Examining Jesus.

Examining Jesus.

INTRODUCTION



It seems to me that the Essenic influence has been overlooked in favour of a Judaic standard, with regard to Jesus. Even though this is hard to do due to the fact that Judaism as another name for Pharisaism wasn't known as such at the time. In fact it didn't evolve until after 70ce and achieve its modern identity until as late as 200ce. Many of the references to Jews in the Bible only came in after the translations into English. They in all likelihood refer to the Sadducee Priests,(Herodian), and their hangers on, who were coming close to the end of their influence. The word Jew comes from the word Judean which really has no absolute religious connotations at all. It actually denotes inhabitants of all religions and races living in Judea at the time. Although in earlier times there was a Judean and an Israelite Kingdom, it seems. However these were more tribal than grandiose. So the term 'Jew' cannot be backwritten or used retrospectively as a substitute for Hebrews or Israelites, anymore than Christian or Muslim can. Except for Judaic forms going back to the time of the Babylonian Exile, c500 BCE. Hebrew is a more inclusive and accurate term, in many circumstances.

Josephus does say that there were about 4,000 Essenes, and perhaps seven thousand Pharisees and a few thousand Sadducees. Josephus also claims to have lived with the Essenes so would have a personal understanding of what they believed. This is besides the general population of course. Pliny, Philo and many others wrote about the Essenes as well. It seems the Essenes and their peripheral devotees were the fastest growing group at the time.

The Catholic Encyclopedia now recognises a debt to the Essenes, since the Dead Sea Scrolls.

If Jesus came from an Essenic background then he wouldn't have been either Pharisaic or Sadducean. He would have had a broader belief system with other influences from mystery groups in Egypt, India, Egypt, and of course Persia.

The claims to be Son of God or only begotten come from the later Christians. (In 325, Constantine the Great convened the council of Nicea to settle the Arian dispute concerning the nature of Jesus Christ. It was there that the doctrine of the Trinity was declared to be the orthodox Christian belief. Literature on what happened at this council is scant. The Arian controversy lead to much discussion in the early part of the fourth century. Gregory of Nyssa writes: "Every corner of Constantinople was full of their discussions: the streets, the market place, the shops of the money changers, the victuallers. Ask a tradesman how many obols he wants for some article in his shop, and he replies with the disquisition on generated and ungenerated being. Ask the price of bread today and the baker tells you: "The son is subordinate to the father." Ask your servant if the bath is ready and he makes an answer: "The son arose out of nothing." "Great is the only Begotten," declared the Catholics, and the Arians rejoined: "But greater is He that begot."1 How many Gospels had to be scrutinized at the Council of Nicea? Some sources say 270 and others say there were as many as 4,000. If you have a reliable source of information regarding the number of gospels present at the council of Nicea, or any other relevant information, please contact us. It was at the Council of Nicea, in 325 AD that the Roman Sun-day or day of the Sun was declared to be the Christian Sabbath along with the worship of the sun being the official state religion. It was at the Council of Nicea, in 325 AD that the emblem of the Sun god, the cross of light, was adopted as the emblem of Christianity. It was at the Council of Nicea, in 325 AD that the date of Easter was established. It was at the Council of Nicea, in 325 AD that rules were framed that defined the authority of bishops, thereby paving the way for a concentration of power in ecclesiastical hands. It was at the Council of Nicea, in 325 AD that, by vote, Jesus was declared a god, not a mortal prophet. "...a year after the Council of Nicea, he (Constantine) sanctioned the confiscation and destruction of all works that challenged orthodox teachings - works by pagan authors that referred to Jesus, as well as works by "heretical" Christians. He also arranged for a fixed income to be allocated to the Church and installed the bishop of Rome in the Lateran Palace (It was not until 384 that the bishop of Rome called himself Pope for the first time). Then, in A.D. 331, he commissioned and financed new copies of the Bible. This constituted one of the single most decisive factors in the entire history of Christianity and provided Christian orthodoxy with an unparalleled opportunity. In A.D. 303, a quarter of a century earlier, the pagan emperor Diocletian had undertaken to destroy all Christian writings that could be found. As a result Christian documents - especially in Rome - all but vanished. When Constantine commissioned new versions of these documents, it enabled the custodians of orthodoxy to revise, edit, and rewrite their material as they saw fit, in accordance with their tenets. It was at this point that most of the crucial alterations in the New Testament were probably made. The importance of Constantine's commission must not be underestimated. Of the five thousand extant early manuscript versions of the New Testament, not one predates the fourth century. The New Testament as it exists today is essentially a product of fourth-century editors and writers."2 Constantine What was the intention of Constantine? Was it to convert the Roman Empire to Christianity, or was the acceptance of Christianity as a co-religion a matter of expediency? Under Constantine, the official state religion was pagan sun worship.* During Constantine’s reign “Sol Invictus,” the invincible sun, was prominently displayed on imperial banners and the coinage of the realm.* During Constantine's reign, he acted as the chief priest and was called "The Sun Emperorship" of the sun worship cult.* Until Constantine's decree of 321 Jesus' birthday was always celebrated on January 6, but Constantine changed it to December 25 which was the festival of Natalis Invictus, the birth (or rebirth) of the sun, when the days began to get longer.* By a decree in 321, Constantine announced that the courts to be closed on “the venerable day of the sun (Sunday).* Constantine was not baptized until when he was lying on his deathbed in 337. http://www.thegreatestpuzzle.com/325j1.htm) It is likely as the Essenes were known to rise and pray in the direction of the sun at dawn, that Constantine saw this as a connection to his own Sun Worship. Although like Akhenaten the Essenes worshipped the consciousness behind the sun, not the sun itself. St Augustine is quoted as saying that which is now. called Christian has always existed, since the beginning of time. In fact they also had an installation in Egypt at Heliopolis, probably harking back beyond Akhenaten, the monotheist. They also had contact with other groups around the world and as far away as India. Which isn’t surprising for the Buddhists were in Alexandria.

