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Disclaimer: It is important for the reader to understand that in this website where we examine in-depth and from a scholarly view the Christian-Jewish Bible in relationship to its main character, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and many of the religious "dogmas" associated with the New Testament Jesus as taken from the texts and Church tradition we will approach all such studies using the typical "literal-historical" approach to the "Jesus Story". As stated on the opening page of this website that there are other and more truthful interpretations of the Biblical texts other than the introductory "peshat" or "literal-historical" interpretation of Sacred Scriptures. But beginning with the elementary understanding of "literalism" as applied to these Sacred Texts in our Christian Bible it is hoped that the reader will be challenged in his "thinking" to see that a much deeper and hidden understanding is intended as related to these Scriptures than the one inherited and taught by mainline Christianity today. Only by looking at the contradictions, inconsistencies, and discrepancies which abound with the "historical" and "literal" interpretation of these Sacred Scriptures can we be altered to the need to look deeper than our basic "literal" and "historical" approach to these texts if we ever hope of arriving at the true meaning hidden in these misunderstood and misinterpreted texts when only using the "plenary" or "literal-historical" hermeneutic (method of interpretation). As stated as we awaken to the need to move beyond this beginning interpretation of these texts can we ever hope to grow Spiritually to the degree that is afforded to us by coming to understand them through the "mystical", "mythological", and "metaphysical" understanding of God and His Christ. If you have studied and ran across some of our other more advanced websites from Bet Emet Ministries then you know that "the Christ" can be found interpreted from 3 different perspectives down through the whole of recorded history:"mystical", "mythological", and "literal-historical" (the "literal" being the last of the interpretations). Only after one has spent a considerable time in dedicated and scholarly studies in such areas as the "literal vs allegorical" interpretation of Sacred Scripture and the Bible, the study Biblical Judaism and its religious dogmas in contrast to the later "replacement" religious dogmas of Roman Christianity, the study of the Jewish Messiah as seen in the true Messianic prophecies as taken from the Hebrew Scriptures and not from the later forged Greek Old Testament translations and even later from the pens of Rome in our current Christian Bibles, the Essenes and their "literal godman" interpretation they applied to the human Jewish Messiah, comparative manuscript evidences of purposefully misquoted and mistranslated Scriptures as they exist in our Christian Bibles when compared to the earlier Hebrew Scriptures, the true history and origin of the Roman New Testament and its canonization and later abundant changes down through the earliest centuries, the Gnostic Paul vs the later falsified "Romanized" Paul in our current Bibles, the Ancient Spiritual Wisdom literature which contains the "pattern" for all later "Christ" and "Jesus Stories", Jewish and Gentile Gnosticism, the ancient Egyptian religion and the ancient and original "Jesus Story" and all of its later "retellings" as found in the study of comparative religions, the study of Astronomy and Astro-Theology where the personification of the path of the Sun through the Zodiac is the template for the personified events of Matthew chapter 1 through chapter 28, then and only then can one truly understand and be certain which two of the above three methods of interpretation of "the Christ" are trustworthy, accurate and factual to the original Divine revelation given mankind by the Divine Mind and Creator of this Universe in the beginning of recorded time. But doing this requires a lot of study to be certain whereby you can be confident and "bet your life" upon your findings. But this is not the study at hand and yes, to get to the bottom of the truth about our "Jesus Story" does require some effort on your part only because of the changes that were applied to it down through history and especially by Rome during the 2nd through the 5th century. But such studies again are left for our later and more in-depth websites.Our focus here must be only on determining the validity and reliability of a "literal" and "historical" approach to our Christian Bible and especially our "Jesus Story" contained within it. This can be most effectively done by contrasting this approach of interpretation of what we read in our Bibles to other evidences and facts taken from archeology, Biblical history, and the comparison of Biblical Judaism vs emerging Gentile Roman Christianity in the earliest centuries.
