This book is a work in progress, even though for
those that are interested, I have posted it on my website..Tony.
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://geocities.datacellar.net/aoclery/Jesusbook/Thomasgospel.htm
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.
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.