I don't understand why the Pharisees would have been persecuting the Essenes and Christians but it is not hard to see how the Sadducees would be. Was Paul working for the Temple Police? It is mentioned in the Scrolls that the

Teacher of Righteousness was killed by the wicked Priest, this would fit in with the fact the Sadducees regarded the prophets as heretics. Although this event happened up to a hundred years before the time Jesus. However the Essenes believed their teacher would reincarnate again.

Perhaps we should look more to Mt Karmel and Egypt for an idea of what Jeshua believed and came out of. I have never presumed he was a member of a regular Judean sect. Galilee was even full of Greek settlements at this time as well...This is presuming that Jeshua really existed and I believe that he did. Why? Well apart from the billions that believe the same, there are writings from near the time of Jesus. Notably Josephus, Pliny, some other Roman Historians, the Gospels and the Talmud. Most of this evidence is believed to be in the Vatican Library today.



For every detractor there is always a rebuttal, and how many people can prove that their great great grandmother existed even? I believe Jesus was in India for it appears in his sayings, which are very non dual in some aspects, and betray a more non dual philosophy as that espoused by Essenes and Early Gnostic Christians. Sri Daya Mata, president of Self-Realization Fellowship, went to India in 1959, and in an interview with one of India's great spiritual leaders, His Holiness Sri Bharati Krishna Tirtha, the Shankaracharya of Puri, she mentioned that she had been told that Jesus "spent some of his life in India, in association with her illumined sages. His Holiness replied, 'That is true. I have studied ancient records in the Puri Jagannath Temple archives confirming those facts. He was known as "Isha," and during part of his time in India he stayed in the Jagannath Temple. When he returned to his part of the world, he expounded the teachings that are known today as Christianity'"[20]. . . [Excerpts from Mason's book, In Search of the Living God, Chapter 4]. Apart from denying the existence of Jesus it is popular to say he was married to Mary the Magdalene also. In the Nag Hammadi text, some say that in the Gospel of Mary, there is a reference to the same. I see no reference to an actual marriage. There are some references to kissing in the GPhilip but many familie do that. I can accept a Radha-Krishna type of idea but that's all. Many also misinterpret Krishna's relationship with the Gopis/Cowherders and say he was their lover when in fact it was a spiritual relationship. Jesus only owned one piece of woolen clothing and slept wherever he was at night, inside or outside. He was a complete Sannyasin, so marriage seem to be rather unlikely. Jesus it is known did favour Mary the Magdelene but he did also Apostle John. It was probably a favouring of their level of enlightenment rather than anything physical. Mary was the sister of Martha and Lazarus.



