Articles on Christianity

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Essay 16 Have You Read Your Bible?

I venture to say that most Christians have not read their Bible completely from cover to cover. If they had, they might be stunned to discover the indecencies, immoralities, and contradictions in the Old Testament (OT) that would turn their stomachs. So I will ask and point out bluntly some items that may cause you to do some thinking. That’s not to say that there is the same problem with the New Testament (NT), it provides a better presentation of the Wisdom of God and the message of Jesus. It is concealed just like Jesus concealed his message to the public in parables and reserved the revealed message plainly to his disciples and other inner groups. As he said, “he who has ears to hear let him hear”. (Matt. 11:15)

Bluntly and honestly, have you read in the OT that God tested Abraham to sacrifice his only son as a burnt offering? God hadn’t been defined yet as being a loving God, but what God would do such a thing? That’s killing your own children. When God ‘created’ man, was it just him or a plurality of creators? “let us create man in our image”. Who is “our”? Were the angels, archangels, seraphim and cherubim already in place, in heaven? If so why did they get the privilege of starting in heaven, while man had to suffer the ravages of life in the physical plane on earth? But sacrifices by burnt offerings in general is a practice that God is not appeased with. (Isaiah 1:11-12;66:3-4,Jeremiah 7:22-24,Heb. 10:4,11,Sirach 34:19,Mark 12:33)

And what about the story of two women who ate their own sons for supper? Lev 26:29, 2 Kings 6:28,29 What about eating your own dung and drinking your own piss? (Ezekiel 4:12,2Kings 18:27,Isaiah 36,12) Heard enough? What’s the point of these things? Ok let’s go on to something else.

The OT consists of more than three fourths of the entire KJV of the Bible. And there are missing books if you haven’t noticed, like the book of Gad, Nathan, Jasher or Asher, Enoch and others. You can obtain those books by the way, some by purchase and some are free for downloading. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that the Bible is a sacred book and I believe in Jesus Christ and his teaching. But time and again friends and relatives make the statement that they accept Jesus as their lord and savior, believing Jesus died and shed his blood to save them from their sins. Bluntly and honestly, that belief is blatantly false and superstitious. Their church leaders blindly preach their dogma and it is blindly believed. (Matt 15:14 They point out verses that relate to that notion and read the Bible literally. And they gloss over the most important statements made by Jesus himself about his message. And there is something else about the NT that is missing - - 90% or more of Jesus’s life is simply not there. Haven’t you ever wondered about that? Have you ever realized that?

Let me point out too that I know many people who are either devout Christians, or simply those living a righteous life, one of high moral character. Jesus said he didn’t come to call the righteous to repentance, but the sinners. (Matt 9:12,13) He came to bear witness to the truth as he tells Pilate. So what was that truth? It is both concealed and revealed in what he gives to the public. It is in allegory form as Paul indicated. (Gal 3:13,4:23,24) You just have to have the key to understanding them. (Luke 11:52) And where do you find this key? This is where you have to get out of the box, so to speak, and find the information and documentation that supports the teachings and message of Jesus. His teachings of truth and the Wisdom of God including the hidden Wisdom can be found preserved in secret organizations that have existed for thousands of years. Some hid their documents in jars and have been discovered recently as scrolls like the dead sea scrolls of the Essenes, or the gnostic gospels by the gnostic group. Some may have been preserved by the Masonic fraternity although it seems to have been lost through time. Others by the Rosicrucians. But there is one group that has a collection of literature that follows very closely the disclosures of Jesus to his disciples, that is the Theosophical Society. Theosophy was a word coined by a Greek philosopher which means Wisdom of God which is the terminology used in the Bible. Excellent literature has been produced which explains this wisdom such as “The Secret Doctrine” by H.P.Blavatsky. It is a deep study so a good place to start out with is easier material, “Elementary Theosophy” by L.W. Rogers, “First Principles of Theosophy” by C.Jinarajadasa, and “The Key to Theosophy” by H.P.B.

But let’s start with the missing life of Jesus. Physical evidence is wonderful when it agrees with the teachings of Jesus and the Bible, and when it also agrees with other unconnected evidence which we will briefly look at. The first I would like to point out are the records and documents uncovered in the monasteries of Tibet describing that “our Jesus was there”. Nikolas Notovich, a Russian explorer in the 1800s, was shown the manuscripts by monks and was translated for him to bring home with him. He then wrote a book about the missing life of Jesus which, as expected, was not well received. That book, “the unknown life of Jesus” can be downloaded from the internet. So Jesus was actually gone during those 18 years of young adulthood and that would explain why nothing is written about his life then. It was just assumed that he spent his life in carpentry with Joseph, wouldn’t that have been a waste of time?

