souls die with the bodies; nor do they regard the observation of anything besides what the law enjoins them; for they think it an instance of virtue to dispute with those teachers of philosophy whom they frequent: but this doctrine is received but by a few, yet by those still of the greatest dignity. But they are able to do almost nothing of themselves; for when they become magistrates, as they are unwillingly and by force sometimes obliged to be, they addict themselves to the notions of the Pharisees, because the multitude would not otherwise bear them. 

(Josephus, Flavius. Antiquities B 18.1.2-4. The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged. Translated by William Whiston. 1737. Digireads.com Publishing. Kindle Edition.)

So to summarize this point, Josephus, a Jewish leader and historian who lived in the 7 decades after the alleged death of Jesus, wrote that the Pharisees, the Essenes, the Zealots and the Jewish population at large during that time period believed that bad people would be punished under ground after death and detained in an everlasting prison, whereas virtuous Jews would one day be brought back to life to live again at the resurrection of the dead. It is worth noting that according to Josephus, the sect of the Pharisees had persuaded most Jews of this notion. Not only that, but whenever a Saducee served in a government role, he had to adopt beliefs more in line with the Pharisees, because the vast majority of Jews "would not otherwise bear them."

Therefore, according to a Jewish historian of that very century, it would have fit within the Jewish culture of the time when the gospels portrayed Jesus as a Jewish rabbi (teacher) warning other Jews of a choice between eternal punishment after death underground versus resurrection of the virtuous.

6. False apocalyptic thinking.

The Jesus character in the bible teaches apocalyptic concepts, like the soon-to-come “end of the age” or “end of the world” (Mt 13.39-40; Mk 1.14-15) and the imminent fulfillment of Jewish “prophecy,” including the idea that his own generation would not pass away before all the prophecies were fulfilled (Mk 13.26-30), and that the people of that generation (in the first century CE) would see the “Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven” to judge the world (Mk 14.61-62; Mk 9.1; Mk 13.26-30; Mt 10.23; Mt 24.33-34; Mt 25.31-33, 41, 46).

In Matthew 10.23, Jesus even tells his followers they would not finish spreading his message through Israel before the coming of “the Son of Man” (possibly originally a reference to Daniel’s literary vision of restored political power for Israel, but typically interpreted more literally).

Whether the “Son of Man coming in the clouds” (Mk 14.61-62; Mk 13.30; Mk 9.1; Mt 25.31) is taken as Jesus literally coming in the sky or taken as a metaphor/ symbol for an imminent revolt against Rome and successful Jewish political kingdom, neither one happened as written/ expected. The attempted Jewish revolt in 66-70 CE failed miserably, and no Jesus came back in the clouds to set up a kingdom as predicted by the Jesus in the gospels (and in Pauline literature). The constant reinterpretations of all that nonsense by succeeding generations of Christians have been a dreadful plague upon humanity. 

• Mark 13.3-31: "3. As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, 4. “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?” 5. Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 6. Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. 7. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. 9. “You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11. Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. 12. “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 13. Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14. “When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ a standing where it b does not belong — let the reader understand — then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15. Let no one on the housetop go down or enter the house to take anything out. 16. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 17. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 18. Pray that this will not take place in winter, 19. because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again. 20. “If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. 21. At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 23. So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time. 24. “But in those days, following that distress, “ ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; 25. the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ 26. “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens. 28. “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 29. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it d is near, right at the door. 30. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 31. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."

  • • • Notice also, the Jesus character does not know what stars are. He thinks they can fall from the sky, reflecting the erroneous cosmological beliefs of his culture.

• Mark 14.61-62: "Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62. “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

• Mark 9.1: "And he said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.’”

• Mark 1.14-15: "14. ... Jesus went into Galilee and proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom of God. 15. “The time is fulfilled,” He said, “and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel!”

