A brief guide to the making of Jesus of Nazareth, the Greatest Man Who Never Was.
1. No one "just made-up" Jesus.
If we step around the centuries of fabrication and glorification which informs everyone's perception of Jesus Christ and closely examine the two hundred year gestation period of the current Lord and Savior – that is approximately 100 BC - 100 AD – we can see a perfectly plausible and, indeed, convincing process by which, upon the legacy of earlier times and from piety and scripture alone, the Christian godman emerged into the light.
Beliefs created the man; the man did not create the beliefs.
In essence Jesus Christ is like every other ancient god, a personification of Principals and Forces. More than anything else, the figure of Jesus symbolized and personified Just Law, Divine Punishment and Reward. The myth did not require the happenstance of a genuine human life to get it going – which is one reason why, as a human being, the superhero is at best only partially formed, even after passing through several revisions and re-workings.
2. Evolving Hero myth
The Jews, a repeatedly conquered people on the fringes of great empires, long nurtured hope for a deliverer. Such heroes of the people were a staple of their sacred literature. During the period 1st century BC / 1st century AD, whilst the Herodian aristocracy happily danced to the tune of the caesars, exploitation of the common people intensified. Upon their backs now weighed the priesthood, the landowning elite and the Romans. The stage had been set in which rabbis and rebels could pitch subversive ideas to the despised and exploited masses.
The Jewish religious radicals – militant patriots within Palestine and proto-Christians of the Jewish diaspora – contended for the future of Judaism. In the Levant, militant resistance to Rome had the upper hand until the final debacle of 135. In the diaspora, a repackaged piety centered on a personal savior god eventually gained the ascendancy, advancing with each successive reversal of belligerency and the attendant flood of refugees and captive slaves into the cities of the Mediterranean.
The early Jewish-Christian scribes drew most of their inspiration from the traditional source – the vast stock of Jewish sacred writings, which were (and are) a reiterating statement of lost piety, divine punishment and righteousness regained.
The earliest "Christ" reigned in Heaven at God's right hand. Nowhere was a genuine human life to be found. Only at the End of Days would he arrive to judge the quick and the dead. Only those who worshipped him, the Elect, would enter the Kingdom.
3. Paganizing the Jewish Myth
Judaism in the Diaspora, for all its exclusivity, became Hellenized. It also attracted a following among pagans disillusioned with their arbitrary traditional gods. In the cities of the eastern Mediterranean, this neo-Judaism fused a multiplicity of old Jewish themes – Son of Man, Wisdom and Messiah with ideas long familiar to pagans: redemptive sacrifice, Son of God, Logos. The farrago made little headway against a reorganizing rabbinic Judaism but found a ready ear among pagans long accustomed to syncretic gods.
Because heavenly existence remained unknowable the handful of intellectuals who led the various bands of early proto-Christians spoke of their Christ by use of an allegorical human life. Set in times past, present and future, it was a device by which their Lord resolved ethical issues and uttered divine Wisdom. Each worthy tenet of a higher morality, every pithy statement of priestly wisdom, was coupled to the majestic name of Jesus the Christ to give sanction and assurance of its heavenly origin.
A revised 'rabbinic' Judaism made an impressive revival in the Roman world in the 2nd century. But by then the heresy now called Christianity had been commandeered by gentile pagans who saw opportunity in a hybridized oriental cult with a strong Jewish core. They took the stock of Jewish scripture, long available in the Greek language, and set it to a new purpose.
4. Allegory mutates into "reality"
The earliest works on the Christian godman had been simple liturgical documents in which the figure of Jesus had no discernible features, no true biography – merely attributes befitting his messianic status, such as absolute assuredness and "authority". A new generation of ex-pagan scribes, convincing themselves that this Lord and Savior had in reality walked upon the earth, set to work to thoroughly ground their hero in an historical setting.
They selected the reign of the most famous Jewish king – Herod – for his birth and the tenure of the most brutal Roman governor – Pilate – for his ministry. The activity of a genuine, pacifist prophet – John the Baptist – was used as a prologue to their hero's own tale and useful historical detail was gleaned from the works of the Jewish historian Josephus.
