Saturday, February 4, 2017
JESUS - A DIFFERENT VIEW
2/4/2017
Hello, Everyone!
Let me ask you - is it any different today than it was 2000 years ago - that is, in how the then small world of Christianity saw "The Kingdom of God"? I suspect not. I suspect that in 2000 years nothing has changed in terms of Christians believing that "The Kingdom has yet to come."
In my opinion, that is what Jesus taught against - not for. He taught that "The Kingdom is at hand," but people took him to mean, at best, soon, but not now. And today, what is different? It is still "soon, but not just yet" - Right? The Kingdom is always "over there" but not "here." It's later, but never now. And in my opinion, that is precisely why the world has never found the "Kingdom." "At hand" has never meant "here & now" - and so we go on and on and on looking for the Kingdom someplace else and sometime else - and the result is that it never is found to be happening NOW.
And why is the Kingdom Now? Because the so called "Holy Spirit" is Now. Unfortunately, Christians from the very beginning have been taught that the "Holy Spirit" is outside of them - not IN them. If you know your Christian scriptures, and you are familiar with a book in the New Testament called "Acts," in the 5th chapter of that "holy book," the story of Ananias & Sapphira is told. In that story, Ananias & Sapphira are a couple who had just joined the church - and they had "promised" to give the church all their property. But they changed their mind and decided to give only half of their property. You would have thought that "Elder Peter" would have been glad for any donation, but he called Ananias & Sapphira before him and scolded them to death - literally - as they stood before him. If you do not believe me, read the story for yourself.
Would Jesus have done what Peter did? Not the Jesus I know. How about the Jesus you know? Would your Jesus have scolded to death newcomers who had only given half of their property to his fledgling church? In that story, though - that tells far more than most would like to hear - Peter literally scolded newcomers, Ananias & Sapphira, and promised them they would end in Hell because they had "lied," not to him, but to the "Holy Spirit." And Ananias & Sapphira both fell dead at Peter's feet, one after the other, from the trauma that Peter inflicted upon them.
Why is this story important? Because it put the so called "Holy Spirit" outside of Ananias & Sapphira - when, in fact, the "Holy Spirit" is not a force outside of anyone - but Inside of everyone. The "Holy Spirit" is only another name for "God." And since God is Infinite and must be Everywhere, nothing can really be separated from the "Holy Spirit." But Peter either did not know that or did not want Ananias & Sapphira to realize it. In leading Ananias & Sapphira to believe that the "Holy Spirit" was outside of them and thereby capable of being "lied to," Peter completely undid what Jesus came to do - to teach that God is "at hand" - meaning Here & Now. There is no "Holy Spirit" that is outside of anyone; and therefore, no one need fear damnation from such a source. That, I Believe!
Who was Peter that he so misunderstood Jesus that he dared to damn some in the name of the "Holy Spirit" when Jesus never provided such an example in his life? I do not know. Do you? But were there others who might have really understood Jesus as proclaiming that The Kingdom is Now? I don't know about that either, but in today's final article on Jesus, I am applying myself to that question. The answer is MAYBE!
Am I damning Peter, however, for believing he could terrify others - or had a right to terrify others with his outside "Holy Spirit"? No! We are all subject to ignorance - and I really believe that Peter was only ignorant of the real Jesus - though he probably was not aware of his ignorance. It happens all the time that people are blind to the beliefs of others simply because they do not see what another is trying to say. It should not be surprising that Peter could have been such a "blind fool" - as I think he was if he really believed the "Holy Spirit" is outside of anyone to allow using that "Holy Spirit" as a means to terrify and control others into submission.
The story of Ananias & Sapphira, however, was my story early in life too. I once believed as Ananias & Sapphira were led to believe - that I need fear an "outside God." Indeed, their story was my story earlier in life - and I think their story is the story of many who continue to believe that they should fear a "Holy Spirit" who can damn them into some eternal Hell for "not believing" what Jesus taught. In truth, Jesus would never have scolded Ananias & Sapphira for giving only half of their property. Jesus would have thanked them; but in just telling that story as if it were true, whoever told that story told a lot more than just a story. He told a total misunderstanding of Jesus. That, I Believe!
Well, Friends, that's enough for now. I am sure some of you are scolding me now like Peter scolded Ananias & Sapphira in the 5th chapter of Acts. But, to make a long story short, there are other sources that appear to tell a bit of a different story of Jesus. I will leave you to my final religious column of my current trilogy on the one I know and love called Jesus. You can judge it as you wish, but always keep in mind that everything I write and believe is strictly "personal opinion." You can always be glad for that. Right?
Thanks for Listening!
