cavalier said:
So then, how factual is the Biblical account of Jesus?
I hope that people, from both sides of the argument, will explain their views.
Thanks
Anyway, to respond more directly to your original question, Cavalier, I'd say -
the Biblical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is primarily symbolic, being written as the
synthesis of many & varying accounts of this man, whose 33 years on earth came a full
century before the dates commonly accepted.
The various Gospel writers were definitely inspired, and the records preserved as the Four Canonical Gospels may even have been dictated (I so dislike the word "channelled") -
however, the other Gospel accounts, which
merit inclusion in the New Testament even
more so than the M, M, L, J in some cases, have been overlooked until recent times. I really don't know whether it was 20, 40 or 80 additional
Gospels. But while the stuffy intellectuals sit in their ivory towers, and the pompuous pontiffs keep preaching along the lines of
just these four (!) ... we'll never be able to put all the pieces of the mosaic of understanding together.
Part of the reason that the truth evades us when pursuing the real story regarding Jesus of Nazareth is that from the earliest of times (
certainly since certain Church Councils, but also before), there has been a
vested interested in mispresenting the true tradition. The campaign has worked so well that I wouldn't be surprised if people still think Jesus was born in ~3BC even 20 years from now! And indeed, it is likely that for some time to come, he will still be called
`Jesus Christ,' as if these were simply his first and last name!!!
Meanwhile, it has long ago been proven and amply demonstrated in scholarly fashion, with
dozens of credible sources cited, verified, and reverified, that Jesus of Nazareth and the
Individual called `CHRIST' were two different beings altogether. Jesus was simply an Initiate, although he was born an
advanced Initiate, and he
chose that birth (as a spiritual being) for very specific purposes, under
very unusual circumstances. Is it so difficult for us to consider how an individual such as Jesus
makes conscious decisions and choices about an impending BIRTH ... or shouldn't we be more amazed that the same people - Christian believers - who will say in one breath that "Christ was the SON OF GOD," will then argue with the other that I'm full of it, or out of my mind to suggest that THE VERY SON OF GOD could possibly and potentially be making CONSCIOUS CHOICES as an individual, self-conscious being, PRIOR to His own birth, about the future events of God's PLAN for Humanity.
Errr, okay,
where are we failing to make these connections??? And why should all this be so surprising? I mean, even the 12-year old Jesus knew that he had to be about
His Father's business at the Temple, but even this episode seems mysterious if we have come to believe that Jesus' own
parents were ignorant of his mission, his spiritual status (as an
`Advanced Soul,' for lack of better terminology), and so on.
The fact is, that Jesus was quite familiar to the Essenes. He may have even grown up as a part of their community,
with his own parents as fellow Essenes. The true tale, SHALL BE TOLD, yet it will take a great deal more wrangling and wrestling, before the proper accounts have all been gathered, synthesized, and presented
untarnished. The Dead Sea Scrolls may yet bear PLAIN truth with regard to ALL that I have said ... once they have passed before those with eyes to see, and the
GIFT of Discernment to pick out the relevant gems.
Jesus LEFT the Essenes to become a wandering
Therapeute - or Healer - and certainly there were differences between them. Still, this was the background of preparation
with which Jesus went forth as he sought out the Egyptian Branch of the Brotherhood, and studied the Mysteries that were - even in that time - quite carefully guarded, though in many ways more open for exploration than during any time since! From Egypt Jesus may have visited Greece, learning from the Pythagoreans (and teaching, also), but he
most CERTAINLY traveled Eastward. He was known to the Hindu Brahmins, and also to the Kashmiris, and his final destination in that region was Tibet - or Ladakh.
Jesus' destination in the Himalayas was the
Stronghold, wherein he met and studied with the various
Masters of the time (not the same individuals who currently comprise the Brotherhood, for the most part, for these were co-disicples or co-Initiates with Jesus ... examples being the
Three Magi, St. Paul, several Egyptian Initiates, and other fellow students who would have been visiting the Stronghold). Presiding over the stronghold 2100 years ago would have been the
Buddha, as well as
Maitreya Bodhisattva, who
is the `Christ.' This is very confusing, since
`chrestos' was the term used in the Greek Mystery Tradition for a
candidate for Christhood, and
`Christos' was only applied
after the candidate had successfully passed the last degree and become a
full Initiate.