Scavenging through the pious romances and holy heroics of Hebrew scripture and Jewish history the Christian scribes found edifying story lines and useful characterization. Their intent was that, in the day-to-day struggle for a mass following, their Christ should match rival gods point for point, miracle for miracle. Even so, Christ's "life" remained extremely thin. His "ministry" and wonder working filled only eight weeks or so of "biography" – and that included 40 days and nights in the wilderness.
To make good the shortage of material, Christ's so-called "life" was back-projected as the "fulfillment of prophecy" – art imitating artifice. On the pretext "That Scripture Might Be Fulfilled" every utterance and pronouncement of the ancient Jewish prophets was wrenched out of context and repurposed as a prefiguring of the Christian wonder-worker.
To those who already "believed" it was the majestic design of an ineffable God, weaving the wondrous image of his only begotten son across several centuries of Jewish history. The misadventure and internecine strife of an entire people were reduced to the prologue for the Christian godman.
The compendium that resulted – ambiguous, inconsistent, improbable and impossible – though never intended as a "history", nonetheless masqueraded as such, underpinning the claims of the faith to a unique historical foundation. But any attempt to reconstruct the timetable or itinerary of the "ministry" of the Christian savior is doomed to failure because the gospels are both inadequate and contradictory. One moment Jesus is in the Decapolis, receiving word of the death of John the Baptist, the next he is in Phoenicia expelling demons. One moment Jesus is "transfiguring" on a mountain in Syria, the next he is pontificating in Samaria.
5. It's All a Fraud
Every instance in the godman's "career" was nothing other than a set piece, templated from an earlier source. Jesus the Christ, King of Kings, Light of the World, High Priest forever, Good Shepherd, Universal Judge and the Savior of Mankind is nothing less than – nothing other than – an omnibus edition of all that had gone before, the final product of ancient religious syncretism.
A 'life' conjured up from pious fantasy, a mass of borrowed quotations, copied story elements and a corpus of self-serving speculation, does not constitute an historical reality.
It constitutes a myth, a hero-myth, in essentials no different from the legends of champions that times of crisis called into existence in many cultures. "Jesus Christ Lord and Savior" is certainly the most convoluted and enduring of such accretions but its fabrication from simple elements is no less apparent than that of any other west Asian salvation god.
Makes You Think
If all this sounds shocking and difficult to accept reflect on the following:
1. Absolutely nothing at all from secular history corroborates the sacred biography and yet this 'greatest story' is peppered with numerous anachronisms, contradictions and absurdities. For example, at the time that Joseph and the pregnant Mary are said to have gone off to Bethlehem for a supposed Roman census, Galilee (unlike Judea) was not a Roman province and therefore ma and pa would have had no reason to make the journey.
2. Nazareth (let alone a city of Nazareth) did not exist during the first century.
3. Many elements of the 'Passion' make no sense historically. For example, a trial for Jesus, when suspected rebels were habitually arrested and executed by the Romans without trial?
4. There is NO corroborating evidence for the existence of the 12 Apostles and absolutely NO evidence for the colorful variety of martyrs' deaths they supposedly experienced. The Bible itself actually mentions the death of only two apostles, a James who was put to death by Herod Agrippa and the nasty Judas Iscariot. The fanciful heroics were dreamed up to inspire generations of gullible Christians.
For further information on the dark history of the Christian Church more than 70 articles are freely available on the website:
www.jesusneverexisted.com
Kenneth Humphreys
1st June, 2005
The Domestication Of Humans
An excerpt from the book, The Gospel Writers.
Civilization is the domestication of humans by other humans. In fact, we are the only indigenous life on our planet who tries to domesticate each other, along with other animals. This domestication can range from a mild form, which helps us to adapt to close-quarters living in population centers, or the more severe form which uses ghosts, gods, spooks, and spirits as a tool for domestication. The earliest domestication of significance is the form developed by walled city-states in Mesopotamia c.6.500 BCE. At this time, democratic assemblies were being replaced by kingships; and as we know kingships eventually were replaced by hereditary monarchies.
From those who have not read the book, The Gospel Writers, I often get the question, "How do you know for sure that there is no god?" I answer them in this way, "There is only one way to prove to you that a god does not exist; and that is, to prove to you why one does."