Again for purposes of comparing Judaism's truths vs Roman Christianity's alterations of this Divine Truth over the early 2nd through the 5th century and the implications that these "alterations of prior Divine Ancient Spiritual Truth" hold for the "non-Jew" and "Godfearer" today which set in the pews of Christian Churches the world over then we adopt in this website and for all studies in this website a "literal-historical" interpretation of "the Christ" as well as the "Jesus" of the New Testament. Only in so doing can we adequately contrast the Divine Spiritual truths of Judaism vs the later "radical reinterpretation" of them by later Roman Christian theologians and by so doing follow the heritage of these prior "Divine Spiritual Truths" back down the corridors of history to the earliest Divine Spiritual revelations and understandings given to mankind by the Creator which were intended for humanity; both "Gentiles" and "Jews". Only in subjecting the "literal" and "historical" interpretation of the Bible and our "Jesus Story" to being tested and exposed to the conflicting and contradictory facts from Biblical languages, Biblical history and culture, Comparative Mythology and Religions, Gnosticism, the ancient Egyptian Religion and Sacred Mysteries, Astro-theology, Astronomy, and Astrology can we be certain that our "literal" and "historical" approach to the Scriptures is in need to be reevaluated and reconsidered. If there is to be found "unity" between such a "literal" and "historical" understanding of our Bibles and our "Jesus Story" when contrasted to these evidences and facts taken from archeology, Biblical history, and Biblical languages, etc., then we are on firm footing. But if we find constant contradictions, inconsistencies, and discrepancies abound between the "literal" and "historical" understanding of our Bibles along with our "Jesus Story" when examined in the light of scholarly research in such areas like archeology, Biblical Judaism, Biblical languages, unbiased Biblical history, etc., then we have reasons then to took beyond such a "literal" and "historical" understanding of the Bible and our inherited "Jesus Story". This is especially important since Rome has tied the salvation of mankind and the whole world to "believing the literal Jesus Story" and the creeds that surround it for one's atonement of sins and Eternal life. If we find in such comparative study of these other areas of investigation abundant contradictions, incongruities, disagreements, inconsistencies, and discrepancies with our supposed "infallible" and "inerrant Jesus Story" then the "thinking believer" should be honest with himself that there lies as the very feet of a "literal" and "historical" understanding and approach to his "Jesus Story" many problems that brings such an approach and interpretation to our "Jesus Story" into serious question. But one contradiction might be a coincidence, but hundreds should tell us that there is something drastically wrong with such an approach to the "Jesus Story" and this should motivate us to want to know what truly lies behind our "Jesus Story"; it sure did me!!! What I found and you will find in later studies in other areas of inquiry like Comparative Religions, Gnosticism, Astro-theology, Astronomy, the ancient Egyptian Religion and Sacred Mysteries are unbelievable "parallels" to our "literal and historical Jesus Story". This should give us serous cause toRETHINK what we have been taught about Jesus and how we approach our Bibles and the other interpretations of it which bring better sense to this Spiritual revelation. If we find these conflicts and contradictions to our "Jesus Story" in great number, and we will, then this is the "death knoll" to the "thinking believer" concerning a "literal" and "historical" approach to the Bible and the "Jesus Story". Such critical study as mentioned opens our minds and understanding to a deeper Spiritual Truth than can ever be expressed through a "historical" and "literal" interpretation of our Bibles. But you don't know this yet for certain having not yet done the necessary studies to see of which I speak; we are only concerned in this website with verifying if that the "literal and historical" approach to the Sacred Scriptures in our Bible and our "Jesus Story" is warranted, reliable, and should be depended upon for one's salvation. This is and must be our "only focus" at present!