In application to Jesus of Nazareth, however, it was not his
Initiatory status which gave him the FINAL and HIGHEST authority to speak FOR God, and
as `G-d,' but rather - it was the
perfect overshadowing which his many years of ARDUOUS preparation and training had enabled ... which allowed his
own Master, `Maitreya,' to express the 2nd Aspect of Divinity (as the Buddha had earlier embodied the 3rd Aspect). This DID amount to the incarnation of a Divine RAY, or in other words, to the DIRECT expression of Godhood for a Humanity which had NEVER up until that time experienced this ... even when the Hierarchy walked openly among us during Atlantean Days.
The confusion is only compounded because -
although some of the Church Fathers such as Origen and
Clement of Alexandria certainly DID understand the already-distant past of the Christian Faith - the rest of the voices that prevailed were anything
but "clement" and their motives ranged from the
slightly selfish and political to
deception plain & simple. Nowadays there are a thousand voices crying out here, & there, rattling their various sabres in defense of hundreds of contradictory ideologies - the largest handful of these being
Christianity itself -
OR SO SAYS each group, still trying to amass the most followers, cry out the loudest, and so squash all the alternate viewpoints ... or in the very least,
bend them to the "OFFICIAL" view of things.
See if it is not so. For all the ECUMENISM that has transpired
even within Christian circles alone, WHERE is the agreement upon
even the essentials regarding Jesus, His Mission, and the
surest & swiftest Path which we may
certainly acknowledge - as the one leading to
Universal Salvation.
You see - NOT EVEN Universal Salvation will be preached anymore, becuase - although CHRIST HIMSELF emphasized such a doctrine, it is now
almost foreign to those books, minds, hymns and TRADITIONS which bear the stamp of his NAME.
Christ has been misunderstood, Jesus has been misunderstood, the Prophets and Messengers of the past 150 years have been misunderstood ... and I was just talking with a gentleman in the parking lot a few hours ago about how TODAY we still
crucify the Saviours (lesser Avatars) who are SENT in God's name .... to a needy Humanity. JFK, Dr. MLK, Jr, Mahatma Gandhi, and others. Christ knows His own -
for they are ALL of Humanity. And the Christian who argues against this, s/he is beating the WRONG drum, brother. Christ came to make ONE FLOCK, ONE GREAT FOLD - and we either work FOR HIM in this, and do our very best to ADVANCE this Cause, or we Oppose Him. SO He said.
NOT CHRISTIANITY did He mean when He uttered those words - at least, not the Christianity that has come to be. Luna, you're correct in saying that we may trust to Christ as the Good Shepherd ... yet I have KNOWN His Servants, of varying degree and Initiatory status - and MANY of them have NOT THE LEAST interest in Christianity.
If you want to understand what happened 2100 years ago, and why, then break FREE of the limitations that have been imposed - yet which were NEVER intended to exist to begin with! Hold FAST to that which you find inspiring & comforting, yet EMBRACE that which is challenging, inasmuch as you can sense & see
Opportunity to increase your capacity to Serve. SERVICE TO HUMANITY is what Christianity is all about. All else,
you may cast by the wayside, for it is CHAFF.
This is the 6th Ray, I'm afraid, and though I've had my say ... I suppose there's a certain
fanaticism which I've found as a common element within my own constitution and the bible-beating Jesus-freak on the corner. I have come to wonder if my Teacher isn't Jesus after all, but if so, I almost cringe. Master J. is the TASKMaster - and though He is a
Lord of Compassion rather than a true `Master of the Wisdom' (esoterically), His discipline is not quite what most Christians understand, even as they invoke His name - for in truth, I suspect they often mean
`The CHRIST' - for it is to
Christ that they are really directing their prayers. Still, to address
one Master, is to reach them ALL - this is the law, and the true nature of things. Therefore, Christ IS Jesus in a very real sense, while also being Masters KH, M, DK, H, R,
et al. Easier to use a letter than get lost in
names, I suppose. What's in a name?
Sorry - I don't always get off on "the Bible says this" and "the Bible say that." I have honestly tried to play that game here as much as possible, because I wanted to connect. Anyway, anyone having bothered to read this far, has long since seen the part that mattered. By 2025, if not before,
SEE if much of this has fit into perspective for you. I sincerely, and honestly, hope it has. It has begun to hit me with all the thunder of Heaven itself, yet also with the simple beauty of the lillies, or the simplicity of the life of the sparrow, that even being
off the beaten path as I find myself - I shall still see all I know, come to pass. From first-called, to last to answer ... I'm coming to realize that
I can't correct the errors of theology, until & unless I sort my own life out first.
You and I have memories
Longer than the road that stretches out ahead ....
(You see? Paul was a KNOWER, too ...)
andrew
(taijasi)