If you were a young member of the Ruling Class, not to be confused with the Upper Class wealthiest minority, and you asked me to teach you the secret studies known only to the Ruling Class, the Ruling Class Figure Heads (kings, queens, etc.), and the Priests, I would reveal to you, the following:
I would start by saying that it is all about "legitimizing ownership." That's the key. When a potter makes a pot, he has the right to do with it what he wants, including charging you for using it. When a basket weaver makes a basket, he has the right to do with it what he wants, including charging you for using it. When a god makes a planet, he has the right to do with it what he wants, including charging you for using it.
Ruling Class - Lesson Number I
To own something that was never yours to own in the first place, requires that some kind of "original owner" exist, and that this "original owner" (at a minimum) "gave" it to you.
Ruling Class - Lesson Number II
When the original owner cannot be found, such as the "original owner" of the land, invent one. Tell the people on the land that the "original owner" is an all powerful god, and that you have spoken with this god, and that this god has given you all of the land as a gift for being a good and just person; and because that god knows that you will make sure that all of the people on the land will worship that god. Why a fictitious god, you ask? Because at this time in history, a god (like a Supreme Court) would be the highest "Legal Authority" in the land and therefore any laws and contracts (rulings) handed down by a god could not at this time, be nullified or overturned. Clever legal loophole, wouldn't you say? Make sure you call it a lord (top authority) god; a lower ranking god will not work.
And, do not be naive and think that your army alone will keep the people submissive to your will. They must believe that you have the legal right by divine authority to take control of the land; otherwise you will spend much of your time and money trying to put down rebellions that will spring up from time to time.
Ruling Class - Lesson Number III
You do not need to brainwash them extensively with religion. Because, what they worship is generally unimportant, as long as you maintain ownership of the land by (fictitious) divine authority, which will allow you to control the people on the land. The people know, that for anyone banished from the land, it will mean agonizing loneliness (because they do not speak the languages of the people in other lands) and eventually death. You can always threaten someone with banishment, if they try to rebel and make any statement that refutes your fictitious legal right.
Ruling Class - Lesson Number IV
Once you have told the lie, you can never admit to anyone that the "original owner," (the maker of the land -- a god) never existed. You must silence or kill anyone who tries to say that the "original owner" never existed, or that the whole thing was a hoax to steal the land from the people on the land.
Ruling Class - Lesson Number V
There is an alternative to silencing or killing the people who do not support the "original owner" hoax or idea. Buy their loyalty; but buy it with something that costs you nothing to give away. Tell them that the "original owner" will grant them "immortality" in exchange for worship and belief in him, as the "original owner." In addition, tell them that this immortality will be spent in a place of great beauty and love, where they can be reunited with loved ones who have already died.
And they will be gullible enough to believe you. Why?
Because everything comes back to life after death, such as the Sun each day, the Trees each spring, and even you by way of your first-born son; who looks like you.
Ruling Class - Lesson Number VI
To get the people to work the land that you have now stolen from them, using Lessons 1-4 previously discussed, so that they will generate wealth for you and other Ruling Class members, tell the people that it is the "original owner's" wish that they toil and suffer, so that when they get to that place of great beauty and love, they will appreciate it more. And, that they will never have to work again, once they get there. Plus, they will always be loved and never abandoned by the "original owner."
Ruling Class - Lesson Number VII
Tell the people that the "original owner" is invisible and cannot be seen or described. And, that the "original owner," has no name; in other words, he is not like anyone the people might have heard of before or might run across later.
Tell them also, that the "original owner" can see into their hearts and minds, twenty-four hours a day, ever day of the year. And that, the "original owner" will know, by looking into their hearts and minds, if they do not love him in return or are thinking of abandoning him, (even though he would never think to stop loving them or of abandoning them). This will make them feel very fearful from being under a watchful and invisible eye every moment of their life, with absolutely no privacy anywhere on the planet, and feel very guilty for not loving and staying with someone who loves them. In other words, someone who would never abandon them or become disloyal. This fear and guilt will help them to remain loyal.
