The belief in one Creator God and the Divinity of Jesus
Eastern
ideas shaped the West and to truly believe as a Christian, surely one must fully
examine the scriptures and their meaning lest some error result in one going to
hell?
Christianity evolved from Judaism some 300 years after the birth of Jesus Christ
and the religion is based on the interpretations of scholars, politicians and
religious figures as well as having its roots in Judaism. The Old Testament
which is a series of stories, histories, myths and legends, some of which may
have some truth but others are pure fantasy.
Background
For thousands of years there had been trade and communication from the
Mediterranean, acress india, South East Asian and China and much of this trade
was in ideas with what is referred to as Hinduism as the strongest influence
prior to 5000 BC. In the 300 years before the advent of Christianity, Alexander
(the not so great) had conquered all lands as far as India, bought back fabulous
wealth, knowledge, and built the city of Alexandria where the books and
knowledge of the known world was collected, collated, studied and vigorously
discussed. Rome was still an emerging empire and the general Pompey who
conquered Palestine finally bought Egypt into the Roman Empire in 63 BC.
The pre Christian groups of Judea/Israel/Canaan were influenced by Hindu
teachings that changed as the knowledge passed through various cultures and was
translated several times i.e. Tamil to Sanskrit to Persian, to Greek etc. They
believed in reincarnation, karma, the evolution of souls and many other things
that the later Christian church excluded although these are written in today's
bibles. The curious thing is that these pre Christian groups became the first
Christians and they practised and preserved the teachings of Jesus.
Roman Emperor Constantine
While
there is no record of Jesus saying "set up a church in my name", Christianity
became established as is is today because the Roman Emperor Constantine
commanded the First Council of Nicaea to be held in 325AD. This council created
a uniform Christian doctrine, called the Creed of Nicaea which set a precedent
for the establishment of a formal church structure and a prescription of beliefs
for the whole of Christendom with the emperor Constantine as its head.
Constantine's ambition was to use this new religion to help unite this vast
empire which occupied most of the known world of the time and so this "new
Christianity" by 380AD became the official religion of the Roman Empire and one
of the first things Constantine does, is to start persecuting other Christians
who do not immediately change their beliefs and adhere to the new code.
The list of "new Christian enemies" is extensive and some victims were fed to
the lions which helped the bishops to iron out a unitary policy of what a true
Christian must believe and... his reputation which is said to have resonated
with great figures in biblical history like David and Solomon made Constantine a
non-apocalyptic Messiah for the church....
The bishops are terribly grateful for this kind of imperial attention. It's not
the western Middle Ages. The lines of power are unambiguous. Constantine is the
absolute source of authority, but the bishops are able to take advantage of
Constantine's mood and his curious intellectual interest in things like
Christology, the Trinity and Church organization.
They're able to have bibles copied at public expense. They are finally able to
have public Christian architecture and big basilicas. So there's a comfortable
symbiotic relationship between the empire and the church, one that, in a sense,
is what helped create the cultural powerhouse of Europe and the West.
Modern Christianity and the bible was formulated by
those who before and after persecuted Christians.
The libraries of Alexandria had been long ago destroyed, first the Bruchion
library in 47AD in the squabble over Cleopatra. It was soon rebuilt and then in
387 "Christian" fanatics at the instigation of Theodosius, Ambrosius, and
Theophilus destroyed it once more to erase history and then in 641 Amru, general
of Omar, second into the Prophet, fed the furnaces of the 4000 baths of
Alexandria for full six months with the Bruchion's remaining priceless books and
treasures.
With the written history destroyed, the church fathers and Roman emperors had a
free hand to shape the new religion which continued by the sword, but this was
insufficient to prevent Rome's decline. There was another council at Nicaea in
787AD which further refined the religion and some think actually created Islam
as its strong recruitment arm because the world stage was now very different,
Rome was in decline and struggling to hold its territories. Islam initially
spread over the non Christian world but it soon made inroads into
Christian-Roman territory although both ideologies share the same beliefs.
The shape of Christianity
Christianity was formed from roots of the pre Christian era and shared beliefs
common to other religions. The church fathers and political interests have
shaped the doctrine and the contents of the bible to suit their needs and
understanding while omitting much of what Jesus said.
To the theological student and god seeker, the omitted gospels are like like
clean fresh water to the man dying of thirst. They are a rich source of
information and inspiration and the Gospels of Mary, Philip and Thomas as well
as the great book The Pistis Sophia, are first person accounts of what Jesus
actually said.
We know that these books have been copied many times and the date of the writing
or actual copies of most of these books is during the 100-500 years after the
death of Jesus. The excluded books are rejected on unclear grounds, however the
scientific evidence as to the validity of the rejected books shows that they are
as equally valid and genuine as the included books.
In analysis, Christianity is a patriarchal and misogynistic belief system that
functions to exercise political power and thought control over its subjects. It
is a belief system based not on real knowledge, but on the ideas of men seeking
solace or happiness while all the time failing to take responsibility for their
own lives.
Questions
Our modern calendar stems from the birth of Jesus Christ, however researchers
have discovered that it is more likely that Jesus was actually born about six
years earlier and several other dates have been proposed, so already we have
doubts about accuracy of information.
Of the politics and motives of the compilers of the religion, we do not know,
though in many ways little has changed, people have always been seduced by power
and greed, and are corruptible.
"What I think is deeply immoral is to tell a child that if they're not good that
when they die they're going to hell.
That's mental abuse and a disgrace." ~ Truth hurts
Notes
At the time, Jesus was a spiritual teacher who had a small group of followers
from all walks of life and he went about teaching those who would listen about
how to create a better life by enriching their spirit and connecting with the
divine principal within themselves and nature.
The first actual Pope in Rome was thought to be Leo I (440-461 A.D.), although
some claim that Gregory I was the first (590-604 A.D.). This ungodly system
eventually ushered in the darkest period of history known to man, properly known
as the "Dark Ages" (500-1500 A.D.). Through popes, bishops, and priests, Satan
ruled Europe, and Biblical Christianity became illegal.
Christianity today is diverse with about 35% of the worlds population claimed to
be Christian, however many Christians have some very immoral practices.
The conflict between the Christian and Islamic sects and the attempts to convert
from each others congregations is an aggression, and a drive for power and
wealth. The more members a sect has, the greater it's wealth and power.
Jesus died at fore the sins of man, and yet today the Christian world still
holds him there on the cross dying always for the sins they continue to commit,
will Christianity ever get the lesson of Jesus?
An interesting read:
The Garden of Eden - The Biblical Land of Havilah - Links to the indus