So this book will try to put a picture of Jesus that is nearer to the time that he lived in, and closer to what he really may have been. A Jesus existing and teaching, before the incorporation of various myths, into the Christian Religion. This book will only cover the very early years of what is known as Christianity or Messianism, Masiach in Hebrew, Nasorean/Nazarite/Nazorene, Jessean/Essene, but will include other traditions such as India, and mystic writings. This will include the Gnostics, the Gospels, Edgar Cayce Readings, Indian Texts, and evidence of Jesus or Issa in India and Tibet. I will not go into the veracity of names in the Bible etc, as the names don’t matter that much for this work.



Paul's discussion of Christ overcoming death. In Romans 5:12 we read: "Therefore just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death came to all men." 1 Cor. 15:22 adds, "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive." The roots of this mystery go back tof the fall of humanity. Professor Gottlieb Klein wrote that by means of the method known as notarikon, which regarded each letter of a word as the initial letter of another word, the three Hebrew letters of the word 'Adam' were interpreted as referring to Adam, David, and the Messiah. In this way Christ will 'correct' Adam's fall. (Adam meaning a whole race of humans.)



The evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls indicates a link with the Essenes, and many of the Gospels are replete with Scroll sayings, even beatitudes. Most of the scrolls were written up to circa 50CE, so the fact that they contain what appear to be extracts from the gospels, such as Mark, shouldn’t be surprising. Whether Jesus referred to His own Essenic teachings or whether they reflect his, it doesn’t matter for the link is proven. Even St Paul has quoted passages in his letters that also appear in the Essenic Dead Sea Scrolls. Jesus was it seems more flexible than many Essenes with regard to the Sabbath and Ascetism, and this may have come from the influence of the Buddhist, ‘Middle Way’. The gospel of Mark was probably written in the first twenty to thirty years after the crucifixion, or even earlier. It is not logical to wait a hundred years to write something down, when the Essenes were obviously accomplished scribes. Nobody mentions the Essenes after the fall of Jerusalem and this is probably because the Essenes became called the Christians. In fact there is no mention of them after 40CE. So it is apparent that they felt that Jesus was their expected spiritual Messiah, and coalesced, in the main, into what we would later call Christians. Jesus would have been known as the ‘Expected One’, and raised in such a fashion. They were expecting a Messiah that would be spiritual not temporal, so Jesus would have fitted that description. His miracles and teaching would have proved that, particularly the raising of Lazarus and of course his own Resurrection. This seems to be the reason for their existence from time immemorial.



It seems that James the brother of Jesus, and perhaps a Nazerite, led the Church or Assembly at Jerusalem after Jesus’s Ascension. James was himself martyred by being thrown from the Temple Tower and stoned to death, at the instigation of Ananas, a Sadducean priest. James’ brother Simeon then took over the Jerusalem Assembly or Church and Peter no doubt followed Paul to Rome, or perhaps was already abroad somewhere.