Ruling Class - Lesson Number VIII
Remember to tell the people that the Earth was made by the "original owner" in 6,500 BCE; so they do not go looking for the "democratic" non-kingship model, prior to that time. You do not want the Ruling Class - Worker Bee model to be discovered, as the hoax it is; or you will have an expensive and time consuming rebellion on your hands.
The Math and the Perception of Time
The Hoax Version
a. 6,500 BCE + 2,009 CE = 8,509 years since the hoax for stealing land has been going on.
b. 6,500 BCE + 2,009 CE = 8,509 years since the Jewish god created the Earth and all the life forms on the planet.
c. 8,509 divided by 8,509 = 1.00 or 100% of the time, civilization has been going on the way we want them to believe it has. Therefore, it is perfectly normal to live life the way they currently are and there was no other type, ever.
The Truthful Version
a. 6,500 BCE + 2,009 CE = 8,509 years since the hoax for stealing land has been going on.
b. 150,000 - 120,000 years since our species has been on Earth (anatomically modern Late Pleistocene humans - from Mitochondrial Eve - White et al. 2009).
c. 8,509 divided by 135,000 (arithmetic mean) = 6.3 percent of the time.
The hoax for stealing land has been going on for less than 10% of the time since we, anatomically modern Late Pleistocene humans, have been on Earth. Or, about 472 generations of your ancestors out of about 7,500 generations of your ancestors. In other words, an extremely brief time; and not a very long time as Old Testament religions and the Ruling Class need the Worker Bees to believe. Conceal this at all costs forever or we, the Ruling Class, Old Testament religions, and Figure Heads, are all doomed.
And, even though Turkey was the real "Cradle of Civilization," tell them that Mesopotamia was instead. We don't want them to know about Turkey either.
Next week, we will teach you how to keep this newly stolen land wealth in your family, through the use of a new invention called "Hereditary Monarchies." It's a more advanced version of the hoax you are currently using for your kingships, and it will keep democratic assemblies from forming once again (such as those prior to 6,500 BCE), after your death. End of Lessons.
As I mentioned early, I would answer them in this way, "There is only one way to prove to you that a god does not exist; and that is, to prove to you why one does," which was for the purpose of land ownership and taxes.
Whether it was the LORD of the gods, Yahweh (Jewish god of the Hebrews), during the time of Moses, or the LORD of the gods, Marduk, during the time of King Cyrus of Persia (see Cyrus Cylinder -- The British Museum in London), LORD gods were legal and social domestication tools for the Ruling Class and their Figure Heads and nothing more.
a. Ownership of the land.
b. Ownership of everything on the surface of the land, including water.
c. Ownership of everything below the surface of the land, such as gold, diamonds, granite, limestone, etc.
d. Ownership of everything living or dead on top off or below the surface of the land.
Including the taxes collected on the land of our planet, how many billions upon billions upon billions of dollars would you expect the dollar amount that this land-and-tax hoax represents, which also included all mineral rights, lumber, animals for food and trade goods, water rights, etc.?
Do you think some minority Ruling Class group, might lie to keep an aggressive hold on this wealth? How about a religious organization, the ones who legitimized the taking of the land in the first place? Do you think they might lie to keep a firm and continuous hold on this wealth? If you were to suddenly become the inheritor of the same massive chunk of land that King Cyrus of Persia claimed legal ownership of, what would you be willing to do to keep it? And at the same time, what would you be willing to do to keep all the people on that land from rebelling due to your illegal ownership of that land?
Manipulating our ancestors into believing that Old Testament religions were about spirituality, immortality, ethics, and morality, was a ruse to keep them, and now us, focused on something that sounded very important to pay attention to; and simultaneously, away from figuring out the real function of religion.
So are we a modern civilization? Hardly. A very small group of people still claims to own all of the land and its resources on our planet, which legally belongs to all indigenous flora and fauna on our planet. They acquired ownership, first by fictitious LORD gods, and now they maintain ownership by armies in addition to religion.
Civilization is the domestication of humans by other humans. In fact, we are the only indigenous life on our planet who tries to domesticate each other, along with other animals. This domestication can range from a mild form, which helps us to adapt to close-quarters living in population centers, or the more severe form which uses ghosts, gods, spooks, and spirits as a tool for domestication. The earliest domestication of significance is the form developed by walled city-states in Mesopotamia c.6.500 BCE. At this time, democratic assemblies were being replaced by kingships; and as we know kingships eventually were replaced by hereditary monarchies.