What next? The next one is one that will disturb a conventional Christian’s mind. That is because it says that Jesus did not die physically on the cross, nor was he resurrected or ascended. It was a letter that was written by a brother of the Essene order to another brother in Egypt giving an eye-witness account of the crucifixion. It describes how Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea realized that Jesus was still alive when they took him down from the cross. Brothers of the Essene Order helped resuscitate him. You can download the book in pdf format entitled “The Crucifixion by an Eye Witness”. The letter was discovered in the 1870s in a building in Alexandria, Egypt and written in Latin. It was translated into German when it was taken through Germany by the Masonic Order, then making its way to Sweden. Finally it was translated into English and published in book format by John Richardson in 1907. The Christian missionaries in Egypt tried to get the manuscript and destroy it, knowing what it said was detrimental to their doctrine.

There are many pieces of evidence both documentation and archeological that support the disclosure of the Essene letter. The next is the so called sacred shroud of Turin. It is a fascinating piece of cloth that is claimed to be the burial cloth that covered Jesus’s body. On it we have the imprint of his face giving a picture of what he looked like. The investigation and analysis of the shroud is described by Ian Wilson in his book “The Blood and the Shroud”. He concludes that the blood flows and stains on the cloth reveal that Jesus was not dead. To my knowledge he was unaware of the Essene letter so his findings are independent and supportive of it. His book is not free but you can buy a copy on Amazon.

You may wonder as I did, what happened to the body of Jesus. The letter states that he died some six months later and was buried in an Essene cemetery near the Dead Sea and Qumran. Would it ever be likely that someone might someday discover the bones of Jesus? It just so happens that there was. A man by the name of Simcha Jacaobovici was a Jewish journalist who along with Charles Pellegrino wrote the book, “The Jesus Family Tomb”. He describes how in 1980 a tomb was accidentally bulldozed that revealed first century coffins called ossuaries, six of which were inscribed with the Jesus family names. Twenty five years later Jacobovici traced down the ossuaries in an Israeli museum and he started his investigation. The archaeologists were unaware of evidence that made this the discovery of a lifetime. Since Jesus was a Jew, Jacobovici knew that a body had to be buried in the ground before sundown on the very day of passing. Jesus was never buried that way because he was not dead. I never knew that and don’t know if that’s still true today or not. You can buy the book on Amazon, but you can also search online and watch some fascinating videos that Jacobovici has produced. The bones, by the way, had been removed from the ossuaries as they do with all ossuaries, and reburied someplace else.

Is there any more evidence to consider? Yes, considerably more. But be careful when doing searches online. The most relevant evidence that keeps coming up every day is the recall of past lives by young children. Ian Stevenson was a psychiatrist who investigated these children and of his thousands of cases, described twenty of them in his book, “Twenty cases suggestive of reincarnation”. The subject of reincarnation is also detrimental to the dogma of church teaching. Church leaders don’t want to admit that reincarnation is in the Bible but it is known as being “born again”. Jesus tells Nicodemus that to see the kingdom of God, he must be born again. Nicodemus asks how he can crawl back into his mother’s womb to be born again at which point Jesus explains how the process really works. Christian teachers believe that the term means to “repent”, but Jesus never said that. Again he explains it in such a way that is obscure for most people. But there are other references in other places that clearly imply that people had a background of a knowledge of past lives.

That’s enough for now. It should keep the reader busy in reading his own scriptures, looking up the references, and coming up with his own conclusions. That’s the main thing I want to emphasize, practice what the Bible teaches, ask and seek, the Bible is rich with pointers to the Wisdom of God, despite the troublesome writings in the OT. The trouble stems from reading the Bible literally which Jesus cautions us, “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life… ”. (2 Cor 3:6) Jesus tells his disciples, “I have much more to tell you but you are not able to bear it now”. That says there is more, much more, to learn about the hidden Wisdom of God.

Best wishes on the journey of your soul. Love to all.

Copyright © July 2021 Russell G. Nelson

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A conversation between an old man and young woman about life and the Bible

Now one day an old man went to a park to rest and watch the birds. A young woman happened to walk by and decided to sit down on the bench by the old man. She had a life ahead of her while the old man was entering his twilight years. Since her background was upbringing in a Christian church, she asked the old man about his life and whether or not he was prepared for the end of life and knew about salvation. Here’s how the conversation went.