• 
  

Even in the very first chapter of Mark, the earliest Christian gospel to be written, right after being baptized by John the Baptist for forgiveness of sins, Jesus went into the desert, and when he came back, he immediately began preaching that the "time was fulfilled" and the "kingdom of God" was "near" (Mark 1.14-15).

And as we have just seen, he occasionally was even more specific, saying he was the messiah/king, saying everything would all happen in that very generation, saying some of his hearers would live to see him as messiah, "Son of Man," coming on the clouds of heaven and sitting at the right hand of the Jewish god YHWH.

7. The anthropomorphic Jewish god Yahweh.

The Jesus character promotes the idea that god is a personal, anthropomorphic, highly emotional being who lives up in the sky (Greek: ouranos), sits on a throne, and watches over human actions below, caring about who follows the Mosaic laws and who does not, and governs a bunch of angels. 

The gospels depict Jesus looking up at the sky when he prays, lifting his hands up to heaven. 

And gospels have Jesus referring to “the son of man coming on the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14.61-62; 13.26-30).

He also refers to stars falling from the sky/heaven (Mk 13.25; Mt 24.29). Ancient believers thought the stars were attached to the sky dome ("firmament," Gen 1), and could “fall to the ground.” They were wrong.

All of these are superstitions perpetuated by the Jesus character of the gospels. 

They are all fallacious ideas that humans need to abandon. 

8. Superstitious thinking about prayer and the Jewish god Yahweh.

The idea that if a person believes in the Jewish god and Jesus’s message, the Jewish god will personally hear their prayers and give them whatever they ask for (Mt 7.7-11; Mt 18.19; Mt 21.22; Luke 11.5-12; Mk 11.23-24). 

That is mere superstition, a false and misleading hope. 

• Mark 11.22-24: 22. "Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 24. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." 

• Matthew 7.7-11: 7. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10. Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11. If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

• Matthew 21.22: "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

• Luke 11.9-13: 9. “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11. “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for f a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12. Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

• Matthew 18.18-19: “18. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be e bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19. “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

9. Extremist notions regarding sin.

The idea that you should gouge your eye out or cut off your hand or foot if it causes you to sin. (Mk 9.43-48; Mt 5.29-30)

10. Ultraconservative and Repressive notions of lust and sexuality.

• The idea that even merely looking at a female and feeling lust already counts as adultery to Yahweh, even meriting being thrown into a fiery Gehenna by Yahweh (Matthew 5.27-29).

• The idea that divorce is sinful, and divorce and remarriage is equivalent to adultery (Mark 10.11-12).

• The idea that it is better not to even have sex or get married, if one can manage it (Matthew 19.12).

Such ideas often led the church to forbid divorce even amid spousal abuse. They also caused a great deal of guilt in people merely for experiencing natural biological drives.

• Matthew 5.27-29: "27. You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell ("Gehenna" in Greek)."

  • • Rev 14.4: "These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they are virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They have been redeemed from among men as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb."

• Mark 10.2-12: "2. Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”  3. “What did Moses command you?” he replied. 4. They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.” 5. “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. 6. “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ 7. ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8. and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”  10. When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11. He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

  • • Note that the Jesus character believes the traditional Jewish Moses story and the traditional Jewish Adam and Eve story, which he quotes as if it is authoritative and true. Modern, well-educated historically and scientifically literate people know that neither the Adam and Eve story nor the Moses/Exodus story is historical or true as written.

    • Note that the messianic cult is even more strict than traditional Judaism.

    • The Jesus character teaches that divorce is equivalent to adultery. This is false. Thankfully modern society has come to ignore such excessively strict rules regarding marriage and sexuality.

• Matthew 19.10-12: "10. The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.” 11. Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. 12. For there are eunuchs [castrated men who cannot have sex] who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others — and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs [having no sex] for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Anyone who can accept this should accept it.”

  • • The supposed "spiritual" value of sexual repression is echoed in the "Pauline" epistle of Corinthians:

    • 1 Corinthians 7.29-34: "29. What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; 30. those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; 31. those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away. 32. I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs — how he can please the Lord. 33. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— 34. and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband."