From those who have not read the book, The Gospel Writers, I often get the question, "How do you know for sure that there is no god?" I answer them in this way, "There is only one way to prove to you that a god does not exist; and that is, to prove to you why one does."
If you were a young member of the Ruling Class, not to be confused with the Upper Class wealthiest minority, and you asked me to teach you the secret studies known only to the Ruling Class, the Ruling Class Figure Heads (kings, queens, etc.), and the Priests, I would reveal to you, the following:
I would start by saying that it is all about "legitimizing ownership." That's the key. When a potter makes a pot, he has the right to do with it what he wants, including charging you for using it. When a basket weaver makes a basket, he has the right to do with it what he wants, including charging you for using it. When a god makes a planet, he has the right to do with it what he wants, including charging you for using it.
Ruling Class - Lesson Number I
To own something that was never yours to own in the first place, requires that some kind of "original owner" exist, and that this "original owner" (at a minimum) "gave" it to you.
Ruling Class - Lesson Number II
When the original owner cannot be found, such as the "original owner" of the land, invent one. Tell the people on the land that the "original owner" is an all powerful god, and that you have spoken with this god, and that this god has given you all of the land as a gift for being a good and just person; and because that god knows that you will make sure that all of the people on the land will worship that god. Why a fictitious god, you ask? Because at this time in history, a god (like a Supreme Court) would be the highest "Legal Authority" in the land and therefore any laws and contracts (rulings) handed down by a god could not at this time, be nullified or overturned. Clever legal loophole, wouldn't you say? Make sure you call it a lord (top authority) god; a lower ranking god will not work.
And, do not be naive and think that your army alone will keep the people submissive to your will. They must believe that you have the legal right by divine authority to take control of the land; otherwise you will spend much of your time and money trying to put down rebellions that will spring up from time to time.
Ruling Class - Lesson Number III
You do not need to brainwash them extensively with religion. Because, what they worship is generally unimportant, as long as you maintain ownership of the land by (fictitious) divine authority, which will allow you to control the people on the land. The people know, that for anyone banished from the land, it will mean agonizing loneliness (because they do not speak the languages of the people in other lands) and eventually death. You can always threaten someone with banishment, if they try to rebel and make any statement that refutes your fictitious legal right.
Ruling Class - Lesson Number IV
Once you have told the lie, you can never admit to anyone that the "original owner," (the maker of the land -- a god) never existed. You must silence or kill anyone who tries to say that the "original owner" never existed, or that the whole thing was a hoax to steal the land from the people on the land.
Ruling Class - Lesson Number V
There is an alternative to silencing or killing the people who do not support the "original owner" hoax or idea. Buy their loyalty; but buy it with something that costs you nothing to give away. Tell them that the "original owner" will grant them "immortality" in exchange for worship and belief in him, as the "original owner." In addition, tell them that this immortality will be spent in a place of great beauty and love, where they can be reunited with loved ones who have already died.
And they will be gullible enough to believe you. Why?
Because everything comes back to life after death, such as the Sun each day, the Trees each spring, and even you by way of your first-born son; who looks like you.
Ruling Class - Lesson Number VI
To get the people to work the land that you have now stolen from them, using Lessons 1-4 previously discussed, so that they will generate wealth for you and other Ruling Class members, tell the people that it is the "original owner's" wish that they toil and suffer, so that when they get to that place of great beauty and love, they will appreciate it more. And, that they will never have to work again, once they get there. Plus, they will always be loved and never abandoned by the "original owner."
Ruling Class - Lesson Number VII
Tell the people that the "original owner" is invisible and cannot be seen or described. And, that the "original owner," has no name; in other words, he is not like anyone the people might have heard of before or might run across later.
Tell them also, that the "original owner" can see into their hearts and minds, twenty-four hours a day, ever day of the year. And that, the "original owner" will know, by looking into their hearts and minds, if they do not love him in return or are thinking of abandoning him, (even though he would never think to stop loving them or of abandoning them). This will make them feel very fearful from being under a watchful and invisible eye every moment of their life, with absolutely no privacy anywhere on the planet, and feel very guilty for not loving and staying with someone who loves them. In other words, someone who would never abandon them or become disloyal. This fear and guilt will help them to remain loyal.