Young Lady: Do you know about the salvation of Jesus Christ?

Old Man: Of course, do you?

YL: So you know that you are right with God and will go to heaven?

OM: Most certainly, maybe not in the same way as you think however.

YL: What do you mean and how do you know? Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior?

OM: I’ve been asked that kind of question before but let me answer your first question first. There is an old Persian proverb that says, “A man who knows and knows he knows is a wise man, follow him; a man who knows not and knows he knows not can learn, teach him; but a man who knows not and knows not he knows not is a fool, avoid him”. Your Bible, which is also my Bible, says that you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. That is if you are open to the truth.

YL: What truth are you talking about?

OM: It’s the truth of the real mission of the man Jesus. You know, Pilate asked him that question at his trial.

YL: His mission was to die on the cross and save us all from our sins.

OM: Hardly, his mission was to bear witness unto the truth as he answered Pilate. His sacrifice was not to die on a Roman instrument of torture, but to leave his spiritual abode and live in the physical to teach the truth of who and what we are and what our relationship is to God. It’s that knowledge that sets us free.

YL: Free from what?

OM: Free from the bonds of ignorance, and the fear that the church instills in people to control them. Their faith is based on fear, the fear that they are destined for hell if they don’t do what you said, accept Jesus as their savior.

YL: A lot of people are helped and change their evil ways that way.

OM: It may seem that way but that doesn’t mean they understand the why and purpose of life or who God is.

YL: Jesus said he was God so what else is there to say?

OM: No, Jesus never claimed he was God, he said he was one with God which doesn’t mean he was God. Why would he pray to himself? That’s a misunderstanding and distortion of his meaning. As the Bible says, God is a Spirit, and God is Love, eternal, immortal, and invisible. There is very little else as a matter of description of God. And it may be a good thing too, for when we try to describe him, we limit him. That’s what the church has done, limited him to a physical person in our image because supposedly that’s what the Bible says. But you have to understand that that image is spirit, not physical.

YL: Why doesn’t it mean he was God when he states he and his Father were one.

OM: Because he was saying in another way that God dwells within us as he did him. Didn’t he say that we are the temple of God? Of necessity, there are many things spoken that are not meant to be in a literal sense, but rather a metaphysical or hidden sense which expands the understanding greatly.

YL: How can you understand anything if it is hidden?

OM: It’s only hidden if you look at the literal interpretation. I’d like to ask some questions of my own here. If the literal interpretation were all there is to the Bible, why would Paul have stated that these stories were allegorical? Why do you suppose that Jesus talked to the people in parables? Why did the disciples ask him privately what his riddles meant? Why did he say that for those who have ears to hear, let him hear?

YL: Hmmm, well I have to think about that.

OM: Let me ask you another thing, has your church ever really encouraged you to read your Bible?

YL: Not really, they tell you what it means.

OM: Do they ever encourage you to ask questions?

YL: No.

OM: Doesn’t the Bible tell you to ask, seek, and knock?

YL: What would I ask, seek, and knock for?

OM: How about asking for knowledge, the knowledge of the truth, about who we are and our relationship to God, and seek an understanding of that knowledge, and knock on the door of opportunity to be of service to those who may be in the dark of this understanding?

YL: So who are we? Who is God?

OM: We are part of God. But just what do we mean by God? The church describes him as a wrathful person, willing to condemn all to hell unless they accept a blind faith in Jesus Christ. Well, God is much more than that, so much more that it is beyond speculation of our finite minds. First of all being a Spirit, it is genderless, neither male nor female. But being we are part of that boundless, immutable principle, we have a fundamental identity with it. And since we all have that same identity, we are all brothers, an inherent, natural brotherhood of man.

YL: So where is he, where is heaven?

OM: I’ll use your term God for now. God is nowhere and everywhere, omniscient, and omnipresent. Being God is Spirit that dwells in heaven, that heaven is spiritual, not a place in the physical sense, but a state of being. It is that life that dwells in everything including the atom, the light that shines in everyone and every creature, the Love that embraces all in oneness.

YL: Where do you get this stuff, it’s not in the Bible?

OM: Oh yes it is, at least the pointers are there. It is wisdom, ancient wisdom, the ancient wisdom of God. It’s there in plain sight, but you and your church have glossed over it. You can do a search for these words and phrases and find every one of them. Furthermore, as above, so below, everything is periodic or cyclic in nature, from the rotation of galaxies to seasons, and day and night. But even more so is us.