      • • • Notice also that the author thought he was living in the end times, the last days, that "the time is short." He mistakenly advocated the messianic propaganda that the messiah's triumphant return and Yahweh's angry judgement were soon to come upon humanity. All such claims were false.

Should people control and temper their lust?  

Of course. But to think that mere lust is evil or shameful or risks divine punishment in "Gehenna" is a horrible teaching, against our natural biology. 

Sex and lust are biologically healthy and natural. Sex does not "defile" a person or make someone less valuable or worthy in the eyes of a strict and vengeful sky god.  Teachings like this led to centuries of guilty, sexually repressed believers, uncomfortable with their own natural biology, perverting what is good, natural, and healthy.  For a male to feel guilty for lustful feelings/ urges/ drives is unnatural, unhealthy, and NOT a good teaching. 

11. The idea that the “law of Moses” really was divinely inspired, AND that people should continue to follow every part of the laws of Moses “until heaven and earth pass away” (Mt 5.17-19). 

Modern historians and archaeologists know that the Moses and Exodus stories were largely fictional, with only some kernels of historicity.  But the gospel writers and their Jesus did not know such. 

And the Jesus of Matthew was still promoting the laws of Moses, unlike Pauline Christianity. 

The laws of Moses contain primitive superstitions and some bad morals: 

— god as a jealous sky personality (Ex 20.5);

— slavery (Ex 20.17; 21.1-7, 20-21); 

— the acceptability of beating slaves severely (Ex 21.20-21);

— the death penalty for homosexuals (Lev 20.13);

— the death penalty for working on Saturday / the Sabbath (Num. 15:32-36);

— the death penalty for disobedient children (Deut. 21:18-21),

— the death penalty for people with other religions (Deut 13:6-10; 17:2-5),

— the death penalty for anyone who curses his father or mother (Lev 20:9),

— the death penalty for blasphemers (Lev 24:16),

— the death penalty for adulterers (Lev 20:10),

— the necessity of blood sacrifice of innocent animals to receive god’s forgiveness (Exodus-Leviticus); 

• The idea that blood must be shed or an innocent and spotless animal slaughtered in order for a god to forgive even the smallest of human mistakes is a shameful, primitive ancient concept and a form of blood magic.

— women as the property of men (Ex 20.17) [the whole Torah was written by men, for men];

• If you study the Mosaic law, you will see that it primarily addresses men.  

• Exodus 20:17 lists a wife  as among a man’s possessions: “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-slave, nor his female-slave, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.”

• Also, if men were dissatisfied, they could divorce women (Deut. 24), but there was no provision for women divorcing men. 

• If a woman gave birth to a female child, she was ritually impure for twice as long than she would have been for a male child (Lev 12:2-5), clearly implying that females were more polluted and less valuable. 

— immoral to wear clothing woven of two different kinds of material (Lev 19:19);

• God/Yahweh-followers should not be wearing cotton-polyester blends or any other clothing with a combination of materials.  Why would a real God care?

— immoral  to sow a field with two different kinds of crops (Lev 19:19);

— immoral to eat shrimp, crab, lobster, oysters, clams, and certain other sea food (Lev 11.12);

• "Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be regarded as unclean by you."

— immoral to eat the meat of rabbits or pigs (Leviticus 11:6-8) 

• So no bacon, ham, BBQ pork, sausage, etc. for good Yahweh-followers. Ironically, Pauline Christianity came along and changed this, saying Yahweh did not actually care about such dietary laws for Gentiles/non-Jews, but (a) that does not appear to be what the gospel Jesus character says in Matthew 5, (b) that goes against what the Mosaic law itself claimed, and (c) if it did not matter, why say it did for hundreds of years? That only reveals the man-made and evolving nature of religious morality.]; 

— the idea that God has human human emotions, that Yahweh/God is a "jealous god," and he punishes the children and grandchildren of sinners for crimes the children and grandchildren did not even commit;

• “I Yahweh your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation” (Exodus 20:5; Exodus 34:7; etc.).  