For this reason it behooves us to look seriously and in-depth at our Christian Bibles and our approach and interpretation of our "Jesus Story" and in so doing contrast the Christian Religion and its Messiah with Biblical Judaism and its Messiah from which it grew. Christianity was to be the culmination and zenith of Biblical Judaism and it is our task in the forthcoming articles to see indeed if Christianity as it has been presented to us today in the Roman Bible and its primary method of interpretation is the Divine Truth or if at its very heart it is the Roman "replacement" and denial of Divine Spiritual Truth as held unchanged and unaltered by mankind for over 15,000 years. Let us not forget that Biblical Judaism was the culmination of the evolution of the ancient Divine Spiritual Wisdom as expressed through the previous Egyptian, Babylonia, and Persian religions and finally synthesized and adopted by the Jewish culture. These other great civilizations and religions have perished but try as they may the Jewish culture and religion has resisted now for over 2,000 years constant attempts of mankind's darkness to extinguish its Divine Light and Truth. The ancient Spiritual Wisdom lives on in Biblical and Mystical Judaism without deception; a claim that sadly cannot be made for my birth faith Christianity. That being said the repudiation, denial, mischaracterization and "radical reinterpretation" of Biblical and Mystical Judaism is not a good thing. I will let you be the judge of the results of the forthcoming studies and leave to you, the reader and "truth seeker", to draw the necessary conclusions as we attempt to compare Jewish and Christian theological perspectives on common religious dogmas all the while dealing with the "New Testament Jesus" in a "literal-historical" manner in order for such an accurate comparison to be done effectively. Only in this way can we be certain that we have not fallen into a "replacement religion" and aberrant approach to reading and interpreting the Bible and our "Jesus Story" which is given us by Rome.
In order for one to "return" to the faith taught by the Jewish "Christ" in the New Testament one must be convinced that upon serious scholarly study that he does not possess it, practice it, and observe it. Without such serious study the hope of knowing for certain if a "return" to the "faith once given the saints" and the ancient Spiritual Wisdom is needed in one's life can never be known for certain. Of course few Christians I know ever think that they might not be true followers of the Jewish Christ because it never dawns on them that they might not have or use the same Scriptures commonly used and accepted by first century Jews let alone interpret them as did the early emerging church of the earliest first centuries. Not only that but they are almost totally oblivious as to the need of a different approach and interpretation of the Scriptures that they have. The problem in a nutshell as I found it is that we as Christians and followers of the New Testament Jesus today simply do not use the same Bible as used by the earliest church let alone approach and interpret these ancient Sacred Scriptures in the same way as did they. We have a Roman substitute and a replacement Bible containing a host of altered Sacred Scriptures that inevitable produced many conflicting and alternate religious beliefs, dogmas, and religious doctrines within it which were not part of the earliest faith and beliefs of the followers of the Jewish "Christ/Messiah" of the earliest centuries C.E.! As difficult as that thought might be for the great multitude of Christians who love Jesus and believe they are his followers, the sad fact of the matter as I discovered for myself over 20 years of in-depth research and analysis of the New Testament, is that the vast majority of my faith as a contemporary Christian was in direct opposition to what a typical Jew like the one called "Jesus" in our New Testament would have both "believed" and "practiced". Simply we have been given a "book" that is declared "Divine" by Rome that is not accurate to the existing Hebrew Scriptures and religious belief system of the typical normative Jew of the first century or of the Jewish Synagogue/Church headed by James which functioned as a "light to the Gentile world" as seen in Acts chapter 16. This is a fact beyond any doubt when you compare "Scripture with Scripture" between the Christian Bible and the Hebrew Tanakh and Jewish Scriptures; only then can you see the deception first hand and remove any doubt as to what I say. Archeology and historical facts tell us today that the Bible cherished by James, the head of the Jerusalem Church, has been altered in hundreds of "key" theological places and seldom do we study hard enough to see these "forgeries" for ourselves let alone does it ever dawn upon us to think to compare the Hebrew Scriptures and texts with the later Greek, Latin, and English "supposed translations" for accuracy which, if done, would show us these alterations of religious beliefs and religious dogmas and doctrines beyond any doubt! We take for granted that we have the Bible "Jesus used"; but we don't really have it and are never aware that we don't have it in our possession or in our Churches until we are alerted to this fact by others who have done the necessary studies in these areas and know the difference between "truth" and "fiction". It is way past time for "thinking" Christians and followers of the Jewish "Christ" to get to the heart of the matter and get to know their Bibles much better. With such knowledge our Bibles can be "redeemed" and Truth can discerned upon