YL: What do you mean?

OM: We also periodically manifest.

YL: We are taught that we have one life to live and after that the judgement.

OM: Alas, another misunderstanding. We certainly do have one life, but that life is eternal, not at some point in the future, but right now. You see the church teaches that we are our body and have a soul. That’s not true, we are our soul, and have a body, periodically. We manifest in different bodies, at different times and places, in different genders and cultures.

YL: Are you crazy? I don’t remember any past lives like that. It’s certainly not in the Bible either.

OM: My dear young lady, you’re right, except on special circumstances, we don’t remember our past lives. But that’s in the Bible too, it says there is no remembrance of former things. Jesus taught these key pearls of wisdom to the few and his disciples. He explained all these things which was his true mission. He explained our purposes in life and why there seems to be apparent injustice. A third very importance concept or realization is that we are our own judges, we decree our life, our reward, our punishment. Is it not said that what you sow that shall you reap? We are in charge of our own destiny.

YL: So what is the point of Jesus’ death and resurrection to save us from our sins? What you tell me makes that pointless and therefore challenges basic Christian teachings. It undermines my faith.

OM: It should not challenge your faith at all, but strengthen it. You remember that Jesus told some of his listeners that he had more to tell them, but they were not able to bear it at that time. The things I have told you are given to you to encourage you to think about these things and replace your blind faith with knowledge. There is much evidence outside the Bible that tell more about his life and what really happened, or should I say that other things may have been in the Bible but were illegally removed. Truth can be a double edged sword.

YL: How can I know that what you say is true?

OM: If you would read your Bible, you might discover a lot of things that you’re missing. Do you realize that over ninety percent of Jesus’ life is not described in the Bible? There are many books mentioned in the Bible but are missing from the Bible.

YL: This just upsets me. How can this be? The Bible is supposed to be the infallible word of God.

OM: Unfortunately, it appears to have been tampered with. But the truth, the pointers to the truth, are still there. As it says, meditate on these things. Go home and do that. Just remember that the will of God is that all come to a knowledge of the truth. Good evening young lady.

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Response to a church tract:

Every year at Christmas time I get a card from a relative who is a staunch fundamental Christian. In it is included a tract about some basic beliefs of the Christian church. The following is a response to those statements. Not that I sent them to that relative--

The first statement is that we are all sinners. It is based on the verse that says that we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. That statement is a misunderstanding that while we may not be perfect, Jesus came not to call the righteous to repentance, but the few who are not on the path to perfection. All the sheep are not lost, only the few.

The second statement is that the penalty for sin is death and that we deserve to be separated from God forever. But the Bible states also that we are all sons of God and that we are gods. Jesus states that he and his Father were one, not that he was the Father. We are also one with God and cannot be separated. The misunderstanding that the wages of sin is death stems from the lack of understanding of who and what we are, and the nature of our soul.

The third statement is that Christ died for you, which is stated as such in the Bible. The truth of that is understanding the state from which he died. He sacrificed his life in heaven to incarnate into the physical world and bear witness to the truth, which is what he told Pilate at his trial. He never claimed to be God, but his son. Why would he pray to himself? The trinity of Father, Son and Holy Ghost is an allegory to the understanding our own nature of body, mind and spirit.

The fourth statement is that you can be saved through faith in Christ. In truth we are not unsaved or a priori condemned to any concept of hell. God didn’t create imperfect people. In fact he didn’t create us, we are an emanation from him, part of him. To think that his shedding blood on the cross of crucifixion could have anything to do with saving us from hell is tantamount to superstition. It is further stated in the Bible that we need to work out our own salvation. Jesus’ message is one of trying to get people to stand on their own two feet and bear the consequences of our own actions. We have eternal life right now, not because we are given it by saying some magic words, but because we have been misled in the belief that we are separate from God. The only way we think we are separate is that we are not taught how to commune with God who actually is the highest part of our soul. Did Jesus save us from our sins, or was his message to save us from our ignorance?