• In the minds of many modern Christians, God only punishes people for their own sins.  The literary character of Yahweh was immoral by most modern standards.

— the idea that the Jewish god / Yahweh favored eye-for-an-eye morality (lex talionis);

• “But if any harm follow, then you must give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe” (Exodus 21: 23-25).  

• The Jesus in the gospel of Matthew seemed to think his “father,” Yahweh, was a bit harsh in this, and that humans should do even better than that, refusing to repay evil for evil (Mt 5:38-41).

• Eye-for-an-eye morality was actually NOT invented by the Jewish god Yahweh or any Hebrew leader named Moses. It can be found in much earlier legal texts from Babylon and ancient Sumer, even going back to the 3rd millennium BCE.

• Mahatma Gandhi and Coretta Scott King are famously credited with saying that "eye for an eye" vengeful morality only leads to the whole world becoming blind.  Were they wiser than YHWH/God?  Or can we acknowledge now that the Jewish god Yahweh was not real and did not really inspire the "law of Moses"?

— etc. 

The "Law of Moses," the Hebrew prophets, and the Jesus character of Matthew 5 all claimed that the law code of Moses/Yahweh was for all time.  However, Pauline Christianity came along and changed that. Neither option is good.  The Torah was not actually written by any "Moses," as Jews traditionally believed, but was written much, much later.  And the law of Moses was clearly not really given by a God or a set of eternal divine commandments, but merely reflects the narrow human values of the men who produced the stories and the laws of Moses. And finally, when Pauline Christianity comes along to change this, (a) it contradicts the Jesus character of Matthew 5 and the earlier Jewish form of Christianity, and (b) it only reveals that morals change, undercutting the original claims of the Hebrew scriptures.

12. The idea that the stories in the Jewish scriptures / Old Testament actually happened as written. 

The Jesus of the gospels refers to stories like Adam and Eve, Noah’s flood, Abraham, Moses, etc. as if they actually happened as written. They certainly did not. 

The following are gospel passages in which Jesus accepted the Hebrew scriptures as true and/or promoted a literal / face-value interpretation of them:

Creation / Adam and Eve:

• Mark 10.5-12: "5. It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. 6. “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ 7. ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,  8. and the two will become one flesh.’  So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.'" 10. When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11. He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

  • • Jesus is presented as believing the Hebrew creation myth and the story of Adam and Eve, accepting them literally at face value, quoting the Genesis story, and even basing some ultra-conservative morality on it, claiming that all divorce is adultery.  Matthew 19.4-9 presents the same story from Mark, but the author of Matthew thought it was a bit too conservative for his tastes, so he changed it to have his Jesus character present an except to allow divorce in certain cases.

• Matthew 19.4-9: 4."Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’  5. and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? 6. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate." 7. “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”  8. Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

Noah: The writer of Matthew and Luke depict Jesus as believing the Noah story, as any conservative Jew of his day would have done: 

• Matthew 24.37-39:  "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man."  (See also Luke 17.26)

• Luke 17.26-29: 26. "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. 28. “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all."

Sodom and Gomorrah: Matthew and Luke present Jesus as accepting the validity of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.  

• Matthew 10.14-15: [Jesus, giving instructions to his 12 Apostles:] "14. And if anyone will not welcome you or heed your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. 15. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town." 

  • • Here, the Jesus character is presented as accepting literally the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, AND believing in a coming day of judgement on all people past and present, esp. upon any who fail to heed the words of Jesus' Apostles.

• Luke 10.10-12: 10. "But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11. ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ 12. I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town."

  • • The King James translation of Mark 6.11 has Jesus saying something similar to Matthew 10 and Luke 10. However, most translations do not have that verse in Mark.

• Luke 17.26-29: 26. "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. 28. “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all."

Moses: Matthew and Luke present Jesus as believing a literal interpretation of the story of Moses, the Exodus, and the Law.

