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Dear Friends,
Below is the beginning of a long (6 pages) essay on the mythical origins of Christianity. Most of it is probably information that you've seen before, but it's well-presented here. Since I've stated that I think Jesus of Nazareth was a real person, and that the Bible is a divinely-inspired document, you might wonder what I see in such contradiction. Well, I don't see contradiction. I see mystical events. I think the church has approximately nothing to do with what that enigmatic man taught 2,000 years ago. Anyway, the article is here: http://truthbeknown.com/origins.htm
And here's the teaser:
Was Jesus a man, myth or God?
The answers may
surprise you.
Introduction
Around the world over the centuries, much has been written about religion,
its meaning, its relevance and contribution to humanity. In the West
particularly, sizable tomes have been composed speculating upon the nature and
historical background of the main character of Western religions, Jesus Christ. Many have tried to dig into the precious
few clues as to Jesus's identity and come up with a biographical sketch that
either bolsters faith or reveals a more human side of this godman to which we
can all relate. Obviously, considering the time and energy spent on them, the
subjects of Christianity and its legendary
founder are very important to the Western mind and culture.
The Controversy
Despite all of this literature continuously being cranked out and the significance
of the issue, in the public at large there is a serious lack of formal and
broad education regarding religion and mythology, and most individuals
are highly uninformed in this area. Concerning the issue of Christianity, for
example, the majority of people are taught in most schools and churches that
Jesus Christ was an actual historical figure and that the only controversy
regarding him is that some people accept him as the Son of God and the Messiah,
while others do not. However, whereas this is the raging debate most evident in
this field today, it is not the most important. Shocking as it may seem to the
general populace, the most enduring and profound controversy in this
subject is whether or not a person named Jesus Christ ever really existed.
Although this debate may not be evident from publications readily found in
popular bookstores, when one examines this issue closely,
one will find a tremendous volume of literature that demonstrates, logically
and intelligently, time and again that Jesus Christ is a mythological character
along the same lines as the Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Sumerian, Phoenician,
Indian or other godmen, who are all presently accepted as myths rather than
historical figures. Delving deeply into this large body
of work, one uncovers evidence that the Jesus character is based upon much older
myths and heroes from around the globe. One discovers that this story is not,
therefore, a historical representation of a Jewish rebel carpenter who had
physical incarnation in the Levant 2,000 years ago. In other words, it has been
demonstrated continually for centuries that this character, Jesus Christ, was
invented and did not depict a real person who was either the "son of
God" or was "evemeristically" made into a superhuman by
enthusiastic followers.
Thank you for the article Dave. Short but sweet, my thoughts follow, as I am always challenged on the physical plane by time constraints-something I cant wait to be without on another plane!
It seems less and less important to me with each account I read whether Christ was a 'man', 'myth', or Son-Sun of God. From my own experience, revelation, heart and soul center Christ consciousness lives. From study of various
texts both ancient and present day I doubt we will ever convince those that do not believe, but in the same breath, I
believe the very consciousness that is Christ pervades everything that we are and works as you have suggested-in mysterious ways and more and more of us are coming to understand this Christ-ed unconditional love is what we MUST bring in, and so I would have to say Christ both lives within us and Christ comes. (sometimes to those that think they believe the least at the moment when they are the least expecting)
There is no rational explanation for how the Christ story, whether named Mithras, Krishna, Buddha or any other label we have given throughout history, has survived in the hearts, souls and minds of humans across cultures, geographies and centuries on our planet.
Have you ever read Steiner, Dave? I know you've a vast library.
I tend to like his concepts re: that the Christ consciousness (not always as physical Christ-ed being) has manifested throughout humankinds existence, only our ability to be directly connected to source has changed as our materialism, etc has flourished. The concept that we all incarnate perpetually through various stages even angels, archangels, archai. That if we aren't of a soulful/spiritual personality in this life how can we ever expect to transition and remember what we did not learn in our past life and so how important our 'seeking wisdom' is to our own soul expression and progression....anyway....
an interesting read, thank you again. May we all be of the consciousness that allows the conditions for manifestation of Christ-ed unconditional love to encompass every corner of our consciousness-our physical, etheric, emotional and spirit bodies. Blessings!
ps-i will be posting the book i promised to you in snail mail this week.