The gross misconceptions of the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection, the judgement, and ascension are caused by the corruption in understanding of what wisdom is left in the Bible after a lot has been removed by early church fathers who had selfish aims on their minds. The earnest seeker after truth should be asking for true knowledge and understanding of who and what we are, who and what and where is God, what to expect in heaven, and how to live a life of love and brotherhood for our fellow man. They should never be afraid of asking the proper questions. What happened to the books of Gad, Nathan, Jasher, Enoch and others mentioned in the Bible but are not included. They should be asking more about the complete life of the one whom they are told to believe in as their personal lord and savior. As it is, over ninety percent of his life is missing. Why? What happened during his life? Don’t you want to know? Have you really read your Bible, or do you simply leave the thinking to your pastors. You have a right to know. That’s your birthright. There is a key to understanding the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, and the leaders have taken it away. Be strong, stand on your own two feet, ask, and you shall find it. Meditate on these things.

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The lost years of Jesus and his true mission and message

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Below is a presentation of a more nearly complete life of Jesus Christ and lost teachings that are not included in the Bible. Links are given below it where you can access and download the references themselves for much more details. Most conventional Christians may turn away from this because they think it may challenge their faith which is really a blind faith, and limited, but in which they feel secure. For those who have truly read their Bible they should be encouraged to convert their blind faith to knowledge which is what God wants them to do -- come to a knowledge of the truth. They follow their church leaders' teachings which amount to churchianity, not Christianity. They are never encouraged to think for themselves and ask questions. But the Bible teaches to seek and you shall find, ask and it will be given to you, knock and the door will be opened. That has to do with knowledge, then understanding, and finally a judicious application of that understanding which is wisdom, not man's, but the Wisdom of God. It's all there, the pointers are there and the Bible is a sacred work after all. Christ taught the masses in parables which are allegorical stories embedded with sublime truths which the disciples always asked him to tell them plainly what they meant. The evidence presented here are exciting pieces of a puzzle which when put together paint a really glorious picture of understanding the truth and as the Bible states, you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. Test the ideas for yourself, see if they ring true for you. You are responsible for your own life, and again as the Bible states, work out your own salvation. You will discover Christ's teachings of who we really are, where we come from, why we're here, and where we're going, and our true relationship to God. That is the Ancient Wisdom. There will be more to come.

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A synopsis of a more nearly complete life of Jesus Christ

This presentation may be exciting to some people, it may be jarring to others. We are not encouraged to ask questions in our religious training, and most people don’t realize that over 90% of the life of Jesus is missing. They are taught to believe that the information given in the Bible is all they need to know and any evidence or documentation outside that might challenge their faith. Contrarily they might find something that would support and strengthen their faith, albeit a change in understanding would be required.

The babyhood and childhood life of Jesus

Starting with the birth, we already know something of the phenomena that occurred with the visit of the three wise men or magi, Hierseus, Feiliexus, and Kaspar, and other manifestations. We were told that because of Herod they had to flee to Egypt for their lives.

Jesus Travels to India

Arriving at the home of the prince, Jesus was accepted as a pupil in the temple Jagannath and he studied the Vedas and the Manic laws. The Brahman masters were amazed at his understanding when he explained to them the meaning of the laws. Jesus and Lamaas became friends and they travelled through all the regions of Orissa and the valley of the Ganges and came to Benares where he becomes a pupil of Udraka, a Hindu healer. He stays four years in the Jagannath temple and repudiates the Brahmic doctrine of castes. That infuriates the priests and they seek to kill him for reviling the name of Brahma. Lamaas defends him and they drive Jesus from the temple. He found shelter with the servants and common people whom he teaches about the brotherhood of man. Jesus taught in all the cities of Orissa. He reveals the emptiness of Brahmic rites, and to realize God in man. His fame as a teacher spread through all the land and people came from all over to hear him. The Brahmic priests did not accept the truth that Jesus spoke and sought to drive him from the land. He was staying with a farmer at this point. News came by caravan from the West that his father had passed away. He was in touch with the common people, the masses or multitudes who believed in him, but he eventually riled the priests of the Hindu religion to such wrath they wanted to have him killed. Their establishment was threatened by his teaching of the truth. The same events happened here as would happen later back in Israel and Jerusalem. Lamaas warns Jesus and he flees to Nepal in the Himalayas in the city of Kapivastu. There the priests of Buddha welcomed him to their temples. There a Buddhist priest, Barata Arabo, realized the lofty wisdom of Jesus and they both studied the Jewish Psalms, the Vedas, the Avesta and the wisdom of Guatama. He teaches in the plaza to the common people but again, the priests are angered by his words. Vidyapati, an Indian sage, and Jesus often met to talk about the needs of the world and men. Vidyapati sent him with a trusted guide through the difficult path of the Emodus heights along with a letter of introduction to Meng-ste, the greatest sage of the far East in a temple in Lassa, Tibet. He didn’t teach there but continued his studies in the temple schools. Then his continued his journey to the West. In Leh, Ladak, he encountered a woman with a dying son whom he heals. Continuing his way to Lahore, he crossed paths with a caravan of merchantmen on their way to Lahore also. But Jesus was continuing on through the Sind, then Persia, and the far West. Realizing this, the merchants provided him with a camel so he could travel with the caravan. Jesus again met with Ajainin who came to him in Benares and he explained to him the doctrine of reincarnation. He taught the common people of Lahore and healed many of their sick teaching them to live a better life by helpfulness. All this information is supported by documents that were discovered by the Russian explorer, Nicolas Notovitch, who traveled extensively in Afghanistan, India and Tibet in the 1880’s. He discovered records in the monasteries of Tibet which describes the life of Jesus and his visit there except that they called him a Buddhist name Issa, or Saint Issa. He copied the information from the Buddhist manuscript and wrote a book about it later. The manuscripts were verified by Swami Abhedananda 35 years later when he went personally to Himis. Other tourists have witnessed the existence of the manuscripts as well. Even Edgar Cayce, the sleeping prophet, relates Jesus’ travels in India.