• Matthew 5.17-20: "17. Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. 18. For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.  19. So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20. For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

  • • The Jesus character presented in the gospel of Matthew supports the "Law of Moses" and teaches that everyone should continue to keep and teach its commandments, of which there were 613, not a mere 10.

    • The Jesus character of the gospels believes in the validity of the message of the Hebrew "prophets."  However, a careful analysis of the Hebrew "prophets" in their historical context shows clearly that they were false prophets, and with the major exception of pseudo-prophecies that were retrojected and ascribed to Hebrew writers from the past, many of the key overall messages of the "prophets" did not come to pass as predicted, but failed miserably.

• Luke 24:27: "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He [Jesus] explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself."

  • • Here the Jesus character is claiming to have been foretold in the writings of Moses. It is not true, as a good historical analysis will show. But that did not stop messianic hopefuls from making such wild claims.  See "Prophesies of the Messiah."

• John 1.45: "Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, 'We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

• John 5.45-46: "45. Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, in whom you have put your hope. 46. If you had believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me."

  • • Here the Jesus character is claiming to have been prophesied in the writings of Moses. It is not true, as a good historical analysis will show. But that did not stop messianic hopefuls from making such wild claims. See "Prophesies of the Messiah."

• John 7.19: "Has not Moses given you the law?"

• John 7.22-23: “22. But because Moses gave you circumcision, you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath [not that it is from Moses, but from the patriarchs.] 23. If a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses will not be broken, why are you angry with Me for making the whole man well on the Sabbath?"

In the first century CE, it was normal for Jews to think their holy scriptures were true stories, just as ordinary Greeks and Romans believed their old myths of gods and heroes were true. However, with the advent of modern evidence-based methods of inquiry in science, history, archaeology, linguistics, textual studies, etc., we now know that the biblical stories of creation, Adam and Eve, Noah and the Flood, the Tower of Babel, the Patriarchs, Moses and the Exodus, etc. are NOT true or historically accurate accounts, but are Hebrew myths on par with the myths of other ancient cultures.

13. Eccentric teachings that almost no one will or should ever follow, regardless of whether they pretend to believe in Jesus or not. 

Many teachings ascribed to Jesus in the bible are far too impractical OR sometimes just plain horrible: 

• gouging your eye out if it leads you to “sin” (such as when a man feels lust for a female, Mt 5.28-29), or 

• cutting off your right hand if you sin with it (Mk 9.43-48; Mt 5.29-30); 

• lending money to your enemies without expecting anything back (Luke 6.30, 35)(nice, but impractical and not appropriate for low-income people with bills to pay); 

• not resisting evil at all (Mt 5.39); 

• simply offering your other cheek to be struck if someone hits you in the face (Mt 5.38-40; Luke 6.29); 

• taking no thought whatsoever for the future, yours or anyone else's (Mt 6.34; 6.25-26); 

• selling everything you have and giving it to the poor (Luke 12.33; Mt 6.19; Luke 18.22; Luke 6.24); 

• hating your family and your own life in order to draw closer to the Jewish god (Luke 14.26); 

• calling no human “father,” but reserving that term only for the Jewish god (Mt 23.9); 

• giving up absolutely everything in your life, including your very identity / ego / self / goals, denying your own identity and desires, metaphorically torturing and killing yourself so that you can follow the messiah-king and the Jewish god Yahweh; for anybody who wants to save / keep his life & identity will lose it, having forfeited his own soul, but whoever loses his life and identity for the sake of the messiah-king and the Jewish god Yahweh will save it by being rewarded with eternal life (Mark 8.34-35).

• performing miraculous acts as signs of God's favor; the Jesus character of Mark 16 teaches that anyone who believes in Jesus as messiah and gets baptized will not only be saved from God's wrath, but will demonstrate signs to the world: driving out demons in Jesus' name; speaking in new languages miraculously; picking up snakes with their hands and not being hurt; drinking deadly poison and not being hurt at all; healing sick people simply by placing their hands on them (Mark 16.15-18).