it pages and cherished as we at the same times discern the later "false additions" and purposeful dogmatic corruptions by Rome intended to direct the Gentile away from Biblical Judaism into the doors of the Roman Church. It is hoped that all readers will take just a minute and read the articles on this website and THINK deeply about just how much you, a non-Jewish believer in the God of Israel and a typical Jew living in the first century have in common. Let us never forget: Titus 1:4 4 "To Titus, mine own son after the common faith:..."; "the faith" shared by both Jew and "non-Jew" alike when we look at the Greek of the New Testament when both Jews and "non-Jews" attended Synagogues together all through Asia, Minor, and kept in common the Sabbaths and Biblical Festivals of God. This dear one is only the tip of iceberg when seeing how we have fallen from Divine Truth in our Christian Churches today. When seeing these deviations from Eternal Divine Truths you should ask yourself why we don't have these Divine Truths shouted from our pulpits in our Churches today and why a substitute religion is preached instead! When you are finished with such a study then and only then can you see clearly and understand the reasons we don't have more in common with this "Jewish Jesus" that we "profess" that "believe we in" and "believe we follow". The reason simply we don't have more in common with the Jewish Faith is because as "non-Jews" today, under the influence or Rome and their Bible for over 1,800 years presently, we have a "religious belief" system that is quite different from that which existed in the Jerusalem Synagogue/Church that sent their message into all the known Gentile world in Acts 16 because our religious texts and the religious dogmas presented in our Bibles which we have inherited from Rome are "radically reinterpreted" and "altered" when compared to the higher Spiritual Truths contained in Biblical Judaism and are sadly not an accurate reflection of what first century Jewish Christianity "believed" and both "practiced as "the faith once given to the Saints" and shared with the "non-Jews" of the earliest centuries. It is time to return to "Jesus' Bible", the true Hebrew Scriptures and come to understand what has happened to the truth about "the Christ" as well as the Bibles we have inherited from Rome.
To fully understand my "thoughts" and "beliefs" upon "Jesus" and "the Christ" one has to be accomplished in many different types of Religious knowledge which has existed since the beginning of mankind and recorded time. The "quote" above in the "red" expresses these areas of knowledge and when the reader becomes competent in these various disciplines then and only then can he see through the alterations of "the Christ" by the pens of the Essenes and later Roman Monks through the 2nd through the 5th century. Then and only then can one understand why the Jewish nation yet today does not "believe" in our Christian Jesus as the "Jewish Messiah" as found in Rome's New Testament.
Answer for yourself: How does one determine for certain that he possess and observes the same "religious belief system" as exampled by this Jesus or if his "religious belief system" opposes that exampled by this Jesus? How does one make sure what he is being taught in his Churches would be accepted by this same Jesus today or rebuked by him if he attended your same Church?
Well, honestly, that is not too hard to ascertain. One must only investigate and discover what the real faith of the "Jewish Christ" truly is and what one committed to it really believed as found in 2nd Temple Judaism, the School of Hillel in the first century C.E. and then contrast these "religious beliefs" with what the New Testament teaches on the same subjects. When one finds for himself through such a study that the New Testament is often and in many places a contradiction and a false depiction of what a Jewish Rabbi like this Jesus both believed and practiced as one's faith in the first century, then one is finally undertaken the "path of return to the faith once given to the Saints". The amazing thing that we see when these studies advance to a certain level is that there is nothing basically different from this "Jewish expression of faith in God" and the Ancient Spiritual Wisdom concerning God, man, cosmos and "the Christ" that has existed among humanity since the beginning of time! That sadly cannot be said as we shall see when investigating the "replacement religion of Christianity" as devised by Rome after they conquered Israel and as unfolded during the 2nd through the 5th century. In Rome's domination of Israel the "light of the world" was extinguished and they call this era today "the Dark Ages". Our problems begin when we see for ourselves that what the New Testament often teaches contradicts with what we know of the Hebrew Sacred Scriptures and the Hebrew Old Testament, Biblical History, Biblical Language, Biblical Culture, Archeology, etc. Without personal study you will never see these problems that open your mind to the truth about what we have inherited due to Rome's antisemitism and "radical reinterpretation" of the ancient Divine Wisdom. The God Who says "I change not" is not the author of such confusion and is not schizophrenic. Thus, we must study to find the answers why our Christian Faith today and its religious dogmas and doctrines which come to us written on the pages of Rome's Bible are "radically reinterpreted" and therefore contradicts the Ancient Spiritual Wisdom as well as Biblical and Mystical Judaism in most of its dogmas as well. So set back now and let us examine "the Truth" for a change!