James is describe by writers as being Ascetic, wearing a linen dress, having long, but manicured hair and beard. He was also a vegetarian and kept to a strict diet, took no alcohol and bathed daily as a Nazerite. The wine mentioned n the gospels is a ‘Must’, or grape juice drunk by the Essenes. The Essenes also rose with the sun and prayed in its direction, not as a God but for what was behind the Sun. This is somewhat similar to the mystery schools of Egypt, supposedly encouraged by Akhenaten. They had their own temples and wouldn’t enter the Temple in Jerusalem as they regarded it as ritually unclean and polluting. This is because of the animal sacrifices and other reasons to do with the occupants presumably. This resonates with Jesus whipping the money changers and sellers of sacrificial animals out of the Temple. Another difference that they had with the Pharisees and Sadducees, is that the Essenes used a solar not lunar calendar, so there were differences in the dates of celebrating holidays. The Essenes, like the early Christians shared property in common, used the greeting, ‘Peace be with you’, and had a sacrificial meal the same as the Last Supper. However there were several groups of Essenes, and there were monastic groups, such as at Qumran and others that lived in the villages and towns and were perhaps not subject to the same rules. For they married had children and businesses and lived normal lives, if somewhat different from their non-Essenic neighbours. Jesus was probably more involved with these Essenes on his mission, and seemed to have a more expansive view, with regard to intermarriage with non Hebrews and non Essenes.



The Essenes were also Kabbalists and prophets. They healed the sick, did social work and foretold the future, and were much into astrology. They also believed in Reincarnation, Baptism, communicating with Angels, and it is not a long bow to see John the Baptist as an Essene. They were also the fastest growing group in Palestine at the time, and their influence extended beyond their own memberships. This no doubt caused resentment amongst the other groups who would have considered them to be rivals.



There is also an echo of the Zoroastrians from Iran. For they baptized, had a meal/mass of wine and bread, and believed that a Saviour would be born of a virgin. They also believed his birth would be foretold by astrology and that he would be visited by three Magi, or Iranian Wisemen. They also didn’t believe in animal sacrifice and they circumcised. Zoroastrianism went back in the mists of time but was revitalized by Zend and his son Zoroastra somewhere as far back as 8,000 B.C.E. They also didn’t hold to idols and had symbolic sacred fires, and the Sun to represent the intelligence behind everything.



There are some interesting myths around this time, that may indicate Rome’s lack of persecution of the Christians at this time. It is rumoured that Pilate’s son was cured of epilepsy by Jesus, which would account for his reluctance to carry out the death penalty demanded by the Temple Priests. Which he was obliged to do under the occupation law, not that Pilate had any problem with killing thousands of people. Also Vespasian was given a reading at the Essenic, Mt Karmel Temple, that he would become the Emperor of Rome. He did so about 69 CE and shortly after, Jerusalem was destroyed. Couple this with the fact that Jesus’s sister Ruth married a high Roman Official, who it seems had the ear of the Emperor, and you have the guarantee of the initial growth of Christianity, and the recall of Pilate to Rome. Of course it ebbed and flowed from the persecutions of Domitian and Nero to the establishment of Constantine.

(These ideas have been given in the Edgar Cayce readings. Which I refer to if they are relevant and coincide.)



The whole idea of a Messiah that the Essenes had goes back to the actual days of Adam or the Adamics. They used a book called the Book of Enoch, which the early Christians also used. In Genesis 6: there is a tale of the fallen angels mixing with the daughters of man, well the same story in Enoch but a little more is told.

No one is sure where the Hebrews came from and it is possible they were local Canaanites who took up the form of Hebrew worship, known in that area. The Bible and other stories were probably kept by a small band of mystics within that culture and others as well. For logically a nomadic people would have little use for writing and books; most of their history would be oral. So, as in all cases of religion we have a constructed format with borrowing from all the the ancient stories and legends, with the truth carried within all this. A truth taught by mystics for they were the only ones who meditated.

http://www.geocities.com/aoclery/Jesusbook/Thomasgospel.htm




BOOK OF ENOCH

From-The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament
R.H. Charles
Oxford: The Clarendon Press

[Chapter 6]

1 And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto 2 them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: 'Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men 3 and beget us children.' And Semjaza, who was their leader, said unto them: 'I fear ye will not 4 indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.' And they all answered him and said: 'Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations 5 not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.' Then swear they all together and bound themselves 6 by mutual imprecations upon it. And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon, because they had sworn 7 and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. And these are the names of their leaders: Samlazaz, their leader, Araklba, Rameel, Kokablel, Tamlel, Ramlel, Danel, Ezeqeel, Baraqijal, 8 Asael, Armaros, Batarel, Ananel, Zaq1el, Samsapeel, Satarel, Turel, Jomjael, Sariel. These are their chiefs of tens.