• etc.

How wise or useful are those teachings, really? 

Does anyone at all truly follow all the teachings of the Jesus character, or even try?!  No!  ...  Let’s hope not!

Maybe it was useful to teach young Jewish revolutionaries / zealots to hate their families and their own lives for the sake of “Yahweh's kingdom” so that they would be willing to die fighting Rome.  But the attempt to use fake promises of divine and eternal rewards in heaven to get young Jewish men to join the messianic cult, oppose Rome, and usher in the messianic age was misguided, and it ended in failure. All major Jewish attempts at revolt, messianic or otherwise, failed. 

• Mark 9.43-48: "43. If your hand causes you to stumble [sin], cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell [Gehenna], where the fire never goes out. ... 45. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell [Gehenna]. ... 47. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell [Gehenna], 48. where ‘the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.’"

  • • The messianic cult expects its initiates to adopt a very strict morality, cutting out from their lives anything that causes anything the group could label as sin, error, or "stumbling."

    • The messianic cult teaches fear of Gehenna, fear of being cast into fire by Yahweh for not adhering to the strictest standards. 

• Mark 10.17-21: "17. As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18. “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’ 20. “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”  21. Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22. At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” 24. The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is e to enter the kingdom of God! 25. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

  • • This teaches that eternal life is possible.

    • This teaches that the first requirement for eternal life is following the Mosaic law, the commandments. And there are 613 of these, not the mere 10 that typical Christians seem to prefer, even while changing the one about the Sabbath day.  Similarly to Matthew 5, this version of Jesus is one who supports the Torah, the Mosaic law, contrary to Pauline Christianity's teaching that the law was a mere shadow.

    • This teaches that the messiah expects his followers not only to follow the Mosaic law, but to go beyond that, giving up everything, devoting their entire lives to the messianic cause, including ALL of their financial resources.

      • • "The poor," like other messianic jargon, may not be intended literally, at face value. It likely means "the poor in spirit," which refers to the messianic cause itself, those part of the "kingdom of heaven." Why this language?  The cult-members are "poor" because they abandon all worldly interests for the sake of the cause.

          • • Matthew 5.2-3: "and He began to teach them, saying: 3. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

• Matthew 10.28-31: "28. Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” 29. “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30. will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

• Matthew 10.32-37: [Jesus speaking] "32. Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven. 34. Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36. a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household. 37. Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. ... 

  • • What does "a sword" represent?  War, strife, division.  The gospel Jesus claims he came to bring a sword to the earth. The messianic movement expected war with Rome.

    • The messianic cult expects its initiates to be more devoted to the cult, to messiah, than to family, siblings, parents, children, spouses, etc. Anyone who loves their family more than they love the messiah is considered unworthy. Messiah requires the ultimate sacrifice. Only through sacrifice, death to self, is the vision of the "Son of Man" and an independent Israel possible.

• Luke 12.49-53:  49. “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! ...  51. Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

  • • Again, the Jesus character says he did not come to bring peace, but fire and division. Most modern Christians utterly fail to understand the original historical-political context of the gospel message. The Jews, especially and specifically the most conservative Yahweh worshipers and messianic/ apocalyptic types, were in a cultural and political war against Rome (and against anything that did not fit in with conservative Yahweh worship).

• Mark 16.15-18:  "15. He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18. they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

• Matthew 23.9: "And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven." [cf. Josephus: "God is to be their only Ruler and Lord ... nor can any such fear make them call any man lord"]

• Mark 8.34-35: "34. Then Jesus called the crowd to Him along with His disciples, and He told them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. 35. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it." 

• Matthew 10.34-39: "34. Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— 36. a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ 37. “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it."

• Matthew 16.24-28: "24. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27. For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. 28. “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

  • • • Note that the coming of Jesus as messiah-king to sit on his throne in judgement was supposed to happen IN THAT GENERATION.