Be in touch as you wish!
Gently,
Francis William Bessler
Laramie, Wyoming
www.una-bella-vita.com
JESUS -
A DIFFERENT VIEW
By
Francis William Bessler
Laramie, Wyoming
1/15/2017
Who was Jesus? In previous articles, I have argued that we may have Jesus wrong probably because we started out having God wrong. Jesus was - and has been - the conclusion of an erratic view of God - or an erroneous view of God. In my opinion, if we have had an impression of God wrong, then it is unlikely that we have had an impression of Jesus right - simply because we have based our impression of Jesus on God.
I have been part of a long held tradition that has believed that God is a male - or God is male. Who cares? Some are replying in such a way. Who cares? Well, I think we should all care because if we falsely conclude - or have concluded - that God is male, then we have been off base from the truth since the beginning. Does the Truth matter? Oh, Yes, I think it does!
And part of the reason that we should care is that we really can't get Jesus right unless we first get God right. Why? Because we have made Jesus "The Only Son of God" - rather than simply "a son of God." If we Christians can't get Jesus right, how can we get any of us right - given that we Christians believe Jesus is necessary for our salvation. That is, some of us do.
Why have we made Jesus "The Son of God"? The answer to that is, I think, we have made God one of us. We conceive. Therefore, God must conceive. So why not have God mate with a human female and create a son - or maybe a daughter? Oh, Oh, that tells a tale in itself. Notice, we did not have Mary & God bearing a daughter. We had them bearing a son. Maybe if they had really thought things out, Mary & God would have had twins. Then we would have an "Only Son" and an "Only Daughter." Oops! Mary & God blew it!
But seriously, I think we mistakenly had God mating with Mary because we thought that man alone is the source of life. In our ignorance of the female ovary in the past - when all our false notions about God and Jesus were "conceived" - we believed that man deposited his seed into a woman and the woman only nourished his child - not their child - without woman supplying a seed of her own. I think it is due to that ignorance that we made God a male in the first place and it is why it was easy to perceive of God - as male - providing the only seed needed to produce the one we call "Jesus." Mary mated with a man, alright, but with a "Man" called "God." Imagine!
But if Jesus was not really the product of a "Man God" and was really the son of a Mary and a Joseph - or some other guy - what explanation can we have of him? That is an excellent question; and I can only suggest an alternative to the claimed Jewish Messiah notion we have been given. That suggestion is that maybe we can know a little more about a non "Only Son of God" explanation of Jesus by delving into some "alternate scriptures."
And that leads me to THE GOSPELS OF THOMAS and MARY MAGDALENE. It is a bit unfortunate that we do not really know the true authors of these alternate sources about Jesus, but at least we do have some "other sources." These are two gospels that were banned in the 4th Century by an organized church that did not want to deal with any Jesus but a "God Jesus." These two sources offer a different tale that some might want to pursue.
THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS, presumably originally written by Thomas one of the 12 apostles of Jesus, was only recently discovered from a hiding place in Egypt in 1945. I was introduced to a translation of a Coptic (Egyptian) source into English in 1979, though that translation was produced in 1959. THE GOSPEL OF MARY MAGDALENE, maybe from the original Mary Magdalene and maybe not, was discovered from its hiding place - since a 4th Century ban - in the last part of the 19th Century. I was introduced to an English copy of that in 2004 or so.
For what it's worth, I am currently in process of combining these two "ancient" gospels into one work I am calling JESUS - ACCORDING TO THOMAS AND MARY - AND ME. I do not know when it will be ready, but probably by April of this year. The "and me" part of that is my personal interpretation of the various verses. If interested, just tap into my writings website - www.una-bella-vita.com - and check for its availability. I will note it there as it proceeds into publication. When it is done, it will be available by hard copy through Amazon and digitally by Kindle.
In the meantime, in 2015, I compiled a work I called EXPLORING THE SOUL - AND BROTHER JESUS. That one features a personal exploration of the soul and a separate accounting of Jesus based largely on excerpts from THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS and THE GOSPEL OF MARY MAGDALENE. All of my works are from a "layman's" viewpoint, but if interested, you can access either Kindle copies or hard copies through my writings website.
Be that as it may, I Believe we are all sons of God. Jesus is not the only son. We have been mistaken in our notions that he is. It matters little, perhaps, that my offering of any of my books including the one in process - JESUS - ACCORDING TO THOMAS AND MARY - AND ME - adds much to this discussion; but I do believe it is a useful discussion; and in that, I am glad I could offer something towards that discussion. I started out saying I love Jesus as much as anyone. Just consider my works a product of that love. OK?
Thanks! Francis William Bessler