Ruling Class - Lesson Number VIII
Remember to tell the people that the Earth was made by the "original owner" in 6,500 BCE; so they do not go looking for the "democratic" non-kingship model, prior to that time. You do not want the Ruling Class - Worker Bee model to be discovered, as the hoax it is; or you will have an expensive and time consuming rebellion on your hands.
The Math and the Perception of Time
The Hoax Version
a. 6,500 BCE + 2,009 CE = 8,509 years since the hoax for stealing land has been going on.
b. 6,500 BCE + 2,009 CE = 8,509 years since the Jewish god created the Earth and all the life forms on the planet.
c. 8,509 divided by 8,509 = 1.00 or 100% of the time, civilization has been going on the way we want them to believe it has. Therefore, it is perfectly normal to live life the way they currently are and there was no other type, ever.
The Truthful Version
a. 6,500 BCE + 2,009 CE = 8,509 years since the hoax for stealing land has been going on.
b. 150,000 - 120,000 years since our species has been on Earth (anatomically modern Late Pleistocene humans - from Mitochondrial Eve - White et al. 2009).
c. 8,509 divided by 135,000 (arithmetic mean) = 6.3 percent of the time.
The hoax for stealing land has been going on for less than 10% of the time since we, anatomically modern Late Pleistocene humans, have been on Earth. Or, about 472 generations of your ancestors out of about 7,500 generations of your ancestors. In other words, an extremely brief time; and not a very long time as Old Testament religions and the Ruling Class need the Worker Bees to believe. Conceal this at all costs forever or we, the Ruling Class, Old Testament religions, and Figure Heads, are all doomed.
And, even though Turkey was the real "Cradle of Civilization," tell them that Mesopotamia was instead. We don't want them to know about Turkey either.
Next week, we will teach you how to keep this newly stolen land wealth in your family, through the use of a new invention called "Hereditary Monarchies." It's a more advanced version of the hoax you are currently using for your kingships, and it will keep democratic assemblies from forming once again (such as those prior to 6,500 BCE), after your death. End of Lessons.
As I mentioned early, I would answer them in this way, "There is only one way to prove to you that a god does not exist; and that is, to prove to you why one does," which was for the purpose of land ownership and taxes.
Whether it was the LORD of the gods, Yahweh (Jewish god of the Hebrews), during the time of Moses, or the LORD of the gods, Marduk, during the time of King Cyrus of Persia (see Cyrus Cylinder -- The British Museum in London), LORD gods were legal and social domestication tools for the Ruling Class and their Figure Heads and nothing more.
a. Ownership of the land.
b. Ownership of everything on the surface of the land, including water.
c. Ownership of everything below the surface of the land, such as gold, diamonds, granite, limestone, etc.
d. Ownership of everything living or dead on top off or below the surface of the land.
Including the taxes collected on the land of our planet, how many billions upon billions upon billions of dollars would you expect the dollar amount that this land-and-tax hoax represents, which also included all mineral rights, lumber, animals for food and trade goods, water rights, etc.?
Do you think some minority Ruling Class group, might lie to keep an aggressive hold on this wealth? How about a religious organization, the ones who legitimized the taking of the land in the first place? Do you think they might lie to keep a firm and continuous hold on this wealth? If you were to suddenly become the inheritor of the same massive chunk of land that King Cyrus of Persia claimed legal ownership of, what would you be willing to do to keep it? And at the same time, what would you be willing to do to keep all the people on that land from rebelling due to your illegal ownership of that land?
Manipulating our ancestors into believing that Old Testament religions were about spirituality, immortality, ethics, and morality, was a ruse to keep them, and now us, focused on something that sounded very important to pay attention to; and simultaneously, away from figuring out the real function of religion.
So are we a modern civilization? Hardly. A very small group of people still claims to own all of the land and its resources on our planet, which legally belongs to all indigenous flora and fauna on our planet. They acquired ownership, first by fictitious LORD gods, and now they maintain ownership by armies in addition to religion.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)