That's a great question but first of all you have to study enough to know "for certain" that the "literal" and "historical" interpretation of the Bible is not the proper approach to interpreting the texts and verses you read when you pick up your Bible or read it in Church. This takes dedicated study of the Bible and a significant amount of time to discover the discrepancies, irregularities, forgeries of the texts in the New Testament when compared to the Hebrew originals as well as abundant knowledge from archeology, Biblical Judaism, Ancient Egypt, Comparative religions, Gnosticism, astronomy, and a host of other sources of associated information and evidence which has been collected today by modern Biblical scholarship. We no longer live in the Dark Ages where "fear" and "ignorance" of the Bible and Spiritual Truth was the order of the day; we live in an information age that illuminates the Soul and mind of man like never before. After many rigorous years of in-depth religious study into the origin and canonization of the New Testament, which was the foundation for my "religious belief system", the fact of the matter that a "literal" and "historical" interpretation of the Bible was severely inadequate to understand the inherited Scriptural texts before me. As a typical Christian, who had grown up since childhood being told to trust everything I read in the Old and New Testaments and as heard preached by my Pastor, I was shocked to find out in my serious personal study of this Bible, both before, during, and after Seminary, that my Bible and especially the New Testament was not reliable when taken as a "literal" and "historical" revelation of the Divine Realm. I found out that contrary to what I had been led to believe and been told by my Pastor and Church, that I was not, in the final analysis, truly following this Jesus of the New Testament which had been my example and model of perfected humanity; in fact I discovered that in many, many ways my Christian "religious belief system" and the majority of its religious dogmas and doctrines was in direct opposition to what a Spiritual Jew like Jesus both would have believed and practiced in Judaism his whole life, But never being taught Biblical Judaism this understanding is not common knowledge in today's Christian Church; we basically are led to believe that the Jews don't believe in our Christian Jesus but that is the main difference; nothing could be further from the truth of the is matter. Contrasting my inherited "Christian religious belief system" and its interpretation of religious dogmas, most of which I would be amazed to find already existed in Biblical Judaism, I would become shocked to no end to find that although my Christian dogmas were "similar" in title they at their very core were nothing more than adulterated religious teachings which has been given a "radical reinterpretation" by Roman Christianity that opposed both what the Old Testament and Biblical Judaism had taught for over 3,000 years. Of course this carried over into my New Testament as well; but not knowing Judaism then I accepted all things that came from the mouths of characters of the New Testament and the Bible given me by Rome. It was not long before the hard facts hit me head on: I was not a “true” follower of Jesus and his teachings; I was more of a follower of Paul than Jesus. Although I was in good standing with my church and Pastor, I was not truthfully a disciple and student of a Jewish Jesus. I had to remember that there never was a Catholic Jesus, or Protestant Jesus; only a "Jewish Jesus" lines the pages of our Bibles since it was through Judaism that God shared His Mind through the teachings of the "Jewish Christ". The Scripture came to mind often: Phil 2:5 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (KJV) This I reminded myself is a "Jewish Jesus" that never departed from Judaism and saw no need for a "new" or "replacement religion"! What I discovered, and what I will relate to you in this website and many others, is that because of purposeful mistranslations, purposeful misquotations, and multitude of Old Testament verses taken out of context by the various New Testament writers (who were not the Apostles as you have been led to believe), and even pure Scriptural invention of texts out of thin air, I had been deceived by the New Testament documents and in reality was not practicing the faith of a Jew like Jesus nor was I truly following in his footsteps. I found that by following some of the teachings within the New Testament that I, in reality, opposed what Jesus both would have believed and observed as part of his faith in first century Judaism. When this all hit home to my mind and Soul tears was not an option. I had just never known these things since I never truly studied my Christian Faith and its Bible and, like most of my readers, being taught since I was a child to read my New Testament "without question" and "without study". Repentance was in order. I pray you see it the same way once you see the evidence and facts for yourselves. But you have to acquire the knowledge of what I speak first and this can only be accomplished through serious study. We have provided such "facts" on this website to help you in such a discovery and trust such enlightening information will be a blessing to your Soul.