Question: “What was the wisdom and truth that Jesus taught in India and Tibet?”

He was 24 years old as he entered Persia, modern day Iran. He taught and healed in many small towns on his way. Again the priests and ruling classes didn’t welcome him because his criticism of their cruelty to those of low estate. He then came to Persepolis, the city of the learned magi, Hor, Lun, and Mer, the three wise men. At a healing fountain near Persepolis he explains to all the sick that their faith is what heals them and they all plunge into the waters and were healed. A weak little child demonstrates her faith and that it didn’t matter that she hasten to the water. Jesus lifts her up and tells her to breathe in the air which is also filled with the balm of life and she is made well.

His next stop is Assyria, not the same as present day Syria. He meets with Ashbina, greatest sage of Assyria and they go through the towns and cities of Chaldia where he healed many people who were sick and taught them about goodwill, peace, the brotherhood of man, the latent powers of man, and about the kingdom of the soul. They visited Babylon and discussed its desolation. Then Jesus continues his way home, crossing the Jordan into his native land. He went at once to his home in Nazareth. His mother Mary and her sister Miriam were overjoyed to see him but his brothers were not. They scorned him as a mere adventurer, a worthless fortune hunter, having nothing to show for his travels. So he told only his mother and her sister of his lessons learned and the works he had done.

Questions: Why is this information not included in the Bible? What was his mission? What difference would it make to traditional Christians to know about this message?

Jesus in Greece and Egypt

His travels are not done yet however. He yearned to visit Greece and meet Apollo and the Grecian masters. He left home and crossing the Carmel hills, took a ship to the Grecian capital. Athenians welcomed him as a teacher and philosopher. While they were advanced in philosophy, poetry, science and the arts, he told them of the life beyond and encouraged them to channel their high accomplishments to a recognition of the soul and communion with God. He called upon them to awaken the spirit consciousness, that this was the key to comprehending the eternal law. They accepted his philosophy even though they didn’t fully comprehend it. He goes to Delphi with Apollo to hear the Oracle speak. When they return to Apollo’s home Jesus explains how the Delphic Oracle works and that when the master minds of Greece perish, the Oracle would also cease to function. Then the time came for him to depart. There was a storm and many men drown, but he rescues them restoring them back to life. The Athenians pray to their idols and he rebukes them. He has has his last meeting with the Greeks and sets sail for Egypt.

He comes to Egypt and goes to the home of Elihu and Salome in Zoan. They were teachers of his mother 25 years earlier when the family traveled in Egypt during his babyhood. He shared his experiences in foreign lands with them. After many days he went to the city of Heliopolis to seek admission to the temple of the sacred brotherhood. Just what brotherhood this was is not defined but it appears to be very similar to that of the Masonic Fraternity. He goes before the hierophant and passes the various degrees. The first degree is Sincerity. The second is Justice. He passes the third test and receives the third degree, faith. The fourth brotherhood test for the fourth degree was that of philanthropy. He passes forty days in the temple groves and passes the fifth test and receives the fifth degree Heroism.