[Chapter 7]

1 And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms 2 and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants. And they 3 became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells: Who consumed 4 all the acquisitions of men. And when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against 5 them and devoured mankind. And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and 6 fish, and to devour one another's flesh, and drink the blood. Then the earth laid accusation against the lawless ones.

[Chapter 8]

1 And Azazel taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all 2 colouring tinctures. And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they 3 were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways. Semjaza taught enchantments, and root-cuttings, 'Armaros the resolving of enchantments, Baraqijal (taught) astrology, Kokabel the constellations, Ezeqeel the knowledge of the clouds, Araqiel the signs of the earth, Shamsiel the signs of the sun, and Sariel the course of the moon. And as men perished, they cried, and their cry went up to heaven . . .

[Chapter 9]

1 And then Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel looked down from heaven and saw much blood being 2 shed upon the earth, and all lawlessness being wrought upon the earth. And they said one to another: 'The earth made without inhabitant cries the voice of their cryingst up to the gates of heaven. 3 And now to you, the holy ones of heaven, the souls of men make their suit, saying, "Bring our cause 4 before the Most High."' And they said to the Lord of the ages: 'Lord of lords, God of gods, King of kings, and God of the ages, the throne of Thy glory (standeth) unto all the generations of the 5 ages, and Thy name holy and glorious and blessed unto all the ages! Thou hast made all things, and power over all things hast Thou: and all things are naked and open in Thy sight, and Thou seest all 6 things, and nothing can hide itself from Thee. Thou seest what Azazel hath done, who hath taught all unrighteousness on earth and revealed the eternal secrets which were (preserved) in heaven, which 7 men were striving to learn: And Semjaza, to whom Thou hast given authority to bear rule over his associates. And they have gone to the daughters of men upon the earth, and have slept with the 9 women, and have defiled themselves, and revealed to them all kinds of sins. And the women have 10 borne giants, and the whole earth has thereby been filled with blood and unrighteousness. And now, behold, the souls of those who have died are crying and making their suit to the gates of heaven, and their lamentations have ascended: and cannot cease because of the lawless deeds which are 11 wrought on the earth. And Thou knowest all things before they come to pass, and Thou seest these things and Thou dost suffer them, and Thou dost not say to us what we are to do to them in regard to these.

This was a distortion of the plan for Adam or the Adamics had descended to correct the course of development on the planet. For there were many different forms of Man on the earth at that time, and all going in a distorted non spiritual direction.

There is a similar story in the Hindu scriptures:

The Bhagavata Purana, (Book III&IV), about the descent of the Kumaras or Angel Princes.

Now it seems the first Kumaras, or Divine Descents, were so spiritual that they didn't get involved in creation. They just sat around meditating, in order to achieve Moksha, or Liberation, (Kingdom of Heaven). So it was necessary for the Blue- Red Kumaras, Rudra Kumaras, to descend and procreate children. Otherwise there would be no human bodies for the mixtures to reincarnate into. This was the process or plan of eliminating the mixture people. There is also a chapter where Brahma is regarded as incestuous so he divides himself. The Kumaras; Bhagavata Purana, Skanda 3, 7:20, Skanda 4, 1, Skanda 3, 11:12 Skanda 3, 5:3:12. ) This is similar to the formation of Eve from Adam’s energy, or rather Adams and Eves. For prior to this the human was both male and female in one.




The First Book of Moses: Called Genesis
Chapter 6

6:1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

6:2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

6:4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

6:5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

6:7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.


































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