THE BOTTOM LINE: MUCH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT IS NOT RELIABLE WHEN APPROACHED WITH A "LITERAL" AND "HISTORICAL" PERSPECTIVE AND INTERPRETATION AND IT WOULD SERVE YOU WELL TO ALLOW YOURSELF THE OPPORTUNITY TO INVESTIGATE THE NEW TESTAMENT WITH US TO SEE IF WHAT IS REPRESENTED WITHIN IT IS CONCERNING THIS LITERAL AND HISTORICAL JESUS AND "THE CHRIST" IS, IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS, ACTUALLY TRUE OR FALSE
BEFORE YOU BEGIN A SERIOUS STUDY OF THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION AND FACTS WITHIN THIS WEBSITE, IT IS NECESSARY FOR YOU TO ACQUAINT YOURSELF WITH THE TRUTH BEHIND THE NEW TESTAMENT; ITS ORIGIN, ITS CONTRADICTIONS, ITS DISCREPANCIES, ITS CHANGES & ALTERATIONS, AND THE ROMAN INFLUENCES THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE THEOLOGIES INCLUDED WITHIN IN. ONLY THEN CAN YOU TRULY BE PREPARED TO EVALUATE THE FOLLOWING DATA WHICH CONTRASTS THE "QUOTES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT" AS TAKEN FROM THE "CHRISTIAN" OLD TESTAMENT WITH THE JEWISH HEBREW MASORETIC TEXT & SCRIPTURES THAT A JEW LIKE JESUS USED. THE DIFFERENCES ARE ALARMING AND THEOLOGICALLY DEVASTATING TO CURRENT CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY AS FOUND IN THE NEW TESTAMENT!
The reader, "truth-seeker" and "thinking-believer" must now be the judge of the facts and evidence being brought forth; evidence that escapes the casual Bible reader and "pew-setter" in our Churches. Once you see the evidence and the facts for yourself, as I did, there will be no doubt as to the truth of my previous statements. Those who study this website as well as the others presented by Bet Emet Ministries will come to see rather quickly the fallacies of interpretation of the "Jesus Story" when using only the "literal" and "historical" interpretation. But this is only the "first step" in recovering the truth about the Divine Christ; a Divine Truth that remained intact from nation to nation since the beginning of time until the rise of Roman Orthodoxy in the 2nd through the 5th century. Once seeing this information and knowledge for yourself, then your can understand how Biblical Judaism which sent its Faith into the whole of Asia, Minor and later to the known world in Acts 16 was later "replaced" and "radically reinterpreted" by a later emerging Gentile Anti-Semitic Catholic Christianity which set upon the hills of Rome; a Church which relied upon falsified and distorted religious documents for its authority in changing the "Faith of Jesus" into a new religion based upon a "Faith in Jesus". As a serious seeker for truth and a lover of God I challenge you to study the materials presented.
Having Now Studied The New Testament Fairly Comprehensively Then It Is Time To Consider What Truth Lies Behind The "Jesus Christ" As Depicted Within It
Up to now we have only scratched the surface of Christian "literalism". Now we plunge ourselves into the thick of it as we come to how how this "literal" interpretation of the Gnostic "allegorical Christ" developed towards the send of the second century. This began as a minor cult with a unique claim that Jesus has literally lived out the Pagan myth of the dying and resurrecting Godman. Literalists fabricated a lineage to link themselves back to the supposed disciples and forged letters of Paul to make him appear anti-Gnostic (Pastoral Epistles). Patterning much of the historical Jesus around the pattern of the Persian Godman Mithras Christian literalism would gradually grow into the official religion of the Roman Empire by the fourth century. With the full might of the Roman state behind them, Christian Literalist waged a barbaric war against Paganism and Christian Gnosticism, destroying temples and burning libraries and historical records of these movements along with dissidents, and plunging Western civilization into the Dark Ages. The legacy of Christian liberalism has not only been the lost of precious Ancient truths concerning God and His Christ but the misquided obsession with the historical Jesus which can be shown to today to be a mythological figure who appears to mankind in different ways according to the understanding of the individual based upon prior teachings (both good and not so good). In the end this Christ is the indwelling Spirit of God which lives within us and eternally call us to Himself. Now the facts and evidence of this historical deception by Roman Catholicism follows. It is time we learn the truth about the "real" Paul and separate him from the later Roman "recreation" of Paul as the mouthpiece of Roman aberrant theology.