The sixth degree is that of Love Divine. Finally he becomes the private pupil of the heirophant and is taught the mysteries of Egypt and works in the chambers of the dead. He passes the seventh test, and receives the highest degree, the Christ and then goes on his way to Alexandria where the seven sages of the world meet. They meet in every age to note the course of development of mankind and formulate the code of laws, postulates and plans best suited for the next age. Meng-ste came from China, Vidyapati came from India, Kaspar from Persia, Ashbina from Assyria, Apollo from Greece, Matheno from Egypt, and Philo, chief of Hebrew thought from Israel. They all recognize and send him forth with blessings to lead the thoughts of men. It is also striking that the symbology of the number seven is so prevalent, the seven sages, seven postulates, seven days that the sages sit in silence. Jesus knew what tasks and fate lay before him in his native land. He knew that the sacred laws and wisdom would be corrupted by the men of religion for their selfish ends, but also that the few would find through it the kingdom of the soul. The time had come and he made his way to Jerusalem and then his home in Galilee.

During the next three years he taught and preached and healed the common people. He taught them by means of parables which were not just ordinary fairy tale stories, but stories that hid a deeper meaning, and his disciples were always asking him on the side what he meant by his riddles. He told them their true meaning. They always contained some aspect of the truth about life, about who and what we are, and the purpose and meaning of life. That was his mission. That was his statement to Pilate when he told him that his purpose of being born was to bear witness to the truth.

His attitude about women is quite different from that given or interpreted of the Bible. “Respect woman, all the truth of divine creation is to come through her. She is the fount of everything good and beautiful, and she is the germ of life and death. Upon her man depends in all his existence, for she is his moral and natural support in his labors. Bless her and adore her, for she is your only friend and support on earth. Love your wives and respect them, for they will be the mothers of tomorrow and later the grandmothers of a whole nation. Be submissive to the wife; her love ennobles man, softens his hardened heart, tames the wild beast in him and changes it to a lamb. Wife and mother are the priceless treasures which God has given to you. They are the most beautiful ornaments of the universe, and from them will be born all who will inhabit the world.”

The Crucifixion by an eye witness

Most scholars know of the existence of the Essenes, a little known order of the Jews that was secretive and esoteric in nature. They practiced healing methods and ointments, were essentially ascetics, grew their own food and were vegetarians, believed in the doctrine of reincarnation, and had teachings that were given according to practice and degrees, using passwords similar to those of Freemasonry. Jesus and his cousin John were members of that order. At the time of the crucifixion, brothers of the order were involved with the events of taking care of the body in the tomb and there was a letter written by one of the brothers to another brother in Alexandria detailing the events of the crucifixion. In this letter is described how Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea realized that Jesus was not dead as everyone thought. His legs weren’t broken, the spear didn’t pierce his heart but the right side of his body, and from the exhaustion and the supposed vinegar he was given, fell into a coma-like state simulating death. They carefully took him down and brought him to the tomb site that is described in the Bible. The supposed angels that the armed guards saw were in fact brothers of the order in their white attire. They applied ointments and attended to his wounds eventually bringing him back to consciousness. So he didn’t die on the cross, and he wasn’t resurrected, he was resuscitated.

Conventional Christian belief is that Jesus shed his blood and died on the cross as the ultimate sacrifice to save people from hell. Whereas the true sacrifice was his leaving his heavenly spiritual state to be incarnated among the physical world to teach the truth of who we are and how to live and thus save us from our ignorance. Ignorance itself is hell. Jesus taught people to stand on their own two feet, work out their own salvation, as what you sow, that you will reap. Jesus was depleted of energy and did expire some six months later but was in the care of the Essene brotherhood who buried his body near the Dead Sea. The details of what really happened at his “ascension” is explained in the letter and you can access a free copy of The Crucifixion by An Eyewitness” on the internet as a pdf file. Also in that book is described how the original copy was found and almost destroyed by a missionary of the orthodox church who wanted to suppress it. But it was saved and protected members of a Masonic Fraternity making its way through Europe and eventually the United States.

Question: “How would this information affect traditional Christian viewpoints about salvation?”