It is assumed that by now the reader has a fairly good grasp of Gnosticism and many of its religious beliefs. This will be necessary in analyzing Marcion and his First New Testament that espoused and taught such beliefs about "the Christ." Now let us look at the man who gave us the first New Testament which Rome will later use as the "skeleton" for their "literal" and "historical" adaptation of "the Christ" as Jesus. Let us examine in summary fashion Marcion and his religious beliefs and how they were reflected in his collection of authentic Pauline literature and the earliest written gospels which makes up his First New Testament. Only when we know what the "truth was" in the beginning can we judge what we have been taught today and make intelligent comparisons in our search for truth.
To the "thinking believer" it appears without question, given the information in this and other websites from Bet Emet Ministries, that the "faith of Judaism" in which the "Mind of Christ" was expressed in the earliest centuries has been "radically reinterpreted" by Rome during the 2nd through the 5th century. Since the ancient Spiritual Wisdom and Mystery Religions all taught the evolution of the "indwelling Krst/Christ" it would behoove us to look seriously at the Jesus depicted in the New Testament as ask ourselves if are really followers of this "Jewish Mind of Christ" and practice the "faith of Jesus" or just have a faith in the religious dogmas that Rome attached to their reinterpretation of the ancient Krst/Christ.
If you read these introductory articles then you know for certain that you have a need to study harder than you ever have to find the truth that lies behind our Bibles and our "Jesus Story"!
Needless to say with Rome's corruption of the Hebrew Scriptures and their "forced" interpretations of their interpolations we need accurate knowledge of the Hebrew language and the Hebrew Scriptures before they were altered if we ever hope of unraveling the truth behind the "Jesus Story" and answering correctly the most important question we will ever have to answer in this life; namely, "Who do men say I am". This should help.
I suppose of all the Gospels in the Bible the Gospel of John is the most familiar and beloved by the readers of the New Testament. When one repents and comes to God often he is told to read the Gospel of John first for it reveals the love of God for men. What is often overlooked by most is that the picture of Jesus in the Gospel of John is completely different from the pictures of him in the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Why so? If the Jesus one sees in John can be shown to be less than the authentic Jesus who really lived and taught and died, then is this "the Jesus" we are to have faith in? If one was to do in-depth study and find that the picture painted for us in the Gospel of John of Jesus is in reality based upon pagan mystery religions and Greek philosophy instead of the Torah and the Prophets, what are we as believers to do? Should we trust out eternal life and our fate to a fictionalized rendition of "a Jesus" who never existed except in the minds of pagans who altered the documents we revere as the New Testament? Do you know the facts of what happened to Christianity over 1700 years ago? Do you know the difference? Do you want to know the truth before you die and meet God face to face? Will paganized concepts and beliefs about God and His son do us well on that day? The time to repent of such errors and false doctrines is now because adherence to them constitute Idolatry! Knowingly I don't believe anyone would willfully commit such a sin, but unknowingly we do. In the articles that follows I will reveal to you what I found throughout my search for the Historical Jesus and you be the judge.
In our CD of all out websites contained on one disk we provide a "study plan" for the student and give detailed instructions as how to study these websites "in order" to facilitate one's study. Please inquire for the CD for such through study will take you some time if you ever hope of cracking the "Jesus Puzzle" and coming to the answer of the question: "Who do men say I am?".