The ascension and other artifacts

Christianity teaches that we are the body and have a soul, that the body is what inherits the heaven with its streets of gold. The truth that Jesus taught was that we are a soul, a spirit, and have a body, just temporarily. So Jesus did indeed ascend to heaven, but spiritually, not physically. Heaven is not a physical piece of real estate. It is a spiritual state. Well, his bones may not have been recovered, but something just as close to it has been. The Jesus Family Tomb by Simcha Jacobovici and Charles Pellegrino describes a fascinating investigation into the accidental bulldozing of a tomb during the building of a housing complex in suburban Jerusalem in 1980. Archaeologists from the Israeli Antiquities Authority were called to the scene and they found ten ossuaries that had inscriptions including Jesus, son of Joseph; two Marys; and Judah son of Jesus, among others. Ossuaries are small limestone boxes that were used as first-century coffins. They removed and cataloged the ossuaries, and left the tomb to the builders to finish what they had started. Twenty-five years later, Simcha Jacobovici tracked down the ossuaries in the Antiquities warehouse and investigated this remarkable collection of names. He mapped and then located the original tomb, which surprisingly was still intact. He was granted access and found that the archaeologists were unaware of key evidence that made this a remarkable discovery of a lifetime. This book describes the statistical analysis done on the combination of these names that match the names given in the Bible. Investigation of the patinas, the coverings of the ossuaries and the tomb over long periods of time, and also a DNA test of the residue of bones that had been in the boxes was performed. Remember the naked young man mentioned in the Bible following Jesus? Could there be a connection with the ossuary marked Judah, son of Jesus? The implications are staggering.

The Shroud of Turin

The shroud has had a long and interesting history. Every conceivable test had been done to prove or disprove the validity of the shroud as described in The Blood and the Shroud by Ian Wilson. The supposed final proof would be the radioactive carbon dating process that would really nail down the age of the shroud. Samples were taken and sent to three independent laboratories. They all concluded that the age of the cloth was around 600 AD and thus the shroud was a fake. It was disappointing for those who believed it to be the actual cloth that covered Jesus’ body. But not so fast. The shroud had been in a fire and the burned pieces were repaired by Catholic nuns. The samples taken were reluctantly agreed to by the church and were apparently taken from the fabric replaced by the nuns. That would account for the discrepancy for the date. Not only that, but Wilson points out that there have been other inconsistencies of carbon dating of ancient cloths. Cloth taken from mummies of known, verified dates were carbon dated and found to be off by many centuries just like the shroud. The interesting conclusion by Wilson is that the flowing blood stains suggest that Jesus wasn't dead when they covered his body with the shroud. This independently supports the statement in the eyewitness account that he didn't die on the cross.

Since the publication of this book more evidence and explanation of why the radiocarbon dating was in error is given in this youtube video:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=shroud+of+turin&view=detail&mid=30F5CECBB5E35FC35BE730F5CECBB5E35FC35BE7&FORM=VIRE

This then, is a synopsis of the life of Jesus Christ. At this point, you have to test the ideas and theories in your own mind and intuition and ask yourself if they ring true. The pointers are there for sincere seekers of that truth. It is the corruption of the truth that makes atheists of mankind. It causes the negative attitudes of fear, greed, hatred, and ignorance. The will of God is that all come to a knowledge of the truth. Then we can live as intended, with a positive attitude of confidence, selflessness, unconditional love and wisdom. The exciting thing is that there are answers, good logical answers for those who are sincerely seeking them.

Question: What is truth?

Bibliography:

The Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden, Collins World, 1926

Lost Books of the Bible

http://library.abundanthope.org/index_htm_files/The%20Lost%20Books%20of%20the%20Bible.pdf

Dowling, Levi, The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ, Marina del Rey, CA, 1907

Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ

http://www.sanctusgermanus.net/ebooks/The%20Aquarian%20Gospel.pdf

The Crucifixion by an Eyewitness, a personal friend of Jesus, Los Gatos, CA published 1965

Eyewitness account of the Crucifixion

https://ia800201.us.archive.org/13/items/crucifixionbyeye00richrich/crucifixionbyeye00richrich.pdf

Jacobovici, Simcha; and Pellegrino, Charles, The Jesus Family Tomb, New York, NY, 2007 https://books.google.com/books?id=oicqzC7tvcQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Naked+Archaeologist&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi-oPmIobPRAhVll1QKHYkzDw4Q6AEIGjAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

harpercollins.com/books/The-Jesus-Family-Tomb-Simcha-Jacobovici?isbn=9780061205347&HCHP=TB_The+Jesus+Family+Tomb

Wilson, Ian, The Blood and the Shroud, New York, NY, 1998 https://books.google.com/books?id=3HAN6iTl8ccC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+blood+and+the+shroud+wilson&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi58qjSo7PRAhXjhlQKHappCU4Q6AEIHzAB#v=onepage&q=The%20blood%20and%20the%20shroud%20wilson&f=false

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/8966422/Italian-study-claims-Turin-Shroud-is-Christs-authentic-burial-robe.html